Fic: The Art of Being Lost and Found (13/?), blue cortina, dakfinv
Title: The Art of Being Lost and Found (13/?)
Author: dak
Word Count: 1663 (this part); (18,205 in total, so far)
Rating: blue cortina
Warnings: none here
Summary: Post 2.08. When the Guv goes missing, CID is saddled with an inept "interim" DCI. To find Gene, and the truth, Ray must team up with a hated enemy.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12
“Thank you for waiting, gentlemen. You must appreciate how busy I am here.”
Her name plate read Dr. Georgina Wynton, but Ray wouldn’t have been surprised to find a hefty pair of knackers tucked underneath her beige trousers. Not that Ray had any desire to get downstairs inside.
The woman’s gaze was colder than a blood-thirsty Alsatian’s and her hair was pulled back in a bun so tight, Ray was surprised she was able to blink. There would be no sweet-talking this bird. It was better to imagine her as a bloke and get straight to the point.
“We need to borrow Sam Williams,” he began.
“Borrow?” Dr. Wynton quirked an eyebrow. “DS Carling, our patients are not for rent,” she folded her thin hands tightly.
“What I meant is that he’s a witness to an important case. We need to escort him to a crime scene.”
“Crime scene? Absolutely not,” she shook her head. “The last thing Mr. Williams needs is to suffer more trauma at the hands of the Lancashire Constabulary.”
“Well,” Chris spoke for the first time. “‘S not really a crime scene, like,” he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Then what is it like, DC Skelton?” She turned her narrow gaze away from Ray.
“Er, it’s, well, it’s a place where the victim, well, he’s not a victim. Uhm, we don’t know if he’s a victim cos, erm, we haven’t...”
“It’s a missing person’s case,” Ray cut in. “We need Williams to see the location the victim was last spotted.”
“Why?”
“To see what he can remember.”
“When did this person go missing?” She peered over her desk, somehow looking down on them even though they were at the same height.
“’Bout...” Chris started to answer, but Ray casually pressed his heel down on the lad’s toe, cutting him off.
“Right before he was sectioned,” Ray answered. Wynton quirked her eyebrow again.
“That was nearly four months ago.”
“We’ve just found some new evidence. Our Guv wants us to take a fresh look at the case and all.”
“And this isn’t possible without Mr. Williams’ help?” she asked skeptically.
“Look, lady,” Ray sighed, tired of being talked down to. “We’re not looking to bust him out of here. The berk needs serious help. All we want is a day pass or two. Give him a look round a scene and see if it sparks owt. We’ll bring him back nice as you please.”
Dr. Wynton looked from Ray to Chris, then back to Ray, her hands still folded primly before her.
“Well, I’ll take everything you’ve said into consideration and have an answer ready for you next week.”
“Next week?” Ray and Chris said in unison.
“With all due respect, ma’am,” Chris spoke up, albeit softly. “Evidence in missing person’s cases, well, any case really, ‘s important for us to act quickly. Else the leads go cold and nowt gets solved. I mean, really, it’s best if we act sooner rather than later. ‘S not like psychiatry, ma’am. We can’t take our time. But, er,” Chris ran a finger under the collar of his shirt. “That’s just my opinion, like,” he blushed and looked away.
“Hm,” the doctor nodded. She tapped a finger on her desk, analyzing Chris’ words. “I agree that is a valid argument.” She began to sift through the piles of folders on her desk. “Let me see if it’s possible to rearrange Mr. Williams’ treatments - we can’t have him slipping back into old habits - and I’ll get back to you tomorrow morning. Is that suitable?”
“Yes,” Ray nodded. Chris elbowed him. “Ma’am,” he added. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Yes, thank you,” Chris smiled.
With a final goodbye, they left Dr. Wynton’s office and made their way out to the car park.
“Hope you know what you’re getting us into,” Ray warned.
“No. Not really,” Chris sighed.
*
“Where’ve you jokers been!” Phyllis yelled as soon as they stepped foot into the station. She didn’t give them a chance to answer. “Guv’s missus is here. Crying all over. Says he rang her early this morning.”
Ray couldn’t move fast enough. He ran up the staircase, hoping Chris was following behind. He must have been because they burst into CID at the same exact moment. There was a circle of officers, both CID and RCS, surrounding the area near Tyler’s old desk.
Ray and Chris made their way through the crowd to see Vera sitting in a chair - Annie holding one hand while Carter and Litton leaned on the desk beside her.
“It was him,” she sobbed. “I know it was him.”
Ray felt a pang of guilt; he didn’t know for who. Even if Vera was cheating, she still seemed to care for her husband.
“There, there, Mrs. Hunt. We believe you,” Carter pat her on the arm. “Now why don’t you let DCI Litton take you upstairs to Regional Crime Squad and you can tell him all about it?”
“This way ma chere,” Litton smiled.
Vera appeared frozen to the spot.
“It’s alright, Mrs. Hunt,” Annie squeezed her hand. “I can go with you, if you like,” she offered.
“That would be lovely dear, thank you,” she tried to smile but only ended up crying more. Annie helped her to stand and slowly they walked out of CID, Litton and his RCS goons following close behind. Ray started to follow but was immediately called back.
“Excuse me, DS Carling, but where are you going?”
Ray turned to see Carter staring, hands stuffed in his pockets.
“I’m going to speak to Vera.”
“Have you been transferred to Crime Squad, Sergeant?”
“Excuse me?”
“You belong to CID. That case belongs to RCS. Ergo, if you’re working on that case, then you must have transferred to RCS.”
Ray lunged for him, but Chris and Clyde held him back.
“Leave it, Ray,” Chris whispered. “’S not worth it.”
“Yes it is,” he snarled.
“We’ll go see her later. Leave it for now, alright mate?”
Ray let Chris’ words sink in and calmed himself down.
“Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in compliance.
“Now, DS Carling, there are some cases I need you and DC Skelton to investigate. That is, if you’re finished with this morning’s excursions.”
“Thought we had a lead on the Hartford case. Turned out to be nowt,” Chris shrugged.
“My, my. We are having quite a few false leads with that one, aren’t we?”
Ray couldn’t miss Carter’s suspicious glance.
“The case files are on your desk. Get to it, gentlemen.”
*
The pub was livelier than it had been in ages. Ray figured it had less to do with Geoff’s birthday than with the news that the Missus had heard from the Guv. Well, supposedly heard. No one knew exactly what had transpired in the early morning hours. Mrs. Hunt had reportedly walked into the station sobbing, saying nothing but “He called, Gene called,” until she was whisked away from RCS.
Ray and Chris were considering the various possibilities regarding the call when Cartwright hurried into the Arms and immediately sat at their table.
“And what’ve you been up to? A little after hour’s work with DCI Carter?” Ray teased.
“For your information, I’ve spent the last few hours sitting with Mrs. Hunt,” Annie corrected him haughtily.
“Carter said we weren’t to be involved with that,” Ray huffed.
“DCI Carter forgot I was a detective when he let me go upstairs to keep her company,” she smirked triumphantly. “Now, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?”
Ray and Chris eagerly shook their heads. Annie took a deep breath, set her purse on the floor, and began recounting her story.
“Mrs. Hunt was staying at her mother’s.”
“In Yorkshire,” Ray added.
“Right. Apparently, the phone started ringing just after six in the morning. Her mother’s all but deaf and couldn’t hear it, so Mrs. Hunt, still in her dressing gown, goes downstairs to answer it.”
“And it’s the Guv?” Ray asked hopefully.
“Well, no one says anything at first. She keeps saying ‘hello’ and there’s no answer. The line’s not dead though, because she can hear someone breathing on the other end.”
“And?” Ray pressed for more.
“And, that’s it. The phone clicks off and she hangs up.”
“Heavy breathing?” Ray repeated with more than a trace of sarcasm. “That’s what put her in a tizzy?”
“Happened to my mum once,” Chris said. “She were in a right fit. Convinced it was a pervert.”
“Was it?” Ray asked.
“No. Was me. Had a football kicked at me stomach right when I were calling her,” Chris said sheepishly.
“So, Vera told us nowt,” Ray shook his head, the brief hope flooding right out of him.
“It was certainly something to her,” Annie corrected. “She said she’d know the Guv’s breathing anywhere.”
“Don’t help us though, does it? We can’t do owt with one pervy phone call,” Ray finished his pint.
“Maybe not, but if it was DCI Hunt, at least we know he’s alive,” Annie replied, her voice encouraging.
“Why wouldn’t he say anything?” Chris wondered.
“Maybe he was hurt. Maybe he couldn’t,” she answered.
“How would he know she was in Yorkshire?” Ray asked. “If he couldn’t even speak and only had time for one phone call, why would he bother ringing his mother-in-law, who’s deaf? Why not his house or the station?”
“I don’t know,” Annie shook her head, conceding.
“Guv’s smart,” Chris shrugged. “If it were him, he must’ve done it for a reason.”
“It’s been nearly three weeks,” Annie reminded them. “Depending on what he’s been through, who knows how much reasoning he has left.”
That silenced them all. After a few minutes. Ray offered to buy the next round. He avoided any mention of their visit to Fox Hollow. Cartwright was finally speaking to him again and, with the way things were headed, it was going to take all of them to find Gene.
Author: dak
Word Count: 1663 (this part); (18,205 in total, so far)
Rating: blue cortina
Warnings: none here
Summary: Post 2.08. When the Guv goes missing, CID is saddled with an inept "interim" DCI. To find Gene, and the truth, Ray must team up with a hated enemy.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12
“Thank you for waiting, gentlemen. You must appreciate how busy I am here.”
Her name plate read Dr. Georgina Wynton, but Ray wouldn’t have been surprised to find a hefty pair of knackers tucked underneath her beige trousers. Not that Ray had any desire to get downstairs inside.
The woman’s gaze was colder than a blood-thirsty Alsatian’s and her hair was pulled back in a bun so tight, Ray was surprised she was able to blink. There would be no sweet-talking this bird. It was better to imagine her as a bloke and get straight to the point.
“We need to borrow Sam Williams,” he began.
“Borrow?” Dr. Wynton quirked an eyebrow. “DS Carling, our patients are not for rent,” she folded her thin hands tightly.
“What I meant is that he’s a witness to an important case. We need to escort him to a crime scene.”
“Crime scene? Absolutely not,” she shook her head. “The last thing Mr. Williams needs is to suffer more trauma at the hands of the Lancashire Constabulary.”
“Well,” Chris spoke for the first time. “‘S not really a crime scene, like,” he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Then what is it like, DC Skelton?” She turned her narrow gaze away from Ray.
“Er, it’s, well, it’s a place where the victim, well, he’s not a victim. Uhm, we don’t know if he’s a victim cos, erm, we haven’t...”
“It’s a missing person’s case,” Ray cut in. “We need Williams to see the location the victim was last spotted.”
“Why?”
“To see what he can remember.”
“When did this person go missing?” She peered over her desk, somehow looking down on them even though they were at the same height.
“’Bout...” Chris started to answer, but Ray casually pressed his heel down on the lad’s toe, cutting him off.
“Right before he was sectioned,” Ray answered. Wynton quirked her eyebrow again.
“That was nearly four months ago.”
“We’ve just found some new evidence. Our Guv wants us to take a fresh look at the case and all.”
“And this isn’t possible without Mr. Williams’ help?” she asked skeptically.
“Look, lady,” Ray sighed, tired of being talked down to. “We’re not looking to bust him out of here. The berk needs serious help. All we want is a day pass or two. Give him a look round a scene and see if it sparks owt. We’ll bring him back nice as you please.”
Dr. Wynton looked from Ray to Chris, then back to Ray, her hands still folded primly before her.
“Well, I’ll take everything you’ve said into consideration and have an answer ready for you next week.”
“Next week?” Ray and Chris said in unison.
“With all due respect, ma’am,” Chris spoke up, albeit softly. “Evidence in missing person’s cases, well, any case really, ‘s important for us to act quickly. Else the leads go cold and nowt gets solved. I mean, really, it’s best if we act sooner rather than later. ‘S not like psychiatry, ma’am. We can’t take our time. But, er,” Chris ran a finger under the collar of his shirt. “That’s just my opinion, like,” he blushed and looked away.
“Hm,” the doctor nodded. She tapped a finger on her desk, analyzing Chris’ words. “I agree that is a valid argument.” She began to sift through the piles of folders on her desk. “Let me see if it’s possible to rearrange Mr. Williams’ treatments - we can’t have him slipping back into old habits - and I’ll get back to you tomorrow morning. Is that suitable?”
“Yes,” Ray nodded. Chris elbowed him. “Ma’am,” he added. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Yes, thank you,” Chris smiled.
With a final goodbye, they left Dr. Wynton’s office and made their way out to the car park.
“Hope you know what you’re getting us into,” Ray warned.
“No. Not really,” Chris sighed.
*
“Where’ve you jokers been!” Phyllis yelled as soon as they stepped foot into the station. She didn’t give them a chance to answer. “Guv’s missus is here. Crying all over. Says he rang her early this morning.”
Ray couldn’t move fast enough. He ran up the staircase, hoping Chris was following behind. He must have been because they burst into CID at the same exact moment. There was a circle of officers, both CID and RCS, surrounding the area near Tyler’s old desk.
Ray and Chris made their way through the crowd to see Vera sitting in a chair - Annie holding one hand while Carter and Litton leaned on the desk beside her.
“It was him,” she sobbed. “I know it was him.”
Ray felt a pang of guilt; he didn’t know for who. Even if Vera was cheating, she still seemed to care for her husband.
“There, there, Mrs. Hunt. We believe you,” Carter pat her on the arm. “Now why don’t you let DCI Litton take you upstairs to Regional Crime Squad and you can tell him all about it?”
“This way ma chere,” Litton smiled.
Vera appeared frozen to the spot.
“It’s alright, Mrs. Hunt,” Annie squeezed her hand. “I can go with you, if you like,” she offered.
“That would be lovely dear, thank you,” she tried to smile but only ended up crying more. Annie helped her to stand and slowly they walked out of CID, Litton and his RCS goons following close behind. Ray started to follow but was immediately called back.
“Excuse me, DS Carling, but where are you going?”
Ray turned to see Carter staring, hands stuffed in his pockets.
“I’m going to speak to Vera.”
“Have you been transferred to Crime Squad, Sergeant?”
“Excuse me?”
“You belong to CID. That case belongs to RCS. Ergo, if you’re working on that case, then you must have transferred to RCS.”
Ray lunged for him, but Chris and Clyde held him back.
“Leave it, Ray,” Chris whispered. “’S not worth it.”
“Yes it is,” he snarled.
“We’ll go see her later. Leave it for now, alright mate?”
Ray let Chris’ words sink in and calmed himself down.
“Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in compliance.
“Now, DS Carling, there are some cases I need you and DC Skelton to investigate. That is, if you’re finished with this morning’s excursions.”
“Thought we had a lead on the Hartford case. Turned out to be nowt,” Chris shrugged.
“My, my. We are having quite a few false leads with that one, aren’t we?”
Ray couldn’t miss Carter’s suspicious glance.
“The case files are on your desk. Get to it, gentlemen.”
*
The pub was livelier than it had been in ages. Ray figured it had less to do with Geoff’s birthday than with the news that the Missus had heard from the Guv. Well, supposedly heard. No one knew exactly what had transpired in the early morning hours. Mrs. Hunt had reportedly walked into the station sobbing, saying nothing but “He called, Gene called,” until she was whisked away from RCS.
Ray and Chris were considering the various possibilities regarding the call when Cartwright hurried into the Arms and immediately sat at their table.
“And what’ve you been up to? A little after hour’s work with DCI Carter?” Ray teased.
“For your information, I’ve spent the last few hours sitting with Mrs. Hunt,” Annie corrected him haughtily.
“Carter said we weren’t to be involved with that,” Ray huffed.
“DCI Carter forgot I was a detective when he let me go upstairs to keep her company,” she smirked triumphantly. “Now, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?”
Ray and Chris eagerly shook their heads. Annie took a deep breath, set her purse on the floor, and began recounting her story.
“Mrs. Hunt was staying at her mother’s.”
“In Yorkshire,” Ray added.
“Right. Apparently, the phone started ringing just after six in the morning. Her mother’s all but deaf and couldn’t hear it, so Mrs. Hunt, still in her dressing gown, goes downstairs to answer it.”
“And it’s the Guv?” Ray asked hopefully.
“Well, no one says anything at first. She keeps saying ‘hello’ and there’s no answer. The line’s not dead though, because she can hear someone breathing on the other end.”
“And?” Ray pressed for more.
“And, that’s it. The phone clicks off and she hangs up.”
“Heavy breathing?” Ray repeated with more than a trace of sarcasm. “That’s what put her in a tizzy?”
“Happened to my mum once,” Chris said. “She were in a right fit. Convinced it was a pervert.”
“Was it?” Ray asked.
“No. Was me. Had a football kicked at me stomach right when I were calling her,” Chris said sheepishly.
“So, Vera told us nowt,” Ray shook his head, the brief hope flooding right out of him.
“It was certainly something to her,” Annie corrected. “She said she’d know the Guv’s breathing anywhere.”
“Don’t help us though, does it? We can’t do owt with one pervy phone call,” Ray finished his pint.
“Maybe not, but if it was DCI Hunt, at least we know he’s alive,” Annie replied, her voice encouraging.
“Why wouldn’t he say anything?” Chris wondered.
“Maybe he was hurt. Maybe he couldn’t,” she answered.
“How would he know she was in Yorkshire?” Ray asked. “If he couldn’t even speak and only had time for one phone call, why would he bother ringing his mother-in-law, who’s deaf? Why not his house or the station?”
“I don’t know,” Annie shook her head, conceding.
“Guv’s smart,” Chris shrugged. “If it were him, he must’ve done it for a reason.”
“It’s been nearly three weeks,” Annie reminded them. “Depending on what he’s been through, who knows how much reasoning he has left.”
That silenced them all. After a few minutes. Ray offered to buy the next round. He avoided any mention of their visit to Fox Hollow. Cartwright was finally speaking to him again and, with the way things were headed, it was going to take all of them to find Gene.