Case Closed

• Seven •

This time, Lucy was not running through London alone. The Prof's long strides, though hard to keep pace with, prevented either of them from slowing, meaning they arrived at the hospital only 15 minutes after leaving his apartment. Once again, it took another ten minutes - an a couple of infuriated Potty Prof episodes - before they located the same ward that Lucy had visited only that morning.

Waking up as they entered, Florence looked even worse to Lucy than she had before. Alfendi, apparently painfully aware of this, stopped dead in the doorway.

"Hey, Al. Nice to see you... out." Her voice was so quiet that they could have chosen to ignore it. He stepped forward and awkwardly placed a hand on the bed. Lucy could barely stand the tension in the room. "I'll, um, give you two some time. In the cafe if you... need me." Her last sentence was cut off by the fact that she was already half-way down the corridor.

The hospital cafe was a subdued little room full of sparkling-clean tables and chairs. It was occupied only by an old couple who seemed to be staring blankly into their cups of tea, and a pair of unruly young children with their mother, who looked as if she hadn't slept for days.

Lucy sat in the furthest corner from the door, which had a view of one of the main hospital corridors below it. After ordering a coffee - it had been a long day - she watched each person walking by, wondering what their story was. A bald man who was in a hurry must have been visiting someone he'd rather not see, whereas a younger couple in tears carried an empty travel cot. Maybe a Hospital was not the best place to use one's imagination, she decided. Instead, she picked up the local newspaper and read the biggest headline.

Baffling Murder at Local Prison Being Investigated by Top Detectives

This caught her attention immediately. Before she could read past the first line however, she saw something outside in the corner of her eye.

"Prof?" she called out. The older couple in the cafe looked over at her. She mumbled, "Sorry," before bolting out the door and down the hospital corridor. Again, she had seen the obscure but obvious flash of red that was the exact shade of Alfendi's hair.

Peering round corners, she followed the flash at a distance, but never caught enough of it to determine its source. Every time she saw it, the owner of the body had already disappeared down the next hallway. Lucy became more and more frustrated with herself as the 'chase' continued. Top detective? She couldn't even see the crim- Prof, let alone apprehend him. After all, she was... 85.8% that was who it was. Who else could it have been- not many people had bright red hair, even in London.

A minute passed, another and another. Had it been 10 minutes, or hours since she had started the chase? All sense of time had left her while she followed the Prof down corridor after corridor after corridor. They had descended 5 floors - logically, they should have been in the basement. Sure enough, signs changed from Radiography and MRI Scanning to Medical Equipment 1 and Storage as they continued down. Eventually, they came to the bottommost floor. Only one corridor with two doors off it led from the stairs. The Prof sidled down the left side of the corridor and slipped through the door, vanishing from Lucy's view. His sudden disappearance snapped her back to her senses. She promptly turned on her heel and almost ran back to Florence's ward to tell her about the Prof's strange behaviour. Her mind whirred faster the closer she got, until, upon opening the door, it exploded. The Prof was sitting on the edge of Florence's bed, exactly where she had left him.

"Pr-," she began.

He almost growled back at her, "Lucy..."

"But- but you were there and then you were 'ere and how did you do it?"

Florence's pale face screwed up in a frown. "What are you talking about? Al's been here the whole time."

"Then who did I follow-."

"You were following people? Honestly Lucy, I thought better of you!"

"No- it wasn't like that!" She was distraught. "You swear you've been here the whole time Prof?"

Placid Prof was staring straight at the wall. "Wh- what?" He turned to face them. "I've... I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow Lucy."

The way he held himself- his tense shoulders and on-edge face. There was something he was trying to hide. And Lucy could bet it was related to that obscure red case file.