Long tail on a ghost part 1.2
Gwen shivered and zipped up her jacket as she got out of her car. It had been raining steadily since the previous afternoon and after the spell of good weather they’d been having, everything seemed just that little bit more gloomy.
The wind whipped at her hair as she crossed the pier to the tourist office. She had struggled to get up that morning, wrapped up in a warm duvet with Rhys snoring lightly next to her. Things have been so much better between them since Paris, better than in a long time if she was honest.
Smiling to herself, she stepped through the door. Gwen turned around, a greeting dying on her lips as she faced the empty office. With a quirk of her head, she headed down to the main hub.
She hung up her coat and turned smiling widely towards the workstations. The place was deserted. Her eyebrows shot up and she glanced at her watch. She wasn’t that late. Gwen crossed to her station, thinking that perhaps the others had been called out to the latest apocalypse.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when a clang echoed through the hub. Gwen spun around, eyes searching for the source of the noise before finally settling on Ianto as he stepped from Jack’s office. “Ianto! Hiya!”
Ianto closed the door behind him and looked up, still tugging at his shirt cuff. “Morning Gwen, they’re all in boardroom.”
“Oh good, I thought the world was ending...again.”
“It could be, the day’s still young.” He gave her a tight smile and came down the stairs. Gwen could see shadows under his eyes, she doubted he’d slept at all. “Go ahead. I’ll be down with the coffee in a second.”
Gwen hesitated, verging on offering to help but knowing how much Ianto hated it. Instead she gave another quick smile and headed for the meeting room in the depths of the hub. Stepping into the room, her suspicions of another late night were confirmed by Owen resting his head on his arms. Tosh was comparing chemical signatures on the main screen while Jack watched, feet up on the table.
She decided to stick with cheer. “Good morning all.”
“That, is debatable,” Owen muttered, not lifting his head.
Jack twisted in his seat to see her. “You’re late.”
“I know, sorry.” She turned her attention to the screen. “Did I miss anything?”
“Other than three more bodies in twenty four carat alien modified gold,” Jack replied with a shrug, “Not much.”
“Three more? All the same thing?” she asked as she took a seat next to Tosh.
Owen straightened up. “After a series of redundant autopsies I can safely say, yes.”
“All the chemical signatures are the same too.” Tosh put in, dropping her PDA and looking at the others. “There’s not even the slightest hint as to what is actually going on here.”
Owen shot Jack a loaded look. Gwen got the feeling that she had missed something. Glancing at Tosh, she was met with a small shrug. Not just her then.
“Fancy that.” Owen said, slouching slightly in his chair. Jack opened his mouth to respond just as Ianto entered the room, and his reply was forgotten as he hastily removed his feet from the table. He wasn’t quick enough though, Gwen could tell by the slight rise of Ianto’s eyebrows. Sometimes she thought Ianto did more communicating with his eyebrows than with actual words.
Jack talked as Ianto handed out the coffee and took his seat next to Owen. “This is getting out of hand. More and more bodies are turning up, and closer together.”
“It could be some sort of turf war. Or maybe a serial killer?” Gwen offered, hands wrapped around her mug.
“It’s possible, but we still don’t have a motive.”
“We don’t even know if this is alien,” Owen said around a yawn, “Can’t we just let the police deal with it?”
Tosh shook her head. “The paint contains a compound that is definitely not found on earth and all the girls have been drugged with something unidentifiable. Even if the murderer is human, they clearly have access to alien tech.”
“Making it our problem,” Jack interrupted, steepling his fingers. “So people, what have we got?”
“Well they’re all girls...”
“They were all found in hotels...”
“They’re all painted gold...”
“And it is point out the obvious day,” Ianto muttered into his coffee, earning him a stern look from Gwen.
“Come on guys, there must be something we’re missing.” Jack insisted, as Tosh brought up the case photos. Crime scene after crime scene flashed across the screen, fifteen in total for the last week, ending with the one from early that morning - a blonde girl, face down on a queen bed, one gold arm dangling off the side as her hair fanned out across the pillow.
Ianto titled his head. The others started rehashing old information, dates, times, possible link, but he wasn’t paying attention. There was something familiar about that photo, something niggling in the back of his mind that told him he had seen it before.
The screen flicked on to victim profiles and Ianto started. “Hang on. Wait. Go back.”
Tosh pulled up the photo again. “You got something?” Jack asked, eyes flicking from the screen and back to Ianto.
“I don’t know. It seems...familiar somehow, like I’ve seen it before.”
“Well you did pick up the body,” Owen said.
Ianto didn’t respond, he just kept staring at the picture. When it hit him, he couldn’t believe it had taken him so long. “Tosh, PDA.” Tosh slid the device across the desk and for once Ianto didn’t even complain about the marks. He keyed in a search term and pulled an image up on screen. It was almost an exact copy of their crime scene photo.
“Goldfinger,” Ianto said, dropping the PDA and sitting back in his chair. “It’s one of the most recognisable scenes from the movie.”
“James Bond?” Tosh asked.
Owen looked sceptical. “Oh come on, you can’t be serious.”
“So it’s just coincidence that we have a bunch of bodies in the morgue that were killed in the exact same way that defined the movie?” Gwen asked. She caught Ianto’s look and shrugged. “Rhys is a fan.”
“It could be a copycat crime?” Tosh suggested. “It’s not unheard of.”
Owen shook his head. “One maybe, yeah. But this is a whole copycat murder spree.”
“Unless there’s more to it, maybe a cover of some sort?” Ianto said, leaning forward.
“Pretty high stakes,” Gwen put in. Jack curiously had remained silent, his eyes fixed on the two images next to each other. “Jack?” she prompted.
He turned to face her, exhaling loudly. “Stranger things have happened.”
“Where would an alien even come up with something like this?” Owen asked.
“Presuming it is an alien and it came through the rift.” Tosh qualified, earning her an eye roll from Owen.
Ianto considered, staring at the PDA in his hands. “Well, surely there’s an archive of Earth culture out there somewhere?” He looked straight at Jack. “We can’t be the only ones collecting off-planet things.”
Owen snorted. “Maybe he picked it up at the intergalactic Blockbuster clearance sale.”
Jack ignored him and addressed Ianto instead. “I suppose it’s possible,” he said slowly. A sheepish look crossed his face. “To be honest culture was never big on my list of priorities.”
Gwen smiled. “James Bond is not exactly high culture, Jack.”
“Neither was Mozart in his day,” Ianto said with a shrug.
“Are you actually comparing Bond to Mozart?” Owen demanded, a strange note of glee in his voice.
Tosh scoffed. “Don’t be stupid, Owen. He’s just giving context.”
“Thank you, Tosh.” Ianto replied primly. Gwen half expected him to poke out his tongue.
“Yeah well, fascinating as all this is, it still doesn’t explain who, what, and why though,” Owen said quickly, not keen to lose the proverbial point.
Ianto scrolled through the photos again, all the young women dead and gold in hotel rooms, all leading up to that one perfectly recreated shot. “Maybe it’s a game.”
All eyes turned to him. “Fifteen dead women is hardly a game Ianto,” Gwen said, the reproach heavy in her tone.
Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Look at the photos.” He began flicking through the set again. “It starts off with a brunette in a bathtub - ”
“Sounds like the start to a bad joke,” Owen interjected. Ianto ignored him.
“ - and then each following murder escalates slightly, building up to the original shot from the film.”
“So?” Gwen prompted.
“So, whoever’s doing this wants the connection to be made,” Tosh concluded as she caught on, “They want us to think of Goldfinger.”
Owen leant forward. “But why keep killing? Why not just do it right the first time?”
“It’s a gambit,” Jack said, tapping his finger on the table. “They’ll keep killing until they get the right reply.”
Ianto met his gaze. “Like a chess game.”
Again Gwen sensed a dialogue happening that she wasn’t quite privy to. She looked from one to the other, and sighed. “I don’t get it.”
“A chess player has a game plan, a set of moves to get him where he wants to be.” Ianto began, looking at Gwen now. “But he’s limited by the moves the opposition makes. White moves first, but until Black moves - ”
Tosh interrupted, eyes bright. “White is stuck in that position, and they can’t get on with their plan.”
“A stalemate.” Owen sighed.
Gwen rested her arms on the table. “So what you’re saying is we’ve got the next move and until we do something - something within the rules of the game - girls will keep dying.”
Ianto inclined his head but it was Jack who replied. “It’s not much, but it’s the best we’ve got.” He shifted back in his chair. “Question is, now what?”
Gwen shrugged. “Watch the movie?”
“Yeah and while we sit here squabbling over the popcorn, he’s out there killing people.”
“Why do you assume it’s a ‘he’, Owen?” Tosh asked in that tone that suggested the she was getting rather annoyed.
“Most Bond fans are, aren’t they?” he replied, he pointedly looked at Ianto. “Kind of boring work-a-day types looking for some vicarious thrill in their lives?”
Ianto rolled his eyes. Jack sighed. “Look we’re just wasting time, we’ve got to figure out what the next move here is and get straight to it.”
“Right then,” Gwen straightened, briskly professional. “Ianto, you lead.”
Jack gawked at her. “Hang on a minute - ”
“He knows the most about this, Jack.” She cut him off before he could get going. “Unless you’re harbouring some secret obsession we don’t know about?”
Jack grinned at this. “I’d bargain more than a few.” She merely stared back at him. He sighed. “But Bond fan is not one of them.”
Gwen smiled. It was childish, she knew that, but it didn’t make the little thrill of triumph any less enjoyable. “That’s my point.” She turned her attention back to Ianto. “Besides, Ianto looks the part.”
Ianto didn’t look particularly impressed as four pairs of eyes focussed on him. He blinked and the momentary awkwardness faded back into a mask of calm indifference.
“Well then Jones, Ianto Jones, what’s the next move?” It wasn’t hard to notice the edge of petulance to Jack’s tone, but Ianto made no sign of addressing it. He pulled at his shirt cuff, and spoke slowly, as people often do when trying to remember something.
“The girl was only killed after Bond’s first run in with Goldfinger, over a card game. Assuming this is a game, a message for us to get involved, nothing will actually have happened yet. The gold body is just the starting point.”
“So do we skip the card game or are we expected to backtrack?” Tosh mused, following Ianto’s train of thought.
“What happens after the body is found?” Jack pressed, and Gwen got the distinct impression that maybe he should know this. He’d been around long enough, surely he would have seen the film at some point. God knows it seemed like they were always showing a Bond movie every time she flicked on the television.
“Bond goes back to London and he gets the case officially. The Bank of England was concerned over a leak in the gold supply affecting the currency.”
“Goes back to London? Where was he before?”
Ianto thought for a moment. “Mexico. No, Miami. The next time Bond meets Goldfinger, they play golf together.” He paused, looking serious. “I don’t play golf.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Gwen assured him, mistaking the look on his face for concern.
“No Gwen, there may be an infinite number of alternate worlds in the universe, but in none of them do I play golf. I can promise you that.” From the corner of her eye, she could see Jack hiding a smirk behind his coffee mug.
“I play golf.” Owen put in, almost nonchalant.
“No way,” Gwen retorted, attention diverted. “I can’t even picture it.”
“S’cuse you, private school boy and doctor, thank you very much.” Owen glanced around the table. “Inevitable really.”
“That could work for us,” Tosh said, bringing the conversation back on point. “We don’t know how this is supposed to play out exactly, so we can follow both the before and after scenarios.”
“So Ianto follows up with the cards, and I do golf?” Owen cocked his head. “I can do that. At least I get some time off.”
“Can’t we just skip to the end?” Jack asked hopefully only to find himself on the receiving end of one of Ianto’s withering stares.
“I thought you were a time agent?” he asked with a slight shake of his head. “Time has to progress naturally or there won’t be a predictable end at all. You can’t just skip to the end of things.”
“You can if it’s Volcano Day,” Jack muttered under his breath.
“What?” Ianto received only a shrug in reply.
Owen sighed heavily. “Have I pointed out that this is bloody stupid?”
“Yes Owen,” Gwen said, “Thing is though, we don’t know for sure what sequence things will play out in, we’re only assuming it’ll work along with the plot.”
Ianto shrugged. “It’s all I’ve got to go on.”
“And if we don’t get involved the opening sequence will just keep repeating,” Tosh put in, “The murders will just keep happening.”
Jack nodded. “Looks like we’ve got no choice. We better be prepared for any variations though, I’m going to need full report on this thing.”
“Or you could just Google it,” Gwen suggested.
“Wikipedia.”
“Rotten tomatoes.”
“IMDB.”
“Alright fine,” Jack replied shortly. He leant forward. “The quicker we get this under control the better. Ianto and Gwen, you figure out if there is anything that’s even remotely related to cards and Miami going on out there.” They both nodded. “Owen, narrow down the golf courses in the area, whatever might attract someone who wants us to find them. See if there are any new members throwing their weight around, that sort of thing. Tosh, I need you to sort out some tracking and surveillance tech for these two.” He nodded at Owen and Ianto. “I want to know what’s happening at all times.”
“And what are you going to do?” Owen asked pointedly.
Jack looked at him as if he’d just asked where water came from. “Read the plot synopsis.” He pushed up from the table. “And check for any rift activity we may have missed.”
***
On to part 2