Who did murder that poor lad Timmy? (Spoilers from Lemming!)

For the first time I saw this wonderful and rather wicked TV show named “Cracker” in my early twenties. I liked it as well as, for example, “Homicide: Life in the street” (of Boston AFAIR) although sometimes I might ridicule some of Fitz’s observations. And at that time I was almost mesmerized by the mystery of the episode “One Day a Lemming Will Fly”.
Back then from the first half of the episode part 1 I thought that the school teacher Cassidy was murderer of the young lad Tim. He had very suspicious behaviour (the strongest feeling of guilt among all characters and two suicide attempts!), direct evidences against him and finally quite shady and unsympathetic face (it is important for any TV show with mystery).
Alas! Disturbed teacher was so obvious suspicious, that after awhile I began to think that soon there would certainly be the new “turn of the screw“ (or even “a twisted ending”, as people use to say now).
Well, I was right; it HAD a surprise ending – and a good one.
But by the final credits I didn’t really believe that guy Cassidy saying the truth. That he hadn’t killed his pupil. For the God sake, he was prime suspect by sound reason and he had convincing evidences against him, fibres in his wrist watch, proving that he did touch the boy’s shirt after school but before the time of death. And he confessed.
I hoped that creators of this TV show would reveal the identity of the murderer in one of the next episodes, but AFAIR they didn’t. It was great move, of course, but I felt somehow cheated. Like in real life, when we can’t find the truth sometimes.

And yesterday night I quite occasionally saw the same episode for the second time! Gee, it was good enough to see even now, when we’ve got plenty of very good TV shows. Robbie Coltrane is really amazing not only as Hagrid :-).
But this unsolved crime, undisclosed mystery tortures me now.
Who did murder that poor Timmy Lang?

Starting with the end, when the teacher said the truth? Saying he killed or saying he did not?
He can lie about not being murderer, of course. What for? To wound Fitz to the quick. Everything points at him. He can be murderer after all. But if not?
Firstly, if we believe Cassidy’s last confession that he didn’t kill the boy, was it suicide or murder?
Is it possible to be suicide? Poor lad came to his teacher, proposed his puppy love to him, was rejected and turned away (Cassidy’s last version), after that killed (hung) himself. End of story.
But Mr. Napoleon of forensics said it had really been a murder (hands marks on the kid’s throat). Could they be just traces of attempt murder or molestation whereupon Tim hung himself? No, because of bruises on the boy’s face – he was laying facedown after death for a while, Mr. Big-time Actor (formerly known as pathologist) said.
Then what mo***er killed Tim? It could be almost anyone we saw in this episode (and it could be anyone who wasn’t shown in this episode, any person living in the city, but I don’t want to consider this possibility, it is not interesting and not sporting :-)).
All right, let’s assume that Nigel Cassidy finally told the truth and he didn’t kill, he wasn’t queer etc.
At first sight most suspicious aside from the teacher is the family of the boy – the Langs. Separated mother and father, eldest brother. Every one of them can be murderer.
Motive: some member of the family got to know that the young lad (“he was like a girl more than a boy”) adored extremely his teacher, maybe even saw him visiting Nigel Cassidy in secret that night. Emotions burst, “How dare you!”, one dead body. Tragic version of the “Billy Eliot”.
M.O.: suffocation points more at woman or fable man. From my point of view his father or brother most likely would beat the lad to the death (in that case could be involuntary manslaughter, too).
So, mother then? Strangle her own boy, left him in the mug face down, then came back, hang him up and wait 12 hours before call to her ex-husband and the police? What for to hang poor lad? Cover finger marks and imitate suicide? It is a bit silly, but possible (especially if person doesn’t know a lot about forensics’ methods). Terrible. I don’t know. And BTW it is not easy for woman – to hang 13-years lad on the quite high tree. But possible, if a lady is strong enough and a boy is quite subtle.
The same motive had Nigel’s girlfriend, how was her name? Leslie, no? Her behaviour at the police station can count in favour of Leslie (if Nigel wasn’t a queer she did not have real motive to kill the boy) or against her (if he was). For 3 years she didn’t recognize a gay, all right. The police told her and she destroyed Cassidy’s alibi. Or she just pretended to get shock? What for did she create that alibi with chicken and sex? Did he ask her to do that? She probably saw the boy and his teacher in Cassidy’s flat on the first floor, through the window. Maybe she got it all wrong? Same reason against her guilt as against Mrs. Lang’s - it is very hard for a lady – to hang a teenager on the quite high tree. And why she killed him, not Nigel, who had lied to her? Because she thought the boy was a “seducer” or easier target than Cassidy?
One more version: one person killed Timmy, but another person hung the lad up. What for? First one could be a woman as well as a man, second one – most likely a man. To cover himself if suspect or to cover somebody known as possible murderer. Circle of suspects widens almost two times more.
At the very beginning of the movie we saw the boy fleeing away from murderer, and an adult running (faster than jogging) – running after Tim? It’s possible. If Tim was escaping, it was unknown person or well-known but dangerous one, who was chasing him. Poor lad even lost his shoe.
One more possible suspect, it is Mr. Bates  Red foxy lady’s clandestine lover. What for he murdered the boy (if he did)? Being aggressive macho or latent queer? He liked to be rough with his partner before sex, he saw the hanged body, but he didn’t inform the police. But in that case  why he didn’t identify the jogger (Cassidy) to the police? For him it was the easiest way to duck out. Maybe he was afraid of open trial? A witness can become a murderer.
Important issue – during this episode nobody has ever said that the lad had been raped or had had any kind of sex with someone. The role of forensic was shown as very little one – just to confirm the fact of violent death after ultra speed and superficial examination. We don’t know the post-mortem autopsy findings at all!!! It works fine for the story line telling us that it could by different motives, not only “passion crime”.
And can we put in doubt Mr. Bonaparte’s summary as expert? Yes sir, we can. For example, bruises on the lad’s face could be not post-mortem, but ante-mortem. Somebody could brutally beat Tim before death – during assault (including sexual assault) or as a punishment for… something shameful.
In that case some one (possibly Cassidy who said he had liked Tim because he was sissy, possibly one of Tim’s family, possibly bullies or any third person) could beat the boy and even try to throttle him, but the lad could escape and later hung himself because of shame, fear, despair or destroyed expectations.
Even the Pathologist himself  he could be murderer, too! Why not? Nobody suspected him!
Everyone could be murderer. A lot of versions can emerge. Watcher or writer’s rich and twisted :-)) imagination could make any one else murderer or murderess: for example, still moustached at that time detective–sergeant Beck (trying to prove that he hadn’t been a queer as Fitz speculated later?), mate of Mr. Lang who together with Timmy’s father tried to kill Cassidy by the excavator bucket and was detained (latent paedophile?), school bullies (simply hunting and tormenting Tim or attempting molestation?) etc.
Even Fitz himself! Unhappy in his family life, drinking hard, with his wife untouched for long enough… Stop, that is absurd, right? Let’s accept the axiom that our prime investigator is above suspicion.
Indeed I don’t actually suspect members of Fitz’s family, DS Jane Panhandle (I just like her), big boss chief-inspector David (so occupied with his wife’s situation), Mrs. Perry “The Red” (lady who first saw the hanged lad and cried in real terror), or croupier in the casino :-))).
So, Cassidy, Mr. & Mrs. Lang, Andy Lang, Leslie, Mr. Rough Mystery Lover, Tim’s father mate, DS Beck or one of several other above-mentioned characters of this whodunit more or less could be “our guy”. Or it was assault with subsequent suicide.

But probably we will never find out. Like in real life – for example, in “the boy in the box” case in Philly and many others…