Vera

What are you, a girl?

Come on. Play something real, man.

Sssh! There's someone...

Here.

Right you are.

Hello?

He's come off that edge into the water.

A bunch of sixth formers on a residential at the activity center saw it happen.

Tried to get him out, couldn't find him in the dark.

Divers pulled him out this morning.

And he was burning? Give us a bell around lunchtime.

I'll have more for you then.

New phone - you've got your own ringtone.

What?

Billy?

Fire burns upwards.

Lowest point of burning gives you the point of ignition.

In this case - here.

- Burnt from the feet up. - No wonder jumped.

Must have been in agony.

Ma'am.

Gideon Frane. Extreme sports fanatic. 25 years of age.

Parents live abroad. They've been informed. No siblings, no partner.

Well, how come we've got so much on him so fast?

- All the intel's come from the fella who runs the place. - Jim McKinnon.

He ID'd the body.

Cannot stop talking, according to Kenny, with the shock.

Or guilt.

No, his alibi's good.

Aye. According to Kenny.

Is there anything else you remember a all?

That's all I saw, really. It happened pretty quick.

How's she handling herself. - Shep? Good.

I reckon the military police's loss is our gain. Oh, aye.

We've got statements from the kids who witnessed it.

Same story from everyone. They heard an altercation and then saw him... on fire.

School's keen on letting the parents take them home.

And you thought you'd spend your first day

learning how the coffee machine works, right?

Private school, is it? Yeah, St Finan's.

They had the whole place booked out for the sixth form.

What was Gideon Frane doing here?

Apparently, he invested money in the center a while back.

He spent all his time off here. He even kept a yurt in the grounds.

You know, one of those Mongolian tents.

Time off from what? Investment banking.

Hm. Well, let's go meet Kenny's talkative friend.

We were going under. Bailiffs literally... at the door.

So Gideon saved your center from ruin.

Oh, no question. No question.

It wasn't just the money, it was the ideas.

Turf 'N' Surf.

Treetop adventures, along with coast-steering, diving.

We were planning a via ferrata. Make Coniston look like a kids' playground.

Yeah, and you last saw Mr. Frane?

Tuesday evening, seven o'clock. 1900 hours.

I know because I was meeting some friends in a pub and was running late.

I asked if he wanted to come but he said he was going back to the yurt.

The thing is, I know it's going to come out so I'd rather tell you guys now.

Nothing hidden or concealed, like I said to your man.

I'd rather lay it all out, everything. And then you'll know.

Know what, Mr. McKinnon?

The planning office said no.

After everything Gideon had done for us, I was scared to tell him.

So... I put it up anyway.

The yurt?

It's illegal.

Only got to see a police officer and they start confessing to anything

from losing a library book to cheating on their missus.

We're gonna be hours sifting through that lot.

Still, I'll check out that investment of Gideon's. Right.

Make sure there's no motive in it.

It looks like a fight. Hm.

But what set him alight?

So the fight starts inside the yurt and then moves outside.

And then either accidentally or on purpose,

Gideon's assailant gets him into the fire pit.

No, his shoes weren't burnt.

Maybe he wasn't in it long enough for his shoes to burn, you know.

Just for his combat trousers to take light.

Wasn't she at the adventure center?

Hello, love.

I'm Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope

from the Northumberland and City Police.

We were just up at Craith.

I thought everyone was being picked up by their parents.

I didn't want to bother me mam. Be fine on the bus.

We can give you a lift. What way you going?

It's... it's really kind of you, but... I'm still a bit shaky.

Yeah.

I was planning on having a cry at the back of the bus.

You don't have to be worried about crying in here, love.

My sergeant does it al the time.

Come on.

Hop in the back.

Sorry. Here you are, love.

Ah, I don't blame you.

It's a difficult thing. It will take a while to settle.

It was just so sudden. We heard him shouting and then...

it probably only lasted a few seconds.

It's coming up on the left.

Do you want us to come in with you? Let your mum know what happened?

I'll talk to her later.

When the little ones are in their beds.

(BRAKES SCREECH)

Ruben, run. Run fast, she's coming after us.

How many times has Mam told you? It's a road!

I'm really sorry. Thanks again for the lift.

Was Alex there? Did he like your hair?

Where's their mother? They could have been killed.

Maybe she's at work.

Can't all be your Celine

homemade fairy cakes, towels that match the soap.

There's no need to sneer.

I'm not.

I'm just saying, 17-year-old girl witnesses a murder.

She has to get the bus home cos she doesn't want to bother her mam.

Maybe it's not a murder.

Till we've got something concrete to go on, it could be anything.

Accident, misadventure or spontaneous human combustion.

Anything.

Wooh!

Whoa! Wooh!

Whoa!

Gideon Frane.

Now we know who he was, what he did for a living,

and that he loved extreme sports.

What we don't know is how and why he came to be alight.

But more importantly, we don't know who he was arguing with

before he appeared on fire on the edge of the cliff, so...

Where do we start looking?

Investment banker? Nobody's favourite profession at the moment.

There's something about burning. It's personal, sadistic.

People hate bankers as a group, not as individuals.

Well, all the same... Mark, get on to the FIO.

Let's check out any groups,

activists who might have targeted someone like Frane.

What about Jim McKinnon? The money that Gideon invested in the center.

No, I checked. There's nothing going on there. I'm with Joe.

Even if this was just a fight that took a wrong turn, I think it's personal.

So, let's keep coming at this from both angles.

Personal and professional.

Joe, Kenny, I want to know who was in the vicinity of that adventure center.

Teachers, pupils, center workers. Dog walkers, stargazers, everyone.

And, Shep, I want to know who he worked with, who he socialised with.

Who he slept with. (LAUGHTER)

McKinnon said he didn't have a partner. Maybe not a partner, but...

if I was built like that I'd not be wasting time.

Get back to McKinnon, then. Oh!

That interview - that was a station record.

That man can talk for England and breathe through his arse.

Get him talking about Gideon Frane's sex life, then.

Now, come on, everyone, let's give ourselves something to go on.

Shep. (PHONE RINGS)

Ma'am?

Has Kenny done something to his hair? Mm-hm. New woman.

Billy.

Lungs, full of water. He drowned.

I blame the coat. It's polyester and duck down.

Went up like a Roman candle and took in water like a sponge.

Might as well have gone swimming in a burning duvet.

Not that I've ever tried, mind.

Flaming bedding, that's a bit niche even for me.

Would he survived without the water, without the drowning?

First and second-degree burns over 60% of his body, it's doubtful.

I need to know why he was burning, Billy.

I need to know if I'm looking at accident or intention.

Doing my best for you.

Yeah, I'll call you.

(GASPS) No!

Joe? Kenny got a name out of Jim McKinnon.

Gideon Frane used to date a girl called Izzy

about a year back, a hairdresser.

I think I've tracked her down. Right.

City Centre Salon. Apparently, it's a late-night opening tonight.

(LOW CHATTER, MUSIC IN BACKGROUND)

Northumberland and City Police.

- We were hoping to have a word with one of your stylists. - Izzy?

I'll see if she's free. Thanks, love.

Hey. What have you done to your hand?

Cor, here, look at that.

Sausages - all full of bloody water these days.

Can't put them near an oil pan.

What are you doing frying stuff? You what?

The doctor gave you all of those diet sheets.

Are you like this at home?

Cos the kids will be leaving as soon as they've scraped up the bus fare.

Can I help you?

Izzy? Yeah.

Izzy, I'm Vera Stanhope, Northumberland and City Police.

This is my sergeant Joe Ashworth.

I believe you used to date a man called Gideon Frane. Is that right?

Yeah. Yeah, I did.

Have you had any contact with him since you stopped seeing him?

Are you being funny?

My file must be a foot thick with all the incidents I've logged.

Isn't that why you're here?