As this episode of The Chelsea Detective begins, Benny Chaban (Felicien Juttner) tells his partner that he could collapse on the pavement and Roy would have to rush him home. His partner, Rebekah Chaban (Rahcael Stirling), reminds him that he promised so he agrees to be on his best behavior. At the gallery, Greg Milton-Elwes (Tomiwa Edun) tries to speak to Toby Hansard (Jack Ashton) about the Friedrich Gustav painting in front of them, but Toby isn’t interested at all. Greg speaks to Chris Milton-Elwes (Samuel Holmes) about the shallow pool of people invited to the gallery.

When Rebekah Chaban arrives, they call her the Queen of Chelsea. She goes inside and greets everyone while Roy Colin (Kevin Eldon) stays outside by the car. Rebekah goes up to Cassie Lyall (Emma Cunniffe) and asks her to save her. She asks Cassie about Gulliver’s latest and whether they’re getting younger. Astrid Fischer (Anamaria Marinca) finds out about the gallery so she takes a picture of the advertisement using her phone. She sends a picture to Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough) asking if he has seen it. There are quick glimpses of a crime and someone lying dead in the aftermath.

In the morning, Max catches up with Less Lombard (Lucy Phelps) who tells him that a male is dead in the gallery and another man has been apprehended. The man apprehended is the husband of the owner, Benoit Chaban. Once they go inside, Max says good morning to Ashley Wilton (Sophie Stone) and asks about his new DS Layla Walsh (Vanessa Emme). Max learns that the victim is Christopher Milton-Elwes. Ashley says the dried blood on his fingers is likely from his facial laceration. She suspects Christopher was killed by manual strangulation. Tickets for the Eurostar were found in his jacket pocket with a departure time of 12:15 today.

Layla joins Max while he is busy taking pictures of the scene. Max tells her that the building used to be a restaurant owned by Mr. and Mrs. Zintilis although he can’t remember what it was called. Layla explains that a uniformed officer arrived at 23:18 in response to the silent alarm. The rear door, which seems to have been jimmied, is likely the point of entry. Multiple paintings were stolen. DC Connor Pollock (Peter Bankole) says there is a camera at the back of the gallery, but it happens to be broken. Mr. Chaban claims he arrived minutes before the officers and found the body. There is nothing on the victim’s phone, but there is a Chris Elwes on PNC that says he was caught shoplifting at 12.

Max wants them to check the guest list and cross-reference it with their files. Layla reveals that three canvases were cut from their frames and stolen. Another was small enough to take whole. There is blood on one frame that could be linked to the victim. The paintings are worth more than 2 million pounds. Layla tells Max that the most expensive painting is Friedrich Gustav’s “Im Blauen Zimmer”. Two canvases by Christian Fessel and “Louisa” by Konrad Mueller were also stolen. When Benoit is interviewed, he says he and his wife left the gallery by 10 but returned a quarter past 11 to check if the alarm had been set. Layla questions why police found him leaving through the rear door.

Benoit says he heard a car door outside and thought it could be whoever was responsible. Max points out that he never dialed 999. Benoit admits he never checked for a pulse either. He remains adamant that he didn’t kill Chris and only found him on the floor. Jess and Connor learn about the marriage of Benoit and Rebekah in Monaco. Forbes estimates Benoit Chaban’s wealth to be around $400 million. Jess finds a picture of Gulliver Bauer and says he was a high-end art dealer who was convicted of tax evasion. Max and Layla visit Greg Milton-Elwes who says he left the gallery event around 10 and got back about 20 past. Chris stayed behind to tidy up and get everything ready for today’s public opening.

He tells them about the hostile guy at the gallery. Greg thinks it is absurd that they believe Chris could be involved. When Chris hadn’t returned in the morning, Greg thought he had pulled an all-nighter. He wasn’t worried because Chris often worked through the night at the gallery. Greg claims to know nothing about the tickets even though one of them was in his name. Last year, he woke up and found plane tickets on the kitchen table. He flew to Venice with Chris later that day. Greg suggests Chris wanted to mark the occasion. When they leave, Greg becomes distraught. Connor and Jess speak to Gulliver about the paintings and Christopher. Gulliver (Jonny Phillips) insists he hasn’t heard anything about stolen paintings.

After the gallery, Gulliver and his fiancée stopped by The Connaught where they remained until midnight. He recommends searching in public toilets before telling them about the Whitworth Gallery heist. Layla and Max visit Cassie who says she did the catering last night and was friends with Chris. At 11 last night, Cassie claims she was at home. Rebekah Chaban comes down to speak to the police. She says she got in around 10:15 and asked her husband to return to the gallery to check the alarms. Rebekah helps them identify Toby Hansard. Then, she tells them about Cassie. Layla says the value of “Im Blauen Zimmer” is around 1.2 million, but it was insured for 3 million.

That would be a tidy profit. Rebekah jokes that she masterminded the whole thing. Max notices the coffee tastes of tamarind so Rebekah reveals they have tamarind trees on their reserve. When Max points out the prints of the missing pictures, Benoit says Rebekah hangs them there so he’ll never forget that Rebekah’s one true love is art. Max wants to see their collection. Rebekah insists that won’t be possible because her paintings are kept in a secure, climate-controlled vault. Outside, Max tells Layla that a pound of that coffee is worth around a thousand pounds sterling. He wonders if it was a deliberate ploy to make them believe they had money to burn.

Layla notices Roy Colin nearby and learns he is working as a taxi driver. Roy confirms he drove the Chaban couple to the gallery last night and they left around 10. He didn’t drive Benoit back to the gallery later though because he was in bed. In the car, Layla tells Max that they called him Cookie Jar Colin because there was a rumor he was dipping into the cash from a money-laundering operation. When the bosses asked questions, Layla was the only one who didn’t back him up. Roy fell on his sword before they could push him onto it. Layla believes she should’ve backed him because of the consequences and they’re supposed to have each other’s backs. Max talks to Astrid who says Chris was a nerd about East German history.

She explains why she didn’t go to the opening. Astrid reminds him that the restaurant used to be called The Olive Branch. She doubts Chris had anything to do with the theft because he wouldn’t damage the paintings. Astrid thinks the value of “Im Blauen Zimmer” would go through the roof because collectors love notoriety. She wonders why Rebekah would have it on display with minimal security. Max asks her if she is okay. Astrid is fine although she will miss Chris. Later that night, Rebekah goes into her private room and removes a small painting from a package. Greg Milton-Elwes sneaks into the gallery and searches for something.

At one point, he believes someone else is in the gallery. The following day, Jess visits Toby Hansard to ask him about being at the gallery opening. Toby doesn’t want to sound like a homophobe, but he thought Greg was coming onto him. He claims he was at the gallery because he thought he could get new clients for his place. Toby shows them CCTV footage from 10:45 to prove he was at the gym. He confirms he is Rebekah’s personal trainer. Ashley shows Max the flecks of blue paint that were found on the victim’s clothing. It matches normal household emulsion. She confirms that the cause of death is manual asphyxiation, but the victim was also struck around the face.

Ashley reveals that the victim had a brain tumor. Even with treatment, he probably wouldn’t have lived more than a year. Layla and Max confront Greg to ask him about the tumor. Greg didn’t know and didn’t notice that Chris was having any symptoms. He asks whether this changes things. Layla says not for them. Greg doesn’t think Chris knew about the tumor. Before she leaves, Cassie asks Rebekah about calling her a charity case. She explains that she does these things for her because Rebekah is her friend. She reveals that she is resigning. Rebekah goes back into her vault while Max looks at his records. Rebekah gets locked in and begins yelling for Benoit.

She tries calling for help before finding out that the system has been locked. In the morning, Max meets Layla who tells him that Rebekah is still stuck inside. Roy is there to help since he set up the security system for them. Benoit claims he was at his office and didn’t leave until around 2 AM. In private, Max tells Layla that he found multiple calls between Benoit and Gregory. They get into the secured room and find Rebekah on the floor so they rush her to the hospital. Max asks Benoit if he locked his wife in the vault, but he denies it and blames it on a glitch in the security system. Benoit refuses to tell them why he was in touch with Greg.

Roy says the staff at Benoit’s office won’t remember him leaving because he picked him up around back. Moments later, Layla tries to get information from Roy, but he refuses to give her anything. Max tells Layla that the house is a crime scene so they don’t need permission to search it. They find Rebekah’s paintings and wonder why she wouldn’t want to show them off. Max doubts they had the receipts for all of them. Benoit checks on Rebekah who asks him to tell her the truth. He admits he was jealous since she had met someone multiple times while he was away. She asks if he even looked for an alternative explanation. Benoit apologizes and asks for a chance to make it up to her.

Rebekah tells him to leave. Astrid looks at pictures of the paintings. She eventually finds a picture of a painting that was stolen from an exhibition in Madrid in 1998. They confront Rebekah with a list of paintings that were stolen. She claims she is preventing the pieces from entering the black market and never being seen again. Jess calls Max to say Gulliver Bauer received a call from Benoit who got an anonymous text offering to return the stolen paintings in exchange for 100,000 in cash. It looks like he is going along with it at 10 tonight. Layla accuses Rebekah of facilitating the whole thing to increase the value of “Im Blauen Zimmer” so she could get money for a solicitor to leave her husband.

Rebekah denies that Benoit tries to lock her in. Max tells her that her husband has engaged a solicitor named Gregory Milton-Elwes. Rebekah tells them how she got rich when she was only 22. When she met Benoit, he had a failing business. She owns that business now. As they leave, Max tells Layla about Benoit’s deal to get the painting back. They keep an eye on Benoit later that night. Connor lets them know that a text was sent to the target from an unknown number. He is told to leave the money and the paintings will be delivered tomorrow. Max and Layla watch as a man walks over, but he doesn’t pick up the bag Benoit left. Then, a woman gets off the phone, grabs the bag, and walks away.

She flees from them so they try to chase her down, but she manages to get away. During an interview, Benoit denies knowing who sent him the texts. They see a video of Toby visiting Rebekah as Benoit explains he thought they were having an affair. Benoit’s solicitor claims he is a victim. Connor and Jess visit Toby to ask him about the visit. Toby claims he is in a relationship with Cassie and Rebekah only let him. He has a girlfriend named Sarah who happens to be Cassie’s flatmate. At the station, Max and Layla discuss the evidence. She recommends asking Astrid if she recognizes the woman who picked up the bag. Layla receives a package of supplies because she is going to be camping in a tent soon.

Max says it is a shame she doesn’t have subtitles. That gives Layla an idea. She takes the video to Ashley to see if she can see what they’re saying. Ashley watches the video and suggests the woman is saying an address. Layla gives an address that may be helpful as a result. They bring in Kitty Colin (Ella Gilling) who was the woman from the parking garage. Kitty eventually says her dad told her to pick it up and hold it for a few days. Roy is brought to an interview room where Layla asks why his daughter picked up a bag of money for him. Roy insists his daughter knew nothing about it before denying he has the stolen paintings. He begins talking about his nickname and how it only took one person to bring him down.

Layla asks Tim to take Roy down to the custody desk. Max seems to find something later that night. Layla and Max go to St. Pancras. Max says Astrid took a photo five minutes before Benoit claimed to arrive at the gallery. He caught Benoit and Roy in the photo, but not the Chaban Rolls. He saw another car in the background. Max says the man has been renting a lock there from the day before Chris’s murder. Layla is shocked by what they find in the locker. They visit Greg with one of the paintings and explain that the locker was registered in his name. Max shows him a picture of his car three minutes after the gallery’s alarm tripped.

Greg says Chris knew he was dying and he wanted to take Louisa out of the hands of collectors and return it to his family in Germany. Konrad Mueller was his great-grandfather. Chris would stage the robbery. Greg would meet him at the gallery and take the painting to St. Pancras. Chris would make an anonymous call after the dust had settled to return the other paintings. Greg asks if they found Chris’s bag since it had a duplicate locker key in it. He confirms that Chris oversaw the building’s renovations. Max remembers the restaurant having a serving counter where the store room is now. Back at the gallery, Max and Layla find a hidden blood with blue paint.

They go downstairs and discover that someone could hide down there for days. They find the paintings and Chris’s bag. The bag contains a gray jacket with blood on the collar. They approach Toby because he was wearing a jacket like that. He shows them the footage of him working out again. Max notices that the timestamp is in a different place though. When they see Chris in the video with Toby, he begins running away from them. He doesn’t get very far though. Toby says he didn’t know what Chris was up to. When he came back, he was cutting the canvases from the frames. Although Toby thought that made sense, Chris went mad and they ended up fighting.

Toby says Chris laughed at the idea of someone like him mixing in his world so he squeezed that look right off his face. Toby is arrested. Cassie returns to work for Rebekah who apologizes to her and hopes they can start again. Astrid calls Max after learning they caught the man who killed Chris. She thought of going to Richmond since the Zintilis family opened a new place there. They eventually agree to go there together.

 

The Chelsea Detective Review

The second series of The Chelsea Detective started out with an episode that was on par with that of the first season. The performances are good. With Vanessa Emma entering the picture, it won’t be too difficult to overlook the absence of Sonita Henry. The rest of the cast is the same except for the supporting cast which will change from episode to episode.

The scenic views are great with some being stunningly memorable. The series does a great job showing off the locations with superbly timed drone footage and stationary shots. Truthfully, the series is fine in most regards, but the runtime puts a damper on it for me personally. With the episodes dragging on for an hour and a half, it is hard not to lose interest midway through.

There is no reason the episodes couldn’t be cut down to an hour or even 45 minutes. Instead, the drawn-out episodes are filled with characters and scenes that are red herrings such as Gulliver Bauer. Although the runtime is a big issue for me, the show is easily watchable otherwise.

This is a decent way to start the second season and set up a potential rekindling of Max and Astrid’s relationship. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Chelsea Detective can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.