'Til Cruel Twist Ending do us part.
Havers: I've never been married. I've never had anything you could call a relationship.... [so] you find something else that gives you the reason to get up in the morning. And I have that, don't I?
Lynley: We both do. [Long Held Gaze follows.]
The body of a young, middle-Eastern man is found in a frozen meat truck. With a false passport and no other ID, Lynley and Havers are hard-pressed to find out who he was, and why he was killed and put in a meat truck. As they wait for the autopsy results, the only clue to go on with is a vellum manuscript in ancient Arabic that was found on the man, which appears to be a page from the Koran.
In the meantime, Lynley reaches a crisis in his personal life, and his foul mood gets in the way of his work. Havers does her best to keep him under control, but with mixed success. Will the investigation take too heavy a toll on Lynley? And more importantly, how much will it cost them both in the end?
Tropes
- Berserk Button: Hurting a pregnant woman will make Lynley mad, as Blackwell finds out at the end to his own detriment. It's simply too Close to Home for Lynley after what happened in If Wishes Were Horses.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dr. Deakin-Jones has a benevolent, grandmotherly manner and does the best she can to "save the patients' lives". Side-by-side, she runs a black market trade in vital organs, sold by people desparate for money.
- Cliffhanger: Will Lynley be suspended and/or convicted, or will he be able to protect his career and reputation?
- The Confidant: Yet again, Havers steps up as this for Lynley. He cancels a date to turn up at her flat in the middle of the night to unload his overburdened chest, and it is painfully clear that he has absolutely nowhere else he wants to go. Havers just gets him a brandy, listens to him vent, and gives the best advice and support she can. It's enough — for now.
- Friendship Moment: The scene in Barbara's apartment is the mother of them all. She doesn't just offer him her sympathy; she listens to his troubles. That's something that neither Helen or his Replacement Goldfish Christine Miller think of doing.
- Gentleman and a Scholar: Lynley's First Class Honours in History at Oxford wasn't for nothing: he knows his ancient Arabic from just plain Arabic.Havers: [talking about the vellum] How did you know it was ancient Arabic?
Lynley: Benefit of a liberal arts education.
Havers: Which makes you an expert on everything.
Lynley: Of course. - Heroic BSoD: It's strongly implied that Lynley has been going through one for some time. The effects begin to show in this episode. He loses his temper at the slightest provocation, handles social situations awkwardly, and flies completely off the handle at the end when he assaults Blackwell, leading to his arrest.
- Hilarity Ensues: A case of Mistaken Identity. Just as Lynley and Havers inform a woman that her estranged husband is dead, the woman's partner looks out of the window to see the husband walking across the street. His response? "I thought you said he was dead!" Lynley and Havers can't apologise enough.
- Imagined Innuendo: When Lynley tells Havers that he is going to have dinner with Christine Miller and "talk about work", Havers interprets it as innuendo.
- In Love with Love: Lynley believes his feelings for Helen were this.
- Just a Stupid Accent: For some inexplicable reason, when alone at home, Narima and her brother-in-law speak to each other in heavily accented Jordanian English.
- Longing Look: Only an ambiguous one, but enough for a Squee: when Havers recites the lines "There is no more you and I, only us," Lynley gives her a brief look, even though Havers doesn't notice. It doesn't help that the opening credits use this shot to make her look like a Gaussian Girl who is Oblivious to Love — or that the line in question is eerily applicable to the two's relationship with each other.
- MacGuffin: The Golden Koran.
- Rage Breaking Point: Seeing Blackwell hurt a pregnant woman turns out to be the proverbial last straw for Lynley. It results in Unstoppable Rage and severe consequences. Normally Barbara can calm him down before he really loses it, but not this time.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Thicker in this episode than perhaps any other, what with the Longing Look, the way Lynley shows up at Barbara's apartment at midnight, and the way they look at each other all throughout Lynley's unburdening of himself to her.
- Wicked Cultured: Blackwell.
- Worth Living For: Lynley and Havers for each other, to the point that when Lynley is arrested, he finds it necessary to apologize to Havers - presumably because he has let her down.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: "I'm sorry, Barbara," says Lynley to Havers, right before he is arrested.
