"Devices & Desires" Brings 'Dalgliesh' to a Dramatic Conclusion

The final mystery of Dalgliesh Season 3, “Devices and Desires,” takes us to a community dominated by a nuclear power facility where a serial murderer, known as “The Whistler,” is targeting female employees. The episode opens with a young woman, Vivienne Mitchell (Holly Demaine), leaving a party; she narrowly misses flagging down a taxi before hearing rustles in nearby bushes. Her assailant whistles a tune when she’s dead. 

Scotland Yard takes over the case and immediately discovers Vivienne was murdered ten days after another victim, Denise Shepherd. Both were strangled, a letter L carved into their foreheads; both were administrative employees at the controversial Larkskill Nuclear Power Station in East Anglia. DC Norman Bracknell (Patrick FitzSymons) worries the victims are being targeted. It’s a delicate time for the power station; new PM Margaret Thatcher is pressing to expand nuclear power, and a strong anti-nuclear movement opposes her program. Another serial murderer, the Yorkshire Ripper, is still at large in the north of England, and the near-catastrophic Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the US is still fresh in the public’s mind.

Dalgliesh is pleased the case has been assigned to Acting DI Kate Miskin, who offers to co-manage it with him as they interview residents and Larkskill employees. Kate is newly engaged to an EMT, Damien, and secretly pregnant. She worries that if word about her pregnancy gets out, she’ll be put on desk duty. (She’s seen what happened to police after they failed to catch the Yorkshire Ripper.) 

Larkskill top scientist Toby Gledhill is missing; Operations Superintendent Giles Fleet (Robert Wilfort) is worried that his colleague is suicidal. Dalgliesh and Miskin meet station director Dr. Alex Mayer (Adam James), who is in line for the top London job in London and downplays Gledhill’s situation. His colleague, Hilary Roberts (Liz White), with whom Mayer is having an affair, suggests Dalgliesh and Miskin look at Neil Pascoe (Robert Lonsdale) and his partner Amy Camm (Elizabeth Connick), local protest group leaders. Alex lives with his sister, Alice Mayer (Nancy Carroll), who invites them to dinner; Miskin recognizes her as the advice columnist. Dalgliesh mentions Alice’s best-selling book was inspired by the early death of their father when he was gardening. After they leave, Hilary teasingly invites Alex to go for a swim that evening, but he refuses.

Dalgliesh and Miskin also visit Neil Pascoe, who lives in a tiny caravan with Amy and their baby son on a windy headland. He seems mostly harmless - his handwritten membership list names three hundred supporters. Dalgliesh asks for a copy. (The political angle doesn’t persuade Kate.) Unfortunately, Bledhill’s past and present reputation as a loner and disappearance make him a possible suspect, and they decide to investigate him further. They’ve made little progress. The few witnesses reported someone, the murderer maybe, whistled nearby. Miskin orders roadblocks on significant routes that night.

At the power station, PA Charlotte Tyson (Georgina Beedle) chats briefly with her date, nerdy Jonathan Reeves (Bradley Hall), concerned about her traveling alone; they agree to go straight from work. (He is crazy about her, and she is dismissive). She visits Jonathan in the facility’s control room, more interested in it than him, calling it “cool and sexy.” He wants to go steady with her but suspects she may go to London with Mayer since she’s his PA.

That evening, Hilary finds Alex waiting for her as she finishes her swim; he affectionately helps her dry off. He arrives home at dawn to find Alice waiting; he frets he won’t get the London job, and Hilary wants to come with him if he does. Alice thought the affair was over and sighs as he invites Hilary and Giles Fleet over to dine; neither is pleased that they’ll socialize with the boss and the police later, even as Hilary suggests she knows some embarrassing secrets about Giles’s relationship with Toby Gledhill.

At the dinner party, Dalgliesh notes that Hilary is openly affectionate with Alex as Alice flirts, saying she’s glad he is writing again. He admits his grief hasn’t passed, but he’s no longer afraid of it. Hilary butts in to tell them she has read Alice’s book and thought it brought her closer to Alex. Loss, she says, is terrible and robust, even if it’s someone you’ve known only a short time. Alice suggests they start dinner, but Giles hasn’t turned up yet; Kate then calls with news of another murder. Giles found the body; he was taking his boat out to look for Toby, who had rejected him and ran away three days before. He’s shaken by the whistling, which he thought he recognized.

The victim is Fiona Baldwin, whose husband David was at the pub in town. Pathologist Miles Dynaston (David Pearse) reports dog hairs on her body. She doesn’t own a dog, so maybe the murderer does. Pub owner George Jessop (Lloyd Hutchinson) hears a dog barking from one of his guest rooms. Dalgliesh and Miskin arrive to find the owner, Simon Shelton (Kealan McAllister), dead; his mother, Lil, used to clean the pub. When they visit her, buzzing flies indicate Lil has been dead for some time, and her son left a confession letter that he is the Whistler.

Pascoe sends out his newsletter with a story about the murders. Charlotte hands the day’s mail, including the newsletter, to Hilary. Hilary’s reaction is to drive out to Neil’s caravan and scream that she’s taking him to court. She goes for a swim to calm herself. Unsurprisingly, Hilary’s body washes up on the shore the following day; she was pregnant. The news of her death shakes Alex, but he refuses to officially ID her. He wasn’t sure enough about the relationship to take her to London, let alone marry her or become a parent, and claims they made a mutual decision to terminate her pregnancy. Alice saw the violent quarrel between Hilary and Neil Pascoe. Dalgliesh asks if they recognize the keys found on Hilary’s wrist, and she and Alex agree they look like those for a safety deposit box, though Alex is confused as to why she would need one. Alice considered Hilary abrasive but admired her resolve and fierceness. 

Dalgliesh brings Neil in. He lives off a small grant for a doctorate, and if Hilary had sued him, he and Amy would have lost his caravan; Dalgliesh orders surveillance on her and Neil. Meanwhile, Charlotte visits Jonathan in the control room and asks him to give her an alibi for the previous night. At first, he refuses. He tried to call her last night, but she didn’t answer. She says she’d gone for a walk. He finally agrees to help when she’s on the point of leaving. They go to the pub, where she tells him a little about her background as an army brat, having lived in Germany for a time. 

While the caravan is searched, Amy takes her son out in his stroller, and they’re seen entering the graveyard. Dalgliesh and Miskin follow and find a postcard we last saw the baby playing with, now stuck between stones in the graveyard wall. Charlotte retrieves the postcard and leaves, and suddenly, we’re in MI-5 territory. A background check reveals “Charlotte” died in Germany as a teenager. They’re bringing her in!

Amy sees a woman with binoculars spying on her while hanging laundry and tells Neil. She asks him to look after the baby when she goes out that evening. Charlotte meets up with Amy, only to find Jonathan following them. Charlotte tells him to leave, and the two women set off in a small boat. By the time Dalgliesh and Miskin arrive, half an hour has passed, and Jonathan is there to meet them. In the boat, Charlotte pulls a gun as Amy begs to stay in the U.K., although they’ll be protected in Germany. The next time we see the two women, they’re ashore and dead, both shot through the forehead. The following day, Dalgliesh calls on Alex to tell him Charlotte and Amy’s bosses planned a significant attack on Larkskill; however, MI-5 doesn’t want awkward questions and is closing the Whistler case, fast. As Dalgliesh and Miskin pack up, he says he’s glad she found the right man. 

As they finish, Dr. Gledhill and his wife show up, announcing that Alex’s research included a grave error and the paper had been found in Hilary’s strongbox. Kate calls on Alex, who asks for Dalgliesh, but he’s gone to talk to Alice. She colluded with her brother, impersonating Hilary at the bank, claiming she’d lost the key. Hilary was taking revenge because Alex didn’t want their child. Alice decided to kill her the day after the dinner party, her decision solely. She enjoyed cutting Hilary’s face and killing her. Hilary humiliated Alex just like their father did; as it comes out, we see brother and sister holding hands as they let their father bleed to death. Dalgliesh arrests her.

Dalgliesh and Kate will keep in touch. They’re colleagues and friends. Dalgliesh moves on, attending the art gallery opening to which Dr. Emma Lavenham invited him. Possibly the strongest case of the series, it’s a satisfactory ending to this third season of Dalgliesh.

All three seasons of Dalgliesh are streaming on Acorn TV. Season 4 has yet to be greenlit.