"May I be in heaven before the devil know I am dead."
Thomas Brackenreid hesitated briefly before entering the morgue. He had expected the place to be empty, not to find Dr. Ogden still at work.
"Inspector!" Julia Ogden said in surprise, when she saw Thomas Brackenreid standing at the top of the ramp.
She was completing her post mortem of Dilton Dilbert. Having documented the extent of the man's trauma from being pinned by a motorcar, she was preparing the corpse for the mortuary when Brackenreid entered.
"Doctor."
Julia noticed the bottle and tumblers in the inspector's hands.
"I would like to drink a toast to Mr. Dilbert."
He seemed a little ill at ease at first.
"Join me." Brackenreid added.
"All right."
He poured into one glass a finger of whiskey for her, and for himself a double.
"Here's to the bravest chap I know."
Julia nodded.
Brackenreid had seen his fair share of death in his days fighting in the Boer War. Nothing compared to Dilbert's demise today. He didn't deserve this. Bad things shouldn't happen to good people.
Having finally accepted his fate, Dilbert even called him a friend. His forthrightness was something to be admired. Had he survived, Brackenreid thought he could get to like the man … a lot.
The thing that impressed him the most though was how the man had opened his heart to Miss Mildred Ash, from the Sewage Department.
Dilbert had many regrets. This was one of them. Never married. Never even had a courtship. Knowing he had found love, albeit a little too late, was somewhat comforting, he supposed.
Brackenreid looked down at the rest of his drink sadly. He was about to take another gulp, when he simply left the bottle and glass on a nearby bench.
"Thank you Julia. … I think I'll go home to tell Margaret how much I love her."
With that Thomas Brackenreid walked off, leaving Julia to ponder his parting words.