(choir sings in foreign language) (bell dings)
Come along, sisters! Come along!
Ah
Ah ah ah ah
Sister Angelica?
Sister Angelica.
(Grace Marie gasps)
(dark brooding music)
(Mother Superior gasps)
(footsteps shuffle)
Oh no. Oh no!
(dark dramatic music)
(tense bluesy music)
I'm not a religious person, Angelica,
so forgive me for not being able
to honor your untimely passing in the way
which you'd most likely prefer.
Oh. Well, I can do that.
(person speaks indistinctly over radio)
Eternal rest grant unto you, Angelica,
and may perpetual light shine upon you.
(birds chirp)
Amen?
Amen. Amen.
The rope around her neck is the same as her belt.
Yeah, it's called a cincture, the belt.
Does that mean someone else is missing one?
Superfluity. Sorry?
It's the collective noun for a group of nuns.
I get the feeling this is not your first superfluity.
No, I was taught by a group of nuns for a short
but not entirely successful time,
and it wasn't because I was not the holy terror.
- They. - I'm so sorry to hear that,
but I can assure you all nuns are not created equal.
Once again, Mother Superior, our sincere condolences.
God has called this child home.
She's forever with the angels, but...
And we will do our best to find
whoever sent her there before her time.
And I'll pray your best is good enough.
Let me show you the chapel.
Sister Angelica was on her way to choir practice when-
I might wait here for Gina.
(soft sad music)
(boots thud)
I was at the front conducting.
Angelica's usually in the back row,
but I didn't notice she was missing
until it was time for her solo, and then...
Who caught side of her outside?
Sister Grace Marie of all people.
She's the most fragile of all my sisters.
I shudder to think how she'll recover from the shock.
Who was last to enter the chapel?
It's usually Angelica.
Punctuality was her cross the bear,
although, more often than not, it was us bearing it.
However, on this occasion,
she was not the only one running late for choir practice.
(bell dings)
Ah, for goodness sake, Eulalia.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. That's not a joke.
All things should be done decently
and in order and on time, sister.
So you will last to enter the chapel.
Thou shall not kill, detective.
You'll understand that we need to ask these questions
to find out what happened to Sister Angelica.
Of course, but I am the keeper of this convent.
These are my sisters, and my love for them is unconditional.
I would die before I let any one of them be hurt,
let alone hurt them myself. Did someone hurt Angelica?
It wasn't one of us.
(soft tense music)
(speaks in foreign language)
The cincture around Angelica's neck,
she was wearing hers around her waist,
so the ligature came from someone else.
We need to talk to everyone in the choir.
If not the whole order.
That is going to be a problem.
(bottle clinks)
The Little Sisters St. Monica take a vow of silence
when they enter the convent, broken only for singing,
prayer, and the occasional essential Latin.
Can you make them talk to us?
You of all people should understand the right
to remain silent.
That's a standard legal principle.
And this is a standard religious one.
If there's anything you need to know, I can help you find it out.
What are they doing? Making tinctures and salves
to distribute to those in need.
Such as?
Residents of hospices, aged care facilities,
and nursing homes mainly,
anywhere where we can alleviate unnecessary suffering.
Did Angelica work in here? No.
(soft tense music) (footsteps shuffle)
Can you think of anyone
that would've had a reason to harm her?
A nunnery is not in the business of having enemies,
and even if it was, love thy enemy is what we preach.
Look, police possibly have a different outlook on that.
Of course. I'm sorry.
I, I know you have a job to do.
My priority now is to gather my sisters and pray
for the soul of our dearly departed Angelica.
So please.
We will need a full list of names
of everyone who lives here as soon as possible.
Ask and you shall receive.
(footsteps shuffle)
Well, it's a start at least.
Hmm. You believe in all of this?
I believe in country music, my good wine and,
(soft bright choral music)
yeah, but for the grace of something go many of us.
(soft poignant music)
Lucky, lucky woman. Gina, she was strangled.
Yeah, but she got to be a nun.
Do you know that after 1917 revolution,
nuns were not allowed in Russia?
They had to operate in secret like angels or spies.
It was my greatest wish to be one.
I cannot imagine that.
But my personality is perfectly suited
to a life of quiet contemplation and prayer, Kristin.
Right. So no other obvious signs of a struggle.
Hard to say without further examination,
but it would appear that the victim
has suffered no other obvious injuries.
But see here?
She has clawed just in front,
most likely in attempt to release the pressure
of the ligature,
scratching to the fabric of her coif, desperate to breathe,
and the way she was found lying flat
on her back with the noose still in place.
So it's possible she never even saw her attacker.
You know, I think these dresses will look much better
if they were shorter and maybe sleeveless.
(gentle pleasant music)
(footsteps shuffle)
Good chats with the boss lady?
If nobody else. It's a silent order.
(Mike speaks in foreign language)
You mean (speaks in foreign language).
Do I?
In silence we live, not in peace.
Of course. You speak Latin.
Still can't play the "Fur Elise" though.
Never mind. (clears throat)
Yeah, according to the mother superior,
Angelica had no enemies.
Well, friends don't strangle friends.
Gina thinks it was a surprise attack.
There's no evidence of a struggle,
but she also said that the nuns in Russia are more like spies,
and the nuns here would look better in mini skirts, so.
Well, I'm pretty sure the mother superior
would be having none of that.
Someone had to.
I'm gonna go check out Angelica's room.
(gentle pleasant music)
(clothes rustle)
Something with which you
are clearly familiar.
Hmm, I like the bits about justice.
Is there anywhere else Angelica
could've been keeping her things?
A locker maybe? We don't really do things.
Oh, then (speaks in foreign language) as well.
In poverty we live. Yes.
Detective Sims, don't let whatever holy terror befell you
in the past lead you into looking
for trouble where there isn't any.
It's just something we need to do
in these sorts of situations.
Still, if you're finished here.
Ooh, let me clean that up. Sorry. Could be evidence.
See myself out.
(soft tense music)
Yo, what's up? Hi, sorry.
Who am I speaking to?
(line clicks and beeps)
Hello?
Sorry about the circumstances, Sister Eulalia,
but we need to ask you some questions.
(birds chirp)
Did you notice anything unusual outside the chapel
as you headed inside the choir practice this morning?
All the same, if you're unable to speak,
you still need to answer us somehow.
Persecution or is it evading police inquiries?
You were the last into the chapel
before Angelica was strangled.
(pen scribbles) (soft tense music)
Grace Marie was?
Psst! Sister Grace Marie.
Come on, Eulalia! Chop chop!
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
Great.
I hope you've all brought your best voices.
Let's sing to the rock of our salvation.
You are suggesting Grace Marie was the last to arrive.
Are you sure?
(birds chirp)
(pen scribbles)
Angelica and Grace Marie were very close.
How close?
(pen scribbles)
(footsteps shuffle)
"I've said too much already."
Sister Eulalia!
Saying too much is not gonna be a problem here.
You know, for someone who's dyslexic,
she's very good at spelling it.
(soft tense music) (Car whooshes past)
All right, I've found three Angelica Perezes
and none of them are deceased.
Okay, that's odd.
What, that there are are three of them
or that they're alive?
That they're Angelica Perezes.
Traditional nuns don't usually keep their original names.
How does that work?
Well, if I was a modern vesper-riding nun,
I'd be called Sister Kristin Sims,
but if I joined an order like the Monicas,
I'd take the name of the saint
like Sister Michael the Archangel,
patron saint to the police.
So the chances of Angelica Perez
being her real name are how high?
Hold that thought.
(computer keys clack)
Blessed Maria Angelica Perez, born 1897,
died May 1932, beatified June 1987.
Hmm. So not that high at all.
What other names are on the list?
Eulalia Merida, Gertrude Helster, Mary Magdalene.
Even I know her.
So the mother superior has given us their chosen names.
Not helpful. Well, whoever she is,
the number I found in Angelica's Bible
is for a burner phone.
It's been disconnected since I called.
Forensics are tracing the call,
so we'll find out where he is or where he was at least.
We have a conflicting account from Sister Eulalia
about who was lasting of the chapel.
She claims that Sister Grace Marie
was lurking around outside when she entered,
so it's possible that Grace Marie strangled Angelica,
but the mother superior claims that Eulalia was the last in.
And Eulalia suggested that Angelica
and Grace Marie were more than just friends,
or at least that's what I think she was suggesting.
So perhaps we have a lover's tiff.
Oh, good luck asking the mother superior about that.
At least the mother superior checked out.
Born Elizabetha Ahern in Wellington in 1982.
No record and no social media. Well, as you'd hope.
But we certainly have plenty to talk to her about.
(phone vibrates and rings)
Gina. You know, Mike,
in Russia, nuns are much more traditional.
I'd say dressing head to toe in white
and devoting your life to silent prayer
is about as traditional as it gets.
Yes, but it's not that being dressed what is so shocking.
It's what you see when she's not.
(tense music)
(soft tense music)
You're right. That is not traditional.
And I have to tell you,
I don't think they are particularly holy.
Is that- An expletive? Yes.
And it's not the only one.
Well, I guess she didn't get the memo from Leviticus
about non sizing any marks on your body.
If tattoos are a sin,
then statistically one in five of us is going to hell.
Hmm.
There's certainly a lot more to Sister Angelica
than initially meets the eye.
Oh, I have a tattoo,
a copy of one that archeologists identified
on the mummified body of the Siberian Ice Maiden.
We'll take your word for it, Gina. Thanks.
Anything more you can tell us?
Yes, her tattoos faded in the thawing process,
but then, (laughs) she was 2,500 years old.
About Angelica. Oh yes, of course.
You see a knot in the belt here?
They are roughly 50 millimeters apart,
which corresponds very clearly
with the bruising here on the victim's neck.
(soft tense music)
What this tells us is that the cincture went
around her neck, was quickly tightened,
and did not move laterally until she was dead.
So you were right when you guessed
that she never saw her attacker.
I'm always right, Kristin.
And she didn't have time to fight them off.
No. Her death was at least mercifully quick.
(soft downbeat music)
The Little Sisters St. Monica.
Yes, it's not my own particular brand of faith,
but I do know of them, even though,
until recently, they kept pretty much to themselves.
Until recently?
Well, they've been here about 10 years,
I think, doing good works mainly at Sunset Manor.
Retirement village. Yes,
and although I'm not one to gossip,
we're all God's creatures, great and small,
there was talk of them being involved
in some unpleasantness there a while back.
Of what nature? Don't know the details,
but the sisters subsequently switched
to providing musical entertainment
at the bowling club instead.
One mention on Facebook that the Monicas were coming,
and I was right off the Christmas card list.
Brimstone being an archaic term synonymous with sulfur,
evoking the acrid odor of sulfur dioxide.
The nuns are here!
Crikey. Thank goodness.
(people chatter indistinctly) (footsteps shuffle)
Well, hang on.
I was just getting to the part about Sodom and Gomorrah.
Did they have to book the jolly nuns for the same day?
Any idea what the unpleasantness was
with the retirement village? No, but I'll tell you this.
No one fell asleep for the choir.
In fact, the crowd got quite lively.
Hey. just give 'em some space. Who died and made you pope?
There's a story I know
We all live and let go
There is nothing to hold us
In a moment of time when the fruits becomes
She sounds like an angel.
Although, technically,
angel's from the Greek word Angelas are bodiless messengers.
Sh!
Not singers. Sh!
Maybe tomorrow
So would you say this particular bowler
was fixated on Sister Angelica?
Ernie Guthrie. Fixated might be pushing it.
If anything, it was the van driver
who seemed to capture his attention.
Your reputation precedes you.
(Angelica speaks in foreign language)
I'll see ya next time. I've been looking for you!
Ready to take the green, my love?
Don't you "my love" me. I dunno what he was up to,
but there was more than a whiff of skullduggery about it.
You think his wife thought so, too?
Marina's a staunch member of my flock.
To be honest, I thought Ernie was, too,
but those nuns seemed to have quite turned his head.
(footsteps shuffle) (soft tense music)
No thank you,
although I liked the musical "Book of Mormons."
Very funny. Marina Guthrie, is it?
Yes. DC Chalmers, Brokenwood CIB.
I'm looking for your husband Ernie.
He's been disappearing for hours at a time,
and when he is here, he's off in a dream world.
Was he home late yesterday morning?
I don't know.
I was supposed to meet him at the geriatricians just
to check his marbles, but he never showed.
So you don't know where he was?
I could not get a straight story out of the great plonker.
Did any of your nuns have tattoos?
Well, as far as I knew,
they didn't even have arms or legs, just hands,
which they used to torture the knuckles
of young girls trying to learn the piano.
Ah, the "Fur Elise" that never was.
Sister Raymond kept a box of tissues
and a steel-edged ruler on top of the piano,
and even as a 10 year old, I could work out what that meant.
Your first detective work. Yes, but when confronted
with her use of the steel edged ruler, she denied it,
thus flouting any slavish commitment
of the ninth commandment.
- Thou shalt not - Lie.
(soft tense music) (door opens)
As it happens, tattoos are not an impediment
to taking holy orders.
Did you know Angelica had them?
Modesty prevails, Detective Sims.
In case you hadn't noticed, we're not exactly running around
in midriff hops and hot pants.
How long had Angelica been here?
About eight years.
And before you ask me anything about where she came from,
all you have to do to be welcomed
into the Little Sisters St. Monica is give yourself to God
and the greater good.
Everything else stays in the past.
Including the nuns' real names?
Little sisters choose their own monikers, no pun intended,
when they choose their new lives.
It's nothing new.
In fact, it's been that way since the Middle Ages.
Well, that may be the case,
but policing has moved on since then.
We are legally required to identify Angelica
and notify her next of kin. We are her next of kin.
Well, she must have other family
who'd want to be notified. If she did,
I would know about it. Regardless of that,
we're gonna need a list of the nuns' real names.
I don't see the relevance.
With all due respect, that's up to us to decide.
(soft tense music)
I will see to it. Now if that's all.
Not quite.
Before we go any further,
Sister Eulalia claims that it was Grace Marie
who was last one in the chapel.
Eulalia!
And on time, sister.
(soft tense music) Ah ah ah ah
(bell clangs) Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
Is there any possibility that Angelica
and Grace Marie were more than just friends?
Of course they were friends,
but if you're suggesting anything improper-
To be fair, it was Eulalia that was suggesting it.
Sister Eulalia would seem
to be clocking up the abominations.
And all caused by one deadly sin, envy.
Ooh, she couldn't really understand it
But now I know that he demands it
Thank you, Eulalia! Great enthusiasm, good effort.
Grace Marie,
can you show us your more perhaps nuanced version?
(soft tense music)
A gift like your sister,
you honor a nobody by keeping it to yourself.
Angelica had the voice of an angel,
but Grace Marie is in another realm entirely,
although she is sadly reluctant to sing in public
despite her greatest encouragement.
And I'm sorry to report that Eulalia finds it difficult
to appreciate her sister's God-given talent.
So Eulalia lied to get Grace Marie in trouble.
Eulalia's knees will be quite worn out
by the time she's finished praying for forgiveness.
Could it be that Eulalia attacked Angelica?
This is not an inside job.
But did you actually see Eulalia enter the chapel?
You are testing my patience.
Come on, Eulalia! Chop chop!
Ah ah ah ah ah ah (soft tense music)
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
Ee ee ee ee ee ee ee
Ee ee ee ee ee
Eulalia is tricky, but she's not a murderer.
Look, were it Grace Marie,
and I can't believe I'm even saying this,
but were it dear Grace Marie who had gone to meet our maker,
I might've, in the circumstances, had a sliver of doubt,
but, God help me, only a sliver,
and in this case, I absolutely do not.
We'll still need to talk to Eulalia again.
I can see my word is not good enough
for the Brokenwood CIB. Just doing our job.
Oh ye of little faith.
(soft tense music)
You go. I just need to take a look outside.
(hammer bangs)
Todd! Whoa! Whoa!
Thought I spotted you out here.
Geez, you nearly gave me a heart attack.
Fall at any minutes. You work here now.
Been doing odd jobs since I lost my farm gig.
You like it here? I do. (laughs)
I feel closer to a higher being.
Then again, maybe it's the ladder.
It's just the the quiet that creeps me out.
Can you imagine not talking or talking in a funny language
that sounds like Ewokese?
Hey Todd, would you mind coming down here for a second?
I've just got a few questions for ya.
Ah, yeah.
So did you know Sister Angelica?
The one who got? Yeah. Yes.
Well, no. I mean, yes.
I saw this thing with her and a dude in a Hendrix t-shirt.
What thing?
I was fixing the balustrade up on the balcony,
and I saw Sister Angelica deal to some scungy Pakeha.
So you just expect me to go out there and rustle up?
Oh!
You're sure about that? Yep.
Right in the family jewels.
(grunts)
Did you recognize this guy?
No, but I bet he's still walking funny.
So when was this? About three weeks ago?
And you are sure you've never seen this guy before
and it was definitely Sister Angelica?
Well, yeah. She was small but staunch.
Okay, thanks, Todd. You have been very helpful.
(speaks indistinctly)
Oh, you should ask the other nun about the dude.
She might know something.
What other nun?
The tall one.
(drill whirs) (soft tense music)
(man grunts) (footsteps shuffle)
(basket rustles)
And exactly how tall was this nun?
Like Detective Chalmers but not so muscly, I don't think.
It's hard to say what's under those freaky cloaks.
It's not right to think.
And this all happened in silence?
Apart from the dudes, I think so, yeah.
Well, the sisters aren't allowed to talk, remember?
They're just duking it out. Nun Z. (laughs)
(Kristin speaks in foreign language)
Yeah! That's what the Ewoks say.
(soft twangy music) (Kristin chuckles)
(door opens)
Bless me, mother, for I have sinned.
To be discussed. Open a window, Eulalia.
It's beyond stuffy in here.
Here. Oh, let me help.
(soft tense music) (latches rattle)
Ah. You've done yourself an injury, I see.
The result of a burn, grabbing a scalding pot handle
in the kitchen in a moment of haste.
Eulalia has a lot of faults. Impatience is one.
Regardless, with those injuries,
she couldn't possibly have committed that act on Angelica.
Ah, thanks for the tip.
Did you witness the accident? I did not. Others did.
I did hear the scream
and the unholy utterances that followed.
(hands sizzle) (pot clangs)
(speaks in foreign language) Holy fuck!
A most painful event in many ways.
I'm sure. I'd like to talk to Grace Marie.
That I absolutely forbid.
She's in mourning for her friend and simply not up for it.
You'll let me know as soon as she is.
Please, detective.
I am charged with protecting these good women.
I've already let Angelica down almost more than I can bear.
Can you not just leave us alone?
(tense brooding music)
(gentle pleasant music) (birds chirp)
Thanks, Gina.
Gina's looking into Angelica's dental records,
but apparently, you can't rush that hedgehog.
And Mother Superior
is putting together a list of real names.
Somewhat reluctantly, it has to be said.
What did Riven Grain have to say?
That the nuns have been around for awhile
and the choir is very popular now at the bowling club,
but something went wrong earlier at the retirement village.
I was just on my way to check it out.
But do these seem like normal nuns to you?
(laughs) Well, according to convent handyman
and our friend Todd Taylor who witnessed one nun
kneeing a scungy Pakeha in the groin
and pushing another nun to the ground.
So no, definitely not.
So is that something you'd expect at The Frog & Cheetah,
not a nunnery.
We've confirmed that Eulalia was the last into the chapel,
but she's injured her hand, so it'd be difficult,
if not impossible, for her to strangle someone.
Ernie Guthrie,
according to the reverend and his wife has been acting
outta character ever since the choir started singing
at the bowling club.
Now his wife can't say where he was yesterday morning or,
in fact, where is right now,
so we'll need to question him.
I'm wondering if this is the nun Angelica pushed
to the ground.
Perhaps she knows something about this scungy male.
The tall one sounds like the one
that drives the choir van.
Right then. Let's see if she's none the wiser.
(soft bluesy guitar music) (Kristin laughs)
Yeah, that's quite good.
What? So it's all right when he does it?
Sister Stella and a man here at the convent?
No, no, no, no. That that can't be right.
It's not that men aren't welcome here,
it's just that there's no reason for them to come.
This, this can't be true.
All the same, we'd like to talk to Sister Stella.
(soft tense music)
We have an eyewitness who saw Angelica
and you with a man in the garden and says
that there was some sort of altercation.
(chalk taps)
Our witness says that Angelica pushed you and you fell.
(board clatters) (cloth swipes)
(chalk taps)
It was an accident. So there was no altercation.
(cloth swipes)
(chalk taps)
"Different ideas about horticulture."
"Me chem fertilizer versus her organic."
Okay, so you argued about gardening.
(Stella sighs) (cloth swipes)
(chalk taps)
You weren't at choir practice yesterday morning,
Sister Stella. (sighs) This is ridiculous.
I'm getting writer's cramp!
Forgive me Lord, for what I'm about to say
and the fact I am actually saying it.
It's good to hear it. I'm banned from the choir
because I apparently have a voice like a donkey in labor.
Well, if you weren't at practice, where were you?
Look, Angelica and me, we had our ups and downs,
but we were mates, and I was nowhere near the chapel
when she left this mortal coil.
I was on gardening duty.
Now I'd like to go and pray for my sins
if it's all the same to you.
Oh, the belt. What do the knots mean?
One for every year of unblemished service.
(soft tense music) (footsteps shuffle)
This one has five knots.
So whoever it belonged to had five unblemished years
at the convent.
And Sister Angelica could only manage two.
And she'd been there eight,
so that's six years with blemishes.
I found something else on the cincture,
traces of garden fertilizer.
So the offender could have been working in horticulture?
Among other things, yes.
Hmm.
Tell me, we know the approximate time of death
and that it was swift, but how swift exactly?
The oxygen levels in her lungs
at the time of death indicate a little bit more
than two minutes.
This person, they knew what they were doing,
and they were strong. A less strong person?
They would take at least five minutes.
Also, there will be more signs of a struggle.
She tried to claw away the cincture,
but she did not have time to wrestle
with her attacker before she lost consciousness.
Any indication how tall the attacker might've been?
Actually, yes.
See here how these are at an angle
that goes up from her throat,
behind her ears, to the back of her head?
This indicates the attacker was taller.
Were they shorter, the marks would angle down.
Hmm. Thanks, Gina.
(soft tense music)
Sims, Gina thinks it's likely that the offender
is taller than the victim.
Well, Stella's on the taller side.
I'm in her room now, not there's much to see.
And there are traces of fertilizer on the cincture.
Have a look at them while you're there.
Organic versus chemical. Yeah, will do.
(soft choral music) (footsteps shuffle)
(glove snaps)
(heavy metal music)
(gentle pleasant music)
(bags rustle)
Angelica obviously won that battle.
(fertilizer clatters)
(item rattles) (soft tense music)
(bottom slides)
(item clatters)
Hallelujah.
(soft music)
No one wanted the nuns' choir when I first suggested it,
but after the first visit, crowd went wild,
and they're not that sort of crowd.
Left the Benny Hillary runs in the dust, let me tell you.
So what went wrong?
(sighs) It's not a police matter, detective.
Homicide of one of the choir singers is.
Sister Angelica. Yes, I heard, and I'm really sorry.
Actually, it was she at the heart of the unpleasantness,
a hastened word through no fault of her own,
and our ex-employee developed a rather unnatural attachment.
(leaves rustle)
Hey! Who's that?
(device thwacks) (leaves rustle)
(person screams)
The hell do you think you're doing?
(Angelica speaks in foreign language)
"The devil finds work for idle hands." I Googled that.
Do you know what this work was?
Let's not go there, detective.
I certainly didn't want to,
and neither did the mother superior,
when I asked if there'd be a bother,
any sort of bother, as a result.
If you were to press charges,
it would reflect very poorly on the village.
That's the last thing anyone wants,
and Sister Angelica insist she is, thank heavens, unharmed.
Tell me, the perpetrator of this impropriety.
The orderly. Fired on the spot.
Good, but all the same,
I think it best the choir moves on.
(soft downbeat music)
It's a shame, really, 'cause the singing seemed
to really help the residents sleep better,
even if, and once again, it's not a police matter,
there was some unscheduled removal of clothing afterwards.
Any idea where I can find the orderly?
Yeah, I have his address on record, I'm sure.
He's terrible at his job
but oddly popular with the residents.
(soft twangy music)
Dean Badgley, former employee at the Sunset Manor,
sacked for fraternizing was Sister Angelica.
No longer living his Brokenwood Heights address on record,
so current whereabouts unknown.
Our scungy Pakeha.
Hmm, fraternizing. What does that mean exactly?
Details remain sketchy,
but it's why the choir switched
from the retirement village to the bowling club,
and your friend in the gray veil knew about it.
Found in a statue of the Virgin Mary,
which is not a sin, but it is odd.
I also found a bag of fertilizer in the nun's garden shed,
which I've sent to Gina for analysis just in case it matches
what she found on the cincture.
Organic, according to the packaging,
so Angelica got her way over Stella with that one.
But is a disagreement over plant food a motive for murder?
Well, when you think about how twitchy people get
when you don't recycle.
Dean Badgley, on the other hand.
Yeah, if Angelica caused him to get fired,
he'd at the very least have a grudge.
(soft tense music)
I'll look into it.
The nuns here are not allowed phones.
The aim is to keep the outside world at bay.
But you called us when Angelica was found.
Yes, there's a landline. It's for emergencies only.
Mobile phones are an unnecessary evil
and will not be tolerated.
So you don't know who it belongs to.
That you found it is a source of great disappointment,
but I am a spiritual leader, not a prison warden.
I don't do cavity searches.
Forensics will be able to unlock the phone
and tell us more, but it would be helpful
if you were to be more forthcoming.
I want to find the truth about Sister Angelica just
as much as you do.
Yet you didn't think the incident between her
and the retirement village orderly was worth mentioning.
I, no, I didn't.
She swore no harm was done, and, of course I believed her.
Oh, you don't think that he? (sighs) Angelica.
It's too early to jump to any conclusions.
(water pours)
Getting back to the cincture,
I see that all the nuns have a spare habit
in their wardrobe but only one belt.
We, we make them ourselves. That's very time consuming.
That's why there's just one per nun.
Does each nun still have one?
Well, they're not called habits
because you can pick or choose.
There are rules here,
and they must be obeyed or there will be consequences.
Now why are you here instead about looking for this man?
I would not want piano lessons from that woman.
Well, the good news is you can learn the "Fur Elise"
on YouTube without crying.
Excuse me. Sister Stella?
(footsteps shuffle) (soft upbeat music)
Your department, I believe. Oh my God. Hey!
(bodies thud)
Well, what do you think? Let me guess.
You've done something to your hair.
Nah. You bought a new shirt.
No, I never buy any clothes.
Wait, I know. Coffee cart is different.
Only completely, from the ground up.
What's wrong with the old one?
Oh, you know, it got nicked.
Yeah, but we got it back for you.
Yeah, big ups for that, but it was never the same.
You know, I felt violated, so I built this new one.
Wow, that's impressive, Frodo. Congratulations.
I'll take a chocolate muffin to celebrate.
No you won't. Ernie's cleaned me out again.
Most of the old dudes stick to the brand muffins.
Do you, you want a bran muffin?
I'll just have the coffee, Frodo.
Ernie Guthrie, DC Chalmers, Brokenwood CIB.
You. What are you doing harassing my wife?
Now you're following me around.
I'm just here for the chocolate muffins.
Are they the secret you're keeping from Mrs. Guthrie?
(soft tense music)
Who says I've got a secret? She says I've got a secret?
She says you're a hard man to find at times.
Oh. Always somewhere.
And would that somewhere be
at the Little Sisters St. Monica convent yesterday morning?
The convent? Yes, where the nuns live.
I hear you're a big fan. I like the singing.
(soft tense music)
Is there anything else you like?
Say, one nun in particular?
You're trying to trick me into saying something.
What do I want you to say, Ernie?
Ah! You see? Not entirely.
So let's try an easier one.
If you weren't at the convent yesterday morning,
where were you? I was...
Well, if it comes back to you, you let me know.
It's important.
Care to unlock it?
(finger taps)
Sister Stella, you could do yourself a favor right now
and starting a little bit more cooperative
'cause currently, you are in the hot seat.
Why? You admit to having
an altercation with Sister Angelica,
but you can't tell us where you were when she died.
Plus you just tried to do a runner.
Look, I do not always get on with with Angelica,
but in no way did I strangle her, and I can prove it.
Oh good. We like proof.
(electronic beeps trill)
What can I say? It's my guilty pleasure.
This is what you were doing when Angelica was killed?
Check the statistics.
(phone trills)
You played it for this many hours?
Yes, but please don't rat me up to the mother superior.
She's already caught me once.
The Mother Superior already knows about the phone?
(soft tense music)
Dean Badgley, the man on the Jimi Hendrix t-shirt,
what was he doing there the day our witness saw you?
There was no man.
(soft upbeat music) (person giggles)
Thank you, officers. I really appreciate it.
Excuse me.
I did not think police resources stretched to this,
but then again, she is our third streaker in as many weeks.
I'm not here about that, but three streakers?
Yeah, things you can't unsee. They get stuck in there.
I'm Jonah, new greensman come barning
come jack of all trades around here.
How can I help? Were you here
when the Little Sisters St. Monica Choir performed
about a month ago? Yes. I had just arrived.
Not your usual bowling club fare,
but the vicar, he was a real yawn.
So you didn't notice anything unusual?
Unusual, no, although it is quite a small choir,
and it's even smaller after the tragic loss of Sister...
Angelica. So you remember her.
To be honest, they're all peas in a pod,
although, this has nothing to do with the choir per se,
but we did have our first nudie bowl the very next day.
(soft upbeat music) (water sprays)
Put 'em away!
What are you doing? You're gonna blow my cover!
Come on, ya idiot!
Oy! The hell are you doing here?
(soft tense music) (Mr. Fletcher laughs)
Bloody hell!
Mr. Fletcher, don't you drop the pants!
This guy in the Jimi Hendrix shirt, you seen him before?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no,
dodgy-looking bloke and not a bowler.
I dunno what he was doing here. I'd sprung him once before,
the first day when the nuns were singing here.
(choir sings in background) (soft tense music)
What are you doing in there? None of your business.
You're stealing from nuns.
(audience applauds in background)
Nuns don't have anything to steal.
You didn't call the police?
Yeah, I know I probably should've,
but I was new to the job and all that,
and I called them today.
Well, you'll let me know if you see him again?
Too right.
You knew about Sister Stella's phone and you lied.
I said the finding of the phone
was a great disappointment,
a venial sin for which I have already asked for forgiveness.
It's very convenient how you
can magically conjure up forgiveness.
Look, I found Sister Stella playing a silly game
on her phone.
She told me she'd gotten rid of the wretched thing,
and I believed her.
If you've got anything else to tell me,
now would be a good time.
(soft tense music)
(upbeat punk rock music) (Gina speaks indistinctly)
Gina.
Moon me till my eyes are black.
(music clicks off)
Did you just say, "Moon me till my eyes are black"?
Yes, but, you know, this is not physically possible.
Mm-hmm.
You said you discovered something about Angelica's tattoos?
Yes.
It's all tied up together.
They're all lyrics from songs by The Brides of Christ.
What, the grunge band from Invercargill?
Do you like grunge?
No, I had a boyfriend once who...
Never mind.
They were a thing in the early 2000s
but not what as I would've thought with nuns.
"Bleep yourself to Bleepville."
Actually, think I've heard this one.
This one here, Ink Dz.
Maybe if you hum it, Inkdz.
No, I, I don't think it's a song lyric.
I think it's the name of the tattoo artist.
(soft tense music) (keys jingle)
(tense music)
(footsteps shuffle)
(gasps) Bollocks!
Sister Grace Marie. Oh, oh God.
Oh no, no, that's worse. I'm so sorry.
It's all right, I,
I'm sure some of our house are meant to be broken.
(gasps) Get away from me! Get away!
(tense music)
I'm Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd
with Brokenwood CIB.
I'm investigating the murder of Sister Angelica.
(apples thud)
She was my friend.
And we're doing everything we can
to find out what happened to her.
I, I would never hurt anyone, never, ever,
no matter what, and especially not Angelica.
I'm not here to hurt you, Grace Marie,
but I would like to ask you about your cincture.
It's not regulation, I, I know,
and I saw what was around her neck, but you must believe me,
I, I would never harm a single precious hair on her head.
(soft tense music) (dog barks)
It was a silly accident.
I was distracted when I was cooking.
(liquid drips)
I managed to clean it, but I knew I couldn't get it dry
in time before choir practice.
(bell dings)
Come along!
(footsteps shuffle)
Sister Angelica.
(Grace Marie gasps) (tense brooding music)
I was in the choir. I wouldn't, I, I couldn't...
She was my dearest friend,
and I of all people know what it's like to...
(tense music)
(footsteps shuffle)
(upbeat punk rock music)
To what do I owe this horror?
Oh come on. It's The Brides of Christ.
You know, cult grunge band.
What, you didn't rock out to some Brides of Christ
in your younger days? Strangely, no.
Why are we listening to them?
Because the lyrics are tattooed all
over Angelica's body by an artist known as Ink Dz,
last herd of in Queenstown.
I'm following up.
My ears are still ringing from talking
to Sister Grace Marie.
As in talking talking? Hmm.
It was her cincture that was used to strangle Angelica,
taken from the clothesline
after Grace Marie headed to the chapel.
So is she a nun of interest?
Mother Superior knew about Stella's phone,
so she has been less than forthcoming with the truth,
but neither her nor Grace Marie took the cincture
from the clothesline because Angelica arrived after them.
Unless they're covering for each other.
Because of Elia's false witness,
it's hard to get a clear picture.
Or it's none of the above.
(soft tense music)
In other news, I think Eulalia
might be a sly (speaks indistinctly).
Ooh! Holy water it ain't. Which might explain why she
doesn't have any knots on her cincture.
Well I found Ernie Guthrie,
although he can't remember where he was
at the time of Angelica's death.
Could be his memory,
but our scungy Pakeha has been making a nuisance
of himself at the bowling club.
According to the manager, Jonah Fitzmartin,
he is an accessory to a near streaking incident,
of which there have been a few.
Wow. And he was allegedly seen
snooping around the nuns' van, too.
Okay, but just going back to the streaking.
Gina.
I've missed something but not entirely
because I'm here now to tell you about it.
To begin with, the tattoos.
They were quite a distraction.
You see here and here and between her toes?
Almost invisible to the naked eye. Tiny scars.
This got me taking another look elsewhere on the body.
They were disguised by tattoos,
but under the microscope, there's no hiding it.
Needle marks. Yes.
At some point in her life,
sister Angelica was an intravenous drug user,
and then there's this, the toxicology report.
At the time of her death, testing reveals she
had the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol in her system.
TCH. Correct.
She was smoking cannabis.
Within past 30 days, it had entered her system, yes,
although it's hard to say when and how much.
THC levels are unpredictable postmortem,
and hers were quite high. Wow.
Is there anything these nuns don't do?
(soft upbeat music)
Like what you've done with the place.
Thanks.
Sometimes in life you just gotta get a makeover, you know?
Guess I'd feel the same way if I've got a perm.
You're not thinking about getting a perm, are you?
No. (laughs) Oh. (laughs)
Do you think I should?
No. No.
Hey, sorry to hear
about that whole blessed holy Mary mother
of sister nun thing, eh? Indeed, Frodo. Thank you.
Yeah, nuns don't drink coffee.
The tall one liked a lot of orange juice,
and the tattooed one, she likes a decaf mocha,
extra sprinkles. The tattooed one?
Yeah, she was here the other day
with her drug cook boyfriend.
Sweet! The mocha?
No, the ink. Oh. They're stick on.
Stella, what does the Munta want?
New T-shirt? Bless her.
She has such a sense of humor.
She actually said that to you out loud?
Yeah. She called him Munta.
That's what my girlfriends always called me, Muntie.
It's a, it's a term of endearment, I think.
Flat white and detective Shepherd special.
Thanks. Extra sugar?
Surely you are sweet enough as it is.
Stop it, you. (laughs)
Woo hoo!
Are you kidding me?
Did you tell her we were gonna be here?
No. She must have some kind of homing device.
Does she know about your ex-wife who isn't quite so ex yet?
I'm keeping it on a need to know basis.
Mrs. Baker. Hello.
Oh, Beth! Back from Aussie, I see.
Did you have a lovely time?
Oh, you know, just the usual,
caught up with the family
and threw in some crocodile wrestling for good measure.
Crikey. (laughs) Oh, she's a brave one.
I have got two words for you,
and you are going to love them both.
Are they no and thanks?
(laughs) Isn't he hilarious?
No. Are you ready?
Well, Mike might not be, but I am, so please.
Edible sequins.
On the dress? Oh no, Beth.
Well, that would work, but on the cake, on the cake.
Sorry to interrupt you.
So you're the big cheese at the police station,
is that right? Oh, cheesecake.
That would work, too.
Sorry, would, would edible sequins work on that?
Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd.
How can I help you? Jonah,
manager at the bowling club.
I was just wondering if you're getting anywhere
with the choir singer case.
The bowlers can't stop talking about it.
Are they saying anything I need to hear?
No. Mainly, they're just gutted.
They're worried the choir won't return.
They love that choir.
Well, you can tell them we're making progress
with the inquiry. Right, thanks.
Well, keep up the good work. Sorry to interrupt you.
Oh, no problem at all.
Tell me, Jonah, when did you get married?
Oh, that was a long time ago now.
Best day of my life. Ah. What made it so special?
The woman I vowed to spend my entire life with.
(gentle pleasant music)
Once you get a good one, you don't ever let her go.
We like you, Jonah. (laughs)
Oh, I better be heading back.
Oh.
Nice to see you, Mrs. Baker.
This list is as useless as the last list.
Mary Tyler Mitten, Jane Fondette.
Well it's not entirely surprising that a bunch
of pot-smoking nuns would wanna go incognito.
Well, as far as we know, there's only one pot smoker,
and I don't want to generalize,
but the mother superior doesn't strike me as a stoner.
And Eulalia prefers vodka. Hmm. Sister Stella?
Knock knock.
Todd. How can we help?
Yeah, I've got something to tell you,
which I probably shouldn't.
In fact, I definitely shouldn't
because there's two sides to every story,
after all, and sometimes three.
Spit it out, Todd.
So the thing is I just popped
into The Snake & Tiger before.
I just used the (speaks in foreign language).
A good handyman never drinks on the job,
even when it's really, really hot
and there's a lot of like alta wine everywhere,
not to mention holy water, and I did try that once,
but I'm pretty sure it gave me the squirts.
That's what you wanted to tell us?
Nah.
That guy, the one sister Angelica kneed in the nuts,
he was there.
(soft twangy music) (urine trickles)
(soft tense music) (door opens)
Yo, what's up?
Nothing. I don't personally indulge myself anymore.
It was just that one time, and no one remembers that, eh?
(laughs) But yeah,
that was the thing I wanted to tell you about,
the dude I saw at the convent
that I probably shouldn't tell you about.
Thanks, Todd. You've been very helpful.
Shall we?
Do you have to assume every two bit crim
in Brokenwood ends up at The Snake & Tiger?
So you haven't seen him? I'm no narc.
He's over there, playing darts.
(upbeat music plays on radio) (people chatter indistinctly)
(dart thwacks)
Dean Badgley. And you are?
(Dean cries out) (footsteps shuffle)
Ha! Ah ha!
(Dean whimpers) (footsteps shuffle)
Don't look at me. I've already tackled a nun today.
(footsteps shuffle)
So is there anything you can tell me about this guy?
Drinks creme de menthe and lemonade,
and he left his bag behind.
(soft music)
(bag thuds)
(footsteps shuffle)
(birds chirp)
(footsteps shuffle)
Put the pool cue down! You're harassing me!
You, you don't even know
what we wanna talk to you about.
I don't wanna know!
(upbeat twangy music)
Ah! Stop!
Don't.
(cue clatters)
Looking for something?
(bag thuds)
We also have your name, your new address,
and about 200 grams of cannabis.
Resisting arrest, possession of a class C drug.
Coming with us.
But I was not in possession at the time of the resistance.
Well, we can work out the finer details
back at the station.
(door opens)
Hey, Dean. What's up?
Mum.
What's that about? Don't ask me.
(footsteps shuffle) (door slams)
I dunno anything about no nuns, especially the dead one.
I'm a Buddhist. We can't even kill cockroaches.
We have a witness placing you at the convent
with Sister Angelica not long before she died.
Wasn't there.
Well, here's a simpler question.
Where were you yesterday morning between 11 and 12?
Hmm, I was-
We know you knew her, you continue to evade questioning,
and you can't tell us what you
were were doing when she died. I was, I was gardening.
(bright cheery music)
Gardening? A side hustle, you know?
You've been seen twice in what could be construed
as separate violent altercations,
one with a woman who is now dead and another
with a streaker from the bowling club.
Hey, that was just bad timing. I'm a businessman.
(soft tense music)
Come on, guys, I'm a good Christian, communing with the holy sisters.
Thought you were a Buddhist who didn't know them.
What were you looking for in the nuns' van
when they first performed? No, no, no.
I didn't go anywhere near their van. Why would I?
You tell us.
Hey, you know, I did go near their van.
(door thuds) (footsteps shuffle)
What are you doing here?
Me? You're the one trespassing.
You're a member of this bowling club.
Have you joined the convent?
Get outta here before I call the cops.
You're a load of scum!
So you found him in the van? Why? What did he say?
Now you guys are really freaking me out.
Do I need a lawyer or what? You're free to go,
but I don't want to hear your left town.
(soft tense music)
I checked out Jonah Fitzmartin from the bowling club.
No record, no trouble,
doing a great job by all accounts.
Tightwad Tuesday is apparently the hit of the century.
So Dean was lying about Jonah being in the van.
Looks that way.
We know Dean was in possession of cannabis
and that Angelica had in her system
and that they did know each other.
A drug deal gone wrong? Good afternoon.
So do we have a match? No.
The nun's fertilizer, it's organic,
but traces on the cincture are chemical.
Chemical is cheaper, right? And more common.
But that's not all I found.
There were also traces on the tassel
from the nightshade group, tomatoes.
Ah, the soup.
Grace Marie was telling the truth
about her belt dipping in it.
But the strangler who took it off the clothesline
didn't work in the common garden.
But they did work in a garden.
Interesting forensics on Sister Stella's phone.
Was only one number in the call history,
which pinged off a cell tower in Brokenwood Heights.
Last known address for Dean Badgley.
With a pot planting side hustle.
(soft tense music) (footsteps shuffle)
(knock thuds) (door opens)
Yo, what's up?
Is this your side hustle? Yeah.
I'll be back into it once you lot stop pestering me.
Tell me, Dean, do you use fertilizer?
What if I do?
Perhaps you would prefer that we got a warrant
to search your property. A warrant?
On what grounds? I'll make the call.
Look, can't we just, I don't know, cut a deal?
There are no deals.
There's just a dead nun with a connection to you,
a possible grudge, and no witnesses
to confirm that you were anywhere other
than strangling Angelica yesterday morning.
All right, all right. There are witnesses.
So that's just the gummy bears, yeah?
You want chill out cheddar time or big time party time?
Party time. Duh.
And keep it on the down low. You're not really my market.
And if they say they've never heard of me,
tell them I've got surveillance cameras
watching every transaction. Do you?
No, but it's a really good idea.
Anyway, they can prove I was nowhere
near the convent when Sister Ang died.
Bloody hen parties. So let me get this straight.
Your side hustle is selling cannabis edibles.
And weed, but only old people wanna smoke it these days.
And gummy bears. Give me a break.
Weed's not supposed to be cute.
Old people as in the retirement village
and the bowling club?
But you have to be able to bowl,
and they're catching onto the gummies.
What was the knee in the groin at the convent about?
Hey, they look like they'd be nice to orphans,
but those nuns could be mean.
It's not my fault you lost your stupid job.
I told you we needed to be more discreet.
Yeah, well that retirement village was a gold mine,
and thanks to you, that tap's just been turned off.
There are other taps. So you just expect me
to go out there and rustle up?
(knee thuds) (Dean groans)
(body thuds)
Just remember who the boss is around here, Dean.
(foot thuds) (basket rustles)
Who's the boss? Exactly.
Look, just to be safe,
could we not mention the hen party to Sister Stella
or that I told you any of this?
I just need you to know I didn't kill anyone.
You're telling us the nuns supply you with cannabis?
Yeah, plus they made the gummies.
They're really good at it.
(soft tense music)
(gentle pleasant music) (birds chirp)
And God bless you, too.
(receiver slams)
Yep.
The bishop in the city. Great, thank you.
As far as he's aware,
there's no such thing as the Little Sisters of St. Monica.
And I've just talked to the tattoo artist known as Ink Dz,
who, from the description of the song lyrics,
believes that Angelica is a Mikayla Plimpkin,
former hairdresser from Taihape.
Gina can make headway with the dental records,
but she fits the description.
Sounds like we're getting somewhere.
Well, we think we have a name.
But we have doubts about the pedigree
of the Little Sisters of St. Monica.
Well, according to the council,
land the convent is on is far from sacred.
It belongs to one Elizabetha Ahern.
Paid for it in cash 11 years ago.
Well, so much for the vow of poverty.
(choir sings in distance) (footsteps shuffle)
Stand down, officer. No streakers as yet.
Ah, sorry to interrupt,
but we're here to see the mother superior.
Oh.
Sister Grace Marie, it's your solo. We practiced this.
You can do it. I know you can.
(Grace Marie pants)
The choir's a bit off today. A word, Miss Ahern?
Not here. Our thoughts exactly.
Sister Gertrude, could you kindly take over?
Ah
Let's start with who you really are.
You know who I really am.
But I was a nun,
a real one in the Sisters of Clemency order.
I had a vocation.
I believed in what I was doing,
giving myself to God for the greater good.
So what happened?
Visiting priest from Australia happened.
(soft tense music)
I wasn't totally naive when I entered the convent.
I had a life before when no meant no.
It still does. Yes, well.
It was my word against his,
and my superiors chose to believe him,
and even if Me Too had been invented back then,
what could I do?
Any public outcry would embarrass the church,
and even though I felt let down by them, I couldn't do that.
So you established your own order?
As you well know, Detective Sims,
within the existing hierarchy, there can reign holy terror.
But the Little Sisters St. Monica aren't like that.
We still live under the rigid tenets
of a female religious order,
just not beholden to the all-powerful,
judgmental, bloody patriarchy.
Sorry.
Which rigid religious tenet allows
for the growth and distribution of Class C drugs?
Ah. The cannabis.
I don't remember reading much about that in the Bible.
No. It concentrates more on strong drink.
But Jesus was definitely more forgiving
when it came to herbs.
Genesis chapter one, verse 29.
"And God said, behold,
I have given you every plant-yielding seed
that is on the face of the earth.
You shall have them for food."
So that's where the gummy bears come in?
Yeah, I realize I don't deserve much of a defense,
but if there is one,
it's that it certainly wasn't my idea in the first place.
(soft tense music) (Sister Angelica inhales)
What in the name of God?
(Angelica coughs)
If what you are about to tell me is a lie,
hell hath no fury to match what I will rain down on you!
Sister Stella?
(light jauntily tense music)
(footsteps shuffle) (leaves rustle)
This is what you've been harvesting? Speak!
In Latin. In whatever!
Yeah, so it turns out I've got really green fingers,
and this stuff grows like actual weed.
By the time I found out they were selling it,
certain wheels had been set in motion
that were gonna be very difficult to stop.
And which wheels might they be?
Have you heard of the Sullivan Islands?
(soft music) (bag rustles)
I'll tether it to the internet.
Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us sinners!
Ateate, the most remote of the Sullivan Islands,
population about 1,200, mostly school age.
And? We built them that church.
Show her the school, Ang.
We get letters from them every week.
(drawer slides open)
They're learning to read and write because of us.
Because of this?
(gentle pleasant music)
My holy sister's hearts were in the right place.
They believed they were doing the good Lord's work.
And what would the good Lord think
about Dean Badgley selling your class C drugs?
I knew they had a contact,
but I'm sorry to say I turned a blind eye.
Everybody deserves a defense, but that is not a good one.
No, but a whole island is benefiting from our endeavor.
Futures are being secured, children are being educated,
and the medicinal benefits of cannabis are well documented.
The law is the law. And Angelica
may have paid the ultimate price.
I will take what's coming, and so will Stella
and anyone else who you deem to have heard, but please,
will you let me break the news to my sisters first?
I give you my word. I'm not a flight risk.
Your word hasn't exactly been your bond up to now.
The other nuns' real names, for instance?
I can't tell you that because I don't know them.
You'll need to come in first thing tomorrow
so that we can get a formal statement.
(soft tense music)
You know,
it's all very well busting a nuns' gummy bear ring,
but we still know closer to finding Angelica's killer,
although we can confirm Angelica is Mikayla Plimpkin.
All the obvious suspects can explain
where they were except for Ernie Guthrie,
and I've checked with his geriatrician.
There are definitely cognitive issues there.
But if he's a member of the bowling club,
his cognitive issues might just come in a baggie.
Hmm, good point.
We know that the time of death can't be wrong
because the choir arrived at the chapel first
and then saw the body soon after.
And Gina says her body showed no signs
of having been moved,
so she must have been killed right there,
almost in front of them.
So whoever did it is someone we haven't come across yet.
Rarely the case. Have we missed someone from her past?
Well, Mikayla came to the convent fresh out of rehab,
so I tracked down one of her counselors who said she
never mentioned anyone who she thought to be a threat,
and although she was estranged from her family,
none of them were anywhere near her when she died.
Could the whole choir be lying?
Or sampling too much of the product?
(Kristin chuckles) (phone rings)
Shepherd.
(soft tense music)
We're on our way.
Eulalia and Grace Marie have gone missing.
(tense music)
I, I got back from the station
to find Sister Stella in a terrible state.
It's taken me this long to get any sense out of her.
Tell them, Stella.
Before we left, I was distracted by the bowlers.
I don't even mind that.
Excuse my French,
but now it's not the time to cover our butts.
I am the only one waiting for you in the rain
The devil made me do it
And I just want to feel your pain
I leave your life in rubble
My middle name is trouble
(dark brooding music)
And neither of them were there, and I didn't even notice.
Have you called the bowling club?
Yes, of course. They're not there.
Keep going, Stella. Tell them what you told me.
I saw something the day Angelica was killed.
(soft tense music)
(branch snaps) (tense brooding music)
Yes.
Maybe it was nothing, but now Angelica is gone
and Grace Marie is missing.
I'm not sure,
but I wonder was Sister Eulalia spying on them?
So now you think Eulalia has taken Grace Marie?
I pray that it's not the case, but yes.
Ah, it's been what, an hour?
I'll put outta 10-1, get her on the lookout.
At least they're recognizable.
(footsteps shuffle)
There's something I need you to know.
The women here are not what they seem.
Well, they grow dope, manufacture illegal edibles.
They're not real nuns. I think we've got that.
No, no. You don't understand.
I told you about my Me Too moment,
but really, that was just the beginning of it.
Every one of my charges here
has been the victim of horrible violence.
Angelica was abused by her stepfather, long deceased,
so he's not responsible for her death,
but he is responsible for a lot of misery in her life.
Eulalia was tortured by her foster family, and Grace Marie,
I'll never forget the day she arrived here
after suffering so long at the hands of her husband.
(pants echo)
(soft poignant music)
I had nowhere else to go.
If my husband finds me, he'll kill me.
It's a miracle he hasn't already.
If you're looking for miracles,
you've come to the right place.
Come on.
(door opens)
Get outta the Ute.
It's all I have left that's just mine.
He's taken everything else away. (cries)
Please come inside. You'll be safe with me.
I'm not safe anywhere but in here.
A Ford Falcon year 1985 or thereabouts. I've seen it.
Oh, she won't let me get rid of it.
(soft tense music) We'd known all this sooner,
it might've helped us find out what happened to Angelica.
Our vow of silence is not just religious, detective.
These nuns are seeking sanctuary
from perpetrators of unimaginable harm.
They trust me to keep them safe,
and now I, I've let them down.
Hopefully we'll find them.
First we need to know who they really are.
Eulalia, real name, Trixie Schneider.
She's had a tough life in and out of foster homes
and did a stint in jail for assault when she was 20.
If this was premeditated,
she might've already shot through.
Is there a place that means something to Trixie
where she might've taken Grace Marie?
Hold that thought.
So the convent was sort of a women's refuge.
Word got out it was a safe haven,
and Elizabetha took in anyone who showed up and needed help.
She was doing more good than we thought.
Thanks, Trudy. We're on our way.
Bad news is Grace Marie's still missing.
Good news, Eulalia hasn't taken her.
Unshackle me! Heathens!
She had three rum and cokes and then got in a fight
when some rando wouldn't pay the bill.
Thanks for calling us.
Hey, she's the one that wanted the police.
Because it's all my fault. (cries)
What's your fault, Trixie?
Trixie?
(soft tense music)
Grace Marie.
That's what's my fault.
Tell us what happened.
(Eulalia wretches and vomits)
Can we get a coffee over here?
Grace Marie had a beautiful voice.
I was sick of it, so I played a trick on her,
but I didn't mean for it to end up like this.
What was the trick?
I posted her profile on a dating app.
A profile. You mean as a nun?
Some guys just dig nuns.
But Grace Marie didn't know anything about it
because you were posing as her on the dating app.
Yeah, and I was popular.
Well, she was popular,
especially with this one candidate @Pinacolada.
I just got carried away.
So you met up with @Pinacolada?
I invited him the first time we sang at the bowling club,
but Grace Marie had Strep throat and didn't show.
Hey, just give 'em some space. Who died and made you pope?
There's a story I know
We all leave and let go
There is nothing to hold us
You mean the manager at the bowling club
is @Pinacolada? He wasn't the manager then.
I guess he got the job and moved to Brokenwood.
On it.
I didn't know that when I reached out to him again.
I just knew he was keen as mustard,
and then it all went so wrong.
Sister Gertrude, kindly take over.
Ah
It's him. Oh my God, it's him.
I know it's him. How do you know?
All these years, I thought I was safe, but no.
I should've known better. He's here to kill me.
You're not making any sense, Grace Marie.
Who is here to kill you? My husband.
(dark brooding music)
He's your husband.
Angelica and I, we had a plan for when this happened.
It's okay. I'll take care of it.
No, we had a plan.
(footsteps shuffle)
Grace Marie, wait!
(dark brooding music) (Eulalia cries out)
One word and you're finished.
No, Jonah, please! Just let her go.
She's drunk! She won't remember anything anyway.
I will come with you, Jonah, if you just let her go.
(body thuds) (Eulalia gags)
You say one word, when I'm done with my wife,
I'll come back and I'll kill you, Mother Superior,
and every one of those good for nothing nuns.
Do you hear me? She hears you, Jonah!
He means it! Not a word!
(Eulalia pants) (dark dramatic music)
I forced Grace Marie right back
into the hands of her abuser.
(soft dramatic music)
This one has nothing to do with the Brides of Christ,
and Grace Marie has the same one in the same place.
I saw it when I met her outside the convent.
So Angelica wasn't the intended victim. Grace Marie was.
Grace Marie or should I say Holly Lindoff,
married in 2012 to Jonah Fitzmartin,
a good guy with no police record.
And I just got off the phone to her sister,
her actual sister.
She said Jonah was a coercive controller
who they thought was abusing her.
Eventually, he cut her off from all her friends and family.
They haven't heard from her in eight years.
And take a look at this. Eulalia's cell phone.
Do you know the song about Pina Coladas?
About getting caught in the rain?
Maybe not into health food. Yes.
So it'd be retrieved
from the messages from the dating app.
Jonah called himself @Pinacolada,
and a lot of the messaging relates back to the song,
but in particular,
Jonah messaged multiple times about a bar called O'Malley's
where he'll plan their escape.
Any idea where that could be? A bar? No.
But there is an old barn out at O'Malley's farm.
A bit of a hangout from my misspent youth.
Update the others. We'll keep you informed.
(soft tense music)
(doors slam)
(footsteps shuffle)
(tense brooding music)
(muffled grunts) (dramatic music)
It's okay, it's okay.
It's all right. It's all right.
That manager from the bowling club.
He's got one of the nuns,
and he said he's gonna kill her and himself!
It's not what you think, me and Yvette.
That doesn't matter right now.
We just need to know what happened with Jonah.
We were just here enjoying some quiet time.
Save it. We know the nuns have been dealing drugs.
They just turned up.
(dramatic music) (Ernie and Yvette laugh)
Just like behind the old boxes at school, eh?
(laughs) You want some?
Actually, we just have to have a little privacy,
isn't that right, hun?
Why do you think we are here? (laughs)
I can only imagine.
Oh, are you all right, love?
She's fine. We should go.
Jonah, we should go.
And leave these two potheads to ruin everything?
I don't think so. It's all right, Jonah.
I, I know somewhere else.
You still hate me.
I thought we were done for then and there.
Then she led him away. She led him away?
She said she had a plan.
(tense brooding music) (ropes groan)
(Ernie grunts)
You realize no one's ever gonna find you here, right?
(Ernie grunts)
Come on, babe. I know somewhere safe, honest.
She's a keeper, this one.
(knife slides) (dramatic music)
You sure that's what she said,
that she knew somewhere safe?
Yes.
I think I know where she's taken him.
(dramatic music)
Sims.
(door slams)
Okay, so they're both in there,
but she won't let anyone get close, and she has a knife.
Does he have her? No, I'm sorry.
You need to leave it to us. But I know her.
I know what she's lived through and how she survived it.
I need to deal with this. Please.
You need to trust us.
Okay, keep everyone back until I say otherwise.
Sims, you come with me.
Chalmers, you follow when I tell you.
Okay.
(soft tense music) (footsteps shuffle)
Keep fire on them but started
and then head towards the Ute and Sims.
We planned.
(gasoline sploshes)
Sister Grace Marie.
Mike Shepard. We, we met at the convent.
I never hurt Angelica! I know you didn't,
and I don't think you've heard anyone in your life,
and I don't think you want to now.
Do you know what it's like to wake up every morning
and think, "Is this the day that monster's
gonna find me and kill me?"
No, but that's why we're here. Leave it to us now.
(gas can thuds)
You ruined me!
Holly, please. Put down the lighter.
Holly's dead! He killed Holly!
Holly, please. The lighter.
(dramatic music)
Not until he tells you what he did.
What are you doing, babe?
We had to be together forever. Do you remember?
No! Yeah, our vows!
When we married, I meant every word!
Till death to us part. Holly, please.
Step away from the Ute and give me the lighter.
I can't live without you, all right?
I've tried. I love you so much, Holly.
Do you hurt the people you love?
It's not the way it's supposed to go, no.
Tell him what you did to Angelica!
Tell me, Jonah.
I followed the nuns back to the convent,
and I found you, whore, after all these years.
I'd been following her for weeks.
(branch snaps) (tense music)
Yes.
(bell rings) (footsteps shuffle)
Psst! Sister Grace Marie!
Come on, Eulalia! Chop chop.
(dark dramatic music) (Angelica gags)
(body thuds)
(dark brooding music)
(footsteps shuffle) (leaves rustle)
She was my friend, my best, my only friend,
and you took her away like you take everything!
You don't want the death of this man
on your conscience, Holly.
As long as he's alive, I will always be in danger.
You won't.
He will go to jail for what he's done
for a very, very long time,
and you will continue your life with Elizabetha
and the other women who have protected you up to now.
(tense music) (leaves rustle)
It's not enough.
Have a little faith.
(lighter clicks)
Thank you.
(soft poignant music)
(nuns whimper)
Love bears all things, Grace Marie.
It hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. We will keep you safe.
So anything?
(people chatter indistinctly)
Not yet. Mike, did you reach out?
I did, and I'm sure we'll hear something back soon,
but Tabitha was never big on the notion
of punctuality or deadlines.
Her sense of time is more governed by the moon.
(Beth laughs)
Ladies.
Ah
Oh, I can feel her attitude
It's gotten more than in the mood
She couldn't really understand it
But now I know how he demands it
They pimped their handbook.
I thought I recognized this song.
To be your man with the diamond ring
Don't know if she can even handle this love
Bearing the things that he gave her
Caught inside a jail with a curfew and I know
He took it away
Yes, I know
I do, I do, I do, I do
I know
He took it away
You see, I can make a change in an hour
And I know your past has gone sour
But I know, know, know
Oh, I know
I know that he can take control and devour
But you gotta take the reins with the power
Yes, I know, know, know
Yeah, I know
He'll take it away