Chapter Text
Senior Detective Inspector Jack Robinson was sitting at his desk, looking over a report, when he heard the clicking of high heels coming down the hallway toward his office. It would be a very welcome distraction, he thought to himself. As the door opened, he looked up expectantly. “Miss Fisher,” he said pleasantly.
“Good morning, Jack,” Phryne said with a sassy smile, but something struck Jack as being just slightly off. He waited to see what came next. “How is your day going?”
Something was definitely off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “Fine…a little on the dull side, to be honest. Something tells me that is about to change,” he said, a teasing light in his eyes.
“Well…” Phryne glanced away, letting her eyes roam around the office. “I don’t have a case, or anything like that to discuss. It’s actually more of a—personal matter.”
“Oh?” He waited for her to explain.
Phryne looked directly at Jack, and he saw something in her eyes that troubled him. She looked away. “I might as well come right out with it. I’m leaving Melbourne, Jack.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Leaving?”
He was thunderstruck, and she knew it. She immediately began to study her manicure, and shrugged; then she gave an amused smile. “Oh, Jack, you know me. I can’t settle down. I’ve been here for years now. It’s time to move on.”
“Move on,” he echoed.
She looked back at him, then drug her eyes away again. “Yes. The time I spent in London reminded me of how much I liked it there. I thought I could come back here and be happy, but…” She tossed her head. “You know. I’m just a will-o-the-wisp. Always looking for the next adventure.”
He was very still. “You’ve found your share of adventures here.”
“But that can’t go on forever, can it? No. It’s time for a complete change of scene.”
“I see,” he said, although he didn’t. She still wouldn’t meet his eyes for more than a second at a time. “What will happen to the house then? And I suppose Dot will be fine, if disappointed, but Mr. Butler? The cabbies?”
“I’ve thought about all that. As you say, Dot will be fine: she doesn’t need me, now. You know Bert and Cec were doing perfectly well before I came along, and now they have a better cab. Aunt Prudence has been wishing to hire Mr. Butler for an age, if that’s his desire. And of course, Jane’s at school, and she has to travel to find me, wherever I might be, so that’s not a problem.”
He nodded slightly. “Yes. You’ve thought it all through.”
She smiled tightly. “Yes. Of course. I can easily rent the house, or…sell it…” The smile fell away, then returned. “So—I wanted to come and tell you in person, of course. We’ve had a, a good—partnership….”
“Yes.” His voice was rough as sandpaper and silky as one of her scarves. “When are you planning on leaving?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Involuntarily, he stood up. “Isn’t this all very sudden?”
She looked stricken for a bare instant, then recovered. “Yes. It is. Of course it is. But that’s me, you know; I just make a decision and act on it.” She smiled and tossed her head again.
“Hmm.”
She gazed at him, across the desk from her; she drank in every bit of him, so familiar to her now. She knew it was time to make her escape. “Well, I’d best be going. I have a lot to do in order to be able to leave on time.” Her eyes were downturned again as she said softly, “Goodbye, Jack. I wish you the best.” She managed to raise her eyes to his once more, hated what she saw there, and turned to leave as quickly as possible.
“Phryne?”
She would never forget the way he said her name, never. She froze, her hand on the doorknob, and answered warily, “Yes?”
“Will you let me know when you arrive safely—wherever you are headed?”
Still turned away, she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. “Of course,” she lied, then she yanked the door open and fled down the hall.
Jack sat down at his desk and stared into space.