- Vera investigates the death of an extreme sports fanatic, who was seen by a group of campers jumping into the lake while on fire from head to toe.
- After catching on fire, extreme sports enthusiast Gideon Frane jumps into a lake and apparently drowns. An anonymous letter telling Gideon he will burn in hell leads to an ex-girlfriend Izzy, who accused Gideon of stalking her for a year, but, though her friend Kit admits to sending the letter, Vera eliminates him as a murder suspect. Gideon's former headmistress Vivienne Ripman tells Vera he was one of a group of "golden lads and lasses" but an ex-girlfriend Amanda disappeared after a suicide attempt and another friend, Jamie, became a drug addict. Amanda contacts Vera to clear herself - she is now a nun at a convent whose head, Sister Benedict, has happy memories of teaching Vera. Jamie is located and is almost the victim of the same poison that actually killed Gideon. Vera notes that Colin Culvert, a teacher at Gideon's school, died in a car crash in 2007 and that Jamie, an heir to a fortune, has donated all his money to a charity researching spina bifida, a condition one of Colin's children has. Vera deduces that somebody close to Colin blamed Gideon and Jamie for his death and is exacting revenge.—don @ minifie-1
- DCI Vera Stanhope and DS Joe Ashworth investigate the death of Gideon Frane, who was seen by a group of campers jumping into the lake while on fire from head to toe. Frane was an investment banker who was taking some time off and spending it at the Craith adventure park in which he had invested. He was into extreme sports and there is evidence of a fight at Frane's campsite. Pathologist Billy Cartwright determines that he drowned and lamp oil was used to set him alight. Frane was apparently stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend Izzy Rawlings, who is relieved to hear he's died. Izzy friend Kit is found to have sent an anonymous note to Frane and also had a go at him in the parking lot but Kit got the worst of it. The investigation takes a different turn when the police learn that Frane attended St. Finan's school, whose students saw him jump into the lake. When it's determined that Frane was poisoned with atropine, the police look into the situation at the school.—garykmcd
- Young campers hear then witness someone covered in flames, run shouting from the woods, plunge off the cliffside to the water below; some of the group run to the person across the waterway in the moonlight. The next day Vera hears from pathologist Billy about the drowning, as she witnesses the burnt body Billy is attending. Billy explains to Vera fire burns upwards, the flames started at the man's ankles. Joe comes to Vera explaining the man was Gideon Frane, twenty-five, information provided by the manager of the campgrounds, who knew Gideon. The latest member of Vera's squad, Shep, former military police member updates Vera, Joe after speaking with the kids witnessing the man on fire, dive into the water last night. Vera talks to Jim McKinnon, Craith Adventure Centre manager, who informs Vera how Gideon saved the Centre from folding, both with money and ideas. McKinnon is overly revealing facts about the grounds and Gideon, stating he went with friends to the pub and Gideon spent the night in his yurt, the Mongolian tent he erected on the property. Vera, Joe look over the yurt's interior suggesting there might have been a struggle; Vera comments what might had set Gideon alight? Joe reviews what they saw, hypothesizing, the fight started inside and moved out of the tent. They pass, then stop, recognizing the girl from the campers, waiting for a bus; offering her ride home, she accepts, dropping her at home to her brothers playing in the driveway.
Vera plays video of Gideon Frane's adventurous play at the campgrounds, identifying him for her squad members. They know what he did for a living, how he played at his extreme sports, but they do not know what set the fire on his body and who he might have been fighting with beforehand. Vera issues orders to work the case from both sides, the business and personal. She asks Mark to look at Gideon's business background, Shep and Kenny to look into his personal life, via friends.
Gideon drowned according to Billy, lungs full of water, the fire engulfing him started at his ankles, and spread upward before he jumped. The fire consumed sixty percent of his body, his clothing allowed for the flame to spread and burn until he hit the water. Billy tells Vera, it is unlikely he would have survived had he not drowned; his stomach contents went to the forensics lab for a toxicology analysis, results pending.
DCI Stanhope is at home frying sausages, she is imagining the fire engulfing Gideon, when oil is splashed burning the top of her hand. Joe calls Vera with Frane's ex-girlfriend named Izzy Rawlins' place of employment, a hair salon, which Joe got from McKinnon. Vera, Joe visit Izzy at her employment, she is a hairstylist at the salon. Joe asks her if she has had any contact with Gideon lately. She replies, you must be kidding, the file of complaints with the police must be a foot thick. Vera says they must be cross-purposing their efforts. The detectives explain they are investigating the death of Gideon Frane and they were hoping Izzy could help them. Izzy responds Gideon's dead, oh thank god.
Vera returns to HQ, announcing the amount of abuse Izzy was subject to at the hands of Gideon; ninety-seven instances over the past year, forcing her to move out. Joe recognizes the pattern of abuse incurred by Izzy, although no arrests, nor citations of any kind. Nearly a year of harassment with no arrests; Joe shares the pattern is obvious. Izzy and Kit are interviewed separately. Kit O'Dowd had offered his place as a refuge for Izzy due to Gideon's continued harassment; Izzy felt safe staying with Kit, her fellow hair-stylist. Izzy and Kit say they were home when Gideon drowned; Vera has Kenny validate the alibi, while she and Joe visit the pathology lab with Billy providing more information. Billy determines the object starting the fire was metal, a piece found in his ankle provided the metal-evidence.
Vera revisits the campground, finds the lantern kicked by Gideon, starting his inferno; she shows Joe the charred remains, leading Vera to believe it was murder. For now, she thinks it was thrown at him, striking him at his feet. DC Shepherd said Gideon's co-worker provided footage of a one-sided scuffle in their employee parking lot. Vera watches video of a fight in a parking garage, obviously one-sided between Kit and Gideon. McKinnon brings in Gideon's mail, a note reading burn in hell delivered to Gideon, determined from SOCO, it was from Kit, making him a suspect. Vera has Kit come in for questioning; he simply wanted the abuse of Izzy to stop. Kit opens his shirt revealing bruising; Vera informs him of the fight caught on CCTV where Gideon worked. He does know why he chose the phrase he did, it was biblical in nature, maybe due to the church school Gideon attended. Vera learns Gideon went to a private school. Kit claims he did not kill Gideon, saying if he wanted to kill, the tools he uses for a trade would be likely be his weapons of choice, rather than burning the man to death. Vera has Kit released, Joe questions her decision; she tells Kenny hard evidence is needed for an arrest. Vera has Shep keep digging into Gideon's past; he went to the same school as the kids at the lake watching him fall to his death. Joe is ordered to secure a warrant to search Kit's apartment.
Vera goes home for the evening; Joe follows with news nothing found in Kit's apartment; Vera doesn't think Kit killed Gideon. Joe questions why the yurt looked the way it did, with all kinds of clues left. What kind of crook lights up a victim, and watches him jump in water to his death? There must be a better explanation; Joe criticizes Vera's lack of meal planning as unhealthy, she dismisses him for the night.
Vera picks up Joe mentioning everyone at the quarry said they heard an argument with voices except for one person, Ruthie Culver; noting there was one voice she heard and only one. Vera, Joe visit Mary Culver, learning her father is a former CID, she is widowed, husband died in a car accident, one son was born with spina bifida after her husband was killed. Ruthie Culver says it was one voice she heard when Gideon was on fire; the detectives exit the home and greet Ron Devreux. Vera tells Joe they finally have something to cling to with one voice heard. Vera calls Billy asking if it was possible for Gideon to cause his own injury; Billy admits Gideon could have caused his own fatality.
DC Sheppard shows Vera, Joe pictures of Amanda before and after her suicide attempt, stating she disappeared afterward; nobody has since heard from her, whereabouts unknown. Joe informs Vera the school master is Dr. Vivienne Ripman, the same leader when Gideon attended years ago; they go to St. Finan's High School. Vera, Joe are in the school, Vera eyeballs the plaque wall of notables, meeting Dr. Vivienne Ripman, School Master, noticing Gideon Frane's name etched as Head of School. Ripman is curious why the police want to visit the school where the victim attended years ago. Vera informs the Master the visit is due to a former girlfriend Gideon had at the time, Amanda Adelaide. Master Vivienne remembers them as quite a pair in the day, but Vera counters with Amanda dropping out and her suicide attempt. Jamie Levinson's picture is shown to the Master, she refers a last known address to be prison due to drug offenses. Jamie, Gideon and Amanda are in the school picture together, looking like carefree students. Vera took notice of the Gideon Frane wing plaque on the wall where they are walking. The Master takes the lead, trying to get to her next class. Gideon's family endowed the school with the funds for the building according to Dr. Ripman. She excuses herself for the classroom as Vera, Joe exit, speculating on past events at the school. Jamie was expelled for fighting with Gideon, likely from affairs of the heart, speculates Ripman.
Joe takes a call from Shep saying a phone call came from a nun, in an outreach facility for abused women. Vera, Joe visit the facility, meet Sister Claire, who is Amanda from St. Finan's. They listen to her speak of the suicide attempt, Gideon's influence over her, the end to the affair with the victim, also indicating there has been no contact with Jamie Levinson for a long time. She speaks of Gideon being violent toward others, but never her, she feels the police would want to know. Vera tells Joe not all the truth came out of Amanda during their visit. Vera encounters Sister Benedict walking back to their vehicle, the Sister tells Joe her former pupil was Vera Stanhope. DC Kenny Lockhart informs Vera a message from Billy would prompt a visit to the pathology lab; the toxicology results are back on Gideon.
Billy declares Gideon Frane was poisoned with atropine; the quantity would have proved fatal if he had not drowned first. The foliage and berries from belladonna or deadly nightshade are common in the U.K. Joe says the taste is bitter, it could have been mixed with the vodka found in the yurt. Atropine is an alkaloid found in the plant. Gideon's behavior exiting his yurt shows him exhibiting behavior from the intake of the poison, i.e. arguing with someone who is not there, kicking the lantern as he voiced anger at something, accidently setting himself afire and leaping to his death in the quarry-water.
Vera speculates Dr. Ripman, Amana, Jamie and Gideon had a connection and she eliminates Kit O'Dowd, Izzy Rawlins as suspects. The man we need to talk with is Jamie, pointing to the board Vera informs the room at HQ. Kenny visits Kit at work letting him know he is no longer a suspect; Kit insists Kenny sit for an adjustment to his hair dye job, declaring someone might think he was responsible.
Joe loudly announces he found Jamie Levinson; he resides in a drug-rehab center apartment; Vera and he call on him. The living quarters are tiny, filthy where Jamie lives. He talks about not keeping up with news from outside, as he is visibly shaken of the fate of his former mate Gideon. He pours himself and Vera a drink, saying he has not talked to Gideon since school. DC Kenny Lockhart walks into the HQ room, new and improved look showing the natural graying temples, a comment comes from DC Shep complimenting him; he asks about Vera's location, telling Shep what he had can wait. Jamie denies the attack of Gideon because of Amanda, says he has been away due to addiction problems, suddenly he lunges toward the bathroom, collapsing to the floor, simultaneously Vera falls from the table to the floor, experiencing effects from the drink; Joe rushes to her side.
Vera is on the edge of a hospital bed, declaring after twenty-four hours of observation she has learned atropine and angina don't mix. She attempts to ready herself to leave, but stumbles from the bedside to a chair, as Joe and Shep insist she remain there, simply give them orders to follow-up on the case; release yourself when you are ready later. Vera directs Joe to re-visit Dr. Ripman, questioning the use of atropine while Shep is told to look into Jamie Levinson's background; it does not make sense he lives in squalor, but could afford St. Finan's.
Joe's conversation with Dr. Ripman is cold, calculating when addressing atropine and asking if she knew anyone wanting to kill Gideon Frane. On his way to the door, he notices Colin Culvert's name plaque-listed as a deceased former instructor; Colin Culvert was Mary Culvert's deceased husband, Ruthie's late father.
Vera is at the foot of Jamie's hospital bed asking about his tainted alcohol. He doesn't know who spike his pint, because people are constantly coming and going from his place.
Joe pays Mary Culvert a visit, learning her husband died from a car crash, as her daughter Ruthie comes in from school. Ruthie stands listening to her mother's conversation with Joe, telling her one son Max was born with spina bifida months after Colin had passed. You live the life you got, she tells Joe, answering his inquiry about how she manages; she does say her father, Ronald Devreux, a retired CID, helps out shuttling the kids. Mary comments in a somber tone that she misses Colin, as she peels a carrot. Joe leaves her.
Vera is back to HQ, alerting everyone the hospital will call when Jamie is fit to be interviewed, she wants to know when it occurs and she asks Joe what Dr. Ripman had to add. Joe recounts there was nothing more on atropine, but she did become edgy when he spoke of Jamie, she iced over when the entrance exam results were mentioned; and he mentions he saw Colin Culvert had passed according to a plaque when Gideon was head boy, Amanda attempted suicide and Jamie got expelled. Shep informs Vera, Joe a substantial income from a trust went to Jamie, with Vera declaring the fact he lives like a sewer rat, asking where the money goes. Shep says he donates it to a spina bifida charity. Vera ascertains the donation is an atonement.
Vera and Joe re-visit Sister Claire f/k/a Amanda, telling her about Jamie being poisoned like Gideon. Amanda is surprised to hear of the poisoning. She thought Jamie killed Gideon but she wanted him to come forward on his own accord. Vera wants to know the connection with Colin Culvert. Joe guesses it was about exam results. Amanda said Gideon cheated on his exams, Colin knew and took the information to the Master. Ripman covered up the cheating, Gideon used the cover as a way to move about freely, being protected. Amanda explains Mr. Culvert began drinking after the cover-up, you could smell it on his breath. Gideon told Colin he was going to report him for drinking alcohol at school. The three students watched him cry and they thought it was funny. The three were laughing about Colin's state, and his daughter Ruthie overheard them as she stood by listening; he later crashed his car on the way home.
Vera, Joe stop by the Culvert home, ask Mary Culvert if Ruthie is around, they would like to ask her a couple of questions; she is gone from home, however, seen walking alone along the highway. Vera issues bulletins alerting all of her disappearance, considered a prime suspect, young and vulnerable; giving orders find her. Vera ponders why now after seven years was Gideon killed, with an attempt on Jamie's life, too. Vera knows someone is repeating their actions seven years after Colin's accident, but who? Vera says it was known Gideon hounded Colin to death seven years ago and recently he repeated the same method to Izzy. Vera shares with Joe why did the killer bother Jamie? He has been paying a penance since Colin's death.
Vera grills Amanda for anything Ruthie could have heard or said the day her father died; Amanda has not seen Ruthie, giving Vera an emphatic no. Sister Benedict meets Vera, reminding her when she ran away, Vera thought it was fear of punishment for not having a clean uniform. Sister Benedict reminds Vera it was her father not returning in time to make certain his child had a clean uniform. You just did not want your Dad getting in trouble, so you did not say anything and took the blame. Vera chases out the door following a hunch inspired by the Sister Benedict story.
Vera phones Joe believing Ruthie is likely protecting someone, it was not her killing Gideon. Joe is at Culvert's, finding belladonna plants on the premises, he tells Vera he thinks he knows who it was. Joe asks Mary, after Colin died, was there someplace special Ruthie used to go with your dad? It turns out it was the library. Vera looks for Ruthie, finds her alone, reading a book entitled A Dark, Dark Tale. Vera asks when did you realize it was your granddad? Ruthie guessed it was him after he asked her if she had heard what happened at the quarry.
Vera interviews Ronald Devreux, admitting he killed Gideon Frane. It was unintentional what happened to Jamie Levinson, the whiskey bottle was there for him to find, not to drink. Devreux guessed wrong on Levinson, Jamie said he had quit drinking. Devreux went to Dr. Ripman to tell her he was going to turn her in for covering up what Gideon did. Ripman threatened to stop the death benefit payment for Colin if he went ahead with the disclosure. Devreux buried the fact Colin was drunk at the wheel when he was killed, so the impasse existed between Ripman and him. Ruthie and her mother didn't know about the coverup with Colin. Devreux tells Vera he had no interest in fighting the charges against him, he won't be standing trial, the smoking-related disease will kill him before it ever reaches the courts; he was told he has six-months. Vera has the final say with the ex-cop. Devreux being he considers Gideon's death payback; Vera quotes it is murder.
Vera enters an empty squad room except for Shep. She tells DCI Stanhope everyone is at the pub, but Vera has other plans. She grabs a bottle and heads to see Sister Benedict.
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