Traces (2019) s02e01 Episode Script

A state of grace.
I think we all mean something different by it.
Does it mean, to be free of sin? Does it mean, a state of rightness given to us by the Holy Spirit? Azra Mckinven receives this commendation today for her work in intelligence analysis.
Through digital profiling, she identified nine individuals who she managed to link to armed robberies throughout the force area.
This resulted in nine arrests and nine convictions.
Congratulations.
When you're instincts are right, you are doing the right thing, saying the right thing, we try very hard to get this sensation of rightness.
Professor Sarah Gordon.
But maybe- Sorry.
Welcome, come in, grab a chair.
Professor Sarah Gordon collaborated with us on a research project into street drugs.
Sarah's work as a forensic chemist resulted in the shutting down of a clandestine drugs laboratory, here in Dundee.
The supply of lethal drugs was stopped and lives were saved as a result of Sarah's work.
Thank you, Sarah.
Thank you, sorry, I just have to say it wasn't me on my own, I work with a team and my lab assistant, Emma Hedges, played a key role.
Thank you.
But maybe, we just have to open ourselves to it.
Maybe, grace is out there available to everyone.
Hiya.
Emma.
Have you seen Prof.
Gordon? Not to talk to him, no.
How are you feeling, about the trial? It won't seem real 'til we start.
Aye.
I just wanna get it done.
Get him locked up and draw a line under it.
Have you had any training? No.
You should talk to Kathy, she's impressive in court.
Most people really feel the pressure.
Is it really that bad? I've appeared as a witness for the Crown many a times, I still don't sleep the night before.
Hey.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
How've you been? Fine, you? Fine.
Gimme my drink.
Azra, this is Sarah and Kathy and Emma.
Hello, hi, hi.
Congratulations.
And you.
That sounded so impressive, your intelligence analysis.
I don't think people realise how important digital profiling is, well, interpreting all different kinds of data, really.
And it's one thing to spot something if you know what your looking for, but usually you don't.
Were you looking at telephony data? Yes, and how did you identify the drugs labs? Sorry, bad timing.
She does.
Nah-she doesn't.
She does, she fancies the pants off you! Based on what?! Neil, she was as red as a radish.
She's a shy person.
You're such a man.
What does that mean? It means you're blind.
I mean, women can read these things from a mile off, but men, they've got no clue.
Thank you.
That's okay, I don't blame her, Professor Gordon knows a good thing when she sees it, she knows, Get off! fun when she sees it! Azra! Shhh.
What? Neil, I need you in sharp.
There's been an explosion in the Newport area.
They've ruled out gas, so it's looking like a bomb.
I want you as my deputy.
You all right? Yeah.
Did you get a mention? I did.
Was it fun? Yeah, it was like a school prize giving except- Everyone was old and drunk.
Don't make me laugh, I need a wee.
I wish you'd seen DCI McKinven's wife, she's like, wow! And then there was this funny Are you okay? There's a confirmed date for the trial, Wednesday.
God.
They're not calling me as a witness.
How come? One sec, I need a wee.
It's good.
It'll get us back into the real world, because this is just cloud cuckoo land.
What is? This.
You could come with me, have some training with Prof.
Torrance.
I'm not scared of being in court.
Okay.
But we are in this together.
We are.
I've been meaning to tell you, my periods late.
Okay.
Doesn't it freak you out? No.
No, it doesn't.
Not at all.
You? No, it doesn't freak me out.
What kind of bomb, do you reckon? Probably deflagrating rather than detonating.
Why? It looks like a wave of energy pushed up and out.
Good.
"She takes days to respond to emails.
" "It took her weeks to mark one page of notes.
" "She's a harsh marker.
" "She's hard to get hold of and when you do get hold of her, she can be a bitch.
" There's more in the same vein, did you know? No, because why would I go looking on Facebook to see what student communities are saying about me? Well, I've been looking in all sorts of places because I'm new, and I need to learn.
SIFA's clearly an exceptionally successful department, that's why this anomaly stood out.
One of the reasons students wanna study at SIFA is Sarah and I do casework, that's a real draw.
If I have to go to a crime scene for a day or two, I will drop the ball, but then I pick it up.
I don't think I'm ever a bitch, I just speak my mind.
And I have great rapport with students, but I have to say every new cohort seems more needy than the last.
Students first, that's my credo, and growth.
Right.
So make any adjustments needed.
Okay.
One other thing.
The animal welfare society is worried about the treatment of the pigs.
The pigs are dead.
The students are worried.
Okay, well, me and Erika could maybe do a presentation and dispel any myths about what we're doing? Erika? My PhD student.
A presentation sounds great.
Okay, let's have a follow-up chat in a few weeks, see how you're doing.
There could still be toxic residue, so don't take any chances.
I thought he'd be more damaged.
The pressure wave from the blast can kill you, it can disrupt internal organs.
He entered the room and a bomb went off.
Who was he? His name was Joe Tinto.
I said, "Joe, you're not going to that talk? I thought you wanted to go.
" He'd lost track of the time.
He was fixing his bike, all bits on the drive.
He said, "I can't go now, I've not even had a shower, I'll be late.
" I said, "No one will mind if ya are, go.
" The bomb wasn't on Joe Tinto, it was already in the room.
Why might somebody target you? Because they think black priest should stay in black countries.
Because of my views.
I set up the East African Catholic Brotherhood.
I'm a campaigner for the relaxation of celibacy for priests, it's a divisive issue.
Have you received any threatening messages in the past? There's a lot of hate in the world.
Let's see if you paid attention at the strategy meeting.
We move nothing today, we sketch it out, flag any debris of interest.
Measure the debris field, find the epicentre, which is where there's the most damage.
If you hate someone for something they did, and you've got a gun in your hand and you're raging, I can get that.
But to plan it and time it and set it to happen, it's ice cold.
Aye.
Copper piping.
Father Nkusi thinks it was personal, a hate crime? You don't? You should be led by your recommended folk when they turn up, we're just prepping for them.
We won't quote you.
If I was one of these online abusers that Father Nkusi showed you, and I wanted to kill him, I'd make a device to target him specifically, a parcel bomb that goes off when he opens it, a car bomb that goes off when he starts his car, I wouldn't use a pipe bomb like this.
A pipe bomb targets a group of people.
That's what terrorists use them for.
But if I was targeting a group, I'd wanna harm as many of them as possible, as badly as possible.
I'd put shrapnel in my bomb, nails and ball-bearings, so far I haven't seen any here.
So, what are you thinking? This is really odd.
What is in this? Beetroot.
Janine, can you discourage people from putting vegetables in cakes? No, the acceptance of donated cakes has to be unconditional, surely.
How was the do? Fine.
We met DCI McKinven's wife, she's an unexpected hottie.
In what way? Please don't make me spell out the defining features of a hottie.
It was the unexpected bit I meant.
Because he is Mr.
Average.
Right.
Do I have a gap in my day for Emma Hedges? How long do you need? Half an hour, she's out with Sarah, right? The talk on Twitter is it was a racist attack, the priest giving the talk was from Rwanda.
Okay, well try to remember that social media is just a bunch of people getting off on whipping things up and going unchecked.
Will my dad be in court throughout? Yes.
Have you visited him? No.
No contact at all? None.
Good.
Do you know how he is? Why do you ask? - I just - Are you worried about him? Fuck no! Sorry.
Are you worried about seeing him? No, I'm just trying to be ready.
You know I've had months to stew on it.
I don't wanna kill him anymore.
It was kinda like I built a wall and everything I used to feel about him's gone behind the wall.
Nobody wants to be a prosecution witness against their dad.
Will they call him as a witness? Your father has the right to remain silent, but if they think it'll serve them, they'll wheel him out.
If they think he'll damage their case, they'll keep him back.
What would you do? I'd keep him back.
Keep control.
And they can't mention the bomb ? No, the thinking was no jury could get their heads around two trials in one, so the Fiscal pushed to get the murder trial out the way first.
Cool.
We have a strong case, Daniel, is anything else on your mind? Just thinking on in the future.
You know, with Emma I'm just worried that this is gonna get personal because of our relationship.
It is.
Your father's on trial for murdering Emma's mother.
It's going to get very personal, because it is.
A pipe bomb like this will have had a round cap fitted to both ends, see if you can spot the caps.
Over here.
Hi, this is Emma, leave a message after the beep.
Just ringing to hear your voice, I'll see you later, all right? Bye my darlin'.
What are you doing? - I'm just- - I've told you before pal, if you're not visiting, you can't hang about here.
A Crown case is like a wall, you know this one? No.
The defence pulls a brick away here and a brick away there in the hope that eventually the wall collapses.
We're the bricks.
So what do we do? Whatever makes you feel calm.
I know the first thing they're gonna go for is my methodology and then the science.
And if all that fails, they'll go for me personally.
So, I take off my shoes.
Seriously? You're in the witness stand, no one can see, it grounds me.
I focus on the jury because that's who I need to reach.
I don't look at the accused, I don't wanna engage with them.
Is there something particular that worries you? I hate Phil MacAfee so much, I'm scared that when I see him in the dock I'm gonna start crying or shouting or something and people will think I'm mad and won't listen to me.
I don't want to avoid looking at him because I don't want him to have that power over me, but I You don't wanna lose control? I don't wanna lose control.
You won't.
Just decide you won't.
You stay as calm as you can and really listen.
Take your time.
Stick to your facts.
Don't take the bait.
Okay.
It's all up here.
It's about mental strength, which you have in spades, you'll be fine.
Thanks for covering today.
Sure.
Could you make sure that pathologist scans the body for embedded fragments? Okay.
Erm, Neil, I've got question mark about the timer.
It's possible it went off later than planned.
How come? I'll ring you tonight.
No! I'm sorry, that came out I just mean in general, please don't ring me at home.
I don't, I ring your mobile.
When I'm at home, please don't ring me at night when I'm at home, if possible.
Why? Let's just say I'm under pressure to improve my work-life balance.
Right.
I'm sorry to ask.
Come on, let's find somewhere quiet.
I can just email my notes over, if you prefer, then we're done and dusted.
No, this is important.
Professor Gordon! Afternoon, Neil.
I told the folk at the National Crime Agency, you are tiding us over 'til we got their recommendation.
And they said, "What you talking about? Sarah Gordon is the recommendation, she's got every accreditation under the sun.
" Why didn't you say? Well, I can't recommend myself, can I? Please forgive me for not knowing we had all this expertise on our doorstep.
We'll be needing you on board for the duration of the case.
Good, if you wanna see the high security lab, you can just drop by any time.
I take it you have security clearance? I'm the Procurator Fiscal, I have so much clearance I have to keep it in a special room.
Bye.
I think it's personal, you'd expect a political group to come forward.
Not if they made an arse of it.
They killed one guy, the wrong guy.
Well, on the news it said it could be an anti-Catholic thing.
Well, why didn't they just blow up a church then with a lot of people in it? We're looking at an angle, different angle, but, it's too early to say.
And how is, how's Professor Cutie Pie? Fine.
How long does she have the thrill of working with you? I dunno, a few days I imagine.
Well, don't wear the blue shirt that makes your eyes pop, she'll be beside herself.
- Evening.
- Here you go.
- Thanks, enjoy your meal.
- Thanks.
This calm, restful place, breathing steadily all the while and feel yourself move deeper still into controlled calm- What you listening to? Music.
What have you done today? Nothing much.
Do you want to see what I did today? It's an early test, it's only really faint, but it says even faint is positive.
You are? I am.
Emma, what you thinking? Well, it's really early, so who knows? But, it's what we've always talked about, just possibly a hell of a lot sooner.
How do you feel about it? I'm delighted with it.
Jesus Christ! Now, lets get this trial out the way, find a place to live and have ourselves a baby.
Sarah thinks the bomb timer went off later than planned.
The class before the Bible study is Pilates, runs between half past five and half past six.
We spoke to the teacher, she's making a list of the people who routinely attend the class.
She always takes the class from the raised end of the hall.
Anybody looking through the window would be able to ascertain that, they'd know where to plant a bomb.
What's the security like? Once the hall opens for the first session, it stays open 'til the last session is locked up, folk are free to walk in and out, and they do.
There's no CCTV.
The anti-terrorist unit is watching and waiting to see if this is one for them.
Chase Sarah Gordon.
We can make a fun presentation.
You want me to come up with some ideas? Yeah, that'd be great.
No problem.
Erika, you've spent a lot of time with first years, do you I've been told some of them are, dissatisfied.
With you? Yes, I do hear that sometimes.
Right.
My God! Students drive me crazy.
When I do the demonstration, they never read the atlas, they don't listen, they complain about everything.
They want their mommies, they want their asses wiped.
They should be proud to have you.
Do you want me to tell you who it is? These are the component parts, timer, initiator, detonator, main charge.
The chemical residue from inside the pipe is being analysed and we'll know tomorrow what the explosive material was.
These are the parts of the nine volt battery used.
Emma managed to find all six cylinders.
Now, the timer.
I must admit, I can't picture it.
Don't worry, I've made a bomb.
The alarm is set to go off at a certain time and it's rigged so that when that time is reached it completes an electrical circuit.
Two wires to this battery, that electrical shock sets off the bomb.
The hands blown off, now that could be showing five to six or- 25 past 12.
Yeah, if they were still moveable, they'd be no use as a guide to the timing, but they're not.
They're fused by heat at the moment of the explosion, there's smoke shadowing and tiny bits of plastic from the hands.
It was set for five to six.
It went off at five to seven.
Exactly.
The clocks went forward.
The bomber didn't change the time.
What a mistake to make.
It's amateur.
So if we're saying that the target was the Pilates class, makes me think it's personal.
This is the epicentre.
It seems the bomb was in a box, inside a sports bag, stored in the cubby holes.
That's our next task.
We'll check those for fingerprints.
Whoever set the device could have put it there anytime after five to six in the morning.
The hall opens at 12 on a Sunday, so they had a six hour window.
This is an impressive setup.
I'm happy for you to undertake analytical work here as needed.
Thank you.
And everyone was thinking, "This is about this priest from Rwanda, someone's got it in for him and they've set this bomb to go off in the middle of his talk.
" And now it's looking like it may be nothing to do with that whatsoever.
Well, this is what happens.
Eh? Well, it happens all the time, I mean, you see on every documentary on Netflix, people banged up for years for things they didn't do because the experts thought they knew and didn't look at anything else.
Yeah, but we did look at something else.
Prof.
Gordon worked out from the evidence that it wasn't what people thought they knew.
Miscarriages of justice happen all the time.
Yeah and men kill women and get away with it all the time.
Look, you know what I think, the fact is it was 19 years ago, none of us were there, none of us know what happened, that's why we're having a trial.
Why do you keep defending him? Because you want him to be a murderer and I don't.
I don't want him to be one, I just think he is one.
We need to be kind.
Tomorrow's a big day.
DCI McKinven says he still doesn't sleep the night before.
What's the point of telling you that? I think it came from a good place, people are trying to prepare us.
It's the lawyers who need to be prepared and they are.
People shouldn't put pressure on you to prepare for something you can't prepare for.
No one on earth knows what's gonna happen in that court.
Anyone want tea? No thanks, I said I'd ring Julie.
Okay sweetheart.
Do you remember when we took the caravan to Skye? I do.
I keep thinking about times when we were- The happy family? Me too.
I was thinking this morning about the day you were born, you know, you came on fast, really fast.
Aye.
Your father was fantastic, kind.
I don't know how we got here.
I know he was a philanderer, but murder? I don't want to be the guy who gets his father put away.
Look, all you do is you go into that court and you tell the truth about your wee piece of the puzzle, that's all, because that's all you have one wee piece, that's it.
You don't put him away or not, the judge or jury do.
Emma might be pregnant.
I hope to God she's not.
Jesus! Jesus yourself, think! What would you say to that child when they want to know about their granny or their grandad? You must not have a baby with that girl, you shouldn't even be with that girl.
No good can come of it ever.
What time do they want you in court? After lunch.
Do you think Emma will be okay? Who knows? I hope so.
Me too.
What's the Dean even doing sniffing around on Facebook, looking for student comments? That's not her job.
Maybe she's marking her territory, maybe she feels insecure.
Just let her settle in.
Ambushing me in my office! Why is she on my case? I think she may be on mine, she's fixated on this new undergraduate course.
Has she asked you about it? No.
Good, maybe she's moved on.
Anyway, I know who they are.
Who who are? The group of first years who find me unsatisfactory, Erika told me.
Erika, your PhD? It's fine, she's great, I trust her.
I'm sure she is, but this is your relationship with your first years and you need to be in charge of it, just you.
You're right.
Can I ask your advice about something a bit weird? I think all that stuff with Emma made us close and well, we probably developed a bit of a crush on each other and things were said and then I didn't see him again until the commendation.
And then he was there with his drop dead gorgeous wife, and it's so ridiculous, I just behaved like a jabbering arse.
Is that why you were red in the face? Yeah.
I thought it was from wine, from the sulfites in wine.
No, it was for me being embarrassed and jealous and flustered and stupid.
And now he's asked me not to ring him at night.
Should I say something to him? Hold on.
What words were said? You asked us all back to yours and he said something like, he wasn't gonna do that 'cause he might say something foolish, and I said something like, "I would love that.
" Is that it? Yeah.
And you didn't see each other again until the commendation? No.
Talk on the phone? No.
So what do you wanna say to him? His wife probably thinks I'm infatuated with him or something, but I'm not.
Just come clean.
Are you insane?! There's nothing to come clean about.
What was his reason for asking you to not call at night? Work-life balance.
Good reason, I believe it.
So what do I do? Nothing, Sarah, get a grip, you do nothing.
You know why? Because nothing happened.
God, you are so- Stupid? Catholic.
The chemical residue from inside the pipes been analysed, the explosive material used was gunpowder.
Where would they get gunpowder? Fireworks.
There's a tiny package of gunpowder in each one, you'd need to unwrap them, empty them, amass the contents, pack it inside the pipe.
How skilled you'd need to be? Anyone could do it, there's manuals online if you know where to look, there's 'cookbooks'.
Our guy didn't even have the skill to set the time right.
Who says it's a guy? He or she, had a lot to think about.
With bombs it usually is a he, but we can't say.
If you were gonna make a bomb, this is one you'd make.
What tools would you need? Basic tools, but useful for us.
Here are the tool marks at the end of one of the wires, marks from pliers.
And this is a piece of wire embedded in the victim.
It showed up when the pathologist CT scanned his body.
Same tool marks, see, there's a scratch across the ridge made by the pincers of the pliers.
You're looking for that specific tool.
And then, hashtag one, could have been on the wood before, could be nothing to do with anything.
It could be the bomber, telling us this is a campaign.
So one of the women that goes to the Pilates class, she just got out of this relationship with a physically abusive guy.
He threatened to kill her if she left him, but we're getting him in.
If it's him, maybe we're looking at a one off.
Right.
You don't think it's a one off? I hope it is.
And with multiple devices, they're often set to off at the same time to scatter the emergency response, and that didn't happen, so Keep me in the loop.
I'll get my finished report to you next week.
Sarah, I think I might have hurt your feelings.
No, you haven't.
Okay, just I thought our conversation the other day, maybe turned a wee bit awkward.
God.
We can handle a bit of awkward, can't we? I hope so.
Good.
So, are we good? We're good.
I'd hate for us not to be good.
Me too.
I'll see ya.
Bye.
Mr.
MacAfee? I love you.
I love you too.
When you go in, the witness box is on your left-hand side.
Thanks.
Daniel MacAfee, do wish to take the oath or do you wish to affirm? Affirm.
Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
I solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm I solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I shall tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I shall tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
When you made this discovery that your father had done digging work two days after the Tall Ships Festival, why did you tell DI McKinven about it? I thought it might possibly have something to do with Marie Monroe's murder.
Did you think that your Father had killed Marie Monroe? I believed it was possible.
You believed your father was capable of murder? I thought it was a possibility, at that point, yes.
Can we rewind a bit? Can you give a brief account of what happened on the night of September the 20th? I came home from work and saw Emma, my girlfriend, hanging off my balcony, which is three floors up.
My dad was stood on the balcony, the guy in the flat below helped Emma to safety, and Emma reported my dad to the police.
What for? Threatening her to the point where she climbed over the balcony.
My dad said it was a misunderstanding.
Did you believe him? Yeah, because I trusted him, at that time.
Why? Because I loved him.
Has your father ever been threatening to you? Objection, M'Lord.
The relationship between this witness and my client is not on trial, this is irrelevant.
Objection repelled.
I want to hear more about the relationship and I'm sure ladies and gentlemen of the jury want to too.
As you were.
Has your father ever been threatening to you? Yes.
Before or after the balcony incident? After.
I asked him some questions he didn't like.
I asked him about cheating a client, which I could prove he'd done and I asked them about being unfaithful to my mother when she had cancer, which my mom had just told me about.
How did he threaten you? You're the fucking little prince of getting away with it.
You're a spoilt wee bastard with no talent.
You can get to fuck! Character assassination, basically.
And he told me that if I took him on, he'd win, warning me off.
Had he ever verbally attacked you before? Never.
I've never seen that side to him.
Did it make you reconsider Emma's account of the balcony incident? Yes.
Can you describe the side of your father you hadn't seen before? Someone who'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants or to get out of what he doesn't want.
Why hadn't you seen it before? Because I'd never stood up to him before.
I thought he was perfect.
Do you want to take a break? Okay.
You know, it's one thing to say these things in the comfort of the Procurator Fiscals Office, it's, er, it's quite another to say them in front of the 15 members of the jury.
Having doubts about your story? You making it up? No.
You feeling remorse? No.
What's upsetting you? I don't know.
We've heard how you went from being son who, who loved his father to a son who thought his father was capable of murder.
And this change of heart was brought about by a series of events, which caused you to revise your opinion of your father.
- Yes.
- Yes.
In fact, what brought about this drastic u-turn, and in a such a short space of time, was that you started a relationship with Emma Hedges and she turned your world upside down.
Now, isn't that right? Shit! Exctracted by crisps