"I think it's getting a bit creepy now," Rena whispered to Aidan as they watched their superior walk into the office with a smile on his face.
He took a sip of his fresh coffee. "Never seen him like that before."
"No one has," Donna commented as she joined the two. "Too bad Dylan isn't here."
Aidan chuckled. "He'd start a betting pool."
"Anything you can tell us, Donna?"
The woman rolled her eyes. "Look, I worked with him for two years when he was in the counter-terrorism division, so I can only tell so much, and shouldn't this be your job – Sherlocking people?"
Rena shot her a confused look. "Sherlocking people?"
"I may not be able to hear what you're talking about, but I can tell you're talking about me," John commented loudly as he read a file.
"Well, whose fault is it for being so secretive all the time?" Donna retorted before returning to her desk.
He looked up and shot her an icy look before returning to the report.
At that moment, their phones beeped simultaneously which could only mean one thing: they had a new case.
"Saved by the bell," Donna whispered to her colleagues as they stood up and began collecting their belongings.
"Miss Oswin," Courtney Woods said as she raised her hand.
Clara couldn't quite believe her eyes and ears when she realised that the very student who didn't show any interest and respect in her class was speaking to her politely. "Yes, Courtney?"
"You and the detective dating or something?"
The entire classroom erupted into laughter.
She should have seen it coming.
The teacher put on a stern look, well, as much as she could and rested her hands on her hips. "That question is irrelevant to the topic we're discussing."
"Technically speaking, it is sort of relevant since we're discussing the relationship between Mr Rochester and Jane."
Her students filled the room with laughter once more.
"Miss Woods, another comment from you not related to the literature and I'm sending you to the headteacher's office."
Courtney merely shrugged and leaned back against her seat.
The English teacher, on the other hand, knew that her date with John was no longer a secret. It wasn't a secret, to begin with, but the moment the students saw him waiting for her, they knew which meant that her colleagues would have gossip material now. Hell, they were smiling at her non-stop when she dropped off her things at the teacher's room in the morning.
Brilliant.
"So, how did it go?" an excited voice asked the moment she sat down behind her desk an hour later.
"How did what go?" Clara answered nonchalantly as she pulled the stack of unmarked tests towards her.
Anna set down her drink. "The detective has been the talk of the town since he walked through the hallway yesterday," she murmured. "And not to mention you."
"What did you hear?" Clara inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"You entered the men's room while he was relieving himself."
"That's not what happened!" the teacher shrieked before she noticed everyone was staring at her. There could only be one person who could have spread such a rumour.
"I heard it from my students," Anna said. "But don't worry, you know how they tend to exaggerate when gossiping."
"Exaggeration is an understatement."
"So is he as handsome as he is up close?"
"Since when are you into older men?"
Anna shrugged. "There's always an exception for every rule and you'd have to be blind to think he's not good looking."
Clara couldn't help but smile.
"I take it that the date went better than expected then?"
"I'm not saying anything."
Anna chuckled. "Fair enough," she said before returning to her work.
Just when Clara thought she would be left undisturbed, her phone began ringing and she immediately reached for it, putting the phone on silent before taking a proper look at the caller's name. Her father.
She didn't want to take his call at work, not when surrounded by colleagues. She could always text him back when she gets home.
"Dylan?" Aidan said in surprise as he saw the chief inspector duck under the tape. "Thought you were supposed to be at the hospital?"
The man shrugged. "I knew I had to come here as soon as I got the text," he replied. "Besides, I only told Charlie I'll be gone for two hours tops."
Rena then joined them. "Hardly a surprise you showed up."
"Always happy to perform my duty," he answered. "The body still inside?"
"Yeah, and John's checking the first floor."
Dylan nodded curtly before entering the house. It seems that his boss is more of a hands-on detective than one who prefers to sit in the comfort of his office.
He spotted the dead body being examined by a coroner but decided to look for John first. He found the DCS in one of the two bedrooms, checking the victim's mobile phone.
"There's only one number in there," John explained as he tossed the burner phone to Dylan. "In and out from that same number."
"This can't be the only one?"
"Smartphone's with Rena," he explained, examining the untidy bedroom. "And aren't you supposed not to be here?"
Dylan shrugged. "Charlie was getting sick of me sitting next to him all day long and beating him at FIFA."
The DCS finally shifted his attention to the chief inspector. "A message."
"What?"
"Nothing is stolen."
Dylan knew exactly what was going on, but he couldn't give any sort of sign he had a clue of whatever his boss was getting to. "Maybe the guy got spooked?"
John strode forward, a puzzled look washed over his face. "How the hell are you a chief inspector if you don't see what's obvious?"
"To be fair, boss, I just got here, and I haven't even looked at the body yet."
The DCS sighed. "Room is messy, yes, but the killer didn't take anything – not the laptop or that game station thing," he pointed at the PlayStation on the desk. "Or his smartphone, which I believe is worth quite a lot."
Dylan decided to continue playing dumb. "Ok, so you're right," he said. "I'm just going to check on our friend, then."
"Overdosed on cocaine," John explained as he led the way downstairs.
"Jesus," Dylan muttered as the cover was removed from the body.
The corpse was the colour of ash, with his eyes wide open and bloodshot red and a permanent look of terror etched on his face.
"He died a slow death," the coroner commented as she stood up. "It was torture for him."
"That's one hell of torture," Dylan said quietly as he looked away and spotted the shattered window.
"If there's nothing left for you to look at, I'd like to take the body to the morgue."
John nodded. "Thanks, Martha."
"They were clearly struggling before he was overpowered," Dylan said as he looked out the window carefully. "Though I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you have a different theory?"
The DCS then began explaining that the gunshot came from the opposite end of the room, not in the direction of where the victim was sitting on the sofa. "Those two pudding brain constables insisted that they think it was a deal gone wrong," he grumbled.
"You really can't tolerate people can you, John?"
"Most people," the superior corrected. "I do make a few exceptions."
Dylan chuckled before changing the subject. "I'll go and find the bullet."
"No need since I sent Rena and Aidan to do that."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
John tossed him the bagged mobile phone. "Go to cyber and see if they can get anything useful from that."
Clara couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. The man walking next to her clearly had a question for her but was too afraid to ask. He had been doing that since they got on the tube.
"Is there something on your mind, Danny?"
He jumped upon hearing her speak, startled that she could tell she was on his mind. "Your dad phoned me last night – just his usual questions and I didn't say anything that you wouldn't approve of."
"That's it?"
The former soldier hesitated for a moment as they walked up the stairs to their respective flats. "He asked if you had anything planned Friday night and I, well, I just said you haven't said anything to me."
Her date with John. There's a chance her father is back in London and wants to have dinner with her to catch up. Maybe that was the reason why he called her earlier.
"Don't worry, he's no longer your problem," she assured him, feeling sorry over how terrified he was over her father. Then again, he had threatened him should anything happen to her which she saw as an overreaction on her father's part.
Danny merely nodded in silence as left her to go up to his flat.
She didn't call her father until later in the evening.
"Clara!"
That wasn't a usual response from him. He wouldn't sound this cheerful unless he had good news for her. "You sound cheerful," she stated unable to help herself from beaming. Nothing but good news for sure.
"I am and it's because I proposed to Linda," Dave explained. "She said yes!"
The smile immediately vanished. "Oh… that's great," she managed, despite wanting to scream. Linda was anything but nice. "I'm happy for you, dad."
"Thank you, Clara," he said sincerely. "It means a lot to me… and as a celebration, why don't we all have dinner on Friday night?"
She nearly fell off the chair. "I'm not free on Friday," she revealed. "What about Saturday?"
The schoolteacher couldn't believe what she was getting herself into. She had no intention of meeting that vile woman.
Dave considered her suggestion. "Saturday it is then," he answered. "Do you have anything special planned the day before that?"
Here comes her paranoid father. Well, she couldn't quite blame him for being protective of her. She was his only child and the only connection left to her mother. Not to mention the fact that he was the head of organised crime. "I would appreciate it if you could respect my private life."
"It was only a question, Clara," he sighed. "I'm sorry if it upset you."
Clara massaged her forehead. "No, it's fine," she said. "Sorry for being so defensive."
There was an awkward silence that settled in. "I guess I'll see you this weekend."
"Yep," she answered.
She could tell that her father wanted to say something and decided to not hang up just yet. "I love you, Clara, you know that, right?"
"Yes, of course, I do."
Dave sighed once more. "Well, good night."
"Good night, dad," Clara murmured before finally hanging up.
One thing she was sure of is that the relationship with her father is still the same. Strained and full of things that needed to be said.
At least she can look forward to the date.