Landscapers (2021) s01e03 Episode Script
Episode 3
Ah.
All right! So, tell us what brings you here today, Christopher? What brings me here today? Erm Well Um anyone, really.
Er Er, I I like to read, which I suppose makes sense.
I'm a librarian.
So, anyone interested in books, erm, I suppose.
Er, I like films.
'I love going to the cinema.
I like old films especially.
I like, er, romantic films, um French films.
Oh, I love old Westerns.
I used to watch those with my grandfather.
' 'The older ones.
Er, Some Like It Hot.
Er, The Golden Age.
Oh, though, I do like Oh, what's he called? Gerard Depardieu.
Erm, yeah, there's something about him I find quite' interesting.
'John Wayne films er' I love that film High Noon.
Anything with Gary Cooper in it.
'If you could just tell us a bit more about who you are as a person.
' 'Who I am?' 'Yeah, just what sort of person do you think you are deep down?' Deep down.
That's quite tricky, isn't it? 'Uh Sorry.
Um I sup I'm' 'Take your time.
' I um Sorry.
I didn't expect you to ask me that.
That's OK.
'He was often very proud, very stubborn.
Smart boy in many ways.
Could've gone to university.
' But he just wasn't motivated in that way.
Hard working but not always productive, if you know what I mean.
And he didn't want to leave his mother was the other thing.
Or his brother.
So, he was close to his mum? And his brother - was it "David"? Yes.
Yes, it was David.
What about his erm relationship with the victims, the er Wycherleys? I only met the Wycherleys once, at the wedding.
Well, the mother, anyway.
The father I don't remember that much.
But Chris never really spoke to me about that kind of thing.
And the truth is he and I never spoke much about anything.
After he and Susan got married .
.
they both just disappeared into their own world.
How do you mean? Well, neither of them are built for THIS one, are they? If you told me that they'd beamed their way in on little spaceships, I'd have half a mind to believe you.
Oh, don't tell me I'm onto something.
Are they aliens? So, this erm this might seem like a stupid question, but can I ask you about the word "fragile"? Chris, he often refers to Susan as "fragile" in his in his emails, in in conversation.
Yes.
Yes, he does.
Just wondering what that's about, I guess.
If you want to understand my step-son, you should know that he has always found himself someone like that.
Someone "fragile", if you like.
Whether it be his mother or his brother.
It's not my story to tell, I'm afraid.
But they both died before their time .
.
put it that way.
And Chris took it very, very hard.
Especially when David went.
I'd never seen a man weep like that before.
Quite harrowing, actually.
It's one of the only times I ever held him.
He's a lot bigger than me but, my goodness, did he feel small.
But that's Chris, you see.
He's always trying to save someone .
.
and he never manages to do it.
Would you like me to make you a cup of tea? No, thanks.
I'll be all right in a minute.
OK.
Let me know if you change your mind.
Yes, please, actually.
Two sugars, please.
Need a bit of a pick-me-up.
Coming right up! 'Dear Gerard Depardieu, my husband and I are huge fans of your work, particularly the dramas, though we also think you're an excellent comedic actor.
I am writing to ask you most humbly for a signed photograph.
I would love to give this to my husband, Chris, to lift his spirits, as he has recently been bereaved.
He tragically lost his dear brother David several months ago and has been inconsolable ever since.
I know that a message and a gift from you would give him strength.
We live in England but we love France.
We think you live in the most romantic country in the world.
Un grand merci in advance, Mr Depardieu.
Yours faithfully, Susan Edwards.
Susan's at her parents' house in Mansfield - without Chris.
He's back in London.
Her mother, Patricia Wycherley - possible drink problem.
Her father, William, was sexually abusive towards Susan.
Allegedly.
Let's assume it's true.
Patricia shoots her husband.
She's pissed.
Some kind of row.
Bang, bang.
First question - why has Patricia got a gun? Patricia drops the gun.
Susan picks it up.
Patricia says horrible things to Susan, winds her up - Bang, bang again.
Whoops, Mum's dead too.
She cannelloni's her parents in a blanket and leaves them under the bed for a week.
Correct, sir.
Then she gets the coach back down to London, tells her husband her parents are off to Blackpool, so they need to house-sit.
They head back up to Mansfield.
Fish supper.
Susan can't take it any more.
Spills the beans.
Husband digs a massive hole, buries both bodies in the garden.
And we think that's a load of old? Bullshit! Good.
So, first task is to prove that it's rubbish.
Second task is to work out what actually happened.
Was it premeditated? Are we looking at joint enterprise? If so, how do we convince the CPS? 'For the record, I'm placing evidence from Catalogue A on the table.
' Gary Cooper.
President Eisenhower.
John Wayne.
Kirk Douglas.
Sir Winston Churchill.
Charles de Gaulle.
Personal correspondence with the actor Gerard Depardieu.
Oh, yes, Gerard.
Be very careful with those, please.
Are you friends with him, Mr Edwards? Not exactly.
Susan wrote to him once and we just stayed in touch.
All right.
These are all glamorous men, aren't they? Heroic men.
How do YOU fit into that? This is all you brought back with you from France.
It's all you've got left, in't it? No money in the bank.
No other assets to speak of.
Half of it bought behind your back with credit cards you had to work to pay off.
She was using money you had earned to buy tat.
Look .
.
this may not be to your taste, but it is not tat.
Some of these are highly sought-after and very rare.
Actually, Susan has immaculate taste when it comes to things like this.
700 quid.
Don't know what you paid for it, but we've had it appraised at 700.
It is, I'm afraid, what we call in the business a big old pile of useless tat.
You're lying.
I can do that? It's all right, love.
We've, er We've got some, have we? In the spice drawer.
Oh! Dang it.
The top's come off! They've gone everywhere.
No, no, no, you finish your eggs in peace.
It's my mess.
Dustpan's under the sink! You all right? No, er They've scurried into all the nooks and corners.
I need the hoover.
Oh, no.
I can do that.
It's a bit of a jumble.
I'm not a baby, Susan.
And it's hardly a jumble.
What are these? This is a lot of money, Susan.
It's an investment.
We can sell it.
Picture Show Magazine, £400.
It's signed by Gary Cooper! That's not the point! We don't have this money! We've never had this money.
I don't earn enough.
I was gonna tell you about that one.
"Dear Mr Wycherley" This is to your father.
Look, I can explain.
"As you are about to turn 100, we at the Department for Work and Pensions would like to visit you at the above address to conduct an in-person interview"! But it it's OK.
How is it OK? We've told 'em he's living with us.
He isn't, is he? No, but I wrote to them and asked them to delay.
It doesn't matter how long we wait.
Your father's never gonna attend this interview, is he? I know that.
What did you think would happen? Hey? Why did you hide this letter from me? 'It's a compulsion.
It's her way of dealing with things that er It's like she's trying to buy back the happiness that her parents stole away from her.
' But that was when she was a child - three decades earlier.
She's a grown woman now.
I assume you're trying to goad me into something by deliberately oversimplifying, but it's clear that these experiences are not You can't just shake them off.
And besides, William and Patricia never stopped being horrible to her.
They never stopped trying to take every chance of happiness away from her.
You must have hated them.
No, I tried not to.
This was very difficult.
I tried not to get involved - So, what did they do to "steal her happiness"? Well, they were abusive to her verbally, they constantly undermined her confidence and on one occasion, they literally stole from her.
What I mean is, they were - They stole from her? In a way, yes, that's just a small example, but what I mean is they were in general, they they were not at all nice to her.
What did they steal from her, Chris? Oh, look, "steal" "stole", that's an exaggeration.
What I mean is Susan This is the power they had over her.
She gave it to them quite willingly as a gift.
Because she wanted them to like her.
Which I never understood - A gift of what? Well, money, essentially.
Well, when was this? Oh, I can't remember.
It was that long ago.
Maybe the late'80s.
And it wasn't money as such, it was that, look, they had shared ownership in a house.
Susan and I were married now so we moved into my flat, and they - the the Wycherleys - they .
.
well, they thought it'd be better if If Susan just handed over her share to them? Oh 'Susan had helped them buy it some years previously, so her name was on the deeds.
' 'She helped them buy it?' 'Yes, they' Hi.
'She'd received an inheritance from her grandfather on her mother's side.
He was the one who got her into all the old Western movies.
He was a He was a war hero, and somewhat confusingly about the same age as William, her dad.
William hated him, of course, but William seemed to hate everyone.
' William.
Good to see you.
Ah, likewise.
Likewise, yeah.
Go on through.
Oh.
'And so, did her mum not inherit anything herself, then?' 'No.
That was the tricky thing.
I suppose, because of the animosity with William, her father didn't want William to get his hands on it, so he just left it all to Susan.
' Chris, perhaps you could take William off for a port.
We don't have any port.
Or something.
You know leave us girls to have a little catch-up.
What's your poison, William? My wife.
You have no idea how awful it is.
My life shouldn't have been like this, Susan.
I used to have friends.
Used to laugh.
Oh, Mum.
It's not so bad.
You've still got me.
You've no fucking idea, Susan.
You've escaped.
I'm stuck with him.
I'm sorry.
No, I'm sorry, Susan.
I'm not myself.
How's your organ? Broken.
Patricia hammering away on it with her fat fingers.
I'm going for a pee.
Do you want anything while I'm up? Again? You've got the bladder of a mouse.
A lady mouse.
That was MY money.
He was my father, Susan! Oh, you can be a thoughtless little bitch sometimes.
I'm sorry, Susan.
I never mean to hurt you.
You know that, don't you? Will you consider it? Give your poor old mother a bit of peace? Just consider it a loan.
That's all it is.
A simple loan.
'So, she signs it over?' 'Yes.
' 'And what happens to the house?' It's all too predictable, I'm afraid.
Before the ink is dry on the transfer deed, they sell the house - for a very healthy profit I might add - and they sod off up to Mansfield.
To Mansfield? Yes.
Gosh, I can see how that might have exercised you.
Well, no, I'm not I I wasn't exercised.
I was more regretful, I suppose.
But one tries to rise above it.
Please don't be angry with me - How can you be so stupid?! 'It's your money! It's our money!' And you just let 'em take it like they've taken every other bloody thing from you! They promised they wouldn't sell it.
Their promises are worth nothing! Of course, they're gonna sell it.
They're liars.
The whole lot of you are liars! Why can't you ever learn, Susan? I tell you what.
Why don't we do something else for a bit? We could play I Spy.
Erm There's about five things in this room.
Or we could play cards.
I don't have any cards.
Or we could chat, you know.
I guess, the point is to keep your mind off things for a bit so it's not gonna What about YOUR life? Er Er, yeah.
Yeah, er Or we could play that game where it's like erm the first letter is the last letter of the word before - What's your father like? Er Hmm.
My dad erm My dad wasn't around much.
Which is kind of a cliche, I guess, but it's true.
What about your mum? I love my mum.
She's amazing.
And a wife? I've got a girlfriend.
And you know what, actually, erm .
.
last night, on my way home, I was I was thinking about the way you talk about Chris.
I hope she talks about me that way.
Like how you stick up for him and stuff.
See, I don't know, erm I don't know.
That's real, isn't it? You really love him.
Sorry.
'She didn't step up to the plate like you'd hoped.
You wanted her to stand up for herself but she's refused to change.
' No.
She wanted to.
She tried to.
But she couldn't.
So, it should have been YOU stepping up to the plate? I couldn't know what the Wycherleys were up to - You were watching telly with the man who'd sexually abused your wife while her mother stole her inheritance.
That is unfairly reductive.
And on that night, when the Wycherleys were shot and killed, you did exactly the same thing, didn't you? You abandoned Susan to her parents.
No, I did not.
You let her go alone up to Mansfield to visit the two people she hated most in the world.
And look what happened to her.
Unless that is when you see it.
That Susan is never gonna change.
That she can't suddenly start standing up for herself.
And that's when you realise that you have to.
I was not in Mansfield the weekend the Wycherleys were killed.
I wish I was.
I might have been able to prevent this from happening.
But I was in Dagenham.
Here we go.
For the record, I'm showing the suspect item PW-56.
Paid another visit to your step-mother today, Chris.
And, erm she lent us this box of photos.
Is that your mother-in-law - Patricia? Yes.
Where's William? He He didn't come.
He didn't approve of me marrying his daughter for some reason.
And, er, did that Did that hurt? Not really.
Is that your mum - Ange? Yes.
And is that your brother - David? Mm, yes.
So um Emma and I had a chat and we don't wanna put you through something which is obviously very painful, but the feeling is, is that this erm history, if you like, it may be relevant to the case.
So do you mind if we ask you a couple more questions? Look, Chris, my dad's a drinker, so I've got "fragile" in the family as well.
And don't get me wrong, I love my dad.
But, by God, is he exhausting.
Every time the phone rings, I know it's gonna be some kind of drama.
But do you know what makes me angrier than anything else? Watching my mum pour all her energy into worrying.
They're not even together any more and yet still every decision she makes revolves around him and his drinking.
And I've told her a million times .
.
let it go.
It's not worth it.
Because some people are beyond help, aren't they, really? Let's face it.
Stop trying to help people who can't be helped.
Look where it's got you both.
I don't agree with you.
I don't agree that anyone's beyond help.
Nobody's beyond help in this world.
That's the whole point of this world.
Not my mother not David and certainly not Susan.
I wasn't trying to save my mother or save my brother.
I was trying to love them.
And that's all I've ever done with Susan, is love her.
But how will she explain to a jury that she cleared out her parents' bank account the day after they were shot dead? No-one's gonna buy she was provoked.
She's going down for double murder, Chris, and the fact that you love her is not gonna change anything.
She didn't shoot them both.
She couldn't have - Yes, she could.
No, she couldn't.
The nature of the bullet wounds indicate that whoever shot William also shot - She couldn't have done it.
She's terrified of guns.
What do you mean she's terrified of guns? Oh, Susan.
I know what this is going to look like.
But I have to stand up for my wife.
I know she couldn't have killed them both.
I know she was terrified of guns because I used to belong to a gun club.
I used to own guns myself, in fact.
I owned two pistols.
'Both of which I got rid of long before the Wycherleys died, before the Dunblane law even, when I would've had to turn them in, anyway.
' But I dragged Susan along to the range once or twice, and she couldn't even bring herself to touch a gun, much less shoot one.
So I know that she could never have killed two people with a gun.
She could never have contemplated killing two people with a gun.
That is impossible.
'So, that awful weekend in May when you were alone - you say - your parents are dead, you're up all night wondering how to dispose of the bodies what to do with the gun, sleeping in that house and then going and opening that bank account.
That's a lot for anyone to go through, Susan.
And for someone "fragile" like you.
' 'Can you get to the point, please? My client is pretty exhausted already from waiting all day, so I think the least you could do is to be concise.
' 'The point is, Susan, we can't imagine you going through it on your own.
We think Chris helped you.
Which means we're not asking for manslaughter.
' We're recommending murder.
For both of you.
No.
We think Chris was with you that first weekend - probably the only weekend - and you murdered them together and then he buried them.
No! What are you basing this on? You both felt you were owed money from that house.
No er The house? In Edgware.
The one they "stole" from you - to quote your husband.
Let me tell you what our report's gonna say.
See if it makes sense to you.
Come on, Susan.
I'm sorry, but I have to object.
You, too.
This way.
Where are you going? What's happening? Shall I bring the camera, Emma? Nah.
You don't have to follow them.
Where are you going! Susan! Chop, chop.
You don't have to go with them.
You can come back! Susan.
No - Grant, come on.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
No! Where are you going? No! Susan! Good evening, you two.
You're looking fresher than when I last saw you.
Oh, stop it.
Isn't she funny? Where shall I stand? Or Or Or shall I sit? Shall Shall I plug in? Nah, you're all right.
Ah.
Come through.
No, because this is silly.
Oh, hello, darlings! Don't you look lovely.
Come in, come in.
Hello, my girl! Fuck you, Dad! No.
I wouldn't say that because I don't swear.
William.
Good to see you.
Yeah, good to see you, too.
Ow, why are you squeezing my hand so hard? Because of what you did to my wife.
That's a bit much, don't you think? This is not how it happened.
No, it didn't.
It didn't happen like this! I keep telling you, Chris wasn't there! Hello, darling.
What you doing? Mr Wycherley, excuse me, sir.
Would you mind getting up? Delighted.
Unless one of you tells us, Susan, we're never gonna know exactly what happened - whether you're all having a nice time, or you're all having a row, or what - but sooner or later you had them both up here in the bedroom.
Right, can you give me the Now? OK? Actually, William and Patricia Yes, ma'am? This is ridiculous.
Could you get into bed and go to sleep? That makes more sense.
That's a good note.
Thank you, Officer.
Patricia would probably be sleeping quite lightly, I think, because of her back pain.
Yeah, OK.
Right, all yours, Chris.
Woah sorry.
No, just don't worry about that.
Right, yes.
Ah We think Chris was with you that first weekend - probably the only weekend - and you murdered them together.
Then, over the next couple of days, he buried the bodies - No, that was the following weekend.
The weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Because we stayed up to watch it on television while our neighbours went to bed, so we could bury the bodies.
I remember it was the year that Dana International won - Dana Inter You never give up, do you? Chris informed us that he used to have a couple of revolvers.
.
38s, as it happens.
Susan you're within your rights to take five to discuss this.
That was a long time ago.
He got rid of them.
He says you couldn't stand guns.
That's right.
I was terrified - Terrified of them.
Yeah, he said.
Couldn't even bring yourself to touch one.
You don't think that's his way of telling us - that HE did the shooting? - No! Kind of like when he called his step-mother No, no! He's not confessing to anything! Susan.
- What?! - Are you sure you don't wanna discuss this? What difference would that make?! I can advise you on how best to - How to what? There's a lot being discussed - We are not murderers! She's calling me a murderer! I don't know what he was thinking, telling you about his guns.
That's not clever.
But doesn't it just show you, like when he called his step-mother - which he was very hurt by, by the way she betrayed him - doesn't that just show you he has nothing to hide? If you want to know where the gun came from, it was my father's, actually.
And you're gonna think this is a lie but but he actually was fascinated by fascist iconography and Nazis.
Susan - This is the truth! Believe me.
He had a collection in a cabinet and we got rid of them because we didn't like having them in the house.
So we got rid of everything.
You have to believe me.
Please.
Are you done? In truth, it no longer matters what I believe.
We're gonna stop there, Susan.
Thank you.
We're going to prison.
My Chris is going to prison and I'll never see him again.
You can get through this, Susan.
Um, you have to stay calm.
It It's There's a whole trial yet, OK? You have to trust me.
When will I see Chris again? I I Maybe not for a while but I mean, if if the trial does happen, I'll make sure he finds a really good lawyer and If you do get charged and prison does happen, for either one of you, once you get your head around it, it's not so bad.
OK? It's actually a lot more comfortable than being in here.
You just have to trust me - I don't trust you! I don't trust anyone except Chris.
Fair enough.
I get it, I get it.
And I know you're upset.
I just I'm very sorry, but you have to keep it together, OK.
I get it.
Honestly, I do - You don't get it! You don't.
You don't get it! Susan, I I Why didn't you stop them?! You didn't do anything! I'm sorry if you're not happy with how I represented you, but it's a big case for me, Susan, and I just I I didn't know I didn't know about the house.
I didn't know about the bank account.
I didn't know about Chris and his guns.
You didn't tell me - I wasn't supposed to tell you, so why would I tell you?! Yeah, OK.
Stupid Chris.
What is he doing? He's been in questioning for two days straight without support.
It's tough, Susan.
People break.
It's so tough.
Erm, OK, OK, listen.
I don't normally tell anybody about this - at least not my clients - because I'm not really proud of it, but .
.
if it makes you feel any better, I have I've been to prison.
Yeah, I know, but it's true.
And, OK, it was when I was younger, er, silly stuff.
Getting into fights and so on, but but, look, I had my mum.
And I had my girl, the same way you have Chris.
And now here I am.
That's not the same thing.
What's not the same thing? It's not the same thing! Chris is the only thing I love and I can't lose I can't lose him.
I can't.
All right! All right, calm down.
You're not getting a table dance.
Obviously, a lot of hard graft has gone into this - including all you lot behind the scenes.
But I think we can all agree that DC Lancing and DC Wilkie have done us proud.
Howdy, Sheriff.
Fair fucks to you, Emma - balls of steel.
We can be pretty confident now that the story that pair of vampires came in with is as fairy-tale as Father Fucking Christmas.
Except Santa never killed anyone, as far as we know.
We ain't caught him yet, anyway.
But, on a serious note, the hope is that because of our work, a double murder has been solved and two cold-hearted criminals will be brought to justice.
And that's what it's all about.
That's what gets me up in the morning .
.
and that's why I love this job.
If the lawyers don't fuck it up.
That's right, Paul.
It's all down to them wiggy bloody penguins now.
That's why they get paid the big bucks, is it? So, anyway, good work.
Let's have a few drinks, big case but onto the next one.
Come on! To justice.
Right, who's got the bottle opener? Right, good work.
'"Dear Chris, thank you for the kind letter requesting a signed photograph, which I include in this envelope.
I cannot imagine the pain that you are suffering at the moment and I wish that I could take it away.
"' 'Hello?' Hiya, Dad.
'Is that you, ducky?' Yeah.
You all right? 'Yeah, I'm all right.
Are you?' Yeah.
'This is a nice surprise.
' '"In life, there are moments of darkness.
I have experienced many in my life, too.
But I know there will always be some hope to come around the corner.
My dear Chris, at times of darkness it is natural to grieve, but you must not despair.
Your beautiful brother David is in heaven amongst the angels where there is only light, and you will see him once more in this place.
Please write to me again.
I would be very happy to be your friend.
Yours sincerely, Gerard Depardieu.
"' I can't believe it.
I can't believe that someone like that would write to people like us.
Can you? Yeah, it's definitely surprising.
What an extraordinary gesture.
What an extraordinary man.
Yeah.
Has it made you feel better? I think it has.
It's made me feel like there's some good in the world and it's important to be reminded of that, isn't it? Yeah, definitely.
Gerard Depardieu friends with the likes of us.
Can I tell you a secret? A secret? When I was a little girl and I used to go for walks sometimes on my own just to get away from Mum and Dad when they were fighting or, you know, there was this horse I used to go and look at every now and then.
And I never knew whose it was but he'd just stand around in his bit of field by the road, eating the grass and getting on with his day.
And And I'd talk to him sometimes.
Did you? Yeah.
Out loud? Yeah.
I called it Susan.
You didn't.
I did.
And I'd say, "Hello, Susan, how are you today? I hope you're enjoying your lovely grass.
Oh, it's windy today, isn't it, Susan?" And stuff like that.
And then when I'd get home, I'd sit on the sofa like this .
.
and I'd look at the back and, you see where the the line meets the wall? Can you see? Like a horizon? Oh.
Oh, yeah.
And I used to imagine that the wall was the sky and that this was the great big dusty plain like in the films.
And then I'd picture a tiny little Susan galloping and galloping for hours .
.
and I used to sit and imagine it.
Can you see? Yes, I can.
Yeah.
That's my life, isn't it, Chris? That horse.
I suppose it is, yes.
And now since I've met you, I imagine you on the horse.
Me? Yeah.
And I'm with you.
And we're riding and riding across the plain, the wind in our hair and I'm holding onto you as tight as I can.
And then what happens? Nothing.
Just ride, Chris.
Just ride.
Well I'm afraid I don't know how to ride a horse .
.
but I can learn.
'In 2005, the Edwards faked signatures on documents.
' 'And around the same time, the couple's bank account was drained.
' 'In later years, the house was sold and benefits were claimed in their names.
' 'They had taken something in the region of £300,000 and they appear to have spent every single penny of it.
' 'But the deceit didn't end there.
To cover up what they'd done, the couple also tricked friends and family into thinking the Wycherleys were still alive.
At this point, William and Patricia Wycherley had been dead for 13 years.
But the Edwards eventually ran out of luck.
On what would have been William Wycherley's 100th birthday, the Department of Work and Pensions wrote him a letter, asking to see him.
' 'This was a double murder motivated by money.
' 'Motivated by greed.
' 'The Edwards have insisted they've told the truth.
But police say that from the moment they were arrested, the couple have displayed a heartless attitude.
' 'Christopher and Susan Edwards will appear before a Crown Court judge on Monday.
' AccessibleCustomerService@sky.
uk
All right! So, tell us what brings you here today, Christopher? What brings me here today? Erm Well Um anyone, really.
Er Er, I I like to read, which I suppose makes sense.
I'm a librarian.
So, anyone interested in books, erm, I suppose.
Er, I like films.
'I love going to the cinema.
I like old films especially.
I like, er, romantic films, um French films.
Oh, I love old Westerns.
I used to watch those with my grandfather.
' 'The older ones.
Er, Some Like It Hot.
Er, The Golden Age.
Oh, though, I do like Oh, what's he called? Gerard Depardieu.
Erm, yeah, there's something about him I find quite' interesting.
'John Wayne films er' I love that film High Noon.
Anything with Gary Cooper in it.
'If you could just tell us a bit more about who you are as a person.
' 'Who I am?' 'Yeah, just what sort of person do you think you are deep down?' Deep down.
That's quite tricky, isn't it? 'Uh Sorry.
Um I sup I'm' 'Take your time.
' I um Sorry.
I didn't expect you to ask me that.
That's OK.
'He was often very proud, very stubborn.
Smart boy in many ways.
Could've gone to university.
' But he just wasn't motivated in that way.
Hard working but not always productive, if you know what I mean.
And he didn't want to leave his mother was the other thing.
Or his brother.
So, he was close to his mum? And his brother - was it "David"? Yes.
Yes, it was David.
What about his erm relationship with the victims, the er Wycherleys? I only met the Wycherleys once, at the wedding.
Well, the mother, anyway.
The father I don't remember that much.
But Chris never really spoke to me about that kind of thing.
And the truth is he and I never spoke much about anything.
After he and Susan got married .
.
they both just disappeared into their own world.
How do you mean? Well, neither of them are built for THIS one, are they? If you told me that they'd beamed their way in on little spaceships, I'd have half a mind to believe you.
Oh, don't tell me I'm onto something.
Are they aliens? So, this erm this might seem like a stupid question, but can I ask you about the word "fragile"? Chris, he often refers to Susan as "fragile" in his in his emails, in in conversation.
Yes.
Yes, he does.
Just wondering what that's about, I guess.
If you want to understand my step-son, you should know that he has always found himself someone like that.
Someone "fragile", if you like.
Whether it be his mother or his brother.
It's not my story to tell, I'm afraid.
But they both died before their time .
.
put it that way.
And Chris took it very, very hard.
Especially when David went.
I'd never seen a man weep like that before.
Quite harrowing, actually.
It's one of the only times I ever held him.
He's a lot bigger than me but, my goodness, did he feel small.
But that's Chris, you see.
He's always trying to save someone .
.
and he never manages to do it.
Would you like me to make you a cup of tea? No, thanks.
I'll be all right in a minute.
OK.
Let me know if you change your mind.
Yes, please, actually.
Two sugars, please.
Need a bit of a pick-me-up.
Coming right up! 'Dear Gerard Depardieu, my husband and I are huge fans of your work, particularly the dramas, though we also think you're an excellent comedic actor.
I am writing to ask you most humbly for a signed photograph.
I would love to give this to my husband, Chris, to lift his spirits, as he has recently been bereaved.
He tragically lost his dear brother David several months ago and has been inconsolable ever since.
I know that a message and a gift from you would give him strength.
We live in England but we love France.
We think you live in the most romantic country in the world.
Un grand merci in advance, Mr Depardieu.
Yours faithfully, Susan Edwards.
Susan's at her parents' house in Mansfield - without Chris.
He's back in London.
Her mother, Patricia Wycherley - possible drink problem.
Her father, William, was sexually abusive towards Susan.
Allegedly.
Let's assume it's true.
Patricia shoots her husband.
She's pissed.
Some kind of row.
Bang, bang.
First question - why has Patricia got a gun? Patricia drops the gun.
Susan picks it up.
Patricia says horrible things to Susan, winds her up - Bang, bang again.
Whoops, Mum's dead too.
She cannelloni's her parents in a blanket and leaves them under the bed for a week.
Correct, sir.
Then she gets the coach back down to London, tells her husband her parents are off to Blackpool, so they need to house-sit.
They head back up to Mansfield.
Fish supper.
Susan can't take it any more.
Spills the beans.
Husband digs a massive hole, buries both bodies in the garden.
And we think that's a load of old? Bullshit! Good.
So, first task is to prove that it's rubbish.
Second task is to work out what actually happened.
Was it premeditated? Are we looking at joint enterprise? If so, how do we convince the CPS? 'For the record, I'm placing evidence from Catalogue A on the table.
' Gary Cooper.
President Eisenhower.
John Wayne.
Kirk Douglas.
Sir Winston Churchill.
Charles de Gaulle.
Personal correspondence with the actor Gerard Depardieu.
Oh, yes, Gerard.
Be very careful with those, please.
Are you friends with him, Mr Edwards? Not exactly.
Susan wrote to him once and we just stayed in touch.
All right.
These are all glamorous men, aren't they? Heroic men.
How do YOU fit into that? This is all you brought back with you from France.
It's all you've got left, in't it? No money in the bank.
No other assets to speak of.
Half of it bought behind your back with credit cards you had to work to pay off.
She was using money you had earned to buy tat.
Look .
.
this may not be to your taste, but it is not tat.
Some of these are highly sought-after and very rare.
Actually, Susan has immaculate taste when it comes to things like this.
700 quid.
Don't know what you paid for it, but we've had it appraised at 700.
It is, I'm afraid, what we call in the business a big old pile of useless tat.
You're lying.
I can do that? It's all right, love.
We've, er We've got some, have we? In the spice drawer.
Oh! Dang it.
The top's come off! They've gone everywhere.
No, no, no, you finish your eggs in peace.
It's my mess.
Dustpan's under the sink! You all right? No, er They've scurried into all the nooks and corners.
I need the hoover.
Oh, no.
I can do that.
It's a bit of a jumble.
I'm not a baby, Susan.
And it's hardly a jumble.
What are these? This is a lot of money, Susan.
It's an investment.
We can sell it.
Picture Show Magazine, £400.
It's signed by Gary Cooper! That's not the point! We don't have this money! We've never had this money.
I don't earn enough.
I was gonna tell you about that one.
"Dear Mr Wycherley" This is to your father.
Look, I can explain.
"As you are about to turn 100, we at the Department for Work and Pensions would like to visit you at the above address to conduct an in-person interview"! But it it's OK.
How is it OK? We've told 'em he's living with us.
He isn't, is he? No, but I wrote to them and asked them to delay.
It doesn't matter how long we wait.
Your father's never gonna attend this interview, is he? I know that.
What did you think would happen? Hey? Why did you hide this letter from me? 'It's a compulsion.
It's her way of dealing with things that er It's like she's trying to buy back the happiness that her parents stole away from her.
' But that was when she was a child - three decades earlier.
She's a grown woman now.
I assume you're trying to goad me into something by deliberately oversimplifying, but it's clear that these experiences are not You can't just shake them off.
And besides, William and Patricia never stopped being horrible to her.
They never stopped trying to take every chance of happiness away from her.
You must have hated them.
No, I tried not to.
This was very difficult.
I tried not to get involved - So, what did they do to "steal her happiness"? Well, they were abusive to her verbally, they constantly undermined her confidence and on one occasion, they literally stole from her.
What I mean is, they were - They stole from her? In a way, yes, that's just a small example, but what I mean is they were in general, they they were not at all nice to her.
What did they steal from her, Chris? Oh, look, "steal" "stole", that's an exaggeration.
What I mean is Susan This is the power they had over her.
She gave it to them quite willingly as a gift.
Because she wanted them to like her.
Which I never understood - A gift of what? Well, money, essentially.
Well, when was this? Oh, I can't remember.
It was that long ago.
Maybe the late'80s.
And it wasn't money as such, it was that, look, they had shared ownership in a house.
Susan and I were married now so we moved into my flat, and they - the the Wycherleys - they .
.
well, they thought it'd be better if If Susan just handed over her share to them? Oh 'Susan had helped them buy it some years previously, so her name was on the deeds.
' 'She helped them buy it?' 'Yes, they' Hi.
'She'd received an inheritance from her grandfather on her mother's side.
He was the one who got her into all the old Western movies.
He was a He was a war hero, and somewhat confusingly about the same age as William, her dad.
William hated him, of course, but William seemed to hate everyone.
' William.
Good to see you.
Ah, likewise.
Likewise, yeah.
Go on through.
Oh.
'And so, did her mum not inherit anything herself, then?' 'No.
That was the tricky thing.
I suppose, because of the animosity with William, her father didn't want William to get his hands on it, so he just left it all to Susan.
' Chris, perhaps you could take William off for a port.
We don't have any port.
Or something.
You know leave us girls to have a little catch-up.
What's your poison, William? My wife.
You have no idea how awful it is.
My life shouldn't have been like this, Susan.
I used to have friends.
Used to laugh.
Oh, Mum.
It's not so bad.
You've still got me.
You've no fucking idea, Susan.
You've escaped.
I'm stuck with him.
I'm sorry.
No, I'm sorry, Susan.
I'm not myself.
How's your organ? Broken.
Patricia hammering away on it with her fat fingers.
I'm going for a pee.
Do you want anything while I'm up? Again? You've got the bladder of a mouse.
A lady mouse.
That was MY money.
He was my father, Susan! Oh, you can be a thoughtless little bitch sometimes.
I'm sorry, Susan.
I never mean to hurt you.
You know that, don't you? Will you consider it? Give your poor old mother a bit of peace? Just consider it a loan.
That's all it is.
A simple loan.
'So, she signs it over?' 'Yes.
' 'And what happens to the house?' It's all too predictable, I'm afraid.
Before the ink is dry on the transfer deed, they sell the house - for a very healthy profit I might add - and they sod off up to Mansfield.
To Mansfield? Yes.
Gosh, I can see how that might have exercised you.
Well, no, I'm not I I wasn't exercised.
I was more regretful, I suppose.
But one tries to rise above it.
Please don't be angry with me - How can you be so stupid?! 'It's your money! It's our money!' And you just let 'em take it like they've taken every other bloody thing from you! They promised they wouldn't sell it.
Their promises are worth nothing! Of course, they're gonna sell it.
They're liars.
The whole lot of you are liars! Why can't you ever learn, Susan? I tell you what.
Why don't we do something else for a bit? We could play I Spy.
Erm There's about five things in this room.
Or we could play cards.
I don't have any cards.
Or we could chat, you know.
I guess, the point is to keep your mind off things for a bit so it's not gonna What about YOUR life? Er Er, yeah.
Yeah, er Or we could play that game where it's like erm the first letter is the last letter of the word before - What's your father like? Er Hmm.
My dad erm My dad wasn't around much.
Which is kind of a cliche, I guess, but it's true.
What about your mum? I love my mum.
She's amazing.
And a wife? I've got a girlfriend.
And you know what, actually, erm .
.
last night, on my way home, I was I was thinking about the way you talk about Chris.
I hope she talks about me that way.
Like how you stick up for him and stuff.
See, I don't know, erm I don't know.
That's real, isn't it? You really love him.
Sorry.
'She didn't step up to the plate like you'd hoped.
You wanted her to stand up for herself but she's refused to change.
' No.
She wanted to.
She tried to.
But she couldn't.
So, it should have been YOU stepping up to the plate? I couldn't know what the Wycherleys were up to - You were watching telly with the man who'd sexually abused your wife while her mother stole her inheritance.
That is unfairly reductive.
And on that night, when the Wycherleys were shot and killed, you did exactly the same thing, didn't you? You abandoned Susan to her parents.
No, I did not.
You let her go alone up to Mansfield to visit the two people she hated most in the world.
And look what happened to her.
Unless that is when you see it.
That Susan is never gonna change.
That she can't suddenly start standing up for herself.
And that's when you realise that you have to.
I was not in Mansfield the weekend the Wycherleys were killed.
I wish I was.
I might have been able to prevent this from happening.
But I was in Dagenham.
Here we go.
For the record, I'm showing the suspect item PW-56.
Paid another visit to your step-mother today, Chris.
And, erm she lent us this box of photos.
Is that your mother-in-law - Patricia? Yes.
Where's William? He He didn't come.
He didn't approve of me marrying his daughter for some reason.
And, er, did that Did that hurt? Not really.
Is that your mum - Ange? Yes.
And is that your brother - David? Mm, yes.
So um Emma and I had a chat and we don't wanna put you through something which is obviously very painful, but the feeling is, is that this erm history, if you like, it may be relevant to the case.
So do you mind if we ask you a couple more questions? Look, Chris, my dad's a drinker, so I've got "fragile" in the family as well.
And don't get me wrong, I love my dad.
But, by God, is he exhausting.
Every time the phone rings, I know it's gonna be some kind of drama.
But do you know what makes me angrier than anything else? Watching my mum pour all her energy into worrying.
They're not even together any more and yet still every decision she makes revolves around him and his drinking.
And I've told her a million times .
.
let it go.
It's not worth it.
Because some people are beyond help, aren't they, really? Let's face it.
Stop trying to help people who can't be helped.
Look where it's got you both.
I don't agree with you.
I don't agree that anyone's beyond help.
Nobody's beyond help in this world.
That's the whole point of this world.
Not my mother not David and certainly not Susan.
I wasn't trying to save my mother or save my brother.
I was trying to love them.
And that's all I've ever done with Susan, is love her.
But how will she explain to a jury that she cleared out her parents' bank account the day after they were shot dead? No-one's gonna buy she was provoked.
She's going down for double murder, Chris, and the fact that you love her is not gonna change anything.
She didn't shoot them both.
She couldn't have - Yes, she could.
No, she couldn't.
The nature of the bullet wounds indicate that whoever shot William also shot - She couldn't have done it.
She's terrified of guns.
What do you mean she's terrified of guns? Oh, Susan.
I know what this is going to look like.
But I have to stand up for my wife.
I know she couldn't have killed them both.
I know she was terrified of guns because I used to belong to a gun club.
I used to own guns myself, in fact.
I owned two pistols.
'Both of which I got rid of long before the Wycherleys died, before the Dunblane law even, when I would've had to turn them in, anyway.
' But I dragged Susan along to the range once or twice, and she couldn't even bring herself to touch a gun, much less shoot one.
So I know that she could never have killed two people with a gun.
She could never have contemplated killing two people with a gun.
That is impossible.
'So, that awful weekend in May when you were alone - you say - your parents are dead, you're up all night wondering how to dispose of the bodies what to do with the gun, sleeping in that house and then going and opening that bank account.
That's a lot for anyone to go through, Susan.
And for someone "fragile" like you.
' 'Can you get to the point, please? My client is pretty exhausted already from waiting all day, so I think the least you could do is to be concise.
' 'The point is, Susan, we can't imagine you going through it on your own.
We think Chris helped you.
Which means we're not asking for manslaughter.
' We're recommending murder.
For both of you.
No.
We think Chris was with you that first weekend - probably the only weekend - and you murdered them together and then he buried them.
No! What are you basing this on? You both felt you were owed money from that house.
No er The house? In Edgware.
The one they "stole" from you - to quote your husband.
Let me tell you what our report's gonna say.
See if it makes sense to you.
Come on, Susan.
I'm sorry, but I have to object.
You, too.
This way.
Where are you going? What's happening? Shall I bring the camera, Emma? Nah.
You don't have to follow them.
Where are you going! Susan! Chop, chop.
You don't have to go with them.
You can come back! Susan.
No - Grant, come on.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
No! Where are you going? No! Susan! Good evening, you two.
You're looking fresher than when I last saw you.
Oh, stop it.
Isn't she funny? Where shall I stand? Or Or Or shall I sit? Shall Shall I plug in? Nah, you're all right.
Ah.
Come through.
No, because this is silly.
Oh, hello, darlings! Don't you look lovely.
Come in, come in.
Hello, my girl! Fuck you, Dad! No.
I wouldn't say that because I don't swear.
William.
Good to see you.
Yeah, good to see you, too.
Ow, why are you squeezing my hand so hard? Because of what you did to my wife.
That's a bit much, don't you think? This is not how it happened.
No, it didn't.
It didn't happen like this! I keep telling you, Chris wasn't there! Hello, darling.
What you doing? Mr Wycherley, excuse me, sir.
Would you mind getting up? Delighted.
Unless one of you tells us, Susan, we're never gonna know exactly what happened - whether you're all having a nice time, or you're all having a row, or what - but sooner or later you had them both up here in the bedroom.
Right, can you give me the Now? OK? Actually, William and Patricia Yes, ma'am? This is ridiculous.
Could you get into bed and go to sleep? That makes more sense.
That's a good note.
Thank you, Officer.
Patricia would probably be sleeping quite lightly, I think, because of her back pain.
Yeah, OK.
Right, all yours, Chris.
Woah sorry.
No, just don't worry about that.
Right, yes.
Ah We think Chris was with you that first weekend - probably the only weekend - and you murdered them together.
Then, over the next couple of days, he buried the bodies - No, that was the following weekend.
The weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Because we stayed up to watch it on television while our neighbours went to bed, so we could bury the bodies.
I remember it was the year that Dana International won - Dana Inter You never give up, do you? Chris informed us that he used to have a couple of revolvers.
.
38s, as it happens.
Susan you're within your rights to take five to discuss this.
That was a long time ago.
He got rid of them.
He says you couldn't stand guns.
That's right.
I was terrified - Terrified of them.
Yeah, he said.
Couldn't even bring yourself to touch one.
You don't think that's his way of telling us - that HE did the shooting? - No! Kind of like when he called his step-mother No, no! He's not confessing to anything! Susan.
- What?! - Are you sure you don't wanna discuss this? What difference would that make?! I can advise you on how best to - How to what? There's a lot being discussed - We are not murderers! She's calling me a murderer! I don't know what he was thinking, telling you about his guns.
That's not clever.
But doesn't it just show you, like when he called his step-mother - which he was very hurt by, by the way she betrayed him - doesn't that just show you he has nothing to hide? If you want to know where the gun came from, it was my father's, actually.
And you're gonna think this is a lie but but he actually was fascinated by fascist iconography and Nazis.
Susan - This is the truth! Believe me.
He had a collection in a cabinet and we got rid of them because we didn't like having them in the house.
So we got rid of everything.
You have to believe me.
Please.
Are you done? In truth, it no longer matters what I believe.
We're gonna stop there, Susan.
Thank you.
We're going to prison.
My Chris is going to prison and I'll never see him again.
You can get through this, Susan.
Um, you have to stay calm.
It It's There's a whole trial yet, OK? You have to trust me.
When will I see Chris again? I I Maybe not for a while but I mean, if if the trial does happen, I'll make sure he finds a really good lawyer and If you do get charged and prison does happen, for either one of you, once you get your head around it, it's not so bad.
OK? It's actually a lot more comfortable than being in here.
You just have to trust me - I don't trust you! I don't trust anyone except Chris.
Fair enough.
I get it, I get it.
And I know you're upset.
I just I'm very sorry, but you have to keep it together, OK.
I get it.
Honestly, I do - You don't get it! You don't.
You don't get it! Susan, I I Why didn't you stop them?! You didn't do anything! I'm sorry if you're not happy with how I represented you, but it's a big case for me, Susan, and I just I I didn't know I didn't know about the house.
I didn't know about the bank account.
I didn't know about Chris and his guns.
You didn't tell me - I wasn't supposed to tell you, so why would I tell you?! Yeah, OK.
Stupid Chris.
What is he doing? He's been in questioning for two days straight without support.
It's tough, Susan.
People break.
It's so tough.
Erm, OK, OK, listen.
I don't normally tell anybody about this - at least not my clients - because I'm not really proud of it, but .
.
if it makes you feel any better, I have I've been to prison.
Yeah, I know, but it's true.
And, OK, it was when I was younger, er, silly stuff.
Getting into fights and so on, but but, look, I had my mum.
And I had my girl, the same way you have Chris.
And now here I am.
That's not the same thing.
What's not the same thing? It's not the same thing! Chris is the only thing I love and I can't lose I can't lose him.
I can't.
All right! All right, calm down.
You're not getting a table dance.
Obviously, a lot of hard graft has gone into this - including all you lot behind the scenes.
But I think we can all agree that DC Lancing and DC Wilkie have done us proud.
Howdy, Sheriff.
Fair fucks to you, Emma - balls of steel.
We can be pretty confident now that the story that pair of vampires came in with is as fairy-tale as Father Fucking Christmas.
Except Santa never killed anyone, as far as we know.
We ain't caught him yet, anyway.
But, on a serious note, the hope is that because of our work, a double murder has been solved and two cold-hearted criminals will be brought to justice.
And that's what it's all about.
That's what gets me up in the morning .
.
and that's why I love this job.
If the lawyers don't fuck it up.
That's right, Paul.
It's all down to them wiggy bloody penguins now.
That's why they get paid the big bucks, is it? So, anyway, good work.
Let's have a few drinks, big case but onto the next one.
Come on! To justice.
Right, who's got the bottle opener? Right, good work.
'"Dear Chris, thank you for the kind letter requesting a signed photograph, which I include in this envelope.
I cannot imagine the pain that you are suffering at the moment and I wish that I could take it away.
"' 'Hello?' Hiya, Dad.
'Is that you, ducky?' Yeah.
You all right? 'Yeah, I'm all right.
Are you?' Yeah.
'This is a nice surprise.
' '"In life, there are moments of darkness.
I have experienced many in my life, too.
But I know there will always be some hope to come around the corner.
My dear Chris, at times of darkness it is natural to grieve, but you must not despair.
Your beautiful brother David is in heaven amongst the angels where there is only light, and you will see him once more in this place.
Please write to me again.
I would be very happy to be your friend.
Yours sincerely, Gerard Depardieu.
"' I can't believe it.
I can't believe that someone like that would write to people like us.
Can you? Yeah, it's definitely surprising.
What an extraordinary gesture.
What an extraordinary man.
Yeah.
Has it made you feel better? I think it has.
It's made me feel like there's some good in the world and it's important to be reminded of that, isn't it? Yeah, definitely.
Gerard Depardieu friends with the likes of us.
Can I tell you a secret? A secret? When I was a little girl and I used to go for walks sometimes on my own just to get away from Mum and Dad when they were fighting or, you know, there was this horse I used to go and look at every now and then.
And I never knew whose it was but he'd just stand around in his bit of field by the road, eating the grass and getting on with his day.
And And I'd talk to him sometimes.
Did you? Yeah.
Out loud? Yeah.
I called it Susan.
You didn't.
I did.
And I'd say, "Hello, Susan, how are you today? I hope you're enjoying your lovely grass.
Oh, it's windy today, isn't it, Susan?" And stuff like that.
And then when I'd get home, I'd sit on the sofa like this .
.
and I'd look at the back and, you see where the the line meets the wall? Can you see? Like a horizon? Oh.
Oh, yeah.
And I used to imagine that the wall was the sky and that this was the great big dusty plain like in the films.
And then I'd picture a tiny little Susan galloping and galloping for hours .
.
and I used to sit and imagine it.
Can you see? Yes, I can.
Yeah.
That's my life, isn't it, Chris? That horse.
I suppose it is, yes.
And now since I've met you, I imagine you on the horse.
Me? Yeah.
And I'm with you.
And we're riding and riding across the plain, the wind in our hair and I'm holding onto you as tight as I can.
And then what happens? Nothing.
Just ride, Chris.
Just ride.
Well I'm afraid I don't know how to ride a horse .
.
but I can learn.
'In 2005, the Edwards faked signatures on documents.
' 'And around the same time, the couple's bank account was drained.
' 'In later years, the house was sold and benefits were claimed in their names.
' 'They had taken something in the region of £300,000 and they appear to have spent every single penny of it.
' 'But the deceit didn't end there.
To cover up what they'd done, the couple also tricked friends and family into thinking the Wycherleys were still alive.
At this point, William and Patricia Wycherley had been dead for 13 years.
But the Edwards eventually ran out of luck.
On what would have been William Wycherley's 100th birthday, the Department of Work and Pensions wrote him a letter, asking to see him.
' 'This was a double murder motivated by money.
' 'Motivated by greed.
' 'The Edwards have insisted they've told the truth.
But police say that from the moment they were arrested, the couple have displayed a heartless attitude.
' 'Christopher and Susan Edwards will appear before a Crown Court judge on Monday.
' AccessibleCustomerService@sky.
uk