Hathaway – Episode 5: Crusade

A cacophony of sounds was heard filtering through a clearing. Just as it rose above the trees, there was immediate silence. Smoke was seen billowing from one section into the sky. You could hear a pin drop. Then, suddenly out of nowhere, the sound of what was a cannon went off and the birds flew away from the treetops in fright. A huge roar followed, and a huge group of people dressed as knights ran screaming up a hill onto the flat surface. They were met by another group of knights in the opposite direction. Fighting took place, the swords clashing into shields. One by one, the knights fell to the ground as war cries filled the air. One knight raised his sword in the air ready to send his opposite number to his Maker.

"You are mine now!" he told him menacingly.

"With that piece of nonsense!" the knight on the ground scoffed, looking at his weapon. "Rubbish!" Angered, the knight standing above him dropped his weapon and grabbed him. A punch up ensued, all the other knights standing up coming miraculously back to life, and all tried to pull the two idiots apart.

"Say that to me again, you bastard! Go on!"

"You always were rubbish at this lark, Simon!" A punch landed on his face and the knights around them winced.

"That's enough!" A guy in a general's costume ran over and pulled the instigator away. "The hell is wrong with both of you!" He looked at the knight on the ground, by now with a bloodied nose and lip. "Adam, get up. Look at the pair of you! I thought you would have left this back at the school playground years ago." Simon, breathing heavily, took off his headgear and threw it on the ground.

"Save it, Winston!" he told him barging past him making sure he nudged his arm forcefully. The general gave the knight on the ground his hand and pulled him up.

"All right! All of you! Take a break. We'll continue later on." Murmurs came over the rest of the knights as they walked off towards a few tents in the distance. Adam took off his headgear, letting it drop by his feet. He took off his meshed glove and wiped his lip with the back of his hand. "Get yourself cleaned up!" Winston was ordering him. "Then you and your brother come and see me immediately after. The re-enactment is in the next few days. We have a sell out crowd. I don't want your testosterone nonsense spoiling it for everyone else!"

"Whatever, Winston." Adam was by now fed up as he walked away. Winston looked round as he walked away and shook his head slowly in disapproval.

Hathaway stared into the distance not saying a word. His eyes were focused on the wall opposite. He was dressed in a suit, his work clothes, with his right leg bent over his left, his knee at an angle. His left foot was tapping against the floor. Opposite him was a bespectacled podgy looking gentleman, middle-aged with receding hair. He had a pad of paper on his lap. On the low coffee table between them was two glasses of water, his full and Hathaway's empty. He was patient enough, after all that was his job, and he waited for Hathaway to open his mouth to speak. The ticking of both their watches cut into the silence. Hathaway caught sight of him looking at the wall clock behind him.

"Can I…?" Hathaway asked.

"Yes…"

"Thank you." Hathaway wasted no time in leaving. He closed the door behind him and stormed down the corridor. This was a complete waste of time as far as he was concerned. He would only open up on his choosing, no one else's, and definitely not in front of a shrink! As he passed by an office, the door opened and Chief Superintendent Bright walked out. She saw Hathaway storm through the double doors in the distance and her eyes shot to the ceiling. She knew it didn't go well, if anything was actually said. She turned and saw the counsellor walk towards her.

"That is one troubled individual," he told her. "Stubborn also." He gave her a piece of paper. "Here are my notes. I am not one to force anyone, Jyoti, but I cannot help anyone who refuses to be helped either." Bright looked at the notes the counsellor made and nodded.

"Thank you anyway, Teddy," she told him. "It was worth a try." She shook hands with him before he left. Bright folded up the piece of paper and pondered about things before walking back into her office.

Caroline stepped out from the big double doors of the City Academy and looked up to the bright sky. The heatwave had more or less ended and what followed was much fresher and much more bearable. She was dressed in a lovely monochrome three-piece skirt suit; her legs clad in flesh coloured tights and mid-height heeled shoes on her feet. She was clutching a couple of folders against her chest; and her tote bag was slung over her right shoulder. She had a very good induction and met all her fellow tutors including one who was also offered the additional teaching post. Excitement brewed inside her and she couldn't wait to tell Hathaway! For the first time in a long time, Caroline felt good about herself as she proceeded to leave the Academy grounds, the first day of the new academic year not too far away.

Winston was out of costume, his white T-shirt and black slacks visible from behind a rather full white table he was sitting behind. He was inside a tent, people milling in and out carrying equipment and various other pieces of clothing. A lit cigarette was going to waste as it burned out on a small glass ashtray in front of him, and a bottle of what looked like water or some clear liquid was to his left hand side. He was busy chatting with a member of the re-enactment troop, half dressed in costume. Simon and Adam strutted in, the previous turning his head to admire a blonde in a low cut wench costume with her hair up in a net walk past him carrying a jug on her way out. Adam rolled his eyes and walked ahead of him. He stopped by the table. Winston finished his conversation and their colleague walked away. He passed Simon and said nothing, not even acknowledging him. Simon scoffed at his attitude and joined his brother.

Winston took what was going to be his only drag of his cigarette before the final bit of ash landed in the ashtray. He found it pointless to stub it out and left the remnants on top of the ash. He looked up and saw the two guys ahead of him.

"Right, care to explain your latest fisticuffs?" He wasn't in the mood and was becoming very weary.

"His fault!" Both siblings spoke in unison, pointing at each other. Winston rolled his eyes and stood up.

"You are both becoming one huge pain in the backend!" he told him walking towards his costume which was slung on a chair towards the back of the tent. "I have had it up to here with the pair of you. You're both good players in this malarkey. Why you have to spoil it with your incessant and continuous fights is beyond me." He placed a white shirt over his head and black baggy trousers over his legs. Simon and Adam watched as he got himself ready. He turned to look at them. "That bruise better be gone by the time we perform for real, Simon, otherwise I may have to replace you with someone else."

"Like hell you will, Winston!"

"Easy, Si," Adam told him in a low voice. He placed his arm across his brother's chest to stop him from going further. "Don't worry, we won't try anything stupid." He paused. "Until this is over anyway!" He had a glint in his eye. Winston just looked at him completely bemused.

"Go on! Out! Get yourself back into costume! We have to re-do this damn scene otherwise we will be inundated with bloody refunds."

Simon and Adam wasted no time in departing. Winston turned back to get himself ready.

Gemma Richardson walked through the double doors of CID with Stephen Hazel. Both of them were laughing about something random they had came across outside. She had her hair cut shorter and this accentuated her facial shape giving her the impression she was much younger than her years. She was dressed in a cream coloured shirt and black bootcut trousers, her black ankle boots giving her a little extra height. Stephen also had his hair cut, giving away more than his foreign ancestry. His light olive skin was even more prominent with the recent heatwave. He was clad in a cobalt blue shirt with what looked like a custard coloured tie. His dark trousers and polished shoes gave the impression he was seeing his bank manager. They walked into their office only for their joy to disappear as they saw Hathaway sitting at his desk looking extremely moody. The two youngsters gave each other a knowing look before splitting up to take their seats at their own desk. Gemma got straight to work going through her emails whilst Hazel began sorting out some paperwork leftover from the day before. Not one word was uttered or exchanged, only the sound of Gemma's fingers tapping away on her keyboard. She tried not to catch Hazel's glance and vice-versa.

"Caroline is grateful you gave her back her necklace," Hathaway suddenly spoke. "You too, Stephen." Gemma and Hazel looked at each other, wondering who would be the first to respond. Hathaway continued to look blankly at his computer screen, the window up showing a very familiar venue in Cambridge.

"Pleasure, guv." Gemma eventually did the honours. Hathaway glanced at her and said nothing. "I like the rings you both chose." Hazel looked up in horror. Gemma still wasn't used to Hathaway yet. He secretly crossed his fingers. Hathaway looked at Gemma and to Hazel's surprise, he cracked a smile. Gemma grinned and got back to what she was doing. Hazel sighed in relief and got on with his paperwork. Hathaway looked at his team and tried not to let out a laugh that was dying to burst out of him. He made a couple of notes on his phone before closing the window, the insignia of Thames Valley Police appearing as his wallpaper.

Darkness fell over Oxford, and in the clearing where the re-enactment was taking place, it was quiet. Not a sound was heard. The players had long gone leaving just the tents and the equipment. Light came from one of the tents and the shadows coming from inside told a lot more than what was seen as normal. Just as quickly, the light was snuffed out and darkness came over the clearing once more.

Caroline was sitting by the coffee table in the living room going through the induction papers she received from her first day at the Academy. She received her curriculum, her class intake numbers and a few other bits and pieces. She would be tutoring the Upper Sixth Form – those bright ones who had aspirations in going further with their education. Oxford City Academy was a place for the academically gifted, where only the best from the city's educational elite were in attendance. There was also an intake for scholarships or those from the inner city and county comprehensives who showed potential and promise. Their uniforms proudly told people they were from the Academy, and Caroline knew she had standards to uphold. She was told before she started that her educational background spoke volumes to them, as was her teaching diploma. They took her on as Head of English for this reason and this shocked Caroline. She remembered what Hathaway told her on the balcony of the Radcliffe Camera and how she didn't believe him. She thought back to when Hathaway brought her home after they purchased their rings and she was reunified with her necklace. She apologised hard to Hathaway, telling him that this will never happen again and how it hurt her that she would stab him in the worst way possible. She was even more taken aback to see Hathaway with tears in his eyes, more relieved that she didn't do the one thing which he feared the most. They held each other for what seemed like ages, reluctant to let go. He helped her pack away that red dress, hidden away out of sight and out of mind. They promised each other new beginnings, a new future – no matter what came out of whatever Hathaway and she found out about her family.

The sound of the front door closing made Caroline look up and she turned her head as Hathaway walked into the living room. She stood up with a smile and Hathaway wrapped his arms around her holding her close. Again, he wouldn't let go. Caroline looked up at him with a grin and they both sat down. Hathaway glanced at her paperwork in front of them.

"How did it go?" he asked. He watched as excitement came over Caroline. She turned to face him.

"It was…" She paused to think. "So…" She paused again. "Amazing, James! Wow! That place is just wonderful!" Hathaway smiled. "The curriculum is very interesting. I still cannot believe they gave me the Head of English position! I have one main class to teach and also a second one on a Friday afternoon. I met all the tutors today will meet the other English teachers tomorrow. I already have ideas in my head of how to teach the students. I am so excited! It is like a dream come true!" Hathaway held Caroline's hands. He felt proud of her. This was her ambition ever since they were at Cambridge. Caroline grinned at him. "I love our rings," she said to him. "They are beautiful."

"You will make a beautiful bride, Caroline," Hathaway told her. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. Caroline's eyes widened. She had just been told the wedding venue.

"You didn't?" she said. "Seriously?!" Hathaway nodded. Caroline gasped and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much!" she whispered. They looked into each other's eyes.

"I love you, Caroline," Hathaway said to her gently. He gently caressed her cheek and kissed her before holding her close. Caroline was only too happy to nestle against him, feeling him. For the first time since their university days, she began to feel she was the luckiest girl on the planet.

The dead body was found hunched in a heap not far from one of the cannons. Doctor Aurora was kneeling on the grass beside the corpse making notes and taking a look at the body's injuries. Around her, members of SOCO was gathering evidence and the uniformed officers were cordoning off the area as well as asking the now crowded members of the re-enactment group questions. Stephen Hazel and Gemma Richardson walked towards Aurora from the other side. They noticed the half-dressed players, the tents, the regalia and everything else. They finally reached Aurora, who stood up to jot down some notes. She looked up and saw the two youngsters ahead of her.

"Good morning, you two," she said to them. "Where's your esteemed leader?"

"Late," Hazel replied.

"Again?!" Aurora exclaimed in surprise. "He gets away with such liberties." Gemma and Hazel looked at each other in amusement. "Right, you have a male looks like in his late 40s or early 50s." Hazel glanced at the silver haired body. "Cause of death…" She crouched back down again and the two young detectives squirmed, looking away. "Not an easy one for your young eyes."

"How…?" Gemma was perplexed.

"Garroted?!" Hazel asked.

"That would seem so, but you can see for yourself, this wasn't just a plain old strangulation." Aurora stood up again. "As always, I will report back to you quickly…" She was cut off by aggressive shouting and the three of them looked round. In the distance, they saw a tall man with brown hair trying to barge through the cordon. Hazel touched Gemma's arm to let her know he was going to take care of it and looked at the uniformed officers as he stood behind the tape, waving him over to let the man through. He met him a very short distance away.

"I am Detective Sergeant Hazel. What seems to be the matter?"

"Is that Winston?" the man asked.

"Winston who?"

"Winston Grahame. He's the general."

"General…?" Hazel realised he was in the middle of a historical re-enactment. "Sorry, you are?"

"Simon."

"Simon…?"

"Simon Christian."

"You are in this thing together?" Hazel asked.

"Yes. We were due to put in a performance for the public this weekend. My brother and I play two knights on opposite sides."

"I see." Hazel suddenly caught sight of the body in the process of being lifted into a body bag and stopped in front of him. "Mr Christian, can you tell us more about this re-enactment? What was Winston's role?"

Simon tried to look at what was going on behind Hazel but had difficulty. "He ran this thing. This is his company. I have known him for around 5 years."

"Have you always been involved in this kind of thing?"

"Yeah. I even got my brother, Adam, roped into it." He tried again to look, but once again, the way Hazel was positioned didn't give him a chance.

"Would you possibly be able to give us an ID?" Simon looked at Hazel.

"Yeah, sure," Simon replied still a little distracted. He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. "I don't remember my number. I only changed it recently." He began going through his handset and eventually showed it to Hazel, who took it down on his own phone.

"I'll be in touch." He thanked Simon and waved to a uniformed officer to escort him away before walking off towards Gemma, who was waiting for him by their car.

"Sarge?" she asked noticing the look on his face.

"Why do we get involved in all the weird cases?" Hazel moaned. "Historical re-enactments?! Hathaway is going to love this!"

"I've always thought you would look good in costume, sarge." Hazel looked at Gemma, who was looking upwards to the sky. He couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Come on!" he said in amusement. Gemma giggled as she got in. Hazel watched as she strapped herself in and couldn't help but gaze at how beautiful she was with her new hairstyle. He snapped out of it before getting in the driver's seat.

Hathaway just looked at Hazel head on, his eyes as usual saying a lot more. They were in Bright's office later that morning. Hazel had just given details of the possible murder to her, and Hathaway was in attendance. Behind them, by the door against the glass panels, was Gemma. She had her head bent downwards. She daren't look up.

Hathaway continued to stare at Hazel making him feel very small. The young detective wondered why he was treating him like this all of a sudden.

"So, where's the Holy Grail?" Hathaway suddenly asked. "Have you been asked to go on a quest?" Gemma sniggered. Hathaway glanced at her. He tried hard not to laugh.

"European or African swallows, guv?" she added. Hathaway was finding it hard now to control his mirth. "He'd better ask Warrington to teach him a French accent." Bright's eyes darted in her direction. Gemma suddenly stood upright, clearing her throat.

"All right, that's enough." Bright was also finding this amusing. She looked at Hazel. "Thank you for letting us know, Stephen. Once Aurora reports back, you and Arthur, King of the Britons here better head back there to speak to the players. Find out who this Winston was, if it is him." It was now Hazel's turn to snigger. He grinned at Hathaway. Gemma now couldn't control herself and had to leave. Her laughter was heard in the corridor. Both Hathaway and Hazel looked at each other.

"Wench?" Hazel suggested and Hathaway nodded. Bright rolled her eyes.

"Out, you two!" she told them with a smile. The two detectives grinned at each other before leaving. Bright chuckled as she heard Gemma's screams of protest. She shook her head slowly in amusement before taking her seat by her desk. Her desk phone rung and she picked it up. "Chief Superintendent Bright…? Shirley! How are you?" The tone of her voice suddenly fell more than a couple of notches. "Are you sure?" Bright's voice was now one of concern. "All right. Yes, call me this evening." She hung up thoughtfully before picking up the receiver. "Yes, this is Chief Super Bright. I was wondering if you could possibly dig out a couple of files for me, please? Yes… the files I need is for Detective Constable George Fancy and Detective Chief Inspector Morse…" She sighed irritably. "I know they are available on the Intranet, but I need to see their files all the same! Thank you." She hung up, knowing that things were going to come to a head. She glanced at the framed photograph of her grandfather-in-law and picked it up. "What a web you weaved back in the day, Reginald." She smiled though affectionately before placing it back on her desk next to the one of her and her late husband.

Caroline walked down the High Street en route to the Academy. She was told to come in later than the others, so that gave her time to get ideas for wedding dresses. She thought of bridesmaids. Gemma and Nell seemed to be the only ones she had in mind. All her friends she made at Cambridge had gone their own ways, Becky in particular. The last she heard, she was doing charity work in some far flung place. They hadn't spoken in a couple of years. Caroline stopped suddenly outside a bridal shop and looked at the array of beautiful white dresses in the window and knew she would have to bite into what was left of her inheritance to pay for one of those. She began to realise that she also had to fork out for Gemma and Nell's dresses and thought it was lucky she only had two bridesmaids. Hathaway probably would ask Stephen or even this Robbie Lewis she had heard so much about to be his Best Man. The costs would keep rising; and Caroline thanked her lucky stars she now had a job. She smiled, looking forward to her upcoming nuptials, before going on her way.

Aurora looked grimly at Team Hathaway as she walked over to pick up a new folder from a ledge nearby. She handed it to Hathaway, who opened it up. Aurora scanned each team member and waited before she spoke. One by one, the folder was passed over, the facial expressions worsening. Hathaway cleared his throat and Hazel looked elsewhere, both feeling uncharacteristically uncomfortable. Gemma meanwhile just stared at the empty slab ahead of her, completely stunned. Aurora deliberately made a noise by clanging a metal dish and the three detectives blinked coming back down. Gemma handed the folder back to Aurora, but she declined with a shake of the head.

"That belongs to you," she told them. "You have got a gruesome one on your hands, detectives. Cause of death is not garroting, Stephen, but rather by someone who fancied themselves as a surgeon. His chest and stomach has been ripped apart with various parts of his innards either spliced, diced or…" She stopped again as she took note of the three detectives' faces. "You get the picture."

"Surgeon or butcher?" Gemma asked. She stopped she felt two pairs of eyes bore into her. "What?" she asked looking at them, Hazel in particular, who had a look of horror on his face. Hathaway just looked at her with an expression that had disgust written all over it. Gemma just tutted. Aurora smiled. She began to admire the young girl for standing up for herself.

"It is a perfectly good question, gentlemen," she said backing up Gemma, who was still wondering what she said that could provoke such a reaction. "That is for you to discover. As far as the ID goes, if you have someone who can do it, then by all means." She looked round as two of her colleagues were standing by the double doors in the distance. "I am needed. Good luck!" That was the team's cue to vacate. They thanked Aurora before departing.

They walked out into the fresh air and Hazel took a few deep breaths. Hathaway meanwhile took out his vape from his pocket. Gemma nudged Hazel and he looked in his direction, surprise hitting him. Hathaway began to inhale the sweet smelling substance.

"Since when?" Hazel asked. Hathaway looked at him.

"Recently," came the reply. "I have to cut down."

"Baby, guv?" Hazel once more looked at Gemma, the shock worsening. Hathaway exhaled and walked over to her. He stood in front of her, his height eclipsing hers, and just stared into her eyes. Hazel felt the awkwardness and stepped back. Gemma meanwhile stared back into Hathaway's eyes, not budging. He eventually took another drag of his vape and walked away. Hazel took the couple of paces forward, standing beside Gemma.

"Gem… A word of advice…"

"It was a perfectly innocent question, sarge," She interrupted him. "He will need to cut down or quit if he and Caroline want a baby or are trying for one." She looked at Hazel, still not believing she said anything inappropriate. Hazel just shook his head and walked over to the car. Gemma watched as Hathaway continued to vape nearby. Her mobile phone vibrated in her pocket and she took it out to have a look. It was a message from her mother asking her to call back. Gemma though thought it could wait and placed her phone back in her pocket. Hathaway walked past her, his vaping over.

"Time to pick up Simon," he said. Gemma followed him to the car, Hazel starting the engine as they both got in.