[Fic] Sam's No Ordinary Copper - part 1
I am not sure where this fic is going, but I do have a couple chapters typed up. If anyone likes what they've read so far, let me know and I'll get on to posting the next part asap. Again, this one isn't too serious; it's mainly for shits and giggles. It'll be my first multi-chaptered Life on Mars fic. I do have another one in the works called 1977... and that one is really out there, man. XD Anyway, enjoy.
Title: Sam’s No Ordinary Copper
Chapter one
Fandom: Life On Mars
Pairing: Sam/Annie, slight Chris/Sam (mostly hero worship)
Rated: R
Warnings: some sappiness, slight fluff, mentions of blood (yes, odd combination huh?), some violence, language, and some adult themes (slash hints)
Notes: Takes place after the end of season two (so spoilers for all the episodes); and it’s up to the reader whether they’ve kissed at the end or not.
Summary: A day in the life of Sam Tyler, plus a few more.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; I’m only having fun.
~**~
When the doors to the station opened, Phyllis looked up. DI Sam Tyler entered, carrying a bouquet of red roses. It was surprising to see one of their officers carrying flowers, but seeing how it was Sam it wasn’t really too surprising. Sam was something of a gentleman; he was definitely no ordinary copper. She also had an idea of who the flowers were for too.
“Morning, boss.”
“Morning, Phyllis,” Sam smiled. He walked on by, grin still plastered to his face as he made his way to the offices. As he walked passed the windows, some of his team saw him. Chris was somewhat shocked, but intrigued, and Ray was rolling his eyes.
Entering, he went straight for Annie Cartwright’s desk. He leaned down behind her, one hand on the back of her chair and the other one behind his back, holding the bouquet.
“Mornin’, Annie,” he said, kissing her cheek.
She jumped in surprise, looking behind her to see Sam standing right there. She smiled. “Sam! You startled me.”
“Sorry about that,” he said, smiling. He knew everyone there was watching him, but he didn’t care. He produced the flowers from behind him and Annie’s eyes grew. “For you.”
“Oh, Sam…” she whispered, eyes tearing up. She cradled them in her arms, staring in shock, and then finally looked up at him, mouth gaping.
“Do you like them?” he asked, grinning at her reaction.
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Oh, Sam, they’re beautiful!”
He leaned in closer to her, foreheads nearly touching. “Not as beautiful as you.”
Ray stuck his finger into his mouth, pretending to gag, and Chris had a stupid grin on his face. The others had sour or envious looks on their faces.
“Sam…” Annie said, apparently very touched by Sam’s words. She pulled him into a hug with her one free arm. He held onto her, rubbing her back. “You’re so sweet!” She pulled away, staring at the flowers. “I’ll be putting them in a vase when I get home.”
“I was going to buy you a vase for them, so that you could keep them ‘ere if you wanted, but I wasn’t sure if you had one or not…”
“That’s all right,” she said. Then she stood from the chair and wrapped both arms around Sam’s neck. Sam held her tightly to him, burying his nose into her hair.
“I love holding you,” he suddenly found himself saying. He didn’t know why he said it; he just felt that he needed to.
“Oh?” she said, blushing.
“Yeah.”
“And why is that?”
“Um,” he stammered, trying to think up the right words to say so he didn’t offend her. “Well, you’re very… um…”
“Yes?” she urged.
“Well, er… you’re very… soft.” He winced slightly, not sure if that sounded right.
“Soft?” she said, moving away enough so that she could look into his face.
“Yeah…” he said slowly, keeping his arms around her, rubbing his hands up and down her sides. “Soft. And… curvy.”
“Curvy?” she fluttered her lashes.
“Yeah, very curvy. And soft. And… cuddly.”
Annie’s eyebrows shot up. “Cuddly? Is that your polite way of saying that I have rolls?”
Sam laughed nervously. “That’s not… I mean, I like your body.”
“Oh?” she said, face more serious now.
“Uh oh,” said Ray, smirking. “Boss is in trouble now.”
Sam shot him a quick look. “Really,” he said to Annie. “I do. I don’t mind this at all.” He squeezed her around the middle. “I like it, actually.”
Annie huffed, broke their embrace and sat back down at her desk. “Thanks for liking my rolls, sir.”
“Annie, please… I wasn’t trying to offend you. I told you, I like your body.” When she didn’t respond, and kept on looking through some file, Sam sighed, staring up at the ceiling, and said, “Okay, what do I have to do to convince you that I’m serious? Honestly, I don’t mind that you have…” he gestured. “You know. I mean, look at me; my stomach isn’t completely flat either.”
“I know that, sir,” she said softly, eyes still on the file. “I saw you naked, remember?”
“Yeah, and you don’t mind, do you?”
She looked up, a small smirk forming on her face. “Well, I suppose not.”
Sam went down on one knee next to her, a soft, pleading look in his eyes. “Please, Annie, don’t be too angry with me. I couldn’t think of any other way to explain to you… besides ‘soft’ I mean.”
Annie turned in her chair and looked down at him. “You really don’t mind?”
“Of course not. Besides, you’re not that big. Like I said, you’re very curvy… a real woman.”
“Oh? Apart from a fake one?”
“Annie…” Sam pleaded.
Annie sighed. “Yes, all right. I believe you.”
Sam stood up and then leaned down to wrap his arms around her. She laughed and hugged him back.
“Have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.
“Oh yes, Sam. Absolutely.” She beamed.
~**~
“Well, this is déjà view…”
“That’s déjà vu.”
“Whatever!” Gene huffed.
They were huddled in the back seat of a car, face to face, while a maniac shot through its windshield. This time they made sure that it had no one in the front seat. Bits of glass were littered around them, but all the same, Sam was keeping his head down until the criminal ran out of bullets, which should be soon.
“All right?” Gene said when the shooting finally stopped.
“Yeah, I’m fine… I think.”
“You think?”
“Well, there’s a little sharp pain right above my ear, but that’s about it.”
Gene checked it. “Bloody hell.”
“What?” said Sam, worried.
“Well, I’ve discovered the reason for your pain.”
“And?”
“It’s a big arse piece of glass embedded into your skull.”
Sam closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance; now that Gene mentioned it, he could feel the warm trickle of his own blood running down the side of his face. “Oh, brilliant.”
~**~
“Hey there,” said Annie, coming around the screen. She sat down on the chair next to his bed and took his hand. “How you feeling?”
“Oh, lovely,” Sam deadpanned. “Apart from having twenty stitches in my ‘ead.”
Annie gently ran her fingers through his fringe. “You’ll live. You’re lucky that it didn’t go into your eye.”
“Yeah, there’s always a bright side, isn’t there?” Sam tried to smile, but it turned out to be more of a pained smirk. “I’d have to wear an eye patch and the guys would nickname me One-Eye.”
Annie chuckled softly, her hand still on top of his head. He looked at her. She looked down at him.
“Annie… I’m sorry that our night is ruined.”
“Don’t worry about it, Sam,” she said softly. “I know it couldn’t be helped.”
“I had things all ready for you to come over and everything.”
“We can do it some other night,” she said. “Your health is more important right now.”
“Yeah, sure,” he sighed.
They stared at each other again, and just as Annie leaned down to press her lips to his, the screen around his bed was pulled aside and in came Gene and Chris. Annie moved back into her seat again and Sam cursed his luck.
“Here he is,” said Gene. “Loafing ‘round again.”
Sam rolled his eyes.
“Hey, boss, how you feeling?” said Chris. He was holding a small bouquet of daisies and lilies. It made Sam want to laugh.
“Just peachy, Chris. Um, those are for me I take it?”
“Of course,” said Chris, smiling. He set them on the nightstand by his hospital bed. “There’s even a card… I had everyone sign it.”
“Thanks,” said Sam, blushing a little. He looked at the card. It had a picture of a lion’s head with it’s mouth open, looking fierce, and below that it said in big, bold letters: ROAR LIKE A LION! Sam laughed; he couldn’t believe they actually remembered that. He opened the card, and inside it said: To our favourite DI! Get Well Soon! And there were many signatures below that and even around it. He could tell that quite a few from the women’s department signed as well; there were little hearts around some signatures.
“Thank you, Chris,” he said. “I get out tomorrow, you know.”
“Yeah, but we couldn’t resist.” Chris smiled cheekily.
Gene looked a little uncomfortable about it, and changed the subject immediately (no doubt he thought Chris was being a pansy for bringing the flowers and the card, even though Gene’s signature was the biggest one out of them all). “Anyway, we got a lead in the shooting that happened. Ray got hold of an eyewitness of it all while we were praying for our lives in the back of a Volvo.”
“He got a good look at the suspect?”
“Yes. And the eyewitness is a bird, actually. Shame she doesn’t have any tits.”
Sam sighed in irritation. “Guv, please…”
“So, hurry your arse up and heal so that we can go on this lead; I’m not doing it without you, so you know.”
“I’m touched,” Sam snorted.
~**~
The next day, even though Sam’s head was bandaged because of his stitches, he still went on the case with Gene. According to the eyewitness (who was actually pretty flat-chested), the suspect that shot at them had run in the opposite direction that she was standing, and around the corner was a jewelry store. The jeweler had been robbed before according to their records, so they decided to have a talk with him in case he knew anything about the shooting that occurred.
“Yes, I would say I know something about it,” the jeweler said. “I was the one they robbed yesterday.”
Sam and Gene looked at one another.
“Did you see the guy’s face?” Sam asked.
“No, unfortunately. He wore women’s stalkings on his head. But I could tell you that he was big built, had a large nose, and two hands like slabs of meat.”
“Anything else?” Sam asked, writing it all down.
“Um… a deep, booming voice. Boots were huge too. The size of boats, they were.”
“Okay, thanks for your help.”
They walked out; Gene lit up a cigarette right away, and as Sam was writing down the last bit of information, his eyes caught something. He bent down next to the brick wall to examine it.
“Now what, Tyler?” Gene said. “You’re not going to sick up all over the building, are you?”
“I need something to put this in.”
“What?” said Gene in irritation. He looked down at where Sam was pointing. It was a diamond earring.
~**~
The earring was sent off to forensics, but Sam wasn’t sure that it would hold water. It could have just fallen out of the robber’s bag as he went running off, and there was a chance it didn’t have any fingerprints on it. Still, he figured he might as well try.
“What if it’s the wrong fingerprints?” Chris asked. “It could have dropped off some bird’s ear, or some other bird might have dropped it as they walked out.”
“You’re right, Chris, but we have to know for sure. If the prints belong to a woman, then we know that it’s not the robber.”
“What if the robber is a woman?”
“The jeweler told us it was a big, burly man that robbed them, not a woman.”
“Oh,” said Chris. “Right.”
Sam looked through the file for the robbery case. “Chris, who talked to that eyewitness?”
“Ray, me, and the Guv,” said Chris. “Why?”
“What was her name?”
“Um, Mimi… something.”
“Why isn’t her name in the file?” Sam asked, waving the paper at him. “It’s supposed to be written down ‘ere.”
“Sorry, boss,” said Chris, genuinely. “Guess we figured it was no big deal since she couldn’t help us much further.”
Sam groaned. “You’re supposed to be thorough with inquiries, Chris. It’s vital that we are, just in case.”
“I’m sorry, sir, really…”
“Giving Chris the third degree again, boss?” said Ray as he walked up to them.
“Why didn’t you write down the eyewitness’s name in the file?” Sam said, turning to him.
“Because we won’t be calling on her again,” said Ray. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that I want to call on ‘er again!” Sam huffed. “Do you remember what her last name was?”
“No,” said Ray shortly. “And don’t start going all Hyde on us now; we’ve been working our arses off while you gone and got yourself laid up in hospital.”
“Yeah, for doing my duty! In case you forgot, I had to get twenty stitches put in,” Sam said, pointing to the bandage that was still wrapped around his head. “The least I would hope you two would do is your job.”
Ray got into Sam’s face, his own red with irritation. “You want another twenty stitches in your head then keep it up.”
Sam stared him down, and then just as he was about to open his mouth and tell him off for talking to him-his superior officer-that way, Gene walked out of his office and over to them.
“I think it’s not too much to ask that two of my top officers not fight,” he said, giving them both a warning glare.
Sam didn’t say a word, just walked passed them both and into Gene’s office. Gene followed.
“Don’t start fighting with Ray,” Gene said the second they were in. “I don’t need either of you out of commission right now.” He sat down at his desk heavily and put one foot up on it.
Sam brandished the file at him. “Why didn’t you guys write down the name of the witness?”
“Don’t start with me, Tyler! I didn’t come in here with you so that you can take things out on me. If you want to find her so badly, then go do it. You can take Cartwright with you.”
~**~
Photo in hand, Sam and Annie walked the streets and asked as many people they could about this Mimi woman’s whereabouts. So far, they haven’t been having much luck. They stopped in a nearby chip shop for some lunch.
“Fish and chips twice,” said the cook. “And a strawberry milk.”
“Over ‘ere,” said Sam, signaling to him.
Annie took a sip of her strawberry flavored milk right away. Sam ate a couple chips, and then took out the girl’s photo and set it on the table between them. It showed a girl in her twenties with light hair and eyes, and a heart-shaped face.
“How could a girl like this not be known around this neighborhood? This was where she was when she saw the robbery happen.”
“I don’t know, Sam,” said Annie. “Maybe she’s new around here and not many know her yet.”
“It’s possible,” he said. He ate a few more chips and then tasted his fish. It wasn’t so bad. They ate silently together for a while, looking up at each other once in a while. When Sam caught her staring, she smiled shyly and then looked back down into her food and took a few more bites. He smiled, eating more of his fish.
“Oh, you didn’t get anything to drink,” said Annie suddenly.
“I’m fine. I’m thinking of getting something at the station when we get back.”
“You mean we’re not going to be asking any more people today?”
“I don’t see the point,” he sighed. “No one ‘round ‘ere knows who she is.”
“Well, someone has to. What about the jeweler? I’m sure he knows her, if she is seen wandering around his store.”
Sam chewed slowly as he thought about it. That was actually a good idea. He nodded, swallowed, and then said, “Yeah, you’re right; when we’re done eating then we’ll go talk to him.”
Annie pushed her strawberry milk toward him. He stared at it for a second and then looked up at her, eyebrows raised in question.
She shrugged one shoulder. “Go ahead and have some. It’s not like I’m going to die from boy germs, is it?”
Sam laughed, ducking his head, and then took a gulp of her milk.
TBC
AN: in case anyone doesn’t know, chips are what we Americans call French Fries, and potato chips in England are called crisps. I’m trying to make sure that the British terms are used more than American because of where the show takes place. :) I won’t be writing ‘color’ as “colour” or anything, since it doesn’t make a difference in speech. I’ll be trying to keep Sam’s accent noticeable if I can. I even re-watched some of the LoM episodes to get down how he talks. Sometimes he pronounces the H in the beginning of words, and sometimes he doesn’t. I noticed that when he stresses a word, the H is heard (“I want to go home.”). When he talks a bit faster or he’s a bit irritated, the accent comes out (e.g. “Hands on your ‘eads!”).
Title: Sam’s No Ordinary Copper
Chapter one
Fandom: Life On Mars
Pairing: Sam/Annie, slight Chris/Sam (mostly hero worship)
Rated: R
Warnings: some sappiness, slight fluff, mentions of blood (yes, odd combination huh?), some violence, language, and some adult themes (slash hints)
Notes: Takes place after the end of season two (so spoilers for all the episodes); and it’s up to the reader whether they’ve kissed at the end or not.
Summary: A day in the life of Sam Tyler, plus a few more.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; I’m only having fun.
~**~
When the doors to the station opened, Phyllis looked up. DI Sam Tyler entered, carrying a bouquet of red roses. It was surprising to see one of their officers carrying flowers, but seeing how it was Sam it wasn’t really too surprising. Sam was something of a gentleman; he was definitely no ordinary copper. She also had an idea of who the flowers were for too.
“Morning, boss.”
“Morning, Phyllis,” Sam smiled. He walked on by, grin still plastered to his face as he made his way to the offices. As he walked passed the windows, some of his team saw him. Chris was somewhat shocked, but intrigued, and Ray was rolling his eyes.
Entering, he went straight for Annie Cartwright’s desk. He leaned down behind her, one hand on the back of her chair and the other one behind his back, holding the bouquet.
“Mornin’, Annie,” he said, kissing her cheek.
She jumped in surprise, looking behind her to see Sam standing right there. She smiled. “Sam! You startled me.”
“Sorry about that,” he said, smiling. He knew everyone there was watching him, but he didn’t care. He produced the flowers from behind him and Annie’s eyes grew. “For you.”
“Oh, Sam…” she whispered, eyes tearing up. She cradled them in her arms, staring in shock, and then finally looked up at him, mouth gaping.
“Do you like them?” he asked, grinning at her reaction.
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Oh, Sam, they’re beautiful!”
He leaned in closer to her, foreheads nearly touching. “Not as beautiful as you.”
Ray stuck his finger into his mouth, pretending to gag, and Chris had a stupid grin on his face. The others had sour or envious looks on their faces.
“Sam…” Annie said, apparently very touched by Sam’s words. She pulled him into a hug with her one free arm. He held onto her, rubbing her back. “You’re so sweet!” She pulled away, staring at the flowers. “I’ll be putting them in a vase when I get home.”
“I was going to buy you a vase for them, so that you could keep them ‘ere if you wanted, but I wasn’t sure if you had one or not…”
“That’s all right,” she said. Then she stood from the chair and wrapped both arms around Sam’s neck. Sam held her tightly to him, burying his nose into her hair.
“I love holding you,” he suddenly found himself saying. He didn’t know why he said it; he just felt that he needed to.
“Oh?” she said, blushing.
“Yeah.”
“And why is that?”
“Um,” he stammered, trying to think up the right words to say so he didn’t offend her. “Well, you’re very… um…”
“Yes?” she urged.
“Well, er… you’re very… soft.” He winced slightly, not sure if that sounded right.
“Soft?” she said, moving away enough so that she could look into his face.
“Yeah…” he said slowly, keeping his arms around her, rubbing his hands up and down her sides. “Soft. And… curvy.”
“Curvy?” she fluttered her lashes.
“Yeah, very curvy. And soft. And… cuddly.”
Annie’s eyebrows shot up. “Cuddly? Is that your polite way of saying that I have rolls?”
Sam laughed nervously. “That’s not… I mean, I like your body.”
“Oh?” she said, face more serious now.
“Uh oh,” said Ray, smirking. “Boss is in trouble now.”
Sam shot him a quick look. “Really,” he said to Annie. “I do. I don’t mind this at all.” He squeezed her around the middle. “I like it, actually.”
Annie huffed, broke their embrace and sat back down at her desk. “Thanks for liking my rolls, sir.”
“Annie, please… I wasn’t trying to offend you. I told you, I like your body.” When she didn’t respond, and kept on looking through some file, Sam sighed, staring up at the ceiling, and said, “Okay, what do I have to do to convince you that I’m serious? Honestly, I don’t mind that you have…” he gestured. “You know. I mean, look at me; my stomach isn’t completely flat either.”
“I know that, sir,” she said softly, eyes still on the file. “I saw you naked, remember?”
“Yeah, and you don’t mind, do you?”
She looked up, a small smirk forming on her face. “Well, I suppose not.”
Sam went down on one knee next to her, a soft, pleading look in his eyes. “Please, Annie, don’t be too angry with me. I couldn’t think of any other way to explain to you… besides ‘soft’ I mean.”
Annie turned in her chair and looked down at him. “You really don’t mind?”
“Of course not. Besides, you’re not that big. Like I said, you’re very curvy… a real woman.”
“Oh? Apart from a fake one?”
“Annie…” Sam pleaded.
Annie sighed. “Yes, all right. I believe you.”
Sam stood up and then leaned down to wrap his arms around her. She laughed and hugged him back.
“Have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.
“Oh yes, Sam. Absolutely.” She beamed.
~**~
“Well, this is déjà view…”
“That’s déjà vu.”
“Whatever!” Gene huffed.
They were huddled in the back seat of a car, face to face, while a maniac shot through its windshield. This time they made sure that it had no one in the front seat. Bits of glass were littered around them, but all the same, Sam was keeping his head down until the criminal ran out of bullets, which should be soon.
“All right?” Gene said when the shooting finally stopped.
“Yeah, I’m fine… I think.”
“You think?”
“Well, there’s a little sharp pain right above my ear, but that’s about it.”
Gene checked it. “Bloody hell.”
“What?” said Sam, worried.
“Well, I’ve discovered the reason for your pain.”
“And?”
“It’s a big arse piece of glass embedded into your skull.”
Sam closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance; now that Gene mentioned it, he could feel the warm trickle of his own blood running down the side of his face. “Oh, brilliant.”
~**~
“Hey there,” said Annie, coming around the screen. She sat down on the chair next to his bed and took his hand. “How you feeling?”
“Oh, lovely,” Sam deadpanned. “Apart from having twenty stitches in my ‘ead.”
Annie gently ran her fingers through his fringe. “You’ll live. You’re lucky that it didn’t go into your eye.”
“Yeah, there’s always a bright side, isn’t there?” Sam tried to smile, but it turned out to be more of a pained smirk. “I’d have to wear an eye patch and the guys would nickname me One-Eye.”
Annie chuckled softly, her hand still on top of his head. He looked at her. She looked down at him.
“Annie… I’m sorry that our night is ruined.”
“Don’t worry about it, Sam,” she said softly. “I know it couldn’t be helped.”
“I had things all ready for you to come over and everything.”
“We can do it some other night,” she said. “Your health is more important right now.”
“Yeah, sure,” he sighed.
They stared at each other again, and just as Annie leaned down to press her lips to his, the screen around his bed was pulled aside and in came Gene and Chris. Annie moved back into her seat again and Sam cursed his luck.
“Here he is,” said Gene. “Loafing ‘round again.”
Sam rolled his eyes.
“Hey, boss, how you feeling?” said Chris. He was holding a small bouquet of daisies and lilies. It made Sam want to laugh.
“Just peachy, Chris. Um, those are for me I take it?”
“Of course,” said Chris, smiling. He set them on the nightstand by his hospital bed. “There’s even a card… I had everyone sign it.”
“Thanks,” said Sam, blushing a little. He looked at the card. It had a picture of a lion’s head with it’s mouth open, looking fierce, and below that it said in big, bold letters: ROAR LIKE A LION! Sam laughed; he couldn’t believe they actually remembered that. He opened the card, and inside it said: To our favourite DI! Get Well Soon! And there were many signatures below that and even around it. He could tell that quite a few from the women’s department signed as well; there were little hearts around some signatures.
“Thank you, Chris,” he said. “I get out tomorrow, you know.”
“Yeah, but we couldn’t resist.” Chris smiled cheekily.
Gene looked a little uncomfortable about it, and changed the subject immediately (no doubt he thought Chris was being a pansy for bringing the flowers and the card, even though Gene’s signature was the biggest one out of them all). “Anyway, we got a lead in the shooting that happened. Ray got hold of an eyewitness of it all while we were praying for our lives in the back of a Volvo.”
“He got a good look at the suspect?”
“Yes. And the eyewitness is a bird, actually. Shame she doesn’t have any tits.”
Sam sighed in irritation. “Guv, please…”
“So, hurry your arse up and heal so that we can go on this lead; I’m not doing it without you, so you know.”
“I’m touched,” Sam snorted.
~**~
The next day, even though Sam’s head was bandaged because of his stitches, he still went on the case with Gene. According to the eyewitness (who was actually pretty flat-chested), the suspect that shot at them had run in the opposite direction that she was standing, and around the corner was a jewelry store. The jeweler had been robbed before according to their records, so they decided to have a talk with him in case he knew anything about the shooting that occurred.
“Yes, I would say I know something about it,” the jeweler said. “I was the one they robbed yesterday.”
Sam and Gene looked at one another.
“Did you see the guy’s face?” Sam asked.
“No, unfortunately. He wore women’s stalkings on his head. But I could tell you that he was big built, had a large nose, and two hands like slabs of meat.”
“Anything else?” Sam asked, writing it all down.
“Um… a deep, booming voice. Boots were huge too. The size of boats, they were.”
“Okay, thanks for your help.”
They walked out; Gene lit up a cigarette right away, and as Sam was writing down the last bit of information, his eyes caught something. He bent down next to the brick wall to examine it.
“Now what, Tyler?” Gene said. “You’re not going to sick up all over the building, are you?”
“I need something to put this in.”
“What?” said Gene in irritation. He looked down at where Sam was pointing. It was a diamond earring.
~**~
The earring was sent off to forensics, but Sam wasn’t sure that it would hold water. It could have just fallen out of the robber’s bag as he went running off, and there was a chance it didn’t have any fingerprints on it. Still, he figured he might as well try.
“What if it’s the wrong fingerprints?” Chris asked. “It could have dropped off some bird’s ear, or some other bird might have dropped it as they walked out.”
“You’re right, Chris, but we have to know for sure. If the prints belong to a woman, then we know that it’s not the robber.”
“What if the robber is a woman?”
“The jeweler told us it was a big, burly man that robbed them, not a woman.”
“Oh,” said Chris. “Right.”
Sam looked through the file for the robbery case. “Chris, who talked to that eyewitness?”
“Ray, me, and the Guv,” said Chris. “Why?”
“What was her name?”
“Um, Mimi… something.”
“Why isn’t her name in the file?” Sam asked, waving the paper at him. “It’s supposed to be written down ‘ere.”
“Sorry, boss,” said Chris, genuinely. “Guess we figured it was no big deal since she couldn’t help us much further.”
Sam groaned. “You’re supposed to be thorough with inquiries, Chris. It’s vital that we are, just in case.”
“I’m sorry, sir, really…”
“Giving Chris the third degree again, boss?” said Ray as he walked up to them.
“Why didn’t you write down the eyewitness’s name in the file?” Sam said, turning to him.
“Because we won’t be calling on her again,” said Ray. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that I want to call on ‘er again!” Sam huffed. “Do you remember what her last name was?”
“No,” said Ray shortly. “And don’t start going all Hyde on us now; we’ve been working our arses off while you gone and got yourself laid up in hospital.”
“Yeah, for doing my duty! In case you forgot, I had to get twenty stitches put in,” Sam said, pointing to the bandage that was still wrapped around his head. “The least I would hope you two would do is your job.”
Ray got into Sam’s face, his own red with irritation. “You want another twenty stitches in your head then keep it up.”
Sam stared him down, and then just as he was about to open his mouth and tell him off for talking to him-his superior officer-that way, Gene walked out of his office and over to them.
“I think it’s not too much to ask that two of my top officers not fight,” he said, giving them both a warning glare.
Sam didn’t say a word, just walked passed them both and into Gene’s office. Gene followed.
“Don’t start fighting with Ray,” Gene said the second they were in. “I don’t need either of you out of commission right now.” He sat down at his desk heavily and put one foot up on it.
Sam brandished the file at him. “Why didn’t you guys write down the name of the witness?”
“Don’t start with me, Tyler! I didn’t come in here with you so that you can take things out on me. If you want to find her so badly, then go do it. You can take Cartwright with you.”
~**~
Photo in hand, Sam and Annie walked the streets and asked as many people they could about this Mimi woman’s whereabouts. So far, they haven’t been having much luck. They stopped in a nearby chip shop for some lunch.
“Fish and chips twice,” said the cook. “And a strawberry milk.”
“Over ‘ere,” said Sam, signaling to him.
Annie took a sip of her strawberry flavored milk right away. Sam ate a couple chips, and then took out the girl’s photo and set it on the table between them. It showed a girl in her twenties with light hair and eyes, and a heart-shaped face.
“How could a girl like this not be known around this neighborhood? This was where she was when she saw the robbery happen.”
“I don’t know, Sam,” said Annie. “Maybe she’s new around here and not many know her yet.”
“It’s possible,” he said. He ate a few more chips and then tasted his fish. It wasn’t so bad. They ate silently together for a while, looking up at each other once in a while. When Sam caught her staring, she smiled shyly and then looked back down into her food and took a few more bites. He smiled, eating more of his fish.
“Oh, you didn’t get anything to drink,” said Annie suddenly.
“I’m fine. I’m thinking of getting something at the station when we get back.”
“You mean we’re not going to be asking any more people today?”
“I don’t see the point,” he sighed. “No one ‘round ‘ere knows who she is.”
“Well, someone has to. What about the jeweler? I’m sure he knows her, if she is seen wandering around his store.”
Sam chewed slowly as he thought about it. That was actually a good idea. He nodded, swallowed, and then said, “Yeah, you’re right; when we’re done eating then we’ll go talk to him.”
Annie pushed her strawberry milk toward him. He stared at it for a second and then looked up at her, eyebrows raised in question.
She shrugged one shoulder. “Go ahead and have some. It’s not like I’m going to die from boy germs, is it?”
Sam laughed, ducking his head, and then took a gulp of her milk.
TBC
AN: in case anyone doesn’t know, chips are what we Americans call French Fries, and potato chips in England are called crisps. I’m trying to make sure that the British terms are used more than American because of where the show takes place. :) I won’t be writing ‘color’ as “colour” or anything, since it doesn’t make a difference in speech. I’ll be trying to keep Sam’s accent noticeable if I can. I even re-watched some of the LoM episodes to get down how he talks. Sometimes he pronounces the H in the beginning of words, and sometimes he doesn’t. I noticed that when he stresses a word, the H is heard (“I want to go home.”). When he talks a bit faster or he’s a bit irritated, the accent comes out (e.g. “Hands on your ‘eads!”).