It was another Friday a month later and Dr Hobson was finishing up a report. She was in no particular rush as she had no plans for the evening other than a bottle of wine and the DVD box-set of Sherlock. Her phone buzzed in her handbag and she was a bit confused to see who was calling. 'Hi Robbie' she said. 'Aren't you supposed to be meeting Lyn about now?'

'I am, that's why I've called. I need a favour.' He sounded stressed so Laura resisted making him beg. 'What's the problem?' she asked briskly instead.

'We've just had a call from the Met. They've picked up the brother and James and I'll have to head down there to interview him. I was supposed to pick Lyn up at the station in half an hour and take her out to dinner but there's no way I can make it. I don't suppose….'

'I'll get her and take her back to my place' said Laura without hesitation. 'It's only five now so you might still make it back for a late dinner, otherwise we'll get a take away.'

Lewis sighed with relief. 'Thanks, pet. I owe you.'

Laura smiled. 'Not at all. It'll be nice to catch up with Lyn again. Don't work too hard!' Lewis chortled. 'That'll be the day. The day I retire maybe' and he rang off.

Laura packed up her stuff and headed to Oxford train station. She really didn't mind. Lyn seemed nice enough but it would be good to get to know her a bit better and it wasn't as if she had any concrete plans. Sherlock Holmes would have to wait. She parked and waited by the barriers. Lyn obviously spotted her first as she waved. They hugged politely and exchanged pleasantries as they walked to Laura's car.

'Thanks for coming to get me' said Lyn. 'Dad called in a panic and I said I could get a cab to his and wait for him there but this is much nicer.' Laura smiled. 'Not a problem. I had no plans as your Dad and his sergeant are my usual Friday night drinking buddies. Plus your Dad's place is a mess. Or at least I suspect it is. They're in the middle of a big case so I can't imagine he's done much tidying, even knowing you are coming. '

'How big a case?' Lyn asked frowning. 'Am I going to get to see him at all this weekend?'

Laura was going to say something comforting but saw Lyn's face and shrugged instead. 'You know how it is' she said as gently as she could. Lyn nodded. 'That I do. Growing up we'd not see him for weeks if he was involved in something big. I'd hear a door bang in the middle of the night and know he was home but he'd be gone before I woke up in the morning. Still, at least he's doing something useful. You'd have the same kinda life I guess?'

Laura unlocked the car and opened the boot. Lyn stuffed her things in. Laura shut it and then replied to the question. 'My job's not quite as bad. I can get called out at any time of night but my cases don't take over in the same way. No chasing criminals through the dark streets of Oxford for me.' She shuddered a little, actively trying not to think of the one-time she'd been very glad that policemen on a case don't really clock off until it's solved, when she was lying at the bottom of her own grave. She turned the radio on to distract herself and pulled out of the car park.

As the travelled they chatted a bit and Lyn texted Tim to say she'd arrived safely. When she'd done that she hit the facebook icon on her phone and opened a message thread. She sent 'Clue 1: she says my Dad's house is a mess. Means she's been there recently.'

As Laura turned into her road the local news came on. She turned it up. 'The police today arrested a man in connection with the murder of the Slater family. The man, believed to be Michael Neeks, the brother of Angela Slater, was found hiding at a friend's house in Hammersmith and has been charged with three counts of murder and assaulting a police officer. Detective Inspector Lewis was the officer in charge of the case.' Lyn watched the older woman carefully as she listened intently to her Dad speak. 'We would like to thank all the members of the public who helped us track down Michael Neeks. We hope his arrest will help bring some closure to the Slater family in the wake of this tragedy.'

Laura smiled at Lyn and turned the radio off. 'There you go. He'll drive back to Oxford, sign off whatever he has to sign off and then you'll get the rest of the weekend with him.' Lyn returned the smile. 'Great. In the meantime did you mention something about wine?'

As Lyn grabbed her bag and waited for Laura to the door and type 0000 into the alarm she added something to her earlier message. 'Plus she goes all gooey at the sound of his voice.'

She got a response pretty quickly and checked it under the pretense of going to the loo. 'Everyone knows his flat is a state and 'looking gooey' wouldn't stand up in court. We need hard evidence! J'

Lyn chuckled to herself and set about finding hard evidence. She started where she was, in the bathroom. There was only one toothbrush in the mug on the sink and all the products on display around the sink and by the bath seemed decidedly feminine. The she started on the cupboards. Lyn felt a bit guilty but she had her orders and she used this to justify what she was doing and tried to pretend she wasn't enjoying snooping around quite so much. The cupboard above the sink was mostly full of medicines, all off the shelf or prescribed for L. Hobson. Lyn was a nurse so could have deduced a lot more from the contents of the bottles but felt that was not within the remit of her particular mission. The cupboard under the sink had cleaning things and spare toilet rolls, nothing incriminating there. The top drawer was entirely make up but in the second drawer down she found her second clue: a battered old travel wash-bag containing a toothbrush, a razor and shaving soap. The soap was cracked and dry and she couldn't tell how recently it had been used. Still she sent another message.

'Clue 2: toothbrush and shaving stuff in drawer in bathroom. Smells like Dad.'

This time the response was immediate. 'Better - Keep up the good work!'