"Oh for god's sake Chris!" Alex exclaimed as he again took a look. "You'd think she was an alien the way you're all looking at her!" She said in a hushed voice in order to make sure Elizabeth didn't hear. "We've got a case to solve now!"
"Sorry ma'am" Chris blushed and turned his head back into the paperwork.
"Right, lady Bols, with me. The rest of you, get cracking." Gene Hunt announced, before turning round and exiting the room, closely followed by Alex.
"Guv, is she just going to stay here? She can't, surely? Doesn't she have some sort of family to go to?" Alex enquired as they walked out.
"As far as we know she's got no close family nearby, and we aren't carting her up to bloody Glasgow, way too much paperwork." Alex rolled her eyes as Gene gave yet another ridiculous excuse. "Anyway, I want you to do your fancy pants psychiatry girly crap on her to try get her talking about her dad. She won't talk to me anymore." Gene confessed, clearly annoyed.
"I'm not surprised.." Alex murmured, before taking a deep breath and agreeing. "Okay, let me show you how the pro's do it" She winked before pushing the door back into CID.
"Ha, more like how the pompous toffs do it." Gene followed her towards his office. As they approached, Elizabeth looked up at them.
"If you've come to try question me, I don't know anything. I woke up this morning, my dad was gone and somebody had written a note for me, telling me to come wait in the Police Station." She rolled her eyes before returning back to Pong. Gene gritted his teeth before opening his mouth to reply, although he was cut short by Alex.
"Look, Lizzie.. we're just here to make sure we find your dad." Alex explained sympathetically. Gene rolled his eyes at her cushy approach.
"Whatever. You don't need to take that smooshy baby approach with me, I'm fourteen!" Alex's eyes widened. "But fine, I'll talk to you. Just don't treat me like I'm five." Elizabeth got up out of Gene's chair and walked out the room, brushing past Alex and Gene. Alex was still in slight shock, yet Gene was smirking with triumph.
"Of course Bolly, that's exactly the way the pro's do it." Gene was still smirking to himself as he followed Elizabeth out of the room. Alex exhaled with annoyance, she didn't like being shown up, and especially not by Gene Hunt. They walked into the interview room, with Gene planting himself by the door, and Alex sat opposite Elizabeth. This didn't conform to Alex's idea of a good chat with her, but she'd just been proved wrong and she didn't fancy it happening again. "Off you go then Bolly." Gene was clearly determined to show her up again. Alex merely half-smiled and turned to face Elizabeth.
They walked into the interview room. This wasn't Alex's first choice of places, but it appeared to be Gene's.
"Sit." Gene ordered Elizabeth to sit in the soliatary chair on the far side of the table. Alex took a deep breath and sat down opposite, next to Gene. "Right, spill." He began, leaning back in his chair. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his lack of professionalism, but began.
"I woke up in the middle of the night cos' I heard voices. There was an argument, a struggle, going on downstairs. I didn't really think though, I was half asleep, y'kno. So I went back to sleep."
"You didn't even think to go and check?" Gene questioned curiously.
"Well no, I wasn't really expecting my dad to have disappeared this morning, was I? He often argued with his work people, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary to be honest." Elizabeth answered. Gene raised his eyebrows and tutted, to which Alex rolled her eyes. Elizabeth continued. "I woke up this morning, went downstairs and found a note on the table addressed to me. It basically said that I was to go to the Police Station and wait outside. It wasn't in my dad's handwriting. So I did, but you brought me in instead."
"So someone was going to meet you?" Alex asked, leaning forward.
"Yeah, that's what I gathered. Probs like some colleague of my dad's."
"Why wouldn't they have picked you up from your house then?" Alex pressed, curious.
"I dunno." Elizabeth raised one side of her mouth and shrugged. "Maybe it looks less suspicious." To this, Alex sat up straight, turning her head towards Gene, who was staring into space.
"Was there anyone lurking around outside the Station this morning?" Alex asked Elizabeth inquisitively.
"No. Nobody. Just me and a couple of coppers and this bright red ugly car."
"Oi, don't you talk about the Quattro like that little miss!" Gene was instantly back into the conversation. Elizabeth smirked.
"Okay, thanks Lizzie, if you go back to reception Viv will look after you." Alex smiled at her comfortingly.
"I don't need looking after, I'm fourteen." Elizabeth frowned.
"So you keep telling us." Gene shook his head and headed out the door without a backwards glance, kicking the heels of his boots as he walked.
As they walked back into CID, Alex sat down at her desk, only to quickly be told otherwise by Gene.
"With me Bolly" He tapped her desk as he walked past. Elizabeth, meanwhile, was standing in the middle of the room, clueless as to what to do.
"There's probably some biscuits in the cupboard over there, go treat yourself." Alex smiled to her as she walked past Elizabeth, to which she smiled and walked out towards the kitchen area. Alex walked into Gene's office and closed the door behind her.
"Bols the girl needs somewhere to stay until we find her dad." Gene was clearly hinting heavily, to which Alex raised her eyebrows.
"So you're suggesting she stays with me? We can't just randomly adopt her Gene, there's paperwork and all sorts of procedures. Surely it's easier to just find a relative?"
"No, it's not. It's easier if she stays with you." Gene replied blankly.
"Really now? And who is going to fill out all this paperwork Guv?"
"None of us will, problem solved." Gene threw back his drink. Alex shook her head at his lack of professionalism. One day he'll have to change. She laughed gently to herself before turning to go out the door. She then stopped and turned back round to face him.
"Guv-"
"Bolly, it'll be alright. She can sleep on your sofa, the Gene Genie can be her new daddy and we can all play happy families." He glugged down the last of his drink and placed it on his desk. Alex laughed.
"I'm not sure she's going to be too keen on that idea." She laughed, before turning and walking out of the office.
Later that day and the team were still without any new leads on the investigation. Chris and Ray had resorted to making throwing balls of scrap paper into the bin a heated competition, and Elizabeth was getting frustrated with a Rubix Cube in the corner of the room. Gene was still in his office, rummaging through bits of paper and taking frequent swigs of his drink. Alex, however, along with Shaz, was flicking through old files in search of a link.
"Ma'am, look at this." Shaz pulled out a file and showed it to Alex.
'Thomas Smith, arrested in 1971 for assaulting a Member of Parliament. Served 12 months imprisionment.' Alex flicked through the file, it had various notes about how he was 'anti-political' and had often been involved in 'anti-political rebellions'. "It says he recently showed dislike to the current Parliament... and that he's been noticed at recent political events." Shaz stated. "Worth a check?" She asked Alex, eager to please.
"Definately." Alex stood up and walked into Gene's office with the file. "Guv we've got a possible suspect" Alex passed him the file, to which he glanced at before nodding.
"Alright then bolly knickers, let's go get the b*****d." He took a swig of his drink and picked his coat up before walking out of the room, closely followed by Alex.