OK, thought you people deserved to see this, the full unedited text to Interview. Please note this remains absolutely the copyright of Ian Rennie, I authorise people to view this site and if they wish to print off one text copy, other unauthorised copying will be met with the full force of the law, or a half-brick, whichever comes to hand. OK, enjoy. Also please note that it looks shite at the moment, but I'll alter up the text and make it pretty later.
Interview A play by Ian Rennie [At the start of the scene, there should be a tape of heavy breathing running, interspersed with a female voice occasionally saying ‘what do you want?' ‘Leave me alone, you pervert’ and so forth, this should last for about 20 seconds until there is the noise of a phone hanging up. The heavy breathing should slowly fade out. Light comes up slowly on one half of the stage. This half of the stage contains a table large enough to seat four, a tape recorder and four chairs. The other half of the stage contains a desk, several filing cabinets and other office paraphernalia, this half is as yet unlit. There is a door set in centre stage. On one side of the desk, opposite the door, DAVID and PRIOR sit in silence. DAVID is a man of about late twenties to thirty, and is dressed in old, tattered work jeans and a T-shirt. DAVID should look as if this is just about all he has to wear, yet manages, despite his clothing, to sit in a reasonable amount of dignity, as if he knows something about the situation that others may not. PRIOR is a female legal aid lawyer in her mid twenties. She is dressed in a smart but inexpensive jacket, shirt and skirt and has laid a blue foolscap folder and a pad of A4 paper on the table in front of her. At her feet should be a cheap leather document case. PRIOR should be neat, respectable, solid and yet not in control of the situation. Her attempts later on to calm DAVID should seem at least slightly like attempts to placate him. DAVID waits 10 seconds after the lights come up before speaking] DAVID: So, who is he? PRIOR: Who? DAVID: The man they’re sending to talk to me. PRIOR: It’s just an interviewer, Mr McFadden. All he wants to do is ask you a few questions. DAVID: I don’t believe you. It has to be more than that. If it’s just a few questions, why isn’t the arresting officer doing the interview? It’s standard procedure, they only change that when they have a tricky suspect or a security risk. They think I did it, Prior. They’re out to fix this on me. PRIOR: Now, calm down, Mr McFadden, they’re not out to ‘fix’ anything on anyone. All you’re doing here is helping them with their inquiries. DAVID: [sardonic] that’s a euphemism if ever I heard one. If I’m being such a help, why did they feel the need to arrest me? I haven’t done anything. PRIOR: This is just procedure. All they want is to eliminate you from the list of suspects DAVID: How? No-one knows exactly when it happened. No-one’s even sure exactly what happened. All they know is that her coat was found on the bank of the canal. What do they want from me, medical proof of hydrophobia? PRIOR: I still say you’re overreacting to this. At the moment, the police are just following up every lead they have. You’ll probably be released after 48 hours and that will be an end to the matter. DAVID: What if they don’t? What if they charge me for this? How’s that going to look on my CV? ‘Remanded in custody for six months’, that’ll screw up any remaining employment chances I have. PRIOR: Mr McFadden, would you please calm down? You are building this up out of all proportion. At the moment, they just need to place you for the last few days. The chances of them charging anyone for anything at this stage of the investigation are laughable. Remember that the coat was only found 2 days ago. At the moment, as you yourself said no-one’s sure exactly what happened. You’re here because you refused to talk to them otherwise and for no other reason than that. DAVID: What can I say? I don’t like the police, never have. PRIOR: It was still a mistake on your part, if only because it places you in jail for two days. DAVID: Look, I’m sorry I got angry. I’ve never really been in this kind of situation before and I’m a bit scared. OK, very scared. I don’t want to go to jail for this. I haven’t done anything. PRIOR: I understand, Mr McFadden. I realise this is a stressful situation for you, but please try to keep calm, you’re going to be just fine. DAVID: [in some agitation] you’d think they’d open a window in here. It feels like I’m in a damn oven. PRIOR: Do you want to take off your jacket? DAVID: [sees her looking at him, adopts a more relaxed stance] No. I’ll be OK. Where the hell’s this guy got to? PRIOR: I’m sure he’ll be here in just a minute. They won’t keep us waiting long. DAVID: What’s his name again? PRIOR: Detective Sergeant Elton. DAVID: [thinks for a moment] No.. he’s certainly not one of the investigating officers. He’s been brought in specially. I don’t see why they need an outside man if this is all just routine. PRIOR: Try to remember what kind of case this is. Nothing is exactly just routine in something as serious as… DAVID: Go on. Say it. Say ‘Murder’. You and I have been walking on eggshells with regard to that word ever since they brought you in here. Say ‘Murder’ because that’s what they’re accusing me of. PRIOR: You haven’t been accused. You’ve been arrested, not charged. You’re suspected of it, not accused of it. Anyway, they’re not even sure it is murder yet. DAVID: Very clever. Well put. I must say your constant messing with words is really putting my mind at ease here. PRIOR: Mr Mcfadden. David. Please don’t get angry with me. I’m just trying to do my job here. DAVID: Just like this Elton guy will be trying to do his job, and that’s to put me inside. PRIOR: David, don’t be stupid. Sergeant Elton’s job is to find out what has happened. My job is to help you. All I want to do is to do my job. If you don’t want my help, then I can’t stay here against your will. DAVID: [relents] I’m sorry. Look, it’s been a tough day for me, I’m acting a bit strangely because it’s all a bit much to take in. I do need your help, I’m just a bit confused by this whole situation. PRIOR: As long as you want my help, Mr McFadden, you have it. [a knock sounds at the door. After a two second wait, FRANK enters, in a smart work suit and sits at the table without really looking at the two other occupants of the room. DAVID slowly recognises him, and by the time FRANK sits down, DAVID has achieved full recognition .] FRANK: Sorry to have kept you waiting so long, Mr McFadden. I’ll just get these tapes in the machine and we can- DAVID: [standing] Frank? FRANK: [looks up and sees DAVID for the first time. Stands as he speaks] David? Is that you? DAVID: Fucking hell. Frank Elton, after all these years. PRIOR: David, what’s going on here? DAVID: [distracted] What? PRIOR: Am I to take it you two know each other? DAVID: Know each other? Ten years ago, we were inseparable! PRIOR: Sergeant, is this true? FRANK: [still a bit in shock, a longish pause] What? Oh- DAVID: Of course it’s true, Same school, same class, same route home, same everything. PRIOR: Look, I really must protest. If you know him, he’s hardly going to be an impartial interviewer, is he? DAVID: It’s OK. Frank’s all right. Straight as a die, this man. [stares at FRANK] Straight as a die. FRANK: David, I- PRIOR: This is a clear conflict of interests. I’m here to represent my client’s interests and this hardly serves them, does it? FRANK: I- DAVID: Look, I told you, Frank’s all right! PRIOR: I’ve no doubt he is, but how is it going to look in court, if it gets that far? FRANK: I- I’m sorry. I don’t know if I can deal with this situation. If you’ll wait here a few minutes you’ll be escorted back to your cell. I’m sorry. DAVID: Frank! FRANK: I’m sorry, David. [exits] [blackout. Tape playing of the same heavy breathing, the same woman’s voice, this time there should also be the muffled voice of a man interspersed with the heavy breathing. After 20 seconds, lights come up on Detective Inspector BANKS’ office. She is sat behind a desk. BANKS is a smart, well spoken but impersonal administrator, who tries to have time for people, but works better with numbers. There is a knock at the door] BANKS: Enter. [FRANK enters the room, obviously very troubled about something] FRANK: Sir, I wondered if I could have a word. BANKS: Frank, shouldn’t you be working on the Emily Graham case? FRANK: That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, sir. Uniform brought in a suspect. BANKS: Already? That’s good work. Why aren’t you questioning him? FRANK: That’s the problem. I know him, sir. BANKS: You know him? FRANK: More accurately, I used to know him. We were friends at school, ten years ago. Good friends. I haven’t seen him since though. I think I should be taken off the case, sir. I see this as a conflict of interests. BANKS: [sighs slightly and stands] Frank, you are, if you’ll forgive the expression, one of the rising stars of CID at the moment. You made DS at twenty seven, something most of your peers won’t do until their mid thirties, if at all. I’m proud of you, I put a lot of trust in you, that’s why I gave you the Emily Graham case to handle. FRANK: I’m well aware of this, sir and I wish I could handle the case, but you can see my dilemma, surely sir? BANKS: I hope you can see mine, Frank. You see what you view as a conflict of interests is just one factor I have to consider in this whole matter. You’re a good investigator, a good interviewer, you get the job done. In my opinion you’re the best man for this case. If you drop out at this stage, who will I find to replace you? Very few officers have the violent crime experience round here. I also have to combine this with the fact that Operation Silverfish is running from this station. Most of my uniform and a good handful of my best CID have been seconded by Customs And bloody Excise. I’m running on a shoestring budget here. Look, I’m not telling you that if you leave the case it will fall apart or anything like that, but I am asking you if you feel you do have to drop this case. I mean, you said yourself, you haven’t seen this man in ten years. Do you think it still constitutes a conflict of interest? FRANK: Well, we were very close friends, sir. BANKS: You were close ten years ago. Do you think this will cloud your judgement? People change a lot in ten years, remember that. I’m not trying to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, frank, but please remember the bigger picture here. Most of my best officers are tied up with Silverfish. If you leave this investigation, I can’t guarantee the next person to take hold of it will be as good an investigator as you. I don’t mean to pile on the pressure, but I also don’t want a guilty man to walk free, or for that matter an innocent man to go to jail. FRANK: [increasingly stressed] I see, sir. BANKS: Good. Of course if you still think you cannot handle the case I’ll have to find someone else, but I’m sure it won’t come to that. FRANK: [resignedly ]No, sir. BANKS: I’m glad we understand each other, Frank, and I’m glad you felt you could come and talk to me about this. Good afternoon, Frank. FRANK: [despondently] thank you, sir. [Blackout, this time the conversation should be just about audible, although the voices should be completely unidentifiable, WOMAN: Hello? MAN: (sound of heavy breathing) WOMAN: You again? This is really pathetic, you know. What do you get out of it, you freak? MAN: (continues breathing for about three seconds, then, only just audibly) What do I get out of it? WOMAN: He speaks! Found your voice at last, you sad git? MAN: What do I get out of it? I’ll tell you what I get out of it. I get you out of it. following this, the sound of a phone hanging up. Lights come up on the interview room. This time only DAVID is in there. He sits silently, looking nervously from side to side, as if he expects something to happen to him. He looks edgy and more than a little frightened, but also slightly manic. There is a knock on the door, and in the two seconds or so before it opens he assumes a much calmer posture. PRIOR enters, holding a sheath of papers] DAVID: So what’s happening? PRIOR: It turns out that Sergeant Elton has changed his mind. He’ll be through here to interview you in a few minutes. DAVID: Good. PRIOR: Mr McFadden- DAVID: I’ve told you, please call me David. I get uncomfortable if people stand on ceremony with me. PRIOR: All right. David, I’m still not sure that being interviewed by Sergeant Elton is in your best interests. DAVID: Why ever not? Frank’s on the level. I told you before. I’m a bit surprised he’s police, but he’s not one to handle anything improperly. Besides which, why should he? We were friends, he’s not going to hold a grudge against me. PRIOR: David, I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about what will happen if this gets to trial. The prosecution are bound to pick up on your interviewing officer being a friend of yours, and therefore will take a much more pessimistic view of any testimony he submits. No matter what else happens, having Sergeant Elton interview you will probably lengthen your trial. Even if he releases you without charge, the next officer may not, and that will give them another forty eight hours to interview you. DAVID: You’re forgetting, Ms Prior, I didn’t do it. Frank will understand when I talk to him. PRIOR: All right, what if he’s as on the level as you say? He’s likely to be tougher on you because you’re a friend of his and he doesn’t want to be seen as lenient on people he knows. If anything, he’s overcompensate. You’ll probably get a tougher interview with Sergeant Elton than you would with anyone else. DAVID: I’m an innocent man, they’re not going to get anything on me because there’s nothing to get on me. PRIOR: You’ve certainly changed your tune from an hour ago. Before Sergeant Elton came in you were convinced they were going to lock you up without trial. DAVID: Well, that was when the police were just this faceless mass in front of me, I thought they were capable of anything. Now I’ve got a face I know, I’m a lot calmer. Frank’s a reasonable man, he’s sure to see I had nothing to do with it. PRIOR: I don’t see how you can be so sure. You haven’t seen him in ten years, remember that. DAVID: People don’t change that much, Amanda. He’s still the same old Frank Elton under the surface. PRIOR: Well, I hope you’re right to be so confident. I still have my doubts. [A knock sounds at the door. Two seconds later, Frank opens it and comes through. He pasuses for a second before doing anything else] FRANK: Erm, before I go on, I’d like to apologise for my conduct before. At the time I viewed my being here as a conflict of interests. I’ve had time to think about it, and I’m willing to continue with the interview if there are no objections from anyone else. PRIOR: My client has expressed no objections, sergeant. I respect my client’s wishes, but would like to record my opinion that this is most irregular. FRANK: This will be duly noted, Ms Prior [seats himself opposite PRIOR and DAVID and places two cassettes into the tape recorders and cues them up] Interview number 58396 at four thirty two PM on Thursday the twenty sixth of August 1999. Interview with Mr Robert David McFadden, those present: myself, Sergeant Frank Elton; Robert David McFadden and Mr McFadden’s lawyer, Ms Amanda Prior. Mr McFadden, could you please confirm your name by repeating it onto the tape. DAVID: My name is Robert David McFadden. FRANK: Thank you. Before I continue, I should remind you, Mr McFadden that although you do not have to speak, it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something you later rely on in court. Anything you say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you. Now, Mr McFadden, I want to talk to you about the circumstances of your arrest. Constable Willis reports that you were taken into custody because you refused to answer questions and became violent and abusive when Constables Willis and Andrews attempted to get answers to their questions. Can you tell me why, Mr McFadden? DAVID: I don’t like the police. I don’t like people trying to hassle me. All I wanted was to be left alone, I told one of the policemen that I had nothing to say to them, but they wouldn’t let up. In the end I yelled at him to get away from me or I’d get angry. FRANK: This differs slightly from what Constable Willis has to say about the matter. He says you initially ignored him, quickly became violent and abusive and he was forced to arrest you after you punched Constable Andrews. DAVID: Look, he was really becoming a drag. I told him to leave me alone, I walked off. I just wanted to get home. He grabbed me by the shoulder. He shouldn’t have done that. I don’t like people touching me. He was really bothering me. FRANK: Nevertheless, you assaulted a police officer in the execution of his duties, and therefore you were arrested. I need hardly tell you that this casts a bad light upon your case. DAVID: Oh, come on, Frank! He was being a right little Hitler, you know the type, give them a badge and a helmet and they think they’re the lord god almighty. You must remember that I’ve never liked the police. FRANK: Firstly, for the purposes of this interview, my name is Sergeant Elton. Secondly, what I do or do not remember is entirely beside the point. What I want to know is why you evaded the officer’s questions to the point of physical assault. DAVID: I told you. FRANK: Mr McFadden, you have told me that you risked arrest for assault because you ‘didn’t like police’. This shows me one of two things: either you are supremely illogical or you have something to hide. DAVID: I don’t have anything to hide, I just wasn’t thinking straight. I just really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, especially not police, and this guy just wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t thinking. FRANK: Are you sure that’s the reason? Would you object to me asking you some of the questions that Constables Andrews and Willis wanted to ask? DAVID: [beginning to get agitated] I haven’t done anything! FRANK: Mr Mcfadden, that’s exactly what I’m trying to confirm. PRIOR: David, you have nothing to lose by answering these questions. I’d counsel in favour of it. DAVID: [looks first at PRIOR, then at FRANK, then down at the desk] All right. What do you want to ask? FRANK: I’ll start by asking you if you knew Emily Graham. DAVID: Vaguely. She lived across the road from me. FRANK: For the benefit of the tape, can you confirm that you live at 242 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury? DAVID: I’ve already said all this. FRANK: Could you confirm this for the benefit of the tape? DAVID: [sighs] All right, I confirm it. FRANK: And Miss Graham lived at 237 Wilmslow Road. DAVID: I’m not certain of the number, but if you say so. I’d never really spoken to her more than just to sat ‘hi’ when I saw her in the street. FRANK: Can you tell me the last time you saw her? DAVID: I’m not entirely sure. I think it was on Sunday in the middle of Didsbury. FRANK: Are you sure it was her? Are you sure that was the last time you saw her? DAVID: I said ‘hi’ to her. It was definitely her. I haven’t really been out since then. I try to keep yourself to myself. FRANK: If you haven’t been out since, what were you doing when Constables Andrews and Willis tried to talk to you? DAVID: I was going to get my giro. If you want proof, then it should be in my personal effects. FRANK: Do you have any proof that you hadn’t been out of your house since Sunday? DAVID: I’d hardly invited my friends round to keep me company, had I? The place isn’t furnished. I’ve got a camp bed, a fan heater, a kettle, a radio and that’s about it. FRANK: Are you a squatter? DAVID: If I was a squatter, I’d hardly be able to get my giro cheque, would I? My uncle owns the house. We’re not exactly on the best of terms, but he still sees me as family. He lets me live there rent free so he doesn’t have to talk to me. FRANK: So, the only evidence we have that you had stayed in your house since Sunday is your own. Did you phone anyone? DAVID: I don’t have a phone. Any calls I have to make, I use phoneboxes. There’s one at the bottom of the street. FRANK: So, to all intents and purposes you were invisible from Sunday until today, you didn’t phone, didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t go out. DAVID: Yes. FRANK: And the last time you went out was Sunday, when you saw Emily Graham. PRIOR: Sergeant, can I ask where this is leading? FRANK: Ms Prior, I’m merely trying to establish Mr McFadden’s movements, and also if possible try to work out those of Emily Graham. So far Mr McFadden’s sighting of her on Sunday is the last time anyone saw her. PRIOR: I see, and so because my client was the last person to see her, he’s thrown into the spotlight over this, is that it? FRANK: Ms Prior, I don’t like speculation over the likely outcome of any investigation, but I can tell you that it doesn’t look all that good for your client. Mr McFadden, a lot of what you’re telling me does cast suspicion in your direction. Firstly, you have the latest sighting of her, no-one else had seen her sooner than last Friday. Secondly, you cannot bring anyone else to bear witness to your movements after Sunday. Lastly, you reacted violently to the two officers who wished to question you today, violent action which resulted in your arrest. DAVID: Look, I’ve done nothing. Nothing! I reacted badly because they were giving me a hard time. I like to keep myself to myself, that’s all. FRANK: Mr McFadden. I’m just trying to establish the facts of the matter. How did Miss Graham look when you last saw her? DAVID: I don’t know, I only saw her for a few seconds, long enough to see it was her, that’s all. FRANK: You spoke to her, you saw the expression on her face. DAVID: I only said ‘Hi,’ FRANK: From what you saw of her, did she look bothered about anything? DAVID: Bothered? FRANK: Bothered, distracted, worried, frightened, did she look frightened Mr McFadden? DAVID: I’m telling you, I don’t know. She looked like she always looked. FRANK: The report we have from Friday morning is that she left the house at the normal time for work, looking worried, distracted, looking as if something was wrong. You say that by Sunday she looked like she always looked. DAVID: Yes. FRANK: This despite the fact that she didn’t come home on Friday. DAVID: [looking slightly more worried] Yes. She just looked normal. FRANK: Where in Didsbury did you see her, Mr McFadden? DAVID: I don’t know! Somewhere between the post office, Tesco’s and the bus stop. That’s all I can remember. Look, could somebody open a window please? It’s getting very hot in here. PRIOR: David, this is an internal room, there are no windows in here. FRANK: Mr McFadden, did you know that Miss Graham had been getting threatening phone calls? DAVID: Why don’t you call me David? FRANK: Would you answer the question please, Mr McFadden? DAVID: Ten years ago, we were best friends, now you’re on the opposite side of the desk and I’m suddenly ‘Mr McFadden’. Call me by my real name for god’s sake! FRANK: All right. David, did you know that Miss Graham had been getting threatening phone calls? DAVID: [Calms down, breathes deeply for a few seconds] No. No, I didn’t. FRANK: She called the police about it over two weeks ago. There was nothing we could really do as she had no solid evidence. She was worried, obviously, but felt she was safer now she’d told someone. However, as I have told you, that Friday morning she was looking worried. Distracted. Scared. DAVID: I don’t see what this has got to do with me. FRANK: We’re currently of the opinion that whoever had made the first calls stopped after she had called the police, but started again on Thursday night. DAVID: And..? FRANK: And until now, that Friday morning was the last time anyone had seen her. You however claim to have seen her on Sunday looking ‘normal’. This tells me one of three things. Either you are mistaken, or you are lying, or Miss Graham’s disappearance has more to it than meets the eye. DAVID: You’re missing one possibility. FRANK: What? DAVID: What if she disappeared of her own accord? FRANK: You mean vanished without a trace apart from when she popped back to East Didsbury to do a bit of shopping? Come on, David! DAVID: Look, Manchester’s a big place, just because she’s vanished from Wilmslow Road doesn’t mean she’s vanished from the whole city. FRANK: I see, so it was just luck that the last person to see her before she did this vanishing act is the same person brought into the police station four days later for assaulting a police officer? DAVID: Frank, give me some slack here. I know I didn’t do anything, and I’m just trying to help you lot work out what happened, that’s all. FRANK: That’s what you claim, but to me it looks a lot like you’re trying to find any way you can wriggle out of this. PRIOR: Sergeant, as you should be well aware, my client is innocent until proven guilty. Will you admit that the evidence you have so far could suit either explanations? FRANK: Well, I don’t buy your disappearance story for a second, but as a hypothesis, the facts could fit it if twisted enough. PRIOR: In that case, you will agree that it seems to be your opinion against his. FRANK: Ms Prior, the investigation is not concluded yet. PRIOR: That’s as may be, but I think this interview is, unless you have anything else to ask my client. FRANK: [stares at DAVID for a second] I suppose not, for the moment. However, I would like to keep him in custody for the time being. This investigation is continuing as we speak, and I may need to ask your client some questions quite soon. PRIOR: This is your right, but I would remind you that you can only hold my client for 48 hours without charge. FRANK: Of course. Interview concluded at four fifty six PM. [Turns off the tape recorder, removes both tapes] If you could take one of these please, Mr McFadden, it will be placed with your personal effects. [DAVID takes one. FRANK rises.] Someone will be along directly to escort you to your cell. DAVID: Frank, wait. FRANK: [turns] Yes? DAVID: Could we talk? FRANK: I’m the investigating officer on your case, it would hardly be proper. PRIOR: I have to agree. DAVID: Please. It’s been ten years since we’ve even seen each other. This has shaken me a lot, and it would only serve to make things weirder if you sent me back to a cell now. PRIOR: David, please think about what you’re asking. DAVID: Look, it’s up to me whether I ask to talk to my interviewer off the record, isn’t it? PRIOR: Well, yes. I can advise you not to, as I am doing, but ultimately it’s up to you. DAVID: Good. I would like to speak to Frank. Alone. PRIOR: [to FRANK] Sergeant, you surely can’t agree to this. You’re supposed to be an impartial investigator. I would feel honour bound to note my extreme objections to this. FRANK: I understand your feelings, Ms Prior, but please understand mine. In this case I shall attempt to preserve my impartiality at all times. I will not discuss the case with your client, you have my word, but I do wish to speak with him. PRIOR: Very well [grudgingly exits] [pause] DAVID: Well. Frank Elton. Of all the people I expected to see on the other side of an interview table, you were probably the last. I didn’t even twig when Prior told me your name. FRANK: [still clearly uncomfortable] Me neither. The name Robert D McFadden meant nothing to me. I forgot you used your middle name. I forgot a lot of things. It’s been a long time, David. DAVID: You never got back in touch. After the summer of ’89 you just seemed to be too interested in your new university chums. FRANK: People move on. My parents had moved. I couldn’t get back to Newcastle as easily anymore. DAVID: People move on? You can say that again. Ten years ago, if someone had told me that Frank Elton would be police I’d have laughed. Then again if they’d told me I’d be up on a charge like this… FRANK: David. Please. I can’t discuss this with you. I’m the investigating officer in this case. Please don’t make this any more difficult than it already is. DAVID: The least you can do is tell me why you decided to take the case. When you walked out of here before I was certain I’d get a pair of DCs trying out the ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine they’d seen on Starsky and Hutch. FRANK: I’ve got violent crimes experience. I’ve been on the case from near the start. To put it bluntly, I’m the best man for the job. DAVID: Well, what about us? FRANK: For the purposes of this case there is no ‘us’. I knew you ten years ago, David. As I said, people move on. DAVID: Oh, come on, Frank! You can’t just switch your feelings on and off like a tap! We didn’t just know each other, we were best friends! You can’t tell me that you can set all that aside just like that. FRANK: David, for the purposes of this case, I’m going to have to. I have to be impartial. Ten years is a long time, David. You’re a stranger to me now. I can only give you the same treatment I’d give anyone else. DAVID: [pause] Frank. Please. You’re the only person I know in this case, the only thing I can cling to. Prior’s just some Legal Aid woman they’ve thrown in there with me. The whole street’s against me. Even if I get out of here, and the chances of that are all too fucking slim as it is, they’re not likely to believe me when I say that I didn’t do it, are they? The next thing I know, I’ll have my door kicked down and Emily Graham’s brothers or someone like that will burst in to play the good little vigilante. You have to believe me, Frank. I’m innocent. They don’t know that, though. I need someone to be there for me. I’m on my own with this one. FRANK: You’re asking the impossible. I can’t take sides. I certainly can’t be seen to take sides. DAVID: Oh yes, I forgot, it’s all about appearances. If I was one of your fucking Freemason chums, or had gone to school with the chief super, you bastards couldn’t get me out of the door quick enough, but oh no, I’m just a scruffy little squatter, making the place look untidy, so you’ll do all you bloody can to get me sent down, and on the offchance that you can’t find any way to fit me up you’ll have a fucking lynchmob waiting when I get outside. FRANK: Don’t be bloody stupid. As a police officer, I have to judge everyone with total impartiality, no matter who they are. It doesn’t move my position if it’s the Queen or the Yorkshire Ripper. [pause] Or an old friend. DAVID: Sorry Frank. I know you’re on the level. I’m sorry I lost it a bit there, but I’m scared. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. FRANK: Well, I suppose that makes two of us. David, I really can’t discuss this with you any more. I have to go. DAVID: [as FRANK leaves] Frank. FRANK: [turns] Yes? DAVID: Thanks. [FRANK exits. Blackout] [in the blackout, the voiceover is heard again. This time, however it is the female voice from before and a male voice, noticeably different from the male voice before MAN:: Hello? WOMAN: It’s me. He rang again. MAN: Are you OK? WOMAN: I think so. I just feel so dirty after that bastard has even spoken to me. MAN: Do you want me to come round? Will you be OK? WOMAN: I think I need to be on my own for a bit. Can I call you later? MAN: Sure thing. Look, if you need anything, just give me a call, I’ll be round before you know it. WOMAN: Thanks. The woman then hangs up. lights go up on the scene of FRANK’s office. Frank sits at his computer, typing. His face is bathed in the light from the screen] FRANK: [voice over, rather than him speaking] Half an hour ago, the courts approved a search warrant for myself and some uniformed officers to search the houses of the missing girl and the main suspect. It is still uncertain exactly what we are looking for, but at this early stage in the proceedings all that is needed is evidence, either for or against the suspect’s perpetration of the crime. This search will probably take place tomorrow morning. In the meantime, it falls to me to evaluate the progress made in the case, and at a more personal level, to attempt to assess my feelings as to where the case is taking me. Whilst David’s involvement in the Emily Graham case has certainly been a cause of concern for myself, I am of the belief that Inspector Banks was right. I knew David a long time ago. Long enough ago that I think I can now view him purely as an interviewee. Obviously, I still come up against my emotions when I deal with him, but this is the case with all police officers, in just about all cases. I wouldn’t ask someone to take over a rape case because of my feelings of disgust about the crime. The same is true for this case. I am an officer of the law, and therefore even if my feelings are not impartial, my thoughts must be, and I must be able to view my feelings objectively. What I must concentrate on now, however, is the accumulation of evidence. Without this, the suspect could be anyone and it wouldn’t matter. My job here is to investigate, nothing more, to find out what happened to Emily Graham. [pause, voice over ends. FRANK stops typing, deep in thought for a second] FRANK: How did the coat get on the canal bank? [blackout. Sound of telephone ringing and then answering WOMAN: Hi! I’m afraid I’m not in at the moment, but please feel free to leave a message after the tone and I promise I’ll get back to you soon, bye now! MAN: (muffled and after a long pause), You’ll get back to me? You certainly will get back to me, or maybe I’ll get back to you. Where are you? Are you out with some man, you cheap tart? Are you staying away so you won’t hear from me? Do you think you’re safe? You can’t stay out for ever, you know, sooner or later you’ll have to come back, and I’ll be waiting for you. Just think, even as you listen to this, I could be watching though the window. Oh, you’d call me a bastard, you’d scream ‘pervert’, but deep down inside you’re really turned on by it, aren’t you? Don’t go away, I’ll be in touch again soon (phone hangs up) lights come up on BANKS’ office, banks is sat at her desk, looking though paperwork, a stressed look on her face. There is a knock at the door] BANKS: Enter. FRANK: Sir, you said you wanted to see me. BANKS: Ah, yes. Take a seat, Frank. [FRANK sits], I’ve been having a think about your request yesterday to be transferred off the Emily Graham case. FRANK: Actually, sir, so have I, and I think you made the right decision in making me stay with the case. I think I could get the right result on this one, sir. BANKS: Actually, frank, what I was going to say was that I think you were right. If you feel you are too involved with the case, then I see no problem in transferring you. FRANK: If I may say so, sir, the opinion I expressed yesterday was done so before I had interviewed David McFadden. Once I was actually in the interview room with him, I was able to proceed with the interview with no real problems, in fact the case is making substantial progress. Uniform are searching McFadden’s house as we speak. I’ve also sent a unit over to examine Emily Graham’s property. BANKS: That’s all very well, but you did feel very uncertain about the situation yesterday. I cannot accept that within a few hours you have gone from requesting your removal from a case to defending your right to stay on it. I’m going to have to recommend that you transfer off this case. FRANK: Sir, I honestly think I’m the right man for this case. BANKS: Frank, can I level with you? The truth of the matter is that Operation Silverfish is proving to be a bigger millstone than I thought it would. Customs and Excise are breathing down my neck to get CID with violent crimes experience. The triads have just become implicated in the import end of the deal. I’ll be blunt, I need you. If I can bring in someone competent as my selection for this, then it could mean a move up for both of us. FRANK: That’s as may be, sir, but I see the Emily Graham case as just as important as Silverfish. I think I can get a result here and I’m reluctant to hand the case to someone who doesn’t know the ground. BANKS: Frank, it’s a conflict of interests, you said as much yourself. FRANK: And you reminded me that it had been ten years since I had known David McFadden. BANKS: You may remember, Frank, that I also said your personal situation was only a partial factor in this case. You’re a detective sergeant, a thief-taker. It is a prerequisite of your job that you concentrate on the case put in front of you. As your superior officer, I have to see the bigger picture, decide what’s put in front of you, so to speak. Right now it would be better for all of us if you moved on to Silverfish. FRANK: But sir, I think I can solve the Emily Graham case, given more time. BANKS: Time is exactly what you don’t have, Frank. Silverfish is progressing as I speak. I need an efficient man down there. You’re the man I need. FRANK: [getting a bit desperate] Sir- BANKS: Frank, right now, I’m recommending that you move to Silverfish, I’m also asking you to. I don’t want to have to order you to, but I will. Do we understand each other? [a long pause follows] FRANK: May I at least ask when I have to join Silverfish? BANKS: Oh, it’s not a question of having to, Frank, it’s just that it’s in all our best interests. FRANK: May I at least ask when I have to join Silverfish? BANKS: I see. It’s to be like this, is it? FRANK: I’m afraid so, sir. BANKS: Campbell from Customs and Excise is giving an orientation seminar on Sunday. FRANK: Sir, I currently have a suspect in custody- BANKS: I know, that’s one of the causes of the problem. FRANK: We can hold him until Saturday afternoon. Silverfish won’t need me until Sunday. BANKS: Don’t tell me you want to go on with the interview. FRANK: Sir, if I don’t finish off here, I’ll have lost a whole day on this, and the next man to look at the case won’t be able to get as much out of him. Just let me finish this interview. BANKS: [stares at FRANK for a long moment], you really won’t give up on this, will you? FRANK: Sir, I agreed to continue with this case yesterday, in the full knowledge that I’d have to deal with David McFadden. To refuse me permission to finish this one part of the investigation when I have nothing else to do would be senseless, sir. BANKS: I don’t know. The state of play is that it could still be counted as a conflict of interests FRANK: Sir. You asked me to move to Silverfish, and I will. Now I’m asking you, please let me finish this part of the investigation BANKS: [stares at FRANK, he stares right back. Eventually he seems to relent slightly] Very well. You have until David McFadden has been released or charged. Then, you’re on Silverfish, got it? FRANK: [pause] Do I have permission to ask who will succeed me on the Emily Graham case? BANKS: I was thinking that DS Reid could look at it. FRANK: Reid? Please tell me you’re joking, sir! Reid couldn’t find a murderer if he carved his name and address on the fucking victim! BANKS: Frank, firstly I will not have you casting aspersions on the abilities of your fellow officers- FRANK: But the man’s an alcoholic! He only went into CID because you got a desk to store your morning tipple in! That and the fact that he wanted a desk job. Unlike his wife a kid he arrests on the street will hit back. BANKS: That’s enough! As of tomorrow, this case is out of your hands and out of your thoughts. I’m relying upon you to do your part in Silverfish and I expect good things of you. Is that understood? FRANK: Yes sir. Can I go now sir? BANKS: Hang on a minute, frank. I’ve done you a big favour by letting you finish of this part of the Emily Graham investigation. I could have just pulled you off the thing straight away, no warning, no explanation. I want to know why you were so dogged about being able to finish off this case. FRANK: This may not make sense, but I need to know for myself whether or not McFadden did it, sir. BANKS: Well, if you can find that out before 2:00 tomorrow, good luck to you. Otherwise, I don’t want to hear a word about it on Silverfish, clear? FRANK: Yes sir. Thank you sir. [blackout, telephone ringing, answered with you were called at 13:40 today, the caller withheld their number’, type thing. Lights come up again on the interview room, PRIOR and DAVID sit. David should look even more unkempt than before, and should fidget in his chair, looking from side to side] DAVID: [After long agitated moments] How long are they going to keep us waiting? PRIOR: They won’t be long, David. Are you alright? DAVID: I’m fine, or at least, I’ll be fine if I can get on with this. I just don’t like sitting waiting. I just want them to get on with it. PRIOR: Do you want me to call someone? You don’t look well. DAVID: I’m OK, I just didn’t sleep well. It’s too dark in that cell, I couldn’t get comfortable. It’s too stuffy. PRIOR: Too stuffy? Are you asthmatic? DAVID: I don’t know, Amanda. Sometimes it feels like I am, especially if I get worried about something. I just can’t breathe, and it’s like everything’s… [pauses for a minute, head in hands] It’s nothing really, it’s just when I’m stressed, and it feels like everyone’s on top of me, I just feel a bit smothered. I got a bit like that after all the business yesterday. PRIOR: [genuinely worried] Well, did you say anything? It’s not done to have a suspect in distress. DAVID: I was OK. It passed. Besides, I didn’t want to give any of them the satisfaction of thinking they’d shaken me up. PRIOR: David, don’t be stupid. If you’re in discomfort, they have to alleviate your suffering. DAVID: Well, they could do that by letting me go. PRIOR: David, they can only hold you until tomorrow- DAVID: Unless they charge me. PRIOR: Unless, as you say, they charge you, but chances are, they won’t. The investigation is going on as we speak. That’s probably what’s keeping Sergeant Elton. Most arrests this early on in proceedings are more to advance the investigation than to necessarily point the finger of blame. It’s just far more easy for the Sergeant to speak to you when he knows exactly where you are. DAVID: Well, I wasn’t exactly bloody going anywhere, was I? I mean, for one thing I’ve not got anywhere else to go. I didn’t even have anyone to get in contact with for my phonecall. PRIOR: You mean, your family don’t know you’re here? DAVID: Amanda, my family don’t know whether I’m alive or not, and quite frankly I don’t think they care. If they found out I’d been arrested for murder, they’d probably think it was typical of how I was ‘letting the side down’. I haven’t seen anyone in the family apart from my uncle since I was 23, and to be honest I prefer it that way. PRIOR: That’s terrible. I’m sorry. DAVID: It’s OK. To be honest it helps me out just talking to someone. Pity it has to be under these circumstances. I don’t usually get to meet that many people, as I said I tend to keep myself to myself. PRIOR: Well, any time you need to talk, I’m here, David. DAVID: Well, that is your job, isn’t it? PRIOR: I don’t just mean in a professional capacity. I’m your lawyer, but I hope you can see me as a friend as well. [DAVID draws in breath to speak, but before he can, there is a knock at the door. After a moment, FRANK enters] FRANK: I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting. I’ve just had some information come in for the search on Emily Graham’s house and upon your own, Mr McFadden. DAVID: You searched my house? What right do you have to do that? FRANK: [produces a typed, signed document] If you would like to examine the documentation, I have the search warrant here. DAVID: [sighs] It doesn’t matter. I don’t know what a bloody search warrant looks like anyway. You could have run one off in your office and I’d be none the wiser. FRANK: If you’re doubting the validity of this document- DAVID: Forget it. It doesn’t really matter either way. I’d just like to have been told, that’s all. FRANK: [inserts tape as before, and speaks into the tape recorder] Interview number 58397 at ten twenty four AM on Friday the twenty seventh of August 1999. Interview with Mr Robert David McFadden, those present: myself, Sergeant Frank Elton; Robert David McFadden and Mr McFadden’s lawyer, Ms Amanda Prior. Mr McFadden, could you please confirm your name by repeating it onto the tape. DAVID: [sighs slightly at having to go through with the whole rigmarole] My name is Robert David McFadden. FRANK: I should remind you, Mr McFadden that although you do not have to speak, it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something you later rely on in court. Anything you say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you. I should also take this moment to inform you that we have conducted, with court approval, a search of your own and Emily Graham’s residences. DAVID: You’ve already told me this. FRANK: Before I was speaking off the record. I am now officially informing you of the search that took place upon your house. DAVID: [slumps a bit] Yeah, yeah, whatever. FRANK: As this investigation proceeds, we have received more sightings of Emily Graham in the days up to her disappearance. However, yours is still the last alleged sighting- DAVID: Alleged? I saw her, plain as I see you now! FRANK: Mr Mcfadden, forgive me for saying this, but you’d say the same thing if you had or hadn’t seen her. As the last sighting before yours was Friday morning, I’m going to have to confirm your movements for last Friday. DAVID: Well, until about midday, my only movements consisted of turning over in bed. I got up about 12:00, had a shave, had a cup of tea and listened to the radio. I didn’t leave my house all day. FRANK: Do you have any witnesses? DAVID: Well, the Swedish royal family popped round for high tea mid-afternoon, but apart from that, no. FRANK: I’m going to have to ask you to answer the question seriously. You’re wasting time for both of us. DAVID: No. I didn’t see anyone at all that day. FRANK: Right. Now, I’d like to ask you a few questions about the search that took place upon your house and that of Emily Graham. You may be interested to learn that we made a number of interesting finds in the two houses, Mr McFadden. The houses were searched at roughly the same time, but the search of Ms Graham’s residence took a while longer than the search of your own. DAVID: I told you, I don’t own much. FRANK: That’s not to say that what we found at your house was not interesting, Mr McFadden, but for the sake of clarity, I will deal with Ms Graham’s house first. I was part of the group that searched Emily Graham’s property, and I can tell you that much of what we found gave an interesting light on certain comments you made yesterday in our previous interview. DAVID: Such as…? FRANK: Such as the fact that there seemed to be nothing missing. No clothes had gone, her passport was still in a bedside drawer, everything was where it should be. DAVID: I fail to see the relevance. How would the immaculate state of her house effect me? FRANK: When I spoke to you yesterday, you were of the opinion that she could have vanished of her own accord. DAVID: She could have. FRANK: What, without clothes? No money has been drawn out of her bank account since last Thursday, and she hadn’t drawn out any more than she usually did at any time in the previous few weeks. All she left with was her handbag and a summer coat. Hardly the sort of clothing to disappear in. DAVID: Look, it was just a theory, for god’s sake! As I told you, I don’t have a clue what happened to her. All I meant by the disappearance thing was that you shouldn’t ignore possibilities. OK, from what you’ve told me, I agree that she probably hasn’t disappeared on her own, but how was I supposed to know what you know now? FRANK: Granted, but as you are currently the main suspect in this case- DAVID: Only because I didn’t want to answer any bloody questions. FRANK: As you are currently the main suspect in this case, the fact that this evidence seems to rule out the possibility of her disappearing of her own accord goes hard for you. PRIOR: Sergeant, do you have any questions to ask my client, or is the purpose of this interview just bullying and intimidation. FRANK: Miss Prior, if you will give me the chance to proceed in my own way, I would be grateful. I do have questions to ask your client, but I will ask them in my own time. If you have any objections to my style of investigation, they will be noted on the tape and will be investigated. Now, if you don’t mind, I will proceed with my questioning. Mr McFadden, it seems that whoever was making these nuisance calls- DAVID: You already think it was me, why not just say it instead of hopping round the issue? FRANK: Mr McFadden, you are a suspect. I suspect you of being involved. I am neither judge, jury or prosecutor. Whoever was making these nuisance calls seemed to have gone beyond the stage of just phonecalls. DAVID: What do you mean? FRANK: [passes two torn pieces of paper in a document wallet across the table] I am now passing Mr McFadden Exhibit 423 C, a piece of paper with newsprint affixed, recovered at the house of Emily Graham. Could you read out what it says on the paper, Mr McFadden? DAVID: “I’m watching you right now.” FRANK: Have you ever seen that piece of paper before? DAVID: No. FRANK: Are you sure? DAVID: What kind of question is that? Of course I’m fucking sure! FRANK: This was found in the drawer of Emily Graham’s dressing table, ripped in half. We suspect that someone posted this through her letterbox, knowing she was in, and she tore it in half before deciding to keep it as evidence. It’s been dusted for prints and we’re waiting the results on this. I needn’t tell you of the consequences if your prints appear on it. DAVID: Look, I already told you, I had nothing to do with it. You’re not going to find anything on it! FRANK: How can you be so sure? As I said, you’re the main suspect, but not the only one. How can you tell me for certain we’re not going to find anything on it, unless you know there’s nothing on it? DAVID: Nothing to do with me, I mean. God, is it common for the police to be such pedantic bastards? FRANK: Mr McFadden, we’ll proceed much quicker if we do without the personal insults. Along with this letter, there was a tape. With your permission, I’ll play it. DAVID: [sighs], go on, whatever. [FRANK inserts the tape in the second tape player, the telephone conversation from the scene change between Banks’ office and the interview room on the Thursday] FRANK: Is that your voice? DAVID: No. No it bloody isn’t. FRANK: Would you be willing to have a tape of your voice analysed and compared to the voice on this tape? DAVID: Of course, but even when the results come back negative, you’ll still say it could have been me. You’ll get some clever sod from Forensics to say I could have been using a voice distorter, or something like that. FRANK: The voice is unclear enough that this is a possibility, yes. DAVID: In other words, no matter what I do, you’ll still think I did it. FRANK: Mr McFadden, much as you may disbelieve this, my job is actually to eliminate you from our enquiries if I can. You’re not exactly making this easy for me. DAVID: Words cannot express how sorry I am about that. FRANK: Do you give permission for a tape of your voice to be analysed? DAVID: [sighs] All right. It hardly makes a difference, does it? FRANK: We also need to compare it to this [produces second tape] DAVID: What’s that? FRANK: There was a message on the answerphone. Would you mind if I played it? [David shrugs, the tape is placed in the machine, the answerphone message from between Thursday and Friday plays] FRANK: Any comments? DAVID: Why should I have any? FRANK: You maintain you know nothing about the answer phone messages? DAVID: Yes, of course I do. I know nothing about any of this. FRANK: [produces a piece of paper] Do you recognise this number, Mr McFadden? DAVID: [stares at the paper for a long moment] No. FRANK: Really? You don’t recognise that number? I’m surprised. There were a number of phone numbers on Ms Graham’s message board, all of them had names apart from this one. As you can see, the only thing on the paper apart from the number is the letter D. Are you sure you don’t recognise the number? DAVID: I don’t know what you want me to say. PRIOR: Sergeant, you are aware of the concept of disclosure. FRANK: Of course. PRIOR: Then you know that if you have found out anything about this piece of paper, then my client must be told about it. FRANK: Yes. All I wish to do is see if Mr McFadden recognises this number on his own or if I have to jog his memory. [pause] It seems I do. I checked this number against Ms Graham’s phone bill. It seems to have been fairly well used in the last four or five weeks. To check whose it was, I rang it. Do you know who answered, Mr McFadden? DAVID: Surprise me, Frank. FRANK: [distracted for a moment by the use of his first name] The phone was answered by Constable Willis who was searching your house. Do you recognise the number now? DAVID: Yes. It’s mine. FRANK: The phone was in an otherwise unused room of the house, A room they hadn’t looked in yet. Were it not for the phone ringing, they may have missed it completely. Why didn’t you tell me this was your number? DAVID: The same reason that I didn’t tell you I had a phone. Because I knew that you’d leap straight to the conclusion that you have. FRANK: And what conclusion would that be? DAVID: You think I used the phone to make the nuisance calls. FRANK: No. We’re not that dumb. Why would your number appear on her phone bill, be pinned to her notice board, if you were making the nuisance calls from it? What it does tell me is that you were lying when you said you didn’t know Ms Graham. DAVID: Frank, can I level with you? FRANK: That’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot lately. DAVID: What? FRANK: Nothing. What is it? DAVID: Look, I admit it, I know- knew Emily Graham. I knew she’d been getting nuisance phonecalls. FRANK: Why didn’t you tell me before? DAVID: I knew what conclusion you’d jump to, and it’s not the bloody right one. Look, we were friends. We were both pretty much outsiders on Wilmslow road. I saw her in the street a few times, and then we bumped into each other shopping and started talking. FRANK: When was this? DAVID: Six weeks ago. Middle of July. We saw each other around and stopped to chat sometimes. FRANK: When did you first find out she’d been getting nuisance phonecalls? DAVID: About four weeks ago. FRANK: In other words, just about as soon as they started. DAVID: As far as I’m aware, it was the next day, a Wednesday, I think. She was on her way home, and looked scared. I asked her if anything was wrong, and she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of my voice. She said she was OK, but she didn’t look it. I asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, but she said she just wanted to get home. I was still worried about her, so she invited me in. She told me that the previous night she’d got a nuisance call. Usual deal, a heavy breather. I was really angry about it, but I was more concerned about her safety. I knew there was a phone at my house, my uncle paid the line rental, but I never used it. I gave Emily the number, I thought she’d feel better if she had someone nearby to talk to. FRANK: Isn’t it rather a coincidence that you, someone she didn’t know at all until two weeks before, are the first person she tells about the phonecalls? A man who conveniently enough lives just across the road? DAVID: All right, if you don’t believe me, check the phonebill, it’s all down there, she phoned me for the first time that day, I phoned her for the first time two days later. It’s all down there in black and white. FRANK: We’ve already checked the phonebills. I’m just saying it seems a little too neat. PRIOR: If you’re trying to intimate something, I’m sure that both I and my client would be much happier if you came out in the open and said it, sergeant. FRANK: I cannot rule out the possibility that your client knows a lot more about the threatening phonecalls than he’s letting on. PRIOR: Do you have any proof of involvement? FRANK: As yet, no. However I have my suspicions. PRIOR: Unless you can provide proof, or at least grounding for your suspicions, all you are doing here is once more badgering my client. FRANK: I am trying to establish what happened, Ms Prior. It is in all of our interests to get everything sorted out as quickly as possible. Do you object to my continuing this line of questioning? PRIOR: I suppose not, as long as questioning does not turn into harassment. FRANK: Thank you. Now, Mr McFadden, what was your reaction when you found out that Emily Graham had gone to the police about the phonecalls? DAVID: I can’t believe you’d ask me that question. She was a friend of mine, I was glad she’d told someone. FRANK: Are you sure about that? Before this you were the one person she could turn to, her confidant, her support. Now she’s gone and told someone else about the problem, you lose your place as the hero of the hour. You’re no longer in the position of chief carer. Doesn’t this make you just a little upset. DAVID: No! Of course not! What kind of sick twisted fuckup do you take me for? FRANK: I’m just trying to sift through the facts. You became friends with Emily Graham at a low point, and your friendship meant a lot to her. After she tells the police, you lose your position as her lifeline, she doesn’t need you anymore, surely this has to upset you. DAVID: I’m not taking this! Emily is- was a friend! I’m not going to sit here while you try to tell me that I was preying on her. PRIOR: Sergeant, you are distressing my client. If you go much further down this line of inquiry, I shall be forced to issue a formal complaint. Do you have any more serious questions for my client, or is your arsenal reduced to insults and allegations? FRANK: I have a few more things to ask your client, yes. PRIOR: Well, for your sake, I hope that these are proper questions, not another string of groundless statements. FRANK: No offence intended, Ms Prior, I am simply trying to follow this investigation. PRIOR: And I am simply requesting that you do so in a civilised manner. FRANK: I have been attempting to do so. Mr McFadden, whilst my officers were searching your house, a number of other discoveries were made. Specifically, an item of interest was found in the same room as the telephone. Can you guess what it was? DAVID: Surprise me. FRANK: A pair of binoculars. Can you tell me why you had a pair of binoculars in a room that had a view of Emily Graham’s house? DAVID: I don’t know! There’s a lot of my uncle’s old junk in there. Do you want to ask me questions about the bike pump and the old pair of walking boots? FRANK: A bike pump and an old pair of walking boots have no bearing on a case involving possible stalking and threatening phonecalls. A pair of binoculars does. The binoculars were cleaner than any of the other contents of the room. Why were they kept clean? DAVID: They weren’t kept clean, they hadn’t been taken out of their box in years, there had been no chance for dust to get to them. FRANK: You do realise that this can be counted as evidence against you. You seem to have at least some of the means to stalk Emily Graham. DAVID: As do most people. Tell me honestly that you don’t have a telephone in your house. Tell me honestly you don’t have a view of somebody’s fucking window! Why is it me in here and not you? FRANK: You already know why you’re in here. However, in addition to your demonstrated violent behaviour, we now have taped evidence that you lied to an interviewer, a link with Emily Graham, and the means to observe her house. I need hardly tell you that these things do not count in your favour. DAVID: However, you can’t prove anything. Emily Graham was a friend of mine, that’s all. I didn’t tell you I knew her , because I knew you’d take it as a strike against me. FRANK: Not telling me puts you in a far worse light. DAVID: [calms down a bit, takes a deep breath, seems to reorganise himself] I know that now. It was stupid, I admit it, but I was scared. Look I’m still in a bit of shock about this whole thing. A friend of mine’s probably been murdered, and I’ve been dragged in here on suspicion of doing it. You’re hardly likely to get me on the best of terms. That’s why I reacted so badly when the police came up to me, I wasn’t thinking at all. Look, have you got anything else to ask me? FRANK: For the moment, no. I’ll want to speak to you this afternoon, though. DAVID: This afternoon? FRANK: Investigations are proceeding as we speak, Mr McFadden. Once I have followed up a few leads, I’ll want to talk to you again. Interview terminated at ten fifty five AM. [stops the tape player, removes the two tapes] Pick one. [DAVID does so] This will be placed with your personal effects. Someone will be along in a moment to take you back to your cell. Good morning, Mr McFadden. DAVID: Frank. FRANK: Yes? DAVID: You have to believe me, I didn’t do it. FRANK: That’s exactly what I’m trying to find out. [exits. Blackout.] INTERVAL [blackout, a sound of a phone ringing & being answered: WOMAN: [very nervously] Hello? MAN 2: [should be vaguely identifiable as DAVID] Hi. It’s me. WOMAN: Oh, thank god. I thought it might be him again. MAN 2: Has he rung again since? WOMAN: No, but I always think he’s going to. I can’t live my whole life in fear, I’m phoning the police. MAN 2: Are you sure? WOMAN: What do you mean, am I sure? I’m on fear of my life, I have to tell someone. MAN 2: I suppose so, I’m sorry, it’s just I get this feeling like if you phone the police then somehow he’s won. WOMAN: I understand, but I just can’t let the bastard get away with it. I’m not going to let one sick little bastard ruin my life. MAN 2: OK, whatever you think is best. Do you want me to come over? WOMAN: If you want to. Thanks. MAN 2: OK, see you in a minute. Lights come up on FRANK’s office, the computer screen illuminating his face, the voice over plays in the background.] FRANK: [voice over] The second interview with David McFadden has achieved at least one thing. My mental image of McFadden has changed to accommodate, and in a way remember, the fact that he can and will lie to me. David claims that he lied because he knew what police reaction to his friendship with Emily Graham would be. The problem I face here is that the evidence, such as it is, supports both his story and the suspicion that he could be the murderer. The other problem I face is that as I write this I only have twenty five hours before McFadden is released and my involvement with the case ceases. This acts as yet another pressure against which I must fight in my attempts to stay completely impartial. On a personal level, as on a professional level, my main concern is to establish the guilt or innocence of David McFadden as well as I can. As I only have until tomorrow to question him, and indeed to investigate the case, the temptation to leap to a conclusion is great, but must be resisted. A result arrived at because of its convenience is rarely the right one, and will invariably be more trouble than it is worth. I must turn my attention now to the investigation at hand, and to the searches proceeding in greater detail on the two houses. The search team lead by DC Edmonds- [FRANK is interrupted by a knock on the door. He stops typing, goes over to the door and opens it. PRIOR stands outside.] FRANK: [in surprise] Ms Prior, what can I do for you? PRIOR: Do you mind if I have a word? FRANK: No, no of course not. Please come in. [PRIOR enters, FRANK closes the door and stands faintly uncomfortably] I’d offer you a coffee, but, then I’d kick myself for thinking I was still in the CID room. Detective Sergeants get their own offices, but have to go to the canteen or the vending machine for coffee. PRIOR: It’s OK. I just wanted a few words. FRANK: I see, I take it this is about the case. PRIOR: Well, yes. FRANK: Is this a procedural matter, or a point regarding the details of the case? You do realise that it is a bit out of the ordinary for a lawyer to talk in confidence to the investigating officer. PRIOR: Sergeant, there’s little enough about this case which could be considered ordinary as it is. FRANK: I suppose you’re right, what is it you want to talk about? PRIOR: Well, it’s a number of things, really. You see, I know that David views you and he as being on different sides in this case, but I can’t see it like that, you’re just doing your job. FRANK: Exactly, all I am is an investigator. It’s not my job to get him sent down, it’s my job to find out what happened. PRIOR: I know that and you know that, Sergeant, but David doesn’t. I want to do the best by my client. I’ve got to know him pretty well in the last day, and I want to be able to help him out. That’s really the reason I wanted to talk to you. You used to be friends, you know him better than I do. The better I know my clients, the more I can help them. FRANK: Ms Prior, please remember, I knew your client ten years ago. One of the reasons I felt able to be involved in this case is the fact that I have moved on a lot. David isn’t a stranger to me, but I can see him objectively. It’s been a long time since we were friends. PRIOR: However, you knew what he was like when he was younger. I presume you knew his family. I’d like to know about his childhood, know what makes him tick. FRANK: Forgive me, Ms Prior, but I don’t see the bearing this has on the case. PRIOR: I think if I can apply what I learn about his childhood to the case I can find out why he reacted so badly to the police, why he gets so wound up by the questions. In a way, this is all just concern for my client’s wellbeing. FRANK: I see. You’re really quite concerned about him, aren’t you? PRIOR: On a purely professional level of course. Could you tell me anything about his past? I mean, why did his family turn on him so much. FRANK: Ms Prior, please realise that anything I tell you will be coloured by the years. I haven’t really thought in depth about David or anything to do with Newcastle for a long time now. I can’t say for certain that anything I tell you will be objective truth. I have a whole other life now, being a teenager in Newcastle has faded into the background. PRIOR: I understand, sergeant, but anything you can tell me will be a help. FRANK: Well, I was at school with David from when my parents moved to Newcastle until the end of my A levels. In a way, we were both misfits, we were the two kids with funny accents who automatically became the target for the brain dead masses. Or at least I did. David didn’t have problems with bullying after he fractured Andy Murphy’s skull in the playground when three kids set on him to beat him up. David was an outcast because of his accent and because like me he’d joined the school late. I was an outcast because of my accent, my build, and the fact that I was actually good at the stuff we were being taught. I’d been moved up a year earlier on in school, so I was a year younger than everyone in my class, and a year easier to pick on. PRIOR: That’s terrible. FRANK: It was OK once I met David. He was a good friend back then. I met him when I was twelve and everyone else in the class was thirteen. It’s easy to be an outcast for being bright when you’re twelve. One day these two boys took my History exercise book and started ripping out the pages, laughing. David hit one of them so hard he had to be sent home with concussion. PRIOR: Did he get into trouble? FRANK: What? PRIOR: Did David get into trouble for hitting that other boy? FRANK: No, that was the amazing thing. The boy said he’d been messing about and had run into a tree. No-one ever grassed David up for anything. Something about him always made them stop. He could also talk his way out of anything. He was a very persuasive speaker when he needed to be. PRIOR: Well, he certainly seems able to be a charming man. FRANK: [slightly uncomfortably] Yes, charming. Look, is there anything else I can help you with? I’m really rather busy [glances at computer screen] PRIOR: What’s that? FRANK: My report. Not my official one, but it does me good to keep a record of what’s going on. PRIOR: Right. I did need to talk to you about a few things. FRANK: Such as? PRIOR: In a way I need to ask you the unasked question. Lawyers and policemen aren’t meant to have an opinion on this, but… FRANK: What? PRIOR: Do you think he did it? FRANK: That has no bearing on my handling of the case. PRIOR: I didn’t say it did. I’m asking for your opinion as a human being, not your judgement as a professional. FRANK: [long pause] I don’t know. [faces away from PRIOR] I just don’t know. PRIOR: [concerned] What’s wrong? FRANK: I’m- I’m being taken off the case. PRIOR: What? FRANK: The moment David’s 48 hours are up, my involvement with the Emily Graham case ceases. PRIOR: Why? FRANK: The reason why is simple, my inspector wants to become a Chief Constable, and at the moment, I’m a feather in her cap. PRIOR: Well, if you’re such an asset to her, why pull you from the case? FRANK: I’m being moved to another operation. A drugs bust. This is to go no further. PRIOR: Of course. FRANK: I don’t know who they’ll find to replace me here. I know every inch of this case . Every last inch. I deserve the chance to crack it. Pulling me off the case now isn’t good for me as an investigator, and it certainly isn’t good for the case. I really thought I was making progress with this. PRIOR: Well, haven’t you? You’ve found out a lot about Emily Graham, you’ve found out a lot about David. FRANK: I haven’t even found a body yet, Ms Prior. PRIOR: Would you mind calling me Amanda? FRANK: Sorry? PRIOR: When I’m going through the case with David, he insists that I call him by his first name, and he calls me Amanda. I’ve sort of got used to it. FRANK: I don’t know, I feel strange enough about David still calling me Frank. It makes it more difficult for me to forget I know him, and if I can’t forget I know him, then my impartiality is right out of the window. PRIOR: Sorry. Have you got any idea where the body could be? FRANK: I’ve still got a few leads to work on, and I’m going to try my hardest while I’m still on the case, but I just don’t know. There’s too much that doesn’t add up. PRIOR: Like..? FRANK: Like why Emily Graham’s coat was found on the bank of the Rochdale Canal of all places. I mean, we’ve checked the canal for half a mile in either direction, but there’s no sign of struggle on the bank, nothing in the water, just this coat. PRIOR: When did you find it? FRANK: Someone handed it into the station on Monday morning, showed us where it had been on the bank, just lying in the bushes, not torn or even all that dirty. I’m beginning to think it was a decoy. Someone could have dumped it there on the Monday just to throw us off. PRIOR: Do you think you’ll be able to do anything with the time you’ve got left? FRANK: I still don’t know. If only I could find that damned body, this might make a bit more sense. PRIOR: I’m- I’m going to have to go now. Thanks for talking to me. FRANK: That’s perfectly all right Ms Prior- Amanda. Anything to help the investigation along. PRIOR: Bye. [exits] FRANK: [returns to his desk, but just sits there for a moment, deep in thought] Why the canal bank? Where would I put a body, if I wanted people to think it was in the canal? [he starts typing again, the lights go down. Blackout, a phone starts ringing, in the background, a woman’s voice can be heard WOMAN: Come on, come on. [pause] Pick up the phone. [pause] Where are you? [pause] fuck. The phone then hangs up. A pause hangs of about two seconds and the light goes up, PRIOR and DAVID are sat at the interview table] PRIOR: Now, David, before Sergeant Elton gets here, I’d like a word. DAVID: Sure, what do you want? PRIOR: There were a number of things I found out during your last interview that you hadn’t told me before. I don’t like being surprised like that. I’m your lawyer, my job here is to look after your interests. I can hardly do that if you’re keeping things from me, can I? DAVID: I’m sorry, Amanda. I didn’t want it all to come out. I didn’t see my friendship with Emily as anyone’s business but my own. I just didn’t see what bearing it had. PRIOR: Oh, for god’s sake, David, this is a murder investigation! Of course it has some bearing! DAVID: [slightly taken aback by the outburst] Look, it was really stupid of me, I’m sorry. I didn’t think the case would get this far. PRIOR: It’s not so much that as the fact that you were keeping things from me. I mean, we’re friends, aren’t we? DAVID: Of course we are. PRIOR: Friends don’t keep secrets from one another, David. Especially not at times like this. DAVID: Look, I’ll come clean with you. I need someone to be on my side in this case. You were right, ten years is a long time, and Frank has changed a lot. I feel I’m on my own here, and I don’t like that feeling. PRIOR: I’m here for you, David. DAVID: Are you? Sometimes it feels like I’m totally on my own in this thing. You don’t know what it’s like, when everyone’ s looking at you like you’re a monster, and then they go and put you back inside the cell, and every hand’s turned against you. I thought if I told you that I knew Emily Graham, you’d freak out, think I did it, and I’d have lost the only person I had that I could rely on in this whole situation. PRIOR: David, I’m your lawyer, it’s my job to help you out here. I couldn’t abandon you even if my feelings turned against you, which they haven’t. DAVID: That’s not what I mean! I do need a lawyer, but what I need, much more than that is a friend, someone I can talk to. I thought I’d found that. PRIOR: [takes DAVID’s hand] You have. You have found that. [as David is about to say something, there is a knock at the door, the link between DAVID and PRIOR, both physically and emotionally, breaks and the demeanour returns to lawyer and client. The door opens and FRANK comes in.] FRANK: Good afternoon Mr McFadden, Ms Prior. Give me a moment to sort these tapes out. PRIOR: [quietly, to DAVID] Promise me. DAVID: [quietly, to PRIOR] What? PRIOR: [quietly, to DAVID] Promise me you’re telling me the whole truth. FRANK: [fiddling with the tape recorder] Sorry, what was that? PRIOR: Oh, nothing. Are you ready to start the interview, sergeant? FRANK: I’m perfectly ready, but by the sounds of things you don’t seem to have fully prepared. Would you like a few moments more? DAVID: [leaping in before PRIOR can say anything] No. I just want to get this over and done with. FRANK: Ms Prior, are you ready to go on with this interview? PRIOR: [Not too happy about this but grudgingly] Well, if it’s what my client wants, I can hardly object. FRANK: All right, let’s begin. Interview number 58399 at three thirty PM on Friday the twenty seventh of August 1999. Interview with Mr Robert David McFadden, those present: myself, Sergeant Frank Elton; Robert David McFadden and Mr McFadden’s lawyer, Ms Amanda Prior. Mr McFadden, could you please confirm your name by repeating it onto the tape. DAVID: My name’s Robert David McFadden. FRANK: I should remind you, Mr McFadden that although you do not have to speak, it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something you later rely on in court. Anything you say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you. I should also inform you that further searches have taken place on your house. DAVID: I thought you’d already searched the place. FRANK: When I spoke to you this morning, searches had taken place. We have continued these searches. Before revealing the results of these searches, I have a few questions to ask you. Firstly, for the sake of clarity, how well did you know Emily Graham? DAVID: I’ve answered this. Twice. FRANK: You have answered it twice in conflicting fashions, first you only knew Emily Graham to say ‘hello’ to, then the two of you were friends. I was wondering if your opinion had changed over lunch. DAVID: This is stupid! PRIOR: I’m inclined to agree, you have my client’s opinion on record. FRANK: For the sake of clarity, and to act as a contrast to what I’m going to tell you, I require your current answer to the question. DAVID: What have you found? FRANK: Could you please answer the question? DAVID: I’m not saying another word until you tell me what you found that’s so important. FRANK: Very well, I shall outline what you said earlier today regarding Emily Graham. In light of finding a telephone at your house and discovering that you had phoned Emily Graham on a number of occasions, you told us that you and she were friends, and had been for several weeks. You denied any involvement in the nuisance phonecalls, or any negative feelings about Emily Graham calling the police. Is this correct, Mr McFadden? DAVID: [says nothing, stares at FRANK] FRANK: I see. Do you really think that keeping silent is helping your case? DAVID: [turns away from FRANK] FRANK: For the benefit of the tape, Mr McFadden has just turned away from me, and is refusing to answer questions. Ms Prior, as you were here earlier today, can you confirm the veracity of my statement? PRIOR: Sergeant, I am merely here as David- as Mr McFadden’s lawyer. However, if called to in a court of law, I would have to confirm this statement. FRANK: Thank you. Having confirmed that this was your opinion earlier today, would you stand by this statement, Mr McFadden? DAVID: [again silent, but turns to stare at FRANK] FRANK: The only damage you are doing is to your own case, Mr McFadden. How would you react if I told you that certain items have been recovered at your home? DAVID: It would depend what they were. FRANK: I’m glad to see you have regained the power of speech. As I told you before, the search upon your house continued this afternoon in a more thorough fashion, and several items of interest were found. DAVID: Such as? FRANK: Such as a mobile phone. [pause, in this pause, DAVID’s expression freezes, while PRIOR looks at DAVID. FRANK sits impassively] Do you have any comment to make, Mr McFadden? DAVID: [after a long pause] I- I’d like some time to speak to my lawyer if I may. FRANK: Certainly. I’ll give you five minutes, tell me if you need more. Interview suspended at three thirty five. [stops the tapes, removes them, exits] [a long and awkward pause follows, in which PRIOR stares at DAVID] DAVID: Amanda. [PRIOR stands and moves away] Amanda, it’s not what you think. PRIOR: How did I know you were going to say that? Any situation where a man thinks he’s been found out, he always resorts to ‘it’s not what you think’. What is it that I’m thinking now then, David? Go on, tell me that. DAVID: You think I did it. You think I made the nuisance calls on the mobile and therefore I’m the murderer. PRIOR: David, even if I was thinking that, it’s not my job to judge, it’s my job to represent you. What I was thinking is that you lied to me. I don’t like being lied to, David. DAVID: I didn’t lie to you, I just hadn’t told you everything. PRIOR: Oh, very convenient, I must say! I thought I was the one who was meant to be messing with words! David, I asked you if there was anything you were keeping from me, you told me there was nothing. DAVID: Wrong. If you remember correctly, I didn’t have time to answer. Frank came in before I could, remember? PRIOR: I remember, but you could still have told me, he offered to give us more time to prepare, I wanted to take it, but you pressed on. DAVID: I wanted to get it over and done with! PRIOR: Are you sure? It looks to me like you just didn’t want to answer me until you knew what cards Frank Elton was holding. Friends don’t do that, David. I want the truth now. Tell me what was going on between you and Emily Graham. DAVID: Can I tell you and Frank at the same time? I don’t think I could tell this twice and I want it on record. I’ve been stupid, Amanda, and I’m sorry. Look, if you get Frank back in here, I’ll let you both know what was going on. The truth. PRIOR: The whole truth. DAVID: You have to believe me, the whole truth. PRIOR: It had better be, David. If you’re lying to me again, then I don’t think I can count myself as your friend anymore. DAVID: The whole truth, yes. PRIOR: [pause] All right, I’ll find Sergeant Elton. [PRIOR leaves, DAVID remains sat at the table, looking from side to side slightly nervously. If possible, the lighting should close in slightly. After about 10 seconds, the door opens and FRANK and PRIOR return] FRANK: Are you willing to continue with the interview, Mr McFadden? DAVID: Yes, I have some things I need to tell both of you. FRANK: [puts the tapes back in the machine] Interview with Robert David McFadden continued at three thirty nine. Those present, as before. Mr McFadden, can you confirm that you are the owner of this mobile phone [pulls out a plastic bag containing a mobile] For the benefit of the tape, I am showing Mr McFadden exhibit 426 D, a Vodafone mobile phone, serial number 8358/344L. Can you confirm ownership, Mr McFadden? DAVID: [long pause] Yes. It’s mine. FRANK: We are currently in the process of tracing the threatening calls made to Emily Graham. In all probability they were made from a mobile. Can you tell me again what your relationship with Miss Graham was? DAVID: [another long pause] I was in love with her. [an awkward pause follows, PRIOR’s face should have an uneasy, slightly shocked, slightly dismayed look. Frank should stay impassive] FRANK: You were in love with her? DAVID: I was attracted to her from the moment I saw her, but it took a long time to pluck up the courage to talk to her. She saw me as just a friend, and I was trying to be just a friend, but it was maddening. FRANK: Did you make the nuisance calls to Miss Graham? DAVID: [as though he hasn’t hears] A month ago, it all got too much. I was telling the truth about when I met her, six weeks ago, but a month ago being around her and not saying anything was driving me insane. I went into the centre of Manchester to try and calm down, perhaps get a little perspective on things. I walked past a mobile phone shop. I used to hate people with mobile phones, thinking they’re so damn important with their wonderful busy lives. Most of the time the phone is just a prop. Sure, maybe ten years ago having a mobile phone was something out of the ordinary, but now anyone can get one, so it’s hardly something to show off about. That’s what they’re doing, showing off, showing off how great their lives are that the world is in touch with them all the time. It really pisses me off. Something about the mood I was in made me go in to have a look around. All the time, though, I kept being distracted by thinking about Emily, about how great things would be if she’d just think of me how I thought of her, I mean, I knew she didn’t but that didn’t stop me thinking. What I wanted, what I needed, was for her to need me, for her to depend on me. It sounds dumb, but before I knew what I was doing, I’d bought a pay-as- you-go mobile phone with 10 pounds of calls on it. I didn’t know exactly when I’d use it, but I knew I could use it to get Emily. FRANK: So you confirm that it was you who made the calls. DAVID: This will sound insane, but I didn’t mean any harm by it. I meant to shake her up a bit and then be the person who was there for her, to protect her. To begin with, it worked. The phone calls did bring us closer, she began to confide in me, see me as a close friend. FRANK: However, you still kept up with the calls. DAVID: Only for a few days, only so I was the one she confided in. I wasn’t going to make any more calls, I swear. FRANK: And then she told you she was telling the police. DAVID: Yes. FRANK: And you didn’t want her to, not only would it mean you stopped being the centre of attention, it would mean there was the chance of them finding out. DAVID: Yes. FRANK: So the calls stopped. The police said there was nothing they could do, as the number was untraceable if no more calls were made, and they went away again. DAVID: Yes, only-[pauses] FRANK: Only what? DAVID: Only when the police went, she stopped worrying about the calls, and in my mind, we went back to being friends. FRANK: She stopped relying on you, she stopped confiding in you. You began to think that you were only important as long as the phonecalls were going on. DAVID: Yes, I struggled with it. I wanted her to be happy, but I wanted her to be happy with me. I just let things slide for a couple of weeks, before I found out… FRANK: You found out what? That she’d been seeing someone? DAVID: [startled that FRANK knew, but continues] Yes. A friend of a guy she knew at work. They went out one night and… then they were together. FRANK: You were jealous, for a short while she had been yours and yours alone, and now there was another guy in the picture. DAVID: Yes, he wasn’t good enough for her. FRANK: And you were? DAVID: No! Nobody was, but I had to protect her from people like that. FRANK: And so the phone calls started again. DAVID: [strained, as if slightly pained by this] I had to get her away from him, he was dangerous, I thought if I could only get her away from him, she’d be safe. I only meant to unnerve her a bit, talk to me again. FRANK: But it didn’t work, did it? What you were doing only served to drive her further into his arms. DAVID: What? FRANK: As she got closer and closer to him, you drifted further and further out of the picture, and so you thought, well, if I can’t have her, no-one can. DAVID: No! FRANK: You kept up the phone calls until she was terrified out of her wits, but it had the opposite effect, and so last Friday, you kidnapped her DAVID: No! That was nothing to do with me! I made the phone calls, sure, but I’d never hurt her, never! FRANK: David, give me some credit here. You intimidate this woman with threatening phone calls systematically to worm your way into her affections, you continue this campaign when she seems to be growing cold to you, and suddenly when she gets herself a boyfriend and you’re out of the picture, she disappears. Are you seriously going to turn round, shrug your shoulders and say ‘nothing to do with me’? DAVID: It wasn’t like that! I did what I did because I loved her! FRANK: You made her life a misery, made her afraid to go out of her house, because you loved her? If this is what you do to people you love, I’d hate to see what happens to you enemies. DAVID: [begins to rise from his seat] Keep this up for long and you just might. PRIOR: David, calm down! Sergeant, this is getting needlessly adversarial. FRANK: Sorry. Mr McFadden, wouldn’t you agree that the evidence does point to you as the murderer here? DAVID: It looks terrible, I know. I was stupid, but I was in love. I never meant to hurt her at all, I just wanted what was best for her. FRANK: Would you class being a prisoner in her own home as being what was best for her? [DAVID begins to rise, but PRIOR’s hand on his shoulder stops him] PRIOR: David. [they share a glance] DAVID: No. No I wouldn’t. I never meant for anything like that to happen. It was a mistake, things got out of hand, it was stupid of me. I wish I’d never made the fucking calls. FRANK: The fact remains, you admit to making these calls. This gives you a history of threatening behaviour towards Emily Graham. I don’t have to tell you how bad this looks. DAVID: [very agitated] I know, I know exactly what it looks like, that’s why I’ve been so fucking scared. FRANK: In your original statement, yesterday, you said that the last time you saw Emily Graham was in Didsbury, near Tesco’s supermarket, on Sunday afternoon. Do you stand by this? DAVID: Yes. I didn’t say anything to her, just nodded and moved on. FRANK: Why didn’t you say anything? If you made the calls, you certainly knew she was missing by this point. DAVID: She wouldn’t have wanted to talk to me. Things hadn’t exactly been fantastic between us. FRANK: Because of this new man? DAVID: Because of the new man. All she’d talk about was this new guy. It didn’t seem to be on the level, I thought something might be a bit strange about him. FRANK: So you, the man who had been terrorising her over the phone for weeks, thought something might be a bit strange about her new boyfriend. This does sound a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. DAVID: Frank, whatever you may think of me, whatever you may think of what I did, I loved her. I screwed things up, I know, but I still thought I was looking out for her. FRANK: You say thought. I take it you’ve changed your mind. DAVID: What the hell did you think I was doing sat in on my own all week? I realised what I’d done. Have you any idea what it’s like? I loved her and I’d made her life hell, and then she’d disappeared. I thought it was my fault. I was about 5 minutes from killing myself most of that week! FRANK: So, why were you out yesterday? DAVID: I was picking up my giro. I’d calmed down a lot and realised I needed to go out, but the moment I left the house, I knew it was a mistake. There were police everywhere. FRANK: So you assaulted Constable Andrews because- DAVID: Because I felt guilty. I felt like I’d done it. I felt like I was on the run. They stopped me. He grabbed my arm and I lost it for a moment. FRANK: The question still remains, Mr McFadden. If you are telling us the truth, and you didn’t kill Miss Graham, who did? DAVID: ‘Kill’, you always use that word. I thought you didn’t know if it was murder yet. PRIOR: Sergeant Elton, have you evidence to show that Emily Graham has been killed? FRANK: As yet, we have not recovered a body or a possible murder weapon. This is currently being treated as a missing persons investigation with the strong possibility of a homicide. DAVID: Do you mean that she could still be alive? FRANK: We cannot rule out that possibility even now. However the chances of this decrease day by day. DAVID: The only thing I can think of is this: have you talked to her… [struggles, not wanting to say ‘boyfriend’] Have you talked to the man she was seeing? FRANK: As yet, no. Until you mentioned him, we weren’t sure she was seeing someone. DAVID: What? You’re practically accusing me of murder and you haven’t even talked to him yet? For all you know she could have just gone away with him. FRANK: That’s highly unlikely. For one thing, her coat, with her wallet, her cash card and her house-keys, was found on the banks of the canal. If she was going away, why would they have been left there? DAVID: You didn’t consider that maybe they were there on purpose? FRANK: David, I hope you’re not trying to suggest that Emily Graham has faked her own disappearance. Please credit me with some intelligence. DAVID: Well, why is that so unlikely? I mean, she really thought someone was after her. FRANK: So she disappeared without her bank card, without taking any clothes, and without her wallet. DAVID: Sure, why advertise that you’re going to disappear? Isn’t everything a lot easier if she can just be seen to vanish? FRANK: David, what you’re suggesting is completely ludicrous. Why would she need to disappear? Why not just move in with this new boyfriend? She wouldn’t need to go to all the trouble of, as you seem to be suggesting, faking her own suicide. DAVID: OK, what if this new boyfriend is the problem? Isn’t there the chance that he’s the one who kidnapped her? FRANK: David, I hate to tell you this, but all your telling me just sounds like you trying to weasel your way out of this. DAVID: Look, I’m innocent. I keep telling you that I love her, I wouldn’t do anything to harm her. FRANK: Apart from scare her into insensibility. DAVID: [shouts] I told you, I didn’t know what I was doing! [breaks down a bit] I thought I was just making things better. I didn’t know any of this would happen. I love her. [PRIOR puts one arm across DAVID’s shoulder, he calms down a bit] PRIOR: Look, this is getting us nowhere. Sergeant, you are covering no new ground with what you are saying, and this is only serving to upset my client. FRANK: There are a couple of things I still need to ask your client. PRIOR: Will these be serious questions or merely another round of aggravation? FRANK: I don’t mean to cause any distress to you, Mr McFadden. I merely need to establish the facts. DAVID: If all you’re interested in is the facts, why don’t you listen to me when I tell you where to find them? FRANK: What do you mean? DAVID: I mean that you haven’t considered you could be looking at entirely the wrong man. Look at this man Emily was with. He’s the missing link in this. FRANK: Until you told me about him, I had no idea of this man’s identity. You still haven’t been gracious enough to furnish me with his name. That is, if you know his name, and this isn’t another story. DAVID: He’s called Julian, OK? Julian McCann. He knows a guy that Emily works- worked with. Look, have you got anything else to ask? I don’t feel too good. PRIOR: Are you all right? DAVID: I’ll be OK, I’m just feeling a bit stuffy. FRANK: Just one more question. DAVID: [slight laugh] You sound just like Colombo. FRANK: Do you ever go near the ship canal? DAVID: [pause of a few seconds, as this was an unexpected question] No. Why should I? It’s miles from my home, the other side of the city. FRANK: You do know that’s where Emily Graham’s coat was found? The banks of Manchester Ship Canal, about a mile or so outside the city centre. DAVID: I wouldn’t even know where to go to get to the damn canal. FRANK: In that case, that’s all I have to ask you for the moment. Interview concluded at four oh five PM. [stops the tape recorder] Pick one. [DAVID barely gestures but seems to point at a tape] Someone will be along shortly to escort you to your cell. [exits, blackout, sound of a phone ringing, a voice answers CABBIE: Hello, City Cars? MAN 2: Hi, can I have a taxi from the Withington Alehouse, please? CABBIE: Where you going? MAN: Er.. the ship canal. CABBIE: What’s your name, mate? MAN: Um.. Julian. CABBIE: When do you want it? MAN: Soon as possible, please CABBIE: Right, it’s on its way mate. The phone then hangs up. Light comes up on FRANK’s office with him seated at the computer typing. FRANK: [in voice over] The Emily Graham case is advancing apace, due to the discoveries at David McFadden’s house and certain revelations in the interviews with Mr McFadden. The discovery of the mobile phone, which was well hidden in an otherwise unused room of Mr McFadden’s house, certainly had an effect on the suspect. Whether this was to act as a catalyst for confession, or to panic McFadden into inventing a story that fit the events cannot yet be determined. The events of this afternoon seem to give me an element of freedom in what happens as regards this case. I am still, until the release or charge of David McFadden, titular head of this case at the very least. I now have sufficient evidence to charge David McFadden, but also sufficient evidence supporting his story to release him without charge. What happens now is basically entirely my call. As with any situation that seems to offer me freedom of choice, this has the effect of constraining me even further. I cannot in good conscience charge McFadden with Emily Graham’s murder unless I feel that he is the perpetrator. Similarly, to release him without charge, or even to arrest him for the threatening phone calls when I do not know if he committed the murder or not, would feel like an admission of guilt. I am trying with all my might to keep my feelings about this case under tight check, but this is increasingly difficult. I have strongly conflicting emotions in this matter, about being transferred to another case, about the nature of the crime, and most of all about my friendship with David. This friendship is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, knowing David, or at least knowing what David was like, as well as I do means that I can draw up a fairly good character analysis. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to separate my rational thoughts about David from the whole range of emotions I feel about him. The most I can do is to ask myself questions about him. Do I feel him capable of committing a crime of passion? Yes. I know him well enough to know his temper, even if it had not been demonstrated to me in graphic terms in the interview room. Do I view him as capable of lying to me? Yes. David is a good enough actor to make a lie sound like the truth when he needs to. Do I think he is capable of murder? I don’t know. FRANK: [out of voice over] I don’t know. [blackout, sound of a phone ringing. FRANK answers FRANK: Hello? BANKS: Frank. I need to speak to you about your handling of the Emily Graham case, can you be in my office in 5 minutes? FRANK: Sir, I have a lot of work to do on the case. BANKS: This is urgent, frank. I need to talk to you. I’m concerned about the direction this case is heading in. FRANK: What do you mean, sir? BANKS: I don’t care to discuss this over the phone, Frank. My office, 5 minutes. Goodbye, Frank. Blackout. Stage comes up again on BANKS’ office. BANKS paces the floor, reading from a foolscap folder in obvious agitation. There is a knock at the door.] BANKS: Enter. [FRANK enters] FRANK: Sir, will this take long? BANKS: Just a few minutes, Frank, but there are a few things which need to be said. FRANK: Regarding what, sir? BANKS: Regarding your handling of this damn case! Why haven’t you charged David McFadden yet? FRANK: Sir, I still have until two o’clock tomorrow afternoon to hold McFadden without- BANKS: You know as well as I do that I don’t need you to quote the book at me. You have a confession of threatening behaviour from the man, you have enough evidence for the CPS to stand a good chance of putting him away, you’ve done your job. Why hasn’t he been charged? FRANK: Sir, I have not finished conducting my investigation yet- BANKS: And chances are, you’re not going to. It’s seven in the evening, Frank. You have another nineteen hours. You need your sleep like the rest of us, Frank. FRANK: As I was saying, sir, I have not finished conducting my investigations yet, and as I was given a new lead at ten to four this afternoon, I feel it is my duty to follow it up. BANKS: You mean McFadden’s ramblings about Emily’s boyfriend? FRANK: I don’t consider them to be ramblings. If Emily Graham did have a boyfriend we hadn’t seen or spoken to yet, then it’s possible he knows things that could help the case. BANKS: And what if he isn’t? What if you’re using up your time remaining on this investigation on a wild goose chase? FRANK: Then I will know that David lied to me. BANKS: Hardly the first time, is it? I mean, he’s currently on his third cover story, each of which probably reveals a little more of the truth. FRANK: That’s what’s important in this case, sir. The truth. What really happened. BANKS: Frank, remember your position. You’re the investigating officer, you have to find out whether there is reasonable cause for this man to stand trial, you don’t have to personally acquit or convict him. At the moment you have enough evidence to charge him, certainly on the threatening behaviour, probably even on the murder charge. FRANK: I don’t know enough yet, sir. Guilty men have walked because of insufficient evidence. Innocent men have gone to prison because of slapdash investigation. BANKS: Frank, if you’re really concerned about all this, charge him for the threatening behaviour and then the murder investigation can continue. We’ll then have him for a while longer, especially if a magistrate knows he is the subject of an ongoing investigation. FRANK: Or rather, Reid will have a lot longer to look at the case, if he can focus on the damn thing. BANKS: Is that what this is all about? Frank, I credited you with more integrity than to build an investigation around a case of sour grapes. FRANK: Sir, this isn’t sour grapes. I merely think that I have a better chance of cracking this investigation than Reid. I started on the case, I know the ground, I’ve done violent crimes before, and not least because I know David. BANKS: On the other hand, Reid won’t be working on a case that his former best friend is implicated in. FRANK: We’ve been though this, sir, isn’t that why you’re moving me? BANKS: Exactly. I can’t tell you how to handle the case. After all, it is your case, but I can tell you to be careful. Don’t start anything you don’t think you can finish. I need you for Silverfish in good shape, remember that. FRANK: Yes, sir. Can I go now? I still have a lot to do. BANKS: Of course. Frank? FRANK: Sir? BANKS: Don’t burn yourself out on this one. FRANK: Yes, sir. [FRANK exits. Blackout. Sound of a phone ringing, FRANK answers FRANK: (sleepily) Hello? PC: Sarge? It’s Constable Willis. FRANK: It’s also four in the morning. PC: I’m sorry, Sarge, but this is important. FRANK: What is it? PC: You’d better come and see, sir. We’re at the house. We’ve found something. FRANK: Give me 20 minutes. the phone then hangs up. After a pause, light should come up on the interview room. PRIOR and DAVID are sat as before] DAVID: Well, I guess this is it. PRIOR: What? DAVID: It’s coming up to eleven, which means that at the very most Frank’s got another three hours. He’s got to let me go or charge me. PRIOR: David, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Even if they don’t charge you on the murder count, you’ve confessed to the threatening phonecalls. DAVID: [laughs slightly] They’re after a murderer. What I did was stupid, but they’re not going to crash a murder investigation for something like that. PRIOR: You’ve certainly changed your tune. Yesterday afternoon you seemed ready to fall on your sword over the phonecalls. DAVID: That was before I thought about it properly. Look, if Julian McCann is the kind of person who’d take advantage of his girlfriend’s weakness like that, who’s to say he wouldn’t have done it anyway? If I think about it like that, it doesn’t seem so much like my fault. PRIOR: Regardless of that, they still have a crime they could charge you with. You’re not seeing the bigger picture here, David. They could charge you with threatening behaviour, intimidation, assault, anything like that. As you’re the subject of a murder investigation, there’s less chance you’ll get bail, or that bail will be set at a sensible level. With you locked up and easy to contact, they can continue the investigation indefinitely. DAVID: Frank wouldn’t do that, though. PRIOR: Frank wouldn’t do it, but what after Frank has left the case? DAVID: What do you mean? PRIOR: What after he’s been transferred? DAVID: Transferred? PRIOR: Didn’t you know? He’s being put on a drugs bust. Someone else is being put in charge of the case. DAVID: What? They can’t do that! PRIOR: Hopefully, by that point you’ll have been released, so it will make no difference, but if they charge you then someone else will be handling the case. DAVID: That’s just stupid. You don’t just change detectives halfway though a case. How will this new guy be able to continue on someone else’s case? Besides, I like Frank. I can work with him. We understand each other. PRIOR: I know, it’s stupid, but we have to just get through this. Look, whatever happens, I’m here for you. DAVID: Even after what I did yesterday? PRIOR: That doesn’t matter. You had your reasons not to tell me the truth. DAVID: That’s no excuse. I acted like a complete and total bastard. I was asking you to trust me, but not trusting you enough to tell you what was going on. I’m sorry. PRIOR: [taking DAVID’s hand] It’s OK. I think I understand why you did it. This situation with Emily’s really thrown you, hasn’t it? DAVID: I just want to know what happened. That’s all. I want to know what happened to her after I saw her. PRIOR: It’s all right, David. Everything’s going to be all right. [the door opens without anyone knocking and FRANK comes in, angry for the first time] FRANK: You bastard. DAVID: Frank? FRANK: You kept leading me on, spinning me story after story, lie after lie, and I kept scampering after them because I didn’t want to believe you were capable of it. PRIOR: Sergeant, what the hell is going on? FRANK: [ignoring her] And all this time, as you’re sitting there with your act of injured innocence… [calms down] I’m sorry. I’ll make a start on the interview. DAVID: Frank, what the hell are you talking about? FRANK: [ignoring all this but clearly straining to keep his emotions under check] Interview number… [checks the number on a piece of paper] Interview number 58401 at eleven fifteen AM on Saturday the twenty eighth of August 1999. Interview with Mr Robert David McFadden, those present: myself, Sergeant Frank Elton; Robert David McFadden and Mr McFadden’s lawyer, Ms Amanda Prior. Mr McFadden, could you please confirm your name by repeating it onto the tape. DAVID: Frank, what’s wrong? FRANK: Repeat your name onto the fucking tape! PRIOR: Sergeant, you are allowing your emotions to get the better of you. I must demand that you either calm down of find someone else to conduct this interview. FRANK: [pauses for a long time] I’m sorry. I’m acting unprofessionally. Please forgive me. With your permission I’ll start again. PRIOR: All right, but I may lodge a formal complaint about your behaviour. FRANK: Interview number 58401 at eleven fifteen AM on Saturday the twenty eighth of August 1999. Interview with Mr Robert David McFadden, those present: myself, Sergeant Frank Elton; Robert David McFadden and Mr McFadden’s lawyer, Ms Amanda Prior. Mr McFadden, could you please confirm your name by repeating it onto the tape. DAVID: [clearly confused and more than a little scared by what is happening] My name is Robert David McFadden. FRANK: I should remind you, Mr McFadden that although you do not have to speak, it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something you later rely on in court. Anything you say will be taken down and may be used in evidence against you. PRIOR: I feel it is my duty to note at this point that Sergeant Elton entered this room in a state of heightened emotions, and that this interview is taking place against my better judgement as Mr McFadden’s lawyer. FRANK: That will be duly noted, Ms Prior. Now, Mr McFadden, I want to ask you a few more questions about your house. DAVID: My uncle’s house. It’s not my house. FRANK: As you say, your uncles house. How much of the house do you use? DAVID: What do you mean? FRANK: It’s a fairly large house. Lots of rooms. As you have told us before you only have your camp bed, your kettle and a few odds and ends. How much of it do you use? DAVID: Only the old front room, one upstairs room and the bathroom. Why? FRANK: You don’t use the cellar at all? [a long long silence follows] You have the run of that house. Do you ever use the cellar for anything. DAVID: I’ve- I’ve been down there, but no. FRANK: [under seemingly greater strain than before] Are you absolutely sure about that? DAVID: Yes. FRANK: I don’t believe it. [stands and paces as he speaks] I don’t fucking believe it. You can sit there lying to me with such sincerity on your face. DAVID: [raising his voice] I’m not lying! FRANK: [shouts] They found the body, David! [A pause follows. FRANK’s anger makes him calm as he speaks] Leading on from what you told me, I sent two officers to investigate Julian McCann. However, I had my own leads to follow up, so I left a number of officers at your house. Constable Willis was searching the cellar. One wall looked newer than the others. He didn’t give it much thought at the time, but as the search progressed, he realised that the cellar was too small for the rest of the house. You’d expect the cellar in a house of that size to be at least three rooms. This was two, and one of them looked too small, partly because of this new brick wall. This preyed on his mind so much that he eventually, with the agreement of the other officers, got a sledgehammer and started breaking through the wall. Do I need to tell you what he found inside? [DAVID is silent] I see I do. Inside was a body. The body of a young woman. The body of Emily Graham. Forensics think she had been dead for almost a week. Dead when you say you saw her in Didsbury. In Constable Andrews’ quest to find Julian McCann he also found a lot. Julian McCann is friends with somebody Emily Graham worked with, as you said. He also knew Emily Graham through this friend, as you said. You did however miss out the small detail that Julian McCann is gay. The friend he knew Emily through was his boyfriend. In other words, you led me on a wild goose chase, using up my time until I had to release you. Yet another of your stories bites the dust. Mind telling me what really happened? DAVID: No comment. FRANK: Run out of stories? Do you want a five-minute break to think one up? Why don’t I tell you what I think happened, and you can fill in the gaps? You knew Emily Graham much like you said you did. You were obsessed with her. You thought that the threatening phone calls would unnerve her enough to drive her into your arms. In a way, this worked. Then she said she was calling the police about it. This unnerved you so much you stopped the phone calls straight away. How am I doing so far? [David is silent] OK, I’ll go on. Feel free to leap in at any time. After the calls stopped, she drifted. Stopped seeing you as much as she had. Then she started mentioning a friend from her office. You got entirely the wrong idea and flew into a fit of jealousy. The phone calls started again. This had the exact opposite effect to what you had intended. She ran to her new friends. You couldn’t have this, so last Friday you met her on her way home from work, asked her if she wanted to come to your house to talk. By this point, I think she was at the very least suspecting that the phone calls were something to do with you, even if she hadn’t completely made up her mind about them. Even if you just wanted to talk, her fear would make you angry. I don’t know whether you persuaded her to come in with you, or just grabbed her in the street, but however it happened, you got her into your house. A rag that Willis found in the cellar had been soaked in chloroform. Your uncle had been an amateur photographer, and amongst his junk upstairs there was a bottle of the damn stuff. So you got her into the house and drugged her. You thought you’d give her one more chance to fall in love with you or that was it. If you couldn’t have her, then nobody could. Am I right? DAVID: [almost incoherent, introverted, almost addressed to himself] It wasn’t like that. I loved her FRANK: And you showed this love by drugging her and throwing her into the cellar. Can you really claim this was a crime of passion? You bought the bricks and mortar two days before. You were ready for this. [approaches the table and leans over towards DAVID] You sealed her in there brick by brick. No food, no water, a broken leg from where you’d pushed her down the stairs. She lay there and died, slowly, painfully, her screams inaudible to anyone, unless you could hear them. She scratched at the walls with her fingers until she broke all her nails, until her fingers were red and bloody. She died in slow exhausted painful fear. That’s why you couldn’t go out in that week, you needed to make sure she was dead. You waited until the screaming stopped. Until the sobbing stopped. Until the breathing stopped. DAVID: [after a long, long LONG pause] No. No. How can you think I’d do something like that? You know me! FRANK: [his voice weary, as if recalling memories long buried] Oh yes, I know you. I remember how you reacted when Pete Adams told on you to Mr Gilmour. I remember how you found him afterwards and beat him so badly he was off school for three weeks. I remember how you only stopped because I dragged you off. I remember how you made him say a gang of older boys had beaten him up. I remember the look of shock on your face when the class was told what had happened to poor peter. You even gave money to buy him a get well card, you bastard. I remember how you reacted when Susie Gilchrist wouldn’t go out with you. You put your fist through a wall. I remember all the secret moments of violence you were capable of. I remember how you were able to make yourself look so honest, so much the face of injured innocence. You could talk your way out of anything. DAVID: Frank, how can you say that? We were best friends! FRANK: We were only best friends because I had no other friends. You used me, picked on me, bullied me, and I took it. I took it because I had no one else, so being the fall guy in your mad schemes was better than nothing. Better than it had been before, or so I thought. It was only when I got into sixth form that I made other friends. Friends who didn’t use me. [a pause follows. Neither DAVID nor FRANK seem likely to talk] PRIOR: [after a pause] I take it you’re charging my client with murder. FRANK: [tries to regain his composure] The evidence seems to point this way. A cab driver has come forward to report that on Sunday night he took a man matching David’s description from a pub on Wilmslow road to a lock house on the canal about a mile outside the city centre. The drop off point was a hundred yards from where the coat was found the next morning. You planted the evidence to confuse the police, didn’t you? Make us think the crime had happened on the other side of the city. I have no choice but to charge you. DAVID: Frank, you can’t. FRANK: I have no alternative. DAVID: It’ll kill me. I can’t be locked up. I can’t be in a concrete coffin, boxed in. I’ll have no air, I won’t be able to breathe. I’ll suffocate. I can’t fucking go in there. I’ll die. PRIOR: David, what’s wrong? DAVID: [mania in his eyes, shaking, sweating] The walls. They’re too close, far too fucking close. I’m trapped, they’ll close in on me, they’ll crush me. I’m trapped and I can’t get out. FRANK: David- DAVID: Frank, if you put me in there, I’ll kill myself. I swear to god. FRANK: I am charging you with murder. Anything you say will be- [DAVID dives forward to grab FRANK, pushing the table out of the way. The tape player falls to the ground. An alarm goes off as Frank moves back, startled. PRIOR tries to restrain DAVID but is pushed out of the way. Two CID officers come in and grab him, struggling with him] FRANK: Take him to his cell. DAVID: [as he is dragged away] I’ll do it, Frank. I’ll kill myself! You can’t put me in there! [the lights go down as PRIOR gets to her feet, and FRANK looks out the door into the corridor, after DAVID. A phone rings and is picked up by an automatic message along the lines of ‘the number you have dialled does not exist, please try again’ the phone hangs up. Lights up on FRANK’s office. FRANK is working at the computer] FRANK: [in voiceover] It was Socrates who said that the wisest man is he who knows that he knows nothing. After the conclusion of this case, I certainly feel that way. I no longer know what my relationship with my immediate superior is. I no longer know what to think about my past, about my friends, about my life. I find myself asking if this investigation was a success or a failure, and find myself unable to answer. In the purely legal sense, this investigation has to be viewed as successful. Within 8 days of the crime taking place, the perpetrator has been arrested, charged and is preparing to stand trial. Regarding my career, I have managed to strain an important working relationship so my commanding officer now thinks I am truculent, surly and possibly even disobedient. On an emotional level, I have just put someone I used to love like a brother in prison. This is made no easier by my knowing he was guilty. Tomorrow morning, I begin my duties on Operation Silverfish, an enterprise large enough and complicated enough that I will have precious little time to think about what has happened in the last two days. In the meantime, I have my report to write, my paperwork to fill out, and a hundred and one mindless tasks to keep myself from wondering whether David will fulfil his threat, compounding the crime of taking the life of another with the desperation of taking his own. At the moment, like any other ‘wise’ man, I don’t know. [FRANK pauses in his writing, stares at the screen for a second, and then bursts into soft, unstoppable tears, the lights fade. A telephone is heard to ring as the lights fade, stopping as the stage blacks out.] FIN