Silent Witness (1996) s16e03 Episode Script

Can I help? Please.
No, no, no, it's OK.
OK, I'll get the area sealed off.
All right, oh, and don't forget I need the DCI's phone number.
Who is she? Chrissy Reed.
Worked for CID, up in Yorkshire.
Must have found a way of flushing her down the M1.
Charming! How are you doing, Jack? Not bad.
Wondered if our paths might cross.
And here you are.
Indeed.
So, this is nice.
Nikki Alexander.
Home Office Pathologist.
DI Reed.
That's right - DI.
So, if you want to step on my crime scene, take a deep breath and get over yourself, Jack.
What was that?! Neighbour called the police.
Basement vent's out back.
Smell was getting a bit ripe.
Two dead.
Both female.
Brunette's been shot in the head and arm.
Blonde victim's been shot twice in the chest.
Were they totally covered when they were found? Yep.
Possibly trying to contain the smell.
Who owns the house? Landlord's a Mr Kolahi.
Only managed to speak to his wife so far, but she seemed to think the house was rented to a man who'd just moved back from Dubai.
Might explain the heat.
Central heating's been set to be on constantly - 22 degrees.
If you could find out how long that's been the case, it would help with time-since-death.
I'll get on to the gas company, see if they can give us an indication of usage.
But are we talking days, weeks? I can't tell you that yet.
Bloating suggests at least four days, but bodies are making the transition from bloat to active decay.
That puts TSI at somewhere between seven to ten days.
Find a gun? No.
So, it's not a suicide pact.
A naked suicide pact, in which the deceased end up under polythene? Sherlock would explain it.
This is going to be such fun! Think she could have died later? Why do you say that? Far fewer blowfly larvae on the blonde victim.
No, the bodies seem to be at a similar point in the decay cycle, to me.
So, what is it with you and DI Reed? Is it specifically her you don't like, or the fact that she's clearly a competent, ambitious woman? No problem with competent, ambitious women.
We had a run-in, that's all.
Matter of fact, we used to be good mates.
When did you last see her? I dunno.
Three, four years ago? About the time you came to London? Oh, my God.
The overly competitive sparring, the mutual dislike.
Were you in a relationship with her? All right, just keep it quiet, will you? Because she's an older woman? Because she's married.
WAS married.
Are we done here? Top priority's to get these women identified.
I've got my team scouring missing persons, but I'd like to get started on the postmortems today, if you can manage that.
Jack, can I show you something? Yeah.
Padlock clasps.
Recently removed.
What's the matter, Jack, can't even look at me? I moved down to this shithole to make DCI, so if you want to rake over our past, I suggest you invite me for a drink, instead of gossiping with the pretty blonde doctor.
So, padlock clasps? They weren't brought here to be killed.
They were kept down there.
But why remove the locks? Find many prints in the house? Nothing, so far.
Well, maybe they're forensically aware.
If they bought the padlocks and clasps, they know there's a chance we could trace the purchase, especially if they were in a rush, bought them locally.
You should check out local hardware shops.
So he brings them here, locks them up, does whatever he does, kills them, buggers off, but leaves the bodies.
How does that fit with your forensically-aware criminal mastermind? Maybe they were interrupted.
Maybe they planned to come back.
They? What makes you think this is one man? Two women.
Both suffered violent deaths.
Both naked.
You know as well as I do that this is probably a sexual crime and the perpetrator's almost certainly a man working alone.
Time's running out.
Now you need to find someone else.
Do you understand? I've tried.
Try harder.
I know you're strong.
But now it it's all about the fight.
You just have to do whatever it takes.
This doesn't feel like a sexual crime.
Too clinical.
Whoever did this, they've been careful.
No prints.
No marks.
Nothing.
And you're not just saying that because DI Reed DOES think that sex is the basis of his MO? Credit me with a degree of professionalism.
And the fact that they were naked doesn't suggest sexual motive? Since when was removing clothes solely indicative of sexual intent? Clothes can give a clue as to identity.
So maybe obscuring their identity's important? Maybe he dumped the clothes.
'Hello, Mr Benson?' Yeah, what is it? It's Leo Dalton.
Thank you for your messages and I'm sorry it took me a while to get back to you.
Giving up? Oh, two weeks.
Killing me.
Given the condition of the bodies, Jack's happy to release them if you are.
Great.
Should be able to get onto the postmortems after lunch.
Appreciate it.
Would you like to be present? Yeah.
I'm sorry for talking like that.
It was unprofessional.
We all do it.
And it was unkind.
Are you OK? Yeah, I'm fine.
Sorry.
I've not been sleeping well.
Eyes OK? Wouldn't do to have them think I was anything other than a flat-out bitch now, would it? Hi.
Unused mattress on the bed.
The kitchen's cheap, but newly installed.
And the oven still has the instructions inside.
I don't think anyone was living in the main part of the house.
Fits with neighbour interviews.
No signs of life.
No-one came or went.
No post delivered.
But if they were held here for any length of time, someone must have been bringing them food, water.
Someone who smoked.
Found this in the garden.
When was the last time it rained? About two weeks ago, I think.
Cigarette butts turn brown when sodden.
This one hasn't.
Great, so our man Or men.
Could've been a smoker.
So we've narrowed it down to 20% of the population.
Think we can get DNA? If you ask nicely.
You'll have to forgive my lack of manners.
Whoever did this, I've got a feeling he's not done yet.
Time for work.
Take my advice.
Keep your distance.
We were just chatting.
I don't know what your problem is with her? Maybe she's not as hard-nosed as you think.
She's recently divorced, she's in a new city Right, so now you're best friends? Are we five? Is this a playground? She was just trying to be friendly.
She's trying to tap you for information about me.
Oh, because two professional women couldn't possibly talk about anything except you! Chrissy's sniffing out promotion and she wants to make sure I haven't said anything that could jeopardise that, OK? What happened between you two? You advertised the house through a local paper? No agency? Mr Kolahi, I don't think you're quite getting this.
There's been a double murder at your property.
If you don't talk to me, I'm going to have to start joining the dots myself and, at the moment, you're one of the only dots I've got.
How how did they die? I can't tell you that right now.
Well, his name was, em, Bairstow.
George George Bairstow.
And we didn't use an agency.
We wanted to keep the costs down There.
The tenancy agreement's in there, too.
Everything's above board.
I'm sure it was.
So, what can you tell me about this George Bairstow? Not much.
Never actually met him.
How old was Michael when he died? Four months.
He was pronounced dead at the house? And was your wife arrested immediately or after the postmortem? Couple of hours later.
D'you have a copy of the prosecution's postmortem reports? Huh.
What? The pathologist is well respected.
You know him? Mm-hmm, very well.
He's a friend.
It's a small community.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know, I know.
You're all mates and you all back each other up.
Mr Benson.
I assure you that my friendship with Professor Fell is irrelevant.
All that matters is the quality of his work.
And if it is found to be lacking, then the quality of mine 'Whoever this Bairstow is' and I very much doubt that's his real name, Kolahi never met him, never spoke to him.
So how did he get the keys to the tenant? Ah, that's the good bit.
Bairstow e-mailed saying he'd be arriving late, and asked Kolahi if he could leave the keys some place he could find them.
Even Kolahi wasn't that stupid.
He agreed to leave them at a friend's restaurant nearby.
I've sent someone to interview.
I'm just going to start getting ready.
So, you and her? Oh, please.
Not your type? According to her, we're barely the same species.
The report says that Michael was smothered.
Shona did not smother him! Look, I'm sorry.
It's just that people keep saying that she done this and I know she couldn't.
There are four broken bones - two ribs and both femurs.
We don't know how that happened.
I have to ask this, because it's not mentioned here but, um Why weren't you charged, along with your wife? Cos I wasn't there.
Me and Shona, we're separated.
So how come social services removed your other son? Darius.
Darius, thank you.
Why don't you have custody of him? I got priors.
ABH, GBH, little bit of drugs Look I'm trying to do better.
Both postmortems conclude that Michael was smothered by your wife.
I have to believe there's a possibility that both pathologists were wrong.
They were.
Well, unfortunately, your telling me that doesn't make it true.
She didn't do it.
Shona's been in jail for months now.
Darius has been in, like, three foster homes If she gets sent down, he gets adopted.
We lose him, too.
Look, I got four days to stop that from happening.
Four days? Shona's trial starts on Thursday.
Look, she didn't kill him.
I promise you that.
She did not kill our son.
That's right, just keep walking Baby-killin' bitch.
Statement on my desk in two hours.
Thanks.
Restaurant owner's given a description of the man who picked up the keys.
Eastern European? The bullets were fired from a Makarov semi-automatic pistol.
Now I've seen one or two, but it's predominantly used in Russia, Eastern Europe.
Where are you going with this? Dead women.
Young women.
A degree of professionalism.
Eastern European gun.
Trafficking? Show you a Rorschach Test, you see a bat when everyone else sees bunnies.
We'll have a better idea when she's open, but visual inspection suggests that the victim was in her early to mid-twenties.
Young woman.
Fits with the trafficking profile.
Nothing changes.
Like a dog with a bone.
Man who picked up the keys, what else do we know? Caucasian.
30s, 40s.
Average height.
Brown hair.
Bloating and marbling on the skin's surface suggests time since death in line with provisional entomology observed at scene.
Roughly six to seven days Stuart, can we photograph, please? Another dead girl.
I was as upset as you were about what happened.
Were you? Seems like you did pretty well out of it.
I wasn't promoted on the back of one case.
I was promoted because I'm a damned good copper.
And if I didn't have a pair of tits, I probably would have been promoted ten years earlier.
I didn't do anything wrong.
If you still think I did, maybe you're the problem, not me.
The brunette victim has two small burn marks.
Upper thorax.
Taser? No signs of skin penetration associated with tasering.
I'd say she was attacked with a stun gun.
Perpetrator sounds pretty organised.
Almost like this was part of some well-funded criminal enterprise.
Where are you going? Date with some maggots.
The bullet's passed through the left side of the victim's frontal bone, emerging through the occipital bone, right side, at the rear of the skull.
The entry wound is small, but there's no evidence of powder tattooing or soot deposition, suggesting a minimum firing range of between four to five feet, depending on the weapon's calibre.
It also suggests the possibility the wound to the forearm was a defence wound.
So, maybe the victim was untied at that point? There's a small tattoo on the underside of the wrist, a cross with wings attached, could be some kind of memorial tattoo.
There are contusions on the wrists, that are suggestive of the use of restraints.
Subcutaneous dissection should confirm.
So, the victim's wrists were definitely tied at some point? There are also cuts on the wrists, as if she'd fought to free herself.
No sign of rope patterning.
Looks like he may have used handcuffs.
Handcuffs, stun gun, pistol.
Whoever he is, he likes to be prepared.
Dr Ballinger? Your briefcase, sir.
And that one came from the blonde victim, as well? No, I'm just throwing them in randomly! Well, then, I think we can call that a pattern.
The absence of bruising around the gunshot wound on the blonde victim's chest, and the fact that there was far less internal bleeding than I'd expect, both suggest a complete lack of vital reaction.
What are you saying? That she was already dead when she was shot? Well, Jack found bullets buried in the floor beneath her body, suggesting that she was already lying on the ground, face-up, when she was shot.
Unlike the brunette victim, the blonde victim was shot postmortem.
And without further tests, I can't really tell you how this woman died.
The blonde victim was pregnant? Coming to the end of her first trimester.
But you feel confident neither woman was sexually assaulted? That's not what she said.
Neither body displays the usual indicators of sexual assault, but because the bodies are so degraded it's difficult to be definitive.
She was three months pregnant Could she have been down there as long as that? The tenancy started two weeks ago.
They could have been held elsewhere first.
If the stun gun was used to aid capture, then healing injuries suggests that they were taken between one and two weeks ago.
Missing persons aren't coming up with likely matches in that time frame.
Cos no-one knows they're missing.
Cos in your mind, we're looking at Eastern European women.
Why's that such a ridiculous idea? Can we just stick to what we know? Two women, abducted in the last fortnight, then found naked in the basement of a house that shows no other signs of habitation.
They weren't naked, they were covered, which to my mind suggests a level of guilt and horror in the perpetrator, that's usually associated with uncontrollable urges, which he later regrets.
And when it comes to regrets, sex is usually right up there.
But the perpetrators knew what they were doing.
How many randy psychos would have the nous to forge documentation? And they were forensically aware, organised, left no traces.
Cigarette butt? Clarissa? Gone for DNA.
And they had enough contacts to procure a pistol and a stun gun.
You can get hold of a small arsenal if you go to the right car-boot sale.
That is bollocks and you know it.
So, basically, we have no idea.
Two unidentified women, both murdered for reasons unknown and, in one case, we're not even sure what killed her.
Which victim were you struggling to find cause of death for? The blonde.
One of these was found on the blonde victim, one on the brunette.
Slight fluctuations aside, we know the rate of decomposition's a constant when dead bodies are exposed to the same external conditions.
By examining the two victims, we can see they died roughly contemporaneously.
And we'd expect the entomology to back that up.
But it doesn't? It does and it doesn't.
Blowfly larvae from our brunette victim Blowfly larvae from our blonde victim.
Both at the same stage of development, but spot the difference.
Size.
Exactly.
There's a size difference between the populations on the respective bodies So what would cause that? I've not finished.
Mortality rate in the larvae from the blonde victim is also much higher Talking as much as 40% to 50%.
You think she was poisoned? Worth testing for, isn't it? Will it help identification? Possibly.
Not good enough.
Finding identity takes precedence.
The tattoo.
It's too generic! I'm getting sweet sod all from missing persons, I need you to work the tattoo.
See if we can get anything from it.
I'll make sure we get fingerprints and dental records sent off straight away.
Thanks, Nikki.
Oh, you fancy a drink tonight? Yeah.
Great.
Huh.
You'll see.
I'm off out.
Where? Toxicology.
Mate owes me a favour.
But DI Reed said to focus on the tattoo.
I don't care what she said.
She's wrong.
You focus on the tattoo, if you like, I'll do the grown-up stuff.
How's Liza? Um, well, I wouldn't know.
We We split up last summer.
Oh, Richard! No, it's all right, and before you start feeling too sorry for me, II got married.
Again.
Eleanor.
She's lovely.
And don't get upset that you didn't get invited.
It was all very last-minute.
It was just us and her family.
Barbados, and um, and the kids.
Kids?! Well, Eleanor's siblings.
What she lacks in years, she makes up for in enthusiasm.
Leo, look, lovely as it is always to see you, I'm pretty sure you didn't call me down here to discuss the follies of the flesh? No.
Excuse me? DI Reed, Serious Crime.
D'you live here? Yeah.
Has he done something wrong? Sorry? The fella from that house.
You saw someone enter that house? I saw him come out when I was heading for work.
Why, what's happened? When was this? First day I went back to work after me holidays.
Ten days ago? What time was it? Just after five in the morning.
Can you describe the man you saw? He was tall, over six foot.
Athletic physique.
Hooded top.
Probably about mid-forties? Need a sketch artist, pronto.
Where were you going at five in the morning? He's a smoker.
Four healing fractures.
Clearly, the mother had been abusing the child since day one.
So when you found the petechial haemorrhage How often have we seen it? Difficult baby.
How do we know he was difficult? Neighbour said he cried all the time.
Mother snapped.
Smothered him.
Petechial haemorrhage.
A haemorrhage like that could have more than one cause, Richard.
Yes, it could, but given the injury narrative, d'you think it's likely? Seriously, why are you bothering with this, Leo, it can hardly be for the money? I've been reading round the postmortem and the health visitor says that she was an excellent mother.
Leo, if she hadn't appeared that way they'd have whipped the baby off her.
Please, don't tell me you fell for the mother's sob story? No, I haven't met her.
No? Well, perhaps you should.
Police said she was as cold as Christmas in Krakow.
Nevertheless, looking at the case in the round, I think there's another explanation.
Such as? Sudden Infant Death? Yes, of course, if you discount the historic fractures.
Which are indicative of abuse, yes, but not cause of death.
We don't know who looked after that child in the months up to his death.
Friends, neighbours? Multiple healing fractures sustained over a period of four months.
Do you really want to look past the mother for that? Fine, OK.
Leo, you do what you think is right, but I just I just don't want you to make a fool of yourself, that's all.
Hundreds of variants on the winged cross Jack's right.
I don't think it's specific enough to help with identity.
Jack seems to have issues with Detective Inspector Reed, doesn't he? Their relationship may have been more than professional.
Yes, I heard about the bed-hopping.
No, it wasn't just sex.
He liked her.
So his affection manifests itself in fits of juvenile antagonism? Maybe he feels let down.
They fell out over a job.
If you want the full story, you'll have to ask Jack.
Can I have a word? I put Michael to sleep in his cot same as I did every afternoon.
But this time he just slept and slept.
So I went to wake him up.
Only he wouldn't wake up.
And when did you call the paramedics? Straight away.
And in that time, did Michael make any movements? Did he cry? No.
It seemed to take so long for them to get to us and I just kept holding him and holding him.
Sorry.
I'm trying to be strong, I really am.
It's just when I think about Michael And now Darius And if I'm convicted, then he's going to be adopted and Why do you think it took the paramedics so long to get to you? We lived up on the 19th floor Lift had been broken for months.
Well, that must have been very hard with a young baby.
Mm.
Could you get out much? Not really, no.
Spent most of our time in the flat.
Hi.
Everything OK? Fine.
Leo? When you interviewed Jack, do you remember if he said why he'd left Yorkshire? Er Fresh challenges, new pastures.
The usual, why? No reason.
Where have you been? Had a drink with Richard.
And a quick chat with the defendant.
So you're definitely taking on the case? After last year, I completely understand if you feel No, it's not about my feelings.
This family have been torn apart by the death of their child.
And they're going to be torn apart even more.
There's a gap in Richard's report.
He didn't investigate any kind of alternative cause for the multiple fractures.
I mean, not even blood tests.
I think there's a possibility that the child was suffering from Vitamin D deficiency.
Well, you have to do what you feel is right.
Hi.
Change of plan.
Mind if we watch some DVDs? Sure.
Nice place.
Postman saw him going out at five in the morning.
This is the only place open 24 hours within walking distance.
We're looking for a tall guy in a hooded top buying fags, possibly, sandwiches.
Jack working on the tattoo when you left? Thanks for getting this one, cheers.
I really appreciate it.
Not sure.
Good to know the tail's still wagging the bloody dog.
You and Jack All this antagonism because you had an affair.
And I thought Northerners were meant to be the blunt ones.
He thought I did something and I didn't.
Was it something to do with the Marie Shelby case? Jack resigned around that time What did he tell you about that? Nothing.
Marie Shelby was a prostitute.
Night she was killed, she was seen getting in a car.
Car belonged to Ross Parkwell.
Nasty piece of work.
Parkwell says he didn't pick her up and he's got half a dozen people willing to testify that he was elsewhere.
So as you can imagine, forensics were always going to be key.
But Jack got it into his head that someone had infiltrated his lab and messed with the Shelby samples that he was going to process for DNA.
Why would he think that? Something to do with his labelling system.
Anyhow, the, er, samples were processed, and it turns out it wasn't Parkwell, but another equally horrid scumbag, name of Colin McKenzie.
So why does he blame you? He started running through a list of people who he thought might have had access to his lab, and he decided that I was the most likely culprit.
Even though you were having an affair? According to Jack, that was WHY we were having the affair.
I was a bit upset about this, as you can imagine.
Jack saw red, took his complaint upstairs.
Big row, and he walked.
Take it he didn't mention this when he came for the job interview? So we'd both be doing Jack a favour if we let that go.
There.
Six foot, wearing a hoodie.
That's him.
What What did you do to her? Something to help her sleep.
What, with this? Where did you get this? Roper Do you know what this is? What it could do? Shut up! Two days and this is over.
Now, go to work.
When did you get these? Mate ran them off overnight.
TTX? Tetrodotoxin? That's the toxin found in puffer fish, isn't it? Amongst other things.
Aggressive sodium channel blocker.
Acts as a powerful sedative.
Depending on dose, we're talking respiratory problems, paralysis.
And if you get a massive dose, you end up like our blonde from the basement.
Did you notice any swelling in her mouth, trachea? No.
Then she was probably injected.
But where would you even get hold of a substance like that? Evil sushi chefs, research laboratories.
I'll leave you to tell your new best friend.
She thinks that she's identified the man from CCTV tapes.
Good.
And she told me about Marie Shelby.
About your resignation.
Why didn't you mention it to Leo in interview? Didn't seem relevant.
So it wasn't because your accusation was groundless? Someone switched samples, of that I'm sure.
But why? What would motivate her to do something like that? Don't know for sure it was her.
Well, you must have reason to suspect.
I thought I did at the time but it was all cross-contaminated, the case, me and her, it was confusing.
Why would someone switch samples in the first place? When he was arrested, there were rumours about Ross Parkwell, rumours that he was an informant for SOCA.
And when my samples were switched, I took a look at who was headed to prison and who wasn't and it all got a bit "grassy knoll".
Anyway, I don't want you getting involved in all that.
It was a bad time.
I was angry, probably wasn't thinking straight, and I shot my mouth off.
If you think there was corruption, an innocent man went to prison Colin McKenzie's no innocent Of that particular crime.
I didn't mention it at interview because I'm kind of embarrassed of the way I went about things, OK? Going to try isotope analysis on both victims.
We'll need teeth and hair.
The postman confirmed it.
Our man from the 24-hour.
He's the man who left the house.
Yes, that's right, suspected tetrodotoxoid poisoning.
I'm trying to find out which facilities have a licence to store it in this country.
Move.
Please.
Thanks.
You went ahead with toxicology? I did.
And you think I'm going to pay for that? I called in a favour.
By the way, the blonde victim isn't British.
Analysis on the teeth I never authorised isotope Will you please shut up about authorisations? If you're planning to carry on treating me like this, can you let me know, because I'm not sure I can deal with it.
You think I wanted to end things with you? I was happy.
I was really happy, until you mucked everything up.
But you said what you said and that's fine.
And if you still believe it, that's fine, too, but you weren't the only one who came out of that situation with scars.
Great, thanks.
Only 12 research labs are authorised to store category B substances in this country.
One of them, Solomon McGuire, is the only one in a 50-mile radius of the crime scene.
Let's get over there.
Did I hear you say that the blonde victim wasn't British? Yeah, her isotopes suggest she was born in Serbia.
And not just that, Clarissa analysed her hair.
During the last three years, she's been moving frequently between the UK and the Balkans.
People trafficking.
All that coming and going, it doesn't sound like a trafficked girl to me.
Nikki, text me the lab address.
I'll pick you up in half an hour.
I'm going with you? They might open up for one of their own.
Where are you going now? Finding our man in the photo.
Actually, I was thinking The landlord, you're sure he didn't meet him? That's what he said.
Was the fact that the house had a basement mentioned in the e-mail exchange between them? No.
Why? The basement isn't visible from the exterior.
It wasn't in the advert.
Whoever rented the house knew they needed a basement to keep the girls in.
He must have been around the house.
Thank you.
I showed three people around before Bairstow took it, yeah.
How long before? Well, the house had only been advertised for five days.
I think the last viewing was the day before Bairstow took it.
A man? Yeah.
Could it have been this man? It could have been, yeah.
And you showed him round the house yourself? Yeah.
Did you take him into the basement? Yeah, yeah, I did.
But he didn't want the house.
And he told you that there and then? No, he rang me later.
He rang you? Mr Kolahi, do you have the phone he rang you on? Yeah Never gets easier, does it? So you saw the, er, petechial haemorrhage on the thymus gland? I did, yes.
And the multiple fractures? Yes.
Richard, look, I'm not at a stage yet where I feel comfortable pronouncing cause of death.
Right, so what, you're still not convinced there's a narrative of abuse? Not yet, no.
I want to carry out blood tests on Michael and his brother.
Right.
And what do you expect to find? I'm not expecting to find anything.
I want to rule out Vitamin D deficiency as being contributory Rickets? It's a black victim.
Little if any exposure to sunlight.
You seen a rachitic rosary on the costal cartilages? Oh, come on, you know as well as I do that not all rickets sufferers Leo.
Leo.
Why are you doing this? What, because you believe in the innocence of the mother? Because you believe in the father's story? What I believe is irrelevant.
You once told me that our real work doesn't start till we lay down the scalpel.
But I haven't finished my work yet.
And when I do, if I conclude that his injuries were a result of abuse, then I will say so.
Fine.
Fine.
All in your own good time.
Be careful where you lay your trust, Leo.
Abusers lie.
They lie all the time and they are very good at it.
Tell the Chief Super it's urgent.
I need number-trace authority today.
Piers Christie, Executive Director.
DI Reed.
Dr Alexander.
Please.
Solomon McGuire are primarily concerned with defence research.
Vaccines, antitoxins and such like.
Which is why you keep tetrodotoxin on site? Do we? Sorry, we're not actually supposed to divulge.
Can I ask exactly what this is about? I'm investigating the death of a young pregnant woman, killed with an overdose of this TTX substance.
Lucas.
Thanks for coming.
Um, Dr Lucas Ballinger, DI Reed and Dr Alexander.
As well as being a superb biochemist, Lucas also has responsibility for maintaining an inventory of all substances kept on site.
In the unlikely event of a theft, Lucas will know.
Is TTX the most dangerous substance stored here? Dr Ballinger? I'm sorry? I'm afraid that You're not at liberty to say.
Yes, I know.
But access must be controlled, isn't it? Morning, Mr Roper.
It's subject to lower security protocols than other substances.
But security is high and reserves are closely monitored.
Just to the right here.
There we go.
Well done.
You've been a very brave boy.
I'll make sure that Daddy knows how good you've been.
Just put your finger on there, would you? Daddy wasn't there.
Daddy wasn't where? In the flat.
When? When Michael got sick, Daddy wasn't there.
Is that what Daddy told you to say? Try cross-referencing against the supply database.
Er, I have 1-9 as the TTX.
Yeah.
It's the same discrepancy.
How long does it take to get a bloody trace on a phone number? Ah, sod this.
What are you doing? I'll call him.
Are you sure? This is Ballinger's, right? It's my number.
The man who looked round the house gave Kolahi Ballinger's number.
But he's not the man from the CCTV.
Course he's not, look at him.
He'd need someone to do the heavy lifting.
According to the inventory, there are three vials of TTX unaccounted for.
I'll talk to the antitoxin development team.
In all likelihood, this is just human error.
I'm sure it is.
Lucas, maybe you could get straight onto that? Um, has someone died? I'm sorry? Um, has someone died? Well, I'm afraid it's a bit like your business - sometimes there are things we can't tell you.
Why are you leaving? You saw the state he was in.
And they're missing three vials of TTX.
Yes.
And the phone ties Ballinger in.
Do we pounce? No.
Because we know there are at least two men involved in this.
Let's see if he'll lead us to the other.
Mama, mama.
Let her go.
You know the man who was initially accused of killing Marie Shelby? Did you know that he faced a rape charge three years earlier, in Glasgow? Trial fell through.
Forensics lost the swabs from the rape victim.
I mean, don't you think it's strange that one man could be lifted from suspicion twice by forensic cock-ups? I don't know about Glasgow, but we didn't cock up in Bradford.
We put a man away for the murder of Marie Shelby.
He's still there, I'm happy to say.
But Jack could've been right? You, Jack, you're all the same - playing on the edges of law enforcement, like kids in a bloody sandpit.
What do you know, hmm? What exactly do you know? There he is.
Speak.
Kill me.
Kill me.
What are you doing? Clearing up.
You said no killing.
She was right.
This is what you planned all along, isn't it? Call emergency services.
Shouldn't we wait for back up? There's no time.
Just do it.
Chrissie, wait! It's Ballinger.
He's dead.
Let's get the bodies out before the whole place goes up.
Stop! Police! Help me! Help me! I'm in here! Is anyone out there? Please, I'm in here! Somebody help me! Can somebody help me?! Help! Help! Help! Thank you.
Two confirmed dead at scene.
Both been taken to the Lyell.
Two bodies Reed would've left me to die.
What? Why do I get the feeling you're angry with me? I'm withdrawing my postmortem report and foregoing further investigation.
No, listen, you can't.
Don't open that.
We need to get this area sealed off.
We're dealing with anthrax.
We developed a particularly aggressive strain.
Clinical centre number 12782.
I need to report a potential biological threat.
You can't just swan in and dump me off my own case.
I can.
I have.
We're locked down.
No-one in, no-one out.