Rose ended the call, Alec looking at her.
"Well, you did not do that badly."
"Half of it was true. You did tell me to go home, I chose to refuse to leave you and I told my friend you were waiting to see if you were being discharged when she brought the car to me, if your wife cares to check. I think she sounded mad at you."
"For a change. What was the rest of it about?"
"Digging up the Gillespie's garden. He wasn't pleased about the way you sent your wife to tell him but she said it was just as well, he might have had a go at you again."
"How do you know about that?"
"When we were leaving. Be careful Alec, he's just lost his daughter and possibly his niece. My friend also told me, she and DC Ashby went to interview the neighbours, the Ashworths, she said they were 'creepy'."
"Define the word creepy for me?" Alec asked her, suddenly feeling tired as he'd not slept properly the last few nights, since this had happened and it could just as well have been Daisy who had gone missing.
"I don't know, she never said but I'll ask her tomorrow. Maybe the girl's father will have calmed down by tomorrow?"
"Let us hope so and I want to go see them myself tomorrow but thanks for the warning. I also want to see the Ashworth's myself, find out how well they knew the two girls, if they saw them socially. I'll interview him you can interview his wife."
"On my own?"
"Get one of your friends to help you. I'm off to bed, I have a headache."
"I'm not surprised but I'll not disturb you, will you manage?"
"I just changed my clothes, remember?"
Rose smiled. "Yeah, sorry. Goodnight then, Alec."
"Goodnight Rose and thank you for letting me stay, I could not have faced going home."
"Then why do you stay?"
"For my daughter but having seen her at her birthday party, although I was late."
"She's lucky to have you, I never knew my dad."
"Sorry to hear that. I lost my mum."
He got up and went to the room Rose had given him for the night, threw off his jacket and went to the bathroom. Rose was in the kitchen, washing the mugs from the hot chocolate, which she shouldn't have left as they took some cleaning. He saw her and watched for a few seconds before going to the bathroom.
"Alec, there's a spare toothbrush in the cabinet, if you want it?"
"Thank you. I did not mean to stare at you just then, I am just not used to it being so quiet."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Never mind, I am not going to drag you into my domestic problems."
"I think it's a bit late for that, your wife has in not so many words accused me of having an affair with you. I'm surprised she's not actually come out and said it yet."
"Rose, I have tried to tell her, I have done my best but maybe that is the reason she has not come out with it yet."
"Well she'd better not say it. There are rumours going around that a senior male officer is, you know, playing around but all the women know it's not you."
"Why do they assume that?"
"Because we know who it is but maybe your wife hasn't caught on yet and she thinks it's you?"
"You make a very good case, I will make a DC of you yet. I've not heard such rumours but there again, I do not listen to gossip, I leave that to you women."
"Thanks for that, Alec," Rose laughed.
Alec had to smile. Rose thought it changed his whole face and wondered why in the last few days, he'd been trying to push his hair back out of his eyes and was also looking like he had the beginnings of a beard. It had to have been his wife that chose his hairstyle, probably to try to put women off him. Now he was beginning to rebel against her, he looked like he'd had enough.
Rose was woken suddenly, she glanced at the digital clock, it was just after two and not used to not having company for the last week it had made her jumpy so when she heard someone call out and a noise, she got out of bed, realising it was her boss. She knocked on the door but got no reply so she chanced going in, she had told the hospital she would make sure he was ok and he hadn't just sounded it.
"Alec, are you ok?" she asked as he was sat up in bed and realising he'd no t-shirt on, him only having the clothes he'd been wearing.
"I'm fine, go back to bed," he told her, hoping she wouldn't switch the light on.
"What happened? Do you need to go back to hospital?"
"No, no more hospital, they cannot do anything."
"Then tell me if I can do anything," she told him, realising she only had her pyjamas on.
In the last few weeks the weather had changed and now it was chilly at night but not bad enough to put the heating on, which fortunately was gas and she'd be out most of the day. If she didn't get someone to share, it would be back to the boarding house, at least everything was included in the price.
"Rose, just go back to bed, there is nothing you can do either, except maybe stop my wife complaining about you."
"Sorry but there's nothing I can do, she won't come out and accuse me so I can't retaliate. If I say anything, she'll have me in front of the chief for insubordination. I have to wait for her to actually say something to me."
"Never mind, now is not the time to be discussing this. Go on, before you get cold, have you no heating?"
"I can't afford it, I told you my flatmate left suddenly, I can only just make the rent."
"Then put it on and I will give you some money towards it, go on."
"Thanks but that's only for one night, I'll manage."
"The offer is there," he told her, getting back under the covers.
"Tell me what woke you."
"Nothing, go back to bed. Are you going to interrogate me all night? I could have gone home and let my wife do that."
"Fine, I'll go then. I can see what her problem is."
With that she closed the door and hurried back to bed, no wonder is wife was like she was. Alec realised he might have just sent his only friend right now running so he decided he would get up early and make breakfast for her, he was quite used to getting Daisy's.
Rose woke up at seven and could smell something cooking. She got up and sneaking past the kitchen, saw Alec in just his shirt and trousers cooking bacon and eggs and trying to rescue the toast.
"Good, you're awake, this is almost ready."
"Morning, have you taken over my kitchen?"
"Are you going to interrogate me again?"
"No, sorry. Last night, I didn't mean it to sound like it was, I was just worried about you."
"I know, I apologise and am making a peace offering and maybe a burnt one," he grinned, scraping the toast.
"Don't worry, I do that every morning, I'm surprised I haven't set the smoke alarm off yet. I'll just be a few minutes."
She then went to join him, forgetting about getting dressed.
"If I don't find someone to share soon, I'll have to leave so there's no point in putting the heating on. Were you warm enough?"
"Yes, I don't feel the cold much. I was only thinking you must be cold."
"These PJ's are quite warm. Sorry, I should have got dressed."
"No need to apologise, I did not want your breakfast getting cold."
Rose went to get dressed while he cleared up then she drove him to his house, waiting outside but stopped him before he went in.
"Alec, she's still there. She said she was leaving your daughter at her grandmothers."
"You told me on the way over, it is just her way of getting to me but do you know what? I do not care any more."
He got out of the car and got his key out, at least she had left it for him. Tess was finishing in the kitchen.
"Oh. They let you out then? Did Tyler pass on the message?"
"Which one? You gave her a list."
"Don't be so clever Alec. So what was wrong with you they kept you overnight?"
"Observation, I swallowed a lot of water. You could have phoned to find out."
"I tried, you ignored my calls."
"When was that?" he asked, getting his phone out.
"I've got better things to do Alec, get changed or you'll be late for work, do you want a ride?"
Alec thought she'd not bothered looking out of the window then.
"My DC picked me up, she's waiting outside for me."
"Well she would, wouldn't she?"
"Why don't you just come out and say it Tess?"
"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"
He shook his head and went to get changed, hoping she would leave Rose alone on the way out but sending Rose a message, warning her to watch out. Rose got the message as Tess came out of the side door, seeing Rose sitting in the car, listening to the radio. Tess decided to go talk to her, she still had a few minutes since Alec had declined to get into an argument.
"Tyler, when did you pick DI Hardy up?" she asked Rose as she let her window down.
"Not long ago, he called to say they were letting him out and he didn't want to bother you, he didn't know you had left your daughter with her grandmother."
"I told you to tell him."
"I never got the chance until he asked me to pick him up, it's no bother."
"I bet it isn't."
"Mrs Hardy, I don't know what your problem with me is but we're not at work now so why don't you tell me?"
Alec had seen Tess leaning down to talk to Rose and was hurrying downstairs before one of them lost their temper and it would probably be Tess.
"Come on Tyler, we will be late. Tess, where is Daisy, did you leave her at your mother's?" he asked as he caught up to them.
"Tyler here was supposed to tell you."
"She may have mentioned it."
"Excuse me Sir but I tried to and we are going to be late."
"You could come with me Alec."
"Why when I already have a driver and she has a car, at my request, it is not just for her benefit."
He got in and put the seatbelt on, Rose pulling away and leaving Tess standing.
"Thanks for the rescue Sir."
"Forget the sir when we are on our own."
"I'll try to remember that."
"What did you need rescuing from?"
"I asked her if she had a problem with me."
"Rose, you should not have done that."
"I have a right to know. Now we are officially working, I won't mention it again."
Rose did not enjoy interviewing Claire Ashworth, even though Annie was with her.
"Why have you brought me here?" Claire asked, looking at the two DC's.
"We wanted to ask you a few more questions, about Pippa Gillespie and Lisa Newberry."
"I hardly knew them."
"Is that why there are photos of you with Pippa?" Rose asked.
"What do you mean?"
Rose opened a brown envelope and spread out a dozen or so photos the girl's mother had given Tess of her daughter. Then Rose noticed something but kept quiet. Pippa was wearing a pendant that Claire had been wearing in another photo and she reckoned if it had been given to her, the girl would have been wearing it when she had been found or Claire would be.
Rose left Claire with a WPC and went to find Alec, who'd been having fun interviewing Lee Ashworth.
"According to the girl's mother, you did her a favour and dropped her at school some mornings yet you told officers you don't know her that well."
"What are you getting at? Where's my wife?"
"You will get to see her shortly but answer my questions."
"I've answered enough, I want a solicitor."
"You are going to need one," Alec replied, getting another headache since Tess was sat next to him and she wasn't helping much.
Alec got up and Tess followed him.
"Get him a bloody solicitor and find out from Cate Gillespie exactly how many times recently the girl had been with the neighbours, we are not going to get any more out of him. I'm going to find out how Tyler is getting on."
"I should be the one doing that, under the circumstances."
"Yes, you would just love that Tess. You make her nervous, back off."
"I make her nervous? You have some nerve Alec, how do you think she's making me feel?"
"You are making it worse for yourself but now is not the time."
"Then be home early and we can talk about it."
"Every conversation with you is one-sided Tess, I will be home but I'm moving into the spare room."
"You might just as well do."
"I'm glad we agree on something then. I will talk to Daisy."
"She won't listen to you Alec, I think she's best staying at my mother's for now, I'll take her things later, since you seem to be working all hours or landing yourself in hospital. Why did they keep you in?"
"Ask them."
He knew she wouldn't so he was pretty safe. Apart from him almost stuffing things up with Rose by telling her to stop interrogating him, at least she had bothered about him when he'd woken up from his nightmare of still being in the water and the girl's body being taken from him but he still couldn't get the image out of his head it had been Daisy that he'd found and he couldn't talk to Tess about it.
Maybe Rose would be more understanding and he'd nothing to get back home in a hurry for tonight. Rose was waiting in his office, with a folder of the transcript of the 'interview' with Claire Ashworth. Alec sat down and took the folder, Rose not being able to tell how he was taking it that they'd not got much out of her.
"So, she says she was with him all night?"
"Yes Sir, that's what she insists and we gave her the chance to change her mind. I looked at those photos again and noticed something. Pippa was wearing a pendant in one photo that Claire was wearing in another, if the girl had been given it, she would have been wearing it the night she disappeared."
"Yes, right. You go double check and see if it has been found on her and if not, go back and see her mother and ask if she was wearing it when they left to go to that wedding. Ask her permission to search the house for it if she does not know where it is or the girl was not wearing it, if she refuses, get a search warrant, this could be a vital clue."
Rose thought at last they seemed to be getting somewhere as she got up to leave.
"Well done Tyler."
"Thank you Sir, I was just doing my job. This is the first time a disappearance has ended in tragedy where I've worked on the case."
"It does not get any easier Tyler, I regret to say. You were very observant, it may have just saved us a lot of time. Keep this to yourself for now or DS Henchard will steal it from under your nose."
"Yes Sir but can I get DC Walker to help?"
"Yes, if you wish but tell her the same and you report directly to me, if you are asked, refer everything to me."
Rose went off to find Annie, since she had been the one to interview Claire with her, Tess had taken Peggy with her and while they were out, Tess had a few questions for her.
"Ashby, have you heard those rumours going around?"
"Which are those Ma'am?" Peggy asked, not liking the way Tess drove but she'd insisted they went in her car.
"You know which ones, about a male senior officer."
"Oh, that one. If you're asking me if I know who it is, you'd have to ask around, no senior male officer has suggested anything to me, I keep out of it."
"You're friends with Tyler?"
"Yes, why? Are you suggesting she knows?"
"No but despite me warning her, she tends to spend a lot of time with my husband lately."
"No disrespect Ma'am but DC Tyler knows he's her boss, she has to do as he says. If you don't mind me saying, you should ease up on her and personally, I don't think it's your husband who is the male officer, no-one has ever said anything about him."
The solicitor for Lee Ashworth had arrived and he'd been advised not to answer any more questions about how he knew the family so he'd been released for the time being and had joined his wife outside.
"They know Lee," Claire told him as they got in his truck. "We have to sell the car, today before they want to search it, to see if Pippa was in it."
"I know that you stupid cow, what did you tell them?"
"Nothing Lee, honestly but what if they find out about the pendant I gave Pippa? That DC had photos of both Pippa and I wearing it."
"What happened to it Claire?"
"How do I know? You took Pippa to the woods, I was dealing with Ricky. Hell Lee, you must have left it on her or it came off somewhere. Check the car when we get back then go sell it, I don't care how much you get for it."