A few days after the Blakes had left on their honeymoon to Europe, Matthew headed towards the morgue. He was thinking about how to ask for help. Old Dr Wallace had done an autopsy and written up the report, but he hardly understood it and he wasn't really sure what it was telling him, and Dr Wallace had gone back to Melbourne. He knew Alice would know and although he really wanted her to have the Police Surgeon role, the higher ups in Melbourne weren't happy about it and thrust Wallace on him. He normally would have said something, but he didn't want to push it, since it was only four months and Lucien would be back to take back the reigns. Matthew knocked on the door to the morgue lightly but heard no reply. He opened the door slowly and saw Alice sat with her head down the microscope and clearly was concentrating so hard, she hadn't heard the door go. Matthew walked over to the bench where Alice sat and cleared his throat. At this, Alice almost fell off of the stool and luckily Matthew was close enough to right her. He could quite clearly see she had gotten a fright and apologised for not making more noise when he came in. Alice, in her embarrassment told him to make sure he was more careful next time as she could have dropped the slide and the evidence, and it would be no good to his case then! Matthew again apologised and changed the subject by bringing up Wallace's report. "Dr Harvey? Dr Wallace left his report for me before he returned to Melbourne". Alice hummed under her breath while trying to reset the microscope and, when Matthew did not continue to talk, she looked up at him and said, "do go on". Matthew explained the situation; the poorly handwritten report, his lack of understanding and not being able to establish what the cause of death was. He asked for her help and that was how it started. "I'm really busy right now, Chief Superintendent. I will help you, but I really need to finish all of this work and write the reports before I finish today", she gestured towards all of the samples on the bench next to her microscope. Matthew looked at her and said "are you free tonight? I could make us some dinner and we could go over the report. Look on it as an apology for creeping up on you and a thank you for helping me understand the report? What do you think?" Alice looked at Matthew, trying to decide whether he was serious or not. Matthew was living at the Blake's house alone while Jean and Lucien were in their honeymoon and Alice wasn't even sure he could cook. "What time and should I bring anything?" , "6.30 pm and just yourself" he said.
Alice was sitting in her car in the driveway of 7 Mycroft Avenue trying to decide whether to take the wine she had bought or not. She was 10 minutes early and wondered whether she should knock on the door now or wait until 6.30 pm exactly. As she was thinking all of this, there was a gentle knock on her driver's side window. Alice almost jumped out of her skin but realised that it was Matthew staring at her. "Are you just going to sit here, or would you like to come in?" Alice starting rambling about being early, about the wine, about being polite, about not wanting to interrupt him and eventually, Matthew silenced her by turning around. She was walking behind him and before she realised, he had stopped, she walked right into him, landing her right hand on his chest. He took her hand and softly said "Alice, it's just you and me. We're going to have dinner and we're going to talk about this case. There's nothing to be nervous about. All you have to worry about is not getting the meal on your top and not spilling that lovely wine you have brought with you. Now come inside and we can have a drink while we wait for our dinner to be ready." Alice calmed immediately as he was still holding her hand. Matthew was right, it was two friendly colleagues having dinner and discussing a case. He let her hand go and ushered her in in front of him and closed the door behind them.
The meal or pork chops and potatoes and carrots was lovely. The gravy Matthew made was delicious and really finished off the whole thing. He'd even bought a pie for dessert and apologised for not making something but said he hadn't had the time after work but would definitely make a cake next time. Next time. Those two little words made Alice feel so happy that Matthew wanted there to be a next time. That he was tired of her and that he actually wanted to willingly spend time with her. She wasn't sure if it was the wine or the food or the company or everything combined but she had had such a lovely evening. It wasn't until she looked up from the report and saw Matthew yawning that she realised how late it was. At this, Alice looked at her watch, only to realise that it had gone midnight and they had drunk a bottle and a half of wine between them. "I think I'll call a cab to take me home" she said, "I've had far too much to drink to drive my car and I can't risk being caught by Ballaratt's finest, can I?" At this Matthew laughed and replied by telling her that it would definitely not look good. "You won't get a cab at this time of the night. You can sleep in the spare room upstairs. We can make up the bed with fresh sheets and drive to work in the morning." Alice thought long and hard about this, about how improper it would be to stay under the same roof as an unmarried man when there was no one else here but the tiredness won out and she agreed to take the spare room. They both made up the bed with fresh sheets from the linen closet and Matthew gave her a pair of his pyjamas to wear. He had thought about going into Jean's room for a nightdress, but he didn't think it right to poke around in Jean's drawers when she wasn't here. Unusually for Alice, she fell asleep as soon as her head the pillow, surrounded by the smell of fresh sheets and the warmth of Matthew's pyjamas. Her last thought was how lovely a time she had had and how she was greedy to want more. Alice dreamt of Matthew and waking up in his arms, running her fingers through his sleep tousled hair and kissing him good morning.