'Backtrack', tx. 3/12/1983
Three men, Knight, Davis and Pringle, rob a bank in the middle of the day. Inspector Longton intercepts the distress call and sees the getaway car drive off in the direction of the Penworth Vale road. She heads to the bank and immediately clashes with DCI Perrin, who is heading the investigation for the CID. He resents her involvement, while she is adamant about her role as she has sectional authority.
The bank robbers drive their stolen car to an old farm and switch it for a yellow transit van. They then drive to an old mine that has been closed for several years and hide in one of the mine shafts. Longton returns to the police station and does her best to find a way to work with Perrin, putting all her resources at his disposal. She realises that the men must have back tracked as they weren't seen at the Motorway roadblock. When the car is found at the farm, Perrin sets up searches along the Penworth Vale road.
William Minty, out walking his dog, sees Knight drive away from the mine and immediately phones his old miner colleagues. Knight is stopped at a check point but is allowed through. When he returns, he finds that Pringle and Davis are fighting as usual.
Longton is visited by her boyfriend, John Houlder, who tells her that an old friend of his father's has offered him the opportunity to travel in India for six months. Their conversation is interrupted when a bank teller arrives with information for Longton. She has remembered that one of the robbers had hands that were covered in black dirt. CID offers mug shots of a number of three-man teams that may have pulled the bank job. Knight is recognised by one of the check point policemen.
Minty is brought into the police station for causing damage at a pub, where he got drunk while telling his old friends about the renewed activity at the mine. He repeats this to Longton, who connects the information with the robber with the black hands. She heads to the mine, but finds that Perrin and the CID are already there in force. The men are captured and Longton returns to the police station. As she arrives, John calls to apologise. She offers to buy him an Indian meal as preparation for his forthcoming trip.
