Original subtitles

[orchestral music and typewriter clicks]

Please be assured

we will take all necessary measures

to deal with the matter.

Yours faithfully,

Colin Bachdale.

[typewriter clicks]

Very good.

Your typing is excellent,

good speed, good accuracy,

Miss Merren.

Alice Merren?

Yes.

Not the Alice Merren from the newspapers?

Uh, yes.

I'm afraid our agency will be unable

to find you a suitable position, Miss Merren.

I'm happy to find any position.

The businesses we supply staff to

will only employ people with an umblemished record.

I was found innocent.

I was acquitted.

Yes, but you were in prison.

And in the newspapers.

[ominous music]

[typing sound effects]

[sighs]

[bright orchestral music]

[laughter and chatter]

You made it.

And don't you scrub up very well indeed.

Thank you.

So,

what is this?

Oh, just an excuse to get you out for the evening.

How did the interview go?

Fine.

Waiting to hear back.

Well, fingers crossed.

Come on, let's have a cocktail.

If you're sure.

I'm absolutely sure.

[laughs]

Millie?

How pleasant.

Excuse me a sec.

Good evening, Ann, how lovely to see you.

Is George feeling better?

Oh, he is, thank you.

Week in the Chiltons did him a world of good.

I'm so pleased to hear it.

I wonder,

the au du tuolett that you found was an absolute delight

and I must admit, I've hardly any left.

Charming isn't it?

I'll pick you up a bottle.

Room 214.

Could you make it two?

My friend Charlotte made me swear I ask.

[laughs]

Your friend Charlotte has good taste.

I'll bring you a few, shall I?

That way your friends won't run out.

You're a dear.

I'll see you later then.

Ooh, champaign cocktails.

Ann seems nice.

Don't worry.

It's just a little sideline.

Sideline?

Import, export.

Until they take me off the blacklist

and I can get in translation work.

Do you mean the black market?

The war is over, remember?

There is no black market anymore.

This is just

flying a little bit below the radar.

Gosh.

Is it

safe

doing it somewhere like this?

Safest place of all.

None of these women would be seen dead in a back alley

buying out of a suitcase but

if a well timed out acquaintance

happens to source them the odd luxury now and then.

You're very debonair about it.

I'd never have the confidence.

It's my overwhelming sense of entitlement.

[laughs]

Swiss finishing school finally pays off.

Talking of school, how's Lizzie's training going?

She's found a place.

Started three weeks ago.

- You'll never guess where. - Where?

Bletchley.

No.

It's teacher training college there now,

right next to the old house.

Good God.

Another Bletchley girl, oh, I'll drink to that.

Don't look now.

I think you've caught someone's eye.

Oh, God.

That's Jasper,

my co-pilot, so to speak.

Excuse me just a sec.

She's a new one.

She's not a customer, she's a friend.

Pretty friend.

Hands off.

What have you got for me?

Four orders of the Lucienne au du tuolett.

Four of [speaks French], the gold one.

Two of the chalimar with the atomizer.

Right you are.

Can you get me more nylons?

I'll get silk.

They don't want silk, they want nylons.

Well silk's all I can get.

Is that it?

It's not much.

It's not bad for a Friday night.

Is everything okay?

Why?

You look like the staff sergeant

sprung an inspection on you.

[laughs]

I'm fine.

Every tin of beans accounted for.

Staff sergeants don't frighten me.

[laughs]

They bloody used to.

I never got caught, now did I?

Now, these nylons...

Don't worry.

I'll tell them

silk is sorcey, men prefer it.

Nylons are old hat.

Now, see?

That's why you're front of house.

Good girl.

[laughter]

Are you sure you're alright?

I lied earlier.

Didn't get the job.

Oh, sweetheart.

I'm so sorry.

It's the fourth interview.

All they remember is the newspapers,

the court case,

can't even be a bloody secretary.

We'll find something.

Don't worry.

Lizzie looks at me sometimes,

she's so confused.

Just stop this.

You take the cab the rest of the way home,

get a good night's sleep,

then come and see me tomorrow.

Oh, it's fine.

Don't be daft, you're in no state.

Come on, take it.

And this.

What?

- No, no, no, no. - Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Millie, I can't.

Yes, you can.

Yes you can.

Come on.

In you get.

I'll see you tomorrow.

[laughs]

[muffled screaming]

[beads bouncing on floor]

[dramatic music]

Alice?

Alice?

Lizzie.

What time is it?

Um,

10 o'clock.

Is that mine?

I borrowed it.

Sorry, is that alright?

I didn't have anything to wear and

Millie wanted to go dancing.

It's fine.

Come on, I'll make you some breakfast.

No.

Thank you, I'll,

I'll be alright.

Then I'll put some tea on then.

[dramatic music]

Sure you don't want something?

No!

Thanks I've

got another job interview.

[suspenseful music]

[doorbell]

[suspenseful music]

Millie?

[suspenseful music]

[office chatter]

Can I help you, miss?

Oh.

It's alright.

What's wrong?

How long did you say she'd been gone?

Since last night.

Not long then.

We were supposed to meet this morning.

Is your friend usually tidy?

[Alice] Not tidy,

but nothing like this.

Had she had anything to drink?

What's that got to do with anything?

She might just decided to spring clean the place.

[laughs]

In any case, we do need to wait a bit longer than a night

before we can file a missing persons report.

Is there anything else you can add?

Any other reason you're worried?

Well if there's nothing more to it,

then that'll be it for now.

Do let me know if you hear from her.

Spring cleaning, indeed.

What exactly has Millie been doing?

She called it import, export.

There was a man last night,

um, Jasper.

I didn't get a surname.

Silly, silly girl.

We need to tell the police everything.

And get her into trouble?

She's already in trouble.

Maybe serious trouble.

Lucy's right.

How long has she been selling this stuff?

I don't know.

Ever since she lost her job, I think.

I mean,

she's had no work but

she always seems to get by.

[Jean] Well she's been slipping into bad habits.

Okay, so what do we do?

We need to try and find her.

And we need to try and find this Jasper fellow

and see exactly what he's got to say for himself.

If we have no luck,

we go straight to the police and we explain the situation.

No holding stuff back, we tell them everything.

They've left nothing unturned.

Maybe not.

When I stayed with Millie, she always put important things

in...

Got something.

[Jean] Good God.

Millie never cooks.

Those are perfumes and stockings.

[Jean] It's an order book.

Wait, go back.

Jasper.

He was around a lot.

Carmichael Station.

Fourth arch.

Briggs Lane, third door.

Where is that?

Garages lockups.

Storage.

[ominous music]

[pounding on door]

[pounding on window]

[ominous music]

Hello, help!

Somebody!

[ominous music]

She called him her co-pilot.

Just a turn of phrase or more than that?

Ex, perhaps?

[Alice] Here we are.

Third door.

Careful.

There's blood.

Same stuff.

Oh, Millie.

They like the dogs.

From the looks of this,

he was betting on four or five races a day.

And he was betting tuppins, either.

Not unless he's very, very lucky.

He had money

and someone came after him.

Well,

why would they go after Millie as well?

How did they even know about her?

Alright.

Alright.

Maybe we've got this backwards.

Jasper didn't have money.

But then why would he...

He was covering his bad debt

out of the business.

Lining his pocket.

Whoever came to him knew about Millie.

Knew about this place.

Knew everything.

And they left all the merchandise here.

If this was a bookie with a debt to claim,

he'd have taken the stuff, wouldn't he?

So, this is someone in the business

higher up.

So Millie

sells for Jasper but who does Jasper buy from?

If we knew what bookie Jasper was using

maybe we could ask him who he was hanging around with.

He wasn't using a bookie.

Not a licensed one, anyway.

This is snooker talk.

All Harry's papers were like this, he used to

go down the snooker hole, play for frames,

put on a few bets.

It's off track betting so it's illegal

but the odds are better.

I say if we wanna find Jasper's bookie,

we go looking in the nearest snooker hole.

[ominous music]

[jingling keys]

Thanks.

Where am I?

- Where is this place? - What street is this?

Do you know?

Please.

I need you to call the police, can you do that?

Call the police.

Shut up.

[speaking foreign language]

Alright, alright, alright.

Calm down, calm down.

Do you speak English?

Small.

No police, no.

Okay, okay, okay.

Millie.

My name is Millie.

What's your name?

Elishka.

Elishka?

Kay Elishka, I am...

- [speaks foreign language] - That's not Russian.

Ah, the accents more

Baltic.

It's not Hungarian,

not Romanian.

Czechoslovakia?

You're a Slovak?

Slovakian.

That's not my best.

London,

the river.

[speaking foreign language]

Yes, Russian.

River, [river in Russian], yes.

Are we

north of the river or south?

North or south?

North.

Okay, where north?

In the middle?

Further out?

Where, where are we?

You don't know, do you?

Alright.

Please, I need you to,

to telephone.

Telephone some friends of mine.

[speaking in Russian]

No police.

Friends.

[crying]

Alright, alright, alright.

Alright.

Elishka,

tell me.

Tell me.

I want home.

I want

go home.

Me too.

How long,

how long have you been here?

How...

[pounding on door]

I come.

Go away.

Go away.

[Jean] Let's hope this is the one.

It's men only.

We wanted to see about a race.

You?

Well, it's for her friend.

Jasper?

Don't know anyone called Jasper, sorry.

Look.

A girlfriend of ours has gone missing.

Missing?

We think she's in trouble.

Real trouble, Jasper too.

Please, we know we're like a flutter,

that's fine, we're not gonna tell anyone one, we just,

we wondered if you'd seen him with any,

you know, bad types?

It's all bad types in here, love.

How'd your friend get rolled up in this?

She and Jasper had a thing

going on the side, selling.

Yeah, I heard about that.

Alright.

I know Jasper.

Everyone does.

Bookie's best friend, he is.

Lady luck always seems to see Jasper coming

and look the other way.

He bounces back.

Maybe not this time.

Oh, I'd be sorry to hear that.

We think he might have been skimming the profits

off of this little enterprise,

covering his track debts.

And whoever he was in with realized.

Bloody idiot.

Pardon me.

Do you know who he was working for?

No, sorry, he never said.

Did he ever come in with anyone?

Someone you didn't know?

There was a couple of times he was in here

with two Maltese lads.

Big.

Nasty looking.

But they had cash, though.

Plenty of cash.

Maltese?

There's some families around.

They're supposed to run restaurants in there but,

you hear stories.

Christ, he didn't cross those bastards, did he?

Bloody hell.

Did you catch a name?

Like I said, it was only a couple of times.

They haven't been back.

Thanks.

Look.

If you're right,

if he's phony with that lot,

you tell old bill and you go home, alright?

There's some places in this city

I won't stick my nose in.

And you're not me.

Not by a long shot.

[Ben] How come you're asking?

You can't work here and not get interested.

Yeah, but why this?

Why not a nice, juicy murder

for the lovely lady?

No thank you very much.

Alright, but you can't tell anyone.

Friend of mine gave me this.

Oooh.

This is bad.

I could cuff you for this.

It's not legit, is it?

I mean, I knew it wasn't but

how do they do it?

What does it come from?

'Cause it looks

just like a bottle of scent but

really, it's a whole story behind it, isn't it?

Well, I reckon you pretty much know where it came from.

Yeah, but the details.

I spend all day watching it all,

how do you do it?

How does it go from one bottle of scent

to putting someone in prison?

A lot of fining and paperwork.

You really interested in that?

Yeah.

You understand I can't let you see anything

for ongoing cases?

No, I know.

Then again, a few odd files can't hurt.

Cost you though.

Cost me what?

Dinner.

You can where the scent if you like.

[laughs]

[scream]

[ominous music]

I spent all morning copying out

so it's gangs basically,

or families, usually they're families.

And they bring in uncustom goods

either through the ports

and they just cover up what they're doing,

or what Ben calls the old fashioned way which

is just smaller boats

dodging the Coast Guard and coming in through

little village harbors.

And it's everything

from cigarettes, to nylons, to booze,

Vice shut down one operation

and another one springs up over night.

Any of the active ones Maltese?

Yeah, there's one family that is definitely Maltese.

So,

September, 1949,

there were four men arrested for possession of

uncustom goods here.

Nikolah Magro, Giega Magro,

Stefon Testa, and Nunzu Regas.

And then, April, 1951,

there were two men arrested for trespass here,

Gabriel Lupe and Lazaru Magro.

Then November, 1951,

there were three men arrested for possession of liquor

without a license here.

Lazaru Magro and two others.

Magro again.

Whenever you find Maltese crooks, that lot turn up.

Therein lies the pattern of arrest.

See if we can narrow it down.

That's all the areas marked up.

Distribution's clustered in SoHo

but extends as far as Wood Green.

It's pretty even.

Doesn't point to one center of operations.

As patterns goes, isn't much of one.

Just says they like central London.

We need Susan for this.

Well, Susan's in Mumbai.

Come on, it's signal flow, isn't it?

London's just like a giant electrical circuit.

Input, output.

All these little lines and branches

like a wiring diagram.

What we need to do, is trace where the signal wants to go.

What signal, exactly?

Our Maltese friends.

A specific set of people

behaving in one specific way.

These places were chosen because

they fit the signal flow

of a group whose purpose is

to distribute uncustom goods.

So...

[exhales]

What does that suggest?

I would imagine

access.

Seclusion?

They're too mutually exclusive, aren't they?

How can you have access and seclusion in one?

Millie!

Millie, Millie!

What, what?

Millie was doing the same thing!

I was going to have a dance and a good time

and where do we go?

A hotel.

Hotels are ideal.

Neutral grand meeting places and anonymity

rolled into one.

Access and seclusion!

What if it's the same for the Magros?

All the advantages of a base of operations

but if the police come by,

you can roll it all up and move on.

Well that should be here.

Uh,

here we go.

September, '49,

arrest Lyn Grave Bed and Breakfast.

Not this one.

Not this one.

April, Mulligan Lane Hotel.

This is the pattern.

So Millie's in a hotel somewhere.

All we need to do is search all the hotels in London.

These are all old cases.

What we need is some recent arrests

with a hotel address.

Well, Lucy's seeing Ben tonight.

[ominous music]

With me.

[speaking foreign language]

[ominous music]

[Marta] Where is my money?

Where is it?

I haven't the faintest idea.

If that's true, then we can part on good terms.

Is it true?

Yes.

How can I be sure?

Jasper!

[Jasper] Millie!

Oh, it's not so bad.

Man loses some teeth, maybe an eye,

he looks like a rogue, a pirate.

Almost romantic, don't ya think?

But for a woman, it's not the same.

For a woman, a scar,

oh that's not so romantic.

One of you is stealing from me.

Which one?

Or maybe both?

Ladro,

cut her.

It was me, it was me!

It was me!

I'm sorry, Millie didn't know!

So where is my money?

I can pay it.

I don't believe you can.

I can.

You're not the only supplier in London, you know?

I've got other interests.

And sometimes,

I have to balance one side against the other.

I've got a big shipment coming in tomorrow.

I can collect that,

you have your money.

And then some.

But you'll pay me what's mine

and then some.

Then you take yourself far from here.

As far as you can get so that I never have to see you again.

Stay with him until he collects his shipment.

Take Millie back to her room.

What, Marta,

you can let her go, I told ya!

It was nothing to do with her!

She's my guarantee.

I'll let her go when I get my money.

[Jasper] I'm sorry, Millie!

Thanks.

What do you reckon?

It's nice.

Thanks.

You're quite welcome.

It's French.

[soft piano music]

How do you like the wine?

Um,

I don't know, I'm not

sure how it's supposed to taste.

It's supposed to taste like this.

Oh,

[laughs]

then, it's nice, I suppose.

[laughs]

There ya go.

Those files that you showed me

about all the arrests and so on,

I found it really exciting and

I kept thinking about it so

I went back and I had another look.

Well what do you fancy?

Lemon sol maneur.

Yeah, sounds lovely.

Anyway, so I was looking through and

some cases had this funny foreign name.

It was mag--

Mago?

Magro.

Yeah, that's it.

Do you know the case?

There's more than one case I believe.

Are you investigating them?

'Cause there's a lot a files and that same name

keeps coming up.

Do you know where they're based?

I can't really talk about active cases, remember?

Anyway, we shouldn't be talking about work,

it's bad luck.

Or if it's not, it should be.

I just wondered if you were

tracking them down.

Look.

Black market happens all the time

ever since the war.

To be honest, a few bottles of brandy and some stockings

ain't gonna bring down the government.

I joined Vice to catch real villains.

Anyway, let's order, I'm starving.

[suspenseful music]

You speak a bit of English, don't you?

You understand me, please.

Please try.

Small.

I learn.

You're from Czechoslovakia.

You came here.

Why?

Work.

A new life.

Marta.

Did Marta help you get here?

Uncustom goods.

[speaks foreign language]

No, no, no, no.

I am no friend of Marta.

No friend of Marta!

[signs]

Elishka.

Mama, dada.

I don't understand.

Try again.

Try it in your own language.

[speaking foreign language]

Like the Russian 30 treats it every 30 days,

every month?

[speaking foreign language]

Girls.

[speaking foreign language]

The girls

move to new hotels?

[speaking foreign language]

Window.

This hotel is like a window, I...

[speaking foreign language]

The men?

[speaking foreign language]

The men

choose the girls?

[speaking foreign language]

They pay.

Like a shop window.

You,

you must run away.

No.

Why?

[speaking foreign language]

Your little sister?

She's coming here.

You,

you told her to come here.

Next time she come...

[speaking foreign language]

You mean she's

selling you together?

Selling you...

[speaking foreign language]

Yes.

Either he doesn't know or he doesn't wanna talk about it.

I think he's embarrassed

'cause they haven't caught them yet,

they're making the police look like idiots.

They've been caught plenty of times.

Maybe they can't get anything to stick.

They're always one step ahead.

By Tuesday morning, it'll have been three days.

Let's meet at Millie's flat

and if she's not there, we'll go to the police again

and we'll tell them everything.

Millie, and Jasper, and Magros,

the black market, everything.

Better that she's in trouble with the law

than with those people.

[distant crying and yelling]

Where's Jasper?

Calm down, he's not here.

Then where is he?

The business between Jasper and me is finished.

His shipment came in, he paid his debt,

so he's long way from here now.

[Marta sighs]

Did you know about his other suppliers?

This balancing one hand against the other?

Were you part of that?

No, I had no idea what he was doing.

What was your arrangement with Jasper then?

I was his front of house, as he called it.

He could find buyers for the cigarettes

but not for the perfume and the nylons,

that was me.

I took my cut, we were doing well,

we tripled our orders in the last three months,

as you probably know.

I had no idea Jasper wasn't paying what he owed.

Interesting.

Well let's leave Jasper aside, shall we?

Which leaves you.

What shall I do with you?

Me?

Yes, you.

You need someone who knows the business

as well as Jasper but who isn't cheating you.

True.

And you would like to work for me?

For me, not for someone in between.

I think that would be an excellent idea.

Do you?

Or are you telling me what you think I want to hear?

Jasper never found the high paying clients,

I did.

While he took most of the profits.

My filling his shoes wouldn't just be good for you,

it would be good for me too.

Fair enough.

I think you can do well.

Good.

Well let's see how we get on, shall we?

The same amount of merchandise as usual?

Actually,

I'm sure I can do rather better.

Really?

With my contacts and direct access to your stock,

I'm certain I could open doors

Jasper could only dream of.

Well let's discuss real amounts,

not fairytales.

How much are you talking about?

Half as much again.

Easily.

Very well.

I'll arrange it.

If I should need to see you again, do I come here?

Where are we, by the way?

Not here, sweetheart.

There is a Greek restaurant on Stallington Road.

Come there any morning.

Ladro?

[speaking foreign language]

I'm leaving.

I go.

Help me.

[speaking foreign language]

No talking.

Come on.

[somber orchestral music]

[suspenseful music]

[brakes screeching]

Wait, Ladro.

If we're going to be working together,

we need to be friends, don't you think?

Yeah, maybe you're right.

I can be your friend.

[yelling]

Or maybe,

I should come and find you at night, huh,

when you're asleep

and be friendly then.

Would you like that?

Oh, I think you would.

Or perhaps,

you should just shut

your stupid mouth and do as you're told, huh?

[somber music]

[knocking on door]

[knocking on door]

Millie?

[knocking on door]

Millie?

Thank God!

- We were so worried. - What happened?

Where were you?

Meeting some new friends.

Maltese friends?

So you know?

We had to, we were trying to find you.

Why didn't you tell us what you were doing?

Because I knew you wouldn't approve.

Well, you're right about that.

How could you be so stupid?

I know!

I know I've been a bloody idiot,

I don't need you to tell me

and I'm sorry, I'm sorry that you had to find out.

I'm sorry.

[crying]

What happened?

Are you alright?

Yes.

Yes, I am.

I'm alright.

I'm lucky.

Millie?

What's going on?

What did they do?

Nothing.

Not to me.

I've been such a fool.

It was, just uh,

stockings and perfume.

A sideline.

And then it became a way to

pay the bills and

when I got blacklisted, I

didn't have anything else.

Before you know it, you're...

Where did they take you?

I don't know.

They were very careful.

You're safe now.

You never have to see those people again.

Come on.

Let's tidy this place up.

I know you need money for bills

and we'll find a way.

This nonsense ends here.

It's not quite that simple.

It isn't just ciggies, and perfume, and nylons.

There are people.

What people?

Girls.

There were seven that I saw,

there could have been more.

Their parents pay to get them out

from behind the iron curtain,

and Marta and her family make it happen.

They bring them here

to kind of a

holding pen,

cattle market, I s'pose you'd call it.

They think they've got themselves jobs as chamber maids,

but actually they're being

marked up and bid on by the men who come as guests.

And then when they've

told their families that they're safe and well,

they're passed on to their pimps.

The parents are paying here to sell their daughters, it's...

It's very clever.

How'd you find out?

One of the girls talked to me, she,

she didn't have much English but we got there in the end.

She's already convinced her sister to join her,

it's too late to warn her off so she's,

she's staying put.

They'll both be sold off together.

What about Jasper?

He paid them off,

they let him run for the hills.

Jasper wasn't in a position to pay anyone off.

Oh, he had some

big deal coming through.

Millie,

all Jasper had was his gambling debts.

We spoke to his bookie.

I didn't think there was any big deal coming in.

She said he

paid his debts.

[suspenseful music]

Jasper!

Jasper, it's me!

[suspenseful music]

Get away,

get back.

Don't go in there!

Come on!

[Millie sobbing]

It's okay.

[dramatic orchestral music]