01x02 - Shroud for a Nightingale (Part 2)

[bunniefuu]

No evidence of strangulation

or suffocation,

no external marks of violence

of any kind,

but it's unlikely to be

a natural death.

If it was poison,

I'm assuming it wasn't corrosive?

Correct.

No carbolic acid this time.

Time of death,

based on rectal temperature

and the degree of rigor in

the lower limbs,

around eight hours ago.

- So, about midnight, then.

- Taking a common-sense view, of course,

- she died when she drank that nightcap.

- Well, print man only found

- her prints on the glass.

- Is there a suicide note?

Haven't found one yet.

Cover her up, please.

I need my cigarettes.

Sit down.

- Did she look like she'd been m*rder*d?

- Nurse Pardoe!

I want to know if it looked like m*rder

or suicide.

She looked horrified,

and she looked terrified.

I wish I'd never gone in there.

- Why did you?

- Because her light was on,

and I'd got up to use the bathroom.

I'm sorry for the loss of

your friend.

DS Masterson will be taking

witness statements.

Was she m*rder*d?

It's too early to say.

Maybe someone's picking us off,

one by one.

- Please be quiet!

- Which of you was the last to see her alive?

It might have been me.

She came into the kitchen

when I was making a cup of tea,

before bed.

I poured some boiled water

into a glass for her.

Well, well!

It was just boiling water.

- Bag the kettle and send it for testing.

- Yes, sir.

Well played, Dalgliesh. They send

you here to investigate one m*rder,

you let another one happen

right under your nose.

I don't know yet

that it IS a m*rder.

- Surely it's more likely to be suicide?

- I put in a call to

the Commissioner. He's hardly likely

to trust me with the home's safety,

- now there's a serial k*ller on the loose.

- I don't think it's helpful

- to speak in that way.

- Nor do I. I ought to tell you

I saw her light on, Fallon's.

It must have been around 2am.

I was on my way to bed after nursing

a patient in the main hospital.

Thank you. DS Masterson will

take statements from you all.

Please don't leave

the hospital site.

And what are you

going to bloody do?!

I I was making a cup of tea,

and she came in and

and got her cup. She cut some lemon,

and then I poured the boiled water.

Did you feel the kettle,

before boiling it?

No, there was enough water in it,

so I

- I just turned it on.

- Did you have something against Fallon,

- like you had something against Pearce?

- No!

I didn't have anything

against Pearce.

- She was trying to help me.

- Oh, is that right?

Jo was very private. She was

sophisticated.

She was the best nurse in our year.

Did that bother you,

that she was the best?

I suppose it did

bother me sometimes,

but I'll be leaving as

soon as I'm qualified.

I'm getting married. He's a vicar.

There'll be plenty for me

to do around the parish.

Anyway, the hospital aren't keen on

married women staying on.

What was her relationship

like with Heather Pearce?

Civil.

Pearce once threatened to complain

to Matron about Jo keeping whisky

in the kitchen,

but I don't think Jo held a grudge.

And what about her relationship

with Nurse Dakers?

She was generally pretty kind

to her. Kinder than

most of us.

I must have turned out the light

at around midnight.

I woke up at

about half past five,

- when Matron knocked on the door.

- So, you didn't go and visit

anyone in the middle of the night,

didn't go to the nurses' corridor?

- No. Why on earth would I have done?

- It was Courtney-Briggs that got you

- this job, wasn't it?

- No! Well, he was one of my references.

Still, you're close, are you?

No.

Well, I

I consider Stephen a friend but

he's a married man

I don't understand,

why is this relevant?

- Did Jo have a boyfriend?

- She didn't tell me she did,

but I think there was someone.

She would often go to London,

whenever she had free time.

She mentioned some personal

letters to me.

I can't find them in her room.

You don't know what those

- might have been about?

- No, sorry, I don't.

Do you think someone m*rder*d her?

- Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?

- Actually, there is.

But it's not about Jo,

it's about Pearce.

I remember you said

no detail's too small.

A couple of days before she died,

I went into her room

to ask her if she wanted some cake,

and I noticed that she was reading.

Apart from her Bible, she never read,

not even magazines.

And it could have been a textbook,

but it felt like she didn't want me

to see it. She pushed it under the covers.

And I was thinking,

perhaps that's what was missing

from under her pillow

on the morning she died.

So, why don't you tell me

where you were last night?

I was in my room,

with the door locked, Sergeant,

asleep.

So, no medical students there, Nurse?

- No.

- No-one else came to join you?

No.

I was alone

all night.

- Do you mind if I join you?

- Oh, please do.

It's funny, one doesn't really

think of policemen eating.

I don't know how any of us

are managing to eat.

These poor girls,

I can't stop thinking about them.

Think about them, then,

and give us all some peace.

May I ask you something?

A letter arrived for Nurse Pearce

- from her grandmother, posted a few days ago.

- Oh, her poor family.

It's clear Nurse Pearce had told her

she was very upset about

the death of a patient,

a Mr Dettinger.

Pearce was on my ward for

the last rotation

and she was assigned to

Mr Dettinger.

He was one of

Mr Courtney-Briggs' patients.

Crohn's disease,

with severe complications.

So, she would have spent

a lot of time with this patient?

Yes,

and that's why she was

affected by his death.

In fact, I'm relieved.

My nurses all have to get used to

death, but I like to know

they also care. Excuse me.

Patient of Courtney-Briggs.

Pearce nursed him until he died,

aged 59, at the beginning of

last week. She'd clearly grown

close to him. Next of kin,

Louise Dettinger, his mother.

She's in London.

I tried calling, but there's no

reply. As soon as you finish with

the statements,

I want you to go and find her.

- I want to know if

- You are joking?

Pearce was troubled in the days

following Dettinger's death.

I want to know if she said anything to him.

Yeah, but if I go to London,

I'll be out of action for

- the rest of the day.

- You'll be IN action, doing what

- I've asked you to do.

- Look, she's the one we ought to be focusing on.

She's got opportunity for both of them

and a clear motive for

the first. If we just dug

a little bit deeper

I haven't ruled her out.

I'm not ruling any of them out.

Josephine Fallon, I'll check.

- Do you have a library card?

- No, actually, it's missing.

Yes, she is a member.

Would you like me to check if her card's

- been handed in?

- Does the record say which books were taken out

- on her card and when?

- Yes, two books, in the last few weeks.

Simone de Beauvoir, and

Yes. I remember this.

Very unusual request.

I spoke to her myself.

She asked for an account

of the n*zi w*r trials.

We didn't have one, of course,

so I had to order one

- from the County Library.

- When was this?

She came to collect it

four days ago. In fact,

she must have returned it yesterday,

but not in the correct way.

She left it on a pile

of children's books.

Not very responsible.

- I still have it, if you'd like to see it?

- Yes.

Can you describe the woman

you dealt with?

She was medium height.

Long, fair hair, in plaits.

Heather Pearce.

Yes. Nicotine sulphate.

That would be consistent with

what I found.

I'll be testing

the stomach contents, but

yes, the vomiting,

the dilated pupils,

cyanosis — all evidence of seizure.

She died from respiratory failure,

all of which is consistent with

nicotine poisoning.

You didn't find anything unusual

under her fingernails?

- Sand?

- No. No sand.

Time of death, I can confirm,

between midnight and 2am,

at the latest.

And I'm afraid

there's something else.

She was pregnant.

About 13 or 14 weeks.

Cause to take her own life, perhaps?

She didn't take her own life.

What would your boss say,

if he could see you now?

He'd fire me.

He's not into human frailty. He

thinks he's a saint, but he's not.

- You don't like him?

- He's an arrogant son of a b*tch.

Sexy, though.

- He's old enough to be your grandad!

- He's not.

Anyway, it's not about age.

- It's about power.

- Oh, yeah?

Is that why you like me, then?

Sex isn't frailty. Sex is power.

It's one of the only powers

women can match men for.

Blow for blow.

And I'm very good at exercising it.

Why do you bother with

medical students, then?

That wasn't a student in my room.

It was Stephen Courtney-Briggs.

If you're going to pick a dog

pick the top dog.

- Christ!

- What, too old?

Nah, I just don't like the thought of him

having been where I've just been.

We could have any of them

in that place.

Even the females. They're all

so bloody lonely and desperate.

- You haven't, have you?

- Gearing and her smudgy mascara.

Brumfett yapping and sniffing

round Matron's heels.

I don't know how Matron stands it.

I'm a good nurse,

but I'm crap at exams.

Courtney-Briggs

will make sure I pass.

And now

I have power over you Sergeant.

Yeah, right!

Oh

One word from me and you're sacked.

Well, one word from me

and you're off the course.

Sexy, isn't it?

Any of you recognise this?

Yes. It's my rose spray.

I bought it last year.

She didn't?

Oh, no.

Oh, no

But how did she know about it?

I I keep it in here,

right at the back. It's

It's hidden from sight.

- Look, you can see the mark, where it was.

- Where did you find it?

Why would she even look in here?

- I I didn't hurt her.

- No-one's saying you did.

But it's what you're thinking.

I hardly knew her. I've only spoken

- to her a few times.

- Would anyone else in Nightingale House

- know about the rose spray?

- I can't think why they would.

Yes.

Morag Smith, the cleaning girl.

I asked her to

clean that cupboard out.

It must have been

in November. Well, she would

certainly have seen it.

You should talk to her.

I mean, she's odd.

- In fact

- Sister.

I I didn't go anywhere near

Fallon, or Pearce.

- I haven't done anything wrong.

- I need to get back to my ward.

Actually, Sister Brumfett,

I need to speak to you.

Me?

- I can speak to you after I finish my

- It'll have to be now.

I want you to know I object

to the way you speak to me,

to all of us.

I suppose it's because we're women.

You're taking advantage of

Matron's good nature.

She's allowing you far too much

freedom, licence.

Remind me, Sister,

did you serve in the w*r?

- No, I was still training.

- You say you were called to the hospital

last night by Mr Courtney-Briggs.

When you arrived, was he there?

- No, he'd gone.

- Gone?

Well, home, I assume.

Or to one of the restrooms.

And coming back at around 2am,

you heard someone moving on

the nurses' corridor

and you went to investigate.

Well, I thought someone, at least,

ought to be vigilant.

And you saw the Burt twins.

Yes. They couldn't sleep.

I noticed Fallon's light

was still on, but I didn't

- think anything of it.

- She discharged herself yesterday, didn't she?

Against your advice.

You didn't think to knock on her

door, to check if she was all right?

If she needed anything,

it was sleep.

I certainly wasn't going to disturb

her in the middle of the night.

Which entrance to Nightingale House

would you normally use

- when coming back late at night?

- Yes, I would normally use

the back entrance to Mary's

to Matron's staircase, but your

constable was at the front door

and the weather was so dreadful,

so I went in that way,

and up the main stairs.

I'm not sure whether you know this

by now, and I don't normally

break confidentiality,

but Nurse Fallon was pregnant.

- Yes. Did she confide in you about it?

- No, but I've been nursing

for too many years

not to spot something like that.

Perhaps she couldn't live with the shame.

She wouldn't be the first.

Or perhaps it's true

what everyone's saying,

that she did k*ll Pearce and

she couldn't live with that either.

Perhaps Pearce found out about the

pregnancy and threatened to tell.

Have you thought of that?

From what I hear,

Pearce was adept at blackmail.

Thank you for your thoughts, Sister.

You can go now.

- You're late.

- Mrs Louise Dettinger?

- Who are you?

- Detective Sergeant Masterson.

I'm with the Metropolitan Police.

I'd like to ask some questions about

your son, Martin, and his time at

the John Carpenter Hospital.

- Would you?

- Yes, I would, actually. I've come a long way.

Heatheringfield. Is there something

wrong with your phone?

Oh, for f*ck's sake!

He should at least

have telephoned me.

Who?

Tony, my partner.

- We've got a competition tomorrow.

- All right, look, I need to ask you

some questions about your son's

stay at the hospital, all right?

Particularly about a nurse called Pearce.

She was assigned to him.

Leave that!

Did you ever meet Nurse Pearce?

Did you ever visit your son?

I visited every day.

He died, you know.

- You don't say?!

- My only one.

- Do you dance, Mr Big Policeman?

- No, thanks.

- Now, look, I've got to ask

- You can go away, then

and you'll never hear

what I've got to tell you.

- Masterson and I will stay here tonight.

- Good. I won't pretend

I'm not relieved.

Fallon was m*rder*d, wasn't she?

Yes.

Courtney-Briggs, he looked, erm,

stricken when he saw her body

this morning.

- Was there a connection between them?

- There were rumours about

some sort of relationship.

He has been known to stray. Perhaps

I should have told you. It

It really was just a rumour.

What Sister Gearing said about

Morag Smith, I hope you won't

It's like Dakers,

she's an easy scapegoat.

Have you spoken to her yet?

I'm going to find her.

I think I know where she'll be.

Does Courtney-Briggs ever

talk about the w*r? I mean,

- specific incidents or people?

- Not really.

I know he served.

Occasionally, he speaks about it

in terms of surgical practice.

Why?

What is it you've got to tell me?

Spin.

Something odd did happen when

Martin was in that hospital.

What?

- Oi! What?!

- Too rough!

Naughty!

He thought he was good

when I taught him.

- He thought he was very good.

- Who did?

Stephen Courtney-Briggs.

Help!

Somebody help me!

Help!

Somebody!

- What happened?

- Someone hit him over the 'ead.

- Lock all the doors.

- That's a deep cut.

Lock them. Check who's missing.

- Call Mr Courtney-Briggs. Use my office.

- Yes, Matron.

- He'll be with Sister Brumfett, on her ward.

- Not Courtney-Briggs.

Not Courtney-Briggs.

- It's all right.

- Not Courtney-Briggs.

It's all right.

You're all right.

You're all right. Stay still now.

You were hit very hard.

Remember anything?

- Did you see who hit you?

- He was probably hit from behind.

Well, the wound will need stitches.

We'll need anaesthetic.

- I'll do it in outpatients theatre.

- No anaesthetic.

It'll need stitching immediately.

- You're losing a lot of blood.

- No

Martin served in the Army.

Intelligence Corps.

Clever.

He came all the way through

without a scratch.

And then afterwards, they sent

him to Germany, Felsenheim.

- Felsenheim?

- One of the w*r trials.

The Nazis, in the dock.

It went on and on and on.

I wanted him home. Days and days,

staring at those barbarians.

Watching them, listening to them.

And then, there he is,

lying in a bed

in the John Carpenter

and who does he see?

Who does he see?

- No!

- What the hell?! What's the matter?

I said no.

As you wish. Let's see if

you're still saying that

after the first stitch.

They do say that a needle

pushing through damaged flesh is

as painful as being run through

with a sword,

and you need 12, 13 stitches.

- If I were a sadist, it would be my lucky day.

- Tell me about

your relationship with

Josephine Fallon.

You think I k*lled Jo?

That's right, you don't trust me.

- Did you?

- No, I did not.

We did see each other,

for about a year.

I don't expect you to believe me,

but I was extremely fond of her.

It was her who called it off.

I've never fought for a woman before,

but for her, I did.

- Why did she call it off?

- Said it had run its course.

I'm certain there was nobody else.

She wasn't like that.

- When was this?

- About three months ago.

I had no reason at all

to want to hurt her.

She was discreet.

She wouldn't have talked.

Yes, I was hurt when she

finished it, but not that hurt.

Ready?

Oh, come on, come on, come on,

come on, come on.

Oh, sh*t!

Jo Fallon was pregnant.

- You didn't know?

- No.

13 or 14 weeks. What would you

have done if she'd told you?

I'd have helped her.

- To get rid of it?

- No. You don't think she k*lled herself bec?

My wife and I, it hasn't

happened for us.

Her fault, not mine.

I was trying to make peace with it.

Never becoming a father.

- Where did you serve in the w*r?

- What?

- Where exactly did you serve?

- Is this the Gearing thing again?

Christ's sake! Cairo.

You know, I don't have to answer

- any of your questions.

- I've checked. Everyone who's supposed to be in

- Nightingale House is here.

- Thanks.

I'm done here. I'll be in the hospital,

unless you want to arrest me.

Are you all right?

They told me you got hit.

- Someone attacked me in the woods. I'm fine.

- You look terrible.

- You didn't get a look at 'em?

- No.

Well, I think I've got something

that's going to make you feel

a whole lot better. You were right.

Dettinger.

Something DID happen

while he was on the ward.

- He recognised someone.

- Who?

This is going to sound insane.

So, he was at the n*zi w*r trials,

right? Germany.

A place called Felsenheim.

"Funny sort of hospital, this, Ma.

- "They've got Grobel working here, as a sister."

- A sister?

He was on Brumfett's ward,

wasn't he?

And there's more. When his mother

told Courtney-Briggs what he'd said,

he gave her a discount off her bill,

halved it, and told them

not to mention it to anyone.

So, Dettinger recognises Brumfett,

working in this English hospital,

bold as brass. He says something

to Pearce. Now, there's nothing that

Pearce likes more than a bit of

blackmail, so she confronts

Brumfett. And Brumfett takes

the first opportunity to k*ll her.

She had time, just between breakfast

- and going to her ward.

- Felsenheim.

- Where the hell did you get that?

- It was borrowed from the library

by Heather Pearce, on Fallon's

library card. Read it to me.

Yeah, Felsenheim.

- Here she is.

- Irmgard Grobel.

Jesus Christ!

One of eight

working at a medical facility,

accused of murdering

122 Polish prisoners by lethal injection.

Bloody hell!

Found guilty.

Sentenced to ni

12 years. Leniency exercised

because of her age, 19.

Well, that's her, then.

Brumfett's this Grobel.

Though it does seem incredible

that he'd recognise

that mousy little bint after,

what, 30 years?

- I guess he did.

- But he didn't say her name, Brumfett?

What?

No. Well, not according to

his mother, but

it's got to be her, hasn't it?

Why would he have seen another sister?

It was nonsense.

Dettinger was an extremely sick man,

delirious, a lot of the time. But I

didn't want her running to the press

and linking my name with

some insane scandal,

or the hospital's. So, I gave her

what she wanted and reduced

- her bill, to shut her up.

- And you didn't think to tell us this?

I wanted to close it down.

I didn't think it was relevant.

- We decide what's relevant.

- Would Dettinger have seen any other sisters on

- the ward, apart from Brumfett?

- Probably. Sister Gearing is often

conducting What's going on?

- You're not saying he was right?

- Fetch Brumfett from her ward.

- I'll find Gearing.

- Sister Brumfett's not on her ward. She finished

- at four this afternoon.

- But I thought What?

Matron said

She said she was on her ward.

- What's happening?

- Do you know where Brumfett is,

- or Sister Gearing?

- No, I've been in my office.

Sir!

- Sir, they're not up there.

- Brumfett finished her shift

- at four o'clock.

- Did she? I'm sure she wasn't supposed to.

Fire!

Fire!

Wait here, girls.

I think it's the gardener's hut!

It has spread!

Go back, all of you!

Call the fire brigade.

- Where's Morag, she up there?

- I didn't see her.

Where is she?

- You're here.

- Of course. Locked in, ain't I?

What about Sister Brumfett?

Keep the girls upstairs.

There won't be anyone in there.

You don't think?

Morag, get back! Right back!

Get right back!

- We need to do something!

- No, no!

Oh, f*ck me!

Go and secure the house,

make sure nobody leaves.

I haven't touched anything.

It's on the bed.

"I k*lled Heather Pearce.

"She had found out something

she had no business to know.

"I k*lled Josephine Fallon because

I knew she was bound to discover

"the nature of that secret and

reveal it to the authorities.

"I am filled with remorse

for the pain I have caused.

"I can no longer live.

"Please forget I ever existed.

Ethel Brumfett."

We don't want to stay.

We don't like this place.

We don't want to stay

in this place.

Well, go, then.

Run back to the farm.

It's not like you'll be missed much.

It's not places which are evil,

it's people.

I feel sorry for you.

I'd rather be me than you.

I'd rather be me than

have to live with a heart

that's hard and corrupted

and graceless.

Wow.

Whole sentences.

Ethel Brumfett,

that wasn't who she really was.

She was born in Germany.

- Her real name was

- Irmgard Grobel.

You know.

She told me years ago.

So long ago,

when we first started training.

I think she really needed

to tell someone.

Just one person. She was horrified

by what she'd been involved in.

She never told me exactly what,

but she did say that she was

very young and that she was only

doing what she was told to do.

After a while,

I stopped thinking about it.

Sometimes, I'd even wonder if

I'd imagined the whole thing.

And she'd served her sentence.

Every day, she was atoning for what

she'd done. She was a brilliant,

brilliant nurse.

- When did you find out?

- Not long ago,

but I did manage to get the Yard

to raise someone from Records

just now. They've located her file.

The courier's on his way with it.

You see, she didn't

serve her sentence. Not all of it.

She absconded after 14 months,

with one of the British soldiers

who was supposed to be guarding her.

So, her case is open.

She's wanted.

It wasn't just her reputation

and her vocation

she risked losing, it was

her freedom.

Extraordinary, really, that

she should be recognised,

after all these years.

She must have changed a lot.

There was nothing remarkable about her,

was there? Extraordinary that

one of her guards

would fall in love with her

and risk his freedom

to run away with her.

There was nothing romantic

about her.

Nothing inspiring, or

irresistible. Or perhaps there was.

There'll be a photograph in her record,

so we'll soon see.

Stop it.

It was you Dettinger recognised,

wasn't it? That face across a room.

Easy mistake to make to think

you were a sister. That

uniform, it's very like the ones

sisters wore during the w*r.

I didn't k*ll those girls. She did.

I wasn't even here when

she k*lled Pearce.

I was horrified, incensed,

when she told me what she'd done.

And to k*ll Fallon

All I said was that Fallon was bound

to find out about the book. I didn't

mean for her to She was obsessed.

She was obsessed with me.

She couldn't bear the

thought of losing me.

It must have been very hard for you.

All those years, knowing the power

she had over you.

She loved it.

She never, ever left me alone.

Everywhere I went, every job I took,

every holiday, every Christmas,

she was there.

- I hated her.

- So, you k*lled her?

No.

Or did you simply persuade

her that she had to do this one

heroic thing for you?

I will find out the truth.

It would be better if you told me.

Where were you when you were 19?

University?

Cosy rooms, toast by the fire?

I was being made to work for people

who terrified me.

I didn't want to k*ll those men.

Those poor, trusting men.

They thought I was

inoculating them against TB.

They'd file in, one by one.

Smile at me.

Thank me for being kind.

Some of them would try to touch me,

but not many.

They'd lean close,

breathe in, as I pushed

poison into their veins.

I can still feel it.

Their breath against my face.

You're like me. You don't just see

the everyday, the banal.

Human beings running about

this little planet,

thinking everything they do matters

and has meaning.

You

You see the underneath.

Our souls.

You know me.

I've served my time.

A higher justice.

Human beings do matter, and

every human being

has a right to justice.

Let me go.

- Yes, Sergeant?

- Well, we found drag marks, sir.

Most of them have been pretty much

washed away, but

well, there's one definite track

where it looks like a body

- could have been dragged.

- Good.

Start a search in

Sister Brumfett's room.

Then start in here.

Don't.

Irmgard Grobel, I'm arresting you

on suspicion of absconding from jail

and on suspicion of the m*rder of

Ethel Brumfett.

You do not have to say anything

unless you wish to,

but anything you do say

will be taken down in writing

and may be used in evidence.

Do you understand?