Wed, Mar 12, 2014
Ronnie and new partner Joe Hawkins, who has come from the child protection unit, investigate a gruesome double murder where the victims' hands and teeth were removed. One of the dead men is jeweller Harry Bernstein and suspicion falls on his wife Lindsay and her lover David as well as business partner Micky Belker. However when a box containing Harry's missing hands is sent to his sister Rebecca the case takes a different turn as she is on the jury in the trial of Dale Horgan, a gangster and drug dealer whom Ronnie is desperate to see convicted after he was acquitted of shooting a little girl in the back and jury intimidation is now a clear motive. The prosecutors are afraid that an over-emotional Ronnie may be a bad witness in the face of Horgan's icy barrister Eleanor Richmond and coach him in staying objective. Jake applies to have Eleanor discharged from the jury and ultimately the whole case is to be tried by a single judge. It looks as id Ronnie is never going to nail Horgan but then Joe comes up with an unexpected witness.
Wed, Mar 19, 2014
Philip Gardner, a psychiatrist specialising in troubled adolescents, is stabbed to death and Ronnie initially believes that one of his clients is the culprit. However Philip's younger wife Alison lies about her alibi on then night of the murder and it is unintentionally negated by her daughter Lisa. Eventually Alison admits that she believed her husband to be having an affair with a girl called Clare and that she did kill him but she was not in her right mind at the time, striking out in frustration. When her mother tells the police that Alison met her husband when she was his patient Kate questions whether murder is the right charge to put to her though Jake is determined to go ahead and at the trial the true identity of Clare is, somewhat ironically, revealed.
Wed, Mar 26, 2014
When a car is pulled from a river with a skeleton in its boot the pathologist reckons both have been there for a quarter of a century and eventually the dead man is shown to be Taylor Kane, one of the first black undercover officers, who disappeared at the time of the Brixton riots. Despite no corpse being found at the time his end of service record was signed by his superior officer Alex Greene, declaring him dead. Soon afterwards the murder weapon is identified as a truncheon belonging to racist policeman Darren Grady. Emotions run high as Jake, against Henry's advice, promises Taylor's sister Nikki that she will get justice and prosecutes Grady for murder. To assist the case Ronnie approaches a former colleague in order to obtain the truth about Taylor's death.
Wed, Apr 2, 2014
Unemployed family man Neil Lester is battered to death with a paper-weight in his own home, having convinced his wife that he has been working for the past nine months. One hundred sixty thousand pounds were put into his bank account, apparently by pensioner Eddie Stewart, whose friend Felix pawned Neil's computer recently. Eddie's prints are also found at Neil's house and he is charged with murder. Eddie's daughter turns out to be Ronnie's old boss Natalie and, behind the prosecutors' backs, they try to gather evidence to prove his innocence, not helped by Natalie's filial outbursts in court. They find out that Neil impersonated Eddie to secure a loan, leading to a confrontation. But did that confrontation lead to murder?
Wed, Apr 9, 2014
The body of elderly businesswoman Ranya Habib is found at a suicide spot but foul play is suspected after a neighbour tells Ronnie he heard her arguing with somebody. Ranya was meeting Egyptian doctor Yafeu Elsayed, whom Ronnie suspects of terrorism though he claims to be Ranya's specialist. CCTV footage links Ranya's daughter-in-law Safia to the crime scene and she is arrested and charged with murder. However it transpires that Safia opposed Ranya's desire for Safia's little daughter Laila to be subject to genital mutilation by Elsayed and Kate tips off Sania's lawyer Madeline Morgan to this effect, as well as persuading Joe to prosecute Elsayed for causing actual bodily harm to women. This alters everything.
Wed, Apr 16, 2014
Maids find blood-stained sheets but no body in a hotel room, booked with a credit card stolen from businessman Charles Hutton by Rufus Barton, a school classmate and secret lover of Hutton's daughter Georgia. Georgia admits that she had a miscarriage in the room but evidence shows that the baby was born alive and the young couple are arrested for infanticide - despite the absence of a corpse. At their trial, where they are represented by smooth Maitland Cosby, a long-standing adversary of Jake, they claim to have no knowledge of what happened to the baby but its little body is later found and Charles Hutton admits to helping with its disposal. Cosby submits that the infant's death was accidental. The prosecutors hope that the jury will disagree.