Chapter Text
Miss Phryne Fisher had entered his life like a freight trainーstorming onto his crime scene with no respect for the job that he was trying to do. She didn’t seem to take anything seriously, least of all the rules. He thought he had been rid of her after the Andrews case was solved, but here she was again. It seemed that trouble followed her, and she couldn’t resist getting involved. However, though it pained him to admit, his annoyance was sometimes laced with a bit of amusement. She was not used to taking no for an answer, and was obviously very good at using her charms to get her way. But she was also very intelligent and observant. So, as frustrating as it was to have her popping in, there appeared to be no way to keep her away.
“So if the compartment was locked... how did you get in?”
“I hit the lock with my shoe.”
Her eyes were alight with innocence, but upon examining the lock on the compartment door, he sighed. “Your shoe seems to have the ballistic capabilities of a .38 revolver.” Dear Lord. The woman had a gun. He was so confused as to how he was supposed to feel. Usually, he would have put his foot down and ordered someone to stay in their compartment, but there was something about her that had him instead inviting her into his investigation.
“So you're letting me in?”
“It's either that or watch you hound me through the door.” There didn’t appear to be any other option as it seemed impossible to persuade her otherwise, and he couldn’t deny that she was helpful. It was easy, and nice, to be able to walk through the scene with her, examining the evidence left behind.
He hadn’t realized quite how close they were until he turned to agree with her conclusion that the window was the exit route. Their eyes locked. As much as he tried to keep his thoughts on the case, her face was so closeーthe smell of her perfume filling the space.
It took them both a second to acknowledge that Hugh had knocked and was standing in the door of the compartment waiting.
“I was just giving the inspector my account of finding the victim and my client.”
And suddenly he was back to him being exasperated. “Client?”
“Miss Henderson's asked me to look into the case.”
“And what would prompt her to do that?”
“She obviously recognises my considerable talents.”
“Self-styled and completely untrained…”
She wasn’t in the least bit deterred by his wordsーinstead, she seemed to delight in her ability to fluster him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t met other women like herーhe hadーbut there was some kind of energy that surrounded her, pulling him in despite himself.
He watched as her eyes drifted to his lipsーher eyelashes flitting against her cheeks. The intensity in her blue eyes as they connected once again with his caught him off guard. He felt his breath catch in his throat as the sudden thought of wanting to kiss her flashed across his mind.
Hugh’s interruption pulled Jack from his momentary distraction, and he tried to refocus his thoughts on the case. He had experienced women using their charms on him in order to distract, persuade, or manipulate, but this was differentーshe was different. Even though he didn’t know her very well, he would put Miss Fisher in a category all her own. But that didn’t negate the fact that she was interfering in his investigation and had now placed herself in the middle of it. He needed this case to be over.
He had run into her twice in the last 2 weeks. This couldn’t continue to happen. It was just a coincidence. Right? He would just solve this case and they could both move on. What were the chances that he would run into her at a caseーor that she would pull him into one? His eyelids drifted closed for a minute as he thought through the events that had led him being on this train, and he couldn’t help the amusement lift the corner of his mouth. She was going to be trouble.