The Brokenwood Mysteries (NZ)

Surprise! Happy birthday!

"A-deen," "dva," "tree."

Sorry. It is tradition.

One tug for every year of life.

I thought you said it was a party.

More are joining the celebration

a little later.

Until then, it is party of two.

Pickle?

Kept it very quiet.

Can't be a big one.

Can it?

All I know is that it's way too early for a picnic.

Must be a Russian cultural thing.

Where is it?

You know Gina.

She'll want to keep him all to herself.

I'm surprised that she convinced him to do anything.

He's not really the celebrating type.

She's very persuasive.

And possessive.

Does it start with a four or a five?

I'm not telling.

Or a six?

Give me a break.

I know!

Well, come on. Spill the beans.

No fun in spoiling the beans.

Never been on my bucket list.

Neither.

I've done a bungee.

But skydiving looks hard-core.

Free fall is at speeds of 200 kilometers per hour.

It is like wrestling with the angels.

The adrenaline, it's very addictive.

Shall we do cake now? And singing.

Haven't my ears been through enough?

Traditional Russian birthday song.

I have written it out phonetically.

Come on. We must sing.

With gusto.

Aaaah!

What was that?

No.

I think it's Andre.

You know him?

It's Andre Barrington. My ex-boyfriend.

We can take care of this.

I haven't seen him in years.

I didn't even know he was in Brokenwood.

Incoming.

That's his brother.

And mother.

I don't understand!

Why didn't the computer kick in, launch the reserve chute?

- No way! - I think he's --

It's all right! I'm a doctor!

Grace. He's gone.

- Please! - He's gone.

Please! Please don't leave me!

Not my baby!

Not my beautiful baby boy!

They say you die of a heart attack before you, you know...

- Hit the ground? - Yeah.

Myth.

He would have been fully conscious.

I will return with my kit.

Something's not right.

Why didn't his chutes open?

Why the hell didn't his chutes open?

Sorry, I didn't catch your name.

Um, Felix.

Older brother.

Have you done much skydiving before, Felix?

Yeah. Heaps.

We all have.

Excuse me. What happens now?

We will need to speak to you at some point.

But there's no hurry. Tomorrow's fine.

We should do it now.

Um, honestly, you're in shock.

No. We should do it now.

Okay. Perhaps down at the station.

Where it's warmer. Get you a cup of tea.

- D.S.S. Mike Shepherd. - Nina Jacobs.

Operations manager at the skydiving center.

Not the best day to be rostered on as chief safety officer.

You've informed the CAA?

And the New Zealand Parachute Industry Association.

On their way.

God. Poor Andre.

The family were talking about a computer.

Not going off.

The automatic activation device.

It should've fired the reserve

once Andre reached minimum altitude.

All jumpers in New Zealand are legally required to use them.

It's part of the safety check protocols.

I'll take your word for it.

There's no way he would've jumped

knowing it wasn't working?

No way.

Sorry. God.

I'm so sorry. This is so unprofessional.

It's okay.

Mike, ready when you are.

Actually, Gina, CAA will need to remove the gear for testing,

investigate the site first.

No pilot, therefore no main.

No reserve.

None of the parachutes deployed.

I'm guessing this was part of the problem.

I've never seen that before. That's for the reserve.

Must have come away.

Metal. Looks high grade.

It's a bit hard for it to just "come away."

I'll see how far away the CAA is.

So, Andre, I know you jumped.

But were you pushed?

Hughes.

It's Mike.

You ringing to invite me to your birthday party?

Not you too.

One dead in a skydiving accident.

But it looks like the chute was tampered with.

Who's the deceased?

Andre Barrington. Entrepreneur.

In the hospo industry.

And turns out he's Sims' ex.

Hell. Is she okay?

Yeah, seems to be.

Even though we were there when it happened.

He just fell out of the sky.

Messy.

Yeah. And he was jumping with his family.

They landed safely a few minutes later.

Even more messy.

Given Sims' relationship to the deceased,

can you see any issues with having her on the case?

- How long ago? - She said years.

- Pre Brokenwood. - You're thinking homicide?

Something's up.

- And she knows the family? - That was my impression.

She could be a big asset to the investigation as a liaison.

If she thinks she can stay objective.

You know, some people find it creepy,

but I think taxidermy is the highest form of respect

one can pay our fur friends.

Why anyone would sink so low as to steal them is beyond me.

We will let you know if we hear anything, Mr. Simpson.

Please, no, call me Sydney.

And I have some authentic lederhosen and dirndl

à la "Sound of Music."

I will keep that it mind.

How's it going?

The world is a strange place.

Who would've thought

that people would want to steal stuffed animals?

I meant the deceased ex.

You know. A bit surreal.

One minute I'm picnicking,

the next, my ex-boyfriend falls at my feet.

Not quite what Crowded House had in mind.

The song by Crowded House.

Showing my age.

Yeah, which is how old exactly?

Not getting me that easily.

I've consulted with the operations manager

at the skydiving center, Nina Jacobs.

She'll be gutted.

An accident like that'll be bad for business.

It wasn't an accident?

There are early indications, yes.

Do the family know?

They guessed.

Been skydiving enough to know that something wasn't right.

Don't know why I'm surprised. He was a very divisive person.

I've talked it over with Hughes.

You want me off this one?

It's up to you.

It's not a conflict of interest?

Enough water under the bridge. No pressure either way.

Andre Barrington, 31.

- Family are here. - Already?

I said there was no hurry, but the mother wanted to talk.

I'll do the meet and greet.

Get the reunion out of the way.

Lorraine, Felix.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Kristin.

My little Kristin. What are you doing here?

I thought you were going to be a paramedic in Dunedin.

Well, that's funny how life works out.

I ended up studying psych, and now I'm on the CIB.

Why would someone do this to our boy?

How am I going to get over this?

Come on, Mum. Come...

I'm sorry.

It's a difficult time.

What's important now is that we find out what happened.