The Long Call

Matthew speaks with his boss, Oldham, and discloses his concerns about having too many personal connections to this case. Oldham tells Matthew that he trusts him and that Matthew should continue the work. Matthew heads to Dennis Salter’s house, where he questions Dennis and his wife, Grace, about Christine’s disappearance. Dennis admits that he went to the Woodyard to pick Christine up but lost track of time while listening to a cricket match in his car. When Christine didn’t emerge, he went in to look for her, but everyone had already left. He assumed that she took a bus to her mother’s. Dennis also divulges that he sits on the board of the Woodyard.

Matthew goes to Maurice Braddick’s house and questions Lucy about Christine. Lucy confirms that she saw Christine in the morning, but she doesn’t recall seeing Christine at any other point in the day. Maurice is disturbed by the news of Christine’s disappearance and decides to keep Lucy home until the matter is resolved.

A distressed Jonathan informs Gaby that Christine is missing. Gaby heads home, and while doing laundry, she realizes that some of Simon’s laundry is still in the machine. Among his belongings, she finds a silver key with a bird on it. Caroline comes down and sees her with the key; she takes it from Gaby and says that she’ll give it to the police.

Jen invites Matthew back to her home, where she tells him her theory that Simon wasn’t unhoused when Caroline took him in. Jen noticed that Simon had hardly any belongings at Caroline’s and had no personal possessions there of any kind. She also asked the unhoused man she met about Simon, and the man had never seen Simon on the streets. Jen and Matthew speculate about why Simon might have wanted Caroline to believe that he did not have a home.

The next day at the briefing in the police station, Matthew decides to shift the course of the investigation and take a closer look at what happened to the £200,000 that Simon had in his possession. Matthew also relays the details of Christine’s disappearance and sets his officers on different tasks to help track her down. He sends Jen to the Woodyard.

At the Woodyard, Jen is about to talk to Gaby when she gets a phone call from Caroline. Caroline asks Jen to meet her at St. Cuthbert’s, where she works. Caroline gives Jen the key from Simon’s possessions, and Caroline questions Jen about the possibility that Simon was not actually unhoused. This idea distresses Jen, who doesn’t believe that Simon would have lied to her. Jen receives a phone call letting her know that the police have discovered Simon’s secret apartment in Braunton; it is located above a betting shop. Jen leaves immediately because she believes that she is the one with the key.

Matthew visits the home of Rosa Holsworthy, a young woman with Down syndrome who was a close friend of Christine’s. Matthew wonders if Christine would have tried to get to Rosa’s when she didn’t go home with Dennis Salter. Rosa’s parents, who took Rosa out of the Woodyard in order to make Rosa serve as a caretaker for her ailing father, are horrified by this news, and the family has no information about Christine.

Matthew joins Ross and Jen at the apartment in Braunton. He questions a local shop owner, who confirms that Simon was a regular who used to come in for liquor. The shop owner also states that Simon recently stopped buying alcohol and started buying candy instead. Matthew, Ross, and Jen enter Simon’s apartment, which has been ransacked. Matthew speculates that someone broke in and was searching for something. He goes down to the betting shop and asks if anyone was seen lurking around Simon’s apartment. The betting shop employee has not noticed anyone unusual but does have some of Simon’s mail. Matthew takes the mail back to the station and opens it; inside, he finds a letter from a law firm confirming an upcoming appointment. Matthew then receives a call from one of his officers that Christine has been sighted.

Jen and Matthew arrive at the estate where Christine was spotted. They find her lying on a bench by a small lake. She is cold and nearly unconscious, but she manages to tell Matthew that “they” told her that he would come for her. On the car ride to the hospital, Matthew calls his mother and asks her to tell Susan that they have found her daughter.

Leaving Jen at the hospital with Christine, Matthew goes back to the Woodyard to update Jon. Matthew then heads to the station and debriefs his officers about Christine and the developments surrounding Simon’s apartment. He sends some officers to Braunton to canvass the area for information about who might have broken in. Ross reports on the letter from the law firm; Simon had contacted the firm to make a will but then got back in touch with them wanting advice on another matter. A lawyer from the firm is coming to the station to speak to Matthew personally about this.

Jonathan informs Gaby that Christine has been found. Gaby heads to the Woodyard’s café, where she is giving a vocal performance. She meets Caroline there. Caroline tells Gaby about being questioned about whether Simon was really unhoused, and Gaby responds that they never knew everything about Simon, and it was possible that he was keeping secrets.