twenty years ago
Herrick (Jason Watkins): So, you did something remarkable tonight. You walked, unharmed, from a plane crash. Only now, I don’t know what to do with you.
Herrick: It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? You know I think the biggest shock for me—ah, more than the actual existence of vampires and werewolves and ghosts… uh, there are ghosts too, you know, but we’ll come to that. Was knowing that until that point I’d been allowed to live. Once the curtain was drawn and I’d seen the true nature of nature, I realized that these nightmare creatures had permitted us to mind the shop. The monsters were merciful. But it was a fragile detente. Like a tiger. In a paper cage. At any moment they could break free and wreck the world. Nope, all in all, I think that was a bit of a blow.
Herrick: That’s all over now. I’ve set you free.
McNair (Robson Green): I wasn’t unharmed.
Herrick: I’m sorry?
McNair: I wasn’t unharmed. Please, could I have a bandage or something? It scratched me.
Herrick: Oops.
Mitchell: Alright, well say you do lead the police to Daisy. Okay? They arrest her, they process her, they take her photograph, and bam! That’s it. The world knows about vampires and it’s total…. This is First Contact. It’s Biblical. Religion, history, science, they lose everything. The trauma factor, do imagine.
Annie: I need more drawing pens.
Mitchell: Annie.
Annie: Vampires must have been arrested in the past.
Mitchell: Yeah. But we used to have an infrastructure in place to sort it out.
Annie: So what? Daisy should just get away with it?
Mitchell: I’m saying, the vampires take care of this sort of thing themselves.
Annie: Like vampire police.
Mitchell: Well not actual. It’s kind of self-regulating.
Annie: Okay, look. What if it was me? Hm? Say I didn’t die and I got on that train and so did Daisy and I don’t know, that was my picture in that incident room, not Lia’s. What would you do?
Mitchell: I wouldn’t have known you.
Annie: Play my What If game.
Mitchell: I’d tear the world apart.
Annie: That’s the correct answer.
Cooper (Justin Salinger): Make this useful or quick. Your choice.
DC Reed (Erin Richards): That name I pulled off the information line, John Mitchell? Yeah, I went to see him and he’s a bit nervy but he gave me another name. Daisy Hannigan Spitteri. Some ex-girlfriend of his.
Annie: You should write this down.
DC Reed: Apparently she told him she saw the Box Tunnel massacre firsthand. But the only Daisy Hannigan Spitteri I could find died in an air raid in 1941.
Annie: Yeah, see, this is where it gets complicated.
DC Reed: I went back there and he’s got a scrapbook full of clippings.
Cooper: Clippings of what?
Annie: Clippings of what?
DC Reed: The Box Tunnel 20.
Annie: What?
DC Reed: Let me go back there with a warrant.
Cooper: Okay. This is the last time we ever have this conversation. We have a list of suspects with a history of violence and mental illness. And if we don’t make an arrest this week everyone in that room gets replaced. This—clippings and ex-girlfriends—this is gossip. This isn’t even a fingerprint or anything even approaching proof. It’s a waste of time and you are not going to pursue it any further.
Herrick: Do you trust Mitchell?
Nina: If Mitchell told me the sky is blue I’d have to go outside to check.
Herrick: He says I’m a vampire. Like the story by Byron. Those witches who tormented me, they said so too. It’s bewildering, isn’t it? That woman who came to the house, I could hear her blood throb and pound through her veins. Yet I don’t hear that with you or George or the girl or… Why is that?
Nina: Look, whatever you are it doesn’t have to define you. Take it from me.
Herrick: Define me? I’m hunger. That is what defines me. Hunger is the length and breadth of me now.
Nina: It’ll pass.
Herrick: How? I, I— There’s images in here, really dark dark desires and… I can’t sleep. If I am the victim of a conspiracy to drive me mad I confess it is working.
Nina: Listen to me. Hang on to that. You are not going mad. But any other reaction in this house would be insane. Don’t let this become comfortable. Stay separate. Stay appalled.
Herrick: I showed her the journal.
Nina: The policewoman?
Herrick: She found it mightily interesting. Was that the wrong thing to do? Fiat justitia ruat caelum, Nina. Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.
Tom (Michael Socha): Do you think he needs to go to hospital?
Nina: Well I’m going to have to clean it out, but it doesn’t look to deep.
McNair: See? Told ya.
Nina: But you really should have got it dressed earlier. It could be infected.
Tom: See? I told ya.
Nina: Look, George, why don’t you take Tom and get me some hot water and basically anything that’s, you know, in another room.
McNair looking at the wall: What’s all this?
Nina: Annie has started fighting crime. It was only a matter of time, really.
Nina: How did you get this?
McNair: Vampires. They got us this morning. Payback for the dog fight. I killed two. Tom killed two. I’m surprised that haven’t gone for you and George yet.
Nina: Maybe… maybe they don’t know where we are.
McNair: Oh trust me, they know. Me and Tom have lived under the radar for years, they still found us. You must be off-limits. Probably because you’ve got their poster boy looking after you.
McNair: Something’s changed.
Nina: No. No, I mean it’s just, well, the past few weeks have been… pretty routine, actually.
McNair: I mean here. Something’s different.
George: I mean you’re what? Nineteen, twenty? You shouldn’t be killing vampires from a shitty camper van. You, you— You should have chlamydia. A twenty-four hour hangover. Because trust me, Tom, you will look back and they will be the best years of your life.
Tom: I don’t have a choice.
George: Um, yeah you do. You could stay here.
Tom: McNair would never agree to that.
George: Oh please! Screw bloody McNair.
Tom: You people really do swear a hell of a lot, don’t ya? Just an observation. McNair says it suggests a limited vocabulary.
George: Oh right, does he? Well actually I can speak six different languages. And McNair can just… piss off.
George: You do know it’s a full moon tonight.
McNair: I was thinking maybe I could use your basement? Well it’s probably not a good idea to run ’round the forest in this state.
George: Nina uses that, so…
Nina: No, not so far.
McNair: Alright with you, Tom? Just a for a few days. You could probably watch some cartoons. Maybe George’ll take you for a pint.
Annie: Now. Nancy. We need to stay focused. Never mind what shouty man says, Mitchell can lead us to Daisy. And I know he’s worried about the repercussions, but there’s something bigger at stake here. Whoever did this—someone’s child, someone’s… someone’s lover. But we can’t think about that. There has to be justice. Whatever the cost.
Reed: John Mitchell. I’m coming to get you.
Annie: Yes! … Sort of.
Reed: Now I’m talking to myself.
Annie: No, you’re not, Nancy. It’s fine. You’re not. Really.
George: Yeah, I forgot to mention. We, ah, we’ve got guests.
Mitchell: That’s five.
George: What?
Mitchell: That’s fine.
Mitchell: Okay, listen. It’s a full moon tonight and downstairs is standing room only for bloody lycos so you’re going to tell me how you did it. How did you survive that werewolf attack?
Herrick: You just keep asking me this! As if these are riddles!
Annie: I know who killed the Box Tunnel 20. Mitchell told me.
George: He told you?
Nina: You’re kidding.
Annie: Daisy Hannigan Spitteri… or something.
George: What? She— Ah, sorry. Who?
Annie: She confessed to Mitchell, more or less. But it’s a bit complicated, ’cause she a vampire so Mitchell says that we have to, you know, tread carefully.
Nina: Was there any proof?
Annie: Uh. What d’you mean?
Nina: Well you know, what with that policewoman sniffing around. You know what they’re like. They find… stuff.
Annie: Yes! Well, no, yes. But, um, there was a scrapbook. With clippings of the murders in it.
Nina: And how did he explain that?
Annie: Well he has been investigating the case too.
Nina: The murders?
Annie: Yeah. Apparently that’s what vampires do if one of them goes bad. Or… badder. Yeah, so he’s looking for Daisy. He’s just trying to gather all the clues.
Nina: So he didn’t do it? I mean, really didn’t.
Annie: No. Oh my god. Nina. No.
George: Daisy.
Annie: Do you know her?
George: Ah. Well yeah. Kind of. Her and her husband attacked me and Mitchell a few months ago but it does, it does kind of make sense. She was pretty wild. Just um… Just very determined. Tenacious. Surprisingly strong…. Limber.
Nina: You do know you’re saying all this out loud, don’t you?
Annie: Well this is it. Nancy is on her way here, we are going to crack this, and we are going to throw a book at Daisy.
DC Reed: Hi John. I was just wondering if we could have another little chat.
DC Reed: John. Why do you have a scrapbook full of clippings of the Box Tunnel 20 if you have no connection to the crime?
Mitchell: I don’t know what you mean.
DC Reed: Why have you given me the name of someone who died seventy years ago, John?
Mitchell: It’s the name she gave me. It’s probably made up. She was a total fantasist. Even the things she said about the murders. She was always coming out with stuff like that. People she’d met, things she’d done.
Annie: Mitchell. What are you saying?
DC Reed: So now you think she didn’t have anything to do with the murders?
Mitchell: It’s pretty unlikely, yeah.
DC Reed: John. I know you’re dicking me about. Do you want to know how I know?
Mitchell: Yeah. Yeah, this should be good.
DC Reed: it’s all pretty basic. The muscles around your eyes don’t move when you smile. Generally your body language is limited and stiff. The lack of direct statements. Lots of probably’s and I think’s. Plus there’s the willingness to change the subject even though I just said a friend of yours died in World War II.
DC Reed: Last thing. I’d like to speak to Nina’s uncle Billy again.
Mitchell: I’m not sure that’s a good idea.
DC Reed: I don’t bite.
Mitchell: Sure. Why not. I’ll just make sure he’s presentable.
Mitchell: The first time we met we were soldiers. You know war is surreal. It’s a different planet. Men have to do things that they’d never dream of. Things that seem terrible, heretical. But in a war, these things can be heroic, selfless. They can save lives.
Herrick: But we’re not at war.
Mitchell: Oh we are. It’s a secret war, but yes. We are.
Annie: Mitchell, what are you doing?
Mitchell: What am I doing? What the hell do you think you’re doing, bringing that woman back here?
Annie: She thinks you’re the murderer. For god’s sake, just give her bloody Daisy.
Mitchell: What bit of this don’t you understand? I give her Daisy and everything ends.
Annie: But you get arrested and everything ends anyway.
Mitchell: I won’t allow that to happen.
Annie: What’s that supposed to mean?
Mitchell: I told you, I’ll deal with this. All right?
Nina: It’s just that the thing is… Here’s the thing. Um. I was the one that reported him to the help line.
DC Reed: Why did you do that, Nina?
Nina: Well I got the wrong end of the stick about something but now I’ve had time to reconsider and I really, I really don’t think he had anything to do with this.
DC Reed: Nina. Maybe you can help me out here. Why has John—and now you—given me the name of someone who died before the cocking coronation? Something’s going on in this house. The people in it think that they can lie to me and I don’t like that.
Cooper: I got the results on those prints.
Annie: What prints?
Cooper: I’ve been doing this job for sixteen years and I’ve never seen anything like this. C’mon. So, the guy you got these prints from, John Mitchell—
Annie: Woah woah woah. How did you get those?
Cooper: Tell me he’s about eighty-five or something.
DC Reed: Mid-twenties?
Cooper: Then I don’t know what is going on.
Cooper: So match one: Sheffield. Sally Fenzer. Severe head trauma. Body found by her flatmate.
DC Reed: Jesus, he’s done this before?
Cooper: Check the date.
Annie: We really shouldn’t be here.
DC Reed: Twenty-fourth of December… nineteen sixty?
Annie: He used to be a very very different person.
DC Reed: There’s no way whoever did this could just have the same prints as my guy?
Cooper: Impossible.
DC Reed: Shit. Hang on, you said there were two matches with his. What was the second?
Cooper: Box Tunnel Massacre.
Cooper: Nancy, somehow your guy is… the guy.
Cooper: I suppose the concern is you’ll find something else.
DC Reed: What d’you mean? {he swings and knocks her unconscious}
Cooper: Frankly Mitchell couldn’t have done more to implicate himself if he left a confession and diagrams. The work we’ve had to do covering this up, I swear. Apparently he found out his girlfriend was some nutty vampire-killing Christian. That’s what finally pushed him over the edge. Mitchell was never really a team player but arresting him, sorry, we can’t let that happen. We like our privacy too much. {she kicks him}. Don’t get me wrong, you’re good. Tenacious. Uncompromising. Qualities we really like. That and generally being a shit.
DC Reed: Jonathan Cooper. I’m arresting you for assaulting a police officer and perverting the cause of justice.
Cooper: You’re not really getting this, are you? We can’t be arrested.
DC Reed: What are you, the bastard Masons?
Cooper looking for Annie: Hey Casper! You still here? Looks like your friend left you.
DC Reed: Yeah? What friend?
Cooper: You had a ghost following you around. Probably something to do with Mitchell. He always kept very odd company.
DC Reed: Mad as a badger.
Cooper: Don’t worry. This isn’t how you’re going to die. I just needed to make you a little more receptive. See I’m going to give you a gift. You’ve been head hunted, Nancy, with an exciting new opportunity. Think of it as evolutionary promotion. {Annie stakes him from behind.}
Annie: She’s not interested.
McNair: Long as I live, I’ll never forget that scent. You remember me.
Herrick: I assume you are a victim of another barbarity I’m supposed to have committed.
McNair: “Another barbarity.” Fucking Southerners. Let’s see if this jogs your memory. “You walked, unharmed, from a plane crash. Only now, I don’t know what to do with you”. Ring any bells?
Herrick: I must warn you, Mitchell is very keen on keeping me alive. Now, if you so much as lay a finger on me then I shall scream until the windows shake in their frames.
McNair: That’s the plan. He hears you, he runs up here… and I get two new teeth. You see I’d hate you to think I’d been idle since we last met. {shows him the necklace.} Meet your family. I remember every single one of them. Marco. He was a scrapper. While this one here. Scottish girl. Very pretty. Daisy. Fought like a cat. And this space here, is for you.
Herrick: Whatever his crimes, the man you knew is not the man before you now.
McNair: Vampires don’t reform.
George: So anyway. While we’re here if you could just see if there’s anything abnormal, or…
Dr. Hayley Hamilton (Sarah Niles): Like what? A tail?
George: No no… Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Hamilton: No, you must have got the dates wrong ’cause there’s no way you’re eight weeks.
George: Really?
Dr. Hamilton: More like sixteen. Either that or you’re giving birth to a giant. Which, let’s be honest, is pretty unlikely. But it does mean we’ve missed out on a whole load of checks and stuff so we’ve got some catching up to do.
DC Reed: I’m attempting to arrest John Mitchell in connection with the Box Tunnel 20 murders but have reason to believe he is armed. Please assist.
Annie: I know.
Mitchell: What? Annie, I haven’t got time for this. There’s been an accident. You know what? {she shakes her head} How did you find out?
Annie: Nancy. And a vampire. Does that matter? Was Daisy even involved?
Mitchell: Yeah. But it was my idea.
Annie: Thank you. That’s probably the first honest thing you’ve said to me in months. You got me to love you. There was this… cancer between us and you let me fall in love with you.
Mitchell: Because I love you.
Annie: Oh. Because you love me. Do you have any idea how inadequate that sounds? And I killed a vampire. I’ve never even so much as swatted a fly and I rammed a stake into his back. It spreads, Mitchell! All you’ve done is contaminated us all!
Annie: You turn yourself in. Give those families that comfort.
Mitchell: I can’t, Annie. I can’t do that.
Annie: You helped us with Sasha and Adam. And you saved McNair and Tom so I know that there’s still good in you. I know that the man I love is still in there.
Mitchell: Everything will be torn apart. The entire world. They can’t know, they can’t.
Annie: Okay. You needn’t be frightened, Mitchell. Whatever they do to you, wherever they take you, I’ll be with you. And you won’t be alone.
Mitchell: No, it’s not about fear or punishment. Jesus Christ! I want to be punished. But it can’t happen like this.
Mitchell: If they arrest me, I’m going to have to kill them all.
Annie: No. I don’t think you will. I think you want the killing to stop.
Mitchell: Why won’t you understand? We can’t be arrested!
Annie: Mitchell, please! If you love me—if you ever loved me—then you will do this.
DC Reed: Ah shit. Has anyone checked the attic?
Custody Sergeant (Giles Thomas): Name?
Mitchell: Please, don’t do this.
Custody Sergeant: Name, sir!
Mitchell: Fuck you! Listen to me!
Custody Sergeant: Date of birth, Mr. Fuck You?
Mitchell: You have to let me go. You’re not ready. None of you are.
Custody Sergeant: Date of birth.
Mitchell: July 26, 1893. But please, please let me go. It can’t happen like this. Not here. Not in Wales.
Custody Sergeant: Where’s DC Reed? This is her collar.
Nina: We both know this baby was conceived eight weeks ago. So why the hell is it growing so fast?
George: Wolf gestations are a lot shorter than humans.
Nina: Says who?
George: Wikipedia.
George: What the hell?
Nina: They’ve come for Mitchell.
George: What? Why?
Nina: Oh my god, George. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
George: If they’ve arrested him, they will take his photo. They’ll…. Why, why didn’t you say something?
Nina: Because I knew you would take his side. I knew you’d try to cover for him.
George: Have you any—any—idea what you’ve done!? The danger you’ve now put us all in?
Herrick: I have something of a dilemma, Nina. Perhaps you can help me.
Nina: Christ, you made me jump. What the hell happened here? And why are you wearing that?
Herrick: See the thing is, your boyfriend tore me—literally—limb from limb. Now, aside from anything else, have you ever heard of anything so undignified?
Herrick: And the pain… was incredible. And I remember every moment. And so now, not unreasonably I think you’ll agree, I want him to suffer. But not for moments. For days, weeks… months. And the best way of doing that, um, is to kill you. Here’s my dilemma. You were kind to me. Everyone else in the house wanted me dead. Except for you. It’s a knotty one, isn’t it?
Herrick: You’re right. My quarrel is not with you. {he leaves, only to quickly return, knife in hand}. But then people would say I was going soft.
Custody Sergeant: Take the picture! Andy, take the picture! Andy, just take the bloody picture!
Mitchell: Oh god.