Investigative Duo

The half-empty glass of whiskey sitting on the large oak desk had become lukewarm. A ring formed below the crystal-like glass where it sat day after day on the smooth surface. It had become a new tradition every night for the last two weeks. A caramel apple soy candle flickered in the now darkened office, the saccharine scent enveloping the entire room. Justine's head rested on her arm as she slept over an open case file.

She was assigned to a murder case with no current leads. Generally, she would be forwarded unsolvable cases by the Metropolitan Police Department, yet this case didn't make sense. Everyone had been quick to assume it was a suicide when the body was found hanging from London Bridge, which spanned over the Thames River. However, the autopsy proved that there was a large amount of antifreeze injected into the victim's bloodstream and that the person had been deceased before being hung.

Justine rubbed her head in frustration as she woke up. She usually was composed and solved cases in a matter of days. This one was starting to yank at her last nerve. She picked up the glass on her desk, downing the last of the warm amber liquid. Before taking this case, she drank only on the weekends. The cellphone beside her started to vibrate loudly on her desk. Sighing, she picked it up, "G' mornin', this is Justine Clarson."

“Detective, this is Constable Sheila Barnes, I need you to come down to the Precinct. There has been a murder like the unsolved case you are working on.” The line went silent as Justine just stared at her phone.

Grumbling to herself, she grabbed her fur jacket to fight London’s winter weather. The Precinct building was beside her apartment building on Wood St. Thankfully, it was within walking distance, as she shouldn't be driving with how much she had been drinking lately. She rode the elevator down from the 21st floor, rubbing her temples to ease her sudden oncoming headache. Looking into the mirror-like walls on the elevator, she realized she had not brushed her hair. She grabbed the comb she kept in her jacket pocket and ran it through her short orange hair, parting her bangs to one side and over her scar just above her left brow. She exited the elevator, debating with herself whether she should even be a senior investigator.

Justine opened the door to the noisy precinct, papers were piled everywhere, and phones were constantly ringing. She made her way through the chaos in the front room, swerving to avoid people walking back and forth. There was so much disorder because of the new computer system implemented. Everything had to be re-recorded accurately on to the new computers. The joy of working from her large apartment was that she could organize her case files the way she wanted to on her laptop.

Justine arrived in front of Constable Barnes's office, only to hear her yelling on the other side at someone. She paused to listen to what the constable was saying. "Matthew, we have no choice at the moment, I need you to work with Justine on this one." Justine shuddered slightly at the thought of having to work with Matthew.

“Constable, you know as well as I do, she will kill me the moment she has the chance." She overheard Matthew pleading to Constable Barnes. Quite frankly, he wasn't wrong about that; she probably would kill him. Justine went to grade school with Matthew, yet they grew up on opposite ends of London. She always had a secret crush on him, but his family came from money, and hers-not so much. Her parents barely made enough money to put her through college.

“You are overreacting Matthew. She isn't going to kill you. You two are the best detectives we have at the moment. At least give it a try, if it doesn't work out, we will find another way.” She heard Matthew grumble a faint response to the constable. Constable Sheila Barnes could be a difficult one to say no to when she wanted something done a certain way. After a quick moment more, Justine shoved the door open, making it look like she just arrived.

“Why is this pompous ass here?” She tried to avert her gaze away from the man standing to the left of the messy stainless-steel office desk. Matthew towered over most people at six foot four, with a broad intimidating stance. His short-spiked, coal hair complimented his navy-blue casual suit. Justine almost missed what he started to say as she couldn't help but stare at his shadowed chiselled jaw. She felt embarrassed with herself for even looking at him when she had tried desperately to look away.

"Justine, the constable needs us to work together on this case.” Matthew moved closer to her side. She stepped back, running into a filing cabinet, making the mistake of looking up into his coal-black eyes. There was a fire that burned behind them for a moment as their eyes met. One she didn't quite comprehend.

"I suppose I have no choice, do I." Making it more of a statement than a question, Justine snapped her gaze away from Matthew as quickly as she could. She knew the answer already, and Constable Barnes shook her head with a smile on her face. Justine could get lost in those eyes, but Matthew was way out of her league. Who could love an orange-haired, pale-skinned woman? She was nothing to look at, and most people just ignored her unless it was to stare at the jagged scar above her left brow, reaching down to the top of her cheekbone. She was thankful that it didn't hinder her eyesight. With a nod, she grabbed the report on the murder and turned to leave the now claustrophobic office.

Justine left so quickly that Matthew had to run to catch up to her. She didn't once look back as she hailed down a taxi. Matthew simply watched as she got in the cab and left the precinct. He let out a small sigh as he had made his way to his black crotch rocket. He had smelt the remnants of whiskey on her breath as he had moved closer to her in the office. He could tell she was stressed lately, and when their eyes met, he knew she was tired. He started his bike to follow Justine's taxi to the crime scene.

Justine was the first to arrive at the crime scene, but she knew Matthew had been behind her. She could feel his eyes staring after her when she had left the precinct. She tipped the taxi driver well for getting her to the London Bridge quickly. The forensics team had already moved the body from its hanging position. Matthew stayed a step behind her, letting her lead the way, which she appreciated. He matched her intelligence when it came to detective work, but she still wished she didn't have to work so closely with the handsome man.

Justine bent to pull the sheet back over the body. She typically had a stomach of iron, but as she stared at the body in front of her, she felt sick. She wanted to run away, but her gaze was steady on her brother's broken body. She could feel the tears starting to stream down her face. She knew she had a job to do, so she turned away from the haunting image in front of her, trying to gain back her forte.

Matthew knew the man lying in front of them was Justine's brother. He could not help but comfort her. He could see the tears streaming down her face as she turned towards him, his heart sinking at the sight. He reached for her pulling her into his strong arms. “I am so sorry, Justine,” he whispered into her ear as he held her close.

After a minute, Matthew pulled back, looking into her eyes, he was also sorry for the scar above her brow, he had been the cause of it in grade school. He couldn't help but wipe her tears away with the pad of his thumb. He had been throwing rocks when Justine had run past by the river that ran alongside the schoolyard. He threw a large rock as she passed by to get a ball that rolled beside the river. The stone hit her left eye, causing her to fall face-first into the gravel. Immediately all his friends had run away, but he remained. He tried to help Justine to her feet, only for her to push him away. She had run away with blood dripping down her face causing a crimson trail to follow her to the nurse's office. It had been an accident - one permanently etched in his mind - he had always wanted to make it up to her.

Justine didn't know why she felt so comfortable in Matthew's arms, but she did. She pulled away from his embrace, embarrassed, turning back to continue the examination of the crime scene. She could still feel the tingling sensation of where Matthew's thumb had brushed away her tears. His body had been so close that she could feel her heart begin to pound loudly in her ears. She surreptitiously wished that she could spend an eternity in those strong arms, but she had a job to get done.

Back at the precinct, Justine and Matthew went over everything they had found at the crime scene. Everything had been the same as the previous murder except for one major piece of evidence. The victim had a piece of paper with a name scrawled on it. It could lead to who may have been responsible for both deaths.

Justine and Matthew went to the address of the person whose name was on the paper. They discovered it had been the victim’s girlfriend's home. Once they arrived, she confessed immediately to committing both murders. The girlfriend had become unstable, thinking her boyfriend had been cheating on her with his accountant, and she decided to take it into her own hands. She had stolen syringes from work to inject both victims with antifreeze. She identified the man as her uncle that helped her secure the bodies to the London Bridge. It was after she had killed both victims that she had realized she had made a terrible mistake trying to make them look like suicides.

After wrapping up the case Constable Barnes had told Justine to take a bit of a breather afterwards. Justine was sitting at her desk, reading a book. Not willingly, but by order of Constable Barnes she had a full month to grieve. She would miss her brother, but in all realism, they had never been very close. Their parents passed away seven years ago in a car accident. She was still in college, and her brother was nowhere to be found. They had a major falling out when he appeared only after their parent's funeral for the reading of the will. She heard a knock coming from her apartment door, which interrupted her thoughts.

She got up slowly to open it. Matthew was standing in front of her with a bouquet of blue-tipped roses. Blue was her favourite colour, and she knew blue-dyed roses were rare to come by in this area of London. He cleared his throat, and Justine had the feeling this was more than just a friendly colleague visit. “Justine, can we talk for a moment?":

“I suppose so.” She nervously pulled her bangs over her scar.

"Justine, I have always liked you, so I will get straight to the point. Do you think maybe you could give us a shot?" He seemed a bit nervous as he ran his free hand through his short hair. “Oh, these are for you as well.” He handed her the roses, which she readily accepted for their beauty alone.

“Why would you even want someone like me, Matthew? I'm not even pretty.” She never did feel pretty in her own body. She could never compare to the beautiful looks of other women her age.

“Justine, you are beautiful to me.” He reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “What do you say, can you give us a shot?”

She nodded, not knowing what else to say. She could feel the heat rise to her cheeks as Matthew placed a gentle kiss upon her lips, holding her in a tight embrace. She never thought it would have been possible that Matthew could want her as much as she wanted him.

“I guess I can forgive you now for giving me this scar," she said.

They both laughed as they entered her apartment to enjoy the rest of the evening. Reminiscing about their younger days and just enjoying each other's company. She had lost her brother to an unfortunate accident, but she became closer to Matthew because of it. If Constable Barnes hadn't paired them together, she doubted that she and Matthew would have ever connected the way they did.

Constable Sheila Barnes had a secret she kept. Constable Barnes has a unique talent for connecting kindred souls. A gift passed down to her by her mother. One that Justine and Matthew would never discover. Even though both murders solved themselves in the end, she purposely paired Justine and Matthew together. She knew all too well that they would soon become a well-known dynamic investigative duo. A pair, unlike any other, that any criminal would hope never to cross the path of.