Silent Witness

Lucy, it's Sally Alden from Chambers. Is Faith there?

You trying to get us both killed?!

Maybe she got ill, or something's happened.

The amputation may have been surgical.

Could be the person's still alive.

Took a risk delivering in person.

- (Blake) What's your wife's name? - Faith Oscott.

- (Nikki) I know Faith. - Oh! Nikki!

She's formidable in court.

Say someone is keeping Faith alive.

What do they want?

It's odd they haven't sent some sort of message.

You end up back inside, we're done.

Amber. Customer.

This is David Whitley, our head of chambers.

Lucy got in touch to ask about Faith's earnings,

to obtain life insurance.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Do you recognise this man?

We believe he's been harassing Faith.

Move! Police! Clear the door!

Stefan Chokov, I am arresting you on suspicion of kidnap.

Why is your DNA under Faith Oscott's fingernail?

No comment.

His deleted history shows visits to a forum

where members share fantasies about eating human flesh.

- Good God. - Delivery for you, Sally.

Faith Oscott was a rising star here at Elm Court Chambers.

A brilliant junior barrister working in the most challenging area

of the justice system.

An incalculable loss.

But I want to pay tribute to Faith not just as a valued colleague,

but as a wife to Lucy, a mother to Josh,

and as a much loved friend.

Thank you.

You okay?

I'm fine.

You know, I had to deal with a severed head once,

dug up in a back garden.

Foxes had been at it.

Very grim.

That was back in the day when you had to prove

that you were as hard-nosed as the boys.

And I didn't even know the victim.

Well, it's now routine to offer welfare support to most services.

Most services. Still not pathologists.

Oh, well, you know doctors.

We're much better at telling other people what's good for them.

True.

What I'm trying to say is,

if you ever feel the need to...

to talk to someone on your own account,

then just give me the nod.

I'll arrange it.

Whoever sent that box wants to shock, to derail.

Absolutely.

But it's not going to work.

The head is that of a well-nourished Caucasian female.

Facial characteristics indicate that it belongs to Faith Oscott.

The date on the box means Stefan Chokov could have arranged

the delivery before he was in custody.

Any evidence Faith was at his bedsit or allotment?

Not so far.

The tissue looks more red than normal.

Not quite cherry red as in carbon monoxide poisoning.

More red due to haemolysed blood.

And what does that mean?

Early decompositional change.

Or the head may have been frozen.

Like the hand and the ear.

The decapitation was done cleanly, with anatomical precision.

A sharp blade was used to cut the skin and soft tissue.

Then a serrated blade to remove the head completely.

Severed with notable skill.

The decapitation was made

between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae.

Severed from the front?

With the perpetrator looking straight into her face?

Most likely, yes.

That'd be tough to do, wouldn't it?

Oh, extremely.

Although, surprisingly, if you've got the skill,

it's the easiest way to carry out a decapitation.

There's some debris here in her hair.

What is it?

Vomit, I'd say.

Can you get DNA from that?

The acidity of the stomach will make it tricky.

But it's worth a shot.

Whose DNA? Faith's?

Could be.

Or it could lead us to her killer.

Well, if the killer threw up,

perhaps face-to-face decapitation wasn't so easy after all.

The fibres from this blue towel match

those on the ear parcel sent to Lucy Khan.

Can the towel be linked to Stefan?

No evidence of that.

Each dismemberment shows a remarkable level of surgical skill.

Are we sure that Stefan has the ability?

He's a trained veterinary nurse with experience of theatre.

His work with animal prey shows butchery skills.

How did Faith die? Do you know?

It's hard to say without the rest of the body,

but the conjunctival petechial and scleral haemorrhages

suggest an asphyxial death.

Possibly strangulation.

So the amputations happened after death?

Yes.

That's something, at least.

Why do you think the body's been cut up like this?

Well, it is peculiar that the parts have been separated like this.

Dismemberment is typically done soon after death

so that the body can be disposed of more easily.

That doesn't fit with the ear.

No.

Usually the body is separated into six parts.

The two upper and two lower limbs are removed first to get them

out of the way, then the head and torso.

There's also aggressive dismemberment,

where mutilations have been carried out in rage.

I think these dismemberments are too clean, too controlled for that.

Agreed.

There is also necromantic dismemberment...

...where body parts are kept as a trophy, a keepsake.

Or for cannibalism.

Faith is dead.

This is now a murder investigation.

No. No!

When did you last see her?

Stefan.

Last week some time.

Which day?

The day she disappeared.

Where?

By the river near her office.

She likes to take a run before work.

You knew her routine?

I was arrested for assaulting a client who racially abused me.

I couldn't afford a lawyer,

so Faith advised me on what to do, how to defend myself.

What happened at the river?

I'd had another letter saying my trial was delayed again.

Faith stopped coming to the law centre.

Faith, please. My trial has been delayed.

- I don't know what to do. - I'm so sorry. I've done all...

- (Stefan) And then she ran on. - So sorry.

What did you do?

I went after her. To apologise for scaring her.

No. No.

I never meant to scare her.

What did she say?

No!

She pushed me away and scratched my arm.

Look, I'm...

I'm seen as a stranger in this country.

Justice isn't for people like me.

Faith tried to help when no-one else would.

I'd never hurt her.

Never.

I want to come.

(narrator speaking indistinctly on TV)

Today our teams are shopping here

at this antiques fair in New...

This ends now.

This has got to stop!

- (echoing) Faith. - (mobile phone buzzing)

Jasper.

Jasper, what are you doing?

We've tested all the knives recovered from Stefan's flat.

Yes, and if you look at the scan of the decapitation

alongside the marks made by Stefan's knives,

you'll see that there isn't the same defect in the teeth of the blade.

None of these knives were used in the dismemberments.

I've got CCTV from the delivery company.

Nice one.

From the date on the box...

this is the sender here.

It's too grainy.

- Run it again. - (Kit) Mm-hm.

Look under his hat.

This guy has hair.

See if you can get clearer CCTV from surrounding streets.

Boss...

this guy's definitely not Stefan.

Bail him.

You must be able to recite it by now.

I don't want any more surprises in front of the jury.

Is that the MS murder?

I'm back in the witness box later.

Oh, which feels more like a dock, I expect.

The silk will rip you to shreds

and then insist on buying you a drink after.

- That was certainly Faith. - Mm.

You know, my Alan was a barrister.

He could argue black was white, and I would believe him.

Used to drive me mad.

Well, this KC claims that the victim's MS

was a factor in her death.