Alte Freunde

Inside everybody there is a secret code.

DNA - the very essence of who we are.

Lynda Mann, 15 years old, raped and strangled with her own scarf.

The killer, he's a local, I'm certain.

We're not going away until we've got him. Just get the bastard.

You're as close to catching her killer as when her body was found. Not a single suspect.

The DNA fragments have combined to make a pattern

that is as unique as a fingerprint.

Eureka!

What have we got? Dawn Ashworth, 15. Didn't come home.

I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Dawn Ashworth.

We know you killed them both. No.

If I killed Lynda, I'd have bloody well said.

There's no way you can prove that I did.

Dr Jeffreys, I want you to prove he also murdered Lynda Mann.

There's no doubt - Gavin Hopkirk did not kill Lynda Mann

or Dawn Ashworth, but what we do know is that it was, indeed,

the same man who raped and murdered both girls.

So, we're back to square one. When I speak to the press, you're going to be next to me.

Are you SURE you don't need me to be there?

I'm sure. They're going to question the science.

You proved we got the wrong man. It's my job to make sure we catch the right one.

David, it's time.

I've got to go. Yes, right. Bye bye, David.

No? No.

Stick to the press release. Keep it simple. Let me answer the questions.

'Leicestershire Police have called a press conference.'

All right? Lead the way.

Good luck.

Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention,

DCS Baker will make a short statement, thank you.

"After new tests were carried out by Dr Alec Jeffreys of Leicester University,

"the charges against Gavin Hopkirk have been dropped."

How can you be letting someone go after they've confessed?

We've used a relatively new process called genetic fingerprinting.

The tests do not implicate Mr Hopkirk in the murder of Lynda Mann.

The results of the test indicate that a person, as yet unknown, is involved in the deaths of the girls.

What are these new tests? Details are in the press release.

I understand genetic fingerprinting has not been tested in criminal court.

It has been proved in immigration and paternity cases.

So you've wasted time on Hopkirk when you should have been searching for the real killer?

What does this mean for Narborough and Enderby?

I think we should leave it there. Thank you very much.

Why'd you confess, Gavin?

Huh? I'll be seeing you.

Yeah.

Are you going to be all right?

See you later. Bye.

Morning. Morning.

How many people were you expecting to today's lecture?

20, 25. Don't tell me no-one's turned up?

Right!

First question. What do we know...

about seals?

We'd rather hear you talk about the release of Gavin Hopkirk.

To catch fish, seals dive underwater for long periods of time.

What is this to do with Gavin Hopkirk? Everything!

If you can't see that, we're all in trouble!

Now, would you kindly leave my lecture?

Right now!

To do this, they store oxygen in their muscles, in the form of...

myoglobin.

We look right bloody charlies!

DNA proves it wasn't Hopkirk, OK? Gavin Hopkirk confessed!

It doesn't matter. It was on the tapes.

Lads, lads - that's enough.

You agree with me, though? Geoff, it doesn't matter what I think.

Or what you think. If the boss is happy, then... so are we.

Thought I had him.

I know you all thought the same thing.

We were wrong.

Right, we won't go hankering after what might have been.

We start again.

Actually, we think of this as a whole new investigation.

We go through everything that we've got, piece by piece -

every statement, every phone call, every house-to-house, interview.

Huh? We can do this, and we have to, because the one thing we know for certain

is that this man will do it again

and again and again, until we find him.

And cut there.

OK. Come to me.

How was that?

She's walking all wrong.

Dawn would never walk like that. She's too flat-footed.

Go on.

Thanks for doing this, Mrs Ashworth.

She was me best friend.

I keep thinking she's going to come home from school

and we'll have our usual little chat then she'll do her homework.

And what makes it worse...

he's living in one of the villages.

I look around and I think, "It could be him. Or it could be him."

We'll find him, I promise you.

Right, we're on!

'The first reconstruction is of a crime that you may have read about.

'You may have thought it was solved.' Alec?

'It's about two girls from the same school in Leicestershire, who were both 15,

'both sexually assaulted and both murdered.

'Suspicion fell on...' It's on now.

'..He was arrested and in a tape-recorded interview

'he made a statement and was charged with Dawn's murder.

'With nothing to link that suspect with the earlier crime police used,

'for the first time in criminal history, a forensic test called DNA or genetic fingerprinting...'

Shall I turn it off? No. This is history.

It's all because of you, son.

'..or you can ring the incident room at Enderby

'on 0533 482400.

'That's 0533, the code for Leicester, 482400.

'It leaves a tremendous gap...'

Incident room, DC Kohli.

Hello? Yes. What's your name?

'..it's that friendship...'

Sharon Smith. Sharon, what did you see?

What you got? Usual crazies.

A couple of mediums.

One is convinced the killer is a police officer, which is why he's getting away with it.

We'll investigate every lead we're sent,

but there's nothing here that we haven't been through before.

Needle in a bloody haystack.

Where are you going?

This is not all I do.

I've had an idea. Come on, I'll show you.

So, the man we're looking for is a serial killer.

Research shows us that serial killers tend to kill within five miles of where they live -

their so-called hunting ground.

The girls' bodies were found here

and here.

If I draw a circle, roughly, within a five-mile radius of that centre point,

our man is in there, so how do we flush him out?

The genetic fingerprint of the killer is the only real piece of evidence we've got.

In 1948, a young girl was murdered in Blackburn.

The only clue was a fingerprint on a bottle of medicine by her bed.

The DCI decided to fingerprint every man over the age of 16 on that night in Blackburn.

After checking over 40,000 fingerprints...

40,000!

..they finally got their man.

You think we could do the same here? Why not?

We've got the genetic fingerprint. The principles are still the same.

You'd have to test the blood of every male

between the ages of 15 and 34.

Is it possible? That's what I want to know.

It would be time-consuming, labour-intensive.

It would certainly be expensive. We couldn't do it here. We'd have to set up a new facility.

But, um...

yes, it is possible.

How on Earth do you propose getting 5,000 men to give blood?

Press gangs? We ask them to volunteer.

Then what? Nice cup of tea and a biscuit? Come on, David.

What about civil liberties? The press are going to have an absolute field day.

I can see the headlines now - "Vampire police take young men's blood!"

We're not going to ask them to do anything we don't want them to do.

Why would anyone volunteer? Because the killer of these women is living amongst them.

I can't believe YOU're part of this! I realise the scale of what I'm asking -

a radical new proven science, together with the scientist who invented it.

What if the killer avoids giving blood? He'll have seen the headlines. He'll know...

That's exactly what we're anticipating will happen, sir.

Every man in the villages will get a letter

asking him to come to a centre where their blood will be taken.

If any main fails to turn up, we'll want to know why. Won't he leave the area?

If someone moves, we can track him down, go after him to take part.

What if he gets someone to take the test for him? That's what I'd do.

Then we will have forced his hand. He knows the net is closing in.

He's got a choice - avoid the test, which will arouse suspicion,

do it and get caught, or get someone to do it for him.

If that happens, his secret's been compromised, hasn't it?

Let's just say I agree to what you're proposing.

There's no way the Home Office will sanction anything like this.

We're just going to have to try and persuade them.

What's the name of this woman we're seeing? Joy Blakefield.

Is she a minister? No, she's a civil servant.

I thought we were seeing... If we get Joy Blakefield on side, we're home and dry.

We can't do the tests at the university. We don't have the resources.

The Forensic Science Service... Is quoting over £100 for each blood test.

That includes the cost of doctors to take the blood, the premises...

Not all the samples will have to go to the full genetic test.

If they're not the right... Is this the best use of resources?

5,000 blood samples times £100, that's a budget of £500,000

for what is, essentially, an experiment?

With all due respect, I don't think you understand...

With all due respect, Detective Chief Superintendent, I think I do.

David, she's right. This is an experiment.

Nobody knows what the outcome will be. Nothing like this has been tried before. I share your caution.

Look, we're all taking very real risks here -

reputations, careers, money.

But what ARE we doing here?

What's the risk of not carrying out this experiment?

Another teenage girl being raped and murdered? Hm.

I think this new test might find the man who committed these murders

and prevent him from committing any more.

I believe ICI now own the patent for your invention.

That's correct. My understanding is

that the Home Office feel they should have Crown privilege over Dr Jeffreys' invention.

It would certainly make things a lot easier.

ICI have invested a great deal into developing these techniques.

I understand that. This government is all for rewarding free enterprise. The fact remains...

This is all about money.

I would love to support this idea, but I also live in the real world.

Where does the half a million come from?

Nurses? Teachers? Bobbies on the beat?

You found it for the miners' strike.