My Life Is Murder

Hiya.

Luke?

Laura?

What you doing?

Luke?

Luke, son!

Luke...Luke.

Luke...

Son.

Luke darling. Luke!

Vera Season 1, Episode 1 "Hidden Depths"

Ah, come on!

Two minutes of your life!

He doesn't deserve this, you know. No-one does.

You never met him.

No. You're right.

I just didn't know who else to ask.

Yeah, come here, come here. Just give us it here.

Howay, then.

Thanks, love.

Should we say a prayer then or what?

You not coming, then? What? No. I'll just...

Come on. You're all right. I'll just...

Here. Yeah.

Drink up. Cheers.

Glad that's over.

Why this place?

Dad always liked a full breakfast.

Hello? Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.

Vera?

Time of death? Midnight, give or take...

God. And again.

Oh. Thanks, love. You're welcome.

When I find the bugger who gave me this cold...

Oops. Pardon me. Well, there's one mystery cleared up.

Say hello to your wife and kids for me, Billy. How old is Jack now?

His name is Raymond.

So...we've ruled out suicide?

Evidently. Thin abrasion round the neck?

Strangled? A wire or what?

Skin's not broken, so unlikely.

Some kind of thin rope, I imagine. So not drowned?

No, death was moments before the body entered the water.

I'm speculating...somewhere in the house.

Then carted in here and dropped in the tub.

Not dropped. Placed. Precision.

And those flowers?

Shop-bought...? Oh, no.

They're wild flowers, must be.

Meadow flowers.

We'll need an expert. OK.

Nice-looking. Luke Armstrong.

15 last April.

They almost look younger, don't they, after...

OK, erm... Home alone, the lad?

No. Laura, kid sister.

She was in there... Right.

Entry? Our killer? Kitchen window open, apparently.

Oh? That was usual, was it?

Leaving the window open?

Well, her daughter's asthmatic.

So...

the killer comes through the window.

Prints? Partial footwear impression.

Must be some kind of walking boot, uh?

Yeah, looks like it.

What about the girl? She must have heard something.

Spark-out apparently.

Asleep? And we believe that?

Teenagers. Believe anything.

Should do nicely, for publicity.

I'll have a word.

And mum? Where's mum?

I should phone the school, should I? Is that what you do?

It's all taken care of. Right.

Mind how you go there.

I know he was down in the dumps lately, but...

Julie, your son...didn't take his own life.

'OK. Ready to move the body.'

Right. Come on. Let's take ourselves off for a bit.

Come on, pet.

I got home...

must have been 11:30.

Bus or taxi?

Yeah, it was a bus. Gary...he works on the sound desk at the Sage.

Your fella? Aye.

Well, he had to get back and help out after the show,

so he left us at a taxi rank at the Quayside.

I'm a bit short, to tell you the truth.

I didn't want to seem like I was begging for a handout,

so I waited till he wasn't looking, then I...

Ah, right. You got the bus instead. Aye.

Anything catch your eye? Cars? Faces?

There was a jeep kind of thing at the bottom of the street.

Jeep? Yeah.

You mean a Land Rover? Aye, that's it.

Colour? Green...brown maybe.

If I'd drunk a bit less, kept a clear head, then maybe...

You said Luke had been a bit down lately.

Aye, well, he's... Luke's very...

He WAS...very sensitive.

I know we always say that, don't we, but he...he was.

Why now in particular?

Well, his friend Tommy drowned in the summer

and Luke, poor lad, saw it happen.

Tommy Sharp? Aye. Aye.

I kept telling him, 'Son, it's not your fault.'

Do you think, if I'd just waited for that taxi...

No. Don't do that.

20 quid from the Quayside to Blyth, it's not even...

I don't deserve kids... I don't.

Oh!

Oh, my beautiful boy.

I'm sorry.

Oh, God.

What happens now?

You try to get some rest.

If you remember anything at all, you've got my number.

Aye.

What's HE doing here? Gary?

I'm so sorry.

Hiya! Mum!

Oh, how are you? You all right? Did you have a good day?

Good? It was good.

Did you get on well? I don't know.

No, have you not decided yet? No.

You must be James's mum. Hi. Yeah. Felicity. How you doing?

I'm Lily Marsh. Right.

I'm James's new teacher. Oh, yeah.

About the beach hut? What about it?

Er...he did tell you, didn't he? What's that?

James, I don't believe you!

I'm sorry.

It's just we were talking in class about where we all lived

and I happened to mention I was in between digs,

and James here pipes up and says you were after a tenant.

Oh, you cheeky monkey.

Well, you know, I don't know.

Hey. You're not after a tenant, then?

Well, we have talked about it, I suppose, you know. But...

I'm so sorry, I should have called direct.

If I run. I might still catch that bus.

No, no, listen. I expect we can fit you in our busy schedule, can't we?

Really? Eh, Jamie?

Come on! Open up!

Jamie, the key's under the mat.

Here. On the head.

Oh, sorry.

Oh...

It's very nice. It's peaceful, you know.

A lot of privacy if that's what you're after.

So there's sitting...area,

shower, fridge, all mod cons.

Thank you.

You're very kind, letting me in like this.

You're welcome.

Oh, beautiful flowers.

Mm.

I always love roses, don't you?

Mm-hm.

OK. Rise and shine.

Holly, what were they? Shop-bought or what?

Gathered by hand, according to Forensics.

But I spoke to a botanist at the uni an hour ago.

He's tied up for the rest of the day,

but I described them over the phone and he said that they were -

Wildflowers, found in every ditch in Northumberland.

Basically, yeah.

15 years old.

He was targeted. Why?

Anything at all?

His head teacher said Luke had learning difficulties.

Got behavioural reports going back a year or two.

OK. He was bored. Bit lost.

Wrong postcode for dyslexia.

Dad's in his grave.

Mum's hanging off her hinges, worships the bones of him.

And someone climbs in the window,

strangles our lad with a length of rope,

and then places him in a warm tub like some poncey installation at the Baltic.

And then there's his class mate. Tommy Sharp.

Davy's lad.

Oh, look. It woke up.

Tell 'em, Joe.

Tommy drowned four months back whilst playing with our victim by th sea.

misadventure.

Now, no blame was attached to Luke.

They were class mates, best friends apparently,

and according to one eyewitness they were playing peacefully.

Tommy got carried out by the current, Luke went in after him.

He was lucky not to drown himself.

Charlie, blag a copy of the coroner's report.

Will do. And then comes the memorial.

Same place as Tommy drowned... Joe.

Flowers on the water.

They're not wildflowers.

No, they look shop-bought to me.

So, are the flowers on Luke some sort of homage to this other lad?

Or revenge? Reprisal?

That's a question I'm hoping to put...