Chapter 18:

"Well… Murdoch… We have a problem. »

William was sitting in a cafe across town with Inspector Brackenreid. He, his superior, and other Station 4 officers had been called in on a robbery case gone wrong in Scarborough. They had spent half the day dissecting the scene which had taken place in a telegraph office. Why had they chosen to rob such a place? Maybe the thieves were looking for an important letter and not something of monetary value?

Be that as it may, after the officers had closed the office in question, and it had been necessary to return to the Station to analyze certain fingerprints found on the doors of the building, Inspector Brackenreid had detained William and had him trained in a cafe, away from their colleagues.

"What's going on sir?"

"I'm glad to see the stupid look on your face everyday thanks to Mr. Brenks' wife, but in the meantime, we don't have any medical examiners."

William sighed upon hearing his superior's words but said nothing. He simply watched his inspector wince as he drank his coffee which must have been as bitter as his ego right now.

"I tried to hire other coroners, but Ethan Brenks is blocking all the steps." he explained with a bored look. "He bribes them with money or with better paid positions in his hospital. I even went so far as to try to recruit foreigners! But I can tell you that they are far more corrupt than any Canadian citizen."

Murdoch stopped himself from rolling his eyes at that last sentence. After a moment during which the inspector said nothing more, William took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. Clearly, he did not like it. How could Julia drink it at any time of the day?

"I have already given you the solution…" the young man said knowingly.

"Oh! Engaged your lover? No thanks." Thomas scoffed as he thought back to the discussion he had had with his wife about the idea. She told him it would be a wonderful idea and he went up to bed, upset that she did not think like him.

William shrugged, which had the gift of annoying the chief inspector.

"How much I would hire her, she is a woman Murdoch! She will never be up to it. Also, I understand from what you told me that even though she graduated, she never practiced as a doctor. She has been married for 17 years. So, I guess she hasn't practiced in all these years!" Thomas snapped.

He looked around when he saw heads turned towards him, intrigued that someone could shout so loudly in a cafe. He then lowered his voice until it was no more than a whisper:

"And you think I'm going to engage your lover, seriously Murdoch? Ethan Brenks is going to pulverize me. I wouldn't be alive if I did that. Or I would find myself in the temperance league with my wife painting posters against alcohol abuse."

"You do as you wish, sir." William said wearily.

"Is that all you have to tell me?!" Brackenreid raged again.

"Look, I'm not going to impose my vision on you or tell you what decision you must make." William began, leaning a little further over the table and towards Brackenreid. "Julia…I can assure you that Mrs. Brenks will be competent. I cannot promise you anything but, objectively, I know that she will be able to do it and that you will be surprised. Give her a chance, sir... Ethan Brenks can't do anything to you. He has no power, he is only the head of a hospital, nothing more. And I'm a professional. There will be no misunderstanding between Mrs. Brenks and me at work. I can assure you of that."

"Let's admit." Thomas sighed, taking his pocket watch out of his inside pocket and consulting it. He put it away and gestured to the waiter to ask him to bring the bill. "But you forget that he is a very good friend of Terence Meyers…"

"And you think he has only that to do, Terence Meyers? Friend or not?" William asked rhetorically. "There is no evidence that Julia and I… There is no evidence." he hesitated. "The only person who really knows is you, okay? Ethan Brenks came to make a scene at the Station, but what officer can say he saw us, or witnessed something between the two of us? None!"

Thomas continued to listen to the young man, taking tickets out of his pocket, wondering where he was coming from.

"Even if Ethan Brenks complained to Meyers, it would only be lip service. Meyers has far too important a position to burn his wings with such unproven slander." William shrugged. "What exactly do you want him to do?"

Thomas huffed in annoyance. Why was he doing all this to himself? He had tried everything to convince himself that bringing the young woman to be the new coroner was a bad idea. But apparently, the young man had an answer to everything.

"Is Mrs. Brenks going to divorce her husband?" Thomas asked suddenly.

William hesitated, but finally thought he had a right to know. If he asked the question, it was certainly not by chance.

"Yes…She's going to divorce. Only, she is waiting for a better situation. Without a stable income, even if she can currently afford an apartment, she will certainly not have joint custody of her children."

"Ah, that's it, here we are! That's why. She needs to work so she asked you if she could apply here. You are being led by the nose; it seems." his superior scoffed again.

"She doesn't know." William answered calmly. "I didn't tell her about the coroner's vacancy. She takes her own steps on her own."

Thomas simply looked at the young man, understanding that everything seemed to have been well thought out.

"And… Nobody is going to find it strange that she works at the Station and then she divorces her husband?"

"Strange... I don't know... Good for their face if they find it strange. There will certainly be a rumor but again, no proof. People will forget over time." he replied.

Although unconvinced by this last part, Thomas had to admit that he had no other solution if he did not want his Station to sink and find himself sewing gloves in the form of scarves.

"Very well." he knocked on the table as he got up from his chair to put on his coat. "I accept."

William stood up in turn, a big smile suddenly lighting up his face.

"But I warn you, at the slightest mistake, at the slightest little…"

"Yes, I know you don't keep her." cut in the young detective. "I will warn her!"

"Wait, I want to see her Monday morning. I'll show her the place and we'll see what she's worth on the cases that are pending. I had been offered some that I had accepted, but without a coroner, they stagnated."

"Perfect, sir. Thank you." William smiled.

Note: Brackenreid agree to hire Julia! How will she react when she finds out?