The next morning...
"Hello!" Clarissa greeted Nikki the next morning in the breakfast room. "I've got us a table-I left Max's coat there."
"Good thinking." Smiled Nikki, making her way over to the only free table in the place.
"Thomas is already up and out." Said Clarissa, wheeling over to her friend, armed with a plateful of bacon and eggs.
"Sightseeing? This place certainly is beautiful."
"You got it. Max went with him-where's Jack?"
"Preening. I did ask if I could join him in the shower-he said no. He wanted to wash his hair." Grumbled Nikki.
"Spoilsport." Clarissa chuckled.
Nikki got some breakfast-Scrambled eggs, roast tomatoes, and bacon, her favourite, and went back to the table.
By that time, Jack had joined them and was chatting to Clarissa.
"Morning." Nikki greeted her partner, dipping her head to kiss his cheek.
"Hello." He replied, pecking her on the lips and pinching a piece of bacon when she wasn't looking.
Clarissa, who was eating her breakfast, snorted at this.
"You're a cheeky bugger. It's a good thing that I love you." Nikki smiled.
Jack went to get some breakfast. The group ate, and then made their way to the police station.
"Hello." Thomas greeted them. "Amy is going to interview Scott, he lives in Nantwich- a town not too far from here."
"I'll go with her, get a DNA sample." Nikki decided.
"Results are back, nothing on her clothes apart from brush fibres from the people who sat next to her in church. And the DNA is from Lucy and the little one." Jack said. "Oh... We have something on her top."
"An impression of a little bit of metal." Said Clarissa. "Probably from the killer's jacket."
"Yeah, Lucy said he was wearing a dark hoodie so that adds up." Thomas nodded.
"I'll pull local suppliers, the impression suggests that the jacket was quite old." Said Clarissa.
Amy and Nikki went down to Nantwich, and made their way through a charming little streets to Scott's house.
"Hi." Amy greeted him when he opened the door. "DCI Amy Dawlish, this is Doctor Nikki Alexander."
"Hello, you're investigating my niece's death?" He asked.
Nikki nodded.
"Alright, come in."
"When was the last time you saw Alison?" Amy began when they sat down in the lounge.
"I last saw her a couple of weeks ago, Eva's first birthday. She seemed okay, before you ask. Happy, bubbly, full of life. I can't believe she's gone..."
They paused for a couple of minutes.
"I don't think that she had any enemies;" Scott continued. "She was the golden child, after Phillip ran away... Well, he wasn't the best, so to speak. The police at the time didn't find any trace of him."
"Right," Amy wrote something down on her phone. "We'll look into that."
"Lucy loved-still loves Alison, who was a great support to her after Paul, Lucy's husband died. He had cancer, he passed away at a hospice. St Luke's."
"Peaceful?" Asked Amy.
"Yes. We thought that with his father dying of a terrible disease, Phillip would resurface again. However, there was no trace of him."
"Ah. I don't suppose anyone has anything with his DNA on it?" Nikki asked.
Scott shook his head. "Nah, Lucy was heartbroken but eventually got rid of all of his things. He was presumed dead, suicide."
"Is there a memorial for Phillip anywhere?" Amy enquired.
"Yes, there's a church in Willaston. He has a small stone there, all we could afford."
"I'm going to take a sample of your DNA if that's alright?" Nikki said to Scott. "It's purely for the investigation, it will be destroyed afterwards."
He nodded. "Yeah, that's absolutely fine."
After that was done, and Amy talked more to Scott, she and Nikki went to Willaston.
They found the church that Scott was talking about, and navigated their way to the stone. It read: "Phillip Paul Sutcliffe-Beloved brother and son who disappeared from us. We love you-Mum, Dad, Ali, and Eva. Xxx."
"Look!" Nikki exclaimed. "Someone's been here-very recently."
Next to the stone was some fake daffodils.
