Chapter 10-A Telephone Call

Detective Sergeant James Hathaway sat at his desk. He was alone in the office; Lewis had gone off to talk with Innocent, and Malcolm had taken an early lunch.

Hathaway absently flipped through the papers on his desk, fervently hoping that inspiration would strike. It had been a long time since he and Lewis had been this bewildered as to where to start on a case. Usually, leads just came to them without their needing to seek them out.

James felt a sudden vibration in his pocket. He withdrew his mobile and placed it up to his ear.

"Hathaway."

"It's good to hear your voice again, James," said Fiona McKendrick on the other end.

"Fiona?"

"Yes, it's me. How are things in good old Oxford?"

James sighed. "In a word: complicated."

Fiona's voice took on a solemn tone. "I see. I heard about Innocent. It's terrible—isn't it? How is she?"

"I'm … I'm not really sure. She…she seems alright for the most part, but I think that's probably just her way of coping. You know, trying to keep with business as usual?"

"That doessound like her. Poor thing! I hope they catch whoever did it soon."

"Well, Lewis and I are on the case, and I can tell you that we're putting all of our brainpower into trying to find the killer."

"That's a relief." Fiona paused as they both said a silent prayer that the chief superintendent would have her justice soon. "Did the chief constable send someone else to supervise the case in Innocent's place?"

"Yes, he did in fact. He sent your old 'friend,' Harvey Malcolm formerly of Scotland Yard."

There was a profound silence as Fiona processed what Hathaway had just said.

"Is he mad?" Fiona said, horrified at the thought.

"Who—Malcolm or the chief constable? Never mind! Now that I think on it, it doesn't really matter. They'reboth mad in my books!"

"I know it's not very professional of me, but I really wish you'd give Malcolm a good kick—just once."

It was a very tempting thought. James contemplated this for a moment before he responded. "I would—but I figure I'm in enough trouble already."

"James, you naughty boy!" she teased. "What have you done this time?"

'If only you knew'

"Well…amongst other things, I've nearly come to blows with Malcolm a number of times. He's after Innocent now—and well, I feel a natural need to protect her." Hathaway did not add that his "natural need to protect Innocent" was largely prompted by guilt for the unwanted advances he himself had made to the chief superintendent while under the influence of alcohol.

"What do mean 'He's after Innocent now? I think she's the one he wanted all along."

"Pardon?"

"It's just…when I first came to Scotland Yard, Malcolm pestered me for news of Oxford, and he asked after the chief superintendent specifically. He continued to bombard me with questions when he learned that I had maintained contact with you. And later, when he was being his most odious, I could've sworn he called me 'Jean' a number of times. I'm a detective, James; I can put two and two together."

"But why would Malcolm pick you to harass? You and Innocent don't look anything alike."

"True, but our personalities are fairly similar. Innocent's old inspector Mr. Felmen has even told me that I remind him of a young Jean. I suspect that Malcolm's just suffering from a severe case of displacement."

"What?" James asked, still confused as to where Fiona was going with this.

"Displacement, as in the psychological term. You know… when you're unable to show your true feelings to the person they're directed to so you take out your emotions on someone else?"

He considered this for a moment. "So you're saying that, because Malcolm can't have Innocent, he goes after the next best thing—namely, you?"

"That's my theory, at least."

And it was an interesting theory at that. Now that James thought about, Fiona and Innocent did have a bit in common. It was possible that Fiona's displacement theory might explain not only Malcolm's harassment of Fiona, but also Hathaway's own behavior with Innocent. It all made sense now! He hadn't wanted Jean that night; he'd wanted Fiona. His brain must have subconsciously made a connection between the two of them! Hathaway breathed a sigh of relief, delighted to have found a justification for his actions that didn't end in his secretly lusting after Jean Innocent.

'You're refusing to consider the other possibility' said a traitorous voice in his head, 'that your relationship with Fiona was merely a way of dealing with repressed feelings for the chief superintendent.'

"No, that can't be right!" he angrily told the voice.

"Oh, you're free to disagree, James," said Fiona. "As I told you before, it's only a theory."

Hathaway hadn't realized that he had spoken this last thought aloud. He panicked for a second as he wondered if he had accidentally vocalized his previous thoughts on the subject.

"Oh no, Fiona. I wasn't talking to you. Actually, I think that your idea has great potential. I was… just…er…thinking aloud."

"Feel like sharing?"

James was suddenly very glad that Fiona could not see his flaming cheeks. "Er…no…not really. It's…it's nothing important. So, how are things with you?"

"Alright, I'm up to my neck in wedding plans."

"Ah," James said simply.

Fiona must have sensed his reluctance to discuss her upcoming marriage for she quickly changed the subject."And the case I've just finished depressed the hell out of me."

"Really? What was it about?" he asked, hoping that she was exaggerating the case's impact on her.

"It was a suicide, a man named Frederick Smythe. You might hear a bit about it in your papers. Mr. Smythe was very affluent, and he donated a great deal of money to the colleges in Oxford."

"What exactly was so tragic about Mr. Smythe's circumstances?"

"Well, everything really. His life was just one tragedy after another: his mother had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, his teenaged son died in a car crash two years ago, and there's the whole business with Smythe's sister."

James was curious, in spite of himself. "What business with Smythe's sister?"

"Smythe's younger sister Amanda was raped and murdered several years ago."

"That's horrible!"

"It gets worse. The man that they think was behind the murder, well…he got off. All the evidence pointed to him, but he still got off. He was convicted of a lesser charge, but still, it's not the same. I imagine it must have been torture for Smythe, knowing that the man who killed his sister is recognized as innocent in the eyes of the law."

"That is a lot to deal with."

"Yeah, it is."

Silence followed.

"Not to end this conversation, abruptly," said Fiona, "but I'm getting another call. Do you mind if I take it?"

"That's fine. Goodbye, Fiona."

"Goodbye, James."

Both of them hung up. James sat at his desk for a moment, replaying the entire conversation in his mind. He resolved that he'd have to talk to Lewis—and possibly Innocent as well—about Malcolm as soon as possible. If Harvey really was as obsessed with Jean as Fiona seemed to think, then, it was plausible that Malcolm might have killed Mr. Innocent.

Hathaway rose to his feet. It would be best to explore this theory now—while Malcolm was still away. He walked over to Innocent's office. He was about to go in when the door opened on its own. Laura Hobson walked out, sniffling slightly.

"Hello, James," she muttered, half-heartedly.

Her melancholy demeanor worried him, as did her red-rimmed eyes.

"Laura," Hathaway said carefully, "is anything the matter?"

The pathologist didn't say anything; she didn't need to. The answer was as plain as the nose on her face. Eventually, she nodded. James instinctively knew that his friend needed him right now. Robbie and Jean would just have to wait.

"Do you want to talk about it? You know that I'm always willing to listen."

Hobson scrutinized him for a moment, as though she was determining how much she trusted him. Then, she nodded again.