Paula Symes (New Tricks)

Paula Symes (Beth Goddard) is a hidden villainess from "It Smells of Books," episode 7.02 of New Tricks (airdate 17 September 2010). She is the wife of lecturer Richard Symes, and the owner of a book shop.
Sometime in 2007, Richard Symes fell off the roof of the school where he taught, with his death originally labeled as a suicide. Brian Lane questioned the claim after it was revealed that on the night of his death, Richard had a plethora of books while he was on the roof. The progression of UCOS' investigation revealed that Richard having the books was due to the fact that he had stolen them from the school's library.
As revealed in the episode, Paula was involved in the book stealing scheme, which had Richard stealing the books so they could be sold at Paula's shop. A third co-conspirator in the plan was Tim Mortimer, who was later revealed as Paula's illicit lover, as their affair began six months before Richard's death. Both Tim and Paula were interrogated separately, with the villainess being interviewed by DSI Sandra Pullman and Jack Halford. In response to the claims, the evil Paula arrogantly stated that they had no proof of the claims, only to later confess to the scheme after evidence was uncovered. The villainess stated that Richard's motivation for the scheme was due to him being on his way to losing his job at the hands of chancellor Jeremy Ventham.
After Paula's affair was uncovered, she claimed that it happened months after her husband's death, though the truth was revealed by Tim--that their affair began months prior to Richard's death. Because of this, Paula was suspected in her husband's murder, though it was ultimately revealed that Ventham killed Richard. Paula's fate wasn't revealed.
Category:2010s
Category:Adulteress
Category:Blonde
Category:Conspirator
Category:Deceiver
Category:Greedy
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Thief
Category:Villain's Lover
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Inconclusive