Chapter 1:

William and Julia had been very happily married for many years, and were still quite enjoying themselves. They had the good fortune of having three children. Their oldest, a six year-old boy named William Jr. was the result of a mistake made by his parents and the miracle of scientific discovery (Julia's scarred cervix from her abortion rendered her able to conceive but unable to survive childbirth, and yet, despite the use of various means of birth control she had gotten pregnant and their son was delivered using an innovative transverse cesarean section). A few years later they adopted two sisters, now five year-old Katie and three year-old Chelsea. Julia had taken a year off after the birth of William Jr. to care for the infant. She had returned to work as a pathologist so William and Julia could work together once again.

Their latest case involved the puzzling death of a six year-old boy named William who was found dead in his bed. Dr. Ogden's postmortem indicated that the boy had been drowned in salt water. Found in the bed with the body was an envelope containing cut up dates and symbols and a story by Jack London called, "Yah, Yah, Yah," about the killing of native islanders using measles-infected crewman. Once Detective Murdoch started working on the dates and symbols, he found that one of the dates was the day their son William Jr. was born. Fearing that it was more than coincidence that the victim had the same name and age as their son as well as the boy's birthdate being included in the murderer's message, a constable was assigned to escort William Jr. home from school and to stand guard at the Murdoch's home until one of the parents came home.

Having fallen asleep following their typically vigorous lovemaking, Julia awoke in the middle of the night to find William missing from the bed. Worried, she covered her naked body with her robe and went to look for him. William was leaning against the kitchen counter wearing only his pajama bottoms. The room was dark save for the light coming through the windows from the street and the moon. He held a glass of milk. Lifting his eyes to meet hers from what seemed to be rather deep contemplation, Julia wondered, "Has he been crying?" The thought was not fast enough to beat her tightening groin in response to the sight of William's big dark eyes and his bare chest, but it did stop her from flirting with him.

He watched her as she crossed the room and poured herself a glass of milk. She came to stand in front of him, resting her hind end on the back of one of the kitchen table chairs. She said nothing. While she waited she held eye contact with him as she took a sip of milk.

"I had a dream," William said as if that sufficiently answered her implied question.

Julia continued to wait for more. She took another sip, stubbornly refusing to let go of his eyes. "Does he forget who his wife is?" she thought, "He must know that in the same way he chases down every last clue to solve a problem involving crime, I will dig into every thought and feeling to solve a problem involving emotion... Perhaps a little push…"

Julia dropped her eyes for a moment, hoping to seem less invasive and asked, "Was it frightening?"

"Yes, but not in the way you are likely imagining," he replied. (She was thinking that because William Jr. had been threatened in this most recent case that William might have had a bad dream about someone hurting William Jr.).

He retold the dream, "I dreamt that you were crying and that you turned and started to run away from me. I ran after you and pulled you back to me but you struggled against me. You threatened, "William, you have to let me go." I told you, "I can't. I just can't," and we both fell to the floor. I was crying and I wouldn't let go of you. Then you said, "William, if you don't let me go I'll never forgive you." My eardrums were ringing and I couldn't breathe. Sobbing, I let you go and you got up and rushed away... It was the sobbing that woke me."

It seemed obvious to Julia that one would work to understand why they had had such a dream - what its meaning was. She waited. She knew her husband's bright and curious mind would not stop there. Besides, her psychiatric training had taught her that another pushing in is not the best way to self-discovery, even with one who is your soul mate. (She knew neither she nor William would use that term to describe their relationship, but if either of them were ever asked if they were soul mates, she believed they would answer yes).

William was completely aware that he would need to struggle with the meanings of this dream, not just to appease his strong and focused wife, but for himself as well. It was just that right now the feelings of helplessness and loss were too overpowering, stuck in his throat and clouding his thoughts, making any hope of talking it through impossible. He imagined his brain full of smoke, burning his eyes and stealing away oxygen. He would need to clear the air first, and then chase after the smoke as it pulled back into the darkness of his psyche, to find the pathways to the sources of the dream. He took a few deep breaths (pushing the smoke back), swallowed a sip of milk (forcing the smoke to flow down) and placed the glass down on the counter. William lowered his eyes to observe his hands. Julia's eyes widened – it was a sign he was beginning to take up the hunt.

"I have been standing here trying to figure out why I would be worried that you are going to leave me. I have been a little distracted by work, but I have to say I feel that we have been very close and happy. Just this weekend we went to see a play and then spent the night in a hotel – you even said it felt like our honeymoon all over again," he pondered. He continued to watch as he fiddled with his hands and unconsciously twisted his wedding ring.

Julia felt her heart slowly glowing and warming in her chest, like a song that starts with a soft musical note that grows louder and louder until it can be heard throughout the whole body. It was love – She loved this man so. She started a debate inside herself as to which one she loved more, vulnerable William or confident William. She reminded herself that the true miracle was not having to choose, both stood in front of her, it was just that vulnerable William was a little closer to the surface right now.

"Maybe I'm worried that if William Jr. were harmed, and it was my fault, kind of like with the Inspector when his son was kidnapped, that I would lose you like he almost lost Margaret," William said, lifting his eyes to hers, checking to see if she thought he had it.

Julia took a moment to organize her thoughts and responded, "It seems plausible that such concerns would lead you to have a dream like this. And Margaret did seem to blame the Inspector. But I must say, William, I don't think I would react this way. If some criminal used your job, or the way you do it, as an excuse to hurt our children, even if you somehow messed up and failed to save them, of course I would be grief-stricken, but I think that rather than leave you, we would turn to each other for support and comfort. It's clear that one can never know for sure until they are actually in the situation, but that's my suspicion."

William reached up to rub his forehead. Julia knew he was still troubled. "It could be that you are the one in danger," he said, unable to hide the worry in his eyes.

Julia exhaled, leaned forward to lift herself off of the back of the chair, and stepped in very close to him to place her glass on the counter next to his. She wanted to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere. Speaking so closely to him that her breath could be felt on his cheek she said, "William, we both know that, as you have said, neither of us can promise to the other that we won't die – we have no control of that. Even our wedding vows acknowledge this, saying that only death can part us, leaving the one abandoned without the other. But even when facing death, I know I have, I know I would, fight with every fiber of my being to survive for you…"

"And I for you," William whispered.

Julia leaned in, placing her lips at his ear and speaking softly above a whisper with a tone that matched the one perfect note that lit his soul, she said, "But know, William Murdoch, that there will never come a time that I will consciously, intentionally, leave you. I will do everything in my power to be right here, always."

She thought he seemed calmer, less vulnerable. "Better?" she asked.

William nodded, "Yes."

"Now," she thought, "how to bring out confident William? Julia felt the throbbing in her thighs and abdomen that she had held at bay earlier start to build again just from imagining her partner when he is feeling self-assured. She reached up and caressed William's muscles on his shoulders and down onto his chest. Placed soft, soft kisses on his ear, his neck, his chin, and finally with the smallest of hesitations, his lips. He responded, coaxing open her mouth, gently teasing inward with his tongue. "Oh,..my," she thought as the next wave of desire melted and tightened her down below and deep inside. She pulled back, traced a path from his nipple to the inside of his bicep, and then up his bicep to his armpit, finishing by cupping his broad deltoid muscle, her warm breath flowing over his chest as she let go of a sigh. "There's my confident William," she thought as she reached down to take his hand and turned to go up to their bed.

It was probably two in the morning by the time they basked in the latest afterglow and Julia told him, "You know, William, I do believe that even if you stopped holding me you'd find I wouldn't leave. I'm drawn to your true nature, my love."

Julia awoke to the light of day to find she was alone. Such sudden abandonment was not totally uncommon. Usually it meant that William had had an idea about a case and had bolted off chasing the clue. Eyes gazing at the empty spot in their bed, Julia sighed at the thought of what normally would have been happening at this moment – morning sex. That most soft, slow, oozy, flow of lovemaking that happened after William woke her up with a lustful nudge. She wondered how its absence would affect her mood, and William's too. The quiet of her thoughts allowed her to hear the footsteps of their little ones before they even had a chance to knock on the bedroom door. Julia hurried to throw on her nightgown before the giggles and knocks filled the air. "Come in," she called, covering herself with blankets and pillows to better survive the onslaught of the tiny rough-housers.

Julia arrived by carriage at the morgue and was re-assured to see William's bicycle in front of Stationhouse #4. After completing all of the essential tasks required to get the day started, she decided to go over to see how William was doing. His office was empty. He was nowhere to be found. The constables were starting to get worried – it was odd not to have at least heard from him by now. Julia pointed out that his bicycle was parked in front of the stationhouse, and that sufficed to raise the alarm. She went to his office to see if there were any clues as to what had happened to him in there. The constable knocked on the Inspector's door to notify him that Murdoch may be missing.

Julia sat at his desk and started to look over the evidence from the case he had laid out there. She recognized the envelope that had held the pieces of dates and pictures found at the crime scene. William had placed them in chronological order and had lined up a symbol with each date. On a sheet of paper off to the side he had written notes as to the significance of each of the dates. She read William's notes, slowly becoming more and more worried.

Julia leaves for Buffalo

Julia buried alive

Julia almost hung

Julia attacked at asylum

William Jr. born (Julia almost dies)

Today's date

Ten days from now

"It was no wonder he had had bad dreams about me leaving him," she thought, "after having compiled this list. He must have been turning it over and over in his mind before he figured something out. What did you see, William?" He had made check marks next to two of the dates (Julia leaves for Buffalo and Julia attacked at asylum). "What's different about these two?" she thought, "Newspapers! That's it, the other dates were all events that were reported in the newspapers, but no paper reported about my leaving William to go to Buffalo and the papers didn't report about the attack at the asylum either."

The Inspector knocked at Detective Murdoch's door to get Dr. Ogden's attention, "I've called Detective Crabtree from Stationhouse #3 to cover for Murdoch, and George may be the best one to help us use these clues to find him." He walked behind the desk and looked over her shoulder to read the list, "Bloody hell! This seems personal, huh."

"Yes sir, it's pretty upsetting," Julia replied. "Look, William marked these two dates – these two weren't reported in the papers. The murderer, assuming the murder of the boy and William's being missing are linked, would have to have known these things through other means – and they would have to have known about both of them," Julia said.

"What do you make of the symbols?" he asked, "Do you think Murdoch matched them up correctly?

Julia placed her fingers on one of the symbols – a scalpel, and said, "This one seems right…and surely the noose and the shovel are correct."

"And the others - a paint brush and easel, a key, a boat and a palm tree. I guess you could use a boat to get to a place with palm trees," the Inspector speculated, "so it makes sense to put the boat with today and the palm tree ten days from now. Wherever they're going it will take them ten days to get there."

"Yes, and I think that place would be an island," Julia said as she picked up the Jack London story, "Yah, Yah, Yah," that had been left at the crime scene. "William has underlined that it takes place on a tropical island, and that the natives were overpowered by intentionally infecting them with measles," she said as she put the story down and reached for a manuscript on William's desk that she had not seen at the crime scene.

"It's not much of a jump to figure that Murdoch has been abducted, put on a boat, and is heading south towards a tropical island," the Inspector said.

Julia added, "I wonder if it was meant to be me? I mean all the dates were about times I almost died … or at least left," the smallest twinge of guilt lingered in her voice as she remembered their conversation before she left for Buffalo. She paused to read the handwritten note on the manuscript entitled, "The Unparalleled Invasion." Julia said, "I didn't know William knew Jack London." She read from the note, "Will, I see things worked out and you are still a detective. As a man with a mind for science, I was wondering if you would take a look at my latest work and provide feedback. Does the science support the idea that European and American troops could use such biological warfare in this way, and do you think it is feasible that the result could be such a genocide? To another point, I would be remiss if I did not thank you for the title of my book, "The Call of the Wild," as you were the one who came up with this turn of phrase as we stood together philosophizing in the Yukon. You said that a better measure of a man is what he does to correct his mistakes rather than what mistakes he has made. I have found this to be true. Your friend always, Jack."

"Impressive…" the Inspector said, "I don't see how all this personal stuff could be tied up with things like biological warfare and genocide, do you?"

"No, not really," Julia agreed, "But somehow it must."

The Inspector focused his attention back to the symbols and dates, "Murdoch has put the easel and paintbrush with "Julia leaves for Buffalo," and the key with, "Julia attacked at asylum." I see the key with the attack because… Eva Pierce, wasn't it… needed to get a key to get you in there and let all the crazies out of their cells, and then escape."

There was a surge of fear that spread through Julia's body as the ringing in her ears got louder and her breath shallowed and hastened in response to hearing Eva Pierce's name. With a somewhat stunned look on her face, Julia said quietly, "Yes…It was Eva Pierce…that's the one for the key."

The Inspector got an idea and rushed to the files, "Perhaps there's something in her file that will help us figure this out." When he went into the file cabinet, they could see Eva Pierce's file was tilted askew. Julia knew William to do this to mark a file he took something out of but meant to go back to.

"Inspector, William took something out of that file," she hurried to say. They opened the file and quickly guessed that it was Eva Pierce's picture that was missing. "Why would William need Eva Pierce's picture," she asked of herself as much as of the Inspector. There was a long pause as both of them thought.

Julia rushed back to William's desk, "Inspector, the easel and paintbrush – That's what William probably figured out! It's not that I went to Buffalo – It's Sally Pendrick! When I was leaving wasn't she running around causing havoc with a magnetic field-disturbing Microwave Death Ray! Didn't William figure out that she was the mastermind behind the theft of the Rembrandt too? Is her file missing her picture too?"

As they moved back to the files, Detective Crabtree arrived. He watched as they found the Sally Pendrick file – actually filed under Sally Hubbard which was her real American name - also turned askew and the picture missing from the file.

"He took her picture too," the Inspector said.

They caught Crabtree up on what they had figured out. Crabtree speculated that detective Murdoch took both pictures down to the docks to ask around and find out if either of them had booked a boat. "We'll need their pictures and to do the same thing," Crabtree said.

The Inspector and Detective Crabtree headed down to the docks to continue the investigation. They discovered that Sally Hubbard had a crew and a motorized sail boat that was logged to have left port this morning and was headed for Freeport down in the Florida Keys. They returned, packed their bags, and headed to catch a train bound ultimately for Miami. From there they would take a boat to Freeport. They figured that this way they could be there before the ten days needed for the boat to travel there. They agreed to send telegraphs along the way reporting their progress.