A Touch of Cloth

There's been another murder. Albert Stafford. God, no!

Aargh!

Aiden Hawkchurch.

High-flying chef to bed-bound human casserole.

Some kind of sex game?

Maybe later when I finish pointing at blood.

Aargh!

Patron's a Gavina Duntish, female, 32.

Come on, Clare, stop playing games!

I need results, Cloth. What the French call "r-r-resultes".

Clare Hawkchurch is in the clear

but someone's killing former jurors on the Bradstock case.

I'll speak to the boys down the station, see what the boys down the station are saying.

Yeah, good. Des, we need everything on Burton Bradstock. Case, files, trial reports. Sound, guv.

And pull the names and addresses of every juror on that case.

We need to get them into a safe house. Clare Hawkchurch too. Asap.

Yes, guv. Asap, get me some kind of a sandwich.

Cheese and pickle? Yeah. No, cast the net wider.

Coronation chicken. Ciabatta, if you have to. Let's think on your feet.

I'm on it, guv.

Yeah, the boys down the station.

So there's a link between our three victims. No, thanks.

Three victims? That's right.

Would you explain it like I'm some sort of viewer, guv?

It's simple, Des.

Albert Stafford served on the Bradstock jury. Someone's bumping them off.

I say we're dealing with a serial killer.

What we need is...

proof.

Starts with? Oldmun?

Oldman. Albert Stafford.

Served on a jury with Aiden and Clare Hawkchurch.

And Gavina Duntish. Burton Bradstock case.

What do we have on Bradstock?

Er... Burton Bradstock. Jailed '96 for killing his wife.

Released three weeks ago for not doing it since.

Albert Stafford was murdered two weeks and six days ago.

So Bradstock is our prime suspect. Where's that list of jurors?

Boys down the station say it's not on the system.

It's in the paperwork somewhere but there's a lot of it.

I'm gonna call my laptop, tell it I won't be home tonight.

Guv.

Oh!

Do a lot of late nights?

Nothing much to rush home for.

I told you I'm working.

Yes, it's important.

Yeah, fine, whatever. Gemma?

No, Gemma...

Gemma? Short for Jeremy?

No.

Gemathon? No.

Gemadict? No.

It's Gemma as in... Gemma.

So, you're gay? Bi, Jack.

No, don't go. It's none of my business.

I'm bisexual, Jack. I'm not ashamed.

I just thought you'd be...

I don't know.

Shocked. Nothing shocks me.

A female detective that swings both ways.

An AC/DC DC. See?

It's the sort of thing the boys down the station joke about.

I'm not laughing. I haven't laughed since my wife died.

Why did you laugh when your wife died?

Oh, I didn't. I made a sound, I think, but it wasn't laughter.

It was...

something else.

Like a bassoon?

I lost my mind that night.

I can see it.

I can still see it.

Jack?

Jack!

No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o...!

Jack. Jack. Jack.

Jack? I've found a list. A list of jurors. A list of jurors from the Bradstock trial.

It's written in some kind of a... code.

Upside-down writing. We learnt it at the academy. Here.

All these people are in danger. Start dispatching officers.

Wherever these people are, whatever they're doing these days,

we round them up now.

Yes? Andrew Preacherman?

DC Qureshi. Can you come with me, please?

What for?

I'll explain on the way to the station.

Guv? It's me.

Des. Yeah, yeah.

Jurors are in the safe house.

Yeah, WPC Cutout's gonna be keeping an eye on them.

Oh. And, guv, Natasha rang.

She's run some tests. Turns out Albert Stafford was killed with a sword.

Same murder weapon used on Aiden and Gavina.

Yeah. Yeah, she did tell you earlier but that scene got cut.

So, just to clarify,

the key thing is all the victims were killed with the same weapon,

which was a sword.

Apparently, that's important.

All victims, same weapon, sword.

Just so you know.

Good work, Des. Bye, love you.

Well, they're out of harm's way for now.

Bradstock's still out there just walking around like a man.

We're gonna have to find him somehow.

Public appeal? Not to me.

Negative.

So, if anyone has any information regarding Burton Bradstock's whereabouts,

they can call our incident room in total confidence.

OK, I'll take your questions now.

Judith Chandler, The Independent.

Do you have a personal message for Burton Bradstock himself?

If I had one thing to say to him it's, "Stop killing people." OK, next?

Robin Stork, Birdwatching Now. Were there any birds found at the scene?

No.

Woman with the hair? Jemima Symes, Rhyming Times.

Were the victims gored with a type of sword?

Well, that's one line of enquiry.

Which you can... put in your diary.

Right, well, I think that's enough for now.

Dick Hasty, The Interrupter. Why are you trying to wrap up this press conference?

That's really all I have to say. Mark Down, Market Trader.

Do you want to buy this Dictaphone? No.

Conor Tinuity, Lexington Inquisitor. Where are you going now?

To see a retired former detective raking leaves in his garden.

Is that enough for you? Will he have gloves on?

Yes. What colour? Blue!

Satisfied?

Cloth? Detective Inspector Cloth, these days.

They made you a DI?

Wonders never cease.

Good to see you, DCI Ball. Oh, call me Bill now, Jack.

I didn't have you down as the gardening type.

Oh, compared to the old days it's genteel.

I like that.

Still, I caution the odd starling now and again for old times' sake.

Heh. But mainly I tend the plants.

But I guess you haven't come here for gardening tips, have you, Jack?

What do you remember about the Burton Bradstock case, Bill?

That's a name I hoped I'd never hear again.

You didn't see my appeal on the news, then?

No. Or the one on Crimewatch?

No.

Or Paul O'Grady? No.

Or Made In Chelsea? No.

Or Total Wipeout? I don't have a television, Jack.

Bradstock's out, Bill. We need to know where he is.

Oh, forget about it, Jack.

Some things are best left in the past.

Like smallpox, and the Macarena.

You ran the investigation, Bill.

Anything that you can tell us might help.

It was high profile.

A young woman was killed in Coldblood.

At the time, Coldblood was a quiet little village.

Everyone was up in Arms. Arms was the town where they were based.

We needed a result fast.

Burton Bradstock was the fall guy.

Lee Majors was The Fall Guy. Not this time.

We embellished a few witness statements, lost some evidence.

Mimicked the DNA sequence with a nucleotide fabricator.

Burton Bradstock went down. Everyone was happy.

Oh, Jesus, Bill! Don't judge me, Jack.

It was 1996, for God's sake.

Babylon Zoo were number one for five weeks.

People needed hope. We gave it to them.

By framing an innocent man?

No wonder Bradstock's out for vengeance.

You'd better watch out for yourself, Bill.

Don't you worry about me, Jack.

I always keep my eyes open.

Bradstock's out for revenge. Killing jurors is just the start of it.

Oldmun? Oldman. Yes, guv.

You and Hairihan check the cheap hotels, the flophouses, the shit caves,

anywhere he used to hang out.

Use a montage if you have to. Just find 'im.

You seen this man?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

No!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

All right, girls? Have any of you seen this bloke?

No. OK.

Anne.

This is the hardest thing I've ever had to say.

I've tried so hard to make things work but I can't go on.

You live for the job.

It's like I don't exist.

Even now as I'm saying this, you're not even listening,

You're just standing there staring at a sheet of paper,

thinking about the boys down the station.

Did this note come from the boys down the station?

I can't do this any more.

Pick up suitcases?

Carry on with this relationship.

You'll have to do it alone from now on.

I'll always love you, Oldman.

Gemma, wait.

Have you seen this man?

Jack, where are you?