Episode 1.8
Written by Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake
Produced by Spencer Campbell
Directed by Brian Kelly
Secrets and lies are revealed as Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie are forced to face up to their criminal pasts. Having discovered that the severed arm in the loch belongs to Marius – who Gil believes is Ellie’s ex-husband – Gil questions the shamed women, demanding to know the truth. Ellie makes the shocking confession that she and the others are ex-convicts on the run from her real husband, Roy, whom they conned out of £3million and framed for handling stolen goods. Meanwhile, in prison, Roy strikes a deal for a quick release. He’s determined to take revenge on his double-crossing wife and her friends. Hope Springs, here he comes.
Back at the hotel, Gil is overwhelmed by the women’s confessions, especially when Sadie admits to killing Marius in self-defence, but Ellie reassures him that he finally knows the whole truth – they have nothing more to hide... or do they? Gil is furious when he discovers that the gang are holding Ann Marie hostage in a cupboard and promptly arrests them all, including Sadie. At the station, Gil quickly corroborates the women’s stories, but then things are further complicated when he learns that two Scotland Yard detectives are on their way to Hope Springs to investigate a possible link between the women and Marius’s murder.
Having drawn up a quickie divorce settlement, Euan visits Ina with the papers. He’s relieved when she agrees to his terms, but he’s soon left reeling from a bombshell – Ina has visited Ronan and convinced him to come clean to the police. Realising that he has to dispose of Billy’s body, Euan scuttles back to the hotel where Ann Marie is playing the victim. Euan convinces her to go to bed and rest and once she’s safely out of the way, he goes to work. However, unseen by him, Ann Marie makes her way downstairs and witnesses him dragging Billy’s body from underneath the floorboards. Horrified, she goes into premature labour.
Ina is shocked to discover that Sadie, Ellie and the others have been taken into custody and heads up to the police station with Rita, Mo and Dean where she makes a poignant plea for Gil to turn a blind eye – after everything Hannah has done for her, she and the rest of the women deserve all the help the village can give. Although reluctant at first, Gil comes through when the Scotland Yard detectives arrive and he and the rest of the locals quickly rally round to protect the gang’s identities. Leaving Hannah to get reacquainted with Gil, Sadie, Ellie, Shoo and Josie head back to the hotel, and just in the nick of time – Ann Marie is in a bad state and it’s now down to Ellie to help deliver her arch-rival’s baby!
Ann Marie is only able to mutter incoherently about “floorboards” and so Euan’s secret is still safe as she and her newborn son are finally bundled into an ambulance... or is it? Ellie has just spotted drag marks on the floor and, putting two-and-two together, follows the trail out to the shed where she makes a grim discovery. Things then take an even nastier turn when Euan catches her and makes a shocking confession – he’s a double murderer – the deaths of Billy and Katie are both down to him! He is on the verge of becoming a triple murderer when Ellie’s salvation arrives in the unlikely form of Roy. Ellie has been pulled out of the frying pan, only to be plunged straight into the fire!
As Hannah, Shoo, Josie and the locals celebrate in Ina’s house; Ellie finally finds herself alone with Roy, and his gun. She confesses to the loss of the £3million and pleads with him not to kill her, but it turns out that she needn’t have worried – Roy needs her fingerprint to access a stash of £15million in the Cayman Islands, and so all is forgiven. Hannah is stunned when she walks into the bar to find Ellie and Roy in each other’s arms, and even more so when Ellie practically drags her into the kitchen and throws her out the back door. Back at the party, Hannah is livid – it’s now obvious that money is the only thing Ellie cares about – but Josie’s not so sure. What if Ellie was asking for their help? They burst into the hotel kitchen just as Ellie knocks the gun from Roy’s hand. There’s a mad scramble for the gun and in the struggle, Roy is shot.
At the hospital, a recovered Ann Marie tells Sadie about Euan and the dead body under the floorboards. Sadie calls for a nurse, convinced her daughter is hallucinating and overwrought from her ordeal. Ann Marie responds by discharging herself from the hospital and heads back to the hotel with Sadie in tow. She expects to find Billy’s body and instead, walks into the kitchen and finds Roy’s. Sadie is quick to remind Ann Marie that she and the baby would have died if it wasn’t for Ellie and so she agrees to go along with their plan. Part 1 sees Euan’s arrest for Katie and Billy’s murders, part 2 involves Ann Marie informing a heartbroken Dean, Ina, Gil and the rest of the locals that Sadie and the women have left Hope Springs for good.
Ellie, Sadie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie fly to the Cayman Islands with Roy’s severed finger packed in ice. There’s £15million waiting for them in a high security vault and it’s their ticket to the good life. As Ellie and Hannah go to the bank, the others wait anxiously in the car park, wondering what’s taking so long. Inside the bank, Ellie and Hannah finally gain access to the vault with Roy’s finger. Ellie uses her key to open Roy’s safety deposit box – the £15million is theirs... for all of five seconds, until the alarm starts to sound and the metal gates swing shut...