Dalgliesh (2021) s01e03 Episode Script

1
You pathetic boy!
Get on with it!
Come on! You're so slow.
Put you back into it!
I want fresh air,
but your stench!
- It's hard work.
- What do you know about hard work?
Do you want me to stay with you?
What, for your
scintillating conversation?
Shout when you're done.
If I start shouting,
I might never stop.
I might shout out the
truth about Toynton Grange!
Then what would happen?!
Where would you, and Wilfred
and his stupid pilgrimages be then?!
Father Michael.
It's Adam.
For God's sake,
a human being, and a male at that.
The flashy car must be yours, then.
You looking for Father Michael?
I'm a friend, I
I had arranged to come and visit him
this weekend, but
- It seems I'm
- Two weeks too late.
- Yes. How did he
- Heart attack.
He'd been in hospital
with chest pains.
He only just got out,
died the same night.
- Here?
- In the armchair.
He was still in
his cassock and stole.
It was like he just nodded off.
Maggie Hewson.
Adam Dalgliesh.
My husband, Eric, is medical officer
at Toynton Grange.
Father Michael was chaplain.
Do you work there, too?
Not if I can help it.
Wilfred tries, but I'm
impervious to his charms.
Wilfred Anstey, he owns the place.
I mean, he thinks
he's Francis of Assisi.
I guess that makes me the heretic.
Did Michael mention if anything
was troubling him recently?
Not to me.
Who saw him last?
Grace, I think,
one of the residents.
Yeah, for confession.
She probably bored him to death.
Sorry, that was it's bad taste.
Michael didn't tell me
much about the Grange,
just that it was a small care home.
It's ridiculously small now.
I mean, we're down
to four residents.
Local authorities
haven't placed anyone here
since Victor Holroyd died.
He was a resident
who could be wicked,
but he made me laugh.
Until he wheeled himself off
Toynton Head cliffs two months ago.
I'm sorry.
Everyone's busy pretending
it was an accident.
Either way, it doesn't look good
if you have a duty of care.
No.
Now, we're just off the drive,
big ugly house, you can't miss it,
if you need anything.
- Thank you.
- And sorry about Michael.
"My dear Adam, I was so
saddened to hear of your loss.
"It would, of course,
be wonderful to see you again,
"but only if you felt able.
"I'm hoping you
might be able to help me
"with a disturbing situation
here at the Grange.
"You are, as ever, in my prayers."
- Wilfred Anstey.
- Adam Dalgliesh.
How can I help you, Adam?
I'm a friend of Father Michael's,
I've arranged to stay with him
this weekend at Toynton Cottage.
I'm afraid I have some sad news.
I heard.
Maggie Hewson came to the cottage.
I hope she offered our condolences.
Michael was a valued
member of our community here.
Must be a shock.
It was to us.
I-I didn't know
he'd been in hospital.
I tried to get him to stay
in the house while he recuperated,
but he insisted on
returning to the cottage.
Dr Hewson checked on him
down there that afternoon.
Did anyone else see him after that?
Grace Willison,
one of our residents,
visited him in the evening.
Helen, our nurse,
was due to pop in later,
but unfortunately it seems
there was some kind of mix up.
So he died alone?
As at the last, are we all.
Like Victor Holroyd?
So Maggie was as discreet as ever.
Michael wrote to me.
He said there was
something worrying him.
Do you have any idea
what that might have been?
Michael was a very private person.
He kept his own counsel.
He never mentioned you,
for instance
not once,
in all the time he was here.
That's a shame you
travelled all this way.
I hope you have a safe journey.
I don't think I'm ready
to head home just yet.
I'd planned to spend the
weekend in the cottage.
I'd like to do that.
Get a sense of
Father Michael's time here.
Would that be all right?
Of course.
We'd be glad.
And I hope you can
find some solace here.
Mr Dalgliesh, I'm Helen.
Wilfred had asked me to bring these.
That's thoughtful, thank you.
What was the mix up
the night Father Michael died?
Were you supposed to check
on him after Grace left?
Well, Eric asked me to.
I suggested he ask
Maggie or Dennis.
I was busy with the residents.
It's a lot of work.
What happened?
Maggie refused, and Eric
couldn't find Dennis.
He assumed I'd go as asked.
I assumed he got one
of the others to do it.
On Father Michael's insistence
on being in the cottage,
did you get a sense he was expecting
a visitor other than Grace?
I don't remember him
ever having a visitor,
apart from us until you.
Goodnight, then.
Wilfred thinks it's
important we feel useful.
Gives a sense of purpose.
I sometimes wonder if the
chickens understand their purpose.
First, we take their eggs,
and when they're past laying,
we wring their necks
and consign them to the pot.
I hope you don't have to do the ringing.
- Have you been here long?
- Four years.
It's not so bad, really.
It's nice to be near the sea.
Although, it seems
always just out of sight.
Victor managed to get
close enough to see it.
Mr Holroyd had a need
to get away by himself.
He was quite forceful.
He used to bully poor Dennis
into wheeling him up there.
I thought you wanted to
talk about Father Michael.
If you don't mind.
You were the last to see him.
For confession.
Did he seem out of sorts, troubled?
A little frail, maybe.
I think he must have
died just after you left.
Why would you say that?
Mrs Hewson says he was
still wearing his stole
when she found him.
Wouldn't he normally have taken it
off soon after hearing a confession?
He did take it off.
When we finished, he took it off,
folded it and put it on the table,
like he always did.
Is it possible someone else
visited Michael after you left?
Not for confession,
not from the Grange.
I'm on breakfast duty tomorrow.
I can use these.
It's so nice to
I'm sorry, but y-you
just can't go
Mr Dalgliesh, you found Grace.
I've got to take
these to the kitchen.
They'll be starting on lunch.
You should join us.
Julius,
why don't you show Adam around?
- Do you work here?
- Oh, no, no.
Wilfred's an old friend from school.
I have a cottage here, and I help
with the accounts sometimes.
Watch your step.
It's like a worm down here.
You live on the estate?
Come down when I can,
but I have a place in London.
What do you do in London?
I have a few investments.
I get by managing those.
Workshop and craft room.
Henry is one of the residents.
This is Adam Dalgliesh,
a friend of Father Michael's.
Oh, I'm sorry for your loss.
This is the Grange
family cottage industry,
mail order, hand cream
and bath salts.
It's just lanolin,
almond oil and glycerine,
but put in a little jar
with a fancy label.
Wilfred, it's a good likeness.
- Henry did that.
- A long time ago.
And this is Dennis.
Pleased to meet you.
Dennis looks after the residents,
the building
and all of the equipment.
That's a lot of responsibility.
Well, it's better to be busy.
The devil finds work for idle hands.
No, I-I mean, it's just
Dennis is not great with strangers.
Wasn't he with Victor
Holroyd when he died?
Oh, you heard about that.
Not with him exactly.
Victor asked to be
left alone, apparently,
so Dennis came back down the path.
Terrible business.
I was in London,
but Wilfred tells me that
Dennis was absolutely distraught.
And this is the centre
of the whole operation.
Adam Dalgliesh,
this is Helen Rainer, our nurse.
- Hello again.
- Hello.
And you already know Grace.
Grace does a newsletter
for Friends of the Grange.
It goes out every month,
mainly around England,
but we've two subscribers in America
and one in the south of France.
It's just bits of news and a nudge to
buy our mail order products.
Are there many friends?
I've typed the label so often
I know them all by heart.
- Seriously?
- I can do it from memory.
I imagine what the people
are like just from their names
- and the names they give their houses.
- Lourdes.
Yes, our pilgrimage.
We leave on Wednesday.
It's therapeutic.
We go twice a year, biennial.
Biannual.
We used to hire a van,
but last year, there was
an accident on the way home,
two of the wheelchairs were broken,
so Julius decided it would be safer
if he bought us our own adapted bus.
Well, I couldn't let you
all climb into another rented
deathtrap after that, could I?
Lourdes
is that Wilfred's idea?
A few years ago, he became ill.
He could barely walk,
ended up in hospital.
St Xavier's, they couldn't help him,
so he went to Lourdes,
bathed at the grotto,
and he came back fit and healthy.
That's why he created this place,
why he goes back there.
That's a remarkable story.
He was sick, now he's well.
That's all that matters to me.
The luncheon gong.
It's my cue to leave you.
Eric Hewson.
- Maggie's husband.
- Doctor Hewson, medical officer.
Adam Dalgliesh.
Ursula Hollis.
So, have you met everyone?
Everyone except
Jennie.
Mr Dalgliesh, a friend of
Father Michael's from London.
Pleasure.
So, how did you know Michael?
My father was a rector at
a small parish in Norfolk.
Michael was his curate
when I was a boy.
Did you follow into
the family business?
No. I'm a detective chief inspector
with the Metropolitan Police.
That sounds exciting.
It's just a job, Maggie.
A fun job, is it, catching murderers
and getting them hanged?
They don't hang them these days.
What about the ones you
caught when you were younger?
- Any of them hang?
- Jennie, please.
Must we?
I was just curious.
Five of them.
- Whoa.
- Five deaths down to you.
- Doesn't that keep
- Jennie.
Shall we remember the rule?
No talking at meal times.
My body is my prison.
And I would be so obedient to
the law as not to break prison.
- Benedictus Deus.
- Benedictus Deus.
I will not hasten my death by
starving or macerating this body.
- Benedictus Deus.
- Benedictus Deus.
I'm sorry, I didn't realise.
I came out for a walk and saw this place.
It's an unusual building.
A black tower.
It was originally
built in the 1600's,
restored by my great grandfather.
He invented his own religion
based on the book of Revelation.
Apocalypse and judgment.
He read it more as a
road map to the final victory.
- Over what?
- Death.
In 1887, he walled himself up in here
to await the second coming.
It was three months
before they found him.
He'd torn his fingers to the bone,
trying to claw his way out.
That's what we all do,
I think, wrestle with mortality.
Is that why you set up the Grange?
I'd faced something
and been saved.
I wanted that to have some meaning,
and not just for me.
I wanted
- Witnesses.
- Yes, if you like.
And you still use the tower?
For meditation, private prayer.
Father Michael used it, too.
Must have been an interesting contrast,
the two of you.
We crossed swords sometimes.
I found our differences stimulating.
Two deaths in as many months.
It must be a difficult time for you.
I've had my share of challenges.
I'm still here.
But I keep the door here unlocked,
so I won't ever have
to claw my way out.
Enjoy the rest of your walk.
- What a nice surprise.
- I wanted to ask you about something.
It's a little delicate.
I found something in Father
Michael's writing bureau,
something curious.
A poison pen letter.
Did he mention it to you?
Do you know if anyone else in the
Grange received anything similar?
A week or so before Victor died,
it was obscene.
I tore it into pieces
and flushed it down the lavatory.
Do you know if anyone else had one?
No, I thought it was just me.
Did you tell the police?
I'm sorry, I couldn't have
shown that thing to anyone.
- I understand.
- The worst thing was I could tell
it had been typed
on this typewriter.
Detective Chief Inspector,
you come to arrest me?
- I'm off duty.
- I haven't been busted since my West End days.
- We're a long way from the West End.
- I don't know.
You've seen Wilfred,
what a performance that is.
You don't look like
you're ever off duty.
You married?
- Yes.
- Me, too. Still am, I think.
- Where's your husband?
- At home on the fourth floor.
I see. What made you choose here?
People think when you're
going soft in the legs,
you're going soft in the head too
Start making decisions for you.
And you feel comfortable, safe here?
I've been in worse, and it's only temporary
until he comes gets me.
I'm sorry about Michael.
Did he seem happy here?
Yeah, I think it kind of suited him.
What about Victor?
Who have you been talking to?
- Maggie told me about him.
- Don't believe her.
Nobody else liked him.
He enjoyed being cruel.
He was good at it.
With the staff too?
Hated them. Hated the idea
they had any power over him.
He bullied Dennis
something rotten.
Do you think he killed himself?
Yeah, I do.
I think he did it to cause as
much hurt and upset as possible.
He was probably
laughing all the way down.
I was just going into town.
Perfect.
You have nothing to worry about.
I promise you, nothing at all.
Why did you ask me if anything
was troubling Father Michael?
Something he said when
he wrote to me, why?
Have you remembered something?
A week or two after Victor died,
I was on the cliff.
I saw him down on the beach
with Dennis, arguing.
Could you hear what it was about?
Too far away.
But I saw Michael grab Dennis's arm.
Dennis pushed him away
and Michael fell back on the rocks.
Then what?
Dennis walked off.
I remember thinking it was funny,
the two most unlikely people in the world
arguing.
Muah! You're a star.
I'll get the bus back.
See you tomorrow at Julius'.
He's doing one of his dinners.
He'll want you to be there.
I'll tell him. Eight o'clock.
Don't be late.
Not often do we get
a DCI from the Met down here.
It's quite an honour.
It was meant to be a social visit.
They didn't tell you
that he had died?
Only Father Michael
knew I was coming.
He said he wanted my help with
something that was disturbing him.
I wondered if it might be
connected to Victor Holroyd's death.
I don't see why.
It's pretty straightforward.
Tucked himself, if you ask me.
We passed it on to the coroner.
Is there any evidence that
Holroyd was suicidal, a note?
No note.
Not much else I can tell you.
But Miskin spoke to his doctor.
He had a hospital appointment in London
the week before he died.
They confirmed that there was
nothing more they could do for him.
Were you able to
examine the wheelchair?
No sign of fault or tampering.
What about Dennis Lerner?
Did you look at him as a suspect?
We we may not be the Sweeny's,
but we know how to do our job.
Witnesses confirmed that
it was Holroyd who insisted
that Lerner take him
up the cliff that day.
Lerner says that he
asked to be left alone,
so he went back down the path.
When he looked back to check,
Holroyd was gone.
- Any possible motive?
- Apart from Holroyd being mean to him?
Well, if that were a motive,
it seems they'd all be suspects.
There was a full investigation.
Thank you for your time.
No problem.
Show the chief inspector out,
will you, Miskin?
All right, Sergeant,
what was he not telling me?
Sorry, sir.
You were biting
your tongue in there?
What did you want to say?
Holroyd's hospital visit was routine.
What they told him was that
there was no change in his prognosis.
It wasn't great,
it wasn't news either.
He already knew he was dying.
Anything else?
The other residents said
he was in good spirits
when he came back, excited.
Now it's possible that
was about his own suicide.
Did you raise all this?
I did, but there was
no evidence of criminality,
so, I was told to close the case.
Do you think there's more here?
I just don't think
he killed himself.
He was full of anger and rage,
but it was all directed outwards,
at other people.
How do you feel about doing
some more background digging
on the Grange family?
Quietly, no need to involve your DI.
I could do that.
Anything interesting?
Ammonite.
200 million years old.
Gives a bit of perspective,
doesn't it?
Our lives, the blink of an eye.
Is that where Victor fell?
Did you see him go over?
I was walking away.
When I looked back, he was gone.
I don't like to think about it,
I still feel guilty.
Why?
Cos I was responsible for it.
Either you pushed him
over the cliff or you didn't.
If you didn't, guilt
is just an indulgence.
If you did, it's dangerous.
It's how murderers give themselves away.
You talk to anyone about it?
Father Michael?
Is that you were arguing about
when he pushed him?
- It was about something else.
- What?
- I don't remember.
- You can lose your temper with a priest,
- I understand how Holroyd could make you snap.
- It wasn't like that.
Was Victor tormenting you?
Did you know something about him?
- Why would you think
- The temptation must have been strong.
- No.
- Cliff edge right there.
- One sharp push and
- Stop!
Look!
It must be the tower!
Wilfred might be in there!
You could have died!
- You should you call the police.
- No!
Well, let's see.
Julius Marsh, public school,
Cambridge, Civil Service,
minor diplomat, left when he
inherited some family money.
I'll give you the number
of a contact in the Foreign Office,
might give you more detail.
There's no phone at
Toynton Cottage, so.
Thanks, sir.
I checked out his alibi,
it was watertight.
He was at his club in London
when Victor died.
- Residents?
- There's nothing.
They all have alibis,
even before you consider
the practicalities.
So if we rule out
Marsh and the residents,
that leaves us with staff.
They're a proper mixed bag.
Helen Rainer worked for
the Ridgewell Trust.
Private care business.
They're hoping to
take over Toynton Grange.
Her uncle's on the board,
and Dr Hewson had his licence
suspended for a while after
an affair with a young patient.
- He ended up marrying her.
- Maggie.
And what's Dennis Lerner's story?
No police record, good worker,
mild mannered, but his mom lives in
a fancy private nursing home,
Meadowlands.
It's expensive,
and Dennis pays for it.
Does Anstey pay him that well?
No, sir.
Also, Meadowlands offered him
a job, more money, near his mum.
Dennis turned it down.
So what's keeping him at Toynton Grange,
loyalty to an Anstey
or is he skimming money
on the side somehow?
If he is, maybe Victor found out.
Which would give him a motive.
Snapdragon?
Yes.
Father Michael gave it to me.
It's my reminder of him.
I found this in the cottage.
Booklet says it's yours.
I lent it to him.
I'd forgotten.
Thank you so much.
Hardy's a favourite of mine,
from school.
"An aged thrush,
frail, gaunt and small
"in blast-berefulled plume."
"The Darkling Thrush".
How is your own writing going?
Father Michael told me about
his friend, the famous poet.
He was so proud.
Haven't been able to
write anything lately.
Of course.
He told me about
your wife and baby too.
I'm so sorry.
I wish you'd been
able to see him again.
It would've meant so much.
I actually went to the
chateau of this place, of course,
it's the region it's from.
It's quite a collection, isn't it?
I'm just a magpie, really.
Anything that catches my eye.
- That is why I hate you, Julius.
- Why is that, darling?
You've travelled, you have beautiful
things, taste, money.
- Maggie.
- It's fine.
I think there was a compliment
in there somewhere.
I suppose those are all the
benefits of the diplomatic service.
You were a diplomat?
Junior attaché, very briefly.
I had dreams of an exotic posting.
You know, I was excited.
I thought it would be
the embassy in Paris,
turned out to be the
consulate in Marseilles.
That doesn't sound that bad.
Well, Paris has
writers, artists, musicians,
Marseilles has
sailors, gangsters and drug smugglers.
I realised it wasn't for me.
I wasn't selfless enough
to make a career of it.
Now, shall we eat?
Nice to be without
John Donne in the background.
You know Wilfred means well.
Does he? I mean, there's a
difference between believing in God
and believing you are God.
We should be grateful for
the chance he's giving us.
The chance to be marooned in the
middle of nowhere with a bunch
That's enough.
It's even worse now
that Victor's is gone.
Not for some of us.
Horrible man.
How can you say that?
What about that letter I got?
- What letter?
- Poison pen drivel.
Cruel, anonymous, disgusting.
It was his sense of humour.
He liked to play games.
Like trying to frame
Dennis for murder?
Oh, come on, everyone knows
Dennis doesn't have the guts
to kill a chicken, let alone
a human being.
Human being?
Victor?
- Henry!
- You don't mean that.
This party needs some music.
I don't understand how
the Grange survives.
It can't be profitable.
It isn't. It's deep in debt.
I've been speaking to the
Ridgewell Trust about a deal
that would give them control,
but preserve Wilfred's ideas.
The trouble is, I don't know
if he's ready to let go.
So, who's going to dance with me?
Maggie.
Maggie, I'm not sure that's
- Oh, for God's sake!
- Michael, no harm done.
It's late anyway.
We should go. No scenes.
If I decide to make a scene,
the whole world is
going to know about it.
Not tonight, please.
Come on.
I'll show you out.
Bravo to base, in hot pursuit of
a few hours' sleep. Over and out.
Nice radio technique.
I've watched a lot of Zed Show.
I'm going to need a little help.
Three, two, one.
Over there in the dresser.
It's a box.
"You are a sick and depraved monster.
"You should be castrated.
"You will burn in hell."
There's a photograph too.
That's Peter, he arrived last year.
But he was smart and
funny
and kind.
We became close.
Very close.
We tried to be discreet, but
Victor spotted it.
He took great delight in
informing Wilfred.
They sent him to a different home
hundreds of miles away.
I finally found out that
he died of pneumonia.
I'm sorry.
That's awful.
Yes, but
normal for people
like us, because
we just don't matter.
You know, you should
think about making an effort
with the chief inspector.
He's very sweet.
Don't want to end up a spinster.
- Hey!
- Night.
Did you forget something?