"I'm going to the office".
Harriet announced her presence loudly, thrusting a hot cup of coffee into Maura's hands.
"I need to catch up on work and spend a bit of time not thinking about any of this" the woman gestured around her; Maura knew she was included.
"Okay."
"I'll email Kaplowitz when I get there. See if he knows anything about Mercurius." Maura opened her mouth to speak, to tell her friend everything she had found the night before, but she was silenced. "Once I'm done with him, I'm going to pass everything we have onto the police. Detective Greenly is in charge of this case, not us."
Harriet slipped on her boots and walked towards the front door. Opening it, she turned back to Maura.
"You need to talk to Jane."
/
Jane was pacing.
She had finally turned her phone back on to find over one hundred missed calls and messages.
She hadn't replied to any of them.
She simply placed her phone on the hotel bed.
And paced.
Moving her feet seemed to help move her mind along. It stopped her fixating on one issue; helped her process. But all the walking in the world couldn't stop her asking questions about what she had walked in on the night before.
The image of Maura, writhing and groaning in ecstasy, was imprinted on her mind. She couldn't erase it. Her mind replayed the scene over and over, picking it apart using her detective skills.
She had a lot to process. A lot to understand. But only one part of the whole scene had made her want to run.
Maura, eyes closed and with another woman's head between her legs, had moaned her name. Jane, she had said. Oh, Jane. Before she had opened her eyes. Before she knew she was in the room, Maura had said- moaned- her name.
Still, Jane was in Oxford for a reason.
To keep her best friend safe.
Checking it was now a reasonable hour, Jane relented. Picking up her phone, she dialled a familiar number.
"Is now a good time?" she asked quietly. "I think we need to talk."
/
"Come in."
Maura opened the door to find Jane on the other side, looking as pale and exhausted as she was. Jane took a moment to look around before slipping off her boots and walking into the house.
"Where's your friend?" Jane asked, not entirely sure what to call the woman she had only ever seen at the apex of her best friend's thighs.
"She went to her office. I think she needed some space."
The room fell silent for a moment, both women taking their time and gathering their thoughts.
"Maur, what happened last night…"
"Jane, why are you here?"
The women spoke simultaneously.
"How did you know I was here?" Maura, impatient, tapped her fingers against her folded arms as she waited for Jane's response.
"I… I thought you might need help. Nina… Nina told me about the murder."
"Jane, I'm a grown woman. You don't need to be chasing me all over the world. Murder isn't your job, not anymore."
"No, but…"
"I just don't understand why you can't leave things alone. This… this part of my life doesn't involve you. But you just walk straight in like it's normal." Maura's voice grew louder as she spoke. "I was just starting to get used to living without you, just starting to get my life together and then you show up! You just… you show up in the middle of the night and…"
"I wouldn't have to show up if you didn't attract trouble everywhere you go!" Jane shouted in response.
"I do not attract trouble. I'm only here for Harriet."
"Then Harriet is in danger, too."
Maura took in Jane's words and relented, her voice calmer. "Danger?"
"Do you really think I would have travelled half way around the world if I thought everything was going to be okay?"
"No." Maura led Jane into the kitchen and flicked on the kettle. "Coffee?"
Jane nodded. "I think we have quite a lot to discuss."
With a cup of dark coffee in her hand, Jane told Maura everything that Agent O'Neill had told her. From Rachel being his CI through to the murder of her friend, the international task force and the large amount of evidence that had been found in the man's house.
"Oh, God." Maura set her cup down and ran a hand through her hair.
"So this is so much bigger than just Rachel." Jane concluded.
"It is. I… Thank you. I would never have known that. Although, you could have called."
"I could have," Jane shrugged, "but I needed to see you. I needed to know you were okay. You… I think you find it easier to lie on the phone".
"Anyway" Jane continued, "what have you found?"
Maura led Jane into Harriet's sitting room, where she had drawn out a large, detailed map of everything she now knew. At the bottom of the page, Jane spotted a name.
A name she knew.
"Martin Richards."
"Yes. Martin Richards is the son of Iris Pickering. Her first husband was the man who created Mercurius and…Well, I was hoping to get in contact with him and find out a little bit more before…"
Jane cut her off, a firm hand gripping Maura's forearm and a panicked look in her eyes.
"Martin Richards is dead."
"What? Jane, how do you…?"
"Martin Richards is the name of the man Rachel found dead in his house. The man whose murder started all of this."
"Shit."
/
It didn't take long for the two women to fall back into their old routine. Over another cup of coffee, they worked completely in sync to put together all of the information they had.
"So the guy who was killed," Jane began, spotting the gaps in their knowledge instinctively, "must have had something to do with Rachel. They must have known one another."
Maura nodded, adding the question to their list.
"But he can't have killed her, because he was already dead. "
"Exactly."
"And the person who did kill her? That person must have been meeting her in Bedford. Like you said, it's not likely that she would stay there instead of closer to the venue unless she was meeting somebody."
"And that somebody could well have had information- or promised her information- about Mercurius."
"I think she asked the wrong person."
"I would agree."
Jane leaned back in her seat and sighed.
"So where do we go from here?"
Maura looked up at her friend and sighed. "I can't help but feel that that's a loaded question".
Jane shrugged. "I guess it is. But I'm sick of sitting in this house, and I'm sure you are too. So what shall we do?"
Maura checked her watch. "I don't know what time Harriet is likely to be back, but we could go and explore Oxford for a bit? I'd like to take you out to Bletchley, but that will have to wait until tomorrow."
"Can we get lunch?" Jane asked, rising from her seat.
"Yes, but no fake English accents."
Jane gasped in mock disgust. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"Jane…"
"Fine. No accents. But you're paying."
Maura smiled, deepening the dimples in her cheeks.
"I've missed this" she admitted.
"Me too."