Chapter Text
Michael Jericho was the best man Scotland Yard had to offer when it came to solving complicated and bizarre murder cases.
This man served in the 1st world war and right after started off as a police officer.
Now, about 10 years later both his department and the people looked up and depended on him in terms of crime and safety.
He became very popular in a very short time but to him that brought more bad than good.
When everybody expected you to be the very best and never fail it´s hard to actually just tend to your normal work, because when you fail one time
– everybody will know AND they will judge you.
He had lived a very silent life since the war.
His sweetheart left him while he was at war for another man and when he came back to nothing at all after this traumatizing event he never dared to let another human close to his life.
A small flat of his own and late nights at dirty bars with smoky air was all he thought he could have.
There were some nights where we´d go to a woman for special services just to still the urge and to keep him company, but that soon lost the magic and he rather sat in a bar,
drunk on whisky till he was intoxicated enough to stumble home and dive right into sleep.
Today was a night like every one before that.
He was heads deep into a serial killers case and just couldn´t put the pieces together.
After work he decided to go for the casual – a few drinks at the bar, maybe he´ll find a willing woman
– or he´ll meet some people who knew him and tried to squeeze all the information about the case out of him.
Both weren´t very splendid options, but what else did he have?
At the office he had no real friend´s he´d invite to his home, no mother to take care of and no girlfriend to hold tight at night.
He didn´t even have a sort of hobby like playing cards, riding horses or some other kind of stuff people did to waste time.
At said bar everything was like it was every night.
He settled at the counter and ordered his whiskey.
So far everything was good, no one bothered him with the newest case, just some small talk amongst war veterans and dubious girls trying to flirt and kidnap lonely men to lead into their apartment for payment.
Just one thing wasn´t as usual when he scanned his surroundings.
In the back sat a woman, he´d say she was about 25 or something and also scanned the room.
He couldn´t really make out her face in the dim atmosphere but he saw that she was watching him.
He was used to people watching him, but mostly it were guys and elder lady´s eager to know the newest talk and trash.
However this particular one wasn´t engaging him on those crime topics, neither was she dressed as an easy girl.
He was thinking about calling her over for a drink, but what would that say about him?
He was not a man who would seduce a young girl who was probably taken and only waiting for her husband or boyfriend.
Maybe she has seen him before or heard of him on the radio and was merely interested.
Dropping that idea he settled back in his chair looking over to her several times noticing she kept watching him.
Another drink for him, this was making him more nervous than he thought.
After about 20 minutes he saw her getting up and leaving for the back door of the bar,
but not before she stopped at the other end of the bar giving him an intense look and then disappearing into the cold outside.
Was that long gaze some kind of hint or secret invitation?
He didn´t know.
Although some part of him wanted to know so after about 5 minutes he got up and went after her through the door.
She was gone.
Going back inside Jericho payed his debt and headed straight home into his bed.
The encounter of the night followed him into his dreams.
----
Weeks passed, the serial killer case was still going on and no new clues were found exept new tortured body´s.
He still recalls the vague shape of that strange woman many nights ago
but almost every night he headed for the same bar and he never saw her again.
It has been two weeks till another body was discovered.
The victim had been dragged down the staircase near the back door and tortured like all the ones before.
Michael was inside the house talking to the victim´s father, asking him if he heard anything in the night or if his son had any knowable enemy´s.
He was about 5 minutes into investigation when he heared offers shout from outside.
“ No Miss you can´t just go there! Stop! You can´t… HEY!”
“Oh bloody hell, what is it NOW?” Michael growled and headed to where the noise came from.
There he saw –her- again.
Bended over the victim and studying the cuts on his arms and belly she didn´t even look up when he approached.
“The cuts are about 2 cm deep and they are way too messy placed. It seems like the killer tried to weaken him with focusing on his legs and arms.
The ones on his belly tho – they are very deep and precise which was probably what finished him off finally.
So well placed to killer would be educated in anatomy pretty well.
Don´t you also think so? … Mr. Jericho?”
With that she finally lifted her head to look into the confused Inspectors eyes and waited for a sort of acknowledgment.
“What do you think you are doing here Miss?” was his only dry reply.
Seriously what was that woman doing here at his crime scene acting like she was part of the police.
Instead of answering his question she bowed down again and continued her ‘inspection’.
“So a butcher might not be responsible for this but maybe a doctor or a medical student.
It appears the cuts are accurate but not ‘exaclty’ well-placed so I think a good doctor is also out of the question.
Only if he´d be a good one that is…”
“So I still don´t know what you´re doing here Miss, but I´m loosing my patience!
This is a police investigation and we don´t need any civils hanging around and destroying evidence!”
“If you did listen to what I said just now, Mr. Jericho, you could have noticed that I´m trying to help here!” she stood up to face the agitated inspector.
“We have professionals at the station and we don´t need any civils involved here. I ask you to leave NOW Miss.” His patience was growing thin.
Yeah she might said some useful things but if he encourages random citizens to trample around his cases he would soon be the joke of Scotland Yard.
On the other hand this was the woman he looked for many nights and now she appears right here with information their personal coroner would take hours to find out.
Not because he´s not good at his job – but he´s drunk most of the time and calling him in from home mostly resulted in the coroner taking a nap in the office before getting to work.
She seemed like she knows what she´s talking about and she also may have helpful information to help with the progress of this whole case.
But still, he didn´t know who she was and why she suddenly appeared here in all kind of places, ignoring his questions and acting like she was part of the team.
“You know I could be very useful. I see it in your eyes, Sir. I am not just some random citizen.
I know a lot about anatomy from my father and also am I educated in psychology which means I can profile a suspect with very few details about them.
Don´t tell me you´re not interested.” She look fierce as she presented her qualifications.
He actually started to consider taking her offer but this was neither the time nor the place to discuss something like that.
“Come to our office later at 4pm and we will talk about what you have to say.
For now I beg you to leave this crime scene Miss.” This was the best he could do for now.
“Very well then… I´ll see you at 4 pm Mr. Jericho. Have a nice day.” She smiled a little as she turned around.
“Wait!” he shouted as she was always halfway around the nearest corner.
“ What was your name again Miss?”
But instead of telling him her name she just waved back at him and disappeared around the corner.
What a strange woman Michael thought to himself.
At least he would get to know her later that day and he was also eager for what she has to tell them.
At 3:45 pm Michael was back in his office pacing from one end to the other of the room while fumbling with his father´s watch in hand like he always did when he was nervous.
It´s not normal for him to be like that he notices but he waited weeks for an opportunity to talk with this strange woman and now that he had the chance it felt so unreal.
Minutes passed as he walked lines into the wooden floor waiting for his assistant to call in his visitor.
By 4:10 pm she had still not arrived and he asked himself if he missed the opportunity this morning.
What if she decided not to come, after all he didn´t treat her very nicely but she was interrupting his case so what else was he supposed to do?
Before he could question the walls any longer there was a knock at the door.
“Sir, your 4pm meeting is here.” Came the voice of his assistant.
“Lead her in.” He settled behind his desk trying to appear more relaxed that he actually was.
When she walked through the door she smiled at him.
“Hello Mr. Jericho. I hope I´m not interrupting any more crime scenes here am I?”
“Well I hope so Miss..?”
“Ashford.”
“Then welcome to Scotland Yard Miss Ashford.
I was hoping you could share some of your… wisdom with us.”
“If you´re ready to recive it this time I surely will.” In her voice was an undertone of challenge.
“Why don´t you sit down and we discuss the current case?” he offered.
“So Miss Ashford, I recall you said earlier that you have good knowledge about anatomy.
Why is that?” Michael started.
“My father was a surgeon and taught me almost everything he knew.
I used to read his books and was even able to watch certain operations.
He also had several patients with wounds from fights or accidents and that´s why I can tell if a wound was caused by a sharp blade or a dull object.” She stated confident.
“So – correct me if I´m wrong- but you think you will be able to help us just because you spied over your fathers shoulders without any official education in that topic?
We are not playing games here Miss.
We need to catch a serial killer , better sooner than later and we can´t be hold up by a young woman who wants to play detective.
I don´t think you realize how important this here is…”
He knew he sounded mean again but there was truth in his words.
As interesting as she might seem, this was his work and he didn´t have time to play around.
“Then let me correct you.
I know quite well how important this is, otherwise I wouldn´t offer my help.
I know I don´t have a formal education signed and praised
– but I know what I can and what I can´t do and it´s not your position to tell me otherwise.” was her blunt answer.
“So what can you possibly provide to this case?
– besides listing the wounds of victims, because we have a professional for that OR making assumptions about who the killer might be, huh?”
“I could set up a psychological profile of the killer using the files from all the former victims regarding the latest case.
If you … let me that is.” She raised an eyebrow.
Michael was torn if he should trust her words and give her a chance to actually prove what she bragged about – or if he should do the possibly only normal thing and send her back home.
Normally the only woman at the office were doing the paperwork and taking the calls – but never were they deeply involved in the ongoing cases.
Yet her strong attitude and her confidence in her skills made him curious.
If she really kept what she promised she would be a great help to them.
Of course if they worked well together but if she keeps up an attitude like this, Michael was sure it would end in an argument in the future.
Slowly he leaned forward on his chair.
“Alright. I will give this a try. I´ll be taking you as my adviser for the time being and we´ll see if you can actually help us.
Tomorrow morning at 8 am here in the office.
I´ll provide you with a desk and the files you need.
You will get one week to give us a detailed description of the possible suspect and then we will decide if we will keep you or if your work is no longer needed.”
He could see a smile forming in the corner of her mouth.
“So does that mean I´m now officially part of the team?”
“No you are a kind of trainee with no payment and if we decide we no longer need your help you´ll be free to leave any time.”
“I´m fine with that and I´m sure you will be pleased with my work.”
With that she stood up and left through the door as fast as she disappeared last time.
Michael Jericho sat in his chair for a little while longer wondering what he had just agreed to.
~~~~~~~
This was the day.
The day you would finally prove what you promised your father on his deathbed 5 years ago.
Many times you tried to get a position at some Police Department but they never even listened to what you had to say.
Now it was different.
You were offered a chance to show what you´re capable of and if things worked out right you were sure you´d get a job there.
Everything depended on your performance this week and failing was not an option.
Letting your neck crack one more time you took a deep breath and opened the door to the station.
The others were staring as you walked past their desks straight forward to Michael Jericho´s office.
Knocking carefully you tried to calm your nerves and put on a determined face.
Failing is not an option you said to yourself again and entered his office when you heard the grumpy “Yes?”
“Good morning Sir! I hope I´m not late.” you weren´t late.
By any means you were 30 minutes early only to show how motivated you are and hopefully making a good first impression.
“Well you sure are late if you think you can impress me with being early Miss.” Michael said tired.
“But if you like to drop by early we can as well start sooner.
Now I´ve prepared the desk here on the left for you.
You´ll be working under my watch. If you need files or information you will ask me.
Break is at 12 for one hour and you are free to go to the cantina below or eat here.
You will not talk about the cases with anyone in this building or outside, is that understood?” he paused and you give a quick nod.
“Furthermore you will study each case from the first page to the last.
Everything that you think is important or overlaps will you note down and compare to every file individually.
If you´re as good as you say you are, you will have a detailed profile of the suspects on hand or we will send you home.
As easy as that.
Any questions Miss Ashford?”
“Do I get to bring my own coffee into the office?” you decide to loosen up the situation.
You were prepared for the fact that you would have to work twice as hard as a man to prove your worth.
But what Jericho was asking for was not only a psychological profile, but also a full summary of the serial killer cases.
You watched the news and you knew how many lives were lost to that criminal in the last 2 months.
1 week was probably by far not enough time for both those tasks but you won´t get intimidated by that.
The rest of this morning Michael went through every case with you and told you how to properly summarize and assess information.
It was harder than you imagined because you were used to just scan over a topic and not dismantle them so properly.
Over the hours his tone went from tired to actually friendly and you felt like you were doing good so far.
At noon you took out the sandwiches you prepared at home so you stayed in his office rather than going below to dine.
Jericho was also not leaving and so it was still the 2 of you sitting in silence for many minutes.
After a while he engaged in conversation.
“How old are you Miss Ashford?” he asked casually.
“26 Sir.”
“So you´re still quite young huh? Are you married?”
“No Sir and I´m also not planning to in the future.” You took another bite from your bread.
“Why is that? You are in the best age to marry and have children. Why spend your time in a smoky office playing detective?”
You didn´t like the undertone and prejudice that came with this question.
“I want to do what makes me happy and I also want to help others.
I have no interest in leading the boring life of a housewife who´s only purpose is to give birth, clean the house and cook dinner.
Some might be happy with a dreary life like that but I won´t.
Are you married Sir?”
If he could ask those in appropriate questions so could you.
“No…” and with that he was silent again.
When you looked over to him his eyes stared into nothing like he was somewhere else in his mind.
Maybe you pinched a nerve but it wasn´t your fault since he started with that topic.
The rest of the break was only small talk about where you are from and topics regarding the cases.
In the afternoon you already worked yourself through 3 cases and noted down everything you thought you needed.
You were so deep in your work you didn´t even realize when Jericho moved at the end of the working day to look over your shoulder.
“I see you take this quite seriously.” He said almost impressed.
Startled you turned around to face him.
“I thought we were not playing games around here. I´m just trying to do the best I can.”
“This was not a complaint Miss. Can I see what you have so far?”
You hand him the stack of notes and he goes over every single piece very carefully.
“Well, what do you say? Is everything to your liking?”
“It is indeed very accurate.
But we will continue tomorrow. 8 am same time as today and Miss?
You are free to bring your own coffee as long as you keep up this work.” There was almost a smile.
You gather the files back together in the boxes beneath your desk for the next day.
As you made ready to leave he called your name.
“Miss Ashford?”
“Yes Sir?” you slightly turn with your hand still on the doorknob.
“Have nice evening and see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you Sir, you too.”
With that you left and headed back home to your apartment.
Your first day went better than expected and your new boss seemed like a rational man who really considers your help.
Hopefully he will notice your effort and won´t turn you down even if you deliver what they asked of you.
But first you will pour yourself a nice glass of wine and celebrate the first step of your hopefully soon- to – be career.