Sam comes into CID to find it empty and strewn with stuff left over from a birthday party for Ray. The phone is ringing in Gene’s office, which Sam answers.
He hears his mother’s voice saying that scans of Sam’s brain shown negligible brain activity and that she’s given consent to turn off the life support. The machine will be switched off at two o’clock that afternoon.
Sam storms out into the main area and is about to start wrecking the place when Phyllis comes in. She says that an armed man has taken hostages at the offices of the Gazette, a local newspaper, and has said that at two o’clock someone will die.
The detectives arrive at the Gazette and order the area evacuated. A reporter from the Gazette is there and tells them the names of the hostages – editor George Bates, his secretary Doris, and Jackie Queen, a reporter whom Gene clearly dislikes.
After initial negotiations with the hostage taker fail, Sam sets up a base of operations in a nearby building. While he’s there Annie brings another witness to him who says that she saw the hostage taker before he entered and that he had nearly run over a child in his van.
Sam remembers seeing a van in the parking lot and goes to investigate. In it he finds a library book inside which is a ticket with the borrower’s name on it – Reg Cole.
The ticket also has the address, and so Sam and Annie go to investigate Reg’s flat. The walls are covered with pictures relating to battles, along with a medal, which leads Sam to suspect that Reg could be a war hero.
Sam returns to the Gazette to discover that Gene had turned the heating up, hoping to force Reg to make a move. Sam enters into a dialogue with Reg, who demands that the heating be turned down.
While talking to Reg, Sam hears groans from Doris who Reg says has been affected by the increased temperature. Sam asks if they can send a doctor in, but Reg refuses.
Annie suggests that she pose as a nurse and go inside. Reg agrees to let her in to see Doris.
A little while later Reg asks for food and water. Sam brings them up to Reg, but unknown to both of them, Gene follows him.
A standoff ensues, with Gene pointing his gun at Reg and Reg pointing his gun at Annie. Eventually Sam disarms Gene and gives his gun to Reg, who orders Sam and Gene to join the rest of the hostages.
Annie attends to Doris, saying that she needs to be moved. Unfortunately, she addresses Gene as “Guv”, leading Reg to realise that she’s not a nurse. As a result, Sam and Gene end up handcuffed to a radiator.
While handcuffed there, Sam tries to gain Reg’s trust. Their conversation is interrupted by Annie who cries out that Doris isn’t breathing. Reg allows Sam to try and perform CPR on her.
Sam manages to revive Doris and convinces Reg to let her go, but the others are forced to stay with Reg and Sam is handcuffed once again. In the ensuing conversation it comes out that Reg works as a handyman at the Gazette but his efforts have gone unnoticed, something evidenced by the fact that neither Jackie nor George know who he is. The lack of recognition is the main reason that he has taken hostages – he wants his story told in the next edition of the Gazette.
George tries to leave, but Reg shoots him in the shoulder. It’s merely a flesh wound though and, while Reg’s attention is focused on Annie attending George and Jackie who is typing Reg’s story, Gene manages to pick the handcuff lock with a paperclip.
Gene pretends to have passed out, and when Reg comes over to investigate Gene punches him and the hostages try to escape through the fire escape. However, Reg has locked it and so they’re unable to make it out. Sam, Gene and Annie are locked together in a small room.
At two o’clock Reg lets them out. He makes Sam kneel and holds his gun to Sam’s head.
At that moment Litton, Ray and Chris burst in. In the ensuing melee, Reg shoots Gene in the chest and he collapses.
However, as this is only the sixth episode there’s no way that Gene’s actually dead. It turns out that the bullet struck flask of whiskey that he had in his jacket pocket. Reg places his gun under his chin, but Sam talks him out of killing himself.
While the detectives are celebrating at the Railway Arms, a red phone on the bar starts ringing. Nobody seems to notice it except Sam, and he picks it up.
He hears his mother voice saying that she doesn’t care that the doctors can’t detect anything. At two o’clock she saw Sam smile and she’s leaving the life support on.
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