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Continued...
That evening, in Milner's home, Sam and Milner sit down to a meal that Sam has cooked - "Coq au vin, without the vin!" Milner says that he likes having her to stay. Sam comments, "Mr Foyle would have a fit if he found out." Milner laughs. "Yes, I don't think he would be entirely happy." When dance music comes on the radio, Sam gets up and begins to dance, trying to persuade Milner to join her because she needs cheering up. He stands up and walks over to her, but does not dance. The pair are laughing when Jane Milner walks in through the door. Without giving opportunity for explanation, she walks out again.
Foyle's office is in darkness when two men enter through the window and search the room. They take the sergeant's note about Morton having information for the DCS. A short while later, they approach the photographer's car on the road near the beach and drag the man out.
Foyle goes to Oxford where he learns that Hunter and Paige were there at the same time and they were friends; they got into particular trouble because they once stole a car, stripped it down to see how it worked, then put it back together again. Hunter left Oxford with a first class degree in physics.
Foyle returns to Arthur Lewes' house to interview Paige again. Paige tells Bishop that he is irritated by Foyle and that the man should be warned off. To Foyle, Paige admits that he knew Hunter over twenty years ago, but claims that he had already told the DCS this.
Sam yawns in the car as she drives Foyle to the AFS station to interview Kenny Hunter. She explains that she did not get much sleep the night before. Foyle tells her that he would be grateful if she could stay awake until they reach their destination. During the interview with Kenny, Foyle asks "What do you know that you're not telling me?" Kenny is obviously frightened of something and won't talk. As Foyle leaves the AFS station he notices that water is dribbling from the overflow pipe of a large water tank.
With Milner's wife's return, Sam had left their house. In the station Milner assures Sam that Jane now understood what was going on the night before and asks her where she went. Sam replies vaguely that she "found somewhere." She goes to Foyle's office where she finds him puzzling as to why things have been moved around. It is discovered that the note about Morton is missing. Foyle goes to the newspaper office, but Morton's editor says he has not been seen.
Morton's empty car is found near the beach and Foyle goes to investigate. The relationship between Foyle and his driver has developed since their first meeting and now, rather than knocking her back, he encourages her interest in police work. As he and Sam are looking around, Sam says, "Well, he certainly seems to have left in a hurry." Foyle comments, "Not of his own free will, it seems." When Sam asks why he thinks that, Foyle replies, "Well… you tell me." Sam casts a look around her and gives up. Foyle gives her a look from under the brim of his trilby and indicates the ground at her feet with a slight tilt of his head. Sam looks down and sees tracks in the dirt. "Oh, I see!" She realises that the tracks mean that Morton was dragged from his car. "But why?" she asks Foyle. Again, he makes her puzzle it out for herself. "Well, why do you think?" "Morton knew something and somebody didn't want him to tell you." As they are talking, Foyle comments that it is possible that the signals came from one of the two houses at Romney Point.
Later that day, Foyle is at home when Elizabeth comes to call. He stands at a distance from her as they talk and asks her if her husband knows about her visit, to which she replies "No." Sitting herself on the sofa, Elizabeth tells an increasingly uncomfortable Foyle that throughout the dinner party all she wanted was to be alone with him. He responds only by saying "Elizabeth…" and sits in his chair away from her. She asks him if he is happy and he replies that the country is at war and he worries about Andrew. Elizabeth says that she is not happy and confesses that she has never loved her husband in their twenty years of marriage - "not the way I loved you". Foyle becomes even more uncomfortable. Elizabeth tells him that she was sorry to hear of his wife's death; she had been wanting to write, but couldn't because she harboured hopes after Rosalind died, that she and Foyle might… Foyle is miserable. He interrupts her, saying that she shouldn't be doing this, that it was all far too long ago and it was very different then. Elizabeth says that it's all very different now. Foyle can take no more. He stands. "This is a mistake, Elizabeth..." She stands, too, saying, no, she made a mistake years ago and she knows it now. "Can you forgive me?" she asks. He tells her that there is nothing to forgive.Elizabeth says, "You asked me to marry you."
"Yes, and when your father refused permission for you to marry me and you married Arthur instead, I understood the very difficult position you'd been placed in."
"He gave me no choice. You don't understand…"
"Well, your father understood perfectly well that a policeman's son was clearly not good enough and I should never have asked."
"I couldn't go against him, Christopher, you knew that."
"I never said you should."
"You've grown very hard. Was it Rosalind dying that did that?"
"No, losing her changed nothing; marrying her changed everything. But you've got a good husband and two wonderful sons… but the truth is we should leave this exactly the way it is… and I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have come. I am so sorry, Christopher. I want you to know that barely a day has gone by in all these years when I haven't been sorry."
Elizabeth turns and walks to the door. As she leaves, Foyle is obviously experiencing a feeling of great sadness, an emotion that deepens as he looks over at a photograph of Rosalind. He is almost in tears.
Next day, Foyle is making himself a cup of tea in the station kitchen when he accidentally knocks a packet of tea into a bowl of water standing in the sink. He fishes out the packet, puts it on the counter and walks over to the table. But there, he stops, turns and regards the tea packet and the bowl of water thoughtfully, remembering the water he saw dribbling from the overflow pipe of the water tank in the AFS garage.
Foyle takes Milner and a couple of uniformed policemen to the AFS garage to take a closer look at the water tank. Jamieson and two of his team watch apprehensively as a dripping bag of looted items is fished out of the tank. Foyle explains to Milner that he had realised that only waterproof valuables were taken so that they could be hidden inside the tank. Two of the looters make a dash for the door and tangle with the uniformed officers and Milner. Jamieson swings a punch at Foyle, but Foyle knocks his arm aside and decks him with a swift right to the jaw. Casting a glance at an amazed Sam, he looks back to survey his handiwork sprawled on the floor and pronounces "You know, I quite enjoyed that."
In the station interview room, Jamieson refuses to make a statement. Foyle cannot hide his disgust. "You know, I regularly wonder why I do this job… and then I come across somebody like you. I mean, we're living in such evil times when the whole world seems to be sinking into some sort of mire… and as if Hitler wasn't enough, we've got the likes of you who capitalise on other people's misery, who hurt them, make things even worse for them when they're at their weakest. And it's with the likes of you that this mire begins… and it's some small consolation to know that I've helped to clean up just a little bit of it." Milner tells Jamieson that he will be charged. It comes home to Jamieson that he could be facing the death penalty and he is very frightened.
In his office, Foyle talks to Milner about the problem of Hunter's death on the beach. Milner suggests that Maier may have been rowing his boat toward the signal lights coming from Romney Point, but the strong currents in the bay forced him westward to where he landed. He thinks Maier could have something to do with Hunter's death, but Foyle thinks it more likely that he was a witness, not a participant.
Foyle returns to the base of the Home Guard to speak with Maier. The colonel refuses access to the prisoner because the policeman does not have official permission. Although the colonel argues, Foyle, in a most beguiling manner, persuades him to give in. Maier is at first puzzled as to why the policeman thinks he would co-operate, but he, too, is won over when Foyle says that Hunter's murder has nothing to do with their countries being at war. The German agrees to tell what he saw in exchange for Foyle getting a message to his family, particularly his elderly mother, in Germany - Foyle is to say goodbye, that he loves them and he was thinking of them at the end. Foyle agrees. Maier tells that while he was rowing he heard a shot and the sound of breaking glass, then heard a voice and the sound of a man sobbing. Looking toward the shore, he saw two men, one standing, the other sinking to his knees. The man standing then shot the man kneeling and ran away. Foyle thanks Maier for the information and gives his assurance that he will keep his part of the bargain.
That night, Sam prepares to bunk down in one of the station cells and assures the uniformed sergeant that she will not tell DCS Foyle about the arrangement.
Foyle has gone to see Dr and Mrs Redmond. He tells them about Maier and his promise to get a message to his family. Redmond cannot understand why they are being told this and Foyle explains that, with the family details Maier gave, he knows that Mrs Redmond is Maier's cousin. Redmond is shocked and begins to warn Foyle about making accusations, but Foyle says that he has no evidence whatsoever that Mrs Redmond slipped out of the dinner party for a few minutes and signalled the submarine, and if he did, he would have to arrest her, but what evidence he has is circumstantial. He recognises that Mrs Redmond did not believe that she was helping a spy, but simply trying to keep her cousin safe from harm and tells them "He is a very brave man and I'm very grateful to him for the information he's given me regarding the death of Richard Hunter. He's in jail, he was arrested too quickly for him to do anyone any harm, and, as far as I am concerned, how he got here and who helped him is none of my business." He stands to leave. To Mrs Redmond he says, "I hope you're able to pass his message on to his mother. I'll see myself out."
After he has left the house, Dr Redmond turns on his wife and tells her that he will never speak to her again or even join her for meals - from now on they will be strangers living under the same roof. Then he strikes her across the face, knocking her down.
Foyle examines a fisherman's hut on the beach nearby. It has a broken window and he finds a bullet lodged in wood inside. He is back in his office typing up his notes when Sam arrives, looking tired and with her hair in disarray. Foyle remarks on her appearance and she explains that she is not sleeping well because she has a hard bed. Sam spots Hunter's keyring on Foyle's desk and, because of what she has been taught by the MTC, is able to explain to him that the cogwheel is part of a synchromeshed gear box.
Howard Paige and John Bishop are in a car heading to an airfield when they are stopped by a road block. Foyle is waiting and says he has come to arrest the American for murder. They go to the airfield to talk in an office there. Foyle outlines what he believes is his case. Hunter invented the synchromeshed gear system 20 years earlier and Paige stole the idea, patented it and made his fortune. Hunter was a broken man afterwards - Foyle says that Paige killed him twice. When Hunter learned that Paige was in Hastings, he went to ask for money to help his son. Paige arranged to meet him on the beach that night. When they met, the American refused to help. Hunter threatened him with a gun, but could not bring himself to kill. Instead, in sheer frustration, he fired a shot at the fisherman's hut and sank to his knees. Paige picked up the gun and shot him dead, hoping the police would think the death was suicide.
When Paige says it is all conjecture, Foyle tells him that he has two witnesses: a German spy and a photographer. He has deduced that Bishop is responsible for having Morton abducted to keep him from telling what he saw until Paige was out of the country. Paige says that it makes no difference, he is too important and cannot be arrested. Bishop steps in, telling Foyle that he outranks him and he will not allow Paige's arrest. They walk out of the building, Bishop leading Foyle to another office while Paige goes to collect some official papers. Bishop explains that it all has to do with fifty ships that America has promised to supply. They are not in good condition, but they represent an essential working agreement between the two countries and the first commitment of what is hoped to be many in the way of armaments and other vital supplies. Arresting Paige for murder would destroy everything and the scandal would have unimaginable repercussions. Bishop tells Foyle that he can draw a direct line between Howard Paige and the outcome of the war. Foyle asks what he is supposed to tell Hunter's widow and son. Bishop replies "You can tell them that he is a casualty of the war."
Foyle is far from happy and leaves Bishop in no doubt as to what he thinks, but he realises that there is little he can do. He tells Bishop that he wants to see Paige before he leaves. The two men walk to where the American is about to board a plane. Paige is startled to see Foyle and remarks, "I really hope this is a final goodbye."
"Not at all, only temporary."
"You sound like a sore loser. You know what the French say - c'est la guerre."
Foyle's face hardens. "Precisely, Mr Paige, it's the war, and no war has lasted forever, and neither will this. A year, maybe ten, but it will end. And when it does Mr Paige, you will still be a thief, a liar and a murderer… and I will not have forgotten and wherever you are, I will find you." Foyle holds up Hunter's keyring. "You are not escaping justice, merely postponing it… Au revoir."
He walks away, leaving a very worried Paige to board the plane.
Foyle returns to the police station later that evening and as he is walking down a corridor, he catches sight of Sam through the open door of a cell, lying on the bed reading a book. He cannot understand what she is doing there. She explains that she is unable to find a billet. Looking with disgust around the cell, Foyle tells her that she can't sleep there. She says that the bed is very hard - more of a plank than a mattress - but otherwise it's not too bad. Foyle is very concerned - "For God's sake, really!" He glances over his shoulder towards the corridor and lowers his voice. Conspiratorially he says, "Look… it won't bother me if it doesn't bother you, but you can use the back room at my house. Andrew isn't there. Just until you get yourself sorted… if you like."
Sam is delighted. "Could I, sir? Are you sure."
"Yes, yes, but, em…" He pauses to glance toward the corridor again. "Do me a favour, will you, eh? Don't mention it to any of the others, they really wouldn't approve, you know?"
Sam assures him that she can be discreet and Foyle helps her to carry her things out of the station. As they leave the building, Sam asks him if he has had dinner. When he responds with "No. Why?" she tells him that she can cook for him if he likes. He says that is very decent of her and she replies that she doesn't mind and… "Do you like coq au vin?"
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