The Thin Man - Part 2
Title: The Thin Man
Author: tonjavmoore
Prompt: The Thin Man - Released in 1934, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, Dashiell Hammett’s wise-cracking, crime-solving couple
Word Count: 31,921
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairings: Jack/Ianto and just about anyone from the Whoniverse at large
Spoilers: Way off the map, so nothing I can think of
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the computer I typed this on and the way these words are spun together. This is a work of fan fiction and no one, least of all me, wants to be stepping on copyrights.
Summary: Captain Jack Harkness, former Torchwood agent, brings his husband to his old stomping grounds of New York City to meet his friends. He didn’t anticipate walking into multiple crimes, missing people, and a general mess. What’s happened in Torchwood?
Special Thanks: To my wonderful betas cjharknessgirl and faithharkness for sticking with me and helping me push this out of my fingertips. Without their encouragement, this would have stayed in limbo for all time.
Part 2
It was cold outside, but warm inside the lobby of the Sofitel. John Smith and Rose were waiting for Jack and his partner to come down to meet them. “This is pretty posh,” John said, looking at the ceiling.
Rose grinned. John was such a little boy at times. “Jack made a good salary, you know. Maybe this is his way of indulging himself for all that work.”
“Still, paying for the penthouse can’t be cheap.”
Whatever Rose was going to say was stopped by her catching sight of Jack Harkness. As always, she felt that swooning sensation when she saw him. He hadn’t changed. His movie-star looks and incredible smile still caused flutters. He was dressed simply and wearing a long grayish-blue coat that had epaulets on the shoulders. Heads in the lobby turned toward him, both female and male. She waited until he was closer and then threw herself into his arms. “Hi there, handsome,” she said.
He twirled her around. “Hi yourself, lovely Rose.” He set her back down and held out a hand to John. “Hi, Doc.”
John took the offered hand and shook it vigorously. “Good to see you again, Jack. You look well.”
“I am well. Perfect, actually. Don’t I look perfect, Rose?”
“Of course.”
Jack grinned. “Ianto will be here in a minute. Our little girl took a notion that she needed a walk so Ianto took her.”
Rose stared in astonishment. “You have a little girl?” she gasped.
“You could say that.”
At that moment, they heard a dog barking furiously. Jack turned toward it and his face took on a softer expression than Rose had ever imagined possible. That was definitely different.
A small white dog appeared at the door, followed by a man holding a leash. Rose heard him chiding the dog in a soft, accented voice. “Myfanwy! Myfanwy, slow down! Myfanwy!”
Jack’s face broke into a large grin. “Here I am, girl! Come on.”
The dog leapt into Jack’s arms. It… she, Rose revised, was wearing a red sweater and a matching cap. She proceeded to lick every part of Jack she could reach while he laughed at her.
“So that’s where she was going,” the young man with the leash said with a sigh. “She’s nearly dislocated my shoulder. She knocked Stone’s ankle hard enough to break it.” He nodded to the men following him. “And after all that whining, she didn’t do anything.”
Rose liked the accent. It was almost musical in its lilt. That voice alone would have attracted Jack’s attention. Jack was still chuckling. He looked relaxed and carefree. She wondered if this is what Jack had looked like before the Air Force and Torchwood had weighed him down.
“You don’t whine, do you, angel?” Jack looked down at the dog and she turned an adoring look at him. “Of course not. You only ask politely.”
“You sleep through her whining. I think you snore that loud on purpose.”
Jack speared the other man, presumably his partner, with a dark look. “I do not snore.”
“My mistake. You don’t snore. There must have been a leaf blower in the room this morning.”
“You wound me. Here, meet my old boss.” Jack turned the man slightly. “Doc, Rose, I’d like to introduce Myfanwy and my gorgeous partner, Ianto Harkness.”
“Oh, sure. Introduce the dog first.” Ianto smiled at them.
Rose tried not to gape. He was nearly as handsome as Jack, with blue eyes and dark lashes and a nose that defined the term “button”. He was Jack’s height with a more slender build. Again, Rose noticed heads turned toward them, more than a few with envy.
“Hello, Ianto,” she said. “I’m so glad to meet you.”
“I’d shake your hand, but Myfanwy’s cut off the circulation. I’m glad to meet you as well. Jack talks about you all the time.”
“Only the clean stuff,” Jack said with a wink at her.
“And, Doctor. I have you to thank for sending Jack on that assignment that allowed me to become captive to his charms.” Ianto grinned. “The most wonderful and aggravating thing in my life.”
Jack growled and Myfanwy echoed him. “Stop that,” Jack told her. “Only I am allowed to growl at your tad.”
Ianto laughed and took her out of Jack’s arms. She licked his face in apology. “It’s all right, girl. I know you were just being a copy-dog. Say bye to Daddy and come upstairs.” He put her on the floor and bowed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
“Guys, take the night off,” Jack said to the men following Ianto. “I’ve got him now.”
“Oh, do you now?” came over Ianto’s shoulder.
“Yes, I do. Watch yourself in the elevator.”
The young Adonis disappeared towards the bank of elevators. Jack turned back to Rose and John. “Question answered?”
“What question?” John asked.
“Oh, don’t give me those innocent looks. I know you’ve been itching to see my gorgeous husband. You wanted to know what made me run after him and leave the exciting life of getting shot at by aliens on a regular basis. Don’t deny it.”
Sighing, Rose answered, “Of course we have. You left us so suddenly.” She dimpled. “But I can see why.”
John shook his head. “I’ll admit he’s nice-looking.”
“Stunningly nice-looking,” Jack corrected.
John grinned. “Even given that, why didn’t you just bring him over here? We could have found something for him to do. We’ve missed you, Jack.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Doc. All of you.” Jack’s smile became rueful. “But, I’ve got to be honest. I haven’t missed the job at all.”
“Not even a teensy bit?” Rose held her fingers a quarter inch apart. “What about all the excitement? All those times you cheated death? We still call you ‘The Immortal’, you know.”
“And I’ll thank you not to use that around Ianto. He knows what I used to do and it scares him. It scared me at the time. My new job has plenty of excitement, but it’s not the lethal kind. Well, so far anyway.”
“What is your new job?” Rose asked.
“You might call me a troubleshooter.” Jack grinned again, with a decided twinkle in his eyes. “You could say I married into the job.”
Rose giggled. She liked this new, more carefree Jack. “How so?”
“The trouble I have to shoot most just took our girl upstairs. Trust me, my in-laws were so glad I took on that job that they pay me an exorbitant salary just to do what I want to do most: travel around with my husband.”
“Ah, that’s so sweet,” Rose said with a sigh.
“Don’t tell him I said so. His head will swell.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Ianto said, reappearing. “If your head were any bigger, it wouldn’t fit in the lift.”
He looked even better, she thought with an inner smile. Ianto’s hair was neatly arranged; he’d changed jackets, and added a handkerchief that exactly matched the red of his shirt. How he’d managed all that in the short time he’d been gone, Rose couldn’t guess. She couldn’t have done it.
“Jack says you travel a lot in your job,” John said. Rose thought he was still probing to find out how to lure Jack back to Torchwood. “Doesn’t that get wearing? Wouldn’t you like to stay in one place?”
“I can’t,” said Ianto wistfully. “I’m a spokesman for my family’s business. It was a condition to give me the freedom to study what I wanted. I’m really a physicist, not a businessman. I just talk like one at podiums.”
“What’s the business then?” Rose wanted to kick John. He really was bordering on rude.
Jack intervened. “Ianto’s family runs Swan Enterprises,” he said. “Maybe you’ve heard of it? The multi-national transport firm? If you need it moved, they have a business that moves it.” He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “How do you think we afford the penthouse?”
Suzie Costello heard the knock and cursed. That stupid woman was an hour early. She shouldn’t have agreed to see her, but she was curious. On two accounts. What she looked like and what her former lover saw in her.
Another knock had her going to the door. She opened it, blinked and let the person inside. “What the hell are you playing at?”
“You don’t need to know.”
A hand shot out and gripped her by the throat. She tried to pull away, but the hand was strong. It squeezed hard as she was backed into the bedroom, causing her to see stars. As she was flung back onto the bed, she heard a laugh. The last thing she heard was a trigger being pulled.
The food was delicious and so was the wine. The only one not drinking wine was Jack. “I have to keep a clear head,” he explained. “I’m actually on duty. Babysitting my charge here.”
Ianto poked him with a finger. “You are not babysitting. You are guarding.” He turned to Rose and John. “Jack’s in charge of my security. Being a public face makes you a target.”
John frowned. It seemed less and less likely that he could lure Jack back to Torchwood. “That must cause wear and tear on your nerves.”
“More on mine,” Jack said. “Gorgeous here just has to look pretty. I have to watch everyone in the room. Unless I can bring the staff in with me. Not easy in a place like CERN.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to CERN,” Rose said. “What do you do there?”
John sighed. Rose had derailed him several times tonight. He thought she wanted Jack back as much as he did.
Ianto blushed. How anyone could live with Jack Harkness and still do that was beyond John. When Ianto spoke, his voice was actually shy. “I… Well, I came up with a little gadget that they use there. I like to stop by every so often to see how they’re doing with it.”
John blinked. Someone who could come up with a “gadget” for the particle collider would probably be able to deal with alien tech. There had to be something he could offer. Maybe he should try Rose’s approach. “So, Jack, I never thought you were a dog person. What kind of dog is…Meef-wee?”
Jack grinned. “Myfanwy,” he corrected. “She’s a Sealyham terrier.”
“Pronounced terror,” Ianto added. “Or maybe tyrant.”
“You gave her to me. I can’t help it that she likes me better than you.”
“Jack thought that all Welsh dogs were Corgis,” Ianto explained. “I gave him one that wasn’t.”
Sylvia Hart stood at the door, still not sure that she wanted to go inside. John had insisted, saying that the woman was the only one who knew where her ex-husband was. She knew the only way that they’d make it until her next settlement payment was to get an advance. Everything was so expensive now and John had such exquisite taste. She raised her hand and knocked.
The door swung inwards. Sylvia’s nervousness increased. What was this Costello woman doing, leaving her door open that way? She must be either very stupid or very confident. “Hello,” Sylvia called. “Hello, it’s Mrs. Hart.”
Nothing. She went into the apartment and pushed the door so it was almost closed. The lighting was low, but she could see just fine. The living room was empty. She moved so that she could see into the kitchen across the bar. No one. “Hello?” she called again.
No sound. Sylvia took a deep breath as she looked around. There were a lot of expensive things here. Very expensive. Sylvia knew she was not overly bright compared to her father and daughter, but she knew costly when she saw it. For a moment, she considered the possibility of taking something to pawn and making a run for it. No. If she did something like that, she’d surely be caught. Sylvia had no luck at all with petty crimes.
She went further into the apartment. A door was ajar. She peeked inside. And then she began to scream her head off.
The body stared at her. Sylvia had no doubt it was a body - the woman’s eyes were open and she was limp. A red stain discolored the front of her dress. Sylvia didn’t know whether to run or not. She couldn’t decide.
The chance was removed when she heard someone push the door open with a bang. “What’s happened?” someone shouted.
“In here,” she managed to squeak. “Someone’s killed her!”
By the time coffee and dessert rolled around, Rose was more than half in love with Ianto herself. No wonder Jack had snatched him up without hesitating. Even though Jack with a spouse and a dog was something she never thought she’d see, he looked so at peace with the world that it made her want to cry for the sheer joy of it.
“Ianto, do you have any brothers or sisters?” she asked, once again taking the conversation away from Torchwood. John was just going to have to accept that Jack was not coming back. Why should he?
“Two of each,” Ianto said. “All older than me. Yes, I’m the baby.”
Jack reached over and pinched his cheek. “Such a cute baby.” He ducked when Ianto swatted at him. “His siblings used to tease him about being a changeling. I set them straight by pointing out that Ianto is a throwback to the elegant Welsh Neanderthals. He’s four inches taller than any of them.”
“They’re all in the business,” Ianto said. “They make money. I spend it. It works for us.”
“Ianto likes to give presents,” Jack said. “Be careful what you wish for - it just might show up on your doorstep. He gave me this coat for my birthday. Honest-to-goodness WWII RAF issue. Even down to the buttons.”
“You always were interested in that period,” John said. “Wished you had a time machine, as I remember.”
“Yep,” Jack replied. “It’s a lot more romanticized in….”
A loud, eerie melody began playing. All of them stared at John while John stared at his pocket. “I gave strict orders,” he began as he fished his phone out, “nothing unless the world was ending.” He spoke into the phone. “I told you…” After a moment’s listening, he cried, “What? What? What?”
“John?” Rose said. “Is something wrong?”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” John said and put the phone back in his pocket. “We have to go, Rose. Suzie’s been found murdered.”
“Murdered!” the others chorused.
John suddenly turned to Jack. Rose did not like that crafty gleam in his eye. “Want to come along?” John asked in a poor attempt at being casual. “For old time’s sake?”
To Rose’s surprise, John gained an ally. “Come on, Jack,” Ianto said. “I’ve never seen you investigate a murder.”
Jack frowned. “I’m not taking you to a crime scene. Especially a Torchwood crime scene.”
“You have to. Remember? You told the others you ‘have me’.”
It was interesting to watch the eye contest. Rose counted ten flashes in the three seconds before Jack sighed and gave in. “All right. We’ll sightsee at a murder case, but you stay where I can see you. And don’t touch anything.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I let you get me into these things.”
Before Jack could change his mind, John ushered them out into the foyer. “Rose, I need you to go to the office and get this news under control. I’ll meet you there later.” John couldn’t repress a triumphant smile at her.
Rose wanted to hit him with something. If he caused trouble between Jack and Ianto, she would injure him. And neither Martha nor Owen would find it easy to patch him up.
Ianto knew he was treading on dangerous ground. Jack wasn’t Torchwood anymore and he tended to not talk about it, except for some amusing stories. That the organization served as liaisons with aliens was something that rumor told of, but Ianto knew it for the truth. The smugglers who had been the source of their meeting had been something called Phimenta and not very pretty when they dropped their human disguises. If Jack had been forced to fight things like that every day, it was no wonder that he didn’t want to be reminded of it.
However, Jack was also irresistible when he was on the trail of something. It was a murder and could be dangerous, but he was glad that Jack had agreed to look at it and let him come along. He took Jack’s hand and squeezed it as they arrived at their destination. Jack gave him a smile and squeezed back. “Remember,” he said, in that tone that Ianto knew must be obeyed, “don’t touch anything. Stay in my line of sight if you can do so without mucking up the scene.”
“No muck ups. Yes, sir.”
A policeman stood at the doorway of the building, apparently acting as a sentinel. John approached him and said, “Torchwood,” as he flashed his ID. “We need to see the apartment.”
The guard scowled, but let them in. “I see Torchwood is as popular with the cops as always,” Jack observed as they went inside.
“Well, we do try to get along,” John protested. “They just don’t like it when we have to order them off.”
Jack looked at Ianto again and he saw eyes of steely blue. “Do not,” Jack said, “aggravate the police.”
“I don’t make a habit of irritating the local authorities,” Ianto pointed out.
“You’re a trouble magnet. You can’t help it. Remember what I said about not touching.”
Ianto sighed. Jack was over-protective because he loved him. That didn’t make him any less irritating at times. “Shall I keep my hands in my pockets then?”
“Good idea.” Jack took Ianto’s hand and raised it to his lips. “Pretty please?” he said, batting his eyelashes.
Ianto made the exasperated sound he used to let Jack know that he wanted to hit him and kiss him senseless at the same time. “All right - if you promise not to remind me again.”
“Done.”
The door of the apartment was open with yet another guard in the hallway. “Torchwood?” the man asked. “They’re waiting for you.”
John went in the lead. Ianto saw that there were several people inside taking photographs and dusting the surfaces. He stepped carefully around the numbers on the floor, hands jammed into his coat pockets. He didn’t really want to interfere with the investigation; he just wanted to watch Jack.
An attractive black woman came into the room, followed by a young red-headed man. “Hello, Dr. Smith,” she said, in a less than friendly tone. “What can you tell us about the victim?”
“Ah, Detective Swanson,” Jack interposed. Ianto saw the “I’m so irresistible” smile spread across Jack’s face. “Long time, no see. And your friend, Officer Davidson, right?”
The redhead said, “Sergeant Davidson now, sir.”
Detective Swanson turned to Jack. “I thought you weren’t with Torchwood any longer, Captain.”
“No. But I came with John tonight for old time’s sake. Torchwood solidarity and all that.”
“And who’s he?” she asked, jerking her thumb in Ianto’s direction. “This is a crime scene, Dr. Smith, not a circus.” Ianto decided that the police on this continent needed lessons in politeness.
Before Jack could answer, Ianto summoned up his plummiest accent and best British haughtiness. “’He’ is Dr. Ianto Jones Harkness, Detective. ‘He’ is one of the Directors of Swan Industries. ‘He’ is here because ‘his’ husband Captain Harkness is also ‘his’ bodyguard, and the Captain is too honorable to abandon his post, even at the request of a close friend.”
Her eyes didn’t back down, but her voice was more respectful. “I see. Just don’t touch anything.”
Jack, whose face for the last minute had looked like he was about to explode, finally did with a roaring laugh. “I didn’t say it!” he said, when he finally got himself under control. “She did!” Ianto looked down his nose and raised his eyebrow. That sent Jack into another round of laughter. “Ease off, Gorgeous. She got the point. Don’t try to intimidate Ianto, Detective. He’s a direct descendant of Welsh kings and tends to channel them when he’s annoyed.”
She looked skeptical. Ianto dropped the attitude and smiled. “Jack already read me the riot act, Detective Swanson. See? Hands in pockets.”
With a sigh, she said, “Could we get back to my question?”
“Ah. Yes. Well.” John looked around. “I’ll tell you what I can. Is there a place to sit?”
“Jackson, you finished in there?” she called.
A man came out of the kitchen. “Yes, ma’am. Lots of prints, but probably most belong to the vic.”
“See what you can find out.”
Ianto observed Jack as he strolled to the table. His eyes were darting everywhere, lingering for a fraction of a second here and there. Ianto mentally marked those places for a more thorough investigation if he was ever allowed to use his hands again. The entire flat, or whatever they called them here, made him uneasy and it didn’t have anything to do with the corpse in the bedroom. He’d felt it before when a Phimenta leapt out from a hold behind him and tried to throttle him; a sense of something not quite right in the air around him.
When they were seated, Jack grinned at him. “If you promise not to run amok with your fingers, you can take your hands out of your pockets.”
Ianto looked at him, silently promising retribution later. He put his hands on the table, fingers splayed to make them visible. Jack’s eyes twinkled at him and he blew a kiss. Ianto forced himself to concentrate on the questions.
John gave Detective Swanson a short rundown of Suzie’s duties as a liaison, adding, “She didn’t come to the office very often. Most of the liaisons don’t.”
“I’ll need a list of her contacts.”
John shook his head. “You know I can’t, Detective.”
She scowled. “I could get a warrant.”
This caused John to smile grimly. “Good luck with that.” He leaned forward. “I’m not trying to stop you doing your job, but most of these people don’t live in the city. I can’t take the risk of the information getting out. They are protected by Torchwood. I’ll get my agents to talk to them and give you the results of the interrogations without using names or locations. That’s the way it has to be.”
The scowl remained. Ianto thought that she seemed to have only three expressions: scowl, scowlier, and scowliest. She was at stage two now. “Are they aliens?”
“Perhaps.”
“And if an alien killed her?”
“Then Torchwood will deal with it. It’s what we do.”
Scowliest now. Definitely scowliest. The detective abruptly focused on Jack. “What can you tell me about her character?”
“I haven’t seen or communicated in any way with Suzie Costello since I moved to Wales. I don’t know anything about her life right now.” Ianto could hear the hint of disgust in his voice and wondered if the detective would pick up on it.
She did. “Sounds like you didn’t like her much when you were here. Why?”
Jack glanced over at John, who nodded. “We were on a job together,” Jack explained. “She wasn’t where she was supposed to be when things got dicey. We do dangerous things and that damn near got me killed. I wouldn’t partner with her after that. I didn’t trust her.”
“Can you tell me what she was doing when she wasn’t where she was supposed to be?” Jack hesitated. Swanson went on. “Look, I appreciate your solidarity, but I need to know the character of the victim. Most of the time, a corpse was made that way by someone he or she knew. This has the earmarks of a personal kill, not a random one. I need to know what she was like in order to find out who did this.”
John sighed. “Go ahead and tell her, Jack. It’s bound to come out anyway.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Jack turned to the detective and the sergeant. “She was in a bar, hitting on the barkeep. By the time I found her, things had progressed to the interesting stage, and she said she’d forgotten the instructions.”
“Was this a pattern? Hitting on strangers?”
“It was when I knew her. She’d proposition just about anyone. And before you inquire, she did ask and I told her I’d rather mate with a giant vampire squid. And no, I didn’t harbor any grudges. I’ve been happily married to Gorgeous over there for nearly two years.” He waggled his fingers to show off the ring. “In the more enlightened United Kingdom, same sex couples are allowed to marry in a Civil Partnership. I can show you the certificate if you need it.”
Ianto recognized a full-fledged Captain Fit. He reached over and took Jack’s hand, squeezing it gently. Almost immediately, Jack calmed and gave him a grateful smile. Jack’s voice was more even when he added, “It took me a couple of minutes to remember who she was when John said her name. She didn’t register on my radar when I considered my former teammates. Is that what you needed to know, Detective?”
She was still scowling, but it had backed off to level one, Ianto noted. “Yeah. That’s what I needed to know. As a matter of routine, where were you and Dr. Jones tonight between six and nine thirty?”
This time it was Ianto who answered. “That’s Dr. Harkness, detective. At 6:00 we were having a lie down. At 7:00 we were getting dressed for dinner. Just before 8:00, I took the dog out for a walk. Since then we’ve been at dinner with Dr. Smith and Rose Tyler.” He felt a blush crossing his cheeks, but couldn’t resist adding, “If you’re into voyeurism, there’s a CCTV record of the room while we were in it. When I left with the dog, two of my security staff were with me. We travel with a staff of six. There are always two on duty.”
The detective and the sergeant both stared at him. “That’s a lot of security, Dr. Harkness,” she said after a moment.
Jack spoke up, his voice steely. “In the year before I met him, Ianto had been assaulted six times and injured twice. He’s worth a lot of money and he’s an international symbol for capitalism. We travel to some not-so-friendly places, Detective. As he said, I take my job very seriously.”
To Ianto’s eyes, Swanson seemed to deflate a bit and her features relaxed enough to just scowl, level one. “Fine,” she muttered. “You’re a boy scout. That’s very nice, but doesn’t help me much.” She went back to John. “I’ll need to talk with all of the people she’s worked with at least for the last year. The sooner the better.”
Grimacing, John replied, “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, you know. People may not be coming in to the office. Even Torchwood agents take holidays.”
Ianto caught Jack’s eye and they held a non-verbal conversation. He knew Jack wasn’t excited about being involved, but still wanted to help. Jack made a small motion toward his pocket and Ianto nodded his approval. Jack assumed his “charm their socks off” expression and pulled out a card. He handed it to Swanson. “Ianto and I are throwing a little do at the hotel. Bring a guest and meet Torchwood casually. If you have to make an arrest, just please, do it outside so as not to interrupt the band.”
She eyed the invitation warily, as though it were an armed explosive device. When she turned her face to Ianto, she said, “Is this okay with you?”
Ianto nodded. “Some things to remember. One, if you’re coming armed, you’ll need to have Jack or me introduce you to the security people. Two, it’s a party. You’ll have to smile at least once, or be shown the door. Three, Jack will be drinking coffee. Don’t try to take the cup away. Don’t get between him and the coffeemaker. Not a threat, just a bit of advice.”
It almost worked. She forgot to frown and might have smiled, if she hadn’t been interrupted. One of the ambulance attendants loomed suddenly. “Sorry,” he said in an unrepentantly bored tone. “Can we take the body now?”
“Ah, no,” John said, standing up. “Torchwood policy. One of our doctors will perform an autopsy and give you a full report. That’s all I can do for you, Detective. Also, please be sure you inventory anything you’ve already removed from the scene. Some of it may be Torchwood property and we’ll need it back. Once you’ve finished searching tonight, we’ll need to close off this area.”
Swanson’s “scowliest” resurfaced. “This is a murder investigation!” she said. “It’s not a Torchwood scene.”
John apparently lost his temper. “The murder of a Torchwood operative makes it a Torchwood scene, whether you like it or not, Detective. I could order the lot of you out right now and your own chief would back me up. I’m trying to be helpful, but you’re not making it easy. There could be, probably are, things that are dangerous to you and your people here. It’s our job to get them out of here safely before one of them loses a hand by poking at something he shouldn’t have.”
The detective had gone from scowling to a full-blown ice storm during this speech. “Very well, Dr. Smith. I trust we will receive the necessary information from you as soon as possible.”
“We’ll send along anything that might help you with your investigation.”
She had to be satisfied with that. Ianto didn’t think she would be, but she gathered up her people and left. John sighed. “This is not going to be pretty.” He took his phone out. “Rose? Send over whoever’s on call. We need to take this apartment apart at the seams.”
Part 3
This entry was originally posted at http://tonjavmoore.dreamwidth.org/16863.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Author: tonjavmoore
Prompt: The Thin Man - Released in 1934, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, Dashiell Hammett’s wise-cracking, crime-solving couple
Word Count: 31,921
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairings: Jack/Ianto and just about anyone from the Whoniverse at large
Spoilers: Way off the map, so nothing I can think of
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the computer I typed this on and the way these words are spun together. This is a work of fan fiction and no one, least of all me, wants to be stepping on copyrights.
Summary: Captain Jack Harkness, former Torchwood agent, brings his husband to his old stomping grounds of New York City to meet his friends. He didn’t anticipate walking into multiple crimes, missing people, and a general mess. What’s happened in Torchwood?
Special Thanks: To my wonderful betas cjharknessgirl and faithharkness for sticking with me and helping me push this out of my fingertips. Without their encouragement, this would have stayed in limbo for all time.
Part 2
It was cold outside, but warm inside the lobby of the Sofitel. John Smith and Rose were waiting for Jack and his partner to come down to meet them. “This is pretty posh,” John said, looking at the ceiling.
Rose grinned. John was such a little boy at times. “Jack made a good salary, you know. Maybe this is his way of indulging himself for all that work.”
“Still, paying for the penthouse can’t be cheap.”
Whatever Rose was going to say was stopped by her catching sight of Jack Harkness. As always, she felt that swooning sensation when she saw him. He hadn’t changed. His movie-star looks and incredible smile still caused flutters. He was dressed simply and wearing a long grayish-blue coat that had epaulets on the shoulders. Heads in the lobby turned toward him, both female and male. She waited until he was closer and then threw herself into his arms. “Hi there, handsome,” she said.
He twirled her around. “Hi yourself, lovely Rose.” He set her back down and held out a hand to John. “Hi, Doc.”
John took the offered hand and shook it vigorously. “Good to see you again, Jack. You look well.”
“I am well. Perfect, actually. Don’t I look perfect, Rose?”
“Of course.”
Jack grinned. “Ianto will be here in a minute. Our little girl took a notion that she needed a walk so Ianto took her.”
Rose stared in astonishment. “You have a little girl?” she gasped.
“You could say that.”
At that moment, they heard a dog barking furiously. Jack turned toward it and his face took on a softer expression than Rose had ever imagined possible. That was definitely different.
A small white dog appeared at the door, followed by a man holding a leash. Rose heard him chiding the dog in a soft, accented voice. “Myfanwy! Myfanwy, slow down! Myfanwy!”
Jack’s face broke into a large grin. “Here I am, girl! Come on.”
The dog leapt into Jack’s arms. It… she, Rose revised, was wearing a red sweater and a matching cap. She proceeded to lick every part of Jack she could reach while he laughed at her.
“So that’s where she was going,” the young man with the leash said with a sigh. “She’s nearly dislocated my shoulder. She knocked Stone’s ankle hard enough to break it.” He nodded to the men following him. “And after all that whining, she didn’t do anything.”
Rose liked the accent. It was almost musical in its lilt. That voice alone would have attracted Jack’s attention. Jack was still chuckling. He looked relaxed and carefree. She wondered if this is what Jack had looked like before the Air Force and Torchwood had weighed him down.
“You don’t whine, do you, angel?” Jack looked down at the dog and she turned an adoring look at him. “Of course not. You only ask politely.”
“You sleep through her whining. I think you snore that loud on purpose.”
Jack speared the other man, presumably his partner, with a dark look. “I do not snore.”
“My mistake. You don’t snore. There must have been a leaf blower in the room this morning.”
“You wound me. Here, meet my old boss.” Jack turned the man slightly. “Doc, Rose, I’d like to introduce Myfanwy and my gorgeous partner, Ianto Harkness.”
“Oh, sure. Introduce the dog first.” Ianto smiled at them.
Rose tried not to gape. He was nearly as handsome as Jack, with blue eyes and dark lashes and a nose that defined the term “button”. He was Jack’s height with a more slender build. Again, Rose noticed heads turned toward them, more than a few with envy.
“Hello, Ianto,” she said. “I’m so glad to meet you.”
“I’d shake your hand, but Myfanwy’s cut off the circulation. I’m glad to meet you as well. Jack talks about you all the time.”
“Only the clean stuff,” Jack said with a wink at her.
“And, Doctor. I have you to thank for sending Jack on that assignment that allowed me to become captive to his charms.” Ianto grinned. “The most wonderful and aggravating thing in my life.”
Jack growled and Myfanwy echoed him. “Stop that,” Jack told her. “Only I am allowed to growl at your tad.”
Ianto laughed and took her out of Jack’s arms. She licked his face in apology. “It’s all right, girl. I know you were just being a copy-dog. Say bye to Daddy and come upstairs.” He put her on the floor and bowed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
“Guys, take the night off,” Jack said to the men following Ianto. “I’ve got him now.”
“Oh, do you now?” came over Ianto’s shoulder.
“Yes, I do. Watch yourself in the elevator.”
The young Adonis disappeared towards the bank of elevators. Jack turned back to Rose and John. “Question answered?”
“What question?” John asked.
“Oh, don’t give me those innocent looks. I know you’ve been itching to see my gorgeous husband. You wanted to know what made me run after him and leave the exciting life of getting shot at by aliens on a regular basis. Don’t deny it.”
Sighing, Rose answered, “Of course we have. You left us so suddenly.” She dimpled. “But I can see why.”
John shook his head. “I’ll admit he’s nice-looking.”
“Stunningly nice-looking,” Jack corrected.
John grinned. “Even given that, why didn’t you just bring him over here? We could have found something for him to do. We’ve missed you, Jack.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Doc. All of you.” Jack’s smile became rueful. “But, I’ve got to be honest. I haven’t missed the job at all.”
“Not even a teensy bit?” Rose held her fingers a quarter inch apart. “What about all the excitement? All those times you cheated death? We still call you ‘The Immortal’, you know.”
“And I’ll thank you not to use that around Ianto. He knows what I used to do and it scares him. It scared me at the time. My new job has plenty of excitement, but it’s not the lethal kind. Well, so far anyway.”
“What is your new job?” Rose asked.
“You might call me a troubleshooter.” Jack grinned again, with a decided twinkle in his eyes. “You could say I married into the job.”
Rose giggled. She liked this new, more carefree Jack. “How so?”
“The trouble I have to shoot most just took our girl upstairs. Trust me, my in-laws were so glad I took on that job that they pay me an exorbitant salary just to do what I want to do most: travel around with my husband.”
“Ah, that’s so sweet,” Rose said with a sigh.
“Don’t tell him I said so. His head will swell.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Ianto said, reappearing. “If your head were any bigger, it wouldn’t fit in the lift.”
He looked even better, she thought with an inner smile. Ianto’s hair was neatly arranged; he’d changed jackets, and added a handkerchief that exactly matched the red of his shirt. How he’d managed all that in the short time he’d been gone, Rose couldn’t guess. She couldn’t have done it.
“Jack says you travel a lot in your job,” John said. Rose thought he was still probing to find out how to lure Jack back to Torchwood. “Doesn’t that get wearing? Wouldn’t you like to stay in one place?”
“I can’t,” said Ianto wistfully. “I’m a spokesman for my family’s business. It was a condition to give me the freedom to study what I wanted. I’m really a physicist, not a businessman. I just talk like one at podiums.”
“What’s the business then?” Rose wanted to kick John. He really was bordering on rude.
Jack intervened. “Ianto’s family runs Swan Enterprises,” he said. “Maybe you’ve heard of it? The multi-national transport firm? If you need it moved, they have a business that moves it.” He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “How do you think we afford the penthouse?”
Suzie Costello heard the knock and cursed. That stupid woman was an hour early. She shouldn’t have agreed to see her, but she was curious. On two accounts. What she looked like and what her former lover saw in her.
Another knock had her going to the door. She opened it, blinked and let the person inside. “What the hell are you playing at?”
“You don’t need to know.”
A hand shot out and gripped her by the throat. She tried to pull away, but the hand was strong. It squeezed hard as she was backed into the bedroom, causing her to see stars. As she was flung back onto the bed, she heard a laugh. The last thing she heard was a trigger being pulled.
The food was delicious and so was the wine. The only one not drinking wine was Jack. “I have to keep a clear head,” he explained. “I’m actually on duty. Babysitting my charge here.”
Ianto poked him with a finger. “You are not babysitting. You are guarding.” He turned to Rose and John. “Jack’s in charge of my security. Being a public face makes you a target.”
John frowned. It seemed less and less likely that he could lure Jack back to Torchwood. “That must cause wear and tear on your nerves.”
“More on mine,” Jack said. “Gorgeous here just has to look pretty. I have to watch everyone in the room. Unless I can bring the staff in with me. Not easy in a place like CERN.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to CERN,” Rose said. “What do you do there?”
John sighed. Rose had derailed him several times tonight. He thought she wanted Jack back as much as he did.
Ianto blushed. How anyone could live with Jack Harkness and still do that was beyond John. When Ianto spoke, his voice was actually shy. “I… Well, I came up with a little gadget that they use there. I like to stop by every so often to see how they’re doing with it.”
John blinked. Someone who could come up with a “gadget” for the particle collider would probably be able to deal with alien tech. There had to be something he could offer. Maybe he should try Rose’s approach. “So, Jack, I never thought you were a dog person. What kind of dog is…Meef-wee?”
Jack grinned. “Myfanwy,” he corrected. “She’s a Sealyham terrier.”
“Pronounced terror,” Ianto added. “Or maybe tyrant.”
“You gave her to me. I can’t help it that she likes me better than you.”
“Jack thought that all Welsh dogs were Corgis,” Ianto explained. “I gave him one that wasn’t.”
Sylvia Hart stood at the door, still not sure that she wanted to go inside. John had insisted, saying that the woman was the only one who knew where her ex-husband was. She knew the only way that they’d make it until her next settlement payment was to get an advance. Everything was so expensive now and John had such exquisite taste. She raised her hand and knocked.
The door swung inwards. Sylvia’s nervousness increased. What was this Costello woman doing, leaving her door open that way? She must be either very stupid or very confident. “Hello,” Sylvia called. “Hello, it’s Mrs. Hart.”
Nothing. She went into the apartment and pushed the door so it was almost closed. The lighting was low, but she could see just fine. The living room was empty. She moved so that she could see into the kitchen across the bar. No one. “Hello?” she called again.
No sound. Sylvia took a deep breath as she looked around. There were a lot of expensive things here. Very expensive. Sylvia knew she was not overly bright compared to her father and daughter, but she knew costly when she saw it. For a moment, she considered the possibility of taking something to pawn and making a run for it. No. If she did something like that, she’d surely be caught. Sylvia had no luck at all with petty crimes.
She went further into the apartment. A door was ajar. She peeked inside. And then she began to scream her head off.
The body stared at her. Sylvia had no doubt it was a body - the woman’s eyes were open and she was limp. A red stain discolored the front of her dress. Sylvia didn’t know whether to run or not. She couldn’t decide.
The chance was removed when she heard someone push the door open with a bang. “What’s happened?” someone shouted.
“In here,” she managed to squeak. “Someone’s killed her!”
By the time coffee and dessert rolled around, Rose was more than half in love with Ianto herself. No wonder Jack had snatched him up without hesitating. Even though Jack with a spouse and a dog was something she never thought she’d see, he looked so at peace with the world that it made her want to cry for the sheer joy of it.
“Ianto, do you have any brothers or sisters?” she asked, once again taking the conversation away from Torchwood. John was just going to have to accept that Jack was not coming back. Why should he?
“Two of each,” Ianto said. “All older than me. Yes, I’m the baby.”
Jack reached over and pinched his cheek. “Such a cute baby.” He ducked when Ianto swatted at him. “His siblings used to tease him about being a changeling. I set them straight by pointing out that Ianto is a throwback to the elegant Welsh Neanderthals. He’s four inches taller than any of them.”
“They’re all in the business,” Ianto said. “They make money. I spend it. It works for us.”
“Ianto likes to give presents,” Jack said. “Be careful what you wish for - it just might show up on your doorstep. He gave me this coat for my birthday. Honest-to-goodness WWII RAF issue. Even down to the buttons.”
“You always were interested in that period,” John said. “Wished you had a time machine, as I remember.”
“Yep,” Jack replied. “It’s a lot more romanticized in….”
A loud, eerie melody began playing. All of them stared at John while John stared at his pocket. “I gave strict orders,” he began as he fished his phone out, “nothing unless the world was ending.” He spoke into the phone. “I told you…” After a moment’s listening, he cried, “What? What? What?”
“John?” Rose said. “Is something wrong?”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” John said and put the phone back in his pocket. “We have to go, Rose. Suzie’s been found murdered.”
“Murdered!” the others chorused.
John suddenly turned to Jack. Rose did not like that crafty gleam in his eye. “Want to come along?” John asked in a poor attempt at being casual. “For old time’s sake?”
To Rose’s surprise, John gained an ally. “Come on, Jack,” Ianto said. “I’ve never seen you investigate a murder.”
Jack frowned. “I’m not taking you to a crime scene. Especially a Torchwood crime scene.”
“You have to. Remember? You told the others you ‘have me’.”
It was interesting to watch the eye contest. Rose counted ten flashes in the three seconds before Jack sighed and gave in. “All right. We’ll sightsee at a murder case, but you stay where I can see you. And don’t touch anything.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I let you get me into these things.”
Before Jack could change his mind, John ushered them out into the foyer. “Rose, I need you to go to the office and get this news under control. I’ll meet you there later.” John couldn’t repress a triumphant smile at her.
Rose wanted to hit him with something. If he caused trouble between Jack and Ianto, she would injure him. And neither Martha nor Owen would find it easy to patch him up.
Ianto knew he was treading on dangerous ground. Jack wasn’t Torchwood anymore and he tended to not talk about it, except for some amusing stories. That the organization served as liaisons with aliens was something that rumor told of, but Ianto knew it for the truth. The smugglers who had been the source of their meeting had been something called Phimenta and not very pretty when they dropped their human disguises. If Jack had been forced to fight things like that every day, it was no wonder that he didn’t want to be reminded of it.
However, Jack was also irresistible when he was on the trail of something. It was a murder and could be dangerous, but he was glad that Jack had agreed to look at it and let him come along. He took Jack’s hand and squeezed it as they arrived at their destination. Jack gave him a smile and squeezed back. “Remember,” he said, in that tone that Ianto knew must be obeyed, “don’t touch anything. Stay in my line of sight if you can do so without mucking up the scene.”
“No muck ups. Yes, sir.”
A policeman stood at the doorway of the building, apparently acting as a sentinel. John approached him and said, “Torchwood,” as he flashed his ID. “We need to see the apartment.”
The guard scowled, but let them in. “I see Torchwood is as popular with the cops as always,” Jack observed as they went inside.
“Well, we do try to get along,” John protested. “They just don’t like it when we have to order them off.”
Jack looked at Ianto again and he saw eyes of steely blue. “Do not,” Jack said, “aggravate the police.”
“I don’t make a habit of irritating the local authorities,” Ianto pointed out.
“You’re a trouble magnet. You can’t help it. Remember what I said about not touching.”
Ianto sighed. Jack was over-protective because he loved him. That didn’t make him any less irritating at times. “Shall I keep my hands in my pockets then?”
“Good idea.” Jack took Ianto’s hand and raised it to his lips. “Pretty please?” he said, batting his eyelashes.
Ianto made the exasperated sound he used to let Jack know that he wanted to hit him and kiss him senseless at the same time. “All right - if you promise not to remind me again.”
“Done.”
The door of the apartment was open with yet another guard in the hallway. “Torchwood?” the man asked. “They’re waiting for you.”
John went in the lead. Ianto saw that there were several people inside taking photographs and dusting the surfaces. He stepped carefully around the numbers on the floor, hands jammed into his coat pockets. He didn’t really want to interfere with the investigation; he just wanted to watch Jack.
An attractive black woman came into the room, followed by a young red-headed man. “Hello, Dr. Smith,” she said, in a less than friendly tone. “What can you tell us about the victim?”
“Ah, Detective Swanson,” Jack interposed. Ianto saw the “I’m so irresistible” smile spread across Jack’s face. “Long time, no see. And your friend, Officer Davidson, right?”
The redhead said, “Sergeant Davidson now, sir.”
Detective Swanson turned to Jack. “I thought you weren’t with Torchwood any longer, Captain.”
“No. But I came with John tonight for old time’s sake. Torchwood solidarity and all that.”
“And who’s he?” she asked, jerking her thumb in Ianto’s direction. “This is a crime scene, Dr. Smith, not a circus.” Ianto decided that the police on this continent needed lessons in politeness.
Before Jack could answer, Ianto summoned up his plummiest accent and best British haughtiness. “’He’ is Dr. Ianto Jones Harkness, Detective. ‘He’ is one of the Directors of Swan Industries. ‘He’ is here because ‘his’ husband Captain Harkness is also ‘his’ bodyguard, and the Captain is too honorable to abandon his post, even at the request of a close friend.”
Her eyes didn’t back down, but her voice was more respectful. “I see. Just don’t touch anything.”
Jack, whose face for the last minute had looked like he was about to explode, finally did with a roaring laugh. “I didn’t say it!” he said, when he finally got himself under control. “She did!” Ianto looked down his nose and raised his eyebrow. That sent Jack into another round of laughter. “Ease off, Gorgeous. She got the point. Don’t try to intimidate Ianto, Detective. He’s a direct descendant of Welsh kings and tends to channel them when he’s annoyed.”
She looked skeptical. Ianto dropped the attitude and smiled. “Jack already read me the riot act, Detective Swanson. See? Hands in pockets.”
With a sigh, she said, “Could we get back to my question?”
“Ah. Yes. Well.” John looked around. “I’ll tell you what I can. Is there a place to sit?”
“Jackson, you finished in there?” she called.
A man came out of the kitchen. “Yes, ma’am. Lots of prints, but probably most belong to the vic.”
“See what you can find out.”
Ianto observed Jack as he strolled to the table. His eyes were darting everywhere, lingering for a fraction of a second here and there. Ianto mentally marked those places for a more thorough investigation if he was ever allowed to use his hands again. The entire flat, or whatever they called them here, made him uneasy and it didn’t have anything to do with the corpse in the bedroom. He’d felt it before when a Phimenta leapt out from a hold behind him and tried to throttle him; a sense of something not quite right in the air around him.
When they were seated, Jack grinned at him. “If you promise not to run amok with your fingers, you can take your hands out of your pockets.”
Ianto looked at him, silently promising retribution later. He put his hands on the table, fingers splayed to make them visible. Jack’s eyes twinkled at him and he blew a kiss. Ianto forced himself to concentrate on the questions.
John gave Detective Swanson a short rundown of Suzie’s duties as a liaison, adding, “She didn’t come to the office very often. Most of the liaisons don’t.”
“I’ll need a list of her contacts.”
John shook his head. “You know I can’t, Detective.”
She scowled. “I could get a warrant.”
This caused John to smile grimly. “Good luck with that.” He leaned forward. “I’m not trying to stop you doing your job, but most of these people don’t live in the city. I can’t take the risk of the information getting out. They are protected by Torchwood. I’ll get my agents to talk to them and give you the results of the interrogations without using names or locations. That’s the way it has to be.”
The scowl remained. Ianto thought that she seemed to have only three expressions: scowl, scowlier, and scowliest. She was at stage two now. “Are they aliens?”
“Perhaps.”
“And if an alien killed her?”
“Then Torchwood will deal with it. It’s what we do.”
Scowliest now. Definitely scowliest. The detective abruptly focused on Jack. “What can you tell me about her character?”
“I haven’t seen or communicated in any way with Suzie Costello since I moved to Wales. I don’t know anything about her life right now.” Ianto could hear the hint of disgust in his voice and wondered if the detective would pick up on it.
She did. “Sounds like you didn’t like her much when you were here. Why?”
Jack glanced over at John, who nodded. “We were on a job together,” Jack explained. “She wasn’t where she was supposed to be when things got dicey. We do dangerous things and that damn near got me killed. I wouldn’t partner with her after that. I didn’t trust her.”
“Can you tell me what she was doing when she wasn’t where she was supposed to be?” Jack hesitated. Swanson went on. “Look, I appreciate your solidarity, but I need to know the character of the victim. Most of the time, a corpse was made that way by someone he or she knew. This has the earmarks of a personal kill, not a random one. I need to know what she was like in order to find out who did this.”
John sighed. “Go ahead and tell her, Jack. It’s bound to come out anyway.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Jack turned to the detective and the sergeant. “She was in a bar, hitting on the barkeep. By the time I found her, things had progressed to the interesting stage, and she said she’d forgotten the instructions.”
“Was this a pattern? Hitting on strangers?”
“It was when I knew her. She’d proposition just about anyone. And before you inquire, she did ask and I told her I’d rather mate with a giant vampire squid. And no, I didn’t harbor any grudges. I’ve been happily married to Gorgeous over there for nearly two years.” He waggled his fingers to show off the ring. “In the more enlightened United Kingdom, same sex couples are allowed to marry in a Civil Partnership. I can show you the certificate if you need it.”
Ianto recognized a full-fledged Captain Fit. He reached over and took Jack’s hand, squeezing it gently. Almost immediately, Jack calmed and gave him a grateful smile. Jack’s voice was more even when he added, “It took me a couple of minutes to remember who she was when John said her name. She didn’t register on my radar when I considered my former teammates. Is that what you needed to know, Detective?”
She was still scowling, but it had backed off to level one, Ianto noted. “Yeah. That’s what I needed to know. As a matter of routine, where were you and Dr. Jones tonight between six and nine thirty?”
This time it was Ianto who answered. “That’s Dr. Harkness, detective. At 6:00 we were having a lie down. At 7:00 we were getting dressed for dinner. Just before 8:00, I took the dog out for a walk. Since then we’ve been at dinner with Dr. Smith and Rose Tyler.” He felt a blush crossing his cheeks, but couldn’t resist adding, “If you’re into voyeurism, there’s a CCTV record of the room while we were in it. When I left with the dog, two of my security staff were with me. We travel with a staff of six. There are always two on duty.”
The detective and the sergeant both stared at him. “That’s a lot of security, Dr. Harkness,” she said after a moment.
Jack spoke up, his voice steely. “In the year before I met him, Ianto had been assaulted six times and injured twice. He’s worth a lot of money and he’s an international symbol for capitalism. We travel to some not-so-friendly places, Detective. As he said, I take my job very seriously.”
To Ianto’s eyes, Swanson seemed to deflate a bit and her features relaxed enough to just scowl, level one. “Fine,” she muttered. “You’re a boy scout. That’s very nice, but doesn’t help me much.” She went back to John. “I’ll need to talk with all of the people she’s worked with at least for the last year. The sooner the better.”
Grimacing, John replied, “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, you know. People may not be coming in to the office. Even Torchwood agents take holidays.”
Ianto caught Jack’s eye and they held a non-verbal conversation. He knew Jack wasn’t excited about being involved, but still wanted to help. Jack made a small motion toward his pocket and Ianto nodded his approval. Jack assumed his “charm their socks off” expression and pulled out a card. He handed it to Swanson. “Ianto and I are throwing a little do at the hotel. Bring a guest and meet Torchwood casually. If you have to make an arrest, just please, do it outside so as not to interrupt the band.”
She eyed the invitation warily, as though it were an armed explosive device. When she turned her face to Ianto, she said, “Is this okay with you?”
Ianto nodded. “Some things to remember. One, if you’re coming armed, you’ll need to have Jack or me introduce you to the security people. Two, it’s a party. You’ll have to smile at least once, or be shown the door. Three, Jack will be drinking coffee. Don’t try to take the cup away. Don’t get between him and the coffeemaker. Not a threat, just a bit of advice.”
It almost worked. She forgot to frown and might have smiled, if she hadn’t been interrupted. One of the ambulance attendants loomed suddenly. “Sorry,” he said in an unrepentantly bored tone. “Can we take the body now?”
“Ah, no,” John said, standing up. “Torchwood policy. One of our doctors will perform an autopsy and give you a full report. That’s all I can do for you, Detective. Also, please be sure you inventory anything you’ve already removed from the scene. Some of it may be Torchwood property and we’ll need it back. Once you’ve finished searching tonight, we’ll need to close off this area.”
Swanson’s “scowliest” resurfaced. “This is a murder investigation!” she said. “It’s not a Torchwood scene.”
John apparently lost his temper. “The murder of a Torchwood operative makes it a Torchwood scene, whether you like it or not, Detective. I could order the lot of you out right now and your own chief would back me up. I’m trying to be helpful, but you’re not making it easy. There could be, probably are, things that are dangerous to you and your people here. It’s our job to get them out of here safely before one of them loses a hand by poking at something he shouldn’t have.”
The detective had gone from scowling to a full-blown ice storm during this speech. “Very well, Dr. Smith. I trust we will receive the necessary information from you as soon as possible.”
“We’ll send along anything that might help you with your investigation.”
She had to be satisfied with that. Ianto didn’t think she would be, but she gathered up her people and left. John sighed. “This is not going to be pretty.” He took his phone out. “Rose? Send over whoever’s on call. We need to take this apartment apart at the seams.”
Part 3
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