A/N: Trust me. Yes, trust me. Have I ever done anything really wrong with them? Well, kinda, I guess but everything usually goes right. Might have to change that this time of course.

Jack Meadows barged into CID, a determined look on his face. 'Phil, Sam.'

'Guv?' She looked up distractedly.

'Male stab victim at St. Hughes. I want you two down there.'

'But I've got this lot...'

'No arguments.' He left in the same manner as he'd arrived.

'Look on the bright side,' Phil smiled. 'You got the best copper on your arm.'

'Give me his number. I'll look him up.'

'Coffee.'

'Thanks.' Sheelagh took the offered cup. The pair were stood at a roadside café waiting for orders of some kind. For the last two hours since the call to the Levison's, the air had been distinctly frosty.

'You gonna ignore me all day.'

'How would you like me to act?'

'What are you really upset about, Sheelagh, hmm?' Gabriel placed his own coffee on a nearby bench. 'The way I handled the situation back there or something else?'

The coffee was scalding her hands. 'Now you mention it, I don't think your tone was entirely appropriate.'

'I was being polite.'

'You were flirting!'

'Ah.' He paused. 'Sheelagh, I thought we cleared all this up.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Yes, you do.'

During her attempt to keep a clear expression, she felt the plastic cup slip form her fingers, burning her hand as it went. 'Ow!'

'Here.' Gabriel took her wrist being careful not to touch the red skin. Then he pulled some tiny bottle of spray out of his pocket. 'For emergencies.'

She barely had time to marvel before the pain really started setting in. Gabriel, seeing her face, sprayed little flecks of the substance onto her hand, the tingling soon diminished. 'Full of surprises, aren't you?'

'You'd be amazed.' He hadn't let go of her wrist. 'I shouldn't have flirted with Mrs Levison. It was unprofessional of me and maybe a little inconsiderate.'

'Gabriel, I don't...'

'It's alright. Maybe I've been a little blind.'

Just as she was about to ask him what he meant by that his radio crackled. Trust the criminals of Sun Hill to do their business then.

'Mr Levison, is it?' Sam approached the bed-ridden man, Phil on her heels.

'Yes. Are you police?'

'Yes. Can you tell us what happened?'

'No.' The reply was immediate.

'Well, didn't you see your attacker?' she probed.

'I'd really rather not pursue it.'

'Was it someone you know?'

'I said you could go!'

'It ain't that simple.' Phil stepped forward. 'Now, you were found on the street, how'd you get there?'

'I live on that street.'

'Right, so, what? You were going out to buy a bag of sugar, what?'

'Like I said to those other copper, I just want to be left alone.'

'Wait,' Sam said quickly. 'Which coppers?'

'The two that came sniffing round the house this morning. Don't remember their names.'

'What did they look like?'

'One of them was flirting with my wife, I can tell you that. I didn't like the look of him. Oh, and the woman was Irish.'

Sam looked to Phil. 'Sheelagh Murphy?'

He nodded.

One drunken brawl later and Sheelagh and Gabriel were back at the station with a prisoner in tow. After booking him in they were about to head back out onto the streets when DS Nixon beckoned them into an office off the custody area.

'Did you two meet a man called Jack Levison this morning?'

A feeling of dread bubbled within Sheelagh. 'Yes, why?'

'He's been admitted to St. Hughes with multiple stab wounds.'

Her earlier feelings towards Gabriel returned with a vengeance. 'I knew we should have dug deeper!'

'What am I missing?' Samantha looked from one to the other.

'It's the wife,' Sheelagh sighed.

'Now, we don't know that,' Gabriel interjected. 'That was just your gut feeling.'

Before Sheelagh could snap something back, Samantha jumped in. 'PC Kent, I'd like to speak to PC Murphy alone please. Wait outside.'

He left, not without throwing an irritated glance at Sheelagh though. For a second she felt guilty about seeming to undermine him but the thought was wiped clear out of her mind as Samantha prompted her.

'Sheelagh?'

'Oh, sorry. This morning a neighbour reported a disturbance at the Levison's, both of them swore nothing had happened. Did you notice the cut on his cheek?'

'I assumed it came from the attack.'

Sheelagh shook her head. 'No. I think the wife did it. Was she at the hospital?'

'She wasn't actually. Sheelagh, if you suspected the wife of abuse this morning why didn't you question her about it?'

'Neither of them seemed to want us there and...' She trailed off uncertainly. Dropping Gabriel in it was the wrong thing to do.

'Gabriel didn't want to follow it up,' Samantha finished.

'I can understand why. It was a long shot.'

'Which turned out to be right by the look of it.' Sam paused. 'You've got some sort of a relationship with Mrs Levison. I want you with us when we search the house.'

'Of course.' She started to leave.

'And Sheelagh?'

'Yes?'

'Trust your own instincts next time. They're usually right.'