"Allons-y? What was that all about?" Martha questioned her partner as they took the elevator back down to the ground floor, on their journey to the crime scene.
John glanced at her, looking slightly offended. "Means 'let's go'. It's a French saying – mind you, I probably say it more than the French." At that point, the lift dinged and the smooth metal doors slid open, signalling their arrival. Grinning, John stepped out. "Right then! On our way."
John Smith strolled through reception and out into the car park of the police offices at an impossibly attainable pace, so that his new partner desperately struggled to keep up with him. His tan brown trench coat billowing out behind him, John abruptly stopped, his intense gaze sweeping over the many cars lined up in the vicinity. Because he had finally ceased his quick steps, Martha managed to catch up with him, and she followed his line of sight without questioning what he was searching for. Fortunately, he told her without having to be asked.
"My car – I'm sure I parked it near here. It can't be far away… Aha! There you are, you beauty."
Sighing, Martha set off once again after John, who was now dashing towards a small blue car. The sunlight reflected off its shiny sapphire exterior, giving the impression that the vehicle was smiling back at its owner, that it was happy to see him, somehow.
"So, what do you think?" Tapping the roof of the car proudly with one hand as he shoved his other hand into his trouser pocket, John gazed expectantly at Martha.
The detective sergeant gawped at the vehicle for a few moments as she wracked her brain for something to say about it. "It's… a Mini Cooper." She internally cringed the second the words left her mouth.
"Yes…" John's expression fell a little; it was obvious he'd hoped Martha would be a little more enthusiastic about his pride and joy.
Martha jumped to add to her embarrassing previous observation, though she still couldn't think of something entirely positive. "Isn't it a bit small?"
"It's bigger on the inside, believe me." John countered, winking at his partner. He then opened the passenger door for Martha, gesturing for her to get in, before leaping to the other side so he could get in the driver's seat.
The interior of the car wasn't a great deal bigger than John had claimed, though it was a little spacey. The only problem was, you couldn't see any of the actual car, because it was so cluttered. Arbitrary gadgets of some kind were littered across the seats and floor, taking up every bit of space. When Martha turned around to look in the back, she saw herself reflected in a mirror that was connected to some sort of backpack – her mouth was open in shock and her brow was furrowed in confusion. Where there were no odd gadgets, clothes filled up the room. Garish suits, strange hats, flamboyant ties; it was like the inside of a fancy dress shop. Martha had seen such a mess, other than John's office. In conclusion, John was the untidiest person she'd ever met.
"Okay, let's get going, shall we? Oh, sorry about the mess, I don't really have an excuse for that…" John scratched his head, like he did when he was nervous about someone's opinion of him.
"It's um…" Martha was about to say 'it's okay', but she was reluctant to lie to him – it did bother her a bit. "So, do you fancy yourself as a bit of a mechanic? Or an inventor?"
"Yeah, something like that. Always trying to be creative, me." John answered vaguely, then figured he might as well explain. He reached into the back and picked up a thin, screwdriver-type thing. "This is my sonic-y device, my proudest invention. Look-"
He aimed the gadget at a padlock he also picked up from the floor and pressed a button on it. The lock whirred for a moment, then popped open. John gave Martha a toothy grin, which she returned.
"That's brilliant! How does it work?" She inquired.
"Kind of like a snap gun, but without the lock pick rods. It emits an extremely high frequency, above human hearing, causing the pins in the key to vibrate and click out of place. Then, pop! The lock opens. Good, isn't it?" John explained intelligently, pleased that Martha was impressed. Much to her surprise, he recklessly threw the device over his shoulder so it landed in the back. "I tend not to take it out with me, I get some funny looks. And it's probably illegal."
"You could make a lot of money with that." Martha pointed out.
"Well, I'm not interested in that. I just like making things. Physics is my hobby, always has been. Everyone needs a hobby."
"I think you're a genius." Martha commented truthfully, blushing a little after she spoke. In order to avoid embarrassment, she gestured to the mirror gadget she'd looked at earlier. "What's that, then?"
"Oh, it's work in progress, that one. Never can seem to get it to work. Haven't thought of a name yet, either." Although John was very cheerful about the fact that Martha was taking an interest in his hobby, he was also eager to get back to work, since he'd gotten too side tracked for his liking. "Anyway! Sorry, I'm distracting us both. Where were we? Crime scene, yes! We should go."
"Of course." Martha agreed, smiling shyly.
As the engine sputtered into life and John put the car in gear, he turned and beamed at his new partner joyfully. He knew she would make a great friend as well as a work colleague.
After a mere five minutes of being on the road, Martha was almost scared stiff. She clung to the foldaway handle above the side window with one hand for dear life and gripped the side of her seat with her other hand, equally as tight. Despite these safety precautions, she was still thrown around the car like pennies in a poor person's purse. And it was all because of her partner's terrible driving.
Meanwhile, John yelled as if he were having the time of his life, leaning forward eagerly as he grabbed the steering wheel tightly. It was fine for him, he clearly enjoyed driving in the most dangerous way possible. He was certainly speeding, only just managing to dodge around cars as he overtook them endless times, and his steering was horrendous.
It wasn't long before Martha had to verbally intervene. She had to yell over the roaring wind and the rattling engine. "Do you actually have a license?"
"I think so!" John shouted back, grinning the widest and craziest grin Martha had ever seen.
Since he was showing no sign of slowing down in the slightest, Martha simply squeezed her eyes shut and continued holding on until the end of the journey. Eventually, they pulled up on a dirt track just by a perturbingly quiet lake in the countryside just outside of London. Martha let out an incredibly long breath since she'd been holding it in for practically the entire time. Thank God that's over, she thought, making a mental note to insist on driving the way back.
"Ha! Wasn't that fantastic? I love driving!" John commented, laughing elatedly. Martha just stared at him as if he'd grown another head, however he mistook her expression for impatience about getting to work. "Oh right yeah, you probably want to get on with the case. Come on, then."
Tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear, Martha took a deep breath and exited the vehicle at the same time as John. The detective inspector strode towards the crime scene first, his hands stuck in his trouser pockets again. He seemed oddly nonchalant as he ambled up to the officer (he was a stocky fellow in his late forties) already at the scene.
"Right. Murder. Good." The officer shot John a disapproving glance as he spoke, making him realise his phrasing was inappropriate. "I mean bad, but whose is it?"
"His name was Caan Eldak, a 26 year old supply teacher from East London. He owned that lakeside cabin over there" – the officer pointed across the water – "and he travelled here three days ago to stay here on a break from work."
"How do you know?"
"Family told us – his mother just arrived, she's in the cabin."
"Okay, I'll speak to her later. Any witnesses?"
"None, unfortunately."
"Time of death?"
"Forensics are saying around half three this morning."
"Where's the body?"
"A few metres behind my car, over there. The forensics team are still working though."
"I'll be sure to speak to them. Thank you very much, officer." John smiled appreciatively, patting the police officer on the shoulder briefly before heading for the body, Martha rapidly following suit.
When they reached the more significant part of the crime scene, John spoke to forensics while Martha studied the body.
"'Ello! I'm DI John Smith, nice to meet you." He went to shake the woman's hand, but stopped when he realised she was wearing blood-covered latex gloves. "Not the best place to meet, I suppose, but still. Must always give a good first impression, it's important, don't you think? Anyway, sorry, crime scene! What are the details of Mr Eldak's death?"
The forensics examiner peeled off her gloved as she replied. "Well, the cause of death was certainly drowning, although there are signs of bruising around the neck and wrists from shortly before death, so we know someone else must have been involved. That's pretty much all we've got. Oh, actually, we did find a mobile phone on the victim. It was obviously unusable due to water damage, but we sent it off to the tech lab earlier. They'll scan the device, read the calls and texts and, with any luck, we'll have ourselves a potential suspect and motive."
"Good work! Has any CCTV footage been found, do you know?"
"No, there's no surveillance around here. However, someone who could have been heading this way got caught by a speed camera a few miles away. I believe Officer Cooper has more details about that."
"Brilliant. You always do great work here anyway, but I really do admire you." John gave the woman a genuine smile as he walked back over to Martha. "Okay, you can speak to the officer about the car that was caught speeding, and I'll go talk to the mother. See you soon." Before Martha could protest (which she wouldn't have anyway), he had vanished into the cabin.
Let's be honest, whenever someone is murdered, the family and friends are the real victims, therefore they are in need of the most comfort. This is the reason why John softened his voice when he introduced himself to the victim's mother. "Hello. Are you Mrs Eldak?"
The distraught woman was probably in her mid-fifties, however the recent trauma and pain she'd been forced to deal with had aged her. She was wearing a nurses uniform with an identity badge, inferring that she'd received the news about her son while she was at work, and she'd rushed to the crime scene immediately, without bothering to change. The scrunched-up tissue in her hand was completely saturated with tears and her face was flushed red from crying. Aside from all this, the aspect that haunted John the most was her eyes: they were utterly hollow, as if the death of her son had ripped out her soul as well as her heart. Even though John had seen the exact same look many times, in all the families and friends he had to interview, it never ceased to disturb him to his very core.
"Yes, I am." Mrs Eldak finally replied, blinking back tears as she faced the distress of speaking to yet another policeman about her dead son.
"I'm Detective Inspector John Smith, and I give my deepest condolences." He spoke sincerely, staring right into her eyes.
"I appreciate that." She replied, attempting a smile, but it only ended up a shadow of any previous happiness she once experienced in her life.
"I'm very sorry, but I have to ask you a few questions. It won't take long, I promise."
"That's okay."
"Thank you." John made sure to show his gratitude and sympathy before proceeding. "How was your son in the weeks before he died? Was he happy? Had he gone through any tough times, for example breaking up with a partner, or losing friends?"
"No, nothing like that. He was very happy, he had a nice house, a beautiful girlfriend, a good job…" Mrs Eldak had to pause after she finished. Simply talking about how great her son's life was had stimulated another wave of tears.
"It's okay, just a couple more questions, Mrs Eldak. Did your son get on with everyone? Did he have any enemies?"
"No, no, everyone loved him. He had a great circle of friends who all admired him, he loved his brother. If they ever fought, it was only pretend."
"Okay. This last question is the most difficult, but there won't be any more after it, so please try and answer as honestly as you can. Can you think of any reason why someone would want to hurt your son?"
Mrs Eldak hesitated, collecting herself before she answered. "Unless it was jealousy, then no. Everyone loved him." She repeated.
"Thank you so much, Mrs Eldak, you've been very helpful." John then clutched the woman's hand and lowered his voice, surprising her a little. "Right now, it's going to feel like the world is ending for you, like you'll never be happy again. But it's not. Trust me. It will get better, but you've got to be strong. Be strong for your family, and your son. You can do it." He gazed deep into her eyes for a few long moments while she stared back sadly, then squeezed her hand and walked away, closing the cabin door gently on his way out.
At that moment, Martha was just finishing up speaking with Officer Cooper. "Are we done here?" She asked.
"Yep. Back to the office it is." John smiled, letting his melancholy slip away so it seemed it was never there to start with. He gained a mask of happiness with the hastiness of one who had been forced to fake it too many times before.