This post contains spoilers for Payback episode 2. Lexie Noble entered into an uneasy agreement with Cal Morris in the opening episode, but that's before the crime boss discovered her late husband had stolen millions of pounds from him!
Here's our recap of what happened in Payback episode 2, available to watch now on ITVX...
Lexie Noble throws away her husband’s burner phone, while DCI Khan listens in on the wiretap (that was installed with the most pathetic cover story ever!) yet after she leaves the house she becomes suspicious of a van that’s following her. Luckily it’s a false alarm, but let’s be honest — who can blame her for being nervous?
At Jared’s office, Lexie discovers the police didn’t confiscate any of his financial records — which seems quite odd — especially as one piece of paper reveals he was doing 'consultancy' for five mysterious clients. Jobs that brought in more than all the firm’s other work.
Later on, Lexie discovers her mortgage was repaid in full in 2019. This news would be received with the same joy as a lottery win for most of us, but Lexie is immediately suspicious when she finds that the faceless and tangibly dodgy organisation Pier Horizon made the payment, as that’s one of the five clients Jared had been "consulting" for.
However, she has no time to do any further digging, because Morris unexpectedly sends a car to pick her up. It's an offer Lexie realises she can’t refuse. Without her phone and handbag, she’s whisked into a restaurant, where Morris and Malky are sat like a pair of Bond villains. They want those account details.
Lexie then plucks up the courage to ask if Morris is the man behind "Pier Enterprises" and he confirms he is and that it was he that paid off her mortgage because he "looks after the people who work for him".
Malky then advises that they have 48 hours to complete the deal and gives her a deadline of midday tomorrow to come up with those account details. What will Lexie do?
Later on, she has a moving conversation with her daughter, who still hasn’t grasped the news about her dad. Amid all the gangsters and financial crime, it’s a touching moment in which the drama valiantly tries to confront the trauma and grief that would be riven through Lexie’s family. But it doesn’t last long, because the plot needs to keep rolling.
Indeed, a tender moment in which the pair cherish Jared’s sweater is soon swept away when Lexie discovers the account number everyone is looking for in the pocket. At least we assume it’s the account number…
'A conflict of interests...'
Meanwhile, DCI Adam Guthrie is finally sharing what they know about Lexie, Jared and Cal Morris’s shady island deal with DI Jean Royce, who’s investigating Jared’s murder.
DI Khan explains how Jared Noble had been receiving large sums of money, which came from a number of shell companies that are suspected of being used as money-laundering vehicles by Morris — making Jared his "money man".
DCI Guthrie then outlines how he believes Morris will try to buy the island again and once he does, it will be their chance to take him down.
After the meeting, DI Royce explains that Lexie is a prime suspect in her own investigation into her husband’s murder, yet DCI Guthrie puts her off, probably to suit his own needs. Whatever happens, he doesn’t want Morris or Lexie Noble to realise they’ve made the connection about them. DI Royce agrees not to rock the boat.
'Nobody steals from me...'
In desperate need of some cash flow, Lexie decides to share the account details she discovered in Jared's pocket with Morris, in the hope that he’ll be able to “look after her”. DI Khan overhears on the wiretap, yet also realises that because Lexie has a burner phone, they couldn’t hear Morris, and still don't have any hard evidence it's Morris she's speaking to.
However Morris does invite her for a drink at Castle Terrace and DI Khan realises the meeting alone would be proof that she’s involved in Morris’ operation. He doesn’t tell DI Jean Royce about this development, although Lexie is able to shake off her tail pretty easily at the car park and leaves in another car, which means Morris realises she may have been compromised.
He then whisks her off to his granddaughter’s birthday party, where Malky ruins the festive mood by revealing the Maltese transfer has gone through and the money is there. However, after going through all the details, he and Dimitri have found a load of other unknown shell companies that have been regularly and surreptitiously receiving money. It's presumed Jared has been doing this and doctoring the paperwork to hide his footprints. Looks like he managed to syphon off £28 in total - yet still had the temerity to get Morris to pay off his mortgage, very cheeky!
Malky then mentions that maybe they were wrong to trust Jared and his wife, but receives a dangerous rebuke from his boss.
'Do you think she’s playing us?'
After dragging Lexie into his office, Morris begins interrogating her about the money her husband stole. She protests her ignorance to this bombshell and explains that she has no money. If she’s lying it’s a phenomenal performance under great pressure from Lexie.
Morris says he’ll tear the city apart to get back the money he lost and that Lexie’s daughter’s life is at risk if she doesn’t help him find the missing cash. With that sword of Damocles hanging over her family, she gets to work on the files. With one copy of each record, one from the bank and one provided by Jared. It looks like a monumental task!
As he watches her work, Morris’s son Aaron wonders if Lexie is playing a game and if she was in on her late husband’s plan. A small part of us is wondering the same thing - it would be one hell of a twist!
After hours of scrutinising the accounts, Aaron drops Lexie back at the carpark and then the police trace the car’s registration, the police realise she had who she’d been meeting with.
When Lexie returns to the accounts the following day, she manages to work out how Jared had carefully and systematically been draining money from each shell company, via a series of invisible accounts, to duplicate companies bearing exactly the same name as each shell company — but registered in a different jurisdiction. He then altered the records to cover that up.
Lexie says that tracing these companies via unofficial channels will be difficult, but Malky says he’ll give her everything she needs to complete her work. We think she’d hoped that might have been her work done, but no such luck.
In another twist, the agent handling the sale of the island has mysteriously gone missing, along with some important paperwork.
Later on, at Morris’ granddaughter’s birthday party, Lexie updates Morris and he gives her some cash, right next to some big windows. She accepts it and the police get photos of the exchange. Given that Morris thought that Lexie was being surveilled, was he setting her up here? If he was, it’s a very risky game, because he’s also given the DCI Guthrie some serious leverage against her. This is exactly what we presume he’ll be telling her when he bumps into her at the carpark later on that evening!
Payback continues on ITV1 on Wednesday at 9 pm. The entire series is also available on ITVX
