Chapter 2
15, July, 2014
"Would you be a darling and make me one too Emerson?" Asked Riley as she walked in the incident room. It was black over Bill's mother. And it was cold, she could barely feel her fingertips. So much for being summer, she thought. When she walked in with Mansell, boss and Skip were nowhere to be found and Emerson who was on CCTV duty was standing by the window beside the small kitchenette sipping his tea with his back to them. The only sound was coming from downstairs, people walking around, rustling papers and calling someone for something. By the time she dropped her bag on her desk, she realized the younger man hadn't given any reaction. She turned to look at Mansell but soon it turned into a warning look as she saw him rolling a ball of paper in his hand. She shook her head slowly but Mansell's smirk only widened as he throw it at the younger man from behind. The chunk of paper hit the younger man in the head and he turned around startled, almost dropping his mug. They were expecting some sort of snarky comment but Kent just blinked at them blankly few times like someone who's been just asleep. "What ar..." He started but trailed off.
"You alright mate?" Mansell asked confused by the younger man's behaviour. Despite them having made things right between them, neither of them would ever lose a good chance for some good banter. Kent though, just took a deep breath before looking at them like nothing happened. "Yeah of course." He smiled but Riley didn't miss how unreal it felt. One of the things about Kent that they all agreed on was that the younger man wore his feelings on his sleeves. " Just thinking. Tea? You said?" He asked Riley and she nodded. Before going to the kettle. She shot Mansell a knowing look but the other man just shrugged. "You found anything?" Asked Riley as she handed her a mug.
"Nah, his timing checks. " He sat down on his chair just an arm away from Riley's desk. "Anything on your end?"
"That's yet to be decided actually," she answered before humming appreciatively sipping her tea. Mansell who was going through the witness statements raised his head slightly, "I wouldn't bet on that though, by the looks of it." He sounded as frustrated as the felt.
Riley nodded." I've got a handful receipts and credit card warnings here though fingers crossed something will be there." She eyed the thick file on her desk, definitely not looking forward to it.
"I'm done with CCTV, at least till they're back." He nodded toward Chandler's and Miles's desks." you want a hand with those?" Emerson offered.
"You wouldn't mind?" Meg asked relieved, reminding herself to buy him a drink next time they went to pub.
"I've got nothing better to do." He shrugged and reached forward, picking half of her work load of her desk. By the time Miles and Chandler returned from the meeting with the higher-ups, the DCs were almost finished, so was their shift.
"What do we got?" Said Chandler his tone still clipped. But his frustration not aimed at them. Miles just looked very tired in general but didn't say anything. Neither did the others.
"Nicolson's alibi checks." Kent started as the DI started to open his mouth to ask again. Kent turned his monitor slightly so Chandler could see it. Then he played the footage and paused it where he wanted. "Here, from 21:08 to 22:30. He's just sat in the restaurant with his boyfriend." He started and clicked on the part he wanted before stopping again. " They took the tube on 22:45 from there and got off a block away from his place half an hour later. I checked the transport timetables. The timings checked. " He said and played them another part where two guys where leaving the station. He finished looking down apologetically as if it was his fault that their suspect was cleared. Riley almost felt sorry for him.
"Witnesses hadn't got much either," Mansell started. " But I got some contact information for some of his old roommates. Apparently Hank had moved out three months ago one of them picked up, she's out of town. Had been for the entire week. I left the other two a message. Nothing yet" He finished.
"Right." Chandler whispered. "Riley?" He asked louder.
"Kent and I have been cross referencing all his recent receipts but nothing valuable there yet sir. " She said, looking sideways at Emerson.
"So nothing?" Chandler said frustrated, staring at the almost blank board.
"Maybe we should call it a night, sir." Miles suggested. "There isn't much more we can do now, is it?"
"I suppose you're right." Chandler ran a hand through his neatly combed hair. Then he turned to address the room. "Go home, come back tomorrow refreshed. "
"Yes sir." They all mumbled as the man turned to go to his office.
"I say we go drink this day away." Mansell said. "Meg? " He looked her way while she was putting her coat on.
"Nah, gotta get home before their nanny leaves, or God knows what crime scene i have to deal with." She added fondly.
"I'll pass too, Judy's having guests over tonight." Miles said checking his wrist watch, "and I'm already late. Night!" He said hurriedly before going to let Chandler know he was leaving. Soon he was gone. Riley too, quickly wishing them a good night and leaving.
"Kent?" Mansell looked at him hopefully." We can call Erica to join us as well." He said.
"I would." Emerson started absent mindedly tidying up the paperwork on his desk. "I think I'll just call it a night actually." He stood up and paused for a second, his hand slightly circling a spot near his neck on top of his shirt before he dropped it." But hey..." He got Mansell's attention," how about tomorrow night? My place? We can have dinner or something?" He asked.
Mansell eyed him like ha had grown horns or something. They were okay but he had never had them over for a meal and if he was honest he wasn't sure how to respond. But he was certain Erica would have been elated. She really wanted the two of them to be okay and if Kent was going to try he wouldn't object, he was just surprised. "Sure, sounds fun. As long as we don't end up in A&E for food poisoning." He grinned and Kent smiled briefly at the joke.
"I'll call Erica later then. " The younger man said picking up his coat. They both walked out together, the older man soon was driving away while the other watched. That was one task from his list done then. Kent wasn't sure why but he didn't feel like riding his vespa that night. So he just walked out of the parking space behind the station to the quiet night, his fingers playing with the familiar weight around his neck.