"Oh, not again?" "What is this, Return Of The Living Dead?" "Mary." "My Mary." "You ran her down." "You did it." "You know, you really are one sad old man." "Maybe." "But unlike you, I won't be growing older in prison." "Yeah, well, even prison's better than bouncing off a car bonnet at 70mph." "You should have seen her handbag fly, Jack." "Went nearly as far as she did." "You think I spent all my time figuring out a way to kill you?" " Here." " Ooh." "There you go." " It's my turn in the front." " I've got the handbag." " It's still my turn, isn't it?" " Just get in!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Bloody women drivers." "# It's all right, it's OK" "# Doesn't really matter if you're old and grey" "# It's all right, I say, it's OK" "# 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 OK" "# We're getting to the end of the day" "Broke my metatarsal." "How cool is that." "What was Jack doing last night?" "That was Hanson, wasn't it?" "Yeah." "Jack..." "Jack..." " Jack." " Hm?" "You all right, mate?" "Who are you?" "Hello." "What did he say?" "Er, he says I'm fine." "OK to go." "Well, they need the bed." "I'll run you home." " How are the boys?" " It's family only for now." "That was quite a pile-up you had." "Any of it come back to you?" "No." "OK." "Well, take it easy for the next day or so." "I've arranged some help for you." " Help?" " With the new office." "The move?" "Move again." " Well, it was mooted, so..." " Yeah, yeah." "Who knows how long it'll be before the boys are back." "Do you mind if I get dressed now, sir?" "Oh." "I'll be outside." " Is the food really that bad?" " Repellent." "Like school dinners." "Does it really hurt?" "Hey?" "Oh, yeah." "It's terrible, yeah." "Scampi sends his love." "Does he?" "Tell him..." " I've got your pillow." " Ooh, ooh." "There." "And your pyjamas." "And your slipper." "And um... your Prussian Infantry Uniforms Of The Seven Years War." "Oh, brilliant." "How's the food?" "Lovely." "Like school dinners." "How's it been without me?" "Very quiet." "How are you, Jack?" " He can't remember anything." " Hm." "As soon as possible, really." "Ricky Hanson, yeah." "Last seen at the Black Boy pub in Catford." "Night of the 17th." "Yeah." "Cheers." "Bye." "Sandra." "I'd like you to meet DCI Karen Hardwick." "Delighted." "I've heard so much about you." "So much about all this." "Karen's a great fan of UCOS." "I've explained the situation and she's eager to get started." "Sir, could I have a word?" " Is she a serving officer?" " Karen's about to retire." "So how long do you envisage her being with us?" "These are shots of the smash at the Black Boy pub." "You must have been going at quite a speed." "The crash was on private property, so there's no official comeback." "But if you could try to recall what went on..." "it might help avoid some awkward questions." "Well, the good news is, your brain scan came back clear." "Your memory loss may only be temporary." "The best course we have is simply to wait and see." "Thank you." "Mr Standing, how do you feel?" "Oh, not too clever, actually." "I mean, it's not just my neck but my back's really giving me gyp and last night my chest..." "Ah..." "Well, that'll just be your atrial fibrillation." " My what?" " Irregular heartbeat." "It's quite common in a man of your age." "But to be on the safe side, we'll fit you with a monitor and keep an eye on you for the next 48 hours." "Oh, right." "Right." " Brian, eye still bothering you?" " No, he is." "Ooh." "I want to know the exact nature of this medication he's trying to administer." " He doesn't want me to..." " I have a healthy distrust of some of the more virulent products of the pharmaceutical industry." "Norman, that's fine." "It's an anti-inflammatory, to try and reduce the periorbital swelling of the eye." "Oh, right, then." "Thank you." " But thanks for keeping us on our toes." " Ugh." "Still, I understand your apprehension." "Especially given what happened here 10 years ago." " Why, what happened?" " Three men died." "All on the same night." "In this very room." "Albeit, not retired police officers, I'm pleased to say." "What was all that about?" "Here, Norman, come here." "He just said something about three blokes dying in here the same night." "They only ever proved that one of them was murdered." "Before my time." "I don't think they caught anyone in the end." "Although, of course, they sacked the poor nurse who was on duty." "Scary." "Ooh." " Hello, guv'nor." " Hi, guys." "Sandra!" "Jack!" " How are you feeling?" " I don't know." "I'm..." "I'm having difficulty remembering things." "I heard you were at death's door." "We are!" "Well, didn't you bring us anything?" "Some grapes would have been nice." "How long before you're back on your feet?" "Oh, look, she misses us already." "Strickland's organised cover for you." " She's a Detective Chief Inspector..." " She?" "A woman?" "Another woman in that office with you?" "He's also hinted that she may not be short-term." " What?" " He can't do that." "Well, work has to go on." "UCOS can't stop." "Well, we are working." "We've just started looking at a new case." "Oh, yeah?" "No, no, he's right." "In this very room 10 years ago, still unsolved apparently." "Bloke was murdered." "Possibly three." " All on the same night." " We could be looking for a serial killer." "Really?" "Oh, yes." "It's big." "Very big, tell him." "Tell Strickland that despite injuries that would have broken lesser men, we are still functioning in the same smooth, unruffled way we always have." "I've done the filing." "As you didn't give me any other work to do." "Coffee?" "Thanks, yeah." "Milk, no sugar." "I heard about your crash." "Sounds horrible." "What happened?" "Cheers." "There is something, actually." "1997, there was a murder at St Edward's Hospital." "Patient." "Can you get me the file?" " Have you got a name?" " No." "Sorry." "Um, do you ever work nights?" "I'm gay." "That's all right." "So am I." "Agh!" "I said gay, not SM." "Cor!" "Thank you." "Good morning." "Hello." "How do?" "Um, gentleman over there?" "Oh, no, him?" "Deaf as a post." "Thank you." "Aye aye, what's this?" "Right, Alan White. 44." "Teacher from Surrey." "Married with an 11-year-old son." "In here after crashing his car on the A3." "On the night of May 1 st 1997, he died after receiving a massive overdose of diamorphine." "This is good." "Did you do it?" "Yeah, sort of." "Two other patients died on the same ward on the same night." "Reginald Beery and Stuart Monkton." " Jack?" " Mm?" "Oh." "Sorry, I must have dropped off." "Are you working?" "Yes." "Dr McKenzie thought it would help you recuperate." " Who?" " Dr McKenzie?" "Both Monkton and Beery were terminally ill." "And their postmortems confirm that their deaths were in no way suspicious." "But it soon became clear that White had been murdered." "His drip had been interfered with in the middle of the night." "Can you..." "Can you just loosen the sheets on the bottom of my bed, please?" "I think I've got a corn coming." " The two principal suspects..." " Gently, gently." "...were the duty nurse, Sophie Oyekambi, and Duncan Freedman, a senior houseman..." " Ooh, ooh!" "... and the last doctor on call to see the men earlier in the evening." " Any motive?" " That's the problem." "There wasn't one." "Both Oyekambi and Freedman denied having anything to do with what happened, obviously." "Nobody was seen to go in or out of the ward that night." "But without DNA or prints they couldn't prove that either were responsible and so the case was shelved." " Guv, can you move my pillows?" " Shut up." "The hospital authorities were less forgiving." "They sacked Oyekambi for negligence." " So where is she now?" " Well, this is interesting." "I've got addresses for most of the people involved but even the hyper-efficient Karen Hardwick can't locate Oyekambi or Freedman." "But Oyekambi's Nigerian, so she may not be in the country." "Maybe somebody here would know." "Failing that, I could always..." " No, never mind." "It's a bit complicated." " Fine." "You deal with that." "I'm going to see White's widow." "It's time we let the family know what we're doing." "Detective Chief Inspector Karen Hardwick?" " Yeah, why?" "Do you know her?" " I know her all right." "Oh, Christ!" "Not another one!" "No, no, no, no." "I worked with her." "She's good." "She's very good." "She gets her claws into..." "I tell you what, if we don't crack this case, she will." "Listen..." "Ricky Hanson's disappeared." "I should put a police guard on Jack but then I'd have to alert Strickland." "Well, he's all right as long as we're here." "I may be paranoid but I think Strickland has put Hardwick into the office to find out about the crash." " Ooh." " Which means that Jack won't just get sacked, he'll be up for attempted murder." "So keep an eye on him, eh?" "And be careful." "Sandra." "How are the boys?" "Fine, fine." "On the mend." "Good." "Good." "I rang Shirley White." "The dead man's widow." "I left a message." "Haven't heard back yet." "No joy on Oyekambi and Freedman as yet but this is Ray Monkton's address." "He's the son of the man who died of cancer." "Well... he may have remembered something in the meantime." "I understand you know Gerry?" "Gerry Standing?" "Oh, God." "Oh, he's a shocker, isn't he?" "How do you put up with him?" "So, are you all keeping your minds exercised on our little cause célébre?" "Trouble is, we're having problems finding some of the people involved." "Were you here then?" "Fortunately, no." "I was on a year's sabbatical." "Fiji." "Fiji?" "Ooh, nice." "Did you know Dr Freedman?" "Or the nurse who was sacked?" "Sophie Oka..." "She was Nigerian." "Yes, I did." "Yeah, she was all right." "He was a bit odd." "Odd?" "Mm." "Never felt he was a doctor you could fully trust." "Too touchy-feely for my liking." "Very keen to feel the patient's pain." " Is that bad?" " Well, it's perverse." "I don't want to feel my patient's pain." "I want to get rid of it." "You don't know where he is now, do you?" "Seems he's left the NHS." "No." "And good." "Everything OK, Gerry?" "What?" "Yeah, I think the doctor seems to think so." "Not too tight?" "No, no." "They're fine." "Uh-oh, hello, ladies." "Mr Popular." "Hello." " Hello, love." " Hi." " Hello, how are you?" " Who was driving?" "In the crash." "Superintendent Pullman, I presume?" "Ray Monkton." "I'll wait outside." "I'll be right with you." " I forgot my wellies." " Ah." "Sorry." "It's not exactly Herriot country, is it?" "Well, it's all part of being a vet, even in Essex." "Right." "Let's start again." " Thanks for agreeing to talk to me." " Not at all." "I presume this means you didn't find the guy who killed the bloke next to my dad?" "Alan White?" "No." "But the case was never closed, which is why I'm here." "Do you remember the night in question?" "You don't tend to forget the night your father died." "Of course not." "Sorry." " Do you mind telling me what happened?" " My mother and I saw my dad around eight." "I drove her to and from the hospital every day for about two weeks." "That night we stayed an hour." "But he wasn't really there any more." "He was so ill, with the medication and so on." "I understand that your mother's no longer alive?" "No, she died a couple of years later." "Do you remember anything odd that night on the ward?" "In relation to White and Beery, who was the other man who died." "No." "White's wife and son, he was just a boy, they were pretty upset." "But so were me and my mum." "When they said the man in the next bed had been killed, we didn't know what to think." "But er... the PM on my father said he died from his cancer, so that was that." "OK, well, thanks very much." "But if you do remember anything, let us know, yeah?" " Sure." " Cheers." "Aren't they great?" "I cut them from the garden this morning." "Lovely." "Where are you going?" "Well, I'm contracted from nine to five." "Yeah, I know, but in UCOS we tend to be a bit more... flexible with our hours." "Not me." "I've usually got something on in the evenings." "African drumming tonight." "Swimming tomorrow." "Then there's the gym, tae kwon do, an art class I try to fit in." "Oh, and of course Spanish." "I've a villa in Málaga." "It's only two bedrooms and the pool but there's a great riding stables nearby." "No kids." "What else am I going to spend the money on?" "See you tomorrow." "But how did they get on the ward without being seen?" "First of May, 1997." "Cup Final?" "Solar eclipse?" "Earthquake?" "Election!" " What?" " First of May, 1997." " The night Labour got in." "Election night." " What about it?" "They'll all have been crowded round their TV sets." "Especially in a hospital." " Doctors, nurses, the whole lot of them." " Of course." "No wonder no-one saw anyone." "Right, good." "Now we're getting somewhere." "Well, I'm glad you sorted that out." "Sorry, girls." "That's all, I'm afraid." "Oh, dear." "What a shame." "Time to go." "Take care of yourself, love." "I'll see you tomorrow." " Bye, darling." " Thanks for everything." "Be good." "Aren't I always?" "Good night." "OK." "Time to remove the spaghetti." "Your tests all came back fine." "Oh, terrific." "I don't know how you put up with them." "But then I don't know how someone like you got as far as you did in the Met." "Especially in the '70s." " Sorry?" " Being gay." "Eh?" "It's all right." "Nyreen told me." "No, no, no, no." "That was a little wind-up." "Don't worry." "I'd already guessed it." "It's all right." "I'll do that, thank you." "Takes one to know one." "You know what the giveaway is?" "Those three fag hags that keep visiting you." "Those are my ex-wives." "Well, there you are." "You keep trying to deny your true sexuality but in the end it's just not possible, is it?" "Excuse me." "I've got four daughters." " No?" " Yes." "That's amazing." "So have I." "Jack..." "Brian..." "He's got your number... ducky." "Only two bedrooms and a pool, but it's got a great riding stables nearby." "Mek, mek, mek, mek." "Why aren't you in hospital?" "Too risky." "It's nice." "The night of the election?" "How did he remember that?" "Karen rang Shirley White yesterday but we haven't heard back." "The evening's probably the best time to catch her but it's a cold call." "She won't know we're coming." "Are you sure you're OK?" "I remember the last time you drove me anywhere." "And this is my car." "Oh." "Mrs White?" "Yes?" "I'm sorry, we did ring the bell but there was no answer." "I'm Detective Superintendent Pullman." "This is Gerry Standing." "What's happened?" "We're from the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad." " I've never heard of it." " We're re-examining your husband's death." "Why?" " Who decided this?" " It's an unsolved killing, Mrs White." "I don't want to talk about it." "It's too upsetting." "Mrs White, I appreciate how difficult this is for you but..." "No, you don't." "It's too horrible." "I can't." "I just can't." "Mrs White, whoever killed your husband could still be out there." "It's our duty to bring them in." "We just want to ask you if you can remember anything at all about the night..." "No, I don't want anything to do with it." "Now, go away." "Please." "I want you to leave." "Mrs White, your son was with you at the hospital." " Maybe we could have a word with him?" " No." "He's grown up now, Mrs White." "He can make his own decisions." " Could we have his address?" " Absolutely not." "I want you to get off my property!" "You're trespassing!" " This is my home!" " Sorry, Mrs White." "Thanks for your time." "I only asked for his address, not his life savings." "What was all that about?" "Mr Halford..." "Where are you going?" "I'll call you back." "Stop!" "Mr Halford!" "Abracadabra." "Mr Halford!" "Freedman, D." "Here we go." "Yes!" "What have we got? "Freedman"..." ""Personal. "" "Like it." "I like it." "Mr Halford, what do you think you're doing?" " What?" " Come on." "Out of here." "Where am I?" "Freedman, Freedman..." ""Resignation. "" "Oh, yes." "Resignation. "Dear Sirs, It is with great regret... "" "Yes, we'll have that." " Pen." "Pencil." "I'm so sorry." "I don't know what came over me." "I must have been sleepwalking." "Ah, ah!" "Thank you so much, nurse." "I don't know what happened." " Are you all right?" " Yes, yes, I'm fine." " Thank you." " Come on, back to bed." "Ah, thank you very much." " Sleep well." " And you." "Good night." "Hi." "Sophie Oyekambi's present address." "Nigerian Expatriates Welfare Association." "I called them." "They rang back with the info in a few minutes." "It was just a hunch." " Sophie what?" " The "Oy" is silent." "Still no joy with Dr Freedman but I'm working on it." "Gerry Standing." "Hey, hey." "How are you, Karen?" "Landed on your feet here, didn't you?" "Yeah." "I see you've added a few personal touches as well." "I suppose you'd prefer beer all over the walls and six months' of fag ash under your feet?" " How do you know each other?" " We worked on the paedophile unit." "Gerry made me feel very welcome my first day by trying to chat me up." "Made everyone laugh." " Did it?" " Yes!" "I was his new guv'nor." " Come on, Don Juan." " I'll see you later." "Here you go, guv'nor." "No. 6." "I am not paying the rent, no." "Not until they fix the hole in the floor and the smell from downstairs, no." " Sophie Oyekambi?" " I am not talking to you." "Go away!" "We're not here about your flat." "Argh!" " Go away!" "Go away or I'll call the police." " We are the police." "Hello, Sophie." "Do you want to put that down?" "I like you." "It's a gift." " Why do you want to talk to me?" " Er, we're part of a team..." " What is your name?" " Er, Gerry Standing." "Gerry?" "I will answer your questions, Gerry." "OK, we need to ask you about the night that Alan White died." "No, it was not me." "Why are you blaming me?" "I was not responsible." " We're not just..." " I don't talk to you." "I only talk to Gerry." "You must ask the questions, then I will answer." "OK, then." "You tell me, where were you that night?" "I was in the nurses' station, next to the ward." "All night?" "Yes, of course all night." "And you didn't see anyone else come into the ward?" " Not after the patients' families had left?" " No, I was on my own." "So you're saying you didn't see anything that happened?" "You are saying I'm a liar?" "I'm asking how it's possible for you not to have seen anything." "No, I will not be a scapegoat again." "They fire me just because I'm a nurse." "And because I'm Nigerian and black, they can just get rid of me." "And all the while Dr Freedman escaped with nothing." "He keep his job and I am fired!" " Sophie, all we want is the truth." " The truth?" "The truth is that in this country the people who run the hospitals are the doctors." "They protect each other." "They care nothing for the nurses or the patients." "Or their families." "Oh, no." "They can just go to hell!" " Let's calm down, shall we?" " No, I won't calm down." "I am a good nurse." "But because of what they do, I cannot get any work as a nurse at all." "Now I must work in kitchens and cleaning and all that shit." "All because Freedman and the doctors there protect each other and talk together lies." "I am a princess, huh, you know?" "I come from a royal family." "I should be living in a palace, not a shithole like this." "You tell me about the truth." "The truth does not exist." " Miss Oyekambi..." " I don't speak to you." "I don't like you." "You disrespect me." " Sophie." " Uh-uh!" "I am not a liar." "Go away." "I don't want to talk to you." "And you have disappointed me, Gerry." "I tried to talk to you because you are a nice man." "But I think perhaps you too are full of deceit." "You must leave now." "Go!" "Mad angry or mad hatter?" "Fantasist." "That's probably how the killer got in unseen." "She was away with the fairies." " What if she's delusional?" " She cooperated with the original inquiry." " No sign of her being off the wall then." " She is now." " And that's why she's top of the list." " Not necessarily." "Dr Duncan Freedman was suspended by the hospital authorities for six months in 1999." "Inappropriate conversations with the relatives of terminally ill patients." " What about?" " In actual fact, euthanasia." "A year later, he sent a letter of resignation to the GMC and stopped operating as a medical practitioner." "After which he started Time To Go." "Which is a charity dedicated to the promotion of voluntary euthanasia." "How did you get all this?" "Oh, been digging around, you know." "How did you manage to track her down by the way?" "The mad princess." "Oh, um... the Nigerian Expatriates Welfare Association." "I told you Karen was good." "Are you sure she's about to retire?" "Could be Strickland's looking to replace all of us." "Come on." "We need to see a doctor." "And you two try and behave." "He'd have to be on the bleeding top floor, wouldn't he?" "Come on." "Pardon, il y a des gens qui arrivent." "D'accord... tout á I'heure." "I don't remember saying come in." "I don't remember asking." "Detective Superintendent Pullman, UCOS." "This is Gerry Standing." "You're a difficult man to track down, Mr Freedman." "Doctor." "Only just." "So, what can I do to help the custodians of the law?" "We're reinvestigating the murder of Alan White." "Ooh." "Time To Go." "It is after you've climbed up those bleeding stairs." "We're a registered charity dedicated to advising those people committed to..." "Voluntary euthanasia?" "Yeah, we know." "Interesting choice of work." "Especially in light of the way Alan White died." "I don't kill people." "My whole raison d'être is helping people not suffer." "Helping or encouraging?" "I happen to believe that people have a right to end a life of unbearable pain by their own hand." "I'm now at liberty to help them travel to a country where they can act upon that ethical belief." "Are you sure you didn't act upon that ethical belief 10 years ago?" "Of course not." "The hospital authorities didn't take such a benign view, did they?" "Especially when they found you talking to the relatives of dying patients about euthanasia." "A lot of families are at their wits' end in such situations." "Who knows how stoic you'll be when your time comes." "You might be grateful for someone like me." "Yeah." "Charity, eh?" "So, you do all this for nothing?" "There are running costs and expenses." "And of course little trips." "To Switzerland." "As I said, I had nothing to do with what happened back then." "No." "Sophie Oyekambi says you let her carry the can for that one." "Oh, is that where this is coming from?" "From her?" "Did she tell you I killed White?" "Whoa." "I do hope you're more calm when you're discussing matters in your professional capacity." "I've nothing further to say to you." "Goodbye." "Don't go anywhere for the next few days, will you?" "Doctor." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Jack, Jack, Jack." "You were shouting." "Brian, what happened in the car park?" "What happened with Hanson?" "Tell me." "You tried to kill him, Jack." "You tried to run him down." "Sandra drove into you to stop you." "Why?" "Why would..." "He killed Mary." "Brian, ...he killed my Mary." "Thanks very much, friend." "Hi." "Can I help you?" "I don't think so." "Hello." "Operator." "Yeah." "Can I make a reverse charge call, please, to Miss..." "No, no, better make that Ms..." "Sandra Pullman." "Sorry." "Oh, the number?" "Yes." "The number's um..." "Bloody hell!" "Hello?" "Hello..." "Jack." "Mm?" "Jack..." "Mm?" "Mm?" "Say hello to the wife." "Argh!" "Ugh!" "Nothing like a breath of fresh air." "Brian." "What the hell happened last night?" "Ricky Hanson killed Mary." "It was him who ran her down." "That's why Jack tried to repay the compliment." "Whoo!" "My God." "Am I in the right shop?" "My, my." "Aren't we smart?" "You know, hitting Hanson with that oxygen cylinder was extraordinarily invigorating." "Top man." "Should have knocked his bleeding head off." "He can't possibly be that stupid." "Hanson's been charged with attempted murder." "He's in police custody as we speak." "What do you think he's telling them?" "Hm?" "Strickland thinks the crash was dodgy." "Which is why he planted a spy in the office." "We're buggered." " What do you mean, we're buggered?" " Jack, us three are accessories after the fact." "Strickland could have us up for aiding and abetting, perverting the course of justice." " I didn't ask you to stop me." " You were going to kill him!" "Self-defence." "At the wheel of a car?" "Maybe they won't find out." "We've got to make sure they don't." "Exactly." "Yeah, but if they do we could go to prison." "We'd be shown to be corrupt." "And, of course, there'd be no more UCOS." "There is one solution." "Hanson." "He's in police custody." "And?" "No better place." "It was a joke." "Oh, bloody hell, Jack." "Why did you have to do it?" "Brian?" "He killed my wife." "Er, sorry." "Duncan Freedman rang." "Wanted to apologise, said you'd taken him by surprise." "So I was finally able to check him out." "Time To Go is totally legit." "Registered with the Charity Commission in 2001." "He's got a house in Acton, two other properties abroad." "Divorced nine years ago with two daughters he never sees, apparently." "Sorry it's a bit sketchy but I only had half an hour." "Blimey." "You lot have been in the wars." "Oh, yeah." "Karen Hardwick." "Jack Halford." "Hendon 1978, best lecturer in practical policing I've ever heard." "Thank you." " Brian Lane." " Memory lane." "It's a privilege." "And I've tried to recreate your desk exactly as you left it." "I hope it's OK." "Will you excuse me?" "I'm just on my way to the..." "loo." "So..." "How much do you think she heard?" "I told you, she's a plant." "So what do we do?" "We go back to work." "Now, which is my desk?" "Thank you." "Sandra Pullman." "Hi." "It's Ray Monkton." "You left me a message." "Oh, hi, yeah." "Thanks for getting back to me so soon." "Hi." "Beautiful animal." "Very beautiful, very expensive animal." "Do you ride?" "You're joking." "I used to pray for one." " Do your kids ride?" " No, no." "Don't have kids." "Never married." "I don't suppose you've had any more thoughts about the night in question..." "No, er..." "Do you remember the nurse who was on duty?" "She was black, Nigerian." "Yeah, I do remember her." "She was very... excitable." " Are you allowed to say that?" " Definitely." "I've met her." "But nice." "Her and the doctor." " Freedman?" " Mm." "So they were on the ward together?" "Yeah." "I remember they were very pally, laughed a lot." " Laughed a lot?" " It was quite nice, really." "It lifted the mood in a strange kind of way." "She was pretty gorgeous actually." "Hello, Sophie." "Thanks for coming in." "I came only because your man said you will be here." " Hello, Sophie." " Gerry is a nice man." "I never thought I'd hear that said." "The thing is, since I last spoke to you, I've been talking to people who remember you." " What people?" " They said you were very beautiful." "Yes." "I was." "You still are, Sophie." "I am a shadow of my former self." "But then..." "Back then..." "Men..." " Duncan Freedman?" " I don't want to talk about that man." "I've been told that you and he were friends, that you liked him, he liked you." "Is that the reason you're so angry, Sophie?" "Because you got punished?" "I mean, you were good friends but you took all the blame." "Sophie, did you see Duncan Freedman at all that night, after he finished his rounds?" "No, he was never there." "Not at all." "He wasn't there." "It was the night that Labour got elected." "You didn't pop out of the ward to see the results coming in?" "I am Nigerian." "I don't have a vote." "He wasn't there, I tell you." " I don't care about Duncan Freedman." " Ssh, ssh, ssh, ssh." "Really?" "He's a handsome man." "I reckon he must have been a really good-looking bloke back then, yeah?" "He was." "Sophie, were you and Duncan Freedman lovers?" "He was chicken with hat on rice made good fly to live in bucket." " Sophie." " Jesus." " Get help!" " Sophie!" "OK." "Breathe, Sophie." "Whoa." "OK." "I'll be back in a moment, all right?" "Hi." "What you saw was probably a complex partial seizure." "A form of epilepsy." "The fits can vary in severity from tiny incidents of just a few seconds to... well, quite long-lasting incidents." " How often do they occur?" " Seizures may come and go." "They may disappear for quite long periods." "The sufferer may even be unaware they've had an attack." "But can they do anything?" "Well, they can appear to continue to function, perform routine tasks but not specific ones." "Like administering diamorphine?" "I very much doubt it." " Can we speak to her?" " Sure." "She's fine now but... keep it short and try not to let her get too excited." "Hang on to that." "Sophie." "You scared the life out of me." "I scare a lot of people." "I take it no-one knew about you and Duncan Freedman?" "He was married." "Where did you used to meet?" "In one of the side rooms at the end of the ward." "He would meet me there after his rounds." "Sophie, were you together on the night that the three men died?" "No." "A lot of nights we used to make love." "But to tell you the truth, on this night we didn't." "He wasn't there." "I only remember being in the ward and finding the three men dead." "So I hit the panic button." "Then when they said it was murder, I was so scared, because I did not know if I was the one who did this thing." "And because they could prove that I had." "But even though no-one was accused of the killing," "I was the one who was fired." "So afterwards, when I need a job, I ask Duncan for help." "But he did nothing." "Nothing to help at all!" "I think we should call a halt." "Well, I think you should tell her that she couldn't have done it." "You didn't kill Alan White." "It's true." "Sophie, did Freedman know that you used to have fits?" "Er, I don't know." "I don't think so." "Did you know?" "OK." " Thank you." " Bye-bye, Sophie." "Gerry." " Any luck in finding Freedman?" " Yes, actually." "Cheers." "So the epilepsy would explain why she didn't see anything." "Also why she never said anything." " If the hospital knew, she'd have lost her job." " Not that it did her any good." "They still gave her the bullet." "No wonder she's bitter." "She only thinks Freedman didn't know about her illness." " What if he did?" "Let's find out." "You two can try and track down young Master White." "I thought you were getting Karen to do that." " She only works nine to five." " Oh." " Will this take long?" " I'll be brief." "When we spoke the other day, you failed to mention something rather important regarding Sophie Oyekambi." "What, to be precise?" "Your affair, to be precise." "Pretty gutless, letting Sophie take the can for White's death." "Especially seeing how sick she was." " What do you mean, sick?" " Epilepsy." "I take it you've heard of it." "You are a doctor." "Well, Sophie Oyekambi is a sufferer." " Since when?" " Since before you knew her." "And I don't mean biblically." "I don't believe you." "Oh, Mr Freedman, I don't believe you." "The fact is, Sophie may well have had an attack on the night White died, which means she may well have been speaking the truth when she said she didn't see his killer." "Which in turn puts you right back in the frame as a prime suspect." "Ridiculous!" "If I'd overdosed anybody, it would have been the other two." "They were terminally ill, not White." "I didn't kill that man." "I didn't see Sophie that night." "I wasn't there." "So where were you?" "Seeing somebody else." " Somebody else?" " Another woman." "Why didn't you tell the original murder team?" "Because it would have wrecked my career if it had got out." "So you were seeing another woman whilst you were seeing Sophie." "She was married to another doctor." "This doctor..." "Was he away at the time?" "A long, long way away?" "Fiji, for instance?" "Huh." "Excuse me." "McKenzie." "Gerry." "What's happening?" "The next time you want to get back at someone for shagging your wife, have the guts to do it yourself." "Don't use us!" "No, no, that's fine." "Thank you." "How'd it go?" "Freedman was definitely not at the hospital that night." "How come?" "Because he was having rumpy-pumpy with a certain Mrs McKenzie." "Shirley White's son is called Tony but I'm damned if I can find an address for him." "Cos he doesn't have one." " What?" " Tony White hasn't got an address because he's dead." "He died in 2000 aged 14." "Read all about it." "Why didn't you tell us about Tony, Mrs White?" "You must have known we'd find out eventually." "How do you talk about the death of the person you love?" "I mean, how do you begin to discuss the suicide of your only child?" "Hm?" "Sorry, we haven't got a choice." " You found him, right?" " It was at our old house in the garden." "He'd hanged himself." "From an apple tree." "Why?" "Why did he do it?" "Did he leave a note?" "I destroyed it." "What did it say?" "Was there anything in it about his father's death?" "Mrs White, did Tony's decision to kill himself have anything to do with what happened to your husband?" "I have to know the answer to this." "It's vital." "Did Tony kill his father?" "No, of course not." "What did the note say?" "Mrs White, can you show me a photo of your husband?" "You don't have any out." "No." "You destroyed those too, didn't you?" "You didn't know." "You didn't know until Tony died." "No." "What?" "Know what?" "Is that what was in the note?" "Her husband and her son..." "Mrs White, I've worked on cases like this before." "More than I like to remember." "And I know that even though the abuse may stop, for the abused, sometimes the torment never does." "I can't forgive him." "I can't ever forgive what he did to my lovely boy." "But what's worse is, I can't ever forgive myself." "Alan White was a teacher." "But we now know something that the original murder team didn't." "He was a paedophile." "So we ought to check into his past." "Where he taught, what age groups and for how long." "Excuse me." "But surely the original murder team did that." "No, they'd only have checked out all the people he'd fallen out with." " You know, arguments etc." " Cheers, Ger." "I'm talking about children." "People who are so scared, they won't say anything." "Ta." "But he probably taught hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids before he died." "That's a full-scale operation." "You're talking 70, 80 detectives working full-time around the clock." "I've got this." "I did it when I came on board." "Alan White taught in four schools in London, Hertfordshire and Essex." " Essex?" " Yes." "Foxhall in Essex." "Cheers." "Hi." " Sorry you've had to wait." " That's all right." "These are three colleagues of mine." "Hope you don't mind." " How do you do?" " Hiya." "I meant to ask you but I forgot." "Where did you go to school?" "Colchester." "That was when you were 13." "What about before then?" "From 11 to 13 I was at school in Foxhall." "We only stayed for about 18 months." "We moved after that." "When we spoke before, why didn't you mention that you knew Alan White?" "That he taught you, in fact, at Bringshill School in Foxhall." "You never asked." "How about 10 years ago?" "Did they ask you then?" "No." "Alan White's son committed suicide in 2000." "Yeah, I remember reading about it." "Presumably he killed himself cos he couldn't live with the memory of what happened to him." "He'd been abused by his father." "Hm." "Well, I can imagine how that might destroy an impressionable young child." "If someone was abused aged 11, say, 12, 13." "That child's hardly ever likely to forget what was done to them, are they?" "You'd have to be a very strong-willed individual to be able to rebuild your shattered life, make something of it, wouldn't you?" "Yeah." "But, then, some people do recover." "No." "No, I don't think a person like that ever recovers." "Especially if they come face to face with the man responsible." "And I can quite understand how that person might... want to kill them." "Particularly if they had a professional understanding of how it might be done." "But, then, this is all hypothetical." "Did your father and mother recognise him - Alan White?" "You know, I..." "I don't remember." "You'll have to ask them." "Oh, sorry, you can't." "My parents are dead." "Unless you have any other questions, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave." "I've a very busy practice." "I guess I'm very fortunate, being able to do the thing I love." "But then in the absence of any family it's hardly surprising that my work is everything to me." "I'm sorry, sir." " Sorry?" " I know it's very unsatisfactory." "I mean, there's no doubt in my mind... well, our minds, actually, what happened but..." "I honestly think in a case like this no further action should be taken." " I agree." " You have to understand I wouldn't normally..." "I said, I agree." "I agree in a case like this we should do nothing." "Sometimes, very occasionally, that's the best we can do." " Well done, all of you." "Karen..." " Sir." "About the crash." "In the car park." " Ricky Hanson..." " Tried to kill you." "Yes, I know, Jack." "It's been made clear to me he's long considered you a man too dangerous to his activities to allow you to live, even in semi-retirement." "All I can say is how sorry I am that we didn't work harder to protect you." "Karen." "That's fabulous." "What?" "You think I'm going to destroy the reputation of a man like Jack Halford, a copper with two commendations for bravery as well as the Queen's Police Medal." "A man whose voice I could still recognise, even after 25 years." "I don't think so." "Then what's that?" "This is just all the bumf on my place in Spain." "Any of you ever want somewhere to go for a few days, you're more than welcome." "I'm off." " Where to?" " Málaga." "As of 10 minutes ago, I'm officially retired." "Adios." "Guv'nor." "Can I have a week off?" "No." "# It's all right, it's OK" "# Doesn't really matter if you're old and grey" "# It's all right, I say, it's OK" "# 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 OK" "# We're getting to the end of the day" "# Hi-tech, low-tech, take your pick" "# Cos you can't teach an old dog a brand-new trick" "# I don't care what anybody says" "# At the end of the day"