Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction, not for profit, purely for fun, story. I do not own these characters, just borrowing them from Lewis.
This is the sequel to No Man's Land.
"Canada?"
"Yes, Jean. Apparently we have to go through Canada to get to Gretna Green."
"Is it the scenic route?"
"Not exactly."
Jean had called Laura to find out the details of the wedding. She planned to accompany James to Scotland as Mr. Innocent would be indisposed.
"Explain please Laura."
"It all started when Robbie opened an envelope from the Registrar's office in Gretna Green..."
Laura had arrived home after a long day at work, exhausted and looking forward to a quiet dinner with Robbie, only to find him dumping his second burnt attempt at pasta into the bin. Laura saw the open bottle of wine and poured a glass for each of them. After she was settled onto the sofa, he handed her the letter from Gretna Green.
Robbie watched as Laura read it, first quickly, then studiously slowly the second time. She lifted her head and asked "Did you call and ask what this is about?"
"Yes, they said it involved you and would not give me any information." He could hear the little devil on his shoulder asking if there was something she was keeping from him. Robbie took his hand and knocked the imaginary doubting fiend off.
Laura wrinkled her brow at Robbie. "I worked out that LHOB referred to me. Other than that, I have no idea." It was too late to call the Gretna Green office now. They would have to wait until morning.
The next afternoon Robbie and James were in their office. Robbie was still trying to wrap his head around the news they got from Laura's call to Gretna Green in the morning. He sent Maddox off on an extended errand. Lizzie wasn't fooled but left them to get on with whatever it was that they did not want her around for.
Robbie fidgeted with the pen in his hands while sporting another in his mouth like a cigarette.
James got right to it. "Trouble in paradise?"
"I'm not sure. Wait, no, I am sure. There is no trouble with us, just some kind of bureaucratic misunderstanding." He took the pen out of his mouth and wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to James.
CA-M3M3-LHOB
James inspected the paper. "This isn't a chess move. Is it a clue?"
Robbie sighed. "It's a code that explains why Laura is not allowed to get married in Scotland."
"Okay, CA could be Cambridge. This was a form M10 denial so one M is for marriage, I get that. What else does M stand for?" James tried unsuccessfully to push another M word out of his mind.
Jean listened as Laura finished her incredible story.
"They must have got the wrong 'Laura Hobson'. Jean had complete faith in her Laura Hobson.
"Well, Canada has banned me from marrying and Scotland follows their laws."
"What about England?"
"England and Wales make their own rules."
"Why don't you just get married in England then. There are lovely venues in Oxford for a wedding."
Laura huffed a loud sigh into the phone. "I don't like being mixed up with the wrong Laura Hobson. I am going to clear my name and get married in Gretna Green, at the same place my great-grandmother did when she married her copper."
"So what's the next step?"
"I go to Canada and prove that I am the innocent Laura Hobson."
"I? Isn't Robbie going with you?"
"I did not ask him to come with me."
"Let me guess. He did not ask you if you wanted him to."
"Something like that..."
Jean hung up the phone and banged her head on the desk.
James looked up a Robbie. "The second M stands for murder, doesn't it?"
"Yes." Robbie sat on the edge of his desk and drummed the pens on it. "I can feel your eyes boring into me head so I might as well tell you the whole story."
"If you insist..." James was on the edge of his chair.
Robbie put the pens down. "There was an English woman called Laura Hobson who moved to Canada. She was married there three times and-"
James cut in, "She murdered all three husbands." Seeing Robbie's acknowledgment of that fact James congratulated himself on being a good detective.
Robbie continued with the story. "The first husband was clubbed to death with a blunt instrument. The second one was poisoned and the third suffered a-"
"Knife through the heart."
Robbie stared at him. "How did you know that?"
James smiled "Lucky guess." He turned serious. "Are you sure that your lovely Laura isn't this Canadian murderess?"
Robbie hopped off the desk angrily. "Of course I'm sure. I doubted her once before. I'll never doubt her again. How dare you suggest that Laura..." Robbie was too upset to finish that sentence.
"Okay, okay, I'm on her side. I just wanted to make sure we both were. What can I do to help? I do have some contacts in the RCMP."
"She has to appear in person at a police station in Ottawa and give DNA evidence and they will clear her passport so she can use it for identification in Scotland that will allow us to marry there."
"Why isn't the Laura Hobson who committed these crimes in prison in Canada?"
"There was a trial for each murder. The first one ended in a hung jury. After the second one, the guilty verdict was overturned due to juror misconduct. The third trial ended with a not guilty verdict. Laura Hobson took the stand and was very convincing, knew more about corpses than the prosecution. All the Canadian government could do was ban her from marrying in Canada again under the Sanctity of Marriage Act, a law usually applied to men marrying multiple wives. Scotland and Australia have reciprocal marriage eligibility with Canada so our request to marry in Gretna Green was denied."
James bobbed his head back and forth weighing all the options. "So why not get married here in Merry Olde England?"
Robbie blinked his eyes then focused on James. "Laura doesn't like being told she can't marry in Scotland. And she's worried that the actions of this other Laura Hobson may cause difficulties in the future. She insists on clearing her name and is going to Canada to do it."
"She's going to Canada? And what are you going to do?"
"I'm...off home."
James resisted the urge to say "Be careful or you will end up with a red hot poker inside your brain by the eye socket."