Original subtitles

Thank you.

I hope you know I am sticking my neck out here. What do you mean, George?

We are talking bulk, Arthur. Have no fear.

I have located a rich seam of the goods you require.

The country we're dealing with is outside the EEC, recovering from a

bureaucratic nightmare.

Getting in and out involves a lot of red tape.

The more that can be shifted in one go, the better.

Arthur Daly, can you fill one of these?

How much are they all worth?

I've got five of these going out Thursday.

They'll be chocker.

I shall need a little advance capital.

Before hand, up front.

No can do.

Oh, come on, George. I thought you said this was a humanitarian mission.

Yeah, for them, not for you.

I've got over eggs.

Labour costs, logistics, transport.

I must have a button.

Arthur, I am not a hole in the wall. If you need money, go to a bank.

got my letter.

Yeah. What, the old black felt tip left of it?

How's Hammer Callaghan?

He's still gutted about his 18 months.

You'll get over it.

I've got someone else for you.

There's no one left, Charlie.

Charlie, they've all been sorted.

Not quite all.

Just one moment.

Yeah.

Well, I don't need all my wits about me here.

Trying to get money out of old Grantham's like trying to prize a bit of

pudding off a vampire.

Hard, is he? Like granite.

Here. Mr Daly, he'll see you now.

Thank you.

Good

morning,

my son.

You can tell Mr Grantham I'm here, will you?

Mr Grantham is no longer with us.

He's moved on.

Moved on?

Well, who's taken over the overdrafts? You mean our business advancement loan?

That's the lad, sir.

I'm the new business affairs manager, London North West.

Are you really?

Oh, pleased to meet you. The name's Daly, Arthur Daly.

Very well -appointed office, you have here.

And if I was to say to you that I have got in on the ground floor of a cast

-iron, copper -bottomed scheme... with unlimited growth potential in a

commodities market, with an inbuilt transport infrastructure, what would

reaction be?

I'd say, jolly well done.

Would you?

Pull up a chair.

It's just a good day, Arthur. We just had a delivery this morning. Oh,

gratifying news, Oily. Wheels are in motion.

Yeah, you're going to tell me now.

Ray. If you had kept abreast of current affairs instead of shaking your foot

down a disco, you would realise we are living in historical times.

From the Rhine to the Baltic, Eastern Europe is undergoing major

at a rate of knots. Yeah, I had heard rumours. So what is the first thing you

need in the reconstruction game?

Cement. After the cement.

Brick.

Scaffold it.

We're going to make Eastern Europe a safer place to whack up a semi.

Take one of these after dinner tonight.

You should cut out the nicotine.

That's what's causing the breathlessness.

There's not a lot else to do here.

Well, try to cut down.

Get yourself a hobby or something.

Like the bird man of Alcatraz.

You can't have it.

You've only got another couple of months.

Don't want to blow it now.

The young lad came over dizzy.

Hello, George.

The goods are being loaded as we speak.

Yeah, I know you'll be pleased.

Yeah, they're at the lock -up awaiting your collection.

So I shall await your brown envelope, shall I?

Yeah, yeah, my pleasure.

Take care.

Ta -ra.

Sorry, mate. I didn't see you. You're a menace. Why didn't you signal? Look what

you've done to my motor. Oh, I'm sorry. Simple accident. Down to me, all right?

I'm not going to have you struggle.

There's no need to be like that. Look, come on. Let's exchange details.

I've got to get a heat pro. You could have stuck your hand out or something.

I didn't see you. I don't... Right.

Here's my name.

Hello. Yeah.

All right, boys.

Hey, Riley, I think you just had another delivery.

Oh, yeah, go.

What's Arthur planning now, then? Another canary walk or something? Yeah,

where'd they get all this gear from, then?

Pick it up here and there.

Oh, yeah.

Come on in, Fagin.

Let's get this lot shifted.

All right. All right, Dave.

Arthur, it's all done and dusted.

Truck's gone back to the rental.

You'll have to go and get the van. I've had a shunt with a motor.

Oh, no, you're joking.

Was there much damage?

No, a wonky wing, bit of a dent in a cab. He put his hands up.

You'll have to give me a lift tomorrow.

George is collecting his scaffolding. Yeah, and that's another thing.

Where do you think Oily Rosset is getting all his gear from?

Surprise me. He's got an army of kids out there on the nick, armed to the

with wire cutters. Don't be so scurrilous.

Here I am on the brink of a major killing, and you're coming to cherub?

All I'm saying is we want to get the stuff off our hands quickly.

All right.

All right.

I've got an early start. I'm going to shoot. Catch you later. Yeah.

I don't know why he worries so much.

He's just careful, Arthur.

Faint art never won fair earner, Dave. No, he concerns me. I mean, one of these

days I'm going to be hanging up my crombie. Where's he going to be then?

Cast a drifter on Wild World without a mature man's hand to guide him.

He'll never get anywhere if he frets over every little thing.

You're not thinking of retiring, are you? Far from it, Dave. I'm on a roll

No, no, I just was hoping a little bit of my charisma would have brushed off on

him, that's all.

Yeah, let's have another one, Dave.

Oh, God, what now?

Can I help you?

This your car, is it, sir?

Yeah.

Been involved in an accident, have we?

No, no, I'm a stock car racer.

What does it look like? Did you report this?

No, I didn't. It's a minor collision.

We exchanged details quite amicably.

There you go.

We don't have to report our every move, do we? I mean, it's not a police state

yet.

I would have thought you had more important things on your mind.

Where were you in the early hours of this morning, Mr Daly?

In bed.

Where any self -respecting citizen would be.

Failure to stop and report an accident is a very serious offence. Yeah, that's

what I'm saying. I did stop. You've got the details there.

A cab driver in his cab in Church Road.

Yeah. No such insurance company, no such cabbie, no such number.

Oh, tall bloke.

Dark, surly manner.

I'm not interested in your phantom cabbie.

I'm more interested in five cars being written off in the early hours of this

morning by your Jaguar. No, no, no. You're barking up the wrong end. I'm

not. Your car, your number plate, and it's all on video.

Will you sit down?

This whole proceeding is a travesty. I want my justice heard. Please sit down,

Mr Daly.

I will not be pilloried. An Englishman has his rights, one of which is not to

have his collar felt for something he hasn't done.

Nobody is being pilloried. We are trying to establish the facts.

Now, the accident in question... It was nothing to do with me.

So you keep saying.

And I will continue to do so until the truth is heard.

Are you suggesting that your car travelled to Hudson all on its own?

No, I'm suggesting my car was outside the Winchester Club all night.

The video evidence suggests otherwise.

Well, the video evidence is an ass.

So it's here you pleaded guilty anyway.

That is correct.

Well, which is it?

Guilty or innocent?

Guilty of having a shunt.

Innocent of the carnage in Arlesden.

I think we'd better discuss the crime.

800 quid fine and 50 extra for wasting the court's time. And they call that

justice. You best put it behind you now, Arthur.

Put it behind me? With my motor cropping up all over London without me?

It's not natural.

Could it be some kind of prank?

Prank? Prank?

Ringing a bell and running away is a prank. Bucket of water on the top of the

door, that's a prank.

This is a calculated malicious act by a disturbed personality.

A carefully planned and highly dangerous piece of chicanery that could have

ended in bodily injury.

All the hallmarks of mental instability.

Reggie?

Arthur.

Good morning to you too.

Good, good. How's your dear lady wife?

Oh, good, good. You don't think she could use her microwave, do you?

Only I'm doing a line at the moment at a remarkably reasonable price.

Well, it's pretty much the same as other microwaves. It's white, it's got a

little door, a thing that goes ping when the food's ready.

But over and above that, It's got this built -in... Oh, hold on, hold on. I'll

get back to you.

Excuse me.

Can I help you?

No, just looking round.

Ah, no, no, you've got the wrong idea.

It's not a cash -and -carry. It's a private warehouse.

Nice carpet.

Yeah. Yeah, it is, isn't it? What would that be, then? A Wilton?

Axminster.

It's very striking.

I can't beat an Axminster.

How big is it?

Oh, lounge size, I'd say.

Is it for sale?

Oh, if the price is right, yes.

How much would that be, then?

Oh, carpet like this, fast colour, fully underlaid, guaranteed pile.

Oh, you're looking at, um, 400.

Ah, I see.

Well, of course, if you're prepared to pay cash, we could come to some... I am

Detective Constable Fitzgibbon.

I'm arresting you for receiving and attempting to sell stolen goods.

Anything you say may be taken down and presented in evidence against you.

The carpet was part of a large consignment which was stolen from the

Carpet Company at the end of January. The whereabouts of the remaining goods

still under investigation.

Thank you, officer. You may sit down.

Quite extraordinary.

You claim you had no knowledge of the carpet on your premises.

May I be struck down where I stand?

I had never clapped eyes on the aforementioned item until the officer

attention to it.

But the officer claims you tried to sell him the stolen goods at a knock -down

price. This is a wrap. That was just an unfortunate crossing of wires. I thought

he was talking about something else.

What exactly?

Well, my memory's a bit hazy, but I know it was a simple misunderstanding,

because I had never seen that carpet before in my life.

And you'd never been to the Delroy Carpet Company in Brentford?

No, Your Worship.

I see.

Anything more to add?

No, Miss.

Not even in the interests of Variety?

Well, Mr Daly, this is not the first time you've appeared before me, is it?

To be wrongfully arrested once could be considered unfortunate, but twice in one

week makes a curse.

Sentence deferred, pending a pre -sentence report. Thank you, officer.

I'd like you to call me Frank.

No, thank you. I prefer formality.

I may have been all before the courts, but I have my standards.

As you wish.

Now, it's my duty to report to the magistrates in reference to your

You mean you can get me off, Frank?

Oh, no.

I'm afraid you've already been found guilty.

But let's start with some question.

How do you feel?

Fine.

About the theft?

Stitched up.

Oh, now, let's not be too harsh on ourselves.

What do you mean? I didn't do it.

I never knit the flaming carpet.

How did it end up in your warehouse?

It was planted there. It was a fit -up.

I see.

So it was a fitted carpet.

I pay 25 pence in the pound towards your wages. If I want comedy, I'll go down

the pier.

Do you often feel people are getting at you?

All stand.

Please stand, Mr. Daly.

You have been found guilty of a very serious offence.

It is now my duty to pass sentence on you.

100 hours community service.

That's better than getting sent down.

You're missing a point, Dave. I'm innocent.

This is the second time I've been dragged through the British legal system

something I didn't do.

There's no doubt about it. There is somebody out there lurking, waiting to

strike again.

Yeah, but who?

I don't know.

Could be anybody. Somebody he knows, even.

Harbouring some secret malice.

Yeah, we could make a list of all the people Arthur's crossed in some way over

the years.

We don't have that sort of time, Ray.

Dave, Ray, please.

Look, I am not a man who jumps at shadows.

I pride myself that I steer a pretty steady boat, but I'm going here.

I feel like the fox with the hot breath of the hounds on the back of me neck.

If I go up before that beat once more, I'll be sewing mailbags, wearing the

pair of socks all week, and begging snout from ardent convicts staring at me

across the mince.

Funny you hadn't tried to sell him the carpet.

Oh, that's right. Blame me. It's all my fault.

Can I remind you, I am the victim here.

A dark, shadowy hand has entered my affairs.

Yeah, but, Arthur, why did you try and sell him the carpet?

Because it was there!

It was all a blur.

All I could think was 400 for a carpet I'd never even seen before. Yeah, but he

was obviously a copper. You could tell by his boots.

Yeah. Look, when are you going to start to see a community like?

I don't know.

I have my interview in the morning.

I am your community service officer, so any problems you bring to me... Now,

when are you available for work?

Well, I thought I'd take a gentle run -up. We expect two days a week, minimum,

nine to four.

If you're so much as 15 minutes late, you'll be marked down as a miss.

Three misses will be regarded as a breach of your service order and you may

reported back to the court for additional sentencing. Clear?

Crystal. All right. Now, have you any particular skills or training which we

could bear in mind when allocating your field of work? Skills?

Oh, such as carpentry, electrical training. No.

Decorating. No, we always get someone in. Building skills, setting guilds or

situ experience in the workplace.

No, you're talking blue collar. I'm white collar.

What is your occupation?

Auto dealer. I'll sell retail.

40 years management experience.

Currently engaged as infrastructure consultant in a major East European

development project.

I'll put you down for gardening.

Atkinson. Yeah.

Peters. Yeah.

Cropper. Yeah.

Daly.

Daly. Arthur Daly here.

Arthur Daly.

Am I all right parked just here?

You're late.

Another couple of minutes and I've had you down as a miss.

Don't tell me.

It's appalling.

Anger lane's chocker.

We're in here, aren't we?

I should avoid the A40 if I were you.

Nobody said anything about parks. I specifically requested indoor work.

It's not a holiday, you know.

You're one of them city financial advisors, aren't you?

Yeah, I know your sort.

What's this?

Put holes in the topsoil.

Aerate it. I'm not dressed for aerating. You know better next time, won't you?

Not there.

Makes me sick.

One law for the rich and another for the poor.

Your pinstripes suits up the city ripping off millions.

I keep telling you I don't work in the city.

Stuffing your shareholders, was it? Eh?

I nick a few cassettes and we get the same sentence.

Nah, that ain't right.

I haven't got any shareholders.

What are you doing here, then?

If you must know, I was accused of stealing a carpet.

Oh, that's nice.

A domestic, was it?

Having it away with some little old lady's rug.

What they should do with these financial advisers is chop off their eggs and put

them on spikes up Tower Bridge, just as a deterrent to the others.

That's what they did in the old days.

They didn't have financial advisers in the old days.

Any chance of me getting off by two?

I've got you down here for seven hours.

Well, there's no point in sitting here all day in the rain, is there?

It's not a picnic, you know.

Community bloody service.

A hundred hours.

I suppose I haven't put away.

I've spent on bloody day trips.

Community service. What, the school boys are caught making smokes?

What can I say?

He had a green record.

You're losing it, Hayley.

What's happening in this country?

When I started, you got caught blagging.

You got put away and a story.

The yob's running riot in the streets. Now they end up doing day -trip painting

nurseries. Keep it down, Knowles.

I'll hit him again, Charlie.

You do?

Don't piss about.

The filth obviously on him served up on a platter.

Ray?

Yeah. Listen, dig out one of them microwaves, will you?

They're behind the bird bars.

By the foot spas.

Do you want a 650 watt or a 500?

Oh, let me see.

You'd better make it a 650.

I'll charge you the same as I would for a 500.

What will you? A mountain bike.

Dig out a 10 speed, will you?

Yeah, all right, all right. Listen, Ray, what video games have we got left?

Moonfighter 3?

No, you don't want that.

Bernie the Bumblebee?

Oh, yeah, he likes that.

All right, right? Yeah, I'll get on it.

Well, well, well.

It's a friendly neighbour of Bobby's. We'd like to have a look around your

uncle's premises.

Yeah, I bet you would.

Well, come in.

You won't find anything.

Oh, I don't doubt it.

I've known Daly longer than I care to remember, and he was never anything

than careful.

So what's happening here? You tell me.

I don't follow.

Arthur is a lot of things to a lot of people, but one thing he's not is a hit

-and -run driver.

Which is exactly what he told you, I believe.

Better men than me have made it their life's work to nail Arthur Daly, and

they've all ended up frustrated, broken, bitter men.

Now, all of a sudden...

I can't finish a cup of coffee without some concerned citizen telling me

got new information about Arthur's latest piece of flighty footwork.

Who's got it in for him, Ray?

Over the last 10, Scarlet Street, being pressed down by Adelsrock. Adelsrock

finishing very strongly and at the line in Scarlet Street.

Spitched out. Tight as a kipper.

And you've been hit three times, you see?

Once in the car and twice in the lock -up. And the old Phil were on them all

like a shot. Yeah.

Lateral thinking.

That's the secret in these cases, you know? You have to come at it from a

different angle.

Have you got an idea?

Don't rush him. He's piecing it together.

There's been nothing on the street about you.

But... But what?

There's a snip in the next race.

Teriyaki. Six to one.

Arthur, this is a complete waste of time. He's an old con and a blag.

How little you know, Ray.

Gossip may look like a turnip, but he's got a brain like a giant computer. I

once heard him recite, every bus route, stop by stop, terminus to terminus, in

Greater London and parts of Luton.

Well, that's handy.

The more I think about it, the more I recognise the handwriting.

It puts me in mind of a right nasty that happened to a face by the name of Emma

Callaghan. What sort of nasty?

Well, his motor was written off by a minicab. He ended up in hospital with

police at his bedside.

Had this oldle full of nanny gear that they found in his boot.

Didn't stack up.

Oh, God. Well, the gear in the oldle was checkbooks, credit cards.

Hammer don't read all right.

He still went down.

Where can we find this Hammer Callaghan?

They'd certain a 330A, Doc.

I'm not sure this is a good idea, asking an old lag to talk about his nefarious

past. He could turn ugly.

He wasn't known as the Hammer for nothing.

Are you Hammer Callaghan?

Who wants to know?

We're interested in your accident.

Someone got into there, Ed, that I'd done the dirty on them. Who? Hammer.

You remember the Wilson sorting office job?

What, the great mailbag, Blagg? The what?

Before your time, son.

Course!

Emma Callaghan.

You were in on that, weren't you?

You nearly got away with a quarter of a million.

It was in all the papers. He was a minor celebrity.

Well, it was a complete fiasco from beginning to end.

One of the clerks got badly done, and we was all put away.

Charlie Knowles got life for tapping the postie, and the rest of us got free to

seven. Might have fit up with the checkbooks, then.

Well, after we'd done our time for the Wilson job,

Charlie still had a lot of bird to do.

Rumour has it he'd gone sour, felt he was doing other people's time.

So he put out a few buns and the old firm started going down again.

Did this ring your bells, Arthur?

Not a tinkle.

Yeah, but you mentioned others.

Larry the lookout, he was fitted up in the burglary. He's still inside for

Bennett the driver.

He collected a couple in Pentonville for fake MOTs. Well, do you reckon we could

talk to him?

Well, let's hope he's more elk than ammo was. He better be.

Oh, this restaurant looks a bit lumpy.

I do hope you ladies enjoyed your meal.

Now, do call again.

We have a special on the Bill Venetia next week. Now, that's the dish that won

the Golden Ladle.

Now, look, Nathal, I'm legal now. I don't need the likes of you coming round

here, upsetting my customers, banging on about armed blacks.

But, look, I need your help. If you need my help choosing a suitable Chianti to

complement your cheese nachi, then I'm your man. If you want to rake up the

past and delve into things that's best left alone, you can sod off.

Now, shift, or I'll set the waiters on you. Come on, Arthur, we're embarrassing

the man.

Can't be easy when you're fouled up as badly as he did on the Wilson job.

Fouled up? What are you talking about?

It was the perfect crime.

The office was being refurbished, roadworks outside.

England were in the World Cup the first time they faced Germany since 66, so the

streets were deserted.

Was that in a picture Emma painted, was it? What would that cauliflower know?

It was all going sweet till Charlie Knowles decides to come the hard man.

We're meant to be straight in and out, but no, Charlie don't like the way some

kid's looking at him, so he starts laying into him with an iron bar. Excuse

Thank you, madam. Thank you, sir.

So it was down at the fisticuffs that you got caught?

No. Still could have cracked it. We're flying down the A4, half way to the safe

house, no sign of Old Bill.

Suddenly there's smoke everywhere.

The getaway car swallowed a valve doing 90. We end up in a ditch. We've got 200

grand in the boot and we ain't got an AA car between us.

The police couldn't keep a straight face.

So it was the car?

Yeah.

And where did you get this car?

I don't know. You have to ask the quartermaster.

And who was that?

Geezer named Phelan.

Arthur, what exactly is a quartermaster anyway?

Oh, he's like the buyer.

He gets all the equipment, you know, the coshes and the stocking masks, that

sort of thing. Right.

Well, what's that?

I haven't been up here for ages.

It's creepy, isn't it? Don't worry, Arthur. I'll hold your hand.

Right, where do we start?

Here, who's Vera?

Friend of Dave's.

Never chuck anything away. You never know.

What year are we looking for?

1970.

Got it.

Right, hang on. Right.

Yep. Got it.

There you are, 1969.

Good year, was it?

Bingo. 1970.

Yeah. You have a look through there.

Take a rest.

Oh, here's a good one.

Harry from the top, one ilman answer, good goer.

Oh, they called it a business retreat.

Ray. Oh, but why do you keep hold of all this stuff, eh? Ray.

What?

17th of June, G -Reg Rover, 3 .5 litre, maroon coupe, eh?

1125 pounds, 17 and 6.

Mr. S. Phelan.

The quartermaster.

Arthur, you only sold him a motor for heaven's sake. A motor that didn't work.

banger. A crate that landed him in Chokey for 20 years. What landed Knowles

the nick was the liberal use of an iron bar and an unprotected head. You know

that and I know that. But up there in the scrubs, stretched out on his bunk,

an evil, vindictive thug who doesn't see it that way. Yeah. And what are we

going to do about it?

We're going to go and see him.

See who?

Knowles, of course. We're going to go down to Nick and have a word with him.

Have a word with him?

Are you mad?

Have you listened to anything I've been saying? Like evil, thug, vindictive?

Yeah. Right, clinically speaking, Knowles is a fruitcake. He's had his

increased four times for thumping fellow inmates and warders.

Exactly. We can't be doing his aggravation.

We've got to have it out with him.

What an inspired idea.

Let's have it out with him. All right, all right.

So what do you suggest?

Vigilance. What?

We put a ring of steel round the lock -up.

Round -the -clock surveillance.

Whoever he's using to fit me up is going to try again.

And when he does, we'll have him.

Well, Ray will.

Right, two -hour shifts.

Ray first, then you, then me. Ray again, then you.

Hang about, Arthur. That means we get two and you only gets one.

So, who's got 93 hours community service facing him?

It's no picnic, you know.

I should be up my knees in seedlings again tomorrow.

Yeah, I thought we could do with Eve. Oh, good idea.

Right, now, no slacking on the job. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the

ground.

Good luck. I'm going to turn in.

You better too, Dave. I want you nice and sharp for your watch.

Aye, aye, Captain.

Right, I'll take first hand, shall I?

You get your head down, Ray. I'll take over.

Cheers, Dave.

You know, I can't put up with all this.

What else can we do?

It's all ours on deck when Arthur's got grief.

I'm not having him sent down.

Yeah.

You're right.

It's too small for me, Arthur.

Well, raise the saddle.

I tried that.

My legs keep hitting the handlebars on the upstroke. I'm sorry, Willie. Unless

it's damaged, you've got no comeback.

I don't even need a bicycle.

Never. Never underestimate a bicycle.

Did you know Singapore fell because of them?

There we were with all our guns pointing out the sea, convinced the Japs

couldn't get their tanks through the jungle.

What did they do?

Got on their bikes and legged it through the footpaths. One of the great shocks

of the war, that was.

The entire Imperial Army hurtling out the shrubbery.

Chucking grenades out of the little baskets on the front of their bikes.

Mr Daly? What?

Oh, Mr Armitage.

What are you doing here?

Oh, I often have lunch in the park.

I'm glad I bumped into you.

It's about your credit facility.

Uh, could we discuss it some other time? It's a bit, um, a bit difficult at the

moment. I hope you don't mind me asking you this, but I thought you told me you

were a construction consultant.

Ah, you are wondering why I'm planting a tree.

A bit?

Charity. You can't take all the time.

Well, banks can, but... No, you've got to give something back. It's for the

Rotarians. A fellow Rotarian?

No, this is Willie, a local scout.

The bike? Sorted.

Yeah, that's me.

Dip, dip, dip.

Thought you could do with a stiffener.

Thanks, Ray.

Look, Arthur, if we don't do something, you know what's going to happen?

He's going to get you.

Might not be tonight or tomorrow, but it's going to be sometime.

And when he does, well, that's it, Arthur.

No -one can help you.

We're going to have to see Knowles, aren't we?

I think we are.

But let me do the talking.

Let me look at you.

Let me see the man who blagged his way in here, claiming to be my long -lost

cousin.

Well, we had to say something to get him to see you. At the moment, they think

I'm telling you your sister's had an accident.

You've got some front.

Who the hell are you, anyway?

Arthur Daly.

You've got the nerve to show your face.

There's a few things we need to clear up.

Beginning to squirm, are you?

I was appalled. That is the only word for it. Appalled.

That a certain vehicle I sold you in all good faith didn't come up to scratch

when it was most needed.

I was shocked.

I was obviously not as shocked as you were, Charlie. But I've come here in all

humbleness to offer you full restitution.

Restitution?

Refund. In full.

In mitigation of any inconvenience it may have caused you by packing up.

mid -getaway.

Did you say inconvenience?

It's all a misunderstanding for which I have wholehearted regrets.

So what do you say?

Let bygones be bygones.

I'll tell you what I'll say.

You can stop your 2 ,000 -minute job and check the start.

By the time I finish with you, you'll be begging for community service. You're a

little rat, Daly.

A little man who needs to learn respect.

I'll tell you what I'll say.

I've got more respect for something I'd scrape off the bottom of my shoe.

Ray.

Sit down, Knowles.

It's all right, officer. I've just given him the bad news.

Yeah, and here's some more bad news.

Unless you call off whoever's spitting up Arthur, you're going to have me to

deal with.

Don't mind him, Charlie.

Yeah, you're going to get out of here soon, Charlie, aren't you?

And when you do, I'm going to be waiting.

You're going to be that much older and that much slower.

And then I'm going to show you what a vendetta really means.

Twenty years!

Twenty bloody years!

How old are you, son?

Him and his sister were very close.

You threatened him. Well, he was never going to listen, was he? Look, when

you're facing a tiger that's been cooped up for years, dying to get his claws

in, the last thing you want to do is rattle his cage. Arthur, I had to say

Sonic, didn't I? He's probably arranging for one of his cronies to come after me

with a chainsaw.

There was I looking at a short stretch in prison, and now here I am looking at

long time in the cemetery.

Next time you have a good idea, don't.

Dave, you asleep?

Yes, thank you, Arthur.

It's a game, all this, isn't it?

Arthur, you have only done five minutes.

No, no, I mean all of it.

You know, you plod along, doing your best, rowing against the current, being

pushed downstream.

It's like driving a car.

You potter along at 30 miles an hour, perfectly happy.

And suddenly, whoosh, you're overtaken by some nameless terror at 90 miles an

hour. What are you burbling on about, Arthur? Look, it's five o 'clock in the

morning.

I'm scared, Dave.

I couldn't take prison.

I know some can handle it, but it will carry me off.

Don't talk like that, Arthur.

Well, you've got to face up to things. It's no good being unrealistic.

It won't come to that.

It's too awful to contemplate.

Banged up for 23 hours a day.

A life of slamming doors and turning keys.

Ever under the watchful eye.

And the dread of being buried alive before you got to sleep.

Oh, it doesn't bear imagining.

The only thing to look forward to.

That crocodile march round the exercise yard.

Cast into the pit of human misery.

Never again to experience a...

Decent cigar.

Soothing VAT.

Company of friends.

A little wind in your face.

Dave?

Dave!

Arthur. I'll talk about it in a minute, officer. It's all right, Arthur. It's

me, Ray.

Who? Look, there's no point in this, Arthur, if you're going to go to sleep.

I wasn't asleep.

I was thinking.

You were sparked out.

No, I was resting my eyes. We can't go on. Our nerves are getting shot.

I know. I can't face another night playing silly buggers.

Arthur!

I want to make one thing clear, Ray.

We're not having this meeting, right? It never happened.

What meeting?

The Lippen.

You ever heard of the Wilsdon sorting office, Ray? Back in the 70s?

Charlie Knowles?

The very man.

Arthur, you'll have me shot.

Oh.

Oh.

Just another half hour, Lionel.

We'll call it another tenner off the microwave.

All right.

So you think it's Knowles who's got it in for Arthur?

I don't think it. I know it. Well, what do you want me to do?

Listen, you owe Arthur a favour.

I thought you might be able to warm Knowles off.

Threaten him with a longer sentence or something.

Oh, come off it, Ray. And him with a watertight alibi.

There's no evidence that he's even involved.

What you need is to find his outside man.

It seems like everyone he knows has been fitted up just like Arthur. We're all

the ones we could find, that is.

And the only one you couldn't was a bloke called Phelan.

How did you know that?

Because Phelan is a very hard man to find.

You are.

When he was in prison, Phelan was what you might call cooperative.

He told us a lot of things that we wanted to know.

It helped our clear -up rate no end.

In fact, there was a couple of coppers even got promotion on account of

info. So?

So, when he came out, we helped him keep a low profile.

And you reckon he might be the one giving us all the aggro? It could be.

I don't suppose Charlie Knowles even knows he started the grass.

And I'm not about to tell him.

Oh, Mr Daly.

How can I help you?

Look, I really need to see my Uncle Charlie. Your uncle?

That isn't true, is it, sir?

No. I'm a friend.

That's not how it seemed last time.

It's important that I see him.

I'm afraid that's not going to be possible.

He's no longer with us.

Hello?

Arthur, get in the van.

What are you talking about? I can't.

Arthur, get in the van.

I can't breach my order. Forget about the order. I've got things to tell you.

Come on. What?

Thank you.

Yep.

What's all this about, then?

Now, listen.

How much did Phelan pay you for that motor?

Yeah, I want to speak to T .S. Richardson, please.

I'm sure he'll be here. He'll be here.

Mr. Phelan.

Who are you?

My uncle would like a word with you.

Well, he'll have to wait.

It's about Wilson's sorting office.

I sold you a car once.

I recognise your face now.

1970.

The car auctions.

Acton Lane.

That was a clever little accident you arranged between my car and the taxi.

What are you talking about?

And the carpet.

And the watches.

You're mad.

Far from it.

But I know a man who is.

Our friend Charlie Knowles. Never heard of him. Really?

So you weren't Charlie's quartermaster.

So he didn't give you two thousand pounds to buy the car.

And you didn't buy a cheaper version from me in pocket to change.

A few hundred quid.

Fortunately, my experience of Charlie is fairly limited.

But I reckon if he found out that his old mate, his old mucker, who he was

to fit up the rest of the gang, if he found out it was good old Feely all the

time, that he was responsible for the gnaws up on the A40 because he couldn't

keep his hands off the cash, and that he was the only one who'd come out with a

profit, I dread to think what he might do.

There is an alternative.

I'm listening.

You can tell Charlie, boy, you've done the job.

That Arthur's nicely tucked up doing a two -year stretch.

Yeah, I could make him believe that.

First you've got to tell the old Bill how you've fitted up Arthur.

You can tell him Noel's put the squeeze on you, forced you into doing it.

But don't worry about it.

He'll probably get another light sentence. They look after their own,

they?

Yeah. I've got a lot of friends in the old Bill.

We know you have.

How do you think we found it?

I think I should warn you I should consider suing for wrongful arrest.

There's far too much of this running in and out for the police and their

informants. Citizen can't sleep safely in his bed.

Oh, and I should want my fine back for a start.

That's the matter for the TPS, sir. I have to say this, Peeler. My old dad

be really impressed me nicking you.

He was on the original Wilsdon thought in office case.

You're a piece of living history, you are. Do you know that?

Which is more than can be said for your old friend Charlie Knowles.

What do you mean?

Haven't you heard?

His jam tar packed up when he was legging it from two prison officers.

You what?

Yeah. He died in Hammersmith Hospital two days ago.

You said you went to see Charlie Knowles today.

He's dead.

Must have flipped me mind.

That's my boy.