Fic: The Art of Being Lost and Found (22/?), blue cortina, dakfinv
Title: The Art of Being Lost and Found (22/?)
Author: dak
Word Count: 1495 (this part); (30,657 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 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21
The house was dark as they drove up, signaling itself amidst the row of well-lit homes. Ray pulled up to the curb, parking directly behind the Cortina.
“Guess she’s not in,” Chris said, staring out the window.
“Don’t mean we can’t have a look round,” Ray shut off the engine.
“Maybe we should wait,” Annie spoke up from the back seat.
“For what? Vera could have gone back to Yorkshire,” Ray argued. “Look, we’ll make it quick. Chris,” he dug in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, “you check his car,” he ordered, handing over the keys. “Cartwright and I’ll go through the house. Meet us inside when you’re done.”
The three detectives climbed out of the car, disrupting the quiet of the night as their doors slammed shut. Chris hesitantly approached the Cortina while Annie followed Ray up the front steps.
“Going to break it down?” she asked with barely concealed sarcasm.
“Don’t need to,” Ray waggled his other key ring. “Guv gave it to me years ago. For emergencies, like.”
He slipped the key in the lock and grinned as the door clicked open.
“What sort of emergencies?” Annie asked, following him inside.
“The sort where he gets bladdered at the pub, can’t find his own keys, and the Missus won’t let him in,” Ray flicked on the hall light and moved further into the house. “You start upstairs, I’ll look down here. Light’s up on the left,” he told her as she started climbing the stairs. Ray stood at the bottom, looking round the house.
If there was one place he was certain the letter wasn’t, it was the kitchen. It was Vera who knew every nook and cranny of that room and there would be no place there Gene could hide it that she wouldn’t find it.
Ignoring the kitchen, Ray moved into the sitting room. It was perfectly neat and tidy, just the way Vera liked it. It must have been easier for her to keep a clean house these past three weeks. Ray flipped through a few magazines setting on the table, then scrolled through the books on the small shelf against the wall.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary here. Each unread book still had an inch of dust on the top; they couldn’t have been moved recently. If there was anything Vera didn’t keep up with, it was the dusting. Always aggravated her allergies, she often told Ray when he came to visit.
The front door opened and closed, and Chris was soon standing in the sitting room entrance way.
“Car’s clean. Well, not clean, mind, but nowt there. Well not nowt, just no letter.”
“Same here,” Ray sighed. “Cartwright’s upstairs. C’mon. Let’s check the back room.”
Ray and Chris walked to the back of the house, to a room that could have been a study, if the Guv wanted such a thing. He mostly used it for storing his best whiskies and the blood-stained clothes he didn’t want Vera to see. He always said he never wanted her to know exactly how many punch-ups he got into on a daily basis.
If the letter was in the house, Ray would bet it was in this room.
“Put everything back the way you found it. Don’t need the Guv getting angry that his stuff’s all been moved,” Ray cautioned him.
“Wilco,” Chris nodded. “What would you do?” he asked after a pause, peeking behind a liquor bottle.
“What would I do ‘bout what?” Ray jiggled open a desk drawer.
“If you found out you had a niece and she were in trouble, like?”
Ray rummaged around the drawer, finding nothing but old nudie mags and empty cigarette packs.
“I do have a niece and she knows better than to cross her mum.” He slid the top drawer shut and moved onto the next.
“I don’t think I could do what the Guv did,” Chris sighed, looking around on the floor. “Probably go to the Guv meself, I guess.”
“Yeah. Guess I would, too,” Ray closed the second drawer and moved onto the third.
“Then why wouldn’t the Guv come to us?”
Ray halted his search of the drawer.
“’S cos we’re just divs, aren’t we?” Chris continued. “Can’t count on us to help him, can he?”
Ray turned and stared at the forlorn Constable.
“Sure he can. What we’re doing now, innit? Helping him? Guv...he just didn’t want to bother us with it. You know he likes to keep his personal stuff away from work.”
“Guess you’re right,” Chris nodded and loped to a different corner of the room.
“He’s probably regretting it now,” Ray added, going back to the bottom drawer. “Probably up to his neck in trouble and thinking, ‘Gee, guess I should’ve told me best detectives ‘bout all this. Well, I certainly will next time, ‘stead of trusting some nutter...” Ray’s fingers fell on a crumpled piece of paper and he fell silent as he pulled it out and smoothed it on the desk.
“Did you find it?” Chris asked anxiously, hurrying over.
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Nowt. Just a copy of Tyler’s section.”
“Oh.”
Even though it wasn’t what they were searching for, they both studied it in the dim light.
“Don’t look like the Guv’s normal signature,” Chris commented, staring at the bottom of the carbon-copied sheet.
“Cos his hands were shaking when he signed it,” Ray said quietly.
“No luck upstairs,” Annie sighed, hurrying into the room. “What about you?”
“No,” Chris replied first.
“No,” Ray said a second later, recrumpling the sheet and tossing it back in the drawer. “ Must be his office then,” he continued in a stronger voice.
“Time to use them womanly wiles, Cartwright,” Chris smirked. “Least that’s what me dad calls it.”
“C’mon. Let’s go in case Vera gets back,” Ray moved them out of the room, switching off the light on the way.
*
“Not bloody fair,” Ray shouted at his pint. “Cartwright gives us a good hour to search and still nowt.”
“Maybe he did destroy it,” Chris theorized.
“Well wouldn’t that be terrific? Finally get ourselves a lead and it turns into a dead end like all the rest,” he chugged the rest of his beer and slammed the glass on the table.
They’d spent the whole day planning ways to get Carter away from them and out of the building and once they finally had, they still came up short. It was a whole day wasted. Worse yet, they hadn’t even tried to contact Shirley Kent, who Chris discovered was Bresson’s sister-in-law. Carter was going to be all over them tomorrow, questioning why so many of their cases had stalled. This multitasking lark was much harder than Tyler always made it out to be.
“There is one other place we could try,” Chris spoke up.
“Don’t think he’d hide it in a pub,” Ray sighed, looking around the Arms.
“I was thinking more like...” Chris paused and dropped his voice. “Jackie Queen’s.”
“Give over,” Ray scoffed. “She were a convenient shag. Guv wouldn’t’ve trusted her - a reporter, which he hates - with a letter of any sort, let alone that sort.”
“We’ve looked everywhere else, Ray. And, we do know he went to see her ‘fore he went off. ‘S worth a a look, innit?”
Ray looked into his empty glass.
“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “But I’m going there on me own. She don’t need to know you know ‘bout their...you know.” Ray finished Chris’ drink for him, then grabbed his coat. “I’ll let you know if I find owt.”
*
“We meet again, Sergeant Carling. From the look on your face, I take it you haven’t yet found Gene.”
“’Fraid not. I need a look round your flat.”
“You think I had something to do with his disappearance?” she laughed bitterly, continuing the walk to her car.
“Gene didn’t vanish. He left.”
Jackie stopped in her tracks.
“I think he might’ve given you summit for safekeeping. Summit he didn’t want anyone to find.”
“Gene left me nothing but satisfied, Detective Sergeant.”
Ray grimaced but followed her as she continued the walk to her car.
“He might not have told you ‘bout it. Hid it when you weren’t looking.”
“And what might ‘it’ be? Drugs? A pistol? Mine is a small flat. I would notice if he hid anything,” she unlocked her car and pulled open the door.
“It’s a letter,” Ray reluctantly revealed. “Easy to slip somewhere. If we find it, it could tell us everything.”
Jackie paused briefly - finishing her cigarette - then climbed into her car.
“Look, we’ve searched everywhere else. Yours is the last place we can think of. And, if it is there, it means he trusted you enough to leave it with you. Trusted you more than us.”
“Follow in your car,” she sighed. “I’m only about ten minutes away,” she slammed the door shut and started the engine.
Author: dak
Word Count: 1495 (this part); (30,657 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 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21
The house was dark as they drove up, signaling itself amidst the row of well-lit homes. Ray pulled up to the curb, parking directly behind the Cortina.
“Guess she’s not in,” Chris said, staring out the window.
“Don’t mean we can’t have a look round,” Ray shut off the engine.
“Maybe we should wait,” Annie spoke up from the back seat.
“For what? Vera could have gone back to Yorkshire,” Ray argued. “Look, we’ll make it quick. Chris,” he dug in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, “you check his car,” he ordered, handing over the keys. “Cartwright and I’ll go through the house. Meet us inside when you’re done.”
The three detectives climbed out of the car, disrupting the quiet of the night as their doors slammed shut. Chris hesitantly approached the Cortina while Annie followed Ray up the front steps.
“Going to break it down?” she asked with barely concealed sarcasm.
“Don’t need to,” Ray waggled his other key ring. “Guv gave it to me years ago. For emergencies, like.”
He slipped the key in the lock and grinned as the door clicked open.
“What sort of emergencies?” Annie asked, following him inside.
“The sort where he gets bladdered at the pub, can’t find his own keys, and the Missus won’t let him in,” Ray flicked on the hall light and moved further into the house. “You start upstairs, I’ll look down here. Light’s up on the left,” he told her as she started climbing the stairs. Ray stood at the bottom, looking round the house.
If there was one place he was certain the letter wasn’t, it was the kitchen. It was Vera who knew every nook and cranny of that room and there would be no place there Gene could hide it that she wouldn’t find it.
Ignoring the kitchen, Ray moved into the sitting room. It was perfectly neat and tidy, just the way Vera liked it. It must have been easier for her to keep a clean house these past three weeks. Ray flipped through a few magazines setting on the table, then scrolled through the books on the small shelf against the wall.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary here. Each unread book still had an inch of dust on the top; they couldn’t have been moved recently. If there was anything Vera didn’t keep up with, it was the dusting. Always aggravated her allergies, she often told Ray when he came to visit.
The front door opened and closed, and Chris was soon standing in the sitting room entrance way.
“Car’s clean. Well, not clean, mind, but nowt there. Well not nowt, just no letter.”
“Same here,” Ray sighed. “Cartwright’s upstairs. C’mon. Let’s check the back room.”
Ray and Chris walked to the back of the house, to a room that could have been a study, if the Guv wanted such a thing. He mostly used it for storing his best whiskies and the blood-stained clothes he didn’t want Vera to see. He always said he never wanted her to know exactly how many punch-ups he got into on a daily basis.
If the letter was in the house, Ray would bet it was in this room.
“Put everything back the way you found it. Don’t need the Guv getting angry that his stuff’s all been moved,” Ray cautioned him.
“Wilco,” Chris nodded. “What would you do?” he asked after a pause, peeking behind a liquor bottle.
“What would I do ‘bout what?” Ray jiggled open a desk drawer.
“If you found out you had a niece and she were in trouble, like?”
Ray rummaged around the drawer, finding nothing but old nudie mags and empty cigarette packs.
“I do have a niece and she knows better than to cross her mum.” He slid the top drawer shut and moved onto the next.
“I don’t think I could do what the Guv did,” Chris sighed, looking around on the floor. “Probably go to the Guv meself, I guess.”
“Yeah. Guess I would, too,” Ray closed the second drawer and moved onto the third.
“Then why wouldn’t the Guv come to us?”
Ray halted his search of the drawer.
“’S cos we’re just divs, aren’t we?” Chris continued. “Can’t count on us to help him, can he?”
Ray turned and stared at the forlorn Constable.
“Sure he can. What we’re doing now, innit? Helping him? Guv...he just didn’t want to bother us with it. You know he likes to keep his personal stuff away from work.”
“Guess you’re right,” Chris nodded and loped to a different corner of the room.
“He’s probably regretting it now,” Ray added, going back to the bottom drawer. “Probably up to his neck in trouble and thinking, ‘Gee, guess I should’ve told me best detectives ‘bout all this. Well, I certainly will next time, ‘stead of trusting some nutter...” Ray’s fingers fell on a crumpled piece of paper and he fell silent as he pulled it out and smoothed it on the desk.
“Did you find it?” Chris asked anxiously, hurrying over.
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Nowt. Just a copy of Tyler’s section.”
“Oh.”
Even though it wasn’t what they were searching for, they both studied it in the dim light.
“Don’t look like the Guv’s normal signature,” Chris commented, staring at the bottom of the carbon-copied sheet.
“Cos his hands were shaking when he signed it,” Ray said quietly.
“No luck upstairs,” Annie sighed, hurrying into the room. “What about you?”
“No,” Chris replied first.
“No,” Ray said a second later, recrumpling the sheet and tossing it back in the drawer. “ Must be his office then,” he continued in a stronger voice.
“Time to use them womanly wiles, Cartwright,” Chris smirked. “Least that’s what me dad calls it.”
“C’mon. Let’s go in case Vera gets back,” Ray moved them out of the room, switching off the light on the way.
*
“Not bloody fair,” Ray shouted at his pint. “Cartwright gives us a good hour to search and still nowt.”
“Maybe he did destroy it,” Chris theorized.
“Well wouldn’t that be terrific? Finally get ourselves a lead and it turns into a dead end like all the rest,” he chugged the rest of his beer and slammed the glass on the table.
They’d spent the whole day planning ways to get Carter away from them and out of the building and once they finally had, they still came up short. It was a whole day wasted. Worse yet, they hadn’t even tried to contact Shirley Kent, who Chris discovered was Bresson’s sister-in-law. Carter was going to be all over them tomorrow, questioning why so many of their cases had stalled. This multitasking lark was much harder than Tyler always made it out to be.
“There is one other place we could try,” Chris spoke up.
“Don’t think he’d hide it in a pub,” Ray sighed, looking around the Arms.
“I was thinking more like...” Chris paused and dropped his voice. “Jackie Queen’s.”
“Give over,” Ray scoffed. “She were a convenient shag. Guv wouldn’t’ve trusted her - a reporter, which he hates - with a letter of any sort, let alone that sort.”
“We’ve looked everywhere else, Ray. And, we do know he went to see her ‘fore he went off. ‘S worth a a look, innit?”
Ray looked into his empty glass.
“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “But I’m going there on me own. She don’t need to know you know ‘bout their...you know.” Ray finished Chris’ drink for him, then grabbed his coat. “I’ll let you know if I find owt.”
*
“We meet again, Sergeant Carling. From the look on your face, I take it you haven’t yet found Gene.”
“’Fraid not. I need a look round your flat.”
“You think I had something to do with his disappearance?” she laughed bitterly, continuing the walk to her car.
“Gene didn’t vanish. He left.”
Jackie stopped in her tracks.
“I think he might’ve given you summit for safekeeping. Summit he didn’t want anyone to find.”
“Gene left me nothing but satisfied, Detective Sergeant.”
Ray grimaced but followed her as she continued the walk to her car.
“He might not have told you ‘bout it. Hid it when you weren’t looking.”
“And what might ‘it’ be? Drugs? A pistol? Mine is a small flat. I would notice if he hid anything,” she unlocked her car and pulled open the door.
“It’s a letter,” Ray reluctantly revealed. “Easy to slip somewhere. If we find it, it could tell us everything.”
Jackie paused briefly - finishing her cigarette - then climbed into her car.
“Look, we’ve searched everywhere else. Yours is the last place we can think of. And, if it is there, it means he trusted you enough to leave it with you. Trusted you more than us.”
“Follow in your car,” she sighed. “I’m only about ten minutes away,” she slammed the door shut and started the engine.