The Closed File  The Closed File by Hsu-Lyn Yap (humour) This is a take
on a line in Elyse Dickenson's story "A Day in the Life at the 27th
Precinct" (BTW, love'd it, Elyse! :) where Lt. Welsh bemoans the fact that
everytime Dt. Vecchio and the mountie get together to solve a case,
something out of the ordinary happens or trouble follows. I don't know why
I keep taking leaves out of other's stories, but I blame it on exam
revision and Tax law! Hope no one minds! :) Disclaimer: The usual
disclaimer applies. All errors are my own. All comments and criticisms
welcome at llyjhly@ccn4.nott.ac.uk The Closed File ---------------- Lt.
Welsh paused in his second reading of the report before him. His brow
furrowed as he noted the lack of spelling errors and mistakes in the sheet
of paper on the table. The neatness of the document meant that only one
person could have typed it. A quick glance at the top of the page
confirmed his suspicions as the one name leapt out at him. "Vecchio!" All
the heads in the squad room swivelled round to look at Detective Vecchio
at his desk in the corner. This was getting to be a common occurrance, but
no less entertaining. He raised his head slowly to look over the pile of
cases on his desk, meeting the looks of 15 pairs of eyes and that of Lt.
Welsh. With an audible sigh, he threw down his pen and got up, glaring
sourly at the interested audience. "Sir?" Ray entered the lieutenant's
office and closed the door. "I was just reading your report on the robbery
at the goldsmith's" Lt. Welsh tapped the said report on his desk. "It says
here that you apprehended the suspects with the assistance of your mountie
friend?" Ray nodded cautiously. "Yes, sir. I was at the consulate when the
call came through, sir." "And what were you doing there?" Ray shifted
uneasily on his feet. "I'd rather not say, sir." Lt. Welsh simply sat back
in his chair and waited, a look of infinite patience on his face. A look
that said that he could wait all day if he had to. Ray sighed and rolled
his eyes resignedly. "I had to deliver a sick wolf, sir." "A sick wolf?"
Lt. Welsh raised an eyebrow enquiringly. "Yes, sir. Indigestion. He had
one too many jelly doughnuts." "I see. And so, you were at the consulate
when the call came through, and your mountie friend just decided to join
you on the chase." "No, sir."Ray sighed. This was worse than he had
expected. "He had come off his shift and I had just pulled up when the
call came. I did not have time to get the wolf out of the car and so..."
"So, he joined you." The lieutenant finished. "Yes, sir." Lt. Welsh gave
him a long look and Ray gave an embarrassed little shrug. "Is that all,
sir? I did not have to put that all into the report, did I?" "No, it's the
report I wanted to talk to you about. It says here you followed the
suspects to the old warehouse and apprehended them there. Is there
anything else you'd like to add?" Ray looked confused. "No, sir. It
happened exactly as I said it did." "And the Mountie was with you?" "Yes,
sir." "Are you saying that there were no terrorists involved, no psychics,
no psychos, no cross-dressing, no horse meat, no monkeys...and the mountie
was there?" The lieutenant looked disbelieving. "What about the wolf? Or
have I yet to receive a report about someone being bitten by one?" "The
wolf was sick, sir. He was in no condition to leave the car." Lt. Welsh
gave him another long appraising look. "So, Vecchio, you are saying that
this is a straight-forward case? You got the call, you followed the
suspects and you apprehended them in the warehouse. And the mountie," he
referred to the report. "The mountie apprehended a suspect who tried to
escape out the back door?" "Yes, sir." "And that was his only
contribution?" "Yes, sir." "Thank you, Detective. Oh, and Vecchio..." Ray
looked around a little apprehensively What now? "Tell Constable fraser
that his typing is impeccable as always. It makes a nice change to read a
neat report for once." "Yes, sir." Ray scowled. "Can I go now, sir?" Lt.
Welsh nodded absently, staring at the report again. It was the most normal
case report he had ever received from Detective Vecchio that involved the
Mountie. He was still not too sure how a mountie fit into the scheme of
things, but if this was any indication of things to come, he might be able
to forget all the other extraordinary cases they had solved. " Ray, about
the smugglers of exotic birds..." there was no mistaking the polite voice
of Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP, or the irritated reply of Detective Ray
Vecchio, Chicago PD. Lt. Welsh sighed as their conversation filtered in to
him. He knew it had to be too good to last. It would be just a matter of
time before another one of the neatly typed extraordinary case-reports
landed on his desk. Giving the present report one last longing look, he
closed the file. THE END   Return to the Due South Fiction Archive