Chapter 125 Something to tell you

Lee Ashworth was reluctantly sitting across the table from an angry Alec and Dave.

"So, Ashworth," Alec made a start. "We obtained a search warrant for the car you just sold, care to make any comments?"

"What for Hardy?" Lee smirked. "Why are you still going on at me?"

"We have every reason to do so," Alec replied.

While they'd been waiting, the chief had suggested they tried to get Lee to admit Pippa had been in his car that night, then they still may have a case against him. Maybe they'd get away with no physical evidence if they could get him to sign a confession.

"Come on Hardy, you're wasting my time, you've got nothing on me," Lee told him.

"Really?" Alec questioned him. "You have been wasting our time Ashworth. Why don't you just admit you saw the girls that night? Two young girls left on their own, who maybe got frightened by someone or something and went to you for help?" he suggested.

"What?" Lee laughed. "Ask Claire then, we never saw them," he still insisted.

"They spent a lot of time with you and Claire, did they not?" Alec asked. "You would be the first person they would go to. Maybe they wanted some company?" he then suggested, knowing he was getting somewhere.

"With Claire there?" he asked, still trying to fool Alec she'd been there.

Alec wished he could get Rose to befriend Claire but it was out of the question now. Rose had tried to convince him she still wanted to do it, if it meant they could leave Sandbrook sooner.

"Did you give the girls a ride in your car that night?" he carried on.

"If you're going to carry on asking questions, I want my solicitor," Lee then told him.

"Fine. Harris, give him one phone call," Alec turned to Dave as he gathered the folders on the table.

"This way Ashworth," Dave told him, wanting to get it over with.

"I'll use my mobile," Lee insisted, getting his phone out.

Alec motioned Dave outside.

"Call me when his solicitor arrives. I'm going to check on the report from Tess's car. Had she been alone when it was happening?" he asked.

"You're paranoid Hardy," Dave just laughed. "Thought your old girlfriend had come back?"

"This isn't personal Harris," Alec reminded him. "This is about Tess messing up and setting us back. Now she's without a car until we sort this out."

"Ever thought Tess is trying to keep you here Hardy?" Dave asked as he leaned on the wall.

"Well she can try as much as she wants, I'm out of here as soon as I can. I won't keep Rose here any longer than necessary," Alec replied.

Was he right, Alec wondered as he went off after telling Dave to get an officer to stay with Ashworth. He'd also instructed that the other man made no more phone calls. Lee had tried to call Claire to warn her but was told to put his phone away.

"What?" Lee had asked the male officer. "Hardy's got a nerve. I'm fed up of being dragged in here to answer his questions."

Alec got the report from Tess's car getting broken into. Whoever it had been had used gloves so it was either Claire who had found out by accident where Tess had gone or she'd been close by watching them search the car. Why steal the pendant though? Ashworth could have claimed Pippa had dropped it another time.

Then he had an idea and called Tess to his office.

"Call Cate Gillespie and ask her if she's sure Pippa was wearing the pendant the morning they went off to that wedding," he told her.

"She's already said," Tess insisted.

"Well ask her again, if she confirms it, we may be able to salvage things," Alec told her. "If this turns sour Tess, I am not going to cover up for you."

"You mean you'd let Daisy find out I was meeting Dave instead of picking her up?" Tess asked.

"Try me Tess. You are very lucky I never told anyone how you deliberately split Rose and myself up, to get what you wanted," he warned her.

"You wouldn't do that Alec, then she'd find out just how weak you were," Tess called his bluff.

"You do that and the truth will come out Tess, I mean it. Do you want me to let Rose loose on you?" he asked her. "She knows the truth Tess, to say she's angry is putting mildly. Now go contact Cate Gillespie and then go call on Claire Ashworth, it's a strong possibility she is responsible for breaking into your car."

"Come on Alec, how could she be?" Tess wanted to know, slightly taken aback.

"Who else would have anything to gain by smashing your car window?" he wanted to know. "Just find out if she left work early last night for now."

"That means Lee Ashworth knew he left the pendant in the car," Tess realised.

"Of course he did," Alec replied. "Well maybe not the pendant, he may not have noticed Pippa was wearing it. She died for nothing Tess, how could anyone do that?"

He knew it had got to him and now he'd discovered he had a son, even more so. He let Tess leave then called Rose.

"Hi sweetheart, how's things?" he asked, glad to hear her friendly greeting.

"Fine, I just talked to mum," Rose told him. "She said not to worry about them this weekend, she's going to ask Sarah-Jane, John and Luke round for Sunday lunch."

"That's good then? Called any hotels yet or want to take a caravan?" he teased her.

"They'll all be new ones after all this time," Rose laughed. "I can call the park, see if they've got any last minute offers?"

"You do that then love, unless you want to book that hotel that's on the harbour, what was it called?" he tried to remember.

Rose did, they had sat outside it, on the wall and ate fish and chips while trying to keep the seagulls away.

"I'll call the caravan park, if not, then I'll call the pub, it was named The George," Rose reminded him.

"So it was," Alec laughed. "You have a better memory for names love. I have something to tell you when I get home."

"Oh, what's that then?" Rose wondered.

"I can't talk over the phone but it is something you need to know. I will explain when I see you, it may delay us getting out of here."

"I hope not?" Rose replied. "That was why we were going off this weekend," Rose recalled.

"I know love, I will try not to let it delay us. See you tonight, I love you sweetheart," he told her.

"Yeah, I love you too Alec, don't worry about whatever it is delaying us moving, just keep me away from Tess will ya?" Rose replied.

He wished he could let her loose on Tess, for all his ex wife had put them through. He ended the call then looked up the number for the court building in Paisley, where he filed the divorce papers. After getting through to the right department, he was glad he'd made the call and Tess was in for another shock, since he could go ahead and they would serve her with papers she had to send back by Scottish law.

Tess did not know just how different Scottish laws were on the subject of dissolving a marriage. She had delayed on purpose and he'd let her until Rose had found him. Now, Tess was going to get the message that he meant business.

Tess had gone to where Claire worked and waited by the desk to get her attention.

"What do you want?" Claire asked as she took payment from a customer.

"Where were you last night Claire?" Tess asked, not giving a time to see Claire's reaction.

"Don't you get tired of asking questions?" Claire replied, sitting behind the desk. "I was here until six, ask anyone."

"Really? You didn't leave early then?" Tess asked her.

"You can't just walk in here and start asking my staff if I left or not," Claire told her. "Why are you asking?"

"Lee sold a car recently," Tess stated.

"I know nothing about it, just he needed the money," Claire admitted. "You lot keep hauling him in, asking questions. I told you, I was with him that night."

"Not at first you didn't," Tess reminded her, hoping to catch her out. "We took him in for questioning again a while ago. Claire, do you know if anything was left in the car when he sold it?"

"Get out and leave us alone," Claire insisted. "I'm not talking to you any more."

"Fine but we may ask you to give a statement," Tess then warned her.

Claire didn't believe Lee had been taken in for questioning again, why had he had to go and sell the car then been stupid enough to leave something in it? She'd not even told him she'd broken into the detective's car to retrieve the pendant that she'd given to Pippa and the girl had been wearing it that night.

Then she wondered if Ricky had noticed when he'd said he talked to her before everything had gone crazy. She went back to work, now knowing Ricky hadn't taken the pendant after all like she'd thought.

Tess then went to call on Cate, thinking it would be better than phoning her.

"How many more times Tess?" Cate was asking her. "Yes, Pippa was wearing her favourite pendant when we left that morning. Why haven't I got it back yet?"

Tess had to make a decision on the spot.

"We've not found it yet Cate," she admitted. "That's why we had to make sure she'd been wearing it."

"I bet Lisa took her next door, have you asked there yet?" Cate wanted to know as she went to get another glass of wine.

"We don't have any proof they went there Cate," Tess told her.

"Well I don't need any," Cate remarked.

"Leave it to us Cate," Tess urged her. "It was her favourite one then?"
"Claire gave it to her," Cate admitted. "She came home wearing it one Sunday when we'd all been having a barbecue."

Tess made a note of it then left Cate to her drinking, though she should try to discourage the grieving mother. Why was Alec making such a fuss over her losing it anyway? Did he really think Lee sent his wife to retrieve the pendant?

After Tess had left Claire, she had gone in the back and called Lee but only gone his answerphone.

"That female detective just came asking questions," she warned him. "Call me back Lee."

Lee was now sat next to his solicitor, who had advised him to answer Alec's questions.

"It will all be over faster if you co-operate," Lee had been told.

"Can they keep bringing me in all the time?" Lee had then wanted to know in front of Alec. "I should get them for false arrest."

"You are not under arrest," Alec insisted, looking in the folder he had open on the table.

"Well you arrested me before," Lee then complained.

Alec would have hardly called keeping Lee in for forty eight hours as being arrested.

"We found something of interest in that car you just sold," Alec then revealed, having agreed with the chief to carry on for now as if they had the pendant.

That way, they would be able tell by his reaction if he had the pendant back.

"Is that all you have?" Lee asked, sitting back and folding his arms. "I told you, I don't know what you're talking about. What did you find then?"

Alec knew Ashworth was calling his bluff. Why had Tess gone and stuffed it all up? They could have arrested the man then himself and Rose would be able to get away. He knew Rose really didn't want to be in the same town as Tess but she was doing it for him plus he was keeping her away from Jamie, who'd just had a major shake-up in his life.

Rose had done well raising the teenager, even after James had died. Most teenagers would be angry at finding out the man they thought as their father wasn't really his father and be mad at his mother for misleading him. He still had things to explain to Daisy.

"You really do not know what you left in the car?" Alec continued to bluff. "Something that was left behind of Pippa's?"

"What? Come on, if there was anything of hers in that car, we used to take her to school sometimes as a favour to Cate. She could have left it any time," Lee insisted.

"Not when her mother said she saw Pippa with the item on the morning of the wedding, which proves you did see her that day," Alec told him. "We have a statement from Cate to say so and she will testify against you. Harris, read him his rights."

"Just hold on," Lee objected, looking at his solicitor. "You can't arrest me again just because something was found in my car. Can he?"

"I'm sorry but they can, if they suspect you had used your car that day or later on, if something belonging to the young girl was found in it," Lee was told.

"Fat lot of good you are," Lee complained as he was led away to be charged. "I expect you're going to tell Cate and Ricky I killed their daughter? I'd look closer to home if I were you Hardy," he added.

"Come on Ashworth," Dave moaned because he wanted chance to take Tess out at lunchtime and by the time he'd finished, she may have gone out on her own.

They still had to talk about last night and what they'd discussed in the pub. How could they have known her car would be broken in to? He still reckoned it was just kids doing it for a lark. Maybe Tess had done it on purpose, what better way of keeping Alec in town that stuff up his transfer out?

Surely Tess was angry that Hardy's old girlfriend had turned up out of the blue? She may not want to let him go altogether. Why should he care though, he thought as he followed a uniformed officer to charge the suspect. The young girl's death had got to everyone and tempers were high amongst everyone there.

So if Hardy could still get something on Lee Ashworth, Dave was all for going along with it. With Alec out of the way, he'd have Tess going along with what he had in mind.

Alec had wondered what Ashworth was getting at as he was left on his own. It was going to take some doing, keeping up the appearance they had physical evidence against the main suspect, finally. He still wanted someone to get close to Claire though but he didn't want to get Rose involved now.

Claire could go all psycho on them when she found out Lee had been locked up. He looked up from gathering the folders and Tess was standing in the doorway.

"How did you get on?" he wanted to know.

"Claire's giving nothing away, I knew it would be a waste of time," Tess told him. "Cate confirmed Pippa was wearing the pendant when she and Ricky left that morning. I think she'll testify to that."

"We had better hope so, after you stuffed it up last night," Alec replied. "How could you be so careless Tess?"

"Don't blame it all on me," she objected. "You picked on me so you didn't have to go all the way back. You're giving priority to your old girlfriend over work, you never did that for me."

"Leave Rose out of this Tess," Alec warned her. "You think I'm going to forgive you for driving us apart in the first place? Face it, it's over, Rose is back and we are out of here as soon as we can. Don't even think of compromising this case to get back at me, I'm not going to take the blame for you."

"You'd stand by and let Daisy find out?" Tess accused him. "Thanks a lot Alec."

"You brought it on yourself Tess," Alec reminded her. "Your orders were come straight back here, not stop off to meet Dave Harris. You had better hope we can make the charges against Lee Ashworth stick. We're going to try making him confess by claiming we have the pendant so don't you dare say otherwise, understand?"

"Well good luck with that," Tess told him. "Claire may have something else to say about it."

"Well if she does, she's the one who stole it," Alec told her. "Come on Tess, who else would it have been? Maybe Ashworth called her then when she got there, she followed you, maybe in a cab. Did you see one when you got to the hotel?"

"How do I know?" Tess replied. "Maybe? There was plenty of traffic around at that time, there could have been a cab I suppose?" she admitted. "Why did no-one see or hear anything?"

"Was there no CCTV outside?" Alec wanted to know. "Get someone to find out."

When Lee Ashworth had been taken into custody, he was allowed a phone call so he called Claire.

"You stupid cow," he told her when she answered. "They found Pippa's pendant in the car. You were supposed to get it back."

"Hey, I did get it back," Claire insisted. "I've hidden it so why are they saying that?"

"How would I know? They're trying to get me to confess, aren't they? What am I supposed to do Claire, tell them they're lying about it and that you got it back?" he laughed, watching the sergeant just down the corridor who was looking at the clock. "This is a right mess Claire, you'd better think of something and fast," he told her. "You have to get me out of here."

Claire went back to work, ignoring the pains and feeling sick. Now she was glad she'd never told Lee about being pregnant, if he was convicted. How could she rescue him now? She couldn't, not without incriminating herself in the process and what was she going to do about the baby?

All she could do was play the innocent wife and pretend to help the police, that should work but who did she turn to, the female detective or her husband, if he was still Tess Hardy's husband the way they had looked at each other at the start of the investigation.

She thought maybe one of them was having an affair, if not both of them. Maybe Alec Hardy would be the softer touch though, she might be able to convince him to help her in return for giving evidence against Lee. She thought it was certainly worth a try, what did she have to lose?

Alec had gone back to see the chief.

"So, it worked then Alec?" he was asked.

"So far, his solicitor never asked to see the evidence but how long that will last is anyone's guess," Alec replied.

"Well, we'd all better be careful, I'll put the word out to the lab to hurry going over Ashworth's car and Tess's, to see if Claire Ashworth was the one who broke into it," the chief promised.

"It had to be her, never mind kids," Alec told the chief. "If it had been parked on the street, then maybe but going into a car park and only breaking into one?"

"Yes, I agree Alec, it seems unlikely it was just random and not targeted. If it was Claire, how do we go about getting her to admit it?" the chief wondered.

Alec had been thinking about it, since not wanting to get Rose involved now.

"Let Tess work on her," Alec suggested.

"Oh I don't know Alec," the chief grinned. "I was thinking maybe you?"

"What? Come on, my old girlfriend just came back to me, why me?" Alec wanted to know.

"Well you no longer want to use her to get to Claire," the chief reminded him. "Would she get jealous if she was told why?"

"She's been through enough," Alec replied. "I'll have to talk to her about it, if she doesn't agree, that's it, use Tess."