Mother?
Mother!
Jasper, you startled me.
Your sights need adjusting.
You shouldn't go creeping up on people like that.
- It's frightfully reptilian of you. - What are you doing, Mother?
I'm experimenting with a new technique.
Isn't it marvellous?
It is also 23 minutes past seven in the morning.
My muse doesn't wear a wristwatch, darling.
Well, perhaps it might be better
for friendly neighbourhood relations if she did.
Are you all right, darling?
I thought you were looking a trifle peaky.
A moment of discomfort, nothing more.
It's your therapy.
If you will go stirring up the ghost of birthdays past,
what do you expect?
Evolve or die, Jasper.
Evolve or die.
Christ.
I need to get the boss down here.
She's gonna want to see this.
*CREDITS*
Son of the family. Came back at 9pm and found them.
William Tidswell.
You'll recognise the name, of course.
Of course.
The other victim's been identified as Jean Tidswell.
She's his second wife, according to the son.
Boss, we've found something.
- No sign of a break-in? - Nothing obvious.
- It all seems a bit extreme if the motive is just a robbery. - Mm.
What about other family members?
There's a teenage daughter, Stephanie.
The son says she lives at home.
Her phone's going to voicemail.
All right, let's, er, leave forensics to finish up.
We'll regroup first thing in the morning. Get some rest.
Guys, guys.
What?
Pass me your torch, please.
What about Dame Tabitha?
- Doesn't work days with an S in them. - Well, then Professor Yardley?
He's in court today, remember?
Sabbatical. Compassionate leave.
Currently suspended. Not seen or heard of since February.
Uninsurable. Declared mentally unfit.
Ooh, what about him?
Dead! You got me to send flowers.
Well, there must be someone who can teach his classes.
He's not here. I don't know.
No, you can't leave a message.
Ingrid, you could try being a little more emollient.
- You're going to regret that. - Yeah, I already do.
Morning, is the Professor in?
He's in the hospital!
Morning, handsome.
How are we?
Still a bit woozy, maybe?
Anderson's hypothesis proposes a correlation...
between temperature and violence.
The cause and effect, if you will...
...between heat and hostility.
Not at our best?
Come on, Sleeping Beauty.
Suggesting that one of the unforeseen consequences
of global warming...
- ...may be an increase... - Wake up.
Come on.
There we are. That's better.
Now, open nice and wide for me.
Nice and wide.
There's a good boy!
Now, you're probably feeling a bit poorly,
which is only to be expected with acute appendicitis.
The surgeon said it almost looked radioactive when she took it out.
Neon green and full of pus.
Now, eat up every last mouthful like a good boy,
or I shall come back and spoon-feed it to you.
38.5, that's good.
It's coming down.
I have an IQ of 160.
That is 4.156 times greater than my temperature.
Ergo... there is no need to treat me like an infant.
This was taken at the home of Edward and Genevieve Lansing,
the scene of another double murder 15 years ago.
It's almost identical to the Tidswell crime scene.
Even down to Mozart's aria about vengeance,
and the knots used to tie the victims' hands.
So, we think it's the same guy?
Computer says no.
Danny Gedge, personal trainer,
serving 30 years for the Lansing murders.
Then it's a copycat.
Except the music, the knots, none of that was made public.
So maybe they put the wrong man inside.
Maybe he orchestrated it from his prison cell.
Why would he do that?
William Tidswell was prosecuting barrister at his murder trial.
So, motive.
- But why wait 15 years? - Who knows?
It's a total bloody mess.
Ah, Professor certainly picked a bad time to cry off sick.
Yeah.
I politely request that you take my temperature.
You don't do anything politely. And the answer is no.
I feel flushed.
I've taken it three times already.
I think I may have a bacterial infection.
Ahh, ahh...
Aaaargh!
There could be postoperative complications:
sepsis, MRSA.
You're going to be fine. You big baby.
Says the person trained to give bedbaths for a living.
Pipe down or I will put you in next door with the crack addicts.
Danny Gedge was followed the day before the Lansings were murdered,
for spending a fortune on their account at some fancy clothes shop.
Bit of a flimsy motive, isn't it, for the bloodbath that followed?
Several hundred thousand in cash and jewellery went missing.
None of it ever recovered, or the murder weapon.
How did you get a conviction?
Gedge was caught on CCTV entering the shop
where the masks were bought.
It was enough to convince the jury,
even though we could never prove act of purchase.
I don't get this whole masks thing.
I mean, why go to all the bother?
To imply there's something ritualistic about the murders.
A serial killer, maybe, not some gym bunny
with an addiction to haute couture and a lust for money.
Except our gym bunny is now serving a 30-year stretch
at Her Majesty's pleasure.
So... maybe the Lansings' killer really is still out there.
Or maybe that's just what Danny Gedge wants you to think.
- He's got an upcoming parole hearing. - Already?
He's served half his sentence.
If there's a hint of doubt hanging over his conviction...
It's a bit farfetched, isn't it?
It's more likely to be a cockup than a conspiracy.
- Sorry, boss, that was out... - Don't worry about it, Donckers.
It's what everybody's thinking.
How sure were you about Danny Gedge?
At the time, very. But now...?
Aw. A bit bored?
I was performing a silent mind meditation.
Oh... How about a nice bit of telly?
Oh, look, it's him.
The one whose dad and step-mum were murdered.
They brought his step-sister onto the ward a couple of nights back.
- He's not left her room since. - Adjust the volume.
Thank you for coming.
I am Detective Chief Inspector Christina Brand.
With me is Robert Tidswell, who is going to be making
an appeal for information in connection with the murder
of his father and his step-mother, Jean and William Tidswell.
Before I hand you over to Robert,
I would like to say that Jean and William
were admired and well respected in this community.
And that their killings are amongst the most...
...senseless.
And, erm...
Senseless and cold blooded.
Silly little fool.
I don't know what she's making such a fuss about.
She's only the poor boy's girlfriend.
And the step-sister is receiving treatment
in this very institution, you say?
Yeah, practically catatonic, the poor thing.
They think it's post-traumatic stress.
Where might she be, more precisely?
If you want that sort of information...
...you're gonna have to start behaving.
We're working on a hypothesis that Danny Gedge is attempting
to kill two birds with one stone.
Revenge himself on the man who put him away, and in the process,
cast sufficient doubt on his guilt to secure his release.
Peter Kemp, released last month from a nine-year stretch
for armed robbery,
spent the last four sharing a cell with... Danny Gedge.
He's the sort who might be persuaded to sign up for a contract killing.
Good work. Follow up on him. What else?
We've had a verbal update on the postmortem.
Both of them were killed by a single bullet to the head.
So, could have been the work of a professional.
Mm. Is that it?
The wife had cancer, stage four.
All her major organs were riddled with it.
Perhaps it was a mercy killing. You know, loving husband,
couldn't bear to see his wife suffering,
puts her out of her misery, turns the gun on himself.
Then ties his hands behind his back?
Let's stay focused on Danny Gedge.
The money he stole from the Lansings was never recovered.
He's certainly got the money to order a hit.
What about the step-daughter. Is she talking? Fit to be interviewed yet?
We're just about to go and find out.
Shall we drop in on the Professor while we're down there?
Not even a social visit.
That's all right, Doctor. We understand.
- Detectives. - Miss Snares.
- Have you come to see the Professor? - He's desperate for a visit.
- We've orders not to bother him. - He's bouncing off the walls in there.
What about a bit of reading material, at least?
For all our sanity.
Don't look at me.
Thank you, Miss Snares.
I really cannot thank you enough.
I thought you could use a little help.
You're not gonna visit him either?
I don't miss him that much.
Dean, Operation Clingfilm successfully launched and underway.
- It is a simple question. - Nothing about this is simple.
I'm not even supposed to be speaking to you.
- Night, boss. - Night, Donckers.
Yes, DCI Brand was lead investigator on the Lansing case,
and yeah, she's worried the wrong man's in prison.
I very much doubt that.
And to help Christina, we are going to prove it.
Which is why we're working on the assumption
that Gedge orchestrated it to cast doubt on his conviction.
And I very much doubt that also.
I surmise the solution to this knotty conundrum
lies somewhat closer to home.
It can't always be the friends or family who did it,
you know, Professor.
And yet, statistics informs us that more frequently than not, it is.
- What about the son's alibi? - It checks out.
He was playing squash with a friend, a teacher at Stephanie's school.
Erm...
What is it, Detective?
It's probably nothing.
He said that Stephanie was an A-star student
until a few months ago. Then it all dropped off a cliff.
About the same time as her mother's cancer diagnosis,
as far as we can tell.
I'd better go.
Professor?
Knock-knock.
So rude.
Ooh, I see you've had the decorators in.
I just love what you've done with the place.
A witticism, congratulations.
Is that the girlfriend's mum?
Most assuredly not.
That is William Tidswell's first wife, Robert's mother.
They could be sisters.
They say men go for women that look like their mums.
Jasper!
There is an exception to every rule.
Trust me, it's not the one that looks like his mum
that he's attracted to.
That doesn't look like a pint of IPA.
The correct response is, "Thank you, Uncle Calvin."
- You ungrateful sod. - Listen, at least let me buy the next one.
Not a chance.
Cheers.
So come on, then, you won the lottery or something?
You could say that! Doing some freelancing on the side.
Pays a bloody fortune.
- Your DI's all right with that? - He's the one who got me involved.
Really?
Loads of police officers have second jobs, Dan.
What do they expect, with the pittance they pay us?
Fair enough.
So, what's involved, then?
You know, driving, couriering, that sort of thing.
Grown-up baby-sitting.
Sounds a lot like private security. Is that permitted?
It is if you don't tell anyone.
You, erm, want me to put a good word in?
Get you a slice?
No, you're all right.
Well, the offer stands, if you change your mind.
It's in here, love.
Steph?
Steph. Hey, Steph.
How are you feeling?
Have you remembered anything yet?
Sorry. Is there a really strong smell in here?
What? It's just the hospital food.
The smell, it's making me sick.
I'm sorry.
She insisted on coming.
Doesn't wanna be on her own.
When all this has died down, I'll tell her.
I promise.
It won't be long now,
then nothing and nobody can come between us.
It is that way for obstetrics, young lady,
if you are in need of assistance.
Or maternity services, as I believe it is now more commonly called.
It does not show... yet.
Sensitivity to smells and nausea,
with or without vomiting, they are classic early signs of pregnancy.
Candice?
Congratulations.
Or should that be commiserations,
for the lifetime of anxiety and drudgery that awaits you?
We've got a lead on Peter Kemp.
The boss wants us to follow up urgently.
Well, sorry, boss, I'm about to interview Danny Gedge's ex.
Anything I should know about?
- Just tying up some loose ends. - All right.
Come on, then, Winters,
you and me can, er, share all the glory.
- Enjoy. - Always me.
Have a nice day, OK, Lisa? I'll see you later.
See you later.
Bethany Fairfoot, his ex-wife.
Oh, I know who she is.
I'm just not sure how that's meant to help.
I divined you were looking for new evidence,
Detective Sergeant, to ensure the Lansing conviction sticks?
Are you sure? She wasn't called to give evidence at the trial.
Precisely so.
And yet, in the first instance, she gave a statement to the police
supporting her husband's version of events.
What did she find out?
What caused her to stop cooperating with the defence?
What are you holding back, Bethany?
You stopped visiting Danny even before the trial had started,
and a month after his conviction, you filed for divorce,
changed your name.
He'd been convicted of two murders.
Yes, but he always maintained his innocence,
and almost from the get-go,
you seemed to have stopped giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Look... you don't strike me as someone
who'd be too thrilled to see Danny out on early release.
Better for you to work with us.
Make sure he stays inside.
Professor Tempest?
- You're Professor Tempest? - Madam?
Are you taking an interest in my niece's case?
- Julia Delgado. I followed your exploits in the newspapers. - Mm.
Of course, I told Jean she was a fool to marry him.
- That it would all end in tears. - Wh-What are you suggesting?
Oh, not that. He wasn't angry or violent.
He barely showed any emotion towards her at all.
He was still in love with his first wife.
Anyone could see that.
Kept her clothes in his wardrobe and her picture in his wallet.
You can't compete with a dead woman.
They could be sisters.
How did the first Mrs Tidswell die?
In a car accident. Robert was no more than a toddler.
They think she must have taken his seatbelt off
to reach something for him.
Took her eye off the road for a second.
I think William always blamed the boy.
Never properly forgave him.
It must have been dissatisfactory for your sister
- to find so many ghosts in her marriage. - Oh...
Jean walked down the aisle with her eyes wide open.
She'd been his secretary for the best part of a decade.
- Knew him inside out. - And she married him anyway?
She was a single mother.
Stony broke.
She wanted security, for Stephanie of course, but...
mostly for herself.
I guess he just wanted a baby-sitter.
- No... complete waste of time. - Paul?
Any news on Gedge's cell-mate?
Sorry, Ma'am. Peter Kemp was deported to Canada...
...a month before the Tidswells were shot.
Oh, well, I guess being 5,000 milesaway
is a reasonable enough alibi.
Almost as good as being locked up in a prison cell.
Perhaps it's time to, erm... to face the facts.
Maybe I did put the wrong man away in prison,
and we really do have a serial killer on the loose.
Unless there's some other connection between the two cases.
I don't suppose you happen to have worked it out yet, Winters?
No, but we know a man who could.
No!
Stephanie?
I am Professor Tempest, a consultant with Cambridge Police.
Silence can only protect a secret for so long.
A secret like a terminal illness...
or an illicit love affair.
I... I had dinner with them.
Then I went back to my room.
What is it that you saw...
...that left you mute, unable to talk?
Pretending not to know what we do know
is unhealthy, Stephanie.
It is a recipe for insanity.
_
Am I interrupting, Ma'am?
No, not at all. I could do with the distraction to be honest.
This might do the trick.
The receipt for the masks from the Lansings' murders,
paid with Danny Gedge's credit card.
My God, Lisa.
- Where did you get this? - Danny Gedge's ex-wife, Bethany.
She just brought it in.
Said she found it in a suit pocket while she was getting it dry cleaned
for him to wear at his trial.
- And she's kept it all these years? - Yeah.
Some kind of insurance policy, I guess.
Not so much doubt over that conviction now, Ma'am.
- I could hug you. - I can't take all the credit.
Who, then?
- I'm sorry, Ma'am. I gave him the file. - Oh, Lisa.
We would never have found this without him.
He spotted that Bethany gave a statement in support of his alibi
and then wasn't called to give evidence at the trial.
He realised she must have discovered something.
Hm.
Maybe now we can loop him in fully?
Yeah. Why not?
Tempest.
It's a video call, dear.
You-You've done something unpleasant to your hair, Jasper.
It's too bouffant.
You look like a Lothario, for goodness sake.
I was resting.
I suppose it's all of a piece with this therapy business,
designed to please a certain someone,
and to hell with what the rest of us think.
I am not seeking relationship advice, Mother,
or a style consultation, for that matter.
It seems only polite, however,
to thank you for cancelling my therapy session
and sending over my things.
And did you get the reading material?
- I'm sure you'll find it stimulating. - _
I have to go now, Mother.
Detectives, to my great surprise,
it is a genuine, if long overdue, pleasure.
- The feeling's mutual, Professor. - Here's the postmortem report.
Ah.
It suggests Mrs Tidswell
may have died an hour or so after her husband,
based on body temperature, lividity
and a bunch of other stuff that goes way over my head.
We're working on the assumption she was kept alive
to try and force her to reveal a combination to the safe.
Unless you have a better theory as to why she might have outlived him?
Not yet, Detective Sergeant.
But when I do, the case will be solved.
So, the good news is that thanks to DS Donckers,
we no longer need to worry about the validity
of the conviction of Daniel Gedge.
Of course, it doesn't exclude him from our present investigation.
Maybe not yet, Ma'am, but we're leaning that way.
He may have a motive, boss, but not really the means or the opportunity.
- So, tell me who does. - These two.
Really?
- For killing their own parents. - They're having an affair, Ma'am.
How do we know that?
Ah. Don't tell me, I can guess.
Were their parents aware of the relationship?
Yeah, his father went nuclear, said it was unnatural,
threatened to cut them both off without a penny.
Even forced Robert to move out for a while.
He says he only took up with Candice
to try and prove to his father that the affair was over.
Seems to me that Robert might have a motive.
- But his alibi's solid. - Well, then, what about Stephanie?
She's not been well enough to answer any of our questions.
- Well, then, I think it's time she did. - Mm.
- What is it, Winters? - Sorry, boss, I...
I just can't see her in the frame for a double murder.
Then tell me who fits it better.
Who else would have that kind of a motive?
And who else is close enough to William Tidswell
to know the unpublicised details of the Lansings' murders?
Who indeed?
I'd say it was pretty obvious.
Then please do enlighten me.
Well, there's only one all-seeing being who knows a man's affairs
as well as, if not better than, he knows them himself.
His God?
Oh, goodness, no. His secretary.
Jean walked down the aisle with her eyes wide open.
She'd been his secretary for the best part of a decade.
- Knew him inside out. - You're move, Jasper.
Knight to Queen five.
Yeah, well, that's all sorted, then.
I see they're letting you out early for good behaviour.
Is someone coming to pick you up?
I'm told that my colleagues from the Cambridge Police
are willing to oblige.
So that you can continue your investigation?
The case is solved...
but I am not at liberty to disclose the outcome.
Nurse, er, Graham.
You have a difficult job, and you do it with dignity.
Sorry we're late.
Someone didn't want to pay for parking!
- Did you speak to his solicitor? - Yes.
- And? - Just as you thought.
Most gratifying. Mm.
Well, I'll take care of these, then, shall I?
Don't mind me.
Is Stephanie being discharged?
They're saying there's nothing wrong with her.
Physically, at least.
She'll recuperate better at home with me.
We need her to come to the station, answer some questions.
She can't remember anything.
See for yourself. She's mute with shock.
It is enough to strike anyone dumb.
The awful trauma of her mother's death
exacerbating the anguish of her cancer diagnosis.
Cancer diagnosis?
She didn't tell you? She didn't tell Stephanie either.
Jean was adamant that she was going to wait until after her exams.
I must admit to being a trifle bemused
by this case in the first instance.
Perhaps it was the lingering effects of the anaesthetic
or the stress induced by my surroundings.
Whatever the reason, I initially ascribed
the wrong relationship between cause and effect.
Cause and effect!
I made the mistake of assuming that your mother's cancer diagnosis
was the logical explanation
for the downturn in your academic performance.
Whereas we now know your mother never told you of her illness.
Is that when you found out, Stephanie?
That your step-father was having an affair with Robert's girlfriend?
He what?
You are here at Stephanie's request.
My request is that you do not interrupt.
You haven't a shred of proof.
Except the astonishing resemblance between Candice
and your much-loved and lamented late mother.
Your father found it impossible to resist...
...and Candice must have been swept along by his fervour.
Are you serious?
How else do you explain her immoderate grief
at your father's passing?
Their killings are amongst the most...
...senseless...
And, um...
- ...senseless and cold blooded. - Silly little fool.
I dunno what she's making such a fuss about.
She's only the poor boy's girlfriend.
Besides, it will be easy enough
to prove my assertion in 30 weeks or so
with a simple paternity test once her baby is born.
- Robert didn't know she was pregnant. - No.
Or that she was sleeping with his dad.
William certainly believed the child was his.
He had made an appointment with his solicitor to change his will,
making Candice and her unborn baby the main beneficiaries
and to write you and your step-brother out of it.
I first saw them in his car.
I was out for a run.
Some godforsaken country lane.
I knew how much it would've hurt them both.
Robert.
My mum.
It was eating me up for ages.
Knowing but... not being able to say.
I wanted to kill him.
But you never acted on your impulse.
Mum got it out of me in the end.
She knew something wasn't right.
She...
She'd sort it out, she said.
Robert was out.
I was in my room.
It was like a thunder clap.
So loud.
So terrifying.
And then I saw him.
I panicked, I guess.
She told me that she was dying... and that Candice was pregnant.
And that this was the only way to stop William changing his will
and throwing me and Robert out when she was gone.
She said she'd done it for me...
...to secure my future.
Oh, God.
She'd already cleared the safe.
She told me all I needed to do was get rid of the gun...
...and tie her hands.
Thus creating the perfect distraction.
Everyone would think the murders were connected to Gedge.
I begged her not to go through with it.
I thought she'd listened.
She told me...
She told me I could call the police.
Mother!
Did she say where she hid the gun?
In the toilet cistern.
No wonder she was so traumatised.
Ultimate revenge on a cheating husband,
but what cost to your child?
DS Donckers?
- Dad? - Don't be angry with me.
We found him wandering outside.
He was calling your name over and over.
It's OK. I'm not mad. What are you doing here?
Your mother's left me. She's found somebody else.
I-I think she doesn't love me any more.
No, Dad. Mum...
Er, she...
- She... - She's probably just gone to the shops.
- Mm. - I'm Lisa's friend, Dan.
Dan.
How about I make us a nice cup of tea,
and then we'll go look for her... together?
Come on.
I wanted to come and thank you for...
going the extra mile... on my account.
I acted solely out of intellectual curiosity.
I also wanted to tell you how much I...
admire and respect your decision to...
...speak to someone about your past.
You know, I-I...
...I-I don't know if you are...
doing this for me... Jasper.
But the thought that you might be gives me a...
...a warm feeling inside.
I have to do it for myself, Christina.
So that I can learn to find happiness in...
making other people happy.
*CREDITS*