Silent Witness (1996) s03e02 Episode Script

An Academic Exercise (2)

I don't suppose we have a weapon? No, sir.
Or whether he tried to suffocate this one? No.
What about Marco Rossi? Do we bring him in? On what grounds? He's got a grudge against students.
So have I.
He's got a grudge against anything to do with the university.
Let's just stick with our original thought.
The husband? Maybe.
Maybe he was having an affair with Louise.
She finds out about Annabelle.
He decides to shut her up.
Get a pathologist to look at the girl's wound.
If it was the same person using the same weapon, I want to know.
PHONE RINGS Hello.
Yeah, OK.
I'll be there as soon as I can.
Who's that? Trevor.
Oh! A student's been attacked.
Same MO as Annabelle's murder.
They're dead? They're still alive.
So why are you going? To find out what I can.
It's 7am! This isn't orthopaedics - you don't make an appointment.
Will she be all right? Yes.
She took a nasty blow to the head.
No attempt to suffocate her? Apparently not.
A cushion was found on the floor next to her.
Same type of head wound? I'd say so.
You haven't heard the best bit yet.
We might have DNA.
How are you feeling? Terrible.
Do you remember what happened? No.
We'll get whoever did this.
You scratched him with your nails.
If it's his face, he'll need plastic surgery.
KNOCKING Thank God you're all right.
So is it business or pleasure this time? It's not a pleasure seeing her like this.
I'll ring you when we get something.
Your mates have given us a lot to go on.
Take care of her.
I'd say they're pretty much alike.
The markings are similar to those around Annabelle's wound.
The indentations, could they be made by a bottle? Possibly.
But there wasn't any glass found.
The break-in's the same, the attack's similar, the amount stolen? this type of assault.
If the idea was an identical crime, why kill Annabelle and not Louise? Daddy! How far was the drive from the cottage to your home? 60-70 miles.
At speed - an hour? Yes.
So if you put your kids to bed at 9, You could have checked they were asleep, driven home, spent 15-20 minutes there, and returned without your children knowing you'd gone.
I wouldn't leave my children.
You did last night.
Were you having me watched? You left them at about 7 o'clock.
The officer wasn't sure where you went.
To see a friend.
Who? Dr Sam Ryan.
Then where did you go? 'The police have been questioning her husband.
' An obvious move.
You don't think he did it? No.
So who do you think is responsible? The waiter.
But You're not sure? No.
Why consider him in the first place? The sacking.
He saw her address.
He could easily have overheard us mentioning that Martin was away.
I saw him later with blood on him.
And now there's the business about him being sent down.
Go back to the body.
Go back to what is certain.
Why didn't you want your children to see your wife? I did.
You left them at your mother's.
Because we needed to talk.
Or because you didn't want them to walk in on her body? No.
What did you want to talk about? Us.
About us.
Our life.
And you couldn't do that with the children in the house? No.
Why not? Be I couldn't.
Do you know Louise Thomas? Who? She was a student of your wife's.
I don't know her.
Never heard the name? No.
She had an almost identical attack to the one your wife suffered.
I don't know who she is.
You tried to stop Louise talking about your affair.
My affair?! Stop it becoming public knowledge.
If it got out, the motive for killing your wife will be obvious - she'd found out about the affair.
There's no affair.
I don't know her.
You hit her with the same object.
No.
And left her for dead.
I never went near her! You did.
I didn't.
You did.
No! I put it to you you killed your wife because she found out you were having an affair.
Oh, for God's sake, man! It wasn't me Annabelle was having the affair.
Who was she seeing? I don't know.
Come on, Mr Evans! I don't know.
You expect me to believe that? I can't win with you, can I? Mr Evans, we'd like to carry out a blood test for a DNA trace.
SOLICITOR WHISPERS No, no.
Do what you like.
Take a look at this.
Do you see it? Rampant ortolosis.
Consistent with the fact the body could have been frozen.
I see what you mean.
The damage to the cells isn't marked.
How often do you see that much change in someone just dead? The body was subject to severe temperature changes.
I think it was frozen, or stored somewhere cold.
It's not impossible.
So the question is, why would anyone wish to do this? The murderer wanted to store it? Didn't want it to start to smell.
Why store a body? Once it's dead, it's dead.
Was the murderer hoping to conceal it for ever? If so, why not try to destroy it in some way? This doesn't seem to be the case.
So the purpose of freezing the body was what? To confuse you! And they've succeeded.
Yes.
Yes.
Now, an important question.
Is the young waiter clever enough to confuse you? BANGING ON DOOR Marco! Police! Come on, Marco! All right, all right.
So what are you going to do now? Go to the police.
Tell them what I know.
KNOCKING Oh, Mr Arnold.
I was expecting you to cancel after what happened.
She's going to be all right, and I thought it was important I saw you.
Very important.
Urgent, wouldn't you say? Yes, sir.
It's a shame Dr Ryan doesn't dabble in genetics, or she could take you on.
Mr Arnold was going to do his PhD under Dr Evans' guidance.
Really? Now I'm not sure where I can place him.
It shouldn't be that difficult.
I did get a First.
You SCRAPED a First, Mr Arnold.
My students don't scrape Firsts, they glory in them.
Dr Ryan, for example.
Oh, I probably wouldn't manage a Third now.
She's too modest.
She was brilliant.
You could learn a lot from Dr Ryan.
But unfortunately, as you said, I don't deal in genetics.
Thanks for your time.
Professor Foreman.
If Dr Evans had still been alive, my future wouldn't be in doubt.
There must be another don One second, Mr Arnold.
Before we discuss your academic capabilitiesor lack of them, as the case may be, I should like you to tell me about what happened last night.
With respect, I don't think last night has anything to do I would like to know how you found Miss Thomas, what the police asked you, and what you yourself deduce from the incident.
Why? I need to know how clever you are.
I need to know what I'm recommending.
The murder could've happened three or four days earlier.
Two, max.
No, it was longer.
It takes time for a body to defrost.
She left a message on Foreman's answer machine two days before.
Are you sure? We have the tape.
It's authentic.
The phone company verified that a call was made from her house then.
I'd have thought it would be longer.
Did you run a voice check on the tape? Yes.
There are plenty of recordings of her lectures to compare it to.
Two days just doesn't make sense.
Maybe her husband will tell us.
DS Bradley tells me you have another theory the ex-student, Marco Rossi.
Not any longer.
Somebody told me you had an infallibility problem.
They were obviously wrong.
Obviously.
I have to say, I don't like pathologists trying to blackmail my staff.
DS Bradley told me what happened.
KNOCK ON DOOR I'd have thought you'd have known better.
Ah, come in.
We were talking about you.
Sergeant.
DS Bradley was working on my instructions.
He was getting information about Annabelle Evans' friends.
Because of his work, which meant taking Louise Thomas out, we discovered that Dr Evans had had various relationships.
Relationships? Quite a number, apparently.
Relationships? Quite a number, apparently.
What? Didn't you know? No.
Well, her husband did.
He knew all about it.
If you'll excuse me.
Do anything like that again and you and I will be parting company.
Next time a Mensa bimbo comes onto you, use her brains, not anything else.
Sam.
Have you got a minute? Yeah.
I hope this isn't more bad news.
I've had as much as I can take.
Let's start with the scratch marks.
How did you get them, Marco? Somebody just scratched me.
For no reason? Yeah.
It's not the first time as you know.
I don't know.
I'm new here.
Tell me.
It happens all the time.
The students have a thing against me.
Why? You tell me.
You used to be a student.
So? What happened? I got sent down.
Why? For being normal.
For not being bloody perfect.
I wasn't exceptional enough for them.
Or so they like to think.
Did you know Annabelle Evans? Yeah.
I knew her.
But she didn't know me.
She was never one of my tutors.
What about Louise Thomas? Never heard of her.
Marco, you were seen, you were identified, and we've got tissue for a DNA test, which I think matches your cheek.
So let's stop fooling around and start talking.
You seemed really happy together.
Yes, we were for a while.
I don't really know what changed.
Each time, she said it wouldn't happen again, each time, I wanted to believe her.
She knew I'd never leave the kids.
Do you know who she was seeing? No.
It's probably a student - they usually were.
The power trip - she got off on it.
I'm really sorry.
I really loved her.
And she loved me - that's the stupid thing about it.
I know that she loved me.
It's my future Foreman is messing about with.
It's not important any more.
That's easy for you to say.
No, it's not easy for me to say! I was attacked! Sorry.
Sorry.
Have they really arrested someone? Better than that - they've charged him.
Annabelle Evans' dress.
We'll have him for both.
Where was the body kept? I don't know what you mean.
The body was frozen.
Where did he freeze it? Have you checked the freezers in the brothers' restaurant? Not yet.
Is this a criminal investigation or what? A pathologist is telling me one thing, SOCO's telling me another, and none of it's making sense! Get Forensics to look at all that stuff.
It'll probably turn out to be Lord Lucan's(!) Eden Blackman? I'm Dr Sam Ryan.
Annabelle Evans was a friend of mine.
Right.
Let me grab a towel.
I hadn't arranged to meet her.
I was just chancing my arm.
Did you leave with her? UmI got a bit distracted.
There was a bit of a contretemps with a townie and a student, so we Well, we defended the honour of the college.
And you succeeded? I actually felt a bit guilty.
The guy was as drunk as a skunk, but he couldn't half pack a punch! Who were you defending? Simon Lovitz.
He's a bit of a poof, but he didn't deserve a beating.
Did Annabelle see that? No.
Er, no, she just left.
Do you know where she was going? Not a clue.
But she did seem distracted.
Why? Eden, if you know anything I heard she'd been seeing someone at college, and it wasn't working out.
Who told you? I can't remember.
Did you tell the police? Yeah.
Well, no.
Look, I really liked Dr Evans, I think everybody did.
She was a great tutor and she brought out the best in people.
People are going to miss her.
I think you might find this interesting.
What? Blood tests came back.
The blood on the sheets isn't Annabelle's.
It's not even human.
Pig's blood! Somebody's been visiting an abattoir.
So the body was definitely moved.
I'd say so.
And by someone who knew that head wounds bleed profusely.
Sergeant Bradley.
Don't talk.
You've caused me enough aggravation.
I wouldn't have told.
Yeah.
What are you upset about? You were undercover.
I was hoping to get under some covers, but it wasn't work.
Oh, sorry.
The wounds will heal with time.
I heard you arrested Marco Rossi.
Come to gloat, have you? No.
I would.
What made you bring him in? A witness saw him outside the flat.
Is that all? No.
He's got four huge great scratch marks on his face.
Looks like he's wrestled a tiger.
Be happy.
You might have been right.
A man was arrested early this morning in connection with the attack on Louise Thomas.
He will appear in court tomorrow.
He's 20 years old and unemployed.
'That's all I can tell you now.
' Do we have enough to charge him? We'll worry about that tomorrow.
Dr Ryan.
I've come to have a word.
See you in the pub? I'll be there soon.
Pleased? What about? You were right, we were wrong.
That's what I want to discuss.
Would you.
.
er? Would you like to go for a drink? OK.
There's this place by the river.
But it's not suitable for 20 moronic coppers.
The house wine's pretty good here.
You're obviously a regular.
I might make it my local, until they find out what I do for a living! I'mersorry about the other day.
That business with Bradley.
I'm sorry he had to lie.
Well, there you go then.
We're both sorry.
Is that all you're going to say? I'm sorry you're sorry.
There's no point in going on.
What does your wife do? She's still in London.
She's waiting for me to find a house.
That's a bit awkward.
Yeah.
It can be.
Are you going to tell me why we've got the wrong man? The blood on the bedclothes - it isn't Annabelle's.
What? It's pig's blood.
That's an unexpected new suspect.
It's probable that Annabelle was killed at one location, kept frozen, then moved to her house.
The killer was knowledgeable enough to make the scene look authentic.
I don't think Marco could have done that.
The big hole in your theory is still the message on the informant's answerphone.
There's got to be a reason for that.
It's been authenticated by an expert.
It'll stand up in court as genuine.
I don't think so.
Having said that, I keep playing it over and over and there's something not quite right about it.
Maybe she was under pressure when she made the call.
I don't think she was even alive.
Look.
I rang the hospital and they said you'd been released.
That's really nice of you.
Yeah, thanks.
Have you got time for a coffee? Yeah, I have.
The place is a mess.
You don't mind, do you? It's all right.
I'm going upstairs for a jumper.
You stay here.
I'll go.
Thank you.
So when do you give this place up? We don't.
You're staying on? That's right.
We're all doing PhDs.
Wellas you know, I hope I'm going to be.
Something will turn up.
Yeah.
What will you be researching? If he told you, you probably wouldn't understand! Try me.
It's acompression disk.
Oh, really? Mmm.
The idea is for it to be multi-formatted, compatible with music systems, CD-Roms, laser-disk players.
It's going to have a memory capacity 3 to 4,000 times that of a normal CD.
But it'll be the size of a watch face.
You all look worse for wear here.
You didn't make it? No, I was out of it by then.
You've got to be in the survivor's photo.
'Professor, this is Annabelle Evans.
'Can't make meeting.
'Had to go away for the week.
'Sorry.
' It's good.
It's very good.
In fact, it's superb.
But there is a word missing? Mmm.
Absolutely.
"The" is missing in front of "meeting".
That could be a slip of the tongue.
So why are we here? Because you're right.
Listen to this.
'To progress further on the ethical questions surrounding genetics 'would require a MEETING of minds.
' One of Dr Evans' lecture tapes.
We've listened to hundreds of them.
And what we've found is this.
Each spoken word has a unique sound print and can't be mistaken.
This is the word "meeting" from the answerphone tape.
And this is from the lecture tape.
Look at the pattern.
It's identical.
Tape's been assembled.
Someone has been over the lectures and spliced together the message.
It's a work of genius.
But it's still a fake.
So the murderer played the message when they knew Leon Foreman was out.
Exactly.
She could have been dead for weeks, never mind days.
One Survivor's photo.
Great.
Do you want to come in for a drink? No, thanks.
Errowing practice.
I'll let you have it back.
Sure.
Anytime.
Hi.
Shower.
Hot water's not working.
Get the landlord onto it.
We did.
About a month ago.
But he's bloody useless.
Huh.
You been in any more fights recently? No.
The bloke that hit you is the one they arrested for the attack on your friend? Yeah.
Must be weird or something! Is he? Everyone says he's probably responsible for killing Dr Evans.
It would make sense.
I think the police are on a different line.
Why do you say that? Dr Ryan wanted to see the Survivor's photo.
She's the pathologist Yes.
Why did she want to see the photo? No idea.
There are no townies on it, so it must be to do with a student.
We weren't wearing evening dress.
She will have noticed.
So? She'll wonder why.
It was taken at 6am! Some people hardly had any clothes on at all.
She knows.
She doesn't.
She does.
She might guess.
That's all.
What are you talking about? We've had it.
She can't prove anything.
There's nothing to prove.
Are you sure? I want out.
Don't be stupid, Simon.
I can't sleep at night.
I daren't look over my shoulder in case I'm being followed.
I've had enough! Simon, calm down.
You're involved.
We're all involved.
I can handle this without any trouble at all.
Just leave it to me.
Come on.
It's going to be all right.
BANG CREAKING RINGING TONE Hello.
OK.
Hold on.
It's for you.
Hello.
Dr Ryan? Simon Lovitz here.
I need to talk to you.
What about? 'The May Ball.
' What about it? I don't want to talk about it over the phone.
Can you come to the flat? As soon as possible.
'All right.
I'll be there in an hour.
' I'd have thought you'd know by now.
This is police work, not yours.
Someone's making it my work.
POP MUSIC PLAYS INSIDE SHE KNOCKS Simon! Simon? Simon? Perfect.
I'm scared.
Why? You were brilliant.
What happens now? Simon sets up a meet, centre of town, and we create a scene.
I can't do it.
Yes, you can! All you have to do is shout at her to stop harassing you.
This is going to make things worse.
Come on.
I wouldn't let you down, would I? Eh? Aaaagh! How are you feeling? I'm fine.
Let me call a doctor.
I am a doctor.
I nearly said "a real one" then.
KNOCK ON DOOR Excuse me.
Forensics rang.
They found a letter on the body.
He was going to tell her everything! How do you know? He told me.
He wasn't going to do what we planned.
So you killed him? Don't be ridiculous.
We were arguing.
I was trying to reason with him, but he jumped! You hit me, didn't you? You bastard! You bastard! I had to make it look real! Throw them off.
They weren't onto us! They would have found out.
You used me! Just like Annabelle.
From what I remember, you were very willing to help.
Forget her.
I'm glad she's gone.
I'm glad Simon's gone.
Now it really is just the two of us.
Me and you.
Always.
This letter claims you were harassing him.
He says you didn't leave him alone.
Blamed him for Annabelle's death.
What? He says last night you rang him He claims you came round to see him, banging on the door, refusing to go away.
No.
He even claims you stole a diary.
This is stupid.
Did you have contact with Simon? Yes.
I've been to his flat.
On his request.
Trevor was there when he rang.
Well, you know this is all lies! Let's just get you home.
Sam! I came as soon as I could.
Are you all right? I'm fine.
I'm fine.
How? The police rang me.
Thanks for coming.
I don't expect it.
Expect what you want.
I'm here when you need me.
Do you want a drink? I'm making some tea.
Do the police want to see you again? Yes.
I'll go after the post-mortem when they can Can what? Sorry? You were saying something.
No.
It's nothing.
Who's this? What? I didn't do this.
One of the neighbours described a woman banging on Lovitz's door.
She fitted your description.
I've been set up.
Your phone records show you phoned him 17 times in one night.
I never phoned him once.
Last night, when I got home, I found these in my kitchen.
I have to go to the station to interview Nick Arnold.
Go lecture.
Go on holiday.
But keep a low profile for a while.
You're very kind.
Thank you.
I'll try her there.
PHONE RINGS Most of our visitors knock.
Did Annabelle used to knock? You don't even know if she came here.
I think she did.
The night of the May Ball.
You needed her backing for the PhD.
That's hardly news! But it wasn't working out between you.
So I killed her? You thought you'd get away with it.
Thought you were so clever.
You already know I'm clever.
You met her back here.
Then what happened? Maybe she told you your work wasn't good enough.
Maybe she'd found someone better.
So then what? She told me I wasn't going to be her research fellow, that everything I'd worked for meant nothing.
So I picked up a bottle and smacked her on the head.
Yeah? But she wasn't dead, was she? So you suffocated her.
Did I? Where were the others? You tell me.
It's your story.
You were all involved somehow.
Or why the new clothes for the Survivor's photo? I have very loyal friends.
So they did help you? Sounds plausible.
But it's not true.
You can't prove it.
I can't prove you planted the dress and money at Marco's place.
I can't prove you planted the diary and the shirt at mine.
I can't prove you pushed Simon off the top of a car park.
But I can prove that Annabelle's body was put in the freezer, and that you thawed her out in the bath.
You're lying.
Then how can I let you go? KNOCKING Open the door! Police! Open the door! Nicholas Arnold, I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder.
You're wasting your time.
It may harm your defence if you do not mention something you rely upon later in court.
How was it for you? It was good for me.
Was that your idea of keeping a low profile How did you know? Professor Foreman Leon? He guessed where you had gone.
Made us show our hand early.
Do you need a lift back? No.
I've got to go and see someone.
Nick Arnold's been arrested.
Ah! You knew, didn't you? You knew what had happened long ago.
I had no proof.
This wasn't a game, Leon! Why didn't you say something? Well, I'm not the police.
I just let things run their course.
You enjoyed it.
You enjoyed watching us all! A boy died! I used to look up to you.
You had all the answers.
I wanted your respect, your approval.
To be like you.
And so you are, Sam.
You stand victorious.
Testator silens Costestes e spiritu Silentium.

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