The Stolen Girl (2025) s01e03 Episode Script

1
It's essential that
we keep Lucia in people's minds.
[Selma] Right. She's all over social media
for the past eight years,
but before that, there's nothing.
I think she's maybe changed her identity.
Did they get to you?
[both grunting, groaning]
Did they take her?
[Shona] Oh, my God, that's her.
Sweetheart, you're here.
[cashier, in French]
Au revoir, bonne journée.
Merci, au revoir.
-Bonjour.
-[cashier] Bonjour.
[in French] A pound of pillows, please.
[chuckles] We don't have pillows,
but we do have oreillettes.
Ugh. Okay, give me some oreillettes
if you prefer.
-Merci. [chuckles]
-Oui.
500 grams? Is that okay?
Yes, that's good.
-Merci.
-Et merci.
-Au revoir.
-[cashier] Have a good day.
Nina?
Nina?
It's Delphine.
I went to school with Nicolas.
We met a lifetime ago
at Alberto's wedding, remember?
Delphine! Of course. [chuckles]
-How are you?
-[chuckles]
Is Nicolas around?
Nicolas passed away.
In an accident. Four years ago.
He died?
Oh, my God. That's terrible news.
-[gasps] I'm so sorry.
-Oui.
And, uh, are you back for long?
I bought Nicolas's parents' farmhouse.
And your girls are here with you?
They must be grown now.
Yes. [chuckles]
They're nine now.
They're in boarding school.
Hmm. I teach now at the local school.
Send them to us.
Okay.
Maybe see you later.
Goodbye, Nina.
Goodbye, Delphine.
[inhales sharply, sighs]
Good morning.
Hello.
Are you Laure? Laure Claes?
Yes.
I was told
you could introduce me to Milan Matkovic?
No.
I have a job. I think he can help me.
He's not here.
I'd pay him well.
You could never pay enough.
It's not what you think.
My daughter was taken from me.
I can't help you.
Please. My husband is dead.
My little girl was taken away from me.
I did everything the authorities asked,
but they won't give her back.
We have a life now.
We can't go back to that.
This is about my daughter.
[sniffles] She's growing up without me.
I've tried everything. I have to
get her back and this is the only way.
Please.
[breathes heavily]
[in English]
I'm not that late today, am I?
-Did you come through town?
-Yes.
-Yeah, those roadworks are a nightmare.
-Oh, my God, yes.
The traffic is awful. I'm…
But I'm sorry, Miss Thompson.
It will not happen again, I promise.
Well, I hope you have
a splendid rest of your evening.
You too, and thank you
so much for waiting.
-[mouthing] Oh, my God.
-[chuckles] I'm Rebecca.
-Hi.
-I'm Josephine's mum. She's new this term.
[snores lightly]
Sweetheart, have you been there all night?
Did you have a nightmare?
Oh, you must be cold.
Why don't you get dressed
and come downstairs?
Are you hungry?
I know that all of this… [inhales sharply]
…must have been really scary.
[crying softly, sniffles]
And what I'm about to say
might feel really strange.
But you need to know.
Lulu-Rose…
I'm your mother.
[crying softly, sniffles]
I know this must be difficult to take in.
That other family,
they were only supposed to
look after you for a little while I was…
[breathes shakily] …I was sick.
[sniffling]
And I couldn't take care of you.
But they…
they wouldn't give you back.
I need to phone my mummy.
I am your mummy, sweetheart.
And we don't have a phone.
[sniffling continues]
There's no Internet or
mobile signal either.
[inhales sharply] You remember Bunny?
You used to carry him around
everywhere by the ears.
I was gonna mend them but…
I thought you'd like him better
how you remember him.
Remember?
I have missed you so much.
[breathes shakily]
[breathes shakily] My name is Fred Blix.
Yeah, you're probably looking for me.
[breathes heavily]
[officer 1] Can you turn
to your left, please?
Can you tell me if anything's happened
about my daughter?
It's just that I left
my phone at the office.
[officer 1] They arrested
the hoaxer who sent the ransom letter.
Hoaxer? What?
[knocking]
Tell me what the fuck's going on!
[sighs]
[inhales deeply]
[sniffles]
[Shona] Elisa, hi. It's Sinclair.
We've got Fred.
He handed himself in for assault.
[inhales deeply]
[cries, grunting]
Fucking idiot!
[sniffles, cries, breathes heavily]
Fuck you, Fred.
[screaming]
[Kaleb] Selma.
[sighs]
Can I talk to you?
Yeah, sure. What's up?
[pants]
The guys upstairs,
very impressed by your hoaxer scoop.
Traffic was up 250% overnight.
I glossed over the details of exactly how
you got there, but this is your story now.
Keep digging.
[breathing heavily]
Thank you. [sighs]
[chewing, speaking indistinctly]
[indistinct speaking]
Surprise! Happy birthday!
[people in office cheering]
[sighs]
[phone ringing]
Hi, Kaleb.
Selma, you driving? Where are you?
[Selma] Yeah, you won't believe this.
I knew there was something off
about Elisa.
-What?
-[Selma] So, okay.
Her birthday's 10th March.
She does birthday posts every year.
So I searched for every Elisa
in the country born between '80 and '85,
which was, yes, very tedious,
but I did find her birth certificate.
It looks like she was born in
some sort of religious commune in Eyton.
Anyway, I'm on my way there now
to see if I can find her family.
I said do some digging, I didn't know
you were planning a road trip.
[Selma] It's only a few hours away.
Don't worry.
Okay, but I need you back
in the morning. Tomorrow.
First thing, 9:00 a.m.
Mm-hmm. Thank you, yes,
I know when morning is.
[Kaleb] Great, see you then.
Hello, are you lost?
[Selma] Oh, yeah. No, um, I just…
Uh… Sorry, um, yeah.
Do you know, um, Elisa Blix?
Uh, Elisa Stanton was her maiden name.
A little. She was a bit older than me.
But yeah, we grew up together.
You, uh, here about her daughter?
Yeah, yeah, I'm a journalist, um…
So you're aware that she's missing.
Yeah, the police came a few days ago
to talk to Elisa's mother.
-Elisa's mother's still here?
-Yeah.
That's her over there.
Oh, do you think
she'll mind if I talk to her?
Would it stop you?
Hi, are you Deborah Stanton?
-I am. You are?
-Uh, I'm Selma Desai. I'm a journalist.
I'm writing a story at the moment
to get the word out
about your granddaughter, Lucia Blix.
I wondered when you lot would turn up.
Well, you're quite hard to find.
Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
[stammers] I understand this must be
a very difficult time for you.
[sighs] I can't bear to think
what they all must be going through.
But to be honest,
I didn't spend much time with the child.
When was the last time you saw her?
-Pass me that wool there, will you?
-Yeah.
Thank you.
Must have been… [sighs]
…five years ago.
Lucia had just turned four.
That's a long time.
Elisa and I do not see eye to eye.
Can I ask why?
This place isn't for everyone.
We share everything,
do everything together.
Raise the children,
grow the food, everything.
We do it for the good of the community
so we don't fall into the traps
of modern living.
Yeah, and I'm guessing Elisa
struggled with that.
From a very young age.
She wanted to see the world, she wanted
to have a normal life, so she left.
And then what, you cut her out?
That wasn't my choice.
It was her who made the decision
to have nothing to do with me.
With us.
Quite frankly, I find it easiest just to
tell myself I no longer have a daughter.
[sighs]
-[officer 2] Here you go.
-[Fred] Hi, thank you. Thanks.
Look, I'm…
I'm sorry.
You've arrived, good. [sighs]
I need a word with both of you now.
What's going on? Has something happened?
We've identified the man from
the CCTV image, grabbing Lucia.
His name is Milan Matkovic.
He's Croatian, living in France.
French police believe
he's involved in people trafficking.
-What?
-Do you recognise him?
No, I don't. Do you?
Uh, no, no, no.
I've never seen him before.
We have another photo
we'd like to show you.
This is Matkovic's partner, Laure Claes.
-Could this be Rebecca?
-No, it's not.
[Lizzie] Or Sarah Banks?
Uh, no, no, I don't… I don't think so.
-Oh, for God's sake. Okay?
-I'm not gonna say I'm sure when I'm not.
[Shona] She's the right age for Rebecca.
I mean, could she have been coached?
It is definitely not Rebecca.
Can I get a copy
of the picture of him with Lucia?
We'll be circulating the image,
launching our own appeal.
Yes, well, I want to share it too.
It will be better if it comes from me.
That way it will get more coverage,
more shares.
I know what I'm talking about.
Okay, Elisa.
Fred, it has come to our attention
that you've been having
some financial difficulties.
I went to the bank, I know about the loan.
Wait, no, no, no, no, no, no.
That has nothing to do
with Lucia being taken.
It could be really helpful to explain
what happened to the money from the loan.
[sighs] All right, um… I've…
I spent it. I mean, we spent it.
On what?
School fees. Night trips.
Uh, new windows for the kitchen,
constant redecorating, clothes, holidays.
Yeah, you have business class
upgrades on flights.
I mean, trust me, it doesn't last long.
[breathes shakily]
Hi. Thank you.
[resident 1] Hiya.
-Oh, it's you.
-Hi.
Um, I'll just take one of these, please.
You don't have to pretend
to buy something if you wanna talk.
Oh, thank God. [chuckles] Yeah,
no, red's not really my colour.
Um, I actually just wanted to ask you,
um, about your memories of Elisa.
Where'd you get those shoes?
Uh, my girlfriend got them for me.
What size are they?
My daughter would love them.
Six and a half, I think.
But I… I need to get home.
Yeah, well, you can have mine.
They're a big six.
We trade stuff here in the community.
That's what we do.
Okay. [chuckles]
So, what do you wanna know?
When did Elisa leave?
Um… She would have been
about 16 when she left,
but it was obvious she was planning
on going for ages before that.
She changed her accent and her hair and--
Why did she want to leave so badly?
I'm sure Deborah's told you.
But I wanna know what you think.
Elisa never fitted in here.
Always putting herself
before the community.
And yeah, Deborah punished her
quite harshly for it.
Probably pushed her away.
That's interesting.
Deborah made it sound
like Elisa was the difficult one.
Well, Deborah has her own way
of seeing the world.
She doesn't like to be challenged.
Did you see Elisa
when she was last here with Lucia?
You mean when her dad died?
Oh. Oh, Deborah didn't mention that
was the reason that she came back.
Yeah, well, I don't think anyone
really saw her when she was last here.
We hadn't heard a word since she left.
I… [inhales deeply]
…didn't even know
she was married with kids.
[Selma] Right.
-[resident 2] Hiya.
-Hi.
-Is that everything?
-Yeah. Yeah, uh, thank you.
Uh, don't forget your shoes
before you leave.
Right.
[Hannah chuckles, clears throat]
[sighs]
What would you like for breakfast, girls?
Lulu-Rose? Cereal or eggs? Or…
Oh, I can make pancakes.
Oh, we've got oreillettes.
[sighs] Mmm.
They were your dad's
favourite when he was a kid.
Mmm.
Oh, gosh, they're so delicious.
They smell like orange blossom.
Here. Try one.
[chuckles]
You'll love them, Lulu. [chuckles]
Tasty, right?
[Josephine] Let me show you some photos
of us when we were babies.
Is this me or Lulu-Rose?
[Rebecca] That's Lulu-Rose.
Hmm.
[breathes sharply]
My birthmark.
Who's that?
That's your daddy.
Nicolas.
Where is he?
He died in an accident, sweetheart.
I'm so sorry.
It was five years ago.
[inhales sharply, sighs]
[in French] Can I have a coffee please?
-[speaking French]
-Merci.
[sighs]
Et un café.
Thank you.
[breathes heavily, clears throat]
[in English] There is a photograph
of you and Lucia
from a camera at a service station.
[Milan] I took every precaution.
They have your name. [stammers] It's on
Elisa's social media. It's everywhere.
[Milan] I brought her to you.
I did the job.
Where's the car? Where's the car?
'Cause if they find the car--
[Milan] They won't find the car.
It's in the place we agreed.
Don't call again.
[Imaani] Selma?
[Selma] Yeah?
Come here please.
-[Selma] Yeah?
-Have you seen this?
It's Elisa. Everyone's sharing it.
[Elisa] Please,
someone knows Milan Matkovic.
Someone knows where he is.
I just need one person to help me. Please.
God, can you imagine
what she's going through?
[sighs] You would not believe
how weird this place is, right?
I mean, it's all, like, weird, religious,
anarcho-communist vibes.
They all dress in clothes
dyed red and pink.
They divide the work up
for the good of the commune
and they care for the children
communally as well.
Wild. So, all this
jet-set mum-fluencer stuff,
she's just totally reinvented herself.
Yeah, exactly.
So, I want to write a piece about Elisa
and what it must have been like
to grow up in a place like that.
How she reinvented herself,
basically built a new life.
But a childhood like that, it's got to
mess with your sense of the world, right?
What's normal. What's safe.
I mean, Elisa left Lucia with
an absolute stranger after spending, what,
an hour at the most talking to her?
I just think growing up in Eyton
must have made that seem okay.
But that's the tragedy.
You can run from your past,
but you can't escape it.
[scoffs]
Oh, come on, she's making
herself a public figure
with this campaign, with this video.
-[Kaleb] Nah.
-It's legitimate.
It's a great story.
You'll have it in an hour.
[Fred] Elisa?
-Elisa?
-Yeah, I'm here.
There's a journalist outside.
He's asking about a story.
Yeah, she's… she's saying it's my fault.
She's saying that I left Lucia
with Rebecca because of how I grew up.
She's saying I'm not who I say I am.
[Fred] Yeah, well, they can't do that.
Yeah, we'll make a complaint.
[stammers] But they're… But they're not…
[sighs] She's not saying it directly.
She's implying it.
It… It's horrible. Look.
[sighs]
[sighs, sniffs]
[sighs] They talked to your mother.
And other people at Eyton.
No, I'm calling Peter.
No, this… this is harassment, it is.
Yeah. It's potentially defamatory.
I know.
[sighs] Yeah, no,
she knows exactly what she's doing.
[sighs]
Elisa, um, is there anything
I should be worried about?
What do you mean?
[sighs] Well, you know, you… you…
you never wanted to talk
about what it was like there.
'Cause there's nothing to say.
Okay. All right, well, yeah, we'll, uh…
we'll get it sorted.
[Fred] Well, I'm gonna lodge a formal
complaint about that fucking journalist.
Oh, my God, these comments. Fuck.
[scoffs]
Please just let me past.
[Callum] Took these from your cell.
What's your problem?
You like her, do you?
Is she your type?
[breathing deeply]
-Hi.
-[gasps]
I'm Anton, uh, neighbour.
I wanted to introduce myself.
[chuckles] Sorry.
It seemed like a good idea at the time,
but maybe… [chuckles]
[stammers] I didn't think
anyone lived nearby.
I'm not too close.
I have a place further downhill.
I heard an English family moved in.
I thought I should just welcome you.
So, that's for you.
If you need anything…
[children laughing]
[chuckles] My daughters.
Sorry, we're not used to visitors.
[chuckles]
Like I said, if you ever need anything.
I don't think we will. [chuckles]
Okay. Have a great evening.
Thank you for the wine.
[Anton] You're welcome.
Who was that man?
He lives down the hill.
He came to say hello.
Will he come again?
I don't think so.
But can we talk to him
if we see him again?
[chuckles] We can talk to people.
We will go out and make friends.
I just need you both to remember
that it's important
not to tell people too much
about our family.
Lulu-Rose was taken from us once.
And we can't let that happen again.
[Lucia] Stop!
[Lucia whimpers]
Please.
Stop. [whimpers]
Stop please. Stop!
[breathes heavily] Please. Stop.
[breathes heavily]
[shushes]
[shushes] It's just a dream.
[shushes] It's just a dream, sweetie.
[shushes]
Was it a nightmare?
Yeah, I get them a lot.
That's why I used to sleep
with the Minky Mouse.
To stay awake to make sure
the nightmares don't come.
I'm so sorry we lost Minky.
I know he's important to you.
Hmm. Maybe Bunny could take over.
I think he'd be good at the job.
Do you still have a lot of nightmares?
Yeah.
You started having them
just after your daddy's accident.
I think that's what you're dreaming about…
but I'm here now,
and I'll never let you go again.
So maybe…
just maybe you won't
have to dream about it anymore.
[shushes, breathes heavily]
[sighs]
Felix, hi, what's happening?
[Felix] Hey, Selma. I've got some
information you might be interested in.
Yeah, just ask Amin to come up
with different options for the photos.
-This series is too dark.
-The whole thing too dark?
Yeah. Literally, I mean.
Hey. I just took a call
from the Paris office.
French police search
a house north of Lille,
where they believe Lucia was being held,
and a source at the lab
says they found her blood.
It's not public yet.
No, and there's not enough blood,
apparently, to be conclusive,
so it might have been a cleanup.
-Lucia can't be dead.
-Yeah, I mean, let's hope not.
Yeah, I mean, why go through all
that trouble and then kill her?
I'll write the leader.
I want to do it.
No, it's not a good idea, not while IPSO
is still considering the Blix's complaint.
Oh, come on, you've had me
on filler for a week
and you were across that article as well.
Well, then bring me something substantial,
but stay away from Elisa.
[gate opens]
[breathes shakily]
French police have been in touch with us,
and they believe that they have found
the apartment that Milan took Lucia to.
They're no longer there,
but they have found traces of Lucia's DNA.
It has been tested.
It was a trace of blood.
-[gasps]
-[Shona] Uh…
At the moment,
we cannot establish how that was obtained,
uh, whether it was injury or accident or--
We are doing our absolute best to find…
[speaks indistinctly]
-[inhales deeply]
-[children laughing]
-[Josephine] Ooh, is that a jellyfish?
-[laughs]
[squeals] It's nice.
Kind of nice.
Just go straight in. [chuckles]
[Lucia cheers, chuckles]
[speaks indistinctly]
I've got my shoulders under! Whee!
[squealing, laughing]
[Lucia] It's freezing!
[speaks indistinctly]
[in French] Hello, Nina.
[laughing, chattering]
Hello.
-How are you?
-I'm good. You?
Are your girls here?
Yes, they're over there.
[chuckles] We were just about
to leave actually.
I thought I'd run into you before now…
…or see the girls at school.
Oh, I've decided to homeschool.
You could never pay me
enough to homeschool my kids.
[chuckles]
And you'll need to get
permission from the Mayor.
I've heard he takes a lot of persuading.
Bonjour.
Hello.
Sophie, these are Nina's daughters.
This is Josephine and…
…I'm so sorry.
I've forgotten your name…
Uh…
My name is Lulu-Rose.
[sighs]
Lulu-Rose, that's right.
And this is Sophie.
[Sophie speaks French]
We met a long time ago,
but you were much younger.
[in English] We met already before,
but you are a very, very little girl.
Hmm. [chuckles]
[in French] Let's go.
See you later?
-See you.
-Au revoir.
[chuckles]
[Lucia, in English] Papa.
You like looking at those.
Did Papa live in this house
when he was little?
Yeah, he loved it here.
He'd be so happy to know you're here.
[chuckles]
[gasps]
I'll see if I can find
some more somewhere.
[kisses]
[both chuckle]