Original subtitles

- [Upbeat music] - ♪ it's all right ♪

♪ it's okay ♪

♪ 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, doing fine ♪

♪ 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 ♪

[Gerry] Why did you kill him, mehtin?

[Mehtin] I didn't.

You're lying.

Look, I admit I was a bad man ten years ago.

You were a heroin-smuggling sociopath

who killed Sean docherty.

I didn't even know the guy.

He was a poet, apparently, [indistinct]

Do I look like I need a rhyme?

His body was found in your yard.

You "found" poet on my patch

and used it as an excuse to sniff around

and bring me down on a whole load of other stuff.

But you never charged me for the murder

and I'm walking out of here in nine months,

so go suck on it.

Sean was bludgeoned to death

and then set alight in your yard

between 10 and 10.30pm on march 29th, 2002.

If you say so.

And yet you weren't even in London

according to your chauffeur emre.

I was driving up to newcastle.

He's stuck to that story for ten years.

He's a good lad.

I must remember to buy him a drink when I get out.

You'll have a job.

He's gone into witness protection.

However, before he went, he broke your alibi.

So go suck on that.

[Cheering and applauding]

Thanks.

Thank you. Thank you.

You're all I got.

A mirrored hostage to beauty.

Never quite lost till very,

never quite lost till the end.

I would nail your arms to sunset.

I'd pin your lies to luck.

When you put me to your crimson lips

and make me want to f...

Sean docherty at a poetry slam in 2001.

Is that what you'd call it?

He was a 22-year-old from Belfast,

recently graduated with a first from ucl

and thought to be the most exciting poetic prospect

of the new millennium.

[Scoffs]

But his poetic potential never got a chance to flower?

His head was smashed his head in

and his body burnt to a crisp.

Remains found in mehtin topal's scrap yard.

Who?

Topal. He was a heroin smuggler

with a network that reached from here

back to his home town in Turkey and beyond.

So what was a poet doing mixed up with a drug smuggler?

Yeah, can I say right now that

I'm allergic to poetry, okay?

So I'm quite happy to take an administrative role

in this one.

His body was so badly burnt

that they couldn't get forensics

but docherty's skin, blood, hair, finger and footprints

were found all over the yard.

As were topal's.

As you'd expect, seeing as he owned the place.

He claimed he was nowhere near on the night of the murder

but his alibi has just gone south.

What about the initial investigation?

Well, the evidence was never more than circumstantial

and even though they didn't have anything solid

to link him to Sean's death,

the cps had more than enough to do him

for drug dealing and laundering, he got 16 years.

He'll have a few scores to settle then when he gets out.

Well, we have to prevent that from happening.

They interviewed his sister before,

she didn't have much to say.

No, she's since married a bloke called eoin donaldson,

who's got a gbh from '01.

They don't share Sean's artistic sensibilities, then?

[Train rattling]

I didn't really know him.

'Cause of the age difference?

12 years. I'd left and come over

before he got to primary school.

What about when he came to university?

He wasn't interested in me.

I saw him a few times, mostly when he needed money,

but he always had something more important to do.

Things that got him killed?

If you whore, fight and thieve,

I'm sure there's a price to pay.

This is my husband, eoin. They're asking about Sean.

Yeah?

How well did you know your brother-in-law?

He was a gobshite.

Eoin.

I'm sure he was sweet and fluffy

when you were running round Belfast,

but by the time he got here he was Billy big-bollocks.

He got what was coming to him.

How did he get involved with topal?

I hardly knew Sean, but you could see

he pissed off everyone he met.

Round here, that's not so clever.

Can you tell us about your gbh?

Load of nonsense. I used to be a silly boy

before I fell in love.

Used to be?

Cleaned up me act ages ago

when I met the girl of my dreams.

Look, I've got nothing to hide.

All I'm saying is, if you're trying to find out

who done Sean, then you've got a job on your hands

sorting through the rest of the runners and riders.

Would you like to give us some names?

You'd better come next door and take a seat.

This could take a while.

So we've got jilted lovers, angry husbands,

dealers, pimps, bookies and bouncers

and every villain who ever fenced in north London?

Like I said, he wasn't very popular.

Mara said she hardly saw him,

yet you've given us a phone book. How come?

I knew Sean a wee bit better

than she ever needs to know, you understand?

No. Give me a little help.

We went on the lash a few times together, that's all.

Sean was all right when he wasn't being a twat.

This list is gonna take us weeks to get through,

are you trying to send us round the houses, eoin?

I'm telling you how it is.

But if you're really in a hurry

and you wanna save yourselves some time...

I'm no grass, but I'll give you this for free,

'cause you'll never meet this geezer,

he's not around no more.

Try us.

Gourkan ozil.

He ran some doors, sold some gear,

kept a book or two.

He sounds like a very industrious chappie,

what's he got to do with Sean?

Sean owed him.

Sean owed most people, but ozil was the only one

who'd slice you for his debt.

[Calm music]

I didn't know poets were so minted.

We're in the wrong game. I could've been a poet.

"There was a young girl from Peru,

who badly needed a..."

The taxi's on its way to take him to the studio.

You've got a couple of minutes.

I wonder if she's Peruvian.

Thank you.

[Brian] Morning.

Morning.

Brian Lane and Gerry standing.

Sorry I can't give you long.

I'm due on a chat show within the hour.

Yeah? Why?

Haven't you heard? I've been voted britain's sexiest poet.

Your mum must be so proud.

Do a lot of that kind of thing?

Oh, too much. These days

I only spend 20 percent of my time actually writing.

And the rest counting your money.

Help yourself.

Oh.

"Liminal lakes". Thanks very much.

You were Sean's flatmate?

Not at the time of his death.

But we studied together and we were extremely close.

But you told the original investigation

that you didn't even know where he was living?

Sean was a, he was a free spirit.

He slept on floors, sofas, streets, cardboard boxes

and other people's beds.

And when was the last time you saw him?

Haven't you read your notes?

We'd rather hear it first hand.

He turned up and stayed a couple of nights,

on the 17th and 18th, it was 10 days or so

before he died.

How was he?

Loud, funny, brilliant.

Who was the last person to see him?

That is a very good question.

He never carried a phone.

The last I heard he was trying to get to a party in Ibiza.

We heard he wasn't very popular.

Sean, Sean could start a fight in an empty house,

but that was only part of the story.

Yeah, but that's the part we're hearing about most.

He was also the most compassionate and inspiring of men.

Were you lovers?

Mmmhmm.

Not sexually.

The modern era has a myopic obsession with sexual love,

but there are other types.

The Greeks had four different words.

Of course there was "Eros," but there was also "philia,"

"agape" and "storge."

Which type did you have for Sean?

Agape. I loved Sean's mind and his soul

and every querulous and unpredictable moment with him.

Do people kill for agape?

I'm sure they do, but in this case,

Sean was killed

- by that lowlife topal. - [Phone beeps]

How were they involved, do you know?

[Luke sighs]

[Luke] He never let me near his shady adventures,

but I could tell he was terrified of something.

The taxi's here.

Did he ever mention a man called gourkan ozil?

I have to go.

He was a bookmaker. Sean owed him money.

I don't know much about bookmakers, I'm afraid.

I'm sorry I can't be more help.

He was frightened. He clammed up

as soon as we mentioned ozil's name.

Yeah, a proper blast from the past, that.

I haven't heard of him for years.

Didn't he keep a rival locked up in a torture room?

Death by a thousand cuts.

If docherty owes him money,

I'm not surprised he wound up dead.

[Sandra] He had some sort of deal with serious crime.

Every time I tried to get near him,

they told me to back down.

Nothing about him on file.

Nah, scd will have pulled it.

Oh, I thought he went back to Turkey.

Shall I go onto the intelligence unit

at his local station?

Yeah.

Shall I ask around on the streets?

Okay.

[Tense music]

According to the original notes,

nobody spoke to docherty's university.

They questioned plenty of his college friends.

Yeah, but they didn't talk to his tutor, though,

and tutors can be very close to their students.

And the rest.

You got a name?

Yeah, I just emailed hr.

The tutor was a professor Powell.

She's an expert in modern poetry

and she's still teaching at ucl

and she was also tutor to Luke oswald.

That makes her well worth a visit.

How we doing on ozil?

Nah. Everyone's too frightened to talk.

No, drop him. He's a smoke screen.

Word from the intel unit at ozil's local Nick

is he went back to Turkey years ago

and scd probably helped him get there.

Eoin donaldson said we'd never find him.

Yeah, but what he didn't mention

was that his defence witness for his gbh in 2001

was a mr Tony Quinn.

Quinn? Wasn't he one of topal's men?

Yeah, he got killed during the power struggle

after topal was nicked.

Well, if donaldson knew one of topal's thugs,

he's got to be in the mix.

What, you think eoin worked for topal as well?

Let's go and ask him.

Let's call a cab.

[Tense music continues]

Cab for mcandrew?

[Music continues]

I used to hang about with Tony.

Got into a few scrapes.

[Sandra] What sort of scrapes?

[Eoin] Punch-ups in pubs. Tony was a big man,

everyone wanted a pop at him, you know how it is.

Oh, come off it, eoin,

your gbh was more than a fist fight.

It was intimidation of a shop keeper,

looked a lot like racketeering

- to me. - Was that a job for topal?

Okay, hands up. You got me.

I was a bit of muscle.

Dished out a few slaps for topal with Tony, that's all.

It was completely innocent.

Why didn't you tell us?

Not in front of Mara.

She knew I ran around a bit

but if she thought I did stuff with topal?

Didn't you like the idea of being involved

with someone who worked for a drug dealer?

I never touched that side of things.

Anyway, Mara's the least of your worries.

Looks to me like you avoided telling us

of your connection to topal because you knew

it linked you to the scene of the crime.

I had nothing to do with...

- Did you kill Sean? - No.

Look, I've been helpful.

Given you a long list of people

who might have wanted him dead.

Yeah, a long list to throw us off the scent,

then you give us ozil, a man who turns out to be

a bloody ghost.

I told you you'd never get near him,

he disappeared years ago.

- Where to? - I don't know.

Turkey? Witness protection?

Maybe somebody whacked him, I heard...

Oh, here we go again, changing the subject.

Look, I had nothing to do with it.

We'll be in touch.

I don't like you.

Auden's talking about the banality of human affliction

but we can all do that down the pub.

"Death sucks, but life goes on"

is the thrust of what he's saying,

but poetry isn't about the simple pursuit of a puzzle.

It's about the method of expression.

The language of a poem is its ideas.

Didn't auden also argue that poetry should,

as far as possible, tell us the truth

by exposing life's contradictions?

"Beaux arts" is a direct manifestation of that.

The way it juxtaposes the ordinary...

Look, meanwhile, back in the real world,

someone beat docherty to death with brick

and set his body on fire, have you got any idea

who might have done that to him?

Did you know what was going on in his life

outside these walls?

I only knew him as a student.

What about him and Luke oswald?

They seemed very close.

Did you get any sense that Sean was in trouble?

Did he miss lectures?

No, not at all.

Have you ever heard of a man called mehtin topal?

Not before all this happened.

'Cause we're trying to find a connection

between the two of them.

Was Sean a druggie?

Absolutely not.

[Gerry] A dealer then?

Sean was a prodigiously talented poet,

that was his Alpha and omega.

Yeah, we've seen a tape of him performing at a slam.

He was very compelling.

Poetry was all he ever thought about.

Really? I heard he was a bad bugger.

Birds, booze and brawling.

Poetry is the pursuit of truth.

You can't find that sitting at home with a horlicks.

No doubt he wore velvet jackets and frilly shirts and all.

I must apologise for my colleague.

It's fine. To him, poetry is fey and unimportant,

whereas to me it's, it's vital,

it's muscular, it plunges us into the heart

of the human condition.

Absolutely.

Sean had an appetite for life

and heightened experience.

You sound like you were very fond of him.

I was.

Did you shag him?

Why are you so determinedly anti-intellectual?

She was selling us a load of guff

rather than answer the questions.

But you wear it like a badge of pride.

I was trying to find "the truth of the human condition."

They were at it.

Well, maybe they were, but there are subtler ways

of drawing her out and helping the investigation.

Or maybe she bashed his head in

'cause he chucked her, she looked like

a right bunny boiler to me.

Nah, she's not the type.

You're only saying that 'cause you want

to get into her Alans.

Eh?

Cockney poetry, Alan whickers. Work it out.

[String music]

I hope you like prison food, mehtin,

'cause you're gonna have an extended stay.

[Mehtin] Is that like a joke only much smaller?

Should I be laughing?

You lied to us.

It's been known to happen.

You told us you didn't know docherty.

His brother-in-law eoin worked for you.

Says who?

Everyone talks too loud.

Did eoin also tell you that Sean worked for me?

So you did know Sean.

Eoin introduced us.

You spent 10 years denying any knowledge of the bloke.

You were desperate to pin his death on me.

Denial was my best tactic.

So why get yourself an alibi

if you've got nothing to hide?

Did eoin also tell you that Sean

grassed on him and Tony?

He put them in the dock for gbh to get himself off

a drink-drive charge. Idiot.

Is that why you wanted him dead?

I didn't like him. Nobody did.

His mouth was too big, so he never worked for me again,

but I got no value killing him.

It's bad for business.

So who did kill him?

Somebody was trying to stitch me up.

[Sandra] Like who?

I don't squeal.

Well, you'd better start, mehtin,

'cause everyone else is at it and from where I'm sitting,

you're the only one in chains.

Eoin donaldson. He had a motive.

He had access to the yard

and he had a big problem with Sean.

Is that right?

He wanted to marry the sister,

the one with the money and cabs, yeah?

But Sean kept getting him into trouble.

She doesn't want a gangster for a husband.

So eoin does him. Dumps him in my yard, calls it in,

and waits for you lot to put the blame my way.

Where were you on the night of the 29th of march, 2002?

Is this for real?

I was at spurs-arsenal. Look, I know

I wasn't straight with you but...

Got any witnesses?

Sure. Mark, Jase,

Lenny, they all saw me there.

Mark, Jase, Lenny, right, I'll be needing

their full names and addresses.

I didn't say anything 'cause Mara

would've ripped me a new one if she'd have found out.

Found out what?

That I introduced Sean to topal.

Kid ends up dead in his yard,

that's game over for my marriage.

Football finishes just after 10.

Still gives you time to meet Sean and kill him.

I was in the pub, the barn,

everyone would have seen me there.

What, Mark, Jase, Lenny?

So you admit working for topal

and introducing Sean to do the same?

Yeah, he needed the cash.

Thought I was doing him a favour. Fat chance.

What happened?

He played the big lad.

I had to slap him about a bit, bring him into line.

Is this a confession eoin?

I didn't kill Sean.

He grassed you up for your gbh, didn't he?

Is that why you killed him?

Topal done him. Everyone knows that.

You thought ozil last time.

I tell you what I think.

Topal had nothing to do with this,

neither did ozil or indeed anyone else

you tried to put us on to.

I think that Sean was a bad penny, no end of trouble.

He'd already squealed once, which proved

he couldn't be trusted to keep his mouth shut

about all your other murky dealings,

so you killed him and then you put him in topal's yard

hoping he'd get the blame. That's what I think.

Well, thank you very much for coming along.

I'm happy to help, but not entirely sure

what you're hoping to gain.

An understanding of how this sort of life works.

[Excited indistinct voices]

Seems very popular.

Shall we get our seats?

"You remember our summer's secret?

Wild strawberries and honeyed wine.

Our fingers over lawns and flowers.

Season's ceaseless turn.

Naked. We were pure in rapture.

Let me be still in your heart."

You all right?

I heard those lines before. From Sean.

[Crowd applauds]

I overreacted earlier, I'm not saying that

oswald definitely stole those lines.

"Naked, we were pure in rapture."

"Let me be still in your heart."

Sean once used them on me.

Used?

He was trying to get me into bed.

Oldest trick in the book.

I expect you get a lot of that in your line of work.

Most students get crushes, only a few of them

ever do anything about it.

Sean was more impulsive.

He claimed he was in love with me.

He'd been struck by "coup De foudre,"

love at first sight.

"Whoever loved that loved not at first sight."

Shakespeare knew his onions.

Oh, it wasn't Shakespeare actually.

Though he did use the line in "as you like it."

Marlowe coined the phrase seven years earlier.

Poets borrow or reference each other

in their work the whole time.

So, when oswald used the line today

that you previously heard from Sean

doesn't mean he stole it?

I shouldn't have got involved.

It was completely unethical.

But we were so happy.

How long were you together?

Eight months.

You know, this could really help us.

It won't, that's why I didn't mention it before.

You might be able to shed some light.

Our relationship was entirely personal.

It didn't exist in any other context.

Did he ever talk about eoin?

He didn't tell me anything about his life.

Didn't even talk about each other,

we just had each other and read our books.

So where would you meet?

My flat, always. There wasn't anywhere else.

Though he did take me away to a cottage once.

Very romantic.

A place that yates rented once, apparently.

The idea thrilled Sean. Sleeping in a bed of giants.

So what went wrong in the end?

I had to end it.

For one, the age difference.

I was doing the right thing.

He was so angry afterwards, got into all sorts of trouble.

Just wish I hadn't hurt him.

[Gerry] I knew they were at it.

Oh, it was a proper love affair.

Sounds like she's still in love with him.

She should have seized the day when she had the chance.

"Carpe diem" and that.

Still, not much to go on, is it?

It's a tangible motive.

Oswald, who wasn't a brilliant poet,

kills docherty who was and passes his poetry

off as his own.

No, no, no, Brian. People kill each other

because of love, hate, money, not poncey poetry.

Well, I'd like to follow it up Sandra.

How's eoin's alibi?

His mates are still standing up for him at the game

and then at the pub.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Eoin's credit card was used at 10:45

at a petrol station in deptford.

What was he doing over there?

That's nowhere near the football.

Or the crime scene?

Shall we pull him in again?

No, no let's wait until we get his mobile records,

give him time to stew. All right Brian, come on.

Let's go and see your thieving poet.

[Gravel crunching]

[Doorbell rings]

[Door clicks]

[Brian] Is oswald here?

No.

[Sandra] Are you his partner?

That's rather personal. You'd better come in.

Luke asked me to go through his papers

while he was away. He's lost some notebooks.

Are you his pa?

His agent.

Writers can't look after themselves,

you end up being psychiatrist, Butler, teacher.

Where can we find him?

Haven't a clue.

You mean he's gone missing?

No. He's gone writing.

Where?

Who knows. Some writers like

the magical monotony of sameness and work from home.

Whereas Hemingway wrote in brothels.

Was this trip planned?

You'll have to ask Luke.

Or do you think he skipped off 'cause we turned up

asking awkward questions?

Don't flatter yourself.

He's got a reading tomorrow.

He'll be back for that.

I'll try and get along to it.

Have you any idea how some of docherty's work

shows up in Luke's poetry?

You suggesting he's a plagiarist?

Just asking.

Sean and Luke were incredibly close,

they discussed ideas, themes, techniques.

You're implying Luke stole a line

but it's equally possible it was Sean

that stole it from Luke in the first place.

Have you any proof of that?

No. And nor have you.

But poets constantly influence

and quote each other in their work.

Thanks. We'll be in touch.

When your client comes out of hiding.

[Door clicks]

Who's she?

Eoin's real alibi. The reason he's been telling us

so many fibs.

Mistress?

Not for 10 years, but she still hates him

for taking fright and dumping her after Sean got killed.

So eoin's persuaded her in to clear his name

and she didn't want him done for murder.

When he stopped to think about it,

he knew the phone records would lead us to her in the end.

Anyway, she swears he was with her

that night after the game. Eoin's clean.

[Muffled voice from video rewinding]

I'm telling you, it's topal.

All we need to do is find the evidence.

Topal ran a tight ship.

Why kill a numpty like docherty

and then dump him in his own back yard

- of all places? - Yeah, usual story, innit?

Got cocky, thought he was bulletproof.

Forgot to clean house.

He hasn't got a motive, Gerry.

Then why did he find himself an alibi

and steer us to eoin?

What did you get out of oswald?

He's vanished. Gone to do some writing, apparently.

You don't sound too convinced.

I don't like people going awol.

How are we doing with ozil?

Well the files have definitely been pulled

but scd and five both swear blind

they had nothing to do with it.

Great, he's in witness protection.

I spoke to some of the uniform

when we were down at belmarsh,

that's what they'd heard in the wings about him.

That's us stuffed then.

We'll never be allowed to get near him now.

All we've got is hearsay on ozil.

Both eoin and topal are much more likely suspects.

You're all missing the point,

this is about poetry, not gangsters.

Here we go.

Oswald killed docherty to steal his poetry.

Why else did he disappear as soon as we turned up?

I just wanna know where he is

and that oh-so-clever agent of his

claims she hasn't got a clue.

She's hiding something.

Look at this.

Oh, you bored our bollocks blue with this already.

Hang on.

[Sean] The scent.

There.

[Sean] Of human voices shake us

and we follow.

[Crowd cheers]

He was schtupping Roxanne as well. Huh.

Was this before or after the split with Powell, I wonder?

I'm not sure.

Well, let's find out tomorrow morning.

Come on.

What I don't get is why two perfectly attractive,

intelligent women are throwing themselves

at a scrote like docherty.

It's the power of poetry, pal.

Oh, don't be daft.

It's an aphrodisiac, man.

Throughout history, ugly men have used

honeyed words to lure attractive women.

At last! An explanation of how he pulled Esther.

[Instrumental music]

[Crowd applauds]

Darkness.

Eternal silence.

A womb twisted with regret.

Don't leave me, I shall die of pain.

[Ululating scream]

Brilliant. I've always loved Andrew marvell.

Now this York stone, that's 15 pounds,

so we could go for that or the terracotta.

Oh yes. Listen to this.

"Had we but world enough and time,

this coyness, lady, were no crime."

Or the Indian sandstone, that's a nice colour.

"But at my back I always hear

time's winged chariot hurrying near,

and yonder all before us lie,

deserts of vast eternity."

Well, it's your own fault.

I told you we should do something about the lawn.

"Let us roll our strength

and all our sweetness up into one ball,

and tear our pleasures with rough strife,

thorough the iron gates of life."

Shut up.

Actually, on second thoughts. Come here.

[Brian] Ooh!

Take those down to the post room,

make sure they both go first class,

then get me a double macchiato.

You again? You looking for representation?

Is oswald back yet?

No.

Anyone would think he had something to hide.

I have every confidence he'll be at his reading later.

TV shows, book tours, lectures in america,

you work him pretty hard.

Poets don't bathe in gold.

If you want to make a living,

you need to maintain a profile.

Luke understands that.

Why didn't you tell us you and Sean were lovers?

I don't recall you ever asking.

Most people would volunteer the information,

it provokes less suspicion that way.

You can put away the nasty eyes.

I took Sean on straight from uni.

We subsequently slept with each other four times,

or rather 15 times on four separate occasions

if you really need to know

and he was a moderately demanding lover

albeit a little bit impatient and weepy.

He was on the rebound from the love of his life

and had a thing for older women.

Is this too much information or just about right?

Is this after he finished with Powell?

That's what I meant by rebound.

You should have told us this before.

Did he mention any of his underworld activities to you?

Nope. I mean, it was obvious

he was taking a walk on the wild side

and maybe even a little bit pleased with himself for it

but I wasn't interested in his autobiography.

Frankly, I was bloody annoyed at the older woman tactic.

I was only 29.

Was his poetry any good?

He was the real deal.

What about oswald?

He is also a very exciting poet.

I'll make him laureate one day.

When did you take him on?

About the same time as Sean.

Buy one get one free, eh?

Poets aren't commodities.

But they pay for all this?

Misery memoirs of balloon-breasted celebrities

pay for all this. Poets bring prestige.

Who came first, Sean or Luke?

I can't remember.

You must have the details on file somewhere,

can we take a look at them?

The filing is pretty chaotic.

You take a look, I've got some calls to make.

[Footsteps thudding]

This is your filing?

Yeah, we're fully computerised from '03,

but I'm afraid the rest is still on paper. Sorry.

Don't worry, everything from the previous 150 years

is in here somewhere.

I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

I wonder if oswald's actually going to turn up.

He'd be a fool not to.

It would look extremely suspicious

if he's done a runner.

I'm not talking about that,

I'm talking about the number of fit birds here.

It's unbelievable.

I told you, poetry's an aphrodisiac.

You don't need an aphrodisiac

with this amount of crumpet.

Open your mind to it.

You might find yourself surprised.

Where's Sarah got to?

Oh, here she is.

-Hi -hi.

You all right?

Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just...

Being silly. Overactive imagination, I expect.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Luke oswald.

[Crowd applauds]

This isn't what I wanted when I set out to be a poet.

Not at all.

My friend died tragically young

before his talent could flourish

and, well, there's not a day goes by that I don't...

This poem "rainsong"

is a true expression of Sean docherty's genius.

"Summer rain drums the heads of broken yeomen."

- [Tense music] - [Paper crunching]

"Mud-black horses shiver mouth-on-mouth,

gaunt and quick as drunken wind."

- Enjoying it? - [Luke] "Shrinking sun,

- dismal splinters..." - I'm loving it.

Very surprising.

[Music continues]

[Steve grunts]

[Steve sighs]

Gotcha.

Did you find what you wanted?

There was a lot to Wade through.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

We did find this though.

It's a letter you wrote to oswald in November 2001.

You thank him for sending in his material

but you can't offer him representation

because you think his poetry is

"immature and lacklustre."

There's no point mincing words.

It's all a bit confusing, 'cause we also found

this terms of engagement letter between the two of you

from April the following year.

Yes. So?

So you turned oswald away, and weeks after

docherty dies, you offer him representation?

I had a spare place on my list.

That simple?

Luke sent me some new work, it was much stronger.

Really?

Poets mature at different moments.

Some, like dryden and donne, get better with age.

Some hit a couple of hot spots over a 40 year career

and others, like wordsworth, flower early

and never recapture the glory of their youth.

Have you ever read "the prelude?"

No.

Don't.

"Saved by what I am and pulled by what will be,

hollow dusk widens every day."

- [Cell phone rings] - Ooh.

- [Luke] "Hard forged... - Hello?

Is oswald with you?

Yeah, he's been gassing on for hours.

His agent's a liar and he's had a poetic transformation

since docherty died, so it's time we had a little chat.

Will you ask him to come in?

With pleasure.

Are you insinuating I killed my dearest friend

to steal his poetry?

It's something we're considering.

Your poem "wild strawberries" contains the line:

"Naked we were, pure in rapture.

Let me be still in your heart."

It does.

Sean docherty wrote that in 1998.

Says who?

You're denying you stole the line, then?

Sarah Powell told you that, didn't she?

You do know she's slightly conflicted when it comes to Sean?

So you knew about their affair?

I was too polite to say. Seeing as she's telling tales...

Were you jealous of Sean's talent?

Yes.

He was a natural, whereas you had to work much harder.

Did that make you angry?

It made me full of admiration

and proud to be his friend.

So how come his words are in your work?

This is ridiculous.

Sean was 22 when he died. Brilliant though he was,

no poet produces real quality until they're much older.

What about wordsworth? He was at his best

when he was young. Have you read "the prelude?"

Of course I have.

Boring, isn't it?

What I mean is, it's hardly worth me killing him

for a few pages of juvenilia.

Hmm? Wouldn't it be better for me

to wait 'til he was older to get my hands on

a real, decent body of work?

Why did you run away when we started asking you questions?

I went away to write.

You've got a habit of heading for the hills, haven't you?

When I first met you, you were very chatty

until my colleague started asking you about gourkan ozil.

I told you, I don't know him.

You left as soon as his name was mentioned.

I had a taxi waiting.

[Sandra] Where do you go to write?

I'm not telling you.

I'd advise that cooperation is the best strategy here.

I've never told anybody where I go,

that's the whole point of having somewhere secret to write.

I don't want you disappearing again,

is that understood?

You can't stop me from working.

If I need to go away, I'll go away.

You approached Roxanne Guthrie in September 2001,

she turned you down, but she signed Sean.

And lo, six weeks after his death,

you approached her again, this time she took you on.

Why the change?

Well, you'd have to ask her that.

[Sandra] She said you got better.

And she'd be right.

Those pieces I sent her were insipid.

I was impatient, immature.

A callow, coltish, privileged boy.

Unlike Sean.

He'd lived.

That's what was inspiring about him.

He made you a better writer.

- Yes. - [Sandra] Because you stole

- his work. - Because I loved him

so fiercely that when he died, I became a man,

and I used my despair to become a better poet,

and that quality suffuses my work today.

But I would trade all my success,

all my plaudits in a heart beat

if I knew it would bring Sean back.

Well, it's annoying but I think he's genuine.

He clearly adored the bloke.

Didn't stop him nicking his poetry though, did it?

Huh, that's going to be hard to prove.

And if you ask me who's the more likely killer,

poetic Luke oswald or the likes of torpal and ozil...

What about Sarah Powell, Mara, Roxanne?

She certainly rubbed you up the wrong way.

She's so pleased with herself,

I'm surprised she hasn't married her own reflection.

- [Laughing] - Oh come on,

she's got a great career,

plenty of cash, why would she want to kill Sean?

Because she was his rebound lover after Powell.

Maybe he chucked her? I can't see her

taking well to rejection.

Well, she might have stuck a knife in him

in a moment of passion, but you know,

bash him on the head, drag him to topal's yard,

douse him in petrol.

If she hated him badly enough.

Well, you'd have to put Powell in the loop too.

Maybe she killed him after she found out

he was dipping his pen with Roxanne?

Pardon my metaphor.

[Gerry sighs and grunts]

Any luck?

I dunno. Women today.

Maybe it's your technique, Gerry.

Nothing wrong with my technique, thistle-face.

[Laughing]

[Phone ringing]

[Brian] You could try a bit of poetry on her.

[Gerry] You what?

Worked wonders for me and Esther.

Yeah. I'd read her a bit of marvell's "coy mistress" and...

And what?

Poetry can be very effective.

Sarah Powell has just called the station.

She claims she's being stalked.

Sorry to cause all this trouble.

[Sandra] What happened?

Someone followed me home from the tube.

[Sandra] Why would they want to do that?

I don't know.

Did you get a look at him?

No. Just ran in here and locked myself in.

When I looked out, he was standing over there by that tree.

When he saw me pick up the phone to call you,

he ran away.

Okay, thank you.

There's a few shops further up the road.

See if you can harvest cctv from any of those

and also the ones en route from the tube.

- [Police officer] Yes ma'am. - Brian?

Can you stay for a bit?

Ah, thank you.

Well, these are Sean's.

Oh thanks.

Aha, "rainsong" again.

Mmm.

[Brian] Do you think there's any significance

in oswald reading that today?

It's one of Sean's best poems.

Are there any clues in Sean's work

as to what he was feeling or doing before he died?

I've looked.

Analysed every verse, metre, metaphor, rhyming scheme,

tried every sort of acrostic, numerology.

Numerology?

Well, you can usually find a hidden message

in just about anything, if you want to badly enough.

You know, like the Bible code fanatics,

or literary conspiracy theorists

who say that there's a hidden sentence

in Shakespeare's sonnets that proclaims

that "kit marlowe wrote this."

[Chuckles]

But there's none of that in Sean's?

Sean didn't go in for layered ambiguities,

his work's very direct.

Sadly, there's no hidden secrets from beyond the grave.

Oswald is pretty good, though, isn't he?

Mmm. Yes, I'd dismissed him as a media construct

but I've really enjoyed what I've heard of his work so far.

Here.

You can borrow this, if you like.

[Sarah] Oh.

There's a terrific tension in his work.

He's very big on identity and redemption.

The healing power of nature.

I think he's exploring the re...

I'm sorry.

Would you mind going? I feel a bit tired.

- [Door clunks] - [Bike chain clicks]

"But soft, what bike from yonder copper breaks?"

How was your damsel in distress?

"Brian, Brian, wherefore art thou Bryan?"

Have you found that stalker yet?

Yeah, I've got your professor as she comes out the tube

and I've got intermittent coverage of her walk home

from bars, chemists, even a hairdressers.

Yeah, but it's really difficult to identify

anyone in particular who looks like they're following her.

I bet it was oswald. He's not answering again

and nor is his bloody agent.

Yeah, that makes sense. He was rattled.

He probably left us and went straight to find Powell.

Probably worked out that she told us

about the missing poetry.

And he wanted to shut her up.

Yeah, so he's stalking her, planning his next move...

And we turn up mob-handed.

Right, issue a picture.

Hold it, hold it.

Take a look at this.

What?

Blimey, it's Sean docherty!

[Steve] So who's the body in the yard?

I've got some good news for you Mara.

It's not Sean's body in mehtin topal's scrapyard.

But then you knew that all along, didn't you?

Did you not know that she'd lied to the police?

Let us think that Sean was dead?

He's alive?

Yeah. She probably knows where he is right now.

I don't. I swear, I don't.

Mara?

He made me do it.

Listen son. The prison authorities

aren't gonna let you walk with this complication

hanging over your head. Look, we just want to know

what actually happened in that yard.

It's not docherty, but the bones were dressed like him,

so he's your suspect and I'm in the clear.

So what's his connection with ozil?

He owed him money.

Ozil had been chasing him all day

and Sean was terrified.

Ozil, so he is involved in all of this.

I don't know. Sean just said that the police

would find a body with his stuff and when they did,

- that I was to... - Lie.

If I didn't help him, he was gonna tell you lot

about the jobs that eoin and him did for topal.

What jobs?

I knew that you would stop all of your bad behaviour

if Sean wasn't around and lead you astray.

- Where is he now? - I don't know.

I just wanted him out of our life.

Right, how does this sound?

Ozil is after Sean for his debt, right?

Sean comes clean and arranges to meet him

at the yard after hours.

So they get together at the yard, Sean lumps him,

swaps his clothes with him, pours petrol all over him

and then scarpers.

Could've been planning the whole thing for months.

Yeah.

All we've gotta do now is find the bastard and ask him.

Okay. We're saying that he burned ozil and runs.

He's a poet who loves a bit of nature

but he's a drinker, a gambler

and he likes a Friday night punch up,

so where would he go?

Isle of dogs?

[Door clicks]

I can't find Powell.

She's skipped her lectures.

Hasn't been seen since last night.

[Door knocking]

Sarah!

Sarah, are you in there?

Not unless she's been murdered.

Well, it's what we're all thinking.

We can't wait for backup.

Okay, I'm concerned for the safety of the person inside,

do we all agree?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Agreed.

Steve, do your thing.

Oh, okay.

[Tense music]

There we go. Sit tight.

Open sesame.

- [Gerry] Well done. - [Brian] Sarah?

Well, she's not strangled in the bedroom.

Or chopped up in the bath.

So what's happened to her?

She's with docherty.

What happened here last night Brian?

Oh, we talked.

A wide-ranging literary discussion, actually,

it was wonderful.

Although she did suddenly ask me to leave.

The mood just changed.

I was asking her about docherty's poems

and if they contained any hidden meaning.

It's "rainsong."

She's noticed some kind of message in "rainsong."

What message?

I'm not sure.

Where he is, maybe.

If we can decipher what she saw on this poem,

we can find docherty.

All right, you stick with that.

Boys, with me.

[Door squeaking]

I reckon oswald, docherty and Powell

are all in on this.

Yeah, I'm gonna go to oswald's house.

He won't be there.

Nope, but it's time his agent made herself useful.

Well, I'll get onto cctv, see if there's any trace

of Powell leaving here or an electronic trail.

Okay.

What about me?

I want you to track down her phone,

tell us where she went.

We haven't got time for a triangulation request.

You still got that contact at mobile network?

What, Alice? Yeah.

Pay her a visit.

Oh, do I have to? She's a bit overwhelming.

Take one for the team, Gerry.

You know, there's a lot of similarities between this

and the supposed death of Christopher marlowe in 1593.

'Cause marlowe had debts, he was in trouble with the state,

and a lot of academics reckon that he didn't die,

but faked his own death and then subsequently...

Just spare me the literary lecture,

we've got a man hunt on our hands.

Yeah, but nobody can find them.

This can show us where they are.

Look, I know you feel silly about being taken for a ride

but you've gotta let that go now.

Get on with some proper policing

look, if we start by running this simple Cypher text

where we replace each letter in the poem

with the next letter in the alphabet.

Alice! Fancy bumping into you?

You didn't call. You're very rude.

No, but I've been ever so busy.

I've been undercover.

And I've got a Booty like beyonce's.

No, no, no, Alice, I've been think about you, honestly.

I've written a poem about us.

A proper poem?

"Naked, we were pure in rapture.

Let me be still in your heart."

And it bangs on like that for a bit,

I'll tell you the rest later but

first, I need a favour.

[Lisa giggles]

No. There's no sign of them.

She must have gone out a back exit.

All is not lost.

We can still find her with a mono-alphabetic substitution.

We just identify a key text and then we match that

- against... - Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

This is a long shot, but if you apply

frequency analysis to each letter of the poem,

you get a message.

Yes?

Yes, what?

[Doorbell rings]

[Door clicks]

Where's oswald?

He's gone away.

I know, but then tell me where.

I told you, I don't know.

But Sean phoned me, if that's of any interest.

He wants to come out of hiding.

I presume you've told him to hand himself into the police?

I asked him if he was still writing.

His renaissance would be a sensation,

but we couldn't sustain it if his poetry wasn't up to snuff.

You do know that oswald has been in on this

all along with Sean? I suspect

they've even been writing together,

what do you think?

This whole affair is becoming tiresome,

just find Sean and Luke, do what you have to do

to sort out this annoying imbroglio

and let the rest of us get on with our lives.

This isn't a game any more, I could get you 10 years

for perverting the course of justice,

so where is oswald hiding?

Suffolk.

And that's all I know.

Oswald's in Suffolk.

Any joy with Powell on the cctv?

Not yet, but she definitely hasn't used

her oyster or credit cards.

Well, that's either coincidence

or she knows exactly what she's doing.

You don't think she's been in contact with him

all this time?

Yeah, she could even have helped him plan the escape.

Maybe she even helped him kill ozil.

Oh, you're being ridiculous.

God, those phone companies are a bunch of herberts.

Said it would take three days to process my request.

We haven't got three days, Gerry.

No, but fortunately Alice has hidden skills.

It took her 20 minutes.

Powell's mobile phone was last registered yesterday,

11:17, junction 30 of the a12.

That's in Suffolk, she's gone to see oswald.

Oh, I'm a bloody fool.

Docherty and oswald really are marlowe and Shakespeare.

I'm looking at the wrong poem.

You see, a lot of people believe

that marlowe faked his own death

and subsequently fed his verse to Shakespeare.

There's even meta-textual reference to the arrangement

in "as you like it."

Brian, get to the point.

Docherty's been alive all this time

and giving his work to oswald.

In which case, all oswald's poems are actually docherty's.

Do you see? And that's where Powell got her clue from.

Not from "rainsong," but from "liminal lakes,"

which, when we broke into her house,

was open at this page.

So what did she see?

[Brian] I'm telling you, they're in a cottage nearby.

[Gerry] Well that narrows it down.

There's gotta be 1000 cottages in Suffolk.

Yeah, but there's only one that yates rented.

Docherty and Powell stayed there once 10 years ago.

And it's in his poem.

"A decade dreaming in a giant's bed."

These are docherty's words, remember, in oswald's guise.

Well, that makes all the sense in the world,

doesn't it?

They're the exact words that Powell used

to describe their weekend away at the cottage

that yates once rented.

Yates is the giant.

You see, the poem's describing where docherty lives.

It's a sort of autobiographical map

if you know they've stayed there

and this is the clincher:

"A white-brick prisoner circled by nature's changing crown."

[Door knocks]

[Door squeaks]

Where's Sean docherty?

Did you never hear about the man from porlock?

The entire poem "kubla Khan" came to coleridge in a dream,

but in the process of writing it down on line 54,

he was interrupted by a visitor.

The rest of the poem vanished.

Like ripples on the surface of a stream.

Is there anyone else here with you?

Nope.

Have Powell and docherty been here?

No.

And as this is private property

and you don't appear to have a warrant,

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.

[Gate squeaks]

[Sandra] Did you help fake docherty's death?

This feels a lot like harassment.

[Steve] Why don't you answer the question?

Look, I have lots of work to do, okay?

So either arrest me now, or take my word for it

that I'll be at your station at 9:00am tomorrow

to answer any questions you...

Tell us about gourkan ozil.

Do I need to call my lawyer?

We know you're alive, Sean.

You're starting to look very foolish now.

We can wait all day.

This is embarrassing.

Yes, you do need to call your lawyer.

It's over, Luke.

Don't tell these people anything, okay?

Let me figure this out.

This is my mess.

It's right that it's me who pays the price.

I'll come with you.

[Gate squeaks]

[Gate thuds]

When did you know?

Not until I read the poem.

Brian, I would've told you.

You're not living up to the legend, Sean.

Rockstar poet, fearless in pursuit of the truth,

but I'm not getting any sense of that.

Perhaps you're not so brilliant after all.

But maybe that's why you killed ozil.

You were angry because you couldn't live up to the hype.

It's okay. You don't have to tell us.

Sarah's in the next room, sweating on a conspiracy charge.

Leave her alone. She's nothing to do with this.

Then who is?

[Steve] You're in a world of trouble, son.

I know.

Tell me from the beginning.

I did it.

I killed gourkan ozil.

Right, Sean. Luke says that he did it

and he wants you to tell us the truth.

I owed ozil money.

It was only a few hundred quid but...

He was determined to get his flesh.

He followed me all day.

He was enjoying it, you know?

What happened?

I was frantic.

I ran to Luke's, I thought I would be safe there, but...

Ozil smashed his way in and...

What happened then?

I got home.

I heard Sean whimpering, the smell of blood.

He'd tied him to a chair.

He was torturing him.

He was gonna kill me.

Be under no doubt about that.

So what did Luke do?

Just went for him.

And then?

He caught him cold with his punch.

So pure and clean that...

Just killed him.

[Gerry] So, after he killed ozil,

they just made the rest up on the hoof.

Pure opportunism.

And ever since, oswald's got famous on docherty's poems.

Oswald saved his life, I expect Sean

was quite happy with the deal.

I expect he felt a lot safer being dead

than having half of north London's gangsters after him.

Anyway, oswald is determined to take the fall.

He hated his friend being a fugitive

because of what he'd done.

Yeah, but I'm sure his lawyers will be expensive enough

to dig him out of this hole.

[Steve] Sadly, topal's in the clear.

Yeah, don't matter does it?

We got a result. All's well that ends well.

Ha. That's Shakespeare, you know.

I know, I bloody love poetry.

You know when I went to see Alice?

She was ready to give me a right ear-bashing.

One line of verse and she melted.

It's bloody Viagra that stuff.

- Told you. - Yeah.

Wasted on the likes of you.

[Upbeat music]

♪ It's all right, it's okay ♪

♪ 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, doing fine ♪

♪ 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 ♪