Your Number's Up
Directed by: Steve Hughes
Written by: Patrick Homes
Original Air Date: 11 February 2024
The stabbing of former charity leader Nancy Martin at a local retirement home leads Neville and the team into an extremely complex case, involving the thirty-year old theft of £5,000,000 from a violent British gang, and the disappearance of the man responsible. The only suspects are the victim's adopted daughter, her former PA and a "long lost cousin", Eloise Mirie, who turns out to be a corrupt Flying Squad detective - but none appear to have had the opportunity to commit the crime. Meanwhile, the commissioner struggles to return to active duty after his shooting, and Darlene arranges a double date night for herself and Naomi.
Tropes:
- Dirty Cop: Eloise Mirie is actually a Flying Squad detective who had finally tracked down Nancy Martin, and then taken a bribe to walk away.
- Faking the Dead: The woman who would become Nancy Martin entered Saint Marie disguised as a man named 'Julian Heston', then faked Heston's death by drowning so anyone looking for him would stop. Unfortunately, during the faked drowning a local fisherman dived into the sea in an attempt to save 'Heston' and was drowned himself. Wracked by guilt, after she emerged in her new identity of Nancy Martin, Nancy adopted the fisherman's orphaned daughter.
- False Confession: Nursing home manager Phillipe Varane confesses to the murder of the Victim of the Week Nancy Martin. Neville is bothered by the confession and eventually establishes the truth: Nancy had called Phillipe just before she died, asking him to protect her actual murderer; her adopted daughter Oona. Feeling extremely indebted to Nancy, Phillipe did his best to protect Oona and, when the police seemed to be zeroing in on her, took the ultimate step of confessing to the crime himself.
- Relative-ly Flimsy Excuse: Eloise Mirie claims to be Nancy Martin's second cousin once removed. However, she is actually a Dirty Cop who has been tracking Nancy in order to blackmail her, and uses the claim of being a relative to make contact.
- Time-Delayed Death: Nancy Martin is stabbed with a knitting needle. Realising she will bleed to death quickly once the weapon is removed, she gets up and leaves the room and moves a long distance away before pulling out the weapon and wiping it clean of fingerprints: making it looks like they were attacked where they died. This creates an alibi for their killer as they have a roomful of witnesses who will swear that they did not leave the room after the victim.