Silent Witness (1996) s11e09 Episode Script
Peripheral Vision (1)
I'm going for a walk.
OK, love.
'ECHOING: Happy birthday, Clara happy birthday, Clara happy birthday, Clara 'ECHOING: You're not going down there againnot going down there againgoing down there again' I told you, I knew it was them pikeys that killed her, I told you.
'ECHOING: Just shut up, will you, and get me back to my house!' 'ECHOING: No, Mum, it's my close-upmy close-up' POLICE RADIO Ahhh! For God's sake.
Sorry.
No, noI love the feeling of whiplash in the morning.
This looks like the place.
Yes, it does, doesn't it? News travels fast.
Police are still refusing to confirm the girl's identity, but the local community remain convinced Morning.
Dr Alexander, Dr Cunningham? DI Mays, pleased to meet you.
Hi.
So, er, do you want to come and join me? Either of you had breakfast? No.
Here, take this, love, run along and get some things, will you? So these people think you've found the body of Clara Young? They don't "think", they're absolutely bloody certain.
A photograph, please.
Did you know her at all? I knew her dad.
At the time she disappeared he was my DCI.
That must've been tough.
Harry, there's something else here.
Ha! It's a gin trap.
Bloody Gypsies.
This place used to be a Travellers' site.
You don't recognise them? Nah, mate, sorry.
Thanks for your time.
We have a section of the pelvis that shows signs of ageing and swell damage.
Left femur, not fully matured, showing extensive damage.
Found in G17 after death.
Anterior fragment of skull with some animal teeth damage.
Harry, can I have a word? OK.
Now.
What is it? It's an insurance dispute.
Oh, noplease.
It's quite a complex case.
You might find it interesting.
Do you realise how big this bone find thing is going to be? If Nikki needs any help, I can back her up.
Everything all right? No, I'm being hassled by journalists.
Look, I really need to know what I can say about these bones.
Well, all the remains are severely damaged.
I'm afraid even low copy DNA extraction will take a while.
You mean you can't ID her yet? The one thing we know is that four years ago Clara broke her left ulna, her arm, falling off a horse.
If I can find evidence of the fracture we can start talking about an ID.
HE SIGHS But I can tell you that this is a human femur and its length suggests a height of .
.
around five foot two or three.
And the sub-pubic angle of the pelvis strongly suggests a female.
What about age? Well, the indicator is the fusing of the growth plates at the end of a child's bones as they develop.
But the rate between individuals is always different, so the best I can say is somewhere between fifteen and eighteen.
So we have a girl who's almost identical in age and height as Clara Young? Sorry.
I know you're under pressure, but all I can give you right now are the figures.
Have you established yet how she died? I think this is a small section of the skull.
There's a lot of post-mortem damage, rat bites, fox bites, that sort of thing, but .
.
you see these marks here, they're much cleaner.
They look like fractures, the kind of trauma that could have been caused by a blunt, heavy instrument.
She might have been killed with a blow to the head? Possibly.
But there's also a snapped second cervical vertebra.
Beaten and then had her neck broken? Anything else? No clothes were found with these bones or on the scene.
So at some point she was stripped.
Look, there will be more bones out there.
If you can keep the bystanders away and get me another ten volunteers and close off the woodland, I'll tell you whether these are the remains of Clara Young.
OK.
DOOR BUZZER SOUNDS And we leave that item now as we bring you some breaking news.
Local schoolgirl Clara Young went missing 18 months ago and, although there's no confirmation as yet, people here are already speculating that this could be her.
The bones were found on a site just outside Lisbey by local developers.
We understand that the site was occupied by travellers at the time of Clara's disappearance.
George! Right, George, I'm giving you two hours to get off this site.
HEN CLUCKS Did you have a meeting with the vice-chancellor yesterday? That's not what this is about.
Really? We have to start diversifying our operations.
We have to bring new cash into the lab, broaden our skill base.
That is the gibberish you could only come out with after lunch with the board, and this is the kind of brain-numbing nightmare that'll kill me with tedium IF I agree to do it.
Well, perhaps you can explain that to Amita Joshi daughter of the deceased.
Amita, this is Harry Cunningham, the pathologist I've assigned to your case.
How do you Have you read the files? No, I've only just got it so So you haven't seen what they did? No.
Who? The bastards who said that my mother died in a drunken fall.
My mother's never had a drink in her life! Ask anyone she knew.
I'll leave you to it.
She never drank or smoked.
A female monk, that's how I would describe my mother.
These are the thermal images from the police helicopter.
I'm hoping they'll show up more areas of disturbed ground, because we have only found two sites and 10% of the skeleton.
And there are no teeth, no hands and almost none of the skull.
So, in other words, we've got a very thorough killer who's left us with nothing to identify her with.
So you haven't found any evidence of Clara's fracture? No.
OK.
Any progress with the weapon? No, but I've dusted all the soil off the bones and sent it for analysis, which should tell us about what's been in contact with them and narrow down the time since death.
OK, right, I want to show you something.
We've re-plotted Clara Young's last known movements.
She left home after an argument with her father at about 8.
30am.
Was he ever a suspect? What? Well, you know, in cases like this No, it was just a teenage spat between father and daughter.
Clara said she was going to the training session at the local running track, here.
But CCTV places her all the way from her home here, come and have a look, from here to the car park at The Bell at 8.
42am, right here.
I remember this from the news.
This is the last image we have of her, heading in this direction.
But the running track is just there.
How seriously did she take gymnastics? She bet me she'd make the Olympic pentathlon team for 2012.
And here, this little pathway here, is the location of your find.
At the time, it was a pikey site.
So if she was due for a training session at the track, why was she crossing a car park in the opposite direction, heading towards a traveller site? That is exactly what we need to find out.
Well? She clearly suspects it's Clara, but she won't make a formal ID.
Who the hell else does she think it is?! It's just a matter of procedure.
You haven't brought anyone in? Searched the site? I can't just steam in there.
They know what happened to her! I know they know.
Polar bears.
Sean says it's the only channel they can watch and know they're not going to see something about Clara.
We'll get him, Malcolm.
Nikki Alexander will prove it's Clara, and we'll get him.
Are you checking up on me now? I'm just interested.
I had a conversation with the hospital pathologist yesterday.
Yeah? What did he say? Well, Rupa Joshi was taken straight to A&E after her fall.
She died two hours later, very early on aThursday morning.
But because the hospital was dealing with a rise in deaths due to a cold spell, she didn't get a post mortem until late afternoon on Monday, by which time she had spent five days quietly fermenting.
That might explain the alcohol levels in the initial report.
It's possible.
Doesn't change the fact she's got a whopping great bruise on the left upper temple, indicating severe trauma to the cranium.
Severe enough to have killed her? What is it? She's got some very nasty looking scratches.
Any history of eczema or any other skin condition? None.
DOORBELL Yes? Oh, hello, I'm, er, Dr Harry Cunningham.
I was hoping to see Amita Joshi.
I'm sorry, she's out.
Are you the husband of Rupa Joshi? I don't understand What is worrying my daughter? Well, the thing is, as you know, um, Rupa was probably killed by her fall, but what your daughter doesn't accept is the cause for the fall given by the initial post mortem.
But I did find something else which I can't quite explain.
What did you find? Was Rupa suffering from, um anxiety oror stress in the last few months of her life? I don't know.
She wasn't depressed? Behaviour didn't change in any way? Hi.
Hi.
Dr Cunningham.
Have you found anything yet? He wants to know if Rupa was depressed before she died.
What would she have been depressed about? I'm really just interested in any change in her behaviour.
My mother was a rock.
She didn't even know the meaning of self pity.
I'm sure he was about to tell me something when the daughter walked in.
Like what? People don't start scratching their own skin off for no reason, so either there was a psychological problem, or something the initial post mortem didn't pick up.
Either way, he seems to have got your interest.
Just doing the job, Leo.
How about that? 'Her name's Noora Khoury.
And after 'she's finally decided' to respond to our appeal and tell us she thinks she saw Clara after she crossed The Bell car park.
Where? Over here.
Just across this little path, on the edge of the woodland around the traveller site.
Did she say Clara was on her own? No.
She said she was with an unidentified male between 30 and 35.
We're putting together an e-fit now.
Why did it take her so long to come forward? How keen do you think she was for her family to find out she'd been meeting a traveller boy? What have you got? I think it's a trace of paint from the murder weapon.
Hmm.
Any idea what it might have been? Something that could inflict heavy trauma, but nothing too blunt.
My guess would be a shovel.
You're gonna love this.
Whoa! Huh! Do you know him? Yeah.
George Woods.
He was our main suspect when Clara disappeared.
And he's on the sex offenders register.
George likes them teenage.
He's gone! Woods! You two, right, go! THEY SHOUT DOG BARKS SIRENS WAIL We've got him now! Come on, Gingo.
Don't make this difficult.
All right, Gingo, ready for your close-up? Sorry, sorry.
It's not Alzheimer's, it's not Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis.
You must be running out of things she could have been suffering from? Not quite.
What is it? Well, if it is what I think it is, then it wasn't very much fun for Rupa Joshi.
What do you think it is? Have a look.
Christ It is, isn't it? Having CJD It's like going mad, isn't it? The disease would have been in its early stages.
So Mum was suffering and we didn't even know.
So, I need you to cast your minds over how she was over the last few months of her life.
Was there anything unusual? Anything that might have indicated the start of degenerative symptoms? And, of course, anything you can think of that might have caused the infection.
She said she was taking the short cut at the back of our site to meet a friend.
Who was her friend? Who was it, George? She didn't say.
Uh-huh.
And then what happened? We had a chat and then I kept her company till she walked to the edge of the trees.
And what did you chat about? The usual.
What a bummer it was being the daughter of a senior pig.
How she preferred traveller men to gorgios.
I think what my client is trying to say is that it was a personal conversation with no relevance to your inquiry.
CAMERA CLICKS PHONE RINGS Yeah, go ahead, Nikki.
'The soil we found in Woods's trailer -' it's definitely the same as on the first bone fragments that we found at Lisbey Common.
Well done.
That's fantastic news.
I knew you'd do it.
What is it? Take a look at this.
How do you explain that, George? How do you explain that soil found on your carpet was the same as the soil found on the bones? My trailer used to be parked on that common.
Why shouldn't there be soil from there in it? What about this, George? Do you recognise this? I am now showing George Woods a girl's sports watch that was found in his caravan.
No.
I don't recognise it.
Ah.
Maybe you recognise it now? Because Clara is wearing that watch in this photo.
You see the lines I mean? Of course.
Can you pass me Clara Young's medical records? What do you think they are? They are an absolute catastrophe.
These markings here are called Harris lines.
They indicate a period in which the skeleton stopped growing, often due to poor nutrition or severe trauma.
There's nothing in Clara's medical records to suggest she had them.
Is it definitely the sort of thing a doctor would notice? If she'd managed to hide it and keep her sport going, I'd be surprised.
I've already brought George Woods in.
I've got 24 hours to charge him or let him go.
Can't you just bail him? You don't know what these people are like.
He'll disappear! We need to go and see the Youngs.
I need to ask a few questions.
What sort of questions? Can you just talk me through Clara's appearance and any distinguishing marks we might not know about, and we'll take it from there.
Well, you know she broke her arm falling off a pony four years ago.
We knew about the fracture, yes.
And, er she had size 5 feet.
Is that right, love? Size 6.
We went shopping for a new uniform the week before she left.
She'd gone up to size 6.
Do you mind telling us why we're having to go through all this again? We're just trying to be as specific as possible about what we've found.
Are you saying you can't identify her? No, no.
It's just Of course they can't! .
.
a complex process.
Sorry, what did you just say? I said of course they can't identify her.
She's not dead, is she? Were there any other issues relating to Clara or her health? How do you mean? Had you ever noticed any specific changes in her health as she was growing up? Any eating disorders? Or whether she'd been under any unusual pressure? What are you trying to say? There are markings on one of the bones that suggest that, several years before death, the body had been put under a lot of stress.
Are you accusing us of pressuring Clara? Oh, no, no.
I'm not accusing you of anything.
I'm trying to confirm on the bones.
Are you saying we made our daughter unhappy? Love I'm sorry if I've been unclear.
How dare you! Ange, please.
Excuse me, but do you have children? No, you don't, do you? I can tell that.
Because if you did, you would know what it meant to love a child.
To know that you'd give everything for that child, and the only thing you're not capable of, is doing something that would harm them.
If you did, you could never make that suggestion.
I think we've finished here.
Mrs Young, I'm truly sorry if anything I've said is Please! Leo thinks he's found a solution to your problem.
This is a fractured ulna.
It took me four magnifications to find it.
So that's got to be Clara.
Yep.
She healed up the way only a sports-mad 12-year-old could.
What about the Harris lines? What about them? There's nothing anywhere to suggest she would have had them.
Did you X-ray the other leg? Yep.
Harris lines? No.
Can they be present on one leg and not the other? Never.
So this bone and this bone belong to two different people.
So If that's Clara Young Who the hell is this other girl? All I can tell you is that she or he is almost exactly the same height and build as Clara, and the same weapon was used on both.
My client has not slept for 48 hours.
He's been denied visits.
He's been spied on.
He's been shouted at and racially abused, all without one charge being brought against him.
You know what we've found out? You know what we've worked out now, don't you, George? I was just visiting a friend.
I was living and working in Southend.
I didn't have anything to do with the disappearance of any girls.
Who mentioned anything about girls? I didn't say 'girls', I said 'girl'! George, you're being recorded.
I didn't do anything.
Yep? Nikki, do you have access to a fax machine? Why? Only the rest of this soil analysis has just come in.
Er, have you got a fax machine I could borrow? In the back room.
I didn't do anything.
I tell you, whatever happened, it didn't have anything to do with me! The courts granted us a 36-hour extension.
As soon as we get ID on the second girl, we can charge him.
I don't see how anything in this report changes our position.
There are two different types of soil on the bones.
So? Why would George Woods bury these two girls somewhere else first, then move them nearer his caravan, just as the furore over Clara's disappearance was raging? I'm sure we establish that as we continue with our inquiry.
There's something else.
Something that was bothering me as I watched the interview.
What? The way Woods holds his left arm It's because it's weak.
You heard him in there.
He practically confessed.
I'm not sure he could have caused the injuries those bodies sustained.
We can take that into account as we move forward.
Detective, I think you might have the wrong suspect.
Well, thank you for your opinion.
We'll definitely bear it in mind.
But right now, I think we need to start checking hospital records to get an ID on this second girl.
Anything else? We've got to face them No! Don't let them in! Don't let them in! No! No, don't! Get out of my way.
No! No, don't! When they found your body Giant Xs on your eyes And with your half of the ransom You bought some sweet, sweet, sweet Sweet, sweet sunflowers And gave them To the night.
Hello? 'Hi, it's Nikki Alexander.
' If I needed to speak to the travellers, could you take me there? The town have been kind enough to let their feelings towards the travellers be known.
Oh, and this time, their excuse is they're using the land to build a "community" centre.
For everyone.
Do you think we'll be welcome at that community centre? When was this photo taken? Oh, George there, he came back late May, three or four days before Clara disappeared.
And he was living on the site at the time? Well, it wasn't ideal for us, but if someone like him wants to pull up, what right have I got to deny him? He might not be family, but Who's that man? Liam Clegg.
He was George's friend.
Look, why don't you tell us what we can do for you? I've established that there was more than one victim.
Early tests on the soil suggest that the other girl died before Clara.
At least three months before her.
So if George Woods is going to be charged with two murders, I want to be sure that he did them.
What? Is there something else about Woods? Do you know who she might have been? Floria Hearn.
I think I've got an ID on our second victim.
Have you heard of a traveller girl called Floria Hearn? The hospital confirmed she had Harris lines.
I asked Social Services, and they said they'd informed the police she was missing.
Look, do we need to have this discussion right now? Malcolm Young just called from the hospital.
His wife took an overdose last night.
Well, I can see that this is a bad time, but who this girl is, and when she died casts real doubt on whether or not Woods is guilty.
Approximately one hour ago, George Woods was charged with the murder of Clara Young.
He'll appear in court tomorrow morning.
These girls were dismembered with the same weapon.
You can't separate the crimes.
Your soil test proved that patches of Woods's carpet were stained with earth that matched the bones.
And your own searches established that the greatest concentration of bone finds is right here.
Right next to George Woods' caravan! But equal distance from Liam Clegg's.
If George Woods is a suspect, why isn't Clegg? Why hasn't he been interviewed? Because for the last two years, Liam Clegg has been serving a prison sentence, and he was never part of this inquiry! I think you're letting your loyalty to Malcolm Young influence your judgement.
We have a very strong case that George Woods killed and disposed of Clara Young, and that is why we are putting him on trial, and from where I'm standing, there's not a damn thing you can do about it! Congratulations on your diagnosis.
Our claims investigators were impressed.
Thanks.
There were a couple of things we thought we should bring to your attention.
Which are? Here is a copy of Rupa Joshi's declaration of health.
In it, she confirms that she's a vegetarian who's never eaten beef.
I'm not claiming she was infected that way.
Then how WAS she infected? The only medical procedure she has had in the last four years is an appendix removal, at a hospital that was implementing anti-CJD procedures.
So despite proof that she was suffering from a degenerative illness that almost certainly caused her fall, you are still not going to pay out on Rupa Joshi's policy? There doesn't seem to be any way that Rupa Joshi could have contracted variant CJD without contradicting the terms of her declaration, or withholding information concerning her medical treatment.
And until you can prove otherwise, our situation remains unchanged.
Well? Well, the thing about the internet is that anyone can put any crazy theory out there.
I told you he'd react like this.
I really don't think she was killed by her work.
weapons without any protection.
The British establishment killed her.
Amita, your mother was not killed by the British government.
How do you know? You won't even speak to the scientist.
He's not actually a scientist, he's a loony.
What, because he's not a posh white boy with Oxbridge stamped all over his buttocks? Look, if you think you can actually think of anything which might really help us work out how your mother got CJD, you know where to find me.
Don't you dare stand up for him.
I know that you're short of time, but I'm afraid you're going to have to be patient.
Yeah, yeah.
Some of this stuff is almost impossible to see.
OK.
DOOR ENTRY SYSTEM BUZZES The trip was a special treat, to mark Rupa's retirement from the factory.
Amita couldn't go with us, but she made us promise not to drive.
She said we couldn't rely on the Indian drivers.
But in the second week, Rupa wanted to visit a cousin who lived in the mountains, a long way from Calcutta.
So remote, there are no train stations.
And on the way, you had an accident.
How long was Rupa in hospital? Three nights.
They gave her some kind of blood product, when she was admitted.
We told Amita something had happened.
But not the whole truth.
Yes, yes, I know she was treated at your hospital, what I'm trying to do is trace the actual batch numbers of the blood products you gave her.
'Would you mind holding?' Yes.
'I can confirm that Mrs Joshi's blood was part of a batch sent from the UK.
' Are you sure? 'Definitely, sir.
' Harry? Bill.
Welcome to the mothership.
Thanks for seeing me.
Bill, have CJD-infected blood products been exported from Britain to India? Why do you need to know? Because the blood products in this case I'm investigating were apparently British.
Bill? It's not like we meant to give them the disease.
It's not like anyone meant to let the damn thing into the blood supply in the first place.
Bloody hell! I know that sounds bad, but we are doing everything we can to rectify the situation.
That's very reassuring(!) In that case, what I need to know from you is whether the batch given to Rupa Joshi has been identified as one of the ones that was infected.
OK, Harry.
Just this once.
How long have we got? He's due in court in Right, next sample.
You're not going to give up, are you? Which is Forsythia X Intermedia.
The most prominent pollen found so far.
Have you been here all night? How did you guess? Why? We're trying to identify the pollen found in the earth around the bones, so we can prove George Woods's alibi.
Which is? The two killings are linked, but separated by several months.
Even the police accept that he wasn't in Lisbey before the end of May 2005.
Looking for something that flowers before then.
Exactly.
Any luck? Uh-uh.
All we've found so far is small traces of stuff that flowers in summer - by which time, he was back on the scene.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS Amita.
How can I help? What about this forsythia? Today? When? What! Don't say anything until I get there.
There's no forsythia found on the bone find site.
The pollen must have come from wherever the two girls were buried first.
What time of year does it flower? February.
Over the past few weeks, Wessex Protect have been giving a great deal of thought to the distress that Rupa's death has caused your family.
Naturally, we are, as you know, always keen to help out in any way we can.
As a result of this, my superiors and I have agreed, although we're under no obligation to, a compromise which will allow us to pay out a large proportion of your mother's policy.
How large? About 30%.
I should point out that works out at a capitalisation of just under ã15,000.
Unfortunately, I do need to have your answer before the end of this meeting.
Yeah, I think that we'd like to What do you think? Well, I would like to know exactly why Wessex Protect suddenly decided to call this meeting out of the blue, and offer you a compromise, and whether it has anything to do with them getting wind of findings I have recently made which could prove exactly when your mother was infected, and force them to pay out in full.
I feel obliged to point out that, as neither a holder of the policy, nor a potential beneficiary, Dr Cunningham really has no role in this meeting.
Look, um, tell us.
What do you think we should do? I think you should reject anything except a full payout.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS Bill, how are you? Harry, old pal.
I've done some digging around, and I've got some fantastic news for you.
Great.
The batch that your lady had was completely clean.
'I checked the serial numbers, I've checked the blood centres.
'Absolutely no vCJD at all.
' Are you sure? Of course I'm bloody sure.
I can't sit here and debate it with you.
I've got about ten million things to do.
We've done as you said.
George Woods, it is charged that some time after the 28th of May, you did murder Clara Young, contrary to common law.
You will remain in custody to appear before the central criminal court to stand trial.
ANGRY MOB SHOUT ABUSE Scum! I hope you burn in hell! RAUNCHY MUSIC PLAYS Come on, baby.
I think you're a little late, aren't you? Floria Hearn was killed during or just after late February 2005.
Now, you MUSIC IS TURNED OFF You have witnesses that confirm that George Woods was living and working full-time in Southend at that time.
That, and all the forensic evidence, which I'll make available to both sides proves that her death is irrefutably linked to the murder of Clara Young.
So, I think, Detective, that your case against Woods is, if you'll pardon the expression, dead.
Oh, and I also think - I'm sorry for taking up so much of your precious time - that if two girls can go missing, in this country, in the 21st century, but because one of them is a traveller, no-one gives a toss, then something is very, very wrong.
MUSIC: Town Called Malice by The Jam What is it? Albert! What is it? The ghost of a steam train Echoes down my track It's at the moment bound for nowhere Just going round and round Playground kids and creaking swings Lost laughter in the breeze I could go on for hours and I probably will George! George! .
.
Town called malice Yeeeeahhh.
OK, love.
'ECHOING: Happy birthday, Clara happy birthday, Clara happy birthday, Clara 'ECHOING: You're not going down there againnot going down there againgoing down there again' I told you, I knew it was them pikeys that killed her, I told you.
'ECHOING: Just shut up, will you, and get me back to my house!' 'ECHOING: No, Mum, it's my close-upmy close-up' POLICE RADIO Ahhh! For God's sake.
Sorry.
No, noI love the feeling of whiplash in the morning.
This looks like the place.
Yes, it does, doesn't it? News travels fast.
Police are still refusing to confirm the girl's identity, but the local community remain convinced Morning.
Dr Alexander, Dr Cunningham? DI Mays, pleased to meet you.
Hi.
So, er, do you want to come and join me? Either of you had breakfast? No.
Here, take this, love, run along and get some things, will you? So these people think you've found the body of Clara Young? They don't "think", they're absolutely bloody certain.
A photograph, please.
Did you know her at all? I knew her dad.
At the time she disappeared he was my DCI.
That must've been tough.
Harry, there's something else here.
Ha! It's a gin trap.
Bloody Gypsies.
This place used to be a Travellers' site.
You don't recognise them? Nah, mate, sorry.
Thanks for your time.
We have a section of the pelvis that shows signs of ageing and swell damage.
Left femur, not fully matured, showing extensive damage.
Found in G17 after death.
Anterior fragment of skull with some animal teeth damage.
Harry, can I have a word? OK.
Now.
What is it? It's an insurance dispute.
Oh, noplease.
It's quite a complex case.
You might find it interesting.
Do you realise how big this bone find thing is going to be? If Nikki needs any help, I can back her up.
Everything all right? No, I'm being hassled by journalists.
Look, I really need to know what I can say about these bones.
Well, all the remains are severely damaged.
I'm afraid even low copy DNA extraction will take a while.
You mean you can't ID her yet? The one thing we know is that four years ago Clara broke her left ulna, her arm, falling off a horse.
If I can find evidence of the fracture we can start talking about an ID.
HE SIGHS But I can tell you that this is a human femur and its length suggests a height of .
.
around five foot two or three.
And the sub-pubic angle of the pelvis strongly suggests a female.
What about age? Well, the indicator is the fusing of the growth plates at the end of a child's bones as they develop.
But the rate between individuals is always different, so the best I can say is somewhere between fifteen and eighteen.
So we have a girl who's almost identical in age and height as Clara Young? Sorry.
I know you're under pressure, but all I can give you right now are the figures.
Have you established yet how she died? I think this is a small section of the skull.
There's a lot of post-mortem damage, rat bites, fox bites, that sort of thing, but .
.
you see these marks here, they're much cleaner.
They look like fractures, the kind of trauma that could have been caused by a blunt, heavy instrument.
She might have been killed with a blow to the head? Possibly.
But there's also a snapped second cervical vertebra.
Beaten and then had her neck broken? Anything else? No clothes were found with these bones or on the scene.
So at some point she was stripped.
Look, there will be more bones out there.
If you can keep the bystanders away and get me another ten volunteers and close off the woodland, I'll tell you whether these are the remains of Clara Young.
OK.
DOOR BUZZER SOUNDS And we leave that item now as we bring you some breaking news.
Local schoolgirl Clara Young went missing 18 months ago and, although there's no confirmation as yet, people here are already speculating that this could be her.
The bones were found on a site just outside Lisbey by local developers.
We understand that the site was occupied by travellers at the time of Clara's disappearance.
George! Right, George, I'm giving you two hours to get off this site.
HEN CLUCKS Did you have a meeting with the vice-chancellor yesterday? That's not what this is about.
Really? We have to start diversifying our operations.
We have to bring new cash into the lab, broaden our skill base.
That is the gibberish you could only come out with after lunch with the board, and this is the kind of brain-numbing nightmare that'll kill me with tedium IF I agree to do it.
Well, perhaps you can explain that to Amita Joshi daughter of the deceased.
Amita, this is Harry Cunningham, the pathologist I've assigned to your case.
How do you Have you read the files? No, I've only just got it so So you haven't seen what they did? No.
Who? The bastards who said that my mother died in a drunken fall.
My mother's never had a drink in her life! Ask anyone she knew.
I'll leave you to it.
She never drank or smoked.
A female monk, that's how I would describe my mother.
These are the thermal images from the police helicopter.
I'm hoping they'll show up more areas of disturbed ground, because we have only found two sites and 10% of the skeleton.
And there are no teeth, no hands and almost none of the skull.
So, in other words, we've got a very thorough killer who's left us with nothing to identify her with.
So you haven't found any evidence of Clara's fracture? No.
OK.
Any progress with the weapon? No, but I've dusted all the soil off the bones and sent it for analysis, which should tell us about what's been in contact with them and narrow down the time since death.
OK, right, I want to show you something.
We've re-plotted Clara Young's last known movements.
She left home after an argument with her father at about 8.
30am.
Was he ever a suspect? What? Well, you know, in cases like this No, it was just a teenage spat between father and daughter.
Clara said she was going to the training session at the local running track, here.
But CCTV places her all the way from her home here, come and have a look, from here to the car park at The Bell at 8.
42am, right here.
I remember this from the news.
This is the last image we have of her, heading in this direction.
But the running track is just there.
How seriously did she take gymnastics? She bet me she'd make the Olympic pentathlon team for 2012.
And here, this little pathway here, is the location of your find.
At the time, it was a pikey site.
So if she was due for a training session at the track, why was she crossing a car park in the opposite direction, heading towards a traveller site? That is exactly what we need to find out.
Well? She clearly suspects it's Clara, but she won't make a formal ID.
Who the hell else does she think it is?! It's just a matter of procedure.
You haven't brought anyone in? Searched the site? I can't just steam in there.
They know what happened to her! I know they know.
Polar bears.
Sean says it's the only channel they can watch and know they're not going to see something about Clara.
We'll get him, Malcolm.
Nikki Alexander will prove it's Clara, and we'll get him.
Are you checking up on me now? I'm just interested.
I had a conversation with the hospital pathologist yesterday.
Yeah? What did he say? Well, Rupa Joshi was taken straight to A&E after her fall.
She died two hours later, very early on aThursday morning.
But because the hospital was dealing with a rise in deaths due to a cold spell, she didn't get a post mortem until late afternoon on Monday, by which time she had spent five days quietly fermenting.
That might explain the alcohol levels in the initial report.
It's possible.
Doesn't change the fact she's got a whopping great bruise on the left upper temple, indicating severe trauma to the cranium.
Severe enough to have killed her? What is it? She's got some very nasty looking scratches.
Any history of eczema or any other skin condition? None.
DOORBELL Yes? Oh, hello, I'm, er, Dr Harry Cunningham.
I was hoping to see Amita Joshi.
I'm sorry, she's out.
Are you the husband of Rupa Joshi? I don't understand What is worrying my daughter? Well, the thing is, as you know, um, Rupa was probably killed by her fall, but what your daughter doesn't accept is the cause for the fall given by the initial post mortem.
But I did find something else which I can't quite explain.
What did you find? Was Rupa suffering from, um anxiety oror stress in the last few months of her life? I don't know.
She wasn't depressed? Behaviour didn't change in any way? Hi.
Hi.
Dr Cunningham.
Have you found anything yet? He wants to know if Rupa was depressed before she died.
What would she have been depressed about? I'm really just interested in any change in her behaviour.
My mother was a rock.
She didn't even know the meaning of self pity.
I'm sure he was about to tell me something when the daughter walked in.
Like what? People don't start scratching their own skin off for no reason, so either there was a psychological problem, or something the initial post mortem didn't pick up.
Either way, he seems to have got your interest.
Just doing the job, Leo.
How about that? 'Her name's Noora Khoury.
And after 'she's finally decided' to respond to our appeal and tell us she thinks she saw Clara after she crossed The Bell car park.
Where? Over here.
Just across this little path, on the edge of the woodland around the traveller site.
Did she say Clara was on her own? No.
She said she was with an unidentified male between 30 and 35.
We're putting together an e-fit now.
Why did it take her so long to come forward? How keen do you think she was for her family to find out she'd been meeting a traveller boy? What have you got? I think it's a trace of paint from the murder weapon.
Hmm.
Any idea what it might have been? Something that could inflict heavy trauma, but nothing too blunt.
My guess would be a shovel.
You're gonna love this.
Whoa! Huh! Do you know him? Yeah.
George Woods.
He was our main suspect when Clara disappeared.
And he's on the sex offenders register.
George likes them teenage.
He's gone! Woods! You two, right, go! THEY SHOUT DOG BARKS SIRENS WAIL We've got him now! Come on, Gingo.
Don't make this difficult.
All right, Gingo, ready for your close-up? Sorry, sorry.
It's not Alzheimer's, it's not Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis.
You must be running out of things she could have been suffering from? Not quite.
What is it? Well, if it is what I think it is, then it wasn't very much fun for Rupa Joshi.
What do you think it is? Have a look.
Christ It is, isn't it? Having CJD It's like going mad, isn't it? The disease would have been in its early stages.
So Mum was suffering and we didn't even know.
So, I need you to cast your minds over how she was over the last few months of her life.
Was there anything unusual? Anything that might have indicated the start of degenerative symptoms? And, of course, anything you can think of that might have caused the infection.
She said she was taking the short cut at the back of our site to meet a friend.
Who was her friend? Who was it, George? She didn't say.
Uh-huh.
And then what happened? We had a chat and then I kept her company till she walked to the edge of the trees.
And what did you chat about? The usual.
What a bummer it was being the daughter of a senior pig.
How she preferred traveller men to gorgios.
I think what my client is trying to say is that it was a personal conversation with no relevance to your inquiry.
CAMERA CLICKS PHONE RINGS Yeah, go ahead, Nikki.
'The soil we found in Woods's trailer -' it's definitely the same as on the first bone fragments that we found at Lisbey Common.
Well done.
That's fantastic news.
I knew you'd do it.
What is it? Take a look at this.
How do you explain that, George? How do you explain that soil found on your carpet was the same as the soil found on the bones? My trailer used to be parked on that common.
Why shouldn't there be soil from there in it? What about this, George? Do you recognise this? I am now showing George Woods a girl's sports watch that was found in his caravan.
No.
I don't recognise it.
Ah.
Maybe you recognise it now? Because Clara is wearing that watch in this photo.
You see the lines I mean? Of course.
Can you pass me Clara Young's medical records? What do you think they are? They are an absolute catastrophe.
These markings here are called Harris lines.
They indicate a period in which the skeleton stopped growing, often due to poor nutrition or severe trauma.
There's nothing in Clara's medical records to suggest she had them.
Is it definitely the sort of thing a doctor would notice? If she'd managed to hide it and keep her sport going, I'd be surprised.
I've already brought George Woods in.
I've got 24 hours to charge him or let him go.
Can't you just bail him? You don't know what these people are like.
He'll disappear! We need to go and see the Youngs.
I need to ask a few questions.
What sort of questions? Can you just talk me through Clara's appearance and any distinguishing marks we might not know about, and we'll take it from there.
Well, you know she broke her arm falling off a pony four years ago.
We knew about the fracture, yes.
And, er she had size 5 feet.
Is that right, love? Size 6.
We went shopping for a new uniform the week before she left.
She'd gone up to size 6.
Do you mind telling us why we're having to go through all this again? We're just trying to be as specific as possible about what we've found.
Are you saying you can't identify her? No, no.
It's just Of course they can't! .
.
a complex process.
Sorry, what did you just say? I said of course they can't identify her.
She's not dead, is she? Were there any other issues relating to Clara or her health? How do you mean? Had you ever noticed any specific changes in her health as she was growing up? Any eating disorders? Or whether she'd been under any unusual pressure? What are you trying to say? There are markings on one of the bones that suggest that, several years before death, the body had been put under a lot of stress.
Are you accusing us of pressuring Clara? Oh, no, no.
I'm not accusing you of anything.
I'm trying to confirm on the bones.
Are you saying we made our daughter unhappy? Love I'm sorry if I've been unclear.
How dare you! Ange, please.
Excuse me, but do you have children? No, you don't, do you? I can tell that.
Because if you did, you would know what it meant to love a child.
To know that you'd give everything for that child, and the only thing you're not capable of, is doing something that would harm them.
If you did, you could never make that suggestion.
I think we've finished here.
Mrs Young, I'm truly sorry if anything I've said is Please! Leo thinks he's found a solution to your problem.
This is a fractured ulna.
It took me four magnifications to find it.
So that's got to be Clara.
Yep.
She healed up the way only a sports-mad 12-year-old could.
What about the Harris lines? What about them? There's nothing anywhere to suggest she would have had them.
Did you X-ray the other leg? Yep.
Harris lines? No.
Can they be present on one leg and not the other? Never.
So this bone and this bone belong to two different people.
So If that's Clara Young Who the hell is this other girl? All I can tell you is that she or he is almost exactly the same height and build as Clara, and the same weapon was used on both.
My client has not slept for 48 hours.
He's been denied visits.
He's been spied on.
He's been shouted at and racially abused, all without one charge being brought against him.
You know what we've found out? You know what we've worked out now, don't you, George? I was just visiting a friend.
I was living and working in Southend.
I didn't have anything to do with the disappearance of any girls.
Who mentioned anything about girls? I didn't say 'girls', I said 'girl'! George, you're being recorded.
I didn't do anything.
Yep? Nikki, do you have access to a fax machine? Why? Only the rest of this soil analysis has just come in.
Er, have you got a fax machine I could borrow? In the back room.
I didn't do anything.
I tell you, whatever happened, it didn't have anything to do with me! The courts granted us a 36-hour extension.
As soon as we get ID on the second girl, we can charge him.
I don't see how anything in this report changes our position.
There are two different types of soil on the bones.
So? Why would George Woods bury these two girls somewhere else first, then move them nearer his caravan, just as the furore over Clara's disappearance was raging? I'm sure we establish that as we continue with our inquiry.
There's something else.
Something that was bothering me as I watched the interview.
What? The way Woods holds his left arm It's because it's weak.
You heard him in there.
He practically confessed.
I'm not sure he could have caused the injuries those bodies sustained.
We can take that into account as we move forward.
Detective, I think you might have the wrong suspect.
Well, thank you for your opinion.
We'll definitely bear it in mind.
But right now, I think we need to start checking hospital records to get an ID on this second girl.
Anything else? We've got to face them No! Don't let them in! Don't let them in! No! No, don't! Get out of my way.
No! No, don't! When they found your body Giant Xs on your eyes And with your half of the ransom You bought some sweet, sweet, sweet Sweet, sweet sunflowers And gave them To the night.
Hello? 'Hi, it's Nikki Alexander.
' If I needed to speak to the travellers, could you take me there? The town have been kind enough to let their feelings towards the travellers be known.
Oh, and this time, their excuse is they're using the land to build a "community" centre.
For everyone.
Do you think we'll be welcome at that community centre? When was this photo taken? Oh, George there, he came back late May, three or four days before Clara disappeared.
And he was living on the site at the time? Well, it wasn't ideal for us, but if someone like him wants to pull up, what right have I got to deny him? He might not be family, but Who's that man? Liam Clegg.
He was George's friend.
Look, why don't you tell us what we can do for you? I've established that there was more than one victim.
Early tests on the soil suggest that the other girl died before Clara.
At least three months before her.
So if George Woods is going to be charged with two murders, I want to be sure that he did them.
What? Is there something else about Woods? Do you know who she might have been? Floria Hearn.
I think I've got an ID on our second victim.
Have you heard of a traveller girl called Floria Hearn? The hospital confirmed she had Harris lines.
I asked Social Services, and they said they'd informed the police she was missing.
Look, do we need to have this discussion right now? Malcolm Young just called from the hospital.
His wife took an overdose last night.
Well, I can see that this is a bad time, but who this girl is, and when she died casts real doubt on whether or not Woods is guilty.
Approximately one hour ago, George Woods was charged with the murder of Clara Young.
He'll appear in court tomorrow morning.
These girls were dismembered with the same weapon.
You can't separate the crimes.
Your soil test proved that patches of Woods's carpet were stained with earth that matched the bones.
And your own searches established that the greatest concentration of bone finds is right here.
Right next to George Woods' caravan! But equal distance from Liam Clegg's.
If George Woods is a suspect, why isn't Clegg? Why hasn't he been interviewed? Because for the last two years, Liam Clegg has been serving a prison sentence, and he was never part of this inquiry! I think you're letting your loyalty to Malcolm Young influence your judgement.
We have a very strong case that George Woods killed and disposed of Clara Young, and that is why we are putting him on trial, and from where I'm standing, there's not a damn thing you can do about it! Congratulations on your diagnosis.
Our claims investigators were impressed.
Thanks.
There were a couple of things we thought we should bring to your attention.
Which are? Here is a copy of Rupa Joshi's declaration of health.
In it, she confirms that she's a vegetarian who's never eaten beef.
I'm not claiming she was infected that way.
Then how WAS she infected? The only medical procedure she has had in the last four years is an appendix removal, at a hospital that was implementing anti-CJD procedures.
So despite proof that she was suffering from a degenerative illness that almost certainly caused her fall, you are still not going to pay out on Rupa Joshi's policy? There doesn't seem to be any way that Rupa Joshi could have contracted variant CJD without contradicting the terms of her declaration, or withholding information concerning her medical treatment.
And until you can prove otherwise, our situation remains unchanged.
Well? Well, the thing about the internet is that anyone can put any crazy theory out there.
I told you he'd react like this.
I really don't think she was killed by her work.
weapons without any protection.
The British establishment killed her.
Amita, your mother was not killed by the British government.
How do you know? You won't even speak to the scientist.
He's not actually a scientist, he's a loony.
What, because he's not a posh white boy with Oxbridge stamped all over his buttocks? Look, if you think you can actually think of anything which might really help us work out how your mother got CJD, you know where to find me.
Don't you dare stand up for him.
I know that you're short of time, but I'm afraid you're going to have to be patient.
Yeah, yeah.
Some of this stuff is almost impossible to see.
OK.
DOOR ENTRY SYSTEM BUZZES The trip was a special treat, to mark Rupa's retirement from the factory.
Amita couldn't go with us, but she made us promise not to drive.
She said we couldn't rely on the Indian drivers.
But in the second week, Rupa wanted to visit a cousin who lived in the mountains, a long way from Calcutta.
So remote, there are no train stations.
And on the way, you had an accident.
How long was Rupa in hospital? Three nights.
They gave her some kind of blood product, when she was admitted.
We told Amita something had happened.
But not the whole truth.
Yes, yes, I know she was treated at your hospital, what I'm trying to do is trace the actual batch numbers of the blood products you gave her.
'Would you mind holding?' Yes.
'I can confirm that Mrs Joshi's blood was part of a batch sent from the UK.
' Are you sure? 'Definitely, sir.
' Harry? Bill.
Welcome to the mothership.
Thanks for seeing me.
Bill, have CJD-infected blood products been exported from Britain to India? Why do you need to know? Because the blood products in this case I'm investigating were apparently British.
Bill? It's not like we meant to give them the disease.
It's not like anyone meant to let the damn thing into the blood supply in the first place.
Bloody hell! I know that sounds bad, but we are doing everything we can to rectify the situation.
That's very reassuring(!) In that case, what I need to know from you is whether the batch given to Rupa Joshi has been identified as one of the ones that was infected.
OK, Harry.
Just this once.
How long have we got? He's due in court in Right, next sample.
You're not going to give up, are you? Which is Forsythia X Intermedia.
The most prominent pollen found so far.
Have you been here all night? How did you guess? Why? We're trying to identify the pollen found in the earth around the bones, so we can prove George Woods's alibi.
Which is? The two killings are linked, but separated by several months.
Even the police accept that he wasn't in Lisbey before the end of May 2005.
Looking for something that flowers before then.
Exactly.
Any luck? Uh-uh.
All we've found so far is small traces of stuff that flowers in summer - by which time, he was back on the scene.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS Amita.
How can I help? What about this forsythia? Today? When? What! Don't say anything until I get there.
There's no forsythia found on the bone find site.
The pollen must have come from wherever the two girls were buried first.
What time of year does it flower? February.
Over the past few weeks, Wessex Protect have been giving a great deal of thought to the distress that Rupa's death has caused your family.
Naturally, we are, as you know, always keen to help out in any way we can.
As a result of this, my superiors and I have agreed, although we're under no obligation to, a compromise which will allow us to pay out a large proportion of your mother's policy.
How large? About 30%.
I should point out that works out at a capitalisation of just under ã15,000.
Unfortunately, I do need to have your answer before the end of this meeting.
Yeah, I think that we'd like to What do you think? Well, I would like to know exactly why Wessex Protect suddenly decided to call this meeting out of the blue, and offer you a compromise, and whether it has anything to do with them getting wind of findings I have recently made which could prove exactly when your mother was infected, and force them to pay out in full.
I feel obliged to point out that, as neither a holder of the policy, nor a potential beneficiary, Dr Cunningham really has no role in this meeting.
Look, um, tell us.
What do you think we should do? I think you should reject anything except a full payout.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS Bill, how are you? Harry, old pal.
I've done some digging around, and I've got some fantastic news for you.
Great.
The batch that your lady had was completely clean.
'I checked the serial numbers, I've checked the blood centres.
'Absolutely no vCJD at all.
' Are you sure? Of course I'm bloody sure.
I can't sit here and debate it with you.
I've got about ten million things to do.
We've done as you said.
George Woods, it is charged that some time after the 28th of May, you did murder Clara Young, contrary to common law.
You will remain in custody to appear before the central criminal court to stand trial.
ANGRY MOB SHOUT ABUSE Scum! I hope you burn in hell! RAUNCHY MUSIC PLAYS Come on, baby.
I think you're a little late, aren't you? Floria Hearn was killed during or just after late February 2005.
Now, you MUSIC IS TURNED OFF You have witnesses that confirm that George Woods was living and working full-time in Southend at that time.
That, and all the forensic evidence, which I'll make available to both sides proves that her death is irrefutably linked to the murder of Clara Young.
So, I think, Detective, that your case against Woods is, if you'll pardon the expression, dead.
Oh, and I also think - I'm sorry for taking up so much of your precious time - that if two girls can go missing, in this country, in the 21st century, but because one of them is a traveller, no-one gives a toss, then something is very, very wrong.
MUSIC: Town Called Malice by The Jam What is it? Albert! What is it? The ghost of a steam train Echoes down my track It's at the moment bound for nowhere Just going round and round Playground kids and creaking swings Lost laughter in the breeze I could go on for hours and I probably will George! George! .
.
Town called malice Yeeeeahhh.