Silent Witness

The devil shows up, pretending to be your friend.

That's the problem. Yep. All this social media bollocks,

it's the devil, I'm telling you. It's evil. Yep. Toxic.

Connected? We're not connected.

Influenced. Which tells you everything.

Little worms, burrowing in our ears

every minute of every day, influencing. Don't want to be

influenced. You know how I feel about influencers. We've got history

with that. Yep. We're more distant now than ever. Somehow,

people are seduced into thinking we're, I don't know, intimate.

People can't talk to each other any more.

We're remote, glued to devices, phones, computers,

victims of the tech bros promising an easier life,

while picking our pockets and stealing our souls.

I'm serious! I think they're taking our souls.

We'll wake up one day in a world without soul.

No souls left.

I don't want the tech bros taking my soul.

I get that. "I get that"? That's it?

I'm spilling out my heart here, and all you can say is,

"I get that"? It's 6am, and I'm tired.

I need sleep. Everybody needs sleep.

And we'll still have Marvin Gaye.

What? Soul.

Funny!

I wouldn't exactly say you were spilling out your heart.

I was! Please tell me that's not the contents of your heart.

All right, maybe not, but it worries me. Yep.

I get that.

Thanks. Thank you.

Don't know how long he's been there. Too long, that's for sure.

Not going to be pretty!

Is it ever pretty?

Hey, Nikki. Sarah!

And if it isn't my favourite Northern Irish bloke!

How many do you know?

You're it.

How are you, Torres? Still pacing the Earth, in my search for justice.

Yeah. Good to see you, Jack.

You and me, we're like distant cousins who only meet at funerals.

Takes a dead person to get the family back together.

And look at that,

we've got one. Yep.

But not one with a family that gave a toss.

Do we know who it is? Not yet.

We got an anonymous call a few hours ago - a would-be burglar,

who got more than he bargained for.

The guy's going to need counselling.

How long do you think?

Six months, a year. Maybe longer.

Nobody missed them.

Nobody missed them enough.

I'll start around the body.

Flat seems undisturbed.

Nothing to suggest any kind of struggle.

Broken door?

Yeah. That's where the burglar made his entrance.

Housing association says the flat is rented to Martin Piler.

All the utilities are in his name.

Piler's got post!

Piler dies and no-one notices.

Was he on a social care register?

Was he on benefits? Pension? All on my list to check.

Housing association doesn't wonder why rent's not being paid?

Utility companies didn't cut him off?

They're all busy working from home.

None of his neighbours noticed. He just fell into

a...black hole of nothingness.

Does anyone care if Martin Piler even existed?

All right? Mm-hm.

Nikki?

Someone was in pain.

15.5 million people say they're in chronic pain.

34% of the population.

Why do you know that? Doctors deal with pain.

That's what they do. Yeah,

but your patients aren't really feeling it any more, are they?

No prescription label.

Maybe there's just no label.

Pharmacists are obliged to label every box.

Paula Jackson. Who's Paula Jackson?

The body looks like it could be an adult female.

Not Martin Piler, then?

Apparently not.

Eight credit cards?

Eight?! Yeah.

Do you not have eight credit cards?

Of course I do.

Along with my six cars and three houses!

When do we think Paula died?

We're never going to be exact

based on an in-situ examination of the body.

The use-by date on the milk is the 15th of May last year.

Nearly a year ago.

Possible. Gives us a window.

Old people die in their sleep.

I think I'd like to die in my sleep.

How old do you think she was? I don't know.

I'll use a CT scan.

I can try to estimate age from a 3D reconstruction

and anthropological measurements.

Going to put a UV light on in the room.

Whoa!

Jackson bloody Pollock!

Hmm. Insects feed on the body

and spread minute fluid samples

all over the room.

Insect staining.

It's a natural decomposition process.

Never seen it like this before.

It's indicative of how long she's been here.

Maybe she didn't die in her sleep.

Are you residents on this estate?

Well, we live on the top floor.

We heard a noise from the third floor...

Thanks so much. Thank you.

Do you know who lived here?

Did you have any contact with your neighbour?

I never saw her. You know how it is.

We're busy, working, looking after our kids.

I'm really sorry. We didn't really know her.

Well, we keep ourselves to ourselves. We wouldn't want to

pry into anyone else's business.

We're investigating a serious incident.

Did anything unusual happen

on the estate last year?

Last summer...

..there was a...terrible smell coming from that flat.

We told the housing association about it,

but they wouldn't do a thing.

Another tenant mentioned a smell

about a year ago. Do you have any memory of that?

I remember about May or June,

we had flies, hundreds of them.

It was disgusting.

I was changing my light in summer last year,

and a whole load of maggots came through the ceiling.

I complained to the council, but no-one came.

I can't believe it.

There's been a woman in there,

dead, all this time!

I need to ask you about

the person who lived next door.

Have you ever heard of someone called

Paula Jackson?

How about the name Martin Piler?

Ring any bells? No.

When was the last time you saw your neighbour?

Can you tell me what she looked like? Was she old?

I... Was she young? I wouldn't know.

I wouldn't know what she looked like.

They were always different people.

Did you have any contact with your neighbour?

Did you ever have a conversation with her?

Not that I can remember. I never saw her.

She lived on your floor. You must

have passed on the stairs,

seen her go into her flat.

Anything you can tell us might be important.

I'm really sorry.

Thanks.

Thanks. I'll get the DNA from the blood on the rug

to compare to the body. I think we'll struggle to get

a decent sample of DNA from the body. Hmm.

If we can get pulp from a molar tooth,

we should be able to get mitochondrial DNA.

OK. Blood on the rug -

why did they bleed out? Is there an obvious wound?

Nope. No?

Mummification can disguise the injury. Yeah. OK.

We got a name? Paula Jackson.

And what do we know about her? Very little.

I'll get started.

There she is!

First day, work placement.

Are you ready to get started?

I've been waiting.

Who's this?

This is Barbara,

my Access to Work interpreter.

Hi, Barbara.

Great. Shall we get you set up?

Right, let's get to it.

Hey, Gabriel. Lovely to see you. Sarah.

Not lovely in the traditional sense, but...

Anyway, you know what I mean.

In a nontraditional way.

Yeah. Thanks for making that

more awkward than it needed to be!

Can I borrow Nikki to swab some DNA?

Whose DNA?

Paula Jackson was registered as a missing person

in June of last year, by a Leo Jackson.

So now, she's busting out

the dance moves! You should see

my twerking. Mum, you're so sus!

Get that door.

And if that's Mrs Bauer complaining about the noise,

tell her to clear up after that cat!

Morning. Morning.