Steve Hayden (character)

Senior Detective Steve Hayden is a fictional character from the Tessa Vance series by Jennifer Rowe which laid the base for the television show Murder Call. He was portrayed by Peter Mochrie in Murder Call.

Background

Heavily arguing with his partner that there are more stars in the country, Steve is quickly pegged as a man of the bush. Accordingly, he often shows his discomfort for the city and longing for the countryside. Growing up in a Catholic home, Steve says he is now on the side of the angels, and believes there is a higher place where all souls will end up after death.

As a kid he played cricket, proud to say he once bowled a leg break. (Though, he could not gain much attention for this from Tessa, who knows very little of sports.) And apparently he had a certain fear of the great, big animals at the zoo, because he used to bring a spud gun when visiting.

Coming to the urban city for education and work, Steve was or got married at some point while in uniform, but things did unfortunately not work out. Tired of his work claiming him, his wife filed for a divorce, leaving Steve to get his own place in dungy Arthur Street, Sydney, where renovation was a must. It took a while for him to realise he did not love his wife, but once he knew that, he stopped missing her.

Pursuing his career from the Academy to uniform, Steve transferred to Central Homicide and was teamed up with Barney Napps, an elderly man. How long they were partners is unknown, but soon Napps had to bow to the demands of his wife and return into uniform and sensible working hours. Enter Tessa Vance, a woman he had only heard of and who he dubbed princess before even meeting her. Their partnership was rocky in the beginning, to say the least, but soon they grew accustomed to each other and can now call themselves good mates, even perhaps something more.

Personality

Steve is in many ways Tessa's complete opposite – a laconic, casual-seeming, logical and very masculine man with a dry wit, a strong practical streak and a country background. Not to mention very down-to-earth and by-the-book; he is the one with the responsibility to keep Tessa on a leash. Several years older than his female partner, Steve has seen the most and been in the thick of society's grey zones more times than he can probably count. Although he acts detached, he is more affected by the things he experience than he lets on. For example, he dislikes the more gruesome sides of autopsy.