"I've just found out I've got a lifer out on licence this morning." "Ruth Slater." " How long's she been in for?" " 15 years." "She was 17 when she went inside." "Two and a half in Durham, ten years at New Hall, and the last two and a half at Askham Grange, where she's done very well as far as I know, very different person from the one that got hauled up to Durham 15 years ago." " See you, Ruth." " See you." " Ta-ra." " All that remains, Ruth, is for you to sign the Firearms Act." "Good luck, Ruth." "Look after yourself." "Thanks... for everything what you done for me." "Hell of a thing, going in that young." "She won't know her arse from her elbow." "She's been on day release for the past 12 months, working in a garden centre, so she won't be completely wet behind the ears." "I'll find out what she went in for eventually." "She murdered two policemen." "Shot 'em - one in the face, one in the chest." "One near 50, not far off retirement, and the other one a rookie lad." "Hiya." "Another four months, it'll be my turn." "Look after yourself, mate." "You too." "Oh, do you believe this?" "This is a brand-new car!" "Excellent!" "Wonderful!" "Fantastic!" " Guess what?" " Oh, not again!" "I should've bought a nearly new one." "Why didn't I?" "Why didn't I do that?" "You're gonna have to ring the garage, love." "Ring the RAC." "Thank you, yes, funnily enough, I had worked that one out." "D'you mind if I shoot off?" "I've got a nine o'clock." " And if I'm dropping these two off..." " No, you go." "Bugger off, don't mind me." "I'll sort meself out." "Have a good day." "Come on, come on." "Has she not been offered any sort of new identity or anything?" "What, with our resources?" "Oh!" " I thought it was Lucy's writing." " Well, I'm sure she's thinking about you." "You know she doesn't do cards." "I've got butterflies." "Good." "It's a big thing starting your A level course." "It's a milestone." "It's an achievement just getting this far." "In fact, it's probably the most important thing you'll ever do... because it determines the rest of your life, it determines which university you'll go to." "I still have nightmares about sitting my A levels." "I do!" "I'm sitting in the exam room, I'm at my desk," "I turn over the exam paper but I suddenly realise I haven't done any revision." "So I think you're allowed to have butterflies." "I think we'd be worried if you didn't." "Mr Belcombe?" " Hello." " Are you the father of Lucy Belcombe?" "Why?" "Yes." "Why?" "Is she a student at college in York?" "She appears to be involved in an accident, sir." "Lucy?" "What kind?" "What do you mean, she appears to?" "She's been taken to the City Hospital." "She isn't?" "That's as much as we know." "Ah..." "I've gotta phone my wife." "Hello, hi, I've come to see Carol Crossland." "What's your name?" "Ruth Slater." " Hello." " I have a Ruth Slater here for you." "Right, thanks." "D'you wanna take a seat for me, love?" " Ruth Slater?" " Yeah." "Oh, sorry." "Oh, sorry." "Hi, how do you do?" "I'm Carol Crossland, I'm your new..." "Have they explained to you about Alison?" "Yeah, dropped dead, heart attack." "Kept telling her she were too fat." "Not that bluntly, though, obviously." "D'you want to come upstairs?" " Have you not?" " What?" " Dropped your stuff off." " They said to come straight here." " You didn't have to." " What?" " D'you want me to go and come back?" " No, of course not." "Erm, I tell you what," "I'll drive you to your flat." "I'd like to see it anyway." "Give it the once-over." "Give me two minutes, I'll get me car keys." " How was your journey?" " Yeah, it were fine." "When t'train stopped." "I were worried it weren't gonna, in right place, anyway." "I've never been on a train before." "Love you." "Da-da." "The train." "Yes." "Here we go, here we go." "Ooh!" " Hi." " Hiya." "And you've been working in a garden centre?" "No, bathroom suppliers." "You'll have to bear with me, I'm trying to get up to speed with the information." " Straight down." " Yeah, I were driving a forklift truck." "It were good." "I like driving." "First time I'd been behind the wheel in 14 years." "Didn't know I were born." "Don't you need an ordinary licence for that?" "Yeah." "You must've passed your test pretty sharpish after you were 17, then." "I did, yeah." "Still, I were driving since I were eight or nine." "Other people's cars?" "Mainly." " Then before that I worked for t'nuns." " Oh, yeah." "Yeah, first time on day release." "Once a week they'd send me to this convent in York, cos they had a shop there for t'tourists, you know, selling knocked off bits of cross." "Not really." "They were funny." "They were so..." "What?" "Sweet." "Kind." "Just uncomplicated." "I wouldn't mind being a nun." "You don't look like a nun." "Don't I?" "What do I look like?" "A forklift truck driver." "So you've got a job lined up over here, and you start that when?" "Tomorrow." "Where?" "Jaggers, it's a meat processing place, it's on Gibbet Street." "Good." "I wouldn't say that, but the money's not too bad." "Steve's had a phone call from this bloke at the probation office." "Has he?" "I was wondering..." "if you could talk to him." "Why me?" "You're his brother." "You're his wife." "He's thinking things." "Things that are gonna get him into bother." "Would it bother you if they did?" "I just don't want him to go to prison." "I'll try and catch up with him." "Will you?" "When?" "Soon." "When?" "I just said." "Mr and Mrs Belcombe?" " Mm." " I'm DC Summergate, CID." "Can I talk to you?" "Yes, of course." "All the witness statements indicate that she went through a red light at speed," " and then impacted with..." " I'm sorry, she went through a red light?" "Your daughter was driving the vehicle." "She was the only person in it." "But she hasn't..." "She hasn't passed her test." "We know." "Well, whose car was it?" "It belongs to a Jonathan Litchford." "D'you know him?" "No." "Is he a student?" "No, he's a drug dealer." " The point is..." " No, no, no!" "Lucy wouldn't mix with someone like that." "She has a rebellious streak..." "She's an unusually gifted musician, she's a real talent." "There's no way she'd throw all that away." "I'm just telling you the facts as they appear to be at the moment." "The point is, we've had to take a blood sample." "Why?" "So we can ascertain whether or not she had any substances in her system when the incident occurred." "You did well getting this place." "I were on t'housing list for two years." " Good for you." " Last week, I took a day off work, borrowed a van off someone at prison, sorted myself out a bit of furniture." "Well, you seem very sorted." "Yeah, well, I've had a lot of help." "It won't be easy, first few weeks, specially wi' you being on your own and no family, but..." "Who said I've got no family?" "That's what I understood, but, like I say, I'm still not up to speed." " I've got a sister." " Yeah, yeah, I did read that..." "I meant apart from..." "I was meaning people you could rely on during the first few weeks and months." "I'm sorry, I've put me foot in it, haven't I?" "No, when I got arrested, and when I got sent down..." "I don't know how much you know and how much you don't know." "Just assume that I know nothing." "Katie was six, I was 17." "I were on remand and she got put into care." "And I wrote to her every day - well, as often as they'd let me." "She struggled to read it, but I thought someone might've helped her." "I sent it all via social services." "I didn't expect owt back, cos she were only six or seven, but... after I got sent down, they sent me to Durham, and, er, well, I couldn't find anything out about her." "I kept asking people." "Eventually, I found out she'd been adopted." "I didn't know who by or where she were or owt." "I would've liked a photo or summat, you know, so I could've seen what she looked like, but..." "And then just before I moved to Askham it were coming up to her 18th, and I thought, well, this is it." "If there's somebody been stopping her somehow from knowing where I were, or how to contact me, well, it wouldn't matter no more, cos she'd be old enough now to..." "But there were nothing." "And week after week I were phoning the social services at Halifax, and I were saying, "She's me sister and she's 18," ""can't you just tell her I want to see her?" ""And if she don't wanna see me, fine." "I mean, it's fine."" "And they wouldn't even do that." "So I don't know." "D'you want some tea?" "Sure." "So how often will you need to see me?" "Once a week as a rule to start with." "So there's just your licence conditions to go through." "Condition." "We need to be clear between us that you know what that condition is." "I haven't to make any contact with any members of the families of either of... me victims." "So what d'you know?" "Did you get a phone call last week?" "Yeah." "Well, how do you feel about that, then?" "D'you remember, after it happened, what we used to say?" "We were kids." "So what?" "15 years for a man's life - it's nothing." "It's not enough." "Look at us." "Look at me, bloody greetings cards, and look at you - mucking out council flats all day after the dirty little bastards have left." "We could've done more, both of us." "It's true." "So what if it is?" "I've got a wife, I've got a baby." "Don't tell me you wouldn't want to spend ten minutes in the same room with her, just you and me and a couple of baseball bats?" "Tell you what if you find the bitch, which you won't, you'll keep it to yourself." "OK?" "A poltergeist?" "That's what everybody in the office thought." "It's a possibility!" "We're haunted?" "You can take the mickey, but it does add up." "All sorts of things I keep remembering - not just the way the car won't start." "Like the thing with the light bulb." " What thing?" " It just popped out." "You were here - from that lamp, five feet in the air, hit the ceiling." " Really?" " That was odd." " And what about my sister?" "She says..." " She's enough to frighten anybody." "She says she won't come and stop again after last time." "Do you remember?" "Cameron cried all night and there was no reason for it." "Mum, babies cry." "Yes, but not for nothing." "I don't know, maybe they're more sensitive to these things than grown-ups are." "Have you ever felt creepy here?" "I suppose, if I'm here by myself, which I hardly ever am, there's a certain..." "And have you ever noticed going through to the pantry, how just as you go through the doorway, the temperature drops?" " That's because there's a draught." " Yes, but where does it come from?" "D'you think someone died here?" "The place is over 400 years old, it'd be odd if someone hadn't died here." "Yeah, but like in funny circumstances or something." "Oh, you're just going to frighten yourselves." "I'm not frightened," "I just want to know if there's some... spirit thing here, that's wanting to be, you know, released." "All right, come on..." "You explain how does this get from here to here with that kind of force." "It smashed the door!" "How thick is that glass?" "Something happened." "Something happened!" "I'll pack a bag for Mum, take it over tomorrow." "She'll stay with Lucy as long as she needs to, or we'll take it in turns depending on... how long it..." "Well, the doctors seem confident she can make a complete, proper, full recovery..." "Did you know Lucy wasn't happy?" "Sorry?" "College." "What makes you say that?" "Last term, before the holiday, she said she was out of her depth and that everybody was cleverer than her." "Oh, that's nonsense." "She said she wanted to give up - come home and hide... but she couldn't because she was scared." "Of what?" "Letting people down." "Why didn't she talk to me?" "Are you making this up?" " Why didn't you tell us?" " She didn't want me to." "Said it wasn't fair, not after everything you and Mum have done for us both." "She said... she thought her birth mum and dad mustn't have been very bright." "It's not your fault." " So where do you live, Ruth?" " Got a flat in town." " Are you not from round here?" " Originally, but..." " So what's brought you back?" " Nothing." " Now, then." " Oh, God!" " Here he is." " God's gift, thinks he is." "Don't I know you?" " Take no notice of him." " No, no, no, we've met before." "No, I don't think so." "Happen it were in a previous existence, eh?" "Happen it were." "I'm Bradley." "Hello." "Now you tell me what your name is." " Don't tell him, Ruth." " Oh." "So, what you doing Friday night, then, Ruth?" " Nothing." " Great." " Don't hang about, does he?" " So... a gang of us usually meet in Maggie's about half-eight, and we generally end up in the Aca." " You coming?" " Yeah." "Where d'you say you go?" "The Acapulco." "Nightclub." " D'you know it?" " Yeah." "Where is it?" " She doesn't know where the Aca is!" " So what?" "It's not the centre of the universe." "I can meet you, Ruth, we can go together." "John?" "Rufus?" "Charlie?" "Hello?" "I want to help you." "Tell me what you want." "Show me what you want." "There's no need to be frightened of me." "I'm not frightened of you." "Why are you sitting out here?" "Well, I'm not sitting in there." "We're living with someone else, it's that simple." "Someone who is dead, who is trying to draw attention to itself." " Is anything missing?" " This isn't burglars." "You think burglars with a sense of humour who don't steal anything?" "I left my iPod on the kitchen table in full view." "Perhaps we shouldn't say anything to the boys." "Don't want to upset them." "Perhaps we should put the house up for sale." "What an odd thing to do." "Well, it's mischievous, it's annoying, it's what poltergeists do." "Perhaps something did happen here." "Perhaps we should try and find out." "Why don't I just ring an estate agent instead?" "Because I like this house and so do you, and we're not being chased out by somebody who's dead, that's why." "Where are the deeds?" "There might be some clues in there." "Filing cabinet." "Right." "Right, now..." "I'm putting this coffee table back like it was and you're going to like it." "Everything's going to be fine." "We'll sort everything out." "Nothing's worth getting yourself into a state like this." "I love you." "I'm sorry." "Say that again." "It was one of the conditions of the adoption." "When whoever it was adopted her, they specified that there was to be no subsequent contact between you and Katie." "Could they do that?" "Well, then they could." "They were so short of adoptive parents 15 years ago" " they'd agree to practically anything." " Why?" "Why though?" "Cos they thought I were dangerous." "Not to her." "I loved her." "I would never have hurt her." "So, why didn't they tell me then at the time?" "Why didn't it occur to anybody, so I wouldn't..." "Day after day, year after fucking year, hoping I'd hear back from her." "Sorry." "Bureaucracy, breakdown in communications, usual cock-ups." "I know that's no comfort." "I loved her." "I thought the world of her." "She thought the world of me." "I never hurt her, never laid a finger on her." "It were me that stopped her from getting hurt." "It certainly isn't how they do things now, but perhaps at the time, they thought it was in her best interests, given how young she was and given what had happened, and that you were inside anyway by that stage." "Can't you find out for me where she is?" "No." "Social services are no more likely to tell me than they are to tell you." "They can't." "They're bound by law." "She never had any of the letters and stuff that I've sent her?" "I would assume not." "But she can choose to see me, can't she?" "Katie can." "Yes, she can." "So why hasn't she?" "I don't know." "Unless over the years..." "If they've never talked to her about you, or passed anything on from you, or encouraged her to think about you..." "But she can't have forgotten about me, though, can she?" "No!" "Ooh!" "My God, Charlie, I can't believe you traded my game for Tom's." " It's so much better." " I don't care!" " Stop moaning." " Charlie, come back here!" "Charlie, Charlie, listen to me..." "John!" "John!" "What's the matter?" "Keep looking at her." "Why?" "I don't know why, just do." "Hello." "Can I..." "Can I help you?" "I doubt it." "Are you... all right?" "I don't mind you standing on my wall, I'm just rather intrigued as to why you are." "I used to live here." "You..." "I were born here." "I grew up here." "We got chucked off." "Really?" "So..." "When was that, then?" "15, 16 years ago." "I just wanted to look at it, see if it had changed." "I've not been back, you see, since then." "Do you want to see inside?" "Inside the house?" "I'm John, by the way." "John Ingram." "Are you?" "I'm Ruth..." "Slater." "Have you heard of me?" "Should I have?" "So you were tenants?" "Me dad were." "When he died, I always thought I'd inherit t'tenancy off him." "He always reckoned I would." "They screwed us, the estate people." "Chucked us off, me and me sister." "We bought it from the Gaukrodgers, that wasn't?" "No, it's changed hands a few times since the estate owned it." "Oddly enough, I've just been going through the deeds." "My wife will be fascinated to meet you." "D'you know why?" "Why?" "Well, we've been having some odd things going on, very odd things." "I mean, I don't hold much truck with that meself, but, we're starting to wonder if we're haunted." "So you actually farmed here?" "That's amazing." "Why?" "It's a farm." "I don't know, I imagined people hadn't farmed here for much longer than that." " Are you sure you won't?" " No, I'm not really a drinker." "So what did you and your sister do when you were evicted?" "She got taken into care, and..." "I've never seen her since then." " Why?" " She were adopted." "And it's just the way it were." " That's awful." " She'd be 21 now." "I'd like to see her, but I can't." "Why?" "Because I had a few problems back then and they must've decided..." "Don't know." "Seems very unfair now." "As I say, she were only six, so..." "Happen she's forgotten me." "Six years old?" "No, I don't believe that, she won't have forgotten you." "I don't think she will have either." "We were really close." "Just things... happened." "It's all more complicated than what I said, so..." "Was it?" "Where was your mother?" "Oh, she'd cleared off..." "years before when Katie were tiny." "Never heard from her since." " She were alcoholic." " Have you spoken to social services?" "Yeah, but..." "So, Ruth, did you when you lived here ever experience anything odd?" "No, not like what you described." "Course, us vehicles didn't often start, but nowt mysterious about that cos they were all knackered." "And, like, bulbs popping out, that don't surprise me." "Electrics were always a bit dodgy, cos see, you're at the end of the line here, so you might get surges and that." "I dunno." "Your other stuff, like the fridge, coffee table, and the... the "help me"..." "Help me." "...it's weird." "I better be getting off." " I'll give you a lift to the bus stop." " No, you're all right." "It's fine, it's no problem." "I'd like to." " Listen, Ruth." " What?" "I do quite a bit of work with the social services." "I'm a family lawyer, we both are, me and Izzie." "D'you want me to see if I can find anything out about Katie?" " Can you?" " I can't promise anything, obviously." " No." " Well?" " Yeah." " What's your phone number?" "I ain't got one yet... at t'moment." "Let me give you mine." "There you go." "Look... there's probably more to it than what I said." "Well, there is." "I used to get in trouble a lot when I were younger, wi't'police." "That's why they didn't want me to have any contact with her." "I would've assumed it was something like that." "It were a long time ago." "I'm not like that any more." "Give me two weeks, OK?" "Look at you!" "She's only had lemonade and she's all over the place." "Oh, I wish I could get bladdered that cheap." "It's a bit of a mess." "I ain't sorted meself out yet." "Only been here for five days." " Looks all right to me." " Liar." "A lick of paint, bit of soft lighting, some curtains, carpets, settee, telly." "I'll put the kettle on." "Want to see the view from t'balcony?" " Not really." " Why?" "It's nice." " It's dark." " Yeah, I know, but..." "Come and sit wi' me." " Bloody hell!" " Sorry." " What?" " Sorry." "Don't apologise." "What?" "I..." "I don't know." "Are you all right?" "Yeah, I'm just not used to drinking." " Course you are." " I'm not!" "You had me on?" "No." "No." "Come on." "Fancy a spit-roast, love?" "Fuck off, you geriatric!" " Stop the lift!" " Hey, hey, hey, what you doing?" " What you doing?" " Get off me!" " Hi." " Rachel?" "Sorry, I've only just picked up your message." " We've got a letter from her solicitor." " What about?" "Ruth Slater... is out of prison." "She's asking to see Lucy." "Leave it." "It's our kid." "Hello?" "I've seen the bitch." "I've found her." "I know where she lives."