Original subtitles

TRAIN RATTLES ON TRACK

This programme contains strong language and scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

I promised Jackie at the golf course two dozen perennials.

OK. If you get time, have a shift around in the summerhouse.

I've got this, Claire.

Let me come.

What if it's bad news?

They wouldn't be asking you to come up if everything was fine.

If it's bad news, I have to face it.

And you need to look after this place.

COUGHS

COUGHS

BREATHES RAGGEDLY

MUFFLED SHOUTING

BREATHES QUICKLY

CAR DOOR CLOSES

KEY TURNS IN LOCK

DOOR CREAKS

CLATTER

Hello?

DRIPPING

DOOR CLOSES

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Alice. Dad, listen.

I spoke to Mum. She'd love you to come along later.

Right! And then you took the thumbscrews off!

Honestly, she's really touched you want to come.

Where are you?

I'm just showing one of the new builds off Weaver Common.

Bloody Jasper left the back door open.

OK. I'll see you at Mum's at seven.

Don't be late.

Thanks, Alice.

SWITCH CLICKS

PANTS SOFTLY

CLATTER

GROANS

GASPS

What's that David Bowie song? A New Career In A New Town.

I was thinking more Radiohead.

"I live in a town where you can't smell a thing."

You all right? Sorry.

Jack and...

LAUGHS

..Nikki? Sorry, last names are lost to time,

memory, and Chardonnay, probably.

DCI Jane De Freitas, if I'm not mistaken.

Oh. Now you're showing me up.

And she's Detective Superintendent.

Oh, sorry.

Headlines, please, Nick.

Erm, victim is 60-year-old estate agent Philip Chalmers.

He's in the upstairs bathroom.

Who found the body? His daughter Alice.

He was due at a family engagement,

she came to find him when he didn't show.

Do we know precisely

what she touched and didn't touch inside?

Thought you'd want to hear it from the horse's mouth.

We can be sure she doesn't go anywhere.

Thanks, Jane. Yeah.

Uh, Nick, I left my Red Bull in the car.

Would you fetch it for me, please?

Thanks.

Don't mind DC Whelan. second week out of uniform,

first time at a murder.

Ah, he's learning from the best.

It's good to see you again, despite the circumstances.

Likewise.

Oh... I always had a feeling you two would end up together.

She hasn't changed. How did she know?

She was into profiling, remember?

Yeah.

Signatures, tells, body language.

He wears elbow patches, he must be a serial killer. Yeah, yeah.

Oh, I thought it was impressive, the way she figured out

the sniper was actually two snipers.

I thought WE did that.

Stairs look promising.

I'll meet you up there. Mm-hm.

DOG BARKS

Claire. Hi, Harry.

Thanks for letting me stay. Don't be daft. Come in.

Er, make yourself at home. I've just put the kettle on.

Got something?

Sorry, mate.

You're fine. Lock might've been picked.

Scratches on there.

Killer or victim's?

Or neither.

DNA might help,

or if someone's got 20 Litchfields about their person.

Professor Philip Chalmers.

Fellow of the Association of British Architects.

Lofty credits for an estate agent.

Anything from downstairs?

Looks like the back door was picked.

Working theory they let themselves in

and lay in wait up here.

Great thing about making Detective Super is

you can pick your cases.

You fancied this one for yourself?

Yeah, I did. Soon as I heard the highlights.

The profiling implications of these facial injuries...

..rage,

depersonalisation,

suggesting paradoxically a very personal motive.

My insights are a little more mundane.

At least at this stage.

Well, I'll take 'em anyway.

The injuries are multiple and severe,

but quite distinctive.

Possibly made by some sort of double-pronged tool.

Yeah. Claw hammer.

Well, in all likelihood.

In all likelihood.

You haven't changed. PHONE BUZZES

That's a good thing, right?

Your last email filled in so many blanks, I can't tell you.

Good.

I'm glad.

Once I start, I can't stop.

Ah! That's writing - feast or famine.

Thanks.

COUGHS

Yeah. Good thing is, since we've been working on this,

the market for long form has blown up.

OK.

Yeah, I don't wanna tempt fate, but when it's ready,

there's a good chance we can place this thing

with the Observer or...

DEVICE BEEPS ..the Sunday Times.

Wow, that'd be amazing.

Look, Harry, is it OK if we...?

Uh...don't do a session tonight?

Yeah.

I'm just tired and I'm worried about tomorrow.

Sure.

Um...

It's totally understandable. DEVICE BEEPS

And by the way,

my offer to drive you in in the morning still stands.

Oh, no. It's fine. Thanks.

DOORBELL RINGS

Ah, pizza.

DOOR OPENS

LOW CONVERSATION

DOOR CLOSES

Thanks.

Sorry about this.

It'd be helpful to know where you went in the house,

what you touched, if that's OK?

Sure.

Did you go into the back garden?

No. No, but I noticed the back door was open.

When? As you came into the house?

How did you get in?

The front door was open,

well, you know, on the latch.

Uh-huh.

Did your dad smoke, Alice?

What brand? Litchfields.

Litchfields. Thanks.

What about when you found your father?

Um... So I went over to him.

I crouched next to him...

..and I knew he was dead but I took his pulse anyway.

Where? Um, his wrist.

His right wrist.

Thanks.

Alice, um...

I just spoke to your father's boss on the phone,

and the appointment wasn't in his diary.

OK.

Did your dad say anything about the person he was meeting?

What about any disgruntled customers?

Someone get gazumped?

Dad just did the estate agent work to pay the bills.

He wasn't too involved.

DOG BARKS

GASPS

RUSTLING

You're very quiet tonight.

Long day, that's all.

You sure?

I'm not stupid, you know.

I know you've been on edge

ever since McNiece was granted a hearing.

That's fair enough, isn't it?

It's totally fair enough, considering what he did.

Hmm?

The attempted murder of a prison officer?

There's almost no way he can get parole.

Almost.

What set you off?

Doesn't matter.

I just thought I saw...

Left you a bottle of mineral water.

Oh! Uh...

KEYS JANGLE

In case you come back and I'm out.

Oh.

Thanks, Harry.

For everything.

Night. Night.

OK. Duly noted.

Next.

Look, if people still drank port

instead of green tea with lemon,

this part would slay them.

It's not funny. That's what you're trying to tell me?

KNOCK ON DOOR

Not a good time, Eva.

Yeah, well, I need to speak to you, Oliver.

Sorry, Kirsten, can you give us a minute?

Is this you stamping your foot, Eva?

DOOR CLOSES

I hope not, because I've been more than generous...

Philip Chalmers has been murdered.

Who the hell is Philip Chalmers?

What can this possibly have to do with us?

Well, a brutal murder means an extensive investigation.

And who knows where that might lead?

SCOFFS

You're not serious?

Or what it might uncover.

Yeah. I genuinely think you're worrying about nothing, Eva,

but thanks.

He was bludgeoned to death, Oliver.

Just like those dealers.

PHONE BUZZES

Who is it?

He's called three times this morning,

and he hasn't phoned in five years.

There's no way that is a coincidence.

Listen, find out what he wants and get rid of him.

I'm still paying you, aren't I?

Morning!

Morning.

We've processed the shoeprint evidence at the scene...

..and we're reasonably confident these two prints

coming down the stairs belong to the killer.

They're partials, so no size, I'm afraid.

Brand? TBC.

The waffle pattern suggests trainers or the like.

I've got some running shoes with treads like that.

What were you doing yesterday afternoon?

JACK CHUCKLES I had that personnel thing.

It was a joke, Nick.

Oh.

OK. Chalmers' phone.

I've accounted for every incoming call

bar one he received at 4:45pm.

Right before he left the office for the new build?

Mm-hm. The call was made from a payphone in the Surrey Hills.

Local SOCOs are processing for prints and DNA,

but it is a needle in a haystack.

It's a needle in a stack of needles.

A needle in a haystack, you know it when you find it.

I like your analogy better.

No CCTV? The phone box

may well have been selected for that reason.

Could you look at calls on or shortly before

Friday, March 12th?

Sure. Why?

We just spoke to one of Chalmers' managers

at the estate agency.

A man came to speak to Chalmers on the 12th.

Said he hadn't been returning his calls,

and Chalmers hustled him out pretty quick.

Wasn't a customer?

But Chalmers and the man went on to have a conversation

on the pavement for a few minutes.

So not a customer and not a stranger,

by the sounds of it?

If I'm turning a phone number into an ID,

it would be good to have a description.

Staff said the unwanted visitor was mid-30s,

casually dressed, possibly Asian heritage.

The body is that of an adult male

appearing approximately the recorded age of 60.

No decomposition changes are noted.

This is a particularly brutal attack.

Feels personal, doesn't it?

Possibly why he was lured to the new build. No-one about.

They could take their time.

The injuries appear to be paired,

linear, almost rectangular lacerations

with a clear skin bridge between them.

Like a claw hammer?

Could be.

Though these marks

are asymmetrical.

One slightly broader and blunter than the other.

Looks to be tiny chips in this wound...

..consistent with the damaged bathroom tiles at the scene.

On the back of the head,

there's a circular blue bruise...

..roughly 3cm in diameter.

What does that tell you?

It's consistent

with the face of the hammer, rather than the claw.

Which came first? Well, possibly

this was the first blow,

leaving him vulnerable to continuing assault.

It's possible that the assailant

was shorter than Chalmers,

given that this blow is just above the neck.

OK. With bludgeoning attacks,

assailants typically aim for the crown of the skull.

This one certainly did once Chalmers was down.

I noticed

a lack of defensive wounds on his hands at the scene.

There are also no defensive wounds on his forearms.

Unusual, given the ferocity of the attack.

The mucosa of the mouth is firm and feels fibrotic.

There is submucosal fibrosis of the oesophagus and stomach.

Similar in appearance to that in the mouth -

grey in colour and firm to the touch.

Cumulatively, it suggests

a serious older injury from something in the lumen.

Likely cause?

I'd say he ingested some kind of caustic agent.

That could've taken many forms.

Liver is pale, firm and nodular.

And cirrhotic. Most common cause is alcohol excess.

So he graduated from booze to something much stronger?

There's got to be a story there, right?

How about you walk Alice Chalmers through your findings?

Nick'll be there.

If she's got questions, which she might,

you'd be best placed to answer them.

Sure.

SIREN BLARES IN BACKGROUND

Thanks for making the trip, Claire.

Sure it's not easy when you've got a business to run.

It's OK.

My sister's taking care of things.

Right.

In safe hands, then?

Safe-ish.

Go on. Lay it on me.

CLEARS HER THROAT We have had the results back

on your tests, Claire,

and...I'm sorry to say that,

in addition to your asthma,

they reveal the presence of mesothelioma,

a type of cancer.

As I say, I am so very sorry to break this news to you.

This is a rare cancer, and even rarer for someone your age.

CRYING AND BANGING

It is a cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue

surrounding the lungs.

I'm afraid mesothelioma is an incurable condition.

The next steps will be to look at treatments that can shrink,

control and contain the cancer for a period of time,

but it is, to be completely candid,

all about managing symptoms, rather than finding a cure.

I'm not crying...Dr Marchant.

Your father had some unusual scarring in his mouth.

Did he ever mention it to you?

Yes. He had these terrible ulcers

and he found some ridiculous advice online

about gargling with caustic fluid.

That's how he explained it at the time?

What happened to your father, Alice?

He's got this great career as an environmental scientist,

overseeing planning and development across the UK

and beyond,

then it all falls apart.

It was the drinking,

although he couldn't see that.

It was so frustrating.

In what way?

Well, he drank as a way of coping,

and then he drank a lot when things went wrong

but they were actually, still salvageable, you know?

OK.

It's like he would...

..crash the car to avoid the responsibility of driving it.

Your father also had some internal scarring,

suggesting he'd ingested the caustic fluid.

Is there any possibility

that he could have done that deliberately?

If it was a suicide attempt...

..it begs the question what triggered it?

After the divorce he was sad,

he was bitter sometimes,

but, um, suicidal...?

OK.

Thank you, Alice. I haven't helped very much.

That's OK.

Is there any way I can get into his flat?

Cos I need to start sorting out his possessions.

Cos no-one else is going to. We're processing it today,

and we'll let you know as soon as we're done.

Thank you. Thank you.

My mum and my brother, they seem so uninterested.

They're so cold.

Perhaps they're in shock?

No. I think they gave up on him so long ago

that his death is meaningless.

Not to you.

I don't think they even care who killed him.

You know, my father, he did have his troubles,

but he was gifted and interesting...

..and even clever people have their demons.

DI WHELAN EXHALES

A tumour?

You told me they wouldn't have got me up here if it was good news.

Oh, my God. Tina...

Oh, my God!

Tina, come on, please, just take a breath.

There's lots that they can do to...to slow it down

and shrink it, contain...

Yeah, but they can't make it go away!

I need you to be positive, OK?

I can't do this without you.

OK.

I'm sorry.

Did you tell them about Heron Point?

No, not yet.

Why not?

Keeping our powder dry.

That's what Harry says, is it?

It's what I say.

Where are you?

I've gone to B&Q.

We've run out of potting compost.

Well, that's something to cry about, isn't it?

BIG BEN CHIMES

Eva, Eva!

That same harried look that concealer can't conceal.

What can I do for you, Bruce?

How is the junior minister?

He never writes, he never calls.

Well, you know what it's like in office.

Flattery will get you nowhere.

No rest for the wicked.

Running a clapped-out council

hardly equates to the corridors of power.

The mighty Home Office...

Oh, I'm sorry. Am I running over my allotted time?

It's a busy morning.

Busy morning, my arse.

I gave you your break, Eva. Oliver too.

You're as faithless and fair weather as each other.

"You never make real friends in politics."

Now, who told me that? SCOFFS

Speaking of friends...

..pity about old Philip Chalmers, isn't it?

The esteemed professor reduced to an estate agent

and now a battered corpse. Who would do such a thing?

Now, my addled brain might have gone to...

INHALES ..disgruntled vendor,

vengeful client...

..if it weren't for a certain Harry Singh.

Oh, don't tell me you haven't had the pleasure, Eva.

I taught you everything you fucking know.

So, Singh has been stirring shit...

..and now someone's on the warpath.

Talk to Oliver.

Impress on him the need for a united front.

The old trio holding the line.

Reassure him.

About what?

My silence.

My contemporaneous notes

never seeing the light of day.

What do you want in return?

Another turn on the old merry-go-round.

RINGING TONE

Hello.

Ooh, Gary.

It's Meg McGrath.

I...

Hi, Meg.

Colin's not coming in to work today.

I know, I'm covering his shift.

Oh, right.

What can I do for you?

It's just, he's so touchy and on edge,

and I know it's because of McNiece getting his hearing,

even though that doesn't mean he'll get parole...

Can I stop you there?

Uh...

McNiece beat up his cellmate two months ago,

and I mean badly.

He was charged with GBH

and his parole hearing was cancelled the same day.

MUFFLED BANGING AND SHOUTING

Open the fucking door!

GLASS BREAKS

BANGING ON DOOR

GEESE HONK

Tell me.

You done?

How did you get on with Alice?

I feel for her.

She was the only one still flying the flag for her father,

and who hadn't run out of patience.

Reminded you of someone?

I'm not sure how patient I was with MY dad.

Do you reckon we would've got on?

Ask me an easy one. That bad?

FOOTSTEPS

Hi.

Alice.

Our conversation, it sparked something.

For the last few years,

I've popped in now and then to check in on Dad.

And one night, I came to find that he'd fallen off the wagon,

and he was sat there...

..drinking whisky with a man I'd never seen before.

MUFFLED ARGUMENT

You... No! I am a good man,

the man you see. You! Don't you...

That is who I am. I'm a good man!

Did you find out who the man was?

But right after that night, Dad went dark for a couple of weeks.

In what sense? He just vanished from the flat,

he stopped showing up at work, answering his phone.

And then, when he resurfaced,

he said he'd been on some two-week detox in rehab,

but now it's...

The timing, it fits, you see.

The timing?

I think he was in hospital,

recovering from drinking, um...

..the stuff.

So maybe the suicide attempt

was triggered by his row with this man.

Is there anything else you can tell us about him?

I just had the feeling

that Dad was trying to convince him of something. Like...

..of his own worth.

What makes you say that, Alice?

Something I found. Something Dad showed him.

The man had this in his hand.

It's Lagos, Nigeria.

Dad oversaw a huge housing project there.

It was a radical development for its time,

and he was proud to be part of it.

A ton of prints but only one threw up a match

to someone other than Philip or Alice Chalmers.

Belongs to a Dennis Weaver,

and he fits Alice's description.

What was he in trouble for?

Trespassing, resisting arrest, actual bodily harm.

ABH? I'm liking Dennis more and more.

Last known address is a hostel in Thamesmead.

So he was a stranger to Alice but not to her dad.

Weaver and Chalmers had a history? And you're gonna find it.

Cross-reference, cross-reference, and did I say cross-reference?

Jack?

You want to bag his clothes here or at the station?

Here. I even packed him a paper suit.

Ten years ago,

Philip Chalmers was Environmental Science Officer

at Thamesmead Council.

Dennis Weaver's ABH conviction was for assaulting

a guard in the lobby of Thamesmead Council.

What was his beef, do we know?

Not yet, but I've got pictures.

Could you check again, please? Dennis L Weaver.

I remember Den.

Top bloke.

And you are...?

Gareth.

Gareth Bird.

They got him in the end.

Sorry?

He's dead.

Cancer.

Asbestos.

Buried up at St Mary's.

Grave was untended till yesterday.

Did you see who left these?

Had to be the same person who tidied the grave, I reckon.

I don't believe in coincidence.

Someone leaving flowers on Dennis's grave

the day Chalmers was murdered?

Yeah, what were they sorry for?

And does it link to Dennis's grievance with Chalmers?

You don't happen to have any CCTV, do you?

Of course.

Detective Superintendent, eh?

TUTS

Least they could do after that sniper case.

Oh, I got sod all for that.

Letter of commendation.

Oh...

Actually, I've spent the last nine years

in Counter Terrorism...

..but an HR restructure spat me out like a lemon.

And here I am.

Do you remember the 2018 plot to blow up London City Airport?

Sure.

Yeah. I led the team that foiled it.

Nice.

I'm not bragging, you did ask.

CLEARS HIS THROAT

Female.

30-ish.

Short dark hair.

Flowers.

Let's see how long she stays.

Hmm...

Almost two hours.

I suppose she did a nice job on the grave.

She really was sorry.

Didn't Alice say that Dennis Weaver used an inhaler?

What about her shoes, Jack? Waffle print?

You find her and I'll tell you.

Oh, hang on.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Piss off, Kirsten.

Kirsten, give us a minute.

Take as long as you like.

SMACK Whoa!

So she does have a pulse!

What did Morgan-Jones want?

One more turn on the merry-go-round.

A seat on the Police Authority Commission,

a couple of committees to run.

What, he thinks that's in my gift? Yeah, he's sure it is.

He's also sure he has enough leverage to make you play ball.

In the form of what?

A journalist named Harry Singh visited him, as he did me,

two weeks ago.

Singh is doing a deep dive into our days

at Thamesmead.

Heron Point in particular.

Jesus Christ, Eva!

Why the hell am I hearing about this now?!

Well, I was doing my job.

I was protecting YOU.

Chalmers' murder changes everything.

Peace offering.

I'm not eating sugar at the moment.

I think I understand what the problem is.

You're bored.

The days are long, and you're bored.

Maybe...

Maybe it's time to think the unthinkable and...

..foster again?

Sure, we're older but hopefully wiser.

You were always a natural.

Loved them as if they were your own.

Why didn't you tell me that McNiece had reoffended inside

and that there's no way he's getting out?

I mean, why didn't you tell the one person in the world

who loves you more than anything?

Who has to watch you jump at shadows

when we come home from the pub?

Meg...

Who flinches every time you flinch

because of some sense of screwed-up solidarity

that we don't have?

Well done, Meg.

I can't fault you.

Truly.

Loyalty defined.

All those hours in surgery waiting rooms,

the disappointments, the setbacks.

You've weathered the storm with me.

SCOFFS Truly.

Which makes it all the more strange

that you can't look at me...

..properly.

Not even for a second.

That is not true.

Well, then, look at me.

Actually look at me.

That's not fair.

Fair?

All I'm asking is that you just look at me.

Stop it.

Look at me!

MEG WHIMPERS

MEG GASPS

HE BREATHES DEEPLY

That looks more fun than my emails from IT.

MOUSE CLICKS

I guarantee it.

WIND CHIMES JANGLE

Colin!

DOOR CREAKS AND CLOSES

GROANING

GASPS AND PANTS

DNA from the young woman's inhaler

has not scored a match to any individual on the database.

There's a "but" coming, I know there is.

But it has scored a match to a rather significant cold case.

Thank you.

Unidentified female DNA was recovered from the scene

of five murders ten years ago

in a tower block in Thamesmead.

The woman's DNA was found on a beer can.

Five murders?

How were they killed?

They were bludgeoned to death with a hammer.

How come I've never heard of this case?

All the deceased had criminal convictions,

some more extensive than others.

And the case is unsolved?

Reading between the lines,

it seemed the police believed that another gang

had crept up on them

when they were worse for wear in the middle of the night.

What about the hammer itself? Never recovered.

The claw end was used extensively...

..and the asymmetrical marks look familiar.

SHOUTING AND LAUGHTER

Hey. Hey. Hey, sweet lady.

Hey, hey.

ELECTRICITY CRACKLES

DISTANT SHOUTING

Stop! Stop it!

Stop!

Where you going? Slag!

SLURRED SHOUTING CONTINUES

They're back.

SHOUTING AND LAUGHTER DOWNSTAIRS

So, the police file on the Heron Point murders is in.

And get this - the late Dennis Weaver

was not only living in the tower block

at the time of the murders, but was also briefly a suspect.

He was seen holding a baseball bat near the crime scene.

Sounds pretty compelling.

Except they were killed with a hammer.

POUNDING DANCE MUSIC

MUSIC INTENSIFIES

POUNDING MUSIC CONTINUES

GROANS Help...

MAN WHIMPERS

Can you deal with Morgan-Jones?

Well, it's hard to say without knowing

what's behind his threats.

The substance, the lack of.

What did he say, "contemporaneous notes"?

Yeah. Unbelievable.

I've got to win his trust back.

Play on our history.

Spilt milk under the bridge.

OK.

Do it.

Whatever it takes.

I'll tell you what it will take, Oliver.

A two-year contract,

a pay rise...

LAUGHTER

Oh!

..and a P45 in Kirsten's pigeonhole.

Come on, Oliver.

It's why you love me.

Philip Chalmers.

I think he ripped up this business card,

reassembled it with tape,

ripped it up again and threw it in the bin.

A quick trip to the World Wide Web

yielded a few images of this Harry Singh,

who fits the description of the man who...

Paid a visit to Philip Chalmers at the estate agency.

Let me run these past the estate agency staff.

Thank you.

The piece is shaping up, but...

..I'd really like more background

on how you came to be living in Heron Point...if that's OK?

Me and Tina were in care for most of our childhood,

you know, bouncing about from one foster home to another.

We wound up living in a shelter in Thamesmead.

It was OK...

..but it was strictly night-only.

An eight till eight deal.

So you had nowhere to go in the daytime?

One day, they told us the shelter was closing down.

And so were all the shelters in the area.

Strange. Yeah.

Instead, we were being moved into Heron Point.

At first, it was...

..like good news.

We were being given our own flat.

Heron Point was hell on Earth.

Only, more dangerous.

The place had been empty for years.

The rats and the pigeons had taken over.

I still don't get it.

What the hell Thamesmead thought they were doing,

putting us in there. PHONE BUZZES

Well, given what we know now...

..we can make a good guess...

Harry Singh.

God.

When?

Er, thank you.

Appreciate you letting me know.

Do you remember that environmental scientist I tracked down?

The one who signed off on Heron Point? Philip Chalmers?

Yeah. He's been murdered.

Bludgeoned with a hammer.

Like the gang in Heron Point. DOORBELL RINGS

DOOR OPENS

LOW CONVERSATION AT DOOR

I'm under no obligation to disclose that.

Well, if you want to continue this conversation

at the police station, that's fine, cos it's on my way home.

Hello?

Excuse me, we need to speak to you.

Stop!

Stop!

I said stop!

Police! Move!

Oi! Watch where you're going!

Oh, shit.

THUNDER RUMBLES

WATER RUNS

THUNDER RUMBLES

TURNS OFF TAP

DOOR CLOSES, GASPS

GRUNTS

PANTS

BREATHES RAPIDLY

YELLS OUT

ANGUISHED SHRIEK