Deceit (2021) s01e03 Episode Script

1
I took the knife in my hand.
I gripped it really hard.
And she was smiling at me,
willing me to do it.
And then I slit her throat.
It was electrifying.
There she is
..Lizzie James.
POLICE RADIO: Update on
India one, please.
No change. Still blindside of RV.
You must be Colin.
You must be Lizzie.
Been waiting long?
Not too long.
Well, I promised you lunch,
didn't I? Yeah.
I told you I was married, didn't I?
Yeah. Yeah, you said.
Didn't last very long. I
Thanks.
I, uh I promise that I'll tell
you the whole story, I will.
It's just
Come on, Stagg.
Just a bit embarrassed.
Well, you can tell me anything.
I feel like I'm always
..looking for something
I can't find.
I think it's because it's what
happened to me when I was a kid.
Your secret?
I mean, it's OK. You can tell me.
Go on.
There was this older fella
that lived
a couple of streets away from me,
and, erm
..he was kind to me.
He made me feel special.
Well, I sort of got in with
him and his mates.
And, uh, in his cellar, he had
..this room that was
all painted black.
He was into the occult.
And II thought he was mysterious.
He performed, like, these rituals.
Andwhat would happen is,
is that
..uh, everyone would
end up having sex.
It was the most electrifying
atmosphere, like
RADIO FEED: I don't even know
how you would describe it.
It was likemixed feelings.
Like
..we were all, really, really drunk.
The room was filled with
candles and
..there were these,
uh, special cups.
Chalices.
There was this woman, and she was
laid out on the altar naked
Go on, Lizzie.
..and there were these
knives that were brought in.
And it was as if she knew what
was happening. She just
She just lay there.
And then this man,
he handed me a knife,
and he asked me to cut her throat.
So, I go over to her and
She's looking at me,
and I'm looking at her,
and the room is filled with
candlelight and smoke.
It's electric.
And I did what he asked.
And I got the cup and
I filled it with her blood
and we all drank it.
And then I was with this man and
..it was the most amazing thing.
It was
..the best thing
I could ever imagine.
The thought of being with him
I mean, the sex was mind-blowing.
Both of us knowing what
had happened.
I'm not asking you to tell me
all your secrets
..but I am placing
all my trust in you.
And either you're not the
right man for me
Come on, Stagg. Come on.
..and we can just be friends, or
Go on, go on.
Do you want to tell me something?
RADIO FEED: Come on, Stagg. Come on.
Come on, come on
This is the letter
he gave me when we met.
He gently takes the blade of the
knife and draws it down your body.
Not cutting you, just teasing you.
Then he places the blade in your
mouth and makes you lick it clean.
You're so hot now.
The man cuts himself on his arm,
just enough to draw blood,
and drips it onto your breasts.
You massage it making
Making
..you rock your head backwards
and forwards and sideways
as you go into a massive orgasm.
I hope this was to your
satisfaction, Lizzie.
It's fucking gold!
He's talking about knives.
It's not just the letter.
The way he actedwas odd. Mm.
I tell him a story about a woman
having her throat cut,
and he doesn't even flinch.
The rarity of the combined
elements of deviance
..are present in only a small number
of the general male population.
OK, what about this bit?
I've written this story along the
lines of what I feel you are into.
What if we've led him to believe
Lizzie's into this sort of thing?
Well, I fail to see how he could
have drawn that inference
from anything we have
communicated to him.
Prior to the writing of this letter.
SADIE SIGHS
SADIE DRAWS BREATH
Is there something you'd
like to say, Sadie?
Are we on the right side
of the line here?
EJ-14, the letter we sent
Stagg back in March,
we used the expression,
"defenceless and humiliated."
Could that have prompted him to
bring a knife into the fantasies?
These themes are too extreme
to have been prompted by EJ-14.
They have, obviously,
been generated spontaneously.
So, where does this fantasy
leave Stagg?
Well, this is consistent with
what I would expect to find
in the masturbatory repertoire
of the killer.
You're looking at someone
with a highly deviant sexuality
present in only a small
number of men.
How small?
The chances of there being two
such men on Wimbledon Common
when Rachel was killed
..are vanishingly small.
MUSIC: The Only One I Know
by The Charlatans
RADIO PLAYING
Black coffee, please, love.
Do you want to see a menu?
Yeah, go on, then.
SADIE CLEARS THROA
So, I can't really stay long,
so whatever this is,
can you just make it quick?
Make it quick?
You had lunch with a killer and you
don't think we should talk about it?
Well, it went well.
Everyone's pleased. End of.
How long's this going
to go on for, anyway?
Britton said he'll have
a confession within two months
of exchanging fantasies.
I make it twice that already.
Yeah, and this isn't some
sort of a test purchase, Baz.
You've never done anything
like this before.
No-one has ever done
anything like this before.
You think I can't handle myself.
I think it took him about 40 seconds
to kill Rachel in the common.
Yeah, and I'm trying to stop him
from doing it again.
You're bait for a serial killer.
Maybe SO10 chose you cos
you're the best for the job.
Or maybe they chose you cos
you look like Rachel Nickell.
Fuck you.
Wasn't even two seconds, was it?
You're an asshole.
I'm just trying to
keep you safe, Sadie.
PHONE RINGS
PHONE CONTINUES TO RING
Hello.
COLIN: Hello, Lizzie.
I've been thinking about you a lot.
Have you? Mm.
I bet you're a bit stunned
by what I said yesterday.
Well, yeah.
But what's passed has passed.
Yeah, but I have to live
with it, Colin.
I know that, yeah.
And, like you said
..you wanna be fulfilled
..in thethat special way.
I want a relationship with you,
Lizzie,
that's the thing.
Yeah, but there's no point
if you can't give me what I want.
If it's not there, it's not there.
I always thought that there was
something in your letters.
Indications to me, you know,
thatsomething that
happened before.
When we're together,
if you wanted me
to do something to you, or with you,
you know, to make you happy
No, that's not what I want.
I want to be with someone
who's had some experience, who's
like me, or done something similar.
Yeah, I know.
I just thought there was
something more.
I thought you had something.
Lizzie Goodbye, Colin.
SHE HANGS UP
HE HANGS UP
SHE SIGHS
THUD
SHE GASPS
PHONE RINGS
PHONE CONTINUES TO RING
Hello.
COLIN: Hello, Lizzie.
I've got a confession to make.
The thing is, Lizzie,
you were right about me.
I have done something.
I couldn't say anything because
..the way I saw it,
if I told anybody what I did,
the police would arrest me again.
For what?
What What was it?
It was something me
and my cousin done when I was 12.
What did you do? What was it?
It involved a little girl.
It wasn't as messy as the thing
you've done,
but it had the same result.
HE CHUCKLES SOFTLY
When we were together on Thursday
and you described the feelings
that you had,
it hit a chord with me, you know?
What happened to the little girl?
It wasn't very nice. You know?
It got out of hand.
Can you not say?
Well
We were on a caravan holiday
in the New Forest.
Me and me cousin,
we was just mucking about and
..and when we noticed that
thisthis little boy
and little girl was sitting
at the edge of the woods.
And we took the little girl
into the forest and ended up
..we ended up killing her.
KNIFE SLASHES
The thing is, when we was actually
strangling her
..we felt exactly the same feelings
that you described.
Everything was buzzing, you know?
We was just floating.
And I wanted to tell you
on Thursday, but I
..I just can't trust anybody.
You know?
Yeah, I know what you mean.
But you said you had an idea that
I did something in my past
..and you were right.
COLIN, ON RECORDING: Then we took
the little girl into the forest
and we ended up
HE CHUCKLES SOFTLY
..we ended up killing her.
The thing is,
when we was actually strangling her,
we felt exactly the same feelings
that you described.
Everything was buzzing
I think he's making it up.
I spoke to Hampshire CID. There's no
match for the murder he described.
He's definitely making it up.
It's possible he's woven details
of Rachel's murder into this story.
Rachel's family need answers.
And I think Lizzie should meet
Stagg again. I agree.
The sooner, the better.
Ask him how he felt
when he killed this little girl.
Make him see that you need to know
if his experience
in the New Forest
really does parallel yours.
But if he thinks Lizzie's going to
be satisfied with this
New Forest story,
why would he open up about Rachel?
This is your opportunity to get him
used to giving you the details.
That way,
when you ask him about Rachel
..he won't be surprised by the level
to detail you require.
TV PLAYS IN BACKGROUND
SHE CHUCKLES SOFTLY
You're up early.
I'm out late.
Jim.
Lizzie.
So, Lizzie,
what's a nice girl like you
doing in a shithole
like this at three in the morning?
What makes you think
I'm a nice girl?
HE LAUGHS SOFTLY
There's a mattress in the back
of my lorry where I sleep sometimes.
DOOR SHUTS
Wild one, wild one, wild one
SINGS ALONG: # Well, I'm just out of
school like I'm real, real cool
Gotta dance like a fool
Got the message that
I've gotta be a wild one
Oh, yeah, I'm a fucking wild one!
Gonna break it loose,
gonna keep 'em movin' wild
Gonna keep a-swingin' baby
I'm a real wild child. ♪
Hello.
When did you last eat?
MOUTH FULL: Oh, that's good.
All right,
where did you lose your keys, then?
Sadie.
Can you just
..stop babying me, Baz?
Please. I'm fine. OK?
You know the professor is convinced
that he's going spill any day now?
He's our man, I am certain of it.
I just
I need to handle him, OK?
Push him over the edge.
What do you mean,
push him over the edge?
Get him to talk! You know, you
promise the dealer a blowjob at
the end of the night and they will
tell you anything,
but with him, it's different.
It's like
I don't know, it's like he's
bursting to tell me everything
and he's just fucking scared.
OK? I just need to back him
into a corner.
You need to stay the right
side of the line.
This isn't about you, Sadie.
You know what? I don't know where
you're at right now.
You know where I'm at, Baz?
Is that I'm trying to
do my fucking job
and I don't need yet another man
telling me how to do it.
PEDDER, ON RADIO:
All units, India 2 approaching.
Five metres. Two metres.
Hiya. Hello.
Sorry, am I late? No.
India 1 and 2, contact made.
All units stay aware.
I don't know. There must be more
than what you've told me.
It was a long time ago.
I was just a kid myself.
I tried to put it out of
my mind because I felt
..I felt bad about it.
You know?
Yeah, but, like,
you've not even said, like
Did she scream?
HE LAUGHS SOFTLY
Did youtouch her up?
Was there, like,
a massive police hunt?
I have told you everything, Colin.
I don't know,
it's like you don'ttrust me.
It's like you're only telling me
half the story.
I need you to tell me more.
I need you to reassure me.
I've reacted different to you.
That's all.
HUSHED: I can still hear
the sound of the knife going in.
That's how
..vivid my memory is.
Come on, Stagg. Come on.
Come on, come on.
You're living in the guilt
of a mistake.
I'm living in the glory of it.
Lizzie
India 2 leaving scene.
Fuck!
DOOR SLAMS
Fuck!
Oh, shit.
What's going on?
You mean in the papers?
Yeah.
Well, they came
knocking on my door last week,
so I thought I'd just give them
my side of the story.
I told you really
personal things about me.
Yeah, I'm not going to
say anything about you, am I?
There is a picture
of me on the fireplace.
What did you tell them when
they said, "Who's that girl?" No.
No, I never mentioned you.
There are people that
are going to do me serious harm.
I could go away
for a very long time, Colin.
I didn't talk about you, though.
What happens if the telly
people offer you £1 million?
They won't offer me that much.
But what if they did?
What security is that for me?
They're only interested if I did
that thing on the common.
No, they're interested
about what we write to each other.
What if they follow you to meet me?
I've got to try and get
things fucking sorted out, Lizzie.
You know, it's only because
it's a year since the murder.
I thought we were getting somewhere.
I saw so much in you.
I'm not going to lose you,
am I, Lizzie?
MUFFLED VOICES AND LAUGHTER
The professor reckons this bullshit
makes Colin a target
for every psycho-loving
lonely heart out there.
If he gets what
he wants, it's goodbye Lizzie.
Another woman could be killed.
The professor
said external publicity
could influence disclosure.
Well, he's got himself
publicity all right, hasn't he?
I mean, it's on the front bloody
page in black-and-white!
"I Didn't Murder Rachel."
This is going to
stop him talking to Lizzie.
It won't.
Because I can do it.
Mr Pedder, I can do it,
just get me one more meeting
and I will get what we need.
Ah, whoops!
Just fucking say it.
Just tell me!
Juststraight out.
Whoo!
Eh? Why won't you say it?
Just tell me that you did it.
Tell me that you did it.
Tell me.
Just tell me that you did it.
Just tell me.
Just say it.
Just tell me, please,
that you did it.
Colin, just say that you did it.
I need water.
Lizzie need water.
STAGG'S VOICE ECHOING: I love you.
I love you.
Sadie?
Sadie?
SHE INHALES DEEPLY
You left your key in the door, mate.
Shit, you're bleeding.
Oh, it's fine, honestly.
I just had a fight with a glass.
What is all this?
I'm busy trying to catch
the country's most dangerous killer,
amn't I?
What's going on, mate?
I can't crack him.
You know when you're embedded
deep into an op
and you start to
read your target, right?
You know how to play them,
where to go next?
With him, it's
It's like I can't
get him to that place.
I can't do it.
Yes, you fucking can.
You're inside his head.
That's the hardest bit.
Yeah, but he's in mine
all the time.
All the time.
And I can't take it, Luce, I can't.
Listen, listen, listen.
You are so close.
All you've got to
do is get that confession
and then you can live like a tramp
and fuck all your mates off
all you want.
But you won't because you'll
be flying high
because you'll
be a fucking legend.
I'll get this cleaned up.
Get dressed and
get your shit together
because you're
bringing this one home.
You're bringing
it home for all of us.
You know what I'm saying,
don't you, girl?
Yeah.
Dry your eyes.
I'm a serving police officer.
For the purpose of this operation
I'm known as Lizzie James.
Today is 29 June 1993.
I broke the seal on a tape
and placed it in a tape recorder
which is secreted on my person.
The time is 11:30am,
and it will be switched off
until it is switched on again later.
DISTANT SIRENS
DISTANT SIRENS
ON WIRE: "Hiya."
"Hello. You all right?"
"Mm."
"It's really nice here, isn't it?
Yeah, it's pretty."
"Got you a wine."
"That all right? Yeah, it is."
I've been thinking about her
walking around on Wimbledon Common.
Yeah. And I've been thinking
about him justwatching her.
Doing the things that he did.
And I try and imagine him.
SHE SIGHS
The thought of him
is just so exciting.
I wish it was me who done it.
"He probably just went crazy."
"You know,
if you think about it, he"
..just suddenly
attacked her, right?
Did they ever tell you
where he stabbed her first?
No.
All I know
..is that he stabbed her
..49 times.
She was like this. Mm?
She was lying there like that.
And her head was sort of
Bloody hell. "What, just lying on
her side?" Are you getting this?
And then her head, right, was
..was sort of over like that.
You know?
And then the photograph was taken
from this end, you know?
Oh, and her hands
Her hands were like this.
HE CHUCKLES
I want someone like
the man who killed Rachel.
I want that man.
You know, I know it's wrong
and I know that everyone
in the whole world wouldn't agree
with me, but I just can't help it.
I just think about him
all the time now.
I have these fantasies that, um
..that you're the man who did it.
That perhaps, I don't know,
you wanted to tell me
becausefor your own reasons.
I want to go there.
I want to see where it happened,
and I want you to show me.
I want you to treat me
just like he treated Rachel.
I want it all.
Lizzie
But if you're not that man, Colin,
and you haven't done
those things, then you will
never be able to fulfil me.
You will never, Colin, never.
What, do you want to
call the whole thing off, then?
Because I'm not like that man, am I?
You know what,
every time you touch me,
every time you come close,
I just want it to be him.
I know what you want, but the thing
is, I can't compete with that man.
Well, then, I've gotten it wrong.
I'm sorry.
No
SHE SIGHS
Fucking hell!
LAUGHTER
Me and you, eh?
Oh, here she is, here she is!
CLAPPING
So good.
You did it, Sadie.
We got him.
He didn't admit anything.
Not with words, no.
But he showed you how she was lying,
the exact position
of her hands, her head.
He couldn't have seen that
in the photo that I showed him.
Only the killer could know that.
This is the missing piece
of the jigsaw puzzle.
KP27.
That's the only photo
that he ever saw.
You can't see her hands,
you can't see her head.
How did he know
the position she was lying in?
So, I did it? Yes, you did.
It's over.
LAUGHTER
CAR ENGINE, DOG BARKING
KNOCKING
DOG WHINES
KNOCKING
LOUD KNOCKING
DOG BARKS
BARKING
Colin Stagg.
I'm arresting you for the murder of
Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common
on July the 15th, 1992.
You don't have to say anything
unless you wish to do so,
but anything you say
may be given in evidence.
Do you understand?
You've got to be joking.
Who's going to look after my dog?
Who's going to look after my dog?
LAUGHTER AND CHATTER
You did it, mate, cheers!
HUBBUB
Gents, gents, gents, listen up,
listen up. A couple of things, look.
Look, I know, right,
how hard you've all worked to get
Rachel's killer into custody, yeah?
It hasn't been easy.
God, it hasn't been easy.
But I think I speak for all of us
when I say it was the hard work
..and courage of one woman
that got us the evidence we needed.
Thank you, Lizzie James!
CHEERING
ALL: Lizzie James!
APPLAUSE
Come over here. Come on.
Come over here!
All right, OK.
CHEERING
HAUNTING FOLK TUNE
She stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And she went her way homeward
With one star awake
As the swans in the evening
Move over the lake. ♪
Leave it! No
No!
They'll find me.
Do it!