Fic: The Art of Being Lost and Found (18/?), blue cortina, dakfinv
Title: The Art of Being Lost and Found (18/?)
Author: dak
Word Count: 1297 (this part); (24,925 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 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Part 16 Part 17
“You weren’t at the pub Saturday night,” Ray commented as soon as Chris entered CID that Monday morning.
“Weren’t thirsty.”
“Did you go back to--”
Ray was interrupted as Carter chose that moment to address the team.
“Good morning, gentlemen. And lady,” he smiled at Cartwright. Ray swore he saw her eyes roll. “I trust you all had a lovely weekend, yes?”
The group barely murmured. Ray said nothing at all.
“Good, good. I’m afraid that while you were all relaxing, crime was not. We have a fresh batch of cases for you this morning. No bodies, fortunately. We don’t need another unsolved murder on our hands, do we?” His gaze fell on Ray. “Now, you’ll find your assigned cases on your respective desks. Chop, chop,” he clapped his hands. “Crime waits for no man.” Carter dismissed them, then went to hide inside the Guv’s office.
Ray waited until the DCI was well out of sight before he approached Chris.
“Did you go back to see him?” he finished his question.
“No,” Chris said, flipping through the file left for him. “Well, not Saturday. Borrowed me dad’s car and drove out there Sunday.”
“And?”
Chris seemed surprised that Ray was asking, but answered anyway.
“And nowt. Asked to see him. Joe...”
“Who’s Joe?”
“That big orderly bloke.”
“Oh. Didn’t even know he had a name.”
“Yeah. Well, Joe came down and said Sam didn’t want any visitors.”
“Wait. He didn’t want visitors or he couldn’t have any visitors?”
“Joe said didn’t.”
“Was Joe lying?”
“Don’t see why he would. And it makes sense, the way we treated him.”
“We did--”
Geoff passed by and Ray stopped until they were alone again. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation here.”
“We shouldn’t be having this conversation at all,” Chris dropped the file and reached for his jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“Meeting with the Super. About my resignation.”
“You’re...? Hold on. You said you were going to wait till the Guv was back.”
“The Guv ain’t coming back, Ray. ‘S over,” he fixed the collar on his jacket and headed for the door.
“DS Carling. DC Skelton,” Carter called out. Ray turned his frustration from Chris to Carter.
“What?” he snapped as Carter approached.
“I’ve just received a call. RCS has continued the trawl of the canal in the course of investigating DCI Hunt’s disappearance.”
Ray’s stomach dropped.
“They’ve found a body.”
His hands began to shake.
“Is it...” Chris asked the question Ray could not.
“Pardon? Oh no. No, no, no,” Carter laughed.
Ray wanted to throttle him.
“It’s much too fresh to be Hunt. No, an ordinary murder, I’m afraid. Which is why they’re handing the body off to us. I’d like you two to head out to the scene. Take WDC Cartwright, if you like. Oh, and don’t worry about your meeting, Christopher. I’ll sort it,” Carter handed them the address of the scene and sauntered off.
Ray, adrenaline still flooding his body, looked to Chris.
“Alright?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Chris nodded. “I thought...”
“Me, too. C’mon. Let’s grab Cartwright and get out of here. Can’t stand the stench,” he nodded in Carter’s direction.
*
Only plod were on the scene when they arrived. RCS had long since departed and Ray was glad of it. He didn’t think he could deal with Litton today. A young PC led the three detectives to the body, which was already placed on a stretcher, covered in a white sheet. They gathered round while the ambulance driver pulled the sheet back to reveal the man’s face.
“Well, he can’t have been in there long,” Annie began, barely recoiling at the sight of the slightly bloated corpse. “Hardly any sign of decay. Could’ve been dumped only last night. What do you think?” she asked.
Ray was dumbstruck. He wondered if Chris felt the same way.
“Isn’t that...” Ray asked first.
“Uhm, I think so,” Chris answered.
“What are you two on about?” Annie asked. “Do you know him?”
“It’s, well,” Ray took a deep breath. “His name’s James Bresson. He’s Tyler’s bunk mate at Fox Hollow.”
*
“We need to see Sam Tyler. Now,” Ray stormed up to the front desk.
“I’m sorry. Who?” the older woman asked.
“Williams,” Ray corrected himself. “Sam Williams. And tell him it’s police business,” he flashed his badge. “He’ll be seeing us whether he wants to or not.” He put the warrant card away as she hurried off to deal with his request, then turned back to his colleagues.
Annie looked nervous, constantly adjusting the strap of her handbag. Chris just looked confused.
“You can stay here if you want, Annie,” Ray offered.
“Absolutely not,” she snapped, finally leaving the handbag alone. “This is a police matter and it’s my duty to investigate it. No matter where it leads,” she crossed her arms, putting on a determined stare.
“Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he sighed.
The orderly, Joe, arrived ten minutes later and escorted them to an empty room. The three paced anxiously as they waited for Tyler to arrive. Ray knew they would have to interview the staff as well, but Tyler was the only person on his mind at the moment. Even the Guv was taking a backseat.
It was another fifteen minutes before Joe returned with Tyler. Sam appeared agitated, distracted, and exhausted, but seemed to be almost as coherent as he was the first time Ray had seen him here. After Joe left, Sam finally acknowledged his visitors.
“Oh God. Three of you?” he sighed and twitched. “This isn’t another ‘intervention,’ is it?” he sneered, occupying his nervous fingers with a small crack in the wall.
“How are you, Boss?” Chris asked.
“Hm? Oh, oh brilliant. Cheers,” he dramatically rolled his eyes, then spasmed again, and ran a hand over his face. “Since I’ve...I’ve been behaving. They’ve uhm, they’ve decreased my medication. And I’m getting a few days off from electroshock. Isn’t that fantastic?” He ran a hand through his hair, glanced at Annie, then quickly looked away. “Can we get to the point, now? I’m supposed to be eating. I need to eat. I haven’t, I haven’t had...the pie...I haven’t....when was that?” He asked himself as became visibly confused.
“We’re here about James Bresson,” Ray spoke up.
“Who? Who is that? I can’t...I don’t...” Sam rubbed his arm vigorously with his hand.
“Your roommate with the dead family and load of books.”
“James...James...Oh, James!” Sam finally remembered. “Yes. Right. Yes. Okay. What about him?”
“He’s dead.” He could feel Annie glaring at him for his cold delivery, but Tyler had told them to get to the point, hadn’t he?
“What?” Sam laughed. “No. No he’s not. He’s...he’s just, he’s not.”
“When’s the last time you saw him?” Ray questioned him.
“Last time...last time...I guess...guess it was...Saturday? No. Sunday? Saturday or Sunday. One of the two. I don’t...I...”
“And you haven’t noticed he’s gone?” he pressed.
“Notice? I noticed. Course I noticed. I just...I...okay,” Sam admitted. “Maybe I haven’t noticed. Hadn’t noticed. But he’s not dead. He’s not. Maybe...they could’ve...he was close to being released. He could’ve been released. He can’t be dead. He was just alive,” Sam laughed, and hugged his arms tightly around his chest.
“He’s dead, Tyler, cos we just fished his body out of the canal.”
Sam cocked his head to the side, then looked to Chris and (briefly) Annie, for confirmation.
“Well, I, well....shit,” Sam let out a long, low breath, then backed himself up against the wall. “We...we have...we should...” he stuttered as he slid down the wall, his eyes staring off into space.
“We should what?” Ray crossed his arms.
Sam took a very deep breath, then looked up at his former team.
“We really, really, really have to find Gene.”
Author: dak
Word Count: 1297 (this part); (24,925 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 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Part 16 Part 17
“You weren’t at the pub Saturday night,” Ray commented as soon as Chris entered CID that Monday morning.
“Weren’t thirsty.”
“Did you go back to--”
Ray was interrupted as Carter chose that moment to address the team.
“Good morning, gentlemen. And lady,” he smiled at Cartwright. Ray swore he saw her eyes roll. “I trust you all had a lovely weekend, yes?”
The group barely murmured. Ray said nothing at all.
“Good, good. I’m afraid that while you were all relaxing, crime was not. We have a fresh batch of cases for you this morning. No bodies, fortunately. We don’t need another unsolved murder on our hands, do we?” His gaze fell on Ray. “Now, you’ll find your assigned cases on your respective desks. Chop, chop,” he clapped his hands. “Crime waits for no man.” Carter dismissed them, then went to hide inside the Guv’s office.
Ray waited until the DCI was well out of sight before he approached Chris.
“Did you go back to see him?” he finished his question.
“No,” Chris said, flipping through the file left for him. “Well, not Saturday. Borrowed me dad’s car and drove out there Sunday.”
“And?”
Chris seemed surprised that Ray was asking, but answered anyway.
“And nowt. Asked to see him. Joe...”
“Who’s Joe?”
“That big orderly bloke.”
“Oh. Didn’t even know he had a name.”
“Yeah. Well, Joe came down and said Sam didn’t want any visitors.”
“Wait. He didn’t want visitors or he couldn’t have any visitors?”
“Joe said didn’t.”
“Was Joe lying?”
“Don’t see why he would. And it makes sense, the way we treated him.”
“We did--”
Geoff passed by and Ray stopped until they were alone again. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation here.”
“We shouldn’t be having this conversation at all,” Chris dropped the file and reached for his jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“Meeting with the Super. About my resignation.”
“You’re...? Hold on. You said you were going to wait till the Guv was back.”
“The Guv ain’t coming back, Ray. ‘S over,” he fixed the collar on his jacket and headed for the door.
“DS Carling. DC Skelton,” Carter called out. Ray turned his frustration from Chris to Carter.
“What?” he snapped as Carter approached.
“I’ve just received a call. RCS has continued the trawl of the canal in the course of investigating DCI Hunt’s disappearance.”
Ray’s stomach dropped.
“They’ve found a body.”
His hands began to shake.
“Is it...” Chris asked the question Ray could not.
“Pardon? Oh no. No, no, no,” Carter laughed.
Ray wanted to throttle him.
“It’s much too fresh to be Hunt. No, an ordinary murder, I’m afraid. Which is why they’re handing the body off to us. I’d like you two to head out to the scene. Take WDC Cartwright, if you like. Oh, and don’t worry about your meeting, Christopher. I’ll sort it,” Carter handed them the address of the scene and sauntered off.
Ray, adrenaline still flooding his body, looked to Chris.
“Alright?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Chris nodded. “I thought...”
“Me, too. C’mon. Let’s grab Cartwright and get out of here. Can’t stand the stench,” he nodded in Carter’s direction.
*
Only plod were on the scene when they arrived. RCS had long since departed and Ray was glad of it. He didn’t think he could deal with Litton today. A young PC led the three detectives to the body, which was already placed on a stretcher, covered in a white sheet. They gathered round while the ambulance driver pulled the sheet back to reveal the man’s face.
“Well, he can’t have been in there long,” Annie began, barely recoiling at the sight of the slightly bloated corpse. “Hardly any sign of decay. Could’ve been dumped only last night. What do you think?” she asked.
Ray was dumbstruck. He wondered if Chris felt the same way.
“Isn’t that...” Ray asked first.
“Uhm, I think so,” Chris answered.
“What are you two on about?” Annie asked. “Do you know him?”
“It’s, well,” Ray took a deep breath. “His name’s James Bresson. He’s Tyler’s bunk mate at Fox Hollow.”
*
“We need to see Sam Tyler. Now,” Ray stormed up to the front desk.
“I’m sorry. Who?” the older woman asked.
“Williams,” Ray corrected himself. “Sam Williams. And tell him it’s police business,” he flashed his badge. “He’ll be seeing us whether he wants to or not.” He put the warrant card away as she hurried off to deal with his request, then turned back to his colleagues.
Annie looked nervous, constantly adjusting the strap of her handbag. Chris just looked confused.
“You can stay here if you want, Annie,” Ray offered.
“Absolutely not,” she snapped, finally leaving the handbag alone. “This is a police matter and it’s my duty to investigate it. No matter where it leads,” she crossed her arms, putting on a determined stare.
“Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he sighed.
The orderly, Joe, arrived ten minutes later and escorted them to an empty room. The three paced anxiously as they waited for Tyler to arrive. Ray knew they would have to interview the staff as well, but Tyler was the only person on his mind at the moment. Even the Guv was taking a backseat.
It was another fifteen minutes before Joe returned with Tyler. Sam appeared agitated, distracted, and exhausted, but seemed to be almost as coherent as he was the first time Ray had seen him here. After Joe left, Sam finally acknowledged his visitors.
“Oh God. Three of you?” he sighed and twitched. “This isn’t another ‘intervention,’ is it?” he sneered, occupying his nervous fingers with a small crack in the wall.
“How are you, Boss?” Chris asked.
“Hm? Oh, oh brilliant. Cheers,” he dramatically rolled his eyes, then spasmed again, and ran a hand over his face. “Since I’ve...I’ve been behaving. They’ve uhm, they’ve decreased my medication. And I’m getting a few days off from electroshock. Isn’t that fantastic?” He ran a hand through his hair, glanced at Annie, then quickly looked away. “Can we get to the point, now? I’m supposed to be eating. I need to eat. I haven’t, I haven’t had...the pie...I haven’t....when was that?” He asked himself as became visibly confused.
“We’re here about James Bresson,” Ray spoke up.
“Who? Who is that? I can’t...I don’t...” Sam rubbed his arm vigorously with his hand.
“Your roommate with the dead family and load of books.”
“James...James...Oh, James!” Sam finally remembered. “Yes. Right. Yes. Okay. What about him?”
“He’s dead.” He could feel Annie glaring at him for his cold delivery, but Tyler had told them to get to the point, hadn’t he?
“What?” Sam laughed. “No. No he’s not. He’s...he’s just, he’s not.”
“When’s the last time you saw him?” Ray questioned him.
“Last time...last time...I guess...guess it was...Saturday? No. Sunday? Saturday or Sunday. One of the two. I don’t...I...”
“And you haven’t noticed he’s gone?” he pressed.
“Notice? I noticed. Course I noticed. I just...I...okay,” Sam admitted. “Maybe I haven’t noticed. Hadn’t noticed. But he’s not dead. He’s not. Maybe...they could’ve...he was close to being released. He could’ve been released. He can’t be dead. He was just alive,” Sam laughed, and hugged his arms tightly around his chest.
“He’s dead, Tyler, cos we just fished his body out of the canal.”
Sam cocked his head to the side, then looked to Chris and (briefly) Annie, for confirmation.
“Well, I, well....shit,” Sam let out a long, low breath, then backed himself up against the wall. “We...we have...we should...” he stuttered as he slid down the wall, his eyes staring off into space.
“We should what?” Ray crossed his arms.
Sam took a very deep breath, then looked up at his former team.
“We really, really, really have to find Gene.”