Intelligence Squared London Falling: Patrick Radden Keefe on How Money, Power and Corruption Shape Our City, with Emily Maitlis (Part Two)
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May 12, 2026 
Patrick Radden Keefe, award‑winning investigative journalist and author, discusses his probe into a mysterious Thames-side death and a family's hunt for truth. He unpacks police failings, forensic oversights and the murky role of money, corruption and crime in modern London. The conversation also looks at identity, social media-era behaviour and how institutional priorities shape outcomes.
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How The Brettlers' Private Sleuthing Built The Story
- Patrick Radden Keefe first learned the story in summer 2023 and found no public record because the Brettlers had kept Zach's death private.
- The Brettlers had already recorded conversations and collected police files while searching, which Keefe used to reconstruct events and gain access.
Politeness Hid A Harder Reality With The Police
- The Brettlers were unusually deferential and polite with the Metropolitan Police, which limited their ability to challenge investigative failures.
- Keefe notes their privilege made their timid approach striking given they might normally expect better treatment from authorities.
Routine Policing Mistakes Can Mask Serious Failings
- Keefe doubts a grand conspiracy and attributes many failures to under-resourcing and routine pattern recognition policing.
- He documents careless shortcuts like untested blood evidence and assumptions that a lone balcony fall equalled suicide.
