Fran

In my hand I'm holding two pictures of Fran Belding. One was taken at our wedding. How did she manage to maintain her lovely slender figure? In my opinion she could still run for "Miss America" today. Her fine, clear features mirror her caring, but also strong soul. Over the years she has become my best friend. Who would have thought that after our first meeting, of which the second picture reminds me! It shows Fran and the Chief with dessert forks digging into an indefinable mash in a cardboard box. Today I laugh about it, but back then it didn't seem too funny at first...

It was in autumn 1972, when Ed returned from his stay in the Craig Institute in Los Angeles. I was so happy that he was on his feet again, after it had seemed that he would remain paralyzed*. I wanted to organize a little party. Therefore I had bought a huge fancy cake. I met the Chief in the elevator. Ed, Mark and Fran were busy booking some criminals, as I was informed. I opened the door for the Chief, but he let me step ahead. Unsuspectingly I walked down the ramp, my eyes on the huge cake box I was carrying. Suddenly I stumbled over a string and together with my beautiful gift box I found myself lying on the floor! That's how Fran, who entered at the same moment, saw me for the first time.

She was horrified. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"No, I'm all right," I answered angrily, "but I doubt that I can say the same about my fancy cake!"

I have probably never made a bigger fool out of myself than at that very moment.

The Chief eyed me concerned, but when I stood up without any trouble he started to guffaw. "My dear Eve, usually we use basketballs to throw around, not cake boxes. But whatever you prefer...!"

It turned out that while Ironside was at the Commissioner's, the team had made an experiment with the string on the ramp. Suddenly it had become clear who the culprits of the crime they were busy solving had to be. They had hurried out to catch them... and left the string as a tripping hazard!

Now the boys entered, Ed hardly limping anymore. I managed to set the priorities straight again. There was no reason to complain about a ruined cake when my old friend had just been cured in an almost miraculous way.

We opened the box. The content looked like a mix between Swiss muesli ... and chili!

We sat unceremoniously down around the box, everyone armed with a dessert fork. We agreed that this was exactly the way a fancy cake had to be eaten: The Chief savored the areas of rum-soaked biscuit, Fran and I shared the pieces of fruit, Mark and Ed fought for the cream.
It turned out that Fran and I felt attached to each other right from the beginning, and that wasn't only because we had to join forces against the men. We laughed so much that afternoon that my belly kept hurting for hours... or maybe it hurt from the amount of fancy cake I had eaten.

S6 "Five Days in the Death of Sgt. Brown"