As ever, thank you for your reviews! So… what happened next?
Hari
Ray listened through the door, but he found that he wasn't enjoying it as much as he should. Ray felt that was because it was DI Drake, it was like listening to his mother. Like listening to his mother with a man who wasn't his father, so he gave up. He snuck a look at the Guv and wasn't surprised to see that his face had an expression that would make a tropical storm envious.
Chris' voice crackled over the radio, "Something's wrong."
Gene lifted his gun, "Break down the door Carling."
"Hold your fire, Guv," said Chris.
"Skelton, if Drake is in trouble and we don't-"
"She's asking him questions, he might admit-"
Then Alex's voice, a scream that ripped through Gene's chest like a knife.
"Hari! Hari!"
"Go, go, go, go!" barked Gene as Ray broke down the door.
Bryson leapt up off Alex- who, to Gene's relief was still wearing her underwear- and stared at Gene triumphantly.
"So she is an officer! I knew it."
"You're nicked, you murdering bastard!" Gene shouted and was taken aback to see Bryson throw his head back and howl with laughter.
"But it wasn't me! I know it wasn't and you can't prove it."
Gene looked around at Alex in confusion, "But didn't you get it out of him?"
Alex shook her head in misery and wiped the blood from her nose. Gene suddenly understood. Alex hadn't cried Hari because they had finally got their man, it was because he had hurt her, he had struck her across the face, putting her in danger. Gene didn't know what angered him more, Bryson's attack on his officer or Alex's failure to get a confession. Still, it wasn't her fault. It was a stupid idea, and Gene felt more anger bubble up inside him, this time directed at Ray. It was his stupid idea anyway.
Instead of acting on his anger, Gene turned back to their suspect. "Thomas Bryson, I am arresting you for the assault of a police officer."
XXX
Heavy breathing, then silence
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, I-"
"You're one of them, aren't you?"
Silence
"AREN'T YOU? You're a COPPER!"
"Did you kill those girls?"
"No."
"Why did you kill them?"
"I didn't, you slut."
"Those girls you bought-"
Thuds
Another
Another
A scream
"Hari! Hari!"
XXX
As Alex listened back to the tapes, she breathed a sigh of relief, but she was the only one. The bugs hadn't picked up on her saying Gene's name, but she had failed. Bryson had got away due to her stupidity, her complete failure to question him until the end when it was too late.
Worst of all, she was now convinced it was him, despite the alibi. He had attacked her when he feared she was getting too close to the truth, a theory Gene had shot down instantly. As far as Gene was concerned, she had failed and made a laughing stock of him. The assault charges against him had been dropped, since Alex was basically a prostitute who, in the eyes of any jury, had asked for it. Alex had protested loudly but had been forced to see Gene's point. It didn't matter that he had hit her after working it out. The fact remained about how she was there, who she was pretending to be.
Listening to the tapes, as far as everyone except Alex was concerned, was pretty much a formality anyway. That night, a call came to Gene's office. Sarah South was on the other end, saying that she had heard about their investigation from her friend at another pub. She was a barmaid at the Horse and Trap and she had definitely served George Capstone at least one drink, around midnight. She didn't know if he was there all night or who he was with due to the crowd inside, but that wasn't the point was it, thought Gene as he thanked her and hung up the phone and left his office to go to Luigi's about an hour after everyone else.
George had said he was in another pub. New evidence contradicted that. It no longer mattered that Drake had failed with Bryson. He, despite her insistence, hadn't done it. Gene now knew who had.
XXX
Alex was completely miserable. Had she got Bryson like she was supposed to have done, last night in Luigi's should have been wonderful, honouring her skill as an officer. Instead, Ray and Chris had barely looked at her and Gene had turned up an hour late, had a pint, talked to Ray and Chris, then left without speaking to her. Alex had doubted he had ever left Luigi's so sober. Even Shaz had avoided her. She said she was going home to change but instead she called Luigi's to say she was ill and so would be giving it a miss so she could still be in tomorrow.
The next day at the station was no better. Everyone was in already- including Shaz, despite her illness. Gene had Ray in his office and the two of them seemed to be arguing over something. So I've been replaced that quickly, thought Alex sadly.
The door opened. She heard Ray say something about, "Falcon, I'm sure it was," before Gene called over to her.
"Boll- Drake. What was the name of the pub that George Capstone said he'd been in each of those nights?"
"I can't remember, Guv," said Alex and instantly regretted it as she saw the looks CID gave each other. An officer who couldn't remember the stories of the suspects in a murder investigation? She really was useless.
She tried to redeem herself. "The Horse and Falcon?"
"The Horse and Trap?" asked Gene carefully.
"No," she replied, "The Horse and Falcon. Definitely."
There was silence as Gene held a piece of paper in front of her eyes. Alex scanned it quickly, recognising it as the transcript of the interview Capstone had given her and Gene. Her stomach swooped unpleasantly.
"Then why does it say here that Capstone was in the Horse and Trap?" said Gene, brandishing the typed transcript of the interview, "It doesn't help that the recording's gone bloody AWOL as well!"
"Maybe it was the Trap," said Alex, trying to restore peace to the situation, but it backfired horribly.
"Do you not know, Drake? Can you not remember? I think you're losing your touch, Inspector. Once upon a time I thought you'd make a good officer. How I hate being proven wrong."
Alex stared back at Gene, willing herself not to cry. She hated him, completely hated him. She knew it was all down to the Bryson thing, he was punishing her for it. It was Ray's idea, she wanted to scream, but deep down, she agreed. She hated herself.
"It was the Falcon," Alex said quietly so as to hide the cracks in her voice, "The Horse and Falcon. I remember, he asked if you had been there."
"I've been to the Horse and Trap too!" yelled Gene, the volume of his voice at odds with Alex's choked whisper, "The fact is, if it says the Horse and Trap on the transcript, then it was the Horse and Trap! How could the transcript have changed?"
Alex had no answer.
"Who sent Carling on a wild goose chase in the wrong pub?" yelled Gene, turning to Ray.
Ray looked straight at Alex. Another nail in the coffin of her career.
XXX
Ray found Shaz in the kitchen. She grinned broadly at him and offered him a cup of tea, which he accepted gratefully.
"It's all my fault," he said, careful to keep his voice low, "About the Guv and Ma'am, I mean."
"What are you talking about?" asked Shaz quickly.
"He really hates her. He's been fighting with her a lot since that night."
"They fight all the time," said Shaz, handing Ray his mug.
"Not like this," said Ray, "And it is my fault. That Bryson thing was my idea and now I've dropped her in it again. The thing is, I'm sure it was the Horse and Falcon I saw when Drake sent me look for information. Drake's not incompetent, whatever the Guv seems to think. If she sent me there, it was for a reason," he stopped to sip his tea then continued, "but why is the transcript different?"
"I don't think the Guv really thinks the Ma'am is incompetent," said Shaz, turning around to wash up some mugs in the sink. I think he's just jealous that it was Bryson and not him."
Ray snorted and turned to leave. "Thanks for the tea, Shaz." He noticed that she didn't reassure him that it wasn't his fault.
Just as Ray was thanking Shaz, Alex hurried away from the doorway that led to the kitchen. She knew she shouldn't listen through doors but she couldn't help herself. For the first time in a long time, she really, really hated her life here.
XXX
Alex was sleeping on her sofa when a sudden noise woke her up. As she lay there in the dazed realm of being half-awake, she realised that not only was it still the middle of the night, but a knock at the door had woken her up. Swearing softly, she opened the door, ready to give Gene a good bollocking for waking her up.
Still, it was nice to know that he was finally ready to talk to her properly. Maybe now they could get back some of their old camaraderie, cleaning the streets of London, like they were supposed to.
Gene wasn't there. No-one was, the corridor outside was completely deserted. As Alex shut the door, she noticed something yellow on the floor and realised the noise that woke her hadn't been a knock, it had been the letterbox banging shut.
She picked up the yellow paper. It was stiff, like card and wasn't in an envelope. It had obviously been hand delivered. Alex turned it over and what she read made her feel nausea.
Wouldn't it be horrible if something bad happened to Gene?