And confronts myers with it at the first night party. He says, lets talk about this quietly in the cellar. But, youll say, did he fetch a piece of string with him on the offchance . What do you reckon . You usually have an opinion. Sir, theres Something Else you need to know. Sounds exciting. Youre not getting married . No, sir, its about simon monkford. What about him . How long have you known . Since the call from the met. Is that what that was . The final confirmation date, place, time. Why the hell didnt you tell me then . Because the last time i mentioned your wife you made it very clear to me that i wasnt to mention the subject again. This is different. This is purely professional. How can that be . What were you frightened of . That i might go barging into the Interview Room and batter the living daylights out of the man . I think id be tempted under the circumstances. Well, maybe id be tempted too. But it wouldnt happen. Shall i tell you why . Why . Because youre a good cop and youd stop me. As it is, all youve proved is you dont really know me and you dont know yourself, either. Do you want to speak to him . No. I just want to look at him. Thats him . Hathaway mmhmm. I dont know what i expected to see. Hes so. Bloody ordinary. She deserved better. Come on, lets do some proper work. lewis sighs do you realize all our student suspects have web sites . Of course they have. Time was you had a fountain pen; now you have a web site. Emma goldings comes complete with a copy of her dissertation. According to professor gregson the finest piece of english prose since the king james bible. Whats it about . Twentiethcentury drama a view from the lower depths. Will it keep you quiet for an hour . Rough guess id say 40 days and 40 nights. Im popping down to the theater. With a view to what . Were up against a conspiracy of silence even though they talk all the time. Im going to have a onetoone with the only one that shed a tear. sighs a few routine questions . Well, questions certainly. Youll have to tell me whether theyre routine or not. Like, for instance, when Richard Scott was murdered you were the only one that showed any emotion. The rest, not a tear between the lot of them. Why was that . Shock, i suppose. Its the first time ive ever been close to somebody whos died, so i cried a bit. I suppose the others were trying to be cool and sophisticated. Im no good at that. I didnt like richard that much, but when youve acted with someone it makes a sort of bond. Probably like you and your sergeant. Is that silly . No, ive heard sillier things. What really happened in edinburgh . Sorry . Weve heard all sorts of halfbaked accounts of your adventures at the festival. Sex and drugs and rock and roll, i daresay. Richard stealing from you all and getting thumped for his pains. What was it that really mattered . It wasnt about sex or drugs. And i dont know for sure why it was important but everybody went ape when Phil Beaumonts laptop disappeared. Phil being the one who sits in the corner, watching everyone, writing it all down . Five minutes, isobel. Im sorry. May i go to venice now . Of course. Have a nice time. Oh, robbie, um. Did he tell you about monkford . Eventually. Did you know all the time . He consulted me about whether to tell you and when. That was thoughtful. So, you two still friends . Interesting question. Were colleagues. Workmates, theyd say in the northeast. We dont swap comics every week and he listens to weird music, but hes a damn good cop. Hes just a bit young and, i suppose, enigmatic. Hes private, you know . He says much the same about you. Well, thats ridiculous. Theres nothing enigmatic about me. So, tell me honestly are you okay . Honest answer, i dont know. So ill just throw myself into my work and see if that makes me okay. Youve just walked in on a eureka moment. Youve found something . I have. This is from emma goldings dissertation. Those eminent men and very occasional women, who dwell on mount olympus, sharing profound philosophical reflections, invariably do so with their eyes looking upwards to heaven whether they believe in its existence or not. Once in a while, why do they not cast their eyes downwards, to the shantytowns and slums clustered at the foot of their blessed mountain from which flow their security and prosperity . It takes a bright lass to write stuff like that. Where does eureka come in . Well, about a year and a half ago Phil Beaumont wrote an article in the Student Newspaper saying that basically all life no audio , but he did end with the selfsame paragraph about mount olympus. Therefore what . Phil beaumont helped emma with her dissertation . They were a couple. Why not . What couples do. What about if he wrote the entire thing . An academic star who plans to run the country one day if nobody stops her and the piece of work that gave her liftoff was, what, stolen . We dont know all the details yet but it could be a valuable blackmailing weapon. Sorry, darling, you stole the whole thing, but i wont mention it again if you chuck a little check in the post. You reckon thats what Richard Scott did . Its possible. What about Phil Beaumont . He knows what really happened. Why is nobody murdering him . Well, maybe hes careful. Professor gregson . What about her . Well, if it comes out that people have been awarded doctorates for other peoples work her career would soon start to unravel. Sergeant nicholson called from sheffield . Oh yeah, thats his mobile number. He wants you to call him back. Ah, in the morning. Right, im ready to talk to monkford now. Come with me. Yeah. Inspector lewis. Ah. Would it help if i say im truly sorry . No. Nothing helps. In which case, may i offer you a proposition . Try me. Well, i was in the theater the afternoon that young man was murdered. I saw various people leaving at the time in question. Id be happy to give evidence if that would help you. What would you get out of all this . The nice, warm feeling that comes with being a good citizen . Drop the murder charge and ill plead guilty to manslaughter. Youre trying to do a deal with me . Its not that simple. Ill tell you whats simple we put you in court as a prosecution witness, with your record any defense counsel would tear you to shreds inside 30 seconds. Sorry, i simply thought. You no longer have the right to think. Well decide on the charges. I dont do deals with people like you. Take me away from this man. Sir. You told us that emma golding is a brilliant scholar. She is. That her dissertation is the best youd read. Did she write it herself . That really is a gray area. I dont see that its at all gray. Did she write it or did Phil Beaumont write it . They were a couple at the time so he probably had an input. You must understand how difficult it is for University Teachers these days. Were more familiar with our difficulties. Ive just set some firstyear students an essay on thomas hardy. Theyll go straight on to the net, Google Thomas hardy find ten, twenty thousand entries. The bright ones will pick and mix all the best bits, throw in the odd spelling error to make it look authentic, and im supposed to sort out the original thinkers from the looters. But i will say this about emmas dissertation none of it was stolen from the internet. It was all her own work. Or Phil Beaumonts work . As i say, he probably had an input. You must ask them. Were going to. jackhammer pounding hi, guys, what can i get you . Well have two coffees. But before you do that tell us something. Did you write emma goldings dissertation . Yes. Hathaway all of it . Yeah. Lewis why . Because im a better writer than she is. Im just about the best on the block. Isnt that against the rules . Probably. Mind you, oxford works mostly on unwritten rules so there might not be any. I just thought it was funny. Emma and i were a couple at the time, soulmates or so i thought. I was dropping out anyway so it seemed like fun to take the piss out of the system, sticking up two fingers as a farewell gesture. Hathaway soulmates . Yeah, for a while. But then when id finished the dissertation she found herself another soulmate. Amazing, really. That would be Richard Scott . Yeah. Who stole your laptop in edinburgh . So im told. Youd have said there wasnt enough evidence. But the dissertation was on the laptop . Yeah, along with two unfinished novels, a stage play, my diary and a couple of dirty limericks. Your diary . Yeah, my oxford journal. Is that something you were planning on publishing . scoffs no chance. It was a bit, you might say, warts and all. I even named the warts. Was there anything on there that could have led to Richard Scotts death . Or Amanda Costellos . I suppose its possible i mean, it was a secret diary. That was the point. But youd have to know where to look. And where should we be looking . cell phone rings ah, well, like the man said in the movie, follow the money. Hathaway. Well be there in ten minutes. Beaumont do you still want those coffees . Yeah, but not today. Beaumont good choice. Where are we going to be in ten minutes . Back to base. Forensics have come through with some interesting conclusions. Lewis we know that Richard Scott was murdered with that knife. It was a really good clue, finding it sticking in his chest. But now we know for certain that Amanda Costello was strangled using this string. And both weapons have identical traces of soil on them. From Phil Beaumonts allotment . Wouldnt bet against it. So whoever stabbed Richard Scott was wearing gardening gloves . A persuasive idea. But you still come back to who takes a piece of string to a firstnight party on the off chance of needing to murder someone with it . But this is the icing on the cake. The two quotations from shakespeare that we found next to the bodies were both written on an oldstyle typewriter with a carbon ribbon. Phil beaumont had a typewriter in his room. Yeah, but he never locked his room, so anybody could have used it. We need to talk to emma golding. I think weve been too nice to these kids. We should be behaving more like coppers, shake their tree see what drops out. Hello, emma. I hope its important. Im meeting an agent from london. And were investigating two murders. Shall we walk together . Tell us about cheating your way to a doctorate. No idea what you mean. Well, your last major piece of work was written for you by Phil Beaumont. Can you manage on your own . Or are you lining up another soulmate already . I thought you said this was a Murder Investigation . Or have you diversified into copyright law . Were exceedingly versatile and very thorough. Meaning . Meaning were going to start by searching professor gregsons house from top to bottom not forgetting the places you live, the places you work and the places you go to have fun. What on earth do you hope to find . We want to test out amandas big story. Well, heres my big story i dont give a toss about my doctorate, or oxford university. If this agent comes up with the right deal, ill be out of here by the end of the week. All right . We get the gist. Thank you for sparing the time. lewiss cell phone rings lets go and frighten the children. Inspector lewis. Oh, Sergeant Nicholson yeah, thanks for getting back to me. Listen, simple question a couple of years ago when you were down here in oxford you were called out to a domestic incident a couple of academics. Yeah, can you tell me anything you remember about that . police siren wailing any joy . No typewriters, but i did find some intriguing bank statements. No sign of beaumonts laptop either. Professor gregson rang. She said she assumes therell be receipts for anything you take away. Where is professor gregson . Is she teaching . Teaching . Most unlikely. Professor gregson. It would be foolish to deny it. Perhaps youd like to tell us what youve been doing here while Sergeant Hathaway does his duty and searches the toolshed. I suppose this is the moment when i say i can explain everything. I hope you will. Its very simple. Id borrowed some secateurs from phil to prune the roses in my garden and decided to return them in person. But Phil Beaumont lives at your house. You could have returned the secateurs over breakfast. I know it sounds illogical but. Was this a sudden impulse or more premeditated . Youve lost me there. Well, did you decide when you got up this morning, this afternoon ill return phils secateurs, and therefore take them with you to college, or did you decide much later . Maybe emma called to say we were going to search her house. God, you sound so like a policeman. Thats because i am a bloody policeman found these. Whats more, i think we were meant to find them. Shall we start again . Youre the bloody policeman. I am a policeman but im operating on a pretty short fuse, so be warned. Weve had to put up with a lot of oxford bollocks on this case theatrical jealousy, maybe sex, maybe drugs. But it isnt, is it . Its about one thing only your academic career. Emma golding has just completed a doctorate here, hasnt she, even though you knew it was Phil Beaumont who wrote it. Now phil, who despises this place anyway, doesnt give a toss, neither does emma. She could be out of here by the end of the week. Who needs academic qualifications to work in the theater . No, the only person that cares about any of this is you. Is it wrong to care about my students . I would have thought that was a good thing. You paid Phil Beaumont £5,000 to keep his mouth shut. That, i suggest, is not a good thing. Weve seen his bank statements. Unfortunately the whole story was in phils diary on his laptop. So when richard found it he realized he had you right over a barrel. I hate to state the obvious, but im not the murdering kind. Not according to Sergeant Nicholson of sheffield. Who the hells Sergeant Nicholson of sheffield . When you met him he was a humble pc here in oxford. He was called out to a domestic disturbance, a report from one of your neighbors. Apparently you went for your thenhusband with a knife. But he being a nice liberalminded oxford don, decided not to bring charges. Well, he always was spineless. Lets assume that you murdered Richard Scott and Amanda Costello. Why amanda . Because she was one of the family, one of your blueeyed girls. She knew what you were up to. But that wasnt much of a story, was it . A bit of academic naughtiness. Maybe a couple of paragraphs on page seven. But the minute richard was murdered it was straight to the front page. She had a good, big story. She boasted about it at the first night party. All i have ever done is try to help my students. But if you like students that much, why try to implicate them . Why try to pin it on Phil Beaumont . Or joe myers, come to that with those ridiculous quotations from shakespeare . Theoretically, if i were a murderer id do all i could to implicate other people. Its basic common sense. What happened to beaumonts laptop . Its in the river. Portia the quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest it blesseth him that gives and him that takes. It is mightiest in the mightiest. Becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. Clerk you are indicted on one count of manslaughter. Do you plead guilty or not guilty . Guilty. Please be seated. Thank you for coming with me. Thats okay. Cumming stay tuned for more about masterpiece, but first. 10,000. 15 . 15, you think . 20,000, 21,000 . 600. 20. 18,500. 24. Its at least 40. 4,500 thousand. 650. 20. This textile would be worth about a half a million dollars. Half a million . No way. I knew it. Its just a blanket. Man laying on the back of a chair. Second man well, sir, you have a national treasure. Wow. A national treasure. Congratulations. I cant believe this. Next time. Woman this man climbed into a tenton truck and drove it straight into our hatchback. Man driving a truck into the path of a young teenage girl is not an accident. Try attempted murder. Hathaway wrong corpse. Right corpse wrong name. Whats going on . Woman the mans insane. Oh, shut up looks like theyre all in it together. Woman you know when youre a long way from home and you do stupid stuff . Misleading a Police Investigation thats not good. Cumming inspector lewis, next time on masterpiece mystery watch masterpiece video online explore our book and film club. Pbs. Org. This program is available on dvd. To order, visit shoppbs. Org or call us at 1800playpbs. Captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org masterpiece is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from host coming up on chesapeake collectibles. Appraiser i have never in my life seen this many farm tokens in one place. Guest well, its a First Official u. S. Government long arm that was commissioned by George Washington at springfield, massachusetts. Appraiser its an exciting find, and i think it would be nice if you alerted experts on grant wood to let them know that it does exist. [ trolley be ll rings ] [ horse hooves clopping ] [ train whistle blows ] [ steam rises ] announcer chesapeake collectibles is made possible in part by the mpt new initiatives fund founded by irene edward h. Kaplan. Major funding is also provided by aarp. Jeff gordon for some this line is a convenience. But for others its all they can afford. Clerk anything else . Woman no. Jeff gordon join the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger. Org. Announ cer and by center for vein restoration. Over 30 million americans suffer from painful, unsightly varicose veins. We use modern outpatient methods to help bring relief. Look better. Feel better. Live better. Welcome back to chesapeake collectibles as we explore the colorful tapestry of history through its treasures and your stories. Im rhea feikin. Public Television Viewers are curious by nature and find meaning in the artifacts of the past. You can see t