Silent Witness (1996) s01e08 Episode Script

1 - I'm waiting for a call.
- Sorry.
So, where are we going for Mummy's birthday? The Old Bush.
Oh, great.
Mum says you want to put Gran in a home.
It's not a matter of what I want.
It's what's best for Mummy.
You look nervous.
- I was just thinking the same thing about you.
- Yeah.
Exam results? Are you confident? No, I'm crap.
You've got all the brains in this family.
Your mother has 10 O-levels.
She always was cleverer than she looked.
- I'm sorry we had to get you in so early.
- What was the urgency? Dr Ryan said it was a difficult identification.
Dr Ryan could have told you this.
Told us what, exactly? A 10-year-old child could tell you.
There's even an outside chance that a policeman would notice it.
It's him.
Quoc Van Nguyen.
No doubt at all.
The other way round.
When you see Dr Ryan, ask her why I had to be dragged all the way down here for this nonsense.
Well, sir, if you invested in a fax machine, then So, the father killed the fiancé.
But why? Well, only Tran can tell us that, wherever she is.
She tells lies.
And she's not the only one.
Aren't you embarrassed being dropped off by your auntie? They think you're my lover.
It's been great for the reputation.
Please! Got to go, I'm chatting somebody up.
Hello? Tran.
I'll be there.
Bye.
All down there in black and white, love.
You are going to tell us where she is.
You may think you won't, but you will.
No body lies to me twice! - Why did you do it? - Sir.
You must have realised I'd crucify you when I found out? What could possibly The girl.
He's got the hots for the boss's daughter.
She came to you with that terrified look in her eyes, "Help me, I'm desperate.
" You saw it as your big chance to shine.
You actually thought that this was the moment you'd been waiting for.
"At last! She needs me! I'll do anything.
" Fool.
She used you.
- No.
- For what? What did you do? I think you'd better tell me.
Don't you, son? Yes, it's the knife all right.
The missing fragment fits perfectly.
- Fingerprints? - Absolutely.
On the hilt.
Three good and one fuzzy partial.
And we have a match.
From immigration records.
Choung Thanh Binh.
So, it wasn't the waiter, it was the girl's father.
- How are they getting along with the scene? - Come and see.
The body was in the kitchen during most of the fire, protecting the floor underneath.
So, we were able to find traces of petrol that soaked into the wood.
There was a lot of debris in this region from the fuel load, tables and chairs piled on top of the body to help the fire along.
- Every contact leaves a trace.
- Correct.
And we think we've found some blood remains over here in the corner, under the soot.
But we're not sure yet.
- Sorry I'm late.
- I thought you weren't coming.
I promised.
Have you got a motive? Mystery of the Orient, Marcia.
The inscrutability factor.
Dr Ryan.
Hello.
I've brought someone to see you.
Who does this silence help? Not your father.
All we want to do is to talk to him.
Where's the harm in a chat? A few words? You'd expect that, wouldn't you? A restaurant burns down, naturally we'd want a few words with the owner.
You've been here, what, 12 years, you're a medical student.
You must understand what I am saying.
Yes, I understand you exactly.
You want to put my father in prison.
You look at my slitty eyes and you must think, what, I'm stupid? Because I'm not Scotch? We prefer the term Scottish.
Well, perhaps you are unaware that Vietnam had a civilisation before your ancestors invented the haggis.
I believe you know where your father is.
Now, he is wanted for questioning in connection with a murder.
Are you holding me? Nguyen humiliated you at the hotel.
Then he went to the restaurant to confront your father.
What happened then? I cannot speak about what I did not see.
Are you charging me with a crime? Do you want a cup of tea? DC Cox.
- You were pulling faces.
- Oh, God.
I'm interviewing somebody and you're taking the piss behind my back.
- Don't be so - What? - Nothing, sir.
- Say it.
Childish.
You're pulling faces and I'm childish? You were talking to her like she was an idiot.
Right.
You show me how it's done.
Right, I will.
Go on, then.
- You got the daughter in? - Yes, ma'am.
- She give you anything? - We're working on it.
Your dad, how is he, wherever he is? Bearing up? You've had some rough times, you two.
Vietnam, the boat, now this.
How do you cope with something like this? I mean, I don't see a way out.
Do you? DC Cox has requested reassignment.
Oh.
Did she give a reason? No, she's too loyal for that.
Perhaps you can shed some light.
Well, she probably wants more experience.
Ah.
Well, she's very capable.
I'm sure she'll do really well anywhere.
That depends on your report.
And on the rumour machine.
The what? Off the record? Okay.
It really pisses me off that I have to lose a highly competent officer just because you can't keep it in your pants.
- Wait a minute, I don't know what you've heard - Sex and work don't mix.
A good senior officer would know that.
Well, let me tell you something, Tom.
She may be a lowly DC and you an exalted DI, but she's the one I can't replace.
There's more than enough like you and far too few like her.
I don't want her career compromised.
Look, I can't control rumours Understand this.
When she leaves this station, she is not a slag.
Not if you want a career.
How is she doing? She's very reticent.
- I've done alll can.
- No, no, sit down.
Abercrombie made the identification.
Yes, he would, he's a first class forensic dentist.
He said it wasn't easy, even for him.
Sit down.
The body found in the restaurant was a Mr Quoc Van Nguyen.
Widower.
Who leaves a mother, a 16-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son.
Yeah.
Look, you obviously have some influence with this girl.
You're always telling me to keep out of your investigations, Harriet.
Her father is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He's killed once already, we don't want it to happen again.
We need to know where he is.
It's not my job to lean on people for the police.
Whose side are you on, Sam? You seem short of good advice today, Dr Ryan.
Your father, on the boat.
When the men raped you.
That's what all this is about, isn't it? What can you know about experiences like that, extreme experiences like that? What can you know about my father? My father was killed by the IRA.
It's given me a working knowledge of extremity.
You think you understand about life, the world, and then one morning, for no particular reason, it explodes in your face.
One brief moment of horror, your world is shattered.
You can never feel safe again.
No.
The police have found the knife.
They know your father killed Nguyen.
I have to go now.
He could be dangerous.
I have to get on with my work.
I have exams.
There's no escape! Not for him.
You understand that, don't you? Look, when we came here, you said you'd talk to them.
That man, the ignorant man.
Adams? Not him.
Nguyen did not consider me worthy of the honour of marriage.
Is that why your father killed him? Because he attacked you in the hotel garden? Tell us about your father.
You mean, would he kill to protect me? He protected me.
He was always what a father is to his child.
Somewhere between God and Superman? They laughed at him.
He was crawling crawling on the deck of the boat, taking their kicks like a dog.
Wide eyes astonished.
And then they were tired of him and he was pushed aside and gone.
And then they came to the women.
My mother amongst them.
And when they had finished with her, discarded her, thrown her into the water, they came for me.
I was especially desirable.
Beautiful then.
Young.
And I screamed for him.
But it made no difference.
The world had changed forever.
In a moment.
What's going on, Guv? Women's business.
I was raped by several men.
I'm not exactly sure how many.
I think nine, perhaps 10.
Perhaps 11.
I was only 12 years old.
The world had been a place in which my father could heal people.
But not after that? He could not even heal himself.
And you? I have recovered.
But my father, on the other hand, has not.
And Nguyen found all this out? I told him.
Then he and your father fought? You want me to betray him? It's not betrayal.
It's for the best.
Best for him, best for you.
Superintendent Farmer.
What can you do to me? Give us a moment.
Are you going to let her go? She obviously knows more than she's saying.
The physical evidence against her father is a mile high.
- You have no need to hold her.
- I can't hold her.
- DC Cox.
- Ma'am? Excuse me.
What did she say? - Well? - Nothing.
We had nothing to hold her on.
Christ, and I wanted another crack.
You don't understand who you're dealing with.
Look, it's simple She was gang-raped as a kid.
Half her family were murdered.
Her father had to watch it.
There's nothing simple about that.
So, you girls let her go because you felt sorry for her.
No, because she wouldn't talk.
Obviously, Farmer has put a tail on her.
Jesus, Tom.
There has to be something wrong with you.
Your wife left you, I'm leaving you.
And do you want to know why? You're frozen.
Numb.
And those last few weeks that I felt you inside me, you made me numb too.
She's conning you.
She was 12 years old, you bloody man! Thank you.
When you see your father Why would I see him? When you do, make sure you say goodbye.
You'll regret it all your life if you let the chance slip by.
The tail, he's reported in.
He says she just goes between the hostel and the hospital and back again.
So, do you want him to stay with her? Yes.
- Don't I get a drink, then? - No.
I'm not supposed to mix business with pleasure.
It's too difficult.
I'm not able to deal with these delicate emotional situations.
- Listen - And why is that? Because I'm a bloody man! Only women understand emotion.
That's a biological fact.
I believe it goes with the tits.
So, what does a man do, then? He get's drunk and he tells himself that he's finally having a real emotion.
Would you like to come back to my place and have some numbing sex with an emotionally damaged man, during which he might just cry? Would you like that? It's late and, um I'm too tired for this.
I mean, what did we do that made you feel so sorry for yourself? BBCRadioCambridgeshire.
Who is it? Tran.
It's cold here.
My legs are stiff.
Rub them.
Get the circulation going.
Green, Sam? That's a Fenian colour.
Orange doesn't suit you, Mummy.
Oh! It's lovely.
Good.
- You look smart.
- Yes, well.
The Old Bush might not be such a great outing for you but it is for me.
That's nice.
I suppose the nursing home's your big birthday present.
Mum! Well, Mummy, we'd better go if we don't want to be late.
Come on, Mummy.
Is it bearable? Hang on.
Just till we can get away.
The pain makes me feel clean again.
It's good.
I'm clearing my debt.
Here.
I brought you other things.
A television.
Maybe I can watch football.
I have to go soon.
I have to be seen in the hospital.
It's a labyrinth down here.
- How'd you find him? - Healthy scepticism.
The masculine virtue.
I followed her.
What a suspicious bastard, eh? North.
Spoil Superintendent Farmer's weekend.
Dig her out of the squash club.
- And North.
- Guv.
While you're up there see if they've got a canteen, get me a cup of coffee.
- I feel like shite.
- Got it.
Northy, you prat.
What is the matter, Sam? Are you afraid some of your posh friends'll see you in a pub like this? - Mummy seems happy enough.
- Then I'm happy.
What'll you have to drink? I'll have a mineral water, please.
I thought you said you weren't on call? I'm not, I'm driving.
Oh, that's right, you have a car.
Rum and black, please.
- Beer.
- Coke.
Give the boy a break.
A Coke, and no argument.
Never mind, dear, swap with me and nobody'll know the difference.
Things have changed down here over the years.
New services put in.
Central heating, air conditioning.
And you didn't put them all into one plan? We weren't expecting you.
I know they're in here somewhere.
The pair of them.
Hiding like mice under the floor.
We've got you now! There's no way out! You're trapped.
I'm a hostage! He's holding me as a hostage.
She's been supplying him all along.
She's not a hostage, she's part of this.
My father's ill.
Crazy.
He could do anything.
I'm afraid he will kill me! Bollocks.
There's another entrance over there.
Right, get your guys ready.
Sir, her father has PTSD.
He could do anything.
Even my emotional understanding tells me he's not going to kill his own daughter.
I told you what he's been through.
In a situation like this, he could do anything.
Look, you found them.
It's only a matter of time now.
So, just wait for Farmer.
Then if anything goes wrong she can take the flak.
Right, we're treating this as a siege situation.
Well, this is all very nice.
Well, the family that eats together stays together.
Isn't that what they say? - I think its plays.
- No, it's prays.
Well, we don't do that any more.
Just because we're Protestant doesn't mean we believe in God.
Have you had any exam results back yet? Um, yeah.
Maths.
I didn't know about this.
- Yeah, I was going to tell you.
- Oh, yeah? When? Well, what did you get? 18 percent.
18 percent? 18 percent? God, they give you 18 percent if you put your bloody name on the paper.
- Thanks.
- That is awful.
- I know.
- It's terrible.
I'm sorry.
All these years and that's all he can come up with? 18 percent? Give it a rest, it's Mummy's birthday.
- You have let me down, boy.
- It was only a mock.
It's a bloody mockery.
That what it is.
Oh, so I'm thick.
Whose fault is that? They're not saying anything.
Well? There's a service duct behind here.
It's complicated.
It's a bloody maze.
- Exits? - Two.
Both covered.
The central chamber is just there and that's where we think they are.
Will you be able to move? That is it, then.
It's over.
No.
I will do what I have resolved.
You'd left us.
Dr Ryan.
We were doing fine.
What? - It's an emergency.
- What did you come back for? My mother needed me.
Wanted, maybe.
Needed, never.
Oh, she'd learnt not to rely on what she couldn't have.
You know, every time she looks at you she sees him.
- You've got his eyes, his mouth.
- I know.
Oh, Jesus, you've got everything! - Wyn, I'm sorry, I've got to go.
- It's an excuse.
- It's an emergency, believe me.
- You've already got one.
I am an emergency.
Mummy is an emergency.
And Ricky is doing his best.
Where are they? In one of the service ducts.
- And she can't come out? - Can't or won't.
- Is she all right? - Of course she's all right.
He's not going to harm his own daughter.
It's a con.
But it won't get her anywhere.
There's nowhere to go.
I'm taking this very slowly.
We're going to talk them out, no matter how long it takes.
What do you want me to do? Just talk to her, that's all.
You're the only person she trusts.
I want to keep things calm.
I don't want anyone to get hurt.
All right, move out.
Tran? It's Sam.
Dr Ryan.
I want to come and talk to you.
- I'm coming in.
- No! My father doesn't want you to.
I'm on my own.
The girl's moved along the duct.
Hostage, eh? Can you hear me? Stay where you are.
Tran? Turn off your torch.
You're here to persuade me to come out.
Yes.
My father will go to prison.
Yes, but he did what he did because of you.
The courts will understand and it will make a difference.
Do you think I've done all this so he can die on his own, in some English prison? No.
I'll do everything I can to help.
What can you do? Lawyers, anything.
Why? It doesn't matter.
Of course.
Your advice.
You think you are responsible for something.
- What advice? - Shh! You think you began this.
Well, who knows where it began or how it will end? I don't.
You've got to come out of there.
You know that, don't you? Are you there? Tran? What advice? Ma'am.
I think they're getting ready to come out.
I won't go! - Leave me.
- I won't accept this from you! It is alll have to give.
And I must be permitted my chance of atonement.
Now, go.
Go.
Go! We've got more movement.
Ma'am, they're moving somewhere.
They're coming out.
What is it? It sounds like traffic.
We're going in.
Right, Jarvis, you and you, the other exit.
North and Clements, in you go.
- Get him out of there! - Stay still! Get a fire extinguisher.
Hurry up.
Get down.
Stay still.
Northy! Are you all right? Stay away from that duct.
Don't let anyone near it, all right? I need a doctor down here, now! You're all right.
Just stay calm.
All right.
Right.
Thank you.
Well? Trevor's away on another call.
In Birmingham.
He can't be here.
That leaves you, then.
I knew her.
You didn't know her.
I can't do this.
If I can do this, so can you.
Nobody better.
Isn't that just the point though, Tom? Neither of us should do this.
You don't know who I am.
She did.
Detachment.
That's the secret, eh? Anyway, nobody else is going to look at her now.
Nobody but me.
Okay.
As expected, little external marking.
Except on the point of contact.
Here you go.
You must get to see a lot of this, eh, Fred? Nude women.
Inspector Adams isn't feeling very well today.
Do you want to take some time out? Yeah, sure.
Young, isn't she? Beautiful.
Last time I saw her naked waslast Saturday.
I was going to dump her.
I thought, I'll get her to do it.
So much easier just to freeze her out.
Be cold, she'll get the message, you know? I love her.
And now I want to tell her.
Where is she, Sam? Where's she gone? I don't know.
Expert on death? I thought you knew the secret.
They're just things, you just cut them up.
- You don't understand it any better than I do! - No.
My father's last few moments alive, I remember them vividly.
He was shouting and the muscles in his neck were taut with fury.
Eyes blazing.
Fists bunched up like this.
And he was still in control and very much alive.
And then suddenly he was gone.
He just disappeared.
And there was this twisted thing in the road.
A million years we've stood over bodies and tried to understand that disappearance.
But no one ever has.
Not to my satisfaction.
And this won't help.
Believe me.
So beautiful.
Bye-bye.
Going into the body now.
Who's in there? You mean there's no police presence? DC Cox is in there.
A good officer.
One of the best.
I shall miss her.
Jarvis.
You are relieving Inspector Adams.
There was no time gap.
Understand? Yes, ma'am.
ACC Ops is on his way.
Is there anything else I have to fix? I loved her.
I just realised.
- Fix that.
- I'm sorry.
Is there anything I can do? You've already done more than your share.
There is extensive lacerational injury to the posterior and right lateral aspects of the skull with comminuted compound fracturing.
I haven't had one of these since I was a kid.
- The cause of death was - You! The cause of death was you.
You held back.
If you'd told us what you knew she wouldn't have been in that basement and she wouldn't be in there now.
The cause of death was the blow to the head.
You killed her.
There's a man looking for someone to blame.
Yeah.
Do you blame me for Daddy? Will I have to go into a home? No, you won't have to go into a home.
Not for a wee while, anyway.
Just say what you feel.
I forgive you.
Thank you, Mummy.
Our Wyn hasn't.
Well, he was her daddy, too.
I know.
Does she expect me to atone for it for the rest of my life? Don't be silly.
Protestants don't atone, that's only for Catholics.
What about Buddhists? We found some blood remains under the soot.
Fire-damaged and very faint, but just about good enough to give us a splatter pattern.
So, he was killed here and the knife driven in from behind.
The cabinet was broken.
So, the fight was here, the stabbing was there.
He was facing the wrong way.
Or there were two people in the kitchen.
Possibly.
What other evidence have you got? We had big hopes of the Mercedes.
Obviously, Binh drove it to Littleford, and bought a ticket, pretending to be Nguyen.
We'd hoped to tie him in with the car forensically but all we found was one of Tran's hairs.
Hardly surprising.
After all, she was his fiancée.
Good, we'll see Mrs Williams in Day Ward now.
You drove your father to the station.
You were in the kitchen.
Your father didn't kill him, it was you.
I know.
- You know? - Believe.
I didn't understand the knife at first.
You must've given it to the waiter? But you cannot prove.
Your father had lung cancer.
He was going to die soon.
So he took the blame.
It's true, isn't it? He believed that a father's job is to make the world safe for his child.
In this he failed.
Twice.
First on the boat.
Second in the kitchen.
What happened in the kitchen? Nguyen He touched you.
And you remembered the men who'd raped you.
So, you picked up a knife and drove it into his body with all your strength.
And then your father made the world safe for you again.
I have been a victim once before.
I will not be, and I will never be a victim again! Whatever it costs.
Whatever it requires.
What about DC Cox? One acquires guilt, and one must live with it.
And seek to atone.
I think, Dr Ryan, you understand what I mean.
You murdered a man.
So what are you going to do? I promised my father that I would be a doctor in two weeks, and that is what I will be.
I will heal what I can.
- Didn't we have an emergency? - It's over now.
I don't think so.
Wyn, whatever I did all those years ago is done.
I've moved on now, put it behind me.
You need to move on as well.
It's time for you to forgive.
And forget Daddy? If he could stand here right now do you know how he'd feel? Insulted.
Because the only way you can remember him is to blame me.
Every day, every day of my life you hurt me.
Because I let you.
And I let you because I love you.
But I've had it.
Look, I'll do my fair share with Mummy but I can't go on accepting guilt from you.
You took him away.
It was the bomb, not me.
Sam!