Prime Suspect – Tennison: Episode 3 Synopsis
The detectives are investigating the mysterious activity of the Bentley boys. When Bradfield confirms Jane’s suspicion that it was Clifford Bentley’s voice on the audio recording, the officers begin surveillance of the family. They observe the brothers with a large amount of fuel—too much for a simple maintenance job. The detectives watch the Bentleys enter the Greek restaurant at night and quickly put the puzzle together: The Bentleys are breaking into a bank through a shared wall, under the guise of interior renovation in the restaurant. The detectives launch a full-scale operation to foil the robbery. Bradfield is determined to let the Bentleys go through with the robbery before arresting them, leaving them no chance to get off the hook.
Bradfield is pressured to hand the robbery case to another department in order to close the case of Julie-Ann’s murder. Bradfield agrees to save face, but it is clear he hasn’t given up his vendetta against Clifford Bentley.
Jane attends her sister’s wedding as a bridesmaid, but is restless to get back to the station. Her sister gives her permission to leave early, and Jane and her mother have a brief moment of reunion before she hurries to Hackney—heels and all.
Mrs. Bentley finds a photo of her son David with the late Julie-Ann, prompting her to wonder if he had something to do with the girl’s murder.
Silas—the owner of the Greek restaurant that will be used in the robbery—appears at the station to confess his complicity. The job is scheduled for that night. The detectives tell Silas to go back to the restaurant and go through with the job. Bradfield is determined to catch the Bentleys in the act and charge them to the fullest extent of the law.
The night of the robbery arrives. Jane confronts Bradfield about his reckless pursuit of Clifford Bentley in the face of the unsolved Collins case. Bradfield insists that he’s doing the right thing.
The detectives watch the Bentleys as night falls. As the drilling begins, the detectives wait for a signal from Silas. John Bentley makes it into the safe and begins cracking open safety deposit boxes and using a blowtorch to open a larger safe. Under the watchful eye of Clifford Bentley, Silas is unable to signal the officers.
A noisy neighbor nearly compromises the operation, but the officers’ removal of her alerts lookout David Bentley to the police presence. Without warning his father and brother, David leaves the scene as the officers move in. Jane follows him to the Bentley’s storage unit. After he leaves she gets into the unit and finds Julie-Ann’s missing green necklace.
The complicated safe-opening procedure alerts the Bentleys to the impending police officers. Clifford escapes, but John is caught in the act. Before he can be arrested, the blowtorch used to open the safe triggers a massive explosion. John Bentley and Bradfield are killed, while Kath Morgan and Spence are injured.
Jane is shocked to learn that Bradfield had a wife and children.
In the wake of Bradfield’s death, Jane is asked to help the male officers hunt Clifford and David Bentley. They search the Bentley home but get no information. They arrest Mrs. Bentley for questioning. Tennison helps in the interrogation room and Mrs. Bentley confesses to finding a photo of David and Julie-Ann. The detectives turn back to the Bentley storage unit and find shoe prints that could match Julie-Ann’s boots. They also find bills with serial numbers matching the money stolen from Julie-Ann’s father.
Back at the station, the detectives formulate a theory: Julie-Ann did a drug deal with Terence O’Duncie, then hides the money in the Bentley storage unit until the deal was in place. She kept her romantic interest David Bentley in the dark, but when he discovered what she was hiding he beat her.
The detectives find a bow from Julie-Ann’s bra in the recovered Bentley van and fan out to find the missing Bentleys. Tennison and Gibbs head to a pub owned by one of Clifford Bentley’s friends. When the pub owner refuses to open the door, Gibbs sneaks in through the back to confront him, leaving Tennison outside as lookout. Gibbs is knocked unconscious by Clifford Bentley, while the pub owner flees the scene.
Tennison, meanwhile, sees David Bentley on the pub roof and hurries to intercept him. David gives an unexpected confession: His brother John killed Julie-Ann because she knew about the bank job. David found her body in the parking garage and anonymously called the police. Just as David climbs down from the roof ledge, Clifford arrives with a gun. David grapples with his father to keep him from shooting Jane, but the gun goes off, killing David. Clifford tries to escape but is caught by arriving officers.
Kath Morgan is still in the hospital, unsure of whether or not she will return to the force. Tennison encourages her not to quit. The officers attend Bradfield’s funeral, attended by his wife and children. Jane Tennison is upset, but not deterred from the life she knows she is meant to lead. She returns to work and sees Kath back in the CID office, and her friends and colleagues back on the job, and smiles. This is where she belongs.
