"Bogart at the end of Casablanca." "No, he doesn't die." "His motive's still pure." "Pure-ish!" "Jimmy Cagney, at the end of Angels With Dirty Faces." "No." "Come on!" "Pat O'Brien asks him to scream." "He says, "Don't do this to me, Father." "Don't take away the only thing I have left. "" "He screams because he's frightened." "No, no." "He wants them to think he's frightened, right, so they don't copy him and end up on death row." "He's a Catholic." "So what?" "." "About to die." "Heaven and hell." "It could be true." "OK." "So, it's a million-to-one against." "So, he does what the priest asks him, cos it's his only chance left." "Impure motive." "He does it to save his own skin." "God!" "My all-time favourite movie, and you've just ruined it for me." "Aaaarghh!" "It's Julie." "Are you in bed?" "." "Tim's there, isn't he?" "." "Has he left?" "." "He said he was going to yours yesterday." "He never got there." "I'll phone you back." "He'll be all right." "Police." "I'll tell you, if Cagney's in hell, he's watching British movies." "You dirty rat." "Room With A View yet again?" "." "You dirty rat." "Where's Eddie G?" "." "Where's Bogart?" "." "Sleep in our bed tonight, Fitz." "Please." "Evens, spades;, six to four, hearts;, five to one, clubs and diamonds." "Any more bets?" "." "Yeah. 600 to four, hearts." "Diamonds win." "No." "A mistake." "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "If it's any consolation, you very nearly got away with it." "It was a mistake." "You owe me a grand." "Aaaarghh!" "Oh, Jesus Christ!" "He didn't take a coat." "He had no money." "His dad's less than a mile away, and he never got there." "He hasn't been seen since last night." "Tim!" "Tim!" "Tim!" "Tim!" "Tim!" "Tim!" "Tim!" "You didn't think ofringing to see that he'd arrived?" "." "He often goes round to his dad's." "Can you remember what he was wearing?" "." "Trainers, black denims, long-sleeved T-shirt." "It was the last thing I said to him, actually." "I said, "You're not going out in that." "Put your coat on. "" "Police?" "." "Yeah." "Any news?" "." "It's my husband." "I don't live here." "We're separated." "I'm DCl Bilborough." "This is DS Penhaligon." "A DCl?" "." "Oh, Jesus." "They think he's dead." "Sir!" "Sir!" "Mrs Lang, what size shoe did he take?" "." "Did he take?" "." "Does he take." "Seven." "Seven." "Slip of the tongue." "Thanks for being so understanding!" "Yeah?" "." "Right." "They've found a seven." "I'll tell them." "It means nothing, Andy." "It means nothing!" "There could be a perfectly innocent explanation for this, Mrs Lang." "Get Fitz." "We don't know he's dead." "Missing two days." "Didn't take a coat or any money." "And we've found his shoe." "Do you think he's alive?" "." "It speaks volumes about a person," "Panhandle, the way they suck a sherbet lemon." "Me, I'm a cruncher." "I like to pop 'em in." "Crunch." "An explosion of sherbet." "Instant gratification." "Judith is a roller." "She likes to roll 'em around her mouth for ages." "Noisily." "You see, as a child, she got more pleasure out of making the other kids jealous than she did out of the sweetie itself." "I think you're probably a sucker." "Am I right?" "I think you probably like to make it last." "Yeah." "I bet you could suck that sherbet lemon wafer-thin before you got even a hint of sherbet." "Yeah." "Thus indicating a massive guilt complex." "Stay in the car, Jane." "I want to know why they're separated, and why they didn't report it for 24 hours." "Looks like the brother's hiding something, too." "My wife's in labour." "Looks like the kid's dead, but don't tell 'em that, OK?" "." "Did you choose Tim's trainers?" "." "He chose them." "Does he have any friends?" "." "Of course he's got friends!" "Would you wear these?" "." "Wouldn't be seen dead in 'em." "Cos your mates would give you stick?" "." "Yeah." "Tim hasn't got any mates." "Greg Stephens." "Greg Stephens is a mental retard." "Did you have a row with Tim recently?" "." "Not recently, no." "Why didn't you phone when he didn't arrive?" "." "I wasn't expecting him." "Look, we feel bad enough." "Don't make it worse, OK?" "." "I'm sorry." "Did you have a row with Tim recently?" "." "Look, he hasn't run away." "He's got no money." "He left his books - poetry." "It's a load of crap." "If he was running away, he'd have took them with him, so he hasn't run away." "Mmm." "Would you mind if I had a look round his room?" "." "This is my room." "Yeah." "Reminds me of my son." "The unmistakeable whiff of smelly feet." "You know, at Christmas, he doesn't hang his sock up - he just stands it up." "Finished?" "." "Yeah." "False alarm." "Jesus!" "Thank you." "I'm sorry." "Hey, hey." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "You keep your mother out of your room - yeah?" "." "Yeah." "But Tim lets her in here?" "." "Yeah." "Phew!" "When I was his age, I was into Biggles!" "Who's his English teacher?" "." "You think he's dead?" "." "In confidence?" "." "Yeah." "We fear the worst." "Saves me doing it to the kids." "The art of teaching today: just keeping your hands off the little bastards." "How's his mother handling it?" "." "She fears the worst, too." "Do you know Tim well?" "." "Hardly know him at all." "Bit of a loner." "Bit effeminate." "Gets picked on." "Do you live alone?" "." "At the moment, yeah." "I'm thinking about getting married." "To somebody on the staff?" "." "Yeah." "If you're watching this, Tim... please phone." "Whatever it is, whatever you've done, whatever you're running away from... we can sort it out." "If somebody's holding Tim..." "If anybody watching this is holding Tim..." "If anybody watching this is holding Tim..." "If anybody's... holding Tim..." "I'm sorry." "If anybody watching this has any information..." "Police." "...or any information that may be relevant, please contact your local..." "It's really important you tell me." "Keep her talking." "You wouldn't find this place unless you knew it." "Come on, boys." "You squeeze through a hedge." "Couples use it." "Could you show us it?" "." "No." "I'm married." "The man I was with is married." "Yeah?" "." "She's ringing from home." "Police." "I'll tell them." "Are you sure?" "." "Yeah." "You've found him?" "." " Shall we go in there?" "." "Mr Lang..." "I'm afraid it's very bad news." "He's dead?" "." "I'm so sorry." "How?" "." "He was found hanging." "He didn't kill himself." "My son..." "It's early days yet." "...did not kill himself." "My son did not kill himself." "It's very early days yet." "I'm sorry." "It's all right." "It's not all right." " It is." "It's all right." "It's not all right." "It's not all bloody right." "Will you stop patronising me, right?" "." "Right." "I thought you were a gobshite in there, sir." "Withholding his name is a criminal offence." "What's his name?" "." "He's got a wife and three kids." "What's his name?" "." "Did you have sex?" "." "Mrs Perry, we've got Forensic at the scene." "If they find anything, they'll want to know whether your boyfriend left it or anyone else." "You understand how important that is?" "." "Yes." "Did you have sex?" "." "No." "So, what's his name?" "." "I'm not going to tell you his name." "Here she is, Little Red bleedin' Riding Hood." "I'm handling it." "I'm going round to your old man right now to tell him what you've been up to." "Let me handle it." "I'll find out who this fancy man is, and tell his missus." "He's got three kids." " Everything." "Every bloody thing." "Three kids?" "." "His kids are still alive, aren't they?" "." "We're talking about the death of a child, OK?" "." "And you've got the cheek to fart around, wasting our time!" "I want her banged up." "Bang her up right now." "Bang her up and throw away the key!" "Wasting our time, withholding evidence!" "Right?" "." "OK." "Francis Bates, 81 Greenside Park." "Did you get hold of Path?" "." "He'll be an hour." "He's at a fancy-dress party." "Francis Bates..." "I heard." "Go and pick him up, the pair of you." "Then get Fitz." "I want him with us." "Boss..." "No offence, right?" "." "Right." "It's getting so we can't shit without Fitz." "From the bank." "God!" "His grammar is atrocious." "Your economics is worse." "I know people who owe more than this." "Robert Maxwell, maybe." "Well, we've got bigger problems than that, haven't we?" "." "Such as?" "." "Do you know you use up more calories eating celery than the stuff actually provides?" "." "Such as our marriage." "Well, I want to solve those problems, Fitz." "You don't." "You like crisis." "Gives you an excuse to drink and gamble." "Take away the crisis, you take away the excuse." "Bullshit." "Bullshit as in "I can't think of an answer right now, so I'll just pretend it's all beneath me"?" "." "Ten minutes." "Hello?" "." "Ten minutes." "Right." "Right." "I'm going to have to lay it on the line." "You don't have the right to lay anything on the line." "And that puts you in a very powerful position, doesn't it?" "." "I was wrong, so I've got to suffer in silence." "No." "I don't want half a relationship." "I want us to sleep together." "I want sex." "I like sex, for God's sake." "Yeah, we know that." "Naughty Fitz!" "You're supposed to be mature." "House-trained." "You should be able to talk this through like a rational human being." "Well, I'm not a rational human being." "I'm blazing." "I'd like to cut that bastard's balls off!" "Glass ofwine, dear?" "." "Shit." "I can give you ten minutes." "Look..." "I'm a psychologist." "I can help" "This way." "How was Moscow?" "." "You've dragged me down here for this?" "." "We think it's murder." " You think it's murder?" "." "What's this?" "." "And this?" "." "Breaks in lividity." "Caused by?" "." "Pressure." "He was left face down after he died." "Bruises to the front and sides of the throat." "None whatsoever at the back." "He's been strangled, left face down, and then strung up." "He's been dead about 72 hours." "Thank you." "And you're a DCl?" "." "I knew it was murder." "I wanted it confirming." "You've confirmed it." "Thank you." "You can get along to your party now." "What are you going as?" "." "A man jogging." "That's all." "Your girlfriend didn't mention a jogger." "She was in the car." "I was having a pee." "Can you describe him?" "." "30-odd." "Average height." "It was dark." "Nothing else?" "." "Tracksuit top with a hood." "I got back into the car, and we started to mess around." "She took off." "I chased her for a bit." "Chased her?" "." "She likes that kind of thing." "What kind of thing?" "." "Rough." "We were just about to..." "We were just about to start, when we saw it." "A 13-year-old boy." "I didn't know who it was, or how old he was." "We just ran." "You left a 13-year-old boy swinging from a tree." "She's married." "I'm married." "I've got kids." "You could have phoned anonymously." "We did." "She did. 12 hours later." "You left his parents clutching at straws for 12 hours." "If it had been left up to you, you wouldn't have phoned at all." "Your missus finding out about your bit on the side means more to you than a child's death." "For Christ's sake, what kind of a man are you?" "." "Hey, hey, hey..." "He could have been alive." "Didn't that enter your head?" "." "He could have been alive." "You could have saved him!" "We've got what we want." "All right?" "." "It's human nature." "If a child's in trouble, you don't go away from him." "You go to him!" "Human bloody nature!" "Otherwise, you're not a human." "You're some kind of bloody animal." "Boss..." "We were there." "We were there, waiting with them." "You tosspot!" "You prick!" "You bloody animal!" "12 bloody hours, and then they told." "You prick!" "You..." "We don't do a thing until the full postmortem." "Then we say it's murder, stick the family on telly..." "I'd like to speak to them first, please." "I'm talking." "Appeal to this jogger to come forward." "Meanwhile, talk to every kid in the school." "What do you think?" "." " I think you should go home." "I'd like to look round the house in the morning." "The family have been through enough." "You're putting them on the telly" " is that some sort of relaxation therapy?" "." "They like going on the telly." "It's a comfort for them, isn't it?" "." "Seeing themselves on telly." "Can I speak to you a minute?" "." "Shut it." "Don't you ever do that to me again." "Do what?" "." "Suggest that my private life's interfering with my work." "I've seen you in tears, sobbing your bloody eyes out, and I didn't say it to you, so how dare you say it to me?" "." "I am sorry." "I'll ring her in a minute, see how she's doing." "All right." "We're not sleeping - that's why..." "She's a week overdue." "Her blood pressure's up and down every minute." "They wanted to take her in and induce it, but she wanted it natural." ""Natural" means up every half-hour for a piss, every hour for cramp, every two hours waiting for contractions." "I said to the nurse, "Take me in." "She's only having a baby" " I'm having kittens. "" "Have you got a minute, Andy?" "." "Well, what do you want, Andy?" "." "Andy!" "What are you doing, bursting into my classroom?" "." "Come here!" "Get him off!" "Get him off!" "For Christ's sake, get him off!" "What do you think you're doing?" "." "What good can that possibly do?" "." "Now, calm down." "All right?" "." "You knew what was going on." "You did nothing." "You did nothing!" "It's down to you, Cassidy." "You and every teacher in this shit-hole." "You knew what was going on." "You did nothing." "He trusted you." "He told you everything." "You never lifted a finger." "You want the truth?" "." "You'll despise the truth." "You would have preferred it to have been suicide?" "." "He were always a victim." "Murder - he's a victim to the end." "Suicide - well, that's some sort of choice he's made." "Some sort of courage he's shown." "I didn't hope." "I didn't pray." "I knew." "I knew it wouldn't be suicide." "Because suicide's a bomb under the kitchen table, every member of the family cut to pieces." "He wouldn't do that to you." "He loved me." "Have you got a son?" "." "Yeah. 18." "18 years old." "Not 18 sons!" "You'll know, then." "Your son's born." "One day you'll watch him play football for t'school take him to Old Trafford buy him his first pint." "Not Andy." "Anything I wanted, he did the opposite." "But that were OK, cos Tim were born." "I'd do it all wi' Tim." "Tim turned out to be a girl." "Guilt." "They told me it was murder." "I felt relieved." "The blame lay somewhere else." "I didn't think about Tim, what he went through." "I do now, but... then, when they told me the moment they told me I didn't think about... his pain and his fear." "I just felt relief." "Guilt?" "." "I wanted a crisis." "We rowed over Tim." "We separated over Tim." "Just give me a nice little crisis, I thought and I'll go back and sort everything out, and everything'll be OK." "Together again." "Well, I've got my crisis." "There's always guilt." "I've spoken to dozens of parents who've lost their children." "They've all been blameless." "They've all felt guilt." ""If only we'd said this." "If only we'd done that. "" "If only you'd made Tim wear his coat, and delayed him by two minutes, by two seconds... he would never have been at that place at that time." "He would never have met his killer." "May I read you something?" "." "It's a father talking." ""She was young, vulnerable." "Pictures used to flash before my eyes - my daughter lying dead in a ditch." "I told myself all fathers thought that way." "All fathers saw these pictures." "But then it happened." "It's as if I willed it to happen." "I saw those pictures in my mind, and I willed it to happen." "You know just what he means, don't you?" "." "Well, guilt soon goes." "Grief remains." "But grief is your friend." "It lets you mourn, remember, cry." "If you want my autograph, you can form a line." "All right?" "." "This is the brother of the victim?" "." "Yeah, right." "Thanks." "What's your name, son?" "." "Tom Rope." "And your address?" ". -145 Huntley Road, Hulme." "Come here!" "Get him off me!" "I want a word with him." "I just want a word with the little bastard!" "Put him in a cell!" "Number three." "Shit-head!" "Yeah?" "." "I'm gonna put you in a cell with Andy." "Right?" "." "Just the two of you!" "I didn't mean it, right?" "." "I was lying." "You picked on Tim for years." "Now you can show his big brother how it's done." "I'm scared of him, OK?" "." "All right?" "." "Shut up." "Shut up!" "You're a big bully, aren't you?" "." "Yeah." "And a coward." "Yeah." ""I give this heavy weight from off my head and this unwieldy sceptre from my hand the pride of kingly sway from out my heart." "With mine own tears, I wash away my balm." "With mine own hands I give away my crown with mine own tongue... "" "No!" "In the car." "Why did you go for those boys?" "." "Look, I've already told him why." "Tell me." "They used to pick on Tim." "Tim asked for your help, didn't he, Andy?" "." "But you didn't give him any." "Now he's dead, you feel guilty." "Look, it was happening in school." "His teachers there - you know what I mean?" "They should have done something." "And they didn't?" "." "No." "You're lying." "Look, Cassidy had a word." "Gobshites like that don't understand a word." "Why didn't you do something?" "." "I've told you - it was happening in school!" "The teachers should..." "Bzzz." "Lie." "Look, it's their fault." "They should sort it out." "Bzzz." "Lie." "It's not my responsibility." "Bzzz." "Lie." "Piss off!" "Excuse me." "I've just left your mother." "Ifyou'd helped Tim, you might have saved her some of that pain." "Don't tell me you don't feel guilty about her broken heart and grief." "Look, I've got mates." "They took the piss out of Tim all the time." "He was a little faggot." "Are you saying I should have stood up for Tim against my own mates?" "." "Yes." "Well, that's bollocks!" "All right?" "." "Yeah?" "." "Tell me everything you know about Mr Cassidy." "This morning, with Mr and Mrs Lang..." "Yeah?" "." "I thought you were brilliant." "You should hear my pillow talk." "Are you OK?" "." "No, I'm afraid of heights." "That's a lie." "Nobody's afraid of heights." "They're really afraid of themselves, what they might do." "If I do survive this, will you let me take you out and get you pissed, and make a pathetic attempt to seduce you?" "." "Stay away from me." "I will." "If you come near me, I'll jump." "I'd much sooner jump in my own time, so please stay away from me." "OK." "40 or 50 feet's enough, you know." "Why so high?" "." "Too much time to think." "You might change your mind halfway down." "Lemmings." "We laugh at lemmings for throwing themselves off cliffs, but I have a suspicion that the lemmings will have the last laugh... because one day..." "What's your first name, by the way?" "." "Nigel." "Nigel!" "God, I'd be suicidal." "One day, Nigel, a lemming will fly." "Tim Lang didn't kill himself." "He was murdered." "Pigeons did it, you know, millions ofyears ago." "Threw themselves off cliffs." "Millions of pigeons over thousands and thousands of years." "Thudding, dead, to the ground." "And then, one day, a pigeon flapped, and it didn't hit the ground quite so hard." "And then, the day after that one of them flew because it followed its instincts, Nigel." "Man suppressed that instinct, which is why man will never fly, Nigel." "Come on." "Let's do it." "Come on." "Let's follow our instincts." "Let's fly." "I'm gonna do it." "Come on - you do it." "Come with me." "Top of the world, Ma!" "For Christ's sake!" "For Christ's sake!" "You asked about his mother." " "How's his mother handling it?" "."" "Yes." "His mother, not his parents." "Well, his parents have split up." "How did you know that?" "." "I taught him." "Yeah, well, you've taught hundreds of kids." "Did you know all their family backgrounds that well?" "." "No." "So, you knew Tim particularly well?" "." "Yeah." "Yeah." "So, why did you lie to me?" "." "Huh?" "." "I found a book of Wilfred Owen in Tim's room." "Did you give that to him?" "." "Erm..." "I might have done." "Oh, come on!" "You give a book of poetry to a 13-year-old boy?" "That's intimate." "You would remember that." "Look..." "I did a stupid thing." "I'm sorry." "I'm a bit depressed and a bit drunk." "If you're going to charge me, then charge me, but I won't answer more questions about Tim." "What shall we charge you with?" "." "Well, I don't know." "Anything." "Trespass." "Wasting police time." "I don't know." "Murder?" "." "You like to keep fit." "Yeah." "Burn off that anger." "Stops you taking it out on the kids." "I was joking." "Do you jog?" "." "Yes." "Were you jogging three nights ago?" "." "Erm..." "Were you jogging three nights ago?" "." "No." "Where were you?" "." "At home." "Alone?" "." "My girlfriend..." "she was with me." "Do you believe him?" "." "No." "She thinks you killed Tim." "I didn't." " Mm-hm." "I asked you if you lived alone." "Do you remember that?" "." "Yes. "But I'm thinking of getting married. "" "It's true." "I am thinking of getting married." "Yeah, but why articulate it?" "." "Huh?" "." "A simple yes or no would have been enough, unless you think something's implied by living alone." "Such as?" "." "You said, "I was at home with my girlfriend", not "I was at home with Jo or Leslie or Sammy. "" "You said, "I was at home with my girlfriend. "" "What is your girlfriend's name, by the way?" "." "Leslie." "Leslie!" "How did I guess?" "." "I've no idea." "You wouldn't say, "I was at home with Leslie", because..." "Leslie could be a man, and that's the very last thing you'd want anyone to think." "Right?" "." "You think I'm gay." "No." "No, you think you're gay." "Ah!" "Super-sleuth." "Do you know, this man can fill in a Sun crossword in under three days." "I'd like you to accompany me to the station." "We'll bring him in." "The boss said..." "No." "We'll bring him in." "You're gonna wish you'd jumped." "I think that's understandable" " wanting to know what the police are doing." "I can understand how you're all feeling, but I'd like you all to go home." "We pay your wages." "Right?" "." "We got kids - they play in the woods." "We want to know what the bloody hell you're doing about it!" "A bit of information." "Understand?" "." "Do that once more, and I'll have you arrested." "Oh, yeah?" "." "The bloody press know more than me!" "My son's been killed." "I'm getting information off the press - that's not right." "Just let me through, all right?" "." "All right, all right!" "We've picked up a shirt-lifter." "Who is he?" "." "We're bringing him in." "Oh, great." "Where does he live?" "." "Jesus Christ!" "Die!" "Die!" "Escort three to control." "Request urgent assistance." "Repeat: urgent assistance!" "We're outside the station, surrounded by a hostile crowd." "Die!" "Die!" "Oh, Christ!" "Die!" "Die!" "Oh, for Christ's sake!" " Repeat: urgent assistance!"