So, we'll do that ECG in 30 minutes? OK.
Nurses' station.
Even if you hadn't have told me, I would have guessed.
Because you have the bearing of a dancer.
Where I come from, swimming pools are for swimming in.
I just spoke to your mum.
She's on the way.
It's OK.
See you tomorrow, love.
Bye, sweetie. Take care. You, too.
Hello?
Please...
Please... Please leave me alone. Please.
Please, please.
Help me!
Hiya, Rob.
What've we got?
Er, not really sure, boss.
What I do know, though, is it's weird.
You're saying there's no sign of any kind of physical struggle at all?
With herself, maybe.
With anyone else? No.
Staffe.
Is that a nurse's uniform?
ID in her bag. A Sofie Cerna, 24.
I reckon she'd just come from the hospital.
No good deed...
Any suggestions?
I'm guessing some sort of seizure or respiratory paralysis,
so death by asphyxiation.
It's the colour, the eyes. The spittle.
Seizure caused by? Don't know.
I've not seen anything like this outside photos in a textbook.
Photos of what? Sarin death.
Serious?
I'm not saying that's what we have here,
because the commuter who found her is fine, as are the station staff.
As are we. Well, so far!
So, not an airborne nerve Agent,
but something mimicking the effects, maybe.
And definitely not natural causes?
This is anything but natural.
So, this is her outside the station.
And then CCTV from inside.
There's no one anywhere near her.
Um, spool forward, can you? Yeah.
Sure enough.
She looks barking.
As illuminating and sensitive as your perspective is, Rob,
it doesn't quite chime with the fact that an hour before
she was working perfectly normally at the hospital.
Can you give me the platform again?
Sure.
There, there.
Do you see?
She thinks there's someone behind her.
So, she's hallucinating?
Maybe she took something just before she left work?
Yeah, like a recreational drug she had a bad reaction to.
Hmm.
Have we found her next of kin?
Her sister's expecting us.
She's waiting with Sofie's little girl.
What happened?
Oh, we're not entirely sure right now, Mr Balden.
We're just waiting for the post-mortem to come back.
What am I going to tell my parents?
My father, he begged us not to come here.
Told us it was dangerous.
Sofie only came because I talked her into it.
What am I going to tell them?
You and Sofie were together?
Well, it's been a bit, um...
On and off, the past few months.
And why was that?
She wanted a better life than -
Kat, not now, please.
Was that her choice, or yours?
Hers.
And why was that, do you think?
The gambling, the crazy jealousy!
Please.
Was there someone to be jealous of?
She said no, but, um...
She would, wouldn't she?
And did you know of anyone else?
No.
She had been acting weird recently, though.
You have to admit that.
Like, she was away with the fairies.
She acted like she was always thinking about something else.
And, er...
Where were you the last 24 hours, Mr Balden?
I was at work.
And then, um... I was at a mate's.
And, er...
I kipped there for the night.
I could never...
Do you mind if we take a quick look around?
Don't tell them anything.
How much do nurses earn?
Factoring in overtime, London rents, and paying off student loans,
probably 27 pence an hour.
Did either of you know she had that in her bedroom drawer?
No idea.
Thank you.
So, how does an ostensibly skint young woman
acquire two, three grand in cash?
Well, my stock answer would be stripping or escorting.
That would explain why her boyfriend thought there was somebody else.
Watch me, watch me!
Any disagreements with anyone recently?
A patient who got aggressive?
A drunk who made threats against her?
No. Really, she was just brilliant with the patients.
Even the lairy ones,
she always managed to calm them down with a joke, or...
Everybody loved her.
Was she seeing anyone?
What, in between 12-hour shifts, the studying,
and looking after a daughter, you mean?
So, no?
Well, she certainly never mentioned anyone to me,
and I think she would have.
What was she studying for?
There's a series of courses you can take,
if you want to increase your wage band.
She was working all hours to pass those.
How was she doing that?
I mean, how was she keeping going?
I don't know.
Smita, we are trying to help her.
Trying to make sense of what went wrong.
So, if she...
If she was taking something,
that might really help us understand why she died.
I genuinely don't know if she was.
But a few weeks back, I caught her stealing some meds.
Opiates, mainly.
Tramadol and fentanyl.
Do you know what for?
She wouldn't say.
She was incredibly ashamed and upset.
I'm guessing she was selling them.
Did you report it?
She swore it was the first time,
and that it would never happen again.
So, no, I didn't report her.
Because she was my friend.
Because she was the best nurse I ever worked with.
Mummy...
We're doing door-to-doors, but no eyewitnesses so far.
All right. How's the little girl?
Not so good.
OK, well, just make safeguarding her a priority.
Yeah, will do.
And a couple of other little tickles for you.
Some of the days the sister baby-sat
don't match with Sofie's work timetable.
OK.
So, she wasn't at the hospital?
Not on shift, no.
That's interesting.
We had multiple calls on her mobile, to and from an unregistered number.
And I also just heard from forensics
on a bathroom swab taken during their search.
We have a small trace of blood present
which don't match any of Sofie's family, or boyfriend.
Right. Have you spoken to her sister?
She says she has no idea whose it could be.
And you believed her?
Er, well, I don't know. Maybe.
I've asked for a national check, so we should have a result tomorrow.
OK, cool. Good stuff. Thank you, Rob.
Why risk capture trying to enter the home
of the person you just murdered?
Unless there's evidence in the flat linking him or her to the victim?
Then it's just a calculated risk.
I think it's more likely it was someone looking for the money.
Someone who knew what she'd been doing.
Someone who knew there was a spare key on the back of the door.
That makes sense.
This just came through from toxicology.
"Presence of unusual chemicals found within sputum and vomit."
"High levels of physostigmine."
It's an alkaloid.
OK.
Pretend for a second we're not experts on alkaloids?
Quantities like these will cause rapid contractions
of the muscles in the heart, the lungs, the diaphragm,
to the point of rigid paralysis, and then death.
Well, how did it get inside her?
Was it found in the alveoli or bloodstream?
Er...
It says just in the vomit, I think.
OK.
Physostigmine was produced using a chemical process.
In this case, I'd guess digestion.
She ate it? Correct.
OK.
Is there anything unusual in the stomach?
Well...
This.
Physostigma venenosum.
Not a Harry Potter spell.
No? Nothing?
Yeah, fair enough.
It's the Latin name for this.
It's the Calabar bean,
the seed of an obscure
but highly toxic West African climbing vine.
And, effectively, our murder weapon.
Now, Dr Paul's still waiting for brain tissue samples,
but he believes this is the cause of death.
Several seeds like this, consumed within her last meal,
which was a salad,
with the poison released upon chewing these seeds,
causing profound hallucinations
followed by total respiratory paralysis.
Jesus. It says here it has a history in ritualistic killing.
Is that what we're looking at?
I mean, possibly,
but then you'd expect other stuff to be found at the scene.
You know, the body to be doctored post-mortem.
Just more of a show.
Should we be checking for Russian connections?
Yeah, I think we have to do,
considering Sofie's nationality, and the MO. Guv.
This seed was ingested less than 90 minutes before she died,
which means during her last shift at the hospital.
Presumably it's just gone into the waste,
along with everyone else's lunches,
but just find out where she got the salad, where she ate it,
if anyone else has been taken ill.
And Rob, CCTV from the hospital.
Everything you can find from the last 48 hours. On it.
And listen, this is a rare and illegal-to-import seed.
And we have evidence
that the killer had access to more than just a few of them,
cos, look, these three were found still undigested in her stomach.
There can't be many places we can get hold of a batch of these,
so let's make that work for us.
Shoplifting?
Yeah, PS4 games,
and uniform couldn't get hold of his mum, apparently,
so then he told them that you're his uncle,
so they brought him up here.
Hey. With me.
Why weren't you at school?
Oh, really? Yeah?
Dismissive shrugs are for your mum, not for me.
We're meant to be mates.
Meant to be.
OK.
Look...
I'm sorry I haven't been around more.
But stealing stuff, and bunking off school...
That's not me, mate.
That's not you either, is it?
No.
So, what's wrong? What is it?
Is there an issue at school?
Well, what's up, then?
Have I ever not provided for you?!
Have you ever not had lovely things at birthdays and Christmas?!
Have I ever not made it absolutely clear
that stealing is anything other than seriously fucking wrong?!
I'm sorry. It was - No, you don't get to talk!
You get to sit there and listen!
Don't you dare roll your eyes at me!
Wow. The database has four, no, five similar cases of poisoning.
When?
In the last 15 years or so.
There was a property developer found drowned in the Thames in 2004,
then we've got a judge found dead in his office, 2009.
Any Russian connection?
It doesn't look like it.
Nor was anyone ever arrested.
Well, look what I found on hospital CCTV.
Do we know who this is?
He never turns around, but Sofie is out there chatting, in private,
for 11 minutes.
So, maybe she WAS having an affair.
When's this from?
Two days ago.
And is it just this one time, or? Not sure.
I'll have a further look tomorrow.
Oh, are you off?
It's the end of the day.
Oh, right, sure.
Listen, I work my tits off in here 9-to-5,
but I also have a life back at home.
And I stopped prioritising dead people over it a long time ago.
Sorry, that kind of came out wrong.
You see, me, I have no other life, so...
Night, love.
Night, George.
Thanks.
I should have seen it coming. Why?
He's been getting into trouble at school.
Answering back.
He had a fight with one of his best friends last week.
He's changing.
That's what kids do, though, isn't it?
He's nearly 13.
Jesus, I was a nightmare at his age. Yeah, you were.
At least Hal hasn't stolen your car
and driven it into Mrs Dench's front garden.
Small mercies, eh.
What is happening to my lovely little boy?
Come on, Jules, it's a phase. He'll be fine.
Yeah...
How about you? Are you OK?
Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired.
Juggling a lot, with...
work, and Harry, and...
The wedding.
Yeah. All grown-up things of which I have no appreciation.
No, you don't
And another thing, the estate Agents are now booked for next week.
You need to find the deeds.
Is Paolo helping out?
Yeah, yeah, he's doing his bit.
He has got the bar, and he's trying to run a business.
And, to be honest,
Harry doesn't exactly make it easy for him.
He seems to take pleasure in winding him up, so...
Winding him up how?
I don't know. He just pushes his buttons.
I mean...
It's a big thing, isn't it, you know?
He's never known his real dad.
And, suddenly he's got a brand-new one,
just foisted on him.
Foisted? What do you mean, foisted?
He wasn't foisted on him.
OK, I'm sorry.
I introduced him really carefully, actually.
That was really important to me.
Sure, absolutely.
He wanted a real family, a mum and a dad...
So, why would you say that then?
Just give me a second. Hang on.
Staffe.
Guv, it's me. Yeah.
Just had a call from the lab, and we've got an ID
from the blood found in Sofie Cerna's bathroom.
OK. Sounds good.
Come on, grab your stuff. We're leaving.
Just hold on a sec.
Where are you going?
It's getting late. He's tired.
I'll drive you.
It's all right. We'll get an Uber. Harry!
Bye, mate.
Bye.
Boss?
Er, yeah, sorry, I'm here.
Right, the DNA is on a missing persons database,
and belongs to someone called Adam Miller,
who was reported missing seven years ago,
as a 13-year-old kid.
There was a search and appeal, the full works,
but he hasn't been heard from since, and was presumed dead.
And now he turns up in Sofie's flat.
Checking I don't bunk off?
You get a Police escort now you're a roadman.
You know, I nearly came after you the other night.
Why?
I don't know. Just...
You looked worried.
Cos I thought Mum was gonna kick off even worse when we got out of yours.
Did she?
Actually, no.
How about when you got home?
Everything was fine?
Yeah.
OK.
OK, so, I will see you on Sunday then.
And whip your arse at GTA.
GTA's a one-player game, Staffe.
Anyway, I'm too young to play it.
Yeah? I'll tell you what you ARE too young to do.
One, call me Staffe.
And two, whip your Uncle Will's arse in a real-life fight
Hey? Come here!
Argh!
Sorry, man, I didn't mean to...
I've got to go.
Hey, wait.
I'll be late.
Hal?!
Stop!
Come here.
Show me your arm.
Give me your arm.
It's just a bruise.
Did it happen at school?
No.
At home?
Was it Mum?
No!
How many times has it happened?
A few times.
Two, three? A few times!
OK.
Listen to me.
I'm gonna make this go away, Hal.
OK?
I want you to know that.
And I want you to know, for sure,
he is never, ever, ever...
going to do that to you again. OK?
Please don't tell Mum I told you.
God, I won't.
Promise? I promise.
Promise.
I want you to do something for me.
OK?
Promise me that you will not take one single atom,
of one molecule of the blame for this.
Sure.
Come here.
Go on, you'll be late.
I love you, man.
Let's get Adam Miller's picture into all surveillance systems.
Get it out to response cops and PCSOs,
and start with the area around Sofie's flat,
then just fan out from there.
Where are we with Sofie?
So, her meal was bought
at a sandwich shop just outside the hospital.
She went there pretty much every day apparently.
And because the customer makes up the salad themselves,
the boxes aren't sealed,
meaning there was plenty of opportunity
for somebody to slip something into the container
when she was getting her cutlery, or paying.
Is there any CCTV there?
I'm afraid not, no.
So, like you said,
the seeds are illegal to import without a licence,
which is seldom issued,
since a ritual killing case back in 2012.
Now, I spoke to the investigating Officer,
and he said there was a suspect
they were convinced had supplied the plant to the murderer.
They're sending through the case summary.
Thank you.
Guv. The car from the hospital car park,
the one that Sofie was sitting in,
it belongs to a consultant surgeon at the hospital,
Mr Nicholas Kyriacou.
So sad.
Everyone here has been knocked for six by it.
I'm sure.
Did you know her well, Dr Kyriacou?
Mr. I'm a consultant.
And no, not well.
I met her briefly on a course I was a tutor for.
She seemed lovely.
Ambitious, and bright.
Incredibly hard-working, so it was a dreadful loss,
not just for her family, and her daughter, of course,
but also for the NHS.
So, that was the extent of your relationship?
What do you mean?
Well, the father of Sofie's child thought she was having an affair.
And, er...
We were just wondering if it was with you.
God, no. Absolutely not. This is...
I'm sorry, but I'm a very happily married man.
It's a ridiculous suggestion.
That's good to hear!
So, why was she in your car for eight minutes and 22 seconds
on the evening of the seventh?
In my car?
Yeah. And then talking with you in the car park on the 13th.
You chatted for nearly 11 minutes that time.
Oh. Yeah, yeah.
I do remember.
So, as I say, she had done this course I led,
and basically, she wanted to know what other courses she could take
to push her pay grade up as quickly as possible.
Right, I see.
I'm sure she could have found that information on a website, though.
Yeah, I'm sure.
But listen, she was away from her family.
Um... A single mother working very long hours.
No other support network.
So I think she wanted a sounding board.
Someone to talk to.
Maybe she saw me as something of a father figure, I don't know.
But whatever the reason,
I was very happy to give her a few minutes of my time.
Right.
Right, that was very kind of you.
So, why did you lie?
It was stupid. Sorry.
I guess I knew how it might look.
OK. I think that's everything, Dr Kyriacou.
Sorry. Mr Kyriacou.
No problem.
I hope I was helpful. Absolutely.
Thank you.
Oh, sorry, one last thing.
Where were you the night of her death?
At home, with my wife. All night.
And she can corroborate that, can she?
Of course. Great!
Thank you.
All lies?
Well, I don't actually think they were shagging,
but the rest of it...
Yeah, complete bollocks.
Hello?
He's a lippy teenager.
His mother let him get away with murder for too long.
He needs discipline.
Oh, man.
You are so lucky
we're having this conversation in a public place.
Where would you like it?
Down by the canal again?
You know what?
I don't want it anywhere,
because I don't want to see you ever again.
Oh...
But we put you on the top table!
Because I want you to go.
Where?
Back to Italy.
That's funny.
No, it's not.
It's not funny.
I want you to leave.
I always knew that...
..you were a little bit...
But this.
This is something, Staffe.
So, I'm not unreasonable.
I'm gonna give you money.
Relocation expenses.
So kind! 10 grand.
It's up to you if you take it or not.
But, um...
One thing that's not up for discussion,
you hurt the people I love most in the world, so...
You're leaving.
Oh, yeah...
Hey.
Hey, come back, asshole!
Morning. Staffe.
So...
Do you think it's the same cause of death as Sofie Cerna?
First glance, yeah.
What time was it called in?
About 7:30 last night.
So, why am I only here now?
It was originally logged as an RTA.
Can you give us a minute?
Then the uniform lad clocked the colour of the face,
that there were no injuries,
did a bit of due diligence.
Shit. That'll put the time of death
only a few hours after we spoke to him.
Which would probably mean
he'd already been poisoned when you did.
OK, get the CCTV footage from the car park.
In fact, just get the whole hospital!
And we have an ID on our Calabar seeds supplier.
His name's Vern Creecy.
He's an expert in red plants and flora.
Just trying to get an address for him now. Great. OK, go on, Rob.
Is that a house or a business place?
So...
Something is happening in two days that Kyriacou was mixed up in.
And I'm guessing the "still going ahead on the 20th" text
means still going ahead despite Sofie's death.
It has to, doesn't it?
I can also now confirm that Kyriacou's burner
is a match for the unidentified number
dialled out of Sofie's phone the last few weeks.
Excellent. That means there's a definite connection
between Sofie and Kyriacou.
Any progress locating Adam Miller?
Sorry, not yet.
Shit. We need to find him.
He and Sofie are connected somehow.
We just need to work out how.
Oh, and I have had a call from Smita Williams,
who was her colleague at the ward.
And she now remembers Sofie talking to a uniform lad one night,
who was there to nick a drink driver or something.
I tracked the Officer down.
And he remembers Sofie very well.
Says that he got the impression that she wanted to report something
but she was too scared.
So he assumed drugs, or domestic violence.
Tried to press her on it, and she shut down.
So, the question is,
what, or who,
was scaring her?
I will lift the sheet away from his face,
and I will ask you to tell me
if you think it is your husband or not.
DI Wagstaffe.
Chris Panousis. I'm Nick's brother-in-law.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Yeah, thanks.
Mrs Kyriacou.
DI Wagstaffe.
I'm sorry for your loss.
What did you question my husband about?
I don't think this is the best time to be having this conversation.
I want to know!
I wanted to ask him
about the nature of his relationship with Sofie Cerna.
Did you think they were having an affair?
Phoebes. Did you?!
I thought it was possible, yes.
Were they?
I don't believe so, no.
Did you?
Yeah.
If not her, then someone.
And why would you think that?
Because the last few months, I...
I completely lost him.
He wasn't there for me.
He wasn't there for his kids, who he adored.
He said he was at the hospital, but I knew for sure he wasn't.
He just became a different person.
Well, like I say,
I don't believe they were having a relationship,
but I do think they were caught up in something.
Nick dedicated his life to helping others.
He was a good man.
Phoebe. Maybe the Officer is right.
Maybe this isn't the time or the place
to have this conversation.
Maybe we get the identification done,
and then we can talk upstairs?
Come on.
So, on the off chance, I went through new CCTV footage
of Nick Kyriacou's car park space after he drove off last night,
and that's where I picked up Adam Miller.
And this was when?
At about 10 last night.
He hung around there for an hour or so,
and then when he left, I managed to track him
all the way to jumping the barrier at the tube station.
And from there, he comes up at Westbourne Park.
And then he walks to the Grand Union Canal,
and that's where I've lost him, under the flyover.
Josie.
Hey, my name's Will. I'm looking for a guy called Adam.
He's not in any trouble.
I just want to talk to him.
Can we show you a photo?
Shit!
Oh, God.
Suspect heading north-east on foot.
Out of the way!
Adam!
We just want to talk to you!
Adam!
Stop!
Adam!
Staffe.
It's Paolo.
So, have you made a decision?
Yeah.
And I think maybe I will go.
She's just more trouble than I think she's worth.
There's one thing, though.
I want more.
Not 10.
I want 25.
Or I tell the Police about our little encounter.
You think about it.