The Doctor

It sounded like an excuse and, when he dithered about so, she was certain that it was. He had come for information, all right, but not about the victim.

"Why did you really want to see me?" When no answer was forthcoming, she knew. "If he hasn't told you, I'm not going to tell you, either."

"But he has told me. At least, as much as he remembers. He says his memory might not be too good on account of all the champagne. He was concerned that he might have done something you perceived as . . . erm, ungentlemanly and that his attentions might have been unwelcome."

"Oh, did I give him that impression?"

"He wasn't too clear. But he's anxious about it."

She was frustrated by his intentional euphemisms. It certainly seemed as if he was in on what had happened. She decided the best way to learn what he knew was to be frank about her lack of recollection, and beg him as a friend to fill in the blanks of her memory of the evening.

"Look. I'll be perfectly candid with you. I woke up this morning and found myself naked with him in my bed, also probably naked. I don't have the slightest idea how that happened or what we did last night. I can only identify what I'm quite certain did not happen, thankfully, but that still leaves a lot that can't be ruled out."

She was not pleased by his look of grim amusement, and persisted: "What did he tell you about what happened?"

He twisted a smile. "He remembers as much--or I should say, as little--as you do. And he's worried about the used condom in your bathroom."

With the advantage of being in a forensic lab, she had already run a DNA test on it, and satisfied herself that, regardless of who had been inside it, it had not been inside her. "That had nothing to do with me, I can tell him that much. If he'll give me a swab, I can tell him if it had anything to do with him, too."

"I think he might appreciate that. Any other clues he might have missed?"

She shook her head. "About the only activity that I can confidently rule out is actually, erm . . . ringing the bell." He smothered his laughter at her metaphor.

Maybe if they put their heads together, they could reconstruct more of the evening. Most likely, they had both just fallen into the nearest bed and felt familiar enough with each other to have no inhibitions about getting comfortable.

But when she reflected on this to the sergeant, he smiled gently. "You're probably right about that. Funny, though. You both thought it was entirely possible you'd engaged in much more than that. Why do you think that would be?"

The answer, which she kept to herself, made her both happy and, upon reflection, a little sad.