Reyka (2021) s01e03 Episode Script

Mr Pillay, what were
-you doing near field 8
- A?
Collecting soil samples
for scientific tests.
The Tyrones,
they've been using banned
toxins from the apartheid days
to poison the fields.
They spray the crops at night.
[Nandi] Can we get
a sample to test?
[helicopter flying]
[fire burning]
[coughing]
[delicate piano music]
Hello.
[News Speaker Over Radio]
A manhunt has been launched
for a Pietermaritzburg
girl who was kidnapped
from a neighbourhood cafe.
A police spokesperson stated
the girl had been sent
by her parents to buy
milk earlier that day.
[radio shuts off]
Reyka.
I need you chop
this for me, please.
[Reyka] Are bananas alive?
[Speelman] What do you mean?
[Reyka] The seeds.
Our bananas don't have seeds;
they come from a variety
called Cavendish.
Cavendish?
They're clones.
So all the bananas are the same.
[Speelman] From
generation to generation.
Like me and my ma.
Angus?
It's been more than
seven months, Reyka.
Your mom will stop
looking for you.
We're your family now, angel.
[Speelman] And we love you.
Okay. I'm sorry.
It's fine, baby.
[Speelman] Banana
farming's hard work.
There are many threats.
Red spiders, eelworms, weevil
borers, they're the worst.
[Reyka] Weevil borers?
[Speelman] Mmm.
[Reyka] Who's that for?
Sipho.
[Reyka] Sipho?
Yes he works in the plantations.
[Speelman] Madam. Bon appetit.
[piano music]
Lucy.
[Speelman] Reyka. Reyka!
Angus, is there
another girl here?
Is there another girl here?
No, my love. It's just you.
You're my one and only.
[police sirens]
[Female Nurse]
Patient is suffering
from severe smoke inhalation.
[heart monitor beeping]
Speelman.
Message.
Thank you.
Any good?
Tearjerker.
[groaning]
Ma.
Hey.
Hi.
Thuli, I can't.
[Thuli] I'm sorry.
No, it's okay.
I'll go get a coffee.
Ma?
Yeah. Yes, Thuli.
Why are you like this?
Like what?
You know, sad.
I don't mean to be.
[Thuli] Well can't you
try harder to be happier?
I am. I am trying.
I am trying. You make me happy.
[crying]
I'm sorry, Thuli. I'm sorry.
[man whistling]
[men talking]
[man whistling]
[men shouting]
[upbeat tense music]
[door slamming]
[tense music]
[music intensifies]
[gun cocking]
[gasping]
Don't be scared.
I hope you're feeling better.
I've drafted the affidavit.
An appointments been set up
for you to come and sign.
He hopes these are
still your favourite.
[tense, dizzying music]
[Samuel] We have a
suspect in custody.
He's confessed to trying
to kill Gogo Pampatha.
This man was commissioned
by someone inside
your royal court.
You're welcome to wear
any of these, if they fit.
Thank you Ma'am.
Pampatha, you can stay here
until your house is rebuilt.
Thanks Pampatha.
Hey, Pampatha. Why don't
you just take the day off?
I want to work, sir.
Did you hear the
chopper last night?
No.
Well, Kathleen says
it woke her up.
She must've been dreaming.
Yes. I told her we
never spray at night.
[upbeat pop music]
Our cane field killer's
like a leopard, Zwane.
Solitary, lives close to
people without being detected.
When he goes hunting,
sites his target,
and chooses to ambush
or stalk his prey.
Only when he's close,
he explodes, he attacks.
Leopards counter not attack.
Look.
All I'm trying to say is
we have seven victims.
All of them women, all of
them in the same location.
And two of them have
been tied up with knots.
And what? We're still not
calling these serial murders?
Hector's stuck on
the Encabi theory.
That's a fisherman's knot.
Hey!
Hey!
[eerie music]
Take a look at this.
Guess who keeps popping up.
Print it. I'll
share with the team.
[Sewsunker] Still
got it, Tanner.
[Samuel] Okay, come
along, let's start.
Hey.
You give up too easily, Tanner.
[Hector] You can
take a few days.
I'm good. Thanks.
Okay. Over to you, Sewsunker.
Okay. Double fisherman's knot
also called grapevine knot.
First used by the
Indian fishermen
when they were
brought to the region.
I've traced back the origins
to an Indian Naval
academy near Goa.
[Hector] So, we're looking
for a man who is skilled
with Indian fishing knots.
[Samuel] Suresh Pillay.
[Tanner] Pillay is
not a fishermen.
He could've learned these
techniques from his forefathers.
[Hector] Sewsunker, any
results on the soil sample?
Lab's backed up,
sir. A few more days.
We're only pushing Pillay
because we've got no one else?
I don't see it that way.
That's not your call, Sam.
The man with Pillay
is Imam Kajee,
founder, member and investor
in Pillay's Sugarland store.
Deeper research into Imam
Kajee reveals you're wrong.
Pillay is a fisherman.
You found these?
Boss?
Our victims are black women.
Serial killers almost
always target victims
of their same race.
The Blue Lagoon killer didn't.
Those were racial murders, by
a racist. That's different.
Pillay could have bound his
victims when he killed them
to remind them that
they're inferior,
slaves of a lower
race than Indians.
[Hector] Good job Zwane.
Re-open the inquiry
into Suresh Pillay.
[Pillay] So have you
tested the soil sample?
Yes. But the results
aren't back yet.
What happened to your eye?
Car accident.
[Nandi] Have you seen a doctor?
It looks worse than it is.
How do you know Imam Kajee?
Kajee? He's an elder
in our community.
Yes. But how do you know him?
Kajee was a founding member
of Sugarland General Dealer.
Mm, so, a business partner?
Back in the day. Yeah.
And your relationship now?
We're just friends.
[Nandi] When last you see him?
Kajee? Ugh, it's been a while.
Mr. Pillay,
the police have made links
between you and the knots
used by the cane field
killer on his victims.
Knots?
Very few people can tie
this particular knot.
Anybody can tie knots.
Truck removal workers,
furniture removals.
The knot has Indian
Naval influence.
And we know you were
mentored by Imam Kajee.
Look just because I'm Indian
doesn't mean [indistinct]
Besides, how do you know
I can tie those knots?
[Nandi] Just curious.
Here, take a look.
Mr. Pillay?
Grapevine knot.
I know those knots,
but I couldn't have
killed those people.
I never leave my family's side.
My boy's ill. He needs me
with him day and night.
[Coroner] Same knots
on both bodies.
Also both have pressure points
on the neck from a garrote.
Strangled from the left.
Our killer's left-handed?
Yep.
I found this in her pocket.
[Nandi] Bus ticket.
[tapping]
And? Did it fly yesterday?
One of the fuel gauges is empty.
I told you.
Well, they're not all
that accurate, you know.
They can say empty and
still be half full.
It wasn't a dream, John.
I don't want you to think
about this again, Cathleen.
[Reyka] Yeah. So exactly
what I was saying.
[Nandi] Yeah.
[Reyka] Strangulation
is so intimate,
being there when
life slips away.
[Nandi] So what? Do you
think he gets off on it?
[Reyka] Yes. Thank you.
The release is intense.
For a moment, it makes him
feel powerful, calm, complete,
like a lover.
And then slowly over time,
the hunger creeps back in
and he needs to do
it again and again.
He needs to kill the
same woman over and over.
What woman?
The one who makes him angry.
The one who humiliates him.
His wife, Asher.
No someone from his childhood,
like a mother or an aunt.
Our killer isn't awkward
with women, like Pillay.
We looking for somebody that
succeeds at luring women
into a dangerous and
intimidating place.
Someone that makes them believe
that they're a participant
in something consensual.
You don't think
Pillay can do that?
Do you?
[Nandi] The bus
ticket I called about?
Right, so I followed up on it.
Victim travelled from
Pongola to Durban station,
arrived about a month ago.
Okay. She was found in
the Kwa-Zulu cane fields.
The only way to get from
Durban station to Kwa-Zulu
it's the local taxi rank.
If our latest victim
took a taxi to the rank,
we can track all the passengers
who arrived from Durban station.
[Nandi] How?
Rank security cameras.
They were used during a
taxi violence case there.
Okay.
But those were
installed and are owned
by the Kwa-Zulu
taxi association.
Even in that case, the courts
struggled to subpoena them
from the association bosses.
[Tanner] We can get them.
[Samuel] I don't think so.
He's right. We can get them.
It's too dangerous.
[Tanner] Look.
I've had a couple of
run-ins with the association
over the years.
Me and Abula Vilakazi,
we go way back.
[Nandi] Okay, but
wont we need backup.
No, no backup. Simple
mission to request footage.
Okay. Nothing more.
Anyway, convoy of cop cars
will only make them clam up
and refuse to give
us the footage.
So I'm driving now.
[car horns honking]
[dizzying music]
[car horns honking]
Hey.
Hey, get out of here man.
Go.
[Samuel] What are we doing here?
Move.
[Samuel] What are
we doing here, man?
[Tanner] Looking
for a guy, okay?
I'm out.
[Tanner] Hey, what
are you doing?
He's not going to
speak to you, ace.
[Nandi] Taxi's from
Durban stop here.
[men talking and whistling]
[eerie music]
[Tshabalala] Shit.
[Tanner] No, no, no.
Right, where is he?
Come on.
Long time.
See you've been busy, huh?
Vilakazi Taxis have
stolen 10 minivans
in the last year alone.
We're here to impound them.
[laughing]
You come to our territory
and make such an
offensive accusation.
Actually we're
looking for a man.
He meets girls at your rank.
Taxis from the Durban station,
and takes him to the cane
fields and he kills them there.
I heard about that.
Your ranks cameras can
help us catch this boss,
give us the footage,
we'll turn a blind eye to
all your other activities.
I don't know what you're
talking about, Tanner.
Those cameras are damaged,
there's no footage.
But I'm going to ask
you one last time.
Give me the footage
or I arrest you.
Think about the damage
to your business,
if there's a killer
operating on your rank.
[gun cocking]
Tanner, I'm not afraid to fall.
Abula Vilakazi,
going to arrest you for
the theft of stolen taxes.
Get your hands on your head,
get down on your knees. Now.
Detective Tanner,
lower your weapon.
[Tanner] I have this
under control, Reyka.
[tense music]
Fuck.
Shh, whoa. Shh.
[Reyka] Get me out of this car.
Reyka, sometimes you
have to bust some balls
to get what you want.
Then what did we get?
Nothing yet.
You risked our lives, Tanner.
Every time we go out
there we risk our lives.
How can I leave my
daughter with you?
Thank you.
You okay?
Kathleen was asking about you.
Asking about what, exactly?
She thought she saw you.
Saw me where?
In the chopper.
And what did you say?
I told her that you were with me
and that it was none
of her business.
Good.
Madam Beth.
Go now baby.
[Beth] What happened?
Jess?
The police are going to want
to speak to you at some point.
Why?
Because anything you tell them
might help them catch
the people responsible.
Where did you get
this? This lipstick.
Found it.
Next to the bodies?
A few days ago I saw people
arguing in the fields.
Who?
I don't know.
What happened?
Jessica, you've
got to speak to me.
It was a man. He was angry.
A woman was crying. He hit her.
I was scared. So I ran away.
Why didn't you tell me?
They were just arguing.
Do you remember what
they looked like?
[Jess] No.
It must have been
cane workers, yes?
Yes, mom. If you say so.
It's probably nothing.
People argue all the time.
[fly buzzing]
Same colourful twine, same
knots, hands and ankles.
The rot wound on the neck.
Maggots. This victim's
less than a week old.
He's escalating.
I found what looks
like the contents
of a woman's handbag over there.
Okay.
We found the resume
of Yabonate Zitole.
This man's a hunter.
He kills because he
has no other choice,
it's part of who he is now.
He knows we're
investigating this case.
And yet he brings his victims
back to the same place.
He has the ability
to lure young women
into an unknown environment.
Now this requires a high
degree of persuasion.
Why trust him?
These women have an
expectation of employment.
He prearranges to
meet them at the rank,
they believe he's reliable,
educated, a man of authority.
Perhaps a teacher, a
church leader, policeman.
Excited by the promise of
work, they go with him.
He leads them across the cane
field to the sugar factory,
but they never get that far.
He attacks them with the rock,
ties their hands and ankles
with the ligature
twine of fabric.
And he strangles them
with the homemade garotte.
He does not rape these women.
He gets off by robbing
them of their final breath.
That's his release.
His hunger is sated.
We can now say it
with 100% certainty
that this is a serial killer.
Brief the Coastal Sun,
get the editor to publish
the narrative profile,
but withhold the
serial killer theories.
No serial killer
elements, am I clear?
We don't want to cause mass
panic in the community.
Hector.
[Alex] Land expropriation
without compensation.
That's extreme, not
to mention criminal.
Soon they're going
to be setting fire
to this place as well
as the staff quarters.
Are you comfortable
in this house for now?
Yes ma'am.
[John] Your house will be
rebuilt within a month.
House? It's a
fucking shack, John.
[Alex] See, this is exactly how
we're going to end
up like Zimbabwe.
All the expertise and
capital gone, gone.
A country in tatters.
[Cathleen] Some people believe
the land wasn't ours
to begin with, Alex.
[Alex] Yeah. Those
people are ignorant, ma.
Who turned this land
into a sugar empire?
[John] This land was
lush when we got here.
Our forefathers
stole it from them.
[Alex] You're losing your
edge, dad. Losing it.
You sound like you're on
the first plane to Perth.
Please throw this out.
What is that?
Jess found something
in the field.
[Cathleen] She'll be all right.
Will she?
We need to leave.
This isn't our home.
[Alex] Hey, hey. Let's
talk about this later.
Our daughter found a dead body
in the fields, our fields.
The ones.
What?
The fields that you
Say it. Say it in
front of my family.
Go ahead.
[John] Say what?
Come on Beth.
If you've got something to say.
Where were you yesterday, Alex?
With you?
This isn't our home anymore.
You were right. Plastic twine.
One more thing.
Our latest victim. You
see here, the garotte.
It's not the same twine,
it's made of fabric.
Cotton, wool, hemp.
Hem of a shirt?
Possibly. Plus it was
tightened from the right.
[Reyka] Well, all of our
victims are from the left.
[Nandi] What does that mean?
Either your killers ambidextrous
or you may have two killers.
[tense music]
Who cares what happens?
We're not going
to be here anyway.
Did you take a
chopper out yesterday?
Alexander?
Yes, dad. I did.
I sprayed the fields with toxin.
Why?
You know why.
Nothing will grow
here for years.
Serves them right for
stealing our land.
It's their land, son.
I don't share that view.
You spray all the fields?
Just field 8A.
If anyone should find out.
[Alex] Who's going to find out?
How did you get like this?
We gave you everything.
[Cathleen] Calm down, John.
Who are you?
I'm a Tyrone.
No, you're an imposter.
Serial killers are
mostly lone wolves.
Gert Van Rooyen and his
girlfriend Joey Haarhoff?
And together they kill six
young girls in the late 1980s.
That's right.
What about your abductor. I
mean, he had a partner, right?
Portia?
So?
Speelman isn't a serial killer.
Sorry I didn't mean to.
Sorry.
You never talk about
that time in your life.
There's nothing to talk about.
Do you still visit him?
Sometimes.
Why?
It's hard for me to say.
It's okay. I wont judge.
Come on.
I guess you could say
he was my first love.
Anyway. I want to
do an experiment.
Can I meet you in the cane
fields early tomorrow morning?
Okay. Night.
If they find out that
-we poisoned field 8
- A,
we could lose everything.
Make sure they don't
find out, John.
[gentle music]
Hypothetically speaking.
So try and get away from me,
but you're dazed and you're hurt
so it's easy for me to grab you.
Okay, whack.
Try and get away from
me, on your knees.
Okay.
Rips twine or fabric.
Hands, ankles.
So I force the garotte
around your neck
and I tighten it
on the left side.
Eva was strangled
from the right.
Yeah. Which means he needs
to face the same way as you.
So then I can tighten the
garotte from the left side
using my right hand.
But to us, it looked
like the right side.
He watches us,
he's still active.
What are you doing? Reyka.
The Coastal Sun Editor, please.
Reyka, Hector's going to
kick you off the case.
It's Dr. Gama, Kwa-Zulu police.
I would like to
officially confirm
that the cane field
murders is a serial killer.
There is a serial killer on
the loose in our community.
Print it, share it, post it.
Reyka.
What?
You need to see this.
[Elsa] Beer bottle.
Yeah. He returns
to the crime scene.
To drink beer.
To watch us. He left the
bottle for us to find.
It's a game to him.
DNA?
We'll see.
He knows what he's doing.
The bottle will be clean.
Mom. This guy uses the
victim shirts to tie them up.
I called the Coastal
Sun. I put it on record.
It's a serial killer.
Hector's okay with
this? Oh dear.
We have no other choice.
The attacks won't stop.
You are releasing vital
investigative detail,
not just to the public,
but to the killer.
That's what I want. To have
a conversation with him.
Smoke him out.
I've got to go.
Where?
You don't have to ask
me that anymore, Mom.
I hope you know what
you're doing, my love.
I dreamed about you
the other night.
I signed it. Your end
of the deal, Angus.
Oh did you get the flowers?
How did Bloom know
that I was in hospital?
Parents know when their
children are in danger.
I'm not your child.
You were our daughter. You,
me and Portia, one family.
We were not a family.
We cared for you like
you were our own.
Portia. No, she could've
gotten me out of there.
And she didn't.
She loved you. We both did.
You locked me in a
room. That's not love.
Who made you meals? Who
bought clothes for you?
Who watched TV with you?
Who taught you about
Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Bach?
Angus, stop it.
Who made you what you are today?
You.
We made you brilliant.
Portia and I.
Stop defending her.
I wanted to talk
to her at my trial,
but they wouldn't let us.
She testified
against you, Angus.
What happened to her?
You don't know?
The courts took mercy on her.
She's in witness protection.
Where?
No one knows.
I need to tell her
something important.
What?
That's personal.
Can you find out?
She has a new name, new
records, she can't be found.
Oh you have contacts.
You know people.
Even if I could, why would I?
Why are you so angry, my love?
You know why.
Lucy.
Teenage girls. You.
You get jealous for no reason.
You told me that
she wasn't there.
I didn't want to hurt you.
You did hurt me.
You rejected me.
My love.
Just don't, Angus, please.
I can't do this anymore.
You find out where Portia is
and I'll give you this map.
On it is Lucy's burial site.
[slow piano music]