Silent Witness (1996) s25e03 Episode Script

It's Professor Sam Ryan.
I need your help.
I pulled DNA and a partial fingerprint.
Both are a match to you.
- My DNA? - I've told no-one.
- He's a good man.
- People change.
- Sam said as much.
- She's hardly impartial in this.
Sam is bringing you in to control the Reynolds inquiry.
Why? He thinks Jomo got him fired from the UN.
So he's just prepared to sabotage Unitas because of a grudge? Yes.
Local CID just went to check on Daniel Clemence.
Found him in his London flat, bludgeoned to death.
I found your blood under his fingernails.
MY blood? It's a micro SD card.
Tom, don't run.
This exonerates you.
DNA doesn't lie, does it? He's right.
Go.
Chalal got a hit through Vigil for our woman.
Armed police! We found these in the killer's hotel room.
I think they're blood samples that were being manipulated to plant as evidence.
If DNA can be fabricated it's the end of forensic science as we know it.
I've just been to the Lyell.
We need to meet.
Just that last bit there and then my colleague - will process it for you, OK? - Come in, come on.
Come in.
Stay where you are! Clear the area.
Can you get some help, please? Place the weapon slowly on to the floor and identify yourself.
My name is Florence Clarke and I just killed my husband.
Just follow it round.
Right middle finger.
Right ring finger.
So, come on, tell me.
Are you two official now? Detective Inspector Johnny Campbell.
- It's a pleasure to meet you.
- Nikki Alexander.
Alexander? That's a good Highland name.
I appreciate you coming out here.
I have the deceased's wife, Florence Clarke, in custody.
I did a cursory interview with her, but she was too shaken up to speak, except that she did say that she'd had an argument with her husband and killed him with a knife.
Any information on the knife? Jack Hodgson.
Forensics.
Simone Tyler.
Forensic ecologist.
Yeah.
She was carrying the knife.
It's on its way to you.
Oh, another thing She has two daughters, 14 and 16, who we are yet to locate.
What, they're missing? Florence says they're with their uncle, but his phone's switched off.
We're getting his address as we speak.
Er shall we go and have a look? Yeah.
Sorry.
What did you say your name was again? Johnny? Campbell.
Like the soup.
Soup Come in and stand by the bed.
There's an incised wound on the left side of the neck.
Blood stains consistent with arterial spurts on the windows.
Do you want to get some air? Simone, do you want to help me move him to see if there are any further injuries? - Tyler.
Wakey-wakey! - Hmm? Oh.
Sorry.
Um Would you mind, Jack? No problem.
Is she OK? Yeah, she's fine.
Still getting used to all this.
Oh, Nikki what would you say, hypothetically, if I asked you to examine Florence? I'd say I haven't done the postmortem yet and there could be a risk of cross-contamination.
But the forensic medical examiner took all the necessary samples.
Is something not adding up? It's just something.
Oh, my God.
Let me through.
I know these people! - Emma, wait! - Let me through! It's all right.
It's OK.
What's going on? What's happened? Do you know the people who live here? They're our friends.
Our best friends.
Are they OK? Where's Florence? - And Mia and Ellie? - I can't discuss the details, not until we've talked to their daughters.
But Florence is fine.
She's in custody.
In custody? Why? And Richard? Where's Richard? Oh, my God, is that? Come on, Emma.
Let the police do their job.
Tell the girls we're here for them.
Tell them we love them.
Any news on Mia and Ellie? - Not as yet.
- Well, I was going to say, if you need any help finding them, I Oh, no, thanks.
I started off in Mispers.
I've found more missing kids than you've had hot dinners.
How long have you been in the police? Now you're asking.
40 years.
More.
Seen a lot of changes, then? Too many.
Policing's all evidence-based these days.
I mean, Vigil, prime example.
All data analysis and research.
There's no place any more for judgment and experience Which means there's no place for an old dog like me.
What, you're leaving? Retiring.
This is my last case.
The wife's dreading it.
Me too, if I'm honest.
Giving up's not in my nature.
Me neither.
But retiring doesn't have to mean giving up.
You tell that to the families out there, still searching for their missing kids.
DI Campbell? Got a minute? Coming.
Hi, how can I help? I'm here to examine Florence Clarke.
She's in custody.
Thoughts? A few, yeah.
Working hypothesis I'd say it's likely a struggle broke out in the kitchen.
Something, or someone, blocked Florence's path to the garden, so she turned round, went this way into the study.
Just mind your feet here.
See the shoe print at the door? And that is definitely from today? We'll check it, but first impressions, it looks consistent with the shoes our man Richard was wearing.
And the broken glass tells me that Florence probably locked herself in here.
Maybe she wanted to let him cool off.
But outside he starts kicking at the door.
She runs toward the window, trying to escape.
Loads of prints on the frame.
Doesn't make it, though, because in he comes, grabs her, drags her back through the hallway toward the kitchen, pulling her jacket off in the struggle.
There's a little fibre caught in the door here which corresponds to a tear in the jacket sleeve.
Onwards.
Fearing for her life, she must have grabbed a knife from the block.
Judging by the void in the arterial spurt, she inflicted the neck wound here.
Again, shoe prints look like they're from Richard's shoes.
I'd say he stepped back in his own blood before falling right here.
Impressive work, Jack.
Yeah.
Oh, right.
Right, I'm on my way.
A lead on the girls.
Mrs Clarke, I'm Dr Nikki Alexander, I'm a forensic pathologist.
Detective Inspector Campbell has asked me to examine your injuries and take some photos.
Would that be OK? I've already done it.
Not for me.
If you're not comfortable, then you can just say the word and I'll stop.
How does that sound? Do I have to take my gown off? Er, no.
I'm happy to photograph around it.
OK.
- It's not what you think.
- What do I think? That my husband was violent.
He wasn't.
Not physically, anyway.
Just pull your gown up.
- This is for you.
- Oh.
Thanks.
Thank you.
OK.
I'm just going to take a look at your back.
Looks like you've been bitten.
Came up yesterday.
I've been trying not to scratch them.
They could be bedbug bites.
You don't look like a pathologist.
No? What does a pathologist look like? When I was at school, I told my careers officer, Mr Browning, that I wanted to be a scientist, and he said that girls weren't wired that way and gave me a leaflet on teaching instead, so that's what I did.
You'd have probably thrown that leaflet out of the window.
I might have thrown Mr Browning out too.
Can I ask you a question, Dr Alexander? Do you know how my girls are? All I've been told is that they're with their uncle.
Do you have kids? No wedding ring, I see.
When you first take that vow, it's like you're invincible, but it doesn't stay like that.
Why are you doing all this, Nikki? I've confessed.
Sometimes people say things and then they change their minds.
Not me.
I'll never change my mind.
Oh, we got a little something, haven't we? EL, we got something.
Come on! Keep going, keep going! It's a little fighter! Here we go, here we go.
Here we go! Whoa! Yes! Back of the net! Look at my little niece! Look what she did! A ten-pounder! Ah, little beer-acuda! Lovely and chilled, innit? Darryl Clarke? Yeah.
That's me.
Detective Inspector Johnny Campbell.
We've been trying to contact you.
Your phone's switched off.
Yeah, we were having a little digital detox, weren't we, girls? What's up? Can you tell me your relationship to Florence and Richard Clarke? Yeah.
Um Richard's my brother and Florence is my sister-in-law.
- Why? What's happened? - Look is there somewhere we can talk? Cause of death likely to be rapid exsanguination from the massive haemorrhage caused by the knife wound to the carotid artery.
This isn't a simple incised wound.
Looks like it started as a deeper stab wound posteriorly, the point going in first.
And then, for whatever reason, it's changed direction then been partially pulled out.
The cutting edge of the blade then caused a longer incised wound on the side of the neck.
The carotid was either penetrated by the initial stab, or the second movement transected the artery.
So I think that the assailant stabbed him and then partially withdrew the blade, or the deceased changed position, his own movement extending the wound.
I found a similar blue thread in the nail samples taken from Florence.
Transferred in the struggle? Possibly.
Although none of the clothes that she was wearing were blue.
I also found a blue thread caught on the back of the fence.
Anything in the house that could be a match? I'll check again.
Thanks.
Scratch marks on his neck and hands.
Could be consistent with the injuries that I noted on Florence.
And possibly matching what look like shreds of skin under her nails.
They tore pieces out of each other, literally.
Hmm.
Curious.
Mucopurulent secretions in the airways and the lung parenchyma.
Fibrosis, and signs of old infections.
He had nasal polyps, and what seemed on external examination like an incidental finding, a small rectal prolapse, but on internal examination there was marked faecal loading in the large bowel.
What's that? - Constipation.
- Ah.
- And his lungs - What are you thinking? I'm thinking Richard was suffering from cystic fibrosis.
Hmm.
Aren't men with cystic fibrosis usually infertile? More than 95% of them are, yes.
I'd say there's a strong possibility that Mia and Ellie aren't Richard's biological children.
Sorry to interrupt.
Darryl Clarke's in reception, here to identify - Richard's body.
- What? He's early.
Yes.
And he's brought the girls with him.
I'll get him.
If you're just about done here, I'm going to shoot.
I just had a message from the station.
Florence is ready to be interviewed.
I'll just be outside with the girls.
Johnny, you didn't happen to work on the missing persons case Aliya Mason-Walker in '96, did you? - Aliya Mason-Walker? - Yeah.
Remind me of the case.
16-year-old girl.
Went missing after a family party.
Did we find her? Er, no.
What's your interest? Oh, I was just curious.
I was looking into a cold case and I came across her name.
She'll come back to me.
I like your necklace.
It's really cool.
My dad gave it to me for doing well in my GCSEs.
It's supposed to bring good luck.
Um, Ellie wants to know if we can see our dad after Uncle Darryl has.
Ah.
Um, I'm not really sure that's the best idea, Ellie.
- Why not? - Well, because um he won't look the way you remember him.
Do you know what happened to him? Is that a lie? Why would it be a lie? Because no-one will tell us anything.
Everyone's lying to us.
But he's our dad.
Ours.
I'm sorry.
Gran? Hey! Whoa, those earrings are bright! Birthday present.
- You look tired.
- Mmm.
Thanks.
You spend too much time working.
Yeah, well, you spend too much time worrying.
- Gran, can I ask you a question? - Hmm? Does the name Johnny Campbell mean anything to you? What's the name? Johnny.
Campbell.
Like the soup.
You know me, Simmy.
I can't even remember my own name half the time! Is he a friend of yours? I think he might be one of the detectives who investigated for Aliya.
I need to check on dinner.
Are you hungry? - Gran? - What? Did you hear what I just said? I'm a lot of things, Simone, but I'm not deaf.
- Well, then - I heard you, - and I don't remember him.
- No, he did come to the house.
Don't you remember? The night she went missing.
He's softly spoken.
He's really tall.
- Simone - Look, you've always told me to listen to the universe.
Well, now I'm listening.
- Simone - I think he came back - for a reason.
- Simone.
Dragging up the past will not bring Aliya back.
I know.
I know that.
Why did you never talk to me about what happened? You were seven years old.
Still she's my sister.
So, why don't you talk me through what happened today? OK.
I'll start us off.
Today you walked into this police station and you confessed to killing your husband.
Can you confirm that to be true? Yes.
And can you tell me what you killed him with? A knife.
A knife from our kitchen.
Is that the knife? Yes.
You can see, Florence, there's no blood visible on the blade.
Why is that? Because I cleaned it.
Cleaned it? Why would you do that? Well, I wasn't thinking straight.
I don't know.
I just And all this was before you decided to hand yourself in? Yes.
OK.
Now, in your house, we found evidence of a struggle between you and your husband.
Tell me about that struggle.
I'd booked an expensive holiday without asking him.
He didn't like that.
That's a hell of a fight about a holiday.
No! You had a number of injuries, didn't you, Florence? Was your husband often violent towards you? No.
Richard was difficult, but never violent.
He's the victim, not me.
We found some blue fibres both under your nails and in Richard's wounds.
Have you any idea where they came from? No, look, what is all this? Why don't you just stop wasting time and charge me? The CPS will make a decision about charging you.
But this is very important, Florence.
This is your opportunity to give me a full and truthful account about what happened.
I told you everything.
What about Mia and Ellie? What about them? Are they OK? Your girls are safe.
But we know that Richard was not their biological father.
Your husband was infertile, wasn't he, Florence? So who is the girls' father? No comment.
Hey.
Was it all right for me to tell Jack about you meeting Tom? Yes.
I'm glad you did.
I'm trying to work out how Tom's DNA could have been faked.
What if it wasn't faked and he just did it? The Tom I knew wouldn't do this.
Yeah, but the Tom you knew might have changed.
Where is he now? I don't know.
He's gone to ground.
Doesn't seem like the act of an innocent man.
Uh-uh-uh! Mashaba-style, please.
Voila! Um I'll be two seconds.
I've just got to sort an email.
Sam what is this? Where did you get it? Please tell me you're not involved in this.
We can't do this here.
I'm trying to help you.
I'm on your side.
Trust me.
Sonia Karpov is dead.
In prison.
Did you know that? Suicide, apparently.
I heard.
These people won't think twice about making it look like we've done the same.
- Sam? - Two seconds! Come to my apartment, Saturday night at nine o'clock.
Now get the fuck out of my house.
- Everything OK? - Yeah.
I'm hungry.
Yeah, me too! I think it's going to be a while.
- Are you still looking at that? - Oh I could test it for you if you want.
No.
It's good.
Come on.
Well, hello, you.
And who might you be? You looking at that again? Testing the next one of the vials.
Making sure that Tom's blood hasn't been bulked out with animal's blood.
It's so frustrating.
I've tried everything and I can't find a single thing wrong.
You don't know what you're looking for.
This can't all be on you.
But no-one else is looking into this, jack.
Faking DNA? They wouldn't even contemplate it.
There must be something I'm missing.
"Discovery isn't seeking new lands, but seeing with new eyes.
" It's Proust.
Means you need a good night out.
Do you fancy stepping out with me tomorrow? Oh, sorry, I've got plans tomorrow night.
Oh, OK.
Of course I don't.
Yes, please! Any breakthroughs? Or are you still keeping secrets? Nothing yet.
The DNA in this sample looks totally legitimate.
How about you? Found a piece of a gall in Florence's car die.
- Do you know what it is? - Mm-mm.
I'm working on it.
Well, at least there's no doubting the DNA in plants.
Richard was killed on Wednesday by a knife wound to the neck, which Florence says that he sustained while in a struggle with her.
Now, the wound is consistent with the blade that she was carrying.
- Right, Jack? - That's right.
Blood traces on the blade are a match for Richard.
Prints on the blade and handle are a match for Florence.
Sound DNA marrying up with a full confession.
The DCI will be signing my retirement card as we speak.
What? The DNA is sound.
But what if we look at the case without DNA? Could we still say 100% that Florence did it? The pathologist who doesn't trust DNA? What are you thinking, Nikki? That it won't convince? No.
I'm afraid it might convince too much.
Jury members aren't scientists.
They won't question the possibilities and probabilities like we do.
They might not realise that DNA is just one piece of the puzzle.
And that could be catastrophic for Florence.
Indeed.
Let's take a look at these shoe prints, shall we? Florence's print.
Richard's print.
Uh-oh.
What's this? It's a third print.
Based on the size, probably a man's.
See the difference in the tread? According to measurements, this is an entirely different shoe, indicative of a size nine or ten.
You're saying someone else was there? Mm-hm.
Knife wound.
Think it's safe to say that the knife wound was inflicted here, causing the arterial spurt you can see on the windows.
This void.
No spatter here so someone was blocking it.
We presumed that someone to be Florence.
She was covered in blood when she walked into the station.
Take a look at her clothes one more time.
Look at that.
Tell me.
This blood has been smeared on.
If I was a betting man, I'd say she smeared it on herself.
The question is, why would she do that? What if someone walked in, just as Richard was attacking Florence? What if they grabbed the knife and inflicted the wound from behind? Is that possible, Nikki? It's certainly a possibility, and it would be consistent with the injury.
So she's covering for someone.
But who? Well, presumably, whoever it is would have this blood spatter all over their clothes.
So if we can find the clothes, we find the killer.
I checked with the doctors.
Richard only found out he had cystic fibrosis on Wednesday.
A rare mutation with mild symptoms.
Maybe that is what they were arguing about.
Hmm.
Do you think the girls know Richard wasn't their father? Either way, they must be going through hell.
Probably best not to add to their woes right now.
I agree.
Now is not the right time.
But when is the right time? Look, I know it's going to hurt them, but surely it's better to know the truth.
Excuse me.
You can't sleep? No.
Want to scooch in? Yeah.
What's that smell? Good morning.
Greater London Police.
Hi, it's Simone Tyler from the Lyell.
I was wondering if you could help me.
The name Aliya Mason-Walker came up in a case that we're investigating.
I believe she was 16 when she went missing.
Who's the officer on the case? Johnny Er, Detective Inspector Campbell.
- One moment.
- Thanks.
Aliya Mason-Walker, you said? Yeah.
It says here the case was closed after three weeks in 1996.
I can send the file over.
I just need to get a sign-off.
Um, no, no, sorry, um it's OK.
I think I've got something wrong.
Thanks.
Ellie! How are you, bumblebee? Talk to me.
I'm OK.
OK.
OK is good.
OK is really good.
And not OK is absolutely fine, too.
You know that, right? Hugh! - Look who's here! - Hey, kiddo.
Good to see you.
So, I hope you remember what we do here.
We slam-dunk the junk.
Yes.
That's right.
Careful with that.
You don't want to end up like me.
- Here you go.
- Oh.
EL.
.
have you spoken to the police? Do they know what happened yet? They haven't told us anything.
It's like we don't exist.
That's the police for you.
And Mum? Has she said anything? About what? Oi, slackers! This litter doesn't pick itself up, you know.
Go on.
Off you go.
- Cup of tea? - Er, I'm good, thanks.
What are you up to? Doing the DNA on the gall.
Well, trying to.
Got the idea from you, testing Tom's blood.
I just wish I went to all those early morning botany lectures at uni now.
Bet the nights before were worth it, though.
Simone.
Could I have a word, please? In private.
Sure.
I've just come off the phone to a colleague, and she says she spoke to you this morning.
She said you asked for permission to access the file of Aliya Mason-Walker on the Police National Computer.
Is that right? Aliya was my sister.
You did investigate her disappearance, so I just wanted to know what happened to her.
If you have a question about your sister, then you speak to your family.
I tried to.
I wanted to.
But You said giving up wasn't in your nature.
That's not true.
You gave up on my sister.
Gave up on her? Simone, sometimes in investigations you run out of active leads, or the people just don't want to be found.
But I promise you this.
I have never given up on a missing person in 40 years of policing.
Not one! They're all still in here.
Sorry.
Hey, why are you not even dressed to go to my party? The taxi's on its way.
I'm not coming.
Oh, yes, you are, young lady! It's my birthday, and that means no arguing with me.
You've got exactly two minutes to get dressed.
Go on.
I know that the police closed Aliya's case.
So you need to tell me why.
- Simone - It was three weeks after she disappeared.
Why? Taxi's here.
No, Gran.
Please.
Just tell me the truth.
OK? It's sending me crazy, not knowing.
I know that missing person cases are never closed, so why did they close Aliya's? Please just tell me.
Just tell me.
Why won't you tell me? OK, stop.
Stop, stop.
I'll tell you.
Your sister she contacted me a couple of weeks after she disappeared.
What? She said that she was safe.
But that she wouldn't be coming home.
She wouldn't ever be coming home.
Aliya's alive? - Yes.
- What, she called you - and then you didn't tell me? - Let's talk about this tomorrow.
No, Gran.
You're not going anywhere.
OK? You're going to tell me what's going on, because this is not fair.
Now, why why would you not tell me that? All this time! We could have We could have gone out there looking for her.
We would have found her and we would have brought her home! She didn't want you looking for her.
She didn't want ANYONE looking for her.
You let me believe she'd died.
- That's not true.
- You lied to me! - I never lied! - You did lie! You let me believe something that wasn't true! It's the same thing, isn't it? I just I just I just don't understand.
I just don't understand.
Why? Why would she not want to come home? Is it because she thought that you didn't want her? What? No! - Why would you say that?! - Oh, I don't know! Maybe because when Mum died, you got two more kids that you didn't want, that you didn't need! Oh, you stop right there! I did everything to protect you! Both of you! You think it's been easy, all these years, me keeping this to myself and not telling you the truth?! Let me tell you something.
It's been hell! I did it because I love you! And because you've suffered.
And I couldn't bear to see you suffer any more.
I'm sorry, Simone.
I'm going to have to go.
Just go, just go.
Just go.
Thought you were supposed to be at Gloria's party tonight.
I thought you were meant to be on a hot date.
Nice dress.
- You think? - Yeah.
So, where's he taking you, then? - It's a surprise.
- Mmm.
You OK? - What? - Don't.
I've messed up.
And now everyone's mad at me, so You should go, or Jack will be mad at me too.
I didn't know you had a sister.
No? Well thought she went missing when she was 16, but we don't talk about her.
Did Johnny explain what happened? He did.
Yeah.
I just thought he'd got it wrong.
You know, like I thought maybe she'd got in an accident, or she was taken, or I don't know.
But it turns out I got it wrong.
She just left.
Do you know why? No.
It's like all my memories of her, they get all mixed up, and I don't know which bits I've made up and which bits are real.
Everything I thought I knew about my past is wrong.
I think you need to give yourself a break.
Sometimes we rewrite our past to protect ourselves Until we're strong enough to deal with it.
Yeah, but what if I'm not strong enough? Give yourself time.
- Speaking of which - Please go.
Think of it this way.
This morning you thought your sister was dead.
Now she might be alive out there somewhere.
That's exciting.
Yeah.
Now, would you please go? Welcome to Dine In The Dark.
This is your table.
- Your friend is already here.
- Oh, great, thanks.
- Jack? - Nikki? You made it.
- Where are you? - I'm here.
I'm here.
Oh! Whoa, careful.
Sit down.
Oh, there we go.
- Wow! - Here we are.
- You look so handsome.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Er, you scrub up pretty well yourself.
This is an interesting choice.
What happened to Proust and seeing with new eyes? I actually can't see anything.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know, we see so much of each other at work, I thought you're probably sick of the sight of me.
I don't think that could ever happen.
That's sweet of you to say, but give it time! Um, Nikki, I'm not going to lie, I'm having a mild panic attack.
NIKKI LAUGHS Um, I'm being serious.
I'm I'm sweating.
Er - You're serious? - Yep.
Can we get out of here? Give us your hand, give us your hand.
Is that you? - No.
That's - What's that? - No, that's not my hand.
- That feels like a human hand.
- Er, that's MY hand.
- Oh! - LAUGHS Is that you? - Sorry! Is that you? - Let's go to the pub.
- Pub, yes.
Why didn't I think of that? Let's go.
Will do.
OK.
Bye.
Nice.
If you're here to see the girls, they're still asleep.
Actually, Darryl, it's you I want to talk to.
I'd like to know what you were doing on Wednesday before you picked the girls up.
- I was working.
- Oh.
Except that we called your florist's, and they said you never showed up.
OK, if we're done with all the questions, I've got some things to do.
I'd like to know more about your brother.
Or were you more interested in Florence? Oh, I can't blame you.
She's a very attractive woman.
You called her on Wednesday morning, didn't you? What did you talk about? That's none of your business.
Time to go.
Did you talk about the fact that Richard had just found out the truth about his daughters? About who their real father is? Well, go on! I'm going to show you a CCTV image taken on Wednesday morning on a road just round the corner from Belle Walk.
Can you confirm to me that that is your car? No comment.
I know it's your car! But where is it going?! No comment.
The boots that were found on Darryl's boat don't match the prints from the kitchen.
So why did he run? Did the police search uncover anything? They found his partially burnt work uniform, which is a match for the denim fibre I found on the back fence.
But there's still no match for the fibres found in Florence's samples, and on Richard.
Darryl may well have gone to Belle Walk on Wednesday, but I'm not convinced he's our killer.
Could Florence have got rid of whatever those fibres came from en route to the police station? It would have been quiet on the roads at that time.
Fair point.
Now, then, results are in for the bedbugs that you pulled from Florence's mattress.
Uh No, I was right.
It's not Darryl, but we do have a match.
Two boys? That's a lot of work.
Hello, Hugh.
This is forensic scientist Jack Hodgson.
Now, as you are aware, we are investigating the murder of Richard Clarke.
And we have reason to believe that you and Mrs Clarke had close sexual contact, round about the time of Mr Clarke's death.
- Would that? - Can we do this somewhere else? Of course.
Would you also be willing to provide a DNA sample so that we can establish if you are the biological father of those two girls over there? Your DNA's on the database for a driving offence.
Be quicker if you agree, but we can get it either way.
I'll do the test.
But there's no need.
I'm their dad.
Florence and I hadn't been on our own together for years.
We bumped into each other.
We got chatting and she invited me back to the house.
And you had sex? Yes.
I hadn't intended to, and I'm not proud of it.
But if that's leading you to some insane belief that I killed Richard, then you are way off the mark.
I didn't.
You've just admitted that you are the biological father of those girls.
I am.
But you have to understand, it was never supposed to be like this.
Like what? I loved Florence.
We loved each other.
When the girls were small, we'd made a plan To tell Emma and Richard the truth, to be a family.
So, what happened? On the day I'd planned on telling Emma the truth about Florence I lost control of my car and went over an embankment.
Emma was with me.
When they cut her out, she was unconscious.
She stayed like that for over a month.
I thought I'd killed her.
I felt so guilty.
I called it off with Florence the next day.
Until this week.
I told you.
I met her by chance.
We had sex.
I left.
The end.
I think you're lying.
I had a council meeting on Wednesday morning.
You can check.
It's the truth.
I'm going to need you to come to the station and make a statement.
Oh And we'll need the clothes you were wearing on Wednesday.
This would've been Florence's route to the police station from her house.
So it must be somewhere around here.
Aha.
Hey.
Ooh.
Hello, Mr Dog Rose.
And what's this? Hello, you.
The blood is a match with Richard's.
The blue fibres found beneath Florence's nails and embedded in Richard's wound are consistent with the school blazer.
And the spatter is consistent with the void in the blood.
Tell me what happened.
The truth this time.
When Richard found out about the girls, it was like a switch went off in him.
He He was like a wild animal.
Help! Help me! He pinned me down, he put his hands around my neck, and he was squeezing and he wouldn't stop squeezing.
He would have killed me if it hadn't been for Ellie.
Ellie came in and she stabbed Richard? No.
Ellie was just trying to make him stop.
I killed him.
Florence, you've just told me you were pinned to the floor.
There's no way you could have reached that knife.
True.
Ellie grabbed the knife and then she passed it to me and I killed him.
DI Campbell entering the room.
There's nothing to be afraid of, Ellie.
I just want to ask you a few questions.
Why don't you start by telling me what happened on Wednesday? You had a half-day at school and then you were supposed to meet your friends, but you went home instead.
Why? I'd forgotten to feed Myrtle.
- Myrtle? - My rabbit.
So I went home and I grabbed Dad's wellies that were by the back door.
Then I went out to pick some leaves.
And then what happened? Get off her! Dad was struggling with Mum.
I just wanted him to stop.
Your mum told me that you helped her, that you grabbed the knife, you passed it to her, and then she killed your dad with it.
- Is that right? - No.
Then what happened? I was trying to stop him.
And I grabbed the nearest thing I could find.
I didn't mean to hurt him.
I didn't.
You stabbed him? Yeah.
Mum didn't know what to do.
So she pulled the knife out.
You have to understand, she was trying to help him.
But she just made it worse.
And what about your Uncle Darryl? Where was he in all this? Um I I don't really um It's kind of a blur.
He helped me over the fence and we drove back to his boat.
OK.
DI Campbell entering the room.
Ellie has told us everything.
Florence you'd have gone to prison for a very long time for something you didn't do.
Why? Do you have children, Mr Campbell? I have a son.
So then you understand.
That's your job, isn't it? You protect your child.
You shelter them from the things that will hurt them.
There isn't a parent on this planet who wouldn't make the same decision.
Am I right? Has anyone told Ellie the truth about her father? No.
Can I be the one to tell her? Of course.
Hugh is still in the station.
Now, it's absolutely Ellie's call, but if she wants to see him he's here.
So, what's going to happen to her? There's a strong case that she acted to defend her mum.
Yeah.
The CPS will decide whether she gets charged or not.
But I think she'll be OK.
I also think a large whisky is in order.
That would be lovely.
You care to join me? There's something I have to do.
Oh, if you get any more leads on that sister of yours and you think I can help, you just call me.
OK? OK.
You really don't ever stop looking, do you? Want some help? - Armed police! - Armed police! - Drop the gun! - Hands on your head! Now!