"FOOD CHAIN"

EPISODE TWO
Written by Russell Lewis

Mark Baker asks Murphy to attend a party he is holding at his country estate. He’s had the fake diamond tested and is keen to do business. He tells Milos to take Tom with him that night so that Murphy can see the import pipeline in action.

Later that night, Murphy and Milos head to the docks and collect the paperwork for a container load from Zeebruge. Terry, the shipping clerk asks what happened to Mitch, but Milos shrugs off his query.  Murphy now knows for sure that Mitch has been investigating the people trafficking.

When the load comes in, Milos checks the contents, instructing Murphy to wait by the truck cab.  Suspicious, Murphy goes to see what Milos is up to and discovers him removing packets of drugs from a hidden compartment in the container. When Milos sees Murphy, he pulls a gun and accuses Murphy of spying on him. Murphy manages to disarm Milos and insists he get in the container with the cargo of illegal immigrants.

Branko and Milos divide the workers between mini-buses. Milos keeps a good looking girl separate from the others and drives her to the hotel Murphy rescued Sanja from. It is now clear that the illegal immigrants are being used for more than just agricultural work.

Murphy searches the hotel and discovers drug paraphernalia, blood stained handcuffs and the word “CAR” written in blood on the wallpaper. He also finds a bedroom set up as a seedy film set.

Back at the station, Murphy gives a sample of the bloody wallpaper to the lab for testing: he’s convinced it is Kim’s blood and the pressure is on to find out what message she was trying to leave.
 
Later, Baker ‘phones to check all went well at the docks. Murphy tells him they need to talk and the pair meet at a remote spot on the coast. When Murphy tells Baker he needs to get Milos under control or the diamond deal is off, Baker hands Murphy a pair of binoculars. Murphy watches as Branko dumps Milos body over the side of a boat. Baker says he suspected Milos had a sideline, but wanted to test how loyal Murphy was.

Having seen for himself how ruthless Baker can be, Murphy is rattled and fears all the more for Kim. He tells Jackie that he’s got some cocaine from the Driscolls to see if their supply came from Milos and if it’s the same as the drugs that Kim was using. He also mentions that the Driscolls are supplying pornographic DVDs and that he’s got some to bring in to the station. He now remembers that Mitch had told him he was on to a porn racket and berates himself for not believing him at the time. It’s obvious that the turn of events are starting to wear Murphy down and Jackie advises that he gets some sleep because he’s “slipping gears”.

On the way to the caravan, Murphy almost falls asleep at the wheel and narrowly avoids crashing his car. When he arrives at the caravan, Murphy takes a snort of cocaine to give him a burst of energy and begins to watch the DVDs looking for clues.  When he spots Sanja on screen with Clive, the owner of the Daily Hands agency, Murphy goes over to the Driscolls on the pretence of the film is not working properly. Liam and Billy tell him the DVDs were supplied by Milos from his operation in the Jordan Heights estate and are adverts for a string of massage parlours.

Murphy heads back to the station to inform Jackie and D.C.S. John Atwood of these new developments. They also have some news, Kim was spotted in some CCTV footage from motorway services. The footage is 38 hours old but at least it gives them some hope.

Murphy heads back to Baker to “shake the tree” and offers himself as a replacement for Milos. Baker accepts, saying Clive could do with help keeping the workforce in line.

During a conversation with one of the immigrants, Murphy learns that during one of the latest consignments of immigrants, a child fell overboard and a man jumped in to the water to save him. The boy survived but the man was never found. It is clear from Murphy’s expression that he believes the rescuer was Mitch.

Murphy plies Clive with whiskey and casually mentions that he needs to drop by Jordan Heights. When they get there, Murphy cons Clive into giving him directions to the DVD factory. Once there hecheck out the operation and finds banks of DVDs copying films. When he recognises Milos and Branko in one monitor he looks more closely and is shell-shocked when he realises that the woman with them is Kim.

Overcome with guilt, Murphy continues to beat himself up for allowing Mitch and Kim to continue working undercover despite his reservations and for not pulling them out sooner. It is clear his mental health is suffering.

Baker calls to ask Murphy if he can make a delivery for him. He says he wouldn’t bother him but it’s a special delivery and Branko is doing “the chicken run” to Cardiff. Suddenly Kim’s message makes sense – she must have been taken to Cardiff.

Armed with this information, Murphy goes back to Jackie and she suggests going undercover herself as a newly arrived immigrant who is to be added to “the chicken run”.

Arriving in the massage parlour, Branko decides he will help Jackie settle in to her new room, while Murphy takes care of the two other girls. Desperate to find Kim, Murphy chases from room to room unaware that downstairs Jackie is in serious trouble – Branko has discovered she is wearing a wire and Jackie is fighting for her life.

Although Jackie manages to get a shot off, Branko escapes and Murphy is left facing the bitter truth that he has blown his cover and that Kim might be in more trouble than ever.