Original subtitles

So what's up?

In 1995, the UK embassy in Dakar was bombed.

You remember it?

Yeah, I do. Actually, I was there when it happened.

- In Dakar? - Mm-hmm.

It was the year before I joined. I was finding myself.

Isn't India usually the choice for that sort of thing?

Not if you're a rally enthusiast.

The bombing was blamed on a nascent AQ cell,

but there was never any claim.

There were also rumors of Egyptian involvement.

Why would the Egyptians wanna bomb a British embassy?

Theory was they wanted to expedite western involvement

in the war against terror.

It's far fetched, but 17 people died on that day.

Five of them were British nationals.

It's a can of worms I would take great pleasure

in reopening. - So why are we meeting here?

I believe it's called old school.

Is your source reliable?

His information's usually good,

but I'd recommend an extremely long spoon.

Harry Pearce, how are you, old boy?

Old boy? That's a little outmoded.

Who's this serious looking fella?

Lucas North, my section chief.

I wasn't expecting company, but the more the merrier.

What's the nature of your information on the Dakar bomb?

Everything. How, why, and most importantly, who.

- In return for? - Well, rather vulgarly,

this is a fundraising venture, so half a million.

That's not going to happen.

I can live with that if you can.

Give me something for leverage.

You've been looking too far afield.

What does that mean?

That means that your bombers were British.

British? That's impossible. It's been 15 years.

We'd have heard something. Working for who?

You go and talk to Daddy.

There's no rush, except a week from now the price goes up.

750 and so on and so forth. Well, doodle pick.

What now?

Now I go to the home secretary with a begging bowl.

Although given the great efficiency drive,

half a million pounds

to expose a national disgrace might be a hard sell.

I'll check out the Dakar file,

see if there's anything we've overlooked.

No, I don't want you tied up with that.

I'll give it to Beth.

I'll catch you up.

What the hell are you playing at?

I did tell you I was well connected.

To Harry Pearce?

I'm just trying to refocus your mind.

Listen, if Harry starts digging into Dakar,

life gets more difficult for all of us.

I might even decide it makes sense to come clean.

And then where's your leverage?

Last I heard she was staying with you.

Leave Maya out of this.

- Wanted to see me? - Yes.

This came for you by the Greek embassy.

We set up a forwarding address under your alias.

Standard procedure after an extraction.

It's about the house you owned with George.

His family need to sell it and, um,

th-they, uh, want your permission.

There's a letter in there too.

I'm sorry, Ruth. This must be-

It's fine.

I'll take care of it.

Ruth, you busy? I've got a walk-in downstairs.

Says he's got some information.

Since when do we deal with walk-ins?

He's not a civilian.

He's the RIPA authorizing officer of the New Cross Council.

He's a council snooper. All right, you do the paperwork.

Keith Deery, New Cross Borough Council

- Theresa Ramsey. - If you say so.

Well, I'm sure you don't go giving out

your real names, do you?

But then, maybe I didn't give you my real name either.

But I did, obviously.

I'm told you have some information for us.

Right, well, I-I-I-I dunno what they told you,

but, uh, I'm an RIPA officer.

That's the Regulation-

Investigatory Powers Act. Yes, I know.

Yeah, you probably don't approve,

but I can assure you that I don't authorize the, the use

of covert techniques lightly.

- Mr. Deery. - Yep. Yes, yes.

This morning I had calls to survey a young woman

who was of interest to us.

Why was she of interest to you?

Well, we'd had reports that she was allowing her dog

to, to, to foul public areas.

Oh, dog mess is actually a serious public health issue.

Mm, I'm sure.

Well, anyway, during the course of this surveillance,

something odd happened.

This woman took the envelope from her handbag,

placed it inside a newspaper,

put the newspaper on a bench, and walked away.

Well, it's quite obviously a dead drop.

- A dead drop? - A message left by one agent

to be secretly retrieved by another.

That's a dead drop, isn't it? - Yes. Yes, it is.

So I took it upon myself to intercept this communique.

And what do you think it said?

- What? - Nothing.

- Nothing? - Yeah, the note was blank.

Well, at least it appeared to be blank.

Obviously my first thought

that it was some sort of invisible writing technique,

you know, lemon juice and so forth.

So I decided to apply some heat to the note

and hope that it actually might reveal a, a message.

- Did it? - It did.

Less fortunately, it appeared that the note was, uh,

was made of some unusually flammable material.

But I-I-I think you can see that there are, oops,

one or two words that are clearly visible, jet and Archon.

I wonder if that's some sort of military reference.

Jet Archon.

I ran a background check on our walk-in,

it's interesting to say the least.

Keith Deery first applied to MI5 in 2002.

Promising scores on the initial round,

but at the time he applied,

he'd recently suffered a bereavement.

His wife had died.

His application was rejected

on the grounds that he was psychologically unfit.

He didn't tell me any of this.

Reapplied 2006, 7 and 8,

all applications turned down on the same grounds.

He's got a history of clinical depression.

And check this out.

He was admitted to hospital March last year.

Suspected suicide attempt.

That's what we in the trade call an unreliable source.

- Well, he did lose his wife. - Eight years ago.

What's the time limit on grief?

Well, for normal people. Not for us.

You calling my bluff then?

To what bluff do you refer?

Sorry, I thought you were someone else.

I see. But perhaps your question applies equally to us.

Perhaps you are bluffing all sides in this arrangement.

Your English is really coming on, Yimou.

I'm not in a mood for your jokes, Mr. Edwards.

Where is Albany?

We're close. It's just a matter of time.

You've had time.

If you can't deliver it, we'll find someone who can.

Now you're the one who's bluffing.

It's my business to know every piece on the chess board.

The woman's a great beauty. Hard for any man to resist her.

Bring us Albany, bring it today,

or I'll have my colleague here rape her

and cut off her head.

Some new information has come to light

on the Dakar bombing in '95.

I want you to collate everything we have on it.

- I'll look into it. - Yes. No.

Just collate the information and give it to Beth.

Don't you need an analyst on this?

Ruth, our personal history

does not mean you can question everything I ask you to do.

No, but it doesn't mean you can freeze me out either.

You conducted unauthorized surveillance

on a fellow officer.

Now forgive me if I suffer a slight loss of confidence

in your judgment. - What I did was unethical,

but it doesn't mean I'm wrong about Lucas.

I didn't say you were.

- But it's business as usual. - Ruth.

Look, neither of us are what you would call

emotionally forthright.

But this morning when I saw how you reacted to that letter,

a lot of things suddenly made sense.

I think you still blame me for George.

For not protecting the boy.

I think you believe that had it come to a choice,

I would've let you die too.

I don't see what this has to do with Lucas.

Maybe you feel I'm protecting him

in a way I failed to protect you

And maybe that is making you overzealous.

I'll deal with Lucas, Ruth.

For the record, it's not true.

I'd do the same for you a thousand times over.

And you'd be wrong.

Get in the car!

I could never believe

that Lucas would betray his own country.

No one's suggesting that.

But if Lucas is in trouble, we need to be ready to help.

Find out why he was in Dakar, Beth.

I'm busy.

I need to talk to you. Will you get in the car?

I don't think that's a good idea.

There are things you need to know about me, about John.

- What things, Michael? - Oh, come on.

You really don't have any questions about what we do.

What (indistinct) you not to ask?

Please. Just give me a moment.

Look, I know that I've hurt you, Michael,

and I am so sorry, I am, but I have made my choice.

Maya, you dunno the meaning of the word hurt.

My name's not Michael. It's Vaughn.

And John doesn't work for some security firm.

He works for MI5.

- What are you talking about? - He's a spy.

Because of him, your life's in danger.

Sorry, I-I didn't mean to scare you.

This is not appropriate

to approach me in public like this.

I-I know and, and I apologize.

And I would never do such a thing normally

except I found out something else.

Mr. Deery.

Except that, um, I went to her house,

the woman who left the, the dead drop, and she's gone.

With three months to go on the lease,

just up and left without telling the landlady.

And what do you make of that?

Nothing. You're making connections where there aren't any.

Well, you don't think it's odd?

Lots of things are odd. Lots of people too.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

Hey, just, just stop. Sorry for a, for a second.

I mean, what about the, the note, the words on the note?

I passed it through GCHQ. No matches.

So that's that?

We have a huge amount of intel every day.

And we don't have the resources.

No, no, no, no, no, no, Miss whatever your name is.

Look, I-I work for the council.

I-I-I mean, I-I know a fob off when I hear one

and that's a fob off.

Come with me to the woman's house.

Uh, uh, I mean, she might've left something.

What is it that you want, Mr. Deery?

- That I want? - I know about you.

I know that you've applied to us on four separate occasions

and that each time you've been turned down

on the grounds that you're psychologically unfit,

that you've got a history of depression

and mental health problems.

Is-Is that not true?

I had a few problems after my wife died, but I'm not-

They're not gonna let you in,

if that's what this is about.

Sounds like you spent more time investigating me

than the note.

Don't approach me in public again.

If you do, I'll report to you.

Do you understand? - Listen,

I miss my wife, but that doesn't make me wrong about this.

I've just been doorstepped

by our friend from the council.

- Deery? - Yeah, I feel bad about it.

What, he doorsteps you and you feel bad about it?

- No, I was cruel to him. - You're too soft, Evershed.

It isn't that.

I mean, we've had cranks before,

but the, the messages are always called Russian or Islamic,

and those words look French to me.

And if he's trying to impress us,

then why bring us an incinerated note?

Look, personally I wouldn't pursue it,

but your instincts are good.

You should follow up.

I don't suppose you're up for some facial recognition.

I'd love to, but I'm about to meet my first mafia boss.

They just pulled him off a boat in the Thames

with about 50 million in laundered euros.

I'm gonna pick him up. Ask Tariq.

You're driving.

- This isn't convenient. - We're outta time, John.

Listen, I'm doing everything I can,

but I've hit a brick wall,

and we need to work together to get out of this.

I'm sorry to hear you say that,

but there's someone who'll be sorrier.

- Hello. - Maya.

John. John, he's got a gun.

Maya, listen to me.

John, he says that you're a spy. Is that true?

You know these tactics are repulsively crude to me,

but this is what you brought us to.

You're not gonna hurt her.

I won't have to. It's the Chinese, John.

I'm working for the Chinese. I'm taking you to them.

They'll decide what happens.

Vaughn, please don't do that.

Finish this now for all our sakes.

This is from the files of a fitness club in Dakar in 1995.

Look at the name.

- Tariq, where's Lucas? - I dunno.

He just left.

Michael, what are you gonna do?

Please tell me. What are you gonna do, Michael? Please.

What am I gonna do?

Maya, if John had done what he was supposed to do,

you wouldn't be in danger.

I'm trying to protect you.

You said that you were gonna give me to someone,

to the Chinese.

I had to say that. It's, uh, complicated.

Maya, you're all right.

Hey, hey.

You're safe with me. I promise.

How long does it take?

Varies. What's this?

- Dead drop, supposedly. - Cool.

You don't see that much. - Paper.

That's not paper. That's nitrocellulose.

Goes up in a flash. Proper spy stuff there.

Is it hard to get ahold of?

Well, they don't sell it in Ryman's.

When Dimitri gets back tell him to call me.

Where you going?

To see a man from the council.

John.

All right, Vaughn, you win. I was bluffing.

I've got the file.

I don't believe you.

I don't see that you've got a choice. Where do we meet?

Where is she?

She's safe. Give me Albany and I'll have her released.

Not here.

John, the whole purpose of meeting in a public place

is so that you can't torture me

into telling you where she is.

Stop taking me for an idiot.

You're working with the Chinese, I say you qualify.

They've certainly got better at surveillance.

I know my apartments bugged, and the car,

but I'm damned if I can find them.

What did you expect?

I wouldn't get too smug.

Looks like we could both do with some pest control.

The Chinese are watching both of us.

It's funny. It's hard for me to see those.

Must be getting old.

You were always good at manipulating people, Vaughn,

but there's one thing that you never accounted for.

What's that?

Passion.

Don't make a fuss. I'm inches away from your main artery.

Any sudden movement will be very bad for you.

Now, tell me where she is.

- Harry. - Beth, where are you?

I followed Lucas to a park. He's met someone.

I'm going to send back up. Tell me where you are.

You've overplayed your hand, Vaughn.

Maya means more to me than my job or my reputation.

Now tell me where she is.

You don't understand. I'm trying to protect her.

By handing her over to the Chinese?

She's not with the Chinese,

but they're gonna kill her if we don't-

Where is she?

- She's- - Where?

She's in a safe house, but they don't know about it.

Something's happened. I'm going in.

Beth, no.

Vaughn, Vaughn. No.

- Lucas. - Beth, get outta the way.

- Lucas, put the gun down. - Get outta the way.

I said, put the gun down.

You idiot. You have no idea what you've done.

Tell me. Tell me what I've done.

Whatever's going on we want to help.

Harry will help you like he helped me.

Now please put the gun down.

Mr. Deery.

Mr. Deery.

Maya.

Michael. Oh, God.

Mr. Deery.

Beth.

If you wouldn't mind waiting outside.

- Harry. - If you don't mind.

One Lucas North in Dakar I can accept,

two is stretching credibility.

Who is he, Lucas?

Listen, Harry, I know this looks suspicious.

Somewhat.

Let me be clear. The Dakar bombing happened on my watch.

17 people were killed on that day

and for 15 years they've gone without justice.

So you do not leave this room

until you explain the full extent

of your involvement in that atrocity.

Do you understand?

My name isn't Lucas North.

My name's John Bateman.

Damn you!

God knows I've had my share of betrayal, but not you.

I'm sorry.

Why were you in Dakar?

At university, I fell in with a guy

that fancied himself as a big time drugs dealer.

He was shipping cannabis from Dakar to Hamburg.

He asked me to go with him.

- Which you did. - Which I did.

Of course idiots that we were, we got caught.

Luckily the military police were open to persuasion.

They took the drugs, they took everything.

I was stranded in Dakar with no ticket home, no passport.

I needed to pay my way back

and I'd done some croupier work in the UK,

so I got a job in a casino.

Place your bets.

And that's where I met Vaughn Edwards.

He was a regular.

No more bets.

He said he worked in the export business.

He was always lucky.

Red number nine.

That's for you.

He seemed to have everything.

I admit I was impressed.

We met by chance a few times.

At least I thought it was by chance.

John, join me.

He took an interest in me.

Eventually he told me what he really did.

Well, what governments say and what they do

are two different things.

They pay ransoms when they have to.

They negotiate with terrorists. That's where I come in.

Small deniable errands for the British government.

He asked me if I wanted in. I said yes.

What sort of errands did you run for Vaughn?

Courier work mostly, taking briefcases to people, places.

I never asked what was in them.

It was exciting at first and very well paid.

You had no qualms about what you might be doing.

Vaughn told me that we were working indirectly

for the UK government.

I believed him.

It suited you to believe him.

Yeah, maybe.

In those days my morality was fluid.

But then there was Lucas North. He worked in the casino bar.

He was the only other Brit on the staff.

And we became friends.

I thought he was just another drifter,

but he was in Dakar for a reason.

Which was?

Spies.

- Spies? - Yeah, spies.

Place is crawling with 'em.

If Graham Greene was writing today,

he'd be writing about Dakar.

That's why I'm here. I wanna get the smell of it.

Why was he so interested in the intelligence community?

Because he was gonna join MI5.

Please tell me this isn't going where I think it's going.

He'd already got through the first round.

All the background checks were clear.

The only thing left was the face-to-face.

He really loved his country, you know.

I used a laugh at him for that.

But he already knew something

that it took me 15 years to find out.

Suppose you'll think this is uncool, John, but...

You have to love something greater than yourself.

God, country, an ideal. Doesn't matter what.

It's what makes us human.

I'd made more than enough money.

I was all ready to come back to the UK,

but Vaughn asked me to do one more job.

It was more money than all the others combined.

You trust me with this? - Yeah.

What was the job?

- Harry. - What was the job?

To take a package...

To the British embassy in Dakar.

I saw them walking out of the dust like ghosts.

You don't know what it's like.

Don't you dare feel sorry for yourself!

17 people were massacred on that day.

Look at the faces of the people you killed,

mothers, fathers, daughters,

and all the hundreds of people around them, lives ruined.

You sit there whining about your conscience.

Conscience is a bloody luxury. It means you're alive.

You think I don't know that?

How do you think you get through eight years

in a Russian prison?

Eight years of beatings, torture, humiliation.

How do you think you bear the simple physical pain of it?

You bear it because you deserve it.

So Vaughn Edwards is behind this. He set you up.

Truthfully, I don't know. I went back to the hotel.

I accused him of that. He denied it.

He said that we'd both been set up.

By who? Who was he working for?

He said he didn't know.

- Come on. - He said nobody knew.

He said that we were just at the end of a chain of people

so far from the source that we could never be traced.

Absolute deniability. - And you believe that?

A man like Vaughn,

I don't think he asks that many questions.

So, you've been set up.

You're supposedly horrified at what you've done.

Why didn't you turn yourself in?

Vaughn was scared.

Don't tell me about Vaughn. Tell me about yourself.

He was really scared.

He said whoever had set us up

would wanna cover their tracks, eliminate us.

Even if we were taken into custody, they would get to us.

We'd never live to stand trial.

Then he must've known who was behind it.

I don't know! That's what he told me.

All I know is we had to get out of Dakar and quickly.

There was a boat leaving for Europe in a couple of hours.

He said that we would be on that boat

and he would get me a passport whatever it took.

And what did it take?

He killed Lucas North for a passport for you.

I told Lucas that I would just borrow the passport,

that I would send it back to him

or that he could report it stolen.

But he wouldn't do it.

And at that moment I was ready to walk away.

I knew what he wanted from his life. He was gonna join MI5.

He couldn't get involved in this.

And I explained that to Vaughn.

That's when he shot him, Harry.

He killed your friend and you did nothing.

Come on, what do you want me to say, Harry?

I'm just trying to be honest with you.

Yes, I'd like to tell you

that I felt something as normal as anger.

That some sudden surge of nobility

meant that I didn't take that passport,

I didn't go to the docks and I didn't get on that boat

and run for my miserable life.

I'd like to say anything that would take that look

of utter contempt out of your eyes,

so please don't tempt me.

Michael, you need to get to a hospital.

I'm all right. You know what they say.

It isn't when the knife goes in that the damage is done.

It's when they take it out.

Well, lemme take a look at you please.

You're losing a lot of blood.

You know what's funny?

I'm wondering if you're saying that because you care,

or because you wanna escape.

Is there any way back from this, Harry?

Honestly, I don't know. Your only hope is Vaughn.

He's the prime mover in this sorry tale.

We need to bring him in.

- Let me do it. - Out of the question.

I can find him, Harry.

You're asking me to trust you.

All you have to do is trust

that I wanna get out of this mess,

and this is my only chance, by finding Vaughn.

Now, this may not mean much.

You know that I've put my life on the line for this country.

You know that.

I try to do all the good

that Lucas would've done if he'd lived.

That's never been a lie.

That's the deal that I make with him every single day.

Beth.

Give me Lucas's sidearm.

What are you gonna do?

It's all right. Just give it to me.

Everything I've ever learned in this wretched business

is telling me not to do this.

Betrayal is a cancer. Let it eat your soul. Not mine.

Who are you?

- What do you mean? - What has he told you?

Told me about what?

Don't lie to me.

I'm not. I'm not. I work at the council with Keith.

Liar. You work for MI5.

Y-Yes.

- How much do you know? - Every-everything.

More lies.

That was a stroke of luck.

Not often you stumble across a mafia money launderer

sailing down the Thames.

Not much luck involved. He gave himself up.

Reckons he's safer with us.

Safe from who?

He says someone's got a contract out on him.

That kinda goes with the territory, doesn't it?

Yeah, but not an Italian. Says the hitman's French.

- French? - I'm sorry.

It's not your fault.

Is, is, is he, is he gonna kill us?

Is that your wife?

- Mm. - You be brave for her.

Yeah, they will send over everything

found on the vessel. - Let's have a look at that.

Harry, have you spoken to Ruth?

No, she's not answering her phone.

I think there might be a problem.

There's a French assassin in London right now.

His target is an organized crime boss.

How does that relate to Ruth?

I think she may have just crashed the party.

Call CO-19.

Tariq, get me Keith Deery's address now.

Leave her alone!

Run! Run! Get out!

Shoot him, shoot him. Shoot him!

Shoot him, shoot him. Shoot him dead!

Die!

Vaughn. Don't.

John.

- Did he hurt you? - No.

They'd have followed you.

Get those handcuffs off her.

Maya, go outside. Wait for me there.

John, he needs to get to a hospital.

Wait outside. I'll be there in a minute.

Maya.

Maya.

If you kill me, John, your life is over.

It's already over.

I told them.

You told 'em.

Everything.

What did you tell them, John?

Well, did you tell them that you didn't know?

Oh, no. No. I know what you did.

You told them it was me, didn't you?

I wonder if you can even remember the truth

of what you were.

You're a killer, John,

who fell asleep, dreamed he was a hero.

Now it's time to wake up and remember the truth.

Your dream is over now.

And the killer is awake.

How are you?

You were very brave, you know.

Seen field agents be less brave.

Sh-Should, um, you should try and sleep.

Ruth, what are you doing?

I'm leaving. I'm fine.

Are you?

Better than Keith Deery.

What do you mean?

Well, he hasn't spoken since last night

and, um, they've put him on suicide watch.

Me, I'm fine.

Ruth, you mustn't blame yourself. He was already unstable.

Exactly. Unstable. Just weak.

Not like us.

There's no chance of us mourning our loved ones for years.

No chance of us killing a man,

having his blood spray in our faces,

and being struck down by the sheer horror of it.

Far better to be like us. Strong, stable, and dead inside.

Ruth.

You think I haven't forgiven you for George,

but I still grieve for him, for Nico's loss,

for the life I left behind.

The truth is much worse.

- What is the truth? - That I'm fine.

That I'm ready to go back to work. That's what's worse.

That I killed a man last night

and I'm fine.

Harry, there's someone to see you.

- Malcolm. - Hello, Harry.

What are you doing here?

Sorry, a bit dramatic to turn up in person.

I wasn't sure if comms was secure.

Why wouldn't they be?

- I had a visit. - From who?

From Lucas, I'm afraid. He wanted a file.

Gave me a story about you being in trouble.

Didn't ring true.

- When was this? - Three days ago.

And you're only coming to me now.

I was following your protocol.

Not easy to stay on the move for three days,

although I did get to see the Highlands at last.

You're talking about Albany.

Harry.

Lucas, where are you?

You were supposed to stay in contact.

Let's not pretend, Harry.

I'll get you a deal. Whatever it takes.

Now who's the liar?

No, you were foolish, but you're invaluable to me.

I'm sorry, Harry. Really am.

Don't do this, Lucas, please.

Lucas North is dead.