14 January 2025

Gaynor has a visitor

Gaynor comes downstairs and is in a hurry to get to work, but just then there is a knock at the door;  she finds that it is Tom, who has brought her a takeaway coffee.

"My probably won't let you have a coffee break"

Sorry, I’m in a bit of a hurry,” she tells him, but he insists that Maya will probably not allow her to have a coffee during her shift.

"What have you got against Maya?"

  

“What have you got against Maya all of a sudden?” she wants to know, “You’ve got the totally wrong impression – she’s a lovely boss.”

"If you say so"

“If you say so,” he sneers and Gaynor finds that it is caramel coffee, which she says makes a change.   

"What have I told you"

“What have I told you about rushing around for these people?” he rebukes her.

“You want me all to yourself, do you?” she asks;   Tom tells her that she does not need the make up, but she thinks otherwise.   

"You're stunning"

He rather sickeningly describes her as stunning 

"I like wearing make-up"

and to that she says that she likes wearing make up.

He proposes that he will walk her to the pharmacy and she agrees, without any great enthusiasm, 

He does not look pleased

which he finds rather disappointing.

"I was thinking of invited Gaynor and Tom over"

At number 21, Hywel informs Cassie that he was thinking of inviting Gaynor and Tom for dinner again tonight.   

"You should get to know Tom better"

She is not at all pleased to hear this, but he is insistent that she should get to know Tom better.

"I don't want to be in the same room as him!"

“You’re not serious?   I don’t want to be in the same room as him!” she protests;  Hywel wants to know why.   “If you’d heard what Cheryl told me . . .” she begins, 

"There's no evidence of that"

and Hywel insists that there is no evidence of that.

"I've had a taste of it myself . . ."

“No, but I’ve had a taste of it myself,” she goes on, “He kissed me – a few weeks ago, before Cheryl left – disappeared – he knew I suspected him.   

". . . he attacked me, then said I made the move!"

“He attacked me – he kissed me until my lipstick was all over his face – and then he told Cheryl that I made the move!”

Hywel cannot understand why Tom would do such a thing;  

"Wake up, Hywel!"

“Wake up, Hywel – to keep me quiet and blame me – his word against mine.  There we are, congratulations to him – he succeeded, obviously.   Make your dinner – I won’t be there!”

Now Hywel is having doubts

This has caused Hywel to think.

Colin is asked for his opinion

Britt is getting Colin to inform her where is the best place to display MFC’s new menu;  “On the door or the window?” she demands.   

"It's fine as it is"

Colin wonders why they need to mess around with the menu, arguing that it is fine as it is.   “That’s what the supermarkets do – switch things around to draw attention,” she replies, 

Then Britt asks Iolo

then sees Iolo passing, so asks for his opinion.

"He snapped at me the other day!"

“It doesn’t make any difference to me – he snapped at me the other day!” snarls Iolo, pointing at Colin.   Britt did not know anything about that.  

"I was worried about Gwern"

Colin admits that he was worried about Gwern and the fact that the Whites are messing with his life.

"That was Cai, not Iolo"

“I’m upset about that too, but Cai organised it, not Iolo,” Britt points out.   Colin maintains that Iolo did not try to stop him – 

"No, I did not!"

something which is contested by Iolo, who walks angrily away.

Britt looks reproachfully at Colin and goes back into the shop, 

Colin has the door slammed in his face

slamming the door in his face.

"I'll come with you"

Cassie tells Hywel that she is going to the shop and he offers to come with her, 

"There's no need"

but she responds, “No – there’s no need.”   When he asks if she is all right and wonders if he has done something to offend her, she continues, “You don’t believe me, do you?”

He maintains that he is trying to get his head around it.   

"He's a dangerous man"

Cassie goes on, “Look, I know it’s hard for you to wrap your head around this, all right, but he’s a dangerous man.   Don’t you think this story has been odd from the start?   The way he met Gaynor, the accident, calling himself Tom, not Dave?”

"You may be right"

Hywel confesses that he has not given it much thought, but she may be right – it is a huge coincidence.   

"He's a manipulator!"

“Yes, because he’s a manipulator – he has ‘gaslit’ people throughout his life to get what he wants.   And where is Cheryl?   I’ve phoned her, I’ve texted her – but her phone has been off for three weeks.”

"She may be feeling guilty"

Hywel imagines that she may feel guilty, but Cassie demands why;  

"I know what he's like"

“She knew I supported her – I know what he’s like!”    

"Right, I shall go and talk to him"

Hywel decides that he is going to speak to Tom about the way he has treated Cassie, but she forbids that.   

"I don't want him to know he's getting to me"

“I don’t want him to think he’s getting to me.   He won’t get away with this – I don’t want him to think that you or I are threatening him.   I want to know where Cheryl is and then we’ll deal with that.   Listen, you have to keep quiet, all right?”

Siôn receives a package

A jiffy bag has been delivered to Siôn at Y Felin;  inside he finds a copy of one of his old books from college, sent to him by his fellow student, Berwyn Nant.   

"A book of Plygain carols"

“A book of Plygain Carols,” he tells Iolo.   [Plygain is a traditional Welsh Christmas service which takes place in a church between three and six o’clock in the morning, traditionally on Christmas morning, not in the middle of January.]  

"Siôn White, Aberystwyth"

Inside the book he reads, “Siôn White, Aberystwyth;  This book has had a lot of use – good days!”

There is a knock at the door and Iolo opens it to admit Colin, who Siôn is surprised to see.   

"Look, I want too apologise"

“Look, I want to apologise – I was angry and upset because Gwern was disappointed, but that’s no excuse to blame you the way I did – 

"I'm really sorry things have come to this"

“and I’m really sorry that things have come to this between our two families.”

"I'm sorry, too, Col"

Iolo is also sorry and thanks Colin.   

"Something happened to the food order at MFC"

Then Colin mentions that something happened to a food order for MFC the other day;  

"Probably a misunderstanding"

Siôn is quick to suggest that it was probably some sort of misunderstanding.   

"It was deliberate sabotage!"

“Oh no, I don’t think so – it was deliberate sabotage!   Someone signed for the burgers and chicken wings in Garry Monk’s name.”

Siôn imagines that it was someone with vendetta against Garry, but Colin concedes that they will never know the answer 

"Still, it's all in the past now"

and it is all in the past now;  “Like what I told you, hopefully.”   

"Thanks for coming over"

Iolo thanks him for coming over.

"You know all the meat in the freezer"

As soon as the door is closed, Iolo says, “You know all the meat in the freezer – you said you got it on special offer!”   

"The Monks made a fool of me"

Siôn’s response is that the Monks made a fool of him, publicly, with that ‘meme’.

"Right, get your coat!"

“Right, get your coat – we are going for a pint to work out how to end this family feud once and for all!” Iolo instructs his father.   

Siôn grabs his book

Siôn picks up his book on his way out.

Hywel and Gaynor come out of the shop

Hywel and Cassie come out of the shop and encounter Tom and Gaynor in the alley;  Cassie asks if Gaynor has heard from her sister.   

"Sister?"

“Sister?” scowls Gaynor, “No – and I’m not expecting to either, after she helped herself to my money.”

"Are the police going to help?"

Hywel enquires whether the police are going to help, 

Tom takes over the conversation

but Tom answers for her, “No – it’s not at the top of their priorities, unfortunately.”   Then Hywel wonders whether Gaynor will get her money back from the bank and is told that she probably will, although it is a slow process – Tom adding that Cheryl stole his money, too.

“I’m just going to let Tom deal with it, because he used to be a police officer,” Gaynor tells them.

"That was when he called himself Dave . . ."

“Oh yeah – that was when he called himself, Dave, wasn’t it?” recalls Cassie, 

". . . he must know how to con people"

“He must know the ins and outs of the scams and how to con people.”   

"My connections haven't been much use"

In reply, he maintains that his connections have not been much use to him in this case and he must get Gaynor back to work or she will be late.   

Hywel is suspicious now

Hywel’s suspicions are definitely raised.

"I'm not going to apologise to Britt"

In the Deri, Siôn declares, “I’m not going to apologise to Britt – she’d love that!”   

"This nonsense has to stop, Dad!"

Iolo insists that this nonsense has to stop and someone needs to apologise.

"It's none of my business, but . . ."

Kath, behind the bar, knows that it is none of her business, but is aware that they have been through a lot recently.   

". . . you know what they say about trying to understand people"

“You know what they say about trying to talk – trying to understand each other.”   Siôn does not seem to be interested, 

"Kath is right!"

but Iolo tells him that Kath is right – they do need to talk.

"I'll buy chocolates!"

“Well, you might as well invite them over to Y Felin for a peaceful dinner – and I’ll buy chocolates!” Siôn snarls.   

"What you need is a neutral venue"

Kath is sure that what they need is a neutral venue, such as the Deri.   She is perfectly happy to bring the dartboard out so they have something to do.   

"No pressure – except from throwing the darts"

Iolo envisages that there will be no pressure then, apart from throwing the darts.

Siôn considers this to be a better idea

Siôn has what he considers to be a brainwave and picks up his book of ‘Plygain Carols’.   

"What on earth's that?"

Kath has no idea what that is, 

"Traditional Welsh songs"

so he explains, “A night of singing traditional Welsh songs.”

"This place will be bouncing!"

“Wow!” she exclaims sarcastically, “This place will be bouncing!”

"There's something special about it"

He insists that there is something special about it – people used to bring their own candles, because there was no electricity;  “It’s an occasion with a lot of atmosphere.”   

Kath proposes to decorate the place like Hallowe’en, in that case, but that was not what Siôn had in mind.

"Spooky night with singing"

“You want to hold it here, don’t you?   The word ‘Plygain’ isn’t going to do anything for my profits – but describe it as ‘a spooky night with singing’ and they will be queueing round the block!”

Iolo wishes his father good luck with pitching that idea to Britt.

Cassie and Hywel are back at number 21;  “I can’t believe Gaynor is so happy to let Tom talk for her like that,” he says and she points out that he has the ability to make an impression on someone.

"Why did Cheryl agree to do a DNA test?"

“Do you know what goes round and round in my mind?   Why did Cheryl agree to do a DNA test if she thought Gaynor was not her real sister?”   

"She didn't know anything about it"

Hywel replies that she did not agree and did not know anything about it.   They got hold of her hairbrush and used it for the test.   

"Are you sure to was her hairbrush?"

“Are you sure it was hers?” is Cassie’s next question.

"Tom gave us the brush"

“Well, not 100% – Tom gave us the brush,” he admits.   

"I should have done this days ago . . ."

Cassie regards this as quite enough and says she is about to do what she should have done days ago;  

". . . phone the police"

phone the police and report something.

Britt looks unimpressed

In MFC, Britt is looking at Siôn’s book 

"A night when we sing depressing songs?"

and remarks cynically, “This is your answer?   A night where we sing depressing songs?”   

"There's nothing depressing about singing Plygain!"

Siôn argues that there is nothing depressing about singing Plygain – the opposite, in fact. 

Iolo intervenes to point out that his father has not explained it properly;  

"You can sing what you like"

“You can sing what you like!   He’ll put money behind the bar 

". . . and you'll get free drinks!"

so you’ll get free drinks.”   Predictably, Siôn is not in favour of this, 

"And we should be paid for the meat?"

especially when Britt suggests that he should pay for the business they lost because of the meat.

Siôn prepares to rage at her . . .

Siôn is about to protest about this, 

. . . but Colin starts crooning . . .

when Colin strikes up one of the songs from the book, 

. . . and they all look at him

♫“This very morning – as I am, as I am!”♫

"Gaynor Llywelyn?"

PC Lesley Thomas calls at the pharmacy, looking for Gaynor Llywelyn and introduces herself as PC Lewis for some unexplained reason.   

Tom is watching

As the two of them go inside, Tom is watching from nearby and is rather concerned.

"She stole my bankcard"

Inside the pharmacy Gaynor is asked, “So you haven’t seen her since that day?”   Gaynor reports that Cheryl stole her bankcard – and her partner’s bankcard and left without telling anyone.

She explains that her partner is Tom, 

"David Thomas Humphreys"

which the PC has listed as David Thomas Humphreys.   At that moment he comes in and is told that the officer has come to discuss Cheryl.

"Has something happened?"

He tries to look as innocent as possible, asking if something has happened 

"Can we go somewhere more private?"

and the PC would like to discuss this somewhere more private.   Gaynor goes to check that the back room is free, 

They suspiciously eye each other

while Tom and PC Thomas look at each other.

"We have to put the last few months behind us'

Iolo continues explaining his proposal that they have to put the last few months behind them;  

"I was made to look a fool!"

Siôn agrees and is happy to forget about the Christmas fair;  “I was made to look a fool!” he complains.

Iolo replies, “You did that yourself, wearing that ridiculous suit!” 

"And all that shouting!"

  

Colin certainly goes along with that evaluation;  “And all that shouting, ‘You haven’t heard the end of this!’  And throwing the cushions!”   

"Err . . . sorry, Siôn"

“Finally he manages to stop himself.

"It will take more than a sing-song and a couple of pints

Britt has come to the conclusion, “Listen, if we’re going to do this, it’s going to take a lot more than a sing-song and a couple of pints.   Too much has happened for us to simply forget about it.”

"I'm not saying that's going to happen"

Siôn is not saying for a second that is going to happen, but Iolo maintains that it is a step in the right direction.   Britt agrees that they will be there – 

"Well, I won't be singing!"

but she will not be singing.   The others seem cautiously optimistic.

"We were supposed to go to Wrexham to live"

Tom tells the constable, “We were supposed to go to Wrexham – to live – a fresh start.”   He confirms that he has not heard from her directly since then.

Well, that explains the change of name from Thomas to Lewis

“Am I right to think that you are in a relationship with Gaynor Llywelyn now?” the PC asks, 

"I wouldn't describe it as a relationship"

but he would not describe it as ‘a relationship’.   They have both been hurt by Cheryl and somehow that has bonded them.

“While you were in the relationship with Gaynor the first time, how did you hide your history with Cheryl?”   He says that it was not intentional, but they just never spoke about her.   

"Were you ever violent towards her?"

“When you were in a relationship with Cheryl the first time, were you ever violent towards her?”   

"No, never – I loved her!"

He flatly denies that, maintaining that he loved her, 

"She was the violent one . . ."

then puts on a show of emotion, explaining that this is because she was the violent one and had an awful temper – she still has.

". . . this is where she hit me with the bottle"

“She hit me on the head with a bottle and I had to go to A&E.”   

"Did you report it to the police?"

When asked if he reported this to the police, he answers that he did not as he felt too ashamed.   “I was in the police at the time – 

"What would the force say?"

“what would the force say, knowing that I was being beaten by a woman?   I tried to help her, but she had been in trouble before and I didn’t want to make things worse for her.”

"Thank you for your time"

He hopes that he has suitably misled the constable and she thanks him for his time;  

"If you do hear from her, let us know"

“If you do hear from her, let us know,” she asks him.   

He wonders who called the police

As she leaves, his temper is beginning to simmer.

Cassie is waiting for the visit

Her next call is to number 21, where Hywel and Cassie are waiting;  

"We've spoken to David Thomas Humphreys . . ."

she reports, “Just to let you know, we’ve spoken to David Thomas Humphreys.   

". . . and we will make enquiries"

“We will make enquiries – there is evidence to suggest the bankcards were used in Stoke, so we will look to confirm that.”   Cassie wonders about the text which she received;  she is told that they will be able to track that as well, 

"There is no evidence that she did not leave of her own accord"

“but at the moment there is no evidence to dispute that Cheryl left of her own accord.

“If you do hear from her or if you have any new information, please let us know.”

"If the police don't have any reason . . ."

After she has left, Hywel concludes, “If the police don’t have a reason to suspect him, then neither do we.”

"He specialises in deception"

Cassie reiterates, “He specialises in deception – have you been listening?”  

"For your own good, forget about it"

Hywel maintains that she is making it all about herself;  “I’m telling you as a friend, as someone who worries about you, for your own good, forget about it!”   

"There is no chance of that"

Cassie obviously has absolutely no intention of doing that.

Tom is absolutely fuming

Tom and Gaynor arrive back at Llwyncelyn and he wonders who reported it to the police.   “Rumours will start now – people will think there’s more to it.”

"The police have to do their job"

Gaynor sits down on the stairs beside him, and replies, “As you know as well as anyone, the police have to do their job and we want to know where Cheryl is.”

"What would I do without you?"

“What would I do without you?” he sighs, “I felt myself going crazy today – 

"Can I stay here tonight?'

“can I stay here tonight?   I don’t want to go back to that hotel.”

Gaynor gets her spare key

After a moment’s thought, Gaynor gets up and hands him a spare key to the house;  

"For you, to keep"

“For you, to keep,” she announces, confirming that she is serious.   “Why don’t we try again?”

"Being with you is like being home"

“Being with you is like being home anyway,” he replies, “I’ll get my stuff from the hotel.”   

"I'll start cooking dinner"

Gaynor will make a start on cooking dinner, 

"I'm going to cook tomorrow"

but he insists that he will cook tomorrow, as he does not expect her to wait on him.   He will let himself back in.

There is a spring in Gaynor's step

Gaynor looks very pleased with herself, 

"She believed all of that!"

as does Tom;  she has fallen hook, line and sinker for his agenda.