"I'm sorry." "You weren't planning to go away with them, so I don't understand the problem, David." "It's three months' notice." ""That's not the point." "It's my weekend with them." The cottage was only available that week." ""Tough!" "It's not as if the kids are gonna feel deprived."" ""You spend half your lives on holiday." That's rubbish." ""How the hell you and him even still have jobs, I don't know."" "Do you know what, David?" "Sometimes I really loathe you." "Piss off, David!" ""Mum?" Jamie, sweetheart, I'm really sorry, I thought..." ""I can't believe you two still wind each other up." We don't." ""It's nearly two years now." Do you want something, sweetheart?" ""Yeah, I was just a bit worried." "Liv's not home yet."" "What do you mean, not home?" "So, she's not at her friend's?" "Right." "I thought she might be at chess club." "I got in about ten minutes ago and just assumed she was here, so..." "I grabbed something to eat and, um, popped up to see her in her room but the lights were off, yeah." "Obviously she's not been home." "Yeah, I've tried, but it just goes straight to voicemail." "I'll keep trying her on her mobile and call you if she walks in." "OK." "Hello?" "!" "Hi, Ben." "Jamie?" "She's not back?" "I'm sorry, I only just walked in." "Oh, my God." "Jamie's just told me." "It'll be fine." "It's not." "Where is she?" "What time was she due home?" "Seven." "Did she leave Reece's on time?" "An hour and a half ago." "You've called her mobile?" "No answer." "Where are the others?" "Could she be with them?" "Jess is at study group, Rob's got piano." "Jesus." "Sweetheart, she'll be fine." "Her mobile will just have run out of juice or something." "Where do you hang out in town?" "The memorial?" "The memorial." "Let's drive into town, have a scout around." "It's not even that late." "She's 13, Ben." "My daughter is 13 and nearly an hour and a half late." "Let's call the police." "Sorry." "Right." "Whatever feels right." "Livvy!" "Livvy!" "Livvy..." "So, Mrs Mullary, Lorraine should've been home at 7pm?" "And she's never done anything like this before?" "Never." "I'm sure she'll be fine." "She's probably just hanging out with her mates and lost track of time." "OK." "Can you give me a description of what she was wearing?" "She says she told Rob this morning to tell me she was popping into Jasmine's after Reece's." "What did Rob say?" "Says she didn't." "It's worth remembering, in this situation, my son's an inveterate liar." "The good thing is they're both in tears, saying they hate each other." "Fine." "They'll have forgotten about it in the morning." "I don't think so." "If they were brother and sister, we wouldn't bat an eyelid." "We'd be threatening them with adoption or something." "You know, normal family life stuff." "Seriously though, we knew it wasn't going to be without difficulties." "I mean, what are we?" "We're, er, two months in?" "Seven weeks and three days." "Mm, seven weeks and three days." "Mwah." "We're doing fine." "Bollocks." "The footie's started." "Do you mind if I watch it?" "No." "Rob!" "Jamie!" "Footie!" "Coming!" "Do you wanna watch footie?" "Yeah, right!" "How are you getting on?" "Binomial theorem." "Bless." "Hey, thanks for putting a wash on." "Not me." "Ohh!" "Ohh!" "It's a cat barking like a dog until he sees he's being watched." "Then it looks all shifty and starts meowing." "The way they've done it." "It's the funniest thing." "Wait." "Have you seen the one with the dog and the bacon?" "You better not have lost those trainers." "I didn't say I had, I said someone had stolen them, in the changing room, yesterday." "So do a bit of detective work or they're coming out of your allowance." "I'm off!" "You're early." "Insane day." "What time are you back?" "Late." "We've got our jabs." "Oh, God." "What time are ours?" "Tomorrow, Dad." "I've told you, like, five million times." "If you get time, pick up some mozzie things, the plug-ins." "I'll try." "We're stocktaking so things are manic." "Bye, my lovely, gorgeous boy." "Ew, gross!" "Thanks for that." "Have a great day." "Kev says the traffic on the heath road's mental." "Come on, everyone, let's move it." "Mad!" "Why do you listen to this crap?" "Cos it annoys you." "Tragic!" "Wow!" "What is it?" "That's a search, isn't it?" "Excuse me." "What's going on?" "If you could just keep moving, madam." "Are they looking for someone?" "Please." "Do not forget, Jamie." "Trainers, OK?" "Yeah, yeah." "Bye, guys." "Bye." "Bye, darling." "Have a good day." "Liv, heard what's happened?" "Lorraine Mullary has gone missing." "She never came home last night." "They reckon something really bad's happened to her." "What?" "I only saw her yesterday." ""Do either of them know her?" Not really." "She was in the year in between them." "I've met the mum a few times at the PTA." ""Oh, poor woman." Anyway, I'm gonna skip the jabs tonight." "It's still a week before we fly, so..." "Sorry?" "Why?" "The kids are really upset." "Rob and Jess as well." "A girl's gone missing." "I think they're pretty scared apart from anything. "OK."" "It'd be great if you can get back early, too." "Um, I'll do my best." "Thanks, sweetheart." "I love you." "Speak to you later." "I love you, too." "She's probably just done a moonlight flit with a lad." "Or maybe she had a row with her mate and then buggered off up to London for the day?" "Yeah, maybe she did." "Over here!" "Any news, Mrs Mullary?" "!" "Can we come in, please?" "Are there any developments?" "Has she done this before?" "Will you be issuing a statement?" "Mrs Mullary!" "Mrs Mullary!" "Jamie, you little sod." ""It was just after 4pm today that police were able to confirm the body of a young female was found in nearby reed beds."" ""..from her school to walk a quarter of a mile to her home."" ""Lorraine had been expected home, after visiting friends, at 7pm."" ""She was reported missing shortly after 9pm."" ""At daybreak this morning, local residents joined police in an extensive search of the low-lying marshland and reed beds."" ""Yesterday, East Lee was slowly gearing up for next summer, today it's become the centre of a brutal murder inquiry."" ""But even within that short space of time, the small community in which she lived has been rocked by the fear of what might be living within their midst."" ""Tonight, it seems, their very worst fears have come true."" ""Anna Daniels, Anglia News, East Lee."" "I don't know why, darling." "But I do know that something like this is very, very rare." "The chances of it happening again - It could be someone we already know." "Someone we walk past every day in town." "You'll be OK, Liv." "Me and Mum won't let anything happen to you, will we?" "No." "No, of course we won't." "I'm going to leave the door open in case you get scared, OK?" "If you can't sleep, you come into ours." "Mm." "Night-night, my sweetheart." "Are you OK?" "I know." "You said you didn't really know her." "Maybe just to say hello to." "She hung out with friends of friends." "But I liked her." "She was a bit odd." "A bit of a loner." "But there was something about her." "Her poor parents." "Night." "Jamie?" "I love you, darling." "I love you, too." "Ben?" "Hm?" "I've told Livvy she can come in with us if she gets scared." "Is that OK?" "Mm." "Is Jess OK?" "Mm, fine." "You did check on her, didn't you?" "Rosie..." "It's fine, I'll go." "Ro, she's fine." "She's revising." "Please don't disturb her." "I know what she's like." "She's not the sort of girl to get overly spooked." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I know you mean well, but - I'm not their mum." "I wasn't gonna say that." "I just think..." "You know, I know my kids, you know your kids, let's play to our strengths." "Everything feels really odd." "Hm." "Let's pray they catch this bastard quickly." "Who's there?" "Dad?" "Mum, it's ten past!" "We're gonna be late!" "Have you been in my room again?" "What are you talking about?" "You know what I'm talking about." "Someone's been in my room." "Are you OK?" "Oh..." "I'm fine." "I haven't." "You have." "I don't even like them." "Why would I take them?" "Just get your own." "How many times." "I didn't take them!" "What's the matter?" "Nothing!" "I'm going to walk." "I don't want you walking." " It's broad daylight." "I'll survive." " Come back here, please?" "There are no obvious indications of a sexual assault." "No semen?" "No." "And the knife wound?" "A single blow, just under 2cm wide at its entry." "Penetrated about 10cm and severed the abdominal aorta." "Sorry." "My son's off sick." "He's got this bug that's going around." "Do you mind if I take this?" "My little girl's got it too." "Hey, Niall." "Are you OK?" "If you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick to go..." "Sorry about that." "No worries." "So, time of death?" ""The man, believed to be a local resident, was tonight said to be helping police with their enquiries."" ""But with no further details given, speculation remains rife amongst this small community."" "Bastard. ".." "Anglia News, East Lee." He's just being questioned." "They don't pull these guys in unless they've got good cause." "Can we talk?" "That's why I'm here, Dad, cos I don't." "No problem." "What time did you get in on Monday night?" "Er, quite late." "Nearly nine, I think." "I had to drop a keel off at Penford." "Why?" "I came round." "Waited till about eight." "You should've rung me." "I could've dropped it off today." "Nah, it's no problem." "Just chilled." "Are you sure you're OK?" "Yeah, absolutely." "Liv?" "Mm." "Did you put a wash in on Monday?" "What?" "Did you come home before going to Reece's and put a wash on?" "Don't start nagging, Mum." "Please, not today." "I'm not nagging, darling, I'm just asking." "No, I didn't." "Sorry." "That's fine." "It's not important." "Night-night, son." "I love you." "Look, it's horrible what's happened." "It'd be kind of weird if you weren't upset." "See you Saturday?" "Yeah." "Give my love to..." "Liv." "Miss you." "72 is a good mark, Liv." "Yeah, I know, but you always want to improve on the last time, don't you?" "Cut yourself some slack." "You're doing well." "Robert, don't leave without clearing your plate." "It's OK, I've got it." "Jess, he has to do it." "I've got homework." "Come back here, Rob, now!" "Do as she says, Robert." "Are you OK?" "Fine." "I'll talk to him." "Please." "He was difficult this morning as well." "How was your dad?" "He's good." "He said you'd rung, wanting to go round." "Was there any reason?" "Just want a bit of peace and quiet." "This place does my head in sometimes." "So, did you find your trainers?" "No." "Are you absolutely sure they were stolen, Jamie?" "Because, if you've just lost them or something, I won't be cross." "I'll be more cross if I find out you've been lying." "I think they were nicked." "I'm pretty sure I put them in my locker, but I dunno." "Someone might've borrowed 'em - Someone?" "I don't know." "Someone here?" "Mum!" "Someone at school?" "I've got three essays to do." "Jamie." "Either or neither." "Mum, I'm sorry, but I've got a pile of homework do." "His alibi checks out." "He was in London since Friday, visiting his sister." "Didn't get back till this morning." "Hi, Miss Kale." "Hi, it's Rosie Haleton here." "Hi." "I just wanted a quick word cos we've been having a few problems with Robert's punctuality recently." "What time did he get to you for his piano yesterday?" "Six, bang on." "No, no, that's great." "No, that's it." "Lovely." "Thanks very much." "Bye." "Wow, these papers." "Come on, kids, let's move it." "Sorry you're feeling ropey." "It's probably a 24-hour thing." "I'll be fine after a sleep." "I've rung Maria." "She's going to pick them all up." "Are you sure it's just a bug?" "Yeah, of course." "What else?" "I'll bring you home some chicken soup." "Kay?" "Kay, I am so, so sorry." "If there's anything I can do, will you..." ""Police hunting the killer of Lorraine Mullary have issued a warning to parents and children to not walk home alone while Lorraine's killer remains at large."" ""DCI James McCleish, who's leading the investigation, asked residents..."" "Is this about Lorraine?" "Yeah." "The police just came to me." ""Police are warning all the residents to be vigilant..."" ""..the suspect, a 47-year-old local man, was released on bail following questioning at East Lee Police Station."" ""Extra police have been drafted into East Lee in order to step up the search to try and find Lorraine's killer."" "Hey, big man." "I'm DC Blackman." "This should only take a few minutes." "Ah, I'm starving." "You're always eating." "You never stop." "You're a pain in the arse." "Hi." "How was school?" "We had police everywhere." "We had to answer questions." "How horrible." "Almost everyone was in tears." "Did you sense if they have any leads?" "Not really, no." "But Sally Ormrack reckons Miss Skinner fancied her." "Sally's a moron." "I didn't say I did, I just said..." "Euch!" "I don't think they know anything." "How are you?" "Better." "Hm." "Thanks." "Mwah." "OK, do you wanna get your case down from the loft so you can start packing?" "Yeah, sure." "Liv, homework!" "We just needed to check, Mr Whistler, that Gary was with you when he said he was." "OK." "Yeah, that's great." "That's all I need." "Thanks a lot." "Bye, now." "Hello, I'm from East Lee Police Station..." "I just went into one of those hyper-efficient modes." "Just went through almost my entire list." "I've arranged airport parking, we arranged tomorrow night." "So I think we're all sorted." "I'm really looking forward to this." "You know, we so need a holiday." "You're losing it!" "I'm not, creep!" "What's going on?" "He was watching me in the shower!" "That's crap!" "I saw someone through that crack." "She's studying too hard, hallucinating." "Hang on." "You saw someone?" "When I opened the door, he was going into his room." "In your dreams." "Jamie, cut that out right now!" "Can I deal with this, please?" "Please do." "Was it you?" "I can't believe you're asking me!" "Perhaps you thought you saw someone." "I'm lying?" "Everybody's understandably very tense" " I know what I saw!" "It happened the other day!" "You assume it's me?" "!" "Who else could it be?" "What about Rob?" "That's sick." "She's my sister." "I've seen some of the shit on your computer!" "Dickhead!" "Hey!" "Don't think about trying to accuse me of stuff!" "Robert, go to your bedroom." "You, too, Jess." "What?" "Just do it!" "And you, Livvy, please, go." "Jamie?" "Bollocks to this!" "I'm going to Dad's!" "You're not going anywhere!" "Who's gonna stop me?" "You're staying right here." "Get out of my fucking way!" "I'm so sorry." "I'm going to talk to my kids." "Please, please." "Jamie!" "I know she's here." "I didn't say she wasn't." "I want to speak to her." "And I told you, she doesn't want to speak to you." "Have you any idea how upset Jamie is?" "Do you know what?" "We're pretty upset." "In fact, we're very upset - I don't give a rat's arse about you." "I care about my son, who's struggling in the face of some fairly appalling parenting..." "Oh, for God's sake, David, it's not a pissing competition!" "I don't need your advice." "Just get her to ring me." "Tonight." "I will talk to him, just not now." "What is it, Ro?" "We can sort out tonight." "Is there something else?" "Why does it have to be something else?" "Cos I feel like you're withdrawing from me." "No, I'm no." "I'm not." "But the last few days, I know they've been difficult, but really, even so." "What?" "OK, it's like... it's like tonight." "You just assumed that your daughter was telling the truth." "Because, well, because she's your daughter." "And you assume that she wasn't because he's your son." "Exactly." "Exactly." "I'm not saying either of us is right or wrong," "I'm just saying..." "We're a family with a huge, great big crack down the middle." "Because of one problem?" "But it's not, is it?" "It isn't just one problem." "It's things like the flowers." "What flowers?" "Ben, the flowers you still buy for Jenny's grave." "You leave the receipts in your trouser pockets." "Oh, Rose." "I'm sorry." "I..." "It's the flowers, it's tonight, it's Monday night when Liv went missing." "What did I do wrong then?" "You didn't do anything wrong, you were just you." "A concerned adult who's probably quite fond of her, who might even love her, but I could tell you didn't feel it in here." "Because she isn't your baby, nor is Jamie, and that's fine, as long as there are no problems or crisis to deal with." "But families do have problems, do find themselves in extraordinary situations, and I can't see how we're gonna deal with that together!" "Lorraine was a beautiful... happy, unique young woman... and we loved her with all of our hearts." "And her death has left a hole in our lives that can never be filled." ""So to anyone who thinks they might have any information, anything at all..." ""..as a mother," "I beg you to come forward... so that I can get justice.." "For my child."" ""The appeal from Kay Mullary was followed by this statement from DCI James McCleish, who is leading the inquiry into Lorraine's murder."" ""We're still searching the area where her body was discovered."" ""We have interviewed anyone who we know came into contact with her in the days leading up to her death."" ""We have increased our patrol in the area, and we ask the public..."" "I'm sorry." "I'm confused." "What are you saying, exactly?" "You know what I'm saying." "The blood on his trainers will be from a nosebleed." "Because he tried to suggest Robert might've taken them." "Because someone washed his uniform on Monday evening." "Because I saw a look in his eye yesterday that I've never seen before." "I'm so scared." "Come on, it's alright." "Come on." "He said he was at yours until gone eight." "He was." "What, you were there?" "Well, no, I wasn't, but..." "The washing was finished when I got back at 8.30." "It's a 90 degree cycle, which means it takes nearly two hours." "I've asked everyone else." "No one else put it on." "So he made a mistake." "He didn't get back to yours till 6.30." "What does it matter?" "There's gonna be an explanation." "It won't be he killed some girl and is covering his tracks." "This is our son we're talking about." "I know." "Have you spoken to him?" "No." "Why?" "For Christ sake, he's already vulnerable enough after the divorce." "How do you think that'd make him feel?" "His own mother asking him if he's involved in killing someone." "What about Ben?" "Have you spoken to Ben?" "No." "So what do you want to do?" "I feel like I've been so wrapped up in my own life that I've let things slide." "I've let him... get away from me." "So..." "I want your help." "I want you to watch him." "After school, where he goes, what he does." "So we can find out if he's who we think he is, who we hope he is." "Look, if it's what you want, what you really want, if you think it's gonna put your mind at rest, I'll help you." "But I'm telling you, I don't believe it, not for a second." "Go on, get out of it, man." "Get out!" "So, how can I help?" "Er, I've forgotten my password." "I wondered if you could get me back in?" "I'll be ten minutes." "Thank you." "Alright." "Here you go." "Cheers." "Thanks." "I need to speak to you." " As soon as possible." " "I'll be right there."" "Evening." "Your message said you had something." "Yeah." "A bit of a result, actually." "A history of violence I discovered, apparently." "Last year he was done for indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl." "The charges were dropped eventually, but the kid's obviously a nasty piece of work." "And our son thinks he's a friend." "So who only knows what he's done for him, what things he might've hidden from him, what lies he'd tell for him." "What are we going to do, David?" "What are we going to do?" "Jamie?" "No!" "Wow." "Things are obviously worse than I thought they were." "Sean Christie, I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder." "You had sex with her during her lunch break?" "Come back here, now!" "You might need to speak to Robert." "I cannot believe that our son would ever have hurt anybody." "Jamie?" "!"