- Mr. Willis? - Miss McGregor.
Claire McGregor. I would've rung the bell if I'd known you were in.
- I had to see a tenant. We're round the side. - OK.
Well, the street seems nice and quiet.
Yeah.
Got its own entrance.
Fairly separate from the rest of the house.
The best flat, really.
The last tenant moved out at the end of summer term.
Are most of your flats let out to students?
Yeah. Not as many now, though.
Not since they built the halls of residence on campus.
Yeah, hopefully, that's where I'll be going next September. That's why I'm after a short let.
All right. Well.
It's kind of... kind of musty, isn't it?
Open the front door for a while if you want.
Sorry.
Er, does it have central heating?
Course.
This does your central heating and hot water.
There you go. Warm up in no time.
Was it cleaned when the last people moved out?
Should've been, yeah. Tenants' responsibility to keep this property clean.
You wouldn't believe how some people live, though. Disgusting.
Bedroom.
I'll bring some bulbs round.
Hmph.
This is from last April.
Well, there you go. Guardian readers. Unhygienic.
No respect for property.
Well, that should start coming through hot in a minute.
So, what d'you think? You know how much it is. Usual terms.
Well, it's gonna need a really good clean.
Well, you want Buckingham Palace, you gotta pay for it.
Yeah, I might replace their fridge.
Been meaning to get a dozen or so, put them in all of my flats. Works out cheaper.
Well, you can give this one to the medical college as a source of penicillin.
Well, it's quiet and I do need to study before the beginning of next term, so...
Oh, it's quiet. It's very quiet.
Once you get it sorted out, it's a nice little flat. And it's secure.
That's important around here.
- Why? - You'll be living on your own, I take it.
Single girl.
Can't be too careful, can you?
I'll come round in the morning with some light-bulbs, give you a bit of paperwork to sign.
Thanks, Mr. Willis.
Well, I guess I'll start bringing my things in from the car.
- Didn't bring all that from Australia? - No. I can't believe how much I've accumulated.
I can hardly lift some of it.
Like my wife, the amount of crap she lugs about with her.
Thanks!
- All right? - You had a problem with the bathroom.
- Yeah, it's just... - Let's have a look, then.
There's a leak.
- Girls downstairs say water's dripping through. - It would, wouldn't it?
Look at that. Look.
Look, it's all coming away.
So when you have a shower, there's nothing to stop it running down the wall behind the bath.
Right. So?
Next thing you know you've got dry rot and the ceiling has fallen in.
Talking expensive repairs.
But the bathroom's really damp. It's not very well ventilated.
Which is why you've got a fan.
Which you've broken.
Just don't have a shower. You'll just keep pouring water down behind the bath.
- I was wondering... - You know what I'm wondering?
I'm wondering how it got like this in the first place. You see this, this mould?
That'll come off with a bit of detergent.
Got to keep the place clean, otherwise you will get that.
But isn't it worthwhile getting someone in to fix the tiling and the ceiling and replace the fan?
It all costs money.
Yeah, but it's your property that's being damaged.
I'll see what I can do.
Could do the mastic myself.
Well, have you got any idea when? Because I'd like to have a shower sometime.
- You've got a new neighbour. - Have I?
Who's that, then?
Cleo, Kate. Something like that.
Taken the garden flat. Aussie.
- Right. How long's she been over? - How do I know?
Been living in London for a few weeks. Starting a course up here in September.
Nice. Can't know many people, then.
Don't get too excited. She's only taken it for eight months.
No, I meant it'll be nice to have somebody down there again.
Especially a girl. Not that I don't get on with the girls downstairs, but they're like a herd of cows.
They slam doors all the time. They must think I don't exist. They must think I'm so unimportant...
They pay their rent. I'll come round and redo your mastic.
Hello, Miss McGregor? Alan Willis.
Hello? Anyone in?
Miss McGregor, you OK?
Hello? Hello, Miss McGregor?
Miss McGregor? You OK?
Miss McGregor!
I can't feel anything.
She doesn't feel all that cold, though.
You're right. Have you called an ambulance?
Why?
So that they can check her! Will you call a doctor or something?
She doesn't need a doctor, Liz. She's dead.
Somebody's got to declare her dead. You can't do it. Someone's got to issue a death certificate.
- You remember, when your dad died... - All right. Just shush a minute.
- Got to think this through. - What is there to think about?!
Will you shut up and listen for one minute?
I'm worried about how she might have died.
It's not your problem. We get a doctor round and they will tell us.
That's not what I mean.
Supposing she was killed by fumes from the boiler.
Carbon monoxide, Liz.
When it fires up, the flame's sort of orange. I think that's a sign.
Well, how would we know? I mean, for sure. How could we tell?
Boilers like that have to be serviced at least once a year, otherwise they give off these fumes.
Depending on how strong they are, you might breathe them a few minutes before they kill you.
So when was it last serviced?
It's got to be two years ago. It's probably three.
- Shit! Alan! - I was gonna get it done when I redecorated.
But then she came along, so I put it off until after she'd moved out.
Look, look, look. If it is giving off carbon monoxide, right, you can't tell.
There's no ventilation. I can't think of another reason.
But it could be anything. Could be a brain haemorrhage. She could be on drugs.
No. If it is the boiler, right, I'm in trouble.
I'm in big trouble. I'll go to prison.
I will go to prison or at the very least I'll get a huge fine.
Same thing happened to a landlord not long ago.
- What, they'll hold you responsible? - Course they would. Who else?
I tell you, Liz, they'll bang me up for this. Think about it, right?
We'll lose everything.
The tenants move out. No tenants, no rent. We can't repay the mortgage. We go belly-up.
Alan!
- Shit, Liz! Why me? - You're too mean to do anything properly!
Keep your voice down.
All right, look. Before we do anything else, we get that boiler checked out, right?
Now, I will go and buy a carbon monoxide detector and then we will know.
Thanks.
Well, now we know.
We should call a doctor. The longer we put this off, the more trouble we're gonna be in.
No.
- What? - There's another way.
- What d'you mean? - We move her.
- We move her. We take her out of the flat. - What are you talking about?
If she's not in there, we can't be blamed, can we?
Are you mad? We can't move her!
That is a disgusting idea. I can't even believe that you thought this.
Never mind thinking it, Liz. I'm gonna do it.
Look, I don't want to go to prison! Look, we can get away with this.
- Don't include me in this! - Look, I just thought how we can do it.
Alan, we can't move her.
Apart from anything else, what if we get caught?
Then I'll be in even bigger trouble, right? But if we don't get caught, we can get away with this!
- This is crazy. - Liz. Liz, please. Please.
Please stand by me on this one.
You have got as much to lose as I have. Please.
I need you on my side.
Watch it!
Hold it!
- Why can't we take our car and swap her there? - We don't want to leave tyre tracks.
Grab her feet.
I can't believe we did that.
I almost wish I'd reported it as soon as I'd found her.
Taken the consequences.
It's too late for this.
It's done. You can't undo it.
If they trace her back to the flat, Liz...
It was a really bad stupid thing to do, but it's done.
You've got to live with it. We'll just have to hope they don't link her to the flat.
I'll have to go back there in the morning. Get that boiler out.
- Is that a good idea? - I won't rest till it's out of there.
It's the cause of all this.
Hiya!
- All right, Mr. Willis? - What d'you want?
Just come down to say hello to the new tenant. I come down yesterday. Is she in now?
No. She's at work, I expect. I'm just mending a dripping tap.
No, college. 'Cause you said she was a student, right?
She's not here.
Unless she's gone back to London for her stuff, 'cause her car's not here.
Oh, yeah.
Listen, while you're here, could you have a look at my kitchen taps? They're all loose at the bottom.
When I come and do your bathroom.
You couldn't look at it now? Also, the fridge is noisy and smelly. It's a sure sign of it getting old.
- Is it? - Yeah, 'cause I...
I noticed you brought a new fridge in here yesterday.
You was with a woman. Was that your wife?
- We did bring in a new fridge, yeah. - Yeah.
D'you think you could think about replacing mine?
- I'm doing this now, right? I'll get you a fridge. - Oh, would you? I'd really appreciate that.
Hiya. I'm from Pizza Pizzazz. Is Miss McGregor in?
- No. - No, she's out, mate. Probably at college.
It's just that I delivered a pizza the night before last. I brought these.
It's our new takeaway menu with some vouchers.
- I'll drop 'em down later. - I'll leave 'em on the table.
D'you know when she'll be back? I came yesterday but she wasn't around.
- I got no idea, mate. - Well, thanks. I'll see you.
Cheers.
What's happened?
I'm still trying to get the bloody boiler out. I need more tools.
Oh, shit!
For God's sake, what's the matter?
What d'you think is the bloody matter?
Taking this in your stride, are you? Another normal day, shifting bodies about?
Just calm down!
- I need these. - Alan, Alan.
- I know you're upset but you've got to get a grip. - You don't know the latest.
I'm in the flat. Bloody pizza delivery boy turns up. He delivered a pizza to Claire on Tuesday night.
- He saw her on the night she died? - Yeah.
- Did you tell him who you were? - No, I didn't say anything.
Bloke from upstairs was there as well.
What were you doing, having a party?
- Just a minute. This tenant from upstairs. - Tim Jolly.
- He just turned up on the doorstep? - Came to introduce himself to Claire.
What, at nine o'clock in the morning?
Did he say anything?
Alan.
- He saw us carrying the box round there. - He didn't.
He saw us taking a new fridge in. He didn't mention anything about us taking the old one out.
- He might not have seen that. - If he did, he saw me drive off in her car.
He's noticed her car's gone. He didn't say he saw you driving it away.
It doesn't mean he didn't... Shit, Alan!
- He thinks we delivered a new fridge! - There isn't a new fridge!
Claire? Are you there?
Oh, hi. I think I've got the right house.
I'm looking for Claire, Claire McGregor.
Yeah, this is the right place. I'm Alan Willis, the landlord.
Ah.
Doing a few odd jobs for her. Things need fixing.
Right.
- Is she there? - No.
No, she wasn't here earlier when I came round, but I've got a key, so...
Yeah, I see. Um... You mind if I come in for a moment?
Yeah, well, I'm a bit worried about her, actually.
You see, I haven't been able to contact her since she moved in on Tuesday.
I came by yesterday, but there was no reply.
I've been trying her mobile as well, but...
Five missed calls.
I've called her five times since Tuesday night.
Where is she?
I dunno. I met her here on Tuesday, I showed her round the flat. That was the last time I saw her.
- And you haven't been back since? - No.
Well, yeah, I... I did...
I dropped by yesterday morning, just drop off some light-bulbs. She wasn't here then either.
Perhaps she's driven back to London, get some more of her stuff.
No, she can't have done.
No, she can't drive. That was my car.
When I met her, she got out of it. She had all her stuff in it.
I know. I drove her over here and parked outside but then I had to go.
So I left her here with the keys
and said I'd come back the next day, pick up the car and have a look at the flat.
- You're her boyfriend, then? - No, no, just a friend.
When I came by yesterday and the car wasn't here, I don't know why I didn't call the cops then.
- But you didn't? - No.
It's not so much that she's not here or that even she's not answering her mobile,
it's the fact that the car's gone.
I mean, she has the only set of keys. But she definitely can't drive.
I'm calling the cops.
No, don't do that. I'm sure there's an explanation.
No, I don't like this.
At the very least the car's been stolen.
Hello, love.
Yeah, nearly finished. I'll... I'll be done in a minute.
D'you what?
No, I'm fine.
Everything's fine.
All right. I'll see you, then. Bye.
Come on, love. Come up to bed.
There is no point in going over and over it.
There's nothing else that we can do.
But wait.
They'd have found her by now.
And if they'd linked her to the flat, we'd have heard.
Alan, look, I'm not happy about what we did...
...but we did it in order to keep our lives from falling apart.
If all you're gonna do is sit here brooding and drinking, then there wasn't much point.
- You may as well hand yourself into the police. - Maybe I should.
We're gonna live with this for the rest of our lives.
If we've been lucky and we've got away with it, then we just thank God for that.
Hello. D'you live here?
- Are you from the council? - No, police.
- Ben Stacey. Does he still live here? - As far as I know, he does.
- When was the last time you saw him? - That would be a couple of days ago, I think.
- What do you want him for? - You haven't seen him since then?
Passport. There he is.
I'll have a copy of that photo made.
Driver's licence, student ID, credit card.
Not exactly doing a runner, was he?
Here we go. The V5 for the Renault.
Bought it 18 months ago, locally. Must've been when he came up for university.
So, what was our mystery girl doing topping herself in it?
Slater.
Oh, hi, Tom. Hey, what's it say?
No, put it on my desk, will you? Thanks a lot, Tom. Cheers.
Pathologist's report just came in. She had a last meal.
Pizza.
DC Parry. I was just asking your boss if you remember selling a pizza to this young lady.
I delivered a pizza to her on Tuesday.
- Claire McGregor. - D'you have an address?
7323. Hello?
Yes. Who's calling?
Just a moment, please.
It's the police.
DC Parry.
Hello. Alan Willis.
Yes, I am.
Oh, I see. Um...
Well, I can be there in about 20 minutes.
Yeah, all right, then. Bye.
Needs access to the flat.
They've traced her there already, then?
Didn't say.
Just needs me to turn up with the key.
Mr. Willis? DI Slater. This is DC Parry.
Thought you'd prefer to open the door rather than have us force it.
- Yeah, no problem. What's it all about? - Young lady called Claire McGregor.
- Is she the tenant of this flat? - Yeah. Well, only just.
She only took the flat on Tuesday. I'm not sure if she's fully moved in yet. Nothing's wrong?
- If we could have a quick peek inside, sir. - When did you last see Miss McGregor?
Er... Tuesday afternoon, about five o'clock. I met her here when I showed her round the flat.
If you'd wait outside, sir, that'd be great.
What a dump!
Ben Stacey.
Right. Well...
There's a body in there.
It's been there a couple of days, at a guess. It's so bloody freezing in there...
Actually, I don't understand it. There are radiators but no boiler.
- I'm putting a new one in. - She rented a flat with no heating or hot water?
She took the flat on but she wasn't gonna move in for a while.
I... I explained about the boiler and let her off a few weeks' rent, you know.
- So when did you take the old one out? - Ages ago. Flat's been empty since the summer.
This... body, is it Claire?
No.
Now, you say you were last here Tuesday.
No, I last saw Claire on Tuesday.
I actually popped back Wednesday and Thursday to do a few minor repairs. I didn't see any body.
Who is it, then?
Don't know. I've told you everything they told me.
How did the body get down there? You was down there Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
I said I don't know. Could've been down there all the time.
I didn't see it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there, does it?
Look, just tell the girls when they come in what's happened, all right?
Yeah. I want to know what happened to Claire, though.
Mm, don't know. Something went on down there.
Perhaps she killed whoever it is and did a runner.
What, in her car?
Suppose so.
You reckon that's what happened, then, do you?
Claire murdered whoever it is and then made off in that grey car of hers?
Got your rent?
Yeah.
I can see it now.
Her scurrying out, getting in the car, driving off. That'll be an important detail, won't it?
Police'll want to know about all the comings and goings, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Tell 'em anything you know.
Suppose I'll have to, won't I?
My bathroom. You said you'd sort it out.
- I said I would and I will. - 'Cause these things can drag on, can't they?
Sometimes waiting for a little bit of internal refurbishment can turn into a life sentence.
I'll start next week.
Come to think of it,
the whole place could do with decorating, including the kitchen.
You said you were thinking about getting me a new fridge, and you took that one downstairs.
I mean, Claire won't exactly need it now, will she?
Did he see me drive off in her car?
I don't know what he saw. But I'm telling you, Liz, that bloke is blackmailing me!
- What are you gonna do? - I'm gonna have to put a new kitchen in for him!
And a bathroom.
Look, even if he tells the police and they put it all together,
moving a body, as serious as it is, is not murder.
I mean, that other body they found, whatever the hell that is about, is nothing to do with us.
Maybe we were in the flat the same time as the body was hidden there,
but that's not enough to accuse us of murder, is it?
Sorry, um, you were saying?
Miss McGregor wasn't there the next morning when I came round with the light-bulbs.
I'd promised I'd replace her fridge, so we took one of those round there. Liz came to help me.
If there was a body there then, we certainly didn't see it.
We took the fridge into the flat and it didn't fit, so we had to take it out again.
- That was on Wednesday afternoon? - Yes.
And you went back to the flat on Thursday?
Yes. Well, I went back to measure up, so I could get a proper-size fridge.
Also to see what I needed to fit the new boiler.
You do all that by yourself? Are you a registered gas fitter, are you?
No, no. No, I just do the basics.
Get a proper fitter to do the rest.
As Liz said, the two times I went round there, there was no sign of Miss McGregor.
Certainly no sign of a body. If it was there, it must've been hidden, 'cause I didn't see it.
That's when Mr. Jolly came down from upstairs and the pizza boy turned up?
Mm.
- And did you go into the bedroom at all? - I didn't need to.
- Not at all? - No.
There seems to be a brand-new bulb in the bedroom lamp.
Yes. No, I did replace that one in there. Yeah.
But that was on the Tuesday when I was showing the flat to Miss McGregor.
All done. Kitchen, bathroom, new boiler.
You gonna go and have a look?
I suppose I'll have to. Don't really want to see that tosser, though.
Liz?
I've been thinking.
Look, supposing we just sold up. Everything.
The flats. This place. All the stuff.
Just up sticks and start all over again somewhere else, eh? I mean abroad.
This is ridiculous. You've got three houses, dilapidated, full of tenants. No one will buy 'em.
I mean, at best it would take months. Years maybe.
And as for this place, I actually like it. I want to live here.
The boys are doing well at school. I don't want to move 'em. So, no, I don't want to sell up.
Liz, listen. We could be in a lot of trouble.
Even if the police don't find out what we did to that girl, it's always going to be hanging over us.
We are always gonna have that creep blackmailing us for whatever he knows!
The only reason I helped you move that body was because you told me how much we stood to lose.
I did it to keep all of this,
to keep our nice, comfortable, contented life as it is.
If I had wanted to throw everything up in the air, then I wouldn't have gone along with it.
There isn't anything else I should know, is there?
Nothing you haven't told me about that girl?
Or the other body?
Well, it all looks all right.
It is well ventilated, isn't it? Nothing obstructing the flue?
He's a proper gas fitter, registered and everything.
That's good, 'cause you do hear of accidents.
So, you happy now?
Got everything you want?
Yeah, think so, for the time being. I mean, there's always gonna be something, isn't there?
Is there? You could always move.
I don't want to. I like it here.
Sorry to bother you. Is Alan in, please?
No, he's at one of our flats. He's doing some work on the ground floor.
- We'll call his mobile, then. - Just a minute.
- Is this Alan's? - Must be.
A bit like that myself. Always losing tools. It's expensive in the end.
- Hiya. - Hi.
Where did this come from?
DC Slater found that on the drive. You must've dropped it.
- When was he here? - This afternoon. Didn't he call you?
- What did he say? - He just wanted to ask you something.
He said he'd get you on your mobile and then he found that in the drive.
- Did you say it was mine? - It is. It's the one you took to get the boiler out.
No, it isn't mine.
It isn't mine.
It isn't...
...mine!
Alan, what d'you mean, it isn't yours? It was in the drive!
It was a trick, you stupid bitch!
They know. They know!
Everything!
Shit!
Alan... Alan!
I'm showing Mr. Willis exhibit 7B.
This is a life-sized photograph of the wound on Ben Stacey's skull.
Have a look at that, Alan.
Remind you of anything?
Well, the pathologist thought the murder weapon might be some kind of tool.
So I went along to the police garage,
where they've got lots of tools,
and I found this.
This wrench.
The one we later showed your wife.
The one she thought was yours.
You do have a wrench like this, don't you, Alan?
You told us you fitted a new boiler in the flat. You'd need one for that.
Yeah, in fact,
I did a little experiment at the flat.
I set the jaws of this wrench to match the wound in the photo
and, without adjusting it, placed it round the nut on the top of the gas pipe.
Perfect fit.
Alan, we now have a witness who saw Ben at his university on the Thursday.
So, Claire can't have killed him. She was already dead.
We also know that the boiler was disconnected between Tuesday evening and Thursday.
You said you'd disconnected the boiler ages ago.
That wasn't true, was it, Alan?
We have a witness who says it was nice and warm in the flat on Tuesday evening.
So much so that Claire was wearing a T-shirt.
So when did you remove the boiler, Alan?
Was it on the Thursday,
the day that two witnesses saw you in the flat...
...the last day that Ben Stacey was seen alive?
Let's talk about Claire.
We contacted her parents in Australia.
They couldn't believe their daughter would commit suicide.
They couldn't understand how Claire even got to that forest. She'd never learnt to drive.
And she didn't have a car.
But then a witness solved that one for us.
Liz drove Ben Stacey's car, didn't she, Alan?
All right.
All right, the truth.
I rented the flat to Claire just like I said, right?
And then I went round on the Wednesday morning.
She was just lying on the bed.
She'd died.
The carbon monoxide fumes from the boiler.
I panicked.
I know the consequences for the landlords who let that sort of thing happen.
So we got her out of the flat,
took her to the forest.
We put her in what we thought was her car and...
...and we faked her suicide.
That is the God-honest truth.
Now, I don't know nothing about that other bloke and nor does Liz.
All right. All right, I have committed two serious crimes, right?
Renting a flat with an unsafe boiler and moving a dead body. Now, you charge me with that.
But I did not murder anybody.
We think you did.
What time exactly did you leave Claire in the car with the engine running?
I don't know. It was...
...late.
On the Wednesday?
You see, according to our pathologist's report,
there's no doubt whatsoever that Claire died in that car.
Yeah.
That's why we weren't very suspicious about her death.
He's certain she died in that car on the Wednesday
from carbon monoxide poisoning off the exhaust pipe.
You faked her suicide really well, mate.
You actually killed her.
When you found Claire in that flat...
...she would've been in a coma.
Her heart rate would've slowed right down.
Perhaps with immediate medical attention she might have recovered.
But she didn't get that chance.
You took that girl,
put her in that car
and finished her off.