Endeavour (2013) s04e04 Episode Script
Harvest
1 The Soviet Union has warned the United States that an attack on Cuba or on Soviet ships carrying supplies to the island would mean war.
In a statement from Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister Mr Gromyko said any such attack made by the United States would plunge the world into the disaster of a universal world war with the use of thermonuclear weapons.
"When he opened the Seventh Seal, there was a silence in Heaven, about the space of half an hour.
And I saw the angels that stood before God and to them were given the seven trumpets.
" I've been asked to convey the Chief Constable's appreciation to Detective Inspector Thursday for the admirable way he's held the fort these past weeks.
On behalf of the whole station, sir, if I might just say, welcome back.
All right, carry on.
Anything pressing that requires my immediate attention? One or two burglaries outstanding in the Oxpens area, sir -- kids, probably, by the mess.
Just through from the Information Room, sir.
Body found at Bramford mere.
- Bramford, you say? - Bramford mere.
- That's County ground, isn't it? - Division would like us to deal.
- Laxman went missing out that way.
- Who's this? Before your time, sir, five years back.
Matthew Laxman.
A botanist, went missing from his rooms at Wolsey during the long vac.
Last sighting was from a hitchhiker, Nigel Warren.
Laxman told him he was heading out Bramford way but his car was never recovered.
- Foul play, you think? - It wasn't my case, sir.
County investigation for the most part.
But my old bagman, DS Lott, liaised with them from the city end.
He might not have been as thorough as he could have been.
And you'd like to set things right.
Well, there we are.
Not half an hour in the station, all back to normal.
Carry on.
- Morning.
- Constable.
Archaeological dig, sir, out of Courtney College, turned up a hand.
Belongs to the fellow in this trench.
- Morning, Doctor.
- Inspector, gentlemen.
What have you got? Male, age as yet undetermined.
Remains somewhat compressed but remarkably well preserved, due to the acidity of the soil.
- Any chance it could be Laxman? - Time of death rather mitigates against that.
Time of death? 2,000 years ago.
- 2,000 years? - Yes.
Give or take a couple of hundred years.
We'll have trouble notifying his next of kin.
Poor chap does seem to have had rather a grim time of it.
There's trauma to the skull -- an axe, perhaps, or a rock -- fatal by itself.
But we also have a garrotte, tightened by means of a stick.
And finally, his throat has been laid open with a very sharp blade, right to left.
- Torture, possibly.
- Or ritual.
How's that? Prevailing school of thought is that places like this, bodies of water, held a supernatural significance to ancient peoples.
They were seen as a gateway from one world to another.
It could have been an offering made to whatever deities they worshipped.
- Human sacrifice, you mean? - Popular with the druids.
And what's that? There.
Oh.
Inspector.
Matthew had a pair quite similar.
It's possible they're his.
- Where did you find them? - Out at Bramford mere.
Isn't that where he told the hitchhiker he was going? Bramford village was the destination.
The mere is about a mile or so outside.
Did he have any business out there, do you know? - No.
- And you were out of town - at the time of his disappearance, yes? - Mm.
I did tell the police all this at the time.
We do like to be thorough.
To which end, I must ask, there was the suggestion that your marriage wasn't altogether happy.
Matthew was um passionate, driven, I suppose, in his work, in politics.
But he had a temper in drink.
Sometimes I felt there was a side to his life I never really knew at all.
You should speak to Donald, Professor Bagley at Wolsey.
He probably knew Matthew better than anyone.
Thank you.
That'll be all for now.
Professor Bagley.
Yes, he came by my rooms here as he did most mornings about 11:00.
We had a glass of sherry and caught up on the gossip.
After Anne, my wife, died, he was a good friend.
Have you any idea what he might have been doing out at Bramford mere? About his work, I should imagine.
Have you talked to Alison? Mrs Laxman? We've just come from there now.
Wonderful girl.
These last years have been very hard for her, not knowing if he was alive or dead.
Thank you, Professor.
"And the first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.
And they were cast upon the earth.
And the third part of trees was burnt up and all green grass was burnt up!" Nigel Warren? City Police.
About five years ago, you hitched a lift off Dr Matthew Laxman, going out Bramford way.
I gave a statement at the time.
To County, yes, not to us.
We are reviewing the case.
Then you'll know I had an alibi.
Did Laxman say anything about going to Bramford mere? I thought he just said to Bramford.
He was in a pretty bad mood.
I think some woman had got his back up.
Did he say who? His wife, I took it.
Right, well, if anything else comes back to you, we're at Cowley nick.
Right.
Get hold of a copy of the missing persons poster.
And have a patrol car run you out to Bramford.
Ask around.
See if you can jog any memories.
What? Well, we're going to a lot of trouble over a pair of glasses, aren't we? I mean, if it had been Laxman's body in the mere, but it wasn't.
Five years.
If there was anything to be found, County would have found it.
County couldn't find their arse with both hands and a map.
This time we're gonna make sure it gets done right.
Meet me at the church around 5:00.
Thanks.
There you go, then, sir.
On tick, is it? Yeah, thank you.
- See you on Saturday, shall we? - I'll try.
- Afternoon.
- Afternoon.
Good afternoon.
I'm Detective Constable Morse, City Police.
You're a long way out, aren't you, my dear? I'm looking into the disappearance of a Dr Matthew Laxman.
He went missing from the area around five years ago.
Yeah, I remember.
Told the police at the time I hadn't seen him.
Well, I just wondered if you might have remembered anything in the meantime.
No, sorry.
All right.
Well, thank you.
What's with the Morris men? Practising their figures for Saturday.
Second harvest -- balance of the year.
- Autumnal equinox.
- That's right.
Day and night, light and dark in perfect harmony.
Right.
Well, thanks again.
Not at all, my dear.
Goddess bless thee.
Hello, there.
- Excuse me.
- Hey? Hey! Hello.
Detective Constable Morse, City Police.
Miss? Mrs Levin.
Ros.
How do you do? Very well, thank you.
I'm looking into the disappearance of a Dr Matthew Laxman.
He went missing about five years ago from the area.
We've not been in the area very long.
Jon, my husband, works at the power plant.
Right.
American? Omaha, Nebraska.
And what do you make of it, Bramford? Yeah, uh kind of quaint.
And the people seem nice, if a little strange.
Um you should talk to Dowsable.
Miss Chattox.
She's a house in the woods at the bottom of the valley.
Oh, right.
Well, thank you for your help.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
- Good luck with everything.
Hello? Miss Chattox? Hello? Hello? - My name's - Morse.
That's your name, isn't it? Morse.
I've been expecting you.
You really oughtn't to go round pointing guns at people.
I get all sorts coming here -- surveyors, water people, them buggers from the power station.
- Besides, you are trespassing.
- I thought you were expecting me.
What you want coming here, troubling a poor defenceless old woman? You didn't seem defenceless from where I was standing.
I don't know what you bother me for.
I told that other policeman, the one that come before.
I never saw that Dr Laxman.
Well, that was County, I'm City.
It was five years ago this weekend.
I know when he went.
The balance of the year when the veil is thinnest.
The veil? Between the world of day and night.
The equinox is science, Miss Chattox.
It's not superstition.
In any event, sometimes people remember things they forget.
- I don't.
- Well, then, I've had a wasted journey.
Afternoon.
The American girl sent you.
You want to keep an eye on that one.
Darkness presses in close upon her.
There are signs, if you know how to read them.
A lamb with two heads was born in the spring.
You ask my grandson Seth if you don't believe me.
April 11th, Joan's birthday.
"Agnes Chattox.
April 11th, 1623 to September 22nd, 1645.
Spinster of this parish.
" I think I just met one of her relatives out in the woods.
Local wise woman or not.
She were hanged.
Agnes.
Tested and hanged.
- For what? - Consorting with an imp.
And all other manner of black deviltries besides.
- "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
" - Is that right, Mr? Zebulon Sadler, sexton of All Souls.
So you've found him, then, have you, him that's been missing since '62? That's why you people's all over the mere, isn't it? - I don't suppose you remember seeing him? - No.
- You won't find anybody hereabouts as did.
- Why's that? Cos he never came here.
- You seem very certain.
- Of course.
It was harvest weekend.
Outsiders stand out like a sore thumb.
That be the power plant.
They test their alarm bells every day about the same time.
If you'll excuse me, I've got a burial to see to.
I see you met our sexton.
Curling your hair with tales of the devil walking abroad, was he? - Something like that.
- He can lay it on a bit thick.
Particularly with strangers.
Dr Berger, Tristan.
- DI Thursday.
- I'm the local sawbones.
I have a surgery in Kings Abbott but I live here in Bramford.
You're looking for that chap that went missing? Laxman.
You recollect anything? No, I'm afraid not.
I was away that weekend.
Symposium in the Midlands.
I could ask my sister Selina.
She keeps house for me at The Grange.
- Where can I reach you if -- - Cowley Station.
Well, then.
We won't keep you.
Not at all.
It was very good to meet you.
Hey! How was your day? Well, it was an endless social whirl.
You'll read all about it in next month's Harper's.
If you want to meet people, you've got to go to the village.
You've got to talk to them.
I don't like the way some of them look at me.
Well, try Oxford, then.
Um a policeman came by.
That broke the monotony.
A cop? What did he want? Someone went missing near here, a botanist.
- When was this? - Oh, years ago.
Before we came here.
I knew there was something not right about the Laxman case.
Right from the off, felt it in my water.
What about County? Anything of any use there? I've been through County case files.
It appears to have been a textbook investigation.
That should tell you something.
Since when have County done a textbook anything? There is one oddity.
They didn't speak to anyone at Bramford power station.
It's just four miles up the road from where Laxman disappeared.
Huge staff.
700 potential eyewitnesses and County didn't speak to one of them.
- See what you can dig out.
- Sir.
Good night, Mrs Thursday.
Win, Morse is going.
She gets lost in her programmes.
- Tell me how you make out.
- There was one more thing.
It's the autumnal equinox this weekend.
I know, because Bramford village make a big song and dance about it.
- And? - It was the autumnal equinox five years ago when Laxman disappeared.
- You're saying they're somehow connected? - I don't know.
But it is curious.
What's the matter that you can't say cheerio to Morse? Win? Winifred! What's going on? I thought he was fond of her in his way.
Police.
When it comes to murder, you can find a needle in a haystack, but when it's about your own daughter The pair of you.
- Police.
- If you could pull over by the barrier.
- Do you have an appointment? - No.
I'm sorry, sir, there's no unauthorised access to the site.
This warrant card is my authority.
Up to the gate, sir.
Beyond that, you'll need to make an appointment.
- With whom? - The appropriate ministry.
Turn the car around, sir.
Look, in the last two hours, I have spoken to the Atomic Energy Authority, who referred me to the MoD.
The MoD have referred me to the Permanent Undersecretary's office, who referred me to you.
I just want to know how I get access to Bramford power station.
Right, well, thank you for nothing.
Rodents, according to Dr DeBryn.
The specs.
Rats have had a nibble, haven't they? Anyway, you haven't forgotten about tonight? Counting on you.
OK, ladies and gentlemen.
Ready for the next question? Get those thinking caps on, please.
Which famous film star, once married to Conrad Hilton, married her fifth husband in March of last year? Elizabeth Taylor? She's been hitched tons.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor.
- That's it.
Sport now.
Which player on the winning side Frank Saul, eh? Who'd have thought? - Want a chip? - No, thank you.
Listen, I've been meaning to say.
A mate of mine in London's starting a new unit.
Asked me if I could recommend a good bagman.
Thought after that knockback with your sergeant's - It was more than a knockback.
- There you go.
If your face don't fit, matey It'd be automatic promotion.
More money, London weighting.
It's a solid offer.
It's a DI Craddock, Tintagel House.
We were at Hendon together.
You should give him a call.
- See you tomorrow.
- Good night.
Little toe rags.
Sorry, matey.
Ah, it's one of those things.
We see it enough.
Yeah, but you're one of our own.
Well, can't stay on here with it like this, can you? - Welcome to doss at mine till you get yourself straight.
- Oh, no.
Thank you.
Thanks.
I'd sooner make a start.
Right.
Well, the offer's there.
Chin up, matey.
Shirl.
Morse.
Strange said they made a right mess of things.
- It's nothing, really.
- Anything to go on? Scene of Crime have dusted for prints, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Miss Berger called the station from Bramford -- the GP's sister.
- Miss Berger? - Yes.
DI Thursday, DC Morse.
I believe you rang the station.
It was a Friday.
I'd been into town to return my books to Boots and to take in a matinee at the cinema.
On the way back to Bramford, the bus was held up a moment by a milk herd being brought back from pasture.
And that's when I noticed it.
- Noticed what? - The car.
A black Morris Oxford, it had come off the road.
- Where was this? - About four miles out of the village.
A couple of miles before the turn-off for the power station.
What time was this? About 6:00.
Perhaps a little later.
I suppose I just put it out of my head.
Didn't think any more about it.
- You didn't notice it on the way in to town? - No.
But the bus had to take a detour on the way in on account of a tree being down.
How come you remembered it now? Well, Tristan said the police were in the village asking questions.
And Hello again.
I just popped home for some lunch.
I'm not interrupting? - Not at all, sir.
- Right.
Well, I'll leave you to it.
Why didn't you report it at the time, when Dr Laxman went missing? I don't suppose I put two and two together at all.
But I don't remember any mention of a car the first time the police came round.
Sure it was a Friday, though? I thought so.
Of course, I I might be mistaken about when I saw it.
I seem to think it was early autumn.
Certainly before I heard anything about Dr Laxman.
What was the film that you saw? - You said you took in a matinee at the cinema.
- Oh.
It was five years ago now.
Um I think it was the one about the borstal boy who becomes a runner.
Right.
Thank you, Miss Berger, that's been most useful.
- They seemed nice, didn't they? - Yes.
I left some tongue in the fridge, did you see? Yes, I did.
- Did you have some? - Yes.
Was it nice? - It was quite.
- Good.
You're not angry? Good heavens, no.
You were just doing your duty.
I'm very proud of you.
- When will you be back? - Late, I should think.
Don't wait up.
Do you think it was Laxman's car? Ask round the garages hereabouts.
See if anyone brought a Morris in for repair.
You'd think they would have been spoken to at the time, wouldn't you? County.
If she even saw what she saw.
Laxman was anti-nuclear.
You think he had something to do with the power station? Well, not necessarily.
But it's such a huge staff.
Someone might have seen something.
The problem is, I can't get access to the site.
Well, I'm due to go out there, interview the director.
A chap called Elliott Blake.
How's that? Their new reactor, Bramford B.
As soon as Goldenrod becomes operational this weekend, we've been invited to bang the drum.
- By whom? - Blake himself.
He's the darling of the atomic industry.
But there's a lot of bad feeling about their plans to flood the valley for a reservoir.
How are you with a camera? - Night, then.
- Want me to give you a lift? A patrol car can run me.
- What's all this? - From Morse's place.
Scene of Crime are done with it.
Wondered if he might want some of it back.
- Anything? - Clean as a whistle.
The only prints they turned up are his.
You all right, sir? Fine.
Fine.
Dorothea Frazil, Oxford Mail.
I've an appointment with Mr Blake.
My photographer, Snappy Jenkins.
Wait there.
Thank you.
Snappy? Well, you can be.
Elliott Blake, Director of Operations.
Welcome to Bramford.
- Thank you.
- And this is your photographer, is it? For today.
But the rest of the time, he works at the City Police.
Detective Constable Morse.
He tried to get onto the site to see you without success.
I was told someone from Oxford City Police had been by -- that was you? Yes, that was me.
A Dr Matthew Laxman, who worked at the botanic gardens, he went missing from the area around five years ago.
Yes, I remember.
What has that to do with the station? It appears some of our colleagues at County failed to question anyone on the site.
Do you remember Matthew Laxman visiting the station? Well, we work very closely with many scientific departments, but I can't recall ever receiving a delegation from the botanic gardens.
But you're welcome to join Miss Frazil for the tour.
Bramford has been in operation since shortly after the war.
Early work here helped Britain take its rightful place at the atomic table.
- Keeping up with Uncle Sam? - And Uncle Joe.
- Please, put these on.
- What is it? Film badge dosimeter.
Purely a precaution, but safety is our priority.
- What does it measure? - Cumulative radiation dose.
Should there be any exposure, the film will darken.
But don't worry.
That won't happen.
Well, that's put my mind at rest.
I suppose Morse told you.
I asked him not to say anything.
He gave me his word.
He kept it.
I told you not to look for me.
You're my daughter.
Of course I'm gonna look for you.
- I didn't come here to row.
- Good.
- Nice place.
- It's all right.
What are you doing for work? A boutique in Leamington.
Well, what's this? Afternoon off? Half-day closing.
Who is he? Why has there always got to be a "he"? Unless you've started smoking Weights.
Is this what we raised you to, some bloke's fancy piece? - He's nice.
- Married? Kids? - He's gonna leave her.
- That what he told you? I thought that you said you didn't come here for a row.
Come home.
This building houses our new fast breeder reactor, Goldenrod.
It's due to join the national grid this weekend.
So who was he, this Dr Laxman? He was a friend of Professor Bagley.
Do you know him? Bramford probably wouldn't have existed without him.
Professor Bagley proved vital to Britain's efforts in developing its own nuclear capability.
Before he lost his way, of course.
How's that? His wife was with him at Rumera in the Montebello Islands for the first British nuclear tests.
Later she developed a particularly aggressive leukaemia.
And Bagley blamed himself? When she died, he recanted his admiration for atomic energy .
.
disavowed his achievements.
That's understandable in the circumstances.
Perhaps, but .
.
you can't disinvent the wheel.
Please.
Let me show you the control room.
How's Mum? Half out of her mind with worry.
You could have called just to set her mind at rest.
I couldn't.
She'd have got around me.
- Would that have been the end of the world? - See? That's why I had to go.
If I come home, what then? Back to the nine to five? Tea in front of the telly, the Saturday dates with some nice boy who won't try and put his hand up my skirt.
- Joan.
- Is that what you want me to be? The engagement party, Uncle Charlie's blue jokes at the wedding, two-up two-down on some new estate, every house the same, with a pram in the hall? Why not? We'd have been glad of something like that, your mother and me.
You're too young to remember but our first two years of married life after I'd come back from the war, we lived with your nan and granddad over the ironmonger's.
Moved into the prefab, we thought we'd won the pools.
I'm not you and Mum.
And it's not your life, it's mine.
I'm her father.
Right.
Pleased to meet you.
Do you want me to come back? Take no notice.
He's just leaving.
I'm not done here.
Oh, I think you are, mate.
Is this really what you want? Well You've made your bed.
And the radioactive material, is it safe? Perfectly.
More radioactivity comes down the Thames from Oxford due to the hospitals than comes out of Bramford.
Goldenrod is controlled by computer, thus removing the risk of human error.
The latest joint computing nexus model.
Presumably there's a human fail-safe beyond the computer? Dr Levin, this is Miss Frazil of the Oxford Mail and Detective Constable Morse of the City Police.
I've been giving them a tour of the facility.
Perhaps you could allay their fears.
Of course.
Of course.
Naturally, we do retain a human fail-safe, based on the SCRAM system.
Don't be alarmed, it's just a test.
I've a few questions about Goldenrod's contribution to the arms race, Mr Blake.
I'm sure Morse will excuse us.
Dr Levin will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.
If you could dig out those visitors' books, I'd appreciate it.
Of course.
As Miss Frazil said, we've nothing to hide.
Hello, Ray.
Now, look, mate I'm not your mate.
Get up! I'll have the bloody law on you! I am the law.
Detective Inspector Fred Thursday.
589 Lima Foxtrot Tango.
In five minutes, I'll know everything there is to know about you, from your home address to your inside leg.
- I'll report you.
- No, you won't.
Come near her again, I'll fit you up for a nonce and have you in chokey so fast you'll wonder what's hit you.
- You can't do that.
- Watch me.
I met your wife the other day, regarding a Matthew Laxman.
Yes.
Yes, she said.
But I'm sure she told you, we've uh we've not been in England that long.
And how are you finding it? There's a lot of misunderstanding amongst the public when it comes to atomic energy.
On the one hand, the plant has turned Bramford into a bit of a boom town, on the other, a cow's milk turns bad or a bad harvest The plant gets the blame.
It's just ignorance.
You wouldn't call Professor Bagley ignorant, presumably? - You know Donald? - Yes, I've met him.
Do you? Sure, sure.
Prometheus Unbound was required reading for any physics major.
He's been a hero to me for as long as I can recall.
I saw him whenever I came to England.
In fact, I wouldn't be here without him.
- How's that? - Oh, he gave me a reference.
The name Donald Bagley still opens doors in Bramford.
When were you in England? You said you visited Professor Bagley.
Er winter of '59 fall of '62 and again in '65.
Fall '62 -- September? It's just, earlier you said that you Oh, I was talking about Ros and me as husband and wife.
We weren't in England then.
So you could have been here when Laxman disappeared? Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
I'd have to check my diary but uh Like I said, I never met the guy.
I'm going away at the weekend.
I might not be back for some time.
I wonder could I leave one or two things with you for safekeeping? Of course.
Is everything all right, Donald? Oh, yes.
It will be.
- Just drop me here.
- Are you sure? I need some fresh air.
All well? You seem a little out of sorts.
My flat was burgled.
Bad luck.
Maybe.
Or maybe someone's trying to tell me something.
Like what? "Go west, young man.
" Or south.
London, maybe.
A man might lose himself there.
You want to be lost? Well, might as well make it official.
There's a job in the offing.
What's this -- girl trouble? I haven't got a girl.
Maybe that's the trouble.
Thanks.
Why didn't you say that Dr Laxman had come here? I'd got enough trouble without being tied up in all that.
They want me gone, don't they? - Who? - The power station people.
They want me gone so they can flood all this and turn it into a reservoir.
Well, I won't go.
And they can't make me.
What did he want, Dr Laxman? I can't remember.
Something to do with the Bram, maybe, the stream that runs through the valley.
So why did he end up with a tarot card in his pocket? I did a reading for him.
And he took it.
That doesn't sound a particularly nice thing to do.
He wasn't nice.
So, what, he just did it out of mischief? More spite.
Perhaps he didn't like what the cards had to say.
Maybe he spoiled the pack because he thought he could change his future.
Why? What did they predict? That a woman would bring him to ruin.
I could do a reading for you, if you like.
Oh, no, you're all right.
Thank you.
You came here seeking answers, didn't you? Now first you must ask a question of the cards.
Will I find out what happened to Dr Laxman? The first card stands for yourself.
No, it's not a bad card.
Ruled by Uranus, The Fool is a symbol of the soul's journey.
It stands for change.
What can you tell me about Bramford mere? There are things in the world older than you know.
We come and go.
But the land endures.
Behind you Oh, The Lovers inverted.
- You've been unlucky in love.
- Who hasn't? There's a maize field about a mile east of here.
Who does it belong to? Zebulon Sadler.
He lives down the lane.
Now, before you Judgement.
The heart of the matter, the Tower struck down.
Crossed by Don't tell me.
I'm going on a long journey by sea, perhaps.
Where I'll meet a tall dark stranger.
Your question will find its answer but it may not be the one you seek.
And for Capricorns, tomorrow will be Saturday.
Thank you for your time.
You are going on a journey.
Death waits at the end.
But not for you.
Mr Sadler? My boy saw it early Sunday morning.
We towed it back to the barn with a tractor.
- We were gonna sell the parts off.
- And then the balloon went up.
It was his, wasn't it? Dr Laxman's.
So you put it in the barn, covered it in tarpaulin and it's been there ever since? We didn't want people thinking we had anything to do with what happened to him.
We just found the car.
What's that when it's at home? Meter Survey Radiac No.
2.
Geiger counter.
What, for radiation and whatnot? And whatnot, yes.
And this.
There's a scarecrow in your field wearing Dr Laxman's jacket.
That's what I came to see you about.
Care to explain? Don't know anything about that.
- It wasn't in his car? - No.
I don't know where it came from.
Well, I think we'd best carry this on down the station.
Sergeant.
Oh, and there was this.
It's a film badge dosimeter.
It's from Laxman's jacket.
I went to Leamington.
You should have said something.
- What could I have said? - That you'd seen her, that she was all right.
It wasn't my place.
It wasn't your place to go looking for her, but you still did, didn't you? Well Maybe we both had a wasted trip.
I found this in Laxman's glove box.
The Grange -- that's Dr Berger's address.
He was away that weekend, wasn't he? Well, you'd better go and find out what's what.
I've only got Tristan by way of male company and he's my brother.
So we had lunch.
- But you knew he was married? - No.
No, not then.
I think he mentioned it the second time I saw him.
But he and his wife weren't happy with each other.
She'd found somebody else.
Anyway, I told him I usually go to the cinema, so we went together.
I let him kiss me.
We arranged to meet again the following Friday.
- Here? - That's right.
Tristan was away for the weekend at a symposium.
I offered to cook supper.
Why on earth didn't you mention this before? People talk, especially in Bramford.
- So he came, then? - Yes.
We ate and he must have left about 10:00.
That night? It was Saturday morning.
So all of that business about seeing his car on the Friday, what was that? I saw it early on the Sunday morning when I went to pick up Tristan from the station.
Friend of Miss Berger's, is it? I'm sorry? What's your business up here? Police business.
Yours? I saw the car.
Seth Chattox, I'm just down the lane.
I keep an eye for her when Dr Berger's working late.
Is that right? Have you known them long? Ever since they moved here.
Eight years ago now, I think.
Is it you I saw with another fellow on a road by the lower pasture the other day? He had a hat.
- Yes, that's right.
- What were you doing there? There was the sighting of a car, went missing five years ago, belonged to a Dr Matthew Laxman.
I don't suppose you saw it? No.
I can't say as I did.
Is that what all the police are doing down by the mere, looking for him? Yes.
That's right.
Well, good luck with that.
Away, Kip.
11:00am, eighth floor, Tintagel House.
Thank you, sir.
Look forward to meeting you.
Thank you.
Oh.
Fetched you a rabbit, Grandma.
Oh, put it in the kitchen.
- There's tea in the pot.
- Right.
I saw that copper you said about Morse.
- Where's this? - Up by The Grange.
You want to keep clear of the Bergers.
Him and her both.
There's nothing for the likes of us up there.
Hear me? I'll chop you some logs.
I'm afraid I have no idea what Matthew would have wanted with a Geiger counter.
Really? He never discussed it with you? He never mentioned the power station? He wouldn't have.
He knew better.
Having been midwife to the devil, Bramford's rather a sore point with me.
Progress, sir.
Oh.
Yes, you think so? Well, I suppose I did, too.
Can I offer you a sherry? Er no, thank you, sir.
That's all I came to ask.
I'd best get home.
Are you married, Inspector? Yes, sir, 26 years.
Oh.
Same as Anne and me.
Goodnight, then, sir.
Goodnight.
Home.
Fred, Joan's rang.
She's all right.
She said she's fine and she's settled and everything's all right.
She didn't say where.
And I didn't ask about coming home because I didn't want to push it.
But she said she'd ring again next week.
That's a relief, eh? Yeah.
Yeah, that's erm Yeah.
I'm going to have a Mackeson's to celebrate.
Evening, sir.
I wondered if you had a moment.
It's about my sergeant's exam.
I've been thinking about what you said.
About me leaving Oxford.
You're right, there's nothing to keep me here.
No family.
I've been offered to join a new unit in London.
It means rank.
Well It goes without saying, we shall miss your abilities, but you must do what you think right.
For an officer of your talent to remain at detective constable would be a waste of material.
Believe me, Morse, I've seen it all too often.
Better men passed over in favour of mediocrity because they weren't club.
So you think I should take it? That's a matter entirely for you.
If you'll forgive the presumption, you're a man, I think, more used to putting the concerns of others before himself.
Perhaps in this instance, you should consider what's in your own best interests.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Do you want to come in? Yeah.
It's not how I imagined.
Where is he? - Where is he? - It wasn't his fault, it was me.
- Don't say that.
- Morse, please, it was me.
I provoked him.
He's erm .
.
given me a couple of weeks to get out of the flat.
You should go home.
- I can't.
- Of course you can.
I can't.
I've made such a mess.
I don't know what to do.
Marry me.
Morse, I I don't want your pity.
Never mind what Dad would say.
I've been offered a job in London, the Met.
Tintagel House.
I've got to meet a detective inspector over there on Monday, but it's just a formality.
London? How did Dad take it? I'll drop him a line.
Well, if you If you're not gonna go home, then er Just take this.
- I can't take all that.
- You might need it.
Please, just take it.
Well, you'll get it back.
- Could be work.
- It wouldn't be anything else.
Morse? Evening, matey, it's Jim.
There's been a development.
Can you just wait a minute? Where are you going? Erm to get my things.
You're not going back to him? The Met? You there, Morse? Say farewell for me.
Morse? That badge you found, the dosimeter.
We've had it developed.
The lab says it's been exposed to a high dose of radiation.
Did Laxman go to the power station? The Director of Operations said no.
Right, Mr Sadler.
Tell them the same as you told me about the coat.
I got it off Seth Chattox, didn't I? Why didn't you say so in the first place? I didn't want to get him into trouble.
But if it's this dead fella's jacket, that's different, ain't it? I ain't gonna get done for murder on nobody's account.
Where? Where was this? Down Bramford mere, by the water there.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Start digging here.
Looks like we've found Dr Laxman.
What the bloody hell's this now? It's the autumnal equinox.
They want to come and observe the sunrise.
Just keep them away from here.
We'll go and have a talk with this shepherd.
.
.
be sure of a bounteous harvest, and bless us with all good things throughout the coming year.
Sergeant! What were you doing with Laxman's jacket? I found it under a hedge up by the woods, by the Americans' cottage.
So why didn't you report it at the time? I find all sorts up the woods.
I didn't know anyone was missing when I picked it up.
I would have kept it myself, only it didn't fit.
It was too small for me.
I was off to taking it up the church jumble only I ran into Zebulon.
He thought it might do for Old Job, the scarecrow.
- Where'd you find Sadler? - Didn't he say? Up by Bramford mere.
Why were you there at that time of the morning? I was after a ewe that got loose.
They like it down the mere for the clover, only it don't do them no good.
Was she down there, the ewe? No.
I must have missed the bugger in the dark.
By the time I got up to the top field, there she was.
Innocent as you please.
- Is it him? - Most certainly.
I could recite his dental records from memory.
It's Matthew Laxman, no question.
Cause? There's a wound to the skull not unlike that on the other one you pulled out of the bog.
At some point, he was exposed to a fairly large dose of radiation.
Enough to be fatal? Enough that I'll be ordering him a lead-lined coffin.
The ground readings are abnormally high.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Mrs Levin? City Police.
We were hoping to have a word with your husband.
You missed him.
He went to the plant about an hour ago.
With? A white-haired gentleman and a tall man with a beard.
Jon said they were colleagues.
Very early for the emergency drill.
- Has Dr Levin checked in? - About an hour ago.
Who was in the car with him? Professor Bagley and Dr Warren, the Professor's colleague.
- Where's Mr Blake? - In the control room.
This is a drill.
- This isn't a drill.
Open the gate.
- I can't, sir.
I'm not asking, I'm ordering.
This could be sabotage.
Now, what's it to be? - Right, sir.
- Lend us your sidearm.
Help with the evacuation.
Good work, Sergeant.
"And the second angel sounded.
And as though it were a great mountain burning with fire, it was cast into the sea.
- And the third part of the sea" - Please think about what you're doing.
Believe me, Blake, I've thought of nothing else for years.
Don, please.
You're a physicist.
Physics.
Science.
We're just children playing with matches.
And for what? To find more efficient ways of turning our fellow human beings into ash? - That's what this is really about.
- Don, please.
Goldenrod harvesting plutonium.
Professor Bagley, it's Detective Constable Morse.
I'm unarmed.
I'm unarmed.
Put your weapon down.
He's trying to purge the cooling ponds.
Tell him why.
There was a leak six years ago.
Tell him.
Tell him! A leak of radioactive material from the cooling ponds at Bramford A, where spent uranium rods were stored.
- So what happened? - Human error.
Instead of drawing water, hundreds and thousands of gallons were purged from the ponds.
- And entered the groundwater? - He's doing the same thing now.
They tried to hush it up, of course, but Matthew Laxman had been monitoring the area round Bramford for years.
He threatened the status quo so he had to be silenced.
They buried the truth about that leak but they won't bury this one.
You're wrong.
Laxman wasn't killed by anyone here.
- He's lying, Donald.
They're all liars.
- No.
- Then who? - I don't know.
But I want justice for Laxman too.
Please.
Just think about what you're doing.
- This is justice for Matt.
- No, it's not.
I was with him the day he went missing.
He went down to the mere to take readings and said he'd pick me up later.
But he never made it back, because these bastards killed him.
And you're protecting them, but we will have justice.
An eye for an eye.
Don't try anything.
You watched your wife die, Professor.
Do you really mean to poison the land, and condemn hundreds, maybe thousands, to the same fate? Don't listen to him, Donald.
The world will take what happens here as a warning and step back from the brink.
Maybe.
But people will still die.
Old, young, men, women and children.
All of them loved by someone.
The same as you loved your wife, the same as I love mine.
I'd like to go home to her right now, if I'm honest, walk away and leave you to it.
But I can't.
So .
.
if you really want to go through with it .
.
you're gonna have to shoot me.
I'll do it.
Maybe.
But I'm hoping you're the Donald Bagley that dedicated the last 20 years of his life to peace.
I'm sorry.
- Levin, can you stop - Get away from there, Doctor.
Judas! I believed in you! You think I've come this far I'm the fail-safe, remember? If you shoot me everybody dies.
- Stop! Stop.
- Out of my way.
You're done.
Now .
.
we all walk out of here nice and quietly.
Hey! .
.
if the reactor had gone into Sergeant! Can't you keep that animal quiet? It's all right, sir.
He's a bit like our Chief Superintendent, I expect -- bark worse than his bite.
Sir.
Right.
Back to the nick.
Morse? Can I take a look at your crook, please, Mr Chattox? First time I met you, your dog was chewing this.
Well, it's a habit.
I tried to break him of it but We pulled a pair of spectacles from Bramford mere, chewed the same way.
Dr Laxman's glasses.
Is that right? You were in love with Selina Berger.
The minute I saw her.
She'd go up ahead of her brother to get the place ready for him and Well, she seemed lonely.
A man gets an idea.
I mean, she had a brother, but a brother's not a husband, is it? - I asked her to marry me.
- Only she turned you down.
It was her right.
But she didn't turn down Matthew Laxman.
- You were jealous.
- Not like that.
I just wanted her to be happy but Laxman was a wrong 'un.
I could see that from the off and she deserved better.
You thought she deserved you.
Well, I would've looked after her.
I don't doubt it.
Quick with a back-hander, he was.
But that's not a man.
Not to my way of thinking.
So you came across his car after it had been run off the road.
Cos that's the way you take your sheep to the top field.
I offered to help him too.
I went to get my car to tow him out.
By the time I got back, he was still wild about being run off the road by the plant truck.
Effing and jeffing, he was.
Started trying to tell me how to tie a bowline, how I was doing it all wrong.
Me? I said, "I don't need no advice from you on tying knots.
" He said, "That's not what I heard.
" I said to him I said, "What's that supposed to mean?" And he said, "I tell you this.
You don't know what you're missing.
" One punch.
That's all it was, just one.
So you buried his body at Bramford mere? If I hadn't gone to help him he'd still be alive.
The turn of the year.
I don't suppose you'd give me a minute to do for Kip, would you? He won't understand not seeing me.
Wait! We'll look to him.
Hard to leave the land.
Better to die under an open sky than prison.
Some men aren't born for walls.
Joan rang.
I think that's all her mother wanted, really.
Just to hear her voice .
.
know she was all right.
No.
Thanks.
I'll see you Monday, then.
Monday, Morse.
Handshakes are for goodbye.
"A small fire in a storage area was quickly contained by Bramford's own fire brigade, with the site suffering only the most minor damage.
No members of staff were injured and there was never at any time .
.
a danger to the public.
" And they all lived happily ever after.
In the Mail, Thursday.
I hope you wouldn't gainsay Miss Frazil.
More than my life's worth, sir.
There was one more thing.
I have today received a letter.
Morse.
It was a bad fall.
Will she be all right? We've given her something to help her sleep, that's all.
Just one of those things.
Mother Nature.
Still, she's young and fit.
Give it a month or two, I'm sure you'll be able to try again.
Better luck next time, hm? "Dear Chief Superintendent Bright.
I'm instructed to inform you that Her Majesty the Queen has graciously approved the award of the George Medal to our trusted and well-beloved subject Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Albert Thursday, for special services in defence of the realm.
Given the circumstances, details pertaining to the award will be neither cited in the gazette nor entered into the public record.
I am further instructed to inform you that Her Majesty the Queen has also graciously approved the award of the George Medal to our trusted well-beloved subject, Detective Sergeant Endeavour Morse, for special services in defence of the realm.
"
In a statement from Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister Mr Gromyko said any such attack made by the United States would plunge the world into the disaster of a universal world war with the use of thermonuclear weapons.
"When he opened the Seventh Seal, there was a silence in Heaven, about the space of half an hour.
And I saw the angels that stood before God and to them were given the seven trumpets.
" I've been asked to convey the Chief Constable's appreciation to Detective Inspector Thursday for the admirable way he's held the fort these past weeks.
On behalf of the whole station, sir, if I might just say, welcome back.
All right, carry on.
Anything pressing that requires my immediate attention? One or two burglaries outstanding in the Oxpens area, sir -- kids, probably, by the mess.
Just through from the Information Room, sir.
Body found at Bramford mere.
- Bramford, you say? - Bramford mere.
- That's County ground, isn't it? - Division would like us to deal.
- Laxman went missing out that way.
- Who's this? Before your time, sir, five years back.
Matthew Laxman.
A botanist, went missing from his rooms at Wolsey during the long vac.
Last sighting was from a hitchhiker, Nigel Warren.
Laxman told him he was heading out Bramford way but his car was never recovered.
- Foul play, you think? - It wasn't my case, sir.
County investigation for the most part.
But my old bagman, DS Lott, liaised with them from the city end.
He might not have been as thorough as he could have been.
And you'd like to set things right.
Well, there we are.
Not half an hour in the station, all back to normal.
Carry on.
- Morning.
- Constable.
Archaeological dig, sir, out of Courtney College, turned up a hand.
Belongs to the fellow in this trench.
- Morning, Doctor.
- Inspector, gentlemen.
What have you got? Male, age as yet undetermined.
Remains somewhat compressed but remarkably well preserved, due to the acidity of the soil.
- Any chance it could be Laxman? - Time of death rather mitigates against that.
Time of death? 2,000 years ago.
- 2,000 years? - Yes.
Give or take a couple of hundred years.
We'll have trouble notifying his next of kin.
Poor chap does seem to have had rather a grim time of it.
There's trauma to the skull -- an axe, perhaps, or a rock -- fatal by itself.
But we also have a garrotte, tightened by means of a stick.
And finally, his throat has been laid open with a very sharp blade, right to left.
- Torture, possibly.
- Or ritual.
How's that? Prevailing school of thought is that places like this, bodies of water, held a supernatural significance to ancient peoples.
They were seen as a gateway from one world to another.
It could have been an offering made to whatever deities they worshipped.
- Human sacrifice, you mean? - Popular with the druids.
And what's that? There.
Oh.
Inspector.
Matthew had a pair quite similar.
It's possible they're his.
- Where did you find them? - Out at Bramford mere.
Isn't that where he told the hitchhiker he was going? Bramford village was the destination.
The mere is about a mile or so outside.
Did he have any business out there, do you know? - No.
- And you were out of town - at the time of his disappearance, yes? - Mm.
I did tell the police all this at the time.
We do like to be thorough.
To which end, I must ask, there was the suggestion that your marriage wasn't altogether happy.
Matthew was um passionate, driven, I suppose, in his work, in politics.
But he had a temper in drink.
Sometimes I felt there was a side to his life I never really knew at all.
You should speak to Donald, Professor Bagley at Wolsey.
He probably knew Matthew better than anyone.
Thank you.
That'll be all for now.
Professor Bagley.
Yes, he came by my rooms here as he did most mornings about 11:00.
We had a glass of sherry and caught up on the gossip.
After Anne, my wife, died, he was a good friend.
Have you any idea what he might have been doing out at Bramford mere? About his work, I should imagine.
Have you talked to Alison? Mrs Laxman? We've just come from there now.
Wonderful girl.
These last years have been very hard for her, not knowing if he was alive or dead.
Thank you, Professor.
"And the first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.
And they were cast upon the earth.
And the third part of trees was burnt up and all green grass was burnt up!" Nigel Warren? City Police.
About five years ago, you hitched a lift off Dr Matthew Laxman, going out Bramford way.
I gave a statement at the time.
To County, yes, not to us.
We are reviewing the case.
Then you'll know I had an alibi.
Did Laxman say anything about going to Bramford mere? I thought he just said to Bramford.
He was in a pretty bad mood.
I think some woman had got his back up.
Did he say who? His wife, I took it.
Right, well, if anything else comes back to you, we're at Cowley nick.
Right.
Get hold of a copy of the missing persons poster.
And have a patrol car run you out to Bramford.
Ask around.
See if you can jog any memories.
What? Well, we're going to a lot of trouble over a pair of glasses, aren't we? I mean, if it had been Laxman's body in the mere, but it wasn't.
Five years.
If there was anything to be found, County would have found it.
County couldn't find their arse with both hands and a map.
This time we're gonna make sure it gets done right.
Meet me at the church around 5:00.
Thanks.
There you go, then, sir.
On tick, is it? Yeah, thank you.
- See you on Saturday, shall we? - I'll try.
- Afternoon.
- Afternoon.
Good afternoon.
I'm Detective Constable Morse, City Police.
You're a long way out, aren't you, my dear? I'm looking into the disappearance of a Dr Matthew Laxman.
He went missing from the area around five years ago.
Yeah, I remember.
Told the police at the time I hadn't seen him.
Well, I just wondered if you might have remembered anything in the meantime.
No, sorry.
All right.
Well, thank you.
What's with the Morris men? Practising their figures for Saturday.
Second harvest -- balance of the year.
- Autumnal equinox.
- That's right.
Day and night, light and dark in perfect harmony.
Right.
Well, thanks again.
Not at all, my dear.
Goddess bless thee.
Hello, there.
- Excuse me.
- Hey? Hey! Hello.
Detective Constable Morse, City Police.
Miss? Mrs Levin.
Ros.
How do you do? Very well, thank you.
I'm looking into the disappearance of a Dr Matthew Laxman.
He went missing about five years ago from the area.
We've not been in the area very long.
Jon, my husband, works at the power plant.
Right.
American? Omaha, Nebraska.
And what do you make of it, Bramford? Yeah, uh kind of quaint.
And the people seem nice, if a little strange.
Um you should talk to Dowsable.
Miss Chattox.
She's a house in the woods at the bottom of the valley.
Oh, right.
Well, thank you for your help.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
- Good luck with everything.
Hello? Miss Chattox? Hello? Hello? - My name's - Morse.
That's your name, isn't it? Morse.
I've been expecting you.
You really oughtn't to go round pointing guns at people.
I get all sorts coming here -- surveyors, water people, them buggers from the power station.
- Besides, you are trespassing.
- I thought you were expecting me.
What you want coming here, troubling a poor defenceless old woman? You didn't seem defenceless from where I was standing.
I don't know what you bother me for.
I told that other policeman, the one that come before.
I never saw that Dr Laxman.
Well, that was County, I'm City.
It was five years ago this weekend.
I know when he went.
The balance of the year when the veil is thinnest.
The veil? Between the world of day and night.
The equinox is science, Miss Chattox.
It's not superstition.
In any event, sometimes people remember things they forget.
- I don't.
- Well, then, I've had a wasted journey.
Afternoon.
The American girl sent you.
You want to keep an eye on that one.
Darkness presses in close upon her.
There are signs, if you know how to read them.
A lamb with two heads was born in the spring.
You ask my grandson Seth if you don't believe me.
April 11th, Joan's birthday.
"Agnes Chattox.
April 11th, 1623 to September 22nd, 1645.
Spinster of this parish.
" I think I just met one of her relatives out in the woods.
Local wise woman or not.
She were hanged.
Agnes.
Tested and hanged.
- For what? - Consorting with an imp.
And all other manner of black deviltries besides.
- "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
" - Is that right, Mr? Zebulon Sadler, sexton of All Souls.
So you've found him, then, have you, him that's been missing since '62? That's why you people's all over the mere, isn't it? - I don't suppose you remember seeing him? - No.
- You won't find anybody hereabouts as did.
- Why's that? Cos he never came here.
- You seem very certain.
- Of course.
It was harvest weekend.
Outsiders stand out like a sore thumb.
That be the power plant.
They test their alarm bells every day about the same time.
If you'll excuse me, I've got a burial to see to.
I see you met our sexton.
Curling your hair with tales of the devil walking abroad, was he? - Something like that.
- He can lay it on a bit thick.
Particularly with strangers.
Dr Berger, Tristan.
- DI Thursday.
- I'm the local sawbones.
I have a surgery in Kings Abbott but I live here in Bramford.
You're looking for that chap that went missing? Laxman.
You recollect anything? No, I'm afraid not.
I was away that weekend.
Symposium in the Midlands.
I could ask my sister Selina.
She keeps house for me at The Grange.
- Where can I reach you if -- - Cowley Station.
Well, then.
We won't keep you.
Not at all.
It was very good to meet you.
Hey! How was your day? Well, it was an endless social whirl.
You'll read all about it in next month's Harper's.
If you want to meet people, you've got to go to the village.
You've got to talk to them.
I don't like the way some of them look at me.
Well, try Oxford, then.
Um a policeman came by.
That broke the monotony.
A cop? What did he want? Someone went missing near here, a botanist.
- When was this? - Oh, years ago.
Before we came here.
I knew there was something not right about the Laxman case.
Right from the off, felt it in my water.
What about County? Anything of any use there? I've been through County case files.
It appears to have been a textbook investigation.
That should tell you something.
Since when have County done a textbook anything? There is one oddity.
They didn't speak to anyone at Bramford power station.
It's just four miles up the road from where Laxman disappeared.
Huge staff.
700 potential eyewitnesses and County didn't speak to one of them.
- See what you can dig out.
- Sir.
Good night, Mrs Thursday.
Win, Morse is going.
She gets lost in her programmes.
- Tell me how you make out.
- There was one more thing.
It's the autumnal equinox this weekend.
I know, because Bramford village make a big song and dance about it.
- And? - It was the autumnal equinox five years ago when Laxman disappeared.
- You're saying they're somehow connected? - I don't know.
But it is curious.
What's the matter that you can't say cheerio to Morse? Win? Winifred! What's going on? I thought he was fond of her in his way.
Police.
When it comes to murder, you can find a needle in a haystack, but when it's about your own daughter The pair of you.
- Police.
- If you could pull over by the barrier.
- Do you have an appointment? - No.
I'm sorry, sir, there's no unauthorised access to the site.
This warrant card is my authority.
Up to the gate, sir.
Beyond that, you'll need to make an appointment.
- With whom? - The appropriate ministry.
Turn the car around, sir.
Look, in the last two hours, I have spoken to the Atomic Energy Authority, who referred me to the MoD.
The MoD have referred me to the Permanent Undersecretary's office, who referred me to you.
I just want to know how I get access to Bramford power station.
Right, well, thank you for nothing.
Rodents, according to Dr DeBryn.
The specs.
Rats have had a nibble, haven't they? Anyway, you haven't forgotten about tonight? Counting on you.
OK, ladies and gentlemen.
Ready for the next question? Get those thinking caps on, please.
Which famous film star, once married to Conrad Hilton, married her fifth husband in March of last year? Elizabeth Taylor? She's been hitched tons.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor.
- That's it.
Sport now.
Which player on the winning side Frank Saul, eh? Who'd have thought? - Want a chip? - No, thank you.
Listen, I've been meaning to say.
A mate of mine in London's starting a new unit.
Asked me if I could recommend a good bagman.
Thought after that knockback with your sergeant's - It was more than a knockback.
- There you go.
If your face don't fit, matey It'd be automatic promotion.
More money, London weighting.
It's a solid offer.
It's a DI Craddock, Tintagel House.
We were at Hendon together.
You should give him a call.
- See you tomorrow.
- Good night.
Little toe rags.
Sorry, matey.
Ah, it's one of those things.
We see it enough.
Yeah, but you're one of our own.
Well, can't stay on here with it like this, can you? - Welcome to doss at mine till you get yourself straight.
- Oh, no.
Thank you.
Thanks.
I'd sooner make a start.
Right.
Well, the offer's there.
Chin up, matey.
Shirl.
Morse.
Strange said they made a right mess of things.
- It's nothing, really.
- Anything to go on? Scene of Crime have dusted for prints, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Miss Berger called the station from Bramford -- the GP's sister.
- Miss Berger? - Yes.
DI Thursday, DC Morse.
I believe you rang the station.
It was a Friday.
I'd been into town to return my books to Boots and to take in a matinee at the cinema.
On the way back to Bramford, the bus was held up a moment by a milk herd being brought back from pasture.
And that's when I noticed it.
- Noticed what? - The car.
A black Morris Oxford, it had come off the road.
- Where was this? - About four miles out of the village.
A couple of miles before the turn-off for the power station.
What time was this? About 6:00.
Perhaps a little later.
I suppose I just put it out of my head.
Didn't think any more about it.
- You didn't notice it on the way in to town? - No.
But the bus had to take a detour on the way in on account of a tree being down.
How come you remembered it now? Well, Tristan said the police were in the village asking questions.
And Hello again.
I just popped home for some lunch.
I'm not interrupting? - Not at all, sir.
- Right.
Well, I'll leave you to it.
Why didn't you report it at the time, when Dr Laxman went missing? I don't suppose I put two and two together at all.
But I don't remember any mention of a car the first time the police came round.
Sure it was a Friday, though? I thought so.
Of course, I I might be mistaken about when I saw it.
I seem to think it was early autumn.
Certainly before I heard anything about Dr Laxman.
What was the film that you saw? - You said you took in a matinee at the cinema.
- Oh.
It was five years ago now.
Um I think it was the one about the borstal boy who becomes a runner.
Right.
Thank you, Miss Berger, that's been most useful.
- They seemed nice, didn't they? - Yes.
I left some tongue in the fridge, did you see? Yes, I did.
- Did you have some? - Yes.
Was it nice? - It was quite.
- Good.
You're not angry? Good heavens, no.
You were just doing your duty.
I'm very proud of you.
- When will you be back? - Late, I should think.
Don't wait up.
Do you think it was Laxman's car? Ask round the garages hereabouts.
See if anyone brought a Morris in for repair.
You'd think they would have been spoken to at the time, wouldn't you? County.
If she even saw what she saw.
Laxman was anti-nuclear.
You think he had something to do with the power station? Well, not necessarily.
But it's such a huge staff.
Someone might have seen something.
The problem is, I can't get access to the site.
Well, I'm due to go out there, interview the director.
A chap called Elliott Blake.
How's that? Their new reactor, Bramford B.
As soon as Goldenrod becomes operational this weekend, we've been invited to bang the drum.
- By whom? - Blake himself.
He's the darling of the atomic industry.
But there's a lot of bad feeling about their plans to flood the valley for a reservoir.
How are you with a camera? - Night, then.
- Want me to give you a lift? A patrol car can run me.
- What's all this? - From Morse's place.
Scene of Crime are done with it.
Wondered if he might want some of it back.
- Anything? - Clean as a whistle.
The only prints they turned up are his.
You all right, sir? Fine.
Fine.
Dorothea Frazil, Oxford Mail.
I've an appointment with Mr Blake.
My photographer, Snappy Jenkins.
Wait there.
Thank you.
Snappy? Well, you can be.
Elliott Blake, Director of Operations.
Welcome to Bramford.
- Thank you.
- And this is your photographer, is it? For today.
But the rest of the time, he works at the City Police.
Detective Constable Morse.
He tried to get onto the site to see you without success.
I was told someone from Oxford City Police had been by -- that was you? Yes, that was me.
A Dr Matthew Laxman, who worked at the botanic gardens, he went missing from the area around five years ago.
Yes, I remember.
What has that to do with the station? It appears some of our colleagues at County failed to question anyone on the site.
Do you remember Matthew Laxman visiting the station? Well, we work very closely with many scientific departments, but I can't recall ever receiving a delegation from the botanic gardens.
But you're welcome to join Miss Frazil for the tour.
Bramford has been in operation since shortly after the war.
Early work here helped Britain take its rightful place at the atomic table.
- Keeping up with Uncle Sam? - And Uncle Joe.
- Please, put these on.
- What is it? Film badge dosimeter.
Purely a precaution, but safety is our priority.
- What does it measure? - Cumulative radiation dose.
Should there be any exposure, the film will darken.
But don't worry.
That won't happen.
Well, that's put my mind at rest.
I suppose Morse told you.
I asked him not to say anything.
He gave me his word.
He kept it.
I told you not to look for me.
You're my daughter.
Of course I'm gonna look for you.
- I didn't come here to row.
- Good.
- Nice place.
- It's all right.
What are you doing for work? A boutique in Leamington.
Well, what's this? Afternoon off? Half-day closing.
Who is he? Why has there always got to be a "he"? Unless you've started smoking Weights.
Is this what we raised you to, some bloke's fancy piece? - He's nice.
- Married? Kids? - He's gonna leave her.
- That what he told you? I thought that you said you didn't come here for a row.
Come home.
This building houses our new fast breeder reactor, Goldenrod.
It's due to join the national grid this weekend.
So who was he, this Dr Laxman? He was a friend of Professor Bagley.
Do you know him? Bramford probably wouldn't have existed without him.
Professor Bagley proved vital to Britain's efforts in developing its own nuclear capability.
Before he lost his way, of course.
How's that? His wife was with him at Rumera in the Montebello Islands for the first British nuclear tests.
Later she developed a particularly aggressive leukaemia.
And Bagley blamed himself? When she died, he recanted his admiration for atomic energy .
.
disavowed his achievements.
That's understandable in the circumstances.
Perhaps, but .
.
you can't disinvent the wheel.
Please.
Let me show you the control room.
How's Mum? Half out of her mind with worry.
You could have called just to set her mind at rest.
I couldn't.
She'd have got around me.
- Would that have been the end of the world? - See? That's why I had to go.
If I come home, what then? Back to the nine to five? Tea in front of the telly, the Saturday dates with some nice boy who won't try and put his hand up my skirt.
- Joan.
- Is that what you want me to be? The engagement party, Uncle Charlie's blue jokes at the wedding, two-up two-down on some new estate, every house the same, with a pram in the hall? Why not? We'd have been glad of something like that, your mother and me.
You're too young to remember but our first two years of married life after I'd come back from the war, we lived with your nan and granddad over the ironmonger's.
Moved into the prefab, we thought we'd won the pools.
I'm not you and Mum.
And it's not your life, it's mine.
I'm her father.
Right.
Pleased to meet you.
Do you want me to come back? Take no notice.
He's just leaving.
I'm not done here.
Oh, I think you are, mate.
Is this really what you want? Well You've made your bed.
And the radioactive material, is it safe? Perfectly.
More radioactivity comes down the Thames from Oxford due to the hospitals than comes out of Bramford.
Goldenrod is controlled by computer, thus removing the risk of human error.
The latest joint computing nexus model.
Presumably there's a human fail-safe beyond the computer? Dr Levin, this is Miss Frazil of the Oxford Mail and Detective Constable Morse of the City Police.
I've been giving them a tour of the facility.
Perhaps you could allay their fears.
Of course.
Of course.
Naturally, we do retain a human fail-safe, based on the SCRAM system.
Don't be alarmed, it's just a test.
I've a few questions about Goldenrod's contribution to the arms race, Mr Blake.
I'm sure Morse will excuse us.
Dr Levin will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.
If you could dig out those visitors' books, I'd appreciate it.
Of course.
As Miss Frazil said, we've nothing to hide.
Hello, Ray.
Now, look, mate I'm not your mate.
Get up! I'll have the bloody law on you! I am the law.
Detective Inspector Fred Thursday.
589 Lima Foxtrot Tango.
In five minutes, I'll know everything there is to know about you, from your home address to your inside leg.
- I'll report you.
- No, you won't.
Come near her again, I'll fit you up for a nonce and have you in chokey so fast you'll wonder what's hit you.
- You can't do that.
- Watch me.
I met your wife the other day, regarding a Matthew Laxman.
Yes.
Yes, she said.
But I'm sure she told you, we've uh we've not been in England that long.
And how are you finding it? There's a lot of misunderstanding amongst the public when it comes to atomic energy.
On the one hand, the plant has turned Bramford into a bit of a boom town, on the other, a cow's milk turns bad or a bad harvest The plant gets the blame.
It's just ignorance.
You wouldn't call Professor Bagley ignorant, presumably? - You know Donald? - Yes, I've met him.
Do you? Sure, sure.
Prometheus Unbound was required reading for any physics major.
He's been a hero to me for as long as I can recall.
I saw him whenever I came to England.
In fact, I wouldn't be here without him.
- How's that? - Oh, he gave me a reference.
The name Donald Bagley still opens doors in Bramford.
When were you in England? You said you visited Professor Bagley.
Er winter of '59 fall of '62 and again in '65.
Fall '62 -- September? It's just, earlier you said that you Oh, I was talking about Ros and me as husband and wife.
We weren't in England then.
So you could have been here when Laxman disappeared? Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
I'd have to check my diary but uh Like I said, I never met the guy.
I'm going away at the weekend.
I might not be back for some time.
I wonder could I leave one or two things with you for safekeeping? Of course.
Is everything all right, Donald? Oh, yes.
It will be.
- Just drop me here.
- Are you sure? I need some fresh air.
All well? You seem a little out of sorts.
My flat was burgled.
Bad luck.
Maybe.
Or maybe someone's trying to tell me something.
Like what? "Go west, young man.
" Or south.
London, maybe.
A man might lose himself there.
You want to be lost? Well, might as well make it official.
There's a job in the offing.
What's this -- girl trouble? I haven't got a girl.
Maybe that's the trouble.
Thanks.
Why didn't you say that Dr Laxman had come here? I'd got enough trouble without being tied up in all that.
They want me gone, don't they? - Who? - The power station people.
They want me gone so they can flood all this and turn it into a reservoir.
Well, I won't go.
And they can't make me.
What did he want, Dr Laxman? I can't remember.
Something to do with the Bram, maybe, the stream that runs through the valley.
So why did he end up with a tarot card in his pocket? I did a reading for him.
And he took it.
That doesn't sound a particularly nice thing to do.
He wasn't nice.
So, what, he just did it out of mischief? More spite.
Perhaps he didn't like what the cards had to say.
Maybe he spoiled the pack because he thought he could change his future.
Why? What did they predict? That a woman would bring him to ruin.
I could do a reading for you, if you like.
Oh, no, you're all right.
Thank you.
You came here seeking answers, didn't you? Now first you must ask a question of the cards.
Will I find out what happened to Dr Laxman? The first card stands for yourself.
No, it's not a bad card.
Ruled by Uranus, The Fool is a symbol of the soul's journey.
It stands for change.
What can you tell me about Bramford mere? There are things in the world older than you know.
We come and go.
But the land endures.
Behind you Oh, The Lovers inverted.
- You've been unlucky in love.
- Who hasn't? There's a maize field about a mile east of here.
Who does it belong to? Zebulon Sadler.
He lives down the lane.
Now, before you Judgement.
The heart of the matter, the Tower struck down.
Crossed by Don't tell me.
I'm going on a long journey by sea, perhaps.
Where I'll meet a tall dark stranger.
Your question will find its answer but it may not be the one you seek.
And for Capricorns, tomorrow will be Saturday.
Thank you for your time.
You are going on a journey.
Death waits at the end.
But not for you.
Mr Sadler? My boy saw it early Sunday morning.
We towed it back to the barn with a tractor.
- We were gonna sell the parts off.
- And then the balloon went up.
It was his, wasn't it? Dr Laxman's.
So you put it in the barn, covered it in tarpaulin and it's been there ever since? We didn't want people thinking we had anything to do with what happened to him.
We just found the car.
What's that when it's at home? Meter Survey Radiac No.
2.
Geiger counter.
What, for radiation and whatnot? And whatnot, yes.
And this.
There's a scarecrow in your field wearing Dr Laxman's jacket.
That's what I came to see you about.
Care to explain? Don't know anything about that.
- It wasn't in his car? - No.
I don't know where it came from.
Well, I think we'd best carry this on down the station.
Sergeant.
Oh, and there was this.
It's a film badge dosimeter.
It's from Laxman's jacket.
I went to Leamington.
You should have said something.
- What could I have said? - That you'd seen her, that she was all right.
It wasn't my place.
It wasn't your place to go looking for her, but you still did, didn't you? Well Maybe we both had a wasted trip.
I found this in Laxman's glove box.
The Grange -- that's Dr Berger's address.
He was away that weekend, wasn't he? Well, you'd better go and find out what's what.
I've only got Tristan by way of male company and he's my brother.
So we had lunch.
- But you knew he was married? - No.
No, not then.
I think he mentioned it the second time I saw him.
But he and his wife weren't happy with each other.
She'd found somebody else.
Anyway, I told him I usually go to the cinema, so we went together.
I let him kiss me.
We arranged to meet again the following Friday.
- Here? - That's right.
Tristan was away for the weekend at a symposium.
I offered to cook supper.
Why on earth didn't you mention this before? People talk, especially in Bramford.
- So he came, then? - Yes.
We ate and he must have left about 10:00.
That night? It was Saturday morning.
So all of that business about seeing his car on the Friday, what was that? I saw it early on the Sunday morning when I went to pick up Tristan from the station.
Friend of Miss Berger's, is it? I'm sorry? What's your business up here? Police business.
Yours? I saw the car.
Seth Chattox, I'm just down the lane.
I keep an eye for her when Dr Berger's working late.
Is that right? Have you known them long? Ever since they moved here.
Eight years ago now, I think.
Is it you I saw with another fellow on a road by the lower pasture the other day? He had a hat.
- Yes, that's right.
- What were you doing there? There was the sighting of a car, went missing five years ago, belonged to a Dr Matthew Laxman.
I don't suppose you saw it? No.
I can't say as I did.
Is that what all the police are doing down by the mere, looking for him? Yes.
That's right.
Well, good luck with that.
Away, Kip.
11:00am, eighth floor, Tintagel House.
Thank you, sir.
Look forward to meeting you.
Thank you.
Oh.
Fetched you a rabbit, Grandma.
Oh, put it in the kitchen.
- There's tea in the pot.
- Right.
I saw that copper you said about Morse.
- Where's this? - Up by The Grange.
You want to keep clear of the Bergers.
Him and her both.
There's nothing for the likes of us up there.
Hear me? I'll chop you some logs.
I'm afraid I have no idea what Matthew would have wanted with a Geiger counter.
Really? He never discussed it with you? He never mentioned the power station? He wouldn't have.
He knew better.
Having been midwife to the devil, Bramford's rather a sore point with me.
Progress, sir.
Oh.
Yes, you think so? Well, I suppose I did, too.
Can I offer you a sherry? Er no, thank you, sir.
That's all I came to ask.
I'd best get home.
Are you married, Inspector? Yes, sir, 26 years.
Oh.
Same as Anne and me.
Goodnight, then, sir.
Goodnight.
Home.
Fred, Joan's rang.
She's all right.
She said she's fine and she's settled and everything's all right.
She didn't say where.
And I didn't ask about coming home because I didn't want to push it.
But she said she'd ring again next week.
That's a relief, eh? Yeah.
Yeah, that's erm Yeah.
I'm going to have a Mackeson's to celebrate.
Evening, sir.
I wondered if you had a moment.
It's about my sergeant's exam.
I've been thinking about what you said.
About me leaving Oxford.
You're right, there's nothing to keep me here.
No family.
I've been offered to join a new unit in London.
It means rank.
Well It goes without saying, we shall miss your abilities, but you must do what you think right.
For an officer of your talent to remain at detective constable would be a waste of material.
Believe me, Morse, I've seen it all too often.
Better men passed over in favour of mediocrity because they weren't club.
So you think I should take it? That's a matter entirely for you.
If you'll forgive the presumption, you're a man, I think, more used to putting the concerns of others before himself.
Perhaps in this instance, you should consider what's in your own best interests.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Do you want to come in? Yeah.
It's not how I imagined.
Where is he? - Where is he? - It wasn't his fault, it was me.
- Don't say that.
- Morse, please, it was me.
I provoked him.
He's erm .
.
given me a couple of weeks to get out of the flat.
You should go home.
- I can't.
- Of course you can.
I can't.
I've made such a mess.
I don't know what to do.
Marry me.
Morse, I I don't want your pity.
Never mind what Dad would say.
I've been offered a job in London, the Met.
Tintagel House.
I've got to meet a detective inspector over there on Monday, but it's just a formality.
London? How did Dad take it? I'll drop him a line.
Well, if you If you're not gonna go home, then er Just take this.
- I can't take all that.
- You might need it.
Please, just take it.
Well, you'll get it back.
- Could be work.
- It wouldn't be anything else.
Morse? Evening, matey, it's Jim.
There's been a development.
Can you just wait a minute? Where are you going? Erm to get my things.
You're not going back to him? The Met? You there, Morse? Say farewell for me.
Morse? That badge you found, the dosimeter.
We've had it developed.
The lab says it's been exposed to a high dose of radiation.
Did Laxman go to the power station? The Director of Operations said no.
Right, Mr Sadler.
Tell them the same as you told me about the coat.
I got it off Seth Chattox, didn't I? Why didn't you say so in the first place? I didn't want to get him into trouble.
But if it's this dead fella's jacket, that's different, ain't it? I ain't gonna get done for murder on nobody's account.
Where? Where was this? Down Bramford mere, by the water there.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Start digging here.
Looks like we've found Dr Laxman.
What the bloody hell's this now? It's the autumnal equinox.
They want to come and observe the sunrise.
Just keep them away from here.
We'll go and have a talk with this shepherd.
.
.
be sure of a bounteous harvest, and bless us with all good things throughout the coming year.
Sergeant! What were you doing with Laxman's jacket? I found it under a hedge up by the woods, by the Americans' cottage.
So why didn't you report it at the time? I find all sorts up the woods.
I didn't know anyone was missing when I picked it up.
I would have kept it myself, only it didn't fit.
It was too small for me.
I was off to taking it up the church jumble only I ran into Zebulon.
He thought it might do for Old Job, the scarecrow.
- Where'd you find Sadler? - Didn't he say? Up by Bramford mere.
Why were you there at that time of the morning? I was after a ewe that got loose.
They like it down the mere for the clover, only it don't do them no good.
Was she down there, the ewe? No.
I must have missed the bugger in the dark.
By the time I got up to the top field, there she was.
Innocent as you please.
- Is it him? - Most certainly.
I could recite his dental records from memory.
It's Matthew Laxman, no question.
Cause? There's a wound to the skull not unlike that on the other one you pulled out of the bog.
At some point, he was exposed to a fairly large dose of radiation.
Enough to be fatal? Enough that I'll be ordering him a lead-lined coffin.
The ground readings are abnormally high.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Mrs Levin? City Police.
We were hoping to have a word with your husband.
You missed him.
He went to the plant about an hour ago.
With? A white-haired gentleman and a tall man with a beard.
Jon said they were colleagues.
Very early for the emergency drill.
- Has Dr Levin checked in? - About an hour ago.
Who was in the car with him? Professor Bagley and Dr Warren, the Professor's colleague.
- Where's Mr Blake? - In the control room.
This is a drill.
- This isn't a drill.
Open the gate.
- I can't, sir.
I'm not asking, I'm ordering.
This could be sabotage.
Now, what's it to be? - Right, sir.
- Lend us your sidearm.
Help with the evacuation.
Good work, Sergeant.
"And the second angel sounded.
And as though it were a great mountain burning with fire, it was cast into the sea.
- And the third part of the sea" - Please think about what you're doing.
Believe me, Blake, I've thought of nothing else for years.
Don, please.
You're a physicist.
Physics.
Science.
We're just children playing with matches.
And for what? To find more efficient ways of turning our fellow human beings into ash? - That's what this is really about.
- Don, please.
Goldenrod harvesting plutonium.
Professor Bagley, it's Detective Constable Morse.
I'm unarmed.
I'm unarmed.
Put your weapon down.
He's trying to purge the cooling ponds.
Tell him why.
There was a leak six years ago.
Tell him.
Tell him! A leak of radioactive material from the cooling ponds at Bramford A, where spent uranium rods were stored.
- So what happened? - Human error.
Instead of drawing water, hundreds and thousands of gallons were purged from the ponds.
- And entered the groundwater? - He's doing the same thing now.
They tried to hush it up, of course, but Matthew Laxman had been monitoring the area round Bramford for years.
He threatened the status quo so he had to be silenced.
They buried the truth about that leak but they won't bury this one.
You're wrong.
Laxman wasn't killed by anyone here.
- He's lying, Donald.
They're all liars.
- No.
- Then who? - I don't know.
But I want justice for Laxman too.
Please.
Just think about what you're doing.
- This is justice for Matt.
- No, it's not.
I was with him the day he went missing.
He went down to the mere to take readings and said he'd pick me up later.
But he never made it back, because these bastards killed him.
And you're protecting them, but we will have justice.
An eye for an eye.
Don't try anything.
You watched your wife die, Professor.
Do you really mean to poison the land, and condemn hundreds, maybe thousands, to the same fate? Don't listen to him, Donald.
The world will take what happens here as a warning and step back from the brink.
Maybe.
But people will still die.
Old, young, men, women and children.
All of them loved by someone.
The same as you loved your wife, the same as I love mine.
I'd like to go home to her right now, if I'm honest, walk away and leave you to it.
But I can't.
So .
.
if you really want to go through with it .
.
you're gonna have to shoot me.
I'll do it.
Maybe.
But I'm hoping you're the Donald Bagley that dedicated the last 20 years of his life to peace.
I'm sorry.
- Levin, can you stop - Get away from there, Doctor.
Judas! I believed in you! You think I've come this far I'm the fail-safe, remember? If you shoot me everybody dies.
- Stop! Stop.
- Out of my way.
You're done.
Now .
.
we all walk out of here nice and quietly.
Hey! .
.
if the reactor had gone into Sergeant! Can't you keep that animal quiet? It's all right, sir.
He's a bit like our Chief Superintendent, I expect -- bark worse than his bite.
Sir.
Right.
Back to the nick.
Morse? Can I take a look at your crook, please, Mr Chattox? First time I met you, your dog was chewing this.
Well, it's a habit.
I tried to break him of it but We pulled a pair of spectacles from Bramford mere, chewed the same way.
Dr Laxman's glasses.
Is that right? You were in love with Selina Berger.
The minute I saw her.
She'd go up ahead of her brother to get the place ready for him and Well, she seemed lonely.
A man gets an idea.
I mean, she had a brother, but a brother's not a husband, is it? - I asked her to marry me.
- Only she turned you down.
It was her right.
But she didn't turn down Matthew Laxman.
- You were jealous.
- Not like that.
I just wanted her to be happy but Laxman was a wrong 'un.
I could see that from the off and she deserved better.
You thought she deserved you.
Well, I would've looked after her.
I don't doubt it.
Quick with a back-hander, he was.
But that's not a man.
Not to my way of thinking.
So you came across his car after it had been run off the road.
Cos that's the way you take your sheep to the top field.
I offered to help him too.
I went to get my car to tow him out.
By the time I got back, he was still wild about being run off the road by the plant truck.
Effing and jeffing, he was.
Started trying to tell me how to tie a bowline, how I was doing it all wrong.
Me? I said, "I don't need no advice from you on tying knots.
" He said, "That's not what I heard.
" I said to him I said, "What's that supposed to mean?" And he said, "I tell you this.
You don't know what you're missing.
" One punch.
That's all it was, just one.
So you buried his body at Bramford mere? If I hadn't gone to help him he'd still be alive.
The turn of the year.
I don't suppose you'd give me a minute to do for Kip, would you? He won't understand not seeing me.
Wait! We'll look to him.
Hard to leave the land.
Better to die under an open sky than prison.
Some men aren't born for walls.
Joan rang.
I think that's all her mother wanted, really.
Just to hear her voice .
.
know she was all right.
No.
Thanks.
I'll see you Monday, then.
Monday, Morse.
Handshakes are for goodbye.
"A small fire in a storage area was quickly contained by Bramford's own fire brigade, with the site suffering only the most minor damage.
No members of staff were injured and there was never at any time .
.
a danger to the public.
" And they all lived happily ever after.
In the Mail, Thursday.
I hope you wouldn't gainsay Miss Frazil.
More than my life's worth, sir.
There was one more thing.
I have today received a letter.
Morse.
It was a bad fall.
Will she be all right? We've given her something to help her sleep, that's all.
Just one of those things.
Mother Nature.
Still, she's young and fit.
Give it a month or two, I'm sure you'll be able to try again.
Better luck next time, hm? "Dear Chief Superintendent Bright.
I'm instructed to inform you that Her Majesty the Queen has graciously approved the award of the George Medal to our trusted and well-beloved subject Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Albert Thursday, for special services in defence of the realm.
Given the circumstances, details pertaining to the award will be neither cited in the gazette nor entered into the public record.
I am further instructed to inform you that Her Majesty the Queen has also graciously approved the award of the George Medal to our trusted well-beloved subject, Detective Sergeant Endeavour Morse, for special services in defence of the realm.
"