Vera

Hail Mary, full of grace.

The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women...

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb...

Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God...

pray for us sinners...

now and at the hour of our death.

Hey! Here, boy.

Unidentified male.

Dog walker found him in the water.

- Is that him? - Yeah.

SOCOs hauled the body out.

- So, what can you tell us, Tony? - Late 20s.

Emaciated. Signs of possible malnutrition.

How long´s he been dead?

There´s some post-mortem staining, so,

a few hours, I´d say.

So, sometime last night. Drowned?

Unlikely.

We´ve got a blunt trauma wound to the back of the head.

A shiner, cut lip.

What are those marks on his arms?

Are they needle tracks?

We found this in his trouser pocket.

Heroin wrap with a dealer´s stamp.

What´s that say? "Dark Angel."

Dealers like to stamp their gear.

Users know they´re getting quality product.

Well, if it´s quality heroin, that makes it okay, does it?

Put a call in to vice, see what they can tell us.

What´s on the end of that chain?

That´s a mourning ring.

Worn to remember the dead.

Right, well, I want a sweep of this whole riverbank...

footprints, drag marks, the lot.

I´m gonna talk to that fella who found him.

Can you give us a hand up, love?

I´m D.C.I. Stanhope. I´m heading the investigation.

Oh, I´ve already given your copper a statement.

I won´t keep you long, love.

So you were out with your dog when you found the lad?

Yeah, floating facedown in the burn.

Have you seen him before?

Ah, doubt he was local. He doesn´t look the type.

Did you see anyone else on the path, in the woods?

No one about. Not at that hour.

Ma´am?

So can you give your address to one of my officers?

And they´ll make sure you get home.

I´d rather walk, clear me head.

Aye. I know how you feel.

I´ve got intel on the heroin wrap.

It´s a brand that´s been flooding the streets

in Gateshead.

Pretty potent stuff by all accounts.

Oh, he´s a city lad?

What´s he doing all the way out here?

There´s a needle exchange on Altworth Road.

We should check it out, see if someone knows him.

Yes, I do know him.

There you go.

His name´s Nathan. Came in twice a week.

- How well do you know him? - He´s a troubled soul.

Troubled? How?

Well, he had a rough time of things.

A lot of these kids, well, they struggle

just to stay on their feet.

We found his body in a woodland up in Alnwick.

I don´t know why he´d be up there.

Nathan was a creature of habit.

Never strayed far from his patch, you know?

Do you think he was homeless?

I´d set him up the odd night in a hostel,

but they shelter you long-term if you´re clean.

- When did you last see him? - Came in two days ago.

Was he registered with the exchange program?

We don´t ask for personal details.

I couldn´t even tell you his surname.

What about his friends?

No one I can think of.

Well, someone must be missing him.

Oh, hang on, hang on.

There was a girl he sometimes knocked around with.

I think she called herself Kelly.

Kelly? Another user?

I´m pretty sure she enrolled on the, uh, methadone program.

Pharmacy would need an address.

I´ll talk to them.

If you do manage to track down his next of kin,

perhaps I could pay them a visit?

You know, some small solace.

Ah, right. I´ll keep you informed.

Thanks for your time, Father.

Uh, excuse me, love.

So he definitely died from the blow to the head.

Fractured skull.

Internal bleeding.

Yeah, he was hit from behind with some force.

Blood tests?

There were traces of opiates in his blood and urine.

I.V. injection.

So, yes, he had been using last night.

I´ve taken swabs for a DNA profile.

Anything I can work with meantime?

Bruising to his ribs and this shiner on his eye,

both consistent with some kind of assault.

Does suggest he might have known his killer.

I´m gonna leave that little puzzle for you to solve.

Violent struggle, puts up a fight,

comes off second best.

We´re here about a friend of yours.

A regular down at the needle exchange.

We know his name is Nathan.

I´ve seen him around. Wouldn´t say we were friends.

Has something happened?

I´m afraid he was found murdered last night, love.

Poor fella.

So when did you last run into Nathan?

Must have been a few days ago.

Didn´t see him on Tuesday when you picked up your methadone?

I didn´t get to the center at all this week.

Picked it up from a chemist in town.

We found this in Nathan´s pocket.

Do you know who he might have scored that off?

Could be any of the dealers in Newcastle.

Now, Father O´Brien, he told us Nathan was homeless.

Well, if that´s what he told you.

What about his family? He never mention anyone?

We just need to give them the news, pet.

I think his surname was Weaver.

I know he didn´t get on with his mam.

Grew up in one of those mining towns,

somewhere like Ellington.

Right, well, that´s something to be going on with.

Well, if there´s nothing else...

Are you expecting company?

- What if I am? - Nothing, no.

This your own place, is it?

- That´s right. - Nice view!

Where were you last evening?

- I was here all night. - Verify that, can you?

Well, short of phoning up a client

for a character reference...

Look, I´m sorry he´s dead.

Really, I am.

But there´s nothing I can tell you.

Right, well, we´ll leave you to it.

Thanks.

If anything does spring to mind, ask for CID.

Business must be good. Plush pad on the river.

Place doesn´t look lived in.

You reckon she´s hiding something?

She was frightened, I know that much.

I tell you what, let´s apply for a surveillance order.

And get on to the Land Registry,

find out who really owns that flat.

Nathan Weaver.

Late 20s, victim of a violent assault.

His body was found by a dog walker,

Jeb Branning, in Brunhill Woods.

He´s thought to have been dead about six hours,

so killed late last night, early hours of this morning.

Heroin addict, possibly homeless.

He was seen by a witness two days ago.

Needle exchange, Gateshead.

A Father O´Brien.

Who told us the lad was troubled.

I´ve got a witness statement here

from a regular at the exchange.

She claims that Nathan Weaver was dealing.

Well, the chances are this is drug related.

So who was he working for and who might he have crossed?

Kenny, have you got anything on the stamp on this heroin wrap?

No one seems to recognize it.

But they´re hardly gonna shop their suppliers.

- Aye. - We´ve ran checks on his prints.

No record.

Missing persons?

Nothing on the database. We could issue a public appeal.

Might throw something up.

Aye. There´s nothing to be gained by keeping this quiet.

And what about this ring? What have we got?

Antique. 18-karat gold.

Worth a bit, then.

There´s an inscription... Veritas me dirigit.

Latin, that is, Kenny.

"Let the truth guide me."

- Ooh! - Ooh!

Stone me!

Why hadn´t he sold it? He had a habit to finance.

Ah, now, that´s my thinking exactly.

So run a check on the NMPR,

any recent burglaries, pilfered jewelry.

And what do we know about this friend, Kelly Horton?

She has an online profile with an escort agency.

It´s how every self-respecting client books a girl these days.

Well, I´ll take your word for that, Kenny.

Available for in-calls only, ma´am.

Right.