Trial and Error

Trial and Error is a Boon story told in a court, and it is the only one that puts its hero's methods under examination. Ken and Harry are giving evidence against a landlord, Michael Roach, who is accused of terrorising his tenants into leaving their houses.

The story unfolds in flashback. Ken had been hired by George and May Jenkins and a neighbour, Aziz Hussain, who live on a run-down estate. Roach's thug, Jimmy Craven, forced his way into the Jenkins flat and wrecked the furniture, and when Hussain intervened he was beaten up. Roach wanted to redevelop the land and had turned to violence after quieter methods, such as refusing repairs, failed.

Ken and Rocky photographed Roach handing Craven a large envelope of cash outside a pub, but were chased and Rocky's camera was smashed. They quarrelled over the fiasco. Ken then visited Roach at his mansion, saw a letter to a development company, Emerald Life, and went back at night to retrieve it from the dustbin, only to be caught by Roach's enormous assistant, Eric Wetherby. A solicitor's letter followed demanding that Ken stop harassing Roach, which made Ken unpopular with Harry.

Rocky followed Roach to a studio where a photographer was shooting a band and saw Craven talking to an unknown woman. Then Roach's wife, Kathleen, offered help, tipping Ken off about a deal. Rocky posed as a courier to collect the papers, Ken copied them, and the next morning he photographed Roach handing over the cash.

In court, Roach's barrister, Diana Fawley QC, takes it all apart. She shows that the logo on the document Ken intercepted was not used until after the date on it, so it must be a forgery, and she casts doubt on his methods. Roach has an innocent explanation for the money. It looks as if Kathleen set Ken up, and Hussain feels Ken has let him down.

Then Rocky sees Mrs Roach in the court and recognises her bracelet and shoes as those of the woman at the studio, at a time when Roach says he was at home with her. He runs out of court, finds the photographer, and brings back a picture in which she and Craven appear in the background. Roach is shown to be a liar and is sent to jail.

Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet wrote the episode and Laurence Moody directs. Sean McGinley plays Roach, Sorcha Cusack plays Kathleen, and Hugh Lloyd plays George Jenkins.

The courtroom frame is the strength. The audience has watched Ken do the work and then watches it dismantled by a good barrister, so the final reversal is earned. It is also a rare occasion on which Rocky is right and Ken is wrong. The weakness is the timing of the photograph, which is found only just in time.