The Scarlet and the..... Grey? Part Two
Tim looked DS Alistair Greig up and down for a second before outstretching his hand. DS Greig was almost as tall as he was, maybe an inch or so shorter, and had a kind face with full, generous lips and serious deep gray eyes.
"Uh, you must be Detective Bayliss. I'm Alistair Greig, I'm
in charge if investigating the Jamaica Lane killings. If you'd like to come up
to the CID office, we can go over the case files with Detective Inspector
McPherson."
Tim smiled as Alistair shook his hand.
"Call me Tim. I just hope we can get this bastard this time."
Alistair held the door open and Tim walked through into the corridor, smiling once more at Alistair.
"So, what made you connect these murders with the ones that happened in Baltimore?"
Tim
attempted to make light conversation as he followed the quiet Scotsman up the
stairs to the CID office. Alistair remained silent as he walked swiftly between
desks, pausing only at one of them to pick up a pile of files, before walking
right into D.I. McPherson's office.
Tim wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting, but from hearing PC Stamp
talk, he certainly didn't expect the petite young woman sat behind the desk.
"Detective Bayliss, I'm Alex McPherson. Pleased to meet you. Look, could you give Alistair and I a few minutes? There's just a couple of points I need to discuss with him."
Tim nodded and walked out of the office, tactfully
closing the door behind him. He certainly didn't want to witness what was bound
to spell trouble for Alistair.
Alistair stood uncomfortably in front of the desk as Alex slowly wandered around
the small office. He really didn't know how to read her, what she really wanted.
"Alistair, I meant what I said about missing you."
She wandered around to the windows and door of her office and closed the blinds, before turning to face Alistair.
"I don't want us to get off on the wrong foot just because
I'm your D.I.. If I'd known you'd applied for the job, I'd never have taken it.
I hope you can believe that. I know how much your career means to you."
She perched on the edge of the desk again and looked up at Alistair, her eyes
shining.
"I want us to be friends again, Alistair. I think we ought to catch up with each other again. Are you doing anything for dinner tonight?"
Alistair's heart skipped a beat as he took in what Alex had said.
"Uh, I'm not sure we should. And anyway, I ought to show Tim Bayliss around, to be honest. He's never been in London before."
Alistair's heart lurched again as he saw the crestfallen look on Alex's face.
"Well, we'd better not keep
him waiting, had we, Sergeant?", said Alex, frostily.
She stalked over to the door and opened it.
"Detective Bayliss, would you come in now, please?"
She turned and sat behind her desk, without so much
as a look at Alistair, trying desperately to disguise how hurt and humiliated
she was feeling. She had thought that he had been flirting with her, but she
must have misread the signals. And, from what he had said about going out with
Tim Bayliss, maybe Alistair was hoping there might be something more between
them than just a professional relationship. Her stomach churned at that thought,
as she remembered the way that Alistair used to look at her.
"Detective Bayliss, it would be good if you could fill us in on the details
from the Baltimore murders before we get onto the Jamaica Lane killings.
Coffee?"
Tim nodded.
"Cream and sugar, thanks. Call me Tim. Uh, I know this is a strange question, but what should I call you?"
Alex favored Tim
with a smile, quietly searching for what Alistair might see in him. Tim Bayliss
was very tall, taller even than Alistair, with soft, floppy brown hair, deep
hazel eyes and a generous mouth. His hands were large, with gently tapering
fingers and manicured nails. He was an extraordinarily handsome man, and, if
Alistair was gay or bisexual, there was no way that she could compete. She
passed Tim his coffee as she automatically made Alistair's the way he used to
like it, strong with plenty of sugar.
"Call me Alex. So, what exactly happened in the Baltimore murders? Did you
ever have a suspect?"
Alex passed Alistair his coffee then made her own,
pointedly making it differently from the way she normally had it, just to let
Alistair know how much she had changed. As she sat down, she crossed her slim
legs, deliberately letting her well tailored skirt ride up her thighs, giving
Alistair a good view of creamy skin. Alistair suppressed a small sigh by looking
over at Tim and trying to concentrate on what he was saying about the murders.
"And at every scene, we found a symbol scrawled on the ground with red and
grey chalk. This was always on the left hand side of the body, near the head. No-one
seems to know what it means."
Alistair took a deep breath as he glanced over at Alex, who was now toying with her coffee cup.
"We've got an
appointment to see a Professor of Voodoo and Arcane studies tomorrow afternoon
at Imperial College, a Jolie Thibideaux. With any luck, she'll know something
about what the symbol means. One other thing that was strange was the body
placement. The killer puts all the victims into the same position, like they've
been crucified."
Alistair looked over at Alex, wondering what her reaction would be. She looked
back at him directly, giving him the full benefit of her deep blue eyes, before
slowly, slowly, licking her lips and taking another sip of coffee, all the while
looking at him intently over the rim of the cup.
Tim slowly looked from one to the other, wondering what the hell was going on
between them. They were obviously more than just colleagues, but Tim wasn't sure
he wanted to know exactly what was going on. Tim felt distinctly out of place
here, and couldn't wait to take a long, hot bath. Waves of tiredness overwhelmed
him as the jetlag hit hard. He visibly slumped in his chair.
"Tim, are you
okay?", asked Alex, concern evident in her voice.
"Just jetlag, I'll be fine."
Alex stood up from behind her desk.
"Nonsense! You're no good to anyone like this. Go back to your hotel and get some sleep, and we'll see you in here tomorrow. Alistair and I can work on the cases until then, okay? Alistair, would you take him to his hotel and make sure he's okay? I'll see you back here in an hour or so."
With
that curt dismissal, Alex opened the office door and watched as the two
detectives walked through the main office.
Parked up outside Tim's hotel, Tim felt a strange urge to question what had been
going on between Alex and Alistair.
"Oh, nothing, really. We used to know each other back in Scotland years ago. We've not seen each other for years, and I guess we're just feeling a little awkward right now. Is there anything else you need, Tim, before I go back to Sun Hill?"
Tim shook his head before climbing out of the car.
"See you tomorrow at the station, huh? Bye!"
Tim walked into his hotel, leaving Alistair to ponder exactly what had happened between him and Alex.