In Criminal Record Episode 1, we saw how June was just not able to let go of the Adelaide Burrowes murder case even after her boss, Roy Chambers, and other colleagues like Chloe advised her not to meddle in such delicate matters. It felt like June was taking everything very personally, and she wanted to prove a point to the system. She was well aware of the fact that institutionalized racism had decayed the entire system, and at times, she too had to bear it but still she was still not ready to take a step back. So, let’s find out what happened in the second episode of Criminal Record and if DS June Lenker was able to make any progress in the case.
Spoiler Alert
Was June able to catch the abuser?
In the previous episode of Criminal Record, we saw that after Maria fell from the building, June rushed upstairs to find her abuser. She entered the house, and that’s when a huge man arrived there, and they entered into a fight. June tried her level best to stop that man until reinforcements came, but he was too big for her. June was lucky that she survived that fight, as looking at the fierce blows that man was belting, it felt like he was in a mood to not leave her alive. June was brought to the hospital, and that’s when she told Roy Chambers who the man was. His name was Clive Silcox, and he had been charged many times in the past with various offenses, but he always found a way out and was never convicted. Clive was a part of a right-wing extremist group, and he was on the run. Now, before June could find any more leads, she was informed by Roy Chambers that there had been a development in the case, and DCI Hagerty had taken matters into his own hands.
When June reached the scene, she was told by Hagerty that Clive was already a part of an ongoing investigation where he had assaulted a woman eight months ago, and so the two cases were clubbed together. June told Hagerty that since she was the first responder, she should have been looped in before he took any decision, and as always, in a condescending manner, Hagerty very subtly showed her her place and told her not to cross her line. June understood that, till the time he was at the helm of affairs, he wouldn’t let her do anything. June used her own sources to find a woman named Dawn Taylor, and when she reached her place, she realized that Clive Silcox was up there. Dawn Taylor was petrified, and she made a gesture telling June to leave immediately, as Clive had probably held her mother at gunpoint. June went to her car and asked for reinforcement, but before anyone could come, she saw some commotion happening inside the house. June went inside alone, and she not only saved Dawn Taylor and her mother but also caught Clive Silcox and brought him into custody.
What was Daniel Hegarty hiding?
Though nothing has been explicitly told until Criminal Record episode 2, I personally believe that Daniel Hegarty knew that he had the wrong man, i.e., Errol Mathis, and that it was Silcox or someone else who had murdered Adelaide Burrowes. Obviously, he didn’t accept that in front of June, and he made sure that she was not able to find the truth. Firstly, he said that the Hayes Street caller and Maria, the one who died, weren’t the same people, and for the longest time, he didn’t agree to get a forensic test done on the voice samples. Hegarty came to June’s department to relay the information that Silcox confessed to his crimes and that Maria’s body was already dispatched to her hometown. He told Roy and June that it was the best-case scenario, especially for the victim’s family, as they would be saved from the hassle of a court case. But June knew that the entire process was being expedited by Hegarty to save himself, as he knew that if June found out anything that led to him, then his entire life would be destroyed. In a scene in episode 2, we saw him talking to Kim Cardwell and asking him to find out any loose ends that they might have left back in the day, just so that he was a step ahead of June.
Daniel Hegarty was a master planner, and he laid a trap for June. The poor woman walked right into it, underestimating how dangerous the old wolf could get. Firstly, Hegarty fast-tracked the forensics report of the voice samples and tampered with it. He then allowed June to take an interview with Silcox but told her that the only condition was that she couldn’t refer to Adelaide Burrowes’ case directly. June agreed, but she couldn’t stop her impulses, and she ended up showing Silcox Adelaide’s pictures, which was when DI Gearing stopped the interview and took her out. It was then that Hegarty played his master move and told Roy Chambers and June that he had gone the extra mile and got the forensic test done, which proved that the Hayes Lane woman and the one who was murdered were not the same.
Did Clive Silcox frame Errol Mathis?
June had no option other than to accept her defeat, and it killed her from within to see Hegarty win. But a twist came in the end when Chloe told her about the rumors of the forensics report being tampered with, and that gave June a little bit of hope. June had already found out that Errol and Clive knew each other from before, as they went to the same school. Errol’s cousin liked Clive’s sister, but they didn’t marry because Doris didn’t approve of the relationship. Errol’s mother had problems with the family. June knew that, apart from Sonya Singh, she couldn’t trust anybody as of now. Now, June still had the screenshot of the CCTV camera footage where the Hayes Lane caller was seen leaving the phone booth. Sonya told her that the woman was alive and that she held the key to Errol’s freedom. Both the women joined forces and secretly started their investigation to prove to the system that they didn’t have an unconscious bias or prejudice. In the upcoming episodes, we will learn what Hegarty does next and if June is able to learn the tricks of the trade and get the better of him.
