Inspector Lewis (2006) s09e05 Episode Script

1
(Bells ring out)
(Bicycle bell)
WOMAN: "I may not even answer at my trial
and it seems to me that there is
so much of this strength in me now
that I shall vanquish everything:
All of the suffering,
only so that I may keep saying
to myself constantly, 'I am! '
I may endure a thousand torments, yet I am.
I may writhe under torture, but I am.
I may sit in a tower, but I exist.
I can see the sun,
but even if I cannot see the sun,
I know that it exists.
And to know that the sun is there"
"that is living."
(Cards being dealt)
It must be my lucky night.
DEALER: 18.
My eyes are tired.
Maybe I should get an audio book.
They don't complain.
They don't get your medication either.
Or post your letters.
Or see that you do your exercises.
You do bang on, don't you?
- Thanks for the lift.
- It's not like it's out of my way.
Still, it's a bit early for
you to go in, isn't it?
I like to pull my weight now and then.
This is how the last one began.
(Exhales heavily)
Call me, will you? I left early this morning.
You were still asleep.
- Just let me know you're OK.
- Frank!
- Pick-up in Wantage.
- Again?
Ladies.
(They laugh)
- Morning. Any mail for me?
- Yes, Professor Capstone.
- That's great.
- There you are.
- You had your hair done?
- Yes.
- Very chic.
- Thank you!
Bomb disposal have given us the all-clear.
Major blast trauma to the head and torso.
Severe lacerations from the shrapnel.
Designed to kill, then, not just maim.
Adam Capstone. 34.
Currently Bridson-Whitereid
Professor of Geometric Topology.
Pure maths, rather than applied.
And not to be confused with topography.
As if.
The secretary confirmed
the parcel arrived in the post this morning.
Find out next of kin
and get Family Liaison on to them.
Also, see if anyone was seen
hanging around prior to the explosion.
Whoever did this might have wanted
to stick around and admire their handiwork.
- Sir.
- Excuse me. You have to let me
Detective Inspector Lewis. Can I help?
- I work here. They said there was an accident.
- Would you like to move back, Mr?
Capstone. David Capstone.
Are you related to Adam Capstone?
He's my brother.
Would you like to come with me, sir?
(Low chatter)
LEWIS: How long have you
and your brother worked here?
Erm we never really left.
I got my double first at 17.
Stayed on to do an MSc.
And then I joined the staff.
Adam was the same.
Only he got his double first at 16.
Two geniuses in one family.
That's an over-used word but erm
We specialise in knot theory.
- Knots have their own theory?
- Yeah, there's some of them.
But it's the ones in DNA
that we're particularly interested in.
If the human nucleus
was the size of a basketball,
do you know how long
the DNA packed inside would be?
150 miles.
Sorry. It's what Adam tells his students.
Erm told his students.
Er For the last few years, we've erm
If you can figure out how DNA coils up,
how it's packed,
then you can unpack it.
Modify it. Repair it.
That's what we've been trying to do.
A team.
Any idea who would want
to attack you like this?
Er our research?
If what we've discovered is correct,
then we're talking about new ways
to fight genetic diseases. Cancer.
New hope. New life.
Why would anyone want to stop that?
Maybe it was more personal.
Erm
these came.
Adam wanted to get rid of them.
Said it was a crank.
That if we ignored them, they'd go away.
LEWIS: Any idea who sent them?
Mr Capstone?
Erm
Well, there's someone.
But I-I can't believe that she'd
Kate McMurdoch.
And she is?
She was one of our students.
Got it in her head
that she'd made some major discovery.
Accused us of stealing her research.
- And had you?
- No. God, no.
It's an inflated sense
of her own importance, I'm afraid.
We had to let her go and
she wasn't happy.
Open day at the allotments.
Said I'd help on the cake stall.
- You haven't got time.
- I'll make time.
And the hospice? The day centre?
Checking up on me?
Find out if any groups out there
have got it in for this kind of research.
- Yeah, James is doing
- Individuals too. Blogs.
- Videos where they rant in their bedrooms.
- Sir.
- And check for any disgruntled ex-employees.
- Doing that too.
Right.
So where are we with this Kate McMurdoch?
Well, she's not at home,
so Sergeant Maddox is trying to track her down.
Maybe she's done a runner.
Maybe it's a bit early to tell.
(Exhales) Imagine devoting your entire life
to working out how to unravel knots.
Imagine.
Kate McMurdoch is currently
on her way to the Cheddar Gorge.
Mountaineering Club. They left this morning.
- How long for?
- Just for the day.
I'll be waiting for her when she gets back.
An explosion ripped through
the prestigious mathematics department
at Oxford University earlier today.
Police are treating it as suspicious
- and believe it to be
- It's up.
Hardly surprising, is it?
one fatality confirmed,
though at least
a dozen staff have been treated
Wallet, watch and wedding ring.
You should be able
to get a positive ID from those.
Yeah, we'll get them round to his wife.
At least her last memory of him
won't be that.
- Thanks, love.
- Have you got it?
- Present, for the baby?
- No not yet.
Well, you suggested it.
Yeah, well, I've been a bit distracted
with the bomb going off.
- You know how it is.
- (Typing)
All that way.
We don't want to turn up empty-handed, do we?
No, I'll get on to it. I promise.
Exciting, isn't it?
Yes. That's his.
It has "always" engraved on the inside, see?
"Occasionally" would've been more accurate.
- I want to see him.
LEWIS: That's not a good idea.
We can arrange
for someone to visit you if you'd like.
No need.
And we're gonna need access
to some of his things.
- Of course.
- His computer.
- His phone records, bank accounts.
- Help yourself. You won't find anything.
Oh, were you gonna give
one of these lectures?
We all were. David, me Adam.
- You're a mathematician too?
- No, I'm a chemist.
We do the lectures every year.
Mine are usually demonstrations,
chemical reactions, that sort of thing.
Adam's were always more flashy.
"Maths and the calculus of coitus"
was a good one.
Who knew maths could be such fun, right?
And what is the Lockston Foundation?
Donald, my father.
He bankrolled Adam and David's research.
Adam got to do whatever he liked
and Dad picked up the bill.
Oh, can we continue this outside?
I have a lecture to give.
- Surely, in the circumstances
- I prefer it.
Keep busy. Better than being alone.
Not good at that.
Five years we were married.
I should've left him long ago.
- God knows he gave me enough reason.
- He cheated on you?
Forgive me, but
was your husband
seeing anybody at the moment?
I don't think so.
I was surprised
when he went into work early this morning.
I thought maybe another student.
I tried leaving him three years ago.
February 7th, my birthday.
He'd gone to Toronto for a symposium
and I packed my bags.
You waited till he was out of the country?
I've never been very good at confrontation.
But even then, I still took him back.
Hopeless.
I tried hating him, especially after Paula,
but that didn't work either.
Hopeless case, really, so
- Who's Paula?
- Paula Guitteau.
She was one of his students
and they had a thing.
- Had?
- They never last long, Inspector.
The last time they met,
Adam said he wanted to end it.
Two days later, she started yelling rape.
- And did your husband rape her?
- No, of course he didn't.
I mean, he never denied
having sex with her, but it was consensual.
For old times' sake.
And you believed him?
The girl had issues.
She was unreliable.
So the charges didn't stick
and the case was dropped.
- Where can we find this Paula Guitteau?
- You can't.
She committed suicide.
(Doorbell)
Mrs Guitteau?
I'm Detective Inspector Lewis.
This is DI Hathaway.
We'd like to talk to you about Paula.
Paula loved the garden.
She and Frank used to do it together.
Before Paula died,
she went into the garden to pick some flowers.
Peonies and forget-me-nots.
And she put them in a vase
and she left them here for us.
And she went upstairs.
This was after the rape charges were dropped?
I found her.
She'd used a belt
and a hook on the back of the door.
It was her word against his, you see.
She didn't stand a chance.
- Not against the maths superstar.
- But they'd had a relationship?
Is that what you'd call it?
We're not exciting, Inspector, you know?
We're just ordinary.
To Paula, someone like Adam Capstone
must have seemed
- She was flattered?
- No, she was just a child.
All he had to do was click his fingers
It left her feeling dirty.
She told him that she wanted to end it,
so he er
Afterwards, she felt so ashamed.
It took me two days to convince her
to tell someone.
"Trust me," I said.
"Tell the truth and everything will be OK."
So it wasn't Adam Capstone
who wanted to end the relationship?
No, it was Paula.
She stood up to him and
he wouldn't accept it.
So he made her pay.
- How did that make you feel?
- How do you think?
I wish only bad things for Adam Capstone.
What?
Adam Capstone died this morning,
Mrs Guitteau.
Somebody sent him a bomb in the post.
My God
Also a number of threatening letters.
Not from me.
What about your husband?
Frank gardens, Inspector.
- Did Paula have other boyfriends?
MRS GUITTEAU: She never mentioned any.
Well might have been someone.
"Always remember 060302."
Do those numbers mean anything to you?
What, like a date or something?
- 6th March, 2002.
- Or the 3rd of June if you're American.
But that'd still make her only about seven.
- Sorry. No.
- Do you mind if?
(Bells tolls)
Kate McMurdoch?
DS Maddox. Have you got a few minutes?
LEWIS: Thanks, Mrs Guitteau.
- Right, thanks.
That was Forensics.
The bomb was made out of
fulminated mercury packed into a small pipe.
- You open the box and
- Boom.
Mmm.
Mercury's not easy stuff to get your hands on,
especially not nowadays.
OK, why don't we check if there
have been any break-ins recently
in warehouses, merchants, labs?
Oh, listen. I need to make a little detour.
I promised to buy a present for the baby.
Apparently we're not allowed
to turn up emptyhanded.
- It's bad form.
- So, any ideas?
- What, me?
- Something that says Oxford. Metaphorically.
Pair of handcuffs?
You know Frank Guitteau's job
is collecting office waste?
Picking up electrical goods,
recycling, that sort of thing.
- So?
- There's mercury in fluorescent light bulbs.
So, do you wanna go back to the station
and take a closer look at Frank Guitteau?
- What about the present?
- Nah, later.
Two years I was on the team.
David invited me to join after I graduated.
- To study knots?
- It sounds mad, doesn't it?
- But our research
- Our research?
I still feel a part of it.
And yet you walked away.
Yeah, a couple of months ago.
Adam and David were heading down
a dead end. I steered them away.
And more than that,
it was that study of spiral knot determinants
that led to everything else.
There wouldn't have been a breakthrough
if it hadn't have been for me.
Afterwards, when Adam and David
presented their findings
I wasn't even mentioned.
It was like they'd done
all the work themselves.
I'd been photoshopped out.
I went to them.
I told them I thought it was unfair.
And Adam said all I'd
done was the grunt work.
I hadn't made the final connection,
even though it was right there in front of me.
"Grunt work". (Scoffs)
Must have made you very angry.
I yelled a bit, yeah.
Eyewitness said you went
"batshit in the atrium".
Maybe a little.
Somebody sent David and Adam Capstone
threatening letters.
Not me.
OK. We're done.
As you can see, I still have some movement.
I've got the full Stephen Hawking
to look forward to.
It's genetic, no known cure.
Is that why you agreed to fund the Capstones?
To find a cure? I'm beyond all help.
But if their research
can make a difference after I'm gone,
and I make it possible
- That's got to be worth something, hasn't it?
- A legacy.
Better than a blue plaque.
- Did you know Adam Capstone?
- No. Not very well.
He used to come sometimes with Elizabeth,
Donald's daughter, but we didn't speak much.
Were either of you aware of the allegations
made by Paula Guitteau?
Well, the the girl was troubled.
What she did was terrible,
but that was her choice.
Adam was entirely blameless,
is that what you think?
I think it's none of our business.
I suppose you're right.
I should go. Grace'll be hungry.
LEWIS: Grace?
- My three-year-old.
She's with the childminder.
She doesn't like to be kept waiting.
Especially when food's involved, I bet.
- You've got kids?
- One of each.
A long time since they were three, mind.
I'll check in later.
We can do some neck stretches.
Gentlemen.
Sarah. She lives in. Easier to torture me.
I don't know what I'd do without her.
Wither, I suppose.
Would you excuse me for a minute?
Ms Alderwood?
- Adam Capstone
- What about him?
- You didn't like him very much, did you?
- Adam was a shit, frankly.
Which is how he treated Elizabeth.
How did Donald feel about that?
Donald spends 90% of his day
just trying to get through it.
A large part of my job
is to help him do that.
Now, if that means avoiding ways
of upsetting him, then fine.
So we pussyfoot around the subject,
pretend that everything's OK.
- Can't be easy.
- I'd do anything for Donald.
Even if I could, I wouldn't get involved.
It's not my place.
Besides, Elizabeth is
tougher than she thinks.
All that self-doubt
and no confidence on the outside
but on the inside just like her mother.
Pure tungsten.
No break-ins here, I'm happy to say.
Everything's kept under strict lock and key.
So who normally has access
to all of the chemicals?
Students and members of staff.
We er We each have a key card
and everything has to be accounted for.
- How hard is it to fulminate mercury?
- It's not.
You just mix mercury
with concentrated nitric acid
and add the resulting aqueous
mercury nitrate to ethanol. Simple.
- So anyone could do it?
- If they have the chemicals.
Ah, Professor Dimmock. You're busy.
That's all right. I'm being grilled by the police.
It's very exciting.
DS Maddox. And you are?
Djimon Adomakoh.
Mr Adomakoh is one of our brightest stars,
all the way from New York.
A postgraduate research fellowship beckons.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Were you looking for me?
- Er yes, but it can wait. Sorry.
I'm gonna need a list of
all students and staff.
- Anyone who has access.
- Of course.
You take security seriously here?
Students with unlimited access to chemicals
and the knowledge to turn them into something
illegal - asking for trouble, don't you think?
(Panting)
ELIZABETH:
Mercury's a real pain.
Especially if you spill it.
So, you know, don't.
MADDOX: She's got loads of videos online.
Lectures, demos. All sorts.
She wouldn't have any problem
getting hold of mercury.
- And she'd know what to do with it.
- Plus she said she hates confrontation.
What, you're saying it's easier
to send a bomb than just have a row?
Well, we know she resented Adam's behaviour
but couldn't bring herself to leave him.
Which would make her resent him even more.
And I've seen a lot of grieving widows,
but never one like her.
Right, I'm gone. I've got to skype Tony.
They've just offered him another year.
- Have you said yes?
- We are thinking about it.
Well, that's great, isn't it?
Er yeah. Yes.
Better prospects. Better money.
Better pension.
We're dead happy. See you in a bit.
- Right, I'm gonna scoot too.
- What, is it something I said?
No. I'm just gonna go and sit with Dad.
He seems to like it this time of day.
Toodle-pip!
My wife's thinking of getting a new car.
Hatchback.
- Card.
- (Card dealt)
DEALER: 19.
I think a bike's better.
Stand.
DEALER: 16
(Ringing tone)
VOICEMAIL: Hi, it's Adam.
I'm obviously being a genius somewhere,
or, more likely, I've forgotten my phone.
Leave me a message and I
promise I'll get back
just as soon as I stop being a genius
or find my phone, whichever comes first.
ELIZABETH:
it's useful to have a mercury spillage kit,
which contains sulphur
- Brushing up on your chemistry?
She's good,
in a Royal Institute Christmas Lecture-type way.
- And I bet you watched every one of them.
- Highlight of my holidays.
Adam Capstone
certainly seems to be enjoying it.
LEWIS: And so does Paula Guitteau.
I've also been checking up
on Adam Capstone's emails.
I don't suppose his passcode's 060302?
- Not that simple, sadly.
- Never is.
Oh, hang on. (Types)
See, these he's deleted off the computer
but they've stayed on the server.
- They're emails from his brother.
- So why delete them?
(Reads) Think of someone else for a change.
Carry on, and I'll kill you.
I'm guessing that's why.
"Carry on, and I'll kill you"?
I was angry. I said some terrible things
and I wish that erm
You argued about
who would benefit from your discovery?
Yes. Adam was all, "it belongs to the world".
And you disagree?
Why shouldn't we make some money?
We've worked hard enough.
So you agreed to sell to AKGC Pharmaceutical?
Who have the wherewithal to actually
develop a product that will change the world.
What we've discovered is just the first step.
The toolbox, if you like.
There's still a long way
before there's a drug on the market.
And if they want to pay us for that,
where's the harm?
Adam didn't seem to think
that money was the issue.
You never do when you have it.
- Do you need money, Mr Capstone?
- No, as it happens.
Besides, Adam was being a bit disingenuous.
There's still money to be had.
Recognition.
Tenure at a nice, rich college in the States.
Did like your brother, Mr Capstone?
How can you even ask that?
Yes we rowed.
Yes, I disagreed with some
of the things he did.
But Adam knew me better than anyone,
and I him.
My whole life, there hasn't been a day
that he wasn't a part of.
He was my brother, so never make the mistake,
Inspector, of thinking that I didn't love him.
How well did you know Paula Guitteau?
I didn't. I never taught her.
Adam looked after her.
You stood by your brother
even after she accused him of raping her.
Yes.
And after she did what she did.
Which sort of answers
your earlier question, doesn't it?
Sort of.
Look, I know the emails look bad.
It was the last thing I said to my brother
and I never got the chance to put it right.
The deal still going through with AKGC?
Yes. It always was.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have a fundraiser to attend.
It's not that I really feel like it
but you know, duty calls.
(Chatter)
(Low conversation)
Ah, Inspector.
I didn't see you on the guest list.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I realise this isn't very convenient,
but I do have a couple of questions
I need to ask you, if that's OK?
Perfectly. Professor Dimmock here
was just about to leave anyway.
Let's go and find somewhere a bit quieter.
Give my smile muscles a bit of a rest.
About the only ones I've got left.
Come this way.
Did you know that David was hoping
to sell their research to AKGC Pharmaceutical?
- Yes.
- And Adam disagreed?
It was his right.
It wasn't meant to be about getting rich quick.
So you didn't approve?
Well, the money didn't come with any strings,
Inspector, but, no, I didn't like it.
And now there's nothing stopping it
from happening.
David had it hard growing up.
In what way?
Whatever David did, Adam did quicker.
And younger.
A levels. Oxbridge entry.
David is brilliant,
but Adam was the truly gifted one.
He could see connections.
Make leaps that others
that David couldn't.
On the other hand,
David could do all the groundwork.
Put in the hours, build the foundations.
And then Adam would come along
- And steal all the glory?
- Well, make all the difference.
- And was David jealous?
- He understood.
They complemented each other.
Singly, they were remarkable mathematicians,
but flawed.
Together, they were extraordinary.
(Sighs) David loved his brother, Inspector.
He'd never harm him. Not David.
Would you like me to?
Yes, thank you.
- Came for a top-up.
- Help yourself.
This not your thing?
Rubbish at all the glad-handing.
Besides, she likes my full attention
when she's eating.
That's the thing about three-year-olds.
So set in their ways.
- Oh, I've always wanted to go there.
- I saw those when I was in Toronto.
It was winter. They were frozen solid.
Amazing.
Oh, try to keep hold of it, munchkin.
Always more useful that way.
- When did you say that was?
- What?
- That you were in Canada.
- Three years ago.
February, was it?
The same time that Adam Capstone was there.
How old did you say she is?
It began soon after I started here.
I was vulnerable and Adam sensed it.
Easy pickings.
- Vulnerable?
- I was lonely.
I'd lost my job at the hospital.
I was going through a rough patch.
My husband divorced me. I was a mess.
But coming here was the first step back.
Adam was funny and attentive
And I I adored him.
Or at least I thought I did.
So, what happened
when you found out you were pregnant?
I told him I was going to keep her.
And he made me promise
not to tell anyone who the father was.
Promise? In return for what?
- Money?
- For a while.
Then Elizabeth found out about the payments.
Adam fessed up. That was that.
So Elizabeth knew?
(Indistinct conversation)
Where are we with the grieving dad?
- Frank Guitteau? Still digging.
- You think he could make a bomb?
Fulminating mercury
is not that hard if you've got the right kit.
Even so, it's a bit specialised, isn't it?
It's hardly your basic weapon of choice.
Then there's the hate mail.
- That's a major line of enquiry.
- So it is.
Professor Dimmock from the chemistry lab
has given me a list of all those
who have access to the supplies.
Start with them. Maybe one of them's got links to
the maths department we don't know about.
OK.
(Mobile ringtone)
(Sighs, tuts)
(Message alert)
This is a message for Mr Djimon Adomakoh
to call Sergeant Maddox at Oxford Police.
Thank you.
(Sighs)
Police want to see me.
- It's not enough.
- It's what we agreed.
- I need more.
- That's all there is.
- You owe me.
- I owe you what's in there.
(Sighs)
- I'm calling it a day.
- What?
- It's too dangerous.
- We're not doing anything illegal.
Tell that to the pit boss.
Please, David.
A few more games. Don't I deserve that?
No, we quit while we're ahead.
And you just get to decide?
That's right.
- They'll find out.
- You don't know that.
If the police are asking questions,
they will find out.
It's gonna be OK. We just wait it out.
What else can we do? Come on.
- So the wife knew about the baby?
- According to Sarah Alderwood, yeah.
Plus, there's money from the
pharmaceutical deal her husband opposed.
With him out the way,
it's sure to go through.
And as his widow,
she stands to benefit big-time.
So that's two motives
and unlimited access to mercury, right?
I think I've got something.
We know that the letters sent to Adam Capstone
were processed through these sorting offices -
Wallingford, Thame
and Kidlington.
And this is a copy of Frank Guitteau's pick-up
itinerary for the whole of the last month.
On the day the letters were sent,
he had pick-ups in Thame, Kidlington
Wallingford.
It's a coincidence, that's all!
Yes, I was in those places. So what?
So were a lot of people. Hey, it's my job.
Do you handle a lot of
fluorescent bulbs here?
A fair amount.
Do you know how to extract mercury from them?
Of course I don't. Why?
The bomb that killed Adam Capstone
was made from mercury.
And you hold Adam Capstone responsible
for the death of your daughter.
He was responsible.
You wanted to make him pay
for what he'd done?
I wanted him to be scared.
I didn't want to kill him.
(Sighs) Look
They were just letters.
OK? Nothing else.
He'd got off scot-free.
Like nothing had ever happened. Whereas we
Do you know my wife spends her waking hours
volunteering for every bloody charity
you can think of?
She's more interested
in strangers than she is me.
We just live in this fog.
I couldn't save my girl
and now I can't save my wife.
I wanted to make him hurt a little.
I could do that, at least.
I'm sorry, Frank, we're gonna
have to take you down the station.
DEALER: 16.
Card.
Too many.
Is this necessary?
Your husband didn't say anything to you
about what he was doing?
- No!
- You had no idea?
Since Paula died, we don't say much
to each other about anything.
HATHAWAY:
David Capstone said he didn't know Paula.
He obviously gave her tutorials too.
Look, he marked some of her papers.
Yes, Mr Capstone, it's DI Hathaway.
Erm I need to ask you
a few more questions.
Clarify a few things.
Yeah, see you in half an hour.
David.
- We've been through this.
- After everything I've done for you?
Go home, Andrew.
What did you get in the end?
- Sorry?
- For the baby.
Nothing. Yet.
I haven't found the right thing.
Go on.
You should probably tell Laura, you know.
- What?
- That you don't want to go.
Look, I just haven't got around
to buying anything, that's all.
Right.
I forgot. And that's not symbolic.
(Doorbell)
- (Classical music blares)
- Mr Capstone!
(Rings doorbell)
David Capstone!
Help me!
LEWIS: David!
- In here.
Shut that row off, will you?
(Music off)
What do I do?
- Just put it down very carefully.
- Give me bomb disposal. 119 Oldfield Road.
I can't. It'll go off.
Nice and gentle.
David, look at me!
Just put it down very slowly.
You can do this.
- I don't wanna die.
- Nobody's gonna die.
Sir? It's Lewis and Hathaway.
There's been another explosion.
(Sobs)