Title: Charlie's second chance
Characters: Charlie Davis, Matthew Lawson, Lucien Blake, William Munro
Rating: 15
Spoilers: Seasons 2 & 3
Summary: All Charlie Davis wanted was to do the right thing, but will he get a second chance to make things right?
Word count: ~ 4,100
Disclaimer. I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Perhaps it had been naive of him to think that Munro would have given in without a fight. But surely nobody, least of all Charlie Davis could have predicted the lengths to which the man would go to save his own skin.
A political attack; that they had anticipated and planned against. They had expected that Munro would use his contacts and friends in the force to fight his cause. And so, before they had confronted the man, they had taken their time, built up a strong enough case to be sure that there were no strings that could be pulled to derail it. Munro's so-called friends would be looking to protect their own careers and were unlikely to want to take the risk of being dragged down with him. At least that was what they'd hoped.
But in all their plans and strategies, nobody had brought up the possibility of Munro taking such drastic measures to ensure his survival. Later, when the dust settled, there was plenty of time for self recrimination over this lack of foresight. But by then the die had been cast and there was no way to change the result.
When Senior Constable Charlie Davis had been posted to Ballarat, it had all seemed so simple. His commanding officers in Melbourne had made it appear so, well 'noble' when they had explained the situation. They had spoken of the reputation of the Victoria police force. How it was necessary to look at the police stations located around the state and make sure that they were all up to the high standards expected of them.
"We've had our eye on Ballarat for a while now," he had been told. "There have been some troubling reports coming through, most of them arising in the last year or so."
"Did something change in the station round about that time period?" Charlie had asked.
"There was a new police surgeon appointed. The son of his predecessor, but unfortunately not quite the same calibre as his late father." It had been several months before Charlie realised that they had been referring to Doctor Blake senior's membership of the local Masonic lodge rather than his medical expertise.
They'd filled his head full of speeches about duty and honour and the reputation of the police force, but when it came right down to it, his new posting was effectively going to be that of a spy. Even then he would have taken on the job with pride that he had been chosen. The guarded promise of a future promotion following a successful assignment was almost an unnecessary carrot. However, the fact that it had been accompanied by an offer of a transfer to a station significantly closer to his mother and brothers, well, that was just an added incentive to accept the task at hand.
The words about honour and reputation rang hollow in Charlie's mind a few months later as he watched Superintendent Lawson make that long lonely walk out of the station.
It didn't matter that Lawson hadn't blamed him at the end. "I said *they* have been keeping an eye on me for some time...not you..." It didn't matter that Melbourne had clearly had Ballarat and Lawson in their sights long before Charlie had been transferred. "I may as well have loaded the bullets and handed them the gun'" thought Charlie, miserably. "I certainly painted a big enough target on his back." He lay on his bed that night, thinking over all the reports he had made to Melbourne. While he had simply told the truth as he saw it, he could see how easy it would have been for his words to have been twisted and used to discredit Superintendent Lawson. The simple truth was that Lawson did his job, thoroughly and efficiently and didn't let people's position influence him. He made the best use of his available resources which included the maverick police surgeon. "I have to make this right,'" thought Charlie as he tossed and turned through one of many sleepless nights. But in truth, he had no idea where to begin.
His opportunity came sooner than he realised, when a few weeks later, Lawson phoned the station to arrange for some of his things to be forwarded to him.
"Ballarat Police Station, Const... Sergeant Davis speaking," Charlie was still getting used to his new rank, and still felt a twinge of guilt every time he was addressed as Sergeant. Even though it had been Lawson's recommendation in the first place, it had still felt like his thirty pieces of silver. There was silence on the line for a few seconds before a familiar voice spoke.
"I see the promotion came through. I was half afraid that Ashby would 'lose' the paperwork. You must have impressed him, Davis."
"Boss! I mean Sir," Charlie couldn't hide the relief in his voice. "Sir, is it over? Are you coming back?"
There was another silence, this time so long that Charlie thought the call had been disconnected. Finally Lawson spoke, his tone somewhat more weary than before. "No Davis, I...won't be back for some time." He didn't have to add the words 'maybe not ever'.
Charlie swallowed hard, "Sir, I am so sorry about this. If there's anything, I mean *anything* I can do to fix this..."
"I told you before that it wasn't you," Lawson's voice was firm, "Well, not just you. But if you do want to help." There was silence for a few seconds before Lawson continued, "Is there anybody else there with you?"
"Superintendent Ashby is upstairs with the Doc," said Charlie. "There's nobody else here."
"Good, now listen carefully," said Lawson, "Take down this number, and if you hear anybody coming then wait until they've gone and call me back."
Charlie scribbled down the number and listened carefully, making notes as Lawson went on.
"Melbourne are putting in a new Superintendent. He's going to be one of their men; that goes without saying. I want you to keep tabs on him, let me know what he's doing."
"You mean spy on him?" asked Charlie, having a horrible sense of déjà vu. "But Sir, they've got what they wanted, haven't they?"
"They want Ballarat under their control. Removing me was just the first step." Lawson gave Charlie an address to write to and added, "Remember Davis, nobody and I mean nobody can know what you're up to. If Melbourne find out about this, they won't even bother with trumping up some disciplinary charges, you'll be out of a job so fast your head will spin." He laughed hollowly, "They'd have sacked me straight off the bat if they could have made it stick."
"I understand," said Charlie, his stomach turning at the possibility of the shame that would bring to his family. But he knew that he owed it to Lawson and indeed his own self respect, to do the right thing now. "But what about the Doc? You know I'm lodging with him now. Shouldn't I let him know?"
"Especially not Blake," Lawson's tone was adamant. "The less he knows, the safer he'll be. Just try and keep him out of too much trouble!"
Easier said than done, thought Charlie as he hung up the phone.
And so it had begun. Charlie once again started to keep tabs on his boss, and once again believed it to be a matter of duty and honour.
But Munro, unlike Lawson, made it a lot easier for Charlie to justify his actions. Lawson had been a hard taskmaster, a stern man, and Charlie still flushed at the memory of how Lawson had almost reduced him to tears following the incident with the flying school. But above all else, Lawson had been fair. Charlie had well deserved his dressing down and had been a better copper for it afterwards, no matter how much it had stung at the time.
Munro on the other hand, well, there was no comparison between the two. In spite of Lawson's words, Charlie had been ready to give the man the benefit of the doubt. After all, the man was a copper and just because he'd been promoted by Melbourne, didn't necessarily mean that he *was* in their pocket. Setting up in his own office, rather than using Lawson's and Ashby's desk. Well, he was the Superintendent. He was entitled to his privacy. And bringing back Sergeant Hobart to the station, surely it was his choice as to what officers he wanted working with him. Charlie couldn't even fault the man for not getting on with Blake. After all, the Doc did tend to go out of his way to annoy people in authority.
But it had been when Munro seemed to be willing to accuse people based solely on their connections to Blake; that was when Charlie realised that Lawson's suspicions about the man hadn't been exaggerated.
Charlie was grateful that the murder of that actress and the sequestering of the audience had kept Munro and the others so occupied that it had finally given him the chance to search through Munro's office and desk, looking for something, anything that could be used against him. When he found the photo, Charlie wasn't sure if it would be of any use, but it was the first tangible piece of evidence he'd found in months. He only hoped that Lawson would be able to make good use of it.
Charlie sent it to Lawson, but he hadn't heard anything back for a few days, and when Doctor Blake accused him of tampering with his mail, Charlie was convinced that Melbourne were on to him and had intercepted it before Lawson had seen it. And then Doctor Harvey had been accused of murder and Charlie knew that Munro was pushing the charge in an attempt to get rid of Blake, only this time he had succeeded.
"My resignation..." "I'll need it in writing..." "First thing tomorrow..."
Charlie had been on the phone to Lawson within minutes. He knew he was taking a chance by phoning from the station, but his was news that couldn't wait. "Sir," he whispered urgently into the phone. "You need to do something!"
Charlie wasn't really sure what he had expected Lawson to do, and his jaw had dropped in shock the next day when he came in to the kitchen and saw him sitting there, drinking tea with the Doc as if he'd never been away.
A warning glance from Lawson told Charlie not to say anything, and Blake, bustling about the kitchen pouring tea, with a spring in his step that hadn't been there for a while, seemed so happy to have Lawson back that he didn't notice their exchange of glances.
And so they'd worked together, trying to find enough evidence to secure a conviction. "Getting him out of Ballarat isn't enough," Lawson had said. "He'll only end up as some other station's problem. We need an iron clad case."
When Munro had ordered Lawson into early retirement a few days later, and removed Blake from his post as police surgeon, Charlie had been convinced that that was the end and that he'd be lucky to end up directing traffic. But they'd come through it all, found the evidence they needed and more importantly had the support from Melbourne they needed to compel Munro to submit to questioning.
He'd denied everything of course. Barely deigned to answer their questions, all the time acting like a man who knew he was untouchable.
Charlie had been impressed by how Lawson had managed to keep his temper during the interview. He'd asked all the right questions, and refused to get derailed by Munro's evasiveness and outright denials. Finally, they'd concluded the interview and Lawson had informed Munro that he was to present himself at police headquarters in Melbourne for further questioning.
"You'll be facing a special branch committee," Lawson had said, without a trace of malice in his voice. "They'll hear all the evidence, call all the witnesses. You will be entitled to have your union representative there as well. And you might not want to make any travel plans for the immediate future," he had added with just a hint of satisfaction. "Do you understand?"
"I understand perfectly." Munro had looked at them both with that smug self satisfied look he'd worn so often through the previous months. "But I don't think either of you do. Do you really think you can make these charges stick? You're finished, both of you, and your pet police surgeon."
"Sergeant Davis. See the man out," Lawson had said as he'd closed the file. "I'll be taking the paperwork to Melbourne myself tonight."
"Sir," said Charlie.
With hindsight, perhaps he should have been more cautious, but the sudden relief after so many months of stress had left Charlie feeling just a little complacent.
Charlie had brought Munro to the train station and seen him onto the next train for the city. He'd waited until the train had departed, not because he had any premonitions of danger, but simply because he wanted to reassure himself that Munro was out of his hair for good. And then he'd gone back to the station. It had felt almost anti-climatic to sit down at his desk and start to deal with the paperwork from Doug Ashby's death and Jock Clement's arrest.
Lawson had signed off on everything and then taken Munro's case file. "It'll take a few days for the committee to get set up. Like as not we'll both be called to testify." He cleared his throat before continuing, "Testifying against a fellow officer. It's a dirty job and won't win you many friends. If you'd rather not have that on your record, I'll do what I can to keep you out of it."
Charlie had shaken his head, "I've come this far, I want...no, I *need* to see it through. Tell the committee I'll be ready when they call."
Lawson had nodded approvingly and then left, planning to pick up an overnight bag from his home before driving to Melbourne.
Charlie finished his duties and went home soon after that. Blake had greeted him, a half empty glass in hand. "Ah Charlie, I was just drinking a toast to Doug Ashby, taken from us too soon." He took a drink. "And to Matthew Lawson, who was taken but couldn't be kept away." Blake finished the drink and poured another. "Grab yourself a glass Charlie. No? Well one final toast then. To those who have left us but only on a temporary basis."
"Surely you're not talking about Munro?" asked Charlie, surprise in his voice.
"Heavens no," said Blake, a look of disgust on his face. "I wouldn't even waste Jean's cooking sherry on drinking to *him*. No, I was referring to Mrs. Beazley herself. We had a brief conversation before she left and I am cautiously optimistic that she will be back in the foreseeable future."
"Now that I'll drink to!" said Charlie, going to the cupboard to get himself a glass.
Blake was filling Charlie's glass when the phone rang. "I'll get it," said Charlie, a smile on his face at the prospect of things getting back to normal.
The smile soon faded from Charlie's face as he listened to Constable Simmons tell him that the police in Melbourne had sent a constable to meet Superintendent Munro off the train but that he had failed to appear.
"He must have gotten off the train between here and Melbourne," said Charlie as he paced the floor. "But why?"
"Maybe he figured he'd shoot through," said Blake, knocking back his drink. "Too much of a rat to face the music."
Charlie shook his head, "You didn't see him during the interview. The cocky bastard acted like he hadn't a care in the world. As if he knew the special branch committee wouldn't be able to make anything stick. Even with all the evidence against him. The evidence..." He frowned.
"Charlie," said Blake, "Where is the evidence now?"
The colour drained from Charlie's face. "Lawson has it..." He ran to the phone as Blake called out Lawson's number. "It's ringing out. Maybe he's already left for Melbourne," he added hopefully.
"And maybe we shouldn't underestimate what a cornered rat will do to save itself," said Blake. "I'll get the car."
By the time they got to Lawson's house, it was all over.
Lawson's front door was wide open and Charlie had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he rushed into the house, followed closely behind by Blake, shouting Lawson's name. The doctor almost bumped into Charlie as he stopped dead the sight of a badly bruised and groggy looking Munro who was slumped on the stairs, handcuffed to the stairwell.
A somewhat dishevelled, but composed Lawson was on the phone asking for a police van to be sent round. "And get on to Doctor Blake as well..." He glanced up at the pair and added without missing a beat, "Cancel that last order, Blake's already here." He finished the call and turned to the pair.
"Matthew," said Blake, seeing the cuts and bruises on Lawson's face. "What happened? Are you all right?"
"Munro showed up just as I was about to leave," said Lawson. "Asked me for five minutes to explain himself. Then he tried to bribe me to 'lose' the case file. That worked about as well as you might expect. So he got nasty, said that he could make sure that neither myself nor Davis would make it to Melbourne to testify. I told him to go to hell, he took a swing at me and well," he nodded in Munro's direction. "You can see the results."
"Yes I can," said Blake, "Let me give you a once over, make sure there's no serious damage."
"Better check out the prisoner first," said Lawson, nodding to Munro, "Don't want him making any complaints about police brutality."
"Prisoner?" said Charlie, "But he hasn't been arrested..."
Lawson cleared his throat and crouched down in front of Munro, "William Munro, you are being charged with attempting to bribe a police officer, threatening behaviour, and assault on a police officer. I would caution you as to your rights but since I think I may have broken your jaw, you're not likely to be making a statement any time soon." He looked Munro straight in the eye, "After this little incident, I don't think you need to worry about any disciplinary hearing, you're going to be too busy dealing with the criminal charges." He stood up and turned his back on the man.
The journey home was made in silence. Several times, Charlie opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't bring himself to ask the question that was on his mind. He didn't really know whether he wanted to find out the answer or not.
Finally, as they were nearing home, Charlie spoke, "Lawson knew that Munro was going to try something like this, didn't he?"
"That's Inspector Lawson to you, Charlie," Blake said in mock admonishment. "Although with any luck it'll soon be Superintendent Lawson again." Blake pulled into the driveway. "Not that Matthew's ever been overly interested in titles as such. At heart he's just an ordinary decent copper who doesn't like it when politics gets in the way of doing what's right."
"He made sure that Munro knew that he was the one with the case file. He practically told him where he'd be tonight."
"Are you accusing your superior officer of some untoward activities?" There was a warning tone in Blake's voice as he stopped the car and switched off the engine. "Careful Charlie, you wouldn't want to get a reputation for that sort of thing."
"I'm not accusing him of anything," said Charlie, a little too quickly. "I just...I just don't like being kept in the dark." He hesitated before continuing, "What really happened before we got there?"
"A very good question," said Blake.
Blake had given Munro a cursory examination. "Well I don't think you managed to quite break his jaw. But he's going to be drinking his meals for a few days." Standing, he turned to Lawson. "And now it's your turn Matthew, come on." Blake gestured towards the kitchen.
"Davis, keep an eye on Munro," said Lawson as he followed Blake into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Blake carefully shut the door behind them. "Now, let me take a look at you." Shining a light in Lawson's eyes, he asked quietly. "So what really happened here tonight?"
Lawson shrugged, "Just what I told you. He tried bribery, then threats. Threw in a few unsavoury comments about my parentage and my morals. Thought he could take me in a fight." Lawson smiled wryly, "Guess he thought wrong."
"Yes," said Blake, "I can see that. And I'm guessing he didn't exactly take you by surprise."
Lawson frowned at Blake, "I had no idea that Superintendent Munro was going to show up here. To the best of my knowledge he was on his way to Melbourne to present himself at police headquarters for further questioning." The words were precise, the tone even, almost as if they had been rehearsed in preparation for making a statement.
"Save your testimony for the court case," said Blake, a touch of annoyance in his voice. "You're lucky that Munro showed up here alone. What if he'd brought some of his criminal associates with him?"
"Davis saw him onto the train. He didn't have a chance to contact anybody before he left Ballarat. And even if he'd called them from whatever station he got off at, there wouldn't have been time for anybody to get here from Melbourne."
"He could have called Hobart."
Lawson snorted derisively, "Bill Hobart knows what side his bread is buttered on. He won't pick a side unless he knows it's the winning one. And right now, Munro is even less popular with Melbourne than I am." He let out a sharp hiss of pain as Blake cleaned up his cuts with antiseptic. "Watch it!"
"Sorry," said Blake, "You don't need stitches, so I'll put a dressing on that cut just to keep it clean. And you're lucky your hand isn't broken, but you won't be signing any reports for a few days."
"Munro's head was harder than I thought."
"Not as hard as yours."
"Meaning?"
"Dammit Matthew, you knew this was going to happen, didn't you? Charlie said that you'd mentioned in front of Munro that you were going to be the one taking the paperwork to Melbourne. You expected him to try something...you *wanted* him to try something. But why? Why not just let him face the disciplinary charges?"
"Because once a rat, always a rat. Oh the case looked fine on paper and there was enough there to justify disciplinary action. But he's slippery enough and connected enough that I wouldn't put it past him to get away with it."
"Well they'd certainly never have dared sent him back to Ballarat?" Blake took a bandage from his bag and started wrapping Lawson's hand.
"That's not the point." Lawson sighed heavily, "Good coppers don't like rats. The trouble is, even the good coppers aren't all that keen on the ratcatchers either. If Davis went on record and testified against Munro, well, he could kiss any chances of promotion goodbye."
"You're assuming he has ambitions to rise through the ranks," said Blake.
"Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But now he's got the choice." Lawson stood up and flexed his bandaged hand, grimacing slightly. "An assault charge will take precedence over the disciplinary action and it'll be my testimony and nobody else's that will bring Munro down."
"And what about your chances of promotion, Matthew?" asked Blake, quietly.
Lawson shrugged, "Pretty much burned my boats on that a long time ago." He caught the look on Blake's face, "Don't worry, after today, they won't dare do anything but leave me here where I belong."
"A very good question," said Blake. "Matthew Lawson risked a lot for you today Charlie Davis. In spite of what you'd tried to do to him, to Ballarat." Blake put a hand up to stop Charlie's protests. "What's done is done. You believed you were doing the right thing, and maybe you were. Matthew was willing to give you a second chance." Blake's voice was steely as he added, "Don't make him, or me, regret that."
Charlie swallowed hard, "I...I won't."
Blake smiled, "Well that's that then. Come on, we never did have that drink."
The end