Goofs

Dalgliesh orders that a APB be put out for Garry Ashe when he goes missing. An APB is an "All Points Bulletin" and is an Americanism. It is not used by British police, so Dalgliesh would never have used this term.

The armed police pursuing Garry Ashe are equipped with L1A1 rifles and Browning Hi-Power pistols. However, the Browning used is the HP-DA, a double action variant, introduced in 1983, whereas this episode takes place in 1976.

DS Miskin picks up a Browning 9mm pistol from the wounded officer. But when she fires it, the pistol is a .45 calibre Colt M1911. Immediately after she is holding the Browning once more.

After DS Miskin fires the Browning pistol, she hears a high pitched noise, and Dalgliesh's voice sounds muffled to her. This sort of hearing damage might happen after an explosion, but not after firing one 9mm round in the open air.

After DS Miskin fires the pistol, she is then shown holding the Browning HP-DA. But the hammer is not cocked, as it would be on a semi-automatic pistol which has just been fired.

Ulrick is at home waiting for his son when Dalgliesh calls on him. He is playing classical music which sounds like it comes from a hi-fi. But when he turns the music off he was playing a 78rpm record on a wind up gramophone. These old gramophones had no amplification, and the sound they produced was scratchy and nothing like the sound of the recording Ulrick was playing.

Dalgliesh drives his Jaguar on to Ulrick's street. As he turns on to the street, he drives over a speed ramp. These things did not exist in Britain in the 1970s, and only began to be used some years later.

Ulrick signs his witness statement with a Parker fountain pen. However, the pen is clearly modern, and bears no resemblance to the Parker pens made in the 1970s. It would have been very easy to have found a pen from that era if anyone had cared to do it.

Dalgliesh examines Janet Carpenter's cheque book and bank statements in her house after her death. They are issued by the Abbey National. However, this episode is set in 1976, and the Abbey National did not start to provide current accounts with cheque books until 1988.