- What sort of man do you think is committing these murders?
- He's a cool, intelligent, cunning individual.
- As having a deep hatred of prostitutes.
- Hates prostitutes.
- The killer they call the Yorkshire Ripper.
- Brutal murder, wasn't it?
- Oh, yes, it was, very brutal murder.
- She's had very severe head injuries, other injuries,
which I don't wish to elaborate on at this time.
- She has teeth marks left on her body
that gave police the valuable information...
- In the past four years,
12 women have died in the very same way.
- I'd like to say that I curse him
and that I hope he goes rotten from head to foot
if the police don't get him first.
- You daren't let your kids go out in the street.
- Frightened to go over to the shops now
or anywhere near the Chapeltown area.
It's very frightening.
- We have 5,000 officers in this force,
and I intend that all those officers
on every day of their duty
will be contributing to this inquiry.
This man has to be caught.
- The police services are stretched to their utmost
on the investigation.
- I've got to admit to the public
that we've not been successful up to now.
- Hundreds of people are now writing in with information.
Mail is arriving by the sackful.
- Over 3,000 statements have been taken,
and 9,000 men have already been eliminated from our inquiry.
- We have received letters that we believe to be genuine,
and we are presently analyzing a tape
that we also believe comes from someone
we would very much like to talk to
in connection with this inquiry.
- I'm Jack.
I see you are still having no luck catching me.
I have the greatest respect for you,
but, Lord, you are no nearer catching me now
than four years ago when I started.
I reckon...
- And anyone who missed the tape recording
can now put a phone call in to to Leeds 469111.
- Every time the phone rings,
I wonder if it's you.
If I get up in the middle of the night,
I can't help thinking about it,
and I feel that I really know you.
But I don't regard you as evil.
- They never learn, do they, George?
I bet you've warned them, but they never listen.
- Your voice is almost sad.
To me, you're like a bad angel
on a mistaken journey.
And while I would never condone your methods,
I can sympathize with your feelings.
- The inevitable speculation that Laura Baines
may be the 13th victim of the Yorkshire Ripper.
- We hope and pray
there may be no more funerals like this one.
- "And while I could never condone his methods,
I can sympathize with his feelings,"
Assistant Chief Constable Bill Molloy
on national news last night.
- Christ.
He's lost it.
- Badger Bill is retiring.
Philip?
- I've asked Peter Hunter to join us.
I think he's our man.
He's assistant chief constable of the Greater Manchester force.
Married, no children.
A good man, a steady man.
Squeaky-clean.
- They're ready for you now, Mr. Hunter,
if you'd care to come this way.
- Thank you.
- Mr. Hunter, gentlemen.
- Thank you for coming, Mr. Hunter.
Philip Evans,
regional inspector of constabulary for Yorkshire.
Sir John Marsden, chief inspector of constabulary.
Michael Warren from the Home Office.
As I said on the phone, there's been another:
Laura Baines.
Student nurse, 20 years old.
Leeds again.
It's a farce.
- Now, you saw Bill Molloy on the box last night.
What do you make of him?
- I think he's under a lot of pressure.
- It's become a personal vendetta.
Can't have that.
- There'll be a press conference tomorrow.
Harold Angus will tell them Bill Molloy's out.
- And there have been calls for outside help,
a fresh perspective and so on.
- Which is why we've asked you here today.
We want you to head up a covert Home Office inquiry
into the Ripper investigation.
- Why covert?
- Don't want to go
washing our dirty linen in public, do we?
- As far as West Yorkshire is concerned,
your squad will be there in an advisory capacity.
- Mr. Hunter, this goes right to the top.
The home secretary is taking a personal interest.
- I'm quite sure he is, sir.
- You'll handpick your own officers,
be based in Leeds,
and be answerable only to myself.
- Ah, and the Home Office, of course.
- Ask.
- Ask what, sir?
- Why you?
That's what you want to know, isn't it?
- Okay, sir. Why me?
- You've previously been involved in investigations
into the West Yorkshire force, haven't you?
- The Karachi Club shooting, for one.
- With all due respect, sir, that was over five years ago.
I failed to reach a conclusion.
- Why was that?
- I couldn't continue my inquiry for personal reasons.
- These investigations, they make you popular
with the West Yorkshire lads, did they?
- No, sir.
- What is it they call you?
"Saint Cunt," isn't it?
Bother you, that?
- No, sir, it doesn't.
- Then there's your answer.
[solemn piano music]
♪ ♪
[thunder booming]
- DCS John Nolan,
20 years' experience, done two tours with me.
- Good man.
- And Detective Helen Marshall.
- Helen Marshall?
- Yes, sir.
- These are the best we have.
- I'd like them both, if that's okay with you, sir.
- I've been instructed to give you whatever you need.
- Thank you.
- You made your mind up pretty quickly
about doing the job.
- Not something I felt I could refuse.
- You could have, Pete.
I would have.
- It's a job that needs to be done.
It's an honor for the Manchester force.
- Let's hope so, Peter.
- We're working 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
with limited time off.
So if you cannot commit, please say so now.
- I'm in.
- Thanks, John.
- I'll have to get someone to feed the cat, I suppose.
- Thank you.
John, me and you will head over first thing.
Helen, we'll meet you in Leeds Tuesday morning, 9:00 sharp.
- Do they know we're coming?
- Brass, yeah, but not the lads or the press.
We're gonna keep it low-key.
Thank you.
- Go and clear my desk, then, eh?
See you later, boss.
- Thanks, John.
- Thank you.
- For what?
- Asking for me.
- No competition.
- The Yorkshire Ripper has claimed his 13th victim
as the West Yorkshire police
confirmed that the killing of Laura Baines
bore all the hallmarks of Britain's most wanted man.
- Bloody Yorkshire. - Yeah.
- Republican prisoners in the Maze prison
have again embarked on a hunger strike
after the home secretary refused to...
- Ladies and gentlemen,
last night, an emergency meeting
of the West Yorkshire Police Committee was called
in the light of the confirmation of Laura Baines
as the 13th victim of the Yorkshire Ripper.
I would like to announce
a number of internal operational changes.
- How about your resignation?
- Resign!
- As of today,
Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson
will have sole responsibility for the hunt for this man.
- Would you care to comment on allegations
that valuable time has already been lost
on this investigation?
- Was Laura Baines not reported missing as early as 10:30?
- I'm not taking questions on this at this point.
- Would you comment on rumors that she bled to death
while officers failed to respond
to the repeated calls from her flatmates?
- How do you respond to suggestions
that the so-called Yorkshire Ripper tape is a hoax?
[reporters shouting indistinctly]
- Bunch of fucking bastards!
- Bloody shambles.
- Like a fly to shit, you are, Hunter.
- Steady, Bill.
- Can I have a word?
- And you can fuck off and all,
Detective Chief Superintendent.
- Don't take it personally, Maurice.
He's had a shock.
- You didn't tell him he was going?
- I've arranged a nice dinner for this evening.
We'll talk things over then.
Nice place. Good steaks.
Just us.
- I'm with John Nolan.
- Oh, don't worry about John.
Dickie Alderman and a couple of the lads
will take care of him.
- Harold Angus of West Yorkshire
announced that a brains trust of senior detectives
are being drafted in to assist
in the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.
This super squad will be led...
- Don't waste any time, do they?
- Sorry there's no red carpet.
- Didn't expect one.
- That's lucky, then, isn't it?
- Who was shot to death outside his home...
- You keep going back for more
until they have to roll you out.
- Are you sure?
- No, thanks.
- Not on hunger strike, are you?
- How do you mean?
- Well, in sympathy, like. The Maze.
You're Roman, aren't you?
- I'm not religious.
- I heard you were.
No offense.
- You do know why I was brought in by the Home Office?
- I know everything, Hunter.
- So you understand that to do the job,
I need unhindered access.
- I wouldn't want to limit
the scope of your investigation in any way.
- I'm gonna need to copy all files
pertaining to the Ripper inquiry.
- You know how many files there are, Pete?
We had to reinforce the floor to support them.
- Another drink?
- No.
- Those files won't mean fuck-all without a guide.
- Well, if you could supply us with a liaison,
that would be a great help.
- How's your wife these days, Hunter?
- She's fine.
- I heard she hadn't been too good.
That's all.
Don't mean to pry.
- No, she's fine, thank you.
- I heard the casino's worth a visit.
- That's me, gentlemen. I've had a long day.
I think I'm gonna go back to the hotel.
- You're the guest.
Maurice? Memorandum.
- It's, um, terms of reference for your investigation.
- "Terms of reference"?
What do you mean?
- I don't like open-ended inquiries.
[line ringing]
- Joan?
Have I woke you up, darling?
I'm sorry.
Go back to bed, darling.
I'll talk to you in the morning.
[sniffles] Yeah.
I miss you too.
All right, Joan. Night-night, love.
Bye, baby. Bye. Bye.
[sighs]
- Mr. Hunter!
Jack Whitehead, the Evening Post.
- Police are still appealing for witnesses
to a robbery and shoot-out at the Karachi Club in Wakefield
which claimed seven lives.
- Can I have a word about the shooting, the lads?
- Two police officers
were seriously injured in the incident.
PC Tommy Douglas was shot in the shoulder,
and Sergeant Bob Craven suffered serious head injuries
in the attack.
- Kill the fucking... Kill them all.
- It's like the papers say.
Sergeant Craven and PC Douglas are on the mend,
but they're not up to questioning just yet.
- Kill them all.
Kill them all.
- Our thoughts go out to the families
of PC Tommy Douglas and Sergeant Bob Craven.
An outside force will be reviewing the actions
of the West Yorkshire Police.
And we, of course, welcome their inquiry.
- Just as they're about to knock off,
Craven and Douglas get the call.
- Call was logged at 1:28 a.m., anonymous.
- Why does it smell so bad?
- What about the barmaid?
- Looking for her.
- Got a name?
- Not yet.
- Two shotguns, one Smith & Wesson,
and two MP5s.
- Craven reckoned a four-man team.
- Well, we've got five guns.
- I still can't get this clear. Can you?
- I just can't see it.
Something's wrong here.
- Big night?
- Building bridges, you know.
You?
- Couple of pints with Dickie Alderman,
a few of the lads, friendly enough.
- Learn anything?
- Yeah, morale's low.
Bill's going was the last straw.
Our presence doesn't help.
[dog barking]
There's no phone line. They're working on it.
- Christ.
- Keys are on the way, apparently.
- Can't be too careful, now, can you?
- Detective Superintendent Bob Craven.
Sergeant back then, wasn't it?
- Aye.
- You look in a better state than the last time we met.
- You don't.
[chuckles]
[door creaks open]
- Sorry I'm late.
- [chuckles]
Right.
I'm gonna be your liaison
along with Detective Inspector Dickie Alderman here.
- I've been involved since day one.
- And we know the case on a personal basis.
- Yeah.
Probably forgotten more than most know.
- That's a pity, isn't it?
- You know what we mean, Mr. Hunter.
- Yeah.
- Okay. Here's what we're gonna do.
I'm going to give each one of you
a year or two of the investigation
and 24 hours to get to grips with the files.
I want details of cars sighted,
descriptions of all witnesses, suspects, whatever.
And this time round,
I want them irrespective of blood type.
I want us to forget all previous investigations,
and that includes the Geordie accent on that tape.
- Well, Bill Molloy was very, very certain
that tape was genuine.
- Well, Bill Molloy is off the case.
We're starting from scratch.
Right, John,
I want you to do 1974, '75, and '76.
- '76 was a very quiet one.
That's favoritism from the boss, I reckon.
What do you reckon?
- Helen, you get the short straw: '77.
- Busy boy that Jubilee, weren't he?
- Four in a row.
- Why don't I do one of Helen's?
Here you are.
I'll do this one, Clare Strachan.
- No, no, we'll keep it as it is.
You got a problem with that, Helen?
- No, it's fine.
- Okay.
I'll take '78, '79, and Laura Baines.
Okay, listen.
The Yorkshire Ripper's name is in those files.
Trust me.
We've had him in and let him go.
- What makes you so sure of that?
- Well, here's the problem, Bob.
You've been looking for some hunchbacked lorry driver
with a Geordie accent and flesh between his teeth
and a hammer in his back pocket.
- Who do you think we should be looking for, then?
- Before this latest,
he was quiet for 15 months, right?
- Makes you wonder what he was doing all that time.
- Exactly.
What do you do in your spare time, Bob?
- What?
- What's your hobby?
- I like chewing minge, Mr. Hunter, why?
- You don't get out as much as you'd like to, right?
- Obviously.
- Why's that?
- This job, I suppose.
- He's the same.
He's got the same bollocks in his life as we've all got:
work, the wife, kids, holidays.
- Oh, married with kids?
Oh, right, yeah.
- Married. No kids.
- No one would cover up for him, what he's done.
- She doesn't think she's doing,
doesn't see him for what he really is,
but neither do we.
[knock at door]
- Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Hunter.
Your wife left a message.
She wants to know
if you're coming home for dinner tonight.
- Thank you.
- You better hop to it, Mr. Hunter, eh?
Don't want winter in the house, now, do we?
- God.
You couldn't get more normal than Laura Baines.
- He changed all that, didn't he?
Laura gets off the bus at 9:29, crosses the road.
He comes up behind her, hits her on the head,
drags her over there.
- She's got to be the last.
- You know people are gonna talk.
- About what?
- You punishing me with '77.
Bob Craven clocked it.
- Yeah.
I don't like Mr. Craven.
- He's a nob.
According to the lads, he hasn't been right in the head
since the Karachi Club shooting.
- Yeah.
I think they left some bits out when they rebuilt him.
God, that was a mess.
So what's up?
- How do you mean, "what's up?"
- You said you wanted to see me.
- That was it. I wanted to see you.
- Helen.
- No, look.
I'm just finding it a little difficult
pretending nothing ever happened between us.
That's all.
- Well, it didn't really, did it?
- Well...
Well, it did from where I'm standing.
Look, I'm not going to cause a scene.
I'm not going to contact the wife.
- Helen. - It was a joke.
Look.
I don't regret anything. It's done.
Just don't pretend it didn't.
- It was disloyal.
It was unprofessional.
And it was unforgivable.
And I do regret it.
- Well, that's your problem, isn't it?
It still happened.
57 times, he stabbed her.
- 77, Mr. Hunter?
- Yes, please.
Thank you.
- 64, please.
Thank you.
[elevator dings]
- Night, then.
[door clicks open]
- I wasn't expecting you home, love.
- What's this? A Vietnamese baby?
- Oh, not now. Let's talk another time.
- I thought I'd put the tree up.
- Oh, we're a bit late.
Everything's up in the attic.
- It's all right.
I'll get the steps from the garage.
Have it up in no time.
- Those lights are so old.
- Shots fired in the private bar of the Karachi Club.
Sergeant Craven and PC Douglas respond.
Down the stairs, eight dead, smoke,
four blokes in hoods with shotguns.
More shots.
Beaten. Left for dead.
- Dougie still can't remember a thing.
Bob,
well, he's in a bit of a state.
- Craven and Douglas knew shots had been fired,
knew the SPG are on their way,
and still they go charging in there?
Strange.
- Hero cops, remember?
- It don't quite add up, does it?
- It's your investigation, Hunter.
- I want to talk to them.
- And you will but not just yet.
[knock at door]
- Sorry to interrupt, sir.
Telephone call for Mr. Hunter.
It's your wife, sir. It's urgent.
- Joan?
Oh, okay.
I'll be right back, okay?
I'm leaving now.
I'm so sorry, love. I'm so sorry.
Joan, we can try again.
- Been over to the other side, boss?
- No Helen?
- No, she's on the rag, isn't she?
Now, I do like gravy with my beef, don't you?
- Oh, cheers for that, Bob.
- Get started, shall we?
- Joan Richards,
found on February the 6th, 1976, in an alleyway
on the Manor Street Industrial Estate, Leeds.
- Structure of the investigation?
- Fish and chip job, as it was then.
- Yeah.
- They still had
Chief Superintendent Jobson on it, though.
[door creaks open]
- You were on this one, right, Bob?
- Yeah, yeah, I were.
- So why don't you talk us through it?
- Eh?
- It would be a great help if you could.
- Uh...
She had boot prints on her legs,
you know, Wellingtons.
Pulled her bra up over her tits,
shoved a piece of wood up her fanny,
that kind of thing.
- Who was running it?
- The Owl were running it.
- Jobson.
And two other names that are gonna keep coming up:
Detective Inspectors Alderman and Prentice.
- Good team?
- Oh, yeah. Good team.
Some of the best men we've got.
- And then you came on board.
- And then I came on board, Mr. Hunter, yeah.
- And?
- And the pathologist linked it with the other murders, right?
- That's about it, yeah.
- Thanks for that, Bob.
Yeah.
Take a break, shall we?
Bob?
Can I have a word?
Been around all this a long time, haven't you?
- Ripper?
Mm, too bloody long.
- In deep, aren't you?
- Eats me up, yeah.
Same for a lot of the lads.
That's not a crime, is it?
- No.
You must have your own theories.
- Oh, I do, yeah.
- So why don't you share them?
- With you?
No, I don't think I will.
We'll catch our Ripper, not you, Mr. Hunter.
- You're taking your time about it, aren't you?
- Yeah, well, it's not just about the Ripper,
is it, Mr. Hunter?
Not for you.
And that's not why you're here, is it?
Not really.
- What do you mean?
- You know what I mean.
It's about seeing
how many of us you can take down with him.
- Why would I want to do that?
- Because it's in your nature, isn't it?
No, like I said,
we will catch our Ripper, Mr. Hunter,
not you.
Can I go now?
- Yeah.
[knocking]
You okay?
- Yeah, working late, '77.
There's a lot to do.
- Yeah.
Can I come in?
- Isn’t convenient.
- Right.
Right, I'll see you tomorrow.
- Yeah, see you.
[latches clicking]
- Mr. Hunter?
My name is Martin Laws.
Could I have a word?
- What can I do for you, Mr. Laws?
- I have a young man outside.
He's an unsettled lad,
but he's desperate to speak to you.
- About what?
- A young woman called Clare Strachan.
It'll only take a minute.
You best get in round that door.
I'll wait out here.
- Lock the doors.
- It's okay.
What happened to you?
- Occupational hazard, Mr. Hunter.
- What's your name, lad?
- No names.
Did you come alone?
- You on the run?
- Oh, always.
- You knew Clare Strachan.
- Bit late, Mr. Hunter.
She's been dead three years.
- Oh, I'm aware of that.
How did you know her?
- She were a friend,
sister, really.
She didn't deserve what happened to her.
- Is that what you wanted to tell me?
- Ask Eric the pimp if you want to know more.
- A pimp?
I think you're wasting my time, aren't you, son?
- She had two little daughters,
and she were loved.
I mean, that's more than a lot of people, isn't it?
BJ.
[tap at window]
They call me BJ.
- Mr. Hunter?
[door slams shut]
Hope that wasn't a complete waste of your time,
but BJ was very insistent.
- What exactly is your line of work, Mr. Laws?
- Community work.
I work with the sick, the lonely, dispossessed.
Oh, goodness, I'm not under arrest, am I?
- You don't like the police much, do you?
- No love lost, no.
- So when someone kicks down your front door,
kills the dog, and rapes the wife,
who are you gonna call?
- Well, it certainly wouldn't be the West Yorkshire police.
They'd already be in there, wouldn't they?
- I might want to talk to you again.
- I stay in Fitzwilliam.
It's a little mining village not far from here.
Wouldn't think it was your type of place, really.
Take care, Mr. Hunter.
- "Dear Bill, I warned you and Jack from the Post,
"there's a surprise waiting for you in Preston.
"Whores getting younger all the time.
Yours respectfully, Jack from Hell."
This letter was received
at the offices of The Telegraph and Argus,
13th June, 1977.
Helen?
- 1977 was a hell of a Jubilee.
The "surprise in Preston" was Clare Strachan,
convicted prostitute and registered alcoholic.
Clare wasn't immediately linked to the Ripper.
The type of injuries didn't correspond.
She was taken to some disused garages
on Frenchwood Street, had sex,
and was then hit on the head with a blunt instrument.
She was kicked in the face, head, breasts,
legs, and body.
Her attacker jumped up and down on her chest,
causing a rib to puncture a lung and kill her.
She had bite marks on her breasts
and had been penetrated by a variety of objects,
twice sodomized, once postmortem.
Sergeant Bob Craven was sent to Preston to investigate
but found no evidence to connect Strachan to the others.
Correct, Superintendent?
- Mm.
- Thank you, Mr. Craven.
Her pimp was Eric Hall,
Detective Inspector Eric Hall.
- This force?
- Eric Hall was murdered in an unconnected incident.
But before that, he was a suspect.
- Yeah, but I think you'll find that the tests later revealed
that the killer of Strachan and the writer of that letter
were the same person, weren't they?
Same blood type: B.
I mean, that's very rare.
- But initially you didn't think it was the same man.
- No, at the start, the only links we had
were that they were all slags.
- Until the letter.
- And the sample.
- Then Strachan was in.
- Yeah.
Ooh, that felt like I were in court, then.
- Relax, Bob.
You're amongst friends.
- Yeah, I know.
- Do you want to add anything else?
- No, thank you.
- I'm not convinced.
- You're not convinced...
[chuckles]
[clears throat]
The semen found in Strachan,
the saliva off the letter,
the blood group all match.
- That's neat.
- No, that's forensics, love.
- The point is,
either Strachan was killed by the Ripper,
or she wasn't.
And if she wasn't, then that would mean
we've got ourselves two Jacks, not one.
Love.
[knock at door]
Sorry to disturb you.
- What's up?
- Can I come in?
- Yeah.
That was an excellent job you did today.
Do you really think we're looking for two Jacks?
- Well, it's a possibility, isn't it?
- Do you want something to drink?
I've got tea or coffee.
- No, someone's just contacted me
on behalf of Libby Hall, Eric Hall's wife.
But it's you she really wants to speak to, apparently.
- Aye?
- You know what happened to her?
- I know a bit, yeah.
- Things they did to her,
things they made her do.
Dragged to the bathroom, tried to drown her.
Left her on the floor for her son to find.
She turned religious after that,
like a lot of them do.
Can't blame her.
You'd think she'd have moved.
- Oh, I hope you don't mind.
I've invited Reverend Laws.
- We've already met.
Mr. Laws.
- Mr. Hunter.
- Reverend Laws is a comfort.
- This is Detective Helen Marshall.
- How are you? - Okay.
- You work your team too hard, Mr. Hunter.
- I'll be the judge of that.
- Do you want to sit down?
- Thank you.
Mrs. Hall, would you mind if we had a word in private?
- Well, there really isn't anything
that Reverend Laws hasn't already heard.
- All the same.
- No, it's okay.
It's fine. It's fine. On you go.
- [whispering] Okay.
- Eric was a suspect
on the Clare Strachan murder, wasn't he?
- Yeah.
Until that letter came, supposedly from the Ripper.
- You don't think Strachan was killed by the Ripper?
- Eric knew it wasn't the Ripper.
He never did shut up about things, did he?
He was calling people up, papers,
anybody who'd listen.
So someone put them on to him...
shut him up.
Eric kept notes.
He kept recordings and everything.
I gave everything
to Detective Superintendent Jobson.
- Okay.
- It was three years ago.
- And you've heard nothing?
- Just a minute.
- Okay.
- I found these in the garage.
Clare Strachan is page 13, I think.
It's my husband's business interests.
I didn't- didn't ask any questions.
- Did Eric have any particularly close friends?
- Not really, no. Only Dougie.
Dougie used to come over
and play a round or two with Eric every now and again.
- Dougie?
Tommy Douglas?
- Yeah, and his wife, Sharon.
She was much younger than him too.
I think she was model, I think.
What would you do
if they threw you out?
- I don't know.
- Did some bad things, did Eric.
But he didn't deserve what happened to him.
You look tired.
- I haven't been sleeping.
- Isn’t that the worst kind of hell?
- Good night, Mrs. Hall.
What did he say to you?
- Nothing, really.
He was just kind.
- Kind? What do you mean?
Kind about what?
- He was just friendly, Peter.
- You're supposed to be on duty.
[footsteps approaching]
[keys jingling]
- Your wife's been calling, Mr. Hunter.
- And 64.
I'm going up.
- You sure you don't want a quick drink?
- No, thank you.
- Well, I'd better go and say hello.
- Don't forget to call the wife.
- Evening.
- Want a drink?
- Ah, okay, Bob, I'll have a quick one.
- Looks like you had one of them already.
- Steady on, Bob.
Out of order.
- Oh, I don't know.
I mean, I fucking definitely would.
Wouldn't you, Dickie?
- Yeah.
- Get him a drink.
- I'll have a bitter, please, mate.
- [laughs]
- Yeah, well, Eric, bent as a two bob note,
gets involved with this gang knocking off post offices.
All goes belly-up.
They take it out on him.
Brought it on himself, really.
- Yeah, and onto her.
- Poor cow.
- She reckoned Eric got done 'cause he kept bleating on
about Clare Strachan not being one of Ripper's.
- Not Yorkshire Post, is it, boss?
- It's part of Eric's stash.
- Nice.
- My guess is that
Eric Hall and Tommy Douglas were running it.
- Dougie gets pensioned off,
sinks all his comp into wank mags.
Makes sense.
- Listen, John, are you okay holding the fort for a while?
- Yeah, yeah, good place to pause, take stock.
- Okay, I want to talk to Dougie.
- Douglas is fucked.
He's a bitter man.
Take care, Peter.
- And as they do so, it's Bill Ady's Miss Hunter.
Gaintree going wonderfully well on the outside in third.
- She's a lovely-looking kid.
You're a lucky man.
- She keeps me young, does our Karen.
You got any yourself?
- No, no, just me and the wife.
You came through all right, Dougie.
- You think so?
I'm on three different kinds of painkillers
for this useless bugger.
Bastard.
- Never found them neither.
- Not likely to, are they? Not now.
- Least the force saw you all right.
- Bollocks.
All this is all on the never-never, isn't it?
- Business didn't work out with Eric, then?
- What business?
- Spunk magazine.
[door clicks open]
Hello, love.
- Who's this?
- Peter Hunter, Sharon, love,
assistant chief constable.
- Yeah?
Ten bloody years he gave you lot.
Come on, Karen.
Let's get some dinner.
- It was hard on her and all.
Some cunt tried to kill me.
Can you imagine what that does to you?
- Tell me about it, Dougie.
I never got the chance to ask before.
That night at the Karachi Club?
- I don't remember a thing.
- What the fucking hell is he doing here?
- Sharon, please.
- I'm not fucking having it.
I don't want you involved.
- Not now. In the house, come on.
- Pete. Hi, good to see you.
You look well.
- You know why I'm here, Maurice?
- Um, short straw?
- Eric Hall.
Three years, Leeds have had Eric Hall's notes.
- Yeah, well, he were always up to his fucking neck in shit,
were Eric.
Those notes his wife sent over,
they were just ramblings, to be honest.
- Ramblings?
Like the fact that he pimped Clare Strachan?
- Yeah, well, nothing was ever proved.
- What about this?
- Like I said, he was up to his fucking neck in it.
- Maurice, that rag features one of the Ripper's victims.
- Occupational hazard, isn't it?
- What happened, Maurice?
- How do you mean?
- When did we start to be on opposite sides of the fence?
- We aren't.
- It feels like it, though, doesn't it?
- Whoo!
Down into the fucking belly we go!
- Is it all right if we smoke?
- Oh, yes.
- Right, Detective Inspector Richard Alderman,
Detective Inspector Jim Prentice,
I'd like to thank you for coming-
- We got any sandwiches?
- Let's get started, shall we?
[recorder clicks]
Both of you have been involved in the Ripper inquiry
from the off, so obviously,
you both have a tremendous amount of knowledge
about the different investigations,
the methods, and procedures.
You were the senior detectives.
- Still are.
- Right, and the other detective involved was Bob Craven?
So I'm interested to know what you feel,
given that you've worked under Bill Molloy and Maurice Jobson.
- What we feel?
This is my first Sunday off in three months.
Is that your best fucking question, Mr. Hunter?
[recorder clicks]
- Sit down.
- Sit down, Detective Inspector.
[recorder clicks]
- I'd like to know the differences
in the styles of operations, if you don't mind.
- Everything was different.
This was five years ago.
Much smaller op.
- So Clare Strachan wasn't in at this stage?
- Not until after the blood tests and the letters.
- Yeah, like you didn't know.
- Strachan was in and out for quite some time, wasn't she?
- Initially, yeah.
- That's also true
of a number of the other murders and attacks, isn't it?
- What's your point?
- My point is, who's in, who's out, and who decides?
- So you want me and Jim to go through
every fucking unsolved murder in Yorkshire
and tell you why or why they're not Ripper cases?
- Just one. Clare Strachan.
Lucky the Ripper wrote that letter, eh?
Otherwise, Clare would have been just another unsolved.
- It wasn't the fucking Ripper.
- Shut up, Dick. - Shut the fuck up.
I'm not having this piece of shit strolling in here
telling me what I can and can't say.
Come on, John. You know.
Everyone knows. - He's talking bollocks.
Of course it was the Ripper. - Fuck off.
Strachan was knocked up with Eric's kid, wasn't she?
So he did her.
- So what's the Ripper doing
claiming Clare as one of his, then?
- It was only ever a rumor about Strachan being knocked up,
just hearsay.
- You still should have told me, John.
- Yeah, I know. Sorry, boss.
Jobson's not going to be very happy, is he?
Way we've treated his lads.
- Maurice can piss off.
It's a Home Office review.
- Do you think you're up for all this, Pete?
- How do you mean?
- Well, it's getting dead murky, isn't it?
- No one takes the bone off me this time round.
- Well, I'm going to get an early night.
See you in the morning, boss.
- Okay. - Night.
- Yeah.
[phone ringing]
- Hello.
- Hunter?
Tommy Douglas.
I need to see you right away.
- What is it, Dougie?
- I need to see you.
- Right now?
- I've got serious information.
- Concerning?
- Concerning me, for fuck's sake.
Not on the phone.
I need to see you.
[dial tone humming]
[line clicking]
[humming resumes]
[line ringing]
[door squeaking]
[hinge creaking]
[drill whirring]
- [screaming]
No!
[muffled screaming]
[agonized screaming]
[recorder clicks]
- Do they know who died first?
- No.
Preliminary postmortem revealed
Karen Douglas died of a single stab wound to the heart.
You said Douglas called you.
- He had information.
- About what?
- We'll never know now, will we?
- Ex-copper and his kid.
Top policeman.
Sniff of the Ripper in there.
Right fucking mess.
Doesn't look good, does it?
- You sound like you're blaming me.
- Word is, you've been intimidating Jobson's officers,
questioning their integrity.
- Well, I've certainly been questioning their capabilities.
- There've been threats of resignation.
- Oh, good.
- Pete, it's a lousy job.
No one would blame you if you pulled out.
- Absolutely not, sir. No way.
Not now.
- So long as you're not letting it get to you, Peter,
letting it get personal.
[thunder booming]
[crowd murmuring]
[camera shutters clicking]
- Mr. Hunter, I wonder if you could comment
on the catalog of bungling and neglect
that has characterized this investigation.
- These issues are a matter of concern to us
and are part and parcel of the review,
but it would be unprofessional of me
to comment any further at this time.
- Are you, at present, investigating any connection
between the murders of Clare Strachan
and a vice detective called Eric Hall?
- Not at all.
- So there's no truth that those murders
are linked to the recent murder
of ex-policeman Thomas Douglas and his daughter, Karen?
- Absolutely not.
- Are you able to confirm or otherwise
rumors circulating to the effect
that you're about to be removed from the so-called super squad
due to personal conflicts with senior police officers?
[laughter]
- Interview's over. Thank you.
[crowd shouting]
Where's Helen?
She should have been here.
- I thought she would be.
- When are you going back to Manchester?
- Thank you.
Miss Marshall not in her room?
- No, sir, not since yesterday.
Oh, this was left for you, sir.
I heard they're closing all the shops early again, sir,
because of him.
- Thank you.
Hello, Mrs. Hall.
- Hello.
- So sorry to bother you again.
I was just wondering
if Miss Marshall had been back here at all.
- Helen, yes.
She came back last night at about 9:30, I think.
She wanted to see, um, Reverend Laws.
He's helped me so much at least...
I'm really pleased that they've become acquainted.
- They met after we were here?
- Yes, yes.
She's become quite the convert.
- Oh, yeah?
He lives in Fitzwilliam, doesn't he?
- Netherton Close.
I've never been there myself, mind.
[animal howls]
[dogs barking]
[guns popping]
- Where have you been?
- I had to go home.
- What for?
I was worried about you.
- I don't want to talk about it, Peter.
- I went to see Mrs. Hall.
She said you were looking for Martin Laws.
- He's just been very supportive.
- About what?
- Just leave it, Pete, please!
- I've got some bad news.
Any of this gets out, and I'm finished.
- Is it blackmail?
Was there a note?
- No, no note.
- Well, then it's just someone trying to rattle you.
That's all.
- Well, it's worked.
What a fucking mess.
- Hey, hey.
It'll be all right.
It's nothing.
It's just two people in a park after a rough day.
It's nothing.
We all need a break, Pete.
It's Christmas, isn't it?
Come on. We should get a drink.
[laughter]
- Here, young couple just got married, right?
And he comes home on a Friday night from the pub,
and he says,
"I want to try a new sexual position."
She says, "Oh, aye, what's that?"
He says, "It's called wheelbarrow, right,
"and what you have to do is,
"you have to get down, like, on all fours,
"and I'll get your legs, and I'll slide in,
and then I walk you round."
And she went, "All right, I'll do it,
as long as we don't go past me mum's."
- To the super squad.
- The brains trust.
- The fuckwits.
- Merry Christmas.
- Helen.
- That was fun.
- Yeah, it was.
I just-I just wanted to say thank you, really.
Thanks for everything.
And I wanted to say I'm sorry.
I'm sorry if I insulted you.
I'm sorry if I hurt you.
- Pete.
- I do like you, too much.
That's why what happened happened.
- Please, Pete, don't.
- I just wanted to tell you how I felt, you know?
- Lot of bloody good screwing the boss did me, eh?
- God, what a pair.
You have a merry Christmas, Helen.
- You too.
Pete?
I fell pregnant.
- What?
- I got rid of it.
- When?
- Um, Sunday.
Manchester.
Martin Laws helped me.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
- Why didn't you come to me?
- I want to know what the fuck you're gonna do about this mess.
- You let us worry about that, yeah?
You just keep it together, lad.
- I am not going to be the fucking goat.
There's always a goat, and it ain't going to be me.
- It won't come to that.
- Fucking right, it won't.
- Is that a threat? Are you...
You threatening me, Dickie?
- I am just saying that it's got out of hand.
Right, he's going to rip this whole fucking thing open.
- Not a word, Dickie, eh?
Not a word.
Now, you'll shut up, and you'll listen to me.
We will take care of everything.
- That's what you say, isn't it?
- You will do as I say.
Or else I will start fucking about with you.
- I'm upset.
- We all are.
- I can't do time.
I can't take a fall.
- You won't have to, yeah?
I'll look after you.
[door squeaks open]
- Gentlemen.
- What do you want, you fucking poof?
- Out.
Get out.
- What's the matter with him?
- [clears throat]
Bad day.
- Aren't they all?
"Always got to be a goat," eh, Bob?
You know that, son.
- You've had a few, haven't you, Mr. Hunter?
- So who's it gonna be, then?
Who's gonna take the fall for Dougie?
- Tommy Douglas was my best mate.
- Mate with a grudge and a big mouth.
- Shall I tell you what I do know, eh?
You're fucked.
You're fucking finished.
- Merry Christmas, Bob.
[door slams shut]
[film reel clicking]
[peaceful music]
♪ ♪
8:31 and 8 seconds.
- [giggles]
Thought Carl was gonna have it off your wrist.
- Took a shine to it, didn't he?
- They're lovely, aren't they?
- Yeah, they are.
[sirens wailing]
[explosion roaring]
Someone burnt my house down.
My fucking house!
- I know. I know.
- Well, what the fuck are you gonna do about it?
- Peter, please. - It was my house.
They could've killed us, could've killed my wife.
- Where's Joan now?
- Are you asking me to trust you?
What's this?
- Mr. Hunter.
Sit down, please.
- [sighs]
Hear about the house?
- Yeah, yeah, we know, Pete.
- What's going on?
- Allegations have been made against you
that indicate a disciplinary offense.
- What allegations?
- We're making a number of inquiries.
- Peter, we would like to invite you
to take extra leave.
- Extra leave?
What about the Ripper inquiry?
- Chief Superintendent John Nolan
will take over your team.
- [sighs]
Has this anything to do with Detective Helen Marshall?
- Can't say, Mr. Hunter.
- We'd like you to provide us with the details
of your bank accounts, you know, savings account,
any credit cards you might have.
- I'm afraid I can't give you that information.
- Peter.
- The fire took the lot.
- Very convenient.
- Yeah, it is, isn't it?
Very convenient.
You think about that, sir.
- Take it easy.
- Passport?
- We lost everything.
- Pity.
- Fucking hell.
- It is now my intention to ask you
to clear out your office
and to leave these headquarters immediately.
You will have to make yourself available
for an interview tomorrow, 2:00,
Leeds Street, my office.
- I'll give you a hand, eh?
I'm, uh, sorry about your house.
This is your mail.
- Still on the same side, Maurice?
- Pete.
- How deep does the rot go, Maurice?
Eh, how deep?
And who stops it?
- Mr. Hunter.
Welcome back, sir.
- Whether Mr. Hunter's suspension
is in any way linked to an apparently hostile report
he was preparing into the management complexities
of the West Yorkshire police
in regard to their handling of the Ripper inquiry.
- Well, in this pizza parlor,
they've noticed a very sharp falloff in trade
since the Ripper's last victim.
- Hello, is Mr. Evans available, please?
It's Peter Hunter again.
Yeah, I know that, love, but it's quite urgent.
- The prime minister has taken a personal interest
in the hunt for the Ripper.
- Okay, thank you.
- Series of photofit pictures
of a man they would like to question
in connection with the killings.
[wheels clanking]
- Pete, I was worried about you, mate.
- Hey, John. I'm okay.
- Listen, mate, go home.
- I haven't got a home.
- Go to Joan's folks' or wherever.
Just go.
- They're not finished with me, mate.
I've got a meeting with Angus and the Owl at 2:00.
- This whole thing is bollocks, isn't it?
The whole thing, absolute bollocks.
- What about you?
Shouldn't you be getting them all together, back to work?
- Monday week, if we're allowed to.
They're talking about bringing another force in.
I don't even care.
Don't even care.
- Aye.
[organ music]
♪ ♪
[rotary dial clicking]
[line ringing]
- Yes?
- This is Peter Hunter.
- Oh, yes, I've been watching you on the telly.
Took your time.
- What have you got to tell me?
- You have a date in Preston, Frenchwood Street.
Tonight.
[dial tone humming]
[crowd shouting]
- String that bastard up!
- Calm down. Back up.
- You've got to string him up, the bastard!
- What's going on?
- They've got him, haven't they?
- What? - Ripper.
They've got fucking Ripper, haven't they?
The Yorkshire bloody Ripper, he's down in the belly now.
Hey, steady. Come on.
Get back.
Come on! Back off.
- It's over, Pete.
It's all over.
- I know. I've heard, John.
It's great news.
[plastic bag rustling]
- I think you're in serious trouble, Peter.
- Well, they're all in my brain,
reminding me of the beast that I am.
- You'll feel better now.
- I should tell Monica.
- Who's Monica?
- Monica's my wife.
- Tart pulls this punter.
"Looks like a good-looking Bee Gee," she says,
luckiest bitch alive.
So I get up here,
and I remember him saying he needed a slash
and going behind the tank, so that's where I go.
And fuck me if there ain't an hammer and a bloody knife
on the ground by the back wall.
I says to myself,
"I've just caught the Yorkshire bloody Ripper."
- Well done, Sarge.
[laughter]
- How about that, then?
Result.
- Well done. - Cheers.
- Right, Peter, I'd like to get
straight to who it is we're talking about, okay?
- Okay.
- Good.
So first off, Myrtle Thompson.
- I think, yes.
- You think?
- I know. Yes.
- Good.
Anita Bird?
- Yes.
- Teresa Campbell?
- Yes.
- Joan Richards?
- Yes.
- Marie Watts?
- Yes.
- Rachel Williams?
- Yes.
- Dawn Johnson?
- Yes.
- Katie Burden?
- Yes.
- Clare Strachan?
- Yes-no.
- You sure? '77?
- I said I didn't do her.
- Elizabeth McQueen?
- Yes.
- Dianne Pickles?
- Yes.
- Laura Baines?
- Yes.
- It's a lot of women, isn't it, Peter?
Think we've left anybody out?
- Yeah. We have.
- You best tell us, then.
- Okay.
I saw her in The Oak.
And she annoyed me, probably in some minor way.
I took her to be a prostitute.
So I hit her,
not on the head, and then it was on the head.
I scratched her buttocks.
It was with a piece of hacksaw blade.
She was drunk.
She was laughing at me, and she said,
"Come on. Get it over with."
I said, "Don't worry. I will."
And I hit her with the hammer.
She made a lot of noise.
So I-I hit her again.
She was wearing very strong and cheap perfume.
Then I pushed a piece of wood up her vagina
to show her how disgusting she was,
that she was dirty.
She just talked about sex.
I got some filling from a sofa,
and I pushed it down her throat,
and I held her nose.
She was making a lot of noise, and there was a car there.
It drove up while I was hiding her, like.
So I used a Phillips screwdriver,
a big one.
I let go of her nose after a while,
but she was still breathing and making a lot of noise,
so I held it again.
I pulled all her clothes off, and I stabbed her in the lungs.
I was steaming with anger.
Her eyes were open.
She seemed to be looking at me.
So I did the strangest thing.
I-I stabbed her in the eye.
I remember, I-I put it to the lid,
and I sat down, jerked it in.
I said, "I'm sorry."
Then I had sex with her.
Her eyes were looking at me body.
She went into the back,
and I tried to hit her. but I missed, and then I cried.
I caught the side of the door instead.
I kicked her.
"There's no need for that," she said.
And I hit her on the head.
I took her clothes off, and I said to her,
"You can't trust anyone these days."
- Clare were just so tired of running.
This is where she ended up.
Not very nice, is it?
Well, what do you think?
- What do I think?
Obstruction, withholding evidence, murder.
I think I'll fucking arrest you.
- Arrest me? They want BJ dead.
- Tell me!
- She wasn't one of the Ripper's.
- Then why was she killed?
Was it because of the porn?
Was it something to do with that?
- It wasn't because of the porn.
It was because of what she saw.
I just want them to stop.
- Help me.
- No, they'll kill me.
- I'll fucking kill you!
- Six years ago, the Karachi Club,
BJ were there and Clare.
She were a barmaid.
There were bad men there,
John Dawson, policemen,
Bob Craven, Tommy Douglas.
We saw what happened.
We saw my friend Eddie come for his revenge.
[gunshots]
Eddie settled his score,
and then we saw him leave.
And then BJ and Clare saw what came after.
[gunshot]
- Kill the cunts!
Kill them all!
Clean it up.
Now!
- Men came with guns.
We heard their voices.
They were policemen.
[gunshot]
Bill Molloy, men you know.
- Kill the fucking cunt.
Kill them all.
- No eyes. No questions.
They got Clare.
I'm next.
- You're lying.
- Fuck off!
You're hurting me.
Talk to someone else.
- There's nobody else left.
They're all fucking dead.
Who killed her?
Tell me.
- You know.
[door squeaking]
You came, and you went.
No one else asked questions.
- My wife had a miscarriage.
I had to leave.
- Well, you're back now.
And now you know.
[coin jingles] - John?
- How are you doing, mate?
- Are you still with me?
- Come in.
Be careful, mind.
You don't work here anymore, remember?
- Craven's out of control, John.
It's got to stop here.
- He's here.
He's down in the belly.
Like you said, Pete, he's out of control.
Five men. Five guns.
Got it clear now, Pete?
- Not you, John.
[gunshot]
[crowd shouting]
- You bastard!
- Dirty fucking Ripper!
- He's found peace, Mrs. Hunter,
peace at last.
[mellow rock music]
♪ ♪