Authors Note: Appreciate this is becoming a very long story! Hope you are still there following along!
Stuart parked outside the bosses flat, suddenly he felt nervous, he had never been inside the bosses flat before. If there was a group get together, it was always at Jackie's place. Jackie's disappearance had affected them all, he wished he had told her how much she had helped him. Tell her that her support when he was outed, meant everything to him. He was sure, that Jackie was the reason the DCI's attitude had softened towards him. He got out of his car grabbing his notebooks, his files and his personal laptop. He knocked on the door, surprised when DCI Jardine answered wearing Jeans, a jumper and in a pair of socks.
"Come in Stuart!" Michael smiled warmly. Stuart was slightly taken aback by the casual nature of his normally strict boss.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Stuart, tonight it's Michael or Mike, we are not in the office now!" Stuart nodded, not altogether comfortable with that. "Robbie's already here, do you want a coffee?" Michael led him into his dining room, where Robbie was already sitting with files and coffee.
"Yes sir!" Michael stopped. "...Mike" Stuart quickly corrected, as Michael smirked.
"Robbie and I have been looking at old cases!" Stuart placed his items on the dining room table, sitting across from Robbie. Robbie smirked obviously noting Stuart's discomfort at the casual Mike Jardine. He had been surprised himself, at the boss's calmer demeaner, especially after he had heard that Mike stormed out of his C and D interview.
Michael returned with a coffee placing it down in front of Stuart before taking a deep breath and walking around the table, positioning himself in front of Robbie and Stuart. "Stuart... did you tell CS Gordon about Jessica Ryder?"
"No sir!" Stuart shot up.
"Listen…. I'm not accusing you of doing something wrong!" Stuart sat down, surprised at himself for jumping to conclusions so quickly. "I didn't tell him, Robbie didn't so I was thinking, you type your notes and save them on the server daily, right?" Stuart nodded. "Can you see if someone else accessed them?"
"You think someone has been spying on our investigation?" Stuart asked.
"Yes, I do!" Stuart nodded getting to work on the laptop. Robbie leaned back on the chair, clasping his hands behind his head.
"I have been wondering that myself, Jackie's flat being ransacked, at the exact time Stephen was briefing us! Too much of a coincidence Mike!" Robbie remarked and Michael nodded. "also, Sherlock turning up out of the blue like that, and now he is running an investigation into his ex-girlfriend, dodgy!"
"Your feelings about Brian are noted!" Michael stated sternly, not sure if Robbie's comments were out of jealously, payback or indeed justified.
"All my notes have been accessed after I saved them down. I can't tell which terminal or even if it was from our station! I'm sorry, Sir!" Stuart sat back shocked.
"Stuart, you haven't done anything wrong!" Michael stood back. "Listen... gents, before we go any further, you don't need to be involved in this! I wouldn't blame either of you if you want to walk away now!" Michael said with a serious look on his face.
"Do you think someone in the force, is involved in Jackie's disappearance?" Stuart asked.
"Possibly! If it were just telling tales about our investigation then that would be one thing, but as Robbie mentioned the flat thing makes it more than that!" Michael nodded, the seriousness of his accusation, landing with him. His dinner with Jean had put him at ease, helped him to get back his focus, but he knew the case would not be easy. Michael sat at his dining room table. "I think Jackie, found something, and I think she knew she was in danger!" Michael took a deep breath.
"Why didn't she tell us?" Robbie asked, almost rhetorically.
"I don't know, listen… I mean it when I say that you two don't have to be involved in this! I can't order you! I am in this; I can't walk away from her. If we continue keeping this secret, we could be suspended or worse!" Robbie looked to Stuart before looking back to Michael.
"I'm in, we all know Jackie has never walked away from me!" Robbie smiled.
"Me to, Jackie needs us!" Stuart nodded. Michael felt a well of emotion in him, thinking if she only knew the loyalty she inspired.
"Ok, well in that case! I think I have what they were looking for in her flat!" Robbie looked at him shocked.
"What?!" Robbie obviously annoyed.
"You remember that photograph I was looking at in her flat?" Robbie nodded "well I stole it!" Robbie smirked "but when it fell off my desk and broke. In the mess, I found these in the back of the frame!" Michael tabled the three SD cards and the photograph. Stuart laughed shaking his head! Michael and Robbie looked at him confused.
"When we search houses, she always looks at the back of photographs to see if they had been opened a lot. She told me her mother used to keep money behind photographs to hide from her dad and her brothers!" Michael smiled warmly handing Stuart the disks as Robbie looked at the back of the photograph.
"Some sort of poem?" Robbie asked to which Michael nodded.
"The disks are encrypted sir, eh Mike!" Stuart exclaimed.
"I know that much Stuart!" Michael rolled his eyes and Robbie smirked.
"it's just ...I didn't know she could do that!"
"There appears to be a lot about her we didn't know!" Michael shrugged.
"I don't think I can break the encryption, there is a password entry, is it written on the back of the photograph?" Michael sighed exasperated.
"Well, she left this for you Mike!" Robbie stated.
"We don't know she left it for me! Only Stuart knew the story about money in the frames!"
"Come on! An old photograph of you both! Of course, she left it for you! You know the password! If Jackie knew she was in trouble, then she would have made the password something we could get!"
"I have no idea!" Michael shrugged, rubbing his forehead. Sensing his frustration, Robbie stood up and walked over to Stuart.
"Well let's try, when was the photograph taken?"
"Ok, it was maybe 1992 or 1993, Christmas time" Michael answered standing up, feeling better to be pacing the room.
"no" Stuart answered.
"Who took the photo?" Robbie sat down next to Stuart as Michael paced behind him.
"Doctor Colin Crawford!" Stuart nodded.
"Who is he?" Robbie smirked.
"He was Stephen's assistant, and him and Jackie went out for a while!" Michael shrugged.
"No luck!" Stuart stated.
"ok, What about the poem on the back?"
"it's Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken!" Robbie looked to Stuart who shook his head "She bought me a book about his poems when I moved in here, is about paths in life!" Michael continued.
"Aye, …she definitely left this for you!" Robbie laughed. "ok so was there anything about that time in 92 or 93 that changed her path in life?" Michael paused trying to think, taking his seat at the table.
"The Mechanic? Jackie nearly quit over that!"
"Nope!" Stuart chirped. Michael huffed, the only thing he could think of, the only time he had been concerned that their friendship would never recover.
"Try Gregg Martin, or Val Pergus, that was later than the photograph but maybe?"
"isn't he the rich guy that murdered his parents!" Michael nodded, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "There was a scandal didn't he sleep with an undercover police officer!" Robbie smirked, but when Michael didn't say anything and just looked to Stuart, Robbie continued "Wait…that wasn't Jackie was it?"
"Robbie! Drop it! Stuart, is it the password or not?" Michael said sternly.
"Not the password Mike!" Stuart answered, as Michael huffed. Michael stood up again, and they all feel silent, at a loss to think of anything else.
"What about you Mike?! anything going on in your life at that time which involved a decision?" Robbie knew he was pushing his luck, but he could sense the Michael needed it.
"ok try …..Gemma Normanton!" Michael looked away, avoiding looking at either of them.
"the crime writer?" Stuart asked and Michael nodded in response, clearly not wanting to discuss it. "no!"
"this is impossible, the password could be anything!" Michael sat backdown, Stuart reached forward to look at the back of the photograph.
"Maybe, it's more literal!" Michael looked at him exasperated. "Where there any cases that involved a yellow wood?" Stuart asked. Michael smiled, remembering exactly when the photograph was taken, it was the Christmas after his disastrous relationship with Gemma. Jackie had been deflecting for him, defending him and listening to him for months about it. Much to Colin's annoyance. They had talked about Gemma that night; it was what led up to her kissing him on the cheek.
"try Gingerbread girls!" Michael scoffed.
"that's it, we are in!" Stuart smiled and Michael sighed in relief.