Arthur woke to neck ache and very tired, gritty feeling, eyes. He had stayed all night in Merlin's room, eventually moving the chair from the window next to the bed, so he was in Merlin's line of sight along with Kilgharrah. It took no effort to stay awake until Merlin dropped off. Thankfully the small amount of sleeping tonic that had been in Merlin's juice had done the trick. Plus Arthur got the feeling Merlin had exhausted himself both mentally and physically. His health had improved since he had been in residency at the annexe but he was still fragile.

Merlin had tried to fight off his tiredness, his eyes dropping and then snapping open, widening in fright, as if the image he had seen in his mind was still imprinted there. Each time he saw that Arthur leant forward and gently touched Merlin's hand.

"It's all right Merlin, you're in the hospital, you're safe."

Each time Arthur did that, Merlin's eyes closed, and his breath exhaled as a deep sigh as he was reassured. Arthur sat there, as Merlin eventually gave up and went to sleep, and Elena brought him some coffee to help him with his vigil. For a long while Arthur looked at the picture, and then up to Merlin's now peaceful face.

Arthur's mind mused over the information that his father had provided. Merlin had been found chained to another boy, whose life had already been taken. They had been shackled neck to neck. Merlin's wrists had also been secured behind his back, and a chain from that linked his hands to the other boy's, which were similarly bound. There was a good possibility that Merlin had witnessed the abuse inflicted on the other boy, and quite logically witnessed the murder. Arthur thought about it, Merlin had been the fourth victim taken, but he was the one that had survived.

The two others after him were one that had been buried on the farm land, and the boy that had been chained to him. The sixth boy was the one that had given the police enough of a clue to find the farmhouse. That boy had been chained to Merlin, acting as a weight to keep him in the cellar, and no doubt torment him mentally.

As he considered that, and tried to keep his mind alert Arthur didn't realised he what he was doing, as his eyes stayed on Merlin's face. Arthur had turned the pad to a new sheet of paper and curling his fingers around the pencil had started to draw, looking from Merlin to the sheet as he worked. It was several minutes before it dawned on him and he looked down at what he had done.

It wasn't a bad picture, he had caught the sweeping lines of Merlin's face, and started working on the thatch of thick dark hair. The pencil slowed as Arthur realised it probably wasn't ethical to be drawing Merlin, even if he was unaware of what Arthur was doing. His hand moved again, catching the shape of Merlin's cheekbone. While he was sleeping his face was so innocent. Arthur had never seen it truly animated, as he expected Merlin to be. Hunith might be over idealising her son, now he was in such a bad state, but Arthur wondered how Merlin looked when he was happy, and responsive to the world around him.

Slowly Arthur closed the sketch book. He couldn't in all conscience carry on drawing. Rather than put it on the table he settled for tucking it down the side of the chair, so it would stay safe, and knew no one would take it without him realising. He pushed the pencil into the metal rings of the pads binding, so he wouldn't lose that either and he had put his head in his hand, closing his eyes for a moment, the caffeine in the hot drink doing nothing to keep him awake. Soon enough he had gone to sleep.

"Are you all right?" Elena had asked as Arthur moved, rolling his shoulders and rubbing his neck.

"Yes," Arthur groaned. "Thanks," he added as Elena provided him with another coffee. His mouth felt dry and just as gritty as his eyes. He sipped the drink in the hope that it would clear the feeling from his mouth but it just seemed to make it worse.

"Sitting in those chairs is never comfortable," she commented, leaning over to check on Merlin. He was still sleeping. Elena looked up. "Should I leave him?"

Arthur nodded. "He's had a bad night. Probably best to let him wake up in his own time."

"You should get some proper sleep too, although you might have to fight your corner first. Nimueh is moaning at Gaius because you were called in."

"Oh, for God's sake," Arthur snapped.

"And she's blaming Lancelot, he supposed to know the proper procedure, if Nimueh thinks you need to be consulted then she is the one that should make the decision to phone you, otherwise what is the point of someone being on call."

Arthur gave a groaning huff in response, and drank more coffee and grimaced.

"Sorry, I think that's actually been sat in the machine since last night. I haven't had a chance to refresh it," Elena said seeing his face.

"I don't think I really want coffee anyway. The first thing I probably need to do is power hose my head in the shower."

"Go rescue Lancelot first."

"What about Merlin?"

"I can stay, but I need to get the others up," Elena said, looking torn.

"I'll sit with him."

Both of them turned to look at Vivian, who was wrapped up in a thick dressing gown, it swamped her stick thin frame, making her look quite childlike. She pushed her hair back off her face and tucked it behind her ears, emphasizing her frailty; she looked at them and shrugged.

"I mean, it's just sitting isn't it."

Arthur agreed with her, leaving Vivian with Merlin. If he opened his eyes all she needed to do was reassure him someone was there and then alert Elena. Arthur guessed that Merlin would be back to his usual self again, so he went through to Gaius' office, following the sound of Nimueh's voice. It sounded strident against Gaius' more modulated tone. Arthur stepped into the doorway and looked around.

"What is the problem?"

"I was the doctor on call," Nimueh announced. "Why wasn't Lancelot phoning me?"

Arthur bit his tongue, but didn't hold it for long. "Because you would have told him to sedate Merlin."

"Of course, it's procedure."

"Yes, Nimueh, I know, when a patient gets hysterical, or violent, you need something to keep them calm. I think Merlin comes up as a rather exceptional case there. It was hardly a standard situation. Since he was found that is only the second time that Merlin has displayed any reaction, and we know what the first one was about. How would sticking a needle in him have helped?"

"We have other patients to consider, they were disturbed by the whole incident," Nimueh snapped at him. "Lancelot should not have done it."

Lancelot tried to look inconspicuous, but it was hard with three people staring at him.

"Look, I just figured Arthur might have a better idea of what was happening, that's all, he's spent time with Merlin."

"Much good it's done," Nimueh snapped.

"Yes, it has," Arthur snapped. "Look, I think we have to consider the fact that Merlin might be a different case to the norm. Maybe it's better that if there is a problem with him, whoever it is just calls me automatically," Arthur said.

"Why don't we do that with all our patients?" Nimueh asked sarcastically. Arthur turned to look at her giving an innocent stare.

"I'm happy with that."

Nimueh rolled her eyes. Arthur glanced at Gaius.

"Look, it was no big deal, Lancelot called me, I came and dealt with it."

Gaius raised his eyebrows. "Did you get anything from him?"

"He drew a picture, presumably of one of the other boys. I don't know how frequent they may be, but it appears Merlin can have severe nightmares."

"Is it worthwhile leaving a sketchpad in his room?" Gaius asked.

"I suppose, he's not done it for anyone else as yet, but no one else has tried. He might for some of the others."

"He's been drawing?" Nimueh asked, folding her arms across her chest, she unfolded them as Arthur produced the sketchpad. He opened it to the picture he had done last night, making sure he had control of the pad so he wouldn't accidentally show the sketch he had done of Merlin.

"There is no outward reaction, I just put the pencil in his hand and put the pad in his lap. His hand just sketches, he doesn't even look down at the paper, he's drawing what's in his mind."

"He witnessed one of the murders," Nimueh mused. "Not surprising I suppose."

They all turned as there was the padding of feet, clearly running down the corridor. A moment later Vivian appeared, still in her fluffy dressing gown and panting heavily. All four people in the room tensed. Vivian took two deep breaths and then fixed her gaze on Arthur.

"Arthur, you'd better come and see this."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

As he turned the corner into the quiet street he knew this should not be where he was headed, but he wanted to have this conversation first. Slowing down he stared at the house numbers while he looked for the one he wanted. He caught sight of a plaque announcing number 16, he was looking for 28 so it wasn't far off. There was a space not far down, on the far side, so he indicated, aimed for it and got parked up. Turning off the engine he counted down from the house number he had clocked until he laid eyes on 28.

It was a simple looking house, in the middle of a terrace. The garden looked tidy, and well maintained, which was probably down to the person in there now, pruning a bush. Will was snipping at it almost angrily. Everything about him seemed angry. Arthur wondered if there was more to that than just Merlin's condition, then he told himself it was really none of his business. He couldn't go around analysing everyone, he'd go insane if he did. Whatever Will's problems were, unless he chose to say anything, they were none of Arthur's business. Taking a breath Arthur stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut, pressing the button to lock it as he crossed the road. Will had looked up at the sound of the door slamming and he paused trimming to stare at Arthur. The gaze was wary, almost to the point of unfriendly. Arthur stopped by the gate and ran his fingers through his hair, it was still slightly damp from a hurried shower, and he saw Will smirk, reaching up again Arthur realised his hair was sticking up. He dragged his fingers through it to calm it down and then met Will's amused gaze.

"Hi, I was hoping that Hunith would be in."

Will continued to look amused, but also shifted towards defensive.

"What for?"

Arthur did bite his tongue this time. He didn't want to argue with Will as he had with Nimueh. At least in the face of a logical argument she would concede the point, even if she didn't like it. Will was an entirely different prospect, and it was fairly obvious that the only subject that Arthur had come to discuss was Merlin.

"Look, this is pretty urgent, now is she in or not?"

The answer was a click as the front door opened, and Hunith stood in the doorway. She had an apron on over her jeans and striped blouse, and her hair was wrapped up in a scarf, pink rubbers gloves completed her look. Arthur gave her tentative smile.

"Hi."

"Hello Arthur, yes, I am in," Hunith said.

Arthur took that as a hint, he fiddled with the latch on the gate, which protested for a moment before he finally got it open and the hinges screeched as Arthur opened it, causing all three of them to wince, as Arthur stepped through it stayed open, too rusted to swing back on it's own. Arthur didn't fancy shutting it and hearing that grating sound again, he already had a headache, which was not helped by his still sore neck.

"I haven't forgotten that," Will assured Hunith, who smiled.

"Just leave it for now, I'll put the kettle on."

Arthur followed her in and Will brought up the rear, leaving the trimmers he had been holding in the small porch. Arthur looked around in interest as he entered the house. Everything was neat and tidy, some of the furniture a little worn. There was new wallpaper up in the hallway and by the look of it Hunith had been using some sort of foam cleaner on the carpet to try and spruce it up. She appeared to be winning the battle, but it looked hard going.

A picture of Merlin hung in the hallway. He looked no more than about five years old, beaming brightly at the camera, holding a huge ice cream tightly. Arthur paused to look at the picture, taking in the expression on Merlin's youthful face, so bright and animated. A happy little boy, as Hunith had referred to him. There was a light cough behind him and Arthur snapped out of his daze glancing at Will before walking down the hallway into the kitchen.

Hunith had filled the kettle, switched it on and was gathering mugs when Arthur shuffled over the doorway.

"Tea or coffee?"

"Tea please," Arthur said. "No sugar." He couldn't stand the thought of another coffee. He looked around the kitchen, again it was clean and tidy, the cupboards looked a little out of date but the walls were painted a light yellow colour, lifting the room. The window overlooked a small back garden that was filled with colour. Pots of bright flowers covered the patio, and more were planted in the beds, some were starting to die off as they came to the end of their season.

"I planted it all while Merlin was… missing," Hunith said quietly. "I had a bit too much time on my hands."

Arthur didn't think commenting on how nicely it had been done seemed appropriate so he just smiled and sat down at the kitchen table as Hunith put a mug down for him, Will took his own and lingered by the kitchen counter, while Hunith settled on Arthur's right.

"What's wrong with Merlin?" Will asked.

"Nothing," Arthur said. "Well, he's fine, in himself."

"I didn't think it was too serious," Hunith said. "Otherwise you would have said straight away."

Arthur nodded, wrapping his hands around his mug, he looked at the liquid inside it, not really wanted to drink it. He supposed he had better have a bit to be polite and made an effort to take a sip before saying.

"It's just a little bit hard to work out how to ask this," Arthur said. "Does Merlin have any sort of abilities?"

Unfortunately, Hunith looked a little confused. "More than the drawing and music? I'm not sure what you mean."

Arthur sighed. "I guess I'm just going to have to sound a little strange, I mean any sort of psychic or intuition or… you know, stuff like that. I know it's a bit peculiar to ask, I'd don't think I can really hedge around asking it."

"Oh," Hunith said, saying nothing further for a moment but the way she spoke made Arthur's heart speed up. She didn't sound, or look, entirely surprised by the query.

"Why?" Will asked. He didn't look as Arthur expected either. From what he could judge of Will character, he'd probably laugh at Arthur for suggesting it, if the suggestion was a strange one.

"Have you seen the news?" Arthur asked. Hunith glanced at Will, who shrugged and shook his head, so did Hunith, she put her hands on the table and pushed her mug around a little.

"I don't really like to, not any more."

"Merlin did this last night." Arthur rummaged in the inside pocket of his jacket, extracting the picture, unfolding it carefully and laying it on the table, turning it so Hunith could see it. She gave a sharp inhale of breath. Will stepped forward, moving around the table to stand at her shoulder, his eyes widened as he looked at the drawing.

"Shit!"

"I thought maybe it was just a nightmare, I wasn't on call but Lancelot phoned me, Merlin started screaming."

Hunith and Will turned wide eyes in his direction.

"Screaming?" Hunith gasped.

"He just kicked off, normal procedure probably would have been to sedate him but I got over there in time to get him to draw that. I was inclined to assume that the boy in the picture was one of the other victims, but there was a report this morning, asking for information about a murder that had happened that night. The photograph that was on the news, there was no doubt it was this kid, Merlin's drawn the face too clear for it to be anyone else."

"So you think he somehow witnessed a murder that was happening?" Hunith said. Arthur nodded.

"It sounds a little strange, I know that, but I don't know what else to make of it. I am going to have to see my father, he was the one doing the news report this morning."

"Doesn't waste time, does he?" Will said.

"With things like that he tries not to. He probably got Leon in the press office on it, he's always pretty swift."

They fell silent, looking away from each other. Arthur regarded his tea for a moment, and took another sip just for the want of something to do. The piece of paper lay on the table in front of them. Hunith's eyes skimmed toward it before she turned and looked up at Will. He caught her eye and slowly said.

"It's like that time I had meningitis."

Arthur looked up, Hunith nodded and turned to Arthur. It seemed with that sentence Will had opened up the agreement to discuss the situation with Arthur. Hunith gave a faint smile.

"That was years ago, they couldn't have been more than about nine years old. Merlin woke me one night, just a little after midnight and insisted that I phone Will's house. I did just try and explain that it was late and they'd be in bed, but he was so insistent, almost to the point of tears."

Arthur nodded slowly, starting to guess where this might be going.

"I thought at least I could settle him down, and apologise to Will's parents at a later date. When I phoned, they were just about to call an ambulance for Will. I got off the line quickly and said I'd call them again in the morning. When I told Merlin, he just relaxed and said that's all right, he'll be fine then."

"So he knew something was wrong with Will?"

Hunith nodded. "I guess, and it was lucky, if they had left it much longer it could have been more serious."

"And he did it with our English teacher once, she was really scary and strict, but one day she really didn't seem like herself, although she was still scary and strict," Will said frowning as he recalled the memory. "At the end of the lesson, Merlin sort of paused by her desk and said he was sorry about her mother. She hadn't said anything to anyone, but her mother had died the night before."

"So Merlin just knew things, without anyone telling him?" Arthur didn't really need an answer to that, Hunith and Will had just told him.

"It was never anything monumental, he just did it sometimes. We were just so used to it that we didn't think about it, Merlin's never really seen it as anything special, and he kind of has this ability to affect people," Hunith said.

"How so?" Arthur asked with a frown.

Hunith shrugged, "I'm not sure how to describe it, he can just make them feel the way they want to. If people are unhappy then he can cheer them up, calm them down if they are angry."

"He was always very good dealing with bullies, even if they started going to pick on him, or anyone, he'd always sort of stop them, without really doing anything, he didn't do anything," Will added, sounding confused.

"I know people could say that was just the way he was, but we always kind of knew there might be more to it," Hunith said.

Arthur pushed the cup away, he really didn't want to be drinking tea. It was starting to make him feel sick, and his neck was still hurting from sleeping in the chair.

"Are you all right?" Hunith asked as Arthur started to rub irritably at his neck.

"Yeah, but sleeping in that chair in Merlin's room is not comfortable, I put my head at a very bad angle."

"You stayed with him?" Hunith asked.

"It seemed best to keep an eye on him, after he had drawn that. I just presumed it was a memory of what happened to him. Now it seems to be something else entirely."

"I suppose so. You'll have to tell your father then?"

Arthur nodded. "Although what he will make if it is anyone's guess."

"Do you have to tell him?" Will asked. Then he looked down at Hunith.

"Can't you stop him from saying anything, Merlin's your son you've got rights. Anyway don't you have some sort of confidentiality oath and stuff?"

"You could call it that, but I think this is different," Arthur said.

"How?" Will asked.

"He can't not tell him," Hunith said quietly, her hand moving to draw the picture closer. "What about the poor boy this happened to?"

"And why him?" Arthur asked. "I don't want to sound completely pessimistic, but there are hundreds of murders that go on. Why did Merlin pick up on this one? Not only do I have to tell my father, I need to know what he hasn't bothered to tell me."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Before he went into the reception at the station Arthur called his father.

"I'm a little busy son," Uther said as he answered the phone.

"I know, but I need to talk to you urgently."

"Well, can it be tonight, I haven't got time to come over to you now."

"You don't have to," Arthur said as he pushed the door open. "I'm in reception, can you get them to let me up to see you. Trust me, this is urgent and you are going to want to hear this."

There was a pause; the phone was silent, although Arthur could hear the incident room as background noise, so he knew his father hadn't cut him off. Then he heard Uther's sigh.

"Dad, please, I wouldn't ask unless it was important."

There was another pause. Arthur was aware of one of the desk sergeants watching him with interest. No one on the reception was anyone he recognised. It was easy enough when they did, he had been trawling around police stations with Uther throughout his teenage years. Most of the time those who knew him let him into the building without any problem, even if they didn't like his father most of the officers Arthur encountered respected him.

"I'll call down and verify who you are, but you may have to wait for someone to come down. Security it a little tight."

"Okay, thanks dad."

Arthur rung off, if he had to wait that might give him time to formulate what he wanted to say. He had a small cardboard folder tucked under his arm with the relevant drawings in it. He had brought all of them, with the exception of the one of Kilgharrah. That had no bearing on this and he had kept it for Merlin, tucking it into the frame of a picture that was on Merlin's bedroom wall. Arthur thought that he might buy a frame for it, and put it up on the wall.

"Can I help you?" the uniformed man behind the desk demanded, as he watched Arthur linger.

"I'm just waiting for DCS Pendragon, he's going to phone down to tell you to let me up to see him."

"And you are?" he asked in disbelief.

"Arthur?" a more moderated voice asked. Both of them turned, and Arthur grinned.

"Hi Leon."

He was a moderately friendlier face. Arthur looked him up and down, Leon looked as if he had been up early, but still managed to look better put together, he had lost his suit jacket somewhere along the way, but his tie, shirt and waistcoat were still neat and tidy. Leon smiled back and asked.

"What are you doing here?" Then he blinked and shook his head. "Stupid question, I suppose you want to see your father. He is a bit busy."

"No change then," Arthur said, smiling to take the edge of his words. "I've just called him, he's supposed to be phoning down to tell them to let me in, that or he'll send Gwaine down."

Leon paused, and debated his position before turning to the officer on the desk.

"When DCS Pendragon calls down can you let him know I'm bringing Arthur up?"

"Sure."

Leon inclined his head. "Come on, I'm going that way anyway."

Arthur flashed him a grateful smile and fell into step with him. Leon punched the numbers on the keypad to get them further into the building and they started up the stairs.

"I don't know how hospitable he'll be, we are a bit inundated now."

"I saw a bit of the news; that was quick work this morning."

"That's my job, I've made a few more useful contacts over the last few months, since the 'Ripper' case… sorry," Leon said as Arthur frowned at the reference. "Habit, your father disapproves of it too."

Arthur huffed. There was a short embarrassed pause before Leon, on the next landing, altered the subject slightly.

"How is Merlin?"

"Getting there physically, mentally it's a whole new story. You probably had your work cut out, keeping his name clear of the media."

"It was deemed a good precuation for his own safety."

"Why?" Arthur asked. "You caught the guy when you found Merlin."

Leon shifted, speeding up as they headed to the next floor. "You know what I mean, he wasn't in any state to cope with people trying to get near him, and he was a witness to a lot of it. We're here."

Arthur followed him through the double doors and down the corridor towards the noise of the incident room. That was not what Leon meant, Arthur was sure of that. Still Leon wouldn't say any more, he was there to control the press, and give them information, not start telling Arthur details of the case. As they went into the incident room Gwaine catapulted a paper missile in their direction. Leon caught it and put it in the bin.

"Hey Junior," he said to Arthur. "Come to see us big boys do some real work."

Arthur ground his teeth and ignored Gwaine. There was no point trying to get back at him, Gwaine just found any retaliation funny, and Arthur wasn't in the mood for him. So he instead turned and smiled at Morgana.

"Hi Morgana."

She looked very business-like in a neat royal blue suit that covered everything but was tight enough to reveal. Her hair was tied back in a ribbon that matched, making her look almost regal. Arthur had never seen her look messy.

"Hello Arthur, he's just on the phone, you might need to wait a moment."

He shrugged and perched on the end of a desk. Leon wandered off to start talking to one of the other officers. Gwaine lingered around Arthur and Morgana, probably trying to find another way to annoy Arthur.

"I don't know how long he can give you, it's a bit hectic at the moment," Morgana said.

"Yeah, I saw the reports this morning. Got any information back yet?"

"Still waiting on some," Morgana said.

"Time of death?" Arthur asked. Morgana frowned and shook her head, eyeing Arthur curiously and with a trace of irritation.

"Not yet."

"Oohh, are you taking up detective work?" Gwaine asked.

Arthur didn't answer, he turned to look at the board that had the details pinned up, including a picture of their victim. The boy looked to be in his late teens with curly blond hair, and wide eyes. He was smiling into the camera with a similar bright, innocent expression that Merlin had been wearing in the photo up in Hunith's hallway. The uneasy feeling stirred in Arthur's gut again, and he slid off the desk to move closer to the board.

He felt vaguely aware of his father bearing down on him, and Gwaine flicked another missile at him, which hit Arthur on the back. He opened the folder and extracted the picture.

"I'll give you a roundabout guess of about 4am," Arthur said, and before anyone could ask him why he pinned the drawing up next to the photograph. He took one step back and looked from one to the other, giving himself a few seconds to examine the two. There was no doubt, Merlin had focused his attention on the boy's face, although in the picture it was contorted with terror it was still the victim's face.

"What the hell…?" Morgana said. She brushed against Arthur to stare at the two pictures. Gwaine got up from his seat and eased himself against her to look. Uther took Arthur's arm and yanked, pulling Arthur towards him.

"Where did you get that?" Uther snapped.

A few of the people in the room paused, turning their attention to the group. Leon eased himself closer, also looking at the picture and the photograph.

"Oh my God," he said.

Their eyes were slowly turning in Arthur's direction. Uther was staring at him, looking none too pleased with him. Arthur exhaled heavily.

"Merlin drew it, a little after four this morning. He kicked off screaming the place down."

"You weren't on call last night," Uther said, he always knew Arthur's routine. It really kind of proved that although he didn't often see him, he certainly cared about Arthur, wanting to know where he was, and that he was safe at all times. Since he was now 30 years old, and a grown-up, Arthur thought it a little excessive, but he couldn't really stop his father from doing it.

"No, but Lancelot had no idea what to do, when someone who is catatonic suddenly starts screaming it's a little hard to work out."

"And he drew that, I thought he wasn't moving," Gwaine said.

Uther took the picture and photograph off the board, giving Arthur a steely glare.

"Come with me," he snarled. Uther spun on his heel and headed towards the little tiny office over in the corner. It didn't really give much privacy, since the windows looked out over the main room but Arthur obediently trailed after him. After a moment, and a shared glance, Morgana and Gwaine tailed after him. Leon brought up the rear.

"When were you planning on telling me that Merlin was moving?" Uther demanded and Arthur winced.

"That's an over simplification. He doesn't generally move voluntarily but he did start moving his hand when I was sketching once. I put the pencil in his hand and guided him and he started drawing. He's drawing what he's seeing in his head."

"I presume he's done more than this," Uther snapped. Arthur shifted the file again, taking out the other pictures.

"Three are almost the same, I can't work out what it is, or this, but it has to have some correlation with the trauma."

Uther spread the pictures out on the desk staring at them.

"I was going to tell you, I need to try and find out what they mean, and what Merlin is trying to tell me, but I didn't think it would have any relevance."

Uther glared at him. "You've read the reports, any evidence I can get is relevant."

"Why? You convicted the guy who did this, and let's face it, I haven't got all the information. I went through what you gave us with a fine tooth comb, and it doesn't cover half of it. Most of what I got was the medical examination and some scene of crime stuff. Which means there was something you didn't tell me!" Arthur heard his voice rising. Everyone beyond the thin partition pretended not to be listening.

Gwaine picked up one of the drawings, studying it intently. "This looks familiar, hang on."

He ran off across the incident room and started rummaging around the filing cabinet. Arthur glared at his father. Morgana stepped into the eye line of both Pendragons.

"There was no reason for Arthur to think he needed to rush down and tell us every little detail. This development puts an entirely different light on the situation," she said, holding up the drawing. "How the hell could Merlin know what was happening last night?"

Uther looked at Arthur, so did Morgana. Gwaine, thankfully, provided a distraction by running back in with a file, a very thick file, which was falling to pieces.

"Look at this," he said, handing another picture to Arthur. It was a scene of crime photograph. Arthur took it and viewed the image carefully, Gwaine laid a few others out on the desk, and put one of the pictures Merlin had drawn of the odd looking boiler in the middle.

"That was in the cellar where we found him," Gwaine said.

Arthur's heart tensed as he looked at the squat boiler that occupied a corner of the small space. The black object had an oddly threatening look to it. The chimney ran up through the low ceiling.

"By the look of it some of the victim's clothes were burnt in there, but there was a woodpile nearby, so we presumed he used it to keep them warm. When we found Merlin and the dead boy in there they were both naked," Gwaine said.

Arthur felt his stomach start to churn.

"Where was Merlin in relation to this thing?"

"Opposite corner, just there," Gwaine pointed to the relevant space on a wider shot. The walls of the room looked filthy with grime and Arthur thought some of the smears were traces of blood. An old, ragged sleeping bag and pile of blankets were tucked up in the area that Gwaine pointed to.

"Was that thing in Merlin's line of sight?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, he was staring at it."

There was a pause, Arthur swallowed heavily. "He's still there, in his mind, Merlin's still there."

"You said he seemed aware of his surroundings," Morgana said.

"It doesn't matter where he is physically; mentally and emotionally he's still here, and he can't get out. The murder can't have happened there though, can it?"

"No," Uther said. "We checked it."

"So what haven't you told me about this?" Arthur demanded. "I didn't have any details of the case other than that is specific to Merlin. You said there were holes, and circumstantial evidence. What am I missing?"

Uther sighed heavily. "There is no doubt that Cenred, the man in question, did what he did. Despite the defence, there was enough evidence to convict him."

"But…?" Arthur demanded. "There's a but somewhere in that sentence."

"But there is also evidence that these crimes were not committed by someone acting alone. Chances are he was working with someone else. The only problem is we have no idea who is it, or where to even start looking."

Arthur felt his stomach go cold, and do a very dramatic somersault.

"And now he's killed again," Gwaine added.

"And somehow," Arthur said, amazed that his voice stayed steady. "Merlin knows exactly what is happening."

Uther looked at him steadily. "Which means as strange as it is, we may have a witness."