Chapter 20:

Just hours after arriving at the morgue, a murder took place in Toronto and Julia immediately went to the scene of the crime, excitement and adrenaline pumping through her veins. When she arrived at the crime scene, although every officer present stared at her, she immediately walked over to the body, knelt, and did her job. She felt the head inspector's gaze on her, but she was unfazed.

After a few minutes, she felt someone's presence behind her. She got up and turned around. She saw the chief inspector accompanied by William Murdoch, always well dressed and with his hair to perfection. She stopped a smile from forming on her lips at the sight of him and she could see that he was doing the same. He just nodded at her.

"Doctor." he greeted her very professionally.

"Detective Murdoch." she nodded back, very professionally.

She then turned back to the corpse and looked at it thoughtfully again. She had felt the gaze of the officers' present at the crime scene on them during their interaction and she had seen the surprised gaze of the chief inspector. He looked dumbfounded at the interaction between the two. If he had not known, Thomas could have sworn to anyone that those two had never had a relationship. They almost did not seem to know each other.

"So? What do we have?" William asked.

When Thomas entered Station 4 and closed the door of his office behind him, he sighed. He had to admit that he had been literally blown away. Mrs. Brenks… Well, Dr. Brenks, knew what she was doing, that was undeniable. He had been amazed… There was no other word. William and the young woman had shown no clues that they might have any relationship. They had been professional and courteous. It had been impressive.

He had to admit that he had partly hoped she would not be competent so he would not have to keep her. This situation – although the only possible one now – embarrassed him enormously. When Ethan Brenks found out in a few days that his wife was working at the Station and so close to Murdoch, he would lose his mind. He feared what might happen.

"So? Doctor? How is your first day going?"

Julia smiled as she immediately recognized her companion's voice. She turned back to him as she stood by the osculation table, scalpel in hand.

"Excellent well." she smiled broadly.

"I am so happy that everything is going well. You were amazing all the time. The inspector was speechless." he said, standing on the other side of the examination table, the body found a few hours ago lying on it.

"You think? Didn't I overdo it? I felt like a 'know-it-all lady'." laughed the young woman lightly, plunging her scalpel back into the patient's body.

"Well… Yes…" William scoffed. "But those are the ones you were hired for."

"So much the better."

"Well, I'm leaving you. I wouldn't want others to find my visit suspicious." he smiled one last time before walking around the table and kissing her near her ear. "I missed you…" he whispered to her.

Julia chuckled softly and was disappointed to lose contact with her lover who slipped away from the morgue. From HER mortuary.

"Mom!" cried Emily, running into the arms of her mother who was standing on the doorstep of the Brenks' house.

"Oh! My honey!"

A few days after she started her job and proved herself to those who had become her colleagues, she decided to go home. She had rung the bell, thinking that opening with her keys was not very welcome, and Martha, a housekeeper had opened the door for her. Martha exclaimed when she saw her mistress on the doorstep, and they hugged each other.

Martha, a woman about ten years older than Julia, had worked for the Brenks for over a decade. She knew her mistress perfectly and she had unfailing affection and loyalty for her. When the office heard and witnessed the huge argument between their bosses, they were shocked. Everything had always been so quiet in this house. A perfect family with a perfect life. So, to hear that the young woman could have cheated on her husband… It was unimaginable. But Martha knew better. She knew that her mistress had always dreamed of another life. So, if she was happy, that was what mattered to her.

She had heard that the young woman worked as a coroner in one of the Toronto Police Station. She had been impressed when it had been whispered to her when she was shopping at the market. It was exceptional. A female doctor: this was a huge step forward for women. She was so smart... She knew she would be the best medical examiner Toronto had ever known.

"Rosemary is here too?" Julia asked as she would still be her daughter in her arms.

"Yeah, she's upstairs. Rosemary! Rosemary! Come down!" she cried.

"Sweetheart...You know I'm not giving up on you and your sister, right? I'm just waiting for my situation to stabilize and..."

"And you will divorce… Yes… Rosemary explained to me…" said her youngest daughter sadly.

"I'm sorry, honey…I want you to know this is all my fault…Your dad had nothing to do with it."

"I know mom. I am not mad at you. We saw with Rosemary that you seemed unhappy and that's not what we want. When I look at your radiant face right now… I know what you are doing is good for you."

The young woman sat up and tried to prevent the tears that welled up in her eyes from falling. Her daughters were exceptional.

Julia rolled her eyes when she heard a noise on the stairs. She thought she saw her daughter Rosemary, but she immediately lost her smile when instead she saw her husband, his face closed, slowly descending the stairs, staring at her.

Julia's heart skipped a beat. She feared what was about to happen.

"Can you leave us, darling?" Ethan asked his daughter softly, kissing her forehead.

"Of course, dad."

The young girl squeezed her mother's hand one last time before going up the stairs. She ran into Rosemary there, who was getting off, but informed her that their parents wanted to be alone to talk. Rosemary, although disappointed at not being able to go see her mother after days without having seen her, went upstairs with her sister.

Note: How could the discussion between the two adults go? Thank you for the two comments I received on my preview chapter. It makes me verry happy ! :)