The Long Shadow (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

Can you describe him for us, love?
A white man in a white car.
He left tyre tracks.
We find that car, we find the killer.
It's yours, George.
The whole investigation.
Hobson, Domaille in Bradford.
They all work for you.
Five. Five dead women.
This one, a normal lass from a
good family. Done nothing wrong.
And she is lying there because
you and Dennis, you failed.
I give you my word that
I will catch this animal.
And you have that from me, Mr MacDonald.
They put everything into Leeds,
so he starts killing in Bradford.
They put everything into Bradford,
he comes back here, where he started.
He could be watching us right now.
If he can see us, he
should be panicking.
'Cos he's looking at the two
men who are gonna catch him.
George!
George!
Phone. It's Dick Holland.
Do I want to hear this?
Bradford again. Aged 42.
Two gypsy women found her first thing.
- Have you spoken to David Gee?
- No.
Well, call him. Arrange a postmortem.
No, no, George. That
That's why I'm ringing.
This one's survived.
Her name's Maureen Long.
Hit with a hammer. Stab wounds
to the body and left for dead.
She's not quite with it.
All she knows is she's been
attacked, and we want a word.
Right. Well, let's keep it that way.
No mention of the Ripper, all right?
- Where is she?
- Down here.
You were at the Mecca last night.
Left just as it was finishing.
That's correct, isn't it, Maureen?
That's what you told the nurse?
Do you remember where
you went after that?
Another drink, or
Do you remember meeting anybody?
- Yes, love.
- You do?
Yes, love. A fella.
You met a fella.
And had this fella
been in the Mecca too?
Or any of these pubs you'd been into?
But you remember him being outside?
Do you remember what he
looked like, Maureen, mm?
Like his build, or the
colour of his hair, or
I'm trying to think.
But you spoke to him, right?
Yes, love. In t'car.
Oh, so he had a car?
He drove you in his car?
That's how you got to the caravan site
where they found you this morning, hmm?
So, what sort of car were
it? Hmm? What make or colour?
I'm not good with cars.
Had you been drinking?
You know, drinking more than you should?
How much is more than I should?
You got in the car with him.
So you must've spoke to him.
But these questions
are important, Maureen,
so I need you to think hard.
All right?
The car?
What he sounded like,
what he looked like.
- White.
- What, the man was white?
No.
The car were white.
Or
Or were it green?
Wh Why? What's he done to me?
- Right.
- Oh, thank you, love.
Your dad'd never have worn a beard.
Well, that's the trend these days.
Lot of men my age with beards.
Right, look, there's
biscuits there. Tea in t'pot.
Anything else before I go?
Do you want me changing sides?
No, no, I'll stay on three
until Coronation Street,
and then that'll be me, then.
Right, then. Don't wait up.
- Oh, be careful, won't you, love?
- Yeah, all right.
- Morning.
- Morning, sir.
- Oh, this is good. Morning.
- Morning.
This is what I like to see.
Jim?
Meg, could you bring some tea through?
Yes, sir.
Gentlemen. Very sorry to keep you.
Come through.
Donkey wallopers.
Aye. Yeah, I know, lad.
Now, McCann, Jackson, Richardson.
Then it's Atkinson in Bradford.
Then he makes a mistake,
kills a decent lass.
Jane MacDonald, back in Leeds.
And then Bradford again.
- Maureen Long.
- Another prostitute?
We're not sure.
Well, she's in that bracket,
in't she? Out on her own.
Going around pubs and clubs.
- Getting in cars with men.
- Yeah, men she doesn't know.
Ah, doesn't make her a prostitute.
Prostitute, good time girl,
whatever you wanna call it.
Jim's right. She could just
have been getting a cab home.
Cabbies.
- Cabbies are out late at night.
- Aye, nobody thinks anything of it.
Look, Dennis and I looked into cabbies.
Looked at bloody hundreds of cabbies.
Yeah, well, we'll look at it again.
No, it's a dead end.
No, we need to stay
focused on car tyres.
Tina Atkinson took lots
of cabs. All over Bradford.
We got that from
neighbours in her flats.
Cabbies have a reason to travel,
don't they? Leeds, Bradford.
Both of 'em, and everywhere in between.
So, this is our focus.
Cabbies in Leeds. Cabbies in Bradford.
You, you check the drivers,
and Jim, whilst you're at
it, you can check the tyres.
All right? Off you go.
He left Miss Long for dead.
The fact that she survived is
to my advantage and not to his.
So possibly, you may have
stumbled on a big break, then?
Well, I sincerely hope so.
There is a belief amongst
this team that this man,
the Ripper, as he's become known,
has started to make mistakes.
And it's when an individual
of this nature makes mistakes
that the net begins to close.
- Y'all right?
- Y'all right, love?
Er, how much to Thornbury?
Only I've, er I've
not got much on me.
Yeah, don't worry. We'll get you there.
Come on. Get in before I change me mind.
Andy! Andy! This one'll take us.
Right. See you, mate.
You, er sure you're all right
going all the way to Thornbury?
Yeah, no problem, love.
Hi, I'm calling from
Milgarth Police Station.
We need your help with
a local murder enquiry.
Yeah, we're calling all
cab companies in the area,
not just yours.
OK, well first of all,
- we need all cab numbers from 1975.
- Yep.
Names of all your drivers,
registered and unregistered.
I understand it's
confidential, but you see,
this information is integral
to our murder investigation.
What's going on?
- Cabbies.
- Yeah, we did cabbies last year.
Yeah, well, we're doing 'em again.
And we're doing 'em properly.
Right. Let's do this in a
way you'll all understand.
I'll have a nice, orderly
line down this side.
When you get to t'front,
you're t'next cabbie to go.
Do you work late at night?
Me? No. I love my beauty sleep.
Says here you were working
the night of June 25th.
I don't think so.
No, no, no, I'm not asking
you. I'm reminding you.
'Cos on that night, a very
serious crime took place.
- Where do you operate?
- Leeds, mainly. Bit of Wakefield.
- 'Bout Bradford?
- Don't bother with Bradford.
Yeah, but you must go there sometimes.
Hardly ever. That's what I'm saying.
Other drivers have got Bradford sewn up.
- Ever been to Lumb Lane?
- Bradford? Aye.
- How about Spencer Place, Leeds?
- Yeah.
- Roundhay Park?
- Yeah.
- How about Reginald Terrace?
- Reginald Terrace That's
- Where's that?
- Chapeltown.
Right.
There's an adventure playground there.
A sixteen-year-old lass were found
dead in that playground in March.
Killed with a claw hammer.
Just trying to jog your memory.
I might have been
there. Leeds, Bradford
Huddersfield, Manchester.
You see, funnily enough, as a cabbie,
you tend to go all over.
- What colour's your cab, Ray?
- When?
Look, I went through all this
when you brought me in last year.
I drive a red Cortina.
Up until September just gone,
I've always driven a brown Avenger.
Do you lot not write
this sort of thing down?
You go with prostitutes, Leroy?
Nah, man.
I have a girlfriend. She
give me everything I need.
Just don't tell my wife. HE LAUGHS
We're after The Ripper here, Leroy.
You wanna wipe that
stupid smirk off your face?
You work nights.
You've worked both the
nights we've spoke about.
That's not in any doubt.
Do you ever pick up prostitutes?
- You've asked me that before.
- Never met you before.
Well, not you personally, but you lot.
You've had me in here
asking me that before.
So, go on, then. Do you or don't you?
I pick 'em up,
but only to take 'em
where they need to go.
What, that's all it is?
Their money's as good as anyone else's.
You always been a cabbie?
- Aye.
- What colour's your cab?
- Why do you ask?
- Why not?
White.
And what colour were it on
these dates, nights in question?
White.
It's the exact same car?
Well, I might've changed
a tyre or two, but yeah.
White Cortina.
So, there's a woman from
Bradford who survived the Ripper.
You'll be aware of that, yes?
Yes, sir.
Maureen Long, sir. But
she couldn't remember 'owt.
That's right. Well done.
So she's gonna need her memory jogging.
When she's back from
hospital, recovered of course,
- you're taking her out.
- Taking her out ?
Saturday night, you and
her. Buying her drinks.
Taking her to all her usual
places, retracing her steps.
Don't worry, DC Laptew
will come with you.
I'll keep an eye on things.
And if anyone starts asking
questions, then Maureen's your mate,
Andrew here's your husband.
I've already got a husband.
Then he's your bit on the side.
Look, the aim here is to see
if it brings anything back.
Details, faces.
So, you make sure she
has a good look round. OK?
That's five attacks in a row now.
All on a Saturday night.
So there's even a chance you
might see the Ripper himself.
His car's white. Now, we all
know Maureen Long's had a skinful,
but that's a definite start.
Add to that the fact he were in Bradford
the night she were attacked.
He were in Leeds the night of the
MacDonald murder, working late.
He admits to driving all over
- And to changing his tyres.
- And we've had him in once before.
But here's the bit I like.
He lives in Drighlington.
- Where's that?
- It's between Bradford and Leeds.
Now, we don't wanna say
"We're excited, George," but
But you're "excited, George".
So, what do you say we bring him in, eh?
- Nick him. Get stuck into him.
- Does he know we feel like that?
No, no, sir.
We said we'd come back to him
if we had any more questions.
Good. 'Cos there's not enough. Not yet.
He doesn't know that we're onto him,
that gives us more
time to do some digging.
Find out where he goes. What he's up to.
Good work, though.
We'll get someone on him.
- How are you, all right?
- Come on, get in.
I've not told you where I'm going yet.
I've a punter up Potternewton
Park, but he's not got a car.
What do you think? Reckon we
can do the same as last time?
Yeah, all right. Come on.
So, did he get what he wanted?
What?
Don't pretend you weren't watching.
So, what about you?
Have you got everything you wanted?
Yeah.
There.
- No, no, that's That's too much.
- No, for last time an' all.
Thanks.
- See you.
- Take care.
04. On my way.
We've been tracking him for weeks.
Last night he were in Spencer Place,
Leopold Street, Chapeltown Road
until three in t'morning.
And then, last Friday, he was
spotted in Bradford, Church Street.
So he's in all the right areas
But he's not done anything
wrong since surveillance started.
No, no, sir, not since
we've been tailing him.
Well, mind you, nor's the
Ripper. So we stay on him.
Right.
- Sir, there's a Jack Ridgway for you.
- Who?
Central Manchester Police.
Aye, well, tell him I'll call him back.
Oh, I can't, sir, he's downstairs.
Right.
Are you Ridgway?
Sorry to come over all
this way, Mr Oldfield,
but I thought it best
done in person, you know?
But it's it's this Ripper of yours.
We think he's been over our way.
Her name's Jean Jordan.
Two lads found her up on
the allotments in Chorlton.
It's a place where the prostitutes
take the punters, you know?
She'd had a blow on the
head with a blunt object.
Looks like some kind of tool,
she'd been stabbed in the body,
and then she had this long cut.
Right down here, like
that, like length of my tie.
And our pathologist got
on the phone to your chap.
- David Gee?
- Yeah, that's that's the one.
And he said with the injuries,
the two weapons, the order that
they're done in, they're identical.
Look, I-I don't wanna
tread on toes here.
Well, that's what you're doing.
So, it's not just Leeds. It's Bradford,
and now he goes to
Manchester for t'first time.
It might not be his first time.
- What, Harrison, you mean?
- Mm.
Er No, we ruled them out.
- Harrison?
- Joan Harrison.
She were in, er
Where were it? Preston?
- Preston.
- Preston, yeah.
- Back in, er
- '75.
- That's right.
- Hoban had us look into it
and decided it weren't linked.
Oh, aye? Why?
She were killed indoors.
Well, Atkinson were killed indoors.
Yes, but this was before Atkinson.
And that is why we ruled it out.
Yeah, but why would a man
who's killing prostitutes
in Bradford and Leeds
drive all the way out to
some muddy lane in Chorlton,
just to do the same thing
to some prostitute there?
Apart from anything,
who's got the time to
make that journey, right?
Right, get in there, lads.
- Excuse me, miss.
- Hey!
- You! On your feet.
- Hey!
You can't go in there.
- That the cab?
- Yes, sir.
Right, test it. Outside,
inside, just take it to bits,
and then test it again.
You two with me.
Terence! Terry?
It's OK, Mam. It's OK, Mam.
He's not nothing. You can't
just take him like this.
- What's he done?
- You'll hurt my wrists now.
- Move!
- Agh!
My mother is 67 years old.
She is frail, she's not all there,
and she did not need to see that.
Worried about her feelings, are we?
The feelings of a
vulnerable, innocent woman?
How were Manchester?
- What you on about?
- You said you go to Manchester.
Yeah, sometimes.
- So how were it? How did it feel?
- What are you on about?
Doing a whore over there last Saturday?
Killing one of theirs?
Nobody watching you over there,
is there? Must be a relief.
No pigs in cars following you about.
Bet you felt like you were on your
fucking holidays, didn't you, fella?
Why is it ?
I'm sorry to bombard you
with questions, by the way.
Why is it that on four occasions
when The Ripper's killed these
women, you are in the same town?
Leeds, Bradford, Leeds.
Every single time. Why?
I mean, I know what I think,
but why don't you go first?
- I wasn't in Manchester, Saturday.
- Where were you then?
- I stopped at home.
- And who's gonna vouch for that?
- My ma.
- Come on!
Your ma?
But your ma's 67. You
can't have it both ways.
Your ma's frail, your
ma's not all there.
We're gonna match it. D'you understand?
There's mud all around them
allotments where you took her
where you killed her. Jean Jordan
Tried to cut off her head.
Well, that mud gets everywhere.
So we're gonna match it
to the mud on your car.
Jim.
Got nothing so far.
Tested his house, tools, clothes.
Did his car last night,
tyres are brand new,
so they won't match with
the Richardson scene.
Right.
What about prints?
One print from any victim,
that's all we need,
or a single fibre.
So far he's clean as a whistle.
But then maybe that's it, you know.
Maybe that shows he's
got something to hide.
Is Oldfield pressing charges?
He can't.
It's all still circumstantial, isn't it?
I can do all that.
No, I'll-I'll do it.
Needs doing properly.
It-It were all a load
of fuss over nothing.
Marjorie next door thought
she heard the word
Ripper.
They think that
this Ripper's got a white car,
so that's why they wanted to talk to me,
'cos I've got a white
car, you see, so
Yeah, but lots of people
have got white cars.
Hundreds.
So why did they want to talk to you?
Your dad'd turn in his grave if
he thought you'd been with whores.
I haven't.
Turn in his ruddy grave.
The murder of a Mrs Jean Jordan,
a known prostitute,
whose remains were found
by two young men on an
allotment in Greater Manchester
earlier this month, brings the
total number of murders to six.
The man referred to
as The Yorkshire Ripper
has now claimed more lives
than his Victorian namesake.
Judith Rose spoke to the detective
spear-heading the inquiry,
George Oldfield.
It now appears that the Ripper
has struck for a sixth time.
And yet, after two years, no
suspects, no formal arrests,
no evidence as far as the
public have been aware.
Have you made any progress?
There are a number of suspects
we're keeping a close eye on.
What I can say is that
while this individual may be
taking great care to evade us,
we are making progress, and
the net is closing all the time.
Come on.
Ugh!
George? Ronald's here.
I had the Daily Express
ring me this morning
wanting the latest.
They just want the gory details,
don't they? That's all they want.
Never does us any good,
all this press, you know?
Nobody cares about dead prostitutes.
They care more about
the donkeys in Blackpool.
I couldn't take their call,
because I had The Sunday People
on the other line
wanting the same thing.
Wondering what the plan was
how we intend on stopping this man.
I said nothing, of course.
Well, that's quite right.
Because, George, those are
not the questions I can answer.
In truth, their questions
are my questions.
What is the plan?
How exactly are we planning
on stopping this man?
There's a chap who we like
cab driver.
Now, his car matches
the witness statement,
and we have him in Leeds,
Bradford, Manchester,
and he has no alibi for the key dates.
- Now, he is right here.
- Six murders.
- I know.
- Six.
I know. Not all on my watch,
but you don't have to tell me.
All I need is a little
bit of luck, you know,
just one more bit of evidence
pointing to him, and we'll have him.
I can feel it. You
won't be disappointed.
No, George. I won't.
Now, this'll create an open channel,
so I'll be able to hear everything.
Just put it somewhere safe.
I would never have had you down
for a Hawaiian shirt, Andrew.
It were a Christmas present
from t'mother in law.
Don't mean to say you have
to wear it, though, does it?
Look, there she is.
- Maureen?
- Yeah.
- I'm Meg. I'll be with you tonight.
- Right.
- Shall we go in?
- OK.
- Are they mine?
- Yeah.
Thanks.
Do you know him?
No.
Do you recognise him, though?
No.
So, what's he looking
at you like that for?
'Cos that's what men do.
Look carefully.
What about that man?
- Could that man be your attacker?
- No.
Just keep looking.
- I think we should go.
- We need to stay a bit longer.
Is it 'cos you think people
know you're stood with a copper?
Is that it?
Can I go home, please?
Maureen, you haven't seen him, have you?
You must tell me.
Nobody knows him, do they?
No.
They don't know who t'Ripper is.
They don't know what
t'Ripper looks like.
No, but they know me.
They've all seen t'papers.
I'm meant to be looking at them,
but they're all looking at me.
They're not.
I can see it on their
faces. They think I'm dirty.
- Maureen
- A prostitute.
- but you're not.
- Mm. That's what they're thinking.
'Cos that's what he does.
Everybody knows t'Ripper
attacks prostitutes,
and everybody knows
the Ripper attacked me.
Don't matter if it's not true.
That's me marked.
That's me scarred
forever.
- And?
- Her name's Marilyn Moore,
attacked last night
near Scott Hall Road.
- Scott Hall Road.
- Wilma McCann.
And Jane MacDonald.
Not only did she survive, but
she remembers what he looked like.
And she reckons he was interrupted.
He was hitting her, going
at her with a hammer,
then he just stopped, drove off.
We had her sit with a sketch
artist before she forgot his face.
Man, I've told you, I
haven't done anything!
- I haven't done anything!
- What are you doing to him?
Please help Ah!
He's after him! Hey, what you doing!
Eh, all right love, back inside, OK?
You're hurting me! You're hurting me!
All right, let's spin this lot
round, get him up to Bishopsgarth.
Bishopsgarth? It's deserted.
Exactly. What we need now is time.
Put the pressure on. Get a confession.
Can't do that.
Look, he knows he's done it. We
just need to get him to say it.
Now, I promised Wilf
MacDonald I'd nail him,
so that's what we're doing.
It's not just me saying it.
It's not just me and Dick and
my whole team, it's the victims.
The women that you attacked.
Who's that?
Don't know.
I'll tell you who it is.
It's the Ripper.
See, we asked these women to
describe the man who attacked them.
And then we do a drawing.
And that drawing
is you.
So, you're in the same car
you're in the same places
and now
the same face.
How do you explain that?
- I can't.
- 'Cos you're the Ripper?
- I'm not.
- You're the Ripper.
No!
You know, I think that you
don't even know that it's you.
Mm. 'Cos you're confused.
And that's all right.
Mm. Course you are.
Well, don't worry.
'Cos I'm here to help you.
Mm?
'Cos it's over now, it's done.
Hm. All we need to do
is just talk through it.
Do you want me to tell your mum?
Is that it? I can do
that for you, don't worry.
And I don't have to go into
the details, don't have to
tell her all those things
that you did to those women.
'Cos I know you didn't mean it.
They were an accident.
I-I didn't.
Don't fucking lie!
Just gonna keep on denying
it till we take him home.
Who said anything about taking him home?
- We'll keep him here overnight.
- Can't do that.
- Over two nights
- Two nights? George, come on.
Listen. When he'd stopped
stabbing Jane MacDonald
who had that knife on her t-shirt
So we keep him here.
We keep on keeping him
here till he coughs for it.
Ah!
There he is. Too punctual
for his own good, our Dennis.
- There's one for you.
- Ah.
You sip on that.
There's just a couple of things I
want to talk to you about. It's
some ideas I've had.
As long as it's not about the case.
I get enough of that at work.
'Scuse me a minute.
Calm down.
Don't know.
The same person every
time. The same person.
People are looking.
What you staring at?
Just wondering if she's all right.
Yeah?
And if she weren't, what
would you be doing about it?
Nothing.
- Just leave it, please.
- That's what.
Calm down.
This, um, this new
lad Botham, Bo-tham
Does he get to start at
Trent Bridge, or doesn't he?
Dennis?
You OK?
Still taking your insulin?
Because this is when it starts.
30 years on the job,
all booze and bad eating,
the moment you stop,
that's when it gets you
- creeps up behind you
- No.
So, what d'you mean "no"?
No, he doesn't start at Trent Bridge.
He's not got the experience.
Hm.
Sat exams here once.
Not been back since, thank God.
I did my detective course in that room.
Margaret were pregnant
with Gillian and
I got the call to say
she'd gone into labour.
But they wouldn't let me go.
Said, "What type of
detective would I make
if I went running off to
the wife all the time?"
I said, "Isn't that what you
want from a detectives, eh?
People who care?"
Otherwise what's he doing it for?
Exactly.
So they let you go?
Did they bollocks?
We can keep you here as long as we like.
Don't bother us.
So, it don't matter.
The longer you're
here, safer everyone is.
So what about that question
I asked you before, hm?
Why stab Emily Jackson 52 times?
That's more than the others.
What had she done to deserve that, eh?
Hm?
Come on.
What's going on in there?
I'm
Go on, you can tell Uncle George.
I'm thinking I'm a bastard.
I-I don't like myself.
No.
I-I don't know myself.
Go on.
I-I wanna say it
I wanna
I wanna tell you that
it were me, that
I'm this Ripper
just so you'll make it fucking stop.
Well, it's not gonna stop.
What're you doing here?
There's been another one.
In Huddersfield this time, a Black lass.
He's dumped her in some wood-yard.
So your cabbie has an alibi.
- An alibi?
- Oh, aye, best alibi there is.
He were here
with you.
Hey, best of luck telling him that one.
Terry, is that you?
Yeah.
Mr Gregory rang.
Thank you.
Dick! Get in here!
"Dear sir, I'm sorry I cannot
give my name for obvious reasons.
I am the Ripper."
"I've been dubbed a maniac
by the press, but not by you,
you call me clever, and I am,
but you and your mates
haven't got a clue.
That photo in the paper gave me fits,
and that bit about me
killing myself, not a chance.
I've got things to do.
My purpose, to rid the
streets of them sluts.
My one regret is that young
lassie MacDonald did not know,
'cos I changed my routine that night.
Up to number eight, you say
seven, but remember Preston '75."
Preston 75? That's Joan Harrison.
The one Hoban says wasn't linked.
This is it. This is him.
Nobody knows about Harrison.