Unit One (2000) s01e05 Episode Script

Request for Assistance.
A-11/00
10.56, Saturday March 4
Ready, my dear?
- You look beautiful.
- I'm shaking.
Why are they all outside?
He mustn't see me.
Tell him to go.
- What?
- The door's locked.
- And no priest.
- Don't look!
- She's not here?
- Why not?
- It's bad luck.
- The locksmith's here.
Don't look.
- It's open now.
- Go!
Come on now.
Our hero!
- Vindfeldt!
- What?
The priest
She's lying inside.
I knew it was bad luck.
Everyone please leave the church
and the grounds at once.
She's dead.
UNIT ONE
I want to get married.
Nothing big.
Just the four of us.
Episode 5
Would it be boring
without a party?
- What party?
- When we get married.
- Why get married?
- In case
- I get killed or something.
- Then it won't matter, eh?
The state gets my pension
if I'm single.
So that's it!
I thought it was out of love,
but it's a practicality.
- Pure and simple.
- Good morning.
Good morning.
It's not 12 yet.
You shouldn't be up.
- You two got up too early.
- We're planning a wedding.
- Are you getting married?
- Yes.
- Far out!
- At the town hall.
No. We must do it right.
With a big party.
- They're getting married.
- Really?
- Yes, your mother says so.
- Could we keep it quiet?
It must be in a church
with all the trimmings.
No, nothing about
"Till death do us part"
Yes.
Now they're killing priests.
A female priest,
lying on the church floor
just before a wedding.
I'll have to go to Forensics.
It's going to be difficult.
Ulf's on his way up there.
The bride's father
is an ex-commissioner.
An old friend of Ulf's.
- Those are my pyjamas.
- I know.
10.10, Sunday March 5
- It's you? You came in person?
- Yes.
The others are on their way.
- Enjoying your retirement?
- No. But some people
haven't noticed I've retired.
Remember
The Murders in the Rue Morgue?
No.
Edgar Allan Poe?
The locked room
The door was locked
from the inside
and the key was in it.
I found her here.
No murder weapon,
no other doors
and no other way out.
- What about the windows?
- They don't open.
I was in charge of
the station here for 14 years.
And six months
after my retirement
up pops a case to challenge
the old grey matter.
That's ironic, isn't it?
- How are things?
- So-so.
We haven't talked
since you became a feminist.
- What?
- Well
Wasn't Ingrid Dahl's appointment
positive discrimination?
Politics!
I wanted more funding
and the chief of police
wanted a woman in the job.
- Can she cut it?
- Yes, she gets results.
- But she's got a good team.
- Hi.
- Welcome.
- The officers outside
are they the total crew
on this case?
We had 17 men here yesterday.
The whole town and the wedding
party were questioned.
All who'd been in the church
in the last 48 hours
were fingerprinted.
Forensics were careful.
They also found a dictaphone.
By the way,
my wife read in the papers
Kirsten is in a radio play.
- She'll be on tomorrow night.
- You're well informed.
Well Did you know
Pastor Eriksen well?
I'd say so.
Was she depressed?
IP
do you remember the prisoner
who committed suicide by
smashing his head on the floor?
It can't be suicide.
Autopsy of deceased
12.10, Sunday March 5
Pastor Eriksen was undoubtedly
a woman of great willpower.
If she intended suiciding by
banging her head on the floor
her lesions don't fit the picture.
What happened, then?
Just a moment.
- Do you like soft-boiled eggs?
- What?
What does her cranium
look like?
I get it.
A cracked eggshell.
Precisely.
So-called eggshell fractures.
And the time of death?
Her temperature at the scene
was 18.3.
Allowing for the cold room
and her clothing
her temperature would have
dropped by 1.2 to 1.3 an hour,
meaning she went to her
heavenly Father between
21.00 and 23.00 Friday evening?
The margin of error's greater.
To be safe, let's say
between 20.30 and 23.30.
Why did you call her
a woman of willpower?
- Did you see her fingers?
- No.
She had thickened joints
and swollen mucous membranes.
Sj"gren's syndrome
- Which is?
- Arthritis.
Exhaustion.
Eyes and mouth like sandpaper.
You need strength
to conduct a service.
Any more talk,
join me in the shower.
You shower, I'll leave.
You're sure
she died on the spot?
- Shall I show you why again?
- No.
No signs of resistance
The first blow finished her.
The two extra blows
were unnecessary.
It's not possible.
The locked room?
- Staying the night?
- No.
I could cook and we could
rustle up
some clever theories.
That's enough from you, Jan.
Say hello to the boring one.
Lucky for them
the wedding's off?
That piece of paper
jinxes things.
It could be love.
Loving is different to owning.
What about
True love?
Yes. Johnny here.
What?
You can't do that.
But when will I see them?
Yes, but
Where are you?
Okay?
That was my ex-wife.
She's moving to Manchester.
She's back at the job she had
when I was playing there.
She wants to take the boys.
- She wouldn't, would she?
- Mette?
She would do anything
to hurt me.
"Though I bestow all my goods,
and have not love,
"it profiteth me nothing.
"Love suffereth long
and is kind.
- "Love envieth not"
- St Paul
- You know the Bible?
- Not really.
Although he's an atheist,
"faith, hope, love
"these three, but the greatest
of these is love."
Her text for the wedding.
The verger says she came here
to tape her sermons.
Listen to this.
- And the faith
- Oops.
is love
What do you want now?
That's the last thing
she recorded.
And probably the last person
she talked to
in this earthly life.
What do you want now?
What does it tell us? Other than
that she knew the person?
Briefing
14.30, Sunday March 5
- There's no fear!
Their report
They've done a great job.
You all know Vindfeldt.
Ex-assistant commissioner,
trying to retire.
We'll put a stop to that.
- Have a look at those photos.
- Yes, of course. Hello.
Pastor Eriksen's husband.
They'd been married
for ten years. No children.
An odd fellow.
- He never fitted in here.
- And he's a liar.
He signed a report saying he
slept with his wife Friday night.
I hope not.
She was dead by then.
The examiner says she died
between 20.30 and 23.30.
- Got a minute?
Just to get this clear.
Are you in charge?
No, no.
Of course not.
- You are.
- So I decide if we get him in?
Or if I have a quiet chat to him.
He lost his wife yesterday!
- Who's he?
- Him?
That's Christian Lange.
My wife thinks he'd have been
better suited to our young priest.
I forgot I had a meeting.
I must run.
Love to your wife.
Please don't get up.
A meeting on a Sunday?
The medical examiner thinks the
murder weapon could be a spade.
The toolshed was unlocked.
Forensics will confirm
either way
in a couple of days.
- I'll take the school principal.
- Okay. Please read this.
I'll go over to the church.
Vindfeldt
Thanks for your help.
- May I call you later?
- Certainly.
Deceased's home
15.07, Sunday March 5
Ingrid Dahl.
Homicide division.
May I offer my condolences?
Thanks.
May I come in?
Yes. Come inside.
Thanks.
I keep expecting her
to come through the door.
What do you think happened?
A maniac
after the church silver?
I don't really know.
- Where did you meet your wife?
- In a bar.
I was an unemployed loser.
Had nothing to keep me going.
I'd be dead
had I not met her.
- She restored my faith.
- In God?
In another life.
Without booze.
- And God?
- Ha!
God!
Sometimes
I'm quite sure He's somewhere
out there in the universe
and at other times it's just
darkness.
When did you see her last?
- I've already told them.
- Tell me again
about Friday night.
We
had our dinner.
She went to the church
and I sat down to watch TV.
- You didn't go for a walk?
- No, I went to bed around
10 or half past.
She was still over there.
- But she came home to bed?
- Sure.
You're sure?
- I'd have known, wouldn't I?
- You did sleep together?
- Didn't you?
- Yes, yes.
And you got up together?
How were things between you?
All right?
Yes.
Your wife died between
30 and 23.30 Friday night.
Try again.
When did you see her
on Friday night?
- At dinner.
- No later?
- No.
- What did you do then?
You weren't here or you'd have
known she wasn't at home.
Right
Where were you?
I
Try telling the truth
and save us both time.
- I was with another
- Woman?
- Yes.
- When did you leave her?
Saturday morning.
Your wife knew?
Does this woman have a name?
Did you really play
for Denmark?
Can I have your autograph?
Look.
- What's your name?
- Christoffer. She's my sister.
My son's a Christoffer.
Great name.
- You are?
- Line.
- Want one?
- No.
Mum!
- That's great. Come on.
- He played for Denmark.
Come on.
We knew the dead woman.
Leaving?
Yes.
I found out that my kids
are at their grandma's.
She's stupid
taking the boys away
without your consent.
I got advice from a lawyer.
If she does that, the courts are
likely to award you full custody.
You might want
to tell her that.
You know what you are?
Lovely
I might be back tonight.
16.11, Sunday March 5
I've known her a long time.
We were high school friends.
We both studied theology.
I quit it for teaching.
And coincidently
the year I became head here
she was appointed
parish priest.
So you were very close?
Yes Absolutely.
Barring my wife,
she was the person
I valued most.
Maria!
- This is my wife.
- Fischer, Homicide.
We're both devastated
over what's happened.
I was out of town with the kids
when Maria called me.
We thought of cancelling
the carnival
but Eva wouldn't have
wanted that.
Right, love?
Okay. Yes.
I'll do that.
I'll call you. Great.
- Can you come to my office?
- Why?
We can talk in front
of your husband. I don't care.
- Let's say 10 o'clock?
- Yes.
- Bye.
- Bye.
What did he want?
They know.
The whole town knows.
You must realise
this isn't easy for me either.
"unseemly.
"Seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked.
"Thinketh no evil.
"Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth."
I'm Jens Olesen.
- I'm the verger.
- I figured that.
Thomas LaCour, Homicide.
What a voice she had!
The priest.
And then
that text of St Paul's
that she loved
more than anything.
- You wanted to see me?
- Returning by bus at 22.30?
- Yes.
- You saw a light on over here.
- I assumed she'd forgotten it.
So I switched it off.
- Where's the switch?
- In the porch.
- Did you try the church door?
- Yes, it was locked.
While she was lying in here
Jens
What do you think happened?
That's obvious to anyone.
It was his work!
- Could you show me the switch?
- Yes.
Did you see anything else
Friday evening?
A man left the church.
- You knew him?
- He didn't stop.
He didn't see me.
The priest's husband.
Why didn't he say before?
Confusion, he says.
Four witnesses
independently say
walk from the church
to the vicarage.
Excuse me.
But this may be important.
My neighbour,
who's in insurance, tells me
the Eriksens
had mutual life insurance.
He'll get almost two million
with the death of his wife.
What are we waiting for?
He's a liar.
- He needs to explain himself.
- Tomorrow.
- He'll tell more lies then.
- He's just lost his wife.
- We're not social workers.
- We don't have enough on him.
In my day that would have
justified a warrant.
I want to talk to his girlfriend.
If he absconds or suicides,
who's responsible?
- I am.
- You?
Wouldn't it be wise
to check with Ulf first?
No. Thanks for now.
Gaby?
- Coming?
- I've got some work to do.
I've booked a room
at the inn for tonight.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
- Why don't we take him?
- Just go home to your wife.
Aren't we in a good mood!
Riddle solved.
Boysen, the genius.
Leave a message.
It's me. Where are you all?
Could you get Tobias's skis
down from the attic?
- Hi, where were you?
- Oh, I was just
- Where are Gry and Tobias?
- Gry's with her mum
and Tobias is picking up
a game from a friend.
I can't remember who.
- You sound strange.
- I don't feel good.
- Is it that headache?
- I'm fine.
There's a virus going around.
- Sure?
- Yes.
I'm off to Forensics.
Boysen's solved
our locked room riddle.
Fine, darling.
Bye for now.
So?
An American colleague of mine
is in no doubt.
Have you ever
chopped off a hen's head?
No, but I've seen them
run around headless.
Exactly.
Its reflexes say "flight"
long after it's clinically dead.
That's got nothing to do
with this. And yet.
You saw her cranium?
Yes.
- The fractures caused a rupture.
- Meaning?
No hole,
and she'd have died instantly.
The brain's of an exact size.
The skull has limited space.
So if the brain swells following
a blow, the pressure rises,
the blood supply stops
and it's curtains.
But here
the blood escaped.
- I'll get her and show you.
- No, I follow.
It might have given her
30 seconds.
The killer runs.
Her last thought
is to lock the murderer out.
She locks the door,
staggers back, collapses
- And dies.
- Okay.
Any ideas?
- Do you know who did it?
- No.
Come for a bite
and some more ideas.
- You never give up.
- So what?
I'm spoken for.
I'm sending Tobias off
to Norway tomorrow morning.
How can you leave
after all I've done for you?
- One beer?
- Okay. One beer.
It's like a magic trick.
Do you know what I mean?
When you know it, you think
"Was that really all it was?"
Like with this locked room.
A bit like "Oh!"
The question now is,
who was she locking out?
Are you asleep?
07.45, Monday March 6
Good morning.
- Johnny's not back?
- Why should he be?
He'll come when
I ask him to fetch the office.
Why did I think
he'd be back last night?
Who knows?
- Did Tobias get off okay?
- Oh
I could kick myself.
The last thing I said was
"No black pistes."
That's all he'll think about now.
I won't have a moment's peace.
Morning.
had problems last night.
The chief constable told me.
We've got to manage
on our own.
As long as that man
Vindfeldt
Good morning.
I've solved the riddle
of the locked room.
I spent all last night
talking to my good friend Uffe.
He's a consultant physician
at the hospital and now
Yes
Now! Here comes the shock.
It was the priest herself
who locked that door.
"But how can that be?"
- You all ask. Right?
- Yes?
How?
Because she had a hole
in her skull
through which
the blood seeped.
That extended her life
by 30 seconds.
Enough time
for her to lock the door.
- Of course.
- Sure.
The spade in the shed
may be the murder weapon.
There are no stains.
All tools were carefully cleaned.
That doesn't help us.
Anyone can get in there.
Have you
- No.
- No?
Not that I want to interfere.
There's nothing more annoying
than an ex-cop, but
There's a little bell ringing
up here.
When I passed the vicarage
the curtains were still closed.
You can say
but he's always
been a morning person.
Hello.
I'll
I'll pop in a bit later.
This way, please.
Eriksen says
he was with you Friday night.
- No.
Why does it matter
where he was?
First he told the police
he was with his wife.
But when told
she was killed Friday evening
he said he'd been with you.
If you can confirm that
we can clear that one up.
He was with me.
Do you mind telling me
what you did?
Guess.
- You're having an affair?
- It means nothing.
- "Means nothing"?
- It was purely sexual.
- Yes.
We agreed.
As long as we didn't hurt anyone
it was nobody's business.
How long has it been going on?
What? I've told you he was
with me, isn't that enough?
Yes.
- When did he arrive?
- Around 8.
- When did he leave?
- The next morning at 9.30.
And you were together
all the time?
- I can't quite hear you.
- Yes, we were.
So his wife knew of the affair
since he spent
all night with you?
Yes.
And your husband?
I told him last night
after what had happened.
- How did he take it?
- He was upset, of course.
But
we're adults, aren't we?
Before your husband left
with your children,
Friday evening,
what did you talk about?
- How's it going?
- I don't remember.
Splendid.
Three lies so far.
Two witnesses heard arguments
and said he left very angry.
Why so angry?
but five people
saw him at the church?
Maria! This is serious.
It's a murder investigation.
That thing
about it meaning nothing
Perhaps it did?
Was that what you argued about?
You told him
you wanted a divorce?
Yes.
to tell his wife the same thing?
Yes.
For how long was he gone?
Half an hour.
How was he when he returned?
Distraught It had been hard
for him to tell her.
It had been a shock for her.
She suffered
from arthritis.
She couldn't have coped
on her own.
I woke up that night.
He was crying.
He said it would
have been more humane
To kill her?
Could he have done it?
Could he have killed her?
I don't know.
I don't.
I saw the famous play
- Have you seen it?
- Yes, but once was enough.
"When's Christmas?"
It's asked.
"When the students arrive."
Well, we're here.
Deceased's home
09.44, Monday March 6
It's the police.
Please open the door.
It's the police.
Anyone at home?
- IP!
- He stinks like hell.
What a binge!
I don't have to talk
to the police.
I don't.
But I want to talk to you.
I'd like to tell you
the whole thing.
She was not meant to
She wasn't meant to
- Allan Fischer.
- And you're okay to talk?
- Yes.
Hang your coat up, sit down
and there's a pick-me-up.
Interrogation
at 14.30 on March 6
You're not obliged
to say anything.
Right.
Where were you Friday night?
With a friend.
That friend, Maria Lange,
says you left at 22.00.
Five people saw you
at the church at 22.30.
Shall we start from there?
Right so far?
Yes.
What did you do at the church?
- I told Eva.
- What did you tell her?
I told her the truth,
that I wanted a divorce.
Was she surprised?
Yes.
How did she react?
She became upset.
Very upset.
- Did she cry?
- Yes.
- Did you comfort her?
- Yes.
But she
- She misunderstood.
- How?
She became
- She became amorous.
- And then what?
I
- I pulled myself away.
- And what then?
She became furious.
- She drove me out.
- Out of the church?
Yes.
- And that was it?
- Yes.
- Two million's a lot of money.
- What?
- Two million's a lot of money.
- What are you talking about?
I'll make myself clear.
Your life insurance!
We don't have any.
We've checked it out.
Look here.
That signature!
That's yours, right?
16 March 1999.
I thought it was an ordinary
household policy.
That's hard to believe.
Your wife's ill, close to 50
and this is not cheap.
A financial drain.
Eva was in charge
of all that.
She took it out for me.
Yes.
Let's hear what really happened
in that church.
More reports.
How's it going?
He's tough.
It's been three hours.
Look at these.
These are dated March 1.
You remember?
Five days ago.
Paid by you at the post office.
Look at this.
Oops!
There's the life insurance.
Eva asked me to pay it.
And the amount
didn't surprise you?
No.
this is a lot of money.
Ingrid's phone. Gaby here.
Gry? Just a moment.
It's Gry.
- Yes?
- I'm at the hospital.
- It's Dad.
- What's up with him?
- He's having brain surgery.
- What?
He fainted in the kitchen and
I called an ambulance.
- He's being operated on.
- I'm on my way.
I'll have to go.
I'll drive.
- I'll drive myself.
- Don't argue.
Niels!
He had complications
but he'll make it.
- What is this?
- He was unconscious.
We found a blood clot.
If we hadn't operated
he would have died.
- How long has he had it?
- Since the accident.
The blow caused
a blood vessel to leak.
Why didn't you find it before?
He refused to stay in
for observation.
But we may not have
found it anyway.
We can thank Gry
for acting so promptly.
- I'll phone later.
- Thanks, IP.
We needed
a new headmistress.
It was a choice between
and had better connections.
But Miss Smith was someone
any school would appreciate.
You remembered?
I'll get you a glass.
I didn't want her
to listen on her own.
- She's magnificent.
- What?
- He'll pull through.
There's a sofa
if you want to lie down.
Good idea.
I'll call you when he wakes.
- You promise?
- Yes.
Ingrid here.
The grocer says
On her way to the church
Pastor Eriksen
bought batteries
for her dictaphone.
She asked him
to change them
but he had a customer
so he didn't.
if he changed the batteries.
You say she got furious.
She must have hit you, eh?
- She didn't.
- Think about it, man.
She hit you, you hit back.
Too hard
She fell and you thought
"Oh, well
"I might as well finish her off."
Did you put new batteries
in your wife's dictaphone?
No.
It was the first thing she asked
when I got to the church.
If I could help her
change the batteries.
But we forgot about it
when we started talking.
It's 21.48.
Interview terminated.
You may leave.
Cheerio.
So what's going on here?
- Ingrid's idea. The batteries.
- Yes?
For the dictaphone.
She bought them on her way.
- Her hands were arthritic.
- So?
at 22.30.
By 23.30 she was dead.
Someone else changed
the batteries.
I have to leave.
Well
Jens Olesen, verger.
Mean anything?
The verger?
- Get him.
- Fischer's on it.
- Out
- Did you hear him?
Yes.
- Is that Ingrid? Let me talk.
- Yes.
It's me. He wasn't there.
I checked with Vindfeldt.
He might be with his mum
at a nursing home.
His life revolves around
the church and his old mum.
02.07, Tuesday March 7
Oh, Jens!
Police!
Jens Olesen. Come with us.
It's 02.07 and
you're under arrest.
You're not obliged
to say anything.
Jens,
don't forget my little gift.
What do you want now?
- Is she talking to you?
- No.
When did you leave on Friday?
On the 6 o'clock bus.
How come your fingerprints
are on the batteries?
They were bought at 8 p.m.
You went to the church
Yes.
- And changed the batteries?
- She was alive then.
Why didn't you
say this before?
You might have suspected me.
Jens
- That girl
- Pia?
Yes. Pia.
- Do you see her often?
- She's my girlfriend.
She's ill.
So she needs money.
Have you told your mum
about her?
No.
- But she knows.
- No, she doesn't!
Yes. She told us
we'd find you at Pia's.
Then it was all unnecessary.
Killing Eva?
Was it because of Pia
you killed her?
Yes.
Why?
I was on my way to the church
to tell the priest something.
I heard the Eriksens arguing.
I waited for him to leave.
Tell her what?
That I'd embezzled money
from the church funds.
Pia's very ill, so
she needs a lot of money.
So
So when the priest
asked me to change
the batteries
I told her
what I'd done and
that I would pay it back.
I've never seen her
so inflexible.
She said she'd tell
the whole parish council.
And my mum too.
So you got the spade?
She always talked about
Iove
suffering all.
A devil got into me.
I was really angry.
Sorry.
Well done. See you.
We got a full confession.
Ingrid.
- It didn't work.
- What didn't work?
There were complications.
What?
His brain has had no blood supply
for the last 14 minutes.
Ingrid?
We have to talk about
organ donation.
- How long will his heart beat?
- Twelve hours at the most.
Your decision can wait.
If I were to follow
He'd want to help others.
We'd like to be alone now.
Oh, no.
Gry.
Is he awake?
No, he's not awake.
And he'll never wake up.
What?
Your father's dead.
No.
There, there. Come here.
Shall I call your mother?
- You all did a great job.
- You did too.
The court sentenced Jens Olesen
to eight years in prison.