Line of Duty Page #5

STEVE:

Following a Missing Persons lead.

KATE:

This is the exact place used by

Tommy’s killer. If that isn’t a

possible connection between the two

of them, I don’t know what is.

Steve doesn’t answer, but his silent hesitation gives us the

chance to pick up the beat from the end of Ep 2: he has

doubts about Lindsay’s guilt.

Kate has already entered the garage unit; she’s dropped to

her haunches and is feeling the concrete floor. He sees her

curious reaction and moves to join her.

STEVE:

What?

KATE:

This floor looks old, right?

STEVE:

The legit company that was based

here moved out over a year ago. It

became a front -- they never needed

to do it up.

KATE:

An old floor -- but I don’t see one

chunk out of this concrete, not one

uneven patch.

She takes out her lipstick. She lays it on the floor and it

rolls into a hollow.

Steve immediately realises what she’s uncovered.

(CONTINUED)

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318 CONTINUED:

STEVE:

Kate, I, uh -- I searched this

place -

KATE:

So did Major Violent Crime. The

subsidence might only have appeared

recently.

STEVE:

(To PC.)

Get the landlord back on the phone;

we need consent to take this

further.

Steve speed-dials his mobile.

STEVE:

(Into phone.)

DS Arnott. Me and Kate are back at

the Canalside Industrial Estate.

Any chance you could get a search

team over here ... ?

CUT TO:

319 OMITTEDOMITTED

320 INT. AC-12. OPEN-PLAN OFFICE. LATER THAT DAY.

Steve scribbles on a white board, going through the

connections with Kate, forming a diagram as he goes along.

STEVE:

Now we’ve got access to the Witness

Protection files, we’ve got Tommy.

We’ve got Akers, who was his W.P.

officer, and her phone records.

Steve draws solid lines connecting Tommy and Akers.

KATE:

And then we’ve got Denton.

Steve draws dotted lines connecting Denton to Akers and

Tommy, and adds a question mark over the lines.

STEVE:

But nothing in either the files or

phone history connects either party

to Denton.

They study the possible connections.

Cottan wanders over.

(CONTINUED)

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320 CONTINUED:

COTTAN:

Alright.

STEVE:

Alright.

KATE:

Alright.

Instant tension. Awkward beats.

COTTAN:

Gaffer reckons you were probies

with Akers.

KATE:

Went through Ryton with her.

COTTAN:

Honest copper?

KATE:

Yeah.

More awkward beats.

COTTAN:

What?

STEVE:

We’re playing catch-up. Feels like

everybody else got first dibs on

this one.

Cottan decides to ignore him, indicates the white board with

the connections diagrammatised.

COTTAN:

One of the first things we did was

look for prior contact between

Akers and Denton. They never worked

together, they never called each

other. Far as we can tell, they

were complete strangers, never met

until a few minutes before the

ambush.

STEVE:

As per Denton’s statement.

KATE:

There’s a hell of a lot of evidence

against Denton.

(CONTINUED)

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320 CONTINUED:
(2)

COTTAN:

(With deliberate lack of

conviction.)

You’re right. There is.

Cottan takes a step away and then decides to take a step

back.

COTTAN:

(Very affably.)

The gaffer’s asked me to do a job.

Wasn’t my fault you were kept out

of the loop. Round the office you

really ought to be calling me

“sir”.

STEVE:

(Beat.)

Sir.

KATE:

(Beat.)

Sir.

COTTAN:

Have a nice day.

Cottan moves off. Steve and Kate wait till he’s out of

earshot.

STEVE KATE:

Twat. Arsehole.

Steve studies his diagram again.

STEVE:

Okay. According to Akers’ phone

records, a few minutes beforehand,

she called a number registered to

her husband.

KATE:

She calls home, says I might be a

bit late tonight, love, and then

organises the transfer via Denton.

STEVE:

Makes sense but let’s talk to the

husband anyway.

KATE:

(Beat.)

Good idea.

STEVE:

I’ll call him.

(CONTINUED)

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320 CONTINUED:
(3)

KATE:

It’s okay, I will, but mind if we

set up the interview for tomorrow?

My Tesco’s shuts at eight.

STEVE:

No worries.

Steve moves off. Kate looks uneasy. She reaches for the

phone.

CUT TO:

321 INT. RICH AKERS’ HOUSE. THAT NIGHT.

Rich answers the door to Kate. She slips in, half-shuts the

door quickly behind while holding the handle and comes

straight to the point, in professional mode.

KATE:

In the morning, I’m going to return

to take a statement, with my

partner, Steve Arnott. You’ll

answer all our questions fully and

honestly, with the exception of

disclosing Jayne’s request for you

to contact me and the fact that you

did attempt to contact me.

RICH:

Uh ... okay ... right ...

Pregnant beats.

RICH:

Kate, I’ve got it. Last thing I’d

want is to embarrass you.

More pregnant beats. He takes her hand off the door handle

and pushes the door shut. She doesn’t resist.

CUT TO:

322 EXT. POLICE HQ. NEXT DAY.

Hastings enters the building looking quite anxious.

CUT TO:

323 INT. POLICE HQ. DRYDEN’S OFFICE. MOMENTS LATER.

Hastings enters, let in by the PA, to face Dryden.

(CONTINUED)

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323 CONTINUED:

DRYDEN:

Picked a good day, Ted -- we’ve got

Bourbon Cremes.

HASTINGS:

That’s very kind, sir, but I’m

fine.

Dryden nods to the PA -- she exits. As soon as the door

closes, his face turns much less friendly.

DRYDEN:

Why didn’t you notify me you were

arresting DI Denton?

HASTINGS:

I didn’t realise I had to, sir.

DRYDEN:

I thought we agreed we were on the

same team.

HASTINGS:

We are, sir, but there’s a

principle of non-reciprocity

between -

DRYDEN:

I’m managing one of the biggest

cases, if not the biggest, this

Force has ever seen. Every move’s

being watched like a hawk.

HASTINGS:

May I ask if there’s any difficulty

over Denton’s arrest?

DRYDEN:

(Beat.)

No. Of course not. You did the

right thing. Luckily, we’ve managed

to play this development in our

favour.

HASTINGS:

But you’d’ve appreciated some

forewarning.

DRYDEN:

That’s all it is.

Dryden moves to show Hastings the door.

HASTINGS:

If I may, sir, I have to beg

another minute of your time.

(CONTINUED)

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323 CONTINUED:
(2)

DRYDEN:

Quickly.

Now Dryden can’t hide his impatience.

HASTINGS:

I’m going to forward you the audio

file of the interview with DI

Denton. You’ll hear her level

accusations intended to discredit

two AC-12 officers. DS Steve Arnott

has been accused of a liaison with

a witness.

DRYDEN:

It happens.

HASTINGS:

(Surprised by laxity.)

Okay.

DRYDEN:

The second officer?

HASTINGS:

That would be me, sir. DI Denton

obtained my financial records and

has accused me of having high

levels of undisclosed financial

losses. Her actions in obtaining

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