"You understand the conditions of your licence?" "I haven't to make contact with any members of the families of either of... me victims." "I was wondering if you could talk to him." " I don't want him to go to prison." " Why me?" " You're his brother." " You're his wife." "How does this get from here to here with that kind of force?" " A poltergeist?" " It smashed the door." "How thick is that glass?" "Something happened." "I've got a sister." "She got taken into care 15, 16 years ago and I've never seen her since then." "D'you want me to see if I can find anything out about Katie?" "Come on." "We've got a letter from her solicitor." " What about?" " Ruth Slater... is out of prison." "She's asking to see Lucy." "I found her." "I know where she lives." "Oh, bollocks!" "D'you want a hand?" "Don't you live on t'same floor as me?" "Why don't you just let me carry some of your stuff for you?" "I ain't gonna nick it." "Hiya." "I'm Ruth, by the way." "I..." "Can I just ask you - my flat's freezing, is that normal?" "You want to ring maintenance." "Right." ""So, is a casual coffee date your cup of tea?" ""Head to Hawaii, the only state that grows coffee beans." ""You may also get swept away in a beachside make-out session" ""à la From Here To Eternity, which was filmed here."" "Rank three." " I had a thought." " Hm?" "About what we should do." " About the letter." " What?" "Same as we've done for the last two weeks - nothing." "Social services can't give them our address, so if we don't play ball what can they do?" "First class, thanks, and how much is this?" " £2.50." " OK." "So that's £3.92." "You don't..." "Sorry, I live at Upper Hanging Stones Farm, just going up over..." " Above Rochdale Road?" " Yes." "We've been there six months, and we've been trying to find a bit about the history of the place." " You don't happen to..." " Ain't that where them policemen got shot?" " Sorry?" " Oh, what were his name?" " Oh, yeah, Colin Whelan." " That were him." "Him and another lad." " Shot?" " Yeah." " As in..." " It were in t'paper." " Dead?" " Yeah." " Oh, yeah." " What happened?" "Hannah'd know." "Who's Hannah?" "Hannah, she does t'cleaning." "Her husband, it were his father that got killed." " Hello?" " Hello, is that Hannah?" " It is, yeah." " I'm sorry to bother you," "I was just in the post office and someone said you might be able to help me." "Are you looking for a cleaner?" "No." "No, I'm looking for information." "Ruth Slater." "Steve, lad, down tomorrow to clean out a couple of flats" " Cleveland House." "That's summat to get out of bed for." "Can you do me a favour?" "First thing, while you're there, flat 77, Slater, she's got no heating." "Can you pop round and sort it?" "Yeah, sure." " What, half-eightish or so?" " Smashing." " What d'you know?" " What you doing tomorrow first thing?" "Why?" "Ten minutes in a room, just you and me, just like you wanted, how you fixed?" "How?" "Where?" "What you doing Sunday lunch time?" "Nowt, come in." "Why?" "Mum said to invite you round if you weren't doing owt." "You told your mum about me?" "Yeah, what's wrong wi' that?" "Nowt." "I'm flattered." "Right then, all sorted." "Erm... plates." "Is it a bit brass knackers in here or is it me?" "Whoo!" "Your friend, Ruth Slater." "You didn't think to look her up on the internet, before you started trying to help her find her sister?" "No." "She murdered two policemen here, in our house, 16 years ago." "She shot them." "One in the head, one in the chest." "Colin Whelan was a sergeant, 51 years old, he had two teenage sons, and Andrew Higginbottom was 19." "They weren't armed." "They'd come to help." "To make sure no one got hurt during the eviction." "She shot them both at point-blank range with a double-barrel shotgun." "She was drunk." "She was given two life sentences." "That's where she's been." "That's why she hasn't had any contact with her sister." "That's why she wasn't allowed to have any contact with her sister." "So is it OK with you if I put the blasted place up for sale now?" "Why don't we... get into bed and get warmed through properly, eh?" "Ruth?" "Ruth?" "Ruth?" "I don't think I should come round yours on Sunday." "Why?" "I'd like to, but..." " But what?" " There's a lot about me you don't know." "Like what?" "Like things you should know if you're gonna introduce me to your family." "I don't think that's a good idea anyway." "What d'you mean, summat bad?" "Ruth, listen, you can tell me anything." "I know we've only known each other for like five minutes, but... you couldn't tell me anything about you... that's gonna make me stop liking you." "It's true, come on." "OK." "All right, look." "I did summat really bad once." " What?" " It were a long time ago." "OK." "What?" "I've been in prison." "Right." "That's..." "I've only just come out." "The day before I started at Jaggers." "I were in for 15 years." "15?" " Now, that's..." " Yeah." "So..." "Well, what did you..." "What did I do?" "You remember two policemen getting shot at a farm, up above Ripponden in 1993?" "Yeah, well, that were me." "Are you OK?" " With a gun?" " No, with my arse!" " Of course with a gun!" " What you doing with a gun?" "It were my dad's." "We were farmers." "Oh, it were an accident?" "No." "I have to go now." "Course you do." " Sorry." " Not a problem." "I'll let meself out." "OK." "Where are you?" "I can't see you." "Something's cropped up." "What d'you mean, something's cropped up?" "I can't, I'm not..." "It's just difficult this morning." "Look, by all means, let's do her over, but not in her own flat." "Precisely in her own flat." " The police'll know you were in there." " Yeah, mending her heating." " She'll have seen you, she'll know it's you." " Yeah, my word against hers!" " It's too messy." " There is nothing to link you to that flat." "There is, there's CCTV cameras." " Half of them are bust!" " What about the half that aren't?" "For your messages, press 2." "You have no messages." "Main menu." "For your messages, press..." "I've come to fix your boiler." "Shall I leave you to it?" " I would." " I'll be in there." "Right." "Have you got everything you need?" "I just need to..." "Fine." "Are these any good to you?" "I won 'em." "Last week." "Lunch club bingo." "I mean, they're no good to me." "I've only got three back teeth." "Two o' them's loose." "D'you want a cup o' tea?" "D'you want some tea?" "Three sugars." "Who's this, then?" "Me sister." "When she were little." "She's 21 now." "I know who you are." "How d'you mean?" "I used to be a copper, with the CID, here... in Halifax." "Recognised you t'day you moved in." "So, what you doing here?" "I thought coppers were supposed to have big fat pensions?" "Dishonourable discharge." "Lost everything." "Family, home, job, pension." "Life's full of nasty little surprises." "Worst ones are t'ones you inflict on yourself." "Aren't they..." "Eh?" "You must know that." "So that's me done, then." "Right." "It were just your valve." "Any more problems, you got t'number." "Right." "I'm emptying a flat downstairs." "They left a few bits and pieces - a DVD player and a lamp." "Well, if you wanted 'em..." " If no one else wants them." " They'll only get trashed otherwise." "It's asylum seekers - they get their applications turned down and then they just disappear." "If I'm not in, leave 'em out here." "Can I have a cup of tea?" " Oh!" " Me brother's a policeman, you murdering bitch!" "You murdering bastard scum." "Get off me!" "Look at 'er!" "Look at 'er." "What you lookin' at, bitch?" "Fucking bitch!" "Should burn people like that." "Get off me!" "Get off!" "You are gonna have to go back there, for your own good." "I mean, by all means, apply for jobs elsewhere, but you do need to show that you can hold a job down." " I've got an 'eadache." " Yeah, well, take the rest of the day off, then you've got the weekend to get over it." "I'll speak to Mr..." "What's he called?" " Kershaw." " Mr Kershaw." "She should be disciplined, this one who's hit you." "You all right?" "Well, nobody pretended it was gonna be easy, Ruth, did they, eh?" " What happened?" " She's dead." "I killed her." "You're a liar." "Smacked her about a bit, bust her kneecaps for her, doused her in petrol, chopped one of her ears off." "She were screaming her head off at t'finish." "Well, she would've been if I hadn't stuck gaffer tape over her gob." "I think she choked on her own vomit in t'end." "Why, worried about her, are you?" " I'm worried about you." " Yeah, well, you needn't be." " I've had a better idea." " What?" "She's got a sister, remember?" " So?" " So, I'm gonna get friendly wi' 'er, find out about this sister, and maybe I'll drop in on her instead." "It's brilliant." "Wanna know why?" "It's doing what she did to us." "Taking it out on someone she cares about." "Buggerin' up the life of someone she cares about." "I think you should walk away." "Oh, no, no." "No, you started this!" "And now I think you should walk away." " Is your dad in?" " Yeah." " Dad." " Ruth." " Sorry to drop in unannounced." " No, that's fine." "Only I can't find that card what you gave me wi' your number on." "And you did say to call in..." " Yes." "Sure." "...if ever I were passing." "Charley, you can have another half hour on the Wii, if you do your homework immediately afterwards." "Hello." "Hello, Ruth." "I were wondering if you've had time to do what you said you were gonna do." " Contacting Katie's..." " Yes, I did." "I sent a letter via social services, and it was definitely forwarded, but I've not heard anything back." "Oh." "OK." "If you do hear anything," "I've got a mobile number now, if I can write that down for you." "You didn't tell us the full story, did you?" "I'll go." "There are things people don't know about what happened." "People say things, but they don't know, cos they weren't here." "Anybody could've ended up doing what I did that day." "Oh, no." "No, I think it probably takes a very particular kind of person to do what you did." "You needn't bother doing that, it'll just go on the fire." "She's me sister." "What are you doing?" "Ruth!" "Ruth." "She's upset." "I'm sorry." "It's all been a bit of a surprise." "I should've told you." "I wanted to when you said you'd help me, but I couldn't." " I did wonder." " What?" "A way forward if they don't respond to that first letter, might be to write to them again." "Ask to meet them, give them a chance to explain their position." "But from your point of view, to let them meet you, so they can see you're not a monster, you're just someone who wants to lead as normal a life as you can from now on." "Why are you doing this for me?" "I like you." "I wanna help you." "I think you've suffered enough." "How do you feel about coming to see me, Lucy?" "Fine." "I'd always thought that it was something I should do, you know, with being adopted." "Tell me about the accident." "I wanted to die." "I was very drunk." "I shouldn't have been in the car." "I don't know why I was." "I don't really remember getting into it." "Have you ever wanted to die before?" "I've sometimes thought that if all else fails, I could always kill myself... but I never thought about how or..." "That's what was so frightening was that..." "I had the idea and the means, cos I was driving the car... and..." "I just did it." "I did it." "I saw the lights change to red and I decided that I wasn't gonna stop, and that I was gonna put my foot down." "I think I took my seat belt off as well." "When I think about it now since, afterwards, it... terrifies me." "I can't imagine why I'd do that." "I see no harm in trying to help her." "You don't know the first thing about her." "I can't see any evil in her." "Her manner, the way she talks, the way she is." "Whatever she did, whatever she was then..." "Don't we believe in redemption any more?" "It's just... that the need for it's never been quite so repellently close to home before." "Isn't it when things come so close to home, isn't that when our beliefs are really tested?" "What do you remember about your life before you went to live with Michael and Rachel?" "Nothing." "That's slightly surprising, isn't it, given that you were, what, nearly seven, when you went to live with them?" "I have, like, this image." "It was this... notion about... being somewhere when I was really tiny, but it's just like a moment in time, it's nothing, it's just..." "Well, there's cows, it's like a sea of cows... and I'm with somebody and they've got their arms around me... but they're sitting behind me on this wall, so I can't see their face." "I don't know if it happened or... if I imagined it, but I feel safe." "It's more a feeling, really, than a proper memory." "It's so... so nice." "Have you ever described this feeling to Michael or Rachel?" "Yeah." "They say it doesn't mean anything." "They say it doesn't tie in with anything." "Remember Gorton's in Dewsbury?" "That warehouse." "Yeah." "They're pulling it down in a couple of weeks." "And?" "I was just thinking... be a good place to keep somebody tied up." "You're on your own, you, I told you." "I'm wi' John, Izzie, I think you're being rash wanting to sell up." "Surely being haunted adds to the value of a place like this." " I keep telling her." " Yeah, well, in theory, maybe." " It all sounds very intriguing." " No, Mum, it isn't, believe me." "It's annoying and boring and extremely inconvenient." "It's a shame, it's such a nice house." "We've had a lot to deal with, OK, and I won't go into all the details, because I'm pissed and I wouldn't like to upset you, but one day, maybe I will, all right?" "What details?" "Oh, you did not?" "She is gonna go mad." "You are going to die!" "Why, what happened?" "That's a very irresponsible thing to do, Rufus." "Your mum's been very upset." "What?" "It was Rufus and his friend Derry, who took the afternoon off school and did the upside-down coffee table thing." "Oh, you've gotta see the funny side, Iz." "Or not... possibly." "No, Izzie, put that down." "Custard?" " Oh, no!" "Dad!" " Rufus, run!" "Dad, Grandma, tell her!" "As I say, we're just looking for a last-minute holiday for the October break." "Yeah, four people." "And, er, anywhere really." "We quite fancy Cornwall, on the coast." "I know it's short notice it was just a last-minute decision really, so we'd be interested in anything that's still available if you..." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Sure." "Sure." "Sorry, can I, erm..." "Is it all right if I phone you back in a couple of minutes?" "OK, thanks." "Bye, bye." "Look at the last paragraph." "How well do you know your client, Mr Ingram?" "I know that at 32, she's a very different person to the one that went into custody 16 years ago." "Were you aware that today you'd be legally obliged to tell Katie about her real background?" "Yes, I am aware of that." "But that..." "That wasn't the case when she was adopted with the result that we've never anticipated it or prepared for it." " I think..." " My wife and I had very sound reasons for doing things the way we did them, Mr Ingram." "Ruth Slater ought to appreciate that." "Perhaps if you met her and explained that to her..." "Do we have any choice, if you're threatening to contest the terms of the adoption?" "And they've agreed to meet me?" "Oh, my God!" "It's early days, Ruth." "He was very defensive but it's a start." " Yeah." " Let's talk later." "OK." "Bye." " Good news?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "It's me sister." " What about her?" " Long story." "Does she live local?" "I don't know." "That's part of the problem." "I don't know where she is." "Well, maybe we shouldn't be so close-minded about it." "What are you saying?" "I dunno, I just sometimes, occasionally..." "I do wonder if she's old enough to be told the truth." "What good would that do?" "She has a sister." "Maybe it's some basic human..." "Maybe she has a right to know, and now she's seeing this therapist, don't you worry it's all going to come out anyway?" "Ever since she came to us we've protected her from any knowledge of whatever horrors were inflicted on her in her early years, and now you want to tell her all about it - no!" "We'll meet her, given that we don't have much choice, but then that is it!" "I will not have some inbred, halfwit, recidivist sister inflicted on her, bullying her way into her life!" "Rachel, this is not a normal situation!" "What do you know?" "I need five hundred quid." "500 quid, what for?" "This private detective woman." "She's saying she can find me this sister, right." "Five hundred quid." "No problem." " Steve!" " What?" "Forget it." "I know you care!" "It's normal to feel angry, but... it's twisted." "It's mad, and you won't get away with it, so give up, now - right?" "All right?" "Ring me." " I'm always at the end of the phone." " I'll be back before tea time." "Come and visit me." "I can give you a lift to school if you like." " Mum." " Uh-huh?" "I found a letter from a solicitor, in the bureau." "I know I shouldn't have read it, but I did." "Who's Katie Slater?" " Has Lucy seen it?" " No." " You didn't show it to her?" " No." " Katie Slater..." " Is it me?" "No." "No!" "No." "It's Lucy." "Well, it was." "What's going on?" "She has a sister, a biological sister, who we've never told her about for... reasons." "And now the sister wants to have contact with her, and Dad, and me... have reasons why we don't think it would benefit Lucy." "Ruth, they're here." "They're upstairs." "D'you want to come through?" "They didn't have to come here today, keep bearing that in mind." "Don't lose your cool." "Whatever happens, you keep your dignity, OK?" " If in doubt defer to me." "Ready?" " Mm." "Rachel, Michael, this is Ruth Slater." "Ruth, this is Katie's adoptive parents." "Hello." "Hello." "Ruth, would you like to?" "First of all, I'd like to thank you both for coming." "I wonder if a useful way forward is if you, Michael, or you, Rachel, could explain to Ruth why you feel you don't want her to meet Katie." "Then perhaps you, Ruth, could say what you want to say." "Erm..." "Katie has... no conscious memory of her life before she came to live with us." "As far as I'm concerned, that's the beginning and the end." "Why rake up damaging facts and ideas about her past?" "Who will it benefit?" "Certainly not her." " She was six." " She doesn't remember you." "Have you asked her?" "We think she was traumatised by what happened." "Look, she's happy, she's well-balanced, she has a good life." "She has opportunities she would never have had... before, and..." "Well, shouldn't that be enough for you to know that?" "We were very close." "I don't know if you know, but I more or less brought her up." "When me mother cleared off." "I can't believe she don't remember me." "She was traumatised by what you did." "Whatever your life was like before that, and I'm happy to accept that not all of it was too awful, it was all obliterated by what you did that day." "Can you not see, this is all about you?" "It's all about what you need, not what's best for, erm..." "Katie." "And from our point of view, we know nothing about you." "You could be... an alcoholic, you could be a drug addict." " I'm neither of those things." " I'm not willing to risk her happiness and her sanity just so you can..." "What do you think she'll get out of knowing you now, hm?" "Nothing." "She wouldn't know what to say to you." "Believe me, I know her." "I know her extremely well and she'd take one look at you and, well..." "Frankly, she wouldn't know..." "she'd be very uncomfortable." "I appreciate, I understand that you have, still have very strong feelings for her... as she was then, as a six-year-old child, but I think you have to accept that you're not a part of her life any more." "And I think and I implore you to acknowledge and accept this." "It would be a mistake to try and reintroduce you into it." "She's all I've got." "I don't wanna take her off you." "I'm very grateful for everything what you've done for her, but I just... want her to know who I am." "Ruth, I think what you need to understand is that, erm... not only will it not benefit Katie, it could do her harm." "It could set her back years." "What about all t'stuff I sent her - all t'letters and cards and things?" "I assume she's not had any of it." "Cos I'm sat here thinking, well, if she had've got it, then she wouldn't have any trouble remembering me, would she?" "So, what did you do with it all?" "Everything... we have done has been in Katie's best interests." "Did you burn it?" "You, bitch, I'm talking to you." "Did you burn it, eh?" "OK, that's it." "I think everything's been said." " Could I just?" " No." "No." "No." "We came, we had a conversation." "You've got our side of things." "If you have any sense or any intelligence, or if you actually care about Katie, you'll respect that!" "Respect?" "Don't talk to me about respect!" " Ruth, don't!" " You burned my letters!" "Ruth!" "I spent 15 years in a room smaller than your fucking car..." " Don't you touch my wife!" "...waiting for one shred of information." "One card, one letter." "D'you know what it's like?" "Have you any idea?" " Ruth, you're on licence." " You spent 15 years in a room smaller than my car for a reason!" " Come on, it's all right." " Ruth," "I didn't burn them." "She never saw them but I didn't burn them." " I was just pressing your buzzer." " Well, I weren't in." " You all right?" "You weren't at work." " I took afternoon off." " What for?" " Target practice." "Eh?" "What d'you mean?" "I like to keep me hand in, in case I need to murder anybody else." "Tell everybody at work that an' all." "Tell 'em all to stay out of me face," " especially that nutty mad bitch, Mel." " It wasn't me that told everybody!" " Who were it, then?" " Smithy." "I told him not to say owt, but he's a... gobshite." "Oh, so you confided in him?" "He's my best friend." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry you got hit." "I'm sorry nobody's speaking to you." "It were a shock, you know, what you told me but I meant what I said." "Nothing will make me stop liking you." "I don't care what you've done." "No, no, I do... but only in as much as how it affects you." "So..." "Love you." "Hiya?" "Yeah, he's just gone." "Oh, Steve!" " Jesus!" " Steve!" "Steve!"