Put your bets in for what happens next, it's Chapter 4 time…
(Thank you as normal for all the reviews I received for the last chapter, it's always a great boost).
Chapter 4
Gene woke from his fitful dosing to the sound of knocking on the door. Gene could see through the window the early evening orange glow in the sky and guessed it was about seven O'clock. He hauled himself up, surprisingly, a task that required all his strength and answered the door. Distantly, in the back of his mind, he mused that if it had been him knocking he'd have kicked in the door by now.
"Yeah?" Gene asked and Sam replied with a stern face.
"They've found another body, make y'self useful, c'mon." Sam said. Gene grabbed his coat and keys and hurried after Sam as he left as quickly as he'd come. Gene, by any stretch of the imagination, was not used to being ordered around by a bloke younger and higher ranking than him.
Sam's car was a far cry from Gene's Cortina. It was big, flash, and silver and for the second time that day Gene thought of Star Trek. He read the badge on the bonnet before getting in and almost marvelled at the array of gadgets on the consol.
"Jeep?" Gene asked and Sam nodded,
"Not a fan of four by fours?" Sam asked as he began to plug numbers into the phone strapped to the consol before driving off. "This is DCI Tyler, heading to Satchmore Road, requesting SOCO backup." Sam said to seemingly no one until the reply came.
"Yessir, DI Roy and DC Swift are already at the scene." The voice came back.
"Cheers." Sam said before pressing a button to hang up.
"Two murders, by clearly the same guy within weeks of each other, what do you think?" Sam asked and Gene shot Sam a look. Gene leant forward as if thinking then sat back, eyes half closed. Sam glanced over at Gene and his eyes instantly snapped open.
"Right, here's the deal. Half a day ago I was workin' on a case just like this. And 'ere I am, 30 years later, havin' the same case read back to me. Which makes me either mad, a time traveller, an' goodness help me if that's so, or I'll wake up soon and this has just been a dream." Gene said and Sam gave Gene another sideways glance.
"Tell me about it?" Sam asked and Gene smiled.
"The guy's name was Edward Kramer, a freak, mentally disturbed as you'd have it. We got a tip-off from a neighbour Mrs Raimes."
"Raimes?"
"Yeah, I even met little Collin, odd kid, anyway, she told us about Kramer, we sort of put two and two together…" Gene paused, waiting for Sam's reply; Gene already knew he'd be seeing the inside of the funny farm within a week so what did it matter what he said.
Sam shifted a little in his seat, "I don't believe this! I'm listening to the raving of a concussed DI." Sam muttered and nearly stalled the car as they drove off from the set of traffic lights they'd reached. Gene heard every word and choice his words carefully before speaking.
"Look Sammy-boy, in 1973 Kramer was as guilty as sin and don't you think it odd that it's only just 'appened again, Tenner says he's out of prison."
Sam stared at Gene. He'd not been called 'Sammy' since he was ten. But more to the point Gene's theory did make sense. Could someone who was concussed think that something that had happened years ago had only just happened? Gene could have worked in A Division in 1973, Sam reasoned. Gene certainly looked very roughed up, tired and had the faint smell of Scotch about him that implied borderline alcoholic. For now Sam made up his mind…
"It's worth a try. But right now we need to find out who this poor girl is." Sam said conclusively as they pulled up on Satchmore Road and Gene felt a familiar sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Sarah McDonald went missing three days ago." Maya explained to Sam and Gene who both looked on silently at the poor girl at their feet, half covered by nasty blue sheeting.
"She could have been no more than 17." Sam whispered, trying to contain his anger.
"Bastard." Gene swore freely and not one of the other Detectives said anything against it, they had all been thinking it too.
Gene felt a total div having to wear stupid latex gloves as they did a quick scan of the area. He nearly had voiced his opinion loudly when he was first handed them with the instant thought of they can go to hell. But a steely glare from Sam stopped him from saying a word. What was with that guy? Some sort of mind reader! Gene thought to himself as he kicked around a few bricks as a half-hearted attempt to look for evidence, much to the horror of the forensic team. "There's nothing more we can do tonight." Sam said as the light began to fade to almost nothing.
Ripping off the gloves and sighing loudly Gene followed Sam to his car. Sam bid Maya a friendly farewell but Maya didn't return the pleasantries. "So what's going on between you and that Skirt?" Gene asked as they drove off.
"Pardon?!" Sam spat.
"Y'know, Mara."
"Maya?" Sam half questioned, half corrected.
"Yeah her." Gene pressed; he enjoyed the smug knowledge that he could twig things that people didn't think where obvious.
"We've just broken up, she moved out a week ago." Sam said slowly, almost tearful.
"I'm sorry." Gene said, surprising himself at his sensitivity. Normally he'd tell people to suck it up, he did that frequently to Chris!
"What about you?" Sam asked.
"Wife, back, back home." Gene said, it dawning on him for the first time that over 30 years separated them.
Gene stifled a shuddering breath, 30 years suddenly felt like a very, very long time.
Something worrying bleeds through from 1973 and Sam and Gene close the case. That's all still to come on The Gene Genie
Ok chaps, I need some help. As we all know the Test-card Girl was a regular occurrence in the Life on Mars, so obviously at some point I will need a modern equivalent, any ideas? All credit will be given if I use the idea. Ta!