Thank you guys so so so much for the amazing reviews :) The plot seems to thicken at last. But will John act on his suspicion?

Chapter 48

John was worried when he arrived at Clara's school only to find that she had already left. His first instinct was that Ciaran O'Neill had been quicker and got to her during the brief period between her finishing teaching and him arriving to pick her up, but he felt relieved when one of her colleagues soon approached him with a message. Clara had already gone home.

When he stepped inside his house, John felt a little cross at Clara for just sneaking off even though she was a grown woman and responsible for her own actions, but he had vowed to keep her safe and he was going to fail if she didn't play along. However, as he entered the house, it was the smell that immediately caught his attention and made the anger fade away in an instant. He found Clara in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot on the stove and it smelled heavenly.

"Hey," Clara said, greeting him with a smile. "You're just on time. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

Odin, lying next to Clara's feet, raised his head. Some days, John thought that his dog understood every word, but that wasn't his concern right now.

"I wanted to pick you up from school," John said and he immediately realised that it sounded like an accusation. And it was, in a way. He had worried about her.

Clara seemed to feel it because she dropped the spoon into the pot and turned around to face him, an apologetic look on her face. "I know," she replied. "I'm sorry. I just… well, you've helped so much, you're letting me stay here and I wasn't really appreciative of that. I just wanted to do something nice."

Looking around the kitchen, John instantly noticed how she was planning to repay him. Compared to yesterday, the cupboards now seemed fully stocked and the smell that hung in the air promised a delicious dinner. She had shopped and now she was cooking for him. It was hard to be properly annoyed. John shrugged at her. "You could've done something nice after I picked you up," he argued. "I just want you to be safe."

Clara sighed and let her shoulders sink. "I know," she said and a smile spread across her face. "But nothing happened. And I promise I won't do it again. Just let me have this one thing, let me surprise you just once."

Looking at her smile, John couldn't help himself. He started to chuckle. "Alright, but tomorrow, you'll stay put until I pick you up, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, grinning at him. "Can you set the table while I finish cooking?"

Without waiting for his response, Clara turned her attention towards the food once again, stirring whatever smelt so heavenly and John took a moment to look at her. Her mood had lifted so much since the previous day and even though she now seemed entirely at ease, John couldn't help but think about what he had found today. After only knowing each other for a short while, John couldn't expect to know every detail of her life, he couldn't expect to know all of her secrets, but he did know that she was keeping something from him and he had this nasty feeling that it was about Bonnie, about Ciaran O'Neill, about whatever was going on. While Clara had her back turned to him, John reached into his pocket and pulled out the photograph he had taken home and lifted it up to compare it to her silhouette. They looked identical, almost eerily so, and it was no surprise to him that Kate had immediately assumed it was Clara, but John knew better. Her posture, her expression, even her clothes – none of that matched. The woman in the photograph was Bonnie and no one else.

"Today, Kate and I went through the evidence we found at the bed and breakfast where Ciaran O'Neill was staying," John said almost absent-mindedly.

Clara turned her head, frowning in his direction. "Did you find anything useful?"

John exhaled sharply and stepped closer, holding out the photo for Clara to see. "We found a lot of pictures that O'Neill had taken over what we assume was months. Pictures of Bonnie. And also of you," he explained softly.

Clara reached for the photo and regarded it for a while and somehow, it seemed as if the news didn't surprise her at all. Shouldn't she be surprised?

"So you think Ciaran O'Neill stalked us both?" Clara asked him, but her eyes never left the photo. Was she seeing what he was seeing? That the woman in the photograph wasn't her but her twin sister? If she did, her reaction didn't give it away.

"Maybe he wasn't sure which one of you was which," he theorized and then, John remembered something. The person who had arrived on this island before Bonnie's death had used Clara's passport. "Oh, by the way, have you ever checked if you've still got your passport?"

Her frown deepened. "Why wouldn't I have it? It's with all my other documents."

The documents Clara had given him to safeguard them for her. The papers that were locked away in his safe. Maybe he should have a look at them just to see if it was there. And maybe he shouldn't tell Clara of his intentions.

"Do you remember the day this photo was taken?" John asked instead.

Clara looked at it again, but she wasn't really looking. Her eyes seemed unfocused as if she was only pretending to consider her answer. "No," she replied eventually and then promptly handed the photo back to him. "I'm sorry, I don't. I don't keep track of every time I leave the house."

John wanted to believe that Clara had nothing to do with Bonnie's death, but he was still a detective and he couldn't help but notice that the clues that were piling up, indicating that she knew at least something about it. If she confided in him, he would help her, but her trust only seemed to go so far. He had to figure it out by himself.

Once Clara had gone to sleep and even Odin was snoozing on his favourite rug, John still lay awake, thinking about everything he had uncovered so far, thinking about everything he didn't know yet. Either Clara had lied about leaving the island or Bonnie had arrived using Clara's passport. Bonnie had spent a week here before she met her untimely end, but where had she stayed? What had she been up to? Why was there a photograph linking her to Clara's house when Clara had repeatedly sworn that she had never met her sister before? Why was Ciaran O'Neill after Clara and what did he want from her? How had Bonnie Moore really died? It all came down to one thing: Clara Oswald was lying.

John laughed when he realised he might have seen it sooner hadn't it been for his feelings for Clara, and he had feelings, that he was certain of. John was in love with her and Kate had been absolutely right to warn him about falling for a suspect. His feelings were getting in the way of this case.

Not knowing what else to do, knowing that Clara would never willingly tell him the truth, John rose from his bed and walked through the long hallway until he had reached the cupboard behind which the safe was hidden. It was a breach of trust, but Clara didn't trust him either, did she? He was a detective and he was well within his rights to investigate, so he pulled out the little metal box Clara had given him and held it in his hands for a long moment, wondering whether he actually wanted to know what it contained.