(birds singing) -Adelaide... -Not now, Wilfred.

Can't you see I'm on the warpath?

DAN: Now see the ball comes in right over him like that... poof, on my head above post... -Lisa!

-Not now, Dan.

Morning.

(keyboard tapping) (door opens) Ma'am I, oh, um....

I should have...knocked.

(laughs) Don't mind me, I'm, uh, just on my way.

(door opens) (door closes) So, uh, what is it that's so important that made you feel compelled to barge in here without knocking?

I wanted to let you know I am interested in that promotion, Ma'am.

I figured if I didn't tell you straight away then...

I didn't want you to be in any doubt.

Are you sure about that?

(laptop closes) I know you've got a lot going on at home.

Now, I want you to go into this with your eyes wide open, Lisa.

It'll mean a lot more hours, a lot more responsibility.

I know, Ma'am.

And there will be other opportunities, you know, no one will think the less of you.

I will.

(dramatic music) The proudest day of my life.

I'd never forgive myself if I let go of this opportunity, Ma'am.

Glad to hear it.

(siren wailing) You know, I think you have real leadership potential, Lisa.

So, all I need now is for you to give me your written expression of your interest.

Of course.

Thank you, Ma'am.

Hm-mm.

Can I mention it to D.S.

Winters?

Let's leave that for now.

Until we know it's confirmed.

(door opens) I wish to know the meaning of this.

It is a letter from my therapist inviting you to take part in a joint session with me.

Don't be so literal, Jasper.

I can read as well as you can.

I demand to know why it has been sent.

Dr. Helena believes that you can help me excavate the root of my hostility towards women.

Your hostility towards me, I think you mean.

Am I to conclude that you are refusing to take part, Mother?

And give you another reason to resent me?

Heavens no.

(laughs) Ah, yes, a homework assignment.

Dr. Helena has suggested that we come prepared with a list of one another's personality traits.

Both positive... and negative.

Dear boy, if you're gonna go mano-a-mano with me, you'll need to come better prepared than that.

(laughs) (dramatic music) (theme music) Your full attention, please, ladies and gentlemen, with immediate effect.

At the risk of exposing your ignorance of current affairs, can anyone apprise us of the significance of today's date?

STUDENT: It's my birthday.

(laughing) Then you have the honor of sharing it with the Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty, the sadly underrated Italian balladeer, Sergio Endrigo, and the eminent criminologist, Robert D. Keppel, who helped identify the American serial killer, Ted Bundy.

But that is not the observation I was hoping for.

Had you bothered to read the Crown Court listings, as instructed, you would be aware that the trial of Sean Hallett begins today... (tense music) (someone coughing) (slide projector clicks) not half a mile from where I am standing.

On the 9th of March last year, officers were dispatched to the property when a silent intruder alarm was triggered at 18 minutes past nine.

Arriving at 9:34 PM, they encountered a vehicle on the drive that later confirmed to belong to the defendant.

When the officers entered the building, they came across the victim's body, Vincent Soames.

He had suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The defendant, Sean Hallett, was found standing next to the victim's body.

He was arrested and taken into custody.

A hunting rifle was found in the immediate vicinity.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you will hear expert witnesses give evidence that Vincent Soames was killed with the rifle found at the scene.

You'll be presented with forensics linking the defendant to the murder weapon.

And you will also hear evidence from a close associate of Sean Hallett's that the weapon used to kill Vincent Soames belonged to him.

You'll be asked to consider a list of more than 50 items recovered from Sean Hallett's cottage in the wake of the murder.

It is the prosecution's contention that these were stolen from the Soames during his nine years of employment as groundsman and odd jobs man for their estate.

And lastly, you will hear from the victim's wife, Hester, that her husband meant to confront Sean Hallett about her missing diamond engagement ring on the very night he was murdered.

STUDENT: Sounds like it'll be over before lunch.

(students laugh) A facetious observation, but an understandable one, nevertheless.

The Crown Prosecution Service would not have opted to initiate proceedings against Mr. Hallett, had they not been convinced that the investigating officers had put forward a case backed by compelling evidence of his guilt.

But as regular attendees of my lectures would've understood by now, evidence alone is not always sufficient to determine the outcome of an investigation.

It can be ambiguous, circumstantial, contradictory.

Undue focus on one piece of evidence can cause the investigating authorities to overlook others that might lead to a different view of the case.

(student coughs) I bring this trial to your attention as a case study in the pitfalls of a criminal investigation that fails to marry evidence gathering with psychological insight.

Indeed, the interpretation of evidence without psychological understanding is like the appreciation of music without Johan Sebastian Bach.

Yes?

Why are we using this as a case study if we don't know the outcome of the trial?

Because this murder predates my consultancy with Cambridge Police and I wish it to be known that I had nothing to do with constructing the case against Sean Hallett, particularly when he is acquitted of the murder of Vincent Soames, as I believe he invariably will be.

Won't that be embarrassing, Professor, for the police officers involved?

I cannot say.

That is not an emotional state with which am familiar.

BARRISTER: And, as I was saying, it's very important for all the facts that I rely on are laid out in detail for the jury.

What were you so desperate to speak to the boss about this morning?

Nothing important.

BARRISTER: ... but also who used it.

Could have fooled me.

In layman's terms, Detective Inspector Rabbit, the defendant fingerprints were found all over the murder weapon?

That's correct.

Fingerprints were found on the stock and the barrel.

The examination report also indicated an attempt to wipe the weapon clean before we recovered it.

Thank you.

No more questions.

Lock, stock and barrel, Detective Inspector, perhaps you could explain the different parts of the weapon for the benefit of the jury?

The stock sits against the shoulder when firing, the barrel acts as a... -That's self-explanatory.

But the lock?

It's an archaic term that basically means the firing mechanism.

Including the trigger?

That's correct?

So, fingerprints on the stock and the barrel, but no mention of the lock, Detective Inspector.

Does that mean that none of the defendant's fingerprints were found on or around the trigger?

(tense music) That's correct.

As I said, the forensics found were consistent with an attempt to wipe the weapon clean.

Or maybe a better explanation is that Sean Hallett never fired it.

(murmuring) One more thing, Detective inspector, was any gun powder residue found on the defendant's hands or clothes?

The presence of gunpowder residue is no longer considered to be... A simple yes or no will suffice.

(ominous music) No.

No more questions, Your Honor.

Maybe he washed his hands before the police arrived.

A half-witted suggestion.

If he had time to wash his hands, he surely also had time to escape the scene.

Will that be Hallett's defense, that they can't prove he fired the gun.

We will have to wait and see.

But in his statement to police, he was adamant that Mr. Soames' fatal injury was sustained before he arrived.

What was he even doing there at 10 o'clock at night?

Mr. Hallett claims he was summoned by an urgent call from his employer.

Is there any way of verifying that?

His wife, Anya, cooks and cleans for the Soames, she has confirmed that she was watching television with her husband when the call was placed.

STUDENT: What about telephone records?

They confirm a call was made from a landline owned by the Soames to a mobile number registered to Sean Hallett at 9:24 PM.

That is six minutes after the silent alarm was triggered.

Has Hallett said why Soames called?

He thought he'd heard noises in the cellar, but the light bulb was gone.

He wanted me to change it and maybe check things out.

Did Mr. Soames often ask you to do things outside normal working hours?

There was no such thing as normal working hours with the Soames.

He'd call at all hours, especially him.

Expect me and Anya to drop everything.

We didn't think we could say no.

It was made pretty clear what the consequences would be.

How long did it take you to drive to the main house after receiving the call?

A few minutes.

Our cottage is by the east gate, about half a mile as the crow flies.

Did you have keys to the main house?

No.

Just the sheds and outhouses.

But...the kitchen door was open, So, I went in and... and there he was.

STUDENT: Is there any chance it was a burglary?

There were no signs of a break-in, no tyre tracks, foot marks or unexpected fingerprints.

And nothing reported missing by the Soames family in the aftermath.

Except for the aforementioned diamond ring.

Is his IQ below average, Professor?

No more so than many here today.

It just seems pretty dumb to commit a murder when you know a panic alarm has been triggered?

LISA: He wasn't aware it had been installed.

So, Soames did it without telling him?

After the ring went missing.

About 10 days before the murder.

(exhales) I should go back, support Rabbit.

Are you alright, Lis?

You seem a bit on edge, out of sorts.

Have you been reading Cosmopolitan?

17 signs you're dating an emotionally intelligent person.

Ah, we're dating now, are we?

Nah, I thought you might be worried.

Worried?

About the Professor.

No.

Brand vetoed his involvement in any investigation that predates his consultancy.

He's only seen a summary.

Still, it's not often we find ourselves on opposing sides.

It's not our investigation, Dan.

We weren't involved in investigating it.

Who says we're on opposing sides?

Oi.

Your bag.

Ooh.

(paper rustles) What's this?

That's a surprise.

For tonight.

Tonight?

Ah, can we say tomorrow?

I've got a pile of paperwork.

Yeah.

Yeah, me too.

I'll see you later.

How would you describe your relationship to the defendant, Mr. Hazeldean?

I don't know, er, friends, I guess.

At least we were, for a while.

BARRISTER: You spent time together?

Yeah.

Um, Sean let me tag along when he was working on the estate.

And what sort of work did you do together?

Planting, mending fences, vermin control, you know, that sort of thing.

Vermin control?

Yeah.

Sean taught me to shoot.

Shoot what, Mr. Hazeldean?

A bow and arrow, photographs?

Air gun, .22 rifle for rabbits and squirrels.

Later on a 6.5 caliber hunting rifle for deer.

And these weapons, they belong to your stepfather?

Er, no, um, the air gun was mine.

A gift for my 13th birthday.

The hunting rifle was Sean's.

BARRISTER: And you're sure Sean Hallett owned hunting rifle?

MR. HAZELDEAN: Yeah.

How many times did you handle it?

Ten, twenty times.

So, you think you'd recognize it?

I'm absolutely certain I would.

Your Honor, I'd like to show the witness exhibit 3A.

This is a 6.5 caliber bolt action rifle recovered from the scene and identified as the weapon that killed Vincent Soames.

Is that the same hunting rifle, Mr. Hazeldean?

It is.

And you're sure of that?

One hundred percent.

One hundred percent?

Not much room for doubt.

None.

Then you won't mind me testing you one more time.

I have photographs, Your Honor.

(tense music) A simple identity parade, if you like.

(man coughing) A single letter will do.

D?

For the record, the witness has answered D. The correct answer is F. (people gasp) (murmuring) Of course the defense will do their best to discredit Mr. Hazeldean by somehow demonstrating that is recall is faulty and not to be relied on.

Will Hallett deny it's his?

He's admitted to owning a hunting rifle in the past.

But claims it was unlicensed and that he destroyed it some years ago to avoid prosecution.

The police have no record of it then?

That is what is meant by unlicensed.

Maybe Hazeldean is lying to cover up his own involvement in his stepfather's murder.

A possibility that my colleagues at Cambridge Police will have considered.

But Mr. Hazeldean has an alibi for the night in question.

He is a medical research student and was working the late shift in A&E in Bury St. Edmunds.

That's only twenty odd miles away.

You could be there and back in an hour, right?

Yeah.

(radio playing) (pages flipping) (fingers drumming) (dramatic music) (church bell rings) (boot zips) Ah...Simon?

Shh, go back to sleep.

Hmm.

What time is it?

Well, it's still early.

It's just before six.

Oh.

Ah.

(ominous music) (keyboards clacking) (siren blaring) (people chattering) You're in early, Winters.

You too, Boss.

Hoping to catch the worm?

Ah, a word of advice, maybe.

Ah, come on in.

(door opens) (door closes) How can I help?

Um... yeah, I was hoping you might be able to tell me, uh, what I needed to do to be considered for, um... a, a promotion?

Well, you need to, uh, need to be talking to D.I.

Rabbit about that in the first place.

And I already have done, Ma'am, um, I don't think he took me seriously.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that.

That's not good.

You know, um, passing your inspector's exam is just the start of it.

You know that don't you?

I'm aware of that, Ma'am.

There are a very small amount of vacancies, and a large number of potential candidates, it's very competitive.

I guess what I'm asking is if you'll support my candidacy, uh, should an appropriate vacancy arise?

I'd be delighted to.

In due course.

There are numbers of people ahead of you in the queue.

(unzipping) Lisa, you mean.

I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you.

Okay, thank you Ma'am.

Winters, you're a good cop.

You're a very good cop.

You just need a bit more experience that's all, just a few standout cases to get you noticed further up the food chain.

Thank you, Ma'am.

Go catch those worms.

Yeah.

(door opens) Day two, ladies and gentlemen, of Regina versus Sean Arthur Hallett.

And the victim's wife, Hester, will take the stand.

Mrs. Soames was not present in the house on the night her husband was murdered.

Her inclusion as a witness for the prosecution is intended to establish motive for murder in the minds of the jury.

She will tell the court that her diamond engagement ring went missing, on a day no less, when Mr. Hallett was in the main house polishing the parquet floors.

She will also testify that she discussed with Mr. Soames on the very day he was murdered his intention to confront his handyman about the ring's disappearance.

However, in my not so humble opinion, Mrs. Soames' testimony will raise as many questions as it answers.

Would you call Sean Hallett reliable, Mrs. Soames?

It depends on what you mean by reliable.

Did he have regular days off sick, for example?

Where's this going, Miss Finch?

Your Honor, I am seeking to establish that my client was a model employee.

So much so that in nine years of service, the only time off he took was a single day of compassionate leave.

Very well.

Do you recall why compassionate leave was granted Mrs. Soames?

His wife, Anya... she was...hospitalised.

And can you say why?

(man coughing) Your Honor, I have Mrs. Hallett's permission to tell the court that 18 months ago she suffered a stillbirth.

(man coughing) How would you characterise the defendant's relationship with your husband, Mrs. Soames?

I'm not sure I could.

Well, was it better than your own relationship with him, for example?

Your Honor, I would like to show the court exhibit 6C.

(dramatic music) For the record, the witness has been given a copy of a police report that details a complaint of common assault filed by a Mrs. H. Soames against a Mr. V. Soames in March last year.

You phoned the police to complain about your husband on three other occasions, didn't you Mrs. Soames?

We were happily married for 14 years.

Did your son Anthony know that his stepfather was a violent bully?

JUDGE: Miss Finch.

(stifled coughing) Where were you on the night that your husband was murdered, Mrs. Soames?

In Corby with my mother, her home help had the night off Your mother has Alzheimer's, I believe?

That's correct.

Which conveniently renders her unable to support your alibi.

(murmuring) If Vincent was beating his wife, then maybe she has a motive for murder?

And the son too.

STUDENT: Are they the beneficiaries of the will?

Their alibis aren't exactly robust.

And he lied about recognising the gun.

At this stage, and from this distance, we have no way of knowing whether Mrs. Soames and Mr. Hazeldean are lying, or whether, like all of you, they have simply reached an opinion about Mr. Hallett's guilt or otherwise, and have interpreted the facts of the case with a degree of unconscious partiality to support their instinctive prejudice.

What I can tell you with absolute certainty, is that opinions are the enemy of justice, and the curse of the modern world.

(birds chirping) Professor?

Ah.

My spy in the camp.

If Rabbit knew I was talking to you, he'd have a conniption fit.

Can I help you with something, Detective Sergeant?

I don't know, can you?

You could have easily sent this list of stolen goods to me by email.

I surmise, therefore, that you have something to say to me in person.

You wish to apologise, for not supporting more wholeheartedly my efforts to persuade D.I.

Rabbit that Sean Hallett is not the personality type to murder over a material object.

I was going to tell you I've been offered a promotion.

Hmm.

And yet, from your demeanor, it does not appear to be a source of an unalloyed celebration.

Don't get me wrong, I want the job.

I just feel bad for Dan.

Hmm.

I have this idea of how to make it up to him.

I just... (folder flips open) I don't know how he's gonna react.

I require a taxicab, Miss Snares, with immediate effect, to Swaffham Priory.

Unless you care to give me a lift, D.S.

Donckers?

My treachery has its limits.

But mine certainly doesn't.

I've been known to borrow the Dean's car.

when he's not looking.

-Um...

If he leaves the keys in the glove compartment, what does he expect?

That really won't be necessary, Miss Snares.

You're doing me a favour.

Ten more minutes in this fusty backwater, and I'll die of boredom, or commit murder.

(playful music) Come on!

So, what exactly is so urgent?

You will see.

Where exactly are we going?

(keys jangle) You will see.

(car starts, revs) Are you sure you know what you're doing?

(car revs loudly) You'll see.

(tires squeal) (car revs loudly) (dramatic music) (tires squeal) (car doors opens) (car doors close) (dog barking) It might be better if you wait here, Miss Snares.

Don't be ridiculous.

The detectives on TV shows, they always work in pairs.

(doorbell rings) I'll be bad cop.

(door opens) Good afternoon, Mrs. Hallett, my name is Professor Jasper Tempest.

I am a consultant with Cambridge Police.

I wish to speak to you about your husband and his potential conviction for a murder he did not commit.

I've given a statement to the police.

(bang on door) May we come in?

(dog barking distantly) The police have been so fixated with the one item of real worth that has not been recovered, Mrs. Hallett, that they have failed to interrogate the fifty or so essentially worthless items that have.

and I quote, a pair of soup spoons, a blown glass figurine, a corkscrew with the head of a Mallard duck.

This is not the work of a professional thief.

More likely the trivial pickings of a kleptomaniac.

Kleptomania is associated with depression, Mrs. Hallett.

The sort of depression that might be triggered by the hormonal changes that take place during pregnancy, and which would only be exacerbated by the tragic loss of a longed-for child.

I can only speculate that your husband failed to tell the police how these items came to be in his possession in a misguided attempt to conceal something worse.

Much worse.

(dramatic music) (sniffing, crying) (soft music) MRS. HALLETT: I want you to leave now.

(dog barking distantly) Yes, of course.

(crying) Well, that wasn't especially illuminating.

On the contrary.

The case is solved.

I hate that.

You hate what Miss, Snares?

That bit in every detective show where the sleuth says they got everything they need to solve the crime and you, the viewer, are still utterly clueless.

(car door closes) Smug, I call it.

(seatbelt buckle clips) (dramatic music) And I call it purely a matter of gathering the necessary proof.

(phone ringing) (seatbelt clicks) D.S.

Donckers?

Most productive, thank you.

I wonder if I might inveigle you to provide me with a copy of the full case file, and the recordings of Sean Hallett's interviews with D.I.

Rabbit?

(car starts) Oh yes, and a mobile telephone number for his legal representative.

Drive on.

(light music) (Newton's cradle clicking) (door knocks) Lisa.

Lisa.

Lisa.

(door opens) Lisa, are you in here?

What's, what's going on?

Macaroons first and then the jellybeans.

I'm not hungry.

Oh, come on.

No, Lisa, I told you, I'm not hungry.

When were you gonna tell me?

Tell you what?

(paper unfolds) About this.

Uh (sighs)...

I wanted to, Dan, I was going to.

D.C.I.

Brand, she told me not to.

God.

I feel like such a mug.

God, all that bollocks about giving us the best chance and putting in for a transfer, you meant me didn't you, not you?

You said it yourself.

You were looking for a different job.

No.

I said a second job, not a different one!

My old man's lost a bundle on some property investment and he's lost all his savings.

So, I've been working my days off to support him.

Working days off?

Yeah.

Like driving, babysitting business people, you know, that sort of thing.

Private security work?

Dan, we are not allowed to do private security work... -Says who?

-Says the regulations.

Oh yeah, you know them so much better than me?

It's basic.

Everybody knows that.

Oh, Lisa, stop lecturing me.

-You should know that.

-You do this all the time.

Oh, that is so unfair.

Oh, but I'm too stupid for a promotion, aren't I, and I'm too stupid for you.

Dan, I never said that.

(door opens) Dan.

(door opens) (door slams closed) (door slams closed) (sighs) (church bell rings) (car hoots) Your Honor, I ask the court's permission to make a last minute addition to the witness list.

Why should I allow this, Miss Finch?

I believe this witness can offer important insight for the jury into my client's state of mind, your Honor, now that he's decided not to take the stand in his own defense.

(playful music) Professor, if I... (spraying sound) (handkerchief flapping) Professor, if I could ask you to tell the court a little about yourself.

I hold a chair at the Institute of Criminology, and also act as a consultant for Cambridge Police.

Although you have had no involvement in investigating this case, is that correct?

That is correct.

I have, however, more than 25 years' experience of applying Eysenck's PEN model to diagnose criminal personality using three broad behavioural traits: psychosis, extroversion, neurosis.

Hence the acronym, PEN.

Having studied the case file, and having played back a number of interviews the defendant was subjected to following his arrest, I am convinced Mr. Hallett is a stable introvert.

In layman's terms.

not the sort to anger or resort to violence, however badly provoked.

What's your point Professor?

(orchestral music) Professor?

My point is that Mr. Hallett would never kill his employer.

Unlike his wife.

(murmuring) Your Honor, I demand to speak.

Sit down, Mr. Hallett, you have waived the right to give evidence.

I'm changing my plea... to guilty.

I killed Vincent Soames.

Mr. Hallett, be quiet.

I regret to say that Mr. Hallett is lying.

What is more, I can prove it.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I know this may seem a little out of the ordinary, but I am persuaded that this will help our understanding of the case.

Mr. Hallett, I want you to re-enact the events of the night in question as faithfully as you can remember.

Your Honor, it was dark when I arrived and got out of the car.

Please.

A faithful re-enactment.

(tense music) (car door opens) JUDGE: Leave the seat.

Mrs. Hallett.

(dramatic music) (car door opens) I could throw the book at you, you know.

You're not supposed to speak to witnesses without our say so He prevented a miscarriage of justice.

Whose side are you on?

We are on the same side.

Then why doesn't it feel like it?

You are enthralled with the process of evidence gathering, Detective Inspector, but evidence without criminological insight is as much use as criminological insight without evidence.

We need each other... Paul.

It was Mrs. Hallett, not her husband who drove the car to the main house.

It was Mrs. Hallett who, (gun clicks) in the grip of postpartum depression shot Vincent Soames using her husband's rifle.

(Mr. Soames shouting) And it was Mrs. Hallett who phoned her husband to tell him what she had done and why.

He was trying to cover her tracks when the police arrived.

(applause) MRS. HALLETT: It's a compulsion.

An overwhelming urge to steal things.

I've had for as long as... you know, since...

I understand.

(Mrs. Hallett crying) (clears throat) I got away with it for a while.

And then suddenly you didn't.

Mr. Soames, he caught me stealing salt and pepper pots.

He said we'd lose our jobs, the cottage, everything.

(dramatic music) After everything we'd done for them.

The late nights, the weekends, being at their beck and call 24/7.

They gave me one day.

One day to bury my child.

Are you out of your mind?

Put that gun down, no, no!

(gun shot) (thumping) I wanted to confess straight away.

Oh, Anya, Anya.

(echoey talking) But Sean persuaded me not to.

He was convinced there wouldn't be enough evidence to convict him.

I'm glad the truth has come out.

I never should have let him face trial for my moment of madness.

(crying) Ah, Ingrid, Judge Jarred has honored us with her presence at dinner tonight.

She was hoping she might thank Professor Tempest personally.

You can read as well as I can.

Oh, well, Alfred, not to worry.

But please let him know that the CPS will review the case and consider whether to charge Sean Hallett with aiding and abetting murder.

And that Anya Hallett will get all of the help and support she needs.

Please, send my heartfelt thanks.

(keys jangle) Your car keys.

(Dr. Goldberg sighs) (clears throat) She is never late without reason.

(door opens) (door closes) I'm so sorry I'm late, please forgive me.

Take your time, Mrs. Tempest, please.

Time to start digging, then, for where the bodies are buried.

(club music) There he is.

-Oh, hello mate.

-It's good to see you.

Nice to see you, you're looking very well.

Thank you, you too, Sir, you too.

Can I get you a drink?

-Yeah.

-It's alright, I'll get these.

Simon?

-You alright?

-Are you well.

Yeah, Dan, how are you?

Yeah, good, I didn't know you two knew each other.

Oh yeah, me and Simon go way back, don't we, mate?

Oh yeah, we go way back.

(ominous music) CALVIN: Go on, what are you getting us?

SIMON: I think champagne, don't you?

DAN: What else, what else?

(Calvin laughs) Well, thanks for having me out, lads.

(door closes) Hmm.

(violin music) (paper scrumpes) Well, shall I make a start?

Hmm?

What you've shared with me over our sessions to date, Jasper, is that your father was a violent alcoholic.

(hitting, shouting) (hitting, shouting) And you've disclosed that he took his own life... rather than face up to his responsibilities as a father, and indeed as a husband.

And you've also revealed, and possibly for the first time, that you suffered a trauma in the wake of his suicide, which cast a dark shadow over your subsequent lived experience.

And which you now believe is of vital importance to share...with your mother.

That day... Miss Lowden was unwell, I came home from my piano lesson early.

(dramatic music) I...I...I saw him, Mother, hanging there.

I hid in the coal cellar, reappeared at the appropriate time, pretended that I had seen nothing.

Oh, oh my poor boy.

You never said a word?

You didn't tell a soul about it?

It's surely no surprise that you feel angry and resentful, Jasper?

But you persist in directing it not against the father who abused and abandoned you, but against your poor, traumatised self, and against the mother who did her best to protect you.

And who brought you up single-handedly to win a double first at Cambridge.

So perhaps it's time to ask yourself the question, why is that, Jasper?

Yes.

Why is that, Jasper?

Because you betrayed him, Mother.

You betrayed us.

Wha... Betrayal is such a terrible word.

But one I use advisedly.

Would you like to expand on that a little, Jasper?

I saw you, Mother... with another man.

And I have long believed it accounts for his misery and his search for salvation in the bottom of a bottle.

(crying) I was never unfaithful to your father.

And I would feel no blame if I had been.

After he died, I sought comfort from a kind and gentle man.

The sort of comfort no son could give a mother.

Oh.

(crying) (door opens) (door closes)