Silent Witness (1996) s25e06 Episode Script

This programme contains some violent scenes and some strong language.
Oscar Harris.
Number 10 special adviser.
You come highly recommended by Sam Ryan.
This is my stepson, David, and his wife, Fiona.
The Home Office's golden boy right now is obviously the chap behind Vigil, Ethan Daley.
Vigil finds a link you didn't know was there.
We know there are concerns in Cabinet over your suitability to continue handling the health passport programme.
I have worked so hard to give you everything you ever wanted.
Oh, my God! Is that my wife? Is that Helen? We've arrested your son, Mr Daley.
- Dad.
- Lewis.
What did he do? Aliyah was my sister.
You did investigate her disappearance, so I just wanted to know what happened to her.
Sometimes people just don't want to be found.
I'd say we need to get our accounts in alignment.
What are you worried about? DNA was recovered from a cartridge left by the assassin.
That DNA belongs to Tom Faulkner.
Who is Tom Faulkner to you, apart from your ex-husband? I think they're blood samples that were being manipulated to plant as evidence.
No-one would have taken it, would they? You've proved that fabricated DNA samples exist.
What will happen to Tom now? Well, the charges against him will be dropped and he will be released in due course.
I hear Sam came to see you.
I put her in touch with a journalist.
Oliver Meehan.
Allegations of DNA manipulation in the case of the Health Secretary's assassination.
Oh, son.
What the hell have you done? I think she took one of Tom's fabricated blood vials from the Lyell a few weeks ago.
It arrived in the post this morning.
- And you think Sam sent it? - Yeah.
- I do.
- Then, where is she? You started to suspect the sample you created framed an innocent man, though.
And you still said nothing? People were dying all around us.
David Mashaba can tell us who ordered the Health Secretary's assassination.
Just go and sort out a safe house for the pair of them, will you? And transport them in the morning.
Whoever's been backing you is still out there.
I'm not going to say anything more, not until I get guaranteed protection for me and my wife.
- Ethan Daley's son was - Watch out! Martine? Oscar 4-0.
Oscar 4-0.
Are you receiving? Over.
Oscar 4-0.
Oscar 4-0.
Come in, please.
Fiona Fiona.
Fiona, come on.
Fiona? No, no, no, no, no, no! Fiona! Fiona! Look at me! Look at me! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up.
Fiona, wake up.
- Did you call an ambulance? - Yeah, yeah, I'm on it now.
Hello? Ambulance, please.
Yes.
Female, early 30s, involved in RTC.
GCS is 3.
Head injury.
ETA approximately ten minutes.
So, what, David just disappeared? Took off after the crash.
What kind of person just leaves their pregnant wife for dead? A desperate one.
Are we OK to approach the car? Detective Superintendent Boyle? Uh yeah.
No, I'm sorry, but you can't come through here.
- How's the lorry driver? - He's Whoa! No.
Hang on, hang on.
No.
I need to talk to him.
It'll have to wait.
He's in no fit state to be questioned.
No! That's my DS dead in that car.
He's just killed a serving police officer.
Does it look like he did it on purpose? I tried I tried to stop the lorry.
I did.
Are you satisfied? Does Jomo know? Yeah.
Said he'll co-operate in any way he can.
Just wants us to keep him up-to-date with any news on David.
How's it going? Well, there's a bit of blood spatter - and a lot of - Vomit? Yeah.
I get all the best jobs.
Do you reckon he'll make it, the driver? Don't know.
They think it's anaphylactic shock.
Hmm.
Explains this.
EpiPen.
Maybe he was trying to inject himself - while driving.
- Yeah.
You just hanging around for fun? Tachograph.
The data from this will tell us everything about the minutes leading up to the collision, hopefully.
Do you think she suffered? Let's wait until we do the PM.
She should never have been in that car, Nikki.
I was being a total She was my DS.
I should have looked out for her.
On the phone, she was trying to tell me something about Ethan Daley's son? Do you know anything about that? I heard it was an open-and-shut case.
The boy's claiming his innocence, but his blood was found under his stepmum's fingernails.
Boss.
I can't find it.
- Have you double-checked? - Everywhere.
Chalal's phone's gone missing.
But she was calling me when they David I need a phone pinged for location.
No, now.
If that's the envelope Sam Ryan sent Tom Faulkner's blood sample in, staring at it won't give you any more answers, I'm afraid.
It's the only thing we have that might link us to Sam.
Finding Sam's the key to this.
Chalal's body is ready for you, by the way.
Can I take a look at it? Sure, be my guest.
Testing the driver's vomit? Yep! It's pretty decomposed, so I'm just checking the histamine levels.
Regurgitated chicken not glamorous enough for you? It's fish.
And, no, it's not.
What do you make of this? - What is it? - Tachograph report.
Lorry's doing average speed until, what, 09:34? About the time that Chalal rang Nikki.
Mm-hm.
And then - It speeds up.
- It speeds up.
And not only that Tyre tracks at the scene show no signs of emergency braking before the police car swerved.
But the driver said that he was trying to stop.
Yeah, he did, didn't he? Tom Faulkner? Oscar Harris.
Number 10 Special Adviser.
I helped with your release.
Can I have a word? This is bollocks.
You knew it was a condition of your release.
I assumed I'd be signing some kind of non disclosure, but not the Official Secrets Act.
I know, it's not ideal.
Ideal? If I sign it, I'm agreeing to keep schtum about all this, all the faked DNA.
It was the best I could do to get you out.
So no justice, then? For anyone? Me, Dan, Meehan, Sam.
The bloody Health Secretary? You think I'm happy about this? I worked with Alice Reynolds at the Department for Health for two years.
She was only in Liverpool because of me.
And I get it - you want justice.
But you have to be realistic.
We can't take any chances that this will leak.
You know the risk this would pose to the public.
The damage it would do.
Thousands of convictions overturned.
Murderers and rapists, free to walk the streets.
Thank you.
If there's anything you need or I can help you with I don't need anyone's help.
The cause of death was the head injury.
There was fresh external bruising on the scalp consistent in size and appearance with impact from a scaffolding pole.
Internally, DS Chalal had a traumatic intracranial haemorrhage.
She would probably, hopefully, have lost consciousness on impact, but it's likely she was alive for some minutes after.
On the phone, when Chalal said that Fiona didn't just do it once, and she mentioned Ethan Daley's son what if she meant that Fiona had copied and fabricated DNA again? Yeah, but you can't ask a comatose woman what she did or didn't do.
Hang on, is this what you were talking about earlier with Lewis Daley? I can't see what else Chalal would've meant.
I think she was trying to tell us that Lewis Daley has been framed for the murder of his stepmother.
I'd test Lewis Daley's samples found at the crime scene, but we'd need clearance.
No.
That's above my pay grade.
It was above Chalal's, too.
You said you should have looked out for her.
Now's your chance.
I'll call the lab.
You have a forwarded voice text.
Your wife paid the price for having a loose tongue, Ethan.
I really don't want our relationship to end the same way.
Gran? Are you sure you want me to dig up that holly bush? It's so stubborn! This man was looking for you.
Oh.
I told you to leave it, Simone.
I didn't know he was coming to the house.
You'd better see what he wants.
Hi, Johnny.
Please come in.
Can I offer you a tea or coffee? - Er, no.
No, thank you.
- OK.
Um I have news.
OK.
Have you? Have you found her? I found an old address for her.
Abroad.
Trinidad.
Her and two kids.
She's a mum.
She's got Cleo, who's four, and Grace is two.
I'm afraid they're not at that address any more.
Oh, well, maybe we can speak to the neighbours and see where they've moved to, or? What is it? Johnny? There was a boating accident.
Last March.
I'm afraid she drowned saving the children.
What? They're in care.
I think you need to leave, Detective.
Aye.
Call me if there's anything I can do to help, Simone.
I'm so sorry.
Gosh Those kids deserve to have a proper childhood.
Like the one you gave me.
Full of laughter and love and fun.
We could give that to them.
They should know that they have a family.
No, Simi.
Yes, I can call Johnny Campbell and we can Simi, she wouldn't want you anywhere near her children.
What do you mean? She could never forgive you for what happened to your mum.
Because your mum died in childbirth having you, Aliyah always blamed you.
She was a teenager and in pain.
She wasn't very kind to you, Simone.
- How? - I don't want to get into that but there was nothing I could do to make her change how she felt towards you.
In a way I was relieved when she left.
And she left because of me? She had a lot going on.
Just Why didn't you tell me this, Gran? I didn't want you to feel hurt any more.
I just wanted to protect you.
I've always tried to protect you.
I know.
I know you have, Gran, but staying quiet all of this time that wasn't right.
Do you have a safe place to meet? A delivery for you from Wolfson Pathology.
Oh.
Must be the samples found on the body of Ethan Daley's wife.
Who would want to frame Lewis Daley? You're not gonna believe this.
What? I just spoke to St James's Hospital.
Robert Jones, the lorry driver, he's gone.
- What? - How is that physically even possible? We saw him at the crash.
He was half dead.
Do we know anything about him? Er, yeah, I took a sample of the vomit from the scene.
The histamine levels of the fish were high.
Around Yeah, 600ppm.
Scombrotoxin.
Yeah.
It's often found in poorly processed fish.
Scombrotoxin mimics the symptoms of anaphylactic shock.
Rashes, vomiting.
But whereas anaphylactic shock can be fatal This isn't? Maybe he ingested the contaminated fish, knowing that his symptoms would look like anaphylaxis, and all he'd need were antihistamines to recover.
So what are we saying? Someone's gone to great pains to make this look like an accident, but it was a hit.
To stop David and Fiona from saying anything more.
Put me through to him.
It's David Mashaba.
No, he'll speak to me, because if he doesn't, I'll talk.
No genetic barcode in Lewis Daley's sample.
So what, Fiona didn't make it? It's legit? Well, what did Chalal mean, then? I guess we might never know.
Has Boyle had any update on Fiona's condition? I believe she's still in a coma.
Nikki? Chalal's phone is active.
Got a message from David.
"Injured.
Not sure how long I can hold out.
" We know the area from a call before that.
We need to go.
I'll meet you there.
Jack? Be careful.
I'm always careful.
This is Jack.
Leave a message.
Where are you, Jack? I've called for backup, but I can't see anyone yet.
Wait a sec.
David? Oh, no! No, no, no! Oh, fuck! Jack! Jack! Wasn't that the lorry driver? Made a good recovery, hasn't he? LINE RINGS - Keep pressure on that.
You have one new message.
Hi, Tom.
It's Nikki.
We keep missing each other.
Are you OK? There's still no news on Sam.
Call me back.
I was glad you wanted to see me again.
Please take a seat.
I'm a bit surprised you did.
I know it was all a shock.
Yeah.
I've been talking to child services out there, trying to get a bit more info and I've written down a few numbers for you.
I'm sorry, Johnny, I don't think I can do this.
There's just no point.
- I know this is hard, Simone.
- No, you don't get it.
I I don't think Aliyah would want me raising her kids.
Turns out I'm the reason she left home.
She blamed me for the loss of our mum.
Look, sometimes it's easier to blame someone rather than just admit that life can be chaotic.
I was just a child.
It's not really about you any more, Simone.
Are you really gonna leave those kids never contact them because a 16-year-old girl didn't know how to process her grief? Johnny! That's that's not fair.
A few days ago, I believed that Aliyah was dead, and then I got told, "Oh, maybe she's alive.
" - And now this.
- Look I know you're scared.
I'd be scared too.
But you can either hide behind your fear, or you can run towards it.
Your choice.
I'll see myself out.
Well, the years have been kinder to you than me.
You're too kind, Sarge.
Thanks for coming, mate.
Means a lot.
Any time.
Is that the gun from yesterday? Yep.
Sure is.
Was that Johnny Campbell I saw last night? Uh, yeah.
He, um found out where my sister was.
Ah.
She passed away a year ago.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I don't even think I should be allowed to be upset, you know? - Why? - I lost her a long time ago.
She left behind two kids.
They're now in foster care.
Are you gonna see them? No.
They're all the way in Trinidad.
Besides, I don't think my sister would want me in their lives.
What? Probably better off without me.
No.
No, no, that's not true.
When I was a kid, I went missing.
What? - Yeah.
- Really? Ran away.
Really? Oh, yeah.
Mm-hm.
Well more like I forgot to come home.
Where were you? Beach.
Yeah, the priest at Sunday school said this thing.
He said people were created out of clay.
I thought that was a cool idea.
We lived near the coast, so I figured sand was as clay-like as I was gonna get.
So I spent all night on the beach, building the only thing I really wanted.
Which was what? A mum.
Didn't know I was crazy, did you? No.
Yeah.
The police thought I was with a mate, or something.
Dad wasn't having any of it.
He found me eventually.
I remember him running across the mud, hair all crazy, looking like Finn McCool, or something.
Ah, dear.
Yeah.
Didn't get a mum, obviously, but I realised I had someone who would walk around all night, in the cold and dark, trying to find me.
That's all I need.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's a single gunshot wound to the head.
The entry wound is on the frontal bone.
It was a contact wound with the gun firmly held to the head before firing.
He was shot at point-blank range? Yes.
Hence the presence of a muzzle mark on the overlying skin as the gases from the gunshot reflected back off the hard tissue of the skull.
This forced the soft tissues of the scalp onto the muzzle itself, causing the imprint.
It has all the hallmarks of an execution.
Death is likely to have been swift.
Lucky him.
It's difficult to be precise about time of death, as not all bodies start to cool straight away.
The FME noted well-established rigor mortis in the finger and jaw joints at the scene.
They estimate that David died at least two hours before you got there.
Two hours? But Well, we got to him within an hour of that message being sent.
So it couldn't have come from David.
And why try and lure Jack there? The fake DNA.
We're the only ones who had access to the blood samples with the genetic barcode.
We know too much.
I've been trying to trace the lorry driver, but there's nothing.
He used a fake name and ID to register the vehicle.
- Have you got no good news? - No.
Nothing.
Nothing on the gun.
No prints.
Nikki, I've done all the usual tests on Sam's envelope and label and I can't seem to find anything.
I don't know.
I mean, I'll keep looking.
There must be a clue here somewhere.
Chalal's phone records have just come through.
Could you? Ta.
Right, let's let's check David's last call, shall we? Right.
Good morning.
You're through to Vigil Network.
Ethan Daley's office.
Sorry, wrong number.
Why would he choose to call Ethan Daley right before he died? Maybe we've been looking at this from the wrong angle.
I'm going to look at Lewis's samples one more time.
I thought I should check Lewis Daley's medical records to see if there was anything that we could run our samples against.
They show he was hepatitis C positive.
It's a virus that affects the liver, causing significant infections, very often transmitted by blood or other bodily fluids.
But when I tested the blood found under Lewis's stepmother's fingernails for hep C antibodies and core antigens, it was negative.
No hep C present.
So you were right, then.
Fiona did create another fake DNA sample, and the evidence against Lewis Daley was fabricated.
And that must have been what DS Chalal was trying to tell us.
But why would Fiona do that? Besides, you told us that those samples don't have a genetic barcode thing.
I don't know.
I guess it's possible that this time she knew it was being used for illegal purposes and took the barcode out? David must have known who it was for.
The last call he made was to Ethan Daley.
OK.
So Ethan Daley was the name that David and Fiona were going to give when they reached the safehouse? David called him later to blackmail him for help? Wait.
You're suggesting that Ethan Daley killed his wife and then asked Fiona to fake his son's DNA? Why? Who knows? But if you can kill your wife, you can frame your son.
Listen, you can prove Lewis Daley wasn't responsible for his stepmum's murder, but you can't prove Ethan Daley was.
This guy, he's the founder of Vigil Network.
The Government's invested millions in him.
The politics of this thing We can't go swinging for him unless we're sure.
Then you have to get help from the highest level.
What's the ESDA machine for? Well, I'm still examining the envelope label.
It's shown up a few imprints, one of which looks to be Oliver Meehan's phone number.
Ah.
Anything else? Uh Not yet.
But I'll keep checking.
You realise what you're suggesting? Ethan Daley runs the most successful surveillance and monitoring system in the country.
And for Vigil to work effectively, it needs to know as much about the people it's surveilling as possible.
Data is the new currency.
Daley wanted to buy up as much as he could.
And with the help of David Mashaba, he could have bought himself illegal access to Unitas's biometric data.
Their health passports.
That's why Daley wanted control of Unitas.
Which is why, when the Health Secretary wanted to block their contract Ethan Daley had her killed.
And then framed Tom with the help of Fiona.
In her police interview, Fiona said that, unless she engineered forensic samples, her funding would be withdrawn.
And in his interview, David hinted at taking money from an undeclared backer to fund Unitas.
We don't know that backer was Daley.
Daley is rich enough to fund Fiona's research, support Unitas, and his business interests give him motive to want the Health Secretary dead.
If we're right, he's targeting everyone connected to the case.
We have enough grounds to interview him, and I'd like Nikki and Jack to do a forensic sweep of his house again.
If there's even a chance that Daley was involved, then OK.
OK, I'll speak to the Home Secretary immediately.
Thank you.
And what about Sam Ryan? Simone, do you want to give your update? Yeah, sure.
I've been trying to examine the imprints that I found on this envelope label that we believe came from Sam Ryan.
I've got some of my officers going over to Ethan Daley's house.
Nikki, Jack, let's go.
- You good? - Yeah, go ahead.
Anything in it? Well, this here is Oliver Meehan's phone number, but apart from that, I'm not sure what Mitchell 13 refers to.
Trying to find out if it's important.
OK.
- Thanks anyway.
- Yeah, no worries.
Hi.
You've reached the voicemail of Dr Nikki Alexander.
Please leave a message after the tone.
How did you find me? Delighted to see you alive, Professor Ryan.
I don't think you are.
I know, Oscar.
You know what? Daley needed someone in government to lobby for Vigil.
You greased the right palms, and in return How much have you made so far? Much more than an adviser would make in a lifetime.
You can't prove my involvement.
Everyone thinks Daley was working alone, and I'm going to make sure that it stays that way.
You should have left this all alone.
I'd think twice before shooting me.
I've no evidence to link you to Daley, but I have got myself an insurance policy.
Oliver Meehan, he discovered that Vigil was corrupt, and when you tried to set me up to meet with Daley, I realised you were, too.
So I had to act fast and get off your radar.
Buy myself enough time so I could learn about Fiona's science.
And let's face it, Oscar, I was more than qualified to manufacture my own disappearance.
You see, I already had your DNA.
I fabricated your samples.
My death will trigger their release to an ongoing murder investigation.
It's only a matter of time before they haul you in, Oscar.
You wouldn't do that.
Compromise a case with false evidence.
An attempt on my husband's life.
My stepson dead.
My daughter-in-law in a coma.
I think I'm capable of doing anything right now.
It takes a certain type of ambition to frame an innocent man.
Tom Faulkner for the death of the Health Secretary.
Lewis Daley, when I had his stepmother killed.
I think you're bluffing.
You're going to recall those samples now.
No.
Really? You're willing to die for this? Try me.
Oh, my God.
Wait.
Tom's in there and he's got a gun.
He's just shot someone.
You made the Health Secretary go to Liverpool, didn't you? For the Unitas launch.
You told me as much in the cafe.
It's why I've been following you.
You sent Alice Reynolds there to die.
Then you set me up.
Left me to rot in prison for the rest of my life.
You were even willing to tear down the integrity of DNA evidence, just to line your pockets.
Well, it ends here.
Now.
Tom, don't! Alice Reynolds, Oliver Meehan, Dan Clements, Rosa Hernandez - he's responsible.
No-one else needs to die, Tom.
He should face justice the proper way.
There'll be armed police here any minute.
He'll get away with it.
We've spent so long trying to prove you're not a killer.
Don't undo that now.
Please, Tom.
Please.
They arrested Daley.
He was trying to leave the country.
Thank God for that.
I knew he was next on Oscar's list.
Very impressive work, tracking me down.
Not even Vigil could find me.
Well, you did a great job of staying off their radar, hiding out here.
But if you didn't want me to find you, you should've used a different notepad for your envelope label? Is that how you found me? Yeah.
Good old ESDA.
Ran it through the machine and it showed the words "Mitchell 13".
I figured out that was one of your early UN postmortems.
That you did right here.
Did you share Mitchell 13 with Oscar, by any chance? Yeah, I did.
No wonder he was here first.
He was across that case.
So sorry.
I didn't Listen, you've nothing to be sorry for.
Coming up here by yourself, not knowing what you'd find inside.
I was just doing my job.
That's the kind of mad thing I used to do back in the day.
I miss it sometimes.
Do you? Hmm.
Why did you leave the Lyell, then? Because my son, Joe, was going through a bad time and I needed to be there for him.
Thanks.
How do you think it went? As well as we could have expected.
Fiona's stem cell work will continue with minimal restrictions.
I doubt they understood the finer details of mutations and stem cells.
It doesn't matter, as long as they do understand we have found a test that identifies legitimate samples from fake ones.
And will hopefully protect the integrity of DNA evidence for good.
Have you heard they've set a date for Ethan Daley's trial? And Vigil's being dismantled? You don't look very happy about that.
We've stopped Ethan Daley, but how long until the next person comes along and tries to do the same thing? Another Oscar Harris who grabs the opportunity to line his pockets.
We're all still sharing our data freely with no real idea of how it's being used.
I mean, look at you.
You set up Unitas with such good intentions, and look how easily that was corrupted.
We can't expect people to stop sharing their data.
We need to find a way to make sure that the people who control it can be held to account.
You sound like Tom.
Maybe he got that right.
Didn't expect to see you again, Sam.
I was just on my way to the hospital to visit Fiona and I couldn't resist popping in to say goodbye.
Very thoughtful of you.
I mean to this place.
How did it go today? Uh It went well.
Although I think the committee were pretty surprised.
Not sure how pleased they were about it.
And what's next for you? Apparently, there's an opening for a special adviser at the National Crime Agency.
There's no point in standing still.
Can't tempt you back here? This place was my family for such a long time, but I've got a new one now.
And speaking of which, I must go.
If I ever need a team again, well you guys are still my number one.
You can call on us any time.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Hmm.
Give my regards to Simone.
Will do.
Oh, Christ! Simone! What time is it? Oh, yes.
Please have your passports and boarding passes ready for inspection.
See her? There she is.
Simone! Simone! Oh, sorry! Sorry, I'm so sorry.
Guys! We said no goodbyes.
This isn't goodbye.
It's good luck.
Oi! How are you feeling about it all? Hmm? Well, I thought I'd feel more terrified, but I don't know, I woke up this morning and I just feel really light, you know? I realised I could carry all of this stuff, all of this quilt around with me for ever, or I could choose not to punish myself and let it go.
We all deserve that, don't we? Life's too short to live in the past, eh? I wish I'd had you around when I was growing up.
Oh, I just hope I'm a good auntie.
You'll be grand.
You always are.
This is the final call for flight All right, all right, she's coming.
Go, go.
- I'll call you.
- Go! - Take care.
- Hope it goes well.
I'm proud of her.
Nothing's more important than family, right? That's it.
So what's next? Home? Yours or mine? Not your house of horrors.
Oh That's fair.
Just needs a bit of love, like the rest of us.
Hmm? Come on.
Come on! You all right? What is this? That's not your phone.
What? Step to the back of the room.
Your solicitor's here.
Don't worry, Oscar.
It's all over now.