Promising young law student Emily Proctor is found murdered in Hyde Park. Despite being on leave, Lynley joins Havers in the investigation. They find out that until four months before her death, Emily had been working as an intern at the chamber of Tony Wainwright, a top human rights lawyer. Although Wainwright had been Emily’s mentor and idol, he and his devoted clerk, Hester Reed, staunchly refuse to disclose why Emily suddenly left the law firm.
It soon emerges that after leaving the firm, Emily had started working for an online pornography studio, run by her long-estranged half-sister, Lisa Conroy. Of late, Emily was being hounded by one of her clients, Robert Tanner, and had recently asked another studio employee, Darren, to set up a video intercom at her flat for safety. Also, someone had been sending Emily bouquets of roses, with blank cards.
As Havers and Lynley investigate, they begin to uncover secrets in Emily’s life that throw a shocking new light on the possible motive for which she was murdered. They also discover that Emily’s killing closely parallels the death of another young woman 15 years ago. It seems that both tragedies revolve around the same man.
In the meantime, Lynley and Helen resume their marriage whole-heartedly, despite Lynley getting an uncomfortable feeling that Havers isn’t too happy about this.
Tropes
- All Take and No Give: Wainwright doesn't think twice about treating Hester like dirt, despite her obvious devotion to him. Lynley and Havers wonder why. It turns out that Hester's the one pulling the strings.
- The Atoner: The reason why Emily took up human rights as her pet issue — to ignore her guilt at knowing that her father was raping her half-sister on a daily basis, and doing nothing about it.
- Ax-Crazy: Hester Reed, literally.
- Broken Bird: Lisa Conroy.
- Chekhov's Hobby: Remember that Wainwright's hobbies include mountain climbing? That becomes important when it turns out the murder weapon was a mountaineering axe.
- Foil: The relationship between Hester and Wainwright foils the relationship between Lynley and Havers — and shows how such a close, co-dependent relationship can go badly wrong.
- Fool for Love: Havers certainly thinks that Lynley is one, falling for Helen all over again. Tellingly, Lynley does care about Havers' opinion, although he tries to take her studied indifference at face value.
- Friend Versus Lover: As the page quote shows, Lynley-Havers and Lynley-Helen no longer sit comfortably side-by-side.Helen: She [Havers] doesn't think it's a good idea - us being friends again.Lynley: [disconcerted] I doubt she thinks very much about us at all.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: What really won Emily so many admirers wasn't so much her beauty, but her kindness to other people. Everyone, from her landlord to her co-employee, comments on it.
- The Lost Lenore: Tony Wainwright is one unlucky man when it comes to love. Not that it's a coincidence, thanks to his Yandere of a clerk.
- Love Makes You Crazy/Love Makes You Evil: The episode is a study of the nature of obsessive love. Just count the examples:
- Robert Tanner is infatuated with Emily's online persona and wants to get closer in real life.
- Darren is so affected by Emily's beauty and kindness that he keeps an eye on her every movement.
- Wainwright is obsessively determined to have sex with Emily.
- And finally, Hester Reed makes a habit of murdering the hypotenuse.
- Moment Killer: Deliberately or not, Havers walks in on Lynley and Helen just as they are beginning to get friendly at his office.
- Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality: The reason why Emily is a virgin. It stems from a childhood Dark Secret.
- The Peeping Tom: Darren sets up surveillance cameras in every single room in Emily's flat, including the bathroom.
- Sex Equals Love: Wainwright thought so. Emily didn't. The result was tragic.
- Stalker with a Crush: Robert Tanner isn't satisfied with his online intercourse with Emily. He wants it to carry over to their real life.
- Undying Loyalty: Hester's devotion to Wainwright rivals Lynley and Havers' loyalty to each other. Other than the fact that Wainwright couldn't care less. And Hester is a Yandere who'd kill rather than share. The key difference seems to be that where the Lynley-Havers dynamic is completely unselfish, not to mention based on deep mutual respect, Hester-Wainwright is the complete opposite.
- Unwitting Pawn: For years, Wainwright's alibi was that he and person X note were together on the afternoon of a murder. What he didn't realise is that he was person X's only alibi, too.
- Yandere: Hester Reed.
