Chapter 1 Crimine

The alarm went off, Morse silenced it quickly.

As he rolled out of bed Violetta asked sleepily "What is it."

"Just an early morning meeting darling." I'll see you later.

He kissed her as she sleepily said "Chow, I love you."

"Love you too" he replied dressing quietly.

He left and shut the door getting into the Jaguar he drove to the meeting.

As he arrived he was a bit surprised to find no greeting but an open door. He walked in carefully and as he reached the office he saw the person he was to meet with. Dead with knife wounds it was a pretty bloody scene. He backed away and picked up the phone.

Calling the emergency number he said, "This is Morse. I have a dead body" and gave the address. He then waited looking over in the scene carefully.

DCI Strange took the call and when he heard the word Morse he decided.

Calling out he said "Sgt Lewis. We have a call to go out on."

"Yes sir, I'll get the car," Lewis replied.

As they arrived they went in to see Morse and Max DeBrin exchanging pleasantries.

They walked in and asked, "What do we have Doctor?"

"Stabbing death. Stiletto looks like. Stabbed multiple times. Not needed though, the first strike would have killed him instantly. Dead about 1 to 2 hours."

"Crime of passion then perhaps." said Strange

"Strange though." said Morse "One well-aimed strike and the rest at random? It doesn't seem right"

Strange responded, "Well matey what are you doing here anyway. This isn't your place anymore."

Morse replied "I found the body. Signore Rapelli was a client. I was here for a meeting."

Max interjected dryly "Well I rather doubt you will get him to pay you now."

Strange continued "What did he want to meet about?"

"He imported Italian machinery. Had a few shipments go missing. We were hired to see if what we could find out about it and recover what we could."

"A few bits of kit?" asked Strange "Hardly worth killing over."

"High tech stuff." Replied Morse "Rather expensive. Each piece would set you back about the price of a house."

"Makes a bit more sense." replied Strange "Just for the record where were you last night?"

Morse replied, "At the opera with Violetta then home until I got up to come here."

"How is the fair Violetta?" Asked Strange.

"Quite well thank you." replied Morse

"Well good to have you with us again even if it's just for one case. Sgt Lewis."

"Yes, Chief Inspector." Replied Lewis

"Mr. Morse is a former colleague. If he has questions please provide him every courtesy." He continued "Doctor what time?"

"Max replied, "The usual time say 2 o'clock."

"Right then see you then." Replied Strange

Morse jumped in "If there is nothing else I'd like to go to the office now."

Strange replied "Ok but you know the drill. No long trips without telling us."

"I remember," said Morse. He left getting into the Jaguar once again.

A short drive later he walked through a door with "Morse Investigations" on it. Violetta was in the outer office.

She smiled and asked, "How did the meeting go?"

"Not well" he replied "Our client was murdered."

Violetta gasped "Oh no, not Signore Rappli. Are you a suspect?"

Morse smiled "No, Jim Strange came out he believes my alibi for now. He also asked how you were."

"Oh that's nice she replied. Now what?"

Morse said, "Call the insurance company and let them know what happened."

At 2 PM Sgt Lewis came into the lab to meet with Dr. DeBrin. "Where's the Chief Inspector," asked the doctor.

"Another commitment so he sent me." replied the sergeant. "Anything to add?"

"Not really but I'm a bit wondering. The first stroke would have been deadly and looked professional. It almost looked like someone was trying to cover their tracks" replied the Doctor

"So Mr. Morse could have been right then."

"Yes indeed" replied the doctor.

"Doctor I have a question. Why was the chief inspector so nice to Mr. Morse. It doesn't make sense."

Doctor DeBrin paused "Well, they are friends. Also, former Inspector Morse was perhaps the best detective ever to work in Thames Valley." he paused "Had things come out differently you might be working with him."

"Really, what happened then?" Lewis was curious

Max smiled "In short Morse fell in love with the wrong woman. His wife is a convicted felon who took part in a murder for insurance money scheme. He retired from the force to marry her after she was released from prison."

"That's amazing." replied Lewis "Could you tell me a bit more so I know the lay of the land."

Max paused "Well let's sit down and have a cup of tea then. This is going to take a bit."

They sat down and as they sipped tea he began "There were three of them. From the old Cowley street station very good detectives every one of them. Fred Thursday DCI old school, pre-war London Police who joined the forces and fought in Italy. Smart, tough, and operated from a very finely tuned instinct. Not afraid to do whatever it took.

Jim Strange, I first met him as a uniformed officer. Somewhat like Fred Thursday in that he used a lot of instinct and also wasn't afraid to bend a rule now and then. But he also wanted to rise in the force. He has and keeps wanting to improve himself. I expect he will keep going up the ranks.

Then there was Morse, Sherlock Holmes come to life. Oxford dropout, brilliant, and a man who could untangle the most difficult of webs. Very little escaped his gaze and even less his memory. They would all have agreed then he was one of the best and destined for greatness. They were friends as well as colleagues. In fact, Morse and Strange even shared a flat for a year to save some money."

"That must have been interesting," said Lewis

"It worked." Replied the Doctor "Throughout the 1960's they were an amazing team. Nothing could separate them. They even tried losing Morse's Sergeants exam and then putting him back in uniform. In 1970 they were back together Thursday as DCI Morse as his bagman and Strange as his Sergeant. Things looked very good for them.

Morse took a holiday he went to Vienna for New Year to see the Opera. There he met Violetta a beautiful but mysterious woman. They quickly became lovers. When he returned to Oxford he found that Violetta was married to a friend of his. He tried to break it off. But their attraction was too strong. Her husband found out and of course, he confronted Morse and his wife. Morse offered Violetta the chance to go with him but she stayed with her husband. Meantime Morse had been put on the scent of a lot of accidental deaths around Oxford. He found that his Violetta's husband, his friend was behind the accidents and they were in fact murders for life insurance money."

"That's amazing." Said Lewis interrupting.

"There is more to come." replied the Doctor

"They got away but Morse knew Violetta always went to the opera in Venice on New Year. He went there to arrest them. He left a letter for Fred Thursday before he left. Thursday saw the letter and realizing that Morse was in real danger followed him to Vienna. Morse caught them and when her husband tried to shoot Morse Violetta blocked the bullet taking it herself. Thursday then shot the husband killing him.

Though seriously wounded she survived. Morse only saw her once in the hospital. He told her goodbye. But she said she would do anything for him to earn his love. He told her somewhat coldly that all she could do was plead guilty and serve her sentence. She asked if she could talk to him and he told her that he could not have any contact with her until she was sentenced. He left not knowing what would happen."

Max paused "What happened next surprised us all. She did not fight extradition she came back and plead guilty. Her defence counsel thought she had a chance for a favorable verdict. But she refused to consider it. Her sentence was 15 years." She wrote Morse from prison. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it. But finally, he wrote back and they wrote back and forth for years.

Morse finally promised to wait for her. They kept writing back and forth and he would visit her. It seemed a long time waiting. It didn't help his career either. Morse made his share of enemies and they used it against him at every opportunity. Fred Thursday was furious with him. Tried to set him up with other women, told him that he was throwing away his career. But nothing worked. Dorothea Frazil talked some sense into Fred Thursday telling him that the heart loves who it loves.

Eventually, Violetta was released and she and Morse resumed their passionate relationship. Morse got called in and was told it was Violetta or his Police career. He turned in his resignation the same day.

He took what pension he could. Started a private detective agency and married Violetta. Since then we lost touch with him, they went their own way. I would see him now and again and he always seemed content. I was as surprised as anyone to see him this morning. But my advice is to listen to him. He's quite likely to help with the case."

Lewis sat there taking it in and finishing his tea in silence. Finally, he said,

"Thanks loads that really helps me to understand." He left to get back to the station.

Morse meanwhile had a long phone call with the insurance company.

Violetta walked in and gave him a quizzical look.

Morse responded, "We're still on the case, the insurance company wants us to find the stolen equipment."

Morse spent the rest of the day working on the case trying to get CCTV footage. Then to find out when and where the equipment was stolen and any other information. They spent the afternoon working on that.