It was going to be a bit lonely over Christmas, what with Jean heading to Adelaide and Lucien still missing somewhere. Matthew sat at his desk and thought about what he would do for the holidays: he was working till Christmas Eve and was back on Boxing Day then had intermittent shifts till the New Year. He had thought about going back to Melbourne to spend Christmas with him mum and Vera's family, but he'd literally be there for Christmas day, then have to head back for his shift the next day. As he lifted his mug, he saw Dr Harvey, well Alice, walk into the bullpen with a report in hand.
"Afternoon Dr Harvey. Who is the subject of this report? The probable drowning or the man found dead in the hotel?"
He was trying to keep things professional; Alice had made it clear she didn't want anything outside of professional as she didn't want people to think she'd been given the Police Surgeon job because her and Matthew were close. He thought about offering to cook on Christmas day for both of them but then thought she would probably say no, given what she's told him about "talk".
Alice looked at Matthew and handed him the report, "it's the drowning and it was a drowning. No signs of struggle so might have been a suicide or might have been an accident."
Matthew nodded to accept her findings and picked his pen back up to get back on with what he was went to leave but hesitated and turned around and asked, "when does Jean leave for Adelaide?"
Matthew looked back up at Alice and replied, "She's leaving tomorrow, and she'll be gone till the 4th of January."
"I have a gift for her; I'll drop it off later then…what…are you…never mind." Alice turned to leave and said, "Chief Superintendent."
Matthew looked up and said, "Dr Harvey."