Episode 1.6
Written by Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake
Produced by Spencer Campbell
Directed by Dermot Boyd
With pieces of Marius’s car washing up at the lochside, the women are under pressure to get out of Hope Springs – fast. Ellie urges Sadie to get in touch with Bronius, her dodgy Lithuanian contact to organise some fake passports. Bronius is happy to oblige, but it’ll cost the women double the money they’ve already agreed if they want early delivery. Having run out of cash, Ellie tempts Bronius with a game of poker in the hope of winning the passports and some bonus cash. But if they’re going to hit the jackpot, Ellie knows they’ll have to fix the game so Hannah, Josie and Shoo set about installing hidden cameras and secret microphones in the bar – Bronius is a sitting duck!
Facing the realisation that this could be their last day in Hope Springs, the women plan their goodbyes. At first, reconciliation seems to be in the air as Shoo and Dean happily kiss and make up. But then Sadie tries, but fails, to make amends with an angry and emotional Ann Marie who’s still reeling from the fallout of her wedding day. Forgiveness is also the last thing on Ina’s mind. She’s had enough of her cheating husband Euan and wants a divorce. Knowing that a divorce will mean he’ll lose access to Ina’s trust fund, Euan urges Ann Marie to tell Ina she lured him into sleeping with her – in return there’ll be the added bonus of scamming Ellie out of all of her money at the poker game.
After his disaster of a wedding, Gil has come to the realisation that he can’t face the idea of seeing Ann Marie every day, not to mention Ellie, so he announces his intention to leave Hope Springs as soon as he can arrange a transfer. Ina is distraught when she hears the news – if Gil goes, Katie’s killer will never be caught. However, it’s Hannah who causes him to reconsider by pointing out just how selfish he’s being. Back at the station, Gil refocuses on the murder investigation and tries to make sense of the transcripts from Billy’s mobile phone. He calls Ronan and Ina into the station and starts asking questions. As Ronan reacts defensively, Ina grows uneasy and Gil begins to suspect that Ronan knows more than he’s letting on.
Back at the hotel, the poker game is in full swing and with Hannah and Josie sitting in a bedroom with a full view of everyone else’s cards; Ellie and Sadie are soon in the money. However, unbeknownst to them, they’re not the only ones who aren’t playing by the rules – even eagle-eyed Hannah doesn’t notice Ann Marie sneaking an Ace to Euan under the table. By this time, Hannah has been deserted by Josie. She’s spotted Ronan’s dog, Nash and follows him down to the loch where she finds Ronan getting ready to throw himself in. Josie wrestles him away from the edge just in time and his further shocked when he confesses to killing Billy.
Over at the station, Gil is still studying the transcripts from Billy’s phone. One particular coded message from Katie about someone called ‘ue’ is puzzling him. Then he’s hit by inspiration – ‘ue’ must stand for ‘Uncle Euan’! Back at the hotel, the stakes are suddenly raised when Euan bets £200,000 and Ellie responds by dropping the keys to the hotel in the pot. Upstairs, Hannah is convinced that Ellie can’t lose and so everyone is stunned when he lays down his hand – he’s cheated them out of the hotel! Euan’s celebrations are brought to a premature end when Gil arrives to question him about his whereabouts on the night of Katie’s murder and then even worse, when Ronan turns up and confesses to Billy’s murder.
Despite his shock, Euan is still on the ball enough to prompt Billy into telling Gil that he dumped Billy’s body in the loch. The girls are left reeling when they realise that Ronan’s confession means that the police will drag the loch. Surely it’s now only a matter of time before they discover Marius’s remains. There’s only one thing left to do, and that’s to catch the first plane to Barbados. Then a bloody Shoo staggers into the hotel – Bronius has beaten her up and made off with their money, and the passports. Could things get any worse? Apparently so... outside, Ann Marie agrees to give Euan an alibi in exchange for the hotel...