CHAPTER TEN

AGRISERVICES

Bonnie's migraine had only grown exponentially as the big carnival got all set up in the grassy field by her and Alec's house. The noises and the lights just grated on her, finding a way to annoy her. And she wasn't easily annoyed. Usually, she'd greet them all with a smile and maybe even plan to drag Alec out to play some games and get cotton candy or something. But not now with the splitting pain in the back of her head.

To distract herself, Bonnie had been getting lost in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak when she noticed some peeking into the living room through the window-doors. Startled, she looked up from her reclined position on the couch and noticed Ricky Gillespie at the door. When he noticed her, he gave her a little wave. Slowly and warily, she approached the door and opened it, "What are you doing here, Mr. Gillespie?"

"Is Hardy here?" he asked.

"He's working," she answered warily. "What are you doing here?"

He raised his hands defensively, "I came to apologize to him. For the other night. And—and you, as well. I never should have raised my hand to you."

Still feeling like she was standing on the edge of a cliff with this man who may or may not be a killer, she decided to placate him. "Well, I shouldn't have gotten involved. It was a nerve-wracking night meeting my boyfriend's ex-wife and daughter."

"And then I show up making a fuss," he finished with a rueful grin. "I'm sorry."

She nodded, hiding her nervousness, "It's all right. I understand that you must still be so affected by... what happened. That doesn't go away."

"You would know," he remarked. "I understand that you knew the boy that was killed here."

She nodded again, "Yeah, I did. It's always hard."

Alec inwardly groaned as he trekked through the carnival outside his house, Ellie pushing Fred in his stroller alongside him, smiling and awing at everything. "Oh, bumper cars, Hardy!" she exclaimed. She smiled at all the lights and rides and games. "I think this is brilliant! Did you not know this was going to be behind your house?"

"The rental company forgot to mention it when I took it on," he grunted, unimpressed and thoroughly annoyed.

Ellie laughed and peeked in on her son, "Oh, Fred, we could go on the teacups, couldn't we? We could take Uncle Alec." She laughed even more at the look on his face.

They walked single line through the gated aisle towards his front gate, before he pushed it open to see Ricky at his doorstep and a nervous looking Bonnie speaking to him from the doorway.

"Ricky, what are you doing here?" he demanded, stepping up and searching Bonnie with his eyes to see if she was all right.

He regarded him with a bit of humor, "Is this really your gaff?" Then he noticed Ellie and put out his hand for her, "Sorry. Ricky Gillespie."

She shook his hand quickly, "Ellie Miller. We work together."

"What are you doing here?" Alec demanded again, relieved when Bonnie came to his side and gave him a smile to reassure him that she was okay, taking his elbow in her hand.

"I came to apologize," Ricky said. "When Cate told me you'd been around, I overreacted."

"A long way to come to say that," Alec commented, not happy to see the man at his house.

"I know Ashworth is down here. You seen him?" Ricky's tone changed. "Tell me where he is."

"Ricky, that won't help anyone," Alec sighed.

"It's eating me up knowing he's back in the country," Ricky said, voice a hiss.

"You really want to help?" Alec asked him, tilting his head towards Ellie. "Talk to Miller here. She's going through the case looking to see if we've missed anything."

Ricky slowly turned his attention to the former DS, "What do you want to know?"

"All right," Bonnie spoke up, poking her head over Freddy in his stroller as the baby grinned and gurgled at her. "Why don't I take Freddy to check out the carnival while you talk?"

"That would be lovely," Ellie said, picking Fred out of his stroller and handing him over. "You're going to have some fun with Auntie Bon-Bon, aren't you, Fred?"

Bonnie smiled as she situated Freddy on her hip, catching Alec's eye. He thought she looked so happy with a child in her arms, and he wasn't even her child. He gave her a small smile as she walked out of the gate with Fred, speaking excitedly with the little boy as he clapped with her.

Ellie and Ricky took seats at the wooden picnic table outside the house while Alec perched himself on the stone steps behind them.

Ellie started with, "Tell me about your daughter Pippa."

"She was my baby girl, you know," he said fondly. "She was sporty. Good runner. Played netball for the school team. Demon at table tennis. Competitive. Didn't like losing. I always spoilt her. My only child."

"What did she want to be when she grew up?" Ellie asked.

"It kept changing," he said. "The last few months it was err... hairdresser."

Did that have anything to do with Claire next door?

Alec and Ellie immediately thought of Claire but didn't say so.

"The night both girls disappeared, you were at a wedding with Cate. You were together all night?" Ellie questioned.

"I had to look after her. She was pissed. Sign of things to come, 'ey?" he remarked. And of course, he was right. Cate was now an alcoholic.

Alec felt his vision go hazy for a second, his chest feeling tight. He groaned, breathing heavily and standing up to go to the edge of his stoop by the water, ignoring the looks he got from Ricky and Ellie. He could feel that he was getting worse and worse – his condition. And it got him thinking.

"And tell me about Lisa," Ellie prompted.

"She was my niece. Tricky relationship with her dad. Still uses her mum's surname," he described.

"She babysat for you quite regularly?" Ellie questioned.

He nodded, "Every other week. Sometimes she'd stay over, other times I'd take her home."

"Did she have a boyfriend?" she asked.

"No-one regular," he shook his head.

Ellie tried to keep her tone even as she asked, "Did you fancy her, Ricky?"

He looked at her, hard in the face, "She was my niece."

Ellie gave him an apologetic smile and said, "I had to ask."

He glared at her and said, "No, you didn't."

After that, he made his way out and Alec and Ellie stood by the gate, watching him leave. Out of the corner of his eye, Alec could see Bonnie playing a smack the weasel game with Fred in her arms, helping him hold the plastic mallet and wack at the toy animals poking out of holes. Fred was squealing every time he made contact with something and she cheered him on. It looked like such a natural sight to behold.

"She's so good with him," Ellie commented, watching the scene as well. "Do you think you'll have children with her?"

Alec gave her a look, "Did she tell you we've been talking 'bout it?"

Ellie's eyebrows shot to her forehead, "You have!? Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"

He shrugged, "We don't talk about that kind of stuff." They quieted as Ricky finally disappeared from view. "You all right?"

"Fine," she answered. "How much did you look into Ricky at the time?"

"He had a solid alibi," he said. "He and Cate said they were at the wedding together."

"She's changed her story and the florist confirmed it. Looks like he's lying," Ellie surmised.

"Looks that way," he agreed.

"So, who are our suspects?" she asked.

"Got Ashworth, Ricky, Claire, and that stalker on the estate. Possibly Cate," he listed off readily.

"That's right – don't trust anyone," she remarked.

He looked at her looking at Fred and Bonnie. "You should go. Take Fred. Sleep."

She sighed, "I don't sleep much at the moment, and I don't like my flat and I want to take a proper look at all your files."

"Don't get pulled into this," he warned her off. "This case has done enough damage to people."

She shook her head, "Not me. I'm going to solve it. I'm going to need your wall."

When Bonnie noticed them standing, she and Freddy ended their game and made their way over. Soon, the girls and little boy went into the house. Ellie started going through Hardy's files and pinning clues and information to the wall of the small living room while Bonnie set Freddy up on the couch with his toys. Ellie looked over at the other woman, "I hope you don't mind. I realize this is your house now too."

Bonnie smiled at her indulgently, "Of course, I don't mind. I'm surprised Alec hasn't already done this all yet."

Ellie nodded and kept working. "He let it slip that you've talked about having kids. That's wonderful."

"He did?" she remarked, surprised. "Well, yeah. And would you believe that he was the one who broached the subject first?"

Ellie gaped at her, "No! Really? I wouldn't think him the type!"

"He does already have a daughter," Bonnie pointed out.

"I know but he's older now and you've complained about how much he complains about the age difference," she said.

"I've addressed that with him," Bonnie said. "He knows I don't care that he's older than me. We both know that we want to be together for the foreseeable future. And he seems to come around more to liking the idea of us having our own family."

Bonnie heard a small groan outside and splash and called out, "Alec, honey, you all right!?"

"All right!" he called back. "I'm going for a walk!"

Bonnie stood and poked her head out the door to see him slipping on his coat. "It's getting late."

"I won't be long, I promise," he said, walking up to her and cupping her face. "I love you. Very much."

She smiled, if a little unsure why he was being so serious and open all of the sudden, "I love you too. Be safe. Call if you're going to be late?"

"I will," he said before leaning down to kiss her.

Jocelyn Knight was pouring over her notes with her glasses over her nose when a knock on the glass of her backdoor startled and she looked to see Alec standing there, "Oh, for heaven's sake! I need a lock put on that gate."

"You busy?" he asked.

She gave him a look, "Of course I'm busy. I'm in the middle of a trial! What do you want?"

"Could you do my will?"

She was surprised to get the request, but soon found herself hunched in front of her computer at the table with him as he dictated the terms of his last will and testament. "Anyone would think I was a high-street solicitor." She paused at their place deep into the details. "It's not exactly complicated. Thirty percent of your pension and all your personal effects to Miss Irving. Everything else to your daughter. Held till she is 18. Hm, lucky girl."

"You got kids?" he asked.

She shook her head, "I never married."

"That through choice?"

She looked at him with a chuckle, "What is this, a police interview?"

"No. Sorry. Just conversation," he replied honestly.

Surprised at his genuine attitude. "Well... Things were complicated, and I made... I made them more so. I was at a point when I, when I should have been strong, and I wasn't, and I missed the person I was supposed to be with."

"Did you ever tell him?" he asked, curious.

She looked back at her computer screen, "No."

"Maybe you should," he remarked, thinking about how short life felt. There was still so much he wanted to do. He wanted to watch his daughter finish growing up. He wanted to marry Bonnie, and possibly have children with her if he could. He wanted to solve Sandbrook. He wanted a long and happy life.

Jocelyn's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "It's always easy to recognize mistakes in hindsight. Much harder to fix them now. Anyway, why do you... why do you need this now?"

"Just putting things right," he hedged. "What's your sense of the trial?"

She sat up straighter, "Susan Wright was a mistake for the defense. It makes them look like amateurs. Not going into the witness box is going to damage Miller's credibility. The confession is back in, but the jury still witnessed all the argument about it."

"He has GOT to be convicted," he emphasized.

She gave him a look, "I don't need you to tell me that! I'll do the best I can with what I have."

The sun was starting to come up when Alec finally made his way home. When he arrived, his whole living room was in disarray, and Ellie poked her head up from the floor like a pop-goes-the-weasel and started a rapid fire of information and questions, "Shh! Did you see this scribbled on the back of an old vehicle check form? Thorp Agriservices. What's that? Have you come across that? And next to it, Gary Thorp, dash, Lee Ashworth, question mark."

"Have you been here all night?" he asked.

"Yeah, I suppose I have," she responded dubiously. "Fred is sleeping in the bedroom with Bon. Shh!"

"I need a cup of tea," he groaned.

But before he could go into the kitchen, Ellie embarrassingly told him, "Ah, you're out of teabags and milk and I've used the last of the bread."

Instead of getting mad and sniping at her, he decided to lope into the bedroom, tossing his coat on the couch as he went. He paused when he saw Bonnie stretched out on her side of the bed with little Freddy cuddled up to her side. She looked so beautiful, and very peaceful. As he moved through the room to start changing out his clothes, he heard her start shifting and groaning in her sleep, turning in time to see her eyes open.

She frowned when she saw him, "Hey. You were supposed to call."

"I know, I'm sorry," he whispered, conscious of the sleeping baby in their bed. "I got a bit aimless."

"All night?" she questioned, carefully sitting up without displacing Fred.

He sat down on the foot of the bed next to her, "What do you really think about the operation?"

"The pacemaker?" she wondered. "I think it's your life and your choice."

Wordlessly, he listened and then pulled a little white box out of his pant pocket, placing it on the bed. She eyed it as he lifted the lid and she saw a thin gold band with rose-gold rose decals and a rectangular ruby stone in the center of it. She gasped at the sight, lightly, as he pulled it out of the cushion inside the box and started sliding it onto her third finger. "It's from my mum's family, but not really an engagement ring. I thought you might still like it."

"It's beautiful," she confirmed, smiling at it. She gave him a look underneath her smile though, "You know you're supposed to ask a question here, right?"

He playfully narrowed his eyes at her, but spoke in a soft, clear voice, asking, "Bonnie Kenneth Irving, will you marry me?"

He would never forget the still-sleepy smile she gave him when she leaned over and pressed her lips to his again and again, whispering her answer, "Yes," as she kissed him that morning.

Clasping their hands together as they pulled away, he spoke more seriously, "Now as my fiancé, how do you really feel about the operation? Be honest."

Sighing slowly, Bonnie voiced her thoughts and fears about his condition and the procedure he was considering getting done. "Well, I'll still support you no matter what. But I see every day that no matter the situations or amount of stress, that your symptoms are getting worse. I can only imagine how bad they'll get with time since I know it's just not you to walk away from active investigating, even after closing Sandbrook. I know the surgery itself is risky, but as time goes by it seems just as risky to not get it done."

"So, you think I should?" he asked, not hearing a straight answer.

She looked at him, "I think you've already chosen to, and want me to agree." She reached up to cup his tired face, "I love you. And I'm scared of losing you to either your condition or the operation. You should do it."

He gave her a grateful smile and hugged her to him as the sun continued to rise, "Thank you. I love you too."

"I couldn't find any note of Thorp Agriservices ever being cross-checked," Ellie remarked as the detectives walked along the cliffs, Alec pushing Fred's stroller.

"I don't think I've ever heard of it," Alec said.

"I went through that stuff Lee Ashworth gave you. It's all useless or irrelevant."

"He's just trying to put us off the scent," Alec remarked.

"How far did you ever look into Lisa Newbery?"

Alec looked over at her, "How do you mean?"

"Well, we know a bit of what happened to her now. But that nightmare Bon had doesn't explain everything. The last use of Lisa's bank account was at 3.54pm on the day she disappeared before she went to babysit. The last call was made at 5.17pm on her mobile to her mum. Then no more cash withdrawals or calls made after that, but her phone was on for another 18 hours. The last signal triangulated in Portsmouth. How did her phone get to Portsmouth? Were any of our suspects near Portsmouth then?"

"No, we checked. We know all this," he replied tiredly.

"Was anyone with you that night?" Sharon bishop started her interrogation of Nige without preamble.

"No."

"Did anyone see you?" she asked.

"No."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow like a scolding mother. "So, nobody can corroborate your story?"

"Only the pheasants I poached," he joked.

"Is this funny to you, Mr. Carter?"

He instantly sobered and shook his head, "Not at all."

She hummed under her breath and added, "Your own mother identified you with Danny's body, didn't she?"

"If I killed Danny, then where is my DNA on him, 'ey? Where are my prints at the hut?" Nige poised for her. He thought this whole show was ridiculous. They all knew who really killed Danny.

"Who said you killed him?" Sharon asked, to the surprise of the man in the box, and the others in the courtroom. "I'm not suggesting you killed Danny. I am suggesting that you put his body on the beach where Susan Wright saw you. Isn't that correct?"

"No!" he protested loudly.

"Thank you," Sharon said smugly, as if he'd agreed with her.

Nige tried to beseech to Mark, "Mate..." but he was corralled off of the witness box before he could get another word in edgewise.

Alec was surprised to see Lee's name on his phone when it rang as he was returning home after Bonnie had already left for work. "What?"

"Did you tell Ricky Gillespie where I was working?" Lee's voice greeted him.

"No, why?"

"Because he's come for me."

Alec had to drop everything immediately to rush over to where Lee was staying on a farmer's land he was building a fence for. He got there to see that Ricky had already started in on Lee, punching the man repeatedly in the face while he was down on his back on the ground.

"Oh, shit!" Alec cursed as he rushed over. "Ricky, get off him! Ricky!" Ricky didn't stop until Alec had gotten to them and shoved him off. "Get off him. Come on! Do you think that will help?"

He spat on the ground, "I got what I came for." He started walked off, but still bent over Lee and pointed a finger in his face, "You're nothing!"

"Are you going to report it?" Alec asked later as Lee cleaned himself up in the old stone tower up the hill.

"No, what's the point?" Lee retorted.

"Is this where you're sleeping?" Alec said, taking in the tiny structure with blankets set up inside.

"The farmer said I could. I like it," Lee shrugged. It was good enough for him.

"I hear you saw Claire."

"Did you?" Lee replied nonchalantly.

"You two ever use Rohypnol?" Alec asked.

Lee looked off, pausing before answering, "Once."

Alec was surprised he didn't deny it. "Where did you get it from?"

After another pause, he again answered honestly, "Ricky Gillespie. He used to go to Amsterdam, bring back all sorts of stuff."

Alec was even more taken aback, "Ricky gave you Rohypnol?"

Lee nodded, "He did."

"Have you ever heard of a business called Thorp Agriservices?" Alec moved along.

"No."

"You sure about that?" Alec asked again.

Le shrugged, "Unless it's one of the businesses Cate did the books for."

After a small lull passed between them, Alec asked, "Did you ever sleep with Cate?"

Lee looked off, standing with his back towards Alec. "...No."

Bonnie found it hard to focus on work when she spent most of her time staring at her left ring finger. Seeing the pretty little ruby sitting on her hand gave her butterflies. She was getting married. To the grouchy DI Alec Hardy. If she had thought she would be in this kind of situation even five years ago, she would have called herself nutty. Said things like it was too soon, they'd only been together for less than a year. But the grown-up woman she was now knew that it was right.

She and Megan were getting along famously too. The younger woman had even squealed with her when she revealed her engagement ring. Megan raved about the apartment and the store, saying that Broadchurch seemed like the best place to live and relax while she worked on her master's thesis. Bonnie was glad to see that their arrangement would be working for a while.

She was brought out of her blissful thoughts about life and the future when the bell above her door rang. She lifted her head to greet the new customer, thinking it a student looking for tutoring. But stopped when she saw none other than her Uncle Jay standing in the doorway, awkwardly. She hadn't seen him on skype since Uma had sent her her mother's book. But he looked the same, if a little worse for wear. He was a large man, over six foot with a stocky build. Salt and pepper hair and a great big bushy beard she used to pull on when she was little, and he visited her in the states.

Despite the anger from their last conversation, Bonnie still smiled and rushed to hug him when she saw him. "I'm sorry I blamed you for everything."

"Oh annwyl, it's all right," he murmured as he enclosed her in the biggest bear hug only her Uncle could give. "I had to check in on you myself. Marge still here?"

Bonnie sighed, "Unfortunately," as they pulled away. "She even showed up to the trial. Tried to hire out her services to Beth and Mark. I had to physically walk her out of the courthouse."

Jay sighed with her, dragging hand down his worn face. "I'm sorry Uma caused all this." There was a lull of silence where Bonnie didn't know what to say. Until he added, "We're separated."

Her eyes bugged out of her head, "What? I didn't want to cause a divorce!"

"You didn't cause anything, love," her Uncle assured her. "It was all her. I couldn't take it anymore. She's almost as delusional as your mum – and that's hard to accomplish."

Bonnie frowned, "Are you all right? You're here – did you need a place to stay?"

"I've already checked into the Trader's Hotel," he pointed his thumb back to the place across the street.

"Mom is there too," she warned.

"I'll deal with her," Jay promised. "I was thinking of finding a place closer to here. We're really the only family we've got."

She shrugged, giving him a teasing smirk, "I don't know... there's Dawn and Ty in Glasgow. Marty in Belfast."

He playfully smacked her shoulder, "Very cheeky. Broadchurch ain't that bad, it seems. Contrary to recent events, of course."

"Oh, from my point of view it's pretty amazing," she smiled blindingly, holding up her left hand to wiggle her ring finger at him.

"What is that!?" he guffawed animatedly. She always loved his reactions to good news. It made it all more real for her to see him happy for her. He took hold of her hand and peered inquisitively at the ruby ring. "He must know you pretty well. This ring is you all over."

She smiled as she took her hand back, gazing at the ring, "It was one of his mum's. He thought I'd like it. He was right."

"When did this happen?" he asked. "Have you started planning the ceremony?"

She shook her head, "No plans yet. He asked first thing this morning. We'd been talking about it, about the future in general for us. I think he formally asked now because he's decided to go ahead with surgery for his heart condition. He's getting a pacemaker put in and it's a risky procedure."

"He could die?" Jay questioned.

She nodded sadly, "Yes, he could. But he's well on his way to an early grave if he doesn't do anything."

"I'm sure he'll be all right," Jay said optimistically. "He's got to marry you, after all. Give me some grandbabies."

She blushed but knew Jay would be more of a grandparent to any child she and Alec may have than her mother could ever be. She would be glad to have him in their life. "Let's not rush that part. We're still just talking about it, trying to see what feels right. I really just want him to make it through the surgery first and go get married at a clerk's office or something. No real fuss. I'm sure he wants that too."

"As long as I get to walk you down some aisle," Jay joked joyfully.

Ellie led Alec through her recent work in the case, all tacked up on the walls of his home, "Thorp Agriservices. I googled it, It's a business in the Sandbrook area five miles from the Gillespie house. I need to go back there to visit this Agriservices place. I could see where you found Pippa and the woods by the river. Fresh eyes – that's what you wanted."

He was about to agree with her plan when Lucy rushed in, "There you are! Don't you answer your phone? I've been looking all over for you." She paused when she saw the appearance of the room, "What the hell is all that stuff?"

"Excuse me. This is my house!" Alec protested.

"What do you want, Luce?" Ellie said, ushering Lucy outside.

"I just want you to know I didn't know he'd done it," Lucy started, preparing her sister for bad news.

"Didn't know he'd done what?" Ellie asked, a cold pit in her stomach.

"Tom is going to give evidence on behalf of Joe," Lucy revealed.

Ellie gaped, "What?"

"He went to see Joe's legal team without my knowing," Lucy explained.

"He can't do that without my permission, can he?" Ellie asked, not knowing how things got so muddled up in life so quickly.

Lucy shrugged, "Apparently, he can. I tried to talk him out of it, but he's dead set on it, Elle."

Ellie turned away from her and called for her sister to go away as she let herself hold in her tears. Reluctantly, Lucy left, hoping that whatever Tom said on the stand didn't break his mother's heart even more than it already was because of Joe Miller.

Ellie practically narrated her recent thought processes for the case as she drove herself and Alec to what she'd found in Portsmouth, "So, Lisa's phone in Portsmouth. What do you do in Portsmouth apart from being in the navy or looking at ships?"

"Go on, dazzle me," he goaded her.

"You get a ferry to France. Portsmouth to Cherbourg," she said.

He didn't understand her excitement, "So?"

"So, who else was in France?" she posited for him.

He sighed, "Lee Ashworth."

"Exactly," she said as she drove up to the elusive company that had jumped out at her. It looked abandoned. "Okay, this is the place."

"What is it they do?" Alec asked her as they got out of the car and started making their way into the rusting building.

"Services to the agricultural industries. I couldn't find anything more specific than that," she said as they opened the creaking door.

"It doesn't seem like a place Lee Ashworth would be connected to," Alec remarked as he looked around the big empty factory.

"So, what is he not telling us?" Ellie posited. "It looks pretty closed. It must have gone out of business. Let's look round the back."

The whole thing was creaking, only one of the light switches still worked that they tried. Alec held a door open for her, making conversation, "Are you going to talk to Tom before he gets in the box?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said.

When they walked into the back room, they were both overtaken by a rotten smell. Alec reached up to cover his nose, "What's that smell?"

Ellie groaned as she looked around, "It's blood!" She noticed a large metal sectional structure in the center of the backroom. "What is that?!" They walked closer and she noticed a handle and large door on one side. "Oh, look, here you go."

Working together, they worked the crank on one side of the door until it creaked open. Ellie gasped when she saw a pile of dirty ashes inside. "Oh, God. It's a furnace."

"Agricultural services – they burned dead animals here," Alec said. Was this place why Lisa's body was never found?

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