Silent Witness (1996) s26e09 Episode Script

Southbay - Part 1

1
You know it's true!
Don't deny it! Don't deny it.
Yep, so, uh
Yeah, so, Bill was the
pathologist on the first scene
I ever set foot on as a newly qualified
and somewhat
wet-behind-the-ears forenso.
It was a triple in a basement
launderette, do you remember?
Under a tower block
- Oh, yeah.
- Yeah?
One of the bodies was
stuffed in a tumble dryer.
Still going round and round.
So, I stood there for a good ten seconds
looking from one
mangled corpse to another,
until he kindly put me at my ease.
He said, uh, "Are you waiting
for the cycle to finish?
"Get a bloody move on, lad,
before we're all hung out to dry!"
It's a good line. Good line.
Never forgot. Never forgot it.
Anyway, enjoy your retirement, Bill.
No-one alive or dead
could say you haven't earned it.
To Bill! DINERS: To Bill! To Bill!
All right?
Better be some gin in there.
Just the three shots.
I was thinking about Spain,
Marbella.
Good for the psoriasis.
And retired villains.
I could keep my hand in, couldn't I?
Bridget?
It's your bloody retirement do!
Three-line whip, Jack.
Come on, you're off
the clock and you're pissed.
A medicinal two or three.
You're seriously going to a scene?
Now?
When the Chief Superintendent calls
Wait.
I lied.
It was sparkling water.
- What?
- I had a whisky before my speech,
bit of Dutch courage,
since then, the purest H2O. I'll drive.
We'll chat in the car like old times.
I'll get my bag.
Hey! How was your speech?
Ah, it was OK.
Look, uh, it might be a late one.
I need to run Bill back to South Bay.
Can't he get a cab?
No, it's complicated.
OK.
Well, I love you.
Be safe.
Love you, too.
Bye.
Get off me! Get off me!
Leave me alone!
Get off me!
Get back here! Andrew!
Andrew!
Are you OK?
It's not my blood.
It's his.
Leave me alone!
Get your hands off me. Get your!
Get your hands off of me.
Thank you.
Ugh!
Ugh! I don't want him in my house!
- Mike, take it easy!
- I don't want him near my kids!
You've had a shock.
Get off me, Ray! It's my house!
Mike! Mike!
That's enough.
Take care of her, Bill. She's family.
This is Jack.
He's a forensic scientist.
This is Chief Superintendent
Bridget Laing
and Detective Superintendent Ray Palmer.
Are Forensics here?
Delayed at a stabbing on the seafront.
Where's your gear, Bill?
Oh, I uh
I just I came from athing.
I've got the basics in my car.
Why isn't the whole house
cleared and sealed off?
Want to give me a primer?
The deceased is a Carol Laing.
Upstairs in the master bedroom.
And she's "family" because?
That angry man outside is her ex,
Sergeant Mike Laing.
Chief Superintendent
Bridget Laing is his mother.
Cosy.
Incestuous, some would say.
Paramedics confirmed death on arrival,
but they were too late
- to attempt any resus.
- Mm.
The killer used the cord from her
dressing gown to restrain her.
Signs of a struggle.
Jewellery box is emptied out.
Hopefully, someone can
tell us what's missing.
Pool of blood from the chest wound.
Partial shoe print in the blood.
- Paramedics?
- Looks on the small side.
Mm.
There's blood spatter on the curtains.
Looks like a nice fingerprint here, too.
More bloody shoe prints down here.
Who called 999?
The older boy, I think.
Jack Hodgson, DI Andrew Walsh,
DC Meena Puri.
Have they said anything?
Dom said he heard his mum shouting.
Ryan's said nothing at all.
Can I speak to them?
Briefly?
Briefly.
Hiya.
Which of you's the Harry Kane fan?
Ryan.
Ryan, do you mind me asking
how your bedside light got broken?
Can I see your slippers, do you think?
Just the soles? Thank you.
We went to bed early
cos Dad's taking us fishing.
What do you know?
You had the covers over your head.
Thank you, Jack.
Our CSI Fiona's here,
but thank you for stepping in.
We'll contact you through
Bill Burnett if the need arises.
Oh, from a continuity-of-evidence angle,
I should finish what I've started.
Meaning?
Complete processing
of the house before the handover.
Honestly, Jack, if you handover
with Fiona, we'll take it from here.
Thanks again, Jack.
Night, Bill.
Go inside, boys.
I'll be right in.
Is there anything you want to tell me?
How could you even ask?
Spare me the self-righteousness.
Your wife's killed in front of your kids
and instead of tending to them,
you start punching out car windows
and threatening people!
Andrew shouldn't even be on this!
He was all over Carol
the minute I moved out!
Good for him! She was his to begin with!
Give me a fucking break!
Even now, you can only
think of yourself.
That's why the boys are staying with me.
Andrew?
I said not to stay up.
There's mac and cheese in the fridge.
Can't have my brother going hungry.
- I'll heat it up.
- I don't want it.
- It won't take a minute.
- Sit down, Lisa.
Carol's dead.
Murdered.
I hope the kids are OK.
I mean, I hope they didn't see anything.
Did they?
What a strange question.
- Is that all you've got to say?
- Sorry.
I always say the wrong thing.
Poor Carol.
Come here.
Ugh.
Mike?
Ugh!
- Ugh!
- Mike.
What're you doing?
I'm looking for my keys to the house.
There's no sign of forced entry,
so if they know I've got a set,
they're going to jump to one conclusion.
I didn't know you had a set. I
thought you gave them back to Carol.
I did.
I got another set cut from Ryan's.
You know what, I rebuilt
that house with my bare hands!
They're my kids, too!
Why should I be denied access?
Jesus Christ, Mike!
Before you pile in, all right,
I've already had both barrels from Mum.
Hey
It's OK.
Dom?
I heard a voice.
Someone arguing with Mum.
Was it someone you knew?
A voice you'd heard before?
She was angry.
Mum or the other person?
The other person.
The other person was a woman?
I'll be billing
South Bay for your services.
Time and a half after midnight.
Just wish I'd got to
finish the job, you know?
Doesn't sound like your friend
went in to bat for you very hard.
Yeah, he knows which
side his bread's buttered.
Well, I hope it hasn't
damaged your friendship.
Nah. Be fine.
I did some work down
there a few years back.
Bit of an oddity.
- In what sense?
- In theory, part of the Constabulary,
in practice, its own jurisdiction.
Was Chief Superintendent
Bridget Laing still in charge then?
Very much so, but never
had the pleasure. You?
Ah, it doesn't matter.
Is something up?
I don't know.
For a big man, Bill seemed
awfully diminished last night.
Small.
- That's not how you've described him before.
- No. No
But it's the version I'm stuck with now.
Anyway. I'm sure it's fine.
After the murder of
a mother-of-two in South Bay,
a night of frantic activity culminated
in the arrest of a serving
police officer this morning.
We'll be speaking
to the murder of
a mother of two in South Bay,
a night of frantic activity
culminated in the arrest
of a serving police
Just to let you know,
we've obtained a warrant
to search your property,
and that search is happening right now.
Have you ever been
inside the Laing residence?
Mm
Last week.
Mike and I ran the boys back.
Did you go upstairs?
No.
Have you seen these keys before?
OK.
And what do they unlock?
Carol's front door.
That's significant, Kate,
for two reasons - one,
there was no sign of
forced entry at the house.
And two, we found these
keys in your coat pocket,
and the most prominent fingerprints
taken from the fob are yours.
Did you use these keys to gain
access to Carol's house last night?
No, I did not.
So, how did you come to
be in possession of them?
I found them in Mike's
jeans and I was annoyed,
so I took them.
Why were you annoyed?
Because I knew what he'd done.
After Carol made Mike
hand over his keys,
he got a copy made from Ryan's set.
And this made you feel insecure?
Jealous?
Both, probably.
It made me feel like
Mike wasn't ready to move on.
Jealous enough to go and
confront Carol about it?
No.
Well, the evidence
suggests that you did, Kate.
That you attacked her in her bed
whilst her sons slept
just across the hall.
And when she fought back,
you stabbed her through the heart.
It's very obvious
why my client's in custody -
because South Bay CID bears a grudge.
Equally obvious, there's
no evidence worth the name.
What do you call
Carol Laing's house keys?
Incidental? Irrelevant?
A set of keys?
Charge my client or release her.
Sorry, Bridget, from a CPS angle,
we need more than the testimony of a
child and some keys.
You'll get it.
- Bill.
- Have you heard about Kate Freeman?
Yes, from the news.
Apparently, her lawyer's got
wind of your involvement.
She's going to make an approach, Jack,
bring you onside.
Bit previous, isn't it?
She's only been arrested.
A charge is coming,
but you didn't hear it from me.
One of Carol's lads belatedly
spoke up, put Kate at the scene.
I'd appreciate it if you declined.
With us being friends,
it's just going to get messy.
Not to mention blighting
what'll likely be my last case.
I'm sorry to put you
in this position, Jack.
Miriam? Jack Hodgson.
Good to meet you, Jack, and
thank you for coming on board.
OK.
This is Kate Freeman
and her partner, Mike Laing.
Hi.
- We met last night.
- Yeah.
Thanks for your concern,
and I'm sorry if I was rude.
You weren't.
Come and meet the team.
After you.
Go through.
And you're a serving
PC at South Bay Police?
Yes No, I'm on suspension.
OK.
And is the victim,
Carol Laing, known to you?
Yeah.
Carol and I were married.
We separated just over a year ago.
Then I'm very sorry for your loss.
Why are you on suspension, Kate?
You're among friends.
They need to know everything
to mount an effective defence.
We really do.
Six months ago, my police
partner, PC Fred Woods,
just disappeared.
His car was found by South Bay Bridge.
Fred was a cancer survivor
and a period of remission
had just come to an end.
So, top brass just went straight
to, "He's killed himself",
despite the lack of body, no note,
or anything supporting that.
So, just to be clear, you
thought he HADN'T killed himself?
My mother, Bridget Laing, is the
Chief Super at South Bay Police.
I told Kate to go
and share her concerns.
That was a mistake?
She not only dismissed my suspicions,
but accused me of leaking
false allegations to the media.
I was placed on suspension
pending a disciplinary hearing.
Did you leak to the media?
No.
But it's your belief
PC Woods was murdered?
Look, sorry,
airing this stuff got me suspended,
and I just don't think it's
relevant. Can we move on?
Sure.
Why don't you tell us more
about what the police have,
or think they have?
My son, Dom, has made
a statement to South Bay Police
to say that
he thought he heard
Kate arguing with Carol.
Obviously, he's mistaken.
- Dom, he's the younger of your boys, right?
- Yeah.
Why?
I found broken glass under Ryan's bed.
Felt like he was the one who
might've witnessed something.
Be helpful to know about your
movements last night, Kate.
Um, yeah.
I was home alone all night,
cleaning out the kitchen cupboards.
And, yes, as a copper,
I know that's a shit alibi.
What about your phone?
Logged as being at her flat
all night, but on charge.
You didn't use it at all?
So it's of scant use evidentially.
Do we know when the
postmortem's being carried out?
Right now, as we speak.
Then we should be carrying out
our own, as soon as,
and not taking no for an answer.
I'll make a call.
Were you photographed
after you were arrested?
Yeah.
Be prudent for us
to take a set of our own.
These bruises are consistent
with someone gripping your arm.
Unless you tell me different.
Mike and I got into a row two
nights ago, and it got physical.
We were both drunk,
and I lost it, basically.
Said I was going to go
to my mate's house.
OK.
Look, Mike was only trying
to get the car keys from me.
You could be facing
life in prison, Kate.
- Do you think I don't know that?
- We need the truth and nothing but.
What was the row about?
It doesn't matter.
A boss who keeps his hand in?
Especially if the postmortem
could help serve my research.
Dare I ask?
"A computationally approximated
solution for the equation
"for Henssge's
time-of-death estimation."”
What she said.
Just so you know, they think
they're doing us a huge favour
in expediting a second postmortem.
Same day as the coroner PM
is pretty rare.
But the coroner's signed off on it,
so no need for too much
bowing and scraping.
A second PM, you want to be
thorough, go the extra mile.
I'd like to do a full
light-source examination,
everyone in eyewear, the works.
Are we sure he's not playing both sides?
He's got an alibi, right, for Carol?
On duty.
DC Puri.
Need a quick word, Wes.
Can you do that later, please?
Anything I can help with, Detective?
No. Thank you, Neil.
It's your nephew I'm here to see.
I need to check your
whereabouts last night.
Between 7pm and midnight.
In your own words, please?
Is it about that copper's wife?
Carol something?
I was working in the pub.
Oh.
Plenty of witnesses, then?
No, I were downstairs, in the cellar.
What were you doing down there?
Burst pipe.
Yeah.
We were ten inches under.
I was up at the bar,
so Wes had to man the pails.
So, your alibi, should you need one,
is a burst pipe and a bucket?
The plumber came around 11.
Helped him pump the rest out.
Isn't that right, Wes?
That's right.
Get you his number if you like.
This is DI Andrew Walsh.
He's heading up the investigation.
We met last night.
Good to meet you, Nikki.
- Gabriel.
- Likewise.
I owe you an apology, Jack.
I might've let my emotions
cloud my judgment last night.
Understandably.
You were close to Carol?
She was my daughter-in-law,
and I'm big on family.
In hindsight, I should've let you
finish processing the scene.
Can we get that in writing?
Given the sensitivity of
Kate Freeman being a
serving South Bay officer,
I welcome the Lyell's involvement.
Not to mention being in
a relationship with your son?
That too.
I'll leave you in
Andrew's capable hands.
Look, I know how it sounds, but
we're only interested in the truth.
We'll share as much of our
investigation as possible.
Nothing less than
your legal requirement.
And we can leave the adversarial stuff
in favour of
good old mutual cooperation.
Thanks, Andrew.
I'm all for mutual cooperation.
This is the defence
postmortem examination
of the body of Carol Laing.
She shows evidence
of an earlier postmortem
carried out by
Dr Bill Burnett for the coroner.
There is a sutured postmortem Y-incision
and coronal incision of the scalp.
There's evidence of a single,
deep wound to her chest.
The bladed weapon has penetrated the
chest within the precordial region.
There's a large complex
injury on the forehead.
Unusual pattern.
Could help ID the weapon that caused it.
The tissue bridges
at the base of the splits
confirm that they are lacerations
caused by blunt force trauma,
rather than incisions
caused by a cutting edge.
There's a fine fracture
crossing the middle
meningeal artery groove
producing extradural blood.
I don't remember that from the first PM.
Why was it missed?
I'd offer three reasons.
One, the fracture is very fine.
Two, Dr Burnett failed
to strip the dura mater,
the tough outer layer of
the meninges around the brain.
Three
and this is only conjecture
he'd already made up his mind.
Whatever the underlying cause,
it was negligent, right?
It's curious, certainly.
After concussion from
a blow to the head,
extradural bleeding occurred
between the outer aspects
of the brain and the inside
of the skull,
which took time to collect.
There's some grooving
to the parahippocampal gyri
at the base of the brain.
Sub uncal herniation.
What does that mean?
It suggests there was sufficient
time not just for the extradural
blood to collect, but for
the brain itself to swell.
I'll take histology samples
of the brain to look for trauma.
That'll help with a timeline.
As will the application
of beta-APP staining.
With the single,
deep wound to the chest,
the blade went through the
left side of the lower sternum,
right where the heart is.
The bladed weapon did
indeed injure the heart.
Here.
There is a stab wound into the
front of the left ventricle.
This is the fatal injury.
Something under the big toenail
on the right foot.
Lights on, please.
Looks like blue paint.
Damage to the nail suggests it
scraped the paint quite hard.
- Paint from somewhere inside the house?
- Possible.
Although Carol's bedroom
was kind of brown.
We need to go back and check.
That won't be a problem,
will it, Andrew?
I haven't spoken to my children again.
It's not allowed.
My wife won't let me.
When I told Rivka that
I wanted to leave,
I hoped that she'd come with me.
Because she had lots of questions, too.
She told her father
that I was thinking of leaving.
He came to the house
my house
and he took Rivka
and my children away.
I thought that I'd
still be able to see them.
And I was wrong.
Naive.
And now, she won't even
acknowledge my existence.
There won't be any, um
closure.
In this situation
everyone is a victim.
Victim?
Victim.
Yes.
I have to.
I'm still proud
to be Jewish.
And I'm still optimistic for the future.
My hope is that
somehow, I can, um
inspire my children.
They can take their
own path if they want.
And I will always be there for them.
There was a blue Astra following us.
Where?
I don't know.
I'm jumping at shadows.
The time between the head blow
and the stabbing
Why would the killer stay longer
than necessary in the house?
And with the boys asleep upstairs.
Talking of the boys,
what do we think about Dom
hearing his mum and Kate arguing?
I don't know.
Miriam doesn't seem to
have a ready answer, either.
Yeah. Sounds like the fallout of
Mike and Carol's break-up was toxic.
Maybe the boys blamed Kate for
- breaking up the family?
- Mm.
Thanks.
Blue with hints of olive?
Pigeon's Breath?
Always a favourite.
The killer carries the body
up the stairs.
Her feet hit the wall and
her nail scraped the paint.
The half landing's quite tight.
So, he has to turn, 90-degree angle.
Here.
Can you pass the torch?
Discrete distribution.
1mm tops.
Aspirated blood.
Sudden manipulation of the body can
cause exhalations great and small.
Suggests she had some blood
in her airways already.
So
we know she sustained the
head injury significantly earlier
than the fatal stabbing in her room,
and we know she was carried -
alive, probably -
- up or down the stairs.
- Up seems more likely.
So, the head injury was
likely inflicted downstairs.
The grooves in the head wound,
what do you reckon?
I reckon.
Size and shape are a visual match.
Dumbbells typically come in pairs.
Do you see another one?
We're one short.
You said the kitchen
bin bag was missing?
The killer hits her with a dumbbell,
and some time later
stabs her with a knife,
gets rid of both weapons from the scene.
What're we missing?
Blood.
Hit the lights.
That's a fair bit of blood.
Swirl pattern.
Definitely a clean-up job.
Fibres coincident with
areas of strong luminescence
adhered in the blood.
Rust-coloured and white.
Loose item of clothing perhaps?
Scarf, cardigan
Bill got good coverage of the scene.
This is a comprehensive set.
He didn't.
You did.
I don't know, just feel a bit
Conflicted?
A bit shit. About everything.
- You don't have any reason to.
- No
He just got tired, I think.
Should've got out sooner.
Easy mistake to make.
There was blood spatter
on the curtains and a fingerprint.
Maybe you weren't jumping at shadows.
Jack.
DC Puri.
Keeping tabs on us?
- I'm sorry?
- You're following us.
Afraid we'll find something?
I was told you requested some evidence.
Ryan Laing's slippers?
Hi. Nikki Alexander.
DC Meena Puri.
Look
I know the Lyell by reputation, and
I'm relieved you guys are on this.
I'm getting really tired
of hearing that.
Why do you say that?
That you're "relieved"?
I just don't think we should be
jumping to conclusions.
About what?
Kate Freeman's guilt?
About anything.
A PolSA team searched the
surrounding streets this morning.
I'll find out what they turned up,
then check with House-To-House
and get back to you.
If you haven't heard
from me by morning
call me.
I want to go back to the
crime scene with Ryan Laing.
Yes, I know how potentially
traumatic that could be.
I was thinking more about
the safeguarding red tape.
We've found glass adhered in
blood on one of his slipper.
You see, the layering tells a story.
It tells us Ryan swept the
glass from his broken light bulb
under his bed after he trod
in his mum's blood in her bedroom.
The bulb was broken
on the night of the attack,
but Ryan chose to hide it.
Question is, why?
Cumulatively, our findings
show that the Crown
have a poor grasp of what occurred.
They didn't know Carol
was attacked downstairs,
that the dumbbell used
in the attack is missing,
and that the killer
carried Carol upstairs
and waited before stabbing
her to death on her bed.
How can they make a case
against Kate Freeman
when the scene's been
so badly misunderstood?
Good job Burnett's retiring.
His work's borderline incompetent.
The gap between the head blow
and the fatal stabbing.
We can prove it definitively?
We can try.
Burnett was so sure
the brain bleed was recent
that he didn't take a trauma set.
We can remedy that. Should help
narrow down the time frame.
- Excellent.
- Why is the time important?
Because it suggests a killer
who was comfortable in the house
with the boys asleep upstairs.
Someone who belonged there?
And that's not Kate.
I'm going to head home.
- Are you?
- Yeah.
Feeling my short night.
I need to run the brain samples
through the processor
- so they're ready for staining.
- Ah, it's a glamorous life.
I'll see you later. OK?
Jack Hodgson.
It's Kate Freeman.
Sorry to call you.
It's OK. What can I do for you?
Miriam, she's a good brief, but
she's such a bull in a china shop.
You asked why I'm on suspension,
and you deserve an answer.
Actually, Nikki asked.
But it would be good
to get more context.
OK
But I'd rather meet face-to-face.
I mean, you never know who's listening.
Hi.
- Thanks for coming.
- No problem.
You and Nikki, you're,
um, you're a couple, right?
And we thought we hid it so well.
Me and Mike, we only started seeing
each other after he left Carol,
but no-one believes that.
Bridget punished Mike
by putting him back in uniform.
He was a detective before that?
Detective Sergeant.
She'll do anything to protect
her family as she sees it.
Total control freak.
And she put you on suspension?
I feel your pain, Kate, I really do.
Fred wasn't just a bloody
good copper, he was mate.
Then you'll know how hard
he was fighting his cancer.
When someone takes their own life,
the first thing people say is,
- "I didn't see it coming.”
- I don't buy it!
Sorry, ma'am.
Look, Kate. His car was
found at South Bay Bridge.
You know how many people go
over the side there every year?
How few bodies are ever
Ray Palmer.
I'm sorry?
Fred received a threat-to-life from
Detective Superintendent Ray Palmer.
That's a very serious allegation, Kate.
Yes, it is.
About a very senior officer.
And we need to be treating
Fred's disappearance as suspicious.
Do you have any evidence
to back this up?
Because there's idle gossip,
and there's trashing a man's good name.
Only one is forgivable.
Why did Palmer threaten your partner?
Fred was on a bit of a crusade
about Harbour Fields.
Mm-hm.
One night, we pulled this dealer over
who said he'd been told it was OK
to operate in Harbour Fields.
That he'd been given assurances.
And Fred believed him?
He found evidence Harbour Fields
was being left unpatrolled,
effectively allowing dealers
to sell there with impunity.
Does this have anything to do with
the "Stop Goshawk Construction” stuff?
They're seeking to buy the land,
torch the estate
and turn it into a gated community.
But first, they need the courts to
grant a compulsory purchase order.
Uh-huh, and a rocketing crime rate
goes a long way to secure that.
A long way.
If Fred was right about this, it stinks.
This is grade-A corruption,
and Bridget didn't
give it a second look?
How about we take a trip to the bridge?
We've got a clot that's
adherent to the brain.
A fresh clot slides off the brain.
Conversely, it takes hours
for fibrin to form
and the clot to adhere
to the brain's surface.
There it is in black and white.
We're talking two hours between the
head injury and the fatal stabbing.
Was this area searched?
Not officially, cos his death
wasn't treated as suspicious.
If you were going to throw
yourself off the bridge,
would you really park
all the way down here?
What happened to Woods's car?
It's in his garage.
Hmm, Mike.
Andrew. You should've
said you were coming,
we would've saved you some!
Mike
I'm really sorry about Carol.
Where are they?
- Why don't you sit down for a minute?
- I want to see my kids.
Of course. They're watching TV.
Outside, please.
- It's the lab.
- Answer it.
Speaking.
Coffee?
Find anything?
Bootprints on the pedal, bit of foliage.
Do you know how
the car was brought here?
Low-loader. They couldn't find the key.
Is there anything else - anything
at all - that might help us?
I mean, like I said,
I didn't exactly encourage Fred
to air his theories.
Tell me about Palmer, then.
This threat he made.
Fred found evidence that our patrol grid
had been revised at
the behest of Palmer.
Which is weird in itself.
Why?
CID don't hold sway over uniform
logistics
or, to be honest,
have much interest in them.
Did Fred confront Palmer?
Palmer denied it, just told
Fred to wind his neck in.
And then, a week later, Fred finds
himself next to Palmer in the gents.
And as Palmer zips up, he tells him,
"There's faster ways
to die than cancer.”
That night, was Mike talking
about Palmer when he said,
"I don't want him in my house"?
No, DI Andrew Walsh.
- Walsh?
- Mm.
A lot of history
between Mike and Andrew.
When Mike was 11 or 12,
Bridget fostered both Andrew
and his little sister, Lisa.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
They're like brothers, almost.
I wouldn't go that far, but
It's Miriam.
Hi, Miriam.
Hi, Kate. I need you to get
to the station straight away.
There's new evidence. DS Ray
Palmer's running the show now.
I'll be right there.
So, Kate
You said you'd never been
upstairs at the Laing house.
But we've found compelling
evidence that you have.
A hair on Carol's bed
not two feet from her body
bears DNA which is a 100% match to you.
Then, above the bed, we found
a fingerprint on the curtain.
Again
a perfect match to you.
I mean, I can see why you might
want to draw the curtains.
We brought the kids home the other day,
Mike and I.
Carol was delayed somewhere.
Mike told me to grab a coffee
while he looked for some clothes
he'd left upstairs.
Careful!
Oh, they're not the
kind of curtains you draw.
Only the best for our Carol.
That explains it.
Hey?
That's how your hair got on the bed.
That's how your fingerprint got on
the curtain. It's case closed.
Only one question.
Why did you tell us
you'd never been upstairs?
Hmm?
Why did you lie to us?
People with nothing to hide,
they don't lie, Kate.
She has no alibi worth the name,
a witness puts her at the scene.
She had keys to the house,
and as for her explanation
for the prints and DNA,
don't believe a word of it.
This is Sally.
She's a child social worker.
Sally's going to make
extra sure everything's OK
and that nothing's too much.
Shall we go inside?
Kate Freeman, you're charged
that on 14th August
at Mark Land Avenue, South Bay,
you did murder Carol Laing
contrary to common law.
I know you went into your mum's
room. That took courage. Yeah?
And you had the
presence of mind to call 999,
tell them what happened,
then go and look after your
brother till the police arrived.
Brilliant.
But something happened in this room.
Something that caused the bulb
in your lamp to smash.
Something I know you
don't want to talk about.
That's why you swept
the pieces under the bed.
But the thing is,
without that "something”, Ryan
the story's incomplete.
Now, I might be
completely wrong here, but
I have this sense
you feel bad about something.
If I had to guess
I'd say you think
you let your mum down?
That you should've tried harder
to protect her? Save her?
You had no chance, Ryan.
No chance.
I did.
He had gloves, and
he put his hand in my mouth.
His voice was weird
like a bark, but quiet.
Like he was trying
to disguise it, maybe?
He said, "I've got hidden cameras.
"If you or your brother try to
leave this room, I'll know."
You're sure it was a man?
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