City Homicide (2007) s03e06 Episode Script

MALE REPORTER: Mr Wilks! Mr Wilks, what does it feel like to be free? Anything to say to the families of your victims? Piss off, you bastards! Was that enough? Get out.
Leave me alone.
How do you think your new neighbours will like having you here? Piss off - all of you! What are you afraid of? What do you have to fear? Are you sorry for the lives Piss off, you hypocrites! Can you promise that you won't re-offend? Mr Wilks, come out and show your face to the public.
Piss off! Don't feel like it? The phone call was supposed to be at midday.
Set a time and place.
Maybe they won't call.
Maybe this thing's a bad idea.
We can sell something - the car.
Borrow the money.
No! No, the car won't even nearly cover it.
You don't think I haven't thought of that? I'm sorry, babe.
Dean, you don't have to do this.
It's done.
It's done, isn't it? It's already set in motion.
See to Joey.
I'll make a call.
The phone at the pub - I'll use that this time.
Can't be too careful.
It'll be alright, Gina.
I promise.
See to Joey.
Who are you? Dean? Are you? How's she looking? Not good.
They're trying to stabilise her.
Neighbour hear anything? Heard the shots and came running.
She said she heard a car pull away too, but didn't see it.
Get your team canvassing the area.
I'll brief them.
Tell them get the trauma team on stand-by.
GSW, right thorax, sucking chest wound.
Tell them she's losing blood.
Joey! Get Joey.
No, no.
Keep the mask on.
Joey - is that your husband? My son.
No, my son.
Your son's fine.
He's OK.
He's been taken care of, OK? Dean My husband.
I'm sorry.
Is there anything that you saw? Did you see anything that can help us? Officer There was a man.
I think whatDean did to get money Money? Joey, he's sick.
We need He saw him on the TV and I think that's what gave him the idea Saw who? Getting out.
Saw who on the TV? Ohhh! Gina, what did your husband do? Gina, look at me.
Look at me.
It was himgetting out.
Ohh! She's in VT.
Charging for 200.
Stand clear.
MAN 2: Clear.
MAN 1 : Delivering shock.
No.
Go again.
Clear.
Clear.
Again.
Clear.
Clear.
DOA? No, she was dead before they got her in the ambulance.
Did she say anything? A bit.
I couldn't make much sense of it.
She said something about her son being sick.
I think.
About "getting out".
You took notes? I couldn't.
She was holding my hand.
Ah, her anchor to the world you know? Couldn't let go.
Hmm.
You do need to take notes in these situations, regardless.
Take a few minutes, sort yourself out, think through what was said.
Write it down as best you can remember.
We do need a full briefing.
Sarge.
Sarge? She'll be alright.
Anything from the scene? There's a.
32-calibre Baretta.
The bullet that killed the wife went straight through.
Crime Scene dug it out of the wall.
Casings? If there were, shooter picked them up.
.
.
in which case, we are talking a pro.
Uniforms? They're still knocking, Sarge.
There's nothing else useful yet.
Allie? Mrs Laird, um Mrs Laird was in a lot of pain but she was reasonably coherent.
Some of the things she said, they could be useful.
She was concerned about the welfare of her son.
He's sick.
It's a genetic condition called long QT syndrome.
Kid's a walking time bomb.
His heart could go any second.
She said they needed money.
It sounded like it was related to the kid's illness.
Well, that makes sense.
He needs an operation.
Costs about 20 grand.
She said the shooter was a man? Yeah.
She said maybe it was about something Dean did.
Stole money from this guy? Maybe.
And then kills two people in revenge? Phew! That's pretty hardcore.
Yeah.
Look into the Lairds' past, contacts, associates - the works.
Yeah, the wife too.
What's to say she wasn't the primary target? No, it sounded like it was more about her husband, Dean.
And she said something else too, about the television.
What? About Dean seeing something on television, about "getting out".
OK, I'll be in meetings until late.
Matt, pull any footage from the TV, all networks, from the past month - current affairs and news.
Keep an eye out for anything that might fit.
Watching TV, Sarge? Sounds good to me.
Simon,.
Look into the victims' past - both victims.
Nick and Allie, check the house for correspondence and run phone records.
Get onto the next of kin.
Sarge.
Yes.
Yeah, that's Gina.
Weneed the full name, Mrs Bartlett.
Oh, Gina Laird.
Oh! Oh! No! Ohh, and Dean.
Dean Bartlett.
Bartlett? Oh, Laird.
Yeah, sorry.
Dean was in trouble when he was a boy.
He was in jail for six months.
What did he do? Assault.
It was assault.
Almost killed somebody.
But we've been running background checks.
Nothing's shown up.
He changed his name when he got out of prison.
His mum's maiden name was Laird.
I've gotta get going now.
Joey needs me.
OK.
Dean Laird, then known as Dean Bartlett.
No wonder we couldn't get anything on him.
Yeah, Mr Good Behaviour for the last 1 7 years.
A reformed character.
Who did he assault? This bloke.
Corben Lucas Wilks.
And it fits the "getting out" thing that Gina Laird spoke to you about.
Do you think that was enough? Get out.
Leave me alone.
The public has a right to know.
How do you think your new neighbours are gonna like having you here? The public wants answers.
"Getting out".
So this guy who was assaulted by Dean, he's been in jail ever since.
Now he gets out and Dean gets murdered? Sounds like Wilks has motive to me.
What's the history? Ask the media.
.
.
Corben Lucas Wilks, a convicted paedophile released today after serving 1 7 years of a 20-year sentence.
Mr Wilks's early release was granted after the review board took into consideration the pain and suffering he has been through since he was viciously assaulted whilst in police custody.
Victims of crime organisations, as well as Mr Wilks's new neighbours, may well be asking today, "What about the pain and suffering "of this predator's many young victims?" So Dean assaulted Wilks while they were in custody.
He was in on a drunk and disorderly.
His aunt wasn't clear about what happened.
Doesn't take much working out.
Dean worked out that he was in a cell with a paedophile and beat the guy almost to death.
And only got six months.
Sentencing report.
Six months? I would've given him a medal.
Yeah, most people would.
Maybe that's what Wilks has been stewing on all this time.
And now payback.
Double payback.
So let me get this straight.
I sit in jail for 1 7 years never released to general population, nasty,creepy-crawly rock spider that I am, but nevertheless, good behaviour, no probs.
I get released early on parole and I promptly kill the kid who beat me up, did this to me, That's the idea, yeah.
How did I find him, hey? You tell us.
You see this? Mydomain? It's no bigger than the exercise yard I used to get released into for an hour a day, every day, for 1 7 years.
Plants - the only difference.
I'm still in jail.
This house - two weeks I've been here.
I look out through the curtains and there's people watching, press .
.
concerned neighbours.
Big nasty people with grudges and a nice line in self-righteousness! Still in jail.
I didn't kill that little prick.
I was still in jail at the time.
This jail.
Jail without a lock, though, isn't it? It doesn't need to be locked.
I can't go anywhere.
How's that for an alibi, huh? - A tracking bracelet? - Sarge.
Corben Wilks.
And Dean Bartlett, not Laird? Yes, Sarge.
Why wasn't I told about this - the link to Wilks - before you took off out there? You were in a meeting, and we were hoping to drop Wilks in your lap.
Yeah, well, you didn't, did you? Go.
Go on.
Briefing in the morning.
What, and you're declaring an interest? As I said, Corben Wilks's beating happened in my station.
I think it would be politic if I was taken off the case.
When did politics enter your thinking, Stan? With due respect, Terry We've got a dead husband and wife here.
Executed.
True, maybe hubby's not as pristine white as he might be, but he's kept his snout clean for 1 7 years.
And what did his missus ever do to deserve a bullet through her D-cup? Nor the kid, for that matter, who's now an orphan.
You stay on this, Stanley, and you get the bastard who did it.
Corben works as a prime candidate, except that he's wearing a tracking bracelet.
What, we've never heard of conspiracy? If he organised this and you can prove it, they'll give you the keys to the bloody city.
No, you are staying right on this, Stanley.
was brought in for breaching bail conditions, multiple re-offences.
I was the uniformed sergeant running the station at the time.
He was beaten up in your station? Yeah.
As I recall, the arresting detective brought him in.
I allocated the only cell available to him.
It was a one-cell station? Two cells.
I think there was a blocked toilet in the other one.
You think? And Laird? Uh, uniforms brought Laird in later in the night on drunken criminal damage.
He was quite passive, so we locked him in the same cell as Wilks, who was asleep at the time.
Until he woke up and Laird beat the crap out of him.
Yeah.
Dean Laird's murder could have something to do with what happened that night.
Yeah, we were heading down that path too.
I want you to go back and pull all the paperwork.
Arrest reports Arrest reports, station personnel files, running sheets, everything.
I need to get it clear, everything that happened.
And I want you to be discreet.
Discreet? Y es.
For my eyes only.
Clear? Ian.
Yeah, you're damn right we need to talk.
Where are you? Long time.
Not long enough, obviously.
and this Bartlett bloke who did the bashing gets bopped? Laird.
He changed his name.
Whatever.
Why is this happening, Stanley? Are you worried or just curious? Both.
I don't need this.
None of us do.
You see this place? I've been out of the job 1 0 years.
It's taken me all that time to build up this business.
It's the weekend, here I am still behind the desk, putting in the hours.
I work bloody hard and I stand to lose the lot if my reputation takes a hammering over this thing.
Why would that happen? You just brought him in that night.
That's dead bloody right.
And I had nothing to do with Laird getting put in that cell with him.
That was down to you.
I had no choice about that.
The other cell wasn't operational.
Oh, so it was the plumber's fault.
Let's blame him.
I'm not here to dish out blame, Ian.
You said you wanted to talk.
Why is that? Have you got something to tell me? Something you want to say? I just wanna know the lay of the land.
I run a security company, Stanley.
People aren't gonna feel very secure about me if my face gets splashed all over the papers in the middle of a homicide inquiry, are they? That is not my problem, Ian.
I have a murder to solve.
And a backside to cover.
You know what I mean.
It's a big drain, Stanley.
And if I go down it, you're coming with me.
What do you mean you can't take Susan? There's something I have to deal with.
Like what? Work.
It's to do with the Wilks incident.
Who? Ah.
I see.
I remember.
You know I wouldn't do this, Linda, if I had any choice.
I'm really very sorry.
I know that, Stanley.
I do appreciate it.
It's fine.
It's fine.
Thank you.
Sweetheart, come here.
Ah! Be a good girl for Mummy.
Yep.
I love you, darling.
Love you.
Have a lovely time.
I'll see you real soon, OK? Come on.
Uh, you'll kill them if you overfeed them, Commander Scarsdale.
I didn't know you were into the aquatic, Terry.
No, I'm not.
I'm just fish-sitting for Bernice Waverley till she gets her office back.
"Till"? I think "in case" might be more appropriate.
Thanks for coming in.
You're looking very dapper.
Oh, I was off to the races.
What's this about, sir? The Laird murders.
Corben Wilks.
Stanley Wolfe.
I think you know what this is about.
Perhaps you should tell me.
Command aren't deaf, dumb and blind.
We're aware of the link between Senior Sergeant Wolfe and the paedophile.
Stanley isn't investigating Wilks.
He's investigating the murder of Dean Laird and his wife.
And Wilks is not a suspect? Come on, Superintendent.
Stanley's a good copper.
He'll work this thing through.
Due process.
Get it nailed.
We're not worried about process.
We're worried about publicity.
Oh, what, the civil rights of a poor, persecuted paedophile? Spare me.
No, you spare us.
It's a different world now, Terry.
The service is different.
The job's different.
Public attitudes are different.
There have been enough scandals of late without questions being asked of Homicide.
You're supposed to be an elite unit.
And we are.
Wolfe's a class act.
Are you countermanding my orders, sir? Woo, woo, Superintendent.
Let's not get our Y-fronts in a tangle.
I'm simply advising you of Command's concerns.
Noted, sir.
Good.
Please note, also, I want to be kept fully informed of all developments.
I want no crap floating in the water without my knowledge.
Clear? As fish water.
Huh? Sir.
Station staff? The ones on duty the night of the beating, plus the Sarge, of course.
I've started on the maintenance reports too.
I don't know what we're looking for.
Is he suggesting there's more to Wilks's beating than meets the eye? Maybe.
And if he was, maybe there are more potential victims out there.
Or more potential killers.
You guys OK? No, not really.
You two have been whispering to each other all day.
What's going on? What are you working on? Can't tell you, mate.
People are mouthing off all over the office, saying the braid are gunning for the Sarge.
Is that right or what? I have no idea.
We are supposed to be a team.
We ARE a team.
And we'd love to tell you guys, but we can't.
Sorry.
If the Sarge is in the gun, we need to do something.
All stick together.
We need to find out who killed Dean and Gina Laird.
That's what we need to do.
What did you guys get from the crime scene? Anything from the victims' pasts? Allie, Nick, how's that paperwork coming? Got it together, Sarge.
Good.
Thank you.
We are not done talking about this.
No, we're not.
Bit of tension? A bit.
I, uh I understand keeping this low-key if Command is sniffing around, Sarge, but can't we bring Matt and Simon into the picture? No, not yet, 'cause I don't know what the picture is exactly, and until I'm sure, we need to keep this on a need-to-know basis.
I'm gonna review these reports.
I need you two to stir a pot and stir it hard.
Just hand us a spoon, Sarge.
Try him for starters.
I resent this.
All I did was my job.
I arrested a known paedophile who'd re-offended numerous times.
I found him,charged him, and I locked him up pending remand.
That's all I did.
I've already said this to Stanley Wolfe.
We're not investigating the beating of Corben Wilks, sir.
We're investigating the murders of Dean and Gina Laird.
But since you mention it, how did you come to arrest Wilks? Was it just luck? Detective work? What? What do you mean? He means it was an odd arrest.
How Your paperwork says that you picked him up at a house where he was hiding.
So? So, not in the street.
You didn't just spot him.
No.
It was a tip-off.
Who from? Concerned citizen? I got a call.
Anonymous.
In your office? Yep.
Why you specifically? I don't know.
I was the only detective at the station.
I got a call.
It's what happened.
It happens.
And Laird? I don't know anything about that arrest.
Talk to the constables who were on it.
The Trevor Jordan and Polly Clairmont.
Probably.
Yeah? Yeah.
They brought Laird in, not me.
And Stanley Wolfe put him in Wilks's cell, NOT me.
Your friend Stanley Wolfe.
That was a long time ago.
Which means no loyalty or anything like that.
You said you were investigating Dean Laird's murder.
So why are all your questions about something that happened Because that's where the motive is likely to be.
That dirty little paedophile Wilks is the one with motive.
Are you worried? I mean, Laird beat him up.
He's dead.
You were the arresting officer.
So I'm the next victim? Listen, I can look after myself.
Anyway, I'm not the one who put him in the same cell.
You should be talking to your boss about this, not me.
You reckon? Ask him why they were put in the same cell together.
Ask him how come no-one stopped that beating.
You might think that the sun shines out of Stanley Wolfe's backside, but maybe, just maybe, back then there was a total eclipse.
Sarge.
Y es, Matt.
This case, we'd like to help.
Yeah, you're on the case - the Laird murders.
Sarge, we know there's something else going on.
You've got Nick and Allie involved.
We'll back you, whatever it is.
If I need you to back me, I'll ask you.
Sarge Comprehensive update first thing in the morning.
Wha? I want this scene maintained tighter than a penguin's freckle.
Yes, Superintendent.
We're setting up as per.
OK, everyone signs in and out.
Nobody talks to anybody.
If the press show up, no further than the end of the street.
Bum's rush, OK? Bum's rush, sir.
- Bloody disaster.
- Superintendent.
Where's the body? Inside, sir.
OK, go through the procedures, keep everything under your hats.
Kingston, with me.
Get more uniforms down here.
Get another doorknock on the way.
Alright.
Three guesses what he was doing when he was shot.
Your happy snaps.
Sir? Don't mess around with me.
Crime Scene aren't here.
You took your own snaps.
Where are they? Right here, sir.
You'll get them back.
I might need them.
Sir? What? We've heard the rumours around the office.
About what? Senior Sergeant Wolfe.
He isn't involved in any of this.
You listen to me, if you can't remain objective, I'll have you off this case in a flash - got it? Everyone has skeletons in their karzies.
And it's your job to remain open to the possibility that Senior Sergeant Wolfe decided to flush his out.
The Superintendent's right - objectivity, Detective Ryan.
Otherwise you're wasting your time.
Jarvis.
Uh, Matt, run the scene.
Do you think you can do that? Yes, Sarge.
Simon, run the victim - phone, financials, the works.
Yes, Sarge.
We shall talk when we can.
For now, do your job.
Scarsdale.
We're wanted.
Both of us.
What's going on? Why haven't we arrested Corben Wilks? Because he's alibied.
He has motive for both the killings.
But not opportunity.
He's wearing a tracking bracelet.
It's not stopped him leading you a merry dance, Wolfe.
It's obvious.
If he didn't do it in person, he conspired to have it done.
Arrest him.
And hand the DPP an unworkable case? I can't do that, sir.
It's an order, Senior Sergeant, one given for your good, for the good of Homicide and the good of the state police.
I don't see how that works.
It works because, whether the DPP can make a case or not, this bastard will spend six months awaiting a hearing.
The heat and the press interest will die down and we bide time to make another case if one needs to be made.
Bide time at Wilks's expense? He works for you, Superintendent.
You heard the order.
See it's obeyed.
I want this finished.
Are you crazy? What do you care about Wilks? This is not about Wilks.
Then what is it about? What is it that I don't know about? You don't know the half of it.
There's a stink on this and it's blowing from your direction.
Are you tied up with these murders? No.
Good.
But back then, you were on the charge desk.
You must've heard Wilks being beaten up by Laird.
Why didn't you get in there? You're giving me no choice now.
You're off the case.
Bugger off.
Oh, Terry! You heard.
It's for your own protection as much as anything.
You sort yourself out, Stan.
Till then, I'll pursue this investigation with the obvious course, like Scarsdale said.
Any thoughts on who topped Chalmers? Be nice if we could ask the Sarge.
Be nice if you'd share some of this with us.
Don't start that again, Simon.
You two are busy playing your cards to yourself, while the Sarge won't talk to us.
What's going on? We're trying to find out.
Maybe we can help.
We should be working together.
OK, OK.
What did you get from the Chalmers crime scene? What did you get from his background check? Now we're playing "you show me yours and I'll show you mine"? Alright, alright, that's enough.
I want a full update on this latest murder NOW.
Come on.
Where's Senior Sergeant Wolfe, sir? Are you taking over the investigation? Investigations - plural.
And Sergeant Wolfe is off the case.
What? You wanna support him? OK, good.
You'll put these murders to bed today.
Kingston, Buchanan, get back to Corben Wilks.
Turn the pressure up.
You two, get me updates - now.
Now.
Last night? We've been through this before.
You've seen my little electronic accessory.
Can't leave home without it.
Do you have a phone, Mr Wilks? Yes, I have a phone for my fan club.
All calls registered.
Listen for the clicks.
And, hey,.
Look in the shed.
I don't keep carrier pigeons.
Another person is dead, Wilks.
We know you're involved in all this.
I didn't have that young man killed.
And his wife.
Don't forget her.
Or his wife.
Or Ian Chalmers.
How did Ian Chalmers find you the night he arrested you? Don't know how he got onto me.
Surveillance? I had a feeling they were onto me, that I'd been followed.
Should've cut and run.
It's stupid.
Locks me up, end up like this.
Why did Dean beat you up? No reason.
Crap.
You made a move on him in that cell, didn't you? I didn't do anything.
Check my file.
I like them younger.
So, he just jumped you.
Just beat you half to death.
Yes, out of nowhere.
I always said it was a set-up.
But who's gonna listen to someone like me? The courts didn't.
Six months, that little bastard got.
Said I hit my head, didn't mean to hurt me.
Yeah, yeah, you're a pervert and no-one cares.
Exactly.
I screamed in that cell.
I screamed loud.
Nobody listened then either.
Nobody came to help.
It was a set-up.
OK, ha! So he reckons it was a set-up.
Now, what have we got on our stiff? Ian Chalmers, ex-cop, ran his own security company.
He was the Cl at Senior Sergeant Wolfe's station before the Sarge got bumped up to Homicide.
Service record? It's exemplary.
He took early retirement with commendation.
Cited burnout.
Ryan, what have we got on this 'exemplary' ex-officer's murder scene? No witnesses, sir.
Time of death about 1 1 pm.
We do have confirmation on the gun.
Same one used in the Laird killings.
.
32-calibre Baretta.
See? Progress! Information shared - good.
A hard link - this to this - good.
But there's a link beyond the gun and we need to find it.
What link? There's some sort of crossover between the Laird murders and the Chalmers murder.
It's there, so keep digging.
We need to work it out before Stanley Wolfe becomes the next domino to fall over.
Yeah, it's me.
I've had to take a drink.
The offer from the church is still there.
There's work to be done.
Only you can decide what you want to do, Stanley.
And what about you? Would you still be here? You can't base any decision on that.
But you did come here tonight.
Yes.
Oh, it's 4am.
Are you OK? Yeah.
Yeah, I am.
Thank you.
Linda.
You can take this with you.
I wanna make this formal.
You make this formal, it all goes on your file.
Yeah, where it belongs.
I know you think I'm offering myself up to the braid on a platter.
Yeah, there's that.
But I'm also worried you're next in line to be shot.
In which case, we need to get this solved.
Sarge.
Buchanan, you and Kingston go through.
You've got an interview to do.
With? Senior Sergeant Wolfe.
I wanna make a confession.
Interview commenced at 9:06am.
Present - detective senior constables Buchanan and Kingston, Superintendent Jarvis.
Speaking with Detective Senior Sergeant Wolfe.
Detective Senior Sergeant, you want to make a formal statement? Y es, I do.
I am a recovering alcoholic.
I stopped drinking 1 7 years ago because back then I was running a suburban police station where a prisoner was almost beaten to death.
I was the only police officer around at the time and I did not hear what happened.
That's because I was asleep in the Cl office.
Boozed to the eyeballs.
Until recently, I thought that by stopping drinking, that I'd somehow made up for what happened.
Not so.
Sir? Out! Now.
All I did, in fact, was allow the whole thing to be swept under the carpet.
A man's complaints went unanswered, ignored.
A bloody child molester.
A vile man,certainly, but still a man.
Corben Wilks.
My actions allowed it to happen.
So you were drunk on duty.
So what? If I hadn't let it happen back then, these three murders would not have happened now.
Can't change that.
I can't live with it either.
That's why I have to put away the person responsible.
And that is what you're going to help me do.
Dean Laird and his wife needed money to treat their sick child.
Wilks's release from prison could've given Laird an idea about how to get that money.
Exactly - he was blackmailing the person who arranged for him to attack Corben Wilks.
Who was that? I thought it was Ian Chalmers.
Until Chalmers was killed.
And now? I don't know.
We'll need to check it all again, knowing what we know now.
We've already got a start on that, Sarge.
We went back to Wilks and grilled him for leads.
He's still screaming set-up.
We've got background on Chalmers.
"Exemplary officer" killed by the same gun that killed the Lairds.
Don't forget the tip-off that led Chalmers to Wilks.
And you need to speak to the uniformed officers about their arrest of the man now known as Dean Laird.
We're on it, Sarge.
Um, you're still officially off the case, Stan.
I'll give you a call the minute we get something.
Understood.
Right, you're on the clock.
We need some progress before I get another call from Commander Scarsdale, because right now the only update I can offer him involves Stanley Wolfe committing professional suicide.
Bring in the uniforms, both of them.
Let's get onto it.
Come on.
You arrested this man, right? Um, yes.
Dean Bartlett.
Yeah, good memory, except he calls himself Laird now.
Well, he did, anyway.
He's dead.
Do you recognise this man? Yes.
Corben Wilks, the paedophile.
Ian Chalmers collared him on a tip-off earlier the same evening.
Tell us about arresting Dean Laird.
Nothing TO tell.
It was by the book.
Me and Polly were on patrol.
Polly Clairmont, the other uniform? Yeah.
Putting her under the griller too? Uh, we can't.
She's dead.
Cancer.
So you brought him in and And the desk sergeant assigned him to a cell.
With Corben Wilks.
Yeah.
It's all there in the paperwork.
So why not put Dean Laird in his own cell? You had two.
It wasn't my decision.
Why don't you ask the Sarge? We're asking you.
Sergeant Wolfe said the toilet in the other cell was blocked.
Did either of you say anything to Laird about who Wilks was, what he'd done? What kind of question's that? Course we didn't bloody say anything.
What are you accusing me of? You're pretty defensive for someone who did everything by the book.
It wasn't my fault they ended up in the cell together.
I did my job.
Just because Sergeant Wolfe's a pisshead doesn't mean we all were.
Watch what you say.
It's the truth.
It was Wolfe that stuffed up, not me.
Settle down.
Justsettle down.
OK, so it was a pretty lucky night for you guys.
'Cause first Chalmers gets the tip-off about Wilks's whereabouts and then Dean Laird, he just falls right in your lap.
Sometimes it happens.
OK, but didn't it strike you as odd? No.
We get the alarm call-out.
He'd smashed a shop window.
We get out there, the alarm's still blaring and he's just sitting in the gutter, singing.
What, drunk? Too drunk to get away? Not really drunk.
More like he was waiting for us.
Well, that is too easy.
Come on, George.
You were a mate of Chalmers.
He must've said something to you about his snitches.
We're already running case histories.
I was looking for something a bit closer to the ground, mate.
Sir.
Yeah, alright.
See what you can find out and get back to me.
Ta.
What have you got? According to the station's books, there was a full maintenance check just three days before Wilks's arrest.
All fine.
No blocked toilets.
Could've happened in the three days.
Idiots get arrested, stuff paper down the bog, piss on the floor.
But according to the station's log, cell 1 was never used between the last maintenance check and that night.
Nick! Y es.
That's the station.
No, the command area.
Look at this! This wasn't in any file under 'Bartlett' or 'Laird'.
Court registrar's calendar notes.
Check it out.
Charges withdrawn, pre-trial.
So Laird only gets six months for the aggravated assault of Wilks because he was so incapacitated by alcohol, too drunk to know what he was doing, his defence reckoned.
But Laird was barely drunk.
According to Trevor Jordan, he didn't try to run.
It was like he wanted to be arrested.
It had to be pre-arranged.
So Laird knew he was gonna be put in that cell with Wilks.
So Wilks was right - his beating was a set-up.
Thank you.
Y es, a big help.
Stanley's conspiracy theory doesn't just hold water.
It'd float a boat.
And I've got another question.
Laird was supposed to be charged with a string of burgs just prior to the assault.
Who made them just disappear? It was a trade-off.
Sir, we've got something useful here.
So have we.
Get Stanley Wolfe in here now.
You were right, Sarge.
It was a conspiracy.
commissioned to beat up Wilks.
His whole arrest was a set-up.
He was there waiting for them.
The other cell was made deliberately unavailable.
We think Chalmers was probably responsible for that.
But Chalmers didn't act alone, so who put it all together? Someone with a very good reason to hate Wilks.
This is Leanne Cook.
Her name was suppressed at the time of the assault, but she was one of Wilks's first victims.
Her mum's brother was a police officer - Leanne's uncle - they were very, very close.
The uncle, who is he? Ohh! Commander Frank Scarsdale.
Believe it, Stan.
At the time, he was the duty officer covering your district.
He must've tipped off Detective Chalmers about Wilks, got him to rig the cells so that Wilks was in the same one as Laird.
They knew you were on duty that night, so it could go down as planned.
So why kill these three people now? We think Scarsdale set up a buffer so that Laird never even knew who he was.
A week ago, Laird tried to hit Chalmers up for money to keep quiet about the beating.
Chalmers probably went to Scarsdale and said, "Hey, your scam.
You deal with it.
" So Scarsdale killed the Lairds himself, and then, just to be safe, killed Chalmers.
It fits.
Scarsdale knows we've been asking questions.
He's bolted and taken his gun.
Our tail says he's headed for Gordonvale.
Corben Wilks! Not you lot.
This one's ours, Stan.
Oh, jeez! Commander! Police! Lower your weapon.
Commander! Commander! He raped my niece! She was only seven! He raped her and he ruined her life! You killed three people.
I had no choice! You always have a choice.
Commander Frank Scarsdale, I'm arresting you for the murder of Ian Chalmers, Dean Laird and Gina Laird.
He's a good man, Stanley Wolfe.
Me? I would've begged Scarsdale to shoot you.
Begged him.
He's gone to work for the Church in PNG.
Extended leave without pay.
He's cleared the desk of all his personal stuff.
The chair's comfortable.
Not as plush as the one up here, butyou'll get used to it.
It'll do for the time being.
Back at the coalface, huh? Stanley will be happy knowing his crew's in safe hands.
With you looking over my shoulder.
Oh, Bernice! You misread caring for interference.
Shame on you! When do I start? Monday week.
What's the hold-up? Ugh, the braid, the roster, the budget.
If you knew what I had to go through I know.
Look, Terry, I'm grateful, but I'm here to reclaim territory that was taken from me and I'm here on my own terms.
Monday week.
Monday week.
Are you sure you've been feeding my fish? Absolutely.
Good.
'Cause I can weigh them, you know.
Absolutely.