Virtual Reality (Sue Thomas FBEye / Murdoch Mysteries)

Virtual Reality - Chapter Five

Saturday, Sept 20th

After a restless night, Sue was glad to get up.

Weird dreams where Jack and Murdoch kept interchanging places had plagued her mind, and fiction had intermingled with reality.

The early morning walk with Levi chased the hazy mist in her brain. She caught herself holding her breath more than once when a lone jogger appeared from around the trees bordering the park. To her disappointment, none were Jack

"Well, Levi, I know it's Saturday, but I really need to check something at the Bureau." There was just so much digging she could do from her home laptop.

She wished for Tara's expertise, but without knowing if her friend had spent the night up, Sue hadn't dared call her at home.

Once at the Hoover Building, it surprised Sue to see Tara's car in the parking lot. Had Jack given her a ride?

On her way to the bullpen, Sue met a handful of agents. A few nodded, but most ignored her. Sue was startled to see Tara at her desk.

"Tara? What are you doing here?"

The computer expert smiled. "Work. What else? I don't have a love life, remember?"

Sue dropped her purse and coat on her chair. "Is Jack here?"

Coffee in hand, Tara stood up and walked to Sue's desk.

"No. We interrogated Sturge last night. During the spring, the professor started noticing that supplies disappeared from his lab. The quantities weren't alarming, so he let it slip. At the beginning of the school year, he did a full inventory and realised he'd underestimated the problem. He said he reported it. After that, I went home for the rest of the night. I figured I'd start fresh in the morning." With her head, Tara indicated her computer. "I've been accessing the internal memos of the college. So far, it seems Sturge took the appropriate steps- a bit late, mind you- and began to restrict access to his lab. I'm also checking to see which students had access to his lab during that time. Guess which name keep popping up?"

"Jenna Thorp?" Sue guessed and Tara nodded. "Did Jack tell you about our discussion with her sister?"

"Yes. Not the rosy family life the media portray, is it?"

"It may be worse." If what Sue found out added up, it might explain Jenna's nature. "The senator was in the navy and served aboard the USS Big Horn."

Upon hearing the name Tara's eyes widened- matching Sue's exact reaction.

"His destroyer entered the Persian Gulf in March 1986. In September 1986, a fire in the engine room forced his departure from the Gulf. According to one article I read, the crew of the Big Horn was relieved to finally leave the Middle East after being confined to the ship for six straight months."

Tara frowned. "Was does that have to do with Jenna?"

Sue sighed. "Jenna was born in March 1987."

"And... Oh!... No wonder father and daughter don't get along."

Sue turned her computer on.

"Jenna told her father her brown eyes would bring him down. I know it doesn't prove anything. He was an officer. It's possible he managed to take a few days off. I heard wives often meet their husbands in Europe or in a neutral country when they are deployed in the Middle East." Her screen came to life. "It's also possible that Jenna was premature or that her birth date was erroneously reported. I'm hoping to access her mother's medical file."