Under Salt Marsh (2026) s01e02 Episode Script

1
This programme contains
strong language and adult themes.
Now you need to properly face
the idea of leaving this place.
This entire town will be underwater.
We're building the wall,
we're finishing the wall
and it'll protect the town.
'I'm really sorry that I
have to tell you this
But I just found cefin.'
'i found him in a drainage ditch.'
I think he drowned, shell.
Don't let this take you back there, Jackie.
Is it nessa taman? No. Male.
Cefin's my best friend.
And were you with him
after school yesterday?
- You were? After school?
- You are not the right person for this.
You've already destroyed one
family with your investigation.
You bastard! Dylan, stop!
- You should never have left - the force.
- My partner,
who I trusted with my entire life,
fucked it up when they betrayed me.
The sample's sea water. The
water in his lungs is fresh water.
That ditch is not where cefin died.
So I er, I hear you've got some
theories about children, osian.
You shouldn't have them.
Having children will condemn
humanity to a hellish future.
Ok. Could you tell me, please,
where you were on Thursday,
after the incident in the playground?
I was here.
I was here too, all day.
Lots of people saw my brother,
the councillor, gareth Morgan.
Do you think this is
what happened to nessa?
We don't know what "this" is yet.
Because everyone is wondering
if we should start worrying
that one of us is capable
of something like that.
Do you think one of you is
capable of doing something like that?
I think we all are.
If the circumstances are right,
anyone could be capable of anything.
Personally though, I'm more
worried about sink holes.
They're something to watch out for.
Not wrapping up any time
soon? We're all wondering -
it doesn't look like it, does it?
This town's been through a lot.
Remember? We'd hoped
to see the back of you.
Ok. That's enough of the
interior decorating, thank you.
Let's get going. Detective deng,
can you please present? Is this me?
- Hi.
- Jackie.
I just er I wanted to
see how James is doing.
Exhausted.
You know Nightmares all night.
My brother's come over to distract him.
Come in.
Cefin hill left school
with James rees at 3:30.
Their usual route home takes them
to the corner, where they split up.
We have witnesses saying they
headed out of the school gates
towards this corner but no
witnesses who saw them after that.
At five, James rees returned home.
Cefin's body was found
in a ditch at 7.30pm.
The body was intact but missing
a pair of blue Wellington boots, size two.
Now, the ditch had seawater in
it but he drowned in fresh water,
so we know the body was moved.
We suspect it was
brought along the footpath.
We don't have any cctv -what we
don't have is a primary crime scene.
And we only have a small window left
to recover whatever forensics we can
from whoever moved the body.
We have the handprint from the bank.
Which is incomplete and inexact.
Look, our biggest lead
remains fresh water, ok?
This includes sheep troughs,
water butts, garden features,
garden ponds, anything
that can be filled with a hose.
Now, since no-one
saw them after school,
then they were probably
somewhere remote.
So, the footpath, it runs from
the town through the marsh
to the spider island
community in this vast tidal area.
There's also Solomon bevan's
farm - that's cefin's grandfather -
and then there's coed mawr, here.
Which is the woods where
nessa taman went missing.
If we find the evidence to
link them, then we'll link them.
But until then, can we
please just concentrate
on how cefin hill died
and who was involved?
It's the weekend, perfect for meet
and greets. Let's get to it, please.
Thank you. Deng? Deng?
Yeah, yeah. Have you
got nieces and nephews?
- Er, yeah.
- I've got one nephew, he's two. - Ok.
You're gonna interview James rees.
I'm going to find out about that pipeline.
Ok.
We're gonna watch TV
all day, aren't we, boy?
James, can I show you something?
Here, just pause it for a minute.
It's
something that cefin drew.
Do you know what it is?
That's the bee man.
Look. It is nearly better.
That's good. I'm glad.
The bee man?
Does he have a name?
Kieran.
Kieran benbow?
I think.
- Did cefin know him?
- He gave cefin a present for his birthday.
A present?
James
were you and cefin with
Kieran on Thursday after school?
Are you questioning him?
I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.
To who?
Important to who?
Come here. Come on.
How does he know Kieran?
Why is he going to spider island?
Why would you let him
do that? Slow down, Jackie.
Kieran benbow was a suspect
in nessa's disappearance, Dylan.
That was years ago.
I'm gonna speak to him.
Jackie, come on, don't.
Has it not occurred to you
that what happened to cefin
might be connected to nessa?
I don't know anything about
it. It's not council owned.
Well, whose pipeline is it?
If it runs from up there,
then probably spider island.
Up there? Whoa, whoa,
whoa, stop, stop, stop.
What? See there?
Where? There, look.
Redshank eggs. Yeah.
That's weird. They shouldn't
be nesting in October.
Your officers are not gonna
be all over here now, are they?
Because there are a
lot of rare marsh birds.
I'll tell them to be careful.
So how long do you think
this pipeline's been here?
I'd say maybe a fortnight
or else I would have seen it.
The homes on spider island
are extremely precarious
and there's been a lot of high tides,
so I imagine that's why they put it in.
All this, yeah.
All this will be underwater soon.
What's going on with that
weather front in the Gulf of Mexico?
It's er, unpredictable.
One minute it looks like a
tropical depression, all normal,
and then the next it's a
full-blown hurricane, 200km winds.
And do you think it's going to affect us?
The jet streams coming
off it will create other storms
and those storms will
hit Western Europe,
we just don't know
exactly when or where.
Yeah.
Listen, I wanted to er
I'm sorry if I Put you
on the spot yesterday.
I know you're here in
a professional capacity
and I would never want to
make you feel uncomfortable.
It's just it was, you know
a nice surprise to see you again.
Right. Ok, look, I'm just going to er
- Yeah, that's fine.
- Alright then. - You get on.
No-one ever wants to come up this way.
I guess that's why
they love spider island.
Would you ever join them,
if we had to leave morfa?
I don't want to live with them lot.
Don't you know some
of them? Jean, Kieran.
Kieran benbow.
All this with cousin
cefin and his accident.
It reminds me of when
nessa disappeared.
In what way?
I don't know. It just makes me feel bad.
Guilty, you know?
You don't need to feel guilty, Kathy.
Leave that to the adults.
Two hours, alright?
Kieran?
I'm gonna have to be honest.
That's all I can do, shell.
Shit.
Yeah?
What in the fucking
hell are you doing here?
What are you doing here?
Are you bringing him in?
I should take you in for
breaking and entering.
Don't wind yourself up, bull.
Jackie, you need to back off.
Do you hear me? Ok?
Kieran.
I've got nothing to hide.
Yeah, just come with
me a minute, will you?
Listen, would you mind if we had
a chat down the station, that ok?
Alright, Danny. Hey, Jackie.
Is shell in?
No.
She's with the family up at the farm.
She went up this morning. Yeah,
I just I just I couldn't face it.
Well, the police came this morning
Took things from cefin's bedroom.
They er They said not to say anything
but they know
they know someone moved his body.
What? Yeah. Someone here.
We assume.
Living here.
Why would they do something like that?
I don't know, Danny.
Yeah.
Hey, look, we're not gonna
open and the freezer's full so
Here, why don't you take this.
Er, these are these are good.
I don't eat meat, but thank you.
You could take those and
er I can't throw these out.
Would you er
Would you wanna take
some Would you wanna
Look, why don't you
take some for your dad?
I can't breathe. It's alright.
Come here. Try and
breathe through your nose.
In through your nose
And then out through
your mouth. Slowly.
Do it again.
That's it, that's it.
One more time. In through your nose.
I'm sorry. Sorry! It's alright.
Sorry. Come here.
Sorry. It's alright.
I'm sorry.
Jackie, you'll
tell me, won't you, if you
hear anything, anything at all?
You'll let me know, won't you?
They don't tell me anything anymore.
Yeah. But I
What?
They er
They're questioning everyone
again, right? They will.
Yeah?
But I heard they're speaking
to Kieran, Kieran benbow.
Why Kieran benbow?
Remember in nessa's case?
Yeah -he was seen in the woods
the morning that she went missing.
He was seen repeatedly, you
know where the kids' swing is?
And now I've heard he's
been spending time with cefin.
No, he didn't
He didn't spend time with cefin.
He gave him a present.
What? What kind of present?
What kind of present,
Jackie? I don't know.
Er
I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said
anything about Kieran. I just
I know the police are gonna talk to you
once they know something
for sure, I know they will.
I'm sorry.
Last time I was here you were
living - in a bungalow on the seafront.
Yeah.
The council bought it up and
smashed it down almost a year ago now.
Ok, so then you took the payout
and you moved to the sticks, yeah?
- How many people live - on spider island?
- There's 16 of us.
We're a community living in
unison with the environment.
How does living in unison with the
environment include dumping seawater
into a town that's already half - drowned?
Don't take the piss.
Hey, sit down. Kieran, sit down.
We're only having a friendly chat.
I know how friendly chats go.
I live every day with the friendly
chat we had three years ago.
It's like a bad smell.
People step away from me.
I know you know cos I see
how people here look at you.
A child has been found dead
in the same ditch that
you drain seawater into.
He also had a bee sting on his neck.
I think you better sit down, don't you?
Thank you.
You were tending your beehives
on Thursday afternoon, is that right?
- Yes.
- Was cefin hill with you? No, he wasn't.
But you do know cefin hill?
- I know who he is.
- Yeah.
Cos him and his best
friend, James rees
both had bee stings.
There's plenty of bees around.
They're defensive creatures. Are they?
Yeah. And they do sting
when they feel threatened.
I'm not doing this
without a lawyer present.
I only agreed to talk to
you about the pipeline.
Ok, yeah. We'll stick to the pipeline.
How does it work?
The generator that services
all the boats is sinking.
We're living below sea level.
We're doing all we can
to survive. Yeah, I get it.
So, could you er, write a list of
everyone who knows about it, please?
Just here.
I've got a list of all the spider islanders
who knew about the pipeline.
I want statements, please.
James wouldn't speak to me.
Nothing. Not even his name.
I doubt we can get another interview.
We're gonna have to.
He looks scared.
Before I came to morfa,
I read over your notes
on the nessa taman case.
And there are a number of links.
You interviewed both osian
north am and Kieran benbow.
And
There was a farmhand at the
bevan's too. August Antonov.
- Do you remember him?
- Yeah. He came in and made a statement.
Well no, he wanted to give
a statement but he never did.
There was no interpreter available
and, by the time one was found,
he'd decided he didn't want
to make a statement anymore.
We spoke to a lot of people back then.
There's nothing to suggest he
knows anything about this case.
Yes, but he just might
help shed light on -
have you done a record-check
on all the labourers
that were working on the sea wall? No.
Mac Jones hasn't given us
a list of who was working yet.
- He wanted to speak to you first.
- Why? - He didn't say.
Ok.
Oi!
Fuck.
What are you doing here?
It's not a crime scene anymore,
bull. You need to stop now, Ellis.
You are a liability. If we
wanted to bring in any evidence
from Kieran's boat it
wouldn't be admissible now.
There's a child-sized beekeeping
suit on that boat. You gotta bring it in.
Jesus fucking Christ!
It's perfectly useable as evidence.
But you gotta bring it in right now.
Don't you tell me what I need to do.
Ok?
I heard the body was moved.
I can't help but be part of this,
bullshit. Of course you can. Look at this.
Please.
Cefin drew this.
Nessa drew this. Three years apart.
Two days before cefin died
and nessa went missing.
- Just go home, Ellis.
- You can't tell me they're not connected.
You need to stop playing at being
detective. For your own sake, right?
Fuck off.
For your own sake. You're
fucking high risk and you know it.
You know everyone
here, you're impulsive,
talking to suspects,
breaking into fucking boats.
You are interfering with this
investigation and if you do not stop
I will have you arrested.
Do you understand?
You cannot tell me that they're not linked.
Go home.
You've got to investigate both cases, bull.
Give me an argument for
linking nessa taman's case
with cefin hill's.
Well, the mo's similar.
Both nine year-old children
missing in similar circumstances.
We don't know they were similar
because nessa's body was never recovered.
But it's unlikely to be a
kidnapping and, given her age,
it's highly likely she's dead. We might
be interviewing the same suspects,
but there is no link in the
evidence or witness statements,
and your mo is questionable.
How's the cauliflower cheese?
Not bad.
Have you finished with it?
Cheers, thank you.
I know why you don't
want the cases to be linked.
It would make you wrong about
Jackie Ellis's sister, Lydia taman.
I know that was a big
thing, when you accused her.
Is that why Jackie Ellis resigned?
Because you accused her
sister of nessa's murder?
Jackie Ellis was suspended for
gross misconduct. That's why she left.
Misconduct? Yeah.
You alright?
Shell.
Sticking your bloody beak in.
Do you know last night
was the first night in 16 years
that Danny didn't sleep in his house?
He was that upset. Shell, I understand.
I'm so sorry - I should
be furious with you.
Do you know, I am furious with you.
I didn't tell Danny but I saw
you at spider island with Kieran.
You're such a fucking
nosey Parker, Jackie Ellis.
This has nothing to do with Kieran.
Not in the way you think.
Well, in what way then? Stay out of this.
Are you still seeing him? It
was a bloody long time ago.
Just leave it, yeah?
Wasn't it around the
time cefin was born, shell?
Stay out of it.
What you doing here?
- I couldn't sleep.
- What about my sister? Get yourself home.
Be with her and the boys.
What do you think you're doing?
- She's alright.
- She's bloody not. Now, go home. Now.
The hair we found on
his body is not cefin's.
We ran it through the
database, no match.
Ok.
Any other details? Er,
it's cut short. Brownish.
Right.
The fingernail scrapings
Yeah contain butyl rubber fibres
and high-density
polyethylene fibres. No DNA.
Likely your killer wore a
protective suit and rubber gloves.
And we're not talking about marigolds.
- My killer?
- Most certainly. - Shit.
Cefin was held under the water
and he struggled.
There's bruising on the back of his neck.
Finger marks.
Shall I go on?
Yeah. Yeah.
Er, we found traces of sodium
hydroxide in cefin's eyes.
Sorry, sodium what? Lye. Caustic soda.
It's highly alkaline and corrosive,
depending on the dilution.
Given the inflammation around
his eyes, nose and mouth,
it appears to have been in
the water he was drowned in.
But how would it have
ended up in the water?
Are there any landfills in that area?
- Landfills?
- First place I'd look. - Ok.
Alright then.
Look, is there er
anything else I should know?
Close contact with sodium hydroxide
can cause a nasty burn on the skin.
Well, was cefin burned?
No, but your killer could be.
Ok. Thanks, Irene. Thank you.
Detective. Mac Jones.
I need a list of all the labourers
that were working on Thursday.
I wanted to speak to you
before I gave you the list.
The ledger's in the yard, do
you - want to follow me there?
Ok, yeah.
You been out of town?
I had to pick these up.
Back in a second. Thank you.
Names, addresses, days worked,
it's all there. Every man I've employed.
You're welcome to copy it.
Alright. Can I just check, just to be clear,
that you were on site
from 4pm on Thursday
until you went to the
town meeting - at 7?
That's right.
Listen, I wanted to speak to
you because you see over there
What, Dylan rees? Yeah.
He was working the day cefin died
but he was here, alone, not on site.
And he's got a record.
It's minor. A long time ago.
Stole some tvs, possession of
weed. I know about Dylan rees.
Well, he's an idiot, but he's a good idiot.
- And I know how these things work.
- You look for people with records -
but I want to reiterate
Dylan's a good guy,
he'd nothing to do with this.
Why was he here, not on site?
I tend to keep people here
for deliveries and so on.
And what's happening with
sunny side? We're waiting for planning.
- Yeah?
- Been four years already. It's a ruin.
Yeah.2005. Massive flood,
took out the whole site.
I used to come over here as a kid.
I thought it was magic.
They'll love it when we've done it up.
I thought you were all being
encouraged to leave morfa?
I love this place. I met nisha here.
We've a one-year-old now.
This is home. We all feel like that.
And this wall will mean
none of us will have to leave.
Thanks for this. I'll get it - - back to you.
- Good luck.
- Cheers.
- Come on, let's get in the car.
- Ok.
Right, I see.
And there are no council ones?
Ok.
So, the nearest landfill is 30
miles away on the mainland.
It's too far. With the time
of death and the tides,
he must have died here.
Hey.
Kieran benbow.
Dad. Hello, love.
- Hi. - Hello.
- How are you doing? - Hi.
Hello, little one.
I want to thank you all for coming,
to pay your respects to us
and to pay your respects to cefin.
Cefin was a splendid boy
and he loved this place.
He loved this community
and he wouldn't want to see us
lose that, you know, lose each other,
lose this place.
Morfa halen was everything
cefin knew and loved.
So, you know, whatever lies ahead
we must all stick together.
The police have been in touch with us
and they don't think cefin's
death was an accident.
We just want to understand
what happened, you know?
So if any of you know
anything or hear anything
and don't want to go to the police,
then come to me, will you?
I mean, we just want to
Kieran!
What are you doing here?
Paying my respects.
You think it's respectful
showing up when the family
know you're being questioned?
Look, I know you want to pin this on me
but I had nothing to do with nessa
and I have nothing to do with this.
I know he was your child.
Cefin.
How do you fucking know that?
Who told you?
Was it shell?
Jackie Ellis.
Detective Jess deng.
I'm bull's dsio.
Assigned for the case, not his partner.
I heard you were good police.
This your first case?
You don't need to let that -
worry you. We're all over it.
Yeah.
I had that confidence on my first case.
Nothing's straightforward, detective.
You've got to listen to your doubts.
And if you don't have
'em, you gotta find 'em.
Danny!
Shell. I know he's really upset.
Where's he going?
Shell?
Is he going to spider island?
Bring him back, Jackie. Please.
Kath! Kath!
Listen, will you wait there
for a sec? I'll be right back.
Oi!
- Where are they going?
- Your cousin Kath and Jackie,
where are they going?
They're going to spider island.
Shit.
I'm not gonna hurt anyone, ok?
I just wanna talk to Kieran, that's all.
Danny. Jackie.
I want to help you, Danny.
There's nothing you can do.
It's between me and Kieran.
Get out of here, please.
Give him some space.
I know Why you
kept going to the woods.
It's where you met him, isn't it?
Shell told me.
For years You met
and played with my boy
Like he was your own
son. It wasn't like that.
Danny, put it down.
Please. Did you ever tell him?
No. Danny, we can figure it out.
I just wanted was to see him
occasionally, that's all it was.
It changes everything, him knowing.
He didn't know.
Don't tell me what
you think I want to hear!
Ok. Danny.
Stop this. Put it down.
Did you kill him? No!
Put the gun down, Danny. Please.
I
I always suspected but I never knew.
And
Yeah, it didn't it didn't
matter when he was alive.
It just didn't matter. He was just
He was there being Beautiful cefin
and I was there being his dad.
Do you have any idea What it's like
to stand there, in front of
in front of everyone,
friends consoling you
paying their respects
to To cefin's father?
And I'm thinking, "it's all a lie."
You're his father.
You are. So
what does that make me?
An imposter.
Fuck it.
No, Danny!
You're his father, Danny. Look at me.
You cared for that boy day
in, day out, since he was born.
You loved him.
Ok? That's what family is.
That's what parenting
is, not fucking genetics.
And that's why you're grieving.
And you've got every right to
grieve because he loved you, Danny.
Jeez.
No!
It's alright.
I'm sorry.
It's alright. I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry. I don't know
what I'm fucking doing.
It's ok.
Come on then, Danny.
So that's why you were in the
woods that day nessa disappeared.
You were with cefin.
I I know you think I
saw her but I didn't.
She wasn't there. No-one was.
The woods were empty.
Six of the be van cousins said
they saw her playing
in the woods that day.
Six be van kids lied.
Just keep an eye on him. Thank you.
Ok? Good night. Come inside.
Everywhere, you are, in't yer?
Jackie Ellis in everyone's
business, as usual.
Well, thank god one of us is.
You know people round
here don't lock their houses
because they trust one other.
They trust me.
So what are you saying,
that I need your help?
Yeah. Use me.
But it can't be a one-way thing.
You've got to share
information - with me.
Against the bloody rules.
Grow up.
Evidence has already
been washed away.
We don't have time for fucking rules.
So
Kieran benbow
He said that nessa wasn't in the
woods the day she disappeared
That none of the kids were.
And if that's true then
Everything we thought we
knew about nessa's last moments,
they're not true, are they?
And all the be van
cousins are fucking lying.
I think that cefin might have
gone to their farm after school.
Why do you say that?
Just got a hunch.
You don't have hunches.
James told me.
On the beach. He said to
me, "sometimes me and cefin
used to go and play at
Solomon's farm after school."
But he won't talk to deng.
I mean, you're his teacher.
Maybe you could sit in on
an interview and we could er
I dunno, it could help us out.
Hiya. You ok, shell?
I've been told you're asking
around town about about a landfill.
Yeah? Look, I can't be sure,
but I think there's waste
buried up at the old quarry.
On my dad's land, out beyond the farm.
Ok. Thank you.
This could be our primary crime scene.
Come on then.
Get in.
So, cefin was drowned in water that
showed traces of sodium hydroxide.
Irene said the most likely
source is industrial waste.
Solomon would never
allow it on - his land.
Well, let's see, shall we?
Look, barrels.
Why would cefin come
all the way out here?