u, do come in. i'm here to replace you. well, so i understand. what kept you? you'll be very pleased to hear everything's in order. it's all in my report. good. i'll just leave that there for you. what that doesn't mention is that anything related to current investigations, you'll find in this office here. all prewar and wartime records are kept next door. just ask the desk sergeant he'll be happy to help. and i think that's about it. congratulations on the post. or commiserations, whichever you think is appropriate. and jolly good luck. oh, yeah. pleasure to meet you. good-bye. harmworth: i have now had the opportunity to examine your accounts mr. wainwright. here we have your outgoings, general expenses, salaries supplies, et cetera.

and here we have payments in. it would seem this is not a felicitous time for the catering and hotel business in hastings. things are bound to pick up eventually, mr. harmworth. that may be the case but here you are, asking us to extend your overdraft limit. just for a few months. but you've already overstepped that limit on three occasions. and i see no evidence here that your situation is going to improve at any time in the near future. well, it can't get any worse. i wish i shared your confidence, miss stewart. i'm sorry. not only can the bank not help you but i must ask you to take immediate steps to clear your existing overdraft, taking whatever actions are necessary. (phone ringing) thank you. good day. sometimes i wish the whole bloody guesthouse would just i don't know, disappear. you ought never to have taken it on. i had this romantic view it would sort of run itself.

instead it's been an absolute nightmare. the only good thing to come out of it is, well... meeting you. oh, sod it let's go to lyons. can we afford it? well, we can go halves on a currant bun. here you are christopher. i had the devil of a job getting them. i managed to square the visa with the americans, but as for the queen mary she's been requisitioned for military and naval use only. i could have tried sending you as a g.i. bride, but i don't think that would have worked. i wonder why. so, what has happened? i had a word with the m.o.i. you're departing southampton on the 17th. and if anyone asks you're on a sponsored lecture tour, all right? right. remember, it's my neck on the line. i will. i'm grateful thank you. you know there are times when i really don't understand you. why's that? the war is finally completely over. the japanese surrender... this new bomb they're talking about... makes me feel like we're entering a new world.

i'd agree. but you refuse to let go of the old one. unfinished business? i thought you'd retired. oh, not quite the case-- resigned. well, take care. america may not take too kindly to an ex-detective chief superintendent from hastings sniffing around asking awkward questions. i'll take the chance. well, then good luck. thank you. newsboy: late edition! read all about it! devereaux stands trial for treason!

assistant: mr. foyle, sir. how do you do? how do you do? please sit down, mr. foyle. thank you. have you been offered tea? i won't, thank you very much. well, let's get straight to the point, then. you want to talk to me about my client, james devereaux. well, not so much about him as the unit he belonged to in germany. the british free corps? that's right. how much do you know about them? well, not as much as we'd like to, which is why a meeting with your client could prove enormously helpful. how much do you know about them?

well, it was just a propaganda exercise really, wasn't it? one of hitler's crazier ideas. get a bunch of misfits and ne'er-do-wells out of the pow camps dress them up in german uniforms with union jacks, send them off to fight against the russians. my client was picked up in dresden, what was left of it. for a couple of months he was missing, believed dead and then the russians handed him over. i may as well tell you now it's almost certain he'll hang. we're talking about traitors, mr. foyle. william joyce, lord haw-haw. john amery. son of the secretary of state for india. the whole lot of them. well, they're only getting what they deserve. i think you'd agree. well, there are those who think that a series of trials, treason trials, could be counterproductive at the moment. and you've been asked to look into it? well, i suppose i could try to arrange a meeting but i should warn you now, it may be a complete waste of time. he refuses to talk to me-- not a word. perhaps he feels you've given up on him.

he's given up on himself. it's almost as if he wants to die. well, far be it from me to stand in the way of the police or the intelligence services. i'll see what i can do. thank you. he did join the nazis, mr. foyle. he's admitted to it. and for what it's worth, i'd try to defend him if he'd let me. but he won't. there's really nothing more i can do. right.

(gasping) (engine rumbling)

she's upstairs, sir. sir. perkins: she's been strangled, sir, with a nylon stocking. i bet you she'd been saving it up for after the war. does she have a name? perkins: agnes lyttleton. she rents the room from a mrs. ramsay. she's downstairs. who found her? she did, mrs. ramsay. so, what do you think, sir? boyfriend comes home finds her canoodling with some yank? wouldn't be the first time. (flashbulb pops) i can't believe such a thing could happen in my home.

i just can't believe it. when did you know something was wrong? this morning. she didn't come down for breakfast and, well, i thought she'd overslept. were you here last night? no, i was playing bridge with some friends. i didn't arrive home until about 10:00. i was here in the house last night and all the time she was... perkins: you want some more tea? no. no, thank you. thank you. did she have a job? did she work here in brighton? just outside. white friars. i'm sure you know it. it's the family estate of the devereaux. and did she have any friends? or any visitors? she did have a friend. sylvie, i think her name was. a stable girl. and there was a young man, but he was a prisoner of war in germany. he wrote to her regularly, though.

most of the prisoners of the german camps have returned home now. he hasn't been here? no. miss lyttleton would have asked me first. she was that sort of girl, very considerate. mrs. ramsay... what can you tell me about this? isn't that the frame from her bedroom? it is, yes. but the photograph is missing. do you know who the photograph was of? did you ever see it? it wasn't my habit to enter her room, but i did glimpse it. a young man in uniform. i can't tell you very much more than that. where do you think it's gone? gah, quite a place, sir. certainly is.

to live somewhere like this, you wouldn't even know there's been a war. devereaux: it's a dreadful thing to have happened and i'm very sorry to hear it. jane: agnes was a very pleasant girl. i can't imagine anyone would want to hurt her. but i'm afraid i can't help you detective inspector. i engaged miss lyttleton nine months ago to help me with a project i'm working on. and what is that, sir? a history of the devereaux family. it required a considerable amount of research. been here long have you, sir? we were given this land by william the conqueror. miss lyttleton worked here for six hours a day. she had excellent shorthand and she was very diligent. apart from that, i know nothing about her at all. what about her family or friends? mr. milner, she was my secretary, not my confidante. and apart from that, i have absolutely nothing more to say. jane? please excuse me, gentlemen.

detective inspector? i'm very sorry the way my husband spoke to you just now. he didn't mean to be rude but you've come at a very difficult time. he has a son who is in a great deal of trouble. please don't ask me to explain, but you have no idea how ill it's made him. and if he spoke off-handedly then i can only apologize on his behalf. he has a son. i take it that he's not your son, mrs. devereaux? no, i'm charles's second wife. he lost his first wife caroline, almost 20 years ago. and agnes lyttleton? i'm afraid i can't tell you very much about her. we hardly spoke. she was living with our housekeeper, mrs. ramsay. mrs. ramsay works here? she used to; she's retired. miss lyttleton had always lived in brighton, at least for the last few years. but her house was bombed. she needed somewhere to live so we recommended her to mrs. ramsay.

thank you. (door slams shut) gentleman to see prisoner 484. (door closes) hello. the name's foyle. they tell you who i am? i understand you were reluctant to see me. thank you for agreeing anyway. anything to get out of my cell. ah, i see.

did they tell you why i'm here? they said you were a policeman and you want to know about british free corps. that's about the strength of it yes. do you mind if i sit down? what can you tell me? i understand why you wouldn't want to talk about it. it's not a very pleasant subject. but you have agreed to see me. i have nothing to read. the people here aren't exactly chatty. i don't get many visitors. right. no family? i don't want to see my family. why would that be? listen, there's an understanding that there are various reasons why people are, or have become nazi sympathizers. and in the case of the members of the british free corps, it seems important to establish to what extent that sympathy

is genuine, or to what extent coercion has been involved. why did you join? are you sorry the germans lost? that hitler's dead? did you want them to win? i don't care who won. is that really the case? thousands of people dead everywhere burnt out. theaters, museums-- all rubble. what difference does it make? is this dresden you're talking about? i understand you were there. i was in a lot of places. dunkirk as well, i gather and served with distinction, according to your men. so it's very difficult for someone like me to understand why you'd find yourself in this position and why you'd choose to die in such a useless way. what makes you think it's useless? i was told you wanted to ask me

about british free corps. all you've done is ask questions about me. i don't know you. i don't need to talk to you. please just go away. (birds chirping) i see you, i see you!

i see you! okay, you got me you got me, you got me. so... did you get the information you wanted? any idea what happened to him in dresden? no. did you ask? i shouldn't have thought that was any of my business. or yours. man: how's that? harrison yeah, keep coming, bit more. good?

hello. what's going on here? and who are you, darling? i'm sam stewart. i don't suppose you live in one of these big houses, do you? i do, as a matter of fact. that one over there. then this is your lucky day. we want to knock it down. adam: knock us down? yes. why? for the access road. access to what? all the shops and houses they're going to be building on the green. well, hastings may need shops and houses but why build on the green? i thought you'd be pleased. i am, i think. i should be delighted, i suppose. sam: it's exactly what you wanted. and, of course they'll pay you compensation. there's a meeting at the town hall tomorrow evening. that's not much notice. well, provided they give you a good offer, how much notice do you need? man: oh dear, more problems? i'm afraid so. (bird cawing) james won't speak to me. he won't speak to any of us.

but you've seen him. i have. and? is there anything that can give us any hope? devereaux: deakin says you believe he may be innocent. that's right. well, do you really think you can find a way through this? i'm not at all sure. i've just seen him the once. but it's certainly worth the attempt. devereaux: what did he tell you? very little, but it does seem to me that there's more to the situation than he's allowing anyone to know. jane, i'll talk to mr. foyle alone, if you don't mind. why don't you show deakin round the garden? yes, of course, dear whatever you say. shall we? james was never the same after his mother died. he was only eight. maybe that's what this is all about. she was the only one he confided in. i loved caroline more than anyone in the world. she was everything to me. but james was more her son than mine, and after she died he drifted away. ever any mention or sympathy with right wing causes...

no. he was a model student at eton and at sandhurst. a credit to his regiment. when he was taken prisoner at dunkirk, i thought i'd lost him. now i almost wish i had. we're one of the oldest families in england, and we have a long history of service to our country. my father was at the colonial office. my grandfather served in salisbury's administration. i myself was an mp for 30 years. this unit, the british free corps? they're disgusting. nothing. what do you think drove james to join it? he was a prisoner of war. he had been for three years. he was starving and they offered him an alternative to a life behind barbed wire. he didn't know what he was doing. well, i'd have thought that would have been his defense. of course it's his defense. but he's not using it. he's ashamed of himself. doesn't appear to be the case. he's destroying me.

this house, this land. my name. all that i've ever stood for. he's going to bring it all crashing down. mr. foyle, you told deakin you could help us, but all you've done so far is ask a lot of questions. why exactly are you here? caroline devereaux. sometimes i think she never left this house. it's as if she never died. so, how did it happen, exactly? oh, it was a horrible accident. she was walking over there. it was late summer. the deer can be very dangerous at that time of year. nobody knows why she got so close to them but they gored her with their antlers.

hello. all right? i think so. do come with us. i was going to show mr. deakin the hide. i'd love to. (birds chirping) come on! i'm coming. slow coach. it's got a black beak and white patches on its wings. what do you think it is?

a nightingale? hmm, let me see. no, it's a pied flycatcher. it's come all the way from africa to be here. she had it built specially for james. does anyone use it anymore? well, he wouldn't go near it after she died. hope you don't mind me asking how well do you get on with him? well, he was 14 when i married charles. he was already at eton. but i did what i could. i tried to be close. any sign of any interest in politics that sort of thing at that time? not that i know of. i think he did want to become a policeman. really? he was very young. i don't think he was serious. so, what other interests might he have had?

he used to play the piano. ah. he was actually very good. but there was this business with his piano teacher man called rothman or rothstein or something. anyway, he left under a bit of a cloud. mm-hmm. and james lost interest after that and stopped. who else might i talk to who knew him as a boy? there was our old housekeeper, mrs. ramsay. mm-hmm. but there's been this terrible business. what's that? a young woman was found murdered in her house. murdered? oh, i'm sorry. i thought you'd know all about it. the police were only here yesterday. my husband's secretary. she was found strangled. (seagulls cawing)

(noisy din, coughing) adam: there's not many people here. well, they only called the meeting yesterday. don't you think that's a bit strange? no. why? harrison: good evening ladies and gentlemen. please take your seats. let me introduce myself. i'm michael harrison working with harry clifton here for the hastings planning committee. heckler: never heard of it. what good's it ever done? ladies and gentlemen these are the facts. in the last five years more than three million houses have been damaged or destroyed. as a country, we now need to build 750,000 new homes 7,000 of them here in hastings. but it may well be that the luftwaffe has done us a favor. (commotion) we can look on this not as a challenge but as an opportunity. highcliffe green. it's an empty space even though it's only minutes away

from the center of hastings. and here it is again the hub of a new development zone with purpose-built housing, improved traffic flow, the sense and simplicity of concentric rings. a new modern hastings with a bustling, new heart. heckler: but what happens to us? heckler 2: and what about the existing bomb damage? one at a time, please. may i ask where you live, sir? gladwell avenue. then i congratulate you on your good fortune. every resident of highcliffe street, quay street and gladwell avenue is going to be required to move... (commotion) but... but will be generously compensated. heckler: i like the sound of that. what i'm here to talk to you about, ladies and gentlemen, is a new start. i've looked at these old houses. many of them are in a state of disrepair with outmoded plumbing and electrics. they're too big and they're expensive to run. what i want to say to you is...

welcome to the future. (applause) adam wainwright. i own the guesthouse, hill house, on highcliffe street. so you're proposing to buy it knock it down and do what, exactly? well, hill house stands on what will be the main thoroughfare to the new shopping center, mr. wainwright. and this shopping center you're going to build that on the green. that's right. the green's always been there. well, there is no historical significance to the green. it's just an empty space. but it's-it's common land. exactly, isn't it common land? well, yes, it is but i don't think there'll be any great objections to a brilliant plan... adam: isn't it protected though? i think you're rather overstating its importance. people have been grazing their animals there for centuries. heckler: sit down! man: let him speak, he's got a point. heckler: so how much are you going to pay us? (laughter) now, that's the question i'd have asked. we'll be making valuations in the weeks to come. hang on! are we sure about this? why do we need a new development? why can't we just improve the hastings we've already got?

heckler: sit down. you've had your turn. there will, of course, be a full and proper consultation before any works begin. (commotion) adam, are you all right? you haven't said anything this past half hour. i'm sorry, sam. i'm miles away. we should be celebrating shouldn't we? you get the money. you get shod of hill house. you can start again. i wasn't thinking about hill house. i really like hastings. i know i haven't been here long, but... it's the arrogance of it all that gets me, sam. i mean, look at this green. it's been here forever. when william the conqueror landed he probably stood right here. isn't this what we've been fighting for for the past six years?

england's green and pleasant land. exactly. i think we've earned the right to run our own lives not be pushed around by some nazi in a pinstriped suit. i mean, this is part of the england we've been defending. jerry couldn't invade us-- they couldn't destroy us-- so why should we let someone like harrison achieve what they didn't? are you going to start a resistance movement? yes, that's exactly what i'm going to do. well, then, count me in. i'll wave the flag or the machine gun or whatever. perfect. oh. back again? with some books. james: decline and fall. seems appropriate.

mmm. i like evelyn waugh. so do i. and it's not too long. i don't think i should be starting long books. thank you, it's very kind of you. not at all. a couple of things have happened since we last met which may be of interest to you. i went to white friars. i met your father. why did you do that? what's white friars got to do with british free corps? oh, it would help to know why you joined. and do you think my father could tell you? he had an opinion. i bet he did. i also learned that you were very close to your mother. i wondered what she would have made of all this. i mean, correct me if i'm wrong, but goose-stepping your way around dresden in an ss uniform isn't something that i'd imagine would have endeared you to her.

i've had enough of this. (calling loudly): i'd like to go back to my cell please. sylvie johnstone? yeah, that's me. i'm detective inspector milner and this is detective constable perkins. i believe you know agnes lyttleton. yes, i know agnes. why are you asking? milner: i'm afraid you're going to have to prepare yourself for some bad news. agnes is dead. no. perkins, would you... dead? i'm sorry. what happened? she was found at home. she was living with a mrs. ramsay.

i know, i went there once. agnes was very happy there. it seems that someone came to the house when she was on her own and attacked her. she was killed in the bedroom. oh, lord. we have to ask you some questions but we can come back if you prefer. i hadn't known her that long. we met in a pub, got chatting about horses. she liked them, too. i'd moved down from london. i didn't know anyone, and the two of us became friends. is she really dead? i'm afraid so. i wonder if jack knows. jack? who's jack? her young man. she never told me his surname. jack. she was crazy about him. photo by the bed all that sort of thing. did you ever see the photograph? no. perkins: look... shall i go and tie this up?

what else can you tell me about jack? not very much. she was very secretive about him, because he was... you know, he was doing something hush-hush overseas. do you know where? was it france? no, in germany. she shouldn't even have told me that but she mentioned it once. i couldn't believe it. jack had a friend. he was coming to see her. what friend? she didn't say. she just said she'd heard from someone who had news about jack. of course, she was sick with worry about him but he had news for her, and he was coming down to brighton and he'd see her. well, that was about a week ago. and she didn't give you the name of this friend? she never said, no. perkins: so, what's she called, then? sylvie: who? the horse. it's not a mare. it's a stallion. can't you tell?

adam: we fought them on the beaches, we fought them on the fields and on the hills and we fought them on the streets. but what was the point if we were going to sell those beaches, those hills, and those fields, and those streets? yes. for human interest, give a sense of perspective. adam: ...fought them on the streets. but what was the point if we were going to sell those beaches, those hills and those fields and those streets, for the sake of flats and shops we don't even need? mrs. ramsay: i can't talk about the family, mr. foyle. i was with them for many years and anything i might have seen, well, you know, it wasn't my place to see anything. i do understand your discretion, of course. but we must remember that tomorrow this boy

could be sentenced to hang. it's a terrible thing him going over to the germans like that. was it a surprise? of course it was. he was never like that. well, obviously, he was never the same after the death of his mother. he adored her; we all did. a happy family, would you say? they were a family like any other, mr. foyle. they had their ups and downs. what could you tell me about the piano teacher? ah, yes, that was a bad business, too. his name was rothstein simon rothstein. he was a hebrew. he was a good man, that's what i thought. he stole some of lady devereaux's jewelry and went to prison. that was just a few weeks before her own accident. you see what i'm saying? james lost the two people who were closest to him, and maybe that was what turned his head. thank you.

sir charles's secretary was staying here, isn't that right? agnes lyttleton. you heard about that. mm-hmm. i'm not sure i can live here now. the house isn't the same anymore. i'd understand that. you don't suppose... it couldn't have had anything to do with master james, could it? well, of course it's possible. because i have something that might help you. i found it when i was going through her laundry and it fell out of her pocket. now, that is from her young man. he was a prisoner of war in germany, and he wrote regularly. and this is addressed to a hotel in london. and that's her handwriting on the envelope. so she might have been forwarding it, perhaps? so it would seem. did she ever mention this mr. armstrong? no. and as far as i know she never visited london.

not while she was with me. i was going to pass it on to the detective who was here. well, i could do that for you. what's his name? this is from jack. do you know who that is? jack was agnes lyttleton's young man, and i presume the man in the photograph that had been taken from her room. he was a prisoner of war. it was written in february. it took almost six months to arrive. well, not surprising, given the state of things in europe. it doesn't give much away which i suppose is what you'd expect with german censorship. he wonders when the war will end. i imagine there were thousands of letters like this written every day. foyle: this thing about the weather. "it's raining dogs and cats." do we normally say it like that? no, it should be cats and dogs. he's got it the wrong way round. unless he's trying to tell her something. and the date, is that unusual or am i imagining it? we'd normally write it... milner: the other way around.

10th of february, 1945. sir, i appreciate you bringing this to my attention. i thought i'd take a look at the hotel this is addressed to. do you mind if i hang onto this a little longer? course not. thank you. and if there's anything else i can do to help? there is. simon rothstein, piano teacher to the devereaux. arrested for theft long, long ago but anything you can turn up would help. i'll check the files. perkins: so, what did he want? you searched the house and the room-- agnes's room? yes. so why didn't you find the letter? which letter? the letter from jack agnes's young man. i never saw any letter. milner: exactly, constable. but if you'd been doing your job properly, you would have found it. so, has he got it? if you're referring to dcs foyle, yes, he's got it. and he's going to keep it a while longer.

mr. foyle is helping us with our enquiries. i thought he'd left the police. constable, if you and i are going to work together, do you think you could try showing just a modicum of respect? of course, sir. for you or for him? we got the mains drainage coming down this right flank to about that point, and then cutting it to where it would be terraced, right? and that will service all... you're a bit premature aren't you? i'm sorry? do you remember me? no. have we met? i was at the town hall the other evening. but because i opposed your sordid little scheme, i don't suppose you took a blind bit of notice. all right, keep your hair on. yeah, i remember you you're... adam wainwright. gladwell avenue! hill house. highcliffe street. well, i'm sorry, mr. wainwright but the meeting's over and i'm busy. do you know what i despise about you, mr. harrison? it's not that you're changing hastings. it's not that you have a vision for the future. no, what i detest about you is your high-handed attitude this unshakable belief that you really know what's best.

we are consulting with... you don't care about this area, do you? if this piece of land has history or what it means to the people who live here? it's all just money to you. eric, will you ask this gentleman to move on? no, i will not move on. i live here. why don't you move on, hmm? take your equipment with you. harrison: i'll have the law onto you! that's council property! adam: is this council property? get off! harrison: someone call a policeman! adam get off! get off me! what have you done? mr. foyle. what are you doing here? sam told me what happened. am i in a lot of trouble? the man, is he... oh, he's all right, as it turns out, but assaulting a planning committee member is perhaps not the wisest thing to be doing. are they going to press charges? no, i've persuaded mr. harrison that a court case might not be in his best interest. so i can go? you can. thank you.

how am i going to face sam? good question. do you think she'll forgive me? i don't think you've got too much to worry about. (bells ringing, horn honking) mr. devereaux. you remember your kc mr. carstairs. yes, of course. mr. devereaux, let me implore you for one last time. when we go upstairs, you will be tried for high treason under the treachery act of 1940 as opposed to offenses against the defense regulations of the year before. there is one critical difference between them. if you are found guilty, there can be no leeway. the judge can show you no clemency. do you understand that? how long will it take? if you insist on offering no defense, if you intend to plead guilty,

then the whole thing may be over very quickly. the judge will sentence you and that will be that. no witnesses? not unless you enter a defense. is my father there? i believe he's in the public gallery. well, thanks for your time mr. deakin, mr. carstairs. i just want it to be over with. sam: i think it's absolutely splendid. i didn't know you had it in you. didn't you? you're quite right to show them that we're not going to let them get away with it. don't you agree, sir? oh, there might be more productive routes. i must go. the trouble is everybody's taking the money. that's because they don't care about the green. to them it's just a patch of grass. thank you, mr. west! which green are you talking about? our green. this one? yes, the very same. well, that's not just any old green. adam: isn't it?

well, no, it's not. they were going to excavate that not so many years ago. some settlement site or another. settlement? how do you know about that? school used to dig up all sorts of stuff there-- pottery, that sort of thing. and where is it now? no idea. could very well still be there. where? the school, st. saviour's. thank you. not at all. bye. st. saviour's. how appropriate. clerk: all rise. blakesway: detective chief superintendent foyle. we met in court rather more times

than either of us might care to remember. now, what is it that brings you here today? well, i'm hoping you can tell me what you remember about an old case that needs a bit of clearing up. a man called rothstein piano teacher? piano teacher? simon rothstein. piano teacher to the devereaux. ah, yes. rothstein. i remember now. petty theft. what exactly is your interest in the case? well, it's not so much in the case as the sentence you handed down. five years. with hard labor, which led to his death in prison. yes, well, i can't comment on past cases. it seems the jewelry he was supposed to have stolen was worth only about £50 or so. theft is still theft, foyle. i'd have thought you of all people would appreciate that. well, of course, but even so five years hard labor for a first offense seems unnecessarily harsh. it was a grave breach of trust. here you have a man, a refugee welcomed into this country and into the home of one of our most ancient

and distinguished families. how many cases would you say you tried over the years? must be thousands. you remember them all in such detail, or is it just this one? i'm not quite sure i like your tone. no, no, i'm simply wondering what makes this one so memorable for you. i've already told you. i greatly admired sir charles devereaux. he was an outstanding mp. do you know him? we may have met. but i had absolutely no reason not to try that case. the evidence was indisputable. charles didn't even appear as a witness. charles? that would be sir charles? and it would help, don't you think, to discount the possibility that charles in any way influenced this hugely disproportionate sentence? i think you should leave now. i'll see myself out. judge: james devereaux. i have read the desitions and the exhibits in this case, and i am satisfied you knew what you did,

and you did it intentionally and deliberately in the knowledge that by becoming a member of the so-called british free corps amounted to high treason. isaac: but it was a lie. it was all lies. he stole nothing. wasn't there something about a necklace? you think he would steal from lady devereaux? he respected her. he would do anything for her. and for her son, also. (piano music playing) rothstein, you must help me. simon: run, lady devereaux, run. this warrior from england shall... die! (feigns fright) what's going on here? judge: james devereaux, you come from a noble family one that has long given service to the nation.

but that only casts your transgressions in a harsher light. you now stand a self-confessed traitor to your king and country and you have forfeited your right to live. isaac: but that was the mistake he made, you see. he got too close to her. my son knew too many secrets mr. foyle. that is why he had to be got out of there. that is why he had to be locked away. the sentence of this court is that you be taken from here to a place of lawful execution and hanged from the neck until you are dead. the lord have mercy on your soul. amen.

clerk: take him down. reporter: sir charles! (reporters asking questions over each other) sir charles, do you have anything to say to the press? thank you, mr. carstairs. i wish i could have done something more to help. you know i can't help feeling there's something more to this case. i'm so sorry. radio announcer: in his summing up, the judge said that he had no alternative but to pass the gravest sentence of all. james devereaux had been able to offer no defense and will now be returned to his cell to await the hangman. afternoon.

can i help you? i hope so. i wonder, do you have a george armstrong staying or working here? never heard of him. got a letter for him. no, there's no george armstrong here. and who are you? the name's foyle. i can't help you i'm afraid. all right. you've never received anything like this before? no. no, and you're not used as a mailbox or a forwarding address? we're a hotel, mr. foyle, that's all. you can see for yourself. thank you very much. i can take that for you, if you like. why would you want to do that, mr.... dillon. it's got our address on it. if someone comes in, i can hand it over. better still, if anybody comes in, send them to me. i'll hand it over.

this is dillon. there's something you need to know. oh! sorry. if there were romans in hastings somebody must have written about it. good-bye. so, where do we start? well, there's a museum or back to the library. adam: there's a college in brighton. well, i know where i'm going to start. the kitchen. tea. well, it went exactly as i said. sentenced to hang. and when is that likely to happen? seventeenth. devilish quick but i suppose they want to get it over with. so, when are you leaving for america? same day. well, you did everything you could.

i wonder. look here, mr. foyle. why don't you come clean with me? i've made some enquiries about you, and frankly you've misled me. you're not even a policeman, not anymore. what is your interest in james devereaux? well, in the circumstances whatever interest i may or may not have in him is irrelevant. in the interest of justice my concern is as great as i'd expect yours to be. the sentence has been passed in a court of law. it's over. there's nothing you can do, mr. foyle. i disagree. i mean, it's obviously of no interest to you-- it certainly is to me-- why sir charles's secretary was murdered at the same time as all this was happening. i'd certainly like to know where jack is-- the prisoner of war who was writing to her-- and why the devereaux's piano teacher was the victim of an obvious miscarriage of justice and died in prison. so it seems to me there's quite a lot to be done. and since clearly no one else is going to do it, i will. excuse me.

mr. foyle? yeah? i wonder if you could come with me, sir? yes, all right. mr. foyle for you, sir. ah, mr. foyle. i suppose we ought to apologize to you for bringing you here in this way. foyle: no, not at all always a pleasure. thank you, walcott. i expect you're wondering what this is all about. well, intelligence services communicating with prisoners overseas, perhaps? you have a letter of ours. i wonder if i could have it. ah. forgive me, you are? my name is brenner and this is jack stanford. he was with james devereaux in oflag 79, and then in dresden. jack: how do you do? how do you do?

this is not actually addressed to you. even so, it was intended for my office, mr. foyle and it is quite important. well, it's also quite important to the police, since it's turned up as part of a murder investigation. so any light you could shed on that would be appreciated. i know you've had dealings with us before, mr. foyle, so i'm sure i can rely on your discretion. i head up a section here within mi9. we were established in december '41 to teach evasion and escape techniques to personnel. that's ordinary officers and servicemen heading into action. there were a series of seminars. exactly. we basically taught them how to make a nuisance of themselves if they got caught by the enemy. and one vital part of the work was getting information to us behind jerry's back. via coded letters. pows would send letters to family and friends, and they then forwarded them on to us. how many agents were there? oh, hundreds of them all over europe. and how did you communicate with them?

we couldn't. by the end of the war, we weren't sure how many of them we had or who they were. our office in southgate took a direct hit, and many of the records were destroyed. so we've had to rely on agents like stanford here to get in touch with us. and you were a member of the british free corps? yes, yes. it seemed like a good idea. at first i thought they might amount to something. my aim was to spread discord, undermine morale and at the same time keep mi9 aware of their movements. brenner: stanford was afforded a remarkable degree of freedom. and thanks to him we received a great deal of information about troop movements, bomb damage, much, much more. what about james devereaux? oh, he... he wasn't like the others, mr. foyle. i knew him before the war. we were at eton together. i don't know what he was doing in the free corps, and i'm being completely honest when i say i feel sorry for him. hmm. is he a traitor? they all are but for different reasons. my feeling about devereaux is that he was out of his depth.