The episode opens with a guide (Adam Ali) providing a tour of a cathedral. He pulls back the curtains concealing a stained glass window to reveal a lifeless female body on the floor. Later, John Taylor (David Mitchell) watches as a body bag containing the body is sealed shut. DS Alice Finch (Izuka Hoyle) says the victim has been identified as a 21-year-old American, Megan Rowlands (Ella Bruccoleri). DI Russell Carter (Dipo Ola) questions what happened to Megan’s morning tour group. DS Simon Evans (Gerran Howell) explains the direction of the tour, through Cambridge and ending at the cathedral. He adds that all patrons are required to provide their email addresses. Later, Lucy Betts-Taylor (Anna Maxwell Martin) regrets suggesting they hire a member of Gen Z to conduct a deeper investigation into Roger Sinclair because he was a conspiracy theorist. She voices concern about Henry Betts-Taylor (Dylan Hughes) believing James is a hero. John tells her about striking up a football discussion with Carter who follows Liverpool FC. Drawing the discussion back to James’ disappearance, she says Sinclair arrived around the same time and was on a personal level with Chief Constable Ziegler (Ralph Ineson). Lucy says Maryon Bowen (Flip Webster) launched a crowdfunding campaign for Rhys Bowen’s legal defense. John is less than thrilled with her plan to visit Rhys in prison.

Carter informs the team that he has collected personal information from all the tour guides and the suspects have been identified. Adrian Tate (Paul Chalhidi) and Julie Tate (Amanda Lawrence) are local residents. Yuna Chen (Karen Xiang) and Myles North (Ivan Oyik) are roommates. A mother, granddaughter, and daughter were visiting from France. DCS Carol Shaw (Dorothy Atkinson) says a task force is being formed to search for millionaire Cameron Halshaw’s son, Jordan Halshaw (Mark Slaughter) who has a history of mischief. Ziegler asks John to fill him in on Rowlands’ murder. John explains his perceptual puzzle theory and insists the killer could have been any one of the suspects. Ziegler is surprised to learn there is no motive. Carter assures him that they will explore all motives. Ziegler pulls Carter off to speak to him alone. Shaw orders John to find the “why.”

Pretending to be a Cambridge Herald journalist, speaks with Maryon about Rhys’ arrest. Maryon claims Rhys was with her when Sinclair was killed. The detectives told her that Rhys’ prints were found at the crime scene and a witness saw him leaving. Rhys confessed to. Rhys had a prior conviction for burglary. Maryon poses with Rhys’ photo. Lucy snaps her photo. Rhys calls her from the prison every Wednesday. At the police station, Julie is cleaning a stain on Adrian’s shirt when Carter and John arrive to question them about Rowlands’ murder. Julie describes Rowlands as a “lovely girl.” Adrian sarcastically says she was an American. In a flashback, Rowlands greets her tour group – Tanya (Julie Dray), Manon (Julie Legrand), Julie, Adrian, Katia (Heidi Berger), Myles, and Yuna. Back in the present, Julie claims Adrian lost his job and has only recently started working again. He reminds her of his promise to buy her a diamond ring for their 30^th anniversary. She assures him that she enjoyed the tour. A short time later, Simon informs John and Carter that the tour photos are uploaded to a website but Rowlands’ aren’t available yet.

Katia tells Carter and John that their inheritance paid for their trip. Katia claims to have last seen Rowlands at the altar. When they returned from looking at the stained-glass window, Rowlands was gone, and the curtain was closed. Rowlands was murdered before her tour group left. Yuna and Myles were friends with Rowlands and often joined her tour group. In a flashback, Myles turns to see Katia bump into Adrian on her way to talk to Rowlands. The others enjoy Yuna playing the organ. Back in the present, Finch insists Myles and Yuna are the killers. John argues that they wouldn’t have left their email addresses if they intended to kill Rowlands. He believes the idea popped into the killer’s head during the tour. Elsewhere, Lucy donates to Maryon’s crowdfunding campaign. John tells her about Carter and Ziegler’s private talk. Henry blurts out that Rhys has an alibi for the night Sinclair was murdered. Lucy admits to believing Maryon and feels bad about lying to her. Henry believes what happened to James, Sinclair, and Rhys is a conspiracy. Lucy suggests John should have liked to keep Henry happy. A short time later, John finds his and James’ bird book in Henry’s room. He claims to have become obsessed with the book after their father left and James hid it because he knew their father would never return. Lucy overhears John assuring Henry that James will come back.

Simon informs Carter and John that Jordan was found in the River Cam. The police found Jordan’s camp inside Cameron’s office building on Mallard’s Way. He apparently had been using drugs. Finch claims Ziegler informed his parents in person. Holly Pinder (Sophie Willan) delivers Rowlands’ phone records from last month. A call placed from her phone before noon was made to Paris, France. A short time later, Carter and John confront Katia, Tanya, and Manon about the call made to Paul Tremblay in Paris. Manon and Tanya look at Katia because Paul is her ex-boyfriend. Katia admits to having contact with Paul since they visited Rome. She borrowed Rowlands’ phone to call Paul and returned it. The phone has never been located. Tanya gets upset when she learns Manon has also been talking to a man and invites Carter to dinner. A short time later, John asks Carter why he told Tanya that he was married. Carter says it was inappropriate but he never plans to marry.

Lucy visits Marylon. Outside the cathedral, John questions if something in the photos that Rowlands took got her killed. During a self-guided tour, John tries to work out who killed Rowlands while Carter snaps photos. Standing on a bridge, John checks out a building across the water. The suspects, John, Finch, Evans, and Carter are at the church when Ziegler and Shaw arrive. John says the killer had killed before and not just Rowlands was murdered but also Jordan. From the bridge, he could see Cameron’s office building that Jordan was living in. Rowland had snapped a photo of the building during her tour on the day she was murdered. John finds Adrian’s connection to Cambridge Complete Security and Jordan’s death fishy. Carter warns Adrian of potential evidence being found on his stained uniform. In a flashback, Adrian finds Jordan’s bed, drug paraphernalia, and trash in the office building during his rounds. Jordan attacks him from behind. A struggle ensues and ends when Jordan collapses to the ground. Back in the present, Julie insists Adrian was only defending himself. Ziegler says Jordan stole 8,000 pounds from his father. Adrian admits to having the money at his house. Adrian saw Rowlands take a photo of the office building while he was standing in the window. He invited Julie on the tour in hopes of getting Rowlands’ camera. In a flashback, Adrian watches Katia return Rowlands’ phone which she drops. He races over, grabs the phone, and asks for the passcode. Refusing to give it to him, she tries to grab the phone. He hits her on the head. She falls to the floor. He stares at her lifeless body before shutting the curtains.

Adrian tells Julie that he was going to buy the diamond ring that he’d promised her. Finch arrests Adrian on suspicion of murder. A short time later, Carter tells John that he was engaged to Mandy Ziegler when she died. Ziegler pushed his transfer through. Carter voices concern about what the others would say if they knew. Upon returning home, John removes his contacts and puts on his glasses. Lucy tells him that Rhys was found hanging in his cell this morning. She questions if someone killed him because of her. Henry warns that they could be watching them. John disputes any claim of a conspiracy but knows it is a cover-up. When Lucy goes to make coffee, he looks out the window. Someone in a car parked outside the house takes his photo. The episode ends.

 

Ludwig Review

While not a unique plot, it may be intriguing enough to draw in viewers. The execution is poor and impractical. The directing and editing are subpar. The constant switching from present scenes to flashbacks creates confusion and could easily disengage the audience. It doesn’t help that some of the flashbacks are pointless.

The final 15 minutes of the episode is the best. John, Lucy, and Henry have good chemistry. David Mitchell is the perfect anti-social John Taylor.

The story requires full attention, otherwise, it would easy to get lost in all the plot and side stories. The episode deserves a 5 out of 10.

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