http://youtu.be/H6RlqpxrN8E
Brief Synopsis of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, for those who haven't seen it yet!
This story takes place at the end of the second series for the program. Jack and Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee) have been working together for two yeas on murder investigations. At first Jack was definitely NOT thrilled with what he saw as a civilian nuisance involving herself in his cases but her sharp wit and keen observations quickly won him over, although he tried his best to hide that from Miss Fisher. At the beginning, Jack was married to Rosie, but several years before she had moved out of their home and in with her sister, thus basically ending the marriage, although Jack remained true to it because as he tells Miss Fisher, "A marriage is still a marriage." However at the end of series 1, Jack and Rosie divorce.
Several times during series 2 Rosie appears on the show, as well as her father, George Sanderson who is a Deputy Police Commissioner and Sidney Fletcher, Rosie's fiance. George had been Jack's mentor over the years and Jack had a very high regard for him. Sidney Fletcher was George's godson, come prospective son in law. In two of the episodes, Rosie casts longing looks at Jack, making us realize that she regretted her actions perhaps. Jack, being a man was clueless to it all. In a conversation they had, Rosie tells Jack that he had some of his old fire back and perhaps it was because he was now out of a marriage that didn't suite. He replies that it was war that didn't suit, which will be covered to some degree in my story.
In the last episode, Unnatural Habits, young girls are being abducted from a home run by nuns and Phryne and Jack take on the case when one of them turns up in the Yarra river, dead. Jack insists (as usual) that it is too dangerous for Phryne to be involved in, but this is Phryne we're talking about and nothing will hold her back. The girls are tracked to a ship that is about to leave port. Jack informs George Sanderson and discovers that George is now Chief Commissioner Sanderson in an unusual turn of events. George orders Jack to stay out of it all and gives the case to a different Inspector.
Phryne is aided by Mary, a young, very pregnant woman at the convent and helps Mary escape by loaning her a lock pick. When Jack discovers it, he tells Phryne, "Miss Fisher, you are a bad influence, and NO, you cannot keep her!" a reference to Phryne's penchant for aiding and adopting stray humans. As more is discovered, Phryne is determined to storm the ship and Jack tells her to stay home as he prepares to do exactly the same thing, against direct orders from George Sanderson. Phryne listens as well as she usually does and storms ahead, taking Dot, Cec and Bert with her, after the boys were well-armed by Mr. Butler. Of course, they all get caught.
When Jack goes to the ship, George is there and demands that Jack leave or he will be dismissed. Jack refuses and he and Constable Collins run for the ship, with Sanderson following. Jack, at this point does NOT know that Phryne has been captured on board until he finds her lock pick. He confronts Sanderson, who is not apologetic at all and tells Jack "I told you to stay out of it!"
Meanwhile, Phryne discovers that Sidney Fletcher is behind it all; they buy young, pure light haired and light skinned girls and sell them to the highest bidder. The ship is the transport out of Australia. Phryne and her group manage to get out of their bonds and meet Jack and Hugh. Sidney Fletcher is shot, although not fatally and he, George, and the ships captain and crew go to jail, however George denies all charges. When he is being led to his cell, Rosie confronts him, upset over it all. She falls into Jack's arms, sobbing hysterically while Phryne looks on.
Later at Phryne's home, Jack turns up and their conversation is covered in my story. I take it from there, as to how it should have ended and didn't. Jack, on the show walked away. So here we are, the first chapter of Winning Phryne. I hope you'll enjoy it!
Chapter 1
Jack held Rosie as sobs tore through her body, patting her
much as he would a small child. The
shock of it all, the betrayal of Sidney Fletcher and her father must have been
overwhelming to her. He felt he could do
no less than to try and help her through this first shock wave of pain and
humiliation. Certainly, it was a shock
to him, a blow that struck him in his gut, learning that George Sanderson, his
mentor who had personally guided his career, the Chief Commissioner, was
involved in all this. He'd admired
George Sanderson with a respect that was built of many years of appreciation
for what he'd learned from him, the sense of justice that he had imbued to
Jack. And still, in the end, he had
succumbed to temptation to - what? To
turn a blind eye on his godson's endeavors?
To sanction them? The thought
made Jack's stomach roil for a moment and he swallowed down the bitter bile
that had surged upwards like an army determined to overtake him.
Both of the men in her life had left Rosie desolated, alone
in a world where she would surely be ostracized, turned away from her set and
social groups like rubbish. Their divorce
had been a huge strike against her, but Sidney Fletcher's money and connections
saw to it that it was mostly hidden from her.
Of course, all this came after Jack had deserted her as
well, in a matter of speaking. His
inability to communicate his pain, pain that still clutched greedily at his
mind from time to time had left him emotionally bereft. So he'd shut her out after the war, but what
else could he have done. Rosie was not
the kind of woman who would have suffered the truth about war.
After 15 years of marriage and a year after a divorce, he
still cared about her happiness. It
wasn't love, but more of a nagging guilt that held him so tight at times that
he felt he couldn't breathe, as if being strangled by an incompetent executioner. After all, he'd let her down terribly; he'd
let them both down. The truth was, she
never really knew why, never understood the changes in him after the war and
he'd been unable to tell her either. How
do you tell someone what you saw, what you did and that sometimes only the will
to survive drove you onward. Could he
tell her how it felt when his bayonet penetrated the chest of another human,
the sound of steel on bone, the whoosh of air rushing out of a body? Another person, someone who was probably as
young as he was, maybe with a wife of his own.
Jack couldn't forget the smells that had surrounded them in
the trenches; blood, sulfur, death or of the keening wails of injury and suffering
that ripped through the air, not only of his comrades but from the Germans as
well. It would have been indecent to
tell a gentle woman such as Rosie of those things so he had remained silent on
the subject, tucking it away in his own mind forever. Of course it didn't really remain there, but
it was a struggle he tried to carry on with by himself.
Jack glanced around to see that Phryne had left and the pit
of his stomach clenched in pain as if he'd been sucker-punched. She'd been through so much; she needed
comforting as well, he was sure of it but being Phryne she wouldn't want anyone
to know. He felt a moment of panic and
desperation; he needed to get to her but first he needed to get Rosie home to
her sister's house.
He tried to gently pull her arms off of him and the sobs
increased in volume and pitch, the high timbre almost hurting his ears. He redoubled his efforts and told her,
"Rosie, let's get you home to Annabelle's; you'll feel better there. Come along now," he said, taking her arm
from around his neck and leading her out of the station.
The ride to Annabelle's home was strangely quiet. Rosie stopped crying, and in fact Jack
thought for a moment that he saw her mouth twist upwards for half a moment, but
he put it down to the lateness of the night and the darkness inside the
automobile, lighted only by an occasional street lamp. She never said a word and Jack felt that she
was trying to come to terms with the events of this night.
Her world was about to be turned upside down, no denying it
he knew. Annabelle's husband, Elliott
was an affluent business man, from a prominent family with a history that was
above reproach. The Barrington's had, like Phryne, connections to the king and
used their wealth and notability to promote charity and compassion to the
cities less fortunate individuals. There were so many individuals who were
ragged survivors of life, struggling to take any step they could due to the
current financial circumstances and the still aching wounds of a war that had
taken so many young men and crippled others.
Hopefully under the umbrella of the Barrington's, Rosie might shelter
and find her way in life. But even that
wouldn't be easy for her or Annabelle either for that matter.
Jack parked the car in front of the Barrington home and
noted that other than an entry light, the house was dark. He sighed, knowing
that what was to come would not be easy; Annabelle would have to be told of the
night's goings on. He opened his door
and came around to Rosie's side and opened her door for her before holding his
hand out to help her out of the vehicle.
Almost as soon as she took it the sobs started again and Jack guided her
as quickly to the door as possible in the hope that she wouldn't wake the
neighbors.
She fumbled with her key at the door and Jack took it from
her, patiently working the lock and opening the door for her to enter. He'd been a visitor many times in the
Barrington household and steered Rosie into the front parlor, turning the
switch to light the room. A quick glance
around showed several bottles of alcohol on a side table and he went to it,
pouring Rosie a shot of brandy in hopes that it would steady her a bit as the
sobbing had risen to near deafening levels since she had seated herself on an
emerald green and mauve upholstered sofa.
"Rosie, drink this," he all but commanded, hoping
to keep her from rousing the whole household.
She drank it straight down without a sputter and handed the
glass back to him. He refilled it and
set it on a table in front of her in time to see Barlow, the Barrington's
butler enter the room, attired in a gray woolen dressing gown. Jack stepped over closer to him so that they
might speak without having to yell over the sobs that continued.
"Barlow, you should wake Mr. and Mrs. Barrington. I'm afraid I have some bad news for
them."
"Mr. Barrington is not here, Detective Robinson. I'm afraid he is in Sidney at the
moment." He acknowledged Jack's nod of understanding and added, "I
shall wake Mrs. Barrington then."
"Waking Mrs. Barrington is not necessary,"
Annabelle stated, heading down the staircase.
"Jack, always good to see you but what on earth has
happened?" She greeted Jack with a
light kiss on his cheek and was perplexed by his uneasy demeanor, deciding that
Rosie had somehow gotten herself into trouble; probably something to do with
that rogue she called her fiancé.
Since they had been children Annabelle had detested Sidney
Fletcher. Coldly cruel, until he wanted
something, Sidney had been a careless human being, always dragging Rosie into
one scheme or another that usually got both of them into trouble. When he and his family had went to England
before the war everyone had breathed a sigh of relief; everyone except for
Rosie that is. She had idolized that
irreverent fool and actually missed him.
Lucky for the family that Constable Jack Robinson had entered their
lives and Rosie had been well and truly smitten, seeming to forget all about
Sidney.
She had put Fletcher behind her and appeared sincerely in
love with the handsome young constable.
They were married a year later, much to the admiration of the family and
Rosie had been deliriously happy, setting up a home for them. She seemed to float through her life, as did
Jack, so much in love they were.
Until the war began a year later. Afterward everything changed including Sidney
Fletcher returning, never having spent a moment fighting for God and
country. Annabelle shuddered with the
thought of that despicable man who seemed proud to have circumvented that proud
service by attending university. The coward's
way Annabelle always thought.
As soon as Rosie spied Annabelle she rushed across the room
and threw herself into her elder sister's arms.
Annabelle raised an eyebrow in inquiry to Jack and he shook his
head. It was clear that something was
terribly wrong and she led Rosie back to the sofa and listened as Rosie poured
out the whole tale, interspersed with comments by Jack at times.
As she listened her eyes narrowed and her face became angry,
her hazel eyes sparking dangerously as she heard the tale.
"So that abominable man has finally managed to drag our
father down with him?" she said, and her loathing for Sidney was not held
back at all. "Now father is in jail
no doubt because Sidney has managed to enter him into his deceitful
machinations."
"No, Annie, NO.
Sidney would never..." Rosie started but she was quickly cut off by
her sisters raised voice.
"Yes, Sidney has and you know for a fact that he has
done many a sly deed in the past, Rosie.
I'll make no excuses for him and neither shall you; I won't allow
it."
"No, Sidney was only trying to help those poor girls;
out of Australia they could start a new life, begin anew. That's all.
Father was just to help make sure that the poor girls got the help they
needed."
As he listened, the implications of Rosie's word's washed
over Jack; she had known of what was happening and never said a word. Accomplice! The word screamed through his
head and he took a step back towards the door, repelled by the knowledge of
this revelation.
Rosie looked at him and the look of horror and disgust that
was stained upon his countenance was frightening for her to see. She couldn't lose him now; he was all that
stood between her and losing, at the very least her social standing. And jail a desperate voice inside her whispered.
She had to make him understand and protect her. They could marry again, yes, they could and
it would be alright.
"Jack," she said holding out a pleading hand. "Please, it's not what you think, I
swear it."
"Then what exactly IS it, Rosie?" His voice was piercing, his words clipped,
reminding Annabelle of someone shattering glass with a hammer. She could tell that Rosie had finally,
utterly lost Jack. She stood to pull her
sister back into the parlor since she had followed Jack into the foyer.
Rosie was speechless, realizing her mistake of admitting her
knowledge of Sidney's activities. She
took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves and said, "Jack, I - I
didn't really understand what they were doing.
I thought they were helping the girls, really I did. I didn't know they were- were selling them
as…slaves," her voice trailed off as she raised her eyes hopefully to
Jack.
Jack just shook his head, contempt darkening his eyes until
they resembled blackened coal rather than their usual deep brown. Rosie made to rush to him again and he put
out a hand to stop her. "NO, stay
away from me. Annabelle, I must leave
you now. I have to check on someone
else." His eyes implored her understanding.
Annabelle gave him a brief nod and a very thin smile. No good was going to come of this. Jack would eventually do his duty, without a
doubt which likely meant gaol for Rosie, if not hanging at the end of a noose. Rosie knew of the treachery, there was no
getting past that.
"You're going to her,
aren't you, Jack?" Her face once again bathed in tears and sorrow, however
real they may or may not have been.
"That woman! The whore of society who spreads her legs for any man. Do you think I don't know of her? Everyone does," she finished with a
twisted laugh, desperation only a breath away.
"Yes, I'm going to Phryne," he told her, and his
voice held a dangerous edge to it. It
took everything he had not to reach out and grab her, to shake the filth out of
her. He turned and exited the door and
paid no mind to the scream he heard from her, the stream of obscenities that he
wasn't aware she knew almost bringing him to his knees. The pain was nearly
physical, stabbing him in his gut and taking away his breath as well. He forced
himself to walk, to keep walking to the car, to leave this place.
He needed to see Phryne, as much as he needed air right
now. Would she even want to see him,
after what had happened at the police station?
He didn't know but he had to find out.
To be continued...
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