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It was a normal Monday morning. Or it seemed to be. Beth had gotten up and washed her hair, like she did every morning. She had dressed herself and dried her hair off, just like every morning. She had started to make breakfast, as she did every morning.Except.Except, Lizzie wasn’t up. Usually, she would wake up before Beth. Or at the very least with her. She would follow her mum to the bathroom, sit on the floor while she’d wash her hair and would be babbling on and on about anything and everything the whole time.Beth would send Lizzie to the kitchen while she got dressed and join her as soon as she could to serve Lizzie breakfast. She would then help Lizzie get dressed and together they’d wake Chloe.But today the house was quiet.Beth hadn’t noticed so far.Now, however the silence was deafening. Beth’s mind shut down. It seemed stupid, Lizzie could just be ill and therefore not woken up so easily, but there was a sinking feeling in Beth. The same feeling she’d had years ago when Danny was nowhere to be found.She ran up the stairs, her heartbeat fast, breathing heavy, every possible scenario playing out in her head.When she reached Lizzie’s bedroom the door was shut. Beth took one more deep breath and reached for the handle.She opened the door.It was silent.The bed was empty.The window open.“Mum, oh my god, why haven’t you woken me up already? I’m going to be late!” Chloe yelled through the house. Her mum didn’t answer.“Mum?” Chloe asked again. She came out of her room to find her mother standing in the hallway.“Mum?” She asked again, more softly this time, noticing her mum’s face full of terror. Beth still didn’t say anything, instead she started sobbing and throws her arms around her daughter. Chloe was very confused, but her mum’s reaction was absolutely terrifying to witness.“What happened? Mum? Where’s Lizzie?” She asked her mum, trying not to sound as scared as she was. Beth slowly let go of her daughter and looked her in the eyes. Tears were still running down her cheeks, her eyes red and puffy.“I ehm, I don’t I don’t know, Chloe. I don’t know.” Another wave of sobs shakes Beths body and once again she hugs her oldest daughter for dear life, clinging to her like a lifeboat.“What do you mean mum? What do you mean you don’t know?” Chloe was panicking now, and memories started to come back. The last time her mum had hugged her like this had been during the investigation of her brother’s murder. That’s when it hit her: Lizzie wasn’t in the house. Her mum didn’t know where she was. That’s when she looked in her sister’s room and noticed the open window.Before Beth had the chance to recover from her sobs and explain what was happening, the doorbell rang. Both of them froze. Just for a moment. Then Beth let go of her daughter and wiped the tears of her face. “Sorry, I’ll just…” Beth went down the stairs, leaving Chloe in front of her sister’s room alone.Beth opened the door, to find Mark standing there, looking nervous. Beth would have thought it weird, had she not been so worried about her youngest daughter.“Hello” He said, “thought I’d check in, see if you need help with you know, bringing Lizzie to the nursery or something.” Towards the end he trailed off a bit, rubbing his neck with his hand.“She’s not here.” Beth said, a glassy look in her eyes.“What’d you mean she’s not here?” Mark asked, confusion on his face.“Lizzie, she’s, she’s not here.”“Well, where is she then?” he pressed on, clearly not getting what his ex wife was implying.“I don’t know Mark, I don’t she’s just, I she wasn’t in her room and I…” Beth was gesturing with her hands, trying to find words and holding back tears. She felt a hand on her shoulder, Chloe had followed her to the door.“Chlo what’s ging on?” Mark asked again, but his voice was filled with panic this time.“I think we should call the police.” Chloe said, she also had tears in her eyes now. The thought pf having lost yet another sibling made her want to throw up. Ellie had been at the police station for about 30 minutes. She hadn’t done much yet, made herself a cuppa, started her computer, looked thorough e-mails, talked to Hardy briefly while she’d made a cuppa, the usual things she did on a Monday morning. It had been a quiet weekend thank goodness, not a lot of paperwork to sort out. She’d spent the weekend with her boys, they to the beach again, before the temperatures would drop.Alec too had had a relatively quiet weekend. Daisy was visiting her mum up on Sandbrook, he’d told her she should go, so he had spent the weekend at his home, catching up on paperwork from their last bigger case. This morning he had come to the station almost simultaneously to Ellie, seeing as both had dropped off their respective children at the school before coming to the station.As Ellie was still settling down and getting things out on her desk, her phone rang. She checked the caller ID, before she picked up. She found it a bit odd that Beth would be calling at this time, but she picked up. “Hello Beth” Ellie said in a surprised tone.
“Lizzie is missing.”
Beth said, her voice sounding sombre and as though as she was about to cry.“Oh god Beth, are you sure she’s not with Mark or just outside? You know she could have just wondered off, right?” Ellie didn’t know what to say to her friend. She hoped that Beth was just overreacting to the situation, but she didn’t believe it. She only hoped.
“Mark’s here.”
It was a short answer but enough to make Ellie understand. She stays silent for a second, contemplating what she should do.“I’m coming over.” Ellie said with a determined tone.“Thanks El.” Was all Beth could say.Ellie hung up the phone. Her mind was racing, was Lizzie missing? Where was she? Was she taken? How long had she been gone? All the questions shot through her head when she entered Hardy’s office.“Lizzie is missing.” Ellie told him.“Who?” Alec asked, he had never been great with names.“Oh, for god’s sake sir! Lizzie Latimer, Beth’s girl.” She scolded him, but there was urgency in her voice. He looked at her for a second, processing the information she had just told him. “Bloody hell” was all he managed.“I’m going over right now, sir, with your permission?” Ellie asked but made it clear that she’d go with or without his authorization.“I’m coming with you.” He decided, getting up out of his chair.They walked to the car in silence. They got in. It was deafening. The drive was heavy. You could feel the tension in the air. Both were thinking about what had happened last time. Last time they drove up to the Latimer house connected to a case. It made Ellie sick.Mark and Beth had been walking around the house, calling for Lizzie meanwhile Chloe had been texting and calling everyone, asking if they had seen her little sister. It had felt like hours since her mum had called Ellie. It had been 15 minutes.Alec and Ellie got out of the car and walked to the door. When it opened, they were greeted by an anxious looking Chloe Latimer. She looked at them for a second, then stood to the side to let them in. Ellie flashed a smile when she walked by, and Alec nodded in her direction. Chloe closed the door and then proceeded to go outside to get her parents.“El.” Beth greeted “Hardy.” She added when she spotted the man. Mark nodded at them, looking horrified. Naturally he would be, Ellie thought. His daughter is missing.“Would, ehr, would you be able to tell us what happened exactly?” Alec asked after a short but crushing silence.“Lizzie wasn’t up this morning, when I got up. She ehm, she usually gets up with me. But she didn’t and when I realised I thought she might just be ill, so I went to check, but the door was closed, it’s never closed, she wasn’t in her bed, and the window was open. It was open I didn’t open it, she’s not big enough to open the window. I-I don't I don't know.” Beth was rambling, talking fast. In the end she collapsed on to the sofa, tears streaming down her face again.Chloe sat down next to her mum and attempted to comfort her, even though she herself seemed to barely be holding it together. Ellie looked at her with a sad gaze, this seemed all too familiar.Once Beth had calmed, Alec went on: “And when did you last see her?” It was a simple question and Alec used the tone he usually reserved for interviewing children.But Beth couldn’t answer. Chloe did instead “Eh, yesterday evening, around eleven I checked in on her. Mum was already asleep.” She said, now too with tears down her cheeks.“Noone has seen her since then?” Alec continued in a soft tone.“No, no I don’t think. Not that I know of.” Chloe told him again. He nodded and looked at Ellie, signalling her to continue asking questions.“Have you, er have you checked with anyone if they’ve seen Lizzie?” Ellie had difficulties keeping her composure.“Yeah, I- I eh I called gran, and the nursery but, eh no one has seen her.” Chloe was a strong girl, Ellie had thought, but this seemed to be too much for her as well.“What are you going to do?” Mark cut in. He had been utterly silent during the whole ordeal, pacing around the room. “We-” Ellie started, but Alec cut her off “We are going to report her as missing. Because she is a child, her case will be prioritised. We’ll do everything we can to find your daughter. I promise you.”He said with a conviction in his face and tone that left no doubt that DI Alec Hardy would do everything in his power to find this little girl.“Can’t we do anything?” Beth looked up with a pleading look in her eyes.“At-” It was Ellie’s turn to talk over Alec “You can write a list of places where she could be. Places she knows, or where she often it. Playgrounds, houses of friends that sort of thing. Places she’d go to.” She said, looking at Beth with what she hoped to be a reassuring face. Ellie knew that it probably wasn’t necessary, since everything pointed toward Lizzie being kidnapped, but she knew that Beth needed something to do.“Thank you” Beth said, and Ellie nodded, feeling herself tear up as well.“Can we have a look around?” Alec asked and the only answer he got was a nod.The two detectives got up and went up the stairs. It hadn’t been said, but they both knew where Lizzie’s room was. It used to be Danny’s.They put on their gloves and stepped in the room. It looked like any little girl’s room. Pink walls, dolls laying on the ground, dresses thrown over a chair. The window was still open.Ellie moved her fingers along it. She pursed her lips. The window seemed to have been opened forcefully from the outside. There was a trail of blood along the windowsill.Alec was stuck by the doorframe. The markings from Danny’s height that had been there the last time had been joined by ones from Lizzie. The parallels to the previous time he was in this room were heartbreaking.Ellie looked out of the window, careful not to touch it. It didn’t make sense. The window could be locked, and the room was on the first floor. She couldn’t imagine how someone could get in.After a few minutes, the two detectives left the room, to see around the rest of the house. When they were done, they returned to the living room. “We will give out a short statement about your daughter later today, to put out the information and increase the chances of witnesses coming forward.” Alec informs the family.“SOCO will come by and have a look at her room, see if they find anything. We ask you not to enter it, before or during this is happening.” He continued. “We will do everything we can to find your daughter.” He repeated.Ellie nodded along and followed her superior to her car. They stay silent for a moment.“Do you think it was Joe?” Ellie asks.“Why?” Alec asks in turn, looking at her.“Well, he already killed one of their kids. Who’s to say he won’t do it again?” She said very matter-of-factly.“it’s a possibility, Miller.” He told her, “Nothing more or less.” It was the truth. But it did not sound very reassuring. The rest of the drive is silent, and tense.Alec went straight to his office when he got back. He informed CS Jenkinson and talked the proceeding through with her. Towards the end of the call, Ellie entered the office to inform Alec about the family liaison officer she’d managed to find.“Sir?” She asked before noticing that he was on the phone. “Hold on” He glanced at her: “Sorry Millah just came in.” he told the person on the other end.“Sorry didn’t know you were on the phone, I’ll just-” Ellie apologized and wanted to close the door when he said“Yeah, no Miller wait, come back” and gestured her to sit down on the sofa. Elle was a bit taken aback by this but entered the room and sat down. Hardy seemed to be listening carefully to what the person on the other side was saying.“I’ll just put you on speaker, hold on.” He said and pushed the button on the phone on his desk.“Can you hear me?” The voice, which Ellie recognised to be Jenkinson asked.“Yes ma’am” They both said simultaneously.“Good. As I was explaining to DI Hardy, this case will likely get a lot of media attention. That’s why I’m coming down. I am also offering an out to you both. This won’t be an easy case and we need to work fast and efficient. If either of you feel emotionally unfit to take up this case given the history you both have with the family, I would understand that completely.” CS Jenkinson finished her speech.There was a brief silence in which Hardy and Miller looked at one another.Then Hardy answered: “I feel capable of solving this case ma’am.” He said it with the same conviction he had used when taking to the Latimers.“I also feel like I am capable of solving this case, ma’am” Ellie followed suit. They would solve this case; she was sure of it.

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“Was Elizabeht Latimer abducted? Did someone gain access to the house, if so how. If it wasn’t forced entry who has the key? We need to collect any CCTV from a mile radius around the house. Miller, family? Who are they and where were they.” Alec had given this speech one too many times. And he had given it two times more in connection with the Latimer’s than he would like.Ellie started with her part of the speech. “Beth had Chloe their eldest daughter when she was 15, Mark was 17. Beth and Chloe were at home, watching telly, they say they hadn’t left the house since Sunday afternoon.” Ellie continued “Dad was on a weekend trip, says he only came back in the early hours. Mum and Dad are divorced. Last time someone checked up on Lizzie was the daughter Chloe, at around 11, Mum was already in bed. Gran lives nearby, she was in all evening, the other gran lives in Wales.”She finished and looked at Hardy to continue. He did, but not without looking at the door of the elevator which opened. CS Jenkinson had come in. “We will give a statement soon, so witnesses can come forward. Until then all this remains confidential. No gossip, you understand?” Hardy said in a sharp tone, in order to bring his point across.“Righ’ go on.” He dismissed the people he had gathered, except for Ellie, who followed him into his office, where Jenkinson was waiting.“Ma’am” They both said in unison. It had taken the CS only an hour to get to Broadchurch. She gestured them to sit down on the sofa and sat back in Hardy’s chair.“DI Hardy, you will be giving out a Statement in one hour, myself and you, DS Miller” She turned towards Ellie, “will be there too.” Jenkinson used their titles and last names, something she rarely ever did, it made the seriousness of the situation even more apparent.The CS went on, in a softer tone “if either of you, at any point in this investigation feel like you can’t be objective or are not prepared to deal with the emotions and trauma this case will bring up, tell me. We need to solve this case and we need to do it fast.”Ellie looked at Alec. The look on his face was stoic, determined. He had told her, more than once, that he felt he had let the Latimers down. He wasn’t about to do so again.Ellie felt the same. She had lost Beth’s trust and she had gained it once more. She wouldn’t lose her again.   The morning was a blur. Chloe remembered her mum breaking down, her father coming, the police coming, the police leaving again, but it had felt like days rather than two hours. Chloe was now sitting on the couch of Daisy Hardy. How she got there, she could not recall, no matter how hard she tried.“Tea?” The gentle voice of Daisy asked.This brought her back to reality.“Thanks.” She mumbled. Daisy sat down next to her and turned to face her friend.“You okay?” She asked eventually, scowling herself internally for asking.“No.” Chloe said honestly looking down at her tea.“Wanna talk about it?” Daisy further inquired.“No.” Chloe repeated, now looking at Daisy’s face. Her eyes were watery and puffed.“Hug?” Daisy asked, seeing her friend like that was heartbreaking. Being the friend that is seen, must be unbearable, she thought.“Yeah” Chloe said, setting down her tea. Daisy hugged her tightly, in a manner very similar to how her mum hugged Chloe. The tears she so desperately tried to hold in were now streaming down he face. When they let go, Chloe wiped tears of her face, and looked up at Daisy.“Don’t you have school?” It wasn’t meant in a way a parent would say it, but out of genuine curiosity.“I said I had period cramps and needed to go home.” Daisy answered.“You lied?” Came the response from Chloe, surprised her friend would do that.“That’s what friends do.” Daisy simply said, smiling timidly and Chloe pulled her in for another hug.  The two detectives got out of Alec’s car, and knocked on the door of the Latimer house again. This time they were greeted by a woman who Alec recognised to be the mum of Beth, and led inside by her. They sat down around the living room table with the three adults on the sofa and the detectives on chairs around it. Chloe wasn’t there, Ellie registered, but didn’t dare to ask where she was.“We will give out a brief statement, detailing age, gender as well as her name. Usually we don’t do it in such detail, but since this is a missing person case, people need to know as much as possible about her.” Hardy told them.Ellie continued: “if you could provide us with a picture of Lizzie, as recent as possible, that would help us tremendously. That way if anyone sees her, they can come forward right away.” She looked at Beth, and just now realised how tired she looked.“What happened here is a terrible thing, and we will do everything we can in order to solve this case and find your daughter as fast as possible.” Hardy had said this time and time again, but he meant it as much as he did it the first time.Back at the station, it was busy. People walking around, talking, working, desks being brought in and set up. It was busy, loud, but serious. No one was laughing or chatting about the latest gossip. It wasn’t like a normal investigation. Most people were there when Danny was murdered, and those who weren’t, had been told by others.Everyone knew the history. And everyone was working tirelessly to prevent it from repeating itself.Hardy walked straight into his office. It was too much. The sound, the lights, the people but most of all: the memories. He shut the door and shut the blinds. He wrestled his tie off, he sat on his chair. He stood up again, pacing around his office. He sat down again. It was all too much for him, he wanted to go home. But he couldn’t. Alec needed to be here now. He owed it to the Latimers. Alec was rescued from his thoughts, when someone knocked on the door to his office.“Come in” he said and sat up straight. He relaxed a bit when he saw Miller poke her head through the door.“What is it Miller?” Hardy asked, seemingly annoyed. “I just wanted to tell you; I found a liaison officer for the Latimers.” She told him and he nodded in response.“Are you okay?” She asked, she had seen right through him and his faked annoyance.“It just doesn’t make any sense, Miller.” Hardy told her, he didn’t want to elaborate on it, and she understood.“Are you ready for the statement?” Ellie asked him after a short silence. To this he again nodded, and she took it as another sign that he would rather be alone. So, she left his office and sat down at her desk.When Hardy emerged from his office, it was time for them to give the statement. Ellie got up from her desk and walked over to the elevator, where Hardy and Jenkinson were waiting for her. Just as they were about to step out of the building, Ellie’s phone rang. She checked the caller ID. She didn’t recognise the number. She did not pick up.“Elizabeth Latimer, a two-year-old girl was abducted from her home in Broadchurch last night. She was last seen at 11pm wearing pink pyjamas with unicorns on them. We urge anyone who heard or saw anything to come forward.” Hardy told the press. “We ask that the media respect the family’s privacy at this time.” He finished his brief speech and nodded at the journalists.Ellie wanted to call back the number when they were back inside, but before she had the chance, she heard Hardy bellow “Millah, come on, people to interview.”They drove to the nursery Lizzie was in, Ellie didn’t know it. It was a new one, run by a married couple, or so said their website. They rang the doorbell and were led inside after showing their badges to the lady at the front desk, Nina Long. Nina brought them to a short, slender man with red hair, in his early 30’s.“Jeremy? These detectives need to talk to you.” She told the man.“Thank you Nina.” He told her, she nodded and walked back to her post.“Good evening detectives, I’m Jeremy Watts.” He said, and stretched out his hand towards Hardy. He shook it.“I’m DI Hardy, this is DS Miller.” Hardy said and nodded at Ellie. Jeremy shook her hand as well.“Could we step into an area, where we can talk in private?” Ellie asked the man. He led them to what appeared to be his office and prompted them to sit down.“We need to ask you a few questions about Elizabeth Latimer.” Hardy said once seated, which prompted Ellie to take out her notebook.“Right, yes I heard. Horrible that someone would do that.” Watts responded.“Who is her primary teacher?” Was the first question Hardy asked.“I am, well whenever I’m here of course. Otherwise it’s my wife.”“And you have a good bond to her?” Hardy further inquired, carefully observing the man.“Yeah, pretty good. She’s a sweet girl, you know. One time she even called me dad by accident.” Watts chuckled at the memory of the girl. Miller continued with the inquiry.“When was this?” She wanted to know, and his smile faded.“Eh I don’t know exactly, must have been sometime in July?” Watts rubbed his neck.“Where were you on between 11pm. and 7 am. Sunday night?” Ellie asked him, on her face an emotionless mask.“I was at home, with my wife. We watched a film and then went to bed, ‘round 10, I believe. We were both rather tired, so…” He trailed off.“What film?” Hardy cut in and looked in Watts’ eyes.“Eh, Zootopia. My wife loves animated films, you see.” He smiled, which was rather off-putting, Ellie thought.“Can we talk to your wife?” Hardy asked, though it was more of a command than a question.“I’m afraid she’s not here. She’s got a cold I’m afraid.” Watts told them.“Can we talk to your other staff?” Ellie asked, in a ton much friendlier than her superior’s.“Sure, you can have the office if you like?”“That would be most helpful, thank you.” The DS responded and smiled at Watts. It was the smile she always had on when she needed to look friendly, but didn’t want to be, Hardy noticed. She had used it with Leo Humphries as well. They talked to all the staff, most of them had alibis for the night.Ellie and Hardy had decided that they would interview Louise Watts, the wife of Jeremy, the next day. Back at the station Miller and Hardy went over the statements of the staff and worked on theories as to what had happened. This went on for a few hours, most the people had already gone home, when CS Jenkinson came to Hardy’s office.“Go home. Both of you.” She told them “Take a shower, get some sleep” Miller and Hardy looked at their boss, as if they hadn’t processes what had been said. “That’s an order,” She said, which set the two detectives in motion.Ellie went to grab her bag, which reminded her of the number she had planned on calling back. She decided it was too late now, and that she would do it tomorrow. When she came home, the house was mostly quiet. The only noise was coming from the telly, her dad was watching. It did not surprise her, seeing as it was past ten already, therefor long past Fred’s bedtime. Ellie ignored her dad, went to check up on Tom, who was still awake, reading in a book. He didn’t have a laptop because she had smashed up it months ago.“Hey Tom.” She said when she opened the door to his room.“Hi mum.” She sat down on his bed. “Tom, darling, did you hear what happened?” She asked in a soft voice. “Yeah, I did.” Was all he said. Ellie hugged her son, and for once he did not pull away. After checking up on Tom, she went over to Fred’s room.The door was closed, she supposed that her dad had done that, so he could watch telly without waking her son up. Fred usually slept with his door cracked open. She carefully opened it and walked over to his bed quietly. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim light, and when they did, her heart sank.The bed was empty. Ellie’s mind started to race. This was what Beth must have felt.She walked out of the room, her heart pounding, and started searching the house.She checked the Bathroom. No one.She checked in her dad’s room. No one.She went downstairs, looked in the kitchen, the living room, the downstairs toilet. No one.She was panicking, her mind going to every possible scenario. Ellie went back upstairs, to check the last room. Her room. She had lost most of her hope, that Fred would be there. When she walked through the slightly opened door, it was dark inside. She went over to her bed, slowly, and felt a wave of relief when she saw Fred, safe and sound asleep in her bed.Ellie sat down and took a deep breath. Her son was safe. Everything was fine. At least for now. Alec was surprised at the way the CS spoke to them, but he wasn’t about to challenge her authority. He had expected Daisy to still be awake, what he hadn’t expected was for Chloe Latimer to be there as well. When he thought about it, she hadn’t been there when they went over to the Latimer’s in the afternoon. But he didn’t think she’d be sitting on his sofa, talking to his daughter. When he came through the door, they looked up at him, rather startled for a moment, until they saw it was him.“Hi dad” Daisy looked at him and smiled. Chloe mumbled something unintelligible, her eyes looked red and puffy.“Hi, darlin’” He said to his daughter, and then looked at Chloe“’Your parents know you’re here?” he asked, in a slightly softer tone than he usually would in such a situation. The girl nodded, it was answer enough for him.“’right, I’ll go take a shower, and you don’t stay up too late.” Alec told Daisy “I’ll give you a lift home, if you want.” He said to Chloe.“Thanks, but I think I’ll walk home.” Chloe told him, she didn't want to be a burden. “You sure?” Alec didn’t feel comfortable to let Chloe walk home, the day after her sister had been abducted from her home.“I’ll walk her home.” Daisy cut in and looked at Chloe, who smiled at her. “And who’ll walk you home, Daiz?” He asked, and regretted it instantly. But he stood by his point, not wanting his daughter to be in any sort of danger. Daisy rolled her eyes at this and was about to say something about it but he cut her off.“I’m driving you home, Chloe, I don’t want your mum to worry about you.” His daughter, again looked like she’s about to talk back but Alec gave her a stern look, which made her go quiet.The girls both got up and all they walked back to the car. The drive over to the Latimer house was quiet. It was a sort of uncomfortable silence, for Alec at least, but he reckoned that it probably wasn’t the same for the two girls.When they arrived at their destination Chloe, as well as Daisy got out of the car. They hugged, and Daisy waited until Chloe got to the front door, where she turned to look at Daisy again. That was his daughter’s cue to go back to the car.The drive home was just as silent as the drive there, albeit a lot less uncomfortable.After taking a shower, Alec went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep. He didn’t think he would be able to. Still he tried. Eventually he did. He fell into a slumber plagued by nightmares. He woke up drenched in sweat, trying to suppress a scream. The sensation was all too familiar to him.It was just like the last time.No. He told himself. This wasn’t like last time. He was healthy now.Daisy was here with him, he had Ellie. He would solve this case, and it wouldn’t end like last time.

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Ellie was arrived at the station, when she realised, she still hadn’t called the number back. They had called her earlier, but she had been driving Tom and Fred to school. However, she didn’t have time to do it now, because they were due to check in with the Latimers once again.They needed to introduce the family liaison officer, William Lane (he insisted they call him Will), to the family as well as get official statements and fingerprints from the family. So instead of calling back, Ellie went to Hardy’s office.She was just about to poke her head thorough the door, when it opened, and he emerged from his office. Without a word they walked over to the elevator, and Hardy signalled Will, who had been standing in the kitchenette drinking his tea, to follow them. They all walked over to the car, Ellie drove, Hardy got in the passenger’s seat, while Will got in the back of the car. The drive was mostly silent, Ellie and Hardy didn’t need to speak to understand each other, and Will seemed too nervous to say anything.When they got there, Hardy broke the silence. “You do the interview with Beth, Miller, I’ll do Mark and Chloe’s.” He told her and she nodded.Chloe opened the door and led them inside. She looked at Will but didn’t say anything. Once they were all sat, Hardy stared to talk again. “Eh, this is William Lane, he’s a family liaison officer and will be keeping you updated throughout the investigation.” He told them.“Please, call me Will.” Lane said with a smile, which looked out of place in the setting. He refrained from putting out his hand. Ellie spoke up in order to save them all from the uncomfortable situation. “We would like to ask you a few questions, about the night when Lizzie was abducted, so we can paint a clearer picture as to what might have happened.” She explained to the family.Hardy continued “We also need to get your fingerprints, so we can eliminate them if we find them on evidence.”“Don’t you still have them from last time?” Mark asked, which earned him looks from the two women sitting on the sofa with him. The fact that he said ‘last time’ was an unwelcome reminder to both of them. Ellie once again explained: “We don’t keep fingerprints of families after the investigation is closed.” Mark’s statement was a painful reminder to her as well.“We’ll ask each of you outside, so that everyone can answer the questions individually.” Hardy told them calmly and was just about to stand up when Mark cut in again.“Why, do you think we’re trying to hide something?” He asked defensively with crossed his arms. “Oh for god’ sake Mark.” Beth said with an annoyed tone, trying to shut up the father of her daughters. “What? Don’t you think it’s a bit weird? You going to arrest me again?” Mark stood up and looked down at Hardy.But Hardy didn’t even flinch. He got up, slowly, which made Mark shrink a bit, and then said “The reason we question everyone individually is so the statements have more credibility, should this case ever go to court.” The mention of court seemed to be what did it for Mark, and he choose to sit down again, despite his second question remaining unanswered. His arms however stayed crossed. After a few unbearable moments, Ellie got up, and signalled Beth to follow her, which she did.Hardy stayed seated for a moment, then he too got up. He looked at Chloe, she understood and followed him. Mark was about to stand up as well, his daughter however gave him a hand sign to stay on the sofa. Beth and Ellie walked into the kitchen. Beth leaned against the counter with her back against the window, Ellie on the other side. She took her notebook out of her brown leather bag and looked at her friend.“You said you were in all night?” She wanted to know, but it sounded more like a statement rather than a question. It felt wrong to be questioning one of her closest friends. Again.“Yeah, I was with Chloe, we, we watched Gilmour Girls. Chloe loves that show.” Beth had told Ellie about that show before, but she’d never gotten around to watch it.“When did you put Lizzie to bed?” Ellie wanted to know.“Six thirty, she was tired because we’d been out all day.”“And when did you go to bed?”“Tenish, I have an early start on Monday. Usually.”“And after you went to bed, did you hear anything suspicious?”“No I didn’t. I usually wake up because of everything, but I just, I was so tired” The thought of having slept through of another child of her disappearing made her sick. “Sorry, sorry, I just…” Beth tried to wipe her tears away.“Oh, Beth” Ellie stepped forward and hugged her friend. That was it. Beth stared sobbing violently. Ellie just held her. And tried to hold in her tears.Hardy led Chloe outside to the garden. “I will be asking a few questions about where you were on Sunday night. Alright?” He didn’t normally ask for consent when he was asking people questions in his job. This however was far from normal. A nod was all her got.“You were in all night with your mum?” He used a gentle voice, aware of the trauma she must be going through.Another nod.“You last saw Lizzie at 11pm?” Chloe broke her silence. “Yes, I checked in on her when I went to bed.” She spoke quietly and looked anywhere but at the detective.“Did you hear anything suspicious after you went to bed?” He tried to catch her eyes but didn’t succeed.“No, I slept like a rock.” She was ashamed to admit it.“Okay, thank you Chloe.” Hardy said and started to walk inside. She followed him back to the living room, where Mark was still sitting on the sofa. He was bouncing his knee up and down, his arms crossed. Will was sitting on the chair opposite him, nodding at the two who just came it.Chloe sat down next to her dad and smiled at him. He mirrored her expression for a second, then looked over at the DI who was standing next to the window, waiting for Mark to come outside. Mark let out a breath and walked over to Hardy, who led the way outside.“Where were you Sunday night between 11am and 7am?” Hardy went right into it, in a more pressing tone than he’d used with Chloe. Mark had crossed his arms again, looking at Hardy with a critical gaze, but he looked nervous somehow.“I was away.” His answer was short and didn’t really say anything they didn’t already know. Hardy didn’t let go.“Away where?” he pressed on. “Liverpool.” Mark said, after a brief moment of hesitation. The detective moved on to the next question.“When did you last see Lizzie?” He knew that since Mark and Beth had split up Mark hadn’t been around his daughters as much.“Ehhr, Wednesday. Brought ‘round takeout from the chippie.” Mark answered, notably his expression remained the same. Whenever Beth or even Chloe talked about Lizzie their gaze changes, first to happy and then sad. It was the smallest changes but Hardy had always been good at reading people.“And you haven’t seen your daughter since?” He went on, while scribbling down something in his notebook.“No I haven’t.” Mark sighed in resignation.“You say you were away, when did you leave and when did come back to Broadchurch?”“I left on Friday evening after work, so ‘round 7, came back early morning on Monday. Sixish?”“And what did you do in Liverpool?” Hardy wanted to know.“Why’d you want to know that?” Mark asked, his tone was defensive.“Just trying to make sense of people’s movements.”“I was visiting the city.” Was all he got after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. Hardy decided not to ask further questions on that matter. At least for now.“Was there anyone with you on Sunday evening who would know where you were?”“No, I went to sleep, then woke up around midnight and drove back down. Stopped once or twice to eat, but you know…” He trailed off towards the end. Hardy saw Miller through the window and decided it was time to go inside. He put away his notebook, Mark understood the cue and walked back inside.When they were all back inside, they took the families fingerprints and then went back to the station, leaving Will with the family.“You alright Miller?” He asked after a short while of driving.“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She said, not very convincing. Alec looked at her but didn’t say anything. Miller did instead.“No, I’m not, okay?” she admitted, her voice breaking, but angry. “She was at home. Sleeping in her bed. She should be safe!” Miller said, angrily trying to hold back tears.He was just about to say something to comfort her when: “Oh for fuck’ sake!” Someone had cut her off at a turn. Alec stayed quiet for the rest of the drive. At the station he went straight to his office, but left the door ajar, so Miller knew that she could come in, when she was ready. It was his way of being supportive.“So how’d it go with Mark?” She asked when she sat down on the sofa in his office. He leaned back in his chair.“Says he was in Liverpool until Monday, only came back around six.”“Nothing new then.” Miller concluded.“Doesn’t have an alibi for the night though.” Hardy said and took off his glasses again. “It’s a mess, Miller.” She nodded in response, and they sat without talking for a short while, until he spoke up again.“What about Beth?”“Feels awful that she didn’t hear anything. Says she usually wakes up at the slightest noise.” Miller recounted. She understood what Beth was feeling. She understood all too well.“Chloe?”“Same as Beth.”“Right.” Silence again. “What was Mark doing in Liverpool?” Miller wanted to know eventually.“Says he was ‘visiting the city’” Hardy responded.“Who visits Liverpool on a weekend alone?” It didn’t make much sense he thought so either.“I Don’t know” He admitted. “Seems weird to just drive up what? 4 hours on a weekend?”“Yeah, but that doesn’t help us.”“Right.” They once again were left to their thoughts both thinking of potential theories.“We know that someone broke in.” Hardy said, “We also know that whoever it was that took her likely got in through the window form the outside.” Miller nodded along, sometimes it was best to just let him lay out his thoughts. “So, they must have either had a ladder large enough to reach the window or be a really good climber. Who’s got big ladders?” He looked at her and she looked perplex for a moment, then jumped into action“Eh, loads of people, I don’t think that’ll help us.”“People who are good at climbing then? Someone who can carry a 3-year-old down through a window and down a ladder.”“It is strange isn’t it?” Miller said, her mind visibly racing behind her eyes. “Why would you go to the trouble of breaking into a house, just to kidnap a three-year-old? If you wanted to kidnap a toddler you wouldn’t have to break into a house, right?” He said, and looked at Miller to finish his thought.“So, your saying that someone wanted to take Lizzie Latimer specifically?” She asked, he nodded, and they looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. Who would kidnap Lizzie Latimer?“We’ve got another interview to get to Miller.”He said, standing up and putting on his suit jacket and coat. She too got up and grabbed her things. They still had to interview the wife of Jeremy Watts. She was still down with the same cold, that was what Watts said anyways, so they’d decided to visit her at their home. It wasn’t far from the nursery Lizzie went to. The townhouse the Watts lived in, didn’t look too big from outside. It had a red door with a golden doorknob, and a window small window above the door. They had to park a few houses down, because there were cars everywhere. In frot of the Watts' house a particularly big van.  They rang the bell, at first it was quiet for a few seconds, then there was the sound of steps. A rather tall woman with a bob of black hair and strong looking arms opened the door. She looked tired; Hardy noted.“Can I help you?” She asked, looking a bit sceptical. The two detectives showed their badges to the woman.“Are you Louise Watts?”“Why?”“I’m DI Hardy, this is DS Miller, we need to ask you a few questions.” Hardy introduced them.“Oh, ehm, sure, do you want to come in?” The woman asked and stepped aside to let them inside. Miller looked at him, he nodded, they walked in.“The kitchen is just through here.” Mrs. Watts said and led them to the kitchen which had a small table in it. “Tea?” She asked, prompting them to sit down. Hardy shook his head.“Is this about Lizzie Latimer?” Watts asked, after she had sat down opposite of the officers. “It’s so horrible that someone would so that to the family. She’s such a bright young girl.” The woman continued.“You are Lizzie’s nursery teacher?” Miller asked. “Yes, I am her teacher.”“When did you last see her?” Hardy continued the inquiry. “Eh Friday. She was there until 3, her mum picked her up.”Miller took over again: “What did you do Sunday night between 11pm and 7am?”“I was sleeping. I have had a cold since Saturday, so I went to bed at 10.”Hardy went on: “Is there anyone you can think of, who would want to harm Lizzie or he family?”“No, no I don’t. She’s such a good little girl, I can’t think of anyone who would want to harm her.” Watts said. Her answers were all rathe detailed. There was a short silence. “Well, her dad sometimes complained that he didn’t get to see her enough…” She trailed off. The detectives exchanged a glance.“Okay, well thank you for your time Mrs. Watts, we’ll let you know if we have any further questions. And get well soon.” Miller got up and Hardy followed suit.“Thank you.” The woman said, after a short while. “I hope you will find her soon.” She said, when the two detectives were almost out of the door. They both nodded and then went to the car.  Daisy was sitting at school, they had double maths, which was always extremely dull. So, it wasn’t unusual for her to be on her phone. She was scrolling through some reddit post about someone complaining about Pokémon Go, when she got a notification.Chloe: I need to get out of here. Daisy: Where r u? Chloe: Home, but it’s hell. Daisy: u could come over? Chloe: What about school? Daisy: Don’t worry about it.Chloe: u don’t have to.Daisy: I want to. Maths boring. Chloe: Fair enough. Daisy:Meet you in 30? When Daisy came home, Chloe was already waiting for her in front of the house. “Hi” She said and hugged Chloe.“Thank you, really, you know you don’t have to.” Chloe said, she felt guilty because she was the reason that Daisy was skipping school.“Don’t worry about it.” She told her. She let go of Chloe, fishing for the key in her pockets. They went inside and sat down on the sofa again.“Mum and Dad are on edge constantly, and Will doesn’t help.” Chloe said, it was the reason she needed to get out.“Who’s Will?” “Oh, er he’s the family liaison officer.” She said it with such a natural tone, it reminded Daisy that it wasn’t the first time this had happened to Chloe.“Right, what does he do?” Daisy asked, and reached out for Chloe’s hand.“He always tries to fix everything. All the time. He just doesn’t get that you can’t fucking fix it by talking. It doesn’t work like that, and he doesn’t get it!” Chloe was angry, she hadn’t liked Peter, but Will was even worse. He was so smiley all the time, it set her on edge. Daisy just nodded and squeezed her hand. Chloe was such a strong, beautiful girl, she had so much admiration for her. Despite everything she had been through she was just still so kind to her and everyone else. Daisy had had a crush on her for quite a while now, but Chloe knew nothing.And Daisy would be damned if she ever did, because she would never tell.“And how do you feel?” Daisy asked after her friend had gone on her rant.“I don’t know. I feel shit, I suppose. I just, we don’t know where Lizzie is, not even if she is still alive, you know last time we at least knew where Danny was.” Chloe was surprised at her own honesty, but she felt save around Daisy. Ever since they’d become friends, she had felt save with her.Daisy didn’t know what to say, so instead she hugged Chloe again.Chloe was thankful for every hug Daisy gave her. A lot of people hugged her, her mum, her dad, her gran, her other friends, but with Daisy it felt best. It felt right.Since it was lunchtime and neither of them had eaten, they decided to make pasta. Well Daisy did mostly, Chloe stood in the kitchen and watched her. She didn’t know where things were in the kitchen, except for tea and mugs. They ate mostly in silence, but it was a very comfortable one. Chloe was thankful for it, the peace she felt with Daisy.  Ellie and Alec were sitting in his office. She had convinced him to stop at the chippie on their way back, and now they were in his office eating fish n’ chips. Just like last time.“What’d make of Mrs. Watts?” He asked her, his mind hadn’t stopped racing all day.“I don’t know, she seemed a bit strange honestly. And that comment about Mark was off.”“Maybe he just misses his daughter.” Alec said, he could sympathize with not seeing his daughter enough.“Beth lets him see Lizzie whenever he wants. She told me. He only lives five minutes away so that wouldn’t be an issue.” Ellie knew what he meant but it didn’t make sense to her. He was just about to say anything, when her phone rang.She checked to see who was calling, and she saw that it was the same number that had called her earlier. “Sorry I think I need to get this.” She told him and picked up.“DS Miller” she said“Why?” it sounded defensive.“What are you saying?" Now she seemed confused.Silence.“Bloody hell.”

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“We are so sorry for your loss.”
“I-” Ellie wasn’t sure what to say. “Thank you.” She settled on.“We will need you to sort out his affairs, but we do understand that this might take some time. The loss of a loved one always is a big burden to carry.” She didn’t respond. “We are investigating your husband’s death and will keep you and your family updated.” The man on the other side told her.
“
Again, we are so sorry for not to doing this in person, we don’t usually do it over the phone.”
Again, she did not say anything.
“We will contact you again soon, if you have any questions please call this number.”
“Right.”
“Goodbye.”
She ended the call. Hardy looked at her, not yet aware of what was said during the call.“Joe was found dead in his apartment. They are treating it as suspicious.” Ellie said, very matter-of-factly.What seemed like hours went by without either of them saying a word.“He’s dead.” She said, quietly. “He’s dead.” She repeated “He’s dead-”Ellie almost started laughing, “he is..dead. Just dead. I- he.” Suddenly she started to feel very sad. It was an overwhelming feeling that hit her like a brick. Ellie teared up; she knew why but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to cry because of her paedophilic husband. Her dead paedophilic husband. Not again.This scenario had played over and over in her head the last few years. Whenever she’d thought about it though, had she imagined that it would feel like this.Alec hesitated for a moment, not sure what he should do. Then walked to the sofa, and just hugged her. In the past she’d pushed him away when he tried to comfort her, during the trial or even the Winterman investigation. But now she let him. They sat like that for a while. Neither of them knew how long.She had forgotten that she was in his office, or indeed who was hugging her. When she came had calmed down a bit, she realised that she was leaning against Alec’s chest.“Sorry.” She said and sat up straight again. He let go of her but didn’t break eye contact.“It’s normal to feel like this Miller. He was a good husband to you for a long time.” Alec reassured her. He couldn’t claim to understand what she was feeling, but he could offer her comfort, nonetheless.“Yeah, and then he killed the son of his friend.” Ellie said sarcastically, wiping away the last of her tears. He let out a sigh.“Miller.”“What? He did, and now he got murdered.” Alec sat back down on his chair.“Go home, alright?” He asked, but really it was more of an order. Ellie wanted to protest, Alec however wasn’t done speaking. “You need to tell Tom, it’s only a matter of time until the police show up.”She couldn’t argue with that. It was a miracle that they hadn’t turned up already. Ellie didn’t say anything. Instead, she gathered the trash that was left over from the chippie and put it in the trash. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that she was out the door. He wanted to tell her to take the next days off, but he was well aware that there was no way to make her do that. She’d need distraction. And he needed a capable DS with him on the case. Ellie had decided not to get Tom out of school, and rather tell him in the evening.She instead went home, where her dad was doing the dishes. He looked at her, a bit confused, but he recovered fast“Eleonore, what are you doing here?” It was a fair question.“Joe is dead.” She told her dad, as she was taking off her coat. David Barett froze for a second. It was very unusual for her dad to be at a loss for words.“What?”“Joe was murdered, they just called.”“What do you mean they called? Who called?” David looked even more confused.“The police, dad, the police called.”“Oh.” The message finally got through to her father, and now he was quiet.“I will tell Fred and Tom as soon as Tom comes home from school. You don’t tell either of them until then, please dad?” Ellie had managed to shut he emotions away for the conversation. She had done enough crying, she decided. David nodded, and then said: “Fred’s in his room.” He might be annoying and overbearing at times, but sometimes he knew what she needed.Ellie headed upstairs, to her son’s room. The door was open, and Fred was playing on the floor with the dinosaur toys he’d gotten for his birthday a few months ago. He didn’t notice her standing in the doorframe, continuing to let the t-rex fight the triceratops.“Hello Freddie.” She said after watching her little son for a little while.“Muum!” Fred shouted, and dropped his toys where they were. He threw himself around his mum, she had crouched down a bit.He immediately started babbling about everything his grandad and him had done in the morning and what they’d had for lunch and how they’d go to the playground in the afternoon. Ellie listened to him, asking questions here and there, but leaving him be otherwise. After playing with Fred for a while, she told him that she needed to go to the toilet.She did need to go to the toilet, but she also needed to text Tom. He usually stayed at school for a bit, to talk to his friends or study, and usually Ellie didn’t have any objections to that. Today wasn’t usually though.  Tom was sitting through his English lesson, when suddenly his phone buzzed. He checked if the teacher was looking, but he was busy writing something on the blackboard, so he opened the message. It was from his mum.Mum: Come home right after school, need to talk to you. Tom: About what?Mum: Your dad. Tom: What happened? Tom: Mum? She didn’t read the last two messages. Tom was nervous. Anything to do his dad was rarely ever good.But he did obey his mum. After school, he didn’t stick around and went straight home.  “Hello?” He yelled, as he came though the door. He took off his jacket. “Hey Tom.” Came the gentle voice form his mum. She was sitting on the living room floor with Fred, who was playing with his toys. He went inside, his mum smiled warmly, but her eyes looked sad. “Hello Fred.” Tom said to his brother and ruffled though his hair. Fred looked up, but didn’t put down his toys.“Hey, Freddie, why don’t you go to play with your grandad in the garden? I need to have a chat with Tom, alright?” His mum said to Fred, and to both their surprise he did what his mum asked him to do.They both sat down on the sofa, and she turned towards Tom.“So, eh Tom, you know that your father lived somewhere else?” She asked, which confused Tom. She had been the one who told him about it. But he nodded, due to her tone sounding very serious. “Your father, he ehm, he died.” She had taken his hand and squeezed it.“How did he die?” Tom asked after a short, heavy silence.“He, eh, he was murdered.”“Okay.” It was all he managed to say. He felt like he’d been run over by a car.“Tom, now listen to me: Whatever you are feeling is okay. Whether you feel sad, or angry, it’s okay. If you need someone to talk, I’ll always be here for you, just don’t go stuffing your feelings down. Okay?” He nodded. Tom didn’t trust his voice.“Hug?” For the second time this week, he hugged his mother. At some point he started to cry. And despite his mum’s reassurance that every emotion he might feel is okay, he felt like he was doing something forbidden. Grieving the man who killed his once best friend.  When he had recovered from the initial shock, and they’d sat in silence for a while, his mum said: “I still need to tell Fred.” He nodded. Ellie went outside and got Fred to join them, which wasn’t easy because he loved playing in the garden with his granddad. They all sat down on the sofa again.“Freddie, I need to talk to you.” She said to her youngest son. “So, Fred, you know when we spoke you about your father?” Ellie talked to Fred in the same a gentle voice she used with Tom earlier. Fred nodded, but didn’t say anything, probably because he was tired.“Eh, Fred love, your father died. He’s dead.”“Okay.” Fred said, with the light-heartedness only a 4-year-old could have. Adding to that was that Fred never had no memory of Joe. He had been told stories about him, but he had no memories of his own.“Can I go play?” He asked likely because he had accepted what had just been said. Tom looked like he was angry at his little brother for not remembering his father. But before he could say something,Ellie continued: “Fred, do you understand what I said? Do you understand what dead means?”“Yes, mum it’s like granny. She’s dead too.” He told her, the mention of her mum’s death was painful, but she couldn’t blame her son for that.“Yes, darlin’ she’s dead too. And you remember that we were all sad, right?”“Do I have to be sad, because he died, mum?”“No, Freddie, you don’t have to be, but it’s okay if you are.” She reassured her son. Fred asked another question: “Are you sad, mum?”“I-yes, your brother and I are sad.” Ellie wasn’t done, but Fred had another question: “But dad was bad, wasn’t he?” She had managed to keep herself form tearing up, but the question broke her. Tom looked angry, still, but he did good in letting his mum lead the conversation.“Your father was a good dad for a long time before he did something very bad. That’s why Tom and I are sad. We have a lot of good memories with your dad, and just because he did something terrible doesn’t mean we can just stop loving him. Okay?” Ellie was speaking with a quiet broken voice, holding back the tears. Fred nodded and then hugged his mum. That was what caused the tears to roll and what made Tom join the hug. Later that afternoon, Ellie went over to the Latimer’s. Beth was the one who opened the door, looking surprised.“El, what are you doing here?”“I need to talk to you, and Chloe and Mark. But to you first.”“God is this about the investigation?” Beth now looked to be panicked.“No, it’s eh it’s about Joe.”“Oh.” There was a silence. Then Beth took a step back and put on her shoes and took a jacket. It was what they normally did, go outside to talk. The two friends walked to sit in the spot where they always sat and talked.“Joe is dead.” She told her straight.“Right.” Beth said. They sat there again, in silence.“How’re you feeling?”“Honestly, I don’t know.” Beth nodded. She didn’t know how she felt either.“How did he die, if you don’t mind me asking?”“They are treating his death as suspicious.”“So, murder then?”“Yeah.”“Bloody hell.”  Daisy and Chloe had gone to the Latimer’s sometime in the afternoon. Mostly because Chloe’s bed was more comfortable to sit on. They’d been playing a game on Daisy’s phone for a while now, one where you can play all sorts of minigames against each other. Chloe was way ahead of Daisy, but she didn’t mind.“Ha! See that? I’m crushing you!” She told her friend, who in turn threw a pillow at her. They both started laughing.And Chloe realised how much better she felt whenever Daisy was around. Daisy saw the change in Chloe’s face.“What?” She asked, tilting her head.“Nothing.” Chloe told her and smiled.“Oh, come on, out with it.” Daisy pressed on, playfully, but there was a serious undertone.“I just. It’s stupid really.” Chloe told her, and but she continued to look at her with that look, the look which always gave her butterflies. One that reassured her that whatever she was about to say would be okay.“I, I- ehr, I just, I guess I wanted to tell you how much better I feel when you’re around.” There. She said it. And despite not having spelled it out, it was pretty clear what she meant by that.Daisy said nothing. She didn’t dare. Afraid it might be a dream and if she said something she might wake up. Chloe looked at her, begging for her to say something.“I-I actually feel the same.” Daisy said and smiled shyly.“Really?” She asked, also smiling.“Yeah.” Daisy nodded.“Oh, thank god.”They both started laughing. It was a laughter of relief, as both of them forgot the world around them. Daisy looked up and met Chloe’s eyes. Slowly they closed the gap between them. She could feel Chloe’s breath on her face. They looked their hands together, their lips were mere millimetres apart, Daisy closed her eyes. Chloe wanted to close the gap between them, when someone was bagging on the door. They broke apart.“I think I need to answer the door.” Chloe said and got up quickly. Daisy followed her, flashing a smile. Just because the moment was over, didn’t mean they were.When the girls got downstairs, Mark was just about to open the door, when he saw his daughter.He smiled sheepishly and gestured her to open the door. She did.Two tall men in suits were standing on their doorstep, both looked very serious. The one standing on the right spoke first.“I’m Detective Inspector Alain Murphy, this is Detective Sargent Julian Hall. We’re from Merseyside Police.” The two detectives showed their badges. “We are here in connection to the murder of Jerome Morgan, aka Joseph Miller. We need to talk to Mark Latimer.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alec let out a breath.There was a knock on the door.“Come in”“Eh, sorry sir, there is a man who says he saw something that likely has to do Latimer case.” It was one of the other Detective. Nate? Nish? Alec wasn’t sure. He had never been good with names. “Bring him up.” He told the other Detective whose name he still wasn’t sure of. But the man didn’t leave straight away. Hardy looked at him with raised eyebrows. After a few seconds of hesitation, he spoke again.“Where’s Ellie?”“DS Miller had to leave. Personal reasons.” The man looked at him horrified, clearly thinking of what had happened last time when Miller had to leave due to ‘personal reasons’ during an investigation involving the Latimers. So Hardy added: “Nothing to do with the investigation.”The other nodded, now satisfied, left the office and Hardy let out another sigh. “State your name and address for the tape please.” Hardy was sat on one side of the table, alone. Usually, Miller would be occupying the other seat.“Emmanuel Plamer, I live at 21st Green Lane.” The man sitting opposite him looked a bit nervous. Everyone would in the situation he was in. Sitting in an interrogation room, being questioned by a police office, even when one isn’t the suspect, must be a nerve wrecking experience, Hardy thought.“You said you might have some information in connection to the Latimer case?”“Yes, so there was something I saw when I looked out the window, when I got up. See I live a bit down the road form the Latimers.” He explained, while fidgeting with his hands under the table.“When was this?” Hardy asked in a calm demeanour.“’round 3, on Monday morning?” It sounded more like a question.“You get up at 3 in the morning?” Hardy’s eyebrows shot up.“I’m a backer, ehhr I own the little bakery next to the Traders Hotel. ‘s called the palm tree. Might have heard of it?”“Right, so what did you see?” Hardy had heard about that bakery from Miller. She had been complaining about everything being too expensive.“Eehr right, so there was a van parked in front of their house. A sort of bus, but not Mark’s van, I don’t think. It had a big ladder on the roof.” Plamer brushed his fingers though his thinning blond hair. “Can you describe it to me? What colour did it have? Did you see it’s licence plate number?” The DI had a rising suspicion in him.“Well, I didn’t see it that well, now did I? But it was a light, maybe white? There was something written on it, I don’t know what, though.” Plamer told him. “Did you see anything else?” Hardy wanted to know, he leaned forward and put his hands on the table. He looked over his glasses.“No, I had to get ready to leave. When I came outside, it was gone.” The other admitted, and looked down at his hands.“And when was that?”“3:30 maybe?”“Right, then thank you for your time Mr. Plamer. We will contact you if we have any questions.” Hardy stood up and leaned over the table once again. “Interview terminated at-” He checked the clock on the wall “-13:35”  After his mum had left, to tell Beth about what had happened, Tom went back to his room. He had been playing a round of cards with his grandad, his mum and Fred. Although the latter had been in a team with mum. But he didn’t even really get anything done, before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Usually he would have left it to his grandad, but he was, again, out in the garden with Fred. So he got up from his desk and walked down to open it.“Hello?” Tom asked, when he opened the door.Two men in suits were standing there. The men nodded at him and then the one on the right spoke: “I’m Detective Inspector Alain Murphy, this is Detective Sargent Julian Hall. We’re from Merseyside Police.” The two detectives showed their badges. “We are here in connection to the murder of Joseph Miller.” Tom nodded along with he said. Then DS Hall spoke: “Is your mum here?” he wanted to know.“Mum just went out, but my grandad is here.” Tom told them,“I can get him, he’s in the garden.” The man on the right, DI Murphy asked: “Do you know when your mum comes back?”“No, sorry, I don’t. She said she needed to talk to Beth, her friend.” He shrugged. “Might be a while though.” Tom explained to the Detectives and combed through his hair. The DS took out a notebook and wrote something down. Then he ripped off the piece of paper and handed it to Tom.“This is my number, tell your mum to call us when she gets back alright?”“Alright.” Tom folded the paper and put it in his pocket.“I’m Detective Inspector Alain Murphy, this is Detective Sargent Julian Hall. We’re from Merseyside Police.” The two detectives showed their badges.“We are here in connection to the murder of Jerome Morgan, also known as Joseph Miller. We need to talk to Mark Latimer.” Chloe looked at them in shock for a second. What had they just said?“Is he here?” Chloe jumped back into action.“Dad?” She asked. “Yeah?” it came from the living room. He’d went back to wait there. “The police want to talk to you.” There was a sound and then her dad appeared behind her.Chloe walked upstairs, Daisy followed her. They sat back down on the bed in silence for a while.“Joe is dead.” Chloe eventually said. Daisy nodded.“Murdered.” Daisy nodded again. “He murdered Danny and now he’s dead, oh my god. Oh my god.” Chloe hugged her girlfriend(?) but this time she wasn’t crying. At least not at first. Because as she sat there in the arms of Daisy, reality started to come back. Her Brother was dead, had been for some time and her sister had been missing since at least Monday.  “’re You Mark Latimer?” Mark nodded.“I’m Detective Sargent Julian Hall, this is Detective Inspector Alain Murphye.We’re from Merseyside Police” The two detectives showed their badges. “We are here in connection to the murder of Jerome Morgan, also known as Joseph Miller.” Mark nodded again.“Mind if we come in?” He stood aside and pointed them in the direction of the living room. There he prompted them to sit down on chairs that were still pulled up from the last visit of Ellie.“You are aware that Joseph Miller was killed on this Saturday night?” DS Hall asked, after he’d taken out his notebook.“Well, since you told me, yeah.” Mark said, his arms crossed.“And where were you Saturday evening?” The DI wanted to know from Mark, he too had taken out his notebook. “I was in a hotel in Liverpool, watching telly.” Mark had clenched his jaw. He didn’t like being interrogated by Ellie and Hardy, even if he knew them.“Liverpool, eh? What were you doing up there?” Murphy further inquired, one eyebrow arched.“Sightseeing.” Mark galdr at the detectives. “Can anyone attest for your whereabouts on Saturday evening between 5 and 10 pm?”“I ordered room-service at 8.” Mark said. “I’ve got the bill.” He added, when the two detectives still looked at him with doubt.“Witnesses say there was a van in front of Joseph Miller’s flat. The descriptions fit yours. What do you make of that?” Hall now asked.“Wasn’t mine.”“So, who’s was it then in your opinion?"“It wasn’t mine.” Mark insisted.“And why do we have CCTV of someone who is the same hight as you, dressed in all black walking around the neighbourhood at-” The DI asked and checked his notes, “-6:19 pm?” Mark shook his head. “Wasn’t me.”“Right,” Murphy got up, Hall followed suit. “Mark Latimer, we’re arresting you in connection with the murder of Joseph Miller. You do not have to say anything, though it may harm your defence later in court if you do not mention something you later relai on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence.”They put handcuffs on him and led him outside. Just as they came outside, Beth and Ellie came walking towards them.“Mark what’s going on?” His ex-wife wanted to know. “They’re arresting me.” He told her, as they opened the car door.“They think I murdered Joe.” He added quickly. Beth and Ellie looked at each other, frozen in shock, neither of them was quick enough to say anything before the police had drove off.“Where are they taking him? Did you know them El?” Beth asked after she’d recovered form the news.“I don’t know, Beth, I didn’t know them. They must be from Merseyside Police.” Ellie said, in a weirdly calm tone, given the circumstances.“Well, they won’t bring him all the way up to Liverpool now, right?” Beth wanted to know, also fairly calm.“I don’t think no. They’ll bring him up to the station.” Ellie told her. Then they were silent. “I need to tell Chloe.” Beth then said. “I need to get home.” Ellie nodded. They hugged and said their goodbyes, still calm. It didn’t feel real.Beth didn’t really feel like this was happening. It all felt like a fever dream. She wished it was.“Chloe?” There was a moment of silence. The door opened.“Yeah?” Beth looked inside and saw Daisy there. She flashed a smile at her, then looked back at her daughter. “Can I talk to you?”“Ehrr, sure.” They walked over to the staircase. “What is it mum?” Chloe wanted to know from her. She sounded concerned. “Right, so Joe Miller, he- he was killed.”“I know, mum the police came, they wanted to talk to dad.” Beth let out a breath. She knew. At least part of it. “Okay, well, Chloe darling, they arrested him.”“It was dad!?” Chloe exclaimed in shook, but Beth was quick to take her hand.“No, maybe, I don’t know, it doesn’t mean he did anything. It just means the police have some questions about what he was doing there. Nothing to say he did it.” Yet. Beth didn’t say it, but both thought it. Chloe nodded. “You okay?” Beth asked her daughter. “Yeah, just a lot to take in.” It was like last time. Mark had been arrested, one of their children was gone, or dead.  Ellie went back home. How was this happening? What was even happening? Elle couldn’t think straight. Suddenly she felt sick. Like she had when she found out about her husband being a paedophilic murderer. She had only walked a few meters, then the feeling was so overwhelming that she couldn’t hold it in anymore.She threw up on the middle of the field. This couldn’t fucking happen. Not again. She wouldn’t let any man destroy her life any further. So, she got herself up again, and walked home. She wiped away the tears that had been flowing down her cheeks. Ellie wouldn’t let her sons see her breaking down. Not again. No more tears about her dead, paedophilic murderer of a husband.“Mum?” It came from Tom, when she came in through the front door.“Yeah?” She asked, her voice was still shaky.“I’ve left a paper on the table. You need to call the police.”“Okay, did they say what they wanted?” Ellie wanted to know from her son.“No just that you should call.” Was his response. “Thank you Tom.” Ellie didn’t call. She knew she should have. But she didn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was also aware that they probably wouldn’t answer anyways.  Alec had been checking CCTV footage ever since he had terminated the interview. There was something he needed to find out. Then, his phone rang.“DI Hardy.” He answered, he hadn’t checked the caller ID.“Hello, this is DI Murphy form Merseyside Police. We have a suspect we need to interview in connection with the murder of Jerome Morgan, alias Joseph Miller.” The man, DI Murphy, on the other end explained. Hardy opened his email, to check if Jenkinson had wrote anything to inform him. There was in fact an email from her.“Right, yes, I’ll get a room ready.”A few minutes later, the elevator dinged. Two detectives, DI Murphy and DS Hall, so the email said, came out, with Mark Latimer between them. Hardy looked at them though the office door. He didn’t feel the need to get up, they were being led to the interview room by the desk sergeant, who’s name Hardy couldn’t remember either. He was shit at names.The fact that they were bringing Mark Latimer in for questioning was hardly surprising to him. If he had to investigate the case, he’d likely do the same.He went back to the CCTV. His eyes started to get tired, it’d been hours of carefully watching it, noting anything that was even vaguely out of the ordinary.After another hour of nothing significant, and almost falling asleep, there was something that caught his eye. He paused the footage.A big white van with letters on the side of it, driving though town at 2:57 am.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ellie opened her eyes and felt exhausted. Frist, she hadn’t been able to sleep, and when she’d finally managed to drift away, she had been haunted by memories of Joe.It was 4:36 now, but she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anyways. Ellie got out of bed, took a shower, got dressed and made herself a cup of tea to go.She stepped though the elevator doors at just after 5:30. To her, not so big surprise, Hardy was sitting in his office, with his glasses on, eyes fixed on to the screen.“Good morning.” Ellie greeted, when she poked her head though the office door. He lifted his eyes from the screen, he looked as tired as she felt. “Miller.” Hardy stated. When it was clear that he wasn’t going to add anything, she asked: “Have you been here all night?” The question was answered with a nod.Instead of asking another question he wasn’t going to answer properly anyways, she walked around his desk, to take a look at what he was so absorbed in. It was the CCTV footage of a street on Monday between 2:00 to 3:00 am. Ellie wasn’t sure at first where it was, but then she remembered. It was the Street where Louise Watts (and her husband) lived. “What are we looking for?” She asked after a few moments of watching the screen.For the first time she actually got a real answer: “A white van, with writing on it.”Ellie looked at the screen again, then back at Hardy. “That one there?” She wanted to know, and it took him a second to respond.“Well, I’m looking for the person driving it, not the van Miller.” He told her, sounding annoyed, but also rather tired. Hardy sighed out loud, after a few silent moments. It wasn’t exactly an apology, but Ellie knew how he meant it. It had been a long night for both of them, and an even longer few days.She shifted her weight form one leg to the other. She’d been standing behind him for a few minutes now, one hand on the desk, the other on her hips. It wasn’t a very comfortable position to be in for more than a few moments at a time. Just as she was about to leave, something on the screen moved.A person, dressed in all black, with black hair and about 1.75 m tall, came out of the house which belonged to the Watts and got in the van. Hardy pressed pause.“There she is Miller, we got them!” He exclaimed, sounding a bit too excited.“What, how? What do you mean?” Ellie was a bit confused. She knew that he meant the Latimer case, and that the van was a bit suspicious, but the details were lost on her. Once again, he looked at her for a moment, his brain had never been the fastest when he’d worked through a night.“Mr. Plamer, baker lives across the street from the Latimers said he saw a van parked in front of the house, that wasn’t Mark’s, with writing on it, around 3 in the morning. Said it was gone when he left at 3:30. I checked the CCTV of the town centre, van that matches this one drove though at 2:57. It’s registered to Jeremy Watts.” He explained to her, and when he was done, he looked at Ellie for a reaction.“Really. Jeremy Watts. The man from the nursery?” He nodded “Bloody Hell.” Ellie was shocked at the realisation. While nothing was proven yet, the explanation seemed logical.“We need a search warrant for their house. Right now.” Hardy said, and Ellie nodded, but said: “There won’t be a judge now, we’ll have to wait until at least seven.” He got up, presumably out of frustration. He walked through the office, and ruffled his hair. “Bollocks.” Hardy said, Ellie couldn’t have agreed more. Two agonising hours, in which they were sifting through even more CCTV of that night, and the day before, they finally got the email with the Search warrant, approved by the judge.It was 8 now, the sun had started to rise slowly, it was a nice day. Ellie and Hardy were driving in one care, with two police cars behind them, each being driven by one PC. The drive over to the Watts’ house was quiet and full of tension.They rang the doorbell. There was a silence. Then footsteps. Louise Watts stood there, fully dressed even wearing a coat. She didn’t look like she’d had much sleep either.“Hello detectives.” She says with a smile that sent shiver down Ellie’s spine. “Can I help you?”“Mrs. Louise Watts, I’m arresting you in connection with the abduction of Elizabeth Latimer. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something you later relay on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence.” Hardy took out his handcuffs and put them on Louise, who’s smile had been frozen.“Louise, what’s going on-” Jeremy appeared in the doorframe but stopped talking when he saw the detectives.“What’s this about?” He wanted to know, crossing his arms. Before his wife had the change to answer, Ellie told him with a faux smile: “We are arresting you and your wife in connection with the Latimer case.” His face painted a picture of panic.“Why? On what grounds?” Neither of them answered, instead Ellie continued: “Mr. Jeremy Watts, I’m arresting you in connection with the abduction of Elizabeth Latimer. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something you later relay on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence.” She calmly took out her handcuffs and put them on Mr. Watts, who protested. But She ignored him and had the PC’s put each into a car.Ellie and Hardy stepped through the door. It was quiet. Too quiet. They walked through the house slowly. In the kitchen the toast was still standing on the counter, and on a coffee mug was still on the table. “Hello? Lizzie it’s Ellie, can you hear me?” There was no answer.They went upstairs, through the bathroom where the wet towels were on the floor, the bedroom with the bed made, and the pyjamas hanging over a chair in the corner. Ellie repeated what she’d said before. The two detectives held their breaths, waiting for an answer.There was none, but there was still one more floor to cover. They walked back though the corridor, to the ladder, that presumably led to the attic. It was an odd time to have the attic open, Ellie thoght. Hardy climbed up the latter first, slowly and carefully. Ellie followed closely behind.When they reached the top, it took their eyes a short moment adjust to the dim lighting in the room. The air was heavy and hot.“Hello?” Ellie asked, her voice was soft. She scanned the room, until her eyes were caught on something in the left corner.What she saw broke her heart. Lizzie Latimer was laying on a mattress wrapped in a wool blanket. Her right hand was tied to a radiator, that was secured to the wall. She was still in the same pyjamas Beth had described to them two days earlier. Her blond hair was in neat braids. Lizzie seemed to be sleeping. Ellie approached slowly; Hardy followed behind her.“Lizzie, It’s me Ellie. You’re save now, okay?” There was again no response, Ellie glanced at Hardy, he looked concerned. Slowly, and very carefully, Ellie reached out a hand, to wake the little girl.She softly touched her shoulder and spoke again: “Hey Lizzie, wake up, it’s Ellie. Can you hear me?” She asked. Once again, there was no response. She didn’t even move, but when Ellie checked if she was breathing, her chest was moving in regular intervals. They exchanged another glance. Sleeping pills. Ellie was familiar with them.“Lizzie?” Ellie tried again. It took a several minutes, but finally Lizzie woke up. She looked at Ellie, somewhat confused, tired and a bit terrified.“Hey Lizzie.” The little girl looked at her, with big sad eyes. “It’s okay, you’re save now, alright?” When Lizzie still didn’t answer, Ellie went on: “Alec here will remove the rope around your wrists, and then we’ll call your mum, is that okay?” At the mention of her mum, Lizzie nodded.When Hardy had carefully untied the rope and put in a plastic bag, Ellie spoke again. “Are you hurt?” her voice was quiet and hoarse. Ehe did not want to know the answer to the question. Lizzie nodded again, which made Ellie tear up. It was hard to hold in the tears when she saw the black eye. It was easy to miss in the lighting. To her luck, Hardy took over.“Did they hurt you, Lizzie?” He was crouched down next to Ellie, in front of Lizzie. Another nod. “Did they hit you?” The little girl nodded again, and Ellie looked up, it was getting harder and harder not to cry. “Did they do anything else to you?” He asked, and Ellie hoped there wouldn’t be another nod. She watched the little girl closely and let out a breath when she shook her head.“Okay, thank you Lizzie, you did great. Now, Ellie will call your mum, and then we will bring you back home, alright?” Lizzie nodded again.  Beth was sitting at the table, eating breakfast with Chloe and Daisy. She had spent the night here, Hardy had apparently texted her that he would come home late, if at all. So, Chloe had asked Beth if Daisy could spend the night. And Beth didn’t mind. Daisy was a very lovely girl and seemed to make Chloe very happy.Beth was drinking her tea, when her phone rang. The two girls stopped their chatter and looked at Beth. She took her phone to check the caller ID. It was Ellie.“Ell?”“Beth.”“What is it?-” Beth hoped that it wasn’t bad news. She couldn’t take any more bad news this week. “We found Lizzie.” Ellie answered before Beth had even finished speaking.“Really, Oh my god-” Ellie tried to intervene “Beth-” but she didn’t listen, “really? Is she okay,-” Ellie tired again “Beth-” and failed again “-can we see her?-” “BETH.” Ellie finally succeeded.“Beth, listen, we will drive over as soon as I hang up. We’ll be there in two minutes, okay? And yes, she is okay.” Ellie calmed her friend. Beth took a deep breath. “Okay.” Beth said, and then, just before Ellie hung up, “Thank you El.”When she put her phone, she found the two girls looking at her.“They found Liz.”“Really? Oh my god!” Chloe got up and hugged her mum, then, she hugged Daisy, who instantly shared her enthusiasm. “Can we see her?” Chloe wanted to know. “El said they’d be here in two minutes.” Chloe once again hugged her mum.Daisy stood next to them, looking a bit nervous. Chloe tilted her head, which prompted Daisy to speak up. It was endearing seeing how well the two got along, Beth thought. “I need to go, I’ve got school. Sorry” Daisy said, blushing. “Oh, right.” Chloe said, disappointed, but understanding. Chloe hugged Daisy again and brought her to the door. A minute after Daisy had left, El’s car pulled up.Beth wanted to open the door, but Chloe held her back. It was better to let them come inside, so they’re not being watched by the whole neighbourhood, Chloe had reasoned, and Beth had to agree with her. But when they rang the bell Beth ran to the door. It was more of a jumping up of sorts, she was sitting on the stairs.There she was.“Oh, Lizzie come here darlin’” Beth lifted her daughter up to hugged her tightly. “Mummy.” Beth started crying. Chloe, who hugged both of them, also started crying. “I’ve missed you, I’ve missed you so much darling.” They stood like that for a moment forgetting everything around them, forgetting Ellie and Hardy.But reality came back when Lizzie suddenly whined. Chloe had shifted her hold on her and was now touching one of the bruised left on Lizzie’s arm. The whine wasn’t very loud, but full of pain and horror, that the women were forced to remember what had happened.“I’m so sorry Liz, hey it’s okay, alright? You’re save now.” Chloe tried to calm her, but it didn’t really help. She looked at Beth for help, but she had her hands (quite literally) full of carrying Lizzie.Beth walked over to the living room, which let the detectives inside.Ellie closed the door gently, then followed the rest of them. After a minute of sweet-talking Lizzie, and telling her that she’s save, she’d finally calmed down. Ellie and Hardy had watched the whole ordeal with empathetic faces, though Ellie looked like she was going to cry too soon enough.“Your daughter has been through substantial trauma, reactions like this are normal.” Hardy assured her, though Beth didn’t find it very comforting.“We have arrested two people in connection with Lizzie’s abduction” He then continued.Beth cut in: “Who? Do we know them? Why did they do it?” Ellie looked at Beth, with an expression, that reminded Beth that she needed to calm down. Hardy sighed and went on to explain: “We have arrested Mr. Jeremy Watts and Mrs. Louise Watts, his wife. We have not yet spoken to them, but you have the family liaison officer to keep you updated.”“He left.” Beth said plainly.“Who left?” Ellie looked confused at that statement.“He didn’t leave. Mum kicked him out. William Lane. She told him to go to hell after he’d told her that she shouldn’t go to the shops alone and that he would like to go with her. Hasn’t been back since.” Chloe explained very matter-of-factly.Ellie looked at Beth with a punishing glare. “It took me two hours to find one, and then you just go ‘round kicking him out?” She asked, and Beth couldn’t help herself but laugh. She didn’t want to, but it overwhelmed her. Ellie looked at her a bit concerned, but at least she wasn’t nearly crying anymore.“Sorry, I just, sorry. Ahem.” Beth said, after she’d calmed down. “Sorry you go on.” Beth told Hardy, who looked a bit irritated by it, though it wasn’t much different form his usual expression.“We will need Lizzie to come in for to give her interview and a physical exam, though that can also be done by her GP. We will need the results. “She’ll need an appropriate adult to accompany her, I assume that will be you?” He asked Beth, who nodded.Mark was still in custody, as far as she knew, and she had been the primary parent for more than half a year now.Ellie took over for her boss. “Two this afternoon would be great, if that’s okay with you?” Beth had been stroking Liz’s head, and now looked down at her. “Alright darlin?” Lizzie nodded. “Yeah, that works.”“Okay. Thank you for your time. We will be in touch.” Hardy said and stood up. The others followed suit.“Thak you Ell.” Beth said and hugged her friend. She didn’t answer, but just hugged back. “And you as well. Thanks Hardy, for finding my girl.” Beth said but didn’t hug the DI. Instead, she held out her hand.Chloe too hugged Ellie but didn’t shake Hardy’s hand. She just nodded at him, and he mirrored it.  Mark hadn’t said anything in the last three hours of questioning.He had sat there, with crossed arms and his mouth shut. The police had presented him with photos of his van parked near Joe’s apartment, they had showed him pictures of the wounds on Joe’s body. They had asked him how it had felt to kill the man he made responsible for his son’s murder. They had asked him questions about his daughters, his ex-wife, his business. Mark had sat there with a stoic face, not saying anything.The detectives had looked more frustrated the longer it went on. They took more and more breaks in less time, until finally bringing him to a holding cell at 9 pm. The next morning, he was woken up at 7 and brought to the same interview room he’d been in the day before.The two detectives sat down opposite him again, both with a mug in front of them. Hall, the DS, spoke first. “You make Joe Miller responsible for the murder of your son, Danny, isn’t that right?” He had asked that question about 5 times the day before.Yes. Of course he did. Because Joe was guilty. He wanted to tell him. But he didn’t. He kept his mouth firmly shut instead, keeping his expression as neutral as possible.“But he was never convicted, because he pleaded not guilty and the jury let him off.” Hall went on, despite not getting any answer from Mark. “You wrote in your book about the case and trial, that it was a and I quote: ‘demonstration of his cowardice’.” Hall looked back up from his notes, “You deny that it was you who killed Joe Miller aka Jerome Morgan.” He looked at Mark, waiting for an answer.Mark didn’t react.He knew where this was going.“If you don’t confess, you will leave the family of Mr. Morgan or Miller, in the same situation you were. They won’t have an answer and will have to go through a lengthy trial. Just like you and your family. Is that what you want?” It was cruel to say.Mark knew what he was doing wasn’t right.He was guilty.And he should be the better man.He should do the right thing.He should confess.But it wasn’t the same. Joe Miller deserved what he got. His family didn’t miss Joe like he missed Danny. He wanted to tell them. But he didn’t. He kept his mouth firmly shut.“Do you think they deserve that?” Murphy now asked. Mark didn’t react again. It took everything out of him, but he didn’t.He wouldn’t be going to prison because Joe Miller got what he deserved.  “We found Elizabeth Latimer, who has been missing since Monday morning, tied to a radiator, drugged with sleeping pills in your attic.” Ellie said with disgust. “We have CCTV footage of a person, who has striking similarities to you, coming out of your house, driving the van that is registered to your husband, through the town centre at 2:57 am.”Ellie put forward the printed-out picture. “A Witness who lives across the Latimer house described your van parked in front of the house at around 3 am on Monday morning.” Ellie looked at the woman opposite her. “You put the family through hell. So, I am asking you, Louise Watts. Did you abduct Elizabeth Latimer this past Monday?”The woman looked mortified. And for a moment, she was frozen. Then Louise Watts started to cry. Ellie sat across her. She’d have sympathy with anyone else. But not this woman. She had kidnaped, imprisoned and abused Lizzie. She didn’t deserve Ellie’s sympathy. Ellie sighed.“Did you kidnap Elizabeth Latimer?” She asked again, her patience was slowly slipping away.“Yes, yes, I did.” Mrs. Watts eventually said, still sobbing.“Did you drug her with sleeping pills?” Ellie pressed on, her arms crossed. It took every ounce of self-control to keep herself from yelling at the woman. Another crying fit shook through the body of Louise Watts.“I- I” She tried to speak but failed. Ellie sighed again; she was tired of this. Finally, the woman answered: “I didn’t mean to.” Ellie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Why did you drug her?” “She was crying all the time, and we didn’t know what to do nothing else worked…” She trailed off. Ellie had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but she held back. The interrogation room was no place to let her emotions get in the way.“What do you mean with ‘nothing else worked’? What did else did you do to her?” Her voice was full of suppressed anger. The woman took a deep breath.“We, ahm, we told her to be quiet. But she wouldn’t stop, so I told her to stop being such a baby and shut up. But that only made her cry more-” Ellie rolled her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. “-that’s when Jeremy hit her, because she kept screaming and crying.” Louise said this with some sniffling in between the words. It made Ellie fume.“So you verbally and physically abused a child, after kidnapping her, and because she didn’t ‘shut up’ you drugged this 3-year-old with sleeping pills?” Ellie summarised, her voice shaking.“It sounds awful if you put it like that.” Watts said, looking down at her hands.“How would you put it then?” Ellie wanted to know.“Lizzie is such a beautiful, smart girl. We just really wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Jerome has such a good bond with her, and we just love her so much. She even called him dad once. We thought she’d have a better live with us.”“And so, you thought you’d kidnap her!?” Ellie asked in utter disbelieve. Before Mrs. Watts could say anything else, she got up and said: “Interview paused at-” Ellie looked at the clock on the wall, “-10:47.” Ellie left the room.She took a deep breath. How anyone, especially someone who works with children could think like that was lost on her.Hardy came out of the door across from her, about a minute later. He let himself fall back against the wall next to her. Despite neither of them saying anything, they both knew what the other was thinking.Ten minutes and a cup of tea later, they went back in. Hardy had muttered ‘over the top we go’ before he’d opened the door, and Ellie thought it fitted perfectly.After re-starting the tape, Ellie sat down and resumed her questioning.“How did you get in the house?”“I climbed up the ladder, and then broke in through the window.” It was said with a casualty that made Ellie shiver.“How did you get her down?”“I carried her down the ladder.”“She didn’t fight back?” 3-year-olds can be quite strong and loud if they want to be. “I had a towel with chloroform.” Came the answer, and Ellie was astonished at the casualty that was still in her voice.After another two hours of rigorous questioning, all the questions were answered, and Ellie and Hardy terminated their interviews. The things they had heard made them loose their faith in humanity.  Beth stroked over Lizzie’s hair. They were at the doctor’s office. Seeing what had been done to Lizzie made her angry. And the fact that it was the people who were supposed to take care of her made it even worse.Lizzie had bruises on all over her arms, scraped wrists from being tied up, and her behaviour showed signs of having been drugged with sleeping pills, as well as signs of being verbally abused, giving her reaction to loud noises.Chloe was there as well, sitting in a chair next to them. She looked as upset as Beth felt. This wasn’t fair. Lizzie, the sweetest little girl she’d ever met, did not deserve this.When Lizzie’s GP had finished her examination, it was already half past one, time to go to the police station.She dropped Chloe off at home, she was a strong girl, but the doctor’s visit was enough for her today, Beth had decided. Chloe protested at first, but a stern look from her mum was enough to make her go quiet.At the station, they were led to a mid-sized room. There was a sofa standing against the wall, a rug with streets printed on it, for kids to play with. There were also two chairs facing the sofa, a camera in between them.They were left alone for a minute, until a man with a camera and white plastic sheets under his arm, who Beth had seen before somewhere, came in.“Hello, I’m Brian, I’m from SOCO.” He introduced himself. Beth shook his hand. “Beth.” She simply said, he nodded. “And you’re Lizzie, right?” He asked, looking at the little girl. She looked up at her mum, and Beth nodded.“Okay, well Lizzie, I’m going to need to take some photos of your arms, alright?” Brian looked at Lizzie, but she again, looked up at Beth, who could do nothing more than nod again. Brian continued, but looked at Beth this time: “Could you hold these under her arms?”Beth complied, and Brian took the pictures of each arm, as well as her face. He told Lizzie how to hold her arms or which direction to look, but never touched them, which Beth was very grateful for. The interview was conducted by Ellie and Hardy. They were very gentle with Lizzie, speaking in low voices, trying to get answers by asking her to play things out with toys, or draw them. Ellie always made sure both Lizzie and Beth understood why they needed the information.It was a lengthy process, taking over two hours.When they were done, all of them were tired.“Thank you, Lizzie, you were very helpful.” Ellie said to the girl, and Hardy nodded.She then hugged Beth. “And you too.” Ellie told her.Ellie brought them to the car. Before she got it, Beth stopped. She hugged her friend again. “Thanks El, for finding her.”  The detectives had been outside the interrogation room for the last 20 minutes. The 24 hours of holding time for Mark Latimer was coming to an end, and they hadn’t made an inch of progress in their questioning.Murphy was on the phone, trying to get an extension while Hall stood against the desk, watching closely.“No he didn’t.” Murphy said, resigned.Then: “We don’t.” He looked frustrated, which wasn’t very encouraging, “But-” Murphy tried to say, but was apparently cut off by the person on the other side. “Yes, I understand.” His superior said, quietly.“Mhm…Yes…Goodbye.” Murphy hang up the phone and let out a breath. He shook his head. No extension.“Do they know the history?” Hall asked, hoping there was a change they could still get an extension.“They know everything, Hall, they just don’t think that it’s enough evidence to hold him any longer.”“Bastards.”“Language.”“Sorry.” The two detectives entered the room where Mark was sat. “I am going to ask the custody Sargent to release you on police bail.” Murphy said, with gritted teeth. He didn’t like this at all. But he didn’t have any other choice. Mark walked out of the station as the sun went down, watched by the two officers form the balcony.It should have felt like a victory.But the guilt of knowing that he was no better than the man he had killed, because he was a fucking coward weighted heavy on his conscience.