The next morning, Jean woke early to get breakfast ready for Charlie. Mattie joined them in something of a mood, but Jean chose not to comment. For the most part, it was a very typical morning in the Blake house. Until Danny came in.
Jean nearly screamed at the sight of him. His entire face was black and blue, and his nose sat at an incorrect angle. "Oh my god, what's happened!?"
Danny sat down at the kitchen table with a pained, yet brooding expression. "Ricky Arnott," he mumbled bitterly.
"Ricky Arnott did this to you? When?" Charlie asked, prepared to go find the lad and arrest him.
"Last night. I went for a walk and ran into him and we had it out. I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Mattie retreated into the background, feeling ashamed. She'd made Danny upset enough to go out looking for a fight. He'd found one, and it hadn't served him well. She disappeared upstairs.
Danny continued trying to evade Charlie's questions as Jean watched with concern. Mattie seemed to have had the same idea, because a moment later, Lucien rushed into the kitchen in his dressing gown—which Jean was almost certain had nothing underneath it—with Mattie following closely.
"Oh dear, this is going to be rather nasty. You should have seen me last night, Danny," Lucien said, examining his broken face.
Jean raised her eyebrows, thinking that having Danny come to their room in the middle of the night would have been a terrible idea, but she said nothing.
"Come into my surgery and let me patch you up." Lucien took Danny into the other room.
Charlie checked his watch and knew he had to leave for his shift. "I'm going to talk to the Chief Superintendent about this. I'm almost positive that attacking a police officer, even one from Melbourne, is a violation of Arnott's parole. He won't get away with this," he told Jean.
She nodded. "Thank you, Charlie."
A little while later, the sound of Danny's pained shouts echoed into the kitchen. Both Jean and Mattie winced at the sound. Lucien came out of the surgery a short while after that.
"He waited a little too long, so I had to rebreak his nose to set it properly. I gave him some rather strong painkillers, and he's resting comfortably in the surgery for now. I don't have any patients until later this afternoon, so he should be alright there for a while," Lucien told them.
Jean gave him a hug in thanks. "Go put some clothes on," she whispered in his ear amidst the embrace.
He smirked. "Yes, of course." He left to find more suitable attire.
When only the women were left in the kitchen, Jean finally noticed the look on Mattie's face. "You alright?"
"Danny and I had a bit of an argument last night. He got rather upset, and he stormed out of the house. That's why he was out there for Ricky Arnott to attack him," Mattie replied sadly.
"This was certainly not your fault, Mattie. I'm sure Danny doesn't blame you, and there's no reason you should blame yourself. Lucien's fixed him up and he'll be just fine. The only thing broken now is his pride."
Jean's kind words did make Mattie smile a little. She finished her breakfast before going off to work.
Lucien came back fully dressed, and he and Jean had a pleasant, leisurely breakfast together. Danny woke up about an hour later feeling rather hungry, not having had breakfast yet. Lucien did one more quick examination of him before allowing him to eat.
The morning ended with Charlie returning home, looking very somber.
"Didn't expect you back so soon. Early lunch?" Jean offered.
But Lucien noticed his expression. "Charlie? What's happened?"
"You're needed on the High Street, Doc. The alley behind the barber shop." Charlie took his handcuffs out and walked across the kitchen. "Danny Parks, you are under arrest for the murder of Ricky Arnott." He gestured for Danny to stand.
"What!?" Jean exclaimed.
Danny was shocked. "Ricky…Ricky's dead?"
"The body was found a little while ago. Dr. Blake will determine the exact cause of death, but at the moment, we have multiple witnesses who can place you on High Street late last night having an argument with Ricky. And you've already admitted as much."
"Charlie, you can't believe Danny had anything to do with his death!" Lucien protested.
But Charlie just looked at him with a desperate expression. "Doc, you know I have to bring him in. If you can find anything that implicates anyone else, I'd be all too happy to let him go."
The small parts of Danny's face visible behind bandages went very pale. "It's okay, Dr. Blake. I understand. They can't prove I did it, because I didn't. But until they find out who did, they've gotta bring in the only suspect." He stood and placed his hands in front of him for Charlie to put on the handcuffs.
"I'm really sorry, Danny," Charlie said quietly.
Danny tried to put on a brave face. "No other suspects?"
"Not yet." And with that, Charlie took Danny to the police car and drove him to the station.
Lucien kissed Jean goodbye and promised her he'd get Danny released as soon as possible. He rushed off to the crime scene.
As soon as he saw the body, Lucien knew Danny didn't do this. There was no way. Ricky Arnott's skull had been smashed to near pulp. There was blood on the brick wall beside the body, evidence that someone had slammed Ricky's head repeatedly into it. "Now this would have to have been done by a man much bigger than Ricky. And he's no waif, is he? Have you seen Danny Parks, Frank?" Lucien asked the Chief Superintendent. "He's tall, but he's rather slight. It doesn't surprise me in the least that he lost a fight with Ricky. There is no way he could have gotten the jump on him, let alone smash his head into a wall over and over."
Frank frowned. "We have him admitting they were in a fight. We have him getting attacked by Ricky, and we know they have a long history of animosity. And, Danny is a cop. He might be slight, but I can guarantee you he knows what to do to subdue someone bigger than he is. I know he's family, Blake, but we can't ignore all that."
Lucien knew he needed to find another suspect before the police would believe that Danny was innocent. "I'm finished here. You can send the body to the morgue," he said resignedly.
He and Alice performed the autopsy with their usual meticulous teamwork. Lucien was desperate to find anything that could exonerate Danny, but there was nothing they could find.
"Bruising on the knuckles," Alice noted.
Lucien nodded. "Yes, if you saw Danny's face, that wouldn't be a surprise."
"I'd guess he was killed around midnight last night, do you agree?" Alice ventured.
He took a closer look at the level of rigor and the coagulation of the blood. "Yes, somewhere between midnight and one, I'd say.
Alice regarded Lucien pointedly. "Well, what time did Danny get home last night?"
Lucien's eyes lit up. That could be the key. "Alice, you are marvelous."
"Yes, thank you," she agreed. "I'll finish up here. I'll call if I find anything else. But you go see if you can get your boy out of that cell."
He almost told her that Danny was Jean's nephew, but he decided not to correct her. Despite the circumstances, Lucien gave a small smile. His boy.
At the police station, Lucien found Jean already sitting outside Danny's cell. "I brought your medical bag. I knew you'd be here soon enough, and I wanted to be sure Danny is looked after."
"Danny, how are you feeling?" Lucien asked with concern.
"Like my face is going to fall off and my head's going to explode," he replied.
"Yes, the morphine is wearing off," Lucien deduced.
Jean's eyes went wide. "You gave him morphine?"
Lucien lowered his voice. "Did you see his face?"
"Well, yes, but I suppose I'm more surprised that you have morphine just laying around the house."
"Let's just say that it's a good thing we haven't got any drug users in our home," he answered cryptically.
A light went on inside Jean's head, but Lucien distracted her.
"I've got to see to Danny. Could you get Sergeant Hobart to open the door, please?" he asked her. Jean rushed off and returned swiftly with Bill Hobart.
When the cell door was opened, both Lucien and Jean went in to see Danny. Lucien gave him a shot of morphine and Jean held him in her arms comfortingly. Hobart let them go about it. He'd worked with Danny for many years, and he knew instinctively that Danny hadn't done this. Protocol be damned, Mrs. Blake had every right to be there with him.
While Jean was helping Danny eat one of the sandwiches she'd brought him, Lucien remembered what he'd discussed with Alice. "Danny, after your altercation with Ricky, what time did you get home?"
"I dunno, I was knocked for a loop when he hit me. I sat in the alley for a while after he left me there. By the time I got back to the house, it must have been around eleven?" he guessed.
"You're sure it wasn't later than that?" Lucien confirmed.
"Yeah. I saw the clock when I fell into bed and it was just after eleven."
"Ricky Arnott didn't die until at least midnight. Where's Frank? I'm going to get you out of here." Lucien went out to the offices to find Frank Carlyle at his desk. He explained the timeline discrepancy as evidence of Danny's innocence.
Frank just shook his head. "What are the chances that Danny attacked Ricky and it took him an hour to die?"
"Very slim. The amount of damage to Ricky's brain tissue would have killed him almost instantly. Danny was already home by the time Ricky was attacked."
"According to him! Blake, I've told you, he has no alibi and we have no other viable suspects! Until you get me something with corroborated evidence, I can't let him go," Frank insisted.
A shadow of dark anger passed over Lucien's face, but he did not erupt. He quietly said, "I'll need accommodations for tonight so I can keep an eye on my patient."
"You can stay in the other cell with the door open. The night shift can let you in to see Parks upon request," Frank replied coldly.
Lucien told Jean that he'd be staying with Danny for the night, which she was grateful for, for Danny's sake, but she didn't like the idea of her husband staying in a cell all night, even if the door remained open.
"I'll bring you both some dinner later."
"Thank you, Jean." He gave her a small kiss on the cheek and let her say goodbye to Danny for the time being.
Upon returning home, Jean did her best to busy herself with the housework. She needed to distract herself from the torment of the day. She also purposefully avoided Charlie when he came home. She didn't want to discuss the case with him. Not yet anyway. Regardless of how bad he'd felt, Charlie had arrested Jean's nephew. She loved Charlie, she really did, but she was running out of loved ones that he hadn't arrested. Mattie, Jack, and now Danny. And with Lucien out of the house for the night, she couldn't bear to face anyone.
She brought Danny and Lucien fresh sandwiches and other assorted foods for their dinner. She sat quietly with them as they ate, savoring the moments she could spend, despite the bars separating them. Jean knew she was sitting a little too close to Lucien in a public place, but she couldn't help it. She needed to be near him. He seemed to sense her desperation and allowed his shoulder to brush against hers as he ate.
That night, Jean slept fitfully. She couldn't get her mind to turn off. Sleep eluded her. She even went to such extremes as to go down to Lucien's study and drink his whiskey at his desk. And as her husband had done so many times, she'd fallen asleep right there from drunken exhaustion.
The bright sunlight came unhindered through the window, waking her at first light. She was glad no one had found her there. She wouldn't have known what to say. She hadn't even been this upset when Jack had been arrested. Perhaps that was because her son, as much as she loved him, wasn't always a very good man; his arrests had been difficult but not entirely unexpected. But Danny, sweet, honest, good Danny, worked on behalf of the law. Seeing him locked in a jail cell was so wrong. He was only there because he'd had a run-in with a drug dealer he'd arrested a year before. Ricky Arnott gets released from prison and attacked the man who arrested him. Ricky turns up dead, and Danny is suspected of getting revenge.
Jean suddenly remembered what she'd realized earlier. The remnants of the whiskey somehow made it all clear. In the back of her mind, Lucien's drinking suddenly made a little more sense. She left the study and found Charlie making his morning tea in the kitchen.
"Charlie! Good, I'm glad I didn't miss you."
"Jean, are you alright?" he asked with concern.
She realized she must have looked a complete mess, but that didn't matter right now. "Charlie, what do you know about Ricky Arnott's conviction?"
"Arrested and convicted on narcotics possession and sale, wasn't it? Bennies?"
"Yes. Did you also know that he wasn't working alone? That there were others selling on the streets at that time?"
"Sure. There are still some we haven't caught. Uppers are only getting more popular, unfortunately."
Jean needed to put the pieces together for him. "If Ricky was arrested and put in prison, wouldn't someone else have taken his place on the street?"
It suddenly dawned on Charlie what she was getting at. "And when Ricky got back, he probably wanted his old position back, threatening whoever's been selling in the meantime! And that's a much more likely motive than Danny getting revenge."
"Lucien said that whoever did that to Ricky was likely much bigger than him in order to do that kind of damage. You know anyone who fits the bill?" she asked anxiously, hoping there would be a natural suspect.
Charlie nodded. "I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Gordon Jackson. He's well over six feet, built like an ox. And he sells out behind the cinema." Charlie stood up from the table, gulping down the last of his tea. "I'll bring him in for questioning right now."
Jean went upstairs to take a bath. She needed to get the smell of whiskey off her. And she finally felt like she could relax a little, confident that Danny would be set free quite soon.
Lucien was seeing to Danny's injuries, replacing the bandages on his nose and giving him another small dose of morphine, when Charlie came running in. "Doc, I've got a suspect. Care to come pick him up with me?"
"I certainly would." He finished with Danny and joined Charlie in the police car.
They found Gordon Jackson in his customary place beside the cinema, loitering about suspiciously. He saw Constable Davis approach him. "You got nothing on me, Constable. I ain't done nothing today." Gordon held his hands up innocently.
As they got closer, Lucien noticed some spots on the edges of the sleeves of Gordon's jacket. "Might I have a look here?" Lucien asked, not waiting for a response before grabbing Gordon's wrist. Reddish-brown splotches. "Were you wearing this jacket last night?"
Gordon frowned. "What of it?" he replied, not denying that he had worn the jacket.
Lucien held up the sleeves to show Charlie. "Blood stains. And I'll bet you anything that it'll match Ricky Arnott's type."
Charlie promptly arrested him. Gordon didn't even put up a fight. He smirked proudly but didn't utter a single word.
As soon as they arrived at the station, Charlie put Gordon in the interview room for interrogation and informed Chief Superintendent Carlyle of the development. Frank went and let Danny out of the cell himself. Lucien had Hobart send Gordon's jacket to Dr. Harvey for testing. He took Danny right home.
Jean was in the garden, still trying to keep herself busy. But it was Mattie's day off, so the young woman was helping her. Neither of them spoke about Danny.
"Mattie, I wouldn't have thought of you for gardening."
They turned to see Danny standing at the backdoor, smiling at them. Mattie jumped up from where she was picking weeds and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh Danny!"
"Charlie arrested the bloke who did it. Competing drug dealer. Apparently he confessed," Danny explained.
Jean hugged her nephew close but released him to return to his reunion with Mattie. They went inside the house. Lucien stayed in the garden with Jean.
"I wonder what made Charlie think to go after the drug angle?" he wondered aloud, a knowing smile gracing his lips.
Jean smiled. "It was something you said yesterday. 'It's a good thing we don't have drug users in our house.' I remembered it early this morning and it just dawned on me." She leaned into his side, putting her arm around his waist. "By the way, you're out of whiskey in your study."
Lucien went from surprise to laughter very quickly. "Whatever am I going to do with a wife who drinks me out of house and home?" he teased.
She shrugged. "Perhaps you shouldn't spend nights away from home."
"No, I hope I never have to ever again." He kissed her hair gently. "You are brilliant. And once again, you've saved us all."
Jean just smiled, nuzzling into his embrace.