"Ell. You're not serious are you?" she asked her sister.
"Well Hardy and his girlfriend are holding him," Ellie replied.
"Let me get this right. They think Joe was with Danny the night he died? What for? Wasn't he at home with you?"
"That's just it Lucy, I don't know. I'd taken those pills I have for jet-lag. He could have gone off without me knowing."
"Crikey Ell, you told Hardy that? So Joe's not really got an alibi?"
"Don't say that. Someone is under suspicion for killing Danny. No, they just think Joe was secretly meeting Danny, I don't know what he's said. Even so, Joe may have seen the person responsible, Hardy just wants Joe to confirm it. The suspect identified Joe as the person he saw with Danny."
"Sounds a bit complicated," Lucy laughed. "If they have a suspect though, at least Joe's not being charged for that but seriously, he was meeting Danny? What for?"
"You tell me. Tom said one night before Danny left our house, he went to find Joe. Maybe it's nothing?" Ellie wondered.
"Even so Ell, it's one thing Danny going to find Joe at your house and another if they were meeting in secret."
"You think I don't know that?" Ellie asked her.
She wondered if she should even discuss this with her sister, she'd surely be taken off the case now. She looked up when Rose and Alec entered.
"You can go see him now," Alec told her.
"What did he have to say?" Ellie wanted to know. "Was he with Danny up at the hut?"
Rose went to sit next to her, Ellie moving her chair away.
"Sorry Ellie but yeah, he was. You should ask him why," Rose told her, going to touch her arm but Ellie moving away.
Ellie suddenly felt sick and getting up, dashed past Alec to the ladies room.
"Go after her Rose," Alec told her.
Rose nodded and got up. Alec had wanted Ashworth to be wrong, that he'd just pointed Joe out because Joe was the last person in the line-up but no. Tom must know something else but was it relevant now? Maybe he should just pass it to child services to see what they made of it but that was now up to the chief, who he now had to go face.
Ellie had locked herself in a cubicle, being sick so Rose tapped on the door.
"Go away Rose," Ellie finally replied, getting some tissue paper.
"Ellie, I'm sorry, we wanted Ashworth to be wrong. We hoped Joe had seen him up there but Joe never noticed him."
"Well, see what you've done by trying," Ellie replied, trying to wipe her face.
"Joe brought it on himself Ellie. Danny would still be here if Joe hadn't taken him up there," Rose reminded her. "Sorry but Tom must have had an idea, since Danny went to find his dad then Danny went inside when he hurt his leg."
"Tom's eleven Rose, why would he think anything?" Ellie wanted to know.
Rose was wondering that herself but the situation said otherwise, Tom must have thought something.
"I don't think Alec wants to ask him Ellie. Joe admitted meeting Danny, he sent him a text after you'd gone to bed. Danny must have deleted it so we'll have to contact the phone company but Joe's phone will be sent as well now. Go see him Ellie."
Ellie opened the door and Rose saw her eyes were all red.
"I can't. What did he want to take Danny up to the hut for? I can't face him right now, I need to talk to Tom and ask him if he knows anything. Do you know what this will do to him?"
"Sorry Ellie, really I am but it's not normal behaviour to arrange to meet a friend's son late at night in a remote spot. I know things may have been different if Lee Ashworth hadn't also been up there that night."
"You think I don't know that?" Ellie asked her, still dabbing her eyes. "I'm going to pick up the boys, I'll deal with Joe when Hardy lets him go. Has he finished asking him questions?"
"I think so. Alec will probably go see the chief about it," Rose replied.
"I'll get taken off the case or even suspended," Ellie told her.
"It might not come to that Ellie, you weren't to know he'd gone out."
Alec had gone to see the chief and was telling her that Ashworth had seen Joe Miller up at the hut but not the other way around.
"So, we're waiting for results of the oar and that rag that was found?" the chief was asking him. "It's all resting on that?"
"Yes, the items are now at the Torchwood labs. They will go through every fibre of that rag and every grain of wood on the oar. Ashworth is responsible, I'm sure of it," Alec replied.
"You think he followed you here and Danny recognised him? Don't blame yourself for this Alec."
"I am blaming myself. Ashworth could have just let him go, I would have known he was in town sooner or later," he replied.
"It seems Lee Ashworth wasn't ready to let you know," the chief told him.
"He was playing games. He wanted to find his wife so he thought he'd follow me," Alec admitted. "She wanted to start over so I brought her down here, just outside the town. She had no-one else to help her and it meant I could keep an eye on her, if Ashworth tried to contact her."
"I see then? Seems like Ashworth gathered that?"
"Too soon, yes. He could have walked away after chasing Danny, instead of as we believe, that of swinging the oar and hitting the boy. We still think that's what Ashworth was doing and Danny ran into it. We still don't have the boat used to transport Danny either. Can you authorise the coastguard or the harbour master to search any moorings or coves for an abandoned boat?"
"It's a lot to ask," the chief told him.
"It may hold vital clues, such as Danny's and Ashworth's DNA. He may have just tied it up somewhere but no-one has yet reported one missing. It can't be far away, there were signs a chain was cut by the boatyard."
What Alec didn't know was that Lee Ashworth had changed his mind about leaving the boat he'd used where he'd got it from the morning following leaving Danny on the beach. He had gone down and taken it up the coast a mile or so to a rocky patch of beach and dragged it into some bushes, then he'd walked back up the cliff to where his bike was.
Alec was just leaving when his phone rang.
"What?" he asked, having been told Chloe Latimer had called the station to say she'd been out and seen a boat stuck in some bushes up the coast. "Has CSU gone up there?" he asked when the desk sergeant said a patrol had gone to investigate.
He ended the call and turned back to the chief.
"Seems the missing boat has been found, now we have whoever killed Danny."
"That may also have been wiped clean," the chief warned him.
"We should get something from it," Alec disagreed, wondering how Chloe Latimer had stumbled upon it.
He went off to find Rose, who had gone up to his office, thinking she may put off her visit to Claire until tomorrow. Alec had figured where she'd gone, after asking if DS Miller had left. Rose smiled as the office door opened, as she'd been playing with her phone.
"Updating your social profile?" Alec teased her.
"Nah, I only talk to my friends, my real friends, I have it set to private. You'd never believe how many friend requests I get."
"Well, we found the boat used to transport Danny, we still have no idea who it belongs to though. Going to visit Claire?"
"I'll leave it until tomorrow, ya never know, Lee Ashworth could be in custody by tonight."
Alec was hoping so, then he could go get himself fixed, now he was more confident about it.
"Then let us hope so? Any news from your labs yet?" he asked.
"They'll notify CSU, I expect that Brian will be complaining of more work, with finding that boat?" Rose laughed. "Do ya know where Lee Ashworth went?"
"To see Claire I suspect. Rose, it's not a good idea you go back there."
"I might not need to. If her husband's DNA is on the boat with Danny's, she'll leave ya know?"
"She won't get far. If I get Ashworth to admit he killed Danny, I can get Tess to re-open Sandbrook."
Joe Miller had been let go with a warning he was still under caution and got a taxi home, where Ellie was sat in the dining room, waiting for him, the laptop on.
"Tell me the truth Joe. Did you go meet Danny that night?" she asked him. "He was eleven years old, what did you take him there for?"
"I never did anything but talk to him," Joe insisted. "I swear that's all Ellie."
"How can I believe you? You took Danny to his death Joe, there was no need to get him up there that night."
Tom was on the landing, tears in his eyes. Ellie heard him get up and slam his bedroom door.
"See what you've done," she continued. "He saw Danny going to find you one evening and he never told me. Why not?" she asked him. "Did you tell him not to?"
"What? No Ell and it was only twice he came to me. Mark hit him, did you know that?"
"No, I didn't but even so, was that any worse than what you had planned?" she replied.
"Ellie, I never planned anything," he laughed.
"Think I don't know your email password?" she taunted him. "You were emailing him. Want me to read some to you?"
"Dad, is it true?" Tom asked from the doorway. "You took Danny to where he was killed?"
"Tom, go back to your room, I'm talking to your father about it," Ellie insisted.
"What's this? A police interview?" Joe almost laughed.
"I could show these emails to Hardy but what went on between you and Danny now has nothing to do with him being killed. I think you'd better leave Joe, I'm not covering for you when child services come after you."
"What? Hardy won't go that far," he replied.
"Won't he? He's working with a Torchwood agent, don't cross either of them, you know they're involved and Rose Tyler has a younger brother, she'll see you don't get away with it, especially when they get your texts to Danny."
Joe went to sit down at the dining table.
"You really want me to go?" he asked.
"Yes, until you're cleared, then after that, I don't know. All I feel at present is disgusted. You knew it was you who was up there with Danny, all that time we were talking about it."
"How do you think I feel Ellie? Yes, I was with him, he ran away from me and I thought he'd gone home. I was cleaning up while he was being killed. I have to live with that now, for the rest of my life."
"What do you think I'll be doing?" she asked him. "I have to live with knowing you could have prevented it. How did you get Danny to meet you that night Joe? What did you promise him?"
Joe got up and stormed out, going upstairs to pack a bag. Tom heard him and went into his parent's bedroom.
"Are you leaving Dad?"
"Yes, for now, it's best I go Tom. You lost your friend, it's my fault Danny was up there."
"You took him away from me Dad. He sent me texts to say he'd got a new friend and he didn't want me to talk to him any more."
He went back to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Rose and Alec were about to call it a day when Brian knocked on the door. Rose thought he'd come to make another complaint about how many crime scenes they had on the go at once.
"Sir, we have a preliminary report on the boat that was found earlier. We found several prints, one set belonged to Lee Ashworth."
"So, he wasn't so clever after all?" Alec asked. "Rose, care to accompany me to bring Lee Ashworth in?"
Rose smiled. "Yeah, do ya know where he is though?"
"Yes, I got the chief to allow me to put a trace on his phone," he bragged.
"You sneak! I bet he's with Claire?" Rose laughed.
When Lee Ashworth had been let go and told by Alec to stay in town, he'd got on his bike and gone back to Claire's cottage. Claire was packing.
"Where are you going Claire? You were going to say goodbye?"
"Why should I when you just turn up?" Claire asked him, looking out of the window.
"What were you looking for Claire?" he wanted to know as they lay in bed after he talked her into having sex.
"Nothing, I just thought Alec may have followed you."
"Don't worry about him Claire unless you were involved with him?"
Claire slapped his face and got up, grabbing her robe from the nearby chair. She heard a noise outside and peeking out of the window, saw two marked police cars.
Alec and Rose were in the first one.
"Be careful Alec, he might be dangerous," Rose warned him, hoping neither of them would start a fight.
Alec knew what she meant as he went round to open the car door for her, something she was beginning to like. Claire was already getting dressed, telling Lee to get a move on.
"I tell you, Alec just got out of the lead police car."
"Keep calm you stupid cow, don't let him see you at the window," Lee replied.
There was a loud knock at the door as Alec shouted for Claire to come out.
"She might be upstairs," Rose hinted, certain she had seen the curtain move.
"Claire, open the door," Alec repeated as he knocked again, Rose thinking she'd hate to be on his bad side.
Claire finally opened the door, half dressed.
"Alec, why are you shouting?" she asked him.
"Tell Lee to come out, we have a warrant for his arrest regarding Danny Latimer," he told her.
"What?" Claire spluttered. "Why do you think he had something to do with that boy's death? Didn't you hound him enough back in Sandbrook?"
"Step back Claire, we have a warrant to enter the premises and do a search," Alec replied, not wanting to mess around.
Claire began to panic. She'd hidden the pendant she'd stolen from Tess's car back in Sandbrook in the kitchen drawer. Alec saw Lee appear behind her so he motioned two officers to take him into custody.
"Lee Ashworth, I'm arresting you in connection with the death of Danny Latimer. Read him his rights," he told the officers. "Claire Ripley, stand aside while we search the cottage."
Another marked car had arrived and the officers entered, Alec already telling them they were looking for a police evidence bag containing a pendant. Both he and Rose stood and watched as the officers began the search.
"Try the kitchen drawer," Rose hinted. "That's where my mum keeps everything."
"I suppose you think you're clever, 'mate'?" Claire hissed to her.
"Stop it Claire, I know it was you who broke into Tess's car," Alec told her as she leaned on the back of a chair.
"Did your girlfriend work it out?" Claire asked sarcastically.
"Sir, we found it," the WPC told him, Alec glad she was wearing gloves so Claire couldn't say it was planted there.
"Claire Ripley, I'm arresting you on suspicion you aided and abetted Lee Ashworth in the murder of Pippa Gillespie," Alec told her.
Claire was led away and placed in the other squad car after the WPC escorted her to get dressed.
"Well, you got them," Rose smiled. "Will Tess be joining you in interviewing them?"
"Well, Danny's murder takes priority, he and Claire will be charged with Pippa's murder," Alec explained.
"So, how about we pay a visit to Doctor Jones tomorrow?" Rose whispered to him.
It was late when Rose and Alec finished at the station, after they went to tell the Latimers they had charged someone over their son's death and Tess was facing a long drive back.
"Come and stay with us," Rose suggested as they went to find something to eat in the camp bar.
Alec was sure Tess would turn her nose up at the thought of staying in a caravan while her ex husband slept with the Vitex heiress. Surprisingly, Tess agreed. She had gone to one of the smaller bedrooms and Rose was in the bathroom when Alec heard a tapping on the door. He thought maybe someone had seen Tess going in and complained to the security guard. He unlocked the door when he saw it was his DS after looking out of the window.
"Miller, what are you doing here?" he asked, wondering who was watching the boys.
Ellie peered inside. "I got your address from Bob," she told him. "Can I come in?"
Alec let her in just as Rose emerged from the bathroom.
"Ellie, what are you doing here?" Rose asked her.
"I told Joe to leave," Ellie replied. "I got Olly round to look after Fred and Tom. What do you think he would have done, if Danny hadn't run away?"
Rose indicated for Ellie to sit then sat beside her.
"Oh Ellie, I'm sorry," she told her, looking at Alec.
"I think you should be thankful Danny did run away but he ran to his death," Alec replied, sitting opposite.
"What's going on?" Tess wanted to know as she was about to go to the bathroom.
"Tess, this is DS Miller, she was working with me but she removed herself from the case," Alec started to explain. "Her husband was the one who took Danny to the clifftop hut."
"Are you going to tell Mark and Beth?" Ellie wanted to know.
"I have to tell them, it's up to them what they do about it," Alec replied.
"He made me feel sick, meeting Danny like that. What did he think he was doing? Danny would have told his parents and according to Tom, Danny fell out with him because he thought Joe was his new friend. Did you get the emails I forwarded?"
"Yes, if child services get involved, they will need to see them but I don't think anything will happen, apart from him maybe being put on a list," Alec told her.
"Danny would have stayed home that night if Joe hadn't sent him a message when I'd gone to bed," Ellie told them.
"Yeah, we know Ellie," Rose tried to console her. "You can't blame yourself for what he did."
"I should have seen something," Ellie disagreed.
"Not if he gave no signs," Alec tried to assure her. "I'll talk to Mark and Beth tomorrow, see what they want to do but now, they need to bury their son."
"Alec, can't it wait?" Rose asked him. "Haven't they gone through enough?"
"They need to know why Danny went out that night," Alec disagreed.
"Did you both go see Mark and Beth this evening?" Ellie asked him.
Alec nodded.
"I'd better go before the neighbours complain," Ellie tried to laugh.
"Yeah, it could take some explaining," Rose did laugh.
After Tess left the next morning, Alec promising to call Daisy and get her to meet Rose, Martha was waiting for Alec's visit. She arranged for Alec to be admitted to the hospital in Dorchester and it was up to Rose to make sure he kept the appointment. Rose knew he would, she had fallen in love with him and he'd do anything for her, including getting himself fixed.
If everything went well, they'd take a trip back to London for her to get some more clothes and for Alec to meet her family, then back to Broadchurch and hopefully, his chief would never find out there had been something wrong with him.
When Lee Ashworth had been formally charged and transferred to the detention centre in Exeter to await his hearing first for killing Danny Latimer, he was cursing Claire for being so stupid and hiding Pippa's pendant where the police would find it and most of all, he was cursing Rose Tyler for turning up in Broadchurch just as he'd arrived looking for Claire.
The End!