Vera

Hey! Hey!

~

~

Come on.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

- Got a mobile, mate? - Got a signal?

Lisa, Come on. It's raining, quick. Come on.

Come on. Quick now.

Come with me.

- Ma'am. - Is it her?

I've not had a look yet, but definitely female.

No, it'll be her.

I mean, how far's mam and dad from here?

About five miles that way.

Liaison from Missing Persons have got the family on standby.

Dental records we already had. Likewise DNA.

Do we know what she was wearing when she left home?

Shorts and a vest top.

Right. It was that weekend, wasn't it?

Sweltering. I weeded the path.

It's all grown back now, this weather.

- Why is this worse? - Because of the publicity.

Feel like you know her.

Less anonymous.

Well, let's have a look.

- Tony. - OK.

The shorts are right.

The hair's right, and the age.

What's that bangle thing on her wrist?

Does it say "Eastbury"?

- Yeah. - That's the festival she went to.

So, what? Killed on her way home?

Well, buried deep enough.

Not just dumped here, covered in earth.

No, whoever did it put some real effort into it.

- Hm. - ~

- Tha's the father. - Is it her?

- Mr Hinkin... - Let me see!

- I'll have to stop you there, sir. - Is it Mia?

We don't know, sir. I'm sorry.

No, please... No, no!

Let me look! It's Mia!

Mia!

Left at the stables.

- Would you like a GP to look you over, love? - No, I'm all right!

Here you go.

Thank you.

Look, I know how difficult it's been since Mia...

failed to return home.

And I know you've been asked a hundred times, but...

.. I would like to try and start with a clean slate. Is that all right?

- Now, where this body was found... - For God's sake.

Stop treating us like we're stupid!

Stop covering your back!

I know it's her.

I can just tell.

Do you know who owns that land?

No-one. It's common ground. Our boundary's the copse.

And so the pickers work for you?

No. They work for him over the way. Rents the land off us.

So, going back six weeks, you last saw your daughter...?

- The Friday morning. - On the day of the festival?

And how did she seem?

We didn't see her go. Came back from the doctor's and she'd gone.

I was supposed to drive her to the bus station in town but...

.. she rang to say she'd make her own way there.

And was that like her, to change her plans?

It was a bad feeling because we never wanted her to go to the bloody thing.

Did she tell you who she was going with?

No, that was the problem. She wouldn't tell us.

Said it was no business of ours.

But did you get the feeling it was friends? Or boyfriends?

No. Friends, I suppose.

Her boyfriend's Owen. You know Owen?

- We know of him. - He's doing the Internet, you know?

Looking for her.

Fat lot of good it did. Fat lot of good any of it's done.

Could I perhaps have a look at her room, love?

She liked it locked. Just trying to have it like she wanted.

- I'm sorry for the intrusion, love. - Well, we're used to it now, aren't we?

You know it's her, don't you?

I cannot be in here.

Did Missing Persons take her computer or anything?

They said she didn't have one.

Reckon she just took a bag.

I mean, does this look empty to you?

I mean, does that mean she didn't have anything?

Or she took a load with her to the festival?

- I can ask. - Well, maybe not just now.

Nice view.

Her dental's a positive match. Definitely Mia.

Well, that's that, then.

Now for the really hard bit.

Now, is that the younger brother out there?

Yeah. Yeah, that's Jason.

Has he been told?

Hello.

Aw. What's her name?

- She's not a pet. - Ah, well, it looks like you're fond of her.

Nah. This one's my favourite.

Ah.

I like chickens.

- Are you one of the police? - Mm.

You found my sister?

Let's go and talk to your mam and dad inside, love.

Are you bringing her home?

Come on, son.

I think you should stay, love.

Aye, right.

Course.

- Why do you think she's dead? - She told you, the body.

But how did they know?

Maybe she's just... gone somewhere. How did they know?

I am so sorry, love.

I don't understand.

Get Hicham onto Social Services.

I mean, when was the last time that lad had a wash?

- Sorry. Have you just come from the Hinkins? - Aye.

Is that because those guys found Mia?

We're not giving out that information yet, sir.

Only, cos... there's a rumour on Twitter.

Well, it's not come from us.

Please. We're all neighbours here.

We just want to offer condolences to Mal and Nell, you know?

My guys are offering to lend a hand if they need it.

I'd say now's not a good time. Maybe in a day or two.

That driver. Is he the fella rents from the parents?

- Must be, yeah. - If he is, he's doing all right for himself.

His motor!

And while we're looking at people in the area, see if his workers are legit.

What? What?

Yeah, that's right.

Hey, Kenny. You're a life-saver.

Ha. What do you want me to do with Uniform?

Uniform? House to house. We're looking for bus passengers.

Anyone who saw our victim travelling to or from Eastbury.

Right. Well, I'm not sure how a bunch of city slickers like us are gonna get on with this lot.

Aiden, do an appeal for information.

Great! Bring out your cranks and your weirdos, police are all ears.

And we're gonna have to do a public briefing.

Right, now I'm looking for a boyfriend.

Very funny.

He's in there with his mum. But there's a chance he beat us to it on a public briefing.

Right.

- What do you need with him? - Just background, love.

I can tell you that. What do you need?

No, I need to talk to him.

Look, he's in no state.

24/7 he's been on that phone.

He were convinced that he'd find her.

And now I don't know where to start.

Well, first you can get him off the Internet.

There'll be all sorts coming out the woodwork.

It won't help.

You did your best. Everything you did to try and find her.

- Well, that will help us. - It wasn't the point, though, was it?

But it's important we get the next bit right, yeah?

So can you take me back to the last time you saw Mia?

Before she went off, she came in the bar to say goodbye.

Before going to the festival? So that's Friday night.

- Why weren't you going with her? - It's not really my kind of music.

Well, she wasn't going on her own, surely?

Didn't say who she was going with.

- Mm? - She got the ticket at the last minute, I think.

We hadn't even talked about it.

And how did she seem in herself?

- How do you mean? - Happy? Unhappy?

We were happy. Home wasn't great. They treated her like a skivvy.

When you say "they"... What, do you mean her parents?

- You know her mam's ill? - Mm.

That meant she had to do more than her fair share.

Can you think of anyone, anyone at all, who might have wanted to harm her?

You know them pickers? Off Jack Madden's farm?

- Right. - Yeah.

They're always hanging around, creeping the women out.

And Mia was friendly with them, was she?

No. They're not our type of people.

But I think it was them.

Passports. Need photocopies of your passports, ASAP.

The police are here and they're asking questions.

- They found Mia Hinkin. - Where has she gone?

Nowhere. She's dead.

Do you want to see these photos?

Aye, I do.

- Do you need me to talk you through it? - They're pretty self-explanatory.

Strangled.

Now, what sort of ligature? I mean, this wasn't hands done this, was it?

No. We found some fibres but, as yet, that's a "don't know".

Could a woman have done it?

Well, there was some kind of a struggle, but it didn't come off the back of a fight.

Upside, there's some material under the fingernails

which might yield some DNA.

Oh, well, that's good.

And there's no sign of a sexual assault?

I'd say no. Not from what I've seen.

So, impulsive rather than planned?

Yeah, I think so.

And the million-dollar question... When?

Well, I need to confer with my mate who's a meteorologist

and get some accurate temperature data for the last six weeks.