Silent Witness (1996–…): Season 26, Episode 5 - Star: Part 1 - full transcript

Come on, man, let's go, let's go!

DRUMBEAT KICKS IN

♪ That classic way that you move

♪ OK, OK, now you got my attention

♪ Can't take my eyes off of you

♪ You're in my, in my head

♪ You're in my, in my

♪ Heart, eyes, all below

♪ It's irresistible,
I'm so stuck on you

♪ OK, OK, na- na- na

♪ Just can't help myself



♪ I got a taste and now
I have to make you mine

♪ I might be a little obsessed

♪ Might be a little obsessed... ♪

BIRDS TWITTER

HE INHALES DEEPLY

HE EXHALES

Hello?

Hello?

Sorry...

Are you OK?

MUSIC: Silencium
by john Harte

♪ Testator silens

♪ Costestes e spiritu

♪ Silencium



♪ Testator silens... ♪

WHOOPING

The final morning.
That was the worst feeling.

The magic over. Back to reality.

You kidding me?
Could never wait to get home.

Hot shower, 12 hours' solid sleep.

That was the real magic.
Incurable romantic.

Do you feel overdressed? Mm- hm.

And old.
SHE LAUGHS

Must get my shorts back off him.

I forgot how vast festivals are.

I'm sorry.

Are we done?

We haven't started.

Have you any idea
the penalty payments

if I don't get these fields cleared
by tonight?

You're with the festival?
I AM the festival.

Amy Nystrom. Bright wire Fest CEO.

CEO? Wow. Not very Woodstock.

This is a multi - million- pound
operation.

I have late-completion clauses,
liquidated damage stipulations.

I'm sorry for whoever's lost
a loved one,

but thousands of people
need to get to their tents.

The magic definitely IS over.

Now, you need to get back
behind that line.

Thanks. Thank you. Bye- bye.

Oh, I love the festival vibe,
don't you?

I saw Oasis play Glastonbury in '04.

Ooh, I can play this game.
Radio head in 2003.

Ohh... Wait, so we almost met
in a previous life?

If, by "almost",
you mean 12 months apart

in a crowd of 150,000 people.

Love would've found a way.

SHE EXCLAIMS

Whoa... Oh, hey. You all right?
I'm fine.

Just, uh, not the best
festival footwear.

That can't be easy in your
condition.

I'm sorry?

Oh, er...

Yeah, I just, you know,
thought that...

Uh... Stop spluttering. Yeah.

Of course I'm pregnant.
But as far as you're concerned,

I am DI Abbas,
Senior Investigating Officer.

I'm Nikki Alexander and this is
jack Hodgson from the Lyell Centre.

Nice to meet you.

"In your c0nditi0n"?
Don't, don't, don't.

I saw you laughing.

Velvy.

You OK?

I didn't leave the scene.
I made sure no-one went in.

Thank you.

Get some rest.

Here. Get that down you.

Thank you.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Expensive haircut.

£200 trainers.

Doesn't strike me as a camper.

It's like a pressure cooker in here.

Let's get him back to the Lyell
as soon as possible.

Check out that powder.
That's why you're here.

FLIES BUZZ

No obvious drag marks on the front
of his clothes. Mud on his soles.

Yeah, we'll test it. Take samples
from around the site.

What about these wings?
They're not his, are they?

Well, they belonged to the lady.

Uh, I saw her last night.

She had those wings on and, erm,

and a mask.

On her face. She had this, er,

you know, shiny stuff on, er...

You know...

That kids use to make paintings
with. Nits- nuts, we called it.

You mean glitter?

That's it.

She had glitter on her body.

Hm.

What's in those backpacks?
The usual.

Socks, T-shirts, knickers.

This is where it seems suspicious
to me.

I'm thinking this wasn't his tent.

Maybe it's theirs?

Trent. One male, one female.
Two o'clock from you.

Hey. I need an officer... Hey!

RADIO: "Roger that.
Sending officers now." Hey! Stop!

"Two Officers on their way."

Stop!

We need to talk to you!

Stop!

Hey!

Stop! Where are you going?

Where you going?
Why are you running?

I'm not police and I'm not armed.

This is England.
Put your hands down.

Is it your tent back there?

He's dead, isn't he?
He a friend of yours?

No, we just came back and found him.

What time?
Don't know, like, half two, three.

He just seemed like a smashed idiot
who decided to sleep in our tent.

But...

Well, he wasn't breathing.

Did you touch him?

Uh, I tried to wake him, but...

...but it was pretty obvious
he was...you know...

Why didn't you tell anyone?

We're married.

But not to each other. Am I right?

Come on.

Follow me.

Don't run away again.

Come on.

What did I tell you?
Give me your phone.

Yeah, you need to delete that.
I want to watch you do it.

It's gone. Right, now, go away.

MUTTERING : God's sake...

No-one's reported him missing yet.

No wallet, no ID, no phone.

So you think a robbery? Could be.

They left his watch.
Mm. It's expensive.

PHONE BUZZES

So what about the powder?

If the drug is pure, it dissolves
fairly quickly internally.

But if it was cut with something,
it might leave some residue.

Toxicology will confirm.

Dodgy drugs? Heart stopped?

Maybe and maybe.

Let's see.
PHONE BUZZES

How many months?

SHE SIGHS
Don't YOU start.

I had to do a risk assessment
just to be able to attend the scene.

No confrontational duties,
they said.

Like I'm Humpty Dumpty.

But I'm meant to be sitting on a
promotion board for DCI next month.

Life happens when you're making
other plans, right?

I was told to check his vitals,
but otherwise I just took photos

and then I gave them to the police.

You did everything right, Velvy,
but I told you,

you can't assist
in the investigation going forward.

A defence lawyer would have
a field day.

Understand?

It's a bit overwhelming, really.

It's my first music festival
and now I'm almost a suspect

in a suspicious death.

So are you a raver now?

It was like...

...erm, the inside of my head

was suddenly, like...

...all around me.

CROWD CHEERS

It was scary, but kind of amazing.

You sure you didn't take something?

The people I came with wanted me to.

I ... I think they thought
it would be funny.

We'll see you back in London, OK?
You all right getting back?

I have an all- inclusive
coach ticket. Brilliant.

Ah...

Velvy?

Mm? That way.

Did someone kiss him?

I get you want answers,

but it will take a little time.

There's already a million pics of us
on the socials.

This is going to be a fizzy one.

We'll make sure we get it right.

Don't worry.

You OK? Of course I am.

SHE PANTS

Thanks.

These might give us something.

VOICES CHATTER IN DISTANCE

Hodgson! Over here!

POLICE RADIO CHATTERS

"Jay Prain."

Hm.

When was the last time
you both saw Jay Prain?

Sorry?

Jay. The last time you saw him?

We were at the Freedom Stage
around 11.

Then we all went off to work.

What sort of work?

We find cool kids. Influencers
for social- media channels.

Anyone with the right vibe.
We grow them,

help them develop their brand,
get the right endorsements,

basically,
build their entire careers.

It was Jay's business.
He founded it.

He was an influencer himself
way back.

When he didn't come back
to the tents, you weren't worried?

Jay goes walkabout.
It's what he does.

Meets people, melds with them,
you know?

His phone kept going
straight through to voicemail.

We reckoned he was crashing
somewhere. It happens with Jay.

Did you see him with a young woman
last night?

Mask, wings?

Yeah. It's a festival.

About 75 of them.

Body is that of a 35-year-old

Caucasian male,
identified as jay Prain.

A possible drug user,

I'm taking a hair sample
for toxicology.

Twinkle, twinkle.

SHUTTER CLICKS

What are we seeing here?

Well, it looks like
some sort of skin popping.

Area of central pallor
surrounded by ecchymosis.

The result of surface
cocaine injections?

Possibly, to prolong the effects.

And minimise the risk
of an overdose.

But there was no drug paraphernalia
found at the scene. No.

Someone cleaned up? Maybe.

There's bruising on his right flank.

But that looks more consistent
with blunt trauma.

Is that a needle mark?

Strange place for self- injection.

Possibly diabetic.

I'll take a tissue sample.

No! Sorry?

Get out of here! Now!

Not the viewing area,
not the science room

and definitely not the mortuary.

Sorry. In fact, go home.

Come back once we've completed
forensic testing.

I can't go home.

Why not?

My roommates are having
band practice.

Can I just sleep here?

Please, just...just for a few hours.

Velvy... Please.
PHONE RINGS IN NEXT ROOM

Here, the kitchen or the quiet room.
Understood?

Uh... Wha...

Did you just bow to me?

Er, no.

Have we established cause of death?

Not yet.

Velvy says there was froth around
his mouth when his body was found.

From a cardiac arrest? Could be.

But he didn't drown, did he?

His clothes were dry and the
white powder was still up his nose.

The effects are similar, but...

Velvy took photos of the body
in situ.

Hmm. You're right.

That's a significant plume of froth.

Are there any sources of water
at the site? A lake of some sort.

But it was a long way from the
location of where the body was found.

To be sure, I'll take blood samples
from the left and right ventricles

to compare electrolyte levels

and liver and bone- marrow samples
for diatom analysis.

But do we have the budget for that
on this case?

Probably not.

But if someone drowned him and
moved his body to conceal the crime,

then it would be good to know,
wouldn't it?

You know, in case they do it again?

Hm.

SIREN IN DISTANCE

I've emailed you the preliminary
findings from the tent -

glitter on the zip,
three sets of fingerprints -

two from the...not- married couple,

one, as yet, unidentified.

The deceased?
No, don't match his prints.

The couple weren't wearing
any glitter.

Mm.

I picked up some thin wheel tracks

ten metres down the field
consistent with a trolley.

Could be he was wheeled to the tent.

Good Samaritan
helping a comatose party-goer?

Yeah, I don't think so either.

Any luck tracking down his phone?

Cell site analysis shows

Jay's phone went dead
in the early hours of the morning.

Brief activity

showed the phone travelling
from the festival site

back towards London,
but then nothing.

His location services
must've been switched off.

His service provider is getting us
his call and text logs

and so far, his credit cards
haven't been used.

Mm. Was he staying in the VIP area?

Yes, but.. .there are
no cameras there.

Course not.

My team is pulling everything
from the festival off social media.

Be my guest.

PHONE RINGS

Back in the day, you just had
happy, hazy memories.

Now you've got a photo stream of
every daft thing you did all weekend

broadcast to the world.

SHE GULPS
Excuse me. Mm- hm.

CHEERING AND SHOUTING

WOMAN LAUGHS

CHEERING

HE MURMURS

SHOUTING

HE GASPS

Stop... Stop it, please...

Mmm...

Good.

Good morning.

SIREN OUTSIDE

Good...

I - I've signed up to the...

...BSL website you sent me.

I've learnt, er, the alphabet
so far.

AUTOMATED VOICE:
" I find you easy to lip- read."

That's good.

Hm.

SIREN OUTSIDE

HE SIGHS

Do you know, erm...

...social...

Oh. Social...

...media.

I want to find someone.

I thought I'd imagined her

and then I saw her wings
in the tent.

She seemed so, er...

EXCITED VOICES

WOMAN LAUGHS

...free.

Wow. Many pictures.

My grandfather...

...he wouldn't even let us

take his photo.

Idolatry, he called it.

Ooh, no, no, no.

No, er... Idolatry.

SHUTTER CLICKS

What did you... Am I ...

What did you do?

SHE TYPES

AUTOMATED VOICE:
" Now you'll live for ever."

Oh...

SHE TAPS DESK

Hey.

Can you make that bigger?

Bigger.

HE EXCLAIMS

That's her.

Velvy found this.
I think he had some help.

Could be the same wings.

Really? I mean, they do appear
to be similar,

but I'm sure they're hardly unique.

You'd think so, but we've scoured
the web from Alibaba to Etsy

and we can't find them anywhere.
If she's in this photo online,

she must be in others. She is.

Velvy, I thought I said.. .
Her name is Star.

Star?

That's the name
she calls herself on, erm...

...social media.
It's... It's her handle.

Whatever a handle is.

TINNY ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

POWERFUL ROCK MUSIC

♪ Dye my hair, refuse to eat
to stay cool

♪ Get with that boy
and keep him sweet

♪ To stay cool

♪ Sneak out at night,
don't come back till five

♪ To stay cool... ♪

The account is listed to Star -
single name.

This girl has 247,232 followers.

It's a lifestyle.

She's selling the festival dream.

" Hey, lovelies. I'm going to Crazy
Nights festival next Saturday

"and I'm looking for
some supernova action."

I guess 247,000 followers means

247,000 possible sales.

She's definitely a person of
interest. We'll put out an appeal,

see if we can get an ID.

" Big holler to all my fliers
out there

"who joined me last night for
the five- hat tequila challenge."

DOORBELL

SIREN IN DISTANCE

DOORBELL

Hi, I'm Detective Inspector Abbas,
Mrs Prain.

Mind if I come in? Sure.

Was it drugs?

Is that why you won't release
the body, because of the drugs?

Your Husband's death is being
treated as suspicious, Mrs Prain.

We're waiting for
the toxicology results to come back,

but the coroner will want to release
the body as soon as possible.

We did it all back in the day.

Me and jay, you know?

When the baby came,
I asked him to stop.

He said he could,
but I knew he wouldn't.

He enjoyed it too much.

Oh, God.

BABY CHATTERS IN NEXT ROOM

Do you recognise this woman?

Was she a friend of Jay's?

Who is she?
Someone at the festival.

Is it one of these?

He gets hundreds of them
messaging him every week,

all wanting jay to help them
be someone.

Can I take it? Why?

We're just trying to find out what
happened to your husband, Mrs Prain.

His colleagues, Sean Jones
and Mia Falshaw...

His employees.

They work for jay.

Were there ever any disputes
between them?

BABY CRIES IN NEXT ROOM
Sorry.

That'll be you soon enough.

SIREN IN DISTANCE

FOOTSTEPS

IN DISTANCE: DS Trent speaking. Yep.

What's the first name?

OK, cool.

OK. Yep. Cheers, bye.

Zari?

There's a lady asking
to speak to you.

Response from
the festival-death appeal.

Says she's got something
to show you, apparently.

I saw the appeal,
the dead man's photo

and then I noticed this
on my, um, son's feed.

Wow. Your son lets you
follow his feed.

I follow from a fake account.

Did you ask Kai if he knew
the man in the photo?

I thought it would be better
if you did.

I just want to make sure that
he's safe, that's all.

WOMAN GIGGLES

Kai Locke?

I'm Detective Inspector Abbas.

You were at Bright wire
this weekend, right?

Yeah.

It's summer.
Got to fill up on the love.

You might've seen our appeal
for information

about the death at the festival?

We've had numerous pictures
uploaded to our portal,

including one of you
with the deceased.

His name is Jay Prain.
Do you know him?

Sorry.

I was off my head this weekend.
Hazy recalls.

No recollection of meeting him

even though you were
photographed together?

Yeah, I vibed with a ton of people.

Too many snaps.

I really don't know who he is.
How about this woman?

Ha. Cute.

But again, no recall.

Sorry.

We're looking at all of Jay Prain's
online activity.

If I find any further connection
between the two of you,

we'll be having another conversation
and it won't be so polite.

I understand.

Knock yourself out.

Is there any way you can tell
where that is?

Ohh, it's an industrial park
in Acton.

Why would...

...Star...be there?

AUTOMATED VOICE:
" Do you want to find out?"

To find out what?

Hm.

Ah.

LOW, ANGRY VOICE: Have you two
completely lost your minds?

Firstly, Velvy,

you're not supposed to be
anywhere near this case, are you?

And you, this isn't playtime.

This is real!
Police are looking for this woman.

It's dangerous!

Just stay out of it!

Everything OK?
No, everything's not OK.

These two have been playing
Scooby- Doo behind our backs,

trying to track down Star.

Nikki...

jack?

There are two photos of Star
at an industrial park.

Strange place for a festival girl.
Mm.

Maybe they hold parties
at one of the industrial units.

The car parks maybe. Park Royal's
pretty empty at the weekends.

I'll check it out.

Right, you two...

Velvy thinks she's an angel.
Of course he does.

Not exactly.

Lamed Vav Tzadikim.

The 36 righteous by whom
the world exists.

They're the emissaries for God.

Without the righteous, then
the world will come to an end.

So maybe Star is one of them.

A Tzadik Nistar.

I don't know about that,

but I DO know that both your worlds

will come to an end right now

if you don't go back to university
and you...

Just go home!

MUTTERING : Jesus...

I'm terrible at this.

Actually, you're way better at it
than you think you are. Yeah, right.

CLATTERING

Hello!

SHUTTER CLICKS

POLICE RADIO CHATTER

Ten guesses what happens in here.

Hm.

Same wings.

Costumes. Those don't come cheap.

He's making a lot of money in here.

Sergeant, find out who rents
this unit. Yes, ma'am.

I want a full-scale
forensic examination of the room

and everything in it.

I want to know who this woman is.

IN DISTANCE: Yeah, that's it.

We all want to fly, don't we?

It feels so good.

You're born,

you die -

why waste what comes in between?

Are you ready to fly?

Are you ready?

Star's 4U feed

was running heavy traffic
for two years straight.

But it's been dormant for
the last seven months,

just like her social- media accounts.

Well, maybe it was a lock-down thing
and she got bored of doing it

when she was able to go out again.
Mm- hm.

But she was just
at the storage unit.

The glitter was the same
as the stuff at the festival.

So? She could've started it up again

or switched to
a different hosting site.

Abbas's techies have contacted 4U
to get a list of her fans,

so I guess we'll see.

Is this freaking you out?

Worries me a bit, yeah.

What she's doing or the fact
she's doing it for money?

Both.

Is this what empowerment looks like?

Maybe. She controls where she works,

how she works, how far she goes.

Maybe she enjoys being onstage,
on screen.

It's a performance, right?

Could you have done it?

SHE EXHALES

I wasn't like her.

And at that age,
I wasn't the most confident.

But I defend her right to express
herself without judgement.

Yeah, I'm all for
freedom of expression, but...

But...

...is this really the best we can do?

Who's "we"? Everyone.

Everyone's responsible.

Anyway,

I'm so glad I'm not that age
any more-

Or on the market. Ha...

Don't ever make me go back there.

Velvy!

What are you doing?

How much of that did you hear?

Erm......

Oh, I'd say...

...all of it.
Jack SIGHS

I admire her.

Star.

Admire her?

When I saw her at the, um, festival,

she was so...

...happy.

Like she was weighed down
by nothing.

I - I was jealous.

BUZZER

The storage company finally got back
to us with the renter

for unit number 204. Got a name?

It's not a person. It's a company.

Avesti Limited.
Based in the Channel Islands.

Avesti has one sole director.

Guess what his name is.

Jay Prain, former
influencer- impresario,

now currently residing
in your deep freeze.

A dead man rented the unit for Star.

Mm - hm. And the fingerprints from
the lockup match those on the wings

found at the tent.

Star and jay knew each other.

Velvy was right about the wings.

Jay's wife claimed not
to recognise her, but I'm not sure.

I'm bringing in his colleagues
for questioning.

Can we expedite the toxicology
report on the deceased?

I'll chase it.

You OK?

Too much tea. Where's your loo?

I'll show you.

The lab's sending the tox report
through now.

Thanks.

OK if I eat in here?

Be my guest.

What are you having?

A girl. My Husband's delighted.

He was so desperate to have a baby.

He says he'll do the heavy lifting,
but it's not that, right?

It's the mental load.

That's the real weight.

COMPUTER CHIMES
Ah, here we go.

Tox on the blood and hair samples
I sent in.

Cocaine and MDMA,

no surprise there. Mm - hm.

Ah. What?

Flunitrazepam.

That's the date- rape drug, right?

Sometimes used recreationally
in small doses,

but this amount...
Someone roof ted him.

I was told the forensic
investigation of the site

was over.

Any reports of drinks being spiked
at the festival?

No.

No as in "no", or no as in "maybe"?

Last year, there were a couple
of incidents.

But our security team
dealt with them.

This year, we had CCTV
at all the bars,

testing stations - it was clean.

What does this have to do with
the man found in the tent?

Man?

Jay Prain. Know all about him?

He attends loads of festivals.

What?

I think you need to be careful.

Beg your pardon?

Jay and his crowd are difficult.

In what way?

They're connected...

...to some serious people.

Nobody likes having them
at their festival, but...

They pay well?

They even pay to have someone
in the booth, watching the CCTV,

scoping the talent.

You don't say no to Jay Prain.

To be clear, you are here
voluntarily, Mr Jones.

I am DI Abbas and this is DS Trent.

Jay Prain was the sole director

of Avesti Limited.

Their accounts show Avesti rented
a storage unit in West London

that a young woman used to make
Always 4U videos.

There's no law against that.

No.

But I was wondering if it might
have something to do

with Jay Prain's death.

Do you know this woman?

Her name is Star.

Real name?

I don't know. No-one knows.

How does no-one know?
Well, she's just Star.

That's the point. She's an enigma.

Doesn't say anything
she doesn't want to,

doesn't talk to anyone
she doesn't want to,

doesn't do a thing
she doesn't want to.

But Jay talked to her.
It was just business.

Look, everyone's doing it.

Lock down was crazy.

We had kids DMing us 24/7.

First you become an influencer,

you build your followers
and once you get enough followers,

you can start offering exclusive
content behind a payment wall.

You mean adult content, yeah?

Not always.

We have some chefs, musicians -
their fans pay for private stuff.

But most of it adult, yeah.

It's totally mainstream now.

There's proper celebrities making
millions from paywall content.

Would Star have wanted to hurt
Jay Prain?

Star does things her own way.

Star was always pushing back.

How did Jay feel about that?

Let's just say

Jay put her in her place.

PHONE CHIMES

Hi.

Jay Prain.

He had a needle mark on his abdomen,
right?

Yeah, the toxicology
on the tissue sample isn't back yet,

but, erm, it looks like
an injection mark.

ON PHONE: What if he was
needle-spiked?

The flunitrazepam?

Yeah, just found a syringe

in the festival lake.
Could be linked?

There are footprints

and glitter nearby.

What if Star injected him?

VOICES ECHO: Star, listen to me.

I'm not interested
in you using this shit.

But if that's what you want to do...

SHE GRUNTS

SHE LAUGHS

He staggers...

...passes out...
SPLASH

...drowns in the lake.

You said that Star was pushing back
on Jay.

How?

Usual stuff.
Bitching about percentages and shit.

She'd been talking to some of the
other Always guys, riling them up.

What other Always guys?
Jay owns other Always creators.

Owns? Helps.

How many? A lot.

So Star was trying to turn
the others against Jay,

against your organisation.

Talking crap about
setting them free.

I can see why that might've
put Jay's nose out.

He discovered her. Nah.

Jay didn't discover Star.

It was Kai.

Kai brought Star to Jay.

Kai Locke? Yep.

He was one of the first on Always.

He knows how to make them
feel special.

He's killing it. Jay has him
in a unit in Camden Town.

♪ Ooh, la- la- la...♪

Keep the tips coming, boys!

And girls.

Ahh...

Mmm...

Ahh...

Should I ...be on social media?

I am...

...Velvy.

I was always Velvy.

AUTOMATED VOICE: "Press
that button and it's official."

I don't think I want to.

Do you like it?

Connected.

"It's good to have a sense
of community."

I needed to leave my community
to be free.

Rivka.

Yes.

She was going to come with me.

It's not easy.

It's lonely.

POUNDING BEAT

♪ Lights, camera, action

♪ Giving me your best side...♪

No sign of him yet!

Trisha's in place at the security
office, checking through the CCTV.

WHOOPING

POUNDING BEAT CONTINUES

They probably think
we're public- health inspectors. Ha!

RADIO: " DS Trent,
we have an eye on Kai..."

Kai's been spotted.

RADIO MESSAGE CONTINUES
In front of the tequila bar.

Over...

...there.

One, two, three...

Ahh! Ohh!

Whoo!

SHE PANTS

You OK? I'll catch up with you
at the security station. You sure?

Yeah. Go, go!

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

PHONE CHIMES

SHE PANTS

Shit.

Trent. Starts here.
I think she might be after Kai.

Star!

Trent! Get her!

Follow her!

Move! Oi!

Police! Get out of the way!

Move out the way!

Get out the way now! Star! Star!

Police! Stop!

PUMPING DRUMBEAT

Yeah! Yeah, I've got her
in my sight now!

Yeah, we're heading into the woods!

RADIO: "All units,
go towards the woods."

SHE BREATHES HEAVILY

Police! Stop there! Stop!

RADIO: "Trent!
Trent, can you hear me?"

"Where are you?" Follow her!

"Trent... " Go!

Stop running!

Stay where you are!

Stop running!

Ahh!

THEY BREATHE HEAVILY

RADIO CHATTER

Star, you are under arrest on
suspicion of murder. You do not...

♪ Testator silens

♪ Costestes e spiritu

♪ Silencium... ♪