A/N: Life has been a bit hectic. Had Christmas to stress over along with worrying about vet bills for my dog that left us practically broke. But on with a new chapter!

Chapter 3

Indistinct chatter filled Joseph's ears as he and Miles entered the butchers later that morning. A man was hacking at a large joint of meat as they approached the counter.

"There you are, governor, lovely."

"Cheers, See ya."

"Ta ta." Called the butcher as the two men reached him.

Jo held up his badge, "Police."

"Yeah?" He didn't look happy. Not something they could help.

"Can I please have a word, sir?" Queried Joseph, when Miles appeared from behind him.

"Hello, Jim."

Jim looked at Miles and nodded his head towards Joseph, "Got a new boy?"

"Oi, you'll get me in trouble. He's the new boss." To Jo, his tone sounded uncaring. 'It's fine. Once this is over with, I won't have any more issues'

Jim's tone in response was almost sarcastic as he turned his attention to Joseph, "Oh, can I help you, sir?"

Shutting his eyes for a second, Joseph composed himself, "Rob Lees?"

"Rob's not here."

"You know where he is?" Jumped in Miles.

Jim shook his head. He sounded annoyed, "Nah. His mobile's switched off and he's not picking up at home." A quick look at both the men opposite had concern stretch across his face. "Has he been at Cathy again?"

Miles took a deep breath, "Yeah." In the back a man brought a cleaver down on a joint.

"Is she alright?" It was clear that Cathy's plight was known to more than just the police.

The gruff man shook his head sadly, "She's dead."

"Oh…" Jim looked down, whether in resignation or sadness Jo didn't know. But Mary's description was in the forefront of his mind.

"Has Rob got a woolly hat?" The question was asked while Miles pulled out his phone.

"Eh?"

"A woolly hat?"

"Nah, he wears one of those… Furry Russian things with flaps." It was obvious Jim didn't like the question. That was the least of his worries as Miles began to speak to someone on the phone.

"Yeah, get Rob Lees' flat watched. Can we find out where his phone is? Right now. And get someone down to his local." He paused and glanced at Joseph. "Yeah, he is I know. But what can you do?" He hung up.

Those last words were clearly about Jo and he wished vehemently that Will was here right now. Her presence helped to keep him sane.

"We'd better get a move on." That caused Joseph to crack slightly.

"Before we go anywhere, can we get something straight? I'm in charge if this investigation." Despite being the taller of the two it was obvious that Miles wasn't intimidated at all.

"Just showing you the ropes, son." He sent a quick look to Jim, before walking off, leaving Joseph almost seething. He sent a quick smile at Jim before following Miles out of the room.

Cameras flashed as photos were taken on Cathy's body, which now lay in the pathology mortuary of the Whitechapel police station. Caroline delicately cut the bag that Cathy had been wrapped in as Joseph and Miles looked on from the other side of a glass window. As the plastic slowly peeled away from the bloodied skin, Joseph turned around. Despite a pane of glass separating him and the body, he was still uncomfortable. 'It will all be over soon.'

Jewellery was carefully removed, and clothing slowly cut away as a clicking entered the hallway. Turning, Joseph saw it was Will, freshly showered, and sporting the shoes he'd bought her. Her hair was no longer in the up-do she'd created the night before, but instead in the messy bun she piled it into for ease. He smiled a little. It felt a little bit easier to breathe now.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late." She huffed, "Traffic was a nightmare coming back. Early morning rush." She sent a smile to Caroline through the window. "You find Rob Lees?" They looked too grim, "I'll take that as a no." And with that she turned to the window.

"I didn't expect this." The pathologist's words caught both the men off guard and they returned their attention to the window. She looked up at them, "Welcome to hell, my darlings."

What they saw was horrendous. Cathy's lower abdomen looked like a massacre and Jo had to turn away to push down the urge to vomit. Miles glanced back and Will placed a hand on his elbow, if only to calm him slightly. He turned back, but kept his hand to his mouth, occasionally closing his eyes to block what he saw. The redhead's eyes were full of concern.

With all their attention on her, Caroline began her explanation. "I think the killer knelt by her head, held her with his left hand." She positioned her body as such. "Then cut her throat, left to right with his right hand." She made a quick slicing motion across the neck. "The blood would have run away from him.

"There are no cuts to her clothing, so I assume her skirt was pushed up?" She sent an expectant look at the three opposite her.

Will answered, "The community support who found her pulled her skirt down, but she thought she'd been raped." Her tone was sombre.

"Oh well we'll take swabs, obviously," She agreed, "but I haven't seen any physical signs of rape.

"And here's the surprise," A gruesome surprise by the sound of it. "It's as if he's tried to gut her." Caroline took a deep breath. "On the left hand side, two inches in, we have a deep jagged wound." Jo covers his mouth again and averts his gaze. A small hand lightly touches his back. Will.

'Thank God she's here.'

"On the right hand side there are four more cuts," The woman's eyes were focused on the body, "The stomach has been cut in several places and the intestines have been exposed." Joseph became pale.

"I think," She continued, "he stayed at his position by her head, stabbed downwards," once again she demonstrated, "then drew the knife up towards himself quite violently. These cuts were done quickly. In fact, I'd say this whole attack would have been over in no more than a few minutes. She wouldn't have known what hit her."

Both Miles and Will listened with stony faces. This was what they dealt with on a regular basis. This is the kind of thing the woman he loved saw often. In that moment, Joseph thought she was far stronger than he was.

"Rob Lees is what hit her." Miles looked fierce. Cathy was beloved by the people that had helped her in the past. Though they knew that one day she'd end up dead, it didn't change how they all felt.

Joseph felt he could finally speak, "What can you tell us about the weapon?" He was thankful that his voice didn't stutter.

"It has a strong blade."

"Long?" Asked Miles. "Like something used for butchering meat?"

"The thing is," Caroline looked almost contrite, "skin stretches and soft tissues compress, so it's hard to talk about knife size. I can only speculate very generally."

"So speculate for me"

Caroline's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she thought on that. Her head ducked a little, "Something like a hunting knife."

"Or a boning knife?"

"I can't rule it out." She relented.

There was a nod. "Thanks, sweetheart." Once more, Miles was off.

As he walked on, Joseph was able to grab Will's arm, just for a quick talk. "You really weren't joking about them were you?" He gave her an incredulous look. "How do you put up with it?"

She huffed a laugh in response and looked up at him, "Patience and hard work. You're gonna need it since we can't find our only suspect." Her eyes softened. "You okay? Looked like you were gonna throw up in there." Reaching for his hand, she gave it a gentle squeeze.

Joseph took a deep breath. "Uh, yes. Probably would have if you weren't there." He sent a half grin her way, one she returned. "You're wearing the shoes I bought you." He remarked softly. "You never wear those to work."

"Well it's a special occasion, isn't it?" Will's thumb softy rubbed along the side of his hand. "Speaking of, make sure you go home and change your clothes. You'll go mad if you stay in that suit."

Jo was grateful for the concern but his smile slowly fell, "Elephant in the room. They clearly don't know about us, so we need to talk about what to do." It was obvious who 'They' were. Her team. She'd already thought about that.

The smile on Will's lips turned almost cheeky, "Well, we don't have to tell them, but that doesn't mean we should hide it." Jo's eyes squinted slightly in confusion. "How about a bet? We'll figure out the stakes later but, let's see who twigs first. We can make our picks after you properly meet the whole team."

"Are you serious?" He sounded incredulous, but was he truly surprised? She was always saying things like this at home, creating scenarios for them to 'compete' in. A quirk he found he enjoyed.

"You know I am. They're detectives. Let them detect." With a quick glance around, she lent up and pecked his lips, before turning to leave. The mischievous smile she sent over her shoulder had him trailing behind her.

Miles was waiting for them through the doors, his phone in hand. He eyed them both as they walked towards him.

"What are you two up to? I almost expect it from him, but you know better than to piss about Will."

The woman in question sent him an indignant look, "I was making sure our new DI was okay. Not everyone is used to that kind of stuff." She raised her eyebrows, "If that's a crime now, I'm sure one of the cells is free." Will thrust her hands forward as a silent 'Cuff me', but the glint in her eyes revealed she was joking.

She knew of course that the men on her team, not so much Kent but the others, would be standoffish with their new Plastic DI. That didn't mean she had to suddenly turn cold towards him as well. Even if they weren't a couple, she'd treat him the same. He may be fast tracked, but he was still a fucking human being, for Christ's sake.

The older man's lip quirked upwards before turning to Joseph and held up his phone, "They found him."

The three of them began to rush up the stairs towards the interrogation room. Will, for a brief moment, regretted her footwear choice; she'd get up the stairs much quicker in her boots. Miles led the way and relayed what he'd been told.

"And there he is," He explained, "half the division out looking for him, and Rob Lees turns up on his own doorstep looking like ten kinds of shit." They reached their destination. "Been up all night, smells like a pub. Tell ya mum, we'll have you home in time for tea."

Joseph ignored the quip, "Excellent." He sounded, still following Miles.

The Sarge stopped and once again asked a question that Will was also thinking, "What are you doing?"

The taller man's face gave nothing away, "I'm going to interview the suspect." Did he not know that, that's what the rest of them were for? DI's usually left all the leg work to their underlings.

Once again, Will thoughts were voiced by the Sarge. 'I should get him a present for this or something'

"Why?" Was asked sharply. "DI's are supposed to sit behind their desk and drink herbal tea." It was a snide comment, and Will winced a little bit, but Jo was undeterred.

"I'll treat it as an office outing." The response was dismissive, and he walked onward to the interrogation room. Will faltered slightly; she wasn't used to seeing this side to Jo. She knew he was capable of leading a team, but she'd never actually seen it.

'How am I meant to win this bet,' she mused to herself, 'when I just want to throw myself at him?'

Shaking the thought from her head, she made her way after them.

The Sergeant was still trying to dissuade Joseph from performing the interview. "Look I know this guy. He's a liar, a manipulator, and, what's worse is, he knows his rights." He hurried to keep up with the taller man, "So sit in if you have to, that's your prerogative," he came a stop in from of Jo, "But I'm asking you to let me do what I'm good at."

Will, having caught up, listened patiently. She'd be going into the observation room anyway, but she could help diffuse a potential argument if need be.

"Okay, sir?" Miles almost sneered.

Joseph's face remained resolute, "Fine. But I want this result as much as you do, so we do this together. We get it right, and we get it over with."

Miles didn't respond. He simply nodded at Will and entered the room. Joseph turned to Will in near exasperation.

"I'll be watching next door. So don't worry." She smiled and entered the door nearby.