This was written in response to a challenge that I actually set myself on another site. The challenge was to write a story to include the following:
1. RayV goes out on a date with Inspector Thatcher
2. Diefenbaker has a bath
3. Elaine recalls an embarassing moment from her childhood
4. Lieutenant Welsh sees a ghost
This is set some time during the middle of Season 2 and it is my first attempt at a RayV story. I hope you like it! I really appreciate all reviews, thank you kindly!
MISSING
"Dief, you stink!" Constable Benton Fraser stood in the bathroom of the Vecchio house with his hands on his hips, looking down disapprovingly at his wolf. He had hung his brown uniform jacket on the back of the door and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Diefenbaker growled. "Don't take that attitude with me," continued Fraser, "get in that bath right now!" Dief didn't move.
The bathroom door opened and Ray Vecchio walked in. "Urgh!" he exclaimed, "your wolf is stinking the whole house out Benny."
"I'm very sorry Ray," apologised Fraser, not breaking eye contact with Dief. "Unfortunately Diefenbaker appears to have lost his sense of smell today as well as his hearing." Dief made a noise in his throat. Fraser addressed the animal again. "You're embarrassing yourself," he warned. Dief barked loudly. Fraser looked quite shocked. "If you're going to resort to that sort of language then we'll have to do this the hard way," he said and before Dief had a chance to react, Fraser bent down, gathered the wolf up in his arms and plunged him into the warm water.
Ray smiled. "I know we've been in a few dumpsters Benny," he began, "but usually we have a pretty good reason, even if you don't always tell me what it is. What was Dief looking for this afternoon?"
Fraser was busy lathering Diefenbaker's coat and removing all the bits of whatever it was that had matted itself in. Dief, for his part, had resigned himself to the treatment. He couldn't deny that he felt (and smelled) pretty dreadful and was actually looking forward to getting back to normal. "I think he was looking for food Ray," replied Fraser, turning his head to look at his friend who was still standing in the doorway. "He seems to think that I'm not feeding him enough." Ray laughed. Fraser looked back at the soapy wolf and shook his head. Dief suddenly decided that was a perfect moment to sit down in the water and he did so with such a splash that Fraser ended up soaking wet.
Ray almost bent double with laughter. "I'll get you a towel," he spluttered and went out to the cupboard.
It took all of Fraser's self control to remain entirely calm as he silently wiped the bubbles from his face. He wasn't about to give Diefenbaker the satisfaction of displaying his annoyance, even though he knew that his wolf had done that on purpose.
Ray quickly came back with the towel and handed it to Fraser. "So what's wrong with the plumbing in your building anyway?" he asked.
"Well Ray," began Fraser, "Dennis advised all of us that there is significant damage to some of the original pipework and unfortunately he is having some difficulty locating suitable replacement parts."
"Yeah right," replied Ray sarcastically, "locating cheap replacement parts, you mean."
"Ray, I'm sure Dennis is trying his best to restore the facilities in our bathroom as soon as possible."
"Oh Benny," replied Ray, "Benny, Benny, Benny, hard as it may be for you to believe, y'know some people don't try their best all the time."
"You know Ray," said Fraser, scratching at his left eyebrow with a wet thumb, "I think maybe some people just might surprise you, if you'd just give them a chance."
Ray was about to reply when he heard the telephone in the hall ringing. He went downstairs to answer it. Fraser quickly finished bathing Dief and was towelling him dry when Ray came running back up the stairs. "Fraser, it's Inspector Thatcher on the phone for you," he said urgently, "sounds important." Maybe the Dragon Lady has some dry cleaning that needs collecting, thought Ray.
Fraser jumped up and headed out of the bathroom, throwing the towel at Ray on his way past. "Thank you kindly Ray," he said.
Ray wasn't sure if his friend was thanking him for telling him about the phone call, or was assuming he was going to finish drying off Diefenbaker. He sighed and looked Dief squarely in the eye. "I suggest you make this easy for me," he said to the wolf, "and maybe I'll find you a couple of doughnuts later." Ray wasn't sure if Diefenbaker had understood what he'd said. "DOUGH-NUTS" he repeated loudly, enunciating perfectly as he got down onto to his knees with the towel.
A few minutes later, Fraser came running back up the stairs. "Ray, I have to go. A twelve year old girl is missing, the daughter of an old friend of Inspector Thatcher's from Canada who is visiting Chicago." As he spoke, Fraser was hurriedly putting his jacket back on and refastening the shiny buttons and belt buckle. His shirt was still a little damp, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "Dief, are you coming?" Dief didn't move.
"I promised him doughnuts, sorry," Ray said a little sheepishly. "Is there's anything I can do?"
"Thank you Ray," said Fraser, shaking his head, "but Inspector Thatcher hopes that we can find her without involving the Chicago PD at this juncture."
Ray nodded in agreement. "Well call me if you need anything, unofficially I mean."
"Right you are," Fraser called out over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs and out of the front door.
-
The next day, Fraser, Ray and Inspector Meg Thatcher were standing in Lieutenant Welsh's office at the 27th Precinct. Lieutenant Welsh was studying a letter that Inspector Thatcher had handed him. "Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday?" he asked her gruffly, "I could have had people out there looking for her all night."
Inspector Thatcher looked directly at him. "This is a Canadian matter, the RCMP are quite capable of dealing with this situation Lieutenant." She spoke defensively, she knew that with hindsight she'd possibly made a mistake and she didn't usually make mistakes. "The letter only arrived at the Consulate this morning."
Fraser noticed Welsh about to respond and he decided that this could quickly descend into a heated discussion which was not going to help anyone find the missing girl. "May I see the ransom note again?" Fraser asked. Welsh handed it across the table to him. He scanned down the typed message. "It does seem a little unusual for the kidnappers to demand the involvement of the police," he acknowledged.
"Maybe they're Canadian?" suggested Ray, looking over his partner's shoulder at the letter. "They've asked so politely for a Chicago cop to deliver the two million bucks." Fraser turned his head towards Ray and narrowed his eyes. Ray shrugged sarcastically.
"I assume you have no intention of paying this ransom Inspector?" enquired Welsh.
"The girl's father is in a very difficult position," explained Inspector Thatcher, "obviously he doesn't have two million dollars, but he wants to do everything he can for his daughter."
Welsh nodded. "This man is a friend of yours?" he asked.
"Yes Lieutenant," replied the Inspector, "I used to work closely with his ex-wife back in Canada, but since her promotion I haven't seen as much of them as I used to. Rebecca agreed that their daughters could come to Chicago with their father while he helps his sister open an art gallery here."
"We've got the father in now Sir," said Ray, seriously this time, "I'm going to see if he can give us anything to go on." Welsh nodded and Inspector Thatcher, Fraser and Ray turned to leave the office, but before Ray could get out of the door, Lieutenant Welsh called out to him.
"Vecchio," he said quietly, "let's not screw this one up." Ray nodded. He knew that this wasn't just about finding the missing girl, it was quickly becoming a matter of national pride.
Fraser watched from the other side of the two way mirror as Inspector Thatcher and Ray talked to the father of the missing girl. Steve Jameson was out of his mind with worry for his daughter Diane. His girls had begged their father to be allowed to come to Chicago with him and now his eldest daughter was missing and his youngest, Alice, was quite understandably very upset. They had been playing in the backyard of the house the family had rented yesterday afternoon and Diane had just disappeared.
Fraser looked down at Dief who was laying at his feet. "Something isn't right," he said to his companion, "I can't quite put my finger on it. Come on." He walked back out into the squad room with Dief following behind. Elaine was sitting at her desk with Alice Jameson, the younger sister of the missing girl. Alice recoiled at the sight of Diefenbaker walking towards her.
Fraser immediately put his hand out to stop Dief going any further. He crossed to Elaine's desk and got down on one knee to address the young girl. "He won't hurt you," he said gently, before adding, "unless of course you intend to commit a crime." Elaine scowled at him. Fraser shook his head, that wasn't exactly how he'd meant that to sound, he really wasn't very good at communicating with young children. "He's an Arctic Wolf," he said. Alice turned to look at Dief. "He likes it if you play with his ears," said Fraser, indicating to Diefenbaker to come over. Fraser carefully took the little girls hand and placed it on the top of Dief's head.
Alice smiled. "He feels soft," she said, surprised.
"He had a bath yesterday," smiled Fraser. "He can't hear very well," he explained.
"Poor thing," said Alice, rubbing Dief's back. "We don't have any pets," she said., "my Dad's allergic to animal fur."
"I'm allergic to birds," said Elaine. "Actually, once I was dating a boy from school, I guess I was fourteen, maybe fifteen years old and the first time I went to his house my face swelled up, my eyes were watering and I went all red and blotchy. I looked awful! He never told me he had a parrot. It was so embarrassing! He never asked me on another date after that!"
"That wasn't very chivalrous," observed Fraser.
Elaine shook her head. "I don't think fifteen year old kids know the meaning of the word, not around here," she said, smiling at Fraser's naivety. "Anyway Alice, I know exactly how your Dad feels."
The little girl began to cry. Elaine put her arm around her. "I'm sure your sister will be home soon," she said comfortingly.
Fraser nodded. "Did you notice anything suspicious yesterday?" he enquired. The Alice looked confused.
"Benton, she's eight years old," Elaine said quietly, she didn't think Fraser should be questioning her under the circumstances.
"I'm sorry," Fraser addressed the little girl. He stood up to leave, but he noticed that Alice was still playing with Diefenbaker's ears. "He could stay here with you for a while, if you like," said Fraser. The girl nodded and smiled. Fraser looked at Dief. He could tell the animal was not very happy, he knew he hated being fussed over like that, but he hoped that Dief would understand that he was helping the young girl cope with a very difficult situation. Dief made a throaty noise. "Good boy," said Fraser with a small smile and walked back towards the interview room.
Ray was just walking out of the room. He looked at Fraser. "Nothing," he said. He was really frustrated. "We've got nothing to go on. No idea who's got her or why." Fraser sighed. Ray continued, "I've got a couple of names, business associates of the father and connections to his sister's art gallery, so I said we'd go and talk to them, but there's no motive, no hint of a criminal background. Nothing. Dragon Lady's gonna talk to the Canadians, see if there's any link with the mother, any old cases of hers."
"I don't believe that Inspector Jameson has any particular enemies, but there may be some connection." Fraser paused for a moment. He looked a little uncomfortably at his feet and rubbed at his left eyebrow with his knuckle before adding, "Please don't call her that Ray."
Ray grinned. "Come on Benny," he said, "let's go do some detective work."
They collected Diefenbaker from Alice, who was just getting ready to leave with her father. Fraser may have been mistaken, but he could have sworn Dief looked as though he'd been enjoying the attention this time.
-
As Ray suspected, the interviews didn't yield any new information. Both he and Fraser had spent enough time interviewing suspects and dealing with criminals to know that all of the people they talked to were telling the truth and had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of the girl.
"We should go to the house," suggested Fraser.
"Forensics have already been over the place," replied Ray. "Didn't find anything. The kid just vanished."
"I'd like to see for myself though Ray," said Fraser.
"OK Benny," shrugged Ray in agreement as he spun the Riviera around. "Maybe you can find something to lick that they missed!" He was being flippant, but he really hoped that Fraser could work his Mountie magic in this instance. The more time that passed the more worried he became for the girl's safety.
They pulled up outside the rented house. Ray knocked at the door and Steve Jameson opened it. "Oh Detective, do you have some news?" he asked anxiously.
Ray glanced uncomfortably at Fraser, suddenly wishing they'd called ahead instead of turning up unannounced. "I'm terribly sorry Sir," began Fraser, "but I'm afraid we have no new information at this juncture. May we come in?"
The man looked forlorn. "Yes Constable, of course." He held the front door open as Fraser and Ray stepped in, closely followed by Dief.
Alice Jameson came running out of the other room. "Dief!" she exclaimed, "I saw you through the window." She got onto her knees and began showing the wolf lots of attention. Dief, for his part, certainly seemed to be enjoying it this time, observed Fraser.
"May we see where the girls were playing when Diane disappeared?" Fraser asked. Steve nodded and showed Fraser and Ray through to the back of the house and out into the yard. Ray thanked him and he went back inside.
"Go on then Benny," encouraged Ray, "do your thing and then we can wrap this one up."
"Ray, I'm not sure what you're expecting me to do?" replied Fraser. "You know, my father once gave me some important advice about looking for clues," he continued. Ray wasn't really paying much attention, but Fraser continued anyway, "he said that clues are always there, you just have to find them."
Ray stopped and turned to face his friend. "Benny, that's possibly the most obvious piece of advice I've ever heard!" he said shaking his head in disbelief.
Fraser thought for a moment and frowned. "Maybe that wasn't exactly how he put it," he said. He began muttering under his breath, convinced that it had been useful advice when he'd first heard it.
Ray was looking about. "Back gate was locked the whole time apparently," he said nodding towards the gate. "Maybe the kidnapper climbed over it?"
Fraser walked over to the gate and took hold of the top of it, giving it a firm tug. The gate almost came off its rather rusty hinges. Fraser looked at Ray and raised his eyebrows. He jumped up and tried to grasp onto the gate with both hands intending to scale it himself, but it was so unsafe that he immediately let go and dropped back down onto the path. "There's no way this old gate would take the weight of a kidnapper climbing in and then forcibly dragging a twelve year old girl back over it," he said, "the timbers are rotten."
"Maybe he beamed in?" suggested Ray unhelpfully.
"Ray although the teleportation of matter at a quantum level is a popular idea in the realms of theoretical physics, I believe that for now anyway, it remains the stuff of science fiction." Fraser was examining the area surrounding the gate as he spoke.
"Library book?" offered Ray.
Fraser turned his head to look at his partner. "Yes Ray," he said. Ray nodded.
-
A little later, Ray and Fraser were heading back to the precinct. Fraser was unusually preoccupied. "What is it Benny?" asked Ray.
"I don't understand," replied Fraser. "She's twelve years old and she disappeared from a secure backyard with her sister right there and her father in the house. We have no suspects at this juncture, nor do we have a motive for the kidnapping." He slowly coated his lower lip with his tongue as he pondered the situation. "What am I not seeing?" He picked his hat up off the dashboard. "Let me out here Ray," he said suddenly, "I'd like to walk. The fresh air may help me think. I'll take the opportunity to make some enquiries. Maybe someone on the street saw her?"
"Well I don't think you're gonna find much fresh air here Benny," said Ray, rolling his eyes as he pulled over to the kerb. "I've got some phone calls to make," he continued, "so I'll see you later."
"Right you are," replied Fraser.
Eventually he found himself back at the 27th. Nobody that he'd spoken to over the last few hours had been of any help. He walked up to Ray's desk, but his friend wasn't there. He noticed Steve Jameson was in Lieutenant Welsh's office. Alice was sat in the corner of the office and she looked a little distressed as her father and the Lieutenant were having quite a lively debate. He could quite understand the man's anxiety, but it wasn't fair on young Alice as she was already frightened for her sister. He walked over and knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. "Excuse me," he began as Lieutenant Welsh looked at him with a face like thunder, "I thought perhaps Alice would like to play with Diefenbaker for a while?"
The little girl jumped off her chair and ran towards the door. "Thank you," said her father. Fraser nodded an acknowledgement. They headed towards the lunch room and found Ray sat at one of the tables eating something from one of the vending machines. Fraser couldn't even tell what it was, it looked so unappetising.
Ray lifted his head and managed half a smile when he saw his friend. "Hey," he said, "any luck this afternoon?"
Fraser sighed and shook his head. He sat down at the table with Ray. "I've been thinking about the ransom note," he said, "what kidnapper in their right mind would insist that the police become involved? Usually its quite the opposite?" Ray nodded. He took one look at the half eaten sandwich in his hand and threw it down onto the table in disgust.
Fraser had turned slightly and was watching Alice and Diefenbaker. She was holding him tightly around the neck, he noticed she'd been doing that earlier at the house. He studied her face for a moment and then suddenly he realised why nothing made any sense. "Diane wasn't kidnapped Ray," he said quietly before getting off the chair and crossing to where Alice and Dief were sitting. "Alice," he began, bending down onto one knee, "do you know where Diane is?"
Ray sat bolt upright. "There was a ransom note Fraser?" he said, initially confused, but then he realised something too. "An overly polite and childish ransom note," he said closing his eyes for a moment as the reality dawned on him.
Alice looked suddenly terrified. She refused to look at Fraser in the eye and instead she hugged Dief even more tightly. "I promised I wouldn't tell," she whispered in the wolf's ear.
Fraser glanced up at Ray and bit down on his lower lip. Alice had been clinging onto Dief, not just physically, but emotionally too. At first Fraser just assumed that she was worried about her sister, but it had suddenly become obvious to him that she was keeping something secret and she'd felt safe with a deaf wolf as a confidante. "Alice, we gotta find your sister," said Ray, "if she's out there alone she may be in danger." Alice still didn't take her eyes off Dief.
"Why did she run away?" asked Fraser. The girl didn't answer. Fraser had a thought. He spoke again softly. "Why don't you tell Diefenbaker all about it?" he suggested, placing a firm hand on the wolf.
"She said it would be exciting," the girl spoke with a shaky voice, her face nuzzled into Dief's back, "all I had to do was mail the letter and keep the secret. She said a policeman would come and rescue her and it would be amazing, just like on TV."
"Do you know where she is?" asked Fraser. No reply. "Why don't you tell Dief where she is?"
"She's hiding in the warehouse at my Aunt's art gallery," whispered Alice to Diefenbaker, "but you mustn't tell her I told you." Ray got up from the table to go and tell Lieutenant Welsh.
"Don't worry," Fraser smiled at Alice, "wolves are very good at keeping secrets."
-
That evening, Ray and Fraser were sat around Ray's desk. Diane had been found safe and sound just where her sister had said she would be. She was really sorry for scaring everyone like that, but she just wanted to have an adventure on her first trip across the border. She thought it would be exciting to be rescued by police with guns just like she'd seen on countless TV shows.
Ray shook his head. "Y'know Fraser," he said, "I'm gonna sound like some grouchy old guy now, but maybe there is such a thing as too much TV."
Fraser agreed. "It does give an impression of life in this country that is not entirely accurate."
"Yeah," laughed Ray, "same here. I thought all Canadians were polite and treated people with respect. Then I met the Dragon Lady!"
Fraser was just about to complain about Ray using that derogatory term about his superior officer again, when she walked into the squad room. He coughed, tugged at his collar and jumped to his feet. "Inspector!" he said.
Ray was slightly startled. "Talk of the devil," he muttered under his breath. Fraser, of course, heard exactly what he said and glared at him.
"Ah, Constable Fraser," Inspector Thatcher was surprised to see him still here at this late hour. "I thought you would have left here by now."
"Oh, um, I'm terribly sorry Sir," began Fraser, "would you like me to leave?"
"Yes Constable," she replied, rather too sharply for Ray's liking.
"Very well," nodded Fraser, "I'll be, um, that is, I must go and talk to, um, someone in another room." He tried to maintain his dignity as he left the squad room.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Ray asked Thatcher. He was quite annoyed at the way she treated his friend, particularly as Fraser clearly had some sort of unfathomable romantic inclination towards her, even though he would never admit it to Ray.
"Yes Detective," replied the Inspector. She was standing very still and she was having trouble making eye contact with Ray. "Actually I need to ask you a favour."
"Ask me a favour?" replied Ray incredulously.
Thatcher sighed and relaxed her stance slightly. "Yes Detective," she began, "it's of a personal nature." Ray was intrigued. "As you know, Steve Jameson is involved in the opening of an art gallery owned by his sister. He has arranged an opening gala for next Tuesday evening and he has asked me to be his date for the evening." Ray was completely taken aback by the subject of the Inspector's conversation. He wasn't sure what she wanted him to say. She continued speaking. "The thing is, Detective, I told him that I was already seeing someone else." She paused. "I've known him for years and I'm good friends with his ex-wife so I really don't want to embark on a romantic liaison with him."
Ray was getting slightly worried as he had a feeling he knew where this was headed. "So you told him..."
"Yes Detective," interrupted Inspector Thatcher, "I told him you and I were dating." She sighed a huge sigh as she finished speaking.
"What about Fraser?" asked Ray.
"What about him?" asked the Inspector, rather abruptly, desperately trying not to blush.
"Why didn't you tell Jameson you and Fraser were together? That would have been plausible enough."
"Fraser is not very good at lying," replied Thatcher, "also I am his superior officer which makes it entirely inappropriate, otherwise he would be my perfect man." She froze as she realised what she'd just said. Ray looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "I meant the perfect man, er, person, the perfect person for the, um, for the assignment. That's what I meant to say Detective." She was really fumbling over her words as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
Ray grinned. "Of course. Well in that case, I suggest you call me Ray," he said.
"Of course, um, Ray," she replied, "and you can call me Meg."
"OK Meg," Ray grinned again.
"Only for the purposes of this little rouse," clarified Thatcher. Ray stopped grinning. This was going to be hard work. "He has also invited us to dinner tonight. I couldn't say no after what he's been through."
"Oh," replied Ray. He was hoping he'd have a few days to get used to the idea of spending time with her on a social basis.
"We have to go now," said Meg, looking at her watch.
"Now?" said Ray. "Oh," he said again as he quickly scribbled a note for Fraser and left it on his desk. He grabbed his coat and looked under the desk to where Diefenbaker had been hiding. Ray pulled a face at the wolf and Dief barked quietly.
"What was that noise?" asked Meg.
"Nothing," replied Ray, leading her towards the door. As soon as they had left the room, Dief came out from his hiding place and went to find Fraser.
A moment later, Fraser walked back into the squad room, closely followed by Dief. He went to Ray's desk and picked up the note. "Are you sure?" he said to Dief. Diefenbaker barked and jumped onto Ray's chair. "Hmm" Fraser frowned as he read the note. It was a little vague and he assumed Ray would explain further when he next saw him "Well in that case I suggest we go home." He picked up his hat and tucked it under his arm, but just as he was about to walk out, he heard a loud crashing noise, following by a yell coming from Lieutenant Welsh's office.
Fraser ran to the office and flung open the door. He saw Lieutenant Welsh in a heap on the floor in the corner of the room, just staring straight ahead. There were papers all over the place that Welsh had clearly dropped or knocked over when he fell. "Are you alright Lieutenant?" asked Fraser as he rushed over to the older man and helped him to his feet. Welsh didn't say anything. He kept staring at his desk. "Lieutenant?"
"Can you see him Constable?" Welsh spoke very quietly, without looking at Fraser.
"See who?" asked Fraser, looking around the room.
"Him," Welsh pointed across the room to the other side of his desk. His face was pale and he was sweating a little.
"I'm sorry Sir, but I'm not sure..." but Fraser was interrupted by the ghost of his father who was suddenly standing behind his son's left shoulder.
"You can't see him then?" asked Bob Fraser.
"See who?" replied Fraser. He was used to the sudden appearances of his father.
"Now you're repeating yourself Constable," frowned Welsh, starting to look a little less shocked. "My uncle Clive," he said.
Fraser looked from Welsh to his father. "There's another one of you here?" he said to Bob.
"Another Welsh you mean," said the Lieutenant. Fraser spun his head back around to look at him and nodded. "My uncle used to work the lake boats when I was a kid, but he's, he's..." his voice trailed off and he went pale again.
"Dead?" suggested Fraser. Welsh nodded slowly. He still hadn't managed to look directly at Fraser.
"He's saying 'Hello' Benton," said Bob, nodding towards the apparently empty chair.
"He's saying 'Hello'?" repeated Fraser.
"So you can hear him then," said Welsh, surprised.
"Er, no, I mean, um..." Fraser wasn't sure what to say. "Can't you do something?" he hissed at his father.
"Do what?" replied Welsh and Bob Fraser in unison, although of course Welsh could only hear his own voice.
Fraser put his head in his hands and sighed. "Ask him to leave, I don't think this is a good idea," he muttered to Bob, looking back at his father.
"Do you think that would work?" asked Welsh. Fraser hadn't been talking to him of course. He watched bemused as the ghost of his father appeared to have a one sided conversation with thin air. He suddenly became aware of how he probably looked to other people on occasions.
"Please go away," said Welsh in a determined voice.
"He just wanted to make sure his nephew was alright," explained Bob to his son.
"Well," began Fraser, "well he's just fine thank you." Fraser was beginning to feel a little exasperated with all these other worldly interruptions to his otherwise completely normal life. Well, maybe not completelynormal.
"I can answer for myself Constable," snapped Welsh, looking directly at Fraser for the first time.
"Yes Lieutenant," replied Fraser, looking at the floor and scratching furiously at his eyebrow, "sorry," he added. He looked at his father with expectant eyes.
"Oh, he's gone!" exclaimed Welsh as he looked back towards the desk.
"He's gone," added Bob.
"I know, I heard," Fraser glared at his father. Bob really had been no help whatsoever in this situation.
"You heard him go?" queried Lieutenant Welsh.
"No, I mean yes." Fraser was quite glad that the Lieutenant's ghostly relative had apparently disappeared. He regarded Welsh for a moment while he thought what to say next. He decided that trying to explain about his father at this juncture would be a really, really bad idea, so he stayed silent.
Lieutenant Welsh shook his head. He had no idea what had just happened. He glanced at Fraser, who appeared to be frozen to the spot. "That will be all Constable," he said. Almost before Welsh had finished his last word, Fraser breathed a huge sigh of relief and turned on his heels, glad to be leaving the awkward situation, but before he was completely out of the door Welsh called out to him. "Constable," he said.
Fraser turned back into the room. "Yes Lieutenant?" he said, really wishing he could just go.
"Not a word about this to anyone," instructed Welsh.
Fraser didn't need telling twice. He nodded at Welsh. "Understood."
THE END