Silent Witness (1996) s15e04 Episode Script

Justine? Let's go and find out where Mummy is, shall we? 'So, he kills Mum.
Waits an hour or so 'kills daughter.
At some point, finds time 'to knock a bloody great big hole in the son's skull, too.
' There's no running home from this one.
Get off me! You're assuming it's the father.
Did you know Stuart Thompson well? Yeah, all my life.
Then he married your ex, Justine.
Bet that put the cat among the pigeons.
So, I'd like to get on with the postmortem as soon as possible.
I don't think that's a very good idea.
You knew Justine.
Justine was pregnant and she had an eclamptic seizure.
Luckily, I was able to help.
Your brother - Kevin, is it? Were you in love with her? You're actually the same age as the boy, Charlie, aren't you? And Gemma.
So, are you guys all friends, then? Gemma mostly.
Even if they were having sex, they weren't blood related, they were stepsiblings.
She was arranged.
Mm.
When did you last see him? Yesterday.
Did you talk? Yeah.
We talked.
And how would you describe his state of mind? Erm Would you say you were close? I was more like his dad.
Even though you were the younger brother? Is that why you let him stay at your flat rent-free all those years? No, he paid rent.
Market rate? What's that got to do with anything? I'm just trying to establish No.
I let him live there cheap.
We bought the flat years ago.
We? Yeah, me and my first wife.
Tanya.
So, you were helping him out.
D'you think he resented your help? In light of what's happened, I'm sorry to ask, but Where were you at 10.
15 last night, Mr Thompson? I was in my hotel.
Where d'you bloody think I was? The road, where he crashed.
That's en route to your hotel.
So? D'you think he might have been coming to see you? What does it matter? He's dead.
None of this matters! I'm just trying to gauge his state of mind.
We have a report from a witness who said they saw him driving erratically before he crashed.
My brother had a drugs problem for 20 years.
He's clean now.
You're looking for reasons why he was driving like that.
Yesterday you questioned him.
Today he's dead.
If you want someone to blame, take a bloody long look in the mirror! Oh.
Was he sober? We don't know yet.
Not until you've cut him open, had a good rummage around.
Did you do that with Gemma? Justine? Must have been weird with Justine.
For you, I mean.
Stuart.
We didn't have any secrets, me and Justine.
She fessed up a couple of weeks later.
Became the big family joke.
Charlie, especially.
Wouldn't shut up about it the time Mum got pissed and snogged the doctor.
Hah! Made me laugh a lot.
He was a funny kid.
He is a funny kid.
Cos I know he's going to be OK.
Family Liaison rang.
They said he's showing signs of recovery.
I just worry that he's going to wake up and I won't be there.
There won't be anybody there.
I'll visit him if you like.
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, Linda, it's me.
Yeah.
No, no, please, don't hang You realise this is the forensic equivalent of photocopying your arse.
Will you look at them? Looking.
What d'you see? Two professionals going about their business in an amiable manner.
It's practically foreplay.
Charlie and Gemma? Nikki thinks Gemma may have been suffering from glandular fever at the time of her death, and the hospital says Charlie has it, too.
I haven't got time for Epstein-Barr can be transmitted through the air, but the chances of catching it are greatly increased if there is an exchange of saliva.
You're talking kissing, right? Yeah.
Two teens, same house, similar age.
It does happen.
So, not only have I got two murders, one attempted, and a bike smash, you want to throw in incest.
Hardly incest.
Try telling the tabloids that.
There are multiple small abrasions and also signs of blunt trauma to the face and head, consistent with impact against the wall.
There is a marked pallor to the skin but no external signs of a significant bleed.
Could be an internal haemorrhage.
We see that sometimes, with motorbike accidents.
Disruption to the thoracic aorta within the descending portion.
Cause of death is aortic disruption, due to blunt force trauma to the chest.
By the way, the, erm four tattoos that he has.
The degradation of the fine detail suggests that three of them are at least ten years old, but this one here is new.
The tattoo's healed, but the skin is new.
I'd say the procedure was carried out at least four-to-six weeks ago.
If you're still considering him a suspect without an alibi, you might want to find someone called Stacey.
Did you say Stacey? Yeah.
Yeah, Billy.
It's me.
I need that cleaned-up CCTV, like yesterday.
Fractures to tibia and fibula seems like a straightforward bike collision, to me.
Only there was no reason for him to crash.
Apart from speed, perhaps.
Traffic investigation team said there were no brake marks at scene.
So there was no evidence he even attempted to stop.
He could have been drunk or drugged.
We won't get toxicology back Why does it matter, anyway? Possible suicide.
By motorbike? I'm trying to keep all the options open.
Disgruntled ex-junkie with a crush on his brother's missus.
We haul him in for questioning he's unconvincing, to say the least, and a couple of hours later, he's dead by the side of the road.
Maybe he had a guilty conscience.
Maybe he just knew that the game was up.
Whatever he thought, last night, he decides to jump on his bike and smash it into a wall at 70 You can't infer suicide, either from the evidence at scene, or that postmortem.
Yeah, and you can't infer it wasn't! Suicide or not, we need to get DNA samples straight over to forensics.
Rule him in or out at the Thompson scene.
I'll drop it round later.
Thanks.
Billy.
'The boy next door.
Joel Barron.
I'm worried he might have done something.
' 'What do you think he might have done?' OK, check it out.
Do you mind if we come in? Someone's left in a hurry.
Where is he, Mrs Barron? Sir! Have you checked his school? Yep.
And he's not there.
I spoke to his head of year.
Says the kid's a persistent truant.
He's got no friends to speak of - certainly no girls.
Last year, he received a fixed-term exclusion for attacking a classmate.
His mum still says she was with him night of the murder? That's right.
Of course she does.
She's his mum.
By the way, the tech boys have nearly cleaned up the Nottingham CCTV.
About time.
The bat that was used to assault Charlie was hidden under the shed at the house next door.
That leaves one weapon outstanding.
Well, a cricket bat couldn't have used for Justine's head injury.
You sure? Yeah.
Whatever caused the damage to her skull was circular and sharp and heavy enough to penetrate bone.
The knife that was used in the secondary attack on Justine It was washed up and left at the house, wasn't it? You think the other weapon might still be there? So, why haven't they found it yet? Well, maybe Maybe they didn't know what they were looking for.
You said that this machine could be used to analyse a bite mark Mm-hm left on a body, to produce a a replica jaw based on that mark.
So, why can't we do the same thing with Justine's head injury fabricate a replica weapon? May be possible.
But you'd need a CT scan.
Ah.
I'm not sure if I can swing that at short notice.
You really do underestimate your charms, Leo.
Ring me when you've set it up.
Charlie Thompson, please.
Ah.
Take a seat, please.
He's got a friend with him at the moment.
Who? I don't know, erm, a neighbour or something.
Excuse me.
Excuse me! You can't Where is he? Stay where you are.
Joel? It wasn't me! No-one's saying it was.
All right? Come on, now, mate.
Joel? Joel! Put it down.
Put it down.
I'm about to have a heart attack as it is.
What is going on, Joel? Why'd you come and see Charlie? The police think that you put him in here.
You know that? They found a cricket bat in your garden.
And I can guarantee, right now, they think you killed them all.
Forensics will be doing tests on it.
Chances are, they'll find Charlie's blood on it.
Wasn't me! I found the bat in the house.
I picked it up cos I was scared! They're going to say I killed them, but I never! Been in love with her for years.
D'you see?! So when I saw them two together, I wanted it to stop.
I loved Gemma.
Remember that.
Joel! He said he was in love with Gemma, saw them together and wanted it to stop.
I think there's a possibility he was talking about Charlie and Gemma.
The glandular fever incest theory.
Sorry.
Just trying to do my job.
No police outside Charlie's room.
Are you sure you're doing yours? His custody sergeant says that he hasn't moved.
That he won't eat, won't talk.
Hasn't even taken a piss.
Total shut down.
Scared shitless, most likely.
Mum still sticking to the story? Yeah.
See how that holds up in court.
Chloroform? And phenol.
For stripping out DNA? Top of the class.
Any luck with the CT scan? Yes.
I managed to call in a favour.
You see? People just can't say no to you, Leo.
Er, what about blood? We found Charlie's blood on the bat, but no trace of Justine.
OK.
Do you want to take a look? Yes.
Normal red blood cells and you see this bunch? Neutrophil.
I can give you a better look.
There, see? I'm sorry I'm sorry.
I think I'd better leave.
Haven't had time to get home.
Do you mind if I grab a shower? Be my guest.
Look, I might have been a bit out of order at the hospital, and earlier, after the PM.
Haven't exactly covered myself in glory.
I shouldn't be telling you how to do your job.
Sorry.
Maybe I needed telling.
I'm being a bit distracted.
My wife.
We've been separated the last three months.
But she's willing to give me another chance and I would appreciate it if you could, too.
Hello? Stuart? Think you've had enough yet? Sound like Justine.
I miss her.
Miss all of them.
You know? Charlie and Gemma my little girl Ellie.
I had a dream about her, about Ellie.
It was a good dream.
You'll see her again soon.
Yeah, I'm sort of focusing on seeing her and holding you know Charlie.
I'm, er I'm not allowed to speak to his doctors, to check.
I know.
Stops it hurting.
I have no idea what you must be going through at the moment, but Oh, um I don't mean that kind of hurting.
It's my head.
Oh.
I fell over and hurt my head.
If you didn't laugh, you'd cry, wouldn't you? Get yourself to Nottingham.
Yeah.
Well, I can't do it, so you'll have to.
End of.
Stacey Leach? DC Myers.
Middlesex Police.
I'm sorry we had to meet here.
My mum's got Alzheimer's and, er she doesn't like strange people round at the house.
Sure.
So, how did you meet Kevin? We met when we was both using.
When was that? I don't know, about three years ago.
It was a pretty dark time but Kevin kept me safe.
So, you were like, what? Boyfriend, girlfriend? No, we was getting married.
He was gonna get me a proper big ring, when he'd sorted himself out.
Was he clean? Yeah, he was clean! He worked really damn hard at it and he kept me clean, too.
Kevin wasn't what people thought.
All he wanted was, like, a future.
He was He was just a really lovely bloke.
Is this the only hotel in Nottingham? Why d'you ask me that? Well, it's just that this is the same hotel Stuart Thompson stays in when he comes to Nottingham, so So? So, what? It's probably where he got the idea from? What idea? Hope you get some sleep.
Yeah.
Well, thanks for picking me up, patching me up.
It's nothing at all.
No, it is.
I know it is.
My situation, most people would run a mile.
Ellie I'll, er I'll do what I can.
You've done enough.
You've been a mate.
See you.
Hello? Me again.
Stuart Thompson, I'm arresting you for the murder of Justine Thompson and Gemma McAteer on the night of Wednesday the 12th of October.
You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be given in evidence.
When I interviewed you on Thursday the 13th of October, I asked you where you'd been.
Can you remember what you said? Nottingham.
Is that true? For the tape.
Look, what is this? That's your brother's girlfriend, Stacey.
And that is you.
Why? Because the receptionist at the hotel that you drove to in your BMW on the night your wife and stepdaughter were killed says it is.
And she should know.
You've been staying there on and off for a while now, haven't you? You stayed there, and, on the morning after your wife and stepdaughter were killed, you used your credit card to pay for a double room, two bottles of cheap plonk and a dirty movie.
And that must be you, because that's what you told us.
But that's not you, after all, is it? That's your brother, Kevin.
We had our tech guys clean up the picture.
So, why Nottingham? Because that's where Kevin wanted to go.
And if Justine ever checked the credit card statements, it would look true.
So, you lend him your car for him to zoom up the M1 and have a bit of nooky at your expense.
Meanwhile, you're doing what, exactly? I know that you said that your brother needed a lot of looking after, but, come on, this kinds of takes the biscuit, doesn't it? Come on, Stuart.
There must have been summat in it for you, mustn't there? Where were you between 6pm on the Wednesday, October 12th, and 6am Thursday morning? We, erm We? You, er, didn't seem to have any bunnies.
Thought I'd boil a kettle instead.
You fancy a cuppa? Yeah.
I don't really do awkward silences, so Please.
Let me explain.
Leo, it's fine.
No, it's not.
Thing is, I have a partner.
Her name is Janet.
I knew that.
So, that makes me as culpable as you.
So, why don't we do what I always do in embarrassing situations? I just get my brush and I sweep it under the nearest carpet.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I should have told you No, no, no, no confessions, or guilt, or talking it over.
I have no truck with any of it.
Just brush carpet.
Right.
Where are you going? I'm gonna visit Charlie Thompson.
I told Stuart I'd sit with him.
Is he awake? No.
What happens if, when he wakes up, he says that Stuart? Well I promised Stuart.
Ready? Yeah.
How long have you been having a relationship with Stuart Thompson, Miss Barron? A year or so.
Or so? Was it just sex, or was there more to it? Are you asking if I have feelings for Deborah? Yeah.
Yeah, I suppose I am.
Well, then, yes, I suppose I did.
Did? Do? Either way, we're not exactly talking about one of the century's greatest romances, are we? Or maybe you're downplaying the significance of the relationship to try and make it sound less likely that it was a motive for you killing your family.
We never talked about being together longer term.
Why not? I don't know.
It just never came up.
Stuart had Justine.
Justine was my friend.
See, this is what I don't get.
You arrive home the worst thing imaginable has just happened to you and your family.
And most people's first reaction would be to just call us and to tell the truth, because the truth is going to lead us and help us to find the person who's responsible for doing this terrible thing to the people that you love the most.
But you didn't tell the truth.
Why didn't you just tell us there and then what you were doing? Because I was ashamed.
We were at his brother's flat, at Kevin's flat.
Kevin borrowed my car, drove it to Nottingham, and then he could use my card in the hotel.
That was how it worked.
And in return you got to shag your lady friend round at his.
No meeting in seedy hotels home from home.
Scatter rose petals on the bed for you and all, did he? And he was at the flat all night? You sure about that? I got your message, yes.
How else do you think I knew to come home? Yeah, three and a half hours after I contacted you to you turning up.
The message just said I had to contact you, that it was important.
I thought we'd been burgled or something.
So you waited for your brother to get back.
So I could come back in my car, so my wife wouldn't think I was having a bloody affair.
But you kept telling us that you were at home all night.
Why? Because if you were with Stuart Thompson, you couldn't possibly know where your son was on the night of the murders.
The phone call to the emergency services that was you wasn't it? If you suspected that your son was involved, why didn't you come straight to us? Because he can't ever know I gave him up.
Charge her with perverting the course of justice.
You must have been really sure to make that call.
In fact, you must have been positive.
What is it you're not telling us, Deborah? He always had a thing for Gemma.
Everyone knew.
Bang goes your Daddy-Did-It theory.
I'm getting used to it.
So you got me message? Of course you have reservations about Stuart seeing Charlie, 'I see that, but Ellie is not a witness, is she?' Surely in the circumstances, it'd be best for her to see her dad.
All right, I'll see what I can do Both Thompson brothers still have alibis.
We're in the Dark Ages here.
We got plenty.
Photos tell us that Joel Barron was at the scene.
Got the murder weapon underneath the shed.
Yeah, but why visit Kevin Thompson two nights later? I mean, what's he trying to do? Whether he talks or not, we've got enough to charge him, guv.
I'm off.
Don't stay up too late.
You can see Ellie.
Chaperoned, but still.
Social Services will call you later on.
Thanks.
I don't know what to say.
To her.
I don't know what to say to her.
She'll ask about her mum.
I'm sure her care worker will give you some advice.
And you're her dad, you know? You'll know what she needs.
Yeah.
My colleague thinks we should charge you with murder here and now.
What do you think? You might want to tell your client it's in his interests to start talking to me, or he's going to find himself locked up for a very long time.
Kevin was my friend.
I went to him cos I didn't know where else to go to.
Why? Because you were scared? What were you scared of, Joel? Why didn't you charge him? Cos it doesn't feel right.
Not even close.
Look, I may be screwing up everywhere else in my life, but I've still got me guts.
Come on, guv.
First he runs, and then we nick him, he shuts up, even though he knows how bad that looks.
Why? Cos he's guilty.
No, you plonker, cos he's scared.
He's scared and wants to be locked up cos he thinks it's safer in here than out there.
What's Joel said? Not a great deal.
But the photo of the dead girl's not helping his case.
All that actually proves is that he saw her sometime after she was killed.
Gemma? Gem? You have an inexplicable event married to an inexplicable time gap.
Gemma was killed face down.
She lay for several hours face down and then someone turned her body.
He called on them every morning, didn't he? We know Mum had a key to the property.
Could he have just come in as usual, found Gemma, turned her? Joel told me that he that he wanted this to stop.
But he never said how.
Could he have shown these photos to someone else? Joel's angry, he's got big news, but he hasn't got the bottle.
What if he shows those photos to the one person he thinks WILL do something about it? Frank McAteer.
I had a little dig.
Off-licence at the end of Magnolia Drive.
Checked the CCTV, and night of the murder, his Subaru was parked right outside.
Well, it's made something.
I'm not quite sure what.
How could something like that penetrate the human skull? The temporal bone is relatively thin.
That looks to me like it's definitely a smaller part of a larger, heavier object.
So what's this all about? Monday the 17th October, 12:02pm.
Persons present, myself DC Myers, and Frank McAteer.
Thanks a lot.
Right, well, let's have one last look.
I guess we share it out, go room to room.
Perhaps you could tell us why your car was parked at the end of Magnolia Drive on Wednesday night.
Was it? We have CCTV footage.
If you say so.
Did you visit number 26 Magnolia Drive on Wednesday night? No.
He's got five previous convictions.
Nothing in the last ten years, but still All because his daughter was sleeping with her stepbrother? Dads and their daughters.
Always want 'em to stay little girls.
His ears DI Ronson has entered the room.
So, Frank when did you find out Charlie was shagging Gemma, your daughter? How did that make you feel, seeing the photos, to know that they were shagging each other's brains out, your daughter and him? Your daughter.
Your son.
How did you know? I noticed at the hospital Charlie suffers from hypertrichosis pinnae.
It's a condition that causes excessive hair growth localised round the ears.
See where the hair's growing back there? And there's some scar tissue.
He's probably nicked himself shaving at some point.
OK, so the kid's got hairy ears.
So does Frank McAteer.
Hypertrichosis pinnae is a genetic condition.
It's Y chromosome related, meaning it passes from father to son, only Stuart doesn't have it.
All right.
But you can't say for certain that Frank's Charlie's father.
Not yet.
But I can tell you, in all likelihood, Stuart isn't.
Joel came to see me in the garage.
I mean, I hardly knew the kid.
He was angry and he showed me the photographs.
Why do you think he brought them to you, Frank? Maybe it's because he knew you wouldn't like it.
Of course, what he didn't realise was how much you wouldn't like it.
And then you did what, Frank? I rang Justine.
Said that I needed to talk to her.
She said I could drop round later.
No car.
Stuart was away.
She was always worried about what the neighbours might think.
So, you went round showed her the photographs Where did you get these? Doesn't matter.
Did you pay someone to take them? No, of course not.
OK I'll have a chat to them, OK? Yeah, well, that's not enough.
It's got to stop.
They're 16 and 17 years old.
I can't stop them doing It has to stop! So after all these years, you want to come play dad? It's not a bloody cameo role, Frank! It's unfortunate, and it's embarrassing but they're just two kids having sex.
The way you're going on you'd think they were related.
They are! I had a bit of a thing with Stuart's wife, Tanya.
Couple of months after Charlie was born she told me he was mine.
And then she was dead.
You didn't tell Stuart? Stuart was crazy about Tanya.
She was dead.
Charlie was all he had.
She's in the playroom.
Just through here.
Ellie Leo? Hi, Nikki.
We think we've found the weapon used in the initial attack on Justine.
It's a child's hobby horse.
'It's in Ellie's bedroom with all her other toys.
'Dimensions of the 3-D fabrication match the handles on either side of the head, 'and Gill thinks that she's found blood traces.
' 'In Ellie's bedroom? The attack was in the kitchen, it must have come from the kitchen.
' 'Well, it could have been.
Just means the attacker moved it.
' Oh Oh, yes 'Jack and Jill, in the ditch,' I spy the wicked witch.
Wicked witch over the wood, I spy Robin Hood.
Robin Hood in his den, I spy the bears again.
Three bears, out hunting, They spy Baby Bunting We found Ellie's hobby horse, Stuart.
Baby Bunting, safe and dry You put it back in her room.
Who else would do that? I spy plum pie.
Eh? Erm do you want to take her for a bit, yeah? Bye-bye, gorgeous.
There's a good girl.
There we go Shall we go? Erm when Justine called, Deborah was asleep.
Tablets once she's gone, she's gone.
'She said she needed me back home.
That it was urgent.
' Gemma and Charlie they were sleeping together.
But you were meant to be in Nottingham.
That's what you told her, right? Well, if they're having sex, that's down to you.
Me? How the hell d'you work that out? Cos you're their mum.
You set the tone, they can do what they want, they can watch what they want, on their own So I'm a hopeless mother? Just cos I'm not bloody Tanya! It's nothing to do with Tanya.
You don't think that's relevant? Course not.
From day one, it's always been Charlie, the little prince, and me and Gem feeding on the scraps He's my son! No difference between them, we said.
Of course that's what we said but when it comes down to it I'm bound to have stronger feelings for him, not because he's Tanya's, because he's mine.
No, he isn't.
What? He's not yours, Stuart.
What? Look at him.
He's not yours.
He's Frank's.
She did that to you.
Your lovely Tanya did that to you.
Well, how long have you how long have you known that? I didn't know until tonight.
No, don't bullshit me.
Tonight! But Justine wasn't dead, was she? So you stabbed her.
Mum? Go to bed, Gem.
Mum and I had a row, yeah? She's gone out to walk it off.
OK? Yes? Yes? Yes? OK OK.
I just couldn't see a way through it.
'I just sat there for about an hour, 'and then it all became clear.
' 'The kids 'can't know what I've done.
' 'They just can't know.
' See you, Charlie.
Charlie Thompson, please.
Haven't you heard? He's out of his coma and chatting to his dad.
Well, maybe we could we could do something on a weekend or something But you you didn't kill Ellie.
Why didn't you kill Ellie? 'When I looked down at her 'she was all I've got to be proud of.
' She had nothing to do with any of it.
She was my future.
And now you don't have a future.
And nor do they.
Justine, Gemma, Kevin.
And be under no illusions.
His blood's on your hands, Stuart.
I think in the end he knew what you'd done he couldn't live with it.
How will you? Admit it, you've enjoyed yourself.
I'm happy to.
I've had a lovely time.
Hold the front page: Perennial Bachelor Enjoys Family Party Shock! Family Family? You never know.
Maybe.
One day.
Might be nice.