Unforgotten, series 4 episode 4 recap: Will Liz and Fiona’s close relationship go under Cassie and Sunny’s radar?

This article contains spoilers for Unforgotten

It feels like we are closing in on the identity of the killer (or killers) at the centre of Unforgotten, with many viewers claiming they’ve already guessed who is behind the victim’s death halfway through the crime drama. But let’s hope it’s not as predictable as that.

Episode four puts all the suspects well and truly in the frame, but do DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) have a possible motive and enough evidence in the bag to arrest them? As more details come out of the woodwork, one thing is certain: the suspects are lying.

For a refresher on the last three episodes, see our previous recaps:

Episode one

Episode two

Episode three

What happened in episode four?

Nicola Walker as Cassie in Unforgotten (ITV)

After a somewhat slow start to the latest instalment, the grisly sight of the victim’s head and hands on a metal trolley in the crime lab brought the case back with a bang.

The rest of the body being found meant that the cause of death could be established. Dr Leanne Balcombe (Georgia Mackenzie) reckoned it was a skull fracture, but X-rays were needed.

The forensic botanist found rare plant remains on Walsh’s clothing and advised the team to check out allotments for the exact spot where Walsh died.

Read more - Unforgotten recap: Everything that happened in series 1-3 of the ITV drama

Liz (Susan Lynch) met Fiona (Liz White) in the park as planned. But much to Fiona’s surprise, Liz wanted to search her for a wire and inspect her mobile phone to make sure she wasn’t recording anything.

They swapped notes. Fiona had told the police she was too drunk to remember anything about the night in question. But Liz told her that she must tell the police “the truth, as agreed” next time.

The “truth” is the same story Liz told Cassie during her interview: after Fogerty got pulled over for drink-driving, Liz drove the rest of them home and then dropped Fogerty’s car back at his house, before she walked home.

Fiona was terrified about the police connecting them to a pub and finding out about everything. Liz seemed certain that wouldn’t happen. Liz then passionately kissed Fiona goodbye on the cheek and said she was still beautiful. Were they once romantically linked?

Cassie and Sunny talked to the police training officer and got his opinion on the suspect’s different personalities. Despite them claiming to have insignificant or no recollections of each other, he said the suspects formed a close gang during police training.

Nicola Walker as DCI Cassie Stuart and Sanjeev Bhaskar as DI Sunny Khan (ITV)

He also said he always thought Ram (Phaldut Sharma) would “go right to the top or straight to jail”, but the others were less likely to break the law. Strangely, he added, none of them had any guests at the passing out ceremony.

When Ram and Dean (Andy Nyman) met up in a forest, it was clear they were also in cahoots. Dean asked Ram if he could keep him ahead of the police investigation. Ram said if they stick to “the truth” they should be okay.

It turned out Ram had also helped Dean with a business deal but he said that would be the last time. Dean reassured him it was a one-off. Presumably, it was regarding the dodgy shipment Dean drove back from Calais for a mysterious man called Felix.

Read more - Nicola Walker: ‘I’m riding on the coattails of the women who came before me’

DS Murray Boulting (Jordan Long) “struck gold” when he uncovered an incident at the Ifield Pub in Hendon, where police probationers used to drink, that took place three weeks before Walsh disappeared.

Walsh had had a physical fight and hurled racist abuse at an Asian probationer – thought to be Ram – who had intervened to stop him sexually harassing a female probationer - perhaps Liz or Fiona? Walsh was never charged and the case was suspiciously covered up.

DC Fran Lingley (Carolina Main) found Walsh’s older brother Clive (David Schofield) who witnessed all five of the suspects get out of the car and pursue Walsh – led by Ram. As far as Cassie was concerned, that put all suspects in the frame with a possible motive for murder.

Murray was trying to track down the pub landlady Suzie Montgomery to identify the suspects. But Cassie got ahead of herself and demanded they pulled in Ram straightaway. It didn’t go well.

Ram’s version of events was identical to Liz’s. Sunny asked if he had spoken to her in the last few days. Ram said he didn’t remember Dean (despite having just met up with him in the forest) or Fiona.

When Cassie went in for the kill and said she thought he did know the victim because he’d had a bust-up in the pub with him, Ram questioned what concrete evidence they had. The simple answer was none.

Fiona’s criminal conviction, it transpired, was for dangerous driving when she killed a child. The police could smell alcohol on her at the time but couldn’t breathalyse her because she was so hysterical. They arrested her and took a blood test but it was lost at Kingston police station where – wait for it – Liz was working at the time. We also discovered Fiona and Liz had lived together at the same address in 1991.

Balcombe called Cassie into the crime lab. After an X-ray, she found a sharp object inside the victim’s skull and remnants of brick dust. Either Walsh hit his head on a wall and something sharp was embedded, or he must have fallen over and while he was unconscious, then he was stabbed and killed with this object.

What have we learned about the main suspects this week?

Ram was smart, ambitious, and charismatic at police training, but also “f***ing angry”, according to the police trainer, who also said he had “a massive chip on his shoulder”. It’s unclear whether these criticisms are genuine or coloured by prejudice. None of Ram’s family came to the passing out ceremony, which Ram claimed was because they wanted him to be a doctor, lawyer, or go into the family business. His pregnant wife Anna (Clare Calbraith) underwent tests to determine whether their baby has Down’s syndrome, and when they found out the child does, Ram no longer wanted to keep the baby. He is scared that something will happen to him - like going to jail for Walsh’s murder perhaps - and his wife will have to bring up the baby alone.

Phaldut Sharma as Ram Sihdu and Clare Calbraith as his wife Anna (ITV)

Successful businessman Dean didn’t tell his wife Marnie (Lucy Speed) about the police interview. What is he hiding? She begged him to let her in on his secrets and lies about himself and his family. All we know so far is that he runs DB Atmospherics, which imports air conditioning systems. He also organises charity fundraisers. His youngest son Casper (Jacob Lang) won an award but nobody noticed. All the focus is always on his adult disabled son Jack (Rory Averdieck). According to the police trainer, Dean was a fast thinker and a great team player, but Dean told Cassie he left the police force because he wasn’t a good team player. It could be that Dean meant that socially he was a loner, said the police trainer, who added that Dean was “secretive” but “as straight as a die”. Hardly. Dean definitely has a shady criminal past, but no criminal record. The team had trouble locating a couple of basic documents: his birth certificate and his name wasn’t on the census pre-1991.

Police officer Liz is trying to remain as dispassionate as possible while the case is being investigated. She set up a Hotmail account Betty2902 if Fiona wants to contact her. It looks like there is a romantic history between Liz and Fiona. They also lived together in 1991 in Thames Ditton, near Kingston. The police trainer said she was a natural, great under pressure, and level-headed. He says she was thick as thieves with Fiona, but she wasn’t openly gay then. Her mum’s carer Eugenia (Mina Andala), who overheard Cassie interviewing Liz, told her that if she didn’t give her £9 per hour and pay her overdue gas bill, she would inform the police of what her mum Eileen (Sheila Hancock) had said about her. Naturally, Liz didn’t need time to mull this pay rise over.

Family therapist Fiona is clearly distraught about the police finding out about everything despite telling them she couldn’t remember the night in question due to a drink problem. The police trainer said her nickname was “wet blanket” at training and they had no idea what she was doing there. He wasn’t surprised when he heard she’d quit the police force. Fiona admitted to her partner Geoff (Daniel Flynn) that she tried to pull out of the property purchase in case the mortgage company discovered her conviction for death by dangerous driving. How could she never have told her husband about this? “Is there anything else you need to tell me?” he asked. If only he knew…

Rob – he was a gentle giant, according to the police trainer. This confirms his status as the “unusually tall man” a reliable witness saw chasing the victim.

Andy Nyman as Dean Barton and Lucy Speed as his wife Marnie (ITV)

What lines of enquiry are yet to be explored?

Is the female probationer who Walsh made a pass at in the pub Liz or Fiona?

Were all the suspects running after Walsh in retaliation for the incident in the pub?

Will the pub landlady be able to identify the suspects as being involved in the fight with Walsh?

Why did the suspects have no family members at the passing out ceremony?

Were Fiona and Liz lovers? Did Liz lose the blood test for personal reasons or was she being blackmailed by Fiona over whatever happened to Walsh?

Why did Liz insist that Fiona remember to tell police that she walked home after dropping Fogerty’s car off that night?

Why did the police sergeant deliberately take out any other names apart from Walsh’s in the incident report at the pub to protect the suspects?

What is the sharp object inside the victim’s head?

Unforgotten airs on Mondays at 9pm on ITV.