'The Chelsea Detective': Episode 3 Recap

For the third and fourth episodes of Acorn TV’s The Chelsea Detective, director Darcia Martin and writer Liz Lake take over, but the format—leisurely plots,  a crowd of likely suspects. and red herrings by the dozen—remains unchanged. That said, it’s great to see Max (Adrian Scarborough) off-duty and socializing with his (much taller) friends, having attended a football (soccer) game at Chelsea Stadium, followed by beer. It’s all very orderly and friendly, with no sign of the violence that so often erupts after a match.

But not everyone can go to their local game. Steve O’Hara (Che Walker) cooks dinner for his sick wife Siobhan (Sara Smart) and then leaves for his night job, doing security at Coopers Building Supplies’ warehouse. His boss Artie Sylvester (Craig Blake) stops by and hands him an envelope. Later, the CCTV screens go dark and Steve goes out to investigate. Siobhan, concerned when he doesn’t come home, calls and receives no reply.

Steve has been stabbed to death in an area outside the warehouse, and Max and his team, DS Priya Shamsie, DC Jess Lombard, and DC Connor Pollock, get on the case. Both Artie and Siobhan are shocked when Max and Priya break the news to them, particularly the implication that Steve may have been involved in drugs. Steve was something of a local hero. He won an award for a citizens’ arrest of some teenage drug dealers, one of whom, Finn Davidson (Jack Cooper Stimson, World on Fire), was arrested. Siobhan’s nurse, Paolo Mendez (Ricardo Castro) hovers protectively and after the police have gone, offers her a stronger dose of her usual medication. It’s clear she does not have much longer to live.