Silent Witness (1996) s29e09 Episode Script

BELLS CHIME
LOW CHATTER
BELLS PEAL
NIKKI: White.
Purity.
Innocence.
Brightness.
And death.
During Chinese Imperial rule,
a length of white silk
was occasionally offered
to those who had committed
a serious offence,
as a gift, to allow them the possibility
of taking their own life by hanging
rather than being executed,
preserving the physical
integrity of the body
in accordance with Confucian
principles of filial piety.
When was all this?
The Tang Dynasty, 10th century.
But the Chinese have practised
forensic science
to investigate crime
since the Western Han Dynasty
in the first century.
Do you know what their
most famous forensic book is?
Yes, I do know this. It's, er,
The Washing Line And
- The Washing Away Of Wrongs.
- That's it.
It was translated into Latin,
and came to Britain during the Conquest.
It remained as a standard text
on forensic pathology
until the 1920s.
Do they still do all that Imperial China
white silk stuff today?
No, the New Culture Movement of 1915
thought that respect for your elders
was an obstruction to progress.
Mao's socialism in the '50s
shifted responsibility
from the family to the state.
Nikkipedia strikes again.
So, not many white silk gifts,
then, these days?
- Not so much, no.
- No, I didn't think so.
Detective Inspector Fred Casey.
Can I help you?
I think we're here to help you, Fred.
Who are you?
- Sorry. Dr Nikki Alexander.
- Jack Hodgson.
Am I supposed to know who
you are and why you're here?
Bowman Centre.
Should that mean something to me?
Pathology. Forensics.
Birmingham.
Hodgson. No relation to Roy?
- None.
- I've read about you.
Well, I didn't call you,
so there must be some mix-up.
We've got our own people in Oxfordshire.
So could you stand behind
the police tape, please?
- It is a crime scene.
- Excuse me. I requested them.
Did you?
Who's your friend?
It's always hard to know.
MAN: Go!
Right, watch your step.
- Yeah.
- There you are.
OK. Steady.
- Put her down.
- I got it.
BURNS: Home Office
felt it would be better
if we moved her body to the Bowman.
I'm the SIO. This is my crime scene.
I don't know anything about this,
and I don't know who you think you are.
I already told you. I'm Alex Burns.
I'm a senior investigator
with the security services.
I've got a pretty clear idea who I am.
Oh, you think you're a comedian?
No, I don't think I've ever thought that.
Let me walk you through
what you need to do
before you turn up here
and act like you're in charge.
You need to ring the coroner,
then the coroner needs to agree,
then the coroner needs to speak
to my superintendent,
then my superintendent
needs to call me. All right?
How old do you think she is? 20s?
I'd say so.
I'll lift?
- Preserve the knot?
- Please.
CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
Young woman.
CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
Beautiful place.
Makes no sense.
SIREN WAILS
Hypostatic staining, but
no ligature marks or bruising.
Abrasion and laceration
to the zygomatic bone.
No petechiae in the facial skin
..eyelids
..or buccal mucosa.
Nikki, what do you reckon?
Torn from the force of her body falling?
Perhaps.
- Not silk.
- No.
I don't think silk would have torn
from the dead weight like this.
No.
I'll look for the missing piece.
- It's what you do.
- Of fabric.
I got that.
No ligature marks, no bruising.
So
..she fell,
hit her head on something,
knocked herself out, drowns?
NIKKI: Possible.
How long was she in the water?
Hard to say.
There's no sign of maceration.
Some skin wrinkling on the finger pads.
Did you take the water temperature?
Not yet.
I'll get a sample for diatom testing.
OK. Let's see what
the postmortem tells us.
- Could you bring the body bag, please?
- Yeah.
We're taking her to the John Radcliffe.
LINE RINGS
Coroner's Office, please. Thanks.
Do we know the name
- of the deceased?
- No.
It's Nikki Alexander
from the Bowman Centre.
Is Daniel available?
Hi, Daniel, it's Nikki.
I'm well, thanks for asking. You?
Well, you can't let them get you down.
I'm in Oxford
recovering an unknown female
from the Cherwell.
There seems to be some dispute
OK. Thanks.
The coroner's instructed
that their body be moved
to the Bowman Centre
- for the postmortem.
- Well, nobody told me that.
PHONE VIBRATES
DI Fred Casey.
Yes, sir.
Understood, sir. Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
I'll see you in Birmingham.
We believe her name was Mei Li.
23. From Hong Kong.
How do you know?
We'll speak at the Bowman.
BELLS CHIME
PHONES RING SIRENS WAIL
PHONE RINGS
Casey.
I'm really busy.
Well, has he not filled in
a missing persons report online?
Risk levels?
Does he understand that's why
he's not had a call back yet?
OK, OK. OK.
Well, I'm just finishing off
something I've got to get done
right away, and I'll come over.
Yeah.
Shit.
- There you go.
- Ta.
CASEY CLEARS HIS THROA
- Mr George?
- Yes. Pike.
My fiancee is-is missing.
Are you sure she's missing?
Didn't have an argument?
Maybe she had a change
of heart about the marriage?
- You know, it's happened to me.
- Yes.
I'm certain. I've called three times.
I've sent an email.
I need the police to help me
to do something.
Ah. Morning, Dawn.
So, uh, how long do you think
she's been missing?
Two days.
Two days? OK.
Better get some details, then.
Name?
Pike George.
Oh, yes.
- Age?
- 31.
Occupation?
CTO. Research scientist,
physics for Hendelseshorisont.
Oh.
PEN SCRATCHES
CTO.
Missing fiancee's name?
Mei Li.
May, like the month?
- Lee. L-E-E?
- No, no. Um
Mei Li.
M-E-I
L-I.
Is she Asian?
Chinese.
From Hong Kong.
Clothing, fresh from the drying chamber.
We want to untie the knot
and see if we can extract
the DNA from the fabric inside.
Mm-hm. Got it.
- Kit, you're young.
- Yes,
but less and less every day.
- Ever have dark thoughts?
- What counts as dark?
Self-destruction.
Why would I have those?
- I'm a goddamn miracle.
- Ha.
- Yes, you are.
- So are you.
So is she.
You know when a dark cloud descends
and blocks out the sun?
The sun is still there.
We just can't see it.
We can forget that.
The sun is always there.
We just have to wait for it to come back.
We're still there, even when it's dark.
You can't forget that.
So, yeah,
there is a little darkness,
but without the darkness,
you can't appreciate the light.
Shall I call you the Philosopher Queen?
No.
- Fucking Miracle.
- LAUGHS
Why here? And why us?
The deceased woman's family
live in Birmingham.
It's true.
Why here? Why us?
The Home Office trusts you.
Why you?
To be honest, we rather
stumbled across this one.
We just wanted to make sure
that it's not
What?
Well, that it all makes sense.
Does the death of a young person
ever fully make sense?
PHONE PINGS AND VIBRATES
Dr Alexander is ready for me.
Why would a young woman
with her whole life ahead of her
suddenly take her own life?
HARRIET: Shame.
A quality which alerts us
to the gap between
who we are today and the best
version of ourselves.
NIKKI: The deceased is
a young woman in her 20s
of East Asian extraction.
It's not a disparagement
of the essence of our being,
but a reminder of who we could be.
It's a faint line, but no bruising.
Inspiring,
helping us to rise
Laceration to the zygomatic bone.
..not driving us to despair.
The laryngohyoid complex is intact.
No sign of a fracture.
Shame is an overlooked quality
in a society which rewards
celebrity over accomplishments,
and mistakes the realisation
of one's imperfections
for a mental health affliction.
Shall we turn her over?
Yes. Of course.
We're just going to turn you over, Mei.
Cupping. Chinese medicine?
Yeah.
A society in which
we medicalise disappointment
and normalise complacency
Acupuncture needle marks?
Not usually so conspicuous.
No, but there seems to be
some sort of localised reaction
- to these.
- Mmm. Mmm.
..whose preoccupation with "I"
cannot see "us".
We tolerate a technological world
of falsehood, deception and aggression.
A celebration of mendacity.
A world without shame.
There's no excess fluid
in the pleural cavities.
The lungs are not
hyperinflated, crepitant
or even doughy.
There's no froth in the primary bronchi.
There's no evidence that she drowned.
But if we are led by virtue
..we will develop a sense of shame,
which, in turn, will guide us to be good.
She was dead
before she entered the water.
Shame only shows us
how far we are from perfection.
It should never, ever kill us.
NIKKI: Her death is concerning.
- Wrongdoing?
- Concerning.
I'm not going to rule out
third-party involvement at this stage.
When will you pin it down?
Well, we don't know
the mechanism of death.
I'm waiting on toxicology.
Why did you bring her here?
We've done this. Trust.
Oh, we're sticking
to that old chestnut, are we?
You knew her name
before her body was recovered
from the water. You knew
her age, where she was from.
And you knew the death was suspicious
before we had even done the postmortem.
- Were you expecting it?
- No.
HARRIET: Were you responsible for it?
Absolutely not!
If you were following her,
you didn't do a particularly good job.
We weren't following her, no.
Who were you following?
We have an interest
in British cyber research,
which we monitor to protect
against state-sponsored theft.
And it was while monitoring
- Phone tapping?
- ..while monitoring,
we discovered that Mei Li was missing.
She matched the name
of someone known to us,
and the body found
matched her description.
Why was this woman known to you?
Oh, what happened to trust, Alex?
There was a bounty
on the young woman's head.
Allegedly.
Do you know who put it there?
Oh, yeah.
Well, let the police arrest them.
It's not a person.
It's a country.
Or more precisely,
a Special Administrative Region.
- Hong Kong?
- Yeah.
That does not leave this office.
The Hong Kong Government
put a bounty on her head?
Allegedly.
For her capture, not her murder.
Why?
Pro-democracy campaigner.
What happened to
"one country, two systems"?
National security law.
This is a Chinese issue.
No, no, no. She's British. BNO passport.
That's British National Overseas
I know what that means!
It would be very handy
if you ended up proving that
- ..this
- "This"? "This"?
The death of a young woman?
..had nothing to do with that.
What? Democracy?
PHONE RINGS
Hello. Harriet Maven.
Yes. Yes, she's here with me.
- Dr Alexander.
- Detective Inspector.
I think we know
who the deceased woman is.
WHISPERS: And I've brought him
to identify the body.
Why would she do this? Can't be.
It's just not rational.
- Can we?
- Yeah.
It makes absolutely no sense.
Are you certain it's her?
I need certainty.
Certainty brings closure.
Just a minute.
His name's Pike George.
He reported his fiancee missing, and
she matches the description
of the dead Chinese woman
WHISPERS: ..we fished out
of the Cherwell.
She's British.
It's her.
It's Mei Li.
Hey.
- Hello.
- Pike?
I'm Jack. I, um work here.
I just wanted to, uh well
It's a lonely thing.
Thanks.
She was your fiancee?
That's rough.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
You knew her a long time?
Ten days.
- When you know, you know.
- Yeah.
Lost my virginity to her.
- Right. OK.
- Now she's dead.
She's taking my virginity
with her to the grave.
Do people from Hong Kong have graves?
What would she want?
Who do I ask?
Her parents?
Her dad died.
I don't know her mum.
Never met her.
I was going to, but never did.
I've never talked to her about death.
I guess it was
cos she made me feel so alive.
I'm really grateful to you
for coming to talk to me.
No-one ever comes to talk to me.
And you did.
Ten days.
He'd only known her ten days.
They were getting married.
Doesn't that seem odd?
I don't know.
There are some guys I'm ready
to marry after one night.
Too much information.
He never met her mum.
Well, we need to meet her
and collect her DNA.
Fred?
Hi. I need a favour.
He said he wanted someone with, you know,
high emotional intelligence
to speak to the deceased's mother.
Couldn't say no, really, could I?
How's the weather down there, then?
Yeah. That's funny, Fred.
You're a funny guy.
- Bet you've heard that before.
- Not me personally,
but I'm sure someone has, you know,
30, 40 years ago.
- Eggshells.
- Sorry?
Down here.
Well, a situation like this, you know,
us working together,
pretending there's
nothing unusual about you,
can be awkward.
So you crack a bad joke,
break those eggshells.
So that's what we're doing,
is it? Killing poultry?
See, it's doing exactly
what I hoped it would do.
Now we don't have
to tiptoe around so much.
- I feel so much better.
- Good.
This is the place.
LIVELY CHATTER
CHATTER STOPS
Huh?
What is it?
Nothing.
A lot of thinking about nothing.
There's nothing in the toxicology report.
I swabbed the 22 pinpricks on her back.
Pinpricks?
I suspect made by acupuncture needles.
There's a small red mark
next to each one.
Localised reaction.
Each one of the sites has returned
a high level of the amino acid
tryptophan.
LINE RINGS
Hi, it's Dr Alexander.
I'd like to run analytical tests
outside of the normal
tox profile on Mei Li.
Yes. You just returned results on her.
This time, look at serotonin
and all analogues and derivatives of it.
OK. Thanks.
So what does it mean?
I don't know.
Serotonin is synthesised
from tryptophan, but
why would it return at a high level?
- Hello.
- Hello.
Detective Inspector Fred Casey
..looking for a Jackie Hiu Wai Li.
Er
I am Jackie.
How can I help you?
Um
Maybe we could speak somewhere private?
Thank you.
CHATTER RESUMES
FRED CLEARS HIS THROA
Jackie
This is difficult news to tell you.
FRED CLEARS HIS THROA
Your daughter Mei is dead.
I see.
OK.
We don't know what happened to her yet.
We're still investigating.
OK.
When did you last see Mei?
I don't know exactly.
- Not long ago.
- OK. Um
I understand this is bad news, but
- ..um
- We'd be grateful
if you'd volunteer a sample of your DNA
to help with the investigation.
- I I will do it.
- Thank you.
We won't be able to return
her body to you
until we complete the investigation.
OK.
If you could open your mouth, please.
OK. All set.
Thank you.
That's my number if you need it.
Thank you.
We'll be in touch.
I have a daughter.
I'm not Chinese, so maybe
I don't know anything, but
if I'd just been told
my daughter was dead,
I wouldn't have reacted like that.
KEYBOARD CLICKS
TABLET CHIMES
PIANO CHORDS
KNOCK ON DOOR
Well, I'm making progress.
And progress in anything
is very satisfactory, isn't it?
Don't you think?
You look troubled.
Not troubled. Puzzled.
The swabs from Mei Li's back
What, from the acupuncture needle marks?
As yet unconfirmed that
they were made by
acupuncture needles, but yes.
They showed a high level
of the amino acid tryptophan.
- Did you look for serotonin?
- Yes. And analogues
and derivatives. The lab's just come back
with a lethal amount
of dimethyl serotonin.
Also known as 5-hydroxy-N,
N-dimethyltryptamine,
- alkaloid tryptamine.
- Yes.
Also known as bufotenine,
a serotonergic psychedelic
and potent hallucinogenic.
Bufotenine is an exotic, isn't it?
Yes. A potent and nonselective
serotonin receptor agonist.
Made from plants or mushrooms or
And toad venom.
Used in Chinese medicine.
How is it used in Chinese medicine?
- Apparently to treat cancer.
- Did she have cancer?
- HARRIET: Not that we could see.
- So it's not medicinal.
Because of its structural similarities
with dimethyltryptamine and serotonin,
it's considered a psychedelic.
- She uses it to get high?
- And overdoses.
Does she mean to overdose?
Hard to know intention,
but irrespective of her intentions,
the needle marks were on her back,
so she couldn't have put them
there herself.
Acupuncture is an unusual
method of delivery.
We found nothing in the literature.
And as she was lying face down,
she probably didn't know
it was happening.
The mechanism of death
in an overdose of bufotenine
is asphyxiation
leading to cardiac arrest.
Constricts the airways.
Hanging or drowning might be a misdirect.
Yeah, confusing the investigation.
I don't believe Mei Li took her own life.
I think we need to proceed
as though it's likely to be a homicide.
- Alex?
- ALEX GROANS
Where do you find toad venom?
Well, we know that she had
cupping treatment
and she had acupuncture.
Kit, how many practitioners
of Chinese medicine
- are there in Oxford?
- On it.
NIKKI: Pike might know who to speak to.
Yeah.
LINE RINGS
Hello. DI Casey.
Hi, Fred.
Oh, hello, Alex. How's it hanging?
How do you still have a job?
Maybe because I do
people like you favours.
BELLS CHIME
Hello.
Do people call you the "hot doc"?
None that are still alive.
I'm up to 62 traditional
Chinese medicine practitioners.
Who knew they were so popular?
Yeah. Who knew?
What is it?
DNA result from the knot.
Not great quality.
But it's a mixed sample.
Hers and an unknown DNA, a second female.
Someone else tied the knot.
Let's check against the profiles we have
and do a spec search,
see if it's on the database.
Yeah. Will do.
Have you found any more on Hendels?
Hendelseshorisont.
Yeah.
ENTRY SYSTEM RINGS
INTERCOM: Can I help you?
Police, here to see a Pike George,
Hendelseshorisont?
Can I see your identification, please?
The woman is with you?
Yes. The woman is with me.
Not a sentence I say very often.
Unsurprisingly.
She will need to provide identification.
Understood.
GATE CLANKS OPEN
After you.
Hendelseshorisont is trying
to design a quantum chip
that is a trillion times faster
than today's supercomputer.
Only a trillion?
ID?
Is this regarding Mei Li?
- Police business.
- Of course.
Is Pike expecting you?
I tried to call here several times,
but no-one answered.
We don't take messages.
- NIKKI: Why is that?
- Security.
Can I have your mobile phones, please?
Pop them into a locker.
I'll take you to Pike.
SECURITY GATE CHIMES
SECURITY GATE CHIMES
Thank you.
Apparently, they're trying
to make a qubit chip
for a quantum computer out of water.
Water?
Water and pulses of light.
They make the water salty
by dissolving iodide ions into it.
A laser's fired into the water,
bumping electrons out of the salt.
The laser is so fast
the water is able to
switch states in picoseconds.
That's a trillionth of a second.
What happens in there?
They do coding.
Developing artificial intelligence.
Company's called Komnata.
I think it's a kind of a training place.
Everyone just calls it "The Room".
DOOR BEEPS
It is not part of Hendelseshorisont.
They are through here
in the secure research area
of the building.
KIT: A faster, more efficient chip
is key to the future.
It would save massive amounts of energy
compared to today's silicon chips.
The energy required
to drive the computers
to run an AI platform,
you could power a whole city.
Hello.
I'm Bendik Voss,
co-founder, Hendelseshorisont.
- Can I help?
- Police for Pike.
A water-based qubit chip
in a quantum computer
would use a tiny fraction of that,
and operate up to 100 million
times faster for AI
- 100 million?
- Mm-hm.
..depending on the algorithm.
There's a quote from Pike in the article.
"It will be faster than God can blink."
That's world changing.
We're building it here?
We're creating it.
We're a nation of creators,
inventors, thinkers.
- Pike does this?
- Mm-hm. He's the founder,
along with a chap called Bendik Voss.
Pike's Chief Technology Officer.
He's the brains behind it.
DOOR OPENS
FRED CLEARS HIS THROA
Hi.
Hi.
Wu Li.
Physics. Or organised energy.
Th-That's what we are.
Energy organised in the form we're in -
the organism we inhabit.
Hi, Fred.
Pike.
We live in a zero-energy universe.
You know what that means, Fred?
Not a fucking clue.
The energy is the same today
as it was at the beginning of time.
That's right. Yeah.
When an organism dies,
the energy still exists.
I try and feel her energy.
I know it sounds crazy. It's not crazy.
If you think of
a person's being as energy,
it accounts for spirits,
ghosts,
God
Thanks, Rodrigo.
..all sorts of human experiences.
The moment of energy
is the point of singularity, isn't it,
where physics and metaphysics meet?
Why are you here?
We're having a bit of trouble
finding Mei Li's address
in Oxford. You wouldn't
have it, would you?
Of course.
She lived in Jericho. I'll get it.
- COMPUTER BEEPS
- Morning, Pike. I miss you.
Big kiss.
Thanks, Mei Li.
The guys in The Room are building me
- a virtual interactive waifu.
- Morning, Pike.
- I miss you. Big kiss.
- To get me through the dark hours.
It's eternal life.
Just different.
Don't have it.
I know it by sight. I can take you there.
Great. Yeah.
You wouldn't have her laptop
or her phone, would you?
No. Sorry.
We'd be grateful
if you'd volunteer a DNA sample
to help us with our investigation.
Of course.
Did Mei Li ever talk to you
about Chinese medicine?
Oh, God. Yes.
She was always banging on about it.
Some woman she said I had to go see.
It would change my life.
Open.
Do you remember her name?
Don't think she ever mentioned it. Why?
A few unanswered questions.
A few?
Only a few?
I have thousands.
Millions.
This is a temple to unanswered questions.
- CHIME
- Rodrigo.
Oh, Rodrigo needs to walk us out.
Bendik is obsessed with security.
Thank you.
I'm getting nowhere on the phone.
I asked for toad venom or bufo.
Apparently it's called bufo
among a particular groovy set
of folk who use it.
Never was really part of that crowd.
- No?
- No.
Never really wanted to be.
No.
So I ask, they say no and hang up.
Sometimes they just hang up.
Usually they just hang up.
"Zhongyi"?
It literally means "Chinese medicine".
An in-person consultation?
It's worth a try.
How did you meet Mei Li?
She worked for one of
the companies in the building
just along here. This one. The Room.
- Mei worked here?
- Yes.
How long had she worked for them?
I don't know, exactly.
They moved in a couple
of months after we did.
- Who owns it?
- Huh?
Do you know who owns it?
Oh, uh, some evil genius
with no strong attachment to reality.
I make the violin.
They play it so well
that even the devil will dance.
The things they can do with AI!
I used to see her through
this glass every morning
when I'd come in,
and every night when I'd leave.
She would look at me.
I would look at her.
First sight.
Do you believe
in love at first sight, Fred?
Why do I always get the hard questions?
JACK: Do you think they can fix me?
- KIT: Are you broken?
- JACK: Yeah. We're all broken.
KIT: Oh. Who's the Philosopher Queen now?
After you, Fucking Miracle.
Oh, such a gentleman.
I feel healthier already.
Hi.
Um, would you happen to have HuaChanSu
that I could buy?
So sorry. My pronunciation
is terrible, I know.
Uh, HuaChanSu?
- Am I saying it right?
- Why are you asking me?
Chansu?
Toad venom?
Mm?
Right. Well, this is going well.
- How can I help?
- Oh, we'd like to buy Chansu.
Mm-hm.
Bufotoxin?
Yes.
You know that is a class A drug, right?
- For cancer treatment?
- It is used for that. Yes.
The kids you are going to sell it to,
they want it for cancer treatment?
Sure, I believe that.
That's a go-to-prison drug. Six years.
You can't buy it from a legitimate
traditional Chinese medicine
practitioner in this country.
You can't import it.
Sorry.
Can't help.
- No
- Yeah
Can't help!
OK. Kit
Cool.
KIT MUTTERS DOOR CLOSES
This is it.
- No key?
- Sorry, no.
- She live alone?
- Yeah.
Are you sure this is her house?
Absolutely
..certain.
You hear that?
- What?
- That.
- No.
- Oh, I hear it.
Someone's calling for help from inside.
Oi! Hey!
Stop him!
Hey! Stop
- Are you OK?
- Unbelievable!
Would you like me to call the police?
No. I'm OK.
- Oh
- Are you hurt?
- I'm OK.
- Come and sit down.
- SIGHS
- What's your name?
Helen.
I'm Nikki.
Did he hurt you?
He took my bag!
You need to go to the police.
They're not going to do anything.
If not for you, then to protect
the next person.
I will.
Would you like me to give you
a lift to the police station?
No. It's OK. I've got my bike.
Thank you.
Would you mind if I get your number?
Just in case I need a witness.
- Of course.
- He's got my phone. Bastard!
I'm so sorry.
Here.
Oh! Old-school business card!
Very classy.
- You're a doctor?
- Yes.
Nice to meet you, Dr Alexander.
- Nikki.
- Nikki.
I am Dr Helen Garnett.
The academic kind,
not the life-saving kind.
Thank you. You've been really kind.
I really appreciate it.
- Hey.
- Hey.
How are you holding up?
I've been meaning to tell you, but
because of Mei Li, I, uh
We've had an offer
to buy Hendelseshorisont.
Another one?
Not Musk or Altman?
- Please tell me not them.
- No, not them.
But it is an AI company.
Did you tell them to piss off?
We're close.
You know we're close, right?
We're running out of money, Pike.
We're running out of time.
Look, we're small.
We were always going to get bought
by someone else and right now
- we've got something to sell.
- Don't do it, Bendik.
Please don't do it.
What is the point of all of this work
if you just sell it
to the highest bidder?
We can create the future.
We can control how it's used
and who uses it.
We can stop it being used for weapons,
stop it from destroying jobs,
stop it from destroying each other!
No, we can't, Pike.
We can.
Pike
..human beings aren't built like that.
We can.
We can.
Who was it?!
Who made the offer that's
turned your fucking head?!
Who was it?!
JACK: Class A. It won't be coming
from any legit Chinese medicine clinic.
You learn anything?
- Wu Li.
- New word?
The idea that we are organised energy.
- Nice idea.
- Mmm.
Mei Li worked for a company
in the same building
called Komnata.
I'll get Kit to look into them.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Of course. Ask me a hard one.
KIT: I must have screwed up
the DNA sample.
Along with this romantic moment!
Oh, it's so inappropriate
in the workplace.
- Which sample?
- Mei Li's mum.
Either I screwed up the DNA test
or Mei Li was adopted.
Let me see.
POWERS DOWN
NIKKI: The result shows
that Mei Li's mother
wasn't a biological parent
of the deceased.
Did that DI, Fred Casey,
go anywhere near the samples
after you took it?
He could have buggered them up.
No.
No, of course not.
HARRIET: Perhaps she adopted her.
We can ask. It'd be useful to find out
as much as we can about the mother.
We can test her again,
but I don't think the result will change.
Both the positive and negative controls
in the extraction process
confirm validity.
And the amplification blanks
show no contamination.
It wasn't you, Kit. The test
wasn't spoiled or contaminated.
ALEX: Have either of you met her?
JACK: It would give us an excuse.
Meet her!
WOMAN LAUGHS
MAN LAUGHS
MOANS
LAUGHTER AND MOANING DISTORTS
Jackie, this is my boss, Jack Hodgson,
and Dr Nikki Alexander, who I work with.
I'm so sorry to trouble you, but, um
Did you by any chance adopt Mei?
No, I did not.
We might need to do the samples again.
Why? Why do you need this?
We have done nothing wrong.
WOMAN: Stop!
I am Mei Li.
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