Silent Witness

Dr Silverlake, are you OK?

Professor?

Hi! I'm looking for my dog.

Small, brown, cuddly,

and badly behaved.

- You haven't seen him? - No.

What a shame.

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

I think maybe he went over there.

Where?

No!

Are you ready to start?

Never look in their eyes.

What is the point of you?!

Look at yourselves! Don't drink!

- Look! Look! - Oi!

And you! You're just as bad! You're drinking, you're smoking!

Don't! What possible contribution do you think you're making?!

- Leave him alone. - Don't! Don't! Don't!

Don't you see you're destroying yourselves?

You're destroying us! Why?

Why? Why do we waste our time? Why?!

Why?

# Testator silens

# Costestes e spiritu

# Silentium. #

- Morning. How is everything? OK? - Yeah.

Thank you.

Crash cart!

OK, stand clear.

There's not much more we can do. We should stop.

Time of death, 8.03.

I'll look for next of kin in his records.

Gemma.

We need a doctor, please!

- Three deaths overnight. - Three?!

Blue bloater.

Jaundice.

- Drug user. - Hmm...

Morning. Detective Constable Catina.

- Dr Harry Cunningham. - Professor Leo Dalton.

Three in one night seemed unusual. Thought it deserved a look, yeah?

This is Detective Inspector Skipper.

- You two the body snatchers, are you? - That's our official title.

Dr Harry Cunningham and Professor Leo Dalton.

Sorry.

- Does this stuff really work? - Yeah.

Hey, Cat, you want to get some of this. That MRSA thing is deadly.

Not nearly as bad as C difficile.

- Yeah? - Well named. Very nasty.

I really don't like going into hospitals.

Sure way to get sick.

Now, it's possible that they all just popped off on the same night,

nothing untoward.

- Why's she crying? - She's the night supervisor.

- Ah. They died on her watch. - Yes.

When was the last time a doctor had a look at them?

- I'll check the notes. - Thank you.

Hasn't she seen dead people before?

She works in a hospital, for Christ's sake.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. Did I offend anyone with that language?

- He didn't mean to offend anyone. - That's all I need, a complaint made.

Can you catch MRSA from a dead person?

- Yeah. - Oh, great.

Now, then, I haven't decided whether this is a crime scene or not yet.

I mean, maybe it's not.

Maybe it was just a very unlucky ward last night.

It could be that it's not so unusual to lose three patients on the same ward.

You're a walking advert for the NHS!

They did all have challenged immune systems.

- Challenged? - Buggered.

- Thank God for plain English. - (WOMAN SOBS)

Sorry. Could you stop crying, please?

Sorry, Cat. You're going to have to take her statement. I just won't cope.

Right, I want you two boys now to review the medical notes of the deceased

and see if you can find out what happened last night.

That is what we generally do.

What do you want to do - cut first or read first?

Bodle's solicitor is raising mental health issues.

Based on what?

Apparently Bodle had some sort of brain surgery a couple of years back.

Allegedly it made him prone to mental illness.

If it goes that direction,

I may need you to walk the judge through the postmortem at the hearing.

Just take a couple of deep breaths.

I'll be right back.

The registrar saw all three on his ward rounds yesterday morning, 1 1.30.

- Nothing unusual noted. - Hmm. I'll need to speak to him.

How do you want to deal with this?

Let's establish medical condition and take it from there.

What do you think?

I haven't had a chance to read anything yet.

No, no, no. About the nurse. Cat doesn't like her. Do you, Cat?

All that crying, like she needs all the attention.

Something shifty about her.

That's not racism or anything, because I went out with a Filipina once.

Or maybe she was Thai.

Maybe the nurse is Thai.

Maybe she's British.

Yeah, maybe she is. Yeah, yeah.

I didn't realise we had the queen of political correctness here.

I'll ask for her passport before I jump to any conclusions.

Can we make sure we've got copies of these notes, please?

You don't like me, do you?

- I'm not sure yet. - Fair do's.

Do you think the nurse did it?

How would we know?

I'm asking what you think, not what you know,

because I find that what you think can point you on the way to what you know.

She's on all night, she has three dead patients in the morning.

Not great, is it? I wouldn't want her wiping myarse.

She'll be relieved.

Cat thinks she's got that Munchausen by proxy thing.

- Don't you, Cat? - Yeah.

Probably better if we look at the evidence without preconceived ideas.

Keep an open mind.

Mmm...

Well, whatever works for you.

He restores my faith in the police.

The blow to the head crushed her skull

and caused widespread cerebral haemorrhaging.

She would have been rendered unconscious from the blow

and died within minutes.

How big is the TOD window?

Her body was discovered at 4.32pm.

I arrived at the scene at 5.47.

Her eyes were open, corneal clouding.

Body temperature suggests death occurred at least two hours before.

- Two hours? - 3.47.

- It's not exact. - She was walking home from school.

Her class teacher said goodbye to her at 3.30.

Less than 1 7 minutes for her to be approached, abducted and raped.

Mucosal lacerations and disruption of the muscular fibres.

She was dead when she was raped.

Small mercies.

Yeah.

We have physical evidence that Jason Bodle was the one who raped her?

Semen. DNA should be back tomorrow.

That proves the rape. What about the murder?

- We've got the girl's blood on him. - He found her body,

that's what he's saying.

- There's no witness? - Not that we've found.

- No murder weapon? - It was a rock.

I am right, Doctor? It was a rock?

- Hmm? - It was a rock?

Yes.

- But you don't have the rock? - We're looking for it.

Nobody is doubting the pervert did it, right?

Only a jury if we can't tie him to the murder.

We have him on the rape. - What?

He just finds an eight-year-old girl with a head injury and rapes her?

That's what he's saying.

(SIGHS) Eight-year-old girl.

Which is worse, rape or murder?

There's a sickness, seriously, an illness out there

that produces this kind of...

He's insane, yeah? Got to be.

Don't say that to me. Don't tell me he was ill.

I mean, you can think it all you want, but don't say it.

No way he gets off.

You murder and rape an eight-year-old girl,

you want a hospital, not a prison, don't you?

If he goes to a hospital...

Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea.

The act does not make a person guilty unless the mind be also guilty.

He'll never have to give evidence

or explain his actions unless we can prove he has a guilty mind.

Bodle's going to a prison, not a hospital.

Dr Alexander? You're coming back?

Hi, Daddy.

You OK?

What can I do to cheer you up? Hmm?

It's not your fault.

Everyone knows that.

Would you like me to remove your liver?

- No, thanks. - Kidney?

- I'm OK for now. - Two-for-one offer.

- Bargain. - I can whip your brain out in a second.

Tempting, but you look like a bloke who's good at taking things apart,

not putting them together.

This room was prepped and ready for me, and now it's contaminated.

Sorry.

So what are you doing? You some kind of mystery shopper or something?

Are you doing the PM on one of the bodies from the hospital?

Not going to give me any explanation?

No.

- Go! Go! - Go! Go!

Mum!

Respiratory failure may have been caused by nosocomial pneumonia.

- We're testing for it. - Positive, Professor.

Ah, well, the deceased tests positive.

- Are all lab results back? - Yes. They're on your desk.

So, notwithstanding he had a challenged immune system...

- Buggered. -...he had type 2 respiratory failure,

and pneumonia would have tipped the balance.

Did someone commit a crime, Professor,

or am I just collecting data for the Health Protection Agency?

I haven't finished my investigation.

But it does bother me that no-one seemed to notice his failing health

between 1 1.30am, when he last saw a doctor,