Law and Corruption was the sixth and last episode in the third series of the BBC crime drama Hustle, which aired on April 14th 2006.
Synopsis[]
The crew are caught by the police after they supposedly "find" cocaine in a suitcase Mickey was carrying. Albert is thrown into prison and Detective Chief Inspector York makes a "deal".
The rest of the crew must convince a notorious thief, Adam Rice, into stealing a Hans Christian Andersen manuscript, and then being caught red-handed. However, the crew outsmarts York, and he is, as a consequence, fired while Albert is released.
Full Plot[]
Still on a high from their last triumph, the crew are hauled off to the police station on trumped-up drug charges by ambitious and fearless cop DCI York (played by Ian Puleston-Davies). York's latest obsession is catching notorious thief, Adam Rice (played by Paul Nicholls), also known as 'The Ghost'. Ingeniously, he's decided to blackmail the Hustle crew into doing his dirty work by keeping Albert locked up until the gang deliver Rice. Once he has The Ghost, York promises they can all go free.
Having weighed up their options, the gang attempt to make contact with Rice. He lives up to his elusive reputation and they have to go to extraordinary lengths to track him down. Finally they make contact and convince him to join forces to pull off his next con together. Rice has been commissioned to steal a lost Hans Christian Andersen* manuscript from inside a security-tight country house the next night. Mickey arranges to call York once they're in the house and Rice has the manuscript so he can catch him red-handed.
Unfortunately for the gang, York is a bent copper at best and plans to take them all in. With the security diverted, Rice, Mickey and Danny skydive into the grounds - but a bad landing puts Rice out of the game and the Hustlers have to take over. On cue, York arrives to reel in his prize catch, only to discover he's been outwitted him. With all the conmen vanished into thin air, York is left at the scene of the crime just in time to be caught by rival police officer, Cooper.
Trivia[]
- The mark of the episode is Detective Chief Inspector York.
- Michael Stone departs the programme in this episode, he will later return in the fifth series.