Silent Witness (1996) s03e01 Episode Script

Get away from me! Stay away from me! This has got to stop! Fact - May '96, a rapist is convicted on DNA evidence despite his victim saying the man is NOT her attacker.
Fact - December '97, a forensic laboratory admits to using second-hand equipment which has not been tested for contamination in six years.
Physical evidence can be fallible.
None of us should ever forget that.
Thank you.
Dangerous ground, Sam.
Maybe.
A profession thrown into confusion because of newspaper articles? Mistakes have been made.
Do you intend to say this at the Memorial Lecture? Are you wishing you hadn't asked me? I've never misjudged a student yet.
Am I still a student to you, Leon? .
.
Excuse me.
James, what are you doing here? Curiosity.
I didn't expect you to show up.
Ever? So soon.
I couldn't stay away.
TRADITIONAL JAZZ PLAYS RINGS BELL There are certain things in life that are sacred.
I hope this won't be embarrassing.
There's work.
Absolutely.
I might have guessed.
And What? Relationships.
Some.
And that's it? No, no, there's friends.
Friends.
Friends.
Friends.
And having fun.
May Ball's are notorious.
Notorious for what, is the question? For the amnesia they cause the following morning.
Oh! There.
.
.
It's all right.
White wine, I'm told It doesn't matter.
Move your bag.
Oh, let me get my mouth under it! I'm sorry.
I'll have the dress cleaned.
Oh, it's old.
Well, you've got a clean driving licence at any rate.
So, where does James come from? That training course I went on - road accidents.
He's a traffic warden! He's a consultant in orthopaedics.
He can manipulate MY bones any time.
He's gorgeous! He's all right.
Bring him to dinner.
You haven't seen our new place.
Very sexy.
It's become somewhat of a tradition.
I've worn them to the May Ball ever since The first time with Martin.
Well, no wonder he doesn't want to miss the ball.
I didn't want to come without him this time, but he insisted.
Get out! Don't start that again.
I'm not going anywhere.
You're a drunk! This isn't drunk! We'll talk about it tomorrow.
All right.
I'm going.
I'm sorry, everybody.
I'm very sorry.
Professor, have you come to join the party? Dr Evans! Remember you promised me a dance later? How could I forget? CONVERSATION DROWNED OUT BY JAZZ Professor Foreman, I recommend the tequila slammers.
They do nothing for the intellect.
After a few, you think they do.
Not a philosophy to take with you into life, Mr Arnold.
Have you tried the Bucking Bronco, Dr Ryan? In this?! Go on, give us all a thrill.
You're easily pleased.
Four tequila slammers, please! Dr Evans, what a pleasant surprise.
Er Can you come with me, please? Er No "buts".
This way, please.
How long are you staying? I've got to go at four.
Don't worry if you want to leave earlier.
Have you seen enough yet? Why, have you got other things on your mind? Mmm.
So what do you think? Your place or mine? Neither.
Come on.
MUSIC: "Alright" by Supergrass A first.
.
.
A first! A fu! Language! I'm sorry, sir.
But I did it! I know, and Miss Thomas also.
Yes.
And Mr Electronics, a double first.
And next time you attempt to be John Wayne, try holding on to that Bucking Bronco.
It'll save your face.
Enjoy what you have, hope for what you lack.
Good drive? All right.
Just over an hour.
Did you have a nice time? No.
Nothing to do but go for walks.
I'll collect them tomorrow.
Can't I come with you? No.
Now, behave for Gran.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
I thought it was about time you met the family.
The family? Yeah.
Does this mean you're getting serious? Would you like that? I quite like the idea of your being around every dayevery hour.
What are you saying, James? So, who am I going to meet? I thought your sister had moved back to Ireland.
She has.
Trevor Stewart?! Do you know him? He's not your family! No, he's my business partner.
BEEP 'Professor, this is Annabelle Evans.
Can't make meeting.
'Had to go away for the week.
'Sorry.
' BEEP Annabelle! So how long have you two known each other? Two, three years.
You never said.
Didn't I? We met on some hospital committee.
James would always arrive late.
On purpose, to avoid the boring bits.
I thought it was because you liked making an entrance.
How's Jenny? Expensive.
They're divorced.
Annie? Dinner.
I don't think I can.
Come on, Trevor.
NoBEEP Sorry, boys, I'm going to have to leave you to it.
See you tomorrow, Trevor.
Sure.
So, it's just the two of us, then? Dr Ryan? That's right.
She's upstairs.
Husband came home and found her.
Nobody's moved her.
First on the scene was a young uniform.
SOPOs were here in 30 minutes.
It's possible the assault started downstairs.
Are you the new DI? No, I am.
Mike O'Connor.
Sam Ryan.
I hope we're not spoiling your evening.
No, of course not.
Hi, are you ready to take photographs? Yes, love.
There is a deep wound to the left side of her head, which could be the cause of death.
Any idea how long she's been dead? No, I'll need to do a body temperature.
There are no other obvious signs of injuries.
I need to get something from my car.
I'll send someone.
No, I'll go myself.
She knows her.
Why didn't she hear the window break? TV was on.
Loud? Loud enough.
Goes into the living room Did you get what you needed? Yes.
.
.
She runs out of the living room and up the stairs.
Why not to the front door? Well, maybe there was a second assailant.
Yeah, could've been.
She runs up the stairs, still being chased.
She heads for the bedroom.
He corners her in here and he thwacks her with something.
We're not sure what.
Her injuries suggest she could have turned and looked at her attacker.
So, it's a burglary gone wrong, we think.
That's what it looks like to me.
Mmm I'm not so sure.
Why chase and kill her? Why not just leave? Maybe she knew her attacker.
Maybe.
TV ON Hello, Sam.
How was it? A murder.
Really? It was Annabelle Evans.
We had supper with her the other night.
What? I've just got to go and have a shower.
That must have been a helluva shock.
It was.
Do you know what happened? It might have been a burglary.
And was she, er? I don't think so.
We won't know, though, till we do an autopsy.
Are you all right? Yeah.
I just didn't want anyone else touching her body.
Perhaps I'd better go.
I'll give you a ring in the morningwhen you're feeling better.
'To say forensic pathology is an absolute science would be rather like saying' the universe ends at the Milky Way.
Pathology is on a constant learning curve.
We learn by our mistakes I dropped the children off at my mother's and then went to the house.
.
.
Must not repeat them.
She was just lying there.
'This is Annabelle Evans.
Can't make meeting.
'Had to go away for the week.
Sorry.
' You're in luck.
I don't get many messages.
.
.
And not taking into account the post-mortem changes.
I didn't really know her.
We just went on the waltzers.
We're tracing Dr Evan's movements after the ball.
Can I have a word? Yeah.
Over 40 years ago, Dr Alan Morris published a paper entitled Classic Mistakes In Forensic Pathology.
He listed 14 mistakes.
Firstly, that a decomposed or mutilated body is still acceptable for an autopsy.
Any idea what time that was? That was the last time you saw her? Yeah.
Did you like her? I mean, as a person.
Tutors are all the same.
What does that mean? They think they have the upper hand.
Thanks.
Thanks for the coffee.
What was your name again? Bradley.
DS Bradley.
And what if I wanted to get hold of you? You think you might have some more information? No.
I might just want to get hold of you.
'Lastly, one of the most overlooked mistakes of all - talking too much, too soon or to the wrong people.
' Be confident within yourself before you commit your thoughts to other people, and if you're unsure, then say nothing.
The body and the scene of the crime, if you look closely enough, will give you the answers.
If they don't, then maybe something's clouding your judgement.
There'll be no questions.
APPLAUSE We have a female, late 30s, Caucasian.
The body feels incredibly cold.
A deep laceration to the left side of the forehead.
.
.
Thanks, Fred.
The wound measures3.
4 inches centimetres And2.
6 centimetres in width.
Excuse me, Dr Ryan, can I have a word? Yes? Do you think you should carry on with this? Why? Er You know the deceased, don't you? Because if you do, and you continue, isn't it possible you could jeopardise any case we might have? Trevor, can you take over from me, please? Would you excuse me for a moment? Sam! I'm going home.
What the hell is going on? Not now.
Yes, now.
Why didn't you tell me? Don't you trust me? It's not that.
Well, what is it?! I owed it to her.
She was my friend.
So what am I? The laceration was possibly caused by a solid object.
Any idea what? Not at the moment, no.
A set of markings could have been caused by a raised feature of the object.
Looks like lettering, maybe a letter B.
I'll get it.
Thank you.
Did you forget this time? No.
I take it we won't be going out this evening.
We had tickets to the theatre.
I'll put you to bed.
You could still make it.
Don't be like that.
Like what?! Just go, James.
SOCOs have turned up nothing - no fingerprints, shoe prints, fibres.
Do we know what was stolen? Hardly worth losing your life for.
A phone message from her home two days before her body was discovered.
More degrees than a thermometer.
And what have we come up with? Sweet FA.
So .
.
we're going to do it all again.
We need to find out where she was between the night of the May Ball and the night of her death.
Somebody has got to know.
CHOIR SINGS: "Jerusalem" Please sit down.
I'd like to thank you all for coming to this memorial service.
Annabelle would have been deeply touched to see so many friends and colleagues here today.
This is, of course, a sad occasion and there's absolutely nothing that I or anybody else can say to make it any easier.
Thank you, Father.
Dr Ryan, I'd like to offer my condolences.
Thank you.
If we could talk when you're next at the office Friend or foe? I'm not quite sure at the moment.
A little drink? My rooms.
In honour of Annabelle.
That sounds a lovely idea.
Professor Foreman.
Mr Arnold.
Sir, I need to talk to you about next year.
Your PhD? Yes.
Now Dr Evans has gone Unfortunate timing for you.
Very, but if I can Later, Mr Arnold.
There is a time and a place.
Of course.
I was in your lecture the other day.
I went and got Dr Morris's paper.
Did you find it useful? In a fundamentalist way.
Oh? was first published.
We have moved on since then.
Architecture has moved on since Wren designed St Paul's.
It doesn't mean it's without merit.
BELLS RING Hey! Remember me? I don't want to fight with you, not again.
Do something! She was on the bed.
Fallen there.
Her body slightly awkward.
I'd seen it so many times before.
And up until the moment when I saw her face - recognised her .
.
I was excited.
I was doing what I want to do.
And then what? Nothing seemed to make sense.
I wasn't thinking clearly.
Have you forgotten what I taught you? No.
I I just felt I was failing her.
Always return to the fundamentals.
The answers are with the body and the scene of the crime.
I know.
It's one of the first things you ever said to me.
But what are the answers? I couldn't see any answers.
Ours is not a science of emotions but of debatable facts.
I thought you above all people understood this.
Remember, the pathologist is not totally dissimilar to the murderer.
The more detached he or she is, the more successful they will be.
I know.
I KNOW.
Emotion leads to mistakes.
It clouds the judgement, as you yourself said.
I never thought I'd hear you quote me.
I quote only the best.
See this as a challenge, Sam.
I've heard how you overstepped the mark.
Who told you? Oh, that's not important.
What is important is whether you can rise to the occasion now.
You were my brightest student.
Look on this as the ultimate examination.
I shall mark you, from afar.
DISTANT BELL RINGS We met in a restaurant before the ball.
A Marco Rossi spilt wine on Annabelle.
Did he tell you he was sacked? It wouldn't have worried him.
The restaurant's owned by his brother.
So he's not a suspect? He's one of a number.
After leaving Capriccios you went to the ball.
All four of you? Yeah.
You stayed together all evening? No, we left at 2.
30, Dr Reynolds and I.
And Annabelle said she was leaving at four.
Did she say why? No.
There's a train at 5.
20 from Cambridge to Peterborough.
She could have gone to see her husband.
Are you saying you think he's responsible? I can't rule him out.
No, not Martin.
Thank you very much, Dr Ryan.
You've been very helpful.
Hi.
Hi.
What's that? .
.
The Annabelle Evans case.
Sam I should have said something.
I'm sorry.
I was about to say I understand how you felt.
I'd have wanted to do the same.
So what do we know? The head injury wasn't the cause of death.
I believe she was suffocated after being hit.
No signs of any other assault.
At the moment, I can't give a time of death.
Approximation? Nothing.
Any explanation why the body was so cold? No.
Could she have been kept somewhere, which is why it's difficult to give a time of death? Could be.
There are no signs of freezer burns.
Do you want to check with SOCO? Right.
I'd like to start from when you went away with the children.
What would you like me to say? Where you stayed, how long for, why.
We're waiting for a blood match.
Some of it may be the killer's.
You never know.
There was also blood on the INSIDE of the nightdress.
It soaked through? No, it didn't.
It doesn't correspond with blood marks on the outside.
If it had been put on after the blow, that would explain it.
You wouldn't normally hit somebody then dress them.
I've seen cases the other way round, though.
The other odd thing is the amount of blood on the sheets and mattress.
You'd expect more from a head wound.
Yes, they normally bleed like a stuck pig - much more than this.
But that's really just my opinion.
You couldn't use it in court.
Anything else? Only the abrasions on the heels.
She had a lot of hard skin.
We found some fibres there.
What sort? Tights.
Could be stockings.
Hard to say.
But I would hazard a guess that she was clothed when knocked unconscious.
You've heard what SOCOs have turned up? I've read the reports.
Blood on the inside of her nightdress.
Yeah.
Smeared on when it was pulled over her head.
That figures.
And there are fibres of stockings or tights on the abrasions on her heels.
It all adds up to the fact she was fully clothed when first assaulted.
She was dragged over a hard surface, clothes removed, nightdress put on, then placed on her bed.
So someone WAS trying to make it look like a burglary.
Yeah.
It's likely she was killed elsewhere.
We checked her cottage.
No evidence to place her there.
She'd have told me if she'd been going there.
But I'm still going to keep an open mind about the husband.
Dr Ryan.
Yes? You were very close to Annabelle.
What else do you know? How do you mean? What were her secrets? She didn't have any.
Annabelle had what most of us want good career, nice home life.
Is that what YOU want? How do you know I haven't got it? I don't.
Just theory and supposition.
Break the habit, Marco.
Do us all a favour.
It was THEM.
It always is.
Just try and stay out of trouble! We'll have some sparkling water as well.
Yes, of course, sir.
So, is this a romantic dinner or a Crimewatch reconstruction? A bit of both.
I needed to come here again, and I felt I owed you one.
Owed me? I haven't been at my best.
That's understandable.
And I'm sorry about the theatre.
No problem.
Did you go, then? Yeah.
Alone? Would you object if I hadn't? No, of course not.
You didn't miss anything.
It wasn't very good? Yeah, the play was great.
I don't recommend supper by yourself.
You're trying to make me feel worse.
Yes.
Then you'll be more compliant when I get you home.
I wouldn't bank on it.
That's all you're getting.
What?! If you don't work, I'm not going to pay you.
All right.
I'll work now.
I don't want you to.
Why not? You can come in tomorrow, but if you've been drinking, or you mess up once, that's it! No more! That's your brother, isn't it? Yes, that's right.
Has he always worked here? Only in the last year.
What was he doing before? Playing at being a student.
- Where? - Here in Cambridge.
He was sent down at the end of his first year.
He was never going to make the grade.
Was Dr Evans his tutor at any point? .
.
No.
No, she wasn't.
So, she had no contact with him.
Oh, yes, she did have contact with him.
If she wasn't his tutor He did become rather infamous, did Mr Rossi.
How? After he was sent down, he wrote to every Fellow at the college demanding that he be given another chance.
You can imagine how that went down.
Yeah.
And it was decided that one letter should be sent back on behalf of all the Fellows.
That letter was signed by Dr Evans, as academic staff representative at the time.
But she might not have known him personally? I wouldn't think so.
Sergeant Bradley.
Have a nice evening, did you? I was just having a quiet drink.
With someone who could be a witness in a murder case.
Hardly a witness.
We don't know when Annabelle was murdered.
For all you know she could have been one of the last people to see her alive.
I'll deal with that when it happens.
I don't think your boss would be too pleased with you.
Thinking of telling him? Not necessarily.
What do you want? Marco Rossi.
He was a student sent down from Cambridge.
He refused to leave.
Annabelle had to write to him giving him the college's final decision.
So? Before the May Ball, he was thrown out his brother's restaurant for spilling wine down her dress.
Because she wrote this letter? No, I don't think so, but maybe he realised who she was.
He saw her driving licence.
Later on, on the way back from the ball, I saw him with blood all over his face.
Where do you think he'd been? You think he followed her and killed her.
It's a possibility.
We're pursuing other avenues at the moment.
I saw him! I was there! Now, I think you should follow it up - speak to him again, see what he has to say for himself.
It's true what they say about you.
Don't take any prisoners, do you? Not when it's my friend on the slab.
He took me for a drink.
That's all.
It better be.
Jealous, are you? Maybe.
You two staying on for a bit? I think you'll find you are as well.
Why? The police are going to interview everyone who was at the ballagain.
SIMON: Worried are you, Eden? Why should I be? KNOCK AT DOOR Martin.
Hi.
I hope you don't mind me popping round like this.
No, no.
Where are the children? Home, asleep.
It's just a quick visit.
Come on in.
The police questioned me.
I thought you already gave a statement.
They wanted to clear up a few things.
Would you like a drink? Please.
Sam, there's something I didn't ask the police, but I What? Was there any sign ofintercourse? I need to know.
No, there was no evidence of it.
Good.
Just needed to know.
When was the last time you spoke to Annabelle? When we left for the cottage.
I tried to ring, but I got no reply.
How are the children? Is there anything I can do? No, they're fine.
They're used to it.
Used to what? Me looking after them.
Annie was always .
.
busy with other things.
What things? Oh, I don't know.
You know Being a friend to everybody.
What do you mean? Nothing.
I don't understand.
.
.
No.
Nobody does.
Nobody understands what I've been through.
What do you mean? You don't want to know! I do want to know.
If I hadn't gone away, this wouldn't have happened.
But it wasn't my fault.
It was hers.
She made you go away? She'd still be alive! As it is we have thismess, this bloody mess, and I don't know what to do! Oh, look, I better go back.
Martin! If you're in some kind of trouble, you should talk to the police.
No.
I need to think of the kids.
MUSIC: "Creep" by Radiohead CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS .
.
like an angel Your skin makes me cry You float like a feather Better late than never.