Hey!
Oi!
How much are you giving me for the phone bill? You what? You ought to give me summat.
It's the detective agency that makes the calls.
YOU phoned Frank long-distance about systemic fungicide.
YOUR calls are a legitimate business expense. Take it out of your profits. What profits?
You got £1,500 from that old lady's brother. Five weeks ago. What since?
There was the budgie lost from No 7.
She wouldn't pay - her cat ate it! Live in the real world.
Money melts - paying for all those business cards.
You didn't need 500! ..Small ads in the Record, £100 for Yellow Pages.
If things don't pick up, your wife faces ruin.
This your car?
Jim? Steve. I'm on the mobile.
Name and address, owner of red Fiat Uno,
Juliet, five, seven, eight,
tango, papa, kilo.
Quick as you can, mate.
Do you know you're nearly empty?
You're the quiet one, aren't you?
Yeah? ..Great.
Hang on.
Malcolm... Stone.
29... Kirby... Gardens.
Sorry, where?
Got you. Cheers.
As for them ads, you could've saved the money. You need the right tone.
I may have been too subtle. It's where they put the ad.
We've no choice, Robert. I told you. We come under "personal services". The lady explained that.
But it started, "Looking for a loved one? Hetty Wainthropp can help."
It was a soft sell. We ended up amongst all the massage parlours!
I'll get this. I'm on expenses.
He'll kill you when he gets back. Then I'll know he's safe. Imagine going round calling Malcolm's name!
I didn't call! What would be the point of calling?
Malcolm!
What do you think you're doing?
Clare, what do you want?
Yes, Daddy.
He says he's busy.
You're on sick leave, not on duty. You can't be busy.
He should be in the bath by now. And shaved, he should have shaved.
Suppose he doesn't collect her from the airport? Maybe he got cold feet?
He wouldn't do that, would he? You're the expert on Malcolm.
I've no experience this time. He has never sent for a wife by mail order before.
I'm going to t'police! Joan! If he's not back in time, YOU'LL have to go to the airport.
When did you last see your son? This morning, when he left to do his bird watching.
Where does he normally watch them?
All over - the moors, Lake District, nature reserves...
Goes with a party, does he? No, he's always preferred to be alone.
But how does he get to these places?
His car. It's a red Fiat Uno.
How old is your son, Mrs Stone? 27.
The description would include long trousers, would it?
Nothing?!
They were... quite sympathetic, but THEY say, there's nothing they can do - he's a grown man.
Huh?
Hetty Wainthropp.
..Yes, it is. It's for that Miss Whiplash again, innit?
Ssh, I think it's a client. ..Yes, I'm listening.
Sorry to phone so late, but your advertisement does say 24-hour service.
Look carefully - you'll find that's the one offering personal massage.
We get a lot of those. It's not the same as a good sleep. How can I help you?
But YOU are not Mr Malcolm Stone.
I'm his father. I'm taking responsibility.
For marrying the lady?
I'm married to Malcolm's mother.
That's my point exactly. YOU can't marry the lady because you are already married,
and the man the lady has entered this country to marry... My son...
Your son - you say - is not here to vouch for her. He sent me to represent him. He's tied up now.
"Tied up".
And when will he be UN-tied? Soon.
I can't say.
He's missing. He went bird-watching and hasn't come back.
"Bird-watching".
Yeah, well, they do go missing sometimes - has been known. The problem is Mr... er...
Stone.
The problem is the lady's papers. You said they're in order. They are!
But if your son has changed his mind, that would nullify them. I'm sure he hasn't changed his mind.
He'll be back. When?
She may stay for one week - under our supervision, of course.
Who are they gonna believe, Malcolm?
You'd been watching her car through binoculars. Knew what we were up to.
You like watching people doin' that. Quite a hobby!
And when I'd had her, I pissed off. But you went and found her.
YOU had it off with her, then got frightened. Thought she might tell.
So what did you do then?
Which of us are they gonna believe?
Hmm?
He's deaf and dumb. Peter!
Profoundly deaf and without speech. Is that what they say now?
"Dumb" could mean stupid. I see. There was a girl at school...
..Lizzie. Her brother was deaf. She won't have him insulted...
You say your Malcolm is planning to marry soon? Yes.
Who was she?
Lynn Horrocks. Ex-model, now photojournalist.
To commit suicide, why bother with a safety belt?
If she went straight at the edge she'd have had it on already.
She parked and thought about it. But tell the media it was suicide.
It's unusual - him marrying a girl he has never met.
He's shy... because of his disability.
Penipha is a teacher - an educated professional lady. They started off as pen pals.
He must have friends locally. Yes, from the social club for the deaf.
Thank you.
I thought I knew the back of that head. You flicked enough paper at it in 3C. Know me brother, Leonard?
Yeah. All right, Leonard? Yeah.
You've given up the supermarket to become a "detective"?
It seemed an obvious career move. That's me partner playing bingo.
Do you know Malcolm Stone? Yeah. What do you want to know about him?
Where has he been doing his bird-watching?
Malcolm has taken Leonard with him.
Do you remember Malcolm Stone?
It was on TV, Hornby Head - where that car went over the cliff.
He went there to watch sea birds.
'Early forensic reports say that she was three months pregnant...'
Daddy!
I met her once. She did a feature on the crack scene.
Bloody freelancers - always trying to get information out the police.
Interesting that.
What?
We say it's suicide when we're sure it's murder.
Will you be back on duty before you're fit?
That'll be them. Tell them you're on sick leave.
Hello? ..Yep.
Your sister.
Mr Stone,
good evening. Um... look, you know me, I don't like to cause trouble.
I'm neighbourly to a fault, but your Malcolm's car has been blocking our drive all day.
I need the car to get Darren from Cubs.
Joan! Joan!
Hornby Head. Malcolm goes there bird-watching,
that girl commits suicide and he disappears the same day.
There must be a connection.
Could be a coincidence. He didn't go there every day.
We didn't go to that social club just to play bingo. We went for info and we got it - Hornby Head.
Need more irons in the fire. Talk to Dave the rave. Who's he when he's not in the asylum?
A disc jockey I know from school.
Geoffrey, you know everybody from school.
It WAS a comprehensive school. Dave was my English teacher.
Mrs Wainthropp, we need our own transport. Detectives have cars!
Find me a rich client, and I may just buy us a three-wheeler.
I haven't got the keys.
Well, they're in the ignition. But where's Malcolm?
It says 32 miles on the clock. That doesn't seem much.
He resets it when he gets petrol. That's 32 miles since yesterday.
So he must have been seen at the petrol station 32 miles away.
Not necessarily. If he got petrol on the way, put it back to nought, gone on, then returned...
This isn't a time for negative thinking.
I shall need a map, and what's that thing we used to use in geometry?
We didn't use anything - we didn't get geometry! Compass.
We've got one. Good! I used to use mine when any of the lads tried anything on.
They wouldn't dare!
And Hornby Head is just at the edge of the circle!
Or 74 if he went that way... Thank you.
That only shows where the garage might be.
You won't mind if we use Malcolm's car? No.
We need a friend from the club to drive us to where he goes.
Arrange that, please, Geoffrey. We'll go this afternoon.
Excuse me, but I've got an appointment with Dave the rave.
'A sweet track - The Real Business. Nice one, Colin of Bradshaw, for checkin' that one out...'
Mrs Hetty Wainthropp. Who are you? Prime Minister's biography, Home for Lost Dogs or pressed flowers?
Lady detective.
Mornin', Tufty.
Hmm.
What's this, then? Ready for Ascot?
Now...
Mrs Hetty Wainthropp... Hetty, my love! These flowers you press... No!
Malcolm? Malcolm?
He's all right! He's out there. God knows where, but at least he's telling us he's all right!
I can hear you, son. We'll find you.
Just hold on, please.
Malcolm, it will be fine. We won't let you down, I promise...
We've got to...
Missing persons?! Just one. I only do one at a time. I like to give myself completely.
Oh, I knew a young lady like that once,
but I was unworthy of her devotion cos I was too high on the music!
I don't know what I'm gonna do with you.
I'll think of something.
'You say he's deaf and dumb?
'Profoundly deaf and without speech.
'And this lad's called...? Malcolm Stone.'
That's a turn-up for the book.
Gawpers! Morbid curiosity.
Joe Public at his worst. What are we? Professional investigators.
This was Malcolm's way to the cliff.
He certainly could have seen that car from here.
Look, Leonard has found something.
His notebook?
It's hard to read. It's in pencil.
Ink would run. What's "peregrine"? Is that a bird or someone's name?
A kind of a hawk, I think.
Of course! He saw something that shocked him and forgot the book.
Proves he was here though.
You're jumping to conclusions again, Mrs Wainthropp. You have to JUMP to conclusions!
He forgot his camera, too, I suppose
Be interesting to know what's on the film.
Will you give it to t'police? Of course not!
I'M the detective on the Malcolm Stone case!
That camera could have been left any day.
Next thing... that garage.
Come along, young man. Well done so far!
There is no need to shout. I'm not deaf. HE is deaf.
YOU are deaf? What an affliction! But what can I do?
The man buying petrol was deaf! Only if he was here. Not, if he wasn't.
Not what? Not deaf. HE couldn't have been deaf if he wasn't here!
OK, perhaps she'd remember the car.
Have you seen that car before? Two days ago.
Oh, that little boy is deaf!
Well... Can you remember that car?
Oh, yes!
Two days ago, was it here?
Oh, yes, but THAT man wasn't deaf! The telephone rang in his pocket and he could answer it clearly.
He had a strange man with him - a very frightened man, I think. HE didn't speak!
I could readily sense his fear. But he ran off and that was that.
Thank you. You've been most helpful.
It's only for a while till I can think what to do wi' you. Till then, upstairs!
Food - you'll be fed when I can get to you.
I'm on sick leave at the moment. They may call me in.
Move over there.
Come 'ere.
It's not a working farm. There's nobody around.
We live in the house, rent out the land. Me wife has the money.
She married beneath her.
It's funny! I can say anything I like to you cos you can't hear me.
That's a liberating experience...
for a man who has had to keep his lip buttoned most of the time.
I don't need to work, Malcolm.
I only do it because I'm a dedicated police officer.
Can you read lips?
Read... my... lips.
Me mind's hummin' like a musical saw. I noticed.
Who knows what Malcolm's snapped before he left the camera?
Take this in and collect it as soon as you can.
How long will that take? An hour. Pick up some chops while you wait.
Eh? There's chips in the freezer.
We rarely used her work. I don't know if I could find it.
Got some pictures of HER. What were her photos of?
Oh, anything and nothing. Nothing worth pushing her off a cliff for.
Is that what YOU think happened? I don't think. I'm a picture editor.
What did she live on if her work wasn't used?
Model.
In Didsbury? To start with.
Then Utrecht, Amsterdam,
porno magazines - full-frontals in chains and leather thongs.
Where was that taken?
Children's home. Where? Somewhere away from her dad.
It was something he used to watch us do when he was a little lad.
When they're little, you try anything, any sound to see if they can make it out. Right.
Cos you haven't... accepted it.
Well, we know he got away from the man at the petrol station.
He must still be free.
Funny to win beauty contests when you've been beaten as a nipper.
He died last year, her dad.
You know what? She was bloody nigh destroyed by it.
How do you know all this?
She wanted me to use THIS...
..the year she won Miss North West.
Wanted it next to the toothpaste-smile photo. Why not?
Somebody thought it inappropriate.
Were you in love with her?
I'm a picture editor.
Are you poaching on my ground, Mrs Wainthropp?
I'm not a murderer, Malcolm.
If I was, you wouldn't be alive. Not after what YOU saw.
You understand that, don't you?
Now me wife, i-it's not her being older than me.
It's more the money thing.
And her family. So amusing - marrying a copper!
"Rosemary's bit of rough." Uh-uh.
I could have gone to university,
but I WANTED to join the force.
You believe that, don't you?
You know that girl? She was a beauty queen.
I was flattered!
She wanted info for a story. Went somewhere quiet for a picnic.
Her intentions were obvious, but so what?
I'm only gettin' me end away.
But she...
"Hurt me," she said. "Punish me."
It was an accident. I've never been into that. I'm no sadist, Malcolm.
What she wanted I...
I went too far.
I thought she'd tell me to stop.
But who's gonna believe that?
Yeah, ask DS "Knives" to come in, please.
Right! Shall I be, er, mother?
Why not?
Milk? Yes, please, but no sugar. Right.
This is Detective Sergeant Lennox.
He's recovering from a stab wound sustained in the course of duty.
But he has come in part-time to assist you.
Glad to.
Help yourself, Steve. Thanks, sir.
Assist? A liaison. Facilitate your enquiries.
Now, shall we share information? After you.
When a car falls onto rocks and then into the sea, Mrs Wainthropp,
it, and any body, are considerably damaged.
Lynn WAS wearing a seat belt, so her body wasn't just so damaged,
though her internal organs were a bit messy.
It said on the TV she was pregnant.
That was a media misunderstanding, but it may lead to an ex-boyfriend.
But why the seat belt?
The car was parked for an hour and it was found that she'd just eaten.
Why eat if she intends to end it?
"The condemned woman ate a hearty picnic." It has been known.
People do it for comfort. Hence, the wine.
However, second point. She was dead before she hit the water. There was no water in her lungs.
If her death wasn't suicide it must have been murder. But by whom? Why?
How did the murderer get there? She must have brought him for a meal. Him?
Whoever. Whoever, yes.
She had lots of "acquaintances" - mostly professional - but what about friends?
We'll have to interview them all.
Now, Mrs Wainthropp, you tell me about Malcolm Stone.
We're still looking for him.
Quickly, Clare, I'm waiting. Coming, Mummy.
Look after her, Lennox. I've a high opinion of her detective abilities.
But she gets herself into dangerous situations.
The sergeant will bring a car round for you. Thank you.
"High opinion"? She has the devil's luck and people talk to her. I wanna know what she finds.
Yes, sir.
Geoffrey.
The DCI will want this.
He could have the negative. He'll want the negatives, too.
We must have a picture. Sorry, this is material evidence.
That's why I'll need it. To the Horrocks' inquiry, not yours. I'LL judge that.
Robert, get a large photocopy made. Right.
But... Please don't make difficulties! I was promised co-operation.
Now, tomorrow morning, if you've no objection, I'd like to see round Lynn Horrocks' flat.
Right.
I can't stay long. You OK?
I wish I knew what I was gonna do with you.
Funny. I've been called in to keep an eye on an old lady detective who's looking for you, Malcolm.
We'll have to try to arrange for her to find you... when it's safe.
You should have gone home hours ago. Hardly seems worth it now.
What's left of the sherry trifle is in the fridge. Is it?
So it is!
You said you recognised Lizzie from sitting behind her in class. Right.
I was in a choir when I was young.
Sunday after Sunday, I'd sit looking at the back of Mr Dabney, the organist.
Bit free with his hands, Mr Dabney.
Got his comeuppance, though, at the Rawtenstall Elijah.
Gave too much, fell and fractured his collar bone.
I knew the back of that man's head like the back of my hand.
And yet none of Lynn Horrocks' boyfriends came back for more.
I don't think she wanted them to.
Just once and out, you know?
What they had to do not everybody would fancy.
Go on. Well, it was dangerous for one thing.
They could do her damage if they weren't careful.
And if they did, she wasn't happy.
How do you happen to know?
Because she told me. When?
Over the phone during the night.
And other times...
as she clung while I rocked her
waiting for the sleeping pills to work.
If I'm to be a suspect,
I think you'd best know
she considered me to be her only real friend...
parent even.
And what did you consider yourself to be?
Honoured, if you must know.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Mrs Wainthropp...
..she didn't rate herself. I did, she didn't.
I was the only man that she allowed to be gentle with her.
Sex had to hurt her. Do you understand?
What her father did to her, being put into care, even his death - she thought it was all her fault.
What she wanted from other people was punishment. She believed that was all she deserved.
We don't know much about that kind of thing where I come from. Don't you?
You all right, Mrs Wainthropp? Yes, thank you, Geoffrey.
I suppose I must learn to take this kind of thing in me stride.
Was she a Catholic? I don't know what she was. I'm not really on the case. Why do you wanna know?
To get a feeling of what she was like from where she lived. I've not heard much good of her so far.
There's not much to see.
They took all the personal stuff: letters, diary, address book.
Photo features she tried to sell. Not very imaginative.
Teenage vandalism. OK, I suppose, but everybody has seen so much of it already.
Nothing new.
How did you get your stab wound?
Drug squad. We get a lot of aggro.
It's all part of the game.
Now let's go back to the beginning, Geoffrey.
Malcolm took a photo of the car on the cliff and saw something happen.
Whoever HE saw, saw him and caught him.
A man.
He saw a man - evidence of the lady at the petrol station.
Nice cup of chocolate. Thanks. Thanks.
He escaped, but the man still had his car,
but Malcolm had money to get home. Only he didn't go home.
Instead, the man took Malcolm's car home. Parked it round the corner.
And waited. Right.
But Malcolm must have got away again.
He phoned his parents to show them he was OK. Yet he couldn't go home.
And he has not been seen or heard of since. Aye!
Kidnappers do that to show you're alive.
It wasn't a kidnap, nobody has asked for money.
But the man found Malcolm again. He's hiding him somewhere.
If he's still alive!
What kind of person has the contacts to find Malcolm if he's drifting?
What kind of person could frighten him out of going to the police?
The sort of person who could convince him he wouldn't be believed.
But how could he convince anyone of anything when he's deaf? He can read lips.
Remember the housing-estate photos? "Teenage vandalism," he said.
But there was one photo of two lads and one lad was handin' money over.
Money for drugs.
It has to be!
The sergeant is on the drug squad!
Then there's the back o' that head! You're jumping to conclusions.
I've a good coach, Mrs Wainthropp... Olympic standard.
Yes? Is Detective Sergeant Lennox at home? It's Mrs Wainthropp.
Yes, I think he's outside somewhere. Do you want to come in? Thanks.
Clare!
Daddy, Mrs Wainthropp has come to see you. Who? Mrs Wainthropp. Where is she?
With Mummy. OK, give Tim a hand.
I'll be back.
Where are you going? I saw a light and the other night I heard a bump.
Daddy says we're not to go up there. I'm just going to look.
It's too dark. Pass me the matches.
Clare, what's wrong? Where's Tim?
Daddy! Daddy!
- Tim, where are you? - Daddy!
Here, hold him!
What's going on? There's a fire in the barn. Call the fire brigade.
Do you want him as he is, or gift-wrapped?
Is he all right?
The lady asked if you're all right.
He refuses to testify? Yes. You were definitely there?
I've admitted I was there. She threw me out after sex - as was her wont - and I was lucky to find a lift home.
I must tell you. You've no case. You'll resign, of course.
Of course.
Now you'll be able to get yourself a proper job.
What as?
Security guard? Night watchman?
I'm a dedicated police officer!
What was she signing?
"What took you so long?"
Subtitles by Keir Murray BBC Scotland - 1996