Big Topped New Tricks

-Hello.

-Morning!

No, I've told you, I've had enough.

I'm sick of driving you around.

This is the last time!

Isn't this great?

Fantastic. Last time I came to the circus, I was with my dad.

Last time I came, I was nine!

Last time I came, I was sick.

I could kill Strickland for this.

-What you moaning about? We're going to see a whole show for free.

-There's no such thing as a free...

This is exciting, isn't it?

-Hermione and Rufus would have loved this.

-Who?

Hermione and Rufus. They're my children.

Sorry, sir, but why have you arranged all this?

I wanted you to see the circus, and this is the last few days

of rehearsal before they open the new season, so come on.

I used to have a hamster called Rufus.

Shut up!

My lords, ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to Spingles' Circus, the greatest show on earth!

Roger, at that point I want the lights up, right?

And, Phil, that's a cue for the music, yes?

Take it away, Gina!

God, I hate the bloody circus!

# It's all right, it's OK

# It doesn't really matter if you're old and grey

# It's all right, I say it's OK Listen to what I say

# It's all right, doin' fine

# Doesn't really matter if the sun don't shine

# It's all right, it's OK, we're getting to the end of the day. #

Amazing, that feeling you get from the circus. It never changes.

It's just as I remember it.

-Yeah, crap.

-I'd like to thank you all for coming.

So, first thing tomorrow I'll send down the files.

The Great Miraculo.

In 1990, he burnt to death in his caravan.

Suspected suicide.

But there was no categoric proof, so it was left on file.

Although Miraculo, aka Bert Dignam, caught fire, the caravan didn't,

and the only thing left were his feet in a pair of Turkish slippers.

Why resurrect it now, sir?

A woman called Christy Berlin.

It seems that Mr Dignam was her biological father.

Now, I've looked at the file, and I think she has good grounds to re-examine this case.

She runs an international transport company.

Oh, I see...

I'm sorry?

I had hoped that the exotic complexity of this case might appeal to your more idiosyncratic natures,

or perhaps I should simply have emphasised that the dead man was a human being, like his daughter.

- Good night. - Good night.

Oooh!

-Not very smart.

-What? Someone with money pulls a few strings and the next thing her "biological dad's"

mysterious death is on our desks?

-Do me a favour!

-You know it doesn't work like that.

Whatever else he is, Strickland's no fool.

He called his son Rufus!

Strickland wouldn't push a case for no good reason.

Spingles' Circus, August 3rd 1990, Finsbury Park.

At 6am, the fire brigade attend a fire in the caravan of Bert Dignam.

They broke in and found the door locked from the inside with the key still in it and all the windows

-shut, but all the interior of the caravan was intact, apart from a melted television.

-Cause of fire?

Unknown. Bert, he was a smoker.

-Who gained by his death?

-Well, that's it, really - no-one.

I mean, he wasn't insured, the circus wasn't left to any one person

and in fact, the rest of the troupe got together and ran it as a co-operative.

So you're saying that the mystery is both how and why he died.

Yeah. The problem is he's disappeared again.

I can't find his feet.

They're not with the rest of Forensics.

Oh, great(!) Now, what's this in the margin, in the fire report?

-It says "spon.com".

-Internet address?

-Well, obviously!

-In 1990? Unlikely.

-Spontaneous combustion.

-What?

-Eh?

-When people just burst into flames for no apparent reason.

-Give over. There's no such thing.

-Charles Dickens. Bleak House.

That's a work of fiction.

It happens. People just self-ignite and there's nothing left. It would explain all this.

It doesn't explain anything.

Fine, but let's not dismiss it. Isn't there a better picture? It's hopeless.

-Not on file.

-Find one.

-All right!

-Starting Monday, we'll see how co-operative the co-operative are.

-Meantime, let's talk to the dead man's daughter.

-Yeah. Lovely.

"Spontaneous combustion"!

Well, it's only an idea!

-Ridiculous!

-I don't know what you're getting so shirty about...

-Hi. Christy Berlin.

-Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman.

-This is Gerry Standing, Jack Halford and Brian Lane.

-Hello.

-Pleased to meet you. Have a seat.

-Thank you.

Cheers.

-So, you're the daughter of Bert Dignam?

-I was adopted.

My parents died in a car crash.

I applied for a passport and discovered my birth certificate

with the names of my real mother and father.

Thank you.

Bert Dignam and Oona Magilton.

I traced my mother quite quickly.

She refuses to have any contact.

So all I had left was my dad.

He was a bit more difficult,

partly because he worked in the circus and moved around so much, partly because of his alias.

And partly because he's dead.

When I found out how he died, I was horrified,

even more so when I discovered the case had simply been forgotten.

-On file, not forgotten.

-Ignored.

-It doesn't quite work that way.

17 years and no-one does anything?

I believe that the original team felt that the most likely explanation was suicide.

A pair of smoking feet inside a locked caravan? No trace of an accelerant?

Have you ever come across a case of someone setting fire to themselves without using fuel to get it going?

-Exactly.

-By the same token, it seems a rather bizarre and unlikely way to cover up foul play.

I work in a very competitive business, Mr Halford.

In my experience, if people want something badly enough, they're capable of anything.

-Yeah, but what would anybody want with your...

-He owned the circus.

Ah.

OK, thank you, Ms Berlin.

-And I promise that we'll do our best to find out what really happened to your father.

-Sandra?

Do you mind if I call you that?

-No.

-You're a serving officer,

but I didn't realise quite how elderly your colleagues would be.

Experienced.

And they were the best. Still are.

It's just finding out about my father, it means everything to me.

Do you understand?

Yes.

-She'd eat you alive.

-Lovely!

Now we've met her, I think it's even more out of order taking on this case.

Why? Because she's a feisty young female who's put your back up?

I seem to remember another feisty young female who put people's backs up.

-Thank you(!)

-I gave her a job.

Yeah, well. Maybe I'd like to help Christy the same way you helped me. You see, that's the trouble with men.

They just can't handle a strong woman.

What you on about? We've put up with you for bloody ages.

Several case studies.

Bangor University.

Yes.

Have you done it yet?

I'm doing it, I'm doing it!

You haven't, have you? I'm warning you, Brian, if you don't do it, I will!

Yes!

I'm right and he's wrong!

I am right and he is wrong!

What are we doing here? It's the middle of bloody nowhere!

Have you bought yourself a holiday home?

-Christ!

-What the hell is that?

-It's a pig.

-Pig?

A pig in a magician's costume.

I got it from a butcher.

A pig being almost identical in body mass to a human being.

-Guess what I'm going to do now.

-Turn into a pumpkin?

I'm going to prove exactly how and why the Great Miraculo died. Gerry, give us a fag.

So what do we do now?

We wait.

Well, we get out first, of course.

Brian, we've been here for hours.

-Yeah, I've had enough of this, Brian. Are you going to explain or not?

-All right, listen.

Spontaneous combustion IS a myth.

Five years ago, Bangor University decided to prove it.

So they stuck a pig in a dress and set fire to it.

What they found was that the pig kept on burning, only very slowly and for many hours.

-How come?

-The clothing.

It absorbs the fat that leaches out of the pig due to the heat.

It acts like an external candlewick, never burning quickly

but with ferocious heat and only over a small area.

Yes! The fire's dying down.

Argh! Bloody hell, that's hot!

-Bloody hell!

-Oh, the trotters are still there!

The extremities. Hands and feet.

Not enough fat to burn them.

Well, that's the first part of the mystery solved!

Terrible waste of pork.

I still don't buy it.

Bert Dignam was a circus performer.

Fit, energetic, 40.

-Exactly.

-And even if he did catch fire, he wouldn't just keel over.

-He'd roll around and try and put it out.

-Precisely.

-I wish you'd stop agreeing with me!

-So what are you saying, then?

-Accident, suicide, what?

-Neither.

I'm saying he didn't roll over because he was already dead, because he was set alight after he died.

And the only reason you'd do that is to cover up a murder.

Well, fires need oxygen.

If you set someone alight, why would you close all the windows?

And if it was murder, how come the door was locked from the inside?

Well, he WAS a magician!

I'm being serious here.

If the Great Miraculo was murdered, how did the killer get out?

I don't know!

-That's what I can't work out. But I will.

-PHONE RINGS

-Come on, Gerry, where's that tea?

-Hello?

-Yeah.

-There you go, one with sugar, one without.

When?

OK, yeah, thank you. I'll, er... I'll be right there.

Yeah. Bye.

It's my mum. She's had a stroke.

-She's resting at the moment.

-Thank you.

Hello, Mum.

Gordon? Gordon...

Er, no, Mum. It's me. It's Sandra.

No car.

Gordon not car...

Mum?

Not Gordon car.

-Why...

-It's all right. It's all right.

-Hi.

-How is she?

Well, she's a bit...

It's affected her left side,

but it could be worse, apparently.

-It's only a mini stroke, not the full-blown number.

-Oh, well, that's something.

She's not making any sense, though.

She's just talking about my dad.

-Yeah, well...

-Anyway, thank you for waiting.

-Please will you take me home?

-Of course. Come on.

Oh, all right? How's your mum?

She was still asleep when I went, but the doctors seem pretty upbeat, so...

-So how are you?

-I'm fine.

May I help you?

Yes. Detective Superintendent Pullman.

-Oh, yes. YCOS. Yes.

-It's close enough.

You wanted to talk about the Great Miraculo. May I ask why?

Well, it was a suspicious death, still unsolved.

As such, the case remains open on file.

-So even after 17 years?

-We never close.

-And you were with the circus then?

Yes, we both were, myself and Martita, my wife.

-Did you witness the fire?

-No.

We were woken by the fire engines.

When the firemen broke down the caravan door, we couldn't believe what they found.

-I mean, the smell was...

-Who identified the body?

-That would have been me.

-How? It was only his feet.

-Oh, the slippers.

I mean, who else could it have been except for Bert?

What was Bert's mood at the time of his death?

He was unhappy and depressed.

-Did he have any enemies?

-What, apart from the bank? No.

Excuse me, may I help you?

Now Bert, er, he wasn't married.

He had a relationship, didn't he, with Oona Magilton?

- Oona? Yes. - You knew her? - We suspected an affair.

Actually, they had a child.

Oh, you didn't know?

I didn't know, no. I mean, she left quite suddenly.

-We weren't sure why, were we?

-You never thought to ask?

People often leave the circus.

- Do you have any pictures of Bert? - Well, only one, I think. Er, would you mind? Thank you.

Excuse me!

Bow... Up...

Speak, speak, speak.

Come on! Come on! Come on.

-Wow!

-Come on. Here we go. Here we go.

Come on. This way. Come on. Come on.

Oh, hi there!

No. No! Don't come too near.

Not before they've been fed.

Oh, this is Antonio!

He's also one of the original members of Spingles' Circus.

-They're very twitchy. I just better get them something to eat.

-Right.

We understand that when Miraculo died, Spingles' was losing money

badly and yet somehow you managed to keep it going. Is that right?

Yes, that's right. A lot of the debts were written off.

So Bert dying was a stroke of luck, really?

No, I didn't mean that at all! No!

How many of you were there when you took over?

-15 in the co-operative.

-What about now?

Well, it's still a co-operative, but a lot of the members have moved on.

There's four of us now. There's myself, Antonio, Martita and...

Joey. Joey the clown.

God!

That was a stu...

-You...

-Take it easy. Easy.

Here.

Thank you.

- So is that any good? - Yes.

-Thank you very much for your time.

-Oh, yes, bloody funny(!)

-Do circuses earn any money these days?

-I bloody hope not.

He doesn't act like he's in a co-operative, does he, Michael?

And he is the ringmaster now.

How could he know they were Bert's feet inside those slippers?

Hang on, chaps, what if the Great Miraculo didn't die?

What if he just pretended to, leaving a random pair of feet inside his trademark slippers?

Why would he do that?

Well, what better way to get out of the money problems he was having?

Yeah, but then he would have had to murder someone else.

Exactly. Which is why we should be looking for missing persons in the Finsbury Park area circa August 1990.

But you're right about Michael. We should check him out and see if he's got a criminal record.

Well, let's say you're right.

It still doesn't solve the mystery of the locked caravan.

And we'd still have to prove that those feet aren't the Great Miraculo's.

And there's no way we can do that.

We can if we can find them.

-How?

-DNA.

-Won't work.

-Why?

-Well, even if we had the feet or the slippers to get a DNA trace,

we don't have any of Bert's DNA to compare it to.

No. But we do have his daughter.

Hello!

Oh, darling! How sweet of you!

You look much better.

-How's your arm?

-Well...

-That's really good.

-Oh, please! Don't patronise me. It's rubbish.

Oh, well, at least your speech has improved.

I'm sorry. I'm not a very good invalid.

When I came to see you the other evening, you kept talking about Dad.

-Did I?

-Yeah.

-How odd.

-Sandra, I need you to do something for me.

-Yeah, of course.

-In case something like this happens again.

-Oh, don't...

-When.

-Stop it.

No, I have to be serious about this, which would be a first, I admit.

There are some papers in my room at the home.

Well, actually, there's a power of attorney document.

Strokes run in the family.

-Great(!)

-I'm just trying to...

-I need some more clothes, anyway.

-Yes. It's all right.

I'll get some stuff.

Thank you. No wine?

Any joy? On the search?

We've, er, trawled through missing persons in and around north London in August 1990, but nothing.

OK, try June, July.

Spingles' weren't in London then. And Miraculo wouldn't keep a corpse in his caravan for a month.

And Mr Ringmaster, aka Michael Meadowcroft, is clean.

He's even got a bravery award for saving some drowning girl.

Oh... PHONE RINGS

Brian Lane, UCOS. Oh, Gerry.

Er...

Where are you?

Just finding me feet.

Or should I say Bert's?

The mortuary.

No, I worked out why the slippers weren't with Forensics.

It's because the feet are still in 'em!

Why would you want my DNA?

Cos we need to be certain that your father's remains are his.

-Why wouldn't they be?

-If your father was killed,

we'll have to prove in court that any forensic evidence is 100% correct.

OK. Do you think...

Would it be possible for me to see what's left of my father?

Does that sound a bit weird?

It's just...

I just feel the need to connect to him somehow, to know what happened to him. That's all I want.

What else have I got?

-What?

-DNA results are back. Christy Berlin and the feet.

Sounds like a band.

Bert and Christy aren't related.

Yes! I knew it! Bert's still alive! I told you.

Right, keep checking Missing Persons and then find out who was with the circus at the time of the fire.

-See where they are now.

-What, all of 'em?

Yeah. They're in the case file. God, that picture's hopeless.

-Haven't you found a new one yet?

-Here, I'll chase it up.

No, hang on a minute - there might be somebody who's got his photo.

- Mrs Pearce? Mrs Oona Pearce? - Yes. - Hello. I'm Detective Superintendent

Pullman. This is Jack Halford. We're from the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad, Metropolitan Police.

Yes?

We need to talk to you about Bert Dignam.

Well, that's a new one.

No! No! No!

You have to leave.

You can't stay here.

-Are you all right?

-My boys will be back any minute!

Oona, we really need to talk to you.

All right. All right.

But not here. Not now, please!

Well, there's a tea shop across the river - Maids of Honour. I'll see you there in an hour.

Thinking about your mum?

No, my dad, actually.

It's bizarre, but I know this place.

-I used to come here when I was a little girl on Saturdays after riding lessons.

-Get away!

-Yeah.

Dad used to bring me here as a treat, for chocolate eclairs and lemonade.

She's here.

-Hello.

-Can I get you some tea?

No.

- Feeling better? - What do you want from me?

We're re-examining Bert Dignam's death.

What has it to do with me?

You had his child.

Is that so terrible?

My husband is Head of a Catholic boys' school. He doesn't know about...

How old were you when you had Christy?

Eighteen.

My parents were devout Catholics.

And very strict.

When I was seventeen, I ran away.

To the circus.

Bert took me on as a dancer.

I was very naive.

What happened when you got pregnant?

It was terrible.

My parents...

I gave the child up for adoption.

And you've never seen her since?

-I can't!

-We don't seem to have any photos of Bert. I don't suppose you happen to...

-No.

I'm sorry, I can't help you.

Well, we know it's not suicide, and we know somebody killed somebody.

But how the bloody hell did they get out the caravan?

You made that, didn't you?

-Yeah.

-PHONE RINGS

-Oh, get that for me, will you?

UCOS?

No.

Hold on.

Shock School of Motoring?

Shock School of...? Yes?

No, you've made a mistake. Sorry.

Put that down!

-Hi.

-Any luck?

No. No pictures and no help.

Told us her story of her life.

Very unhappy but ends up rich. Tea, anyone?

Yes, please. You, Brian?

July 1990. Spingles' Circus was in Norwich, St Albans and Reading,

and the only thing that went missing around that time was the rain.

August 3rd 1990, hottest day on record.

-Gerry? Any joy?

-No.

All I got is that Joey the Clown's real name is Sidney Etherington and the Magnificent Martita is in fact

-Millicent Crabbe.

-No wonder they changed them.

Look, if Bert still is alive, he could be anywhere.

No. You're not going to fake your own death in order to save something and then just abandon it, are you?

Well, there's only four of 'em left now from those days. There's Michael, Joey...

-Hm!

-What?

Well, in 1990 there's absolutely no mention of the amazing Antonio.

-What, no footballing dog act?

-Nope. No, they've got horses, monkeys, budgies even, but no dogs.

He wasn't there. They lied.

Are you saying Antonio could be Bert?

Well, if he is, then Michael, Martita and Joey all know about it.

-OK, but how would you prove it?

-DNA.

-No. No, he'd never give it willingly, and we can't force him.

-Why not?

-No!

-Oona.

She'd recognise the father of her child.

Yeah, but we'd never get her there. No, the best thing we can do is go

back to the circus and see what we can find out without being to obvious about it.

It's all right, Jack, you don't have to come.

Oi!

What, you think Bert might have had a sex change?

Michael said he had a thing about dancers. Maybe he still does.

Oona, I'm sorry I had to insist on bringing you down here. Oona!

Oh, please, let's just get on with it.

Jack, what's going on?

I rang and asked to speak to her husband.

Well, don't worry, I didn't.

Well, at least I gave her a lift.

Hello!

What are you doing in here?

I was waiting for you.

Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you.

It's the middle of the final rehearsal.

Yeah, but you don't go on again till the end, do you? I was here the other night.

Oh, I loved what you did with those boxers.

This caravan, it's amazing!

It's old.

It's a bit like Bert Dignam's.

And all this stuff!

Do you collect all these animals?

-Well, sort of.

-Yeah?

-We always have animals.

-Oh, hello.

Is this you? You were a strongman.

-Yeah.

-Who are all these?

My dad's family. The Lascelles.

-But all animal acts?

-My family could do amazing things with animals.

-So how come you were a strongman, then?

-That's from me mum.

She was a Pietrie.

Well, they were all strongmen.

You see, exotic animals became less popular.

-It wasn't, er...

-..politically correct.

-Yeah.

Things changed.

A lot of circuses closed.

-Are you sure you don't want one?

-No, thanks.

-You all right?

Yes. I'd forgotten how much I...

-Do you recognise anyone?

-One or two.

Oh, you mean Bert? No.

What about Antonio?

-Antonio?

-We were told he was with Spingles' from the beginning,

but we now know there wasn't an Amazing Antonio back then.

That's because his stage name wasn't Antonio before.

Because he was Geraldo, the Great Geraldo.

-Circus strongman.

-What happened?

Well, he says he got ill. Arthritis.

-I told you, it's already finished!

-Christy, please!

We're too bloody late! This is your fault!

You remember Christy. Er, I mean Ms Berlin.

-How could you?

-I didn't know, Oona.

-How?

-Oona!

-How could you do this?

-Oona, I promise you.

-Oona? Oona?!

-Christy, come on!

-Stop! Wait!

-Don't turn your back on me.

-Christy!

-You have to talk to me!

You can't just run away.

You're my mother!

Was that Oona?

-Yes.

-So who's the young lady?

That's, er Christy Berlin, Oona and Bert Dignam's daughter.

Oona?

Oona, I'm truly sorry.

I swear I had no idea she was going to be there.

None of us did.

She's so...pretty.

Beautiful.

Whoa! I haven't been that sick since I entered a pie-eating competition in Margate.

If I told you the exact contents of your average donner kebab...

-Yeah, thank you(!)

-Right, thank you.

I still don't understand what Strickland and Christy were doing there anyway.

-I don't think she trusts us to do the job. Or him.

-Thank you.

Antonio Lascelles was called the Great Geraldo because there was

already a strongman called Antonio, from Latvia.

What kind of a stunt did you think you were pulling last night?

Or was that how you did things in the good old days(?) Get a bunch

of traumatised people together, watch them scream and shout and then see how the pieces fall?

No, sir, that isn't how we used to do things.

We didn't mix our metaphors either.

It was a disgrace.

I should warn you that at the moment I'm still trying to determine what sort of disciplinary action to take.

Sir?

Could I have a word?

First, what happened last night was a direct result of Christy Berlin being at the circus, which neither I

nor my team could possibly have anticipated.

You brought her mother.

And secondly, at least none of my men are having a personal relationship with her.

You see, I did wonder how she knew about the lack of an accelerant on Bert Dignam's remains.

It's a very particular word, "accelerant".

So, as of now I'm also trying to determine what action to take.

I've been wondering if you haven't spent a little too much time with your more "experienced" colleagues.

Well, I like to think we learn from each other, sir. Constantly.

Your father's daughter!

Sorry, sir, what did you just say?

I didn't say anything.

Yes!

Now all we've got to do to prove whether Bert

is or isn't in the circus is to test all the men for DNA.

No. Strickland will never sanction that, not with the little we've got.

Oh, yes, he will. Course he will, now you've got him by the short and curlies.

Brian's very good at lip-reading.

So shall we say Spingles' Circus, Monday morning?

Yeah, go on.

'Attagirl!

-Have a nice weekend.

-Yeah. You too.

-Night, Sandra.

Jack? Jack?

Strickland just made a crack about my dad, something along the lines of, "You're your father's daughter".

What could he possibly mean by that?

Ah, just lashing out because he's put himself in your pocket.

He won't like that.

It's meaningless. Good night.

Good night.

Are you all right?

Look, it's none of my business, but I think you should know that

I am aware you are having a relationship with Rob Strickland.

I'm just wondering if the only reason you started the affair was in order to get this case re-opened.

Why else would I sleep with him?

You do know that his wife only left him last year? He's been pretty desperate.

-Oh, thanks very much(!) The word he used was "delighted".

-So you don't think you're being selfish, then?

Oh, stop it and listen to yourself!

Shock, horror, woman sleeps with a man because she wants something!

I suppose you're going to tell me you've only ever slept with

men to whom you've had a deep and long-lasting spiritual commitment?

Look, the one chance I have to find out who I really am

and where I came from rests on a 17-year-old unsolved police case.

And you think I'm being selfish?

Is your father still alive?

-No. He died when I was fourteen.

-Right.

So you had fourteen years with him, then.

Lucky you.

Actually the reason I came here today was to tell you that your father may still be alive.

The feet - the remains don't match with your DNA.

Now the bad news is we think your dad faked his own death,

which means that he substituted someone else's body, ie he killed someone.

I don't believe you.

-You're lying to me.

-Afraid not.

I didn't think you'd take your bike.

Yes, I rode the bike to the lesson and came back on it afterwards.

-Oh. Good lesson?

-Yeah, it was great.

-Y'know, hill starts, three-point turns - all that.

-Where, Zambia?

Or did you manage to park on the side of Vesuvius and have a little stroll round Pompeii?

You haven't had a lesson, have you? Not a single one!

-I've been on the phone to them.

-Darling, listen...

No, don't "darling" me!

And don't expect any dinner, either.

In 40 minutes' time you are having a two-hour driving lesson,

and you can pick up some fish and chips on your way back.

Bollocks!

Oh, you'd think I'd bred an elephant.

I suppose it's the flat feet.

I brought you stuff I thought you'd like.

Oh, that look.

Go on, what have I done wrong now?

I spoke to my boss on Friday - Robert Strickland. You've met him.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, rather good-looking.

Divorced. Available.

-Do I hear the sound of...

-Stop it.

..crashing disappointment?

Now, there's no way that he could have known Dad, is there?

At his age?

I hardly think so. Why?

I did something he didn't like at work and he said to me, "Like father, like daughter".

Now, why would he have said that?

No idea. It sounds like nonsense to me.

No, Strickland never talks nonsense.

OK. So tell me,

how did Dad die?

What?

My dad. Your husband. Gordon.

-How did he die?

-You know how he died.

It was a heart attack.

Not according to this.

I found it amongst your things.

"Carbon monoxide inhalation".

Or suicide, to be precise.

So I presume that's what he shouldn't have done in the car?

You didn't find that in my things.

It was in a sealed envelope. You were prying.

And you've been lying!

You've lied to me since I was 14.

All that time, all those years, all those people

I met who must've known the truth. It makes me look like a complete idiot.

Welcome to the club.

Why didn't you tell me?

Why have you never told me the truth?

-He was your father.

-You've had thirty years!

You loved him.

How could I tell you?

What good would it have done?

He was your father.

So what happened to make him do it?

-I don't know.

-You must have known. Was it something between the two of you?

-No!

-OK, work? Something at work. What?

-I don't know.

I knew there was something wrong, but he couldn't talk about it.

Why not?

I don't know.

I promise you. No-one would say.

Oh, look, Sandra, please don't keep asking me. I don't know.

Ah!

Brian, is it?

I'm Brian, too.

Brian Tweedie. First lesson?

Don't worry, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Come on, let's get you sat in the driving seat, then, now. That's it.

Careful on the road. Go on.

Right, then.

You're in very safe hands.

Let's start with the basics.

HORN BEEPS

Very good. Very good, Brian. You see?

It's just about confidence.

-Confidence, Brian.

-Exactly.

Right, let's try a left turn, shall we? Now remember, mirror,

signal...

-..manoeuvre.

-Manoeuvre.

Ah!

Are you sure you've never been behind the wheel before, Brian?

Never, never, never, never, Brian.

Never. I mean, I've sat in a car, of course.

And Esther, she drives,

so I've watched her.

When she decided I should have lessons, I started to observe friends and colleagues,

but no, I can promise you, this is the first time

I've ever been in charge of any form of motorised vehicle.

Brian? Brian! Oh, bloody hell!

No, Brian! Brian! No! Brian! No, Brian!

Heart attack.

Heart attack. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Heart attack! Heart attack!

Sandra?

Phoof!

Had a drink, have we?

Sandra?

Oh, bloody hell.

Oh...!

ENGINE REVS

Mirror, signal, manoeuvre.

Hello.

Is this your car, sir?

No, no. This one isn't, no.

-Have you been drinking, sir?

-No. No.

-Can I see your licence?

Oh! How did you get on?

Don't ever ask me to get behind the wheel of a car again.

Yeah, I'd like the police service record for Detective Inspector Gordon Arthur Pullman, please.

He died in '75.

Bow.

He was based in Bow.

I'm sorry. Yeah, it's Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, UCOS.

Thank you.

Bye.

Brian told you.

-I'm sorry, Brian.

-I'm not.

I hate cars.

I take it he also told you about my dad.

-Sandra, listen...

-I thought I knew him. I thought...

Hey, hey.

Let's go to work, eh?

Thanks, Brian.

And so far no-one's refused to be tested?

Nobody. I hope you're satisfied.

-Christ, if this doesn't work...

-I know.

Oh, please let it be him.

Now that WOULD be funny.

-What happened to my father? Where is he?

-Oh, shit!

-What happened to him?

-OK, Christy, that's enough.

I have a right to know! Somebody here knows!

-Will you just tell me?

-I have told you!

The dead man is not your father! This has nothing to do with you. OK?

What are you looking at, you freak?

All of you freaks. Bloody animal!

Nice cup of tea, guv?

Yeah, cheers, thanks.

-Brian?

-Gerry, when have you ever known me refuse a cup of tea?

-Want a cup of tea, Jack?

-Yeah, cheers, Gerry.

Samples have gone to the lab. Should have the results in the morning.

Right. Just have to wait till then.

I can't imagine Oona running away to the circus.

-And having one of them as a boyfriend.

-For God's sake!

What?

Police Service Record, Detective Inspector Gordon Arthur Pullman. My dad.

Joined the Met in 1959.

Tell me his record, Brian.

I can't remember that far back.

OK, from when you do know, then.

Detective Inspector GA Pullman.

Vice, 1970-'72, when he won the Queen's Police Medal for bravery.

Serious Crime Squad, '72-'74.

Drug Squad '74 to 1975.

-Then what?

-Then he died.

What happened two days before he committed suicide, Brian?

-I don't know.

-Yes, you do. You know very well. He was suspended from duty. Why?

-I'd be...

-Say it!

He was under investigation.

For corruption. CIB.

And who was the officer in charge of that investigation, Brian? Hm?

Detective Chief

Inspector

-John Alan Halford.

-What?!

-Don't tell me you didn't know?

-Too bloody right I didn't!

Well, you'll just have to take that one on trust. So, Jack.

You knew my dad.

-I met him, yes.

-You investigated him, and then he killed himself.

So all those years ago, when you gave me my break in the Murder Squad,

that's because you believed in equal opportunities, was it?

Because you really rated me as a detective, regardless of what everyone else thought?

-Yes.

-Bollocks!

-Guv'nor, calm down...

All those years, you never said one word. You lied to me.

-I never lied.

-You lied by omission!

-Just because you didn't speak his name doesn't mean you weren't lying! You lied.

-Sandra!

-NO!

You lied to me and then you drove...

Your father killed a man.

He killed a small-time pimp called Ian Randle in Canning Town and he covered it up.

I never told you and I never told your mother.

But there you are. Now you know.

Your father was a good detective, very good.

But he made a mistake. It might even have been accidental.

But the cover-up wasn't.

Anyhow, shortly before I was due to arrest him,

I let him know that I knew, because I thought he deserved that much.

That was my mistake,

and I'm sorry.

I don't believe you.

I don't believe he was capable of that, cos I knew him and I knew what he was like. He didn't do that.

-You going after her?

-I don't think that would do any good.

So where ARE you going?

What do you want now?

I wanted to look at your eyes.

Brown.

Brown.

Christy's are blue.

Blue-eyed blonde.

There's only one great love in one's life, and it wasn't Bert.

Is that what you were so afraid of?

That you might still love him, Christy's real father?

No.

It's that I betrayed him.

Did you ring her? Sandra?

Yeah. No answer. I left a message.

All right, I give in. What are we doing here?

I went to see Oona. Christy's mum.

We talked about Christy's dad.

-Yeah, Bert Dignam.

-No. That was the name she put on the birth certificate.

Having to confess to her parents she was pregnant was bad enough,

but there was no way she was going to admit she didn't know who the father was.

-You're kidding?

-She said it was Bert because he was the circus owner.

I suppose it sounded better than "strongman".

Hello, Antonio.

We'd like to ask you a few questions About you and Bert and Oona.

Let me put some clothes on.

Now let's get this straight. Antonio is not Bert?

-He's not the Great Miraculo.

-No.

So who's dead?

Bert. Bert's dead.

Right. OK. So what happened?

That's what we're about to find out.

Jesus! Antonio!

-No, don't go in.

-Antonio! ..What are you doing?

-No! No!

-Jack!

-Jack, leave it!

-Jack! Jack!

Somebody get a fire extinguisher!

-Thank you.

-OK, well,

you should be OK now. Just keep an eye on the chest.

Well, Antonio's not too bad, amazingly.

The doc says he's even OK to talk.

OK. That was a very stupid thing to do. What were you trying to prove?

I'm retired - I don't have to prove anything.

-Guv'nor, erm, Oona wants to see him.

-Well, let her.

-I think it might help.

-OK.

You're a very lucky man.

So you killed Bert Dignam?

He was going to close the circus.

And that justified murder, did it?

We argued in his caravan.

I tried to make him change his mind, but he said I was an idiot,

that I didn't even know that he'd slept with Oona.

I hit him.

Once.

Then what did you do?

He still had a cigarette burning in his hand.

I just turned on the gas.

Then I left

and got Minnie to lock the door so no-one could get in.

-Minnie?

-A monkey.

Minnie was really clever.

She locked the door and got out through...

..through the skylight in the roof.

I waited. Nothing happened.

The gas had run out.

But I couldn't get back in.

Then through the window I saw Bert had caught fire.

Why did you want to kill yourself?

Antonio?

I didn't know about Christy.

Beautiful.

But she took one look at me and called me a freak.

An animal.

I had a daughter who thought I was an animal.

I loved you, Oona.

I never loved anyone else.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Cheers, thanks a lot.

-So, crime passionelle, eh?

-Uh-oh.

-I hear there was a fire.

-Yeah. Yeah.

Your mother and your father are in there.

Right.

Well, well done. Good work, all of you.

Thank you, sir.

OK, I'll finish up here, and we'll do the rest tomorrow.

-All right. See you tomorrow.

-Good night.

-Good night.

Cheers, Brian.

Jack?

You're wrong.

About my father.

You're wrong.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2007

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