10x05 - Music To My Ears

[bunniefuu]

MAN: The first time ever I played the piano, I was just two years old.

I was so little, I couldn't even climb onto the piano bench.

My mama had to lift me.

But sitting there, the white and the black keys stretching away from me, it somehow felt so natural.

INTERVIEWER: And your mother knew straight away, I believe, that you were gifted?
She always claimed she knew before I was born .

.

that I had an aptitude, that it was, er .

.

preordained.

You see, my mama was so determined .

.

that her little baby would not be blighted with poverty .

.

that she made a deal with the Devil.

She sold her soul to him PIANO MUSIC .

.

and in return, I was accorded my talent.

MUSIC CONTINUES FOOTSTEPS PHONE RINGS The Verdinikov residence.

TV INTERVIEW CONTINUES I'll see if she's available.

It's Frank Garcia again.

Has that man got nothing better to do?
Frank, darling What an unexpected pleasure.

Oh, yes.

No, I did have a look at those dates, but it's a six-month tour, and Pasha does need his rest days.

Mum, I'm off to hit the beach.

Oh, Joe Oh, Frank, darling, can I call you back?
Joe PHONE BEEPS .

.

you staying out?
Erm Be back for dinner, I guess?
Are you asking me or telling me?
Telling you.

I'll let Maggie know, then.

Be good.

Hello, Delford.

You all right?
Those flowers are beautiful.

Yeah, they're called laceleaf.

Do you want some cut for the house?
That would be lovely.

Thank you.

PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES You know, there's folk cough up hundreds of dollars to hear your husband play.

CHUCKLES I get it all for nothing.

Thank you, Delford.

Even to this day, I cannot stop wondering - will Lucifer come in search of what he gave away?
Claim it back.

Drag me down into hell with him.

METRONOME TICKS RATTLING Hello?
RATTLING CONTINUES Who is it?
Here's a vase for those, Delford.

GUNSHO What the hell was that?
! Was that a g*nsh*t?
It it came from out the front.

Pasha?
Are you there?
Pasha?
JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYS Of course, it used to be the case that short trousers were only ever worn by children.

It wasn't until World w*r II that adults began wearing them.

Mm-hm?
I didn't know that.

Uh-huh.

Of course, we've got the good old Gurkhas to thank for that.

DS Cassell.

Always reminds me of the famous quote by Field Marshal Manekshaw - "If a man says he's not afraid of dying" COMMISSIONER CLEARS HIS THROA Commissioner! Surprise visit.

You're wearing shorts, Inspector.

Er, yes.

Florence very kindly took me shopping.

Decided it was time I dressed a bit more suitably for the climate.

Why are your legs so pale?
Er, well, I've never really been one for shorts, sir, so they've not really seen a lot of sunlight over the years, the old legs.

That would explain it.

LAUGHS NERVOUSLY Something you wanted?
I'm afraid there's been a m*rder.

Oh.

Oh, well, er, I suppose I should put some trousers on, then.

Please do.

SIRENS WAIL COMMISSIONER: The victim was the concert pianist Pasha Verdinikov, which means there's likely to be a lot of press interest.

Do we know what happened?
It seems he was sh*t during a burglary.

Sir.

Sarge.

So we started processing the scene, and I've requested footage from that security camera over there.

What do we know so far?
OK.

At half past seven, our four witnesses were inside the house when they heard a g*n being fired.

Victim's wife and son came out to investigate, and that's when they found the body.

According to the family, the victim was in here working late.

Oh, man, I'm so glad to see you guys.

It was getting really spooky in here, just the two of us.

Like he's been watching me the whole time.

Mr Verdinikov was in here practising when it happened?
Yeah.

Apparently he usually did score study in evening.

Now, our thinking is that the assailant broke through the door, here, sh*t the victim in the abdomen.

Now, from the entry point, I'd estimate it a 9mm calibre.

The perpetrator, he took a high-end digital music recorder and CD player, worth about $8,000.

So Pasha had locked the door while he was working?
Family said he didn't like to be interrupted, would focus more when he knew that nobody could disturb him.

Something bothering you, sir?
Yes, Florence.

That desk lamp.

I don't like it one bit.

The same goes for these net curtains.

Is the furniture not to your taste, Inspector?
No.

I was right.

This doesn't make sense, not if it's a burglary.

Why's that, sir?
Look - you can see through the net curtains and tell that the light's on.

Burglars are risk-averse.

Scout out the property first.

If it's empty, in you go.

If it's not, off you trot.

Come back later when there's no-one home.

And the intruder went ahead and broke in the door anyway.

sh*t the victim in cold blood.

MARLON: Er, guys, are you going to be much longer?
It's getting really spooky again.

Won't be a minute, Marlon.

JP, you can release the body.

You and Marlon finish processing the scene.

Florence, I think it's time we had a talk with our witnesses.

I.

.

I'd just finished loading the dishwasher and then Joe and I .

.

we heard this .

.

this g*n go off.

GUNSHO What the hell was that?
It was really loud.

And where were you at this point, Mrs Verdinikov?
Um She was in the living room GUNSHO .

.

with Delford.

I'd brought some laceleaf Mrs Verdinikov had asked for.

And you and your mother went to investigate?
Yeah.

That's when we saw what had happened.

And Pasha had been doing score study?
Five hours' solid playing during the day, but, well, at night, after dinner, Dad liked to spend time studying the notation.

And this was his routine every single day?
That's what you call dedication.

Explains why I never got further than Grade 1 recorder.

CLEARS HIS THROA It must have been really difficult not getting to spend much time together.

GRACE: We made sacrifices over the years, but we still had our moments as a family, didn't we?
Can anyone think why someone might want to k*ll Pasha?
Sorry?
Why would you ask that?
We think there's a possibility the burglary may have been staged.

And that whoever k*lled Pasha did so intentionally.

Is there anyone on the island who might have motive?
No.

No-one at all.

That's absurd.

Pasha wasn't very sociable.

He only knew a handful of people here and certainly not well enough to make an enemy.

Dad's life was the piano and us.

And since it happened, you've all been here together?
Erm, after Joe and Mrs Verdinikov came back, I called the police and We just sat waiting.

Right.

And no-one's left at any point?
Inspector, you make it sound as if we're under suspicion.

I take it you wouldn't object if we had a little nosy around the property?
What are we looking for, sir?
The music equipment that was stolen from Pasha's practice room and, of course, the g*n that was used to sh**t him.

Our k*ller staged that crime scene to look like a burglary because they wanted to misdirect us, keep us looking away from the people inside that house, which, for my money, means we do the opposite.

We look in, not out.

And, as none of those four left the premises when it happened, it means the w*apon has to still be here.

Yeah.

Somewhere.

Well, we're on it.

Sir, if we're treating our four witnesses as suspects .

.

then how could any of them have done it?
What the hell was that?
FLORENCE: Yeah, they can all alibi each other at the time Pasha was sh*t.

Honestly?
I have no idea.

With great sadness, I can confirm that Pasha Verdinikov was discovered dead at his villa here on Saint Marie yesterday evening.

As we are in the early stages of a criminal investigation into his death, there's nothing more I want to add until further information is available.

The family of the victim will make their own statement in due course.

CATHERINE: Hello?
Grace?
Catherine.

Oh, JP.

I just heard the news about Pasha.

I had to come.

You know the family?
Oh, Grace and I have been friends for so many years now.

She must be devastated.

Yeah, well, they're all pretty shaken up.

Catherine?
Grace! Oh, I'm so sorry for you.

I was not sure if it was too soon.

Oh, no, no.

A good friend is just what I need.

VIDEO CLIP PLAYS Tell you what, Florence, Pasha could play.

Yeah, he was pretty amazing.

Mm.

You a fan of classical music?
Erm, not really, but I wish I was.

And you?
Oh, I'm afraid it's a genre of which I'm woefully ignorant.

My quiz team back in Manchester, it's our Achilles heel is classical music.

Well, that and sport - we're no good at sport.

And theatre, actually - we're pretty useless at theatre.

But other than that, I reckon we'd genuinely be unbeatable.

Anyway, what about the background checks?
OK, well, our victim, Pasha Verdinikov, born in Saratov, Russia, went to boarding school in England on a music scholarship.

And then started studying at the Royal College of Music in London.

Oh, it was there that he met Grace.

She was training to be an opera singer.

But gave it up to become his manager when Pasha turned professional.

What about the others?
Joseph is 19, lives in Paris, after moving there to study piano at the Conservatoire.

He's following in his father's footsteps, is he, tinkling the old ivories?
Although I think he stopped attending after a term.

Not sure why, but we can look into it.

OK.

Maggie O'Connell.

The Verdinikovs' housekeeper.

She's been working for the family 25 years, travels everywhere with them.

And then there's Delford Adams.

So far, he's the most interesting of our suspects.

He has a very lengthy charge sheet.

Oh.

Yeah.

Theft, drug-dealing, criminal damage.

Goes back a long way too.

He was in and out of juvenile as a teenager.

His father was a very bad influence, according to the files, a criminal himself, and absent for a lot of Delford's childhood.

Mm.

All that said, since he started working for the Verdinikovs a year ago, he's not really put a foot wrong.

None of them are screaming motive, are they?
No, not yet, sir, although I did find something on the security camera footage.

OK, so no-one is seen entering the driveway close to the time of the m*rder.

Which tallies with the theory that the k*ller must have been one of the four people inside the house.

But earlier in the day .

.

Pasha and Grace are seen arguing.

Well, they're certainly disagreeing about something.

GRACE: Oh, it's nothing.

No, really, nothing.

Pasha was in a grump about a dinner party I was organising.

He was never very good at entertaining.

That was all?
Because you both seem quite, erm Agitated.

Married couples do argue, you know, often over the silliest of things.

You really think it might have been one of us that k*lled Pasha, don't you .

.

even though we were all in the house when it happened?
We're ruling nothing out.

If you'll excuse me.

Sir?
How'd you get on with the search?
Well, there's no sign of the g*n or the music equipment.

I looked everywhere, Inspector - upstairs, downstairs, inside and out, the whole shebang.

OK, well, I guess it was worth a try.

Well, we've been at this since last night.

You lads head off, get some sleep.

The g*n's here, Florence.

It has to be, if the k*ller's one of those four, and none of them left the grounds since Pasha was sh*t.

So how did they dispose of it?
Evening, sir.

Wow! You look good - suits you, dressing like that.

Oh, that's very kind of you, Florence.

So how is it wearing shorts after all this time?
It feels good to let the body breathe, get some air around the lower portions.

Neville! You're wearing shorts! It's a whole new me, Catherine.

But your legs, they're so .

.

pale! They're like two Oh, what's the expression?
.

.

pilons de dinde.

Pi Pilons dinde?
Oh, I don't know the English.

Turkey drumsticks?
! Yes, like two scrawny turkey legs.

Excuse me, Neville.

Better go.

Yeah, er, thanks, Catherine.

Are my legs really like turkey drumsticks?
I mean maybe a little.

What, are you serious?
Do you know what?
I don't even care what you or Catherine think, because I am enjoying wearing them.

In fact, I may never even wear trousers again.

Well, then, here's to that.

NEVILLE CHUCKLES Marlon, what's that on your shirt, man?
Hm?
By your breast pocket?
SNIFFS Mmm I recognise that smell.

It's hot chilli sauce from Smokey Abraham's place.

Have you had his spicy chicken, Sarge?
It's the best.

Wait.

So you had hot chilli chicken for breakfast this morning?
Of course not - for dinner last night.

Oh, so, then, that's yesterday's shirt you're wearing?
I see what you did there.

You set a trap, and I walked right into it.

OK.

I confess I'm a little behind on my laundry this week, but I promise I will get onto it.

Well, you'd better, because a police officer's got to look presentable at all times.

I hear you, JP.

I hear you.

All right.

I think I might have something.

I've just been going through Pasha's emails.

Seems things between him and his son weren't so great.

About six weeks ago, Pasha started emailing Joseph, asking him to come to Saint Marie.

Said they needed to discuss something.

Now, at first, Joseph was just ghosting him, until Pasha threatened to cut off his monthly allowance, said he wouldn't get another penny until he came to the island and they talked.

Was there any mention as to what it was about?
Just that it was a really big deal.

But there's something in the tone of Joseph's emails.

It's just harsh, resentful.

"Despite everything, you keep trying to worm your way back into my life.

"You're pathetic.

" I had no desire to fly back to Dad's Caribbean idyll.

But he stopped the pocket money, so what can you do?
Did you talk to him?
Didn't get a chance.

I only arrived the day before yesterday.

You got back on the same day he was m*rder*d?
FLORENCE: Do you know why he wanted to talk to you?
Er, probably about the same thing he always bangs on about.

Which is?
Why I always insist on making such a mess of my own life.

Because you dropped out of the Conservatoire?
That didn't go down brilliantly.

Why did you give up?
It wasn't in my blood, playing.

Not like it was his.

All that stuff about practising five hours a day, seven days a week, if that's not in you, that drive, that passion, if you're not born with it, it's pretty hard to fake.

Did you tell him how you feel?
I tried.

But .

.

Dad could never understand why I didn't want to sacrifice my life the way he had.

He was disappointed in you?
Very much so.

It doesn't mean I'd sh**t him, if that's where this is going.

I might be messed up, but I'm not that messed up.

Er, sir, we heard back from the lab.

Postmortem reports say that Pasha d*ed due to internal bleeding whilst trying to stem the blood.

Now, death wasn't instantaneous, but it was pretty quick.

Also, there's something else, sir.

Yeah, they found traces of white synthetic fibres under the fingernail of the victim's right forefinger, but nowhere else on his hands.

STIFLES A YAWN Sorry.

Sorry.

They identified the fibres as polyurethane, and traces of blood in them suggest that they became lodged under the fingernail after he'd been sh*t.

Marlon, have you got the crime scene photos?
Er yeah.

Thank you.

Right.

WHISPERS: Wake up! If it's fibres we're looking for, then I reckon I reckon we're looking for a soft material, like, er .

.

a plastic cloth.

Um, the piano stool?
Yeah! Maybe fake leather.

COULD be polyurethane.

But there's no blood on it, sir.

Unless someone wiped it off.

Well, would you look at that.

"AS.

" So Pasha wrote this in his own blood.

This whole thing has got a lot more spooky again.

That's why the white plastic fibres were only under one nail.

He must have scrawled it with his forefinger.

What does it mean?
Could be someone's initials.

His k*ller's?
Possibly.

That means it can't have been any of our four suspects that done it.

They don't have those initials.

The question that's bothering me more is .

.

who took the trouble to destroy this evidence?
Sorry, what are you talking about?
You think one of us went and messed with the crime scene?
Tampered with the crime scene.

Yes, I do.

And whoever did it could be facing serious charges.

No-one noticed the blood on the piano stool when you found the body?
I didn't see it, I swear.

My mind was on other things, having just found my husband sh*t dead.

So none of you returned to the practice room before our uniformed officers arrived?
No.

No, we didn't.

I promise.

And what did it say, this message?
Two letters, or something, you said.

We think it could be someone's initials.

The letters A and S.

Does that mean anything to you?
Pasha had no friends or associates with those initials?
No.

No-one at all.

Something wrong, Ms O'Connell?
No, no.

Nothing.

It's as Mrs Verdinikov said.

Sir, I've looked through the victim's email correspondence, and there is no-one with the initials AS.

And the same with the mobile phone.

And Pasha's financial transactions for the last six months - no payments in or out referencing an AS.

So who's Pasha referring to?
And why is he so desperate to point us in their direction?
Until we can answer those two questions, I think we need to keep the spotlight firmly focused on these four.

Even though they all have alibis?
I mean, if we could just work out how the k*ller ditched the g*n Have we got a map of the local area?
Er, yeah, sure.

I know all our suspects said that they were together after they discovered the body, but one of them must have snuck out unnoticed, just for a few minutes, ditched all the gear.

It's the only way they could have done it.

I mean, if it was me and I was offing some stolen gear and a g*n - not that I have EVER done that, just so we're clear - I would head up to the cliffs just here, by Turtle Bay, throw it in the ocean.

Nobody would ever know.

Marlon's right.

You could be there and back in five minutes.

We should check the seabed in that area.

Well, there's an old dive suit and some snorkelling gear in the lost-property cupboard.

Me and Marlon will head out first thing in the morning.

You a good snorkeler, Sarge?
I'm not bad, but it won't be me doing it.

It'll be you.

What?
Excellent! That's settled.

Thanks for volunteering, Marlon.

PHONE VIBRATES Er, it's Rosey, sir.

I'm sorry.

I should probably check if the twins are OK.

Rosey?
Are you all right?
Seriously?
More nappies?
How can we need more nappies?
I bought two fresh packs this morning.

Well, do you think maybe you're feeding them too much?
Oh.

All right.

All right! All right! I'll be home shortly.

There's two reasons why I will never have kids - the stress and the mess.

There really is a lot of mess.

Sounds like duty calls, JP.

Oh, I think we should all call it a day for now.

Tomorrow, Florence, I want us to dig a bit deeper into the mystery of who is this AS, and why Pasha was so clearly trying to point us in his or her direction.

Why did he leave this message from beyond the grave?
Mrs Verdinikov?
Oh! Forgive me for being blunt, but was it you who wiped the blood away?
No, Maggie! Er, no, of course not.

Only, those initials, AS .

.

we both know who they're referring to.

Thank you! Excuse me.

Sorry.

HE GROANS HE EXHALES Definitely feeding them too much.

Oh, JP, man! Marlon, what are you doing?
I, um LAUGHS That's a funny one, actually.

Open the door so we can talk.

OK, OK, catch my trousers.

So is this where you're sleeping?
That's why you're yawning all day at work, come in wearing hot chilli sauce all over your clothes.

No.

No, no.

No way.

I know that's what it .

.

maybe it looks like, but that is definitely not what's going on around here.

So, what's going on here?
Well, it turns out my washing machine's broken.

So I thought, if there's one thing I get done today, it's clean my uniform, like you ask.

OK, so where did you clean it?
Well, Marvin let me use the one in his flat behind the shop.

I just thought I'd come and hang up my uniform and let it dry before I mosey on back home.

It's like you said, Sergeant Hooper, an officer has to be presentable at all times, right?
Yeah Right, cool.

So, erm, I have to get home, so I'll see you in the morning.

Evening, sir.

Wow.

Erm Er, you-you-you look, er Well, er LAUGHS NERVOUSLY .

.

you know, er .

.

that that's a really lovely dress you're wearing.

Thank you.

I'm just meeting a couple of friends.

Oh! Are you working on the case?
Yeah, I'm just, er, trawling through Pasha's laptop.

Er, but don't let me keep you.

You join your friends.

OK.

OK.

See you.

Yeah.

Here you are, Neville.

Oh! Your usual.

Ah! Merci beaucoup, Catherine.

This looks fit for a king! Mm, a very English king, no?
THEY CHUCKLE So tell me, how's the case going?
Well, it's still very early days.

That poor family.

Yeah, JP mentioned that you were friends with them.

I'm organising a memorial service.

The funeral will take place at their home in England .

.

but I felt we had to do something here in Saint Marie.

That's really thoughtful of you.

Ah, here we go.

Cheers, everyone! ALL: Cheers! Neville, is there anything, you know, happening between you and Florence?
W what, you mean?
LAUGHS AND SCOFFS No! Whatever gave you that idea?
Oh, I noticed you've been spending a lot of time together.

Well, in a purely professional capacity, yeah.

And last night, when I saw you both, you looked very happy with her.

In an entirely platonic way, I'm sure.

But also .

.

since we've been talking the last minute, you haven't stopped glancing over at her.

Er, well, I wasn't aware that I was doing that.

So, do you have feelings for her?
No.

No! I mean, look, Florence is is great.

She's She's really great.

But, er, I I You know.

What?
I-I don't think I feel THAT way about her.

Oh! If you say so.

Enjoy your chicken and chips, sir.

COCK CROWS HE SIGHS Aidan Shawcross?
AS! I came across the name in some documents archived away on the victim's laptop.

And Pasha knew this Aidan Shawcross?
Well, officially, Aidan was Pasha's financial advisor, but I also found these pictures from the summer that Aidan d*ed, and They'd been best friends since childhood.

Aidan was holidaying with Mr and Mrs Verdinikov when the car crash happened 20 years ago.

I oversaw the case.

And what happened?
Er, from memory, Mr Shawcross was drinking heavily the night it happened, went off in search of more alcohol and went off a hairpin bend at Baho Point.

Why would Pasha point us towards his deceased best friend?
We need to turn up everything we can on this Aidan Shawcross.

I need to get in touch with the UK authorities back home.

But if Grace knew of Aidan, why did she not mention it when we told her about the initials Pasha wrote?
I'm dubious she chose not to.

That's why Maggie looked so aggrieved when Grace insisted the initials meant nothing to her.

No-one at all.

I can't help feeling there's something about this Aidan Shawcross that Grace does not want us to find out.

There were tensions in the house in the run-up to Mr Shawcross's death 20 years ago.

In what way?
Look, I don't want to seem judgmental, but when a woman declares in the eyes of God that she will remain faithful, well, to my mind, that's a promise that should never be broken.

That summer .

.

Mrs Verdinikov and Mr Shawcross Well, you'd have to be blind not to see something was going on between them.

And you think that connects to Pasha writing Aidan's initials?
I I don't know what I think.

But there was a deceit all those years ago, and now, with everything that's happened, I think it's time for the truth to come out.

Do you think Pasha knew about the affair between his wife and Aidan Shawcross?
I can't be sure.

But I do remember, on the day of the accident I have to tell Pasha.

.

.

I overheard her speaking with Aidan.

She said she was going to tell Pasha about what had happened between the two of them.

I can't repair my marriage unless I'm honest.

And what did Aidan say?
Oh, he tried to talk her out of it.

But her mind was made up.

Hello, love! Maggie, the memorial?
We should be heading off now.

If we're done here?
JP: Come on, Marlon, that g*n isn't going to find itself.

Sarge?
This is the most .

.

not-cool thing that has ever happened to me.

I mean, maybe it's a bit loose-fitting, Marlon, but .

.

I guess you'll grow into it.

It's not funny, Sarge.

JP LAUGHS I feel like a right melon.

Just take the flippers off, Marlon.

JP LAUGHS Is it me or is it a hell of a coincidence?
20 years ago, Grace decides to come clean about her affair with Aidan Shawcross.

Next thing, Aidan's lying dead at the bottom of a ravine.

That security-camera footage from the morning of the m*rder FLORENCE: Of Grace and Pasha arguing?
Yeah.

Reckon we can get a lip-reader to take a look at it, see if we can work out what they were saying?
Let me make a call.

So, what's the deal with you sleeping in that car?
I told you, JP, I'm not sleeping in it.

I'm just doing my laundry.

Marlon, you were still there this morning.

I saw you.

Oh, so you were spying on me?
Look, as your Sergeant, it's my duty to make sure you can do your job properly.

And you can't if you're not getting a proper night's sleep.

So tell me, what's the deal?
I got kicked out of the place I'd been staying.

I thought you lived with a couple of your mates.

I did, but, er .

.

yeah, they're not so keen on having me around now that I wear the uniform.

If you get what I mean.

Look, Marlon, erm .

.

how about you come and stay with me and Rosey?
Just until you find somewhere permanent to stay.

Yeah, that's, er that's really good, and all, Sergeant Hooper, but you just had twins, so the last thing you need is me tipping up.

It's fine.

I can manage.

I always manage.

Right, let's get it done.

Well, isn't that great?
The stupid wet suit is filling up with water, cos it's too big.

MARLON SIGHS IN FRUSTRATION Oh, wait, wait, wait.

What's that?
Something's swum inside.

I can feel it up there.

Whoo! Sergeant Hooper, there's something in my pants! There's something in Whoo! Come on, Marlon, you can do it.

Out! Get out! Out! MARLON WAILS AND SQUEALS You take Grace, I'll take Pasha.

So fast-forward to the first time code.

And that's where Grace says?
"I don't want to hear about Aidan any more.

Just stop, OK?
" "But I can't live with the guilt any longer.

" Then before she goes inside, Grace says "What happened that night is in the past, 20 damn years ago.

"You have to forget what you did and forgive yourself, Pasha.

" Wow.

Is it possible, 20 years ago, Pasha k*lled Aidan because of his affair with Grace?
CHURCH BELL RINGS Pasha did not m*rder Aidan Shawcross.

I can absolutely promise you that.

He had motive to, though, didn't he, after you told him about the affair between you and Aidan?
It wasn't an affair.

Then, what was it?
It was a mistake.

It should never have happened.

That summer, things between Pasha and I were strained.

In what way?
His career was putting pressure on him.

We weren't communicating, just arguing day and night, and .

.

I found myself seeking the company of our house guest.

Aidan Shawcross.

Who was being everything Pasha wasn't - attentive, caring.

It only happened once between us, and I regretted it immediately.

We both did.

And you told Pasha.

The night of the car accident, after dinner, I told him that we needed to talk, that I was worried about our marriage, and he promised that we would in the morning.

But then the next day, the news of Aidan came, and suddenly .

.

it didn't seem so important.

So he never knew?
Never.

Then, if Pasha didn't k*ll Aidan, what were you talking about the day Pasha was k*lled?
"What happened that night is in the past.

" "You have to forgive yourself.

" Pasha felt a responsibility.

When Aidan got in the car that night, drunk as anything, Pasha didn't try and stop him .

.

and he's always felt haunted by that.

You're lying to us, Mrs Verdinikov.

No, I'm not.

And I don't see what raking all this up has got to do with Pasha being m*rder*d.

Mrs Verdinikov, did you wipe off the blood .

.

the "AS" that Pasha wrote on the piano stool?
Neither Joseph or Delford are old enough to have known Aidan, so logically, it could only have been you or Maggie.

I'm so sorry.

I I saw what he'd written .

.

when we found his body.

Joe, stay by the doorway.

I was the only one that saw it.

So you went back and wiped it away.

Delford was calling the police, Maggie was looking after Joe.

Police, please.

I grabbed a cloth from the kitchen.

Delford was burning garden waste that evening.

I threw the cloth onto the fire.

I just didn't want it all dragging up, what had .

.

happened between Aidan and I, for people to know.

I I I swear that's all it was.

That's the only reason I did it.

I swear.

Destroying evidence?
That's a lot of trouble to go to to cover up a 20-year-old affair.

What is she trying to hide from us?
Neville?
PHONE RINGS It's JP.

I'd better take it.

Catherine?
I wondered if you could stop by the bar later.

There's something I know that might be of interest for the case, but now, it's not the time.

Yeah, of course, yeah.

Thank you.

Sir?
We need to come in.

They've got something.

Get a bit waterlogged, Marlon?
That's not the half of it.

I'm pretty sure something's run up my leg and bit me on my bum-bum.

I mean, seriously?
Ah, we hit the jackpot, Inspector.

Well, credit where credit's due - so, Marlon.

All right, so this is the Beretta 92FS 9mm, same calibre as the g*n used to k*ll Pasha.

Er, well, we are waiting for the lab to confirm whether it's the exact same one.

Yes, and the musical equipment definitely belonged to Pasha's music studio.

We even found one of his old demo CDs in the player.

And these were found, what, five minutes from the house?
Mm-hm.

Which means it has to be one of our four suspects who m*rder*d Pasha.

Then ran to the clifftop and threw all of this in the sea.

And what about fingerprints?
They were underwater less than 48 hours, so there's got to be a chance.

Well, there was nothing on the musical equipment, but we found two prints on the handle of the g*n.

We're just running it through the system now.

It'll be a minute or so.

And my money is on Grace Verdinikov.

Sir?
I've heard back from the UK police.

Apparently, the fraud unit at Scotland Yard has a whole file on Aidan Shawcross in their archive.

Any chance we can get a look?
They say it's hard copies only, seven box files' worth.

The only way to access it is in person.

I'll try and pull some strings.

Sir?
Got a match, Sarge?
It's Grace, isn't it?
It has to be.

No, er, it's actually not her prints.

This is a strange one, Sarge.

Well, come on, JP.

It's Aidan Shawcross.

You're absolutely sure about this?
We ran it through the computer three times.

Each time, it came up the same.

And it's definitely the g*n used to k*ll Pasha?
The lab just confirmed this, yes.

But how can Aidan Shawcross's prints be on the g*n?
He's been dead 20 years.

Unless Unless Aidan Shawcross is still alive.

No.

No.

It just can't be.

But, sir, if it was Aidan that broke into Pasha's music room two nights ago and sh*t him dead, it would explain why the only four suspects in this case all have alibis, because it wasn't one of them that did it.

And also why Pasha wrote the man's initials before he d*ed.

But Aidan Shawcross is dead, Inspector.

There's a whole case file confirms he d*ed in a car crash.

There are medical records, dental records.

It's impossible.

Truthfully, sir, I don't know what the hell is going on here, but every corner we turn in this case brings us back to the same man.

I don't think we can ignore that any more.

What do you want to do?
Well, first of all, I think we need to review the original road traffic accident report.

Review my investigation, you mean?
Yeah.

Also, the Scotland Yard fraud unit has a whole case file on Aidan in its archive.

We need an officer to get over there and work through that ASAP.

I'm happy to go.

I know London a little, and the Inspector should stay here heading up the case.

HE SIGHS OK.

So, how long till you get your own place, then?
A couple of years, maybe.

PHONE RINGS Er, hello, Marvin.

Everything OK?
No.

No, no, no, no, no, I don't believe this! Hey! Hey! Please! Please stop! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! GRUNTS IN FRUSTRATION Hasn't been a great day for you, has it?
No, Sergeant Hooper, it's actually been .

.

a very bad day.

Look, why don't you come and stay with me and Rosey?
You can get your laundry done, some home-cooked food, a comfortable bed to sleep in.

Yeah, I don't know, man.

Marlon, I get that it's tough, you know, having your friends turn their back on you because of your job.

But becoming a police officer means that you're part of a team.

And even though you can't see it or feel it .

.

we're all there for you.

So .

.

how about me and Rosey lay an extra place for you?
HE SIGHS All right.

All right! Thank you.

Say, er, Sergeant Hooper, you won't tell Rosey that a crab, you know .

.

took advantage of me?
JP LAUGHS So, I guess I'll call when I land.

Yeah.

Yeah, thanks for doing this, Florence.

It's above and beyond.

It will only be a few days, I'm sure.

It's going to be strange not having you around here.

I've got used to us being quite a team.

LAUGHS You'll be fine.

You'll solve the case.

Oh! Yeah.

Yeah, all being well.

Bye.

Bye, Florence.

PASHA: My mama always claimed she knew before I was born that I had an aptitude, that it was, er .

.

preordained.

She was so determined .

.

that her little baby would not be blighted with poverty .

.

that she made a deal with the Devil.

She sold her soul to him.

Even to this day, I can't help wondering BANGING .

.

will Lucifer come in search of what he gave away .

.

to claim it back .

.

to drag me down to Hell with him?
PHONE RINGS Catherine?
Neville?
I think someone might have .

.

broken into my house.

OK, er, look, the best thing you can do is get out of the house.

Catherine?
SHE GASPS LINE GOES DEAD SIREN WAILS JP?
I need backup at Catherine's ASAP.

TYRES SCREECH Police! Step away now! Oh, no This is DI Neville Parker.

I need an ambulance immediately.

Number seven, rue de Valancy.

A woman's been att*cked.

Strangled.

How is she?
She's still unconscious.

The paramedics are worried she took a nasty knock to the head during the att*ck.

It's got to be connected, right?
Just days after Pasha's m*rder, a family friend gets targeted.

It can't be coincidence, can it?
But why her?
Why Catherine?
I don't know.

This case, sir, it's SIGHS I'm going to head over to the hospital.

I'll see what they have.

I need to make a phone call first.

OK.

PHONE RINGS Hey, Commissioner.

What?
Is Maman all right?
I'll be there as soon as I can.