The Gone (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

1
(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)
If the body is Ronan,
the Martins need to hear it from me.
This changes everything.
(HUM OF CONVERSATIONS)
Won't have anything conclusive
till we get him back to the mortuary.
It'll be a job - distinguishing
the injuries pre-mortem
and damage from the river
and waterfall.
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
Cause of death almost
certainly deep puncture wound.
Likely a blade.
And something else,
I'm sure you've noticed?
This body wasn't in the water a week.
- Nothing like it.
- Hours at most.
Dr Tahu, what can you
tell us about the goat?
I'll liaise with an experienced
vet to look for anything
of forensic interest.
- Tena koe, matua.
- Kia ora, Diana.
Let us pray.
We stand here on
the land of my tupuna.
We ask them to guide Ronan Garvey
back to his ancestors
so that he may rest in peace.
(IN TE REO)
(VOICES CALLING) Sinead!
Ronan!
Sinead!
Ronan!
We found Ronan.
He's gone.
We're still looking for Sinead.
We haven't found her yet,
I'm so sorry.
Oh, no.
(SOBBING ECHOES)
Captions were made with
the support of NZ On Air.
Able 2023
(NO SOUND ON VIDEO)
My wife met Sinead
at a work event and they hit it off.
And so I invited them over and it was
a nice enough dinner - for a while.
Then Ronan stepped outside
"for a breath of fresh air" he said,
but when he came back in he was
wired, he was all over the place.
He's obviously, you know,
taken something.
Then eventually,
Harriet had to ask them to leave.
That was what the argument was about?
Sinead avoided me after that,
but the past few weeks, I saw
she was under some kind of pressure.
I assumed it was Ronan and I
tried to give her some advice,
I told her to drop the guy.
And she didn't take it well?
She told me to fuck off and
mind my own business, actually.
The thing is, Colin, you
told Detective Huia at Houkura
that you didn't
know Sinead personally.
That you
"barely overlapped".
That wasn't quite
the truth now, was it?
Well, it's not really a lie, right?
She came over once, one time
because my wife liked her.
The evening went south and we stayed
out of each other's way after that.
Till I tried to offer
some unwelcome advice.
Was there anything else, Colin?
No impropriety?
I'm sorry?
Was there anything that you said
or did that could be misconstrued?
Sorry, you mean did I harass her,
did I make a pass at her?
- Is that what you mean?
- I have to ask.
- No, never!
I respect my wife. I respect women.
I respect myself.
Can I go now, or do you
want to insult me further?
No.
I'm sorry.
One more thing ―
you moved to Mount Affinity
what, two years ago?
It was three years ago.
I was Tamati's first hire. Harriet
and I moved here three years ago.
Three years?
Rightio. Thanks.
I'll get the door.
You know what? I'll get it myself.
(PHONE RINGS)
Hey.
DAVID: 'I need to know you're OK.'
Jesus Christ, I'm not
having a breakdown, David,
I'm just done here, OK?
'All right.'
I believe you, thousands wouldn't.
Listen, before you go,
though, they found a body.
- Sinead?
- 'It hasn't been confirmed.
'But it was found on the mountain.'
Jeff from NZ Daily heard it from a
source inside the coroner's office
and, Aileen
'..he said something
weird about a goat.'
Records confirm Colin Friends moved
to Mount Affinity three years ago.
So, that puts him out of
the frame for the 2006 killings.
Bruce, you were saying there was
one main suspect back in '06, right?
A travelling farm machinery salesman.
Had historical form -
GBH, kidnapping.
Passing through Mount Affinity
during the time of both murders.
Trevor John McLachlan. He passed
away in a car wreck two years later.
- 'Are you there, Bruce?'
- Yeah.
OK OK
Cheers, bye.
Gr! Police records, one warehouse
down, two to go, nothing new.
- Our hands are tied
without those files.
- Look
I don't want to get anybody
in trouble, but, uh
we need to go and see Rose.
Samuel Richards' wife? Why?
- Trust me on this one, Diana.
- Who's he?
Samuel investigated
the original Mountain Murders.
Let's go, eh?
Dawson, you got the fort!
Bring the tea in there.
DS Richards played Santa
in the Christmas parade every year.
The sweetest guy.
He was the ranking officer
during the Mountain Murders?
Yeah, he retired
not long after the killings.
Early onset dementia.
Passed away recently.
ROSE: That's the last of them.
Please, sit down.
RICHTER: Thank you.
Those poor kids. It was Samuel's
biggest case - the one that got away.
Broke his heart he couldn't
get answers for Emma
and Gabriel's families.
When he had to retire,
he made copies of every file,
every note he ever took.
Nothing will come of this?
- I know he really should have
- Rose, your husband was a good cop.
If he bent the rules keeping these,
it was to help. Trust me,
he's helping us now.
Not a week would go by
he wouldn't open one of those,
read the files cover to cover.
When did your husband pass away,
Mrs Richards?
Um
six months ago now.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Even when Samuel was fighting
to remember my name,
he'd still ask me to bring one file
or another into the care home.
Thank you. Yeah,
his notes are meticulous.
- Thank you.
- The two Irish, I knew
it was connected.
The bodies were in the river
and you found a goat?
- Rose, come on, now.
- Er the chap
who sold the tractors.
My husband never
believed he was involved.
Samuel was sure the answer
was here in Mount Affinity,
hiding in plain sight.
I always hoped he was wrong, but
he wasn't wrong about many things.
Hm.
MASON: They reckon that Irishman
was pulled out of the water.
He was all, like, bloated and green,
like the Incredible Hulk.
- (LAUGHTER)
- It's a good job, though, eh?
That prick, Ronan,
feeding that evil shit to Jarred.
- He got what he deserved,
if you ask me.
- (WHISPERS) Fuck, Mason!
(KNOCKING)
Whatever Ronan did,
he was someone's son
and worthy of forgiveness, and you
of all people, should know that.
Today,
we bring Jarred back into our whare.
We carry him home
to farewell him, our way.
- What time are you
bringing our boy back?
- About two o'clock.
Everything will be ready.
(CHOPPING)
Ronan was killed by a single
stab wound to the heart.
His body was kept somewhere
for several days before
being dumped in the water.
In 2006, cause of death in both
cases was strangulation and the
victims didn't know each other.
They disappeared a week apart.
Then their bodies were dumped in
the water within about 12 hours.
But in this case, a couple goes
missing at the same time.
So, the only thing linking those
cases and Ronan is the gutted goat,
but that was widely known,
the whole Goat Man thing.
The press got a long-lens shot of it.
It was on every front page.
DIANA: Yeah, I had nightmares
for weeks.
There was one piece
of key information we kept
out of the public domain.
Bird bones lashed together with
a piece of string, shape of a cross.
- Where were they found?
- Lodged in the windpipes
of the victims.
- This was kept privileged?
- Only Samuel and I knew.
So, if the pathologist finds
bird bones in Ronan's windpipe,
the Mountain Murderer is back.
And he's finding new ways to kill.
RICHTER: OK, let's go back
to the original victims.
Emma Louise Wilson,
23 years old when she was killed.
It says here she'd been in town
two weeks, working picking oranges.
DIANA: Emma was out
here pruning trees,
but the girl she normally buddied-up
with was off sick, so
RICHTER: The owner saw her
working this line at 10:45 am.
She didn't come for lunch
so looked for her, found
the pruning gear by the ladder.
But Emma was gone.
DIANA: Emma's working. She's in
clear view of any passing cars.
A driver spots her,
pulls up down the road.
He approaches through the trees.
He's careful. Maybe she
never even sees him coming.
- Unplanned, spur-of-the-moment.
- He grabbed the opportunity.
Or
the driver's known to her?
(HORN HONKS)
She recognises him,
goes to say hello.
- She trusts him.
- Explains why there was
no sign of a struggle.
RICHTER: Gabriel Peters,
19 years old, on a gap year
from his home town of Bruges.
Travelled round the country
in a second-hand Jeep.
This was his favourite swimming spot.
Locals reported seeing him here
multiple times, night swimming.
Jeep was found at dawn,
December 12, 2006.
DIANA: The keys were
still in the ignition.
The Jeep's his biggest possession
so he's not going to leave
the keys in there.
Somebody's already here,
waiting, watching.
Could have got to him before
he even got out of the car.
Or a passing car
could have spotted him?
Realised he was alone,
taken a chance.
Or he'd already been swimming.
Came back to the Jeep.
The killer was waiting.
(PHONE RINGS)
- Dr Tahu.
- 'DS Huia.
'We've got something
to show you at the lab.'
- We'll be there in 30 minutes.
- 'See you then.'
That's it, all done over here.
TAHU: The subclavian artery was
severed below the shoulder blade.
Would have led to massive
and rapid blood loss.
- Death within minutes.
- Weapon?
The wound was nine centimetres deep,
four to five centimetres wide.
About the size of a kitchen knife.
- Any indication where
the body was kept?
- No disturbance from animals.
And the decomposition wasn't
as advanced as I'd expect
if he was in the sunlight.
So, he was stored inside.
And the goat?
We swabbed the carcass.
No human DNA was retrieved.
But I did retrieve soil
from Ronan's ear that matches
the soil on the goat's fur.
- So, they were stored together.
- Seems like it.
But then the biggy.
Lodged in the throat of the deceased,
introduced posthumously.
- BUSTER: Jarred will
lay at Nga Pitau.
- (WAIATA BEGINS)
After that, we take him
back to his mother's home.
You're welcome, too.
I know you loved Jarred.
I'm sorry you couldn't heal him.
Shall we go?
I mean, we met him once.
In Ireland that's enough.
- (DOOR SLAMS, ENGINE STARTS)
- We have work to do.
Unless you want
to go to another tangi.
RICHTER: If it is
the Mountain Murderer,
we're gonna need a bigger team.
DIANA: Mm-hm.
Seen these in Samuel's files?
Any idea what it is?
It could be just doodles.
But each one's identical.
Worth following up with Rose.
- Hi, Val.
- Hi.
Just swapped out the shifts.
Back up the maunga in the morning.
Egg and salad?
There you go.
You really giving up a few hours'
sleep just to feed me?
- And to see how you are.
- Yeah, I'm good.
Liar!
During the karakia,
I could see how you were feeling.
Being up there on the maunga.
So close to where
your mum went missing.
Remember when your mum took us
up to the lookout?
After I'd won junior athletics champ
and you came second?
- Nah, other way round.
- (LAUGHING) Not how I remember it.
- She made us that
picnic to celebrate.
- Mm.
Those soft cheeses I'd never
heard of, fancy crackers.
I don't know how she found the money.
- She let us drink bubbly wine!
- Watered down with orange juice.
- All the same!
- (BOTH CHUCKLE)
She'd never do it, Val.
Kill herself, leave me.
You more than anyone knows that.
Sorry I haven't been back,
it's been
Christ, Val, a mess!
(SNIFFS)
Eat your sandwich!
(BOTH LAUGH)
(DOORBELL)
Kia ora, um Sorry to bother you.
You're the man Richter arrested.
I just came to say
I'm sorry for your loss.
You assaulted Ronan, stole from him.
BUSTER: I'm not proud
that I used my fists on him.
There was a reason.
Ronan sold P to a young man
who was in my care.
His name was Jarred, one or two
years younger than your Ronan.
You should go.
We're gonna be celebrating
Jarred's life
and, if you wish it, Ronan's as well.
You're welcome to join us at
You expect us to believe that you're
celebrating Ronan's life, too?
Jarred and Ronan were both
young men, much more than
their faults and weaknesses.
We'd welcome the chance
to mourn with you.
RICHTER: So, back to Rose's.
DIANA: Two minutes.
Go talk to your friend.
Throw her something.
Nothing that will screw us, though.
- You OK?
- I was heading straight
for the airport.
No idea what I was gonna
do when I got home.
And now?
- Things change, you know?
- Hm.
So, is it true? Body found at
the bottom of the waterfall?
(SIGHS) He, um
suffered a chest wound.
Go on.
- Knife?
- It'll be in the pathology report.
And the goat?
Pull the old press cuttings
from the historical cases.
- Do you think this
is a serial killing?
- (HORN HONKS)
- I think I've said enough.
- Right.
DAVID: 'If this is a serial killer,
Jesus Christ, Aileen.'
Well, until we know more,
the angle has to be Ronan.
Who he was, how he died.
What it might mean for Sinead.
The Martins will have been briefed
on the Mountain Murders.
- If I can just get
them to talk to me!
- 'Well, good luck with that one.'
Thank you, David.
Oh.
AILEEN: Where are you going?
(SINGING IN TE REO)
BUSTER: Kaore he hara
i te ngoikoretanga.
Ko wai tatou ki te whakawa.
"There is no guilt in human weakness.
"And it is no one's place to judge."
- Kia tangihia a Jarred.
- "We are here to grieve for Jarred."
Ko te atua ngau tonu tana.
"Jarred's demons followed
him his whole life."
Ngaua ana ko ia,
ngaua ana hoki
ko tatou e tangi nei.
"And his demons won,
and we are heartbroken."
Linda.
We love your boy.
And we weep with you.
We also grieve with you,
Judge Martin.
Mr Martin.
Ronan was a part of your whanau.
We also acknowledge the fear
you hold for your daughter.
And we pray with you
for her safe return
to be once more wrapped
in the cloak of your love.
(BIRDSONG)
- DIANA: Rose?
- Hm! Over here!
- Hello.
- Hi. Kia ora.
Kia ora. He bought this
on our tenth anniversary.
The roses were advertised as yellow.
(CHUCKLES)
When white flowers bloomed
the next spring he was fuming,
and every year after!
Then, one year,
he didn't seem to notice.
That was the start.
Rose?
There's a symbol
all through Samuel's files.
Any ideas?
As he lost words, he drew.
Wasn't much of an artist.
That's meant to be the mill.
- Why the mill?
- Just got more and more fixated.
Kept on saying, "The mill!
It all goes back to the mill!"
Makes no sense! There's nothing
in his files about the mill.
Not a thing.
(SINGING IN TE REO)
Joseph, would you
like to say something?
Hello, my name is Joseph Martin.
On behalf of my wife and me,
I'd like to thank you
all for welcoming us here.
I'm not much of a public speaker.
I'm certainly not
as eloquent as Mr Huia,
but if I may, I will
sing you a song in Irish.
RICHTER: "It all goes
back to the mill."
On the way to where Emma was
abducted we drove past the mill.
When we were driving
to where Gabriel was taken
DIANA: Straight past the mill again.
It's in sight of both killings.
Less than a kilometre from Sinead
and Ronan's house.
Maybe Samuel wasn't just rambling.
Maybe the killer had
some connection to the place.
Maybe.
(DOOR SLAMS)
Now is your opportunity.
For what?
To talk to your boy, embrace him.
To say goodbye.
Hm.
To apologise.
I've had a lifetime of arseholes
laying down judgment on me.
You're just the latest arsehole.
Don't you judge me, old man,
I've got nothing to say sorry for
For once in your life,
do the right thing! Go!
- Get fucked!
- That language has no place here!
Fuck all of yous!
Only wanted a day out
of that shithole anyway.
Fuck it! Take me back.
- Fuck off!
- Oi!
You can't hang around,
this is a funeral.
I'm just paying my respects.
If I believed you,
you'd be welcome. I don't.
You're here for a story.
- Oh, look
- All right, fair enough.
- Yeah. Some other time, eh?
- Yeah.
- OK.
- Hey
- Tough day?
- Mm, yeah.
I mean, just the two boys,
it's heart-breaking,
and then he shows up!
- Who is he?
- It's Jarred's dad.
He's blood,
so we can't really turn him away.
Much as we'd love to!
He's just a piece of shit!
Beat his wife up, beat his son up.
Abandoned them both,
you know, same old story.
His fists gave Jarred
a life sentence.
Violence as a kid, then down
the road misery and addiction.
Hey.
What you do here?
It really means something, Wiki.
Especially on a day like today.
Thanks. Go on, see you later.
See ya.
It's low tar, better than nothing.
(OFFICERS CHATTING NEARBY)
OFFICER 1: You know what
they're saying around here?
The Goat Man's back.
OFFICER 2: They're saying the Goat
Man's back? That's just nonsense
Back?
The Goat Man? (SCOFFS)
That's fucking funny.
(CHUCKLES)
You know anything about that?
- I know it's fucking bullshit.
- Mm? Why's that?
Because I'm the fucking Goat Man!
Doubt it.
(HE LAUGHS)
So, er what do you know?
(HE MOANS)
(MOANING)
Jesus, Frank!
It's not what it looks like.
- Never was.
- In the van, Pastors.
OK. Let's go, come on.
(DOOR SLAMS)
Back in the day, all the kids used
to jump off this bridge for pennies.
You were missed at work today.
You OK, mate?
When I saw what happened
on the CCTV footage
Yeah. Always best
to be honest, right?
I had to tell them, mate.
It's over!
Mate.
RICHTER: Maybe Samuel left
some information out of the files,
another suspect who worked here.
DIANA: You saw his files,
they're as thorough as hell.
No way he'd leave the name
of someone he suspected out.
Unless he didn't get to a name,
just a gut instinct about this place.
Maybe.
Or maybe he's just a man
with a crumbling mind.
Looking at this place every day,
coming up with a scenario.
Richter?
- You're not him.
- Didn't think I was.
I do now.
(CHUCKLES)
You're such a dick!
- Hold up.
- What have you got?
It's been moved.
Recently.
DIANA: Big tanks down here.
RICHTER: Probably for waste.
(SNIFFING)
- Can you smell that?
- Mm-hm.
Oh, my God!
- (FLIES BUZZING)
- (GASPING)
RICHTER: Oh, shit!
DIANA: Intestines, kidney, heart.
- Too small for a human.
- More like a small animal.
About the size of a goat.
(POLICE RADIOS CRACKLING)
Thanks for coming, Phil.
Make sure you get plenty of
samples off the ground, too.
Sorry to have you bagging
rotten meat on your first day
in Mount Affinity, Gwenda.
- Could be worse! How are you, Di?
- Could be better.
Head office are sending more help.
I've got Bruce setting up work
stations for you back at the station.
- Great.
- I'll leave you to it.
- Hei akuanei.
- Ae.
RICHTER: Animal sacrifice.
- It's all very Old Testament.
- And the cross.
- Maybe a religious fanatic?
- Christians have
sanitised the symbol.
It originally represented
execution by torture.
The leaving of personal items,
the goat, the bones -
it's classic serial killer
pattern behaviour.
It's textbook. Almost like it
came directly out of a textbook.
- What do you mean by that?
- I don't know.
Can you drop me back to the station?
Might get a couple of hours in.
Sure.
(CAR DOOR SLAMS)
(ENGINE STARTS)
("Girl In Stilettos"
by Annah Mac playing)
When all they see
is a girl in stilettos
When all I want
- VAL: Do you remember this?
- # Is to get up there and sing
Three Februaries
feels like a century
And things are spinning
way out of control
Cheers.
People stare, sun in my hair
- Mm, gone.
- Good?
- (LAUGHING) Yeah!
- Strong?
Still dreaming of the big break
and all the money ♪
VAL: You remember our big-arse plans?
Hitchhike around the islands.
- Climb a big mountain.
Kayak expedition.
- (CHUCKLING FONDLY)
I reckon, when we get the chance
Or you could come to Wellington
and we could drink a shit ton!
- Much better idea.
- I know!
(VAL, DIANA CHUCKLING)
- RICHTER: Sorry.
- What's up?
I'll go and do the dishes?
OK, thank you.
Local paper, November 2006.
Look at the photograph
at the top of the page.
"Mount Affinity gun club
prize giving."
Jesus, Richter, that's obscure!
Look at who came third.
Colin Friends.
But he told Bruce
he only moved to Mount Affinity
after Tamati shoulder tapped
him three years ago!
Colin Friends was here
during the Mountain Murders.
He's lying to us - again.
COLIN: It was one time, and we stayed
out of each other's way after that.
We stayed out of each other's way
after that and she came over once.
One time because my wife liked her.
And we s And we stayed
out of each other's way after that.
And we stayed out of each
other's way after that.
She came over one time
because my wife liked her.
She came over once.
She came over and we stayed
out of each other's way after that.
You were here at the same
time Emma Wilson and Gabriel
Peeters were murdered.
- I need air.
- Where's Sinead?
- Every hour she's gone,
chances plummet.
- Signs of a struggle.
(CLAMOUR)
Frank Pastors knew something.
The public is safe from you,
but who's out there?
I want checkpoints on every road
going out of Mount Affinity.
Aileen.
FRANK: Diana Huia,
what does she know
that you don't?