Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators

Lawyer George Gonzalo seeks out Frank and Lu to help a client with a difference - he's got 4 paws and is worth his weight in gold. Mongrel Tim, heir to the late Theodore Athenaeus' vast shipping fortune, has run away from his life of luxury at the opulent Miranda Park. With the promise of a £25,000 reward for his safe recovery, Frank and Lu vow to suss out where, and why, Tim would flee, questioning Tim's plethora of staff, vet Antigone Carter, personal trainer Wayne, animal stylist Benoit and eccentric animal undertaker Leonard Baxter along the way. The case heats up when Gonzalo receives a ransom video demanding £200,000, revealing that Tim didn't run away - but was kidnapped. When Lu discovers the CCTV footage from the night Tim went missing was tampered with, it seems Tim's disappearance was an inside job. But who would wish ill on a lonely, pampered pooch?

Adrian Messenger, creator of The Legends of Engelworld, successfully controls the loves and lives of his LARP characters, but struggles with his own; he suspects wife Maggie, aka Queen Margaret, of having an affair with the Duke of Yorcastria, aka Major Tony Suffolk, and employs Frank and Lu to find proof. Undercover in the game, our PIs witness a devastated Maggie threatening to kill Tony when he breaks things off. When Tony, along with Adrian's assistant Katie, is shot during battle by real arrows fired by Maggie, it seems an open and shut case, although Maggie denies knowing her arrows were real. Adrian begs Frank and Lu to prove Maggie's innocence - there are others in Engelworld that might want Tony hurt, including Ewan Clarence, whose King was recently murdered by Tony's Duke. But is the crown of Engelworld really worth killing for?

Failed actor Harold Hamworthy has a penchant for mischief and hogging the limelight, but when he absconds with Sebastian's tourists during a Shakespearean ghost walk, something finally upstages him - in the form of a dismembered human hand. Harold finds himself in hot water when sinister figures Alek and Dimitri try to snatch the hand, but he manages to give them the slip. Meanwhile, Lu and Frank are hired to find missing multimillionaire, Pavel Kusk, by his wife, Anastasia. Frank has a hunch that Pavel could be in the opulent Hotel Philomel; undercover as a bellboy, Sebastian investigates, to discover Pavel Kusk murdered - and missing a hand. With the two incidents linked, and the violent thugs hunting for Harold, Sebastian and the hand, it's a race against the clock to crack the case - who killed Pavel Kusk, and why?

When a falling studio light nearly kills Julienne Fortby live on air during psychic TV show, The Fortby Sisters, the horrified psychic visits Frank and Lu - someone's trying to kill her. Frank's sceptical of the medium, although Lu's impressed when Julienne gets a "message" from her late grandmother. Julienne suspects her jealous sister and co-host, Marcia who lacks 'the gift', is responsible. Investigating at Calpurnia Studios, our PIs discover a host of suspects, among them broadcast technician Scott Blacksell and security guard Bruce Perry, not to mention ex-fan Enid Kascar who the sisters have recently sued after she accused them of fakery. But when Marcia is hit by the Fortby Orb during a live show and hospitalised, the case is thrown wide open... Can Frank and Lu catch whoever's behind these "accidents" before they take a turn for the deadly?

Late one night at Touchstone Farm, farmer Eddie Dogberry's violently assaulted when he accosts three thieves attempting to steal his quad bike. The thieves leave Eddie for dead, witnessed by bag lady, Cynthia Sly, concealed in a haystack... 6 months later Portia Montgomery, Solicitor Advocate, visits Frank and Lu with a plea for help. She's defending Ant Donohue in court for burglary and assault of Eddie Dogberry. Portia suspects Ant's being threatened on remand in prison, but he previously told the police there was a witness there that night who can prove his innocence. Frank visits Ant, who insists he doesn't want girlfriend Stacey Lamb at the trial and reluctantly describes the witness he saw. She sounds awfully familiar to Frank. With just 3 days until the trial, Frank and Lu must track down Cynthia and convince her to give evidence in court, before it's too late...

Arden Constabulary's inundated with complaints about con-artists doing the rounds - and there's something familiar about the duo. At HQ, Frank and Lu haven't had any new clients in over a week, although Sebastian's inundated with complaints. Relieved to finally have a client, Frank and Lu visit Emelia Merchant about her missing husband, but she seems to think they've met before... After being turfed out by angry son Ian Merchant, Frank and Lu return to HQ to a furious mob of clients they've never seen demanding their money back, and DI Marlowe waiting with a smug DS Keeler to arrest them on an extensive list of charges, including a theft of £30K. After a sleepless night in the cells, Frank and Lu set out to prove they're being framed by their mysterious doppelgangers... can the PIs clear their names?

Devastatingly handsome compulsive gambler Lorenzo Foyle's luck may have run out - watching a spinning roulette wheel land on black, he manically laughs that he's a dead man. 3 days later, Lorenzo's pregnant wife, Ava, approaches Frank and Lu, desperate to find him. Frank wonders whether Lorenzo, who owes money all over town, has left her, but Ava's adamant he was excited at the prospect of fatherhood. When a pound of flesh in the form of a heart is sent to The Globe Casino "from Lorenzo", Ava's horrified, although proprietors Ms King and her sister Queenie think it's a practical joke from the local lothario. With conflicting stories about Lorenzo's disappearance not adding up, Lu and Frank delve in to the world of high stakes gambling at the casino, and must take a chance with their own lives to uncover the truth...

Bored during a stake-out, Frank and Lu spot a befuddled-looking man with a head wound wandering the streets; when questioned, the man hasn't a clue who he is. When DI Marlowe can't offer much help, Frank and Lu set out to discover his identity. Sebastian suspects the man's rich upon spotting an expensive watch, and Gloria lends a hand with a spot of hypnosis; the man's flashbacks lead to the illustrious Duke Vincent Hotel, although Manager Claudia Farrel, Receptionist daughter Izzie and their staff have never seen him before. But when Frank and Lu discover a patch of blood on the concrete outside, all evidence indicates that this is where our mystery man fell and lost his memory... or was he pushed? And who could hate him enough to want him dead?

When Runningbrook Tennis Club's owner Frederick Greenwood, new beau of Lu's mother Genevieve, receives a death threat, he hires Frank and a reluctant Lu to find the culprit and go undercover as potential new members. Lu, preoccupied with revision for her impending PI exam, takes an immediate dislike to Frederick, and with staff security codes incriminating surly gardener Adam Oldknow, bitter ex-tennis pro Rose Lin, and ladies' man club captain Orlan Rowlands, our detectives have their work cut out for them. But when the club's mascot costume is found stabbed with a ransom note demanding £100,000, and Orlan is poisoned during the club's Battle of the Sexes match, the case takes a turn for the deadly. Will the blackmailer be discovered, and at what cost for Lu? Will she make her exam in time and finally qualify as a PI?

Newlyweds Anthony and Bianca Percy's new home dreams turn to nightmares on moving day when their removal men abscond with all their worldly goods. Frank and Lu are hired to track down the felons who've been giving Arden Constabulary the run around and operating under a variety of aliases; our PIs respond to a newspaper ad for 'Florian Fortescue' and pose as a warring separated couple to catch the perpetrators. Frank's furious when Florian's accomplice turns out to be none other than Billy 'The Brick' Porters. Later, Florian's lock up full of stolen goods is visited by gangster Claude Mortimer and henchwoman Mercy. The sinister pair are clearly hunting for something when Billy, on a stock take, dislodges a box, alerting them to his presence. The next morning, a dead body is discovered - and it's up to Frank and Lu to identify the victim.