My Little Experiment (James Gillies)

Chapter 9: Shadows

Detective Murdoch paces back and forth in his office, his heart thumping loud enough he could hear it in his ears. He clutches the note from Gillies in his left hand, thinking of the words over and over again in his mind.

How did Gillies find out about Breanna? Where was the weak link that exposed her existence and made her a target in the first place?

Everything in his mind felt fuzzy and disjointed for the first time in a long time. It was as if he had lost the ability to think straight. The feeling concerned Murdoch on more than one level: never had he felt this way before, but also if he could not keep control of his emotions, he would never be able to solve this case.

"William?"

Murdoch completely ignored his name being called out by Dr. Ogden as he stopped his pacing, looking at the note in his hand once more. 

He finishes reading and lets out a deep sigh, resuming his pacing until he feels a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump and turn around, meeting the concerned gaze of Dr. Ogden.

"William are you okay? Inspector Brackenreid telephoned and said you'd been in a state of distress since yesterday."

"I'm...well I'm - I'm fine." Murdoch sloppily says. Dr. Ogden crosses her arms and looks at him with a disbelieving stare.

"William I know you aren't. This case is still haunting you, I can see it in your face." She points out and he sighs, his shoulders slumping over.

"Gillies has completely stumped me, Julia. I have absolutely no idea where he's moved to, where Breanna is, and how he's figured out so much about my family." Murdoch admits. He rubs a hand on his forehead and holds the note up to her.

Julia reads the note before looking up at him in surprise. "What on earth is this type of taunt? I can understand why you're so worked up, William. But what truth about Breanna is he talking about?"

William quickly walks over to the door and shuts it, wanting to avoid any sort of eavesdropping that could possibly happen. He looks back at Julia, a sad look on his face.

"Breanna isn't my sister by blood, Julia," William says lowly, trying to ignore the look of shock on Dr. Ogden's face. "The family who she belonged to was extremely poor and sick. Her mother died after childbirth, and her father was extremely sick. They were friends with my family, and my parents agreed to take Breanna in. Her real father soon died after he gave her up. They tried to raise her as their own, but they noticed the disease she had and knew it must've come from her own parents. They tried everything to get rid of the disease...but their experiments with the doctors actually made it worse, which is why she suffers attacks every day."

"Oh my gosh, William. This is so much information," Dr. Ogden says, trying to digest what she's heard. "Does Breanna even know she was adopted?"

"No," Detective Murdoch murmurs. "My parents decided that because of her disease and how different she was because of it from the rest of the family, we'd hide her existence to avoid suspicion and so she wouldn't ever question why she is this way. Only a select few knew about Breanna growing up. It's never been common knowledge that I have a sister. I've denied having family several times if not out of habit of what I grew up with. It's wrong to hide someone's life, I know, but I didn't realize that growing up. And both my parents died before they had the chance to tell her. And Mrs. Thorne was sworn to secrecy. She'd never tell Breanna."

"William," Julia takes a deep breath to steady herself from the dizzying information. "If Breanna figures out the reason her life was hidden is because your family was ashamed of her condition, that could destroy her. And the fact that she's not your birth sister. Everyone has had the opportunity to tell her the truth but no one has. And if Gillies, of all people, proves to her that she somehow is not cared for by the people she believed to be her birth family, that could be catastrophic."