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The Characters

Tessa

	Det Tessa Vance (Lucy Bell) "The youngest and least conventional of the homicide squad."
Tessa was born in February of 1971 1, the daughter of Doug Vance, who was a Detective Senior Sergeant in the Central Homicide division. He was murdered in 1985, when Tessa was 14. Little is known of Tessa's mother, other than she is now remarried and living interstate (although they do seem to get the same newpaper! 2), and that the relationship between mother and daughter seems rather strained by Tessa's choice of occupation.3 She was obviously educated at one of Sydney's better schools, possibly Sydney Girl's High 4, and is quite accomplished at the piano 5 and singing 6. Whilte at university she met Ezra Simms and the two became first friends, then lovers which ultimately damaged their friendship. They were reunited, briefly, some years later when Tessa investigated the death of his childhood friend and colleague 8. Ezra was also murdered by the same people and Tessa & Steve narrowly escaped with their lives. Her experience with Ezra would seem to preclude her relationship with Steve ever being anything but platonic - but that could change, according to Jennifer Rowe herself. After university she spent a year travelling through Europe before returning to Sydney to decide what to do with her life. 7 After spending some months waitressing Tessa joined the police force, at the urging of a former friend and colleague of her father's. While in uniform she arrested Bradley Munn for breaking and entering and recognised his potential for violence, although no one else seemed to share her feelings. When she made detective she began working in homicide at a suburban police station, quickly making a name for herself before transferring to Central Homicide and being partnered with Steve Hayden. When we first meet them Tessa & Steve have already been working together for a short time - Steve is obviously fond of her 9, but he knows very little about her, and he and Thorne show little tolerance for her way of working 10, but they both gradually come around, "...unpredictable, brilliant, impulsive, disorganised, hated paperwork. Could almost describe someone else I know." 11 Steve & Thorne prefer to follow procedure, working logically through every scrap of evidence, but Tessa uses her intuition, assembling each piece of evidence in her head like a jigsaw puzzle. She often forgoes sleep as she turns the pieces over in her head, twisting them like a Rubik's Cube until they form a coherent whole. Of course work isn't the only thing that keeps her awake all night. She remarks to Tootsie one evening over a drink at the pub that "sometimes I hate the night," 12 but offers no further explanation. Are there deep dark secrets in her past that we have yet to learn about? (Or I am just being melodramatic? Answers on a postcard) And what do they have to do with her father? 13 Her other fears include rats 14, confined spaces 15 and cooking 16, and when she's not up to her neck in dead bodies (urggh! - sorry)Tessa enjoys rock climbing 17, reading 18 and trying to keep her goldfish alive 19.
1.See Deadline - in the episode, which was filmed in 1997, Steve mentions that she is 26. In the novel, which opens on Tessa's birthday, it is obviously the hottest part of summer. 2. See Hotshot - her mother saw the photo in the paper of Tessa lying on top of Steve. 3. The novel of Deadline contains quite a few details of Tessa's childhood which are only referred to obliquely from time-to-time in the show. 4. OK, I'm reaching here - but that's where Lucy Bell went. 5. See Instrument of Death. 6. See Bone Dead. 7. See Deadline (novel). 8. See Ashes to Ashes. 9. See Ashes to Ashes - check out the look on his face as he brushes the hair out of her eyes after she's passed out on the couch. 10. See Black Friday - Thorne tells Steve to keep her on a leash. 11. See Last Stop. 12. See Dead Clean. 13. In several episodes in the first season Tessa becomes visibly tense when anyone other than her mentions her father. Is this simply because she dislikes the inevitable comparisons between the style of father & daughter? Or is there something more to this? 14. See Cat and Mouse and More Than Meets the Eye. 15. See Bone Dead. 16. See Cold Comfort and Menu for Murder. 17. See Hot Shot. 18 Check out her bookcase - packed to the gills. 19. See Black Friday and Last Stop.