Inspector George Gently

- [Priest] Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.

And they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, they that have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

(car rumbling) Light eternal shine upon her, O Lord, with thy saints for heaven.

(car rumbling) - You English.

I still cannot understand what you're saying.

- Of course you understand us.

- No.

- [George] You understood the opening?

- [Isabella] No, it was so English.

All clever words and no passion.

- [George] Passion, right.

Wait till I get you home.

(Isabella chuckles) (somber music) (George sighs) (tires squealing) - Aah!

(tires squealing) - Oh.

Oh.

(somber music) Oh, my God.

Oh, my... Oh.

No.

- [Priest] And of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

(somber music) Chief Inspector, I'm truly sorry for your loss.

(somber music continues) (dirt thudding) (somber music fades) - Commissioner sends his deepest regrets.

We know you asked for a private ceremony, but he wanted somebody here to convey his deep, deep sadness.

- I had no idea he was so deep.

- He knew, we all knew Isabella meant everything to you.

- You knew nothing about my wife.

You know nothing about anything.

You prefer not to.

And actually, if Isabella had meant everything to me, she might still be living.

(thoughtful music) Tell the Commissioner.

Tell him I'll be asking for my pension.

That'll cheer him up.

(tires squealing) Oh, God, sweetheart!

(George sobbing) (somber music) Oh.

(somber music continues) - And out of the darkness, there she is again.

The Goddess!

(group cheering) (group laughing) Lawrie Elton, born without a brain.

(group laughing) Billy Lister.

Billy Lister, you've been riding with us for two months, and you've asked to be accepted as a member of the Durham Defenders.

Are you ready for the ceremony?

- Yeah.

- Go on, Billy.

- Go on.

(mellow music) (Billy gasps) (water splashing) (Billy coughing) - Woo-hoo!

Woo-hoo!

Yes!

Woo-hoo!

Welcome to the family.

(group cheering and laughing) - [China] It was my fault.

- No, it wasn't your fault.

Don't be melodramatic.

- But I'm supposed to keep you informed.

I didn't hear a dicky bird, Mr.

Gently.

Not a dicky bird.

I never thought Webster would do this.

Nobody's seen him since.

You want me to find him, Mr.

Gently?

- No, forget about him, and forget about me.

I'm finished.

- No.

No, no, Mr.

Gently.

I come to pay me respects.

- Don't booze it.

- No, no.

I'll spend it sensibly.

- Spend some of it on a bar of soap.

Goodbye, China.

You take care.

- Goodbye, Mr.

Gently.

Thank you, Mr.

Gently.

(upbeat music) (motorcycles rumbling) I wanna say how it's gonna be - Whoo!

Yeah!

You're gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day Well love is love and not fade away Well love is love and not fade away Well my love bigger than a Cadillac - Roberto!

Coffee for me and your monster fry-up for Billy Lister!

- [Roberto] Okay, coming up.

- [Shirley] Hello, Billy.

You're all wet.

- Come here, you.

- Get off, Lawrie, man!

- [Roberto] Now wait a minute!

- Shirley.

- Come on, sit down.

- [Roberto] Shirley!

- [Shirley] You're soaked!

- What's the matter with you?

- I don't like him.

- Well that's funny, 'cause you brought him in.

- Aye, well, I didn't know he was trouble then.

(Shirley laughs) - [Billy] Thanks.

- What did they do to you?

- [Patron] He looks like a drowned rat.

- Have some of that.

(Shirley laughs) - You've been asking for this, you little pup!

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

- Get off of him!

- Keep your hands off me!

- No, stop!

- Everything's cool, Roberto.

- Right, keep it that way!

- I have to talk to you.

- See?

Trouble.

- Shut up, will you?

So, talk.

- Not here.

(sighs) Can I come and see you?

- Come back tonight, about 8:00, and we'll go for a ride together, yeah?

Is that what you're playing at?

- [Patron] Whoo-hoo!

- Sorry.

I just need to talk to you.

- I'm gonna sort him out.

- Leave it, Lawrie!

I will sort Billy Lister out in me own way tonight.

And I won't need to use my fists.

(tense music) (motorcycle roaring) (tense music) (motorcycles roaring) (motorcycles roaring) - Please don't!

Don't, please!

Please!

I'll do what you ask, I'm sorry!

I'm sorry, please!

Please!

Please!

I'll do what you ask!

Please!

I'm sorry!

God!

No!

(Billy screams) (motorcycle crashing) (stream trickling) (stream trickling) - Sorry, Mr Gently.

Didn't want to intrude, but I thought I might find you here.

- I've told you, I don't need you any more.

I'm retiring.

- I've been asking around.

The bloke you're looking for, Joe Webster, he's gone.

He went to a funeral and never come back.

- I'm not looking for anybody.

- You just gonna let him get away with it then, Mr Gently?

- Yes.

That's exactly what I'm going to do.

- What?

- My one-man mission to clean up the Met cost Isabella her life.

- She was a lovely woman.

I don't think she'd have wanted you to stop.

She was proud of the way you always done your duty.

- Duty?

- "Mr Gently serves the public, China.

It's his life."

That's what she said, "It's his life."

Webster ain't never gonna stop killing.

Not till the day you stop him.

(gentle music) - Gone where?

- If I knew that, Mr Gently, I wouldn't be standing- - Where was the funeral?

- Oh, Hexham.

I looked it up, It's up in the north- - In Northumberland, yes.

Who died?

- Young lad come off his bike.

Could have been an accident, could be something else.

Local plods seem to think so.

- Well, I think we can leave the Rutland murder to the locals for the time being.

John, you're doing Suffolk, and, Trevor, you'll be covering Eastbourne next week.

- Yes, sir.

- Which brings us up to date.

Right, thanks.

Enjoy the weekend, what's left of it.

(group conversing) - [George] You forgot the boy up in Northumberland.

- I didn't forget it.

The locals have made an arrest, they don't need- - Joe Webster was at the funeral.

Any idea why?

- This obsession with Webster, George, is doing you no favors.

There are very senior ranks round here who seriously doubt your sanity nowadays.

- You're gutless, and so are they.

You've stood by and done nothing while criminals have come to work in the Met.

- You said you were retiring.

- Well, there's time for one more.

While they work out my pension.

- All right, George.

Have it.

(engine rumbling) - Are you Lawrence Elton?

- Don't know.

Am I still Lawrie Elton, John?

- You can call me Detective Sergeant, or sir, or Mr Bacchus.

- Or else what?

- Or else I come over this desk and I'll smack your face.

- He allowed to threaten us?

- Yeah.

So you just happened to be on that road and you came across Lister dead beside his bike?

- It's the quickest way to the Dice.

- [Setters] The what?

- The Dice Cafe, guvnor.

- Oh, right.

- It's where they all hang out.

- Okay, so, you were on your way to meet your mates, the coffee-bar cowboys, and you came across Lister dead.

Why didn't you ring for the police?

- Hmm, I don't know.

Why do you think?

- [Setters] Why did you try and hide the bloodstains?

- Blood?

- What, you never heard of forensic science?

- What?

(John chuckling) Thick as ever, aren't you, Lawrie?

- Thick as a copper's wallet.

- [Setters] Hey.

- Right, that's your last warning.

Now you tell us about the blood that we found on your boots and on your leathers.

- [Setters] Which you'd obviously spent half the night trying to wash off.

- Well who wants blood on their boots?

Are you stupid or what?

- Right, that was your last warning!

- That's police brutality, that!

- Do you want another one?

- According to Mr Minchella, the owner of the Dice Cafe, your girlfriend was a bit sweet on Billy Lister.

- What?

He was a poof!

- Right.

Is that your scarf, Lawrie?

- No.

- We found that in your garage hidden in a box of spanners.

What was it doing there?

- What?

What's this about?

- Did you find it the night Lister died?

- What's he on about?

- Right, I'm gonna ask you one more time and you're gonna answer me truthfully otherwise you're gonna find yourself in serious trouble.

Is this your scarf?

- We know it's his scarf.

We found it hidden in his garage.

- Why, Lawrie?

Why'd you hide it?

(mellow music) (mellow music continues) Lawrie Elton wear a white silk scarf?

He'd rather wear a bikini, man.

- [Setters] Okay, clever clogs.

- Right.

Lawrie Elton found the scarf at the scene and hid it to protect someone.

- He was there.

He had a motive.

He's tried to conceal evidence.

- What motive?

What, his girlfriend gave Billy Lister a kiss?

No, man.

No, this is manslaughter.

Possibly, right, possibly murder.

Which means somebody could hang, and I reckon that person is the rightful owner of this scarf.

- Well if that scarf's not Lawrie Elton's, whose is it?

Any idea?

- Oh, yes.

(hammer thudding) (hammer thudding) Ricky Deeming knackering batteries for a fiver a day.

Who'd have thought it?

- Do I know you, Officer?

- Very good.

- Who else wears shiny shoes these days?

- Anderson Street Grammar School.

- Clue me in.

- I was one of the mere mortals you looked down on.

- How's life treating you, John?

- You do remember us.

- Who could forget such a sustained exhibition of arse crawling?

Was anyone ever more pathetically grateful to get the prefect badge?

So little John Bacchus joined the cops.

- You have a friend, Roberto Minchella, owns the Dice Cafe.

Witnessed an embarrassing scene between you and a very pretty boy called Billy Lister, later found dead with his brains dripping down a drystone wall.

Apparently you said you were gonna "sort him out."

- Billy was a very mixed-up boy.

- Who mixed him up?

At school we used to call you flamboyant.

Are you still flamboyant, Ricky?

Lost anything bright and lovely lately?

- How did you get that?

- Is it yours?

- Where did you find it?

- Where did you lose it?

Ricky Deeming in a holding cell.

He admits the scarf is his, and guess what?

He can't remember where he lost it.

You don't seem very interested.

- Why should I be?

I'm no longer running this inquiry.

- What?

Says who?

- Your father-in-law.

- Why?

- Because the Yard wants it.

- I'm going to the mess, do you wanna buy me one?

- No, no, no, wait!

The Yard?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah, but... Am I still on it?

- I don't know.

Ask your new boss.

- Well, who's that?

- Chief Inspector George Gently.

- He's the top man, isn't he?

- He used to be.

He's a busted flush these days.

Well, hurry up.

He's waiting for you.

(relaxed music) (engine rumbling) (relaxed music continues) - Are you John Bacchus?

- [John] Yes, Mr Gently, sir.

- Very impressive.

- Aye, very popular with ramblers and... Well, ramblers.

I prefer city life personally.

- I meant the MG.

- Oh, right.

- Not standard issue up here, is it?

- [John] No, no, no.

Wedding present, that.

- Mum and Dad?

- Me mam's dead.

Me dad got me one of those pop-up toaster things.

No, I bought the car for meself.

- You needed cheering up?

I've been having a look at where Billy Lister hit the wall back there.

Very nasty.

- Aye.

- According to Inspector Setters' notes, you've taken a bit of a wrong turn yourself.

Ricky Deeming.

(John chuckles) - I don't think so, sir.

- Because of a silk scarf?

- Aye, he's up to his neck in this.

He may have, you know... - Oh, I see.

- So why was Lawrie Elton arrested in the first place?

- The second set of tire marks, you can still just about see 'em, here and here.

Now, the best matches of any of the bikers' wheels were Lawrie Elton's Bonneville and Ricky Deeming's Manx.

- The second bike needn't have belonged to one of the Durham Defenders.

It could've belonged to anybody.

- Yeah, yeah, but then we found Lister's matching blood type all over Elton's boots and leathers.

- And then the scarf turns up and changes your mind.

Who actually discovered the scarf, incidentally?

- I did.

- Who reported the body?

- A passing motorist.

- So you let Lawrie Elton go and arrested Ricky Deeming?

- It's his scarf.

- I believe Elton was on his way back to the Dice Cafe, discovered the body, found the scarf and hid it to cover up for Deeming.

- Why?

- He worships him.

They all do.

- I see.

- Will I still be on it, sir?

- I'll let you know.

- Well, shall I set up an interview with Ricky Deeming?

- No, I want to start again from the beginning.

Get Lawrie Elton back in.

Today, please.

Gently.

- If you think I've made a mistake letting Elton go, you can just say!

- Roger.

Yes, you made a mistake.

(mysterious music) - Yeah.

Yeah, that's Lawrie Elton.

- Has he been moved at all?

- No, sir.

- Who found him?

- Gentleman over there, sir.

(mysterious music) - Arms outstretched.

What does that tell you?

- That he was already dead when he came over the cliff.

A number of wounds on the side of the skull.

- Caused by what?

- In my opinion, something like a sledgehammer.

- Back to your friend Ricky Deeming.

- Who just so happens to swing a hammer from the left.

- Which would give a wound to the right side of the head.

- Exactly.

- If the victim was facing him.

- Aye, which I imagine he was.

- Do you?

Deeming has a pretty good alibi this time.

He was with you.

- That depends on how long Elton's been dead.

He's stiff as a board.

- Tell me, Sergeant Bacchus, do you always decide who's guilty and then look for the evidence to support it?

Is that how you do things up here?

- No, sir.

- I know two Home Office forensic scientists who specialize in it.

CID goes to them, "We nicked somebody for murder.

We haven't got any evidence.

Can you supply it?"

(clicks fingers) - I don't think that's correct procedure, sir.

- No, nor me.

I'm old-fashioned.

I prefer to assemble the evidence, see which way it points.

- Could've been an accident, of course.

- Think so?

- You had a good look at Elton when you questioned him.

- I've known him for years, sir.

- Perhaps you can tell me, then, if he had any eyebrows.

- Eyebrows?

- 'Cause he hasn't got any now and one of his fingernails is missing.

- I don't understand.

What does it mean?

- It means he had no eyebrows when he died.

- Well, shall I go to Deeming's yard and look at the hammers?

- Yeah, if you like.

Yes, in fact, do.

- Are you gonna question him?

- Not yet.

But don't let him go.

If necessary, invent something to hold him on.

I'll talk to him after I've talked to Mrs Lister.

- No, no, I've already done that.

- [George] Searched her son's room, did you?

- [John] Well, I had a look around.

- I'll take that as a no, then.

- Looking for what?

- Evidence.

- [John] Sir, the chief constable invites you to dinner tonight.

- [George] What are you, his social secretary?

- No, I'm his son-in-law.

- Are you?

(laughs) Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

- Does this finish me chances of working with you, sir?

- Doesn't help 'em.

- Look, look... Can I be frank with you?

I've applied for a job at the Met.

- Ah.

- Thing is, it wouldn't do us any harm to work on George Gently's last case, would it?

- Who told you that?

- [John] That it's your last case?

- That it wouldn't do you any harm.

- I've gotten off to a very bad start with you, haven't I, sir?

- Yes, very.

- You don't like me car, you don't like me suit.

Both too flash.

You don't like the way I work on hunches instead of evidence.

You think I'm sloppy.

You think I'm unobservant.

And then I cap it all by trying to impress you with me wife's father, who incidentally would probably tell you I know less about criminal investigation than I do about male contraception.

Yeah, made a mess of that as well.

- Is that why you want to leave?

- Partly.

- Would your wife like to go to London?

- I doubt whether Lisa would go with us.

- There's only one thing I really don't like, Sergeant, and it's not what you've said, it's what you haven't said.

- Aye.

Fair enough.

Yeah, biggest mess of all, I've let Elton go and now he's dead and, (clears throat) and that's my fault.

I was right about this being your last case though, wasn't I, sir?

I read about your wife.

Sorry.

Hit-and-run drivers, man, I'd string 'em all up.

- My wife was murdered, Sergeant.

Please send my apologies to the chief, I'm somewhat monastic at present, and then I'll see you tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp.

If you want to stay on the case.

- Yes, sir.

Thank you, sir.

(church bell ringing) - Are you unwell?

- What?

- It's peaceful here, isn't it?

- Pevsner calls the cathedral overpowering.

I call it brutal.

I prefer this.

See that?

There used to be a wall there.

- I'm new here.

- Called an anchorage.

You'd have a hermit holed up in there, for life.

Little slit in the wall for his food.

And outside, ready dug, a grave, just waiting for him to drop into at the end of his meaningless days.

Do you fancy that, vicar?

- The cathedral itself is- - Built by Catholics.

People like me.

Entirely a left-foot building project.

Now it's owned and run by C of E nancy boys in two minds as to the truth of the Resurrection.

Look at Jerusalem.

Jew says to the Muslim, "Sling your hook, Abdul.

We built this, we're having it back."

When's the last time you heard a Catholic saying "Can we have our cathedrals back?"

We're soft.

- I'm not exactly sure I understand- - Well, that's my point!

You can't even do a decent burial service.

You've got no class.

You're not a proper religion.

- Is there someone you want to bury?

(Joe chuckles) - [Valerie] Your colleagues have already been through Billy's things.

- I'm sorry to bother you again.

Thank you.

Who among my colleagues exactly?

- Sergeant Bacchus, and the older one, his boss.

- Mr Setters?

Together?

- No, separately.

- I see.

Can you remember who came first?

- [Valerie] The older one.

He wanted to search the room the night Billy died.

Looking for clues, he said.

- Your son seems to have been very close to Ricky.

- They were fond of each other, I think.

Ricky came here sometimes.

He sat for Billy.

Billy wanted to be an artist.

- So they spent a lot of time alone together?

- It was a schoolboy crush.

It happened to Billy quite a lot.

He'd have done anything for Ricky, I think.

- I don't know why the world has to scoff at it so much, do you, Mr Gently?

- No, I don't.

Forgive me, you're a lot younger than I imagined.

- I had Billy when I was 16.

- Oh.

His father?

- He died when Billy was little.

(George sighs) - This is all very sad for you.

I lost my wife quite recently.

- I'm sorry.

- People told me the funeral would be a healing experience.

It wasn't.

Was it for you?

- No.

But perhaps his friends did, I don't know.

- Were there people at the funeral you didn't know?

- [Valerie] Well, I didn't know all of Billy's friends.

- Anybody older, anybody who seemed out of place?

- No.

Why?

- Mrs Lister, have you ever heard the name Joe Webster?

- No.

- Never?

- No.

Would you like some coffee?

- Yes, one more question.

What did your husband do for a living?

- Philip was a stoker in the merchant marine.

One day he came off ship from Rio de Janeiro, went for a drink with his friends down at Tyne Dock and was never seen again.

We think he went back aboard ship and perhaps fell into the water.

He was never found.

- Forgive me, but you live rather well for the widow of a stoker.

- The pension scheme's very generous.

I've had much to be grateful for, not now.

I'll make you that coffee.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (bell buzzing) Mr Gently?

Your Sergeant Bacchus is here.

- Ricky Deeming's brief's arrived.

She's having a hissy fit.

- Get these to the lab for me.

- What are they?

- Speed, I think.

Dexamphetamines.

I found them in Lister's room.

- Well, how come I missed them?

- You weren't looking for 'em.

How much do you think the pension is for the widow of a stoker in the merchant marine?

- How would I know that, guv?

- Find out for me.

Since Billy Lister's funeral, have there been any strangers on the manor?

Anybody looking for trouble?

- Only the bloke at the cathedral yesterday.

- What was that?

- Aye, London accent.

Bit of a mental case.

Hit a canon over the head with a pair of binoculars.

- Anybody with him?

- Not as far as I know.

- Check that.

Did you go to Deeming's workplace, look at the hammers?

- Yeah.

- And?

- We're examining 'em.

- Anything else?

- Like what?

- Had anybody been looking for him?

- Like who?

Look, you're gonna have to trust somebody.

Why not me?

- Let's go and talk to Ricky Deeming.

- Excuse me- - No, you can't be present.

- Be prepared for the biggest load of (censored) you've ever heard in your life.

- 25 years in the Met, Sergeant.

- And the big cheese arrives.

Why am I here?

- Two of your friends are dead here.

- Billy and Lawrie touched the darkness, that's all.

It happens when you ride.

(John chuckles) - Touched the darkness?

- You wouldn't understand.

You have to love speed.

- Speed.

Talk to me about that.

- When you and the bike are one, the machine, the ghost inside the machine.

- Sounds like a spiritual kind of thing.

A heightened experience.

- You're starting to get it.

- Did you get that from riding?

You don't need anything else?

- You mean drugs?

Not my scene.

Do you mind?

- The Durham Defenders.

What's being defended?

- We are, I suppose.

- From?

- From the (censored).

Dead-end jobs, hand-me-down values, second-hand opinions, mortgages.

No offense, but the sort of life John here leads.

- And what sort of life do I lead?

- 40 years of chasing guys like us up and down the street so the world will be a safer place for other mediocre people to live their banal lives in.

You and your little woman on the front at Whitley Bay and the world rolling on forever and the whole structure never skipping a beat, and nothing ever changing, except the weather.

- So, you're saving your apostles from the dead hand of the uniform society?

- What did your world offer a little kid like Lawrie Elton?

Real dad dead before he were born, mother abandoned him.

Your straight world pushes him and pushes him into ever tighter corners.

Failed at your schools, couldn't hold down your (censored) jobs.

Life of crime beckoning.

Predictable.

But maybe not.

Just maybe not.

He got himself a bike, a family, and a set of shared values, and you know what, George?

He took one look at your world and he wasn't interested in it.

And neither am I. Your world's coming to an end, George.

It's inevitable.

You won't know England in 20 years.

- I fear you might be right.

- okay, so, Billy Lister ran his bike into a wall because he wanted to dance with the ghost of the machine, and Lawrie Elton drove off a cliff because he wanted to have fun touching the darkness.

Oh, man.

And you talk to me about (censored)?

You wanna do some thinking, Ricky.

Hey, why don't you start with this?

How comes Lawrie Elton left the scene of Lister's death with a white silk scarf in his possession?

- It was found hidden in his garage.

- Who found it, George?

That wouldn't be John Bacchus, by any chance, would it?

- Meaning?

- Well, the same John Bacchus who according to my solicitor was criticized in open court for lying about a piece of prosecution evidence.

Maybe you need to do some thinking, George.

- You're free to go.

- Good.

- But I'm advising you to stay.

- Why?

- It's possible that this man will come looking for you.

If he does, your life will be in danger.

- (scoffs) Nice meeting you, George.

- I had to lie to protect a source.

I had to.

If I hadn't... Look, okay, yes, the judge criticized us, but the bloke went down for eight years.

I had to do it.

- And the scarf?

- I never laid eyes on that until I found it in Elton's garage.

- I have to ask.

The dexies?

- I never saw them until you put 'em in me hand.

Now, do you mind if I ask who's in that photo?

- Somewhere secure.

- Right, well, the office.

- You're not listening!

- Right.

Yeah, okay, I know a place.

- Call forensics first.

(grandiose organ music) Pevsner calls it overwhelming grandeur.

- What?

- It's beautiful.

- Oh, yeah.

- Would you rather have Big Ben?

- I'll be honest with you, Northeast, it's the back of beyond.

I can't wait to get out, guvnor.

- Stop calling me guvnor, will you?

Save it for the Met.

What did the lab report say?

- They are dexies.

Cut with a lot of vitamin C and caffeine, so nobody's gonna get a really big hit out of 'em.

- So, was Billy Lister part of an outfit distributing medium-grade amphetamines, or was he just a user?

- The outfit being the Durham Defenders?

- Yeah, it's possible.

But how did a small-scale thing like that lead to two murders?

Yeah, go on, explain it to me.

- Right.

(clears throat) Ricky and his pals, including Lister, run drugs up and down the county.

Ricky kills Lister 'cause he was gonna blow the whistle?

Anyway, Elton finds a scarf, right?

Hides it, goes to Ricky and tells him and Ricky kills him to cover up for the first murder.

- Ricky Deeming's on another planet.

The only way I can imagine him killing two people is by talking 'em to death.

- Okay, who did kill Billy Lister?

- I don't know.

But I know who killed Lawrie Elton.

- No, no, wait, wait, don't tell us.

Let me guess.

Joe Webster.

- 10 out of 10.

- Knew it.

I spent last night trawling press reports.

I knew somewhere down the line there was somebody whose MO was a blowtorch and a pair of pliers.

Did Webster kill your wife?

- He made it happen.

- Well, can't the Met move against him?

(George scoffs) - I know of seven, a minimum of seven high-ranking police officers in the Met who are on his payroll.

I know who they are and they know that I know.

But I've got no proof.

Yeah.

That's the look everybody gives me.

You need to decide whether you want to stay on this case, Sergeant.

You don't have to.

Make no mistake, if he's come up here to make money and he finds you standing in his way, he will not hesitate to kill you.

- Where do I start?

- Billy Lister.

We don't know who killed him, so let's look for a motive.

See if he was dealing.

You know the likely places.

Have yourself a night out.

Find out who among the Durham Defenders could have had possible links to Webster.

Webster might have friends up here.

- What sort of friends?

- People who help him.

- Are you talking about policemen?

You're talking about my colleagues?

- It's possible.

- What about me?

How do you know I'm not one of his friends?

- I don't.

(melancholy music) (melancholy music continues) (Isabella laughs) - You English.

I still cannot understand what you're saying.

(melancholy music continues) (tires screeching) (melancholy music continues) (melancholy music continues) (George sobbing) No.

Oh.

Oh, God.

Oh, no.

(George sobbing) (waves lapping) (upbeat jazz music) - Newcastle Brown, please.

(upbeat jazz music continues) Cheers.

- [Barkeep] One and six, please, fella.

(upbeat jazz music continues) (upbeat jazz music continues) - You've just about missed the band.

Poetry starts soon.

- Oh, terrific.

- Charlie.

- Hello, Charlie.

I'm Bacchus.

John, John Bacchus.

- Bacchus?

- Yeah.

- John Bacchus, everybody.

- John Bacchus.

You'll be having some wine, then?

(group laughing) - No, no.

I normally stick to beer.

(upbeat jazz music) I'm looking for someone called Lister, Billy Lister.

Somebody told me he might have something I'm looking for.

- Too late.

Little Billy's dead.

(crowd applauding) - [Musician] Thank you.

Good night.

- [China] Mr Gently?

- [George] China.

Digs okay?

- Oh yeah.

Nice grub and all.

And the barmaid, whoa-ho!

- Oh, good, well, (chuckles) I'm glad you're settling in all right.

Well?

- I done some checking before I left London.

All Webster's blokes seem to be still there.

Looks like he come up on his tod.

- Don't understand it.

It's not how he does business at all.

He's being reckless as well.

- I've been having a few drinks under the blue lamp, Mr Gently.

Your Mr Bacchus is a naughty boy.

(George sighs) - Tell me.

- Got a right bollocking from the bench a year or two back for telling porkies about- - Yeah, I know about that.

What else?

- Oh, well, this is interesting.

He drives a sports car.

- Yes, I know.

How does he afford it though?

- Well, this is the really interesting bit.

His father-in-law is- - The chief constable.

- China, I'm beginning to regret paying you good money to come up here and tell me what I already know.

What about Valerie Lister?

- Well, now I'm reluctant to even bother opening me mouth now.

- Get on with it.

- She's another one that got pregnant.

- Well, considering I'm investigating the death of her son, that hardly counts as information, China.

- 16, she was.

- Yeah, they could do with some contraceptive advice up here.

- Ah, but she wasn't up here, Mr Gently.

She was born up here and the baby was born up here, but according to the barmaid in the pub at the end of her road, she come home from London pregnant to a sailor.

- So what exactly did Billy Lister have that you might want, eh?

- Well... What was he to you?

- I think you know that.

Don't you, Mr Bacchus?

I think Mr Bacchus knows more than he says.

Promise me you're not the fuzz.

- On me mother's life.

- You're too sweet to be a policeman.

- So what do you do now, then, when you need a bit of a lift?

I mean, did Billy have any mates that he came with or owt?

- No, he came on his own.

But there's plenty of stuff around.

I could help you out for tonight.

If you're nice to me.

- Yeah, right.

Yeah, sell us a couple.

How much?

- That's okay.

Just buy me a drink next time.

There will be a next time, won't there?

- Yeah, but let me give you the money for it.

- Okay, just give me five bob, then.

That's all they cost me.

- So... What's your name, then?

I mean, your full name?

- Well, actually, my very full name is the Right Honourable Charlotte Dawson.

- Ooh!

- But you can go on with Charlie.

- Charlotte Dawson, I'm arresting you on the charge of supplying and possessing dexamphetamine.

Now, I must warn you that anything you say may be used in evidence against you.

- I'm begging you, my parents, please!

- John, how's it going?

- Fine, fine.

- How's St George treating you?

- No, no, he's good.

I like him.

- Yeah?

Really?

- Why?

What, what?

- No, no, it's just he's been upstairs saying it was gross negligence to let Lawrie Elton go.

- Yeah, well, it was, wasn't it?

- You'll be all right, obviously.

You've got someone up there looking after you.

But this is how he works, unfortunately.

- Well, you know, he seems pretty straight to me.

- You think so?

- Yeah.

(door thudding) - He doesn't trust you, John.

He doesn't trust anybody.

You know his reputation.

We're all bent, except George, of course.

- Well, like I said, he's been straight with me.

- Yeah?

Where's he now?

What's he doing?

Who's he talking to?

- I don't know.

- Well, the next time you see him, why not ask him why a nark called China Mates has been asking questions about who John Bacchus drinks with and where he gets his money?

- What do you mean?

- This is how he works, John.

Pits officer against officer.

Destroys trust.

Destroys morale.

Destroys careers.

- Um... He was asking us questions about planting evidence on people.

- Planting what evidence?

- The scarf and the pills.

Amphetamines.

- What amphetamines?

- I can't really talk about it, to be honest with you.

- I'm your guvnor, for God's sake!

- Um... We found 'em in Lister's room.

- Oh, John.

John, you told me you found nothing.

- No, Gently found 'em.

- Be careful, John.

Be so careful.

This man is determined to find corrupt coppers.

Make sure you're not the one left holding the parcel when the music stops, yeah?

- Yeah.

(door thudding) (China groans) - Hello, Mr Gently.

- I'm sorry, China.

Who did it?

- I didn't get a look.

Woke up in here this morning.

I think they're onto me, Mr Gently, don't you?

- I'll get you checked over.

Then it's time for you to go home.

You've done all you can for me.

Thank you, Mr Gently.

(door creaks) (door thuds) - Can I help you, sir?

- Stand up when you talk to me.

(gentle tense music) Show me your hands.

(gentle tense music continues) No, somehow I didn't think you'd have done it yourself.

- [Setters] Done what, sir?

- Not really the type, are you?

- What type would that be, sir?

- Do you know, Inspector, I spend half my life talking to the scum of the Earth and I pride myself that I never get angry.

It's not my job to get angry.

Get angry and I've failed.

- I'm just a provincial copper, Mr Gently.

This is all too clever for me.

Is there a problem, sir?

- No.

(Setters groans) (Setters coughs) (cheerful music) (cheerful music continues) Did you order tea?

- No.

- Excuse me.

Tea for two.

Toasted teacakes?

- No.

- One.

Raspberry jam.

- Certainly, sir.

- Why here?

Why do you never use the office we gave you?

- What have you got for me?

- Billy Lister was dealing.

- Got the proof?

- Yep.

- Good.

And?

- None of the Defenders has form except Lawrie Elton, who wasn't inside at the same time as Webster.

Not in the same nick, anyway.

- Valerie Lister?

- Gets pregnant aged 15.

Living with her parents, presumably.

- Why assume that?

Don't assume things.

- Doesn't matter.

They're both dead.

- Okay, gets married to able seaman Philip Lister on January the 3rd, 1944.

Marriage certificate.

Billy's dad is soon back at sea on the Atlantic convoys.

War ends, he stays on in the merchant marine.

Little Billy can't have seen much of his dad, which I read somewhere can in fact turn you into a nancy, so.

- Do you have difficulty with homosexuals, Sergeant?

- No, I do not have difficulty, I just think the sooner they find a cure the better, 'cause in the meantime, blackmail, suicides, murders... - [George] Labour says they'll decriminalize it for consenting adults.

- What happens when the supply of consenting adults runs out?

Lock up your children.

- I wonder if some form of electric shock therapy might help.

- Nah.

No, most of them are still queer at the end of it.

- I meant for you.

Go on.

- Billy's dad disappears, presumed dead, right?

Then somebody starts paying all his mother's bills.

- Not the ship owners though?

- [John] They've never heard of her.

- No widow's pension?

- Nope.

So how come she's so well off?

- Maybe she inherited something.

We need to find out about that.

Tell me again about how the white scarf was discovered.

- Yeah, you've already asked us if I planted it and I've already said no.

- I believe you.

So why was Lawrie Elton released?

Who took that decision?

- Setters did.

But on my advice.

- Which he could have ignored.

But according to Valerie Lister, your boss searched Billy's room on the night he was killed.

- What, so now my boss is planting evidence?

- That's an interesting suggestion, but no.

I think it's more likely he was there to remove evidence.

Except he failed to find the pills.

- So did I.

- [George] You weren't looking for them.

- And Setters was?

- I think it's possible.

I also think it's possible that he planted the white scarf where you would find it so you would suspect Ricky Deeming of murder and want Lawrie Elton released.

- No, you... Now, hang on, hang on.

You're saying, right, that my boss was in league with Lawrie Elton in the distribution of illegal drugs?

- I'm saying it's possible.

- Well, I'm saying I find that completely offensive.

- Well, if I'm correct, the only advantage I have over Setters is that he doesn't know we've found the drugs.

Not until I told him.

- What?

- I'm sorry.

- Both going on the same room bill, gents?

- Is it any wonder that we have to meet in a hotel if you can't keep your mouth shut about things?

- We're not sharing a room.

- Sir?

I'm not staying here.

I live at home with my wife.

I'm a policeman, anyway.

- Yes, sir.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, sir.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, sir.

(George chuckling) - If you were running this investigation, what would you do next?

- I'd go and see Valerie Lister.

- Correct.

Well, are you coming?

Or can't we be seen leaving together?

(engine rumbling) (mysterious music) (mysterious music continues) - Hello, Valerie.

You're looking well, Val, really well.

- What do you want?

Why were you at Billy's funeral?

- I stood at the back.

I didn't wanna upset you.

- Upset me?

You're grotesque.

- Look, if I could rub out what I did all them years ago, I would.

But I can't.

Now, listen, I wanna talk to you about something.

It's about Billy.

Why don't you make us a nice cup of tea?

(car door thudding) What's out the back?

(knuckles rapping) - Mrs Lister, I wonder if we might have a word.

- [Valerie] He had no right to come here!

No right!

- [John] I'll go, I'll go!

(frantic music) (frantic music continues) (John groans) (frantic music continues) (frantic music continues) (Joe and John groaning) (frantic music slows) (music fades) - How did Billy's father die?

- It was a shipboard accident when Billy was- - You don't know that.

He just disappeared off the face of the Earth.

- The ship owners accepted liability.

- [John] The ship owners have never heard of you, Mrs Lister.

- Where does the money come from, Mrs Lister?

- Shall I tell you what I think?

I think the money comes from Joe Webster.

I think you made up this fairy story about a widow's pension 'cause you didn't wanna face the truth, that it's blood money.

'Cause Joe Webster killed Billy's dad, didn't he?

(George exhales sharply) - Mrs Lister, Billy's father is still alive, isn't he?

- Yes.

- Webster didn't come alone because it was business.

He came because it was personal.

(upbeat groovy music) (upbeat groovy music continues) - [Joe] You must be Shirley.

- Yeah.

- I just wondered if we could spend a few minutes together.

- Why?

- I'd like to get to know you.

- I was 15.

The war was on.

Joe Webster was quite an attractive man in those days.

Charming, even.

He had money.

I saw him once or twice for a drink after work.

I think he fell for me.

I didn't wanna see him again.

I knew what he was really.

One night, he raped me.

I'd never been with a man before.

I fell pregnant.

I came back up home.

My mother had died when I was little.

My father and I, we didn't see eye to eye.

He arranged a marriage for me, a friend of a friend.

- Philip Lister.

- Home on leave.

I think... I think my father paid him to marry me.

I never saw him again.

Two years later he was dead.

And then the money started to arrive, and the letters.

From Joe, wanting to see his son.

I told him if he ever came near Billy, I'd kill us both.

I never wanted his money, Mr Gently, but my father had disowned me.

All he cared about was that I shouldn't bring bastards into the world.

He wanted them to have a name.

- Them?

- I was carrying twins, Mr Gently.

One died.

One lived.

The one that lived I called William.

- I understand you knew my son, Billy.

- You're Billy's dad?

- He had a good eye, didn't he?

Quite a good draftsman.

Don't know where he got that from.

Must have been his mother, eh?

- I didn't know he'd drawn me.

He was such a lovely boy.

- You and Billy a little bit in love, Shirley?

- Who, me and Billy?

No.

I had a boyfriend.

- He died in an accident.

His name's Lawrie.

- Ah, Lawrie.

I see.

- Billy didn't have girlfriends.

- Meaning what?

- Nothing.

- Meaning what?

- Billy... I think Billy liked boys.

Do you really think Joe killed Lawrie Elton, Mr Gently?

- (sighs) I'm certain of it.

- Why?

- Because Lawrie Elton probably caused your son's death.

- Well, the irony is, if he'd, if he'd ever met Billy, he'd have hated him.

How could Joe have coped with a son who was... - Did he visit Billy's room?

- I don't know.

He was here when I arrived.

(gentle mysterious music) - The drawing of Ricky as Christ was here.

What was there, can you remember?

- Shirley.

- [Joe] Your boyfriend made a similar remark about my son.

- You knew Lawrie?

- We met.

Now, Lawrie, are you gonna tell me what I wanna know or are we gonna arse about all night?

- I don't understand.

- He referred to my son as a poof.

Now, I asked him to explain exactly what he meant by that remark, but the poor chap was getting a bit tired and distressed by then.

(Lawrie screams) So I'll ask you.

Who turned my son into a queer?

- I don't understand.

(gasps) - Now, be sensible, sweetheart.

Who is this individual?

It says Ricky.

Ricky who?

- Ricky Deeming.

His name's Ricky Deeming.

- And where do I find him?

Where do I find Ricky Deeming?

(Charlie gasping) (tense music) - Sir, is this wise?

- Yes.

I'll try and find the girl before Webster does.

You find Deeming.

- [John] I think I should come with you, sir.

- [George] It's Deeming he's after.

Secure his house first, then come after me if necessary.

- [John] Is this personal, guv?

Sir?

- Yes?

- If you do find Webster, you might only get one chance.

Put it in his head.

All right, lads!

(sirens ringing) (smooth soul music) If your baby treats you wrong Don't go around being blue Remember, my friend Everybody can't win - Evening.

'Cause you know sometimes, sometimes you've got to lose You can make it if you try - Is this is the place where the bikers come?

- Yeah, but they're not here yet.

About half an hour maybe.

- Is Shirley here tonight?

- Two teas, Roberto.

Good evening, George.

Sit down.

You're all on your ownsome, are you?

- I was sad to hear about your son.

- Ah, so you don't sit at home with your finger up your arse all day long then.

You've been doing some sleuthing.

You've been winkling information out of old Valerie.

You're doing a manhunt, I hear.

I bet they love that up here, don't they?

George Gently himself in our town doing a manhunt.

- You're looking for Ricky Deeming.

- My God, you're hot stuff.

- He's in police protection.

- Yeah?

- I'm looking for a girl called Shirley.

She works here.

Don't she, Roberto?

- She should've opened up for me tonight, but she's not here.

- Don't worry, George, she'll turn up.

- Are you and Inspector Setters partners in the drugs ring?

- PC Plod doing drugs?

He'll get into trouble.

- Somebody's doing it.

- Don't surprise me.

Do you ever watch commercial television, Commander?

The reason I ask is the advertisers spend more per head in this region than anywhere else.

You know why?

'Cause the lads and lasses up here will spend every penny on what makes them happy.

Someone could make a fortune if they organized it properly.

If it was me, though, could you see it being half a dozen kids on bikes?

- No, I couldn't see that.

But whoever was doing it, it cost your son his life.

- That wasn't the drugs, George.

Billy's life was ended because of the depravity of one man.

- Right, he hasn't been here for days.

We're going.

You, I want you to stay here, get a car, park it there in the shadows.

Watch that door, right?

Watch that street.

If Deeming turns up, arrest him.

- [Officer] Yes, Sergeant.

- And if Webster turns up, don't go near him.

Get me on the blower.

- [Officer] Right, sir.

(engine roaring) (siren ringing) - Ricky Deeming didn't kill him.

- No, it was that little toe-rag Lawrie Elton.

He was kind enough to tell me all about it, eventually.

And do you know why?

- Because Billy was going to talk to Ricky Deeming about the drugs, and Lawrie Elton panicked.

I don't think he meant to kill him.

Just frighten him.

- And why did Billy wanna tell Ricky Deeming about the pills?

- Billy had faith in Ricky.

He looked up to him.

Like the father he never had.

- No, not like a father.

Not like that at all.

- Well, no, that's true, not like that.

'Cause Billy was in love with Ricky.

- [Joe] Where do I find Ricky Deeming?

- Armed men on the way, Joe.

- Oh yeah?

Cavalry coming, is it?

- Ricky Deeming's not coming, Joe.

- Mantovani, over here.

- Oh, don't kill him, Joe.

What difference is that gonna make?

- Exactly.

You can only hang once, so never leave a living witness.

- Well, what about Shirley?

At least tell me where she is.

(Joe chuckles) I think she fancied a swim.

Ice-cream man, here now.

- You're a bastard, Webster.

- I've got kids.

- Yeah?

I'm an orphan meself.

Never did me any harm.

Face down.

- No, no, please!

(sobs) (table crashing) (Roberto sobbing) - Get up, Roberto.

Get up!

(tense music) (tense music continues) - You drive?

- Yes, yes.

- [Joe] Just get in.

(tense music) - Sergeant!

- Back, back!

Stay back!

- Come after me and I'll kill him!

- Lower your weapon!

That's an order.

Down!

(tires screeching) Did you find Ricky Deeming?

- No.

Did you find the girl?

- No.

But I think I know where she'll be.

(thoughtful music) (thoughtful music continues) (thoughtful music continues) Oh, Jesus.

(John sighs) - You know, sometimes I reckon we should be the one issued with blowtorches and pliers.

- You'd like that, would you?

- For people like Webster?

Yeah, I would!

What do we do now?

Hang around here for Deeming's body to turn up?

I'm going back to the station.

(thoughtful music) (engine rumbling) (engine roaring) (typewriter clacking) - You never told me you made an arrest at the jazz club.

- She offered us two amphetamines for sale.

What was I supposed to do?

- You didn't solicit them?

- No, I didn't.

- I needed confirmation that Billy was a pusher.

That's all I asked.

Now I've got a London lawyer on the phone talking about entrapment.

- She'll get off anyway.

Her dad's rich.

- Which is relevant in what way?

- He'll get her a posh lawyer, and then she'll cry in front of the judge, who probably goes to the same club as daddy anyway.

- Is there any prejudice you've managed to avoid?

Let her go.

- No, I need her.

- Why?

- I've got my reasons.

- What reasons?

What is wrong with you, Bacchus?

- I don't like people who break the law!

- Unless they're your superior officers.

No wonder you wanna join the Met.

- Have you ever considered the idea of being loyal to the men you work with, or do you despise all of us?

- I don't like officers who make arrests to make themselves feel good.

- And I don't like people who send narks to ask where I drink and who I drink it with when they could just ask me to me face!

And you should have let me put a bullet in Webster's brain tonight, whatever the consequences for Roberto Minchella.

- Who is alive, precisely because I stopped you from trying.

I'm not sure you're really a policeman at all.

I think you're a vigilante.

- I just, I can't be like you.

(engine rumbling) (mysterious music) (mysterious music continues) (mysterious music continues) (mysterious music continues) - Isabella was Italian.

I met her in the war.

- You saw active service?

- Monty, Eighth Army.

North Africa, Sicily.

Then up through Italy.

I met her in Naples.

Then I went back for her.

- Any children?

- No.

- It's funny, isn't it?

I mean, look at me and Lisa.

A kid's not what we want.

We don't even want each other, truth be told.

(phone ringing) Hello?

Right.

Right, thanks.

Deeming's been home.

He's gone again.

- Any ideas?

- What, you want a hunch from me?

- We've got nothing else.

- Right, well, the Dice, or the knacker's yard.

He's gonna have a key for that.

- Which?

- Uh, the knacker's yard.

- [George] Right, let's go.

- Shouldn't we get more men armed?

- Yes, put the call in.

(tense music) (tense music continues) Let's try the Dice.

(engine roaring) (mysterious music) - Talk to me about my son.

- Billy was a beautiful person.

He was an artist.

- What, like this?

- What was he, Picasso or something?

Like Michelangelo?

- You should be proud of him.

Honest.

He had a light inside him.

He saw beauty in the world.

(groans) - Beauty?

What, like your face?

- Whoa, stop, stop, stop!

Quick, reverse.

Reverse, quick.

Look.

- Right.

Okay.

(Ricky groaning) (tense music) - What did you do to my son?

Did you rape him?

(Ricky groaning) (tense music) (Ricky groaning) (blowtorch hissing) - Should have heard your friend Lawrie squeal when I did this to him.

Begged for his eyes and his nose and his lips.

Beg, beg.

- You know what?

I pity you.

(tense music) - You'll crawl through your own (censored) by the time I'm finished with you!

You animal!

- [Ricky] No!

(tense music) (gunshots booming) - You're going down this time, Joe.

Be sensible.

It would be meaningless.

- Completely meaningless.

(gunshot booming) (Joe groaning) Go on, then, George, shoot.

Why not?

Isabella.

Lovely name.

Foreign tart, was she?

(tense music) - Go on, guv.

I'll back you up every inch of the way.

(tense music continues) - There's meant to be a difference between us and them, Sergeant.

- Right.

No, no, no, no.

You leave him, right?

Take him.

Leave him.

- [Officer] Ready?

- [Officer] Come on son, you're all right.

Someone get an ambulance.

- [Officer] It's on its way, Sarge.

- Did he scream a lot, Joe?

- Who's this?

- Lawrie Elton, when you pushed that blowtorch into his face.

Did he scream?

- Who?

- Lawrie Elton.

- [John] You know, the lad I let go.

- Sergeant.

- Just a minute, please.

He was a tough little nut, wasn't he?

Bet you sort of admired that.

Aye, made of the right stuff.

Not like your son, Billy Lister.

- Fascinating though this is- - Chalk and cheese, wouldn't you say, Billy and Lawrie?

Poles apart.

- Is your sergeant on drugs himself?

- Let's get him to hospital, shall we?

- 'Cause the other thing was they were born on the same day.

- Well, knock me down with a feather.

- Valerie Lister, the woman you raped when she was a 15-year-old girl... - Well, what is rape?

- She never told you, did she?

She had twins.

Two boys.

I could show you the birth certificates if you want.

And the adoption papers for the second one, the one she wasn't allowed to keep.

It's true, isn't it, guv?

She had two lads.

He didn't go very far, though, Billy's brother, your other son.

He went to a childless couple up in Newcastle.

Aye, they brought him up the hard way, brought him up the way you probably would have done, Joe.

Aye, he had a bit of spirit.

Made of the right stuff.

Not for this lad sitting round drawing pictures of other blokes.

No.

No, this lad liked his motorbike.

Would you like to know his name?

(somber music) Did he scream a lot, then?

Hmm?

Did he beg for his life?

(somber music) - [Officer] Ambulance is here, sir.

- Take him.

(somber music fades) - What was that about?

- There was a twin.

I just made the rest up.

Got the smile off his face, though, didn't it?

- You are a very strange young man, Sergeant Bacchus.

What would you have done if I'd pulled the trigger?

- I'd have bought you a drink.

Go on, admit it.

You wanted to, eh?

And it would've felt great, wouldn't it?

(imitates gunshot) - Let's go home.

- So the politician says to the copper, "Right, Constable, what'll it be, a drink or a transfer?"

(group laughing) Ah, young Mr Bacchus.

St George's trusty steed and a hero to boot.

(group laughing) - Right, go on, piss off, all of you.

You think I'm joking?

Go, now!

(door thudding) The night Billy Lister died you went round to his house and searched his room alone at one o'clock in the morning.

Why?

What was it that couldn't wait till the next morning?

Lawrie Elton was murdered and tortured because we let him go.

Why did we let him go again?

- You wanted him gone.

You were so busy trying to bring Ricky Deeming down.

- You planted that scarf, didn't you?

Planted it where I would find it.

You'd have let me charge an innocent man.

You're finished.

- Says who?

- Says the Right Honourable Charlotte Dawson.

- Come again?

- Oh, you know, posh bird I nicked for pushing speed.

See, she could go down for six months, but instead she's gonna sign a statement saying that Billy Lister told her that you were the brains behind this drugs racket.

- [Setters] Lister knew nothing about me.

- No.

Nor does the Right Honourable Charlotte Dawson.

But she's gonna sign that statement, when I write it.

Don't you think?

'Cause then, you see, I'll drop all charges against her.

- Or?

- Or you take your pension and you leave by Friday.

- Catching, isn't it?

- [John] What is?

- Sainthood.

(John chuckles) - No, man.

I'll never be a George Gently.

He'd have charged you.

Anyway, I have other plans.

- Oh, really?

- Mm.

(Setters laughing) - What's funny?

(Setters laughing) (somber music) (somber music continues) - Would you like to ask God his forgiveness, Joe?

- [Joe] I'll ask him meself.

(somber music continues) (somber music continues) (trapdoor clangs) - Years ago, my first big job was head of CID in Dorset.

There was a young officer there who became famous for what was known as his agricultural ability.

He was the best at planting things.

I tried to change him, but I failed.

He is now one of the most corrupt detectives in the Metropolitan Police, which of course makes him one of the most corrupt policemen worldwide.

It's a lasting regret that I couldn't stop him when I had the chance, which is why I've decided to chop you down now.

- Chop me down?

How?

- I'm your new boss.

(John laughs) You're coming here?

To this place?

- Yes.

I thought I'd had enough, but I find that I haven't.

(John chuckles) - Well, ships passing in the night and that, sir, but I've been offered a job in the Met.

They're putting together a new squad to take on organized crime in Soho.

- [George] You'll be getting a letter.

- From who?

- The deputy commissioner.

He's an old friend.

I told you, Sergeant Bacchus, I'm chopping you down.

You're staying here.

With me.

(gentle playful music) (music fades) (mellow music) (mellow music continues) (relaxed bright music) (relaxed bright music continues) (relaxed bright music continues) (relaxed bright music continues) (music fades)