New Tricks s09e08 Episode Script

Blue Flower

Look at that! Where'd you get all this gear? Your old department sent them down.
They've been digitising all their archive files so they don't need these hard copies any more.
Oh! Look, look, look.
That bloke was nicked two minutes after this picture was taken.
Mind you, it took six of us to get him down to the station.
Yeah, he thought he was my best mate and all.
Didn't know what was coming.
What was coming? Ten years for possession.
And silverfish.
Eh? These tiny perforations.
They're made by silverfish.
Tiny little insects that live in records offices and libraries.
Like a good read, do they? No, they like the starch in paper.
Didn't know you were a shell suit man, Gerry? Yeah, well, I was undercover, wasn't I.
In luminous green and purple? Yeah, it was the '80s.
But where was the op? The local leisure centre? Now, it was a big drugs bust, if you must know.
He looks like such a babyface.
Look, you think Scarface and double it, eh.
I tell you, the whole gang were wearing that gear.
Morning.
Hello, Guv'nor.
Morning.
What have you got there? Electricity bills, bank statements, letters.
All belonging to different people, and all recovered in a raid on a lock-up.
What were they doing there? Serious and Organised were acting on a tip-off and they found a huge heroin stash, but also discovered a whole stockpile of documents.
These are just a sample.
Why pass them onto us? Well, several are covered with the fingerprints of a man murdered five years ago.
Friday the 13th.
Unlucky for some, and particularly unlucky for Max Klein.
A 55-year-old East German immigrant who was something of a mystery.
After his murder, an appeal for information brought eyewitness reports of Max standing at this location, which led the investigators to look at CCTV.
A review of the footage found that, prior to his death, Max was at the same spot every morning for nearly six months from 7am to 10am.
Every morning? What was he looking for? Or who was he looking for? They never found that out.
They also didn't find out why on this particular day, he left early.
Four hours later, a passer-by stumbled upon him bleeding to death.
He was about half a mile from a set of communal garages where later, traces of his blood were found.
So he was stabbed at the garages, then tried to get away.
Yeah.
When the paramedics got to him, he was still conscious.
Don't suppose he mentioned who stabbed him? Must have slipped his mind.
However, he did keep repeating the same two words again and again until he died, in German.
They translated as - "blue flower.
" What does that mean? Maybe he wanted irises at his funeral.
"Blue flower" brought up several thousand results, but nothing conclusive, and nothing connected to Klein.
What about the knife he was stabbed with? No murder weapon recovered.
No eyewitnesses.
No friends or relatives? None.
This guy was like a ghost before he even died, eh? So what's going on here? These documents have all been torn up and stuck back together again.
Yeah, Max worked at a recycling centre.
So people tear up their confidential papers, recycle them and Max here is, what, piecing them together? Well, he had the skills because, before he came to the UK in 2005, he worked for the German Government as a puzzler.
Puzzler? I've read about them.
When the Berlin Wall fell, they went into panic mode on the Eastern side.
And the Stasi started shredding all the documents they'd been keeping on their own citizens.
Trying to bury their secrets.
Yeah, and the puzzlers were East German civil servants whose job it was to reassemble those files.
What, by hand? Must've taken them years.
Yeah, it did.
So Max was a dab hand at reading the garbage.
So let me get this straight, this guy tries to piece together the truth about one of the most repressive regimes in the world.
Then, he comes here and uses those same skills to steal people's bank statements? It seems like it, yeah.
Yeah, but he's been dead for five years.
Why was all that stuff still in the lock-up? Well, street gangs are now diversifying into ID theft.
So they can stockpile documents for several years.
Before garnering the information they find in them to take out fraudulent loans and buy stuff.
So Max was supplying this stuff to whoever owned the lock-up? It's possible.
Right, this station is close to several office blocks, housing estates, amenities That's a lot of footfall every morning.
Literally thousands during the peak hours.
And yet, none of the eyewitnesses who came forward had actually spoken to Max.
Why would they? This is a place you pass through, isn't it? You barely hang around long enough to breathe, let alone talk.
Let's take a look at that.
What? Look at the date.
morning from January to July 2007.
So someone connected with this might have seen him? Excuse me, can I help you? I am allowed to put flowers here.
And the poster.
It's a beautiful tribute.
My solicitor's written to the Council about this.
Oh, we're not from the Council.
I'm Detective Superintendent Pullman and this is Steve McAndrew.
Hello.
It's a bit heavy-handed, isn't it? No, no.
We're not here to stop you from doing anything.
What are you doing, then? We're looking into the murder of a man named Max Klein.
Oh, yeah.
You knew him? A little.
We talked from time to time.
My name's Grace Cusack.
I'm sorry for being a bit short with you.
Don't worry.
My last experience with the police wasn't exactly what you'd call positive.
Why not? They let a murderer go free.
Really, who was that? Damon Rapley.
He was driving the cab that killed my son.
And he's still driving it, can you believe that? He's still out there.
Living a normal life, like nothing happened.
So he wasn't convicted? No.
It was nearly six years ago and I still come here every morning.
You probably think I'm mad.
Not at all.
Grace, is there somewhere we can talk properly? I'm just on my way to work.
But you can come with me, if you like.
Have a cup of tea.
Thank you.
Great.
Did you know Max Klein well, Mr Armitage? He was a picker.
Don't really get out on the shop floor myself.
I tend to stay in here.
Being strategic, see? What's a picker? They refine the recycling once it's been through the main sift.
Sort the paper from the plastics, the wood from the glass and the metal.
So he would have got his hands on all sorts of stuff? What's brought all this up again? We spoke to the police just after he died.
Some new evidence has come to light.
What new evidence? We're not at liberty to say.
It's nothing to do with one of our other Eastern Europeans, is it? We employ a lot of them, you know.
How come? They're bloody good workers.
But who knows what baggage they bring with them from over there? Actually, I tell you one thing they do bring.
What's that? Bed bugs.
Especially the Poles.
They seem to be riddled with them.
Bugs are probably getting pissed up on all that vodka in their blood, eh? Actually, unlike some parasites you come across, the insect Cimex Lectularius is incapable of discrimination.
Is it all right if we take a look around? Not at such short notice.
Why not? This is a dangerous facility.
We have strict regulations.
How strict? You're talking Risk Assessments, Health and Safety forms.
Yeah, that's just red tape, innit? Put a foot wrong out there and you could lose an arm.
Let me get everything sorted and you can come back next week.
Why? What's not going to be here next week? I'll go and find our Site Manager, Corey.
He knew Max and he can show you round.
Thank you.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot.
Is this your business? No.
But I am the manager.
Well, manage myself, in truth.
A whole team of one.
Must get a bit lonely.
Not really.
There's a flower for every occasion, so I get to meet all kinds of people in this job.
How did you meet Max Klein? He saw me one day.
At the station? Asked if I knew his daughter.
His daughter? That's the reason he came to this country.
He last saw her when she was a baby in 1987.
Why was that? I only know what he told me.
Max and his wife tried to escape from East Germany.
They didn't know it would only be two years before the Berlin Wall came down.
Sie kommen.
Imagine how that must have felt.
The most delicate and precious thing in the whole world and it's surround by barbed wire and watchtowers.
'His wife knew it wouldn't be long before they were found.
' 'They had to do something.
' 'The hole wasn't big enough for an adult and then the alarm went up.
'They had to make a choice.
' 'They only had time to get their baby out? 'Takes a bit of doing.
Give your baby away like that.
'They were desperate.
' They were going to be arrested.
The baby would have been taken into state care, which would have meant suffering and abuse.
Max's wife made him promise to stay alive in the hope that one day he'd be free to come after their daughter.
The Stasi held them for nearly two years.
Max survived, but his wife died in a police cell.
So he lost his whole family? I could always see it in his eyes burning away.
Takes one to know one.
What made him think that he'd find his daughter at the station? After the Wall came down, he went looking for her.
Worked in some kind of government office He was a puzzler.
That's it.
He used the access that job gave him to try and find out where she'd gone.
But the trail had gone cold.
It took him 15 years to wade through all of the files and the paperwork until he found out they'd brought her to this country.
So that's why he came here in 2005? Yes, by that time, one of the parents had died and the other had gone back to Germany.
And the daughter? She got herself into all kinds of trouble, I think.
But he did find someone who knew her and said she was living in Shepherds Bush.
So that's why he went to the station every day when it was at its busiest.
What was his daughter's name? First name Mia.
Can't remember the surname.
Do you know if he ever found her? No.
He died trying.
I'll get onto the DNA guys.
See if there were any hits between the original investigation and now.
OK.
Can you think of any reason why somebody would want to kill Max? No.
That last Friday, he only stayed at the junction for ten minutes or so, whereas, all the other days, he'd been there for three hours.
Did he seem different to you? I wasn't there that day.
I wish I had been.
Were you interviewed at the time? I was away for a few weeks.
And when I got back, well, they'd done everything they were ever going to do, they'd given him one of those terrible public health funerals.
Probably just assumed he was another knife crime.
I must say, Mr Murgins, as a keen recycler, it's very encouraging to see that something actually happens to all this stuff.
Yeah, but, in the end, it all goes to China, doesn't it? It goes to whoever pays the most.
Look at this lot.
How many items do you reckon you get through here in an hour? I don't know.
Thousands.
It's a lot of paper, isn't it? Where did Max Klein work? Up there.
Are there any pickers still around that would have known him then? None that'd be any good to you.
Why not? Speak Polish, do you? Or Punjabi? Yeah, must be hard making yourself understood with all these different nationalities.
They understand me all right.
Did Max Klein understand you? I've already told you, I've got an alibi for that night.
That wasn't my question.
Max Klein worked here for 18 months.
In that time, I didn't say more than two words to him.
Perfect employee, then? For this line of work.
Do you mind if we have a look inside? Why would I? What happens if you find something confidential, like a bank statement? See it, shred it.
Standard regulation.
And Max Klein would've done that, would he? Should've done.
But, as his supervisor, it was your responsibility to make sure he did.
What are you saying? Well, I'm saying that what if some of the pickers don't follow the regulations? What's to stop them just stashing a load of stuff and taking it home with them later? We don't just leave stuff lying around.
They get checked when they clock off their shift.
Who by? Me.
Yeah, well, thanks, it's been very helpful.
Is there a gents' nearby? This way.
Thanks.
It's through there.
All right, thanks.
Won't be a moment.
You're going in together? Unless there's a regulation about that as well.
Bloody hell, there's only one bog.
Get in.
Have you noticed how Stig of the hump's watching us all the time? I'm surprised he's not in here making sure we shoot straight.
He's just being conscientious about health and safety, isn't he? He's hiding something.
And Armitage.
Mind you, we haven't seen anything to suggest that Max Klein wasn't acting alone.
Brian, how much stuff was stashed in that locker, that started all this? You don't honestly think that Max could have got all that out without Murgins turning a blind eye, do you? No, you're right.
Murgins must be in on it.
Or running it.
Look, there's an awful lot of very valuable personal information going through this place.
It wouldn't be hard to take the odd bit out now and again, would it? And sell it on the side to a gang who then use it when the dust's settled? Exactly.
So we've got to find out what Murgins's hiding.
Have a look at his office.
How do we do that with him on us all the time? Dunno yet.
Come on.
This place looks like it wandered out of Drumchapel, went on a bender and ended up at the wrong end of the M6.
Asbestos towers.
They're pulling it down in three days' time.
They're doing it a favour.
Maybe it reminded Max of East Berlin, eh? Corey give you everything you need? Yes.
Yes, very, very helpful.
Very helpful indeed.
II have further questions to ask, but my colleague needs to get back to the office to do some office stuff.
Of course.
I'll see myself out.
Thanks very much.
You're all right, give him a couple of minutes.
So they found nothing in here first time around, eh? No.
And that was a bit odd, because it was almost as empty then as it is now.
You know, it's the French philosopher Pascal said that all man's misery derives from not being able to sit in one room alone.
You've been spending too much time with Brian Lane.
So look, Max's body is found half a mile away from the garages where he was stabbed, right? Yes.
Well, half a mile's a marathon when you're suffering from a stab wound.
He must have been in agony.
What's your point? Why didn't he stay put? Cry out for help.
He must have been so desperate to get somewhere, he put up with that amount of pain.
Maybe he was going for help.
OK, would you say, from where he was found, he was trying to get back to here? I suppose so.
But coming back to what? Yeah.
Silverfish? Pardon? Oh, yeah, Brian was telling us they're tiny little insects, right? And they live off You're right, I've been working with Brian for too long.
OK, let's try looking at things from a broader perspective.
OK.
Max Klein loses his wife, loses Mia.
He spends two years in a Stasi cell until the Berlin Wall comes down.
And then, he spends the next 15 years at a government office trying to work out where Mia's gone.
He makes his way to the UK.
Gets a job in the recycling centre.
Continues his search for Mia Whilst ripping off electricity bills in his spare time.
Is there something else driving this guy? Let's go and check out those garages.
This place gives me the creeps.
OK.
Was he meeting someone? Whoever's picking up those bills? Could be.
Now, traces of his blood were found all around here.
OK, so there's a struggle.
Maybe a dispute over money, Max gets stabbed, takes off that way.
Now, that, look, that cut through, that could lead you back towards Max's flat.
He could have been going back, but it doesn't alter the fact there was nothing to go back for.
There's got to be.
What about the lock-ups? They must be rented to people in the estate.
No.
The leaseholder list was checked and no connection was found.
I see why they had so much trouble with this one.
Let's hope the boys come up with something.
Amen to that.
Hey, Strickland's looking for you.
Ah, great! This is DCI Rosser from the Economic and Specialist Crime Unit.
Detective Superintendent Pullman.
To what do I owe the pleasure? There's been something of an administrative mix-up between them, Serious and Organised and ourselves.
Mix-up? A parallel investigation.
We haven't been informed about the recovery of documents from that lock-up.
I don't follow.
I understand that after studying the documents, you've taken a keen interest in the Clays Lane Recycling Centre.
And how do you know that? Because I've had a man inside there for three weeks now.
Everything had been going smoothly until two of your pensioners came this morning.
Pensioners? That's what they are, aren't they? They're professionals doing a job and you'd do well to remember that, DCI Rosser.
I don't mean any disrespect, Detective Superintendent.
But your professionals are jeopardising a major investigation into what could be one of the UK's leading identity fraud rings.
They're asking legitimate questions about a murder.
My priority is with the living.
I'm sorry about your German.
But he's been gone five years.
I don't know how you run things in your unit, DCI Rosser.
But here, compassion for the dead doesn't just disappear because a few years have passed.
My point is - his troubles are over.
I'm trying to apprehend criminals who are ruining lives as we speak.
And I'm trying to apprehend a murderer.
My team are on the frontline of the UK's fastest growing crime.
Blimey, you sound like a salesman.
Identity theft cost the UK economy over a billion pounds last year.
And there were over a hundred thousand victims Do you have all this on some kind of colour-coded wall chart? It's not a wall chart.
It's an interactive smart board.
Nice! Are we supposed to stand down, Sir? Stay away from that place until DCI Rosser's investigation is complete.
I'm sure you have other leads.
Mr Strickland.
What was all that about? Ah, Guv'nor, good news.
There's something going on at that recycling centre and Max Klein is up to his neck in it.
Bad news.
Strickland's warned us off.
Why? That was the delightful DCI Rosser from Economic and Specialist Crime.
What's that when it's at home? One of those fashionable, well-financed units at the frontier of modern crime, apparently.
Or something beginning with "F.
" Anyway, they're already investigating the recycling centre, so we've been told to stay away.
But Guv'nor, I've got utility bills, bank statements, they're all bundled up there ready to sell on.
Gerry's right.
We finally get a decent break in the case and we're supposed to ignore it? Work round it.
I've been looking into Max Klein's last words - "Blue flower.
" And? The original investigation did a blanket search on the term "Blue flower," which is why they ended up with poetry groups and estate agents.
But I applied a number of filters to the search, like "East Germany," "the Berlin Wall," "Cold War" Brian, we're not getting any younger here.
The Blue Flower Blog documents the history of the most successful protest organisation in East Germany.
Blue Flower spies infiltrated all the communist institutions right up until the regime collapsed.
"Members of Blue Flower married their way into the Government, "the military, even the Stasi.
" The Stasi? That was ambitious.
They wanted to end the oppression.
They'd have done anything.
Sorry.
Yeah? Wait a sec.
Yeah, go on.
What's this got to do with Max's murder? Well, he was an East German, wasn't he? Yeah, and he was arrested when trying to escape.
So maybe he was a member of Blue Flower.
OK, thanks a lot.
Guv.
Max's daughter, Mia Adler, she's on the DNA database.
Why wasn't this pointed out before? She was arrested for breaking and entering six months after the murder.
Address? They gave me the address of where she was at the time of the break-in.
Let's go.
Great.
This is it.
Hi.
Mia Adler? Can you give me a second? OK.
She's doing one! Ah! Shit! Wait there.
Mia! Mia! Come on, running away's never the answer.
I've done it myself, believe me.
Hey, Mia! Hey! Mia, come on.
Come on, talk to me.
Come on.
Hey, boys! Here! Here's a tenner.
I'll give you another one when you catch that girl.
Go on! She gave us a 50.
Bloody London prices.
Sorry, I lost her.
That girl should wear a T-shirt saying "Troubled and dangerous.
" Well, it looks like she took her computer with her, but she left her insulin behind.
Troubled, dangerous and a diabetic, eh? Yeah.
What on earth is that? Ah, it dropped out of her bag.
Looks like it was more important for her to take this than her insulin.
What the hell? What the hell? Hello.
Well, well.
This memory stick contains the back-up files for the Blue Flower Blog.
Which means that Mia was behind it.
Yes, but I'm more interested in the folder of unpublished files she's got on here.
They're Stasi reports.
All about one particular member of the Blue Flower group.
A woman who tried to flee the border in 1987 after they discovered her identity That woman was Alicia Klein, Max Klein's wife and Mia's mother.
Only there's a big difference between what's written in these reports and what Grace Cusack told us.
Alicia was trying to smuggle herself and Mia out.
Max wasn't with them.
So are you saying that Grace lied? More likely Max lied to her.
Why would he do that? To hide the fact that his wife wasn't trying to escape with him.
She was trying to escape from him.
Max Klein wrote these reports.
These are his words.
He tracked down and arrested his own wife that night.
Max Klein was in the Stasi?! Imagine the rage he must have felt.
Knowing she'd only married him to get inside information.
And here she was, trying to run.
Taking away the child they'd had together So his marriage, his family It was all a lie? Well, this was a world where children informed on their parents.
Nothing was sacred, anything was possible.
Yeah, but Max was a jigsawrer, wasn't he? Puzzler.
All right, puzzler.
So, the Berlin Wall comes down and he goes back to the only place he should have stayed a million miles away from? The government offices where they're reassembling the files that the Stasi shredded? Well, there's lots of stories of Stasi personnel infiltrating that particular office to bury their own crimes.
Rewrite history.
So why didn't Mia publish that in her blog? If you'd just discovered that your father was responsible for your mother's death, would you publish it? Not if you wanted to take revenge.
Exactly.
That's why he stopped looking that day.
He'd found her? Or she'd found him.
Yeah, but hold on, hold on, if Alicia only had Mia to keep up the illusion of her marriage to Max, why would he then come looking for her? Maybe that's something that Mia can tell us.
Where are we on Murgins by the way? Oh, yeah, I've been checking this out.
I found it in his office at the recycling centre.
Not this again! Sandra, this is a well-known hang out for a lot of very dodgy faces.
I mean, it's a perfect place if you're going to sell documents.
What? What is it? It's just a pub.
But it'd be very easy to pop in there and check out who Murgins is actually meeting.
Gerry, we've been told to stay away.
How many times?! From the recycling centre, yeah, but not from Murgins.
He is a suspect.
And whoever he's meeting could be well involved too.
All right.
But keep your distance.
Actually, no, Steve, you go with him.
And behave yourselves.
As if we wouldn't.
Just a pub, eh? Well, it's got a bar.
Oh, so there is, how long have we got? Murgins should be here in about 20 minutes.
That is an eternity in drinking time.
Hi, a couple of large ones, please.
Yeah, and a couple of pints of that London stuff.
That's great, isn't it? Takes me back to the old days of stings and stakeouts and secret identities.
You pining for your shell suit? No, no.
I'm just saying, it's good to get your hands dirty now and again.
Reminds you of what it's all about.
We are, as they say, kicking it old school.
Yeah.
Eh, eh, eh, focus.
We're supposed to be behaving ourselves, remember? Don't you worry about me, in these situations I was always known as Captain OutStanding.
I'm well focused.
Yeah, but focus on getting that down your neck.
"Captain OutStanding?" Yeah, you know, like those superheroes.
"By day, he was Gerry Standing.
"At night" Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I get the picture.
Slainte.
Cheers, mate.
Oh, dear.
I wonder how the Guv'nor and Brian are getting on? On a stakeout, they'll be having a whale of a time.
Sitting back, listening to some music, digging the sounds.
'I don't know.
Is the tagliatelle made with meat?' Um, ich weiss nicht.
Ist die Tagliatelle mit Fleisch? 'OK, I'll take the tagliatelle.
' OK, ich nehme die Tagliatelle.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe we've lost her altogether.
'Ah, that is good.
' Ah, das ist gut! I was enjoying that.
I could tell.
Well, I've got to practice.
It's been years since my German O-Level.
Brian, we don't even know if she speaks German.
And, even if she does, I very much doubt that vegetarian tagliatelle will be a topic of our conversation.
I'm just trying to defrost my vocabulary, you know.
Just leave it in the freezer for now, will you? Ha-ha, very witty.
Suspect's arrived.
'Copy that.
' Can we talk now, please, Mia? So this geezer has got a sawn-off shotgun, right? Yeah.
But not only that.
He's got a parrot on his shoulder.
What? You should have heard the language from the parrot.
Honestly, you wouldn't believe this beak on this bird.
The bloke suddenly looks me in the eye and raises the shotgun.
And I'm thinking, "Gerry, this is it for you, son, you've had it.
" And, suddenly, the parrot says There he is.
"There he is?" What? No, no.
Murgins.
There he is.
That must be the guy he's selling to.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
That's the DCI who was at our place earlier? Rosser the Tosser! Hey, Gerry, I think that's a tad judgmental.
You hardly know the bloke.
The Guv'nor's going to love this.
But what's he doing here? You don't think he's in on it, do you? It's a sting.
They're going to find out who he's doing business with.
Yeah.
Oh, he's off! Come on, Gerry, you're Captain OutStanding.
Do something! Oh, very smooth.
Mr Murgins.
By-bye, now.
Pullman's pensioners.
You don't have to thank us.
We were just passing.
That was a suitably arthritic solution, I suppose.
But don't worry, I won't be thanking you for it.
Don't you speak to Captain OutStanding like that.
I'm afraid I don't speak Clapped Out and Retired at all.
Oh, but you're so fluent in Arsehole.
You've been instructed to stay away from our operation.
Lucky for you we were around.
Otherwise, your man there would have nipped off on his rather sizeable toes.
I'll be speaking to Strickland in the morning.
Why don't you do that? Bum face! Are you all right? Gerry, total tosser.
Argh! Smell 'em a mile off.
Tosser radar, mate.
I say, time for another! I think so.
Oh, hey, hey, hang on.
So what did the parrot say? At the end of your story? Oh, the parrot.
Yeah, yeah! He's got the shotgun, right, and parrot here.
Yeah.
And, suddenly, the parrot goes, "Wanker," and nearly tears his ear off! So I nut him and nick him.
We've read your father's reports.
He wasn't my father.
We've got a DNA test result that says otherwise.
Ooh, well, listen to you - a DNA test result.
We wouldn't have found you without it.
Max Klein wasn't even a human being, so how could he be anyone's father? All right, then.
Your biological father.
Is that better? He was a cancer! A tumour eating away at people's lives without them even knowing that he was there.
Till it was too late.
Is that what he did to your mother? Ate away at her life? No.
No, she knew what he was all along.
To think how much it must have hurt him when he found out.
Knowing that she'd almost beaten him at his own game.
Almost wasn't enough there, was it? He arrested her, had her interrogated.
Sounds like you're doing to me now.
We're asking you questions.
That's all.
No.
You're trying to exploit my emotions.
You're angry.
It's understandable.
I'm not angry.
No, I'm ecstatic! Elated, even.
Can't you tell the difference? Finding out that he's dead.
No, even better, that somebody else killed him.
That he died in pain.
The thought of him just bleeding to death, all alone.
I only wish I'd been there to watch it happen.
See the light fade in his eyes.
Listen to the last breath as it passed between his lips.
The way you're talking, you sound as though you killed him.
I didn't even know he was in this country until you told me.
You're telling us he never found you? I didn't want to be found.
Where were you at the time of his death? Why don't you tell me, uh? You seem to be such an expert on my movements.
That's important to you, isn't it? Privacy, anonymity.
Did you search my medical records as well? Yeah, I bet you did.
Where were you at the time of your father's murder? There's nothing that you won't exploit to get what you want, is there? Memories, tragedies, even chronic illnesses.
We just want to discover the truth.
People like you don't care about discovering the truth! You only care about bending it, distorting it, making it all fit.
Hang on a minute.
If the truth is so important to you, why didn't you publish your father's reports on the blog? Because there are days when I still don't want to believe that it's true.
She's got the motive.
And the aggression.
She wishes she had killed him.
Yeah, but that's just it.
She wishes she had.
See if you can trace her movements over the past five years.
Maybe we can get her alibi, even if she doesn't want to give us one.
What are you going to do? Get her to see that she can trust us.
Good luck.
Cheers.
Thank you.
Would you like him back? I know he means a lot to you.
Did you have him when you were little? It's the only thing of hers that I've got left.
Your mum? She was very beautiful.
I saw her photo in the report.
There's nothing beautiful about that.
They took it.
The Stasi? On the night he arrested her.
You know, I don't even know what she looked like when she smiled.
How did you get hold of those reports? Are you going to arrest me for that, too? Just help me, Mia.
In 2006, the German government started to digitise all the Stasi archives, but they have to be careful about what they put online.
Why? A lot of ex-Stasi are CEOs now.
They're respectable men.
If their names were out there in the public domain.
If people knew what they'd done So you hacked them? I wanted to know the truth.
I want to know the truth, too.
About what happened to your father.
Stop calling him that.
Sorry.
Could the people who smuggled you out have caught up with him? They were friends of my mother's, but they were still traffickers.
The first thing they did was give me up to the West German adoption agency.
Your father could Sorry.
Max Klein couldn't have known about your blog, could he? No.
I post anonymously.
Then, why do you think his last words were "Blue Flower?" Could have been some Stasi codeword.
Or maybe he was full of regret over what he did to your mother.
He wasn't capable of that.
You read his reports.
She became nothing more than an object to him.
Something to be ground down, defeated.
You know, I met someone who knew Max and he didn't sound at all like the monster you're describing.
You really don't know who you're dealing with, do you? OK.
If you can think of anything that might explain what your father's last words meant, I want you to contact me, OK? All right, you can go now.
What were Gerry and Steve doing in that place, Sandra? Following a legitimate lead.
And I told you to keep your distance.
Yeah, from the recycling centre.
Not from Murgins.
Max Klein was a picker for the racket that Murgins is running there.
Alongside scores of other equally unremarkable immigrants.
Yesterday, we discovered that Klein was an ex-Stasi officer.
I can assure you there was nothing unremarkable about him.
With respect, you're reaching here.
There could have been conflict between Murgins and Klein, especially if Murgins put him under pressure.
I'd be happy to ask him about it for you.
I'll do my own asking, thank you.
Let me speak to Armitage and Murgins.
They're my suspects.
And mine.
And it's my decision.
Sir, I need to know who Murgins has been selling these things to.
And I am sure that Murgins has information on Klein's murder.
Talk to Murgins and Armitage.
See what you can find.
So what really happened to Max Klein, Mr Armitage? I've given you an alibi.
More of a lullaby, really.
A baby might believe it.
If it didn't fall asleep first.
So what's between you and Murgins? Did you start this scam or did he? I never meant for it to go this far.
Ah, diddums.
Straight up.
I didn't know what he was up to.
Not at first.
Not until I needed the money.
Why did you need money? One of the girls on the floor got herself into trouble.
You mean you got herself into trouble? If you like.
Well, either you did or you didn't.
I didn't have the money for her to take care of it, so Corey loaned it to me.
That was big of him.
I didn't know where he'd got it from until it was too late.
So he was blackmailing you, was he? You're a poor soul, right enough.
Said if he ever went down, I was going down too.
Made you turn a blind eye? At first, he was just skimming one or two things off the line, but as it got bigger, he needed me to keep the bosses off our backs, so that he could run the pickers.
Bit off a bit more than he could chew with Max Klein, though? I knew that man was trouble the moment he arrived.
Two days before he died, he had a row with Corey.
What about? Don't know.
Threats were exchanged.
Then it got physical.
How physical? It's the first time I've ever seen anyone stand up to Corey.
But Max put him in his place, did he? Black eye.
The works.
Corey was bloody furious.
You had a fight with Max Klein two days before he was murdered, why was that? Armitage told you? Afraid so.
He also told us it was the first time that anybody had got the better of you.
Did that hurt your pride? It was nothing.
Nothing? You told us that you'd barely had two words with Max Klein.
I bet that row had more than two words in it, didn't it? Was it over money? He never wanted money, all right? Why was that? I don't know.
All the pickers get a taste.
Not much, but a fiver's a fortune to them.
But he wouldn't even take that.
He just drew his basic salary.
Hold on, hold on.
So why was he helping put back together torn-up bills if he wasn't earning out of it? Cos he knew if he didn't do the work, I wouldn't trust him.
Besides, it was the best job he could get in this country.
Did he ever have any contact with the people you sell to? No.
Why would he? So why did you have a fight? He wanted that Friday off.
The Friday he died? Yeah.
He said it was vital.
But you wouldn't let him? No.
Why did it get physical? Why do you think? He threatened to expose you, didn't he? But you must have climbed down, because he was supposed to be working at the time of his death.
I didn't climb down.
He never showed up for his shift.
I never saw him again.
Why was that particular Friday so important to Max? I don't know.
I always thought it might be something to do with the cabbie.
Cabbie? Yeah, he came down to the centre looking for Max.
A day or two before we had our disagreement.
Geezer seemed pretty steamed up.
They started pushing each other about.
Can you remember his name? Ripley? No, Rapley.
Something Rapley.
Grace Cusack told us that her son was run over by a cabbie called Damon Rapley.
But why would Rapley go and see Max at the recycling centre? Well, Grace is obviously the connection, but I haven't got a clue where or how or why.
Grace's boy was playing chicken across the road with his pals.
And this Damon Rapley just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It says here that he's a leaseholder on one of those garages.
There was a black cab parked there, remember? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, Murgins said he saw Rapley at the recycling centre with Max.
And he parks his cab close to where Max was stabbed.
What's this about an injunction? Grace could never accept the accident verdict and she threatened Rapley.
Letters, phone calls, the works.
Grace talked a lot to Max.
Could she have told him about all this? Well, she volunteered quite a bit when we met her, didn't she.
Even called Rapley a murderer.
Maybe Max got Rapley to go to the recycling centre, to get revenge for Grace.
Would you describe yourself and Max as close? Not close, exactly.
Then what? I think we understood each other.
How do you mean? In a way, we'd both had the same experience.
We'd both lost a child.
Only, he had the chance to try and find his again.
Where is this going? Did you ever tell Max how you felt about Damon Rapley? Of course.
But how does me telling him how I felt have to do with his murder? Well, we think he might have gone after Rapley.
Why? You wanted revenge, didn't you? I never told Max that.
Yeah, but you might not have needed to.
I've learned to live with what he did to my son.
I can't deal with the thought of him hurting Max, too.
My governor said you wanted a word.
Mr Rapley? Yep.
Detective Superintendent Pullman.
This is Brian Lane, UCOS.
Yeah, got you a cup of tea, mate.
Great, thanks for that.
Look, I don't mean to be rude, but if we can we make this quick, I've got an airport pick-up.
Do you remember going to this man's place of work on the 12th of July 2007? Is this about her? Who do you mean by "her"? Grace Cusack.
He kept pestering me about her.
Why? Wanted me to apologise.
Had this mad idea it would make things better.
Why didn't you do it? Because it would have had the opposite effect.
How so? She'd have seen it as an admission of guilt.
And we'd never have been over it.
She's not the only one who's suffered, you know? She lost her only child.
Yeah, who stepped out in front of me.
I couldn't do anything about it.
You said that Max had been pestering you.
How long had that gone on before you went to his recycling centre? Couple of weeks, give or take.
He got more threatening.
I went to warn him off.
But if you knew he was speaking to you on Grace's behalf, why didn't you call it in? Let the police handle it? It was a breach of the injunction, wasn't it? He was very clever about that.
He said he was doing it all without her knowledge.
That she didn't know anything about it.
Did he say why he'd taken up her cause? He was sure there was going be a disaster if I didn't apologise.
What with the anniversary of her son's death.
One year.
What kind of disaster? She was going to do something drastic.
To herself? I don't know.
Why didn't you say anything about this at the time? I mean, you must have been aware of Max Klein's murder.
Because I'm not stupid.
I know what it looks like.
What does it look like? Are you going to charge me with something? Otherwise, I really have to go.
Can you tell us where you were on the day he died? Working.
We'll be checking that.
Fine.
Thanks for the tea.
Grace said that she always goes to the junction first thing.
But not on the day Max was murdered.
Well, what about this? Max is waiting and he sees that Grace isn't there, so he goes after Rapley, there's a struggle, but it's Max who gets stabbed.
Why didn't Rapley just own up? Say it was self-defence? Cos he was seen at the recycling centre a couple of days before.
That and his history with Grace could all add up to premeditation.
So we need something more than this.
Something that puts Max and Rapley together at those garages.
Well, I've talked to his cab company, and they're sending over the records for that day.
What did the original investigation turn up at Max's flat? Just a bed and a few possessions.
And some of your silverfish.
Silverfish? Well, that makes sense.
It does? When a Stasi man goes after somebody, they usually have a system, a method.
They gather all kinds of material before they confront them.
Observation reports.
Photographs.
Even scent samples.
What's scent got to do with it? Well, my point is that Max was looking for his daughter.
And he had a surveillance routine at that junction.
And he stuck to it like clockwork.
So if Max was going after Rapley on Grace's behalf, there would have been material, surveillance research, that kind of thing.
And paperwork.
Max's flat was virtually empty.
But the original team didn't know he was Stasi, did they? So? So they didn't know that the one thing a Stasi man would do is go to incredible lengths to hide things.
Walls, pipes, floorboards.
Secrecy was a way of life for these people.
So it hasn't changed since Klein lived here.
No.
Oh! Do you want to share the joke? Look at the wallpaper.
It's all flowers.
Hello? Gerry calling team? Blue flower? They're pink.
Well, maybe there's a blue one somewhere.
Hang on a minute.
This is a stud wall, right? Yeah.
Well, look, the wall's far too close to the window.
I reckon this room's short by at least four feet.
Gerry, let's get this wardrobe out.
It's on wheels.
Oh, well done, Gerry.
Look.
Blue flower.
It's been coloured in with felt tip.
Oh! What the Careful, Guv'nor.
Blimey! Look! Wow! Well, he'd been searching for his daughter for 17 years.
He'd need structure, organisation.
He'd want to make sure that this place was free from interference.
Especially detection.
Secrecy was his second nature, wasn't it? You'd be paranoid about anybody discovering this lot.
Well, I suppose when he knew he was dying, he was desperate for someone to discover the truth.
Hence, the words "Blue flower.
" You know, they look really happy in these photos.
Well, we might find some truth in here.
This looks like his journal.
It's in German.
Oh, the last entry was on the day he died.
Can you, can you read it? Give me a chance.
My German is still thawing out.
"Ich muss verhindern, "dass Grace Rapley verletzt.
" Verletzt Oh, that's "hurting," to hurt.
"I must stop Rapley hurting Grace.
" Time to bring him in.
Max Klein attacked you, didn't he? Why would he do that? Because Grace Cusack wanted revenge and he was going to get it for her.
Did he bring the knife or was it yours? I was working that day, check with my company.
We did.
You were several minutes late for your first booking and that delay ties in with the time of Max Klein's murder.
You want to know why I was late? I took the long way round.
Why? I always take the long way round now.
Why? Ever since the accident, I don't want to go near that road ever again.
Grace Cusack doesn't think I care about what happened to her boy, but OF COURSE I do.
Then, why haven't you told her that? She needs someone to blame, don't you understand? It's the only way she can deal with this.
And avoiding the road helps me forget.
Every time I remember, it's like the guilt comes alive.
I can feel it swirling around me now every time I talk about it.
It's like, like a big, black hole.
But it's not inside me.
I'm outside it.
And one day, it's going to swallow me whole.
But the accident investigation found you weren't at fault.
You ever run over a child? It empties you.
Whether it's your fault or not.
How did it go with Rapley? His alibi checks out.
We've had to let him go.
Poor sod's in bits.
So now, we're back to square one.
Stille! Stille! Mein Kopf ist geplatzt! Was ist das, Herr Brian? Look, with German, you can't just translate word by word, from left to right, you have to isolate the verb and work backwards.
It's like being back in school, innit? Go on, Brian.
So the verb "verletzt" would be used in both "Rapley hurts Grace" and "Rapley is hurt by Grace.
" Max wasn't trying to stop Rapley hurting Grace.
He was trying to stop Grace hurting Rapley.
Well, there's his cab, but where's he? Something's wrong.
Eh? Grace? Grace? It's locked.
Break it down.
Grace? Grace, can you hear me? Have you taken these, Grace? I'll get the medics.
Is he gone? Who? Is Rapley gone? He's still got a pulse.
Yeah, I'll get an ambulance.
Max knew what I wanted to do.
He kept trying to talk me out of it.
I was trying to avoid him.
And that's why he didn't go to the junction that morning.
I was waiting at the garages for Rapley, but Max caught up with me.
He tried to take the knife.
I just wouldn't let it go.
The next thing I knew, he was on the floor saying those words.
Blue flower.
He was a good man.
I didn't want to hurt him.
They're on their way.
OK.
You think she's going to be all right? She'll live.
Is that enough? I wanted to bring you here so that I could show you what your father's last words meant.
He, he just wanted someone to know the truth.
What truth? That he secretly tried to smuggle you and your mother into West Germany so that you could get your insulin.
No, she was running from him.
With him.
Not from him.
He was part of Blue Flower too.
And that's why he joined the Stasi in the first place.
She's smiling.
They obviously loved each other very much.
And you.
But all the files.
All the arrest reports Part of his cover-up.
It's all in here.
Your father's account of what really happened.
Your parents knew that if they were both arrested, then they'd never be set free to come look for you, they'd never see you again.
But then, your mother had an idea No.
"Arrest me.
" 'When the Border Police caught them,' she made him act like he'd played no part in the escape plan, like he'd just been following her.
Like she was part of the Blue Flower and he wasn't? Yeah.
'She made him swear to keep up the illusion, 'no matter what they did to her.
'And he knew that was the only way he'd stay free to come and find you.
' But he never found me.
This room is all about you, Mia.
He never stopped looking until the day he died.
No, but these are just words.
Your father was a good man.
How do you know that for sure? Because he died trying to stop somebody from making the biggest mistake of their life.
You OK? I've got one hell of a story to tell on my blog.
I look forward to reading it.
Thank you.
For everything.

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