Ghost Ship - Recap

The episode opens with the Nemesis crew out on the water. They spot a drifting yacht and when Tommy asks over the speakerphone to put its navigation lights on, there is no response. Tommy and Gavin go on board while Fiona stays on the Nemesis. On the yacht - the Black Opal - they find the burnt remains of someone, but there is no sign of fire. There is also a dog on board. Neither Tommy or Gavin wants to stay on the yacht and steer so they flip a coin - Gavin is the unlucky one.

Rachel and Frank talk to Clarke and Jeff about the yacht. Frank thinks that it looks like a standard drug run and wants to get the sniffer dogs to go through the yacht, but forensics are looking at it. Rachel and Frank then talk to one of the forensic officers, who won't speculate about what happened to the dead person on board.

With help from Helen, the detectives find out who owns the boat - David Williams. The name sounds familiar to Frank but not to Rachel. Helen gives them an address. As they go to leave, Patty is there to see Frank (she is Frank's sister in-law and Jimmy's wife). She thinks that Jimmy is looking for the man who planted drugs on him. Frank says he can't do anything without a name, so Patty says she'll try and get a name.

There has been a bus accident which has gone into the water. The Nemesis and Harpy crew race to get there. The driver is still inside the bus, which has sunk and the divers help to get him out.

At David Williams' house, Frank and Rachel hear screaming. Inside, they find a woman who has been burnt on the face with an iron. Her daughter, Nikki, is there as well, hiding. At the station, Frank and Rachel talk to Nikki, asking her about David - who was her mum's boyfriend. She doesn't know much however.

A man from Quarantine arrives at the station, telling Gavin that the dog found on board the yacht will be put down as it came from Thailand. Gavin decides that he is going to pay for it; but the quarantine period is for nine months at $800 a month. Gavin changes his mind.

Helen tells Frank about David Williams. He had just been to Thailand on board his boat, and came back to Australia via a plane. Frank thinks he may have got someone else to get the boat for him and sail it back to Sydney.

Frank, Rachel and Jeff are out on the wharf. They have to wait two days before they are able to put sniffer dogs on the yacht. Forensics think that there is a rare medical phenomenon on board, and when questioned about it, Vickery eventually tells them that he thinks it's spontaneous combustion.

Later that night, Frank and Rachel are out having a drink. Rachel tells Frank a story about when she was overseas she saw the body of a man who was set a light, and it burnt with a blue flame. Frank is annoyed that they haven't been able to get the dogs on board, and he gets Rachel to order him some food. He goes to the Black Opal and gets on board; finding that it had been trashed. When he hears people coming, Frank has no choice but to jump in the water. Rachel sits and waits at the pub.

In the morning, Frank is questioned by Clarke about the boat. He says he was with Rachel, who then, by lying, eventually confirms that he was. They then go to the hospital and see Angie, the woman who was burnt with an iron. David told Angie that the boat was bringing back some drugs, but nothing more than that.

The radio operator tells Jeff and Helen that the driver of the bus involved in the accident, has died. Helen sees the name on a piece of paper, she knew the man - Peter Haynes.


In the detectives office, Rachel and Frank talk to Nikki again. They ask her if David had anywhere he would use as a hideaway. Nikki tells them that he had a house near the water, they went there by boat.

Helen and Fiona go and see Peter Haynes' wife Julie. They get her to go inside, and tell her that Peter is dead. Julie goes into shock, saying "why did it have to be you?" to Helen, and she pushes her. She then tells them to leave. Back at the station, Helen tells Fiona that she and Julie used to be in a relationship.

On board a small boat, Nikki shows Frank and Rachel where David's other house is. They get a search warrant and go back to the house, finding David dead in the shed. Frank thinks he has been dead for 24 hours, so they are now following a cold trail. Clarke tells them that the sniffer dogs found that there had been drugs in one compartment of the boat.

Patty arrives at the station to see Frank. She has a name for him - Ricky Peterson.

Helen has information for Frank and Rachel. David was friends with Groper Murphy, and Helen finds an address for them. At the house, they see Groper arrive and it's enough for a warrant to search his house. Michael Farrell from the SPG helps Rachel and Frank with the warrant. When Groper comes out of his house, they get him to take his jacket and t-shirt off and Frank then pretends he is the Groper. Frank enters the house, and the other police officers arrive quickly. A lot of heroin is found.


Rachel and Frank interview Warren Martin, a man who was inside Groper's house. He was on board the Black Opal. He tells them that the other man on board was drinking whiskey and smoking, and he started to burn up. There were blue flames all over him and Warren tried to throw water on him but it didn't help. Warren then decided to jump overboard, not wanting the same thing to happen to him.

Frank and Rachel take Warren to the Sydney Police Centre to be charged.

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