It's been a 10-month mystery. One day, he's a well-respected police chief, the next day he's suspended over a secret personnel issue.

But it appears the mystery is now unravelling. It wasn't a criminal issue that brought down former Victoria Police chief Paul Pattershill. It was his alleged affair with police board lawyer Marli Rusen.

Until this spring, Rusen worked for law firm Heenan Blaikie.

An official with the law firm says the allegation is that Marli Rusen was secretly having an affair with Paul Battershill while also offering legal advice to the Victoria police board.

In a statement to the media, Heenan Blaikie says:

"Upon learning this information regarding the alleged conduct of this former member of the firm, we reported the matter to the Law Society of British Columbia."

And now the Law Society has launched its own investigation into a complaint against Rusen.

"I'm not able to discuss the details of that complaint to maintain the integrity of the process, but what I can tell you is that it involves an alleged conflict of interest," said Cara McGregor, a spokesman for the Law Society.

CTV went to Rusen's home Friday and tried to speak with her. But a woman who answered the door said she was unavailable for comment.

"She's gone, she had to go to a meeting," she said.

Battershill was suspended with pay in October. Since then, taxpayers paid him more than $130,000 for doing nothing. He was supposed to face a discpilinary hearing this week -- but before it began, he quit.

"The board has accepted the resignation of Paul Battershill effective immediately as a result of a loss of confidence in his leadership of the Victoria police department," said Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe last week.

Battershill was once an outspoken cop who was often called upon to rule on allegations of police misconduct. But he has never spoken about his own troubles and couldn't be reached Friday. So it's a silent end to what was once a stellar career.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty.