Waking the Dead (2000) s02e04 Episode Script

Deathwatch: Part 2

TELEPHONE MESSAGE: 'Please hang up and try again' 'Hello?' Frankie? Frankie! Oh, my God! Grace, what happened? Can you stop anyone from coming in? There's an ambulance on its way.
Just tell them to wait outside.
OK.
Grace.
SIREN WAILS THEN STOPS I tried to get a fistful.
Is that why you called me first? GRACE SNIGGERS Good thinking, eh? Batman(!) Was he waiting for you when you got home? (Yeah.
) My birthday guest(!) You weren't expecting anyone? No, I was supposed to be going out.
All right, I wasn't going out.
I hate birthdays, too.
Listen, Grace, could you identify him? (Oh, no.
) Well, I've called Boyd.
Is he coming here?! Yeah, he's on his way.
I haven't Hoovered.
Oh, Jesus! Oh, hi.
Are you all right? Yeah, you should see the other guy.
She scratched his neck.
This bit looks like blood.
I'm sorry.
It was such a nice scarf.
Hand-painted.
That's the problem.
Did they get anything at the house? No-one saw anything.
One or two think they heard a car.
.
.
No prints? No, and there were none at Fr Cameron's place either.
I'd love to get my hands on him.
Yeah, "He fell as he got into the back of our van.
" It's not funny.
I never said it was funny.
.
.
Did I say it was funny? Hang on, this looks like blood.
TELEPHONE RINGS Yeah? OK.
.
.
Team talk.
Right.
Jury records on criminal trials are rarely kept.
The PRO were surprised to find this.
Wow.
Harper's list was the jury of the Miller's Wharf trial.
Several copies must've been made.
And one found its way to Harper.
Harper may have been commissioned to wipe out the jury who hanged Charlie Sutton in 1964.
Someone wants to know what we know, so I think we should be very careful.
How is Grace doing? The hospital said there are no broken bones.
On her bloody birthday! I know.
BOYD: Ask when they'll discharge her.
OK.
How can you tell if something's likely to explode? Is it ticking? Specially trained dog.
That's me(!) Ah, compliments of Malcolm Finlay.
Must be It is.
Frank Sutton's file.
Thank you, Mel.
Hi.
Grace! I'm not a ghost.
Grace, are you all right? Yes.
Grace, how are you? I'm OK.
Have a seat, come on.
Sit down.
Let me see.
Ooh.
Ooh.
I know! You feel a fool.
I didn't hear him till he was right behind me.
Hey.
Hello, Frankie.
How are you? I'm OK.
Grace, how are you doing? I'd have been OK if I'd been armed.
The Home Office is hesitating about arming psychologists.
I'm sorry.
Why? It's not your fault.
Ah! He's suffering from thwarted chivalry.
Yeah, well, he's not the only one.
Spence needs to beat somebody up.
I want to crack him with this hand.
Did I get any DNA when I scratched him? Grace, take it easy.
Go home.
Yeah, we'll get protection.
No.
He won't come back.
He got what he wanted, so let's just move on.
Grace? Yeah? Oh, what's this? It's a new scarf.
I'm afraid our mad scientist took a piece out of the last one.
Hey! .
.
Only because you drew blood, and we did get DNA.
That's my girl! Grace, what about the Harper report? I have the original on my computer, so no harm done.
And I've a report on the Sutton brothers.
OK, thanks.
INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION Thank you.
Frank Sutton - Charlie's brother.
Sees his brother hanged, for a crime he believes he did not commit, and vents his rage on the jury by commissioning a hit man - Peter Harper - to assassinate them one by one.
Only, there's one small problem.
Two of the jurors died after Frank Sutton burned to death in a fire.
But look at the Harper report.
"Compulsion to repeat.
" That's a Freudian concept, adapted by Grace, who isn't a Freudian, but does sometimes borrow his ideas.
Harper is an assassin, because he's conditioned to assassination.
.
.
Actually, that isn't Freudian, because it contradicts the theory of repression, but I don't think we've got time to go into that.
No.
OK, in simple terms.
Harper is trained in a military fashion.
He kills without passion, he kills without personal anger, and he's goal-orientated.
So he just keeps going until he gets the job done? Yup.
Then, of course, I have had a bang on the head.
OK, we have a funeral to go to.
I thought you wanted to know more on Frank Sutton.
I do.
Who sent it you? DCI Finlay.
I think he was planning to write his memoirs.
So he stole some intelligence files when he left? Yeah, looks like it.
"Dominated by his elder brother.
" That could be any younger brother.
Hmm, small world! What? Surveillance of Frank Sutton's funeral at Bethnal Green cemetery.
Harper and Sutton, reunited in death.
Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery.
He cometh up, and is cut down like a flower.
He fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stage.
In the midst of life, we are in death Nobody here.
Yet, Oh, Lord God most holy Should've been Fr Cameron.
We're glad it isn't you.
Oh, thanks.
That's a very warming thought.
I'll see you in a bit.
Not an entirely wasted morning.
Like I said.
Small world.
Yeah.
Boyd.
Just wait a second.
Seems like Harry Newman's friends are dead, or they've forgotten him.
Did Newman talk about Frank Sutton? No, he talked about Charlie Sutton.
He told you Charlie was innocent? He said something would come out about him, but he wouldn't say what.
I seem to remember threatening you about withholding information.
There are legal protections for the press.
But I don't know who killed Harry Newman.
If I did, I could write about it.
But I don't.
You've had an idea.
You've got that look.
I was thinking.
When I was watching them bury Harper under a false name, it occurred to me that we don't know for sure Are you listening? Mm-hm.
We don't really know for sure who was buried in Frank Sutton's grave.
Is this detection by free association? I don't want psychoanalysis.
Sorry.
Two of the jurors have died or were murdered since Frank Sutton died, so why would Harper keep killing when the man who hired him was dead? Grace says it's automatic behaviour.
And you disagree? Yes.
I do, yes.
You're being tactful.
That's not like you.
She thinks she's found a sensitive side to me.
Oh, and you don't want to disillusion her? That'd be worse than disagreeing with her.
What are you getting at? If we wanted to know if a Sutton was in Frank's grave, we'd need DNA.
Yes.
Charlie Sutton was buried in unconsecrated ground in prison.
Both men died unmarried, so any offspring would be unknown, which means we wouldn't be able to identify them, so that leaves us with one option.
.
.
Spadework.
Yes.
Hi.
I'm the Deputy Governor, Andrew Wallace.
DS Boyd.
This is my team.
I was thinking how you imagine these things are in the past, but they're never fully gone.
What do you mean? We've said we converted the cells and the scaffold to other uses, but we feel they're best left closed.
There'd be a wardrobe here that'd be slid back revealing the entrance.
On the morning, these'd be opened.
The walk was very short.
Mercifully.
No man may deliver his brother, nor make agreement unto God for him.
It costs more to redeem their souls.
The last execution ever carried out here.
Charlie Sutton.
I remember it.
Yeah, you couldn't get away from it.
The papers were always full of it.
I'm glad it's stopped.
So are we.
These things took their toll on the staff.
I came after abolition, but there were stories.
Sorry, I must leave.
Would there be anyone still alive who witnessed the execution of Charlie Sutton? One person, obviously.
The number one.
The hangman.
Edgar Truelove.
RAPID BREATHING What's it like in there? Are you sure you want to know? Yeah.
They've still got all the stuff in there.
Hi, Frankie.
You finished? Yes.
Good.
Mel, can you find out the number of a man called Edgar Truelove? Hi, this is the Metropolitan Police.
The ex-directory operator, please.
We'll get most of it up first, and then And then call me.
I'll call you as soon as I know anything.
.
.
Guys, let's go.
Yeah, this is DC Silver of the Met Police.
My code is Alpha Zulu Papa 863.
Truelove, Edgar.
Hi.
Hello.
We've got a good start on the remains from the cemetery.
Now, listen, do you want me to rebuild the face? Go for it.
Oh, and I found this.
Look.
It's a signet ring with Frank Sutton's initials on it.
Who did you say it was? Detective Superintendent Boyd.
Scotland Yard? Yes, Scotland Yard.
Can I tell him what it's about? I'd rather speak to him personally.
My father doesn't get many visitors.
Could you give him this, and tell him I'd appreciate his help on a sensitive police matter? Ah.
Detective Superintendent.
What on earth brings you here? It's very good of you to see us.
This is my colleague, Dr Foley.
She is a police psychologist.
Oh, what happened to you? Long story.
Sit down, sit down.
Thank you.
.
.
May I? Yes.
I've never spoken to the papers, you know.
No, indeed.
I'm a relic from a bygone age, but what's this all about? She not been paying her parking fines, then? No, we investigate cold cases.
Am I a cold case? No, of course not.
We recently uncovered some evidence about a series of murders, and the victims were members of a jury.
I see.
We're trying to understand the motive.
The jury sat on a murder case in 1963.
The Miller's Wharf murders.
You know that? Charles Sutton.
So you remember him? I remember all of them.
LOUD FOOTSTEPS I didn't know Sutton all that well.
Less than a minute, if what I read is reliable.
Correct.
Less than a minute.
But the last minute in a man's life can be Significant, yes.
Yes.
So what do you want to know? What you remember.
'I remember everything very clearly.
'I'd met over 100 men and ten women by that time.
' Tell me, what made you think Sutton was so special? He pleaded not guilty to the murder of two policemen.
A guilty plea might have got him a life sentence.
But a not-guilty plea would lead him straight to the gallows.
And we're struggling to understand that.
And you reckon I can help? Yes.
I want you to follow me, son.
'It's true that a man who maintained his innocence right up to the scaffold 'placed a heavy mental burden on the prison authorities.
' We were trained to be fast, and we were fast.
Except sometimes.
Sometimes what? The chaplain had a way of letting you know if the condemned man had something more he wanted to say.
Men have been known to confess their guilt at the very last second.
Even to the executioner.
You have looked into the eyes of as many dying men as any priest.
I have, and I have always tried to be merciful, and do my job quickly and efficiently.
And on this occasion? 'I let precious seconds go by, 'against all my training, and all my instincts.
'Then' On my eternal soul, I am innocent.
I've been set up by the police.
RAPID BREATHING HE WHIMPERS Stand clear! I always thought of the condemned man as already dead as soon as he set foot on the trap.
I wish I hadn't waited that morning.
You didn't believe him? Hardened criminal? Hated the police all his life? Didn't believe in God, or the hereafter?! What better revenge against his oldest enemy? But perhaps I did believe him.
I'm sorry if we've raised something you'd have preferred to just You don't understand, do you? It's not that I'm responsible for Sutton's death, because I'm not.
It's just I always thought of the police as my colleagues.
And now What had he made me think of them? Are we the first people to bring this up with you in all this time? I'll always give the same answer - who am I to judge? Always the same answer to whom? Sutton's brother, for a start.
Sutton's brother, Frank? Yes.
Are you saying that he's been in touch with you? Yeah.
Said he wanted to prove his brother's innocence.
I said, "You don't have to prove anything to me, boy.
" Between 5'10" and 6ft, brownish-grey hair, slight tan.
Came and knocked on the door and wouldn't leave till he'd spoken to her father.
Three days ago.
We both know this isn't Frank Sutton, don't we? Yeah, but we've got to be sure.
HE SIGHS This man's two inches shorter than Frank Sutton's record shows.
Oi! You'll be doing me out of a job, Spence.
Sorry.
Just being clever and nosy.
HE SNIGGERS They're not brothers.
I know.
How?! I just found out that Frank Sutton's alive.
We don't have Frank Sutton's DNA.
Based on his brother's, a Sutton couldn't have attacked Grace.
(Oh!) I just need a little bit of luck.
So who is this, then? Who is buried in Frank Sutton's grave? MOBILE PHONE RINGS Barker.
I've been sitting here for nearly an hour.
There's no-one in sight.
How's it going, Frank? Know this place? It's changed a bit.
Do you remember it? Remember? Are you joking? Shocks you, does it? Nothing you tell me shocks me.
You want to bear something in mind.
Sometimes, people can give you information that can get you killed.
Have you thought of that? All the time.
Occupational hazard.
Oh, I wouldn't be so cheery about it if I were you.
You don't know half enough about it.
So tell me, and I'll know.
Yeah, and someone'll chop you down, and say, "Well, look where he put his nose.
" I haven't broken any commitments to you.
No Not yet.
You want the story told.
I want I want more than to put money in your pocket, believe me.
This will change everything.
No more hints, no more rumours.
The whole thing out in the open.
So how did it all happen? It's just this way, sir.
Sir, it's just in this office, just here.
Bloody hell.
A couple of years of my life here.
We think Frank Sutton is still alive.
Someone's still pulling your leg.
It wasn't Frank Sutton who was buried in his grave.
You sent us material on the Suttons.
I hope it won't get me in trouble.
No, this is just between us.
There's not a lot of intelligence on the Sutton brothers.
I thought there might've been more.
Yes, well, we weren't so hot on records in my day.
We didn't need to keep all these registers of informants and God knows what.
We thought it was too dangerous.
All we had to do was to get enough to convince the jury.
Not drown the bloody world in paperwork.
You must be enjoying your retirement, then.
Yes, I am.
Do you remember anything about Frank Sutton's death? He was at the end of his tether.
He did set fire to himself, didn't he? We'll need to see what records the coroner's court kept on that, sir.
This is the man who was buried in Frank Sutton's grave.
I think you know him.
(Yes.
) Laurence Murrell.
Well, the bad blood between those two families went back forever.
So, Frank Sutton killed Laurence Murrell and escaped.
It's funny.
We always wondered if it wasn't the other way around.
That Laurence Murrell disappeared in order to evade responsibility for Frank Sutton's death.
So you thought that Frank Sutton might not have committed suicide? I didn't give a toss either way.
Has anyone tried to contact you? Anyone you weren't sure about? Anonymous phone calls for example? As you said, I am enjoying my retirement.
Undisturbed.
Or it was.
If Frank Sutton is back in London, he might've got you in his sights.
You might remember something about me.
Er What's that? I wasn't afraid of the Suttons when they were alive.
I am certainly not afraid of them now that they are dead.
There used to be a fishmonger round the corner.
Now it's a hair salon.
Would you credit it? Why should you believe one word I tell you? I haven't disbelieved you so far.
Since you first called me.
Your book gets a fraction of it.
.
.
You and your brother once owned The Struggler.
Our dad was the licensee.
We never owned it.
Our mum tried to run it single-handed after he died.
But the Murrells fancied it, didn't they? What? I've been pursuing my own line of inquiry.
Well, that's very good, Mel(!) When Grace was attacked, I realised she could've been identified when we went to The Poor Struggler.
Her credit card paid for the wine.
That wouldn't identify her address.
If you got into a credit agency And? As we know, Carl Murrell is the licensee, but I decided to look into the ownership of the business.
The pub is part of a property chain.
Thank you.
New London? Yeah.
New London started out as a repossession company.
It bought defaulted mortgages, winkled out old tenants.
It uses cash to buy property at auction.
It hasn't filed accounts for three years.
So? New London is run for the benefit of an offshore trust.
For tax purposes, it's in the Channel Islands, so I called NCIS, and they said it remits money back into an account in London in the name of Malcolm Finlay.
I take it he didn't mention his connection with The Poor Struggler when you spoke to him? Why didn't you tell me this sooner? Because it's taken me this time to get it together.
How long have you been pursuing this line of inquiry? How long?! Don't you understand what it means to be part of a team? Yes.
I've got something to say as well.
It's probably my fault for not coming up with it sooner.
There's more than one reason to want to eliminate a jury.
That's when that jury's been compromised.
Thank you for coming in.
Any time.
This way.
How did your wife seem to feel after the end of the Miller's Wharf trial? What are you getting at? A man was sentenced to death.
Did that weigh on her mind? I'm sorry to have to ask you.
You came to my house and implied that my wife might've been murdered.
Was she sure they had reached the right verdict? Of course she was.
Absolutely certain? Absolutely! He was a career criminal! A violent and dangerous man! .
.
How did she know that? W-What is this? Did she have contact with anyone while she was on the jury? Did she ever say she spoke to any member of the Metropolitan Police during the trial? They were staying at a hotel.
They were being protected.
The police were about.
Did they speak to her? Did a senior police officer speak to her?! How did she know Charles Sutton was a violent criminal? I'm trying to find out what might've preyed on her mind after the trial.
Did she ever mention a conversation, or conversations, with a very senior, trustworthy police officer? He'd had a terrible time bringing Sutton to justice.
He'd lost two men in the shooting.
Do you remember his name? .
.
It's a long time ago.
Did she ever see him after the trial? Yes.
Finlay.
What is it? Some people, looking.
KNOCK ON DOOR This is Edgar Truelove.
My friend here writes books.
Look, I told you I want you to tell him what you told me.
I don't talk to the papers.
Tell him my brother was innocent.
I don't know that, do I? Tell him what he said with his dying breath.
Mr Truelove What did Charlie Sutton say before you hanged him? Look, I don't judge, see.
I leave that to others.
He told you the police had framed him.
On my eternal soul, I am innocent.
I've been set up by the police.
Finlay! RAPID BREATHING Stand clear.
ROPE CREAKS You told me how you felt afterwards.
You must go on record with what you know, while there's time.
Look at me! What wouldn't he say? Forget it.
If you tell me, I can go back for a confirmation.
Never mind.
We agreed to tell Start the car.
Look, it took a while to see this, but there's a fine hairline fracture to the orbital floor.
So could a blow to the head have caused that? Oh, yeah.
So Murrell arrives at Frank Sutton's house .
.
they have a fight, he gets a whack.
Sutton escapes.
Torching the place as he goes.
We exhume Charlie Sutton to see if his DNA matches the DNA in the grave we now know is Laurence Murrell's.
And it was a negative, but we still have evidence of a murder.
Agreed.
But you wouldn't have had a reason to compare the DNA in the Murrell grave to the DNA of the man who attacked Grace, would you? I do what you ask me to do.
I'm asking you to compare the Murrell DNA .
.
with the DNA on Grace's scarf.
Are you psychic? I have a way with dead people.
There's an allele in the Murrell gene profile, and it's also present in the DNA from Grace's scarf.
The attacker was related to Murrell? Closely.
Nephew? Very possible.
Carl Murrell - guy who runs The Poor Struggler.
Is Carl Murrell here? I'll get him for you.
Carl, there's someone to see you.
Are you Carl Murrell? Who's asking? DS Jordan, DC Silver.
My brother was never a gangster.
We was the first ones on our manor to stand up to the Murrells and their extortion racket.
When they came to get rid of me, he protected me.
After that, we had no choices.
Don't tell me, you went to the police.
Everybody knew the police was in bed with the Murrells.
That's how they finally set Charlie up.
They called him to a meeting here, supposedly to call a truce with the Murrells.
They thought he'd be armed.
We didn't know they was cops.
We were told they were Murrell's boys.
'Who was here? 'Just me and Charlie.
'And the two cops.
What happened? 'Oh, yeah.
'Three coppers said they saw Charlie shoot.
They were never here.
None of them.
' INAUDIBLE SPEECH 'What happened?' Oh, I heard the cops had been told that Charlie was supposed to make a big cash payment.
Warned he'd try to get out of it.
'So they were to show him they were armed.
'Someone wanted him to shoot? Yeah, but he never.
'So what you're saying' Yeah, I'm saying The policemen were set up, too.
You figure it out.
They were told he was armed.
They could shoot him, and it'd be set up as self-defence.
They had him both ways.
Dead twice over, whichever way it played.
Who did the shooting? It wasn't Charlie.
He saw where it was heading when he saw the guns.
It was you! I had no choice.
He was my brother.
Yeah.
He persuaded me to shut my trap.
He thought the trial evidence would get him off.
Angles, ballistics and all that.
He told me they'd top us both if I'd come forward.
There was our mum to consider.
An old woman, on her own.
What happened to the gun? You'll go on the record with this? I told you.
I want Charlie's name cleared.
So long as you meet my condition.
Which is? Face-to-face, here, with the copper that did all this.
You get him here.
Tell him you've got a story.
Sit down.
Did you hear me? You are Carl Anthony Murrell.
I need an answer.
Yes.
I'd like you to give us a DNA specimen.
Mr Finlay? You print one word about me, and your knees won't be worth wearing, trust me.
Now, what's all this about? You'd better come with me.
Finlay came to you.
He'd had a call from a journalist called Barker.
Barker said he'd found out about Harry Newman threatening to spill the beans about something.
Claims to have documents.
Tells you to get it sorted, find out what's going on.
Yeah? Finlay and your family go back a long way.
What keeps the ties that bind? What do you owe Finlay? He said he'd taken the Murrell business and turned it legit.
For your loyalty and corruption, he said he'd keep you as part of it.
I'm not going down for him.
He's here! (Hello.
) Well Frank Sutton.
It's quite a surprise to see you again.
The past comes back to haunt you, doesn't it? It's good to see you, Frank.
Barker here was hoping you'd help with his book on the Murrell family.
Oh, and add a little chapter on my brother Charlie.
You can leave now.
Leave?! Now! Frank? If you don't leave now, you'll end up in court.
And you can't rely on a fair trial, so go.
Frank, what are you talking about? I said go! Inspector.
He told me that Newman was the key to a lot of things from the past.
That if they come out now, I'll lose the pub and everything.
- You went to the nursing home.
- But you found nothing.
Tell us what happened.
Finlay sent you, didn't he? Just doing what you're told? I'll give you what he sent you to find, if you do something for me.
Do what? Look in the drawer.
There's my scrapbook.
That's what he wants, cos it'll be safe in his hands.
Nowyou do what I tell you to do.
He told you to kill him? I did what he showed me.
And you gave Finlay this scrapbook? Oh, he was angry.
He knew the police had got involved.
Said we must know what they knew.
So you went to burgle Dr Foley's house, but she interrupted you.
Get off me! Aa-aagh! - You burgled Fr Cameron.
- And it happened again.
See People like me - we don't have friends.
Not judges, not juries.
He'd see me go down and not blink an eye.
"Drop it, son!" "Don't be a bloody fool!" "Let him have it!" Which is to be? Well, you're going to do whatever you want, so why don't you just get on with it? Too right I shall.
What's the rush, hmm? I mean, nothing compared to being locked in a cell for a few months.
Told you're gonna be topped at the end of it, eh? Real special, that is.
Frank It doesn't have to go this way.
Mr Finlay? I'd like us to take a walk to the water's edge.
Yeah, I thought you might suggest that.
No, no, no.
Really, I'd like us to take a look at the lovely view.
Maybe I'll change my mind.
Maybe I've got a boat, and I'll row myself away, back to sunny Spain.
You could do worse.
I could do worse.
I have that choice.
.
.
Move.
Up.
.
.
Up.
Go round the back.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS Boyd.
'This is Graham Barker.
' You must get down to Miller's Wharf.
Right away.
Frank Sutton's here.
You are insane.
Do you know? I had a fantasy of getting old Truelove down here, show us how it's done.
He's past it, unfortunately.
Yes, you areinsane! If you want.
RAPID BREATHING Stand! How does it feel? Comfy? I want you to imagine it.
You've had weeks of it.
Now you're down to the hours.
All you've got is the last morning.
Oh, they never let you know the time, but all you can see in your mind is a clock on the wall.
LOUD FOOTSTEPS All right, Frank.
You've made your point.
Oh, no, I haven't.
The point is coming.
Think about the clock.
CLOCK TICKS And what are you thinking about? Like what's going to happen to you? HE LAUGHS They've started my clock.
Pancreatic cancer.
Six months max.
So, you see? Yeah.
Do you know what you're thinking? You're thinking, "Will the next knock be the reprieve or the hangman?" Oh, yes.
That's all you can think.
Even though they've told you the night before, they never give you a reprieve on the last morning, cos they want you to get used to it, build up to it! You can't stop yourself thinking about it! Frank.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock How would it come?! That reprieve, hmm? Only if Detective Chief Inspector Finlay of the Flying Squad went to the Home Secretary Frank.
.
.
and that's not gonna happen.
You think about your sins.
Think about your crimes.
Wonder how you'll feel about them in a couple of minutes' time.
No man may deliver his brother .
.
Almost forgot.
One last detail.
Frank.
On my eternal soul, I am innocent.
(Please.
) I've been set up! Finlay! Frank! This way.
and Neil Gemmill BBC Broadcast 2002
Previous EpisodeNext Episode