Doctor Who
Broadchurch AU
Chapter Seven
When Ellie pulled up beside Rose's house, it was already swarming with activity. There was a paramedic car, two police cars, and Tess and two officers were waiting for them behind her. Ellie had not even turned off the car's engine before Alec leapt out, rushing to his ex-wife in a panic, leaving the passenger door open.
"You absolute knob!" Ellie swore, doing the job herself – like she always did – and following Alec where he was talking to Tess. "Hello, again. How's Rose doing?"
"Shaken up, clearly." Tess moved out of the way as Alec barged past her, eager to check on Rose. "Obvious signs of a break in and it looks like there was a struggle. Rose has a superficial head wound and a split lower lip, but she's refusing to get checked over at the hospital, so we've called in the paramedics. She's stubborn, that's for sure, just like him." Tess said with a heaving sigh. "Maybe that's why he likes her so much."
"What – you think – no!" Ellie gasped, mouth dropping open. "Really? What makes you say that?"
Tess nodded to the door. "Go and see for yourself. It's pretty obvious." With that, Tess went to speak to another officer waiting nearby.
Still too stunned to speak, Ellie tentatively stepped into the house, mindful of the glass that was shattered all over the floor thanks to the broken coffee table. Alec was sat beside Rose, who was getting her injuries cleaned up by the paramedic. Alec was talking quietly to Rose, murmuring softly, and Ellie noticed that he was holding her hand gently, his thumb brushing on the back of her hand. She'd never witnessed him treating someone this way, so caring, and it was unusual for Ellie to see. But she could see what Tess could see.
Alec was falling for Rose, intentionally or not.
"Oh no," Ellie sighed, seeing what this would ultimately lead too. "This is not good." It was never a good idea to get romantically involved with the victim and potential suspect of a crime, that would lead to trouble. Ellie cleared her throat, smirking as the two jerked apart, realising that she was with them. "How are you feeling, love?"
Rose offered her a wan smile. "Better now, thanks. I haven't stopped shaking since Lee was here, that's the sort of effect he has on me I guess."
"Rose, all of this can stop." Alec stated gently. "All of this excitement, all of the terror, it can stop. If you provide us with an official witness statement, then we can provide you with protection, but officially. But this can only happen if you trigger it into action, by stating that you're a witness to a crime. Would you do that?"
Rose was silent for a few moments, debating her options, considering what she had just gone through, and observing the mess of her house. "I'll do it." She declared, sounding confident but filled with dread. "Let me get my coat."
Whatever Rose was expecting, it certainly wasn't this. She accompanied the detectives to the station and was asked to wait in the reception whilst they got themselves organised. Rose zoned out whilst she was waiting, twiddling her thumbs, and trying to think of other things. There was an officer sat behind the reception desk, making notes, and typing away at the computer, occasionally glancing over at her. She tried to ignore the curious looks, and briefly took an interest in the help and support posters that were pinned up on the wall.
"Rose, are you ready?" Ellie called, bringing Rose back to the present.
Rose nodded, gathering her coat and following Ellie through some double doors down a small corridor, and finally being led into an interview room. Her eyes widened upon seeing the table, a recording device and chairs being the only thing in the room, along with video cameras in the corners of the ceiling. There wasn't a lot in the room, but Rose suddenly felt as though she was being suffocated from the inside out, and she'd barely stepped a foot into the room itself. "I thought this was just going to be me making a witness statement, not an interrogation."
"Oh no, it's not an interrogation." Ellie reassured her, gently leading Rose into the room and pulling out a chair for her. "We just have procedures in place that we need to follow. Even though you're just making a witness statement, we still have to record it and file it as potential evidence. Whatever you tell us today could be used to reopen the case and start a new investigation."
"Right." Rose sat down heavily in the chair, exhaling deeply, mentally preparing herself for whatever the detectives were about to throw at her.
"Would you like a drink? DI Hardy's just collecting some of his files and then he'll be here."
"No thank you."
"We'll be with you shortly. Just so you're aware, everything you say or do is being recorded in this room." With that, Ellie left, leaving Rose alone in the interview room. Rose tried not to fidget too much, or show that she wasn't nervous, but it wasn't easy.
After what felt like an eternity – even though it was only about ten minutes – the door opened, causing Rose to jump slightly, and Alec and Ellie entered, both carrying bulky looking files. She settled into her chair as did the two detectives, sitting opposite her.
"Right, ready to get started?" Alec announced, switching on the interview tape, which lit up and started buzzing, indicating that it was recording. "Interview commencing at seven thirty on the evening of the 8th April. Currently present is myself, Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller, and Rose Tyler, a potential witness to the Sandbrook investigation. Before we begin, it is my duty to read out your rights, and you should know that you also have the right to remain silent. Do you understand?" Rose nodded. "You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." He opened up the file, revealing the crumpled photograph of the three young girls from the night of the sleepover, turning it so that Rose could see it clearly. "How did you come to know the deceased?"
"For the tape, DI Hardy is showing Miss Tyler a photograph." Ellie interjected.
"Pippa Gillespie was my best friend, we first met at primary school. I was ten years old; Pippa was nine. I happened to see Pippa being bullied by some girls, and I stepped into help. I don't deal well with bullies. They had her cornered, three against one. I sorted out the bullies and got a detention as a result, but it was worth it. Pippa waited until I came out of the detention to thank me, and just like that, we became fast friends. After that, there was never a day when we weren't apart, except for when Pippa went on family holidays."
"You didn't?" Alec asked.
"No." Rose shook her head. "Mum couldn't afford it. She was a single Mum, with two kids. She had two jobs, sometimes three, so I looked after my brother a lot. I took him to school and back, helped him with his homework and made him meals. It wasn't easy, but we somehow made it work."
"What did you and Pippa do when you spent time together?"
"What most pre-teen girls would do at that age. We went shopping – Mum gave me some money for looking after my brother – had a laugh and tried on daft outfits. We hung out at each other's houses, had sleepovers every other week. Whatever we were doing, we just made sure we had fun."
"When did you first meet Lee and Claire Ashworth?"
Rose visibly flinched at the names but answered Alec's question. "At a BBQ for Pippa's birthday. I was twelve, almost thirteen. Mum worked a lot but made it to the BBQ, she, and Cate Gillespie – Pippa's Mum – were good friends, too. Pippa was all over Lee, in an overly friendly type of way. I'm surprised Lee didn't get tired of it, or Claire for that matter. At first I was a lot more reserved around them, I always was with new people, but Claire got talking to me, and we bonded a lot afterwards."
"And Lee? How did you feel about Lee?"
"I've already told you about this –" she said, glancing at Alec sadly, shaking her head.
"We need it for the tape." Alec insisted.
Rose closed her eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. "My first impression of Lee wasn't great. He came across as charming, but my instinct told me to stay away from him. You know when you meet someone, and they give off a creepy sort of vibe? That was Lee Ashworth. I could never understand why Pippa liked him so much. She was finding any way possible to be over at their house, if I wanted to spend time with Pippa, then I'd have to go over to the Ashworth's home too."
"Did that make you jealous?" Ellie wondered. "That your best friend had other places that she wanted to be?"
Rose shrugged, having never thought about it. "I guess so. She was a schoolgirl with a crush on an older married man, but she'd never admit it."
"The other day when I showed you this photograph, you maintained that you were not at the sleepover the night before the other two girls disappeared, however, this photograph of the three of you indicates otherwise. Were you telling me the truth?"
Rose locked eyes with Alec, wishing she could be swallowed up and disappear herself right now. "No, it wasn't the truth."
"Then what is the truth?"
Flashback …
"Did you bring everything with you?" Pippa asked Rose, who carefully placed her heavy backpack on the bed.
"Of course, I did." Rose reassured her, wincing as the bottles clanked together in the bag making a noise. "I swiped at least three bottles from Mum's liquor cabinet whilst she was getting ready for the wedding, she didn't even notice. She'll be that hungover over the weekend that hopefully I'll have time to replace it all after school."
"How are you going to replace it? You're underage."
"I can ask Lisa to get it." Rose figured out. "We're splitting this with her, aren't we? That way she won't snitch. We'll get it open when we know all the adults have gone, yeah? Relax. It's not like it's my first time doing this sort of thing."
"I know, I know. I just don't want to get caught, that's all."
"Stop worrying, we won't get caught."
End of flashback …
"So, you arrived at the sleepover with a bag of clothes and alcohol?" DI Hardy confirmed. "How old were you both at the time?"
"I was thirteen, and Pippa was twelve."
"Two girls underage, drinking at a sleepover? Hardly a good idea, is it?"
"I don't need you lecturing me, DI Hardy." Rose reminded him. "I knew it wasn't right then and I heavily regret it now, but Pippa and I were going through a rebellious faze, being secretive around our unsuspecting parents. They were so busy with their own lives that they barely took any notice." Before either detective could jump in, Rose continued with her story. "Anyway, our parents left for the wedding, and Lisa was supposed to be in charge of babysitting for us. She wasn't really very good at the job, or she chose not to be."
"How do you mean?" Ellie questioned her, having been jotting down notes during the interview in case they missed anything.
"Lisa was around, like, in the house, but she was either on the phone or texting. She was at that age where she was into boys. We told her we were having alcohol, and she promised she wouldn't tell as long as she could have some too." Rose shrugged. "So, we shared it." There was a pause. "The night was going well, we were having fun, taking pictures." She nodded towards the picture of the three of them together. "We were settling down to watch a film, but then Lisa noticed something unusual."
"What did she see, Rose?"
"If you'd quit interrupting me, DI Hardy, then I would tell you." Rose snapped, clearly irritated and rolling her eyes. "Lisa was that into boys, that sometimes she would have trouble with them. There was this one lad in particular, Gary Thorpe I think his name was, he had more than a crush on Lisa. She rejected him and he couldn't handle it, so he started following her everywhere, lurking on street corners watching her walk home from work. It got so bad that her Dad had to start giving her a lift everywhere. Instead of calling her parents or the police, Lisa cut through the Ashworth's home by a panel in the garden fence and spoke to Lee. The next thing we knew, we were being told to go to Lee's house, where we'd be 'safe' until our parents got home. Pippa and I wanted to finish our film, which we did, but then Lee started plying us with alcohol to 'relax' – stronger than the stuff I'd brought –, but it made me feel sick." Whilst she recalled the memories, she got a bad taste in her mouth, like she could taste the alcohol she drank. "I ended up being sick, so I went upstairs to the spare room and passed out. I woke up the next morning with a hangover, but Claire came to check on me. She said that Lisa and Pippa had gone back home after I'd fallen asleep, and they didn't want to disturb me. I was nervous about going home with a hangover, so Claire said I could stay at theirs until I felt better. She made me breakfast, and I freshened up, feeling a bit more human. I got my stuff, and Claire offered to give me a lift home. When I went downstairs though, I got an eerie feeling. Something didn't feel right. I saw Lee cleaning, properly cleaning, with bleach. It stank the house out. I remember Claire telling me that Lee never cleaned and would often joke about it, and now all of a sudden he was cleaning with bleach. Nobody said anything else, and Claire took me home. When we were in the car though, Claire asked me to forget what I'd seen Lee doing before we left. I didn't think anything of it at the time, didn't think it was anything important." Rose waited to see if DI Hardy would interrupt her again, he didn't, listening to her intently. "When I got home, Mum was none the wiser, but she was more hungover than I was, so didn't really notice. I didn't find out that Lisa or Pippa were missing until the next day, on a Sunday I believe it was. But because I'd been at the sleepover, my Mum wanted me to stay out of the way of the police and the investigation. She didn't want me to get involved, I was already struggling with the aftermath and the trauma of losing my best friend. I've kept out of it since it happened, that's why I moved down here for a fresh start, to get away from it all." Rose shrugged, signalling that she'd finished her story.
Ellie glanced at DI Hardy, who was watching Rose intently, barely moving a muscle, hanging onto her every word. "Just to clarify for the tape … you went to the sleepover as planned, but then the sleepover was moved to the Ashworth's home, where Lee continued to ply you all with alcohol. You went to bed early because you didn't feel well, and when you woke up you saw Lee Ashworth cleaning when he's never been known to do it before. The following day Claire takes you home, and asks you to forget that you'd seen Lee cleaning and then you discover that both girls are missing?" Ellie was confused. "How is it, that three girls go to a sleepover, and you're the only one – that we know of – that comes out of it alive?" She questioned.
"I don't know." Rose shook her head, unsure. "I've often wondered that too, and sometimes I wish that I'd taken Pippa's place instead. She was too young and didn't deserve what happened to her. I miss her. Everyday."
Once the interview was over, Alec provided Rose with her own security officer to escort her to the Traders Inn Hotel whilst her home was cleaned after the break in.
"Do you believe her?" Ellie asked DI Hardy, the two of them watching Rose leave with her guard.
"Until we get more solid evidence, we've got to give her the benefit of the doubt."
"Sir, you're not doing this because you've got feelings for her, are you?" Ellie wondered. "Don't bother denying it, I've seen the way you look at her recently. If it was anybody else you'd be saying 'don't trust them, you can't trust anyone', but because it's Rose, you're giving her a chance."
"I don't think she's done anything wrong or is involved in any particular way, she's scared, and I want to help her. Pending any evidence that proves otherwise, I believe her."