Maybe Hardy knew where Claire was hiding out? It could be worthwhile taking a trip to this town he'd never heard of and seeing if he could trick the detective into revealing if he was helping her or not or maybe he'd just follow Hardy around and see if he'd visit her. Giving an excuse, he got on his motorbike and hoped he could get on the next available ferry back home. Then he'd take a break and ride across to Broadchurch and see what he could find out.
Alec was doing his best to get used to his new station but there was very little going on the first week he was there. He was going to regret thinking that the following Friday, the day his new DS was due back. Ashworth had got himself somewhere to sleep, in an abandoned barn, which he quite liked and was doing odd jobs for the local farmers but he soon got tired and ventured further up the coast, coming across a chalet that looked like it was rented out to tourists.
Wishing he could get inside, he decided instead to just settle by his bike and was about to get his things from the back as it started to get dark, then the next day, he would walk boldly into the police station and confront Hardy. He figured he'd waited long enough and he would spin Hardy a tale that he missed his wife and wanted to see her, so he could get his life back. Hardy would probably flatly refuse to help him, which to him meant the detective knew where Claire was hiding or worse still, tell him to leave town and threaten to arrest him.
While he was sitting and smoking after eating the food he'd picked up, it was getting dark while Danny Latimer was putting his other phone in his pocket after getting a message from his friend's dad, well his ex best friend now he had someone who really understood him. He trusted the man, he'd gone to him after his dad had hit him once and been promised it would never happen again.
He sneaked out of the house after picking up his skateboard while his mother and sister were watching TV and made his way to the High Street. Knowing it was deserted at this time of night, he put the skateboard down and made his way to the harbour though he supposed he could have gone straight to the hut they'd been meeting in before his friend had gone on holiday but he'd agreed to meet there instead and get a ride.
He saw the car pull into the car park by the harbour caf and went over.
"Hi, did you have a good holiday?" Danny asked Joe Miller.
"Yeah, except for Fred screaming when we took him on a ride," Joe joked. "Did your mum see you sneaking out?"
"They were too busy watching TV," Danny laughed as they drove towards the hut and down the narrow lane.
As Joe was unlocking the door, having 'borrowed' the key from the cleaner and made a copy of it, Joe pulled Danny into a hug.
"I missed you," Joe smiled at the almost teenager.
"I missed you too but I'm not meeting you any more," Danny replied.
"What? You don't mean that Danny," Joe told him putting his hands on Danny's shoulder.
"I know what you're trying to do," Danny admitted.
"Whoa, I'm not doing anything," Joe tried to tell him, raising his hands in defence.
"Yes you are, why don't you do them to Tom?"
"What are you talking about? Calm down Danny, let's talk about this eh? I'm not planning on doing anything."
"Then why have we been meeting in secret? Why can't I come round to your house any more?"
"You said you'd fallen out with Tom," Joe reminded him. "It would make Tom think you wanted to make up."
"Maybe I should?" Danny replied angrily, trying to hold a tear back as Joe gripped him again.
"Come and sit down and we'll talk about this," Joe suggested, planning on locking the door.
He let go and Danny saw his chance. Outside, Lee Ashworth had seen a few cars arrive. The first one, a man had been leaning on it until a small sports car had arrived and the man had got into it and they had driven off then a while later, another car had arrived but had gone behind the hut. Then he had seen what looked like a man and a boy walk around the front and enter the hut and the lights went on.
He was curious as to what was going on, what were they doing there? It had to be something they didn't want anyone to know about, he smiled to himself. Then people had the nerve to say he'd done something to Pippa. He thought it might be worth creeping up and having a peek through the window, if he was careful.
If the man who had been with the boy was up to something, he could find out who the man was and either blackmail him or report it to the police. That might just get Hardy off his case. He approached carefully and stood by the side of the window, hearing voices inside and from what he could make out, the boy did not want to be there. Maybe he had something after all? He just had to follow them and find out who they were.
Whatever they were doing there, it wasn't anything good. He heard raised voices and thought about leaving when suddenly, he saw the boy run for the door. He froze against the hut as he heard the door opening and the man shouting "Danny." after the boy followed by a "Come back."
He then saw the boy run the short distance to the edge of the cliff, hoping neither of them would turn around as he backed up slowly to the corner of the hut where he'd still be able to see them but not the other way around. He could see the man was keeping his distance and heard him talking to the boy.
"Danny, step away from the edge," Joe was panicking.
"No, go away. You don't care about me," Danny replied tearfully.
"Let's talk about this," Joe replied, holding his hand out.
"Go away," Danny repeated. "I'm going to tell my dad."
"Calm down. What are you going to tell him? That we've been meeting? He won't understand Danny, he'll blame you and you'll get into trouble. Who's he going to believe, you or me?"
Danny shook his head. "I'll think about it, just leave me alone."
"Promise you won't do anything without talking to me first," Joe asked him.
"Okay, I promise. I'll get home on my own, it's not far."
Lee saw the man backing off, hoping he'd go back inside and as Joe closed the door, he came from his hiding place. He was glad there was a full moon and he'd seen everything clearly, this should peak Hardy's interest, there was obviously something going on.
He planned on sneaking back to his bike before the boy he now knew was called Danny saw him so he came out from the side of the hut to walk down the slope to where the bike was near some bushes just beyond the car park. He was halfway there though when Danny turned around.
"Who are you?" Danny asked Lee.
"No-one. What are you doing up here at this time of night?" Lee asked him.
"Is that your bike over there?" Danny wanted to know.
"Yeah. Need a lift somewhere?" Lee offered, thinking at least the boy would get home. "Or did your parents teach you not to accept lifts from strangers?" he tried to joke.
"Something like that," Danny replied, the tears subsiding a little.
"Who was that man you came out with?" Lee asked him, getting another cigarette out.
"Just someone I know. Don't I need a helmet?"
"Not if we ride over the cliff top," Lee replied with a bit of a laugh as they reached his bike.
"Hey, I know who you are," Danny suddenly declared, stepping back. "You were on TV last year."
Danny remembered clearly the two girls, one who had died and one still missing since his parents were upset by it, saying it could easily have been him and his older sister and they'd not let him go out of his own for ages.
"Are you sure about that?" Lee asked him as Danny stepped back.
"Yeah, I remember you, stay away from me."
Lee thought that was all the boy was bothered about, for some reason. Maybe something had been going on between him and the man in the hut, which still had the lights on. He thought if the man was waiting for the boy going back, it was going to be a long wait by the look of it.
Lee put his hands up.
"Okay, take it easy. I know you came from that hut up there," Lee told him, hoping the man up there wasn't looking out but he thought they were out of sight by the angle of the window.
"You're just the same as him," Danny told him, spying the path down to the beach and the boatyard.
"Whatever you saw on TV, it wasn't true. Those detectives got it wrong and I walked free," Lee reminded him. "So do you want that lift?" he asked, thinking it was a good thing he'd not got his bedroll out that was strapped on the back of the bike.
Danny saw the edge of the cliff path clearly and thought he'd been down it enough times to get to the bottom in the moonlight.
"No!" he replied and disappeared down the path.
"Damn!" Lee called out, putting his cigarette out with his fingers and throwing it into the bushes.
He chased Danny down the path, hoping he wouldn't trip up before he reached the bottom. When Danny got to the bottom, he ran towards the boatyard where he knew he could hide until the man he'd just recognised gave up and went back to his bike.
Lee wasn't about to give up until he had the boy's assurance he wouldn't tell everyone he was in the town.
"You may as well come out," Lee called as he approached the boats that were stored there, another row chained up by the cliff itself.
Then he saw a stray boat oar and picked it up, not that holding it would encourage the boy to give up. He didn't know though if the boy had done the same.
Danny noticed it had gone quiet and wondered if it was safe to come out from behind a fishing boat and thought about making a run for it along the beach then thought he'd be best going back up the path and hoping Tom's dad had gone home, then he could run across the top of the cliff and go home. Should he admit what had gone on though or keep quiet?
He'd get into trouble for sneaking out and his parents may not even believe him about meeting with Mr Miller and certainly not about seeing a man who had walked free from being accused of killing a girl around his age last year.
He edged his way around the boat and saw the coast was clear. Lee was tempted to call the boy's name and tell him there was no escape and he only wanted to talk but the boy would never believe that. Maybe he should just give up and climb back to his bike and try and get some sleep?
Thinking nothing of it, he began swinging the oar as he reached the edge of a boat, not knowing Danny was running towards it when suddenly, they both reached the same point and before Lee knew it, Danny had run smack into the blade of the oar and he heard a loud 'whack' as the oar was in mid-air and collided with Danny's head.
The boy slumped to the ground, Lee throwing the oar, which would surely have the boy's blood on it into the nearest boat. He then kneeled over the boy, who was staring into space and checked his pulse. He already knew the blow had been fatal but he had to check. He'd not intended the boy any harm but there again, he'd not been the one who had wanted to dispose of Pippa and yet he'd been the one to get caught and put on trial.
How had he forgiven Claire for turning against him in court, when Hardy's wife had lost the only evidence they had against him and he bet Claire had been the one to steal it and hold it as insurance if he decided to tell the police Claire put him up to killing the girl. He knew he couldn't have taken the chance but now, he had a dead boy with a head injury but it seemed to have stopped bleeding.
He'd seen the row of boats chained up and looked around for something to cut one of them free, well the one some idiot had left the outboard engine attached. He saw a large rock and picked it up, going around the side where the chain was the tightest and brought the rock down on it, the chain giving way. He put the remainder of the chain into the boat and began dragging it to the edge of the water. He then went back to the still boy and gathering Danny up, placed him in the boat.
He just hoped whoever had been in that hut with the boy had left as he started the engine and on the spur of the moment, decided he'd leave the boy where he'd be found. If he hid the boy, then it would be Sandbrook all over again and Hardy wouldn't stop until he was found. That he didn't need, he thought as he approached the harbour at Broadchurch but he went beyond, a few hundred yards and steered the boat to the shore, just at the start of the next cliff.
Getting out, he pulled the boat onto the pebbled beach and picking up the boy, placed him face down so at first glance, no-one would see the blow to the head. He knew he should feel some remorse, some pity for the boy's family but it had been purely an accident, unlike Pippa when Claire had rendered the girl unconscious with that stuff Ricky had told her to give the girl then Claire had told him to finish the job.
Taking one last look around, he walked back to the boat and wondered if he should just leave it there or find somewhere remote to leave it. It wouldn't be wise to leave it where he'd found it but maybe, if he placed the boat very carefully, he could hide the fact the chain had been smashed and make it look like it had never moved.
Doing as he planned, he smiled to himself after using a rag in the boat to wipe his fingerprints off the steering then took the rag with him, throwing it into the bushes when he reached the top of the path. There was no light coming from the hut now but as he went to his bike, he saw headlights coming down the narrow lane so he ducked behind his bike.
He saw a man and a woman get out, the woman driving and the two of them with their arms around each other, kissing. The two cars then drove off and he was finally left alone. He glanced at his phone to see what the time was, wishing now he'd stayed where he was but no-one knew him anyway, he could really go where he wanted.
Maybe he'd go back down the coast for a while, he'd seen another farm and may get some work but all there had been was the remains of a building though maybe the farmer would let him stay there? The first thing he needed to do was get rid of the bike and get himself a cheap van, then at least he could sleep in the back of it if he needed to. He didn't want to go too far away, he still needed Hardy to lead him to Claire and he could bide his time.
When Joe Miller had got back to the clifftop hut, he'd gone over the place to make sure there were no signs anyone had been there. Then he'd glanced out of the window but there had been no sign of Danny so he picked up the skateboard and put it in the back of the car, meaning to put it in the shed before either Tom or Ellie saw it. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Danny had dropped his phone just under the table so he picked it up and put it in his pocket.
As he was leaving though, he saw a bike in the far corner away from the car park and wondered who had left it there. He thought maybe someone had gone for a late night walk along the cliff top so he didn't worry too much about it. He got home, checked on the boys then went to clean himself up before getting into bed, his wife fast asleep after taking the sleeping pills as she suffered from jet-lag.
If anyone were to ask him if he'd been out that night should Danny try to say anything, they'd have a hard time proving it, it was as he'd said to Danny, his word against the boy's.
The next morning in the Latimer house, Beth had made Danny's lunch the night before and saw it was still there when she came downstairs after realising what the time was and got mad with her husband for not telling her.
"Have you seen Danny this morning?" she asked the other two, picking up Danny's lunch.
"No, not me," Mark replied, eating some toast. "Chloe, eat something."
"I've got a temperature," the teenager declared.
Her mother went over and disagreed so Chloe tried her luck when her gran walked in. Eventually, thinking Danny had gone straight to school from his paper round, Beth and Chloe set off for the last day of term, Chloe then going on to her own school when she didn't want to stay for the sports events.
Meanwhile, an angry Alec Hardy had been woken to attend a break-in at a farm on top of one of the cliffs then a call to go down to the beach. As he stood over the still form of a young boy, who clearly had a head injury, he'd argued with his new DS, had the boy's mother screaming the boy's name and being dragged off and was already regretting taking the job.
Lee Ashworth had heard the news on his phone, which now needed charging that the traffic was at a standstill on the road he wanted to take back down the coast so getting to the top of the lane, he saw a sign for a free car park and public restrooms and was lucky there was also a sort of caf to get something to eat. He figured if he took his time, the traffic would be cleared of holidaymakers trying to get to the beach.
Then he wondered if the harbour had been cordoned off if they'd found that boy? Well of course someone would have found him by now and Hardy would be at the scene but at present, he couldn't afford for the DI to spot him because he'd pin the blame on him right from the outset. He decided to stick with his plan and go back down the coast and thought if he was really lucky, he might actually find Claire himself, Hardy would be too busy to be worried about her, if she was even in the same area.
He already knew Hardy had got her to turn on him, she'd not seemingly taken much persuasion though, had she? When he got back to the road, the traffic had cleared so he set off and thought he see about a van later.
Alec had got back to the station after arguing again over his new DS taking her time at the filling station, where she'd got a call from her reporter nephew but Alec blew up when he got a call from a distressed Mark Latimer to say their boy's name had been released on a social networking site. He had chewed her out and slammed his office door, reaching in his pocket for his medication and hoping no-one saw him as he drank the tea he'd just made for himself before he found out.
Ellie gingerly knocked on his door.
"If you've come to apologise, save it for the Latimers," Alec told her.
"I told him not to do anything until we released the details," Ellie insisted, knowing she was not invited to sit down. "I'll talk to them and tell them Olly was out of order."
"He was out of order. They won't trust us now Miller. Call a press conference for tonight, we have to smooth things over now, minimize the damage as best we can. What do you know about Jack Marshall?" he asked, since they'd been to see him earlier.
"He's nothing to do with Danny's death, if that's what you're saying," Ellie told him.
Alec just raised his eyebrows and indicated for her to leave.
Rose had seen the news conference Alec had briefly held outside the police station and went to see Pete.
"You want to go down there, don't you?" Pete asked her before she said anything.
"I saw how he looked on TV dad, he looks ill. I know I can't go down as a Torchwood agent but I can go down to help him. I can take some leave?" she suggested.
"Say goodbye to your mother and Tony tomorrow, you can go down on Sunday and get settled in but no interfering with the investigation. Rose, you think it's him come back, I know you do and so does your mother."
"Mum said she knows it's not him after that other killer walked free," Rose reminded him.
"Rose, the other Doctor could have made him come back and wiped his memory? For all we know, he could have been given a whole new identity and set of memories."
"I wanted to think that at first, that he'd come back. Maybe though he couldn't settle with the real Doctor and while there was still time, asked him to bring him back but he didn't think I'd accept him?"
"Yes, that could be what happened I suppose? He did a good job though, landing a major murder case, an ex wife and daughter," Pete joked.
"Well I suppose it had to look good? Well I'll go find somewhere to stay then?" Rose replied.
"Rose don't have your secretary calling every hotel in Broadchurch to see where he's staying eh?"
As Rose left, he knew that was exactly what she would do.