The Fier

"So Tracey, how's your new job going?" Suzie asked. "What's it like working with your lover?"

"It's great, the job is interesting and as for my boss/lover, I'm in heaven. Suzie, can you tell Bradley that I will call in tomorrow and tender my resignation?"

"He's not going to like it, he had high expectations for you in the company."

"Then he should have acted on my complaint earlier."

"It looks like we can't do any more this evening," Gavin said. "I promised Suzie that we'd test drive my bed tonight."

"Is this a decision taken and finalised, or a work in progress?" I asked.

"A work in progress towards a decision to be made, okay?"

"I'd hate to see you rushing into things."

"Yeah, like you two took your time." They left to attend to the work in progress, leaving Tracey and I to improve our own relationship.

The next day Tracey and I spent going through some of my previous cases discussing the details and setting up a database that could be cross-referenced to save time with new cases. I was impressed, both with her enthusiasm and her computer skills. While I was practised at using search engines to find the necessary information, her skills were in the more mundane but no less important skills of word processing, databases and spreadsheets. She also set up an accounting programme to take care of my billing and invoices. While this was happening, our conversation sort of drifted towards our relationships, both business and personal. The decision was made to formalize both. While I didn't get down on one knee, I did propose to her and she accepted.

Next morning, my phone disturbed a promising dream, "This had better be good."

"Out of bed, you can't spend all day getting it off with Tracey, there's work to be done."

"Fuck off Mate."

Tracey's phone rang, it was Suzie, "Come on girl, spit that dick out, times are awasting."

"What is it with you two, Can't you sleep, go away."

We both gave in to the urgings of our alleged friends.

"We have a problem," Gavin said. "The DNA results have come back, Errol was not involved in that case three years ago, he was telling the truth."

"Then who is he covering for?"

"Suzie has an idea that we'll follow up on, in the meantime I want you two to go through the case file and see if you can find what I'm missing, it has become a blur to me."

"Okay, bring the files over and we'll have a look to if we can find what you've missed."

We just had time for breakfast before Gavin arrived. "I've just dropped Suzie off at work to follow up on her idea, and I have a new case to investigate so I'll not have time to do anything with this, it's up to you two. Oh, if anyone should ask, I don't expect that these will be missed but you never know, you're undertaking a research project for your university studies,"

"What university studies?"

"The ones that you have just undertaken, you know, to further your career." He left us with the case files.

We'd been at it for about half an hour when something leapt from the page I was reading "This is interesting," I said, "It would appear as if there were two men involved in this. The victim said that she heard another man's voice while she was being raped, but she saw neither of their faces, she was bent over the bonnet of a car, she didn't think that it belonged to either of them, and the other man made sure that he never moved into her line of sight."

"Sounds very much like this was not the first time that these two were involved in something like this, I wonder if there are other unsolved rapes that fit this scenario?"

"It's worth following up."

We worked our way through the evidence and many cups of coffee. Somehow we managed to forget all about lunch, as a result, by the time for our evening meal we could quite easily have gnawed the leg off a sheep while it was still alive. Salvation came in the form of Gavin and Suzie bearing gifts of takeaway sustenance.

"Well, what have you found out?" Gavin asked through a mouthful of pepperoni pizza/

"We think that this may not have been the first time that these two have been involved in a rape. Could you go back through unsolved rapes to see if there are any others that match the pattern of this one?"

"Sure thing. Suzie has a surprise for you."

"I took Bradley's coffee cup to Gavin when we had lunch together and he put it through Forensics as a matter of priority and the results were unsurprising, The DNA matched that taken from the victim. Bradley was the rapist and Errol was covering for him in the knowledge that, if the victim could not positively identify the perpetrator, no mud would stick to him. His reward was financial and off the record."

"We found that she could not have made a positive identification because they made sure that she never saw their faces and they were dressed alike, nothing to distinguish one from the other. That's what led us to think this has happened before."

"Right, tomorrow I'll get onto this. The case I was on today can be handed over to someone else, this is bigger. We'll check out if there are other cases that fit the MO. If there are, we'll go back to the witness and see if she will change her mind about giving evidence. If she decides to proceed we'll go back to Errol and see if he'll give evidence when we arrest Bradley."

"Good luck with that, he knows on which side the bread is buttered. In the meantime, there's not a lot we can do here tonight, so Suzie and I will go home and continue the exploration of each other's body."

I didn't bother to ask whose home he was talking about, none of my business.

It was mid-afternoon, Tracy and I were talking to Suzie about her entitlements, Bradley wasn't interested in the mundane business when Gavin and a couple of cops walked in. Showing amazing self-control, Suzie ushered them into Bradley's office.

"Mister Thompson, I must ask you to accompany us to the station."

"Why?"

"We need to ask you a few questions regarding a case that we are investigating."

"What has this to do with me?"

"Let us just say that you are a person of interest, and we need to discuss this with you and hopefully establish your innocence."

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. His departure was witnessed by all of the staff and it was followed by the inevitable questions. Only Errol seemed disinterested in what had just happened, apart from a smile on his face. Curious.

All was revealed the next day. Surprises ran thick and fast through the building. Bradley was arrested, and we all thought that the end of the world had arrived for the company. This was not the case. The next surprise was Bradley's wife, Judith, arriving to take over the reins of the business, helped by Errol who, it turned out, was having an affair with her. This development was short-lived as Errol was arrested for aiding and abetting the carriage of a crime.

The next surprise was that Suzie was promoted to Assistant CEO because Judith decided that she, having been involved in the running of the company had the relevant experience to continue, albeit in a higher role. Suzie accepted the added responsibility.

We were just getting down to some serious celebrating in an upmarket restaurant when Judith walked in. "Can I join you?"

"Sure, why not," Suzie told her.

"Great! There I was rattling around in this mausoleum of a home, trying to get my head around the latest development when I thought I needed someone to talk to, so I found out where you guys were and decided that I couldn't think of no-one better to unload on than the ones that have been instrumental in shafting the bastard that I've been married to for the past twenty years. I'm relieved that I no longer have to put up with his prancing around like a randy stallion fucking anyone stupid enough to let him. Don't worry Suzie, I don't include you, it didn't take you long to see through his bullshit and tell him that you weren't interested in a relationship with him other than a professional one. As for you Tracey, I have considered offering you Suzie's old job, but I look at you and Benji, it is Benji isn't it? I realise that all of the money and prestige will not compensate you for what you two have going for you. Instead, I think that your talents are not being recognized enough. What I am offering you is, if you're interested that is, bringing your business under the umbrella of JT Associates. We will pay you a regular salary and fifty percent of the income derived from it. Before you question my decision let me tell you, I have thought this through, your business as it now stands generates enough to cover your salaries, all that I am doing is to guarantee that if business drops off, that you have a regular income, knowing that this shortfall will be recovered when you are busy."

"We'll need to discuss this."

"I would have expected nothing less. As for Gavin, I think that his talents are wasted in the police force and could be better utilized in your business Benji."

"Again a discussion is needed."

"I'm not rushing you. Now, what is good to eat in this place?"

It was some party. The staff were dropping the hint that they wanted to go home, so we reluctantly left, agreeing to meet in two days.

Two days later we met in the boardroom. Apart from the four of us, Judith was there with the CFO who filled us in on the company's financial position. Judith has proven to be a genius when it came to company finances and the company was in a very strong position. If anything business was stronger than expected and predicted to continue in its upward trajectory. Errol, if he was hoping to benefit from his liaison with Judith, was to be sadly disappointed, she dumped him and fired him in the same breath. We concluded the formalities and toasted the future with some expensive champagne.

Looking at what has happened, I don't think that I could have fixed it any better if I'd tried.

Tracey has moved in with me, Suzie and Gavin have also decided on a shared living arrangement. My home office has proven to be inadequate for our increased business, plus the temptation to walk the short distance to our bedroom was too great to be ignored. We found a bigger office not far away, just far enough away to make temptation easier to resist.