Black Work

Jo Gillespie is dissatisfied that her husband Ryan, like herself, a police officer, spends so much time away from her and their children but resists colleague Jack Clark's suggestion that she leaves Ryan for him. She is doubly shocked to be told by Superintendent Hepburn not only that Ryan has been shot dead but had been working undercover - doing 'black work' - for three years without her knowledge. Most of the gang he was infiltrating have been arrested but Hepburn and Chief Constable Carolyn Jarecki are anxious not to publicize Ryan's murder lest it damage the prosecution and are puzzled as to why Ryan had not reported back to his handler for some days before his death. Jo is incensed by their attitude and tells his mother Barbara who leaks his murder to the press. Believing she has a clue to the killer Jo tells Jack but follows up her enquiry alone, landing herself in danger.

Jo pursues missing gang member Michael Parry to a cottage she learns about from a bugged conversation, and he is arrested, but Jo is amazed to learn that Ryan bought the cottage without telling her. She also believes Parry may have been framed. Following Ryan's funeral she meets his handler Tom Piper, who advises her not to question her husband's death - increasing her suspicions of a cover-up, especially after she spies on him. Jo visits Parry in custody, unofficially, but is accused of jeopardizing the enquiry and suspended from duty. Then she gets an even bigger shock as she learns that Ryan certainly did lead a double life.

Devastated to discover that Ryan had bought the cottage for his mistress of three years and their child, Jo is also told that Parry's girlfriend, Sian, was murdered just before Ryan was slain. She tracks down Tom Piper, who tells her that Sian blew Ryan's cover and Chief Constable Jarecki was aware of this but did not pull him out of the operation. A paranoid Jo is now suspicious of all her police colleagues, particularly Jack, who appears to be far less innocent than she thought although it is Jack who eventually saves her from the real killer.