Endeavour: Motor

by Parakeetist

Summary:

Morse's new assistant, Cadet Robert Lewis, gets an odd case for his first major test. It goes off on some puzzling branches.

Endeavour: Motor

…….

Robert Lewis looked at the man on the ground. The man in question had been caught trying to steal a motorcycle. He’d picked a stupid target, namely, an attorney. He’d juiced the speed of the bike a little too much, so that it fell flat sideways, pinning the would-be crook right under it.
The attorney whose property he’d attempted to steal happened to be named Keith Garrett. Keith had just come out of the courthouse. He was in Oxford for one of the required visits of the year, a conference of an attorneys’ group. He was standing next to Robert Lewis, and next to Mr. Garrett, in turn, was Keith’s wife Joyce, nee Morse.
“I’ve called the ambulance,” Robert said to the young man who lay on the ground next to the motorcycle. “Can you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” the man said. He looked to be in his mid-20s.
“What is your name?”
“Pete Turner.”
“Mister Peter Turner, I am arresting you…” Lewis recited the rest of the formula. He could hear Mr. Garrett growling.
“Let’s step back now,” Joyce said. She gently tugged her husband’s arm. Together, they stepped back onto the curb.
“Glad he didn’t get away,” Keith said.
When Lewis was done with the recital, he picked up the bike, then activated the kickstand. He put Turner in cuffs. “Would you keep an eye on the bike, please?” he said to the Garretts. “Don’t move it. I’ll need some photos, and then it’ll be taken to the station for use as evidence. It should be let out by some time tomorrow. Awfully sorry about all this.”
“Thank you,” Keith said. “You did catch him quickly.”
“Appreciated.” Lewis used his walkie-talkie to call for an extra squad car, a tow truck, and an ambulance.
Lewis did a pat-down of the suspect. “Do you have any knives, explosives, guns, anything that could stick me or hurt me?” he asked Turner.
“No,” Peter said.
“What’s this?” Lewis said, pulling a bundle of papers out of the man’s inner coat pocket.
“Those are my orders to repossess the bike.”
“What in hell, man? I pay every bill right on time. I’m gainfully employed,” Keith said.
“I have orders,” Turner insisted.
“Who do you work for? What’s the name of the company and the owner?”
“The Shelton Corporation. Owned by Gerald Haffar.”
“Where are they located? What’s their number?”
Turner gave the information.
“All right, when the others get here, you’ll be booked in. You have the right to an attorney, and you have the right to remain silent, so I advise you to take advantage of those rights.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, here comes the ambulance. I advise you not to lie, or conceal anything, not even about the smallest thing. I’ve sent for another car, so the other officers can interview you. Now, I’ll take pictures for evidence, and then you can get going.”

…….

The tow truck took the motorcycle to the police station. Robert Lewis drove the Garrett couple to Castle Gate. When their interviews were done, Robert informed them they were free to go.
The Garretts walked down to the canteen and picked up drinks and snacks. Keith had a muffin with some orange juice. Joyce had a diet strawberry fizzy drink, plus a packet of mustard-flavored pretzels.
“I guess this ruined your day,” Joyce said. “How did the conference go, otherwise?”
“I learned a great deal. We’ve received word of new tiny cameras that can be hidden almost anywhere.”
“Are you allowed to use spy equipment to suss them out?”
“Ah, now there’s the girl I married,” Keith said with a smile. “Wants to know more than I do.”
“You say the funniest things.”
“Ah, we’re waiting for a government committee to make a report on whether spying on other spies with better stuff is legal.”
“Ah.”
Just then, someone Joyce knew very well walked into the canteen.
It was her brother.

…….

“Hey, Dev!” Joyce called out, with a wave.
Morse turned to face the two of them. He blinked, then smiled.
“Hello, you two,” he said. He grabbed his purchases, a sandwich and a bottle of root beer, and walked over to them.
“How’ve you been?” Joyce said. She kissed him on the cheek.
“Haven’t seen you since the wedding, Mr. Morse,” Keith said, and shook Endeavour’s hand.
“Eh, work always gets in the way.”
“That’s what you always tell me,” Joyce said, with a smile.
He stuck his tongue out at her.
Keith raised his eyebrow. “I have never seen you do anything like that before,” he said.
“I do have a sense of humor,” Morse said. “It’s stored somewhere. So, I heard about what happened. Pretty awful. Was that a new bike?”
“Almost fresh off the lot. Fortunately, the repairs shouldn’t cost very much.”
“They got the man, yes?”
“They did. Name was Peter Turner. Worked for the Shelton Corporation. Claimed to be repossessing the bike, which was nonsense, because I pay my bills.”
“Wait. Did you say the Shelton Corp?”
“I did.”
“We’ve been trying to get them since I was a detective constable.”
“Ah, a baby detective.”
Morse winced. Then he chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich. “They’ve been passing fake papers and pretty much stealing cars for years.”
“Yes. Right on the nose.”
“If nothing else, what happened to you will take someone very dangerous off the streets.”
“My wife?”
Joyce howled with laughter and slapped her husband on the shoulder.
“You’re not half kidding,” Morse said, provoking a sharp look from his sister.
“Tell you what. Since it’s the end of work anyway, why don’t you clock out, we’ll spend at time at your house, I’ll order in for a little something else, and you’ll tell me stories about how weird she was when you were growing up?” Keith said.
“I hate the both of you,” Joyce said, leaning over from the laughing.

…….

Later in the evening, when everyone had piled back to Morse’s house, everyone’s shoes were off, and legs propped on cushions, Joyce had her hand in a big bowl of popcorn. “Would you look at that,” she said, her eyes on the TV screen. “Batsman fell right over into the keeper.”
“How’s that scored?” Keith asked.
“I don’t think it is,” Morse said, watching as the umpire stepped closer to make sure the incident didn’t turn into a fight. It didn’t, so within minutes, the players and officials were back in place.
“So,” Keith asked, “what things did she like to do when you were little?”
“Ah, I’m twelve years her senior,” Endeavour said. “I didn’t move in with Gwen until I was 15, so she and I didn’t see one another very much. She was like – most little girls, I suppose.”
“You were at secondary when you moved in?” Keith went on.
“Yes. I’m sorry, sis.” Morse leaned over and kissed Joyce on the cheek.
“Dev! Why, thank you, you’ve hardly ever done that.” Joyce blushed.
“I told you, he must be nice, he just hides it somewhere,” Keith said.
“Dev, break out your Scrabble board, eh? This game isn’t high in runs scored. Let’s have something else to do.” Joyce put down the popcorn bucket. “Don’t worry, I won’t be shutting the telly off.”
“Prepare to get drubbed,” Morse said, heading for one of the cabinets.

…….

“’Sock hammer’ is not a word.” Joyce said, watching Morse add his tiles to the board. “Sock” had already been there. There wasn’t room for “hammer” anywhere else on the board, so his move was entirely silly.
“It must be, somewhere. I bet in Sweden.”
“Ahh.” She put a hand on her forehead.
“Are you two staying over?” Morse asked.
Keith nodded. “May as well. Your partner said we could pick up the bike in the morning, when you called him, yes?”
“He did. The thief pleaded guilty, so there’s one for your side.”
“And you’ll have no one to – oh my goodness. I should shut up.” Keith took his last gulp of the beer he’d been having. Morse knew exactly what he meant.
“Ah, you-“ Morse chocked a fake punch at Keith with his right fist, but the point stung nonetheless.
“Take it easy, kid, a fellow like you can find a girlfriend any time he wants.”
“Thank you for your confidence, Mr. Garrett, but I’ve got better things to – ehh, who cares. I’ve got to put on some Vivaldi.”
“You can live any way you want, Morse. Remember that.”
Morse smiled. He got up and walked to the bathroom.
“There must be someone, isn’t there?” Keith asked Joyce. “It’s all right if there’s not, but do you know if he’s seeing anyone?”
“Long story.”
“Make it short.”
“Well, he had a serious thing for his boss’ daughter.”
“Oh, that lady?”
“Yes. I guess they were both scared to make a move.”
“I heard she – well, I don’t want to dwell on it.”
“He will get around to asking her out.”
“How do you know?”
“When we were at the canteen, he was looking at the newspaper. He circled an ad for a show at the museum.”
“Who says he didn’t want to just go on his own?”
“I don’t think he would have circled it, then.”
“Maybe you should have been the detective.”
Both of them laughed.
Morse walked back into the room. “My teeth are safe from germs,” he announced. “You two have access to the spare room, if you want.”
“Thanks.” Keith nodded.
“Just don’t be to loud, you know I like my sleep.”
Joyce laughed so hard she had to hold her stomach.

…….

The television moved to the last news update of the day. While the weather report was on, Morse dialed the number for Joanie’s flat.
“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Morse.”
“Hey, how’ve you been?”
“Oh, the usual, typing reports, solving murders, spending some time with my sister.”
“I heard about the thing with the bike. I still talk to Evelyn, you know, from your office?”
“Oh yes, the office assistant. Well, Mr. Garrett gets his bike back tomorrow.”
“Yes. Is there any other reason you called me?”
“Ah, well, did you hear about the show that’s coming to the Science Museum, the new display of some of the illustrations of Sir Isaac Newton?”
“Yes, I thought about going to that.”
“What would you think about it if I met you there?”
“I think that would be brilliant. Oh, and tell your sister that if it’s a boy, I like Matthew better. Maybe Sylvia for a girl.”
“Excuse me? What did you just say?”
“Oh, Morse, they didn’t tell you? Well then, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Joan laughed. “Some time soon, you may want to go shopping for a teddy bear.”
“There’s something big coming up, isn’t there?”
“Yes, there is.”
“I am about to become an uncle.”
“I wish I hadn’t said anything.”
“Well, you did. I’ll be – kind about it.”
“Which is the way one should be.”
“Wonder what it’s going to be like for them, waking up for the first year, when the little one’s crying at night?”
“I’ve always wondered.”
“You should think about that.”
“It might help to have some girl talks with Joyce, yes. I’ll ask for her number.”
“You should. Well, I’ll write the date of the show on the calendar, and I’ll let you go then.”
“Thank you, mister.”
“It’s Joan.”
“Beg pardon?” She spoke with a little confusion.
“Your first name is Joan. I’ve known it for years.”
“So you have. Thank you, Morse.”
“We’ve only known one another about a quarter of our lives.”
“We have. Do the word puzzles and listen to some Mozart. Then get your rest.”
“It’s Vivaldi tonight. By the way, what’s my first name, Miss Smarty?”
“Ah – okay, you were named after Captain Cook’s ship. The Endeavour.”
“Yes! Thanks to my Quaker mother’s love for virtue names.”
“I heard they once named someone Fight the Good Fight of Faith. An entire verse, as just his first name.”
“I hope you pick shorter ones than that.”
“What are you on about, mister?”
“Ah – fading off to The Four Seasons, naturally.”
“Bye now.”
“See you.”
They both hung up.
Morse got into his pajamas, set up his radio, and opened a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. This one was about a monolith that had landed on one of the moons of Jupiter, and a computer that had it in for the crew of a spacecraft; he hadn’t seen the movie about it, but maybe if it played anytime again at the theater, he’d ask Joan to go see that.
“2001: A Space Odyssey.” That was the title.
And it was Joan. No longer Miss Thursday.
As he drifted off to sleep, he had a smirk on his face.