This chapter absolutely has to be dedicated to Michele0612. I can't believe you just read so many chapters! Thank you! And I am so impressed! But seriously, thank you! Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Five Hundred and Forty Three

"Just be safe, okay?" Joey begged, kissing Charlie goodbye.

Ruby also requested that her mother looked after herself, feeling fretful that she might end up in danger. Dressed back in her uniform, Charlie promised her partner and her daughter that she wouldn't do anything silly. She hugged them both and headed out the door where Watson was waiting for her. Joey and Ruby stood in the doorway and watched them drive off.

"Do you ever really hate Charlie's job?" Ruby asked.

"Sometimes I really do," Joey admitted. "I mean, I respect it and I know this world is a safer place because she does it. But I do hate it sometimes."

Ruby put her arm around her.

"Me too," she said.


Watson drove quickly to the meeting point that Irene had arranged with Will, having arranged for backup to be waiting for them further away so as not to scare Will off with any patrol cars. They were fuelled with adrenaline as they approached the possibility of tracking their suspect down and potentially getting to the bottom of what actually happened to Penn Graham. And for both of them, that meant clearing Alf Stewart's name.

"There's Irene's car," Charlie said, spotting it on the right, down the lane she had told them she was meeting Will on.

The lane was almost pitch black but Irene had kept her lights on as she had promised.

"I'll go round and wait," Watson said, doing just that.


Irene was nervous as she waited in her car for Will to arrive, drumming her hands on the steering wheel. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Lily's antibiotics were sat on the passenger seat. All she hoped was that little girl would be safe by the end of the night. She felt awful, knowing that whatever happened, Will would know she had betrayed him by contacting the police but she genuinely didn't know what else to do for the best.


Charlie and Watson waited in Watson's car with their lights off, parked off a side road to the lane that Irene had told them she had arranged to meet Will. They could see Irene, looking nervous in her car and hoped that they would get a good view of Will when he arrived. Backup was organised and the idea was to keep Robertson out of it if possible. They wanted things to run smoothly.

"Here," Charlie said, nodding forward.

Watson sat up straighter. A car drove past them, pulling up in front of Irene. It left its lights on. A man got out of the car. It was Will.


Irene climbed anxiously out the car. She pulled Will into a hug. He looked gaunt, unshaved and utterly exhausted as he collapsed into his arms, hugging her as if he was a small child.

"Will!" she said desperately. "Will, I've been so worried."

"I'm sorry," he said, drawing away. "I just… I had to go."

"Will, what's happened?" Irene said. "Why are you so scared? What kind of trouble are you in? Why would you do what you did to Charlie?"

"I just…"

He shook his head.

"Everything's got so messed up," he said. "So complicated."

"That Shandi girl," Irene told him. "She's been arrested."

Will's eyes widened in alarm.

"It wasn't even her real name," Irene said. "She was scamming poor John Palmer from the start."

She looked Will in the eye.

"Will, if she did something that night and you're protecting her…"

"She didn't, Irene," he said. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Irene sighed.

"Have you got the antibiotics?" Will asked quickly.

"Yes, love," Irene sighed. "Can I see Lily? I'd really like to make sure she's okay?"

Will nodded and led the way to the car. He opened the back door. Irene gasped at how poorly the little girl looked. She reached out and felt Lily's forehead.

"Will, she's burning up," she said. "She needs to see a Doctor."

"As soon as she gets the medication…"

"I think it's too late for that," Irene told him. "The tablets will take time to work. She needs help now."

Will nudged her out of the way and closed the car door. He turned to face his foster-mother, looking serious.

"I can't take her to a Doctor, Irene," he said firmly. "It's dangerous for me to even be here with you. If the cops know you're meeting me…"

Irene kept her face impassive. Her relationship with Will would be over as soon as he became aware that she had set him up to fail.

"Then let me take her," she begged. "Please. I don't know what kind of trouble you're in or why you have to run. I hope to God you haven't done what I'm scared I think you have."

Will looked panicked.

"Please," Irene persisted. "Please let me get Lily the help she needs."

"Fine," he relented. "Take her."

He helped his daughter out of the car and kissed her goodbye, promising that she would be safe with Irene and that he would see her again very soon. The little girl was tearful but accepted what she was told.

"What do I do now?" Will asked.

For a moment, he just seemed like a frightened little boy. Irene just couldn't help but feel sorry for him. But she knew she had to do the right thing. She had made the wrong call when it had come to supporting him over Alf. She had to make the right one now.

"Do what you have to do," she told him, aware that the police were close by. "Run, if that's what you think is the right thing. My hope is that you'll come home with me. That you'll talk to the police and tell the truth. But that's for you to decide."

Will hugged them both and headed towards his car. Irene took Lily and strapped her into her car with the intention of heading to the hospital.


"Go!" Charlie barked.

Watson put her foot down, shooting the car forward and blocking Will's exit. She and Charlie burst out of the car, ready to give chase when, as expected, Will jumped out of the car, ready to run. Charlie ran as fast as she could, adrenaline surging through her body as she gave chase. Despite his dishevelled appearance, Will was still fast as she tore down the lane, still hoping that Irene, who had locked herself in her car with Lily, was still on his side.

Almost caught up to him and grateful that a patrol car had sped up to the end of the road, ready to cut him off, Charlie lurched forward, grabbing hold of the edge of Will's jacket and pulling him down to the ground. She landed on top of him, pulling his arms back.

"Will Smith, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Penn Graham," she said, breathless as she continued to read him his rights.

He continued to struggle, swearing at her as Watson caught up, helping her pull him to his feet. The patrol car made its way down the lane. Charlie and Watson took Will over to their colleagues, helping Will onto the backseat and sending him off to the police station. Charlie stopped at Irene's car on the way back. Irene, in tears, wound down the window.

"I'm sorry," Charlie said. "We couldn't wait for you to leave or we might have missed him."

"I understand," Irene said.

Charlie glanced at Lily, who really did look unwell. Charlie called another colleague over. Within minutes, Irene and Lily were on their way to hospital under police escort in a bid to get them there as quickly as possible.

Watson put her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"We did a good job," she said.

"It's not even over yet," Charlie sighed.

"Nearly," Watson said. "Although I seriously need to hit the gym. You are so much faster than me! I am shamed! That's twice now!"

Charlie laughed as they headed back to the car.


It was late but Joey was still awake and waiting by the phone, eager to hear from Charlie and ensure that she was okay. Ruby had fallen asleep in front of the TV but there was no way that Joey could rest until she knew her partner was safe. She jumped when her phone sprung to life. Ruby jolted awake, her hair a tangled mess.

"Charlie?" Joey said urgently, putting her on loudspeaker.

"Charlie?" Ruby said, just as urgently.

"I'm fine, guys," the police officer assured them.

"I'm fine too!" they heard Watson call. "Just in case you were worried!"

Joey and Ruby both laughed, feeling relaxed for the first time since Charlie had left the house. They assured Watson that they loved her and were glad they were both fine.

"We're on our way back to the station and everything's okay," Charlie promised. "No danger. No fuss."

"Did you arrest Will?" Ruby wanted to know.

"Confidential," Charlie said.

"You'll just have to ask Colleen in the morning," Joey joked.

Ruby grinned.

"Listen, I don't know how long I'm going to be stuck here so please go to bed, okay?" Charlie begged. "It's just the boring stuff now. No need to wait up and worry."

Joey and Ruby promised, although Joey knew she wouldn't sleep properly until her girlfriend was back by her side. She never did.


Charlie and Watson arrived back at the police station shortly after Will had been booked in with their colleagues. They were just about to head into the interview room when Robertson appeared. Clearly he had heard about their night time activities. They had very nearly got away with it.

"I hear congratulations are in order," the Detective said. "You might have caught a murderer."

Charlie furrowed her brow.

"I thought you'd caught him yourself weeks ago," she said. "Dragged him out of his friend's wedding."

"Murder investigations have all kinds of twists and turns," Robertson said, unflappable as ever. "You have to put pressure on one person to reveal another man's cards. Didn't you learn anything last time I was here?"

"I prefer to forget about the last time you were here," Charlie remarked.

"Shall we?" Robertson suggested, leading the way into the interview room ahead of her.

Charlie stopped and looked disbelievingly at Watson.

"Can you even believe him?" she said.

Watson shrugged.

"Look, you've done as much as me," Charlie said. "You go."

"Charlie, you're the lead on this case…" Watson protested, although she had really been looking forward to interviewing Will and finding out what he knew.

"And that doesn't mean I have to barge my way through everything and knock everyone else out on my way," Charlie said. "Go."

Watson thanked her and walked into the room.

"And hold your ground!" Charlie called after her.


It had been a long night so far. Charlie had been very tempted to go home and return in the morning, seeing as she wasn't actually conducting the interview with Will now that they had finally caught him. But there was plenty of paperwork to do in the meantime and she wanted to see things through to the end. She also didn't trust Robertson to behave in her absence. She knew how annoyed he was that she had replaced him as lead of the case and she thought his huge turnaround in who he thought Penn's killer was, was suspect to say the least.

She looked up when Watson knocked on her door.

"How's it going?" the Sergeant asked.

"He's singing like a canary," Watson said. "We've hardly even had to ask any questions. He's rolled over on Daria, although he's still referring to her as Shandi. After this vigilante meeting that Angelo, Alf and Sid had, Will went to see Penn to protect Alf from him. However, Daria got there first, presumably to double deal and try to warn him and get whatever she could get out of him. When he saw that Daria was in trouble, he attacked Penn and killed him."

Charlie chewed her lip thoughtfully.

"But where did the knife even come from?" she asked. "I mean, I know it came from the bait shop but who brought it?"

"Will did," Watson told her. "Just in case."

Charlie sighed, wondering when people were going to learn that if people brought weapons to the party then they were going to harm people.

"He told us that Penn had a whole plan to kill Alf and claim self-defence," Watson explained. "Then it all got physical. But I do think Will was trying to protect Daria. She stuck her oar in and got caught in the crossfire."

"Well, as for self-defence… it's possible that we could call it that," Charlie said. "But he did take a weapon to Penn's hotel room."

Watson nodded unhappily.

"And he stabbed him several times," Charlie continued. "Plus everything he's done since to cover it up. I mean… it's murky to say the least."

"He and Daria used Alf's boat to dump the body," Watson told her. "Daria got rid of the car they used. Will cleaned up the bait shop. I gather there was a bit of an argument about whether they should call the police. He wanted to. She didn't."

"That sounds about right," Charlie said unhappily. "And as for the bait shop, he didn't do a very good job of cleaning up."

"He said that Alf interrupted him," Watson explained. "He stashed the apron and then forgot about it."

"Moron," Charlie remarked.

"Quite!" Watson said, shaking her head. "One thing though… Will told us that the whole reason he went over to see Penn was because he heard him call Alf and tell him to come over to his hotel. I don't remember that being mentioned once during the whole investigation. Do you?"

Charlie rifled through some paperwork but shook her head. She didn't remember.

"But if he did get that call and he did come looking for Penn, it would confirm Will's story and also Alf's movements that night," she said. "Listen, it's the middle of the night. I think we've got more than enough to charge Will now. We can interview Daria again in the morning. Get her side of the story. But first thing in the morning, I'll head over to see Alf and ask him about this phone call."

She followed Watson out of the room.


It was almost light when Charlie arrived home. The TV was still on and Joey was asleep on the sofa, tucked under a blanket. Unclipping her belt quietly and placing it on the chair, Charlie crept quietly over to the sofa. She knelt down in front of her girlfriend and reached out to gently stroke her hair. Joey woke up with a jolt.

"Hey, it's just me," Charlie said softly, stroking her face. "It's just me."

"Oh!" Joey said breathlessly.

She felt disorientated for a moment, wondering why she was on the couch. Charlie stood up and snuggled in beside her, putting her arm around her. She kissed her cheek.

"You should have gone to bed, sweetheart," she said. "Got a proper night's sleep. I told you I was safe."

"I couldn't settle," Joey said, cuddling up to her.

"Well, I've only got a few hours until I need to go back in but the good news is that by the end of today, all the charges against Alf should be dropped."

Joey's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" she dared to ask.

"Absolutely," Charlie said. "Please, please keep it between us but we've got a full confession."

Joey hugged her tightly. She kissed her. They fell asleep in each other's arms.


Charlie was up and out within a few hours. She had hardly slept and barely had time to shower and change into a fresh uniform. But she hoped that after today, she might deserve an actual rest for a few days. Leaving the house, her first stop was Summer Bay House where she hoped that Alf was still at home. She knocked and waited. Morag answered the door and welcomed her step-daughter inside.

"Business or pleasure?" she asked.

"Business, this morning," Charlie said. "But pleasurable, I hope."

Morag called Alf in from the back garden. He appeared and Charlie sat down at the table with him and Morag.

"Alf, on the night that Penn Graham was murdered, what contact did you actually have with him?" Charlie asked.

She still couldn't believe that that specific question had been missed. They had pounded him with questions over whether he had been inside the hotel room, whether he had killed him, what had happened in the bait shop, whether he had handled the murder weapon. They had skipped ahead and not started with the simple question.

"None," Alf said. "I told you. I didn't see him. Charlie we're just going round in circles here!"

"No, Alf, listen to the question," Charlie said carefully. "I didn't ask if you saw him. I asked what contact you had with him."

He looked confused for a moment.

"Well, I mean… he called me," Alf said. "He told me to come to his hotel room. I wanted to try and sort things out with him so I went over there and I knocked but he wasn't there."

Morag looked horrified. Charlie was pleased.

"Alf, why the hell didn't you say that before?" Morag demanded.

"Nobody asked," Alf said.

Morag shook her head in despair. She asked Charlie what it meant.

"I'll let you know," Charlie said, standing up. "But… be happy. I have to go. But I'll be in touch as soon as I can, okay."

She patted Alf on the shoulder and headed off to the station.


After another long day of interviews, Daria and Will had both been officially charged – Will with murder and Daria as an accessory. It was now Charlie's happy job to return to Alf and let him know that all charges against him would be dropped. She had expected him to be happy but she had been overwhelmed when he had held onto her and shed tears. Morag had stood back, also surprised at her brother's level of emotion.


Watson had drawn the short straw and been given the difficult job of informing Irene and therefore Lily that Will had been formally charged with murder and was being remanded in custody. Irene and the little girl had been absolutely devastated and Watson had stayed with them a long time, trying to offer them as much support as possible.


Charlie arrived back home at the end of another long day, a mix of emotions running through her. She was exhausted from such long shifts at work. But she was pleased to have finally got to the bottom of Penn Graham's murder. And it was a conclusion that meant that Alf was a free man.

She let herself into the house and paused when she saw rose petals in a trail from the door towards the back of the house. Smiling to herself, she followed them. They led the way to the bathroom, where a candlelit bubble bath was waiting for her. On the edge was a note:

Ruby is out. Tonight is all about you. J xxx

Still smiling to herself, she left the bathroom and headed into hers and Joey's bedroom, finding her girlfriend half undressed. She pulled her into her arms and kissed her.

"So, I get spoilt tonight?" she asked eagerly.

"Your wish is my every command," Joey promised.

Charlie let her lips trail from Joey's mouth, along her jaw, down her neck and to her chest, unhooking her bra as she did so.

"I feel like I'm a little more undressed than you are," Joey complained, quickly beginning to rectifying the situation.

She led the way to the bathroom, stepping into the warm water and gesturing for Charlie to follow suit. Charlie rested against Joey's soapy body, letting out a long sigh, a breath she felt like she had been holding for weeks. She closed her eyes, enjoying Joey's wandering hands. She felt like she could stay like this forever.


Next time… Charlie enjoys a well-earned day off, Alf offers forgiveness and Robertson bids farewell…