Chapter 14:

William did not sleep a wink. He had been lying on his bed all night, fully dressed, and he had been staring at Julia Ogden's watch. He had not told her that he had found it. He had been really disturbed by the presence of Mr. Duval in the compartment of the young woman and he had not stopped wondering if something had happened between them. What could she think of him in that puppet in the green suit. Well, he had seen him only the first day in this costume. But who wears green suits anyway?

He had sighed, not knowing at all how to catch up. He was also thinking about what he had discovered about Colleen Forbes. It was big, really, really big and serious. But in reality, other than Julia's watch and the dog, he had no evidence that she was a thief. And honestly, for such an influential and well-liked woman, that was not going to be the doom and he knew that. The presence of the pocket watch and the dog in her compartment was easily explained. He would be accused of slander if he spoke. Even if Brackenreid believed him, he knew it would not change anything, not to mention that they were extremely far from their legislation now... He had tried to brainwash her into releasing the dog and at least giving him the watch.

William finally opened the pocket watch he had sworn to keep locked. But he was far too curious about this woman. He opened it slightly until he heard the small "click". He peered inside and could not help but smile when he saw an old, framed photo on the left side. A photo in which there were two little girls, one of whom he immediately recognized as Julia Ogden. He imagined that the second little girl with light blonde hair and a defiant gaze like Julia's was her sister. She must have been the eldest. Did she have another sister? Or maybe a brother? Where was the other little girl in the picture? Who had taken the photo? Who was Julia Ogden?

The young detective turned his head towards the windows of his compartment to see the landscape still passing by with speed. Dawn was just beginning to break, and William finally rested his arms on the bed, watch still in his left hand. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, which he succeeded in doing after three quarters of an hour. He dreamed a little bit of Julia Ogden and he realized that he was beginning to feel things he had never really felt. And besides, you could tell he was not in her good graces at all.

There was a knock on his door, and he opened his eyes with a start. Who came to disturb him at this hour? He quickly opened Julia's watch that had remained in his hand and noted with horror that it was actually almost 11:30am. He straightened up quickly and headed for the door, his hair disheveled, his jacket askew and his tie loose. He opened it carefully.

"Yes…?"

"What is happening to you? It's 11:30 a.m."

William took a few seconds to get his brain working again. He watched Inspector Brackenreid watching him with almost bulging eyes. He squinted at the state of his best detective: the messy hair but also the suit from the day before that he still wore, completely crumpled, and creased.

"I…hardly slept." William confessed with difficulty, not knowing how to better explain his current state.

"Okay…" laughed Brackenreid with his arms crossed, thinking he understood what his detective was saying. "I don't want to know… Mrs. Forbes must be…"

"Nope! No, that's not it... Something happened but, nothing to do with... whoever it was." William replied as vaguely as possible.

Moreover, he saw easily in the eyes of his superior, that he did not believe him for a single second. But the young man added nothing more. If he wanted to fuss, that was his problem. He had enough on his mind already.

"Good… Madam Hébert's dog came back on its own."

William made a surprised face which he hoped was as convincing as possible.

"Yes… He scratched on his mistress's compartment door this morning and needless to say she was overjoyed." explained the chief inspector, his arms crossed before taking a deep breath. "Finally… I came to see you because I thought you might still be looking for him as I didn't see you at breakfast this morning. But apparently not." concluded Thomas with a mocking laugh.

William stopped himself from rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Well...I'm glad she found it. I suspected he had just run away on his own."

"Yes Perfect! Go Murdoch! You are not going to stay in your room all day! We arrive tomorrow morning in Sitka. Enjoy the scenery a bit." smiled Thomas before giving him a friendly pat on the back and slipping away.

William closed the door and looked around his room with a small smile. He was satisfied that Mrs. Forbes had released the dog, Bobby. Now they would not talk about it again and that was it. He had to tidy up his room a bit and then give Julia his watch once and for all. He was still clutching it in his hand, and he thought he should really let go.

Note: How will William return her watch to Julia? Thomas Brackenreid... always so subtle haha!