♪ Turn out the light
♪ I shall escape
♪ Free I'd roam
♪ But how can I slip away
♪ When the future becomes my past? ♪
ECHOING LAUGHTER
WOMAN GASPS
ECHOING SOBS
INDISTINCT SHOUTS
BUILDER: .. police
.. Yeah.
Cheers.
Two girls?
The remains of. Identification won't be easy.
The builders who found them didn't know whether to call us or the museum.
- How long? - The initial estimate's 15 years.
This'll make front page news.
And you've given me Boyce.
Oxbridge educated, so sensitive he faints at the sight of blood.
Just a shame that at the time of these murders
he was still breast-fed.
There'll be a full report on your desk in the morning.
Find out what was here before, who had access to it,
the details of everyone who lived
or worked within sight radius of the crime scene, 1995-2005.
Got it.
You got it, Boss.
She seems a bit, er...
Two weeks into the job, a double murder case to deal with
and no clue.
Drop me home, get yourself an overnight bag.
- Where are we going? - The Western Isles.
Isn't that in Scotland?
And I wasn't breast-fed. Bottle. Last of three.
She won't be long. She's out training.
Sugar?
You don't have any, um, sweetener..?
Er, no.
Getting married... Trying to stay trim for the big day, so...
DOOR OPENS
Is everything all right?
Yeah.
Whose is the car outside?
That's Detective Sergeant Boyce. Detective Chief Inspector...
John. Like I said, we're old friends.
God, Claire. How long's it been?
What are you doing here?
"Just passing."
So, I thought we'd drop in.
I'll make up the spare bed, then.
Are they staying?
We don't want to cause any bother.
It's either that or swim. There's no ferry till the morning.
Megan.
You sure you don't want to dry off? You seem a bit cold.
Just sit down.
Just sit.
Told you they'd make us feel welcome.
- DOG BARKS - Oh, God, no, I hate dogs.
Oh...
You didn't think about that before joining the police?
DOG BARKS
BOYCE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY
DOOR SHUTS UPSTAIRS
SHOWER RUNS
(Oh, God, oh, my god.)
MURMUR OF CONVERSATION
MUSIC PLAYING
Who are they?
Ask Claire. VIPs.
Life insurance salesmen.
Didn't you know, I'm only in this for the money.
"Norrie".
Seems like a nice enough boy.
He is.
I'm sorry.
It's funny, this, it's just not what I imagined.
Not that I spend a lot of time imagining.
Crime rate can't be up to much for one -- what we talking,
five miles long, one across, 50, 60 residents max?
43.
They keep leaving, don't they?
It suits me here. I'm happy.
Very.
We've got the cottage, smallholding,
starting our own business...
- Small Island Biscuits. - Biscuits?
We've got interest from a supermarket.
Explains all that training.
Hilarious, I forgot you were a comedian.
Come on... Seriously?
Claire. What the fuck are you doing in a place like this?
What the fuck are you?! Seriously?
I'm on a case. You'll have heard about it on TV.
No TV.
Two bodies... girls... women...
Found in what was the red-light district.
Why are you telling me this?
Because I want your help.
Are you mad? You must be, cos that's ridiculous.
It's 16 years since I left the police force!
We think they've been in the ground since 1998.
No-one else knows as much about this as you do.
You wrote this, this is your report.
There's stuff in there, Claire, it's not finished.
I need you... to tell me everything.
I'm sorry. I don't know what you hoped to achieve by coming here,
but it was a mistake.
This has nothing to do with me.
Ladies and gents, before we go on, an announcement.
- ♪ Happy Birthday to you... ♪ - Excuse me.
ALL: ♪ Happy Birthday to you... ♪
- Come on! - Come on up, you grisly old bastard...
♪ Happy Birthday, dear Norrie...
♪ Happy Birthday to you. ♪
I love you.
What do you call this?
Orange juice. We're on duty.
On duty, Boss.
Have you ever thought about applying to go under cover?
When in Rome, Boyce. When in Rome.
PHONE RINGS
Talk to the boss for me, tell her I'm busy.
I'll sort this.
Laphroaig.
Actually, give us the bottle.
DOG BARKS
HE STARTS
BOYCE COUGHS
Morning.
This yours?
The island's so small, I barely use it.
Prefer to run.
Yeah.
Had any more thoughts?
About what?
The girls.
Oh, that? I put that down to single malt.
Unfair. I was stone-cold sober. At that point.
Look, John...
First time you've called me by my name.
First time you've really smiled at me.
I'm flattered, really.
Flattered, too? That must have been a good run.
There's no point. I'm sorry you wasted your time coming here.
- This is your case. - You don't know that.
The one you were working on when you left the police.
The disappearance of prostitutes. At the time, no-one took you seriously.
Now we're all ears.
You are the only one who talked to these girls,
the only one who knew what was going on,
on the ground at the time these crimes were committed.
We need you... Claire. Stop walking away from me.
How could you even contemplate, doing this? Coming here.
You're hiding. It's obvious. You don't belong somewhere like this.
- Look at you. - Look at you!
Fat, embittered, heavy drinking, middle-aged, male detective.
Do you know how much of a cliche that is?
So save me.
Morning.
Everything OK?
- Our guests are leaving. - So soon?
Unfortunately, and I'm afraid she's coming.
- You're under arrest. - What for?
- Just ignore him. - Brake lights.
I've already told you I don't drive the sodding thing.
- Parked on a public highway. - It's private.
Placing the Queen's head upside down on an envelope.
- That's high treason. - Is he being funny? - He thinks he is.
- Fine, have it your way. - Hey! Let go of her.
Don't even engage with him. He's being a dick... Oww!
- Oh, take your hands off her. - Listen to your elders?
Norrie...
ABH. GBH. Attempted murder, maybe.
Assaulting an officer of the law! Definitely.
We should have listened to you.
You know you owe it to them.
Just tell us what you know.
OK... You win.
Seriously?!
Please, Norrie, Norrie... please.
You are a fucking arsehole!
Er, morning.
You don't happen to have any aspirin, or..
DOG GROWLS
BOYCE GROANS
CAR LOCK BLEEPS
SIREN WAILS
Claire. Come on.
We're in the midst of a major murder investigation.
You've been away from the office for two days.
It might seem improbable now but you're going to thank me.
Your focus should be on, I dunno, gathering evidence,
establishing victims' IDs.
I left that in the hands of my very capable team.
I shouldn't need to explain but we have standards, protocols,
none of which include
fannying off to the Western Isles to drag back ex-colleagues.
Colleague... just the one ex-colleague.
Police Constable Church, seconded from uniform in '98 to '99
to work on developing contacts within the sex worker community.
I brought her in because she compiled a list of prostitutes
rumoured missing.
The latest from forensics.
I'm not questioning her potential usefulness,
just your sense of priorities.
Oh, I... bought you this.
Brighten up the office.
DOOR OPENS
In case you're hungry.
For a baker, he's got quite a swing on him.
I told you everything 16 years ago and you rejected it.
What is this? What is it you want, Claire?
An apology? You were right. We were wrong.
The Greater Manchester Police hereby apologises for not listening. Fine!
We're sorry. You've got it.
The case you were investigating was relevant, real.
Naive. That's what you called it.
The way it's written, it still is.
So are you if you think that at the time anyone would have listened had I pushed this.
There was already talk of me pushing to keep you in CID.
You were 24, inexperienced, my constable.
Fine. Let's just do this. What do you want to know?
This is DCI John Hind interviewing Claire Church as a witness regarding
the recent discovery of two bodies in the Boundary Way area.
In your original file you say that you were investigating
Caz Jenkins, Mimi Fenton, Sally Fisher.
Three women, all went missing according to
their "colleagues" between February '98 and the end of March 1999.
We now have two bodies found in the red-light district,
their deaths date back to exactly the same period.
Forensics have confirmed the timeline fits. There were the remains
of a tenner and a bus pass hidden in one of their shoes.
Well, that's where they hid it so the punters couldn't steal it.
They'd both been tied, almost certainly tortured.
Their corpses treated with hydrogen peroxide,
an attempt to dissolve the evidence...
or clean it. We can't even get a positive ID.
Obviously, I can't reveal the full details of the current case,
but seeing as you wrote this...
.. deaths date back to exactly the same period...
ECHOING LAUGHTER
They were tied, almost certainly tortured.
We want you to work with us on this.
ECHOING LAUGHTER
I can't.
I thought you wanted to get these girls justice.
You know I did! But I wasn't good enough, was I?
I failed them.
WE failed them.
It's in the past. It has nothing to do with me now.
I've a new life. I don't have to do this.
It's over, done... it's finished.
They'll kill you.
Not nearly as fast as swimming in the North Atlantic will.
What are you training for, anyway?
Iron Woman.
You're serious?!
26-mile run, 112-mile cycle, 2.4-mile swim.
Yes, you are. Very.
You're not that fat.
- Sorry? - You heard me.
I'm sorry.
I know it wasn't the only reason you left the police.
Where is this?
Do you recognise it?
It's changed superficially, been cleaned up, gentrified
on the surface, but if you ask me it still has that same feel.
I guess there are some pasts you can't escape no matter how
good a front you put on it.
They've found the remains of a third body.
Sir.
CHILDREN CHATTING
One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!
Any refreshments? Any refreshments?
Can I get a coffee, please?
Milk, sugar?
Two of each.
That'll be 1.50.
1.50?
Sorry.
Ta.
So it was fine?
Yeah.
Just fine?
Like I said. It was nonsense.
Nothing.
They just dragged you down to Manchester for a laugh?
Yeah. It was a scream.
I didn't think we had any secrets.
We don't. I'm just knackered.
He's on a case that relates to some work I did years ago.
He?
John.
You two were partners.
He was my DS, so...
Translate for the plebeian, please.
Detective Sergeant. I was the rank below him.
He sort of mentored me.
It's history, ancient history.
All part of some dark, dismal and frankly very boring past which
I've no intention of returning to ever again.
Now can we talk about something else, please? Norrie...?
Well, if the mountain won't come to Muhammad...
Who are you calling a mountain?
I thought you were knackered.
I was... Then you started doing that whole pouty plebeian thing.
I love you.
Good.
TV: 'These are horrifying crimes
'and we are determined to catch the person responsible.
'Due to the length of time the bodies have been in the ground
'and the violent nature of the crimes,
'we have yet to establish a positive identification.'
DOOR SHUTS
You're in late.
I had my meeting.
John, I told you about it this morning. Martin Wallis.
Chief Executive of MW Action.
Go well?
'We are appealing for people who think they may have links
'to the victims to come forward to the police with information.'
Who'd want to know that's what happened to their kid?
Some questions are better left unanswered.
Don't stay up too late.
'.. anyone who had or has contact with any girls who were
'working in this area at the time.
'If you knew any girls reported missing round the time the murders...'
Night, Boyce.
Se ya.
'.. particularly the friends or relatives
'of any of the girls believed to have gone missing.
'We know it may be hard, difficult and sensitive.
RADIO: 'If you remember anything, even if you just visited the area,
'please don't hesitate to get in touch.
'We know that 16 years is a long time
'but there must be people out there with information still.
'And that could make all the difference.
'So, please, come forward.
'No matter how small,
'no matter how insignificant that information might appear to be...
'we are here waiting to hear from you.
'The contact details can be found on the bottom of your screens
'and on our website.
'All calls will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.
'So ring the information line, please.'
RECORDING: 'Present, Past, Future. I am...'
- I am. - 'I was.'
- I was. - 'I will be.'
I will be.
I will... be.
PHONE CHIMES
'.. at this stage I cannot reveal any details.'
'Are there any questions?'
JOURNALISTS CLAMOUR
'Do they still pose a risk?
'These crimes were committed 16 years ago.
'Nevertheless we cannot discount the possibility
'that the murderer could still be active.'
INDISTINCT MUSIC PLAYS
'Let's give these girls what they have so far been denied... justice.'
PHONE RINGS
Hello.
'You were watching?'
You pay my wages. I'm your biggest fan.
'It's generated a huge number of calls from the public,
'most of them probably dead ends but one of them says she's a relative.'
Of which girl?
'Sally Fisher. She's willing to do DNA.
'He's out there, he could even have been watching.
'We can't let him win.'
ECHOING LAUGHTER
INDISTINCT VOICE ECHOES
SHE SIGHS
ECHOING LAUGHTER
SHE BREATHES HEAVILY
INAUDIBLE
ECHOING LAUGHTER
HORN BLARES
SHE GASPS
SHE SIGHS
MUFFLED SCREAMS
DOOR OPENS
MUFFLED SOBS
FOOTSTEPS ECHO
SHE SOBS
DOG BARKS
RADIO ON
I'll take that.
You never look at these! They're none of your business!
What's going on?
Nothing. What do you mean?
You're acting weird.
I'm not acting weird.
PHONE RINGS
Hello.
No. Sorry, she's...
out.
Can I take a message? Hang on...
OK.
Sally Fisher... positive ID.
Got it.
RADIO ON
Right, I'm off.
You, behave.
Won't be late.
See you, Dads. Go get him.
Do me best.
CAR LOCK BLEEPS
PHONE CONNECTS
- 'DCI Hind.' - It's me. We should meet.
'Where?'
'Somewhere neutral. somewhere in-between.'
For the record, this doesn't mean we're about to work together.
Thank you for the file, you got what you wanted.
I'm here to tell you what I know and then that's me done with this.
- Any more ground rules? - We've got an hour.
I'm on the five o'clock ferry.
There you go, Cinderella.
Two of each.
Just like the good old days, the two of us stuck in no-man's-land.
Waiting for our whore to come in. Coffee's better than it used to be.
As for me, fat, old, embittered...
- You, Claire... - A different person entirely.
At least that's how it feels.
Looking back, I barely recognise myself.
I must have blanked a lot of it.
You don't mind if I...
Tell me when you first became suspicious about the disappearances.
February, 1998. We'd been on a drugs raid.
Boundary Way... or somewhere near.
We'd hauled in this girl for selling but it didn't fit.
It was obvious she wasn't a pusher. She was a user.
She said she'd only been selling to raise the cash to get away.
Her friend had gone missing and she was scared.
That's what I remember most, her fear.
How do you know she wasn't lying?
- She was willing to sell her fix to get off the street. - Half of it.
Cut it with some crap, use the profit to double her hit.
That's why none of them came to you.
They'd learnt not to trust the police, heard if
- they reported a rape it'd be written up on the board as knock and run. - Come on. - Deny it.
Gallows humour.
- That's the way it was. You and the lads. - What do they call it now?
- You and the team. - A coping mechanism. - You treated them as though they were barely human,
although they did have their occasional uses.
Not true.
Not me.
You had other outlets.
RECORDER CLICKS OFF
I thought you wanted me to tell you everything.
HE SIGHS
RECORDER CLICKS ON
This girl. She was an addict.
Hardly the most reliable witness.
Like I said, she was desperate. And it was different.
She wasn't the only one. By then, I'd begun the meetings.
With the prostitutes?
Anyone involved in the sex worker community.
We'd meet in a cafe once a week.
Most of it was rubbish...
bitchy, over the top gossip -- someone had wronged somebody
so they'd try to get me to drop them in it. But other stuff tallied.
Multiple reports of girls gone missing, Caz Jenkins disappeared.
The fear was palpable, you could see it every time they got up to leave.
They all felt there was someone out there, someone predatory.
They knew their lives were at risk.
Caz, I'd never met.
Apparently she was a bit of a joker
but they all put on a front to some extent.
Sally...
Sally was a catastrophe.
Always in trouble with the other girls, always owing somebody
something. She didn't drink tea, just had chips and vinegar.
She was happy, the last time I saw her.
She'd met a man. Somebody decent, or so she supposed.
He bought her a bracelet.
Just silver-plated tat but to her it was priceless,
proof of his feelings.
Three days later she called me. Something had changed.
She sounded panicked, scared.
She wouldn't say why, not over the phone, wanted to meet,
made me promise to be there.
I never made it.
A week later, Sally was reported missing.
Her parents gave us these.
They called in straight after the appeal.
Done a DNA test.
Claire. It's working. We're getting somewhere.
These are the last ones they took of her before she left home.
I suspect she'd changed a bit... Two years on the streets.
I'm sure the more innocent look will help with the appeal.
The girl on the raid, your "unreliable witness" --
Mimi Fenton -- she couldn't have been 17.
At least Sally has someone interested in looking for her now.
We all feel it, Claire...
.. but to do the job, you have to learn to keep a lid on these things.
You can't go blaming yourself.
The way these girls lived...
We were...
We were in bed together.
You and me, fucking each other's brains out while she...
The night I was meant to meet Sally Fisher was the night you were
supposed to tell Julie.
You called and I dropped everything.
We were celebrating.
Well...
.. we both broke our promises.
I don't want you to contact me again. There's no need.
They weren't tied.
They were trussed... like meat.
Please, Dad.
Megan! I said no, and that's the end of it.
Hey, you two. What's going on to?
Oh, some party on Rum she can't go to. James Chase.
He's all I bloody hear about these days!
That's because there are no other boys
within a million miles of this place.
Ben Maddock?!
- Ew! - Ew.
What's wrong with Ben Maddock?
Nothing apart from halitosis and buck teeth.
I meant all this...
Just, you know, clearing out the barn.
It's about time. There's stuff been here from since...
God knows when.
Oh, I remember this one, Queens Head, Camden 2001.
Oh, God, sorry.
It's OK, I was pissed.
Back then, you were always pissed.
That's cos I didn't have you to straighten me out.
So tell me how it went?
It's done. I've done everything I can.
It's finished.
OK.
Well, it looks like, we're going to need that second kitchen.
The supermarket? You're kidding me.
You're kidding me. You're kidding me.
SHE GROANS
DOOR OPENS
Hiya.
- Hey. - Jack out? - Hannah's.
- Ollie? - Cinema.
TV ON
John, I'm trying to concentrate... to write an e-mail.
Can't you go in the kitchen?
You know this is what it'll be like.
Just me and you.
Both boys'll be off, couple of years.
Touch wood.
Still think we know each other enough?
- Oh, God. - It's just sometimes I think we've both been so busy...
Of course we'll still know each other, if anything too much.
I'm sorry. I've a lot on...
It's just not how I want to be spending my free time...
not exactly relaxing.
I'm sorry.
Truth is I can't compete.
You're still thinking about her, aren't you?
Sally Fisher.
Can't you give the dead a night off for once?
You're right.
We've the whole evening, we can do anything...
go wild, order Thai instead of Indian!
I know it's tough for you.
You're an angel, really, but what can I do?
Hey? What can I do?
- Jules, I... - PHONE RINGS
Take out for one.
Boyce.
Who found it?
The security guard.
- How long ago? - 30 minutes.
Fresh?
Fresh. Thank you.
Initial estimates put time of death within 24 hours.
DOOR SHUTS
What are you doing?
Just looking.
CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
See the arms, the way they're tied.
They're not tied, they're trussed like meat.
They're killing again.
Tell me about him.
He was your boyfriend, wasn't he?
Megan!
Before Dad.
He was my colleague.
He was married.
It was a past life.
Least you had one.
It's my old shoulder number.
It's nothing.
So why keep it?
Because once it was something.
Now sleep!
Goodnight, darling.
You poor girl, what have they done to you?
A964... 5.
Mean anything?
Officer A9645. Can you please come in?