Jean Innocent sat across the table from her son in the ice cream cafe. She was dressed better than most of the other mothers there and looked a bit out of place. It seemed a rather frivolous outing for such an authoritative woman. She was distracted by something happening across the room and her son noticed that her attention was not focused on him.

"Mum, you keep looking over at those two people at the table by the door." When she didn't respond he added. "Isn't that DS Hathaway and…?"

She turned back to face Chris. "Dr. Laura Hobson." She looked over at them again. "They look out of place."

"Unlike us, a mother and her grown-up son sharing ice cream?"

"We've been doing this since you were a small boy. I see no reason to discontinue the practice now that you have followed me into the family business."

"…Patrick O'Brian." Laura finished the sentence for him as James had become unnerved by Jean Innocent's gaze and ducked his head to avoid looking at her. "The books…" James nodded. He was uncomfortable being observed.

Laura was prepared to stare Innocent down, daring her to question their meeting. Then it occurred to her that she might think they were up to something that Robbie was clueless about. Nothing could be further from the truth.

By silent agreement James and Laura decided it was time to exit the cafe. They paid the bill and quietly made their way outside.

As they headed down the sidewalk to an unknown destination, both had their hands thrust into pockets. They walked in silence for several minutes. James took his hands out so he could light a cigarette, then another. She never liked seeing him smoke. He knew she didn't approve.

Deep in thought, he pictured his name in ink, James Laurance Hathaway. He had been carrying that misspelled clue with him all his life.

She was thinking about names too.

"James, your opening move in our chess game was…"

"The Hobbs gambit. It seemed appropriate."

"It was."

When they reached a park where children were playing they stopped and watched for a few minutes. Then James went and sat on an empty bench. Laura stood frozen in place, wistful about trips to the park that never were. She saw that James was looking at her and pointing at the bench so she joined him.

He had something to confess.

"When I found out who you were, I wanted to be angry with you."

"For giving you up, or not telling you who I was?"

"I'm not sure."

"And you didn't show your anger because you are too polite."

"Maybe, also I found out a long time ago that it takes too much effort finding your place in the world when you're angry."

"I understand that." She didn't dare to ask if he'd found his place in the world.

"I struggled with accepting you as my mother. I could handle the work situations. They let me warm up to you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes both troubled by a shared memory. Laura tried to speak twice before she could get the words out.

"You rescued me from the second darkest moment of my life." James had the same difficulty when he responded.

"I was just following orders and I didn't know you were my mother when I did that." The terror of that night was stuck in his mind and kept company with horrors from long ago.

"I knew who you were. The shock of seeing you in that grave was more powerful than the near death experience." She couldn't shake the feeling that things were the wrong way round. He saved her from evil and when he needed her to do that she wasn't there.

James went back to what she said earlier, about the second darkest moment of her life.

"What could possibly have been a darker moment in your life than that?" Maybe when that maths teacher...

She whispered her answer. "When I gave you up." She ducked her head.

"If I could remember it, I'm sure it would be my darkest moment too. Worse than…"

They watched the children on the swings and listened to their shouts and laughter.

"James, did you ever see a counselor about your dark moments?"

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"Did it help?"

"It was a start. Maybe you should…"

"Are you advising me to do this because you are my mother?"

"Not if you don't want me to. I am also your friend, your colleague, and a doctor."

"The saying 'Physician, heal thyself' comes to mind."

"Touche."

"That's from the Bible, not Shakespeare."

She resisted the urge to tell him she knew that. That's what she would have done before they were admittedly mother and son. Instead she said "Maybe we should have left things the way there were."

"Just because I'm uncomfortable with it, doesn't make it wrong. And you said it yourself, pawns can't go backwards."

"Does that mean we've made some progress."

"Yes, towards what I don't know." He risked a look in her direction. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course."

He turned away from her and stared at his feet while he spoke.

"Why didn't you ever have more children? Did I damage you in some way?"

She took a deep breath.

"I recovered physically, and emotionally, well the jury is still out on that. I didn't have any more children because it would have felt like I betrayed you. How could I be a mother to someone else after not doing it for you?"

"Was there someone…"

"Who wanted to get married and have children with me? Yes, I had to let him go."

"Because you would have felt guilty…"

"Yes."

Neither noticed that they were finishing each other's sentences with ease.

James looked up at the sky then turned his gaze on her.

"Now who does that remind me of?"

She was not surprised by the conclusion he reached. After all, he was a good detective.

"You have solved the mystery of my relationship with Robbie, the reason I was so patient with him. I understood his feelings of guilt and betrayal."

"You both wasted a lot of years until he got over them. Did you get over yours?"

"I found a compromise. I got involved with some organizations that help orphans and foster children."

"So that's what you do on your holidays, the ones you don't talk about."

"Yes. Just like you."

James suddenly announced in a shaky voice,

"Sorry, I have to go." He got up and walked away without looking at her.

She couldn't watch him leave.

Clouds were darkening in the sky and rain was threatening. Mothers started calling to their children that it was time to move inside.

Laura stayed on the bench, closed her eyes, and tried to block out the sound of their voices.

At first I worried there were too many red herrings, then too many obvious clues. This story is so stressful!