by Hsu-Lyn Yap
Ray breezed into the office, leaving a trail of rain water behind him. The wet trail led all the way from the doors, weaving around the desks to end at his, puddling under the coat rack.
"Did you get caught in the rain?"
"No, Elaine. I just decided to take a shower with all my clothes on." He raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Any more brilliant observations?"
"Yes," Elaine gave a sly smile. "This came with your mail this morning." She held out a light pink envelope. "From the colour of the envelope, the stiffness and the thickness, I would say that it is a card. From the date, I would say further that it is a Valentine's Day card. And from the postmark, I'd say that it was posted in Chicago."
"Gimme that." He snatched the card from her, trying to ignore her grin. "You have been hanging around Fraser for too long."
"I wish." Her eyes grew dreamy, but she still stood by his desk.
"Don't you have anything to do?" he paused in the act of slitting the envelope.
Her grin turned cunning. "No, Ray. I'm as curious as you are to see who the card is from."
"This has nothing to do with you!" he glared at her, but she merely grinned back at him. He had never known how disturbing Elaine's presence could be, until then.
He gave a mental shrug and slit the envelope. Well, let her stay if she wanted to so badly! He removed the card. Elaine was right. It was a Valentine's Day card. He opened it curiously. It was addressed to him, 'Ray', in a firm, but unfamiliar hand. He scanned the bottom, trying to see who it was from.
"Damn! It's one of those secret admirer things! I hate it when they do that!" Ray threw the card down on the desk.
"Hmm... secret admirer?" Elaine picked the card up and read it through. "It just says 'An Admirer', Ray."
"Well, there's no name, right? That makes it secret, right?" Ray frowned. "I bet this is a trick. I'm going to find out who sent it to me."
"Aw, Ray. It's just a Valentine's Day card. I think it's rather sweet." Elaine returned the card to him.
"You, would, Elaine." Ray rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I know what I'll do. I'll get this down to Forensics for fingerprinting."
"Ray, don't you think you are over-reacting a little?" Elaine looked incredulous. "It's only a card. It's not like it's offensive or anything. I wish I had a secret Valentine."
"I don't like secrets, Elaine." Ray returned the card to it's envelope. "And Fraser will send you a Valentine in your dreams. So, dream if you want to, but I need the information on these license plates by this afternoon." He handed her a list of numbers.
Elaine took the piece of card and sighed. "Not exactly the card I had in mind for today!"
******
"The card was clean. Can you beat that?" Ray paused by Elaine's desk. "They found only two sets of prints on it. Yours and mine. The two most recent prints. There were no others, inside or outside. And there's no use trying to test the envelope."
"You are so paranoid, Ray." Elaine looked up from her computer screen.
"I still think it's a trick." He said stubbornly.
"It's a Valentine, Ray. Today's Valentine's Day. Why do you have to take it so seriously?!"
"Because, if someone sent me a card, they should at least tell me who its from."
"But what if they don't have the guts to? Sometimes, it's not easy to tell a person that you like them." Elaine was being logical.
"Even then...." he scowled, though there was nothing else he could say in the face of that logic. "I'm going to find out who sent this."
Elaine merely shook her head. "You are just so paranoid, Ray!"
**************************
"Constable Fraser's having a meeting with Constable Turnbull." Jasmine, the pretty Consulate receptionist told him, and motioned to the waiting area. "If you would like to wait there, I will let him know that you are here."
Ray nodded and sat in the chair, idly flipping through a magazine. His mind was not on the subject-matter of 'The State of the Canadian Economy', however. He was too busy pondering the mysterious card.....again. It was even a mystery why it had affected him the way it had!
He had spent the morning contemplating the women he knew, and had come to the conclusion that it was no one from the Precinct office. Call it a hunch, but that was what his gut feeling told him. It had come to the point that he was beginning to suspect anyone he knew, no matter how vaguely! Elaine was right. He was starting to get paranoid.
Jasmine....he glanced over at her. He knew Jasmine, didn't he? Was she....? What if......?
"Ray?" Fraser called for the fourth time, wondering what was wrong with his
friend.
"Sorry." Ray snapped back to attention.
"There was a message for you earlier." Jasmine handed Fraser a piece of paper as he passed by her table.
Ray glanced at the writing. It was small and neat, just like Jasmine. But it was not the writing on the card. So, it was not Jasmine after all. Strangely, he felt relieved.
"You got those too, I see." Ray glanced over at the pile of envelopes on Fraser's desk, ranging from light pink to bright red.
Fraser looked a little embarrassed. "That came with the afternoon mail. I have cleared my desk of the ones that came this morning."
"Any secret admirers?"
"No. They all made it quite clear who they were. I must say that some of them were rather......detailed." Fraser was a little red.
"I got one of those 'secret admirer' stuff this morning." Ray decided not to pursue the matter of Fraser's 'rather detailed' cards. "I've been wondering who it is."
"You had it fingerprinted?" Fraser looked a little incredulous as he looked at the card Ray handed to him.
Ray shrugged. "One of the benefits of being a cop. I thought it would help. But they said it was clean. The only fresh prints are mine and Elaine's. She was there when I opened it." He explained.
"Have you found out who it is?"
Ray shook his head. "No. I think it's someone I know pretty well, though. Just a hunch."
"If so, why should they send it to the Precinct instead of your house?" Fraser was ever-logical.
"To throw me off?" Ray suggested. "I told you, it's just a......."
"Fraser. I was going to talk to you about......." Inspector Thatcher entered the office after a brief knock that neither man heard.
"Detective Vecchio?" she paused.
Ray looked over at 'The Dragon Lady'. He knew her as well. She might not be one of his favourite people, but could she....? The thought was terrifying!
"Ray?" Fraser looked curiously at his stunned friend.
"Is he all right?" Thatcher slid a look over at Fraser who simply nodded.
"He was a moment ago!"
"I have here a rough draft of the speech that was faxed over to me this morning. I have attached a memo as to what you have to do about it." She handed a sheaf of papers over to Fraser. On top of the fax sheets was a yellow legal-sized sheet of paper with writing on it.
Ray glanced over at the top-sheet. The writing was firm and legible, but slightly scribbly, which was not the impression the Inspector gave at all. It did not match the writing in the card. Ray began breathing again.
***********************
"You are so paranoid, Ray." Fraser shook his head.
"I'm not, Benny. I'm just trying to solve a mystery." Ray denied.
"Even where there is none?"
"But there is! Someone sent me a card this morning, and did not put their name, and I want to know who it is!"
"What if you find out, Ray? What then?"
Ray shrugged. "I'll consider that when I find out. I've been thinking about who it could be, but no one seems to fit. Nobody's handwriting matches at all."
"Are you sure it isn't someone at the Precinct, Ray? By sending it there, they would be able to see your reaction to it. Whereas, if it had been sent to your house, they wouldn't." Fraser said thoughtfully. "Who was there when you got it?"
"Only Elaine." Ray paused at a traffic light.
"Could it be........"
"Elaine?" Ray interrupted with a laugh. "You know how she is around me, and you know how she is around you. Now, tell me. Who do you think she is more likely to send a card to?"
"Ray, when you discount all the possibilities, whatever that is left, no matter how improbable, has to be the answer."
"But Elaine?" Ray looked incredulous. "That's so........"
"She did not send me a card, Ray." Fraser interrupted.
"She didn't?" Ray flashed him a look of surprise.
Elaine? But it was impossible! His conversation with her that morning ran through his mind again. One of her statements leapt out at him.* But what if they don't have the guts to? Sometimes, it's not easy to tell a person that you like them.* He had thought that she had been referring to Fraser. Had she been talking about herself, or had it just been a general statement? It was open to interpretation.
And yet, Ray could not remember ever seeing her handwriting. She was always handing him computer print-outs, spread sheets, information, pictures......but he could not recall her handwriting. He had taken her so much for granted, and considered her one of 'the boys' that he had discounted her almost automatically from the outset. And now, Fraser was suggesting that .......?
******
"Elaine!"
"The information you asked for is on your desk, Ray." Elaine was pulling on her jacket. "One of them is untraceable, two are out of the state, and the out of the five remaining ones, two are in prison serving time for burglary. Oh! Hello, Fraser."
"Thanks for the card, Elaine." Ray paused by her desk in an almost nonchalant gesture.
"You're welcome. I ran the numbers through the comp.....did you say 'card', Ray?" Elaine's movements were arrested as she looked up from covering the computer. She coloured slightly. "How did you guess?"
*So, it WAS Elaine! Fraser was right.* Ray shrugged and grinned. "Logic, and a hunch. You did a good job of the fingerprints though. How did you guess I would have it fingerprinted?"
"That's because you are paranoid, Ray." She smiled.
"Why, thank you, Elaine. It's nice to know that there are some things you can actually tell me." Ray's grin softened the sharp words. It was exactly what they both expected him to say.
"Good night, Elaine." That was unexpected.
"Is that all, Ray?" Fraser looked a little confused after Elaine had left. She had not looked happy.
Ray grinned. "What did you think, Benny?"
"Well, Ray, I don't profess to be an expert, but I would have thought that you would have said something.......more."
"Than just 'Good night'?" Ray sat back in his chair, still grinning.
"Well yes, Ray!"
Ray shrugged, then laughed. "I will, Benny. Just not yet. I'm just letting her stew a little. After all, she did call me paranoid!"
"Ray," Fraser shook his head. "You make no sense."
Ray simply ignored him and picked up the sheaf of papers Elaine had left on his desk. It was all the information he had asked for, and....he began to laugh. Instead of the standard computer print-out, every single bit of information on the papers had been written out in the legible, firm, by now very familiar hand.
THE END
Hsu-Lyn Yap
(copyright 1997
9 February 1997