Chapter 14
Piper hurried to answer the doorbell knowing it would be Andy and his partner wanting to discuss Prue's case. Phoebe was just brining in some tea from the kitchen as Piper pulled open the front door and greeted both Inspectors. As they made their way into the front room, she took a moment to really look at Andy. He hadn't really changed in the years since he and Prue had dated but he looked troubled. Maybe it is something to do with what he wanted to talk to us about, she thought to herself.
"Please take a seat, both of you. Would you like some tea?" Phoebe asked, pouring cups for everyone.
"Thank you Miss Halliwell. I am Inspector Morris, Inspector Trudeau's partner. As I explained to your sister earlier, as Inspector Trudeau has a prior relationship with Prue, we thought it best that someone else take on the case. He will however be assisting me on the case"
"Well Ok then. How can we help?" Piper asked, slightly confused at Andy's surrendering of the case, and also by Andy's behaviour. He had barely looked at either of the sisters since entering the house and even now, as his partner had been talking, he had been looking about the room as if lost in memories. Painful memories if she judged the look in his eyes correctly.
As Andy looked around the room, he could see everything clearly. When he had been here the last time he had been so focused on Prue's presence in the room that he hadn't truly had a chance to take everything in. It didn't look exactly as it used to when they were younger but it was incredibly similar. It felt very familiar to him since he and Prue had spent a lot of time babysitting Piper and Phoebe instead of actually going out on dates. As he turned to look at them in turn, he realised just how much time had passed since then. As he looked at Piper though, he realised she had been studying him in return and the curious look on her face told him that she was still as intuitive and bright as she had been in high school.
"Well first of all we wanted to ask you which of the incidents involving your sister either of you reported and which she reported. Unfortunately, on a search of our records we could only find a few reported cases compared to the number Phoebe told Inspector Trudeau about at the hospital."
"Um sure, I think I can remember which ones I reported, what about you Pheebs?" Piper asked. "But why don't you simply ask Prue? She would probably remember better than us."
"We have done Miss Halliwell. We just want to be absolutely sure."
Phoebe and Piper began to list the cases that they had reported and as they did so, the bad feeling Andy had had since seeing Prue for the first time, settled further into his gut, taking hold and spreading.
"So you are absolutely sure that all other cases were reported by Prue?" Andy asked, wanting further clarification.
"Either Prue or Roger. I think he may have reported one or two incidents on her behalf when she was too shaken up and we weren't around." Piper replied, her suspicions starting to grow.
"Were either of you around when any of these incidents occurred?" Morris asked, as his mind began to form the questions he would ask based on the answer he was about to get.
"No actually, we only found out about them from phone calls from the hospital or Prue herself. Why? What does this have to do with anything?" Phoebe replied.
"We just need the details to be clear that's all. Since some of the police records are missing we need to ensure all the information we have to go on is correct." Realising he had to be careful with the way he worded his next question, Morris said "Can you tell me where your sister's fiancée was on the occasions he could not be reached?"
"Well haven't you asked Roger? He would be better able to tell you his whereabouts." Piper replied, mind going into overdrive. Why on earth would they want to know where Roger was? 'Surely they didn't…no they couldn't' she thought to herself.
"We haven't managed to speak to him just yet and we wondered if you knew so that we can continue with the investigation until we can speak to him" Morris said, hoping that the answer would satisfy them for now. From what he understood, the sisters were close to their brother-in-law to be and at this stage would very likely alienate them and they needed their co-operation if they were going to get to the bottom of the case.
"Oh well, Roger was either out of town on business or in meetings here in town, neither of which is unusual. Ever since Roger took over the running of the museum he has been incredibly busy. He would usually get back to us within an hour or two when he picked up his voicemail." Phoebe replied.
"So within a couple of hours he would come pick up Prue and you would stay with her in the meantime yes?" Andy asked.
"Um usually, yeah" Piper replied, her mind settling on a few incidents which at the time had worried her but she had later dismissed.
"What do you mean usually? What is it Piper?" Andy asked, studying her face intently as her mind worked overtime. There was something she was remembering and Andy had a feeling it was going to be something against Roger.
"Well now that you mention it, there were I think, 3 occasions, all the most recent, when it has taken a lot longer for him to get in touch. More than a day each time." Piper replied, thoughts whirling through her head a mile a minute.
"Can you think of the reasons for the delay? Were there any differences in the attacks? Where they took place maybe or time of day or even extent of injury?" Morris asked, as he moved to sit on the edge of his seat, willing the sisters to remember all the details.
"Well no I don't think there were any differences. Except maybe in the severity of her injuries. Wouldn't you say Phoebe?" Piper replied, her mind now in overdrive.
"Well sure, the last few occasions Prue has been hurt a lot worse than before. But what does that have to do with how long it took Roger to get our messages? Oh my God!" Phoebe exclaimed suddenly. "You think Roger has something to do with it don't you? You think Roger is the one hurting our sister! That's ridiculous. He loves her. He wouldn't do that. If he had even so much as raised a finger to Prue she would have left him. Besides she would have told us. We're her sisters" Phoebe rushed out.
"Please Phoebe, just listen to what I have to say ok?" Andy asked.
When Phoebe nodded for him to continue, Andy stood and began pacing the room, struggling to find the place to start. Deciding that the sisters should hear everything he took a deep breath, tuned to face them and began talking.
"From the moment I spoke to Prue in the hospital, something just didn't ring true. Now I know Prue and I haven't seen each other in years but when we knew each other we were incredibly close. We could tell what the other was thinking just with a look. The person who was talking to me from that hospital bed was not the Prue I knew."
"Well of course not Andy. A lot has happened since then and Prue has changed. We all have."
"That's true but as a policeman, there was something else bothering me about the story. So when I went back to the station I checked the reports you told me about Phoebe. The only ones we had on file were the ones that you just told us one of you two reported. Not a single incident Prue was supposed to have reported was on record. Now if it was only one or two I would certainly agree with Prue's supposition that they had simply not been filed by the officers involved. But we are talking more than one or two for it to be a coincidence."
"Go on" Piper said, moving to sit with Phoebe and reaching for her hand. The more Andy talked the more Piper began to worry for Prue.
"The other day here at the Manor, there was something, I couldn't put my finger on, but the more I thought about it, the clearer it became and the more worried I became. Prue's behaviour changed when Roger arrived. There was some sort of discussion going on between the two of them based on a series of looks. When Prue collapsed and I caught her, I saw a flicker of unrestrained anger in Roger's eyes for a split second before he regained his composure and became concerned. And then when Prue came to, the look in her eyes when she looked at me…well it was like we had been transported back years and we were in high school again. It was the look we always shared. But then Roger made his presence felt, she looked at him and for a moment she looked terrified. She hid it quickly but it was there."
"Andy, I don't mean to lessen what you and Prue had when you were younger, or your ability as a Detective but so far all you've convinced me of is that you are still in love with my sister and jealous. There must be something else." Piper said, gripping Phoebe's hand tighter as Andy again faced them. The look on his face told her there was more to come.
"You're right Piper. There's more. Morris…would you like to take it from here? Andy asked, surprised at the raw emotion in his voice.
"Of course. Andy you should down for this as I haven't told you this yet either. After Andy gave me all the information on the previous reported cases I did some further checking. In not one of the incidents was there a witness. Not one person questioned, or video tape checked was there evidence Prue was where she said was when any of these attacks occurred. Not one. Having spoken with Roger's secretary she confirmed for me that on at least 6 of these occasions, Roger did NOT have a meeting scheduled."
"Oh my God this can't be happening!" Piper exclaimed. "If what you believe is true, why hasn't she said anything to us? We're her sisters for God's sake. We're here for her, doesn't she know that?"
Recovering from the shock of his partner's revelation Andy turned to the sisters. "Piper, Phoebe, you have to know that in cases of domestic abuse such as this, there is usually mental abuse too. At this point we don't know exactly what Roger has Prue believing for her not to report him. But there is also another possibility you need to consider. Prue has always been the strong one in this family. She was the one who practically raised you guys, she gave up a lot to be a mom to you both when your died. We argued about it so often that I can still hear her in my head now. 'They are my responsibility Andy', she would say. 'Grams is right, I have to do everything I can to protect them, to stop them getting hurt. It's what our mom would have wanted and I will make sure they never get hurt, or know pain'. Those were her exact words. It's possible that she hasn't told you because she wants to spare you the pain and hurt."
"But she has to know we wouldn't want her to suffer just to protect us?" Phoebe said, fighting back the tears.
"Come on Phoebe. You know Prue better than that. She gave up college, her dreams, everything to be here for you both, to love and protect you. She is stubborn as a mule your sister." Andy said, smiling slightly as he remembered a time when he called her stubborn and she threw a piece of pie at him.
"OK, so we're convinced. What do we do now? Roger called us and asked to meet us here this afternoon because he's worried about Prue. Are you going to arrest him?" Piper asked.
"Right now, we can't. We have no proof he has done any of these things and without proof or a statement from Prue, we can't touch him." Morris said.
"So what, we just have to sit here and listen to him going on about how worried he is about her when we know it is a lie? We can't do that!"
"You have to or he will know you are on to him and that we are too. For the time being you have to continue acting the way you always have around him. You cannot give him any reason to suspect you feel any differently towards him" replied Morris.
"Well what can we do?" Phoebe asked.
"Right now, we will continue looking for evidence. What you can do is try and get Prue to open up to you. Now I'm not suggesting you come straight out with it and tell her what you know. That wouldn't work. Right now she is probably doing whatever she can to make things right with Roger to prevent another attack. Direct confrontation would only make her clam up further and give Roger more power. Just try and spend more time together as sisters. Talk to her. Make her aware that you are here for her as well as the other way around. She needs to realise that the protection thing goes both ways. Can you do that for me?" Andy asked.
Phoebe and Piper looked at each and reached a silent agreement. Piper turned to the two Inspectors and answered for them both. "Whatever it takes to get Prue away from that psycho, you can count on us."
"Thank you both. I will keep in contact you and let you know when we get anything. You should do likewise. This card has both our numbers on so anything ok?" Andy said as they got up to leave.
"OK. And thanks Andy for everything you are doing for Prue. Andy I'm sorry about what I said before about the jealousy and still being in love thing. I just didn't want to believe what you were trying to tell us." Piper said as she walked them to the door.
As he turned to leave, Andy turned back to Piper, looked her straight in the eye and said "That's ok Piper. You were right. I am still in love with Prue. Always have been, always will be."
As Piper watched him walk away she couldn't help the involuntary shudder that ran down her spine. She had the strangest feeling that more pain and hurt would be caused before this was over and done with. Closing the door, Piper and Phoebe headed back to the front room to discuss their best approach and prepare themselves for the meeting with the person hurting their older sister.