Episode 3 Hard Sun

This programme contains some violent scenes, some strong language

and scenes which some viewers may find disturbing

-How long have we got?

-Five years.

-Bring me the drive.

-Renko took it. It's gone.

They're killing everyone who's seen it.

Protect yourself, run the story.

MI5, they take the truth and fold it into whatever shape they want.

They turn a leak into a conspiracy theory.

Have you been watching the news? The Hard Sun.

You were right. There'll be more like this when the news gets out.

The deal is we keep your son out of prison, you bring us Charlie Hicks.

There's nothing to suggest that Hicks killed Butler.

Daniel? You've got a visitor.

Such a pleasure to meet you.

Hello. I'm Jamie.

I'm here to listen.

What's on your mind?

Why do you do this...

help strangers?

Do you think your goodness will save you...

..when the end comes?

Please don't hang up.

I'm not going anywhere. I'm here.

So here's how I understand the deal you've cut.

In exchange for a reduced sentence and witness protection,

you detail everything you've done for the Nicholson family.

Three nights ago, you coughed to killing an Armenian national

by the name of Alan Grigoryan.

Turns out, we didn't even know Mr Grigoryan was dead.

So, I'm going to need you to explain that. If you don't mind.

Sure.

Grigoryan came to London to discuss a new partnership.

The boss laid a party for him at his hotel.

-The boss being Terry Nicholson.

-Of course.

Mr Nicholson sends a girl in to Grigoryan. The best one.

But the guy is an animal. He choked her.

Says it was a game that went a little bit too far.

But Mr Nicholson won't allow his girls to be treated like that.

So he orders me to sanction him.

So where's Grigoryan's body?

I put him through...

..hachoir industriel.

An industrial mincer.

Yeah. And then after that, I fed him to the dogs.

Nice touch.

Thank you.

And this is the dead woman? Petra Andrei?

That's her.

Just out of interest, do you know what happened to Miss Andrei's body?

It was found, I think.

It was found in the boot of a car

belonging to a man called Spencer Coleman.

Who was later found guilty of her murder.

So, what I'm wondering is how come a rival of the Nicholson family

is doing time for a murder that isn't down to him?

I have no idea.

Do you know these men?

-I don't know them.

-I think you do.

I think Butler and Hicks were on the Nicholson family payroll.

I think you called them to sort out your mess.

I think they moved Petra Andrei's body

and placed it in the boot of Spencer Coleman's Jag.

I think Butler and Hicks fitted him up.

Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me, Jean-Paul?

Or are you more afraid of DCI Hicks...

..than your old firm?

Oh, come on.

Will, what do you want?

Just to talk about it. There's no-one I can talk to.

-You know I lost my job, right?

-Yeah.

But they've left you alone, right?

MI5? Yeah, they're not interested in me

and I've done all the damage I'm going to.

Still got the conspiracy nut-jobs crawling all over me though.

I'm basically in hiding from them.

Actually, I'm not...

I'm not dealing with it all that well.

I'm not dealing very well with knowing.

What do you think it is? Hard Sun?

-I don't know.

-No, I mean is it a comet, an asteroid?

Or is it something to do with the Earth's magnetic field?

You need to spend less time on the internet.

I lost my job and my girlfriend. I have nothing to do but spend time on the internet!

Look, you'll get another job!

Yeah, and what will be the point in that, when we know what's coming?

Will, everyone dies! Cancer, measles, murder.

Worrying about what's going to happen in five years, it's just...

It's what?

It's narcissistic.

I'm not thinking about myself.

I'm thinking that in five years, this is all gone.

Shakespeare and the Sex Pistols and Mozart.

Twitter. Cary Grant.

The Tellytubbies. It's all gone.

No-one is ever going to sing your favourite song ever again.

And that doesn't worry you?

Not unduly.

Well, if you really believe that,

why not just neck a fistful of pills or jump off a bridge?

MOBILE PHONE BUZZES

Is that work?

Yeah, work.

-I'll make you some coffee.

-No, you don't.

You stay right there.

Go back to sleep.

OK.

-Hey, don't forget...

-I know, I know, 5.30.

-I'll be there.

-OK.

Thom!

Welcome!

I thought you were still abroad working with refugees?

How was it?

Would you hear my confession, Dennis?

Victim's Jamie Unwin. 26.

Junior editor at a trade publishing house.

Lives in Putney.

-What, single, married?

-Boyfriend.

Shares a house in Peckham with four others.

Apparently, he was home all night.

-All right. Time of death?

-Sometime after 3.30am.

-Was she with anyone?

-No, she was alone.

26-year-old woman, educated professional.

She's not out alone at half past three in the morning.

We don't have to assume the worst about people. Not every time.

I'm not assuming anything about anyone.

She was on her way home from pulling a shift.

-She volunteered on a suicide helpline.

-Oh, Christ. Seriously?

How does God get up in the morning?

By not existing. Same as every other morning.

Actually, it's worse than it looks.

Her scooter is still outside the office.

-The engine had been tampered with.

-What, so it was targeted?

He marched her half a mile at knife-point and no-one intervened.

Yeah, he chose his spot well. This is a big intersection.

Hundreds of cars passing by, even early in the morning.

When he left her there, she was still alive.

And all those people just drove past and then she died.

MOBILE PHONE BUZZES

Shit! I've got to go.

-It's my son.

-Is he OK?

-I don't know. I've got to go.

Her son?

-Do you read the Bible?

-Of course.

I mean, read it.

-I'm not sure I follow.

-The horror of it.

God commands Abraham to murder his child.

He commands the slaughter of 3,000 men for worshipping a Golden Calf.

He commands genocide in seven nations.

Genocide.

Well, there is a new covenant...

In which He demands the torture and murder of his own son.

Thom, I can hear that you're troubled.

I saw...

..families floating, face down.

Dozens of them.

Hundreds of them.

How many drowned babies have you held in your arms, Dennis?

Thom, I'm sorry.

Do you ever think that it might be a lie?

The God of murdered children and drowned babies?

God is the only thing I am certain of.

It's everything else that's a mystery.

I just wanted to know He's there.

Don't you think it's cruel?

To hide Himself from a man cradling a dead child?

He only had one son on Earth without sin, Thom.

But never one without suffering.

I hurt someone.

We all hurt people.

No. I...

..hurt...someone.

That's my confession.

Who did you hurt?

She was a young woman. A girl, really.

I wanted to see what He'd do.

She was so innocent.

So I wiped her from the face of the Earth.

Just to see what He'd do.

She was so frightened, Dennis.

But He did nothing.

All He had to do was show Himself or strike me down...

..and she'd be alive now.

Imagine it.

Imagine the vanity of that.

The cruelty of it.

Thom, you need help.

You need to see a doctor.

Let me come with you.

I can drive you. We can go now.

You can't break the vow of the confessional, can you?

I can't do that. Not under any circumstances.

So you have to live with it.

Knowing what I've done.

Thom, you're in pain.

But you don't want to hurt anyone.

If He's there...

..let Him stop me.

Thom, please!

Come on, Dennis.

For the love of God.

-RADIO:

-Police are appealing for witnesses and information

after a young woman's body was discovered

by early morning commuters on Shepherds Bush Green

in West London today.

Detective Chief Superintendent Roland Bell

says a murder investigation has been launched.

-RADIO:

-This harrowing crime occurred in a busy area of Central London,

so it's very likely there are potential witnesses

who might be able to help our investigation.

We are keen to hear from anyone who was in the area

between midnight and 7.00am.

All right, so where are we?

No reported stalkers, restraining orders.

She was a junior editor at a trade publishing house based out in Vauxhall.

Oh, yeah? Work on anything I'd know?

To be fair, that seems pretty unlikely.

Why? I read.

You CAN read. Different thing.

All right, all right. Let's just get to her place of work

and see if she rejected any, I don't know, obsessive would-be author.

-Officers are on their way.

-All right. Good.

Yeah, we also need to trace whoever was calling her

at the help centre.

They're careful about anonymity,

so we need to be careful about the paperwork.

-All right, boss.

-Yes, boss.

-All right, let me know.

Excuse me.

-First of all, I'd like to say...

-I don't care what you'd like.

Just tell me what happened.

She told the duty nurse she was from Social Services.

And the duty nurse didn't find that strange?

Her credentials panned out.

I need to see him.

Hey, Daniel.

Hello, Mum.

So, who is she then? That woman.

Someone who wanted to hurt me by hurting you.

Why?

I don't know, but I'll find out.

I'm pretty good at that.

Finding stuff out.

-What did she say?

-She talked about you.

-Yeah, what about me?

-How I shouldn't trust you.

-Why not?

-Because you're a liar.

OK. So you need to listen to me now. She's the liar.

She was lying to you.

She said, when I was born, you probably wanted to love me.

But you couldn't cos of how I came to be.

-And that's...

-That's what?

Why you hated me.

-Look, that is not true!

-But you did give me away.

Yeah, but that's not because I didn't love you.

Did my dad rape you?

-Daniel...

-Yeah, but did he?

Yes.

That's why you couldn't keep me, you looked at me and you thought of him?

All I ever saw was you. You were my baby.

Do you know where he is?

Yeah.

-Yeah.

-So, why not tell me?

It's not because I'm scared of him or he means anything to me.

It's not that.

-It's the opposite of that.

-Did he hurt you?

Yes.

-Do you hate him?

-I used to.

-Because of what he did to you?

-Yes.

Am I like him?

-No, you're... You're not like him.

-But I hurt you too.

Yeah, but that was because you were ill.

-Not because you're like him.

-What is Hard Sun?

I don't know.

You promised not to lie.

-I'm not lying...

-Liar!

I am not lying. I will never lie to you, ever.

She showed me.

On her phone.

You're talking about it. Hard Sun.

About how everyone would know the truth

if anything bad happened to you.

So, what is it? What's the truth?

-Daniel...

-What is Hard Sun?

I don't know.

It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.

Argh!

Daniel, no! Stop it! Put it down!

Put it down! Help! Help!

Help!

Sshhhhh, sshhhhh.

-ON PHONE:

-Hello?

-Thom? It's Dennis.

Have you told anyone?

Father Dennis, this is DCI Hicks. He's here to see you.

I'm, I'm sorry I have to go. Something important has come up.

More important than me?

No, I'll, erm... I'll call you back when I can.

-Phone trouble?

-I'm sorry?

Two phones.

Ha.

No. Erm... Yes.

This one's due for the scrapheap.

Held together with Sellotape and good intentions.

I'm DCI Hicks.

-How can I help?

-Well, I'm not sure really.

I just... Well, I just noticed you earlier at the crime scene.

You did. It's a terrible thing.

That something you do a lot, is it? Hang around murder scenes?

This is my parish.

I wanted to offer what help I could.

She was a young girl?

Hm, yeah, she was. She's not any more.

Father Chapman, is it?

Father Dennis. Just call me Dennis.

Oh, thank you, Dennis. I'm Charlie.

Listen, erm... Listen, please don't take offence here.

Even if I did, I'd be obliged to forgive you.

It's basically part of the job description.

Good one.

So, anyway, what I was going to say was, erm...

Keeping a secret, it's quite stressful.

You know, it wears you down.

You're always waiting for a knock at the door.

So people have this urge to confess.

Yeah, you can see it in their eyes.

-You must see the same sort of thing in your line of work.

-I do.

I know that look very well.

Now, I could be wrong...

..but I can't help feeling like I'm looking at that right now.

Forgive me, Charlie, for I have sinned.

-Have you?

-Who hasn't?

You didn't hear anything?

See anything you might want to tell me about? Nothing like that?

-No.

-And there's nothing you might want to tell me?

Nothing you'd be interested in hearing.

Who were you talking to when I came in?

A transsexual dominatrix.

Right.

-May I?

-You may not.

Get my own dominatrix, right?

I'm sure you know a few.

In your line of work.

Ah, so this is me.

If you ever need to contact me for any reason.

Thank you, Dennis.

-What do you want?

-ON PHONE:

-Thom, we must meet.

Just tell me where. I'll come alone.

Mishal, can you see if you can scare up any link between the victim

and the priest at St Mary of the Angels on Salcott Road?

Yeah, bloke called Dennis Chapman.

-You call me when you know anything, all right?

-All right, boss. What's up?

I don't know. He seems wrong. Listen, I've got to shoot.

Mishal, I need urgent assistance.

On its way. What's happening?

I think the priest is walking into trouble.

How long are we talking?

17 minutes out.

Shit!

All right, well, hurry them up.

Did you bring the police?

I can't bring anyone.

I'm alone.

You made me alone.

Why are you here, Dennis?

-Have you read the story of Job?

-Of course.

I mean, really read it?

Because when it comes to punishing the wicked and rewarding the just,

it disagrees with every other book in the Bible.

Job loses everything.

Not despite the fact that he's a good man,

because he's a good man.

His children die at the whim of the God of drowned babies.

"I cry out aloud but there is no judgment," he says.

And at the end of it...

..at the end of this cry of absolute desolation from God's silence...

..God speaks.

"Where were you when I founded the Earth?" he says.

"When the morning stars sang together

"and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

So Job gets his answer, Thom.

And the answer is...

..who the hell do you think you are?

So stop this.

Put down that fucking knife, get on your knees

and for God's sake let me help you!

Shit.

Police! That's enough!

Now, you listen to me.

Armed assistance is on the way, so put the knife down.

Step aside.

Put...the knife...down.

DENNIS GASPS FOR BREATH

Stay calm! Do you understand me? Stay calm!

Yargh!

Hold on, Dennis!

Almost! Stay still! Stay still!

DENNIS GASPS FOR BREATH

N-o-o-o-o! Oh!

Shit!

The man we'd like to speak to

in connection with the death of Jamie Unwin

may have some connection to St Mary of the Angels

on Salcott Road, London.

We're asking for any members of the congregation

at St Mary's to please come forward.

If you think you recognise this man, a helpline has been established.

All calls will be treated with confidentiality.

How's Daniel?

He'll live.

Look, is this her?

She got to Daniel.

Oh, Jesus!

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's her.

She's been, er...

..she's been putting pressure on Alex Butler's wife.

Mari Butler? Why her?

Come on, Elaine. Look, we're past all that.

I know what you think.

Yeah? And what's that?

That I had something to do with it.

The way Alex died.

I never said I thought that.

Yeah, well, you don't have to.

Now, I'm telling you now,

straight up. I loved him.

All right? I loved him.

And as far as I'm concerned, his family are my family.

And Keith's family and Mishal's and Herbie's and George's.

Just like Daniel would be our family...

..if anything was to happen to you.

OK?

Look, she's probing our weak spots, looking for a way in.

And she'll keep doing it until she's found a way to take us down.

-Well, what do we do?

-Kill her.

Huh! Look, she's Security Services.

We don't even know her name!

All right, look, are we joking here or not?

No, we're not joking. What happens next, Charlie?

To Simone? Hailey? The baby?

Oh, come on, give me a break. That'd be entrapment.

Yeah, wouldn't it?

You need psychiatric help.

DOOR CLOSES

MACHINES BEEP

Heart rate's 152.

Is that normal?

It's perfect, yes.

All right, good.

Good. Brilliant.

Oooh.

She's got her head down already.

Oh, that's funny, because I felt her kicking up here this morning.

You've got a happy baby.

Very busy.

Has she got a name yet?

Not yet. It's a bone of contention.

I don't mind what she's called.

No, but your mum does.

Yeah, well, that is true.

How big is she right now?

About the size of a banana.

Wicked. She looks massive, though.

Aw, look at her!

She's so happy to see you.

Her sister, her daddy.

SIMONE EXHALES

Wave, baby.

-Are you all right, Dad?

-Yeah.

Yeah, I'm good.

Yeah, what do you think of your baby sister?

-Pretty mint.

-Mm?

Except she definitely gets the small room, though.

-THEY CHUCKLE

-Yeah?

Yeah.

HUBBUB

# Dies irae, dies illa

# Solvet saeclum in favilla

# Teste David cum Sibylla

# Quantus tremor est futurus

# Quando Judex est venturus

# Cuncta stricte discussurus. #

Will somebody help me?

No-one?

PANICKED CHATTER

Not one of you?

Open the door! Can you open the door?! Can you open the door?!

PANICKED SHOUTS

My wounds fester and stink because of foolish sins!

HE SOBS

Sir, please!

Don't do that to yourself.

Let me help you.

Please.

Allow me.

Give me the knife.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

SCREAMING

INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO

-It's definitely the same bloke?

-Pretty sure.

Had it away on his toes.

And the victim's random this time?

Not so much random as self-selecting.

Another Good Samaritan.

I found the pay as you go. The Vicar of Dibley's ditched the SIM card.

Oi, show a bit of respect.

Respect, my eye! It's all kids' stories, innit?

-What is?

-God and such.

Well, if it's not, I know which one of us

is in big trouble with the management.

Yeah, but if it comes to that, you're my mate.

You'd have a word, see if you can get me in, right?

I'll try, but I'm not promising anything.

How much longer am I going to be kept here?

Well, you can go whenever you like.

Because the doctor did advise that I should rest.

Right.

Look, can you just do me a favour before you go?

Explain the rules of the confessional to me.

I hardly think this is the time or the place.

Apparently, it is not permitted for a confessor

in any way to betray a penitent

by word or in any other manner or for any reason.

By word or in any other manner or for any reason.

So, is what I'm... Is this what I'm looking at here, Dennis?

I mean, how else do you explain it?

Here he is fresh from the kill.

And here he is again, 20 minutes later.

And then a few hours after that, here's you, going to meet him.

Get yourself strangled.

Look, all we need is a name, Dennis.

Just a name.

I can't do that.

All right, I'll tell you what, how about we give you some names instead, hm?

This is Jamie Unwin.

This time last night, she was thinking about pulling a voluntary shift

at a helpline dedicated to help desperate people

with no-one else to turn to.

This is Toby Olewaio.

This is the watch Toby Olewaio's father left him.

It's a good watch. It's still ticking.

It is a good watch.

Now, if Ms Unwin and Mr Olewaio

hadn't tried to do the right thing

or the Christian thing, you might say...

..well, they'd still be with us.

You see, this killer, he's on a spree.

He's not going to stop until we stop him. You understand that?

Now, you can help us.

Just two words, we can stop him, like that.

I'm sorry...I can't help you.

Now, let's be absolutely clear about this, Dennis,

unless you give us a name, more people are going to die.

You might as well kill them yourself.

That can't be right, can it?

I mean, that can't be the Christian thing to do.

Can it?

Are we any closer to a name?

We've had about 50 churchgoers come through,

no-one seems to recognise him.

Father Dennis has been at St Mary's for years,

but we're looking at previous postings.

So far, he's not just clean, he's minty-fresh.

Right. So, why this bloke? I mean, why this priest?

It can't just be random.

Unless it is. I mean, he's not right, is he?

Could just be a psychiatric case, randomly fixating.

No.

No, he knows him.

How was Simone?

Yeah, she's glowing.

Do you think he's ever going to crack?

If you give me a penknife and five minutes alone with him.

Listen, er...have you got a minute?

Yeah.

So, why are we here?

Are you about to give me a verbal warning for threatening to kill a government employee?

Look, the, er...the reason that I...that I nipped off earlier...

It's Simone's 20-week scan.

That's my baby girl.

People say it to you all the time, but, you know, it's just not until...

Well, until it happens to you that you realise...

Well, you realise it's a miracle.

Now, all this thing you're going through with Daniel...it's horrible.

You know, you want to protect him and,

and you do whatever you can, I get...I get that.

You and I, we...we don't trust each other and we both know why.

But the truth is is that none of it matters.

Because what matters is...is what's coming.

And how we look after the people that we love.

So this is me...trusting you.

TEARFUL: Don't take me away from my family, Elaine.

Please. Not now.

Not with what's coming.

They need me.

Please.

All right, then.

Spencer Coleman.

Head of the Wandsworth Firm.

So?

Are you familiar with the names Butler and Hicks?

Of course I am.

DCI Hicks arrested you for the murder of Petra Andrei.

Yeah.

Except I didn't do it.

Well, so you say.

But here you are.

To be fair, there's not much I haven't done.

But I didn't do that.

He fitted me up.

Why would he do that?

Because Butler and Hicks are on the Nicholson family payroll, right?

It's a sweet way to take down a rival, don't you think?

Plus, they had a massive hard-on for you.

Not because you were a scary old gangster,

but because you liked to knock women around.

But no charges ever stuck, did they?

Because you paid your victims off or you scared them off or whatever.

Why do you like to knock women around, Spencer?

Is that what it takes?

Is THAT what it takes

to get a man like you hard?

Yargh!

Wrong woman, Porky!

Butler was a dick.

But he was decent enough as far as coppers go.

He wanted nothing to do with fitting me up.

He came to me and told me what Hicks was planning.

And what happened?

Butler said he'd speak to him.

Give him a chance to pull back from the edge.

And if Hicks refused?

Butler was going to grass.

So, what happened?

I don't know. That was the last time I saw him.

Luckily for Hicks, a couple of days later,

Butler was found floating face down in the canal.

HE LAUGHS

PHONE VIBRATES

-You spoke to Coleman?

-Yeah.

-And?

It's bullshit.

A villain's fairy story. There's nothing in it.

Nah, that doesn't add up.

Look, I've turned over every rock.

There's no evidence that Hicks killed Butler.

And which Elaine is this, hm?

My investigator or Hicks' loyal right-hand man?

I'm sorry, sir, but there's no evidence that Hicks killed Butler.

He didn't do it. He just didn't.

He's innocent.

Innocent?

Why do I get the feeling you don't believe that, DI Renko?

No, no, no, no, no.

No, this is my home. You can't be here.

-What do you want?

-The same thing you want.

I don't think so.

We've got the same problem.

Yeah? And what problem is that?

Elaine Renko.

She's not a problem to me.

-ELAINE:

-Are you familiar with the names Butler and Hicks?

Of course I am.

DCI Hicks arrested you for the murder of Petra Andrei.

Yeah. Except I didn't do it.

When was this?

Tonight.

You can't really blame her, she's just looking after her own.

They cut her a deal.

If she can bring you down, then her child stays out of prison.

But if you go to prison for killing Alex Butler...

..then your family will have to face what's coming without you.

Yeah, and what is that?

What is it? What is Hard Sun?

The end.

And do you want your loved ones to face it alone

just because Elaine Renko wants to bring you down

for something that doesn't even matter any more?

All right. What are you asking?

My name is Elaine Renko...

She copied this.

Maybe to the darknet, maybe to a flash drive

she dead-dropped somewhere.

Either way, she told someone where it is and what to do with it.

Someone she can trust. But I don't know who that is.

I mean, who is it?

I tried the son. He knows nothing.

As far as I know, there's no-one else in her life.

She saved my life with this.

That was then, this is now.

If you can find out what she's done with this file,

then she's not in play, which means she's not in your life any more.

And what happens to her?

Do you care?

Really?

I need protection for my family.

I want them kept safe for as long as possible.

-I mean...

-I know what you mean.

All right, if you can give me that...

..then I'll give you whatever you want.

-REPORTER:

-Midnight in west London.

As police search for an unknown killer,

grieving loved ones, family, friends and a community shocked to its core

have gathered in spontaneous tribute to Jamie Unwin,

a young woman taken in an act of inexplicable violence.

Now, just a few hours ago,

an estimated 300 people stood here.

Some singing, some praying...

Keep filming, or he dies.

The Hard Sun is coming and I am its messenger.

No-one's going to be protecting you.

No-one will be watching you.

You are completely alone.

If all she's got is enemies, which enemy can she trust the most?

What are you doing?

You will never step away from this?

Absolutely not.

Can you hear him? Because I can.

Where will you be?

Probably best you don't know.

Excuse me, sir, do you have a second?

Absolutely.

It's me.

I've got something for you.