Title: Broadchurch: Sins Of The Father
Date of commencement: September 22 2013
Date of completion: December 24 2014
Series: Broadchurch, a sequel to the original, and following on from Life Without Joe (only on LiveJournal, under lock)
Rating: M
Authors: tkel_paris and tardis_mole
Summary: Two years after Danny's death, life is slowly getting back to normal in Broadchurch. But Hardy's happy life is about to be turned upside down by a spectre from the past he had hoped had been laid to rest. Someone from his past wants to talk to him, someone wants revenge, someone wants to see him ruined. But it's not one 'someone'. But first, he must face the girl in his garden.
Disclaimer: We own nothing, but this is based on Broadchurch by Chris Chibnal, with added clues from the novel by Erin Kelly. We gain nor financial benefit nor gratuities, only the enjoyment from writing and working together on this epic journey, shared for the enjoyment of others.
Dedication: Chris Chibnal, long time friend. bas_math_girl, for her beta. And each other for hopefully not ruining each other's lives for too long during the writing part.
Warning: If you have not watched Broadchurch in its entirety, do not read this. We mean it. You will be spoiled. Stop and go back. Now. Ideally you have seen the entire show, not just what was aired on BBC America if you live on that side of the pond, but this is understandable in either case. Also, if you have not read tardis_mole's Life Without Joe, that's okay. It's possible to read this without reading that, if you're not on Moley's approved list. You'll probably find this makes a little more sense if you have read it, but you should be fine without it. Take the time to read Erin Kelly's novelization, if you can, as it provided certain details that helped with writing this. Though you won't need to rely on it.
Authors' Notes: See Episode One, Part One. They're a bit long to include in each post.
Episode Six. Part Nine: Broken Flowers
"Luiz Gotlieb has no ties to Sandbrook or any of the other girls. It's Louise Dusk who was in that photo."
Hardy rubbed his eyes. Another of his daughter's friends was dead. He dropped his hands with a heavy sigh. "She was the intended victim?"
"Luiz Gotlieb was mistaken for Louise Dusk. And something spooked her killer, which meant more forensic evidence was left behind. I sent Maggie and Olly up to investigate the links and speak in person with some witnesses. They've begun helping Children's Services here by linking their investigation with one at another office, because there are many links that had to be explored to make sure we didn't miss anything."
"So what do you need my help with?"
Ellie took one file from the three the Super had brought with her. She drew out a copy of a school year photograph from a secondary school in Sandbrook. "Do you know any of the girls in this photo?"
He took it and stared for a long time. "Wait... some of them look familiar. I think... Yes, these two were at the house a lot."
"Do you remember their names?"
"Um... Kate Bryony. I remember her because she was sick once and I had to go to the chemists for medicine because we couldn't get hold of her parents. And this one... Her first name was Rose sound, and her last name was something-way."
Ellie's eyes opened. "Rose Holloway?"
"Yes. That's it. They've been friends since their first day at Sandbrook Academy. I remember picking her up a few times with Daisy for tea. The last time I saw her, she and Daisy were planning a sleepover."
"What about the others?" asked Jenkinson.
Alec took another hard look. "I can't put names to faces, but... now I could swear that the names Connelly gave me were all part of Daisy's circle if not her year at school. I can't remember who was who."
Ellie paled. "Oh my god." She sat down. "Oh, this is worse than we thought."
He looked between his wife and the Super. "Is there something else I don't know?"
The Chief Super decided she had to be the one to break it to him. "In the course of Maggie Radcliffe and Olly Stevens' investigation, they found that every girl in that photo is missing. Talking with the Sandbrook police, they have uncovered evidence adding to that department's investigation of a suspected grooming ring."
Hardy's whole face widened and paled at the same time. "You're not saying that all of them have been targeted and taken by the ring, are you?"
Ellie took over. "They had no leads until Hailey turned up with two hundred and fifty mobile phones in her backpack, just whispers and suspicions. They thought they were looking for ten. But now that we have a witness, hopefully two, who can testify against the ring. Daisy, somehow, remained outside the ring. Hailey escaped and made her way to Broadchurch, but she was terrified to remain here."
"She's been placed somewhere safe?" Hardy asked.
"Officially, she's been placed with a foster family outside Weymouth. The only person in Broadchurch who knows where she is, is Connelly, and he's safely locked up in a cell to protect her until Sandbrook have made their arrests."
"Why doesn't she feel safe even here?"
"She came to find Daisy, to make sure she was safe. But someone followed her. A man named Godavari Ghosh."
"How did he know where she was?"
"We're guessing, but we think Bruce told him where Daisy was and that she was meeting Hailey in Broadchurch. Worse, we and Sandbrook are looking for him."
"And Tess doesn't know what's going on?"
"It seems it not just the children she ignores. Bruce Stratton is not just a geneticist. He owns properties across the Croydon area. And your eldest has had to learn to sneak around. Her circle of friends has become smaller and smaller since you left. She's been isolated, and practically all of the missing girls have some link to her. It's a huge nightmare."
"How has this not made the papers?"
"Just be glad it hasn't. Grooming rings are notoriously difficult to crack. You have to get them all at the same time. We're just waiting for the transport police to notify us the minute they have positively identified Mr. Ghosh. One of your former subordinates at Sandbrook, DI Victor Salt. Know him?"
Hardy was less than impressed. "Oh, yes. I know him. He was the other man my wife was having an affair with."
"Oh. Well, he's now in charge there and he has been successfully keeping a lid on everything, but he suspects Tess has been feeding information to Stratton, hence, as Hailey mentioned, why some of the girls were moved. He's still unsure if Tess is acting deliberately or if it's unintentional. They've been keeping it quiet and convincing the parents to not speak with the Press because they suspect links to the ring reach out beyond what we already know. He wants to break it completely, and then use the Press to spread the knowledge of how to protect children from other rings. Oh, and Tess went up against him for DI. He got it because their superiors thought he was the better leader and investigator."
Hardy could only imagine how angry that had made his ex. "Any word on how close they are to cracking it?"
"This is where it gets even worse. Hailey's mum was the auctioneer who sold the house. She was there the day it was bought, cash-in-hand. She saw the man who bought it. Her memory of him still haunts her. Maggie and Olly are checking ownership records for any others that we don't yet know about."
"Who is he?"
"It's Bruce Stratton."
Hardy was dead silent for a long minute. "My ex has allowed a grooming ring leader near our daughter?! She thinks he's Ben's father?!" He stood suddenly and paced. "He's the person who meddled with my paternity test. Isn't he? And my ex-wife... Oh god. She killed Sarah... to frame me. She knows the police and SOCO inside out. She's had us running around in circles. And she still has the car that Connelly spoke of." He looked right into Ellie's eyes. "Tell me I'm wrong."
Ellie was silent, which spoke volumes.
Jenkinson added, "It gets even worse. One of the paternity tests he ran in the past months was challenged by the father. A second test proved he was the father. Stratton didn't hear about it because the higher ups decided to take a look at his workafter his results had fatal consequences for several patients at the nearby hospital. But it's the paternity tests that were the first clue, several of which were needed as evidence in rape and assault cases. So far they've found seventy-five tests that need to be rechecked. The DNA didn't just not match parent with child. They'll all the same. And we're assuming it came from him."
"He's been at Sandbrook Labs for at least seven years," Ellie said. "The DNA pattern he was using to substituted first appeared two years before Sandbrook, so we have a timeline."
"Why hasn't he been arrested?"
"Tampering with genetic testing is one thing, but the grooming ring takes precedence. Sandbrook Labs has agreed to continue their work and wait until after the ring has been arrested before going public. Also, they've identified the person responsible for the theft from your car that lost you the Sandbrook case."
Hardy looked up in hope. "They've matched the fingerprints?"
"To one of the suspected groomers. You've heard his name before."
That made him sit down. "GodavariGhosh."
Ellie nodded. "And they looked into Trevor Medley's finances again. There are ties between him and Stratton going back at least seven years in cash deposits and withdrawals that can't be easily explained."
"Money laundering," Hardy interjected flatly.
"To start," Ellie partially agreed. "According to Maggie they go back much further, to when they were kids. I have no doubt he told his old friend to find a way to lose the evidence he knew the police would find."
Hardy covered his face and rubbed it roughly. He finally looked up after a long moment of mental shouting. "Do you think if I'd not kept the truth quiet this might have been prevented?"
Ellie took a deep breath. She knew this question was coming. "I wish I knew. Maybe it would have alarmed Stratton enough to make a mistake a lot sooner. Something had to break in order to make a link, and for the Sandbrook police it was the missing girls. But... I did notice that they were all linked in one way or another to Daisy. It looks like Bruce has been deliberately isolating her by removing her friends one at a time, and it could be argued that he had an affair with your wife and deliberately tampered with Ben's paternity test to get you out of the picture. He needed a police woman, an insider, to feed him information. He's been whitewashing Tess as much as she has you. Starting with the ones whose families were having trouble and creating excuses for their disappearance so he could to stop them from noticing that their girls were in danger."
Hardy swallowed hard. "Daisy was targeted, was she? I've known him since she was seven years old. Why did they wait so long?"
"I think he might have been thinking about how to help Tess make things difficult for you. Maybe making her suffer was a proxy for actively making you suffer. I don't know. But I suppose something changed around the time Ghosh started coming around. Maybe Bruce was getting sick of Daisy getting in the way of manipulating Ben. Maybe he felt Tess would be better off without her, but had to do it in a way that she wouldn't suspect him of being involved in. She might have figured out enough to have him arrested. Or maybe he just wanted to get the last remnants of you - that the public know about - out of his life. He had Gosh work on her."
Hardy was never this close to knowing what Ellie felt when he told her about Joe. His stomach finally lost it and he had to turn to the side to avoid any risk hitting either of them. But he retched dryly, several times, somehow keeping down what was left of his evening meal from hours before.
Ellie went to him to touch his shoulder. Their roles were reversed. Now he knew how far his ex had sunk, that she had taken her bitterness so far that she had not checked who she was letting into her life or near her children. She had done so much to make Alec's life and health awful. But there was one big difference. Alec would not hit Tess, which was just as well, because they still needed her to talk.
He slowly recovered enough to just lean against the wall. "Ellie?"
"Yes?"
"Is there any way to find out how much Tess actually knows about Bruce Stratton? Or when she knew it?"
Neither Ellie nor Elaine had an answer for him.
ĐĐ
End of episode
