Alec went to join Tess in the interview room, against his better judgement.
"Come on Claire, stop stalling for time," Tess encouraged her. "Tell DI Hardy what you told me."
Alec was sat next to Tess, his arms folded.
"That was in confidence," Claire complained.
"A child was murdered," Alec reminded her. "What you tell us matters if your husband is guilty or not. Pippa was twelve years old."
"Okay, I know that," Claire then huffed. "I was out that night, I didn't get home until late, Lee refused to pick me up from my friend's house. He made me have a drink with him then I don't know what happened, I think he must have drugged me. I woke up and he was cleaning the whole house."
"Don't you think that was a bit strange?" Tess asked her as Alec raised his eyebrows.
"It was already light, I never noticed the time," Claire replied. "I went back to bed then the police started banging on doors when they were looking for Pippa. Of course I was concerned she was missing but what could I do? Lee would have hit me."
"So did you suspect he had something to do with it?" Alec wanted to know.
Claire remained silent.
"I don't know," she finally replied. "Maybe, when he'd been cleaning? Why would he have been doing that?"
Alec could think of a number of reasons, one of them was getting rid of the evidence.
"Will you make a statement?" Tess asked Claire.
Alec wondered how many more Claire would make until she finally told the truth.
"I want protection from Lee, if he finds out I told on him," Claire insisted. "What am I going to do, about the other thing?" she then turned to Tess.
"What other thing?" Alec looked at Tess then Claire.
"I'm pregnant," Claire revealed. "I was going to tell him but after he drugged me, I had doubts."
"You waited all this time?" Alec asked. "Maybe you should just tell him?"
"Typical of men," Claire remarked.
Tess just glanced over at Alec. Trust him, she thought. Next thing he'd be telling her Rose was pregnant, rubbing her nose in the fact that he'd wasted no time getting back with his ex.
"You can't tell him," Claire then added as Tess told her to write everything down.
"If you tell him, it is up to you," Alec decided. "You have to make a choice Claire."
"Thanks for nothing," Claire hissed to herself as they got up, leaving her to write yet another statement. "He made me tell you I was with him that night."
"He may well have done," Alec told her.
"You have to keep him away from me," Claire still insisted.
Once outside, Tess confronted him.
"Are we going to help her?" she wanted to know.
"Depends on what she has to say now," Alec replied. "Come on Tess, can we really believe her now she has changed her tune again?"
"She does look like she's scared of him and she does look pregnant," Tess insisted.
"What does she expect us to do?" Alec wanted to know.
"You heard what she said Alec, Lee made her say she was with him. She's just acting tough to cover for it," Tess reminded him.
Alec shook his head.
"She really has you believing that?" he asked.
"Suit yourself Alec but if we help her, she may actually stick to this story," Tess replied.
Alec could only hope Tess was right for a change.
"Fine, see to it then," he told her. "I won't be around at the weekend by the way."
"What if Daisy wants to see you?" Tess seemed surprised.
"I have to go somewhere," was all he was prepared to say.
"With her?" Tess asked, referring to Rose. "Is she going home?"
"You would just love that Tess," Alec was annoyed. "No, we are getting things sorted."
"Any excuse Alec," Tess huffed. "You're paying more attention to her than your own daughter."
"In case you forgot Tess, I also have a teenage son, who needs me as much as Daisy does," he reminded her.
"You just have to keep rubbing that in, don't you?" Tess argued.
"They are just as much a part of my life now as Daisy is. Besides, Daisy does want to meet Jamie so I plan on getting him down here for a visit at some point. I owe them both that much," he told her.
Tess was not keen on that idea and she would make a point of telling him at some point, she decided.
"If you say so Alec," she just replied. "I suppose John is on your side as well?"
"Of course he is Tess. He spent a lot of time with her on our visits, he was her teacher for three years," Alec pointed out. "You seem to forget how badly Rose was treated when she lived in Paisley?"
"Yes, well I would have felt sorry for anyone in those circumstances," Tess replied. "It was a shame he actually got away with that I suppose?"
"Never mind that now, she just wants to forget about it," Alec insisted. "Send a WPC in to keep an eye on Claire and have Lee Ashworth picked up."
"He'll make a fuss," Tess reminded him.
"You know the more fuss he makes, the more guilty he looks?" Alec replied, raising his eyebrows.
"Do you think he believes we have evidence against him?" Tess wondered.
"Like I said, just as long as he or his solicitor does not ask to see it," Alec told her. "We could get away with it."
"You mean until he admits his guilt?" Tess asked him.
"We had best hope he does," Alec agreed, not wanting to be stuck here any longer than needed.
"So are you going away at the weekend?" Tess then tried to find out.
"Nothing to do with you Tess but Rose chose to stay here for now so yes, I am taking her away for the weekend," he admitted.
Tess went off to organise getting Lee picked up again after getting a WPC to watch Claire. How many times was he going to be brought in before he either admitted his part in what happened or he was tripped up by Claire's new testimony?
If he did actually confess and it went to court, would it be enough to put him away though? If it was, Alec would move away with his old girlfriend and she wouldn't be able to get to him any more. He was already mad with her for losing the evidence, she wasn't likely to be considered in any move he made.
She had finally lost and she knew it but it didn't mean he had to forget about Daisy. She needed to talk to their daughter again to find out exactly what Daisy thought about finding out she had a brother. She wouldn't accept any excuses that Daisy didn't want to talk about it either.
Alec was back in his office, awaiting Lee Ashworth's return when the chief called him.
"Alec, you're going to have to charge Ashworth sooner rather than later, before he makes a complaint you're hounding him," Alec was reminded.
"Yes, I know that but his wife has changed her story again," Alec replied.
"Good, I hope she sticks to it this time," the chief told him. "We'll have to think carefully about that evidence, get Tess to work on Claire and find out if she really did take that pendant."
"We cannot prove that at present," Alec admitted. "According to Tess, Claire will only admit she followed Tess's car and broke into it, not that she took the evidence bag."
"Are you not following up on that?" the chief asked.
"Claire wants protection against her husband, if we use what she's just told us," Alec revealed.
"What has she just told you?" the chief was curious.
"That she was out that night and he drugged her when she got home," Alec replied.
"Well, well, well," the chief mused. "You believe her?"
"It's too early to tell, she could be tired of covering for him?" Alec admitted.
"Keep at them both Alec. The main reason I called is that rumours are, our budget for this is being cut. That means all the extra officers who were brought in will have to go back where they came from," the chief warned him. "It also means you and Tess will have more work for yourselves. I hope your old girlfriend is more understanding than Tess was?"
"She is but she has only just come back to me. It may mean she might want to go home for a while, her mother is bound to wonder why she wants to stay if I have to work late."
"Well I'm sorry Alec but that's how it is at present," the chief sympathised. "I'll see if there's some way of keeping at least a few extra, unless of course Ashworth confesses?"
Alec thought if only the suspect would but that still didn't answer what had happened to Lisa Newberry. Had Ashworth done something to the older girl and Pippa had witnessed it? More and more questions were coming up and still not enough answers and now, the investigation was being scaled back.
Well if they wanted some answers, he and Tess had to keep on at Claire and Lee because he had promised Rose he'd get this sorted as soon as he could, so they could get away. He knew as soon as Rose got back to Broadchurch, she'd be in a hurry to move there as soon as she could get her house sorted and her mother was taken care of.
Claire was sitting back in the chair in the interview room, waiting for Tess coming back. She knew she'd get no sympathy from Hardy so she'd have to either work on him or keep on stringing Tess along. If those two were supposed to be married, there was something very wrong.
Tess hadn't made it very clear if they were still actually married or not so Claire thought maybe she could find out by getting Tess on her side as to Lee making her give him an alibi. Lee was now being escorted back to the station but had protested as predicted.
"Couldn't Hardy be bothered coming himself?" Lee was complaining.
"We're just under orders to bring you in," the officer sat in front of him replied.
"Why can't you lot let me get on with my job?" Lee complained further. "Why was I cautioned again?"
He was taken to another interview room when he arrived, unaware that Claire had just left after Tess told her she was free to go for now. Claire had reminded her about not saying anything to Lee.
"If I help you, you have to help me," Claire had also said. "I swear that Lee told me to keep quiet."
"As well as making you say you were with him that night?" Tess had questioned her.
Tess was just telling Alec on their way into the interview room.
"She what?" Alec stopped in the corridor.
"She's asking for help Alec, she doesn't want him to find out she's pregnant. Just think, if he goes to prison, she'll be on her own," Tess reminded him.
"You were never bothered that I left Rose on her own," Alec replied. "Why is Claire so special?"
"Don't be so naïve Alec, Rose was probably already seeing who became her husband," Tess told him.
"You can be a real piece of work Tess," Alec turned away from her. Then he turned to face her again. "Yes, she already knew him, he was her friend's cousin, they worked in the same department store. She was upset when you prevented me going to see her."
"You could have gone, if you'd wanted," Tess replied sarcastically.
"I should have done," he turned away again and headed for the interview room.
"She can't have been that important to you, if you stayed with me," Tess called after him.
"What about the fact I felt guilty and she meant more to me than you ever did," he faced her angrily. "Plus the fact I never stopped thinking about her but I had betrayed her trust in me. I couldn't face her after I failed to go see her when I had promised to. She knew it was you."
With that, he opened the interview room door and faced Lee Ashworth. Two hours later, he had seen the not so snug main suspect put in the back of a prison transfer van, after the chief gave the go-ahead to detain him on new evidence – Ashworth not being told where it had come from but had a pretty good idea.
"I know it was Claire," Ashworth had shouted as Alec watched.
Alec had just ignored him. They had plenty against him now, after he read what Claire had written down. Ashworth's solicitor had advised him there was a case against him, given what had been found in the car that had been sold. Ashworth had tried to pin Lisa's disappearance on a young man who used to hang around waiting for her but still denied he had killed young Pippa.
Alec got home and Rose greeted him after hearing a short statement saying someone had been charged in connection with the case and no-one else was being sought.
"I knew ya could do it," Rose smiled when she'd let him go.
"It should never have taken this long," Alec replied as they made dinner. "His wife may still change her story."
"How can she?" Rose asked.
"Because Tess had to do a deal with her, it could still go sour on us."
"Tess would spoil it even more?" Rose asked.
"I would not put it past her," Alec admitted.
Rose phone rang, seeing it was her mother.
"So is it over and done with?" Jackie wanted to know.
"We hope so Mum," Rose replied as Alec kissed her cheek and went to put a dish in the oven.
"Well I have some news as well," Jackie told her. "Sarah-Jane called over for Jamie and she said they were thinking about moving. She knows you and Alec are planning on moving away."
"Did ya say anything to her, about maybe Donna might want it?" Rose was surprised.
"Well no, does Donna want it?" Jackie wondered.
Alec was surprised as well as Rose put her phone on the speaker.
"It would stay in the family, sort of," Alec told Rose.
"It's still gonna be big for them," Rose reminded him.
"I could stay here," Jackie told them.
"Oh. Have ya talked about it?" Rose wondered.
"Well, I was thinking about it. I can't go back to the estate, hardly anyone's there now," Jackie replied.
Rose and Alec looked at each other.
"Mum, we wanted ya to move to Broadchurch with us," Rose admitted.
"You'll want to be on your own," Jackie reminded them.
"Don't be daft Mum, we'll get somewhere big enough for all of us," Rose insisted. "That's if they want to buy the house. Donna may only want to rent it anyway."
"You need to call her and find out," Alec replied. "Let me call John."
Rose carried on talking to her mother while Alec called John.
"I thought you all liked it where you are?" Alec asked John.
"Well, we do but it was left to Sarah," John told him. "Maybe it's time to get something of our own? Would Rose be willing to sell?"
"She offered it to James's cousin," Alec told him.
"Well of course, we can wait but you did say she wants to keep it in the family?" John reminded him. "What about Jackie?"
"Rose is talking to her now. We want her to move with us," Alec replied.
"Do you think she will?" John asked.
"She might take some persuading," Alec had to laugh.
"Well I can talk to Sarah-Jane about her, maybe Jackie can stay? I mean we're both out most of the day, she'd have the house to herself."
"Well Jackie will be used to taking care of Jamie so Luke won't be any bother to her," Alec agreed. "She seems to like him."
"Yeah, it's worth talking to her about it," John told him.
Rose wasn't getting very far with her mother though.
"I'll have to think about it," Jackie promised.
Rose agreed, she knew her mother would be fine with John, he and Alec had always been treated like family, the same as she had been with Alec's family in Paisley.
A few days later, Rose and Alec were on their way to Broadchurch. He'd taken the Friday afternoon and Monday off and almost been tempted to invite Daisy but he and Rose had a lot to sort out. They went to sit on the end of the pier after eating, Alec's arm around Rose.
"This brings back memories eh love?" he had to smile as he kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, now we can concentrate on just us," Rose agreed.
"Yes, we just have to sort out a place in a school or college for Jamie and where your mother stays."
"Alec, now that case is behind you, do ya think you'll get accepted for a job here?" Rose wondered.
"I hope my chief has already put it forward," Alec replied. "Just as long as the case does not fall apart."
"Can ya leave them to sort it out?" Rose asked.
"As long as Tess is not in charge," Alec half joked.
"Geez, I hope not," Rose laughed.
"I don't like to leave with it still hanging in the balance," Alec was now worried.
"Well, stay there a bit longer then?" Rose suggested.
"Rose, you wanted to only stay there as long as needed," Alec reminded her.
"Yeah, I know but there's the house to sort out and John doesn't know what's happening yet. Beside, you're waiting for your divorce. By the way, I think I should pay a visit to the clinic when we get back."
"Really love? You mean to get something?" Alec grinned.
"No, you 'nana," Rose teased him. "I told ya, I've not been on anything for ages, there was no point."
"You don't mean for a surgical solution? If so, forget it Rose," Alec told her firmly.
"No, ya don't get the point Alec," Rose replied. "I mean it might already be too late. We got a bit intense when I came to find ya," she smiled. "I mean, I could already be, ya know? It's not too late is it?"
"What? Oh no Rose, it's not too late. I regret not being with you, when you found out about Jamie," he apologised. "I never understood why you told James and not me though?"
"Alec, I told ya. I'd got it in my head that was it, you'd given in to Tess. I couldn't compete with her and she knew it," Rose reminded him.
"I let her win Rose, I can't ever change that," Alec admitted.
