The Last Devil to Die

Luca Buttaci “interviews” Mitch Maxwell, his business associate, by way of a pool cue to the head in a hidden torture space beneath an Ikea. Despite his annoyance, Mitch understands the necessity of this. Mitch imports the drugs, and Luca sells the drugs, but things have gone wrong lately, so Luca’s suspicions are understandable, especially since Luca has noticed a motorcycle courier hanging around. After Luca lets him go, Mitch decides to visit the Thursday Murder Club.

Elizabeth and Joyce are at the University of Kent to see Nina Mishra, the professor of historical archaeology whom Kuldesh called on the day of his murder. Nina explains that Kuldesh was friends with her parents and sometimes asked her for moral advice regarding the provenance of certain items. When he called her, he said he needed help but didn’t explain further, and she was in a rush, so she didn’t pry. She says that he did not tell her about the heroin.

During the meeting, they are joined by Professor Jonjo Mellor, Nina’s boss. She told him about the call, too, but neither of them knows what it was about, and both are surprised to hear of the heroin. Nina says Kuldesh had a lock-up where he stored questionable items, but nothing like heroin. They suggest that, if he was looking to sell the heroin, his other call may have been to antiques dealer Samantha Barnes, and they give Elizabeth her number.

Samantha Barnes is hosting her book club—something Garth stays out of. While going about her hosting duties, she reminisces about how she and Garth came to be involved. Shortly before William’s death, he sold Garth a fake antique inkwell at a very high markup. When Garth realized he’d been scammed, he came back with a gun, but Samantha, now grieving, simply cried. Garth asked if she wanted to buy a stolen painting, and she found that she did. Samantha next recalls an earlier telephone call from Elizabeth in which Elizabeth asked if Samantha knew about Kuldesh or the heroin and then cryptically said Joyce and Ibrahim would be there soon.

Chris, Patrice, Donna, Elizabeth, and Joyce discuss the case at a pub. Patrice suggested this pub trip to cheer Chris up about being kicked off the investigation. Elizabeth feels that she and Joyce may need to lay off investigating Dom and hopes Chris will pick up that slack. She asks if Chris and Donna know Samantha, but they don’t. She also gives Donna her phone and asks her to check the phone records for her, hoping to find their prime suspect, although she doesn’t explain what this means.

Ron and Ibrahim are with Bob, and Ron has been ranting to Bob about computers. Ron and Ibrahim have convinced Mervyn to let them try to trap “Tatiana,” and they’ve enlisted Bob’s help after his wonderful work on New Year’s Eve. Despite Ron’s rant, Bob agrees.

Ron reads Tatiana’s last message aloud. She is allegedly coming to visit Mervyn next week, but she claims that her brother fell off a ladder and doesn’t have the £2,000 needed to pay the hospital bill. She worries she won’t be able to come if her brother doesn’t get care. Ibrahim begins to craft a response, and Ron heads off home, thinking of Pauline and their fight over Christmas. Distracted, Ron walks straight into a trap.

Stephen is wandering around the apartment alone, unsure of where he is but reflecting that he at least knows the sofa is his. He is very confused, but he sits and recognizes Snowy the fox outside his window. As he watches Snowy, he remembers Elizabeth. He goes to make tea and forgets that he has already seen Snowy; he sits back down and wonders if Snowy will visit today. Elizabeth comes home and sees that he has left the tap on in the process of making tea. He remembers a little bit, and he cries. It is midnight, and the phone rings.

Ron arrives home to an ambush: Mitch Maxwell attacks and interrogates him because he suspects Kuldesh gave Ron the heroin before he was killed; Ron’s son, Jason, was once connected to the criminal underworld, and Mitch has also heard about Ibrahim’s relationship with Connie and Elizabeth’s possession of a gun. Ron asks permission to call his friends in the hopes of working out this misunderstanding. First he calls Elizabeth, who asks if she should bring a gun. Then he calls Ibrahim.

Mitch sits in Ron’s living room with the gang, and he’s very uncomfortable with the situation. He knows who Ron is. He has no idea who Elizabeth is but knows she means business. He assumes Ibrahim works for Connie Johnson, which means he must be taken seriously. All he knows about Joyce is her name.

The gang asks him several questions but learns nothing new. Mitch asks them a few questions as well, but he doesn’t learn anything new either. He’s convinced that Dom did not betray him, but Joyce suggests that if Dom knows Mitch trusts him with his life, he would be an ideal target to steal from.

Chris and Donna are freezing in a Portakabin, Chris’s temporary office while SIO Regan uses his as her own. Regan shows up and asks about Kuldesh’s missing cell phone, which Donna still has, although she doesn’t admit it. Regan warns them not to get mixed up in the case.

The members of the Thursday Murder Club hold an official Thursday meeting in the Jigsaw Room, and they’ve invited Nina and Jonjo in to give a little talk on the antiques business. Jonjo pulls a Distinguished Service Medal out of his pocket and tells a story of its history and the family who sold it. The story is completely untrue, however, and the medal a fake: a prop that Jonjo uses to illustrate the importance of storytelling in the industry.

Nina and Jonjo explain that Samantha is involved in forgeries. Ibrahim hands out laminated timelines so they can all go over events as they know them, and Elizabeth says she needs to leave early to go for a drive with Stephen.

There are two main questions at this point: where the heroin is and whom Kuldesh called after Nina. It is suggested that Connie could tell them whom Mitch sells to. Donna calls Joyce to speak with Elizabeth, and immediately afterward, Elizabeth tells Ibrahim that he and Joyce need to go see Samantha. Elizabeth had Donna check her phone records, and when Elizabeth called Samantha a few days ago, Samantha’s number showed up in the record as Code 777.

Bogdan drives Elizabeth and Stephen to London to meet with Viktor, a former Soviet agent Elizabeth knows from her days as a spy. In the front seat, Stephen talks about Baghdad, marveling over the history and archeological artifacts kept there. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sits in the backseat thinking about her friends, the case, and the reason they’re going to see Viktor.

Ibrahim and Joyce have driven to Petworth to see Samantha. Alan, Joyce’s dog, has come along with them. Once they arrive, they dive right into their questions. There is a lot of back and forth, but nothing new is learned, and Samantha doesn’t play along with their questioning the way others often do. Garth enters and is even less forthcoming, but the two seem interested to know who was selling the heroin. Ibrahim gives them Dom’s name.

At Viktor’s penthouse, Elizabeth and Bogdan step out onto the terrace. Elizabeth has asked Viktor to talk to Stephen about his dementia, as he won’t tell Elizabeth how he’s really doing and feeling. Inside, Stephen explains what he is going through and admits he is in a great deal of pain.

Joyce collects her thoughts in her diary after visiting Petworth with Ibrahim and Alan. She suspects that Samantha and Garth know more than they’re telling and that they will meet again. She worries about Elizabeth and wonders if she and Bogdan were taking Stephen to look at care facilities. She’s also still flustered about Edwin Mayhem, although she hasn’t found anything online about him.

Unbeknownst to Chris, Donna strikes out on her own to learn more about Dom. She goes undercover with Bogdan to an Everton match. Bogdan—or Barry, as he’s known in the executive box—secured an invitation through a work connection. A car dealer named Dave Musgrave owns the box, and they know that Dom, an Everton supporter, will be in attendance.

Unbeknownst to Donna, Chris also strikes out on his own to learn more about Dom. He is touring the winery next to Dom’s warehouse with Patrice, who is excited to act as his lookout.

Bogdan manages to sit next to Dom and pulls out an Everton scarf. They chat about soccer. Wanting to make Donna proud, Bogdan has done his homework on the team. Unfortunately, Dom knows Bogdan and Donna already. He also knows that Donna was taken off the case and it was given to the NCA. As Dom gets up to leave, Bogdan makes it clear that he was Kuldesh’s friend and that if Dom killed him, Bogdan will kill Dom.

Local stylist Anthony makes a house call to cut Stephen’s hair, something that usually doesn’t happen. Stephen doesn’t remember Anthony, and even as Anthony cuts his hair, Stephen asks about his line of work. Stephen still remembers Kuldesh, however, and mentions him again. Anthony makes Stephen laugh, and Elizabeth tries to enjoy the lighthearted moment, not knowing how many more they have left. She decides to switch off her phone and ignore the case for the day.

Chris breaks into Dom’s warehouse through a window that was already broken into in the past. He surveys the large hangar and approaches a Portakabin office; it is unlocked. Sitting behind the desk in the office is Dom—with a bullet hole in his forehead.

Chris calls Ron and Joyce for help because Elizabeth isn’t answering her phone. Ron and Joyce arrive, and together they devise a plan: Chris will call the body in and explain that he got a call from someone who heard a gunshot while on a wine tour. While they wait for officers to arrive, they look through Dom’s office for clues. Patrice offers to check the body, but it is Ron who finds Dom’s keys.

In the absence of Elizabeth, Joyce takes charge, channeling her friend the former spy. Ron doesn’t like this change in Joyce, who asks Patrice to quickly photograph as many pages from the filing cabinet as she can. Before they leave, Joyce considers what else Elizabeth would do, and she asks Patrice to take pictures of the corpse from as many angles as possible.

Garth breaks into Joyce’s apartment. Joyce reminds him of his grandmother, who was an art thief. Garth and Samantha just visited Connie, whom they knew by reputation, to ask if she’d like to team up to fill an opening in the heroin business. She said she’d think about it. Garth considers going it alone and muses on all the things he’s done in his life: art college, bison theft, Canada’s largest ever bank robbery, and corporate espionage. Garth only wants to do a bit of research on Joyce. He went to Elizabeth’s apartment first, but she had a hairdresser there as well as an extremely secure alarm system.

Chris, Patrice, Ron, and Joyce wait for the police. A squad car arrives, and one officer interviews Ron and Joyce while Chris takes the other to the body. Ron cries and generally plays the role Joyce would have if Elizabeth were there. They claim they were planning on touring the winery using a voucher from Ron’s son but got lost and were late, hearing a gunshot as they arrived. Regan arrives, and Ron starts crying again to avoid answering more questions.

Ibrahim is disappointed that he cannot reach Elizabeth, Joyce, or Ron, so he decides to hang out with Bob, who has been dubbed “Computer Bob.” They read Mervyn and Tatiana’s messages over tea. They have set a trap for Tatiana, who continues to ask for money. Joyce and Ron arrive, and Joyce is quite excited about the scene that they just left. They ask Computer Bob to help project the crime scene photos from Joyce’s phone to a television.

The gang (including Elizabeth, who sighs and laments her lost dream of a day off) attempts to commandeer the Television Room but is thwarted by a Coopers Chase resident named Audrey, who wants to watch The Masked Singer. The entire group—Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, Chris, Donna, Patrice, and Bogdan, with Computer Bob for technical support—ultimately views the photos on Joyce’s television. While they review the corpse pictures and discuss theories, Elizabeth offers to make tea rather than take the lead, and Bogdan offers to go to her apartment to get more mugs and see Stephen.

Bogdan visits Stephen, who is concerned because Snowy hasn’t come round for the day. He thinks something strange is going on. He’s terse with Bogdan because he’s worried about Snowy and wants to go look for him. He also mentions that a big man with a beard came by earlier.

Back at Joyce’s apartment, Elizabeth struggles to make the tea. She is glad that Joyce has stepped up, though, considering the situation with Stephen. The group discuss the situation—particularly how everyone is clearly lying to them. Eventually Elizabeth takes charge again. Joyce lies and says her tea is lovely; Ron tells the truth and says his tea is the best he’s had in “yonks.” They agree to have a summit and invite Mitch, Garth, Samantha, and Luca to Sunday lunch. Elizabeth wonders why Bogdan isn’t back yet, but she trusts that it is for a good reason.

Stephen and Bogdan look for Snowy outside. Stephen spots a small mound in the snow, and it turns out to be the fox, who has died. They discuss loss and how lucky people are when they actually get to say goodbye. Stephen is not doing particularly well; he remembers Snowy but not Elizabeth. Stephen notes that the ground is too hard to dig right now, so he and Bogdan agree to bury Snowy in the morning. They turn him so he’s facing Stephen’s window until then.

Chris, Donna, and Ron visit Ron’s son, Jason, at his house. Chris and Donna ask if Jason knows anything about missing heroin or Dom. Jason heard that Dom was shot after the Everton match, that Mitch Maxwell is in trouble, and that sharks are circling—including Connie, who is trying to recruit people to work for her. He doesn’t know Luca but says Connie had another visitor aside from Ibrahim recently and that the visitor was a dangerous-looking middle-aged woman.

Ibrahim visits Connie in prison. He asks about Luca, and she suggests that he’s not a very good psychiatrist. He asks if he’s helped her, and she tells a story about a woman cutting ahead of her at lunch. In response to this offense, Connie punched the girl to the floor. She refrained from pummeling her more afterward, which she feels is progress she can attribute to Ibrahim.

Connie criticizes Ibrahim for judging her illegal activities while simultaneously pumping her for information about that world. However, she does know Luca. Ibrahim wants to invite him to lunch. He then brings up Dom’s murder and Connie’s new visitor, and he notices some changes in her behavior.

In her diary, Joyce explains how they found Kuldesh’s lock-up after a theatrical display before the Fairhaven County Council. Elizabeth begged, pleaded, and cried, but in the end it was Joyce who secured the information by mentioning that the rent likely wouldn’t be paid. They asked Nina to accompany them to the lock-up in case she recognized something that could help them.

After Elizabeth broke in, they began their search. There were many boxes but no heroin. Nina assumed most of the items in the boxes were either stolen or forged, and Elizabeth and Joyce each took a Picasso print home. Joyce writes that Elizabeth plans to tell everyone at the lunch about the lock-up. The idea is that the person who doesn’t go to investigate it probably has the heroin. She also mentions that tomorrow they are going to see SIO Regan.

Elizabeth and Joyce ask to see Regan at the police station. The desk sergeant claims she isn’t there, but Elizabeth and Joyce have been watching the station. They know when she arrived and that she hasn’t left. The desk sergeant warns them against watching police stations, and Elizabeth takes her photo in response. The desk sergeant threatens to arrest her if she takes another photo. Elizabeth takes another photo.

A man named Sayed looks down on his valley and beyond to Pakistan. He thinks about the problems going on with his shipment. He sent someone named Hanif to Moldova to ask questions and then on to England. He wants the issue sorted out.

Elizabeth and Joyce meet with an annoyed and unimpressed Regan. Elizabeth doesn’t believe the NCA care about Kuldesh at all. She believes that they were tracking the heroin to make a large bust, that they let the heroin into the country intentionally, and that Dom was Regan’s inside man until somebody found out and killed him. Elizabeth tries to get the name of Regan’s informant, but Regan does not betray anything. Elizabeth muses that, rather than someone in the heroin trade working with the NCA, perhaps someone in the NCA is working for the heroin trade.

Mitch, Luca, Samantha, Garth, Nina, and the gang gather over lunch to discuss the case. Elizabeth explains their reasons for being there: Most of them want to find the heroin, and most are also suspects in the murder. Bogdan is present in case anyone tries to kill the Thursday Murder Club since Elizabeth only has one gun.

Hanif is in London. He has communicated to Mitch and Luca that they need to find the heroin by the end of the month. If they fail, they will be executed. He has never met Luca, but he met Mitch at the Qatar World Cup and liked him, so he hopes it works out. If it doesn’t work out, Sayed will kill Hanif too.

The gang and their lunch guests continue their discussion. Samantha asks what the box looks like. She suggests that if it eventually ends up in an antiques shop, that’s one way to find out who the killer is. Nina drops the hint about the lock-up, and everyone takes the bait. Then Elizabeth mistakes Regan’s name as “Ronson,” and Luca corrects her (establishing that he knows her). Lunch concludes, and everyone goes their separate ways. Elizabeth wonders aloud who will survive the week.

Joyce recounts to her diary what they’ve learned: nothing. She says that this was the point, however. After the lunch, Elizabeth told Joyce she was going to be out of contact for a couple days. Joyce knows that Anthony made a house call, something he never does, so something is up. She wonders what she’ll do without Elizabeth around.

She also mentions Snowy’s burial, which many people attended, including Stephen. He didn’t call many people by name—except Ibrahim, whom he called Kuldesh—but he did remember Joyce. Joyce knows Anthony must have been there for Stephen and that Elizabeth will be gone for a few days to take him to a home where they can care for him properly.

Ron and Ibrahim are with Computer Bob, and they are surprised when Joyce shows up with cake. They bring Joyce up to speed on the trap they’ve laid for Tatiana and the plan to meet with her “friend” Jeremmy. Jeremmy is going to come to Coopers Chase the following week for the money Tatiana wants from Mervyn. Business concluded, Bob and Joyce stay to watch snooker (a pool game played on a billiards table) with Ron and Ibrahim.

Nina is meeting with an annoying and entitled student who hasn’t done his essay when Garth interrupts. He yells at the student for not being interested in his essay or Roman art. The student leaves, and Garth asks Nina where the lock-up is. Nina says she’ll give him the address for 10% of the profit from selling the heroin.

Chris and Donna stake out the lock-up on Elizabeth’s orders and use the opportunity to discuss marriage. They are ignoring the horse theft case they’re meant to be on, and more horses were stolen. The case only took a day to solve, but they are stalling to look busy and help the Thursday Murder Club. Mitch shows up to search the lock-up, which means he doesn’t have the heroin. Another car pulls up to the lock-up as well.

Mitch is searching the lock-up when Luca arrives. They talk about Hanif arriving in England, but they don’t find the heroin. They wave to Chris and Donna as they leave.

Samantha and Garth have devised a new plan since the lunch. Currently, Samantha is working on forgeries at home when she hears someone, presumably Garth, enter the house. She goes downstairs to greet him and is knocked out from behind.

Elizabeth and Stephen are talking, his head in her lap. They discuss death, time, and what’s going to become of Elizabeth once he’s gone. He asks whether Bogdan, whose name he doesn’t remember, is his son. He’s injected himself with something they got from Viktor and is going to die soon. They discussed it as much as they were able, and in his clear moments, Stephen was certain this is what he wants. Stephen asks if they ever went to a certain museum in Baghdad together. When Elizabeth says no, he insists that she must go; he wrote the name down for her. He reminisces about the history contained in the museum, including some artifacts that still bear fingerprints and scratches from more than 6,000 years ago. He reflects that nothing ever really dies. He starts to nod off, and he asks Elizabeth to tell him the story of when they first met. She strokes his hair until he stops breathing.

Joyce writes that Stephen has died. An ambulance pulled up—not an uncommon occurrence in Coopers Chase—and Joyce was able to reach Elizabeth before she left with Stephen’s body. Ron hurried as fast as his hip would allow but only made it in time to hold Joyce as the ambulance drove away. She recalls a debate held a couple years ago at Coopers Chase; most people said they would go to Switzerland if they chose assisted suicide, as it’s legal there. Joyce assumes this is what Stephen wanted, though. She wouldn’t have made the same choice, but she understands that every situation is different and every love is different.

It is Thursday, but the Thursday Murder Club does not meet this week. This Thursday is for Stephen. Ron texts Pauline and hopes she will text back. Ibrahim stares at a painting on his wall. Joyce cries in her apartment. Elizabeth “isn’t anywhere or anything” (250).

Joyce brings her diary up to speed on the past few days. Stephen was cremated, with Elizabeth, Bogdan, Joyce, Ron, Ibrahim, Pauline, Chris, Donna, and Patrice in attendance, as well as four of Stephen’s old friends. Bogdan, Donna, Chris, and Ron carried his coffin. Everyone cried. They all went back to Joyce’s apartment afterward, expect the four old friends, who went their own way. Bogdan set up a chessboard with pieces in the position of the last game Stephen won. Computer Bob came over to round out the group, but not Mervyn. Amid the gathering, Chris announced the murder of Samantha. He acknowledged it wasn’t a discussion for that day, but he knew they’d like to know. Bogdan walked Elizabeth home while everyone else stayed to talk.

Pauline ignored two texts and a call before she received the text about the funeral and about how much Ron loved and missed her. Without responding, she showed up to Ron’s apartment ready for the funeral, and they’ve been holding hands ever since. He asks what they’re going to do about Elizabeth. In the middle of Pauline explaining that Elizabeth will need a couple weeks, Elizabeth calls him.

Ibrahim walks around the village thinking about someone named Marius, whose story is locked in a box deep within him. He is considering whether he dare tell the story—and then his phone rings.

Bogdan is crying in Donna’s arms. A week prior, Bogdan and Stephen had their final chess match, although it was more Bogdan teaching Stephen how to play. Stephen told Bogdan his plans himself, which Bogdan appreciated.

Donna reveals that Samantha was struck with a blunt object but died falling down the stairs. Garth is missing, so he’s either guilty or running from whoever is. Donna asks if Bogdan thinks Elizabeth helped Stephen. Bogdan says that would be illegal and that it would be illegal for him or Donna to know, but he confesses that he would have helped them. They assume Elizabeth is preoccupied now and discuss wrapping up the case as a gift for her. Just then, she calls them. Though it is 3:15 am, she needs them; she knows the location of the heroin.

Elizabeth lies in bed heartbroken and lonely. It was clear what Stephen wanted. He spoke with Viktor, and Viktor provided Elizabeth with a box containing the necessary items. He assured her it would be quick, painless, and undetectable. The doctor who arrived was a friend from Elizabeth’s spy days. He showed up to pronounce time and cause of death, so there was no need to go to Switzerland. Elizabeth questions whether this pain is a penance for her career. She now understands those who live in the past, something she has never done before.

Suddenly, inspiration strikes. Stephen had been trying to tell her all along: He had seen Kuldesh recently. Stephen spoke of him often in his final weeks, as well as of the allotment and what was planted there—or, more accurately, what was buried there. She realizes that she herself has an untraceable code 777 number. Kuldesh’s second call was to Stephen. She walks to the allotment shed on Coopers Chase’s grounds, picks the lock, and sees the brand-new spade that Kuldesh purchased from Big Dave.