So i proceed in an orderly fashion to abingdon, cell phone ringing but no granny thats yours. Yeah, lewis. Say that again. Samantha are you looking for me . Samantha wheeler. Vernon oxe. gasps aha well, lets get this kettle on, shall we . I can think of nothing more agreeable. Unless it be martinis at the randolph . Seems like a nice place. Samantha you must tell me why i have the pleasure of meeting you, after years, it must be, of corresponding by check. This commissions rather special. It concerns the addiction. Again . That seems a bit odd. I mean, i gave you my all for best of. Specifically esme ford. Arent you better placed . I just manage the product, dr. Wheeler. I thought at the time that it might be prudent not to acquaint myself too intimately with the ingredients. People were dying, going to prison. My private life was quite exciting enough without all of that. Esmes life is extremely well documented. Your eye for the telling detail, doctor renders your sleeve notes quite invaluable. Heres something. Take away and listen to, very carefully, in private. Lewis sleeve rolled up inner tube round the bicep puncture mark, syringe on the deck, heroin in the pocket. What do you call that . I call it highly suspect. Yeah, so do i. There werent any other needle marks. This man no longer had the habit. camera clicking he made enemies. Are you kidding . Anyone who ever met him hated him. I bloody hated him and he was my best friend. speaking quietly mr. Bone, he is so much going london, london, london. Where . Whereabouts in london . Soho. Do we know what he was doing in soho . He is selling things. Memory things of the band. Photo, autograph little things. Bone was a nice man, you know. Thats a pretty incendiary statement. Well, everyone else is wrong. He was kind. I want to talk to you about your mum. Shes in new york. Actually, you want to ask me what i think about esme ford. Well, shes a threat thats pretty clear. She comes back into your fathers life everything goes wrong. People get killed. What would your mum say . About bone . Three cheers. About esme. No idea. Youre not writing this down. No, its off the record. Did you know that bone had £20,000 in cash stashed under the passenger seat of his land rover . Youre kidding. He was flogging memorabilia. laughing thats actually cheered me up. What did he do that was so kind . He baked me a cake. Can i go now . Its a sculpture . Its a macerator. My pride and joy. All the crap comes out of the house and the farm, down the soil pipes, and this sweet little baby chops it all up, liquefies it. Pushes it back into mother earth. I love this thing, man. I could watch it for hours. If i was still dropping acid i probably would. Bone liked to drink, a lot but otherwise he was clean, man. Hes been clean for years. I know. What got stuck in his arm may or may not be heroin. Well find out. But it was designed to kill him. I think bone went to that bar because someone said hed meet him there. He had a few shandies, went for a pee and while he was standing there a bit unsteady, maybe the guy jumped him stuck the needle in his arm. Then bundled him into the cubicle wrapped the band around his arm and left him there to die. Did you kill bone . Explain to me why i would do that. Because he supervised the recording of your solo album and he cocked it up. Wiped the tapes. I have my ideas about who was responsible. Wasnt bone. But if it had been, i wouldnt have killed him for it. What sort of man do you think i am . I dont know, mr. Maguire. It bothers me. camera clicking hey you you, you little bastard still making people welcome down the farm . I know you. Yeah, darling, you do. Youre not forgiven, richie. For what you did. What was it i did, mack . I cant remember. But you are not forgiven. Hathaway you managed the band throughout its entire career. Yes. And now you. And now i what . What do you do now, sir, to make a living . We have just established that i managed the third bestselling group in the history of british rock. Itd be a pretty poor show if i was now obliged to make a living. What do you want . I want to know what went wrong between the brothers maguire. scoffs mack wrote a song called counterculture blues. Surprised . Well, its credited to richie. Indeed it is. Unfortunately for the luckless mack, at the time of composition he was out of his tiny mind on Mandies Mandrax the relaxant du jour popping them like smarties. Curious situation. He didnt even know hed written a song. Richie did, copied it, put his name to it. Royalties . Forfeited throughout the universe in perpetuity. Millions, my dear. Millions. The anthem of a generation. Gone like smoke through the keyhole. Midnight addiction night at the park. Digitally remastered. Sleeve notes by sam wheeler whos he . She. Is the internationally acknowledged expert on 14thcentury secular polyphony. But she has a dirty little secret. Shes crazy about the band. She knows every damn last detail about everything they ever did. Sad for one of her standing, but jolly useful. plucking note on guitar singing note tuning guitar sharp. Bloody hell, amigo its the only thing about you that is sharp. I dont know what im doing here. Wheres kitten . Kitten he remembers. Shes at her university, man. Student. Music student, man. I think im in tune now. Lets play, yeah . guitar solo playing okay. This is the bit where you tell me the truth. If you lie to me now youll regret it. Have i lied to you . Youve been highly selective with what you say and dont say. You give the impression you just materialized here. What should i have said . That you were delivered to the farm gates by vernon oxe. Materializing was good showbiz. People were impressed. 35 years ago the band was in thrall to me. I was the enchantment that held us together. Made us stars. Think of that girl in the top hat, lewis. And look at what i am now. If im going to do any enchanting these days, ill need all the magic i can get. Now, vernon may be a sad fat old letch, but hes still got a bit of fairy dust up his sleeve. If it looked like the band was gonna get back on its feet that everybody was gonna be in the vibe, then id trundle vernon out of the wings. That was the plan. I saw you play in newcastle city hall the night i met my wife. Is that a trick question . Did we play newcastle . You did. Were we good . Better than good. We could be again. Not if one of yous a murderer. knocking on door dr. Wheeler, the names hathaway. I was wondering if. bells chiming crying if you want to talk to me youre going to have to wait because im going to be sick. cell phone beeping woman im constance frisch. You know that, its written on the door. That poor girl. She was close to dr. Wheeler . Were all of us close to our undergraduates here. Music is an intimate discipline. Quite. Dr. Wheelers computer is as she left it. Neither of us can touch it, yet. But could you tell just by looking at the screen what it is she might have been listening to . Is it rock . No. This doesnt fit the sound of an amplified band. That would be all over the place. Id say she was listening to a single instrument. Guitar . No. Something altogether more constrained. Somebody constraining themselves to within a particular range of an instruments capability . Say, sticking to within a couple of octaves. That would also fit the bill. Dr. Wheeler have any unusual visitors recently . Apart from vernon oxe . Dreadful. Dreadful. Forgive me, sir, can anybody confirm that you spent the whole of yesterday afternoon here in the hotel . Two people. The barman and the beauteous bellhop. But i dont know either of their names, alas. And you came looking for dr. Wheeler to offer her another job . Yes. Are you going to tell me what . Can you keep a secret . Possibly. Maybe. Couldnt promise. I wanted her to prepare some materials on esme ford. For gods sake tell me youve heard of esme ford. I know the person you mean. Then you may be astonished to learn that she isnt dead. My understanding was she committed suicide. Piece of theater. I stagemanaged the whole bloody thing. Esme didnt die in the caribbean. She wrote the famous letter, dictated by me on the balcony of her hotel room overlooking the bay at st. George. She got into a private airplane, and she flew to venezuela with me. Now shes poised to spring again, pantherlike onto the world of rock and roll and devour it. And those who survived are set to make a great deal of money. Some of them. Those who remained faithful. May i also ask you, sir, if youve recently come into contact with a person widely known as the bone . God, is he still going . No, sir. He too has been murdered. Innocent who did this . Thats what were trying to establish, maam. The deaths. Im not talking about deaths. Im talking about the press. The chief constable is endeavoring to present rural oxfordshire as a haven of respectability and safety and this, lewis, is not what is required. What was that . I didnt speak, maam. You didnt, and i heard you not doing it. Who is that richies got his arms round . Unknown family friend . I think its an unknown friend of the family, maam. Out, both of you. I want frolicking bloody baalambs on the front page of my newspaper. See to it. Maam. I made a considerable effort just now not to show how angry i am. Yes, sir. It showed. Three dead bodies, she gets her gusset in a bind about p. R. Our rulers live in a different country. Have you got a minute, peter . Actually, no, i havent. I gather youre reading classics. So youll appreciate the concept of the rhetorical question. Here, lets go to your place. Hathaway do you play . Or do you just collect this stuff . Okay, i have a lecture to go to, actually, i. No. Youve been to a lecture and youve just got back. Lets not get off on the wrong foot with you telling me things that arent true. Youre blackmailing kitten maguire. Tell me about that. Who . She wont tell me what it is youve got on her. I think shes frightened of you. Okay, i want a lawyer. Im sure you do, but i forgot to bring one. All of this stuff is paid for by kitten. Shes lying. Is she . I havent told you what she said yet. Youre a policeman. Youre not actually allowed on College Premises without the permission of the master or his appointed representative. And you are dirty, woodrow. I want you to know that i know. And i want you to know that im going to have you. Socos found this in a wheelie bin down the road from the faculty. Theyre good boys. Very thorough. Whats on it . Frischs skin, which is what one might expect. But theres also a very small quantity of leather. One doesnt play the lute wearing gloves. With garrottings one must expect gloves; the garrotter doesnt want to cut their hands on the murder weapon. I have three killings, doctor. Theyre all connected. Yep, i think they are. And ill tell you Something Else about your murderer. He or she is very fastidious. Killed the first one with a car, second one with a needle and strangled the third whilst wearing dinky little gloves. Doesnt like the contact. Doesnt shy away from the brutal deed but doesnt like to touch. So, the killer silences lucas. But thats not enough. Bone has to be got rid of, too. Then the killer thinks blimey, is there someone else i have to keep quiet . And there was. Samantha wheeler. Whats the secret here, laura . I mean, try and imagine three more utterly different people. What is it they all know thats so threatening . And who else knows . Theres a rat. Yeah. Someones been in contact with the press, and we must assume they still are. sighs wheres esme . Were you aware, sir, that at the time esme ford joined the band that she was bones lover . Were you aware that the bone had two false teeth right at the front . Thats because when i found out in 1969, i punched him in the mouth. We didnt discuss the matter further. Not necessary. Anything else, while were gazing into each others eyes . Just before she disappeared, esme ford wrote you a letter. You dont say. Do you still have it . jo screams spider. Spider, spider spider, spider jo dont, dont, dont touch it it ran across my hand it was ginormous tarantula . jo screams again precisely what is going on here . Caroline. Baby. How was new york . Youve been to new york, havent you, richie . It was like that. Whos this . This is the police. Police, this is my wife. Its all go since ive been away. When did you arrive back, maam . I dont know. Does it matter . Im afraid so. Which flight . I might need to check. I never went to new york. I was staying at the randolph. Where, as you discover when you check, i was obliged to keep an even lower profile than i had planned because that cretin oxe was there, holding court. Go on. I wanted to give richie. The necessary space. I can always tell when hes building up to an affair. I never know who, but i always know when, and i just prefer not to be around when its actually happening. Never lasts long. Hes like a dog, really. Needs exercising. Now, oh dear. Youve gone all pofaced. Tolerance of infidelity isnt that shocking, is it . Why tell him youd gone all the way to new york . To make him feel safe. That way it might be over even quicker. And why did you decide that now was the right time to come back . The idea of reforming the band. Richie flailing up and down the motorway in some stupid truck for the next five years. That i really dont want. No, the ford woman will have to go. Man whispering i can get you more, yes ah, felipe. Is there anybody through there . Anybody . There . Okay, fine. Whereabouts is the spider . The. Oh, yes. I want to know if this particular creature comes from venezuela. Well, ill get someone to interview it other than me. Arachnophobe, hathaway . Cardcarrying, sir. So was jo race. But who knew that . Yet another thing we need to find out. Any news from the shop . A nice email from reverend armstrong hoping that whatevers going on down here will put paid to all the banging on a sunday morning. Oh, and kitten is being blackmailed. What . Fellow student peter woodrow. Blackmailed about what . Well, shes not saying, but shes obviously paying out with money from her godfather. Bone selling the family silver to bail her out. What is that . Sculpture . You know nothing about life in the country, do you . Its a macerator. It stinks. What does it do . You dont want to know. So, what about this student . Peter woodrow. I felt his collar and he squealed for mummy. Very distasteful piece of work. Even the sound of his voice makes me want to give him a dry slap. Idiot give me your mobile a minute, felipe . I want to see who you were talking to just then. The news of the screws . Filling them in about esme . Or was it Somebody Just checking that their parcel had arrived safely . Chauffeur, electrician. The ultimate odd job man, arent you . And always looking out for an angle but whatever else youve been up to, richies going to take a pretty dim view when i tell him it was you that was tipping off the press. I just turned the power back on, by the way. This is your one chance to be treated leniently. I know nothing about the spider. This is harassment. No, this is my superior officer, inspector lewis. Hello, peter. Lets talk about this kitten business. Oh, for gods sake. She just wasnt coming over with the cash quickly enough, was she . So you decided to put the frighteners on her. This is outrageous. Ill tell you whats outrageous, son the fact that kitten didnt send the bone round to you with a bloody great hammer. Now listen its in your best interest to tell me politely what you did. I cant hear you, peter. Kitten took me to the farm. One night. Shed had some mushrooms. Okay . She had some mushrooms. I didnt. I wanted to stay straight, make sure she would be okay. She took me to the studio. Richie had been recording these songs for her. He didnt think she knew. She knew. She was so stoned. She. Wiped the master. The whole album. Gone. Straight away, she, um she wanted to wake richie up and tell him. I admired her for that. Youre a hell of a guy. But i persuaded her not to. You saw a business opportunity. What i saw, okay, was richie go bloody postal the next morning. Yeah . Terrifying. Hey, ive, you know, done what you asked. I told you what happened. This isnt school, peter. You cant put your hand up for nicking sweets and expect a pat on the back for owning up. Lewis so, off goes lucas to slough in search of his gran. But unfortunately, she doesnt work for j. C. N. B. Anymore. Dead end. But theres a cleaner remembers grans address. So lucas calls round. What does he see . Declan . I dont know the answer to this bit. Youre going to have to help me. He finds someone else. Did lucas describe this other person at all . He opened the door a millimeter. Tells lucas hes got the wrong place, no woman here. But hes lying. Lucas isnt stupid. He thinks, this mans hiding my grandmother. So what does he do . What would you do . Say sorry and leave. Then id stake him out and the minute he left the house id be in. Or follow him. Thinking hes keeping granny somewhere else. Is that what lucas was going to do . Were going to nail the guy who killed your friend. Okay . I give you my word. Lewis you know what im doing . Im trying to think like morse. Does that mean were going to the pub . Lucas. Bone. Samantha. Richie. Could he have killed lucas . Yes. Lucas might have been richies son. Why would he have killed him . Dont know. Could he have killed bone . Yes. Why would he . Every reason not to. I doubt very much whether hed have killed samantha, because he was still under quarantine with us up at the farm. I say hes still in the frame. Me too. Franco. Could he have killed lucas . Yes. Why . Dont know. Bone . Yes. Why . He hates bone. Franco hates everybody. Felipe. Mr. Upforgrabs. I suspect he was making too much money out of people to want them dead. Jo. You think she might have sent the spider to herself . It occurred to me, yeah. Lets come back to her. Mack. Now, this is a man carrying around the most appalling secret, but i dont know what it is. Unfortunately, i dont think he does either. Kitten. More secrets. Who was that . That was vernon. Vernons gone. Better not have done. Ive yet to have the pleasure. Gentlemen, this is not an aid to my digestion. The quicker you answer our questions, sir the sooner we leave. What has mack got to hide . One really doesnt know. It was the halcyon days of rock and roll excess. We were all at it like scissors on heat. Though some of us did our scissoring elsewhere to maintain our authority. Always . Always. Generally. There was the once. Franco . A bit pruneylooking nowadays, isnt he and so bitter. He was such a pretty boy. Delicious. Oh, come, come, come. You can exchange silent looks of disapproval to your hearts content. I couldnt care less. The addiction is mine. I put the band together, i named it i bought the clothes i bought the deals. The band was my creation and it remains mine. At my touch it shall live again and do my bidding. Et bloody cetera. chuckling and if anyone doesnt like the idea, theyd be advised to stand well aside. Because i am coming through. chuckles rock music playing you see, that, to me does not sound like facemeltingly awesome bluesbased prog rock. Sounds more like status quo whinging about the biscuits in the old peoples home. One. Two. Three. Four. mack playing out of synch feedback whining that was good, mack. Youre getting there. Richie, for gods sake go and get franco back. feedback stops this is it. Tonight. If this is as good as it gets well, we all go our separate ways. Finish. Solo career, here i come. Caroline would have me halfway back to venezuela by now if your lot hadnt asked me to stay. If we tol