"You actually went shopping when you didn't have to?" Chas asked Dempsey as they walked into the American Bar.

"Hey it was fun, there's these toys that change from cars to robots… transformers… pretty cool hey?"

"I think you're one big kid"

"So does Harry"

"I hate all this Christmas stuff, you got it sussed last year Dempsey; all those nurses"

Dempsey grinned "You know me Chas; I love a pretty woman and a nurse's uniform…."

"So what are you doing this year?"

"Going with Harry to her father's place" Dempsey made it as casual as he could.

Chas wasn't in the least surprised, but he didn't really bother to think anything about it, he'd only asked out of habit and he continued in the same uncaring way.

"You buying presents then?"

"Well that was the big question, took us all night to sort out on Monday but I think …" he faded his voice 'I just said too much' he thought

"I've got to buy Alice a present and I don't know what to get her?" Chas wasn't listening carefully

"Well if you go shopping with her you get to see where she stops and what she likes"

"Blown that idea then, she's done it all"

"Perfume?" Dempsey suggested

"Where from?" Chas asked blankly

"You don't do shopping?"

"Hate it"

"Selfridges, loads of it there"

"But how do I know what to get? Does it come in different makes?"

Dempsey looked at him, "You want to nip there now? We could just make it before the late night shopping finishes"

Chas looked at Dempsey in amazement "You want to go shopping?"

"Listen I don't mind and I figure you need a bit of help"

Fifteen minutes later Chas looked around the perfumery "This is huge" he mouthed, "Where do we start?"

"You know what she likes?" Dempsey asked but read the answer on Chas' vacant face "Let's do some smelling"

"Smelling?"

"Yeh sniff a few of these papers and see which one smells like Alice"

Chas was frozen to the spot.

Dempsey called him over, "you see this one smells like Harry at work."

Chas finally moved, Dempsey smelt it again and smiling at his image of Harry he waved it in front of Chas' nose. Chas was dazed, he felt like Dempsey was from another planet. Dempsey moved around several stands asking Chas if Alice was "more like this? Or this?" Chas looked hopelessly out of his depth.

Dempsey stopped when he smelt Harry's favourite, he was missing her right now.

"Tell you what Chas get her this one"

"Is it a good one?"

"Well Harry loves it; it blends with her skin and her shampoo and bath…"

Chas looked at him in bemusement and Dempsey panicked for a second time that he had said too much but Chas' confoundment was not that Dempsey knew so much about Harry but that anyone could talk about how perfume blended into a person. He took out his wallet and paid for the perfume and blindly followed Dempsey who was now going on about Joie de Vie bath essence from Paris.

*******************

Next morning Dempsey was in the office before Harry, he poured two coffees and sat to wait for her. He hummed happily a variety of lines from Christmas songs and with his feet on Harry's desk threw comments out across the office quite randomly as people arrived for work. After some 10 minutes Spikings put his head out from his inner office "I for one most certainly do not wish it could be Christmas every day…" Dempsey carried on whistling oblivious to Spikings' sarcasm

"Dempsey!" Spikings roared instead

"Boss?"

"I was under the impression that this was an office"

"Aw Boss 'here it is merry Christmas, everybody's having fun'" Dempsey sung

"It's not here yet and you're here to work Lieutenant"

At that moment Makepeace entered the office. Spikings looked at his watch and threw in a sardonic comment "welcome to the supermarket"

A puzzled Harry looked from Spikings to Dempsey

"I was just being musical" Dempsey pleaded and he whistled 'It'll be lonely this Christmas without you to hold'

Spikings gave up and returned to his office, Harry glared at Dempsey who stopped his entertainment and asked "Wrapped all those presents yet Sergeant?"

"I'm not wrapping them alone" she hissed, this was forbidden office talk

"I don't wrap presents"

"You're not bloody Chas"

Dempsey had no idea where Chas came in but pointed out "I did the legwork"

"So did I" Makepeace replied pointedly; she picked up her coffee and took a mouthful "It's cold!"

"Well you were late"

"I was not late you were early for once" Makepeace moved to the coffee machine to top her cup up with hot coffee. Chas walked towards the far office door and as he reached Harry he stopped and sniffed. "What's up Chas?" Harry asked "have you got a cold?"

Chas moved on quickly he still couldn't get this woman smell thing. He had sniffed Alice when he had got home and she had assumed he was drunk and as he couldn't account for the hour and half he had spent shopping with Dempsey he had to agree to it.

As Makepeace returned to her desk she hissed again "I had to get a taxi in as both our cars were parked outside YOUR flat." 'You can get a taxi, Chas and I will go for a drink' she quoted him with distain. Harry stood still for a moment as she noticed Chas still sniffing as he went back past her again "And what in god's name has got into him?" she asked throwing her eyes across to Chas.

"I have no idea" Dempsey replied with a put on innocent voice that Harry read as don't even go there.

"So have you at least typed up that last surveillance report?" she questioned

"50 percent of this job....." Dempsey charmed her

"Is deskwork Lieutenant" she pushed his feet off her desk and opened a file; as she did so she looked across at him and winked "it's a long walk from The Albert Bridge"