Silent Witness (1996) s08e08 Episode Script

Body 21 (2)

TRAIN CLATTERS OVER RAILS William is now the 22nd victim of the train crash.
He died where he wanted to die with his wife and two children.
William and I didn't always agree on how we should campaign on behalf of those who died.
But there were many things we did agree on.
On the night of the crash, the emergency services were fantastic, as were the soldiers who helped at the scene.
But then there was nothing.
They want us to go away, to give up.
To get on with our lives.
But I know William would agree with me when I say, we will NOT go away.
CROWD: That's right.
APPLAUSE AGITATED MUTTERING Talk to that lady there.
Excuse me, this is my husband.
He's 6'2".
Please, could the body be his? I'm afraid the body we have is 5'8".
My husband was driving home one night, and according to police he parked his car on the off ramp of the M4 and he just started walking.
When was this? It was last April, he just disappeared and I don't know why.
So that's what he looked like.
Who's that supposed to be? Body 21.
"The Land Rover that caused the crash was owned by Major Mark Wiltshire.
" I knew it.
Why can't they just leave us alone? Did you finally manage to speak to Steven? I left him a message asking him to call me.
BUZZER RINGS Is he still coming home? I suppose so.
Professor Dalton.
Morning, Major Wiltshire.
And Detective Inspector Freeman.
How can we help you? We have some questions concerning the night of the train crash.
You've been through all this.
He wasn't there, he was in the officers' mess.
He has witnesses.
Some new evidence has come to light.
The survivors' group pays to reopen the investigation and within a few days new evidence suddenly appears? You'd better come in.
(SIGHS) It's my brother.
He went missing about 20 years ago.
He was on a beach in Portugal, one minute he was there and then he wasn't.
It wasn't really my fault cos I was only ten at the time, but they put me in charge.
And you think body 21 might be Well, I mean, I haven't thought about him in years, it's just that when I saw the picture in the paper I wondered.
Well, how old was he? Four at the time.
Excuse me.
What's going on? The press printed the photo.
Body 21.
It was put on the survivors' group website.
TOGETHER: Excuse me.
Yeah, excuse me one second.
Thanks.
My son could be body 21.
Yes.
Leo is going to love this.
He was wearing a St Christopher.
Who was? Our son, Jonathan Hall.
Our son went missing six years ago.
We had an argument.
A stupid thing.
Yeah.
It just got out of hand, you know? We found drugs in his room.
You say he wore a St Christopher? Yeah, it was a solid gold one, you know.
We went to a medium and he told us that Jonathan was connected in some way .
.
with a train crash.
What? We gave him some of Jonathan's things.
What was this medium's name? Uh Derek Poutney.
He's very good.
How could he possibly have known that your son was involved with a train crash? Cos he asked us what Jonathan wore regularly.
We told him about the St Christopher.
Yeah.
So was one found in the crash? We found him.
At last.
If you want me to take a DNA test, I will.
Why did you refuse at the time? I was advised to.
By who? Senior officers.
Army lawyers.
Did you know he received hate mail? It wasn't hate mail.
They called you a murderer! Who did? The survivors' group.
We don't know that.
Would you also be willing to give us a sample for DNA testing, Mrs Wiltshire? Me? What for? You sometimes drove the Land Rover.
Are you suggesting I had sex with someone on the back seat? Are you refusing to give a DNA sample? I'll do anything if it puts a stop to all this.
(SIGHS) I was not driving the Land Rover on that night.
Well, were you a passenger? No.
Any more questions I can help you with? Can you explain this? What is it? The end of a key.
It was found in the ignition in your Land Rover.
Well, I have no idea how that got to be in the Land Rover.
I showed you my keys at the time when you asked me about the Land Rover being stolen.
Have you got a spare set? Well, I showed him those as well.
They were kept in my office.
Was there anyone who could have got hold of a spare set without your knowing? Yes, I suppose it's possible, but I have no idea who.
Have you got a son? Steven, yes.
He's away at university.
If you want to test his DNA I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help prove his father's innocence.
Private Vicay.
Sergeant.
What do you see, Vicay? A pistol chamber, sarge.
And what's inside the pistol chamber? A bullet, sarge.
Anything else? PULLS TRIGGER You're that close to death, Vicay.
We all are.
That's all it takes.
One moment.
FIRES GUN ECHOES FADE Yeah, all right.
Thanks, bye.
This is neither a piece of seating nor from the inside of a laptop.
Perhaps we should hold a competition.
Guess the fragment of wire? But I showed this photo of the cut on the neck of body 21 to a friend of mine who's a surgeon, and we came to the conclusion that it is almost certainly a surgical incision.
What, you think he might have had facial surgery? It's possible.
Oh, that really helps tying to recreate a face after death that could have been completely changed in life.
Thank you.
I like looking after you.
You never let me before.
I didn't mean this.
I meant for being here.
You still need me, then? Of course I need you.
Are you going to go back to work? I've got to do something, I'm going mad.
Why did he send you those flowers? You know, before the crash you seemed different.
No, indifferent, more like.
Working late all the time.
Was it because of him? I've never had anything to do with Major Wiltshire other than we worked together.
I swear on Luke and Alice's life.
I wouldn't blame you if you wanted someone else.
Who said I wanted somebody else? You did last year.
That was before.
Yeah, before I looked like this.
Come on.
We sorted this out, I made a mistake.
I've never felt closer to you, I've never wanted you or needed you more than I do now.
I thought you couldn't feel anything.
No, but you can.
It was an accident.
What the hell were you doing using live ammunition? No-one got hurt.
Paul, this is potentially very serious.
A gun went off during training.
It's not the first time that's happened.
If you cary on like this you're going to get yourself kicked out.
A dishonourable discharge.
Sounds good to me.
Paul, you're a good soldier with over 25 years' service.
So they'll let me go without a fuss.
Is it just a coincidence that you handed in your resignation the same day that they questioned you about the train crash? What are you suggesting, Major Wiltshire? Please, Paul.
You haven't explained your reasons I don't have to explain myself to you, to Kate, or to anyone.
So you're just going to quit? For years I've been doing things, saying things, hiding things.
I've had enough.
We're almost 1 00 oer cent/o certain that body 21 was in the front carriage before it crashed.
We're just not sure where.
But it's possible that you or Diana might have seen him at some point.
That's why we'd like you to come along to the carriage, see if it triggers something.
I understand and I respect what the survivors' group is doing, and why you want to remind people of what happened.
But I don't want to be reminded anymore.
Well, what about the bravery award? Rosa doesn't want it.
I don't deserve anything.
We think you do.
I just want my life back.
Isn't that what we all want? Why do you think William killed himself? You saved my life, and I am forever grateful to you.
But I need you to help me save the others.
Diana, please This isn't about you, Rosa.
This is about us.
You're this heroic figure that the media are very interested in and we need your face.
Please help me find out who killed my daughter.
BUZZER HUMS Who is it? Nikki Alexander, I called you earlier.
Top floor.
Hi.
FLINT SCRAPES AND FLICKS And this all belongs to the dead man? I don't know.
A random collection of human detritus.
What do you expect me to find? What about this? What is it? I'm not sure.
I am sure it's definitely connected to the dead person.
It was found in his body.
(BREATHES DEEPLY) Want me to go in with you? I'll be OK.
Got your phone, mobile, just in case you want to come home? I love you, Thomas Christie.
Good, cos you'll have to Look at my ugly mug for the rest of your life.
I'll get it.
No, I can manage.
PRINTER WHIRRS AND BEEPS Rosa.
Good to see you.
It's good to be back, Major Wiltshire.
Shall we go? Can you, um feel anything? I don't do floor shows.
You'll have to come back later.
I can't leave it with you.
Numbers.
They have to talk about numbers.
Birthdays, their age perhaps.
Or the day they died.
It's very strong.
What is? They know they're being looked for.
It's numbers one and two.
They're important.
It could be 12.
It could be 21.
A man wearing a leather jacket gets shot.
Two months later, his brother goes out wearing the same jacket, lightning won't strike twice, he thinks.
But as he leaves his apartment - bang, bang.
Two fatal bullets pass through the same holes that killed his brother.
Is that coincidence or just bad luck? Either way, what does it prove? Nothing, it's just another way of looking at things.
Have you ever used a medium? (LAUGHS) It would certainly make the job easier.
Why do you ask? We had one contact me over the identity of body 21.
What did you say to him? I let him see the evidence we found at the crash site.
To see if he could make contact with body 21 on the other side? As Nikki says, it's just another way of looking at things.
What was his name? Uh Putney.
Poutney? Yeah, that's it.
Derek Poutney.
How do you know him? Just another one of those funny coincidences.
Inspector? Hey! I thought you might like to look at our files of missing persons, see who matches body 21.
KNOCKS FIRMLY sorry, I, uh Oh, you're Sergeant Bradley.
Yes, I was looking for Major Wiltshire.
Uh, he's gone to get his son Steven from the station.
You saved my life.
Well, I don't know about that.
I wanted to thank you.
I wish I could have helped more people.
Me too.
You did all you could for that little girl.
Sarah.
They still haven't found a name for one of them.
I know.
How sad is that, to die and no-one miss you? They're talking about buying him at a local church and putting Unknown Man on the grave stone.
Like the unknown soldier.
Are you OK? I thought you still had another few weeks? I did.
I left.
What do you mean? University.
You've left university? Yeah.
I've had enough.
Oh.
What is it? The work? I mean, medicine's not easy but if I could do it Well, maybe I don't want to be like you anymore.
Did you have to get another one of those? I've always had one.
Well, don't you think it's a touch insensitive? Have you spoken to your mother about leaving university? That's why I came back.
Oh, very thoughtful of you.
GATE SQUEAKS AND CLANKS INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY ECHOES I don't think I can do this.
Take your time.
It's not just the crash, it's the thought that William (SIGHS) It's a lot bigger than I remember it.
Good morning.
The smell.
This is very brave of you.
If you don't want to No, I'm going to do this.
FOOTSTEPS ECHO (REMEMBERED SCREAM) I don't remember anyone.
Youwere here.
Is that right? Um .
.
yes, I think so.
And Sarah? Yes, she was opposite me.
MOBILE RINGTONE BEEPS sorry.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
RINGTONE STOPS sorry.
There was a woman.
That was hers.
That was her ringtone.
And .
.
and Sarah was drawing.
We heard the mobile earlier and we laughed.
Sarah recognised the tune.
Yes, she was wearing a dress, I'm sure of it.
There were two girls.
Young women.
Laura Smith, Philippa Lambert.
She was reading one of my favourite novels, and I kept wanting to ask her which bit she was on.
And further down the aisle? Mrs Gordon, her two boys.
It seems funny now.
I didn't know who they were at first.
Getting to know William through the survivors' group .
.
it's like they're among my best friends.
And now he's with them again.
Can you remember who was across from them? Um there was a young man with one of those new music players.
An iPod? Yeah.
Do you remember seeing Rosa? We're not quite sure where she was sitting.
No, I didn't know Rosa before Would you like to stop? Take a break? No.
Can you make your mobile ring again? Sure.
KEYPAD BEEPS SOFTLY RINGTONE BEEPS We heard it, we looked at each other and then she said something.
WOMAN: Oh, my God! Sarah? No, the woman.
She shouted "Oh God" or "Oh, no" or something.
Was someone in the front with her? I didn't see anyone.
Sarah saw her and I turned round Oh, my God! And she was running, I could see her dress.
She was holding something.
Her mobile? Oh, my God! Yes.
She was running? Yes, it was just before we crashed TRAIN WHEELS CLATTER She shouted.
Sarah said "What's happening?" She saw the woman I turned round and then SCREAMING AND CRASHING Maybe she saw the Land Rover on the line? The track before the crossing is dead straight, she'd have had to be leaning out of a window to see it.
And it was night.
What colour was her dress? I can only see Rosa's dress.
It was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes.
So you think the woman running down the train was Rosa? I don't know.
Who else could it have been? She was at the front, she gets a phone call Who from? Well, Major Wiltshire knew she was on the train.
Major Wiltshire also has witnesses saying that he was at the officers' mess when the crash happened, but we'll get both their phone records checked.
He may have been there.
How long does it take to get from the officers' mess to the level crossing? Ten minutes.
But what was he doing there? I have no idea.
Leo still thinks Wiltshire's to blame.
Well, he does love a good conspiracy, doesn't he? Wiltshire's driving the Land Rover for whatever reason and then again, for reasons unknown he drives across before he opens both the gates.
What if there were two people involved? Major Wiltshire and Sergeant Bradley.
Sergeant Bradley opens the first gate, Major Wiltshire drives across.
Sergeant Bradley starts to open the second gate but has difficulty opening it.
Major Wiltshire stalls the Land Rover, floods the engine.
Meanwhile .
.
there's a 240-tonne train coming down the track at 50 miles an hour.
You will remember to identify body 21, won't you? Why does Wiltshire call Rosa? Well, because he knows she's on the train.
She's on her way to the leaving do at the officers' mess.
Why hasn't Rosa told us about the phone call? Because .
.
because if she did, she'd have to tell us who called her.
You said you were coming back.
What are you doing here? Excuse me! Who are you? Sorry, this is Derek Poutney.
The medium? Where's that piece of metal you gave me? You gave this man the one piece of evidence we have in this case? I didn't leave it with him, I Can I have it, please? No, you can't.
Please, Mr Poutney, you're going to have to leave.
You came to me.
You asked for my help.
That was before I discovered you were a complete fraud.
You knew all about body 21, you spoke to DI Freeman.
That makes no difference.
You also lied to Mr and Mrs Hall.
They showed you a photo of their son wearing a St Christopher.
You knew that one had been found in the crash! How could you tell them that their son was dead? I never said he died in a train crash, I said he was connected.
You lied to me and you lied to them.
Get out! Come on, Mr Poutney.
I think you'd That's not body 21, and you both know it.
PHONE RINGS I am scientifically trained to believe in what I see, what I know to be true.
We all act on certain principles.
But there's a part of me that wants to believe in something other.
Something on the edges of the conscious feelings.
Instincts.
Unexplained moments of synchronicity.
I think we all want that.
We won't be long, we just need to ask Mrs Christie a few questions about the night of the crash.
MOBILE RINGS I need to get this.
I thought your inquiry was about body 21? These questions relate to body 21.
Just like the questions that you asked Sergeant Bradley? As well as getting close to identifying body 21 we're also getting close to identifying who was responsible for causing the crash.
Well, I'll leave you to it.
Diana thinks she may have seen you in the front carriage.
Did you get up and run down the carriage for any reason? No.
Well, she remembers seeing a woman running down the carriage.
Well, Diana couldn't remember anyone a couple of days ago.
Besides, she didn't know me before the crash.
It must have been someone else.
Everybody else has been accounted for.
Obviously they haven't, because I wasn't the woman running down the carriage.
Is that the mobile that you had on the train that night? No, this is a new one.
My old one got lost.
Are you protecting Major Wiltshire for any reason? Major Wiltshire is not responsible for the train crash.
Did he call you that night? No.
No-one called me.
Do you think he's right? That we've got it wrong? Let's just see for a moment.
I just had a thought .
.
if the incision on the back of his neck was for cosmetic surgery .
.
why not make the hairstyle more like yours? My God It's only another way of looking at things.
Where's that piece of wire? What are you going to do, try and make contact? Go on.
Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday, dear Suzie Happy birthday to you (GASPS) Yesterday I was talking to Rosa Christie and I realised I can't do it anymore.
What? Suzie's dead.
Suzie? BIRDSONG TYRES CRUNCH ON GRAVEL GATE CREAKS I wish you'd told me earlier.
Me too.
I wanted to.
We both did.
My wife's medical records.
You knew something was wrong, didn't you? My wife died in that crash that night.
Mrs Suzanne Bradley.
According to your phone records you made a call just before the crash.
Yes.
I was going to the station to pick Suzie up.
I saw the Land Rover.
FOOTSTEPS ON GRAVEL I ran, but I couldn't make it.
Suzie was in the front carriage.
I told her to run to the back.
RINGTONE BEEPS Hello? Suzie, listen.
Move to the back of the train.
There's a car on the track.
Move to the back of the train, RUN! Oh, my God! I went to help.
FOOTSTEPS ON GRASS, MOANS I thought Suzie would be OK.
FIRE ROARS, SCREAMS All this time we've been looking for a man.
Suzie and I had kept the secret for so long.
We thought that if we lied it would keep us together.
In fact, it tore us apart.
I wouldn't have told anyone.
It would have put you in an impossible position.
I would have tried to help you.
I know, I'm sorry.
I'm not sure the rest of the base would have been so understanding of a sergeant married to a transsexual.
I came down here yesterday and saw the photo of body 21.
I knew it was Suzie.
Rosa told me that they were going to buy her as The Unknown Man.
That's not right.
No-one deserves that.
Least of all Suzie.
TRAIN CHATTERS OVER TRACKS Thank you.
Did Paul say anything else? About what? How she died.
It's too horrible to think about.
(SIGHS) Was he angry? What about? About who caused it.
Do they still blame you? Of course they do.
Don't you read the papers? Until they find out who did cause the crash I am always going to be under suspicion.
Well, hopefully now they know Suzie was the missing person all the publicity will die down.
(SIGHS) MURMUR OF CONVERSATION Thank you.
Hi.
Hi.
Well, at last we've got a name.
Not the name we were expecting.
We did invite Sergeant Bradley today as a relative of one of the victims, but he said he couldn't make it.
Rosa told me she doesn't want to say anything.
She doesn't mind having her photo taken and everything, but she's terrified of breaking down in front of everyone.
That's understandable.
I wonder, Professor - would you say a few words? Yes, of course.
I'd be honoured.
Body 21 became something of a symbol for the survivors.
A representation of how they all felt, as if nobody really cared.
But in spite of that, as Diana reminded us all the other day, this group of survivors has refused to be ignored.
Refused to just go away.
And one member of the group in particular, Rosa Christie, has been quite impossible to ignore.
Not just because of the horrific injuries that she sustained but also because of her extraordinary courage and bravery.
(CROWD APPLAUDS) In fact, when I first met the group I was taken aback at the extent of both the deep emotional trauma and the very serious physical injuries that each and every one of them has endured.
RUMBLING ROAR OF IMPACT Um so without any further ado, I'd like to ask the Mayor to present Rosa Christie with her much-deserved Citizen's Award for Bravery.
(CROWD APPLAUDS) Thank you.
MAN: Look this way for a photo, please? Rosa? Yeah, I just need the loo.
I'll be back in a minute.
Thank you for that.
My pleasure.
Congratulations, Rosa.
You were wrong.
About the woman on the train, yes.
Thank you for your speech.
I wondered what you were going to say.
I suddenly realised that everybody in the front carriage suffered severe impact damage.
Broken bones, serious bruising.
Everyone except you, that is.
Why do you think that is? Just lucky, I guess.
I'm sorry.
What the hell are you doing here? I need to speak with you.
Look, there's nothing to say.
Please, Steven.
Just go.
You've said that to me before and it was the biggest mistake of my life.
I still think you're beautiful.
And you're still full of shit.
Look, come on.
MURMUR OF CONVERSATION Please, I'm not as strong as you.
Well, I'm just about holding on.
It must have been terrible.
It's what I deserved.
You! It was you! Tom! We'd been together nearly five years.
When we first met I didn't know that she was a transsexual.
And when she told me .
.
all I knew was that I loved her.
I really thought we'd be OK.
(TREMBLING BREATH) But we could never really relax .
.
be ourselves.
Life in the army.
I should have left.
Instead, she left me.
I begged for her to come back.
I promised her that if she did I'd leave the army and we'd start life again.
That was why she was on the train.
(SOBS) She was coming home.
Was this hers? (TREMBLING SOB) (GASPS) On the night of the crash I was with Steven.
You told me you went to your work's party.
I lied.
Yeah, I was due at the officers' mess, but .
.
I met Steven, and BIRDSONG, GASPS OF PASSION It was just a stupid Steven had a spare key.
He drove the Land Rover onto the line, you struggled with the second gate No.
Steven hasn't passed his test.
It was late, and .
.
I thought Tom was going to ring to find out where I was, and .
.
it was me driving the Land Rover.
REVELATORY CHORD CAR ENGINE, BRAKES SQUEAL HUM OF A DISTANT TRAIN Come on! We can make it.
GATE FASTENINGS CLANK ENGINE STALLS STARTER MOTOR WHEEZES What are you doing? Open the bloody gate! MOTOR CONTINUES TO TURN Come on! Shit! TRAIN GROWS LOUDER Please, why won't you start Come on, out! Run! TRAIN BRAKES SCREECH EXPLOSIVE ROAR There was nothing anyone else could do.
Sergeant Bradley arrived and then later Major Wiltshire, and they assumed you were one of the victims? I wanted to say something, to tell someone, but everyone was being so nice to me, and .
.
I thought I was going to die, and who would care? (SOBS) ARCING ELECTRICITY, FIERY ROAR Sarah MOURNFUL PIANO THEME FOOTSTEPS ECHO I've got nothing left.
I had Sarah, then I had this.
But now I have nothing.
You gave me all the answers I could have possibly wanted, but it's not enough.
I'm sorry.
My grandfather fought at the Somme.
He was the only man from his village to come back.
He spent the rest of his life wondering why.
Why had he survived when the others hadn't? He couldn't make any sense of it.
People like us tell you how and when, and who if we're lucky.
But not why.
Which is the one question people really want answered.
(SOBS) JFK came to congress in 1 946, Abraham Lincoln in 1 846.
Kennedy was made president in 1 960, Lincoln in 1860.
Kennedy had a secretary called Lincoln, Lincoln had a secretary called Kennedy.
Both were shot on a Friday by men with triple-barrelled names totalling 15 letters John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald.
I'm not making any of this up, it's all true.
I'm sure it is.
What about Jonathan Hall? What about him? Mr and Mrs Hall went to see a medium who told them their missing son had been involved in a train crash, is that right? Well, he wasn't, so the medium got it wrong.
Well that's just it, he didn't.
Jonathan Hall was on the train.
The ticket inspector threw him off two stops before it derailed.
I just took a call from his dad.
They were reading in this morning's paper about the train crash, about Rosa and everything.
And on the opposite page is a photograph of their son Jonathan in the crowd at the Glastonbury festival.
(LAUGHS) It's a coincidence! They happen.
Closed Captions by CSI
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