Sarah Parks

"I'm not easy, Jack. I'm just time efficient."Detective Inspector Sarah Parks is a major character in Squaring the Circle. She is a police detective who is assigned to investigate the attempted assassination of Maksim Bazhanov and Jack Hodgson's love interest. She is portrayed by Lauren O'Neil.

Background
Sarah joined the police at some point in her life and achieved the rank of detective inspector; she apparently has quite an impressive track run when it comes to solving cases. She was in a relationship with a man (she does not specify if they were married or not) and he fathered her daughter, Lucy, but they broke up before Lucy was even a year old, leaving Sarah to parent her primarily alone. Lucy contracted cancer, but the doctors were able to treat it. Unfortunately, they have since discovered the cancer has returned and Sarah is now trying desperately to raise enough money to take Lucy to the United States for treatment which could save her life.

Squaring the Circle
Sarah is assigned to solve the attempted assassination of Russian oligarch Maksim Bazhanov. Council leader Justine Greenwood tells Sarah to keep the investigation quiet and apolitical, meaning Sarah cannot investigate as fully as she would like. Sarah develops a strong attraction to forensic scientist Jack Hodgson whilst working with him and when Jack offers to take her for a drink after work, she instead suggests he come straight back to her place and they sped the night together. Sarah realises someone has been anonymously donating large sums of money to her daughter's fundraiser. After the death of Greenwood's daughter Amy, she insists Sarah charge her boyfriend, radical anti-capitalist Adam Lansley, with her murder. Even though Sarah believes Adam is innocent, Greenwood all but reveals she is the anonymous donor and promises Sarah she'll receive the full amount to pay for Lucy's treatment if she charges Adam. Sarah, desperate to save her daughter, charges Adam and even plants one of his hairs at the crime scene. When the forensics team discover Sarah is charging Adam despite evidence pointing to Lewis Milton as the perpetrator, Jack angrily confronts Sarah. She admits to him that Greenwood has donated money to fund Lucy's cancer treatment; although Jack is sympathetic, he urges Sarah not to betray her principles and allow a killer to walk free. Sarah, realising Jack is right, goes with him to arrest Milton, ultimately uncovering him and Daniel Doshi as the true killers. Although Daniel is brought to justice for his crimes, Greenwood uses Sarah as a scapegoat, allowing her to take the full blame and forcing her to hand in her badge. Sarah reveals she already moved the money for Lucy's treatment to another account and that Greenwood can't take it back without implicating herself. She also points out that if Greenwood had let her do her job properly in the first place, several deaths, including that of her daughter, could've been avoided and that Amy's blood is on her hands. Sarah meets with Jack one last time and reveals she is planning on moving to the States permanently for a fresh start. Jack reassures her that Lucy's treatment will work. sarah comments that Jack is a good man and hopes he will find himself a good woman. They share one last kiss before Sarah leaves.

Series 18

 * Squaring the Circle (part 1)
 * Squaring the Circle (part 2)