All language subtitles for Silent Witness S08E03 Death by Water (1).en

OK, you've got five minutes, OK?

CHILDREN GIGGLE

GIRL GASPS

GIRL COUGHS

OTHER CHILDREN BEGIN TO COUGH

OK, time to go back inside.

Come on.

The fossil remains show
evolutionary changes in the plants.

Does anybody remember
the types of primitive plants?

GIRL COUGHS

OTHER CHILDREN COUGH

It's the coughing game,
isn't it, class?

Paul? Are you with us?

Stand up, Paul.

Does anybody know?

Stand up, everyone.

CHILDREN SCREAM

Get out of the way.

Paul? Paul!

Somebody help me!

♪ Testator Sile-ens

♪ Costestes e Spiritu-u

♪ Si-ilenciu-um. ♪

Male.

Aged 25 to 35.

No signs of external injury.

No tamponade...

Sam?

Sam?

Sam?!

Bad dream?

What's the time?
I've got to see the vice chancellor.
No, we're going to the seaside.

So what happened to the
local pathologist? Double hernia.

How did Sam get through the work?

My body says it's not possible.

Hi, DS Newton.

How many fatalities? One so far.
This is his teacher.

We don't know exactly what happened,
but it has affected the whole class.

Any smell of gas? Complaints of
illness beforehand? We don't know.

I'll take a look at the body.

OK.

Why is this death being treated as
suspicious? We have to be careful.
She means I may have assaulted him.

What happened? He just
sort of went limp and collapsed...

His head sort of...

Were there any other signs?
Symptoms? They were coughing a bit.

I thought they were having a laugh.

They were a bit hysterical. We'd
been outside having a nature lesson.

Did you notice anything unusual
when they were outside?

No...

CHILDREN COUGH

I've never seen anything like this
before...

Feeling better?

What's your name? Pat. Hello, Pat.
What happened?

I just felt...scared.

Couldn't breathe...

It was spooky.

Spooky?

Lanny Forbes started it.

How could she start it?

She started...
coughing and laughing first.

Lanny?

Hello. I'm Harry.

Are you all right?

Can you sit up?

Breathe deeply.

OK?

So, what do you think happened?

Do you remember what happened?
Paul Williams fell over.

Um, yes, I know, but, um...

that was inside.

But what happened outside?

Why were you laughing?

I wasn't laughing.

Mmm...

But Pat said...

I was crying.

I couldn't breathe,
and I could hear my heart.

What, like when you put your fingers
in your ears, like this?

Yeah. Like in Tomb Raider.

You can stop time.

You're still a bit wheezy,
aren't you?

Do you suffer from asthma?

Lanny!

Oh, thank you.

Sienna Ricci. Public health officer
at the council. Harry Cunningham.

This is my colleague, Dr Dalton.
Hello. Hi. What do you think?

Something they've eaten...
Hard to say.

It sounds like the poor kid's fall
was horrific.
But the others...it's very strange.

Shock?
It started outside.

I'd feel happier if they'd organise
clinical tests. Want to know what
I think? Some form of mass hysteria.

You were with the kids the whole
time? Yes. But you didn't experience
any symptoms yourself? Nothing.

I just noticed they were
acting strangely. At first,
I thought they were taking the piss.

Why? With the coughing.

I'm a smoker.
I thought they were laughing at me.

Hello there. Are you feeling better?

Hello, I'm Harry.

They're all saying fear and panic.
But if they don't get to hospital,
they won't get tested properly.

It's a mass sociogenic illness.
I want to follow it up. I'm just
naturally cautious. It's textbook.

I know the phenomenon,
but I'm not a psychologist.

I admire your self-confidence.
Oh, thank you(!)

All right, it's a daft diagnosis.

Why?
BEEPING

So how are we going to report this?
I suggest we leave our options open.

In case it's a virus or something
they've eaten. It can't be something
they've eaten - it isn't lunch time.

They had raised heart rates but no
temperature, so it's unlikely to be a
virus. Suspicious death for you. Now!

DCI Jim Tennant.
Harry Cunningham.

According to the neighbours,
he works for the local council.
Scientist of some sort.

No catalytic converter?
No, no. Old petrol job.

Didn't bother with a pipe
from the exhaust. He didn't have to.
There was a hell of a fug.

Skin's a cherry-red colour.
Looks like monoxide saturation.
Was the engine still running? Yeah.

A neighbour found him.

Bare feet,
the bottom half of a wet suit

and an old sweater... Odd sort of
get-up for doing yourself in.

Yeah...

Feet are dirty.

Hang on. Can you hold him?
There's some blood here.

Something sharp.
Could that have killed him?
That's near the heart, isn't it?

He wasn't stabbed
through the sweater.

The face and hairline are
encrusted with salt. Suggests he was
in the water not long before.

There's an oxygen tank and diving
mask in the house. Sweater's dry.

So got in the car, half-dressed,
didn't bother to shower.

OK. Where's Selic?

I don't know, Mr Garner.
He's not a problem.

There's 11 here and 12 passports.

It's OK. It's not OK, Micky.
They want to see Selic. Where is he?

He got a girl.

In London.
Well, get hold of him and tell him
to report to Immigration, OK?

Muddy too. Samples, please.

His name was Nick Garner. PhD, MPhil.

There's blood in here, too.

He's used kitchen roll on the wound.

Oh...

Look. That's where it went through.
Look, blood on the inside.

Must have put the sweater on
in here...

In a hurry.

Ransacked?

Or just...untidy?

Hi, Helen. Leo!

Acting head of department -
how does that feel? Busy.

With your experience
and qualifications, you should be
looking for a professorship...

even if Sam hadn't done a runner.

Don't tell me you hadn't thought
about it. I barely had time.

We don't advertise or interview.

No? I've canvassed
one or two experienced people
at the Royal College.

The appointments committee always
looked outside for a Chair, but
I'm not a big believer in tradition.

Personally, I think
you'd do a great job. Thank you.

How are things on the domestic
front? You haven't settled in
the great metropolis, have you? No,

but I've, um, certainly been
thinking about it. Good!

I'm very sorry, sir.

Your son was found in his car
with the engine running.

Oh, Christ...

I think it's important we wait
until the autopsy

before we draw
any obvious conclusions.

There was a wound...

I can't take this in. I'm sorry.

Can I see him?

Yes. Yes, of course. Tomorrow?

Cause of death was a fracture
of the skull due to a weakness
at the point of impact,

causing brain damage
and severe haemorrhage.

If you look at the skull,
you can see there's a slight defect.

The bone hasn't calcified properly.
It's paper-thin.

He might have lived a long life,
but he hit his head on the one point
that wasn't properly protected.

But this doesn't tell us anything
about the others. Well, there's some
evidence of respiratory problems.

Lung tissue damage. Know why?
Could be asthmatic.

But it would have to be severe.
There's no evidence from his GP
that he was being treated for it.

Got the Chair, Professor Dalton?

We should get a blood test
fairly soon.

MUSIC BEGINS TO PLAY
This mass hysteria...

They reckon your diagnosis
was spot-on. Not mine, actually.

Bit busy, don't you think?

Anything interesting on the slab?
Have scalpel. Will travel.

Marcus! Just popped in to see your
vice chancellor. You know Helen?

No. She's asked me to do your annual
Tofting lecture. First time ever
by a pathologist, apparently.

It'll be a paediatric angle.
Hope you'll come.

I'll try very hard.

I'd like to take a look
at the department some time.

Well, yes, be my guest.

It's a bit busy at the moment...
You've spent money, haven't you?

Male, 28 years old.

The skin has a cherry-red
coloured flush, typical of
carbon monoxide absorption.

There are marked abrasions
to the feet...

and toes.

Traces...

of what appears to be reddish...

paint

under the fingernails.

More samples, please.

I'm going to
do a full toxicological screen -

hair, stomach contents, blood,
urine and vitreous.

We're testing blood for carbon
monoxide, using gas chromatography.
Results will be here soon. ..Thanks.

There is a small, penetrating wound
in the chest area.

About two centimetres across.

Suggests the point of a sharp knife.

Any more blood in the house?

Nothing significant,
apart from on the kitchen roll.
So probably got it elsewhere...

Possibly bled again
when he took the wet suit off

and put the sweater on.

..OK, let's open him up.

The organs are congested...

and bright pink.

Again, typical of CO poisoning.

The heart is undamaged.

Whatever it was
didn't go in very far.

It scratched a rib, nicked a lung.

Nasty, not fatal.

So, um...

So that rules out murder? Oh...

Quite an aggressive thing to do
to somebody. Not self-inflicted?

Find a knife nearby? Dr Cunningham.
What's this? From the lab.

Oh, it's gas chromatography.

Gas chromatography
gives the saturation as 40%.

That would kill him.

When did you last see your son?

Um...three days ago.

He was fine.

He never got depressed.

He'd obviously been diving not long
before he died. It's a very active
thing to do if you're depressed.

Nick was a keen diver.

But this wound?

Yes. It looks like a knife wound.
But it's not the cause of death.
We're certain of that.

He was stabbed? Excuse me.

Blood test on Paul Williams,
fractured-skull boy.

Metal in his bloodstream. Aluminium.
Not significant, is it?

You're suggesting I ignore it?
What if other kids show it?
It wouldn't cause fainting.

That sounds extremely dogmatic
to me. For one so young...

Oh. Now we have it. So we're trusting
age and rank before genius, are we?

Maybe you should retrain as a child
psychologist...if you're bored.

I'm so sorry, Lucas.

Thanks for letting me see him.

How are you?
Oh, I'm all right.

He'd been diving.

Did you know?

I'll wait for you. No, you mustn't.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Was it suicide?
It doesn't make any sense at all.

How well did you know him?

I liked him.

He was a close colleague.

Tell me how you found him?

Exactly. I know you're not supposed
to say anything, but you haven't
definitely said it was suicide.

Have you any idea why he might have
been diving that night? I don't know.

OK. His background
was marine toxicology,
so it could be connected to that.

If you find anything about Nick,
you will tell me, won't you?

Leo!

You'll have to go slower soon.

Up the dignity factor.

The appointments committee
met last night.

Professor Dalton sounds good.

So soon?

I haven't heard anything.

Just a preliminary meeting.

If we did ask you, we may be looking
to bring someone in at your level.

Or maybe promote Harry to reader
and bring in a probationer?

Harry...

Harry needs more experience.

Sam Ryan thought highly of him. No,
he's good. He should step up soon.

Thanks.

So, how's the new career?

I thought about child psychology,
but then I decided I was needed
to brighten up the death profession.

Brighter is not necessarily better.

If you've got a hunch, you've got
to back it up with solid evidence.

OK. Well, try this for size.

There was an incident with school
kids and a fizzy drink in America -

26 kids collapsing with palpitations
and all sorts of symptoms.

The drinks company reacted
straightaway, withdrew all supplies.

But within the next 48 hours,
hundreds of school kids
starting showing the same symptoms.

They did rigorous testing and there
was nothing wrong with the drink!

The kids we saw had very specific
symptoms - streaming eyes,
coughing, shortness of breath.

That's not the point!
They recovered. You saw them.

Why was this boy running round
with aluminium in his blood? That
little girl Lanny was the focus.

There's always one hypersensitive
child who provokes the others. Look,
I want us to work together on this.

There's going to be an inquest. We
can't submit contradictory reports.

I also want to speak to that
public health woman again. Sienna
Ricci? Mm-hm. She was here earlier.

A colleague of Nick Garner's.
This could be a public health issue.

What's so funny?

You think I'm going off on one?
No, no. OK. I'll come.

So if the boy had ingested
aluminium, does this rule out
a psychosomatic cause? No. Yes.

Has the regional health officer
followed up the kids involved?

They've accepted your colleague's
point of view. Have all the kids
returned to school? I can find out.

Mystery viruses come and go. They're
not taking it further. What about
testing the water? I thought that,

but they hadn't been swimming in it.
Like Nick. No, the drinking water.

The domestic supply?

The water company test every day.

Can aluminium
get into drinking water?

Where would it come from?

Anything like that
should be filtered out. Sorry.
I'm not really at my best today.

Well, listen, don't worry.
Let's leave it for now.

I'm surprised you're here at all.

Well, we all miss Nick, but...

..life goes on.

Leo?

Is that Leo Dalton?

I suppose it's been a long time.
I went out with your sister. Oh, Gus.

Yeah! Gus Stuart. What are you
doing here? Well, I run this place.
For my sins. Council chief executive.

Strictly non-political. You must have
been here for Nick. Yeah,
that's right. Come in, come in.

LOCK RATTLES

It's Nick's office.
They've locked it for some reason.

Fancy a drink?

I could order the water company
to start spot testing if you like,

but I won't love you if it's a
wild-goose chase. Better to be safe.

It sounds like a one-off to me.
Not sure.

They went collectively doolally,
didn't they?
I hear it's quite common. It isn't.

There may have been an emotional
element, but I don't think it's the
whole story. Come and have a drink!

Nick cared passionately
about nature.

He did a lot of good work here.

You liked him a lot, didn't you? Hmm.
I did.

He was fun and...

he had integrity.

We were lovers.

I'm sorry I misled you. I just
didn't want to go into all that.

Do you know WHERE he was diving?

Presumably you do tests.

Yeah.

But they take time. Hmm.

Do you want another drink?

It's been a lot of long days
this week.

I'll walk you home.

When did you last see him?

A few days ago. He was really angry.

What about? Well, me. The world.
His old man.

Why with him?

Nick was an environmental officer.
His dad breaks ships.

So no happy families there, then?
They got on fine, mostly.

Are you really interested? Yes.

Why did you want to know
where Nick was diving?

Just to know what he was doing
the last few hours he was alive.

Sorry, um...

I just need to crash.

No?

Can you stop her crying!
It's not her fault, Daryl.

Why?! Why did he do it?
We're not sure it was suicide.

But what was he doing diving?

At night. Alone.

I feel so bad because
we'd had a row. What, that night?
The day before.

I never really got to
the bottom of it, except that he
accused me of lying to him.

I thought someone might be trying
to poison his mind. You mean me?

He never explained himself properly.

He was drunk.

I threw him out.

That was the last time I saw him.

You must have some idea
what it was about.

It's too late.
It doesn't matter now.

We split up.

I didn't know.

A few weeks ago.

Has he left a lot of stuff at work?

They've locked his office.
Are you looking for something?
Just personal things, mementoes...

Who locked his office?

It's been going on for months!
We've got to do something about it.
BABY SCREAMS

She's not going in the other room,
Daryl. No way.

Hey...

MAN COUGHS

TOILET FLUSHES

Tests on Nick Garner show significant
levels of PCBs in the body fat.

What are PCBs?
Polychlorinated biphenyl.

They're used in electrical motors,
switchgears. How toxic?

They're dangerous. As they break
down slowly, it damages the liver.

Nothing significant in the liver,
so probably very recent.

PCBs reduce the body's ability to
fight infection. Any acute symptoms?
Only for people working with them.

You're looking at chronic health
problems in years to come. Cancers.
How do they get in the system?

They're easily absorbed
through the skin.

Swimming in polluted water...

Oh, did you read my report
on the school?

Yes, I did.

What did you think?
I think you should enter it
for the Booker Prize.

Your colleague who was here,
he's gone to get a takeaway.

He told me
you had been recently bereaved, too.

My wife.

A year back.

We've just about finished here now.
Will you be taking those?

There's nothing here, really.
I find it hard
to think about anything else.

I have to do something.

I had a look through them,
but they're mostly scientific tests.
Over my head. Mine, too.

Did you lock his office? No, sir.

Is it locked? So they tell me.
I'm sure you can have anything
that belonged to your son.

You gave me the impression you were
looking for something specific.
Oh, no, no.

The letter never sent.
The photograph you've forgotten.

But that's not
what you've got there, sir.

Those are technical.
It's what he was about.

His life.

But over your head.

I know there's
something wrong with her. Yeah...

Diarrhoea is nothing to worry about.
Just make sure she gets plenty
of water. You can go to your GP...

Yeah, we know that! Ssh.

Well, she doesn't seem hot to me.

Doctor! She was! She was very hot. I
gave her aspirin, I gave her Calpol.

How often? That could be the cause
of the diarrhoea.

You were in the other day,
weren't you? What's wrong with that?

Harry!
I hear you had a mass hysteria.

Yes. MSI, they call it now. Very PC.

I like to use the old word. Was it
girls? Mixed. My head of department
doesn't agree with me, anyway. Leo?!

That's why senior academics like he
and I exist - to hold back talent.

It's fear.

I really rather like London.
I'm just off to your library.

Leo...

going to get the Chair?

If he does,
let's hope they tell him soon.

Hard act to follow...

the blessed Sam.

Do you really want Sam's job?

Yes. Why?

You think I'm not up to it? No...
No?!

I mean no, I didn't mean that.

A lot of the kids in that class are
showing aluminium in their blood.

How much? Well, it's too soon to say.

The hospital weren't looking for it
because they were told the children
had freaked out, so they missed it.

They must have ingested it. Could a
fizzy drink have reacted with a can?

None of this
explains why those kids fainted.

Most are complaining of respiratory
problems. Local GPs are calling it
severe asthma. Everything's asthma!

These psychosomatic events
are about exclusion.

Separateness. A group. There was
just one classroom. The epidemic
usually starts and finishes quickly.

I thought something happened outside
but the teacher wasn't affected.
He was an adult. He was excluded!

This has to be
to do with drinking water.

We've looked at school dinners, but
half of them bring packed lunches.

Tap water is the only possible
common factor.

Are there aluminium works disgorging
unchecked into the local supply?

Aluminium is here.
It's not in our dreams, mate.

Is this an offer...

..Helen?

Sounding you out. Obviously
after Sam Ryan, the general status
of the department is very high.

There are one or two things
I'm not too sure about.

I'd want to think about
who stays and who goes.
I'd like it to be my team.

It's not always easy to
get rid of academics, as you know.

There's that horrible
American word called tenure.

We can argue
about the teaching staff, can't we?

If you want me.

I'll see what I can do.

Why isn't this being treated
as a suspicious death? All the other
wounds, they must tell us something.

The slashes on the arm suggest a
struggle. Have you told the police
this. Yes. What else do we know?

Where was he swimming? It might give
me a clue as to who attacked him.
Well, the water wasn't very clean,

so he wasn't swimming
in the open sea.

The salt in his hair was contaminated
with fuel oil, so it's likely
it was an area of heavy traffic.

Oh, there were PCBs in his body fat,
suggesting maybe they were present
in the water he was swimming in.

He was wearing a wet suit.
You can only absorb PCBs...
Through the skin. I know.

Parts of the face and hands were
exposed, and if the concentrations
were high enough, then...

We were together for two years.

We kept it a secret
because of office politics.

Can I have tap water as well, please?

It was difficult, you know,
when we split up.

Stayed friends or...?

It was a bit tense sometimes.

I finished it.

What are you doing?
Humouring an old man.

It looks sort of oily.

Doesn't taste very good either.

Tastes acidic. Could this happen?
Could they just cover something up?

I don't trust anyone.

You know Gus Stuart? He has been
going into Nick's office,
taking stuff, shredding stuff. Why?

Well, I think Nick knew something
about council business
that Gus doesn't want coming out.

About the drinking water?

I've got the water company's
own tests...going a fortnight back.

Do you think you could test this,
too?

It's the council offices. Gents loo.

Look.

I so wanted you to be right.
What about?

The water company's own analysis.
Last Thursday and Friday.

Calcium...sodium...
There's nothing nasty.

Oh...

Look at those two results.

They're identical.

No two litres of water
can be the same in analysis.

So, much as I hate to admit it,
there may be something going on.

This is the third time, Nicola.
Can we please see a doctor?
I'm sorry, we're really busy.

I want a doctor!

Can you hear me, you bastards?!

This little girl is ill!
I want a doctor! NOW! Calm down,
calm down, calm down. It's OK.

Hi, it's Harry. Hello.

The analyst's results are phoney.
Look at last week's. It's like
a photocopy with a different date.

They've been cheating.

Listen, I'm just, um,
in a meeting...

Yeah. I'll call you later.

Bye.

That was Harry Cunningham.

He says the water company must
have a problem. They've been
messing around with the paperwork.

They've been cheating. Why are they
still involved? They're pathologists.
I asked them to advise.

The water's good!
We've won prizes for it.

Listen, I don't want
to quote my job description at you,

but if they have an issue with
public health we should know about,
I have to talk to them.

OK, OK. We'll look into this.
But let's deal with it quietly
and keep those guys out of the loop.

Have we got something to hide? No,
we've got to be straight about this.

Water samples.

Gents lavatory -
that is just rusty water.

But the sample I took from the pub -
traces of aluminium.

Yes!

Congratulations.

I have to admit,
it didn't taste very good.

But what's the source? Aluminium?!

They use aluminium sulphate
in the purification process itself.

The alum comes in as a coagulant
to take out the impurities.

It's filtered out and you're left
with clean water. So it's a cock-up.
It got into the clean water later.

They found out and,
rather than owning up,
decided to flush out the system.

And tried to cover up by doctoring
the results. Is that Haven Water?

Yeah, it's Dr Leo Dalton here. Can I
speak to your chief analyst, please?

So how do you feel about me
getting the Chair? IF I got it?

No precise feelings at the moment.

I've just had the chief executive
of Haven Water railing at me
for the best part of an hour.

You're acting outside your remit.
It's a question of public health.

Maybe I'm being naive, but I thought
pathology was about using your
experience to explain mortalities.

If it's saving lives,
job descriptions go out the window!

This is the university's
most expensive department,

and there are a lot of people
who don't think it's justified.

I hope that we can prove them wrong,
Helen.

Your business is death.
And you aren't Sam Ryan.

Thanks for your support(!)

Are we working together?
Or are you waiting for Marcus Gwilym
to take over?

Two workers sacked, accused of
contaminating the water supply. Oh!

If you believe that,
you're being naive.

It's negligence, and they'll get
away without paying compensation.

"Council censured for slow reaction
to crisis." Aren't you pleased?

I bawled you out,
but I may not have a job myself.

I screwed up by moonlighting
on a public health issue,

and I still don't know why
those kids collapsed.

That amount of aluminium wouldn't
have caused that amount of damage in
Paul Williams, or any of the kids.

I still think, um...

there's an element of hysteria
involved, but...

I admit something else is going on.
Maybe we're both
barking up the wrong tree.

We're just going about it
in the wrong way.

Hello again. Hi.

The baby's name is Ella. Mm-hm.
She died in the night.

You should really have a paediatric
pathologist. I spoke to Dr Gwilym.

Marcus Gwilym? He wants to do the
autopsy, but he's had a car accident.

So I thought of you.
Is he all right?

Nothing too serious.

We kept telling them...
over and over!

Oh, Mum!