"Ex Gratia" Finally Reveals 'The Woman in the Wall's Murderer

The Woman in the Wall's penultimate episode opens with all the puzzle pieces finally in the same room now that Akande has opened up and shown Lorna that he, like her daughter, has a death certificate claiming he died of neglect in a Mother & Baby home. Yet, here he stands, alive, well, and adopted. Between Akande's filching evidence from Father Percy's house in the form of all the cards and letters he received from grateful families he "helped," Lorna's stolen files, and the Clemence photo, the two have proof in one place that the death certificates are false that isn't directly connected to themselves: Breda, Clemence's daughter, has a death certificate, yet Father Percy had a card signed by her from her family, and Lorna a photo of her at her First Communion.

Lorna: That's very good work, Columbo.

The two road trip out to Bothar an Mhuilinn, where they find the church from the photo, getting to know each other a little bit along the way, mainly that Lorna is forcing herself to stay awake to stay in control and that Akande's parents are too complicated to work as witnesses for this case. Upon reaching the address where Breda's adopted parents, the Bresnahans, reportedly still live, Akande tries to take control of the situation, insisting he take the lead since he has the badge and all. But it's moot, as they're not home...but their daughter is. Breda Bresnahan (Aoife McAtamney) stands before them, cheerfully talking about dogsitting, as Lorna is struck dumb, though not long enough, popping out with her name before the girl can give it.

It takes Breda a moment to register, and then she asks if Lorna is her birth mother, and Lorna breaks it to her that Clemence died a few days previous. At first, the girl shuts the door in emotional shock, but then she reopens it and brings them in to talk. She tells them her parents were "too old" to adopt according to the state, and Father "so-and-so" told them of "Baby Breda," a dying abandoned child whose parents didn't want her was a charity case he could take on. They mortgaged their house to pay for her care and as a thank you to the Sacred Shephard for letting them save her. Akande and Lorna are appalled; how much money were this couple rooked for? But Breda misunderstands, thinking they blame her parents, and tells them to leave. As she exits, Lorna corrects the record: Clemence loved Breda and did so every day of her life. She was never abandoned.

While Lorna and Akande are on their mission, the rest of the world is turning. Massey, for example, may have been right about everything, from telling Akande poking about at the Sisters of the Seven Joys was going to get his butt suspended to worrying his emotional state would cause him to go rogue. But ever since he took Lorna home on Sister Eileen's command (for what seems to be the hundredth time or so), he's not been ok, calling in sick day after day. Skelly knows his boss is lying about it, but not why, as Massey tries to bury his demons in omelets. Finally, after breakfast is served, Massey comes down, deciding it's time he remembered what it was like to be an officer of the law and do something. He picks up the phone and orders Skelly to put the kettle on. They're going to work.

Last week, James Coyle was making noises at Niamh to keep Lorna under control lest she screw up getting The Sisters of the Seven Joys named a Magdalene laundry and risk them all being compensated. However, this week, it seems her little break-in to the county somehow went unnoticed or has moved slow enough not to undo things, as the letter declaring the place a Laundry has arrived, and it needs merely be signed. Niamh and Anna are ecstatic; all their years of work have finally paid off.

Breda's story gave Lorna one lead; apparently, "Father So-and-So," said if Breda had not been adopted, she would have been sent to "St Alma's" like the "others." However, when pressed, it's clear Breda never really considered what that statement actually meant. Still, it's something for Lorna to Google as Niamh starts leaving messages. While she does that, Colman decides to follow the money, leaving through Percy's meticulous record keeping, and finds a £5k donation that matches the exact date of Breda's adoption... which also happens to match the date she "died." There are dozens of "private donations" set off like that one, some with bizarrely specific amounts. Lorna asks if there's one that matches the date on Agnes' certificate. There is, and it's a whopper: £10,887.09. (That would be ~£40k in today's money.)

Lorna absolutely flips upon realizing her child was basically sold, screaming and crying until Akande gets her to grab hold of herself and points out his parents -- his mother -- almost certainly paid money for him as well. Lorna turns and begs him to let them go talk to them, and he acqueses. It is, as one can imagine, not the most comfortable conversation, as Lola, insists she did not pay for Colman; it was just that Father Percy heard about their plight and approached them. When they were presented with him, when they already had fallen in love with this child who was so close to dying of neglect, Percy offhandedly said a donation to the church would be expected for helping them. 

That's not the same, is it? She admits she never met his birth mum, Catherine, but that Percy did not want to speak ill of someone, even a woman who has abandoned her child. Lola is an extreme case here; her experience as an immigrant made her turn to the church, and the language barrier made it so she didn't understand the nuances of what she was dealing with until it was almost too late. By then, she just wanted to rescue this baby from terrible people and run. But her son isn't impressed, pointing out that Catherine may be out there, like Lorna, right now, looking for him. 

Lola brings him the folder from his adoption with what little they gave her, including the card of one Ignatius McCullen, as Lorna's phone rings again with Niamh on the line. Apparently, they have to sign the letters, not the state, waiving the right to sue or take any action against those who harmed them in exchange for this as-yet-to-be-determined compensation. Akande sees this for what it is, burying the past in exchange for a few bucks. These letters cannot be signed. The two drive back hell for leather to tell them so, as the rest sit around the bar dreaming of what they'll do with the money they'll get. 

Not everyone at the celebration is so welcome, even before Lorna arrives. Niamh is leading this crusade for her late mother, who was put in a Mother and Baby home and invited her mother's friend Carmel (Deirdre Donnelly) to celebrate. Carmel has lived at the Sisters of the Seven Joys since she was a teen and is 100% Stockholm Syndrome about the place, including a nun friend who came with her to the party. Lorna's arrival and her evidence of Breda's death certificate yet being alive to convince the group not to sign sadly fails to convince anyone, and the women begin signing. 

But the women are interrupted by Thomas, who it turns out was the father of Amy's baby. Massey arrives to keep the peace, but Amy isn't about to keep quiet now, including how her baby was born dead, leaving him with a black eye to boot. Massey declares Thomas slipped while drunk and drags him off. Lorna, having heard Amy's tale of stillbirth, tells her to sign. They all should. She'll go this one alone. Niamh, stressed by the scene, goes into early labor as the women gather around her, calling 999. Carmel pulls Lorna aside as the ambulance arrives, telling her Aoife was special. She'd left the convent because she'd died and been resurrected; God had a purpose for her. Lorna runs out of the bar in shock. 

Back at the station, Colman did better in getting help. Massey went through the evidence and found a phone call Percy made to a hotel after Aoife's visit, proving she didn't kill him. Akande calls the hotel to see if he can get a guest list as Skelly gets on tracing Ignatius McCullen, who laundered the Sacred Shepard adoption agency into the Wisconsin Holy Cross Adoption Agency and renamed himself James. Skelly flips around the photo of the man just as the hotel says it was the Eadrom group holding a conference that night. Skelly's photo is the head of said Eadrom group: James Coyle.