Simon and Eugene discuss the “Big Lie” in fiction, the Oscar-winning music of Anne Dudley, the difference between train length in the UK and the US, and how foreknowledge might affect your behavior in a time paradox.

Episode Synopsis

Fashion designer Sonia Duval is being interviewed about her upcoming show and about negative feelings about her in the fashion industry.  About this time, the world’s absolute worst assassin takes a series of wildly accurate potshots at her that never seem to hit the target, despite her cool-under-fire sloth-like reactions.

The next day at cop headquarters Chief Inspector Grisham takes this seriously.  Diana, Princess of Wales, has some of Sonia Duval’s fashions, plus somebody was shooting a gun.  It’s all hands on deck to protect Sonia’s life at her upcoming fashion show.

The all-hands-on-deck call includes Holly Turner, Chief Science Officer, who also happens to be a girl and, therefore, can go undercover as a seamstress.  Turner isn’t happy about this.  Slade has the plumb assignment: He’s personally guarding the beautiful Sonia.

During preparations for the show, it becomes obvious why someone wants to kill Sonia – she’s not a nice person to anyone, including her sister, Linda, who also works for Sonia as a seamstress.

It’s not strictly true that she is awful to everyone – she’s taken quite a shine to Slade, and Turner doesn’t like it one bit.  When Slade leaves with Sonia after another death threat, Turner seethes even more, but she also discovers that Linda Duval seems to have plans to get out of her sister’s shadow.  Could she be planning a murder?

The next day and it seems Slade may have succumbed to Ms. Duval’s attentions and spent the night out.  Slade, ever the brilliant detective, has picked up on Turner’s particularly chilly mood towards him, but before he can find out more, a new lead comes in.

Clifford James, Sonia’s partner, recently took out a £3,000,000 corporate insurance policy on Sonia, perhaps without her knowledge, naming himself as the sole beneficiary.

It’s almost time for the show, and a stupid argument causes Linda to quit.  James takes her aside to the office to try to calm her down.  Meanwhile, Slade is attacked in the car park, rendered unconscious, and placed in the boot of a burning car – which he manages to just escape from because it’s somehow unlocked.  Now he must get back to the show before it is too late.

It’s too late.  As the show ends, the sound of gunshots ring out, and Sonia falls to the floor.  Morris and the other cops espy someone with a rifle in the chapel and give chase, but ultimately lose him on foot.  As Turner, who has some medical training, attempts to examine Sonia, a convenient doctor appears from the crowd pushing her out of the way.  Taking Sonia into the office to examine her, he soon pronounces her dead.

Linda is missing, and her clothes are all gone; plus, Turner finds her fingerprint on the rifle.  It’s an open and shut case, and one that doesn’t even require the use of a time machine to solve; however, we wouldn’t have a show if they didn’t use the time machine, and so they do, traveling back in time 20 hours.

First, they investigate the venue and the chapel where the alleged shooter was seen.  Luckily, the security guard on duty is incompetent and doesn’t spot them.  There’s not much they can do until tomorrow, so they’ve got to find a place to sleep.  Turner’s flat is not an option, since she’s there right now sleeping.  They don’t have money for a hotel, but luckily Slade didn’t spend the night at home last night, so his place is available.

Turner is really digging his flat, which is well beyond his means, and his cooking skills, and she’s really getting into a nice evening with Slade until she comes to the realization that Slade isn’t home tonight because he’s sleeping elsewhere with Sonia.

And so the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head again, and they end the evening in a snit.

In the morning, the snit continues, and Turner won’t hear a word of explanation from Slade.  They get on with the job.  First, they surreptitiously check out Linda’s flat and discover she hasn’t packed up her clothes yet, despite having left already for the fateful show.  Sonia catches them, but they talk their way out of it.  Slade also tries to warn her not to go out on the catwalk during the show.  It is advice she obviously ignored.

Turner watches to see who attacked Slade, and Slade watches to see who shot Sonia.

The convenient doctor in the crowd was Slade’s attempted murderer.  Turner follows them, and when she realizes Slade cannot escape the burning car without help, she unlocks the car, which allows him to escape.

At the show, concealed in the chapel, Slade witnesses a man enter and leave the rifle on the floor and leave.  He picks up and examines the rifle as the sound of gunshots ring out, and Sonia falls to the floor.  Morris and the other cops espy Slade with a rifle in the chapel and give chase, but ultimately lose him on foot without ever properly seeing his face.

Soon thereafter, Turner witnesses the convenient doctor pick up someone from the office and drive off.  Could that have been Linda?  She snaps photos.  When she shows them to Slade, he knows what happened.

Returning to the present with no drama whatsoever this week, Slade arranges a stakeout, and when the suspects start to move, they arrest Clifford James, the convenient doctor (whose name is Hopkins), and Sonia Duval.  They staged the entire thing as insurance fraud, with poor murdered Linda standing in for her sister’s corpse.

Back at Slade’s swinging bachelor pad, he finally explains to Turner that he did not spend the night with Sonia, he spent the night at the venue, and he was the incompetent security guard that didn’t spot them that night.

Also, he’s laid on wine and clean glasses, all for Turner’s benefit.