Chapter 4:

William finally unstuck himself from the hallway door and walked forward. He passed in front of an open compartment and saw a man's back looking at the landscape. He was tall, wore a green suit and he could see his blonde hair plastered on his head. He had his hands in his pockets and seemed lost in thought. The detective simply walked on and reached the Brackenreid parents' compartment with relief. He knocked on the door and it flew open immediately. William raised his eyebrows and took a step back. He felt a hand grab him by the jacket and force him back into the compartment.

"Sir? What are you doing?" he asked curiously as he watched his superior close the door to his compartment which was identical to his.

"Did you see that?!"

"Seen what?"

"Ha! Of course, you don't care about that!" exclaimed Thomas before quickly heading to his closet.

"What are you talking about?"

Thomas threw open the wardrobe door and William huffed in annoyance. His superior had also discovered the bottles of alcohol made available to customers.

"Margaret mustn't find out about this."

"It's going to be complicated, sir..." inquired the young man.

"Not if you take them and put them in your compartment!"

William shook his head and was about to retort when someone knocked on the compartment door.

"Oh no! It's Margaret. Go open while I hide the bottles! She went to get something to snack on a little before dinner."

"But why would she knock on the door if it's your wife?" William asked rhetorically, frowning in amusement.

Thomas suddenly stopped and took a breath. "It's not false…"

The young man rolled his eyes laughing and walked towards the door which he opened to discover the young woman from earlier. The infuriatingly beautiful young woman who had complained about their lateness. William looked into her eyes and could distinguish for the first time the true color of these. Light green, gray… Her hair looked so silky and soft that William could have reached up to run his fingers through it. But he backed up and looked down.

"Ha, it's you."

"Hide your joy above all." replied the young woman with ardor.

"You can't really say you've been very kind previously." William annoyed easily.

Why did he feel upset in her presence? Why did he want to shut her mouth every time she opened her mouth? Close it with what?

William thought furtively of his own lips attacking hers. He shook his head, inwardly surprised at his overreaction. He felt completely off the mark. What was it about him to react like that? He had always been respectful of all women. Even the suspects of his investigations. But this woman knocked him out of his mouth every time she said a word.

"I'm not coming to see you anyway. I thought it was Inspector Brackenreid's compartment." replied the young woman, whose eyes he saw light up with ardor and audacity.

"Who ask for him?" growled the inspector who had suddenly appeared behind William.

"Julia…" the young woman glanced at William and suddenly pushed him aside with her shoulder to enter the compartment. "Ogden."

"Well, Miss Ogden. What can I do for you?" Thomas asked nonchalantly, wiping his hands with a small damp towel.

William turned to the so-called Julia and looked her up and down. He could not help noticing her slender height as well as her light, thin and discreet build. She really was. Wonderful. He suddenly looked away from her figure, not really recognizing himself at all. When her shoulder touched his – to push hard – his whole body shuddered, as if he had been electrocuted. Her floral, cotton scent filled his nostrils as he learned her name.

"My pocket-watch was stolen." she declared without flinching.

Thomas grinned. "Your pocket-watch? They are not watches for women…"

"Well can you imagine they also do it for women."

William grimaced at his superior's still incredibly subtle tact. She had a pocket watch… She was really different from any woman he had met.

Brackenreid laughed again, arms crossed. Faced with the laughter of the man, the young woman grew impatient.

"So? Are you planning to do something?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're also on vacation." replied the inspector curtly.

He recoiled when he saw the look of disapproval William gave him.

"Good! Murdoch will accompany you in this case." Thomas moved over and clapped the young man on the back who let the shock show on his face. Him? He was going to spend time with this woman. Let's hope they were not going to gut each other in less than two minutes. "I present to you Detective William Murdoch. The best of Toronto. He will help you, huh?"

"Detective you say?" the young woman looked him directly in the eyes, raising her eyebrows.

"Don't look so surprised…" he retorted, annoyed.

"No… But… Well, no, I'm not surprised, only a little impressed." Julia nodded her eyes downcast. "Would you like to help me then?"

William nodded slowly his gaze serious.

Note: William will help Julia wind up her "stolen" watch. How could it be when they seem to annoy each other so easily.