Patience (2025) s01e06 Episode Script
Pandora's Box
1
HE COUGHS
HE COUGHS
BELL RINGS
Are you all right?
Oh, my God!
Oh, God! What's wrong with him?
Oh!
One fatality, Parsons' best guess,
some kind of internal trauma.
Anything to suggest foul play?
We've got one man fleeing the scene.
Distinctive neck tattoo,
tiger, maybe.
Are they saying he was involved?
More likely he just got squeamish.
PHONE RINGS
DS Jake Hunter.
Uh, ma'am?
You might want this.
The pandemic's over, Will.
Dr Parsons advised it.
Oh.
Looks like this one's just thrown
his guts up, quite literally.
How does that happen?
Ah, haemorrhagic shock, TB maybe.
Tuberculosis? Mm, it's on the rise.
Is it contagious?
Well, only through
prolonged contact.
Oh, have we got an ID, Elliot?
Not yet, ma'am.
Just a phone, a bus pass,
a few personal effects.
But this might interest you.
No fingerprints.
Chemically removed.
Where's Patience?
We haven't spoken since
mybirthday.
That was days ago.
She'll be in touch
when she's ready.
Bollocks.
I think the word you're looking for
is "sorry".
I'm sorry.
Not to me - to her.
Hey.
You
You don't have to say anything,
I just.
Here.
I thought it might come in handy.
PHONE CHIRPS
Think of it as a thank-you present.
Hi, Parsons.
Oh, well, there goes that theory.
Yep Bye.
Fancy a trip to the mortuary?
Yes.
The test for TB was negative.
What about the blood on his shirt?
It's not human - bovine, I think.
Did you test for
zoonotic infections?
I was just in the process.
Hmm, blood in the mediastinum.
That's a known symptom
of inhalation anthrax.
Anthrax?
Not so fast, we need to test this.
Well, fast-track it,
I went on that bus.
No need to panic.
Anthrax in the lungs doesn't spread
through human contact.
Yeah, it's caught
from infected animals.
The test results aren't back yet.
I need you to do some digging.
All right.
Ma'am? You might want to see this.
Uh
It'spretty grim.
I did try and warn her.
She's an animal lover.
The footage from the slaughterhouse
is the only thing that
forensics found on the phone.
Explains the blood on his clothes.
Do we have anything that
might ID him? Uh
Just the bus pass. There's only one
slaughterhouse in the area.
Do you still know that guy in
the Animal and Plant Health Agency?
Who, Trevor Willett?
Yeah, I'll give him a call.
This place needs testing.
Why have the APHA shut me down?
They need to run some tests.
What kind of tests? Ask them.
I'm more interested in this.
Are they your premises?
Looks like it.
Doesn't bother you
to see cows abused like that?
You try handling half tonne
of terrified beef without coercion.
Could be grounds for prosecution.
Killing animals
is a messy business.
This is a messy business.
Oh, my God, that's, uh
He's An employee of yours?
Hutton - Wes Hutton.
Has he worked for you long?
Months at most.
What happened to him?
We're still working on that.
Any update on tiger-tattoo guy?
Not yet, boss.
I've requested the onboard CCTV,
but the bus company
are playing silly buggers.
Also, the passport
and social security numbers
that the slaughterhouse manager
gave us for Wes Hutton,
I think they might be nicked.
Someone called Wesley James Hutton
reported his wallet stolen
on his trip up here from Portsmouth
to see his daughter at university
last month.
Why would a guy who works
in a slaughterhouse
go to this much effort
to hide who he is? Uh
I might have an answer, ma'am.
It's t'same video,
just with fancy titles.
He uploaded it before he died.
I don't think so, ma'am,
it was posted just now
by a group calling themselves
the Climate Defence Force.
Ring any bells?
Well, find out who they are, who our
victim is, what's the connection?
You see, the thing is, Bea,
if his DNA's not
You all right?
Yeah.
I think it's something I ate.
Either that or I'm perimenopausal.
You were saying? Yeah, uh,
if his DNA's not in the database,
we can't ID him from his teeth.
PHONE CHIMES
Oh. I'll leave you to it.
Oh, you might want to stay for this.
Hello, Oliver. What's the latest?
Yeah Yeah.
Very interesting, thanks,
I owe you one.
The slaughterhouse is clean.
He didn't catch anthrax
from the cows? No.
Must have been infected
some other way.
You OK?
Not you as well.
Do you need a minute?
No.
What have you got?
Right, the Climate Defence Force
style themselves as
a civil resistance group,
but the Home Office
call them terrorists,
and they've added them to
the proscribed organisations list.
Oh, that's major league.
Yeah, they've abandoned
nonviolent protest
in favour of direct action
on individuals
and companies that they blame for
environmental degradation.
What's this got to do with our dead
man on the Bootham omnibus?
I'm not sure, boss,
but the CDF were blamed
for an arson attack on
a meat-processing factory in
..Dalton, just on the outskirts
of Leeds, five years ago.
You think they're planning something
similar on our local slaughterhouse?
It's hard to say.
When I tried to access the file
on the PNC, it was restricted.
Restricted? By who?
Regional counterterrorism.
Not Zara Blackwood?
Yeah, boss. Do you know her?
We've crossed swords.
Do we have to go through Blackwood?
Well, there's press reporting
on the fire because of a fatality.
Somebody died?
Yeah, a worker at the plant.
An activist called Jean Crick
was charged with the manslaughter.
The case was heard in private,
but we know she's serving
25 years to life.
That's all I've got.
Where you going?
Where do you think?
That's not going to happen,
I'm afraid.
Ma'am? The Dalton file
has been restricted for a reason,
and it's going to stay that way.
Am I allowed to know why?
National security, public interest,
because I say so.
Take your pick.
With respect, ma'am, a man's died.
How am I supposed to investigate?
You're not.
I've given my word
you're going to cease investigating
with immediate effect.
Sir That's an order.
Can you at least reassure me
that there's no ongoing threat
to people in York?
That's for me to worry about,
not you.
KNOCKING
Learn anything useful?
Yeah.
Yeah, did you know that
your facial temperature increases
when you're attracted to someone?
Feeling pretty flushed myself.
So why are you here?
Can I help you with something?
That thing you said about
this place keeping a record
of every document from every case,
is that true?
Yeah, II never lie.
It's not here.
Where is it? I don't know.
I mean, it could be removed
to a restricted part of the archive.
Can you access it?
No.
But you could submit a request,
I'm not authorised to.
I'm off the case.
Thanks to Zara Blackwood, the bitch.
Is there any way you can
..bend the rules? N
Ah, forget I said it.
Well, if you've been taken off the
case, then why do you want the file?
Because I can't leave a puzzle
unsolved any more than you can.
PHONE CHIRPS
Patience?
What What time, is it?
No, no, it's OK, it's OK.
I thought you weren't authorised
to access the file?
Oh, no, I'm not.
This is all just from other sources.
So the Dalton factory
incident report,
it says that the worker who died
may not have known all
the fire exits in the building.
It says that he's the only
confirmed fatality, Dexter James.
Only confirmed fatality?
Well, a second worker,
Roland Mitchell,
has been missing
since the arson attack,
but his remains
were never recovered.
How do you know?
Well, his mother insisted on filing
a missing persons report.
I tracked down the CPS submission,
it asked for a court case
to be held in private,
but it cites, "public disclosure
of this information
"could jeopardise current
and future operations,
"place individuals at risk of harm
or retribution."
Counterterrorism must
have been investigating
the Climate Defence Force
at the time of the attack.
Jean Crick,
she's the founder of the CDF.
She was a molecular biologist,
but she lost her professorship
when she called for direct action
for the closures of meat-processing
plants and abattoirs.
This is brilliant work, Patience.
No, there is more, Detective Bea.
This is an intake log
from the secure evidence unit.
412g of hazardous bioagent
was being stored in a lab
a year after the attack.
It was found during a raid,
and the lab that they found it in
was said to be facilitating
acts of ecological terrorism.
The CDF were cultivating anthrax
to infect the meat industry.
It is probable.
BUZZER
Do you recognise him, Jean?
Someone you were close to?
ELECTROLARYNX:
I don't have time for sentiment.
We're on the brink of
an environmental catastrophe.
Was he going to carry out
your orders, Jean?
Infect the slaughterhouse
with anthrax,
unleash your promised wave of terror
on the meat industry?
Shame he only seems to have managed
to infect himself.
You're just a lackey
from a morally bankrupt system.
Better a lackey than a murderer.
I never set out to kill anyone.
But you showed no concern for life
when you ordered that meat factory
to be burned to the ground.
I bet you'd be willing
to infect people with anthrax
to make your point.
It's a funny way of showing
how much you care about
the plight of humanity.
Don't talk to me
about humanity.
SHE GAGS
JEAN GASPS
Throat cancer.
Weeks to live at most.
And she still wouldn't ID him?
But she knows who he is.
My guess is
our victim on the bus
infiltrated the slaughterhouse
on the CDF's behalf.
Only this time the plan
was to infect it with anthrax.
But there was no anthrax at the
slaughterhouse, the APHA tested.
Maybe he infected himself
by accident
before he could execute the plan.
We need to get a hold of a sample
of the anthrax that's been held
at the secure evidence unit,
test it against the strain
that killed our guy.
You've been stood down, boss.
We all have.
So, I mean, they're hardly going
to complain if we solve the case.
Look, the
the council finally came through.
Oh, with the name for the bus pass?
Yeah, it's Roland Mitchell.
Roland Mitchell?
Well, that's the name they gave me,
uh
43 Lindhurst Drive, Pocklington.
That's the missing suspect
from the Dalton factory fire.
Well, do you want me
to meet you there?
LINE DEAD
SHE COUGHS
Hiya. Can I help you?
I'm looking for Roland Mitchell.
He's not in.
And you are?
Vicky Crick. Crick?
That's right,
I'm his sister-in-law.
Jean Crick is your sister?
What's this about?
I think you'd better invite me in.
You're sure it's him?
Roland?
I know, it's
it's a lot to process.
THUD
Noah, love, keep the football down!
They're a handful, aren't they,
that age?
He's Jean and Roland's kid,
not mine.
I was gobsmacked
when Jean fell in love with him.
Even more so when she got pregnant.
She swore she'd never bring a child
into a world that was
on the brink of collapse.
Did Roland feel the same way?
I think being a father changed him.
He'd been talking about
renouncing it all,
taking Noah to live
somewhere remote,
away from the violence.
Hmm, that's
Uh, I'm sorry,
can I use your bathroom?
Yeah, it's upstairs.
SHE COUGHS
RUNNING WATER
Hey!
Agh!
Will!
Sir?
She may have had her phone
on silent, sir.
Yeah, of course, I'll tell her.
Understood, sir.
HE CLEARS THROA
How did he sound?
He, wants us in his office
tomorrow morning, 9am sharp.
And we're not to discuss
the case any further.
What are you doing? I just
I can't lie around here
feeling sorry for myself.
No, you should stay in overnight,
I can pick you up in the morning.
Just call me a cab, would you?
For the tape, I'm showing photos
from a counterterrorist
surveillance operation.
Did we capture your best side, Sam?
No comment. Take your time.
You're going to be so sick of the
sound of my voice after two weeks,
it'll be a blessed relief when
we finally charge you with murder.
I didn't murder him.
Interview suspended.
Jeanie told me to keep an eye on
him - that's why I was on the bus!
I had orders to keep Roland
and the boy safe,
not to kill anyone!
Could you leave us a minute,
please, Sergeant?
Where is it?
Where's what, ma'am?
Your warrant card.
Believe me, I hate to do this.
The force doesn't function
if orders are disobeyed.
Ma'am.
Suspended. What?!
With immediate effect.
Can you contact that poor mother
of the dead man, please?
What, me?
Well, better you than Blackwood.
Yeah, but can't you do it?
If they catch me interfering again,
it'll be instant dismissal.
SHE COUGHS
Look, sir
Don't speak, just listen.
Now, considering the part you played
in the arrest of Sam Fincher,
Superintendent Blackwood
agrees with me
that no disciplinary action
is required.
Well, shouldn't the same apply
to DI Metcalf, sir?
You provided backup
for a fellow officer.
She disobeyed an order.
Look, just go back to work
and get your head down.
Am I at least allowed to know the
status of the case against Fincher?
We can confirm that your dead man
on the bus is Roland Mitchell.
The arsonist that's been on the run
since the Dalton fire? Correct.
We're working on the theory that
Crick gave the order from prison
for Fincher to carry out
the hit on him,
to stop him from leaving the CDF
and taking their child with him.
You know we'd be none the wiser
about their relationship
if it wasn't for DI Metcalf, right?
That's enough.
We can prove Fincher was a member
of the Climate Defence Force,
and we have CCTV footage of
him fleeing the scene.
It doesn't follow
that he infected him.
The CDF knows how to grow anthrax.
We caught them in the act
four years ago.
We've arrested Crick's sister,
and either she'll crack
or Fincher will.
They're going to help us
fill in the blanks.
No, it's time to forget this case,
Sergeant.
Thank you for that. Ma'am.
I'll see you later.
Is there someone
you'd like me to call?
To come and sit with you?
I'll, um I'll let myself out.
I want to see him.
I'd advise you not to, Mrs Mitchell.
I want to see my boy.
That's not him.
It's not Roland.
But he's
he's been positively identified.
Are you suggesting
I don't know my own son,
Detective?
SHE RETCHES
So
Has anyone got anything
they'd like to share?
Dev?
PHONE RINGS
Uh, Patience?
Sorry, I
It's no caller ID.
It might be important.
This is Patience Evans speaking.
Patience, it's Jake, DS Hunter.
All right, uh, Dev, I think
you were going to speak, yeah?
Look, DI Metcalf's been suspended
because of this anthrax business.
What, are you taking on the case,
then, DS Hunter?
What, me? No.
Then why are you calling?
Look, I want your help
with something.
Shouldn't you ask DCI Baxter?
He's stood me down,
and he'll have my badge
if he finds out I haven't.
Well, maybe
you should listen to him.
Look, Blackwood insists that
our victim is Roland Mitchell.
But I've just spoken to his mother
and she's adamant that it's not.
And just now I got a call
from Trevor Willett at the APHA.
There's two more confirmed cases
of anthrax,
both of them passengers on that bus.
But how's that possible
when we're told
the strain of anthrax
that killed Roland Mitchell,
or whoever he is,
can't be spread
through human contact?
Uh
Maybe there was another mode
of transmission on the bus?
That's what I need your help with.
Look, I've been sent the onboard
CCTV from the bus company.
Will you take a look?
You know more about this than I do.
No, I'll-I'll do it, DS Hunter.
I owe you, big time.
I'm sending it over to you now,
all right? OK.
He wasvaping?
I mean
..that means that everyone
on the bus is at risk of infection.
Oh, no, Detective Bea.
KNOCKING
Bea? Bea!
Emergency, which service
do you require?
Ambulance, please!
Bea?
Bea, it's Patience.
AMBULANCE SIREN
Any news?
I
I don't understand, she
..she used protection.
Lightweight masks are no guaranteed
against Covid, DS Hunter,
let aloneanthrax bacteria.
We have to catch
who did this to her.
Wellcan you get hold
of that vape?
You just let Blackwood
try and stop me.
Miss Evans.
MrScott.
This isn't where you work.
I've come to say sorry.
For taking a liberty.
Asking you on a date.
No, you didn't, you didn't, I
It's just no-one that I like
has ever really asked me before.
So you do like me?
Yes, I think so.
Um
But I'm not sure
I'm actually attracted to you.
Oh. Well, I've been reading
this book and
..well, I find feelings and things
hard to place,
so I guess if I'm unsure,
the answer's probably no
for now.
For now?
Well, worrying about Detective Bea,
it's all I can think about.
You know, if she
..when she recovers,
I think I'll probably feel
differently about a lot of things.
Do you know how she got infected?
I know how but not by who,
and I think the answer's
in the restricted part
of the archive
that I don't have access to.
At the risk of it seeming
like I'm
..trying to ingratiate myself
with you, Miss Evans,
you should be aware that Dr Parsons
can access restricted files
related to public health
emergencies,
using powers under the
Public Health Act
granted to medical practitioners.
I could kiss you.
Well, now I'm even more confused.
We're hoping you can test it
against the strain
that killed our man on the bus,
confirm it's our murder weapon.
The other passengers
must have been infected
when anthrax bacteria was exhaled
through the vape smoke.
It is the only theory that fits, Dr
Parsons.
Bacillus anthracis forms spores
with hard shells
that can survive dormant
outside a living host for decades.
Yeah, I don't need a lecture
on anthrax infection, Miss Evans.
I assumed our friends in the RCTU
would have had this under
lock and key, that's all.
It won't be the first thing to go
missing from the evidence store.
Patience discovered that 412g
of anthrax powder
was recovered on that raid at
the CDF lab four years ago, right?
But according to my contact,
only 350g can now
be accounted for.
Well, who'd have the security
clearance and the know-how
to remove hazardous material
from a secure unit? Well
..DS Hunter and I think
the answer's in that file.
I'll be risking my job.
Yeah, well, it's your life that
would have been at risk on that bus,
if you hadn't had
a respirator mask.
Well, what happens if she's wrong?
She's been right
about everything else.
What?! We accessed the Dalton files.
Give me your warrant card.
I warned you.
Sir, it was actually my idea
to access the file.
Consider yourself suspended from all
police duties as well, Miss Evans.
Permanently so.
Sir, a responsible police officer
would consider the evidence
that DS Hunter and I have uncovered,
rather than rush to take
disciplinary action against us.
All right. Two minutes.
All right.
Right, our victim,
ID'ed as Roland Mitchell,
alleged member of the CDF,
supposedly on the run
since a fatal arson attack
at a factory where he worked.
But this
..is the real Roland Mitchell,
according to his mother.
Well, then who? Tyler Rose.
He worked as an undercover police
officer for the CDF eight years ago.
His cover was blown,
and he was killed. No, sir.
What's this?
That's a sworn affidavit
signed by Jean Crick
before she died last night.
Jean Crick and Tyler Rose
met and fell in love
shortly after his assignment
had started.
Tyler blew his own cover to Jean,
vowed to renounce the police
and his old life
and start afresh with her.
She got pregnant by him.
They had a child, Noah,
and began to look for a way
for Tyler to disappear.
So then Tyler got a job
at the Dalton meat factory.
He helped Jean plot and execute
the fatal arson attack
that burnt it to the ground
five years ago.
No-one was supposed to be on site
that night,
but as Tyler went
to make his escape,
he discovered the body
of his colleague, Roland Mitchell.
And he was already dead.
Yeah, fatally overcome by fumes.
Tyler saw his chance
to leave his former life behind,
so he doused Mitchell in petrol
and planted some of his belongings.
And by that time,
the body was too badly burnt
to be identified
using DNA techniques.
Yeah, but the police officers
that recovered the corpse
found a ring nearby it.
It was the only thing
that survived.
The melting point of titanium
is 1,668 degrees Celsius.
Yeah, the ring was recognised by one
of his counterterrorism colleagues.
So we thought Tyler Rose had died
on assignment,
but he'd actually disappeared,
hoping to live quietly
as Roland Mitchell
and bring up his son
with Jean Crick.
Yeah, until Jean Crick was arrested
and sent to prison
and Tyler was persuaded
to go back undercover
on the CDF's behalf.
He steals the identity of a tourist
and winds up dead on a bus,
infected by anthrax.
But how?
Um
Well, I
..I think you need to
brace yourself for this, sir.
The counterterrorism unit
reinstalled surveillance cameras
for known members of the CDF
and their associates four months ago
after a tip-off.
Is that correct?
Did you recognise Tyler straight
away from the surveillance photos?
No comment.
Uh, D–Detective Bea!
No, no, no, no touching,
no touching, sorry.
Sorry.
I'm glad you're out the hospital.
For the tape, I am showing footage
recorded on a security camera
at the property
next door to Vicky Crick's.
What were you looking for?
No comment.
For the tape, I am showing
an envelope addressed
to Roland Mitchell,
containing four unused
vape cartridges.
The Post Office has given us
the card details
that were used
to pay for the postage.
Now, the card is registered
to a Mrs Z Rose.
Does that ring any bells
..Zara?
No comment.
It was Zara who identified Tyler
as having died in the fire
on the basis of that ring.
Now, for the avoidance of doubt,
a certain someone
in criminal records
managed to track down Tyler Rose
and Zara Blackwood's
wedding licence.
They were married 13 years ago,
but they kept it a secret
so they could go on working together
at counterterrorism.
Why murder him, though?
Why not just have him arrested
when she found out?
Well, jealousy is
a very powerful emotion.
It can make even the sanest
of people act irrationally.
Tyler Rose and Zara Blackwood
didn't have any children together.
I checked and she hadn't taken
a day of maternity leave in
20 years of service,
So perhaps it was Tyler's idea
not to start a family,
given the line of work
that they're in.
But I imagine when she saw
the surveillance footage
of him playing with his child
by another woman,
it tipped her over the edge
and set in motion
a plot to kill him.
You worked out her puzzle, Patience.
Alfie seems a lot calmer.
We've started him on medication,
found him a new school as well.
What's this?
Oh, put that back, pup.
Oh, no, it's all right, Alfie,
you can bring it here.
It's a puzzle box.
What's inside?
Um
I'm not sure.
I always thought that it would
..contain the answer.
The answer to what?
As to why my mother left me.
I've always been
..too afraid to
..open it, but
..I think now I might be ready.
HE COUGHS
HE COUGHS
BELL RINGS
Are you all right?
Oh, my God!
Oh, God! What's wrong with him?
Oh!
One fatality, Parsons' best guess,
some kind of internal trauma.
Anything to suggest foul play?
We've got one man fleeing the scene.
Distinctive neck tattoo,
tiger, maybe.
Are they saying he was involved?
More likely he just got squeamish.
PHONE RINGS
DS Jake Hunter.
Uh, ma'am?
You might want this.
The pandemic's over, Will.
Dr Parsons advised it.
Oh.
Looks like this one's just thrown
his guts up, quite literally.
How does that happen?
Ah, haemorrhagic shock, TB maybe.
Tuberculosis? Mm, it's on the rise.
Is it contagious?
Well, only through
prolonged contact.
Oh, have we got an ID, Elliot?
Not yet, ma'am.
Just a phone, a bus pass,
a few personal effects.
But this might interest you.
No fingerprints.
Chemically removed.
Where's Patience?
We haven't spoken since
mybirthday.
That was days ago.
She'll be in touch
when she's ready.
Bollocks.
I think the word you're looking for
is "sorry".
I'm sorry.
Not to me - to her.
Hey.
You
You don't have to say anything,
I just.
Here.
I thought it might come in handy.
PHONE CHIRPS
Think of it as a thank-you present.
Hi, Parsons.
Oh, well, there goes that theory.
Yep Bye.
Fancy a trip to the mortuary?
Yes.
The test for TB was negative.
What about the blood on his shirt?
It's not human - bovine, I think.
Did you test for
zoonotic infections?
I was just in the process.
Hmm, blood in the mediastinum.
That's a known symptom
of inhalation anthrax.
Anthrax?
Not so fast, we need to test this.
Well, fast-track it,
I went on that bus.
No need to panic.
Anthrax in the lungs doesn't spread
through human contact.
Yeah, it's caught
from infected animals.
The test results aren't back yet.
I need you to do some digging.
All right.
Ma'am? You might want to see this.
Uh
It'spretty grim.
I did try and warn her.
She's an animal lover.
The footage from the slaughterhouse
is the only thing that
forensics found on the phone.
Explains the blood on his clothes.
Do we have anything that
might ID him? Uh
Just the bus pass. There's only one
slaughterhouse in the area.
Do you still know that guy in
the Animal and Plant Health Agency?
Who, Trevor Willett?
Yeah, I'll give him a call.
This place needs testing.
Why have the APHA shut me down?
They need to run some tests.
What kind of tests? Ask them.
I'm more interested in this.
Are they your premises?
Looks like it.
Doesn't bother you
to see cows abused like that?
You try handling half tonne
of terrified beef without coercion.
Could be grounds for prosecution.
Killing animals
is a messy business.
This is a messy business.
Oh, my God, that's, uh
He's An employee of yours?
Hutton - Wes Hutton.
Has he worked for you long?
Months at most.
What happened to him?
We're still working on that.
Any update on tiger-tattoo guy?
Not yet, boss.
I've requested the onboard CCTV,
but the bus company
are playing silly buggers.
Also, the passport
and social security numbers
that the slaughterhouse manager
gave us for Wes Hutton,
I think they might be nicked.
Someone called Wesley James Hutton
reported his wallet stolen
on his trip up here from Portsmouth
to see his daughter at university
last month.
Why would a guy who works
in a slaughterhouse
go to this much effort
to hide who he is? Uh
I might have an answer, ma'am.
It's t'same video,
just with fancy titles.
He uploaded it before he died.
I don't think so, ma'am,
it was posted just now
by a group calling themselves
the Climate Defence Force.
Ring any bells?
Well, find out who they are, who our
victim is, what's the connection?
You see, the thing is, Bea,
if his DNA's not
You all right?
Yeah.
I think it's something I ate.
Either that or I'm perimenopausal.
You were saying? Yeah, uh,
if his DNA's not in the database,
we can't ID him from his teeth.
PHONE CHIMES
Oh. I'll leave you to it.
Oh, you might want to stay for this.
Hello, Oliver. What's the latest?
Yeah Yeah.
Very interesting, thanks,
I owe you one.
The slaughterhouse is clean.
He didn't catch anthrax
from the cows? No.
Must have been infected
some other way.
You OK?
Not you as well.
Do you need a minute?
No.
What have you got?
Right, the Climate Defence Force
style themselves as
a civil resistance group,
but the Home Office
call them terrorists,
and they've added them to
the proscribed organisations list.
Oh, that's major league.
Yeah, they've abandoned
nonviolent protest
in favour of direct action
on individuals
and companies that they blame for
environmental degradation.
What's this got to do with our dead
man on the Bootham omnibus?
I'm not sure, boss,
but the CDF were blamed
for an arson attack on
a meat-processing factory in
..Dalton, just on the outskirts
of Leeds, five years ago.
You think they're planning something
similar on our local slaughterhouse?
It's hard to say.
When I tried to access the file
on the PNC, it was restricted.
Restricted? By who?
Regional counterterrorism.
Not Zara Blackwood?
Yeah, boss. Do you know her?
We've crossed swords.
Do we have to go through Blackwood?
Well, there's press reporting
on the fire because of a fatality.
Somebody died?
Yeah, a worker at the plant.
An activist called Jean Crick
was charged with the manslaughter.
The case was heard in private,
but we know she's serving
25 years to life.
That's all I've got.
Where you going?
Where do you think?
That's not going to happen,
I'm afraid.
Ma'am? The Dalton file
has been restricted for a reason,
and it's going to stay that way.
Am I allowed to know why?
National security, public interest,
because I say so.
Take your pick.
With respect, ma'am, a man's died.
How am I supposed to investigate?
You're not.
I've given my word
you're going to cease investigating
with immediate effect.
Sir That's an order.
Can you at least reassure me
that there's no ongoing threat
to people in York?
That's for me to worry about,
not you.
KNOCKING
Learn anything useful?
Yeah.
Yeah, did you know that
your facial temperature increases
when you're attracted to someone?
Feeling pretty flushed myself.
So why are you here?
Can I help you with something?
That thing you said about
this place keeping a record
of every document from every case,
is that true?
Yeah, II never lie.
It's not here.
Where is it? I don't know.
I mean, it could be removed
to a restricted part of the archive.
Can you access it?
No.
But you could submit a request,
I'm not authorised to.
I'm off the case.
Thanks to Zara Blackwood, the bitch.
Is there any way you can
..bend the rules? N
Ah, forget I said it.
Well, if you've been taken off the
case, then why do you want the file?
Because I can't leave a puzzle
unsolved any more than you can.
PHONE CHIRPS
Patience?
What What time, is it?
No, no, it's OK, it's OK.
I thought you weren't authorised
to access the file?
Oh, no, I'm not.
This is all just from other sources.
So the Dalton factory
incident report,
it says that the worker who died
may not have known all
the fire exits in the building.
It says that he's the only
confirmed fatality, Dexter James.
Only confirmed fatality?
Well, a second worker,
Roland Mitchell,
has been missing
since the arson attack,
but his remains
were never recovered.
How do you know?
Well, his mother insisted on filing
a missing persons report.
I tracked down the CPS submission,
it asked for a court case
to be held in private,
but it cites, "public disclosure
of this information
"could jeopardise current
and future operations,
"place individuals at risk of harm
or retribution."
Counterterrorism must
have been investigating
the Climate Defence Force
at the time of the attack.
Jean Crick,
she's the founder of the CDF.
She was a molecular biologist,
but she lost her professorship
when she called for direct action
for the closures of meat-processing
plants and abattoirs.
This is brilliant work, Patience.
No, there is more, Detective Bea.
This is an intake log
from the secure evidence unit.
412g of hazardous bioagent
was being stored in a lab
a year after the attack.
It was found during a raid,
and the lab that they found it in
was said to be facilitating
acts of ecological terrorism.
The CDF were cultivating anthrax
to infect the meat industry.
It is probable.
BUZZER
Do you recognise him, Jean?
Someone you were close to?
ELECTROLARYNX:
I don't have time for sentiment.
We're on the brink of
an environmental catastrophe.
Was he going to carry out
your orders, Jean?
Infect the slaughterhouse
with anthrax,
unleash your promised wave of terror
on the meat industry?
Shame he only seems to have managed
to infect himself.
You're just a lackey
from a morally bankrupt system.
Better a lackey than a murderer.
I never set out to kill anyone.
But you showed no concern for life
when you ordered that meat factory
to be burned to the ground.
I bet you'd be willing
to infect people with anthrax
to make your point.
It's a funny way of showing
how much you care about
the plight of humanity.
Don't talk to me
about humanity.
SHE GAGS
JEAN GASPS
Throat cancer.
Weeks to live at most.
And she still wouldn't ID him?
But she knows who he is.
My guess is
our victim on the bus
infiltrated the slaughterhouse
on the CDF's behalf.
Only this time the plan
was to infect it with anthrax.
But there was no anthrax at the
slaughterhouse, the APHA tested.
Maybe he infected himself
by accident
before he could execute the plan.
We need to get a hold of a sample
of the anthrax that's been held
at the secure evidence unit,
test it against the strain
that killed our guy.
You've been stood down, boss.
We all have.
So, I mean, they're hardly going
to complain if we solve the case.
Look, the
the council finally came through.
Oh, with the name for the bus pass?
Yeah, it's Roland Mitchell.
Roland Mitchell?
Well, that's the name they gave me,
uh
43 Lindhurst Drive, Pocklington.
That's the missing suspect
from the Dalton factory fire.
Well, do you want me
to meet you there?
LINE DEAD
SHE COUGHS
Hiya. Can I help you?
I'm looking for Roland Mitchell.
He's not in.
And you are?
Vicky Crick. Crick?
That's right,
I'm his sister-in-law.
Jean Crick is your sister?
What's this about?
I think you'd better invite me in.
You're sure it's him?
Roland?
I know, it's
it's a lot to process.
THUD
Noah, love, keep the football down!
They're a handful, aren't they,
that age?
He's Jean and Roland's kid,
not mine.
I was gobsmacked
when Jean fell in love with him.
Even more so when she got pregnant.
She swore she'd never bring a child
into a world that was
on the brink of collapse.
Did Roland feel the same way?
I think being a father changed him.
He'd been talking about
renouncing it all,
taking Noah to live
somewhere remote,
away from the violence.
Hmm, that's
Uh, I'm sorry,
can I use your bathroom?
Yeah, it's upstairs.
SHE COUGHS
RUNNING WATER
Hey!
Agh!
Will!
Sir?
She may have had her phone
on silent, sir.
Yeah, of course, I'll tell her.
Understood, sir.
HE CLEARS THROA
How did he sound?
He, wants us in his office
tomorrow morning, 9am sharp.
And we're not to discuss
the case any further.
What are you doing? I just
I can't lie around here
feeling sorry for myself.
No, you should stay in overnight,
I can pick you up in the morning.
Just call me a cab, would you?
For the tape, I'm showing photos
from a counterterrorist
surveillance operation.
Did we capture your best side, Sam?
No comment. Take your time.
You're going to be so sick of the
sound of my voice after two weeks,
it'll be a blessed relief when
we finally charge you with murder.
I didn't murder him.
Interview suspended.
Jeanie told me to keep an eye on
him - that's why I was on the bus!
I had orders to keep Roland
and the boy safe,
not to kill anyone!
Could you leave us a minute,
please, Sergeant?
Where is it?
Where's what, ma'am?
Your warrant card.
Believe me, I hate to do this.
The force doesn't function
if orders are disobeyed.
Ma'am.
Suspended. What?!
With immediate effect.
Can you contact that poor mother
of the dead man, please?
What, me?
Well, better you than Blackwood.
Yeah, but can't you do it?
If they catch me interfering again,
it'll be instant dismissal.
SHE COUGHS
Look, sir
Don't speak, just listen.
Now, considering the part you played
in the arrest of Sam Fincher,
Superintendent Blackwood
agrees with me
that no disciplinary action
is required.
Well, shouldn't the same apply
to DI Metcalf, sir?
You provided backup
for a fellow officer.
She disobeyed an order.
Look, just go back to work
and get your head down.
Am I at least allowed to know the
status of the case against Fincher?
We can confirm that your dead man
on the bus is Roland Mitchell.
The arsonist that's been on the run
since the Dalton fire? Correct.
We're working on the theory that
Crick gave the order from prison
for Fincher to carry out
the hit on him,
to stop him from leaving the CDF
and taking their child with him.
You know we'd be none the wiser
about their relationship
if it wasn't for DI Metcalf, right?
That's enough.
We can prove Fincher was a member
of the Climate Defence Force,
and we have CCTV footage of
him fleeing the scene.
It doesn't follow
that he infected him.
The CDF knows how to grow anthrax.
We caught them in the act
four years ago.
We've arrested Crick's sister,
and either she'll crack
or Fincher will.
They're going to help us
fill in the blanks.
No, it's time to forget this case,
Sergeant.
Thank you for that. Ma'am.
I'll see you later.
Is there someone
you'd like me to call?
To come and sit with you?
I'll, um I'll let myself out.
I want to see him.
I'd advise you not to, Mrs Mitchell.
I want to see my boy.
That's not him.
It's not Roland.
But he's
he's been positively identified.
Are you suggesting
I don't know my own son,
Detective?
SHE RETCHES
So
Has anyone got anything
they'd like to share?
Dev?
PHONE RINGS
Uh, Patience?
Sorry, I
It's no caller ID.
It might be important.
This is Patience Evans speaking.
Patience, it's Jake, DS Hunter.
All right, uh, Dev, I think
you were going to speak, yeah?
Look, DI Metcalf's been suspended
because of this anthrax business.
What, are you taking on the case,
then, DS Hunter?
What, me? No.
Then why are you calling?
Look, I want your help
with something.
Shouldn't you ask DCI Baxter?
He's stood me down,
and he'll have my badge
if he finds out I haven't.
Well, maybe
you should listen to him.
Look, Blackwood insists that
our victim is Roland Mitchell.
But I've just spoken to his mother
and she's adamant that it's not.
And just now I got a call
from Trevor Willett at the APHA.
There's two more confirmed cases
of anthrax,
both of them passengers on that bus.
But how's that possible
when we're told
the strain of anthrax
that killed Roland Mitchell,
or whoever he is,
can't be spread
through human contact?
Uh
Maybe there was another mode
of transmission on the bus?
That's what I need your help with.
Look, I've been sent the onboard
CCTV from the bus company.
Will you take a look?
You know more about this than I do.
No, I'll-I'll do it, DS Hunter.
I owe you, big time.
I'm sending it over to you now,
all right? OK.
He wasvaping?
I mean
..that means that everyone
on the bus is at risk of infection.
Oh, no, Detective Bea.
KNOCKING
Bea? Bea!
Emergency, which service
do you require?
Ambulance, please!
Bea?
Bea, it's Patience.
AMBULANCE SIREN
Any news?
I
I don't understand, she
..she used protection.
Lightweight masks are no guaranteed
against Covid, DS Hunter,
let aloneanthrax bacteria.
We have to catch
who did this to her.
Wellcan you get hold
of that vape?
You just let Blackwood
try and stop me.
Miss Evans.
MrScott.
This isn't where you work.
I've come to say sorry.
For taking a liberty.
Asking you on a date.
No, you didn't, you didn't, I
It's just no-one that I like
has ever really asked me before.
So you do like me?
Yes, I think so.
Um
But I'm not sure
I'm actually attracted to you.
Oh. Well, I've been reading
this book and
..well, I find feelings and things
hard to place,
so I guess if I'm unsure,
the answer's probably no
for now.
For now?
Well, worrying about Detective Bea,
it's all I can think about.
You know, if she
..when she recovers,
I think I'll probably feel
differently about a lot of things.
Do you know how she got infected?
I know how but not by who,
and I think the answer's
in the restricted part
of the archive
that I don't have access to.
At the risk of it seeming
like I'm
..trying to ingratiate myself
with you, Miss Evans,
you should be aware that Dr Parsons
can access restricted files
related to public health
emergencies,
using powers under the
Public Health Act
granted to medical practitioners.
I could kiss you.
Well, now I'm even more confused.
We're hoping you can test it
against the strain
that killed our man on the bus,
confirm it's our murder weapon.
The other passengers
must have been infected
when anthrax bacteria was exhaled
through the vape smoke.
It is the only theory that fits, Dr
Parsons.
Bacillus anthracis forms spores
with hard shells
that can survive dormant
outside a living host for decades.
Yeah, I don't need a lecture
on anthrax infection, Miss Evans.
I assumed our friends in the RCTU
would have had this under
lock and key, that's all.
It won't be the first thing to go
missing from the evidence store.
Patience discovered that 412g
of anthrax powder
was recovered on that raid at
the CDF lab four years ago, right?
But according to my contact,
only 350g can now
be accounted for.
Well, who'd have the security
clearance and the know-how
to remove hazardous material
from a secure unit? Well
..DS Hunter and I think
the answer's in that file.
I'll be risking my job.
Yeah, well, it's your life that
would have been at risk on that bus,
if you hadn't had
a respirator mask.
Well, what happens if she's wrong?
She's been right
about everything else.
What?! We accessed the Dalton files.
Give me your warrant card.
I warned you.
Sir, it was actually my idea
to access the file.
Consider yourself suspended from all
police duties as well, Miss Evans.
Permanently so.
Sir, a responsible police officer
would consider the evidence
that DS Hunter and I have uncovered,
rather than rush to take
disciplinary action against us.
All right. Two minutes.
All right.
Right, our victim,
ID'ed as Roland Mitchell,
alleged member of the CDF,
supposedly on the run
since a fatal arson attack
at a factory where he worked.
But this
..is the real Roland Mitchell,
according to his mother.
Well, then who? Tyler Rose.
He worked as an undercover police
officer for the CDF eight years ago.
His cover was blown,
and he was killed. No, sir.
What's this?
That's a sworn affidavit
signed by Jean Crick
before she died last night.
Jean Crick and Tyler Rose
met and fell in love
shortly after his assignment
had started.
Tyler blew his own cover to Jean,
vowed to renounce the police
and his old life
and start afresh with her.
She got pregnant by him.
They had a child, Noah,
and began to look for a way
for Tyler to disappear.
So then Tyler got a job
at the Dalton meat factory.
He helped Jean plot and execute
the fatal arson attack
that burnt it to the ground
five years ago.
No-one was supposed to be on site
that night,
but as Tyler went
to make his escape,
he discovered the body
of his colleague, Roland Mitchell.
And he was already dead.
Yeah, fatally overcome by fumes.
Tyler saw his chance
to leave his former life behind,
so he doused Mitchell in petrol
and planted some of his belongings.
And by that time,
the body was too badly burnt
to be identified
using DNA techniques.
Yeah, but the police officers
that recovered the corpse
found a ring nearby it.
It was the only thing
that survived.
The melting point of titanium
is 1,668 degrees Celsius.
Yeah, the ring was recognised by one
of his counterterrorism colleagues.
So we thought Tyler Rose had died
on assignment,
but he'd actually disappeared,
hoping to live quietly
as Roland Mitchell
and bring up his son
with Jean Crick.
Yeah, until Jean Crick was arrested
and sent to prison
and Tyler was persuaded
to go back undercover
on the CDF's behalf.
He steals the identity of a tourist
and winds up dead on a bus,
infected by anthrax.
But how?
Um
Well, I
..I think you need to
brace yourself for this, sir.
The counterterrorism unit
reinstalled surveillance cameras
for known members of the CDF
and their associates four months ago
after a tip-off.
Is that correct?
Did you recognise Tyler straight
away from the surveillance photos?
No comment.
Uh, D–Detective Bea!
No, no, no, no touching,
no touching, sorry.
Sorry.
I'm glad you're out the hospital.
For the tape, I am showing footage
recorded on a security camera
at the property
next door to Vicky Crick's.
What were you looking for?
No comment.
For the tape, I am showing
an envelope addressed
to Roland Mitchell,
containing four unused
vape cartridges.
The Post Office has given us
the card details
that were used
to pay for the postage.
Now, the card is registered
to a Mrs Z Rose.
Does that ring any bells
..Zara?
No comment.
It was Zara who identified Tyler
as having died in the fire
on the basis of that ring.
Now, for the avoidance of doubt,
a certain someone
in criminal records
managed to track down Tyler Rose
and Zara Blackwood's
wedding licence.
They were married 13 years ago,
but they kept it a secret
so they could go on working together
at counterterrorism.
Why murder him, though?
Why not just have him arrested
when she found out?
Well, jealousy is
a very powerful emotion.
It can make even the sanest
of people act irrationally.
Tyler Rose and Zara Blackwood
didn't have any children together.
I checked and she hadn't taken
a day of maternity leave in
20 years of service,
So perhaps it was Tyler's idea
not to start a family,
given the line of work
that they're in.
But I imagine when she saw
the surveillance footage
of him playing with his child
by another woman,
it tipped her over the edge
and set in motion
a plot to kill him.
You worked out her puzzle, Patience.
Alfie seems a lot calmer.
We've started him on medication,
found him a new school as well.
What's this?
Oh, put that back, pup.
Oh, no, it's all right, Alfie,
you can bring it here.
It's a puzzle box.
What's inside?
Um
I'm not sure.
I always thought that it would
..contain the answer.
The answer to what?
As to why my mother left me.
I've always been
..too afraid to
..open it, but
..I think now I might be ready.