Original subtitles

We used to make a difference. Every day. We saved lives, we fought.

That was the war. This is different.

Perhaps we could treat the killings like a code,

keep at it till we break it?

Gap in the pattern.

I missed one.If this pattern of yours was easy to find,

then you would have found it by now.

You really think that just by listening to the wireless,

you can tell the police where to look for a murder victim?

The railways.

That's how he's finding them.

If the killer is a guard or ticket inspector, then

his schedule is connected to her journey somewhere.He's invisible.

We must find Mary Lawrence.

This girl you think we've missed.

How do we find her? He's working to a timetable.

The other variable - location.

I'm sorry, Mrs Gray, my men searched the area,

there's nothing there. Nothing at all.

If we get ahead of him, we can stop him before he kills again.

Oh, dear Christ. Lord have mercy.

Anyone can make a mistake, Susan. She's dead. We were too late.

What did you think it would be like, Susan?I didn't think it would be so...

A life so cruelly cut short. We must try to let her live in our memories...

Did you see the cigarette butts on the floor?What does it matter?

It matters because it means he took his time in there -

because he stops for a smoke, for God's sake!

WIRELESS:More news on the oil price crisis later today.

No arrest has yet been made in the case of Mary Lawrence,

whose death is believed to be linked to that of four other young women.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward to aid them in their enquiries.

Deputy Commissioner Wainwright of Scotland Yard said

that any information will be treated in strictest confidence.

Elsewhere in the city, bacon rations...

How was it?Grim.

Right. How are we getting on? It's down to seven suspects.

Did you check the engineering service?We're doing that now.

They close the lines off in pairs.

Yes, so you get schedule changes fortnightly.

I see.That takes these two out straight away.

And Peter Lakes. He was on the Midland mainline service before.

They moved him, didn't they?He was part of the crew doing alternate shifts back in February.

So he comes off.

And Oliver Cartwright. He was part of the P19 shift.

I thought he was P6. Only until...April the 8th.

Good. Right.

Three names and a week to go.

Running out of time. We need to hand it over.

Mrs Gray? The Deputy Commissioner can see you now.

Hello again, Mrs Gray. I believe you have some more information for us.

I've analysed the journeys the girl made

and they connect to the 6:15 slow train from St Pancras to Barking.

I think the man you're looking for is a ticket inspector or a guard on that service.

Why a guard? Why not a passenger?

Because he'd have to lure them off the train without a struggle.

It'd have to be someone they trust, someone in authority.

KNOCK ON DOOR Um, come in!

Sir, Mr Reynolds is here.

I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me.

Do tell DCI Compton everything you can.

So you were saying, er, a

guard or a ticket inspector.

Because of the journeys the girls made when they were abducted.

We've been... I've worked out the schedules for all 87 guards

who work there, to narrow it down. There were engineering works.

Right.They were chopping and changing staff schedules.

Guards were doing duties on other trains because their service was cancelled.

How does that relate to the murdered girls?

Before we factored in engineering works, we had 38 possible solutions

but when we added in the altered rail services,

it gave us a whole new set of variables -

the number of suspects suddenly changed.

What's this got to do with trains?

Only one girl was found under a railway arch.

No, it's not to do with where they were found,

it's to do with how he targets them.

The journeys the girls made when they were abducted

is the only link between them.

Perhaps if I could have five minutes with...Mrs Gray, the Deputy Commissioner is very busy.

I'm sure you can appreciate that. I'll pass your ideas onto him.

They're not just ideas.

You mean you've got evidence?

Yes, I've got evidence.

This is the evidence.

These are the three names. Tommy Casterwell, Anthony Cross, Gerald Wiggins. It's one of these three.

It's working to a timetable. You've only got three days left.

I promise we'll look into it.

Thanks again for your trouble.

Now, I really must get back to my men.

It was a disaster. They did take the names?

They didn't take it seriously. Patterns and data - it's not how they work.

They want evidence, not theory.

If we could just take them one name, not three...

Susan, we have cross-correlated everything.

What if we did a vector analysis? How?

Remember at Bletchley when the Germans kept shifting their code sequence?

We worked the data looking for incremental changes,

we tracked changes to the pattern, not the pattern itself.

Doing a vector analysis on a crime scene is going to take for ever.

I know. So we'd better crack on.

There must be something. No vector variation, they're identical.

That shows he's done the same thing every time.

There must be something, even if it's small.No anomalies.

Not even in the first one.

First time you baked a cake, what happened?I don't bake cakes.

Mine fell.They often do to start with, dear.

Everything comes with practice. The first time is a mess.

The vectors are dead straight. He's already good at this.

He's done it before.We'd have heard about other murders.

What if they were years ago, or somewhere other than London?

I'll try the British Library regional newspapers section.

Come on, Lucy, I need you and your memory.

Good luck.

What are you doing?

If the police won't go knocking on doors, why shouldn't we?

What?

They won't be there, they've got their schedules.

We can go and talk to their wives, their neighbours,

get an idea of who these men are.

Come on.

How far have you got?Halfway through 1948 now, but I'm only scanning the headlines.

You'd have thought after the war people would have had enough

of killing each other. 19 murders here.

Any underground or strangled? Nothing like that.

Nothing that fits.

Oh. Me neither.

Life insurance?In case your husband has an accident at work?

The policy would ensure your family was provided for.

What is your husband's occupation? Ticket inspector on the railways.

So if he got ill or...What kind of ill? He's got asthma now.

Oh, I'm sorry. Does that affect his ability to work?

I don't know how much longer he'll stick it, with the smoke and fumes.

How serious is it? He can't lift, can't run.

Some days, he can't pick the baby up, he's so puffed.

That doesn't mean you can't insure him, does it?

Thank you.

Jean, I think I've got something.

Hereford Times, 4th of November 1949.

Strangled. They found her in a storm drain near the gas works.

Oh, good Lord.

I think I've found one, too.

Oh, no, we haven't missed a match in 15 years.

Every Tuesday and Thursday.

I go with him, you see, for support.

You should write that down. Regional darts champion for the south-east.

That's wonderful. I think that's all we need.Oh.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Why are we leaving?Matches are Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jane Hart went missing on 7th of February, Patricia Harris on the 28th.

Yes, both Thursdays.Just an hour till the last one gets off shift. We'd better get a move on.

Another seven victims from all over the country,

strangled and hidden like the five in London.

How could the police miss that?

They didn't, did they? These cases were solved.

The murderers were either hanged or went to jail.

James Lowell, caught in Hereford in 1949.

He kept clothing from the girl he killed.

Marco Giacomi, convicted in Birmingham, 1950.

Dropped his wrist watch at the murder scene.

Terry Hudson's lighter was found under the seventh girl's body.

Maybe he's making it look like other people did it,

placing false evidence at the crime scenes that point to someone else,

like the wrist watch.

So one man has killed 12 girls.

All around the country, over and over,

fooling the police, fooling everyone,

getting away with it. You think it's impossible?

I don't know.

I mean, look at all these cases.

If this was the work of one man, he'd have to plan three steps ahead

of everyone else, every detail with military precision as if he were...

As if he were what?

As if he were deceiving the enemy.

What did that paper say about Terry Hudson and the ration coupons?

Um... "Upon searching Hudson's house in Derby Street

"police also discovered forged ration coupons they believe

"Hudson was selling on the black market."Odd, no?

Not really.It also said he was feeble-minded.

Yes.They can't have it both ways.

Feeble-minded, impulsive enough to kill and running a coupon racket.

No, it doesn't fit.

Terry Hudson wasn't clever enough to be a forger.

Our killer is.

So...

..where would he have learnt to do that?

There's someone we should talk to.

Jean McBrian. My goodness.

Hasn't it been a long time? It certainly has.

This is Lucy Davies.Would you like to come to my office?

So, what brings you to the Central Records Office, anyway?

I, er, have a favour to ask. Oh, yes?

It's regarding our time during the war.

What kind of favour?

Lucy was at Bletchley with me, so she understands these things.

Ah. What kind of things exactly?

Keeping things...secret.

Oh, of course.

Angela, when I was at Special Operations Executive,

there were rumours. Mm-hm. What kind of rumours?

A special department within Electra House

handling misinformation and deception and the rumour was you worked for them.

Oh, I'm afraid you've got that quite wrong.

No, I was general clerical.

Weren't we all, dear?

Mm-hm.

I wouldn't ask, except it's important.

Well, Jean, I'd love to help you, you know that,

but I was only at Electra briefly.

No, they sent me here just after you went to Bletchley.

My mistake.

This is it. Gerald Wiggins, flat 22, fifth floor.

Hello?

What are you doing?! There's no-one here.

Two clocks.

This isn't what we're supposed to be doing.

This is not normal.Come on.

THUDDING

I...

Oh!Oh! Who are you?

What are you doing in Gerald's flat? I'm so, so sorry.

We were looking for Mr Wiggins. He's back from work in a minute.

How did you get in? The door was open.

Oh, that was me. I came in to give Patrick his seeds,

but I'd left them.

I feed him while Gerald's out.

I'm sorry if I was a bit brusque there, but

you caught me by surprise.

What was it you wanted with Gerald?

Oh, we're offering life insurance.

Gerald don't know what to do with that.What do you mean?

Well, he's not all there.

He got a head wound in the war. Still got shrapnel in there.

So, well, he's a bit simple now.

I help him out on and off. Things he can't manage.

But he still goes to work? Oh, yes, on the railways.

Timetables, dates, numbers -

anything like that he comes alive.

That's what he loves.

It's the rest of life he has trouble with.

We've always said he's working to a timetable. Gerald loves them.

But she knew him so well.

Maybe he's not as harmless as she thinks he is.

We've got it all wrong. Thank you.

Let's talk inside.

Seven other girls? All around the country.

He chooses a scapegoat, makes the evidence point to them.

He orchestrates the whole thing. Then it can't be Wiggins.

It doesn't fit. He can hardly plan for himself.

This man plans everything.

But Gerald Wiggins is the one who will hang for this.

He's the one they'll pin it on.

Ah, excuse me. Mrs Gray. I'm pleased you're here. I have good news.

We made an arrest this afternoon, and it's thanks to you.

What?Those names you gave our DCI,

it took a while to follow them up, but it's a good job we did.

We found items from the girls hidden in a locker of a ticket inspector -

Gerald Wiggins.Oh, no. What's wrong?

It's not him.

I beg your pardon?

Well... I was wrong, it's not Gerald Wiggins.

Mrs Gray, you've been an enormous help,

but it's over now. We've got him.

No, you haven't.

I'm not making the arrest public until I have a full confession.

No, you must. If he hears it on the radio, he won't take anyone else...

Susan, please. Excuse me.

Thanks again. What you did helped us immensely.

He'll be on the 6:15 tonight? Yes, and now they've got Wiggins

there'll be no-one to catch him. There must be something we can do.

We know he'll be on that train, we know he's looking for someone,

we know what kind of girl he's looking for, what she wears.

Yes?Well, what if we...Give him what he's looking for?

What are you suggesting?

She means be bait.

Put on the right clothes, use the right lipstick, make-up,

get on the train, try to catch his eye.No!

You'd be putting yourself in his path.

You are a bright girl, Susan, but that is downright idiotic.

You were backroom girls. Jean, we were backroom girls.

We never had to make this kind of choice.

What kind of choice is that?

Whether to put yourself at risk in order to save someone else,

even if you're not good at it, even if you're scared,

because you know it's the right thing to do, the only thing to do.

In the war, people did that every day.This is extremely dangerous.

I'll be careful.

It won't work. You're tall and confident.

He's picking on younger girls.

It's me, isn't it?

It has to be me.

Here, let me.

Mm-mm. There.

Keep it, you might need to touch it up later.

I'll be in the next compartment. I'll be watching, all right?

Millie and Jean will be on he platform at Harringay Park and Blackhorse Road.

If nothing happens by then, we'll call it off.Got it.

Where did you get this stuff? Oh, ask me no questions.

There.How is it?

You look...

Yes, you're going to be fine.

Wedding ring.Oh.

And...

Oh, my God.Oh, God, that smell.

It's the smell that was in the cellar.I recognised it when we were down there.

It's French. Charme d'Ambre.

You used to be able to get it in the war.You most certainly did not.

You did if you knew who to ask. Where did you get it?

I know someone.

I recommend people to him, he gives me a cut of what he sells.

It helps pay the bills.

I just thought it would add to the effect.

We don't all have Timothy's wonderful career to support us.

This is how he gets them off the trains.

We thought the killer was an authority figure, a guard.

He tells them to go with him and they do because he's in a uniform but he's not a guard, is he?

They choose to go with him because he has something they want.

Perfume, nylons - anything you can only get on the sly.

You think these girls went with a man they didn't know for a pair of stockings?!I know you wouldn't,

Jean. I wouldn't. But they've done it before.

That's how they got their lipstick and nylons in the first place, by taking that kind of risk.

That's who you're looking for.Hmm.

We'll be right there, remember.

It's going to be fine.

One more thing.

I haven't loaded it yet.I don't think that's necessary.I do.

When I was travelling alone, this was the best companion for a single girl, believe me.

Oh. I don't know how.

It's easy. Point and pull the trigger.

Remember, he needs to get you off the train, so go with him, play along, pretend you're interested.

The moment you're on the platform, drop your bag, try to slow him down.

I'll be behind you, either Millie or Jean will be right in front.

We'll scream blue murder and get the guards on him in no time.

How do you feel?Fine.

Scared.

Thank you.

Ticket, sir?

Hello.

You look nice.

Going out somewhere? Just to see my friend.

Boyfriend?

None of your business, is it?

I don't know. Could be.

Girlfriend, actually.

So you don't have a boyfriend?

Not right now.

That's a crying shame. A pretty thing like you.

Fancy going for a little walk?

What, with you?

Yeah, with me.

I'll make it worth your while, if you like.

All right.

Come on, then.

No, not that way. This way.

Move!For goodness' sake, be careful!

What's this?

Freight van, and it's all ours.

She's not here.Well, what do I do?!

Call the police, now!

Come on.

Er, do you like my perfume?

I like your tits.Do you know where I could get some more of it?

Come on! Stop playing hard to get. I'm sorry, I think there's been a mistake, I'm not interested.

Don't worry. I'll soon have you interested.

Get off!

Police. My friend's on a train and I think she's being attacked.

SHE SCREAMS AND CRIES

Shut up!

Do you know when this train's coming in?In two minutes.

SHE SCREAMS AND CRIES

No! Lucy!

Lucy!

Argh! Shit!

Shit! My nose!

You've gone and broken it, you silly bitch!

My God! Lucy! What happened?!

Are you all right, miss? I lost track.It wasn't him.

It was just some clerk looking for a good time.

Lucy, it's OK. It's OK.

What time do you call this? I'm sorry.

It's my fault, I really do apologise.

We lost track of time.I'm sure you're in a hurry to get going.

We won't keep you.

Bye, darling.

Get to bed.

Sorry to keep you so late.

Thanks again. See you soon. Goodnight.

If I asked you what the hell was going on...

..would you tell me the truth?

You were on a train to Barking.

What's in Barking?

Nothing. I was...

It's...I don't believe you.

For the first time...

..I don't believe you.

So you lost track of time?

What are you doing losing track of time?

Nothing. Who were you doing nothing with?

Millie. It was your snooker night. I didn't think you'd mind.

Liar.Harry, please.

Jean?Angela. I don't have time for "hello" and "how are you?"

I need to know right now - who was in charge of your department at SOE?

I told you before, I was in clerical.

Dear. You're going to have to take a deep breath

and tell me what I need to know.

If you don't,

word might get out about that little side line you had going

back in the war. What on earth are you talking about?

Trading ration coupons.

Did you think I didn't know about that?

For heaven's sake.It's funny how that still carries weight.

People still care.

If you fiddled rations during the war,

what might you fiddle now, eh?

Who did you work for at Electra House?

DOORBELL RINGS

Jean.

Before Bletchley, I was at SOE.

Francis Cavendish headed a team there dealing with

misinformation and deception.

They were based at Electra House.

He trained people to fool the German High Command

and get away with it, just like our killer's fooling the police.

They did a lot of forgery there - banknotes, ration books,

just like they found in the innocent men's houses.

Cavendish is retired now.

That's his address.

I don't know, Jean.

Should we carry on?

Maybe we were foolish to put Lucy on that train.

But you saw her face, how terrified she was.

How can we let other girls go through something 1,000 times worse

when we've a chance of stopping it?

Mr Cavendish?Yes.

My name's Susan Gray. Could I talk to you for a moment?

My time simply isn't my own this morning, Mrs Gray.

I was given your name by Angela Barker.

I gather you worked together during the war.

I'm not at liberty to talk about anything relating to that period.

Because you signed the Official Secrets Act. So did I. I was at Bletchley Park.

Then you should know better.

You've heard about these women that have been killed? The murders.

It would be hard to live in London and not hear about it. Why?

The murderer is placing evidence for the police to find.

It's a trail that leads to an innocent man.

That sounds very unusual.

I think the man responsible might have worked for you.

What you're saying is both insulting and upsetting.

As you were one of Alan's girls, I'll extend to you a courtesy

I normally wouldn't. That department doesn't exist any more.

But, during the war, it did.

None of my men would do what you suggest.

Kill five girls.12.

What?

He's done it before - he's killed 12 women.

The police think they have their man.

My friends and I are the only people who believe -

who know - that they are wrong.

12 girls, you say?

How have you got this far?

By doing what we did at Bletchley, treating the crimes like a code,

applied pattern analysis to all the facts we could gather.

That's very clever, but it won't give you the full picture.

You need to understand the psychology of your target,

what drives him, what makes him tick,

try and get inside his head.

That was my speciality. How do I do that?

What do you know about him?

Er, well, nothing now.

Well, you know what he does to his victims.

He lures them off trains with trust,

he gets them alone, he kills them.

Lots of people kill. What does he do specifically?

Er...

He takes them somewhere dark, underground.

It's strange, they're such pretty girls and yet he wants them in the dark.

Go on.

He strangles them, he waits till they're dead and then he rapes them.

What else does he do? Tell me.

They wear perfume.

He puts them in small cellars, Anderson shelters, confined spaces.

The smell of it becomes almost unbearable.

You know who he is, don't you?

What I'm going to tell you goes no further.

It's entirely confidential.Mm-hm.

But if there have been 12 deaths, I think I must tell you.

There was a man, he worked for me.

Good at his job.

Very clever, very careful

and, then...

..a bomb hit the building where he was working

and everyone was killed. We thought.

But he wasn't dead.

He was buried in the rubble under a stairwell.

He survived, you see,

for three days in the dark

until they dug him out.

And...there was a girl in there, too.

But she was dead.

They were trapped.

For three days?

We sent him to a psychiatrist,

because he was...different afterwards.

Still good at his job,

almost too good, but different.

I often feared what might have happened down there...

..but the psychiatrist said he was fit to work, so...

Where is he now?

There was a fire.

We found his body.

His signet ring, his keys.

No face, of course.

I chose not to pursue it, not to question it.

I was almost relieved when I heard.

I'll let you have all the paperwork I've got on him.

There's not much, I'm afraid.

There's been some sort of accident.

KNOCKING

Hello.

Harry.

The doctor's seen her, nothing's broken, but the bruising's pretty bad.

She can stay here for now.

WIRELESS:This is the BBC Home Service News at one o'clock.

This is Alvar Lidell.

Police have arrested a man and charged him

with the murders of five women in the Greater London area.

Gerald Wiggins, a ticket inspector, was apprehended at home yesterday.

Inspector Lawley of Scotland Yard

said that Wiggins appears to be mentally frail.

Police believe they've found evidence linking him to the women.

The petrol and fuel oil shortages at home may be worsening...

LUCY:That's it, isn't it? He's gone.

Lucy, I'm so sorry.

It's not your fault.

Did he take anyone from the train?

Not that we know of. No-one's been reported missing.

The police must have scared him off.

That's something.That's a lot.

That's a life you saved. But he's still out there.

We still don't know who he is.

I do know who he is, actually.

He's Malcolm Crowley.

You got a name from Cavendish? Who's Cavendish?

He headed up a classified department during the war.

He trained Crowley. Jean found him.

So we have a name and whatever else is in there.

Bloody hell.

How's your friend?Recovering.

What happened to her?

Harry beat her.

It's not the first time.

Good God.

Er, Lucy's the little one?

Yes.

And her husband did that to her? It happens.

Does this have something to do with the other day?

Yes.

But you don't want to talk to me about it?I can't.

All right.

I...

I understand.

You do?She's your friend.

Whatever you were trying to do for her,

get her away from him,

to Barking, whatever...

Even if it didn't work,

that was a good thing for a friend to do.

Timothy...No, no, I understand.

I didn't before.

But...I do now.

Do you?

I was hoping to go over and see her at the end of the day.

Yes. Well, you must.

You will be back in time for... Yes, of course.

He was in the rubble for three days. With her body, yes.

Jesus!

Who was the psychiatrist they sent him to?

Dr Tremaine at the Meredith Hospital.

We should talk to him, see if he remembers Crowley,

if he knows what happened to him.

Meredith's not far from you. Why don't you go?

Are you sure?

Don't worry, I'll look after her.

Can I help you? I'm looking for a Dr Tremaine.

I'm afraid Dr Tremaine no longer works here.

The hospital's being shut down, I'm sorry.Sorry, Mr...

Croft. Andrew Croft. Mr Croft, I'm Susan Gray.

I'm trying to trace one of his patients from the war.

Are they any records, addresses, anything?

What name was it?A Malcolm Crowley.

I think you'd better come inside, Mrs Gray.

When we first started, it was strangers in the newspapers.

Every step we get closer to Crowley, he gets closer to us.

Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me.

All you have is conjecture, imagination,

theories - theories that are disrupting proper police work.

I think that he's very dangerous.

This has to stop, you know. Whatever this is.

You're not working for anyone, are you?

You did this all on your own.

What about your children?

From among the shades of the recent dead, she came.

Is something wrong?