As Laura neared the city centre she looked lovingly at Oxford's classical buildings. She negotiated the maze of narrow medieval streets and parked alongside the sleep clinic. Meanwhile Robbie had flown into England and was met by a young, hitherto unknown sergeant, James Hathaway, fairly new to the force and temporarily assigned to him. Robbie knew that things had changed since Val's death and his departure from Oxford. Strange was gone, Max too and Morse was now five years gone. He was on his way to meet Jean Innocent the new chief super who would be outlining his returning duties. He hadn't come across her before, knew nothing about her and assumed she would be brisk, bright and efficient. Hathaway suddenly slowed at a roadside incident, interrupting the perennial loop of despair playing in Robbie's head and they were diverted again to a sleep clinic, so he drove his new boss there, arriving at the same time as Laura. At last. A friendly and welcoming face, Robbie thought. "Hello Doctor" he said and was immediately cheered at her "Cor - can't you turn down the volume on that shirt?" The perpetual summertime in the BVI meant heat and dust and casual clothes. Oxford was formal and meant suits. Its majestic buildings matched his monumental grief. About his shirt he didn't give a jot but he registered that she looked nice in a shirt that was just as bright as his. "Good to see you too Doctor" said Robbie with his first smile of the day. "You too" she replied warmly and she nodded to greet Hathaway. Robbie looked at Laura and saw the woman, he definitely liked what he saw - a confident, capable colleague, a bit of a mate but not much more. He wasn't looking for a woman and she wasn't looking for a man, so their relationship was easy he reflected. However it was good, really good to see her again. Rejecting a scene suit, she managed to convince him they were all the rage now. Another bloody change, he thought, and picking up her case this newly formed trio entered the building to meet the victim. Laura cared. She liked him. Robbie felt his broken heart shift a notch. "I wish the NHS did job attachments to the BVI. Did it help?" she asked. "A little. What's she like, the new chief super?" "Dresses well - he gets on with her" she said with a nod to Hathaway keeping up the rear.

The case, a Regan Peveril, a sleep volunteer, shot at point blank range in her bed. Concentrate man. This is work. It's why you came back and it might, it just might help. Not very likely but it might. One step at a time. Concentrate Robbie, concentrate, he said to himself. They did their initial observation of the scene but it was not until his second visit to the clinic that the two men met its director Kate Jekyll. Another doctor, another capable woman, but more sympathetic to Lewis than Jean Innocent had been. Kate took one look at Robbie and liked what she saw. Nice, very nice, she mused. I like. This just might be worth pursuing - so she set out to be pleasant. They discussed Danny Griffon, a sleep volunteer and friend of the victim. Kate had a soft spot for this troubled, likeable young man and it was mutual. He sought her help and support and she was kind to him always. She saw a vulnerable post-adolescent and knew his background was privileged but shaky. She was happy to be his sounding board and hoped she could help him find stability again after the death of his father, which Danny saw as suspicious. She hoped to help with his transition back to a more normal life for a bright young maths student at Oxford who should have the world at his fingertips. Feeling slightly overcome, whether it was the heat or the potential new man in her life, Robbie, ever the gallant, asked "Do you need some fresh air?" and took her outside where she relaxed and recovered.

Kate Jekyll lived alone. A few short relationships had not produced her ideal man. She hadn't given up looking though and the tall, pleasant DI - well he might just fit the bill she thought. Bumping into him later that day in the supermarket she saw him buying meals for one and dared to ask, noticing his wedding ring "Is your wife away?" - and learning he was a widower she couldn't help feeling things were improving by the minute. He'd picked up a shirt, any shirt and when she redirected him to one more suitable for work and one which would replace the jazzy one he was wearing, it confirmed her feeling that she was IN. She looked intently at her new man as she shared a cup of tea with him in the supermarket cafe and happily furthered her mission by giving him sleeping tablets to remedy the 28 hours he'd been awake brought on by jet lag.

Home for Robbie now was a small flat and he sat bewildered, lonely, exhausted and depressed at his kitchen table that night. He put his head down and knew nothing until Hathaway knocked on his window the next morning and woke him. Tablets untouched. A quick shower, clean clothes, but not a new man. He was still crying inside. Oh Val, Val, here's yet another awful day without you. They had a gunman to find and Robbie made a beeline for the mortuary to discuss Laura's findings. They chatted easily and usefully about the case which had connections with Morse. Morse had been surprisingly sympathetic to Danny Griffon way back. Looking at Robbie her heart contracted painfully and she saw a damaged, rock bottom, shell of the man he once was - emotionally wrung out now and such sadness behind his lovely blue eyes. In a gesture of friendship she stroked his arm and though he flinched he accepted the comfort she offered as ever so gently she asked him about Val. She wanted above everything to soothe his troubled soul, to help and support him and find a way to make his life more bearable. She had no thought for herself, but yearned to help him. She did not want to avoid the biggest tragedy of his life and while most people steered well clear, which in truth Robbie preferred, Laura was different. How he missed a woman's touch. How he had denied himself this. How lovely she looked at this moment. A faint internal voice chimed Stop. Stop right there man, and as Hathaway entered the room the closeness and comfort subsided but was not lost.