Traces (2019) s01e02 Episode Script

1 Dundee might be really full-on for you.
It's a really good job.
This is Emma Hedges, my new lab technician.
Working on a study to develop new tools and research around the analysis of new and emerging street drugs in Scotland.
You'll be studying a fictional case to teach you the principles of forensic science.
Professor Gordon.
The body in the MOOC's my mum.
She went missing at a festival.
Three months later, she was dug up.
We need to check the rest of the MOOC for any other similarities.
There was a fatal fire at a club in Lockie last night.
Three dead.
The manager Shuggie Brook jumped off the Tay Bridge the day before yesterday.
Stay with me.
I'm staying at my mum's on my own.
- Where's your mum? - I think she's dying.
My sweet Marie ended up dumped in the ground with her bones cut up.
You need to talk to the police.
This is my mum and dad, except at the time the photo was taken, my mum wasn't with my dad, she was with my stepdad.
I think it could have something to do with her murder.
Baby, you understand me now If sometimes you see that I'm mad Don't you know that no-one alive can always be an angel? When everything goes wrong You see some bad Oh, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good Oh, Lord, please, don't let me be misunderstood.
This is great.
Thanks so much.
No bother.
I meant to ask you the other day and Does your mum see much of my dad? No.
I mean, well, not at all, as far as I know.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey, do you fancy going out tonight? Yes.
This photo that Emma showed you, her parents, who weren't together at the time, supposedly, in bed, apparently post-sex.
Apparently.
Well, can you imagine a situation where you've just had sex with someone - and someone else takes a photo? - No, but I'm square.
Well, I'm not and I still can't.
Self-timer.
I wonder who the anthro was on Marie Munroe, and if they were any good.
I wonder if she was dismembered.
Shall we carry on? I mean, it's fascinating isn't it? I'm glad Emma agreed to speak to Neil.
See, I would even question the use of spalling.
It might be clearer to say flaking or fragmenting.
Sarah, don't you think it's fascinating? Yeah.
I do.
The police samples are arriving tomorrow.
The real deal.
Great.
Scotland has a problem.
New street drugs keep appearing, so the police don't know what they're dealing with and drug-related deaths are up.
People don't know what they're taking, so it's really important that we research this.
This study could really make a difference.
It might save lives.
We'll have all the controls set up - with our samples by tomorrow morning.
- Thanks, Louise.
I'll call Neil, give him your number and ask him to ring you.
OK, thanks.
- You OK? - Yeah.
OK.
The major investigation team has landed.
- Ah, I'm well aware.
- Are you ready? Oh, aye, ready to handover, ready to genuflect, ready to whoop when they bugger off again, having taken the credit for all our hard work.
- Morning, ma'am, welcome.
- Absolutely.
Yes.
OK.
- Well, yeah, well, got it.
- Ugh.
Got it, got it, absolutely.
So the picture we're building up is this - Bashir Kumar and Shelley Nardoni died accidentally.
We don't yet have Professor Torrance's report, but we've got her verbal feedback.
- Neil? - Yes, she is saying there's no evidence of blunt, sharp or ballistic trauma.
- Or defence wounds.
- Uh-huh.
Well, the inference is that, in all probability, cause of death for those two was the fire itself.
We know from Professor Gordon they were locked in the office.
We've got witness statements suggesting why they were there.
Is it Trina? Yes.
Trina.
Shelley's best friend told us that Shelley and Bash were having a sort of illicit work thing.
Both of them were in relationships, They both smoked so they could have been in the office for that reason.
The barman told us that the two of them had a tendency to disappear whenever they got the opportunity for a quickie, so it maybe wasn't known that they were in the office when the door to the office was locked.
Shelley's mum, Mrs Nardoni, wants to know how Shelley and Bash couldn't hear what was going on in the kitchen or being locked in.
We didn't know either - we have no witnesses - but the barman's told us that the music is as deafening in the back as it is in the front, so Mrs Nardoni is very aggrieved, by the way.
The Family Liaison Team's spending a lot of time with her.
I hope that's work.
No, it's my dealer.
Funny.
As of this morning, we have a CCTV image of what appears to be Shuggie Brook letting a man into the kitchen fire door at ten to ten, and we have an ID on the body in the kitchen - Ian Howie.
The pathologist reported that Ian Howie was dead before the fire started.
No soot inhalation.
The floor beneath him was pristine, not fire-blackened.
The cause of death was strangulation.
Well, we actually got hold of the clothes that the manager, Shuggie Brook, was wearing on the night of the fire, including a belt.
We're running a DNA check on that, Alec? Yes.
Fast-tracking it.
Great.
So we're making some real progress now.
I got your message.
Course I'll speak to Emma Hedges.
Tell her I'll ring her tomorrow morning.
Will do.
- I can do you that favour after all.
- How come? I'll need to access the Marie Monroe files.
I have bona fide policing purpose to do so cos I'm speaking to her daughter.
Right.
So, if you e-mail me a summary of your MOOC modules, I can suggest what changes you should make to avoid further accidental overlaps without sharing confidential information.
Neil.
You know something? What? You're my hero.
Fever by Endor ft.
FERAL Is Kinky Emma.
You've got to wake up.
I've got work.
So have I.
Did we, um? Yes.
Have you seen my bag? I don't remember you having a bag.
Shit.
Hello? I left my bag in there last night.
Can you let me come in and have a look? Can't do that, sorry.
You'll need to come back when we're open.
- I need my phone.
- I said no.
Can you help me? I think I left my bag in there last night and he won't let me in.
I need my phone.
I'm waiting on a really important call, and I need to get to work.
Hello? Hi, Paul.
It's Daniel from MacAfee Construction.
Hi, Daniel.
Come on in.
Please.
I need a description of your bag.
Um, it's green, small.
It's got a long strap.
Its contents? Uh phone in a red case.
Keys, purse.
I love you.
- Thanks again.
- Ah, no bother.
I needed to do a good deed today.
Well, now you have.
I'm late for work.
- Do I know you? - No.
Well, listen, ring me if you ever What? want to ring me.
You know what would be great? If men could have an interaction with a woman - that didn't end up chasing sex.
- I'm not.
What, you think I might need some construction? I tell you what would be great.
If women could have an interaction with a man without expecting him to be a dick.
In fact, wanting him to be a dick so they can rip his head off.
OK, then, why do you want me to ring you? What would be the goal? Forget it.
I don't want you to ring me.
I mean, you're awful.
- Please, don't ring me.
- No, you gave it me.
Can't have it back just because I'm not being cute.
How've you even got time to be so arsey?! You're late for work! Dick.
- Hiya.
- Are you OK? Lost my phone.
Found my phone.
Shagged that bloke.
Remembered nothing.
I'd have never let you go with him, but you were adamant.
Sorry.
I did it.
Well, I made it home, but I fell asleep on the toilet.
- What? - I feel like burst couch.
Will you shout me when my phone wakes up? - I need a shower.
- Sure.
Listen, I know my mum freaked you out - when she said your mum's body was - It's OK.
I think it's the medication she's on.
She's seen an angel, she's been to France.
- Do you want breakfast? - I haven't got time.
I'm in at 11.
I'll make you a piece.
What do want in it? Anything.
Thank you.
Take the proxy bones kindly provided by members of the pig community.
Cut them - partial cuts, full cuts.
Use different tools.
How does the bone behave? Look at the marks - photograph them, magnify them.
Write down what you find on your log sheets.
You've got 20 minutes.
Emma, are you all right with peanuts? Emma? What does it mean? Um That my mum and dad had sex in your mum's bed, and then your mum took a photo.
I'll ask her.
I'm going to the hospital after work.
- I'll ask her.
- OK, cool.
I've got to go.
Hello? Am I speaking to Emma Hedges? Yes.
Hello, Emma.
This is Detective Inspector Neil McKinven.
Oh, hello.
Sarah Gordon suggested I give you a ring.
She said you might be interested in having a chat about your mother.
I just wanted to make contact and check that's what you want.
- Yeah.
- Right, well, I'll come to SIFA between 11 and 12 if that suits? OK.
See you then.
Thanks, bye.
Who was that? A police guy.
Police? Yeah, I've I've been put in touch with this police guy who I don't know exactly, but he's going to meet me and have a chat about my mum.
Well.
The cut mark was made by a saw.
- Because? - Because the curve flow is square.
- Because? - Because the teeth of a saw are offset.
That's right.
And it's a partial cut so we can see the W showing that offset.
What else can you see? Hesitation marks, false starts.
- How many? - Three.
What do the marks tell us about the person who cut through human bone? Nothing.
Nothing? Thank you.
They don't tell us the person was nervous or left-handed or right-handed or a Gemini.
The marks only tell us that the blade of the saw made contact with the bone three times before biting in.
This is so important.
We're dealing in facts, and the facts have to be clear and correct.
That information could be used in court.
Somebody could lose their liberty because of it.
- Did you work on my mum's case? - Mm-hm.
I took statements right at the start when it was still at the missing person stage.
I followed the case, of course, but I wasn't CID then.
I'm an Operational DI for Dundee.
What they call boots on the ground.
Right.
I've accessed the files on our system and had a look in preparation for speaking to you.
Right.
Shall I say a bit about what I'm bringing to this, and then you can tell me what you'd like from it? Yeah.
I have a duty of care to meet you.
I don't want to meet you.
I want you to be OK, and I'm obliged if I think someone has further evidence of crime - to pursue it.
- I'm not bringing evidence of crime.
I've just got things that, you know, I'm thinking about and wondering about.
I'm not even sure I want to talk about them.
Would you be willing to talk about the day your mum went missing? Um We were at the Tall Ships Festival.
Me, my mum, my little brother, my half-brother, um my stepdad, Jimmy.
It was packed.
It was Sunday and there were hundreds of ships, like, ships out of books with sails.
- Schooners.
- Yeah.
And there was music and stalls and hot dogs, and everyone was having a party.
And we met up with my mum's friend, Izzy, and her daughter Skye.
She was my best friend at school.
- How old were you? - Seven.
It was getting late and my little brother needed putting to bed, so we went home with my stepdad and my mum stayed on.
That was the last time I saw her.
By the water with the ships.
I didn't find out what happened till later.
And what did you find out? First, I was told that she'd gone away but she'd be back.
Then I was told that she was ill in hospital and she'd get better, but I couldn't visit because of the germs.
Then, when they found her body three months later, they had to tell me she was dead.
That's awful.
And when I was old enough, they told me that someone had killed her.
And that they never found out who or why or And that she was buried on Law Hill.
Found by a dog walker.
Someone just told me that, when they found my mum's body, it was cut up.
Right.
OK.
And my aunt, she she adopted me after my mum died, and she was really protective.
My stepdad was, too, and Anyway, they both say that they were never told anything about my mum's body being dismembered and that the person who told me is unreliable.
Why? Well, my stepdad thinks that she's been a bit druggie.
Is it true that she was cut up? I can't pass on any information that could compromise any ongoing enquiry.
You were seven when your mum was murdered, God love you.
Well, chances are you didn't do it, but you could know the person that did do it.
You might not even know that you know the person that did do it.
You know you were talking about relationships and I'm not saying this is Not accusing or suspecting anyone of This is just something that I found recently.
Mum cut her hair short when I was about six, so at the time that photo was taken, Mum and Jimmy must have been married at least three years.
But that's not Jimmy.
This is my dad, Drew.
Ah, I see.
- Have you asked him about it? - No.
I'm not accusing him of anything.
Have you shown this to anyone? Professor Gordon.
Anyone else? A friend saw it.
Did they know anything about it? Did the friend you showed it to know you at the time of your mother's murder? Yeah.
I think you need to stop sleuthing.
You don't know what you're getting into.
You're possibly poking around into something someone's wanting to hide.
What, so you mean trust no-one? No, not no-one.
Just everyone that I've known up until now.
Just be very careful about what you say, to whom you say it.
I want you to be safe.
Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? No.
Would you be happy to e-mail that to me? OK.
Emma.
How did you get on? Fine.
- Did Neil look after you? - Yeah.
He says he's going to speak to the review team.
Good.
The police drug samples are arriving any minute.
I'll show you how to sign them in.
We have a match.
Ian Howie's DNA on Shuggie Brook's belt, and that's consistent with it being used as a ligature.
Great stuff, Alec.
So the picture we've now got is Brook strangled Howie in the kitchen and tried to cover up the murder by starting a fire, so it's looking premeditated.
- Trina? - Shuggie Brook was in debt.
He's got loans on the go.
You can see from his statements he's withdrawing large amounts.
It seems Ian Howie was a cash man and a gambler.
It was normal for him to go off for days at a time.
Oh, and Secrets was insured for fire, recently renewed.
Brook would have known, if he got that pay out, he could to anything with it.
He didn't have to use it to rebuild.
It doesn't explain why he killed Howie.
No mystery why Brook jumped off the bridge.
He accidentally killed Bashir Kumar and his own niece when he rigged the toaster.
OK, so possibly a financial motive.
Can we find out if there's another story? What are our confidential sources telling us? We need to make sure that we speak to witnesses as if Brook hadn't died.
We need to cover all aspects of these people's deaths.
Sarah Gordon at SIFA flagged up issues with the building itself.
We're speaking to the people who refurbished it in 2008? MacAfee Construction.
Getting any evidence that they've got of materials used, any receipts, invoices, today? - Straight after this.
- Great.
So it's looking like two discrete elements - one intentional murder and two accidental, but we need to make sure that we're not missing a connection.
There is likely to be a fatal accident enquiry.
The families will want answers.
Three, one, five, - seven, four.
- Thanks.
Your uniform's spotless as well, and these goggles don't miss anything.
We were expecting you first thing.
Sorry about that.
Emma, look.
I asked for a subsection from each drug seizure that the police make so we get a mix like this.
That's how you check everything off.
- I need to get to my first years.
- Leave it with me.
Thanks.
Were you after some cake? No.
Well One of the lads was telling me We have the remains of a banana loaf or a red velvet.
Ooh, red velvet, please.
Bobby's in for a shock.
That's right.
Hey, Bobby, fasten your seat belt cos you're about to start being fed some real drugs from the mean streets of Dundee.
Right.
Let's start with these.
We can lock the rest in the safe.
Are you at all familiar with these little blue pills? Hm, well They have a generic appearance, so I can't be sure if we've analysed these specific ones previously.
Right.
Sure, yeah.
Hi, Skye.
I was just wondering if you asked your mum about the photo.
No, see, I went to visit, but seemingly she'd had a bad day so they said to leave her sleeping, and I never saw her.
Oh, OK.
And you never sent me it.
You were going to send me the photo.
Yeah, yeah.
I don't think we should bother her with it, actually.
I was wondering the same, you know.
She's in a bad way, and I think it's inappropriate to bother her.
I agree.
Just leave her be.
It was a private thing between my mum and dad, whatever they got up to.
Yeah, I think you're right.
Oh, erm, how did you get on with your police guy? Oh, it was literally like, "Hello.
Nice to meet you.
"Sorry about your mum.
We can't tell you anything.
Bye-bye.
" It was a waste of time.
Oh, well.
Listen, I've got to go.
I'm meeting someone.
Who? Like a date someone? - I'll tell you later.
Bye.
- Bye, gorgeous.
Hi.
- You didn't really, did you? - No, I did.
I did chuck it in the bin, and then I took it out again.
Why? You were kind, I was rude, and I like your nose for some reason.
It's my dad's nose.
I hope he's got his own, though, right? Oh, aye.
He's fully equipped in the nose department.
A pint of heavy and a pint of lime and soda, please.
Are you sure - lime and soda? Yeah.
- Quite a night last night, was it? - Not really.
You strike me as quite the party animal.
- Not really.
- No? Leaving your most precious possessions in a club usually indicates a good night.
Or a lost one.
I wondered about that.
Are you OK? I don't know.
Week one was a huge success.
23,119 people completed the MOOC.
Great feedback and they're clamouring for more, so well done, everybody.
And I know it's late, but there's some tiny wee amendments we need to make to the content of modules five and six, so listen up.
When we get to family background, can we make it our victim had three sons, and can we change the age of the victim's husband to 29? That's it.
These are the sections it affects.
When you've made those changes, just ping them over to me.
Do you mind me asking the reason behind those changes? We sailed too close to reality.
That's all I can say.
So why did you need to do a good deed? To make up for a bad one, of course.
What did you do? It's what I didn't do.
What didn't you do? I didn't think.
I was stupid, and people suffered as a result.
Are you talking about work or? Work.
And when you say suffered? Well, they didn't suffer as a direct result of me, but I played a part.
So what will happen? Well, the police just spoke to me, looking into what we did.
- What your company did? - Yeah.
They want paperwork I don't have any more to see if we're culpable of doing things that maybe made a fire turn into a really bad fire.
Just have to wait and see.
- But you didn't intend to - No, no.
No.
God, no.
I still want to bury myself in the ground, you know? Will we go for a walk? MOOC, module two, insert number four.
Take one.
Sorry.
Do it again.
What is this for? To go between your talky bits.
I feel like a tube.
It looks good.
Go.
Don't upskirt me.
What do you take me for? Right.
Excuse me.
Does Professor Torrance work here? She does.
Is there somewhere I can leave her a message? She's here.
Come in.
Oh.
I don't want to disturb her at work.
Well, will I go and get her? OK.
- Who shall I say? - Pia.
OK, so I am a bit of a party animal.
I mean, I used to be big time, and I'm trying not to be now.
- When did you used to be? - When I was a student.
I overdid it, got in a bit of a mess and took a year out.
What sort of a mess? Anxiety and depression.
Right.
Did you get help? Yeah, I did.
Got put on antidepressants, saw a counsellor.
She helped me start to get to the bottom of things.
I don't think I've ever got to the bottom of anything.
I've got a pretty good idea what was going on.
Things were catching up with me.
What things? Just family things.
She helped me sort of wise up to myself.
- The counsellor? - Yeah.
So it's not like I'm cured of my bad patterns or whatever, but now I'm onto them.
Tell me your bad patterns, I'll tell you mine.
OK.
I put myself at risk.
You know, in the books it would say, "Engages in impulsive and risky behaviour.
" You? I don't know what it would say in the books, but I know what my ex would say.
She would say my bad patterns are that I don't say what I'm thinking, that I want people to like me and I don't want to piss them off, so I don't tell them things.
I just keep trying to be who I think they like till I can't do that any more and I run away, at which point I've pissed them off spectacularly.
You've told me lots of things.
Cos I don't know you.
It's great, isn't it? Don't know why anyone bothers talking to people they know.
Where are we going, by the way? Law Hill.
Well, this is a little attention seeking, isn't it? I wanted to leave a note.
I thought no-one would be here so late.
Everyone is here.
Everyone is wondering who Pia is.
I'm sorry.
I'm a very private person, OK? It's one thing for me to meet someone and spend time with them when I'm away, but I don't bring my private life to work, OK? And I don't like being ambushed.
Did you get my postcard? Yes.
If you'd given me your number, there would be no ambush.
But I didn't.
There's your clue.
Aren't you pleased to see me? No.
OK.
That's clear.
Don't worry, it's cool.
I got the rest of Scotland to explore.
It's cool.
I'll see you.
I like the bigness.
Yeah.
You been up here before? When I was a kid.
Before I moved away.
I've not been up here for 18 years.
Very precise.
Cold? I'm all right.
You're freezing.
Come in.
Come on.
Better? Yeah.
We're standing on a volcano.
- Easy, tiger.
- No, we are! - This is an extinct volcano.
- No way.
Way.
That's why it's cone-shaped.
- What do you think I meant? - You know what.
Oh, do you think I was getting romantical, eh? Give me that.
When I drove over that bridge, I had to wait for a guy to jump off.
When was that? Monday.
I knew that guy.
How come? He started the fire.
- Hi.
- Hi.
They've been as good as gold.
Your mammy's here! Monkey! Monkey, monkey.
Oh, my monkey.
So nice to see you, yes, so Hi, good evening.
I'd like to speak with a guest who's staying with you, but I don't know her room number.
OK, do you have her name? Yes, it's Salvador.
Pia Salvador.
S for sugar Unfortunately, we can't hand that information out.
OK, thank you.
I know, don't judge.
Oh, hi.
Hello.
Yes, I'd like to speak with someone who's staying with you, please.
Listen, Sarah.
Will you keep an eye on Emma Hedges? Why? I think we need to look out for her.
Well, I don't know how I'm expected to look out for her if I don't know what I'm looking out for.
She knows something that was never disclosed because it was specialist.
The only people that would know would be a handful of officers and the murderer, someone who assisted them - or someone they told.
- Are we talking about dismemberment? Emma's recently tried out this specialist information on several people, so it's known that she knows.
Which makes her vulnerable.
Sorry.
Bit of a mess.
No.
It's a really nice place.
My dad helped me.
Lucky you.
Yeah, he helped me a lot.
He's great, my dad.
- Are you close? - We are.
Oh.
- Would you like a drink? - No, I'm fine just now.
I still can't believe you knew the guy that jumped off the bridge.
I didn't know him as a friend.
- Are you warm enough? - Yeah.
- Have you got any coffee? - Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
- How flash is that? - Och, I know.
Peels potatoes and posts your letters as well.
- Must have cost a fortune.
- It was a present.
From your dad? - My mum.
- Nice.
Yeah.
You close to your mum and dad? My mum died a long time ago.
Don't worry, it's fine.
And I love my dad when I can track him down, but I'm really close to my aunt.
Is that what was catching up with you? When you took a year out of uni, you said things were catching up with you.
Did you mean losing your mum? Yeah.
What? I've ran out of coffee.
I'm all over the place about this fire.
Sorry.
I should get back to my friend's place.
I've not got a key.
OK.
I love that.
I've got a - A beetle.
- Yeah.
You're unbelievably lovely.
You are.
You are.
Do you know what I'm looking at? No.
Your supraorbital eminences.
This is your mandible.
Guess how many bones you've got in your body.
- 92.
- 206.
Nah.
Approximately.
Babies have more and then they fuse together.
How do you know? I'm doing a forensic science course SIFA's running.
It's an online thing.
Clever.
Yeah, I'm very clever.
Is that you or me? You.
- You should see who it is.
- Why? It's late.
Might be important.
And I'd like to see you walk over there and walk back.
It's from Julie.
My aunt.
Julie's up very late.
Julie has insomnia.
Poor Julie.
What did she say? "Apology accepted.
I love you.
" What did you need to apologise to Julie for? Putting the phone down on her.
Oh, nasty.
What for? Aunt Julie wants a chat now.
It's not Julie.
It's my dad.
- Hi, Dad.
- We need to talk about that photo.
- What do you mean? - You know what I mean.
- What, how did you? - I'm not going over this on the phone.
- Come over in the morning.
- I've got work.
I don't care.
Just get here.
What's up? I've got myself into trouble.
What sort of trouble? I don't know yet.