Chapter 6Fraser and Diefenbaker walked along in the spring sunshine. Fraser's mind was a jumble of thoughts. As he walked, he filled his lungs with the cool, crisp air, hoping that it would help to clear his head. The sensation was indescribable and he wondered how he'd managed to go so long without breathing the air that he loved.
They were heading back to Maggie's when Fraser noticed Danny walking the other way. The young man waved and Fraser darted across the road to greet him. "How's the head?" He enquired.
"OK thanks," replied Danny. They chatted for a few minutes, but as they rounded the corner, Danny stopped and tugged at Fraser's sleeve. "Look," he half-whispered, "that's him. The coke dealer. What are you going to do? Can you arrest him?"
"Unfortunately, that would not be the best idea," replied Fraser. "It would be your word against his and we need evidence, especially if he is connected to the murder of the hospital security guard." Danny looked disappointed and patted Diefenbaker who reacted with a whine. "It appears that Dief agrees," said Fraser. "Some of you new friends have been cooperating with the police I believe," he continued, "that should help with the investigation."
Just then, the man looked up and saw Danny with Fraser. He took one look at Fraser who of course was wearing his distinctive RCMP hat and quickly got into his car.
"That was suspicious, right?" said Danny.
"Agreed," replied Fraser, "however that still proves nothing, but we do now have the plate number of his car. Were you heading home?" Danny nodded. "I'll walk with you."
XxX
Fraser arrived back at Maggie's a while later. As he stepped in, he found Helen and Ray drinking tea. "Hey buddy," smiled Ray, "y'know I think I'm startin' to like this tea stuff," he said.
"I'm pleased, tea has many health benefits, unlike coffee, isn't that right Helen?" he said, looking expectantly at the young doctor. Helen nodded and smiled. "How are you feeling now?" he added cautiously.
"I'm alright Benton," she replied, "at least I will be. Now that I know, now I can start dealing with it. Thank you so much."
"I'm sorry that it was so traumatic for you," Fraser said quietly.
"It's OK, I needed to go through it, I had no idea that it would be anything like that," replied Helen, "How could I have forgotten something like that?"
"You didn't forget it, you suppressed it," replied Fraser, "as you know, that is sometimes the only way the human mind can cope with terrible trauma. You were very young at the time, it is not that surprising, with hindsight."
"You're right, of course," said Helen, "I am going to talk to one of my counselling colleagues in the morning. I think I'd like to talk to her about this, but already just knowing has given me a strange sense of relief."
"Then what?" asked Ray, "if ya go into the station, Maggie can get a, er, a sketch artist to sit down with ya, y'know, so we can get his description out there. Maybe he's already wanted for somethin' else? Doesn't sound like the kinda creep to be happy with just the one time. Maybe he's already in jail? If ya..."
"Ray stop," said Helen, waving her hand. "I'm not going to do anything else. This happened ten years ago, there was no evidence at the time, it's too late now. I just want to get on with my life. I can do that now, thanks to Benton."
"I think Helen's probably right," Fraser reluctantly agreed, "this was before DNA testing Ray, it would be extremely difficult to make a case given the amount of time that has elapsed. What I don't understand is why Rex Thompson didn't implicate his accomplice at any stage during his trial?"
Ray thumped his fist into the table in frustration. Just then, Maggie came in holding the telephone. "Oh hello Benton," she smiled when she saw her brother, "actually I'm glad you're back. That was Inspector Stratton on the telephone. There is a band playing tonight at the Memorial Hall and one of Danny's friend's has given us reason to believe that the suspect may attend and will most likely be on the lookout for potential customers. The Inspector wants to put the covert plan into operation. He was wondering if you would consider going undercover at the event Benton? Not many people really know you yet, you should be able to move about with ease."
"Ah," replied Fraser, "I'm afraid that will be impossible," replied Fraser. "Unfortunately, the man in question already knows that I am an RCMP officer." He explained what had happened earlier in town with Danny and wrote down vehicle licence plate number.
"That's a shame," sighed Maggie, "but I'll get someone to run that plate number. I'll call Stratton, hopefully he'll be able to arrange for someone else at short notice."
"Wait, I'll do it," said Ray, suddenly, but he was met with a chorus of "No!" from Maggie, Fraser and Helen. "Oh come on, undercover is what I do. It's my thing. I think, er, I can manage to blend in at a gig."
"Ray, your ability to carry out undercover operations is not in any doubt," began Fraser, "however your current state of health is."
"I'm not sick Fraser," replied Ray angrily. "I'm almost back to normal now. Look at me, I just get the odd, er, twinge now and then. I'm not gonna go crazy, just listen to the band, have a, er, have a few drinks and observe. It's what I do best."
Maggie was quite shocked at Ray's heartfelt response. She glanced at her brother. She didn't like the idea any more than Fraser did, but they both had to agree that Ray was the ideal candidate for the job. "I'll see what the Inspector says," she said.
"I could go with you," said Helen, suddenly much brighter. "Who goes to a gig on their own? That would look suspicious. I could act as your date and keep an eye on you at the same time."
Maggie and Fraser exchanged another glance. "It could be dangerous," suggested Fraser.
"Then Ray can look out for me," replied Helen, her enthusiasm building now. "You just want someone to observe, right?" Maggie and Fraser nodded. "Please let me do this," she pleaded, "I want to help catch this man. You know how this works, it starts with a line or two of coke and the next thing, I'm having to explain to grieving parents that their kid's lying dead in my ER from an overdose."
Fraser looked at Ray. He knew that Ray would protect her at all costs, but if the operation went smoothly, then there should be no danger anyway. They simply needed to catch him in the act then Maggie and her colleagues could move in to arrest him. Fraser could see how much Ray wanted to do this, how much he wanted to be involved. He was suddenly doubtful about Ray's future. Ray had seemed determined to quit the Chicago PD, but Fraser wasn't sure that Ray could ever give up Police work entirely.
"OK," sighed Maggie, nervously. "I'll set it up.
XxX
Later that evening, Maggie and Fraser were sat in an inconspicuous van parked around the corner from the Memorial Hall in town. Fraser was adjusting the listening equipment. "Ray," he spoke into the microphone on his headset, "can you hear me?"
"Buddy, I can still hear ya," Ray's slightly irritated voice came back in Fraser's ears, "I got the camera, Helen's fine, I'm fine, we're OK, now leave me alone to get on with this."
"Sorry Ray," replied Fraser. He glanced at Maggie, they couldn't help worrying about the both of them.
Helen took Ray's arm as they paid to get into the concert. The band had already started playing and the place was buzzing with people. Looking around, Ray suddenly felt really old. They'd both read Danny's description of the man they were looking for and Ray started to take in his surroundings. "You OK?" he asked Helen. Helen nodded. "Shall we get a drink?"
"You're on medication, remember," replied Helen with a grin.
"I know," Ray grinned back, "don't worry Doc, I'll get a Pepsi, same for you?"
"Yes please," replied Helen and she sat at a table and watched as Ray wandered over to the bar, coming back a few minutes later with two bottles of cola.
He handed Helen her drink and sat next to her. "OK," he said, "let me take a photo of ya. I need to look like I'm into taking pictures, so I, er, don't look suspicious later." Helen nodded and poked her tongue out at him. "Greatness," grinned Ray as he took her photograph.
They sat talking and drinking for a few minutes and Ray took a few more pictures. Then the band started playing a slow song. "Dance?" asked Ray, holding out her hand. "We can work our way over to the other side of the hall."
"OK," said Helen, getting to her feet, "but take it easy, OK."
Ray laughed and tapped his ear. "Fraser just said exactly the same. Will you two stop fussin'!"
Ray took Helen's hand and led her onto the dancefloor. "You're a pretty good dancer," smiled Helen.
"Used to do it all the time with my ex-wife," Ray explained, as he spun her around. "Wait a minute," he said, lowering his voice. "Tall, skinny guy at 3 o'clock. Dark curly hair, brown jacket. He's, er, walked straight over to a table with about five kids. I don't think they know him, goin' on the, er , the body language."
Ray gracefully led Helen across the dancefloor to get a bit closer to the man. "What's he doing?" Helen asked.
"He's sat down at the table now," replied Ray, "I'm gonna take some more photos." He broke away from Helen and took the camera out of his pocket. Helen played her part well, pulling silly faces and smiling, but of course Ray had focussed the camera over her shoulder. He put it back in his pocket and took Helen in his arms again. They danced some more, moving even closer to the table, but the music was too loud for Ray to hear what was being said. He heard Fraser's voice in his ear, asking him what was going on. "Not sure buddy," replied Ray, "wait a minute, he's, er, he's getting' up, I think he's gonna leave with two of them. I'm gonna follow them."
Ray tried to ignore Fraser protesting in his ear. Helen joined in now. "Ray, we're meant to be watching them, don't get involved, it might be dangerous."
"How can I watch them if they leave?" asked Ray, "stay here, get another drink, I'll be back in a minute. If her er, if he's gonna do a deal, I need to see him doin' it."
The three men were heading for the door and Ray tried to follow them, but Helen turned and refused to release his hand. "Ray," she began, "don't do it, he might have a gun, we should..." but she stopped talking suddenly and her grip tightened around Ray's fingers.
"Ow," he said, spinning back round to look at her, suddenly concerned, "what's wrong?" Helen had her other hand over her mouth. "Helen?" said Ray, for a second he thought she was having another blackout.
"It's him," Helen's voice was barely a whisper and Ray couldn't hear her. He took a step closer to her again and realised that she was starting to tremble. He wrapped his arm around her and started to dance again, hoping no one had noticed. "It's him," repeated Helen in his ear, "the tall man, he's the man...oh god...I'll never forget his face now, why is he here? Ten years Ray..."
Ray couldn't quite believe what she was saying. Their drug dealer was Helen's other rapist? "Fraser," he said urgently, as he led Helen off the dancefloor, "Fraser we need to abort, repeat, we're aborting this right now."
In the van, Maggie and Fraser couldn't understand what had happened. Only Ray had been wearing a wire so they hadn't been able to hear Helen. Fraser pulled his headset off and slid the van door open when he heard Ray and Helen approaching. He held out his hand and helped Helen inside and Maggie did the same for Ray who winced slightly as he took the big step up. "What's wrong, where did he go?" asked Maggie, closing the van door.
Fraser had felt Helen's distress as he'd taken her hand. "Helen, whatever's the matter?" he asked.
Helen couldn't speak. She just shook her head. Fraser looked at Maggie, suddenly regretting allowing Helen to be involved in this. "Helen recognised our dope dealer," explained Ray, placing a comforting hand on Helen's arm, "the other guy who, er, who raped ya, right?"
Helen nodded and started to cry. "I saw his face in my head so clearly when I was hypnotised," she said, "I'd blocked him out for all this time, but now I'll never forget his face." She collapsed into Ray's arms, sobbing.
Maggie and Fraser were shocked. "That might explain why you started to remember," suggested Fraser, "you've probably seen him around the town in recent weeks."
"Let's get you home," said Maggie. "This puts the situation in a whole new light. Now we know what he's capable of, I'm in no doubt at all that he murdered Eric."
"Agreed," nodded Fraser.
"So now we can throw him in jail for murder, attempted murder, er, rape and dealin' drugs," said Ray, his nostrils flaring with anger. "That's if I don't get my hands on him first."
Helen broke away from Ray. "Please Ray, I don't want you to do anything stupid."
"Ray, this is a very difficult situation now," Fraser reminded him. "We need to concentrate on the murder and drugs charges."
Ray knew his buddy was right. He knew it would be incredibly difficult to bring a prosecution for Helen's rape and attempted murder so long after the event, particularly as Rex Thompson was already serving time for those crimes. He kicked out at the side of the van, an action he immediately regretted as a twinge of pain surged through his body. Fraser and Helen both frowned at him.