"BRIAN:" "Oh!" "Cleaners!" "What´s the point of cleaners if they clean up the place so well you can´t ruddy..." "Ah..." "Which is not a swearword." "It´s a type of duck." "Yes!" "Got it!" "Got it!" "No, that´s petty cash." " Oh, bugger!" " That´s a quid." " Shit!" " Two quid." " What are you doing?" " Cleaning up." "Tidying up." "Getting up." "This has just been upgraded as urgent, at the Commissioner´s request." " I´m off to see him now." " Give him my regards." "Yes!" "I got it, I got it!" "No, no, no, that´s not fair." "We´d stopped looking." "No, no, I find the swear-box, I get to choose." " I put most of the bloody money in." " Any advance on three quid?" "Oh, piss off." "Sold!" "To the foul-mouthed cockney in the cheap suit." "Go on, dig deep, brother." "# 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 #" "135 and four, £139." "Eight quid." "Eight." " That´s because of your bleeding water." " Uh... 140!" "And 50 pence." "Should be enough." " That´ll get us a decent Chinese or a Thai." " Indian." "Why don´t we go somewhere really nice?" "Locanda Locatelli or Gordon Ramsay." "The River Café!" " Well, we could if you´d all put 80 quid in like me." " Okay, okay." "Shivani Das, 1997, Southall." "She was attacked on a canal towpath and left for dead." " How old was she?" " 21." "No sign of sexual assault and the only thing taken was her wedding ring." "She´s been on a life support machine ever since, and her husband Milan was in India at the time." "And why is this case urgent all of a sudden?" "Well, originally it was linked with four other cases around the same time." "But the guy they pinned those assaults on," "Gary Palmer, who´s since been released early for good behaviour, has now put his hands up to all the other attacks, but not this one." " And we believe him?" " He´s now a born-again Christian." " Jesus." " He was the first, I think you´ll find." "Now, is this really about Palmer or is this just so that we appear to be seen to be PC?" "Well, you try saying it when you´re pissed." "You all right?" "Hospitals." "Just jail with more drugs." "Hey..." "Thank you." "(MACHINE BEEPING)" "Milan Das?" "I´m Superintendent Pullman." "This is my colleague, Brian Lane." " Hello." " Thank you for agreeing to speak to us and for letting us see your wife." "Is this it?" "First you tell me you´ve jailed the wrong man and now you´re saying the Met have decided not to appoint a single Asian officer to the investigation?" "You can´t be serious." " I´d like you to go, please." " Mr Das, I´m so sorry, please, for..." "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." "Don´t even think of it." "Gary Palmer?" " Hi." " I´m Jack Halford, this is Gerry Standing." "Oh, please sit down." "Shouldn´t that be "take a pew"?" "If you like." "Would you like a tea or coffee or anything?" "Not unless you can turn water into wine." "So, Gary." "You´ve seen the light." "I hope so." " And what are you going to do with your new self?" " I want to train for the ministry." "As a vicar." " You´re not serious?" " They are." "I start in September." "The Imitation of Christ?" " "Man proposes but God disposes", eh?" " You know it." "What I´d like to know is who you tried to dispose of?" " Shivani Das?" " No." "April, 1997, I attacked Jaswinder Singh." "May, Quasim Quadar and Florian Radu, a Rumanian gypsy but he looked Asian." "July, I attacked Niva Siddiqui, beat her to the ground, kicked her unconscious, then pushed her off a bridge." "If I´d attacked Shivani Das, I wouldn´t have just left her there, by a canal." "I would have thrown her in." "Is that it?" " Is that your alibi?" " I don´t have an alibi." "I don´t seek to excuse the person I was." "I´m ashamed of the crimes I´ve committed." "It´s only luck I didn´t kill someone." "And I´ve asked forgiveness, in person, of all the people I attacked." "But I cannot ask forgiveness for something I didn´t do." "Sorry to sound like doubting Thomas, but how are you going to prove it?" "Well, I can´t." "But since coming to God I..." "I can´t afford to fall from grace again, either." "Hey, you want to find who´s responsible for this appalling crime." "I can only pray to God that you do." " He´s praying for us." " GERRY:" "It´s true." "I couldn´t believe it myself but it´s kosher..." "Well, in a Christian sort of a way." "Gentlemen, Sandra." "This is Sergeant Pushkar Guha." "I´ve arranged for him to be seconded to UCOS as a community liaison officer for the duration of the investigation." "Sergeant Guha is up to speed on the background of the case so I´ll, erm," "I´ll leave you to get acquainted." "Welcome aboard." "Jack Halford." "I´m sorry about the lack of communication, vis-à-vis Mr Das." "It won´t happen again." " Pushkar?" " Yeah." "It´s Hindi for Skoda." "Very good." " So, how can I help?" " Well, you can change out of that, for a start." "What do you know about tropical fruit?" "Mr Das." "This is Sergeant Pushkar Guha." "And this is Jack Halford." "How do you do?" "Vikram and Mughda, my brother and sister." "It´s a family business." "Whereas the restaurant is purely mine." "These two cannot boil an egg, bless them!" " Aren´t you cold like that?" " My sister is never cold." " You both knew Shivani, obviously." " Vikram was part responsible for my marrying her." "He made sure she was a suitable bride while I was out of the country on business." "It was arranged, you understand?" " Shivani was from India, then?" " No, Neasden." "Our families had ties in Pune in the past, but Shivani was very much, you know, second generation." "You were married for only a year." "How long had you known Shivani before that?" "I´d met her only a couple of times before the day of the wedding." "What I don´t understand is why you seem to have accepted what this Palmer boy has said," " that he was not responsible." " We haven´t ruled him out." "It´s just that as an essentially unsolved case, we have to re-examine everything." "I see." " You´ve spoken to him?" " Yes." "He was, uh, very different." "My wife is kept alive by machines." "The doctors say there´s no chance of recovery and I´ve long stopped hoping for a miracle." "Perhaps this is what I´ve been waiting for." "For the truth." "We´ll do our best." "(INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)" "Is this the right room?" " Hi." "I´m Dipti, Shivani´s sister." " Brian Lane, UCOS." "And this is Gerry Standing." " Hello." " Mama?" "Has something happened?" "What?" "Oh, no." "It´s Shivani´s birthday." "We do this every year." "Milan´s family don´t really approve, so we sneak in and do it when they´re not here." "Anita, my baby sister." "And my mother." " Jayashri Sharma." " How do you do?" "Nice to meet you." "So this is a birthday party?" "If my son-in-law insists on keeping her alive, then why not?" " And you don´t think he should?" " Of course not, it´s ridiculous." "Mama." "If it was up to me, I would have switched it off a long time ago." "But he is her husband and he can afford to keep her as you see her." "Pays a small fortune, even gets her fresh flowers every day." " My husband, Richard Mayo." " Rick." " Hiya." " How do you do?" " You´re reopening the case?" " Well, no, it was never closed." " And all these people knew Shivani?" " We were all at school together." "And Shivani was..." "Well, everybody just loved her." "JAYASHRl:" "That´s not Shivani." "You asked to see some pictures of what she was like?" "This is Shivani." "Thanks." "(MODERN INDIAN MUSIC PLAYING ON TV)" "Hell of a bash." " Stunning-looking woman." " Fabulous." " But they seem different, the two families." " Oh, yeah." "Yeah, the Dases seem a bit more reserved, don´t they?" "I meant looks." "Sister-in-law´s got a face like a box of frogs." "Nice." " Okay, Brian." " Right." "Southall." "The assault on Shivani." "Now, these overlays highlight" "A, other suspected race attacks at the time of the incident," "B, all other murders in the area from 1996 onwards," "C, other serious crimes, and D, missing persons." "Four murders, all solved." "And all other serious crimes are clustered well away from Shivani´s attack." "Pushkar." "Now, the race attacks are all confined to the Yatesmead Estate, at least two miles from Shivani´s assault." "Plus the methodology is different." "Palmer attacked his victims using his fists and at night." "Forensics show that Shivani was struck with a large, blunt object, such as a rock or a stone, and at midday." "Why missing persons?" "I just wanted to see if anyone of a similar age had disappeared locally." " Three?" " One an Indian woman in her 40s, later found and reunited with her family." "Asian lad of 18, who local police think ran away to escape an arranged marriage" " with a woman from Derby." " Derby?" "I´m not surprised." " Now this is the strange one." " Sorry, is that you saying "strange"?" "A white man, Pat Gannon, 38." " Never been seen since." " Not even the same age, race or sex." "No, but he is a private detective." "And he went missing less than a week after the attack." "Now, his partner at the agency is still around, still at the same address in Southall." "One Roger McHugh." "As in ex-Detective Constable Roger McHugh." "Not dodgy Roger McHugh?" "Sorry, was that you saying "dodgy"?" " You know him?" " Only by a lack of reputation." "Well, you´d be the expert in that." " I know him." " Really?" " Oh." "Do you want to..." " No, no, we´ve a history." "Very brief, don´t worry." "No, you go and enjoy the experience." "Okay, and we´ll concentrate on nearest and dearest." "And Pushkar, you really don´t need to wear that." "Mr McHugh?" "It´s Resolve." "Hangover." " You police?" " UCOS." "We left a message on your answering machine." "Yeah, well, you know, I was working till three." "Tailing a woman, West End bar." "Bar after bar after bar." " Drinking?" "Why didn´t you have water?" " ´Cause it´s on expenses." "Pat Gannon." "Blimey." "Well, there is a blast from the past, eh?" "August the 7th, 1997." "Yeah, turned up, has he?" " Do you expect him to?" " No, he owes me money." "When he went missing you didn´t report it for three days." "Why not?" "He was my partner, we weren´t bleeding married." "To be quite honest, first I ever noticed it was when he started missing appointments." "Why didn´t you try and find him?" " I mean, that´s your job, isn´t it?" " Yeah, but I get paid for that." " He was your partner, he owed you money." " Not enough." " Anything you don´t do for money?" " Yeah." "But you two couldn´t afford it." "What was he working on when he went missing?" "No idea." "Do you recognise her?" "No." "Wouldn´t mind giving her one, though." "How many of your clients are Asian, do you reckon?" "What is this, The Weakest Link?" "How the bloody hell would I know?" "Try." "Think about it." "Half?" "More than half?" "I´m a private detective." " This is not the Commission for Racial Equality." " Not much of one." "Not much of a cop, either, by all accounts." "Hand in the till, wasn´t it?" "UCOS, eh?" "You´re not real coppers, either, are you, really?" "Eh?" "No, you´re just hobby-bobbies, ain´t you?" "What, your wives fed up of you getting under their feet, are they?" "Wrong answer." "Come on." "Come on." "(TELEPHONE RINGING)" "Halford, UCOS." "WOMAN:" "Shivani Sharma." "Go on." "She thought..." "she was sure she was being followed." "I see." "Now, can you tell me... (DIAL TONE BUZZING)" "WOMAN: (RECORDING) You were called today at 10:03." "The caller withheld their number." "That was some woman saying that Shivani Sharma thought she was being followed." "Number withheld." "Could be a hoax." "But if it´s not a hoax, and she was being followed by the killer?" "In which case, what´s Pat Gannon got to do with it?" "Who´s to say they´re not one and the same?" "Killer and private eye?" " Private eye." " Hobby-bobbies." " I´ll give him bloody hobby-bobby." " He should talk, private detective." " Have one of your pills, Brian, one of your pills." " I think I´ll join you." " Are they new?" " Beta blockers." "Any good?" "Cheers." "Don´t go there." "There you go." " Good evening." " Evening." "Thank you so much for coming." "How´s it all going?" " Fine." "Coming along." " Excellent." "Let me show you to your table." " Thank you." " Cheers." "I want to thank you for what you are doing for Milan." "Hopefully, when you´re finished, he will finally be able to move on and put all of this behind him." " Are you married?" " No." "It´s hard, moving on." " Have you ordered?" " Not yet, no." " "Are you married? "" " Perfectly legitimate question." "Listen, nice whistle, that." "You gonna recommend something for us?" " No, no, can I order?" "For everyone, I mean?" " But..." "I´ll just get a selection and we can all have a bit of each." " Is that all right?" " Fine by me." " More of an egg and chips man myself." " I did find the swear-box." " Yeah, all right." " Yeah, go on, then." "Hello." "Uh, could we have two Samundri Raja, Lapeta Pyaz, Chowki Tikki," "Bhindi Karari and Special Chaat of the day to start, and then Jhinga Zaffrani, Dil Murgh, Subzi-de-Bahar, Chana Pindi Masala," "Bombay Aloo, Kadai Tittar..." " Tittar?" " Partridges." "...Chicken Chettinad, Malabari Fish Curry and Murgh Haryali Kebab." "Thank you." " You like your food." " Yeah." " She knows bugger-all about food!" " Bugger all about your food." " Did you find out anything about McHugh?" " My mate Cass knew him when he was at Ealing." "He said shortly after he set up in Southall, he was hospitalised by a huge horrible Asian bookmaker." "Yeah, he caught him tailing him ´cause his wife thought he was playing away." "My brother." " Who?" " The bookmaker?" "Told you we had a history." "Anyway, Cass said he was always crap at surveillance." "What´s McHugh doing in Southall, anyway?" "I mean, aren´t Asians going to want Asians to do their dirty work?" "You don´t get many Indian Pls." "It´s a bit Dalits. "Untouchable. "" "Of course, it doesn´t stop them using them." "I wonder if Milan is a jealous type?" " Maybe he killed her." " He was in Bombay." " Mumbai." " There as well?" "Hired someone?" "Pushkar, what do you think?" "Like an honour killing." "Yeah." "I mean, maybe he just had his sister look at her." "Everyone says Shivani loved her old man, and vice versa." "Why do you keep going on about Mughda´s looks?" "Because I got a sister-in-law just like her." "Never out of the house and frightens the kids." "It´s not her face, it´s her whole manner." "She´s not married and I know why." "Nosy and interfering." "You know the sort I mean?" "´Course, doesn´t help that she´s got a face like a bashed crab." " Do you want that?" " No, I´m stuffed." "Great." "Cheers." "Well, that´s great, but I´ve had it." "Too much for me." " Never eaten so much in me life." " Here you go." " Thank you." " Lovely, but..." "Fantastic." "Good morning." "My sister tells me you were at the restaurant last night." "Yeah, it was absolutely fabulous." " Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" " Not at all." "How much time did you spend away from home after you were married?" "Maybe six months." "Did Shivani ever express a fear that she might be being followed?" " No." " You sure?" "Absolutely." "Sorry." "So you don´t know of any reason why she might have been followed by" " a private investigator, say?" " Of course not." " Eye of a needle, mate." " Sorry." "Would you excuse me?" " A private detective?" " Yes." "Why are you asking this?" "Just trying to find out whether she was being watched by someone." "She means you, Milan." "Me?" "Why?" "What is the suspicion you are talking about?" "That I had her watched?" "That I harmed her?" "I loved Shivani." "She was everything to me." "Is everything." "We´re not accusing, Milan, we´re just asking." "I think you better go." "All right." "GERRY:" "Oh, my guts." "I feel like Edward II." "What?" "Edward II." "He died having a red-hot poker shoved up his..." "Oh, my God!" "Oh, Gerry!" "Oh!" "Hey, hey, Gerry, look." "There he is." "He´s on a job." "Yeah, Cass was right." "He is useless at tailing people." "Come on." "Roger!" "Roger McHugh, private investigator!" " Doing a bit of work, Rog?" " Eh, what´s all this, then, surveillance?" " Who are you following?" " Bugger off!" "Ah, you´re lucky there, see, ´cause ordinarily that would´ve cost you a quid." "Look at that, he´s got a little microphone and everything." "Oh, what is it then, jealous husband?" "How much do you get for that?" "You two are interfering with my work." "Well spotted, Rog." "And we´re going to interfere a lot more unless you start being nice to us." "Oh!" "Is that you?" "Southall CID tell me that your Private Operators Licence comes up for renewal in four weeks´ time." "And I told them I was very worried it wouldn´t go through." "Yeah?" "And you´re full of..." "Curry, actually." "I don´t like you, McHugh." "Your place or mine?" "Yeah, all right." "Follow me, follow me." "Usually, the Asian community, and in Southall that means Hindus and Sikhs, a lot of the work is following husbands, wives and girlfriends." "So as the other half can check up whether they´ve been at it or not." "And then of course, there´s tracking them down." "Runaway sons, daughters, nieces, and bringing them back." "Usually so they can bloody well marry who they´re supposed to bloody marry, innit?" " Even if they don´t want to?" " Yeah, well, of course they don´t want to." " Wouldn´t do a runner if they did." " Doesn´t it bother you?" "I mean, you might be putting these people at risk." "Yeah?" "The day I worry about what I do, my kids´ school fees tell me not to." "No doubt Pat Gannon was the same." "Yeah, well at least I´ve got a conscience." "He´d have eaten money if he could." " Got in the way of his work." " Money?" "Yeah, he was sloppy ´cause of it." "Truth be told, I was really glad when he went AWOL." "Stopped me having to clean up his messes." "And you´ve no idea what he was doing when he vanished?" "No, I´ve already told you." "You must´ve talked through stuff, shared details?" "What about files, records of cases?" "His were rubbish, that´s what I meant when I said sloppy." "What did you do with them?" "Gannon´s files?" "I don´t know, I threw them away." "Took up too much space." "You´re not being very helpful, Roger." "So I´m going to give you 24 hours to remember something interesting." "And if you don´t, the only private work you´ll be doing is with your dentist." "That´s not fair." "No." "That´s ´cause we´re not coppers, remember?" "Thank you very much for this." "Shivani was clearly full of life." " We´ve made a copy, do you mind?" " No, not at all." "Mrs Sharma, did Shivani ever mention that she thought someone was following her?" " No." " Did she share everything with you?" "I mean, if it was true, would Shivani definitely have told you?" "Always." "But perhaps after her marriage, well, she did have a husband to talk to." "What about you, Anita?" " Did she say anything to you?" " No, I was 14." "Just her baby sister." " What about Dipti, or her friends?" " Well, you´d have to ask them." "In and out of school, we all went around together." "Then when we left, we all still kept in touch, even through college." "I thought Shivani would do a degree." "She didn´t seem the sort to end up in an arranged marriage." "Shows you how much I know." "But she was happy, and she´d tell you that all the time." "So..." "When she got married, she did change a bit." "I don´t think she realised Milan would be away so much of the time." "It was a big house, on her own a lot." "Well, except for the in-laws coming round." "But she made it into a home, you know?" "And when you saw them together, her and Milan, you felt they were really happy." "I don´t know, does that make any sense?" "At the time leading up to when she was attacked, Shivani did seem a bit down." "Milan was away and she was always a bit miserable when he wasn´t there." "She didn´t like being on her own, but I don´t remember her ever saying that there was anything specific wrong." "The thing about Shivani was she was so popular with everyone." "She was very..." "She was special." "They just said she was feeling a bit low." "Nobody said anything about any kind of stalker." "What about this woman who claims that Shivani was being followed?" " Did she ever phone back?" " No." " Hoax?" " I don´t think so." "I mean, we´ve only just started the investigation and only people close to Shivani know about it." "And the caller used Shivani´s maiden name, Sharma." " But why wait until now?" "It´s been eight years." " Scared." "I mean, this crime was originally thought to be racist, remember?" "Yeah, and after a few years people feel they can own up to things" " that they didn´t mention at the time." " Maybe." "Okay." "What about Pat Gannon?" "The only way he could have been the person following Shivani, unless he was a nutter," "was if he´d been hired by somebody." "Somebody... somebody who suspected Shivani of something." "Who in turn could only be Milan, his family, her family, or her friends." " Friends don´t hire private detectives." " No, but family do." "And if the Dases did and found out that Shivani had been a naughty girl..." " Bad karma?" " Dishonourable?" "No, please." " Don´t say honour killing." "Not again." " Are you saying they don´t happen?" "Oh, yeah." "Streets of Southall are littered with them." "No." "Honour killings tend to be very particular, very specific." "You cut her throat, you stab her, you shoot her, you strangle her." "You bury her, wall her up, set fire to her, drown her, dismember her." "Stick her in an acid bath, even." "But you don´t beat her over the head with a brick and leave her, still breathing, on a canal towpath." "Oh, right." "(PEOPLE CHEERING ON TV)" " What are you doing?" " I´d not seen your wife till now." "And now I understand why you´re so loath to let her go." "It is selfish, I know." "But I can´t..." " Can you understand that?" " Yes." "Yes, I can." "Perhaps if I knew what really happened" "I´d be able to let her rest." "Yes, I think you might." "Find him." "Or her." "Find them." "She might have been followed, it probably wasn´t a race attack, the call may have been genuine." "I´ve a meeting with the Commissioner tomorrow at 3:00." "Do you want to come?" "Because I don´t want to tell him this." "There´s no new forensic evidence." "There doesn´t seem to be any motive..." "No, no, no, there was a motive, you just haven´t found it." "(STRICKLAND SIGHING)" "People know we´re re-examining this case." "The family know, the Asian community know." "We´ve already fouled up once by pinning the crime on the wrong person." "This time we solve it and we get it right, do you understand?" "Morning, gorgeous." "You going my way?" "Morning, guv." "So, you´ve met Mr McHugh." " Yeah, he just introduced himself." " Look, I´m sorry, I didn´t..." "Look..." "I´ve been thinking about, you know, anything that might have happened around the time that Pat disappeared." "Been through all me files, been racking me brain..." "Did it hurt?" "And..." " Morning." "I´m Roger McHugh." " Of course you are." "Thing is, there was one thing." "And it might have been the last thing that Pat said." "I think it had something to do with the case he was working on as well." "He said, um," ""With any luck, I´m going to make a killing. "" " Kill someone?" " Oh, God." "No, no, make a killing." "Oh, dear me." "Yeah, remember I said he was ga-ga about dosh?" "The point is, in our job, you know, you can make a living, but you´ve got to keep yourself busy." "It ain´t gonna buy yourself a villa in Nice, is it?" "And?" " Yeah, well, that´s it." " That´s it?" "That´s all you´ve come up with since we last saw you?" " Oh, come on." "Give us a break." " Which leg?" "Goodbye, Mr McHugh." "Don´t leave your office, we might want to talk to you again." "Although I hope not." " Oh, hold up, I know her." " Who?" "Mughda, Mughda Das." "You would do." "She runs a restaurant in Southall." "No, no, no, I hate curry." "No." " I know her, ´cause she came into my office." " When?" " Eight years ago." " You can remember a face after eight years?" "Look at it." "You would, wouldn´t you?" "Eh?" "No, no, no." "Faces on people that come into my office I never forget." "It pays." " She was a client?" " No." "No, not mine." "That´s my point." "She came to see Pat Gannon." "(SPEAKING hindi)" "I´m afraid we´re not open for business yet." "I wish we were here to eat, but we´ve actually come to talk to you." "We want to go over a few things." "What?" "What sort of things?" " Well..." " Oh, nothing really." "Would it be all right to talk at our office?" "We do good coffee." " We´re rather busy." " It shouldn´t take long." "We just want to try and clear up some of the details of who saw Shivani last." "It would really help us." "(SPEAKING hindi)" "Wants him to save her lunch." "Do you want to come?" "Be useful if you were there, too." "Why don´t you two look after Vikram?" "Have a chat?" "Somewhere quiet and contemplative." "By water?" "Mughda." "I can call you Mughda?" "Good." "Okay." "Do you remember the exact date on which you hired a private detective to follow your sister-in-law?" "Who said this?" " It´s rubbish." " We have an eyewitness." " Pat Gannon, remember?" "The Triple A Agency?" " They´re first in Yellow Pages." "(SPEAKING hindi)" "(SPEAKING hindi)" "When did you hire him?" "(SPEAKING hindi)" "She admits hiring a PI, but only to spy on a rival restaurant owner who was stealing recipes." "Mughda, your English is fine, so listen very carefully to what I have to say." "You´re lying and we know it." "You hired Pat Gannon, who has since disappeared, to follow your sister-in-law, who´s now dead." "Explain." "Okay, what about Gannon?" "I have no idea." " Oh, I think you do." " Then prove it." "Okay." "We´ll ask Vikram." "Go ahead." "He doesn´t know anything, either." "Do you like canals, Vikram?" "I do." " Why have you brought me here?" " Thought you´d be interested." " This is where Shivani got attacked." " Right there, where you are." " It must have happened so quick." " One minute, she´s walking along the towpath." "Next minute, someone comes up right behind her." " Or maybe even in front." " Maybe even someone she knew." " Then..." " Whack!" "Yeah, scary, isn´t it?" "Are you scared of your sister?" "God knows she frightens me." "Did she ever tell you about hiring a private investigator?" " No." " Pat Gannon, his name was." "And the funny thing is he disappeared a week after your sister-in-law got clobbered." "Stop." "Stop, you can´t do this." "I want a solicitor." " You´re not under arrest, mate." " I´m not talking to you without a solicitor." " Tell us about Mughda." "Is she a bit of a..." " A solicitor." "I want a solicitor!" "Okay, okay." "Keep your hair on." " He knows something." " Yeah." "He knows he wants a lawyer, thanks to you." "All you´ve done is terrify him." "Go on, he´s more scared of his sister than he is of us." "I find that hard to believe." " She is a monster." " Sister-in-law." "Okay, I´m biased." "Well, she won´t be intimidated." "We´ll have to be cuter than that." "You´re joking, aren´t you?" "She´s taking the piss." "We should nail the bitch!" "Well, there´s no point in holding them now." "Let them go," " ´cause we´re not going to break them." " Okay." "After we give Vikram what he wants." " Thanks, Pushkar." " Ma´am." "Okay, Vikram." "We do want to ask you a few more questions." "But given what you´ve said, quite rightly, we´ve got you in the Duty Solicitor." "Terry Cassidy." "Don´t worry, Mr Das, you won´t be here long." "Five minutes and then my client is out of here." "Then it´s your turn to answer some questions." "So, let´s start where we left off." " Pat Gannon..." " You don´t need to answer that question." " I haven´t asked it yet." " Okay, go on." " We want to know whether Mr Das..." " No, I was right." "He´s not answering that question." "We´re investigating a vicious assault on a young woman." "And I´m looking after the interests of my client." "She´s on a life-support machine." "Technically this is murder." "First it was a Mr Gannon, now it´s a young woman." "Make your mind up." "Clock´s ticking." " Okay, the Triple A Agency." " No." " Vikram, did you and your sister employ..." " No comment." " Eight years ago, did your sister..." " I refuse to answer any more of your questions." "That´s it!" "Enough´s enough!" "You and your sister employed Gannon, something happened and you made him disappear..." " Mr Standing..." " You shut your mouth!" " Now you really are in serious trouble." " Trouble?" "No, he´s the one who´s in trouble." "And I´m going to sort him out once and for all." "Before it was harassment, now it´s threatening behaviour." "Threatening behaviour?" "I´ll show you bloody threatening behaviour, son!" "What was that?" "Oh, my God!" "You don´t want to answer questions, is that right, eh?" " Gerry, Gerry, no." " No, I don´t care anymore!" "I don´t care about him, I don´t care about the job, any of this crap!" " Gerry, please..." " I´ve had it up to here with smart-arsed lawyers and solicitors, but most of all," "I´ve had it with lying bastards like you!" "(GUN FIRING)" " No!" "No!" " BRIAN:" "Don´t do this." "Please!" "It wasn´t my fault!" "I didn´t mean to kill him, it was an accident!" "It wasn´t me, it was Mughda!" "It was her idea!" "Please." " Get him out of here!" " All right, all right." "Come on you, come on." "Out!" " Wait." " Come on, this way!" "Move it!" "Nice one, Cass." "What a bastard, eh?" "Here, I´d have shot me an´ all." " It´s all right, it´s not real." " Starter pistol." " Are you out of your fu..." " You´ll never guess where Pat Gannon is?" "Pound!" "The old shoot-the-solicitor trick." "I haven´t seen that one in years." "VIP." " OTT." " BBC." "Outside." "He´ll be on the telly later, trying to make it look good." "(SPEAKING hindi)" "She says it´s not what you think." "(SPEAKING hindi)" "Milan, when was the cold store built?" "It was constructed around the time that Shivani was attacked." " Did you oversee it being built?" " No, I was away." " My brother was in charge." " OFFICER:" "Sir!" "It´s as if he died yesterday." "Concrete must have kept him perfectly preserved." "It´s ironic." "Fresh corpse, fresh evidence." "Ma´am, Mughda admits that she and Vikram killed him but it was an accident." "She said they had nothing to do with the attack on Shivani." "She´s adamant." "Of course, she might just be lying because she´s afraid of her brother." " Let me speak to her." " No, I´m sorry." "I can´t let you do that." "If I ask her for the truth she will tell me." "She will not lie to me, I promise you." "She´s been lying to you for the last eight years." "Not this time." "Superintendent, it´s the death of my wife, not this man which you are trying to solve." "Okay." "(SPEAKING hindi)" "(SPEAKING hindi)" "Neither she nor Vikram knows who attacked Shivani." "It wasn´t them." "He made her swear upon the memory of their mother and father." "She didn´t want to but he made her." "She cannot break this vow." "If she does, there´s no hope for her." "She´ll be damned eternally." "(SPEAKING IN hindi)" "Funny how she can´t speak English all of a sudden, innit?" " They do that all the time, it gets right..." " Yeah, okay, okay, you´ve made your point." "What point´s that?" "I´m racist?" " Could you take that..." " No, hold on, hold on." "Look, supposing I go to a pub in North Wales, and they all start talking Welsh so I can´t understand it and I get the hump, is that racist?" " No." " No!" "Let me tell you something." "Where I was born, where I grew up, there were no Blacks, no Asians, no Chinese, nothing." "So the first time I came across them, they weren´t exotic, they weren´t colourful, they were just bloody frightening!" "Now, that is racist." "And it took me a long time to learn any better." "A long time to learn that the only way to stop being one, to deal with it, is to admit it." "She lied." "She got caught and she´s going to prison." "That´s not racist, that´s life." "That´s right." "I suspected that Shivani was unfaithful to my brother." "Why?" "When Milan was away on business I would call round his house and Shivani was never there." "My fears were confirmed when I received a note." "For the record, I´m now showing Mughda Das a copy of a handwritten piece of paper retrieved from the body of Pat Gannon." " Is this the note?" " Yes." "Read it, please." "It says, "Shivani Sharma is a whore." "True. "" "Did you tell anyone about this?" "Yes, I told Vikram about the note." "He agreed that we should hire Mr Gannon to follow Shivani." "He did." "He told us that she often left the house when Milan was away and that she met many people, women and men, alone." "A week after he first followed her, Shivani was attacked." "Did you or your brother Vikram attack or engage someone else to attack Shivani Sharma?" " No!" "Never." " Carry on." "Mr Gannon came to see me." "He said that he had heard about the attack on Shivani." "And that he was now going to go to the police and tell them that it was me that hired him to follow her." "And it was after he told me that she saw other people that Shivani was killed." " Inferring that it was you who killed her?" " Yes." " Unless, of course, I gave him money." " So he blackmailed you." "Yes." "But I was afraid." "Very scared." "So I paid him some money but then he wanted more, a huge amount." "So I told Vikram what was happening." "Milan was also back now and I said that if he found out about Mr Gannon," " he would also think that we killed Shivani." " So what did Vikram say?" "He said that we should see Mr Gannon." "Make him scared of us." "What did you do?" "We arranged to meet him where the cold store was being built." "It was night." "We argued with Mr Gannon." "He laughed at us, he laughed at Vikram." "But Vikram is very strong." "He grabbed Mr Gannon by the throat, just to frighten him, that was all." "But he struggled and Vikram..." "Vikram strangled him." "What did you do with the body?" "We dug a hole, we put Mr Gannon in and then earth on top." "Vikram made sure that it was covered with concrete the next morning but..." "I tell you, I swear to you, we did not kill Shivani!" "Your brother believes you." "How do I know you´re telling the truth?" "Because I wanted to kill her." " You wanted to kill her?" " Yes." " But someone got there first." " Why?" " Why did you want her dead?" " Because she betrayed my brother." "She dishonoured our family." "She deserved to die." "GERRY:" "Kathy Bates, you know, how she was in Misery." " JACK:" "Very good." " Cruella De Vil?" " Yeah, but the cartoon, not the real-life one." " Oh, no." "That was Glenn Close." "Cruella De Das." "Simple question, do we believe her?" "Funny way of denying she killed Shivani, by saying she wanted her dead any road." "Yeah, and you know what I think." "Jealous, manipulative and lying." " And they´re just her good points." " Well, I´m biased, remember?" " Yes." " Yeah, sister-in-law." "Then again, Vikram, without speaking to his sister, tells exactly the same story." "Well, if what they both say is true, then we´re no nearer to finding out who attacked Shivani." " It´s a bastard, innit?" " Pound." " Okay, but no curry." " What about the ring?" "I mean, you wouldn´t just take a wedding ring, would you, unless it had some special significance?" "Murderers often take things from their victims as a sort of token." "The Stanmore Slasher." "Used to keep their toenails." "The big one." "Look, take Mughda and Vikram out the picture." "Take Pat Gannon out, too." "We´re still left with two things that need explaining." "One, who sent the anonymous note to Mughda?" "Two, who made the anonymous phone call to me?" "The phone call was right, though." "She was being followed." "What was that you were saying about the passage of time?" "About people being willing to come forward who´d once been afraid?" "Well, who would have been scared then who wouldn´t be now?" "Scared?" "Scared?" "Who´s most scared of anything?" "A child!" "What´s happened, has she admitted it?" "Mum´s had the papers on the phone all morning." "No." "Your sister-in-law says that she and Vikram were only responsible for the death of Pat Gannon." "And you believe her?" "Anita, we´ve come to ask you a question." "Can you say, "Shivani Sharma, she thought..." "she was sure she was being followed"?" "I understand why you didn´t want me to know it was you and I understand why you´ve kept quiet all these years." "But now is the time to tell us what you know, for Shivani´s sake." " I was so scared." " I realise that." "At the time, everyone was." "If you were Asian?" "When they arrested Palmer, it was such a relief." "When I found out you didn´t think he´d done it, it was like I was back there again. 14." "Terrified." " You haven´t told my mum?" " No." "Tell us about you and Shivani." "I was her baby sister, but we were close, really close." "Then when she got married, I didn´t see her so much." " The Dases..." " They´re more serious?" "Not Milan, he´s great." "But the others?" "They thought Shivani should stay in all the time, be a good wife." "She couldn´t see anyone, her in-laws were always coming round, always watching her." "She reckoned they were so nosy, they even checked her phone bill to see who she talked to." "In the end, she bought a mobile." "She put it in my name and had me look after it so they wouldn´t know." "When did she start to think she was being followed?" "Not long before she was attacked." " Was she seeing someone else?" " An affair?" "No!" "She loved Milan." "Just couldn´t stand his family." "Sorry." "This phone, did she have it with her the day she was attacked?" " No." " So what happened to it?" "Nothing." "I´ve still got it." "Excuse me." "I don´t know why you´re doing this anyway." "You don´t even have a mobile phone." "I understand the technology, I simply choose not to own one." "There´s widespread evidence, you know." "That prolonged use of the cell phone causes brain damage." "Are you sure you haven´t got one?" " Right, here goes." " Ooh!" " He´s only plugged it in, it´s not rocket science." " All right." "No, because that would be an amalgam of astrophysics and aeronautical engineering." "Damn." "It´s not charging." "Hang on." " There´s no point, the battery´s gone." " It´s too old." "We don´t use that expression round here." "It doesn´t need a battery, just needs electricity." "The future is bright!" "Last received call. 0831402699." " Five times." " Find "last dialled calls"." " Same number." " You have to add a seven after the nought." "At least this narrows the field down a bit." "(IMITATING RECORDED VOICE) "I´m sorry, we are not able to connect your call, please redial. "" "It doesn´t exist." "Yeah, but it did." "We just have to find out whose it was." "Have you got that note, the one on Gannon´s body?" " Yeah." " Right, you´re with me." "You keep going, trying to find out who owns that number." "I won´t be long." "Ah, Milan." "I think we´re getting very close to finding out who attacked your wife." "Pushkar would like a word with you, do you mind?" "Take Mr Das outside, somewhere you can talk privately." "Right, okay." "Let´s go get a coffee." "We´ve traced him!" "Owner of the mobile." " 19 Glovebury Road." " Bloody hell!" "Pound." "(DOORBELL RINGING)" "Mrs Mayo, do you mind if we come in and ask a few questions?" " What about?" " What´s happened, did Mughda confess?" " Sort of." " I´ll explain inside." "When did you last see your sister Shivani?" "I mean, before she was attacked?" "Me?" "Why?" "We´re just trying to piece together a sequence of events." "Why are you asking Dipti?" "What did Mughda say?" "Did she say something about Dipti?" "The day before she died." "They´re here." "What are they doing?" "Oh, I´m so sorry, I meant to show you this." "Mr Mayo, Mrs Mayo, this is a warrant authorising me to carry out a search of these premises." "Why?" "What for?" "When did you last have contact with your sister-in-law, Mr Mayo?" "Dunno know, um..." "Two, maybe three days before she was attacked?" "Really?" "Now, that´s weird... because you rang her on this phone on that very day repeatedly." "And then she phoned you back less than an hour before the estimated time of assault." " Rick?" " No, that´s wrong." "Well, according to Vodafone, you had a mobile phone contract with them from 1994 to 1998, with the number 0831402699." "The same number that was logged on Shivani´s phone memory." "Well, Rick, did you?" " Did you?" " No, it´s cobblers." "No, it´s technology." "I´ll check upstairs." "Okay, why don´t we go into another room?" "It´s getting a bit crowded in here." " How do you get into the attic?" " Why?" "This is why." "Well, isn´t this exciting?" "Excuse me." " Nothing out back." " Rick, what have you done?" "I understand you got married in 1998?" " What?" " Whirlwind romance?" "We´ve known each other years." "Yeah, but you only started seeing each other when?" " None of your business." " After Shivani died?" "Don´t tell me, it drew you closer together." "Guvnor, these are all addressed to Shivani Sharma, telling her how much the sender loves her and that she doesn´t love her husband but really wants him instead, and they´re all signed "Rick"." "And all returned in this." "This was sent anonymously to Shivani´s sister-in-law... by you." "Now, I´m no expert, but I´d say they were all written by the same person." " No." "No, I don´t believe it!" " Same?" " Is this your sister Shivani´s handwriting?" " Yes." "Yours?" "It´s inscribed." "It says, "You are my life, my wife. "" "Take her out, please." "(DIPTI RETCHING)" "So, what is it, you got a thing about Indian women, have you?" "Shivani turned you down, you killed her, and then you settled for her sister." "What a man." " Shivani wasn´t murdered." " Come again?" "There´s a time limit on murder." "You have to die within a year and a day." " It´s the law." " That´s true." "Or at least it was, until the Law Reform Year And A Day Act, June the 17th, 1996, which abolished it, largely due to improvements in medical science." "It´s weird, isn´t it?" "If you´d murdered Shivani just over a year earlier, then it wouldn´t have been." "Murder, I mean." "Hard luck." "She´s on a life support machine." " She´s still alive." " Where´d you get that idea from?" "Back of a matchbox?" "Shivani´s only alive through medical intervention." "As far as the law´s concerned, she´s dead." "Hard luck." "Rick decided if he couldn´t have her, nobody would." "Thank you." "I don´t know what else to say." "It´s a different world now." "Right then, back to uniform." " What you on about?" "You´ve hardly had yours off." " What?" "And ruin a perfectly good suit?" " Shame." " Bloody shame." " Pound!" " Pound!" "Pound minimum!" "The swear-box is gone." "What do you mean, gone?" "How?" "It´s a police station." "Some bugger nicked it." "# 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 #"