Inspector Lewis

As the bible says, "Bear ye one another's burdens

and so fulfil the law of Christ."

To do this, Charles Williams promoted the concept of Coinherence

which held that we are all spiritually connected and can, through ritual, share suffering,

ease one another's burdens.

For example,... guilt.

But not intellectually or theologically,

something much more real, practical.

No, no, honestly, no need to help.

- What do you want with all this junk anyway? - Not sure.

Forgiveness is not a solitary affair.

It can be and is a shared experience

because through active engagement with the Holy Spirit,

it's not only Christ who can forgive sins so can we!

Don't be so naive! I mean, how is it literally possible to become as Christ?

Well, because we are made in God's image --

- Mumbo-jumbo! - In your opinion. Not one the rest of us happen to share.

Really, Williams was a minor theologian, no academic --

It's in his favour, then -- less arrogant and patronising.

- Coming from you, a tattooed freak! - Come on, guys. Come, come. Let's just calm it.

So much for forgiveness.

Come here, give us a hug.

See you later.

"Please leave your message after the tone."

Gina!

The victim is a college dean, Phil Beskin.

What's a college dean doing right out here?

He must have got here late. He was giving a talk in town on one of the Inklings.

Oh, aye, which one this time, Tolkien or Lewis?

Charles Williams, the third Inkling. Baskin was a bit of an authority.

Blunt trauma to the back of the head, skull crushed.

One fell swoop by the look. Round four or five o'clock.

- SOCO found a mobile phone on the ground and... - Maggots!

Yup.

If this happened just a few hours ago, there's no way that the maggots come from the corpse or the raven.

Well, it's staged, intended to be found.

"And know this that the summit of art is the raven,

who flies without wings in the blackness of night and the holiness of the day.

That's a new one on me.

Are they making a statement or a warning maybe?

A kind of ritual killer.

I think this might have something to do with alchemy.

Turning lead into gold.

More than that, it's the precursor to modern science.

It's understanding the secrets in nature to unlock the mysteries of the universe.

Ambitious, then.

Or it's a spiritual thing converting the lead of ignorance into the gold of enlightenment.

Gentlemen, on my way in. How's it going?

Ah, good. We just started.

- So, what have we got? - Body.

A body?!

Well, that's all we do have... ish!

Don't wind Moody up. That's my job.

- How's your dad? - Well, he's not getting any better. Is he?

Go and see him.

- What happened to you last night? - I was burning the midnight oil.

Phil's talk inspired me so I thought I'd make some changes to the text.

- Phil won't be happy. - Phil doesn't bother me any more.

- Why do hangovers get worse the older you get? - Too long between sessions. The trick is to keep drinking.

- Phil Beskin? - Yes, so I spoke to the landlord at the Waterman's.

He confirmed that the usual group were in there after their talk.

There was trouble but it was hardly Battle of Helm's Deep.

You were right about alchemy. That quote is from a 17th Century German alchemist.

The question is what's it got to do with murder?

Or Charles Williams? Did Charles Williams write about alchemy?

No. Theology, supernatural novels. He was a mystic.

Details of the phone found at the scene. Belonged to the victim.

The text came through at 4.37am.

"At Boar's Hill. Going to end it all."

Suicide or a threat to...?

From someone called The Lioness.

- Let's get onto the service provider and get a real name. - OK.

Lioness, what's that, a girlfriend?

There's quite a few on here -- "the butterfly, the serpent, the eagle."

As long as they're not all pubs.

New Zealand was Laura's idea to be on hand for the birth of her niece's baby.

Mine to see a bit of the world while we're still young enough to enjoy it.

- Far, far too late for you. - Less of that, thank you.

Is it just you two or family, as well?

Just the two of us, I hope.

So, what do we know about Phil Beskin's wife? Is she expecting us?

No. Grace Beskin works in the college library. Beskin is an engineering science lecturer.

Very popular with the students on account of his late-night drinking.

- Pastoral care at its best. - (PHONE RINGS)

Yeah?

OK.

That was Maddox. She's got a lead on our Lioness.

Local girl Gina Doran, goes out with a student from Phil Beskin's college -- Nate Hedeson.

You do Gina. I will do Grace Beskin.

I'm here to see Grace Beskin.

Mrs Beskin, my name is DI Hathaway.

Very sorry to hear of your loss. I'm afraid I have a few questions for you.

It's not a great time right now.

Who are you?

His sister. Any idea who killed him?

Not yet, hence the need for questions.

Dax and Annapurna Kinneson. If we can help...

- Really, anything. - Thank you.

- We should postpone this evening. - No, Phil would have wanted it to go ahead.

- Would he? He might not have approved of your changes. - He would've been fine.

The point is, as he said in his talk,

it worked for him and you've waited long enough.

We had an early supper and then he went to do his talk.

That was the last I saw him.

- And you weren't aware that he hadn't come home? - No.

He was always out all night. I was at the talk and the pub.

They were still going strong about midnight when I left.

- So, you weren't at the talk, is that correct? - I'm not a great Williams fan to be honest.

My faith is rather simpler than my husband's.

Butterfly, lioness, serpent and eagle are all characters in Charles Williams' The Place Of The Lion.

Yeah. I'm the serpent, apparently. Phil's idea of a joke.

- Have you any idea who the others are? - No.

I gather your husband got on very well with his students.

Phil wasn't great with boundaries.

In other words, the students ran rings around him.

- There's a fine line between sainthood and being a mug. - (SIGHS) - What? It's true.

Are you familiar with a Nate Hedeson?

Phil was worried Nate's love life was interfering with his studies.

- They'd had words. - Recently. - Er, the last couple of days.

- Your husband's talk. - Please help yourself. - Thank you.

Oxford students and a local girl. I thought that wasn't allowed.

Where there's a will there's a way, Lizzie.

- (KNOCK AT DOOR) - <Mr Hedeson?

Hello!

Miss Doren?

Gina?

- Phil's dead? - Someone killed him up at Boar's Hill last night.

He was responding to a text that you sent him.

You said that you were there and you were going to harm yourself.

I don't think I can remember and I can't find my phone.

How did you get the cuts on your arms?

Er, climbing through the window, I guess.

- Was your boyfriend with you? - No.

- Where did you go? - College bar from about eight and The Hopper later.

Gina!

Gina?

Look, she crashed out in her shoes but I don't see any mud or grass on them, do you?

Where we found Phil Beskin was muddy so they'd be covered.

- She could've cleaned them. - What, in her state?

- She managed to climb through a window. - Yeah, but cut herself to pieces in the process.

- Gina! - Nate Hedeson by any chance?

Yeah.

- Shall we all get some fresh air? - Yeah.

Phil was a brilliant bloke. Everyone thought he was great.

Except you apparently?

I gather you had words with him about your love life, your relationship with Gina.

- Was that a problem? - No, I got that he was doing his job.

To be honest, we just ignored him anyway.

- So, where were you last night? - At a friend's, Sam's.

- I was with you all night. Wasn't I, Sam? - Yeah, sure.

- Sam? - Langton. - Me and Gina had a row. I went to Sam's to let off steam.

- What was the row about? - Usual stuff.

I knew she'd come back. I couldn't face another slagging match.

And you were here in college all night? You didn't go out?

I wish. No money.

Not very good for you, you know, binge drinking.

What are you, my dad?

Why did Phil Beskin have your number on his phone? You're not a student.

Phil was on my case because he thought I was getting in the way of Nate's coursework.

It still doesn't explain why your number was in his phone.

Or why he has a pet name for you. "Lioness."

I dunno.

But he was concerned about me as well as Nate.

- Why? - No particular reason.

Just because he was a nice guy.

College barman confirms Gina was in there.

The porter escorted her off the premises around about 10ish.

Barman at The Hopper recalls her there. Both mention she'd had a skinful.

- (PHONE RINGS) - Don't judge me, all right? - Yeah? - Believe me, I'm not.

I am going to need to take your top to establish for definite whose blood that is.

A college dean doesn't immediately strike me

as the most obvious person to have a tattoo like that somewhere like there.

I don't know, I like a man with a tattoo.

Is that alchemical?

I don't know, three in one, Holy Trinity?

That's your department.

Are you looking forward to your trip?

Imagine six months with no corpses. Whatever will I do with myself?

But you shall have Robert.

My family can't wait. They've always wanted to go to South-East Asia.

Joke.

- Thanks for covering. - No problem.

- Anything you want to tell me? - Don't think so.

- Very enigmatic. - Learnt that from you.

Hi.

- I'm so sorry about Phil. - (SNIFFS)

- What are you doing with this? - He told me to read it.

Any good?

Not for me.

Charles Williams believed in a living, breathing spirituality in which we could all become as Christ.

Turn water into wine? Save me a few quid.

Stop it, Maddox. It's about forgiveness.

Because we are like Christ, we too can forgive all of the sins of the world.

Interestingly, Phil Beskin claims to have direct experience of how that works.

- Interesting? - By implication, he was guilty of something he knew he was being forgiven for.

He also had this tattoo in the middle of his chest. I want to know what it means.

Does it have to mean anything? Maybe he just liked the image and put it where he fancied.

I'll see you later.

- Have you ever thought of getting a tattoo? - No, I have not.

- One for the travels maybe. - I'll bear that in mind.