Chapter Six- Awkward Conversations
"Please have a seat," Jean Innocent said, gesturing to Lewis and Hobson. "And if, possible, I'd like your word that you won't spread this around to your other colleagues."
"Yes, ma'am," Lewis said without a second thought.
Hobson, however, hesitated for a moment, before she too pledged to remain silent. As Lewis and Hobson took their seats, Innocent began to pace anxiously.
"I'm not entirely sure where to begin..." the chief superintendent said, carefully avoiding the gaze of everyone in the room.
"If you don't mind, I'll explain, ma'am," James said. Like Jean, he seemed extremely tense.
"Go on, then," Innocent said, pausing for a moment before resuming her pacing.
Hathaway turned to Lewis. "You see, Sir, after we'd finished the day's work, I went out for a drink. I've been a bit... downas I just learned an old girlfriend is getting married. So, I sought liquid comfort. After I had a pint or two, I got in a bit of a tiff with the bartender. And yes, punches were thrown on both sides." Seeing the exasperated expression on Lewis's face, James added quickly. "Don't worry, sir, it wasn't at any of our usual places."
Lewis sighed in relief. Hobson, meanwhile, was staring at Innocent with a curious expression on her face.
"So, anyway," Hathaway continued. "The chief superintendent, who happened to be at the pub, broke up the fight and offered me a lift home. So, anyway, when Jean and I arrived at my place, she walked me up to the door and we got to talking a bit. She was being surprisingly nice and sympathetic about everything. Anyway, we were talking and I don't really know what came over me. I guess I figured we'd both had a bad day and could maybe... comfort each other..." Hathaway broke off, his cheeks scarlet.
"So, you snogged her?" Hobson said, looking very much as though she wanted to laugh.
"You could say that. Though, I wouldn't exactly call it 'snogging.' It was too short of a kiss."
Lewis studied his sergeant thoughtfully. As idiotic as Lewis thought that Hathaway's behaviour had been, Lewis couldn't help admiring the younger man's audacity. Drunk or sober, kissing Jean Innocent took an awful lot of nerve.
The chief superintendent stopped her pacing and continued the story, clearly in an attempt to prevent Hathaway from sharing any more details about the kiss itself.
"So, I pushed him away and told him that I wasn't interested in that sort of comfort. Then, I drove off and went over to Dr Hobson's."
Lewis still had quite a few unanswered questions, but the stone cold expression on Innocent's face prevented him from asking them. Hobson however turned to James."
"Wait, if Jean dropped you off in her car and yours was still at the pub, how'd you get here this morning?"
"Took a bus to a stop about a block away from the pub, picked up the car, and drove here."
Innocent sat down at her desk as an uncomfortable silence overtook the group. Finally, Lewis had the courage to break it.
"So, ma'am, I take it Hathaway's on suspension then."
"Well, not exactly," Innocent replied, disgruntled. "To suspend him without saying why would arouse a decent amount of suspicion. And I'm certainly not going to tell anyone why. It's against policy for junior and senior officers to be romantically involved, and it would be very hard to prove the kiss wasn't consensual."
"You could always try changing the policy, ma'am," Lewis said impishly.
Laura Hobson's gaze darted suspiciously from Lewis to Innocent.
Innocent gave Lewis a look that made him feel extraordinary stupid. "Trying to change the policy would only get me confronted with a law suit. I don't have the authority to change the rules, and even if I did, I wouldn't. That policy is in place for a reason. Besides," the superintendent continued, "there's another reason I don't want to suspend James. This case is extremely important to me, and if the new superintendent lets you stay on the case, I'll need both of your brains."
"So you're just going to let him off scot-free, then?" Lewis said, a trifle angrily. He strongly suspected that he wouldn't have been let off so easily if he had been the guilty party.
"Well, I can't exactly do that either or he won't learn his lesson. I'm not sure what I can do, but in the meantime, I strongly advice you to take personal leave, for a day or two James."
"I'm not interested. As you said before, this case is very important. Besides… the longer we avoid each other, the more awkward it will be to work together."
"I expect that you're right." Jean sighed as she furrowed her brow in thought. After a brief silence, she turned to Lewis. "I guess the one thing that I can do is ask you to keep a log of Hathaway's behaviour during this case. Write down any infraction or insubordination no matter how minor it may seem."
She handed Lewis a manila file folder and a few pieces of paper. "You can keep your record in there, and place the file on my desk at the conclusion of the case. I'll review the file and decide whether or not to suspend him then."
Lewis rose to his feet and then turned to go. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and he turned around. "Oh, I almost forgot. Hathaway has something else to ask you, ma'am. A question about Mr Innocent's... personal health."
If looks could have killed, Sgt James Hathaway would have murdered his inspector. Lewis meanwhile, grabbed a pencil off of the superintendent's desk and made a big show of opening the manila folder.
"Yes, James?" Innocent asked.
Hathaway shot another furious look at Lewis before responding.
"Did you have sex with your husband the night before his murder?"
"WHAT?"
"There is forensic evidence that suggests that he slept with someone. We need to know if it was you or someone else."
The chief superintendent stared at the sergeant with venom in her eyes. She remained silent for a time and then replied through clenched teeth. "I'm going to answer your question, but only because I know that it's important to the case. However if any of you—especially you, James—attempt to pry into my sexual history again, I will personally make your every day a veritable Hell. Yes, I slept with my husband the night before he died. Now GET OUT of my sight, all of you!"
Lewis, Hobson, and Hathaway were only too happy to oblige with the chief superintendent's wishes. The three of them exited Innocent's office and returned to Lewis's. When they arrived, Hobson muttered something about needing to get back to work and took her leave of them. As Hathaway sat down at his desk, Lewis shut the door and then walked over to Hathaway's desk.
"You kissed our guvnor last night and you didn't tell me! I thought we were closer than that. Believe me, if you'd called and told me that's why you were coming in late, I would've covered for you. I don't blame you for wanting to—what was it again—crawlin a hole and die of embarrassment."
"That's not exactly the kind of thing one feels comfortable sharing over the phone." Hathaway's voice took on a mocking, sarcastic tone as he continued. "'Hello, sir. How are you? Hey, listen, I snogged our boss last night in a drunken stupor, and I really don't want to put up with her wrath and a hangover at the same time. So, can you pretty please cover for me?'"
"Were you going to tell me at all, then?" Lewis asked.
"No…yes… I don't know. If you were the one who had kissed her, would you have told me?"
"Course not. It's none of your business."
"Have you kissed her then—maybe on one of your excursions as Mr Innocent?"
"No, I haven't." Lewis's face took on a nonplussed expression. "Why are you so interested all of a sudden?"
"I'm not," Hathaway said quickly.
Lewis studied his sergeant carefully before changing the subject. "Anyway, I hope you realize how fortunate you were not to have gotten yourself suspended! You're probably the only person here who could've gotten away with it. I guess being her bloody favourite does pay off! Now, if it had been me, she'd have thrown me in the sack and kicked me halfway to Edinburgh."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Hathaway, a wry smile forming on his face.
"Oh and why is that?" Lewis asked, wondering if this was more of Hobson's nonsense about Innocent secretly being in love with him.
"You were always her 'bloody second favourite.'"
Lewis chuckled. "You know, sergeant, I'm not entirely sure as to whether you meant that as a compliment or insult."
"Neither am I."
The two sat in silence for a moment, flipping through the paperwork they'd collected so far for the case. Lewis glanced up at Hathaway, who still looked uneasy.
"So… are you going to tell me how it was?" Lewis said carefully.
"How what was?"
"Don't play the innocent with me…" Lewis said, pausing to consider the accidental pun he'd just made.
Hathaway laughed. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid it's you who's been 'playing the innocent.' Quite literally, I might add."
Lewis groaned. "Oh, very droll, James." He lowered his voice a notch. "So are you going to tell me about the …kiss?"
"Why so interested, Inspector? Are you jealous? I've half a mind to tell Dr Hobson on you."
Lewis flushed an unbecoming shade of crimson. "You don't need to tell Laura. It's just… well, besides you, I only know for sure of one other fellow who's kissed Jean Innocent, and that other fellow is dead! You can't blame a man for being curious."
"Well, wonder away! I don't want to talk about it or even think about it," said James, resting his head on his desk.
Lewis walked back over to his desk and sat down, picking up the manila folder.
"Then, you've left me with no choice, sergeant. I'm going to have to write you up for that."
"You're joking, sir," said Hathaway, his head darting up quickly in a manner reminiscent of an anxious meerkat.
"No, I'm not." Lewis checked his watch and started scribbling on a sheet of paper. "Let's see, quarter-to-eleven on Thursday the twenty-first, the sergeant refused to answer questions that may prove significant to the outcome of the case."
"'Significant to the outcome of the case?' How do you work that one out? What if the super asks for specific details?"
"She's so angry with you that she'll undoubtedly suspend you without asking any questions. And as for the relevance… Have you ever considered the possibility that an ex-lover of the super's killed Mr Innocent so that he could have Jean to himself? Based on your personal experience with the chief super, we can determine whether or nor Jean Innocent is the kind of woman that a man would commit murder for."
"We can?" Hathaway asked sceptically.
"Yes, we can. So unless you wantto be suspended based on your unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation, I suggest you 'spill the beans' as our American friends will have it."
"Fine," James said angrily, crossing his arms in front of him. "Just remember that I was drunk and so I don't remember most of it."
"That's alright. Just tell me what you do remember," Lewis said eagerly.
James knew that he was finally going to get his comeuppance for all the teasing he'd done when Robbie and Laura had started dating. He silently resolved to choose his words carefully, sure that Lewis would never let him forget them. "It was all right. Pretty short."
"You're going to need to give me more than that to get off the hook. Details, James, details."
Aware that Lewis wasn't going to accept anything less than "dirty details," James decided to elaborate a bit further. "Her lips are soft, and she smells fantastic."
"Fantastic, eh. Care to elaborate?"
"Like… really fragrant flowers."
"Oh, flowers, is it? What kindof flowers?"
It was clear that Robbie was enjoying himself far too much in completely humiliating James, and the sergeant was growing steadily more infuriated as a result. "I dunno. Do I looklike the sort of bloke who goes about distinguishing between floral scents?"
"Well, to be quite honest, sergeant…" Lewis shut up when he saw Hathaway scowling at him. After pausing a moment, he continued. "Well, enough about Innocent's perfume. How did you feel?"
"Drunk."
"You mean she was just so wonderful that it was… intoxicating?" Lewis said awestruck.
"No, sir. You asked me how I felt, not how the kiss made me feel. I feltdrunk, because I was drunk at the time."
Lewis let out a frustrated sigh. Hathaway was deliberately avoiding Lewis's primary interest in the event. Robbie decided to try asking his questions more directly. "All right, how did the kiss make you feel?"
"Like a complete imbecile."
"I don't mean now. I mean when you were actually… you know… kissing."
Hathaway thought for a while before responding. "Well, there were no 'bells and fireworks' if that's what you're asking. And no, I was not overtaken with an uncontrollable lust for my boss. But the kiss itself really wasn't all that distasteful." He paused for a moment. "Not that I plan on repeating the experience," he added quickly, noticing the strange way that Lewis was staring at him. "Does that answer all of your questions?"
"Not quite. I still have one more. Based on the quality of the kiss, do you think Jean Innocent is the kind of woman you can see a man committing murder for?"
Hathaway leaned back in his chair and pondered this. "I'm not sure, sir," he said honestly. "The kiss wasn't long enough for me to get a decent idea."
"Lewis!" said Jean Innocent's muffled voice, coming from behind the door.
Lewis and Hathaway both stared at each other, anxious expressions on each of their faces.
"Yes, ma'am?" Lewis said tentatively.
"I forgot to tell you. The officer who's supervising your case is supposed to arrive today at two o'clock. I'd like for you and Hathaway to meet with him when he arrives."
"Very good, ma'am."
Lewis waited until the sound of Innocent's high heels faded. Then he turned to Hathaway. "It'll be interesting to meet the new super. Just promise me that you won't try to snog this one."
Hathaway grinned. "I'll promise if you will."
"Sergeant, you've got yourself a bargain," said Robbie, holding out his hand.