Mark neatly stacked the now gleaming dishes and put them back in the cupboard. The kitchen was quiet, but from the living room he could still hear the gentle murmur of lowered voices. As sociable as he was, he relished the alone time, the mundaneness of his task allowing him to set his conscious mind free and to ponder the puzzle of this latest case. He was close, he knew it; he was just waiting for that trigger that would allow inspiration to strike. He never knew when it was coming, but somehow it always did. Sometimes it was a word or a conversation, a song on the radio or an article in a magazine. Most of the time the trigger was something that seemed completely unrelated; something that seemed totally meaningless to everyone but him.
Mark knew that his methods were far from conventional, baffled those around him and yet they seemed to work. Even Tanis and Chief Masters had begun to welcome his input on cases. Mark chuckled, he had long ago given up trying to fathom how his own mind worked, now he was just grateful that it still did!
Humming contentedly to himself, he set about putting the coffee on to boil and collecting together the cups, sugar and cream. The evening had been pleasant enough. Jesse had been in his usual high spirits, cracking jokes and keeping them amused with impressions of his current patients. However, the tension Mark had noted between Tanis and Steve had not abated. Both detectives had been working hard to hide their discomfort, but to Mark the strain was clear to see. Still, he had no intention of forcing the situation. He had a strict rule about staying out of Steve's private life – if Steve was going to talk then it had to be his decision. Still humming Mark headed back to the living room.
'So who's for coff …?' he began cheerfully, before being cut off by a warning glance from Tanis, who placed a finger to her lips and pointed. Mark looked across and saw Steve ensconced in his favourite armchair. His hand was resting lightly on his injured side and he was snoring gently.
'Sorry' Mark mouthed, then turning to Tanis and Jesse began miming pouring a cup of coffee.
'I'll do it' Tanis offered in a low voice. 'I could do with stretching my legs' she explained when Mark began to protest.
'I'll give you a hand' Jesse whispered. He looked at Mark and shrugged 'You know me; I'm not so good with the being quiet'.
Mark held up his hands in acquiescence and as the two of them tip toed quietly into the kitchen, he sank gratefully into a chair beside Steve. Kicking off his shoes, Mark pulled on his trusty old carpet slippers and reached for the morning's paper to finish off the crossword. He'd already done the cryptic crossword, just the everyday puzzle to go. Relishing the simple challenge, he chewed contentedly on the end of his pen, pushing his glasses to the tip of his nose. The first clue he got easily, the next he had to stop and think.
'8 letters' he muttered thoughtfully to himself 'No surprise' He tapped his teeth with the pen 'No surprise – first letter e, ends in a d'.
'Expected' Steve supplied, his voice still scratchy with sleep.
'Expected of course' Mark said happily, writing it in, then realisation struck 'Oh, Steve did I just wake you?' he said guiltily. 'Sorry, you just ignore me and go right on back to sleep'.
Steve yawned widely 'No it's fine, I wasn't sleeping.'
Mark grinned knowingly 'Uh huh, just resting your eyes were you son?'
Steve looked sheepish 'Okay so maybe I took a little nap' he admitted 'but it couldn't have been longer than 5 minutes tops.' He looked at his watch and groaned '40 minutes!' he said incredulously 'How could I have slept for 40 minutes?'
Mark shrugged, amused 'Steve you have a heavy cold and you're still recovering from a nasty injury, it's only natural that your body needs rest. You have to give yourself time to heal'.
'Did Tanis leave?' Steve asked, suddenly concerned.
Mark shook his head 'Jesse and Tanis are in the kitchen making coffee.'
Steve's face relaxed a little 'Good' he said.
Mark looked keenly at his son. He didn't want to pry, but perhaps he could test the water a little. He took a deep breath 'You know your Mother and I used to have some real humdingers of rows' he said. 'There was this one time, you must have been about six years old and I wanted to buy you a trail bike. She didn't speak to me for a whole week'.
Steve looked at his father 'But the two of you got over it?' he said.
'We got over it' Mark replied 'Just took a little compromise, a little understanding' he grinned 'and a pair of diamond earrings!'
Steve sighed 'I don't think diamond earrings are gonna do it'.
Mark put a hand on Steve's shoulder 'You'll work it out son'.
Steve looked at his father, comforted by both the contact and the assurance 'I want to' he said simply, dropping his eyes.
Mark smiled 'Well then you'll find a way. Talk to her, tell her how you feel'. He squeezed Steve's shoulder 'she looks as miserable as you do ya know.'
'You think so?'
'I know so'.
Steve smiled for the first time that evening 'Thanks Dad' he said.
Mark smiled back 'You're welcome' he said 'Now do you wanna help me with the crossword while we wait for them to come back?'
Steve screwed up his face 'You know that was always more Carol's forte than mine' he said.
'Yes it was' Mark said smiling fondly. 'You know I'm so glad you two made up'.
Steve sighed 'Me too' he said.
The two men exchanged smiles and Mark went back to his puzzle. Yawning widely, Steve shifted more comfortably in his chair and settled back against the cushions. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier, but he fought against it. Behind him he heard the kitchen door creak and the tentative footsteps of someone creeping quietly into the room. There was a dull thud followed by a quickly cut off yelp. A smile spread across Steve's face.
Face screwed up in concentration, Jesse tiptoed elaborately across the floor. He'd thought he'd blown it when he'd bashed his knee on the lamp stand, but luckily Steve was still snoring. Even Mark, absorbed in his newspaper hadn't looked up. Jesse breathed again; he was still in the game.
In his hands he held the tray containing the coffee pot and four cups, but in his mind he was holding a gun. Jesse loved to practice the police skills he'd picked up from Steve and in his vivid imagination, Steve had become an armed and dangerous fugitive, whilst he Jesse was the hero cop who had to bring him down. Right now he was Agent Jesse Travis, top law enforcement operative in the CIA, a brilliant spy and master of disguise.
He was almost there and it was going well, Steve hadn't even twitched. Carefully he took another step. He was right next to Steve now, could see his friend's chest rhythmically rising and falling. Jesse smiled; this was too easy. He stepped forward once more, his eyes still on Steve's face and that was his mistake. As Jesse took his next step, Steve's left foot shoot out, catching Jesse across the shins and sending the young doctor crashing to the floor.
'Steve!' Mark remonstrated seeing his best crockery rolling across the carpet.
'Sorry' Steve said with a grin 'I just couldn't help it'.
'What's going on?' Tanis asked, as she rushed through the kitchen door.
Steve shrugged 'It's just Jesse playing at being a detective again.'
He reached out a hand to help Jesse to his feet 'Sorry Jess' he said 'But you've gotta learn that stalking a suspect isn't a game. It's dangerous and people can get hurt'.
'I think I got that part' Jesse said, rubbing his elbow with a wince.
'Look at this mess' Mark said ruefully, surveying the sorry state of the dinning room carpet.
Steve held up his hands 'It's my fault, I'll clear it up and I'll make some more coffee'.
'Oh no' Mark said, a mischievous smile on his face 'I have a much better punishment for you'.
'You do?' Steve said suspiciously and then he smiled 'You know you can't ground me any more don't you Dad, I think I grew out of that one when I turned 18'.
'Actually' Mark said 'I was thinking more along the lines of having Jesse look at your stitches. You've been trying to hide it, but it's obvious you're still in pain. I'm worried you might have an infection'. He turned to the younger doctor 'Whadaya think Jess? Are you up for a quick exam?'
Jesse beamed 'Oh you bet! he said, grinning evilly at Steve.
Steve groaned, but his father and Jesse were adamant. Finally he gave in, knowing he'd never hear the end of it otherwise. With as much dignity as he could muster, he followed Jesse downstairs to his own apartment, grumbling as he went, just for good measure.
After clearing up the remains of the coffee, Mark and Tanis sat in companionable silence waiting for the others to return. Mark longed to ask the young woman how things were going between her and his son but instead he picked up the paper and smiled at her 'Care to join me in the crossword?' he asked.
Tanis shrugged 'I'll give it a shot'. She looked at the paper on his lap and smiled 'I'm surprised you need my help; it's not even the cryptic clues. I'd guess you could solve it in your sleep'.
Mark smiled 'You know sometimes it's the clues that you think are gonna be easy that tax you the most.' He looked at her, his eyes sincere 'sometimes the answer is just so simple you can't think of it. It's almost as if you dismiss it because it's too obvious'. He smiled sheepishly 'I guess that's a failing of mine – always looking for the unusual, the unexpected'.
Tanis sighed 'Actually, I'd say that was one of your strengths. It's taken a while to convince me, but now I guess I can appreciate your ..' she paused, carefully selecting her words ' your unique way of looking at things'. She shrugged 'Hell it's helped us crack a lot of our most difficult cases. I guess expecting the unexpected is a handy skill to have as a police officer'.
Mark grinned 'Handy for a doctor too' he said 'but sometimes you do have to take a more conventional approach. Sometimes it is exactly what you'd expect to see …' he paused suddenly looking at the crossword 'just a minute' he said under his breath 'expected, no surprises' he smacked his hand against his forehead 'I can't believe I didn't think of it before'.
'Think of what before?' Jesse piped up. He'd come back into the lounge now, followed more slowly by Steve, who was grimacing and rubbing his side.
'Think of why our witnesses didn't see anything' Mark said, a huge smile on his face.
'And?' Steve prompted, grumpily – Jesse poking around at his side had inflamed the wound and he wasn't in the best of moods.
'And' Mark said 'we were so busy asking people if they'd seen anything unusual or unexpected, that we didn't ask them if they'd seen anything that they did expect'.
'Huh?' Jesse was puzzled.
'Where are you going with this Dad?' Steve asked, his brow knotting itself into a familiar puzzled frown.
'I know how our killer planted that bomb without being seen by a single witness' Mark said, smiling at the three confused faces before him.
'Okay I'll bite' Tanis said 'How did he do it'.
'Hiding in plain sight!' Mark said triumphantly 'Our killer went unnoticed because he was someone people expected to see. He was like part of the furniture, he blended in'.
'So what are you saying Dad?' Steve asked.
'I'm saying that I think our killer was someone who spent a lot of time at Susie's dinner' He paused 'could be a waiter or waitress, a regular customer or ..'
Steve exchanged a look with Tanis 'the owner' he said, his face grave.
TO BE CONTINUED …..