'So sad,' Jean murmured when Lucien told her about the girl in the red dress. 'I mean, I know it happened, but it shouldn't have.'

Lucien tightened his hold on her. They were sitting on the couch in the studio, away from the rest of the household, who had gone to bed, anyway.

'It closed years ago, but I have a feeling this happened after then.' Lucien kissed her head. 'I suppose some men may have used it, you know for assignations after...'

Alice was right, this conversation was harder than he had envisaged it.

'Oh, heavens, yes!' Jean blurted out, 'it was common knowledge that that was where 'easy' girls went, especially if they were going with soldiers.'

Lucien coughed, from a very difficult question to an almost casual admission that she knew of such goings on,

'Really?' He turned and looked at her.

'My mother may have tried to shelter me, but she failed.' Jean grinned. 'Not that I made use of the area...' she added, going slightly pink.

'I didn't expect you to have,' He smiled, 'but nor did I expect you to be so...so...'

'Lucien,' she sighed, 'I have lived in Ballarat all my life, you get to know things, the people and places, it's impossible to ignore such goings on, especially when you're a teenager.'

'Right...' Lucien was lost for words.

'...anyway, when girls disappear then return and everybody talks about them, but not to them...' she looked sad, '...some mothers don't talk to their daughters, some girls are clueless when it comes to that sort of thing. I'm just so glad I grew up on a farm and my mother was open and honest, even if she did try to shelter me. And when I was about to get married she was truthful, a bit too truthful, to be honest, but at least I had an idea of what Christopher was going to do on our wedding night.'

'Oh.'

'I can't think of anyone who went away and didn't come back, if that's what you're looking for.'

'It is actually, and you've answered all my unasked questions that Alice thought were going to land me on the couch for the rest of our lives.' He smiled and kissed her, 'you really are wonderful, you know.'

'Flattery will get you nowhere, doctor,' she teased and returned the kiss, 'but that will.'

He pulled her into a passionate kiss, she hummed with pleasure, 'oh, Lucien.' She melted.

The firelight was most inviting, he thought and lifted her into his arms and took her down onto the rug. She started to giggle.

'Well, charming,' he huffed.

'Sorry, sweetheart,' she tightened her grip round his neck, 'it's just that I didn't think we'd have the chance to be quite so...naughty, at home.'

'Well, the others have gone to bed,' he knelt down on the rug and gently placed her in front of him, 'and the door is closed...'

She knelt up and touched the side of his face, stroking down into his beard then down onto his chest, slipping her fingers between the buttons. He took her in his arms and lay her down, the flat of his hand now sliding down her thigh and then up under her skirt. She wriggled and felt his growing desire,

'Oh...mmm...' she bit her lip and gave in.

Their lovemaking was every bit as passionate there as it had been in the cabin, as free and deeply sensual as ever. The release left her breathless and pink, and she snuggled close to his chest, tracing her fingers through the fine blond hair.

'I do love you, Lucien.' She murmured, 'but it wouldn't do for Mattie or Charlie to find us here in the morning.'

'Mmm...true.' He mumbled from where he had buried his nose in her curls, 'perhaps we should head to our room.'

She reached for his shirt, discarded on the floor and pulled it on. Standing up and holding her hand out she looked down and hoped they'd make it to the bedroom before Lucien's obvious need overtook his sensibilities, and hers, for that matter. She blushed, Christopher had only taken her once at a time, then slept like a baby until sunrise; Lucien seemed to have boundless reserves; but what surprised her even more was that she could keep up, just!

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Jean stretched and smiled, Lucien snored gently beside her. She extricated herself from his limbs and got out of bed. She picked the clothes up off the floor and dropped them in the laundry basket as she went to take her robe off the back of the door. She turned and smiled at her, now alert, husband and blew him a kiss before heading to bathe and start the day.

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'Lucien,' the note in Alice's familiar elegant hand, lay on the mortuary table, 'had a thought after you left, gone to get soil samples from the site. A'

Lucien smiled, a good idea, but he was going to get some that day. Never mind, he'd wait for her to bring them in and they could look at them together. He decided to read the article Patrick had, in his infinite wisdom, put in the Courier. He was after information on three missing women from the brothel so he could get on with his demolition and subsequent re-build. There had been plenty of talk about it in the town, so there was no real need to put such an article on the front page.

He checked his watch, Alice was never this late, and she hadn't phoned. He went up to see if Matthew knew anything, perhaps she had found something and gone there first.

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Matthew looked surprised that Dr Harvey would have gone out, by herself to take soil samples.

'Patrick's not going to be happy,' he noted, 'her snooping about his property. Have you been giving her ideas, Blake?'

'No,' Lucien dug his hands into his pockets, 'I never even mentioned soil samples. It's her idea, honest.'

Matthew dialled Dr Harvey's number and waited; no answer; even more puzzling.

'Come on.' He grabbed his hat, 'you can drive.'

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The drive out to the site was quiet, until Lucien braked, hard.

'Bloody hell!' Matthew put his hand out to the dashboard, 'what...?'

'Alice's car.' Lucien reversed, stopped and leapt out.

The small car was nose down in a ditch. Handbag in the passenger foot-well, keys in the ignition but no sign of Dr Harvey. Lucien looked at the tyre tracks, weaving back to the brothel. Matthew took the handbag and checked the contents, house key, purse; empty; compact and lipstick.

They hastily got back into the car and continued, slowly, towards the site, each scanning the sides of the road for any sign of their colleague. Lucien pulled up at the temporary fence and looked around. One side had been moved, just where the graves were. That must be where Alice had got into the area.

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The ground had been disturbed, all three graves looked as if someone had started to fill the holes in. Lucien was more interested in the one that the girl in the red dress had been in. It looked almost full. Careful study of one end showed dark hair in amongst the soil.

'Matthew! Here!' Lucien started to brush the soil away with his hands, gently but quickly, dreading what he may find. The soil had only been tossed in lightly, not patted down and as he had flicked it away it moved. Now, more quickly, and less gently, he scraped away, uncovering Alice's face, her hands over her mouth and nose.

'Bloody hell!' Matthew helped his friend uncover enough of the woman to see she was breathing, her hands having formed enough space between her mouth and the soil to allow her access to air. Her hands were tied together, as were her feet when they uncovered the rest of her. 'She must have been tossed into the hole with no thought to actually suffocating her.'

Lucien did a cursory examination, checking her head, nasty gash to the back, back and chest.

Alice groaned and spit soil out of her mouth. Her eyes fluttered open,

'Lucien,' she gasped, then passed out again.

'Well, Alice,' he murmured softly, 'let's get you into hospital, shall we?'

'I'll carry her,' Matthew slowly slid his arms under her and lifted her up, carefully allowing her head to rest against his chest. 'You drive.'

Lucien raised his eyebrows but didn't argue. She was alive and he wanted to keep her that way. Matthew eased into the back seat of the Holden and cradled Alice as Lucien drove carefully back to Ballarat and to the hospital.

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An x-ray showed she hadn't sustained a fracture, but she would have one heck of a headache, Lucien noted. She was washed by the nurses, and dressed in a gown, then tucked up in bed while they waited for her to regain consciousness. Matthew phoned the station and sent Charlie and Bill to look for anything that would tell them what happened. He refused to leave, saying he would need to question her when she awoke. Lucien wondered, but let him stay.

'Give me her house key,' he held out his hand, 'I'll get Jean to go and get her things, she'll feel more comfortable then.'

'Right, yes, of course.' Matthew absent-mindedly passed over the handbag.

'No nagging her, if she wakes before I get back.' Lucien warned, 'she'll probably feel dreadful, and not be particularly nice-natured.' He'd once encountered Alice with a cold, and she was rather snappy, as if a cold should not have the impudence to invade her person!

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'Poor Alice,' Jean took her coat and Amelia, who she would have to take with her, and went with Lucien to her house. Leaving Lucien to hold Amelia, Jean entered Alice's neat and un-fussy home. She soon found all she would need: pyjamas, robe, toiletries and hair brush, locked up the house and Lucien drove her to the hospital.

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'Matthew...' Alice's voice could be heard as Lucien let Jean into the room. '...I really don't know.'

She was pale and obviously just about holding in her emotions. She looked almost relieved to see Jean, though it was difficult to tell.

'Matthew,' Jean spoke softly, 'honestly, leave her for a while.' She sat on the side of the bed and stroked Alice's cheek as if she was a child. Alice's bottom lip trembled and Jean thought she'd better get the two men out of the room so Alice could have a little weep in private.

'Right, you two,' Jean looked sternly at them, 'I'm going to help Alice into her own things, you can go and get us both some tea, and I expect Alice could manage some toast or a biscuit, so, hop it.' She wasn't unkind, just Jean.

'Thank you, Jean.' Alice let the tears fall once the doctor and police officer had left the room. 'I know Matthew needs to know what happened but my head hurts dreadfully and I feel rather sick.'

'Probably concussion,' Jean settled Amelia in the nearby visitors chair, 'now, how about I help you wash your face, and then you can put your pyjamas on. Hope you don't mind me rummaging in your chest of drawers?' Jean was as gentle as if she was dealing with a child.

'No, thank you Jean.' Alice tried to smile, and although, normally so independent, let Jean fuss over her.

When Lucien and Matthew reappeared with tea and biscuits, apart from a blinding headache, Alice was beginning to feel a little more human. Jean had let her have a little cry then helped her wash and change. Jean had brushed her hair, round the stitches Lucien had put in to close the gash at the back of her head, and helped her put on a little make up, just enough to take the paleness from her face, made more pronounced by the dark hair that framed it.

Matthew was much more gentle in his questioning, having been given a talking to by Lucien.

'She may not know who hit her,' Lucien told him, 'it was a blow to the back of the head, after all.'

'Sorry, Lucien,' Matthew shoved his hands deep into his pockets in frustration, 'it's just that I'm angry that she did this without saying anything to anybody. Well not angry, as such, just... well it's like she's been taking lessons from you. She should have said something, to someone.' He paused, 'Bloody hell!' He shouted, 'she could have been killed!'

'But she wasn't.' Lucien soothed, although just as frustrated as his friend, 'It'll take more than a blow to the back of the head to kill off Alice Harvey.' He didn't say anything about Matthew's concern, more than that of a colleague...actually they'd make a good pair, he thought. 'Anyway, nobody would expect there to be anyone there, work has been stopped for the time being.'

'Hmm...' Matthew looked down at the floor and scuffed with his shoe, 'anyway, do you think Jean will have finished mothering her?'

Lucien laughed at the thought of his wife, just a couple few years older than his colleague, mothering Alice. 'Better get some tea and biscuits, hadn't we?'

'Those were our instructions, simple enough, even for us.' Matthew brightened.

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There were no sign of the tears Alice had shed when the two men re-entered the room, bearing four cups of tea and a plate of biscuits. Alice was cradling Amelia while Jean put things away and smoothed down the bed clothes.

'Well, you look better,' Lucien smiled.

'Thanks to Jean,' Alice smiled a little, 'you should prescribe her. My head hurts, though.'

'Not surprised,' Lucien put the tray he was carrying on the bedside locker, 'you've got a nasty gash at the back of your head. What time did you go out there?'

'Um...' Alice sipped the tea while she thought, 'sixish, maybe. I can't remember. I finished in the morgue then went home to get my coat before going out to the site.'

Matthew sat next to the bed, 'Can you remember what happened?'

'A little,' She lay back on the pillow, turning her head so she wasn't lying on the cut, 'I had taken samples from the first two graves, where the skeletons were found and I was looking at the other one, that's all I remember.'

'You didn't hear anything, footsteps or another car?' Matthew watched her nibble a biscuit and think.

'No, sorry.' She put the biscuit down, 'Lucien could I have something for this headache, please?' She almost pleaded and Blake could see her colour start to drain from her face.

'Of course,' He left the room and returned very soon after with some Bex and an alternative in a syringe. Given that she had obviously just been sick he opted to give her an injection.

'Now, rest.' He ordered, gently. 'I'm going to take Jean home and Matthew out to the site for a squiz round. I'll pop back later.'

Jean handed Amelia to her husband and settled Alice as gently as if she was the baby. 'Sweet dreams,' she knew Lucien had given her more than pain relief.

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Lucien dropped Jean and Amelia home and then he and Matthew headed out to the building site.

Charlie and Bill had noted footprints other than those of Dr Harvey, particularly round the third grave. 'See here,' Charlie pointed to a mix of marks, scuffle marks, as if Alice had put up a fight, which was entirely plausible, but she hadn't said so.

'Perhaps there was more than one person.' Lucien suggested, reasonably, 'she wouldn't forget a fight.'

The four stood deep in thought.

'I don't think they wanted her to die.' Lucien mused, 'the way she was tied up, not properly buried. Her hands were placed so she wouldn't get soil in her mouth or airways.'

'But the force of the blow.' Matthew argued, 'too hard to expect her to wake up and get herself free.'

'Mmm...' Lucien agreed. 'Has her car been taken back, to the station?'

'Yeah,' Bill nodded, chewing his pencil in thought, 'towed in.'

'Good.' He pulled his car keys out of his pocket, 'well, back to the station then.'

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Alice's car stood, forlornly, in the yard. She hadn't had it long but it didn't look too good. The nearside headlight was broken as was the wing, there was a dent in the passenger door and the wing mirror was off.

Lucien opened the driver's door and looked at the set of the seat. He got in and wriggled. The seat was set just right for him but Alice was about six inches shorter than him so somebody other than his colleague was the last person to drive the vehicle. He looked round the interior. Alice was particular. She had given up smoking so he was surprised to find a cigarette butt in the ash tray. He picked it up and examined it closely, a trace of lipstick, pale pink. He took a small envelope out of his inside pocket and dropped the evidence in it.

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There was a message for Dr Blake when they got back to the office. It was from the Sister in charge of the ward where Alice was being nursed and could the doctor go and see his patient, please. Lucien just raised his eyebrows and headed back to the hospital.

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'Dr Blake' Sister Winters looked anxious as she greeted the doctor, 'I'm sorry to have to call you over.'

'What happened?' He liked Sister Winters, 'Frosty', to all who knew her but you couldn't find a warmer nurse.

'I sent a nurse in to check on Dr Harvey, see if she wanted anything, tea or water...' they walked to the door, 'I heard Dr Harvey scream and then the nurse came running out.'

'Alice isn't given to hysterics, Sister,' Lucien put his hand on the door.

'No, I don't expect she is.' They opened the door to see Alice sitting up in bed, which, of itself, was a good sign, but, her hair was all over the place, more than if she had been asleep, there was a pillow on the floor and the covers were rucked up and half on the floor, half on the bed. The intravenous drip had been pulled out and her wrist had been bleeding. 'That was all she let me touch,' Sister Winters pointed at the bloody dressing.

Lucien was already at the bed by the time the nurse had stopped speaking, 'Alice, Alice...' he turned her face towards him, 'Alice, what happened?'

She took a moment, to blink and recognise her colleague and friend.

'Lucien,' she grabbed his hand, 'Oh, Lucien, thank god.'

'Calm down, Alice,' he checked her pulse, racing and she was breathless, 'tell me what happened. Slowly.'

She took a few deep breaths and lay back on the remaining pillow,

'I heard someone come in to the room, but she didn't speak.' Alice kept hold of Lucien's hand, 'I half opened my eyes, my head still hurts, anyway, she came over to the bed. I thought she was just checking the drip or my vital signs, but she lifted my head and pulled the pillow out and, oh Lucien, she pressed it over my face. I think she thought I was still asleep. I fought enough to scream, that's when she ran off.'

Lucien looked at her, as far as he was aware she ruffled fewer feathers than he did, the only thing she had done lately was to go to Tyneman's site, and that had only annoyed Matthew and himself. Patrick was more likely to bluster and demand her removal from Ballarat, which wouldn't happen, he wouldn't try to have her killed. Lucien, probably, but not Alice.

'Lucien,' Alice's voice was urgent, 'she was at the site. I recognised her perfume, sweet, sickly. I smelt it last night, just before the lights went out.'

Lucien looked at Frosty, 'Which nurse did you send in?'

'Nurse Sheldon, she's relatively new.' Frosty folded her arms, 'Ballarat born but left to train in Melbourne, before coming back to work here.' She looked at the mess and approached the bed, 'Let's tidy you up, shall we, and a cup of tea?'

'Thank you, Sister.' Alice was considerably calmer now, 'I'm sorry, I was rude, before.'

'Oh, I think I can forgive you, Dr Harvey.' Frosty smiled, 'you can't expect to be civil if someone's just tried to kill you.'

'I'll ask Matthew to put a guard on the door for the next twenty four hours,' Lucien squeezed her hand, 'then you can come and stay with us until I consider you fit enough to return to work.'

'Lucien,' Alice sighed, 'Jean has enough to do, I'll be fine at home.'

'Jean would want you to come and stay.' Lucien stood up, 'she'll only worry if you're on your own until this person is found. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer.'

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So, who wants Alice dead, and why? Sorry for the delay in updating, having a few back issues.