Ludwig

Night.

We've had this conversation before. I just...

Do you understand? No...

Goodnight.

KEYS JANGLE

LOCK CLICKS

DISCONNECT TONE

RADIO PROGRAMME PLAYS

BISCUIT CRUNCHES

BISCUIT CRUNCHES

PHONE RINGS

8-9-2-1-8.

Hello, John.

Lucy?

I know. And not even a birthday or anniversary.

I need a favour, a big one.

How big?

Pretty big. It's going to involve you having to leave the house...

..and get into the taxi that I've booked you.

"Taxi"?!

CAR HORN TOOTS

There's a taxi outside my house.

Lucy, why's there a taxi outside my house?

Uh, because I've known you since we were six years old.

Five and four months.

Meaning, I know, all too well, that the only way I'm going to get you

to travel the 140-plus miles to Cambridge is if I book you one.

And then, very annoyingly, refuse to tell you why on the phone.

What?! That...

That's ridiculous. Lucy, I-I-I can't just...

I'll match whatever you're making for dinner, like for like.

Given that it's Sunday, I am assuming...

..pasta.

Carbonara.

John... No.

Lucy I'm-I'm not...

Please.

JOHN INHALES SOFTLY

See you soon.

CAR HORN TOOTS

John Taylor?

Yes.

Hi, I'm Chris.

SEAT BELT JAMS Cambridge, yeah?

It's, uh, it's a long drive.

You the kind of guy who likes to talk

or shall I stick on the radio?

Radio it is.

SPORTS COMMENTARY PLAYS

Can you turn that off, please?

Don't get mud on your dad's new car.

Where is Dad?

He's been called in to the office.

Again.

But then he's off for Christmas and New Year.

Why are you so dirty?

PE.

Well, then, why isn't James?

Because HE didn't get deliberately pushed over.

ENGINE TURNS OVER

Hello!

It's the Elvis Presley of puzzle-setters!

See? You survived a taxi trip. Well done.

Henry!

The spare bedroom's all made up.

Three pillows, just how you like it.

Goodness, you travel light.

Yes, well, my packing time was somewhat limited.

It really is good to see you, John.

Hi, Uncle John.

Henry.

You're taller.

Yes, well, erm, teenagers do tend to grow over the course of a year.

Dinner in ten minutes.

Or five, if you're willing to set the table.

Off you go.

Right, now you've popped your bag down, maybe a good next step

is to take your jacket off.

Where's James?

Dad's away. He's working a case.

Lucy, what's all this about?

Maybe we should talk after dinner.

I-I think I'd be more comfortable knowing now.

Oh, come on, John, when have you ever felt comfortable?

And before you ask, no, I haven't sold any.

And, yes, I am still doing endless weddings and bonneted babies.

And, no, I most certainly am not artistically satisfied.

Wasn't actually going to ask you any of those things.

Uh, John, I need your help. Erm...

Henry doesn't know anything about why you're here.

Erm, I've told him you're on a work thingy, a convention.

So, a puzzle convention?

Yes. No. I don't know. Uh, I had to tell him something.

Maybe, erm...

Maybe you should sit down.

Don't worry, it won't give you tetanus.

So, it started a couple of months ago.

James was on some case, or other. Uh, I don't know.

I didn't ask. I never asked.

It was like some unwritten rule.

You know, your brother spent day in and day out

at some grisly murder scene or other.

But when he came home to us...

..then DCI Taylor ceased to exist

and he was, uh, just James.

Our James.

Lucy, why...why are you talking in the past tense?

Oh, I didn't realise that I was.

Uh...

Well, maybe it's because...

..for the last two months...

..OUR James wasn't the one coming home to us.

What do you mean?

I mean, he changed. Something about that last case changed him.

He'd come in, he'd barely communicate, he'd lock himself away.

I'd be asleep by the time he came upstairs.

Uh, he'd be gone by the time I woke up.

Until three nights ago...

..when he didn't come home at all.

And then, the next day I...

..received this. It's from him.

B-A-R.

Burn after reading.

It's sweet, isn't it? Do you remember when we were kids,

the three of us, we used to pass those notes through the fence?

DCS Shaw?

It's his boss. It's a letter of resignation.

JOHN MUMBLES

What does any of this mean?

Well, exactly what it says.

It's a list of instructions.

So, post the letter of resignation, and then get Henry, and just leave.

I mean, as you can see, he doesn't feel the need to tell me why,

or where we're supposed to go - just that I am to do it.

And that if anyone from his department

tries to contact me, then...

"Don't talk to them. Don't meet with them.

"Don't believe them."

That's it.

Now, does anything about that letter strike you as odd?

Yes!

Everything!

It's the single most terrifying thing I've ever read in my life!

No, John! That's not what I mean!

I mean... Look, John, you know me.

In fact, the only person who knows me better is him.

Would either of you expect me to read that, and then just go,

"Oh, I know. I'll what I'm told, and I won't think any further on it,

"I'll just pop off"?

Does that even remotely sound like me?

Not right now, it doesn't, no. And he knows that.

Which brings me to the big favour.

Uh, Lucy, I'm not sure...

Just... LUCY CHIRPS NONSENSE

OK. So, I went into his home office, looking for clues as to what

he might have been, erm, working on, and there's nothing.

He's been hid in there for two months - nothing to show for it.

Now, either he took his files and tatty orange notebook with him,

or it's in his other office.

The one at the police station.

Now, I can't access that.

In fact, the only person that can is James.

Or...

..somebody who looks remarkably like him.

No!

JOHN STAMMERS

It's nothing. It's easy. It is in and out.

Are you...?

No! Absolutely not!

I've been there, I know the layout.

You won't have to talk to anybody. Really?!

And if they talk to me? Well, just stick to small talk.

Just keep walking. What "small talk"?!

Have you heard my small talk?

This, right now, is about as good as it gets!

Look, I've met most of his colleagues.

I mean, I can brief you on all of them, certainly enough

to get through a piddly little visit to the office.

Just...just there and back.

Lucy, stop!

That would be illegal.

James wouldn't just abandon his family without reason.

He...he knows what that feels like.

If he's not telling you everything,

it's because he's trying to keep you safe.

This is how he does it?

You don't get it.

That isn't a letter that a husband of 20 years sends his wife,

no matter how much he's trying to protect her.

There's nothing personal in it.

There's no comfort.

No feeling.

It's more like the type of letter that...

That's true.

Maybe I shouldn't have involved you.

I don't know, I should, erm...

I love you.

Always have.

Oh...

I L-O-V-E.