This summary is in no way intended as a substitute for viewing this fabulous episode.
Spoilers Ahead!
October 1944
Fred Dawson, invalided out of the army because of a leg injury, returns home to his farm unexpectedly. He finds his wife Rose and son Danny outside the farmhouse. A man in German uniform is playing with the little boy. Dawson asks "Who the hell is he?"
***
In a street in Hastings, DCS Foyle meets Josef Novak, a Polish doctor, and stops for a chat. As they talk, a group of German soldiers on the way to a POW camp marches past them.
***
In the farmhouse kitchen, Danny doesn't accept that Dawson is his father. He won't speak to him, and runs out of the room.
Dawson asks Rose what the Nazi is doing there. Rose explains that after her father-in-law died, the POW was sent to help on the farm. Her husband is tired and says he's going to lie down. He walks awkwardly to the door and Rose asks what's wrong with his leg. He doesn't reply.
***
In Hastings police station, Sgt Brooke asks Sam about her prediction for a football match that is to be played at the weekend. He explains that he's filling in the station's Unity Pools coupon, and asks "Draw or away win?" The phone rings and Brooke answers it. Before handing the call over to Sgt Milner, he asks if the caller thinks Bartram will play for Charlton Athletic.
Rose enters the station with Danny and is warmly greeted by Sam. She tells Sam that her husband is home and explains to Brooke that he has been away for five years, and that he was a POW after Dunkirk but managed to escape. She asks Sam if she can borrow a dress.
In Foyle's office, Milner reports that a fifteen-year-old called Tommy Crooks, who delivers telegrams for the Post Office in London, has been missing for three days after an argument with his father. Tommy had been an evacuee in Hastings and might have returned.
***
Tommy arrives at the large country house in which he had stayed when an evacuee. He is told by Dr Novak that Sir John and Lady Muriel Sackville don't live there any more, as the building had been requisitioned for use as a psychiatric clinic for soldiers and airmen. He is directed to Dial Cottage over the hill.
Novak then helps to break up a fight between two patients in the grounds. One of them, Peter Phelps, tells him in distress about continually seeing something in his mind, but he won't say what it is. Novak says that violence won't solve anything. Phelps laughs and, referring to the war, asks how many people have died while they've been talking. Novak looks thoughtful. Phelps's wife Joy joins them, but Phelps doesn't respond to her greeting.
***
At Dial Cottage, the Sackvilles are pleasantly surprised to see Tommy.
***
In Sam's billet, Rose tries on one of Sam's dresses. She says she'll put Danny to bed early so that she and her husband can talk. She asks about lipstick, but Sam says she doesn't have any and suggests using beetroot. Rose says that she's scared of how things will be with her husband after his being away for so long.
***
From a window, Rose and Danny are watched by Dawson as they return to the farmhouse and are greeted by the German POW Johann Schulz. Schulz tells rose that he will not trouble her husband but just get on with work.
***
In the psychiatric clinic, Novak reports at a staff meeting that Phelps's mental state is worsening. He explains that the airman was a bomb-aimer and his plane was part of an incendiary raid over Germany in which thousands were killed during the resulting fire storm that lasted for two days. Phelps's plane crashed and he was the only survivor. Novak adds that when Phelps was nine years old, his brother died in a house fire. Dr Julian Worth considers the case fascinating: "The guilt of the survivor, three times over!" The chairman of the meeting Dr Iain Campbell reports that Worth has been appointed to a prestigious position at Cambridge. Novak looks displeased.
Later, in Campbell's office, Worth remarks "Well, it worked." Campbell says that Worth has caused a great deal of trouble at the clinic, and that he will be happy when the man has fulfilled his side of the bargain. He becomes angry. Worth leaves.
***
Ernie Pond, a British Army sergeant, calls at Dawson's farm and takes Schulz back to camp. Rose prepares the evening meal, puts on the dress borrowed from Sam and uses beetroot juice to redden her lips.
***
In the clinic, Novak finds Worth packing up his papers. He says he's sorry to see the man go, but Worth says he isn't. Novak requests the return of some case notes borrowed some months previously and the other man says he'll look for them.
***
At dinner in the farmhouse, Dawson won't talk about his experiences. While eating, he begins to retch and says he's not used to rich food.
***
In a teashop in Hastings, Novak tutors Foyle in chess. He says that his uncle was a Grand Master, but the Nazis declared chess an Arian pursuit and banned Jews from competition. He comments that chess and the cinema keep him sane. Foyle asks if his work does not do that. Novak replies that it does the opposite: "The enormity of trying to mend so many lives. All those broken souls." Novak speaks about his family. He says his wife is a pianist and he can't listen to Chopin any more because of the associations. He tells Foyle that he was out of the country when Hitler invaded Poland, and couldn't return, and he now fears for his wife and teenage daughter, who have been forcibly taken to Majdanek. Foyle says there's always hope. Novak reads a pamphlet as Foyle studies the chess board. He suddenly exclaims angrily "I'll kill him!" and hurries from the teashop.
***
That night, Rose learns that her husband's leg injury was caused by frostbite and is extremely painful. Dawson tells her that he'll sleep in the spare room.
***
Next morning, a cleaner at Sackville House discovers the body of Julian Worth, who has been stabbed to death with a large letter opener.
Milner is already at the clinic when Foyle and Sam arrive, having gone there because he was trying to find Tommy Crooks. Sam says she knows the Sackvilles, and Foyle gives her permission to speak with them at Dial Cottage while he and Milner pursue the murder enquiry.
In Worth's office, Foyle sees that the doctor's packing cases have been disturbed, and wonders if the murderer found what he was looking for. He orders that no one be allowed into the room until they have finished with it. When Iain Campbell is interviewed, he admits that he didn't like Worth, and says he was arrogant. Foyle finds a copy of the pamphlet Novak was reading in the teashop. Campbell tells him that it contains an article by Worth that was probably instrumental in getting him the job in Cambridge.
***
At Dial Cottage, Sam asks the Sackvilles about Tommy, but they don't admit to him being there.
***
At the clinic, Foyle goes to Novak's office. Orchestral music is coming from a radio on the doctor's desk. Foyle asks about the article in the pamphlet. Novak says that it upset him because Worth had used borrowed case notes containing confidential information, and that his exclamation in the teashop was simply an angry outburst. He tells Foyle that he must finish some urgent work but will continue their conversation in a few minutes. As Foyle leaves, Novak turns up the radio to listen to a BBC news bulletin from the Eastern Front.
***
On his farm, without being seen, Dawson watches the German POW lifting the laughing Danny onto a tractor.
***
At the end of the news bulletin, Novak appears stunned. A short time later, he cycles away from the clinic, passing Sam on the road without acknowledging her greeting.
***
As Foyle and Milner leave the clinic, they see Peter Phelps struggling while being put into a van. Joy Phelps is crying and being comforted by Campbell, who explains that she works as his secretary and that her husband is being transferred. He says that he is surprised that Dr Novak is not there to see his patient off. Sam tells Foyle about seeing Novak cycling away from the clinic and that he looked as white as a sheet.
***
Novak arrives at his home and immediately runs a bath. He puts a piano recording onto a record player, partially undresses and steps into the bath, then proceeds to cut his wrist.
Foyle and Milner go to Novak's home but get no response to their knock. They can hear the music. Foyle recognises it as Chopin and says that they need to get in. Milner forces entry.
***
At the farm, Rose takes food to Schulz in the barn, and tells him he can't eat in the farmhouse any more. Dawson has followed her. Angrily, he snatches the tray from Schulz and tells Rose that he wonders what else she has been giving him. Rose walks out and Dawson follows.
***
As Novak is being carried to an ambulance, Foyle asks why he attempted suicide. Novak mutters "It was what he said. Worth. It was what he said."
***
Morris Crooks arrives from London and goes to Dial Cottage, demanding to see his son. Sir John Sackville denies that Tommy is there and chases Crooks away by threatening him with a shotgun.
***
In the farmhouse, Schulz tells Dawson that he is lucky to be home again and have a beautiful wife and fine son. He says he doesn't know what has happened to his own family. He tries to explain how alike he and Dawson are, both having gone to war, seeing bad things and being locked up. He says that they are both just soldiers. Dawson won't listen, and walks out.
***
When Novak is discharged from hospital, Foyle interviews him at his home. Asked why Phelps was transferred, Novak explains that it was because he couldn't help him. Foyle reminds Novak about his muttering something about what Worth had said, and asks what it was, but Novak says he doesn't recall saying anything.
Foyle asks if he killed Worth. Novak looks surprised, pauses in thought for a moment and then says that Worth used the misery of brave and damaged men to better himself. Wearily, he says "The bestiality of violence. The horror. I don't want to be part of your brave new world." He asks if he is to be arrested, and when Foyle says not just yet, he states that he will go back to work as soon as possible.
***
Foyle has arranged for Sam to drive Novak to the clinic. On the way, Sam tells the doctor about looking for Tommy Crooks and asks him why a child would run away like that. Novak offers the explanation that the boy could have become distressed by having to deliver news of death every day and seeing the pain it causes.
***
In Foyle's office, the DCS tells Milner to continue to interview Worth's colleagues and patients despite what Novak has said, and instructs him to find out as much as he can about Peter Phelps.
***
At the clinic, Milner interviews Joy Phelps. As she speaks about her husband, Campbell puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and Milner notes the tender touch. Campbell tells him that he had agreed with Novak that Phelps should be transferred to an asylum.
***
When Foyle returns to the police station, Brooke asks him for a tanner as his contribution to the Pools competition entry fee. Foyle wonders aloud if, with a war on, that's where his money should be going. Sam suggests he look on it as an exercise in staff morale, seeing that the station will be closing.
Milner reports to Foyle that Joy was upset about her husband being sent away, but that she looked almost guilty about it, and that he got the impression that there was something between her and Campbell.
Morris Crooks comes to the station to ask about his son and report Sackville's behaviour.
***
Sgt Pond speaks to Dawson in the churchyard where Dawson is looking at his father's grave. He tells him that his father was worn out by having to run the farm on his own. Dawson expresses deep regret at not being able to help.
***
On the farm, as Schulz waits for Sgt Pond to come for him, Rose explains that he is to be moved to another place. They are both sad about it and give each other a goodbye hug. They are seen by Dawson and Sgt Pond as they arrive at the farm together. Dawson attacks the German. Sgt Pond breaks up the fight. As Schulz walks away, Dawson threatens to kill him if he returns.
Dawson drags Rose into the farmhouse and accuses her of sleeping with Schulz. Angrily, Rose tells him not to be disgusting. Dawson raises his hand to strike her but stops short. Danny has been watching. Sobbing, Rose takes the boy out of the room.
***
Foyle visits Phelps in the asylum. The airman is curled up on a mattress in a padded room and appears very distressed. Foyle asks if he remembers Dr Worth, and what it was that he saw. Phelps says he saw blood, and whimpers. Foyle can't get him to say more.
***
Tommy goes to a pond to fish, and finds Novak sitting on the bank. He asks the doctor how he makes people better when they've gone a bit barmy. Novak replies that people are often helped by talking about what has upset them. Tommy tells him that he ran away because when he took a telegram to a woman that informed her of her husband's death at sea, she began screaming and attacked him. Novak explains that the woman was out of her mind with grief. He says "When people lose their loved ..." but pauses in deep thought and then says that the woman lashed out simply because he was there, and she would want to say sorry now. He assures Tommy that it wasn't his fault. Tommy is grateful but says he is not going back, and that he wants to stay because nothing bad happens here. Novak stares thoughtfully into space.
***
At the farmhouse, Dawson has been drinking and has fallen asleep at the kitchen table. Rose takes Danny out of the house and rides off with him on the back of her bicycle.
***
Foyle decides to walk home after his day's work. As he goes past the Ruby cinema, he is stopped by Novak, who is standing in the ticket queue. The doctor invites Foyle to join him to see the new Bing Crosby film, but Foyle declines. He remarks that Novak looks better. Novak replies that he did something useful that day, so maybe there is a point after all. He tells the DCS that Tommy is with the Sackvilles, and then goes into the cinema.
***
Rose and Danny call at Sam's lodgings.
***
Under cover of darkness, Schulz escapes from the POW camp.
***
Next morning, while cycling back to the farm, Rose and Danny see soldiers in the fields. Sam, driving to work, pulls the police Wolseley alongside and explains that they are looking for Schulz.
Sam goes to Dial Cottage to see Tommy and is told that the boy didn't return after a fishing trip the previous day.
***
At the farm, Rose checks to see if Schulz is in the barn. He's not there, so she takes Danny to a nearby lake to see the ducks, but what they see is Schulz floating face down in the water. When the police retrieve the body, a wound is found on the back of the German's head.
***
As Sam drives Foyle to the farm she tells him that Tommy is missing again and that Rose spent the night at her lodgings after having had an argument with her husband about Schulz.
Foyle tells Dawson and his wife that where the body was found suggests that Schulz was on his way to or from the farm. He asks Rose about her having spent the night elsewhere and Rose tells him that she stayed with Sam because she'd been shopping in town and didn't want to cycle back in the blackout.
Dawson tells of having fallen asleep after drinking, and says he didn't see Schulz. Foyle asks him how he felt about finding a German working on his farm. Dawson replies that he didn't like the man but he didn't kill him.
***
Foyle goes to the clinic and discovers Campbell and Joy kissing in Campbell's office. Pointedly, he tells Joy that he has seen her husband and that he is in a very bad way. She leaves the room. Campbell says that she is under great strain and needs a lot of support. Foyle says "Yeah, I can see."
Foyle asks what Campbell makes of Novak claiming responsibility for Worth's death. Campbell says Novak is a good man "but who knows what men are capable of when pushed to the limit." He comments that "all of mankind's most impenetrable secrets lie inside the head."
Foyle goes to Novak's office and finds the doctor looking unwell. He asks about Tommy and is told that the boy had run away from London because of a distressing incident at work but was calm and happy at the pond. Foyle mentions having seen Phelps, and Novak responds firmly that he had told Foyle who had killed Worth. Foyle says he doesn't believe the doctor capable of killing. Novak replies that many men have killed unblinkingly when given a uniform and sent to war.
***
Back at the police station, Brooke tells Foyle that he has submitted the Pools entry, and says that he laughed when he saw Foyle's choices, as Port Vale had as much chance of getting a draw with Arsenal as he had of winning a donkey derby at the seaside. The sergeant is aghast when told that Foyle made his choices at random instead of studying the teams, and says that they'll find out which is better - science or chance.
Milner reports to Foyle that no water was found in the Schulz's lungs, so he didn't drown.
Sgt Pond is interviewed. He says Dawson believes that something was going on between Rose and the German, and tells of the fight at the farm. He suggests Schulz might have escaped to go back to the farm because he was worried about Rose, and reluctantly admits that Dawson had threatened to kill him if he returned.
Brought into the station for questioning, Dawson repeats that he didn't see Schulz again after the fight because he passed out after drinking heavily, and slept through the night.
As Foyle walks to his office, he hears a radio playing in the kitchen. The BBC's Moscow correspondent Alexander Werth is describing the hellish conditions found in the Majdanek concentration camp.
Morris Crooks calls at the station and speaks with Milner, who learns that Tommy's mother was killed by a doodlebug shortly after the boy went back to London. Crooks says that Tommy hated the Germans and wanted revenge.
Milner reports to Foyle, saying that, as Novak saw Tommy not far from the lake, the boy had opportunity as well as motive and now he's disappeared. Foyle tidies newspapers on his desk as Milner talks, and sees photographs of a concentration camp in an article headed "The most terrible example of organised mass murder." The phone rings: someone at the BBC is returning a call that Foyle made earlier.
***
The DCS goes to the Ruby cinema and asks to see the manager.
***
Foyle and Milner return to Worth's office at the clinic. Milner says that the only thing of interest found was a copy of a letter written by Campbell in support of Worth's job application at Cambridge and that it didn't tally with what Campbell had said about him. Milner suggests that perhaps Campbell was desperate to get rid of Worth.
Foyle takes from the mantelpiece a white ceramic head with the names of various areas of the brain marked on it. He peels a seal from the base, saying "Where do all of mankind's impenetrable secrets lie, Milner?" Inside the hollow head is a letter addressed to Joy Phelps.
In the meantime, Sam has been looking around the clinic, as Tommy was familiar with the house and could know of a place to hide. She finds the boy in the attic, but he goes out onto the roof.
As Foyle and Milner leave the clinic, a noise attracts their attention. They look up and see Tommy. When Milner goes to help Sam, Tommy threatens to jump off the roof.
Sam tells Tommy that they only want to know if he saw anything. Tommy says there were two men talking and when one walked away, the other man picked something up and hit him with it, then, appearing distressed, rolled the body into the water. He says that he didn't know the dead man was a German. Sam asks who the other man was.
***
Foyle has returned to Worth's office and found Campbell searching through it. He shows the letter and asks if that is what he is looking for. Campbell says that Worth had stolen it. Disclosure of his affair with a patient's wife would have ruined him, so he agreed to provide Worth with a glowing reference, but then Worth, smiling, refused to return the letter. Campbell says "He never should have smiled."
Joy enters. Campbell tells Foyle that she knows nothing of this and thinks her husband killed Worth. Foyle says he'll leave the two alone for a few minutes, and goes out.
***
Some time later, in the tearoom in Hastings, Foyle sits down to a game of chess with Novak. Novak comments that the DCS is even more quiet than usual. Foyle says that he has been wondering how to tell him that he now knows that he didn't kill Worth, although he understands why the doctor tried to take the blame. Novak says "It was Peter, wasn't it?" He tells Foyle that he found Phelps kneeling by Worth's body with his hands covered in blood, and that he felt it was his fault because he hadn't been able to help the airman. He is shocked to be told that Campbell was responsible for the murder, and why he did it.
Foyle then tells Novak why he believes he attempted suicide. The name the doctor mentioned when being carried into the ambulance was actually that of Alexander Werth whose report about the atrocities discovered at Majdanek was first broadcast on the morning Foyle had come to see Novak in his office. Novak says he felt that he had betrayed his murdered family, because he was alive and they were dead. It was the guilt of the survivor and he had to take the blame for something. On the verge of tears, he says that he has now had news that his daughter is one of the very few survivors of Majdanek. He thanks Foyle for listening to him and for his understanding.
The chess game at an end, Novak prepares to leave, but Foyle stops him by asking his opinion of the Crosby film. When Novak replies that he enjoyed it, Foyle informs him that the print for the film didn't arrive, so the cinema had shown something else. He goes on to say that a Pathe newsreel about Majdanek was also shown, adding that he couldn't watch it all and believes that Novak couldn't either.
Novak admits that he left the cinema and, while walking near the lake in the darkness, was bumped into by a running man and knocked over. When he realised that the man was a German soldier, he was filled with rage, and as the man moved on, he picked up a rock and hit the him on the back of the head. He says that in what was only a moment, he had killed a young man, and that there was no excuse, because, although all have been tainted in some way by the war, not everyone commits murder. He says "Perhaps it was because he was up there and I was down there, in the gutter where all Jews belong." Once again close to tears, he adds, "I had this evil taste in my mouth. I spat it out, that's all."
He comments on chance having dictated the most important events of his life, and says that if Foyle had come into the cinema with him, the murder wouldn't have happened. He asks how Foyle knew, and Foyle replies that it, too, was by chance - Novak was seen by a troubled boy to whom he had offered help. Novak exclaims "Poor Tommy!"
***
Morris Crooks goes to Dial Cottage and pleads with his son to come home. Tommy agrees.
***
Rose and Danny walk down the farm road to meet Dawson as he returns from the police station. Rose says that it's as though he were coming home all over again, and Danny takes his hand. Dawson expresses regret at the death of Rose's friend, but he wants to know if there was anything between them. Rose says she couldn't have done without Schulz's help, and that she was fond of him and he was sweet on her, but that was all. She says she was waiting for her sweetheart. Dawson chokes back a tear. He and his wife and son walk together towards the farmhouse.
***
In the police station, Sgt Brooke, Milner and Sam find Foyle is in his office in pensive mood. Brooke announces that the DCS's line on the Pools coupon has won £100: "A classic case of beginner's luck. Chance has won the day, sir!"
Sam asks Foyle what he's going to do with the money, and he replies that he'll make a donation to the Jewish refugee fund. A little downheartedly, Sam, Brooke and Milner agree that it is a good thing to do. As Foyle puts on his overcoat, he tells Brooke to hold back a fiver and they'll get themselves the best meal that rations will allow. The others smile brightly and Sam jumps for joy, and gives a cheer, saying that they can follow it by seeing the Bing Crosby film at the Ruby. Brooke and Sam leave the office singing "Home on the Range", Crosby style.
Foyle stands looking thoughtfully down at a chess board laid out on a low table. Milner says it's been a sad case and Foyle agrees. As he picks up his trilby and follows Milner out of the office, the brim of his hat brushes the chess board. A pawn falls over.
Many thanks to Lynne for the write-up!