"Dad?" "It's four minutes past six." "Oh!" "Nobs' game." "Invented in a London prison." "Only a nob could know that." "Score?" "I wasn't counting." "Oh, you're a rotten liar!" "8-1." "Thank you." "Serve." "Agh!" "Are you all right, sir?" "Beatrice Donnelly." "Sir..." "I'm her father." "Beatrice." "Oh, my sweet girl." "We've been out of our minds." "Where were you?" "What?" "Where were you?" "Carlita." "Mrs Donnelly." "Hello, I'll take over from here." "It's just a precaution." "It shouldn't take long." "Then what?" "You might be more comfortable in the waiting room down the corridor." "Mr Lewis?" "Yeah." "If they ask..." "I know." "Do not resuscitate." "I was going to say "two sugars"." "Have you no manners at all?" "Sir." "Sir!" "We're decent people here." "We're decent people." "So your daughter didn't come home last night?" "She was at a party with her friends in Wolverhampton." "Please - he's just upset." "Is she still at school?" "She's doing her A levels next summer." "Right." "Yeah." "She stood in the kitchen - she said to me..." "Let's not jump to conclusions until we've got all the facts." "She might just have wandered off." "They do that?" "It wouldn't be the first time." "We're all in such a hurry." "I try and be a good father." "End up like some traffic cop, flagging her down every 10 seconds." "I'd take away her licence if I could." "Shall we go somewhere a bit quieter?" "Tell me." "If we could just move into my office." "Just tell me." "I'm afraid we've found a sedative called Duprinex in her bloodstream." "Plus some evidence of sexual activity." "God!" "Oh, God." "I had money for a taxi, but then I got this text." "What did it say?" "From Dad." ""I'm coming to get you." "Meet me out front, 10 o'clock."" "What?" "So I went outside and waited." "And there was this open bottle of champagne." "By the gate." "And there was a note on it." ""For Bea." "Love, Dad."" "I guess I took a couple of swigs." "I mean, I don't even like champagne." "And then..." "You woke up." "By the river." "I was calling your name." "I never texted you." "How could I?" "You tried teaching me yourself, you know I'm no good with that stuff." "No ex-boyfriends crawling around." "So she said." "Still, plenty of forensic." "DNA on the picnic rug and fibres from his clothing." "Plus the sedative." "I'll lean on the surgeries." "Duprinex." "I know that one." "I didn't have you down as a pill-popper." "A quack recommended it after... ..after I lost Val." "What did they say?" "Some sort of muscular spasm in my back, apparently." "Anti-inflammatories." "And I have to buy an orthopaedic mattress." "I'll put you onto the website - 24 hour delivery, perfectly painless." "A bit to the left, don't you think?" "It's only me." "Catch the light?" "I take it you've heard?" "We've been granted city status." "The world's first green city." "Ooh, we'd better start building, then!" "Well done, everybody." "Let's get to work." "Sir?" "Yeah." "A list of people prescribed Duprinex in the Oxford area." "Oswald Cooper." "Has he got a record?" "No." "But guess where he works?" "Beatrice is a sixth former." "Year 13, sir." "And Cooper is one of the support staff." "Whatever that means." "We could pass our lives at Oxford without wanting any other idea." "That of the place is enough." "We are admitted into a temple of fame." "We feel that we are in a sanctuary." "On holy ground." "Also, the beer's cheap and the food's half-decent!" "I can see a few sceptical faces out there." "The truth is, I'm not actually here to defend the catering." "My message on behalf of the university is simply this - don't write us off, don't dismiss us, because, despite rumours to the contrary, we have heard of the 21st century." "Trust me - some dons spend more time on YouTube than in the Bodleian." "So come along, have a chat." "And see for yourself." "Thank you." "Mr Cooper?" "Excuse me, sir - do they do media studies there?" "I'm a lousy sleeper, so Duprinex, you know, is a kind of last resort." "Would you like some water?" "Not for me, thank you." "You're not going to charge me with criminal insomnia, surely!" "We're talking to everyone who's prescribed the medication." "Oh, I don't envy you that task." "There must be hundreds in Oxford alone." "Not with links to the school, sir." "We're investigating an assault on one of the pupils." "Oh." "Oh, dear." "Would you mind telling me what your work is here, sir?" "Ah...technical support." "Meaning?" "Well, kind of resident nerd, really." "Anything from IT support to son et lumiere in the sports hall." "Can you account for your movements last night?" "Er..." "I had a supper party back at the flat." "All male - hence the headache." "Drink flat cola, one of my students recommends." "It's not quite my style, I'm afraid." "Your guests can verify that?" "Oh, yes." "And you'll be wanting names?" "Please." "Well, it's Lord Adebayou of Coxbury." "Danny Adebayou?" "That's him." "He's an old student." "Ditto Gavin Matthews, from the radio." "And... ..oh, there he is, he's here." "Our visiting speaker." "Ashton!" "Would you come here a moment?" "You'll vouch for me for last night." "Hello." "Simon Ashton." "Sergeant Hathaway." "Inspector Lewis." "Why, what happened last night?" "We're investigating an assault on one of the pupils." "Nothing serious, I hope?" "I gather you spent the evening with Mr Cooper?" "We had dinner." "Yes - game, actually." "Very seasonal." "Until what time was that?" "I suppose until round about 10." "I had to be up early to prepare for today." "If that's all?" "Thank you for your help." "Yes - thank you, Simon." "I heard there'd been some kind of trouble with one of the girls." "I put it down to staffroom gossip." "Well, I suppose this drops me right in it." "If I knew the girl, plus the sedatives." "Do you have a phone number, in case we need to contact you again?" "Oh, of course." "Very nice." "Inspector Lewis, you said?" "That's right." "My condolences." "Your wife." "Don't go anywhere, will you, Mr Cooper?" "I don't think he meant any offence." "He probably saw it in the paper and thought he was being clever." "Well, he wasn't - not from where I'm standing." "No, sir." "She's been dead five years." "You'd think after all this time people we just leave it alone." "It's my life - my life, not some blooming pub quiz." "Better class of alibi, sir." "Where have I heard of him" " Ashton?" "Former British ambassador to Jordan." "Came back last summer to spearhead the university's campaign to woo state school students." "Is it just me, or are former British ambassadors getting younger?" "Just you, sir." "Does it not strike you as odd that the resident nerd throws supper parties for diplomats and lords and the like?" "Maybe." "Could he have cloned the girl's father's mobile phone?" "A technical whizz like Cooper, no sweat, but he still would have needed the number." "School would have a list, surely." "Yeah, but cloned phone or not, if Ashton says Cooper was with him, he can't be in two places at the same time, can he?" "Still, get that checked out, will you?" "What is it?" "Cooper's." "See if you can get a DNA match with the picnic rug." "Oswald?" "Oh, sorry, Sue." "Did you look at my formatting for that bloody PTA meeting?" "I'm sorry, I've had a bit of a week." "Well, how about later on?" "There's a coffee in it." "I'm sorry, I've got to go." "I've got a splitting headache." "Sorry." "OK." "Wish you better." "Susan..." "Lewis...oh!" "Squash?" "Who won?" "He did." "Match abandoned." "DI Laxton's case at the Crown Court has just gone guilty, so I'll put her on the rape case." "We'll make sure she gets all the paper work in the morning." "Ma'am?" "Give us a couple more days, we are actually getting somewhere." "The girl's father is..." "A bit of a loose cannon, I heard." "..at his wits' end is what I was going to say, Ma'am." "It's policing, Hathaway, not pick and mix - you don't get to choose." "Laxton's far more experienced with this kind of assault." "How would you like it if she nabbed one of your precious murders?" "Fine." "I've got it." "Hello?" "Not great." "No sign of a break-in." "Through here?" "Yes, sir." "Looks like we've got our murder." "Time of death?" "At a push, eight to 12 hours ago." "That's mid to late evening, some time before 10." "Give us a chance, why don't you!" "See these?" "Strangled?" "Garrotted, I guess." "There's no nice way of saying this." "Your Mr Cooper, it appears, has been castrated." "Mr Donnelly?" "I appreciate we're probably the last people you want to see, but if I could ask whether you or your daughter ever came across" "Mr Oswald Cooper?" "Possibly through the school?" "HEAVY RAIN Sir?" "So you found him, then?" "What was left of him." "Found who, Mr Donnelly?" "Sir..." "You asked me to call Donnelly to tell him we were handing over the case." "No!" "One more push, you know." "Before I let it go." "You sounded him out about Cooper?" "What did he say?" "He hung up." "Come on" " I'm not doing this on my own." "Keiran?" "What's happened?" "Keiran Donnelly, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Oswald Cooper." "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something you later rely on in court." "Anything you do say may be given in evidence." "Keiran?" "It was Oswald Cooper." "Didn't I tell you?" "What?" "What's going on?" "Mum?" "Let's save all this for later." "We'll need your shoes and clothes, Mr Donnelly." "Cooper ran this after-school club." "Computers and the rest." "And you attended?" "Yeah." "On and off." "But he threw me out a month ago." "He said there were too many people." "Last one in... ..first one out." "Mrs Donnelly, is there something you're not telling me?" "Keiran said he saw Cooper once or twice." "Where was this?" "Outside the house." "Just cruising past in his car." "Once on Christmas Day and again a few weeks ago." "OK?" "Yeah." "It was a perfectly fair question." "Establish a link between victim and suspect." "I'd have done the same myself." "Not on the phone, you wouldn't, and not to the victim's father." "Excuse me, sir." "If I've caused a man's death..." "Number one," "Donnelly hasn't confessed." "He's ready to." "You won't let him." "Right now, the man's head is rattling off its hinges." "I'll talk to him when I'm good and ready." "Anyway, look at the door." "You said it yourself - there's no damage to the lock, there's no sign of a break-in, no complaints of any disturbances from the neighbour - meaning?" "Either the killer had his own key or Cooper let him in." "So chances are, Cooper knew his own assailant." "Number two?" "It's time you grew a thicker skin." "We've got a sexual assault to investigate." "What about DI Laxton?" "I had a word." "The cases are obviously connected." "Even Innocent couldn't argue with that." "By the way, how are we getting on with that plastic cup?" "I'll give the lab a prod." "Yeah, a cattle-prod." "Come on." "I want to hear more about this supper party." "Sorry." "Caught me napping." "I'm afraid it may be a wasted trip." "Simon's a law unto himself these days." "Here, let me." "No, it's fine." "I'm fine." "Of course." "We were hoping to talk to your husband about a friend of his." "Oswald Cooper." "Oswald?" "Yes." "Forgive me." "He seems like a strange choice of friend for your husband." "That's the trouble with old friends." "Never quite sure how they're going to turn out." "And Oswald..." "He's always been persistent." "No - no, that's grossly unfair." "He's been a great help." "He's forever upgrading my computer for me." "Is he in some kind of trouble?" "They met as students?" "Yes." "Yes, well, we were undergrads." "Oswald was on some kind of vocational course in town." "Simon had digs in Jericho." "Um..." "Number 54, Randall Street." "And Oswald rented a room just across the street from him." "I don't think they had much to do with each other." "And the one day, some girl - she was over on one of those summer English courses they run." "Anyway, she tried to drown herself." "Where was this?" "Over by Binsey." "And Oswald leapt in and fished her out." "I think they were all rather touched by his heroism." "Simon said Oswald was broken hearted when the girl left at the end of the summer." "He's sort of kept an eye on Oswald ever since." "That's nice of him." "Mmm." "That's why I married him." "I just wish Oswald wouldn't carry on with these wretched dinners." "What wretched dinners?" "I didn't hear you come in." "Are we back on to Oswald Cooper?" "You mentioned you spent an evening with him a couple of days ago." "That's right." "And you left at ten?" "Or thereabouts." "Why?" "Is there a problem?" "I'm afraid Mr Cooper was murdered last night." "Oh, no." "Oswald?" "Can you confirm your whereabouts last night, sir?" "I'm sorry to have to ask." "Er...no." "No, of course." "Doing your job." "Um..." "Oh." "Last night..." "You were with me, don't you remember?" "I'm sorry." "We watched one of my comedies." "You fell asleep." "Yes, I know - grounds for divorce." "What film was that?" "You've Got Mail." "I expect the DVD is still in the machine." "Parkinson's." "Thank you for not asking." "Oh, I'm sorry." "She had such drive." "I thought - hoped - if we'd come back to Oxford, back to where we began, maybe she might..." "Hey-ho." "Still, quite a sacrifice with your career and all." "Oh, I landed on my feet." "I just wish I could say the same for my wife." "Check out Ashton's alibi, will you?" "Maybe one of the neighbours saw him go out?" "Will do." "Who's next?" "Gavin Gargoyle Matthews." "Military historian and all-purpose media slut." "Gargoyle?" "Yeah, I know that." "Do I need to remind you it's my taxes that are propping up people like you." "Your taxes?" "Don't make me laugh." "Your lot don't even pay taxes." "You just get accountants to wheedle you out of..." "Yeah, yeah." "You swan about..." "Look, will you...?" "If you had half a brain, you'd be dangerous, my friend." "I am outraged that you have an opinion on this subject." "In fact, I think..." "Is that what they call a radio face?" "I've seen him before." "He caused a stir a few years back got done for kerb-crawling." "Must have been a very dark kerb." "Just so that pond life like you can murder each other on Saturdays..." "I think we'll take some travel there, Gavin." "Thanks, Chris." "We've got the usual tailbacks on the Botley Road." "Backing right up for at least a mile." "Some traffic lights are out." "Is this about the website?" "Website?" "killgargoylematthews." "com - they've been baying for my blood these past four weeks." "I've prepared a list of suspects." "It's rather long, I'm afraid." "This really isn't about the website?" "I gather you had dinner recently with a Mr Oswald Cooper." "Er...night before last." "Anything wrong with that?" "Do you see him often, sir?" "From time to time - it's interesting to visit the old street." "Your old student digs, sir?" "That's right." "Cooper still lives across the road." "Good dinner, was it, sir?" "I don't know, I don't notice food." "Here." "Round about what time did you leave, sir?" "Oh...nine, ten, eleven." "Can you be more specific?" "Half-ten." "How's that?" "And you went straight home?" "Yes." "This is a murder inquiry." "What" " Cooper?" "Can you tell us where you were last night?" "Well, I was up late, correcting proofs for the latest tome." "Can anyone corroborate that?" "I shouldn't have thought so." "Look, happy as I am to co-operated with Her Majesty's Woodentops," "I've got a thousand words to file by four." "Siege of Leningrad as a metaphor for Big Brother." "Plus the fragrant Jessamine has got me on hold for her art do this evening." "Your wife, sir?" "That's right." "But call me after that - any time, day or night." "Woodentops." "KNOCK ON DOOR Beatrice?" "I'm just going out." "Are you OK?" "I won't be long." "Carina." "Bye, Beatrice." "Here you go, sir." "Cheers." "Oswald Cooper - dead." "When you work all the hours God sends, you end up losing all perspective." "I believe you attended a supper party of his?" "This Monday evening." "Yes." "Monday." "I... ..left about 10 - had to be up for 5am the next morning." "I'm impressed you found the time, sir." "I mean, with all this on the way." "I've read about this in the papers." "Yes." "A lifetime in the making." "10,000 acres of brownfield site." "That filthy eyesore of a gas plant - we strip it down, transform it into the new Blenheim." "A carbon neutral, self-sustaining town - well, city as of yesterday." "The letter patent just came through." "Congratulations, sir." "Quite a project." "They say it takes 100 years to build a city." "I made a rather rash promise to do it in 12 - not that I can take all the credit." "I'm sorry" " I'm going on." "Cooper." "The dinner, sir." "Yes." "As I said, I dropped in." "He was most insistent." "You were close friends, would you say?" "I suppose - but if he was murdered last night, what do you want to know about Monday for?" "We're looking at Mr Cooper in connection with a separate inquiry." "A teenage girl was sexually assaulted on Port Meadow." "Yes, I heard about that." "The girl's father works at my Kidlington site." "Keiran Donnelly works for you?" "That's right - not that I've ever met him." "Do you honestly think that Cooper was involved?" "Obviously not, if you were with him until...10?" "And last night, sir?" "I beg your pardon?" "How did you spend your evening?" "Oh - working." "Obviously." "You can ask Phoebe - my assistant." "If that is all?" "Best of luck with it, sir." "Your city." "Thank you." "Nick!" "Can you please keep the noise down?" "You know, it doesn't stack up, does it?" "Cooper the obsessive stalker, preying on his pretty student." "There's no history of it." "There's no cameras, no computer for dodgy photos." "I mean, look at this place." "We do know he spied on her house." "Well, drove by a couple of times." "Kicked her out of the IT club." "If you were nuts about someone, wouldn't you do everything you could to keep them close to you?" "Three highly respected men looked me in the eye and swore blind they had dinner with him." "What do you call that?" "Game, was it, they say?" "It's pigeon, isn't it?" "You don't think this dinner party happened, do you, sir?" "Otherwise, Cooper couldn't have raced to Wolvercote in time to abduct Beatrice." "The medical report says she was drugged before 10." "And then, when we met him, he practically fell over himself to make sure we noticed him." "Maybe he's an attention seeker - it's not uncommon." "No, he was trying to tell me something." "And no, this is not just about my wife." "Why was Cooper living here anyway?" "A student area." "Wrong end of town for his work." "There it is." "Number 54." "He was stuck here, dreaming of past glories, while his old pals got on with their perfect lives." "They'd have scraped him off their shoe, wouldn't they?" "Duff groupie like that." "Perhaps they were more loyal than you give them credit for." "On my first case in Oxford, this old don turned to me and said," ""Forgive me, are you a member of this city?"" "What did you say?" ""No." "I just live here."" "But he was making a point." "This city, it's members only." "And Cooper was on the outside, looking in." "You sound like you're the same." "Probably am." "Look at this." "Overdue library book." "What about it?" "The Eunuch of the Harem." "JC Grigson." "Withdrawn four weeks ago." "Hobson said Cooper was castrated moments after being strangled." "Coincidence?" "They've got no reason for it, butchering a man like that." "Payback for the assault on Beatrice?" "That's assuming that Cooper was responsible." "Or someone thought Cooper was responsible." "Can we keep it out of the press, about castration?" "We should widen the search on the rape case." "How are we getting on with other students?" "Taking witness statements from everyone at the party." "How about school?" "They're doing the rounds on students and teachers." "Apparently one of them was a good mate of Cooper's." "Susan Whalton." "Lab technician." "I'm so sorry." "Silly of me." "You've known Mr Cooper a long time?" "Best part of 20 years." "Square pegs, the pair of us." "Did he ever mention one of the pupils?" "Beatrice Donnelly?" "No." "No, I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing." "You knew him well?" "We rubbed along." "Did a few evening classes." "Photography and that." "Were you two...?" "What?" "Lovers?" "Nothing so athletic." "I blame this coat." "He always said I looked like I was about to section him." "He moved in quite grand circles, didn't he?" "Ashton." "Matthews." "Adebayou." "And the rest." "There were others?" "Oh, yeah." "Not that he mentioned names." "He was a great one for discretion." "I don't suppose he ever mentioned a Valerie Lewis?" "Who?" "No, it doesn't matter." "Forget I said that." "Um...when I last saw him, yesterday afternoon, he came up and he shook my hand." "And I laughed - it seemed such a funny thing to do." "But looking back, it was almost as it he was... ..saying goodbye?" "He said something about getting what he deserved." "What did he mean?" "What did he do to deserve this?" "Beatrice?" "I'm back." "She's gone." "It's happening again, isn't it?" "Keiran" " I need to speak to Keiran." "Everything that can be done is being done." "We'll find her." "How long did you leave her for?" "I told you - two hours." "I went shopping." "Lewis." "Oh." "OK, false alarm." "They've found her." "I told you." "Drive Miss Donnelly over to Binsey, would you?" "Yeah." "Would you wait here with the WPC?" "Hey." "You're not supposed to be in here." "The WPC should have said, we can't have you tampering... ..with the crime scene?" "How do they know?" "How do they know this is where it happened?" "They found traces of this spider." "Nesticus something or other." "On the picnic blanket you were wearing." "Spider?" "Very rare, apparently." "This is one of its hunting grounds." "But how can they be 100% certain?" "They're not." "It's an educated guess." "Can we go now?" "Your mother's right, you'll catch your death." "I just thought, if I came here, it might come back." "Has it?" "I keep imagining stuff, but that's not the same, is it?" "No, it's not." "Were you close, you and Mr Cooper?" "Some people thought he was a joke." "He was all right, though, weirdly enough." "Always happy to help." "Listen to me, going on about him as if he's this funny little man." "And there's mum, telling me he did this thing." "Is your mum all right?" "I don't know." "Danny - hello, mate." "It's been a while." "Can I see Keiran Donnelly?" "Yes, sir." "Take the inspector down, please." "Mr Donnelly?" "Mr Donnelly?" "Custody Sergeant!" "ALARM" "He must have smuggled the pills into the custody suite somehow." "I want you to know, there will be a proper investigation." "He did what he thought he had to do." "What do you mean?" "Who am I to judge him?" "Who am I to judge anyone?" "She was a bit quick to forgive him, don't you think?" "We Catholics get fairly medieval when it comes to self-slaughter." "Hellfire and damnation." "When we went to pick up Beatrice from the rape site today, you would have thought she'd want to be there, but she stomped off." "Maybe it's just more than she can cope with." "Anyway, listen." "While you were over there, I heard back from the lab." "Yeah?" "The blood on Donnelly's shoes." "It's a match with Cooper's." "Right." "Hey" " I'm carrying a sports injury." "Well, it's case closed, isn't it?" "Well, granted a blood match puts him at the scene of the crime." "But it's not enough to convict him for murder." "Pretty good start." "According to the school lab assistant," "Cooper was behaving like a condemned man when she last saw him." "You still think Cooper might have raped Beatrice?" "Or else he's covering for somebody else who did." "One last push?" "Yes or no?" "So, for one week only, let's embrace our worst nightmares and expose ourselves to the mockery of our peers." "Because who knows, we might just be surprised." " Cheers." " Cheers." "Gargoyle's wife." "What's his secret?" "A thousand years of land and lucre." "This is one of hers." "Blimey." "Must be more to him than just a bank account." "I'll have whatever he's drinking." "Who's rattled their cage?" "I'd like to think we did, sir." "We're certainly going to." "Hello, she's scrubbed up." "Scrubbed a bit too hard, by the look of it." "This is some kind of great big bloody joke to you, isn't it?" "Come on, Danny." "United we stand." "Spoken like a diplomat." "He...he wrote to me, you know." "He showed me how you do it." "I know." "Now, gentlemen, would you come with me" " I have a few more questions for you all." "Concerning what?" "The murder of Oswald Cooper." "Oh, this is priceless!" "Excuse us, we're a little occupied right now." "I'm sure you'd rather come voluntarily." "Fine." "Fine." "Point taken." "Let's just get this over with." "Charles, it's Simon." "Get hold of Sebastian." "Can I help?" "Sergeant Hathaway, Oxfordshire police." "What have you done with my husband?" "We just have to ask him a couple of questions about Oswald." "Cooper." "His friend." "I'm sure he told you." "Oh." "DOOR OPENS" "Thank you all for waiting." "You're loving this, aren't you?" "Loving what exactly?" "High-profile harassment." "It's the holy grail for you people." "Belt up, Gargoyle." "Would you like to sit down, sir?" "If you could just put your tongue out, please, sir." "What?" "If you wouldn't mind?" "We'll do no such thing." "Look, I can do this the hard way, if you'd prefer." "I can charge the three of you and take you down to the custody suite." "Fine." "Fine." "Thank you, sir." "Thank you all." "Much obliged." "Now if you like, I can arrange for a driver to drop you back to the party." "Hang on - what's all this about?" "I just wanted to confirm whether you were being honest with me." "About what?" "Mr Cooper's supper party." "You all claim you had dinner with him on Monday night." "I don't believe you." "So we'll drop these down to forensics and see if we can get a match." "A match for what?" "While you say you were enjoying your game at Mr Cooper's, a schoolgirl, Beatrice Donnelly," "was drugged, abducted and raped." "Lord Adebayou knows about it." "The girl's father's employed by him, isn't he?" "You don't believe we could possibly..." "You, sir, claim you went straight home from Cooper's." "There's a photograph posted on your website which puts you in your car on the edge of a field somewhere." "A few hours after the girl was abducted." "I don't know anything about any photo." "Perhaps you could explain to me what you were doing down there." "It's not your province, policeman." "Look, run your test" " I can assure you we were all at the dinner." "All three of us." "Meanwhile, I have had my fill of this." "You mentioned a car back to the party?" "KNOCK ON DOOR Sir?" "One moment." "Just faxed through from forensics." "DNA results on Cooper's cup." "What?" "He's your man." "I've just had confirmation that Oswald Cooper raped Beatrice Donnelly." "You people." "You seem to think that if you just keep on lying, then I'll eventually...roll over." "But I won't." "We all trooped round to Randall Street, as requested." "The door was unlocked." "Food was on the table." "But our host never appeared." "We stayed for a couple of hours and then we went home." "We were doing him a favour." "We don't know anything about an assault." "You're a busy man." "Why go to the trouble?" "He was an old friend." "Cooper was no friend of yours." "He wasn't anything much." "A eunuch?" "What?" "Metaphorically speaking." "The Eunuch of the Harem." "Does that mean anything to you?" "Leave it." "Excuse me." "I'm simply advising you, for your own sake." "Oswald Cooper had powerful friends." "I've coped with worse than you, Mr Ashton." "This ends now." "Charles." "About time." "Gavin?" "Gavin?" "The back door was open." "My husband will be here any minute." "Don't do that." "What do you want?" "Oswald Cooper sent me." "They've been lying from the start - it was high time we questioned them properly." "It was more like an abduction, from what I gather." "My God, have you got any idea how this looks?" "Chippie copper antics have no place in a city like this." "Ma'am?" "In case it's slipped your mind, you've got the next best thing to a confession in hospital tonight." "What's so special about Oxford?" "What?" "The "chippie copper antics"?" "Why is it more inappropriate in this city than anywhere else?" "I urge you not to go near any of them again without verifiable evidence." "Goodnight." "Do we charge them with giving false testimony?" "Give the lawyers another excuse for a kickabout?" "No." "What I want to know is - why?" "Who do Cooper a favour?" "You might find this of interest, from the fragrant Jessamine." "What is it?" "You remember Cooper's kerb-crawling misadventure?" "He got off, you said?" "Thanks to an 11th-hour alibi." "From Oswald Cooper." "So the dinner party was what?" "A return favour?" "Then why rope in the other two?" "What else did she say?" "Apparently, Gargoyle and Cooper were good chums." "Used to meet up for a boys' night every couple of weeks." "But she says she barely knew him." "A bit odd." "What?" "Just...glad to see you're taking care of yourself." "Left it on the table." "Yeah - there you go." "Eunuch." "Means "keeper of the bed"." "Maybe he'd know what to do with this." "I'll give you a hand getting rid of it, if you like." "At this time of night?" "Yeah, there's a skip down the road." "What?" "Come on, it's a skip." "Be rude not to." "I can't bel-..." "We're police officers, man." "Fine." "Any chance of a hand?" "Come on." "One, two, three..." "Let's just get out of here." "Oi!" "What do you think you're doing?" "I can't believe I let you talk me into that." "Aoooooo!" "Call of the wild, sir." "I don't know how long we kept that mattress." "You chuck this stuff out and catch yourself thinking," ""Is that it?"" ""Is that the last bit of my marriage gone?"" "No more taps on the shoulder." "Still, stuff the stuff we keep." "Agh!" "Night, sir." "Drink this." "It'll do you good." "What's this?" "I did it the minute he left." "Clever girl." "Did he say anything?" "Said he wanted money." "Said he'd be in touch." "Bring a chequebook." "Takes a cheque, does he?" "How delightfully old fashioned." "He said he knew about you and Oswald Cooper." "What's going on?" "What have you done?" "I..." "I'm flattered you noticed." "His car was here 17 times, according to the website." "But Matthews wasn't the rapist, so why is he so bothered by it?" "A man who craves notoriety." "I wonder who posted these online." "I expect you know what I think." "What, Cooper?" "A bit awkward when moribund." "But if his lab technician friend was right, if he knew death was coming, it would be easy for Cooper the IT nerd to set those photos to be posted." "The day after he was murdered?" "What did you make of that book?" "The Eunuch of the Harem?" "Well, maybe it was just bedtime reading." "It's not exactly Harry Potter, is it?" "No." "It meant something to him." "As well as to the person who castrated him." "Why "the eunuch"?" "Eunuch's the king's closest adviser, the only one who could be trusted with the women while he was away fighting wars." "Is that what Cooper was doing?" "Making himself useful?" "Keeping an eye on the women?" "The only thing Adebayou is married to is his work." "Come on - time we broke the news to Beatrice." "Hello?" "Who?" "Frank Sporetti." "How did you get my number?" "Oswald Cooper said I should speak to your wife." "Don't you dare go anywhere near my wife." "Let's keep in touch." "LINE GOES DEAD" "We perished each alone." "But I, beneath a rougher sea and whelmed in deeper gulfs than he." "One of Morse's specials." "Deeper gulfs." "Mrs Donnelly." "That girl that tried to drown herself." "The one Cooper fished out of the river?" "Mrs Donnelly?" "What if Belinda Ashton got it wrong?" "What if that girl never went home, but stayed here in Oxford?" "You were right." "That's why Magda was so quick to forgive Keiran's suicide attempt." "Because she'd tried it herself." "Agh!" "You came over as a summer student, is that right?" "To learn English?" "Please don't do this." "You had an...accident." "In the Thames." "Oswald Cooper rescued you." "He saved my life." "Where exactly was that?" "Mrs Donnelly?" "You know where." "Same spot where he would later assault your daughter?" "Why would Cooper do that?" "Did he want to hurt you?" "Punish you in some way?" "Punish me?" "What for?" "He was in love with you, wasn't he?" "Cooper." "Because he couldn't have you, he went after the next best thing, your daughter - is that it?" "No." "No - who told you that?" "He was...meant to be my friend." "He knew how to keep a secret." "He didn't tell your husband about the drowning?" "Mrs Donnelly, can you account for your whereabouts the night Mr Cooper was killed?" "I was at home." "At home." "Trying to take care of my child." "Morning." "One of these days, we must meet in more pleasing circumstances." "I don't know." "You're looking very perky." "So what do we think?" "Asphyxiation?" "Looks like it." "Burst blood vessels here in the eyeballs." "Garrotted, like Cooper." "Same weapon, too, judging from the shape of these marks." "So it's a fair assumption it was the same killer." "Only this one put up a fight." "Do we have a name?" "They found something in the reeds." "John?" "Have you got that wallet?" "Yeah." "Here." "Thanks." "Try that." "Mr F Sporetti." "Quite a bit of water damage, I'm afraid." "I know this writing." "What?" "It's Cooper's." "So he wrote to Sporetti the day he died." "How do you know all this?" "Sir?" "We'll always be there for each other, won't we?" "When it counts?" "Yes, of course." "I need to get that." "Hello?" "Oh, Danny - hi." "Yeah." "Yes." "Danny's been in the office all day." "Ask anyone." "It's true" " I've a mountain of paperwork that I really need to get back to." "I know the feeling." "This Frank Sporetti has been hounding you for a good few years." "Various restraining orders and three months in Belmarsh for vandalising your offices." "Broke a few windows - that's right." "Any more recent activity?" "Yes." "What was his agenda?" "His agenda?" "Why did he want to attack you?" "Look, Danny's always been a target for this sort of vitriol." "Why we have to go raking over all this unpleasantness..." "Phoebe." "No use burying things." "Frank Sporetti hated me for his own reasons." "Some could say he was a...one-off." "In the early '90s, when I was very young, I met his father." "Small-time, not much English, but owned a few restaurants out in the south west." "I persuaded him to invest in a project." "To build a marina up the coast from Southampton." "The...project wasn't sound." "His father invested 150k, lost heavily and was declared bankrupt." "And he died by his own hand a few weeks later." "You were named in the coroner's report." "I tried to turn a blind eye to Frank's abuse, for obvious reasons." "Actually, it was pitiful more than anything else." "He received a letter from Mr Cooper recently." "Did you know that?" "About what?" "You tell me." "As you say, pointless trying to bury things." "No idea, I'm afraid." "Thank you." "Is that it?" "For now, sir." "It's Your Lordship." "I beg your pardon?" "You may address him as Your Lordship." "Oh." "You don't think much of Adebayou?" "On the contrary, he casts quite a spell." "I imagine they queue up in that office to stop a bullet for his Lordship." "Or in this case, fire one." "Miss Moneypenny, the lovesick assistant?" "I can't see her having the strength, can you?" "That would be your sentimental streak, sir." "I've noticed you always call me "sir"" "when you've said something mean." "MOBILE PHONE Public school." "Yeah?" "Cheers." "Keiran Donnelly is back with the living." "Frank Sporetti." "Who?" "He was murdered while you were sleeping." "Our pathologist reckons it's the same killer." "Which rules you out." "Whether you like it or not." "I think you owe me an explanation, Mr Donnelly - don't you?" "I just wanted to know." "How could anyone do that to another man's daughter?" "You know, when she was small, she used to walk in her sleep." "One night, I heard the front door shut and I looked out." "There she was, standing in the middle of the road." "And I ran out, scooped her up in my arms, just as this car was backing out of the drive." "And she woke up." "Big shining eyes." ""What on earth are we doing here, Daddy?"" ""Beatrice," I said," ""there's nothing in this world" "I won't keep you safe from."" "And then I thought," ""That's all I am."" ""That promise."" "It's what a father does." "Protects his own." "So you went round to Cooper's?" "I just wanted her to think I'd kept my promise." "But when I got to his house, the door was wide open." "It was like... ..some animal had been at him." "Cooper was already dead?" "Yeah." "Cooper, Sporetti - what's the link?" "Both men were strangled, for starters." "Not yet confirmed." "And the letter Cooper wrote to Sporetti the day he died." "Saying what?" "Too much water damage to be sure." "How do we know it's from him?" "Because he wrote to me, too." ""Never stop looking." "Your house is not a home."" "What does Hathaway say?" "Hathaway doesn't know." "It's probably just a wind-up." "Which he stuck in the post a couple of hours before he was murdered." "What do they call that?" "Gallows humour." "Perhaps he wanted you to take notice." "He had my full attention the minute his heart stopped beating, he didn't have to..." "throw in a treasure hunt." "Treasure hunt or not, it's also evidence." "Meaning?" "It requires a clinical eye." "Robbie." "I'm just saying... ..don't let him get under your skin." "For your own sake." "I'm afraid that particular horse has bolted." "Never stop looking." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hi, can you put me through to Abdul Rassamen, please?" "Hathaway?" "Given what happened to poor old Sporetti senior," "I looked into some of Adebayou's other investors." "For his green city?" "Yeah." "Plenty of them, obviously - started with the earliest investors and found the same name on Cooper's letter to Sporetti." "Abdul Rassamen, World Trade Centre, Dubai." "Fictitious investor." "Pouring money into the project to drum up confidence elsewhere." "To check him out, dial a number on the green city website - the number I just called you on and you get through to here." "Oxford." "Oswald Cooper's operational hub." "He could answer all the email inquiries, the phone messages." "Even do video conferences, posing as one of Rassamen's associates." "Look at this - it's a tape of him practising." "Did he and Adebayou set up other projects?" "Were Matthews and Ashton involved?" "It can't all be for Adebayou's benefit, surely?" "You've got to ask yourself who else he was doing favours for." "We just need to wade through the paperwork." "One wonders how his Lordship got away with it for so long." "Silver spoon." "Big handshake." "Welcome to the club." "He's even photoshopped himself into this picture." "Maybe Cooper just wanted to belong." "Then why did he turn on his friends?" "It's all in the basement." "Seal it up." "Nobody goes near - nobody." "How did you find this place?" "Never stop looking." "It's what he did - day in, day out." "Peering out of his window." "At his other home." "His real home across the road." "What's this?" "Brought your portfolio?" "Something like that." "I'm afraid I need to talk to your husband again." "You know how to pick your moments." "It's all right, darling." "Perhaps we could go down to the station, if it's more convenient." "Daniel Adebayou, I'm arresting you on a charge of fraud." "It may harm your defence if you fail to mention anything you later rely on in court." "Anything you do say may be given in evidence." "Your Lordship." "Why are you doing this to him?" "Call my solicitor." "Why...?" "Danny?" "Don't look at me like that, Phoebe." "We've had a good run." "Mr Ashton, this is Sergeant Hathaway again, please call me back at your earliest convenience - thank you." "Professional alibi?" "I wouldn't have credited it." "Turns out there are companies in Moscow providing the same service." "Except they whack on a big fee." "Whereas Oswald Cooper didn't charge a penny, did he?" "He just wanted a..." "..a place at the high table." "Poor deluded twerp." "But he was useful?" "Oh, yes, and very discreet." "Did you ever recommend his services?" "I may have passed on his name to one or two." "The lads' nights out." "So he would cover to your wife, would he, while you went off and had your fun?" "That's right." "You know me." "Incorrigible." "He followed you." "Did you know that?" "Trailing along, taking pictures." "Which keep popping up on your website." "It was your idea, wasn't it?" "And Oswald Cooper got it up and running for you." "Everyone needs a little notoriety, Inspector." "I don't expect you to understand." "It's an odd place to go exploring your dark side." "This may surprise you, but my wife didn't marry me for my good looks alone." "She got what she came for." "After that, she forgot all about me." "Ten years of imaginary capers with some imaginary friend." "You wanted to make her jealous?" "He that is not jealous is not in love." "And my wife was neither." "What do you know about Frank Sporetti?" "He threatened my wife." "Well, we have you to thank for that." "He saw you cart us off from the art bash." "I guessed there was a connection with Cooper." "What did he want?" "Bog standard blackmail." "And no, I didn't kill him for it." "So who did?" "I don't know." "An email." "Sent four weeks ago by Simon Ashton." "To Adebayou." "But he sent it to Cooper by mistake." ""Daniel, I can't believe the Eunuch's pitched in for 10 million"" "The Eunuch?" "Was that your idea - the nickname?" "Sounds like one of mine." "He took this book out of Broad Street library the day after the email landed in his in-box." "Typically methodical - he obviously wanted to know what exactly he was being accused of." "A staple of every self-respecting Ottoman seraglio." "Trustworthy, clever, secretive." "No mean post, the eunuch." "I shouldn't think Cooper saw it that way." "Hello, is Simon in?" "Sorry - just missed him." "Can I help?" "Would you ask him to call me as soon as he can?" "Who was that?" "Nobody." "Oh, you haven't worn that suit in years." "I thought I might go out for a spin." "I'm a millstone, aren't I?" "What?" "Yes, I am." "I'm a dead weight." "No." "No, never." "I tried so hard to protect you from this." "I would have understood." "The silly thing is, you're all I've ever wanted." "I can't help it." " I never expected the earth, you know - just whatever you could spare." "Tell me it's not too late." "I'm so sorry." "Where are you going?" "Sporetti was on to them - first Adebayou, then Matthews." "Then Ashton?" "Giving them all good reason to want to shut him up." "Where is he" " Ashton?" "No sign of him at home." "I've left messages for him everywhere." "So we're saying Cooper went after Beatrice to prove to the others that he was more of a man than they ever thought possible?" "Why on the exact same spot where he'd rescued her mother?" "The act of courage that changed his life for ever, turned him into a bit of a folk hero for the boys at number 54." "Or so he thought." "Maybe he just fancied her - he was spying on her from his car." "No, no, he wasn't spying on her." "He was spying on someone else." "You know how he liked to trail people when he was fronting as their alibi." "What if he was outside the Donnellys' house not for the daughter's sake or the mother's." "What if he was actually watching one of his so-called friends?" "Who in turn was watching Beatrice." "But who?" "Ashton?" "Get over to the Donnellys' house." "I'm going to try the hospital." "Are you sure you don't want to come?" "Tu padre la costaria." "What's going on?" "Have you seen Ashton?" "No." "Simon Ashton - have you seen him?" "Where's your daughter?" "Beatrice?" "It's OK." "I just want to talk to you." "No!" "Beatrice!" "I'm not..." "I promise I'm not going to hurt you." "Listen to me." "Listen to me." "I'm just going to sit here." "I promise you." "You're safe." "I promise you." "I just need to talk to you." "You knew him once, I think." "It was a long time ago." "You met through Oswald Cooper." "It was an adventure." "How did the adventure end?" "In disappointment." "What is this?" "Have you been in touch at all?" "These... ..past few months," "I heard he was back." "They were going to repossess us, because you had no work." "You said yourself, "This country, first grey hair, they throw you on the scrap heap."" "Sorry." "I told him." "That Beatrice was his daughter?" "He said he would put in a word." "Kept calling." "Kept saying I had changed his life." "I didn't know he had no children of his own." "Last Christmas I sat outside your house like a beggar." "I kept willing you to look out of the window, to give you a chance to see my face." "Since...we moved back to this country, I've... ..well, nothing else seems to make sense any more." "My wife and I..." "We don't have children..." "of our own." "Then that man phoned me up, threatened to tell her - he had no idea." "Sick, fragile woman." "It's all...it's all... ..got away from me a little." "What do you want?" "I've killed two men inside a week." "Your mind gets clouded." "You just try to hold on to what matters." "I wanted to see you." "I needed to tell you that no matter what gets said," "I did it for you." "You see," "I know what happened to you." "I'm so sorry." "My dear, brave girl." "Brave, beautiful girl." "Beatrice!" "Are you all right?" "Beatrice, open the door for me." "Beatrice, I must talk to you." "Get off!" "Come on, you can do better than that." "Big brute fellow like you." "No, Keiran!" "And there's the mother." "She was such a beauty." "We used to go joyriding." "On Port Meadow." "Wild Spanish horses." "It was all we had in common." "It's not quite all, I think." "Shut up." "Don't, Keiran - you've got to save your daughter." "How did you ever imagine you could be this child's father?" "I ripped that man to pieces for her." "Where were you?" "Dad!" "Dad!" "I remembered." "Last night." "I woke up and I remembered." "By the river." "Me and...that man." "I couldn't move." "I couldn't speak." "I wanted to count the stars, but I couldn't." "You said you'd protect me." "Well...protect me now." "Protect me from this." "Sir?" "Just taking a breather." "Any luck?" "I know what you're thinking." "But you're wrong." "He left something." "He left something for me to find, or else... ..why send me that letter?" "Sir, let it go." "We've been through every shred of paper - every word, every file, every photo." "Then we'll keep looking." "No." "I'm not going watch you doing this to yourself, you know I'm not." "There is nothing here about your wife." "Let it go." "How can I?" "It's in my head now."