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01x04 - Episode 4

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Ludwig". Aired: 25 September 2024.*
Watch/Buy Amazon


Reclusive puzzle setter John "Ludwig" Taylor adopts the persona of his successful twin brother, Detective Chief Inspector James Taylor, in order to solve the mystery of his disappearance.

01x04 - Episode 4

Post by bunniefuu »

How was your day?

Someone m*rder*d a
tour guide in a church.

I mean, in terms of our investigation.

Well, I've actually been looking
over the original crime scene.

No, John, what you were
supposed to do today

is get closer to DI Carter.

This Russell character
magically appeared

at the exact same time
as James vanished.

I was engaged.

She died.

Her name was Mandy Ziegler.

A-As in...?

Helped to fast-track my transfer.

That's all I've ever asked of him.

The Sinclair case

is Roger Sinclair.

Single man, disturbed a burglar,

who k*lled himself in a
panic of self-preservation.

Sinclair was a conspiracy theorist,

and a pretty batty one at that.

I have been looking into this guy
they arrested, Rhys Bowen.

He lives with his mother.

He was with me that whole evening,

as I told the police,

but they wouldn't believe me.

He's dead! I was supposed
to talk to him today.

What if they knew that?

The man was facing life in prison
for a crime he didn't commit.

Shadowy figures

orchestrating a suicide

inside a guarded prison cell?

No, it's too much,

i-it's too big.

MUSIC: Symphony 5 in C Minor
by Ludwig van Beethoven

All right?

SHOUTING

Oh, my God.

Marty! Marty!

John, wake up.

Argh! W-What you doing?

The famous detective awakes!

Congratulations. Page five.

That's me.

Not according to that it isn't.

According to that, it's
"supercop" DCI James Taylor.

"Supercop?" Is that what it says?

What on earth were you thinking?

How's this my fault?

I didn't know I was going
to be in the paper.

You gave them a quote, John!

"As with most
investigations of this nature,

"it was simply a case of
whittling down the variables."

That woman was a journalist?!

Who did you think she was?

A fan?

You can't go plastering yourself
all over the newspaper like this!

God only knows who might
have seen this.

Maybe Dad has.

And if he has,
maybe he'll get in touch.

Oh, Henry, you don't understand,

we have to be careful
about this sort of thing.

Why? Because he told us to?

He also told us to leave town.
We didn't do that, did we?

If he sees we haven't been
following his instructions,

maybe it'll force his hand.

Bring him home.

You do want him to come home,
don't you, Mum?

Henry!

Forget it.

Oh, it really does say "supercop".

Have you got anywhere with that
cypher in James' notebook?

Anywhere at all?

Great. Good.
So, since you've been here,

you've solved four murders and not
a single letter of that thing?

James is a lot cleverer
than most murderers,

not to mention me.

James is no cleverer than you.
He never was.

He's just much more...

You know what I mean.

Look, the cypher's a puzzle.

Solving puzzles is
literally what you do.

I need the source code.

Well, work out what
and where it is, then!

Look, like it or not,

you and James think in the same way.

Where would you hide it?

Probably in plain sight.

Right, well, look there, then!

OK.

Can I get up now, please?

Yes.

I'm in my pyjamas.

Do me a favour, John.

Don't solve any murders today.

I'll try really hard not to -
I promise.

Health and safety.

Can't let you in without it.

Right. Do they work?

Was he wearing one?

Well...

Guv, it's almost certainly
a workplace accident.

Let's just get it over with,
get it passed on

and get back to the station.

Morning, Guv. Sir.

Sergeant Finch is trying
to access the CCTV.

There are plenty of cameras
dotted around the site.

Staff-wise, there were
only five others here

at the time of the incident.

I don't think that's quite right, sir.

Do you mind if I...?

Here, let me just... Let me just...

Don't twist it. It goes round the ears.

- Five, including you?
- No, it's just...

- Did you see it?
- No, but I heard it.

THUD

Marty! Call Connor!

- No, careful! Argh!
- Oh, sorry, sir.

- Ow! Oh, sorry, sir.
- I think it's a hair.

- Yeah, well, OK.
- Yes, yes, constable.

I think the DCI can manage.

Why don't you go and
take some statements?

And perhaps you can take
us up to where he fell.

"Up"?

You scared of heights, Detective?

Nobody's ever given me
a good reason not to be.

LAUGHTER

Running off a skeleton crew
at the moment,

at least for phase one.

It's a budget thing.

I promise there'll be some
more hands down the line.

So, who were the other four
on-site this morning?

Er...

Er, well...

It's that lot down there.

I'm going to need a list of names.

Well, I can give you the rota.

You've got Gary Jennings.
He was on the mixers up here.

DISTANT THUMP

Marty! Call Connor!

Er, Zara Bassett, Ojay Turner -

they were next floor up.

Pretty much right below where he, er...

DISTANT THUMP
THEY GASP

Sorry, excuse me.

- T-That sign had a skull on it.
- What?

Oh, yeah, yeah, don't worry about it.

This platform's fine.

I'm not actually sure why that
was up here - it wasn't meant to be.

And then there was Stefan.

Polish kid.

He got the worst of it.

He hasn't been here that long.

He actually saw it.

And what about the deceased?

Er, Martin Symes. What can you tell us?

Marty? Not a lot.

He was a hard worker, good laugh.

Bit of a lad.
A wind-up-merchant, you know?

Absolute tragedy.

There you go.

That's where he fell.

What was he actually doing up here?

Beats me.

According to the rota,
nobody should've been.

Look, the bolts have worked loose.

I mean, he must have
leant against it and...

Well, it certainly looks like
an accident, don't it?

Good. Agreed.

Can we go back down now? BANGING

- What are you doing?!
- Nothing, I was just...

Looks like the fuse
has blown on this thing.

Like we haven't had
enough setbacks already!

More skulls.

Why don't they just say, "No entry"?

Why do they have to be so
graphic and portentous?

Actually, that one's not
meant to be up either.

It isn't?

Guv, is everything all right?

Can we please go back down now?

Ah, there you are, sirs.

Not much help, I'm afraid.

Didn't catch the accident.

This here's the last footage,
at around 6am.

Nobody was even on-site then.

They're motion sensitive.

Fox probably set it off.

Listen, is this going
to take much longer?

Look, I know you've got a
job to do, but so have we.

I've got half a dozen workers out
there sat around doing nothing.

Look, they're all shook-up,

but they want to work.

And we're on a tight schedule.

I'm afraid that's the
least of your problems.

What? What do you mean?

Well, for a start, one
of them is a m*rder*r.

So, not an accident? Are you sure?

Absolutely.

Well, there certainly were quiet
a few things that don't add up.

Like the warning signs
blocking various paths.

They're missing from the
CCTV earlier that morning,

meaning someone must've
put them up afterwards,

when there were only
five people on the site,

all of whom claim it wasn't them.

Is that it?

Well, yes.

Oh, no! There's the generator
thing up where he fell!

That had been deliberately
tampered with,

completely re-wired.

How do you know that?

Well you don't have to
be a trained electrician

to know that red goes in red,
green goes in green

and blue goes in blue.

This was all over the place!

Red was in green, green was in orange,

I don't even want to think
about where blue was going!

It was m*rder.

Believe me, I wish it wasn't.

Yes, well, I wish it wasn't, too!

You'll be tied up for days now.

No, I won't.

There's only five suspects.
It shouldn't be hard.

Goodness, that article really has
gone to your head, hasn't it?

No! Well, I mean, it's always nice
to get positive feedback, but...

Oh, no, that computer woman's here.

What computer woman?

Holly Pinder.

She almost caught me this morning.

Caught you doing what?

Going through the Sinclair report.

Shift, I need that computer.

I need to install an update on it.

In fact, I need to install updates
on half the ones in the station,

so if you don't mind.
COMPUTER BEEPS

Er, just a second.

Just a second.

Er...

Wow.

That must've been some
serious porn you had on there.

LAUGHTER

Are you laughing?

No, sorry.

OK, good. Because I don't think
this woman likes me very much -

or James anyway.

She's always giving me funny looks

and sarcastic answers to
perfectly normal questions.

Well, that could be a John thing
rather than a James thing.

I mean, let's be honest,

you've had funny looks and
sarcastic responses all your life.

Oh.

No, I didn't mean that.
I was just saying...

No, no, it's fine,
you're probably right.

I'd better go.

Ooh!

Look, I've nearly lost a day already.

I'm not interested in any of that, OK?

This happens to be a crime scene
that you're busy cementing over,

and I'm ordering you to stop.

You can't order me to do anything.

Oh, she can. She's really good at it.

- Well, you are.
- Oh, here comes re-enforcement.

Look, this has already been
cleared by your gaffer, all right?

So you take it up
with him if you need to.

Her.

Him, her, whatever.

Listen, love, I've worked
sites like this all my life

and I've seen a million
accidents like this one.

- And yet they keep employing you!
- What?

You two, head back
to the station, please.

Sir.

We need to talk to everyone
that was on-site this morning.

Well, we're not downing tools.

Heaven forbid.

"Listen, love"?

I really hope he did it.

It'd bring me great pleasure
to arrest that man.

Yeah, but it's my turn, isn't it?

You said it was my turn!

What?

This ain't coming off
our breaks, is it?

It's just a few questions.
HE HAWKS

All right. Well, you'd better
get on with them, then,

cos it was obviously an accident.

It's not something we want
to talk about too much,

- cos it could've been any of us.
- It wasn't an accident.

Yeah, the foreman mentioned you.

What is it you're saying?

Do you think he was
pushed or something?

We certainly need to
explore the possibility,

if only to shut it down.

So, a good place to start
would be if either of you

know of any reason why someone
might want to harm Marty.

Aside from the fact that he was
an arsehole, you mean?

Christ, Zee!

Look, I wouldn't wish
this on my worst enemy,

but he was an arsehole.

- She used to go out with him.
- No, I didn't.

I went on one date
with him six months back,

cos he wouldn't take
"no" for an answer.

- I think it was a bit more than a date.
- Really?

Is that what he told you all, is it?

Like I say, arsehole.

Look, you get it, all right?

He was a bit of a lad.

He worked hard, played hard -
just loved winding people up.

He was harmless.
It was all in good fun.

Tell that to Stefan.

Marty's idea of winding people
up involved convincing them

they were about to be deported.

Stefan Kaminski?

Yeah. Yeah, Marty had been whacking
over a load of emails to him,

saying he was from immigration

and talking about
work permits and that.

Had Stefan completely convinced.

Why on earth would he do that?

For a laugh.

- No harm in it. It was a joke.
- How is it a joke?

It doesn't follow any of the normal
or traditional structures of a joke,

not as I've been led to
understand them anyway.

I guess everything's a joke as
long as you're not the butt of it.

And I'm guessing you never have been?

Guess again. He once
had me totally convinced

that our syndicate had won the lottery.

Made a ticket up and everything.

I was this close to asking
my girlfriend to marry me.

It was a lucky escape.

- Yeah, you're telling me.
- I meant for her.

You see, that's a joke.

You set up a false premise,
then you subvert it.

So, when did you both
get on-site this morning?

Seven-ish, for a 7:30 start.

And did either of you see Marty?

No.

Well... not until it was too late.

- And what about you?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I saw him. I spoke to him.

Yeah, I told your little bobby this.

Only reason I was on
the mixer this morning

was cos Marty wanted to swap with me.

I was meant to be on riveting.

Wait a minute, are you
saying that you were supposed

to be up there, where he fell?

No, riveting's on G5. That's F6.

I don't think anyone was
meant to be up there today.

Sorry, G5, F6?

Oh, the site's divided up into zones.

There's always a rota up
when we get here,

but we often just chop
and change between us.

But if you're all
always swapping around,

how does anyone know what
anybody else is doing?

Sort of just becomes second nature.

Instinctive. Yes, I see. Like ants.

- Excuse me?
- Well, in a nest or a hive

where there are thousands
of organisms...

So, would either of you
happen to know which zone

we can locate Stefan in right now?

Marty did apologise.

Ojay made him.

Too right I did!

Stefan here spent a solid week

convinced he was being
booted out the country.

I don't mind a joke, me,

but this is a dangerous job.

Yeah, you don't want to be operating
heavy machinery next to a guy

with a head-full of that sort of worry.

And... when exactly was this apology?

Yesterday.

End of shift.

- I said it was OK.
- And was it?

Doesn't matter now.

No.

I mean, nobody wanted this.

Someone did.

So, did either of you
see him this morning?

Yeah, spoke to him
first thing as it goes.

We were both in early.

He was whinging about the rota.

Wasn't happy with all
the swapsies going on.

Although he still
tried to swap with me.

I said, "No."

How about yourself? Did you speak
to Marty at all this morning?

No. I saw him, though.

Twice.

First time was about ten minutes
before the accident.

I was on brick-laying.

Tried to take a short
cut between E1 and H1,

but there was a sign blocking my way

so I had to go find
another way to get round.

Marty was up on the third floor -

testing the pneumatic riveter, I think.

So, you say you saw him twice?

When was the second time?

Oh. Yes, of course.

I'm sorry, that must have been...

It was.

I've never seen another man die before.

It was so...

..sudden.

One minute, there was this...

..empty space before me and...

And then suddenly...

BANG

Er, Guv?

Guv!

Oh, er, sorry.

What is this, please?

What do you mean, "What is it?"

It's a chute, isn't it?

A chute, yes.

Where does it go?

It goes down.

You going to fill me in
on exactly what it is

we're looking for here, Guv?

Whatever is in it, of course.

The top of it is right next
to the crime-scene itself.

So it's possible that something...

Look, do you think we
could start calling it

the "incident location"?

Only I'm starting to think
more and more that...

Aha! There! See? What do you call that?

It's a plastic bottle.

It's for a water dispenser.

There's several dotted around the site.

Yes, but what's it doing in here?

It's a skip.

Traditionally that's
where you put rubbish,

like empty plastic bottles.

Or perhaps it was a full plastic bottle

when it was taken up there,

then an empty one when it
was dropped down the chute.

Someone poured it onto the generator.

You must've noticed
how wet the floor was.

That could've been...

You don't really expect to be
able to move a two-tonne skip,

do you, Guv?

- Well, I was going to give it a go.
- Yeah.

Oh, no!

That's no good.

That's no good at all!

What? Oh!

Guv, wait.

Wait, Guv.

Oi! Run, Forrest!

LAUGHTER

Guv, I really do think we
should entertain the possibility

that this was an accident.

Excuse me! Where...?

Where do you think you're taking that?

That's evidence, isn't it?

- They can't take away evidence, can they?
- "Evidence" of what?

It's a burnt-out generator,
like I told you earlier.

What are you doing?

- You've pulled all the wires out!
- Yeah, to move it.

They were all in the
wrong place anyway.

Well, can you put them
all back again, please?

Put them back?

In the wrong place?

Forget it, I'll do it.

Er, it is safe?

Of course it's safe.
It's completely dead.

What's he...?

He can't actually remember

where each and every one
of those wires went?

Oh, believe me, he can.

There!

Are you a trained electrician?

- As a matter of fact, I am.
- Excellent.

If this was wired like this
and wasn't already dead,

what would happen if you turned it on?

Well, the fuse would blow.
Which it did.

And what would happen to the
person who pressed the button?

And let's assume, for
the sake of argument,

that the generator was wet at the time.

I don't know, they'd
get a very nasty shock,

but it wouldn't k*ll 'em.

Just knock them backwards,

straight into a safety rail

that had already had several of its
bolts deliberately worked loose?

Ahem. OK, then.

I want that generator taken
back off that truck.

- Listen, mate...
- No, you listen, mate.

This is a crime scene,
that is evidence.

It is not leaving this site.

And you're going to come with
us and answer some questions.

Understood?

Thank you. Guv.

So, this is everything from his locker?

Yeah.

No idea what we're
supposed to do with it all.

Well, given your keenness to
remove evidence from the scene,

I'm surprised you didn't just chuck it.

Oh, I see.

So, I do my job,

arrange for a burned out
generator to be replaced -

like it should be - and suddenly
that makes me a suspect?

You're a suspect because
you're one of only five people

who could've committed the m*rder.

This is a Ludwig.

A what?

Hmm?

Oh, he's a world-famous puzzle setter.

Quite the legend in his field.

These puzzles have all been done.

Well, maybe some of the lads have
been doing them on their break.

Really?

None of them seemed very puzzle-solvey.

- Sorry?
- All right, moving on.

You said earlier you didn't think
anybody was on the site at 6am,

when the cameras went off.

What time did you get here?

Half past.

Nobody else was here.

Well, somebody was.

Because somebody had spent
the previous half hour

setting up the
Rube Goldbergian sequence of events

that would eventually
lead to Marty's death.

Unless that somebody was you.

What?
CONNOR SCOFFS

I don't even know what
Ruby-Golden-whatever is!

Have you ever played Mouse Trap?

The board game?

Hasbro, 1963?

- No.
- Really?!

You've missed out.

What's he...?

Don't worry about him.

So, who was the first person
to arrive after you?

I should think it was Marty.

I didn't speak to him.

I was on a call.

At 6:30 in the morning?

I was checking out flights
if you must know.

Look, it's got nothing to do
with your investigation,

so I would appreciate if
you kept this to yourself.

But I've been offered an
interview for a new job,

overseeing the construction
of a luxury hotel.

- Abroad.
- "Abroad" where?

- Las Vegas.
- I shouldn't have thought so.

I suspect that was just a joke.

A joke?

Yes. People are quite cavalier with
the definition of that word here.

Email, was it?

Does rather fit Marty's MO, I'm afraid.

- A joke?
- Yes.

Unfortunately for you,
one that gives you a motive.

Although, unfortunately for us,

it's the same motive as everyone else.

Which is very inconvenient.

What motive?
What are you talking about?

I believe one of your employees
summed it up earlier -

Marty was an A-triple-asterisk-hole.

This whole rota thing
of yours is ludicrous.

How does anyone make
head or tail of it?

You've got someone who's supposed
to be on G4 going to H1,

someone who was meant
to be at C3 going to F6,

and someone from A1 who's gone
so far down the alphabet,

I'm surprised their zone's
not in hieroglyphics.

Let me ask you something, is
there a single person that works

on this site who is ever
where they're supposed to be?

Doesn't look like it, sir, no.

They chop and swap at will.

No rhyme nor reason to it.

Madness.

Right, I've got it open.

I've gone right through it.

This guy had a lot of email accounts,

all under different names.

I found your deportation papers one.

And the fictitious Vegas job.

I then did a data-mine
on all his social media.

He had a lot of accounts there, too,

but none in his own profile.

Some are men, some are women.

All the photo's have been
nicked from somewhere else

and all the names have been made up.

Hmm, he was a catfish.

You, er... You do know what a
catfish is, don't you, sir?

I think you and everyone
else here knows full well

that I'm about to state incorrectly
that it's a type of fish.

Well, it's someone who pretends
to be somebody they're not.

I'm going to go through all
the accounts he's targeted

and see if any more of your
suspects are amongst them.

Thank you, Holly.

Guv, do you want to...?

Hmm?

- Guv?
- Oh, er, yes.

So, the m*rder was
surprisingly well-planned...

..considering...

..but there was still a fair amount
of evidence left behind -

the re-wired generator,
the pool of water,

the loosened bolts.

And who's all this evidence
pointing to, sir?

I don't know yet.

So, how is it evidence?

Sergeant Finch, is there
something you'd like to get

off your chest?

Yes, please.

May I? Thank you.

OK, correct me if I'm wrong, sir,

but presumably your theory is that
the k*ller set this "deathtrap"

up on the fourth storey,

and then manipulated
or coaxed the victim

into walking into it?

- Yes, that's right.
- Ah!

Oh, no. Well done.

So, how did they guarantee

that nobody else
would walk into it first?

Our k*ller just wouldn't just
have to manipulate the victim -

they'd have to manipulate the movements

of every single other person
on the site, too.

Is that even possible?

Of course it's possible.

It is possible, isn't it, guv?

I-It's possible, yes.

But presuming that
our k*ller was someone of

very high intelligence.

But they'd have to be a genius.

Guv?

Could it all just be a coincidence?

Could what all just be a coincidence?

Is it possible that it really was...

..just an accident?

What? What are you talking about?

You know it wasn't.

Guv?

You know it wasn't.

DOOR CREAKS Light!

Light, light, light!

No, I'm not asking you to...

Off! Turn it off! Turn it off!

You can't just walk in
here, you know that.

The sign wasn't up.

Well, I thought that
you were out all day.

I was.

- It's nearly five.
- Is it?!

Yes, it is.

Have you heard anything?

- "Heard anything"?
- From Dad?

The article in the paper?

- Oh, no, I doubt your father...
- So you haven't heard anything?

I would've told you if I had.

Would you?

You never told me that he left.

I thought we'd had this conversation.

I'm sensing that you
have had a bad day.

You're not the only one.

It will be OK. Your...

- Uncle John...
- He is not my dad!

You might be able to
pretend that he is,

sitting there on the bed reading
the paper together, but I can't!

- Go to your room.
- Come on, Mum.

- I'm 15, you can't just...
- I said, "Go to your room."

LUCY SIGHS

Hi.

Have you been crying?

No. Allergies.

What are you allergic to?

Life.

Yes. Me, too.

Fine. We'll worry about
you, then, shall we?

What if I can't solve the cypher?

What if I actually
can't do any of this?

James is cleverer than me.
He always has been. He...

He's always better
than me at everything.

John, has something happened?

This building site m*rder.

I can't solve it.

It seemed planned but also sloppy.

Evidence everywhere indicating
that it wasn't an accident.

But that was no mistake.

They just didn't care,

because they knew
I could never prove it.

So it's a game to them.

They're just laughing at me.

Like they always did.

"Always did"?

Yes, they're just a
grown-up version of all the kids

that would bully me at the bus stop.

Nothing's changed.

John, what are you trying to say?

I'm trying to say that I'm not
the smartest guy in the room.

I'm not even the smartest guy
on a building site.

So, who am I?

Well, a bit of a snob
judging by that last comment.

Apart from that, you are
someone completely untrained

who's just solved several
murders without batting an eye.

Perhaps I just got lucky.

You don't believe in luck!

You're the only person to have
ever found a four-leaf clover

and not even want it.

The four-leaf clover?

You remember that?

Vaguely.

I gave it to you in the end.

You were going to laminate it
and keep it forever.

Yes, well, I was a
sentimental idiot back then.

Don't say it like that. You still are.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

DISHES BANG

Ahem!

KNOCKING

Oh, it's just you.

What's up?

I think your mum is cross with me.

Yeah, I think she's cross with me, too.

I highly doubt that.

Don't touch that!

Sorry.

It's just, I'm in the middle of a game.

Who with?

Oh, I see.

Not that we really played it together.

He'd just sort of come in while
I was asleep and move a piece.

I'd wake up the next day, move another.

Which side are you?

Black.

So your last move was
knight to queen one?

Yeah.

How did you know that?

It's difficult to explain. It's...

It's a type of puzzle
called reverse chess.

I invented it actually.

You're presented with a board
in the middle of a game

but, instead of having to
work out what comes next,

you use maths, probability and reason

to deduce what came before.

It didn't really catch on.

Nobody could ever solve them.

Your mother is crying in the kitchen.

What?

Er...

And you've just left her there?

I'm not good at dealing
with that sort of thing.

Chess, on the other hand -
I've always been good at that.

One game I could always
beat your dad at.

That and Mouse Trap.

Is she crying because of me?

No.

Nor because of me.

She's crying because
she's frustrated, scared,

and the person she wants to
take it all out on isn't here.

I expect you can relate to that.

Mum?

Henry, please don't.

I can't go another round.

I'm sorry.

You have nothing to be sorry for.

Neither do you.

Thank you.

Don't get used to it.

Right, then - let's start with one
central, and indisputable, fact.

This wasn't an accident.

This was a m*rder.

And an especially
ingenious one at that,

so... well done.

Marty Symes was led to
his death by a series

of supposedly impromptu rota swaps

guaranteeing that he would be the
one to end up by the generator.

And the genius of it all -
and it was genius -

was that k*ller's manipulation
of all your movements

was tertiary at best.

Most of you were inadvertently
manipulating each other.

- What?
- The k*ller,

with an impressive
level of psychological insight,

accurately predicted who would
swap with who and in what order,

leaving his or her own
machinations hidden.

If it helps, I've prepared
a practical demonstration...

..I think.

Constable Evans, did you...?

Oh, er...

Yes, sir.

Excellent.

Now, if all this is starting
to sound like a game -

that's because, in essence, it was.

You were all pawns.

And by a happy coincidence,

your impractical grid system here

contains exactly the
same number of squares as...

What is this?

Well, it's a chess set, sir.

I had to go to the garage.
It's all they had.

They had loads of Connect Fours.

We'll keep that in mind for
any future cases, Constable.

LAUGHTER

My little girl's got that set.

Right, then. You should like this.

It's a criminally
under-appreciated form of puzzle

known as reverse chess.

We start with the end-game
and we work backwards.

Marty Symes last move was to F6 -

ie, the crime scene.

The rest of you,
you wound up in these spaces,

where not one of you was meant to be.

Meaning that the game
had already been played

without any of you knowing.

So let's play it again, shall we?

Backwards.

Marty found himself up in F6

because the riveter in G5 had no power.

But he was only in G5

because he'd swapped with Gary from C3.

And Gary only wound up in G5

because he'd swapped with Ojay from F4.

Which should have left
Gary here with Stefan in G4,

except Ojay had asked
Stefan to swap with Zara in H1.

Which leads us to the only
move that really counts -

the first one.

The one that started
the sequence of events

that eventually led to Marty heading
off to the pneumatic riveter,

a pneumatic riveter that was,
itself, powered by a generator

on the fourth storey.

Or rather, in this instance,
not being powered by it.

Which of course was further
manipulation by the k*ller,

designed to move their
target one storey higher

to what my colleagues colourfully
referred to as a "deathtrap".

A generator that had been
deliberately re-wired,

railing bolts that had been
surreptitiously loosened

and an 18-litre bottle of water
that had been poured out

around the base of the generator

and then disposed of
down the nearby chute.

And the rest, as they say, is tragedy.

Ah!

And all from just one move.

The opening gambit.

Yours.

Wait, what?

You don't think that I had
anything to do with this?

Of course not. You were just the
first piece to move, that's all.

But it wasn't your hand that moved it.

Was it?

You were meant to be in H1.

You did swap with me.

Insisted on it, I would wager.

So...

Look, I ain't going to pretend like
I followed a word of that, mate.

But what I am going to
ask is why the hell

I'd want to k*ll Marty?

Quite why anybody ever wants to
k*ll anyone is a mystery to me.

I've certainly never wanted to.

But since you ask, I'm going
to go with pride and arrogance.

I do believe that you took the "joke"

of the lottery win in your stride,

even if you embarrassed
yourself slightly by

proposing to your
girlfriend as a result.

Almost proposing to my girlfriend.

No, actually proposing.

Our computer woman
has seen the messages.

I was wondering, through...

when exactly did you discover that
you never even had a girlfriend?

That it had just been Marty all along?

We've had all the IPs traced.

We know you were one of
Marty's catfish victims.

Even though you were
using a fake profile

and photo yourself.

Yes, ironically, you thought
you were catfishing "her".

In fairness, making the
joke a lot more layered

than I gave it credit for.

OK, well, if you must know,

I caught a glimpse of his phone
on a break, saw the profile.

So, what? He was pranking me
while I was pranking him.

It's not a reason to m*rder, is it?

Not for a normal person, no.

But you're not a
normal person, are you?

You're a man of enviable
intellect who hides it all

behind spitting and
saying "mate" a lot.

A man who couldn't bare
to be beaten by someone

so much stupider than him.

That's it?

That's my motive?

That's the motive of
a complete sociopath.

Yes. It is.

Right, you going to
bring this little chess set

to trial with you, are you?

Oh, no, we've got some actual
real evidence to go along with it.

The water bottle that you
disposed of down the chute

was tested for DNA.

Sergeant Finch got the results back
this morning, didn't you, Sergeant?

Yes, sir. It's a match.

All right. What was that, then?

The bottle I took from that
drinks dispenser over there?

The empty one that
I chucked in the skip?

From the fourth storey, via the chute.

Nah, mate. From the ground,
via my hands.

Never even been up to F6 - not once.

Your move.

My move.

Yes.

Well, come on, then!

Right, then.

Dispose of this for me, will you?

You don't really expect to be able
to move a two-tonne skip, do you?

I thought I'd give it a go.

Congratulations, Detective.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Checkmate.

I believe this is yours.

I signed it for you.

Constable.

Right.

Er, that's not the foreman,
though, is it?

- What?
- Oh, no, it's just...

It was supposed to be my turn.

Gary Jennings, I'm arresting
you on suspicion of m*rder.

You do not have to say anything,

but it may harm your defence
if you do not mention,

when questioned, something that
you later rely on in court.

DOOR CREAKS

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Signed confession. Case closed.

It was DCI Taylor.

I can assure you that's
no longer an issue.

Yes, sir.

What have you got there, then?

Nothing.

You know, it's the craziest thing.

I've been doing a security
sweep on all our systems,

and do you know what I've found?

Chief Constable Ziegler

has been accessing a lot of files
lately from your computer,

even on the days he's not been there.

So, how do you suppose he did that?

Don't worry, I've wiped the system.

Why would you do that?

I don't know.

But I won't do it again.

LAUGHTER
MUSIC PLAYS

Hello.

Oh, dear. What's the matter?

The computer woman knows
what I've been doing.

- What?
- Using Ziegler's log-in,

accessing files I shouldn't be.

But she's covered it up,

wiped it all from the computers.

So, what does that mean?
Is she a goodie or a baddie?

I don't know.

But I'm going to find out.

What's all that?

Ah, it's for the cypher.

I've already made a start.

I'm going through it all page by page,

book by book,
night after night if I have to -

no matter how long it takes.

You haven't given up, then?

Of course not.

Why would I?

I'm really good at this.
Don't you read the paper?

Right, speaking of homework...

Good lad.

Homework, my arse.

Do you fancy taking an hour off?

We could watch a film. You can choose?

I-I'm all right, thanks. I...

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

What do you think you're playing at?!

I'm not sure?

I saw you in the paper!

Why are you back there?

I mean, what the hell do
you think you're doing?!

James?

I'm sorry, it's a really bad line.

I...

Who is this?

PHONE BEEPS

KNOCKING
Come in.

Oh, James just got a funny phone call

from a funny phone number.

Who? Who was it? Was it him?

No, it was some man.
Well, what did he s...?

Sorry, what are you doing?

Well, you're in your, you
know, nightie. I don't...

Why don't I get up, and you go
and make us both a coffee?

What's going on? What's happening?
Somebody's called?

Oh, no. It wasn't Dad.

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.
You go back to bed.

John, you'd better make
that three coffees!

Sub extracted from file & improved by
Se7enOfNin9 for addic7ed.com

Ah, there you are, Guv. Let's go.

- Go where?
- Back to school.

BELL TOLLS

SCREAMING

Looks like a suicide.

There's even a note.
Head of English, eh?

Two double negatives, no apostrophes.

James' phone has been cracked.

Someone's tampered with the software.

Ah, Mr Todd?

It's Taylor, Sir.

Yes! I remember the Taylor boys!

Jacob and... Joshua.

No, sir, James and John.

That's right!

The nutty professor.

I wouldn't listen
to much of what he says.

I do hate bullies.

- Are you police?
- Detectives, yes.

What, both of you?

This week was supposed
to be a new beginning.

Oh, I've got it.
It's an address in Wales.

You're not going to go, are you, Mum?

How did you... get my number?

KNOCKING
Lucy? What are you doing here?

MUSIC: Ode To Joy from Ninth
Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven

♪ Freude, schoner Gotterfunken

♪ Tochter aus Elysium

♪ Wir betreten feuertrunken

♪ Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!

♪ Deine Zauber binden wieder

♪ Was die Mode streng geteilt

♪ Alle Menschen werden Bruder

♪ Wo dein sanfter Flugel weilt! ♪