Waking The Dead : What Happened and Why in
In Sight of the Lord

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In 1948, a woman is startled out of her sleep by a loud sound. Violet goes downstairs to the kitchen to find George, dead on the floor. Someone has driven a nine inch nail through his skull.

In present day, Adam Western, dearly departed George's grandson, makes an appeal on television for someone to help solve the murder. Adam believes the fact that his grandfather was a conscientious objector to the war played a role in his death.

In 1958, George's wife Violet, fell in front of an ongoing train. It was ruled a suicide. Her death makes it hard for them to question her about the night of George's death. Neighbors say a man came to the door earlier that night and argued with Violet. During the original investigation, Violet denied having a visitor. That night George came home from his usual trip to the pub and argued with Violet. Dr. Frankie Wharton wants to know if conscientious objectors argued. D.S. Peter Boyd is unamused. Just as a note, Boyd remains unamused with every joke, aside or remark made about conscientious objectors. We can only speculate as to his reasons.

The police, with the help of Joe Brackley, find the rotting corpse of a 70 year old man. Someone has driven a nine inch nail through his skull. Frankie does not believe the nail actually killed him. She believes he was dead before the nail.

Boyd and Grace rifle through his belongings and find personal photographs. Boyd notes that there are pictures of women who appear to be Davis's wife and daughter. He also notes that Davis must have been pretty liberal in the seventies because he wife appears to be black.

Fed up by the idea that someone might consider him a rational being, Boyd subjects Mel and Spence to his version of a lesson in sensitization. He hauls them into Frankie's lab and using a body, he may or may not, probably not have permission to use, tries to get them to drive a nail into its head. Boyd is upset that this is just another case to them. If you find that any of this makes sense, let me know.

Joe Brackely comes into the office and explains how he came to know William Davis. He says that he crashed into Davis' car. In the process of settling the accident they became friends. He said they never discussed personal things because Davis seemed so depressed.

Apparently, Grace believes Boyd went too easy on Brackely and did not push him to explain why he would travel so far to meet up with Davis or why he did not know anything about his personal life. Boyd says he was just trying to be nice to an old man. Grace does not have to say it, since when is Boyd nice to old men? It just does not happen.

Frankie, the scientist who usually is not afraid to examine evidence from all angles, balks at Spence and Boyd's suggestion that the use of nine inch nails could be sexual. She says, not in my lab. I believe the technical term for Grace and Mel's reaction is skeeved out.

They try to decipher the text of the letter under a microscope. They deduce that it says something about a secret coming out. Since it was written in 1944, the year Western was discharged from the army it might have something to do with an order he refused to carry out as a conscientious objector.

Hair Alert: Spence has a theory that someone could have taken George Western's place in battle and was killed. If you have seen Hair, the musical or movie, you know that is what happened with George Berger and Claude Bukowski. If you are a forum member, Hair happened there as well. Spooky but mostly irrelevant.

Boyd figures out that Davis and Western could have served in the army together. It would at least be some connection between the two.

Joe Brackley comes to see Boyd again. Boyd is still nice to him but Brackley tests his patience. The sweet old man says that Davis mentioned two names, Martin Raynor and Johnny Mann. Brackley does not know how to contact them but he expects that Boyd should be able to locate them.

Grace does something darn close to detective work. She finds a 1961 case where a Norman Taylor was killed with a nine inch nail through his skull.

Frankie finds that Davis died of a heart attack, although he did have high levels of diazepam (valium) in his system. Apparently, someone sedated Davis before hammering the nail through him. Boyd and Frankie surmise that someone wanted Davis to be conscious and to suffer. Although it does not explain why the killer could not just overpower the elderly Davis.

Mel finds a Sophie Davis who was a musician. She goes to tell her and her mother that William Davis has been murdered. His former wife, Carmen, says that they were married 25 years. They met through their church, the Church of Jesus the Savior. They had only separated six months ago due to money "misappropriated" from their daughter.

It turns out that Sophie no longer plays music. Her mother says that it is because they are devout Christians and that William Davis betrayed their trust. None of it seems to make much sense to Mel and she tries to push them for clarifications. Carmen becomes angry with Mel and tells her that they will never be able to rebuild their lives if people keep reminding them of William and his deeds. Before she leaves, Mel asks if they think there is any religious significance to the nails. Carmen says sternly, "read your bible." Of course, there is a good chance that Carmen would have replied, "read your bible" to whatever question Mel asked.

Frankie is re-examining the Davis crime scene when a strange man enters. He says, "a nail right through there, perfect" he touches his temple and then Frankie's. Always thinking, she first fingerprints her face then grabs her video camera and films the man driving away.

Adam Western receives a note asking if he knows the location of Martin Raynor and Johnny Mann. He sends a response to the email address on the note saying that he will find out. Boyd is also spending too much time online. He searched the internet and found over 300,000 references to nine inch nails. Surprisingly the only thing that seemed to resonate with him were lyrics from the band, Nine Inch Nails.

Frankie's visitor is named Neil Clayton but they do not know much of anything else about him. He is too young to have killed George Western. Yet, the murders are not unrelated copycat crimes because Spence has learned from the Ministry of Defense (MoD) that Norman Taylor and George Western were in the same regiment and battalion, however there was no mention of William Davis. Soon after, Spence learns that Guidenstern and Rosencrantz -- no not them, Raynor and Mann were also in the same regiment in North Africa in 1943.

Neil Clayton used to be a Cambridge professor of criminology before he attacked a student. Assault in a pub fight.

Everybody is playing detective this week. Adam uses a magnifying glass to see the name Raynor's in the background of an old black and white photograph. The photograph is of two men. One is holding a large fish.

Mel, who is taking her list of war survivors alphabetically, meets up with Ian Atkinson who points her toward his grandfather, Edward. The Atkinson's own a war memorabilia shop. The elder Atkinson says that he believes Western had a son Terrence, he thinks he died. Norman Taylor was a country boy. Atkinson said the name William Davis meant nothing to him. He knows Raynor and Mann but does not know where they are now. Mel senses that Atkinson is being less than forthcoming and asks him what he is hiding. He says lots but attributes it to his worldly experience.

Frankie tests the memo from the MoD, in that way that Frankies tests, and finds out that it is a clever forgery. Adam Western said he found it in his grandfather's belongings. Someone else had spent too much time on the computer because they used a laser jet printer to make the heading.

Adam's mysterious email pen pal writes him that Raynor and Mann need their help. Just then, D.S. Jordan and D.S. Silver arrive to bring him in for a chat. Boyd has switched his normal antagonism from old to young men. It works and Adam confesses faking the memo to get the case reopened. Boyd tells them to take Adam's computer over to "colonic irrigation" to figure out who the identity of Adam's pen pal. Perhaps Boyd did not enjoy his internet experience as much as it seemed.

They discover that the Raynor's fishmarket still exists. The helpful shopkeeper tells them that one of the men in the picture is his uncle Martin. Martin now lives in a rest home under the name Martin Peterson.

Frankie goes to the drinking club where Norman Taylor was nailed to the ground. Fortunately, the place has not changed a bit and Frankie can find the exact spot where Norman's body was found in 1961. There even seems to be a blood stain in that spot.

Martin Raynor / Peterson may not be the most alert individual but he does remember the 1942 photograph of himself and George Western. Just when you think he has nothing to say, their questions about Davis and Taylor prompt him to shout, with great effort, "leave it alone!"

Later that night, Martin sleeps fitfully, while wearing an oxygen mask. An unknown individual enters his room and shuts off his oxygen supply. Martin gasps for breath. Apparently, unsatisfied with letting him suffocate, the assailant whispers, "In the sight of the Lord" and then proceeds to pound a nine inch nail through Martin Raynor's skull.

In Martin Raynor's wallet they find a telephone directory list highlighting the surname Clayton. Clayton, as in Frankie's temple touching friend. Mel follows up on the list and finds that someone had been looking for the son of Audrey Clayton. That could be Neil but then again maybe not.

The team turns Grace on Sophie and Carmen Davis. Sophie is still withdrawn and Carmen is still quick to jump in to answer, or rather not answer, any question. Sophie is apparently quite an accomplished musician but still she gave it all up. Her mother says the Lord will determine when it is time for her to return to music. Grace asks the Davis' about Taylor, and the others but Carmen claims not to know anything. It is not a believable claim.

Another visit with Andy reveals that he does not know a Neil Clayton. He does acknowledge knowing the names Raynor and Mann. He shows them a picture from his grandfather's barracks of a drawing of five men, which includes Raynor and Mann. The other little green army men depicted in the drawing are Taylor, Griffiths and Western. The heading above them reads, "Let us do the talking."

Spence, Mel and Boyd find the drawing in the abandoned barracks. As they look at the picture and speculate on whether Davis could be Mann or Griffiths, a figure ensconced in shadow appears at the far end of the corridor. Well, not that far, certainly not so far that none of them were able to run after him in time to catch his licence plate. Afterall, he had to run away, get in his car and start it but still nothing from the cops. Oh well. The mystery has to continue somehow.

Mel's handiwork at the Working Men's drinking club has paid off. She made a cast of the hole in the floor and was able to determine that the nails used on Taylor, Raynor and Davis were forged from the same lot. She also found some brain tissue but that's just disgusting.

Good ole Joe Brackley shows up again. Boyd is still polite. Brackley is becoming more distraught with the thought that the police are not conducting a proper investigation. This murder will be swept aside as are millions others, he cries. Nothing has changed.

Poor old Edward Atkinson has warranted himself another visit from Mel. Atkinson says that he did not know that Griffiths had changed his name to Davis until she told him. Atkinson explains that the drawing she saw was a take-off on an old poster. It had a picture of a cannon and said, "let me do the talking." It was about being careful of to whom you spoke and national security in general.

Subtle Grace brings Sophie to a music hall and says it might be a quieter place for them to talk. By quiet, Grace really means a place away from Carmen and one which will remind Sophie of her great love for music which she has abandoned. Carmen obliges the false pretense as she picks up a flute and begins to play as Grace watches from an audience chair.

Atkinson and Mel visit the barracks and the picture. He explains that most people were afraid of the five men in the picture and that they enjoyed putting fear into people. He says they were good soldiers wanting to do the right thing for King and country, that is, until North Africa. Atkinson says that he saw Private Johnny Mann kill a German soldier. He forced the soldier to strip, forced a photo of his family into his mouth and lit it. Mann told the soldier that if he dropped the photo he would blow his brains out. When the inevitable happened and the German soldier dropped the burning paper, Mann pulled the trigger and laughed because it was unloaded. Mann then took a bayonet and sliced off the soldier's genitals. He left him in the desert to bleed to death.

Atkinson said that was only the beginning of the tyranny. When they got back to England there were no more Germans, but there were new recruits to torture. Kenneth Benson complained. For his efforts he was serverely beaten. Benson was sent to the hospital for his injuries and then discharged for being unfit to serve. Atkinson is still distraught that he did nothing to stop them.

Grace's ploy has been a thorough success. Sophie spills all. She tells Grace that she fell in love with an older man. She became pregnant only to find out that her lover was her brother (always a problem). He was her father's son. Her mother fretted over how God would punish them. Sophie says even if she did not know he was her brother, it would be God's way to punish her for sleeping with him in the first place. Admitted used to be Catholic Grace says it isn't. Sophie says that she had an abortion. Still none of this was the reason for her parents splitting. Sophie finally puts a name to her brother lover, Neil Clayton.

Boyd arrives to meet with Atkinson and Mel. He says he knows Audrey Clayton. He says her husband was in the Merchant Navy. Boyd asks why Raynor would get in contact with her son. Atkinson says he does not know. Boyd says he thinks Atkinson is hiding something. This is pretty much what Mel concluded when she first met Atkinson but still she is angry with Boyd because she asked him to take it easy on him.

Neil Clayton walks into a church. He catches sight of a man dashing into a confessional. He takes the compartment next to him. Neil says he wants to know how reliable the mysterious figure is. The man's response is that he made a vow to God. I suppose the thought is that he is talking to a priest but priest's don't usually begin confessional by asking, "why are you here?" He says it is about committment to his mother and to God. The figure in the booth says he does not like Clayton's methods, Griffiths's daughter had nothing to do with it, she did not deserve to be punished. Apparently, he knows about Clayton seducing Sophie and her abortion.

The mysterious man in the confessional must have spoken with William Davis/ Griffiths under an assumed identity because he says that Davis and Johnny Mann kept in touch trying to figure out if he were getting close to one of them.

Frankie cross matches dna samples from the Davis and Raynor crime scenes and finds that a sample off a cup at Davis's and a sample from sweat on Raynor's match that of a caucasian male. Grace says that it cannot be a copycat killer across the years because the killing is personal. Together the team surmises that the killer must be getting older because while the first murders involved a struggle, the later ones involved incapacitating the victims before nailing them through the head. If the killer doubted his physical limitations then he would seek assistance.

Grace reads a passage from the bible Judges chapter four to Boyd which relates the story of a woman who lured her victims into a false sense of security and then drove a nail through their temples while they slept.

Atkinson makes a phone call in a hushed voice to arrange a meeting at a theater. He then hugs his grandson Ian and tells him that the shop is his.

Frankie uncovers something which should be of monumental interest to Sophie. She ran dna samples and realized that Davis and Clayton were not father and son. Of course this means that Sophie did not get pregnant by her brother but instead aborted the offspring of an ordinary creep. Neil was the one who told Sophie that he was William's son. He told her only to cause her pain.

Boyd and Spence go to see the creep. He leaps from his balcony to try and evade them. Limping on a sprained ankle he outruns them until Spence puts on his blue cape and races a doubledecker bus. If you were ever in doubt, please note that not only did Spence sprint alongside the bus, all the while he was shouting coherently and displayed his badge periodically. When he caused the bus driver to pull over, he still was able to hold a conversation.

Clayton whines that he needs a doctor while Boyd interrogates him. Boyd ignores the request. Neil eventually says that his mother, Audrey committed suicide when he was four years old. He says those men destroyed her life. They destroyed his life and they destroyed the priest's life. The priest was giving up everything for Audrey but instead his life was destroyed. Clayton says that he found Griffiths because he left a forwarding address for back with the army under the name Davis. He denies killing him. He gloats that he seduced his daughter. He also told the priest about Davis.

Edward Atkinson has left a letter for Mel. In the letter he says that by the time she reads it "40 years of anguish and injustice will have been settled." His son Ian was supposed to have mailed it but Mel showed up at the house again. The letter is a confession. For us, it is tying up most of the pesky loose ends for the episode.

Actually, Spence discovers a bit of a wrinkle before we can get to that. According to the army records, ever helpful Edward Atkinson died in World War II. A quick check of the calendar reveals that the man living his life as Edward Atkinson is not the same one who has been dead for half a century.

Atkinson explains in the letter that the real Atkinson died beside him in battle in 1944. He took his i.d. tags. Western had reported him killed in action. After Western was killed in 1948 he took Atkinson's name and told the army there had been a mistake. No one cared one way or the other.

Frankie and her tests uncover that Neil Clayton is the son of the murderer. Why did I just think "son of the preacher man," oh wait, I know why. Amidst flashbacks to its dancehall days, Atkinson enters an abandoned theater. He comes face to face with Boyd's buddy, Joe Brackley. This is the man Atkinson called to meet him. Waiting in the wings is Neil Clayton.

Brackley calls Atkinson and the other four, animals. He said they made him watch. They forced him to watch as they took turns raping Audrey Clayton. Brackley says that after she had nothing left to live for. She could not bear the sight of her child. She did not know which of the five animals was the father.

Joe says that his killings are God's law. He does not trust man's law. Atkinson/ Johnny Mann says that Brackley should go through with killing him. Boyd has more information for all present. He tells Joe that Neil is his son. Joe drops the nail to the ground. It seems as if reason has prevailed after all of these years. Just then Joe raises the hammer above Atkinson's head and delivers a deadly blow, while uttering, "in the sight of the Lord." Boyd and Joe's son are forced to watch helplessly.

Whatever happened to:

George Western:	murdered at home in 1948
Norman Taylor:	murdered in the Working Men's Drinking Club in 1961
Griffiths:	changed his name to William Davis, murdered at home in 2004
Martin Raynor:	changed his surname to Peterson, murdered in rest home in 2004
Johnny Mann:	assumed the name Edward Atkinson, murdered in theater in 2004