Thomas Brackenried entered his house in a storm, swearing loudly. Margaret sitting in the parlour ignored him. She had been married to him long enough to know that she would find out everything. Thomas came in and started pacing muttering "Bloody hell. Should had left well enough alone." Margaret let him go at it for a while, and when she knew he was ripe for talking, put her knitting down and looked at him:
"What is wrong Thomas?"
Her husband looked at her and decided that he might as well tell her. She was better at this kind of thing anyway.
"Well bloody Murdoch and Ogden have been a royal pain to work with since we all went out after that game. They either religiously avoid each other to the point of stupidity or they find the most obscure of reason to see each other. The lads at the Station House even have a bet going about when things are going to "break" between the two of them. Julia, well she is a woman of the world; she may be able to handle an affair, but Murdoch. He can't. If something was to happen between the two of them, the guilt would be too much for him."
Thomas paused for a second before continuing: "When Stockten asked all the Station House Inspectors last night if one of us could spare a detective for a week to send to Peterborough, I volunteered Murdoch. The Chief coroner had already decided to send Dr. Lowry, so I thought the Doctor and Murdoch could use some time away from each other to cool down."
Margaret looked at her husband: "That was an excellent idea Thomas. I'm surprised you bothered yourself with this kind of thing. You always call this "women business.""
"Well I should have left it bloody well alone. This morning bloody Lowry called Dr. Ogden and asked her to replace him. Not only are Murdoch and Julia not getting time away from each other, they are actually going to spend one whole week together….."
Julia was quickly packing her bags. Darcy was in Buffalo visiting his family. There was no reason why she could not go. It would do her good not to see William for a few days. Now that he was back at Station House Four, she saw him much too often.
William was making his way to the train station. The previous day, when the Inspector Brackenried had called him into his office and informed him he had volunteered him for a case in Peterborough, William had been happy to go. Dr. Lowry would be travelling with him to help the local doctor with the autopsies. He was finding himself enjoying too much the visits he had with Julia. Time away from her would be good for him. He settled himself in second class. He looked around for Dr. Lowry, but did not see him. He must be in first class William thought.
After a few hours the train pulled into the Peterborough station and William got out. He looked around for Lowry and found….. Julia! He had to wait a few moments to collect his thoughts and then called out to her: "Dr. Ogden!" Julia turned around and seemed very surprised at his presence there. "Detective what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I was told by the Inpsector to come help with a series of murder the town is experiencing. And you?
"The same." Julia answered. She continued. "I was unaware that the local authorities had also requested the presence of a detective. I was led to believe the help required was only in a medical area."
William looked at her for a few seconds before continuing: "Yes, well they also requested the presence of a detective." He hesitated for a few seconds. "I thought Dr. Lowry was suppose to come."
It was then that Julia realized that both of them had ended up here together by coincidence. "Dr. Lowry telephoned me this morning and asked me to replace him. Since I had nothing urgent, I decided to accept."
They both looked at each other a bit lost as to what to do next. Finally William made the first move.: "Here let me help you with your luggage. This is all you have?" Julia was still unsure what to do. She knew the best thing would be for her to turn around and quickly get back on that train before it left for Toronto. She can do this she thought. How different can it be than working with William in Toronto? They made their way to a waiting cab.
"The local constabulary please." Requested William.
William and Julia sat in silence in the cab as they made their way to the local police station. Tried as she might Julia could not find a neutral topic of conversation. Every topic seem to carry an hidden message. If she asked him how he was doing, it might seem as though she was inquiring about his personal well-being. How was he enjoying being back at Station Four might be interpreted as asking him how he felt about working closely with her again. With each passing silent minute spent alone with him in the cab, she got more and more nervous. Finally they arrived and William seem to fly out of the cab the moment it stopped. He helped her out and asked the driver to take their luggage to the hotel before escorting Julia inside the station house.
Once they were inside, William's attention was immediately commandeered by the police officers. Julia was escorted to the local small hospital where the bodies were being kept. She spent the rest of the day working. Julia was finally able to concentrate. The short trip in the cab had been nerve racking. She worked all afternoon and was still at it when William walked in.
"Good afternoon Doctor. Have you any results for me yet?" Julia looked up surprised. She had not seen him come in. Some of her hair had come undone and she had blood all over her apron and her arms. She went over to a basin to wash her hands as she answered him.: "I have nothing conclusive yet Detective, but I've barely started. The conditions here are a bit … limited. " She looked around to make sure they were not overheard. "It took me a while to get everything sorted before I could even start."
William had been in the same room for only a few moments and already Julia felt flustered. She knew she was babbling on, but she had to say something. She felt that if she stopped talking, the discernable awkwardness between them would grow out of proportion. "And you detective? Have you found out anything yet?
"My investigation is still in the very preliminary stages I am afraid. I was hoping you could provide me with some results that could point me in the right direction."
Julia did not really know how long she stared at William before she realized that no words had been spoken for several seconds. Eventually she got her concentration back and responded: "I should have some preliminary results by early evening if you want to come back?" The moment she said the last few words, Julia felt a blush coming on. Did she sound as desperate to see him again as she felt? She hoped not.
William nodded: "I shall come back later then."
William walked out feeling like a fool. He knew that Julia would have to work in rudimentary conditions here and that she not likely to have any results so soon. Yet, he could not stop himself from going anyway. He had caught himself mutely staring at her several times. He shook his head. He needed to concentrate on this case and solve it as soon as possible. The less time Julia and him spent here, the better it would be, for both of them
It was nearly 7 pm and Julia was sitting down writing her report on the autopsy she had conducted today. She was tired. She had spent the whole day bent over the table and another hour or so writing up the report. She stopped for a second and arched her back trying to relieve her fatigue when William's voice startled her: "It's been a long day for you also I would think Doctor." She quickly stood up and turned to William. She was immediately struck by how much his presence affected her. She tried to busy herself by putting her report together. She was looking down at the desk gathering papers and trying to distract herself by non-essential talk.
"I'm afraid you will have to make do with my written report Detective. I have no assistant here to type it up for me. I hope you will be able to read my handwr….."
She quickly turned around with her report ready in her hand not realizing how close to her William was. She ended up standing right next to him; looking at him directly in his eyes. She was unable to finish her sentence. She just kept staring at him with her mouth slightly open, unable to think. For a long moment, neither of them moved. As though she was in a dream, detached from her body, Julia heard herself say: "Come to me tonight William."
William just started at her surprised, but unable to dismiss the thought from his head. The only answer he could formulate was: "What?"
"You heard me William." Said Julia as she walked away from him. She put on her cloak, left the hospital leaving a dumfounded William staring at the empty door. William picked up her report and slowly made his way out of the hospital. He had a few stops to do before he would be done for the day. He finished his day refusing to allow himself to think about what Julia had said.
Finally at 9 pm, he walked back to the hotel and requested a small meal be sent to his room. He ate his meal in silence trying to read her report. William looked at his watch: a quarter to 10. He continued trying to read her report. He looked at his watch again: ten past ten. He could not concentrate. His mind kept being distracted by Julia's handwriting. Normally her autopsy reports were neatly typed official documents. Not this one. This once contained her autopsy notes with reminders and comments that she had kept throughout the day. Some of them reflected her morbid sense of humour while others showed her compassion for the victim…. For perhaps the 10th time, he looked at his watch again. It was ten thirty "Come to me tonight", she had said. He would not. He could not. She was another man's wife. He had no right. He looked at his watch again, a quarter to eleven.
He stopped thinking. He threw the report on his bed and ran out of his room to hers and quickly knocked. She answered. They looked at each other for a few seconds without saying any words. William slowly, deliberately closed the door shut behind him. Again neither of them moved. They just stood looking at each other, both of them giving the other one the chance to back out. Neither did. They moved at the same time throwing themselves into each others arms.
By the time Julia woke up the next morning, William was gone. They spent a week in Peterborough working on this case. Every night William came to Julia. Every morning he would be gone. During the day, both were professionals, neither saying nor doing anything that would give any hints of had happened during the night.
Finally William solved the case and on Saturday they boarded the train to return to Toronto. William sat in second class while Julia went to 1st class. William was lost in his thoughts watching the passing countryside when he felt Julia come sit beside him. Neither spoke for long moments. They just sat beside each other as though trying to squeeze every moment they could. Finally Julia took in a deep breath and said: "William you must know that….." she hesitated and tried again: "William this week was.. " again she could not finish her sentence.
William did it for her: "This week was…. a wrinkle in time".
"Yes. Yes". Julia answered as she moved her hand down the side of her dress, eliminating a wrinkle that had formed, erasing all signs that it had ever existed. They said nothing after that and just sat beside each other. Finally, Julia stood up and left.