"Custody desk." "Yeah, about an hour ago." "Yeah, OK." "Catherine Heathcote?" " Yes." " Take a seat, please." " Well, I..." "Yeah, would you bring Sasha Heathcote in, please." "She's here." "You pulled some strings." "Chief Constable, no less." "Yeah." "And he wanted to know what you're doing keeping a 15-year-old in a cell overnight." "Maybe this'll scare some sense into her." "Sasha." "Sasha!" "What possessed you?" "Smashing windows?" "Sorry I inconvenienced you." "I'm talking about you." "Vandalising shopping malls." "Criminal damage." "It'll be on your record." "Do you know that?" "I know." "Any university - I know." "I'm such a disappointment." "Look, I'm..." "God, I'm terribly late for a screening now." "Um...take a cab home and get some rest." "Here." "Which home?" "Dad's or your flat?" "Dad's." "Oh, God, no." "He's at the airport already, isn't he?" "Well, Gran's then." "Eh?" "Go to Gran's and I'll see you there tonight." "Are you all right?" "Sasha." "What?" "Go to Gran's, won't you?" "Hello, Morton police." "WOMAN:" "Listen, I need help." "My daughter's missing." "She took the dog out and she's not come home." "Let's keep it calm." "How long's she's been gone?" "More than four hours." "What's her name?" "Alison Carter." "She's 13." "I'm Ruth Carter." "I mean, Hawkin." "We live at the manor house in Scardale." "All right, Mrs Hawkin, we'll have someone there right away." "What was that?" "Girl from Scardale, sir." "Took her dog for a walk, hasn't come home." "How old is she?" "13, sir." "How long's she been missing?" "Several hours." "I'll take that." "I'll go myself." "Mm-hm." "Why would you do that, sir?" "I don't like the idea of a young girl missing out on the moors, not with night coming on." "Just a young lass having a snog with her boyfriend." "Nonetheless, I'm going to go myself." "Aye." "Just get my coat then." "No, you don't have to come, sergeant." "Can't have you getting lost on the moors too...not with night coming on." "CATHERINE: 'What made you decide to go out personally that first day to Scardale?" "'" "'Oh, I don't really know." "Maybe it was the name of the village." "Scardale." "Like two halves that didn't quite fit together." "Scar...dale.'" "'Were you worried immediately, that first evening, about Alison?" "'" "'Yes, I think I was." "13-year-old child." "You feel protective." "You want to find out what's happened." "Hope that nothing bad's happened.'" "(Sorry.)" "'One afternoon, just before Easter, in 1963, 13-year-old Alison Carter walked out of her home and simply disappeared.'" "It happened here in the tiny moorland village of Scardale." "The story of Alison's disappearance transfixed the nation and was to become one of the most controversial cases of the era." "Where's the manor house?" "It's up there." "'Has Alison ever stayed out this long before?" "' 'Never.'" "When was the last time you saw her, Mrs Hawkin?" "She came in off the bus about three o'clock." "She put her coat on, took the dog and went." "And did she say anything?" "Hi, Mum." "Bye, Mum." "I do hope this isn't all a fuss about nothing." "I hope it is, sir." "You know what I mean." "Er..." "Alison often takes the dog for a walk." "Are you the father?" "Yes." "Stepfather." "Did she have a usual walk?" "Yes, I can take you." "Darling, you stay in case she comes back." "I'll show them." "Did you take these, Mr Hawkin?" "Yes." "Is this Alison?" "Would you mind if we borrowed this photograph?" "We'll need to make copies." "Would you like me to do that?" "I've a darkroom." "Oh, I see." "Yes, yes, that'd be very helpful indeed." "Swindells." "Yes, sir." "There's a photo of the missing girl." "Alison Carter." "Make sure that everybody gets a good look at her." "Yes, sir." "It's Miller, sir, and Satan." "This is Satan." "The DI could have worked that out." "He went to university." "Didn't you?" "Yes." "Right." "Um..." "I'm going to interview some witnesses." "Better get started." "Right?" "And what about the dog?" "What?" "The dog." "Yes, take the dog." "It might needs something of Alison's if you want him to track her." "DOG BARKS" "Yeah?" "Right." "With me." "What do you need?" "Anything she's worn recently, you know." "Aye, there you go." "Hey, Satan." "What's that?" "Aye, that's it." "There you go." "There you go, Satan." "What's that, eh?" "What's that?" "Sir, it's started snowing." "Right." "(TALKS SOFTLY TO DOG) Come on." "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "Alison!" "You and Alison were on the school bus, Charlie." "Yeah." "Mum picked us up at the bottom of the hill." "Mm." "There was me, Ali and Janet Crowther." "We came back here, we went to our homes and I helped Ma with tea." "Not me, his grandma." "Ma Lomas." "Can you think of any reason why Alison might have run away?" "No." "No?" "Does Alison have a boyfriend, Charlie?" "No, look..." "Can I go now?" "Help 'em search?" "Not yet, no." "We want to ask a - KNOCK AT DOOR" "They found Ali's dog." "Back, back!" "I want everybody back!" "This is a crime scene!" "Why didn't you keep them back?" "I did." "The dog's over there." "MILLER:" "It's scared stiff, sir." "Somebody's tied up its muzzle." "Right." "Where does the trail lead from here?" "It doesn't." "It just stops." "Ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh." "Hey." "Aw." "There's a good lad." "There we go." "There we go." "Ssh-ssh-ssh." "There's a good lad." "Let's get this off." "Ssh." "It's all right." "It's all right." "There we go." "Good lad." "Right, I'll need a knife." "Here you are." "DOG WHIMPERS" "All right, stand back." "Tell 'em, lad." "Where is she?" "Eh?" "Where's Alison?" "Swindells, what's going on with the phones?" "Come on." "I need this one set up." "It's for the DI's use only." "All right, sir." "I don't want anybody else using it." "Get it parked up." "What the bloody..." "DI Bennett." "Get us a chair, sweetheart." "What the hell's going on?" "An incident room for the missing Alison Carter case." "Case?" "You don't even know there's a crime." "Lass has just run off with her boyfriend." "She's vanished into thin air, sir." "We found her dog tied to a tree with its muzzle taped." "Could be another reason." "No cause to go squandering resources." "She hasn't got a boyfriend, sir." "Not as far as we know." "I think she's in serious trouble." "I think we should do all we can, even if we turn out to be wrong." "OK, clever clogs, it's all yours." "Thank you, sir." "Crutches." "Yes, sir." "OLDER BENNETT: 'Never been able to get her face out of my head." "But there was something about those eyes seemed to look right into you." "So...vulnerable." "I think I decided I wouldn't...give up until I found her.'" "'Do you still...'" "Sorry, Keith, call for Catherine." "Tell them to call back." "It's George Bennett." "Tell him she'll call back." "No, I've got to talk to him." "Sorry, Keith." "Line two." "Thanks." "George, hi." "Did you manage to get permission for us to film inside the manor?" "Oh, God, I'm so sorry." "I can't believe it." "First of all let me thank you very, very much for helping to get Sasha out of the police cells." "I'm pulling out of the film." "Catherine." "You hear me?" "Well, you can't." "You've signed a release." "The film's not going ahead with me and without me you don't have a film." "George, what's going on?" "Why are you doing this?" "Because it'll do more harm than good." "What do you mean?" "What harm?" "Mistakes were made." "What mistakes?" "George, listen." "I think we ought to meet." "Yeah, yeah." "OK." "Very good." "All right." "Bye." "George OK?" "He sounded a bit upset when I answered." "Yes, he's absolutely fine." "He's not gone wobbly, has he?" "Won't screw us at the last minute?" "No." "'In the end, I can't help wondering if the deepest wounds still remaining from the Alison Carter case lie in the heart of George Bennett.'" "Yep." "Good." "But?" "Doesn't have your usual edge." "I'm not saying it's a bad film, it's just not a particularly controversial one." "Well, it..." "It's not finished." "Is there a problem?" "No, no problem." "But I still want to get inside the manor house." "You know?" "We need to see where Alison lived." "Reconstruct some scenes." "The owners live in Canada." "They haven't responded to our calls." "And I want to try and interview him one more time." "Because?" "Um, you know, I just think I could push him a bit harder on one or two things." "You do know we have to deliver this thing by the end of next week." "Yeah, I'm only asking for...three days." "Yep." "Keith, Sandra on the line for you." "OK, just give me a second." "You've got two." "If you don't get permission to film in the manor, do it somewhere else." "Thanks, Keith." "OK." "Catherine." "Hm?" "What is going on with George?" "Oh, just nerves." "Then why were you asking him about mistakes?" "Nicola...your priority is to get us into the manor house." "Mum, is Sasha with you?" "Yeah?" "Oh, good." "No, I couldn't." "Because I'm at work." "CATHERINE: 'The Alison Carter case launched George Bennett's career." "He was to become chief constable of Northern Ireland, chair of the Bradford riots enquiry and head of the Bosnian war crimes commission." "That rare policeman who is trusted by every community at home and abroad.'" "She's too embarrassed to come home." "She'll get the message out." "What we want is Alison back home safe and sound." "You don't think she's been kidnapped?" "A kidnapper wouldn't hang around a place as isolated as Scardale." "Who's running this case, Detective Chief Inspector?" "George Bennett is." "And it's a search not a case." "What do you think's happened to her, Inspector Bennett?" "I don't speculate." "Listen to the professor, Don Smart." "You might learn something." "Right, that's it for now." "Back to work everyone." "Tommy." "They've found something, sir, in the woods." "It's there, sir." "Now, stay back, son." "Stay back." "Are those tights?" "Yeah." "Look." "Look." "It's hair." "What's that, sir?" "Where?" "Over there." "We found this." "It looks like it's from Alison's duffel coat." "And we also...found this." "I'm afraid I'm going to have to look at Alison's clothes." "I wouldn't worry." "Thousands of girls must have tights like these." "CATHERINE: 'Did you tell her immediately what you found or did you hold back?" "'" "'Well... up to that point I still hoped." "I hoped that she'd er...you know, just walk back in and say the whole thing had been a mistake.'" "'..walk back in and say the whole thing had been a mistake.'" "Mistakes were made." "We're all done in the woods, sir." "Did you find anything?" "Yeah." "I think I've found somebody who Alison didn't like." "Don't know who it is." "We should find that out." "I know who wears a leather jacket like that." "Charlie Lomas." "Who?" "Ginger lad." "Oh, yeah." "What about this?" "She's been writing poetry." ""I'm walking in the rain." "Tears are falling and I feel the pain." "Wishing you were here by me to end this misery."" "It's interesting, psychologically." "# ..this misery" "# And I wonder..." "Come on, sir." "Get with it." "# ..wah-wah-wah-wonder..." "She didn't write it." "Del Shannon did." "# Why" "Oh, yeah. # Why-why-why-why-why she ran away..." "Shall we have a look in Charlie's bedroom, sir?" "See if he writes poetry, too." "# ..will stay-ay" "# My little runaway" "# A run-run-run-run-runaway... #" "Hello?" "I don't think we should be doing this." "Door was open." "Just looking for the lad." "Maybe he's hiding in here." "Bloody hell." "Look at this." "I'll bet these were taken by Hawkin." "How did Charlie get hold of them?" "I don't know." "And how's he got hold of that?" "Hello, Charlie." "Oi, oi, oi." "Don't be a fool." "Did you take these photographs, Mr Hawkin?" "Yes." "And did you give them to Charlie?" "He'd shown an interest in photography." "Not an interest in Alison?" "You shouldn't have given them to him." "Nonetheless, photographs are very useful." "Do you have many others?" "Hundreds." "Why?" "Well, whoever took Alison may have watched her for days, even weeks." "And one of your photographs might have caught someone or something." "Very accomplished." "Thank you." "I'm proud of my work." "You make films too?" "It's a new purchase." "Only one so far." "Of what?" "'She looked beautiful." "She looked old." "Older than her years.'" "'Where is that cine film now?" "'" "'Destroyed, I think." "There was a warehouse fire a few months back." "Along with a lot of stuff from the Alison Carter case." "It's a shame.'" "What's going on?" "God." "God." "Didn't know you were there?" "(CLEARS THROAT) So?" "What are you after?" "I have got a contact number for the owners of the manor house." "We already have a contact number." "Yes, but this one's in the UK in Morton." "Want to know how I got it?" "I called the Mounties." "The Royal Canadian Mount- Did you try the number?" "I left a message." "It's an answer machine." "I'll keep trying." "Good." "Well done." "Thanks." "So, are you going to tell me what you're looking for?" "Um...you know that warehouse fire that destroyed the evidence." "Did we check it out, see if there was any suspicion?" "Why, do you think there's something..." "Oh, you know, just... so that we're covered." "OK." "Well, I'll have a look." "Thanks." "'Fortunately, some of the film did survive the fire." "Just a few seconds of Alison walking." "Only a few seconds but enough to understand why, for George Bennett, finding Alison became more than a duty but an obsession.'" "TOMMY:" "Why is Ali scared of you, Charlie?" "She's not." "We're best friends." "Look what she did." "That's not very friendly, is it?" "Ali didn't do that." "Why would she?" "Maybe she heard about that little shrine in your wardrobe." "Did you invite the lads round for a good perv?" "No." "I love Ali." "Funny thing, isn't it, Charlie, you know, when love goes bad?" "When you love her but you can't have her." "So you do the next best thing - make sure nobody else can have her." "I told you." "I'd never hurt her." "Bennett, Clough - over here." "Has that lad got a criminal record?" "No, sir." "Anyone else in Scardale?" "Er, I don't know, sir." "If you'd checked you'd have found that one of the Scardale mob has a record for exposing himself to little girls and worse." "Who's this?" "Simon Crowther." "The brother of Ruth and Dan Crowther." "Alison's uncle." "Lives in a hostel in Morton." "Stop bullying schoolboys and pull in the knicker-sniffer." "SWINDELLS:" "There he is." "HORN BEEPS Shit." "Simon Crowther?" "Simon didn't." "Simon didn't." "Simon bloody did." "Ohh!" "The only thing Simon didn't was wash." "Hello, Simon." "We'd like to talk to you about what you did on Wednesday afternoon in Scardale." "Simon lives in Morton." "Waterswallow lodgings." "Number 17." "Not in Scardale." "Aye, but we know you went there Wednesday." "Simon never." "Simon's not allowed." "Who says you're not allowed?" "Who said, Simon?" "Dan." "He says I go back there he'll cut my hands off." "Can I have a fag, please?" "When did you last see Alison?" "Don't know Alison." "I know Angela." "She makes fringes for the lampshades." "Alison Carter, Simon." "Ruth's daughter." "Simon never..." "Don't know Alison." "But she goes to school in Morton." "The school bus stops right outside where you work." "Ruth's your sister." "You must know she's got a daughter." "Simon never." "Simon never." "Simon never." "Simon never." "Let's find out why his family kicked him out of Scardale." "Bennett." "Sir." "Did you get a confession?" "No, sir." "Then where are you going?" "To check out his story, sir." "Where, the bloody library?" "He's upstairs." "Check it with him." "Actually, I don't believe he did this." "Actually, I believe you're wrong." "The man who took Alison is upstairs and you can't get it out of him because you don't know how." "Keep Crowther in the cells overnight." "Come the morning, I'll work on him." "He'll tell me where that little girl is." "You're not coming in." "Not after what you did to poor Charlie." "We want to talk to Ma Lomas." "Last I saw she was out for a walk." "Where?" "Over there." "The same way the squire went on Wednesday." "Wednesday?" "Are you sure?" "Why shouldn't I be?" "Write this down." "Right, you two, out the way." "I want to talk to you." "I don't want to talk to you." "Just..." "Help!" "Rape!" "You get her statement." "I want to know why Scardale doesn't care about finding Alison." "Course we care." "Then why didn't Kathy tell me about seeing Hawkin in the field on Wednesday afternoon?" "I would have told you if you'd asked me." "Why didn't you tell us about Simon?" "Well, he didn't do it." "Simon wouldn't dare come to Scardale." "Why not?" "In a missing child case... the first 48 hours..." "..they're the most important." "After that the trail goes cold and evidence gets lost and..." "Whatever urge drove the kidnapper to snatch that child, that urge is... satisfied - usually on the poor child's body." "After that, well, the child's just a nuisance and a liability." "And they're usually killed." "Now, it's been... 46 hours since Alison went missing." "And you are still treating me like the village idiot." "Statement's done, sir." "So are we." "Simon was mixed up from the start." "He'd watched the animals at it." "Lovers in the fields." "Folks in their bedrooms." "And he'd play with himself." "What did he do to Ruth?" "At first she was just his little sister." "And then she grew up." "And Simon was obsessed." "Made her life a misery." "What happened, Ma?" "Dan Crowther caught him in Ruth's bedroom one night, standing over her, cock like a broomstick." "We had to drag Dan off him or he would have killed him." "He'd never come back." "Never." "What about Simon Crowther?" "Do we release him?" "No, the police station is the best place for him." "Even with Culver on the rampage?" "I say we should release him or we'll end up with a false confession." "Look, let me talk to the desk sergeant." "He's a pal of mine." "Make it known that Simon's not a suspect and he never has been." "Yeah." "All right?" "Yeah." "Inspector?" "Were you in the field on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Hawkin?" "No." "No, I was in my darkroom." "Two witnesses say otherwise." "Two of the yokels, you mean?" "Come on." "They hardly know one day of the week from another." "I don't think a jury would find that answer very convincing, Mr Hawkin." "Is that a threat?" "I just want you to answer my question." "All right." "They're lying because I took their most beautiful possession from them and because... despite the money I pour into their land, their houses, they remain a narrow, mean-minded, avaricious bunch of peasants." "Were you walking in the field on Wednesday afternoon?" "No." "Anyway, who do you think a jury will find more convincing - me or a load of farm workers?" "Well, round here most juries are made up of farm workers." "Really?" "I was working in my darkroom on Wednesday afternoon as my wife will attest." "Come on, darling." "Let's eat." "You can see yourself out, Inspector." "Hi, I've found out about the warehouse fire." "Yeah." "It happened in November of last year." "Police suspect arson but no-one was charged." "CATHERINE:" "Was all photographic evidence burned including negatives?" "Apparently." "You don't think George Bennett had a hand in this?" "Of course not." "You have doubts about the evidence?" "You sound like an X Files nut." "What are you going to do next?" "Er...go north." "Talk to George." "About what specifically?" "About filming in the manor house, of course." "What do I tell Keith?" "What I just told you." "Bye, Nicola." "ENDS CALL" "Doubts about the evidence?" "So what do you tell Keith?" "CLATTER OF KEYBOARD Hello, Mum." "So, you're planning to stay the night too." "Yeah." "Is that OK?" "Mm." "I...thought it might be easier." "Mm." "Where's Sasha?" "Gone out." "Gone out?" "Only to the shops." "I hear she's been suspended for a week." "Yep." "Wouldn't have happened if her father hadn't gone away but..." "He's the one that's usually there for her, isn't he?" "Yep, right." "Thanks." "Thing is I've got to go north tomorrow." "I've got to talk to George Bennett." "I still don't know why you're doing it." "Doing what?" "This sordid little murder story." "Mum, it's not a little murder story." "It's a highly significant case." "It's sordid and ghoulish." "And you've always done such good work." "The Middle East, Africa." "Important places." "Hello, darling." "Thing is, um, as you know, Sasha's dad has gone to Germany for a week." "So what I'm asking is could you possibly look after her for a couple of days?" "Just a couple, honestly." "I'd love to, you know I would." "I have my own work." "I've got a deadline." "And Sasha needs to be with one of her parents." "Don't worry, I'm not thrilled about it either. (SIGHS)" "Mum...the thing is..." "I've got a problem with this film." "Yeah?" "Dad says you're losing your edge." "Does he?" "Well, when your father finds his edge, let me know." "PHONE RINGS Hello, Morton police." "Sir." "Sorry, sir, but you need to see this." "That Don Smart causing bother again." "(READS) "Police have arrested a man in connection to missing girl Alison Carter." "Sexual offences." "Waterswallow Lodgings." "Simon Crowther." Shit." "Police!" "Get back!" "Back!" "Move!" "Police!" "Shit." "You said you'd sort this." "I tried!" "Well, you bloody failed, didn't you?" "Is he in there?" "Bloody hell!" "They said he didn't come home!" "Well, where the bloody hell is he?" "I don't know." "Nobody knows." "Shit." "Shit, shit." "Right." "Come on, Sash." "Time for bed." "Got to make an early start." "I'm just reading George Bennett's file." "He's boring." "You don't know anything about him." "(CHUCKLES) This is cool though." "Let's see." "It's just something he did." "A photo." "Oh, I see." "He swapped Churchill's head for Stalin's." "Off to bed." "Go on." "Night, Mum." "You've found something you don't like, haven't you?" "What do you mean?" "Maybe you shouldn't go digging." "But I will dig." "It's what I do." "(MUFFLED) Sir." "Sir!" "A body's been found on the moors." "Looks like exposure, sir." "Simon Crowther." "He must have just..." "lay down and died." "Let's get back." "Come on." "This is all my fault, sir." "If you want me off the case I'll understand." "I don't want you off the case, Tommy." "Here you are." "Go on." "Not going to give up." "Are you?" "Good." "Simon... died a miserable and a lonely death and I'm sorry for that and I'm sorry for him." "But if you'd told us about him when Alison first went missing, a lot of time and effort would have been spared and he'd still be alive." "Now, we wasted 24 hours." "Which makes it all the more likely we're not going to find Alison until some hiker stumbles on her body months from now." "I'm calling off the search." "WOMAN:" "What?" "You can't." "No point keeping on." "We've searched that dale from top to bottom." "Not right to the bottom, you haven't." "Is this it?" "Alison!" "How far are we from Scardale?" "About two mile as the crow flies." "Hold on, sir." "Sir!" "We need cavers and potholers and other like-minded lunatics." "Dan, take that to the village hall." "Give it to PC Swindells." "Right." "Makes me angry." "Makes me want to shout." "Simon Crowther." "Hawkin's walk on Wednesday." "This." "Why didn't they mention this first?" "What if Alison has gone in there, taken a fall and...?" "God forbid." "Do they even care?" "The mother does." "Wait, sir." "SHOUTING" "Sir!" "Bloody hell." "George?" "George!" "Are you all right, sir?" "I'm all right." "I'm all right." "Argh. (GASPS)" "Time to tell Mum her baby's not coming home." "Sasha?" "Sash!" "Do you want to know why I never married, never had kids?" "The other story, the one you don't want to tell." "Am I right?" "I can't protect you, Catherine." "HAWKIN:" "Does she keep you awake at night, little Alison?" "You've got to tell me what happened!" "Oh, sweet Jesus." "Synch:" "Supermauri"