CLARE HAMPSHIRE
COLD AND OVERCAST
Today was excessively hard. Clare should have known that she would have to grind twice as hard to earn the right to go on a break at the end of their Friday at work. But it felt like her colleagues were trying to kill her.
The electricity in the air had merged with the tension that had naturally lingered at the police station all week long, and the two were not blending very well – that did not stop them for trying, unfortunately, which made everything very complicated. Every word, every glance, every move had to somehow be considered twice, if not more, so that someone would not just jump at her throat for doing something that unnerved them.
Of course, because this was Clare, even her best efforts were not fruitful.
So far, in the two hours she had been on duty, the young woman had had to look for her missing documents twice, hidden by fellow inspectors, possibly the same ones who had tried to make her trip while she walked across the open space.
To her, it was almost a miracle that she had not fallen and broken her nose or her teeth yet – but it was starting to become a heavy weight to carry around. She simply wanted to do her job, but having to calculate every single element that did not have to do with her job in order for her to do her best was… exhausting.
By mid-morning, she was seriously looking forward to the end of the day and considering running to the corner store to buy a bottle of their strongest alcohol so that she could spike her tea and coffee with a little boost of confidence.
But clearly, that was not the solution. How could it be? Getting drunk would feel relatively good, granted, but it would also make her that much less sharp and attentive. She could not give them an advantage over her.
No more than the one they already had, at least.
The young woman sat up on her chair and stretched her back as discreetly as she could – her eyes were burning from the intense concentration she needed to go over the finishing touches regarding her latest report, and she could feel a familiar pounding slowly creeping its way up under her skull.
As her gaze travelled aimless across the open space, she spotted Kit, Colin, Marlene working quietly with their heads bent over their desks.
She also easily noticed that Paul and a few other inspectors, including Eugene and Lloyd, were looking at her, probably fomenting their next move against her.
She simply could not wait.
Clare sometimes felt the weight of her gentle persona in a heavier way than on other days or occasions. Today was really testing her patience and resolve. If she did not have a big mission of providing the Serpent Society with internal intelligence, which constituted a big enough honour, especially for someone so young, the young woman would have snapped already.
Oh, yes, she would have shown them what Clare Hampshire meant in her language.
She would have shown them who she was in the real world, and they would have understood.
Sadly, orders were orders, and she could not counter them without risking being uncovered by the police, then disowned by the Society. If she was really lucky, she might end up murdered, too.
Ah, yes. The Serpent Society was a great institution.
If you played along.
Thankfully for them, Clare was not so bad at following a plan. But at that moment, while being scrutinised and mocked by Paul and his minions, she had to admit that her letter opener was tempting her.
She could make it a clean murder, too.
Ah, if she had it her way…
Still, she did none of those things, and instead made a clean pile of her documents, ready for the meeting that was about to start. The conference room had its door already open, and the inspectors were starting to look up – it was time.
As much as Clare was not enthused by the prospect, it still meant that she was closer to the end of the day.
It would be alright.
“Ready?” Marlene stopped by her desk as she was making her way towards the room.
Clare plastered a soft smile on her face and nodded. “Of course.” She got up. “I hope that we’ll make some progress with this case.”
“I’ve read some of the reports so far, and this looks nasty.”
“I know.”
And she had not heard the last of it, unfortunately.
“Let’s hope that we can lock up that crazy murderer.” Marlene shuddered. “I’ll sleep better at night.”
“That’s for sure.” Clare nodded, her stomach twisting a little bit at the thought.
“No one should be allowed to be out and about while also spreading so much cruelty. What are people thinking?” She continued, leading the way towards the conference room.
“I don’t know.”
“The victims were innocent people.”
And that was very wrong.
Clare did not reply. The whole point of her scrambling with last-minute details earlier had been so that she would present the most accurate report on the victims’ background information that she could compile.
Naturally, she had had a head-start, given that she knew the murderers fairly well, as well as the extent of their knowledge of the victims, but she needed to separate both sides of her life for this.
Most of her report had thus consisted of her jolting down ideas and then checking that this could be public knowledge; it had been a long and painstaking process to create meaningful and intelligible sentences around that steaming pile of shit.
Soon enough, everyone was in the room. All the inspectors working on the case were sitting around the big conference table; Clare had been welcomed to sit between Colin and Kit, and the young woman had a hard time imagining that it was a coincidence. It made sense that she would sit next to her partner on the investigation, especially as they were leading the case, but the fact that she was also seating next to Inspector McGill… They were probably trying to protect her in their own way.
She was not sure what to think about that, but it was… touching, if anything.
Had she been the gentle soul that she tried so hard to convince everyone she was, she would have been moved by the gesture. Instead, she just gave them each a small but heartfelt smile.
Marlene was not the only new addition to their group for today – she would be helping with the precis writing and the note-taking – as Chief Superintendent Richard Bradford entered the room last and took the remaining seat, leading the audience with his commanding stance and aura.
This was a serious meeting, and the stakes felt that much higher. Not only would they have to prove their worth in that case, but they would have to impress the highest ranked member of their station.
In short, no small feat.
“Everyone, thank you for coming.” He said sternly, his dark grey eyes boring holes into each face that they paused on. “Let’s not waste too much time with tedious small talk, let’s go directly to your report. Inspector Bradford, please start with a quick overview of what we have so far objectively, please.”
Clare knew, just like everyone else, that Richard and Colin were father and son. But at that moment, a blind person could not have said so – Dick could be very cold towards Colin, she had noticed.
And the way his son’s fingers trembled ever so slightly around his documents while he stood up to speak was uncanny, too.
There were some signs that were impossible to hide.
Unless one was in the Serpent Society, of course, but that was another story.
At this point, the young woman was only half-listening to her partner’s report, but she did not feel so bad about it, considering that she had been involved in every step of the case so far. She knew the dirty parts of the investigation, which had been all lovingly cleaned up by Colin and made acceptable to speak out loud.
Still, it did not take a genius to understand that this was no ordinary case at all.
Marlene was standing by the wall, taking notes on a big black board – the sound of her chalk on the surface was increasingly annoying to Clare’s nerves, which she attributed to the tension that was palpable in the room and the growing pressure all the inspectors were currently under.
She was quiet as Richard took in everything that his son was telling him, but she had to admit that he was incredibly talented at hiding his emotions. It almost felt as if… he was not listening, just having a nap with his eyes open, or something along those lines.
After Colin was done and Marlene had caught up with her notes, Kit was next. His task was to bring the whole team up to date on the medical front, with details about Alfred Hughes and Viola Wood’s autopsies that made Marlene look a little paler, Clare mentally prepared herself to go next. Kit’s intervention stirred up the room though, and soon the inspectors were asking questions and exchanging about all sorts of details.
It was a little graphic, but no one truly seemed to mind.
Across the room, Marlene’s gaze found hers, and Clare tried to smile softly at her, hoping to soothe the archivist’s possibly upset stomach. No longer pale, she now looked slightly green. Poor Marlene.
“Miss Hampshire.”
Clare looked at Richard and met his gaze without wavering; still, in her chest, her heart was beating a little erratically, which surprised her. If she messed up now, her life would not get easier.
“You can go forward if you’re ready.”
She nodded and got up from her seat. “Alright, so…”
The young woman narrowed her eyes as no one truly paid attention to her. Most inspectors were still exchanging ideas or commenting on what Colin and Kit had presented, and when Clare looked around the table, she saw that Paul was flashing her a mean grin.
Incidentally, most of the noise was coming from his side of the room, and he was clearly making sure that the debate kept going, that low piece of shit.
Marlene shot a sorry look in her direction, and this time the young woman did not try to fake her way through the offence with a smile.
“I’ve been asked to compile a…” She stopped again when it did not work, and she sighed.
On the seat next to her, Colin looked up. “Would you like me to call for order?”
“I can do it.” Kit offered a moment later.
But the young woman had pride, and unfortunately it was getting in the way of common sense, right at that moment.
Paul was making it clear that he wanted to control her – by silencing her in an overt way, he was not in danger of being accused of anything, while still exercising his stupid power over her.
If she did not fight in her own right, she would never be taken seriously. But if she unleashed in an uncontrolled way, she would never be taken seriously either.
This was the careful balance women had to deal with, day and night.
The volume in the room only went higher, just as the young woman was opening her mouth to try another time. The cocky glint in Paul’s eyes was seriously rubbing her the wrong way, too, and Clare resisted the urge to simply clench her fists and wait – it would not have been very professional at this point.
Stolen story; please report.
Instead, she went with another strategy.
“I don’t think any of you knows who Alfred Hughes and Viola Wood were.” She said, her voice strong and loud enough that for a moment she feared that she had broken character.
Silence filled the room at once – no matter how hard Paul despised it, he was nothing against knowledge and curiosity. Even Colin and Kit had gone incredibly still, as if what she had just said, and how she had said it, was not what they had been expecting.
“Miss Hampshire?” Chief Superintendent Bradford frowned, while Marlene’s eyes were wide while she was standing behind him. “What do you mean by that?”
“Can I proceed?” She asked back, dangerously slipping out of character; she did not look in Paul’s direction, even if she badly wanted to.
“You can.”
She nodded faintly in thanks and squeezed her documents closer to her chest as she turned to survey the other inspectors. She did not need her notes.
If anyone in this room knew the victims, it was Clare.
“Alfred Hughes, at fifty-eight years old, was an eminent and well-respected advisor to Mayor Parson. He was also one of his friends.”
“This is not new.” Eugene stated.
She ignored him, slowly looking at Richard instead. “His duty at the cabinet was to hire new employees for the different positions that were to be filled during the rest of Mayor Parson’s mandate. Amongst the responsibilities that this task entails were the interviews for said positions.”
“Where are you going with that?” Kit whispered.
He sounded like he was frowning – his tone was heavy and slightly wary, too.
“I dug a little deeper about that, because there are rumours about him.”
“Just like there are rumours about every politician in this country, Miss Hampshire.”
Behind Dick, who had clearly just tried to destabilise her, Marlene winced.
“Yes, but not all politicians are dangerous sexual predators.”
This was the second time that she obtained the coldest, sharpest silence. If the inspectors were not careful, she would start enjoying this.
It felt empowering, if anything.
Exhilarating, even.
“Explain.” Richard lost his quiet air of boredom and sat up in his seat.
“When I started researching Alfred Hughes’ information to establish his background and later see if he was or not connected to our second victim, I checked his finances, to see what kind of man he was, and what direction to take with my research.”
“And?” Lloyd sighed.
“Roberts.” Colin scolded him sharply.
“Proceed, Miss Hampshire.” Richard urged.
She nodded, still not looking at her notes. “I noticed that Mister Hughes had done some unprecedented payments of substantial amounts to young women in the past two years.”
“Prostitutes.” Paul spat the word.
This time, Clare could not help but look at him. The look of disgust on his face made her want to slap both his cheeks and maybe break his nose, too.
“Not quite.” She spat back, although her voice sounded softer. “Bribes.”
“What?” Colin sounded shocked.
“You see, the names of the women he bribed strangely coincide with some of the women he interviewed in the past, so I called a few of them to understand what had happened.”
Slowly, she lowered one of the files she was holding before casually letting it flop onto the table before her. Given the thickness and the weight, the sound made a few inspectors jump when it hit the surface.
“Nearly all of them had filed complaints for indecency and assault.” Clare stated very clearly as she looked straight into Richard’s eyes. “None of them were considered and no one carried out even the simplest investigation.”
“Miss Hampshire, I merely want the cold hard facts, and none of your feelings.” He replied evenly, and Paul silently gloated out of the corner of her eyes.
She did not let it deter her. “Very well. Alfred Hughes drugged these young women so that he could abuse them. Given that he was in a position of power, he believed – probably rightfully, given how things have unfolded – that he was above the risk of being accused, or at least seriously considered as a criminal.”
She glanced at Colin, and for a moment, she thought that he was going to faint – he was so pale that he looked like he had been drained of all the blood in his body.
“If you want cold, hard facts, Sir, here they are.” She spoke again, looking back at Richard. “By playing into his game, whether knowingly or not, you’ve let women be silenced by a man of power. Justice was not fair to him, nor them, and it places you and the entire community as an accomplice, along with the Mayor, if he knew about his advisor’s behaviour. This is not good, I’m sure you’ll agree.”
“So it could be revenge.” Kit stated.
Richard’s eyes had turned cold and hard, and Clare was glad to look away from them, and into warm green eyes instead.
“It would make sense, yes.” She agreed.
The young woman looked back at her makeshift audience and waited until Marlene was done with her notetaking on the board; eventually, the other woman in the room turned to her, a wobbly smile on her face as she massaged her wrist. She was gripping the chalk much too tightly, and Clare knew for a fact that the two of them were not having a field trip, being faced with men’s violence against women.
Still, Clare had no doubt that it would not bring the inspectors to question their own behaviour.
They considered themselves Gods. Gods made no mistake. End of the story.
“What about Miss Wood?” Richard’s voice was the only thing betraying his emotions, and even those were confusing.
Clare could not tell for sure if he was shocked, disgusted or furious.
“Miss Wood also has a dark layer to her story that she surely did not want brought to the light.” Clare continued, wondering if her voice would hold for the rest of her talk – she should have brought water. “It has to do with money, too.”
“Of course.” Colin massaged his temples, apparently bracing himself.
“Viola Wood is a respectable woman, Miss Hampshire.” Paul spat again. “What makes you think you can tarnish her memory?”
“Inspector Edwards, that’s enough.” Richard scolded him, and he blanched.
“I’m not tarnishing her memory.” Clare shook her head. “I’m setting the record straight by telling you the truth.”
Marlene smiled at that sentence, and somehow it filled Clare with a little more confidence. It was good to know that at least someone was on her side – she wanted to believe that Kit and Colin were also there, but she was trying not to look too much at them, otherwise she would forget the other group of stupid inspectors.
“Are you certain that you looked at the right place?” Richard asked. “Because many people will say anything if that benefits them and disgrace someone they don’t like.”
Clare narrowed her eyes faintly, but Colin saved her from answering.
“What did she do, Clare?” He asked softly.
This time, she did turn her head to him and met his dark eyes. They held the whole universe, just as always, but the young woman could also see the absolute certainty and trust he had placed in her. It might be nothing for anyone else, but to her it was monumental.
Knowing that she was deceiving them all, most importantly him, was starting to slowly weigh her down.
“Given some of your reactions, I’m sure that you are aware that Miss Wood is a well-known philanthropist here in this town, with good connections in London as well. She’s most famous for all the help she’s been giving to several charities, especially in the post-war effort. A great chunk of her fortune went into the reconstruction tasks that are still being carried out to this day.”
“Is that her criminal offence?” Lloyd clicked his tongue. “We’re wasting time, here.”
Clare tried not to react, but her heart started pounding angrily in her chest. “For the past two years, Miss Wood has been diverting most funds to replenish her accounts.” She said, slowly turning her head so that she could look Lloyd right in the eye. “I believe this is fraudulent enough.”
When he simply gulped and did not replied, the young woman proceeded – only her voice and the sound of the chalk against the board actually filled the silence.
“The money was supposed to go to orphanages and shelters. Instead, it went all the way to her own pockets. Millions of it.” She continued.
“So it could be revenge here too.” Colin said.
She nodded. “Yes.”
They held each other’s gazes when she turned to glance down at him, and the tension was palpable – not only between them, but everywhere else in the room.
“That’s some impressive reporting, Miss Hampshire.”
Clare’s head swivelled to Richard, who was looking at her with slightly warmer eyes. He gave her a faint but present nod, and she could not help but feel proud. The pleasant feeling in her chest only expanded at the sight of Paul’s dejected face – all in all, she was very satisfied by that turn of event.
“Thank you, Sir.” She replied quietly.
Colin tapped the tip of his fingers on the table before speaking. “Is there any element that would link the two in any sort of connection?”
Clare knew what the underlying question was: are they both in the Serpent Society? Were they both targeted by the same person?
“I can’t say that. They both meddled with the wrong side of the law, so I suppose that it is possible that they met associates that they have in common. The town is big, but eventually we’re not all crooks.”
“Let’s hope.” Colin sighed, running a tired hand through his hair.
Seeing him like that made her feel a little bad for lying to him.
“What we know now is that it is very likely that the victims were killed out of vengeance.”
“Maybe they’ve wronged the same people?” Kit offered. “For example, Alfred Hughes abused a woman who then had to rely on shelters to survive, but those shut down because the money that was supposed to go there was transferred to Viola Wood instead?”
“It’s possible.” Clare sat back down and took some notes.
“But also completely hypothetical.” Colin added.
She almost smiled at the idea that he did not want to entertain a hypothesis too far, when he was the one who was secretly-not-so-secretly convinced that the Serpent Society was behind the whole thing just from seeing a snake.
In their case, it was bad luck that he had scored on the first try, though.
“I don’t think we should consider that they were killed by the same people for now.” Clare stated.
Colin narrowed his eyes at her. “Even if they were both killed in the same way, apparently both to get revenge?”
“We have no proof that one group or individual is behind the crime.” She shook her head, holding his gaze. “It would be a harsh decision to discard everything else to the benefit of one hypothesis we don’t have even a little bit of evidence to back.”
He sighed, and she knew that they were talking about the exact same thing.
“So we’ll have to interrogate more people, then?” Kit suggested.
“Yes.” Clare nodded. “In the case of Alfred Hughes, I would propose to perhaps listen to the victims who are willing to testify. This will be delicate, so we should make sure that they are treated in a better way than what has happened in the past. As for Viola Wood, I’d suggest questioning her business partners and perhaps even her family members, even some people from London. Surely someone who is willing to divert money must do it with a bigger goal in mind, and she’s probably not the only person she was willing to enrich.”
“Good point, Miss Hampshire.” Richard agreed with a nod.
Again, the young woman did not know what brought the most satisfaction: having her boss praise her or pissing the hell out of Paul Edwards.
Both felt good, in any case.
At the door, a knock came interrupting the slow conversation that was rising into the room, and Richard called for them to enter – Kenneth appeared, and Clare did her best not to scowl at his rat face and creepy eyes.
“Yes?” Dick asked, sounding displeased at the fact that he was being interrupted.
As if all he was doing was not just sitting around and occasional nod.
“My apologies, Sir.” Kenneth Smith stammered, clearly uncomfortable. “Mayor Parson is here.”
The Chief Superintendent froze. Next to Clare, who frowned, Colin sat up in surprise. This, given all the signs, had not been planned.
“I’m sorry?” Richard asked very carefully.
“Mayor Parson is here, and he would like to get the latest news on your investigation.” Kenneth replied, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but in this place at that moment.
For the first time ever, Clare almost felt bad for him. It was not much, but it was a first nonetheless.
From the sound that came out of Chief Superintendent Bradford’s mouth, it seemed like he was muffling swearwords under his breath. But he still nodded and waved his hand, as if this was nothing.
“Let him in.” He turned his head towards the table. “Everyone, please welcome Mayor Parson.”
The man who was leading their town entered seconds later. Mayor Parson was a tall man with an honourable head of bushy white hair, with a beard to match. His clear blue eyes were particularly stunning in the bright overhead lights, and he was dressed in an elegant coat, open on a suit that probably cost more than a few inspectors’ salaries put together.
His face was familiar to everyone, even if some had not met him officially, nor had been introduced within the police station. But his well-known eyes, the shape of his crooked nose and his easy, simple smile was a sight they were all used to, one way or another.
“Mayor Parson, welcome.” Richard was on his feet first, already striding to shake the politician’s hand.
“Good day, good day.” He replied. “My apologies for coming today unannounced.”
“Not at all, Sir.” The Chief Superintendent shook his head.
As the rest of the inspectors got up, Clare caught sight of Kit elbowing Colin in the ribs with a grin.
“Hard to see your dad bow before anyone else, isn’t it?” He snickered.
Colin sighed. “Shut up, McGill.”
“Look, no one’s making fun of the situation in your face, you might as well count on your best friend for it.”
When he spotted Clare watching them, Kit winked at her, and she felt her lips tremble with a smile in response.
It seemed like he was the type of man who could totally change the mood in a room, all on his own.
“Please, Sir, let me introduce you to the team of inspectors who are working on this complex case.” Richard said, turning towards his employees.
As the two men started making the round of introductions and small talk – the joy – Clare turned towards Colin. The young man looked tense, if not unhappy. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his lips were pressed in a thin white line.
She could not quite tell if he was pissed at the interruption, or if it was something else.
“Do you think the mayor knows about Alfred Hughes’ deed?” She whispered when he paid attention to her.
The young man sighed faintly before leaning closer to her. The sensation of his heat surrounding her, of his breath on her hair tickling the shell of her ear was uncanny, and she almost lost focus for a beat.
“I don’t know. To be honest, I’d be surprised if he didn’t know.”
She tilted her head up and their eyes met. They were too close for a professional setting, but the intensity in his gaze almost made her forget her duties and responsibilities. Eventually, though, she shook her head, bringing her mind back to its senses – as much as possible – and frowned faintly as she watched Major Parson shake hands with the inspectors.
“Don’t look so disheartened.” Colin whispered to her. “He’s going to think something is up.”
“Something is up.” She reminded him.
He chuckled faintly, but the sound was devoid of humour. “I know, Clare. Believe me, I know.”
She almost shuddered, and Kit gave them a quick, confused look – he probably felt like he was being ignored and discarded from their hushed confidences.
“And here is Miss Hampshire.” Richard said as they came closer.
“Ah!” The Mayor smiled when he met Clare’s eyes.
There was a strange glimmer in his eyes, but the young woman tried not to pay too much attention to it, instead wondering if her palms were sweating, or if she looked somehow suspicious.
“Is she another clerk, then?” He asked, shaking her hand with strength – their palms remained against one another for a moment too long.
And that she noticed; an uncomfortable lump formed in her throat at the sensation.
“She…” Dick looked embarrassed, just then.
“She’s an inspector, Sir.” Colin intervened, with a polite smile that he had learned from years of practicing public bullshitting.
Clare knew because she had somehow gone to the same school, even if they had not known each other at the time and lived on different continents.
Some things were apparently universal indeed.
Mayor Parson looked at Clare with renewed interest, then. “Interesting.” He turned his head towards Colin next, and the young woman felt her heart drop in her chest. “And you are?”
“Inspector Bradford, Sir.” He shook his head. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.” The mayor hummed, a look of understanding passing onto his face.
Clare did not like that look; but as he moved onto Kit, he did not look back towards her.
“That was awkward.” Colin whispered.
The young woman agreed. “Yes.”
They watched on, until the young woman realised that she was now alone. When she looked at her side, Colin had walked away. He was now standing by the board that had been filled with Marlene’s neat and precise handwriting – it was always a pleasure to read her.
The young man was half-turned away from her, but she could still see and study his profile with attention – there was just something about him, was there not?
It was hard not to look at Colin Bradford when he was in the room.
When he looked thoughtful as was the case presently, the young man was dreamy, to say the least. His tall frame was standing straight, his glasses casting gentle shadows down on his elegant and chiselled face – some had been luckier than others at the genetics lottery, and Colin was one of those.
His strong arms and back were on display as he stood there with his arms crossed, watching the writing on the board – he had left his jacket on the back of his seat, and now remained in his shirt and vest, his tie still neatly knotted at his throat.
Even if Clare did not harbour the kind of childish crush that she sometimes felt women experienced at the sight of him, she could have looked at this man for hours on end without getting even remotely bored.
The spectacle of him with his sleeves rolled up and his intense look was just too good to pass up, in a way.
And yet, it was not so much that that kept the young woman looking. No, rather, it was the look on his face. The frown, the slight scowl, the intensity in his eyes, which she could see even without having him looking back at her.
He was still trying to make sense of the puzzle – she had not quite managed to convince him that there was no proof of a correlation between the Hughes and Wood cases. To him, it was very clearly still something the Serpent Society had orchestrated.
She could not blame him, truthfully.
What she did, however, was still blame indeed.
She blamed herself.