Inspector George Gently

(cinematic somber dramatic music) (cinematic somber dramatic music continues) (cinematic somber dramatic music continues) (audience chattering) - So she says to us, "Why are you always mumbling all the time?"

I says, "Why am I always mumbling all the time?"

She says, "Aye, why are you always mumbling all the time?"

I says, "You know what your trouble is, pet?"

- You can't tell talk from mutter!

(laughs) - Thanks, mate.

Here's a topical one.

A bloke goes up to Twiggy- - [Audience Member] Pay him off, man, Tommy, for hell's sake!

- [Tommy] Howay, son, you're off.

- [Comedian] Did somebody die or what?

(mic screeching) - [Audience Member] Out of the way, will you.

- Your bingo books are now on sale in the lounge.

(attendees chattering) (mic screeching) - Give us a Mackeson, pet.

- Okay, mate.

- Eyes Down in 10 minutes.

(attendees chattering) - Well, I think it's on the bar.

- Yours, bonny lad?

- Huh?

(attendees chattering) Oh, yeah, yes, it's me daughter.

(attendees chattering) - Bonny little lass.

What's she called?

- Leigh Ann.

(clears throat) - Must have got her face from her mother, eh?

You'd think butter wouldn't melt in their mouths at that age, yeah?

- Yeah, well, it wouldn't.

(attendees chattering) - You look at photos like these and you think, "Look at that little smile.

Look at the light in them eyes.

Whole life ahead."

But you don't know what that life will be, do you?

Nobody knows how a bairn's life will turn out.

Do you recognize him?

- [John] Is it you?

- No.

It's Adolf Hitler.

(attendees chattering) (comedian laughing) I cut it out of a magazine!

(laughs) Adolf Hitler.

I mean, (chuckles) look at his cheeky little face.

(laughs) - [Lisa] Beautiful woman.

- [George] Mm-hmm.

- [Lisa] Thanks for showing it to me.

You must really regret that you couldn't have children.

- Well, they'd have been grown up and gone by now anyway.

- Yeah, but they'd still be there.

And you don't have anybody, do you?

Why's that then?

Married to the job, or would it be disloyal?

Two years since she died, isn't it?

- Yeah.

- I just hate the idea of you being lonely, George.

- I'm alone, I'm not lonely.

- Well, I'm not alone, I've got Leigh Ann, and now I've got me Mum and Dad again, but I am lonely, though, not as lonely as I was when I was living with a man who didn't want me.

- I've given up trying to give John advice.

(telephone ringing) - [Waiter] There you go.

- [George] Um!

No, no, no, no.

- Yes, yes!

- Well, thank you, Lisa, that was very nice.

- [Caller] Is there a Mr.

Gently here?

(George sighs) (intriguing dramatic music) (siren wailing) (starter cranking) (engine rumbling) (tires screeching) (engine roaring) (intriguing dramatic music) (intriguing dramatic music) (pedestrians chattering) - [John] Excuse me.

- It's through that door, Mister.

- Just get home, pet, go on.

Somebody get hold of these kids and get them home!

(intriguing dramatic music) - Chap down the corridor, heard loud voices about a couple of hours ago, peeked out through his doorway, and he saw this bloke running towards the stairs.

He had a cut on his face, blood running from it.

But our chap did nothing, because, apparently, she made a lot of noise, drank a lot, had a lot of male visitors.

(camera shutter snapping) - Somebody's whacked her pretty hard there.

(thunder rumbling) What's all this about?

Hanky covering her eyes.

What you looking for?

- There must be a poker here somewhere.

- [John] Reckon it was the murder weapon?

- I know it was.

- Why?

- Well, dark smudges in with the blood.

You didn't see them, did you?

What, you thought her mascara had run?

It's ash.

- Have I done something to offend you, guv?

- No.

(camera shutter snapping) (camera shutter snapping) (metal clinking) (objects clacking) (camera shutter snapping) - [George] Here we go.

- [John] You found it?

- Birth certificate for one Agnes Charlton.

- [John] Is that her then?

- No, born 1953.

Mother Domenica Charlton, aged 19.

- [John] Maybe this is the mother then.

Make her what?

Early 30s, do you reckon?

Yeah, be about right that, wouldn't it?

Does it give a father's name?

- [George] Yeah.

- You all right?

- [Officer] Sir, the woman's brother, Mr.

Paige.

- I want to see her!

- [George] No, you don't.

- She's me kid sister!

- Yes, Mr.

Paige, but you don't wanna see her, believe me.

Do you live nearby?

- I-I'm at me mother's at the minute, but I-I was in the pub.

- Well, we'd best go and tell her, all right?

- She'll know by now, the whole town knows.

- Well, take me to your mother's, and we'll talk about it there, all right?

Just wait in the car.

- Take him, will you?

- [John] Right, lads, all yours.

- You stay here and take a full statement from this chap and any other residents you can find.

When did he last see her alive, anybody know about boyfriends, et cetera.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- The man with the cut on his face, has he seen him before, would he know him again.

And send someone to check all the hospitals in case somebody comes in looking for stitches in his face.

Saturday night in Newcastle, we'll get the phone book, but do it anyway.

I'll be back.

(police radio chattering) Do you have any idea who might do this to your daughter, Mrs.

Paige?

(clock ticking) Only her neighbor said that Domenica had a lot of visitors, men.

- We loved Domenica, Inspector, we love her.

She was always fragile when she was a bairn, you know?

- She has a daughter.

- Aye, Agnes.

- [George] Where is she?

- She lives with her Dad on the coast.

- Agnes is upstairs asleep.

She wanted to stop with me tonight.

(clock ticking) - You'd better bring her down.

- [Nana] You fetch her, Darren.

- Do I have to tell her?

- Well, somebody's got to.

(clock ticking) - Where on the coast, Mrs.

Paige?

- What?

Oh, Alan, High Blyth.

- Would you write his address down for me, please?

Just here.

(clock ticking) There you go.

- [Agnes] No!

Mom!

(Agnes crying) - How's that child going to live with this?

- When did the marriage fail?

- It never worked, it had no chance.

(Agnes crying) - [Agnes] I want me mammy, Nana!

- [Mrs.

Paige] Your mammy's in Heaven, Agnes.

- [Agnes] I don't want her to go to Heaven, I want her here!

(Agnes sobbing) - Agnes?

Is it all right if I talk to you?

- I don't wanna answer questions!

I want me Mammy back!

- I'm sorry, Agnes.

Um, tomorrow... - Come on, pet, you can sleep in my bed.

- Agnes's father, Domenica's husband, is Alan Charlton, correct?

Did your sister have a regular boyfriend, Darren?

Any enemies?

- Everybody loves Domenica.

I know that you, you think bad of her for the way she lives.

- No.

- Everybody who knew her, loved her.

She was that sort of lass.

- [George] Yeah, you were obviously very close, I'm sorry.

When did you last see her?

- Yesterday.

- Did she seem okay?

I mean, she didn't mention any problems with her, um, boyfriends?

- No.

- [George] Or her husband?

- No.

- Would you mind having a look at this for me, please, Darren?

(paper rustling) (eerie dramatic music) - [Darren] Dear God, what's she put that for?

- Did your sister think her ex-husband was an evil man?

- No, she loved him.

And he worshiped the ground she walked on.

It'll kill him, this.

- So, why would she write that?

- Domenica was fragile.

- [George] Fragile, yes.

When you use the word "fragile," what exactly do you mean by that, Darren?

(somber music) - There were times when she were taken away, you know, for her, for her own safety, like... - Oh.

You mean your sister was mentally disturbed.

- She got sectioned twice.

(dramatic somber music) - Why would you carry your daughter's birth certificate around in your handbag?

Where's Leigh Ann's birth certificate?

- Mother's got it, I suppose, in a drawer somewhere.

- Exactly.

- Well, look, from what we know she was crackers, weren't she, huh?

I mean, when Alan Charlton walks in, he's not gonna have horns and a tail, is he?

(clock ticking) (John sighs) Taking their time, aren't they?

- Tell me again what the bloke down the corridor said.

(John sighs) - Yeah.

That, uh, Domenica was shouting, there was a... There was a man's voice raised, and he saw the bloke with the cut face, but, um, he can't say exactly what time any of this happened, on account of being out of his mind on Brown Ale, probably.

- But he thought he didn't have a local accent.

- Scottish accent, he thinks, but he (sighs) was drunk, I mean he was useless.

- All the same.

Best let the hospitals know we'd particularly like to hear about a Scot who needed treatment for a cut on his face.

(door knocking and clacking) - Sir?

- How do we play this with the husband, sir?

Light or heavy?

- What do you think?

- Heavy.

- Correct.

It was a savage attack, I'm afraid.

And her eyes had been covered with a handkerchief.

- Who would wanna do that?

- You can't think of anybody then?

- Me?

Uh, no?

(lighter clinking) - So... Where were you earlier on tonight, Alan?

Say from six o'clock onwards?

- Uh-uh, I was at home.

- [George] Alone?

- As it turned out.

Normally, Agnes is with us, but she wanted to get the bus over to her Nana's.

- Not her mother?

- She isn't allowed to go to her mothers, for obvious reasons.

- On your tod then.

Can anybody vouch for this?

- What are you trying to say?

- I'm not trying to say anything, Alan, I'm just trying to establish where you... - (sobs) That's my wife on that trolley, you know?

The woman I married, the mother of my bairn.

(Alan sobbing) - [George] Taylor.

- [Taylor] Sir?

- Mr.

Charlton can go and see his daughter.

I'm sorry, we'll talk again tomorrow.

- Ah.

- Uh, no other injuries apart from the ones to the head.

Signs of sexual activity, but not of rape.

Died between 5: 00 PM and 9:00 PM yesterday.

- What was in her stomach?

- [Examiner] Nothing.

- Bloodstream?

- Alcohol and amyl nitrate.

She used the drugs to keep going, I would guess.

- Sir, Scotch bloke got four stitches put in his head at 10 o'clock last night.

Gave his name as Smith.

He's rooming at the Seamen's Hostel in Jarrow.

- All right, have him picked up, take him to Domenica Charlton's.

- Sir.

(John sighs) - Beauty sleep will have to wait.

(John yawning) (rain pattering) - I rang you earlier on, see if you fancied a pint.

- Yeah, I was out with your wife.

(rain pattering) - Did you have a nice time?

- Very.

- She keeping all right?

- Why don't you ask her?

(rain pattering) - Hang on, what do you mean "Out with your wife"?

Is this something yous do regular?

- Is that a problem, John?

- [John] What did she say about us?

- What, you think we talk about you?

(rain pattering) Here's our Scotsman.

(engine rumbling) (brakes screeching) - All I wanna say is one thing, you're old enough to be her father.

(rain pattering) (car door mechanism clacking) (car door thuds) (birds chirping) - Mr.

Smith, is it?

Apologies for dragging you out of bed.

- What's this about?

- What did you do to your head?

- I walked into a wall.

Why?

- [George] Happens to you a lot, does it?

- When I'm steaming, yeah.

- Come with me, will you, please?

- Have a look at this gentleman here, please, Mr.

Hill, and tell us if he's the man that you saw leaving Domenica's flat last night.

- [George] Come close, he won't bite.

- No.

No, I don't think so.

Nah, don't think so.

- Are you short-sighted, Mr.

Hill?

- Oh, blind as a bat, actually.

- [John] Well, where are your glasses, man?

- Well, they're broke.

- Did you wear 'em when you saw the man?

- No, man, they're smashed.

(intriguing dramatic music) - Thank you very much, Mr.

Smith, and, again, my apologies.

(intriguing dramatic music) (intriguing dramatic music continues) (officers chattering) - Any sign of that poker?

- No, sir.

(intriguing dramatic music) (officer chattering) - What are we looking for, guv?

- [George] A good recent photo of Domenica.

- All right.

Guv.

- Hmm.

- Happy as anything, weren't they?

Must be six, seven years ago that.

- Anything?

- Nah, no, not yet, sir.

- All right, thank you.

(blinds clacking) What sort of a place is this?

- Used to be a fishing village, nice little beach this.

Yeah, I been here a few times with my wife and my daughter.

(waves crashing) (birds squawking) County built the council estate as overflow.

People like the Charltons, they... You know, they flocked here from Newcastle.

You have fresh air and that for the kids, nice little school, plenty of work at the power station, and steel plant down the coast.

Paradise compared to Byker and Wallsend.

- [George] What's going on up there?

- There's a camp site.

Gets used a bit in the summer, when we get one.

If they come back at all this year, that is, there's a little lass fell off the cliff last year while she was playing.

Not good publicity for a holiday destination, is it?

- Paradise, you say.

But Domenica left her daughter and went to a life of drugs, alcohol, and casual sex.

Why's that?

- Women are never happy.

- I'll just pretend you didn't say that.

- Because you can take the people out of the slums, but you can't take the slums out of the people.

(waves crashing) - Let's ask her husband.

(door clacking) (telephone ringing) Morning.

How are you feeling today?

Agnes, how are you today?

- She's okay, considering.

- Agnes, this is Sergeant Bacchus.

- That's a funny name.

- Yeah, well, he's a funny bloke.

- Hello, Agnes.

- In a little while, Agnes, I'm going to ask you to go with this nice lady for a cup of tea, because I want to speak to your Dad on his own, okay?

- [Alan] Agnes should stay with me, I think.

- You said they wouldn't get us on me own.

- It's all right, pet.

It's me they wanna talk to.

- [Agnes] I'm not going on me own!

- Yeah, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, shall we?

For now, I want to ask you both, when was the last time you saw Domenica?

- Eh, months ago.

I cannot be exact.

- Agnes?

- Just tell the man, Agnes.

It's all right.

She didn't go straight to her Nana's.

- I saw her yesterday tea time.

After school, I got the bus to Byker and went to see her.

- [George] Then what happened?

- Well, I fell down and got me skirt muddy, so she hit us.

- [George] And then?

- She give us some juice, and she said "I'm busy, go and find your Uncle Darren in the pub, or go to your Nana's, but tell them not to hit you 'cause I've already done it," so I did.

- When I spoke to your Uncle Darren last night, he didn't know that you were at your Nana's.

- Me Uncle Darren's a drinker, isn't he, Dad?

He says, "Oh, Agnes, I love your mother.

She's perfect."

(Agnes chuckles) He's daft.

- Agnes, there's nowt to laugh about.

- Guv, can I have a word?

- Yeah?

- Outside.

- Yeah.

Will you excuse us for a moment?

(intriguing dramatic music) (personnel chattering) (telephone ringing) - She was there last night after the murder, outside the tenement.

- Yeah, she was at her grandmother's, tucked up in bed.

- No, no, sir.

I am telling you, she was there when I arrived, she spoke to us.

She said, "It's in there, Mister."

(intriguing dramatic music) - Get her out of there.

- Officer?

Will you bring Agnes out and sit with her in number two, please?

(tense dramatic music) - Say nothing, Agnes.

- Hey.

- You say nothing about anything!

- You get back in there!

(chairs clacking) - [George] Say nothing about what, Agnes?

- Yous won't put him in the gallows, will yous?

- Nah, no, no, no, we don't do that anymore.

(intriguing dramatic music) Agnes, was your mother alive when you saw her last?

(intriguing dramatic music) (George sighs) All right, go on.

- [Officer] Come on, love.

- No wonder she's screwed up, she saw him do it.

(tense dramatic music) Don't lie!

(table thuds) Don't you keep lying!

Just tell me that you lost your temper, and I'll believe you, right?

- This isn't right!

Your sergeant's a bully!

- Shut up, you.

- He should be given a break, something to eat.

- A break, hmm?

You want a break?

Yeah, I'll give you a break!

I've a mate down the corridor that brings in a rhino whip every time he talks to blokes who kill women!

- I really object to this.

- Oh, no, he's only kidding.

- Do I put that bit in about the rhino whip?

- No.

- Put that I apologize for my rudeness to... What's your name again?

- Simmons, Sarah Simmons.

- [John] Mrs.

Simmons.

- Miss Simmons.

- I'm not interested (chuckles) in your marital status, pet, I'm not asking you out on a date.

I'm asking your client to start telling the truth!

- John.

May I?

Alan.

You haven't got an alibi, your wife abandoned you and your daughter to go and live a debauched life, which the court will see as a motive.

And when I spoke to your daughter, she said that the last time she saw her mother, she was dead.

So is there something you'd like to get off your chest, Alan?

All right.

Stand up, please, Mr.

Charlton.

Alan Charlton, I'm charging you with the murder of your wife, Domenica Charlton, on the 5th of February just gone.

You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you.

Do you understand?

- [Alan] Yes.

- Are you really gonna make me do this?

Are you gonna make me put Agnes in the witness box and let the prosecution loose on her?

- She's only a bairn, man.

- It's your choice.

All right, well, if you won't tell me what happened, Agnes will have to.

- Wait.

- You do not have to say anything, and I advise you not to.

- What about Agnes?

Can they question her in court?

- Yes.

(dramatic somber music) - Alan.

(dramatic somber music) Your daughter was at your wife's house last night, I saw her.

I think you murdered your wife in front of her.

- No.

- Now your daughter is all screwed up, eh?

She loves you, she wants to protect you, but she will end up telling us everything.

Everything.

So why don't you give her a break, Alan?

(dramatic somber music) (Sarah sighs) - You promise you'll leave Agnes out of it?

- You make your statement, then I'll tell you what I will or won't do.

(Alan sighs) - I had warned Domenica time and again, I didn't want Agnes hanging around that place if she was gonna go on living like that.

She told me Agnes was none of my business.

- What did she mean by that?

(paper rustling) Why did she cross out your name and put "Satan"?

(Alan sighs) - Domenica was ill, Mr.

Gently.

She couldn't help herself sometimes.

This was just another way of taunting us.

- According to your marriage license, you and Domenica got married four months before Agnes was born, yeah?

- Agnes was an accident.

Domenica didn't want the bairn, I made her have her.

She never forgave me or Agnes.

We "ruined her life," apparently.

- So what happened last night, Alan?

(Alan sighs) - I went looking for Agnes when she didn't come home from school.

I found her with her mam and some bloke.

They were both drunk.

I chased him.

- You, you chased him?

- [Alan] Told him to get lost.

He just went.

- Did he have a Scottish accent?

- No.

No, he was local.

- [George] Positive?

- Yeah, positive.

- Did you hit him?

- No.

Well, I might have done.

He just ran.

- Then what?

- I told Agnes to go to her Nana's.

I tried one last time to reason with Domenica.

She hit us, she spat at us, (sighs) I lost my temper.

I had just had enough.

- Then what?

Then what, Alan?

(dramatic somber music) - I killed her.

(dramatic somber music) I killed Domenica.

- How?

- With a poker.

- [George] Where is it?

- [Alan] Bottom of the North Sea.

- Why did you cover her eyes?

- I just... I-I don't know why I did that.

- Well, no reason?

- I don't know, uh... You do mad things when you're in a state.

They were staring at us.

Yeah, staring open, so... You'll keep the bargain?

- Yes.

Agnes can go home.

- Home?

She doesn't have a home now, Mr.

Gently.

(dramatic somber music) - Well, he can cancel the milk for about 15 years, I reckon.

I mean, they'll plead provocation, crime of passion, defense brief will demolish the wife's reputation, so he could get away with 12, actually.

Fancy a drink to celebrate?

- No.

- [John] What's the matter, guv?

- You know what's the matter, the handkerchief.

Somebody put in on her after she died, why?

Who?

'Cause I don't think it was Alan Charlton.

(John sighs) Our blind witness talked about a man with a Scottish accent.

Alan said the man he found with Domenica had a local accent.

So which was it?

- What difference does it make?

You still don't think Charlton did it, do you?

- Too many loose ends.

- Guv.

(sighs) He had no alibi, he had a motive, he knew what the murder weapon was, and he confessed!

- Yeah.

(birds chirping) (goat bleating) What was all that about a rhino whip?

- Oh, no, no, no, I... No, he only does it to frighten 'em, I've never seen him use it.

- Well, good.

Have a nice weekend.

- Yeah, you an all, guv.

(car door thuds) (mellow upbeat music) Nice motor.

- What do you want?

- [John] There's no need to be like that.

- You are probably the most offensive human being I've ever met.

- You just need to get to know us a bit better.

(Sarah scoffs) What you doing later?

(Sarah scoffs) - Ever heard the word "protocol"?

- What protocol?

Your client's coughed.

- [Sarah] Hmm.

- Go on.

A little drink, mebbes a bite to eat?

- The Goose in Howden.

- Howden?

- [Sarah] Up near Kielder.

- Oh, that's miles away, isn't it?

- Well, do you want a drink or don't you?

- [John] No, yeah, yeah, of course, of course.

Just remind me how to, um... - A68 towards Wooler.

- [John] Right.

- Then follow the signs for Kielder, then Howden.

- And the pub's called The Goose?

- The Wild Goose, actually, but you can't miss it.

I'll be there at seven o'clock, if you're not, I'll be gone at five past.

- No, no, no, I'll be there.

(starter cranking) (mellow upbeat music) (engine rumbling) (engine rumbling) (whimsical mellow music) (mellow upbeat music) (engine rumbling) (mellow upbeat music) (engine rumbling) (engine rumbling) (door knocking) (door mechanism clacking) - [George] Evening, Mrs.

Paige.

Could I see Agnes, please?

- I told you he'd come.

- [Mrs.

Paige] Of course.

- Agnes, just... - [George] I will need to speak to her alone.

- [Mrs.

Paige] Come in.

- [George] Well, thank you.

- [Mrs.

Paige] He wants to talk to Agnes on her own.

- She's upset, man, she won't know what- - Would you mind, please?

How are you, Agnes?

- I'm okay.

- Good.

There's something I have to ask you.

It's nothing to worry about, 'cause it makes no difference to what will happen to your Dad, do you understand?

Were you there when your Dad hit your Mammy?

- No, I ran away.

- Was there anybody else in the room?

- [Agnes] No.

- Did you go back in afterwards?

Why, Agnes?

- To see her.

She was dead.

(tranquil somber music) - Did you do anything?

(tranquil somber music) Could you tell me about it?

- Her eyes were open.

I put me hankie over her, like this.

(tranquil somber music) (engine rumbling) (dog barking) (tractor rumbling) - [John] Excuse me, is... Is there a pub round here?

- What, here?

- Yeah, here.

Is this, is this Howden?

- Aye, but there's no pub here.

What pub you looking for?

- Uh, it's called The Goose, or The Wild Goose.

(John sighs) (pedestrian chuckles) I think somebody was having us on.

- [Pedestrian] (chuckles) Aye.

- Sorry.

- Totally okay.

- The Wild Goose chase, very clever.

(engine rumbling) - In goal, Ronnie Simpson.

Right back, Bobby Cowell.

Left back, Ron Batty.

Right half, Jimmy Scoular.

Outside right, Len White.

- It was Agnes.

She covered her Mam's face.

(John sighs) - Went back awide, Spike Steven.

- Poor little lass.

- And Outside Left, Bobby Mitchell!

(audience cheering and applauding) - Thank you and goodnight, sensation seekers everywhere!

(audience cheering and applauding) (fair bustling) - I used to come here with John when we could drag him away from the pub or work.

I feel sorry for him, 'cause he'll turn round in 15 years and say, "Oh, Leigh Ann's all grown up and I missed it."

- But he sees her, doesn't he?

- Yeah, he has her every other weekend.

But what does he do?

He buys her things, he doesn't know how to do anything with her.

When I go to pick her up, she can't wait to leave.

She never mentions him anymore, she's forgetting him.

I don't want her to grow up without a Dad.

- What's that mean?

- Means I'm gonna ask for a divorce, and I'm gonna find somebody else, for me and for her.

I shouldn't really.

She's never seen her mam smoke.

No, I'll take her for a paddle.

- Would you?

- Yeah, yeah.

Come on, sweetheart, let's go for a paddle.

Come on.

You can bring your bucket.

You don't need your spade.

All right, go on, hold it up, bring your spade, come on.

(water murmuring) (birds squawking) - [Father] Won't be long, Geraint, then we'll go on the beach now, okay?

- [Mother] Yeah, a cup of tea first, though.

- No, straight to the beach.

Isn't that right, Geraint?

Straight to the beach as soon as I park the car.

(campers chattering) (suspenseful dramatic music) - Geraint?!

Geraint!

- Geraint!

- Geraint!

- Geraint!

- Geraint!

- Geraint!

- Geraint!

(sighs) Geraint!

- What's going on?

- I found him on the steps down to the beach.

"Going for a paddle", he said.

See you, lads, have a nice holiday.

- Hey, thanks.

(gasps) Who was that masked man?

- Well, that was The Lone Ranger.

(tranquil orchestral music) (engine rumbling) (tires screeching) (door thudding) (telephone ringing) (door clacking) - [George] You're supposed to be on holiday.

- This is personal.

So what are you trying to do?

Make me look like a fool?

- Do you think you need help?

- I went round to my in-laws yesterday afternoon.

Have you any idea what that costs me?

- [George] Why, did you take a taxi?

- I had to grovel.

"Can I please see my daughter?"

"No, you can't, it's the wrong weekend, and anyway they're out, with Mr.

Gently again."

- Well, as you said, it wasn't your weekend.

- Okay, what's going on?

There are people laughing at me.

- Who is laughing at you exactly?

- Everybody!

- You fancy a cup of tea?

- Get out.

- Get out!

I'll tell you what's going on.

Your wife is lonely and confused.

- Don't you- - Has been confused.

I don't think she is anymore.

She just wanted a friendly face to talk to.

- You can talk on the phone.

You don't need to take them both on days out.

Hang on.

"Has been confused," what does that mean?

- There are two things not going on between me and your wife.

The first one is so obvious, I'm not even gonna say it.

- Everybody else is.

- The second is that I am not a go-between!

If you want to know what's on your wife's mind, you go and ask her!

- Oh, you're looking for a smack in the gob, mate.

- Sir, there's a two-year-old boy who's gone missing from a camp site.

- Taylor, this is CID, it's not the Mountain Rescue Team.

Why don't you come back when there's a crime?

- How long's he been missing?

- [Taylor] 22 hours, sir.

- That's too long, bring me the details.

(telephone ringing) - [Officer] Hey, what's that?

Sorry, yeah, that's right.

- Okay if I come along, guv?

(birds squawking) (water murmuring) - He's called Robin.

According to his folks, he's never wandered off before.

- Robin!

- Thanks, love.

- Robin!

- Robin, where are you?

- What about the gate?

- Robin!

- [Caller] Robin!

- Yeah, I'll find him.

- Robin!

Robin!

(officers chattering) - [Caller] Robin, where are ya?

Come on!

- Darren?

Oi.

- Hello.

Me and me mam moved into Alan's house with Agnes.

I heard a little lad's gone missing.

- That's just the other side of the camp site, isn't it?

- No, no, it's, uh, a long way away from the camp site, right.

- How is Agnes?

- Just watching the telly with her Nana.

I think I'd better go, um, and make the tea.

- [Caller] Robin?

- Is there anybody in that family that's not totally crackers?

- [Caller] Robin!

- It's gonna be dark soon.

- [Caller] Robin!

- I don't like this.

- Robin!

- [Caller] Robin!

- That little boy who went over the cliff last year, how far away?

- That was half a mile, it was a little girl.

- What killed her?

- Injuries sustained in the fall as far as I remember.

You know, it was an accident.

Kids were playing on the cliff edge and, eh, well, she fell over.

And the kids didn't tell anybody, so they didn't find the body until the next morning.

- Robin, where are you?!

- So the other kids actually saw it happen?

- It wasn't my case, guv.

I just think the kids denied being there in case they got into trouble, you know?

- So we don't know how she went over?

- Well... - Who found her?

- I don't know.

Um...

Taylor!?

- Robin!

- Sir.

- [Caller] Robin, where are you?!

Robin!

- Remember that, uh, kid that fell over the cliff last year?

- Yeah.

- Who found her?

- Eh, some bloke passing by, I took the call myself.

- What, he was just what, walking his dog on the beach, or... - No, he was on his way to work in the steel works about five o'clock in the morning.

- He's walking to work along the beach?

- [Taylor] No, no, he said he was driving along in the car on the top road.

- Sir, you can't see the bottom of the cliff from the road.

(intriguing dramatic music) - Get me that man's details, and I want the forensic on that dead girl on my desk tomorrow morning.

Come on.

(intense dramatic music) (machine whirring) (metal clinking) (metal buzzing) Mr.

McManus?

(tense dramatic music) - Aye?

- We'd like to talk to you about the death of Laura Gadd last year.

Is there somewhere we can go?

- Yeah.

(intriguing dramatic music) - So, you stopped the car because you needed a crap, and that is why you went down to the beach, and that is where you found the body of little Laura Gadd.

- That's right.

- Do you expect me to believe that?

- There's nothing in your statement about being caught short.

- Well, I was a bit embarrassed, know what I mean?

- You were a two-minute drive away from work.

You couldn't wait two minutes?

What, what, are there no toilets here, are there?

- Have you never needed a crap, Sergeant?

- I've never needed a crap detector, not when it's a pile as big as this.

- I understand you were once cautioned for a sexual offense, Mr McManus.

- 10 years ago.

The girl told me she was over 16.

How the hell was I supposed to know?

- Like 'em young, do you?

- Look, the police believed us, or they'd have charged me.

- No, no, no, no, a caution is a charge, all right?

Do you like little boys as well, Neil?

- What's this about?

- There's a campsite near the cliff top, do you know it?

- No.

- Never been there?

- What's this about?

- A little boy went missing from there on Sunday, you must know about that.

- Yeah, I heard about it.

- [John] So?

- Oh, come on, you're pulling my leg.

- Where were you Sunday afternoon and evening?

- At home.

- [George] Alone?

- No, my wife was there.

- So your wife could corroborate that?

- I was out... (sighs) I was out for a drive, uh-uh, on my own, I was just driving around.

- (chuckles) Really?

Anybody vouch for that?

- No.

- No.

I need you to come down to the station with us, please.

Have his wife brought in.

(telephone ringing) - [John] He was lying though, wasn't he, sir?

- 100%.

- I love it when Jocks think they're clever.

- Excuse me, is there any corner of mankind that you don't have some kind of problem with, Sergeant?

- Rhetorical question, I presume, that.

I just wanna dig deeper into Rob Roy's past, okay?

- Sir?

- Busy!

- There's a bloke called Williams here.

Says some man's been behaving suspiciously with his young lad at the campsite.

- [John] And this was definitely Sunday, same day that Robin Pershore was taken away?

- Yeah, we'd just arrived, see?

And we'd left Geraint sitting in the car, only he wandered off the way he does, and this chap had his hand.

- Leading him away or bringing him back?

- Well, it's hard to tell, isn't it?

I mean, we spotted them and shouted, you see.

- Would you recognize this man again?

- Oh, yeah.

- Can you describe him?

- Big fella, fair hair, and-and he had a beard.

(birds chirping) (dog barking) (door knocking) (door mechanism clacking) - [John] Hello, Agnes.

- Hello.

- Is your, uh, Uncle Darren in?

- No.

- [John] Do you know where he is?

- He's on me Dad's allotment, he's took it over.

- Right, where's that?

Where, where is it, Agnes?

(door clacking) (paper flapping) - [George] They tell me you have something more to say.

- I was with a lass called Angela on Sunday.

- Angela, that's a nice name.

Tell me about Angela.

- She was the wee girl that showed you where I was today.

- Very nice.

And?

- (sighs) The wife doesn't have to know about this, does she?

- About what?

- Angela's married to the next-door neighbor.

- Oh, dear.

- [Mr.

McManus] We have to be careful, obviously.

- Obviously.

- [Mr.

McManus] So we do it in the car.

- And that's what you were doing on Sunday afternoon?

Angela?

- Yeah.

- [George] And she'll tell me the same story?

- If she has to.

- Oh, she will have to.

So you're not satisfied within the marriage, I take it?

Is Angela the only woman you're seeing outside the marriage?

- What's that got to- - Just answer.

- Look... I get it where I can, okay with you?

- Perfectly.

Does the name Domenica Charlton mean anything to you?

- No.

(telephone ringing) - What?

- Is that the tart that was done in by her husband?

Got what was coming to her.

- Because?

- Shagging other men.

Oh-ho, I'd have done the same if I was him.

- I see.

But you never knew her?

- No.

- So, you and Angela.

Angela is married, you said?

- [Mr.

McManus] Yeah.

- Well, let's hope her husband doesn't give her what's coming to her, eh?

You give her a lift to work, I take it?

- That's how it all started.

- Every so often, you find a deserted bit of cliff top, pull the car over, and start the day with a smile.

On the beach?

- On the back seat, in a lay-by.

- Mr.

McManus, we've already established that you can't see the beach from the road.

So how come you found the body of Laura Gadd?

- Somebody else found it, came tapping on the car window.

A man.

- Can you describe him?

- Heavy-set bloke, fair hair.

(door clacking) (door mechanism clacking) (suspenseful dramatic music) - Mr.

Paige can I have a... Oi!

(intense dramatic music) - Get off!

Get off, get off!

Get off!

Get off!

- Hands behind your back!

- No!

- Well, there he was at the window, I'm trying to get my pants up and Angela's trying to get- - Yeah, all right.

What did he say?

- Um, "There's a girl dead on the beach, you better call the police."

- Then what?

- Then he ran off.

I went down to the beach and found the wee girl and then I phoned the police.

- [George] Why didn't you mention this man to the police?

- He saw what we were doing.

I didn't want him saying anything to the police about me and Angela.

(George sighs) - Which way did he run?

- Towards High Blyth.

- Would you recognize him if you saw him again?

- I don't know, it was, it was a year ago.

- The windows were all steamed up, you know?

- Yeah, all right.

(car door thuds) (engine rumbling) (birds chirping) - Angela confirmed your alibi, you're free to go.

If I were you, I'd modify my behavior in future.

- If my granny had handlebars, she'd be a fish.

- Yes.

You have no reason not to answer this question truthfully.

Is this the man who tapped on your car window and told you there was a dead girl on the beach a year ago?

- That's him right enough.

- Good.

Nice meeting you, give my love to Angela.

(Mr.

McManus chuckles) Mr.

Williams.

Is this the man who had your son's hand on Sunday?

Please, be sure.

(telephone ringing) - I'm not sure.

- Would you like a closer look?

- What were you gonna do to my son?!

What were you gonna do to him?!

(Darren shrieking) - What were you gonna do to him, huh?!

- Get him!

- What were you gonna do to him, huh?!

(Darren gasping) I'll kill him, I'll kill him!

- Get him out!

- What were you gonna do to him?!

- You were present at the scene of one death, Laura Gadd, a year ago, and one abduction, Robin Pershore, on Sunday!

This is no coincidence!

Where is he, Darren?

You tell me what you've done with Robin Pershore!

Oh, you... You tell me, or I swear, I will beat it out of you!

(Darren sobbing) (table thudding) - No!

Don't let him hit us, please!

(sobs) - I wouldn't dream of stopping him.

(Darren shrieking) - [Darren] God, no!

(body thudding) (Darren groans) - Tell us!

(Darren shrieking) Tell me!

(Darren shrieking) (punch thudding) (Darren groaning) Tell me!

- He's in the shed!

He's in the shed!

(sobs) - Oh, God, the shed.

I didn't look.

(tense dramatic music) (engine rumbling) (siren wailing) (mellow tranquil music) - That's a good boy.

Come on.

There we go.

There you go.

They'll take you home to Mummy, go on.

(mellow tranquil orchestral music) - There's food and drink in there and all.

Looks like he's been well cared for.

- Good.

Darren Paige, I'm charging you with abduction and false imprisonment.

You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you.

You'll also have to answer questions about the death of Laura Gadd.

- Did you push her off the cliff, Darren, huh?

Huh?

No?

How did you know her body was there then?

Look, you wanna do it the easy way this time, Darren, or the hard way?

Hard way then.

- No, please.

(sobs) - Well, I'll leave you to it then, John.

My sergeant's less inhibited when I'm not here.

- How did you know her body was on the beach?

- I'll come back in one half hour, John?

(Darren groans) (table thudding) (Darren shrieking) - Agnes!

Agnes told me!

- What you... (table thuds) Agnes told you?

(Darren shrieking) Don't be pathetic, man!

He's lying, guv.

(engines rumbling) - [George] Any idea where I can find her?

- Well, all she said was that she was going out to play.

You could try the campsite.

(campers chattering) - Where are the kids?

(crows cawing) (campers chattering) The farmer's in his den The farmer's in his den Ee aye addio Ee aye addio The farmer's in his den The farmer's in his den The farmer wants a wife The farmer wants a wife The farmer wants a wife The farmer wants a wife Ee aye addio Ee aye addio The farmer wants a wife The farmer wants a wife - You have to pick me, it's my game.

The wife wants a bairn The wife wants a bairn The wife wants a bairn The wife wants a bairn Ee aye addio Ee aye addio The wife wants a bairn The wife wants a bairn (suspenseful dramatic music) - Agnes?

(tranquil somber music) (Agnes laughing) What's funny, Agnes?

- Yous.

Yous think you can see us.

I know you cannot.

- Maybes he wasn't lying.

(intriguing somber music) - Tell the Press Office I want nothing leaked about this.

She must have anonymity.

- The papers will have her name before the day's out, guv.

Somebody in here will tell somebody something.

- John, this is a case like any other.

- Not anymore, it isn't.

- She's been given a solicitor.

(door clacking) - [John] Oh, you're joking.

- You think I asked for it?

Her dad asked me to take this on.

- [John] Great.

- Sort yourselves out.

- Okay, look, (sighs) it was a childish prank, I apologize.

No hard feelings.

- Apologize to her.

- I apologize.

- Good.

We have reason to suspect that Agnes may have been involved in the death of Laura Gadd who disappeared from a campsite near her home.

- Her uncle is lying, to save his own neck.

- Possibly.

But I have to question Agnes just like I would any other suspect.

- She says she knows nothing, but I think she's being loyal to her uncle.

She's a child.

- Yeah.

If you'd been at that campsite, and seen the look on her face as she singled out this little lad.

There is such a thing as evil.

- Evil?

- Hmm.

- Is this the line your questioning's going to take?

- No, it isn't.

I don't believe in evil people, but I do believe in evil actions.

And I have a feeling there's a lot we don't know about Agnes.

She's clearly disturbed.

- Then she should be in a psychiatric unit, not in a police station.

- Well, maybe.

But right now, I have to decide if she's a killer.

(vehicles whooshing) (telephone ringing) (personnel chattering) - How are they treating you at the children's home, Agnes?

- They're horrible.

All you get is, "How do you feel?

How do you feel?"

They're like the Daleks.

- And how do you feel, Agnes?

- What am I getting wrong for?

Just for playing "The Farmer's In His Den?"

- How is it you were able to tell your Uncle Darren about Laura Gadd's body being on the beach, Agnes?

- I didn't.

Why's he saying that?

- Now why do you think he might say that if it wasn't true?

- I don't wanna get me Uncle Darren in trouble.

- It's all right.

- You must tell us the truth, Agnes.

Did you tell Uncle Darren where to find Laura Gadd's body?

- I don't even know who she is.

- No.

(scoffs) You do know who she is, Agnes.

How did you know her body was there?

- I don't even know what you're talking about, man.

She fell off the cliff playing "Blind Man's Buff," anyway.

- How do you know that?

- 'Cause It was in the Chronicle.

- Where were you three days ago, Agnes, when little Robin Pershore was taken away from the campsite?

- You don't have to answer that, Agnes, if you don't want to.

You know, I thought we were here to talk about what happened to Laura Gadd.

- Yes, we are, and also the abduction of Robin Pershore three days ago.

- Why have you got a funny name?

- Never mind that!

Where were you on Sunday?

- If you have bairns, they'll get the funny name, Barney and Beryl Bacchus.

- Just answer the question, please, Agnes.

- They'll get laughed at school, and it'll be your fault.

Have you got a bairn?

I bet you cannot see her.

- Why don't you just shut your face, Agnes?!

- Okay.

- Is this your client refusing to answer questions, is it?

- [George] Go and get a cup of tea, John.

- Guv- - Go and get a cup of tea.

(pen clacking) (intriguing suspenseful dramatic music) (door knocking) (intriguing suspenseful dramatic music) (door creaking) - Hello there, uh, would I be speaking to Domenica?

- Domenica?

Domenica's dead.

- Oh, I'm so sorry, how embarrassing.

That's local bureaucracy for you.

Sorry, you would be?

- Her mother.

- Right.

My name's David Cohen, I'm with the Children's Department.

I've been sent here to speak with you for a few minutes.

It's about a young relation of yours, I believe.

Uh, your grand-daughter, possibly?

- Agnes?

- Agnes, yes, that's right.

Agnes.

- [Mrs.

Paige] You better come in.

- Thank you.

So Agnes's dad murdered her mother?

Wow.

Yes, I-I think it's starting to ring a bell, actually.

- Did nobody tell you this?

Would you believe that?

No.

Um, my first day on a new job, a stranger to the region, and they tell me nothing.

In at the deep end.

You don't mind if I take notes do you, Mrs.

Paige?

I wanna keep myself straight.

- Surely to God they put it in the notes.

- Yes, you'd think so, wouldn't you?

Yeah.

No.

(scoffs and tuts) Shocking.

I mean, how am I expected to be Agnes's case worker if they don't give me all the facts?

- Case worker?

- Did I not say?

I'm in charge of Agnes's welfare while she's in care.

- Agnes says you're lying, Darren.

She also says you're daft, and you're a drinker, and you told her that you loved her mother, your own sister.

Do you think you're a normal person, Darren?

- I-I didn't mean to get Agnes into trouble.

- Oh, well, you have, she's in care, and she'll have half of Fleet Street trying to find out her name and address by now, all because of you.

(Darren sobbing) Oh, look, huh?

Look, waterworks, again.

Are you a lass, really, Darren, hmm?

Or a bit of a queer bloke?

What was it you said you did to Laura Gadd before you pushed her over?

- I didn't do anything to anybody.

- So, you're sticking to your story that it was Agnes who told you where the body was?

What about Geraint Williams then?

- I found him with Agnes.

She was just taking him for a walk she said.

- And tell me, Mrs.

Paige, what do the neighbors think of all this?

A 13-year-old girl being questioned over the death of a toddler.

Are they being hostile?

- What did you say your name was again?

- Mrs.

Paige, would you say that what happened to your daughter, Domenica, was evil?

- Yes.

- [David] Yes.

And would you say that where evil exists, it can sometimes maybe passed on?

- I would.

- [David] From a father to a child, perhaps?

- There's an evil seed.

- I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that.

- An evil seed, there's such a thing as an evil seed.

- An evil seed.

(scoffs) (telephone ringing) - Sorry I lost me temper with Agnes, okay?

- You can't bring that stuff into work, John.

- Yeah, yeah, I know, I've said I'm sorry.

One of them is lying, sir.

Agnes has a history of covering up for the men in her family, yes, but I think it's Darren.

I do.

And I think that you should let me have half an hour on me own with him.

- Sir?

Miss Simmons wants to take Agnes back to the children's home, is that okay?

- No.

Tell Sarah I want another hour with Agnes.

I need to question her about her mother's murder.

- Okay, sir.

(door clacking) - "Sarah," is it now?

Why don't you ask her out on a date while you're about it?

- Maybe 'cause I'm not an idiot like you are.

- Why are we going back to the murder of the mother?

- I'll take the lead this time, you keep quiet.

Did the canteen send you something nice for your tea, Agnes?

- [Sarah] She didn't eat.

- Why's that?

- [Agnes] How could I eat with her looking at us?

- Who?

- Her, anybody.

- You don't like people watching you eat?

Why's that?

- Because they're not supposed to see you.

- Well, why not?

Why must nobody see you?

Why is he staring at us all the time?

You think I'm horrible, don't you, Mr.

Funny Name?

- You think I killed a little girl.

Why does he not say summat?

- Look, this is not helping.

- I didn't kill anybody, I was just playing.

- When was this, Agnes?

When are we talking about?

Playing when, playing what?

- Why do you have to ask me so many questions?

- 'Cause I'm a police officer investigating a murder.

Go and get Taylor.

- What?

- [George] Just do it.

- Could you tell us exactly what you saw and did the night your mum died?

- No.

- [George] Why not?

- 'Cause I was never there.

- [George] Well, yes, you were there, Agnes, 'cause you've already told us that.

- I went to get me Uncle Darren out the pub, then we went to me Nana's, and I went straight to bed.

- No, you didn't, 'cause your Uncle Darren didn't know you were there.

- That's what he says, he tells lies.

- Agnes, it is very important that you tell us what happened when your dad arrived and found you there.

- Nothing.

- I know he's told you not to say anything, but he's wrong.

And there was somebody else there, wasn't there?

A man.

Was it somebody you knew?

- [Sarah] You don't have to answer, Agnes.

- [George] Why did you go back and cover your mum's eyes with a hankie?

- I think he's the evil monster what's got X-ray eyes.

Are you off Doctor Who with them eyes?

- You've had your hour.

- Yeah.

Taylor, the newspaper accounts of Laura Gadd's death.

Could Agnes have read an account of Laura and the other kids from the campsite paying "Blind Man's Buff" on the cliff?

- Yes, that was in the papers, sir.

- See?

- Why?

- [Taylor] Why what, sir?

- Why were those things in the papers?

I thought you said the kids refused to say anything for fear of getting into trouble?

- Yeah, you're right.

- So, why do you say that Laura Gadd was playing "Blind Man's Buff?"

- Well, it was just obvious, 'cause of the blindfold, sir.

(intriguing dramatic music) - Tell me that again?

- [Taylor] Why else would she have had a blindfold on?

- Laura Gadd was found dead wearing a blindfold?

- [Taylor] Yes, sir.

- Why did you go back into your mum's room and cover her eyes?

- Time's up.

(engine rumbling) - Thank you.

This is probably against some Home Office rule somewhere, but (chuckles) thank you for meeting me.

So what is it that you wanted to say to me?

- Look, Sarah, something has happened to this girl.

I thought at first it was the murder of her mother, but the death of Laura Gadd predates that by a year.

- But you can't prove any connection between Agnes and Laura Gadd.

- No proof yet, but compelling evidence.

So what I wanted to say was this.

If it does come to criminal charges, I will do anything in my power to help her through this ordeal.

- You're a decent man, George.

- If and when I do have to charge her, they'll be a lot of press interest, so I'll try to put a ring of steel around her and her family.

I will also urge the court not to name her, unless she's found guilty.

(suspenseful dramatic music) - Um, sorry.

- Huh?

- You'll get it back in a second.

(intriguing dramatic music) Too late.

"13-year-old Agnes Charlton."

(tense somber dramatic music) They've even identified the care home.

(tense somber dramatic music) (George tuts) (tires screeching) (tense somber dramatic music) - [Photographer] Inspector!

(photographers clamoring) - No comment!

(photographers clamoring) No, no!

- [Photographer] Has she been charged yet?!

Any information at all?

- Come on!

(telephone ringing) - Sir, where have you been?

I've been... Have you seen this?

- I will ask you this just once, and I will believe your answer.

Was this you?

- No.

- Do you know who it was?

- No, I don't.

- Good!

- Agnes has been moved to a new place, and I've got uniformed men outside the house in High Blyth.

So what are we doing now, are we charging her or not?

- Have you examined Agnes's school and medical records?

- [John] Yes.

- [George] Did you find anything?

- A few broken bones, and she bunks off school sometimes.

- Nothing else?

- [John] No.

- Is your heart in this?

I don't think it is.

Have you talked to anybody?

- Guv, I'm a copper, I'm not a social worker!

Do I look like a lass with a degree in making tea?

This is not our job!

What?!

- Sir, Darren Paige would like to talk to you.

(personnel chattering) - I take back what I said about Agnes.

You were right, I was pathetic.

I did it.

I took both those little lads away.

Agnes had nothing to do with it.

I killed that little lass and all.

- Tell me how you left Laura Gadd.

- What?

- [George] Tell me how you left her.

Did you do anything unusual?

Did you leave anything on her?

- Um... (George sighs) - I'm sick of lies!

(engine rumbling) - Do you have any comments for us, sir?

- I've no comment for you.

- Chief Inspector, has the child been charged?

- Chief Inspector.

Does she have any information?

- Move away.

What's the evil seed, Mrs.

Paige?

Or who?

- I never said that.

That liar from the paper made it all up.

- Do you believe there is evil in human beings?

- Some.

- Do you think Agnes is evil?

(George sighs) We are trying to help Agnes, Mrs.

Paige, I promise you that, but I need to know the truth.

Help me to help her.

(George sighs) - [John] We either charge her, guv, or we let her go home.

- If she's innocent, if her behavior is all about the family she came from then charging her with murder would just be one more act of abuse, she'll never recover.

This is a child, John.

- Yeah, a child who has killed a little kid and abducted another one, and was out choosing a third by the time we got hold of her.

Look, no, she needs to be taken out of society, and society is relying on us to do that, me and you, not Sarah Simmons.

She gets paid to get people off whether they've done it or not, we get paid to get it right.

- And what's "getting it right" in a case like this?

(John sighs) - She'll do it again.

If a dog savages your baby in a pram, you don't say, "Oh, never mind, it's only a little puppy," do you?

No, you don't, you get it put down.

I didn't mean that literally.

- Do you remember taking a little boy for a walk on the campsite last week?

- I wasn't on the campsite last week, or any week.

I've never been on the campsite.

Why-why would I even go on the campsite when I haven't got a tent?

- You were on the campsite when we found you, Agnes.

- That was the first time ever!

- So it wasn't you who took a little boy called Geraint for a walk?

- Geray-ant?

Is he the Jolly Giant?

(chuckles) Everyone's got stupid, funny names these days.

- Answer my question, please.

- I was never on the campsite, so how could I take a Jolly Giant for a walk?

- Well, your Uncle Darren says you did, and I believe him.

I also believe that you took Robin Pershore later the same day.

Did you?

(somber music) Why, Agnes?

Tell us why.

Help me to understand.

- I just wanted them kiddies to know what it's like, sir.

- What what's like, Agnes?

- What it's like when no one can see you anymore, when you don't exist, really.

(John sighs) (dramatic ominous music) (dramatic ominous music continues) - Will you stand up for me please, Agnes?

Agnes Charlton, I am charging you with murder and with two counts of abduction.

You do not have to say anything, but anything that you do say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you.

Do you understand?

(somber dramatic music) - Does it mean I can go home now?

(somber dramatic music) - All this is all gonna be about now is punishment.

That doesn't make sense.

- I'm a policeman, before that, I was a soldier.

All I've ever known is a world where people are held responsible for their actions.

- Even children?

- Even child... How can it be otherwise?

And that little girl that she killed, and all the others that she would have killed, there has to be justice for them and their families.

- Through retribution.

- Through retribution, yeah.

Society doesn't have any other way.

- Well, that won't give them peace of mind, George.

- What will?

- Understanding, an explanation?

- There already is an explanation if the papers are to be believed.

- (scoffs) Yeah, some babies are just born evil.

- What would you have me do?

- You're a critic of the system you work in, George, but you belong to it in the end, so do I. Because now I have to walk her through some mindless process which has absolutely no interest at all in the truth about Agnes Charlton.

(intriguing mellow music) (starter cranking) (engine rumbling) (intriguing mellow music) - [George] She settle down?

- [Caretaker] Eventually, sir.

(intriguing dramatic somber music) (typewriter clacking) (typewriter clacking) (George sighs) - Look, guv, I'm sorry, I know we haven't seen eye to eye on this one, but I do think it was the right result.

We did our job.

- Why don't you go home?

- Why?

There's no one there.

- All over between you and Lisa, John?

- Bar the shouting, yeah.

I phoned earlier on to say goodnight to Leigh Ann, and (chuckles) she was busy, watching telly.

- I'm sorry.

- Could have been her, you know, guv.

It could have been Leigh Ann next going for a walk with Agnes.

I kept thinking about that.

- You broke your promise.

You said Agnes would never be in a courtroom.

- [George] And she won't be going into a witness box, because I believe she'll plead guilty.

And yet, we need to tell her story, don't we?

- She didn't kill anybody.

- Well, yes, she did, Alan.

She blindfolded Laura Gadd and pushed her off a cliff.

Why?

What turned your daughter into a killer a year before you murdered her mother?

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

You're not Agnes's father, are you?

- [Alan] She never admitted who the father was.

I wanted to marry her anyway.

I didn't care she was carrying another man's bairn.

- Well, who was her father, do you know?

Who was "Satan"?

Was Domenica a prostitute, Alan?

- (sighs) No.

- No, but she saw a lot of men, didn't she?

And that made you jealous, and so you killed her.

At least that's what you told the jury.

But why mustn't Agnes give evidence?

- What good will this do?

- In terms of her sentence, none.

Agnes is gonna spend a good many years in custodial care, but that doesn't mean it's the end of her life, Alan, because it depends on the help she can get.

But nobody can help her if nobody knows.

And to help her to a future, I need to understand her past.

- I'd like to understand as well.

I have a daughter, and she has a broken home.

I've hurt her, and she's angry.

I think Agnes is angry, don't you?

- When Agnes was born, the first day of her life, Domenica tried to suffocate her.

A nurse saw, post-natal depression, they said.

But, Mr.

Gently, Domenica kept trying.

Eventually, I had her sectioned, and I took Agnes to the coast to start a new life.

- But Agnes kept going back to her, even though you'd taken her away?

- They were drawn to each other.

There is evil in this world, Inspector.

Take my word for it, there is evil.

And when he came back into Domenica's life, I had to stop it.

- Who?

- Agnes's father.

- Was he the man in the room that night?

The Scotsman?

- When I saw what was happening in that room, something snapped.

I hit him twice with a poker, but Domenica threw herself at us.

I just hit her and hit her.

But he was gone, Agnes was gone as well.

- Who was it?

He's their father, he's Domenica's father and he's Agnes's father.

(intriguing dramatic music) - Mrs.

Paige know about this?

- Aye, she does.

I don't know about Darren.

I mean, what, what does Darren ever know?

But they both knew what I didn't know.

He'd come back to find Domenica.

They knew that and they didn't tell us.

He'd been in the area two years, but this time, he was looking for Agnes as well.

- Agnes?

- He did to Agnes what he'd done to Domenica.

(intriguing dramatic music) - When did this start?

When did he come back?

- Easter last year.

- Just a few months before Laura Gadd was killed?

Agnes tried to take Geraint Williams, you foiled her, then she took Robin Pershore, you foiled her.

But why did she start taking children again over a year after she'd killed Laura Gadd?

Why?

Had your father turned up again, Darren?

(intriguing dramatic music) - It was that same morning.

I came out into the garden, and there he was talking to Agnes.

I sent her inside, and I-I told him, I told him that it had, it had got to stop, but he just give us a smack around the face, and said he'd do what he liked.

I-I told him I was, I was going to the police, but I-I-I couldn't, you know?

He's me dad.

- Where is he, Darren?

Where's your father?!

- He cannae help hisself, you know?

- Don't wanna hear it, Darren.

Where is he?

(intriguing dramatic music) - He was at the Seamens' Hostel in Jarrow, but he'll be gone by now.

(George sighs) - And under the name of Smith, I presume?

(table thuds) - This Mr.

Smith, he comes and goes, does he?

- [Manager] Aye, couple of nights here, couple of nights there, yeah.

- How long this time, exactly?

- [Manager] He said he just wanted a room for the one night, that was five nights ago.

- Five... (sighs) And he's still here, you're sure?

- Why, he's not collected his deposit.

- Away, man.

Look, out!

(intensifying dramatic music) (door thudding) (gags) Yeah, he's in there.

(George coughs) I'm gonna get you shut down.

Ugh.

(coughs) Ugh.

(John coughing) (eerie dramatic music) (George coughing) (George and John coughing) (John spitting) - Oh, look at that.

(tuts) Ronnie and Domenica, May 1946.

Before he became Satan.

- They look happy.

- That room's gonna need to be paid to be de-fumigated, I know who'll get the blame for that.

Muggins.

(engine rumbling) (birds chirping) (car door thudding) - Come on, pet.

- [Lisa] Oh, look at you.

(car door thudding) Hiya!

You look very smart today.

- Aye, it's a big day.

- Your dad splashed out on a new motor?

Bit young for him, isn't it?

- It's not his.

- What, your mam learned to drive at her age?

- No.

(somber tranquil orchestral music) - Oh.

- A friend.

Say goodbye to Daddy, Leigh Ann.

- [Leigh Ann] Goodbye, Daddy.

(intriguing somber orchestral music) - Goodbye.

(intriguing somber orchestral music) (intriguing somber orchestral music continues) - Her QC and I spent two hours yesterday in chambers with the judge just talking through it all.

- And?

- He said it's not evidence, he's a nice, old cove, takes his wig off when he's talking to her, tries not to talk in Latin too much.

(George chuckles) There've been a lot of nice people on this case, but none of them have made a difference to this ugly, ugly outcome.

This is the day that makes our jobs look just pointless and stupid.

(judge clears throat) - Many things have been written in the press and elsewhere about the particular character of this dreadful case.

There has been much speculation as to how a child of such tender years could have committed such appalling crimes.

Cold-blooded murder of a innocent child has left many grasping for explanations.

In the end, however, society and this court must content themselves with the knowledge that the accused has had a fair hearing, and that the victims of her abominable crimes will receive justice.

Accordingly, I have this to say to the court and to you, Agnes.

Will you stand, please?

You are to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure at a secure unit until you are of age, at which point you are to be given into the care of the prison service.

It will be for others to decide when it may be safe to release you into the community once more.

But in any event, you will serve at least 20 years.

(attendees murmuring) - I know you cannot see me.

I'm here, but none of you can see me.

- [Judge] Take her away, please.

(door mechanism clacking) - Ready?

- Yeah.

- I'm gonna write you letters and send you drawings of whatever I see, okay?

- Yeah, I would like that, Agnes, thank you.

There is a life to come for you, try and remember that.

- That's a funny thing to say.

- Yeah, yeah, (chuckles) maybe.

Just try and remember it.

(door knocking) It's okay, go on.

(door clacking) (door thudding) (cinematic somber music) (cinematic somber music continues) (cinematic somber music continues) (cinematic somber music continues)