"We've got a little observation test for you Fry, see whether you are ready for undercover work" Dempsey ventured
Fry brightened up, he really wanted to step up into the under cover role area. "When do I do it?"
"Oh you've already seen it, now we need to know how much you really noticed" Dempsey started to explain "So last night we showed you how important it is to stay in your roles all the time. You see you never know when someone might be watching – like you were last night"
"Keep in role all the time" Fry repeated, and then added "You were very good"
"So what convinced you that we were Mr and Mrs Dempsey?"
"Oh the kissing, definitely the kissing," Fry coloured up; Makepeace did as well.
"So what time was that?"
"Oh I know that, 1.20am" Fry seemed to brighten up, he felt he was giving the right answers
"Who had the door key?" Dempsey tried to stop himself from grinning - he had a chance to find out what they did
"Oh I'm not sure"
"Hey it's a very important observation. Think!" Dempsey pushed Fry verbally
"Oh ~ It must have been you Dempsey"
"Why?"
"Because Harry was unbuttoning your shirt." Makepeace buried her head down pretending to eat
"Ok good observation, where was the porter?"
"What porter?" Fry asked bemused
"You can't remember the porter? Think, you must observe the whole scene Fry, the whole scene."
"I can't remember a porter"
"Porter?" Harry nearly blew it in her confusion
"The one we asked to stand 5 doors back" Dempsey glared at her, shut up if you can't contribute
"Oh the one with square hat" Fry beamed proud of his memory and building in confidence
"Yes that one" Dempsey smiled encouragingly, "Now Harry and I went into the room, and you did what?"
"Went to my room, then I remembered what Spikings had told me to tell you."
"Did you check down the corridor first?"
"No?" Fry's uncertainty started to register
"You should have."
"Ok" Fry said but still feeling confident enough he started again "I came back and knocked on the door"
"What could you hear?"
"Nothing" Fry was beginning to have the look of a frightened rabbit. Harry still couldn't remember anything but she had enough fears about sounds they may have made…
"You must have heard something" Dempsey demanded
Harry wanted to tell Dempsey to leave it, but she was also intrigued so she sat teasing the food on her plate to destruction and the conversation between Dempsey and Fry continued.
"No I just kept knocking, and I called"
"Did you listen at the key hole?"
"Damn no"
"Well you didn't hear anything - so what next"
"You let me in"
"And" Dempsey pressed on quickly
"And?" Fry seemed bewildered
"And tell us what you saw."
"Harry was in the bed, there was just a chair to the right – you know – no sofa"
"What was I wearing?" Dempsey ploughed straight on ignoring Fry's remark
"A dressing gown"
"Where was the gun?" Dempsey had got the pace now
"Didn't see one"
"Should have looked for it"
"Oh" Fry was beginning to sink back; he could sense the failure looming
"What colour cases?"
"Don't know" Harry swallowed hard – there were no cases, she knew that – had Fry not twigged that they were in the same clothes!
"Time on the clock?"
"1.40" Fry plucked a time out of the air
"No that's the time you think it was! What was on the clock?"
"Don't know"
"Curtains open or closed?"
"Don't know" Fry sensed doom and failure threatening to engulf the test
"What did you see Fry?"
Fry blushed intensely as he answered "A bra on the floor"
Makepeace went pink again; all the more so because she found the idea thrilling – she had never amazed herself so much in one day – if ever
"Fry, if your powers of observation are totally non existent because you see a bra..."
"And other… err… underwear," he choked on his words
Harry looked to see Dempsey's reaction but his eyes were tunnelling through Fry
"Fry you were totally distracted! A good cop is focused – he'd notice all those things that you didn't and a whole lot more beside."
"Don't tell Spikings please," Fry pleaded
"Tell you what; we'll give you a second test later today" Dempsey grinned
"Thanks" Fry, now dimutive in voice and stature begged "I just need practice"
"Now why don't you go along and tell Spikings that you managed to find us and that you'll come under cover with us this afternoon."
Fry ran off, Dempsey looked to Makepeace, their eyes gleamed and they both burst out laughing
"So did we do it Harry?"
"No" now she returned to her coffee to cover her fluctuating embarrassment
"You sure?" He looked at her wishing he could remember some of the action
"Well you told me that even if I were comatose, lobotomized, anaesthetised and deep frozen - if you had, I would've remembered. QED"
"I agree" he smiled
"Well you would!" she countered
"Sure"
"Sure?" she searched for his line of thought
"Sure, I still had my socks on and I never keep my socks on"
They giggled again.
"Oh shit my head" Dempsey felt the pain that had been pushed back surge fully into the present. Harry raised her hand and asked the waiter for some 'paracetamol if possible'
"Were there shots on some swords?" Dempsey asked screwing his eyes up to try and find the memory and hide the beam of sunshine that had just escaped from a cloud.
"Vaguely I think – I drank them quicker than you and you did some dancing – maybe… Oh I don't know Dempsey let's sort out work."
Fry came back and offered to drive Dempsey and Makepeace back to Cork in the squad car he had been lent.
She turned to Fry "Thanks for the offer Fry, but it's my turn to drive the Porsche" Harry smiled sweetly as Fry again looked shocked – Spikings had told him there was no money to hire anything and to use local police transport. He longed to be like Dempsey.