Vignette 3

Inspector Brackenreid entered the nearly empty station house, removing his hat and running a hand over his hair. The meeting had not gone well and he was sure he needed a drink. He looked over to where his detective was studying fingermarks related to an old, unsolved case, way past quitting time. Murdoch was almost always at his desk or on a case these days, here before anyone came in and last to leave. While the inspector generally approved of work-place diligence and the detective was more dedicated than most, it was starting to worry him just how (at least superficially) buttoned-up Murdoch appeared and how small the man's world had become. Now he was finding work in closed cases, and was going to ruin his eyesight at the rate he was going. Almost 6 weeks had passed since Dr Ogden was freed, but she was still holed up somewhere and he did not think she was communicating with the detective, because he overheard Murdoch let that slip one night to Dr Grace. As he hung up his coat and hat, the inspector thought he was not looking forward to giving Murdoch more bad news.

Rather than call him into his own office, Brackenreid poured two glasses of scotch and almost brought both across the bullpen, and then thought the better of it, swearing under his breath. He put them down, sighed and walked over to the detective's office and closed the door behind him, before saying, "Murdoch, we have to talk."

"Good evening Inspector." William put his magnifier down and laced his fingers on the desk. His eyes burned from fatigue at the close work in which he had been engaged, but he clearly saw his supervisor was disturbed about something. The Inspector had that look on his face like he ate something sour and was nervously putting his hands in his pockets while briefly leaning against the work table, before finally settling in to the chair opposite his desk. Then Brackenreid adopted what William thought of as the inspector's military demeanor, which usually meant something bad was coming.

William groaned inwardly, and set his face into a blank expression to address whatever was next. "Yes, sir?" he opened the conversation to get it over with as soon as possible.

"Murdoch, I got called into a meeting late this afternoon with Chief Constable Giles. There is no easy way to say this. You are being investigated." Brackenreid told him straight out, studying how Murdoch would react.

William thought he misheard, because it made no sense. "Investigated, sir? By whom?" He tried to smile at the absurdity, but that evaporated under Brackenreid's uncomfortable gaze. When the inspector did not answer right away, he asked, "Sir, are you or the Chief Constable finding fault with my work?"

"No. No fault with your work." Brackenreid looked down.

"Then we have nothing further to talk about, do we sir," William stated as he opened his hands and splayed them on the table.

The inspector coughed and straightened. "Murdoch. I am only going say this once. The constabulary is considering bringing charges against you for violating the police code of ethics and conduct. Your, er, personal life, it seems, has brought discredit upon you and by extension the police the force, and someone has a bee in their bonnet about it."

"Sir?" William's voice rose in anger. "What are you saying?"

"Well, it seems that someone took notice of the, um, liaison between you and Dr Ogden that came to light during her trial, and is making a stink. You both testified under oath about your relationship including her admission you spent the night together in the Queen's Hotel." Brackenreid leaned forward and lowered his own voice. "Bloody Hell, man, what were you thinking? Couldn't you have been more a little more discrete?"

William felt his face get red and tightened his jaw. "Sir, I ask again…what are you really saying?"

"I am saying that if this investigation goes forward you could well lose your job, be busted back down to constable, or worse, be booted out entirely for immorality." Brackenreid never thought Murdoch, of all people, would be guilty of that particular sin. "Chief Constable Giles feels he has no choice and he is getting pressure to file departmental charges." He paused before going on. "He wants to know what you have to say for yourself." Brackenreid volunteered to have this hard conversation with Murdoch before the detective was summoned before a disciplinary board. If the talk with his detective goes badly tonight, he was told to ask Murdoch to resign to avoid any more scandal. The inspector watched as Murdoch blinked several times, then swallowed and brought his chin up.

So…this is one of the ways that deception is coming home to roost, William thought bitterly. "Sir, what is it you would have me say? Dr Ogden and I both testified truthfully and under oath. I suppose Chief Constable Giles already has the court transcript?" When the other man nodded he continued. "I see. I wonder if James Gillies is still stirring the pot in his vendetta against me and this is just another attempt…"

"Murdoch, Gillies or no Gillies, this is serious. One thing the Chief Constable did point out in the transcript was that

Dr Ogden said, quote, "It wasn't like that," unquote, when the prosecutor asked her about that night in the hotel. I need to know what she meant by that…. There is no way to ask this delicately. Did you or did you not…?"

William stood abruptly, pushing his chair back with some force. "Sir! This is outrageous. I really must protest!" he sputtered to the inspector.

"Sit down, man! Bloody Hell! Who would you rather have ask these questions and who would you rather have to answer them?" Brackenreid hissed, trying to keep from being overheard.

William's stomach was cold, his chest tight. "I see." He stayed standing, and put his hands behind his back. "Then my answer is, "no", sir. Nothing of an intimate nature transpired between Dr Ogden and myself at the Queen's Hotel then or…or anytime." His pain and embarrassment were acute, and he could not keep it entirely off his face.

Brackenreid was both surprised and relieved, and then immediately puzzled. "Then why? You risked your reputation! For nothing! It makes no sense."

William hesitated for a long movement, feeling the churning within, but decided he owed the inspector the truth for all he did to free himself and Julia from Gillies' trap. He sat down again and absently tapped a small wooden box by his inkwell. With effort he calmed his voice and explained, "To obtain a divorce from her husband, she had to give him grounds for one. She wanted to take the shame and scandal on herself to leave his reputation intact, especially as it pertained to his career. Her attorney told her she needed to have proof of adultery, to include witnesses, guest registry and receipts, everything that legally would be required." He paused, hesitated at the next bit.

"She offered to get someone else to play the part of her lover for her, but in good conscience, I could not let her do that. It would further damage her reputation, and the truth was that… I was the one who was coveting another man's wife…" I would also feel humiliated for people to think Julia had been with any other man than me, he thought to himself.

"I told her we would do this together and that it was only right and fair that I risk the stain on my own reputation with her, in order to leave Dr Garland blameless. We went to the hotel together and allowed other people to come to whatever conclusions they wanted or needed to….Sir, we never thought it would be widely known… Ultimately, it would have been a private parliamentary bill for divorce, not necessarily generally publicized…"

"But I thought that as a Catholic, you cannot marry a divorced woman. How was a divorce going to help you?" Brackenreid recalled the suggestion that Murdoch could have orchestrated the whole thing to eliminate Garland, thus clearing the way for marriage to a widow instead of a divorcee.

"I could not marry in the Church, in the eyes of God, but I would have made my peace with a civil marriage."

"Murdoch. What if Garland continued to refuse a divorce—what would you have done then?" Brackenreid ventured to ask out of curiosity.

William cleared his throat and answered, bringing his head up again. "We'll never know now, will we, sir." He paused and made himself take his shoulders down and voice neutral. "Sir. I have answered your questions and I will swear under oath if necessary. I would ask you to leave Dr Ogden out of this if at all possible, as she has been through enough." He looked directly into the inspector's eyes. "If that is all, I would also appreciate this being a closed subject. I have work to do." He gestured to the piles on his desk, with all the dignity he could assemble at that moment.

Inspector Brackenreid took a while to consider how much of Murdoch's confession needed to be communicated. He decided to tell Chief Inspector Giles most of it, and have the detective swear to the facts of the matter, even though it was going to be embarrassing to do so. So, they have never been lovers. He found that strangely disappointing and then shook his head and quickly chastised himself for the thought. He also thought that James Gillies could indeed be behind this new agitation, and was going to set some men to quietly investigate that, and he had a sly thought that Gillies could be behind other recent problems too. "All right, Murdoch, you will probably have to put that in a sworn deposition, but that will end the matter I believe. Chief Inspector Giles will see to it. Enough said. I am ordering you to go home. Now. No excuses." He put his hand up when Murdoch protested and pointed to the door. "Out," he said.

William scowled, but straightened his papers and gathered his things to go to Mrs Kitchen's, hoping to be able to sleep with all the thoughts that raced in his head.