CHAPTER 20 -Something's hidden

Part 1

When Jim Strange got up that morning the sun was shining high up in a clear blue sky and he flung open one of the living room windows to let in a bit of fresh air to clear away the mustiness in the house. He threw on a few casual clothes as it was a Saturday and therefore a work-free day for him and hurried along to the kitchen to address the problem of his hunger with a tried and trusted fry-up. He was taken aback to find Morse already in the kitchen making a cup of tea as Morse wasn't an early riser at the weekend as a general rule.

'Hello matey,' he said. 'Unusual to see you up this early on a Saturday morning.'

Morse merely grunted in reply before asking Strange if he wanted a cup of tea also to which Strange nodded his agreement. 'If you're making one already,' he said. 'So, have you got plans for the morning, then?' Strange started preparations for his cooked breakfast, taking out frying pan, plates, bread, lard, eggs, bacon and sausages and laying them out neatly and precisely on the kitchen surface while he waited for Morse to finish making the teas.

'Nothing definite,' replied Morse tersely as he poured the milk into three cups of tea which he then stirred before handing one of the cups to Strange who thanked him but couldn't help but stare at the two remaining cups in front of Morse.

'You're very thirsty this morning, aren't you?' he remarked with a puzzled frown which he directed at Morse without any pretence of embarrassment at asking him such an oblique question. Morse followed Strange's gaze to the two cups of tea but chose to remain silent and not offer up anything by word of explanation which forced Strange to probe him a little further.

'Or have you got an early morning visitor with you, perhaps?' Strange's face was the epitome of impassiveness and blankness but Morse knew exactly what he was thinking. Whenever he brought a woman back to the house Strange always had to question him about her and attempt to dig up as much information on her as he could. Morse presumed there was a certain element of jealousy to Strange's persistent curiosity about his occasional women friends as Morse couldn't recall Strange ever having brought a woman back to the house throughout the whole time the two of them had been sharing. Not that Morse would have minded or frankly given two hoots if Strange had brought a woman back. It would have been none of his business just like it was none of Strange's business who may or may not have been in his bed last night.

Morse contented himself with a quiet nod to confirm Strange's assumption was correct before picking up the two steaming cups of tea and making his way out of the kitchen and back upstairs to his own bedroom where presumably, thought Strange, the latest of Morse's conquests was lying peacefully in his bed waiting for Morse to bring her a reviving hot cup of tea. 'How does he bloody do it?' he wondered, not for the first time. Morse wasn't a bad looking bloke, he was grudgingly forced to acknowledge but he was no oil painting either and yet this seemingly shy, often silent and morose guy never appeared to go short of female company. Strange simply couldn't work out how he did it. Did all these women go for the strong, silent, moody type? Or was it this air of enigmatic mystery about him that appealed to so many attractive young women?

Strange shook his head in despair as he turned his attention back to the matter of his breakfast. If he dwelt on the issue of Morse's seemingly rampant sex life any longer, he was in danger of being put right off his fry-up and that simply wouldn't do. For the next five minutes he threw himself into the cooking of his breakfast, happy to be able to concentrate on something which he had consistent success in. This was of course in stark contrast to his own, relatively hit and miss love life which was a constant source of disappointment to him. A few minutes later he was sat at the table, heartily tucking in to his eggs, bacon, sausage and fried slice and thoughts of Morse's irritating success with the ladies now pushed to the back of his mind. However those irritating images didn't remain tucked away for long as George Fancy suddenly came down the stairs and swung round towards the kitchen to join Strange.

'Has Morse got a girl in his room?' Fancy asked Strange, with more than a hint of incredulity in his voice. Strange nodded and watched as Fancy sat down at the table in disgust and a huge frown appeared on his face. 'I thought I heard giggling and laughing coming from his room. Jesus! It's not bloody fair. I've been trying so hard with Shirley these past few weeks and he turns up with some random girl he's only just met and… bingo.'

Strange chuckled despite himself and sought to reassure Fancy that there was no point getting upset about the situation. 'That's just the way it goes sometimes, George. Some girls have the strangest taste in men. No point getting down on yourself about it. I try not to.'

'I'm assuming it isn't the guvnor's daughter up there, is it? I thought that's who he had a bit of a thing for.' Fancy stared at Strange who returned his gaze impassively before answering.

'I'm pretty sure it isn't Joanie. We'll be seeing her later on today at her flat-warming party.'

'Oh, great. So the pair of you will be having a fine time partying while I'll be back home facing the music from my parents all day. Bloody marvellous!' Fancy looked the picture of misery as he got up and went to put the kettle on to make himself a coffee.

'Cheer up, matey,' said Strange, feeling sorry for the poor lad who hadn't had much luck recently. 'Look, how about I cook you some bacon and eggs for your final meal here? Will that cheer you up a bit?'

Fancy stopped scowling just long enough to force a grateful smile at Strange. 'Thanks, Jim. You're a mate. That would be great.'

'If we're lucky, we might even get to see what this new woman of Morse's is like if we hang around a little longer.'

'You're sure Morse isn't planning to smuggle her out of his bedroom window and down the drainpipe, so he doesn't have to introduce her to us?'

Strange let out a belly laugh and even Fancy gave a little wry chuckle at the image he had just conjured up which, as ridiculous as it seemed, he guessed would not have been beyond the imagination of a famously private man like Morse who jealously guarded his female acquaintances and close companions like they were the Crown Jewels.

Part 2

While Strange and Fancy were making themselves feel increasingly miserable speculating about Morse's enviable popularity with women compared to their own lack of success, Morse was snuggled up in bed with Veronica, sipping his tea and wondering if there might be a way to avoid having to introduce Veronica to his two housemates.

'This is a lovely cup of tea, Morse. Thank you. Just what I needed to clear my head and wake me up after last night.' Veronica smiled at Morse and leant over to plant a kiss on his lips. Morse responded eagerly to her kiss and held her face softly in his hands as they explored each other's mouths with an impressive passion considering the shortness of their acquaintance.

'My pleasure,' replied Morse and he reached over to his bedside table to put the half full cup safely to one side in case Veronica was in the mood for some early morning romance. She did likewise and the two looked at each other in silence for a while before locking lips again. They kissed softly and passionately in turn for a few minutes before Veronica broke up their embrace to pick up her tea and finish the contents in one mouthful.

'Um, Morse,' she said a trifle hesitantly, 'I need the toilet. Where is it?'

'I'll show you,' he replied and the pair of them got out of bed. Veronica quickly threw on a few clothes and followed Morse to the door which he opened cautiously so as to have a peep out onto the landing. The landing was completely empty, so he guessed that either George was still asleep or had already gone downstairs to join Strange for breakfast. 'That door over there,' he whispered, and he pointed to a door diagonally opposite his room whereupon Veronica rapidly tiptoed out onto the landing, opened the bathroom door as quietly as she could and disappeared inside. Morse kept a watching brief until she emerged from the toilet a couple of minutes later and she let out the tiniest of giggles as she hurried back into the sanctuary of Morse's bedroom again. The pair exchanged smiles as they returned to lie on the bed.

'I hope you're not ashamed of me, Morse,' said Veronica, staring directly into Morse's eyes. 'All this cloak and dagger stuff is a bit odd, you know. Are you planning to smuggle me out of the house like you smuggled me in last night?'

Morse shook his head and grinned back at her still smiling face. He thought he could tell she was just teasing him and wasn't seriously worried that she thought he might be ashamed of her. 'Well, I did briefly wonder if you might be able to shin down the drainpipe outside my window but on balance I suspect you might prefer to leave by the front door.'

Veronica laughed out loud again, and Morse quickly put a finger to his lips to warn her not to make too much noise which might attract unwanted attention from his housemates.

'Don't you want me to meet your housemates?'

Not if I can help it, thought Morse before replying rather more tactfully,' I'm sure you will eventually. But perhaps not right now. They'll only demand to know chapter and verse about you and…well, I don't know that much about you yet, do I?'

Veronica gave Morse an enigmatic grin. 'That didn't seem to bother you last night, did it, Morse?'

Morse smiled sheepishly back at Veronica. 'I suppose not. But if it's alright with you for now, I'd rather wait until the coast is clear before seeing you home. Plenty of time to parade you on the red carpet later.'

Veronica giggled at Morse's analogy and snuggled back into the crook of his arm, reaching up to kiss him again, to show she had not taken any offence by his eagerness to hold back from introducing her to his housemates.

'What are you up to today, then?' she asked, changing the subject much to Morse's relief.

'I've got a party to go to later in the afternoon,' he said.

'That's nice,' said Veronica. 'Whose party?'

'Oh, just an old friend,' said Morse, being deliberately vague. He started to feel slightly uncomfortable lying on his bed with this new girl of his while his mind was turning to thoughts of seeing Joan Thursday later that day. There was no sound logical reason for him to start feeling guilty, he knew that all too well. It wasn't as if he was being unfaithful to Joan, sleeping with another woman behind her back. He and Joan had never gone out together as such, despite him having once asked her to marry him in a blind panic, so he had no cause to feel embarrassed or ashamed at what he was doing. For all he knew Joan might have been lying in bed with some guy right now herself so why the hell was he suddenly getting a little uncomfortable snuggling up to this woman who wasn't Joan Thursday? It made no sense at all but then again logic and reason rarely seemed to feature heavily in Morse's often painful and complicated relationships with women.

'Female friend, I assume?' Veronica gazed up at Morse with the ghost of a smile hovering on her full cherry red lips.

'Why do you assume that?' asked Morse, a curious frown appearing on his forehead.

'If it was a man, then you wouldn't have been so vague about him. You'd have told me straight out it was a guy you work with or a guy you went to school with or whoever it was.'

Morse sniggered quietly as he realised that this young bed companion of his was way smarter than even he suspected. There was no chance of pulling the wool over her eyes, clearly. He would have to watch what he said to her in future otherwise she would trip him up as easy as looking at him.

Part 3

Win Thursday sipped at her glass of dry white wine and cast her curious eyes around the room, taking in the myriad sights and sounds of a private party in the early stages of getting going. She and Fred had arrived on the dot of five o'clock as they had planned, an hour after the official start time that Joan had prescribed. They only intended to stay for a couple of hours tops, enough time to have a lovely chat with Joan, have a few drinks and some food before shuffling off back home to allow Joan and all her young friends to get on with enjoying themselves without the inconvenience of her parents hanging about keeping a beady eye on them all.

Whatever Joan wanted to get up to at her own party with her chosen circle of young friends was none of their business, Fred reminded Win. Fred knew that often parents were better off not knowing what their children got up to behind their backs, particularly if they were adults who had flown the family nest, got their own place and were now free to make their own choices and their own mistakes.

'It's not a bad little place Joan has got here, you know,' said Fred approvingly as he stood next to Win and sipped at his pint of Mackeson. Joan had very thoughtfully bought in a supply of bottles expressly for her Dad and he was very touched by her kindness and considerateness.

'I told you it was nice,' said Win, turning to look at her husband with just the hint of a gloating tone in her voice, 'but you wouldn't believe me, would you? Not until you'd seen it first hand with your own eyes.'

'I'm a copper, Win. What do you expect? If I believed everything anyone ever told me, I'd never solve a single case or even make an arrest.'

'Oh, I see. I'm just like any murder suspect or common petty thief, am I? Not to be trusted until the evidence proves otherwise?' Win was only teasing Fred but was quietly enjoying making him squirm just a little as his doubts and reservations about Joan's flat had proved to be groundless and the mock outrage and indignation in her voice must have sounded very convincing for an instant.

'I didn't mean that, Win, of course I didn't.' Fred looked very shocked that Win could think that of him but when he saw the sparkling twinkle in her eyes and the wry smile on her face he realised that she had only been taking the mickey and winding him up and he let out a huge belly laugh.

'Got you going there for a minute, didn't I, you silly old sod!' Win winked at her husband who smiled back at her and nodded his head. 'Yep, you caught me out there, you sly old thing!'

They passed the time people-watching, as a variety of guests arrived at regular intervals. Most of them, Fred and Win guessed, were colleagues from the charity she worked at part-time, one or two ex-colleagues from the bank, a couple of young women who Win recognised Joan went to school with and the rest presumably were new friends she had made since returning to Oxford. Joan greeted each new arrival personally with a hug or a kiss and she seemed to be revelling in being the perfect hostess, making sure everyone had a drink as soon as they turned up, introducing people to one another and showing them where the food was laid out on a small trestle table in the corner of the fair sized lounge where most of the guests were congregated.

When she had a free moment from meeting and greeting the new arrivals, Joan came over to join her Mum and Dad and have another chat with them.

'Are you enjoying the party?' she asked them with a nervous smile.

'We're having a lovely time, dear. Don't you worry about us. We're fine. You get back to your friends,' said Win, beaming with pride at her daughter's consummate skills as a hostess.

'Can I get you a refill, Dad?' Joan asked, noticing that her father's glass was almost empty.

'Um, yes, why not?' said Fred, looking down at his glass. 'Thank you, Joan.'

'Mum? Another glass of wine?'

Win looked up at Fred briefly before nodding enthusiastically. 'Go on then, dear. Why not? It is the weekend, after all.'

'Quite right,' said Joan with a mischievous grin. 'It's a party, isn't it? You haven't come here to just drink orange juice, have you?'

She took their glasses and disappeared to fetch them new drinks, promising to return in a few minutes. At that very moment, Jim Strange and Morse arrived at the flat and made their own way in as Joan had left the front door on the latch so new guests didn't have to knock or ring the bell to announce their arrival and wait to be let in. They spotted Fred and Win straight away and made their way over towards them, each carrying a plastic bag containing their own contribution to the party.

'Jim! Morse! Good to see you both,' Thursday smiled a greeting to both men and Win followed likewise with an even wider smile than her husband's.

'Sir. Mrs Thursday,' said both men in reply one after the other. They both had a very quick look around the room, noting there were already plenty of guests, all chatting away merrily to each other with relative ease as Joan had made sure that the background music was not playing at such a high volume that people had to shout to make themselves heard.

'Joan's just getting us fresh drinks. She'll be back in a minute,' said Fred helpfully.

Morse and Strange nodded at their boss and then exchanged polite conversation and small talk with Win until Joan reappeared with the drinks for her parents. Her wide smile indicated that she was delighted to see that Morse and Strange had made it to the party, and she greeted both men with a warm hug which for once left Strange in particular a touch more embarrassed than Morse. He had never had a hug from Joan before and he was left almost speechless for a moment or two before recovering his composure to hold out the plastic bag he was clutching in his right hand towards Joan who looked at him quizzically.

'My contribution to the party,' he said shyly, shifting from foot to foot to cover up his feelings of awkwardness. Joan took the bag from him with a smile and peered inside, full of curiosity. 'It's an apple crumble,' he explained modestly, and Joan's eyes lit up wide in appreciation.

'Oh wow, Jim! Thank you. You really shouldn't have. But I'll take it gladly. It looks fantastic. I expect you made it yourself, didn't you?'

Strange nodded silently and Joan made a point of taking the dish containing the apple crumble out of the bag and showing it to Morse and her parents who all murmured their approval and admiration.

'I'm afraid I can't compete with Jim on the home made cooking front so I've just brought a bottle of red wine, 'said Morse apologetically, taking the bottle out of his plastic bag and handing it over to Joan who accepted it eagerly with another big smile.

'Thank you, Morse,' she said. 'That's so kind of you. I'll go and put it with the rest of the bottles. What can I get you gentlemen?'

Strange and Morse both asked for a beer, not to her great surprise, and she toddled off to the kitchen to fulfil their orders, leaving them to continue chatting with her Mum and Dad.

'Good crowd here already,' remarked Strange as he cast his eyes over proceedings. 'Nice flat too,' he added by way of something to say.

'Joan's done wonders with it considering she only moved in a few weeks ago,' said Win.

'You've done your bit as well, dear,' said Thursday. 'She's got an eye for soft furnishings and interior design,' he explained to Strange and Morse who nodded and smiled at Win.

'Oh get away with you, Fred,' replied Win modestly as she took a sip of wine and looked away, embarrassed.

'How's Fancy?' asked Thursday who hadn't heard any news lately of his recovering detective constable.

'Fit to return to work on Monday, Sir,' said Strange. 'The doc gave him the all clear yesterday. Only light duties, mind, to begin with.'

'Oh, that's good. I'm sure he'll be relieved to get back to work.'

'Yes Sir. Not quite so keen to go back home to his parents, though.' Strange raised an eyebrow and Thursday understood what he was hinting at.

'Well, we might have to keep an eye on that situation. We can ill afford to lose him, after all.'

'Perhaps you could pay them a visit and try to make them see what an important and valuable job their son is doing,' suggested Strange as the idea suddenly popped into his head.

'That's a thought,' replied Thursday. Win asked what they were talking about and Fred gave Win a potted account of George's recent run-in and the pressure he was coming under at home to give up being a policeman.

'The poor boy,' said Win sympathetically. 'Seems like he can't win either way. But then I know how his parents must feel. I feel like that to some extent every morning you leave the house, Fred.'

Thursday looked at his wife in silence, pondered briefly whether to reply or just let it go before he gave a measured response.

'Goes with the job, Win. You know that. It's always been the case. You just have to learn to live with it.'

'Don't I know it, Fred,' said Win, a frown appearing on her face which made her look terribly concerned and sad all of a sudden. Morse and Strange remained silent, deciding this was none of their business and that taking sides in such a debate, or at least appearing to, would be very unwise.

'How did you get on at the quiz?' Morse asked Strange, eager to change the subject after realising he hadn't enquired that morning about the success or otherwise of the previous night's social activity.

'Oh, we only went and won, Morse,' said Strange triumphantly, grinning hugely and Morse thought he could almost see Strange's chest puff out and swell with pride.

'Congratulations!' said the others in unison and Strange couldn't stop himself basking in their warm and genuine applause as he lapped up all the compliments being tossed around.

'It wasn't all down to me,' he was forced to admit eventually, as much as he would have liked to have taken all the credit. 'Dr DeBryn was on fine form last night and Trewlove certainly proved her worth to the team on several occasions.'

'And Fancy?' asked Thursday, noting that his name had been missed out, whether deliberate or not, by Strange.

'Oh, he…he knew a lot of the sports answers,' said Strange, trying to be as fair and kind on the young lad as he could.

'More than I would have done,' said Morse, also trying his bit to show Fancy in a half decent light in front of their boss.

'Excellent!' Thursday appeared genuinely pleased to hear the news of the team's success at the quiz night. 'Mr Bright will be chuffed to bits when I inform him on Monday morning. In fact I'd go so far as to say he'll be as pleased as Punch. Little victories like these, even on the social side, won't do Cowley any harm when it comes to the big shake up at the end of the year.'

'Every little helps, Fred,' said Win with a nod of approval. Suddenly the music was turned up a notch or two and people started dancing in the middle of the room. Many of the women and girls had kicked off their shoes and gathered in small groups, singing along to the lyrics and giggling while the men mostly looked on from the side with interest, although one or two braver souls took the opportunity to join the girls and show off some of the latest dance moves to cries of admiration and laughter.

Win looked across at Fred and smiled. She liked to see young people enjoy themselves and they both noticed Joan was right at the centre of the gaggle of dancers, seemingly taking it in turns to dance with a different person for a minute at a time.

'Shall we give those young'uns a quick preview of our tango, love?' suggested Fred with a mischievous grin to which Win replied with a firm shake of the head and a very definite 'No, we will not, Fred!'

Morse and Strange chuckled and tried to persuade Win to change her mind, egging their guvnor on to take Win to the floor and show these kids what proper dancing was all about. Fred smiled at Win, held his hands out, asked her if he might have the pleasure of this dance and gently yet insistently led her towards the middle of the room and took up the starting position for the beginning of their routine. Joan saw what was about to happen and immediately ordered everyone to retreat away from the middle of the room, giving her Mum and Dad just enough space to perform a short thirty second burst of their tango routine, in spite of the music not exactly being ideal for their dance. At the end of their short display Joan led the wild cheering and applause as Fred and Win took a bow, Fred all smiles and laughter, Win red-faced with embarrassment.

The pair of them vacated the dance floor as quickly as they had occupied it and received further applause and loud cheers from Morse and Strange when they re-joined them.

'Stop it, you two, you're embarrassing me!' cried Win who was close to tears and she pretended to punch her husband in the chest with her tiny fists. 'As for you, Fred Thursday, don't you ever do that to me again! Catching me off guard like that.'

'You were magnificent, love,' said Fred with a guffaw. 'They all loved it.'

'Well, I think I need a lie down after that,' said Win with a gasp of breathless emotion. 'Time we made a move, Fred. Let's find Joan and say goodbye. We'll leave the young ones here to let their hair down and really enjoy themselves.'

Author's Notes

I hope you enjoyed reading this latest chapter. Please leave a review if you have any comments you wish to make on the chapter or the story as a whole – I would be really pleased to get some feedback from anyone! Even just a few words or a quick comment would be really appreciated.