Prologue:

That Friday morning was like any other in the Ogden-Murdoch house on Lamport Avenue, except it that it was going to be the last normal morning the occupants and their circle would have for the next few months. Not five single miles from that home, a life was being taken most brutally. A life that was cut short before it could even begin. Opportunities dashed. Happiness destroyed. The miracle of the birth that brought that life forward, all for naught. What lay beside the body was nothing but tears, broken glass, tufts of hair and shredded pieces of cloth that just two days prior were lovingly made by the victim's great-great grandmother. Trouble was coming and there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.

Chapter 1: Primed for Evil

Detective William H. Murdoch stood in the master washroom, shaving accoutrement strategically placed on his side of the sink counter. Carefully, he placed his shaving razor on the leather flap in order to sharpen it.

Shhhhip. Up the leather strap.

Shhhop. Down the leather strap.

He does this approximately 8 to 10 times depending on how thickly his beard has come through overnight. It never ceased to amaze him how quickly it happened and how frustrating it was to not be like George and be able to go a day or two without shaving. Taking the blade to his already foamy face, the detective noticed his wife, Dr. Julia E. H. Ogden enter the spacious washroom through the mirror, dark circles around her normally bright eyes. He stopped mid-shave and turned to her, concern in his eyes. "Julia, is everything alright?"

"I just woke from a terrible dream, William." Leaning against her side of the two sink counter, she sighed. "It was so…vivid that I can still smell the water on the pavement."

"Care to tell me about it? I know you've said in the past that it helps you to talk about them." For as long as the two have been married, Julia had been suffering less and less from these nightmares but he knew that some could be particularly disturbing, a symptom of being buried alive years prior. In times of particular stress, she'd wake up screaming and calling for him just like she did in the makeshift coffin. An intense emotional reaction would then commence with her clawing for him and he taking her into his arms, rocking her slightly. A bit taller than himself, his wife became a tiny child in his arms when she was afraid, an endearing trait to be sure.

She smiled at him, he certainly remembered a lot of what she'd said to him. "Well, if you don't think it'll interrupt your morning rituals. I know how important they are." He rolled his eyes with a shaving creamed covered smirk. It was true, his rituals did set his day in the right or wrong direction, a habit he was trying to break for his spontaneous wife lacked the ability to do the same thing every single day at the same exact time. This fact helped him loosen up and it helped her stay a bit more on schedule most days.

"I think I can spare my wife some time…perhaps." Tossing a sponge his way, he deftly ducked it, catching it with his left hand. The two chuckled slightly, Julia feigning offence. A silence ensued.

"Julia…"

"Yes?"

"Please don't stall."

"I'm not stalling, William!" Rising indignantly, she approached her side of the mirror and looked at her husband who by now was almost done with his entire left side of his face. "Well, I was walking down St. Clair at Yonge…"

"Why were you over there?"

"I haven't a clue."

"Okay, continue."

"And there, on the stoop of a housing tenement was a little Black girl. Deceased." The remaining parts of his face and neck completed, Murdoch rinsed his face quickly and dried it with a towel. "She couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years of age, and…"

"And…"He prompted, placing on her favorite after shave.

"And she was nude from the waist down. She…she had been…" The sight of the little girl entered into Julia's mind once more and she was finding herself overcome with the grief of it. At this, he turned to her, his eyes enlarged.

"Interfered with?"

Nodding and breaking eye contact with him, she soldiered on. "I ran over to her, took her in my arms and cried for help, but no one could hear me. I called for you, but you couldn't hear me. Her beautiful little dress was…stained and soaked with blood and there were parts of her hair that had been ripped from her head…"

"My goodness, Julia. Can I do anything to help?" Crouching down onto his heels, he placed his hands on her thighs.

"It's just a dream…nothing more." Was she trying to convince him or herself? "Anyway, I was really coming in here to ask you something, William."

Deflecting. It was a tactic that Julia had used to get herself out of situations for ages but today he decided he would take the bait. "What is it?" Rising and walking back over to the sink, he began to brush his teeth.

"Wellll…"

Oh no. Not the elongated 'elllll' of 'well'.

"What would your thoughts be on having a small get together for Nomi Johnston?"

Dropping his toothbrush into the sink, Murdoch turned to his wife, his mouth now covered in toothpaste foam. "Nomi Johnston? As in the Inspector's Nomi Johnston?"

Julia portrayed more bravery than she actually felt. "Yes! I realized the other day that she's probably having a difficult time adjusting and I thought how lovely it would be to welcome her into the fold officially! Perhaps even offer any help or guidance."

Rinsing his teeth and mouth, he slowly straightened his back. "Oh Julia, that is a lovely gesture…but I'm not so sure that the Inspector-"

"I really would like to welcome her and support Margaret in her choice in accepting Nomi. I'd just like for Nomi to know that she needn't only go to her father, stepmother and half-sibling for assistance whilst in Toronto. That she could go to any of us and we'd be there."

"Julia…"

"Should I have a word with the Inspector?"

"No!" He shouted without meaning to. His wife's eyes narrowed. "Pardon my shouting, Julia. I only mean that we shouldn't pry until the Inspector is ready to share his news with everyone, not just a select few."

"Would you like to speak to him then? You seem hesitant to have me speak of the situation."

He placed hair pomade into his hair, running a comb through it. "Not at all, Julia. I just know that the Inspector likes to do things in his own time and I'm not sure if he's entirely comfortable with the knowledge that-"

"Are you saying he may be ashamed of Nomi?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"Put yourself in the Inspector's shoes."

"I think his feet are quite larger than mine, but I shall endeavor to try."

Sighing, Murdoch continued. "If you had found out that somehow your father had a child before you and Ruby were born, how do you think you'd feel about it?"

"Well…"

"And on top of it, they were of mixed race."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"For someone from the Inspector's generation, everything. While he has grown in some areas, the people who knew him from his life before becoming Inspector were probably much like he was before all of said growth."

Julia crossed her arms. "Oh, you mean bigoted? Archaic? Closeminded?"

"Perhaps." Her husband held out his hands in a gesture of 'don't shoot the messenger'. "While he does recognize her and accepts her, you and I both know that not everyone will. Remember Carter, Dr. Desmond…even Violet Hart."

"So, you're saying we shouldn't throw Nomi Johnston BRACKENREID a small party because Toronto society doesn't accept that children of mixed race parents exist?"

"I'm simply saying that we need to go about this the right way."

"Hm." She contemplated the issue and made a decision. "In that case, I think you should speak to the Inspector and Mrs. Brackenreid separately. Ask them their feelings and see where you get from there."

"Julia…"

"William?"

His eyes looked deep into her own blue. "Julia, don't be upset with me…"

"I'm not upset, William. I'm simply trying a different approach."

Once his hair had been sufficiently styled, he followed his wife into their large shared walk-in closet. "A different approach?"

"Yes." Going into one of her drawers, she pulled out a pair of lacy undergarments. "I'm going to let you be the social one in our relationship for once."

Holding his tie, mouth agape, the detective stumbled over to his wife. "But…but you…"

A shrill sound filled the air, startling them both.

It was the intercom coming from the bedroom wall.

"Who in the world could that be at this hour? You should continue getting dressed, Julia and as soon as I get the door you can finish telling me your dream."

Turning to look at the small clock on the wall between their dressing areas, she sighed. "I suppose I had better."

Strolling over to the intercom, he placed his index finger on the receiving button. "Who is it?"

"Detective? Woah, this thing is weird. Hello? It's Constable Higgins-Newsome…there's been a…murder sir."

"I'll be right there to let you in, Henry."

"Thank you sir…hello?"

He turned to his wife, who now stood in the doorway, undergarment in full view. "I'm sorry, Julia. Perhaps we can continue our conversation over lunch?" Smiling slightly, she simply winked at him and walked into the bathroom.

Still in his pajama bottoms, Murdoch padded over to their front door and let in a distressingly silent Constable Henry Higgins-Newsome. "Henry, good morning."

The young man entered the foyer, his helmet in his hands. "Morning, sir."

"I'll be out presently. Is everything alright, Henry?"

Pride be damned, he would cry if he had to. "Um, sir. It's…it's a little girl. A little Black girl…"

Hearing the last bit of his sentence, Julia entered the foyer. "Henry, what did you just say?"

"Morning, doctor. It's a little Black girl, she's been..." Tears fell down his face and he wiped at them furiously. Both Ogden and Murdoch had never seen Henry so emotional, except when he thought George had died, Constable Jackson was killed and when he married Ruth.

William swallowed the sickening feeling in his gut, willing the bile to stay exactly where it needed to stay. "Where?"

"St. Clair and Yonge?" Julia asked, her hand now on the wall next to her, her breathing becoming shallower by the second.

Henry was about to speak when both men looked over to her. "Y-yes, doctor. That is exactly where! How did you know that?"

"Because I dreamt it." William approached his wife, placing his hand on her back to steady her.

"Perhaps you should sit down, Julia. I'll make you a cup of tea?"

Swatting away the dots that were beginning to form around her. "No, no. I'm fine, William. Please just go to the girl. Help her. Find out who did this." She placed a hand on his freshly shaven face and kissed him tenderly on the lips. Henry quickly looked away, admiring the intricate detail on one of the windows of his superior's home. Lost in the kiss for a moment, Murdoch rallied and excused himself from the room as he hurried to dress.

Ogden eyed a now fidgety Henry. "Can I get you something, Henry?"

"A stiff drink if you have it, doctor. I know it's only 6:45 in the morning…"

"I think we'll both need it today. Let me make some tea so that we can at least pretend it isn't 6 in the morning and we're drinking whiskey in said tea."

Author's Note: All character belong to Maureen Jennings.

Hope you all are well! This is definitely going to be multiple chapters but perhaps not as many as my last one. We'll see. Excuse any spelling error and grammar issues.

Since there's such a mixed consensus on Julia's middle name I've named her Julia Elizabeth Helene Ogden Murdoch.