Original subtitles

[Mysterious music]

- Morning. - Morning.

Dawn abbott.

She was arrested three days ago,

charged with intent to supply amphetamines.

Well, that'd be a current investigation, wouldn't it?

It is, and there's no mystery there, she's admitted to it.

But she does claim to have new information

about a fatal fire in a drinking club

in ealing called the union,

which at the time, was classified as an accident.

Okay.

Can I help at all?

Oh, I was just looking at the various courses.

New members are always welcome.

And these lectures.

Yes, each lecture is given by a u3a member,

usually drawing on experience from their previous life.

I mean, their professional life.

[Jack laughs]

What did you do?

I was a police officer.

Oh, really?

[Phone rings]

Retired presumably now, with some extra time on your hands?

Not exactly.

♪ It's all right, it's okay ♪

♪ it doesn't really matter if you're old and grey ♪

♪ it's all right, I say, it's okay ♪

♪ listen to what I say ♪

♪ it's all right, we're doing fine ♪

♪ it doesn't really matter if the sun don't shine ♪

♪ it's alright, I say, it's okay ♪

♪ we're getting to the end of the day ♪

August the 4th, 1996.

The union drinking club, ealing, went up in flames.

Four people died and seven others were hospitalised.

The people who died were Hailey wilde,

who worked behind the bar,

Terence cross, Chris stamp, who worked for this one,

Mark Johnson, a local criminal.

[Gerry] Local?

That's like saying Heathrow's a local airport.

It is if you live in hounslow.

If this wasn't an accident,

then Mark Johnson was definitely the target,

he's a serious player.

Did you know him?

No, he had two brothers who I did know a bit,

Danny and Carl.

Danny mostly, I met him when I first joined the force

and he was still robbing corner shops.

No, I think they took over his crew,

and they're still running it, as far as I know.

So, what are they into now?

Well, drugs mostly.

They put security in various clubs and bars,

then they put their own dealer in.

Well, according to the original report,

the fire was probably caused by

faulty electrical wiring in a first floor room.

It looks like an inferno.

[Sandra] There'd been some building work

done there the week before, and the contractor said that

he'd used the room to store material,

such as turpentine, paint thinner.

Well, they're accelerants, aren't they?

That's why the fire would've spread so quickly.

Yeah, that was the conclusion.

So, what's changed?

[Sandra] We have a witness that claims

it wasn't an accident.

Oh, listen, could you put these

in the locker with your stuff?

- Yeah. - Cheers.

Detective superintendent Pullman, Gerry standing, ucos.

There you are.

You know, according to dawn abbott's arrest report,

she's never been charged with anything before.

Got a completely clean record.

This place must've come as a bit of a shock, then.

I'd worked in the union for almost four years,

since I was 18.

But you weren't there the night of the fire.

It was my evening off.

I was lucky.

Not so lucky now though, eh?

I made a mistake.

We can't offer you a deal for information, dawn,

it doesn't work like that.

I'm not looking for a deal.

[Sandra] Why don't you think the fire was an accident?

Because someone was after Mark Johnson.

I never knew who or why, but someone wanted him dead.

[Sandra] How do you know that?

I heard some of them talking about it

a couple of days before the fire.

Mark and a couple of the others.

Terry cross was one of them.

Who also died in the fire.

Yeah.

I don't remember who else,

but they were taking the threat seriously.

Why didn't you come forward earlier?

You don't tell tales where I come from.

You keep your head down, look the other way.

But I heard Johnson talking about someone coming after him,

and two days later, he was dead.

Do you think that's a coincidence?

I don't think it's evidence,

you'd have to give us more than that.

Have you got more than that?

They said it was an accident.

They said the fire spread so quickly

'cause there was things left in the room where it started.

[Sandra] Yeah.

Except there wasn't.

There was nothing like that in the room,

everything had already been taken away.

You sure about that?

We were storing empty bottles in that room,

empty beer bottles.

Nothing that would catch alight.

I was in and out of there, all the tools, all the paint,

everything was gone days before the fire.

Anyone fancy a coffee?

Not for me, I remember what it's like.

Must be odd being back in the heart of the Nick.

We don't work from home at ucos.

I meant an incident room, no offence.

None taken.

Speak for yourself.

Look, let's start again, shall we?

I was the investigating officer,

so any questions you've got on the union fire,

anything you want to ask at all.

Well, the witness statements were sketchy.

There was no establishment of a coherent timeline.

And there's barely any information

about the possible motives

regarding the deaths of the deceased.

Let's take this into my office, shall we?

Nice place you've got here.

There are people out there I have to work with.

I prefer some privacy.

[Brian] What happened to the witnesses, then?

Most of them wouldn't even admit

to being there when the fire broke out.

Those that did didn't know anything, didn't see anything.

And why do you think that was?

I know why it was.

And if you spent more than five minutes

with the file, so do you.

Mark Johnson was a player.

Nobody talked out of turn.

Not to him, not about him.

Not even after he died.

[Sighs]

This thing was dead in the water from day one.

So, given the chance, it was just easier

to write it up as an accident.

It wasn't just me, forensics pointed that way.

Forensics could've been wrong.

I had no reason to think that.

Well, you might've done if you'd spent a bit more on it.

Dug a bit deeper.

You don't know what it was like.

Operation Horatio had just been pulled,

feelings were running high.

Horatio.

Yeah, it was a drugs team set up

to clamp down on supply in west London.

Mark Johnson was a name that kept cropping up.

We had a surveillance team on him.

Some wire taps, lot of man power.

But we didn't find what we needed.

Not enough to build a case against him.

Then the brass pulled the plug

about a month before the fire.

It was getting too expensive.

That must've been frustrating.

People were angry.

Won't deny that.

And so, not too upset when Johnson turned up dead.

I don't remember anyone crying into their beer.

They just let it go.

Petfield admitted as much.

Brushed it under the carpet.

So, it's possible that dawn abbott's telling the truth.

Well, if she is, then the fire was made to look

like an accident, when in fact, it wasn't.

And there's nothing in the case file

to indicate they found anything else, is there?

Just a couple of baseball bats behind the bar

and a gun in the male toilets.

[Jack] Was that sort of place.

What do we know about this contractor bloke?

Oh, his name was Derek Ross.

You contacted him?

Not possible, not without a ouija board.

Died in 2001.

But I have traced his wife.

Oh, gold star for Gerry. [Chuckles]

But the point is, why did the fire spread so quickly

if Ross had taken his stuff away?

I blame prometheus,

who, according to Greek mythology,

stole fire from Zeus and gave it to us mere mortals.

So, this is all his fault, is it?

Yeah, if it wasn't for him,

you'd be drinking your cocoa cold.

Mind, he paid for it.

[Sandra sighs]

He got tied to a rock and had his liver

eaten by an eagle day after day.

Sorry.

It's just a fascinating subject, this fire.

Glad you think so, Brian, you can come with me.

1996.

August, wasn't it?

The 4th.

You remember?

I was the lead fire investigator at the time.

Four people died, I should.

Plus it was one of my last cases.

I took early retirement about six months later.

We've recently received information

that the fire may not have been an accident, Mr. Mackie.

Is that right?

You don't sound very surprised.

I'm not.

[Sandra] Why is that?

Because I suspected it was arson at the time.

Really, 'cause there's no mention of that in the report.

I couldn't prove it.

Beside, the police had other ideas.

Would you like some refreshment?

Thank you.

Derek was good with his hands.

He just wasn't very good with money.

Apart from spending it, of course.

I have to do a couple of days a week in here

just to keep things ticking over.

At our age, we should have our feet up. [Chuckles]

Mrs. Ross, what kind of work did your husband

actually do at the union club?

He was a painter and decorator.

Nothing fancy.

Do you remember the fire?

I remember what happened afterwards.

Derek had to talk to the police, he had to sign a statement.

[Jack] He must've been badly affected by it.

Why?

It wasn't his fault, it was an accident.

Of course.

It's just four people died.

He didn't talk about it.

But I suppose he was.

That's probably why he wanted to splash out on a holiday.

A holiday?

We had three weeks in Florida.

A lovely hotel, a different restaurant every night.

Was this soon after the fire?

About a month later.

After all the fuss had died down.

Derek was owed some money from some job or other.

He finally got paid, so off we went.

Course, we would've been better off saving something,

but oh, no, it was a lovely holiday.

It was the last proper one we had before he died.

I can see that you're pretty adamant, Mr. Mackie,

but I'm not sure I understand why.

Do you know much about fire investigation?

Afraid not.

People will tell you it's a science nowadays,

fluid dynamics is what they call it.

That's true to an extent.

But it's also an art.

A good investigator will have a feel for the fire itself.

So, you felt it was arson?

That was my first impression when I examined the scene.

The burn patterns on the floor and the walls

suggested multiple points of origin.

Meaning there was an accelerant present?

Exactly.

What about the turpentine and paint thinner

that were meant to have been left in the room?

Well, they would certainly qualify as accelerants,

they both burn at very high temperatures.

Then I'm not sure I understand.

Where did this feeling come from?

Smoke.

Smoke?

And the flames.

The materials you mention produce

a white flame and brown smoke.

But an onlooker reported seeing something different.

Yellow flame and black smoke.

And that's the classic combination

which is produced when petrol burns.

They could've been mistaken.

Oh, absolutely.

Arriving at that type of Blaze with all the people,

there's confusion, there's panic.

But then I also found a small amount

of melted rubber on the floor of the room.

What kind of rubber?

Well, possibly a balloon, but more likely a condom.

Well, a room in the back of a drinking club.

And there was a little wax on the floor,

from a candle, I think.

How very romantic.

Not really.

You light a candle.

And then you suspend the condom over it,

filled with your accelerant of choice.

The candle burns through the rubber.

And releases the liquid.

It's a timer.

A crew bone.

But it can be extremely effective.

So, Derek Ross came into some money

after the accident verdict.

Enough for the holiday of a lifetime, at least.

Maybe his premium bonds came up.

The odds on that are about 24,000 to one.

What are the odds that he was paid to say

he left the turpentine and paint thinner in the room?

Considerably shorter, I should think.

What about this person

that Mark Johnson was worried about?

Well, we've asked for the files on operation Horatio.

Transcripts on surveillance of Johnson.

May give us some idea of

what was going on around him at the time.

Was that out?

Yeah, yeah.

You put that cigarette out?

'Cause that bin's full of

highly flammable material, you know.

That's an inferno waiting to happen, is that.

Here.

Happy now?

I hope you're more careful at home.

One in three house fires is caused by cigarettes, you know.

What about other witnesses?

Well, there were 30 people in that place

at the time it went up,

but according to petfield, he couldn't get

more than four or five to admit that they were even there.

And none of them would be likely

to have changed their minds, even now.

I found someone who might.

David swallow.

He was part of Johnson's mob

and he was in the union that night.

Why would he help us?

He had first-degree burns to half his body

and spent over a year in hospital.

As good a reason as any.

There was only one way out.

Back down the stairs, through the main door.

Could you tell where the fire started?

Not at the time.

It was so sudden.

One minute, everything was normal, and then total panic.

[Ominous music]

I remember people screaming, fighting to get out.

And the smell.

I can still, even now, I can taste that smell.

I wake up with it.

That'll never go away.

[Beeping]

Excuse me, please, for a moment.

[Phone rings]

Yeah?

Oh, great, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, bring him down.

[Jack sighs]

Are you getting anywhere?

No, most of it's gobbledygook.

That Johnson's talking in some kind of patois.

But there is one name that keeps cropping up

in his conversations around the right time.

Stuart Russell.

Well, whoever it is, Johnson's not very happy with him.

I've got that name here.

Here.

Here again.

All in the weeks before the fire.

Thanks.

[Brian] George!

Sorry to barge in uninvited.

Jack, this is George mackie.

Ah!

The fire investigator.

- Nice to meet you. - Hi.

I put down a few thoughts on the union fire at the time.

Notes, just for myself, for reference, really.

I did so on all the fires I investigated.

Dug it out the loft, thought it might be useful.

Look at that.

Thanks very much. [Laughs]

So, this is the control room, is it?

The place where it all happens.

Yes, well, something like that.

You're very kind, thank you very much.

Thanks, George.

The red ones are for the pain

and the yellow ones are for rejection.

The blue ones...

I don't even remember.

Every day, twice a day.

I can barely move if I forget.

We'd like to talk to you about Mark Johnson.

I haven't got anything to say about him.

You don't know what we're going to ask yet.

Who didn't like him, who set the fire,

whose fault was it I ended up like this?

Why do you think it was anyone's fault, Mr. Swallow?

The official report said it was an accident.

So, what are you doing here asking me about it, then?

I didn't have anything to say when it happened.

What makes you think that would've changed?

Time's passed, things do change.

Mark Johnson's been dead for nearly 15 years.

He might be, but his brothers are still around.

They'd be the first who'd want to know what happened.

You're assuming they don't already.

You're saying that Johnson's brothers wanted to kill him?

Well, with Mark Johnson dead,

Danny and Carl take over the business, it makes sense.

I don't know.

What's bothering you?

Look, they were brothers.

And not just any old brothers, they were really close.

I mean, you look funny at one of them,

the other two are in your face before you know it.

Families fall out, Gerry.

See you tomorrow.

My name is Jack halford.

My name is Jack halford.

What you doing?

Four!

Hello, Danny.

It's all right, dom.

It's an old friend.

Oh, I wouldn't go that far.

All right, old acquaintance then, how's that?

That's more like it.

You here to work on your swing, Gerry?

No, not exactly, no.

Come on.

Come and hit a few.

Jojo just got a few more balls.

[Ominous music]

[Camera clicking]

So, why now?

What's changed?

You lot weren't exactly all over it when it happened.

You weren't interested.

No, but we're interested now.

We got some new information.

What kind of information?

You know I can't tell you that.

I do, but you can't blame me for asking.

So, do you know who did it, Gerry?

You know who killed Mark?

Not yet, no.

Whoa.

Good looking, son.

Listen, how's Carl these days?

I don't see much of him anymore.

He likes the sun more than I do.

Or rather his missus does.

[Laughing]

Turns bright red if he sits in the sun

for more than 10 minutes at a time.

[Gerry] So, business is good, eh?

Ah, the way the world is now, everybody needs security.

You know what the kids are like,

always looking for an excuse to start something.

Yeah.

Only now, of course, you only have to share the profits

two ways, don't you?

I mean, it's just you and Carl, innit?

Now that Mark's dead.

What, you saying we're involved?

Is that what you're saying?

That we'd kill our own brother, our own flesh and blood?

Did you?

I think you'd better go.

Yeah, maybe you're right.

I'm not on top of me game, anyway.

Thank you.

You know it wasn't us, Gerry.

You know that.

But if you do find out who it was,

you should give me a heads up.

I'll make it worth your while.

Plus on top of that, you'd save the taxpayer a few pounds.

Think about it, Gerry.

Give me a name.

Be a win/win for everybody.

What's that?

It's a new smoke alarm.

What's wrong with the ones we've got?

They're ionisation alarms.

This is an optical unit.

What?

Well, it's more sensitive.

And it's got a carbon monoxide detector, which-

[alarm blares]

[Esther yells]

Switch it off!

I can't!

It won't!

Brian, please!

It doesn't say how!

- Oh. - It's not in here.

Give it to me.

[Alarm stops]

It definitely works.

These were taken yesterday.

The man on the left is Danny Johnson.

The man next to him is obviously-

Gerry.

Exactly.

What's standing doing with Johnson?

Carrying out inquiries.

The Johnsons are involved with the union club fire.

How so?

Johnson brothers own the club,

and the oldest, Mark, was killed in the fire.

Who took the pictures?

An officer from the projects team on organised crime.

They've had Danny Johnson under surveillance.

They getting anywhere?

Nothing yet.

So, obviously, if you dig something up.

We all get to look good.

According to strickland,

the operation's been going on for more than a year.

Well, either Danny hasn't got anything to hide,

or he doesn't know about it.

Who were the other people?

Couple of heavies, and that is some kid called jojo.

Seems to be a general dogsbody.

Now, until I mentioned the fire, Danny was totally relaxed.

Every shot, straight down the pipe.

Yeah, you must've sliced a few, though.

I did, as it happens.

How'd you know that?

Look at your right elbow, it's all wrong.

- Why? - Well, here and there.

Look, it should be pointing towards your right hip.

Yeah, you're right, it's the old flying elbow.

Exactly.

[Sandra clears throat]

What do we think about Danny and Carl Johnson

being involved in the fire?

I don't think so.

I saw Danny's eyes.

There was real hatred there.

He even offered me money to come up with a name.

That could be a smoke screen,

doesn't mean that he wasn't involved.

I know that, I just don't see it.

But if they weren't involved, where does that leave us?

Well, we might have something.

We've been going over

the transcripts of operation Horatio,

the original team that was trying to

bring down Mark Johnson.

He was very clever,

he always did business through somebody else,

he never got his own hands dirty.

And when he had to talk to someone directly,

he did it in the back of a black cab.

He'd just hail one down.

That's where he held his meetings.

The surveillance boys wired up a couple of cabs

and had them circling the block,

and they got lucky a few times

and picked up some of his conversations.

I thought they couldn't find enough to use.

Well, they didn't.

But the thing is that, a few months before the fire,

the same name kept cropping up.

Stuart Russell.

- Russell? - Yeah.

Why, do you know him?

No, don't think so, but I've seen that name recently.

Who is he?

Small-time operator on the edge of Johnson's crew.

Oh, Russell, Russell.

[Jack] According to the transcripts,

Johnson wasn't very happy with Russell.

Why?

Well, Johnson was always very careful on those tapes.

Everything was hinted at.

Nothing too overt.

I've seen that name, I know I have, Russell!

Isn't that the wrong way round?

I mean, Johnson being angry with Russell.

Well, yes, it is,

except that six weeks before the fire, Russell was shot.

And there were no witnesses to it

apart from Russell himself, and he wasn't talking.

And you think that it was Johnson that shot him?

Or one of his crew.

And he was discharged from hospital

a week before the fire.

That's it, hospital!

When we went to see dawn abbott,

I was signing us in, right?

Stuart Russell was one of her visitors.

Are you sure?

Positive, it's in the book!

Hey, hey!

[Machine whirring]

[Sandra] Mr. Russell?

Yeah?

Detective superintendent Pullman, this is Gerry standing,

we'd like a word if that's all right.

What about?

We're investigating the fire

at the union club back in '96.

What's that got to do with me?

We've been talking to dawn abbott,

and we know you have too.

I went round to see her, if that's what you mean,

it's nothing to do with the fire.

What was it to do with?

We're old mates, that's all, we go back a long way.

So, nothing to do with Mark Johnson, then?

No.

And nothing to do with you getting shot.

Mackie's got a real eye for detail.

Everything's written down, look.

Ambient temperature outside.

Wind direction.

The chemical makeup of

everything combustible in the building.

It's really meticulous.

Yeah, well, Derek Ross certainly wasn't.

I got hold of some of his paperwork

from the people who did his company accounts.

I'm trying to find out whether that cash he received

after the fire was legit.

But it's such a mess.

Well, his wife did say he weren't very good with money.

Yeah, well, she was being kind.

What?

Nothing.

What?

No, I was just wondering why you won't tell me

what you're lecturing about.

Standard investigative procedures?

Well, not exactly.

Interviewing techniques?

The role of forensic science?

Serial killers.

Serial killers?

Well, they wanted blood and Gore.

They said that's what people are really interested in.

Serial killers.

So, what do you want to know?

We could start with who shot you, Mr. Russell?

You're the police,

I thought that was supposed to be your job.

Well, you didn't give us much to go on at the time,

no description of the gunman, no possible motive.

I always thought it was

a case of mistaken identity, myself.

That seems fairly unlikely, given your record.

I mean, you were hardly a boy scout, were you?

I was, as it happens, three badges.

Look, I was young and stupid, it was a long time ago.

I had a lot of time to think in that hospital.

Lot of time to look at my life.

What did you see?

Not much that I liked.

Not much at all.

So, I made up my mind to change it.

Do something different.

Something simpler, maybe,

but something that I'd be proud of.

So, completely different to what you did for Mark Johnson.

Could say that, yeah.

How did you feel when Johnson died, Mr. Russell?

I didn't feel anything.

Not one way or the other.

It was nothing to do with me.

Can I get on?

Turned his life around.

If I've heard that once.

Maybe it's true this time.

He's not been arrested for anything

since he came out of hospital,

he's held down a steady job.

Just like Derek Ross.

For two years after the fire, Derek Ross worked solidly.

For a mini cab firm, a couple of local bars, a takeaway.

Now, that in itself is not unusual,

but there was a connection.

Anyone got any ideas what that might be?

Aren't you supposed to be telling us?

Gerry?

I don't know.

- How about you, Brian? - Oh, give over.

I'm not a bloody Guinea pig.

What's that mean?

He's practising on us.

He's lecturing at this university of the third age.

Oh, thanks, Brian.

You!

[Laughing]

No, well, I just popped in

to see if they had anything on offer,

and when they found out I was a retired copper, they...

I just got talked into it.

Good for you, Jack.

Gold star!

[Jack groans]

Well, go on, then, what's the connection between them?

Well, all these businesses were controlled

by the Johnson brothers.

They probably used them to clean their money.

But the point is they gave Derek Ross work.

Why would they do that if they thought

he was at least partly responsible for Mark's death?

I expected better from you, Gerry.

A couple of uniforms on my doorstep.

You're not under arrest, Mr. Johnson,

I hope they made that clear.

No, they didn't.

You're free to go at any time.

Oh, well, in that case.

Although as we're investigating

the murder of your brother,

I'd have thought you'd be only too willing to help.

Unless you already know what happened.

We've had this conversation.

Only the first part.

What, you think I'm gonna sit here and talk to you

about my business?

No, no, no, not your business, your brother.

We're not looking into any activities

that you may or may not have been involved in

at the time, Mr. Johnson, it's not our concern.

Anything you say in this room is strictly off the record.

I want your word on that.

You have it.

Not yours.

Don't know you from Adam, I want his.

You've got it.

We're only interested in the fire.

We always knew it wasn't an accident.

We'd had all the right inspections, place was done up nice.

But there was a team of you lot looking straight at us.

Special operation.

- Horatio? - That's it.

We were in the cross hairs.

What, and you knew about it?

Course we did.

You had an informant within the force?

All right, all right, nothing except the fire.

You called off the dogs, you didn't have anything on us.

Then Mark died in the fire.

And the last thing you needed was another investigation.

Yeah, we didn't want to risk it, we couldn't.

So, you paid Derek Ross to say that he'd left

turps and paint in that room at the union?

Yeah.

Make it look like it was an accident.

I mean, it was easy enough.

He'd worked in a place a couple of days before,

he was happy to earn a bit extra.

Soon as he told you lot that, the whole thing disappeared.

Which meant you could go back to business as usual.

There was nothing usual about it, Mark was dead.

Turned over every rock we could think of.

We just couldn't find anything.

And because you wouldn't talk to the police,

you let his killer get away with it.

Well, Mark knew how it was.

He would've understood.

Thank you.

Can I help you?

Yeah, can I...

Have the packet of those?

This one?

Down a bit.

Right.

Condoms?

Yeah.

Normal, ribbed, extra sensitive?

[Brian sighs]

Brian?

Brian?

Bloody hell.

What now?

Ah.

And?

And I'm getting through them, I can tell you.

But it's not what you're thinking.

The fire was started using some kind of timing device.

It seems simple enough.

Oh, aye, seems simple.

But the thing is...

[Mysterious music]

It's not as easy as it looks.

How many times have you tried it?

Four.

Each time, the same result.

The flame just goes out.

Can't be that hard.

Have you got another condom?

Shh!

So, if anything's not exactly right, then it doesn't work.

And where does this gcse experiment

actually get us, Brian?

I don't know, but it seems to me that

whoever set the fire either got very lucky,

or they might've done it before.

Just a thought.

Oh, my god.

[Ominous music]

Mr. Swallow!

Mr. Swallow!

Get out the way, get out the way.

[Gerry grunts]

- Fh. - Over.

Detective superintendent Pullman on scene

at number six, Gordon house, w3.

Mr. Swallow!

There's smoke billowing out the door

and we think someone's trapped inside.

[Gerry] Is there anybody here?

Gerry?

[Coughing]

You all right?

Yeah, just bit of smoke in me lungs.

Is he in there?

I couldn't see, the smoke's too thick.

Have a look.

What happened?

What does it look like?

I was in the pub.

[Explosion bangs]

[Car alarm blares]

I could've been...

Very easily.

It looks like someone doesn't like you very much.

You ready to tell us who, Mr. Swallow?

I didn't set fire to the union, look at me.

You'll have to do better than that.

You must've heard of poetic justice.

Stuart Russell wanted Mark Johnson dead.

Russell set the fire.

I don't know that.

But how do you know he wanted Johnson dead?

Because he asked me to shoot him.

Stuart was branching out.

He was dealing drugs, but using the Johnson name.

They weren't gonna have that.

Which is why they tried to kill him.

Yeah.

But he survived.

He wanted revenge.

He hid a gun in the union, in the gents,

I was meant to use it.

Why would you do that for him?

Stuart wasn't working alone.

You were involved as well?

Up to my neck.

But Stuart never told anybody, even when he nearly died.

So, you thought that you owed him for being loyal to you.

Oh, I did owe him.

He told anybody, anybody,

I'd have been in hospital next to him, or worse, probably.

I really appreciate you taking a look at this, George.

I'm glad to help.

So, I thought if we-

excuse me.

This is still a restricted area.

I'm Brian Lane, I'm from ucos.

And who's this?

I'm George mackie.

I used to do your job.

Well, it was a while ago.

Special adviser.

Well, I shouldn't, but come on.

So, what happened?

Why didn't you shoot Mark Johnson?

I couldn't do it.

I thought I could, but when it came down to it, I just...

Truth is, I bottled it.

I didn't even pick up the gun.

I just left it there.

Did you tell Russell that you weren't gonna do it?

Did you tell him that you were pulling out, Mr. Swallow?

Yeah.

Yeah, I did.

Well, there are obvious signs of flashover.

It was clearly an intense heat.

What about accelerants?

Nothing yet.

There's a rapid spread.

Signs of flashes.

We'd expect there would probably be something

Like this.

What is it?

It's wax, from a candle.

Looks like it.

That's the same method as the union fire.

It was there on the floor, just like in the union fire.

What, candle wax?

Yeah, a little piece, a tiny little piece.

Well, it's hardly conclusive proof

that it was the same person who set both fires.

No, but it would make sense

if that person was Stuart Russell.

[Sandra] Because swallow agreed to shoot Johnson,

then decided that he couldn't go through with it.

What, and Russell takes it into his own hands?

Yeah.

A candle, a condom, a little bit of lighter fuel.

And whoosh.

Mark Johnson dies, Russell gets what he wanted,

except when we started digging,

he became worried that swallow might talk.

Well, it's possible.

You do know swallow takes

a load of different drugs, don't you?

They're prescription.

Yeah, but you don't know what they might do,

everything has side effects.

We're not here to discuss his medication.

Maybe you should be.

It's obviously done something to his memory.

You saying he's lying?

Lying's a strong word.

More likely he's just confused.

Bit hazy about the details.

He seemed to remember you getting shot very clearly.

And you wanting revenge on Johnson.

It was a long time ago, I wouldn't take it very seriously.

It's our job to take it seriously, Mr. Russell,

and you should too.

In that case, I'll be as clear as I can.

I didn't try and kill Johnson, I didn't set any fires.

Is that enough for you?

No, not quite,

let's go back to where you were at lunchtime.

I told you, I bought a sandwich,

I went and sat in the park.

I like a bit of peace and quiet during the day.

Did you see anyone there?

Not to talk to.

That's convenient.

Well, it's the truth, innit?

Unless there's anything else.

We'll be in touch.

Your theory is that Johnson shot me.

That's right, because you were using his name.

In which case, he probably didn't like me very much.

[Sandra] Shouldn't think he did.

Well, how exactly am I meant to have

hidden a gun in his club, then?

[Mysterious music]

Two pints of bitter and a fizzy water, please.

Two?

Oh, sorry, one pint of bitter and a fizzy water.

Was forgetting.

Think Russell's right, you know.

Wouldn't have been easy to plant that gun in there.

We know Johnson was very keen on security.

Yeah, but where there's a will, there's a way.

But why would he want to set fire to the place?

He wanted Johnson dead, and swallow pulled out.

Yeah, but just by setting a fire,

he couldn't be sure that it would kill Johnson, could he?

There was no way of knowing.

Maybe he just got lucky.

Very lucky, as Jack said.

Do you think he'd be all right?

Who?

Jack.

Oh, yeah.

What if no bugger turns up? [Laughs]

Nah, that's not gonna happen, is it?

Cheers.

Been looking forward to this all day.

How can we know, though?

What if he's all on his lonesome?

There's nothing we can do about it,

he didn't tell us where it is.

We're detectives, Gerry.

Yes, Brian, and I'm having a pint.

Blimey, are all these people here to see Jack?

No, they can't be.

There must be something else going on.

Ladies and gentlemen,

if you'd like to take your seats, then we can begin.

Thank you very much.

They bloody are, you know.

Oh, come on, then, let's sit down.

[Gerry] What for?

Well, we're here now, aren't we?

[Crowd chattering]

- [Jack clears throat] - Moral support.

Evening.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Jack halford, and I'm a retired detective.

I spent over 30 years as a police officer,

investigating a wide range of criminals.

He's good, isn't he?

Including, on occasion,

individuals who might be described as serial killers,

which is the subject of today's talk.

If we ignore the special circumstances

surrounding the Harold shipman case,

we will find that britain's most prolific serial killer

was Dennis nilsen.

It's not true.

What?

Nilsen was arrested in February, 1983,

but his killing spree had started some five years earlier.

The most prolific killer isn't nilsen.

Shh.

Peter dinsdale.

Nilsen worked as a civil servant.

He was quiet and unassuming.

Not the sort of person you would give a second glance to,

and yet he murdered 15 people.

Dinsdale murdered nearly twice that many.

After cutting up their bodies,

he then disposed of them under the floorboards

and in the drains of his property.

26 people, dinsdale did.

And when the police came to arrest him...

It's nearly twice as many.

I'm sorry, Mr...

Yes, you in the coat.

Mr...

Well, you know who I am.

You have something to say?

Perhaps you'd like to share it with the rest of us?

No.

Oh, what a shame.

I'm sure we'd all love to have heard what you had to say.

It was nothing.

It must've been something!

And what's that?

What?

That piece of paper, that note he handed to you.

I'm sure we're all dying to find out

what was written in that.

Well?

No, no, no, it's nothing to do with me.

Well, it must be to do with you, because you wrote it!

I said...

I was just saying that

britain's most prolific serial killer isn't nilsen.

Really?

No, it's Peter dinsdale.

Dinsdale was convicted of manslaughter, not murder.

He killed 26 people.

Are you telling me that doesn't count?

Not at all, but dinsdale was an arsonist.

The deaths were a byproduct of the fire.

He did not set out to kill people.

Which is why it took so long to catch him.

The investigations concentrated on the victims

and who wanted them dead,

rather than the fire itself.

Yeah, and some of them were deemed accidental,

and they were not linked for years.

But the point is...

The point is this is not the time

nor the place for this discussion.

Sit down.

I apologise, ladies and gentlemen.

Now, where were we?

You see, the investigations focused on the victims

and who wanted them dead, rather than on the fire itself.

The problem was that dinsdale

wasn't targeting anyone in particular.

It wasn't about the victims.

It was about the fire and what happened afterwards.

Afterwards?

Yeah.

He'd turn up when the fire engines arrived

and he'd stand in the crowd and watch them fight the Blaze.

He wanted to be a part of it, you see.

He wanted to be involved.

And that's partly what drove him

to set the fires in the first place.

Thank you.

Very much.

A serial arsonist?

[Gerry] It's a possibility.

We found seven similar fires in pubs and clubs

before and after the union fire.

But you don't have evidence

connecting them to any individual?

Not yet.

We'd have to start again from scratch,

look at things in a completely different way.

Yeah, but you don't have any evidence.

We've just told you.

I don't mean a theory, Brian.

I mean something that we can prove.

We've already got a solid suspect.

Well, how did Russell get that gun into the union?

I don't know, Jack, we'll just have to find out.

[Tracey] Hello?

Mrs. Wilde?

[Tracey] Yeah?

Detective superintendent Pullman,

I'd like a word with you, if that's all right.

[Door buzzer blares]

You took your time.

Excuse me?

I don't know what's going on upstairs,

but there are people coming and going all night, playing-

it's not about upstairs, Mrs. Wilde,

it's about your daughter, Hailey.

We're re-investigating the fire at the union club,

and I was wondering if I could have

a few minutes of your time.

Thank you.

Hailey had been in some trouble,

but no more than any others round here.

The difference was she wanted to do something about it.

She was going to go back to college.

The job was just to tide her over,

just weekends to earn some money.

She wanted to make a clean start,

but she never got the chance.

Did she ever talk to you about the job?

People she met, anything like that?

Sometimes.

She said it could get pretty rowdy in there some nights.

Did she ever mention a man called Russell, Stuart Russell?

Don't think so.

Who is he?

He was an associate of Mark Johnson's.

He used to drink in the union from time to time.

She probably would've seen him.

Don't remember the name.

Well, I appreciate your time, Mrs. Wilde.

Your child doesn't die before you.

They don't do it.

It's unnatural.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Did you say weekends, Mrs. Wilde?

Hailey only worked weekends?

Yeah, that's right.

But the fire was on a Thursday.

She wasn't even meant to be there.

She wasn't working that night, but she got a call,

they needed her to come in.

Who called, do you know?

Dawn.

Dawn abbott.

She was a friend of Hailey's.

She got her the job.

Jojo was sick.

Who's jojo?

Dawn's son.

His name's John, but everybody's always called him jojo.

Dawn needed Hailey to work her shift.

We seem to have a little problem, dawn.

What's that?

You haven't told us everything you know.

In fact, you've left out some rather salient details.

- Well, like what? - Like you were supposed to be

working the night of the fire,

like it was supposed to be you behind that bar,

not Hailey wilde.

I didn't know anything about the fire, I swear I didn't.

No, but you knew something was gonna happen, didn't you?

Because Stuart Russell asked you

to take a gun into the club.

Didn't he?

Come on, it's the only way

he could've got a weapon in there.

He needed someone on the inside, and that someone was you.

Look.

Mark was always wary.

He knew there were plenty of people

who'd take a swing at him,

or worse if they had a chance.

I brought the gun in, I was on the inside.

How far inside?

Did you know about Ross,

did you know that Danny and Carl had paid him off?

It was obvious when he said

all his stuff was still in the room.

They set the fire

and tried to make it look like an accident.

No.

What?

Danny and Carl Johnson didn't set that fire.

You've been pushing us in that direction,

but that's not what happened.

What have you got against them?

But it's not that, though, is it?

It's what they've got of yours.

It's about your son, jojo.

They'll just use him up and spit him out.

He doesn't understand that.

He thinks it's exciting.

He thinks he's a big man.

But he's just a boy, that's all he is.

So, that's why you decided to come forward.

You believe that Danny and Carl are guilty,

and you thought if we found that out,

then jojo would have to find a new line of work.

He doesn't listen to me,

I try, but he doesn't hear what I'm saying.

And you thought we'd should louder.

That's not what we're here for.

They weren't yours, were they?

The drugs, the reason you're in here.

They were jojo's.

You did all this for him.

He's my son.

I'm his mother, I'm meant to protect him.

Hi, Jack, can you and Brian

get over to Stuart Russell's place

and make sure he doesn't go anywhere until I arrive?

Yeah, and get Gerry to meet us there, too.

Cheers, bye.

Am I actually under arrest?

As we explained,

we're waiting for detective superintendent Pullman.

Yeah, well, you really didn't need

to come upstairs with me.

We're under strict instructions

not to let you out of our sight.

What, both of you?

[Doorbell rings]

I'll go.

You all right?

We're upstairs with Russell.

Where's the kitchen?

Through there.

I'll put the kettle on, shall I?

Oh, good lad.

- I'll have tea. - All right.

[Brian] I'll have a sugar this time.

Put it in before the milk.

All right.

[Ominous music]

Boys!

Jack!

Brian!

What's going on?

We've got to get out of here.

Jack, Jack, the bloody house is on fire!

No, back, get back, get in there!

Close that door, close it!

Yes.

79 hambrook road.

Thank you.

[Crowd chattering]

[Coughing]

[Gerry] Open that window.

I don't understand it.

We didn't hear a thing.

Don't worry about that now.

We've got to stop this smoke getting in here.

[Sirens blaring]

[Firefighter] All right, quick as you can.

Bring the hose up to the front door.

This window's locked.

Get up, get up.

Brian, out the way.

Detective superintendent Pullman.

I'm looking for-

[glass smashes]

I really appreciate you coming in.

I'm happy to help.

We've been looking through your notes.

Were they of any use to you?

Very interesting.

Good, good.

So, how's the investigation going?

It's taken an unexpected turn,

so we were rather hoping we could pick your brains.

Anything I can do.

We think we've been looking at this the wrong way.

At the victims instead of at the fire itself.

We found seven similar fires.

We think we might be dealing with a serial arsonist.

Someone who's been active for two decades or more,

but that's not really our area of expertise.

Which is why we called you.

Arson is a very specialised crime.

Exactly.

So, we thought you might be able to give us

some kind of a handle on it.

Use your years of experience

and tell us about the type of person

we should be looking for.

Well, first of all, he'd be meticulous.

A careful planner.

Obsessive?

Others might say that, but I wouldn't.

He'd be intelligent.

Well, he'd have to be to get away with it for so long,

and of course, he'd have to know about fires.

How to set them.

How they burn.

I mean, using that candle and condom trick

wasn't very easy, I tried it.

He'd be an expert, all right.

He'd have to feel at home with fire, comfortable with it.

That's right.

What about his motivation?

What would drive him?

That's hard to say.

Excitement, the thrill?

Well, I suppose it's possible.

Perhaps he was desperate to feel important.

Important?

I don't...

We light them, we fight them.

We what?

That was the slogan of four American firefighters

who were found guilty of arson.

They'd light the fires, then wait for the call,

and come put them out.

They wanted to be the centre of the action,

centre of attention.

Heroes, men who save the day.

Is that what you wanted, George?

[Ominous music]

Me?

You think that I...

We know you did.

The fires stopped after you retired.

But then we came to you for help,

so we were the spark, weren't we?

A serial arsonist.

It could be anyone.

No, it couldn't.

It could only be somebody who saw the names on that board.

Somebody who knew that David swallow and Stuart Russell

were part of our investigation.

You were a fire investigator.

But it wasn't enough.

No, you wanted to turn up and be in charge.

You wanted everyone to look at you.

No.

You had to be in control, the top man,

that's what made you excited.

No, you're wrong.

You had to feel important.

Feel important!

I was!

I was important.

I was!

He's put his hand up to setting 63 fires.

63?

Yeah, including the union club, of course.

How did he know about swallow and Russell?

They weren't hard to find.

What about the Johnson brothers?

Victims in this case, i'm afraid, sir, not perps.

Never mind, we'll get them next time.

Oh, Jack, can I have a word?

Yes, sir.

I heard about your lectures.

News travels fast.

I think it's fantastic.

Really?

And it made me think,

all that experience you've got up here,

all that knowledge.

What better to do with it than to pass it on to

junior officers, new recruits?

Oh, no, sir, I don't-

let me tell you what I'm thinking.

A weekly talk, perhaps, with a q and a at the end.

Sir, it was just a one-off, sir.

Chance for them to pick your brain.

It would really be an opportunity to-

[alarm bell rings]

♪ It's all right, it's okay ♪

♪ it doesn't really matter if you're old and grey ♪

♪ it's all right, I say, it's okay ♪

♪ listen to what I say ♪

♪ it's all right, we're doing fine ♪

♪ it doesn't really matter if the sun don't shine ♪

♪ it's all right, I say, it's okay ♪

♪ we're getting to the end of the day ♪