"What are you trying to do, hypnotise them?" "Here we go." "Okay, gentlemen." "It´s a Jack." "Possible run." "And it´s with you." "30." " I´m out." " Too good for me." "Cover the 30, raise it 50." "Your 50." "And call." "DEALER:" "Two pairs, Jacks and fours." "Close, but no cigar." "How´s that for a hand?" "Jacks and eights." "(GERRY LAUGHING)" "# ´Cause I´m the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo #" "(CLEARING THROAT)" " May I join the table?" " Yeah, I´m game." "As the poacher said when they shot him." "Eyes down for a full house." "We hope." "Jack." "Pair showing." "Possible run, possible flush, possible full house." "It´s with you." "A hundred." "Raise 100 and another two." "Too expensive for me, gentlemen." "Obviously a lot more solvent these days, Gerry." "Let´s hope it´s not solvent abuse, eh?" "300 to you." " When the going gets tough, the tough get..." " Your 200." "And I´ll raise you five." "Raise five." "And another five." "Raise." "Your 500... plus ten grand." "Sorry, what do the tough do?" "Well, I´d call, but I haven´t got it on me." " You good for it?" " Yeah." "Fine." "He´s calling on an IOU." "Good enough for me." "Okay, but without cash on the table, it´s you to show." "Flush." "Ace high." "Full house." "Fours over Jacks." "How´s that for a hand?" "You owe me ten grand." "# It´s all right, it´s okay" "# Doesn´t really matter if you´re old and grey" "# It´s all right, I say, it´s okay" "# Listen to what I say" "# It´s all right, doing fine" "# Doesn´t really matter if the sun don´t shine" "# It´s all right, I say, it´s okay" "# We getting to the end of the day #" "(PEOPLE SHOUTING)" "Ackerman´s an innocent man!" "Ackerman´s an innocent man!" "It wasn´t about the money." "It wasn´t proven." "He never did nothing." "They won´t reopen it." "They´re scared, that´s why." "Because he´s innocent." "It´s getting ugly. "It" being the operative word." " Ackerman´s wife, I take it?" " Yes, the formidable Sylvia." " Why is she protesting here?" " I have no idea." "So what´s it got to do with UCOS?" "Ackerman´s soft furnishing factory burned down in ´96." "All the evidence pointed to Stanley torching it for the insurance." "He got 10 years, despite maintaining his innocence during the trial and ever since." "He´s just been refused parole after seven years inside." "So Sylvia is kicking up merry hell." "This is about legal niceties." "It´s not an unsolved case, is it?" "No." "But it is a public relations nightmare." "So we have to be seen to be doing something ASAP." "Well, we´re buried at the moment." "Clearly." "Is this what´s meant by "rushed off your feet"?" "In here, gentlemen." "So the fire started in the factory kitchen." "Where they found the remains of Stanley´s mobile phone and car keys." " And where was Stanley?" " And here´s the clincher." "Ackerman said that he was having a kip in his office between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m." "And the investigation team say that the fire commenced at eight." "The business was going down the pan." "Classic insurance fraud." "Gerry?" "Sorry, Gerry, am I interrupting something?" "No, I´m with the lads." "Brian and Jack, I agree with what they said." "Now, Sylvia, apparently, is a "publicity carbuncle"" "who has attached herself to our front door, and Strickland wants her cauterised." " Cauterised?" " Removed." "Yes. "Red move, tangled to go. "" "Removed." " Anagram." " I know." "(MOBILE RINGING)" "Hello?" " "Mother´s minor altercation with a dog. "" " Yeah, no, hold on." "BRIAN:" "Seven letters." " Mastiff." " Mastiff." "Very good." "GERRY:" "Ooh!" "What are you doing in a place like this?" "Family business." "Mike employs me to sort out various things." "Here, what were you doing falling for a hand like that?" "What was I doing playing cards with my bookie´s nephew?" ""Being a mug", I think you call it." "Yeah, don´t worry, it´s nothing we can´t sort out." "Cor blimey, Mission Control." "Done all right for himself, hasn´t he?" "This way." "Yeah, okay, that´s fine." "Excellent." "I brought him straight through for you, Michael." " Gerry, good to see you." " Michael." " I´ll leave you to it." " Yeah." "Take a seat." "The last time I sat down with you, cost me ten grand." "Well, your blood pressure´s still running a little high." "I was hoping it was indigestion." "So what I´d like to do is get you fitted with a mobile ECG." "A what?" "Oh, it´s nothing to worry about, Mr Halford." "It´ll check your heart rate and tell us if you´ve got any irregular cardiac rhythms." "We´ll also give you what we call a "lifestyle diary" to fill in." "Measures my lifestyle, does it?" "You just jot down your daily food and calorie intake, exercise taken, and the amount of sleep you get each night." "Or not." "I´m good for the money, I just don´t have it right now, and I wondered if we could work out some sort of payment plan." "(SCOFFING)" "So, what, you see betting as some sort of hire purchase agreement?" "I´ll tell you what." "How about I just tear up this IOU right now?" "Debt cleared." "Debt cleared?" "When I was 14, my father Joe was robbed after a night working Walthamstow dogs." "Two guys jumped him." "They were never caught." "My dad took one punch to the head, fell to the ground dead." "And they got away with the princely sum of 200 quid." "What´s this got to do with me?" " I want you to reopen the case." " I can´t do that." "You work on unsolved crimes." "This crime was never solved." "I don´t do private work." "No one has to know, not even Pete." "It stays in this office." "I´m sorry, I can´t do it." "Well, then you better cough up ten grand." "I told you, I haven´t got it." "What are you gonna do, break my legs?" "That´s not how I work." "Are you blackmailing me?" "You´re a big boy, you took the bet." "I´m just offering you a way out that helps us both." "You knew I was in the Met, didn´t you?" "Saw my opportunity, I took it." "Gerry, I´m asking you to look into a legitimate case." "Peter says you´re straight." "His word´s good enough for me." "Please help me do this." " I´ll have to think about it." " There´s the name you should look at." " Where´s Gerry?" " It doesn´t make sense." "Stanley sets the fire, but manages to leave his mobile phone and car keys behind?" "The fire started quicker than he´d bargained for, and he had to do a runner." " Yeah, I´ll go along with that." " Right." "Gerry, anyone?" "He said he had to look something up in Criminal Intelligence." "She´s practically YTS." "Afternoon." " "Joe Jacobs. "" " Oh, bloody hell!" ""Died September 15, 1983."" "(SHUSHING)" "What are you doing creeping around like that?" ""After receiving a blow to the head"..." "I don´t creep, I glide." "Why are you here?" " Why am I here?" " Yeah." "That´s a big, big question." "(SIGHING)" "Because we´re not all there?" "The small answer is she who must be obeyed requires your presence sharpish." "Oh." "This isn´t the Ackerman case." "What are you doing?" "Hey!" "You´re beginning to sound like Anne Robinson." "What´s with all the questions?" "You ask the big ones, I ask the small ones." "It´s just a different way of working." "Anyway, who says I´m interested?" "No, no." "Brian, Brian." "Ackerman, fraud." "Joe Jacobs, murder." "You´re right." "I´m interested." "You´re obviously very overwrought after such a heavy day." "Pub?" "Ah, we´ll see you there." "We´ve got a couple of things to check on." "Yeah, cross-reference certain references, certain anomalies in the file." "Not Gerry´s normal reaction to the mention of a libation." "Go and do more work." "And the passing of notes?" "Don´t think I didn´t clock that." "The postmortem revealed Joe Jacobs suffered from eggshell skull syndrome." "That´s where somebody has an abnormally thin, eggshell-like skull." "So, it´s one unlucky punch and Goodnight Vienna." "Bad night, Vienna." "A bookie carrying money after the races." "It´s a mugging gone wrong, isn´t it?" "No, Pete Jacobs, Joe´s bigger brother, who you would not mess with, was also there, and he was taking a leak." "When Michael was going through his dad´s books, he found out that Joe owed one George Morton ten grand." "Lot of money 20 years ago." "It´s a lot of money today." "George Morton was a well-known face at the time, a street bookie." "And Joe´s backer." "When a bookie couldn´t handle a bet, he´d go to someone like George Morton and lay it off, cover it." "He was like a bookie´s bank manager." "And Michael Jacobs reckons George was calling in his overdraft?" "Yeah, the only trouble is, at that time," "George was the other side of London, sitting at the bar of the Royal Windsor Hotel." "What are those two up to?" "Aren´t you curious?" "I find my curiosity is slowly ebbing away these days." "I´ve come to realise that the great mysteries of life will always elude us." "This is Gerry and Brian we´re talking about here, Jack, not black holes." "What´s the difference?" "We´re all going to the dogs." "Jack, are you all right?" "What´s the matter?" "Walthamstow dogs." "Why weren´t we invited on the little boys´ night out?" "I´m a boy." "Well, a man." "Grown man, granted, but I can still do boys´ nights out." "Gerry used to keep dogs, didn´t he?" "Why didn´t they invite me?" "Well, you I can understand, but me?" "Oh, not that it´s a gender issue, necessarily." "It´s more an authority, a rank, a status thing." "No, no, no, please don´t stop, just keep digging." "I´m a ball-breaker, is that it?" "(MAN ANNOUNCING RESULTS ON TANNOY)" "Didn´t Michael tell you about this?" "He thinks George Morton had something to do with it." " Nothing was ever proved." " And what do you think?" "Well, it was over 20 years ago." "Why does he wanna drag it all up now?" "Pete, his dad was murdered." "He didn´t go on holiday." "Look, Joe probably did owe George money, but so did a lot of people." "No, it was a mugging gone wrong." "After the races, we did the count-up, cleared the pitch, left the track." "Same routine every night." " What time?" " Midnight." "When we got to the car park, it was empty." "You know, I was only in the loo a few seconds." "When I come out, I saw these two guys running towards a car." "Well, I knew something was up, so I ran over." "Saw Joe on the floor." "Looked at his face." "His eyes was open." "You know, he was smiling." "Like he couldn´t believe it, or, you know, thought it was a joke." "Only it wasn´t." "Well, he´s dead." "I see it every time I come down here." "Every night after the last race, I walk through them gates, there´s my brother on the floor." "Every time." "I wanna just turn the clock back, you know." "But you can´t, can you?" "No, mate." "But I can call time on this, and find out what really happened." "Get you another cuff." "Gerry." "I won." "I won!" "Four races on the trot." " Four?" " Yeah." "I just picked them off the board, random, and I won." "You should be on the telly." "You´re obviously a bleeding expert." "Ah." " Got a tip for me, Gerry?" " What´s up?" "Oh, I´m sorry." "Did you think I was vegetating in front of the television with a cup of cocoa and me slippers on?" " No, Jack." " You haven´t got any slippers." " Then why wasn´t I invited?" " I didn´t think you liked dogs." " We love the dogs." "Top night out." " Oh, yeah." "I lost £15, subjected myself to salmonella from the burger bar, and had something warm and wet masquerading as white wine in a plastic cup." "Welcome to the pleasure dome." "So what are you doing here?" " So what do you think?" " There´s nothing there." "No witnesses apart from Peter Jacobs, who was in the loo anyway and didn´t get a positive identification of the robbers or the car they drove off in." "Yeah, but what about Joe Jacobs?" "He lost his life." " Why are you pushing so hard?" " This is murder." "I mean, with all due respect, this makes Sylvia and Stanley look like Come Dancing." "This is a UCOS case." "I mean, at least can´t we give it a bash?" "After we´ve dislodged Sylvia from our front door." "We could do both." "A bit of extracurricular." "If his teeth come out, I´m off." "Look, I know this world." "There are people I can talk to." "You spoken to this George Morton yet?" "No, without the case being officially reactivated, we haven´t got a leg to stand on." "Okay." "But before I present it to Strickland, I wanna hear what Morton has to say." "Right." "So, how´s the grub?" " Very nice." " Great." " Here, do you want a spare rib, mate?" " No, I´m fine." " Spring roll?" " No, thank you." " Try some of this?" " Boiled rice is fine." "It contains all the fortified vitamins necessary for a balanced diet." "(MOUTHING)" "Do you think they know who we are?" "They certainly know what we are." "Time has been remarkably good to you, George." "This is 20 years old." "I keep meaning to get myself nicked so you can have a new one." "Joe Jacobs." "Ah, you are joking?" "No, ´cause then I´d have a red nose and a hat with a bloody great bell on it." "Meow." "What can I say?" "I talked to you lot 20 years ago, and nothing came of it." "Don´t you want to know what I was up to last night?" "Far more exciting." "Far more, erm, unusual." " What, like a bath?" " Ouch." "I like it." "Deal me out, lads." "Come on." "Anything." "Client lists, records of race meetings that your dad attended on the week of the robbery." "I got rid of most of it." "Just kept this." "Michael, we´ve got absolutely nothing to go on, so anything´s a bonus." " This desk was your dad´s, right?" " How´d you know?" "Well, the roll-top won´t accommodate a computer." "And it doesn´t really fit in with the modern minimalist decor you´ve chosen." "So its only real value is sentimental." "It´s a Chippendale." "These desks were full of hidden compartments containing secret documents and files." "It´s empty." "Is it?" "You´d be surprised what´s in here." "Yeah, I wouldn´t, actually, I´ve had it 10 years." "But do you know it?" "I suspect not." " I suspect you don´t quite realise that..." " What?" "That, just like a computer, you simply need to find a way of hacking in." "I don´t know how he does it, either." "Two years ago, the Antiques Roadshow, they had the exact same desk." "The same one where they had one of Nelson´s teeth, and a stuffed cat belonging to the King of Belgium." ""Bomber Boyo. "" " BRIAN:" "What does that mean?" " In the greyhound racing world, a lot." " Do you remember Shergar?" " Thought that was a horse." "Yeah, well, Bomber Boyo was the dog equivalent." "Greyhound Derby winner." "Kidnapped, never seen again." "Early ´80s." "MICHAEL:" "Yeah, a bit before my time." " GERRY:" "So you haven´t seen this before?" " No, never." "BRIAN:" "What´s this, then?" "MICHAEL:" "It´s a map." "Well, now we´re getting somewhere." "Well, you would." "It´s a map." "You´re being silly." "When Joe got turned over, I was sitting in the Royal Windsor Hotel." " Doing what?" " Meeting a young lady." "A few drinks, a nice meal, sophisticated conversation, and then a bloody good..." "George, you have a record for violence." "ABH, malicious wounding, GBH even." "You´ll understand my being a tad sceptical." "And you´ll understand my record says I´m a lot of things, but not a killer." "We don´t believe that anyone set out to kill Joe, just rob him." "Joe Jacobs owed me ten grand." "Why would I rob him for 200 quid in 50p´s?" " It´s a start." " It´s chump change." "We had a business arrangement." "Earned good money together." "Killing Joe Jacobs would be like shooting the golden goose." "There was no profit in it." "And anyway, I liked him." "Joe was a hoot." "Bomber Boyo." "Champion dog." "Stolen from Hudson´s Kennels, February 1982." "Now, there was no ransom demand and the owners were never contacted." "Most people in the dog racing game believe he was kidnapped and put out to stud." "And that´s what this is." "A stud record." "Now, all the names in there are the bitches that Bomber Boyo covered..." "Got lucky with." "...after he supposedly died." "Now, with this stud record, you can trace the birth dates of all the dogs fathered by Bomber Boyo and make a packet." "I didn´t know there was big money in dog racing." " It´s the same as the nags." " Only smaller." "Okay, okay, but where´s the case?" "Strickland won´t touch it." "What would Joe Jacobs be doing with a stud record, which in itself would be worth a small fortune?" "Are you suggesting he was involved in the kidnapping?" "It gives us a motive." "Joe Jacobs wasn´t whacked for the night´s takings." "It was revenge for Bomber Boyo." "Whatever deal Joe had going went wrong." "Joe was to blame and got punished for it." "Who do we talk to?" "Here´s a list of all the London trainers that were about at the time the dog got nicked." "Why have you circled Emma Winters?" "Worked at Bomber Boyo´s kennels in the early ´80s." "And now one of the top trainers and breeders in the country." "Winner of five Greyhound Derbies." "That´s good, is it?" "Excuse me, Miss Winters." " Oh, do you have a pen?" " Pardon?" "What do you want me to sign?" "Oh, no, no." "No, I´m Gerry Standing, I´m with the Metropolitan Police, UCOS." " Unsolved Crime And Open Case Squad." " I´m sorry." "Dogs don´t have jockeys, so trainers are the nearest punters get to an autograph." " Congratulations, Emma." " Thanks very much." "What can I do for you?" "Got any tips?" "No, no, sorry." "We´re investigating a mugging." " Could you sign this, please?" " Yes, certainly." " Mugging?" " GERRY:" "Yeah." "I´ve been watching your races for years, Emma." "I was wondering if you´d give me a few tips..." "Excuse me, excuse me a minute." "Can we talk about this somewhere quietly?" " Yeah." "Sorry about that." " Sorry, mate, all right?" "When we were going through Joe Jacobs´ possessions, we found a book, and it had the name Bomber Boyo written in it." "Now, you were a kennel maid where he was trained, weren´t you?" " Yeah, it was my first job with a pro trainer." " Yeah?" "Oh, everybody had a theory about Bomber Boyo." "Sold to a breeder in Australia was a big one." "Owner did it for insurance, joined the circus, eaten by a whale." " The truth is, nobody knew." " No." "I had a couple of dogs, years ago." " Any good?" " Well, just for fun, really, but..." "Well, the times we made it to the winner´s enclosure..." " You don´t forget those." " No." "Look, sorry, I have to go." "We´re running in the next race." "Sure." "Well, let me know how you´re getting on." "All sounds very intriguing." "And as for the tip, Perfect Parcel." "He´s running in the 10th." "Perfect Parcel." "Thank you." "Perfect." "I won again." "All right, chaps." "Here, Gerry, do me a favour, will you?" "Take him away." "He´s ruining me." "Ta." "That´s £300." "I don´t like it." " £300?" "What´s not to like?" " It´s the random nature of it." "There´s no rhyme nor reason to it." "It´s just pure, unreconstructed chaos." " It´s called luck." " Yeah, but I mean, this idea that the odds are some sort of a guide has absolutely no validity whatsoever." "There´s no logic, there´s no scientific process." "It´s just random happenstance masquerading as insightful deduction, with an arbitrary nod towards some laughable concept of form and analysis." "Bollocks." " Look, what you going to do, give it back?" " No, it´s mine." "So did Peter say anything about the book?" "Didn´t know anything about it, or Joe´s connection to Bomber Boyo." " What about Emma Winters?" "No joy?" " Not necessarily." "Oh." "Put a tenner on Perfect Parcel." "See how your chaos theory works with that." "Why?" "Where are you going?" "See a man about a dog?" "Woman." "EMMA:" "Mr Standing, I didn´t expect to see you again so soon." "No, well, I realised there were a couple of things I needed to ask you." "Oh, come in." " Cheers." " Cheers." " Your guard dog?" " His bark´s a lot worse than his bite." "Couldn´t do that with a horse, could you?" " Ebbmoor Boy?" " Only ran a couple of times." "Won nothing." " What, and you had him stuffed?" " It was my first dog." "I´m sentimental." "Now, Printers Mate, on the other hand..." "Ah, right. 20-to-1?" "Yeah, my first and biggest Derby winner." " Boney I´s Bits." "What´s that, twelves?" " Yeah." "And Rainy Lows." "Funny thing is she always did come in when it rained." "Oh." "Um... 5-to-2?" " You´ve got some memory for winners." " Yeah, that´s ´cause I never backed them." "So, what´s the secret?" "What´s the trick with champion dogs, eh?" " Tomatoes." " Tomatoes?" "Seriously." "We put a tin of tomatoes in every feed." "Cuts down on the lactic acid build-up in their legs." "They run stronger, longer and faster." "Well, if I ever get another dog, you must give me the recipe." "Why did you give it up?" "Racing?" "Expenses." "Wife and kids came along." "Then divorce, then alimony." "Then more wives, more kids, more divorce." " Busy man, Mr Standing." " Gerry." "Stan deserves parole!" "Stan deserves parole!" "This is the Parole Board report on Stanley Ackerman." "In his interview, he failed on every question." "When asked if he felt remorse for his crime, he said, "No. "" "When asked would he consort with known criminals upon his release, he said, "Probably. "" "But Stanley´s been before enough parole boards to know what to say for an early release." " Yeah." " Tilbury Farm." "That´s the place on Joe Jacobs´ map." "It´s in a village called Tackworth." "Could we please just concentrate on the job in hand?" "The Ackerman case." "Remember, Brian?" "Well, yeah, but this has got an X on it." "You know what that means." "Don´t tell me, "Here be dragons. "" "Guv, when you find a map with an X on it, you are implicitly bound to go to wherever that X is and start digging." "You just have to." " This verges on midnight oil, doesn´t it?" " Well, the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can remove Sylvia from our front door, sir." "SYLVIA:" "Stan deserves parole!" "Stan deserves parole!" "JACK:" "It is always possible that Stanley doesn´t want to be reunited with his lovely wife." "Well, let´s reunite her with something, shall we?" "So, 6 a.m. Start." "Which one of you two´s gonna pick me up?" " So, officially, you´re no longer a copper?" " No, not officially, no." "See, our job is to warm up what we call cold cases and then, with our years of experience and expertise, crack ´em." " Which led you to me?" " Yeah, the job does have some perks." "So, what, am I some kind of suspect?" "We´re looking for two cosh-wielding gorillas." "And luckily, you don´t fit the description." " I don´t have to do an ID parade, then?" " No, I don´t think so." "You don´t need to check my DNA?" "I mean, isn´t that what you do, take tissue samples and process them?" "Yeah, but that´s a very technical and complicated procedure." " How long would it take?" " Me?" "All day and all night." "(MOBILE RINGING)" "Oh, I´m sorry." "What?" "Yeah, hold on, hold on." "Can..." "Where?" "And when are you going to get there?" "Okay, I´ll see you there." "Tackworth?" "Why are you going there?" "We don´t wanna talk shop." "Well, it´s not shop when it´s just up the road." "Oh." "Secret." "Well, I told you mine." "Tomatoes." "Well, actually, we found a map as well." " Map?" "Of what?" " Well, that´s what we´re going to go and find out." "Whoa, no, no, no." "I´m driving." "Well, like I said, it´s only up the road." "SANDRA:" "God, this is unbelievable." "BRIAN:" "Oh, come on, it´s not that bad." "At least it´s not been concreted over and turned into a shopping mall." "I mean, I can´t believe I got up at 5:15 in the morning to run around the bloody countryside." "You should be grateful." "Enjoy active service while you can." "You´re a long time dead." "And on that cheery note..." "No." "Now, you see, that´s unbelievable." " You hate mornings." " The early worm catches the bird." "Okay, so that must mean it´s 28 paces from this tree." "North." "Right." " One..." " Hang on, hang on." " What?" " How do you know they´re the right size?" " Eh?" " The paces." " A pace is a pace." " Fair comment." " It could´ve been paced out by a midget." " Or a man on stilts." " Just get on with it, will you?" " A man on stilts?" "All right." "Go." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 24, 25, 26, 27, 28." "Right, this is it." " You sure?" " Yep." "Okay, I´ll delegate." "Quick." "Bird in charge." "What are you playing at?" "It is the artist´s job to provide work for the artisan." "Anyway, you need the exercise." "Do you good." "I´ll get Old MacDonald to rustle up some tea." "Me and you, then, Gerry." "Come on, look lively." " Aw, I´m gonna ruin these shoes." " Get on with it." "(BOTH GRUNTING)" "(PANTING)" "Brian, please let´s go now." "Hang on, I think I´ve got something." "A bone?" "Human?" "All right, leave it." "We´ll get pathology down." "No, hang on." " Brian, I said to leave it." " It´s a skull." " Alas, poor doggie." " Result." " Bullet hole?" " Not one of yours, is it?" "Well, you have gunned down a few in your time, haven´t you?" "Sandra Pullman." "Jesus, you shoot one bloody dog." "Well, it´s definitely a dog." " Greyhound?" " I´m a pathologist, Gerry, not a vet." "It could be miniature poodle for all I know." "Anyway, the clay in the soil preserved the bones pretty well." "And yes, it was shot." "Shot at close range." " So it´s not a kidnapping anymore." " Dognapping." " It´s murder." " Canicide." "That´s dog murder." "No, you don´t get it, do you?" "The point is we´ve found him." "This is why Joe Jacobs was murdered." "This is Bomber Boyo." ""Is this a new lead, or are the boys in blue merely barking up the wrong tree?" ""Should they be hounded out of the force, or simply sent to the doghouse? "" "Etcetera, etcetera." "Front cover, and a full two pages given over to how the Metropolitan Police deploy its manpower and money." "Digging up a dead dog." "There was a legitimate reason for that search, sir." "What, he was the brains behind Brinks Mat?" " You don´t know it´s Bomber Boyo." " No, but we can find out." "How?" "Get his next of kin to identify him?" "All racing dogs are registered with the NGRC." " The National Geographic Research Commission?" " No, with the National Greyhound Racing Club." "They got a serial number tattooed behind their ear." "We haven´t got any ears." "All we´ve got is bones." " Kathy, we can get DNA from this, can´t we?" " Right." "The NGRC records every racing dog in a registration book." "This ensures that the dog that´s running is the real thing and not a ringer." " A ringer?" " Fake." "Fake." "As an owner, you get one of these with all your dog´s details." "Now, using Joe´s book, we can trace all the dogs that Bomber Boyo sired." "Now, if we trace the dogs, we trace the owners." "And if the DNA from Bomber Boyo matches any of their dogs, they will talk." "Yeah, that´ll work." "In theory." "We found a book." "The book had a map in it." "The map led us to the dog, which we believe to be Bomber Boyo." "So in the hunt for Joe Jacobs´ killers, we´re relying on dead dogs to help us with our enquiries?" "And the Ackerman case?" "I promise you, sir, we´re perfectly capable of dealing with two cases simultaneously." "Well, I wouldn´t take bets on it." "While this rag is hardly the might of the Fourth Estate, it is out there." "And right now, we can do without the publicity." "I want you to clear up this dog mess as quickly and as inexpensively as possible." "How did the local press get hold of it?" "Probably the farmer." "Well worth his while tipping them off." " You all right, Jack?" " Yes, yes, I´m fine." "Look, I´ve just been going through Stanley Ackerman´s accounts." "Did you know he had a flat round the corner from the factory?" " No." " One bedroom." "Cost him 35 grand." "Which he rented out to a Louisa Ballas for nothing." " Nothing?" " Quite." "Now, Miss Ballas worked at Ackerman´s factory until about four months before the fire, when she was suddenly laid off with a very handsome payout, not including the flat." " You don´t get nothing for nothing." " Not so much laid off as laid on." "Do you think that´s where he was when the fire started?" "Well, if he was, he wouldn´t tell the police, otherwise the delightful Sylvia would have killed him." "Right." "I´m going to track down this Michael Jacobs and get this bloody dog thing buried once and for all." "What´ll you do?" "Tail him?" "If my dad had anything to do with Bomber Boyo, my uncle would have told me." " Why would he?" " Because he´s become like a father to me, that´s why." " All families have secrets." " Yeah." "I admit I heard a rumour the bookies snatched Bomber Boyo, but the race world´s full of rumours, all of them rubbish." "I set great store by rumours, Mr Jacobs." "Truth´s lubricant, as it were." "I´m sorry, you´re wasting your time." "You should be looking at George Morton." "We have." "Not only is his alibi rock-solid, it´s also clear that he had no reason to kill your father." "No, what I want to know is what your dad was doing with a book and a map..." "Look, look, I´m sorry, stop." "This isn´t the deal that I had with Gerry." "Deal?" "Three of the dogs in Joe Jacobs´ book were registered with the NGRC." "All with the same trainer, Ray Langton," "Emma Winters´ boss at the time." "He´s let us take blood samples from his dogs, see if they match our dog." "I´ve just been speaking to Michael Jacobs." "That´s nice." "How is he?" "He´s not very pleased with the work we´ve been doing, which isn´t good, seeing as he´s paying for it." "You´ve lost me." "You didn´t take this case because of truth and justice." "You took it because of your ineffable stupidity and a gambling debt!" "What do you want me to say?" "I´m sorry." "I got in too deep." " Strickland´s already pissed off with this case!" " Look, if I could..." "And if he finds out why we took it, it won´t be just a bloody dog that gets a bullet!" "You´re right." "And when you´re right... you´re right." "And you are right." "I messed up big time." "This should be the time when I hand my badge in, but as I´m not a copper anymore... the best I can do is... my Blockbuster´s card." " What?" " Nothing." " When you´re right..." " You´re right." "(CHEERING ON TV)" "(CREAKING)" "Hello." ""Gamblers Anonymous"?" "Just read it first before you bin it, yeah?" "Sandra, Sandra." "Do you wanna come in?" "Okay, thanks." "(SCOFFING)" "I´m not addicted." "I just got in a bit too deep this time, that´s all." "Now you´re repeating yourself." "Try looking at some of these questions, i.e. Number one, has it affected your work?" "I´ll leave you to figure that one out." "Number two, is it having a detrimental effect on your loved ones?" "Shall I go on?" "Why change the habit of a lifetime?" "No, no, no, I´m sorry." " Look, I appreciate this, I really do, but..." " It´s not you, is that it?" "Gerry the boozer, the brawler, the ladies´ man, Gerry the gambler." "Gerry Standing, all-round decent bloke and always there for a good laugh." "You´ve really switched to search and destroy tonight, haven´t you?" "No, otherwise I´d be with Strickland pointing the finger." "What´s stopping you?" "You´re not bad, Gerry." "You´re just not very good." "Oh." "That´s the nicest thing you´ve ever said to me." "Then do something about it." "Blimey, you´re old enough." " And ugly enough?" " Read it." "I made a bad mistake." "I still believe it was a valid UCOS case but my reasons for getting involved were..." "Dodgy." " Thank you, Brian." " You´re welcome." "I understand, as a unit, we can´t have any secrets." "It devalues the efficiency of the team and the validity of any operation we seek to undertake." " Moreover..." " Is this gonna take much longer?" "That´s not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, Jack." "It´s just that I´ve got something I want to get off my chest." "The doctor noticed that I got a spot of high blood pressure." "So, she fitted me with this." "Blimey." "It checks on irregular heartbeat, that sort of thing." "So, now you know." "God, Jack, is it serious?" "No, no." "Just another of those little reminders, like dentures, hearing aids, toupees, hip replacements, bus passes." " You haven´t got any of those." " Touch wood." "You hate the bus." "Well, Gerry´s right." "We work as a team." "I just thought you should know." " Yeah, well, thanks, Jack." " All right." "Any little secrets you wish to share with us?" "(TELEPHONE RINGING)" "Hello?" "So how long you got to wear that for?" "Well, 24 hours a day, for about a week." "Cheers, anyway." "That was Kathy in the labs." "The DNA from all the other dogs doesn´t match the dog in the field." "Book, map, dog." "Haven´t got us anywhere, have they?" "Okay, okay." "Let´s go from the top." "What have we got?" "Man´s best friend aside?" "Michael Jacobs?" "No." "Doesn´t know anything about the book." " Emma Winters?" " No, she doesn´t know anything about the book." " George Morton?" " Doesn´t know anything about the book." "No, hold on, hold on." "The reason he doesn´t know anything about the book is because we hadn´t found it when he was questioned." "No, no, no." "My turn." "Joe was a bookie, but he was also a degenerate gambler." "Shocking." "Always chasing money, having mad ideas how to get it." " Like kidnapping Bomber Boyo?" " Yeah." "Joe had someone on the inside working in the kennels." "Don´t ask me who, I don´t know." "Joe´s idea was to nick the dog, put it out to stud, build up a chain of dogs that only he and a few others knew about." "He was gonna make a fortune." "The night Joe was robbed, he was coming to meet me in the hotel." " What, to give the money back?" " What money?" "Joe didn´t have any money." "This is what he was gonna give me that night." " I got it five years ago." " Who off?" "I bought it off a bloke who bought it off a bloke." "In any case, it´s a load of old fanny." "Not worth the paper it´s written on." "Why didn´t you mention this before?" "Why should I?" "I honestly thought Joe died in a robbery." "Everybody did." "You´re the one telling me that he was killed because of Bomber Boyo." "If I thought these had anything to do with it, you´d have been the first to know." " Was Peter Jacobs involved in nicking the dog?" " Possibly." "Nah, he didn´t have the imagination for a stroke like that." "He was always Joe´s glorified chauffeur." "Right." "Cheers, George." "Listen, what happened to the dog?" "Lord Lucan´s got him." "(MORTON CHUCKLING)" "Pete." "What are you doing here?" "Well, I went round to your house, your wife told me you´d be here." "Two miles, twice a week." "Might even have a pop at the marathon." "Look, this Bomber Boyo thing." "Who was on the inside?" "Joe never told me." "Honest, Gerry." "You know, it was Joe´s deal." "I had nothing to do with it." "I never met her." "Her?" "How do you know it was a her?" "Well, him, her, what the difference does it make?" "I can think of a bloody big one." "Well, ´cause it´s usually girls that work in the kennels, that´s all." "That´s why I said it." "Peter, you´re gonna have to talk to me, mate." "Look, they kept the dog hidden away somewhere." "But it didn´t work out." "Joe told me the dog died a few weeks after they snatched it." "Hey, that´s all I know." "What?" "You gonna nick me for this?" "What, for something your brother did?" "Don´t be stupid." "The marathon´s 26 miles long." "What odds you giving for making it?" "Not good." "Hi, this is Emma Winters." "Sorry I can´t take your call." "Please leave a message." "(BEEPING)" "Oh, hello, it´s Gerry." "Gerry Standing." "Emma, could you phone me as soon as possible, please?" "It´s quite urgent." "Bye." "George Morton told me that Joe Jacobs did snatch Bomber Boyo using someone on the inside." " Who?" " He didn´t know, and nor did Peter Jacobs." "Um, I phoned Tilbury Farm." "Now, the farmer swears blind that he didn´t tip off the local rag." "So whoever did also sent the paper to Strickland to sabotage the case." "I messed up again." "The only other person who knew we had the map and then went on to the dig was Emma Winters." " How come?" " Ask a silly question." "So how do we prove it?" "Test her dogs´ DNA, compare them to Bomber Boyo." "No, Strickland won´t sign off any more budget." "I´m really sorry." "Look." "I´ll happily exchange the results of random chance for the certainties of rigorous scientific analysis." "All right." "Hiya." "Brian Lane." "We´re pretty certain that the dog we found was Bomber Boyo." "Well, that´s fantastic." "What would you like me to do to help?" "We´d like to take DNA samples from your dogs to see if they come from Bomber Boyo´s blood line." "Okay." "Well, I can also provide you with registration books and documentation for all the dogs I´ve owned and trained over the last 10 years." "Would you like to see them?" "I´ve got nothing to hide, Gerry." "Come on." ""Boney I´s Bits. "" ""Printers Mate. "" "Good dog." "Are you coming?" "What are you doing?" "These names, where do they come from?" " The dogs?" "Well, the owners, usually." " What, you?" "Well, as they were mine, yes." "But don´t they normally have some connection with their mums and dads?" "Not necessarily." "But Rainy Lows, Boney I´s Bits, Printers Mate," "I mean, they´re not anything to do with anything, are they?" "Apart from Ebbmoor Boy." "Only that´s not Ebbmoor Boy, is it?" "That´s Bomber Boyo." " Brian, that is Ebbmoor Boy." " No." "That´s an anagram." " Anagram?" " Anagram." "They´re all anagrams, Gerry." "Rainy Lows, Ray Wilson." "Printers Mate, Martin Peters." " Boney I´s Bits..." " Nobby Stiles." "Ebbmoor Boy, Bomber Boyo." " Bobby Moore." " Bobby Moore." "BRIAN: 1966 World Cup squad." "A bit mangy, not quite the dog he was 20 years ago, but who is?" "And now we do have his ears." "You got another dog." "A ringer." "You shot it, you buried it, and you said it was Bomber Boyo." "It´s only a dog." "This isn´t about bloody dogs, this is about murder." "I think you´d better start taking this seriously, Miss Winters." "Yeah." "Look, I told Joe the dog had a gastric torsion." "It happens with greyhounds, they have to be put down immediately." "I gave Joe a map to show where I buried him just in case he needed proof." "But he trusted me." "Probably thought a young girl couldn´t outsmart him." "You don´t often beat the bookies, but I did." "So you built your whole business on the back of Bomber Boyo." "Yeah." "But that´s all." "I never had anyone kill Joe, I didn´t need to." " Did Peter Jacobs know you were involved?" " Well, I don´t know." "I do know that Joe couldn´t drive, so they were together pretty much all the time." " Look, this could ruin me." " One good turn deserves another." "You went to the press." "Then you sent the paper to my boss." "I was just trying to protect my livelihood." "Yeah, likewise." "Right under me bloody nose." "I mean, what was I on?" "She must be having a right laugh now." "Humawatag." " What?" " Anagram." "What a mug." "Yeah, and there´s one born every minute." "BRIAN:" "Peter Jacobs was right about one thing." "There wouldn´t have been any other witnesses around at the time." "It´s empty." "Now, Joe Jacobs´ car was parked over there." "So the robbers were parked here, waiting for Joe and Peter to come up there." "Yeah, but only Joe made it to the car ´cause Peter... was having a Jimmy Riddle in here." "Locked." "Now, at midnight, this place is deserted." "Everything´d be locked up, wouldn´t it?" "Including the loos." "The toilets are locked, Brian." "They´re locked." "It doesn´t mean they were then." "Do you wanna bet?" "He´s been lying to us." " Who has?" " You." "You said you were in the bog at the time of the mugging." "After midnight, right?" "That´s right." "Yeah, but the toilets you said you used aren´t open." "Well, I don´t know, Gerry, it was 20 odd years ago." "What difference does it make?" "The same difference as knowing that Joe´s inside man at the kennels was a girl." "Now, come on, Pete, what happened?" "Did you just lose your temper and give him a whack?" "No." "Gerry..." " Well, where were you, then?" " Look, I told you where I was." "Nobody´s saying you meant to kill him." "Look, I never laid a finger on him." "He was my own brother, for Christ´s sakes." "Bookmakers´ pitches are handed down from father to son, aren´t they?" "What some people might call dead men´s shoes." "Yeah, so what?" "Well, you were the elder brother, but your dad entrusted the business to Joe." "You were overlooked, weren´t you, Peter?" "You were passed over because your dad knew that Joe was the one with the brains in the family." " You just did his driving." " It wasn´t like that." "Yeah, you were his chauffeur." "His gopher." "No, no, I´m my own man." "My own man." "Nobody better than me." "Nobody." "All right, easy." "Easy, easy." "Take it easy." " SANDRA:" "What are the odds he did it?" " Odds on." " Aren´t you going in?" " No, not yet." "He´s Gerry´s bookie, not mine." "You know what Joe was like." "Always on the make, taking people in." "He told me Bomber Boyo died of some disease." "Then about a year later, I heard whispers." "Joe had these books and he was handing them out for the right price." "I realised Joe had cut me out of the deal." "So you took revenge?" "I never laid a finger on him, I swear." "Then who did?" "Just a couple of guys who did that type of work." "I knew Joe was gonna meet George Morton and give him one of the books." "I told them they could have the cash in the bag." "All I wanted was the book." "When I saw it go down..." "They hardly touched him." "I never meant for it to happen." "He should have treated me better." "I was his brother, his older brother." "He should´ve..." "He should´ve showed just a little bit of respect." "Joe didn´t rip him off." "Emma Winters did." "And the books Joe sold were worthless." "Joe made them up... then when he needed a few quid, he´d sell them to any idiot who wanted to make some easy money." "Look, do you want me to call you a lawyer?" "No." "Call Michael." "I want to talk to Michael." "That dog´s caused more aggravation than the hound of the Baskervilles." "I don´t know what you´re worried about, I´ve lost me bleeding bookie." "You should be grateful." "Anyway, you don´t gamble anymore, do you?" "Emma had her good points, though." "Please." " Well, come on, I´m allowed one vice, aren´t I?" " Yeah, being wrong." " Gerry." " Hello, Michael." "Look, I´m sorry, it´s not really the result you wanted, is it?" "Well, I´d heard plenty of stories about my dad." "The old boys down the track would tell me of some of the strokes that he´d pulled." "I used to think they were funny." "No, the world I work in now is different." "It´s not the one my old man knew, it´s not as..." " Colourful?" " Yeah." "Listen, come on, I´ll take you to see Peter." "No, no." "I just came to give you this." "I always honour an agreement." "Debt cleared." "Look, I think Peter really needs to talk to you." "I´m not interested." "Let my husband go!" "Let my Stan come home!" "Let my husband go!" "Stanley Ackerman couldn´t give an alibi because he was round at his girlfriend´s flat at the time of the fire." "Which wouldn´t have gone down too well with the lovely Sylvia." "And if Stanley, a renowned fraudster, had set the fire to claim the insurance, then he would have an alibi set up." "Let my Stanley come home!" "BRIAN:" "What do you think, Gerry?" " What?" " The case." " The Ackerman case?" " Oh." "Now, Stanley left the factory for a bit of the other, right?" " Right." " But he forgot his mobile phone." "So when he gets to his girlfriend´s flat, he realises he can´t find it." "So he dials the number." "Like you do when you lose your phone." "Now, the fire started in the kitchen area and he´d left the gas on." "The phone rings, ignites the gas." "Well, it´s like when you turn on a light bulb." "When a mobile phone rings, it can spark electricity." "That´s why you get all these notices telling you not to use them near petrol pumps and stuff." "So the call sparks the phone, the spark ignites the gas." "Well, it´s obvious, isn´t it?" "You clever boy." "Well, thank... (SYLVIA SHOUTING)" "Well, seeing as how Stanley´s an innocent man, shall we give him a break and not put forward Gerry´s theory, let him stop inside?" "It would be the humane thing to do." "I can´t handle that for the next two years." "How..." "How did you work all that out?" "Well, it´s like you and Bobby Moore and co." "Just needed a fresh pair of eyes." "Otherwise, it´s all banal, or anal ball." "What are you talking about?" " Alan Ball." " You got it." "Football." "Can I ask you something?" "You know the offside rule?" "# It´s all right, it´s okay" "# Doesn´t really matter if you´re old and grey" "# It´s all right, I say, it´s okay" "# Listen to what I say" "# It´s all right, doing fine" "# Doesn´t really matter if the sun don´t shine" "# It´s all right, I say, it´s okay" "# We´re getting to the end of the day" "# High tech, low tech, take your pick" "# ´Cause you can´t teach an old dog a brand new trick" "# I don´t care what anybody says" "#At the end of the day #"