Deception On His Mind

Cast
Nathaniel Parker .... Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley
Sharon Small .... Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers
Matthew Wait .... Gerry Devitt
Anjalee Patel .... Hadiyyah Taymullah
Tanveer Ghani .... Azhar Taymullah
Anjali Jay .... Shala Malik
Saeed Jaffrey .... Akram Malik
Sophie Walker .... TV reporter
Tarek Ramini .... Muneer Malik
Emily Joyce .... DCI Emily Barlow
Demelza Randall .... Rachel Infield
Amita Dhiri .... Yumma Malik
Terence Hillyer .... Basil Treves
Joe Shaw .... Theo Shaw
Ronnie McCann .... Trevor Ruddock
Noah Huntley .... Cliff Hegarty
Quill Roberts .... Fahad Qamar
Thorston Manderlay .... Klaus Reuchlein
James Howard .... Male Nurse

Directed by Tim Leandro
Written by Valerie Windsor, based on a novel by Elizabeth George
First Broadcast on BBC One March 31, 2003

Plot

The body of Asian man Hathem Kureshi is discovered on a beach in Essex. Barbara Havers sees television news coverage of the murder and notices that an old colleague of hers, Emily Barlow now promoted to DCI, is in charge of the case. Although Havers is on leave because Lynley is in Mexico marrying Helen - she resolved to contact Emily and help her with the case. She further interested in the case because her young neighbour Hadiyyah and her father Azhar have rushed off to the Essex seaside on family business.

Havers is slowly unravelling the mystery when Lynley surprises her by turning up at her hotel. Due to a crisis in Helen's family they have cut short their honeymoon - Lynley, in respect for this opportunity of Haver's, promises to take a back seat in the investigation.

Hathem Kureshi was due to join the wealthy Malik family by marrying Shala Malik. Shala is deeply unhappy as she is at the mercy of her cruel brother Muneer and his manipulative wife. She longs to escape and live with her English friend Rachel Winfield, and continue her relationship with Theo Shaw. However her fiancés death and her secret pregnancy have shattered all her dreams and she is scared young woman.

Havers finds working for the ruthlessly ambitious Emily challenging and they come to blows more than once. With Lynley's dependable help Havers discovers that Hathem Kureshi was gay - and this appears to be the motive for his murder. Meanwhile they become suspicious of Muneer Malik and his sideline business in illegal immigrants. This episode is quite action-packed as Lynley damages his arm from a risky leap across some beach hut roofs, and the story concludes with a high speed boat chase and explosion. Lynley is also a hero as he jumps into the ocean to save young Hadiyyah.

Havers is on a low note at the end of this episode as she faces disciplinary procedures for harming DCI Barlow. Lynley, as ever, is quietly supportive and it seems that Havers has fully come to appreciate her boss. When Lynley remarks 'people, they let you down' Havers turns to him and says 'you haven't - not once'. This is a very poignant end to the episode and the second series.