Had a call from a police officer in London
wanting to speak to you
about being a possible witness in a murder investigation?
Murder of whom?
Sorry, I'm confused. Are you saying
that you did have a relationship with him, or you didn't?
Yes... I did.
And did his wife know about this?
Have you told the police about the row that night?
What row?
I remember it all very clearly, Mum.
Do you have any recollection of what he was like?
He could be... quite aggressive.
With you?
Why have you doubled-locked the door, Marty?
A week before her dad died,
she'd come home from school
to find a young man who'd worked for Gerry in our flat.
He told her that he wanted to hurt her dad.
I don't know what to say that will best allow you to forgive me.
Just the truth, Debs.
It wasn't just a kiss. We did sleep together.
Oh!
*CREDITS*
You know the rules, Elliot, mate.
You do the numbers in the brackets
- first, yeah? - Yeah, I understand.
Boys, we're leaving in... five minutes.
What time are you back tonight?
Love?
I know.
- Know what? - Everything.
I spoke to Debbie again, so...
now I know.
And I swear, the only chance you have of saving anything,
this, us...
a normal relationship with them,
is if you tell me the truth, if you tell me everything.
So you have a think on that.
We'll speak later tonight.
Bye, boys!
Bye, Mum.
- Love you. - Love you, too.
Hi, you've reached Leanne.
Please leave a message after the tone.
Hey, Leanne, it's me again. Erm...
Listen, did I...? Have I done something wrong?
It just felt a bit odd...
when I saw you in the canteen.
Well, I wouldn't want anything
to come in the way of our friendship.
Erm...
So, anyway, I'm in Ireland on the case for a couple of days,
so hopefully,
let's talk when I get back.
Right, take care, now. Bye.
Hey.
They've sent one of their guys over here.
Who have?
British police, they want to talk to you some more.
Oh, OK.
Wants to speak to you this afternoon at the station,
two o'clock. You good with that?
Er, yeah. Yeah, I think I can do that.
You will be there,
we're not gonna have any issues, are we?
Yeah, I'll be there, Joseph, of course I will.
Have a good day, now.
OK, erm...
Oh!
Thanks for that. Bye, now.
We have a match
to DNA material found on the sweatshirt of Gerry Cooper.
To Marty Baines - I'm setting up an arrest team.
Not to Baines, or at least his test result hasn't come in yet.
The match we found is Asif Syed.
- OK... - Yeah.
So you want him up here?
- ASAP, please. Yeah. - Boss.
So, Taylor attacked a teacher this morning.
Kicked and punched her when she was given a detention.
So, very reluctantly,
the school has had to make the decision to expel her.
Right. And has she already left?
She's getting the train back to London later today.
OK, well, thanks for letting me know.
Bye, now.
- Is that the car park footage? - Yeah, er...
Not having a huge amount of joy, to be honest.
Lots of footage in the five weeks after the 24th,
but all the vehicles entering do so during the day.
Right.
Literally, the only one that comes in at night is this...
at 03:29,
but that's a little over 20 hours before he was even reported missing.
- You checked the reg? - No, cos of the date.
03:29 is an odd time for anyone to be pulling into that car park.
- Might check the reg anyway. - OK. Cool.
- OK, in here in ten, please, guys. - Guv.
This is nothing to do with you, with this.
It's me.
I'm not who you think I am, Pat. I am not a good person.
Yeah, you are.
No. I lie.
- Everyone lies. - Bad lies, for money.
For a living. I lie for a living
and pretend to be someone I'm actually not.
I mean, m-maybe I believed some of it at the start,
but everyone just always...
He always wanted more,
and you do it because you wanted the attention or the status.
They filled a hole, but I really have to stop
because pretending to think the things I say I do,
it's hollowing me out.
Mel...
And I've also... I've done...
I've done one truly terrible thing, my love.
What thing?
Please.
You deserve way, way better than me.
I love you.
And I...
I love you, too, but I just...
I can't.
Mel?
Mel!
Mel?!
Mel!
A storage facility?
Yeah, Cooper suggested one in an email.
So there's no guarantee that she took him up on it, but...
"Geordie Stores."
Business started in Newcastle, apparently.
Quality.
But there's now a branch on the Mile End Road,
between his pub and her flat.
And that email is dated 3rd of February.
Looking on BNC's website,
Melinda's impending employment was announced December.
Now, she could have shipped all her stuff to Ireland, but...
Yeah, it's unlikely.
Give them a call, and see if she did rent a space.
- Sure. - Kaz?
So, we have a car entering Whitney Marsh car park
in the middle of the night
the day before he was reported missing,
which we all agree is odd, doesn't fit with our timing.
Except I've just found out
that that car's plates don't actually exist...
Hmm.
that they're either fake, or they've been altered.
- And that is very odd. - Can you tell what make the car is?
No obvious badge, from what I can read,
but we are checking other cameras en route to the car park.
Do we think this could have been the killer scoping the site?
Could be, but also...
did we check when Juliet Cooper actually last saw her husband?
Are you thinking he might've been killed the day before?
And she might not have known, if their paths hadn't crossed.
To be fair, I haven't seen Rob since Monday,
he could definitely be dead.
But do we not have proof that he rang the brewery
the day of his disappearance?
I mean, the files say we have a brewery employee
that received a voicemail from him,
but we don't actually know it was from him, do we?
OK, can you track down that employee?
Mm.
And can we chase the triangulation records?
Yeah, Boss.
And let's see what cars our suspects drove in '21.
- Yeah, cool. - OK. Murray?
So, I've been trying to track down
the family that Cooper had the violent dispute with.
- Good. - Meanwhile...
Martin Baines' mother is in intensive care,
suffering from the effects of a barbiturates overdose.
- Self-administered? - Maybe,
but they were crushed up into a hot drink,
which suggests to me an attempt to hide their consumption.
Maybe.
And given that Baines has also now disappeared,
my guess would be "no".
Either way, a search is underway for him.
Stupid Marty.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Stupid!
Mum...
I'm sorry, Mum! I...
I just wanted to help.
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry.
Sorry, sorry.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Sorry, sorry.
You OK, mate?
- Fine. Thank you for asking. - You sure?
This is Sunil Khan. Please leave a message.
Hey, it's Leanne.
Sorry I've not rung back.
Erm, been a bit weird.
And I know that sounds weird, but...
I have shit...
in...
my...
life,
shit that I probably should have told you about, so...
let's meet when you're back.
Sorry again.
The day your husband disappeared, do you remember any of your
and indeed his movements during the day?
Just what I told the original investigation.
Mm-hm. And I went back on that, and you detail everything
from when you left work the evening before very clearly,
but you don't mention seeing him the next morning.
I'm just wondering if you do remember seeing him then
or indeed the night before.
I think I might have mentioned it if my husband hadn't come home.
Right. Because when we first spoke,
you mentioned a meeting in Winchester
he was supposed to be at the day he disappeared?
Yes.
And generally speaking, did he travel a lot for work?
Yeah, a fair amount...
drinks fairs, potential suppliers, that kind of stuff.
OK. And did he sometimes stay over?
Sorry, where's this going?
Well, we're just wondering
if he might have actually disappeared the day before.
He sent a voicemail at 2:00 on the day he disappeared.
Mm-hm. And we're... we're looking into that.
Well, as I say, I think I might have noticed if he wasn't there.
Maybe, yeah.
My sense is, erm, your marriage at this stage wasn't the closest.
Your "sense"?
Well, you'd become...
very different people, no?
We were fine.
What is this?
I don't know, I'm... I'm thinking
maybe you thought he'd kipped in the spare room,
you left early to take Taylor to...
Well, as I say, it's not my recollection,
but, listen, I can't stop you having your little theories.
No, you can't.
And on the subject of Taylor, I spoke to her school this morning.
- You did what? - I understand she's been expelled.
What the hell are you doing, speaking to my daughter's school?
Well, because we'd like to speak to her.
OK, we're done.
- You're not speaking to Taylor. - Juliet...
No, I'm sorry, I've tried to be helpful,
but you have pushed this too far.
- Now, she is a vulnerable child! - There's no need...
I would like you to leave...
now, please, unless you're gonna arrest me.
Now...
please.
I will still want to speak to Taylor...
but it'll be with an appropriate adult,
so she'll be fully protected and supported.
But this is a serious investigation,
and attempts by anyone to hamper it
will be considered as obstruction or similar.
Have a good day.
Jules, have you got five?
Fran?
Yeah, just to let you know, Asif Syed is here.
OK. I'll be there in an hour.
And you know that pub employee who was travelling?
Er... Brianna someone?
West, yes. She just called me back with some interesting information.
- What information? - So, he did hit her.
Juliet, I mean. Cooper definitely hit his wife.
And given that you've refused to accept the early retirement offer,
the board have now come to a decision.
Which is that we're going to suspend you,
pending an external investigation into your conduct.
- What the fuck?! - You utter prick!
Oh, you are so done.
No, you are done, Paul, because you will not win this,
neither you nor Lizzie fucking Jones!
I will fight you all the way, and I will destroy you.
I want your desk cleared now.
- Wow. - Yeah.
I mean, despite everything, I'm still shocked.
Right. Why?
Well... Well, because, I mean, she doesn't present as,
I don't know, the sort of woman
who would put up with that sort of thing.
What sort of woman should she be, then?
- Sorry, I mean... - I mean, any woman can be a victim
- of domestic abuse. - Yeah, of course.
Blokes don't do it because you're weak
- or submissive. - Jess...
They do it because they can.
Er, I'm sorry. Sorry.
- No, my bad. - No, no, really, it's...
It's just things are...
So, do we think that
what Brianna West saw was a one-off, or...?
Well, she certainly only saw it once,
- but it rarely is that, is it? - No.
So I think it might be worth pressing Melinda again.
Will do.
And I'm also speaking to social services
about how best to handle speaking with the daughter.
I mean, she must have seen some stuff,
we just need to know what.
Surely, I have some legal right
to not want my very vulnerable child
interviewed about her murdered father.
And I understand all of your concerns, Mrs Cooper,
but if the police believe she may have relevant information, she...
So, can I insist I sit in with her?
You can ask,
but obviously, if you yourself are...
a person of interest,
they'll almost certainly say no and appoint a social worker instead.
Oh, thank you.
Hey.
Er, Mel...
I think maybe it's best if you don't come here any more.
What?
See, after what happened with you and Patrick...
and now this other
business...
with the British police...
It's a very small community.
I think maybe it would be better if you found somewhere else to worship.
But this is my church.
Just, people are really talking now.
I'm so sorry.
Yeah, so their previous address was...
Flat 6, 32 Altringham Gardens, DA2 3CP,
but what I'm really after is if they left a forwarding one.
Sure. Can you hold the line, please, sir?
So, when we spoke to you over Zoom a few days ago,
we asked you about the nature of your relationship with Gerry Cooper.
- Do you recall that? - Of course.
And you said, "Our relationship was brief,
"a few weeks, two months at most."
- Do you remember telling us that? - Yes.
So, is there anything that you want to add,
anything you might want to change, since you last spoke to us?
Yes, erm... That wasn't entirely true.
OK, which bit?
That the relationship only lasted...
a couple of months.
How long did it last?
Erm...
Maybe it would be useful if I told you
that we have a lot of Mr Cooper's emails and texts
from 2017 up until his death.
Yeah.
We saw each other on and off between 2018 and...
- yeah, just before he disappeared. - OK, thank you.
So, why did you lie?
I panicked.
I'd seen in the papers that it was a murder inquiry.
I was scared.
I was scared that...
I might be someone that you might suspicious about.
So, you saw each other for a period of, er, what, maybe four years?
- Yes. - OK.
And you told us that
the relationship...
just sort of fizzled out.
- Yes. - Was that true?
Yeah, I...
I just ended up getting bored of him.
OK.
So he definitely never hit you?
No, I already told you.
You've already told me a lot of things, and most of those are lies.
No.
Because we have evidence to suggest that he did hit his wife.
We know that he attacked one of his best friends
and was cautioned for that.
And we also have evidence that
he used violence against some of his tenants, so...
Well, he never hit me.
OK.
Did he ever try to extort money from you, Melinda?
No.
Well, maybe...
you can explain what he meant in these messages?
No, I...
- I can't explain these. - You don't remember them?
No.
Well, it looks like he's asking you for money
and then threatening you if you didn't give it to him.
- I have no recollection of this. - What was he threatening you with?
- Like I say... - I mean, we know...
he was in huge financial trouble...
Yeah, I have no recollection of this.
OK.
So, you flew to Cork on the 2nd of March.
Mm.
Bringing forward a flight originally booked for two months later.
So what prompted that change of plan?
Oh, I... I just wanted more time to get settle in
before I started work.
And then when you were here,
how did you find out about Gerry Cooper's disappearance?
- I can't remember. - Oh.
Well, you said that a mutual friend had rung and told you about it.
Oh, er... Yes, I mean, maybe they did.
OK. Which friend?
- Oh, I can't remember. - Lots you don't remember.
Yes.
OK.
And did you ever meet his wife, Juliet?
No, why would I have?
Maybe she found out about your affair, got in touch with you?
No.
OK.
Last question.
You have a storage facility in the UK.
We'd like to search it.
We can get a warrant or you can just give us permission,
whichever you prefer?
That's my personal stuff. You wanna search it...
you get a fucking warrant.
There's something you should know.
People know each other's business here.
Secrets are hard to keep,
which is something Melinda Ricci singularly failed to grasp.
OK.
So if you wanna know her secrets, speak to Father Ryan.
He's been keeping her very good company
since Paddy got injured.
As I say, it... it may be nothing, but I thought I should mention it.
No, absolutely.
Erm, so, can I just ask...
why was he there, your dad, at... 3:30 in the morning?
He worked shifts at a service station,
and that was the route he cycled home.
Right, OK.
And, yeah, he said the following day
that he'd surprised someone heaving something into the marsh
and it felt a bit weird.
So, er, notwithstanding his stroke, Susan,
if you think he'd be up for it, I'd love to talk to him.
Afternoon. DS Fran Lingley.
I'm just trying to get some information
on whether you're storing anything here belonging to a Melinda Ricci.
- So, the swab you gave us, Asif... - Mr Syed.
Apologies. The swab you gave us, Mr Syed,
was compared against DNA evidence taken from the sweatshirt
worn by Gerry Cooper the night he was assaulted outside his pub.
And we found a match. Your DNA is on the sweatshirt.
What's your response to that?
No comment.
Was it you that attacked Mr Cooper that night?
No comment.
If it wasn't you, can you tell me how else
your DNA might have ended up on his sweatshirt?
No comment.
Maybe you came in to contact with him some other way that day?
No comment.
Perhaps he attacked you, you acted in self-defence?
No comment.
OK.
Let's move on from that, then. Erm...
I'd like to ask you again about the Dowari family.
When was the last time you would have seen them?
When I stopped working for Thamesford Borough Council.
Which was in September 2020?
- Yes. - Yeah.
So, we have a witness who also worked for the council,
who said they bumped into you in January 2021,
and you told them that you were still helping the Dowaris even then.
They're mistaken.
The Dowaris would say the same, would they?
Yes.
Cos, you see, I think they wouldn't.
I think they would say that, very generously,
you continued to help them.
No comment.
My guess is that the assault on Gerard Cooper
outside his pub was in revenge
for how you felt Cooper was treating the Dowari family.
Is that the case?
No comment.
And my fear is, Mr Syed,
because I do believe, at heart, you are a decent man...
My fear is that three weeks after that first assault,
you went back and attacked Mr Cooper again.
- Is that the case? - No comment.
Perhaps something happened with the Dowari family
that really got to you, and you went back to find Mr Cooper,
and this time, things went too far.
No comment.
- Maybe he fought back this time. - No comment.
Or maybe it was self defence from you again.
No comment.
Either way, you returned, Mr Syed,
and that second visit led to Mr Cooper's death.
No comment.
OK. Erm...
So, just before I came into this interview,
I got a call from one of my officers,
who has managed to find a current address
for the Dowari family,
and he's on the way over to them right now to try and speak to them.
So is there anything else that you would like to add now
to what you've already told me?
No comment.
Right.
We'll leave things there for now, then.
- My front light had gone... - Right.
which is why they wouldn't have seen me coming.
And when you say "they"...?
No, sorry, there was only...
- one of them. - OK.
- And was that a man or a woman? - Oh, I got no idea.
It was raining,
and they had their hood up, and they were wearing a COVID mask.
And obviously, it was also night, and so...
So, what... what exactly did you see?
They had their back to me,
and they was leaning over a bag,
and they were removing something from it.
Mm.
But when they heard me coming,
from, what, 30 or 40 feet away...
erm...
they... they stop... what they were doing,
and they look at me.
And then they put whatever it was back in the bag very quickly.
And then they stood up,
and they pick up the bag...
and then walk towards me
- but with their head down. - So you didn't...
actually see them throw anything in?
Oh, well, no, but I did think that it was so odd
that after I passed them...
I turned back and watched them walk into the darkness.
And then maybe...
20 seconds later, I heard "splash".
And two minutes after that, I heard a car start up.
OK. And anything else?
Oh.
Nothing else springs to mind at the moment, no.
But how... how about if I check my diary?
Your diary?
Yeah, it...
Till I had my stroke, I kept a daily diary.
And that might have the specific day that this happened?
No, no, not "might", it would.
It's Martin, isn't it?
Oh, hello.
I used to see you in the pub, Marty.
Do you remember me? Clemmie.
Where's it gone?
Oh, well, it's flats now, lovely.
Yeah, the brewery sold it.
I was looking for his wife.
Oh, Juliet moved. Er, Spitalfields, I think.
Thank you very much, madam.
What... What even is that?
Sounds like something you clean a paintbrush with.
Moral turpitude is deviant behaviour, Melinda.
Deviant?
Constituting an immoral, unethical or unjust departure
from ordinary social standards as would shock a community.
Sorry, is this me fucking the priest or the murder investigation?
Tell you what, you choose.
Either way, you've got four weeks' notice,
which is four more than the board wanted to give you, so...
you can thank me in another life.
Yeah...
it's true.
- Everything Debbie said? - Yeah.
And more.
"And more"?
OK, er, I wanna be completely honest with you now, Jessie,
because until I am, I know we can't move forward.
I'm all ears.
And I'm telling you this now because it's all in the past.
This isn't...
who I am today, this isn't who I've been since...
Debbie, and this isn't who I ever will be... again.
But...
there were other women.
None of them ever meant anything, but...
there were others.
My, er...
therapist...
- Your fucking what? - Yeah.
I've been talking to an online therapist
ever since all that stuff with your sister came out.
It's really been helping me.
Oh, I am pleased!
Helping me realise...
that I've got an addiction.
Please, God, you're not gonna tell me you have a sex addiction.
Oh, my God, Steve.
You awful fucking cliche.
Jessie, I'm telling you this
because I wanna be completely honest with you
so we can start with a clean slate.
Start what with a clean slate?
Rebuilding our marriage, obviously.
Well...
I wanna thank you, Steve, for making this all so...
easy for me.
- No. - We're done.
For good. Forever.
- Jess... - So...
you will need to find somewhere to stay tonight.
Erm, you can come around tomorrow while I'm at work
and pack up whatever you need for the next few months, and I'll...
I'll speak to a lawyer first thing and get the ball rolling.
So you don't wanna talk, give things a go,
listen to what I've got to say?
I couldn't care less what you have to say,
you bore, you narcissist, you fucking child.
I am now, and will be from this day forward,
as interested in you as you clearly were in me over the last few years.
Please, go ahead, shag as many women as you want.
I hope it's as meaningless and hollow as you say it was.
It's the most you deserve.
All I'm saying is you have to learn to control your temper.
Please.
You taught me well, Mum.
- "I" taught you? - Dad did angry.
You did...
fury.
Listen, I need to, erm...
I think the police are going to want to speak to you,
so, again, if you could...
just say what we agreed?
- You want me to lie for you? - No, I just...
This is the Met, Tay, so much as I would love to say,
"Just tell the truth, and everything'll be fine..."
Just... say you don't remember anything that happened that night.
Because we cannot give them an opportunity to fuck up our lives.
But I am so sorry, sweetheart.
I can't even cry.
What does that say?
That you already knew. You've already grieved.
But still, what a colossal prick.
So, listen, tonight, I'm staying,
and tomorrow, we get the locks changed,
and I'll grab some stuff from my place,
and I'll stay for a couple of weeks,
until we work out how to get you through this.
Hey?
I just want you to know you're not on you're own.
We're in this together.
So, listen, Father,
I don't wanna involve you in a murder investigation.
In a...?
I really don't want to have Officer Kane
bring you down to the station, have people gossiping about you.
I have done nothing wrong.
But I need some information.
What information?
I know you got close to Melinda,
and you've been a good... friend to her.
DI Khan...
I don't need to know anything more about that.
But good friends tell each other things, don't they?
Yes.
They do.
Yes, they do.
So...
did she tell you why she came out here so suddenly,
why she changed her flight and got one two months earlier?
OK, so, I didn't know she'd done that,
and she never mentioned anything about changing a flight.
But, erm...
And this was told to me as her friend...
not as her priest.
She had a long relationship before she moved out...
with a married man.
And she had a baby with him.
Hello? Hello?
Why am I still here?
I have done nothing wrong! Why am I still here?!
Hey.
What are you doing? I have nothing to say to you.
I'm sorry I lost my temper.
If we can't disagree agreeably, then we're all sunk.
I'm sorry about the book, too.
Maybe part of it was provocative.
You know, maybe, subconsciously,
I did choose it deliberately. Who knows?
It is a good read, though.
I think... the older you get...
the harder it is to keep adapting to change.
You bend and you bend and you bend
and then one day, you just...
you snap.
But... I'm sorry.
You were right. I was wrong.
And as your tutor, I should have done better.
Just wanted to say that.
It's hard for us, too...
to see so little change, real change, I mean.
Still getting taught the same shitty degree you were,
except ours costs 50 grand, and it doesn't even get us a job.
And actually, we don't even get taught it
because everyone's always on strike.
So we're angry, too...
and scared...
that we're gonna get it wrong...
get caught out, get left out.
But I don't want you to lose your job.
We all just...
We wanna be heard.
And you are.
Loud and clear.
Oh, and, yeah, it is...
a good book.
- DCI James? - Juliet, hi.
I've, er, spoken to social services, and we now have someone available
to sit with Taylor while we have a talk with her.
So when will be a good time for you to bring her in?
Can we get the luminol in here, please?
So, it is blood, we just need to know whose.
You really think it could be Cooper's?
Listen, if she had a baby with him, they're telling us,
then nothing's off the table.
So, I pull her back in now?
Do you think she'd be a flight risk?
No idea.
Right, let's just wait for the results.
OK. Speak later.
- Sorry, can I help you? - No.
Thank you very much for asking.
The blood on Melinda Ricci's jacket, it belonged to Gerard Cooper.
Melinda Ricci, you're under arrest on suspicion of murder.
You're not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so.
Whatever you say will be taken down in writing
and may be given in evidence.
Gonna have to put the cuffs on you, I'm afraid, Mel.
I didn't do it.
*CREDITS*