It was just another boring day after the two sorry specimens had been locked up for assaulting women in the local area and Katie Harford was back on probation pending a decision to let her back as a DC for not revealing a suspect had been her father. The chief had left it up to Alec to decide her fate.
"So are you letting her back then?" Ellie was asking him as they sat in his office.
"I've not made my mind up yet Miller. What was she even thinking of? I sent her home, she claimed she'd told us everything then she comes to find me while I'm walking home along the beach with Daisy. What do you think?" he asked.
"That she got a shock when I gave her a roasting, well that's putting it mildly," Ellie grinned. "She was insubordinate to me as well, refusing to carry out an order. Let her stew for a while. I just got this from the chief, which is why I came to see you. I didn't come in here for a social visit."
"Did I say anything?" he replied dryly. "So go on then."
She tossed a folder across the desk to him. "You might be glad you finally moved from that riverside shack," was all she replied.
"You are joking?" he asked as he read the short memo Ellie had received half an hour ago. "Give it to Harford, see how she likes that since she acted like a clown."
"Your sense of humour still sucks. No, the chief wanted senior officers on this, who knows what sort of people it will attract. I don't recall a circus being here before. Was one in town while I was in Devon?" she asked.
"You think I take any notice? No, not while I was living by the showground. What went on when I left town? You were back then."
Ellie shook her head, this was getting them nowhere.
"They'll be setting up, didn't you see anything on your way to work?" she wanted to know.
"I gave up crossing the river and looking at where I used to live Miller. If that's the most exciting thing going on, it will have to do. Well don't just sit there, go get the car."
Ellie grinned at him. A few months had gone by and the women of Broadchurch felt safe walking the streets again but Hardy hadn't been sure and she'd been glad when his daughter had finally persuaded him to let her visit her mother, they were still a bit at odds with each other.
"It's quicker to walk and you have no excuse now, you're not ill any more," she reminded him.
Alec did one of his usual huffs and got up. They walked across the harbour and came to the gap in the wall where the footbridge was, Ellie noticing the stall where the girlfriend of the main culprit of their last big case had stood there and lied to them over where he'd been. She'd seen the Big Top as they had crossed the road bridge, it was visible over the buildings and she hoped she'd get some free tickets for herself and Fred, she'd no chance of getting Tom to agree to go, unless there were semi-naked women prancing around.
"Remember when the fair had set up when you got home one night?" Ellie teased him as they bypassed the gate he used to go through.
"Don't remind me. I would imagine the circus owner will be inside the tent?" he asked.
Ellie wanted to correct him but it would be a waste of time. She saw a group of men in clown outfits and stopped to ask one of them.
"Hi, is the owner around?" she smiled at the dark-skinned man with cropped hair.
"He's not hiring," the man replied, sarcastically, Alec thought.
"We're on police business," Alec snapped, getting his ID card out of his jacket pocket.
"You want Pete Tyler then, he's in the Big Top. Just ask inside," another man replied, nudging the first man.
Ellie and Alec went off and the man who had told them gave the other one a shove.
"Don't mess with the cops Mickey, you know what Pete's like?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I swear I've seen that bloke before," Mickey replied.
"He's been all over the news Smith," another one told him. "Don't you remember that Rose pointed him out and you got jealous?"
They all started patting Mickey's shoulder and laughing.
"I hate clowns," Alec muttered as they walked into the open tent, Ellie laughing to herself. They stopped as they saw the final touches being put to the ring and a man stood in the middle in a ringmaster's outfit. The man was talking to a blonde haired woman and they looked like they were arguing.
"Pete, I keep telling ya, she's gonna do something stupid one of these days if ya don't get Jake to back off."
"Relax Jackie, Rose won't give in until she's sure she can do it and we do have a safety net you know?" Pete replied, unaware they were being watched and someone was pointing at him.
"You don't need to be a detective to see who's in charge around here," Ellie smiled.
"You mean the woman?" Alec mused as they approached.
"Hi, are you Pete Tyler?" Ellie shouted out.
Pete looked around. "Unfortunately," he replied as his wife walked towards the exit.
Alec was too busy staring as a man and a woman were preparing to climb a ladder and the owner, well if it was the owner was moving out of the way as the safety net was being put out, Alec thinking if they fell, they would just bounce straight off it, it was more like a trampoline.
"We're from Wessex police, we wanted to discuss a few things with you," Ellie told him as they got their ID out, Alec for a second time.
Pete led them to the front row of seating as the two trapeze artists began to practice. Ellie knew she was going to be the one asking the questions, Hardy was already up there with them, well with the woman anyway.
"I'll take a look around," Alec told her, getting up.
"Where's he going?" Pete asked Ellie.
"He can't sit still for five minutes, trust me," Ellie grinned back.
Alec went to stand where he could get a better view, unaware what the two now flying backwards and forwards had been talking about before they'd climbed up there.
"Jake, I'm not ready," Rose was trying to tell her partner. "Practice with Martha if ya have to."
"She's not on the bill as the star attraction, is she?" Jake reminded him. "Besides, you two hate each other, I'm surprised you've not shoved her off the horse yet," he added with a laugh.
"Very funny Jake. You know my dad would go spare if she got injured, she's the lead on the horses. Who are those two talking to my dad?" she asked as they walked to the ladder and the gang were getting the net ready, well the trampoline anyway, she couldn't get used to it when at the last town, they'd 'upgraded' the safety equipment and they'd been having to practice falling onto it.
"It's not a trampoline, as such," Jake was telling her as she started climbing the ladder.
"You could've fooled me," Rose replied.
They discussed what they were going to practice, Rose looking down and seeing the man had walked off, obviously to get a better view. As Jake pulled the bars towards him from the middle, Rose swore the man looked familiar. Then it dawned on her they were in Broadchurch, of course the detective she'd read about would be in charge of making sure the circus complied with the law.
Ellie had just joined him.
"Ready to leave or are you staying for the show?" Ellie teased him as he watched how graceful the woman was.
"What? You got sorted then?" he asked, trying to tear himself away.
"I got offered some free tickets, want one?" she grinned.
"What for?" he asked indignantly. "Oh, you're bringing wee Fred with you? Count me out, I'm not sitting with you."
Ellie was about to whack his arm when the woman above them did a double somersault in mid air.
"Who are you fooling?" she asked him. "The owner said three tickets would be at the ticket office for tonight's performance at half six. I'll need to leave early to collect Fred."
"Can't your father bring him down?" Alec wanted to know as Rose swung a bit more then the two of them changed places.
"No he doesn't drive any more and I've no car of my own. I must see about keeping the police one. Do you know what it was like when that monster was preying on women and I had to walk home?" she asked.
She was talking to herself as the woman above them did another double somersault and gracefully aimed to the safety device. Ellie just rolled her eyes. "I'll see you back at the station then, after you've finished conducting your enquires as to how she does that?" she laughed.
Rose had got down from the safety device to make room for Jake and was stood across from Alec. Jake got off and began walking to the exit, Rose's mother watching them.
"What's she still doing out there?" Jackie asked him.
Jake just shrugged his shoulders, got his robe and walked off.
Alec hadn't realised Ellie had gone off laughing as he walked towards the exit after Rose, picking up what he thought was her robe and handing it to her, Jackie having been distracted.
"That must take a lot of practice?" he asked as she took the robe, Rose wondering where her mother had disappeared to.
"Yeah, you could say that. I know who you are," she replied.
Alec thought didn't everyone?
"Are you coming to the opening performance?" she asked, fastening her robe and Alec not being able to stop himself from watching.
Hell, what was he still doing there, he asked himself as she waited for an answer.
"If you know who I am, you'll know the owner offered some tickets," he replied. "So, you are?"
"I'm Rose, Rose Tyler. My dad owns the circus."
Alec knew he was asking for trouble if the man thought he was bothering his daughter, he'd be the same with Daisy.
"Of course he does," Alec tried to smile.
"Well, I'm the star attraction, so I've been told although some would disagree with that," she told him, that someone being Martha Jones, the former medical student who had given up after claiming some space rhinos had transported the hospital she'd worked at to the moon and some mad 'Doctor' had claimed he was also an alien.
She'd not believed any of it, especially when Martha had thrown in that the space rhinos had been looking for a shape-shifter.
"In that case, maybe if my colleague has a spare ticket, I may well come and watch?" he answered, seeing the other blonde woman walking towards them.
"Who's this then?" the woman asked Rose.
"It's DI Hardy, you remember him from the papers?" Rose replied.
"Yeah, your father just told me. Come on Rose, you have to get changed to practice your riding."
Alec was about to say he'd stay and watch when he got a text from his DS. It read 'If you can tear yourself away, Harford is waiting for an answer.'
He thought to himself, let her wait but he had to tear himself away.
"I have to go. I look forward to seeing both your performances tonight then," he told Rose, who was dying to giggle behind her robe sleeve that the detective was being coy.
Her mother had her arms folded and was tapping her foot.
"Now Rose," she reminded her daughter.
"Sorry, yeah, I have to go too. Gotta teach that Martha she's not the only one who rides the horses."
"Indeed?" was all Alec could think of in reply. "Then don't let me stop you."
He turned to leave but glanced behind him as Rose followed her mother, probably to get changed. It may well be worth his while sitting with Miller and her young son unless he got there first and asked for a seat on his own. Well at least the circus was advertised as mostly human performers, there were no wild animals, only horses and he thought it had not been before time that such practices were introduced.
He went via the food stalls, stopping to get something to eat and opting not to sit staring at his former home. Whatever had possessed him to take it in the first place? Everyone who had gone there had criticized it, including his ex wife and Miller's sister.
He crept into his office, hoping Miller wouldn't see him but of course she did, having sent her a message back saying Harford could wait for an answer not adding until at least the circus left town. Why had he given all his attention to the young trapeze artist and an even better question was why the hell had he said he'd be at the opening performance?
What had started out as making sure the circus complied with the law was turning out to be something else. He'd not dared try the dating 'app' again after the last disaster of a date when he'd made a complete ass of himself for first turning up in a suit and being awkward all night. He vaguely remembered walking Zoe home and she'd in not so many words told him that was it. It seemed having a teenage daughter had put her off to start with then of course he'd bumped into Miller on the way home and she'd constantly teased him about it.
"So, coming tonight?" Ellie grinned at him a few hours later.
"I'll think about it, since Daisy's not here. I may see you there," he replied, trying not to seem so keen about it.
Ellie went back out and Katie approached her.
"Why's he taking so long to decide?" she asked Ellie.
"Katie, you're lucky he even allows you to be here," Ellie reminded her.
"Well I wish he'd chill out, honestly, I've never known anyone as gruff as him."
"He's been through a lot Katie, he almost died a few years ago. If he'd not got well again, you acting like you did would not have helped. Nothing to do?" Ellie asked her.
Just before five, Ellie knocked on his office door.
"I'm off to get Fred, see you there then?" she grinned at him.
"Maybe," he muttered back, taking his specs off.
Maybe a visit to the circus would take his mind off his suspicions Daisy wouldn't want to come back, since Tess had begun talking about maybe moving, which was why Daisy had gone to live with him in the first place, to get away.
He let Ellie go and decided he'd go home and see if he could stop himself from going back out just to see the young blonde trapeze artist make everyone gasp every time she grabbed hold of the swinging bar that stopped her from falling. He hadn't liked the look of the safety equipment but there were strict laws in place. He'd not been to the circus since he was a boy, Tess not approving of taking their daughter to one so maybe it was time?
He found himself crossing the footbridge again, now seeing crowds around the entrance and a small queue at the ticket office, supposing a lot of people preferred to book online and hoped he wouldn't see Miller there in the queue. Behind the Big Top he could see trailers and a few smaller tents and then the car park further back so he expected Miller would come from that direction, though he was a little early.
He saw the clowns, pretending to fool with the smaller children and expected two were who he had talked to earlier and went to get his ticket, feeling a bit guilty he wasn't paying for it as a family of four were in front of him.
"Hi there, how many tickets were you wanting?" a blonde with curly hair asked him, Alec thinking that was a wig if ever he saw one and the woman was sat on a high stool, he noticed.
"A ticket has been left for me by Mr Tyler, I'm Alec Hardy," he told the woman.
"Oh yeah, he told me, well he passed a message on. Here you go, just one? He told me three."
"Yes, my colleague will no doubt be arriving shortly. Are the tickets numbered?" he asked, hoping the answer was no.
"No, they're in the unreserved section, just show the ticket inside. Next," she continued as she gave him the ticket.
He assumed that was it and made his way to the entrance. Once inside, a girl asked for his ticket and pointed to the third block of seats along and left him to it. Kids were messing around looking for their seats and being told off by their parents and a few clowns were already fooling around in the ring. He walked around to where the artists entrance was, hoping to catch a glimpse of Rose Tyler.
Rose had just got away from her mother, who was fussing over hers and Jake's costumes and Jake was telling her that tomorrow at practice, he wanted her to try for the triple somersault.
"Geez Jake, quit hounding me," she was telling him. "I can't do it when everyone's buzzing about below me. Get them to stop and I'll think about it."
"You know everyone else has to practice at the side," Jake reminded her.
"I know. Just quit asking me then, it's not like dad's advertised it or anything," she replied, hoping the detective had decided to come and see the show.
Alec couldn't see her so he went to get his seat, seeing Miller and her son settling down so he went to sit higher up while she wasn't looking and hoped young Fred wouldn't turn around and shout 'Hardee!' to him. As the ringmaster entered and everyone began to cheer as the artists came to join him, all Alec was interested in was the star of the show Rose Tyler.