As she drove to the Blake's after work, Alice thought about what she was going to say to Matthew. He would have to have been stupid not to see that she was clearly upset when he saw her earlier and she was sure that he would ask her something about the situation. She would just have to play it by ear. Matthew opened the door for Alice and as she handed him the bottle of wine she had brought, she noticed he was wearing an apron that was quite clearly Jean's. Alice pointed towards the item and said "suits you!". Both of them laughed at the situation and said "it saves my clothes from getting dirty. I always make a make when I cook". Alice looked at him as he moved them to the kitchen. "You are a wonderful cook Matthew. I only wish I knew how. I can make some basic things but I survive rather than enjoy it". "I'll teach you sometime, if you want?" Mathew said and Alice looked at him and said "that would be lovely." The evening passed with eating, drinking and chat but it wasn't until Alice got up and asked if she could use the bathroom, that the atmosphere changed. Matthew got up and started clearing the table as Alice got up and went to the bathroom. She was panicking now. What would she say if Matthew brought up the situation from earlier. Maybe he wouldn't say anything. Maybe they could get through the rest of the evening without bring it up. But, she wanted him to bring it up. She just wasn't sure how she would explain it all. Alice talked herself round to going back to the kitchen and, as she did, she found Matthew doing the dishes. She took the tea towel from his shoulder and started to dry the crockery from the drying rack. They worked silently to get the job done and as she dried the last dish and put it away, Matthew asked if she wanted tea or if she wanted to finish the wine that they had started. Alice thought about it and they decided to go with the wine. They made their way to the living room and as Alice sat at one side of the and placed her wine glass on the coffee table, Matthew sat at the other end. They sat there in comfortable silence until Matthew eventually put his glass back on the coffee table and turned to Alice. "Alice?" She turned to look at him, but kept the wine glass in her hand, more for comfort than for drinking. "Alice, before we were interrupted by the porter today, I really thought that you wanted to discuss something? You know I enjoy your company but I wanted to invite you over tonight just in case you were uncomfortable talking in the morgue. You looked upset Alice, and I wanted to let you know that you can talk to me about whatever you feel comfortable discussing. I will never push you into anything you don't want to do but sometimes talking things though helps me and maybe it could help you too." He moved a little closer to Alice and touched her arm, as he had so often taken to doing, but by then, she was looking at the glass in her hand. "Alice? Talk to me. Please?" Alice could feel her eyes welling up. Bloody hell, she thought, Matthew must think I'm a total wreck. As she raised her eyes to meet his, she stared back at him but couldn't think what to say. With her silence, Matthew moved even closer on the sofa, until his knee was almost touching her leg. He touched her arm again and when he thought she was comfortable enough with his touch, he moved his hand to the glass she was cradling in her hand. As he took the glass from her hand and sat it down on the table in front of them, Matthew looked at her and said "Alice? What is it? There's only you and I here. No one can hear you except me and you know I can keep a secret? I haven't mentioned you humming in the morgue since I heard you, have I?" Alice smiled and said "no, I suppose not", she sat there for a minute, thinking about how she could explain what was going on, but also weighing up the fact that if she did tell him, she was taking the risk that both of them could end up on her slab in the morgue, being examined by Dr Wallace! Alice was now looking at her shoes and was beginning to fidget but Matthew leaned over and put one finger under Alice's chin, to make her look him. As the tears started flowing and falling onto her lap, Matthew moved closer and put his left arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. In the first instance, Alice stiffened at his touch but as Matthew pulled her closer into the crook of his neck between his ear and the top of his sweater and for the next five minutes or so, Matthew let Alice cry on his shoulder. He had no idea what was bothering her but he was grateful that she was comfortable enough to stay on her shoulder and allow him to comfort her when she needed it.
As Alice cried into Matthew's shoulder, she realised that his sweater was now damp with her tears and she suddenly became aware of what she was doing. She went to move from his shoulder and as she did this she said "I'm so sorry Matthew; you're sweater is damp and…you…I…what…it's just..." Matthew took off his sweater and pulled Alice back to his shoulder. "there" he said "problem solved". He laughed quietly but when Alice looked at him, she couldn't laugh, she cried again. Matthew held her there and said nothing. Never ask her to explain herself and expected nothing in return. She wasn't sure how long she had been crying for but, as she moved her head from Matthew's shoulder, she noticed that he was looking at her. "Feeling any better? Want to talk about it yet?" Alice got up from the sofa and started pacing in front of the window beyond the coffee table. "Matthew? You know the Ogden case? It's…the man you saw the man in the morgue?...I…he…the evidence that was collected…he…I'm not sure what to do…I…he said he'd…he mentioned you and…Matthew?" She was still pacing back and forth and Matthew got up from the sofa and, not wanting her to become startled by a fast movement, he opened his arms and said "Alice? Come here. Please?" she looked at him and he could see her thinking about what he was asking. Hesitantly, she moved closer to him but before she reached his arms she turned her back to him and said "Matthew? I can't do this. I can't tell you what's going on. I don't want to put you in harm's way. I don't want anything to happen to you." Matthew moved closer and touched her arm. He turned her around and saw tears falling again. "Matthew you must think I'm foolish. I haven't done much but cry since we finished our dinner." Matthew pulled her toward him and said nothing. "Matthew. Please don't be angry with me? Please? That man from earlier? He's been to see me before today. Some evidence was collected at the autopsy. Evidence that was added to the police list in Melbourne and was sent here for testing. He came to the morgue looking for it but I told him that it had gone to Melbourne as it was part of the on-going case. I don't know how he knew about it Mathew, I really don't". Matthew took her by the hand and led her back to the sofa. She continued to talk when they sat down. He sat right next to her and just let her get the information out. "I don't know his name. the man you saw earlier. He turned up last week demanding I give him something I no longer had. He pushed me against the morgue table and threatened that if I didn't have it next time he came calling, he'd be sure to make my life difficult. He said they knew that you and I were friends and if I wanted to keep you and me safe, I'd better not go telling the police and just give him what he had asked for. Matthew" It's a prime piece of evidence. It's that handwritten note from Rufus McCall, the top man of the Potted Lads. It was found in Ogden's stomach and once I had dried it out and had a look at it, I had it collected and sent to Melbourne straight away. It would have sealed the case, McCall had basically written the order to kill those other boys that wound up dead in Melbourne. He ordered it and his name was on the paper. Ogden must have had it at the time he was murdered and ate it to avoid whoever it was, getting their hands on it. Either someone in the police station is involved, or that man who came to see me was there at the time of Ogden's death." Mathew pulled her back to his shoulder and sat in silence for a minute, taking on board what Alice had just said. He turned to her and said "Alice, last Friday, when I came to the morgue and asked for the Ogden report?" Alice looked at him and started crying again "Matthew, he wanted the report. He wanted to see the report and what was in the note. I told him I only had a photograph that was taken before the paper was sent to Melbourne. He told me to meet him in the parking lot at Lake Wendouree after work. When you arrived I was just leaving and I just couldn't give you the report otherwise I would have had nothing to give him." Matthew looked carefully at Alice, brushing her tears away with a handkerchief he had taken from his trouser pocket. "Alice, Peter picked that report up on Saturday morning..?" Alice pulled Matthew closer to her "I couldn't do it Matthew. I was too scared. I drove out towards the Lake but I ended up driving around all night so I wouldn't go home. I didn't want him to follow me home." At his last comment, more tears fell and Matthew wrapped his arms around her as much as he possibly could. "Alice, why didn't you come and find me? Why didn't you call me?" She took one look at him and said "Matthew? He said if he didn't get what he came for there would be a price to pay. He said if I didn't turn up he'd be back to make sure I paid for it and if I told the police, he'd make sure he found my 'police boyfriend with the gammy leg' and make both of us suffer. Oh Matthew. Now I've told you, I have put both of us in danger. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He never heard the last "I'm sorry" so much as felt it against his shoulder. Matthew leaned his back against the arm of the sofa and pulled Alice up with him. He kicked his slipper off and pulled his right leg to lie to the back of the sofa. He told Alice to slip her shoes off and pulled her into his arms and she lay on his chest, he wiped the tears from her eyes. "Close your eyes, sweetheart. It's going to be ok. We're going to deal with this and we're going to put an end to this. I bet you haven't slept properly for a while, have you?" Alice looked up to see Matthew looking at her. She shook her head and he kissed her forehead. "Lie back down. I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. You can have the spare room again and we'll sort all of this out in the morning. OK?" Matthew looked Alice as she nodded her head in agreement. He put his right hand on top of her head and put her head back onto rest on his chest. Five minutes later, Matthew heard her breathing slow and a light snuffle as she slept in his arms. He would sort this out. He had to. For her sake and his.