A new day, full of new opportunities and difficulties to face. A new day that will hopefully bring new possibilities. It had been a rough night for Nikki, after finally building up the courage to talk to Matt, she parted ways with Jack at the pub and made her way home only to find that Matt had already beaten her to it. She walked through to her kitchen to find him sitting at her table, his face seemed to mirror hers, they both knew what was coming next. There was no screaming, no arguing, maybe a few tears but in all in all it was mutual and amicable. They agreed that they had simply grown apart and maybe neither of them were cut out for long distance. Nikki felt more at ease knowing that both she and Matt could go their separate ways and still remain friends and in contact with each other, she loved him dearly but as she said to Jack, not in that way.
Walking into the Lyell, Nikki was surprised to see Jack sitting at her desk. She didn't know what she was more shocked by, Jack being at work earlier than her or the fact that he wasn't sitting in his own chair, she'd known from experience that his was way more comfortable than hers and he wasn't that keen on giving it up. He must have been engrossed in whatever was laid out in front of him because he hadn't noticed her standing there watching him. Or, maybe he had but was concentrating too much to look up.
Letting out a cough, she chuckled as she noticed him jumping out of his skin and his darting up to meet hers; he definitely hadn't seen her come in. "I don't want to point out the obvious but I think that's my chair you're sitting on."
"Oh sorry," he stuttered, quickly gathering up the pieces of papers and placing them carefully back into the folder. "I was just reading over the post mortem report again. I wanted to see if there was anything that stood out."
Nikki moved to put her bag down on the desk and then picking up the folder to open for herself to read, "You could've just asked."
"You weren't here," he quipped.
"Clearly. Did you find anything untoward?"
Jack shook his head, "The dental records have come back however. The guy's name is Simon Richards, he has a wife who the police are trying to get hold of as we speak."
"Right," pausing, Nikki looked down at him, raising her eyebrows. "And are you going to sit there all day?"
"Oh right, yeah, sorry," he apologised, standing up and walking round their adjoining desks to sit in his own chair. "Did you manage to get hold of him?"
She didn't even need to ask him who he was talking about, glancing up at him, she sat down in her seat, "Yes," she said bluntly.
"And?"
"We broke up."
"How do you feel about that? And tell me how you're really feeling not some bullshit like 'I'm fine,' it's me you're talking to remember," he spoke, now raising his own eyebrow at her whilst leaning forward on his desk to get closer to her.
Rolling her eyes, "Surprisingly okay," she stopped, knowing that he wouldn't be satisfied with that answer, she continued, "After how I felt yesterday I expected myself to be more upset but we talked for the whole night and it was all pretty amicable, we're still going to be friends and keep in contact with each other of course, but I'm okay. Besides, having that chat with you last night as well helped a lot. It made me put things into perspective, made me realise what I and what I don't want."
Nodding, he was pleased with that answer but, if he was being honest, he was happy with anything longer than two words, "Good. Glad I could help," he finished, not wanting to push her. Nikki opening up in little bursts was enough for him, it meant that she had at least someone she could trust and talk about anything with and not have to face judgement.
They both let the room fill with a comfortable silence, both content with their first conversation of the day. Logging on to her computer, Nikki began to check her emails, her heart dropping as her eyes flicked over the latest. So it was definitely happening, and today? She hadn't even had the chance to tell Jack yet and she'd no idea how he would react but knowing him he'd kick off whether she told him now or let him find out when they arrive, might as well keep up the element of surprise. He'd eventually calm down, he always struggled to stay angry with her anyway.
His voice shook her from her thoughts, "Does this case strike you as odd somehow?" He asked, looking up at her from the paperwork now on his desk.
"What do you mean?"
"The wife never reported him missing."
"So," she shrugged. "Maybe they argued and she thought he'd come home eventually."
"But if we argued and you didn't turn up for work the next day I'd do everything to get hold of you or find you and if I couldn't I'd be on the phone straight away. Especially if I'd seen that there had been a body found in the area. But nobody has contacted us or the police reporting someone missing that matches the description of our man," he paused. "If you were planning on not coming home, then wouldn't you make sure to take your phone and wallet? If not both, at least one."
"Maybe he didn't plan to not come home?" She questioned. "Not everyone knows their next move when they storm out after an argument. Besides, we don't know what happened between them so let's reserve our judgement."
"You were the one who said they argued," he pointed out.
"I simply provided a possible explanation amongst many others," she calmly replied, she would never let Jack get one over her.
"Smart arse."
They both chuckled before turning back to their computers allowing the quiet to wash over them again.
"After speaking to the wife, Angela Richards, we can confirm that this is Simon Richards, male, thirty-three. She last saw him around seven o'clock on the night he died. According to her, they had an argument after he'd come home from the pub," Butcher spoke as Nikki stole a quick glance at Jack, he always acted like he hated when she turned out to be right but deep down he adored her intuitive skills and her ability to be a 'genius' as Clarissa had so aptly put it all those years ago. "The cause of their argument was apparently the result of a fight that happened between him and another man outside the Weatherly Arms, not too far away where we found the body. Jack, will you be able to pull up any CCTV from those areas? See if we can get a description of this man and his whereabouts after the fight."
"Sure," Jack nodded.
"Nikki, you said that there was evidence on the body that would suggest that he may have been in a fight prior to his death which would tie with what Mrs Richards is saying," she said as she turned to look at Nikki.
"Well," Nikki started, standing up to walk over to the board. Pulling up the pictures of the victims face from the post mortem and continuing, "There was bruising to his face and knuckles which are of consistent with a fight. However, his cause of death was caused, as already established, by a sharp cornered object striking his head. If it was a fight outside a pub, you may suggest a brick found on the floor but we would expect to find residue in the wound. But we found paint flecks, confirmed in the test results. So, it is more likely that he was hit over the head with something like a picture frame, which was my earlier suggestion."
"We need to get that CCTV footage as soon as possible and find out what on earth happened to this man," Butcher sighed, leaning on to the table. "We need to get fingerprints and DNA from the wife, for elimination purposes. And we'll need to organise for her to come and formally identify him."
"Consider it done," Nikki smiled. She watched as DCI Butcher left the room, leaving just her and Jack again.
"She doesn't want much does she?" Jack joked, winking at her.
The drive to the house wasn't as long as they expected, Nikki tried to ignore Jack as much as possible as he spent the entire time singing and dancing to the songs on the radio. She found this the most difficult when they had stopped at a red light and she had no excuse to not look at him, especially when she could feel his eyes boring into her. Thankfully they didn't stop for too long and they carried on their journey. Parking up outside her house they walked down her driveway.
"You love my singing really so you can stop making that face," he laughed, bumping gently into her side.
Nikki rolled her eyes, pushing him back, "Not when I'm concentrating on trying not to crash."
Reaching out, Jack knocked heavily on the door. After a few seconds a young woman with long brown hair appeared from behind it. She must've been in her late twenties was the best Nikki could guess.
"Hello Mrs Richards," Nikki smiled, pulling out her badge to show the woman stood in front of her. "My name is Dr Alexander and this is my colleague Jack Hodgson, we're with the police and we just need to take some fingerprints and DNA to eliminate you, is it okay if we come in?"
Angela nodded, opening the door further, allowing Nikki and Jack to make their way through. Setting her case down on the kitchen counter, Nikki began taking the woman's swabs and fingerprints whilst Jack took it upon himself to poke around the house. Walking through to the living room, the first thing he noticed was the lack of pictures of the supposed couple, Jack shrugged. Maybe it was her way of grieving but something didn't feel right about it. Making his way into the hallway, once again no pictures, his eyes scanned the area from floor to ceiling. He quickly noticed an open door further down the hall, moving towards it he noticed that it led down to a basement. All of sudden Jack felt a shiver travel from top to bottom down his spine, something wasn't right. Feeling unsafe, he joined Nikki in the kitchen once again, who seemed to have finished and was now packing her case back up.
Nikki spoke, breaking the silence, "Thank you so much for your help, I'm really sorry for your loss. I know this may seem too soon but we are going to need you to formally identify the body, when you're ready of course," she pulled a business card out of her case and handed it to the woman. "This is the address of the Lyell Centre and the number, just give us a call when you feel up to it and we can arrange a time, okay?"
Angela nodded, "Yes that's fine, thank you," she said bluntly. "I'd like you to leave now please."
"Of course," Nikki smiled gently, slightly taken aback by her attitude but understanding how she felt, she made quickly to leave with Jack following her, hot on her tail.
Waiting till they were safely back in the car, Jack turned to Nikki, "Did she seem? I don't know. She didn't strike me as someone grieving her husband."
Starting the car, she quickly glanced over to Jack before turning her eyes back to the road and pulling off, "She's probably just in shock, everyone reacts differently to these situations, you should know."
"Yes I do but there was just something that was off," he paused. "Did you notice that there weren't any photos anywhere?"
"And?"
"Is that not strange to you? If they're married then surely they should have at least one picture of them, on their wedding day.. But there's nothing, not a single one. Now either they just didn't take any pictures or-"
"-she's got something to hide," Nikki interrupted him, quickly following his train of thought.
Jack carried on, "I'll have to ask Butcher to get a search warrant, I want to check out that basement as well. Something about it made me feel weird, like something's happened down there."
"You watch too many horror movies," Nikki joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I do not!" Jack snapped, a smirk emerging from the corner of his mouth.
They made it back to the Lyell shortly after leaving Mrs Richard's house. Swiping his card in the machine, Jack went to open the door but his hand stopped on the handle as he looked inside.
Nikki frowned, "What?" Following his line of sight, she saw where it landed. There was a woman. A woman neither had seen before. A woman with short, blonde hair, possibly in her late fifties, early sixties. She wore a fairly fitted black suit with a light blue shirt underneath. They both watched as the woman walked around their desks, picking up a file every now and then to skim through it.
"Who the hell is that?" Jack spoke eventually.
