Showtrial season 2 follows the story of a high-profile climate activist named Marcus Calderwood, who names a serving police officer as his killer just moments before he dies. Soon a quest for the truth gets underway as the trial of the decade begins, but not everyone is being entirely honest about what really happened the night of Marcus's hit and run.
The third episode opens with Southgate questioning Sandra, who more than holds her own when she is quizzed about her trip to Serbia to collect a dog. She relays the same story as Justin about getting her car fixed on the way by a Solvenian uncle after she pranged her car in the gym car park.
Time flashes forward 6 weeks and we see Sam struggling to sleep again becasue he has run out of pills. The next morning he gets a knock at his front door and it is two uniformed police, who ask him if there is a Rodger Blumenthal at home. Sam fobs them off, pretending he doesn't know what they are on about, and when they say they have been contacted by Border Force who have seized a package of controlled drugs from Holland addressed to this house. Sam says he is a lawyer and wouldn't risk his career by ordering drugs, but it is clear the police don't believe him.
Sam visits Justin in prison and says he wants to put Sandra on the stand and Justin agrees... saying that he thinks his girlfriend will be fine when put under pressure. But as Justin rambles on with his seemingly irrelevant conversation, Sam tells him it's all nonsense. However, Justin says nothing he says is irrelevant and that he just needs to listen properly.
As news reports reveal the splinter group from Stop Climate Genocide, called Fight Climate Genocide has launched violent protests, Marcus's old neighbour Patrick goes to see journalist Felix at the new SCG headquarters. They argue and eventually Felix agrees to interview Patrick, who is hoping to clear his name of any links to Marcus's murder. Patrick admits in the interview that he knows Justin and that they have shared interests, however, murder isn't one of them.
Sam's son, Mani, arrives home from uni and hands him some of the pills he needs, having got them from someone he knows at university. He tells him that he can use them to tide him over but he needs to go back to his therapist and get himself straight. The next morning Sam wakes full of energy, having slept for the whole night.
That same morning Leila goes to see her mother after seeing her estranged sister, Tamara, has posted something damaging online about her. She tells her mum that she secretly got married to a friend of Alex's from Guatemala so that he could get an EU passport, although it happened years ago this could damage her career and she asks her mum to use her influence to put a stop to this. But Harriet doesn't seem to want to help and refuses to get between the warring sisters.
Meanwhile, Sam talks to Sandra about what she told the police in her first interview as they put their defense together. He asks her why the other person involved in the gym collision has said that their car took the brunt of the impact and came off the worst in the crash and that Sandra's car was barely damaged, yet she got her uncle to replace an entire panel on the car, but she fobs him off.
Philip Holmes, the KC for the trial, arrives to talk to Southgate and Leila now that they have a date for the court case. Philip begins by confirming that Sandra's story about the dog turned out to be true and that the paint from the bike pedal is still inconclusive. It is also revealed that Becky Norris is on sick leave after the D4 gang found out she was the one who leaked the information about their WhatsApp group to the police.
Back at the prison, Sam and Justin talk and Justin can tell that Sam has finally got some sleep. Sam tells Justin about Patrick Norris's interview with Felix and once again Justin talks in riddles with Sam but does let slip that he might know where the bike from Marcus's hit-and-run could be if Patrick was involved... claiming that Patrick knows about all the 'diversions and decoys' in the area. Sam is confused, but when he gets back to the office he searches Patrick's shooting club online and sees there is a pond on there called 'Decoy Pond' - could this be what Justin was hinting about? And if he knows where the bike is, then he is involved. But why is he dragging Patrick into it?
Sam tells Mani about his conversation with Justin about Decoy Pond and claims it isn't his job to tell the police about a 'hunch' but it is clear his son doesn't agree. While he is at home playing card games, Claudia is leaving the office late when she is suddenly attacked by a gang of FCG members who have stormed into the office with masks on. They smash up the office and tie her to a chair, putting a skeleton mask on her face and film her being doused in chemicals while she screams for them to stop.
Later, after the police have arrived, Sam races to the scene where he tries to comfort Claudia, but she is in a bad way and yells at him that she told him not to take on Justin's case.
The following morning Felix calls Helen McGuire to say he received an anonymous tip in his DMs from a VPN and it turns out that the tip-off was about Decoy Pond, which the police search and find a bike, exactly where Justin hinted it would be. However, Southgate is confused at first when the bike has two pedals... and he quickly realises that the pedal they have been testing for car paint probably isn't from Marcus's bike after all, unless it has been swapped. Marcus's helmet is also found, but the camera from the top is missing.
Southgate tells his team that Patrick Norris has asked for a meeting with him later that day, meaning the police don't need to arrest him. During the team meeting Leila gets a message where the photo of her marrying her partner's friend now shows her face, clearly visible. She is thrown and misses parts of the conversation. Later she visits her sister, but they end up having another huge row.
Partick is interviewed by Southgate and Packham and double checks he isn't under caution. They point out that the place he used as his alibi is now where they have found Marcus's bike, but Patrick points out that Justin has also been to the shooting club and they have been fishing there together so knows the area well. He admits that he and Justin share interests including fishing and gambling, but also 'more grown up' interests, too.
Meanwhile, Sam gets a call from Sandra telling him that the police have asked her to come in and be questioned under caution, he tells her that he will meet her there and they will have time to chat before she is interviewed.
Southgate tells Leila about videos they have found on a niche homemade porn site and it shows Justin having sex with Patrick's wife, Elena Norris, probably filmed by Patrick himself. Leila asks about Sandra and he tells her that she isn't involved, but that is why she is being brought in for questioning in the morning and they're hoping this means she might stop protecting Justin.
Leila tells Southgate not to take the trouble against Sam and the imported drugs any further as she doesn't think it is right to use someone's private life against them to settle old scores, clearly talking about her own problems at home as well. He agrees to drop it. At Sam's, Mani comes home and he asks if he was the one who tipped off Felix about the bike location, and Mani denies it. But as he walks away, we see that Sam has been googling 'painless suicide' on his computer.
Sandra turns up for her interview with the police and Southgate confirms she isn't under arrest, only caution. Southgate asks if Sandra knows that Justin was sleeping with Elina Norris, and she claims it is 2024 and they both enjoy sex so it is fine. She tells the police that they are getting married, but she starts to cry when they tell her that Justin has been joking about her on his group chats, telling everyone he will rent her out as a naked cleaner. She admits that she did that once to help clear a huge gambling debt that Justin had. Southgate tells Sandra that she deserves better than a man like Justin, who is always going to let her down. She then admits that she has something that she needs to tell them, and Sam asks for a break in the interview.
Leila gets a visit from her mum who accuses her of upsetting her sister, Tamara, they argue and her mum leaves. Southgate calls her and admits they have lost the pedal... it has vanished from the French forensics lab and now they will never know if it was from Marcus's bike or not. He also tells her Sandra is about to make a witness statement.
Sam visits Justin and tells him the police have turned Sandra against him. He is upset, telling Sam that it was only sex with Elena and that he was only joking about the naked cleaning. He starts being rude to Sam, belittling him and Sam sees red, slamming his hand on the table between them and shocking Justin.
Sam asks about the bike, saying it was found in Decoy Pond, where Justin said it would be. Justin says someone else that Patrick also likes to keep on side is Chief Superintendant Whitley, who has also been to the shooting club. They continue to clash, and Sam tells Justin that if Sandra gives a different version of events to the police than his, then he is in real trouble.
While Sandra signs her witness statement (although we don't know what it says) Felix can be seen writing a post for 'Indifference Kills' the blog he had claimed wasn't his. The post questions whether Patrick Norris is a police informant. Elsewhere we see Sam struggling to sleep once again as he wakes in the night and screams into his pillow.
All five episodes of Showtrial season 2 are now available on BBC iPlayer. The series will also air on Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.
