Eileen Smith had been shown into an informal interview room and Ellie introduced herself and Alec.
"We are very sorry for your loss Mrs Smith," Alec told her as they shook hands.
"Where's Rose, is she okay?" Eileen asked him.
"She's safe, she's in my office," Alec assured her. "She wanted to talk to you after we have finished. We are working on the assumption it was a rival for the job Mandy got, that of being Rose's double but we still need to ask a few questions."
"Anything you need," she replied, Ellie thinking the woman looked tired and must have come down last night, since it was early.
"Did Mandy have any enemies, anyone she fell out with recently?" Ellie asked her.
"Not that I know of but she was Rose Tyler's stand-in, she was the envy of a lot of fans. You don't think whoever killed her was after Rose?"
"We have to rule out it was a rival who applied for the job that Mandy got," Alec replied. "It was Rose who put us onto it, her agency are co-operating with us over it."
Ellie had got through to the agency and although they doubted they still had all the details, were trying their best, Alec not being very happy about it on the way to see Mandy's mother. Ellie had questioned why they were trying.
"That's what Rose thinks and she could be right," Alec had told Ellie on the way down, now he could take the stairs without it being a strain.
"They're hardly likely to have kept all the details," Ellie insisted. "So how was she last night?"
"Tired, upset and she questioned why I left Harford with her," Alec replied.
"Yeah, I bet they got on well," Ellie laughed, remembering Katie's mood when she'd got back last night.
"Most people would have jumped at the chance to look after Rose," Alec told her.
"Seems Katie was the exception, like I said you should never meet your heroes. Does your daughter know Rose is staying with you?" Ellie asked him.
"Not yet but she guessed Rose was in town, the music festival was a give-away. Once we've seen Mandy's mother, I'll take her home, take her out of town since she was in all day yesterday. Even she didn't know why they began filming on Thursday."
Ellie called Katie to bring Rose downstairs, her glancing at Rose who had made herself at home in Alec's office, having teased him suitably about the kissing before he'd gone downstairs.
"Do I have to bring her down?" Katie replied.
"You can't pick and choose what you're asked to do Katie," Ellie reminded her from outside the interview room.
Katie had then got up and tapped on the office door.
"I'll take you down to see your friend's mother," she told Rose, who was texting Jake, who had been annoyed Pete hadn't sent him and Mickey down to look after her.
She'd already called her mother, who had been less than happy Pete had left Rose in the care of a Doctor look-alike detective.
"I'm fine Mum," Rose had told her when Alec had left. "They're taking good care of me."
"Well you could have at least stayed in the hotel, where are you staying?" Jackie asked her.
"Don't worry about it, I'm with one of the detectives all the time," she tried to bluff, not wanting to say it was with Alec.
So Rose had put her phone away and was being escorted by Katie, who had even less to say than the day before as Katie opted to wait for the lift even though it was only one floor down to the interview rooms but Rose assumed pressing the lift button repeatedly was her way of avoiding talking.
"You won't have to look after me today," Rose smiled as the lift finally arrived, wondering why it had taken so long.
"I've never had to look after a celebrity before," Katie admitted as the lift went down after the doors eventually closed.
"Yeah, I don't expect any special treatment though," Rose tried to assure her.
She thought Katie must have thought she had to be kidding, getting her boss's personal attention but he was male, of course he'd insist on looking after the stunning singer and Vitex heiress. Katie saw Ellie waiting for them.
"What took so long?" Ellie asked Katie.
"Blame the lift, it must be ancient, it's so slow," Katie replied, Ellie seeing a smile on Rose's face.
"Katie, the station has only been here a few years," Ellie told her.
"Well they must have put a used one in then," Katie quipped.
Alec was answering Mandy's mother when she'd asked him if he thought it really was a jealous rival.
"Everything is pointing to it but we are testing the scarf that Mandy was wearing and also her phone. Rose said Mandy had a car but she left it at home."
"Yes, Rose always called for Mandy, her stepfather insisted they never drove anywhere, he always sent a cab or a car and driver, even when Mandy had to act as decoy and she had to call for a cab, he'd given her the number of the firm his wife and Rose always used and told her to charge it to his account."
He looked up when Rose and Ellie appeared at the door and Eileen got up to greet Rose.
"I'm so sorry Mrs Smith," Rose told her, a tear in her eyes.
"Rose, I'm not blaming you for what happened, Mandy loved that job, she always said you were like the sister she never had," Eileen told her as Rose sat next to Alec, Ellie having gone off to give Katie a few lessons in manners.
"I feel it's my fault, she was here because of me," Rose insisted.
"No-one is blaming you," Alec tried to assure her. "You are not responsible for her when she's not working, she choose to go onto the beach. Mrs Smith, we will try to release Mandy as soon as possible. I will leave you two to talk. Rose, there will be an officer just outside, they will bring you back to my office."
Alec went off and finding a WPC, told her to wait for Rose. After he'd left, Mandy's mother got up.
"He's right Rose, you are not to blame for this," she told Rose.
"I still feel responsible. My stepfather will take care of everything, tell me where you're staying, he'll have someone pay for your room. What about Mandy's things from her hotel room?" Rose asked her.
"DS Miller's taking care of it to see I get them back. Rose, Mandy loved that job, out of all the others she took on, she'd sometimes sit at home playing with her phone and hope you'd text her to say you needed rescuing," Eileen smiled.
"I wondered why she was always so fast," Rose smiled back, getting up to hug her friend's mother. "She was always there when I needed her, she loved evading the press."
"What about the papers? Why haven't any details been released?" Eileen asked her.
"They thought it best to tell you first, I expect they'll announce it soon but DI Hardy thinks it's someone she beat in getting the job."
"Yeah, he already said. Is he the one looking after you?"
"Yeah, he seems to think I've become his responsibility, I'm trying to get one of my friends to come down, Jake's going nuts. There's also a young DC called Katie, she's driving me up the wall."
They talked for a while longer then Eileen wanted to get back to her hotel to contact Pete about him taking care of everything, since she had his phone number for emergencies.
"Let him make all the arrangements," Rose insisted as Eileen got up again to leave.
"Thanks. I had to tell her dad last night, we're meeting when I get back. I hope the press don't start when I get back."
"Just leave it, Pete will take care of it. Did you come down on your own?" Rose asked her.
"Yes, by train, I couldn't have driven down Rose, I don't think it's hit me yet. DI Hardy said you were very upset yesterday. Did you move out of the hotel then?"
"Yeah, they insisted. Don't tell anyone but I'm staying with him, his place is a bit remote," Rose tried to joke.
"Who would I tell?" Eileen asked her. "I'll stay tonight and leave in the morning, I had to get a taxi from Dorchester station yesterday afternoon, they don't have one here."
"There's an old railway station just near where I was staying, well just a platform from what I saw on the way in. Take care and I'll call you soon."
As they left, the WPC who had been left outside followed Rose and Mandy's mother to reception then she pressed the lift button, Rose wondering why it had taken so long earlier when it opened right away for them and they got in.
"We waited ages for this earlier," Rose told the WPC.
"It defaults to the ground floor, everyone got used to it," the WPC replied as they got out.
Rose thought that Katie must be the only one who hadn't then. The WPC knocked on Alec's door then went off.
"Everything sorted?" Alec asked, closing the door as Rose sat on the sofa.
He went to pull the blinds to and sat beside her.
"I will just finish up and take you back. Do you want to go anywhere, do you need anything?" he asked.
"Can we just do some shopping? I just want to do something normal," she replied. "I don't have people who do everything for me."
"I never suggested you did," he smiled, taking her hand.
"Sorry. It's just getting to me."
"No need to apologise. It's completely understandable but I can send DC Harford with you if you like?"
"Very funny Alec. She got annoyed waiting for the lift to take me downstairs."
"Why didn't you take the stairs?" he asked.
"You tell me? She probably thought someone would get me on the way down."
"I was talking with DS Miller. We don't think you are in any real danger, we think the person saw the opportunity to get revenge on Mandy for stealing the job she wanted. It can take people years to plan this sort of thing. She may even live locally and that was why she wasn't keen on doing last minute jobs. You coming to the music festival, she knew you'd bring Mandy with you, the filming was a bonus."
"I never thought of that. Did my agency get back to you?" Rose asked him, trying not to reach over to kiss him.
"There was only one person in the office, being Saturday. She didn't sound too hopeful of getting the information, so Miller said. We won't hear back until Monday now. Forensics are still working on Mandy's scarf and her phone plus her clothing. Rose, you said she had a lot of outfits like yours, what were you wearing the other day when you were filming?"
"You never noticed when you passed us?" Rose teased him.
"That's not fair Rose, we were there to see the unit manager, not to spy on what you were wearing."
"A blue floral top and blue jeans, we'd just rehearsed then went for the take. Sometimes we film on location and a studio but this was gonna be all on location. We filmed the bit where I was about to wander onto the beach, Mandy was in the distance but don't ask me how they merge it all."
"I don't expect they would tell you anyway?" Alec smiled, making a note of what she was telling him. "So Mandy was wearing exactly the same outfit?"
"Yeah, the idea was I walked onto the beach, then as I got towards Mandy, they would merge us into one. We only get told when we turn up for filming what we're doing and we were a bit late in starting, the sun had gone in a bit so they were just getting background shots of the beach and the cliffs. I wonder if they got your cottage in?" Rose smiled.
"I hope not," Alec smiled back, putting his notebook and pen away, reminding Rose of the Doctor putting his sonic screwdriver away. "Now we have informed Mandy's mother, we are going to release it to the press. I have told her we will only give the minimum information and that the investigation is ongoing. We are going to have reporters back in the town so be careful eh?"
"Yeah, I've no double now," Rose replied sadly.
Alec put his arm around her shoulder, not bothering the door wasn't entirely covered. He wondered whose bright idea that was to have a glass door.
"Sorry love. Let me get finished then we will go shopping."
"Yeah, nothing like a bit of retail therapy," Rose managed to smile as he got up. "Mind if I get another drink first?"
"No, go ahead or ask DC Harford to make you one," Alec joked.
Rose pulled a face. "I can make my own, thanks."
Just as she went out, Alec's mobile rang, it being the coroner's office. He ended the call after listening and called for Ellie.
"Rose seems a bit better," Ellie commented as she sat opposite him.
Rose had seen Ellie go in so she just sipped her coffee and leaned against the counter.
"Miller, the coroner thankfully says there was no sign of any abuse so we can safely rule out a male attacker for that reason. I think we should stick to it being a rival, for now. The coroner also said it had to be someone of the same height or slightly taller so when the agency get back to you, we can rule anyone out who was smaller than her."
"You seem to forget that Rose would only have employed someone of the same height," Ellie reminded him.
Alec pulled one of his faces that said she didn't have to be such a smart-arse.
"Maybe so then? Mandy must have known someone was approaching her, why did she not run away or fight whoever it was off and was she standing or sat on the beach?" he asked.
Ellie thought he would never change, never giving anyone chance to reply.
"Well that would rule out if someone was taller than her or not," Ellie replied, since he'd stopped.
"I was saying to Rose that we could be dealing with someone local. She said one applicant was reluctant to fill in at the last minute, meaning she maybe never lived in London."
"You would have thought anyone would jump at the chance," Ellie replied.
"Exactly Miller. If we can get photos of those who applied, Rose will hopefully recognise the one who lost out to Mandy. Right, I'm away, Rose wants to go to the supermarket with me, it will take her mind off things."
"Is it wise going locally?" Ellie asked.
"I'll take her to the other one down in Dorchester then? She just wants to do normal things."
"I bet she does. I hope you behaved yourself last night?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alec asked her, reaching for his jacket.
"You two getting cosy in that cottage of yours, what do you think?" Ellie grinned. "Oh, when are we giving a press conference? I'm going to release the details shortly."
"Arrange it for tomorrow night, I'll ask Rose if she wants to attend. Is there anywhere we can hold it?" he asked, since he'd only ever done them at the school.
"I'll see what I can do," Ellie replied, getting up and wondering why Rose hadn't followed her in.
Rose had figured they may want to talk about her or what they were going to do once they got what they needed from the agency. She just hoped they still had all the details but if the one she suspected was still in the town, how did she expect to hide?
Ellie startled her. "You can go in now," she smiled as Rose looked at her.
"Oh, yeah, I was miles away," Rose smiled back.
"Rose, were you okay last night?" Ellie asked, trying to be quiet.
"Yeah, fine. Don't you get on with him or something?"
"We used to fight like cat and dog but since we solved his old case together, we got on better. It got to him, a few months back about that assault so that's why he's being a bit over-protective of you. He even told his daughter to stay were she is for now, he was worried about her before."
"He said she knew I was in town, she guessed, since I'm at the music festival. I hope I can still attend or I'll have to let them know."
"Let's see what happens? There's still plenty of time," Ellie replied.
"I told Alec I don't think I can go ahead with the video, not now anyway. It won't be ready in time for my new single being released anyway and how can I do it without Mandy?"
Ellie touched her arm. "You'll get through Rose, Mandy couldn't have hoped to have a better friend than you were to her."
"Ready to go?" Alec asked from behind Ellie, handing her jacket and shoulder bag to her.
"Yeah, sorry. See ya later Ellie."
After their shopping trip down to the next town, Rose wanted to sit outside for a while after they'd called for some food on the way back.
"You should be okay," Alec assured her. "Want to go for a walk?"
"No, not if that statement's gone out," Rose smiled, taking his hand.
"I'm calling a press conference tomorrow night, you don't have to attend if you don't want to," he told her.
"I want to. Alec, if who we think killed Mandy is still in town, it might get her annoyed enough to make a mistake."
"I'm not risking it Rose, someone will be with you all the time though maybe she got what she wanted?" he asked. "We just don't know yet."
"Yeah, she might want you to think it was only about getting Mandy out of the way then go after me?"
He went to put his arms around her. "Maybe not? Rose, if she's also a fan, she may have thought Mandy wasn't doing you justice by being your double? We can't be sure."
Rose buried her head in his shoulder.
"Great. I can't win, can I?"
"We'll know better when we make an appeal if anyone saw Mandy on the beach that morning and when we hear back from your agency. We'd best hope they kept those photos and details."
"So can one of my friends come down?" she asked as he kissed her forehead.
"Will it make you feel better?"
"Yeah and my mum will stop nagging that I've been left down here on my own," Rose smiled.
"You are not on your own Rose, don't think that. Did you tell her I am looking after you personally?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think that was half the problem," Rose teased him.
As it got late and Rose was staring out of the window at the lights below, he asked if she was sleeping in Daisy's room.
"Aren't I invited to stay with you again?"
"Yes, if you want but I had to give you a choice, did I not?" he replied. "Rose, the kisses were nice but this can't go anywhere."
"What? You think I'm using you because I'm upset?" she asked, trying to get away. "Or is it because of who I am and you think as soon as I get the chance I'll leave? I told you Alec, I don't think I want to be famous any more, not like that. You want to know why I became a singer?"
"I've read your story Rose. I had to know everything about you to see why someone would go after you like that but I suspect that's not all, is it?"
"You have no idea Alec. I don't want it any more, this is gonna be my last single, I'm gonna tell my agency on Monday. Can I do the music festival? That way I can make the announcement."
Alec couldn't help but admire her, telling her fans herself without the media doing it for her but how would she cope at the press conference about her friend?
"Come back here Rose, if you say you are giving it all up, that's good enough for me but you have to see it from my point of view?" he asked. "If you want to make something of it, well I want to but I can't go for anything short term, that's just how it is."
"I get tired of men trying to get me to date them when they just want to brag about it. It's been a long time since I had anyone who wanted to be serious," she admitted.
"I can imagine. When I was ill a few years ago, I used to get turned down and when I got well, I'd just got used to being on my own, I had to put Daisy first."
"She's lucky to have you. When is she coming back?"
"For the music festival?" he smiled, going to kiss her. "Maybe you can help me get her a backstage pass?"
"You'd better not be getting friendly with me just for that Alec."
"I would never dream of it. Now, are we sharing again?"
It went better than Alec dared hope as she relaxed more once he took his t-shirt off, since she'd left the heating turned up. He was finally being able to test how good a job had been done by the surgeon who had inserted his pacemaker but he couldn't help think if it was going to suddenly fail, he would rather it be by having sex with Rose Tyler than dying chasing a suspect.
When Rose woke the next morning, Alec wasn't there, he was making some breakfast and putting it on a tray just after eight and hoped he'd made her coffee how she liked it since she'd only bought it yesterday. He opened the bedroom door carefully, still in his shorts and a t-shirt and Rose sat up in bed.
"Good morning, Miss Tyler. So how is the princess of pop music this morning?"
"I don't hold that title, some Australian singer going by the name of Kylie beat me to it," Rose smiled as he handed her the coffee.
"Then that is a real shame, I will have to give you another name then?" he replied. "I will just go get my tray, I should get one that has room for two lots. Give me a kiss first though."
Rose put her coffee down as he leaned over.
"You were amazing last night Alec, I can't remember the last time I felt like that. Were you really that bad when you were ill?"
"Yes but I exaggerated slightly, only one turned me down, the hotel owner where I was at the time. She was Australian as well."
"Sure it wasn't Kylie?" Rose smiled.
"You are teasing me love. I will be right back, get your toast before it goes cold although you left the heating on full again."
"I'm surprised this place even has any. Why build a cottage up here?"
"I believe back when the town was new, well this part of the town, there used to be a golf clubhouse up here. There is a golf club nearby so from the top, they would have come down to it. I expect this was built to replace it."
"Thanks for the history lesson, Professor Hardy," Rose laughed.
"Right, you are in trouble when I get back."