Ashes to Ashes, series two, episode six.
Writer: Jack Lothian
Director: Philip John

xxxx

MUSIC: 'Happy Talk' by Captain Sensible

# Happy talk
# Keep talkin' happy talk
# Talk about things you'd like to do.
# You gotta have a dream
# If you don't have a dream
# How you gonna have a dream come true? #

A 'Fun Run' is going on; various folks, many in costume, running along for charity. For some reason this includes a battered man with his hands cuffed behind him, HEROIN HARRY, pursued by GENE and ALEX.

GENE:
Told you. The daft bastard fell down some stairs.

ALEX:
Oh, yeah, very original. What next? 'He walked into a wall'?

GENE:
Not my fault he's got two left feet.

# Talk about the moon floatin' in the sky
# Lookin' like a lily... #

The picture distorts, the sound changes and ALEX is standing alone in the street, the fun runners all disappeared. There's a heartbeat, a muffled bang and then echoing sounds and voices.

MALE MEDIC echoing voiceover:
Coming through! Clear the corridor, please! Move out the way!

MOLLY echoing voiceover:
Mum! I'm looking for my mum.

ALEX:
Molly?

Nurses run past pushing a patient on a trolley.

FEMALE MEDIC 1 echoing voiceover:
She's going into surgery now, Molly. You must wait here.

FEMALE MEDIC 2 echoing voiceover:
Female, thirties, severe gunshot wound to the frontal lobe.

SURGEON echoing voiceover:
So we must hurry. This could go either way.

FEMALE MEDIC 1 echoing voiceover:
Respiration sounds depressed. Pupils - the right side's not reacting...

ALEX sinks to her knees, breathing hard and disorientated.

FEMALE MEDIC 1 echoing voiceover:
...and the left is three and sluggish.

Sounds of beeping monitor and respirator. The fun runners have reappeared and GENE has got hold of HEROIN HARRY.

GENE:
Bolly.

ALEX:
Oh, my God, this is it. I think they're getting ready to operate.

GENE:
(to HEROIN HARRY) You think you've got problems? I have to put up with this every day. (to ALEX) Right, when you've stopped being Doris Stokes, we need to get Heroin Harry into a nice comfy cell.

HEROIN HARRY makes another bid for freedom and launches himself over a wall, only to end up groaning on the towpath below.

GENE:
See? Walked into a wall.



GENE and ALEX have got down to the tow path and safely gathered up HEROIN HARRY again.

ALEX:
You know, you forget, don't you, sometimes, how beautiful London can be? The architecture, the canals...

GENE:
Dead body floating along.

ALEX:
You really have no poetry in your soul at all, do you?

GENE:
No, that dead body there, look.

GENE points to same, floating along the canal.



Opening credits:

ALEX voiceover:
My name is Alex Drake. I've been shot and that bullet's taken me back in time. Now I'm lost in 1982 and all I can do is fight, and search and stay alive. Because somehow, I will find a way home.



The mortuary, and our floating friend is laid out on the slab while the PATHOLOGIST briefs GENE, ALEX RAY and CHRIS.

CHRIS:
Think he drowned then?

GENE:
No, Christopher, I think he tried to drink the entire river for a bet and failed.

PATHOLOGIST:
Actually I'm not certain drowning was the cause of death. Lung samples showed low amounts of water imbibed. Enough to suggest the time of death was before the body entered the water. Oh, and let's not forget this.

ALEX:
Mmm. Blunt force trauma right on the frontal lobe. Certainly suggests murder.

GENE:
Could be murder. Could be bloke walks home from the pub, pissed as a penguin, trips up, smacks his head, right into the Swannee.

PATHOLOGIST:
Well, yes, that's a possibility. Excuse me, gentlemen. Except for... this.

The PATHOLOGIST pulls back the sheet to reveal fresh cuts on the body's left fore arm, as if barbed wired had been tightly wrapped round it.

RAY:
Satanists.

ALEX:
What?

RAY:
Yeah, they do that all the time. Marking people and stuff. (to CHRIS) S'like that film we saw. What's it called? 'Vault of Evil' or something?

CHRIS:
No, that was vampires, not satanists.

RAY:
Same thing really.

GENE:
Does anybody have an opinion that doesn't emanate from the works of Vincent Price?

ALEX:
Judging by the, er, scabbing on the wounds, I'd say that it happened the same time as the blow to the head.

PATHOLOGIST:
Full marks to DI Drake.

GENE:
Don't suppose you have a name to go with the body?

PATHOLOGIST:
No idea at all.

GENE:
No, of course not. That would be too much to ask.



CID, and RAY and CHRIS are going through the missing persons files to see if there's a match.

CHRIS:
Didn't think so many people'd go missing.

ALEX:
Maybe some of them don't want to be found. Pressures of work, home life.

RAY finds the details of a larger lady.

RAY:
Ho ho. Hey, be pretty hard for her to go missing. You'd hear her coming a mile off. Heh heh heh.

CHRIS:
Could plug the Watford Gap with that.

RAY:
Hey, she's so fat, wherever she sat in the room, you'd be sat next to her. Hah heh.

ALEX:
Yeah, maybe somebody's mother? Maybe somebody's desperately worried about where she is, whether she's... she's dead or alive, and maybe she'd like nothing more than to let them know that she's all right and that she's thinking about them all the time. So why don't you two just keep your stupid jokes to yourself? All right?

CHRIS bends his mind to his work, and finds a likely match.

CHRIS:
Ma'am?

ALEX:
Not now, Chris, I'm not in the mood.

CHRIS:
No, no, I think I found our fella. Colin Mitchell, wife reported him missing a few days ago? Father also phoned to ask.

ALEX takes a look.

ALEX:
Guv! We've got an ID on the victim. Colin Mitchell.

GENE:
Right, me and Bolly, we'll go talk to the father. Chris, Ray, you inform the wife. Remember, this is a murder investigation, so for the moment...

CHRIS:
We're looking into the causes of death.

GENE:
Correct. No point tipping our hand 'til we need to.

GENE leaves and RAY and CHRIS get up to go. SHAZ come over.

SHAZ:
So?

CHRIS:
So?

SHAZ:
Have you thought of a date yet? Just my mum's driving me crazy asking every five seconds.

CHRIS:
Er, almost, yeah. Lot of planning, these weddings.

SHAZ:
Tell me about it. Wait 'til you see the dress I've got my eye on. You'll be needing some overtime for that one.



A community centre on your typical high rise estate. A very small group of residents are gathered together, although the number of chairs put out suggests more were expected. STANLEY is handing out Neighbourhood Watch stickers.

BILL:
Where is everyone?

STANLEY:
Here.

GENE:
Stanley Mitchell?

STANLEY:
Yeah?

GENE:
Ah, the neighbours said we'd find you here. Er, I'm DCI Hunt, this is DI Drake. Can we have a word?

STANLEY:
Ah, you're here for the meeting? It's so good of you to come. I must admit I was a bit sceptical myself at first, 'cos, you know, it was a great success in America but we're different here, aren't we here? Not quite the turnout I was expecting. But you've got to try, haven't you?

ALEX;
Turnout for what?

STANLEY:
Neighbourhood Watch.

STANLEY takes his life in his hands and puts a sticker on GENE's lapel.

STANLEY:
You're here to give the talk, aren't you?

STANLEY applies a sticker to ALEX as well.

GENE:
Well, no, you see the thing i- Eh?

ALEX:
Er, could you just give us a second? We'll just... Thanks.

ALEX draws GENE aside.

ALEX:
We can't tell him now. Look at him. He's trying to do something good for the community.

GENE:
You're not seriously suggesting that we give a pep talk to the senile squad? You are, aren't you?

ALEX:
Well, you know, it's amazing how much these places change. Nice to give them a bit of help.

STANLEY approaches, plate in hand.

STANLEY:
I've got garibaldis.

GENE:
Bloody hell.



An impromptu pep talk commences.

GENE:
So, how can you help your community. DI Drake, any ideas?

ALEX:
Well, um, you should never be afraid to call the police if you see something suspicious.

GENE:
Well, within reason. I mean, if some bugger's nicking a milk bottle off your doorstep, it's hardly worth calling the Flying Squad round, is it? I mean, feel free to give them a clip round the earhole.

ALEX:
Although you should never take the law into your own hands, of course.

GENE:
Well, not unless you can handle yourself.

ALEX:
It's best just to stay out of it really, even if you can handle yourself.

GENE:
Well, obviously. But some bastard climbing through your bedroom window, you're well within your rights to smack him over the head with a vase, or the chair, or any other such bluntish object that may come to hand.

ALEX:
Technically, though, that would be assault.

GENE:
Well, just make sure the bugger's still breathing when you ring 999. Nobody's going to have a go at you for fighting back.

BILL:
Well, what if you can't fight back?

GENE:
Well, then remember the Dunkirk Spirit and run like hell!

BILL:
No, I mean, what if fighting back just makes it worse?

ALEX:
Well, that depends on how you define worse, I s'pose.

BILL raises his jumper to reveal considerable bruising to his torso.

BILL:
What, worse than three guys and a baseball bat? Worse than being dragged under the wheels of their car?

STANLEY:
Bill.

BILL:
They're not going to do anything. They're just going to stand there, bugger off, and we'll still be left in the shite.

GENE:
Well, we're here now! So whoever's causing this trouble, I'll go and have a word with him.

BILL:
Talk? That's great. Just bloody great.

BILL leaves.

STANLEY:
Maybe best we end the meeting now.

GENE:
Yes, definitely. It's not actually the reason why we came here.



GENE, ALEX and STANLEY sit down to talk; the meeting long since broken up.

ALEX:
Sorry to have to tell you like this.

STANLEY:
No, no, I, um, I understand. Thank you... for waiting. And thank you for the meeting, it means a lot to them. Trying to keep the community alive. D'you know how he died?

ALEX:
Er, we're still pursuing lines of inquiry.

GENE:
There were, er, markings on his arms. Cut in, spiral shaped. Does that mean anything to you?

STANLEY:
Trevor Riley.

GENE:
Trevor Riley?

STANLEY:
He's the man Colin worked for. Used to. Financial investments, he says. He's a loan shark. There isn't a street around here where he hasn't left his mark.

GENE:
Never heard of him. Somebody makes waves on my patch, I tend to know.

STANLEY:
Ah, but that's Trevor Riley all over. He's sneaky with it. I loved my son, but when he started working for that man I cut him out of my life, and now he's gone.

GENE:
You take as much time as you need.



RAY and CHRIS arrive at what might be described as a nouveau riche house, home of the deceased.

MUSIC: 'Pull Up To The Bumper' by Grace Jones.

RAY:
Bloody hell. That's a bit swanky, innit? You got your eye on something like this, have you?

CHRIS:
Why would I be doing that?

RAY:
Come on, you get married, you can't be living in a pokey little flat. Sooner rather than later, she'll be all...

RAY whistles and indicates a large belly with his hands.

CHRIS:
Fat?

RAY:
Up the duff.

CHRIS:
Oh, we haven't even talked about having kids yet.

RAY:
Oh, biological clock, mate. Once that goes off, it's worse than Hiroshima.

CHRIS:
How would you know? You've never had a proper girlfriend.

RAY:
I've had plenty. I'm just not dumb enough to get stuck with one. I'm like Liberace.

RAY rings the doorbell.

CHRIS:
Poofter?

RAY:
No, no. The other one. What's his name? Valentino. That's it. I'm like Valentino.

DONNA opens the door; RAY is evidently a little taken by her. Sucker for a blonde, is Raymond.

DONNA:
Hello?

RAY:
Police. We're the police.

DONNA:
Oh, right. Please, come in.

RAY.
Ohh.



RAY and CHRIS follow DONNA into the sumptuously decorated living room. It's all a bit Footballers' Wives...

CHRIS:
You reported your husband missing. Er, Colin Mitchell? Couple of days ago?

DONNA:
That's right, yeah. We had an argument and he went for a drive to clear his head. He'll probably get in touch though. Maybe I just panicked, didn't need to get you lot involved.

RAY:
Right. Well, er...

DONNA:
What?

RAY:
Would you like to sit down at all?

DONNA shakes her head.

RAY:
Cup of tea maybe?

DONNA:
Erm, no, I'm fine.

Evidently DONNA couldn't take a subtle hint if it was tied to a brick and applied to her forehead. RAY and CHRIS look awkwardly at each other, and end up speaking in unison.

RAY:
He's dead.

CHRIS:
Found his body.

DONNA:
What?

CHRIS:
In the river.

DONNA:
There must be some mistake. He's not... he's not dead, he's just missing.

RAY:
He definitely looked dead.

DONNA:
No. I think you must have got the wrong person. I'm sorry you've wasted your time coming out here.



RAY and CHRIS precede DONNA into the mortuary to view Colin Mitchell's body.

CHRIS:
You sure we're doing the right thing?

RAY:
Grow some, will you?

CHRIS:
Come in.

DONNA comes in.

DONNA:
This really is a waste of time. My husband isn't dead.

RAY:
Right.

RAY pulls back the sheet; DONNA takes one look and screams the place down.

DONNA:
Aaaaah! Oh my God! Oh! Oh! Oh my God! Oh!



GENE and ALEX return to CID.

GENE:
Trevor Riley. For some reason this roach has scurried under my radar. Well, we're going to change all that. This scumbag's got an MO. Spiral brandings on the arms of those that piss him off. Shaz, see if we've got anything on the files about that. In the meantime, you lot...

DONNA's wails can be heard coming from Gene's office.

GENE:
...knock on some doors, ruffle some feathers, I want everything there is to know about this man. He's now become the prime suspect in a mur- He's now become the prime suspect in a murder in- What is that noise?

CHRIS:
We didn't know what to do with her, Guv.

RAY:
She just won't stop. She's like one of them dolls that cries all the time. Mitchell's wife. But before you go in there, Guv, we might have done something stupid.

CHRIS:
We showed her the body.

RAY:
Yeah, I mean, she wouldn't believe us. We had to do something.

GENE:
Well, it needed a positive ID anyway. I take it you got one?

ALEX:
Oh, very classy. God only knows what sort of trauma you two have put that poor woman through.

RAY:
She kept saying we were wrong.

ALEX throws RAY a look and stalks in to talk to DONNA.

ALEX:
I'm so sorry.



CID kitchen. I suppose it's something ALEX isn't talking to DONNA in the Gents...

ALEX:
Donna, you might not believe me now, but, um, sometimes it's almost better to know, one way or another, when someone's missing.

DONNA:
I just... I didn't expect this.

ALEX:
No. No, you always want to hold onto a bit of hope, don't you?

DONNA:
Yeah. Yeah.

ALEX:
Did your husband mention any problems he was having with Trevor Riley, at all?

DONNA:
No, that's not possible. Riley wouldn't, Riley wouldn't do this. He wouldn't.

ALEX:
It's just a line of investigation that we have to follow. Did he mention anything? Anything you think might help us?

DONNA:
No. No, there's nothing. I can't believe this is happening.

SHAZ comes in.

SHAZ:
Sorry, ma'am. It's just there's a call, they say it's quite urgent.

ALEX:
Right, thanks Shaz.

SHAZ leaves.

ALEX:
D'you mind if I...?

DONNA:
No, it's fine.



ALEX goes to her desk to take the call.

ALEX:
DI Drake.

MARTIN SUMMERS on the phone:
So, Alex, they're about to start operating on you. You might not have much time left.

ALEX:
I know.

MARTIN SUMMERS on the phone:
Your new life could soon be over. It's a shame. Together we could have made such a difference to this world we find ourselves in.

ALEX:
I am making a difference.

MARTIN SUMMERS on the phone:
That's sweet, Alex. D'you really believe that?

ALEX:
Why are you so keen for me to get involved? Feeling a bit lonely?

MARTIN SUMMERS on the phone:
They're not holding out much hope for the operation. Lots of brave faces for little Molly. I'll say goodbye now.

ALEX hangs up and turns to see GENE waiting.

MUSIC: 'Ace of Spades' by Motorhead

ALEX:
Riley?



The Quattro goes screeching off through yet more series one footage to Trevor Riley's place of business.

# If you like to gamble, I tell you I'm your man
# You win some, lose some, it's all the same to me
# The pleasure is to play... #

GENE:
Trevor Riley?

TREVOR RILEY is reading the paper with his feet up on the desk, supremely unconcerned.

TREVOR RILEY:
Let me guess. Cheap suit... nice looking bird. Police?

GENE:
You're smarter than you look.

TREVOR RILEY:
Not the first time I've had you lot come round. Don't want to waste your time, so here.

TREVOR RILEY puts a business card on his desk and returns to his paper. GENE picks it up.

GENE:
So what's this?

TREVOR RILEY:
My lawyers. Whoever's been complaining about me, whoever's spreading these lies, talk to them. They'll sort everything out. You still here?

GENE kicks TREVOR RILEY's feet off the desk.

TREVOR RILEY:
Okay, that wasn't very nice.

ALEX:
We'd like to talk to you about Colin Mitchell.

TREVOR RILEY:
He worked here, then he didn't, that's about it.

ALEX:
We found his body.

TREVOR RILEY:
He's dead?

ALEX:
He was found with very distinctive markings on his arm.

GENE:
Your own personal brand.

TREVOR RILEY:
Huh. Well, that's different. I'm starting to think someone's messing with you. I want to talk off the record.

GENE:
Sorry, I don't negotiate with tossers.

TREVOR RILEY:
Let's just speak hypothetically then.

GENE:
Oh, let's.

TREVOR RILEY:
If these marks are such a trademark of mine, I'd be pretty stupid to brand someone just before doing them in, wouldn't I?

GENE:
Well, at this point I'm not ruling anything out, including your stupidity.

TREVOR RILEY:
Hah. You think I'm scum. That's okay. I run a legitimate business. Personal financial services, and yes, people don't always read the small print. People are stupid, it's not my fault. Not up to me to look out for them.

ALEX:
There's no such thing as society.

TREVOR RILEY:
There you go. I'm just taking advantage of the current economic climate. Now, as the situation stood, I had no problems with Colin. I'm guessing Mitchell's dad and his cronies at the Neighbourhood Watch put you up to this. Show me some evidence. A warrant. Something more than these bollocks accusations. 'Cos at the moment, I am two seconds away from taking this (he picks up his lawyer's business card) and getting you charged with harassment.

GENE snaps, seizes TREVOR RILEY and staples his tie to the desk. As you do.

GENE:
One second. Two seconds. Go on then, try me. You know, I have had harder shites than you. Friday nights after a curry. And when I'm done, I don't sit there and ruminate about the individual's role in society, my son. I flush them away.

GENE stalks out, ALEX following. TREVOR RILEY wrenches his tie free of the staples angrily.

TREVOR RILEY:
Tosser!



GENE and ALEX are walkin' and talkin' down the station corridor again.

ALEX:
Riley had a point. Why would he do something that would lead directly to him?

GENE:
He's dirtier than a Bank Holiday weekend in Blackpool.

ALEX:
Yeah, I'm sure he is, but it doesn't change the facts. We still don't have anything on him.

VIV catches them up.

VIV:
Guv! Uniform found the deceased's car. Abandoned on the wasteland by the canal.

ALEX:
Give me the address. Some of us still don't think this is an open and shut case.

GENE:
We've got a body, we've got a suspect. What more would you like? A bloody great neon sign over his head saying 'It's a fair cop'?

VIV sensibly makes himself scarce.

ALEX:
Look, Riley was smart enough to stay off your radar. Branding the body, drawing attention to himself, just doesn't seem like the sort of mistakes he'd make.

RAY hasn't VIV's wits, and walks past at exactly the wrong moment.

GENE:
Go on then. Oi, Raymondo. D'you want to accompany the good lady to said abandoned vehicle?

RAY tuts and sighs. He doesn't.

ALEX:
Thank you.

GENE:
It's not a favour. It's his punishment for arsing up the house call to the wife.

RAY:
Chris was there too.

GENE:
Well, he's not here now, is he? And you are, so shift it. Mush.



CID kitchen and SHAZ is making a cuppa; CHRIS enters and demonstrates his detecting prowess.

CHRIS:
Making tea?

SHAZ:
Want one?

CHRIS:
Yeah. Er, no. Erm. About the date for the wedding.

SHAZ:
Finally.

CHRIS:
Yeah, well, it's all becoming a bit of a circus, isn't it?

SHAZ:
I like the circus.

CHRIS:
Yeah. Right. Er, well, it might be easier just to, you know, elope, or something.

SHAZ:
Easier or more romantic?

CHRIS:
More romantic?

SHAZ:
You had to think about that, so that's not what you meant. You meant easier. Cheaper. Less of a hassle for you.

CHRIS:
Well, there's no point in getting married if we're going to cripple ourselves with debt, is there?

SHAZ:
I never asked you to do that! All I ever wanted from you was to set a firm date. But you can't even be arsed doing that. Or what, did you think 'Oh, it's Shaz. A couple of cans of lager and a registry office and she'll be sorted'?

CHRIS:
Well, it'd be a lot less hassle.

SHAZ:
Right. So, now marrying me is a circus and a hassle. Cheers, Chris. It's nice to know how you really feel.



Wasteland by the canal. ALEX and RAY get out of their car but ALEX is having another Moment. The rapid bleeping of a monitor and sounds of a respirator are audible, as are confused voices of the medical team.

SURGEON echoing voiceover:
There's blood...

RAY:
Ma'am?

SURGEON echoing voiceover:
...building up within the skull. We need to release cranial pressure. Proceed with the anaesthetic.

FEMALE MEDIC 1 echoing voiceover:
Blood pressure still rising.

FEMALE MEDIC 2 echoing voiceover:
Stay with us.

RAY:
Ma'am?

ALEX:
Ray, um, why don't you take this one?

RAY:
I get it. You think I'm a twat for messing up with the wife?

ALEX:
No, I don't actually.

RAY looks sceptical; ALEX sighs.

ALEX:
All right, let's just say it's that.

They approach the abandoned car. I'm reliably informed it's a series 2 Lotus Esprit, in case you were wondering.

ALEX:
Okay, you take the lead, Ray. Tell me what you see. Let's start with the car.

RAY:
Well, it's a poof's car.

ALEX:
Meaning?

RAY:
Driven by poofs and show-offs.

ALEX:
And from that we can deduce...?

RAY:
Pfff. They like to show off?

ALEX:
Yeah, and maybe the Mitchells were living beyond their means? Maybe they're victims of 80s excess? Anything else?

RAY:
It's just a car.

ALEX:
Details, Ray. It's the little details that will illuminate the crime scene.

RAY:
Well, it's not locked.

ALEX:
Because...?

RAY:
Because the little black thingy's up.

ALEX:
And that could mean...?

RAY:
I don't know what it means. Maybe it means that he's a knob. You should never leave a car like this unlocked. I mean, I can't believe nobody's nicked it yet.

RAY opens the passenger door for a closer look.

ALEX:
Maybe the person who drove it here didn't care about things like cars?

RAY:
There's a couple of blankets in the front. Bloody too.

ALEX:
Don't touch them, Ray. You'll contaminate the crime scene.

RAY:
I wasn't planning to.

ALEX:
Maybe whoever drove the car here, put Colin in the front and then drove him here in his own car?

ALEX has walked round to join RAY on the passenger side; RAY is further investigating the interior.

ALEX:
Ray? Contaminating the crime scene.

RAY:
Hang on a minute, I've found something.

ALEX:
Let me see.

RAY:
Flight tickets.

ALEX:
There's one for the day his body was discovered. To Turkey. And this one's for the wife. Two months later.

RAY:
Sounds to me like somebody's been spinning you a line, ma'am.

ALEX:
Yes, Ray, it does.



Gene's office. ALEX appears to knocking back a couple of Alka Seltzer - just the ticket for a bullet in the brain.

GENE:
Well, Bolly, people don't hide things from me. They just forget to mention it 'til my boot meets their arse. Get her in here.

ALEX goes and meets VIV on the way out; he's holding a bunch of dead roses.

VIV:
Um. Delivery man dropped these off, ma'am.

SHAZ:
An admirer?

ALEX:
Well, hardly. I think it might be somebody reminding me I've missed my chance.

SHAZ:
A lot of that going around today.



Interview room.

ALEX:
Why didn't you tell us about the flight tickets?

DONNA:
It's just a holiday.

ALEX:
Travelling separately two months apart?

GENE:
You see, um, DI Drake here, she does this thing called psychological profiling. Now, if you ask me it's a lot of bollocks, but, erm, I'm going to have a crack at it anyway. So, nice house, nice car, enough jewelry to signal ships off the coast, doesn't hide the fact that you're from the gutter. And all the perfume in the world can't hide the smell of scum.

ALEX:
Well, that's not psychological profiling, is it? That's just you insulting the lady.

GENE:
No, I'm saying that Blondie here, likes the good life. Maybe a little bit too much.

ALEX:
But you haven't even stopped to consider that they might have been running away from someone.

GENE:
If you're going to run, you run together, not two bloody months apart.

ALEX:
Well, what if there's a reason that you're going to run-

Suspicion dawns. GENE and ALEX both look at DONNA.

ALEX:
Donna, did you know that Colin was going to disappear? I think you did, didn't you?

DONNA:
Colin took out an insurance policy, on the event of his death. We just needed the money. I was to report his disappearance and...

GENE:
Right, so, er, enough time passes and the two of you are living it up on the Costa del Scam?

ALEX:
Right, well then, that is lovely, Donna. So meanwhile there are people out there who are genuinely missing, genuinely need our help. People who's families are sick with worry about them. So you lied to me then? Straight to my face?

DONNA:
I was scared.

GENE:
Or maybe you didn't want us to link you to his death?

DONNA:
No, really... You were right about me. I grew up on the estate, I knew Riley. I saw how he went from selling knock-off goods to building up his business. And Colin was so much smarter than him. I just... I wanted us to share in his wealth.

ALEX:
So you were running away from Riley?

DONNA:
We just wanted to start again. Colin's dad was barely speaking to him because of the business. I thought if we could just get away. Riley promised he wouldn't touch Colin. He gave me his word.

GENE:
Right. So you took the word of a loan shark? You know, you're as bright as you look.



CID.

ALEX:
I've been going over her statement. Still seems like she's hiding something.

GENE:
I think you're giving her too much credit.

ALEX:
You can't just dismiss this.

GENE:
Right, Shaz. Two choices. Box A, we've got a nasty little loan shark who likes to brand those who piss him off. In box B, a dumb housewife who struggles with the alphabet. So which one would finger as a suspect in a murder case?

SHAZ:
Don't underestimate the power of a woman, Guv.

VIV:
Guv? Got some bad news for you.



The Mitchells' house.

GENE:
Good of you to look after him.

DONNA:
Hospital said he wanted to discharge himself. Least I could do. Funny, really. All that's happened makes you realise how important family is.

GENE:
Mmm.

GENE and ALEX follow DONNA into the living room where STANLEY is, arm in plaster, beaten and bruised.

STANLEY:
It's not as bad as it looks.

GENE:
Good. You look like you've gone seven rounds with Giant Haystacks. When I said sometimes you have to fight back, I didn't mean literally.

STANLEY:
Bill. The one who had a go at you? Some of Riley's boys went down to the wrecking yard that he owns. They wanted to brand him and everything.

GENE:
What, so you and the others grabbed your pitchfolks and headed down.

STANLEY:
You've got to make a stand. And I know what it feels like when they do that sort of thing to you.

STANLEY indicates the spiral mark on his left forearm.

ALEX:
Oh, God.

STANLEY:
The wife. She got cancer. I wanted to do it properly. One of those fancy private hospitals.

GENE:
What, and there was Riley, cash in hand.

STANLEY:
Didn't make any difference in the end. She never made it.

ALEX has another Moment, hearing the medical staff, bleeping monitors, etc. She looks groggy.

FEMALE MEDIC 1:
BP still up but stable. ICP connected.

SURGEON:
Okay, proceed with the anaesthetic.

ALEX tries to ask STANLEY a question, but her speech is slurred.

SURGEON:
That's it, Alex. Stay with us.

GENE:
Sorry, what?

There's a blur of voices and images of a surgeon, operating theatre etc. The bleeping gains in volume.

FEMALE MEDIC 2:
Suction...

FEMALE MEDIC 1:
Blood pressure's still rising. ...inter-cranial pressure...

ALEX tries again, and again slurs her speech.

GENE:
You drunk, Bolls?

ALEX manages to mumble.

ALEX:
Um, can I have some, some water?

DONNA:
Kitchen's just through there.

ALEX goes.

GENE:
Right, we're going to get him for you, okay? What he did to you and your son, your family. We'll get him.



ALEX makes her way to the kitchen, still hearing the voices and sounds of the operating theatre.

FEMALE MEDIC 1:
Alex. Stay with us. ....

SURGEON:
Okay, I'm seeing the bullet lodged in the frontal lobe.

ALEX sees the operation going on in the kitchen.

SURGEON:
This is it. Come on, Alex. Nurse, forceps.

ALEX slides open the kitchen/theatre door and steps in.

SURGEON:
ICP now stable. Well done.

ALEX bends down to see the patient beneath the covers. That's what I call an out of body experience...

SURGEON:
Okay, retrieving the bullet... now.

ALEX passes out. We see the bullet heading backwards at speed, then bright white light.



MUSIC: 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer.

ALEX comes round lying on the Mitchells' kitchen floor. GENE appears as she gets to her feet.

ALEX:
I feel different. I feel better. I think they've done it.

# Ooh
# It's so good, it's so good
# It's so good, it's so good
# It's so good #

ALEX:
You know, Guv, you haven't seen the best of me. Before I go I think you're going to be really surprised, because I haven't felt this good in a long time.

GENE:
Low expectations, Bolly. Just as long as you're not tripping all over the place like Norman bloody Wisdom.

# Ooh #

ALEX:
I'm still alive.

# I feel love, I feel love
# I feel love... #

ALEX hugs GENE, somewhat to his surprise? Embarrassment? Either way, he carefully moves her away again.

# ...I feel love
# I feel love #

GENE:
Good. Because you and me, we're going after Riley the old way. Shall we?

And off the Quattro roars, down yet more series one footage.

# Ooh
# I feel love, I feel love
# I feel love, I feel love
# I feel love #



CID.

GENE:
Right, gents. Shore leave has been cancelled. We're working late tonight. Trevor Riley. Smug bastard, thinks he's untouchable. But remember Al Capone? D'you know what they got him on?

RAY:
No.

GENE:
Taxes. Silly bugger forgot to pay them.

CHRIS:
What, like he dodged fares?

GENE:
D'you know, I am betting that Riley's office is crawling with evidence, like roaches in a chinky. Raymondo, go fetch me my search warrant.

RAY:
Really?

GENE:
Really.

RAY:
Oh, brilliant.

RAY goes to Gene's office.

ALEX:
When did you have time to get a search warrant?

RAY returns and hands GENE a crow bar.

MUSIC: 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson.



The Quattro pulls up outside Trevor Riley's office.

GENE:
Right, Bolls, we're going in. My search warrant, Raymondo.



GENE applies the search warrant to Trevor Riley's office door and he and ALEX are in.

ALEX:
Yes, that'll go down well in court.

GENE:
Cross that bridge when we come to it. Right, let's get cracking.



Meanwhile RAY and CHRIS wait in the Quattro. TREVOR RILEY pulls up in his Porsche 944 and they duck down out of sight.

RAY:
Oh, shit. Riley.

CHRIS:
He must have come back for something.

RAY into the radio:
Guv, you've got company. Trevor Riley heading your way.



Back in Trevor Riley's office, and GENE and ALEX are oblivious.

GENE:
I've seen enough of these bastard scum worm their way out of trouble. Rendering me, and people like me, helpless to stop them. Not any more.



Quattro.

RAY into the radio:
Guv!

RAY hits the radio. They all do that; it's no wonder they don't work.

RAY:
Shit. Batteries.

RAY into the radio:
Guv!

RAY:
Oh, bollocks. Come on. Quick, get out. Bloody seats!



TREVOR RILEY starts to make his way to his office.



RAY and CHRIS run to try and find a way to warn GENE and ALEX or delay TREVOR RILEY.

RAY into the radio:
Come in!



Trevor Riley's office, and GENE is applying the search warrant to a padlocked filing cabinet.

ALEX:
Oh. D'you have to do that?

GENE:
It's locked.



TREVOR RILEY's getting closer.


RAY into the radio:
Guv, come in!

CHRIS:
Wait there!



TREVOR RILEY's still getting closer.



GENE:
If something's locked away, it usually means there's something in there you're not supposed to see.

GENE finally gets the drawer open and pulls out a video tape labelled 'DM'.



Meanwhile, TREVOR RILEY's practically reached his office.



CHRIS arrives back at TREVOR RILEY's Porsche with a length of pipe.

CHRIS:
Heh?

RAY:
Yeah.

CHRIS breaks the driver's window of the car and the alarm immediately goes off. GENE and ALEX are alerted and TREVOR RILEY stops short of his office, turns round and goes back to see to his car.

GENE into the radio:
What's going on?



Back outside...

CHRIS:
What do we do now?

RAY:
Nick it!

CHRIS:
We're the police!

MUSIC: 'Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)' by Haircut 100

TREVOR RILEY hares down the stairs back outside, GENE thumps the radio in frustration and CHRIS fumbles to open the car door.

RAY:
Come on, get out the way. Oh, shit.

GENE and ALEX leg it from TREVOR RILEY's office; RAY tries to hot wire the Porsche.

# Time, can't afford no time #

CHRIS:
Hurry up!

RAY:
Don't shout at me!

# Can't afford the rhyme #

RAY:
Shouting won't make me go any quicker!

TREVOR RILEY:
Oi! Get out my bloody car!

# Never mind, someday maybe #

TREVOR RILEY wrestles with RAY and CHRIS through the broken window.

TREVOR RILEY:
Come here! You get... Get out of here. Get out!

# Boy meets girl
# And love, love is on its way #

RAY finally gets the car started and it roars off, TREVOR RILEY falling by the wayside as it goes.

# Boy meets girl #

TREVOR RILEY:
You - you- Aaargh!

# Boy meets girl #

GENE and ALEX have made it back to the Quattro.

ALEX:
You're enjoying this, aren't you?

GENE:
Ways and means, Bolly. Ways and means.

The Quattro sweeps off, leaving TREVOR RILEY to get to his feet, in no doubt as to who's to blame.



CID and GENE loads up the 'DM' VHS tape into the machine.

CHRIS:
Bet it's a skin flick.

RAY:
Oh, yeah.

ALEX:
Why do you lot have to drag everything into the gutter?

RAY:
'Cos we like it.

ALEX:
It could be 101 things and right away you're thinking about sex.

The tape starts; it's TREVOR RILEY and DONNA having sex. Um, not a win for Alex then.

GENE:
Hello. They're not wrong. The life of Riley.

RAY:
Heh heh heh.

GENE:
Oh, bloody Nora, look who it is.

ALEX:
Think we get the idea, don't we?

ALEX moves to turn off the tape.

GENE:
Bolls, this is evidence. We need to watch the whole thing.

RAY:
He's going to strain a muscle doing that.

GENE:
Donna and Riley. You were right, she was hiding a secret.

ALEX looks at the screen again; we see DONNA's face in close up and she does not look happy.



Luigi's.

GENE:
Oh, bollocks.

MUSIC: 'Maneater' by Hall and Oates

ALEX:
I'm telling you, she wasn't enjoying it.

RAY:
You don't let a bloke put you in a video unless you're into it.

ALEX:
You're assuming she knew she was being filmed.

GENE:
We have the wife of a dead murder victim shagging the prime suspect in said murder, not to mention the life insurance. What part are you struggling with?

ALEX:
She wasn't part of it. Her facial expression, her body language.

GENE:
Is it a biological necessity for women to change their minds every five minutes, or am I just unlucky with the women I meet? I say it's Riley, you suspect Donna. Turns out we're both right. I am agreeing with you. You should be doing hula-hoops.

ALEX:
Yes, and I am not agreeing with me any more.

GENE:
Well, that there is a woman.

CHRIS:
I hear you, Guv.

SHAZ:
Like you know anything about it.

ALEX:
Right, you might not have to worry about it for very much longer, because I might be going away.

GENE:
What, you looking for a transfer?

ALEX:
No, it's, um... it's not that, it's... Well, it's something I, I've wanted, and, er, and it's good. So...

ALEX gets out four envelopes and dishes them out to CHRIS, SHAZ, RAY and GENE.

ALEX:
So, I've, I've written you all something. Just, you know, just a little, a little something. Just some observations, you know. Bit of advice. Just in case I don't get to say goodbye properly.

RAY:
Oh, great.

He starts to open the envelope.

ALEX:
But only if I go. Please. It's, it's important to me.

GENE:
Right, come on, you lot. Busy day tomorrow.

GENE and RAY leave; SHAZ starts putting on her coat and CHRIS tries to help but gets shrugged off.

SHAZ:
Night, ma'am.

ALEX:
Night, Shaz.

They leave and LUIGI shimmers up with a bottle of wine.

LUIGI:
Bicerina, Signorina?

ALEX:
Luigi, what d'you think happens to the world when you're not in it any more? D'you think it all just carries on, or... or d'you think everything disappears?

LUIGI looks suitably baffled.



Alex's flat and she's catching up on the paperwork and 'Angels' on the television. With a glass of wine, naturally.

NURSE on the TV:
Your mum's resting now, Molly. She's had a very big operation and won't wake up for a long while. We just have to wait now and see how she responds to the surgery.

MOLLY is standing all alone in a corridor on the television.

ALEX:
Don't be worried. I'm coming back, I promise you.

MOLLY turns round and walks away down the corridor.

ALEX:
You have to believe me, Molls.



GENE is walking down a deserted street. No, I don't know what's happened to the Quattro either. Maybe it's in for a new gear box or clutch?

THUG 1:
Here, you got a light there, mate?

GENE:
Er, yeah.

GENE produces his lighter and reveals a balaclava'd heavy with a nasty smile, at which point THUG 2 hits GENE across the back with a baseball bat. Blows rain down as GENE gets a right going over. Poor old Gene.



Alex's flat and a noise of the door being broken down. ALEX has the presence of mind to switch off the light and hide behind the sofa.

THUG 1:
Check in there. She here?

THUG 2:
Nah.

THUG 1:
Shame.

A baseball bat is applied to ALEX's television in a terminal way and they leave.



GENE's walking down the station corridor, only to meet ALEX who looks at him in surprise. He turns back towards the Gents with a sigh, the evidence of the going over the night before visible as one small bruise around his right eye.

ALEX;
Guv.

GENE:
Walked into a wall.

ALEX:
Guv!

ALEX follows GENE into the Gents. At last even he's noticed that's odd.

ALEX:
Guv!

GENE:
What does the man on the door mean?

ALEX:
Look, it's just I...

GENE:
The man on the door?

ALEX:
Men only.

GENE:
When are you going to bloody well learn that? Sacred turf, Bolly.

ALEX:
What happened?

GENE:
I'm clumsy. Two left feet.

ALEX:
They came to my flat.

GENE:
Did they lay a finger on you?

ALEX:
No, I, er, I hide behind the sofa. Look, Guv, I...

GENE:
No. Not now, okay? Not now.

GENE beats a retreat to a cubicle; ALEX leans against the door frame.

ALEX:
We've called Donna in.

GENE:
I- I really do not want to talk to any people.

ALEX:
What's that supposed to mean?

GENE:
Just stop yapping on like some demented chihuahua!

ALEX:
Look, she is in the video with our main suspect. You're not going to let a couple of thugs intimidate you, are you?

GENE bursts out of the cubicle and stalks out of the Gents to the front desk, ALEX in pursuit.

ALEX;
Guv? Guv!

GENE:
Viv? I want you to stick me in the cells.

VIV:
Guv?

GENE:
That way I might get a bit of peace and quiet.



GENE broods in a cell while ALEX, RAY and CHRIS worry about him in the corridor above.

CHRIS:
He might be having one of them, you know, breakdowns.

RAY:
Nah, not the Guv. Breakdown come anywhere near him, he'd twat it in the face.

ALEX:
Mmm. Well, he can't sit down there by himself all day. I'm going to go and have a word.

RAY:
He said he wanted to be alone.

ALEX:
Yeah, and what people say and what they need are two different things.



ALEX joins GENE in the cell.

ALEX:
Guv, you know it's, um... it's okay, to be scared.

GENE:
They went after you, Bolls. A woman. I mean, that's a line right there.

ALEX:
No, but we can't sink to Riley's level.

GENE:
You know, there's always been scum praying on decent ordinary folk. But there was a code of honour as well. You came at him from the front, not like a coward from the back. Everybody wants to be the centre of the universe these days, writing their own rules, doing whatever they want.

ALEX:
And what are you planning to do?

GENE:
D'you know, a good beating clears the head, Bolls. Our Mr Riley thinks he can run his little empire. Thinks he can bump off a someone like Colin Mitchell without retribution. Well, I'm just working out exactly what sort of retribution is required.

ALEX:
Will you promise me something, Guv? That we'll do this the right way?

GENE:
Sometimes, Bolly, you have to fight fire with fire.



Interview room. ALEX pushes the 'DM' VHS tape across the table towards DONNA.

ALEX:
I don't want to show it to you, but if I have to...

DONNA:
No. I know what's on the tape. I didn't want to do it.

RAY:
Huh. Didn't look like that to me, love.

DONNA:
Riley said Colin couldn't just walk away. I knew... Riley had always wanted me. We grew up on the same estate. I did it to protect Colin.

ALEX:
So Riley said if you did what he wanted, he'd leave Colin alone?

DONNA:
Oh, you're disgusted with me. I don't blame you.

ALEX:
No. No, I'm not.

DONNA:
Colin had done everything for me. The car, the house, it meant nothing to him, but he'd taken the job because he knew it's what I wanted. It was my fault.

ALEX:
So that's why you were running away?

DONNA:
Fresh start. Me, Colin, he even planned to send for his dad later.

RAY:
So if Riley was shagging you in order to...

ALEX:
Ray! Little bit of sensitivity, please.

RAY:
(whispers) So if Riley was shagging you in return for leaving your husband alone, why did he change his mind?

DONNA:
I don't know. If Colin had never met me, he'd still be here. I'm the one who wanted everything. I wish he'd never met me.

ALEX:
I know. It's the one's who are left behind that have to live through it.



CID. SHAZ is going round dropping files on various desks, trailed by CHRIS reading notes from a piece of card.

CHRIS:
I know you don't want to speak to me. I was wrong, all right? I just kept thinking 'I'm never going to be able to do this. I'm never going to be able to give Shaz the wedding she deserves. The life and...' er...

CHRIS can't read his own writing.

SHAZ:
You wrote down what you were going to say?

CHRIS:
Well, yeah, because otherwise I thought I might panic and say something stupid, and... You know, I really wanted to tell you how I, erm, how I felt.

SHAZ:
Well, give it here.

CHRIS hands over his card of notes; SHAZ reads it.

SHAZ:
It's all right, I suppose. You spelt fantastic wrong. But yeah, I am.

CHRIS:
So...?

SHAZ:
So, you're an idiot.

CHRIS:
I know that.

SHAZ:
It doesn't have to be the perfect wedding or any of that. Are you going to get a haircut? Wear a suit? Decent suit, though, not that brown thing you drag out every so often. Shine your shoes, brush your teeth, clean your fingernails, show up on time and all that?

CHRIS:
Yeah, yeah, of course.

SHAZ:
Well, then it'll be perfect enough for me.

CHRIS:
You mean it?

SHAZ kisses and hugs CHRIS. She means it. Awww. Pass me a bucket...

RAY:
Oh, for Christ's sake. Not in the workplace, please.

GENE arrives.

GENE:
Raymondo.

RAY:
Yes.

GENE:
Does your mate still run that car rental firm?

RAY:
Yeah, why? What's going on?

GENE:
Going to take a scenic drive down to a friend's scrapyard.

CHRIS:
Can't get rid of the Quattro, Guv. It's quality.

GENE:
Listen, I need you two to stay here, okay? Nobody else is getting involved in this. S'going to get messy.



TREVOR RILEY comes out of his office building, only to get a punch in the guts from GENE, who then cuffs his hands behind his back and bundles him off to a waiting car.

TREVOR RILEY:
Ooof.

GENE:
Nice day for a drive.

TREVOR RILEY:
Oh, yeah? Not going to go in this shit motor, are we?

GENE slams TREVOR RILEY's head against the car then kicks him into the back seat, gets in himself and drives off. That'll be a yes, I think.



CID. RAY approaches ALEX at her desk.

RAY:
You know this thing you do? This psychic stuff?

ALEX:
Psychological profiling?

RAY:
Yeah, that. I don't really get it.

ALEX:
You really want to know, or you just going to take the piss?

RAY:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go on.

ALEX:
All right. Well, er, it's about looking for behaviour that might provide an indication of character. Like looking at the crime scene, trying to see if any of the details provide a clue as to the kind of person who might have done it.

RAY:
Like Colin's car, right?

ALEX:
Mmm-hmm.

RAY produces a photograph of the interior of Colin Mitchell's car.

RAY:
I mean it might be nothing, but if I wanted to off someone, I wouldn't put the body in the passenger seat.

ALEX:
No. You'd put it in the boot.

RAY:
Yeah. Otherwise some plod could just come along and, you know, you'd be done for.

ALEX:
So the kind of person who did this...

RAY:
Amateurs.

ALEX:
Or... they couldn't face putting Colin in the boot.

RAY:
He'd be a dead weight too.

ALEX:
This blanket's all folded up on itself.

RAY:
What, like a pillow or something?

ALEX:
Yeah. Exactly like a pillow. So the kind of person who did this cared about Colin. Where's the Guv?

RAY:
Oh, he's gone out.

ALEX:
Gone where?

RAY:
I dunno. Just out.



MUSIC: 'Streets of London' by The Anti-Nowhere League

GENE sweeps into Bill's scrapyard in his borrowed motor and gets out leaving TREVOR RILEY in the back seat.

GENE:
D'you know I've got a list? Hunt's Big Book of Bastards. You're the new entry, straight to the top ten.

GENE walks over to BILL.

GENE:
How's business?

BILL:
Could be better.

GENE:
Right, go and stick that on the dogs and make yourself scarce for half an hour.

GENE slap some money into BILL's hand and walks on to the crane-with-grabbing-claw, henceforth known as 'the crane', and gets in the driving seat. BILL makes himself scarce.

GENE:
What happened to Colin Mitchell? Speak now or forever hold you peace.

TREVOR RILEY:
Sod off.

GENE:
Right.

GENE starts the crane.

# Well did you see the old man... #

TREVOR RILEY:
Oi! What you doing?!

# ...outside the seamen's mission? #

TREVOR RILEY:
Oi, no!

# Never is a-fading... #

TREVOR RILEY tries to kick the car door open as the crane's claw descends.

TREVOR RILEY:
No! No, let me out! No! Nooo!

# ... with the medals that he wears #

The claw crushes the roof of the car, TREVOR RILEY cowering within.

# And did you see the old man... #

TREVOR RILEY:
Jesus!

# ...outside the seamen's mission
# He's just another hero from a land that doesn't care #

The claw grabs the top of the car and picks the whole thing up.

TREVOR RILEY:
What you doing?! Ah!

# So how can you tell me you're lonely?
# And don't you say to me your sun don't shine #

GENE:
All you've got to do is tell me and I can press stop!

TREVOR RILEY:
I dunno! I dunno what happened to him!

GENE swings the crane round, TREVOR RILEY yelling all the way.

# And have you seen the old girl
# Who walks the Streets Of London
# She ain't got no money and she's all dressed in rags
# And have you seen the old girl #

TREVOR RILEY:
What are you doing, you mad tosser?!

# Who walks the Streets Of London #

GENE:
You've got about thirty seconds before you end up squashed into one of them cubes!

# She carries her old knickers in two polythene bags #

TREVOR RILEY:
I didn't kill him! Jesus! I did not kill him!

# So how can you tell me you're lonely? #

GENE:
Oh, come on, you were shagging his missus. What was it, jealousy? With him out the way you could have her full time.

# And don't you say to me your sun don't shine #

TREVOR RILEY:
Get me out!

ALEX, RAY and CHRIS arrive in the Quattro.

# Well, let me take you by the hand
# And lead you through your Streets Of London #

ALEX:
Guv! Guv! It wasn't him!

# I'll show you something you'll never understand #

GENE:
What? Are you sure?

ALEX:
Guv!

# Well, let me take you by the hand #

GENE:
Bloody thing.

# And drag you through your Streets Of London #

ALEX:
Stop it!

GENE:
What the hell d'you think I'm trying to do?

The claw suddenly releases the car and it drops to the ground.

TREVOR RILEY:
Aaaargh!

GENE:
Bugger.

TREVOR RILEY:
Get me out of here! Get me out of here now! Now! Get me out of here!

RAY and CHRIS go to get TREVOR RILEY out of the car.

ALEX:
You nearly killed him.

GENE:
Well, better luck next time, eh? Mind you, I had my suspicions. If a man isn't going to squeal when he's about to have his bum conkers crushed by a big machine, the chances are he's telling the truth. Going to have to let him go, boys. Got nothing on the worm.

CHRIS:
Parking tickets?

RAY:
Yeah. We thought about what you said. You know, Capone and his taxes? So we ran a few little checks.

CHRIS:
Outstanding. Loads of them.

GENE:
Well, that's a good start. (to ALEX) Right, come on then. Speak to me. What have you got?

ALEX:
Well, you know how you hate all the psychological bollocks? You're really going to hate this. They're not just going to open up and confess, you're going to have to trust me on this.

GENE:
Why do women always say 'trust me' just before they're about to do something really stupid?



The Mitchells' house. DONNA shows GENE and ALEX in, where they find STANLEY sitting at the dining room table.

GENE:
Should have brought you grapes this time.

STANLEY:
Oh, it's fine.

GENE:
Still, we've brought you something anyway. Donna Mitchell, you're under arrest for the murder of one Colin Mitchell. AKA the poor bugger who had the misfortune to be your husband.

DONNA:
Wha? No, you, no, you can't, I- I don't understand?

ALEX:
I think you understand perfectly well.

DONNA:
Wha?

ALEX:
Oh, come on, Donna, we know exactly what you did.

GENE:
(to STANLEY) You see, I know this is hard for you, but, er, well at least you get to see justice served. What d'you reckon, Bolls? Twenty years?

ALEX:
Oh, at least.

GENE:
Mind you, it depends on the judge. If you're lucky enough to get one of the good ones, you know, the ones who want to bring back hanging and flogging, maybe twenty-five?

ALEX:
Thirty, in that case.

DONNA:
I swear, I didn't.

GENE:
No, of course. You were at home baking cakes and being a perfect little housewife.

ALEX:
You're, er, what are you? Twenty-six? Well, let's be generous, let's say you only get twenty-five years. Well you'll be fifty-one by the time they let you out.

GENE:
Be the 21st century. We'll all be zipping about in flying cars and living on the moon. Except you, of course. You'll have pissed away the best years of your life in some dark, dank cell. That's if you last that long.

DONNA begins to sob.

STANLEY:
D'you have evidence?

GENE:
Oh, I know she did it. Any evidence we need, we can conveniently find. See? I told you we'd find the person that killed your son.

ALEX:
Oh, stop it, Donna. Tears won't help you now. Nothing can help you.

GENE and ALEX start to lead DONNA away. STANLEY gets to his feet.

STANLEY:
Don't do this. Don't... do this. She didn't... she didn't do anything. Oh, God forgive me. It's my fault. It's all my fault.



Interview room.

GENE:
You killed your own son. You cut markings into his arm, drove him down to the river, dumped his body in there. See, I want to believe that there are still, erm, decent folk out there, Stanley. I want to believe that you had a good reason for what you did, but I am struggling.

STANLEY:
It's not like you think.

GENE:
Never is. Flash of anger, lifetime of regret. Still murder.

STANLEY:
He told me that he'd quit the business, that he'd walked out on Riley. And I thought 'I've got my son back. The boy that I raised. And he wants to start again.'

ALEX:
But then he told you about the insurance scam?

STANLEY:
I was just so angry. 'Cos there has to be a line where you say 'No'. Where you say 'This is wrong'. I wish I'd never said anything. Wish I'd just nodded and...

GENE:
Where did it happen?

STANLEY:
I can't, I can't.

GENE:
You don't have a choice any more.

STANLEY:
It was at the house. I just... pushed him. I didn't even mean to. Just pushed him. No! He fell over and cracked his head on the table and... he's just lying there.

ALEX:
So, you wanted us to think it was Riley, so that your son's death would mean something? Would make a difference?

STANLEY:
Otherwise everything was for nothing.

ALEX:
And is that why you joined the Neighbourhood Watch? Why you got yourself beaten up? 'Cos you thought it would make a difference?

STANLEY nods.

STANLEY:
My son...

GENE:
Your son walked away when he found out what Riley did. When he could have stuck with it, be rolling in it. Most fellas would. But he walked away. I mean, it's not much, but it's something, right? Something.



Luigi's. The radio is conveying an Italian football commentary to the disinterested ears of Fenchurch East CID.

ALEX:
Don't you feel sorry for her at all?

GENE:
She wanted the good life, she pushed him into it. Never live beyond your means. (to CHRIS and SHAZ) Oi! You two. Let that be a lesson to you. There are three types of people. The haves, the have-nots and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-bloody-haves.

CHRIS:
Don't worry, Guv. Got it all sorted. (to SHAZ) It's going to be the best day of your life.

RAY:
And the most disappointing night.

ALEX:
You know, you can't blame them though, Guv. You know, TV, magazines, it's all aimed at young people. 'You can have this'.

LUIGI:
Mmm, wise words. Debt is bad, Signore Hunt, si?

GENE:
Yes, Luigi. I always keep a sticky penny in the pocket for a rainy day.

LUIGI:
Ah...

GENE:
What?

LUIGI:
Just the small matter of the bar tab. Only it's not so small.

GENE:
Right, yeah. Duly noted. And, erm, stick some music on. Whatever Mussolini speech that is, it's giving me a headache.

LUIGI:
It's the football, Signore Hunt. Italia. Campioni del mondo! Squadra azzurri. Greatest team on Earth!

RAY:
Yeah, it's only 'cos you didn't meet us on the way.

RADIO COMMENTATOR:
Scirea. Bergomi. Scirea! Tardelli!

MOLLY on the radio:
Is there any news, doctor?

LUIGI goes to turn off the radio. ALEX leaps up to stop him.

MOLLY on the radio:
Is my mum going to be okay?

ALEX:
No, no, don't touch it.

DOCTOR on the radio:
Yes, Molly. Your mum's doing really well and the operation was a complete success. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up. It won't be long before you can be with her again.

ALEX:
Thank you.

NURSE on the radio:
Doctor, the coma patient in room five is having a seizure.

DOCTOR on the radio:
Okay, nurse, I'll be right there.

RADIO COMMENTATOR:
Goal!

LUIGI jumps up and down in delight.

LUIGI:
Goal! Si! Goal! Goal! Goal, si! Bravo, Italia! Ha ha ha ha ha! Bravo.

LUIGI and ALEX embrace and ALEX gives LUIGI a peck on the cheek.

LUIGI:
Ooo.

ALEX:
Champagne, Luigi, I think.

LUIGI:
Si, si.

ALEX:
You know, I'm going to miss these nights. You lot, you're not that bad.

RAY:
S'not what you said in your letter.

ALEX:
In my what, Ray?

RAY:
The letter. You know, the one we're not supposed to open until you'd gone.

ALEX holds out her hand for the letters to be returned, which RAY, CHRIS and SHAZ duly do.

ALEX:
These are going in my desk, and if - when I get back, then you can have them.

ALEX sits back down and LUIGI brings the champagne.

RAY:
And I'm not repressed, or whatever it bloody said. It's bollocks, that.

MUSIC: 'Hot In The City' by Billy Idol.

SHAZ:
What you said, ma'am? About my potential? I really appreciate it.

# Stranger
# Stranger #

CHRIS:
Couldn't understand a bloody word of mine.

# Stranger
# Stranger #

GENE gets out his letter and hands it across.

ALEX:
What d'you do? Steam it and then seal it back up again?

GENE:
No.

# It's hot here at night, lonely, black and quiet #

ALEX:
Didn't read it? Not even a little bit curious about what I'd written about you?

# On a hot summer night
# Don't be afraid of the world we made
# On a hot summer night #

GENE:
You see, that's your problem, Bolls. Always got a question. Meanwhile, there's a perfectly good bottle of shampoo there just waiting to be opened.

ALEX:
Yes.

ALEX tries, and fails, to open it.

# 'Cos when a long-legged lovely walks by #

GENE:
Give it here.

# Yeah, you can see the look in her eye
# Then you know that it's
# Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight #

ALEX:
You'd miss me really.

# (Tonight) #

GENE:
Yes, Bolls, I'd miss you. Cheers.

# Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight #
# Tonight #

ALEX:
Cheers.

Credits.

# Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight
# (Tonight)
# Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight
# You know
# (Tonight)
# You know
# Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight
# You know... etc