♪ Woman: Right.

Jesse Halpin.

Yeah.

Took him on for six weeks, June 2007.

You're lucky I've still got the book.

This about Zoe?

Only, I saw you talking to Penny.

We had a few questions we needed to ask her, Mrs. Moreland, yeah.

She used to leave her with me, in this office, three years old.

Disappear to the pub.

Some days she'd even forget to feed her.

Daniel Preston, that caretaker's job.

Did you give him that?

References checked out.

None of us had any idea.

And I had a lad of my own to look out for.

Alex Ridley: Yeah.

Adam Moreland.

I remember his name on the file.

Well, he was with her the day she was taken.

Followed him everywhere she did.

And how old was Adam then?

Maybe six.

Seven.

And did the police take a statement from him?

Well, I know they asked him some questions, but they ruled him out as a credible witness.

Oh.

Might be useful for us to speak to him again, you know, in light of some recent developments.

Adam's only just about getting his life together.

It'll do him no good to go back there.

Well... we wouldn't ask, you know, if it wasn't important.

Adam: I told the police what happened over and over.

Not that it made much difference.

We're listening now.

And what makes you think I want to talk about it?

Ridley: Well, if it could help us find out what happened to Zoe, one more time couldn't hurt, Adam, yeah?

It was baking that day.

Summer holidays.

Zoe said she wanted an ice cream.

I'd managed to cadge some money off someone.

I can't remember who.

I was stood in the queue at the prom.

When I turned back to look for her, she was talking to somebody.

He'd pulled up in a white van by the slipway.

Did you recognize the driver?

I didn't see his face, but the police said it must've been Preston.

Oh, yeah.

But you couldn't say for sure?

No, but he used his van when he needed to move stuff.

Did you see what happened to Zoe?

By the time I'd bought the ice cream, I looked back, the van had gone.

She was nowhere to be seen.

But you think she got into that vehicle?

I don't know!

It's fine.

It's OK. Look, I need you to look at this photograph.

Do you recognize him?

Should I?

Name's Jesse Halpin.

She'd never have gone off with a stranger.

We spoke to Daniel Preston.

He's out on parole.

He claims that Halpin worked at the caravan site the summer Zoe went missing.

Preston's out of prison?

I just need you to look at the photograph, Adam.

I've spent 14 years trying to forget what's happened.

And the last thing I need is people like you stirring it all back up.

I should get back to work.

Ridley: The investigating team just assumed the van was Preston's.

Carol: The van was taken apart, not a shred of forensic evidence.

Ridley: Yeah.

Well, maybe they were looking in the wrong place.

Carol: Yeah, but we've still got nothing that ties this abduction to Halpin.

Haven't we?

Those plates that flagged Halpin up as a possible suspect, they were registered to a white minivan.

[Coin clanks in slot] [Vending machine whirs, liquid pouring] We've got a statement from Gill Moreland, the manager of the caravan park, confirming that Jesse Halpin worked there for six weeks that summer.

He was probably just casing the place.

Went back a few weeks later and abducted Zoe.

I know this much, while you've been off chasing shadows, we're still no closer to finding out who killed him.

You may not remember Gill's son Adam.

He was the little boy who was with Zoe all that day.

He remembers her talking to someone who pulled up in a white van.

Mm-hmm.

Daniel Preston's van.

No.

he did not say that, because he did not see his face.

That's the kind of evidence that would have pushed us towards Halpin.

No decent copper would have missed those connections.

You think I haven't questioned my own mistakes?

The lack of a conviction, our failure to find her, every hour she was missing, every dubious decision.

You think that hasn't stopped me sleeping at night?

Well, if mistakes were made... maybe this is our chance to put them right.

I'll apply for a warrant to search the farm.

♪ Boss!

♪ Moll: The van was never used.

The clutch was buggered.

Should have been scrapped years ago.

So why did Jesse keep it locked up, hidden, out of sight?

Because he was a hoarder.

All that junk in the farmyard.

He could never throw anything away.

We will need to get it checked over by forensics.

You had Steve Parry locked up.

It's him you should be talking to.

Ridley: Oh, yeah, that complaint that Steve Parry made against Jesse... [Scoffs] It was something and nothing.

Something and nothing?

His dog was injured by a snare trap.

Well, he shouldn't have been in them woods.

Jesse warned him.

[Birds cawing] [Wind blowing] Anytime now, if we're sharing.

You said the crime scene didn't give us anything, but it's the one thing that connects the two cases.

Why was Halpin so desperate to keep people out of these woods?

[Twig snaps] You check in here.

I'll go down to the shed.

OK. [Sheep baaing] Lorna?

It's D.I.

Farman.

[Rifle cocks] It's OK. We just want to talk to you, that's all.

Put the gun down, Lorna.

Put the gun down.

We don't want anybody else killed.

Just put the gun down.

[Carol inhaling and exhaling deeply] That's it.

I'll take that.

Give me that.

It's all right now.

Carol: Our ballistics team have confirmed that the shotgun found in your possession was indeed the firearm used to shoot Jesse Halpin.

Unless you can explain how that came to be in your possession, then I have reasonable grounds to charge you with murder.

Well, I took it from the shed.

When did you take it?

Can't remember.

Also recovered were a pair of Wellington boots from your property.

Sole treads match those found at the crime scene.

Well, I found him that morning.

I told you.

I think that you killed him the evening before, when he was coming back from the pub, and you left him for dead on the path.

And then you went back the next morning to cover up your tracks.

He said I'd have to leave the farm.

I didn't have anywhere else to go.

Was this the night he was murdered?

No.

No, it were years ago, the day she-- Lorna?

You're not making any sense.

[Sniffles] He--he swore it were an accident.

Said he never would have hurt her.

The little girl... Zoe Lindsey.

Look at the photograph, Lorna.

I were part of it, he said.

Made me swear not to speak of it.

What did you do with the body, Lorna?

Ridley: Hmm?

I know you want to tell us.

We put her in a box... and we buried her.

[Lorna inhaling and exhaling sharply] [Indistinct conversations] [Man speaking on walkie-talking, indistinct] Lorna: That tree.

Yeah.

It was here.

We need to lock this space down.

Carol: I've got to check in with Goodwin.

Come with me.

[Birds cawing] [Indistinct police radio transmissions] Catherine: You know, my dad used to tell me these woods were haunted.

Scared me half to death when I were little.

Maybe he had his reasons.

I found a bird with a broken wing once.

It had fallen out of one of these trees.

I rescued it.

I nursed it back to health.

And for a while, it was fine... and then it died.

He told me that the bird didn't need its body anymore, that its soul had flown away and found someone else.

I don't think you should be here, you know.

They're looking for a body, aren't they?

Look, I'll take you back to the house.

Oh, you think I can stand to be near her after this?

Wendy, muffled: Ridley?

Ridley?

We're scanning the site with a hyperspectral camera.

Could be hours before we find anything.

I'll call you when we do.

Thank you.

[Door opens and closes] Hey.

All right.

Hiya.

You all on your own?

Mum went out.

Work drinks or summat.

Hmm.

You doing your homework?

Yeah.

How are you getting on?

Going to be a while yet.

-Huh.

-Mum!

What?

You used to love it when I mussed up your hair.

Yeah, when I was, like, five.

[Chuckles] Why don't we order a pizza tonight?

Can't really be bothered to cook.

You never cook, Mum.

[Chuckles] I'm sorry I haven't really been around much lately.

I told Oscar and Jase you'd been promoted.

-Oh, yeah?

-Detective Inspector.

They said it was kind of sick.

[Chuckles] Yeah?

I suppose it is "kind of sick" when you think about it.

[Footsteps approaching] You gonna drink that or just stare at it all night?

I saw Michael Flannery.

What, is this you just prolonging the agony?

Punishing yourself?

I don't pretend to understand it meself, Annie, to tell you the truth.

He killed your wife, your daughter, my best friend.

He doesn't deserve your forgiveness.

I've been thinking about that young lad that Ella was going out with.

What was his name?

-Owen.

-Owen.

Owen, Owen.

I've been thinking about them.

You know, would they have got together, would they have got married, had kids?

They'd fallen out.

The night of the fire, they'd fallen out.

I was down at the station.

If only I'd stayed at home... [Whispers] If only I'd stayed at home.

I picked up the phone to call Kate last week.

Something trivial I wanted to share with her.

And then I remembered that she wasn't around anymore.

Still hits me like a punch... same way it did when you first told me they were dead.

It was me he was coming for, Annie, when Flannery set the fire.

There's unfinished business.

It was me who should've burned that night.

[Telephone rings] [Cell phone vibrates] ♪ Ridley: We've recovered the remains of a body.

We have reason to suspect that it's Zoe Lindsey.

Reasons to suspect?

You've got nothing.

We've also interviewed Lorna Spalden, who told us that she helped Jesse bury the body.

Lorna would say anything if you asked her to, if someone put her up to it.

Carol: Lorna was found in possession of your husband's shotgun, the weapon we now know was used to kill him.

Jesse always kept it locked away.

Ridley: Did Lorna have access to the keys?

They were kept on a hook in the annex.

She'll be making an appearance in court later today.

We're looking for a warrant for further detention.

Is Catherine home?

You shouldn't be alone at a time like this.

Catherine's gone.

She took off last night.

Why couldn't you have just left us alone to grieve?

♪ [Gasps] [Shudders] Still leaving a spare key under the mat?

Wendy: The skeletal remains of an infant child.

Shape of the pelvis would suggest she was female.

Ridley: Right, and how long do you think she'd been down there?

Wendy: I'd say somewhere between 10 and 15 years.

There's a fracture.

I'm pretty certain that's what killed her.

Any chance of a positive ID?

Wendy: I might be able to extract some mitochondrial DNA from the marrow in the leg bones.

If Penny Lindsey agrees to provide us with a swab, we can run it for a familial match.

It would tell us for certain if they're related.

What do you think you're playing at coming back here?

Police have been round, asking questions.

-Jesse Halpin?

-Yeah.

They're saying it was him that took her.

Oh.

We'll never know now, will we?

He's dead.

The last chance of clearing your name.

I never laid a finger on Zoe.

You know that better than anyone else.

I need you to tell them the truth.

What, that you were with me that night?

Never gonna happen.

You know what they do to a pedophile's girlfriend.

I thought I might get a place round here, seeing as my parole's up.

Get one of them caravans down near the dunes.

Nothing too fancy.

We could pick up where we left off.

You disgust me.

Well, maybe I'll pass.

Place looks on its arse to me.

Preston!

Gill: Adam, no!

[Buzzer sounds] [Indistinct police radio transmissions] [Door closes] I was angry.

I lashed out.

What was Daniel Preston even doing in the caravan park?

He'd been to see my mum, trying to wheedle his way back into her good books, not to mention her bed.

Your mum and Daniel Preston?

Oh, I knew what they got up to, even as a kid.

It's the only reason he got that caretaker job.

Did the police know about this at the time?

[Sighs] That she was sleeping with the man that took Zoe Lindsey?

[Adam groans] Is he going to be OK?

He's got a bleed on the brain.

You'd better hope that he pulls through.

[Buzzer sounds] [Door opens, then shuts] They're pushing for grievous bodily harm.

It's out of my hands now.

I warned you, didn't I?

No good would come from dragging all this back up.

If you're referring to your relationship with Daniel Preston... How much did Adam tell you?

Enough.

[Sighs] [Inhales deeply] He-- [Exhales] He were with me that evening, the day Zoe went missing.

A couple of hours at most.

That's two hours that could have been accounted for, that could have cast some doubt.

They were all convinced he'd taken her.

But he swore--he swore to me he hadn't.

You should have gone to the police, given a statement.

I saw what they did to Penny.

The mother they chose to blame.

What would they have done to a pedophile's girlfriend?

We found the body of a child... [Sighs] buried up on Jesse Halpin's land.

No!

You think it might be Zoe?

Well, we can run a DNA test to confirm if there's a familial match.

No.

Look, I know it's going to be hard, but... You have no idea!

[Sobbing] But wouldn't it be easier in the end, Penny, to get to the truth of what happened?

That she's never coming back?

Mm-mm.

No, I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

[Sobbing] I lost my wife and daughter.

They died in a terrible house fire.

I would do anything, anything... to get some answers to-- to get some closure, you know, to move on.

How old was she, your daughter?

Ella?

She was 19.

You had her for longer than I had Zoe.

I did, yeah.

[Sniffles] Anything would be better than this, Penny, wouldn't it?

Living in some kind of purgatory.

All I want is a swab.

Yeah?

[Sniffling] 14 years of hating Preston.

And now you're telling me he might not have taken her, that someone else... [Scoffs] The evidence that the police found on Preston's computer, how did you find out about that?

One of the detectives must have told me.

Uh... it was the woman in charge.

D.I.

Dixon?

Yeah.

Jean Dixon: I was very pleasantly surprised when I got your message.

It's been a while since I've been invited to lunch.

[Exhales] Forensics have discovered a body, Jean.

It was buried up in Adless Woods.

You lured me here under false pretenses.

We've also recovered a white van hidden on Halpin's farm, the same farm that I pushed you to search 14 years ago.

We had no solid evidence.

You had a first-hand account of Zoe Lindsey's abduction from Adam Moreland.

Contradictory testimony from a 7-year-old child?

That you manipulated to suit your version of the truth.

Daniel Preston took Zoe.

That was always the consensus.

For Christ's sake, Jean.

The consensus?

You were the SIO.

And I needed an arrest.

So you found a suitable suspect and you set about fitting him up.

You also shared confidential information about a murder inquiry with Penny Lindsey, a mother who wanted somebody to blame.

I did what I had to do.

If you'd gone after Halpin, Zoe Lindsey might still be alive.

She'd been missing for days, Ridley.

We both know she was already dead.

[Sighs] It was a... a moment, a misstep.

You're stonewalled, you're damaged goods.

I don't need to tell you how that feels.

Oh, I know.

All those years of distinguished service, they don't count for much.

Let this go, Ridley, for old times' sake.

Sorry, Jean.

I can't.

After all that's happened... there'll be an inquiry.

You were never a team player.

That was always your trouble.

Wendy: We ran tests on the clothing: green cotton top, polyester trousers, both of which were 80% decomposed.

No traces of any fibers, no skin cells, no bodily fluids.

Any touch DNA we do lift is likely to be seriously degraded.

Ridley: So nothing to implicate Halpin, then?

Dental X-rays.

The deciduous teeth were all still in place, one reason I can say with near certainty this child was under five years old.

Zoe was three when she disappeared.

Hang on a minute, hang on.

Zoe was missing a tooth at this point, wasn't she?

Which immediately rang alarm bells.

So, what are you saying, that there might be some doubt?

I ran the bone marrow DNA against the sample we took from Penny Lindsey.

They didn't match.

What?

The body we found isn't Zoe.

[Exhales] Ridley: The child that you buried in Adless Woods... wasn't Zoe Lindsey.

You helped Jesse Halpin bury that child, Lorna.

Why won't you give us her name?

No.

No, I can't.

We know she died from a blow to the head.

Ridley: Were you with Jesse when he killed her?

Jesse--Jesse never killed anyone.

She were already dead when he found her.

But you said it was an accident the last time we spoke to you.

[Lorna inhales and exhales] He told me she'd fallen.

Climbed up on the tractor when no one was looking.

Wanted to sit with her dad.

Lorna: We... we carried her into the farmhouse... laid her out on the table.

Still as stone she was.

And Moll... Moll said a prayer to Our Lady.

Lorna: The same words over and over and over.

"Blessed Mary, pray for us."

She couldn't live with what had happened.

Sent her half-mad with grief.

[Lorna sobs] Let's get into the barn... You go to the barn, as well, please.

Could you just lock it off here?

[Indistinct police radio transmissions] ♪ [Music box plays "This Old Man"] [Music stops] Carol: Ridley.

[Footsteps approaching] There's no sign of her outside.

The team have searched the farm.

How old is Catherine Halpin?

Social services' report said she's 17.

Zoe Lindsey isn't dead, Carol.

She's been hiding in plain sight for 14 years.

I wanted to take her to hospital, but Jesse said there'd be too many questions.

He never trusted outsiders.

Said if we nursed her, she'd get better.

But she didn't get better, did she?

But we were blessed when God brought her back to us.

And the accident that led to your daughter's death, can you remember the date that it happened?

June the 3rd.

We were cutting the first grass for haylage.

And she would have been how old then?

She'd just turned three.

But you must have known she'd be missed, that people would start asking questions.

"Only a matter of time," Jesse said.

Yet he went off looking for work in Dunmore Sands.

Where he found our little girl.

Our little lost soul made flesh and blood.

So you knew he planned to take her?

He did it for me.

To save me, he said.

She was someone else's child.

That woman never cared for her, not the way we did.

We gave her a good home, a better life, everything she needed.

Daniel Preston.

Was he involved?

Well... we'd heard he'd been arrested.

We saw it on the news, but... Jesse barely remembered him.

That was handy, wasn't it?

A convicted sex offender, the man everyone assumed had taken Zoe.

Her name's Catherine.

I take it Catherine is none the wiser about who she really is.

And Jesse wanted to tell her 'cause he couldn't live with what he'd done.

She's all grown up now.

She's got her own life to live.

Will you keep your voice down?

If you keep her locked up here, she's only gonna start resenting us.

And how do you think she'll feel if she finds out the truth?

Maybe she deserves to know.

Maybe it's time she were told.

Jess--Jesse!

I tried to make him see sense, to see reason, but, no, he wouldn't listen.

He...

He stormed off to the pub... like he always did.

So Lorna didn't kill him.

She just took the gun afterwards?

She was just looking out for us, the way she's always done.

[Twig snaps] Who's there?

Moll.

[Gunshots] Uh!

[Ducks quacking] ♪ Moll: I...I couldn't lose another child.

Don't you see?

I...I couldn't.

[Moll sobbing] Moll Halpin, I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder, and also on suspicion of kidnapping.

You have the right to remain silent... [Continues, indistinct] [Police radio transmissions] She needs to hear this from me, from her mum.

Ridley: You'd do anything... anything to get a child back... to fill the void.

It could never justify what Halpin did.

No.

He lost his daughter.

He thought he was losing his wife.

He must have thought his whole world was ending.

Moll: Till we figure-- [Zoe speaking indistinctly] [Sobbing] No.

Please.

Catherine, I'm so sorry!

You can't... [Moll sobbing] She told me I used to have nightmares, when she put me down at night.

It was only me dad who could ever soothe me.

He used to sing me to sleep, she said.

Never happened.

It was all a lie.

I don't think in her mind it was a lie, you know.

I...

I think you became the child that she buried.

I always knew there was something... a distance, like they never really knew me.

None of it was real.

They loved you, though, despite what they did.

I mean, that was real, wasn't it?

I don't know who I am anymore.

You're Penny Lindsey's daughter... Zoe... the child she lost all those years ago.

Zoe: That little girl in all the pictures, they stole her away.

She's gone.

[Footsteps receding down stairs] [Door opens] [Door closes] Hey.

I hope you're not leaving without saying good-bye.

Oh, I just didn't want to outstay me welcome, that's all.

OK. You know, if you hadn't contacted me, I would definitely have come looking for you.

Still got one more call to make if you want to come along for the ride.

No.

I think you've got it covered.

I'll catch you later, then, yeah?

Yeah.

Friday night.

Italian.

It's a date.

[Jazz music playing] Hi, Teresa.

Ridley: Hey!

Annie: I told you you were missed.

Great house.

It wouldn't hurt to do a couple songs, eh?

About bloody time.

[Song ends, cheering and applause] Ridley: You know a tune called "Coles Corner"?

-We do.

-Fine.

All right.

So the first one, now.

[Microphone feedback] [Applause stops] 1... 2.

[Piano music] ♪ Hold back the night from us ♪ ♪ Cherish the light for us ♪ ♪ Don't let the shadows ♪ ♪ Hold back the dawn ♪ ♪ Cold city lights glowing ♪ ♪ The traffic of life is flowing ♪ ♪ Out over the rivers ♪ ♪ And on into dark ♪ ♪ Hi.

Ridley: ♪ Cold city lights glowing ♪ ♪ The traffic of life is flowing ♪ ♪ Out over the rivers ♪ ♪ And on into dark ♪ ♪ Hold back the night from us ♪ ♪ Cherish the light for us ♪ ♪ And don't let the shadows ♪ ♪ Hold back the dawn ♪ ♪ I'm going downtown where there's music ♪ ♪ I'm going where voices fill the air ♪ ♪ Maybe there's someone waiting for me ♪ ♪ With a smile and a flower in her hair ♪ ♪ I'm going downtown where there's people ♪ ♪ The loneliness hangs in the air ♪ ♪ With no one there real waiting for me ♪ ♪ No smile, no flower nowhere... ♪ [Beeps] Kate, on recording: You've reached Kate, Alex, and Ella.

We're not home right now, but if you leave a message, we'll get back to you.

[Answering machine beeps] [Line connects] You've reached Kate, Alex, and Ella.

We're not home right now, but if you leave a message, we'll get back to you.

♪ Hold back the night ♪ ♪