Nigel slumped in his seat as DI Hardy sat up straight and placed his arms on the table. Settling down to business he cut straight to the chase with his first question. It was all about the meeting they had last night. How Nigel came to be out so late? Where he had been? Who with? And most importantly why? Nigel's response though was just to smirk back, he knew it would wind the detective up and he was acting much cooler and calmer than he had been the night before. Having not really planned for now Nigel wasn't panicking about the outcome, as far as he was concerned no one had any real evidence that he was guilty of anything.
Frustrated after only twenty minutes with the arrested Alec was beginning to lose his patience. He was waiting on some leads or information to come from the interview being held with Susan Wright but so far nothing had been passed through. He needed some sort of evidence or he was going to have to let the suspect go and that really annoyed him. Here he was trying to get justice for Ellie and the Latimer's and Nigel was just slipping through his fingers. It was usually things like this that caused the stress that usually ended up making him ill. He couldn't have that happen again though. His temper towards Nigel was trying to spiral out of control but he was doing all he could to control it. So far Nigel had danced around every question giving meaningless answers to what Alex deemed very important questions. If this went on much longer he swore he wouldn't be able to keep control much longer.
It was highly unprofessional and unorthodox for him to actually be conducting such an interview and now he was beginning to wish he had never insisted he do so. Nigel was using it as an opportunity to play games and Alec could suddenly see it was going to help nobody if he continued to be present. Stopping the tape he suspended the interview. A stronger and more in depth interrogation really needed to be carried out now and by more senior staff members like the superintendent. He went to leave the room abandoning Nigel who was feeling rather smug at the table and headed out in search of what he needed. On his way he made sure to tell the guarding officer present outside the interview room that Mr Carter was to be returned to his cell until further questioning could be completed.
It was as Alec came marching into the main office that he saw Ellie sat in the waiting area they had for visitors and went in to see her allowing himself to become sidetracked. He had a face like thunder as he stormed in expecting her to be alone but she wasn't, she was sat with Elaine. He had just interrupted their discussion accidentally but at least it killed two birds with one stone as he really needed to speak with them both. Elaine looked up and frowned, sometimes she found Detective Hardy frustratingly rude.
"Yes?" she asked harshly of her colleague as her piercing eyes stared at him.
"Having no luck with Nigel m'am. He is just playing games. I think it would benefit the case if you conducted the interview" he stated whilst glancing to look at Ellie who was staring at him now too.
"Ok, give me a minute and I'll follow it up" she answered in a dismissive tone and Alec was grateful for her co-operation in this matter.
Backing out he left and went to wait somewhat impatiently for Elaine to finish with Ellie. He wanted very much for them to talk especially after the intense moment that had occurred between them earlier. As Elaine emerged though so did Ellie and she couldn't run quick enough out of the building as Elaine collared Alec for more information. His chance to speak Ellie had passed and she was gone, to the hospital he suspected to be with Tom. Disappointed he tried to focus on the task at hand and answer Elaine's questions in regards to the previous interview conducted with their suspect. As he had mentioned previously Nigel had not been forthcoming at all with information so he had nothing to tell her. It was a shame as he really wished they would get a successful break through but it seemed like it was the harder hand that was going to need to do this.
What neither of them knew was that there had been a development after interviewing and releasing Susan Wright. Her loyalty to her son had failed her when she had been made aware of the latest stints they believed he had pulled in regards to Chloe Latimer and Tom Miller in conjunction with the abduction of Ellie Miller. She had been horrified more so to hear of the state of the young girl who's brother she knew had been murdered by her son only a few weeks ago. Time had moved them all on but clearly Nigel hadn't learnt his lesson from the first time. With the promise of police protection she agreed to speak this time but only to tell them what she had seen nothing more. She would not convict her own son of such horrendous crimes if she could help it but if they could get him to admit from information she supplied then she was in favour.
Their colleague who had been carrying out Susan's interview came running towards them out of breath and almost excitable with what seemed like news. He couldn't wait to reveal to them what he had learnt before it was too late. He had been to the interview room he had been told Alec was working in only to discover it was empty and he was praying they hadn't let the suspect go now they had new suspicions to follow up. Susan had revealed that in the previous interrogations she had withheld information in a bid to protect Nigel. What she had told him was so vital to cracking the case of Daniel Latimer that it urgently needed to be passed on. After spitting out his news both Alec and Elaine reacted as quickly as was physically possible given the shock of the news.
They couldn't believe the lead they had and Elaine demanded that Nigel was bought back for questioning by her and her boss. Then she dismissed Alec, having him present for any further questioning was going to be compromising but she warned him that the information he knew in conjunction to this case was not to leave the police station premises and that meant no running to tell Ellie but Alec couldn't resist he needed to tell her that the outlook was positive. No sooner had the interview room door closed so that they could start preparing to begin again with Nigel, did Alec suddenly make his way to leave. He had a clear route mapped out in his head and knowing it was disobedient he headed to the hospital to talk with Miller, even if he was supposed to keep the information under wraps he believed she had a right to know and he was going to tell her.
Upon arrival he was rushing down the corridors so fast he almost bypassed Tom's room completely. It wasn't until he had taken a few steps passed it that he back tracked and peered inside to see Ellie clutching her sons hand as he slept. It was a heartbreaking sight and tugged on his heartstrings as he took a moment to collect himself before going in. As he pushed the door open Ellie's head flew round to see who had come in and she was somewhat relieved to see it was him but nervous also. She didn't know why he was there and she silently prayed that it wasn't to talk about events that had happened between them earlier. She already felt emotionally messed up by it all and didn't want to broach it as a subject until she had had proper time to think about things and how she really felt. Giving him a weak smile they shared an awkward moment before she returned the focus to her son.
"Miller?" he questioned as he slowly approached.
It choked her up, even after all they had been through and he still wasn't calling her by her first name, he was keeping it formal. She rolled her eyes and plastered on a fake smile as she turned back to look at him, now stood right behind her. Alec reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I have some news"
His declaration made her wonder what he had to tell her and she hoped to god it was something positive. She wasn't disappointed. Speaking softly to her in a bid not to disturb Tom's rest he updated her on some of what he had found out. She had some news for him too, regarding Chloe and it too was hopeful. When she had arrived at the hospital she had bumped into Mark who had updated her on Chloe's state and progress. The young girl was thankfully making a full recovery and so this was definitely vital to the case as far as both of the detective's were concerned. Her testimony could convict Nigel for years. That added to Alec's good mood but he hadn't yet told Ellie all the details regarding Susan Wright's interview and when he finally did Ellie's only reaction was to gasp.
"Does this mean?" she asked not needing to finish her hopeful sounding sentence for Alec to know what she was asking. Nodding he smirked at her, with the latest uncovered details it placed Nigel at the scene of Danny's death and also convicted him of harm to others. They had him now and there was no escape.
Back at the station further interrogation of Nigel was proving successful. They had pushed and pushed him and Elaine was sure he was on the verge of cracking, although with criminals like him she always found it a little difficult to tell. Nigel was sweating, the pressure getting to him and making him nervous. He knew everything they were accusing him of was true but he wanted never to admit it. He thought himself clever enough to slip the net in these instances, especially when he had so easily in the past. Slowly but surely though it was all coming together for the police and it was beginning to look bleak for Nigel especially when the interview was interrupted by the arrival of the news Chloe Latimer was recovering from her injuries and available to give a statement. When Nigel heard this he panicked, losing control of his emotions and his cool he had managed to be keeping throughout most of the questioning. Chloe's testimony could convict him of all the crimes he was being accused of and this frightened him. Having learned and delivered this news the interview was again terminated and Nigel returned to holding whilst the police got ready to go and question the young girl.
Elaine and her assisting officer made the visit in person and were very sincere but thorough when questioning Chloe. She hadn't long been awake and seemed very much out of it in terms of being able to go through the night in any detail but they just wanted an initial idea of what she might know. Despite having lost so much blood and been so close to losing her battle to stay alive they all had to admit how stunned they were to see her talking so actively about the events leading up to, whilst she was in and once the van had reached its destination. She was recalling a lot of detail that Elaine's colleague desperately tried to scribble down. They had been talking to for no longer than ten minutes and gathered so much information from her before the doctors insisted that they leave her to rest and recover. What disappointed them most was that Chloe hadn't been able to remember and confirm exactly what she had heard in any exchanges between her boyfriend and Nigel and they would have asked him but since the other night Dean had disappeared. The little information they had collected though would be sufficient enough to continue their investigations and they were hopeful that Nigel would crack the second they called up on it once he was back in questioning.