Ask Alice Doctors

-KNOCK AT DOOR

-Jake? You up yet?

Yeah, course. Be down in a bit.

Don't come in!

Why, what are you doing?

Don't go there.

Teenage boys, eh?

You were one once.

Yeah. But I didn't have the internet.

Jake, five minutes!

When you are consumed by self-pity,

try turning its conceited logic upside down.

Instead of resigning yourself to the worst, be ready to put up a fight.

Why waste time feeling sorry for yourself

when you still have the opportunity to be brave?

-Mm, see?

-Mm.

-Tough love, just when I needed it most.

Oh, she's such an inspiration.

No, actually, she's more than that - she is my guardian angel.

I put agony aunts in the same bracket as faith healers

and astrologers.

Well, Alice is not your regular agony aunt.

It's a totally free service. She's not doing it for the money,

just for the warm glow you get from helping others.

I know that warm glow very well myself.

Alice is a qualified psychotherapist.

HE LAUGHS

Yeah, course she is(!)

Well, you can be cynical all you want.

The fact is, her wise words helped save me from the pit of despair.

Well, whatever it took, Valerie.

I can't wait to meet her in person.

I already feel like we're bezzie mates.

So, did you have any joy with that IP address?

Yes. Yes, I did.

Now, keep this under your hat, right?

I'm not supposed to be doing the whole surveillance thing any more.

Mm. Mum's the word.

-Oh, good morning, Doctor Reid.

-Morning.

I was not expecting you in today.

Really? Why?

Well, you have had a lot to deal with this last week.

Yes, well, it's no good moping, is it?

Anyway, I've got reports to do.

Morning!

Someone seems to be in high spirits.

Yes, well, I think happiness is a choice sometimes, isn't it?

Yes, yes, I suppose so.

If we wait to be made happy by something or somebody else,

then we'd spend a lot of our lives being miserable.

That's what a very wise friend once taught me.

We're late.

Where's the old picture?

What?

The one of you and Mum.

Made you get rid of it, did she?

No.

It's been over a year now, Jake.

When you deliver a child, you have a special connection with them.

Not just with them, but the whole family.

And the fact that this birth was so difficult,

it makes that bond even more intense.

I haven't processed it properly. Not yet.

I keep going over everything, Emma.

What if it wasn't an accident? What if we missed something?

I thought you were on Rhiannon's side?

I am. I was.

-It just makes you re-evaluate.

-Does it?

I just think that maybe... Maybe we had blinkers on.

We wanted to think the best of her, give her the benefit of the doubt.

And that's as it should be. Everyone deserves a second chance.

Yeah, of course they do.

But we were so eager not to judge her.

I just wondered if we were blinded by it a bit.

KNOCK AT DOOR

Come in.

Oh, I am sorry, I'm not interrupting?

No, not at all.

Sergeant Hollins has just called.

He would like to speak to you both today.

At the station?

No. No, here at the Mill. He wants statements.

Can I help?

You already have.

Do I know you?

I'm Valerie.

Valerie?

Valerie Pitman.

Sorry, not ringing any bells.

Yes, sorry, it must be difficult for you to keep track.

I am just one of the many lost and frightened souls,

who you've soothed with your wise words online.

Here's a small token of my appreciation.

You took some tracking down.

Fortunately, one of my colleagues at work is an IT boffin.

I can't accept these.

You were there for me when no-one else was.

Need I mention the dreaded Ashley Mackintosh?

Really, you've got the wrong person.

Oh, sorry, have I broken protocol?

No, I understand, you have to guard your privacy.

I just wanted to say "thanks."

You are a beautiful person, Alice Haslett.

I'm not Alice.

Alice is dead.

What?

I don't understand.

Would you like to come in?

Ryan, this is Valerie, a friend of Alice's.

Well, I never actually met her. But I feel as if I knew her.

She was very helpful to me, via the website.

Right.

-Are you're her... ?

-Husband.

Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss. When did she pass?

Take a seat.

It was June.

Sorry, did you say June?

Yeah. Third of June.

That's not possible.

We were in touch in December, on several occasions.

I think you're mistaken.

And then again just the other week.

I told her that I was in remission, and she responded to my message.

OK, you're right to feel aggrieved about the Anthony business.

I should've apologised a long time ago.

But you didn't.

No. I didn't.

But I am now.

Apology accepted.

Maybe you should consider if there's anyone else you've offended.

If you click on the subject headings,

you can see the latest blogs.

This one was posted yesterday.

Do you think it's been hacked?

It must've been.

Does it store people's bank details? I thought it was free to use.

It is. Or, at least, it was.

Alice never made a penny from it.

No, it's still free.

If there's no financial incentive, why would someone pretend to be her?

I've no idea.

It's very odd. I can't explain it.

Well, whoever it is, they are very well-informed, and sincere.

I was completely taken in.

If this is a joke, they've got a pretty sick sense of humour.

There are lots of weird people out there, especially on the internet.

Look, I'm not much of an expert at IT,

but I'll speak to one of my work colleagues.

He'll know how to shut it down.

I'm sorry that you didn't get to meet Alice.

She was very special. One of a kind.

Oh, don't forget these.

I'm sure you can find a home for them.

-Bit early, aren't you?

-Revision time.

Mind how you go.

Thank you. Take care.

Thank you for sparing your valuable time.

No problem.

As I'm sure you've guessed,

I'm here to talk about Rhiannon Davis and Paul Cuthbert.

But first of all, let me get you up to speed.

Although we haven't discounted the possibility that Nicolas'

death was an accident, we are running other lines of inquiry.

What do you mean?

Rhiannon has made a very serious accusation against Paul.

We've taken statements from both of them,

and they are completely different,

so, for now, they are both under arrest.

" 'Curiouser and curiouser,' cried Alice."

What is it?

Well, this IP address has been used to update the website,

before and after June 2015.

But someone's hacked into that IP address, haven't they?

No, it's not easy to hack an IP address,

without having remote access to the computer.

For that, you'd need a rootkit or a virus,

but this don't look very virus-y to me.

No, I would say your so-called "hacker" is a lot closer to home.

Why's that?

It's obvious, isn't it? They're using Alice's computer.

Yeah.

KNOCK AT DOOR DOOR OPENS

Revision?

Na. Just a game.

A game?

Who was that woman?

A friend of your mum's, sort of.

What did she want?

She wanted to meet her.

Too bad, hey?

Jake, did you know that someone has hacked into the website?

"Ask Auntie Alice."

They're writing blogs,

responding to people's questions, putting words into her mouth.

It's very strange, and upsetting.

"Upsetting?"

Anyone that doesn't know any better will think your mum's still alive.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Mum might be dead in real life, not online.

Someone is pretending to be her.

That's deceitful.

It's immoral.

-Jake?

-I don't know what you're talking about.

DOORBELL RINGS

What now?

Did you have any, or were you aware of any, concerns regarding Paul?

No, not at all.

What was your impression of him, personally?

He seemed really nice, you know, normal.

I could tell that he was anxious, but that's understandable,

under the circumstances.

Anxious, what do you mean? Worried about the baby?

Yeah, I imagine so.

It wasn't an easy birth, and then for it to be taken away

straight after. I mean, it's beyond traumatic.

I thought he stayed really strong for Rhiannon.

He coped really well.

Was there anything about his relationship with Rhiannon

that struck you as being odd?

No. I don't think so.

Whenever I made home visits, they were very happy, relaxed.

They were very sweet together, made each other laugh.

Yeah. Did you ever notice any bruising on Rhiannon, or Nicolas?

If I'd have noticed anything, I'd have logged it with social services.

Sorry, Ruhma, of course you would.

What's going on, Rob?

So you see the person who's pretending to be Alice is

probably using the same computer that she used.

-Really?

-You still have it, do you?

-Pardon?

-Alice's computer?

Yeah. Er, no, actually, it was a laptop.

I'm not sure where it is, to be honest.

My son might have flogged it.

No, then it would have a different IP address.

-Sorry?

-You see, the person who's controlling the website has got the

same IP address as Alice.

They're in the same location.

OK. Well, thanks for letting us know.

Like I said before, I'll make sure that the website is shut down.

It shouldn't cause any more grief.

Perhaps I'm not explaining myself very well.

You see, the person who is pretending to be Alice

seems to be living here under this roof.

Hello again.

You're Valerie, right?

That's right. And you are?

Me?

I'm Alice.

I'm usually very sensitive to this kind of aggression.

My radar is well-tuned. Or so I thought.

Then again, sometimes the arrival of a new baby,

it can be a trigger for physical abuse.

It can spark an old pattern of behaviour.

I'm just speculating, Rob.

To be honest, I'm really surprised.

He seemed such a nice guy.

Well, like I say, we haven't got anything that totally corroborates

Rhiannon's story, but we do have enough to take the allegation

seriously, as you would expect.

I thought I was getting advice from a qualified psychotherapist.

Not a schoolboy.

You were. It was her advice, not mine.

I borrowed her words, made them fit.

But why, Jake? What was this all meant to achieve?

The website meant a lot to Mum. Why should it die with her?

And you think this is what she'd want?

To be some sort of ghost, lingering in cyberspace?

"Cyberspace?" You're such a Luddite.

I don't expect you to understand.

She always taught you to be honest and decent.

This is not the way to honour her memory.

No? Then how?

By hiding photos of her, wiping her from the internet?

-She wouldn't want this.

-How would you know?

You never paid her much attention when she was alive. Even less now she's dead.

Jake, there is not a single day where

I do not think about your mother.

You have deceived Valerie and I dread to think how many others.

So, you owe her an apology.

-Jake!

-No, honestly it's fine, really.

Valerie. I'm very sorry, on his behalf,

and I'd be grateful if this could go no further.

Of course.

He came to see me a couple of weeks after the baby was born.

He showed me pictures of Nicolas on his phone.

-He seemed like the typical doting dad.

-Hmm.

Was it a social call?

He just wanted some advice about staying off the cigarettes.

I got the impression there was something else going on, though.

Something was bugging him.

Like what?

He didn't say, not then.

He came back in the afternoon though.

I think he just wanted someone to confide in, to off-load.

And did he confide in you?

Yes, to a degree. We talked about the child protection conference.

He seemed to handle it really well at the time,

but I think it must have just hit him.

He was angry, scared.

Nicolas had been taken away from them once before.

What was to stop it happening again?

He didn't want anything more to do with social services.

He said he didn't trust them.

You can't take that! It's my property, it's private.

It's your mother's.

What you going to do? You barely know where the "on" button is.

Maybe not. But I know a man who does.

If you get rid of the website, I'll only put it back up.

Really? We'll see.

Your dad isn't always great at expressing himself,

but he's very worried about you. He only wants what's best.

Yeah? And you'd know what's "best," wouldn't you?

Like flirting with your friend's husband, waiting for her to die?

It wasn't like that.

Things have worked out perfectly for you, haven't they?

Let me talk with him.

I tried to reassure him.

The first couple of weeks with a new baby are always tough, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-And that they were doing really well.

He just seemed, you know, a bit nervous.

There was one thing, though, that struck me as a bit odd.

Go on.

I remember telling him that he was doing a really good job.

But he just looked at me, like he didn't believe me.

Most people would accept that observation,

but he chose not to.

What did you take from that?

Not very much, at the time.

I don't know, but now I'm thinking,

maybe he didn't trust himself with Nicolas or was it a cry for help?

Did he ever give you any indication that he could be an angry person?

That he had a short fuse?

Maybe.

Yes.

I came back from the surgery, and he was shaking the doors,

you know? Kicking rubbish around.

He was angry, angry about something.

I don't know whether it was with himself, but...

..he has a temper.

Thank you.

It was shortly after my diagnosis.

Ashley and I had split up.

There was no-one else to talk to, not at two o'clock in the morning.

It was a long, dark night of the soul...

..until "Alice" responded to my message.

She showed me that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

She's good like that.

"She?" It must've been you.

Sort of.

Mum left behind a massive resource - thousands of blogs,

messages, loads of really sound advice.

It's a part of her that lives on.

She's still helping people.

I don't get how that's a bad thing.

At home, I've got lots of photos of people I've lost.

Family, some friends.

They're in albums, on the shelf, and I hardly ever look at them.

but it's not because I've stopped caring or thinking about those people.

It's more that I don't need to any more.

They're all still with me. Here.

Maybe that's the way your dad feels about your mum.

Any luck?

Well, Karim says he's happy to help, but first he needs the user ID

and the password for the website. I haven't got the foggiest.

Would Alice have made a note of them?

Possibly. But Jake set up the website on her behalf.

He'll have changed the password by now.

Where is he?

-In his room, with Valerie. Cup of tea?

-Please.

I have just read through Nicolas' notes, and that of his parents.

I really did not appreciate the complexities.

The mother's history.

Rhiannon's history is beside the point.

I just wish that I was made aware of the facts a little sooner.

That is all.

Are you questioning my judgment? Is that what this is about?

I am just voicing my concerns.

There are repercussions to the practice,

especially if this turns out not to be an accident.

A baby has died,

and you are concerned with the public image of the practice?

That is unfair, Doctor Reid.

How can anyone fail to be moved by this terrible tragedy?

We are all upset, as are you, clearly.

But it is my job to think about the reputation of the Mill.

You know that.

Well, you needn't worry, Mrs Tembe.

I was a consummate professional throughout.

-Of course.

-PHONE RINGS

Yes, Mrs Hollins?

Right. I will send her out, thank you.

Jane Fairweather is waiting for you in reception.

Stay in touch, if you like.

-With you, or with "Alice?"

-"Alice."

I don't think that's a very good idea, do you?

Although, I will always be grateful for her help. And for yours.

Where is she now?

Is there a grave or a plaque?

Yeah.

Do you ever go and pay her a visit?

No. Not r... Not since the funeral.

She might appreciate these. What do you think?

Yeah.

Thanks.

So I double-checked our records on Paul.

There's no history of violence or aggression.

Well, that's something.

I've handed all the paperwork in to the serious case reviewer.

They'll see whether any lessons can be learnt.

Hopefully, I'll still have a job at the end of it.

Why wouldn't you? You've done nothing wrong.

I keep wondering whether I should have been more assertive.

-About the fostering?

-Mm.

So now you're saying it's my fault. Is that it?

-No, not at all.

-It sounds like that.

No, no, I'm not saying that.

My job, it's all about making fine judgment calls.

Yours is the same, you know.

We look at the evidence, make the best decision we can

in the time we have available, and when something goes wrong,

then, inevitably, those decisions are going to be scrutinised.

We have to be able to accept that, with the benefit of hindsight,

there are some things we'd do differently.

Maybe he's got a point.

I mean, that's the way it's all going, isn't it?

Before long, our brains will be immortal,

forever preserved on the World Wide Web.

Yours might be. Mine would take up too much RAM.

Just think of it. Long after I've died, future generations

will have the chance to converse with Virtual Valerie.

I will be an all-seeing oracle, dispensing advice on all sorts

of things, from industrial tribunals to the latest fashion advice.

Ah. Theoretically speaking, there is no reason why a brain couldn't be

copied on to a computer, then put on the internet.

The internet could become like this cerebral library,

where everybody's consciousnesses interact for years and years,

or until our evil alien overlords cut the power supply.

No, I don't fancy that.

-Ryan?

-Yep.

Look at this.

I typed in the web address.

The site isn't there any more, only this.

It's easy to be wise after the event.

You didn't see this coming. No-one did.

If you mean the possibility that Paul harmed his son, then no.

But we knew that Nicolas was in a vulnerable situation.

We knew that.

And if I hadn't fought Rhiannon's corner?

You think this is my fault.

No, Emma, I didn't say that. It's a collective process.

You said your piece, I said mine.

We both did what we thought was right, and in the end, the judge made the final decision.

We have to stand behind that.

Yeah, but that's got nothing to do with what happened, has it?

We don't know what happened yet, do we?

If it was an accident, then no-one's to blame.

If Paul intentionally hurt Nicolas, then why should you

or I or anybody else feel guilty?

He didn't have a criminal record.

He seemed like the perfect, loving father.

No-one could have predicted it.

Well, whether Paul's responsible, or Rhiannon,

or a combination of the two, the fact remains that if Nicolas...

If Nicolas had been taken into care, he would still be alive.

Now I have to find a way of living with that knowledge.

So do you.

I just wanted to have a word with one of the doctors.

I'm from the Letherbridge Gazette, I'm writing a story...

Are you suggesting that I can't be trusted?

No, of course not!

I should hope not.

We've had the results back from the postmortem ...

Does that mean I can bury him?

..which is far more conclusive than we all expected.