Broadchurch: Across the Pond

Chapter 16

TW: illness, more interrogation, detailed discussion of murder

Alec barely made it to the bathroom before his legs gave out and he slid helplessly down the wall, panting, trembling, in a cold sweat. He'd been fighting the pain and dizziness for several minutes, and now the attack was at its peak. He was seeing double, and shaking so badly that he could barely perform the injection. He vaguely wondered if he should let Miller call him an ambulance and immediately decided against it. All he needed was some time.

His mobile buzzed. Miller, of course. His vision was so blurred he could barely read the words: u ok, shitface?

The last thing he needed was her barging in. Alec replied via voice text,too unsteady for a touch screen. can you finish questioning alone?

yea. u need n e thing?  For a smart person, Miller texted like a teenager.

need to wrap this shit up and GO HOME.

on it.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. With his heart stuttering and his chest burning, it was impossible to draw a full breath. He must have fainted or fell asleep, because when Miller texted him again, half an hour had passed: still alive? need hospital?

yes alive, no hospital. update?

it was Sushi Girl, Miller answered.

That was so unexpected that Alec's heart almost stopped. holy shit. be right there.

Alec hauled himself up. A few splashes of cold water brought some color back to his face, and washed away the sick sweat. As he had so many times, he forced himself to ignore the alarm bells of his body and walk out like nothing was wrong.

He ran right into Ellie. "Watch where you're goin', Miller!" he yelped.

"I was coming to check on you!" she shot back. "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit," Alec admitted. "But I am going to see this through."

Ellie didn't bother arguing; once Alec Hardy made up his mind, God himself couldn't change it. "Fine."

"How'd you get a confession out of her?" Alec asked.

"Poked at her until she went mental again. She said she could kill me, because she'd already done it twice before."

"Three cheers for sweet psychosis. Let's go."

Alice was crying again. Alec wondered how she had any tears left at all—and how she had gone from nutter to numpty so quickly.

"Interview resumed, one pm," Ellie said, starting the audio recording. "Thank you for waiting, Alice. Really, everything they say about you is true."

Alice seemed curious. "What do they say about me?"

"Doesn't matter," Alec dismissed. "We need details."

"Why?"

Ellie handed the crying, murderous secretary a tissue. "Your DNA is a match for unidentified traces found on two of the women. Your hair was only on two of them. But we searched your boss's car, and there was blood from Dawn, Leslie, and Penny in his trunk. The evidence point toward him doing some of it."

Alec cut in condescendingly. "If he helped you commit these crimes, you need to tell us."

"Why?" Alice squeaked again. The Hulk-like anger seemed long forgotten.