Treasure & Dirt

Hello.

(ON PHONE) It's Packenham.

Your name comes up.

There's a PolAir plane on the tarmac waiting for you.

You're flying out to Nulla for a homicide.

Why me?

You need a tan.

Who have I got?

Local detective from the area.

Ohh...

Don't give me the "I only work alone" bullshit, Ivan.

It's a few days. You'll survive.

Yeah, yeah. I'm coming.

Watch the house.

I'll be lucky to make the autopsy.

(ON PHONE) Can you just focus on the road, please?

Could you try to sound a bit less like my mother?

Sorry, Nell. I'm sure it's just first-day nerves.

It's more than that. What do you need to hear from me?

Tell me this is not going to be a shit show, Cal.

This is not going to be a shit show, Nell.

(ON PA) Good morning, Detective.

Beginning our descent into Nulla.

Might be a little rough coming in.

Thanks.

I thought we got rid of you.

Yeah. It's good to see you, too, Ray.

Are you here for the decapitation?

What? Lucic.

Yes.

Yuri Sedov. I'm the airport manager.

That's a nice hat.

I'm expecting a lift.

Not here.

Is there somewhere I can wait?

The chairman's lounge is closed for renovations,

but you can wait right here on the tarmac,

or I can offer you some refreshments.

Please.

Yes.

Sparkling water is $10. Beer, $20.

Alright.

Airport prices!

Detective.

Nell Buchanan. Ivan Lucic.

I got here as fast as I could.

Um, do you want to go to the motel first, freshen up?

I'll go straight to the mine.

He's been down there long enough.

OK.

This is my first homicide, so I appreciate it.

Water?

Good.

Victim is Jonas McGee, 42, ex-con.

He was found at the bottom of his opal mine, decapitated.

Head was in his lap.

Do we know who called it in?

Was an anonymous tip-off, so it's probably a ratter.

A what?

It's an opal thief around here.

They scurry down your mine at night

and steal your opals while you sleep, like a rat.

Sort of.

Weird name.

I don't know why they'd call it in...

..risk implicating themselves for murder.

Right thing to do, I guess.

Listen, the local station is actually not that far.

Do you want to stop in, meet the sergeant?

No.

It might be good to introduce yourself...

..just avoid a pissing contest.

I'm sleeping. Yes, you are.

I'm Detective Ivan Lucic.

Ah. Homicide.

I'm sorry. I'm...catching a bit of shut-eye.

I've been up all night here, Detective.

Uh, first time, is it, in Nulla?

I haven't had the pleasure before.

I think you'll find we're a backward, violent, inbred bunch,

but at least the parking's free.

Sergeant Richter.

Very good. This is Detective Buchanan.

She will be assisting me with my investigation.

Detective. Good.

I was stationed here when I was in uniform, so...

I taught young Narelle everything she knows.

Now she's back for more.

Hmm.

Tell me what you know about the anonymous caller.

The ratter?

How do we know they're a...ratter?

Well, no-one else is going to be down

someone else's hole after midnight.

Mm. Do you have a name?

Better than that - we've got him in the lockup.

Narelle knows where it is.

Very good.

Patricia.

It's this way.

Jesus.

Kyle Torshack?

Where's the uniform?

Where's your manners?

Why don't you tell me what happened? Kyle?

Have you seen my face?

I'm looking at it.

It doesn't look good.

Is that a question, Detective?

Tell me what a ratter is, Kyle.

It's a dog act.

Are you one?

Nah.

(ON RECORDING) Jonas McGee is dead.

His head's been chopped off.

He's down his mineshaft out on the West Ridge.

His head is just lying there, off.

Is that you?

No.

Who did this to your face?

Mick The Brick Shithouse.

Passed him on the way in. The whistler?

Yeah. Suits him, doesn't it?

Keeping me bottom of the food chain.

But so are mosquitoes, and they're the deadliest...

..thing on the planet.

Mm. Pathogens.

Can anyone verify where you were last night, Kyle?

Yeah.

I finished my shift at the hospital,

and I was driving home when her boss pulled me over.

She's not my boss, Kyle.

What'd she say?

Routine questions.

And here we are.

Do you know Jonas McGee?

Yeah.

How do you know each other?

What?

Tell Detective Lucic how you know Jonas McGee.

He was my uncle.

Hmm.

His hospital alibi checks out.

He'll be alright.

I made sure it didn't get out of hand.

Leaving a cell door open

while a person of interest is violently assaulted

is not how I run a murder investigation, Sergeant.

Well, I've been running this station a long time, Detective,

and we have a thing here called self-policing.

These people...

..they haven't got much, except hope in the ground -

and not much of that either.

So, when they strike opal, believe me...

..only thing worse than being a murderer around here

is being a ratter.

Lovely.

Yeah.

How long were you here?

Three years.

I was under Richter for three years.

Mm.

So, you knew the murder victim?

No, he was in prison, but I knew of him.

That's why they assigned you - local knowledge.

Yeah, that would make sense.

Why did you leave? Why did...?

I was transferred.

What for?

I didn't understand my job description.

What did you think it was?

Charging people for committing crimes.

Most of the mines dried up years ago,