Silent Witness (1996–…): Season 23, Episode 5 - Seven Times: Part 1 - full transcript

PA SYSTEM: Trains into
Central London have been suspended

due to an incident on the track.
We apologise for any delay.

Hi. Yeah, it's Thomas.
There's a problem on the line.

Will I get the boot?
Thanks.

Thank you.

You know what I hate the most?
Oh, come on, Jack,

you know these are impossible
questions. It's the smell.

That acrid smell that just hangs
in the air, gets in your clothes

and your skin. I thought you were
going to say war or famine or,

you know, discrimination,
stuff you can't wash away.

Maybe "most" was a step too far.



Here. Thanks.

Lot of traffic through here.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

No handbag or mobile phone?
No.

< Bugger!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
This is a crime scene, fella!

Thank God for that!
I'm in the right place.

Cassandra, I am stuck!
Who are you?

I'm in charge.

This is my support worker.
God bless Access To Work!

Yes, I know. She's gorgeous.

Let's try and be professional.

Detective Inspector Sid Clarke.
Nikki Alexander, hi. Hello.

Does anyone know
who the dead woman is?



Hello. Cat!

Come in, come in. Robbie, coming in?

Is Jenny here?
No.

She didn't turn up
to collect Cat after school

and she's not answering her phone.

I don't know where she is.

You'll let me know, won't you,
if she turns up here?

# Testator silens

# Costestes e spiritu

# Silentium

# Testator silens... #

PUNCHING AND GRUNTING

She's drunk.

She falls.

Her body lands on
the conductor rail. BAM!

And you think she was drunk
because you found the gin bottle?

I don't know.
I think she smelled like alcohol.

Alcohol doesn't smell, Jack.
You know that. Alcohol breath -

that sickly, sweet, horrible smell,
I think you're referring to.

That's the one. Exactly.

Alcohol breath requires that she be
breathing - which she was not.

OK. You may be right.
May be?

Nikki checking blood alcohol?
Yes. On the list.

Do we know who she is yet?
No. No ID on the body.

Ran her fingerprints.

Didn't have a criminal record.

The gin bottle was a prop, Jack.

And you know that because...?
Of my crystal ball.

That's what I thought.

There's no DNA on the mouth
of the bottle.

She didn't swig from the bottle.
And there's no thumbprint.

Sorry? Four good clean fingerprints
on one side of the bottle.

No thumbprint on the other side.
No thumbprint?

She falls five metres onto
the tracks. Electrocutes herself.

Partly consumed bottle of gin
next to the body.

Not broken.

Just lying there screaming at us,
"She fell cos she was drunk."

Why do you do that? What?
Hit things.

I've been hitting things for awhile.
You only asking that now?!

It's only started to piss me
off now. Oh, really?

It's satisfying. Is the big bag...
The heavy bag.

Is the big, heavy bag
meant to be a body?

I guess, yeah.

So, it's satisfying to hit a body?

Yeah. Why?

You're damaged.

Electric burns on the lateral aspect
of the upper chest and right breast.

No evidence of vital reaction.

Electrical burns of the lateral
aspect of the right upper arm...

..and the lateral aspect
of the right lower leg.

No evidence of vital reaction.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Forensics.

Thanks.

WOMAN, FAINTLY: ..18, 19, 20.
Coming, Nikki, ready or not!

Safe! Mummy, I'm safe.

Thermal pattern injury
consistent with a cigarette burn

in three distinct places on the
right side of the deceased's body.

Hello, Dee, I'm home.

Hello, love.

Have you heard anything?
No.

She'll be OK, girl.
She will, she'll turn up.

You know what she's like.

She's always been headstrong, ain't
she? You never could control her.

Remember that time she went
missing before? Yeah?

She came back, didn't she? Eh?

Come here.

Just try not to worry.

Did he do something to her? Robbie.

What?

Did he?

I was going to call the police but
then I thought, maybe she was here

with you. Maybe she didn't
want to be found.

I'm sorry, but I really
can't help you.

But I think you should
call the police.

And if I hear from her I'll ask her
to let you know she's OK.

Thank you.

Excuse me? You're Jenny's mum?
Yeah. Have you heard from her?

Do you know where she is?
We were meant to meet for a drink,

but she didn't show up
and she hasn't called.

I'm Tina. She told me to come to you
if anything ever happened.

Not to her husband, not to her dad.
To you.

HAS something happened?
I don't know.

Come on through.
Thanks, Cassandra.

Missing person, they circulated
a description and a photo

and it ended up with me.

And because I'm so exceptionally
brilliant at maths

I put two and two together and...

We come in all shapes and sizes.

And the "we" in that remark
referred to...?

It's OK, Clarissa. He's with me.

Why would that make it OK, Thomas?

The "we" refers to us. You and me.

The two obviously disabled
people in chairs.

Detective Inspector Sid Clarke.

Injured in the line of duty.

Clarissa Mullery.
Injured in the line of gestation.

Clarissa is one of our forensic
specialists. Yeah?

You must be like one of those
boffins that make everybody else

look stupid, right?
That's my goal in life.

And you're the kind of guy that
makes everyone else look smart?

I am totally into you.
How's your shoulder?

My shoulder's fine. You sure?

You must get tired carrying that
chip around all day. I'd love to

stay and chat more but I've got to
go look at a dead person.

The taxpayer actually pays you?
Yeah, but not much.

Cos I'm a crip. Same?

Ah, we ought to...

Yeah. Of course.

Um...the dead await.

Totally into you, Clarissa!

Met Clarke, then.

Interesting guy. For a cop.

We think her name's Jenny Shaw.
Do we know cause of death?

Dr Alexander's yet to complete.

Rupture of the right tympanic
membrane. Ruptured eardrum.

Zygomatic bruising.

Are you playing hide and seek
with Daddy? Yes, my darling.

We have to be very, very quiet.

Nikki?

Customer's coming to pick it up,
five o'clock, for the MOT.

Good man.

PHONE RINGS

Hello, Collyer's.

Yeah.

Ah...

I'm so sorry, Mr Shaw,
but we've found a body.

We believe it may be your wife.

No! No, no! Please!

What happened?
We're not certain.

Do you know where she was going
on the night she died?

She said that she was
meeting friends.

Who were the friends?

She said...girlfriends.

I don't... I don't...

I don't really know. I'm sorry.

Could your wife have been drinking

before she joined up
with her friends? Yeah. Yes.

Yeah.

It's pregaming.

You know? It's cheaper.

Did your wife have
a problem with drinking?

She drank a bit, yeah.

Maybe a little too much sometimes.

Why?

We think she might have fallen.

We're just trying to understand
why that might have happened.

You got any idea who would have done
this to her? We don't know

if anybody else was involved,
it could have been an accident.
Have you talked to Robbie?

I've let him know. Did he tell you?
Did he say anything?

He didn't say nothing to you, did
he? He didn't tell you, did he?

She went to a women's refuge...

..a few months ago.

To get away from him.

Cat? Cat, darling.

I didn't hear you arrive.
Come in. Come here.

This is my granddaughter, Cat.

Is it bad?

We were having a kind of reunion,
sort of thing.

She'd gone back to her husband.
We hadn't seen her for a while.

We like to try and support
each other, make sure we're OK.

Why wouldn't she be OK?

Sorry, you know what this place is,
yeah? A women's REFUGE.

The women who come here are not OK.
We are broken.

We need somewhere safe
to try and mend.

Jenny was broken?
Jenny is dead.

Was there actually gin in the gin
bottle found at the scene? Yeah.

You've tested it? Yeah.
Of course we've tested it. Why?

Blood tests.
She hadn't been drinking.

Really? Yeah.

So, why would there have been
a gin bottle at the scene

next to the body?

Coincidence?

It had fingerprints on one side
of the bottle but no thumbprint.

I don't know.

To make it look like
she'd been drinking? A prop?

A prop?! Prop, Jack.

Both girls were ill, Your Honour.
I had to keep them home from school.

Had to take a day off work.
I called him.

That's just not true.
It is true, Pete.

You never even bothered to call me
back. You never once called

to see how they were.
You wouldn't take my calls.

I've got a note from the GP
and a note from their school.

She prevents me
from seeing my girls.

Yes, I want to stay focused
on the issue at hand.

Were your daughters
ill on the weekend of the 16th

when they should have been
with their father?

The court gave you an instruction.

And the court expects you
to follow it.

Can you tell me why you didn't?

I'm afraid of what
he might do to them.

I mean, this isn't...
This just isn't right.

My girls are afraid.
We've spoken about this.

There is no evidence of violence
towards the children.

They saw what he did to me.
I didn't do anything to you!

Or indeed any evidence of anything

that they could reasonably
be frightened of.

You know what gaslighting is, sir?
There don't have to be any marks,

any bruises you can see,

not on the outside.

You are?
Cheryl Wilkes.

I'm her McKenzie Friend.

Miss Wilkes.

Mrs Harcourt,

I'm inclined to favour evidence
over accusation.

I'm concerned this is an example
of Parental Alienation.

Mr Harcourt is their father
and he is under intense scrutiny

from both Social Services
and this court.

The fear you say they feel,
I believe, is of your construction.

Rather than making
your daughters fearful,

you need to explain to them that
there is nothing to be afraid of.

And I want you to have that
conversation with them,

under supervision, so that I can
be confident it has been done.

If you prevent contact
between your daughters

and their father again,
you will go to jail.

How am I meant to do
what that judge ordered?

Am I meant to put them in danger?

What if he does something?
How can I live with that?

Do they supervise it?

When the girls visit him,
like, it's supervised, yeah?

When I was a kid,
that's what they used to do.

He wants everyone to think
I'm crazy, that's what this is.

It's my job to protect them.
Yeah, course.

That's what a good mother does.

Hey! What are you doing here?
Checking on you.

And Tina's girls were missing me.
Everything good? Yeah, course.

Brilliant! Owen? Good as gold.
She's all loved up.

I'm off.

Love you.
Love you.

Girls?

Yeah? Cheryl's leaving.
Come say goodbye.

Bye! Bye-bye!

Thanks for today.

See you later.
See ya.

KIDS: Bye!

Right, girls, come on,
let's go to the park.

They don't believe you.

You know that, yeah?

Not a word.

You leave us alone.

They know you're making it up,
telling stories.

They know what you're doing.
Stay away from us!

You're not going to take my girls,
Tina.

You're not fit to look after them,
are you? You're not well.

You need to get some help.

Poppy! Daisy!

Come on, girls.

Going to go home, OK?
All right? You OK? Yeah. Yeah.

OK.

Ah, Detective Superintendent.
Donald. Sorry I'm late.

Good to see you again, Thomas!

Good grief. Lansing! Chris Lansing!
How are you?

Chambers! Chambers! Haven't been
called that since I was at school.

We were in the same house together.
Partum futuri principes.

You were a prefect, as I recall.
He still is!

Ha-ha! Very good...
HE MUTTERS

I understand the Home Office
thinks extremely highly of you.

Really? They never tell me. More
important that they tell others.

Thank you.
Have a good evening, gentlemen.

I believe we need to find a way to
get you on the candidates list.

Preferably a safe seat!
That's the Holy Grail, isn't it?

Always good to help a friend.

This is lovely.
You've not been before?

There's a group of us, we have
a regular lunch here at the club

and solve all
the problems of the world.

Perhaps you'd like to join us
for tomorrow's lunch?

Sounds great.
Excellent, excellent.

Well, look, I must rush.

Cheerio, Chambers.

Come on. I'll give you the tour.

RAP MUSIC PLAYS

Yeah, man...

Ah! Whoo!

You carry it. Put it in your bag.

Here's the address.
I'll meet you there.

I'm not doing this.
Babe, babe, babe. Yeah, you are, OK?

OK? Hey!

You feel me? Do you feel me?

Come on, babe,
you know they won't stop ya.

Babe, we've just got to
get this done, yeah?

Then we can spend some
you-and-me time together.

But we just gotta get this done.

You know I love ya. Kiss me.

I love ya. I love ya, babe.

Come on, kiss me. Kiss me...

We'll do a search.

Stay still. Stay still. Stay still.

No...!

No! Come on.

Why you making me do this?!
Please, no!

There are signs of trauma to the
tissue around the anus and vagina

consistent with forced penetration.

Can I see her chest X-rays, please?

Recent and historic rib fractures.

What happened?

You surprised me, Niks.
Sorry.

I fell down.
How?

Tripped over a step.

You need to be more careful, Mummy.
Yes.

Yes, I do.

We'll look at the histology.

SHE EXHALES

Lucie's gone?
Yeah, she left this morning.

She seemed positive.
In good spirits.

It's today Jade's
released from prison.

DOORBELL BUZZES

Visitor? Mm.

I know I'm meant to call, but I've
got nowhere else to go. It's fine.

Can I stay here? Please?
Of course you can.

Cheryl! Oh, my God! Come on.

CHERYL SOBS

GATE BUZZES AND UNLOCKS

Come here!

Oh, I love you, baby!

Oh!

I love you so much!

Let's go. Yeah?

So, where are we staying?

Thomas?

Petechial haemorrhages in both eyes.

Yeah, they can become more evident
over time after death.

The histology shows no evidence of
inflammatory reaction on the skin

at the site of electric shock.

I think that the injury
was postmortem.

She didn't die of electrocution?

We think she was dead before
she arrived on the tracks.

There's no evidence
of cardiac arrhythmia.

There's petechial haemorrhaging
in her eyes.

The injuries on her face
and head were antemortem.

Zygomatic fractures on the right
side of her face suggest that

the blow came from the attacker's
left side moving to the right.

The attacker is likely
to be left-handed.

How did she die?

I think that she was beaten
and then suffocated.

Pieces of thin plastic...

Low-density polyethylene,
ten micrometres thick.

..were found in the deceased's mouth

between the lower incisors
and canines. Clingfilm? Yeah.

It's likely that clingfilm was used
to wrap her face and head

to suffocate her.

Someone kills her
and throws her on the tracks.

Presumably hoping the next train
would destroy any evidence.

Body hits the rails,
the electric rail arcs,

and the power is turned off
before the next train arrives.

Have we collected DNA from the women
she was going to meet?

The things he says,

I never know what he's going to do.

He changes into somebody
I don't know.

Why do I do this to myself?

Why?

I thought he was going to kill me,
Tina.

Jenny's dead.

Of course.

What else was going to happen?

KNOCK ON DOOR

How are you feeling?

Could you come downstairs
when you're ready?

Thank you.

Stops us chasing our tail.

You should see the other guy.

INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER

No jokes.
Awful jokes!

Oh!

You should let it grow.

You think?

Long. Like a cowgirl.

You'll fancy me more, yeah?

That would be impossible.

You been with anyone else
while I've been away? Course not.

You lying to me? No.

Course not.

I'd kill myself if I found out
you were cheating on me.

Don't talk like that. I'm sorry
I hurt you. Before. I'm sorry.

I know.
It's because I love you.

Course.

That's all it is.

It's love.

Sometimes love makes you do things.

Nikki?

The Detective Inspector
wants to do a formal ID

with the deceased's husband.
Her husband?

Yeah. Is that a problem?

I'll see the body's prepared.

Here she is now.

Dr Alexander.
This is Robbie Shaw.

Follow me.

That's her.

That's Jenny.

Take your time.

How guilty is he?

I don't decide guilt or innocence.

You're not hiding your warm feelings
towards him.

You're never crying for the dead,
are you? You're crying for yourself.

Remorse? Loss? The inability
to make things better or different?

The realisation of finality.

All right?
Thank you.

Come on.

I need to speak to Cat.

I mean, there's always that hope,
isn't there,

that maybe there's a mistake or
something. Sure. What do I do now?

Do I get a funeral director
to come and get her?

I need to ask Jenny's parents
whether or not they, um...

You know, whether or not
they want a church service.

So...when can I bury her?

The coroner will decide
when the body can be released.

I'll get the coroner's officer
to get in touch with you

and they can talk through the
details. I'm sorry for your loss.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Who's Cat?

That's his daughter.
He has a daughter? Yeah. How old?

I don't know, 13, 14.

Is she OK?
Appears to be.

Social Services are aware.

Does she have anyone else?

I believe she's close
to her grandparents.

You'd like to see him locked up
forever, wouldn't you?

Forever might not be long enough.

You've seen what we've got
from the postmortem on Jenny.

Forensically speaking,
that's all we have.

Is there anything that ties him
to his wife's murder?

Statistics?

There's no CCTV coverage.

We don't know where
she was murdered. No.

If she was murdered elsewhere,

her body would have to be
transported to where it was found.

Robbie Shaw doesn't have a car.
Co-conspirator?

Is there any evidence that
points to one? Negative.

How many minutes are there
between trains? Eight minutes.

We have an eight-minute window

when Jenny Shaw's body
arrived on the tracks.

Do we know Robbie Shaw's movements?

Yeah, he was at work,
then he went home,

went to his wife's parents
with his daughter.

Then he returned home
to wait for her.

And his mobile?
Verifies his movements.

Doesn't place him near the scene?
No.

Do we have any evidence

that gives us a reasonable prospect
of a conviction?

She'd gone to a women's refuge.

Then she went home.
She went back to him.

On average, a woman leaves
an abusive relationship seven times

before she leaves for good.
We have evidence of historic abuse.

Thermal pattern injury consistent
with a cigarette burn.

Rupture of the right tympanic
membrane.

Zygomatic complex fractures and
bruising, historic broken ribs,

soft-tissue trauma around the
anus and vagina consistent with

forced penetration.

These are injuries commonly
associated with domestic abuse.

If you are capable of hurting
your wife like this,

you are capable of killing her.

Is that it? That's all you got?

If we put everybody who was CAPABLE
of murder inside,

we'd never be able to build enough
prisons. Uxoricide.

That's what it's called
when a man kills his wife.

Eight women a month in England
and Wales are victims of uxoricide.

55% of murdered women are killed
by their husband or partner -

current or ex.
But she always goes back.

I mean, six years ago,
the police were involved,

but she refused to pursue
a prosecution.

You can pursue one this time.
She's not here to stop you.

Mr Shaw, we're sorry to disturb you,

but we think foul play may have been
involved with your wife's death.

What do you mean "foul play"? Well,
we think she may have been murdered.

We need to search your house
and collect some DNA.

It's just not a very
convenient time right now.

I mean, can you come back later?

No. This is a search warrant.
This is your copy.

Shall we do the DNA swabs first?
Very simple to do.

We'll be able to eliminate you
from our investigation.

Stops us chasing our tails.

Open wide.

What are you expecting to find?

We try not to have any expectations.

PHONE RINGS

Clarissa? Clothing and shoes.
Make sure you check them.

OK, good call. I'll do that.

Look for blood spatter.

And grass stains from the area
by the railway track.

The grass there was so long it's
bound to have transferred material -

grass seeds and pollen grains.
OK. Is that everything?

For now. See you later. Bye.

Clarke?

QUIETLY: Beats his wife up,
cuts her face,

breaks her cheekbone,
bloodies her nose.

Blood sprays. Body falls.

He cleans up but you can never
get all the blood.

QUIETLY: It's a good story.
Better story if you can prove it.

You pass it on like a disease.

Made Jenny think it was normal.

What did you say?
Nothing. I didn't say anything.

What do you mean?
Nothing.

Tell me.
I don't mean anything.

PHONE RINGS

RINGING STOPS

PHONE BEEPS

PHONE RINGS

Got us a present. Come on. You love
me. You love me, though, don't you?

You love me. Wait, wait, ah!
Oh, my God.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Oh, no.

You...

So, have you got any money?
I don't know. Some.

Enough to get us some gear?
Well, come on.

A little welcome home party?
Come on.

Bovine. Hm?

It's not human blood.
It's cow blood. Bugger.

It's a kitchen. Food gets dropped.
Blood gets spattered.

Not LDPE.

It's PVDC.

It's not the same clingfilm that you
found in Jenny Shaw's mouth.

Was there anything on his clothing?
His shoes?

Nothing found. Have we been able to
independently verify

what he was actually wearing
on the night? No. Not yet.

Have you checked his workplace
for anything?

INDISTINCT CONVERSATION

DOORBELL BUZZES

Hello? We're from Social Services
to see Mrs Harcourt.

OK.

Girls.

Come sit by Mummy for a sec.
You OK?

Come in. Through there.

You know Mummy loves you.

More than anything. Anything.

But Mummy's not perfect.

Sometimes she makes mistakes.

Sometimes she does things
that aren't right.

Things that she wishes
she hadn't had to.

I hope you can forgive Mummy
for the things she's done wrong.

It's OK, sweetheart, it's OK.
It's OK.

I want you to know
that I will always believe you.

No matter what. Do you understand?

So when you go and see your dad...
I don't want to see Dad.

..there's no need
to be afraid of him.

OK? Nothing to be afraid of.

Be good. OK, girls.
Shall we go and see your father?

No, no! Mummy! You have to go,
darling, you have to go.

Go, go! Come on. No. That's it.

We're just going away
for a little while, OK?

Decide which of your teddies
you want to bring.

I want to bring them all.
You can't bring them all.

But I want to.
You can't.

MAN: Carol? I'm home.

You can't!

SHE SOBS

SOBBING AMPLIFIES AND ECHOES

Working?
Yeah, yeah.

What are you doing here?

Nothing.

Reflecting on things that were right
in front of me but I didn't see.

Maybe you don't need to
see everything.

Maybe that's how you protect
yourself.

Aren't the things you don't see
more terrifying?

I don't know.

Night.

Night, Nikki.

CAR ALARM CHIRPS

Is it you?

Are you the one who's been telling
them that I killed my wife?

I didn't kill her.

There must be something wrong with
you. You must be out of your mind.

Oi! I didn't kill her.

Night, sweetheart.
Night, Mum. Love you.

Goodnight. Goodnight.

Auntie Cheryl, and me!
Goodnight.

Sweet dreams.

Who's going to protect Cat?

We can't do everything, can we?

Cat! Come on,
we've got to get going.

Cat!

Cat!

Come on, you're going to be late.
Get your bag.

You got everything, yeah?

KNOCK ON DOOR

It's Tina. I just wanted to...

I just wanted to say,
it's not my place

but you need to look after Cat.

Just get her away from him.
Get her to your house.

I'm not saying anything,
I'm not accusing. It's just...

..you gotta look after her.

Donna?

Donna.

Did you fall down the stairs?

Tripped on a step.

Did your husband do this?

The daughter always marries
the father, doesn't she?

OK, let's assume
it was Robbie Shaw, yeah?

Do we think he killed her
in the spot the body was found?

It's possible but there's nothing
that would make me think so.

Blood at the scene?

Her facial wounds would have
produced significant blood spatter.

We looked. Found nothing.
Sniffer dogs found nothing.

I don't think the attack happened
where we found the body.

But she could have been
asphyxiated there? Yes.

The manner in which I believe she
was asphyxiated would have caused

little to no spatter. So, assaults
her elsewhere. Transports her.

Pushes her onto the tracks.
He doesn't have a car.

He could have borrowed,
hired or stolen a car.

Do we have anything that directly
connects Robbie Shaw and her death?

Other than he's abused his wife?
Look, if we can't find any evidence,

maybe that tells us something.
It certainly tell us something,

I'm just not sure if it tells us
something about him or us.

The historic wounds, her NHS
records, the women's refuge,

they create a narrative
that's entirely consistent

with domestic abuse.
There's reasonable suspicion.

Arrest him. I can arrest him
but we won't convict him.

Arrest him.

If he's innocent, we'll let him go
and I'll blame you.

That sounds like a plan.

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

KIDS CHATTER

Thanks, Gran. Nice of you.

You stay with me tonight.

Jack, the plastic you collected
from Robbie Shaw's workplace,

Kano Storage Solutions,
it matches.

Low-density polyethylene,
ten micrometres thick.

Same type of plastic that Nikki
found in Jenny Shaw's mouth.

Yeah.

Robbie Shaw murders her
in the storage unit

and transports her
in one of the vans

to the place
where her body was found.

Police!

Cassandra, let's do our duty.

Clear!

Have your officers search the house
for an assailant and then leave.

Tell them not to touch anything.

We're in a crime scene.

# Testator silens

# Costestes e spiritu

# Silentium. #