Julia woke up with a smile on her face. It was Sunday, and like every Sunday for the past month, she was meeting William after mass. She got up, quickly got dressed and went over to the kitchen to check on the picnic basket Lilly had prepared. Julia smiled. Lilly knew her well. She had packed her favourite picnic food. She was humming happily as she cycled to the church.
Julia was waiting under the shade of an old oak tree when the doors to the church opened and the first parishioners started to come out. She could not see William. That was odd she thought. Normally, he was part of the first ones out. Oh well, he must be chatting with one of the parishioners. She settled herself back against the tree and waited as more people exited the church. Finally, the crowd slowed to a trickle and soon, a young priest walked out. He was about to walk to the rectory when he noticed Julia waiting under the tree. He walked over and greeted her: "Good morning Doctor."
Somehow, Julia was not surprised he knew who she was. William had mentioned that he preferred the young vicar over the older parish priest. The young man was William's confessor. Suddenly Julia felt awkward. The young priest probably knew more about her than she wanted, and that annoyed her. She had never understood this need of bearing one's soul to a complete stranger. She had difficulty expressing her feelings to people she loved, never mind a priest.
"Good morning Father." She politely answered back. She had gone to finishing school after all. The young priest smiled at her.
"I am afraid Doctor that William did not attend church this morning; a case perhaps?"
Julia was thoughtful. A case, then she should have been summoned. She consoled herself by assuming that no murder must have been committed explaining why she had not been called. Just as she was about to leave, the priest spoke up:
"Any time you want to accompany William to mass Doctor, you are quite welcomed."
Julia, a bit taken aback by the offer, took the easy way out. "I am not Catholic Father."
The priest was not fooled, but let it go: "I am sure God would not mind."
Julia was starting to not like the conversation: "Well thank you Father, but I think not. Good day."
Julia left and cycled back home. Surely William would get in touch with her there.
"Oye you. What are you doing there? Trying to hitch a free ride are you?"
He woke up disoriented. He did not have the chance to do anything before the railway guard dragged him out of the coal wagon and dumped him unceremoniously by the tracks. He got up and started walking away. After a few minutes he stopped. Where was he going? More importantly who was he? He searched his brain and could not come up with anything. It was all a blank. His heart started racing. He looked around. Nothing looked familiar. The guard was screaming at him. He continued on until he was out of the rail yard. Finally he sat down and ran his hand through his air. The back of his head felt tender. He must have hit his head which probably caused his amnesia. He felt loss for a moment, but after a few seconds, started to look through the pockets of his clothes. All that he found was a steamer ticket to Bristol with a name on it: John Dawson. Bristol, that was in England….. Well what else did he have to go on? He picked himself up and eventually managed to find his way to the port. He was lucky; the ship was steaming away the next morning.
Julia was a bit miffed as she cycled to work. William had not even bothered to send word yesterday. She knew he often gets caught up in his work, but surely he could have tried harder. She went to the morgue hoping William would pop over to explain himself. By ten o'clock, he had not showed up. Julia lost patience and walked over to the Station House. She found his office empty but did see the Inspector in his office. She knocked on his door and entered.
"Excuse me Inspector, but when do you expect Detective Murdoch back?"
Brackenried put his tea cup down: "I'm not sure Doctor. He did not come in this morning."
Julia started to worry. "Is he still working on the case from yesterday?" She asked
A puzzled look came on Brackenried's face: "A case doctor? We had no cases yesterday."
Julia felt her legs go weak and sat down opposite Thomas. Worry was all over her face.
"Sir. We had arranged to meet after church, but he never showed. Do you think something happened to him?"
Thomas looked at the doctor. He knew of course that they had resumed their relationship. They had both tried to keep it low key, but the happy look they had both sported over the last few weeks had given them away. Even though he was also starting to worry, he nevertheless tried to reassure the doctor.
"I wouldn't worry too much Doctor. He probably got caught up in something interesting and forgot the time. "
Julia was not comforted at all. He never missed church, and if he could not make one of their assignations, he would always let her know. This time he had failed at both. She looked up to Brackenried: "But surely Sir….."
Thomas interrupted her as he saw George walk into the Station House. He had sent him over to Mrs. Kitchen to fetch Murdoch. Noticing the constable was alone; he decided to not discuss the situation in front of Julia.
"I'm sorry Doctor. Could you excuse me for a second? I need to talk to Crabtree."
He walked out and took George to the side: "So Crabtree what did you find out?"
George had a worried look on his face.
"Sir, I talked to his landlady. He left to go to church yesterday morning but never came back."
Unknown to both men, Julia had quietly walked up to them and heard George's answer.
"But he never arrived." She said. At the sound of her voice, both men turned.
"Bloody Hell." Muttered Brackenried. "I told you Doctor to wait in my office."
Angry and worried, Julia could only lash out at Thomas: "How long did you think you were going to be able to hide it from me Inspector?"
Thomas had been doing this job long enough to know that it was not him she was angry at. He gently took her by the arm and led her back in his office. He gestured over to bring in some tea. Just as he was about to close the door, he turned to George.
"You know what you have to do Crabtree. Leave no stone unturned. Use all the men if need be."
He then walked into his office. He did not need a statement from Julia, but he knew that talking would help.
"Now doctor, tell me when was the last time you saw Murdoch?"
He found himself saved by a young barmaid. She had taken a chance on him and had hidden him from the men. She was now putting a dressing on his arm. He tried to explain the best he could how he had ended up in her pub, but in reality, even without his memory, he knew that his story was somewhat unbelievable. She tended to his arm and as she put the dressing on, a shadow of a memory came to him.
A young woman was wrapping a dressing around his bare chest. She was very close to him. Her body touching his. He breathed in and could smell the perfume on her hair. His heartbeat accelerated.
The barmaid tightened the dressing causing him to wince and made the memory disappear. She was talking.
"…..kind eyes…."
He might not know who he was, but he could recognize when a woman was making eyes at him and this barmaid definitely was. He was tempted, yet there was something holding him back. He just did not know what. She left to get him some food. He looked around and spotted a black board. It drew him over. He looked at the board for several seconds and without realizing what he was doing, he wiped out her menu and started writing information and numbers.
George put the telephone down and took in a long breath in. He took a moment before getting up and walking over to Brakenried's office. He knocked and entered.
"Sir. A report just came in." He had to pause before continuing. "A man was found dead behind Detective Murdoch's church. He was described as medium height, dark brown hair. Sir, he is also said to be wearing a dark suit along with a bowler hat."
Brackenried leaned back on his chair: "Bloody hell." He got up and his hand was shaking as he poured himself a drink. He drank it up in one swallow and put the glass down with a bang and repeated: "Bloody hell."
He turned to George: "Well you know what to do lad. Let's go."
George hesitated before leaving: "And Dr. Ogden Sir? Shall I fetch her also?"
Brackenried took a long breath, thought about it for a second then answered: "Get her Crabtree. She'll not thank us for keeping her in the dark, and it may not even be Murdoch."
George nodded his head and walked over to the morgue.
Julia was sitting at her desk. William had been missing for over a week now. Every man at the Station House had been on the case, but so far nothing had been found. They knew no more today then they had a week ago. The difference now was that Julia was getting more and more desperate. She had worked long enough with policemen to know that after a disappearance, the first few days were the most important and in that precious time, they had found nothing. Her mind drifted back to William, to memories of them working, of intimate moments together…
She was taken out of her reverie by the arrival of Constable Crabtree. She looked up hoping he was the bearer of good news. The normally jovial constable had been understandably sombre this past week. He did hero-worshipped William after all. But now…, now the look on his face elevated her fears.
George stopped for a second after he entered the morgue. The doctor looked up to him. He could see she was hoping he was bringing good news. It was breaking his heart that he was about to do the total opposite. He walked over and came to a stop in front of the doctor. It took all his willpower to lift his head and tell her.
"Doctor. There's been a body found in a field beside Detective Murdoch's church."
George watched as all hope left her face. Her face froze as she silently stared up at him.
He continued with the worst of the news: "And from the initial description….." He could not finish. "There's a carriage waiting for you outside." He felt a coward walking away like that, but he was sure that had he stayed, he would have been the one crying.
Julia followed him with her eyes as he walked away. She looked away and started breathing heavily as her chest tightened. Her eyes filled up with tears. She stayed like that for a moment, then took a long breath and started gathering her things. She walked outside and stepped inside the carriage. She was glad she was riding alone. She was not sure she could have made the trip with the three policemen. The carriage stopped and she walked over to the waiting men. After a moment's hesitation they went in. They walked up to the body and for a moment she lost it. She looked around, refusing to look down, delaying the moment. Finally she could delay no more. George helped her roll the body and finally she could breath. It was not William.
Images rushed through his head; images of the Station House, of Brackenried… of Julia. He stood up.
"Chief I am Detective William Murdoch."
The next few hours happened in a blur. Next, he was up in the tower fighting the sniper. Several hours later, he walked into Anna's pub. She flashed him a smile as she served a customer. He settled himself in the corner and watched her work. Eventually, the last customer left, and she closed up. She came to sit beside him.
"So William." The name felt strange to her. He was still Harry to her. "Have all your memories returned?"
He smiled back: "Yes they have."
"I see." She answered. They were both silent for a few moments. Things needed saying. William, as usual, did not know where to start. Anna, realizing that,, took the lead.
"Is Julia your wife William?"
"No she's not, but we are….. involved." he answered back.
Anna had already guessed the answer, but she was still disappointed.
"Seriously involved?" She had to ask.
William hesitated: "I think so yes…."
A perplexed look came upon Anna's face. "You don't know". Maybe there was hope for her after all.
William continued: "I hope so, but Julia and I… it's complicated."
Anna had to comment: "You're a man. She's a woman. It sounds pretty simple to me William."
He took a long breath: "Well it's not. She's rich" He paused. "Very rich. I'm poor. I'm Catholic, and she does not believe in God. She's educated. She is a doctor. I went to Jesuit College for too few a years." He stopped for a moment. When he started talking again, his voice took on a gentle tone: "She's intelligent, caring, beautiful, very beautiful. She has the oddest sense of humour. She forces me out of shell. She challenges me….."
Anna stopped listening to the actual words. Just listening to him, she knew that William was lost to her. He was in love with his Julia. It was evident. She let him talk. She could tell it was doing him good.
Across the ocean, George Crabtree ran from the Station House to the morgue. He barged in and only stopped running when he came to a stop in front of Dr. Ogden. He was breathing heavily, but managed to talk.
"Doctor. We just received a telegram from Bristol England. Detective Murdoch is alive. He lost his memory for several days. That's why we did not hear from him. He should be home in three days."
He stopped talking and stood there in front of her with a smile on his face. Before she realized what she was doing, she hugged him. He hugged her back. After a second, they awkwardly stepped away from each other but neither could take their silly grins off their face. George explained what he knew and just as he was about to leave, Julia stopped him.
"George. Thank You." He smiled and left.
Julia was sitting at her desk trying to work. Concentrating was impossible. Her mind kept drifting back to the moments of a few hours ago…..
The sounds of the constables' cheers broke them apart. Julia looked around embarrassingly as she blushed. She had thrown herself in William's arms and kissed him in front of everybody after all. They cheered again and she put her hand on his cheek. William smiled at her:
"I have very little to do here today. When I am done, I'll come to you."
Julia closed her eyes and smiled: "I would love that William."
She had then returned to the morgue. She looked at the clock. Even though it had only been an hour, it felt much longer to her. Finally she heard the morgue door open. William walked in and again, she ran to him and threw herself in his arms and started kissing him. After a moment, both were breathless and had to break apart. He spoke first.
"I take it we are alone."
"Yes I sent my assistants home earlier." She looked inquiringly at him: "Are you done at the Station House?"
"Yes I am." He answered.
Julia looked at him directly in the eyes as she asked: "Escort me home William?"
William's only answer was to offer her his arm. As they walked, Julia kept looking at him; still refusing to believe it was finally over. Every so often she would lean into him, brushing her body against his. She needed to touch him, to make sure he was really here. They barely talked. Finally, they arrived at her house and Julia turned to William:
"Stay William?" she asked.
William, a bit unsure, asked: "For dinner you mean?"
Julia lifted one of her eyebrow as she smiled: "That too if you want."
William swallowed. He hesitated for only a moment before opening the door. They walked in. He turned to Julia. She took him by the hand and led him upstairs.