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Andrew returns to Steep Lane after being out for a newspaper and is surprised to find his father at home. Foyle explains. He says he's not exactly under house arrest, but Andrew reports that there is a constable outside "So it looks like we'll be stuck here together."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Foyle is not smiling.
"Well, it's alright. Glad to have you here."
Andrew's father is not in the best of tempers. "Well, I heard about your meeting with Sam.""Yes… well, if you don't mind my saying, Dad, it was a bit presumptuous of you to set that up."
"Presumptuous? All I did was to ask her to get you out of the house because I thought the change would do you good. She drives - I don't. Tea was her idea."
"I don't need anyone's pity."
"Well, that's abundantly clear! Anyway, I thought it was very nice of her, and now she's really upset. And, God knows, I know what you've been through and how you're feeling at the moment, but it's no excuse for being thoroughly boorish and totally bloody rude, frankly."
Andrew is taken by surprise both by his father's sharp tone and what he has said about Sam.
"Was she really upset?"
Foyle snaps back, "Yes, she was!"
"Well, I'm sorry. Maybe I wasn't thinking straight."
"Well, it won't be the first time."
In the station, Milner tells Collier that he thinks they have enough to arrest Holmes and Parker, but Collier disagrees. He calls it a day and invites Milner to have a drink with him. As they talk in Collier's hotel, Milner stands up for his boss. Collier comments that war changes people. He talks to Milner about the body found near Brookfield Court and asks about the inquiry he had made about Vaudrey. He says that they will go to the guest house the next day to take a look around.
Next morning, Hardiman challenges Vaudrey about a gold cigarette case that has gone missing. Vaudrey tells him that he knows about his wife's "little game" and maybe it is he who should talk to the police.
Collier and Milner arrive at the guest house with several uniformed policeman. During a conversation with Mr and Mrs Powell, Mrs Powell tells them that they have a son serving in North Africa and Mr Powell says proudly that he was not conscripted, but joined up. While Collier talks to them, Milner looks at photographs in the sitting room and is puzzled. Speaking of the guests, Mrs Powell says that Vaudrey has only been there for a couple of weeks. When Collier asks if she ever buys "under the counter" at Holme's grocer's shop, she and her husband deny it vehemently. Collier has the house searched to see if any misappropriated food has been stored. In the meat safe in the kitchen, a plate of green meat is found. Mrs Powell explains that it is for Mrs Hardiman's dog - horsemeat, sprayed green before it's sold, to indicate that it is unfit for human consumption.
Collier questions Vaudrey and finds that he is from London. The bag Mrs Hardiman took from the woods is discovered in the Hardiman's room. It contains tins of ham which Mrs Hardiman says are for Charlie; she will not say from where she got them. Nothing else is found in the search and Collier is displeased. Outside, Sam remarks to Milner, "Not how Mr Foyle would have done it!" When Collier joins them, she says, "Bad luck, sir. Seems the whole thing has been a bit of a disaster." Is that a touch of a grin on her face? Unfortunately for Sam, Collier begins to wonder why she is there and tells her
that she is to go back to the MTC in Hastings immediately after their return to the station as he doesn't need a driver and certainly not one from outside the force. Sam is crestfallen.
Back at Hastings MTC, Sam finds that her commanding officer is not pleased to have her back. "You were the most insubordinate woman in my command!"
Collier calls at Foyle's door, but Foyle objects to his going into the house. Instead, he agrees to go for a walk so they can talk. Foyle challenges something a witness has claimed as being either mistaken or a false statement. Collier
ask if he thinks that someone has got it in for him, Rose, perhaps? Foyle tells him that it is possible because Rose is a friend of the previous Assistant Commissioner who was sacked because of him. Collier says it wasn't Rose who came to him, but he who went to Rose. He refuses to allow Foyle to look at the case notes. Collier comments about so many people being killed indiscriminately in the war, saying that if Foyle was the person in that shelter speaking out against the war, he, Collier, would understand. "Well, thank you, but I didn't!"
Sam is in the MTC garage working in the pit. She pops the sump plug and is squirted in the face with oil just as Andrew arrives. He apologises for having behaved like an absolute pig, to which Sam responds, "A pig - or a prig!" He admits to both. Sam ends up agreeing to accompany him to the cinema that evening.
At Brookfield Court, Mr Powell asks his wife what it is that she is not telling him.
In the station, Milner interviews Amanda Reece. He asks her if there is anything she can tell him that might help the investigation into misappropriated food. She says that she doesn't trust Mrs Powell because she is conducting an affair with a man half her age under her the nose of her blind husband.
In the meantime, back at Brookfield Court, Charlie has gone missing and Mrs Powell goes to see if the dog is in the summerhouse. She finds Vaudrey writhing in agony on the floor. His last words are "Woolton should have stopped them."
From the discoloration of Vaudrey's lips and the smell of almonds, Milner deduces that the cause of death was cyanide. Suicide? A mark on Vaudrey's brow indicates a blow - sustained when he fell after taking something, or was he hit? Collier prefers suicide, but Milner says it is unusual for a suicide not to leave a note. They puzzle over Vaudrey's last words. Mrs Powell remembers that Vaudrey took a phone call earlier in the day. Milner can't understand why the man would have committed suicide in the summerhouse when everyone knew that Amanda Reece was in there every day.
When cyanide is mentioned, Mrs Powell suggests they talk to Mr Hardiman. He admits to having kept a cyanide pill in his room in case of a German invasion. The pill has gone. Mrs Powell was the only other person who knew about it. When Mrs Hardiman realises that murder might be involved, she admits to getting the tins of ham from Holmes.
At the station, while Collier interviews Holmes, Milner questions Parker, also confronting him with a bag full of items stolen from Brookfield Court which had been found during a search of his room above the shop.
Andrew walks Sam home from the cinema. She tells him, "Your father worries about you. He'd never say as much, but I can tell.""It was bad enough for him losing Mum."
"How old were you when she died?"
"Eight.(Continuity is a good thing. In "Eagle Day", Mrs Foyle had been dead for 8 years. - Ed) He never talks about her. I think they were very happy. He misses her... so do I."
They talk a little more and then Andrew stops abruptly, turns to Sam and asks her if she would mind if he kissed her. She wouldn't and he does.
When Foyle answers a knock at his door, he finds Milner on the doorstep. He asks his sergeant if he has been seen and when Milner says he thinks so, Foyle comments that he is in big trouble with Collier, then. Milner reports that a full confession has been obtained from Parker, and the missing food supplies, recovered. Holmes has been selling under the counter. Vaudrey doesn't appear to have had anything to do it. He quotes the dead man's last words, but Foyle can't make sense of them, either. Foyle asks where he lived and Milner tells him the address in London.
Milner hands his boss an envelope. "I thought you might like these. I happened upon Collier's case notes about you." Foyle's look says he understands what "happened upon" really means. Milner says, "I copied as much as I could."
Foyle looks at the contents of the envelope. "You know there are, em, going to be two of us suspended at this rate, Milner." He smiles.His sergeant smiles back. "I'd be happy to join you, sir."
As he turns to go, Foyle asks why Amanda Reece was not in the summerhouse that day and Milner explains that she was being interviewed at the station.
Toward evening, Andrew tells his father that the constable is still outside the front door. As Foyle tightens his tie and puts on his jacket, he puzzles, "How are we going to do this?" Andrew asks him why he has to go to London anyway and he replies that he will be told later. Foyle is still trying to figure out a way to get out of the house undetected when Andrew comes up with the solution. "Hey, why not use my room? Out the window, down the tree and into the next garden."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Well, how do you think I used to bunk off when I was meant to be doing homework?"
"Yeah, but you were how old?"
"Aren't you up to it?" Andrew asks, innocently.
His father takes this as a challenge. He tugs sharply on his jacket lapels. "I see!" Indicating with a tilt of his head that Andrew should follow, he turns towards the door. "Your room!" Andrew laughs and follows.
Collier carpets Milner for visiting Foyle and tells him that he could have him stripped of his rank and transferred. He is not going to do that, however, because, as it is, he is the one who is leaving. He does not say why, but assures Milner that the investigation into DCS Foyle is to continue in London.
Foyle has arrived in London and found the woman who gave his name to the police. Gentle questioning reveals that the name she gave was actually Colin Fowler. She doesn't want him bothered any more because after what he'd been through in the school in West Ham it wasn't surprising that he said the things he did.
Foyle visits Fowler and learns that two hundred people who had been bombed out of their homes, had been herded together in the local school to await removal to other accommodation. No buses came to collect them. On the third night the
school was bombed and Fowler's wife and two sons were among one hundred killed. It turned out that they had simply been overlooked by the authorities. As he leaves the terraced house, Foyle notices a barrage balloon floating overhead. Fowler says, "There's Bevan up again. Bloody useless! They all are!" Foyle stares up at the balloon.
His next visit is to see Assistant Commissioner Rose who is not at all happy with him marching into his office unannounced. Foyle says that if he'd told him he was coming, Rose would not have seen him. He presents his case and it is obvious that he is keeping anger under control. He explains that someone had chosen to mistake him for someone called Colin Fowler. However, the only thing they have in common is their initials. Fowler once spent a year in the Police Auxiliary Messenger Service, but is not a policeman.
"I'd rather like to know which idiot suspended me."Rose replies with a smug look, "Actually Foyle, the decision was mine."
If Rose is expecting an apology for the "idiot" comment, he does not get it. Instead, Foyle comes back with "Well, what a surprise!" in a tone that indicates that surprise it is not.
Foyle wants to know why he was pulled out in the middle of a murder case. Rose does not understand; Collier had told him it was suicide. Foyle puzzles him further by saying he wants information about a West Ham school that was bombed two months ago.
At Brookfield Court, Milner is solving a puzzle that has been bothering him. He questions Mrs Powell, in the presence of her husband, about Amanda Reece's accusations that she is having an affair with the young gardener. The truth that Milner has suspected comes out: the young gardener is the Powells' son and a deserter, hiding out. Milner had deduced this from what Sam had said about him not being a real gardener and the lack of photographs in the supposedly proud parents' home. Mr Powell did not know that Peter had deserted and was there and Mrs Powell had hidden the pictures to prevent others recognising him. Milner tells Peter that if he gives himself up voluntarily, going AWOL is not considered as serious an offence as desertion.
As Andrew and Sam walk along the seafront, he laughs as he tells her about his father sneaking out and climbing down the tree. "I don't think I've ever seen anything quite so bizarre. Dad in his best suit and hat, swinging down into next door's garden." Sam asks if he found anything out in London and Andrew says that he didn't say. Sam replies, "He never does."When Andrew tells her that he is going back to his unit, she says she is going to worry about him now and mentions writing letters every day. Andrew hints that his father would probably not approve and she agrees. She tells him to take care of himself and he makes the promise, sealing it with a kiss.
Foyle returns to his police station, greeting a surprised Milner. It is Foyle's turn to be surprised when, asking the whereabouts of Sam, he is told that Collier sent her back to the MTC. With a look of displeasure, he instructs Milner to phone Andrew and get him to come over.
Foyle enters his office and finds Collier sitting at his desk. Collier tells him that he was delighted to learn that Foyle had been cleared and the whole business would be reviewed when he returned to London. Standing to leave, he informs Foyle his conclusions re Vaudrey's death, but Foyle has things to say. When Milner's inquiry was received at Scotland Yard, Collier saw it and discovered the whereabouts of the London councillor responsible for forgetting about the people waiting in the West Ham school. Collier's mother and sister were among those killed that night. Collier had deliberately confused Fowler's name with Foyle's to have the DCS suspended so that he could take his place. He found the cyanide capsule when searching Brookfield Court and told Milner to interview Amanda Reece at the station so she would not be in the summer house where he had told Vaudrey on the phone to meet him.Collier confesses that he forced Vaudrey to take the cyanide. He asks Foyle if he knows what the dying man had meant by "Woolton should have stopped them." Foyle explains that the barrage balloons in London are named after politicians - Bevan, Minister of Labour, Woolton, Minister of Food, et cetera. The balloons are intended to prevent bombing by forcing enemy planes to fly higher or divert, but the one near the school didn't succeed.
Sam has been set to work fixing a problem with her CO's car and is being hassled by the woman. As the officer stalks off, Sam hears Foyle calling her name. Her boss marches into the MTC garage with a grin on his face. "What on earth are you doing here. Gross dereliction of duty!" He tells her that he has a car outside that needs a driver. "You've been transferred. Come on!" Before she follows him, Sam tinkers with something under the bonnet of her CO's car and then closes it.Outside, Foyle is taking his usual seat, Milner is stepping into the back and Andrew, who has driven them to the garage, is holding the door open for the regular driver. As Sam climbs in, her CO wonders where she is going, but sees her car apparently ready for her, so gets in and switches on the ignition, whereupon the engine erupts in a cloud of hissing steam. The furious CO runs out of the garage after the Wolseley, but Sam is too fast a driver!
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