Note: English is not my native language! It could be that there are some grammatical mistakes. I'm sorry for that.
"Daddy, when is mommy coming home?"
"She's working overtime, honey. Don't you remember? We've talked about that already," DI Alec Hardy answered. He pointed at the half full plate of his daughter. "Come on, eat your vegetables too."
"Aye-aye, sir," Kate said and put a little carrot in her mouth. Alec looked at the five-year-old. His daughter is the best thing that happened to him in his entire life. He would do anything for her. He would give his life for her.
Alec looked at his wristwatch. It's half past eight already. He sighed and looked at Kate, who's still occupied in eating her vegetables.
"Could you please hurry up a bit, honey?" he asked her. "I still have to do so much tonight."
"What do you have to do?" Kate wanted to know.
"I have to write a big report about a solved case," he answered.
"Okay," Kate said. She's easily satisfied. She put the last carrot in her mouth. "I'm finished daddy!" she shouted.
"Okay, okay," Alec said. "Could you please talk a little bit quieter?"
"Sure, dad," she whispered.
"Good, and now it's time for bed."
"But daddy, I can't go to bed now!"
"Why, honey?"
"I can't go to bed without telling mommy goodnight," Kate complained.
"I bet you can," Alec said. "You did it before, didn't you? Last time you didn't complained."
"No I..."
"Yes, yes you did. And now go upstairs and get ready. I will come and give you a good night kiss in five minutes.
"Why are you awake?"
"I can't sleep."
"Why?"
"Because I'm thinking about you." He turned his head and looked at her. "I want to spend every day, every hour and every minute for the rest of my life with you," he whispered in her ear with a raw voice.
Elizabeth turned around to look in the eyes of her love of life. "And I want to spend the rest of my life with you." She gave him a tender kiss on the lips. "But you know that this is not going to happen because I have a little daughter and a husband that loves me too."
"But you just said that you want to spend the rest of your life..."
"...with you, yes, I know," she interrupted him. "But you know that it's not that easy. Alec doesnt't even know that you exist in my life."
"You have to tell him about me. Maybe he will understand our love."
She stared at George disbelievingly. "You're not serious, are you? The only one he loves more than me is our daughter."
George stroked her cheek. "But you love me more than him. So why don't you just tell him the truth finally?"
"Because I don't want to hurt him! He's the father of my daughter and he is my husband. If I tell him that I don't want to live with him anymore and that I want a divorce... I don't even want to imagine what this would do to him!"
He cupped her face in his hands and looked her deep in the eyes. "You need to start thinking about yourself! Why do you always want to please everyone except yourself? This is not a way to live! Think about yourself. What do YOU want?"
Elizabeth stared at him. Wow, nobody has talked to me like this before, she thought. She didn't now how to answer because she didn't exactly know what she wanted. On the one hand she wanted to share the rest of her life with George. He was her love of life. He understood her. He always knew exactly what she needed. He gave her the feeling that she's not alone. He was the one she wanted to grow old with. But on the other hand she didn't want to leave Alec because of Kate. Kate needed both of her parents. As a nurse she often heard about children whos parents are divorced. They often become mentally ill. Kate shouldn't suffer from this. Kate shouldn't be torn out of the happy family life she grew up in.
"Um... I don't know what... um... what I want." She finally managed to answer.
"But I think that I know what you want, love. You want to live with me. You want to start a family with me."
Elizabeth didn't answer. Yes, that's exactly what I want, she thougt. But what about Alec and Kate...
"We can't go on like this forever." George stated.
"Yeah, I know, I know... but we will find a solution for this problem, I promise." Elizabeth smiled at her love.
George looked at his love. She seemed to be very stressed out about this situation. He needed to cheer her up a bit. "Okay, but while we're trying to find a solution I want you to take some time off and go on a trip with me." he said. He actually wanted to tell her this tonight at a romantic candle dinner, but it seemed to be the right time now.
"What? Why... a trip? Whereto?" This took her by surprise. A trip? She hadn't been on a trip for at least five years so this sounds very tempting.
"Yes, a trip to Paris, the city of love." He gave her a seductive look. "It's all organised. I called your boss at the hospital. She gives you a week off. So yeah. You're going on a trip with me."
Elizabeth was overwhelmed. She always wanted to go to Paris. She was already picturing all the beautiful sights of Paris which she only know from books and photos to herself when another thought came to her mind. "And what about Kate and Alec?"
Geoge also thought about this. "I think that Alec can take care of Kate for a week. I mean, he's a police man, right? They never have much to do."
*ring ring ring*
Alec sat up. He looked around and realised that he fell asleep over his computer. It seemed that he fell asleep while working on his report.
He fumbled for his phone, still half asleep. It was his Chief, Martin Anderson. Alec sighed. This was the last person he wanted to talk to right now. But he answered the call anyway.
"Yes?" he asked tiredly.
"Good morning Alec!" the Chief said loudly. Morning? Alec looked at his wristwatch. It was half past three in the morning. How can you wish someone a good morning with such a happy voice at such time?
"What is it Chief?" Alec grunted in the phone.
"I have a case for you," Chief Andersons voice suddenly sounded very serious.
"A new case? Now?"
"Yes, a new case, now. It's very important and I want you to work at it. I think that you're the best man for this job."
"Okay, okay, I got it. So what's the case?"
"The Rose Killer is back."
Alec congealed as he heard these words. He remembered this name. The Rose Killer was the name the newspaper gave a serial killer who killed five girls ten years ago. He sighed. It was his first case and also the only one he never solved.
Chief Anderson continued "5-year-old Louise Tallis was found dead at the St.-Michaels-Park an hour ago today after being reported missing a few weeks ago. And guess what she had in her hand?"
Alec shuddered. "A rose," he answered with a hoarse voice.
"Exactly. I expect you to be here as fast as you can. I want you to see the corpse before they take it to the forensics." Chief Anderson ended the call without any further words. Alec sat there with the phone in his hands a few more moments. Shocked. So many questions were floating in his head that moment. Why did he murder again? Why now? Why always little girls? How can someone even be that cruel? But then a new thought came to his mind. The Rose Murder never kidnapped the girls and waited a few weeks before killing them. He always did it within a few hours. Alec remembered all the facts they had back then exactly. He knew that the murderer was a man aged 35-50 who presumably lived in this city his whole life. He has murdered five four to five year old girls within a period of three months. And the procedure was always the same: The murderer kidnapped the girls when they were unattended. Common places for this were parks, playgrounds or even carparks in front of supermarkets. Then he killed them by drowning. After that he deposited them near the places where he kidnapped them. After that he depositet them near the places where he had kidnapped them. And the most conspicious thing about this case were the red roses in the hands of the girls. But all these facts were not enough to catch the murderer or at least to identify him. So he was still at large.
Alec let out a deep breath and walked into the kitchen. He needed a sedative tablet after these terrible news. But then the stack of newspapers next to the dustbin caught his eye. He picked up the first paper on the stack. The headline said "Where are our girls?" Below it there was a picture of two families holding photos of their missing daughters up. Alec held his breath as he read the names of the parents. Lisa and Herbert Jackson and Mary and Lewis Tallis. Tallis. That's the name of the girl found at the park. Alec flicked through the newspaper. There it was. A big report about five families whos daughters went missing in the last few weeks. Alec skimmed the text briefly. Every family said pretty much the same. That their girl suddenly disappeared when she was playing at the playground or at the park. Alec shuddered when he read the last sentence of this report. "Please bring our girls back home." He shut the newspaper. The entire situation is so untypical for the Rose Killer. He never kept the girls for such a long time. And he also never kidnapped more than one at one stroke.
Suddenly another thought which he didn't had ten years ago came to his mind. He now has a little daughter who had just turned five. He threw the newspaper on the kitchen counter and ran upstairs to assure himself that his beloved daughter is still sleeping in her room. Luckily she still was. Alec kneeled down next to her bed and stroked Kates dark-brown hair. He really must drive to the crime scene now, but on his way to Kates room he noticed that Elizabeth still isn't home. So who's going to take care off Kate till he's back? He can't take her with him. Crime scenes with murdered little girls are definitely not the right place for Kate. But what should he do?
"Come on, Kate, wake up." He gripped her shoulder and shook it softly. "I have to work now and you have to come with me."
Alec tried to wake her up once more, but she had such a deep sleep that it was impossible to wake her up. So he wrapped her in her blanket and carried her to his car. He sat her in her children's seat and fastened the seatbelt without waking her up. Then he got in the car too. The drive to the park only took about five minutes.
After Alec parked the car he looked back at the back-seat to assure himself that Kate's still asleep which she was. Then he got out of the car, locked it and went to his collegues, unsure about what he's going to see.
