Author's note: Tommy and Barbara belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. Lady Macbeth and other characters belong of course to William Shakespeare.


Wars, famines, climate change, student protests about the rising costs of living and the imposition of new taxes were far too depressing to listen to so Detective Inspector Lynley flicked off his television and sat in the dark slowly sipping his whiskey. It was nine months since Helen had died and although he was now back at work nothing was the same. He did the same things, with the same people, time after time. Everything was routine and unsatisfying. Even the one relationship that had always kept him going had faded into ordinariness. Perhaps if he had treated Barbara better in those first few months things might be different but he had pushed her away then and he knew he was still pushing her away. He just wished he knew why. She had been persistently and annoying loyal and had tried hard to keep him balanced and focussed but he just did not have it in him anymore. He had no idea what he wanted from life but this was not it. He drained his drink and went to bed, angry and frustrated but determined.

Tommy was still angry as he walked into the office. Today he needed to have a hard conversation and it was not going to be pleasant for Barbara or for him but it had to be done. He needed to tell her he was moving on.

"Good morning Havers," he said as he passed Barbara's desk.

"Morning Sir," she said cheerily, glad to see him, "Lady Macbeth is dead!"

"The Queen, my Lord, is dead!"*

"Sorry Sir?"

"Yes I know she is dead Havers, suicide, quite fitting really."

"No Sir, definitely murder, an axe to the head."

"Do you take me for a fool Havers?" he snapped.

"Sir?"

"She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."*

As he continued to walk into his office Tommy thought how apt the quote was; it summed up his thoughts from last night. Life, at least in its current form, was meaningless.

Barbara was left standing dumfounded. He had been acting very strangely recently, more so than when he had first come back to work and she was worried about him. Try as she might she could not reach him in the way she had once been able to do and their friendship and bond built up over a decade was slipping away leaving her alone and bereft. But regardless of his eccentric behaviour they had a case to solve so she took a deep breath to gird herself and entered the lion's den.

"Sir, we need to discuss what we do about Lady Macbeth."

"Havers, what are you on about this time? You are raving like an idiot."

"I think Sir it was you that started raving on about the meaning of life. Anyway it seems you know Macbeth so we have to go."

"Of course I know Macbeth! Half of England studied it for their A levels."

"Yeah, well this half of England didn't," she snapped back, "but that does not change the fact that we need to get going."

"Havers, the English language has over one million words, all with precise meanings. Many, I grant, are synonyms but the beauty of the language is that we can find the specific word we need to express exactly our meaning and intent. I suggest you review your use of the language from our earlier conversation and re-phrase it so that I have at least some inkling of what the hell you are trying to tell me!"

Lynley's anger had spilled over into his speech. He could see from the look on her face he had hurt her but he did not care. If anything he wanted to punish her, make her feel the pain he felt. Now might be the time to tell her he was leaving. "And do it quickly because in five minutes I am going into Hillier's office to resign!" There it was said, and he could avoid any clumsy attempts to tell her gently. He was being an utter bastard and he knew it. She did not deserve to be treated like this but he was unable to stop himself. Of all the people in the world he wanted to destroy she was on the top of his list.

Detective Sergeant Havers' face closed down almost immediately and she stood staring at him almost expressionless. He could not understand why he needed to be so cruel. He did not hate Barbara, quite the opposite, and yet he had a burning need to make her suffer. He could apologise at this point and fix it but it was as if a hand was physically holding him back. He wanted to torture her, to tie her up in a dungeon and burn holes into her flesh with hot irons and watch her face contort as she screamed for relief. He wanted to drive a knife into her heart and twist it and then slash her body until she was unrecognisable. As he watched her now he could imagine physically doing it to her and part of him relished it while another part was horrified. He had never until this moment understood why people could murder other people for pleasure but the discovery frightened him to his core. He could feel the blood drain from his face.

"Sorry Sir, you are correct. I was unclear," she said very formally, "The actress playing Lady Macbeth in the production currently being staged in Stratford-upon-Avon has been found dead with a large axe embedded in her skull. It seems Sir that you went to school with the lead actor Paul MacQuarie. Assistant Commissioner Hillier has asked for you to lead the case. I had assumed I would be working with you and told them we would be up there by ten o'clock."

Tommy tried to maintain his composure. He had to stay away from Barbara; he could not risk that he might snap and act on the thoughts that he had never dreamt existed. "Thank you Havers. Now wasn't that simple. I understand everything I need to know. Tell Nkata to pack a bag and I'll pick him up in forty minutes. I need to see Hillier then go home and pack. I suspect we will be up there for a few days. You can stay here and look after the London end."

Barbara's neutral expression dissolved into disappointment but she tried hard to mask it. "Right Sir, I'll tell him." She turned and left his office trying hard to blink away the forming tears.

Hillier was not happy and told Lynley his decision was hasty. He agreed however to give him six months leave starting at the end of the Macbeth case and if Lynley still felt the same at the end of that he would process his resignation. "Thank you Sir."

"What about Sergeant Havers?"

"What about her Sir?"

"What do you want me to do with her?"

"Whatever you need to do Sir," Lynley replied evenly.

"What's going on Lynley? Normally the first thing you would do is try to protect her and make sure she is treated well. Now you're going and don't seem to care. Have you two had some sort of fight? Is that why you are leaving?"

If you only knew Sir, you could never say I want to treat her well. "You make us sound like petulant children Sir." His statement made Hillier raise his eyebrows as if to question why that statement was not valid. "No, we have not had a fight. It is simply time for me to move on. She is a good detective and I hope she does well but it's up to Barbara to shape her career."

"Very well. Send her in please. She can have your job. I'll make her Acting DI until you decide what you're doing."

"Sir?"

"She passed her exams a long time ago. She has only stayed on as a Sergeant because she won't budge from being your partner, although heaven knows why! Probably the same reason you stayed where you were for so long. Anyway she can take the lead on this one and you can help her get up to speed before you go."

"Sir, I really don't think that is a good idea. She might be better under the guidance of another DI. " Lynley was horrified. He should confess now that he was psychologically deranged and a threat to Barbara but he doubted anyone would actually believe him.

"The only one she will listen to is you, and you know it. She is good Lynley but you need to just finish polishing her off in the next few days."

Polishing her off! If only you knew. Would you prefer the hot irons, the knife or perhaps I could strangle her? The image of him with his hands around her neck and her astonished eyes bulging as he tightened his grip flashed through his mind and he tried to erase it before it took hold.

"Oh, and Lynley."

"Yes Sir?"

"Good luck. You might not believe it but I am sad to see you go. I hope you come back to us but if you don't then I hope you find some peace."

Tommy nodded in acknowledgement and closed his lips together in an attempted smile. Peace was the last thing he expected to find.

Barbara had not taken the events of this morning as stoically as she pretended. Winston Nkata had been horrified to learn he was to help the DI on this case and equally worried about Barbara. He had heard the shouting coming from Lynley's office earlier. It was not like their usual rows; this sounded bitter and one-sided.

"Are you okay Barbara? The DI seems to have a real problem today."

"He's resigning Winston so life here is going to change."

Winston came around the desk and rubbed her upper arm in a gesture of care. She smiled at him trying hard not to let on that in the space of one morning her entire life had crashed down around her. She looked up to see Lynley storming down the hall towards them.

"Change of plans. Nkata you stay here. Acting DI Havers and I are off to Stratford."

Barbara and Winston stared at him mouths agape.


Author's note: *William Shakespeare Macbeth Act 5 Scene 5