" Sackedyou?" "I'm not surprised." " Thanks, sis." "Let's face it, you had it coming." " Dad, it's me." "Your son, Tom." " Tom." " What happened?" " l was writing about crap." "That's not journalism." "Not the sort that he used to do." " The man has got Alzheimer's." " Wendy!" "What's this Wendy thing about?" "She was his secretary?" "His head seems stuck in that time." "I recognise you." "We were at school together." "Mandy Craven." "Tom Ronstadt, as I live and breathe." " Mickey Eldridge." "Look at you." " Look at you." " You're not gonna tell him?" " Do I look insane?" "Who's J Cleaver?" "The bastard's let me struggle and this has been sitting there." " Your dad used to beat you?" " No, just this one time." " It was pretty savage." " Why?" "That's the question I've been asking for 18 years." "Why did she let him in the house?" "The only thing I remember is a name." "Metzler." "Metzler?" "He's the leader of the council." "He's my boss." "Stay out of my life!" "Are you training for the marathon?" "Exercise. important to exercise." " You haven't got any shoes on." " Don't need shoes." "Or trousers." "Good for the heart." "Fresh air, breathe in." "1 0,000 steps a day." "Doctor gave me a paedophile." " Pedometer." " Pedometer." "Where are we?" "Where are we?" " lt's the estate." " Where are the fields?" "Where are the fields?" "Dad, the houses are where the fields were." "You can't put houses where the fields were. I want the fields." "I want the fields." " l want the fields." "I want the fields." "Alzheimer's disease." "Hilarious." " Far funnier than cancer." " l want the fields." "She thinks you're fit." "Sorry, girls." "I've got commitment issues." "Dad." "You're sweating." "What's the matter with you?" "You tell me." "I'm sorry if I hurt you." "Morning." "Who are you?" "Who's he?" " Dentist." " The very same." " Dentist?" " Kevin Hadcock." "I know, funny name." "Had cock." "I'm a friend of Nancy's." " She's in the shower, said to..." " Tom." " This my father, Samuel." " Pleased to meet you." " What's up with her teeth?" " Oh, no, no. I, er..." "No, they had a date." " A date?" " Date." "You know, drinks, chat... sex." " How was the sex?" " Er, it was..." "Yeah, you know, it was splendid." "Pull your hand away." "Harder." " Fancy a coffee?" " Yeah." "Help yourself." "Sorry if I hurt you." " Kevin's quite a catch." " You have to help me get rid of him." " He can bore for England." " You shagged him." "1 1 months' drought." "Course I shagged him." "Please, Tom. I'm no good at this." "He wants to take me gliding." "He's mad into it, spent most of the night talking about thermals." "I left him with Dad." "Probably send him running for the hills." "What happened to your face?" "Was that Dad?" "No, I walked into somebody's fist." " Where you going?" " Digging." "I found something last night, a taped interview from way back." "Dad was involved in something." "His wife had just died." "He was mad with grief." "So he kicks the shit out of his own son?" "His career was all but over and he'd hit the bottle." " There's more to it." " Like what?" "Come on, Nancy." "Secret files, taped accusations..." " He was a journalist." " Mysterious bank payments." "Amazing disappearing secretary." "The more I know, the more I can get him to talk about it." "Erm..." "He's, er..." "He's taken his underpants off." "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" "Who's Metzler?" "Mandy." "Mandy." "Why did you tell him?" "To see the look on his fat face." "He came round, you know, kicking off." "Look what he did to me." "He's been wanting an escape route for years." "Your marriage is falling apart." "No need to drag me into it." " l wanted him to know." " Why?" "He goes off with all his bimbos, slappers he has to pay for." "I wanted him to know I could get it with someone nice. I'm sorry. lt's... lt's a mess." "We were best mates as kids." "We were like brothers." "I know. lt was kind of the point." "Don't be angry with me." "You're mental, you know that?" "This whole town is mental." "Erm, sir, I'll just be a few seconds." "In here." " l know you don't want to talk to me." " Go screw yourself." "But we're all adults and she reckons you've been banging hookers." "So you've talked to her?" "The moral high ground you're occupying is a tiny bit shaky." "You go screw yourself." "If you're not out of here in two minutes, I'm calling security." "Let me take you for a drink and talk it through." " 90 seconds." " Mike, Mike, wait, wait." "Look, you know I was telling you that night about my dad, about Metzler?" " l need to ask you about it." " Out of the way." "He is corrupt." "He stinks to high heaven." "My dad was onto him." "Get out of the fucking way!" "Why does he keep singing that?" "They get things in their mind, can't get rid of them." "It's like nailing jelly to the wall." "There's things I want to talk about, questions I want to ask him." "How do you access a brain like that?" " Choose your moments." " l tried the other night." "Just as I was getting somewhere, he starts lashing out." " Do you want my advice?" " Not really." "The past." "Brilliant." "Have you ever thought about going into counselling?" "Show me one person who's ever benefited from raking up the past." "What's done is done." "He changed my life." "All the stuff that's happened, all this crap, because of him." "Come on." "Instead of trying to be like him, I've spent my whole life doing the opposite." " l just want to know what happened." " Mike." " OK, I'll meet." "Have you eaten?" " Not yet." " We could go fora meal." " Restaurant in town." " OK." "What do you fancy?" "Italian, Indian, Chinese?" " l don't mind." "You choose." " Indian." "No, Thai." " There's a good Thai place." "The Temple." " Thai it is." " About an hour." " See you then." "Did I mention I was eating out tonight?" " Would you like to try the wine?" " Just pour it." "He screwed my wife." " l'm sorry to hear that." " He wants to say sorry." "That's good." "So he's paying, OK?" "He's paying and we're going to eat like kings." " Thought you were on a diet." " Not tonight, I'm not." "I'll give you a few minutes." " Mike..." " l'm leaving her, moving out." "So you can do as you please." "I've obviously walked into the middle of something." "Town bike when I married her." "She's reverted to type." "Mike, look..." "No, you look." "You come back here, swinging your cock around." ""l've made something of myself." And saps like her fall for it." "Except you haven't, have you, eh?" "No, you fucked it all up." "So you start pointing the finger at us, sticking your nose into our affairs." "Well, I don't know what you think you know about Don Metzler, but you're wrong." "You're way off course." "There's nothing to know." "That man has worked hard for this community, harder than anyone else." "He made money in the '80s, feathered his nest, but he's worked for the good of the people." "He's pumped money into the economy, fought for better hospitals, better schools, better jobs." "Screwing my wife is one thing, but you try screwing my boss, I'm gonna screw you right back." "Are you ready to order?" "Tom yam soup, please." "I'm going for a fag." " I'm asking forloyalty." " Think ofyourfamily." "I need you to help me." "Wendy!" "You know that exposing me means exposing yourself." "I can live with that." "Charity night?" "For the newspaper you used to work for." " Which newspaper?" " Lancashire Evening News." "Lancashire Evening News." "What's the event we're going to?" "Charity night." "Charity night?" "What for?" " Can you help me with this?" " You're as bad as him." "You worked for the Evening News for 20 years, longer." " l sold carpets." " No, your dad sold carpets." "You were a journalist." "One of the best." "I was editor of a newspaper." "No." "You weren't editor." "You were deputy editor." "The editor was a friend of yours, Richard Geller." "Richard Geller?" "Short guy, specs." "I showed you his photo before we came out." "Short, specs, big nose." "That's the one." "He's here tonight." " Where are we?" "What is it?" " lt's alright." "I'm here, right by your side." " Toilet." " Sam?" " Sam Ronstadt?" " Mr Geller?" "Just give us two minutes." "Please open the door." "I don't want to stay here all night." "I'll have to climb over." "I don't want to climb over." "Open the fucking door!" "Right, I'm coming over." "Dad?" "Why is this happening to me?" "You OK?" " Come on." " Where we going?" "To say hello to an old friend." " ..said, "That was the other girl."" " Councillor Metzler." "Sam Ronstadt." "It's been a long time." "You remember Donald Metzler." "Leader of the council." "We knew each other many moons ago." "Good to see you." "Such a shame." "He was a brilliant mind." "Amazing writer." "There but for the grace of God and all that." "Richard, I'm trying to get him talking." "I'm trying to get his mind working again." "There's something I'd like to talk to you about." "Fire away." "Shall I buy you a proper drink?" "Yeah, sure." "Dad, we're going to go to the bar, OK?" "We'll be five minutes." "OK." "You'll be alright." "Can you just keep an eye on him?" "Thank you." "You have to contextualise this." "We're talking 30-odd years ago." "The Don Metzler of then isn't the Don Metzler of now." "Before he made a packet in the '80s, he was a doctor." "And you and Dad were investigating him." "His family were wealthy, his father was a big fish, and, years before, young Donald was a bit of an embarrassment." "He'd failed his qualifications, wasn't living up to the family name." "So, when he appeared at Greenlake, the local nuthouse, well, mental institution, as they call them these days," "there were rumblings, whispers he didn't have the right letters after his name and that maybe, just maybe, he was endangering lives in the process." "Nice." "You know what your dad was like;" "a terrier, campaigner, especially when it came to the voiceless." "Once he had the bit between his teeth, he never let go." "He was trailing Metzler for months, getting close to something big." "And then one day he came in the office, threw his hands in the air," "game over, nothing to pin on him." "Did that not strike you as a bit strange?" "Not really." "Doesn't mean he wasn't dodgy." "Just means we couldn't get him for it." "Happens all the time in journalism." "Well, you'd know." "You have to bide your time, choose your battles." "Why are you asking me all this anyway?" "Why's this come up now?" "Dad keeps talking about him." "His mind keeps going back to that time." "I just wanted to find out why." "We'd better be getting back in." "Wouldn't want to miss the raffle." "Just one more thing." "Dad's assistant, Wendy, do you remember her?" "Of course." "His loyal and faithful servant." " You don't know where she is, do you?" " Absolutely no idea." "She was a lesbian, before it was fashionable." "I think she ran off with someone else's wife." "I'm trying to track her down." "You remember her surname?" "Smith." "Wendy Smith." " Best of luck with that." " Yeah." " Where is he?" " Toilet." "Great." "Used to tuck his trousers into his socks when he was riding his bike and he'd forget to take them out." "We took bets on how long he'd leave them like that." " Who?" " Geller." "He's a good man." "Moral." "You were mates." "You must have enjoyed working with him." "Who?" "Geller." "I sold carpets." " Hiya." " Tom, Mike's losing it." "He wants to talk to you." "Sod off!" "Give me two minutes." "Don't let him out of the cab." "He's moving all his stuff into the caravan." "Thanks for doing a runner." "I didn't fancy the soup." "Got it nice in here." "Beer?" " No, I'm alright." " Have one." "I'm a failure." " Who says?" " Me." "A failed husband, failed father, failed career." "Bollocks." "You work for the leader of the council." "I'm his lapdog." " She hates me." " She doesn't hate you." "There's too many rows, too many things said." "I've screwed around and rubbed her nose in it." "Those kids, mate, I love those kids." " They love you." " You were my best mate." "And you left me." "I would have come with you, I would have gone, and you just left me here." " l'm sorry. I'm sorry." " Too late for that, isn't it, eh?" "It's too late because now I'm here, like this." "Look at me." "And you know the worst thing, the very fucking worst?" "I can't even hate you." "I don't want to be here, not while he's like this." "He's scaring the kids." " Do you want me to stay?" " l don't want to be near him tonight." "Dad, can I bring a girl home?" "Hi." "There you go." "Sleep well." "Sleep well, sweetheart." " They OK?" " l'm sorry about all this." "You must wonder what you've got yourself involved in." "I used to think it was the drugs that made my life chaotic." "I must just attract it." "I've been unhappy a long time." "Me too." "You make me feel..." "less crap." "You make me feel less crap." "That's good, then." "Can't sleep." "Do you want your mummy?" "Here you are." "Jump in here." "Thanks." "Tom, why is there..." "Oh, Jesus." "Will you put some bloody clothes on?" "Tom!" "Tom!" "Stick the kettle on." "How long do you propose this is going to last?" "You said you were sick of living on your own with him." "I thought you only went for brassy media types." "Yeah, cos that's been a winning formula." " We are not a refuge, Tom." " lt's one night." "I thought it was lack of sex making you grumpy." "Didn't realise you were like this all the time." "Off we go." "Let's get in the car." "I need an address trace on a name." "Smith." "Wendy Smith." "I know, I'm sorry." "Er, northern based, worked for the Evening News for years and years." "I'm not with the magazine any more." "I'm freelance." "How quick can you get it?" "Jim, how many times have we done this?" "I will pay you." "Yes, cash." "Call me later." ""How many times have we done this?" "I'll pay you cash."" "Hit man." "You wanted him taking out, didn't you?" "How are the kids?" "We'll be out of your way tonight." "I know your sister's not keen." "And go where?" "Home." "He's not coming back in, though." "He can live in his caravan." " Are you OK?" " Yeah." " l love your hair." " Got a thing for gingers?" "Never before." "So, come on, who were you really talking to?" "Rent boy. lt's alright, it's just the odd blow job." "He's ginger as well." "Tom, it's Jim." "I found her." "Wendy Smith." "She's living in a place called Hebden Bridge." "Number 1 1, Hazel Street." "Don't forget to send the cash." "Wendy Smith?" "I'll get her." "Tom." " Wendy." " What a surprise." "He talks about you a lot." "He makes out like you still work for him." "He has conversations with you." " Really?" " Yelling, mostly." "Just like the old days." "You were a confidante, weren't you?" "More than just an assistant." "Sometimes I was a sounding board." "When you work with someone for a certain amount of time, you become..." "How should I put it?" "..on the same wavelength." " Why did you leave?" " l'd rather not go into it all." "Wendy, you know why I left, what happened to me." "I was just wondering, did the same thing happen to you?" "Did he hurt you?" "Did he threaten you?" " lt was nothing like that." " Then what?" "He loved me, he never laid a finger on me and then suddenly..." " l know, it was terrible." " Was it Metzler?" "I heard you having a row in his study, something to do with a file, something to do with Donald Metzler." "Tom, your father was a good man." "For most of our time together, he was a pleasure to work for." "So what changed?" "What was he investigating?" " l don't know." " Wendy, please." "Someone was paying him." "J Cleaver?" "Wendy, please, I need to know what happened." "I need this. I need to know why my dad became the person he became." "I should be getting back." " All I'm asking foris loyalty." " Selfish, destructive." " You can't walk away." " Think ofyourfamily." "I need you to help me." "Wendy!" "J Cleaver." "Jonathan Cleaver." " The payments aren't from him." " Who are they from?" " l don't know." " Who is J Cleaver?" "Was." "A patient at a mental hospital." " Greenlake." " The place Metzler worked as a doctor?" "That's all I know. I'm sorry." "Wendy." "How do you know?" "How do you know this?" "Did he tell you?" "I'd like to arrange a meeting with Donald Metzler." " And you are?" " Tom Ronstadt." "Sam's son." " Of which organisation?" " Just tell him that." "Tom Ronstadt, Sam's son." "As soon as you can." " My number." " Thanks." "Bedtime." "And me." "Large one, please." "You not seeing your girlfriend?" "Not seeing your dentist?" "No, I'm not seeing anyone, am I?" "I've left it too late." "My best years in this place looking after him." " You'll be alright." " How?" "How, Tom?" "I'm 35." "Me biological clock's ringing in me ears." "The only men I ever meet are NHS employees." "Let's go out." " What?" " Me and you." "On the town." "When was the last time we did that?" "I don't know, but I had a bubble perm." " What about his nibs?" " What about him?" " Well, we can't just leave him." " He's not a baby." " He's worse." "What if there was a fire?" " When is there ever a fire?" "When you leave people with Alzheimer's in on their own." "Alright, give me 20 minutes." "When I'm feeling weak and mypain walks down..." "What about Neil Diamond?" "Who invented this?" "Did it come from Japan?" "It's bad enough having to hear the originals without having to endure some tone-deaf cover version from fat Julie." " Oh, that makes me miserable, does it?" " Yes, it does." "You brought me out." " Can we try and enjoy it?" " Fine." "Have they got any Smiths?" "Leonard Cohen?" " What's wrong?" " Nothing." "You're walking round like you've got the weight of the world on you." "And through it all she offers me protection..." " l tracked down that Wendy." " Why?" "To talk to her." "I wanted to find out why she left." "We know why she left." "Dad was a royal pain in the arse, that's why." "That's not the reason and you know it." "Did she talk?" " Nothing useful." " Well, there's a surprise." "What was he like after I left?" "Depressed. lt was like he'd lost his wife and his son." " But you stayed." " Tom, I was 1 6." "But he never did anything to you?" "He never lashed out?" "No, never laid a finger." "Not until his illness started anyway." "You know that photo on Dad's memory wall, that holiday we went on just before mum got ill?" " Yeah." " How old are we in that picture?" "Don't know." "Teens." "Why?" "That's the last time I remember him being happy." "And then something changed." "It all changed." "Stuff it, I'm doing Britney." "Intoxicate me now" "I think I'm ready now I think I'm ready now" "Intoxicate me now" "I think I'm ready now" "Oh, my God." "Get me a drink." "Great." "He'll get you one." "I think you've pulled." "He's better than the dentist." "Well done." "It's alright, I'm her brother." "Get her a drink." "Be nice." " Alright?" " Hiya." " Can I get you a drink?" " Lovely." " Hiya." "Chips and peas, please." " Salt and vinegar?" " Bit of salt, loads of vinegar." " Do you want some crispy bits?" "Yeah, alright." "As long as they're not your toenails." " Tom Ronstadt?" " Yeah." "I'm arresting you for blah, blah, blah." " Get him in the van." " What have I done?" "I haven't done anything." "Oi, what's going on?" "Open the door!" "Shut your mouth." "Stay quiet." "Dad?" "Dad?" " Dad!" " lntruders." " What?" " Burglars." "They were in the house." " Are you sure?" " Of course I'm sure." "OK, OK." "Have they gone?" "Come back and I'll kill you!" "Dad, shall we put the knife down?" "OK." "Alright, come on." "Let's go in now." "You are not wanted here any more, so piss off back to London, alright?" "What the...?" "I didn't want to wake him up." "Two coppers pick you up and threaten you in their van?" "Why?" "I've been digging around, asking questions." "Stuffabout my dad." "Stufffrom years ago." "The only person that's implicated is Mike's boss." "Yvette Froggatt?" "No, his overall boss." "Metzler?" "It's something to do with a mental hospital that used to be around here." "Greenlake." "You remember it?" "Remember?" "Me mum worked there." "How long for?" "Years." "Closed down in the '70s." "She still talks about it now." "Metzler used to be a doctor there." "Remember the phone call the other day, the hit man?" "What about it?" "I've got this contact who works for the Inland Revenue, and for a few 20s, he'll find out information for you." " lsn't that illegal?" " Tiny bit." "Anyway, I asked him to look for an old friend of Dad's," "his secretary." "Right." "When I mentioned Metzler to her, she was shit scared." "She wouldn't say anything, which only goes to prove" "that there is something to say." "Like what?" "Corruption." "Something my dad uncovered." "Something massive." "What are you going to do?" "I don't know." "Are you sneaking away again?" "No. lt's my dad. I need to get back." "Perhaps we can do something later, you, me and the kids." "You think I'm moving too fast." "No, it's not... I like you, and... that's unusual for me." "I just need a bit of time to get my head round it." "Where've you been?" "I've been trying to call." "Mandy's." "I thought you were coming home, coming straight back." "Yeah, well, the evening took a strange turn." " What's the matter?" " We've had a break-in." "A break-in?" "I found Dad patrolling the garden with a butcher's knife." " ls he alright?" " Yeah. I'm a nervous bleeding' wreck." " Are you sure he's not imagining it?" " He said he saw a man in the house." "We should never have left him." " How'd they get in?" " l don't know." " Take anything?" " l don't know." "Alright, alright, calm down." "Listen, I don't want to freak you out, but it's just possible that I'm being followed." " By who?" " l don't know." "What have you done?" "Just asked questions." "You are not a journalist any more." "You screwed that life up." "Stop sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong." "Think about your future, what you're going to do with your life, how you're going to earn money, instead of constantly looking backwards." "I'm taking him out for the day, try and talk to him again." "I'm wasting my breath." " Oh, how was your date?" " Terrible!" "That's it." "Watch your head." "You alright?" " Yeah." " OK." "Leg in." "Everybody in?" "OK." "Right, you need to put your seat belt on." " You grab that there." " What?" "The silver thing, and just pull it round." "That's it." "There you are." " Where are we going?" " We're going for a drive." " l don't want a drive." " lt's Saturday." "We're doing what we always do on Saturdays." "Go on!" "Come on!" "You don't know what you're doing!" "You don't know what you're doing!" "You don't know what you're doing!" "Shit." "I saw Wendy the other day." "I didn't know she was a lesbian." "Your mum thinks I fancy her." "As I've told her a thousand times, she bats for the other side." "Your mum says, "That's a cover." "She dresses too feminine."" "Don't know what she expects." "A skinhead with bovver boots most likely." "Wendy says you're a great journalist." "I pay her wages." "Always on the lookout for injustice, people exploiting the vulnerable." "She said the only one that got away was the Greenlake scandal." "Donald Metzler." "Greenlake..." "He was the doctor you were investigating." "What happened there?" " What happened there, Dad?" " Greenlake." "Mind your head." "They kept the name, but it was knocked down years back." "I sort of remember it from when I was a kid." "People used to say, "lf you act like that, you'll end up in Greenlake."" "Everybody has their price, that was his motto." "Metzler?" "People like him think the whole world's for sale." "Property, women, morals." "It's just about finding out how much it costs." "It was your mother." "Your mother was the one." "He couldn't buy me and he knew it, so he bought your mother..." "because she was weak." "She was weak and she let him into the house... my house." "He wasn't fit to lick her boots and she let him into our house." "What happened?" "What did Mum do?" "Dad..." "Dad, you OK?" "You're alright." "Just stay where you are." "I'm going to call an ambulance." "Dad, how did he buy her?" " Oh, leave it." " Metzler." " We had an accident." " Sit down." "What you were saying, Dad." "How was she weak?" "What did he do to her?" " A car hit us." " Will you leave it?" " He was starting to talk to me!" " You're not helping." "There was a lot of noise." "There was a lot of glass." "There was a lot of noise and glass." "There was a lot of noise and glass, Edie." "Edie's not here, Dad, Your wife's not here." "Oh." "I need a drink." "Make mine deeper." "You have one message." "Message one." "MrRonstadt, it's Kathy from Donald Metzler's office." "Regarding yourmeeting," "Mr Metzlercan see you on Monday at 12 noon ifthat suits." "That's ifyou'll still be around next Monday." "Call to confirm." "Thank you." "End ofmessages." "Tom Ronstadt." "Former..." "Tom Cleaver." "Cleaver." "J Cleaver." " They lied to me." "My whole life." " Why would they?" "I don't know!" "And that demented prick is the only one with all the answers." "You're not Edith." "I'm terribly sorry." "Mr Metzler has an urgent matter to..." "Hey, no, you can't go in there!" " Did you have me arrested?" " This is a private meeting." "A week ago I was arrested for no reason." "Was that down to you?" "How would I do that?" "My father was investigating you in the 1 970s, when you were a doctor at Greenlake." "I want me mum!" "I want me mum!" "I'm pregnant and I thought I'd lost it." "Oh, shit." "Shit, shit." "Who am I?" "Who's my real father?" "I don't know who I am any more." "You want to be careful, Tom, with Metzler." "He can be a ruthless bastard." "I've seen him operate."