Silent Witness (1996–…): Season 15, Episode 5 - Paradise Lost: Part 1 - full transcript
Leo gives evidence at a custody hearing in the wake of a child's death,his opinion over-ruling that of Dr Helen Karamides,which annoys her former pupil Nikki,who sees Helen as the victim of the male establishment and cannot believe the accusation that Helen is retaining tissue samples from past cases. Nikki is also approached by Andy Farmer. His mother Annie was the appropriate adult at the interview with serial killer Arnold Mears,who now directs Annie to the sites of his victims' remains where she collects their bones. Andy wants Nikki to help identify them. Nikki also discovers that Helen had a professional involvement with Mears.
"Now conscience wakes despair
That slumber'd,
"wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was,
"what is, and what must be
Worse:"
Mum!
Mum!
Mum!
"Of worse deeds
worse sufferings must ensue."
Silent Witness
Season 15 - Episode 05
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
Sync: Marocas62
"Paradise Lost"
Part 1
Normal colour sclera.
No jaundice, no petechiae,
no facial stigmata or disease.
Intrathoracic haemorrhage
seems inconsistent
with the low velocity of
road traffic collision.
Might be looking
for a natural cause.
Maybe a spontaneous rupture
of an aortic aneurysm.
Normal nails.
No clubbing...
or other abnormality.
You feeling the
cold there, Sergeant?
- It is rather cold, isn't it?
- Not working hard enough.
God, it's freezing
in here too, isn't it?
You're right. The
air-con's gone haywire.
Mean anything to you?
I think we need professional help.
Leo's the one who
knows all about it.
He was here when it was installed.
There'll be a number in his office.
Where is Leo, anyway?
What you are saying, Dr. Karamides,
is that this did not happen.
This child did not die
in the way a variety of
other medical specialists
- say he did.
- I'm speaking
about the over-reliance on the
so-called triad of brain injuries.
Three physical symptoms -
retinal haemorrhage,
subdural haematoma, and
acute encephalopathy,
which some pathologists
believe is proof positive
of shaken-baby syndrome.
- But you don't?
- No, I don't.
And nor do a number of
eminent pathologists.
So, what happened in this case?
In my opinion, Baby K
suffered an epileptic seizure,
which led to subdural haemorrhage,
and eventually to
hypoxic-ischaemic brain damage.
- In your opinion?
- In my opinion.
But the coroner sought
the opinions of other experts -
ophthalmologists,
neuropathologists -
who have testified that these
injuries are more likely to have arisen
from the baby being shaken and
manhandled by his angry mother.
Indeed.
- But do you disagree with all of them?
- Yes! I do.
Here we are.
Paul Bewley,
heating and ventilation.
He's in court today.
Request to attend
a custody hearing.
Are you meant to be reading that?
To give expert testimony on a
matter of neonatal pathology.
What?
I thought we agreed
to stay away from the triad.
And even at this late hour,
Dr. Karamides,
I cannot get you to consent to the
majority view of all your peers?
My job is not to
support the consensus.
It's to give you my professional
opinion as a pathologist
who specialises in
brain development.
I am not asking for consensus,
but clarity.
How can this court make up its mind
when its own expert witnesses
dispute not just conclusions
but the evidence which
underlies those conclusions?
We all decided after
the Alice Copeland case
that we wouldn't do
any more neonatal work.
Sorry.
Yeah, I just lost you a minute.
I'm in the basement.
OK, follow the pipes.
That's what I'm doing.
And... Oh, yeah, OK. Is that...?
I think I can...
I can see the unit.
It's a kind of...
grey box with knobs.
Is that right?
There's a lot of vapour
coming out of other pipes.
- It doesn't make any sense...
- I don't know if that's good.
..if he's in court giving expert
testimony on a neonatal case.
How long?
Really? Well...
well, can you please just
call me when you know?
Because... we are
dying of cold here.
Professor Dalton.
I understand you are president
of the Institute of Pathologists?
I am, yes.
And you completely disagree
with the expert testimony
presented by Dr. Karamides?
I do, yes.
My head's gone numb.
- He's been reading up about the triad.
- Oh, has he?
This is about Helen Karamides.
There's a theory that the pathology
of the brain
could be caused by
factors other than shaking.
But this particular theory,
which involves questions of hypoxia,
brain swelling,
raised intracranial pressure,
is highly contentious and,
to my mind, utterly unproven.
But these symptoms were present
in the case of Baby K?
Yes, but when taken together
with other more complex factors,
these make non-accidental
head injury much more likely.
In short, you believe
this baby was shaken?
Yes.
Quick would be... good.
Yeah.
OK, thanks.
Plumber's calling his mate.
A plumber's mating
call is being made.
Help is on its way.
Why didn't Leo tell us
he was doing this?
I should think because he knows
how you feel about Helen Karamides
and I should think because
he didn't want a row,
and I agree with him.
"O much deceiv'd,
much failing,
"hapless Eve,
"Of thy presum'd return,
"event perverse!
"Thou never from
that hour in Paradise
"Found'st either sweet
repast or sound repose:
"Such ambush, hid among
sweet flowers and shades,
"Waited with hellish
rancour imminent
"To intercept thy
way, or send thee back
"Despoild of Innocence,
of Faith, of Bliss."
Mears?
Visitors' area.
Mears!
- Here it is.
- Here what is?
Leo's list.
One postmortem review
on a six-month-old baby,
and the name of the first
pathologist has been redacted.
I don't know anything about it.
We're marking someone
else's homework.
And guess what.
Someone whose name is five letters
followed by nine letters.
Helen Karamides.
Professor Dalton,
are you a specialist
paediatric pathologist?
No, I'm not.
Do you do any paediatric work?
Some.
For various reasons,
my colleagues and I
have recently ceased
doing neonatal work.
So, on what basis are we asked
to accept your expert evidence?
Well, as a professor of pathology,
and a member of the Home Secretary's
Register of Forensic Pathologists,
I keep up with the literature.
This isn't about the
literature, Professor.
This is about whether a mother
unlawfully killed her own child
and whether this court
should now deny her custody
of her surviving child.
You know why you're here, Annie?
All that matters,
the only thing that matters...
...is those girls and their
families.
Otherwise I don't come.
All I have are your visits.
Well, then.
Of course, it is
generally preferable...
for a child to remain
with his or her parents.
But only if that
environment is safe.
In the case of the sibling, Child A,
what I have heard today seriously
calls that safety into question.
To my mind, the
evidence we have heard
suggests there is significant risk
that if he remains with his mother,
he may suffer the same
fate as his brother.
I have listened to
conflicting expert testimonies,
and I have to say I find
that of Professor Dalton
more convincing, to say the least.
The arguments of Dr. Karamides,
though no doubt well meant,
seem to me to be baseless
and quite possibly misleading.
I have therefore decided, with
regret,
to entrust this child to the
care of the local authority.
Dr. Karamides!
Do you have your
own comment to make?
- Will you resign?
- Dr. Karamides!
Ever since Karamides started
challenging the triad,
- they've been out to get her.
- Who have?
The establishment,
the male establishment.
- Come on!
- And Leo's part of it.
- What?
- He's President
of the Institute of Pathologists,
isn't he?
Can't get much more
establishment than that.
Doesn't mean he's
part of a witch-hunt.
- Doesn't it?
- Does it?
Well, he's going up
against her in court
and he's agreed to check
up on her postmortems.
I think Leo knows what he's doing.
Yes, I'm sure he does.
James Reagan.
The Institute of Pathologists.
We spoke on the phone.
- How do you do?
- Most impressive,
if I may say so.
Yeah, well, thank you.
You going to do
what you promised me?
You got anything for me?
Memories.
I'm here alone with my memories.
So are the families
of all those other girls.
Do memories affect you?
Of course memories affect me.
Like the angels.
They remember how they were in...
heaven...
and the Garden of
Eden and they despair
when they remember.
I'll give you memories.
If you give me somewhere
to go when I leave here.
All right, then.
Now...
...memories.
That's unfair.
I know Leo has to...
play the political
game a bit these days,
but he doesn't enjoy it.
He's never liked
Helen, for some reason.
He's never liked her ideas, but
he believes in her
right to air them.
Oh, thank goodness.
- Hello?
- Dr. Cunningham?
Yes, thanks for coming.
Hi. Come in.
Let me show you.
Have to take you into the bowels
of the building, I'm afraid.
Very, very... cold everywhere,
as you can feel.
About 500 yards from the bus stop,
there's a fence.
Then there was a gate.
I went through the gate.
Down a... a slight hill.
- Did you hear the cars?
- Yes.
Of course.
And then?
And then there was a
little stream with a bridge.
I thought I'd gone too far.
Then I found it.
I was about to use
the Yellow Pages.
No good, mate.
You can't get any old
Tom, Dick or Harry
on kit like this.
- Is that right?
- No.
The ticket to work on something
like this costs 5,000 quid.
Yeah.
Looks like you've got a
problem with the compressor.
Won't know till we've
tested it all out.
Right, well, do your best.
I'll... I'll be in the office.
Hey.
Do you know what this place is?
Why did we stop
doing neonatal work?
Alice Copeland, wasn't it?
Because we sent an
innocent woman to jail.
- We didn't do anything.
- Well, not us, but pathologists.
The profession.
The experts arrive at the scene
with their detachment and objectivity
and announce that she shook
her children to death and...
then she takes her own life.
If the courts had listened
to Helen Karamides,
that would never have happened.
Hello.
Who are you?
It's your backfeed loop.
We're going to have
to trace it round.
See if we can find the airlock.
- Right.
- Slight technical problem we had.
Nothing works when you're not here.
Leo, I think Nikki
might want a word
when you have a moment.
James Reagan, acting
for the Institute of Pathologists.
- Harry Cunningham.
- Hello.
Is it always this cold?
Maybe you keep it this
way because of the...
Something like that.
Anyway, I'll...
let you get on.
This way.
Bye, Annie.
Thanks.
Body's that of a male infant.
- Is Leo back?
- Yeah.
There's evidence of widespread
ammoniacal dermatitis
in the nappy area.
The previous pathologist opened
the thorax and the abdomen.
So, I'm now reopening
the sutured incision line.
The gastric mucosa shows
evidence of widespread erosion...
...as was recognised by
the previous pathologist.
Try breathing deeply.
They say counting to 100 helps.
I suppose one gets used to it.
Not when it's a baby.
Mum, where are you?
Let me know where you are.
- Nikki.
- Don't mind me.
Look, I'm afraid this is
confidential. The Institute...
We don't have anything to
hide from each other. Do we?
No.
No, of course not.
So, Professor Dalton, you've
completed the postmortem review?
- I have, yes.
- And what's your conclusion?
Was the first pathologist in error?
Mr. Reagan, I agreed to do
a second postmortem
on an individual,
not on a pathologist.
Nonetheless, as a solicitor, I'd
like your professional opinion.
Well, there are some inconsistencies
between my findings
and those of the
first pathologist, yes.
- Such as?
- The original postmortem
found that the subject
died of hypothermia,
and yet there's no
record of any rectal
temperature reading
in the original report.
So, the first
pathologist was wrong?
Well, it's not as simple as that.
I haven't seen the results
of any special investigations.
I haven't... explored the context.
- Context?
- Context is everything, yes.
If you don't consider that, then...
Well, we tend to make mistakes.
So, if a child died of hypothermia
then the temperature in the
room is part of the context?
We would take that
into consideration, yes.
And not considering
it would be negligent?
Well...
There are other
causes to hypothermia
besides being exposed
to cold environments.
Who was the original pathologist,
out of interest?
- As I said before, Dr...
- Dr. Alexander.
Yes, as I say before Dr.
Alexander, I'm afraid I'm really
- not at liberty...
- I think you know who it is.
Helen Karamides has done
more work on the infant brain
than almost anyone in this country.
Excuse me, could you tell me what
your particular interest is in this?
I trained under her
for a couple of years.
And, of course, I have a very
strong professional interest.
She doesn't deserve a witch-hunt.
Nikki, this is not a witch-hunt.
I was asked to do a postmortem
review, which I have done,
fairly and even-handedly, I hope.
And the rest is up
to the Institute.
What's up to the Institute?
I'd love to talk about this all
day, but I have rather a lot to do.
Professor Dalton.
Dr. Alexander.
Are you saying she's facing some
kind of disciplinary procedure?
Why?
Because If Dr. Karamides
is going to be summoned
before a tribunal,
I want you to know I
will be more than happy
- to speak on her behalf.
- Look,
- do you know why I'm here?
- No. Why are you here?
Well, are you going
to tell her or shall I?
Tell me what?
Helen Karamides has been accused
of retaining tissue samples
from dead infants.
- Tissue samples?
- Without their parents' permission.
- And you can prove that?
- Yes, we can.
Right.
That went well.
"Now conscience wakes
despair That slumber'd,
"wakes the bitter memory
"Of what he was,
"what is, and what must be
Worse:"
"Of worse deeds
worse sufferings must ensue."
Excuse me!
What are you doing?
Got to trace the pipe-work.
- Well, have you found anything?
- No.
No. So, you shouldn't be
in here, so please get out.
All right. All right,
no need to make a fuss.
That was quite a scene earlier.
- What do you mean?
- The way you handled that guy.
I... I loved that.
Oh, great.
So, you...
you cut people up in here, then?
Yes.
And people watch from up here?
Yes.
So, you know all about dead bodies?
Yes, that's my job.
"Thou never from that houre
in Paradise
"Foundst either sweet repast,
or sound repose;
"Such ambush hid among
sweet Flours and Shades
"Such ambush hid among
sweet Flours and Shades
"To intercept thy way,
"or send thee back
"Despoild of Innocence,
of Faith, of Bliss."
Mum!
Mum!
What's your name?
Annie Farmer.
Annie.
I knew an Annie.
- You from around here?
- Yeah.
From round here, yeah.
I thought we might have
seen each other.
No, we don't know each other.
It was the backfeed loop.
I told you it was
the backfeed loop.
Backfeed loop, apparently.
Nikki and I went out
for a drink last night.
Can't imagine what
you talked about.
One or two... things did come up.
Why did you go to court yesterday,
if you don't mind my asking?
- How do you mean?
- Well, we'd agreed,
I thought, as you know, after
the Alice Copeland thing.
What, to do no more neonatal cases?
- Yeah.
- Yes, I know. But...
I think, in retrospect,
we made a mistake.
OK.
I think we should take
each case as it comes.
We can't fall back on a...
hasty decision that
we made 18 months ago.
The Alice Copeland case was
a...a tragedy. Of course it was.
But this is a completely
different case.
- Right.
- I was asked to
to look at the evidence, and I did,
and I disagreed
with Dr. Karamides' interpretation
so I took to the stand
and I said as much.
- Yes, but...
- I know how you felt.
And I sympathise with you.
I really do.
But there is no conspiracy.
We just have to
make some hard calls.
We can't say,
"Oh, this is too controversial.
"We can't get involved in this."
We have to get involved,
because that's our
job, even when it's...
- Scary.
- Yeah, even when it's scary.
I was going to tell you
about going to court.
OK, forget that.
But you should have told
me about the tissue samples
she apparently stole.
There is a legal process that has
to be followed in all these cases.
I wasn't allowed to.
You know retaining
those tissue samples
doesn't make her a bad pathologist.
No, but it calls her judgment
into question, don't you think?
"Human?"
Well?
Is this from you?
Where did you get it?
I can't talk to you here.
This is a human bone.
Where did you get this?
- Will you talk to me away from here?
- No, absolutely not. Leo?
It'll have to wait.
I'm sorry.
Look, this has got to be
just between the two of us.
What time do you finish?
I'll wait.
I asked you where
you got this from.
I brought it,
cos I wanted to talk to you.
Please.
It's not about me.
It's my mum.
You're the only one who can help us.
I was afraid you
weren't going to come.
OK, that bone you gave me,
it's a proximal phalanx.
- That's a bone in your finger.
- Right.
- I'll run some more tests on it
- OK.
- and then take it to the police.
- No.
- It could be evidence of a crime.
- You can't tell the police.
I don't have a choice.
You don't have a choice.
I wish I'd never given it to you.
Just give it back!
- I can't do that.
- They'll put my mum in jail!
Why?
Cos she collects them.
What, there are more of them?
Yeah.
Dozens of them.
Well, where are they?
I'm not going to tell you where.
Can you take me to them?
Just you, yeah?
- Helen.
- Hello, Leo.
- How did you get in here?
- I lied.
- I said we were colleagues.
- Well, we still are, I hope.
Not for much longer, I suspect.
I can't discuss disciplinary
procedures, as you know.
Yes, I know.
Helen, you are a...
a first-class pathologist.
You've done valuable work.
But the judicial system depends on
us for a consistent judgment.
We can't... debate
our differences of
opinion in open court.
We have to speak with one voice.
Even if it means ignoring
inconvenient truths?
- According to you.
- And destroying my career?
I disagree with your theory.
So do most of your peers.
I brought you something.
Don't worry.
It's not a parcel bomb.
It's some research.
I'd like your opinion on it.
I've already reviewed
your work on the triad.
This is different.
- I don't think it's a good idea.
- I need your help, Leo.
We've had our differences,
but you're a half-decent pathologist
and I know you're strong.
I know you'll do what's right.
Mum?
Mum?
- Where did these come from?
- I don't know.
All over.
It came from Arnold Mears.
I thought he was in prison.
He is.
She goes to him and
he gives them to her
or he tells her where to find them.
- I don't know. It's sick.
- But why?
So, these bones belong to...?
You tell me.
You take 'em away with you.
Do your tests or whatever. Just...
...just get them out this house.
OK, but the police definitely
will want to interview you
- and your mother.
- Oh. Jimmy!
- What are you doing?
- Who's she?
- My name's Nikki Alexander.
- I...
- She's a friend, Mum.
- I'm a pathologist.
- Why did you bring her here?
- Get out! Out!
- Mum, look. Look, Mum.
- She can help us.
- No-one can help.
- You're just making things worse.
- I've seen the bones now, Mrs. Farmer.
Throwing me out won't do any good.
Is it true that Arnold
Mears has given them to you?
Why haven't you told anybody?
Because he said I shouldn't.
But you do know that
they're human bones?
Course.
I just wanted to help.
Help who?
The families.
The families of those poor girls.
You do understand what
you're charged with?
You're in a lot of trouble, Arnold.
Do you understand that?
You look kind.
I like you.
Somebody decided he was vulnerable.
They said he needed help in the
interviews with the detectives.
An appropriate adult, it's called.
I'd done a course to try
and get a bit more money,
so one day...
I got a call.
He was my first one.
And my last.
What we want to know, Arnold,
about this body,
is why you sawed the head
and arms off that poor girl.
- No comment.
- No comment?
A girl of 17 is found
dismembered under your workshop
and you can't tell us what you did?
Arnold.
Arnold, pay attention to me.
- I need a break.
- Arnold, you've had a break.
I'm starting a headache.
They can't talk to me
if my appropriate
adult isn't with me.
It's like we were a couple.
"They hand in hand
"with wand'ring steps and slow
"Through Eden
"took thir solitarie way."
What is that?
That's Paradise Lost.
The greatest poem in
the English language.
Thanks, Annie.
He really loved that poem.
Read it all the way
through the trial,
didn't listen to
anything anybody said.
But after the trial...
I don't understand.
Surely you didn't
have to see him then?
The day after he was sentenced,
he asked if we could meet.
One last time, just to say goodbye.
- And you went?
- Well, I... I didn't want to.
But...
he said he wanted to
repair the damage he'd done.
Wanted me to help him
make things better.
He said there were...
more bodies than the
three he'd been tried for.
How many more?
Nine.
Nine...
other girls that... that
no-one knew anything about
and... and he wanted to
tell me where they were.
He was going to tell me
where they were buried.
Not straight away.
He said he had to test me.
See if he could trust me.
He was going to give me...
souvenirs,
he called 'em.
Little... bones...
that he...
that he got from the other girls
he buried separately.
It's the mums and dads.
That's who I'm thinking about.
Wondering where their
little one's buried.
What are you suggesting?
These families are in pain.
And you can help.
- Why me?
- Because you're an angel.
- That's how it started.
- And you never told the police?
Tried to get her to.
Did he ever tell you where
the bodies of the girls were?
No, never.
Never told her anything.
You made me a promise.
You promised me you'd tell
me where those girls are.
A solemn promise.
I am keeping my
promise, Angel Annie.
No. No, you're not.
You've given me nothing.
I...I can't do this any more.
I'm not strong enough.
So, just tell the police instead.
No. I'm not talking to them.
It has to be you.
If the police get involved,
those families will
stay in hell for ever.
He said I had to wait,
said I mustn't tell.
And now I have.
- If you'll let me take the bones...
- No, no.
- Mum.
- ...then I can test them and...
maybe find out whose they are.
You can give the
families some peace,
even if we don't locate
where the bodies are buried.
And what if he finds out?
Arnold Mears need never know.
- Really?
- I think so.
Then you wouldn't have
to keep going to see him.
"Farewel happy Fields
"Where Joy for ever dwells:
"Hail horrours,
hail Infernal world,
"and thou profoundest Hell
Receive thy new Possessor..."
"Be this or aught
Then this more secret now design'd,
"I haste
To know,
"and this once known,
shall soon return,
"And bring ye to the
place where Thou and Death
"Shall dwell at ease..."
Very good, Arnold.
"And bring ye to the
place where Thou and Death
"Shall dwell at ease..."
You take such an interest in me,
Doctor.
Is that professional?
Or personal?
Of course, I forget.
You're intimate with all your
patients.
- Did you feel anything?
- When?
When...
With the women.
You mean, when I cut them?
Yes.
Did I feel anything?
Do you?
"...Hail, horrors!
Hail, Infernal world!
"And thou, profoundest Hell
Receive thy new possessor
"One who brings A mind not to be
chang'd by place or time
"The mind is its own place
"And in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell
"A Hell of Heaven..."
Mears told Annie that he's
killed 12 girls altogether.
- And you believe him?
- I don't know,
but it's worth finding
out more, isn't it?
But if you won't help,
he will destroy my mum.
She came to see me last night.
"And bring ye to the
place where thou and Death
"Shall dwell at ease..."
Paradise Lost.
She was very interested
in Arnold Mears.
She interviewed him...
for 40 hours.
Do you think you remember her?
You didn't tell him
about Tina, did you?
We were just glad to put him
away and forget about him.
And I suggest you do the same.
This is a scan of Arnold Mears's
brain.
- Look at that.
- Scarring.
You're not answering
my calls, Annie.
Are you bored of me?
Some women probably do
find you interesting.
Exciting.
Do you?
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
Sync: Marocas62
That slumber'd,
"wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was,
"what is, and what must be
Worse:"
Mum!
Mum!
Mum!
"Of worse deeds
worse sufferings must ensue."
Silent Witness
Season 15 - Episode 05
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
Sync: Marocas62
"Paradise Lost"
Part 1
Normal colour sclera.
No jaundice, no petechiae,
no facial stigmata or disease.
Intrathoracic haemorrhage
seems inconsistent
with the low velocity of
road traffic collision.
Might be looking
for a natural cause.
Maybe a spontaneous rupture
of an aortic aneurysm.
Normal nails.
No clubbing...
or other abnormality.
You feeling the
cold there, Sergeant?
- It is rather cold, isn't it?
- Not working hard enough.
God, it's freezing
in here too, isn't it?
You're right. The
air-con's gone haywire.
Mean anything to you?
I think we need professional help.
Leo's the one who
knows all about it.
He was here when it was installed.
There'll be a number in his office.
Where is Leo, anyway?
What you are saying, Dr. Karamides,
is that this did not happen.
This child did not die
in the way a variety of
other medical specialists
- say he did.
- I'm speaking
about the over-reliance on the
so-called triad of brain injuries.
Three physical symptoms -
retinal haemorrhage,
subdural haematoma, and
acute encephalopathy,
which some pathologists
believe is proof positive
of shaken-baby syndrome.
- But you don't?
- No, I don't.
And nor do a number of
eminent pathologists.
So, what happened in this case?
In my opinion, Baby K
suffered an epileptic seizure,
which led to subdural haemorrhage,
and eventually to
hypoxic-ischaemic brain damage.
- In your opinion?
- In my opinion.
But the coroner sought
the opinions of other experts -
ophthalmologists,
neuropathologists -
who have testified that these
injuries are more likely to have arisen
from the baby being shaken and
manhandled by his angry mother.
Indeed.
- But do you disagree with all of them?
- Yes! I do.
Here we are.
Paul Bewley,
heating and ventilation.
He's in court today.
Request to attend
a custody hearing.
Are you meant to be reading that?
To give expert testimony on a
matter of neonatal pathology.
What?
I thought we agreed
to stay away from the triad.
And even at this late hour,
Dr. Karamides,
I cannot get you to consent to the
majority view of all your peers?
My job is not to
support the consensus.
It's to give you my professional
opinion as a pathologist
who specialises in
brain development.
I am not asking for consensus,
but clarity.
How can this court make up its mind
when its own expert witnesses
dispute not just conclusions
but the evidence which
underlies those conclusions?
We all decided after
the Alice Copeland case
that we wouldn't do
any more neonatal work.
Sorry.
Yeah, I just lost you a minute.
I'm in the basement.
OK, follow the pipes.
That's what I'm doing.
And... Oh, yeah, OK. Is that...?
I think I can...
I can see the unit.
It's a kind of...
grey box with knobs.
Is that right?
There's a lot of vapour
coming out of other pipes.
- It doesn't make any sense...
- I don't know if that's good.
..if he's in court giving expert
testimony on a neonatal case.
How long?
Really? Well...
well, can you please just
call me when you know?
Because... we are
dying of cold here.
Professor Dalton.
I understand you are president
of the Institute of Pathologists?
I am, yes.
And you completely disagree
with the expert testimony
presented by Dr. Karamides?
I do, yes.
My head's gone numb.
- He's been reading up about the triad.
- Oh, has he?
This is about Helen Karamides.
There's a theory that the pathology
of the brain
could be caused by
factors other than shaking.
But this particular theory,
which involves questions of hypoxia,
brain swelling,
raised intracranial pressure,
is highly contentious and,
to my mind, utterly unproven.
But these symptoms were present
in the case of Baby K?
Yes, but when taken together
with other more complex factors,
these make non-accidental
head injury much more likely.
In short, you believe
this baby was shaken?
Yes.
Quick would be... good.
Yeah.
OK, thanks.
Plumber's calling his mate.
A plumber's mating
call is being made.
Help is on its way.
Why didn't Leo tell us
he was doing this?
I should think because he knows
how you feel about Helen Karamides
and I should think because
he didn't want a row,
and I agree with him.
"O much deceiv'd,
much failing,
"hapless Eve,
"Of thy presum'd return,
"event perverse!
"Thou never from
that hour in Paradise
"Found'st either sweet
repast or sound repose:
"Such ambush, hid among
sweet flowers and shades,
"Waited with hellish
rancour imminent
"To intercept thy
way, or send thee back
"Despoild of Innocence,
of Faith, of Bliss."
Mears?
Visitors' area.
Mears!
- Here it is.
- Here what is?
Leo's list.
One postmortem review
on a six-month-old baby,
and the name of the first
pathologist has been redacted.
I don't know anything about it.
We're marking someone
else's homework.
And guess what.
Someone whose name is five letters
followed by nine letters.
Helen Karamides.
Professor Dalton,
are you a specialist
paediatric pathologist?
No, I'm not.
Do you do any paediatric work?
Some.
For various reasons,
my colleagues and I
have recently ceased
doing neonatal work.
So, on what basis are we asked
to accept your expert evidence?
Well, as a professor of pathology,
and a member of the Home Secretary's
Register of Forensic Pathologists,
I keep up with the literature.
This isn't about the
literature, Professor.
This is about whether a mother
unlawfully killed her own child
and whether this court
should now deny her custody
of her surviving child.
You know why you're here, Annie?
All that matters,
the only thing that matters...
...is those girls and their
families.
Otherwise I don't come.
All I have are your visits.
Well, then.
Of course, it is
generally preferable...
for a child to remain
with his or her parents.
But only if that
environment is safe.
In the case of the sibling, Child A,
what I have heard today seriously
calls that safety into question.
To my mind, the
evidence we have heard
suggests there is significant risk
that if he remains with his mother,
he may suffer the same
fate as his brother.
I have listened to
conflicting expert testimonies,
and I have to say I find
that of Professor Dalton
more convincing, to say the least.
The arguments of Dr. Karamides,
though no doubt well meant,
seem to me to be baseless
and quite possibly misleading.
I have therefore decided, with
regret,
to entrust this child to the
care of the local authority.
Dr. Karamides!
Do you have your
own comment to make?
- Will you resign?
- Dr. Karamides!
Ever since Karamides started
challenging the triad,
- they've been out to get her.
- Who have?
The establishment,
the male establishment.
- Come on!
- And Leo's part of it.
- What?
- He's President
of the Institute of Pathologists,
isn't he?
Can't get much more
establishment than that.
Doesn't mean he's
part of a witch-hunt.
- Doesn't it?
- Does it?
Well, he's going up
against her in court
and he's agreed to check
up on her postmortems.
I think Leo knows what he's doing.
Yes, I'm sure he does.
James Reagan.
The Institute of Pathologists.
We spoke on the phone.
- How do you do?
- Most impressive,
if I may say so.
Yeah, well, thank you.
You going to do
what you promised me?
You got anything for me?
Memories.
I'm here alone with my memories.
So are the families
of all those other girls.
Do memories affect you?
Of course memories affect me.
Like the angels.
They remember how they were in...
heaven...
and the Garden of
Eden and they despair
when they remember.
I'll give you memories.
If you give me somewhere
to go when I leave here.
All right, then.
Now...
...memories.
That's unfair.
I know Leo has to...
play the political
game a bit these days,
but he doesn't enjoy it.
He's never liked
Helen, for some reason.
He's never liked her ideas, but
he believes in her
right to air them.
Oh, thank goodness.
- Hello?
- Dr. Cunningham?
Yes, thanks for coming.
Hi. Come in.
Let me show you.
Have to take you into the bowels
of the building, I'm afraid.
Very, very... cold everywhere,
as you can feel.
About 500 yards from the bus stop,
there's a fence.
Then there was a gate.
I went through the gate.
Down a... a slight hill.
- Did you hear the cars?
- Yes.
Of course.
And then?
And then there was a
little stream with a bridge.
I thought I'd gone too far.
Then I found it.
I was about to use
the Yellow Pages.
No good, mate.
You can't get any old
Tom, Dick or Harry
on kit like this.
- Is that right?
- No.
The ticket to work on something
like this costs 5,000 quid.
Yeah.
Looks like you've got a
problem with the compressor.
Won't know till we've
tested it all out.
Right, well, do your best.
I'll... I'll be in the office.
Hey.
Do you know what this place is?
Why did we stop
doing neonatal work?
Alice Copeland, wasn't it?
Because we sent an
innocent woman to jail.
- We didn't do anything.
- Well, not us, but pathologists.
The profession.
The experts arrive at the scene
with their detachment and objectivity
and announce that she shook
her children to death and...
then she takes her own life.
If the courts had listened
to Helen Karamides,
that would never have happened.
Hello.
Who are you?
It's your backfeed loop.
We're going to have
to trace it round.
See if we can find the airlock.
- Right.
- Slight technical problem we had.
Nothing works when you're not here.
Leo, I think Nikki
might want a word
when you have a moment.
James Reagan, acting
for the Institute of Pathologists.
- Harry Cunningham.
- Hello.
Is it always this cold?
Maybe you keep it this
way because of the...
Something like that.
Anyway, I'll...
let you get on.
This way.
Bye, Annie.
Thanks.
Body's that of a male infant.
- Is Leo back?
- Yeah.
There's evidence of widespread
ammoniacal dermatitis
in the nappy area.
The previous pathologist opened
the thorax and the abdomen.
So, I'm now reopening
the sutured incision line.
The gastric mucosa shows
evidence of widespread erosion...
...as was recognised by
the previous pathologist.
Try breathing deeply.
They say counting to 100 helps.
I suppose one gets used to it.
Not when it's a baby.
Mum, where are you?
Let me know where you are.
- Nikki.
- Don't mind me.
Look, I'm afraid this is
confidential. The Institute...
We don't have anything to
hide from each other. Do we?
No.
No, of course not.
So, Professor Dalton, you've
completed the postmortem review?
- I have, yes.
- And what's your conclusion?
Was the first pathologist in error?
Mr. Reagan, I agreed to do
a second postmortem
on an individual,
not on a pathologist.
Nonetheless, as a solicitor, I'd
like your professional opinion.
Well, there are some inconsistencies
between my findings
and those of the
first pathologist, yes.
- Such as?
- The original postmortem
found that the subject
died of hypothermia,
and yet there's no
record of any rectal
temperature reading
in the original report.
So, the first
pathologist was wrong?
Well, it's not as simple as that.
I haven't seen the results
of any special investigations.
I haven't... explored the context.
- Context?
- Context is everything, yes.
If you don't consider that, then...
Well, we tend to make mistakes.
So, if a child died of hypothermia
then the temperature in the
room is part of the context?
We would take that
into consideration, yes.
And not considering
it would be negligent?
Well...
There are other
causes to hypothermia
besides being exposed
to cold environments.
Who was the original pathologist,
out of interest?
- As I said before, Dr...
- Dr. Alexander.
Yes, as I say before Dr.
Alexander, I'm afraid I'm really
- not at liberty...
- I think you know who it is.
Helen Karamides has done
more work on the infant brain
than almost anyone in this country.
Excuse me, could you tell me what
your particular interest is in this?
I trained under her
for a couple of years.
And, of course, I have a very
strong professional interest.
She doesn't deserve a witch-hunt.
Nikki, this is not a witch-hunt.
I was asked to do a postmortem
review, which I have done,
fairly and even-handedly, I hope.
And the rest is up
to the Institute.
What's up to the Institute?
I'd love to talk about this all
day, but I have rather a lot to do.
Professor Dalton.
Dr. Alexander.
Are you saying she's facing some
kind of disciplinary procedure?
Why?
Because If Dr. Karamides
is going to be summoned
before a tribunal,
I want you to know I
will be more than happy
- to speak on her behalf.
- Look,
- do you know why I'm here?
- No. Why are you here?
Well, are you going
to tell her or shall I?
Tell me what?
Helen Karamides has been accused
of retaining tissue samples
from dead infants.
- Tissue samples?
- Without their parents' permission.
- And you can prove that?
- Yes, we can.
Right.
That went well.
"Now conscience wakes
despair That slumber'd,
"wakes the bitter memory
"Of what he was,
"what is, and what must be
Worse:"
"Of worse deeds
worse sufferings must ensue."
Excuse me!
What are you doing?
Got to trace the pipe-work.
- Well, have you found anything?
- No.
No. So, you shouldn't be
in here, so please get out.
All right. All right,
no need to make a fuss.
That was quite a scene earlier.
- What do you mean?
- The way you handled that guy.
I... I loved that.
Oh, great.
So, you...
you cut people up in here, then?
Yes.
And people watch from up here?
Yes.
So, you know all about dead bodies?
Yes, that's my job.
"Thou never from that houre
in Paradise
"Foundst either sweet repast,
or sound repose;
"Such ambush hid among
sweet Flours and Shades
"Such ambush hid among
sweet Flours and Shades
"To intercept thy way,
"or send thee back
"Despoild of Innocence,
of Faith, of Bliss."
Mum!
Mum!
What's your name?
Annie Farmer.
Annie.
I knew an Annie.
- You from around here?
- Yeah.
From round here, yeah.
I thought we might have
seen each other.
No, we don't know each other.
It was the backfeed loop.
I told you it was
the backfeed loop.
Backfeed loop, apparently.
Nikki and I went out
for a drink last night.
Can't imagine what
you talked about.
One or two... things did come up.
Why did you go to court yesterday,
if you don't mind my asking?
- How do you mean?
- Well, we'd agreed,
I thought, as you know, after
the Alice Copeland thing.
What, to do no more neonatal cases?
- Yeah.
- Yes, I know. But...
I think, in retrospect,
we made a mistake.
OK.
I think we should take
each case as it comes.
We can't fall back on a...
hasty decision that
we made 18 months ago.
The Alice Copeland case was
a...a tragedy. Of course it was.
But this is a completely
different case.
- Right.
- I was asked to
to look at the evidence, and I did,
and I disagreed
with Dr. Karamides' interpretation
so I took to the stand
and I said as much.
- Yes, but...
- I know how you felt.
And I sympathise with you.
I really do.
But there is no conspiracy.
We just have to
make some hard calls.
We can't say,
"Oh, this is too controversial.
"We can't get involved in this."
We have to get involved,
because that's our
job, even when it's...
- Scary.
- Yeah, even when it's scary.
I was going to tell you
about going to court.
OK, forget that.
But you should have told
me about the tissue samples
she apparently stole.
There is a legal process that has
to be followed in all these cases.
I wasn't allowed to.
You know retaining
those tissue samples
doesn't make her a bad pathologist.
No, but it calls her judgment
into question, don't you think?
"Human?"
Well?
Is this from you?
Where did you get it?
I can't talk to you here.
This is a human bone.
Where did you get this?
- Will you talk to me away from here?
- No, absolutely not. Leo?
It'll have to wait.
I'm sorry.
Look, this has got to be
just between the two of us.
What time do you finish?
I'll wait.
I asked you where
you got this from.
I brought it,
cos I wanted to talk to you.
Please.
It's not about me.
It's my mum.
You're the only one who can help us.
I was afraid you
weren't going to come.
OK, that bone you gave me,
it's a proximal phalanx.
- That's a bone in your finger.
- Right.
- I'll run some more tests on it
- OK.
- and then take it to the police.
- No.
- It could be evidence of a crime.
- You can't tell the police.
I don't have a choice.
You don't have a choice.
I wish I'd never given it to you.
Just give it back!
- I can't do that.
- They'll put my mum in jail!
Why?
Cos she collects them.
What, there are more of them?
Yeah.
Dozens of them.
Well, where are they?
I'm not going to tell you where.
Can you take me to them?
Just you, yeah?
- Helen.
- Hello, Leo.
- How did you get in here?
- I lied.
- I said we were colleagues.
- Well, we still are, I hope.
Not for much longer, I suspect.
I can't discuss disciplinary
procedures, as you know.
Yes, I know.
Helen, you are a...
a first-class pathologist.
You've done valuable work.
But the judicial system depends on
us for a consistent judgment.
We can't... debate
our differences of
opinion in open court.
We have to speak with one voice.
Even if it means ignoring
inconvenient truths?
- According to you.
- And destroying my career?
I disagree with your theory.
So do most of your peers.
I brought you something.
Don't worry.
It's not a parcel bomb.
It's some research.
I'd like your opinion on it.
I've already reviewed
your work on the triad.
This is different.
- I don't think it's a good idea.
- I need your help, Leo.
We've had our differences,
but you're a half-decent pathologist
and I know you're strong.
I know you'll do what's right.
Mum?
Mum?
- Where did these come from?
- I don't know.
All over.
It came from Arnold Mears.
I thought he was in prison.
He is.
She goes to him and
he gives them to her
or he tells her where to find them.
- I don't know. It's sick.
- But why?
So, these bones belong to...?
You tell me.
You take 'em away with you.
Do your tests or whatever. Just...
...just get them out this house.
OK, but the police definitely
will want to interview you
- and your mother.
- Oh. Jimmy!
- What are you doing?
- Who's she?
- My name's Nikki Alexander.
- I...
- She's a friend, Mum.
- I'm a pathologist.
- Why did you bring her here?
- Get out! Out!
- Mum, look. Look, Mum.
- She can help us.
- No-one can help.
- You're just making things worse.
- I've seen the bones now, Mrs. Farmer.
Throwing me out won't do any good.
Is it true that Arnold
Mears has given them to you?
Why haven't you told anybody?
Because he said I shouldn't.
But you do know that
they're human bones?
Course.
I just wanted to help.
Help who?
The families.
The families of those poor girls.
You do understand what
you're charged with?
You're in a lot of trouble, Arnold.
Do you understand that?
You look kind.
I like you.
Somebody decided he was vulnerable.
They said he needed help in the
interviews with the detectives.
An appropriate adult, it's called.
I'd done a course to try
and get a bit more money,
so one day...
I got a call.
He was my first one.
And my last.
What we want to know, Arnold,
about this body,
is why you sawed the head
and arms off that poor girl.
- No comment.
- No comment?
A girl of 17 is found
dismembered under your workshop
and you can't tell us what you did?
Arnold.
Arnold, pay attention to me.
- I need a break.
- Arnold, you've had a break.
I'm starting a headache.
They can't talk to me
if my appropriate
adult isn't with me.
It's like we were a couple.
"They hand in hand
"with wand'ring steps and slow
"Through Eden
"took thir solitarie way."
What is that?
That's Paradise Lost.
The greatest poem in
the English language.
Thanks, Annie.
He really loved that poem.
Read it all the way
through the trial,
didn't listen to
anything anybody said.
But after the trial...
I don't understand.
Surely you didn't
have to see him then?
The day after he was sentenced,
he asked if we could meet.
One last time, just to say goodbye.
- And you went?
- Well, I... I didn't want to.
But...
he said he wanted to
repair the damage he'd done.
Wanted me to help him
make things better.
He said there were...
more bodies than the
three he'd been tried for.
How many more?
Nine.
Nine...
other girls that... that
no-one knew anything about
and... and he wanted to
tell me where they were.
He was going to tell me
where they were buried.
Not straight away.
He said he had to test me.
See if he could trust me.
He was going to give me...
souvenirs,
he called 'em.
Little... bones...
that he...
that he got from the other girls
he buried separately.
It's the mums and dads.
That's who I'm thinking about.
Wondering where their
little one's buried.
What are you suggesting?
These families are in pain.
And you can help.
- Why me?
- Because you're an angel.
- That's how it started.
- And you never told the police?
Tried to get her to.
Did he ever tell you where
the bodies of the girls were?
No, never.
Never told her anything.
You made me a promise.
You promised me you'd tell
me where those girls are.
A solemn promise.
I am keeping my
promise, Angel Annie.
No. No, you're not.
You've given me nothing.
I...I can't do this any more.
I'm not strong enough.
So, just tell the police instead.
No. I'm not talking to them.
It has to be you.
If the police get involved,
those families will
stay in hell for ever.
He said I had to wait,
said I mustn't tell.
And now I have.
- If you'll let me take the bones...
- No, no.
- Mum.
- ...then I can test them and...
maybe find out whose they are.
You can give the
families some peace,
even if we don't locate
where the bodies are buried.
And what if he finds out?
Arnold Mears need never know.
- Really?
- I think so.
Then you wouldn't have
to keep going to see him.
"Farewel happy Fields
"Where Joy for ever dwells:
"Hail horrours,
hail Infernal world,
"and thou profoundest Hell
Receive thy new Possessor..."
"Be this or aught
Then this more secret now design'd,
"I haste
To know,
"and this once known,
shall soon return,
"And bring ye to the
place where Thou and Death
"Shall dwell at ease..."
Very good, Arnold.
"And bring ye to the
place where Thou and Death
"Shall dwell at ease..."
You take such an interest in me,
Doctor.
Is that professional?
Or personal?
Of course, I forget.
You're intimate with all your
patients.
- Did you feel anything?
- When?
When...
With the women.
You mean, when I cut them?
Yes.
Did I feel anything?
Do you?
"...Hail, horrors!
Hail, Infernal world!
"And thou, profoundest Hell
Receive thy new possessor
"One who brings A mind not to be
chang'd by place or time
"The mind is its own place
"And in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell
"A Hell of Heaven..."
Mears told Annie that he's
killed 12 girls altogether.
- And you believe him?
- I don't know,
but it's worth finding
out more, isn't it?
But if you won't help,
he will destroy my mum.
She came to see me last night.
"And bring ye to the
place where thou and Death
"Shall dwell at ease..."
Paradise Lost.
She was very interested
in Arnold Mears.
She interviewed him...
for 40 hours.
Do you think you remember her?
You didn't tell him
about Tina, did you?
We were just glad to put him
away and forget about him.
And I suggest you do the same.
This is a scan of Arnold Mears's
brain.
- Look at that.
- Scarring.
You're not answering
my calls, Annie.
Are you bored of me?
Some women probably do
find you interesting.
Exciting.
Do you?
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
Sync: Marocas62