Delayed Reaction - A Short Dalziel and Pascoe Valentines
Special
by elfin
14th Feb
The knock came almost timidly and Dalziel looked up, expecting to see
DC Lateef open the door. When Sergeant Wield peered inside he was
surprised.
"Why so nervous, Wieldy?" he asked, sitting back in his chair and
scratching his not-so-ample belly.
Wield didn't speak immediately, but the answer to his question soon
became obvious when the door was pushed open and a bouquet of twelve
white roses preceded the sergeant into the office.
Andy stood up with a smile. "Someone loves ya, Wieldy," he
admired, "yon Edwin's a soft bugger."
But Wield handed them to him. "They're not for me, Sir.
They're for you."
Rarely lost for words, Andy looked from him to the flowers, blushed,
and looked up again, stunned. "Who're they from?"
"We don't know, Sir. Ernie on reception said Interflora delivered
them." Ernie on reception had also said that he'd double-checked
the details of the person they were intended for but Wieldy left that
part out. "There's a card."
Peering over the beautiful bunch, Andy plucked the small gold envelope
from the transparent wrap. In black biro was neatly scrawled,
'Dectective Superintendent Andy Dalziel'
Cradling the bouquet in his arms he pulled out the plain white card and
read the inscription inside.
'You're the detective, you figure it out.'
"Wieldy...?" But his sergeant had already left his office.
With a sigh, Andy put the card and the flowers down on to his desk and
sat, considering the cryptic message. And a slow smile spread
over his face.
With the ongoing case he didn't need to come up with an excuse to visit
the pathology lab, he already had one.
He found Dr Brown in her small office reading through a pile of
paperwork stacked neatly on her desk. On the windowsill behind
her a vase held a spray of red roses and carnations and there was a
card on her desk which was quite obviously a Valentines card.
'Peter sodding Pascoe,' he thought to himself, but kept on smiling.
"What can I do for you, Mr Dalziel?" she asked, looking up from her
work.
He took a step closer to her desk. "I was wondering if you had
the toxicology report from our skeleton."
She frowned. "Your colleague, Mr Pascoe, picked it up earlier."
Andy stopped imagining ways to dispose of Pascoe's body and started to
plan his demise. "Right. He must have just forgotten to
mention it. Thanks."
For a moment, an awkward silence began to build between them.
Then he smiled at her and headed for the door.
"Mr Dalziel... Andy?" He turned back. "Was there...
anything else?" Moving his head, side to side, he was inwardly
admitting defeat when she asked him, "Would you like to take me to
dinner tonight?"
His smile brightened considerably. He'd been right!
Detective he was and always would be. "I would."
"Pick me up at eight?"
"My pleasure."
He spent the rest of the day whistling to himself, driving his
colleagues nuts.
~
3rd March
What a mess. Three dead bodies in a single grave when there
should definitely have only been the one in the coffin and not the two
additional ones underneath.
Leaning on the roof of his Rover he watched Peter and Lateef standing
over by the taped-off scene. Peter looked good. Better than
good.
Andy imagined it was time to stop denying how he felt and just accept
what was in his heart. But it wasn't the easiest of things to
reconcile after fifty years of chasing and catching women.
He could hear their voices, carrying clearly on the early-morning
breeze through the calm of the countryside. Peter sounded tired
and Lateef was obviously getting up his nose this morning.
The young DC was lamenting the strange nature of the criminal
mind. "I can't understand why anyone would use an open grave in
an attempt to hide the bodies, then not cover them over."
Andy shook his head and stepped back, opening the driver's door.
"You're the detective," he heard Peter counter, "you figure it out."
He froze. And slowly he dropped his forehead against the roof of
the car with a groan.
Dr Brown had denied sending the white roses on Valentines Day. He
hadn't believed her. Their date had ended in nothing more than an
alcoholic nightcap and a goodnight kiss on the doorstep of her
terrace. He'd gone back to the office and found Peter still
working.
And he remembered the scowl on his inspector's face, remembered putting
it down to him being a bad loser and ignoring him.
He let out a second groan, muttering to himself, "I'm sorry, Sunbeam."
"What for?" Peter's cheery voice asked from behind him. "You all
right, Andy?"
Lifting his head he met Pascoe's blue eyes. "Aye. Just
realised what a complete prat I've been, mind."
"Why?" Peter walked around the car to the passenger side.
"What've you done?"
"I've not been much of a detective." He pursed his lips, watching
Peter's confused expression. "The roses were beautiful, Petal,"
he added quietly.
Peter blushed, smiling like an embarrassed teenager telling his first
love he fancies her.
"How about a belated dinner? My treat."
"Sure." Said like it was nothing special. Peter dropped
into the Rover and Andy followed, silently thanking Lateef for being so
thoroughly irritating first thing in the morning.
fin
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