"What's your name then?" she'd asked the officer.
The driver glanced through the mirror, surprised Hardy had chosen to sit with her again.
"It's Daly, Miss Tyler."
"Yeah, seems like you're becoming our regular driver, we'll ask for ya next time," Rose laughed, getting a look from Alec, who didn t want to get too friendly with anyone, since Tess had betrayed him and most of his old station had talked about it behind his back.
"I'm sure he has other things to do Rose," Alec had told her.
So now, they were about to walk into the station, Alec not bothering to wait for his DS. When Ashworth asked what Rose was doing there, he knew he had Ashworth spooked.
"Miss Tyler is an advisor to the police," Alec replied, not that he'd cleared it with his chief yet but she'd get to know about it sooner or later.
"Need some outside help?" Ashworth joked. "So do you want to hear why I bothered the two of you on a Sunday morning? I'll tell you what I saw the night that boy died and you tell me where Claire is."
"No Ashworth, it does not work like that. We'll go to the interview room when my DS arrives. What were you doing up by that hut?"
"Who said anything about being outside a hut?" Ashworth replied smugly.
"Got a motorbike?" Alec asked him.
"What if I have?"
"We found tyre tracks near the hut on Briar cliff. If we match them with your motorbike, that's all the proof I need so stop wasting my time."
Ellie chose that moment to come through the door, seeing Alec and Ashworth face to face and Rose standing there looking amused. She thought it was a safe bet the two of them had arrived together.
"Are you his DS then?" Ashworth asked Ellie, who didn't find it amusing, unlike Rose.
"Sir, we should take this to the interview room," Ellie reminded Alec.
They all went off, Ashworth first, followed by Ellie, then Rose, Rose holding Alec up.
"Sure this is a good idea?" Rose asked him.
"We can find out what he claims to know, he will trip himself up, trust me."
"Are ya gonna tell him where is wife is?"
"Should I? No, not yet but she should know he's around. Rose, I still want you to make friends with her."
Rose shivered at the thought.
"I'm not keen on it," Rose tried to smile as they followed Ellie into the interview room.
Ellie switched on the recording equipment, not happy at sitting next to Ashworth but it seemed Rose Tyler thought she had the right to sit next to Hardy.
"So, tell us what you saw that night," Alec started the interview.
"Okay, I was on top of a cliff and near a hut. There were two cars, someone was waiting and got into another car. Then another one arrived and went around the back of the hut. A man came around to the front, a young boy was with him and they went inside."
"Go on," Alec encouraged him, since they had already guessed Danny had been meeting someone. "What did this man look like?"
"It was dark but I'd say the man was around his late thirties, wearing a black jacket. They went inside but not long after, the boy came running out and the man was shouting come back Danny."
"Was the man still wearing his jacket?" Rose wondered, Alec thinking that was a good question.
Ashworth shook his head.
"I want something in return for this, Hardy. No, the man had a t-shirt on, there was light coming from the hut, it was dark blue. The boy ran near the edge of the cliff and the man shouted for him to step away. I was a bit further down the slope, he wouldn't have known I was there. I didn't hear what else was said but the man walked away."
That was as far as he was going with the truth. Now was his chance to pin the blame on the other man. Everything now depended on Hardy believing his version of what happened and while the detective may go for it, would Rose Tyler?
Everyone who read a newspaper knew of her rise to fame after her mother's marriage to the Vitex chairman and head of Torchwood, since it had come out of hiding after those metal monsters had gone off somewhere else. She was supposed to be an expert in aliens though so what was she doing here, well besides probably screwing Hardy.
He'd suspected Claire fancied the detective and when she'd turned on him, he was pretty sure about it but he'd no proof. Then the two of them had disappeared, so where had he stashed her?
"What happened next?" Ellie asked, since Alec was writing something down.
"The boy went back inside," Ashworth lied, to cover the fact Danny had spotted him. "Around five minutes later, the man came rushing out and went around the back of the hut. Doesn't it have a back door?"
"Whoever it was probably didn't have the back door key," Rose offered.
Ellie thought that was rather obvious but didn't dare say anything.
"Back to the point Ashworth," Alec replied wearily, since he'd been about to learn more about time travel plus Rose hadn't objected to the idea of him ridding her of her skimpy panties.
"The man came back with something and went back inside. Then he came out, carrying the boy," he lied again, having had time to think about this and it was close to what he'd done with Pippa.
"Where were you when this took place?" Alec wondered, thinking Ashworth would have been seen at this point.
"Didn't I already say? I was trying to look through the window but when the door opened again and the man was carrying the boy, I hid around the side of the hut. He walked off towards the path, I don't know if he saw my bike or not."
"So when you say he was carrying the boy, was the boy showing any signs of moving?" Alec wanted to know.
Ashworth thought back again to when he carried Pippa out to the car.
"No, the boy wasn't moving. About half an hour later, he came back, since he'd left the door open. I was at the other side of my bike."
He wondered if anyone believed him, this was getting more complicated than he'd thought. Alec though wasn't so sure and he bet neither was Rose. For now though, he had no proof unless the other person could be identified.
"So, this man carried Danny out and down a path?" Alec asked to make sure.
He knew Danny had been struck with an oar so how could the boy have been hit with it inside the hut? He wasn't going to mention that to Ashworth though, the oar was still being tested and the other man's fingerprints being identified, since they so far didn't match any on record.
"What did he look like?" Alec asked again. "Did he have short hair, long hair, no hair," he added.
"He didn't have much hair, come to think of it," Ashworth laughed.
Ellie looked up. It sounded like Nigel Carter
"Are we finished ?" Ashworth asked Alec.
"For now. Did you walk down that path to the beach below?"
"No, why would I?" Ashworth asked.
Alec already thought Ashworth was going to deny it.
"You can go for now but don't leave the area," Alec warned him.
"Why would I? I came looking for Claire," Ashworth replied as Ellie ended the recording, wondering why Hardy had dragged her out, just because she'd disturbed him. "I know you're hiding her. Tell her I want to see her."
"What makes you think I am hiding her?" Alec asked him as he got up slowly.
"Don't make me laugh Hardy, you both left Sandbrook at the same time," Ashworth reminded him.
"That doesn't mean anything," Rose joined in.
"So, he brought Claire nearby and ditched her for you, did he?" Ashworth replied. "Does Claire know?" he grinned, getting up. "You got her to turn on me Hardy."
"You want her back?" Alec asked him, putting his pen and notebook away.
"Tell me where she is," Ashworth insisted.
"Not until I ask her if she wants to see you," Alec relented. "Rose, it would be better coming from you."
Rose wondered why he was making her do it but Claire might be more agreeable.
"Yeah, okay then. If she turned on you, why do ya want to see her?" Rose asked.
"Does it matter?" Ashworth snapped. "Just tell her I want to meet with her."
With that, Ashworth walked towards the door.
"Just one thing Ashworth," Alec called out to him, trying not to turn fast and have a dizzy spell. "Are you willing to give a DNA sample? We are asking all males to give one."
"Don't you have one from before or did that get lost as well?" Ashworth joked. "What do you want one for?"
"To eliminate you from the investigation," Alec replied, though it was more like to prove he was the one who carried Danny down the cliff path.
"I'll think about it," Ashworth replied.
Rose and Ellie had stayed where they were so Alec sat back down as the officer outside escorted Ashworth back to the reception area.
"Do ya believe him?" Rose asked Alec and Ellie.
"Sir, the other man could have been Nigel Carter," Ellie told him.
"Who's he?" Rose asked, feeing hungry.
"He works with Mark Latimer," Ellie replied.
"It does not matter, until we get prints back to prove who else was in that hut. Miller, organise more fingerprints to be taken, get some officers onto it. Anyone who knew Danny, even if he only delivered papers to them. Ashworth's description though can rule some men out."
"It was dark though, he could have been mistaken," Rose reminded him.
"No, I think he saw who was with Danny but did whoever it was really go out and went back, after Danny ran off?"
"Maybe only to cover they'd been up there," Ellie suggested, wanting to go home but now, Hardy had her doing something else.
She went back up to their office to make a start but she wasn't happy about it, her own husband didn't have much hair and when Hardy asked if she knew where Joe was that night, she'd been asleep. She knew she'd nothing to worry about though.
As Rose and Alec went off to find something to eat, Lee Ashworth had got on his bike but saw them come out of the station, arm in arm. Why should Hardy get another woman when he'd lost Claire? He didn't think they would contact Claire today so he decided he'd just go to one of the catering stalls and get some breakfast then head back to the farm he'd been staying on.
Olly Stevens was down by the harbour, seeing what was going on. It was now after nine and as Ashworth parked his bike with all the others outside a pub just by the river, Olly was certain he recognised the man going to a stall just on the corner. He waited until Lee went back to his bike and leaned against it.
"Are you Lee Ashworth?" Olly dared to ask.
Ashworth was wondering who could possibly recognise him.
"What do you want to know for?" he asked as he opened the carton he was holding, a plastic fork in his other hand.
Olly got out his press badge he had hung around his neck, that was under his jacket.
"Olly Stevens, Broadchurch Echo. What are you doing in town?"
"Go away," Ashworth told him, trying to ignore the reporter.
"I think readers have a right to know, when you were set free," Olly replied.
Ashworth stood up, closing the carton and putting it on the seat of the bike, since the seagulls were gathering on a nearby wall.
"I'm warning you, now go away, there's nothing your readers need to know. Go bother someone else."
"Oh, I don't know, I think they'll find it interesting. How long are you here for?" Olly insisted.
Ashworth looked around. There were too many people, for a town that was the subject of a murder investigation.
"I won't tell you again. Now leave, while you still can."
Olly wasn't going to be deterred. Ashworth couldn't stop him from a story that was of the public's interest, people deserved to know an alleged child killer was in town when a young boy had been killed. He could see the headline now. He couldn't wait until the next morning to tell Maggie, now he had a story to compose before then and have it all ready for her approval 'Man accused of Sandbrook killing in local area'.
If that didn't boost sales, nothing would and neither his aunt or the disagreeable new DI could object.
Rose and Alec were sitting in the harbour caf , just across the harbour from the police station, Rose looking out of the window.
"Alec, I was thinking of renting somewhere, want to share?"
"Around here? I suppose it would be nearer?" Alec mused over his breakfast.
He figured until he got himself fixed, he was safer sticking with her, plus he wanted to know more about how two men had left her. All the times as a boy he'd read about going to different dimensions but now, Rose was back where she belonged, well her adopted world, since she'd said there was no longer a way back.
"We could go see about a caravan," she suggested, since they'd passed the campsite entrance. "I bet they had a load of cancellations."
"Rose, it's not a good idea. I came here as a boy, we camped on top of one of those cliffs."
"You came all the way here on holiday?" Rose asked him as she turned back, certain she'd just seen Lee Ashworth talking to someone.
"When I arrived here, it freaked me out because I could never remember the name of the place. I used to hide under those cliffs to get away from my parents arguing."
"Alec, the caravans will be different from when you were last here. We could go over and ask? It'll get us out of the hotel, did ya see how the owner looked at us?"
"I was taking no notice," Alec replied, thinking she'd talk him into it anyway.
He realised he needed her now, what were the chances she'd choose to come to the town and offer to help him?
That got him a smile from Rose.
"Yeah, 'course not. She was probably wishing she'd asked to spend some time with you when you arrived."
"Who says she never tried?" he replied, raising his eyebrow.
"That could have been embarrassing? I mean if it didn't work out?" Rose tried not to laugh but failed.
"Thank you for that. Who says I did not consider it until you came along? You never objected last night."
"I told ya, I was worried about you. You never objected either."
Alec just pulled a face. She had already got to him and he knew it and that he'd agree to anything she asked. They finished in the caf and walked across to the caravan park, Rose asking about an extra large model caravan with a full kitchen so she could do her laundry.
The woman recognised her and Alec knew that was going to happen everywhere they went so he had to get used to it. The woman on reception showed them a few models and Rose settled on a new model, not caring how much it cost.
"How long are you wanting it for?" the woman asked her, since Alec was staying out of it.
Rose thought about it Alec was feeling left out so she nudged him.
"What do ya think? Are the police paying for your hotel room?"
"Yes, though how long for, I have no idea. What are you getting at?"
Rose figured he was a man who paid his own way.
"Well, get that allowance changed to a caravan and I'll pay the rest," Rose suggested. "Can we do that?" she asked the woman, who was looking pleased since they'd had a lot of cancellations.
"We're always happy to work with the police. We can contact your personnel department for them to apply your living allowance then charge the rest to Miss Tyler."
"Yeah, well about that. Just send it to the accounts department at Torchwood, mark it for the attention of Jake Simmonds. So, when can we move in? We'll want it for a few weeks."
Alec thought he might have known she would charge it to Torchwood.
"You can collect the keys after four tomorrow, we'll sort it all out in the morning for you. We'll make it available for as long as you need it, it's a private one anyway. Anything else we can do for you?"
Rose then dragged Alec across the road to sit on the wall.
"Are you going to take charge of everything?" he asked her when she'd been for some more drinks.
"Sorry, I'm just used to it. Anyway, that's all sorted now and if your chief doesn't agree to me working with you, I can always use the pass for the swimming pool," Rose smiled.
"I can't see her objecting if it costs nothing. We'll go see her first thing but there will be a lot of new arrivals tomorrow, she may see no need."
"Well she'll accept a mobile lab but where can they base it?"
Alec was sure she'd asked him that before.
"Miller is the best person to ask. Try calling her."
Alec pressed Ellie's number, though Ellie was about to go home and scowled when she saw his name.
"I was about to go home Sir," Ellie answered.
"Hi Ellie, sorry, it's Rose."
"Sorry Rose, I'm not used to working on a Sunday."
"Never mind. If your chief agrees to getting help from Torchwood, where's the best place to park a mobile lab and possibly a mobile base?"
"They'd be best contacting someone on the council who deals with parking. There's the old station car park on the way out of the harbour area, I expect they could close it off or at least part of it. You were told we had extra staff coming in tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I was just told. Still, you're not getting extra labs are you?" Rose replied.
"Well no and now we have two new areas of interest, Brian's not too happy about it, he complained when I left yesterday."
Brian Young had caught Ellie before she had left the day before.
"What's going on Ellie?" she'd been asked.
"All I know is that Danny may have been in here, ran away and down to the boatyard," Ellie had told him. "We've got officers searching down there for what might have killed him. You may be getting some extra help if the chief agrees."
"Then what was Rose Tyler doing here with the new DI? Is he letting Torchwood take over or is she his latest girlfriend?" Brian had joked, thinking that was very unlikely.
"All you need to know is Hardy says she's consulting on the case," she had replied.
Ellie was now about to leave for home when Brian came along.
"We're getting nowhere up at the hut Ellie," he told her as Ellie got up.
"Well, if Hardy has his way, he'll bring in every male in the town and fingerprint them. We need to find out who was up there with Danny."
"I know that Ellie but he's going to ruffle a few feathers in the process," Brian replied. "Need a ride home?"
Ellie looked at him. "I've got a car, thanks, Brian," she replied, wondering why he'd asked.
"Well I thought you might have got a lift here or did Hardy have you working early?"
"We had someone to interview, it couldn't wait, apparently. I'm going home to see my two boys before Hardy finds me something else to do."
She had hoped now her annoying boss had taken up with Rose Tyler, he'd have left her alone on a Sunday but Lee Ashworth had already spoiled that. Ashworth was a cool customer, very sure of himself. No wonder he'd got away with it back in Sandbrook and was out to get his revenge on Hardy.
She could already see there was going to be trouble between the two of them, they would be trying to get the better of each other and she hoped Rose knew what she was getting into.
Lee Ashworth had gone back to what was his temporary base, an abandoned barn but as he stood by his bike looking across the fields, he wondered if he should take a walk and see where Hardy had been likely to hide Claire. He knew now that following the detective would only make Hardy more suspicious and he'd not reckoned the man had brought Rose Tyler into the investigation.
He knew what Torchwood did they played with your mind and he been surprised she'd not already started or had she? He was determined she was not going to get in his head but he had to be careful now in case she already suspected he'd made some things up.
Now he knew it had been a big mistake admitting he'd been at the scene and had to make up something on the spur of the moment to make it look like the other man there had been responsible. Surely there couldn't be that many men with hardly any hair who knew the boy?
Since there wasn't much they could do until Rose got permission from Alec's chief, they went back to the hotel for Rose to call her stepfather.
"So, you want us to get involved then?" Pete asked her when he'd got his phone back off her mother. "Rose, we need a good reason."
"I know Dad but they have three scenes to investigate, can you at least send a mobile lab? We have an idea who's responsible, someone from Alec's last big case."
"The one from Sandbrook, he's there?" Pete asked as Tony tugged at him to say hello to his sister.
"Yeah and he admitted he was at the scene where Danny was but we already guessed he was there. We just need to find whoever took Danny up there. Alec's DS is organising bringing people in for fingerprinting but we may have narrowed it down a bit. So, what about a bit of help?"
"Rose, I'll have to consider it, you know that? We're always willing to help the police but where would we put a mobile unit?"
"Alec's DS says ask the council if ya can use the station car park. I need to ask you something else Dad. Alec needs medical help, he's hiding something from his boss."
Pete thought he might have known Rose would find someone to look after.
"So you want a medical unit as well then? We may as well send a mobile ops centre, you can use it as an office. Leave it with me then. Are you staying in that hotel?" Pete asked her.
Rose explained they'd been to see about a caravan and gave him the details to pass onto Jake. Pete ended the call and rang Jake, who was amused.
"Want me to go down?" Jake asked him.
"Not yet Jake, get something organised in the way of a lab and call the council tomorrow when Rose gets the go-ahead. Look up Lee Ashworth from the Sandbrook case, Rose says they think he's involved and he could have killed the boy."
"Seriously? Why don't they arrest him then?" Jake wanted to know.
"They've not got enough evidence yet Jake. Rose said they think Ashworth followed Alec to Broadchurch, hoping he would lead him to his wife. Rose says Alec hid her nearby but then Danny recognised him and Ashworth didn't want the boy telling anyone he was in town, especially Alec. She never said anything else."
"I read what happened Pete, that man should never have walked free. It never said who lost the evidence."
"No doubt Rose will find out," Pete laughed.
"Yeah, she'll have practised her interrogation skills on him," Jake agreed.
"I'm sure she will have Jake but I'm not sure her working with him is a good idea. She lost the Doctor and his twin, did she ever get over it?" Pete asked him.
"She never says anything Pete. Maybe Alec Hardy's what she needs though? He's fresh from that bloke walking free of at least one crime, now he might be responsible for another and if Rose is there to help him?"
"Yeah, sounds like it's just what he needs someone on his side. Make all the arrangements Jake and she's moving out of the hotel, make sure everything's paid."
"Yeah, will do Pete. Bet she's found an expensive rental apartment?" Jake laughed.
"No, she found an expensive caravan," Pete also laughed.
After relaxing the rest of the day, Rose took some of her things to Alec's room after dinner and Alec wanted to know more about where she had come from. Rose explained how she had escape the basement of the store she had worked in before the place got blown up and how she went off with the first Doctor she met.
"So you could not resist?" Alec asked as they lay on top of the bed.
"Well, I turned him down at first but he came back. Then I found out I was the first one he'd asked twice. Alec, he looked different when I first met him, I made him change. He said Timelords have this trick of cheating death, they can change. I stood there, just watching and didn't believe it was still him. Remember the stars were going out, a few years ago?"
"Yes Rose, I remember, what was all that about? The police were never told."
"Me and a friend of mine went to find out but my mother insisted on following when my friend joined me. That's when the Doctor's twin was created. It's difficult to explain."
"Yes, I can imagine Rose but I would still like to know. You mentioned something about this twin growing out of the Doctor's spare hand? How did he have a spare hand?"
"When he was regenerating, well it was Christmas and this big spaceship was hovering over London and we got transported onboard. The Doctor challenged their leader to a sword fight, for the planet, his hand got cut off but he managed to grow another one. His other one fell to Earth and an old friend found it at preserved it. He got it back eventually and his twin grew out of it when Donna touched the container. Alec, his twin was only part Timelord, he could have stayed here if he'd wanted to."
"Yes, I get the picture Rose. He never thought he was what you wanted, did he? You may have wanted him to stay but he thought otherwise. What did the Doctor say to him?"
"Alec, his twin destroyed a race of beings call Daleks, he wiped them out before they wiped us out, that was what was going on, they had this device that when activated would wipe out all matter across the universe and every alternate universe."
"So why was the Doctor annoyed with his twin if he stopped them?" Alec wanted to know.
"I don't know Alec, he just was. The Doctor always gave everyone a choice to stop what they were doing, his twin just did it but they wouldn't have stopped, their leader was too egotistical to agree, he was mad. So, I didn't agree with his twin being accused of anything but I never said so to him but I bet he noticed."
"Well, I don't get his twin wanted to go back with him, if he'd been accused of something. Was he punishing himself?"
"I don't know Alec but when he got created, well Donna became a part Timelord or Timelady as well. Maybe he wanted to make sure she was okay? He could have stayed with me though, after I went to find him."
"You are never going to understand why he chose to leave Rose," Alec told her, putting his arm around her.
"I spent all that time Alec, hoping to get him back. Why would his twin think that?"
Alec knew he had no easy answers for her, both of these Doctors had chosen to leave her and only they knew why. Maybe they both thought they did not deserve her. Rose went off to the bathroom to wipe the tears from her eyes and to get ready for bed. They made some progress when Rose got in beside Alec, though Rose was ready to get him some help if he got too carried away, since he got her to part with her skimpy underwear.
Early the next morning, Lee Ashworth was planning what his next move was. He'd wandered across the fields and came to a ridge, seeing a row of thatched cottages in the distance and wondering if that was where Claire was hiding out. It stood to reason Hardy would want her close by but not too near and somewhere remote.
Maybe he should move a bit nearer and see if he could spot her or Hardy going in or out? Maybe now Hardy was screwing Rose Tyler, Claire would be on her own.
Over breakfast, Rose and Alec were discussing how they would get his chief to agree to getting help from Torchwood and if it was a good idea for Rose to get to know Claire.
"Rose, you need to know that Claire Ripley as she likes to be known as is unstable. She lied where she was the night Pippa and her cousin went missing and she has a temper."
"Then she needs someone who's not in the police Alec. She may tell me more."
"Yes and when she finds out you told me or that we are involved, she will turn on you. Maybe getting Miller to make friends with her is a better idea?"
"You won't get Ellie to agree to that," Rose replied.
"Then you can persuade her," Alec suggested.
"No way Alec, she won't agree if I ask her," Rose protested. "Well, take me to meet Claire, see how it goes. She might not guess we're involved. Best hope we don't make the front page of the local paper then?"
"She will know who you are Rose. I will take you after you meet with my chief. Will your stepfather call her first?" Alec wondered.
"Yeah, I think he will Alec, it usually helps if he offers some help. I have to ask him again if there's anything we can help you with as well. If your chief agrees and dad sends a lab down, he can get someone from medical. Did I tell ya that at least two Torchwood employees look like people I met when I went back? I nearly freaked out."
"I can imagine it felt like when I realised I had been here before."
"Yeah, that's really weird that you'd been here before Alec. When I saw them, I couldn t say anything though. Actually, one of them might come down to see you, she's a junior doctor and she has access to all sorts of things. Maybe she'll know what can help you?"
"Then I will agree to go see her. If your lab parks in that car park, I will have an excuse to visit."
As they finished breakfast and Alec called for a car to take them to the police station, Rose laughing and saying they could walk, Pete was already on the phone to Elaine Jenkinson, Alec's boss.
"You make a very generous offer Mr Tyler," Elaine was telling him. "So, you have an agent in the town?"
"Yes, my stepdaughter is already there, she was supposed to be taking some time off though but she is keen to help in any way she can. I believe she has already met Alec Hardy, she never went into any details though. I can have a lab and a base sent down there by late afternoon, your own crime unit can have access and work with our people."
Pete thought it was best for Torchwood not to take over completely. If it worked there, that could encourage other police forces to do the same. So when Alec knocked on the chief's door, she had plenty to say to him as Rose waited outside.
"Well ask her to come in," the chief told him. "I heard she's already been helping you? Did you know what you were doing by finding two other possible crime scenes?"
"I'm not to blame. Trust me, there is a reason and Miss Tyler getting involved gets you some help at no cost to you. We have reason to believe that the suspect from my old case in Sandbrook, Lee Ashworth is responsible for the death of Danny Latimer."