Lucien parked the car in the street outside the football ground, since the game wasn't due to start for almost an hour and the stands were almost empty as of yet, and he and Mattie got out. Walking past the few other cars already there, Mattie noticed a police car among them.
Lucien seemed to notice it at the same time. "Ah, good, it looks as though Charlie's already here somewhere. We might need him, depending upon what we can find out," he said as they walked to the offices.
A player had been found dead two nights ago in one of the administrators' offices, while he was on leave in Melbourne for the week. So far they had twelve suspects, all with possible motive and opportunity, plus any supporters of the opposing team who took things too far, but no sign of the murder weapon: a small, double-edged blade with which he was stabbed four times. The office was covered in fingerprints, but far too many to tell them anything at this point apart from the cleaner's poor work ethic.
As always, though, when things were looking like they had hit a dead end, Lucien had a theory he wanted to test.
When they reached the plain wooden door with frosted glass, the doctor tested the worn, gold door handle, finding it unlocked. "Looks like Charlie's inside," he commented as he swung the door open.
Sergeant Davis was standing casually, apparently taking notes on the crime scene, looking up when they entered the room. Well, not actually up, since his vantage point was so much higher than theirs. "Doc, Mattie," he greeted.
"What are you doing up there, Charlie?" Lucien asked incredulously of the policeman perched on top of a filing cabinet that would have reached Mattie's shoulders, at least. She supposed it was lucky that the ceilings weren't low, since Charlie was already at least six feet tall, even without his hat.
He crouched down, placing his hand on the edge, and sprang lightly to the floor. Mattie breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he was safer ground. Even though he had looked steady enough, the position had seemed extremely precarious. "I was going through all the statements I took, and several people make mention of seeing a girl and boy in their teens leaving the area not long after the argument would have taken place. It also seems like nobody saw the orange girl for about half an hour, around the same time," he told them.
"Argument?" Mattie repeated.
Charlie turned his intense blue eyes on her. "The day before the murder, people overheard shouting from this office after training. I've had seven people confirm that one of the voices belonged to our victim, and the other to a man, though he seemed to do a lot less yelling, and nobody can be sure who it was," he explained.
"That doesn't really explain why you were on top of that, though," she pointed out, gesturing to the cabinet.
He smiled in that way he had, it wasn't so much a baring of teeth in a grin, but his whole face seemed to open up. "True. I reckon that the kids weren't involved in the argument, but they were in the room. The fact that they scampered off after it was over indicates they were hiding in here. If we can say we know they were in here, maybe they'll tell us what they overheard, saw even. So, I'm looking for hiding places," he said.
"On top of a cabinet?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.
That actually got a huff that bordered on a laugh, she noticed proudly. "Well, I can't really see where they could have been. There's room for one person there," he pointed to a cupboard beneath a trophy case, "but I just can't find where the other person could have hidden. I thought maybe under the desk, but you'd be found pretty quickly. So maybe against the wall on top of the tall pieces of furniture, but the dust is undisturbed. And that's what I learnt while on this," he concluded wryly, tapping on the top drawer.
Lucien nodded thoughtfully, then moved to open the doors of the space under the display of cups, ribbons, photos, and shields. The storage space was empty and free of shelves, but only came up to the doctor's mid-thigh. He crouched down, then murmured, "Well, I think you're onto something here, Charlie – what's this?" He pulled a few long, light brown hairs from their place stuck in one of the hinges.
Charlie bent to look at the hairs, grimacing slightly. "That would've hurt. But they look like they could belong to the orange girl," he offered. He held out a little envelope for evidence, sealing the clue inside.
"Now, of you wouldn't mind, Charlie…" Lucien said, gesturing to the cupboard.
The younger man looked pained. "Why?" he asked, looking reluctant but like he realised that he was going to do it anyway.
"We need to conduct an experiment, and why don't we put that agility of yours to good use?" he replied with a grin and slap on the shoulder.
Charlie looked distinctly unimpressed, but took off his hat and placed it on the desk. He threw a look at Mattie, to which she responded with a shrug. He undid the belt on his jacket and started on the buttons, placing it next to his cap. He rarely removed it, and she supposed that he wanted maximum manoeuvrability if he was going to stuff himself in that tiny space.
He wasn't a great deal taller than Lucien, but the doctor had the disadvantage of being stockier, so it made sense for the lean cop to be crammed in there, Mattie reasoned, as well as the aforementioned agility. Having said that, the last person to hide in there hadn't been a fully grown man, and Charlie's shoulders were quite broad. She did feel a little sorry for him, but mostly she was trying not to laugh.
In the end he had to lie on the floor and slide himself in sideways, scrunching his long legs into the short space, then wiggling his upper body to fit his shoulders within the confines. Eventually he seemed satisfied with his achievement. "There, can I get out now? I think this is crushing my lungs," he said, his nose wrinkled in discomfort.
"Not yet," Lucien answered, and shut the doors in his face. Mattie let out a quiet laugh at that. Watching the sergeant, whose movement was usually dignified in keeping with his serious demeanour, wiggle and struggle had almost been too much for her, but the muffled groan he let out at being forced to stay put was too much, and she laughed out loud at that.
"What do you think we'll be having for dinner tonight?" Lucien yelled angrily.
"I think Jean said fish," Mattie replied forcefully.
"That sounds lovely," he responded at normal volume.
She nodded, adding quietly, "I love Jean's fish."
The doctor walked over to Charlie's hiding place and opened the door at the end where his head was and asked, "How much of that did you catch?"
"The first thing each of you said was loud and clear, but the next time you spoke was a little difficult to catch. I have no idea what Mattie said at the end though, only that she spoke," he reported. "Can I please get out now?"
Lucien held up a finger. "Not yet." Then he turned to the nurse a pace behind him, looking over his shoulder. "Mattie, I think Charlie's right, I don't think there's any other place in the room for the second person to hide. Which means, quite possibly, that they both hid in this spot. I wonder, could you see if you can fit in there with Charlie?"
"Doc, I can barely fit by myself!" the young man protested.
Lucien swung open the other door. "But you're not taking up all the available space," he countered.
Charlie thumped his head against the wooden wall but made no more verbal protest. Mattie couldn't think of a good reason to refuse, beyond it being both physically uncomfortable, probably, and incredibly awkward, definitely. She stooped to look at the available space, and there wasn't much. There was no hope of them curling up at either end, since Charlie seemed to already be in the only possible configuration that would afford his frame. She was going to have to lie on top of him in much the same position.
Giving a sigh of resignation, she sat on the floor and shrugged out of her coat, which Lucien considerately placed on the desk next to Charlie's. She seized up the goal. "Uncross your arms," she instructed.
With a dirty look, he flopped his door-side arm onto the floor and pressed the other against the back wall with a whack.
Mattie lay down and edged in sideways just as he had done, but with the added obstacle of a human body already occupying at least half the space. He used his free arm to help her slide onto his chest, then let it flop back down. At that point, she just had to laugh. Two adults wiggling into a cupboard while another watched, it was just too absurd. She heard Lucien join in, and then felt Charlie chuckle beneath her, his tensing muscles pressing her torso into their 'ceiling'.
"Okay. There won't be enough room for my legs unless they go between yours," she said. He removed the outer one, and she tucked her feet next to his, before he sandwiched her in with the other. Her knees pressed against the wood above, but luckily, since she was shorter than the man she lay atop, she could have the top of her head against his chin rather than having to place it on top of his, which would have made things go from cramped to agonising.
"How's that?" Lucien asked.
"Great," Charlie mumbled sarcastically. Mattie felt the air stir her hair when he spoke, the movement of his jaw and throat, and the vibrations of his deep voice through the upper half of her body.
"A tight fit, but plausible," Mattie said.
"Well, we might as well shut the door for a moment while we're here. Arm in," he said.
There really was nowhere for him to put his arms, and, with a muttered apology, he wrapped them around Mattie's hips in the end.
Lucien stooped to close the door, then froze. "Someone's coming. Stay hidden, see what you can hear," he instructed and shut the door in their faces.
Footsteps, the door opening and closing, then nothing.
Mattie strained to hear anything from the room beyond, but the only sound that reached her ears was the sound of their steady breathing. Her whole body rose and fell with Charlie's every breath, making her touch the wood, then letting a sliver of space between it and her torso. As the seconds wore on, she realised she could feel his heartbeat against her shoulders. She could hear the ticking of their respective watches, slightly out of synch. She heard him swallow.
She was musing that she was glad he wore a pleasant aftershave or cologne or whatever, because she could smell it clearly from within his strange embrace, when she felt him take in a breath.
"I actually think this might cause me permanent spine damage," he whispered, his warm breath on her ear and neck just short of making her shiver, which would have been embarrassing.
She wasn't actually that uncomfortable, all things considered. If they had to stay here for a long time she might get a bit hot, but at the moment she was toasty warm, wrapped in her cellmate. He, however, had his back on a strange angle and shoulders scrunched and crammed into the narrow space to allow the doors close.
"I'll probably get free medical treatment, though, since this is the doctor's fault," he added.
Mattie shrugged and moved her head to try to lessen the tingling on her neck.
Charlie spluttered quietly. "And now I have your hair in my mouth," he complained.
"Ew," she complained and moved her head to side. If she craned her neck, she could see his face, nose wrinkled in displeasure. That, compounding the ridiculousness of the situation, made her laugh, in a whisper. Charlie laughed too, making her hit her head on the 'ceiling'.
"Ow," she moaned.
"Sorry," he whispered, using the hand further from the door to rub her forehead. She could feel him shaking with controlled laughter.
"Do you think we can get out now?" Mattie murmured. "I can't hear anything."
Before the sergeant could reply, the sound of the door opening reached them, and they both stopped breathing at the same time. They froze, with one of Charlie's hands pressed to her belly and the other on her head.
"Blake?" he breathed in her ear. She shook her head. The office door closed, followed by the sounds of paper rustling.
"Where do you think that bastard could have hidden it?" a gruff, masculine voice queried.
"It has to be somewhere in this room. He talked like he had it with him, but it wasn't on him. I checked," another, younger voice replied. The sound of drawers being opened and closed interspersed the shuffling.
Mattie could feel both of their hearts racing. "Left trouser pocket, my pistol," he told her, barely audible.
She nodded, sliding her fingers up his leg and until she felt the opening of his pocket. It was difficult, but not impossible, for her to retrieve it in her position. Taking great care not to tap the metal on the wood, nudge the doors, or somehow fire the thing, she placed it in the hand resting on her stomach.
He held the gun at the ready for several seconds while the men in the room searched and exchanged frustrations. Footsteps approached their cupboard, and the doors suddenly swung open a few seconds later. The young man who opened them fell back with a shriek.
"Neither of you try anything," the policeman warned. "Now, Mattie, would you mind getting off me, slowly?"
In the end, it turned out that the victim had had documents proving another player and his father had been involved in fixing games and crooked wagers. The young couple, the orange girl and her beau, had been using the vacant office for… alone time, and hidden in the cupboard when they had heard someone approaching. The trauma of witnessing a murder had only brought them closer together. The same could be said for the nurse and the policeman who had hidden in the same place. Apparently, Mattie developed a taste for being enveloped in the embrace of a certain police sergeant, and he was more than happy to oblige.