Silent Witness (1996) s08e03 Episode Script

OK, you've got five minutes, OK? CHILDREN GIGGLE GIRL GASPS GIRL COUGHS OTHER CHILDREN BEGIN TO COUGH OK, time to go back inside.
Come on.
The fossil remains show evolutionary changes in the plants.
Does anybody remember the types of primitive plants? GIRL COUGHS OTHER CHILDREN COUGH It's the coughing game, isn't it, class? Paul? Are you with us? Stand up, Paul.
Does anybody know? Stand up, everyone.
CHILDREN SCREAM Get out of the way.
Paul? Paul! Somebody help me! Testator Sile-ens Costestes e Spiritu-u Si-ilenciu-um.
Male.
Aged 25 to 35.
No signs of external injury.
No tamponade Sam? Sam? Sam?! Bad dream? What's the time? I've got to see the vice chancellor.
No, we're going to the seaside.
So what happened to the local pathologist? Double hernia.
How did Sam get through the work? My body says it's not possible.
Hi, DS Newton.
How many fatalities? One so far.
This is his teacher.
We don't know exactly what happened, but it has affected the whole class.
Any smell of gas? Complaints of illness beforehand? We don't know.
I'll take a look at the body.
OK.
Why is this death being treated as suspicious? We have to be careful.
She means I may have assaulted him.
What happened? He just sort of went limp and collapsed His head sort of Were there any other signs? Symptoms? They were coughing a bit.
I thought they were having a laugh.
They were a bit hysterical.
We'd been outside having a nature lesson.
Did you notice anything unusual when they were outside? No CHILDREN COUGH I've never seen anything like this before Feeling better? What's your name? Pat.
Hello, Pat.
What happened? I just feltscared.
Couldn't breathe It was spooky.
Spooky? Lanny Forbes started it.
How could she start it? She started coughing and laughing first.
Lanny? Hello.
I'm Harry.
Are you all right? Can you sit up? Breathe deeply.
OK? So, what do you think happened? Do you remember what happened? Paul Williams fell over.
Um, yes, I know, but, um that was inside.
But what happened outside? Why were you laughing? I wasn't laughing.
Mmm But Pat said I was crying.
I couldn't breathe, and I could hear my heart.
What, like when you put your fingers in your ears, like this? Yeah.
Like in Tomb Raider.
You can stop time.
You're still a bit wheezy, aren't you? Do you suffer from asthma? Lanny! Oh, thank you.
Sienna Ricci.
Public health officer at the council.
Harry Cunningham.
This is my colleague, Dr Dalton.
Hello.
Hi.
What do you think? Something they've eaten Hard to say.
It sounds like the poor kid's fall was horrific.
But the othersit's very strange.
Shock? It started outside.
I'd feel happier if they'd organise clinical tests.
Want to know what I think? Some form of mass hysteria.
You were with the kids the whole time? Yes.
But you didn't experience any symptoms yourself? Nothing.
I just noticed they were acting strangely.
At first, I thought they were taking the piss.
Why? With the coughing.
I'm a smoker.
I thought they were laughing at me.
Hello there.
Are you feeling better? Hello, I'm Harry.
They're all saying fear and panic.
But if they don't get to hospital, they won't get tested properly.
It's a mass sociogenic illness.
I want to follow it up.
I'm just naturally cautious.
It's textbook.
I know the phenomenon, but I'm not a psychologist.
I admire your self-confidence.
Oh, thank you(!) All right, it's a daft diagnosis.
Why? BEEPING So how are we going to report this? I suggest we leave our options open.
In case it's a virus or something they've eaten.
It can't be something they've eaten - it isn't lunch time.
They had raised heart rates but no temperature, so it's unlikely to be a virus.
Suspicious death for you.
Now! DCI Jim Tennant.
Harry Cunningham.
According to the neighbours, he works for the local council.
Scientist of some sort.
No catalytic converter? No, no.
Old petrol job.
Didn't bother with a pipe from the exhaust.
He didn't have to.
There was a hell of a fug.
Skin's a cherry-red colour.
Looks like monoxide saturation.
Was the engine still running? Yeah.
A neighbour found him.
Bare feet, the bottom half of a wet suit and an old sweater Odd sort of get-up for doing yourself in.
Yeah Feet are dirty.
Hang on.
Can you hold him? There's some blood here.
Something sharp.
Could that have killed him? That's near the heart, isn't it? He wasn't stabbed through the sweater.
The face and hairline are encrusted with salt.
Suggests he was in the water not long before.
There's an oxygen tank and diving mask in the house.
Sweater's dry.
So got in the car, half-dressed, didn't bother to shower.
OK.
Where's Selic? I don't know, Mr Garner.
He's not a problem.
There's 11 here and 12 passports.
It's OK.
It's not OK, Micky.
They want to see Selic.
Where is he? He got a girl.
In London.
Well, get hold of him and tell him to report to Immigration, OK? Muddy too.
Samples, please.
His name was Nick Garner.
PhD, MPhil.
There's blood in here, too.
He's used kitchen roll on the wound.
Oh Look.
That's where it went through.
Look, blood on the inside.
Must have put the sweater on in here In a hurry.
Ransacked? Or justuntidy? Hi, Helen.
Leo! Acting head of department - how does that feel? Busy.
With your experience and qualifications, you should be looking for a professorship even if Sam hadn't done a runner.
Don't tell me you hadn't thought about it.
I barely had time.
We don't advertise or interview.
No? I've canvassed one or two experienced people at the Royal College.
The appointments committee always looked outside for a Chair, but I'm not a big believer in tradition.
Personally, I think you'd do a great job.
Thank you.
How are things on the domestic front? You haven't settled in the great metropolis, have you? No, but I've, um, certainly been thinking about it.
Good! I'm very sorry, sir.
Your son was found in his car with the engine running.
Oh, Christ I think it's important we wait until the autopsy before we draw any obvious conclusions.
There was a wound I can't take this in.
I'm sorry.
Can I see him? Yes.
Yes, of course.
Tomorrow? Cause of death was a fracture of the skull due to a weakness at the point of impact, causing brain damage and severe haemorrhage.
If you look at the skull, you can see there's a slight defect.
The bone hasn't calcified properly.
It's paper-thin.
He might have lived a long life, but he hit his head on the one point that wasn't properly protected.
But this doesn't tell us anything about the others.
Well, there's some evidence of respiratory problems.
Lung tissue damage.
Know why? Could be asthmatic.
But it would have to be severe.
There's no evidence from his GP that he was being treated for it.
Got the Chair, Professor Dalton? We should get a blood test fairly soon.
MUSIC BEGINS TO PLAY This mass hysteria They reckon your diagnosis was spot-on.
Not mine, actually.
Bit busy, don't you think? Anything interesting on the slab? Have scalpel.
Will travel.
Marcus! Just popped in to see your vice chancellor.
You know Helen? No.
She's asked me to do your annual Tofting lecture.
First time ever by a pathologist, apparently.
It'll be a paediatric angle.
Hope you'll come.
I'll try very hard.
I'd like to take a look at the department some time.
Well, yes, be my guest.
It's a bit busy at the moment You've spent money, haven't you? Male, 28 years old.
The skin has a cherry-red coloured flush, typical of carbon monoxide absorption.
There are marked abrasions to the feet and toes.
Traces of what appears to be reddish paint under the fingernails.
More samples, please.
I'm going to do a full toxicological screen - hair, stomach contents, blood, urine and vitreous.
We're testing blood for carbon monoxide, using gas chromatography.
Results will be here soon.
.
.
Thanks.
There is a small, penetrating wound in the chest area.
About two centimetres across.
Suggests the point of a sharp knife.
Any more blood in the house? Nothing significant, apart from on the kitchen roll.
So probably got it elsewhere Possibly bled again when he took the wet suit off and put the sweater on.
.
.
OK, let's open him up.
The organs are congested and bright pink.
Again, typical of CO poisoning.
The heart is undamaged.
Whatever it was didn't go in very far.
It scratched a rib, nicked a lung.
Nasty, not fatal.
So, um So that rules out murder? Oh Quite an aggressive thing to do to somebody.
Not self-inflicted? Find a knife nearby? Dr Cunningham.
What's this? From the lab.
Oh, it's gas chromatography.
Gas chromatography gives the saturation as 40%.
That would kill him.
When did you last see your son? Umthree days ago.
He was fine.
He never got depressed.
He'd obviously been diving not long before he died.
It's a very active thing to do if you're depressed.
Nick was a keen diver.
But this wound? Yes.
It looks like a knife wound.
But it's not the cause of death.
We're certain of that.
He was stabbed? Excuse me.
Blood test on Paul Williams, fractured-skull boy.
Metal in his bloodstream.
Aluminium.
Not significant, is it? You're suggesting I ignore it? What if other kids show it? It wouldn't cause fainting.
That sounds extremely dogmatic to me.
For one so young Oh.
Now we have it.
So we're trusting age and rank before genius, are we? Maybe you should retrain as a child psychologistif you're bored.
I'm so sorry, Lucas.
Thanks for letting me see him.
How are you? Oh, I'm all right.
He'd been diving.
Did you know? I'll wait for you.
No, you mustn't.
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Was it suicide? It doesn't make any sense at all.
How well did you know him? I liked him.
He was a close colleague.
Tell me how you found him? Exactly.
I know you're not supposed to say anything, but you haven't definitely said it was suicide.
Have you any idea why he might have been diving that night? I don't know.
OK.
His background was marine toxicology, so it could be connected to that.
If you find anything about Nick, you will tell me, won't you? Leo! You'll have to go slower soon.
Up the dignity factor.
The appointments committee met last night.
Professor Dalton sounds good.
So soon? I haven't heard anything.
Just a preliminary meeting.
If we did ask you, we may be looking to bring someone in at your level.
Or maybe promote Harry to reader and bring in a probationer? Harry Harry needs more experience.
Sam Ryan thought highly of him.
No, he's good.
He should step up soon.
Thanks.
So, how's the new career? I thought about child psychology, but then I decided I was needed to brighten up the death profession.
Brighter is not necessarily better.
If you've got a hunch, you've got to back it up with solid evidence.
OK.
Well, try this for size.
There was an incident with school kids and a fizzy drink in America - and all sorts of symptoms.
The drinks company reacted straightaway, withdrew all supplies.
But within the next 48 hours, hundreds of school kids starting showing the same symptoms.
They did rigorous testing and there was nothing wrong with the drink! The kids we saw had very specific symptoms - streaming eyes, coughing, shortness of breath.
That's not the point! They recovered.
You saw them.
Why was this boy running round with aluminium in his blood? That little girl Lanny was the focus.
There's always one hypersensitive child who provokes the others.
Look, I want us to work together on this.
There's going to be an inquest.
We can't submit contradictory reports.
I also want to speak to that public health woman again.
Sienna Ricci? Mm-hm.
She was here earlier.
A colleague of Nick Garner's.
This could be a public health issue.
What's so funny? You think I'm going off on one? No, no.
OK.
I'll come.
So if the boy had ingested aluminium, does this rule out a psychosomatic cause? No.
Yes.
Has the regional health officer followed up the kids involved? They've accepted your colleague's point of view.
Have all the kids returned to school? I can find out.
Mystery viruses come and go.
They're not taking it further.
What about testing the water? I thought that, but they hadn't been swimming in it.
Like Nick.
No, the drinking water.
The domestic supply? The water company test every day.
Can aluminium get into drinking water? Where would it come from? Anything like that should be filtered out.
Sorry.
I'm not really at my best today.
Well, listen, don't worry.
Let's leave it for now.
I'm surprised you're here at all.
Well, we all miss Nick, but .
.
life goes on.
Leo? Is that Leo Dalton? I suppose it's been a long time.
I went out with your sister.
Oh, Gus.
Yeah! Gus Stuart.
What are you doing here? Well, I run this place.
For my sins.
Council chief executive.
Strictly non-political.
You must have been here for Nick.
Yeah, that's right.
Come in, come in.
LOCK RATTLES It's Nick's office.
They've locked it for some reason.
Fancy a drink? I could order the water company to start spot testing if you like, but I won't love you if it's a wild-goose chase.
Better to be safe.
It sounds like a one-off to me.
Not sure.
They went collectively doolally, didn't they? I hear it's quite common.
It isn't.
There may have been an emotional element, but I don't think it's the whole story.
Come and have a drink! Nick cared passionately about nature.
He did a lot of good work here.
You liked him a lot, didn't you? Hmm.
I did.
He was fun and he had integrity.
We were lovers.
I'm sorry I misled you.
I just didn't want to go into all that.
Do you know WHERE he was diving? Presumably you do tests.
Yeah.
But they take time.
Hmm.
Do you want another drink? It's been a lot of long days this week.
I'll walk you home.
When did you last see him? A few days ago.
He was really angry.
What about? Well, me.
The world.
His old man.
Why with him? Nick was an environmental officer.
His dad breaks ships.
So no happy families there, then? They got on fine, mostly.
Are you really interested? Yes.
Why did you want to know where Nick was diving? Just to know what he was doing the last few hours he was alive.
Sorry, um I just need to crash.
No? Can you stop her crying! It's not her fault, Daryl.
Why?! Why did he do it? We're not sure it was suicide.
But what was he doing diving? At night.
Alone.
I feel so bad because we'd had a row.
What, that night? The day before.
I never really got to the bottom of it, except that he accused me of lying to him.
I thought someone might be trying to poison his mind.
You mean me? He never explained himself properly.
He was drunk.
I threw him out.
That was the last time I saw him.
You must have some idea what it was about.
It's too late.
It doesn't matter now.
We split up.
I didn't know.
A few weeks ago.
Has he left a lot of stuff at work? They've locked his office.
Are you looking for something? Just personal things, mementoes Who locked his office? It's been going on for months! We've got to do something about it.
BABY SCREAMS She's not going in the other room, Daryl.
No way.
Hey MAN COUGHS TOILET FLUSHES Tests on Nick Garner show significant levels of PCBs in the body fat.
What are PCBs? Polychlorinated biphenyl.
They're used in electrical motors, switchgears.
How toxic? They're dangerous.
As they break down slowly, it damages the liver.
Nothing significant in the liver, so probably very recent.
PCBs reduce the body's ability to fight infection.
Any acute symptoms? Only for people working with them.
You're looking at chronic health problems in years to come.
Cancers.
How do they get in the system? They're easily absorbed through the skin.
Swimming in polluted water Oh, did you read my report on the school? Yes, I did.
What did you think? I think you should enter it for the Booker Prize.
Your colleague who was here, he's gone to get a takeaway.
He told me you had been recently bereaved, too.
My wife.
A year back.
We've just about finished here now.
Will you be taking those? There's nothing here, really.
I find it hard to think about anything else.
I have to do something.
I had a look through them, but they're mostly scientific tests.
Over my head.
Mine, too.
Did you lock his office? No, sir.
Is it locked? So they tell me.
I'm sure you can have anything that belonged to your son.
You gave me the impression you were looking for something specific.
Oh, no, no.
The letter never sent.
The photograph you've forgotten.
But that's not what you've got there, sir.
Those are technical.
It's what he was about.
His life.
But over your head.
I know there's something wrong with her.
Yeah Diarrhoea is nothing to worry about.
Just make sure she gets plenty of water.
You can go to your GP Yeah, we know that! Ssh.
Well, she doesn't seem hot to me.
Doctor! She was! She was very hot.
I gave her aspirin, I gave her Calpol.
How often? That could be the cause of the diarrhoea.
You were in the other day, weren't you? What's wrong with that? Harry! I hear you had a mass hysteria.
Yes.
MSI, they call it now.
Very PC.
I like to use the old word.
Was it girls? Mixed.
My head of department doesn't agree with me, anyway.
Leo?! That's why senior academics like he and I exist - to hold back talent.
It's fear.
I really rather like London.
I'm just off to your library.
Leo going to get the Chair? If he does, let's hope they tell him soon.
Hard act to follow the blessed Sam.
Do you really want Sam's job? Yes.
Why? You think I'm not up to it? No No?! I mean no, I didn't mean that.
A lot of the kids in that class are showing aluminium in their blood.
How much? Well, it's too soon to say.
The hospital weren't looking for it because they were told the children had freaked out, so they missed it.
They must have ingested it.
Could a fizzy drink have reacted with a can? None of this explains why those kids fainted.
Most are complaining of respiratory problems.
Local GPs are calling it severe asthma.
Everything's asthma! These psychosomatic events are about exclusion.
Separateness.
A group.
There was just one classroom.
The epidemic usually starts and finishes quickly.
I thought something happened outside but the teacher wasn't affected.
He was an adult.
He was excluded! This has to be to do with drinking water.
We've looked at school dinners, but half of them bring packed lunches.
Tap water is the only possible common factor.
Are there aluminium works disgorging unchecked into the local supply? Aluminium is here.
It's not in our dreams, mate.
Is this an offer .
.
Helen? Sounding you out.
Obviously after Sam Ryan, the general status of the department is very high.
There are one or two things I'm not too sure about.
I'd want to think about who stays and who goes.
I'd like it to be my team.
It's not always easy to get rid of academics, as you know.
There's that horrible American word called tenure.
We can argue about the teaching staff, can't we? If you want me.
I'll see what I can do.
Why isn't this being treated as a suspicious death? All the other wounds, they must tell us something.
The slashes on the arm suggest a struggle.
Have you told the police this.
Yes.
What else do we know? Where was he swimming? It might give me a clue as to who attacked him.
Well, the water wasn't very clean, so he wasn't swimming in the open sea.
The salt in his hair was contaminated with fuel oil, so it's likely it was an area of heavy traffic.
Oh, there were PCBs in his body fat, suggesting maybe they were present in the water he was swimming in.
He was wearing a wet suit.
You can only absorb PCBs Through the skin.
I know.
Parts of the face and hands were exposed, and if the concentrations were high enough, then We were together for two years.
We kept it a secret because of office politics.
Can I have tap water as well, please? It was difficult, you know, when we split up.
Stayed friends or? It was a bit tense sometimes.
I finished it.
What are you doing? Humouring an old man.
It looks sort of oily.
Doesn't taste very good either.
Tastes acidic.
Could this happen? Could they just cover something up? I don't trust anyone.
You know Gus Stuart? He has been going into Nick's office, taking stuff, shredding stuff.
Why? Well, I think Nick knew something about council business that Gus doesn't want coming out.
About the drinking water? I've got the water company's own testsgoing a fortnight back.
Do you think you could test this, too? It's the council offices.
Gents loo.
Look.
I so wanted you to be right.
What about? The water company's own analysis.
Last Thursday and Friday.
Calciumsodium There's nothing nasty.
Oh Look at those two results.
They're identical.
No two litres of water can be the same in analysis.
So, much as I hate to admit it, there may be something going on.
This is the third time, Nicola.
Can we please see a doctor? I'm sorry, we're really busy.
I want a doctor! Can you hear me, you bastards?! This little girl is ill! I want a doctor! NOW! Calm down, calm down, calm down.
It's OK.
Hi, it's Harry.
Hello.
The analyst's results are phoney.
Look at last week's.
It's like a photocopy with a different date.
They've been cheating.
Listen, I'm just, um, in a meeting Yeah.
I'll call you later.
Bye.
That was Harry Cunningham.
He says the water company must have a problem.
They've been messing around with the paperwork.
They've been cheating.
Why are they still involved? They're pathologists.
I asked them to advise.
The water's good! We've won prizes for it.
Listen, I don't want to quote my job description at you, but if they have an issue with public health we should know about, I have to talk to them.
OK, OK.
We'll look into this.
But let's deal with it quietly and keep those guys out of the loop.
Have we got something to hide? No, we've got to be straight about this.
Water samples.
Gents lavatory - that is just rusty water.
But the sample I took from the pub - traces of aluminium.
Yes! Congratulations.
I have to admit, it didn't taste very good.
But what's the source? Aluminium?! They use aluminium sulphate in the purification process itself.
The alum comes in as a coagulant to take out the impurities.
It's filtered out and you're left with clean water.
So it's a cock-up.
It got into the clean water later.
They found out and, rather than owning up, decided to flush out the system.
And tried to cover up by doctoring the results.
Is that Haven Water? Yeah, it's Dr Leo Dalton here.
Can I speak to your chief analyst, please? So how do you feel about me getting the Chair? IF I got it? No precise feelings at the moment.
I've just had the chief executive of Haven Water railing at me for the best part of an hour.
You're acting outside your remit.
It's a question of public health.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I thought pathology was about using your experience to explain mortalities.
If it's saving lives, job descriptions go out the window! This is the university's most expensive department, and there are a lot of people who don't think it's justified.
I hope that we can prove them wrong, Helen.
Your business is death.
And you aren't Sam Ryan.
Thanks for your support(!) Are we working together? Or are you waiting for Marcus Gwilym to take over? Two workers sacked, accused of contaminating the water supply.
Oh! If you believe that, you're being naive.
It's negligence, and they'll get away without paying compensation.
"Council censured for slow reaction to crisis.
" Aren't you pleased? I bawled you out, but I may not have a job myself.
I screwed up by moonlighting on a public health issue, and I still don't know why those kids collapsed.
That amount of aluminium wouldn't have caused that amount of damage in Paul Williams, or any of the kids.
I still think, um there's an element of hysteria involved, but I admit something else is going on.
Maybe we're both barking up the wrong tree.
We're just going about it in the wrong way.
Hello again.
Hi.
The baby's name is Ella.
Mm-hm.
She died in the night.
You should really have a paediatric pathologist.
I spoke to Dr Gwilym.
Marcus Gwilym? He wants to do the autopsy, but he's had a car accident.
So I thought of you.
Is he all right? Nothing too serious.
We kept telling them over and over! Oh, Mum!