Murdoch and the Chimney Sweep

5.

"What do you have for me Julia?" questions Detective Murdoch as he removes his brown hat from his head and walks down the white marble ramp towards the body. William Murdoch had travelled directly to the city's morgue as soon as he heard of a body being brought in.

"Ah Detective," Dr Ogden calls as she wipes her hands of blood on a towel and approaches the head of the deceased, "It seems that your victim is a Dr. Francis Grout with a serious puncture wound, it seems to have punctured through his lung and into his heart, killing him instantly" answers Dr Julia Ogden after removing the sheet to reveal the deceased Doctors face. Julia is a young woman with passion and devotion to the science and skill of pathology. She stands tall and proud of her profession with her long brown hair in a braid that flows over her left shoulder. She wears a long blue skirt with a white shirt tucked in and a plain brown belt.

"Is that all that you have?" questions an eager Murdoch as Julia covers the deceased face,

"Until I have done the post-mortem, that's all I'm afraid" she replies taking a step back from the deceased, "There is one thing that I find interesting" she speaks and walks over to a tray by the sink,

"And what's that?" questions William, taking a step towards her

"The murder weapon" she speaks picking up the arrow and spinning on her heels to face the Detective, "It's an arrow" she finishes and William takes the arrow out of her grasp to inspect it,

"Most likely shot from a crossbow I assume" he speaks looking from the sharp point down the wooden shaft and to the brown feather fletchings. Blood covers most of the wooden shaft, with only some spots on the fletchings. "Thankyou Julia" he speaks and with a nod leaves the city morgue and back to Station House No. 4.

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It had been a few days since Stephanie's last encounter with Constables Higgins and Crabtree. Tom seemed to be keeping out of trouble while Henry and Alexander continued to keep her smiling. A bell sounds somewhere as she looks in the direction of the oncoming horse and carriages. She stops abruptly as a man riding a bike zooms round the corner she stands on. His brown hat, jacket and pants, make him look like he should be in one of the carriages not on a bike. As he turns the corner he tips his hat towards Stephanie and she nods in return, his bike aiming in the direction of Station House No. 4. As he continues moving, Stephanie looks on, watching this man as he pulls up his bike and walks into the Station House. Shaking her head she looks for a gap in slow moving traffic and runs across the road. Continuing down the street someone joins her from behind and not long after she is joined on the other side by someone else. Further out of town she turns right and the two people following Stephanie catch up to her.

"Hey" calls Henry after catching up to walk beside Stephanie

"Hey" she replies and looks to her left to see Alexander walking silently beside her with a saddened look on his face. He looks up, "Is everything alright?" she questions him and he looks away, Stephanie looks at Henry for an answer.

"Do you want to tell her, or shall I?" he questions looking past Stephanie towards Alexander who continues to stay quiet and not breaking his gaze with the pavement. "Fine" Henry sighs, "I caught Alex-" he begins

"Cheating son of a-" begins Stephanie raising her voice

"It's not like that!" Alexander exclaims, quickly defending his relationship with his family. "I was watching Tom" he speaks lowering his voice,

"You what-?" she questions, "Leave it to the Constables" Stephanie sighs after a pause and looks at him,

"You haven't heard from the Constables, correct?" Henry questions and she turns her attention on him,

"You would be correct" she replies and the trio fall silent, "So you took matters into your own hands, correct?" she questions looking between the boys as they slow their pace and gather before the steps to their 'home'.

"Yes... Your taking this a lot better than I thought you would" speaks Alexander rubbing the back of his neck and shoots a smile towards her.

"People can surprise you, ya' know" she speaks putting on an accent from her home country and smiles at both boys. "So whats your plan?" she questions becoming serious again.

"Well, we hoped you could come up with something" speaks Henry shyly looking away from her harsh gaze.

"You are the brains of this operation" defends Alexander meeting her gaze with a stare of his own. "You are apart of this mess too ya' know" he finishes mocking her accent and Henry looks up with a small smile on his face.

"Alright, fine!" Stephanie exclaims, "You win, I concede" she finishes, "I'll think of a plan while we're on the rooftops" she speaks and looks back, past the roofs of the houses opposite them. "It's almost time, and you better tell me what he's done" she speaks sternly and gives them both a glare before walking inside the building that the children call 'home'.

Authors Note:

*Squeals* Stephanie met Murdoch with out knowing it. Yay! I'm so happy right now. I'll have another chapter next week.

Any and all suggestions are welcome for characters or cases you would like me to cover. Just leave a comment!

Thankyou for reading.