Tess had gone back to the station. Dave Harris had been back a while, still having the keys to the car Rose had been driving when he was about to leave to meet Tess for a drink.

"Walker, here, take these keys down to transport for me will you?"

"Yes Sir, are they for the car DC Tyler has been using?"

"Yes, she went in the ambulance with Hardy. She's been gone a while, they must be making sure she didn't swallow any river water."

"She just called for a car to go pick them up, I can take it to her and get DC Ashby to follow me, it's almost five Sir."

"Yes Walker, you do that. Have you seen DS Henchard, isn't she picking him up?"

"I don't know Sir, I think she went off to collect her daughter."

Annie went to find Peggy and told her what he'd just said.

"I knew we were right Annie, why would she make a point of saying that? Let's go take the car to Rose, I hope she's ok."

"She must be or they wouldn't be letting them both out. Did you hear about her jumping in after him?"

"You told me, remember? Still, his wife could have shown a bit more concern. We need more evidence Annie."

"Well who's going to tell Hardy?"

"Not me, that's for certain. He'll find out but maybe Rose will?"

"They seem to get on well, no wonder his wife thinks the worse."

"You know as well as I do Annie, Henchard warned us all off him ages ago, she's so insecure. I could have fancied him, before she made him cut his hair like that but the last few days, he's looked different."

"Yeah, I think he forgot to shave Peggy," Annie laughed as they reached the car.

As they were driving out, Dave Harris was outside getting into his car and waved to Annie, Peggy following behind her.

Tess Henchard was waiting at a fancy bar at the other side of town, having arranged earlier to meet with Dave Harris. It had started the week before, he'd seen her in the corridor and listened to her list of complaints about Rose, how she always went out and came back with Alec, how he always seemed to pass by her desk and glance at her on his way to getting himself a drink and how to cover up the fact the DC liked him more than as her boss, she'd attempted to move her desk around so she wouldn't stare at him all day and give the game away.

Dave Harris had touched her arm and told her he had every sympathy for her because his wife was always showing off in front of the men in the office she worked in, a tale he told every woman he had his eye on, unknown to his poor wife but Tess was not to know that. Tess thought finally someone understood her. She had constantly warned Alec to not get so friendly with the female officers but he obviously didn't see things her way.

She had finally blown up over him being late to Daisy's party when she had made a point of telling him not to and now, to top it off, his annoying DC knew where they lived when he'd had her drive him home after disappearing with her saying he was going to talk to the family of the missing girls and she had just jumped in the river to drag him out.

Dave had been waiting for her the last few nights and tonight, he'd arranged for them to go have a quiet drink and compare spouses. She had called her mother and said she would be late and since Alec was in the hospital, he would be none the wiser.

At the hospital, Alec was getting dressed and knew Tess would completely ignore him when he got home. What had got to him was Tyler, leaning on him when he'd woken up, she had risked herself to jump in the river and push him out, almost getting herself pulled under but she'd done it none the less.

"Tyler," he called out from behind the curtain.

"Yes Sir?"

"Did you ask for the car you had been using?"

"I hinted I would rather get it back Sir."

"Well go get it and come back for me."

"Are you not coming out with me?"

"No, I don't want my wife to know I have been discharged."

"Sir, she'll know, I called the station for a car."

"She will have gone to collect Daisy by now. Please Tyler, just do as I ask?"

He sounded serious.

"OK then, where do you want me to take you?"

"Just get the car first."

Rose went out to reception as Annie walked in.

"Hey Rose, are you alright? What happened to your clothes?"

"They're in a carrier in Hardy's room, I came to see if he can be discharged, no-one got back to him. Did you bring that car?"

"Yeah, Peggy's waiting outside for me. What you go and do a stupid thing like jump in the river for?"

"Because the two officers couldn't reach him without slipping in themselves and he'd already been under once."

"Henchard is fuming because you did that."

"I bet she is but tough, would she rather he drowned? I wasn't gonna let that happen Annie, he found the youngest."

"We know, it's all over the station. Better hope it doesn't reach the papers, she'd only just got back from telling the family, she made me go with her. It was awful Rose, I've never had to do that before and to tell them at the same time there's no sign of Lisa. Her father stormed out and the mother just stared blankly and poured herself a large drink."

"She did that the other day when we were there and he walked out then as well, Hardy went after him and yesterday, I heard he almost had a go at him outside, when they were digging up the garden."

"Well we went to interview the next door neighbours again, they are both well creepy."

"You can tell me tomorrow, he'll be yelling for me in a minute, he thinks he's going home."

"Poor bloke, what's he got to go back to? I wouldn't like to be him, she'll probably ask him how he has the nerve not to drown. We saw Harris before we came here."

"So?" asked Rose, wanting to get out of the place and put some clean underwear on and her own clothes.

"He asked about Henchard and I told him she was picking up her daughter, she made a point of telling us and he asked why she wasn't picking Hardy up."

Alec was sitting on the end of the bed, now dressed in his other suit and a off-white shirt that was a bit creased being shoved in a carrier bag but at least he was now dry and he dreaded to think who had dried him and put a hospital gown on him and hoped it had been a hospital orderly and not Tyler. He still couldn't shake off the fact she had gone in after him, there was loyalty then there was stupidity and she'd done both something loyal and stupid.

He had no idea where he was going but he wasn't staying in hospital and he certainly wasn't going home to listen to Tess going on about how Tyler had saved him and what was he thinking, going in the river in the first place? He looked up as Rose knocked on the door and entered.

"I got the car Sir, are you ready to go?"

"Take me anywhere that is not out of your way and if my wife rings, you had to leave me here, I doubt she will ring and check up on me."

Rose picked up the carrier with her still wet clothes in, thinking she would have to wash them when she got home and he opened the door for her, Rose offering him a weak smile. She put her things in the back of the car and set off in the direction of her flat as she punched in 'Home' on the satnav, having saved it, thinking she was keeping the car.

"So where do I head for?"

"You could invite me in for a decent cup of tea, then I will look up hotels. One of them has to be better than a night in hospital or my wife pointing out I could have made her a widow."

"Can I say something?"

"You may as well and call me Alec, though I really don't like the name, not since my wife makes a point of using it when she's having a go at me."

"Sorry. Are things really that bad at home? Doesn't your daughter make it worthwhile going back, won't she be worried about you?"

"She will be at her grandmother's. No doubt Tess will leave her there and pick her up later."

Rose was now debating whether to tell him but he didn't deserve to learn she might be meeting Harris.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, glancing in the mirror.

"Sir, I mean Alec, DC Walker just told me she was going to pick up your daughter, she already left. Why hasn't she asked if you're out of hospital yet?"

"Keep out of it Rose, trust me."

They arrived at her flat and Rose let them in.

"I'll make you some tea. Can I get you something to eat?"

"Call the takeaway, I will pay. While we wait, I will look up hotels."

"I have a spare room, if you don't think I'm being too forward?" Rose asked, getting the local Chinese menu from the drawer after excusing herself to her room and getting clean underwear, a pair of jeans and a purple top and throwing her dirty washing in the machine.

"It's fine, I can find somewhere."

"Then what? You get a cab there or I take you?"

"Either. If I take up your offer I still have to go home tomorrow."

"Then at least for one night you get some rest and I am responsible for you."

"You didn't have to do that to get me out of there."

"You made it sound like an order – Alec."

He smiled and tossed his phone on the coffee table, seeing he'd not had one missed call from Tess while he'd been unconscious for a few hours.

"What did she say, when you asked her to bring dry clothes for me?"

"I didn't speak to her, I just left a message. Do you want me to order the food?"

"Yes but the least I can do is pay, if she brought me any money."

He got his wallet out he'd left in his desk, seeing everything was there, he never carried a lot of cash anyway.

There was an awkward silence as Rose put the evening news on, the speculation of what had happened in the woods and a child's body being found in the swollen river was fuelled by a police spokesperson who had said the family had been notified and asked for privacy at this time, Alec guessing it was Tess or Harris.

"Tomorrow morning, you say you picked me up from the hospital and then I call a press conference. I expect they will be camping outside the station and the Gillespie house anyway. We will leave here early, you wait for me while I get changed then we go face the reporters."

"Can't you stop giving orders for five minutes?" Rose smiled, knowing he was a lost cause.

Alec just raised his eyebrows and sat back.

The doorbell rang and Alec handed Rose a ten pound note, thinking it was not a good idea to be seen paying the delivery person when he was going to be all over the news the next day. As they ate their food, Tess was laughing and joking with Dave Harris, both safe in the knowledge Alec would take over dealing with the media and they wouldn't get their names and faces in tomorrow evening's papers or on the six o'clock local news.

"So Tess, come on, tell me what it's really like for you? I told you about Lydia."

"You really want to know? Well it started before Tyler came along, she's just the icing on the cake, the latest in a long line of hopefuls who think being partnered with him will be everything they need to climb the ladder and for him to climb into their beds. I don't know what to do about it Dave. There are so many rumours going around that one of the senior male officers is playing around."

Dave took her hand, knowing full well the rumours amongst the women were about him. He was going to do this slowly, let her think he was on her side but meeting would be awkward though he'd done the same many a time with any married DS or DC in the station and the one he'd been at before, Sandbrook East. The married ones were more willing to be taken in by his sad story his wife did exactly the same as their husbands – take more notice of other women than they did their wives and Tess Hardy was one of the few left.

As Tess drove to pick up Daisy just after eight, she changed her mind and asked her mother if the girl could stay over, Daisy never objected. That done, she saw Alec's car in the driveway and went inside, calling for him but got no answer.

"Typical of him, I bet he's lounging in a hospital bed getting the nurses to feel sorry for him," she muttered to herself, picking up the carrier with his wet clothes and putting everything but his suit in the washer, the suit she would have to send to the dry cleaners but he was paying for it.

She dialled his number but it just kept ringing so she gave up, she would deal with him in the morning if he was going to play at ignoring her. Even if he had been kept in for observation, he could answer his phone, Dave had told her Walker had taken Tyler's car but they must have changed their minds about letting him out.

After Rose had cleared the plates away and attended to her laundry, she went to make sure the spare room was ready. She'd changed the bedding when her flatmate had unexpectedly moved out, leaving Rose to face paying a months rent on her own which fortunately coincided with her salary being paid into the bank but it would leave her a little short later in the month so that takeaway was going to be the last for a while and it was back to shopping at the discount frozen food shop and stocking up while she still had the money.

"The room's all yours, when you're ready."

"I think I will go now, get out of your way. You can do without my company after what went on today."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, daring to sit at the other end of the sofa to him.

"No, what is there to talk about? There will be enough questions about it tomorrow, just leave it."

"If that's what you want? I just thought it may help, having someone to talk to who was there."

Alec's phone buzzed and seeing it was Tess, ignored it.

"What?" he asked as it stopped and a missed call came up.

"Nothing. She thinks you're still in hospital."

"Good, it can stay that way, I have nothing to go home to except an interrogation as to why it had to be me to find Pippa. Why did it have to be me?"

"Because you care, she's the same age as your daughter." She risked moving across next to him. "It could have been any of us who found her."

"I promised I would take her back, how was it fair I did not get to tell them?"

"I heard what happened, when the garden was being dug up, if you go near him, you know what he will do. It was better you sent your wife to tell them."

"Was it? Excuse me, I will go to my room now."

"Alec, do you want another drink, some hot chocolate? It will help you sleep."

"Nothing will help me sleep Rose but I may as well, if you are making one."

Tess was making one last attempt just after nine to contact Alec, if he was indeed still at the hospital, she had just assumed he was since he'd not come home but still got no answer. He and Rose were still talking and he ignored her second call.

"Don't you think you should answer?" Rose asked him.

"Why? To have her interrogate me down the phone?"

Rose was about to reply when her phone rang.

"If that is her, you left me at the hospital, she won't bother checking."

"I don't know if I can lie to her." She pressed the answer button and hoped for the best.

"DC Tyler, have you by any chance dropped my husband somewhere?"

"No Ma'am, I've not dropped him anywhere, he told me to leave and go home, when the car was brought to me."

"Were they keeping him overnight?"

"I don't know Ma'am, he was still waiting." At least that tied in with what she had told her friend. "Has he not called you?"

"No and he's not answering his phone."

"Maybe they made him turn it off, if he stayed in or he's asleep?" Rose offered, looking at him.

She did feel sorry for him but if his wife found out he'd been discharged, she herself would be the prime suspect in his disappearance.

"If he calls you to pick him up in the morning, tell him I saw the family and it's a good thing he didn't inform them. What was he thinking, digging up their garden?"

"I expect he wanted to cover every possibility, Ma'am?"

"Well tell him, if you see him before I do and he can explain why I had to leave our daughter with her grandmother overnight, I didn't want her knowing he was in hospital."

Rose thought that was rather odd, considering for one, she didn't know he was staying in and another, she'd made a point of telling people where she was going, according to Annie.