Spooks/The Book

The Book
4x05
Airdate
Written by
Directed by
← 4x04 Road Trip	4x06 → The Innocent
Spooks — Season Four

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The Book is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Spooks.

Plot Overview

Gary Hicks, a journalist, arrives at the home of an ex-MI5 officer for an interview. The officer, Clive McTaggart, is in the garden with a plastic bag over his head and two men standing by him. Realising he has stumbled in on something he shouldn't know about, Gary runs for his life and gets away, but he has been seen. Later, Harry is upset to learn of the officer's death on the news.

Gary was an old friend of Ruth's so he goes to her house and waits for her. When he tells her what he's seen, she immediately calls Harry round to hear the story. Gary explains that Clive was writing a book, revealing all kinds of secrets. Someone obviously didn't want the book to be published. Once Harry realises it was murder not suicide, he orders an investigation and insists Gary and Ruth go to a safe house.

Adam pays a call on a woman who seems to be involved, Jo Portman. He dresses as a gas meter reader, but quickly discovers that she's just an aspiring journalist who has been trying to contact Gary for work. She takes a shine to Adam and suspects him of being more than just a meter reader.

Gary, convinced he's got the scoop to end all scoops, escapes, running to his newspaper office, intending to write up the story. Luckily Adam heads him off, but as the two men leave together Jo happens to be walking past. Intrigued she follows them to the safe house. She catches up with Adam in a café and confronts him with his double life. He pretends he is a bodyguard. Jo is intrigued and keeps a watch on the safe house.

Meanwhile, someone plants a tracking device in Ruth's coat. Two men follow her to the safe house and wait outside. They walk up to the front door and Jo, seeing that they have a gun, smashes some car windows, setting off the alarms to warn the Spooks in the safe house. At the same time she throws her mobile into the car, knowing it will enable the Spooks to trace where the car goes.

After a shoot out in the safe house the two men escape, injured. Back at the Grid Malcolm is able to use Jo's phone signals to track their route, match the route with their own mobiles and even find out what numbers they've been calling. They turn out to be MI5 officers! Harry finally traps Juliet into admitting that MI5 needed Clive McTaggart out of the way, so he won't publish MI5 secrets in his book. She agrees to leave it there, and not hurt Gary if he promises not to write the story. Impressed by Jo's skill in helping them solve the case, Adam offers her a job at MI5.

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