All language subtitles for Silent.Witness.S25E02.WEB

This programme contains some
violent scenes from the start
and some strong language.

GUNSHOT
..and the powerful enemies
that go with that.

GUNSHOT

GUNSHOT

PHONE RINGS
Nikki Alexander.

It's Professor Sam Ryan, Nikki. I
need your help.

Oscar Harris.
Number 10 special adviser.

You come highly recommended
by Sam Ryan.

You know her? From her UN days.

Are we being handled? By Sam?

There's a woman walking
behind you who throws herself

on the ground before anyone else.

That's Rosa. My PA.

MUFFLED GUNSHOT

Christ.

We have the contents
of Rosa Hernandez's phone.

SIMONE: That looks like
the British paratroop insignia.

It's not proving that he served
with them. But if he did...

Could help with an ID.

It was a man and a woman.
Sounded American.

JACK: Good enough to run
through the Vigil network?

DS CHALAL: May be too grainy
for a precise match.

But you should get some candidates,
sure.

Vigil finds the link
you didn't know was there.

Striation marks on the bullets

show Rosa Hernandez

and the Health Secretary
were killed by the same rifle.

It's always shit timing with us.

It is, isn't it? Yeah.

Why is that?

I hear you've got prints and DNA.

No matches on the database.

A second postmortem
was carried out by the UN.

Sam Ryan? Mm.

Tom Faulkner was there.
Unofficially.

Who's that?

Someone we both used to know.

Nikki.

Do you want to know who
killed the Health Secretary?

What are you doing here, Tom?
Giving you fair warning.

Sam Ryan... You can't trust her.

What, you came all the way
to Liverpool to tell me that?

I was here anyway.
Trying to get my old job back.

I'd have thought
the UN was a job for life.

Oh. Keeping tabs on me?

Following my illustrious career?

Not exactly.
Come on. Don't spoil it.

I'm all ears, Tom.

Sam's bringing you onto this
to control the Reynolds inquiry.

You're a means to that end.

She's trying to control me? Why?

Because Sam and Jomo had her killed.

We found a cartridge case
in the sniper's hide.

Careless. Not a pro, then.

I pulled DNA and a partial
fingerprint.

Both are a match to you.

My DNA?

That's impossible. I'm being set up.

I've told no-one.

I've sat on it.

So I really need to know.

Did you kill Alice Reynolds?

You know I didn't do this,
or I'd be in custody.

I just need you to keep
the faith a little longer.

A day, 24 hours. That's all
I'm asking.

All you're asking?

This isn't just the end
of my career.

It's prison.

I'd say you owe me that much, Nikki.

I don't wear it every day.

I'm not deranged. I'm not morbid,
I just...

I wear it when it feels right.

Do you ever wear yours?

We haven't got time for this.
PHONE PINGS

What is it? I've got to go.

To exonerate you, we need to find
out

who did kill Alice Reynolds
and why.

I really have to go.
How do I contact you, Tom?

It's better if... How do I contact
you?

These people are serious. Dangerous.

Don't tell anyone.

And don't call from any number
that can be traced to you.

Sam's gone up to bed.

What was Harris after?

Full update. Mm-hm.

TAP RUNS

You OK?

Yeah, fine.

Seen something?

Oh... Nothing useful.

You know that thing they say about
Vegas,

what happens there stays there?

Well, if you decided that, er...

..that applied here, you know, to
us,

then...you know, that's...that's
fair enough.

Where did that come from?

I don't know, really.

I was hoping you might tell me.

HE CHUCKLES

Get some sleep. OK?

What was it you couldn't
tell me over the phone?

Did the police ask you
about our meeting

with the Health Department?

No. Well, they will.

So...I'd say we need to get
our accounts in alignment.

Listen, Sam... No. You listen.

This is the Health Secretary
we're talking about.

And if you think they're not
going to comb through her diary

and chase down every last lead,

you need to get a train
back to reality.

What are you worried about?
Specifically.

DOOR OPENS

Hey. Hey.

Come in.

Everything all right?

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Three shots were fired

but only one cartridge case
was left on the roof.

Yeah...?

Well, if you're collecting cases,
you're collecting all cases.

Unless you can't get to it.

We got to it.
Yeah, eventually. I mean...

Both sweeps completely missed it.

Yeah, they did.

So why touch it with bare hands?

Er, you're wearing
fingerless shooting gloves,

you handled the casing post-firing.

Are you retesting? Yeah.

Just want to make sure

that I didn't mess up
first time around.

Right... Tell me to bugger off,

but by retesting, you're depleting
the original material.

You know, DNA's not your thing.

I only asked you to do it
because I was busy.

You asked me to do it,
so what's your point, Jack?

Retesting's a bad idea

unless you have reason
to question the result.

Do you?

I just want to be thorough. Sure,
sure.

The sample's of sufficient size,

so I'm not worried about depletion.

You want to preserve as much
as possible, in the event

of a case review. Thank you, Jack.

No match after all that?

No match.

Just IDed our paratrooper.

Daniel Clemence. How?

SIMONE: That odd yellow dust we
found

on the Health Secretary's shoes led
me

to sandstone buildings

undergoing biomineralization
treatments.

The bacteria they used

formed a protective calcium
carbonate layer

on the sandstone.

St Mary's Hall, University of
Merseyside was one of them...

..where I found...

..in the bin...

..empty cans of cider and a receipt.

These gave us Dan Clemence's DNA,

and this led us to CCTV
from an off-licence.

So, here we have Clemence
and Reynolds.

If you notice, there's a hand
on the back here.

Just a touch but an intimate one.

Very different to their mood on
the bench an hour later.

NIKKI: Who is Daniel Clemence?

He's a London-based journalist

who also studied in Liverpool
in his youth.

Where he met Reynolds?

After that, Sandhurst,

then 12 years as an officer
in the paras.

Why's his DNA on file?

Drink-driving times two.
Resisting arrest.

I'll check his DNA against
the foetus.

Something else you should know.

Clemence recently posted
a ton of articles online

questioning the legitimacy
of Unitas.

Specifically? Its funding,

and, by extension,

its suitability to run
the health passporting scheme.

Clemence's main source
is a Tom Faulkner,

who worked with Sam and Jomo
at the UN.

And...Clemence and Faulkner

travelled to London together
this morning.

Faulkner also served

in the Paras, which is probably
where they met.

PHONE RINGS

Hello? Nikki.

You know Faulkner, right?

Yes.

In what context?

Nikki?

In the context of him
being my ex-husband.

EXHALES SHARPLY

I was 20, 21.

We were together less than a year.

When did you last see him?

20 years ago.

I need some air.

LINE RINGS

PHONE RINGS

Hello. Tom, it's me, Nikki.

Don't call this number again.
It's a burner phone

and now it's burnt.
Then give me a new number.

Or I share the DNA match

with the police. You don't trust me?

Of course I don't trust you.
I don't know you.

You didn't tell me about
your friend Dan Clemence.

Or that he studied
at University of Merseyside

with Reynolds. Or that they
shared a trip down memory lane

on the day that she was
assassinated!

For your sake, tell me what you know
about Clemence.

PIPS BEEP
Oh, shit.

KNOCKING ON GLASS

Did you get some air?

My phone ran out of battery.

Mm-hm.

Dan Clemence is the father
of Reynolds' unborn child.

DNA confirms it.

Then we need to make sure that
stays...

What's going on, Nikki?
Who is Tom Faulkner to you?

Apart from your ex-husband?

I found DNA and a fingerprint
on the cartridge case.

Both are a match to Tom.

I don't want to make this about
me, I really don't, but...

Why didn't I tell you
about him before?

Yeah. And the small matter
of you being married.

I don't know.

Not good enough. Come on, Nikki.

Maybe...

..I was ashamed.

Because it didn't work out?

We were having a baby...

..and I lost it.

Stillbirth at eight months. Oh.

It was devastating.

I spent my 21st birthday
in hospital.

When I got out, I knew it was over
with Tom.

I just wanted to be on my own...

..and start again.

Wipe the slate.

He didn't feel the same? No.

He lost his child..

..and then he lost me.

And I barely looked round
to see if he was still standing.

HE SIGHS

I'm sorry.

I still don't understand why...
I mean...

I shared those things with you
about my brother.

Shameful things.

But...that's what friends
are for, aren't they?

You tell them everything
and they still love you.

That's the glue.

Not for me. Why?

I wall things off.

Always have. Why?

I guess I'm selfish.

You're the least selfish person
I've ever met.

You're just afraid.

Come here.

But you won't let me in.

Even now.

Tell me you're not covering for Tom

because of your guilt? Tell me that.

Oh, God.

What grounds do you have
to think he was framed?

He's a good man.

Dare I say it? People change.
Sam said as much.

She's hardly impartial in this.

DNA's pretty impartial.

DNA was left in sweat.

How would someone steal
his sweat, Nikki?

Hmm?

He's asked for one day. Hmm?

I owe him that.

He's asked you for a day?

And I need you to trust me.

HE GROANS

Though God knows, I've no right
to ask.

HE EXHALES SHARPLY

Why didn't you tell us about
the allegations levelled at you

by Daniel Clemence and your
ex-colleague Tom Faulkner?

Because they're as offensive
as they are baseless.

They're certainly serious.
They claim that...

That Unitas won't declare its
seed money

because it comes from corrupt
regimes

where Jomo did election work.

No. Because Tom Faulkner
said that you and Jomo lined up

a string of investors whilst still
at the UN.

That's not true. It's all slurs.

Then why haven't you sued?

Because life's too short.

Clemence is more tinfoil hat
than journalist,

and Tom, he has an axe to grind.

He thinks Jomo got him fired
from the UN.

Did he?

No. He got himself fired -
abusing Russian soldiers,

breaking UN guidelines.

And then he turned round
and expected Jomo to back him?

But Tom always did go too far,

always had something to prove.

So he's just making stuff up?
Lying to get back at you?

And he's prepared to sabotage
Unitas because of a grudge?

Yes, and it's very hurtful,

especially for Jomo.

All those years of working together.

But Tom's not
the forgive-and-forget type.

That can't come
as a surprise to you, Nikki?

Slurs or not, they were enough for
Clemence to get Reynolds' ear,

the Health Secretary, no less,

one of the few people
who could press pause

on your passport contract.

And now she's dead at the hands
of professional assassins.

We know that you were summoned
to the Department of Health

two weeks ago.

Was it to discuss these
allegations about your funding?

Yes. And we assured Alice

that every penny
would be accounted for

and made public in due course.

That sounds like playing for time.

Some of our donors want
to preserve their anonymity.

But you're confident
Reynolds was reassured?

Absolutely. She wouldn't have
attended our launch otherwise.

Well, according to her
daughter, she didn't want to.

It was "the last thing
she wanted to do".

And you're sure
that the Health Secretary.

wasn't about to stop
your health passport project?

I'm sure.

Some of your questioning
goes way beyond your remit,

never mind expertise.

Hang on a second.

You approached us in the first
instance.

We've every right to ask our
questions.

DOOR OPENS

The Guardian want
to do their piece on you.

Thanks, David.

DOOR CLOSES

PHONE RINGS

Hello.

DS CHALAL: Local CID just went
to check on Daniel Clemence.

Found him in his London flat,

bludgeoned to death.

That's my scene.

No-one touches anything.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Local CID can't locate Tom Faulkner,
but they do know

he and Clemence shared a cab
from Euston

and stopped off at Tom's place
for half an hour,

kept the meter running,
then got here at 2pm yesterday.

Evidence of multiple blows
to the head.

Probably a heavy blunt object.

Looks like we're missing
an ashtray of significant size.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

SIMONE: Yeah.
We are missing an ashtray.

That's Tom on his left?

Yes. Could be our murder weapon.

Spontaneous weapon suggests
a spontaneous crime, right?

Looks messy, certainly.

Quite a fight.

The killer's bound to have

corresponding scratch marks,
right? That should give us DNA.

POLICE OFFICER: Sarge.

Got a watch. Got a...

..long strand of grey hair

caught in the clasp.

Smear of blood on the crown.

Maybe he was trying
to get out. Killer stops him.

Watch comes loose.

And then he's subdued
with the ashtray.

But you'd expect to see
blood spatter

near the door, not over here.

Bloke in the flat
below heard raised voices

yesterday two men arguing.
One was definitely Clemence,

the other unknown,
but sounded like

someone Clemence knew well.

I need an all-points
for Tom Faulkner,

Home Counties
as well as Greater London.

Ports and airports, please.

There's a possibility
Faulkner may be armed,

so approach with caution.

So, if the fight started there,

maybe it finished...here.

Obviously, it's not the victim's
it's too big

and the wrong tread. But I'm
thinking...

..shoe covering?

Maybe it slipped off for a moment,

leaving a partial imprint.

Explains why there's no other shoe
prints.

Mm-hm.

Some mud here. Could be
from the sole of the boot.

So...

..anything to report? No, nothing.

Don't tell me you've messed it up
already.

Get to it.

Nice one.

DEVICE WHIRS

DEVICE BEEPS

LAPTOP BEEPS

LAPTOP PINGS

Oh, shit.

Tom?

Something's very wrong here, Jack.
I just need more time.

Is it Tom's blood? Yes. And skin.

Christ.

In the Paras he was assigned
to covert operations.

Of course he was. In and out without
a trace.

On what planet does he leave
this much evidence behind?

You're asking the wrong questions
and you bloody know it.

They're faking his blood now?
Not just prints and DNA. Blood.

Two murders, Nikki.

The assassination of the Health...
DOOR CLOSES

Morning. Morning.

HARRIS: So, you found
Dan Clemence, then?

The presence of bilateral
periorbital haematomas

and a fractured nose

indicate a heavy, blunt-force
assault.

The CT scan indicates a skull
fracture

involving the frontal bone
on the left side

which continues to the skull base,

and there's intracranial haemorrhage

associated with this.

I suspect this will prove
to be the cause of death,

unless anything else appears
during the postmortem.

Bruising and swelling

on the knuckle joint...

..of the right little finger,

possible offensive wound

with what appears to be
a split in the overlying skin.

And what looks like

a splinter of glass in it.

Didn't see any broken glass at
the scene.

There's discoid bruises on
the shoulders,

suggesting restraint marks.

He was held down,

possibly while being bludgeoned.

How do you work that out?

Matching clear spots in
evenly distributed blood spray.

So, two assailants.

One pins him down, one wields
the ashtray?

Maybe trying to stage
a spontaneous crime.

Using the ashtray played into that.

What about the blood
under the fingernails?

Running the prelim DNA stuff now.

OK. Soon as we get

the full profile, we'll...spin it
through the database.

FOOTSTEPS

Hey. Can I grab you for a sec?

I ran the mud from this tread

from Dan Clemence's flat through
a mass spec.

There are high levels
of tetraethyl lead,

with is associated
with avgas fuelling points.

Airports?

Yeah. Heathrow and City
are the obvious candidates,

and my money is on the former.

Why? Presence of copper beeches,

bark and leaf fragments,
in the mud.

Here are
ten avgas fuelling points.

Three are abut a nature reserve,
a common

and a tract of woodland.

I also found traces of paint
that is used

to line football pitches,

which pushes the common
to the top of the pile.

Even if the killer did visit
the common -

and that's a big if,
based on some...what? Mud -

then why does that help? No reason
to think

they'll go back again.
I want to check it out

just to be thorough.

Take some samples. Might find other
evidence.

Big place. I'll come along.

Divide and rule.

Got a DNA match.

The blood on the watch
and the hair follicle snagged

in its clasp. Same female DNA.

Scored a match on

the Elimination Database. It's
a retired Border Force officer

called Mary Butcher.

She... She now works as
a security guard for a law firm

off the Strand.

Our blonde-haired assassin
with a dye job?

No.

So where does she fit in?

If we get a wriggle on, we can ask
her.

Bloke was harassing one of
our lawyers. Making a scene.

So I showed him the door.

You're being a bit modest there,
Mary.

OK. Minor struggle.
Then he came to his senses.

Struggle? I grabbed him.

He lashed out, nicked me with
his watch.

Which particular lawyer
was he bothering?

Sonia Karpov.

Did Dan Clemence do this?

When Mary threw him out,

he smashed it with his fist.

What did Clemence want, Ms Karpov?

To talk about a man named
Tom Faulkner

and his relationship with
my brother.

Go on.

He knew I'd bought multiple lawsuits
against Faulkner

and wanted to know why.

You're Andrei Karpov's sister?

Sorry, who is Andrei Karpov?
He led a Russian contingent

who interfered
in Ukrainian elections.

Allegedly!

Faulkner led the UN detail
who intercepted them.

But he overstepped the mark.

Faulkner assaulted my brother

while he was in UN custody.

Andrei was a proud man.

He cared about reputation.

Maybe too much.

If Faulkner had just arrested him...

But beating him in front of his men,

the humiliation...

When he got back to Moscow,

he thought everyone was laughing
at him

and he started drinking.

He WAS a proud man?

He took his own life last summer.

But he died the day Faulkner...

Tell us about your lawsuits against
Tom Faulkner.

The UN offered me a deal.

They fired Faulkner and...

..I settled for an apology from
his boss,

Jomo Mashaba.

My brother pinned everything
on those suits.

He never forgave me for giving up

and said as much in his
suicide note.

Did you share this with Clemence?

All of it, but...

..he seemed...disappointed.

In what way?

I think he was hoping for
something more incriminating.

Clemence had obviously
fallen out with Faulkner

and was looking for dirt.

When I said I couldn't help,
he flipped.

Said Faulkner had got to me.

Crazy stuff.

And that's when I called security.

So, this pitch over here's
the only one

that's been painted recently.

How recently? Day before yesterday.

Must be weird, your ex
cropping up in our case.

If weird's all it turns out to be,
I'll take it.

Voila. Copper beeches!

Lots of shoeprints,
none very distinct.

Yeah. Not holding my breath
for a match.

What would the assassins
have been doing here?

Nikki!

Is that Tom?

I'm going to catch him up.

You want to speak to him alone?

I can get the truth out of him.
Please, Simone.

Thanks.

Tom?

How did you find me?

Dan Clemence is dead.

Take your shirt off.

Pathology evidence suggests

that Dan's killer will
bear significant scratches.

I'm not taking my fucking...

You did the postmortem.

I found your blood
under his fingernails.

My blood?

Thank you.

Were you followed here?

Come on.

DOOR OPENS

Go through.

Do you want some water?

Thanks.

TAP RUNS

Spaghetti hoops.

You craved spaghetti hoops.

Had me out looking for them
at all hours.

I thought it was baked beans.

No. Definitely spaghetti hoops.

Sam said something

that you've always got something
to prove.

Is that my fault?

Was that my legacy to you?

I'm sorry.

You don't want to listen
to Sam Ryan.

I've had to share this with someone.

A colleague. Jack.

For fuck's sake.
Nikki, can you trust him?

Yes. I can trust him to do what's
right.

Take the DNA match
to the police first thing.

Wait a minute, what about
the 24 hours?

We have to try to figure
this out right now.

I will not drag Jack any deeper
into this shit

and I will not compromise him.

I see. He's a good man.

God save us from good men.

He's more than a colleague.

That's none of your business, Tom.

Two ways out of this.

We prove who set you up, or we prove
how they set you up.

I'm a scientist.

Have you given blood lately? No.

Have you been injured? Is there
any way

that someone could have come by
stocks of your blood?

No. That's a bad start.

What about DNA?
What if someone got hold of,

I don't know,
some saliva or...hair?

I ran genetic sequencing
on the original sample.

I's a complete DNA sample,
not a PCR copy.

What does that mean? There's no
margin for error.

Shit.

The science is telling me
you're guilty, in stereo.

How is this helping?

Because if we can discount
a processing error,

what's left? Don't know.

Some kind of fabrication.

Someone...faked my DNA?

Let's just say, for the sake
of argument, they have.

Who? How? I don't know.

Think. I don't know!
Who would want to set you up?

Who has the motive
and resources to do this?

Dan and I...we'd pretty much
convinced Reynolds

to press pause on Unitas
getting on the contract.

No, I need facts, Tom. Cold,
provable facts.

I'm giving you facts!
Not theories and grudges.

You don't think Unitas

have motive and resources? They have
both.

I know Jomo's dirty secrets.
I saw him securing financing

months before he left the UN

from the same regimes he was
publicly decrying.

Can you prove any of this?

No. Cos it's not like you don't

have an axe to grind here.
It's not about that.

And you said that Jomo
threw you under the bus.

Well, he fucking did!

And that's not the reason
you're so down on Unitas?

I'm down on them because health
passporting is dangerous

and Orwellian.
Albeit potentially life-saving.

And frankly, it stinks that they
won't come clean about their
funding.

When we dug around, Jomo shut us
down with bigshot lawyers.

Talk about a sledgehammer to crack
a nut.

And who do you think was paying
their fees? I don't know, Tom,

and by the sounds of it, neither do
you.

Can I see the photos from Dan's
flat?

The crime scene photos?
I spent a lot of time there.

Maybe I'll notice
if something's amiss.

We're both compromised now, Nikki.

What have we got to lose?

I warned you.

You said he was pinned in the chair.

Blood evidence was pretty clear.

There was a final scuffle down here.

Killer left a boot-print on
the wall.

So he somehow got out of the chair
mid-beating?

But why run into the corner, away
from the exit?

Someone with his training?

Jack? Yeah.

Er, sounds like Clemence

was having major doubts about
Faulkner.

Yeah, I just saw him
on Hounslow Heath.

He's with Nikki.

Oh, hi. Hi. Can I help you?

Yes, I'm Nikki Alexander. I'm
the pathologist on this case.

This has just become an active
scene again, so you can leave,

and we'll let you know
when you can get back in again.

OK. Thanks.

She'll have a plan, Nikki.

She probably thought approaching him
one-to-one

was a smart move.
PHONE RINGS

Right. Yeah. She said that.

Jack Hodgson.

DS CHALAL: It's Chalal. Have you
got any idea why Nikki

went back to the Clemence scene
and turfed out

the clean-up crew?

Dan was grabbed and assaulted in
the chair.

He made it out, and things
finished up down here.

I found carpet fibres under
his nails.

And the boot-print on the wall is
over there.

What were you up to, Dan?

That lamp - was it there
when you arrived on the scene?

Yes, as far as I remember.

It's not where it usually is.

There's blood on the switch.

DOOR CLOSES

Jack! Don't mind me.
Now, can we just be on our way?

Or would you rather be found
with the prime suspect?

Do you hear me? Come on. Now.

This is why he got out of the chair.

He was reaching for the light.

He did reach it. So, Dan clawing at
the carpet

wasn't just a reflex action.
It was deliberate.

Nikki!

Why did he want the light on?

Come on! Camera.

I told Chalal DNA found
is a match to you,

which it is.

Jack! I asked you for a day.

You've had a day.

Thanks for the heads-up.

I said the kit we had in Liverpool
was problematic,

compatibility issues,

so I retested. I don't know
if she believed me.

Nikki!

I'm not bluffing.

It's a micro SD card.

There's the missing ashtray.

They've got to be Reynold's
assassins.

Dan did reach the light switch.

She's planting evidence
under his nails.

Where are you going?

Tom, don't run. This exonerates you.

But not for the shootings.

DNA doesn't lie, does it?

Clearly, it does. Good luck proving
it. No-one's going to want

to believe the biggest gun
in the forensic arsenal...

We can tie them to all
three murders -

Reynolds, Hernandez, Clemence.

Great. Except that could be me.

And even if I somehow
prove it isn't, so what?

My fake DNA will bury me. He's
right.

Go.

While you still can.

You were right about him.

DOOR CLOSES

What are you doing? Sending this
to Chalal.

We need to make this right.

Yeah.

OK, cool.

Chalal got a hit through Vigil
for our woman.

She was at Euston yesterday.

Same credit card she used
to tap into the tube

was used to make a hotel
reservation at Swiss Cottage.

That's just around the corner. Yeah.

CAR ENGINE RUNS

CAR ENGINE STOPS

We were nearby, so we thought
we'd hold the fort.

DS CHALAL: OK, good.

I'm just on my way

and I'm calling for backup now.

What about Faulkner? Any luck?

No sign of him.

SHE MOUTHS

Martine, we've got eyes.

Are you sure it's them?

Positive.

Looks like they're heading towards
the tube.

What do you want us to do?

Follow them.

They're heading southbound.

TYRES SCREECH

We've got it.

Tracked your phones. Thank God
it was the Jubilee line.

Where's the armed backup? En route.

Stay here for your own safety.

That's Sonia Karpov.

OK. The transfer has gone through
to your account.

Armed police! Show your hands!

Hands in the air! Now!

Show your hands!

Keep your hands high!

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Interesting stuff
on the assassins' camera.

What we looking at? An attempt

at some kind of
blood fabrication, I would say.

How do you fabricate blood?

Definitely need to get back to you
on that.

PHONE RINGS

Sorry.

DS Chalal.

They were following Tom.

He was next.

The fall guy can't defend himself
if he's dead.

They'll send someone else.
We need to warn him.

In the wrong light,

that could look like perverting
the course of justice.

JACK EXHALES SHARPLY

In any light.

So how did you fake Tom Faulkner's
DNA, Sonia?

No comment.

You told us that Tom Faulkner
humiliated your brother.

Andrei lost everything

reputation, rank, dignity.

And after years of drinking,

he put a gun in his mouth after
saying

some pretty nasty things about you
in his suicide note.

I have a theory.

You wanted Faulkner dead.

But he had to suffer first.

That same slow-motion car crash,

the same loss of reputation
and self-worth.

All you needed was a plausible
target.

To avenge your brother's death,
you set up Tom Faulkner

for the murder of the man
who fired him

Jomo Mashaba.

But Reynolds took the bullet
meant for him.

You killed the Health Secretary
by mistake.

No comment.

We've found the wire payment
from you to the assassins.

You tried to bounce it through
a few shell companies,

of course, but not enough.

Early cooperation
is the smart move here.

You found his DNA, Detective?

Case closed.

Right?

Sam, thanks for coming at such short
notice.

It's much appreciated. No worries.

What's up?

A complication. An unexpected
complication.

DNA was recovered from a cartridge
left by the assassin.

That DNA belongs to Tom Faulkner.

No, that's not possible.

I'm sorry, Sam...

..but there is another aspect
to this.

Nikki Alexander?

This makes her role in the case
untenable.

She's a first-class scientist
and, as I understand it,

they've had no contact in years.

Sure. Sure. But the fact remains

that Faulkner is still her
ex-husband.

I brought her onto this, Oscar.

And I trust her.

And from
a continuity-of-evidence angle,

changing over a pathologist is
a nightmare.

I hear you. But Faulkner's
connection to you and Jomo

is also not without issue.

In what sense?

The PM wants to press pause

on the health passporting programme.

How long for exactly?

Well, not until Faulkner's
in custody...at the earliest.

How sure are you about Faulkner?

Unless someone's figured out how
to fake DNA,

we're very sure.

DNA doesn't lie. Right?

Right.

Hi. Come in.

Is it strange being back here?

SHE LAUGHS

It was murder putting this place
together.

Going out with the begging bowl,
fighting for grants.

But...

..I pushed on, saw it through.

Then you gave it all up.

My son needed me. It was no contest.

What's up?

I wanted to ask what you thought

of the possibility of
DNA fabrication.

Why would you ask me that?

We found these
in the killers' hotel room.

I think they're blood samples
that were being manipulated

to plant as evidence.

Let me show you the images
we took when we were there.

What do you think?

If DNA can be fabricated...

..it's the end of forensic science
as we know it.

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

The corporations you beat to win
the passporting contract...

..did they actually threaten you?

They certainly let their feelings
be known.

Why?

If it's not them...

..is it your backers, Sam?

They're demanding their pound
of flesh?

You've been talking to Tom,
haven't you?

It was you who told me
they turned Rosa.

Turned her and silenced her.

Sam?

We'll speak again, Nikki.

Soon.

I've just been to the Lyell.

We need to meet.