Silent Witness

27 speakers across the week. We get the gist.

In five years, a friendly bot called Felix

will be doing 50 PMs a week.

And still have time to mop the floor!

I'll be future-proofing the Lyell

so we can...

..stick it to...Felix.

Hello, Felix.

Hello, I'm Felix.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Social media...

..is a divisive shitshow.

A toilet.

The basest form of social interaction

and a weeping sore on the ass of humanity.

Or should I say the arse of humanity?

Well, let me tell ya.

I wholeheartedly agree.

But the world is changing.

And Kaskade prides itself on being

the social media platform ahead of the curve.

We don't judge.

Or cancel.

We believe that people are responsible,

and should be treated as such,

that freedom of speech is a basic human right...

You've had the mic long enough!

Big Tech kills!

Big Tech kills.

Big Tech kills.

Big...Tech...kills.

Big Tech kills.

Big Tech kills.

Big Tech kills.

Big Tech kills.

What about your life? What about our privacy?

Big Tech kills!

Big...

Big Tech kills!

Get off me!

Hey.

Enough.

Sit down, please.

So you're visiting from Myanmar, Mr Lwin?

What's your business in the UK?

I'm attending a trade fair in Guildford.

Eco heating and air-conditioning systems.

Says here you need a ticket.

Are you in possession of one, sir?

You should have mentioned you had a Home Office waiver.

Apologies, sir. We will get you on your way.

Gabriel speaking.

Oh, good morning. My name is Elinor Shaw.

I work at the Home Office.

What can I do for you, Elinor?

Well, my day job is immigration.

I'm a deputy secretary.

But the reason I'm calling is because I also sit

on the budgetary oversight panel,

for my sins.

OK, um, consider me intrigued.

Well, I can see that, last May,

you applied for a second-stage Home Office competed grant

on behalf of the Lyell.

I did, unsuccessfully.

Or are you calling me to tell me something different?

Well, actually, additional funding has been freed up

and the panel are now actively reassessing close calls.

So we were a close call?

Yes, very.

The reassessment would involve a two-day in-person inspection

by myself, which I appreciate may not be...

It's fine. When can you come?

Well, I've just had a cancellation,

hence the call.

Would today work?

Yes.

It would absolutely work.

Well, that's great.

Dr Nikki Alexander.

Jack Hodgson.

DI John Flynn. Thanks very much for coming down.

Greatly appreciated. No problem.

Seeing a lot of this lately. What's that?

Drunk and homeless incidents.

A lot of them come down from London

looking for a better life.

Uniforms called in four ambulances last week.

Paramedics pronounced him dead. Left him in situ.

Any ID on the body?

No, no.

Paramedics also noticed

some footprints leading to the body...

..we did the best to preserve.

Prints aren't uniform.

Can you help me turn him? Fine.

Some sort of wooden stake or post

broken off in his chest.

Where's the rest of it? Not sure.

Single from Victoria.

OK. I went to the clubhouse like you asked, sir.

Oh, right. Uh... Dr Nikki Alexander.

Hi. DC Alice Kirk.

Yeah. So, the barmaid said it was proper cold yesterday.

A biting easterly wind.

She say anything else? Yeah. Yes.

Um, yes. The customer who was outside for a smoke

told her he saw a man staggering around

in a big coat.

Thought he looked drunk.

I've requested to access their CCTV.

What time did she see him?

Um, around 6pm, when she came on shift.

So he could have been lying here for up to 14 hours

before he was found.

Three of the nails on his right hand are snapped off.

A sign of a struggle? Possibly, yes.

And the stake - is that enough to kill him?

I'll know more after the postmortem.

Nikki, take a walk?

Laying out in the open overnight and no-one sees him?

Driftwood. Human detritus.

Unseen in plain sight.

So how did he lose his shoe?

I don't know.

There it is.

Swap?

Here's the rest of the stake.

Could be.

Exposed wood is clean and unblemished.

How did he get on the beach? Hmm?

His other shoe.

Take a look at this. Ah.

There are shoe prints here.

One set of prints to and from.

Just him.

Spacing and tread orientation

suggests he's moving in this direction, maybe running.

Trips... Running, trips,

loses shoe, falls hard on a stake.

Was he running to something or from it?

So the more access you can give me,

the more comprehensive my report,

the more likely the panel will find favour with it.

Sure.

Anything you need.

I must warn you,

the panel aren't exactly fleetfooted when it comes to

the decision-making process.

I remember from last time.

Well, the backlog's grown, I'm afraid.

Four months, minimum. Ah, all good things!

So, where's the rest of your team?

Uh, they were called out first thing.

A John Doe on Fincham Beach.

Not our usual patch, but we have a reciprocal deal down there.

Staff shortages.

That's a body you can't ID, right?

Yeah, that's right. Well, not yet, anyway.

All right, cheers, mate. No worries, Jack.

Lonely way to go.

Emptiness, stretching forever.

Very unlucky.

It doesn't look like luck was ever on his side.

A strange accident, don't you think? Mm. In the middle of

all this nothingness, he happens to trip and impale himself.

Hmm, one set of prints to and from the broken stake.

Find something that points another way.

There's, er, someone else I'd like you to meet with, actually.

Ah, Cara.

Uh, this is Elinor Shaw.

Uh, Cara's... No, I... I understand.

Oh. You're printing your assignment

because your printer is broken?

Huh!

Nice to meet you, Cara.

Oh, yeah, sure.

What's Cara's role here? Is she an intern?

Uh, no. Uh, student. Just doing some work experience.

Oh, when does that finish? Uh... Last week.

Um, we applied for an extension

and in the meantime, she's just doing some observing.

Don't worry, I know all about assignments.

My son Adam used to get into a right state.

I used to have to ply him with snacks.

Uh, yes. Shall we...?

Hello. Fish speaking.

This is May Lwin. I'm...

I'm his wife. You with him?

Where are you calling from, May Lwin?

You're with him? You're with my husband?

Listen, May Lwin, it's not safe to...

Is he with you?

No, he's not. I'm going to come and get you.

Just tell me where you are.

I know a scalpel from a syringe, and that's about it.

I am the definition of lay.

But as a deputy secretary, I know what a functioning team looks like,

and that's what I hope to observe.