"You must be very busy." "Er...yes." "We are at the moment." "Er...how's your B  B?" "Is that all right?" "It's fine." "But I'm not comfortable just turning up on your doorstep and telling you, thogh." "No." "It er... lt rather unsettled me." "Anne, um... I think you ought to know that when I was on secondment to Essex all those years ago..." "Well, my marriage wasn't all that wonderful." "Mr Frost... I know you and my mum didn't have the great romance." "But...she said that you treated her well." "That you were kind..." "That's often enough, you know." "Yeah. I suppose it is." "I'm not asking for anything." "No. I know you're not." "Mum only told me she thought you were my father because she... she knew she was dying." "I'd never have had any hope of finding out otherwise." "It took me ages to pluck up the courage to come and see you." "Anne..." "Look, I don't want to shirk my responsibilities in any way, but I think... well, for both our sakes, we've got to be sure." "I know." "But..." "Well, Mum did think it was you." "And I don't see how she can be wrong." "Can you?" "Excuse me." "Security have asked me to question you about some goods you haven't paid for." "What?" "I'm sorry?" "Detective Inspector Frost, Denton CID." "I'm afraid I'm going to have to search you." "You can't do that!" "I haven't done anything." "Then you'll have to come to the station to be strip-searched and interviewed." "Now, which is to be?" "You're keeping me busy, Inspector." "Yes. I don't want you forgetting how to carve the Sunday roast, do I?" "Have you got any news over my dead Dr Gibson?" "Well, she wasn't sexually assaulted." "All right." "What killed her?" "A blow to the head." "I see." "And what sort of weapon?" "How does blunt instrument sound?" "Pretty predictable." "Probably something like a rough-edged rock." "I found traces of dirt in the wound, which would indicate she was killed outside." "Do we know the time of death yet?" "Roughly." "She struggled." "Oh, yeah?" "Rigor mortis isn't a good gauge but it speeds up after violent exertion." "As far as I can tell she'd been dead 24, maybe 30 hours." "What's that, then?" "Saturday morning." "Yes." "That would make sense, wouldn't it?" "Anything?" "No." "There's nothing obvious." "A locked drawer over there." "I see..." "Mrs Roydon, isn't it?" "That's right." "I'm Detective Inspector Frost." "How do you do?" "Dr Gibson's schedule." "You know, her operating times, ward rounds, the times she came in and left - that sort of thing." " Do you think you can get it for me?" " Yes." "Thank you." "I understand she wasn't in on Friday." " No." " Is that usual?" "No." "But if there was no operation, she'd catch up with paperwork at home." "Do you have a key for this drawer?" "No." "Only Dr Gibson has that." "If you've got the knack... (Sharp bang)" "..you don't need one." "is there any reason why she would have that locked up?" "No." "She was at a symposium last week." "She may have got it there." "I see." "I'm going over to see Jameson, the hospital manager." "I want you to go the mortuary area." "Check out those waste disposal bins, will you?" " All right." " And look..." "I found this." "She was using that as a page mark." "If that's what it was." "It's Dr Retnik's resignation." "Exactly." "He's one of their surgical team." "I know." "But last time I spoke to him he said he was very happy to be here." "Word has it she got on everyone's wick." "Stuffed up a dozen people's careers." "No personal life to talk of." "Well, they say that not enough sex makes you irritable..." "So I'm told." "Questioned you yet, have they?" "I was told Inspector Frost wanted to meet me." "Maybe she ran off with a lover, never to be seen again." "It would make life a lot easier here, wouldn't it?" "I can't make the connection." "She fought your cuts tooth and nail." "There's no-one left to stand up to you." "I won't discuss hospital business with you." "With the inquiry into post-operative deaths, and the Ingram boy, it's rather convenient." "What's the word I'm looking for?" "Scapegoat?" "You don't look heartbroken." "Me?" "Oh, God, no!" "That damn woman stopped my career prospects good and proper." "Good riddance." "That's what I say." "If you ask me, you should interrogate Retnik." "Are you suggesting there are suspicious circumstances surrounding her disappearance?" "No. I didn't mean that." "I don't know what I meant." "He's a Serb." "Did yo_I know that?" "Oh, I see!" "Picking on the underdog always tends to get up my nose." "I don't know why." "But 'bullying' and 'prejudice' spring to mind." "You were the one that employed him." "She employed him." "It was her recommendation." "He'd been working as a surgeon in an international aid agency." "Saving lives, not taking them." "Tell me, do female surgeons join foreign doctors on your list of dislikes?" "There were very few occasions when Helena and I needed to meet here." "And we didn't socialise." "Look, I'm sorry, Inspector." "I simply don't know where she is or why she's gone missing." "Er...excuse me." "What about this internal investigation into post-operative deaths?" "How do you know about that?" "It's my job. I listen at keyholes." "Denton General is below average in national clinical indicators." "What?" "Hospital death league tables." "Oh, I see." "Hardly the lottery you'd want to win, is it?" "We don't want people thinking her absence and the internal investigation are connected." "Conspiracy theories are always flavour of the month." "I need that information to help me with my investigation." "I'm going to pick up some extra shifts." "Night work." "Aren't my days long enough already?" "Jack, hang on." " Lawrence Dale Brewer." " What, Larry the Barrel?" "That's him." "Got out four years ago." "We did him for impersonating a customs and excise officer." "I think he's the one impersonating you." "No." "He's too fat!" "I spoke to the screw who worked his wing." "Larry didn't like HMP grub." "Shed his weight." "Well, I'll be blowed!" "Keep this under your hat." "We can flog this idea to Weight Watchers." "Larry the Barrel!" "Best bet we've got so far." "Oi, just a minute." "What are you up to?" "Someone turning over corner shops." "I'll keep as much off your desk as I can." "All right." "Thanks, George." "I've said all I'm going to say." "Mr Brendon, this is more than a couple of kids wrecking the place for a laugh." "Another five shops in Denton have had the same treatment." "And half a dozen more on the edge of town." "Then go and speak to them." "Tell them!" "Be quiet, Jennifer." "It's been getting worse." "This is the third time." "Only this time they hit him." "Enough." "You don't know anything about it." "I know that they hurt you." "To my way of thinking, it sounds like a protection racket." "You pay them, or they pay you a visit." "Does the name Robbie Jensen mean anything?" "Jack." "What?" "In here." "This is er..." "DS Reid's military record." "Right." "Thank you." "Good." "Er, Ernie." "About 18 years ago, I was working on a fraud job in Essex." " It was a shipping company." " Don't remember that one." " Yes, you do." "Horizon Containers." " No." "I need my notes on that job." "I need to know where l was and when." "It won't have been archived into the computer." "It'll be buried." "This is personal." "Personal?" "Yeah." "Oh, all right." "Thank you." "Jack, I think I'm going to need your help with these corner shops." "What, some kids nicking sweets?" "It's more than that." "It's about a dozen shops in the past couple of weeks." "Nothing stolen." "Some assault." "No-one's saying anything." "Sounds like a protection racket." "Exactly." "That's what I thought." "But I can't pin it down." "One name has come up." "A partial identification." "Robbie Jensen." "We just can't find him." "No. I don't know the name." "He's a sometime doorman on the clubs." "Got some form, has he?" "Well, he likes to use his fists." "I was investigating illegal rave parties at Edmond St." "We felt they were shifting Ecstasy." "Did you get him?" "No." "He didn't have the brains for it." "Then somebody's using him." "Yes." "We thought it was Tim Hamilton." "He was organising everything out of abandoned warehouses." "He lives on that posh estate on the north end of town." "Solicitor's son." "Arrogant little sod." "Oh." "What?" "Bored at boarding school, so he goes out to get up to mischief?" "Something like that." "University." "We had to drop the case." "His father climbed all over us." "Oh, really?" "You got his address?" "Yeah." "I think... a polite enquiry might not go amiss." "Have you got time?" "We'll make time." "No, no, no." "Not you, Reid." "If you've already had a run-in with this Hamilton, I don't need you to provoke him." "I can do that myself." "All right, guv, but keep your hands in your pockets." " You'll be tempted to clock him one." " What, me?" "Never!" "(Door bell chiming)" " Ah, Mr Hamilton." " Yes." "Detective Sergeant Toolan, Denton CID." "Dl Frost." "Sir, we're trying to trace the whereabouts of a Mr Robbie Jensen." "So?" "Do you know where he is?" " l've never heard of him." " Let's not get off on the wrong foot." "I know you do." "He's done a few things for you in the past." "He's a council estate errand boy." "They like to think they're part of the action." "Like rave parties?" "We've been through this." "I don't know where he is." "Just chill out." "Thank you..." "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr Hamilton." "Chill out, indeed!" "All right." "See if you can find this slug, Robbie Jensen." "He's probably hiding in a dark hole." "Right, lads, get 'em unloaded." "We've got another shipment in." "Yeah?" "OK." "If you want this thing done right, I'll have to start hurting people." "Oh, right." "Thank you." "Have you got any kids?" "Yeah." "Two." "Their mother took them away a couple of years ago." "She's remarried." "I mean, I see them when I can." "They're great kids." "Not easy, though, I suppose." "I don't blame her." "Can't have been very pleasant being with a bloke in the mess I was in." "I went over the edge." "Scary." "I get scared witless sometimes in this job." "Well, there's no such thing as heroes, guv." "As far as I'm concerned." "No." "You just get frightened enough or angry enough to... ..do what has to be done." "I just had to face this idiot with a gun." "I'd had plenty of this and, well, my marriage was on the rocks." "I thought, "l've got nothing to lose."" "Not quite the same as what you did, though." "No. I read your file." "Fear is fear, guvnor." "No matter what." "I suppose what I'm saying is there are different kinds of fear." "I mean, I've just..." "Well, I've just had something quite scary happen to me." "Someone..." "well, told me something... ..about something that I might have been responsible for 20 years ago." "Now, that sent a chill down my spine." "Do you know what I mean?" "Yeah." "Do you know the most frightening thing anyone said to me?" "Fix bayonets." "Yes." "Well..." "Can I give you a lift?" "No thanks, guv." "No, I'm going to check out a couple of pubs." "See if I can find the bloke who sold me those duff fags." "Yeah." "All right." "Thanks, Mr Frost." "It's all right." "Forget it." "(Sirens)" "(Thunder)" "(Phone rings)" "Frost." "We were on patrol and saw some kids running out of the toilets." "When they saw us, they dropped this." "It's DS Reid's." "They chucked away the warrant card." "The medics say it's touch and go." "Thanks..." "Reid." "Can you hear me?" "You'll be all right." "You're all right, son." "You hang on in there." "Don't you give up on me." "Don't you give up!" "We hope he overcomes the injuries sustained in this assault." "It appears that DS Reid had a drug habit that he'd managed to keep hidden." "Now, this will put the public and media spotlight on us all." "And Ms Redmond here will have her hands full with the press." "Another rotten apple." "Another crooked copper." "That's how the press will present this whole shameful affair." "An officer with a drug problem sneaking into a public toilet to feed his habit." "Bringing disgrace on the service." "Excuse me, sir." "May I?" "I've just come from the hospital where DS Reid is on the critical list." "Before we condemn a long-serving officer, we ought to give him the benefit of the doubt." "I'm dealing with facts." "I think not..." "Ms Redmond." "These are the facts." "20 years ago in the Falklands," "Terry Reid went up a mountainside with a bayonet on the end of his rifle because other young men were being cut down by machine gun fire." "And, because he did the business, they gave him a military medal..." "..for courage above and beyond." "His background is irrelevant to this matter." "Not at all." "It's very relevant, sir." "Anyone here who thinks they know about courage should think again." "Yes, Reid's got problems." "He's got very big problems." "But knowing those problems, and trying to shape his life, I mean, that's courage." " That's enough, Inspector." " No." "It's not enough, sir." "And before anyone in this room kicks a man while he's down, I want to assure you..." "..that DS Reid was not, and I repeat not, doing anything illegal yesterday." "And I will stake my career on that." "And let me just say this... I think it's disgraceful the way you're treating a real bloody hero," "who's got on with his life and never quit." "Hear, hear." "In my office." "I won't be challenged in such a manner by you or anyone." "I will not stand by while a senior officer condemns a man without substantial proof." " Reid was robbed." " Whilst paying for drugs!" "His wallet wasn't taken." "Just its contents." "So was his military medal." " Addicts sell anything to feed their habit." " Reid would never sell that medal!" " It's what holds him together." " That's enough!" "His reputation has been maligned in front of his colleagues." "It's not what the doctors say." "He's on methadone..." "You're presuming to judge him guilty before seeing the facts." "Look at his record, not what you think has happened." " You don't know what he was doing." " Enough!" "I know he was working on a case." "Enough!" "I expect an apology from you, Inspector." "In writing." "Yes." "And just for the record, sir, when I establish exactly what happened to DS Reid," "I'm sure you'll be prepared to offer the same unequivocal apology to him." "That's all, Inspector." "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know, Jack." "Thanks, George." "There is." "Look, get sniffing around." "See if you can find Reid's medal." "Find that and we'll find the bloke who did him over." "I'll start with the pawnbrokers." "All right." "Tell them I want it done by the book and let us know." "I will guarantee they won't be out of pocket." "Now let's get on with what we have to do." "There's been a fair bit of rain recently." "It's not much to go on." "We do know she was at work on the Saturday." "She's also got a house in the centre of town." "It's doubtful she had time to go anywhere else." "Maybe." "But see here, Jack." "The tyres are clean." "But there's specks of mud trapped in here." "Red clay." "There's a band of soil with a top seam of clay in it in two areas round here - local farmers call it Denton red." "I've marked the areas for you." "Can you tell how recently the car was in this area?" "Definitely in the last two days." "And that's not all." "Down, thank you." "There's a smear of the same stuff inside." "Almost like a scuff mark." "There's another one like it on the back carpet, as well." " Yeah, but what made it?" " That I can't tell you." "And I thought all you blokes practised the black arts!" "Only when there's a full moon." "(Knock at door)" "How's Terry Reid doing?" "It's too soon to tell. I'm sorry." "All right." "Thank you." "is Reid your man?" "Yes." "Yes, he is." "He's not my patient, but I'll make sure they keep you up to date." " All right." "Thank you." " You wanted to see me?" "Yes." "Yes, I do." "There are a lot of doctors here." "All right." "We work all hours." "Please." "We live on canteen food and takeaways." "Don't worry about that." "It's like home from home for me." "Coffee?" "Yes, please." "Milk." "One sugar." "Erm... we've established that Dr Gibson went missing on Saturday." "Could you tell me where you were?" "I was at a surgical procedures lecture." "Hm." "Any witnesses?" "About 60. I was on the platform as a panel member to answer questions from nine to five." "I did the main lecture." "Got back to the hospital that evening." "I attended an emergency admission." "That will all be documented." "Earlier you said you liked Dr Gibson." "Yes." "You seem to be the only one." "I first met her in Kosovo in a camp that treated both sides in the war." "She was a volunteer surgeon for two months." " Generous and brave, eh?" " Dedicated." "Nothing was allowed to stand between her and her work." "I have to get back to my patients." "Yes, of course." "Thank you." "Oh, one more thing, Dr Retnik." "Why did you resign?" "Resign?" "Yes. I found your letter of resignation in Dr Gibson's desk." "Oh, yes." "Of course. I forgot." "She refused to accept it." "I wanted to move to a smaller hospital, better career move - she talked me out of it." "Must have had a lot of faith in you." "Yes. I suppose she did." "Afternoon, Jack." "Oh." "Afternoon." "I'm not so sure that I want to see you." "Don't shoot me." "I'm just the messenger." "Of good tidings, I hope." "18 years and five months ago, to be precise, for the Essex job." "I found it." "Those are the dates you were seconded." "And those are the dates yo_I claimed for expenses." "And those are your personal notes." "I didn't realise I was there so long." "Time flies when you're having fun." "There are times when I wish you weren't so thorough." "Nothing untowards, I hope, Jack." "No." "No." "Well, I suppose it could be quite good." "Anyway, thanks. I appreciate this." "That's OK." "Hello, George." "Hello, mate." "Jack, any news on Reid?" "Oh, critical." "He's stable." "George, about this hospital thing." "I can't work it out." "Everyone who was associated with that Dr Gibson has got an alibi for Saturday." "I mean, even she was in the wards, taking patients' notes an hour before the waste truck arrived." "So, what's your point?" "Well, whoever killed her had to wrap her in plastic, put her in a plastic bag... ..get the bag into a wheelie bin... get the wheelie bin from wherever it was, across the hospital, to where the waste is picked up, all in under an hour." "It couldn't be done." "Anyway, have a look at this." "Colby's company brochure." "Look at the small print on the back." "List of company directors." "One happens to be the hospital manager's wife." "Jameson?" "Conflict of interest, maybe." "A very big maybe." "Especially when there's a lucrative waste contract on offer." "(Knock at door)" " Yes?" "James Ingram, sir." "Yeah." "Well?" "He's a paramedic." "He works at the hospital." "is he?" "Well, well, well." "Who better to wheel a body into a mortuary than a paramedic?" "That's what I thought, too, sir." "Oh, did you?" "Yes, sir." "Mr Mullet told me as you were short-handed, I was to attach myself to you." "Oh!" "And that gives you the go-ahead to start thinking, does it?" "I've already started making enquiries about Ingram's off-duty activities, sir." " l'll get onto his background tomorrow." " No, no." "Prentice." "No." "You will get onto it tonight and give me the information tomorrow." "Good idea, sir." "I was only going to study tonight." "What you don't know, you won't miss." "Will you?" "Goodbye." "He's learning." "Was your friend badly hurt?" "Er...yes." "I'm sorry." "He's tough, though." "That helps." "Oh!" "You shouldn't have done this." "Why not?" "When was the last time you ever had a picnic?" "Anyway, it's my birthday." "Oh, it isn't, is it?" "Anne, I'm sorry." "You weren't to know." "Mm." "It's Italian." "Lot's of different tastes." " Right." "Not a spaghetti sandwich, then?" " Not quite as messy." "No." "Mm..." "Oh." "Here." "Hang on." "There." "Anne, I... I just want you to know that..." "You know, your mother and I had a great relationship." "Yeah." "She was a lot of fun." "I...just...wish that she'd told me about you." "Mum was always independent, wasn't she?" "I don't know." "Maybe she didn't want to share me." "Yeah. I never thought of that." "Women don't always want men cluttering up their lives, do they?" "No, I suppose not." "Vice versa, too." "You wouldn't be cluttering up my life." "I just want you to know that." "They want us to sell their cheap cigarettes, instead of our regular stock." "The cigarettes are either stolen or illegally brought into the country." "My husband doesn't want to break the law." "This man... this... ls it Robbie Jensen?" "This man, he's going to hurt us." "Don't tell my husband I came here." "Er..." "Mrs Brendon... er... I have a colleague, a police officer, who's been seriously assaulted." "I think that, from what you've been telling us here, that it's possibly the same people." "So if you could give us a name." " Please." " l'm sorry." "Reid?" "He was sniffing out someone selling illegal fags in pubs." "Tell me there's not a connection." "Here!" "Get the lid off this, will you?" "My hands ain't as good as they used to be." "All right." "Oh!" "Blackberry and apple." "My daughter brings it in for me." " The nurses keep it in there." " Oh, yeah?" "There you go." "That's not bad, is it?" "It's your mate in there, is it?" "Yes." "Yeah, that's right." "Look, if they stick him in the end bed, he's a goner." "It's where they've all been dying." "Bed five." "Have the op, into Intensive Care - Woof!" "..." "Stone dead." "Bed five?" "Yeah." "If they shift him in there, I'll get them to give you a call." "Cos he'll be a goner." "Sure as eggs is eggs." "You do that." "Thank you." "Hey!" "Yo_I want to watch the sell-by date on these things." "It's a load of rubbish." "You buy them cheaper this way." "You keep them in the fridge, they last longer." "Look, I don't think she was killed on Saturday." "Don't confound science, Inspector." "It means extra work." "You're here to cause me grief." "I can tell." "No, no, no." "Listen." "Just listen." "Supposing, just supposing she was killed earlier." "And the killer discovers the hospital incinerator has broken down." "So he's caught short." "No quick way to dispose of the body." "So he stores the body in the cold room in the mortuary." "Right?" "Now...what would happen?" "Ambient temperature dictates the rate of decay." "It will slow down decomposition." "Exactly." "All right, Inspector." "I'll start another postmortem right away." "You blamed Dr Gibson for your son's death." "She killed him." "Just like the others." "The others?" "Come on!" "Haven't you dug that out yet?" "There's an inquiry going on." "Five post-operative deaths in as many months." "Something went wrong with my son's operation." "Of course she killed him, one way or another." "A ward nurse said you visited your son late Thursday night." "Yeah." "Did you see Dr Gibson?" "Look... I saw her in the corridor, all right?" "I asked if anything had gone wrong during the operation." "She assured me Michael would be fine." "A farmer saw a blue Vauxhall Cavalier parked in one of his fields." " And a bloke releasing pigeons." " So what?" "Dr Gibson's car was seen in that area." "All right." "Go on." "Come on." "Admit it, Ingram." "You were there." "Look, I went out there on Friday." "The day your son died?" "You wouldn't understand." "Who told you he saw me?" "A farmer couldn't have." "The bloke who runs the hospital, was it?" "Jameson?" "Aye." "Yeah." "That's him." "He drove past." "Maybe he saw me. lt doesn't matter." "I haven't done anything wrong." "Sir!" "Yes." "What is it?" "Sir." "Well, well, well, well, well!" "That doesn't look very nice, Mr Ingram." "Are you sure there isn't something that you want to tell us?" "Jim!" "It's blood." "I hit a fox when I was driving out there." "Its back was broken." "I had to finish it off." "Look, I didn't want to upset you." "You didn't think about upsetting me the day Michael died." "Going off to fly your bloody pigeons!" "Leaving me here alone!" "Just leaving me!" "Sorry. I had to get out of the house." "I had to do something." "But you didn't do anything for me!" "Mr Ingram, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come down to the station to answer a few more questions." "Prentice, get a woman constable out to the house." "And bag those jeans up as well." "Yes, sir." "Look, you can talk to me as much as you like." "But please leave my wife alone!" "She's not coping." "Michael was our only child." "If you've got kids, you'll know what I mean." "A result, Jack?" "Hm?" "Oh, James Ingram." "I had to bring him in until we checked out some bloodstains we found." "And you?" "Uniform dug out Robbie Jensen." "Oh!" "Like a rat in a hole." "Well done, uniform!" "Thank you." "Bad timing." "The super wants to see you when you come in." "Both of you." "And this bloke wants you to phone him." " Who's he?" " No idea, except it's important." "Well, it always is, isn't it?" "Come on, Georgie Porgie." "Let's go and see the headmaster." "(Knock on door) Inspector Frost, this is Tim Hamilton's father." "He has a complaint." "I'm very sorry to hear that, sir." "How can I help?" "You and this other officer have been harassing my son." "No, no, no." "Actually, we were asking for some information." "Stop making any association between my son and a roughneck who works in nightclubs." "The family went through enough of this last time." "He's not the most well-mannered boy I've ever come across, is he, sir?" "They usually say that comes from the parents." "That's enough." "You may think you have the right to insult me and my family, you and your vindictive colleague." "Gestapo tactics are still in the police training manual, I see!" "I won't have such accusations made." "You should know better than that." "If I catch you near my son without just cause, you and this department will feel the law." "Excuse me, sir, but is that what happened to DS Reid?" "Reid?" "Yes, I remember him." "Persistent to the point of being vindictive." "And he was moved from his own division a week after that." "Point taken, I think." "Well, sir, if we have to question your son again, let's make sure we've got just cause." "Eh, Mr Hamilton?" "Sir." "Come on, George." "Thank you, Mr Ridley, for getting in touch with the station." "I'm rather hoping that you've got something I want." "Maybe I have." "Your blokes are putting the word about." "Nothing in the papers, I see." "Well, no." "We didn't want to scare anyone off." "If I have got this particular piece of merchandise, you'll take it away." "Evidence." "Whatever." "I'm out of pocket." "Well, you will have heard that I'm willing to stand good for it." "Which is why I phoned." "I thought it was dodgy." "Don't see many of these." "No." "They don't give many away." "We have security camera tapes of a highly incriminating nature." "We're also re-interviewing all of the shopkeepers." "We also have a very critically ill police officer." "I want to make a phone call." "Of course you do." "It's your right." "The public phone's a bit dicky at the moment." "However, Constable..." "Yes, sir." "He needs to make a call." "He can use the office on the left." "And make sure he has his privacy." "Right, sir." "This way." "You haven't got anything with him on security tape." "He doesn't know that." "There's nothing wrong with the public phone." "That's a bit close to the wind." "I said I have "tapes of an incriminating nature" - l have." "Of the kids who pawned Reid's medal." "That's not Jensen." "We've made no connection between him and whoever clobbered Reid." "We will." "Anyway, George, what do you want?" "Are you buying?" " Well, yeah." " In that case, thank you very much." "All right." "It's only a soft drink, not a magnum of champagne." "So what do I do now?" "Buy some time?" "They're trying to stiff me with working over a cop!" "Cover the door." ""Hello." "Hello, Tim Hamilton."" ""Hello?"" "Tim Hamilton is the sort of bloke who gets his kicks by running tough street kids in illegal cigarette rackets." "The cost of a raid is substantial." "I think that Hamilton has pegged Jensen out to dry." "Jensen has told me the time and the place where Hamilton is expecting his next drop off." "Jensen's statement is not enough." "Hamilton's father is a force to be reckoned with." "Well, it's all I've got." "I'm sorry it's all I've got." "But if I can nab Hamilton, it will tie in with the lads that assaulted Reid." " You haven't got them yet, have you?" " No." "We've identified them." "We're looking for them." "So..." "Reid didn't pawn his medal." "No." "The kids who worked him over did." "All right." "You'd better have your raid." "Thank you." "Come on." "Make a start!" "Search the building." "Come on." " Hello, Timmy." " More filth from the farmyard!" "And a good afternoon to you, too." "Tell me, what does it take to join this private club of yours?" "A willingness to commit crime?" "No." "Intelligence and a willingness to apply it." " You've got no right." " Wrong." "I run a legitimate trading business." "A smart lad like you in his last year at university?" "It's called entrepreneurship." "It's called thieving." "The buildings are clear, sir." "All right." "Nothing illegal in bath ducks, Inspector." "(Squeaking)" "They may have pawned it, but they never hurt anybody." "You're not sticking assault on my Pauly and Jeff." "They done nothing." "Tell him." "Tell him what you told me." "All right." "That'll do." "You never brought money here." "What did you do with it?" "OK, son." "Tell me what happened." "We went in the pisser, but we didn't hurt him." "He was already down." "The other bloke had already done him." "What other bloke?" "This other fella ran out." "We saw him." "A bloke in a short coat and hat." "We didn't touch the one in the pisser!" "We just nicked his wallet." "If the boys didn't clobber Reid - it's fairly certain they didn't - it just leaves Larry Brewer." "No. I don't think it was him." "It's not his style." " Mind you, people do change, though." " Here you are, sir!" "Oh, yes." "Here I am." "It seems I can't hide anywhere in this place, can I?" "The new postmortem on Dr Gibson." "Oh, thank you." "Ah!" "Well, well." "Dr Gibson didn't die on Saturday morning." "She died on Thursday night." "That's a day and half earlier than we thought." "Clever, aren't they, forensic pathologists?" "Who says they're one step up from watching sugar dissolve in tea?" " Put the team rechecking all the statements." " l'll get onto it now, sir." "No, you won't." "You will do that tomorrow morning." "You'll go home to your wife and that would-be child of yours." "Right, sir." "You know, the killer must have brought her car and her body back to Denton General Thursday night." "That's when he discovers that the incinerator has broken down." "He forges her signature on the medical charts," "Saturday morning, to make us think that she was alive and still at work." "An alibi in reverse." "But who killed her Thursday night?" "I don't know." "One thing is certain." "It wasn't James Ingram." " His son didn't die till Friday morning." " Sir!" "Sir!" "Just had a call from somebody called Rollo." "He said to say they serve a good pint at the Fiddler's Inn." "No." "Let's call it a day - or night." "Whatever." "Good evening, Mr Frost." "The usual?" "Come on." "You can always tell a copper, can't you, Inspector Frost?" "Especially the bent ones." "They have that certain look." "And then there's all the freebies, isn't there?" "Free beer, free sarnies and..." "Well, who knows what else?" "Larry Brewer." "Took me a long time to remember you." "But I know you remember me." "Oh, my Gawd!" "Oh, no." "Just Inspector Frost will do." "You tried to kill a police officer." "I never laid a hand on him!" " He saw me in the pub and followed me out." " He's still in a coma." "I thought I'd hide from him in the khazi, but he was too fast, on me like a snake." " What did you hit him with?" " Nothing, Mr Frost. I swear!" "One minute he had his hands on me, the next he was down." "is that when you put the boot in?" "Look, I haven't harmed anyone." "I pretended to be you." "Fair enough." "It was a meal ticket and a bit of fun." "It was a harmless con." "That's all!" "No." "Not harmless, Larry." "As far as I'm concerned, you assaulted and left a badly injured man who still might die." "Con your way out of that one." "Mm?" "Mm?" "Oh, I'm sorry, nurse." "I must have nodded off." "It was a quick five minutes, wasn't it?" "Inspector, you've been here all night." "You what?" "Oh!" "Oh." " Oh, thank you very much." " l'm off duty now." "Right." "Mm!" "Oh, this is better than a blood transfusion this." "Thank you for..." "you know, letting me sleep." "Just don't tell anyone." "Make yourself scarce." "Shift changes get busy." "Yes." "Yes." "OK." "And er...well, thanks again." "(Polisher whirrs)" "Excuse me." "Can you tell me where l can leave this?" "Just put it in the kitchen." "Second on the right." "(Continuous bleep)" "It was just an unconscious act." "Part of her normal routine." "She just pulled the plug out and then... ..then put it back a couple of minutes later." "My God!" "And five people have died." "No-one could have known." "No-one." "This may conclude the internal investigation into post-operative mortalities." "The ventilator alarm on bed five was faulty." "The ECG alarm only came on when the patient's heart stopped." "This will cost the trust a fortune." "If you gave us appropriate money for maintenance, this would never have happened." "Thank you, Inspector." "You've saved lives." "I forgot to add my congratulations and thanks." "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, as opposed to our Dr Gibson." "Oh, I was meaning to have a word with you today, anyway." "You don't seriously think I killed her?" "I shall be impounding your car today." "And I shall be taking samples from the tyres, which I believe will put your car in the vicinity of where she was murdered." "Quite close to where you live." "She was killed near my house?" "Too close for comfort." "Eh, Mr Jameson?" "Look..." "She came out to the house." "She wanted me to reassess the budget cuts to her department." "She..." "She'd have done anything to keep that unit fully operational." "So she was blackmailing you." "She was going to tell the hospital trust about your wife's association with Colby's - that Colby's had just been approved a very lucrative contract by you, the hospital manager." "I didn't kill her!" "God!" "What a terrible mess." "She left the house at about 8:30 last Thursday night." "After I'd agreed to her demands." "And she left, Inspector, because our dinner guests had arrived." "A dozen people can vouch for me and my wife on Thursday night." "I drove to the office late on Friday morning... ..and I never saw Helena Gibson again." "I may be guilty of vested interest, but not murder." "MR BRENDON:" "All right." "All right!" "You don't need to use brute force." "A little humiliation works wonders." "Please leave him alone!" "Please." "You've done enough harm." "Where would we be without commercial enterprise?" "Welcome to our organisation." "It's nice doing business with you." "Frost!" "Ah, Mr Hamilton!" "So sorry to disturb your meal, sir, but fortunately I have a warrant for your son's arrest." "OK, George. I also have a warrant to search these premises and seize anything I feel might be relevant, such as computers, files etcetera." "It's all right, Tim." "I'll sort these people out." "I have witness statements." "I also have a wholesaler who swapped a load of plastic ducks for a large amount of contraband cigarettes." "I also have a lorry containing the aforementioned cigarettes." "I have a friend of your son's sitting out there, who has traded in his Get Out Of Jail Free card." "Your manner is sufficient to lodge a complaint at the highest level." "I dare say." "But your son Timmy has been a naughty little tyke and has to face some rather unpleasant medicine." "You really are insufferable!" "Yes." "And they say there's no satisfaction in one's work!" "You had to check." "I know that." "They told me my son was in that bed in Intensive Care and why he died." "Yes. I'm sorry." "If you hadn't found out why those people had died, they wouldn't have released his body till who knows when." "We can bury him now." "Thank you for that." "is there anything I can do?" "Do you want a lift?" "No." "My wife's here." "Just a moment, Sergeant." "I don't want you feeling lonely in this cold, smelly old cell, so I've brought you something to keep you company." "(Sq_Ieaking)" "Bang him up." "You know about this fraud case in Essex that I was on all those years ago." "Well, I've been looking at my notes." "I bet that took some doing, Jack, with your scribble!" "Well, the thing is that... I was back here that month... ..when I was working on that case." "She says her birthday is this week." "What are you talking about?" "There's a young girl who says I'm her father." "Blimey!" "That must be serious." "She can't be after your money." "No, she isn't." "Thank you, Trigg." "The thing is that um... ..well, I've rather warmed to the idea." "You..." "What are you going to do about it, Jack?" "Don't know." "If I don't say anything, she won't know." "She'll have a father and I'll have a very nice daughter." "Listen, er..." "DNA." "A DNA test would give you proof." "I know..." "I've got the proof." "What?" "A saliva test." "Off a serviette we had on our picnic." "I haven't got the courage to open it." "That's your call, Jack." "Yeah." "Thank you, Trigg." "Prentice, you're late again." "Sorry, Mr Frost. I was up all night." "The baby's due today." "Why don't you just take the rest of the day off?" "Thanks, sir." "But I'd never get to the hospital on my bike on time." "You'll have to learn to pedal harder." "Come on." "Look, just a minute." "I have to go to the hospital to see DS Reid." "I'll get a patrol car to drop me off." "Go on." "There's my keys." "When the call comes, use my car." " You can put your bike in the rear." " Thanks, sir." "Which means, when all this is over, you can cycle back." "He's going to be fine." "He regained consciousness early this morning." "Oh, great!" "Thank you." "Thank you very much for all your help." "Not at all." "He has a strong will." "It went some way towards pulling him through." "I knew he wasn't a quitter." " He'll need care for some time to come." " Of course. I understand." "Oh, um...by the way, Jameson has resigned as hospital manager." "So some good has come of all this." "Any word on Helena Gibson's murderer?" "No." "Not yet, I'm afraid." "Excuse me." "Would it be all right for me to go in?" "Yes." "OK." "Just for a minute." "Thank you." "All right?" "I see you've caught up with your beauty sleep, then." "Hello, guvnor." "I've got a shocking headache." "I'm not surprised." "You'll be pleased to know we've got Larry Brewer." "He'll do some serious time for what he did to you." "He didn't touch me, guv." "You what?" "No. I sussed him in the pub." "He did a runner." "I collared him in the toilets." "The floor was swimming in water." "And I slipped and cracked my head on the sink." "Well, that was his story." "Well, he's telling the truth." "For once!" "Anyway, we still got a result." "Yeah." "You catch the killer?" "No." "Not yet." "(Tapping)" "Yeah." "All right." "Well, I'd better go." "You get some rest." "I'm going to slide off to the pub and get a liquid lunch." "And before you ask, I won't have one for you." "I'll have a double." "Hope I'm not too late, sir." "Good time-keeping is a knack." "It's one I hope you will soon acquire." " Oi, oi, oi!" "Watch what you're doing!" " Sorry, sir." "It's my upholstery, that." "I had it cleaned last year." "Sorry about that scuff, sir." "It'll come off with a bit of cleaner." "Are you all right?" "Get in touch with the station." "Get DS Toolan here and two squad cars." " l want them now!" " Sir." "Ah, Dr Retnik." "You thought you were safe." "No body, no crime." "But you see, I've got her body." "I got it before it went into the incinerator." "I have to get back to my patients." "You put her in the cold room." "Because you knew the hospital incinerator had broken down." "You sneaked her car back here Friday night." "Then forged her signature on Saturday." "The perfect alibi." "I know it all." "Get out of the way!" "Retnik!" "(Hissing)" "You didn't write that resignation, did you?" "She did." "But she wanted you to sign it." "Am I right?" "You don't understand what it's like where l come from." "People like her watch every move you make." "Everything would have ended for me." "She was questioning my qualifications." "Thought I was responsible for all those deaths." "(Hissing)" "The irony is, Retnik, it wasn't your fault..." "..those patients dying." "I heard her... talking to Jameson." "She was going to tell him all about me." "She never told him." "She gave you the benefit of the doubt." "You killed her for nothing." "Ah!" "Oh!" "Agh!" "Agh!" "Aaaagh!" "Jack!" "Are you OK?" "is it just me or is it bloody hot in here?" "Get him." "Take him, will you?" "Take him." "They won't keep you long." "No... (Sighs)" "You know what?" "He followed her up to Jameson's." "He waylaid her somewhere and then he killed her." "He put his bike on the back seat of the car." "See, that's what those scuff marks were." "I wouldn't..." "Oh, hello." "How's your wife and that baby of yours?" "Oh, God!" "I forgot." "Got high hopes for that lad." "Ooh!" "Er...well... I've got a little birthday present for you." "At least I'll have had the pleasure of sharing one birthday with you." "No, no." "Don't." "Open it later." "I'm sorry it's not you." "Yeah, well... me, too." "You would have a been a daughter I could have been proud of." "You will keep in touch, won't you?" "I'd really like that." "And er... let me know if there's anything I can do to help you find - you know." "Anyway, er... I'll say goodbye." "You'd have been the perfect choice." "Thanks."