"What's that?" he asked, smelling the carton containing the hot liquid.
"It's coffee," she replied, trying not to state the obvious and wanting to tip it over him.
Hardy just shook his head, she wondered what was wrong with the man. He had noticed a CCTV camera while he had been looking at the cabin up on the cliff while he had been walking the boy's paper round and to find out who owned it. He also told her get hold of the CCTV footage from it and asked how the house to house enquires were getting on and wanted more manpower bringing in. Rose said they had all that could be spared, there were events going on in the area that weekend. New phone lines were also being put in.
Hardy walked over to the board containing all the information they had so far and said he wanted priority on finding the dead boy's skateboard and mobile phone. Rose went over to her desk, retrieving a message that the newspaper shop owner had remembered something. She handed it to him and he snatched the piece of paper from her hand and walked off.
"Ungrateful git," she muttered under her breath and put the extra cup of coffee on the nearest desk.
"Present for you Frank," she said to the man sitting there.
Rose had to go back to the Latimer house to take a newly qualified family liaison officer and to take elimination prints of the family members, which they grudgingly gave, not being happy about it but Rose convinced them it was necessary. While she was there, the S.O.C.O officer called her to one side. They had found some drugs plus a large amount of cash. She took the teenage girl to one side and asked her about the drugs but she knew nothing about the money.
Rose had to report it to Hardy after the Latimer's teenage daughter admitted she had got them for the owner of The Traders hotel and also brought back a list that Beth Latimer had given her of people they thought had something to do with their son's death and they went to pay Becca Fisher a visit, telling her to call into the station and make a statement. They walked back to the station and Hardy stopped in the break room to make himself a cup of tea, not offering to make one for her. Right, just let him wait.
"Are you going to make one just for yourself then?" she asked boldly.
Hardy just shrugged and walked back to his office. It was then that Rose noticed one of the telephone engineers nosing around one of the desks and told the desk owner to clear it and was about to follow Hardy into his office when he came back out with his coat on.
"Come on Tyler, Jack Marshall said he saw Danny Latimer arguing with the postman a few weeks ago."
Rose grabbed her jacket and car keys and followed him.
They caught up with the postman and Hardy had some questions for him. When Rose tried to say they wanted the names of the people he was with the night before for elimination and not to worry, she got chewed out again.
"Don't tell people that Tyler, don't reassure them or they won't talk."
Rose considered enough was enough.
"Look Sir, I know what I'm doing so why do you keep telling me not to do something? It's always worked for me so far so do you mind not trying to stop me doing what I think needs to be done and keep your crap to yourself Sir?"
She opened the doors with the remote and got into the driver's seat. Hardy just shrugged and seemed to let it slide. They drove back to the station and Hardy shut himself in his office. It was getting late, Rose was ploughing through leads and bits of information until she became hungry and went out in search of food. Walking down to the corner of the road, the fish and chip shop was open so she went in, deciding she would just get chewed out again if she didn't take anything back for DI Grumpy so she asked for them to be put in cartons and walked back up to the station and walked into Hardy's office.
"What's that smell?" he asked as she put the cartons on his desk, planning on making some tea or coffee.
"Fish and chips unless you want to starve, everywhere else is closed at this time."
Hardy opened the carton and pulled a face.
"You'll stay like that if you keep pulling faces," Rose remarked, taking hold of some of the chips and walking out, leaving her carton open on his desk.
He shouted after her.
"Mine's tea, milk, no sugar."
Rose called him a prat under her breath and wondered why she bothered but seeing her boss starve himself was not on her agenda, he was skinny enough as it was. When she walked back in with two mugs of tea, she set one beside him and sat back down and he was picking at the food and looked up as she put the mug down.
"Four alibis checked out for the postman," he muttered with his mouth full.
For someone who didn't want to eat, he was doing well, considering.
"Well he's had time to get them corroborated hasn't he?" she asked, trying to enjoy her food before it went cold.
Hardy looked up. "You're very suspicious Tyler, what makes you think that?" he asked, picking up the mug of tea.
"If you pull a face at that tea, you can keep on making your own Sir. It's just that, he says he has four witnesses to say where he was, he only has to ring them up and get them to say he was with them. Doesn't take a genius to work that out, does it?"
Hardy looked at her and probably thought she was far too young to be a DS, let alone gone after the job of being a DI.
"I can't see him doing that four times, it's too much like hard work, getting four different people to get their stories straight. We have to establish if there's a link between the money and the drugs found at the house."
Rose was still trying to eat.
"You do know you never give anyone the chance to reply when you repeatedly ask questions all the time, rattling off a list?"
"Do I? I never noticed." Rose thought he probably hadn't. "How are you finding your first child murder?"
"How do you think I'm finding it it's tough. Any murder is tough but a young boy that you knew? Not that easy."
"It doesn't get any easier Tyler, believe me. Just because you live here doesn't make you exempt. You have to sit back and look at it from the outside, you need to be objective."
"I am being objective and I don't think the Latimers killed their own son, if that's what you're driving at. So don't tell me to look at it from the outside Sir."
"You have to understand Tyler, anyone is capable of committing a crime, big or small. We can't rule anyone out. What do you make of the list the Latimers made? Anyone interesting?"
"Not really, it's a list of their friends. Neighbours, teachers. They are just clutching a straws Sir. So you think anyone is capable? Does that include us?"
Hardy finished the last of his meal and closed the empty carton, using a napkin to wipe his hands. Raising an eyebrow he looked at her.
"Like I said Tyler, we can't rule anyone out except if you know you didn't do it, you have to prove that and that's exactly what the process of elimination involves. Where were you Tyler?"
Rose looked at him. Was he being serious?
"Point taken."
"No-one can keep something like that hidden for a long period of time, they'll make mistakes, we just have to watch for them. Go home Tyler, see you in the morning. I'm going to find out who has the keys for that hut first thing."
The next morning, Rose called her mother before she went out. Her mother, Jackie had seen about the boy's murder on the news.
"Are you okay Rose? It's the first time you've had to deal with a child. I know you can't talk about it but if it gets too much, I can come down there."
"No, it's fine, just be there when I call you. Mickey was supposed to be coming down next weekend, I think I'm going to have to put him off now, I can't see this being over in a week. He's going to think I'm doing it on purpose. He wants me to take him back and I said I'd think about it. I can't concentrate on this case and have Mickey moping around all next weekend. If he's seen it on TV, he'll know why I can't let him come down."
"Are you having to work all weekend then? How's your new boss?"
"Yeah, there's loads to do. He's a total pain in the ass. He's even telling me what to do."
"Maybe you should kill him kindness," her mother joked.
"I know what I'd really like to do. Can you believe he stands there, making tea and never offers to make me one? I bought him fish and chips last night, he pulled faces at them."
Her mother laughed. "Maybe you should invite him out for dinner or something?"
"Don't Mum, I am not going to be seen with him outside work, thanks very much. It's bad enough being seen with him during the investigation."
She didn't have to be in until ten so she decided to call in at the caf next to the station to get some decent coffee and decided to save her money and not get one for her ungrateful boss. On her way in, she saw her friend Ellie with her family.
"Hi Ellie, how are you?" Rose asked, ruffling the hair of Ellie's youngest son.
"Great. How was the holiday? I heard you got a new boss, I'm really sorry you didn't get your promotion Rose."
"Yeah well, the chief said she was forced to take someone else so what can I do? He's a total prat Ellie."
"Hey, watch your language in front of Fred," Ellie joked. "Maybe you should make him one of your famous Chinese meals, we always enjoy them, smother him with kindness."
"That's what my mother said," Rose laughed.
Rose had gathered quite an audience, one man actually asked her if she thought their kids were safe. Rose asked them to stop asking questions, she wasn't on duty and Ellie gave them her famous look.
"Don't take any notice of them Rose. I even had uniforms knocking on my door. I think your boss wants to interview Danny's friends, I might have to bring Tom in."
"Take my advice Ellie, make sure you come with him when he's interviewed. I'm not saying any more."
Rose got into the station and Hardy called her over to look at the CCTV footage from the car park near the hut on top of Briar Cliff. They could see Mark Latimer waiting in front of a car then the CCTV ran out.
"The tape runs out there, is there another one?" Hardy asked.
Rose looked but there wasn't one. Hardy snarled and said "Cheapskates."
Just then there was a knock on the door. It was the telephone engineer Rose had seen spying on the desk. They took him to the interview room when he said he knew about the murdered boy but he turned out not to have any real information and Hardy had branded him a crank. When he had left, giving Hardy a cryptic message about a pendant, Rose wanted to know what it was about but Hardy just carried on talking.
"We need to talk to Mark Latimer again, it didn't look to me like he was out on any callout."
Rose knew he was trying to avoid her question. Some news came in about the contents of Danny's computer. Hardy said he was going out to see Danny's father again.
"I'll be back later," was all he said, putting his coat on.
Rose thought that at least she didn't have to drive him and felt sorry for the uniformed officer that would be taking him. Rose got called out to the hut and was shown evidence that Mark Latimer had been there and called Hardy. Rose wasn't happy she was having to work Sunday.
Rose had unsuccessfully put Mickey off coming down the following weekend, he had seen about the murder enquiry and said she needed a break. It was Monday morning, loads of things we happening, new staff had been drafted in and Hardy well he was being his usual grumpy self and had made Rose brief the new recruits. When she had finished, she barged into Hardy's office.
"Don't do that to me again," she snapped, sitting down on the chair opposite him.
"You did well, you wanted to take the case over, you've made that very clear."
"With all due respect Sir, I do not want to take this case over, I'd just appreciate it if you didn't snap all the time and be civil to me."
Hardy looked at her. "We don't have time to be civil Tyler, we have a case to solve."
Rose got up and stormed out then remembered what Ellie and her mother had said and opened the door again.
"You're invited for dinner pick a night."
"What?"
"Dinner at my apartment choose a night, well any night except Friday, my so-called failure of an ex boyfriend is supposed to be coming down. Actually Friday would be perfect, I can tell him I'm busy."
"Tyler, close the door."
Rose did as she was asked.
"I'm flattered you would choose to ask me round for dinner but it's not a very good idea. First, we work together, we don't appear to get on and I'm not being used as an excuse to get you out of confronting your ex-boyfriend."
"I'm not using it as an excuse. Come over Thursday night then. Look, you don't know anyone in town and you'll get tired of hotel food and sitting on your own. I make a mean Chinese meal, so I've been told."
"It's not a good idea Tyler, thanks all the same."
She was being turned down. Right, so much for that approach. She got up and was about to leave.
"Look Tyler, it's just not a good idea for me to come to your apartment so maybe we could go out for a meal instead. As two work colleagues?"
"Okay, Thursday night then? There's a Chinese restaurant up on the High Street, just up from The Traders. 7.30pm?"
"Fine and Tyler, you don't happen to know who started calling me DI Grumpy do you?"
Rose tried to keep a straight face. "Haven't a clue Sir but I'll put a stop to it."
She turned to walk out of the door, grinning and didn't see a half smile on Hardy's face.
They were kept busy during the week, Rose driving him around and him driving her up the wall. Thursday night soon came around and they were both still working at half past six. Rose went to knock on Hardy's office door.
"Sir, I'm going home to get changed, if we're still going out to the Chinese."
Hardy looked like he'd forgotten.
"Oh, is it that time already? Sorry, yes you go get changed, I'll meet you there."
"You won't leave me standing outside will you Sir?"
"No, no, of course not. What do you take me for Tyler?"
"Please don't call me Tyler all night, it sounds like a boy's name when you say it like that."
Hardy grunted an "Okay" in reply.
Seven thirty, Rose walked up to the Chinese restaurant and found Hardy already standing outside, checking his watch. Rose thought he had some nerve and was trying to faze her by hinting he was always on time and never forgot. They both ordered and soon discovered they had nothing really to talk about except common knowledge of the case.
"Actually can we talk about something else? And can I at least call you Alec for the rest of the evening?" Rose asked, trying to eat her rice with difficulty.
"I've never really liked my name. It's like people have to keep saying it over to you, like they've forgotten it. I don't need to keep saying your name for you to know that it's you I'm talking to, if I look at you, you know."
Rose thought he was being very cryptic.
"I suppose so. If you put it like that."
Just then, her phone rang. It was Mickey. What was she going to say to him?
"Mickey, it's not a good time, I'm busy."
"What can you be busy with at this time?"
"I'm trying to eat Mickey, what do you want?"
"Can I still come down tomorrow?"
"Mickey, I'm in the still in the middle of a murder investigation, I don't think it's a good idea for you to come down, let's just leave it for now, until it's all over.
"So you don't want to make up then?"
She didn't know and the last thing she wanted was to talk in front of her boss.
"I don't know, I'll call you when this is over."
Hardy looked at her and carried on eating. He looked up from his meal and picked up his glass of wine.
"Trouble?"
"No not really. I can't concentrate on the case if I have to sort out my ex boyfriend."
"Well don't get caught up in it, you need to a have clear mind."
"Easy for you to say, you haven't got an ex calling you begging you take them back." She saw the look on his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say, I mean to imply you're married or not married or whatever."
She thought she had better quit while she was ahead.
Hardy put his drink down.
"It's okay, I'm divorced and no fear of my ex trying to get me back thank goodness. There's no need to apologise."
Rose got up and excused herself to the ladies room. What was she thinking about? Insinuating her boss wasn't married or been married, she needed to get a grip on herself. When she got back, Hardy had paid the bill and was waiting to go. It was only just after eight forty five and he suggested he walked her home.
"Can I at least walk you home? I'd invite you into the hotel for a drink but I don't want people talking, it's a small bar unless there's somewhere else?"
"We can walk down to The George."
"Lead the way."
Rose cut down the road she lived on, not pointing out she lived there but he probably already knew and they entered the pub and Rose found a table. To her dismay, there were a few men sat in the corner making a lot of noise and she saw Nigel Carter was one of them. He had been unable to provide an alibi for Mark Latimer and had been caught out by none other than herself and he had not been happy about it.
Hardy was at the bar and he turned around in time to see Nigel approaching. Hardy recognised the man and knew there was going to be trouble and wished the barman would hurry up with his order.
Rose was feeling rather uncomfortable and pretended to look for something in her purse.
"We not good enough for you then DS Tyler?" Nigel laughed, waving to the group of men in the corner.
Rose would rather be interrogated by Hardy.
"Were you talking to me?" she asked as the man gawked at her.
He always did give her the creeps.
"I think you and I need a word, you nearly got me into trouble with that detective, talking to my mum like that, what you do that for? Let's go outside and talk."
Just then, Hardy stood at the side of the man and put the drinks on the table.
"I don't think DS Tyler is going anywhere with you Carter, now why don't you go back to your friends and leave her alone?"
Nigel looked at Hardy and then at his friends to back him up. They were ignoring him.
"Leave now Carter or I'll arrest you for threatening behaviour towards a police officer."
"Who says I was threatening her, I only wanted a word with her."
"Well you had a word with her and I'm telling you, go away or do I have to drag you across to the Police Station?"
Nigel backed off, looking at Hardy and decided since his mates were no longer interested, he would be wise to withdraw. Hardy sat down opposite Rose.
Not wanting to seem ungrateful for Hardy's intervention, she thanked him.
"Thanks but I could have handled him," she said, taking a drink.
"Yes Tyler, I could see that," he said with a smirk. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here after all."
The men in the corner were patting Nigel on the back and laughing loudly.
"Don't take any notice of them, they're a bunch of loud-mouths. Now you know why I never go out except when my ex came to visit. Are we back to surnames again?"
"So does your ex visit often?" Hardy asked, taking a drink and avoiding the question.
"Not any more, we fell out over a holiday we were going on so my mum went instead so now he wants to make up."
"And you're not sure about it?"
Rose shook her head. Hardy was being an agony aunt.
"No. He only came down every other weekend anyway and spent all his time watching football. I don't know why I bothered with him. He was supposed to come down the weekend before we went away and he said he had to work. He's a mechanic but my friend saw him going to the football match. We had a row on the phone about it and I told him I was going with my mother on holiday and changed the booking."
"Remind me not to cross you then," Hardy said, actually smiling.
It was the first time in nearly a week she had seen him smile. They finished their drinks, still getting stared at by Nigel and Hardy said he would walk her home, making sure they weren't being followed but Rose thought that Nigel didn't have the guts to follow up on his earlier actions. Standing outside the apartments, Rose told Hardy which one was hers. On the first floor.
"Nice building," he said, looking at the glass and chrome balconies. "Must be expensive though?"
"No, I get half the rent paid, part of the deal when I moved down here and got asked to stay. Thanks for dinner and the drink and also for walking me home. Should I also say thanks for rescuing me from Nigel Carter?"
Rose looked at the floor, not wanting to say it to his face.
"Don't mention it, Rose."
Did she hear him correctly?
"I guess I'll say goodnight then, Alec?"
"About that initiation to dinner. Since you're no longer going to use me as an excuse to fend off your ex boyfriend and since going to the pub seems out of the question, is the offer still open?"
"Yeah, how about Saturday night?"
She didn't want to push her luck by saying the following evening.
"Yes, fine, now I know where you live. We passed earlier."
He hadn't known where she lived after all.
"I'm on the first floor, No.2. Just one thing, I take it all truces are off in the morning?"
Hardy looked at her.
"Best keep it professional Tyler." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Goodnight Rose, it was a pleasant evening and certainly better than sitting in my hotel room."
"So Becca the barracuda hasn't hit on you yet then?"
"I think she was put off since we have evidence she was Mark Latimer's alibi and she asked his daughter to get her some drugs for a guest."
Rose smiled, then went to kiss his cheek.
"Goodnight Alec, it was a nice evening."
Rose went inside and wondered what can of worms they had just opened.