Broadchurch: Across the Pond

Chapter 14

TW: none

Ellie bought the blankets, and theyreturned to the hotel to discuss the case. They discussed it as Ellietried to cram two wool blankets into a suitcase, and as they gotready for bed, yelling back and forth between rooms. Unfortunately,they only came to one conclusion.

"There's just too much we don'tknow," Alec grumbled, plopping down onto his bed. "We need toquestion Sanchez."

"How?" Ellie leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed stubbornly. She had showered the second theyarrived at the hotel, and was already in her pyjamas; she no longercared how she looked in front of her boss. "Do we have aconversation with him? Ask him why he's not helping us?"

Alec—whose hair was stilldripping from his cold shower—shook his head. He, too, had given upon looking respectable. "He'll deny it. Blame us somehow. We needto question him properly."

"Do you really think he did it?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's anaccomplice. Maybe he had nothing to do with it. We won't know untilwe ask."

"We don't have enough to bringhim in as a suspect," Ellie pointed out, "or even a person ofinterest."

"God's sake!" Alec pinched thebridge of his nose; he could feel a headache coming on. "We don'thave anything concrete, just...suspicions and hunches. It's notenough, it's not near enough, especially since he's police."

"If we can't interrogate him,what can we do?"

"We could search his office,"Alec suggested. He started sorting out his night medicine. "Hopefullywe can find probable cause to bring him in. Though I don't imagine itwould stand up in

court."

"We'd have to get there before hedoes. Five or five o'clock, probably."

"Guess we'd better get somesleep. Tomorrow might be our last day here, one way or another."

Ellie sighed wistfully. "We canonly hope."

At four am, the police station wasalmost deserted. There only the desk sergeant and a skeleton crewmilling about, waiting for something to happen. No one batted an eyewhen the two detectives swiped their security passes and wentupstairs.

"Let's do this quick and clean,leave everything the way we found it." Alec coolly slipped his IDcard into the crack of the door and wiggled it around until the latchpopped open. "In you go."

Ellie swallowed her questions—howthe hell did he know how to do that?--and got to work tossing thedesk while Alec studied the periphery of the room. The first thing hedid was pick the lock on the file cabinet.

"Miller," he called seriously,"you'd better come see this.

"Don't tell me you foundsomething already." She looked over his shoulder. "Shit. Is thatwho I think it is?"

"Yeah." Alec spread a set ofphotos out on the floor. "That's Dawn Underwood."

Detective Sanchez was grinning atthe camera with his arm around the first murder victim, who was alsobeaming. There were more pictures with variations on the same pose.The last one had something scrawled on the back.

"Uncle Carlisle, see you onspring break," Ellie read aloud. "Bloody hell."

"The first victim is his niece."Alec sat back on his heels. "That wasn't in any of the files."

"Now we really have a problem."Ellie knelt down next to him. "This makes him a person of interest,if not a full suspect. Let's see what else we can dig up."

The file cabinet had yet moretreasures to reveal. Alec found a strip of pictures from one of thosemiddle-of-the-mall photo booths, in which Sanchez making faces withand kissing a woman that they recognized.

"Holy shit, he's dating SushiGirl," Alec said.

"Alice."

"Yeah, her."

"Well, now what do we do?"Ellie asked him. This was one of the times she was glad that he wasthe one making the big decisions.

"Now..." Alec sighed. "Now, Imake a call."

The call was to Michael Boden,precinct chief. Fortunately, the Chief was an early riser, andanswered on the first ring.

"Sir, this is DI Alec Hardy."

"Morning," Boden said. "Whatcan I do for you this early?"

"We've made some progress in thecase," Alec told him, "but you're not going to like it."

"Tell me anyway."

Alec and Ellie took turnsdescribing what they'd found. When they finished, there was a longsilence on the other end of the line.

"Sir?" Alec prompted.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes.Don't talk to anyone until I get there."

"Well, I'll be goddamned," werethe first words out of Chief Boden's mouth.

"We need to question him, sir,"Alec said. "Will you help us?"

"'Course I will. Why wouldn't I?"

"We were worried that you'd closeranks," Ellie explained. "Protect him because he's one of youown."

Boden shook his head. "That's nothow I do things. Sanchez got himself into a jam, now he'll have toget himself out of it. You got a plan?"

Alec described the scenario he andEllie discussed. "Then we'll question him, and arrest him if wehave to," he concluded.

"If?" Boden repeated. "He isgetting arrested. Sanchez is a suspect now—and so's his littlegirlfriend. Everybody, into position."

A somewhat hungover CarlisleSanchez arrived just after eight am, Starbucks cup in hand. He'd hada very nice night, and was feeling so cheerful that he didn't noticethe uncomfortable looks on the faces of his team.

He bopped into his office andstopped short. Chief Boden was sitting at the desk, looking somber,with the English detectives on either side. Spread out in front ofthem was pictures of--

"I can explain," Sanchezblurted.

"You'll have your chance,"Boden said calmly. "Hardy, you want to do the honors?"

Alec Hardy stepped forward with apair of handcuffs.

"You don't have jurisdiction toarrest me," Sanchez spat at him.

"Actually, you'll find I do.Miller and I have been granted temporary law enforcement powers forthe duration of our stay. Hands behind your back." He spun Sanchezaround in a practiced movement. "Carlisle Sanchez, you are underarrest for obstruction of justice, and impeding an investigation. Youhave the right to remain silent..."

It was a litany that Sanchez hadheard and said a million times. Yet it sounded quite different in aScottish accent, with the handcuffs closing around his wrists.

I'm not sure if 'temporary police powers is a thing' let's just pretend it is.