With the body now identified and the discovery of a man living under his name, Elaine Boyes is the only person who knows both men. So who is Ronald Platt? And who would want him dead?You can binge all episodes of Sea of Lies early and ad-free on CBC True Crime Premium on Apple Podcasts, or binge all episodes right now on YouTube.
Chapter 1: Who is Ronald Platt and why is his story significant?
There was a knock, there was a discovery, and then suddenly there were two Ronald Platts. One dead in the coroner's freezer in Devon, and the other walking around, paying bills in charming neighbours in a small village in Essex.
The police had accidentally figured out that the man they had interviewed nearly two months ago, who they knew as David Davis, and who told them he was a close friend of Ronald Platt's, was now possibly living as Ronald Platt.
So now, a death which, up until this point, had been understood to most likely either be a boating accident or a suicide, was a big question mark, followed by an exclamation mark.
I guess it's at that point that you, I guess, a bit more switched on to, right, OK, we need to step this up a level.
Chapter 2: How did the police uncover the truth about Ronald Platt?
For investigators, the doorknock revelation had so thoroughly flipped everything on its head that the detectives, like Bill McDonald, were forced to look backwards at the work they'd already done to see if there was anything that jumped out under this new light. A new lead? A new person?
And you then recall that there's been a conversation in the past about the deceased having some ex-partner.
MacDonald and his colleague Ian Clenahan had learned in the interview with Ron's big brother Brian that Ron Platt had an old girlfriend.
A woman called Elaine, Elaine Boyes.
Elaine Boyes.
In suggesting Elaine Boyes, I think he was hoping that she might be able to answer more of the questions that would help us. And then it's right, okay, we need to find Elaine Boyes.
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Chapter 3: What role does Elaine Boyes play in the investigation?
They learned that Elaine was living in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, the same town in which the dead man's Rolex had last been serviced. So a plan was struck for Clenahan to set up a meeting, face-to-face.
The aim was to get as much information as we can about David Davis from Elaine.
David Davis had told police that he'd known Ron for several years, so they thought it likely that this Elaine and David Davis would know each other. And therefore, the police had to be careful.
Because, you know, we didn't know what the relationship really was between Elaine and David Davis. You don't know what you're walking into? Were they still in contact? Were they whatever? He was firmly under our suspicions, but we just wanted to see what Elaine would tell us.
So Clenahan sat down with Elaine in a cafe up in Harrogate. And very quickly, he would come to learn that Elaine was more important to this story than he could have possibly imagined.
We track Elaine down, and she tells us a fascinating and very interesting story.
Elaine was the key to everything.
Oh, gosh, this is the difficult bit to talk about, to be honest. I'd better be careful what I say on here. Better be careful.
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Chapter 4: How did Elaine Boyes meet Ronald Platt?
I'm Sam Mullins, and this is Sea of Lies from CBC's Uncover. Episode 2, When Ron Met Ron. When Elaine was young, she entered the workforce with a clear dream in her mind. One day, she hoped to become the executive assistant to someone important. Capital S, capital I. A line of work she was a natural for. Supremely organized, competent, and useful in the arena of business where big egos run amok.
She was hardwired to please, hardwired to de-escalate, and do whatever is asked of her.
Because I'd had quite a difficult childhood. I remember my dad used to argue a lot and my dad could be quite violent. You do everything to appease and you avoid conflict and that's what I was like. This compliant female that's very friendly and outgoing on the surface but underneath it she's not going to ask too many questions.
While lots of peers were pairing off and getting married in their early 20s, Elaine didn't have the time or interest for a relationship. A stance which, as we know from the first act of any romance, will not be sustainable.
Well, meeting Rowan was interesting because it was a blind date. I was introduced by two friends. They kept pastoring me, actually, for about a week. They kept saying, we've got this chap, we'd like you to meet this chap.
So they set up a double date.
It was January 1980 or 81. It was absolutely freezing, and we met up in a pub.
Elaine walked into the dim warmth of the pub with her friends, took off her coat, and there he was.
Oh, gosh. I would say he looked like a good-looking Cliff Richard now. Cliff Richard is good looking, but he reminded me of Cliff Richard.
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Chapter 5: Why was Canada significant to Ronald Platt?
They complimented each other in a way because she was sort of really quite an extrovert and he was completely the opposite. They just really seemed to be meant for each other at that time somehow.
They built a life together. But even from the very beginning, it was clear that there was something missing for Ron. He loved Elaine very much, but his heart was always somewhere else. Canada. With Ron, it was always about Canada. And who better to describe Ron's lifelong connection to Canada than his one surviving family member, Jeff Platt. He was my big brother.
My parents emigrated to Canada in 1955, where my dad was a teacher in various small towns.
Ron and Jeff's folks had been struggling to make ends meet in post-war England for years, and were desperate for change.
Because they were living in a converted bus in Birmingham...
So when the opportunity to teach in Canada came up, they leapt at it. But the Platts were cursed from the beginning. A few days before their first Canadian Christmas, their house burnt down, nearly with Ron in it, and they lost everything.
But instead of taking it as a sign that they'd made a horrible mistake by coming here, this incident would be recorded in the pliable young brain of Ron Platt as a foundational positive memory because of what happened next. The neighboring farmers rallied to help this new family of strangers.
They took the Platts in, gave them their coats, and helped them salvage their first Christmas and survive their first real winter.
even though we were pretty isolated in small Canadian towns. That's where his romantic love for Canada came.
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Chapter 6: Who is David Davis and what is his connection to Elaine?
So he said, that is absolutely brilliant. We could do that. He said, and what I could do is send you to Geneva and you could photograph the fountains of Geneva. He said, because they've got the most amazing fountains. He said, we could do one of these coffee table books with all the fountains of Geneva. He said, that would be absolutely brilliant.
And it's here, at Geneva Fountain Coffee Table Book, that Elaine says what anyone in their right mind would have said.
And I actually said, you don't know me from Adam. I said, you don't know anything about me.
I could be the worst photographer in the UK for all you know. And besides, Elaine knew that this whole exercise was moot anyway.
The other thing is we're saving up to go to live in Canada with my boyfriend because he's crazy about Canada and he wants to move to Canada. So if I took a job for you, I wouldn't be working for you for very long.
But instead of David Davis letting it go, the Canada thing only seemed to make him more excited.
It would be great, he said, because you could save up. I could pay you more than you're earning a year and you can then save up to go to Canada. You get there quicker. It was just like he wanted me, he wanted to do a business that I would be happy doing. You know, if I'd have said, let's do a sweet shop, I bet you would have done that.
As bizarre and thrilling as this conversation had been, Elaine had to get back to work. But it was clear that Davis wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Like he wouldn't leave unless I'd agreed to work for him. It felt like that. So I said, look, I'll tell you what, I'll give you my business card and let me have a think about it. You go back to London, you give yourself some time to think about it. And the next time you're up in Harrogate looking for properties, give me a call and we'll go from there.
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Chapter 7: What were Elaine's initial thoughts on David Davis's offer?
As they talked it through a bit more that night, Elaine safely drifted all the way back to Earth. Of course, she thought, this was probably just an eccentric having a laugh. Yeah, it was nothing.
He's gone back to London and that'll probably be it.
A week went by, then two.
And then to be honest, I went back to work and I completely forgot about it. But then... A phone call out of the blue and it was David Davis. Oh, hi, he says, it's David Davis from London. He said, I'm coming up to Harrogate on a week on Thursday. How about we meet up and go for a coffee? So I said, yeah, that'll be fine.
So on the Thursday, Elaine meets up with Davis in a cafe, not really knowing what to expect.
He asked me about the job. Had I considered the job? Did I fancy working for him? What did Ron think about it? So we had conversations around that, and he could tell that I was a bit hesitant, wasn't sure.
David Davis was self-aware enough that he could totally appreciate how his offer must look through the eyes of her significant other. It made perfect sense for Ron to be skeptical. How it must sound. So Davis proposed a solution.
He said, well, I think really it would be a good idea if I met Ron and then he could see and meet me and then he might feel more comfortable.
So the three of them went out to dinner. And when he walked in, Davis seemed genuinely thrilled to meet Ron.
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