Silent Witness (1996) s24e03 Episode Script

1 Did you enjoy that? See you.
Bye.
Did you get the details of everyone who had a free trial? Thanks.
Hi, Mum, it's me.
Are you there? Can you pick up? LOUD MUSIC PLAYS Mum? Are you there? Fight, OK.
Bye.
SHE SCREAMS Testator silens Costestes e spiritu Silencium Testator silens.
♪ DOG BARKS I wonder who first discovered that dogs could sniff out bodies.
I guess it's because it's meat.
I think they're a bit more than that.
Hi, there.
DI Hughes.
Meredith.
- Nikki Alexander.
- Hi.
Oh, I've heard a lot about you.
Good to have you on board.
Thanks.
It's a team effort.
This is jack Hodgson, forensic scientist.
And I'm Dr Adam Yuen, pathologist.
I'm new.
Not new-new, but it's my first case at the Lyell.
But I have done this before.
I should hope so.
Right.
Well, I'll take you to her.
You should have brought your CV.
The victim is Laura Jennings, a swimming instructor at the local pool.
She was working there on Saturday.
A colleague rang when she didn't show up this morning.
They had concerns.
How did you know you were looking for a body? I had my reasons.
A neighbour saw her go out on Sunday.
She was back late Sunday afternoon.
So, time of death? Do you mind taking that? Thanks.
Rigor is well-developed, so a number of hours.
Did you know her? Not exactly.
The ground's a mess.
Right, I need everybody out to the van, get your boots scanned for elimination, including yours.
It's like Piccadilly Circus in here.
What I said earlier about the bodies being meat I didn't mean any of fence.
The dead can't take of fence.
But you can.
I didn't mean to give the wrong impression.
Bodies are people.
How can you cut into a person? We all have our ways of distancing ourselves.
What are you thinking? I'm thinking they came prepared.
Duct tape to quieten the glass.
Looks like there's some jewellery missing upstairs, but any sign of her mobile? Not yet.
Got a charger, no laptop.
Something's off here.
In a burglary, you open drawers, you rifle through them.
These are too neat.
Scuff marks under here.
A struggle, maybe? And then blood trail.
Looks like they dragged her out.
Impact blood spatter? You've done this before.
So, if this is our attack site, and she was hit in this chair, then the drawers have to have been done afterwards, otherwise she'd have seen him.
So why kill her? Maybe he panicked? Thought he'd be identified? SHE SIGHS Why take time to bury her and leave the drawers open? I think you're right it's staged.
I need you to look for signs of sexual activity.
No need to ask.
It's a given.
I'll go over every inch of this place.
Good.
I just want to get it right.
The subject is female, late 30s, well-nourished.
Blunt force trauma to the side of the head.
The cranial lesion appears to be round in shape.
Could be a hammer blow.
A distinctive mark.
A similar wound beneath it, but not as deep.
The first hit had less force? More tentative? Makes sense.
Petechial haemorrhaging on her lower left palpebral conjunctiva, also on the right.
Bruising on the neck.
Possible fingermarks.
Some sort of sticky residue.
Adam? You started without me.
DI Hughes was waiting.
I'm sorry.
Is there a problem? No.
It's fine.
There are bruises on the neck, so I Did you check the scans? Yes, there are two fractures present on the skull.
I applied Puppe's rule.
There are also fractures of the hyoid bone.
Manual strangulation.
Are you sure there are no signs of sexual activity or assault? No vaginal bruising, no tearing, no visible signs of sexual assault or rape.
But that doesn't mean that she didn't have intercourse.
She might have submitted out of fear.
We'll see if anything comes back on the swabs.
I found new semen on the sofa, it's gone off for DNA extraction.
Good.
The uterus is enlarged.
Could be fibroids.
It isn't.
She was pregnant about six weeks.
PIANO PLAYS.
In the water, Simon! Soften it.
You're my guardian angel.
This is the day room.
We like a communal feel.
It's not good for residents to stay in their rooms, unless of course they're under the weather.
Our residents benefit from regular visits.
You can't just dump a parent here like it's a boarding kennel.
Bring your mum along, see if she feels at home.
I want my tree.
I want my tree.
My Bonnie boy My Bonnie lies over the ocean My Bonnie lies over the sea My Bonnie lies over the ocean Bring back Bring back Bring back my Bonnie to me To me ♪ Mr and Mrs Jennings? I'm very sorry for your loss.
Are you sure it's her? Yes.
I'm afraid I think it is.
She's our only child.
What do we do? Mr and Mrs Jennings? I'm DI Hughes, but please call me Meredith.
I'll do everything I can to ensure To what? To save her? It's too late for that! You police you never protected our daughter, just yourselves.
You know who did this.
You're just as bad as he is.
Oh He started without you? Mm-hm.
HE TUTS Well, he's going to keep you on your toes.
I'm on my toes.
Tippy Toes.
Look at him, trying to get in your good books with caffeine.
Stop it.
It's early days.
He just needs a bit of time to settle in.
Even you had teething problems.
Did I? What did I miss? Not quite sure.
What did Laura's father mean about the police not protecting her? Laura was a victim of domestic abuse back in the Midlands two years ago.
Her abuser was never charged.
She withdrew the complaint and moved away.
Hard to take that step.
Yeah.
She tried.
And you think this could be him? I need something more concrete before I can bring him in.
But, yes, I do.
I want all DNA samples run against the National Database and the Police Elimination Database in case of cross contamination.
Cross the Ts and dot the ls? Isn't it dot the ls and cross the Ts? We're checking cell site analysis to see if the ex's phone hit any masts near Laura the night she was killed.
We pinged her phone: It's off.
Still waiting for call info from her service provider.
Clarissa used to do that.
The cell site stuff.
According to the parents, there's no current boyfriend and hasn't been for the past couple of years.
There must be.
Laura reported a break-in six weeks ago.
There was no sign of forced entry, nothing was taken, so the police didn't come out.
They just gave her a crime number.
We let her down.
No-one was listening.
Simon? You're spending a lot of time with Molly.
I know she's your favourite, but there are other residents, too Okay? Anywhere there, lads.
MOBILE RINGS.
Nikki! Where are you? Moving day! Got the morning off.
Getting my life out of storage at last! Mi casa es mi casa.
Till the old man moves in, anyway.
Well, there's someone here to see you.
Who is it? I don't know.
PLATES SHATTER.
Oh! Man down.
Got to go.
Bye-bye.
HE SIGHS.
Nikki? Jack? Where's Nikki? Jack? What? This is Jack.
Hello.
And this is Cara.
I thought she was here for work experience.
Work experience? She's too young.
You're too young.
You look young.
For what? What? I don't know.
What's her name? Clara? SLOWLY AND LOUDLY: Do you want to see me? She's not stupid and saying it louder doesn't make a difference.
All right.
My cousin was deaf, I grew up with it.
I'm just out of practice.
She can't hear at all? You mumble.
And your lips move like maggots.
Thanks.
No, you need to look at her.
Thanks.
I'm looking for your brother.
Ryan Hodgson? I can't find him anywhere.
You have a brother? Yeah.
He changed his last name years ago.
I remember my mother saying that he had a brother Jack, that's you.
Who's her mother? A-O-I-F-E.
Aoife.
Aoife! No wonder I didn't get it.
Aoife Connolly? Aoife Connolly? You look like your mother.
Yeah, I knew her.
HE CLEARS THROAT.
She was Ryan's girlfriend.
I'm Ryan's daughter.
He's my dad.
Well, Ryan is away at the moment.
Leave it with me and I'll make contact.
Does your mother know you're looking for him? Take that as a no.
What's your brother's last name? Kelvin.
Ryan Kelvin our mother's maiden name.
Actually, no, don't.
Dammit.
OK.
Um Here's my card.
My number.
Give her your mobile.
Give her my All right.
Open it up There we go.
CooL Right.
Oh, don't forget this.
I have an uncle.
An Uncle Jack.
Oh, OK.
Ha-ha! All right.
Yeah.
The DNA results are back.
Meredith's on her way.
Great.
Great.
Thanks.
Thanks, Nikki.
Um This is Cara.
Cara, this is Nikki.
Hi.
Cara's my niece.
I didn't know Ryan had a daughter.
Hi! Nor did I.
Nor did I.
There you go.
Bye-bye.
I think I see a family resemblance.
No prints on the glass or duct tape.
We got lucky with the tape, though.
I found saliva on a ripped end, which had been bitten off to tear it.
Tested it for DNA.
Great.
Well, not so great, as there were no matches on any of the databases.
Laura also had duct tape residue on her neck with a fragment of plastic on it.
Tests show it's from a carrier bag, but we didn't find one at the scene.
He put a bag over her head? After he hit her with a hammer.
If it had been the other way round, there wouldn't be blood spatter.
He didn't want to see her while he strangled her.
Because he knew her? Scrapings from underneath Laura's fingernails gave us DNA from the same unknown male.
The semen on the sofa is from a different male.
Also no matches.
It's strange.
I couldn't find any corresponding DNA anywhere in the house.
They packed up, but I'm going to do another sweep.
I'm running DNA on the embryo to see if either is the father.
So there are two unknown males maybe one of them was behind the earlier break-in.
PHONE RINGS.
9-9-9.
What's your emergency? LAURA: Someone's been in my house! Is this a robbery in progress? I don't know.
I don't What if he's still here? He's been in my bathroom! How did she know? Ah.
He left the seat up.
ENGINE RUMBLES.
HE TURNS ENGINE OFF.
- Hey, hey, hey! - Sh! Oi, Simples! I'll give you a fiver for it.
What about a tenner? Come on.
15? Hey! Anyone there? Anyone? Anyone there? They shouldn't let you out, let alone on the road.
- You freak! - Freak! THEY LAUGH.
Bye, freak! Yeah, go on! Fre-eak! BOY WHOOPS AND WAILS.
Yay! Artie, this is Jack.
Say hello.
ADAM CHUCKLES.
Is it Bring Your Kid To Work Day? Doesn't seem very hygienic.
Sorry.
It's only for an hour.
My wife had an emergency.
Well, the nanny did, so she's got the little one.
There's a littler one? Yeah.
Amelia.
She's three months old.
Do you want to see a picture? No, you're OK.
ARTIE: Ooh! Is that a urine sample? Mm-hm.
Artie, you're good at weeing, aren't you? Shall we show Jack? How do you wee? Do you do a standing wee? HE WHISTLES ADAM LAUGHS.
Maybe it's genetic.
Oh, he's got great aim for a three-year-old.
- Mm-hm.
- Shall we fly over here? Extracting DNA from a urine sample is virtually impossible, isn't it? HE CLEARS THROAT.
Why risk using a toilet when you break into a house? Unless you have to, medically.
ARTIE WHOOPS AND WAILS.
Yep, there's blood in it.
And where there's blood, there's DNA.
I think our man has kidney stones.
Artie! Artie, shall we play over here? ARTIE WHOOPS AND WAILS.
Hi.
Oh! I have had a shitty morning.
I hope this is good news.
Thanks to a bit of luck with the urine sample We got a DNA match on Laura's possible intruder.
You haven't been straight with us.
I didn't want to pre-empt the investigation.
Ron Radford was Laura's ex.
An ex-detective.
And he's the one that abused her? He retired early on health grounds.
No wonder her parents were angry! You should have said that he was ex-police! This is never going to work unless you're honest with us! I am! And I don't appreciate being brought in here and shown up in front of people, like I'm back at school! I don't keep secrets from my team.
Maybe you don't have to.
I need to do things carefully.
Ron Radford was a well respected DCI.
He had a lot of friends on the force, he still has.
Including you? Don't even think I'd protect him.
I knew his elimination sample would be on that database.
Why do you think I asked you to check? I know what he's like.
We worked together when I was starting out.
I had a friend and he tried it on, repeatedly.
When she refused him, he made life difficult.
Still nothing to tie him to Laura's murder and we've got those two unknown males.
He was at her house.
It's a start.
Jesus! I thought you were here to tell me Dad had died.
Not like you to visit.
Well, you know, I'm busy.
A daughter? Why didn't Aoife tell me she was pregnant? We could have made it work.
We were good together.
She wasn't happy, Ryan.
We could have fixed things maybe.
Sometimes, when I was with her, it felt like she was somewhere else.
I thought she was cheating on me.
Come on.
You cheated on her.
We all have blips, Jack.
So this girl Cara.
Aye.
She definitely says that I'm the father? Mm-hm.
Could you do a DNA test for me, to be sure? What? I didn't think it was possible.
All these years, I thought I was shooting blanks.
She really wants to meet me? What's she like? She's bright, funny strong-willed.
Just like her mother, then! She's deaf.
Like, deaf-deaf? Does that make a difference? No.
Of course not.
How can I make her life any better? When I get out of here, I've got no job, no prospects, no home.
She's better off without me.
And she's not my responsibility, so just tell her you couldn't find me.
Save her the disappointment.
You're the disappointment.
Says my brother who put me in prison.
DOORBELL RINGS.
You weren't answering your phone.
Lunch.
Ah! Thank you.
Come on in.
Nice place.
Lots of potential.
Hmm.
For you, in your new home.
Ah! Yes! Thank you.
I nearly bought you a plant, but I knew you'd kill it.
I would.
Come on through.
How did it go this morning? About as well as I expected.
Have a seat.
Ryan doesn't want to meet her because she's deaf.
Did he say that? Eh not exactly.
It's a lot to take in: A teenager, appearing out of nowhere and being told that they're your child.
She might not be.
Is that a possibility? Yeah.
Maybe.
I don't know.
He asked about a DNA test.
Fatherhood isn't always about genetics.
It's easily done.
His DNA's on the National DNA Database with his conviction.
You can't use the system.
Huh? That's unethical.
You get a new swab from Ryan and from Cara and do a paternity test.
HE SIGHS.
How do I tell her her dad's in prison? That he doesn't want to know? It's such a mess.
You'll work it out.
Mm.
LAUGHTER.
Still in regulations, obviously.
If it isn't little Merry Hughes WELSH ACCENT: fresh from the Valleys! How did you know we wanted to talk to you? It's basic policing.
Laura and I have a history.
Things didn't end well between us.
Laura reported a break-in.
That wasn't me.
If you give me the date and time, I can tell you where I was.
A busy social diary.
It was the 15th of last month.
The call came in at 8.
12pm.
I'll check it out.
HE CLEARS THROAT.
In case you wanted them, these are the names and numbers of the people I was with on the night of Laura's murder.
I was 100 miles away.
You can check that against my mobile cell site data.
I presume you're doing that? We found your DNA in Laura's bathroom.
Marking your territory, were you? Not a crime to take a leak.
Did you put that in your diary, too? HE SIGHS.
It was a few weeks ago.
Actually, I might not have logged that.
My girlfriend wouldn't like the sound of me visiting an ex.
Then why did you? To make the peace.
Holding grudges, it really eats you up doesn't it? Come on! I sure could use Clarissa here to crack these codes.
Laura's emails, all her passwords.
She's got some system here.
Have you tried Zephyr 9? It's the best software for cracking codes.
No, I'm good.
Thanks.
MOBILE RINGS.
Sorry.
Hello? Yes.
No, I left it "Tippy toes" HE GROWLS.
Yes! I'm in! HE CHORTLES.
Meredith, I got into Laura's cloud storage.
She's got a device tracker on her phone Its last known location is not far from her house.
Right, I'm on my way.
Yeah.
OK.
See you there.
All right? Where is it? Somewhere round here.
Tracker shows a 20 metre radius.
Jack! Huh? It could be on there.
Hey, Stop! Wait! Stop! Whoa, stop, stop, stop! With the police.
We need to search the van.
Got it! Amylase tests found saliva inside the bag where Laura's nose and mouth pushed up against it.
I've sent off prints, blood, DNA.
Also | got into her phone.
Look what I found in her messages.
A Pregnancy test? Who did she send the message to? You all right, love? Frank Johnson? DI Hughes.
We'd like to ask you some questions about Laura Jennings.
Who's that? Don't know, love.
Never heard of her.
Maybe she's a passenger.
We found your number in her phone.
DOG GROWLS.
OK.
I'm sure there's an innocent explanation.
DOG GROWLS.
DOG BARKS.
Shall we take this elsewhere? Don't want to be upsetting Rocco.
Bye, love.
See you later.
Sometimes I think she loves that dog more than me.
What was your relationship with Laura, Mr Johnson? Were you having an affair? No.
There was no relationship.
Then why did she send you this? Were you the father? It's not what it looks like.
It never is.
Can we, er, keep this between us? The missus, she doesn't know.
This is a murder investigation, Mr Johnson, not marriage guidance.
OK.
I'll show you.
I provide a service.
I'm doing nothing wrong.
I'm on an online sperm donor site.
I help women desperate for a child to assist them in getting pregnant.
It's nothing dodgy, I don't get paid, just travel expenses, maybe a beer.
It's for the greater good.
And Laura? I met her once, that's all.
What, and did the deed? From what I remember, she was a bit nervous, she wouldn't let me inside, so I had to do the business in my van.
Here we go.
Laura Jennings Yeah.
I met her on the 2nd of March, in the evening.
Yeah.
She was an Al.
Al? Artificial insemination.
It's a pot and syringe job.
I offer all the options, NI: natural insemination, full intercourse, Pl: partial intercourse and then there's AI-plus and NI-plus.
NI plus? Don't ask.
Obviously, the missus doesn't know.
Especially about the NIs.
Does it work? I've got a 64% success rate.
I keep my swimmers healthy.
Bet you do.
I'm going to need a DNA sample from you.
Of course.
No Not that kind of sample.
These guys could be anyone.
They've all got code names.
We found Frank-007.
I checked the content of his mobile, there were numerous text messages to women, arranging to meet.
Plus more positive pregnancy tests.
I spoke to a woman who used his services One of many who's had a baby by him.
The night of Laura's murder, Frank was at a service station in Milton Keynes, doing his business in a cup.
If it is Frank's semen on the sofa, that could explain why his DNA was nowhere else in Laura's house.
It makes sense, you're meant to stay on your back and elevate your pelvis on a pillow for 30 minutes.
I just don't get it.
Why would Laura resort to Frank the bank? Why not try IVF or get a donor on the NHS? Desperation? For IVF, you need to have had unprotected sex for two years and Laura was nearly at the cut-off age of 40.
If she hadn't been in a relationship since Radford, it could have been her only chance.
Private IVF is so expensive.
How do you know this stuff? Research, Jack.
You'd make a good donor.
- Huh? - You're a decent specimen.
Hmm.
There's a cut-off age for sperm: You have to be under 41.
Then your sperm goes downhill from there.
Frank's didn't.
There's been a shortage since the confidentiality law changed.
Imagine a kid turning up 18 years later, calling you Dad.
Actually, that sounds quite good.
DOORBELL RINGS.
All right, Dad? Shall I take those? I can manage! All right.
There's a lot of stairs.
It's good for you.
This is your room, hope it's OK.
Er, I can get you some new furniture.
Don't waste your money.
This is good.
Yeah? Good.
Is that Ryan's room? Er I don't know.
Eh Dad? About Ryan, um something's happened.
This girl, Cara, came to see me.
She thinks she's his daughter.
I went to see Ryan.
I've told him.
How old is she? Are you all right? Is it your heart? Is she Aoife's? Yeah.
How did you know that? Back then, Aoife she came to see me.
She told me that she was pregnant.
What?! Why didn't you tell Ryan? She wanted money for an abortion.
No.
- You didn't? - I'm not proud of it.
She's obviously not gone through with it, so don't be making me feel guilty! Why would you do that? You know why.
Your brother couldn't see it, but I did.
You and her, don't deny it.
I'm glad that Aoife kept her.
All these years, I hoped that at least one of you would have a family, but nothing.
You don't know she's mine.
You don't know she isn't.
SHE WAILS.
The DNA results are back.
Frank WAS the father of Laura's baby.
Well, he's the daddy.
I found a fingerprint under Laura's fingerprints on the on/off button of her laptop.
Just got a match, it's Ron Radford.
What was HE doing on her laptop? That's what I'm finding out.
And there it is.
Spyware.
Installation date: 15th of March.
That matches the earlier break-in.
Looks like he wouldn't let her go.
Oh, that's not bad.
Nice shot.
Ron Radford, we've got a warrant to search your house.
You've got a right to be there.
Save me smashing your door in.
Well, that's polite.
Lads, you'd better carry on, eh? Let's get this done.
What do you need? Your laptop, all your electronic devices, everything you've got.
Knock yourself out.
Enjoy your round, lads.
I watched Laura die.
I know you did, too.
Forensics checked the file history on your laptop, found all the dates and times you accessed spyware footage.
You watched that, the day after Laura was murdered.
I never touched her.
We checked your alibi for the night Laura was killed.
So you know I wasn't there.
Maybe you paid one of your ex cons, got them to do your dirty work.
Got any proof of that? DNA, fingerprints? Any actual evidence? You spied on her, like some creep.
She asked me to put that system on for protection.
Bullshit.
You could turn Laura's webcam on without her knowing.
This is ridiculous.
I'm a policeman.
Not any more! Ron Radford, I spoke to the CPS and you're going to be charged with installing spyware.
Misuse of the Computer Act, 1990 And obstruction of justice for withholding information pertinent to a crime.
Hi.
So, we've charged Ron but there's still not enough to link him to Laura's murder and unfortunately, the spy cam footage doesn't offer up any useful leads.
Well, at least her parents can't accuse you of protecting him.
Hmm.
Can you give them Laura's year book back? Yeah, I'm on my way to give them an update.
Hang on.
St Cuthbert's Secondary School? I'm sure that was in Laura's search history.
Yeah.
That and Tim Garrick.
Tim Garrick? Mm-hm.
Her mum said they dated briefly.
They hooked up after a school reunion.
Well, she searched the hell out of him.
"Tim Garrick address," "Tim Garrick workplace," "school.
" Mm.
Tim Garrick.
Teenage crush? Ah, it's a good look.
Yeah.
Right, I'll check it out.
Thank you.
Please can I have some sweeties? No.
Please can I have some sweeties? No, you can't.
Please can I have some sweeties! No, no, no, no, no.
Please may I have some sweeties? Dylan Dylan, no.
Dylan! Not until we get home, and you have to be good, OK? Come on.
Where's Toby? Where's Toby? Toby! Toby! Toby! Toby! Oh Oh, God! Thank you, thank you so much.
I thought I'd lost you.
Don't you ever, ever run off again, OK? I didn't.
Oh.
I really can't thank you enough.
Thanks.
Come on.
Now, listen, boys promise me that you won't tell Daddy what happened today, OK? Why? Let's go.
Got the GPS from Laura's phone.
I'm tracking where she went on Sunday.
PHONE BUZZES.
What are you going to tell her about Ryan being in prison? Nothing.
She just wants to find her dad.
She deserves an explanation.
Not yet! OK? Where are you going? Jack? I'm going to see where Laura went, OK? PHONE RINGS.
Yep? Jack, we've tracked down Tim Garrick.
His phone's not working, but we've got an old address.
Can you meet me there? Sure.
Where is it? It's 12 Woodfield Crescent, AL4 3 I'm already here.
The GPS from Laura's phone shows that this is where she came on Sunday, but it's all boarded up.
Yeah, it was bought by a property developer two years ago.
It's been empty ever since, but it's the only address we've got.
I'm on my way.
Tim Garrick's wife, Joanna, was reported missing two years ago, but, weirdly, it wasn't Tim who reported her.
It was her friend, Rachel Meadows.
The officer in charge of the case said that he spoke to Joanna, so the case was closed, but Rachel still hasn't heard from her.
She said Tim was controlling, stopped her working, cut her off from her family and friends.
Mm.
Sounds like coercive control.
Was he violent? Anything on police records? No, nothing showed up.
But this is the last place Joanna Garrick was seen, and the last place Laura visited.
A missing woman and a dead woman.
HE WHISTLES.
Got blood.
Oh, we've got lots of blood.
Oh I don't know if someone could survive that amount of blood loss.
That decking It looks a bit off.
Jack I think we've got a body.
PHONE CAMERA CLICKS.
PHONE CAMERA CLICKS.
You're supposed to be a big boy now, Toby.
Nearly ready.
MICROWAVE BEEPS.
Right, here's your milk.
Right, come on, let's get you back to bed.
Oh, God.
I think we've found Joanna Garrick.
If Tim Garrick murdered his wife: Did Laura find out? Was she a threat, so he killed her? There's something else here.
Got to keep digging- Could be another body.
PHONE RINGS.
Hello? Argh Agh! No Testator silens Costestes e spirituSilencium.
♪