Fic: Old Harry's Game - part 3
Title: Old Harry’s Game, Chapter 3
Author: Kirsteena
Fandom: Life on Mars
Spoilers: Set after 2.02, spoilers for 2.07 and 2.08
Rating: White Cortina.
Pairings: None
Word Count: 1885
Summary: Harry start's hunting for information to bring down DI Tyler
a/n: Part 3 has arrived! part 1 here, part 2 here . Thanks to marsorbiter for the bunnies, and emeriin for her wonderful beta reading.
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
Harry, sitting in a dingy cafe, was getting frustrated. He had talked to two of his contacts so far from Hyde, none of whom were giving him anything of use. They were all worried about the disappearance of DC Fletcher, yes, but none of them remember anything useful about DI Sam Tyler, other than ‘weren’t there a bit of bother when he left?’ He hoped he would never hear that phrase again. No-one was talking about Morgan either, or anything that was of any use.
He ordered another cup of coffee, and waited for his final contact to turn up. He didn’t know much about this one, a DS Smith, as it had been a name given to him by Alfie, but he was an embittered sergeant, passed over for promotion three times, and with no prospect of his career going anywhere. As a result, he had become useful to Alfie, and was taking regular backhanders in return for looking the other way.
A man in his early 40s shuffled into the cafe, and slumped into the seating opposite Harry. As the waitress brought Harry his coffee over, he nodded at her, ordering one himself. Harry just sat there, waiting patiently. After the waitress had brought the second cup over, he took a long swig of it, then for the first time looked up at Harry. “Mr. Woolf?” he asked.
Harry nodded once. “You must be Vince” he replied.
Smith nodded. “I was told you wanted a word with me.”
“Drink up your coffee, son, then let’s go for a walk.”
Harry noticed that it was getting harder to walk any distance these days. How long before... No, he wasn’t going down that train of thought. He was going to investigate this, get Gene back, then worry about everything else.
“So, Mr. Woolf, what exactly did you want to know?”
“I heard there was a little trouble about 6 months or so ago, with a DI Tyler. He left Hyde. Suddenly. I am interested in finding out why, and just what was the nature of the trouble.”
“DI Tyler...” Smith mused. “I can’t remember actually meeting him, y’know? I remember hearing about the trouble at the time. Crossed a fellow DI, threw a couple of punches at him. So the rumour goes.”
Harry bit down his disappointment. This wasn’t something he could use. Damn it, he had gotten this far in for nothing? “That’s it?”
“Yeah. Rumour has it that Tyler and Williams came to blows over something or other, had a huge bust up in the locker room. Tyler put him in hospital for a few days.”
“Williams?”
“Yeah. DI Williams. Actually, he never came back after the fight. Said he couldn’t face it back here.”
“Can I talk to him?”
Smith paused. “Nah, he wants nothing more to do with any of us. Couple of lads have tried, but they pensioned him off, and he has moved. Rumour has it he moved to Preston, found himself a new job and a new wife.”
“Hmmm. One other name. Morgan?”
Smith visibly flinched at the name, then stopped and stared at Harry. “You are investigating Morgan? That is what this is about?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Don’t - just don’t go near anything to do with Morgan. He is dangerous. I have heard some nasty things about him.” Harry stopped and looked at Smith - then clapped Smith on the shoulder.
“Sounds just like what I need.”
Smith stared at Harry. “Don’t - don’t do it. Cross him, you will regret it.”
The smile on Harry’s face chilled Smith to his bones.
“How is he doing?” Harry asked Alfie. They were in one of the run-down houses that Alfie owned, where Fletcher was being kept in the basement.
“He’s fine. But I can’t keep him here forever. You have three more days.” Harry nodded.
Glen Fletcher lay on the bed his captors provided and cried. He was alive, he had food and water, but was very scared.
Sam and Gene had finished checking out another abandoned warehouse. Nothing was there. Yet another failed tip off. This was the third that day, after a sleepless night going through files. Sam, letting all his frustrations seep through, looked as if he was going to kick the Guv’s precious Cortina, but changed his mind and viciously assaulted a wooden box which was in his way.
“What did that box ever do to you?” Gene asked him in an amused tone. Sam just stared at him. “I guess I should be glad you decided not to scratch the paintwork.”
Scraping his fingers through his hair, Sam just looked exasperated. “How can you joke at a time like this?”
“Because you acting like Liberace isn’t doing any good either.”
Sam just stared, then suddenly laughed at the Guv. Gene leant back against the bonnet of the car, and pulled out one of the many hip-flasks he carried. He took a swig, then handed it silently to Sam, who took it gratefully. As Gene lit up one of his ever-present cigarettes, Sam grabbed it from him, took a drag then handed it back. Gene just looked at him, eyebrows raised.
“What?”
“Those things will kill you,” he quoted in a passable impersonation of Sam. Sam just laughed.
“I gave ‘em up five years ago, but today, I just felt the need again…” God, what was this place doing to him! Drinking, smoking again… Gene gave him a look, handed the cigarette over to Sam, and lit up a new one. Sam felt a familiar sense of relaxation come over him as the nicotine started to relax his system. For a while, they just sat there, perched on the car, in companionable silence, thinking.
“Answer me something, Sam.”
“What?”
“Why has this kidnapping got under your skin? Normally in this situation, I would be the emotional one, you would be the one taking the step back, thinking rationally. Well, apart from the Tony Crane malarkey, but insane blokes will do that to ya. I can’t help but feel that this time it is the other way round.”
Sam looked at Gene, surprised at the insight from a man he once thought of purely as a dinosaur. After a moment, he answered. “I guess... it... No. Two reasons. You remember I told you my mentor had died?” Gene nodded in response. “Well, Fletcher - reminded me of him. The stories he told me of his early life as a copper. It kind of struck it home. Now Fletcher has been taken too, and, it scares me.”
“And the second reason?”
“When I came here... the last thing I was investigating before... before I got transferred, was... was the kidnapping of a fellow officer.” Sam, for the first time in what seemed like months, allowed himself to think of Maya, what was she doing now, was she safe? “She... was taken while investigating a case we were both working on. Well, I took her off the case. She wanted to ‘follow her instincts’. I wanted to go with the methodological approach. Oddly enough, she was right. Her instincts led her to the right person.”
“Did they find her?”
“I - don’t know. I like to think they did. But with everything that happened after the transfer...”
“Maybe you should find out.”
“Maybe.” They sat back quietly once again. Suddenly Sam jumped up and started waving his arms about.
“Why, Guv? Why pick on a black copper, knowing that it will bring the full reserves of the police AND condemnation from the press onto them? If they wanted to take a copper, someone less high-profile…”
“I want you to do something for me, Sam” Gene interrupted Sam mid-flow. Sam stopped, looked at Gene, and nodded.
“’Course Guv. What?”
“I want you to take one of the visiting detectives, and I want you to set him to watching Harry Woolf.” Sam just stared at Gene. Gene sighed deeply. “No matter what you may think of me, Sammy-boy, I’m not totally stupid. In this job, sometimes, I have to think the unthinkable. Harry was right, he made me who am I. But I do have independent thought, y’know. And let’s face it, a few days ago, Glen Fletcher pulled a gun on Harry and damned near did what I couldn’t. I would be rather - foolish - to dismiss Harry totally.”
“But if it was Harry involved, surely he would…”
“Know that I would put someone to watching him? Course he will.”
“Then why...”
“Distraction, Sam. Harry will know we are watching him. If he has nothing to hide, then fine. All we have lost is the time of a copper following someone round for a couple of days. If Harry gets his nose out of joint, I can take it. If he notices, he will be a bit more careful, maybe buying us some time.”
“Do you really think...?”
“I don’t know. But the possibility is there, therefore, I have to do this. Let’s go, see if they have found anything.”
Side by side they strode into CID, everyone looking up at them as they entered.
“Ok people, talk to me” Gene commanded his troops. “Any news?”
“We have been through most of his last cases, talked to nearly everyone involved. No-one has seen anything of Fletcher since then, which would be right. Just got a couple more to go, but not hopeful we will find anything of use.” Chris started things off. Gene nodded.
“Nice work, Chris. Ray?”
“We have talked to every informant we can lay our hands on. No-one is saying anything. There are a few of the usuals we can’t get hold of, which is odd.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We will keep trying.”
“Ok Ray, but don’t bust a gut if you can’t find them. A few missing scum won’t hurt us much. DI Meadows?”
The stocky, bald DI from B division looked up. “We have been searching through all the abandoned buildings, factories and the like in each division. So far nothing, but D division has had 3 bodies turn up, so they are a bit overwhelmed at the moment. If we can spare anyone...”
“Take a detective and a couple of uniform from each division - send them over there. Find someone you can trust, get them to choose who they send. Tell ‘em I ordered you to do this personally.” Meadows nodded. “Now, we haven’t had any contact, so we can assume that whoever did this isn’t looking for a ransom. They must want something else. Ideas?” Silence fell over CID.“Well, if you think of anything, let me know. In the meantime, I’m off into the lion’s den.”
“Called upstairs?” Ray asked.
“Worse. Press conference. If I’m not back in an hour, send out the search parties. Tyler, with me.”
Gene was silent as they called the lift. As the doors shut, he turned to Sam. “I’m going to visit Harry after this, I promised I would. Any change would be too obvious.”
“How about DC Harrow? He looks like a good choice.”
“Which one is... no wait, you are right, good choice. Tell him to start this evening. Don’t tell him why, or that Harry is an ex-copper.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“No, but I have to do it. I know Harry.”
Author: Kirsteena
Fandom: Life on Mars
Spoilers: Set after 2.02, spoilers for 2.07 and 2.08
Rating: White Cortina.
Pairings: None
Word Count: 1885
Summary: Harry start's hunting for information to bring down DI Tyler
a/n: Part 3 has arrived! part 1 here, part 2 here . Thanks to marsorbiter for the bunnies, and emeriin for her wonderful beta reading.
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
Harry, sitting in a dingy cafe, was getting frustrated. He had talked to two of his contacts so far from Hyde, none of whom were giving him anything of use. They were all worried about the disappearance of DC Fletcher, yes, but none of them remember anything useful about DI Sam Tyler, other than ‘weren’t there a bit of bother when he left?’ He hoped he would never hear that phrase again. No-one was talking about Morgan either, or anything that was of any use.
He ordered another cup of coffee, and waited for his final contact to turn up. He didn’t know much about this one, a DS Smith, as it had been a name given to him by Alfie, but he was an embittered sergeant, passed over for promotion three times, and with no prospect of his career going anywhere. As a result, he had become useful to Alfie, and was taking regular backhanders in return for looking the other way.
A man in his early 40s shuffled into the cafe, and slumped into the seating opposite Harry. As the waitress brought Harry his coffee over, he nodded at her, ordering one himself. Harry just sat there, waiting patiently. After the waitress had brought the second cup over, he took a long swig of it, then for the first time looked up at Harry. “Mr. Woolf?” he asked.
Harry nodded once. “You must be Vince” he replied.
Smith nodded. “I was told you wanted a word with me.”
“Drink up your coffee, son, then let’s go for a walk.”
Harry noticed that it was getting harder to walk any distance these days. How long before... No, he wasn’t going down that train of thought. He was going to investigate this, get Gene back, then worry about everything else.
“So, Mr. Woolf, what exactly did you want to know?”
“I heard there was a little trouble about 6 months or so ago, with a DI Tyler. He left Hyde. Suddenly. I am interested in finding out why, and just what was the nature of the trouble.”
“DI Tyler...” Smith mused. “I can’t remember actually meeting him, y’know? I remember hearing about the trouble at the time. Crossed a fellow DI, threw a couple of punches at him. So the rumour goes.”
Harry bit down his disappointment. This wasn’t something he could use. Damn it, he had gotten this far in for nothing? “That’s it?”
“Yeah. Rumour has it that Tyler and Williams came to blows over something or other, had a huge bust up in the locker room. Tyler put him in hospital for a few days.”
“Williams?”
“Yeah. DI Williams. Actually, he never came back after the fight. Said he couldn’t face it back here.”
“Can I talk to him?”
Smith paused. “Nah, he wants nothing more to do with any of us. Couple of lads have tried, but they pensioned him off, and he has moved. Rumour has it he moved to Preston, found himself a new job and a new wife.”
“Hmmm. One other name. Morgan?”
Smith visibly flinched at the name, then stopped and stared at Harry. “You are investigating Morgan? That is what this is about?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Don’t - just don’t go near anything to do with Morgan. He is dangerous. I have heard some nasty things about him.” Harry stopped and looked at Smith - then clapped Smith on the shoulder.
“Sounds just like what I need.”
Smith stared at Harry. “Don’t - don’t do it. Cross him, you will regret it.”
The smile on Harry’s face chilled Smith to his bones.
“How is he doing?” Harry asked Alfie. They were in one of the run-down houses that Alfie owned, where Fletcher was being kept in the basement.
“He’s fine. But I can’t keep him here forever. You have three more days.” Harry nodded.
Glen Fletcher lay on the bed his captors provided and cried. He was alive, he had food and water, but was very scared.
Sam and Gene had finished checking out another abandoned warehouse. Nothing was there. Yet another failed tip off. This was the third that day, after a sleepless night going through files. Sam, letting all his frustrations seep through, looked as if he was going to kick the Guv’s precious Cortina, but changed his mind and viciously assaulted a wooden box which was in his way.
“What did that box ever do to you?” Gene asked him in an amused tone. Sam just stared at him. “I guess I should be glad you decided not to scratch the paintwork.”
Scraping his fingers through his hair, Sam just looked exasperated. “How can you joke at a time like this?”
“Because you acting like Liberace isn’t doing any good either.”
Sam just stared, then suddenly laughed at the Guv. Gene leant back against the bonnet of the car, and pulled out one of the many hip-flasks he carried. He took a swig, then handed it silently to Sam, who took it gratefully. As Gene lit up one of his ever-present cigarettes, Sam grabbed it from him, took a drag then handed it back. Gene just looked at him, eyebrows raised.
“What?”
“Those things will kill you,” he quoted in a passable impersonation of Sam. Sam just laughed.
“I gave ‘em up five years ago, but today, I just felt the need again…” God, what was this place doing to him! Drinking, smoking again… Gene gave him a look, handed the cigarette over to Sam, and lit up a new one. Sam felt a familiar sense of relaxation come over him as the nicotine started to relax his system. For a while, they just sat there, perched on the car, in companionable silence, thinking.
“Answer me something, Sam.”
“What?”
“Why has this kidnapping got under your skin? Normally in this situation, I would be the emotional one, you would be the one taking the step back, thinking rationally. Well, apart from the Tony Crane malarkey, but insane blokes will do that to ya. I can’t help but feel that this time it is the other way round.”
Sam looked at Gene, surprised at the insight from a man he once thought of purely as a dinosaur. After a moment, he answered. “I guess... it... No. Two reasons. You remember I told you my mentor had died?” Gene nodded in response. “Well, Fletcher - reminded me of him. The stories he told me of his early life as a copper. It kind of struck it home. Now Fletcher has been taken too, and, it scares me.”
“And the second reason?”
“When I came here... the last thing I was investigating before... before I got transferred, was... was the kidnapping of a fellow officer.” Sam, for the first time in what seemed like months, allowed himself to think of Maya, what was she doing now, was she safe? “She... was taken while investigating a case we were both working on. Well, I took her off the case. She wanted to ‘follow her instincts’. I wanted to go with the methodological approach. Oddly enough, she was right. Her instincts led her to the right person.”
“Did they find her?”
“I - don’t know. I like to think they did. But with everything that happened after the transfer...”
“Maybe you should find out.”
“Maybe.” They sat back quietly once again. Suddenly Sam jumped up and started waving his arms about.
“Why, Guv? Why pick on a black copper, knowing that it will bring the full reserves of the police AND condemnation from the press onto them? If they wanted to take a copper, someone less high-profile…”
“I want you to do something for me, Sam” Gene interrupted Sam mid-flow. Sam stopped, looked at Gene, and nodded.
“’Course Guv. What?”
“I want you to take one of the visiting detectives, and I want you to set him to watching Harry Woolf.” Sam just stared at Gene. Gene sighed deeply. “No matter what you may think of me, Sammy-boy, I’m not totally stupid. In this job, sometimes, I have to think the unthinkable. Harry was right, he made me who am I. But I do have independent thought, y’know. And let’s face it, a few days ago, Glen Fletcher pulled a gun on Harry and damned near did what I couldn’t. I would be rather - foolish - to dismiss Harry totally.”
“But if it was Harry involved, surely he would…”
“Know that I would put someone to watching him? Course he will.”
“Then why...”
“Distraction, Sam. Harry will know we are watching him. If he has nothing to hide, then fine. All we have lost is the time of a copper following someone round for a couple of days. If Harry gets his nose out of joint, I can take it. If he notices, he will be a bit more careful, maybe buying us some time.”
“Do you really think...?”
“I don’t know. But the possibility is there, therefore, I have to do this. Let’s go, see if they have found anything.”
Side by side they strode into CID, everyone looking up at them as they entered.
“Ok people, talk to me” Gene commanded his troops. “Any news?”
“We have been through most of his last cases, talked to nearly everyone involved. No-one has seen anything of Fletcher since then, which would be right. Just got a couple more to go, but not hopeful we will find anything of use.” Chris started things off. Gene nodded.
“Nice work, Chris. Ray?”
“We have talked to every informant we can lay our hands on. No-one is saying anything. There are a few of the usuals we can’t get hold of, which is odd.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We will keep trying.”
“Ok Ray, but don’t bust a gut if you can’t find them. A few missing scum won’t hurt us much. DI Meadows?”
The stocky, bald DI from B division looked up. “We have been searching through all the abandoned buildings, factories and the like in each division. So far nothing, but D division has had 3 bodies turn up, so they are a bit overwhelmed at the moment. If we can spare anyone...”
“Take a detective and a couple of uniform from each division - send them over there. Find someone you can trust, get them to choose who they send. Tell ‘em I ordered you to do this personally.” Meadows nodded. “Now, we haven’t had any contact, so we can assume that whoever did this isn’t looking for a ransom. They must want something else. Ideas?” Silence fell over CID.“Well, if you think of anything, let me know. In the meantime, I’m off into the lion’s den.”
“Called upstairs?” Ray asked.
“Worse. Press conference. If I’m not back in an hour, send out the search parties. Tyler, with me.”
Gene was silent as they called the lift. As the doors shut, he turned to Sam. “I’m going to visit Harry after this, I promised I would. Any change would be too obvious.”
“How about DC Harrow? He looks like a good choice.”
“Which one is... no wait, you are right, good choice. Tell him to start this evening. Don’t tell him why, or that Harry is an ex-copper.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“No, but I have to do it. I know Harry.”