A/N: So, the explanation about Keats. This alludes heavily to Life on Mars, Series 1, Episode 7. After this, there is only a short epilogue, which will either be up tonight or tomorrow.
Gene and I follow Sam out into the main office. Sam is chattering, but all I manage to catch is "I found it!"
"All right, Boy wonder, what have you found?" Gene asks.
Sam rushes over to the whiteboard and starts drawing a mind map. "Billy Kemble" He announces. We all look blank. He sighs.
"1973, not long after I…err…transferred to the Guv's department…"
"Back when you were behavin' like a plonker you mean, Tyler?" Gene interrupts
I shush him impatiently
"As I was saying" Sam continues, ignoring Gene's comment "1973, we arrest Billy Kemble for indecent exposure and then get into investigating him for drug dealing, which we reckoned he was into. Gene and I left him in the custody of DS Carling and DC Skelton, at which point…" He trails off.
"What happened?" I ask, although my question is directed at Ray rather than Sam.
"He died, in police custody…Chris an' me…well…we did something we shouldn't of an'….well, 'e died…'eart attack…."
"And then what?" I have a horrible feeling I know where this is going.
"And then I covered it up" Gene finishes. "It was wrong, as Tyler told me so many times, but everyone's neck was on the line. Me, Sam, Ray, Chris, Annie, even our ol' desk sergeant Phyllis. I couldn't ruin all those careers just 'cause of one stupid mistake."
The silence seems to drag on as I process this. Its only broken when Annie re-enters the room from wherever she's been, and goes to whisper something in Sam's ear. His triumphant grin breaks the tension.
"My wonderful wife…" A shared grin between them "…Has just found the missing piece of the puzzle"
We all look expectantly at him.
"Billy Kemble had two brothers. The elder of whom changed his name to try and distance himself from the notoriety of his family. Mainly because he was a police officer. However, it seems that after his brothers death he wanted to see the person responsible punished, and so tried to ruin his career 11 years ago"
"Morgan" I breath, and Gene glances at me
"Morgan?" He asks "That tosser from Hyde?"
Sam nods.
"The one who got you to spy on us, Boss?" Ray asks, the hint of a sneer in his voice.
I roll my eyes. Ray would always make it a contest with Sam it seemed. Sensibly though, Sam ignores him.
"DCI Morgan was determined to bring Gene down. Claimed it was about modernizing the force, but it always seemed more than that, more personal."
"He wanted to avenge his brothers death" I add
"That's not all though" Sam replies
"Oh?"
"The second brother, James, youngest by about ten years, has been in the attention of the police for a while. He was proclaimed a child genius, but the police have had a strong suspicion that he was using his brain for crime rather than anything helpful. However, he disappeared off the radar about a year ago, they reckon he might have changed his name as well."
I understand where this is going, although everyone else looks blank. "He disappeared a year ago, when James Kemble became Jim Keats" I finish
"Exactly" Sam replies.
Everyone is silent for a moment.
Gene breaks the silence "So all that Jim's done; the fake investigation, stichin' me up for murder, sending tha' note…It was all to revenge his brother?"
"I guess he wanted to succeed where Frank Morgan failed" Sam replies.
"Well" Gene says, looking a little dazed. "We best find Jim Keats…or whoever he bloody well actually is, and bring him in for questioning"
"How are we gonna find 'im Guv?" Shaz asks "He could be anywhere"
Gene looked put out. I though, have an idea
"I think I know where he could be…he told me his upbringing had been strictly religious, and he said he always goes to church on Vine Street during his lunch hour, so presuming his routine hasn't changed…"
"Then he'll be there right about now" Gene says " Right boys, Fire up the Quattro!"
Gene, Sam, Ray and Chris left about half an hour ago to check the church. The rest of the team had gone for lunch and Annie had gone to locate some sandwiches for us. Luckily, Viv had removed the box of maggots.
I sat on the edge of Shaz's desk. Something he been bothering me since I returned. I had presumed me seeing the stars had been a warning for my imminent return to the future. But that didn't explain why Shaz had seen them too.
"Shaz, you remember a while ago you told me something about stars?"
She nodded.
"Have you seen them again since?"
She shook her head "No Ma'am, when I went to the doc's to see about my flu I had a while back, I asked 'im about it, an' he said it was probably just a side effect of stress"
I nodded and moved away from her desk. Maybe that was all it was, pure coincidence. I couldn't help wonder though, how much the lives of the people here were tied with mine. I didn't have time to wonder for long though, as a slamming door heralded Gene's return.
"Bolly, Keats is in the interview room, want in on it?" he asked me. I grinned and followed him. Taking his hand for a moment and squeezing it.
"So Jimbo…posing as a police officer, inventin' a murder charge, disappearing completely…quite impressive"
Keats sneered. "I told you not to underestimate me"
I'm reliably informed that your some kind o' genius, Jim" Gene continued
"Child genius" Keats confirmed.
"I think your living proof of the fact there's a thin line between genius an' madness" Gene replies, a serious note to his voice that has made criminals shake in their boots.
Keats scowls. "I did what had to be done"
"For your brother?" Gene asks, a slight smirk
"You killed him!" Keats shouts, suddenly losing control "You left him in the hands of those incompetent buffoons you call officers and then covered it up when they let him die."
"You deserved it" he adds, still fuming.
"Both you and your brother tried to bring me down. Ruin my career, prove I hurt and killed those closest too me, and you know why Jim? Because you're a coward, so was Frank. Neither of you could actually bring yourselves t' kill me and truly avenge your brother. So you convinced yourself ruinin' my career was enough. You and I both know it would never have really seemed that way for you Jim"
Keats merely continues to smirk.
Gene raps it up
"James Kemble, I am charging you for impersonating a police officer, tampering with evidence, giving a false statement to a court of law, wasting police time, threatening behaviour and attempting to elude capture by the police. I will also make sure there's a restrain' order against you for my whole team when you get out o' jail.
With that, Viv escorts Keats (or Kemble, rather) from the room and from our lives, and once their gone I wrap my arms around Gene and push my hand inside his jacket to rest over his heart, mimicking the position from that first day all those years ago.
