Chapter 2 or Somebody told me that you have a girlfriend…

Emily was not frightened. She didn't even have time to startle. She felt hard floor when she hit it and then a pretty heavy body landed on top of her. Muffled sounds of gun shots didn't surprise her at all. Someone made five shots and she heard hurrying steps.

Then she realized that was DI Chandler pressing her to the floor. The light bulb was broken by one of the shots so Emily couldn't see him properly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Graham," Joe got up reluctantly and helped Emily. She was still a bit shocked by the fall and following shoots. She opened her mouth to say something but remained silent.

"Follow me," Joe took her hand and lead carefully towards the exit. He got the phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.

"Kent, I'm in the University, all the materials were stolen. Somebody tried to kill us…" he paused, "Us, I mean me and Professor's assistant. Oh, bloody hell! Professor is all alone! Be here in 15 minutes."

Emily was holding at Joe with both hands like a child. It seemed she finally realized what's happened. They were under the fire. She was under the fire! She could die! That realization frightened her and she squeezed Joe's hand. He finished phone talk and looked back at her. She was staring at the door and dark part of corridor with terror.

"Don't worry. I think whoever it was, he already left the building." Still he got his gun out and moved forward. Emily followed him closely.

Several hours later.

"All the documents are gone and the Professor is missing now. No suspects, no evidence, nothing!" Joe was walking along the board which contained all the information on the case.

"We've been in worst circumstances, sir." Kent was looking through his notes. This situation reminded him of previous cases they had, like the Riper's case and fake Kray twins. But they managed to solve them, well, more or less. Now again they have to show miraculous skills in doing their job. Kent was always the one to believe in Chandler's intelligence and luck.

Meanwhile DI thought that he needed a drink. That case was empty; they had nothing to stick to. Still, Chandler didn't consider himself the one, who gives up that easily.

"So, I've heard of the shooting incident in the University," Miles walked in the office carrying a folder in his hands. "I thought you went there to talk to the professor, not to cause another sensation!"

"What are you talking about? What sensation?" Joe asked angrily.

"Huh, so you didn't see her? That newsgirl. The one who's always following us on field? I think she wants to become famous reporter with our help. She's waiting for another Riper-like case, so she could write a leading article."

"Oh, she'd tried to interview me yesterday on a recent case. She seems to be pretty… determined, if I may say so," added Kent, looking at his cell phone. He was that nervous all day checking his phone and spacing out of the conversation.

"What's going on, Kent? Waiting for your boyfriend to call back?" said Miles, who was sure that his colleague was gay and always used a chance to play a joke on him. Kent just nodded and smiled back weakly. At first, he tried to persuade Miles that he's straight; he just didn't have time for a steady relationship. The old DS kept joking on him still.

"Miles, there's no time for your jokes," Joe was not an the mood and Miles, who noticed that, preferred to change topic.

"I just checked the apartment of Mr. Lowood. And guess what I've found? Our victim was not actually innocent. He possessed a very… diverse collection of pictures. You can have a look at them here," he passed the folder to Kent and Chandler joined him. "As you can see, several young women, pictured here, could have a motive."

Joe didn't pay much attention to the photos. He was looking at the table, where Kent kept his belongings in complete order. In unnatural order. The same way Joe himself kept it.

"Kent, what is…"

"Hey, sir, your girlfriend's down there waiting for you!" smiling DC Sanders walked into the office. Miles, Kent and Chandler turned to him.

"My girlfriend?"

"His girlfriend?" Miles and Kent now stared at the DI.

"Why do you look so surprised? I can have a girlfriend waiting for me. Do you think I can't?" DI Chandler looked confused and a bit offended.

"No, sir. I mean… of course you can…"

"Anyway, that's not a girlfriend of mine. Sanders, do you mean a small red haired girl?"

"Yes' sir. She sits there and actually looks rather miserable. She said she's waiting for DI Joseph Chandler."

"That's the student of Professor Smith. She was with me when the shooting begun. And she'd found out that all the materials Lowood and Professor used for their book disappeared. I need to talk to her again, I feel like she knows something about Lowood but doesn't want to tell me."

Joe put on his coat and glanced at Kent's table again.

"I'm going to talk to her but not in here. She is quite scared, no need to scare her more. If you'll get any more information from Doctor Llewellyn, call me immediately. She said she needed to do some test on Lowood's blood, so…"

"Yes, sir," Kent was already absorbed into his notes without noticing his chef's attention to the order of things on his table.

"Where're you taking that girl? There's a nice café not far from here. I think ladies do like that kind of cozy cafes. It'll relax her." Miles winked Joe.

"I don't need to relax her that much..." Joe took his phone, keys and a pen. "Anyway, where's that café, you say?"

"I told you, she's a girlfriend," Sanders whispered to Kent and they both smiled. Fortunately, Joe didn't notice that on his way out of office.