WEBVTT - Episode 3: Cat and Mouse 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:05.120 A quick warning. This story contains adult themes, including reference 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:16.280 to sexual and child abuse and strong language. April nineteen 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:22.599 ninety eight, the backyard of a small isolated cottage in 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:27.600 the depths of the English countryside, there's a fire raging 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:33.320 in an old metal bin. A young man is throwing 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:38.680 bundles of documents onto the flames, watching them catch a 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:43.879 light burn and turn to ash. 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.240 I stood there, just feeding paper, keeping the fire burning, 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.040 making sure everything was insinerated. 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:56.480 Every now and again, he looks around, his eyes darting 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.840 this way and that to check his not being watched. 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:03.600 On the ground around him are. 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:11.360 Piles and piles of paper, contracts, invoices, bank statements. He's 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:13.000 acting under orders. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.200 I was told to take all the paperwork in the office, 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:19.880 burn it in the ard. 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:21.600 Why did they want them burned? 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.840 And not to leave any evidence for the police to find? 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.040 Were you aware that that was what it was? 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:29.199 Ah? Yes? 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:34.880 And he needs to do it fast because time's running out. 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:40.640 He needs to escape. He's always known it might end 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.160 like this, And as he brushes away the sweat on 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:51.800 his forehead, he feels a little sad, but he has 0:01:51.880 --> 0:02:05.760 no regrets, no regrets at all from usg Audio Blanchard 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:11.440 House and exactly right Media, this is royal swindle. I'm 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:53.840 Becky Milligan, Episode three, Cat and Mouse, two months earlier. 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.400 We're back at Sopwell House Hotel where the fire alarm 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:04.120 is going on, and as unlikely as it sounds, this 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:08.000 will prove a crucial turning point in the story of 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:13.040 Lilah Andre and Evelyn Burton. As Evelyn admitted on one 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:17.680 of those cassettes she recorded for her never completed memoir. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:25.960 This is what eventually led to the whole thing coming undone. 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:31.280 Now, hotel manager Jeff Ward knew from the moment they 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:35.120 checked in that these weren't just any old guests. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.280 This brand new portion nine to eleven and a beautiful 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.640 rolls Royce parked at the front door, facing the entrance, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.360 and I thought, wow, they've done really well. I wonder 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:48.000 who they are. 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.640 So he asked one of his receptionists. 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:53.240 Who owns those vehicles? I'm curious. 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:54.080 What did they say? 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:58.720 Oh that's Evelyn Burton. Okay, she has two rooms. Okay, 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.440 tell me more. Booked him for two nights. 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:06.160 But two nights turned to three nights, turned to four nights. 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:11.160 Now Jeff has one very strict policy. This policy applies 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:15.720 to all guests, no exceptions, doesn't matter who you are 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.200 or how rich you are. It's one rule for everyone. 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:24.320 When the bill goes over a certain figure, they must 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:29.480 settle the account immediately. But of course Evelyn and Lilah 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:34.479 didn't settle the bill immediately, and four nights turned to 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:35.760 five nights. 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.760 And I just said to the deputy manager, we need 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.360 to get that money, we need to get payment. Let's 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:42.000 sort it out. 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:46.080 Jeff told the staff to keep chasing Evelyn to pay up, 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.960 but as usual, Evelyn fobbed them off. 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.840 Oh yes, I'll be back shortly. I sorted out when 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:53.400 I get back. 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:58.000 So they tried Lilah and they said, do you realize 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:59.920 that everyone hasn't been paying the bill? 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.880 Lilah played dumb. You're asking the wrong person, she said. 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.800 Because I don't know anything about the money. I don't 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.800 know anything about the bills. And they said, well, can 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.480 you talk to Evylin about it? And I said, I'll 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.160 talk to her, absolutely, but I can't tell her what 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.080 to do. It's her money. 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:24.120 Evelyn was stalling. Meanwhile, five nights turned to ten nights, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.279 and well, you get the idea, and it's not just 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.440 the accommodation we're talking about here. It was the fancy dinners, 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.440 the fine wines, not to mention all that room service. Jeff, 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.400 I think it's fair to say got pretty hacked off. 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:42.960 He had a word with his deputy, so. 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.479 Where are we at with this account? Have they paid up? 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:47.960 And he said to me, it's over ten grand Jeff, 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:50.000 And he put his head in his hands. 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:58.520 And that's when Jeff hatches his plan, the plan which 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:03.240 he thinks will call Evelyn and Lilah's bluff. Jeff thinks 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:06.440 to himself, no more missed the nice guy. 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:08.599 I knew what I was going to do, and I 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:10.760 knew that I was only going to win the way 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:11.240 I saw it. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:16.599 He calls an emergency staff meeting and outlines his plan 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:20.640 of attack. He rallies his whole team. They all have 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:25.120 a role to play. The staff field galvanized and the 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.040 adrenaline starts pumping. 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.440 They were really excited because we're going to get these buggers. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:33.039 They're not going to get away with this. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:47.400 And at the appointed hour, the plan is activated. As 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.159 soon as the alarm goes off, Jeff takes a very 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.400 important precautionary step. 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.360 I give the front office manager the task of clamping 0:06:58.360 --> 0:06:59.240 the two vehicles. 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:04.719 He means Evelyn's rolls, Royce and Porsche. And Jeff makes 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.120 it clear that time is of the essence. 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:09.000 I want it done very, very quickly. 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:16.040 At the same time, senior staff was strategically positioned on 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:20.120 each floor. They instruct all the guests to take the 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:24.840 stairs and leave all their belongings in their rooms. Now 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:30.000 here's a detail that is crucial to Jeff's plan. Under 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.720 English law, if you don't pay your hotel bill, all 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.120 the possessions you've left in your hotel room can be seized. 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:39.080 Everything. 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:46.640 Jeff has assigned the most important task to the deputy manager. 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:52.520 He is specifically outside the Burton rooms, the two rooms 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:57.080 with a master key to double lock the doors, double 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.080 lock the doors so they can't get back in. 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:02.440 All coming together. 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:06.080 In a beautiful way, Becky, in a beautiful way. 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:12.640 Assembled on the front lawn, scores of hotel guests, many 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:17.000 of them in pajamas or fluffy white bathrobes, all looking 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:18.360 for signs of a fire. 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:20.680 Among them are. 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:25.720 Duo Evelyn and Lilah. Just like everyone else, they've left 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:31.080 all their possessions in their rooms as instructed. Now, the 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:36.760 next part of Jeff's plan swings into action. He tells 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:38.240 all the guests. 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.600 It's a false alarm, blah blah blah, and we start 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:41.959 inviting people back into. 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:48.360 The hotel, including Evelyn and Lilah. Jeff positions himself at 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:52.120 the bottom of the staircase, knowing full well what's going 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:56.360 to happen. When Evelyn and Lilah return to their suite. 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:01.200 Guess what they couldn't get in? They come downstairs, missus Burton, 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:02.920 please come with me. Let's go and have a little 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:04.040 coffee in the lund, shall we. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:09.160 Evelyn is irritated, Come on, what's the problem, she asks, 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.640 and Jeff doesn't beat around the bush. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:15.240 I said, I've clamped the cars. You're not going back 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:19.480 into the room. You owe me ten pounds and I 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:20.360 need paying now. 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:26.240 Jeff's got Evelyn and Lilah cornered far more than he knows. 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:30.160 In fact, for the first time in a long time, 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:37.280 Evelyn is spooked, very spooked. She knows that nobody must 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.880 enter that room because there's something in there, something that 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:49.880 nobody must see under any circumstances. Evelyn pleads with Jeff, leave. 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:50.240 It with me. 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.240 I'll get your money, but no amount of Evelyn's charm 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:58.200 can budge him, and then he does something that no 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:04.280 other hotel manager has done so far, something that horrifies 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:15.400 Evelyn and Lilah. He calls the cops. It's at that 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:22.880 point Evelyn has a realization she's lost control of the situation. 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:26.720 Think, she says to herself. 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:28.120 Think. Think. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.280 She knows she has to stay clear headed. It's fight 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:37.320 or flight, and she knows she has only one option. 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:39.520 Flight. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:42.640 They have to get out of there before the police 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:49.120 turn up. Evelyn makes a call, and a few minutes later, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.439 the two women hurl themselves into the back of their 0:10:54.480 --> 0:11:06.760 getaway car. They're out of there, leaving everything behind. When 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.720 the local police officer turns up at the hotel, staff 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:14.720 take him to the women's suite. As far as he's concerned, 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.640 this is simply a couple of guests who've done a runner. 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:22.160 He takes a cursory glance around the room, nothing to see. 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:28.400 He's about to leave when something catches his eye, a 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:33.440 tan leather briefcase propped up against the desk, just out 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:39.760 of interest. He flicks it open. It's stuffed full with paperwork, 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:46.800 but not just any old paperwork, contracts for millions of 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:51.760 dollars now to a regular cop. That might not seem interesting, 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:56.560 but it just so happens. He isn't just any old cop. 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:00.920 Turns out, this officer has just been time on the 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.679 fraud squad, so he can sense when something smells off, 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.319 and that's exactly what he senses here. 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:13.679 So he takes the. 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:17.360 Briefcase with him and later that day he'll drop it 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.160 into the local fraud team to see what they make 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.800 of it. It might be nothing, he'll say, but it 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:24.600 isn't nothing. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:26.320 Far from it. 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:27.760 Now. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.160 Our to ozzies, currently in their getaway car speeding north, 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.240 don't yet know about that local cop, but they already 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:41.240 have a very bad feeling. They're exposed, or, as Lilah 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:41.840 puts it. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.480 As in ill and we are fact. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:53.560 One week later, Lilah and Evelyn are safe for now. 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:58.120 They've decamped to a perfect English cottage in the village 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:02.520 of Snailwell in the middle the countryside, and with them 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.920 is a young man called Lars, Evelyn and Lilah's Swedish butler. 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:10.560 I say butler, but he's actually much more than that. 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.480 Lars has been working for Evelyn and Lilah for nearly 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.840 a year. He adores them, and the feeling is mutual. 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:24.360 They trust him with their lives with good reason as it. 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.840 Lars, would you jump in front of somebody if they 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:28.800 are going to shoot me? 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:35.640 Of course, ma'am, Because for twenty three year old Lars, 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.520 this is more than just a job. It's a childhood 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:40.760 dream come true. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.760 I had this romantic notion of becoming a butler as 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:46.199 a kid. 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:51.680 He loved stories which featured butler's butler's like Jeeves in 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.000 the books of P. G. Woodhouse and Bunter in the 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:56.480 novels by Dorothy L. 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.920 Sayers. And Lars thought, that's the life for. 0:13:59.880 --> 0:14:05.400 Me, touring the continent in rolls, royces and bentless and 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.800 having all sorts of adventures. So I thought, why not. 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:14.920 He's certainly having adventures with Evelyn and Lilah. He's very 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.479 quickly worked out the couple's dynamic. 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.320 Evelyn was the one with the pants. 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:25.520 On, but Lilah's the one with the presence an aura. 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:31.120 She could have persuaded anyone to do anything. She would 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:35.640 be able to sway anyone just by being herself. Sweeping 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.480 into a room full of people, she would be the center, 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:45.800 the shining light, and always over the top the pizzazz. 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.320 Thank you, very good word passas. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.840 It's not long before Lars realizes Evelyn is not an 0:14:55.920 --> 0:15:00.800 international banker, that she's not investing any of that money 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:06.120 from her investors, She's just spending it all. In short, 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:11.880 he understands he's working for a very likable swindler. Now 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:14.480 Lars could have done the dirty and duped them into 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:19.360 the police, but no, as far as he's concerned, his 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.160 job is suddenly. 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.680 More interesting, more adventurous and more fun. 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.120 So you were willing to go down this road with them? 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:29.400 Oh? 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:34.320 Yes, and Lars stays totally loyal. 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:39.720 I always kept my mouth shut in front of others 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.160 and not giving anything away. 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:49.280 But more than that, Lars actually gets involved working closely 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:49.960 with Evelyn. 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.880 He took over the contracts, wrote the letters, did her 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:55.960 engagements for her. 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:59.720 He sits in on some of the high level business meetings, 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:04.400 the ones where the swindling is actually happening, and he 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:08.400 goes even further. With investors who need just a little 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:14.320 bit more persuasion. He helps to win their trust, in particular. 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:19.800 To Swedish businessmen who had been talked into investing, and 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.160 at one time an disasperated Evelin took a phone call 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.920 and then looked at me, your Swedish. You talk to them, 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.560 keep them calm. So I spoke Swedish to them, and 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.400 they were so happy that they had a Swedish butler 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.280 because they could confide in me and hoping that I 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:42.280 would be on their side. So of course I deliberately 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:43.040 duped Yes. 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:51.600 So Lars, Lilah and Evelyn are all holed up in 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:56.520 that cottage, keeping a very low profile, and the ground 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:57.600 rules are clear. 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:05.040 We're living is We're not to entertain or talk to 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:06.720 anybody or anything like that. 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:14.000 They're not taking any chances because Evelyn is worried. She 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:18.199 knows her briefcase is gone. That's a concern, though she 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.000 doesn't know if anyone has actually looked inside it yet. 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:27.240 Maybe nobody will. But it's not just that her so 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:32.960 called investors are starting to get nervous, ringing all the time, 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.800 demanding to know when they are getting the big payout, 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:44.760 the millions she's promised. The only time Evelyn and Lilah 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.640 really speak honestly is late at. 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:54.159 Night, lastly, weak to talk in bid when everything was very. 0:17:54.080 --> 0:18:01.280 Quiet, Evelyn tells Lila it looks like they are about 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.240 to get a bit hairy. 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.720 Evelyn said, this might put me back in jail again. 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:09.120 Did she say that? 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:13.280 Yes? You know what is it all about? And she said, 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:17.240 I'm just some other contracts went wrong and just you know, 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:21.720 a little bit of stuff. It'll work itself out. She thought, 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.320 no matter what she would get out of this, that 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.520 she was clever enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah exactly. 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:32.679 Evelyn reassures Lilah. She tells her not to worry, and 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:37.480 just like she always does, she calms Lilah down. Everything 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.680 is under control and they'll be fine as long as 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:42.600 they stick together. 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.080 Everyone kept on saying it'll be okay, It'll be okay, 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.639 don't worry, there will be money. You know, you shouldn't 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:51.320 concern yourself over. 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:55.000 This, and Lilah wants to believe her. As the two 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:59.280 of them lie in bed, Lilah remembers the promises Evelyn 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:03.320 made wedding. Are they about to be broken? 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:04.920 Oh? 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:10.240 Look at those albums. The present day, I'm in Lila's 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:13.119 bedroom and we're perched on a corner of her bed, 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.840 perched because we don't have a lot of space. There 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:21.200 is just so much stuff everywhere. Her Chihuahwa Bambi gives 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.000 me her usual death stare. Lilah flicks through an old 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.600 photograph album. 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:35.040 It's every them. She's so beautiful, she's gorgeous, gorgeous. Oh oh, 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:37.879 look there she is driving the car. We still have 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.240 driving the car because she's singing all those songs, Doris 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:46.720 Day songs, which was her favorite, will be Oh yes. 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:49.840 She shows me a photo of the two of them 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:53.639 on their wedding day. It's the early nineteen eighties and 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:57.639 official gay marriage is decades away, but Lila and Evelyn 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.959 aren't about to let that stop them. Evelyn is in 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.119 a really tight fitting white trouser suit. She's got a 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:08.159 big grin on her face, and Lilah looks radiant in 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.159 a traditional, very feminine wedding dress. 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.080 She chies at horrible dress for me. I hated it, 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:14.760 but she loved it. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:18.520 Oough, I think you look very glamorous. It's lovely. Look 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:19.280 at your red hair. 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:25.560 To Evelyn, Lilah was more important than anyone else, her 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:26.400 number one. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:31.200 Evelyn said that no matter what, I'd never want for anything, 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:36.720 and she would give me anything. She promised and promised 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:38.680 and promised me the world. 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.720 Lilah dines out on how the two met in a 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:48.080 brothel and she loves talking up their life in the 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:53.240 sex industry, how she and Evelyn thrived making loads of money. 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:54.960 I loved it, did you? 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:55.480 Oh? Yes? 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.480 But I get the feeling that she's being very selective 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.080 about what she tells me, that there's another story to 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:08.639 tell about her past. I start asking more questions, more 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:12.600 probing questions about her childhood. 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.600 As I get older. I wanted to get rid of 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:17.840 the past. I've been getting rid of the past for 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.520 quite a long time because I should push on forward. 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:23.480 It's something I don't really want to talk about. 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:29.680 But after a while she opens up. Like Evelyn, Lilah 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:34.479 grew up poor. Her mother emigrated to Australia from Eastern Europe, 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:36.520 leaving Lila's father behind. 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:37.479 Her. 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:42.240 Mum settled in Adelaide, and before long Lilah had a 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:46.840 stepdad and that's when the trouble really started. 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:49.800 He was not very nice to me. He abused me, 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:55.720 as in beshing that he was very violent man and 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:57.280 also sexually. 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:02.359 The abuse began when she was a toddler, and she 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:04.160 endured it for years. 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:08.720 I just grew up thinking that everybody lived like that. 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.879 She says, it's easier to think of herself in the 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:16.480 third person, as though the little girl, there's someone else 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:18.119 entirely now. 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:20.480 I just didn't think we'll how awful it was for 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:23.240 that poor little girl, you know, poor little thing. I 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:26.439 feel so sorry for her because she must have had 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.320 a very hard time. And yes, I'm sure she did. 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:34.040 And when she was fifteen, it all came to a head. 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:38.160 There was an argument between the step faa, the mama 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:43.760 and me and I said something out of turn and 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:49.040 he slapped me really hard. And I walked up to 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:51.280 him and I said, don't ever do it again, because 0:22:51.320 --> 0:22:53.600 I will kill you. And I meant it. I was 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:55.359 going to wait until he fell asleep, and I'm going 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:56.439 to stab him to death. 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:01.360 Her stepfather kicked her out and she ended up in 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:09.359 Melbourne with just five dollars in her pocket. Options for 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:13.720 young girls alone in the city, well, there weren't many. 0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:18.560 Like lots of teens. She had big dreams. 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:22.199 I wanted to be a singer and I wanted to 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:26.399 be on TV. I wanted to be on stage. I 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:31.119 knew I could sing. I was no Barbaroustreisen, but I 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:32.080 knew I could sing. 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:36.919 But dreams don't bring in money. She had to start 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:41.199 earning and that's when she turned to sex work. 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:44.119 I was a working girl, and I'd go out and 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:46.560 meet somebody. We'd had dinner or whatever, or just a 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:49.600 couple of drinks, go back to his hotel or whatever, 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:54.800 and do the magic whatever. 0:23:55.680 --> 0:24:00.560 All sorts of low life criminals and gangsters were involved 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:04.520 in the brothels and parlors. It was a very dangerous world. 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.200 Lila was learning to survive tough. 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:15.000 Enough people being shot at, being kidnapped, parlors, being infiltrated, 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:16.160 that sort of thing. 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:20.400 Parlors and brothels were illegal at the time. Sex workers 0:24:20.440 --> 0:24:25.280 were in and out of prison. Did you ever get arrested? 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:31.960 Oh god, yes, no, write you up, hack your fingerprints. 0:24:32.800 --> 0:24:36.959 Has she got scarred anywhere? Hair color, eye color, you know, 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:40.840 the normal how tall, how fat sort of thing. 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:43.280 And you'd stay over in prison for a night. 0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:46.440 Or sometimes you'd stay for a night. Sometimes you don't 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:51.000 stay over that hour. Never worried me ever, never worry me. 0:24:51.520 --> 0:24:55.639 Really, I can't imagine it was that much fun. She 0:24:55.800 --> 0:24:58.439 was never safe and constantly harassed. 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:01.640 The police used to come near quite often, playing clothes, 0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:04.600 and they do smart us things like they put their 0:25:04.640 --> 0:25:08.520 guns on the table, and they used to say you know, 0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:10.320 I do want to come and sit with us a girly. 0:25:11.000 --> 0:25:12.439 They would be demeaning. 0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:16.359 That was Laida's life for many years, and I'm sure 0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:20.040 she's still leaving a lot out what she did learn 0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:23.920 from a young age, from her stepfather, from her clients, 0:25:24.160 --> 0:25:24.720 the police. 0:25:25.720 --> 0:25:30.359 Is that in her world mena pigs? Maybe yeah, well, 0:25:30.840 --> 0:25:31.600 men a pigs. 0:25:40.600 --> 0:25:44.840 September nineteen ninety seven at Welling Garden City Police Station, 0:25:45.520 --> 0:25:46.640 just north of London. 0:25:47.880 --> 0:25:51.080 My detective inspector wandered into the office with a sheet 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:54.320 of papers that had come from a tan leather briefcase 0:25:54.400 --> 0:25:56.320 and said, have a read through, see what you think, 0:25:57.119 --> 0:25:58.960 and he dumped a load of papers on my desk. 0:26:00.000 --> 0:26:01.520 To meet Jim Frost. 0:26:02.000 --> 0:26:05.600 He's a detective in the local fraud office and in 0:26:05.680 --> 0:26:10.159 nineteen ninety seven he's thirty nine years old. Now, policing 0:26:10.359 --> 0:26:14.160 wasn't originally in his game plan. He's actually a classically 0:26:14.200 --> 0:26:19.399 trained musician, a talented pianist. But playing the piano and 0:26:19.520 --> 0:26:23.200 investigating fraud have more in common than you might think. 0:26:23.920 --> 0:26:30.679 Both require you to be disciplined, methodical, meticulous. Details matter, 0:26:31.960 --> 0:26:35.680 But there's something else you need to know about Jim. 0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:39.199 He hates to lose. At this stage in his career, 0:26:39.600 --> 0:26:44.040 he has a reputation, a good one. His colleagues call 0:26:44.160 --> 0:26:48.080 him a good thief taker. And for Jim, it's not 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:50.680 just a job, it's a mission. 0:26:50.640 --> 0:26:54.240 A noble cause to capture baddies and look them up. 0:26:54.720 --> 0:26:59.720 Jim has a particular dislike for fraudsters. 0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:02.200 A lot of quite evil really, yeah, absolutely. 0:27:02.119 --> 0:27:06.439 Because of the effect that fraud can have on its victims. 0:27:06.720 --> 0:27:09.639 You don't just lose the money, you lose your sense 0:27:09.680 --> 0:27:12.760 of worth because someone's had you over, as it were. 0:27:13.520 --> 0:27:16.720 So he likes nothing more than to hold the fraudsters 0:27:16.800 --> 0:27:21.240 to account. Yes, it's painstaking work and it can take 0:27:21.480 --> 0:27:25.000