The Burning Girls (2023) s01e06 Episode Script

JACK BROOKS: The knife
from the exorcism kit,
it's missing from my room.
FLO BROOKS: You think Wrigley took it.
JOAN HARTMAN: Clara Rushton.
She grew up in Warbler's Green.
As did Grady.
MERRY LANE: We need to leave this place.
Meet me here tomorrow
night at nine and we'll go.
FEMALE: Somehow Izzy
managed to get the rope
twisted round her neck.
Emma wasn't there. She
left Rosie in charge.
SIMON HARPER (OOV): And I know how much
Reverend Fletcher's
friendship meant to you.
JOAN HARTMAN: Murderer.
JACK BROOKS: [GASPS] [SCREAMS]
FLO BROOKS: I thought
you were ghosting me.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: [OVER THE
PHONE]: Why would I do that?
- How are you?
- FLO BROOKS: [OVER THE PHONE]: Yeah, alright.
But, I wasn't the one
thrown down a well.
Yeah, yeah, that was,
um, intense.
Fucking psychos.
Are you grounded?
No, but, you're not exactly my
mum's favourite person right now.
I don't blame her.
You didn't force me to go up there.
I really like you.
I really like you.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Is your mum there now?
FLO BROOKS: [OVER THE PHONE]: No.
No. Her boyfriend's
keeping an eye on me.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Boyfriend?
No, like, friend, I think. I don't know.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Okay, well, I I
[OVER THE PHONE]: I just thought
I'd call. I'll see you later.
FLO BROOKS: Okay. See you.
I like you.
MIKE SUDDUTH (OOV):
Christ! Any suspects?
No, that, that's just down the road.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Uh, but I'm, uh, yeah,
I'm kind of in the middle
of something right now.
Uh, yeah, I'm doing a follow
up on the bodies in the well.
I'll I'll call you back.
FLO BROOKS: What was that about,
on the phone? Sounds serious.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Uh, yeah, two pensioners
- have just been found dead in the next village.
- Wow.
It's really all kicking off
in 'Nothing Happens Ville.'
And here you are.
Babysitting. You should go.
No. I promised your mum.
No, go on, just text her and ask.
- Uh, I'm not sure.
- Fine. Yeah, I'll do it.
No, no. I can do it.
Okay. She could have done worse.
I'm sorry. What?
She could have done worse.
Oh, no, I'm not.
Uh, I mean, it's not that.
FLO BROOKS: Okay, okay. Fine.
MIKE SUDDUTH: So, when does,
uh, when does school start?
You don't have to do small talk.
I'm fine with silence.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Cool. Ah.
FLO BROOKS: Is that
my mum? What'd she say?
MIKE SUDDUTH: Uh, she's on her way.
10 minutes.
So, I don't need to hang
around if I don't want to.
FLO BROOKS: There you go then.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Okay.
- Lock the door after me.
- FLO BROOKS: Oh, lock the door.
I didn't think of that one.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Don't open
it to anyone you don't know.
FLO BROOKS: Okay. Just go.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Tell your mum
I'll call her later. Okay?
FLO BROOKS: Okay. Bye.
Urgh. What did you forget? Huh?
- ROSIE HARPER: I just need to talk.
- FLO BROOKS: Get out.
- ROSIE HARPER: Two minutes.
- Get out!
Two minutes.
FLO BROOKS: Get out!
ROSIE HARPER: Two minutes.
You owe me. You almost got me grounded.
FLO BROOKS: Almost?
I mean, what does it take for
you to actually be grounded?
Kill someone?
ROSIE HARPER: It wasn't my idea.
Oh, don't give me can you just leave?
You need to know.
Fine. But, you know, make it quick.
'Cause my mum's gonna
be home any minute.
You know, I think she
might actually hurt you.
ROSIE HARPER: Look, I
know you don't like me.
FLO BROOKS: Oh, I wonder why?
Shooting at us. Throwing
Wrigley down a well.
ROSIE HARPER: No one threw
Wrigley down the well.
FLO BROOKS: Oh yeah, sure.
ROSIE HARPER: Did you see
us throw him down the well?
Uh, no, because you put a
bag over my head. Remember?
ROSIE HARPER: Isn't it odd
that he didn't hurt himself?
It was all planned. The
attack. The bag over your head.
We tied a rope around
him and lowered him down.
FLO BROOKS: No, I don't believe you.
ROSIE HARPER: Believe what you want.
Whose idea was it to meet up there?
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Hi. Reverend Brooks.
JACK BROOKS: Wrigley.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: It's a good act, right?
Poor wriggly Wrigley. I'm
gonna wait till it's dark
and then we're gonna go for a drive.
There's just one more
thing I need to get.
Sorry Reverend. It's
gonna be a bit cramped.
VAGRANT: Argh
VAGRANT: Urgh!
Ah!
LUCAS WRIGLEY
(OOV): Be right back, Reverend.
JACK BROOKS: Where's Flo?
Where's Flo?
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Your turn.
JACK BROOKS: What
have you done with Flo?
Wrigley. Wrigley! What
have you done with Flo?
Don't.
Walk.
Wrigley, you're hurting me.
Walk.
JACK BROOKS: Ah!
[CRIES]. You killed Reverend Fletcher.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Well,
technically he killed himself.
Just like you are going to. Don't move.
Oh my God.
Lucas. You can't. Oh my God.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Get up. On that altar.
Put the noose around your
neck or I'll kill her.
ROSIE HARPER: Please, no.
JACK BROOKS: I can't move.
Do it now. Or I'll make it slow.
JACK BROOKS: Oh, Rosie. Don't hurt her.
Please don't hurt her.
Please don't hurt her.
ROSIE HARPER: [LAUGHS]
LUCAS WRIGLEY: You
should have seen the look
on Reverend Fletcher's face
when he understood he'd been played.
JACK BROOKS: Why? Why? What?
LUCAS WRIGLEY: It was
just me and my aunt.
And then suddenly he showed up
pretending he's interested in her.
That fucking gay liar was using her.
He didn't like her like that.
The dumb bitch couldn't see it.
Also, Fletcher saw
Lucas doing press-ups.
JACK BROOKS: It's just a fake.
It's all fake. Lucas, please. Stop
ROSIE HARPER: He was a pain
in the arse for my dad as well.
You know, with the
martyrs and the vault.
We tried to warn him. We
tried to get him to leave,
but the the stupid cunt
couldn't take the hint.
But he he didn't have to die.
I mean your aunt. What? Why?
Why would you kill your aunt?
LUCAS WRIGLEY: We're not in a fucking
Agatha Christie novel. Get up there now!
Lucas, I am not going to
make this easy for you.
Yeah, you will.
Lucas, please.
Mum! Mum! Mum!
Mum please, please.
JACK BROOKS: Argh.
Get up.
Get on that fucking chair now!
FLO BROOKS: Please, no. no, no.
JACK BROOKS: You really
think people are gonna believe
that I killed my own daughter,
and then set fire to the chapel,
- and then hung myself? Yeah?
- FLO BROOKS (OOV): No.
FLO BROOKS: No. Please.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Flo will be missing
and fire fucks up everything.
By the time the police piece it
together we will be long gone.
Now, get up on the fucking chair.
No, Mum, don't. Please don't.
LUCAS WRIGLEY (OOV): Or
I start cutting her up.
No, Mum.
- Bit by bit.
- No, no, no, no.
Flo. I love you.
I love you too.
You really want me to do this?
- Yeah.
- FLO BROOKS: No.
- It's okay. It's okay, Flo.
- No. No! no.
JACK BROOKS: Run!
I'm gonna kill you.
LUCAS WRIGLEY: You fucking bitch!
JACK BROOKS: Argh, argh.
Argh!
LUCAS WRIGLEY: Argh!
Ah, ah.
No. Oh, argh! Argh!
No.
Help me.
VAGRANT: Come on. Come on! Argh!
LUCAS WRIGLEY: No. Don't leave me.
You're a priest. You
can't leave me here.
VAGRANT: Just here.
Just here.
JACK BROOKS: Stay. Wait! Wait!
FLO BROOKS: Mum.
JACK BROOKS: Baby!
- [THEY SOB]
- It's okay. You're safe. It's over now.
JOAN HARTMAN: How did it go?
They listened.
That was it?
They found Saffron Winter in the crypt.
And what remained of Wrigley.
I suppose that's it for now.
And what about Rosie?
Oh, apparently, she's too, um,
traumatized to be interviewed
because she was totally
under Wrigley's thumb
and terrified of disobeying him.
Is that so?
It's just gonna be
her word against ours.
And she's a Harper.
I heard from a contact that the
police have released new details
about the skeletons in the well.
They think one of them might be Merrie.
JACK BROOKS: Do they know,
um, who the other body is yet?
It wasn't Joy. An older woman.
I think they're waiting for
the results of the DNA test.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you.
JACK BROOKS: What you thinking?
I see the Wrigley I thought
I knew. The one I liked.
You know, made me laugh and quote films.
Then I just get pissed,
pissed off, you know,
and o obviously at
him, but mostly let me
because how could I let
myself be fooled like that?
Hey, it wasn't your fault.
It's done. Over baby.
- Yeah.
- Hey.
Hey, what would you say
if I called Kaylee's mum
and asked if you could stay
with her for a few days?
My Kaylee? As in Nottingham?
Well yes, I say yes. Do it, please.
Are you gonna come?
JACK BROOKS: No.
I can't. I've got things to
do. Just boring church stuff.
Okay.
BENJAMIN GRADY: Tonight, Merrie,
we must work harder
to expel your demons.
MERRIE LANE: Please don't.
I only do what is necessary.
The devil is inside you,
Merrie. He must be purged.
Son. Argh!
MERRIE LANE: Jacob, quickly.
Please! Please! Ah. No, God.
You're a sick pervert.
You've got to let someone
take a look at that.
I've missed you.
I've missed you too.
I thought you might be hungry.
Here, sandwich. Some water.
VAGRANT: I never meant to kill him.
JACK BROOKS: Who?
VAGRANT: Your husband. He hurt you.
He was just supposed to stop hurting.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
JACK BROOKS: The vicar in Nottingham.
That was you, wasn't it? Hey?
VAGRANT: Things happen.
- I can't control it. I can't
- Shh.
Is that what happened with Mum? Hey?
Did you push her in the well?
I should never have left you with her.
VAGRANT: I can I can feel free.
Free as a bird here.
Bird. Worse than any
of the ones we had here.
JACK BROOKS: I'm so sorry.
I'm just I'm just tired.
I'm tired.
JACK BROOKS: Well,
I'm gonna stay with you
till you fall asleep, okay?
I love you, Jacob. I
love you. I love you.
I love you too, Merrie.
I need to speak to Joy.
- What?
- I must speak to Joy, please.
PAULINE HARRIS: But
but she isn't here.
MERRIE LANE: Where is she?
PAULINE HARRIS: Don't you know?
MERRIE LANE: Oh.
Oh, I'm sorry.
VAGRANT: No.
Argh.
JACK BROOKS: Emma.
EMMA HARPER: I was
How are you? How's Flo?
JACK BROOKS: We're doing okay.
Thank you. Thank you for coming.
EMMA HARPER: I went through
Rosie's phone this morning.
She didn't fear that boy.
He didn't control her.
JACK BROOKS: I know.
And when your daughter
was attacked up at the Lane house,
Rosie wasn't at home.
Simon gave her an alibi.
I saw her, Rosie, you
know, by the swing.
I came back from the shops
and she stood there with her back to me.
And then I saw Izzy.
I told myself that Rosie
had tried to help her.
That she'd tried to get her loose.
I really believed that.
JACK BROOKS: Well, of course you did.
I mean, anything else
would be unthinkable.
EMMA HARPER: He always
stands up for her.
He refuses to see that she's evil.
She's not evil.
She's unwell. She needs help.
And I really think that
you should be telling this
to somebody other than me.
She's my child.
So is Poppy. You know.
Do you want to come?
AARON MARSH: Reverend.
Aaron, I'd like to speak to your father.
Five minutes.
Hello, Reverend Marsh.
It's been a long time.
You remember me though, don't you? Hm?
I'm Merrie Joanne Lane. Yeah.
I don't know if Aaron's told you,
but the police think that
you killed Benjamin Grady.
Sorry about that.
Did you hide the body in the vault
to protect the church from scandal?
JUDITH LANE: Come in.
JACK BROOKS: Or did you try to protect
a young and frightened girl
who your curate had
abused and raped? Hmm?
I would like to think the latter.
But that would be overly
optimistic, wouldn't it?
Doesn't matter though,
because I know you moved
the body from my house.
And then, then I remembered something
that Joan Hartman said.
That you couldn't drive.
So, I know that you had help that night.
Pretty sure I know who did it.
But I'm just going to tell you a name
and then I want you to
let me know if I'm right.
Okay?
REVEREND MARSH: Yes.
JACK BROOKS: Yeah.
[WHISPERS] Rot in hell.
Goodbye.
Jack, so good to see you.
Come in. Come in.
So, how are you? Um,
how's, uh, Flo doing?
Yeah. We're okay.
Flo's a bit traumatized,
you can imagine.
Mm, mm, mm.
So, um, how can I help you?
It's about the vault.
And Benjamin Grady.
Did you know that Clara knew Grady?
You know, they grew up
together. They were friends.
She still keeps a picture
of him hidden in a book.
And I found it once by accident.
She doesn't know. First
love is a powerful thing.
But then Benjamin Grady
disappeared, didn't he?
He did.
And you married Clara?
I did.
I adore Clara. I know she
doesn't love me as much,
but she loves me enough.
And you're alright with that?
I'm content.
And that's all most of us
can hope for. Don't you think?
I need to speak with Clara.
Can you tell me where she went, please?
JOY HARRIS: I'm sorry.
Miss W Miss Wilson.
What are you doing here?
Oh, Jack.
It's so good to see you.
I've thought about the
two of you so often.
How are you doing?
JACK BROOKS: Flo took a
picture of you here a while ago.
Do you come here a lot?
Now and then.
It's a lovely walk.
Just the right length.
Yeah. Past Merrie Lane's house
where they found two bodies in the well.
I didn't know that.
But you knew about one
body though, didn't you?
I have no idea what
you're talking about.
I'm talking about Joy.
You killed her. Huh?
I know you killed her.
I mean, what was it that, you know,
with Joy out of the way then
Grady would somehow notice you?
- I mean, was that your plan?
- There was no plan.
I saw her waiting for someone.
For him, I thought.
Like some lovesick puppy.
She's a 15 year old kid.
She wasn't waiting for him.
No, she was waiting for you.
I know that now.
The exorcism kit and the Bible.
My Bible. It was you.
You've changed a lot.
But I've spent most of my life
wondering what happened to Merrie Lane.
The girl who murdered
the love of my life.
Love of your life?
He was a fucking sadistic paedophile.
There's no proof of that.
I'm proof.
See that. That's fucking proof.
You've always been nothing but trouble.
Really?
I mean, you know about Joy though.
Yeah. I mean, you, you know
that he got Joy pregnant.
You know about that.
No. No, he wouldn't do that.
I knew him. I, I, I
followed him everywhere.
I waited for him outside
just, just to get a glimpse.
So, so you knew what he was doing here.
I knew that he was trying to help you.
Look at me. He was raping me.
He was raping me. I was
a little fucking girl!
That night, I saw you run away.
And Reverend Marsh arrived.
I understood something
must have happened.
Something happened.
Yeah. Something fucking
happened that night alright.
Yes. And you were here all along.
The mind boggles. So, hold on a minute.
So, then you helped Marsh
bury him in the crypt.
What I mean, why?
To save the reputation of the church?
I couldn't care less about the church.
I did it to save his reputation.
Oh my God. So the reputation,
the reputation of a paedophile, Clara.
Why did you come back here?
Why did you agree to do this job?
It was God's will.
Because he wanted me to find out
what happened to my best friend.
Well now you know.
So now I know.
So now what?
So, now I'm going to
lay my friend to rest.
And I'm going to take my daughter far,
far away from here.
Everyone believes it
was Merrie down there.
They'll do a DNA test.
And they'll know it isn't.
God bless you, Clara. God bless you.
We therefore commit this body
to the ground. Earth to earth.
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
MIKE SUDDUTH (OOV): You've resigned.
JACK BROOKS: Yes. Well,
they won't be restoring
the chapel anytime soon.
So.
MIKE SUDDUTH: Thank you,
for what you did with Rosie Harper.
It wasn't me, it was Emma.
Nah, she wouldn't have stepped forward
if it wasn't for you.
To know what happened
and that someone is
being held responsible.
You know, that helped more
than I thought it would.
So, thank you.
You're welcome.
So, where are you guys going?
I don't know.
Can you perhaps text
me when you do know?
So I can send a Christmas card?
I do like Christmas cards.
- Goodbye, Mike.
- Take care.
Look after yourselves.
[FLIGHT ANNOUCEMENT]
This is the final call
What are you thinking?
Oh. What kind of person am I?
Wow. Deep. Come to any conclusion?
Yeah, well, the jury's
still out on that.
Well, you're a great
mum if that's any help.
Took your collar off.
I have.
To be more comfortable on the flight.
I see.
ANNOUNCER [OVER PA SYSTEM]:
Passengers on British Airways
flight 632 to Sydney,
please go to gate 14.
- That's us.
- That's us. Right. Come on.
- Have you got everything?
- Yep.
Have you got your phone? Yeah.
Phone.