The Bletchley Circle s01e01 Episode Script

1 Diederich Diederich Millie? Pass, friend.
Jean will have the vapours if she catches you out here.
- Jean doesn't scare me.
- She scares me.
Those personnel reassignments we just got- how were they encrypted? The last batch? Ultra.
Why? Diederich Spill the beans, Susan.
What's going on? Why aren't you girls working? Sorry, Miss McBrian, but there's a German Oberleutnant whose orders were part of the Ultra intercept and Susan thinks it's important.
Don't you, Susan? Well? I've seen him before.
He's skipping about all over the place.
Maybe he's Hitler's nephew on a sightseeing tour.
Why use Ultra encryption on personnel reassignments? Go on.
Lucy, he's Oberleutnant Dieter von Diederich.
Any other assignments? Oberleutnant von Diederich, 7th January, reassignment.
Berlin Central to 25th Infantry Division, effective immediately.
Oberleutnant von Diederich, 12th March, reassignment, Clausewitz, effective immediately.
Oberleutnant von Diederich, 24th March, battalion transfer order, 702nd Static Infantry Division, effective immediately.
Oberleutnant von Diederich, 3rd May, reassignment All right.
Even Hitler's nephew doesn't get around that much.
- Transferred to Clausewitz.
- Where is that? Nowhere.
There are no German towns called Clausewitz.
- Maybe it's a person, not a place.
- It's also a tank division.
He was transferred from infantry to tanks and back again, which is as daft as someone leading the showjumping because they're good at hockey.
So who is he? I don't think he exists.
I think he's a code within the cipher.
- Code for battle orders, you mean? - Perhaps.
Take it to the house.
- But I don't think - You do think it's real, don't you? You don't think it's a coincidence? - Oh, yes, I - Well, off you go, then.
I Know What You're Putting Down You've been ages! What happened? We had a bet you'd been court-martialled and shot.
- Well? - We were right.
It is a troop deployment code.
The battalion numbers indicate different geographical zones and Diederich is the order to deploy.
So now we know where the German Army's going to be in three days.
My cousin's in North Africa.
This could Yes.
It'll make a difference.
Well done all of you, I'm sure.
Now, get back to your digs, get some sleep.
Shift starts in seven hours.
Good night.
- You know the map they have up at the house? - Hmm.
With the markers for the armies? All those troops are on the move now because of us.
Not bad for a few ordinary girls in a tin hut.
Why are you laughing? "Ordinary girls".
You couldn't be ordinary if you tried.
When this is over, won't we have to be ordinary? I won't let you.
Now, shut up and go to sleep.
Mummy! We're home! And then Mummy says, "it's time for lunch, everyone.
Come inside".
Lunch at school was horrible.
Gosh, I'm sure it wasn't that bad.
It was spam fritters and tapioca.
- Snotty gobbles.
- Eurgh! I am going to have a lie down.
I've also got a sandwich if you'd like it.
This is BBC Home Service News at four o'clock And this is Alvar Lidell reading it Police have found the body of a fourth woman on waste ground in North East London.
The woman, who has not yet been named was discovered near Warwick Green and appears to be another victim Of the killer of Jane Hart Patricia Harris and Sophie Trent A spokesman for Scotland Yard said that there were many similarities in the cases and that they were extending their manhunt throughout the city Warwick Green? That can't be right.
Mummy? Can we go and play outside? Yes, of course you can.
Stay near the house, though.
Gap in the pattern.
Missed one.
Can we leave the table, please? Yes, of course you can.
How was work? Gruelling.
Stephens is reorganising the department, so everyone's on their best behaviour.
A lot of fuss and bother over nothing much.
Darling you know the Deputy Commissioner, don't you? - Wainwright? - Hmm.
Hmm, I served with him in the Royal Artillery.
I don't know him exactly.
Ermwhy? It's a funny thing, really.
You know I'm good with puzzles and brain-teasers, that sort of thing? I know you're the very devil with the cryptic crossword.
And you know that these poor girls they've found? Oh, sweetheart, why on earth are you thinking about all that horrible stuff? Oh, I don't know.
I do know, really.
The first girl, Jane Hart, she was a shopgirl in Soames.
- Right.
You remember her? - She must have served me a dozen times.
She was there and now she's gone.
There but for the grace of God AhSusan.
Don't be silly.
Look.
These girlsfrom what the papers say, they they weren't our type, not at all.
- Out on their own at night.
- But I couldn't help thinking about her.
Now I think there might be something the police aren't seeing.
I think there might be a fifth girl but they haven't found her yet because they don't know she's missing.
You know I'm good with patterns.
You really think that just by listening to the wireless, you can tell the police whereto look for a murder victim? Oh, yes.
- Timothy.
- Sir.
- Good to see you.
- Nice to see you too.
- Ermthis is my wife.
- Pleased to meet you.
Come.
Do come in.
Now, erTimothy says you may be able to help us.
Well, I hope so.
Ermay I? Of course.
Your first girl was found here, Jane Hart, in an Anderson shelter behind a disused terrace.
Yes.
Patricia Harris was found here, also Anderson shelter, this time on waste ground.
ErSophie Trent here, this time in a cellar of a disused building.
- Now, your fourth girl - I'm afraid we can't release her name yet.
It doesn't matter.
Warwick Green.
She'd made a journey that day? Well, she wasn't taken from her house, Mrs Gray, so yes.
None of them were found near their homes.
So the man you're looking for doesn't go searching these women out.
He waits for them to come to him.
That means the locations where they're found describe a pattern that's defined by the killer, not the victims.
I'm not sure I follow.
I think we've probably taken enough of your time.
- I really should be getting to work.
- Yes, of course, Timothy, won't keep you.
Has the Inspector a few minutes, to go over the rest of the pattern? - Darling - No, I'm sure I can spare another ten minutes.
Oh, well, that's That's very good of you.
ErmI hope it turns out to be useful.
It's ergood to see you looking so well, Timothy.
Thank you, sir.
- Soa pattern, eh? - Yes.
What sort of a pattern? Erm imagine you're deploying merchant vessels to take supplies outbound from Dover.
Let's say these are your ships.
Now, you hear a mayday signal from thesethree.
That should tell you two things.
Well, it tells me I've got a U-boat under my desk.
Yes.
And it tells me that this vessel was either very lucky indeed or it went down without a mayday call.
Yes! But no one's going to know for sure unless they go and check.
I see.
L-I think you have a gap in your list of murder victims.
Someone who, as it were, went down without managing to make a distress call.
That would even out the time difference between victims.
Exactly.
Timothy says you worked for the Foreign Office during the war.
Yes.
Clerical work.
Mrs Gray, I'm not going to ask you to breach the Official Secrets Act right here in Scotland Yard, but, er it wasn't clerical work, was it? And your husband doesn't know? This girl you think we've missed.
- How do we find her? - You look at the other variable- location.
So- excuse me, sorry it's not a straight line like the U-boat but let's say it's a spiral, he's circling out from somewhere.
So we track back and we look for the centre, which would be here, in Soho.
That suggests the gap you're looking for would be somewhere around here.
Why would he be leaving a pattern for us to follow? He doesn't realise he's doing it.
People make patterns all the time but don't notice.
I'm sure you walk to work on one side of the street and walk home on the other.
Perhaps you think it's faster that way.
He's doing exactly the same thing.
He's trying to cover his tracks by moving around, but in fact, he's making the pattern clearer and clearer, if you know how to look for it.
Right.
Thank you.
Those hedges and down through those railway tunnels.
Jamie, onto the ridge and all this stuff here.
- Here you go.
- Thank you.
- Anything? - Nothing, Sarge.
Boys? Let's do it again.
Check up there.
All the way along.
They telephoned and said you were still here.
Yes, sorry it's taking so long.
They're looking for the body, you see.
Right.
The children are with Mrs Johnson.
So they think there might be something in it? Mmm.
Sarge! Got something here.
- Bloody hell, Barry.
- I know.
All right, lads, that's enough.
Sarge! I found it! Sorry, Barry.
This is evidence.
All right, boys, that's it for today.
I'm sorry, Mrs Gray.
My men searched the area.
There's nothing there, nothing at all.
You're sure? I mean, I We're quite certain.
I'll show you out.
- I feel awful for wasting your time.
- Oh, not at all.
Take care.
Bye.
There must be something I missed.
The pattern is there.
Maybe I was wrong about it being a spiral, maybe it's concentric circles and he's moving Oh, Susan.
- I'm just saying - Stop it! - Look, I tried.
We tried.
- Yes! Look, I You know they're reorganising the department.
Well, Transport's coming up in the world and I may very well see my way clear to a promotion.
It's just Anyone can make a mistake, Susan.
But let's just leave it at that, shall we? Yes.
Of course.
I'll buy you a new book of puzzles.
I'll buy you the hardest puzzles I can find.
Ow! Buzz Me Baby Coming.
Who is it? It's Susan.
Susan who? Hello.
Bloody hell.
- Thanks, Frank.
- All right, darling.
You stopped sending the postcards.
What was the point? You weren't coming.
The last one was from Africa.
Where else did you go? All the places we talked about.
Was it how we thought? - A big adventure, you mean? - Mmm.
Yes.
Yes, it was.
Until the money ran out.
It wasn't such an adventure after that.
So what's his name? Timothy.
He works for the Department of Transport.
He's nice, actually.
You'd like him.
We think he might get a promotion.
So you met Timothy and you fell pregnant.
There you go.
Your own big adventure.
Yes, we have a girl and a boy.
Claire and Sam.
You? No! No That must keep you busy.
Yes, it does, rather.
Balancing the books, making the meat last the week, keeping the house clean - .
.
cooking - Why are you here, Susan? - So they looked and they didn't find anything.
- No.
I bet you felt like a fool.
All right, but we're gonna need help.
Why? I thought if it's just something I'm missing, then you and I could look at the pattern Oh, Susan, if this pattern of yours was easy to find, you'd have found it by now.
Suppose you're right and this man is leaving some sort of a trail, then this is going to come down to geography and data.
Soyou're good with patterns, I'm all right with maps, that's a start.
But there's going to be a ton of data and how will you know what's relevant and what isn't? You need someone who can remember it all.
And that means Lucy.
And you know what else? You have to get that data in the first place.
Records, documents, files, probably restricted files at that.
Jean? Dear, you've picked up four copies of the same book.
It's not going to make it four times better, you know.
Susan Havers? Isn't this a coincidence? Or maybe not.
Hello, Jean.
About time too, I've been waiting half a day.
What? Some ladies for you.
If it's the WI, you can tell them to piss off and stick their nose into someone else's cake sale.
Oh, my goodness! It's been years! How are you, Lucy? I'm well - I'm really well.
I can't believe this.
I'd invite you in, but, erm Oh, no, no, no, no, don't worry.
We need your help, actually.
My help? With what? Phil and lit club, is it? You all read the same book and chat about it? More or less.
We used to do it in the war, so when Susan and I bumped into one another, we thought, "Why not?" I'll bet the moment I'm out the door, Dickens doesn't get a look-in and you'll spend the morning gossiping about old times.
He may be on to us, Susan.
- Off with you now, dear.
- Yes, yes.
It's good to see you smiling.
You should have done something like this earlier.
- You're right.
- Bye.
I remember A Christmas Carol on the wireless, but I don't think I've read this one.
I don't think we're actually here to read the book, Lucy.
Are we? Mummy, we're home.
Perhaps he'll leave a clue or make a mistake but how many more girls will die before the police catch him? We can do better.
He's making a pattern, he doesn't even realise he's doing it.
If we can crack it, we'll be able to see what his next move will be.
Just like knowing where the German Army will be in three days' time.
If we get ahead of him, we can stop him before he kills again.
- How, exactly? - Well, just like we used to.
Treat the killings like a code, keep at it till we break it.
If Susan's right, perhaps we are the only people to find his pattern.
I know you feel strongly about this, girls, but it's really not our place.
And what if we do find it? We take it to the police? - No, I tried that.
- Then what's the point? - Well, perhaps we can do more.
- What do you mean? Perhaps we couldfind him.
What? Isn't that dangerous? I'm sorry, Susan, but I'll say it again.
This is not our place.
Well, perhaps this isn't our place either, Jean! Sitting around in our cosy front rooms while the police do nothing! We could be useful again.
What do you mean, "useful again"? Are you saying we're not useful now? Oh, come on, Jean! We used to make a difference, every day.
We saved lives, we fought! I mean, not like the men, obviously, but we did our bit.
That was the war.
This is different.
We're still the same, aren't we? So says the housewife with two children - and a husband up for a promotion.
- Don't be so silly.
If we're so silly, why do you need us? Well it's been lovely seeing you all.
- Please, Jean - I'm sorry, but I really do have to be going.
No, you don't understand.
It looks random, but it isn't.
He's working to a timetable.
Any day now, he'll take some other poor girl.
Best leave it to the police.
Lucy Some girl is going to die because you won't bloody listen! Aren't you staying? Look, I'll come and see you next week, I promise.
This is lovely.
Better than a restaurant.
Well, you deserve it, darling.
Congratulations.
To the new head of What was it again? The new supervisor of Vehicle Licensing and his lovely wife.
Well done.
- Mmm.
- Mmm.
Oh, I forgot to ask about your club.
Did you actually manage any phil and lit? Oh, no, you were right.
It was mostly just gossip.
I knew as much.
- Darling? - Mmm? Do you like your job? Well, it's a good job.
I suppose it's not all that exciting, butit's important.
And I think perhaps I've had my fair share of excitement for one lifetime.
Hmm.
- Morning.
- Good morning, Sarah.
No, that's it for today, actually, thanks.
- Have a nice day.
- See you soon.
- Anything else, madam? - No.
You were right.
We didn't listen and now another girl's gone missing.
God willing that she's still alive and can be found in time.
Yes, but I was wrong.
I'm an amateur.
I saw a connection that wasn't there and convinced myself it meant something.
Because you've been working from newspaper and wireless reports.
But they're only repeating what the police tell them and they won't tell them everything.
Why wouldn't they tell them everything? Because some of it will be too dull.
But the dull details are often the vital ones.
And some of it's going to be too awful.
Indeed.
We need to find out exactly what happened to those girls.
Thank you for this.
Let's go before Dorothy changes her mind.
Sothere we have it.
All the information.
What does "post-mortem penetration" mean? It means they weren't raped and then murdered.
They were murdered and then raped.
- All of them? - We don't have Jane Hart's file, because they did the autopsy at St Anne's, but these three, yes.
Why were all the others taken to the Royal General? I suppose by then, they knew they were connected.
- But Jane Hart was the first.
- Mmm.
Well, we really need to see that file too, Jean.
Getting across town at rush hour will take a while.
- Use the Goblin.
- Sorry, dear? Gospel Oak and Barking Line.
You'll have to hurry, the trains only go at twenty past.
Wait.
Hold on a minute.
They were all making journeys.
They were all going somewhere or coming back.
Yes.
What does that mean? I said it myself.
He's working to a timetable.
He's working to a pattern.
So were they.
The railways.
That's how he's finding them.
What's this? I'm going to go see my mum.
What's wrong with her this time? There's casserole in the oven.
That's something, I suppose.
I can do a double shift at the weekend to make up, but I just can't do today.
It's just one shift.
Please.
Well, I'm sure we can work something out.
I mean, I do something for you and er you can do something for me.
Never mind.
You think you can find another job that easy, do ya? There's an awful lot of girls out there, darling, not enough jobs to go round.
Perhaps, "darling", but none will be desperate enough for a job to want to screw you.
They all made train journeys.
Not the same journey- not even the same line.
I thought they must all be passing through his area.
But that's not it.
He is on a train too.
A train compartment.
It's perfect.
It's private.
A man can talk to a woman and it's not unseemly.
All right, he talks to them.
But how does he get them off the train and back to wherever it is he takes them? He can't just cart them off, screaming through the rush-hour.
They'd have to trust him and go willingly.
But why on earth would they do that? - Got it all, Lucy? Everything memorised? - Mm-hm.
All right.
How many points of connection are there between the routes the different girls took? Gosh, he's not taking 46 trains, he's taking one.
Millie? Lipstick.
Lucy, can you mark them up? Each journey, please.
We're not looking at the lines.
We're looking at where they cross, what they intersect with.
That's where he is.
He's in the gaps.
Susan, it doesn't work.
It can't.
You've got three sets of overland train routes here, and all right, they connect to each other.
But Emily Dixon didn't take an overland train.
She took the tube from Clapham Common to Turnpike Lane.
What was her route? Clapham Common, Northern line to St Pancras, change to Piccadilly line, through to Turnpike Lane.
No connection at all.
It has to connect.
We're missing something.
Lucy, she disappeared on the 1 st.
Anything? 1 st May, Northern line, no faults or delays reported.
1 st May, Piccadilly line - Lucy? - Er They closed it.
Here.
There was a points failure the day Emily disappeared.
They closed the line for two hours.
So she arrives at St Pancras, goes to take the Piccadilly line but can't because it's shut, so what does she do? She comes up to the surface.
At St Pancras Station.
- And he's right there.
- Waiting for her? No.
Waiting for his train.
She would have been there atsix o'clock.
We've got 46 points of connection between the girls' routes.
But how many are left if they all have to connect to St Pancras station around six o'clock on 1 st May? - None of these.
- Not this one.
Not that one either.
There it is.
That's it.
There's only one.
The 6.
15 slow train from St Pancras to Barking.
It's five o'clock.
Claire and Sam can have tea next door.
Timothy's not due home till seven.
Why don't we go and see for ourselves? The train on platform five is about to depart Why do men do it? - What? - Kill women.
Women kill too, you know.
Not like this.
Only men do this.
He takes the 6.
15 slow train.
Lots of people getting on and off as they travel different routes on other lines.
Lots of chances to meet someone.
Follow them if he wants to.
Maybe change trains if he needs to.
So he meets her, he talks to her.
Why does she trust him? He's someone important, respectable, a businessman.
He's wearing a suit.
Would you go off with a businessman you'd just met? No! Maybe he threatens her.
Maybe he has a knife.
Look at all these people.
Someone would see.
One of the girls would have shouted out.
Nobody saw anything.
He's invisible.
Here we are.
Oh, sorry it's such a tip.
It's lovely.
Don't worry.
Erright.
First things first, we need to find Mary Lawrence.
All right.
If the killer is a railway guard or a ticket inspector, then his schedule connected to her journey somewhere.
Not just Mary Lawrence, all the girls.
Every time he takes a victim, he makes the pattern clearer.
We need the points of connection for all the shifts, all the routes and keep the 6.
15 slow train as a constant.
- Do you need to get to work? - Not tonight.
Well, I've got one.
Millie? Just one.
Upton Park.
Upton Park.
So where is she now? Bomb sites, ruins, rubble.
We need to go and look for her.
How much longer are we going to keep looking? Look for doors, cellars, anything underground.
Dear, we are, there's nothing here and I've laddered my stockings.
- Shh, Jean.
- Jean? What was this place? Oh, dear Christ Mary Lawrence.
God have mercy.
Lucy, are you seeing this? I don't want to.
Please.
We have to remember all this.
You got it? Please can we leave? Lucy, are you all right? She's dead! We were too We were too late.
Oh, sweetheart, we were always going to be too late.
Then what was the point? Why did we have to come here and see her like that if we couldn't even help her? Lucy She's just like us.
She's just like us and he killed her Lucy, I'm so sorry.
I didn't think it would be so What did you think it would be like, Susan? Did you seethe cigarette butts on the floor in there? What does it matter? It matters because it means he took his time in there! It matters because it's so casual! He's not worried.
He's not afraid.
He knows bloody well he'll get away with it.
So when he's finished, he stops for a smoke, for God's sake.
So what do we do now? Call the police, leave it at that? Forget it, go home, pretend it never happened? I can't do that.
Not any more.
No, neither can I.
You were right.
They're never going to find him.
No.
We are.