I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 190 : This is no incident

Being a policeman was rarely a quiet river but there was some days  were even the most passionate officer would find it difficult to cope.  Greg had had his share of bad days and gloomy cases but what he had  learned throughout his years was that it wasn't always the cases that  appeared as the most grimiest crimes that were proving to be the most  distressing ones.

Scotland Yard being short on detective staff,  as usual, Lestrade had been asked to take the deposition of an elderly  man that had come to the station earlier in the morning, escorted by his  daughter. The two of them were looking rather worried but what struck  Gregory the most was the melancholia and sadness in the old man's eyes.  With a comforting smile he escorted the two of them to an interview room  on the second floor of the building and invited them to make themselves  comfortable whilst he was getting them all some tea. For whatever  reason, the detective had the feeling that what he was going to hear  about was not going to be something he was going to enjoy.

He  came back to the room a couple of minutes later carrying three cups of  tea and some sugar bags and sat down on one of the armchairs. The Yard  had two type of interview rooms, the classic one composed of a table and  some plastic chairs and the comfortable ones with armchairs and coffee  tables. There was no official rules to whom was to use which but an  unspoken habit was to use the first one for the suspects and the second  ne for the victims as much as possible.

The three of them stayed  silent for a minute, sipping their tea and observing one another as to  gauge each other. The inspector quickly glanced at the daughter, finding  her to be a very common middle-aged Londoner, most probably someone who  had achieved quite a good grade and who was now working as a business  advisor or a human resources manager somewhere in the capital. The  father, however, was much more interesting. Something in his posture  and way of maintaining himself remind to the policeman of the late uncle  Rudy. Despite his age - Greg would have guessed the man to be well over seventy - he was sitting quite stiffly and his hands were elegantly crossed on his lap. Although,  his clothes were telling a very different story. He was wearing a  checked, long-sleeved, red shirt made of heavy fabric like the ones  farmer would wear outside and brown, ribbed-velveted, trousers with  black trainer-like shoes, a much more working class outfit that his  posture would suggest. As he glanced a better look, the detective was  able to distinct the traces of bruises and cuts on the man's face,  concealed behind a thick layer of foundation.

"My name is Gregory Lestrade, I'm a detective for Scotland Yard and I'm here to help you." the man introduced himself in a soft and warm voice. "Maybe you could start by explaining to me what brought you to the station this morning or tell me a little bit about yourself or do you prefer I ask questions to help you out explaining ?"

"My name is Dean Melley and this is Iris." the old man started in a shaky voice. "She  made me come here this morning because she believes what happened is  important enough to be of police concern but I'm not really sure about  it."

"My dad is victim of domestic abuses by my mum." Iris Melley explained, knowing that her father would never name it straight forwardly.

"I couldn't help but notice that you have some bruises on the face. Isn't because of your wife ?" the policeman wondered carefully.

"Is it that visible ?" the old man questioned, slightly panicked that someone could see it.

"No, no, don't worry. Only I'm a police officer so seeing things that are well hidden is more or less my job." Greg tried to reassure him with a smile. "Would you tell me more about what your wife would do to you ?"

"Most of it was mental, so she'd be shouting at me or complaining about me." Dean Melley explained, not making eye contact with anyone in order not to start crying. " She is quite controlling, she likes to be the boss. Mave is the kind of person who like to have the upper hand on others, and she doesn't like to be proven wrong."