I felt that it would be nice to start writing New Tricks stories by writing this for one of my favorite episodes in New Tricks even though it meant Jack Halford was leaving the show. I was really interested in Abigail and the whole investigation of a murder that took place in Victorian London. Its not such a ridiculous notion, and I loved the writers for even branching off modern murders and other cases for the UCOS team to tangle with.
For this oneshot I decided to write my own ideas about Abigail's life before her murder, I hope you enjoy it.
Please review and enjoy.
New Tricks.
Abigail's Last Moments.
4th January, 1851.
The Church was silent, the bells were ringing in the night, but for Abigail Padua it was anything but calm as she knelt before the alter and prayed for His divine forgiveness and merciful compassion. She only wished the bells would stop ringing; they were like the ominous chimes to her own death. Her breathing was labored like a blacksmith's bellows, and her whispered prayers had to be forced out as panicked gasps rather than clear sentences. Her heart rate was high as it pounded within her frail chest as her conscience reminded her of what she and Joseph had almost done, though there was a tiny voice in her mind telling her Sidney deserved it.
But what about the investors who had put their trust into the firm? Did they deserve to lose their money because of her brother's arrogance and the way he had treated her?
Abigail had thought not so long ago the answer was a clear yes, but now she had wrestled with her conscience she knew the answer was a resounding no. That was why she was in the church asking for forgiveness. Deep down she didn't want her brother hurt, but she knew as soon as she spoke to him he was going to lose his temper and she would get the beating of all beatings.
Try as she might Abigail had never managed to get on the good side of her elder brother, not even when their parents had been alive. Her heart sank as she remembered her parents, who had doted and encouraged her in life. The discovery she was a 'computer' didn't help matters, even if their father had ensured her place in the company. Most people would have assumed that having such a gifted personage like herself in a reputable investment firm that helped bring in more money for the company's coffers would have allowed her a bit more breathing room, but no.
Sidney had always resented her since her birth had resulted in their parents devoting more of their time to the innocent little girl she had been, and she had endured that hatred ever since. It had never dissipated; he still hated her, and he hated her more for her talent though that was more jealous hatred because Sidney liked being seen as respectable and smart, and the fact she had the talent of seeing patterns in numbers he couldn't stoked the fires of hatred he had for her. If Abigail was a petty and vindictive person she would have hated herself as well, but she couldn't hate the gift she had been blessed with. But that didn't mean she should be called a saint. It wasn't until her mathematics tutor, Joseph Gleick whom she had called in to help her with a new investment package Sidney had demanded she draft up for him to further the company's reputation, had spent a month telling her they could teach Sidney a lesson he would never forget.
Abigail hadn't been enamoured with the idea at first. In fact the idea Joseph had proposed as the pair of them worked on the investment formula had repulsed her; deep inside she believed Sidney should be more kinder to her since they were siblings, he was older and she was younger, but she didn't like the idea of hurting him despite what he did to her. She was too nice a person, but even she had limits.
Joseph had always been concerned whenever he saw the bruises she hadn't been able to cover up, so he was all for teaching her brother a lesson. Abigail could appreciate that; Sidney wasn't a child anymore, he had no right to treat her like that. She had managed to hold off Joseph's idea for a while but then the temptation had broken the dam when Sidney had beaten her for something, Abigail didn't know what. She'd stopped caring at that point as she and a couple of the maids had spent the next few hours washing the blood out of her hair.
Abigail squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she prayed as she remembered the rage she had felt in the aftermath of Sidney's childish tantrum, though she was sure a child would be more grown up. Sidney lashed out at her for practically everything that went wrong such as when his laundry was late, when his breakfast was underdone and Lord knew what else.
She was dreading meeting him when she was finished prayers. The beating she received could see her buried.
It would have been so easy, in fact it had been easy to create the formula. When Abigail had agreed with Joseph she had told him about what Sidney had wanted. He had wanted a new investment package which would make everyone who invested in their company richer and attract the attention of new clients, who would themselves get more richer, and they would attract more clients without the need to do extra work.
Abigail had been invigorated for the first time in years as she had filled out the basics of the formula. Joseph had helped her, pointed out ways as the formula became more complex to make the effect when it collapsed more devastating. The algorithm of the formula was simple; it worked wonderfully at first and brought a measurable income, but it collapsed when the inputs went too high. It wasn't designed to fail the moment the first input went in, that was its beauty.
But then her conscience had made a comeback. It had returned fairly quickly, and her glee for the plan to ruin Sidney's life and their company's precious reputation had soured.
She had already told a displeased Joseph about the change of heart, but she hadn't stayed to see how he would react to her continued presence. Knowing she would need all the strength He could provide, though knowing she would eventually have to leave Abigail continued her prayer.
The sound of creaking above made her eyes snap open and she twisted her head round to look at the upper storey. The sight made her swallow fearfully.
There, clad in a typical black suit with top hat, was Joseph. Realising too late he had been spotted, he pulled back behind the pillar. Swallowing fearfully again, Abigail realised quickly why Joseph was there with her in the church, and he wasn't there for a chat. Standing up quickly she left the church at a fast trot, glancing upwards quickly to see if there were moving shadows in the upper storey before she hurried out of the church.
Abigail didn't notice the snow or the chilly air when she'd opened the door to the church, her mind was fixed on getting away. The wind whistled as the sound of the door she'd just closed opening behind her, and Abigail pulled her shawls tighter around her throat as she gazed fearfully back.
There he was silhouetted in the dim light from the overhead lamp.
Turning she did the only thing she could do, run.
She had to get away from Joseph; Sidney and his beatings were small fry compared to what her mathematics tutor could do to her. Their plan had been to steal the money and leave Sidney to face the scandal and repercussions. Joseph was like everyone else, he wanted to make money quickly and he wasn't going to let her get in the way. Abigail panted as she ran through the gas lit streets, hoping to put as much distance as she could between herself and her stalker. Part of her knew he would find her by the racket she was making, and she cursed her heeled shoes.
But she couldn't stop. Abigail had no idea how Joseph planned to kill her, but she knew it was probably not going to be pleasant. As she ran through the streets, turning different corners, she finally stopped after passing beneath an archway.
For a moment she relaxed, panting as she felt her breath passing through her sand dry throat as she breathed in massive gulps of air to steady her nerves. The echoing sound of footsteps made her turn fearfully.
There he was. She couldn't see his face, but she knew his postures, his stance. How had he found her? For a moment Abigail stood rooted to the ground, waiting but Joseph didn't move, and she couldn't see his face, couldn't see what his expression was. She sagged. He was going to keep coming after her, he was like a hunter. He was hunting her down, wanting to give her a sporting chance. Abigail had seen elephant tusks, trophies as they were boastfully called over glasses of brandy or sherry. She had always been repulsed by the sickening stories they had told, of great and majestic animals, proudly walking the savannah only to be brought down by the hunter.
Now she was that animal, and in front of her was a merciless killer who wanted her dead.
Abigail barely noticed when she ran past two men who were close to each other, but she did notice the horse as it reared up.
"WHOA!" The coachman shouted as his horse whinnied. Abigail stopped and peddled back in fear; she didn't mind being beaten by her elder brother, compared to being killed by a horse than what was following her.
"Ah!" the coachman called to his horse again, and that snapped Abigail out of her spell, and she hitched her skirts up again, and ran. She had no idea how far behind Joseph was but she wasn't going to tempt fate any longer than she had to.
She didn't get very far; holding onto her heavy skirts, the difficulty in running in heeled shoes made her lose her remaining energy - she tripped once, got up and started running again - then she found herself near a small alley. Leaning forwards to better catch her breath, Abigail paused as she heard the sound of distinctive shoes and with a panicked gasp, she ran down the alley. It was a dead end, but there was a doorway in an alcove. Not knowing if there was someone inside and knowing it would probably be too late to get inside if Joseph got his hands on her, she did the only thing she could do.
She stepped into the alcove, pulling her skirts in with her. She took deep breaths to relax her breathing; if she could hold out a little longer, maybe she could escape and get to Sidney and tell him about the formula...
Her train of thought ended when she heard the sound of running footsteps, and Abigail hoped a trifle optimistically it wasn't Joseph but somebody else who was in a hurry, but that hope died when she heard the footsteps stop and pause.
In the entrance to the alley, and her panic returned.
Abigail managed to still her breathing when the footsteps, not losing their pace or their haste, started coming closer to where she was. She felt her panic and fear begin to return as the stride from the other began to slow down. Abigail first saw the shoes, meticulously polished black shoes that she knew oh so well, and the familiar dark shape of Joseph was filling the limited amount of vision. She could only see his face and head topped by the hat in shadow, she couldn't see beyond that with her face and head plastered across a brick wall.
Abigail still held her breath in the hope Joseph wasn't sharp enough to hear her already low breathing, that he was only looking around the alley to make sure she wasn't there and he would soon leave. She was slightly concerned he didn't move closely into the dark shadowy depths of the alley, just standing still so she just assumed he was listening intently for the telltale sounds of someone nearby...
Joseph was so still Abigail wondered what was taking so long for him to - WHACK! She didn't even see the assault come until she was hit by something to the head. She only had enough time to scream before she fell to the ground, but she had enough awareness as her vision started going black as she slid to the floor Joseph leaning down over her and then pulling his right arm up and smashing her again.
Then it all went black and Abigail Padua, computer, abused sister to her brother and terrified victim of murder, died.
Joseph took a deep breath as he finished bludgeoning Abigail to death, and very calmly he checked her over. Yes, she was very dead he noted with regret. He hadn't intended to bludgeon her so many times; he had only done hit decided to hit her two or three times, but as he had gotten started he had unexpectedly tapped into the anger he had let fester within him when Abigail had come to him and told him she wanted no part in what they were doing. If she had just gone away at that and not told him she intended to tell Sidney what they had intended Joseph would probably have left her alone, but no, she had needed to be honest with him. Now she was dead. Joseph had always admired his student, he regretted her death, but when you thought about it Joseph Gleick was a very, very greedy man and he wasn't going to allow anybody, no matter how much he professionally and personally admired them.
Coldly he proceeded with the second phase of his plan. He pulled the distinctive ring off Abigail's finger, dispassionately glancing once or twice into the dead, accusing stare in the woman's eyes as he cleverly made the murder look like a mere robbery. When Joseph was finished and he stood up, he noticed movement in a window above.
Joseph cursed under his breath when he saw the sight of a terrified man with a shock of grey-white hair in a white shirt peering down on the scene from a window overlooking the alley, and Gleick could tell this new addition to the plan hadn't appeared at the moment he'd stood up. This man had witnessed the whole thing. Gleick was a mathematician, so he approached the problem like one. The witness had to be silence, it wouldn't be long before the police turned up, and he had a house to burn. His. Then he would make his escape.
He squeezed the bludgeon again to feel strength for what he was about to do.
Hopefully not my last New Tricks story.