Mother of God: Line of Duty thread 5 - **MNHQ edit**; "We are obliged to warn you that any spoilers will be taken down and used against you. No spoilers, even upcoming characters, please, in the name of the wee man. (aka Steve Arnott)

[IstandwithJackieWeaver]

Hope no one minds me starting a new thread as 4 was filled on one episode.

Ted has been the police so long that they won't necessarily have his DNA on file from him joining. He was arrested and interviewed last series so his DNA may be on the nominal database from then.

I typed out the subtitles of that paragraph on the last thread so just copying it here too!

Subtitles said:
“As we know sir, officers’ samples are stored on the system to exclude contamination of crime scenes. Now, an officer’s DNA isn’t speculatively examined on a routine basis, and certainly wasn’t back when Davidson joined the force. Because the DNA deposits detected at the house weren’t assumed to relate solely to a police officer, they were compared against the whole system.
The analysis detected partial matches to a nominal whose DNA is stored on other police databases. He’s identified over the page”

@EsmaCannonball That theory makes a lot of sense to me and it fits with her not understanding what she was getting into and so not realising the danger she was in. It also swivels back to Steve and how he arrived in AC12.

I don't think police officers do materially well out of the OCG. They blackmail compromised people or compromise them via planting evidence.

Others like Ryan (and Lisa?) do it because it gives them purpose and a sense of importance.

Yes, I was a bit confused about that, but I've rewatched it and all that was said was police recruit DNA samples were not routinely screened for connections on the nominals database when Jo joined the police. It could be someone arrested in more recent years, e.g. Tommy Hunter. (Presumably Ryan's DNA was compared so it's not someone connected to him, or the connection wasn't something that warranted preclusion from the police force.) It also said the nominal DNA sample came from other police force databases, so perhaps someone we've not encountered before.

I've just re-watched that bit and what Steve says is the officers DNA wasn't speculatively searched against the whole system, certainly not routinely when Jo joined and they only searched the whole system this time because they were considering all possibilities. So yes, the possibility is that the DNA which is familial match to Jo's has been on there a long time.

I don't know if you can be 100% sure that means it waa on the database in 1999. It's "speculatively" examined, not routinely.

Though, I suppose that line is there for a reason!

Ha ha - three of us checking exactly what was said!

Not RTFT (it moves fast!) so you might have covered it already, but if not, ask Alexa 'Who is H?'

IIRC, Gail Vela said she didn't detect a racial element in the Balaclava Man killings, but that doesn't mean she hadn't initially been investigating an institutionally racist element in the counter-terrorism killing and then found something else.

I'm inferring that Lakewell was saying the police thought it better to be thought of as racist, rather than as criminals doing the dirty work of an OCG.

I think that's exactly what he was saying.

I know!! I posted mine and the saw it had already been asked (and answered!!)

Bloody Radio 2 this morning had to be turned off for spoiler content. I very rarely listen as I'm not a fan of ZB, but it was on for ten seconds before I had to switch it off!

Is this spoiler everyone is mention the information about who is in the next episode?!

Doesn't seem to be widely considered a spoiler does it!!

Tho steve wouldn’t know Patrick O’Malley

It’s someone who we have seen in lod

I think in episode 5 they’ll check through Lakewell’s client list. He was a criminal lawyer wasn’t he, and that’s how he ended up involved with Trapdoor, because he’d represented Farmer before and gave his name to the OCG for framing. I don’t see how he could have picked up a huge amount in prison (I doubt OCG related people sit around in the prison canteen chatting :o) so maybe he got involved in other big cases? Michael Farmer seems a bit small fry for that to have been his first link with the OCG - TBH they could’ve just used one of the bent coppers to search the system for previous sex offenders.

They surely should have done the same with Gill B, they made a point of revealing she used to be a defence lawyer and Ted said she had obviously helped someone and got put on retainer. I don’t think they revealed who that was did they? It can’t have been someone big like Tommy or they’d have realised already. But presumably they’ll have looked into her back story and how she got into the OCG.

They never seem to get a huge amount from the people they put in witness protection though I hope Gill comes back this or next series, it’ll be interesting to see how she copes with her fall from wealth.

when Jo in the convoy came up towards the side road leading to the bookies, the police car behind turned the blue lights in and did 4 flashes. 4, is H in morse code.

Ooh interesting! The knobby signal!!!

I've another question about timelines. Ted went to visit Steph at the end of S5 with the £50k, at the graveside. You can't place a gravestone straight away, you have to wait a while. Months, sometimes up to a year. Corbett was also murdered, so would his body have been released for the funeral so soon? So how long was it between Ted's arrest, where the one lot of £50k was recovered, and the graveyard? Am I over thinking it? But if the timescales are realistic, then he must have hidden the £50k before his arrest somewhere he could retrieve it, and it was hidden for months.

I’m really hoping we will find that out soon! I think we will as Steph has been in the series a lot so far.

I have a question - what is actually happening with the Vella murder case itself? I’ve lost track among of what MIT are doing, due to all the other stuff going on.

Do they still officially believe Terry did it? I can’t remember if he was charged but bailed to a (supposedly) safe house, or if he was released without charge and sent there instead of home?

Is it just AC12 who officially think it was Banks?

I like the idea that it’s actually Ryan - if he already had his police uniform by then (not sure if he was qualified but they wear uniform for training?) he could have tricked her?

It makes sense that they’d frame terry regardless but maybe Banks is a red herring as he’s more expendable than Ryan now he’s a copper. Maybe they planted him to confess (or DNA or whatever, I can’t recall now) as an extra layer of defence or maybe they were worried he’d blab.

Do we know for definite that he’s related to Lee or are they just surmising?

Viennese I don't think you're overthinking. I've often wondered the same about the "missing" £50k. Ted himself doesn't seem to have benefited from it, does he? If it's marked money it would need to be laundered before being spent. In fact, we don't even know for certain that it WAS £50k that Ted gave Steph, do we?

However much was in that envelope, it must have been a while between Ted getting it and handing it over to Steph. Fishy, but relevant? Dunno. Maybe it's just another clue pointing towards Ted as being corrupt/ corruptible and has no relevance to the killing of Vella and wider police corruption,

I'm still betting that Ted is involved in something bigger that he's letting on about . He's not H or one of the big fishes. Bent, yes. H - no.

I agree that the key is whatever gail vella was on to. I initially thought it must be the botched counter terrorism operation in s1 episode 1 but from some of these comments it looks like that might be expressly ruled out in the vella/lakewell conversation.

I could it be they are talking about the Greek lane murders of rival drug gang members in series 1. They were never solved; although Tommy hunter admitted to Gates that he was responsible it says at the end of series 1 that noone was ever charged. It was passed to counter terrorism and not investigated properly as a gang murder. I think Osborne was head of counter terrorism at the time.

Could it be that the police were covering up rival drugs gang murders as deaths of terrorists or even enabling through counter terrorism operations. There may have been some accusations of racism with respect to counter terrorism operations bit that was to cover up the darker truth that the police (with Osborne as thr 4th man) were enabling the OCG to gain dominance through enabling them to get rid of their rivals..

@VienneseWhirligig

I've another question about timelines. Ted went to visit Steph at the end of S5 with the £50k, at the graveside. You can't place a gravestone straight away, you have to wait a while. Months, sometimes up to a year. Corbett was also murdered, so would his body have been released for the funeral so soon? So how long was it between Ted's arrest, where the one lot of £50k was recovered, and the graveyard? Am I over thinking it? But if the timescales are realistic, then he must have hidden the £50k before his arrest somewhere he could retrieve it, and it was hidden for months.

Was there actually a stone? Genuine question. I didn't notice but I obviously wasn't paying attention.

@VienneseWhirligig

I've another question about timelines. Ted went to visit Steph at the end of S5 with the £50k, at the graveside. You can't place a gravestone straight away, you have to wait a while. Months, sometimes up to a year. Corbett was also murdered, so would his body have been released for the funeral so soon? So how long was it between Ted's arrest, where the one lot of £50k was recovered, and the graveyard? Am I over thinking it? But if the timescales are realistic, then he must have hidden the £50k before his arrest somewhere he could retrieve it, and it was hidden for months.

The timing relating to the headstone placing is overthinking I'm afraid. No one in fiction ever waits to place the headstone! It always annoys me but totally standard.

I had no idea there was usually a wait for the stone! I learn so much from these threads.

There was a headstone there though captain it was black and just had Corbett not John Corbett, oddly

Oh also the line of duty Easter egg hunt that was released before the series started contained a hidden google maps code that took people to 'green lane' Birmingham. There is also a clue on a TV broadcast on the Easter egg hunt to pay attention to road names. Coincidence?

Where is this Easter egg hunt as I've heard a lot about it, but not seen it.