Yes, so it has been over a month since I posted chapter 3. I'm very sorry for that, but I was simply too busy with my college work. However, it's more than probable that the next chapters will be posted soon (well, I suppose it depends what you understand by 'soon'...) Anyway, thank you all very much for your reviews and for staying with me despite this awfuly long breaks between chapters.

As always I want to thank Ethelfreda for correcting this chapter. She corrected it extremly quickly, it was just me, who had no time to post it earlier.

They were both standing on the shore of the lake. He was holding her hands and smiling at her.

"Julia Ogden, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked

Smiling at him she had just opened her mouth to answer him when a loud gunshot ripped through the air and Julia fell to her knees. He caught her in his arms and noticed she was bleeding profusely from her chest. Holding her tightly against him he wept with fear and anger.

"No Julia no! Don't leave me now! Do not die!"

"Yes, William. I will marry you" she said and with that she died.

Then he heard a devilish laugh which he knew all too well.

"Poor Julia, what a pity I had to kill her" James Gillies was coming towards him "she was such a beauty..." Murdoch's greatest enemy was laughing again but his laughter slowly changed until it sounded more like a telephone ring than a human's voice.

Detective Murdoch suddenly opened his eyes. He was in his office and the clock in front of him showed it was five. It seemed that he slept with his head resting on a desk all night again and despite the fact that his body was aching, he felt relieved to find it had only been a nightmare. In reality he and Julia were engaged and James Gillies was dead but for some reason, he could still hear that sound. The phone! Detective Murdoch quickly picked the receiver up, although he was still very sleepy and didn't quite catch everything the nurse told him and he irritated her by asking that she repeat the message for a second time.

"I said that inspector Brackenreid has gone through the worst and he will recover" repeated the woman. "Now if you please Detective, I have some important things to do" and with that she hung up.

Murdoch sighed with relief, his prayers has been answered and the Inspector had survived the crisis. He wanted to call Julia instantly to share the news, but then he realised that he would wake her up, so he decided to continue looking through the files instead. After reading the contents of a few folders he felt disheartened. He got up from his chair and went to the restroom to wash his face. Feeling a little bit refreshed he thought how good it would be to drink a cup of coffee. He still was not a great fan of this beverage, but he knew it would make him think more clearly. Energized by rather disgusting dark liquid, William decided to go to his superior's office to continue searching for clues there.

He looked into the first drawer in the Inspector's desk. The first drawer he opened held two items, a bottle of an expensive whiskey and one folder and when he saw the name Brackenreid wrote on the cover, he knew he was on the right track. The name O'Shea was all too familiar to him and it was filled with information about the man.

"I should have thought about it earlier! It's so obvious. When he left the station after the interrogation he was furious with Brackenreid and a man like O'Shea would settle the score on way or another. He probably asked one of his friends for help and they attacked the Inspector together." William muttered angrily to himself and began to read the dossier. He found out that Mick O'Shea had a brother, who could have helped him with the attack. It was seven thirty when Murdoch finished reading the file and decided it was a good time to call Julia.

"William, you are at work already?!"

"Well...

"Never mind. I'm sorry I didn't call you yesterday, but I finished my work at the asylum very late and went straight home, but I promise I'll go to the hospital today then stop by the station to share my findings with you."

"That's fine, Julia. I'm not calling to rush you" William smiled subconsciously "I have good news about the Inspector. The nurse called me two hours ago and said he would be fine."

"Oh, William, I'm so relieved! I was beginning to lose hope."

"I must admit it didn't look too good to me either, but now we can relax, everything will be fine."

"I wouldn't call conducting very important investigation a relaxing."

"True... About that, Julia. I think I know who attacked the Inspector."

"You do?!"

"Yes. I found Mick O'Shea's files in Inspector's drawer and I'm almost sure of his guilt. He has a brother who probably was the second attacker. However, I'd very much appreciate if you could help me determine if he's capable of this while you are here."

"Of, course, William. I'll come during my lunch break if that's convenient."

"Very well. See you later then."

'Very much to the point, as always' thought Julia. 'But he has always been like that, once he really concentrates on the case, I can forget about knowing looks and playful smiles, but later...

"Sir!" George came in just a second after Murdoch hung up "Have you heard about the Inspector?"

"Yes, George, I worst is over and he should recover fully, and what is more, I think I finally know who attacked him."

"Sir?"

"Mick O'Shea with the help of his brother."

"Now as you say it, it seems so obvious."

"Yes. I want you and Henry to find everything about the brothers. Childhood, jobs, family, habits, everything you manage to find out."

"Right away, sir!"

Murdoch sat down on his chair again and got lost in his notes from the 'Jubilee Singers' case, taking special notice on everything connected with the brothers. Once he did that, he went through the files from the Inspector's desk once more until a knock on the door brought him back to reality.

"Julia! You're here already?"

"It's almost two o'clock, William" she said smiling

"Two o'clock? I must have lost track of time. Anyway, what have you?"

"I'm just coming back from the hospital and although the Inspector is still unconscious his life is no longer in danger. The attack on him was extremely brutal and it's almost a miracle he survived. The injuries confirm your theory about two attackers and from what you have discovered it is most likely the Inspector was not an accidental victim."

"Thank you, Julia, you've been most helpful. Before you leave, would you mind looking at this?" he said passing her his notes which he was taking just before she came.

She read them all carefully and after closing the file she said,

"I can't tell you anything for certain, but it's more than probable that the O'Sheas are your perpetrators. From what I've seen, the attackers used a chain and something that could be a shovel - things that can be easily found at the docks."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome... I've brought something for you, William."

"It was not necessary, Julia" said Murdoch unwrapping the paper

"It's just a sandwich. A piece of a hot meat put between..."

"Two slices of bread, I know. George was fascinated by these some time ago."

"It is not very good for your stomach, but I had no time to make anything healthier, and it's still better that nothing. I presume that you not only sleep in your office, but also refuse to acknowledge, that human body needs to be fed."

"You know me all too well, Julia... But did you say you made this sandwich yourself? I thought you don't cook?"

"Well I do..."

Chief Constable Giles' appearance stopped Julia from finishing the sentence. She left the Station and went back to the asylum, while Murdoch familiarized his superior with every detail connected with the investigation.

"Constable Crabtree... I'm sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to ask if there's any news about the Inspector." Emily spoke shyly as she approached George, who was sitting by his desk and going through some files.

"Dr. Grace, I wasn't expecting to see you here! That is... It's good you've come, Doctor. Inspector Brackenreid is still unconscious, but he'll be fine."

"Thank God! That must be a huge relief for Margaret, I can only imagine what she's been going through" The young doctor accidentally put more meaning into this phrase than she actually intended. After a short awkward silence she said: "Are the rumors true? I've heard Detective Murdoch was promoted to an acting inspector."

"Yes he was, we are all glad that it was he."

"Indeed. But who is going to take over his duties as a detective? Surely even he can't manage doing both jobs at the same time."

"Actually that is exactly what he intends to do, however he gave me the detective's badge so I could use it if need be."

"I'm so proud of you, George! You truly deserve it" she said spontaneously, forgetting that it would be better to address him 'constable' now.

"Why, thank you Emily. Yet, I think I would have enjoyed it more under different circumstances..."

"Of course... Oh, but you must be terribly busy now! Please forgive me for taking so much of your time, constable."

"It was nice talking to you, Emily." said George honestly.

She went back to the morgue with a light heart. Not only was the Insoector getting better, but also there was a glimmer of hope that her relationship with George can be renewed some day.

'That was a very hard, long day' thought Murdoch getting up from his chair. He spent hours writing some letters and arranging different things as an acting inspector. All of that was boring and tiresome, and what's more it drew him away from the investigation.

William went home, where he washed and changed. Coming back home everyday didn't make much sense now, so he took some clothes and returned to the Station House. All the cells were empty because the other station houses had taken the prisoners in order to relieve Station number four from some of the duties.

Lying down on the pallet William was feeling depressed. He wanted to think about Julia, just to calm down and feel happy at least for a while, but as soon as his eyes closed, he fell asleep into a long, dreamless sleep.

TBC (hopefully sooner than later)

Thank you very much for reading. If you want to make my day, leave me a comment, if you don't, that's fine too - I'm every single pearson reading this makes me unbelievebly happy!