Earlier that week, the body of Thomas Ogden was lying on the slab in the morgue, and Alice started her day by examining the paperwork on her desk. Thomas Ogden had been involved in an organised crime ring called the Potted Lads, in Melbourne. He was supposed to under police supervision in Ballaratt before giving evidence in a trial against the leader of that gang, and unfortunately had wound up dead and floating in Lake Wendouree. When the body was found, it appeared that it was not at all accidental and it was now Alice's job to establish the cause of death. She hated this kind of case, especially since Ogden had yet to give evidence and the whole defence was about to collapse due to the lack of their star witness. However, what made it even more difficult was that Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson was in charge of the station who were supposed to be keeping Ogden safe.
After the Blake wedding, Alice and Matthew had become a little closer; just a little. Nothing serious but they were friends, she hoped. During the reception Matthew turned to her and said, "how about we go outside and get some air?" and Alice replied, "oh God yes". They sat there on that wooden bench in the cool Ballaratt breeze of that March evening. They talked about the day, how happy Jean and Lucien looked and how well everything had gone. The discussed their past cases, their current case and they discussed Alice helping out as Police Surgeon when Lucien and Jean were on their honeymoon. Matthew had mentioned that old Dr Wallace, who has been in charge before Lucien returned, had agreed to help out and that Alice would keep him up to speed on the new paperwork and what was expected. Alice was a little disappointed that they hadn't asked her to cover the role, but she did have other work to do for the hospital so, assistant it was. She would never have mentioned it to Matthew; she knew she was good at her job, but she didn't want to tell him what to do. They sat there under the stars, talking about everything and nothing when the breeze picked up and knocked Alice's hat from her head. Matthew managed to catch it and put it back on her head and at that moment, when he was so close, she could smell his after aftershave and the clean soapy smell mixed with leather books that was entirely Matthew. Alice couldn't help but admire the strong jaw, the chiselled features and his lovely smile, one that he didn't bring out that often. She wanted to believe that he kept it only for her, but she knew that she was being foolish, and the brandy wasn't helping any. For a brief moment, Alice looked at Matthews lips. It was only a fleeting glance but oh how she wanted him to kiss her; to take her face in his hands; to run his fingers down the side of her face before caressing her lips and finally, drawing her closer for a soft, but passionate kiss. She was sure Matthew saw her looking at his lips and she was so embarrassed that she had been caught that she looked to her shoes.
When Matthew caught Alice's hat, he replaced it as best he could. She smelled so lovely, her floral perfume and the scent of her shampoo mixed in the night air made Matthew want to take her in his arms and kiss her. She was so close; so close he could almost touch her. So close, that if he did what he wanted to, he would take her lovely face in his hands and press a kiss to those lovely, soft red lips. He really had to stop himself and stop himself he did. For a brief moment, he thought he caught her looking at his lips but when he really looked closely, she looked at her shoes and she had turned red. This was not something Alice was ready for.