When Serina and Cahill returned to the office after lunch, it was still half-empty, as many of the others had not yet returned from their lunch. Serina looked around. Ray was talking to Frank in his office, while Colin was standing by the printer, waiting for some report or other to finish printing off.

As she led Cahill back to their desks, Colin wandered over, report in hand.

“Something interesting happened?” she asked him, gesturing to the report in his hand.

Colin shook his head. “No. Just a missing person.”

“A kid?” she asked, surprised that nobody had mentioned it over lunch. Usually, when a child was reported missing, word got around the station almost instantly, and every officer made an effort to get involved and help locate – and if necessary, rescue – them.

Colin shook his head again. “Adult male.” he replied, glancing down at the report in his hand. “Postman. Name of Winston Staples.”

“Shouldn't we be leaving that sort of thing to the uniforms?” she asked, frowning.

“Ray thinks he might be mixed up in something he's investigating.” he replied, sighing. “Don't know why.”

Serina looked across to Frank's office. Ray was still in there. He appeared to be getting increasingly animated.

Colin followed her gaze. “He's in there now, trying to convince Frank to let him take ownership of the case.” he told her. “Doesn't look like he's having much success.”

She smiled. Frank was a good detective. Like her, he tended not to break or even bend the rules. He did everything by the book. He had to. The Super would be on him like a ton of bricks if he didn't. “Oh well, I'm sure that Winston turn up before too long.” she murmured.

Colin nodded, and wandered back to his desk. He sat down, and started to read the report he had just printed off.

Serina walked over to her desk and sat down. Cahill grabbed the chair from next to her and dragged it round to the desk opposite. He sat down, and immediately begins tapping away at his keyboard.

“Winston Staples...” she muttered to herself. “Sure I've heard that name before.”

Cahill looked up from his screen. “No record of anybody with that name in the database.” he told her.

“You've checked already?” she asked, surprised that he had sprung into action so quickly. He nodded.

“Chris has sorted your login, then.” she smiled. She looked across to Sebastian, who was sitting at his desk near to the double doors leading out into the central part of the station.

“Sebastian?” she shouted. He looked up at the sound of his name. She beckoned him over.

“I think it might have been one of Sebastian's cases.” she told Cahill. He nodded, and went back to tapping away at his keyboard.

Sebastian wandered over. “What's up?” he asked.

“Does the name Winston Staples ring any bells?” she inquired. He thought for a moment, before nodding slowly. He looked over to where Natasha was sitting.

“Tash?” he shouted at her. “Winston Staples?”

Natasha nodded, and tapped away at her keyboard for a few seconds. Having found the relevant information, she looked up. Rather than shouting back at him, she wandered over to Serina's desk.

“Yep. About six months ago. Domestic. No charges.” she reported. “My first case, in fact.” she added, smiling at Sebastian.

Sebastian nodded. “That's right. I remember now. Big brute of a man. He was accused of abusing his wife and kids.”

Serina's attention was drawn to movement behind Sebastian. Colin was making his way over. Obviously, he had overheard part of the conversation. He stood quietly behind Sebastian and Natasha, unnoticed by either of them.

“Yep. The kids go to the nursery by the church. One of the other parents reported their concerns.” Natasha continued, with a sigh. “Just being a bit... over-suspicious, I suppose.”

Sebastian frowned at her. “Over-suspicious? Is that even a word?”

She stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled, then turned back to Serina.

“The wife denied it, of course.” he told her. “And as there was no physical evidence...”

Natasha interrupted him. “Well, the kids did have some light bruising...”

“Show me a kid who doesn't!” he laughed.

Natasha nodded. “Anyway, we couldn't find anything that would stick, so we dropped it.”

Sebastian shook his head with an air of regret. “Why the interest?” he asked Serina.

She glanced at Colin. “Colin says he's been reported missing.” she replied.

“His wife says he hasn't been home since Saturday.” Colin noted. Sebastian and Natasha both turned in surprise, neither of them having realised that Colin was standing behind them. “She's worried sick.” he added.

“I bet she is.” Sebastian laughed. “Couldn't have happened to a nicer chap.” he added, darkly.

Colin shrugged his shoulders, and gestured to the report he was still holding. “Well, in any case, Ray thinks he might be involved with June and her mob.” he said.

“Wouldn't have thought so.” Sebastian replied, shaking his head. “They don't tend to mix with people like him.”

“Why not?” Cahill asked, looking slightly puzzled.

Serina noted that the others turned in surprise to look at Cahill. It was as if they had forgotten that he was there. She smiled to herself. Cahill had been sitting quietly throughout the conversation until now, barely moving or drawing attention to himself. That particular... talent... might turn out useful, she thought. She found herself wondering if Martin had found it useful, and sighed audibly.

Sebastian glanced at Serina in surprise, wondering what she was sighing about. He frowned, then looked back at Cahill, clearly suspicious of him.

“You never met him?” he asked, his tone slightly hostile. “Martin never brought him in 'for questioning'?”

Natasha glared at Sebastian and nudged him in the ribs. He looked at her, surprised. She glanced meaningfully at Cahill. In response, Sebastian shook his head and put his finger to his lips. Serina looked at Cahill. He seemed to be oblivious to this wordless dialogue.

Cahill shook his head. “No, I do not thing so.” he replied. “The name is not familiar.”

Sebastian nodded. “Yes, well. You weren't there long, were you?” he sighed. He smiled smugly to himself. “Well, Winston is black. And June's lot are a bit... right-wing.”

Cahill nodded. “You mean racist.” he replied.

“Yes, I suppose I do.” Sebastian sighed.

At that moment, Ray emerged from Frank's office. Serina noticed that he looked rather downcast. Colin nodded at her, and walked over to Ray's desk. As Ray sat down, Colin handed him the report. Ray glanced at the report and shook his head. He conversed briefly with Colin, then dropped the report in a nearby waste-basket. It was clear to Serina that Ray was rather annoyed with something.

Colin glared at Ray, and fished the report out of the waste-basket. He placed it in the nearby recycling bin with a heavy sigh, then headed back over to Serina's desk.

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“Frank says to leave it to the uniforms.” he announced, shrugging his shoulders. “We'll get involved if anything suspicious turns up.”

“Maybe his body will.” suggested Natasha, clearly amused by the possibility. “Perhaps his wife's killed him.”

Sebastian laughed sardonically. “Hope springs eternal, Tash.” he told her, before gesturing towards their desks. “Come on, let's get back to it.”

As Sebastian and Natasha walked back to their desks, Serina stared at them, open-mouthed. She was rather shocked at their reaction. Surely they didn't really want Winston to turn up dead? Surely it would be better if they found enough evidence to charge him with domestic abuse?

She glanced at Cahill. He was reading something on his screen. He didn't seem to have reacted at all. Like usual.

He looked up at her. “Should we investigate anyway?” he asked. “In case he has been murdered by his wife?”

“No.” she replied, shaking her head. “We don't get involved in missing persons cases. Unless it's a kid.”

“But what if he is dead?” he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Then his body will turn up, and we'll investigate.” she replied.

He frowned. “Martin always started an investigation in order to find the evidence.”

“Yes, well. He had other reasons for that.” she snapped irately.

“True.” he nodded, seemingly unaware of her anger. She scowled, and looked away. Not only did he barely display any emotion, he seemed completely oblivious to the emotions of other people. A new possibility suddenly entered her head, and her anger subsided. Actually, that could be rather useful, she thought to herself.

A faint smile crossed her lips as she looked back at him. He was still sitting there, motionless, and still staring blankly at her. Her anger returned. “What? You think everybody behaves like Martin?” she asked. “You think I do?”

“No. Of course not.” he replied, shaking his head.

She glared at him for a moment, before leaning back in her chair and groaning with frustration. She rubbed her eyes. “Why are you so impossible?” she demanded, glaring at him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, slightly puzzled.

She sighed, and eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds. “I'm usually good at reading people.” she replied, cautiously. “You know, sensing how they are feeling. Whether they are lying or telling the truth, that sort of think.”

He nodded, but said nothing. She shook her head with resignation. She was going to have to get used to him not displaying any emotions.

“I used to think everybody could do that.” she continued. “But it turns out they can't. It seems I just have a particular talent for it.”

He looked at her blankly, as if waiting patiently for her to continue. She sighed with frustration again. She couldn't tell if he understood what she was telling him, or if he was confused.

“You know, sort of like what hypnotists and fortune-tellers do.” she continued. “So they can tell you what they think you want to hear. What do they call it, 'cold reading'?”

“Yes, I am familiar with that term.” he nodded.

“But I can't read you.” she concluded, her frustration evident in her voice. “At all. And it's annoying me.”

He looked despondent. “Oh. Sorry.” he replied.

“Don't worry, it's not your fault.” she sighed. “At least, I don't think it is.” she added, eyeing him suspiciously.

They looked at each other in silence for a moment or two. Serina was beginning to wonder if Cahill was doing it on purpose. Was it some kind of prank? Why was she finding him so difficult to read? She maintained eye contact, staring into his eyes, as if trying to burrow down into his soul. Nothing. She was sensing nothing. This didn't make any sense.

She kept staring at him. He seemed oblivious to her anguish. He always seemed oblivious. Finally, she broke eye contact, and looked away. He simply turned to look at his screen, and started tapping away at his keyboard.

“Maybe we should ask Rochelle if she knows what happened to Winston?” he suggested after a few moments, still looking at his screen. “Maybe you could tell if she was lying?”

Serina looked at him, puzzled. “Rochelle?” she asked. “Who's Rochelle?”

“His wife.” he replied.

She looked at him suspiciously. “I thought you said there was nothing in the database.” she noted.

He shook his head and gestured towards his screen. “She is on social media.” he told her. He turned his screen so that she could see. It was displaying the home page of the user 'RochWill74' . Most of the page was taken up by a large picture of a couple. He had dark brown skin, darker even than Serina's, and tightly-cropped black hair. She had lighter brown skin, more of a mocha colour, and long brown hair. They were standing in what looked to be somebody's back garden. There seemed to be some kind of celebration in progress.

Serina frowned. “So that's Winston and Rochelle?” she asked.

Cahill nodded. “I have a home address.” he told her. “We could go and visit her.”

“No, the uniforms would get upset.” she sighed, shaking her head. She looked across towards Ray, who was sitting despondently at his desk. “And Sergeant Walker would do his nut.”

Cahill looked puzzled. “Do his nut?” he asked.

She looked at him, surprised that he hadn't heard that term before. “Get angry. Annoyed. Upset that we've gone in without his permission.” she told him, like she was reciting the definition from a dictionary.

“Why?” he asked, still apparently confused.

She sighed again. Did she have to explain everything? “Because if this Winston guy is involved with June's gang, we might affect Ray's investigation.” she replied. She glanced across at Ray again, then attempted to impersonate his manner of speech. “We'll blow the whole gaff wide open.” she said. She could tell the impersonation wasn't really that good. She started giggling. “And Ray wouldn't like that.” she added, reverting to her normal voice.

Cahill nodded. “I see.” he said, looking back at his screen. “So what do we do, then?”

She glared at him, upset that he didn't appear to find her impression of Ray at all amusing. “Oh, I don't know.” she replied sarcastically. “Sit around and wait for somebody to get murdered, maybe?”

She continued glaring at him for a moment. As usual, he didn't react at all. This was beginning to irritate her. She sighed and picked up her notebook. “Before you turned up this morning, I was going through one of the old cases.” she said, flicking through her notebook to find the page she was writing on earlier. “Seeing if anything new had turned up.”

He shifted in his seat, positioning his hands above his keyboard, poised to begin typing. “Which one?” he asked.

She glanced up at him, and noted his posture. She shook her head. He pushed his keyboard away from him and rested his hands on his desk, clasping them together as if waiting for her to tell him what to do.

“Some kid.” she replied, consulting her notes. “Name of Nathan Walker.”

Cahill nodded, and glanced at his screen, clearly wanting to dive into the records and learn all about the case.

Serina smiled to herself, and looked across at Ray. “No relation.” she added, with a sigh. “Nathan was accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend.”

Cahill looked at her, his head tilted to one side as if deep in thought. She paused, wondering if he was going to ask a question, but he remained silent.

She nodded towards Sebastian and Natasha. “Sebastian was in charge of the case. He called me in to interview the pair of them.”

Cahill nodded. “Because of your... talents?” he suggested.

She frowned, and looked down at her chest in confusion. “What does...?” she began. Her head suddenly snapped upwards, and a relieved smile crossed her face. She had realised what he meant. “Oh, I see!” she said, laughing. “I'm with you now. I thought you were talking about...”

She paused. A look of slight confusion had landed on his face. “Oh never mind...” she sighed.

He nodded, and the look of confusion disappeared from his face as swiftly as it had arrived. He stared blankly at her again.

“Anyway, all I could get from her was that she was scared.” she continued. “Of him. Of me. Of everybody, really.”

She sighed, and stared vacantly up at the ceiling. “To be expected, I suppose.” she added. “It felt like she was telling the truth, though. I mean, they definitely had sex...”

She paused. A faint smile crossed her lips as she stared over Cahill's shoulder. He turned to see what had caught her attention. Natasha was leaning over her desk to look at Sebastian's screen. Her skirt was so short that her underwear was almost visible. He turned back to look at Serina. After a few moments, her smile faded and she fixed him with a serious expression.

“Of course, he claimed that it had been completely consensual.” she continued, acting as if nothing had happened. “But it was fairly obvious that he was lying. So Sebastian was able to get him charged.”

“Was he convicted?” he asked.

She shook her head. “The girlfriend killed herself.” she replied despondently. “His lawyer got the charge dropped.”

“How?” he asked.

“Because it was her word against his.” she replied, the exasperation clear in her voice.

“But... if you knew he was guilty...” he suggested, apparently stunned that they couldn't get the charge through.

“Doesn't matter.” she replied, shaking her head. “Without her to give evidence, there wasn't much of a case against him.”

He frowned. “Martin would have...” he began.

She interrupted him. “I don't care what Martin would have done!” she snapped angrily.

His expression changed. This surprised and, if she was completely honest, relieved her. He seemed almost taken aback by the harsh tone of her voice. She looked around the office, almost embarrassed to have spoken to him in that manner. Nobody else had reacted. Perhaps they hadn't heard.

She leaned forward, trying not to glare at him. “Don't mention that name in here!” she hissed, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Why not?” he asked, puzzled.

“Because people might get upset.” she replied testily.

“Oh, I see.” he nodded. “Because of...”

“Exactly!” she replied, cutting him off in mid-sentence.

He nodded slowly at her. She glared at him for a moment, then resumed her perusal of her notebook.

“I suppose I could take you through some of the old cases.” she suggested with a sigh. “You know. Show you how things are done properly around here.” she added, pointedly.

He nodded again.

They spent the rest of the afternoon going through some of Serina's old cases. They started by looking at the case notes that Serina had made, before moving on to those case files that were stored in the filing cabinets. Over time, both of their desks became cluttered with paperwork from those files.

For many of the cases, Serina let Cahill access the information on the SCR database, as she felt that it would help him get used to how the database was structured, how the information was stored, and how it was used.

They discussed a few of the old cases with Sebastian, or Ray, or Colin, or one of the other officers who just happened to pass by their desks. It was clear to most that the entire session was just an exercise in bringing Cahill up to speed with what was going on in the department.

Eventually, it began to get dark, and people started to pack up and go home.