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Jean was pleased to see old Doctor Blake back in action. Well, seeing patients anyway. Lucien was still handling the role of Police Surgeon, much to Chief Superintendent Ashby's chagrin. He had Matthew keep a close eye on him but that just meant that Matthew got in trouble right along with Blake. As much as he hated to admit it though, his solving rate was through the roof. He thought maybe his father would have some advice before he'd be forced to fire him. He just didn't feel the time was quite right yet, not wanting to add anymore stress to the older doctor.
This particular case was getting to all of them. A teenage girl was found strangled. The only person that seemed to know something, a sixteen-year-old boy, wasn't talking. He seemed more terrified than guilty. Lucien watched curiously through the window as Matthew was interrogating him, trying to rather. Ashby walked up behind Lucien. "What the devil do you think you're doing?"
Lucien almost jumped. "Superintendent. I'm just observing."
Ashby put his hands in his pockets as they both looked on. "Hmm, I'd like to observe the autopsy report but I doubt that would be anytime soon. You reckon?"
Lucien sighed. "Yes. Yes, I'll go work on that then." He took one last look at the teenager and left for the morgue. Ashby shook his head, watching him leave.
Instead of going to the morgue, Lucien took a turn toward the crime scene. He wanted to try to put himself in her shoes. What could she have been thinking? Who else could have been there? He got out of the car and walked up to the barn, looking to see if anyone was around. He noticed a padlock on the barn door. "Bugger." Then he smiled and pulled his knife out. Looking around again, he picked the lock.
Once inside, he remembered how her body lay on the ground and tried to visualize a fight between her and her assailant. There were defense wounds on her hands to suggest she tried to fight off her attacker. He got down on the ground, lying in the same position she was in when they found her. He looked to the right and squinted. What is that? He got up and walked over to a mound of hay. Wedged in the hay was a clip of some sort, with a red stain on it. Thinking it could be blood, he wrapped it in his kerchief and put it in his pocket.
He knelt there mulling over theories. He wasn't sure how long he was there but was startled by the sudden appearance of Matthew. "Bloody hell, Blake!" Matthew quickly looked behind him and side to side, thankful there was no one else around. "Superintendent will have my arse if sees you here. He's supposed to be meeting me here. Go!"
Lucien quickly rose and walked toward Matthew. "Yes, of course. We'll talk later, Matthew. Yes?"
Matthew squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "It was a lot less stressful when your dad was the police surgeon." He noticed Lucien's smirk as he watched him get into his car and drive away. Ashby arrived less than five minutes after Lucien left. Matthew looked to the sky to thank his lucky stars.
"Did I just see the doctor coming from here?"
Matthew used his best poker face. "You may have seen him on the road but he wasn't coming from here."
Ashby shook it off, believing Matthew.
It was late when he arrived home. He was glad to see Jean was still awake. She smiled as he walked in and collapsed lengthwise on the settee. "Doctor. Long day?"
He released a heavy sigh. "Yessss. And we are no where closer to figuring out what happened to the victim. To make matters worse, she was a beautiful 15-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her."
Jean looked sympathetically at him. "Oh no." She paused her knitting and looked up toward the boys' room, trying to imagine how she would feel if anything were to happen to Christopher Jr. or Jack. They sat there for a moment before Lucien got to his feet.
"Sherry, Jean?"
"Yes, I think I would like a glass. After that news."
"I'm sorry, Jean. I really shouldn't talk to you about this case. This one's a bit too close to home." He poured himself a whiskey and Jean a sherry.
"No, Lucien. It's alright. I'd like to help if I can. Makes me feel quite useful."
He handed her the glass of sherry but didn't let go right away. Speaking low and soft he said, "Jean, you're always more than useful."
She blushed and smiled. "Thank you, Lucien."
He sat back down and asked, "How was father today?"
"He did very well. Although, he went to bed fairly early."
"Good. He still needs as much rest as he can get. Did he go for his walk like I told him to?"
She smiled, thinking it was great to see how much he cared for his father. "He did. Jack went with him."
Lucien chuckled but was sglad his father wasn't alone. "You have lovely boys, Jean. You're doing a great job with raising them."
She blushed and smiled again, staring into his eyes. He was being sincere. He was charming, yes, but this was genuine. She didn't know how much longer she could resist this man. Looking away from his eyes she softly said, "Thank you, Lucien."
There was a knock at the door. Lucien got up and put a hand on Jean's shoulder to stop her from getting up. "I'll get it."
The second he opened the door, Matthew stormed in. "Bloody hell, Blake!"
Lucien whispered, looking to his dad's room. "Shh, Matthew. Please, keep it down. Dad's asleep already. Let's go in here." He guided him to where Jean was.
She looked up. "Oh, hello Matthew. Let me give you two some privacy." She began to gather her knitting but Lucien stopped her.
"No, Jean, it's alright. You can stay." Matthew shot a questioning look at him. Lucien responded, "I've told her the gist of the case."
Matthew shook his head. "Blake, you are not a detective. This is why you keep getting into trouble."
Jean looked at Lucien, unaware of his issues with the police. She thought he had been doing a good job since they kept him on.
Matthew continued, "The only thing keeping you is your solve rate." To Lucien's smirk, he added, "You're bloody impossible, you know that?"
Lucien put a hand on his shoulder. "Matthew, I'm sorry if I make your job more difficult. I really am and I'll try to work on that. But I see a puzzle and I must solve it. That's just who I am." He squeezed his shoulder and Matthew's expression softened a bit. "Look, I'll be more open with you about my theories and try to be less impulsive. For instance, letting you know I need to see a crime scene instead of you finding me there like today."
They shared a smile. "Yes, that would be a good start." They sat down and Matthew asked, "So, did being at the crime scene do anything for you?"
Jean raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused by their exchange. Lucien smiled as he removed the kerchief covered clip from his pocket. "Actually, I found this."
"Blake, that's evidence! You can't just take what you want from a crime scene!"
Choosing to ignore him, he pointed to the red substance on the clip. "I need to test this though. I think it might be Amy's blood."
Matthew shook his head. "Okay, I'll add it to my report."
"Matthew, were you able to get anywhere with Sam?"
"No, he wouldn't say a word."
Lucien looked at Jean. "I have an idea." She didn't like the sound of that. "Jean, Sam is a sixteen-year-old. He found the body. The police think he knows more than he's letting on. Now, I don't think he killed her." Matthew scoffed. "Matthew, this boy looks more scared than guilty. I think he's afraid to tell us who did it." He looked to Jean. "What do you say about seeing if Christopher can get through to this young chap?"
"My Christopher? You want my boy to talk to a suspect?"
"Jean, he's not dangerous. He's scared. I think he would talk to someone his own age and I think Chris could help." Jean stared at him. He could tell she was thinking about it.
"It's actually not a bad idea. I hate to admit it, but I agree with Lucien."
Jean looked to Matthew and then back to her knitting. "He'd be safe?"
"Absolutely. We will all be there watching. Lucien's right though, this kid isn't dangerous. You can be there too, Jean."
"You better believe I'll be there!" Lucien tried to hide his smile.
They set it up. Jean would speak with Chris in the morning and, if he agreed, they would go to the station in the morning. She still had some reservations, but she thought Lucien might be onto something. Matthew left feeling better than when he arrived.
Lucien had a feeling he wasn't going to have a restful sleep that night. He had another two glasses of whiskey after Jean had gone to bed. He was hoping that was going to be enough to stave off the nightmares. Jean wasn't sure how long he had been shouting before she woke. It had been a while since his last nightmare. This one seemed particularly bad. The boys were in their doorway with matching worried looks.
"It's okay, go back to bed. He'll be okay." She waited for them to agree and closed their door. She looked to Lucien's door and sighed. She knocked first and then opened the door, quickly closing it behind her. She whispered to him as she walked over to the bed. "Lucien!"
"Noooo! Sergeant!" His brow was furrowed deeply and sweat glistened against his skin. His singlet was drenched.
She sat on the bed and spoke softly to him, stroking his arm and shoulder. "Shh, Lucien. It's just a dream. It's alright. You're alright. Lucien, it's okay."
His eyes snapped open and he was struggling to get his breathing under control. "Jean." He ran his hands through his hair, holding his head for a long moment. "So sorry."
"Shh, you have nothing to apologize for."
"Yes, I do. I woke you up." He had tear streaks down his face and she could see new tears forming in his eyes. He was struggling and it broke her heart.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head, refusing to make eye contact with her. She changed position, sitting on his bed so that she was leaning back against the headboard. "Come here." He was confused. She opened her arms and patted her stomach for him to lay his head against it. He hesitated but did so, putting his arms around her in turn. He squeezed her, needing this contact more than he realized. She stroked his head. "I'm sure you experienced hell, Lucien. I can't even imagine the things you must have seen and felt. Please never apologize for your nightmares. I'm sorry you were put through it." She felt him shake and realized he was sobbing. She held him tighter. Eventually the shaking stopped and she felt his hold on her loosen. He had fallen back asleep. She stayed in that position until daylight started to crack through the window, wondering what she was going to about this.