01x04 - Episode 4

[bunniefuu]

(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)

If the body is Ronan,

the Martins need to hear it from me.

This changes everything.

(HUM OF CONVERSATIONS)

Won't have anything conclusive

till we get him back to the mortuary.

It'll be a job - distinguishing

the injuries pre-mortem

and damage from the river

and waterfall.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

Cause of death almost

certainly deep puncture wound.

Likely a blade.

And something else,

I'm sure you've noticed?

This body wasn't in the water a week.

- Nothing like it.

- Hours at most.

Dr Tahu, what can you

tell us about the goat?

I'll liaise with an experienced

vet to look for anything

of forensic interest.

- Tena koe, matua.

- Kia ora, Diana.

Let us pray.

We stand here on

the land of my tupuna.

We ask them to guide Ronan Garvey

back to his ancestors

so that he may rest in peace.

(IN TE REO)

(VOICES CALLING) Sinead!

Ronan!

Sinead!

Ronan!

We found Ronan.

He's gone.

We're still looking for Sinead.

We haven't found her yet,

I'm so sorry.

Oh, no.

(SOBBING ECHOES)

Captions were made with

the support of NZ On Air.

Able 2023

(NO SOUND ON VIDEO)

My wife met Sinead

at a work event and they hit it off.

And so I invited them over and it was

a nice enough dinner - for a while.

Then Ronan stepped outside

"for a breath of fresh air" he said,

but when he came back in he was

wired, he was all over the place.

He's obviously, you know,

taken something.

Then eventually,

Harriet had to ask them to leave.

That was what the argument was about?

Sinead avoided me after that,

but the past few weeks, I saw

she was under some kind of pressure.

I assumed it was Ronan and I

tried to give her some advice,

I told her to drop the guy.

And she didn't take it well?

She told me to f*ck off and

mind my own business, actually.

The thing is, Colin, you

told Detective Huia at Houkura

that you didn't

know Sinead personally.

That you

"barely overlapped".

That wasn't quite

the truth now, was it?

Well, it's not really a lie, right?

She came over once, one time

because my wife liked her.

The evening went south and we stayed

out of each other's way after that.

Till I tried to offer

some unwelcome advice.

Was there anything else, Colin?

No impropriety?

I'm sorry?

Was there anything that you said

or did that could be misconstrued?

Sorry, you mean did I harass her,

did I make a pass at her?

- Is that what you mean?

- I have to ask.

- No, never!

I respect my wife. I respect women.

I respect myself.

Can I go now, or do you

want to insult me further?

No.

I'm sorry.

One more thing ―

you moved to Mount Affinity

what, two years ago?

It was three years ago.

I was Tamati's first hire. Harriet

and I moved here three years ago.

Three years?

Rightio. Thanks.

I'll get the door.

You know what? I'll get it myself.

(PHONE RINGS)

Hey.

DAVID: 'I need to know you're OK.'

Jesus Christ, I'm not

having a breakdown, David,

I'm just done here, OK?

'All right.'

I believe you, thousands wouldn't.

Listen, before you go,

though, they found a body.

- Sinead?

- 'It hasn't been confirmed.

'But it was found on the mountain.'

Jeff from NZ Daily heard it from a

source inside the coroner's office

and, Aileen

'..he said something

weird about a goat.'

Records confirm Colin Friends moved

to Mount Affinity three years ago.

So, that puts him out of

the frame for the 2006 killings.

Bruce, you were saying there was

one main suspect back in '06, right?

A travelling farm machinery salesman.

Had historical form -

GBH, kidnapping.

Passing through Mount Affinity

during the time of both murders.

Trevor John McLachlan. He passed

away in a car wreck two years later.

- 'Are you there, Bruce?'

- Yeah.

OK OK

Cheers, bye.

Gr! Police records, one warehouse

down, two to go, nothing new.

- Our hands are tied

without those files.

- Look

I don't want to get anybody

in trouble, but, uh

we need to go and see Rose.

Samuel Richards' wife? Why?

- Trust me on this one, Diana.

- Who's he?

Samuel investigated

the original Mountain Murders.

Let's go, eh?

Dawson, you got the fort!

Bring the tea in there.

DS Richards played Santa

in the Christmas parade every year.

The sweetest guy.

He was the ranking officer

during the Mountain Murders?

Yeah, he retired

not long after the killings.

Early onset dementia.

Passed away recently.

ROSE: That's the last of them.

Please, sit down.

RICHTER: Thank you.

Those poor kids. It was Samuel's

biggest case - the one that got away.

Broke his heart he couldn't

get answers for Emma

and Gabriel's families.

When he had to retire,

he made copies of every file,

every note he ever took.

Nothing will come of this?

- I know he really should have

- Rose, your husband was a good cop.

If he bent the rules keeping these,

it was to help. Trust me,

he's helping us now.

Not a week would go by

he wouldn't open one of those,

read the files cover to cover.

When did your husband pass away,

Mrs Richards?

Um

six months ago now.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Even when Samuel was fighting

to remember my name,

he'd still ask me to bring one file

or another into the care home.

Thank you. Yeah,

his notes are meticulous.

- Thank you.

- The two Irish, I knew

it was connected.

The bodies were in the river

and you found a goat?

- Rose, come on, now.

- Er the chap

who sold the tractors.

My husband never

believed he was involved.

Samuel was sure the answer

was here in Mount Affinity,

hiding in plain sight.

I always hoped he was wrong, but

he wasn't wrong about many things.

Hm.

MASON: They reckon that Irishman

was pulled out of the water.

He was all, like, bloated and green,

like the Incredible Hulk.

- (LAUGHTER)

- It's a good job, though, eh?

That prick, Ronan,

feeding that evil sh*t to Jarred.

- He got what he deserved,

if you ask me.

- (WHISPERS) f*ck, Mason!

(KNOCKING)

Whatever Ronan did,

he was someone's son

and worthy of forgiveness, and you

of all people, should know that.

Today,

we bring Jarred back into our whare.

We carry him home

to farewell him, our way.

- What time are you

bringing our boy back?

- About two o'clock.

Everything will be ready.

(CHOPPING)

Ronan was k*lled by a single

stab wound to the heart.

His body was kept somewhere

for several days before

being dumped in the water.

In 2006, cause of death in both

cases was strangulation and the

victims didn't know each other.

They disappeared a week apart.

Then their bodies were dumped in

the water within about 12 hours.

But in this case, a couple goes

missing at the same time.

So, the only thing linking those

cases and Ronan is the gutted goat,

but that was widely known,

the whole Goat Man thing.

The press got a long-lens shot of it.

It was on every front page.

DIANA: Yeah, I had nightmares

for weeks.

There was one piece

of key information we kept

out of the public domain.

Bird bones lashed together with

a piece of string, shape of a cross.

- Where were they found?

- Lodged in the windpipes

of the victims.

- This was kept privileged?

- Only Samuel and I knew.

So, if the pathologist finds

bird bones in Ronan's windpipe,

the Mountain m*rder*r is back.

And he's finding new ways to k*ll.

RICHTER: OK, let's go back

to the original victims.

Emma Louise Wilson,

23 years old when she was k*lled.

It says here she'd been in town

two weeks, working picking oranges.

DIANA: Emma was out

here pruning trees,

but the girl she normally buddied-up

with was off sick, so

RICHTER: The owner saw her

working this line at 10:45 am.

She didn't come for lunch

so looked for her, found

the pruning gear by the ladder.

But Emma was gone.

DIANA: Emma's working. She's in

clear view of any passing cars.

A driver spots her,

pulls up down the road.

He approaches through the trees.

He's careful. Maybe she

never even sees him coming.

- Unplanned, spur-of-the-moment.

- He grabbed the opportunity.

Or

the driver's known to her?

(HORN HONKS)

She recognises him,

goes to say hello.

- She trusts him.

- Explains why there was

no sign of a struggle.

RICHTER: Gabriel Peters,

19 years old, on a gap year

from his home town of Bruges.

Travelled round the country

in a second-hand Jeep.

This was his favourite swimming spot.

Locals reported seeing him here

multiple times, night swimming.

Jeep was found at dawn,

December 12, 2006.

DIANA: The keys were

still in the ignition.

The Jeep's his biggest possession

so he's not going to leave

the keys in there.

Somebody's already here,

waiting, watching.

Could have got to him before

he even got out of the car.

Or a passing car

could have spotted him?

Realised he was alone,

taken a chance.

Or he'd already been swimming.

Came back to the Jeep.

The k*ller was waiting.

(PHONE RINGS)

- Dr Tahu.

- 'DS Huia.

'We've got something

to show you at the lab.'

- We'll be there in 30 minutes.

- 'See you then.'

That's it, all done over here.

TAHU: The subclavian artery was

severed below the shoulder blade.

Would have led to massive

and rapid blood loss.

- Death within minutes.

- Weapon?

The wound was nine centimetres deep,

four to five centimetres wide.

About the size of a kitchen knife.

- Any indication where

the body was kept?

- No disturbance from animals.

And the decomposition wasn't

as advanced as I'd expect

if he was in the sunlight.

So, he was stored inside.

And the goat?

We swabbed the carcass.

No human DNA was retrieved.

But I did retrieve soil

from Ronan's ear that matches

the soil on the goat's fur.

- So, they were stored together.

- Seems like it.

But then the biggy.

Lodged in the throat of the deceased,

introduced posthumously.

- BUSTER: Jarred will

lay at Nga Pitau.

- (WAIATA BEGINS)

After that, we take him

back to his mother's home.

You're welcome, too.

I know you loved Jarred.

I'm sorry you couldn't heal him.

Shall we go?

I mean, we met him once.

In Ireland that's enough.

- (DOOR SLAMS, ENGINE STARTS)

- We have work to do.

Unless you want

to go to another tangi.

RICHTER: If it is

the Mountain m*rder*r,

we're gonna need a bigger team.

DIANA: Mm-hm.

Seen these in Samuel's files?

Any idea what it is?

It could be just doodles.

But each one's identical.

Worth following up with Rose.

- Hi, Val.

- Hi.

Just swapped out the shifts.

Back up the maunga in the morning.

Egg and salad?

There you go.

You really giving up a few hours'

sleep just to feed me?

- And to see how you are.

- Yeah, I'm good.

Liar!

During the karakia,

I could see how you were feeling.

Being up there on the maunga.

So close to where

your mum went missing.

Remember when your mum took us

up to the lookout?

After I'd won junior athletics champ

and you came second?

- Nah, other way round.

- (LAUGHING) Not how I remember it.

- She made us that

picnic to celebrate.

- Mm.

Those soft cheeses I'd never

heard of, fancy crackers.

I don't know how she found the money.

- She let us drink bubbly wine!

- Watered down with orange juice.

- All the same!

- (BOTH CHUCKLE)

She'd never do it, Val.

k*ll herself, leave me.

You more than anyone knows that.

Sorry I haven't been back,

it's been

Christ, Val, a mess!

(SNIFFS)

Eat your sandwich!

(BOTH LAUGH)

(DOORBELL)

Kia ora, um Sorry to bother you.

You're the man Richter arrested.

I just came to say

I'm sorry for your loss.

You assaulted Ronan, stole from him.

BUSTER: I'm not proud

that I used my fists on him.

There was a reason.

Ronan sold P to a young man

who was in my care.

His name was Jarred, one or two

years younger than your Ronan.

You should go.

We're gonna be celebrating

Jarred's life

and, if you wish it, Ronan's as well.

You're welcome to join us at

You expect us to believe that you're

celebrating Ronan's life, too?

Jarred and Ronan were both

young men, much more than

their faults and weaknesses.

We'd welcome the chance

to mourn with you.

RICHTER: So, back to Rose's.

DIANA: Two minutes.

Go talk to your friend.

Throw her something.

Nothing that will screw us, though.

- You OK?

- I was heading straight

for the airport.

No idea what I was gonna

do when I got home.

And now?

- Things change, you know?

- Hm.

So, is it true? Body found at

the bottom of the waterfall?

(SIGHS) He, um

suffered a chest wound.

Go on.

- Knife?

- It'll be in the pathology report.

And the goat?

Pull the old press cuttings

from the historical cases.

- Do you think this

is a serial k*lling?

- (HORN HONKS)

- I think I've said enough.

- Right.

DAVID: 'If this is a serial k*ller,

Jesus Christ, Aileen.'

Well, until we know more,

the angle has to be Ronan.

Who he was, how he died.

What it might mean for Sinead.

The Martins will have been briefed

on the Mountain Murders.

- If I can just get

them to talk to me!

- 'Well, good luck with that one.'

Thank you, David.

Oh.

AILEEN: Where are you going?

(SINGING IN TE REO)

BUSTER: Kaore he hara

i te ngoikoretanga.

Ko wai tatou ki te whakawa.

"There is no guilt in human weakness.

"And it is no one's place to judge."

- Kia tangihia a Jarred.

- "We are here to grieve for Jarred."

Ko te atua ngau tonu tana.

"Jarred's demons followed

him his whole life."

Ngaua ana ko ia,

ngaua ana hoki

ko tatou e tangi nei.

"And his demons won,

and we are heartbroken."

Linda.

We love your boy.

And we weep with you.

We also grieve with you,

Judge Martin.

Mr Martin.

Ronan was a part of your whanau.

We also acknowledge the fear

you hold for your daughter.

And we pray with you

for her safe return

to be once more wrapped

in the cloak of your love.

(BIRDSONG)

- DIANA: Rose?

- Hm! Over here!

- Hello.

- Hi. Kia ora.

Kia ora. He bought this

on our tenth anniversary.

The roses were advertised as yellow.

(CHUCKLES)

When white flowers bloomed

the next spring he was fuming,

and every year after!

Then, one year,

he didn't seem to notice.

That was the start.

Rose?

There's a symbol

all through Samuel's files.

Any ideas?

As he lost words, he drew.

Wasn't much of an artist.

That's meant to be the mill.

- Why the mill?

- Just got more and more fixated.

Kept on saying, "The mill!

It all goes back to the mill!"

Makes no sense! There's nothing

in his files about the mill.

Not a thing.

(SINGING IN TE REO)

Joseph, would you

like to say something?

Hello, my name is Joseph Martin.

On behalf of my wife and me,

I'd like to thank you

all for welcoming us here.

I'm not much of a public speaker.

I'm certainly not

as eloquent as Mr Huia,

but if I may, I will

sing you a song in Irish.

RICHTER: "It all goes

back to the mill."

On the way to where Emma was

abducted we drove past the mill.

When we were driving

to where Gabriel was taken

DIANA: Straight past the mill again.

It's in sight of both killings.

Less than a kilometre from Sinead

and Ronan's house.

Maybe Samuel wasn't just rambling.

Maybe the k*ller had

some connection to the place.

Maybe.

(DOOR SLAMS)

Now is your opportunity.

For what?

To talk to your boy, embrace him.

To say goodbye.

Hm.

To apologise.

I've had a lifetime of arseholes

laying down judgment on me.

You're just the latest arsehole.

Don't you judge me, old man,

I've got nothing to say sorry for

For once in your life,

do the right thing! Go!

- Get f*cked!

- That language has no place here!

f*ck all of yous!

Only wanted a day out

of that sh*thole anyway.

f*ck it! Take me back.

- f*ck off!

- Oi!

You can't hang around,

this is a funeral.

I'm just paying my respects.

If I believed you,

you'd be welcome. I don't.

You're here for a story.

- Oh, look

- All right, fair enough.

- Yeah. Some other time, eh?

- Yeah.

- OK.

- Hey

- Tough day?

- Mm, yeah.

I mean, just the two boys,

it's heart-breaking,

and then he shows up!

- Who is he?

- It's Jarred's dad.

He's blood,

so we can't really turn him away.

Much as we'd love to!

He's just a piece of sh*t!

Beat his wife up, beat his son up.

Abandoned them both,

you know, same old story.

His fists gave Jarred

a life sentence.

Violence as a kid, then down

the road misery and addiction.

Hey.

What you do here?

It really means something, Wiki.

Especially on a day like today.

Thanks. Go on, see you later.

See ya.

It's low tar, better than nothing.

(OFFICERS CHATTING NEARBY)

OFFICER 1: You know what

they're saying around here?

The Goat Man's back.

OFFICER 2: They're saying the Goat

Man's back? That's just nonsense

Back?

The Goat Man? (SCOFFS)

That's f*cking funny.

(CHUCKLES)

You know anything about that?

- I know it's f*cking bullshit.

- Mm? Why's that?

Because I'm the f*cking Goat Man!

Doubt it.

(HE LAUGHS)

So, er what do you know?

(HE MOANS)

(MOANING)

Jesus, Frank!

It's not what it looks like.

- Never was.

- In the van, Pastors.

OK. Let's go, come on.

(DOOR SLAMS)

Back in the day, all the kids used

to jump off this bridge for pennies.

You were missed at work today.

You OK, mate?

When I saw what happened

on the CCTV footage

Yeah. Always best

to be honest, right?

I had to tell them, mate.

It's over!

Mate.

RICHTER: Maybe Samuel left

some information out of the files,

another suspect who worked here.

DIANA: You saw his files,

they're as thorough as hell.

No way he'd leave the name

of someone he suspected out.

Unless he didn't get to a name,

just a gut instinct about this place.

Maybe.

Or maybe he's just a man

with a crumbling mind.

Looking at this place every day,

coming up with a scenario.

Richter?

- You're not him.

- Didn't think I was.

I do now.

(CHUCKLES)

You're such a d*ck!

- Hold up.

- What have you got?

It's been moved.

Recently.

DIANA: Big tanks down here.

RICHTER: Probably for waste.

(SNIFFING)

- Can you smell that?

- Mm-hm.

Oh, my God!

- (FLIES BUZZING)

- (GASPING)

RICHTER: Oh, sh*t!

DIANA: Intestines, kidney, heart.

- Too small for a human.

- More like a small animal.

About the size of a goat.

(POLICE RADIOS CRACKLING)

Thanks for coming, Phil.

Make sure you get plenty of

samples off the ground, too.

Sorry to have you bagging

rotten meat on your first day

in Mount Affinity, Gwenda.

- Could be worse! How are you, Di?

- Could be better.

Head office are sending more help.

I've got Bruce setting up work

stations for you back at the station.

- Great.

- I'll leave you to it.

- Hei akuanei.

- Ae.

RICHTER: Animal sacrifice.

- It's all very Old Testament.

- And the cross.

- Maybe a religious fanatic?

- Christians have

sanitised the symbol.

It originally represented

execution by t*rture.

The leaving of personal items,

the goat, the bones -

it's classic serial k*ller

pattern behaviour.

It's textbook. Almost like it

came directly out of a textbook.

- What do you mean by that?

- I don't know.

Can you drop me back to the station?

Might get a couple of hours in.

Sure.

(CAR DOOR SLAMS)

(ENGINE STARTS)

("Girl In Stilettos"

by Annah Mac playing)

When all they see

is a girl in stilettos

When all I want

- VAL: Do you remember this?

- # Is to get up there and sing

Three Februaries

feels like a century

And things are spinning

way out of control

Cheers.

People stare, sun in my hair

- Mm, gone.

- Good?

- (LAUGHING) Yeah!

- Strong?

Still dreaming of the big break

and all the money ♪

VAL: You remember our big-arse plans?

Hitchhike around the islands.

- Climb a big mountain.

Kayak expedition.

- (CHUCKLING FONDLY)

I reckon, when we get the chance

Or you could come to Wellington

and we could drink a sh*t ton!

- Much better idea.

- I know!

(VAL, DIANA CHUCKLING)

- RICHTER: Sorry.

- What's up?

I'll go and do the dishes?

OK, thank you.

Local paper, November 2006.

Look at the photograph

at the top of the page.

"Mount Affinity g*n club

prize giving."

Jesus, Richter, that's obscure!

Look at who came third.

Colin Friends.

But he told Bruce

he only moved to Mount Affinity

after Tamati shoulder tapped

him three years ago!

Colin Friends was here

during the Mountain Murders.

He's lying to us - again.

COLIN: It was one time, and we stayed

out of each other's way after that.

We stayed out of each other's way

after that and she came over once.

One time because my wife liked her.

And we s And we stayed

out of each other's way after that.

And we stayed out of each

other's way after that.

She came over one time

because my wife liked her.

She came over once.

She came over and we stayed

out of each other's way after that.

You were here at the same

time Emma Wilson and Gabriel

Peeters were m*rder*d.

- I need air.

- Where's Sinead?

- Every hour she's gone,

chances plummet.

- Signs of a struggle.

(CLAMOUR)

Frank Pastors knew something.

The public is safe from you,

but who's out there?

I want checkpoints on every road

going out of Mount Affinity.

Aileen.

FRANK: Diana Huia,

what does she know

that you don't?