Original subtitles

(TROY KINGI'S 'THROUGH MY VENETIANS')

- # Neighbours look at me

# like I'm a fruitcake.

# We just stay inside.

- # We don't wanna backslide.

- # Peer through my venetians, looking good.

# Wish I could come out to meet you. #

- Mm. I can't find the right form. You'll have to come back in an hour.

- Nope. The bosses need to book their pool inspection.

- I'm needed in the council meeting.

- An online booking system would be more efficient and less archaic.

- Hmm. You're a motel cleaner, Saffron.

- And you're pushing your luck, Sheree.

- I really need to get to that meeting.

- All right. Also on the agenda for today, um...

a matter that's really close to my heart. - Not the bloody cats again.

- They are vicious predators. - Honestly, who voted her on?

She's bonkers. (CHUCKLES) - These cats are killing our native birdlife.

They need to be banned from Mowai Bay and the entire peninsula.

- (LAUGHS WILDLY) (GROUP CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY)

LAUGHS: That's good. That's really good.

- Fill it in during business hours, Monday to Friday.

- Nope. I'll fill it now and book the pool inspection... now.

- You have to pay a fee, and I don't have time to fire up the EFTPOS machine.

- Yes, I do clean a motel, Sheree.

A motel with a pool, which people can't swim in if the council doesn't inspect it.

And if people can't swim, they're in their rooms making a mess, which I have to clean.

- Most business owners diarise when their pool inspection is due,

not leave it till the last minute like your bosses have.

- They're new. They make mistakes.

Whereas you've been behind this desk since that blouse was in fashion...

the first time round.

(LOW, TENSE, PERCUSSIVE MUSIC)

- You think our native birdlife dying is funny? - It's a human right to own a pet.

- And it's my right to wanna live in a world with trees and birdlife. - No one's stopping ya.

- You decide you wanna cut a native tree, and suddenly the bylaws are changed.

- It's rotting. It's a hazard. - No, it's not.

It's blocking your sea view. - Look ― what I do on my property is none of your business.

- And the dotterelsaremy business.

I propose that we ban domestic cats by the year―

- I propose that this meeting is over. It's 1 o'clock. (CACKLES)

Sheree. - Oh.

(MUSICAL FLOURISH)

- Huh? (DOOR OPENS) - (CHUCKLES)

Oh― Thank you.

- Pool inspection's booked for Tuesday.

- Brilliant. Thank you, Saffron. - Sweet. See you tomorrow.

- Oh, hang on, hang on. You've still got the beachfront units to turn around.

- But I went to the council for you. - You volunteered to go.

- Yeah, because I didn't want to do the beachfront units, and I helped you skip the queue.

It was gonna be three weeks for an inspection. - Really?

- So I roughed up the receptionist. - Nah, she's joking, Vin.

You're joking, right?

- Oh my God, fine. I'll do the beachfront units. (DOOR OPENS)

- Well, she booked the pool inspection.

(STEEL GUITAR BLUES MUSIC)

(WAVES CRASH)

(BIRDS CHITTER)

- Gordon's not here. He doesn't vote.

- I've tried calling him several times, but he didn't answer.

- Gordon's never late. - Sheree, go and check on him.

- Me? Why me? - Cos you're not a councillor.

Fine. Let's take a break while we wait for Gordon.

Anyone for a non-binary gingerbread person?

(PIZZICATO STEEL GUITAR MUSIC)

- Gordon.

Hello, Gordon.

Gordon?

SHRIEKS: Gordon!

(PERCUSSIVE STEEL GUITAR MUSIC)

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2026

- I just... I can't get it out of my head. I just can't unsee it.

His own cat. - Uh, I don't― I don't think that the, um...

Sorry, I'll be right back.

- Hey. - Hey, um... this is a big one.

Homicide. Head of Mowai Council. - City Homicide on the way?

- Yeah. Um... I just wanted another check through.

Gotta get my initial report right.

(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)

- Huh. - Yeah.

- Well, the cat's innocent.

- Unless the floof can hold a knife.

- Multiple stab wounds. Is there a murder weapon?

- Uh, the initial sweep didn't turn anything up.

- All right. Well, let's take a look around.

(INVESTIGATIVE MUSIC)

(CAMERA SHUTTER SNAPS)

- Hello. Hey.

Hey, what's going on? Is that a cop car out the front?

- Yeah. Uh...

You a friend of Gordon's? - Yeah.

Why? What's he done now?

- Mate, I'm really sorry.

(CAMERA SHUTTER SNAPS)

(MUSIC BUILDS)

- Jamie. (CAMERA SNAPS)

- I'll bag it. - And, um...

- BOTH: ...dust the dishwasher... - ...for prints. - You got it.

- When was the last time you saw him? - Uh, a couple weeks ago.

We usually catch up on a Friday night, but...

he took a rain check. He said he was seeing a lady.

- Any idea who? - No.

Shit. A home invasion...

in Mowai Bay, it's just― it's unbelievable.

- So you're a local, then? - Yeah. The wife and I are up on the hill above the main road.

- So how do you know Gordon? - This used to be my grandpa's place.

Yeah, so he passed away 10 years ago, and Gordon bought it.

The place was in good hands.

Gordon might've looked like a suit, but... nah.

He was a good guy. - I'll grab your number in case Constable Haira has any questions.

Gordon had a date on Friday night. - ID on that date?

- Negative. Mobile phone? - I haven't seen one.

There was a knife in the dishwasher, so someone had the presence of mind to cover their tracks.

Get rid of any prints, DNA. - And not have to take the murder weapon with him.

- Premeditation. (DOOR SHUTS) - Can I help you?

- Uh... these are my consultants ― from Australia.

- Pete Coleman. My wife, Vinny.

- The people who run a motel. - And 20 years with the New South Wales Police Force.

- Constable Haira requested a second look over the scene.

- He's bagged a clean kitchen knife. Possibly a match for the victim's stab wounds.

- Yeah, thanks for that. We'd like to keep the scene secure, so...

- Of course. Absolutely. We'll, um... We'll leave you to it, detective...?

- Grainger ― Annette ― Northern Homicide.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(MUSICAL STING)

Constable, what are these prints? A dog?

- Uh, Gordon's cat. Haven't seen it yet.

- She was― (SCOFFS) - Don't say it, Vin.

- She was an arsehole. Just an observation.

- And if the roles were reversed? You're investigating a scene, and two randoms are there.

- It's a big case. Surely all... hands on deck is a good thing.

- Uh, a― am I allowed to go?

- Uh, you found the body here? - I did.

Sheree Rothery. Yes, Gordon was late to a council meeting,

so I came to... (INHALES DEEPLY) find him.

- Well, if Constable Haira's taken your statement, you can go home. - He has, so thank you.

- Oh, and Sheree, if you need support or to talk to anyone, you just reach out.

- I'm fine, thank you.

- Well, at least Detective Grainger has finally shown up. - Hmm.

- Dogs will wait till they're starving, but cats...

they'll just go for it. They'll eat their owner right up.

- The cat did not eat Gordon.

But it has disappeared. - Just like his mobile phone.

Have you got that number, S―?

Thank you.

- If the killer has Gordon's phone, they're not gonna answer it.

- PHONE: This is Gordon. Leave a message.

- Well, they didn't turn it off either. (DOOR OPENS)

- And what are you two doing about this homicide?

- The police have it under control, Maxine. - Well, this is terrifying.

- Poor Sheree, man. First she gets bullied at work, and― - By you.

- Yeah, and then she finds her ex-boyfriend dead.

- Sheree and Gordon were together? -Brutalbreak up, too.

- Honey, did you notice Sheree, when she was leaving, her―? - The handbag.

Yeah, I did.

(INVESTIGATIVE BASS GUITAR MUSIC)

- RADIO: Comms to Mowai Bay. - Yeah. Mowai Bay here.

- Need you on a 2R. Someone's driven a digger into Mowai Estuary.

- Copy. 1W? Wait, that's the code for water rescue, right?

- Nah, there's no one inside. It's just a digger.

- I'm scene guarding a homicide. I― I mean, a one...

- All good, constable?

- Yeah. Just a 2R. Nothing to worry about.

- Off you go, then. - But it's just― (STAMMERS) It's not urgent.

- 10-2, Constable Haira's on his way.

We got this. Toodle-oo.

Yeah, sorry about that, mate.

- Thanks for meeting with us. - We realise it's been a hard day.

- Oh, it just doesn't feel real.

I mean, those... cat prints. I just...

I never trusted that cat. It wasn't a friendly one.

- Sheree, how long were you and Gordon together? - Seven months.

He broke it off a few weeks ago, but we were fine.

In fact, we had a drink here Friday evening. He was giving me the last of my things.

- Why didn't he give you those things at the council meeting on Friday?

- Well, he didn't like to mix his work life and personal.

Which is, you know, ultimately why he ended things.

- So you have a drink here, then you go home.

You didn't go back to his place? - He didn't invite me.

- Did Gordon have his phone with him while you were here?

- Um, well, probably. I don't know.

- OK. I might, um... might grab a beer after all.

You want one? - Yeah.

- So what will happen to the cat? I'm assuming it'll be put down.

- Uh, it hasn't turned up yet.

And you know as well as I do the cat didn't kill Gordon.

(CELL PHONE RINGS, CELL PHONE VIBRATES) Two phones?

- No. (VIBRATING AND RINGING CONTINUES)

I meant, yeah. - Oh, well, feel free to answer the other one.

- Oh, no. It's fine. They can wait. - No, no. I insist.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

- Hello, Sheree speaking. - ECHOES: Gidday, Sheree.

- Do you wanna tell us why you have your dead ex-boyfriend's phone?

- # We turned the bridge into a pontoon... #

- I'm so sorry. - No, no, no, no. It's OK.

Just... take your time.

- (SIGHS) It was on the kitchen counter... (INHALES DEEPLY)

and I panicked, and I grabbed it, and I ran.

- So Gordon's lying there, and the first thing you do is look for his phone.

- I needed to get out of there. I mean, what if she was still in the house?

- She? - Rachel.

The cat. And when I got outside, I called 111.

- From Gordon's phone? - Oh... (GULPS)

From my own.

OK. The truth.

- Yes, please. - Late Friday night, I...

texted him a few times,

and phoned him, and left some...

impolite messages.

It was after a bottle of Chardonnay at home.

- The thing is, Sheree, taking the victim's phone from the crime scene...

makes you look really guilty.

- But I thought I'd look bad if anyone ever saw or read the messages.

- Depending on the timeline and GPS pinging, those messages might actually clear you.

- Really?

The problem is, I couldn't get into it.

- Well, she said she tried Gordon's birthday and her birthday. What else can we try?

Hey, why are you still here? - I fell asleep in Unit 9.

Well, don't worry, I won't charge you for the extra three hours I was here.

- (SCOFFS)

- This is Gordon's phone? Are you trying to break into it?

- We'd like to. - You know I love me a code-cracking challenge.

- We should give it to Jamie and the homicide detective.

- Well, it can't hurt. Just, like, a little― just a little sneaky peek.

- All right. Well, if Saffron can get into it.

- If? Give me a star sign and a favourite band,

and I can get into anybody's business.

(LAID-BACK STEEL GUITAR BLUES MUSIC)

(NEON LIGHT BUZZES)

- Enjoy your stay. (DOOR OPENS)

- Hey, Cole. What do you make of this?

Reid, Ryder, Marshall.

- Send them through to me. I'll check them out.

- Hey, guys. Someone from the council's arrived to see you ―

about poor Gordon, maybe.

- Pool inspection.

We triple-checked the measurements.

- What was your name? - Poppy McMahon.

- Tragedy about Gordon. What do you think happened? - Vin. Vin.

Should we let her focus on the inspection first?

- Was he well liked?

- We're all grieving and shaken up. I mean, Gordon was a fellow councillor.

Just hope the rest of us are safe. - Safe?

- Council business isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

- You have to make unpopular decisions. - Just like this one.

This is a fail. - LAUGHS: Why? - Hinges are too slow to self-close.

Get your hinges sorted, and go for another inspection.

- Shit. I mean, does that mean we have to pay for another inspection as well?

Bloody crooks. - Our pool gate was slow to close, so we failed.

- Well, I didn't fail.

Gordon was vain. - And?

- The birthday he gave Sheree wasn't real, so I snooped on his socials.

Found out that two years ago, he went to a bunch of 50th birthday parties.

So I swapped the 75 to a 73,

and hello.

- It's true. You have a talent.

Shall we take a browse? - Or we could just give it to Jamie.

- Honey, why are you being such a goody two-shoes all of a sudden?

- Why not both? I can transfer the files to your PC.

- You can? - My ex was not to be trusted,

so I taught myself how to do it so I could catch her out at my own leisure.

- And she was the untrustworthy one?

- Well, let's just say she wasn't at Toastmasters every Tuesday night, Cole.

(COMPUTER CHIMES) My work here is done.

- And your work in units three and four is just beginning.

(ANTICIPATIVE BLUES MUSIC)

Thank you.

Mm. (DOOR OPENS) There's Gordon's phone.

(DOOR SHUTS) Here are Sheree's voice messages.

- SHEREE'S VOICE MESSAGE: I hope it falls off. And you are a five and a half at best.

All I need to know is why, Gordon?

Why you couldn't say, 'I love you.'

SOBS: Why don't you love me? But I'm―

- Just the Chardonnay talking, do we think?

- Did Gordon have any other plans Friday?

- Um... (MOUSE CLICKS, INBOX CHIMES)

Uh, Select and Swig. Regular thing. 8pm every Friday.

- Something to do with beer. A beer tasting?

- Aw, look at this app. 'Rachel GPS'. Aw. His cat...

has a GPS tracker.

I mean, if we can locate the cat... - (SIGHS)

I mean, I guess it was weird how those bloody paw prints just...

disappeared.

All right. See what else you can find. I'm gonna take this phone to the police.

- Hmm.

- Jamie.

Victim's phone. Sheree Rothery removed it from the scene when she found the body.

- Oh wow. - Yeah. Vin's reviewing the contents,

but if Sheree's telling the truth, message history should clear her.

- It's just― I'm not meant to be on this case.

- What? - She's taken over my desk.

And I have to track down the owner of an abandoned digger. - Wait. A digger?

Where? - Dragged it out of Mowai Estuary like a glorified tow truck driver.

- Driving distance from Gordon's? - Sure.

- Does that look like a digger tyre track to you?

- I mean, I can line it up with the real thing.

- Could be a connection worth checking out or passing on.

Or I can.

- Haira, did you contact ESR? - Uh...

- Oh. Mr Motel.

- Morning, detective.

- ESR ― Uh, do you mean PHF? - Yes. They have changed it to PHF science ― formerly ESR.

Showing my vintage. Environmental Science and Research.

- You outsource your CSI work? - We don't have the FETSC like your lot over the ditch.

- Forensic Evidence and Technical Services Command. Has around 900 police and civilians.

- And the population of Sydney is the same as all of New Zealand.

- Cole and Vinnie, uh, found the victim's missing phone.

- I also noted some unusual tyre tracks at the scene.

Now, call me crazy, but I'm wondering if there's a connection between this dumped digger―

- You're crazy if you think that I'm going to let a couple of retired officers from another country

muddy this investigation.

- Right. Well, we have been consulting.

- Yeah, I know. I'm here now.

I appreciate your interest, but we have our way of doing things,

and our way works.

- Message understood, detective.

- 'I appreciate your interest.' Arsehole.

- She's just a little territorial.

- Did she at least thank you for recovering the victim's phone?

(SCOFFS) What did Jamie think?

Well, she better be treating him nicely.

Just remembering how Burnsie used to treat you.

- Well, I was a better detective for it. - Honey, he was a prick.

- You're rewriting history. - And then he kicked you in the guts.

He kicked both of us― - Honey, stop. Wh―

Why are you bringing all this up again?

- I just feel...

I dunno. We're here helping Jamie where we can, and I...

I wasn't ready for the scrap heap.

- You're not on the scrap heap.

I just― You know, I see her, and...

that used to be me. - (CHUCKLES)

LAUGHS: No.

Vin, no, not even close. You are a much better detective than Annette Grainger will ever be.

(GROANS) (GATE SQUEAKS)

Better? - Yeah. That's a pass, I'd say.

So, um, are we backing off, or...

- Well... (INHALES SHARPLY) we found the victim's phone. Guess we could, uh...

(CAN LID CLICKS) find the victim's cat.

(SOFT MUSIC)

(INVESTIGATIVE MUSIC)

- Well, according to the app, floof should've wandered right about here.

- Puss, puss, puss, puss, puss.

- PITCH RISES: Try up an octave. Like, 'puss, puss. Puss, puss.'

- HIGH-PITCHED: Puss, puss, puss. - (LAUGHS)

- Puss. - (CONTINUES LAUGHING) - OK.

- Puss, puss, puss, puss, puss. (SMOOCHES)

Come on. (SMOOCHES) Puss, puss, puss, puss, puss, puss. - Oh wow.

The app actually works.

- Floof managed to get that off. - Yeah, and that attaches securely to a collar.

- Why do you keep saying... 'Floof'?

- So someone with opposable thumbs clearly took this off and tossed it, and because it'scute.

Well, we need to find out why, and if it's... connected― Wha―

LAUGHS: Why are you giving me the eyebrow? - You're cute.

- (LAUGHS) Come on.

- Paw prints prove that the cat was with the body for a bit.

- Witnessed the whole thing, you reckon?

- Well, if it did, it could've been riddled with DNA,

and the killer just disposed of it.

(INVESTIGATIVE STEEL GUITAR MUSIC)

Coincidence? - In Mowai Bay?

I think not.

- Hmm. There's a definite increase in missing cat posts.

- Don't they... just roam?

- No, cat mamas know the difference between their fur bubbas roaming and their fur bubbas that go missing.

Poor Andrea. She's beside herself.

Her TikTok cat's gone missing.

- TikTok cat? - Yeah. Jewel.

She's got thousands of TikTok followers.

She wears a little GoPro, and we get to follow her and her little bitty adventures.

BABY VOICE: But the poor little fur bubba disappeared.

- OK. I'm not sticking around. - BABY VOICE: Oh, you got a little bit of problem, honey?

- I'm out.

(LIVELY HARMONICA FOLK MUSIC PLAYS) Thanks for meeting me.

- No worries. Happy to help. I just...

Uh... you know, head's still spinnin', to be honest. - Yeah.

Can you think of anyone who had it in for Gordon?

- Sheree is the obvious person who springs to mind.

- Yeah. Right. Bad break-up. - Mm.

- Someone mentioned this council business might've made him a few enemies.

- Maybe. I find that stuff pretty dull, to be honest. - Mm.

And then there's this young woman who came to do our pool inspection.

Apparently she's now worried for her own safety.

- Not Poppy McMahon. - Yes. - Yeah.

Poppy ― short for unpopular. - (CHUCKLES)

Well, yeah. She did fail us for our pool gate taking half a second too long to close.

- Course she did. She voted down my shark net campaign.

The wife and I, we've been fighting to get shark nets in the bay for years.

Poppy comes along, she kicks up a fuss.

- Sharks are a problem here? - Uh... So, that's my best mate.

He was killed in a shark attack here in the bay in 2001. - Oh, mate. I'm so sorry.

- My wife, Jodie, she was his girlfriend at the time, and, um...

Grief... yeah, it kinda brought us together.

Anyway, Poppy, she's a rabid greenie, and it just― it became a battle that we couldn't win.

- Oh, I guess those shark nets aren't great for other marine life, though, too, right?

- Well, you know what's not great, Cole?

The years of bloody therapy I had to go through after seeing my friend―

You know, hearing him... - Shhhit. You were there.

- We were, uh... young and dumb,

and we thought a midnight surf was a good idea.

Anyway, Poppy and Gordon ―

no love lost there, for sure.

I mean, different generation, but, you know, she's a bit of a radical. (CHUCKLES)

(CELL PHONE CHIMES) Oh, it's the darling wife. (CHUCKLES)

Hey, I better go. - Right-oh.

- See ya.

- What did Lincoln want? - Just answering a few... questions.

How long have you been here? - I'm on a date.

Hey, we don't look like siblings, do we? I don't wanna be a 'doppelbanger'.

- No. You're, uh, (CLICKS TONGUE) golden.

Hey, how do you know Lincoln? - Well, everyone knows of Lincoln and Jodie.

Cos of the shark thing. - He came to Gordon's yesterday morning bringing him coffees.

- If I'd murdered someone, I would bring them a coffee the next day.

So then if someone says, 'You killed him,'

I could say, 'Why would I bring him coffee if I knew he was dead?'

- Yeah, that's not the genius move you think it is. - Hmm.

Well, do you reckon Lincoln and Jodie have something to do with it?

- I'm just trying to find anything that doesn't involve a cat, at this point.

- Uh, no, Vinnie. I did not look into that.

(TENSE, ANTICIPATIVE MUSIC)

Because it's a cat. - I know, Jamie, but Andrea's...

beside herself with Jewel's disappearance.

- Yeah, I know. She's been calling me every day.

Look ― what is this actually about? - I'm just working through all the threads,

and it doesn't seem like a burglary gone wrong,

or a random act of violence.

- Yeah. We don't have random acts of violence.

- No, but what we do have is a whole lot of missing cats.

And one of them

is a witness to a murder.

- Uh, copy that. I will look into it.

Hey, um, (CLEARS THROAT) Vinnie and Cole found the GPS tag

for the victim's missing cat, and apparently there are more cats that have disappeared.

- Right. Well, good.

Let Mr and Mrs Motel look for missing cats.

- Yeah― It's just that what I've learned from them... - Mm.

- ...is that sometimes the small, random things can be the key.

- Haira, listen. There's usually a reason why cops retire early,

like... they can't hack it.

- (CHUCKLES) Vinnie and Cole aren't really the 'can't hack―' - Stress,

bad health, medical condition that you don't know about. I dunno.

- Or maybe they just wanted to move somewhere sunny and enjoy their lives.

- So let them. They can investigate missing pets.

You and I ― let's get on with the real work.

- I can't eat, I can't sleep...

(SNIFFLES) and I'm stress drinking. (SOBS)

- You know, there are people who have pets, and there are people who have fur bubbas.

- Oh. - Thanks for taking this seriously.

- Oh. Yeah.

I might just have a look at the last GoPro footage.

(INVESTIGATIVE BLUES MUSIC)

(CAT YOWLS, DOG YIPS)

(CAT SLURPS)

(MIAOWS)

(METALLIC JANGLING, CAT MIAOWS)

- And then the battery died, so I don't know what happened. - Mm-hm.

Well― Well, they― they took her, darling. Clear as day.

- Might just go back a bit.

(CAT MIAOWS)

- I've been waiting for a ransom note. (METALLIC JANGLING)

- (CAT MIAOWS) - But so far, nothing.

- I've heard that jangle before.

- Poppy isn't here. She only comes in for meetings.

- Can I get an address, phone number? - Is it about the pool inspection?

- No. But actually, we do need to get her back out for that, Yes.

- (GASPS) Is this about Gordon?

Oh my goodness.

Of course. - Why do you say that?

- Standby, caller.

These are the last few council meeting minutes.

Gordon and Poppy argued almost every meeting.

She's a greenie, and Gordon cares more about tax cuts and cars.

- That way of thinking iskillingour world.

- WHISPERS: So dramatic. Chill.

- Calling a woman dramatic is gaslighting

and a patriarchal tool used to dismiss our concerns. (METALLIC JANGLING)

- (SUCKS TEETH) No one else seems to buy into that wokeness.

- You are a sexist bully, Gordon.

- And he was sexist... and a bully,

but I loved him.

And Poppy could fixate on things.

- Like cats? - She thinks they should be banned.

Gordon mocked her relentlessly.

- (INHALES DEEPLY) Someone needs to tell my husband.

- Tell him what? - That I'm always right.

(BASSY BLUES MUSIC)

Say it.

- The cats are relevant, and you are always right, my amazing wife.

- (LAUGHS)

- Come on. It's never hard for me to say that.

D-d-d-d-d-d― Wait. - Mm-mm. Oh no, no, no.

No, no, no, no. - Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. - Later, later, later, later.

We need to look at Poppy. - Poppy.

Later. I'm holding you to that. - (CHUCKLES)

Never hard for you to do that either.

(SLOW STEEL GUITAR MUSIC)

(MOTOR CHUGS)

(IGNITION CLICKS OFF)

Nice place. - Just a quick visit, right?

I really wanna get back to (CLICKS TONGUE)... later.

- (CHUCKLES) We will get back to later, I promise.

So Poppy is a part-time chef at a vegan cafe.

Youngest member of the Mowai Bay Council.

Ah. Look at that.

She gate-crashed a fashion show and threw fake blood on someone wearing a fur coat.

- Kills cats to save birds.

- Kills a man to kill his cat to save the birds. (CHUCKLES)

(GATE OPENS) - Oh.

(GATE SHUTS)

(INTRIGUING BLUES MUSIC)

- Backpack.

- Wait. Is that...

moving? (CAT MIAOWS)

- Oh, tell me it's not a cat about to go for a swim.

Hey!

- Poppy!

Poppy, stop!

What's in the bag, Poppy?

- Just wine, snacks. Gonna go for a paddle and a picnic.

(CAT MIAOWS)

- Wine that miaows. - OK. I have to say it. (CAT MIAOWS)

Let the cat out of the bag, Poppy. (CAT MIAOWS)

(CAT PURRS)

- I didn't hurt any of them. - So how many cats have you taken?

- Just six. - And put them on Barren Island.

- I'm protecting our Mowai Bay birds. - There's nothing on Barren Island.

There's nothing for them to eat. - I― I recognise that.

Look ― I tried to cull the cats, but I just― I couldn't bring myself to.

So I kayak over every night to feed them.

They're all fine. They...

kinda became a cat family.

- OK, so on Friday night, you went to Gordon's with the intention of just taking his cat.

- And you didn't see anything or anyone?

- You didn't notice the blood on the cat's paws?

- No. It was da― dark. I didn't notice.

I just put him in there. (METALLIC JINGLING)

Look ― I see how this appears, but I didn't kill Gordon.

He was a horrible human being, but I save creatures, I don't― I don't kill them.

- Yeah, I'm gonna have to get you to stick around, Poppy.

I'll call Detective Grainger, get her to come back and take a statement.

- Oh...

OK. You don't want us to― - Yeah. That's― That's great.

Thanks, Jamie. We'll see ya. - Thanks.

Oh, uh... one favour, though.

- Yeah. What do you need?

(PURRS)

- No more saying yes to favours until we know what they are.

- Wha― It wants to sleep with us.

- Well, there's only room for two in this bed. - (SIGHS)

(CAT PURRS) - Aw. - Come on, sweetie.

- (CHUCKLES) (PURRS)

(MIAOWS) - Aw.

- (GROANS, SMOOCHES)

I'll get Gordon's mate Lincoln to pick her up tomorrow. - Mm-kay.

- Good girl. (SIGHS)

(GENTLE STEEL GUITAR BLUES MUSIC)

OK. - (SIGHS)

Night.

- Mm.

Is it later?

- What?

- Is that you touching my leg?

- No. (CAT MIAOWS)

- Oh! - (LAUGHS)

Oh, honey.

- (GROANS) - (LAUGHS)

(SEAGULLS CAW)

- I'll take her up to Gordon's sister in Auckland.

Wish I could keep the poor thing, but wife's allergic.

- Hi. - Hey.

- Yeah, I wish we could keep her, too, but, um...

I don't want to. - (LAUGHS) - (CHUCKLES)

- So, Poppy McMahon, eh?

Thinks cats are vicious killers,

but we must protect the great whites at all costs. - Right.

(CAR DOOR SHUTS) - (CHUCKLES) - Well, thanks again.

It's really good of you. - No, happy to go up to the big smoke.

T20's on at Eden Park. - Ah. Cricket.

Yeah, the wife and I are more, uh― more AFL.

- They say there's no such thing as a perfect woman, but first day I met Jodie,

she's wearing the, uh― the classic brown and beige shirt.

It's the old school uniform for the Kiwi cricket team.

I knew right then and there ― she's the one.

- Nothing like love at first sight, eh?

Enjoy the cricket. - See ya.

(UNDULATING STEEL GUITAR BLUES MUSIC)

- (BREATHES DEEPLY)

Thank you. You're gonna get a medal for this.

- Medal? - Constable Haira is going to Barren Island to rescue Jewel.

- Oh. - And the other five cats.

- (SIGHS) - Aw.

I mean, it's an important job, Jamie.

- Yeah, nah.

Annette's doing all the important jobs. - Is she?

- Hey. The tyre track that Cole took a photo of at Gordon's. - Mm.

- That's the digger I dragged out of the estuary.

- It's a match.

Well done, my husband. (CHUCKLES) - Mm.

So, Annette is searching Gordon's computer, looking for a rental agreement.

Or did they drive there in it...

and then drive it away?

- What, like a getaway digger? (LAUGHS) - (CHUCKLES)

- Or maybe Gordon's planning some work.

- Well, no way to find out now.

- Well, there is.

(TRUCK SQUEAKS)

- Poppy murdered Gordon. That is horrifying,

but not surprising. - She's helping police with inquiries.

- Gotcha. - Sheree, was Gordon planning any kind of building at his property?

- No. He loved that old house. - Nothing he'd need an excavator for?

- Not that I know of. So, was it about the cats?

- So he hadn't recently got a council permit for anything?

- Building consents are the wider council, not us.

- (SIGHS) Right. - Oh. Hang on, do you mean the tree?

- Tree? - The big old pohutukawa.

The council gave Gordon permission to pull it out.

Poppy was not happy about that.

- To pull this tree up, that's something you'd need a digger for?

- It's a very big one ― over 20 years old.

Once a native gets to a certain height, you need a permit.

Look, Gordon perhaps shouldn't have been allowed to give himself a permit,

but is a tree worth stabbing someone for?

- That is a very good question, Sheree.

- Huh.

- # You want to be forever.

(PRINCESS CHELSEA'S 'FOREVER IS A CHARM')

# You want to get together.

# Forever is a charm.

# Forever is a charm.

# Forever is a charm, and it's never getting better.

(DOOR SHUTS, FOOTSTEPS APPROACH) - Hey.

So...

Gordon was going to remove a tree. That's why he had an excavator.

- Do you remember the first time we met?

Love at first sight.

- CHUCKLES: Hardly.

You were going out with what's-her-face, and I was seeing―

- You with that dick with the '90s goatee.

- Because it was the '90s, Cole. - Yeah, but still, I knew...

- (CHUCKLES) - ...from the second I saw you, I knew.

- CHUCKLES: Hey. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's― What's going on? - I knew.

- Well, we don't have time for that. - I knew that goatee-faced guy would not last.

- LAUGHS: You're right. He didn't.

- I worked out what the names you found mean.

Reid, Ryder, Twose, Marshall.

First names ― John, Jesse, Roger, Hamish.

They're cricketers. Some of them are kind of obscure,

but they all represented New Zealand at some point.

- Select and Swig every Friday night.

- Exactly. - Oh, honey, you are a... (INHALES SHARPLY) genius.

- Exactly. - (LAUGHS) - Well, I did have to Google it.

- Still, it wasn't about the cats.

- Hey. Hey, I got your text.

- Lincoln, thanks for coming. This is my wife, Vinnie.

- Good to meet you, Lincoln. - Likewise. Um, has something come up?

- Yeah. Yeah. I just, um, wanted to ask ― why did you come here on Monday morning?

- Oh, I just, uh, bought him a coffee, like I sometimes did,

cos I didn't know that he― - You didn't know he was... dead.

Mm-hm. Yup. - Yeah.

- Yeah, that's not quite the genius move you think it is.

- I'm confused. Gordon was my mate.

- Bit dangerous being your mate.

- CHUCKLES: She needs to watch what she's saying, your missus.

- (SCOFFS) - Oh. Really? Well, my 'missus' is right.

You lost your best friend to a shark attack 20 years ago where you were the only witness.

- What's that got to do with― - And then last week, another friend, another violent death.

- Two dead pals. One common factor.

- It's actually pretty cruel, what you're saying.

- Well, if I'm wrong, I'm gonna be sorry. But I don't think I'm wrong.

- Because you were here on Friday night. Even though you said Gordon rain-checked.

- We're gonna start with what we had for last week. So we've got Rutherford.

- Yup.

- Your weekly Select and Swig thing did happen.

- Reid, Ryder, Twose and Marshall, right?

They were some of the what-if team you wrote down that night?

- So that's why you're falsely accusing me?

Cos of a list of cricket players? - Nope.

Cos of the tree.

- And a shark, who you falsely accused.

- Your friend didn't run into a great white that night in 2001.

He ran into something far more dangerous.

A so-called mate in love with his girl and willing to do anything to get her.

You killed Curtis.

Right? You buried him here at your grandparents' bach, put a tree on top of him.

- A tree that is now 20-years big, and blocking Gordon's sea view.

- If he'd dug up that pohutukawa, he would've found your secret, right? - But he wouldn't bedeterred.

- Come on, mate. It's a native. - It's a weed.

- I'm begging you to leave it. I planted that thing as a tiny shrub.

- And I've got you to blame. (CHUCKLES)

No, it's blocking my view. Roots everywhere. - No, you don't get it.

Things could go really bad for me.

I could lose everything, including Jodie.

- What, you got a body buried under there or something?

I'll go and get us another beer.

- Maybe you felt like there was nothing else you could do.

(CAT MIAOWS)

- Hey there. (PURRS)

- Maybe it was easy. You'd already killed once.

(METALLIC SQUELCH) - Ah!

- This is all bullshit speculation. Grabbing at straws.

Prove it.

- Be good if he wasn't late. - He's usually quite punctual. I―

(VEHICLE APPROACHES) - Oh. Wait.

(VEHICLE BEEPS REPETITIVELY) - What's― What's happening?

- We are proving it. (DIGGER BEEPS AND SQUEAKS)

- Kia ora! - Constable, these two are on something ―

the rubbish they're talking. - They think there's a body under that tree.

Shall we have a look? - You can't be serious. - Love at first sight.

You know, when you― when you said that about your wife, it got me thinking.

It's a special thing, when you find your soulmate.

- But yours was with someone else.

Your best mate, Curtis.

- Crack into it, constable.

- No!

Please.

I'll lose her. I can't―

I can't break her heart.

STAMMERS: What would you do?

For the woman you love. You tell me. - Well, I'd, um...

I'd wait till she realised the guy she was with was a...

a goatee-faced dick, and then I'd make my move at a friend's divorce barbecue.

- Lincoln Fernsby.

Wouldn't be going anywhere just yet. Just a tip-off we wanna look into.

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)

- You know, I was only 90% sure there was a body under that tree.

- Well, you're right most of the time. - Most?

- (CHUCKLES) Burnsie's divorce party.

It was me who made the first move. Not you.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

(SEAGULLS CAW)

- Thanks for your assistance on this one, constable. Not a bad job.

- Well, you know. Bit of help from the consultants.

I have been really lucky having them here. I've learned a lot.

- It's a bit odd though, isn't it? A couple of small-town motel owners?

- Who used to be police detectives.

- Did you ever ask for any kind of ID?

- No. - Any evidence at all that they're actually police?

- Well, I've had no reason to.

Look ― Vinnie and Cole know what they're doing.

- The thing is...

I've been in touch with New South Wales Homicide.

(BIC RUNGA'S 'DREAM A DREAM')

- # I dreamed a dream.

# Oh, was it real?

- Your mates, the two detectives, Coleman,

no one's ever heard of them.

- Sorry? - If those two people were ever in the force,

wasn't in Sydney,

or anywhere else in Australia.

They're not who they say they are.

You've been taken for a ride, mate.

- # The warmest breeze against my ear.

# The sea and sky so blue.

# A Paradise inside my mind.

# I dreamed a dream of you. #

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

- This is Simona Cassidy with you on Peninsula FM.

Keeping you warm through the storm.

(CHOKING OVER RADIO)

- Hello?

- Are you actually ex-police? - Where is this coming from?

- There's nothing online. - Jamie, it's a choice we've made.

We don't want an online presence.

- I mean, I'd love to know how he found us.

And we're just supposed to walk away from another life now?

- Yeah. (THUNDERCLAP)

- There goes the power lines.