Silent Witness (1996) s10e06 Episode Script

How's it going? Trying to track down Penny Harris's lover.
And Harry? Don't know.
You're looking at me in that way, Leo.
And what way's that? The "I know but I'm not telling" way.
Well, I'm worried about you.
It's just a difficult case.
Professionally or personally? Look.
I don't want to interfere.
You're both adults, technically at least.
I just want to make sure you're all right.
I gather there's some history with this girl? Yeah.
Poor Harry.
No contest.
PHONE BLEEPS KNOCKS ON DOOR Stephanie! Before you fire me, I thought you should see these.
I looked at the shots on the Internet in more detail.
They're pretty convincing.
Rough and grainy.
They even have scales.
Then I looked at my own shots and realised that they weren't the same.
In fact, none of them matched any of these.
Their angles are different.
Are you sure? Wait a minute.
These are off the Internet Yeah.
And these are yours.
You're right.
There's a much higher concentration of blood in these two.
These photos were taken before Jimmy had stopped bleeding.
In other words, before you'd arrived at the scene.
Thank you.
Thank you very much(!) Photographers.
They have this attitude.
Just as well! So what do you think? Whoever took these wanted to tell the world about Jimmy's death.
They were prepared to fake evidence to achieve that end.
All I know is we have Jewell's fingerprints on the handgun.
Hello? Can I help? Oh.
Harry C! Hiya.
I wanted to say hello at the inquest.
But I-I I know.
Edward told me you were helping on the case.
No, I'm not directly involved.
I just wanted to see you.
Here - coals to Newcastle.
They're lovely.
Gosh, you look just the same.
Really? Minus that terrible scarf you always used to wear.
Yes! Come in.
Are you sure? It would cheer me up.
Sorry to keep you.
Take a seat.
As you know things are a little frantic at the moment.
Is the paint in the foyer the work of disgruntled shareholders? A childish attempt to sabotage a legitimate business deal.
I can never get my girls to eat your chocolate.
They like chocolate with no chocolate in it.
What's the line? "Better choco-late than never.
" HE CHUCKLES You wanted to speak to me about something important.
I'm sorry.
Yes.
Do you recognise this young man? No.
Who is he? We think he and Penny might have been having an affair.
Is this your phone number? Yup.
It's my mobile.
Found it in the flat where this young man was staying.
Calls himself Simon.
Have you had any calls from someone of that name? Nope.
He appeared to have a file on you - about the sale of your company.
Clippings and such like.
I don't know.
He could be a disgruntled shareholder.
There's enough of them at the moment.
Looks young to be a shareholder.
Well.
Thank you for your time.
They're both very beautiful women.
You can see they were mother and daughter.
CROCKERY CLINKS Thank you for coming down.
In person I mean.
I appreciate it.
It was a present from Max for my No, no, it's It's you.
Ah, Harry! Still the charmer.
Max has done well, hasn't he, with the company being bought out? I think it's all been put into perspective this week.
Mmm.
Does it feel strange being back here after all this time? Yeah.
How is your colleague getting on? Pretty girl.
Is she making any progress with the case? I'm not directly involved.
But they think Penny was having an affair.
And the man she was seeing might have something to do with it.
Don't know.
Would you like to stay for dinner? Max is held up in town with this takeover business.
I could do with company.
That would be kind.
I'd be careful with that.
Frank I want you to hold the gun.
Try and put your fingers where the dots are.
OK? Now shoot me.
See? Not even a double-jointed man could hold it AND pull the trigger, the way those print placements are.
Geoffrey did the prints, and he's as thorough as an ant.
An Ant! I'm sure he is.
But I want you to check the print placement.
I need a Rembrandt on this rather than a Renoir.
You were the only decent boyfriend she ever had.
Thanks.
You were so much more suited than Edward.
Oh, Edward's got his good points but he is such a bore.
Oh, come on.
He gave her stability.
I think that was the trouble.
You think that's why she was unfaithful? Well, I'll just say I wouldn't have blamed her.
She had no judgement when it came to men.
You apart.
You confounded my expectations.
I know things ended badly between you and Penny, but I never held that against you.
I didn't handle it very well, I'm afraid.
You don't have to blame yourself.
She was unwell.
And you were very young.
I thought she was just a wild child.
I never thought she was ill.
You don't have to apologise, Harry.
Do you think having children herself might have helped? I think some people aren't meant to have children.
Mercifully, she and Edward were unable to.
Anyway.
It's never going to happen now.
No.
What about you? You ever think of settling down, starting a family? Married to my work.
You shouldn't leave it too late.
You'd make a good father.
Max Wheaton didn't recognise Simon.
I wondered if Simon was using Penny to blackmail him.
She didn't LOOK like a woman who was being used.
Papers you wanted, Nikki.
Thanks.
.
.
Tox report on Penny Harris.
Her plasma concentration of Dosulepin was 1.
2mg per litre.
A normal therapeutic concentration is 0.
3mg.
Serious toxicity, there's your cause of death.
Isn't that what you assumed? Yes, but I only found three tablets of Dosulepin in her stomach - not nearly enough for this result.
So? It suggests that more Dosulepin was present but in powder form.
Crushed up.
Why would she do that? Maybe someone else crushed them up.
And poisoned her.
Leo.
You were right about the print placement.
They show tremendous amounts of skill! Quite a work of art, really.
I found microscopic traces of silicon on the prints All right, here's what I do.
Can I have your mug? Now your prints are all over this, so I dust and lift your prints from the mug like normal.
Now, if we were in a darkroom, I would attach this print to a standard piece of wide-format film.
Then I'd take a photo of a bright light.
Remove the film, develop, fix it, hold it under a sunlamp for a minute or two, and ridges stand up.
You've lost me.
I'd place the print in a dish and pour in silicon.
And when it's dried? Here's one I prepared earlier.
It's like a stamp! So somebody lifted Jewell's prints and stuck them on the gun after Jimmy was dead.
Back to square one.
Sorry to have kept you.
So do you own most of Jimmy's work? I started with his graduation piece.
He got some guests to chew a book he'd taken out of the library and spit the mixture into a jar and then he distilled the chewed pages and put the bottle back in the library.
The Digested Book, he called it.
Genius.
Can't be a Philistine all your life, Detective.
I'm thinking of moving to Philistine.
I hear the weather's nice there(!) What about you, Professor? Do you like new art? I admire the craft, the practical challenge of releasing the idea.
But if I'm pushed, I'm more a Caravaggio man.
People in sheets, eating fruit.
Leave it in the museums.
This was where Jimmy's final work was going to rest.
Before you ruined it.
So what can I do for you? The case on Jimmy has opened up again.
Fingerprints on the gun that killed him were faked.
It's likely Jimmy was murdered.
The jacket you were wearing when you found him, has it been cleaned? Why? We'll need to take it check it for gunshot residue.
Which means if you fired the gun, we'll know about it.
There's nothing here that shows any lacing of a drink.
And it was her who bought the wine.
Even if he did do it he couldn't have done it here.
It was too early.
She'd have passed out an hour or so later, not in the evening.
We need to find Simon.
Any luck with him? Still doing door-to-door.
We know which college he's hanging around but he clearly doesn't want to be found.
Harry? Yes.
The tox report on William Mackie? Yes It looks like routine post-mortem distribution.
I'll deal with it soon.
Soon might not be good enough for the family.
They've been waiting to three days to bury him.
I'll do it now.
I just have to tell Nikki something.
ListenI know things haven't been easy for you but it would be good to have the old Harry back.
I'll look at the report, Leo.
Harry, I've got Penny's tox Have you sent in your final report? No.
Good.
She didn't have a child.
She had a parous She can't have.
I've spoken to her husband of twelve years who said she never had a child Her mother said she never had a child.
No-one knows about any child.
Harry, I did the PM.
Then check it.
What? You have.
I don't have to.
I've already done it.
I can't.
Why the hell should I? I have to know.
It was a parous os, Harry! Just do it! You might be right, but just do it as a favour.
Just do it! Reviewing the neck of the womb at the present time.
Confirmed it was a parous os.
She has given birth.
Now that I have your full attention, you may want to know that her tox report shows a massive overdose of Dosulepin, mostly from pills finely crushed - indicating that she may have been deliberately poisoned.
Bit bold isn't it, just wandering in and delivering it? Apparently he looked like a courier.
Wait till you see what's on it.
Can't get used to phones that shoot movies.
'I'd like to think that I've produced a body of work to be proud of 'that will stand the test of time.
' Dream on(!) 'This is a fitting end.
' 'It will complete the work.
And it will complete MY work.
'Great art will live on.
' GUNSHOT Oh, my God Think it's him holding the camera? Looks like it.
So it is suicide.
Yep.
But someone still had to pick it up, clean it and send it There's something still I want you to pull it apart frame by frame.
Right.
I'm sorry I made you do that, Nikki.
Don't be.
Sometimes you need to be angry to see things as they really are.
It made me realise something.
What? They're not having an affair.
That's not passion.
There's nothing sexual in it.
Don't you agree? It's more like affection.
Especially from her.
She looks old enough to be his mother.
He could be 18.
It's possible.
I have to find him.
Hello? Do you? THEY MURMUR Excuse me.
Do you recognise? Excuse me, girls No, sorry.
Definitely no.
No, sorry.
Excuse me mate.
Do you recognise this bloke? No? Excuse me guys.
Do you recognise this bloke in this picture whoever he is? No, sorry.
Damn it! Can I help you? Yeah.
Do you know the guy who lives there? CONVERSATION MUTED POP MUSIC PLAYS INDOORS Hello.
Here.
Oh, cheers.
You're Simon? Who are you? My name's Harry Cunningham.
Are you a lecturer? No, I'm a friend of Penny Harris your mother.
My mother is dead.
I know.
I'm trying to find out why she died.
You police? No, I'm Look, can we talk somewhere more private? Yeah Your mother's body was brought to the lab where I work.
So what do you want with me? You were seen with her on the day she died.
You were the last person to see her.
I don't think so.
Um What do you know about it? Simon, what do you know? She went to see Max, her stepfather at his palace in Surrey.
Max? .
.
It's not about the money.
It's about family.
I'm going now.
But what if he says no? Then I shall insist.
'She went to ask him for money.
From the business.
Money' .
.
for me.
She felt that he owed me something.
Why? She said it was all Max's fault that I was given up for adoption.
I wanted to go with her.
But she said it was too soon for that.
I was only just getting to know her.
You should talk to the police.
Why? Because they think your mother was murdered.
Murdered?! The bastard.
What d'you mean? Simon, I know this is messy.
But you can help.
You can help yourself.
If you talk to people.
Don't run away.
Call the p Call this number.
Call this number Ask for Detective Chief Inspector Ambrose.
Or come and see me at that address.
You do that, please? For your mother's sake? What about your father? What? Did you ever find out who your father was? No.
His name wasn't on the register.
ButI don't CARE who my father is.
He didn't want to know me, I don't want to know him.
Wheaton! I know what you've done - what happened to my mother.
'I'm coming for you.
' Oh, Hi, Daisy, is Harry in yet? I haven't seen him.
Sorry.
'Great art will live on.
' Nice work, Henry.
It's as good as I could get it.
Play it again, will you? There.
Play it again from when Jimmy climbs up the ladder.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa.
Stop There's some kind of reflection in the side of the tank.
I can zoom in.
Someone is THERE, in the room at the time Jimmy died.
That's who he looks at just before he pulls the trigger.
The other thing is that the video file is time-stamped.
Now, this was taken at 9:30pm.
So he's slipped up.
But the answer-machine message was confirmed at 3am.
Only the answerphone message was faked.
Possibly.
By a person with the skill to edit videos, to fake crime scene photos, to clean up and manufacture fingerprints.
We only know who could do all that.
Eggie Owen.
But he's got an alibi.
An alibi based on what? A message that could've been faked in any number of ways, like everything else.
Jimmy could've been dead longer than we thought.
Long enough for Eggie Owen to have been there before setting off for Brighton.
Why? Let's go and ask him.
GUNSHOT BIRDS FLUTTER I concede it's not a great likeness.
No.
But you've included us.
You're an important part of the work.
Why don't I feel flattered(?) You should do.
You coming to arrest me is the job finished.
Almost.
Soall this was your idea? Everything Jimmy did was my idea.
Including killing himself? For this? I didn't make him do it.
But you suggested it.
Encouraged it.
We did talk about it, yeah.
The films, the messages, the prints, SOCO shots? All part of the work.
Criminal work.
Maybe.
But some criminality was necessary for the idea to become a reality.
You could've stopped him! I mean You were there when he died.
You LET him die.
He shot himself.
He didn't die from the gunshot.
He drowned.
You must have WATCHED him drown.
It WAS odd, because part of me wanted to pull him out.
But the other part of me kept thinking about the work, about how Jimmy said an artist should be prepared to die for his work.
It's what he would've wanted.
It's what YOU wanted.
People will talk about this.
It'll be remembered.
It'll be remembered as just another desperate stunt to get noticed.
Time will tell.
You watch.
Those guys'll write their story.
Others will want to know.
You can't stop art from happening.
It's happening right now.
Here.
Can't see it.
Takes a little imagination.
You have to picture it.
Oh, I got a picture.
In this picture you're sitting in a cell, and no-one knows who you are.
You can put me in a cell - the art's out there now.
No work of art is worth a man's life! Jimmy would've disagreed with that.
He took his art very seriously.
He put his all into it.
Yes.
Yes, he did.
And for that he should be remembered.
But what about you? What about me? You weren't prepared to put YOUR life into your work, were you? I don't know how people will remember you, Mr Owen.
I'll remember you as someone who was prepared to let a friend and colleague take the bullet.
I'm not sure I'd want that on my headstone.
SONGBIRDS TWITTER We have an IC1.
Male, twenties.
It's a G5 in suspicious circumstances.
There's a firearm present.
I need CID and supervision.
Oh, my God! What? Max? HE SOBS We found a motorbike in the bushes down the road.
Looks like he marched straight up the drive.
Dr Alexander, Home Office pathologist.
Morning.
Morning.
He checks out the front door, ducks round the side.
He came in through here.
Max Wheaton called the police himself.
Says he found Simon like this.
We've taken him in.
Wheaton admits it's his gun, says it should have been in the gun cabinet but he goes shooting at weekends and sometimes leaves it by the back door.
Harry, it's Nikki.
Can you call me as soon as you can? How long were you out riding? About two hours.
Along the bridle path on the Downs.
When I returned to the house, I saw that Max was back from town.
He sometimes works from home.
I saw the police.
And then I I saw the body.
And Max, his gun I don't know what happened.
I don't want to think about it.
OK.
Where is Max now? Your husband is in custody for questioning.
For how long? It depends.
Oh, Hello.
Is Harry C not here? Harry Cunningham? No.
I suppose this is a bit too personal for him.
You do know that Harry and my daughter werevery close? Yes, I do.
.
.
I'm done here.
I found Simon.
Harry You're right.
He is Penny's son.
He wasn't the last to see her on the day she died.
She went to see Max.
Simon is convinced that Max has something to do with her death.
Simon was shot at the Wheaton's house this morning.
Shot? Yeah.
Dead? By who? We don't know.
Max Wheaton's gun was found at the scene, recently fired.
He says that he found him dead.
Is the body here? Yes.
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH Ambrose is going to interview Max Wheaton.
Do you want to come along? Yeah.
Are those your DNA results? Yeah.
It's strange.
I could've sworn I could see something of myself in him.
Part of me is disappointed.
But there we are.
Nice lad.
Shall we go? I'd just got home.
I-I told you.
I came in through the front door.
Anne was out riding.
I walked through the hall into the kitchen and I found him there.
Dead.
It appears, shot with your gun - with only your prints on it - a young man we presume was involved with your daughter.
And who took a great interest in your business.
I didn't shoot him.
He He what, Mr Wheaton? He what? One of the officers at the scene said when they arrived they found you holding Simon in your arms.
A strange thing to be doing with someone you don't know someone you'd just shot.
Or was it remorse for killing him? I didn't kill him.
But it was remorse.
A lifetime of remorse.
Remorse for what? For pretending that he didn't exist.
For blotting out the fact that he was .
.
my son.
You need to help me out here, Mr Wheaton When I married Anne, Penny resented me.
The first few years were very difficult.
But I made a big effort, I talked to her, I took her to shows and things.
I-I spoilt her, really.
And she warmed to me.
We became close.
Too close.
'I-I'd like to think that for a second at least, there was something inside me saying, "Don't do this.
" 'But if there was a voice, I certainly wasn't listening to it.
' We said it would be our secret.
But a couple of months later, she told me she was pregnant.
I told her Iarranged for her to have an abortion.
But, well, the day she was due to have it she ran away.
For six months.
And during that time she wrote to Anne and told her everything.
And what did Anne do? She was calm.
As always.
She told Penny that she could have the baby and that she should come home.
And so she did.
ButAnne went to the social services andshe asked that Simon be given up for adoption.
That winter, Penny had a complete breakdown and, well, that finally convinced them.
Did Simon know you were his father? When he When he first came back into our lives, I was panicked.
I knew it would bring everything back.
'He showed up in a restaurant one evening! 'I knew who he was.
'I didn't need Penny to tell me.
'And Anne knew too.
' .
.
Excuse me.
'Penny wanted everything out in the open.
She wanted him to be accepted as part of the family.
The day she came down, the day she diedshe She wantedSimon to have some share - she felt he was owed that.
Did you agree? I did, yeah But Anne wanted nothing to do with it.
Penny said that she was willing to make her story public if we didn't agree.
Anne said I shouldn't give in to to blackmail.
I left at that point.
I had to come back to town.
I couldn't stick around for another one of their ballistic rows.
So why did Simon think YOU killed Penny? I don't think he thought that.
I think he held me responsible in some way, because of the past.
Because he thought I wanted to cover things up because of the business, the reputation.
So you lied to me about not knowing Simon because you were afraid that it would cause a scandal? Yes.
But So you shot him to make sure there's no scandal? No.
No, no, no! I didn't shoot him.
So who else would have good reason to? I I'd like to speak to my lawyer in private.
Bastard! How COULD he?! That sweet girl QUIET SOBS It's not your fault, Harry.
It's not your fault.
You're so good always.
Why are men? Women have been known to commit the odd sin.
Yeah, you have, haven't you? I've got to go.
Where? Analyse everything you can think of from Wheaton's house for Dosulepin.
Call me.
Where are you going? The body is that of a male Caucasian, appearance consistent with being twenty years of age.
He has been identified to me by DCI Ambrose as Simon Talbot.
We have a shotgun wound at the juncture of the abdomen and chest.
.
.
He'd have died pretty quickly.
There is no soiling from smoke, no tattooing.
Some separate pellet-holes around the main wound.
We'll have to test fire the gun to get the exact range but, depending on the choke of the barrel, I'd say he was shot from about ten feet.
The main wound itself consists of a ragged hole about 2½cm across CAMERA CLICKS And there is a scalloped margin to the top edge.
Looks like a very low angle.
Could he have been shot from the hip? The gun's a 12-bore.
If you fired that from the hip you'd do yourself serious damage from the recoil.
Bruising from the gun butt, damaged fingers.
Max is supposed to be an experienced shot.
Heat of the moment? Didn't have time to? The police doctor didn't find any evidence of injuries.
DOOR SLIDES Sorry They tested the pestle and mortar from the Wheatons' house.
Positive for Dosulepin.
Have you seen Harry? Harry C! Are you on the case now? Yes, I am on the case now.
Sorry about the mess.
They insist on keeping this tape everywhere.
Can I get you something? How about a glass of wine? It's a bit early Well it's almost six.
Red or white? Red.
Thanks.
Mmm it's good.
D'you think I'm over the limit? What? Think I'm over the limit to drive? I doubt it.
Good.
I'll have another.
D'you think I'm over the limit now? Harry, what is this nonsense? Still unsure? I'd say I was.
Let's make it easier.
Say I'm a woman, I take less, and I'm on medication.
I shouldn't use alcohol.
Would you now stop me driving? Are you accusing me of letting Penny drive knowing she was over the limit? No, I'm accusing you of killing her.
Are you out of your mind? Wine, a handful of anti-depressants.
What Would you call it? Mother's Revenge? Don't be ridiculous.
Oh? She slept with your husband, had a child by him.
You engineered his adoption.
He reappears in your life.
Penny suddenly starts talking about fair shares and being part of the family.
Maybe she even suggested that he could live here in this house with YOU.
Did she? My daughter was mentally ill! You know that better than anyone.
I did her a favour having that child put up for adoption.
It wasn't my fault that stupid girl thought Max and that boy could have a relationship.
His name was Simon.
And she wasn't a stupid girl.
She was a very beautiful young woman, don't you think? Don't you THINK she was a very beautiful young woman? OK, let's look at a picture of her.
Oh - you.
Youyouyou, you, you.
You, of course.
You! It bothered me last time I was here.
You don't have a single picture of her, do you? Not ONE.
How scared WERE you of her? The hussy seduced my husband.
"The hussy"?! Only someone of your vintage uses words like "hussy".
Do you want to know the last time I HEARD the word "hussy"? In Penny's last message to Edward on the night she died.
"I am not a hussy, whatever they may say.
" Why did you do it, Anne? I just wanted to sedate her.
'She was hysterical.
' Let me have this one thing.
Please.
You're not going to deny it any more.
I'm not going to keep it a secret for your benefit.
I've seen you like this before, dear.
You're going to have another one of your episodes.
Yes.
It WILL be another episode.
A new chapter.
Penny, where are you going? You shouldn't To be something you've never been to me - a mother.
You wanted her out of your life.
Do you know what I did when I found out that Max had had slept with Penny? Nothing.
Because for a while I felt nothing.
I couldn't actually hold the thought in my head that .
.
my husband and my daughter had made me a grandmother.
So I put the thought aside, tried to live as though nothing had happened.
Still envied, still admired.
Still wanted.
Is that why you seduced me? Oh, I don't remember you needed much seducing.
No.
I did that - and you weren't the only one - because it made me feel better.
It stopped me thinking about Penny and Max.
And I've managed to live like that all these years.
Until Simon.
You're not part of this family.
You never will be.
I don't know why he came back.
But he did.
And itexposed everything.
It was all Max's fault.
You wanted to make it Max's fault.
Oh, no.
Max was the only one.
The only one I ever loved.
What would you have done in my place, if these things had been done to you? In another life, I'd have loved your daughter better.
In another life, you could have put this in a silver frame.
'I would just like to say that I accept my guilt 'in misleading the authorities.
'But I believe the work justifies these minor transgressions.
'I hope that all of you will come to appreciate the work.
'And I'd like to dedicate it to Jimmy.
Are you saying it was your work, Mr Owen? All my work, yes.
' TV OFF All your own work.
Yes, indeed.
Was that the Mackies? It was.
Happy ending? As happy as endings get here at the morgue.
Where are you off to? A friend's birthday party.
Does this suit me? Yes, it does.