My Brother's Keeper The Doctor Blake Mysteries

MUSIC: Tutti Frutti by Little Richard

CHEERING, SHOUTING

-Hey, you got something to say?

-You sold it!

-So, what's it to you?

-Mate, come on.

Mate, I don't know what this is about, but leave it.

COWS MOO

Evening, ladies.

Hello, ladies.

COWS MOO

That's easy for you to say.

Sure, mate. Just like my old man, mate.

Oh, that is rubbish! Rubbish! "Just like your old man"?

How did they get out?

Oi, boys, go that side. Go that side.

Hey, Bessie. What are they doing out of their pen?

I don't know.

Boys.

The body's as you found it, Charlie?

Yeah, exactly as a couple of teenagers found it last night.

They saw it, got scared, ran off.

Only reported it an hour ago.

Right.

He'd been drinking, clearly.

Curious. He's come in here and left the gate open.

I'd have thought, rule number one when dealing with livestock,

you shut the bloody gate.

Well, he was drunk, went into the pen, forgot to close the gate,

got trampled by the cows.

Why'd he go inside?

You seem a little edgy today, Charlie.

Half the station was called out to a brawl at McCain's Alley last night.

And the cells are full.

The deceased is Mark Dempster.

Local dairy farmer.

How would you know that? His face is only partially...

One of those teenagers worked on his farm.

This is his cow pen, his cows.

And that there is his watch.

And obviously, that was his beer bottle.

And I'd say...

Oh, yes -

he polished off quite a few before that.

And...

we know he enjoyed a game of two-up.

We also know these footprints here aren't his.

What?

Different sole, different heel.

In fact, different shoe size altogether.

We'll get a plaster mould of those imprints.

I think he's come over the fence, rather than through the gate.

So, let's say he falls, rolls, ends up partially under the trough...

And then what?

Remains completely motionless while being trampled to death?

Sergeant!

Doc, I need you to hold off on that autopsy,

just until we get a positive identification.

-Yes, of course.

-Thanks, Doc.

So, we just sit here? We can't even examine him?

His wife's on her way here now, to make the formal identification.

Until then, no touching the body.

-Ah!

-What? I'm not touching the body.

Caucasian male, well-nourished. About 11st?

Height?

Under six foot.

Look.

Major chest trauma, multiple rib fractures,

collapse of the thorax, all on the left-hand side,

all consistent with having been trampled.

If the entire right-hand side of the body

was positioned under the water trough...

..then there should be no markings on the right-hand side whatsoever.

But there are. Look.

I suspect... DOOR OPENS

Right this way, Mrs Dempster.

Mrs Dempster, I'm Dr Lucien Blake, this is Dr Alice Harvey.

Please.

It's not him.

That's not my husband.

The deceased is Ben Dempster.

Yes, Mark Dempster's brother.

He was murdered. I believe he was struck on the back with this.

He fell, and the cattle did the rest.

So, Ben Dempster was at his brother's cow pen, for some reason.

Wearing his brother's watch.

Charlie, I'll swap you.

The men in lock-up are going to need some stitching up.

Yes, I'll see to them.

Doc, there's something else I really need to talk to you about.

Give me a moment, Charlie.

Superintendent, what do you make of this?

An unidentified print from the murder scene.

Is there something you want to tell me, Doug?

I've been dismissed.

-All there, sir?

-I'm sorry?

What about proper procedure?

Not this time.

Don't make yourself too hard to like.

Lucien.

All new evidence, all findings, you will hand over directly to me.

And I want those reports typed and on my desk

no later than ten o'clock. Go.

Sir, this is Dr Lucien Blake, Police Surgeon.

Chief Superintendent William Munro.

Superintendent, welcome to Ballarat.

I was just briefing Davis here on how we'll go about

redeeming ourselves for misidentifying a body.

Yes. Ah, the autopsy suggests...

..the spade was used.

A deliberate act, causing Ben Dempster to fall into that cow pen.

-Indeed. The intent was definitely to kill.

-Well, clearly.

And my officers will consider all the evidence.

Ah, evidence.

An unidentified print from the scene.

-You'll notice the unusual heel.

-Now, the fight...

The men were playing two-up at the time.

I know, because I was there briefly, before the fight broke out.

I found this broken kip.

Clearly, a casualty of the fight.

Well, it seems the deceased may well have been at that very same game.

We found this on him.

Head down to the cells.

Stitch up the men from the brawl.

I'll question them all in turn, to see what the connection may be

between the brawl and our victim.

Very good.

Then spend the day with Davis, who'll stop in on Ruth Dempster.

I've already informed her of her husband's death.

My guess is, she'll need some medical attention.

And let's find out what we can about Ben Dempster.

After that, you can both check in on Mrs Mark Dempster.

See if she needs anything,

considering the trauma she was put through at the morgue this morning.

Davis, you'll question Mark Dempster,

who is alive and well, about how his watch came to be on the deceased.

-Yes, sir.

-I hope my instructions are clear

and you're both aware of what your jobs are.

Police can take evidence from a crime scene.

Police surgeons cannot.

Ah, finally! Come on.

Oh, you're kidding.

We weren't the only ones in that fight.

Do your job. Stopped looking for the rest of them, eh?

Been in the wars, eh?

Why don't you take a seat and we'll have a look at you.

-What's your name?

-Nathan.

-Nathan.

-Nathan Eaton.

Nathan Eaton.

Did you sort out your differences?

I think we're clear on where we all stand.

Just need to separate alcohol from social events next time.

Social events like gambling, eh?

-A game of two-up never hurt anyone.

-NATHAN WINCES

Well, until now.

Usually a bigger crowd than this at a two-up game, I would have thought.

Yeah, well, some of us weren't lucky enough to be let go scot-free.

Some of us are just born lucky, aren't we?

Leo Gilmore certainly is.

Leo? Leo the milkman?

Yeah, delivering milk is more important than justice, apparently.

Who else got off scot-free?

Ben Dempster. He made a run for it.

His brother Mark copped a few hits before he took off, too.

Cowards.

So, they both left at around the same time?

Pretty much.

I don't make it a habit to hit a bloke

and then follow him home to talk it through.

Shame the way it all ended up, though.

I'm sure you've heard about Mr Dempster.

I heard someone died.

Didn't realise it was Dempster. How did Ruth take it?

How did you know I was talking about Ben?

Well...

Eaton's definitely hiding something.

Indeed.

Might be worth checking to see if he's got fallen arches, Charlie.

That shoe imprint of ours.

That unusual heel.

It's an orthotic and it's used to help people with flat feet.

Well, either way, he's got a pretty good alibi.

He was beating up some locals at the time.

True.

However, that alleyway is only, what...

five minutes away from the showgrounds?

Well, he could have got a few punches in,

followed Ben to the cow pen,

then gone back to the fight in time to be arrested.

Perfect alibi.

KNOCKS AT DOOR

Someone's home.

Nine o'clock.

This day can only get better.

Mrs Dempster?

Ben loved a drink.

He needed something to unwind.

This farm took it out of him.

Any idea why your husband would have gone to the showgrounds?

No, not really.

Mrs Dempster, have you heard of a man named Nathan Eaton?

One of Ben's friends.

I met him once or twice, in passing.

I have to ask, were you home all night?

Yes.

What were you doing?

Same thing I'm doing now -

trying to fix some of Ben's old clothes.

Can't afford a new pair of overalls, so...

Oh, for God's sake!

Ruth, Ruth.

Is there anything I can do for you?

Perhaps something to help me sleep.

Yes. Of course.

Is there anyone you'd like us to notify?

Someone who can stay with you?

Ben's all I have.

All I had.

Ruth, what about Ben's brother, Mark?

No, they didn't speak. Hadn't for some time.

Ben never had a head for business.

Always had one foot in the flypaper.

Mark thought Ben should be more like him. More logical.

So, you left the two-up game...

..right after one of the blokes got a punch in.

Then where did you go?

Oh, I gave the alleyway a wide berth. Wound up home, eventually.

I slept in the barn.

And in the meantime, I was worried sick.

I figured if the police turned up on our doorstep, at least my wife

would be able to honestly say that she didn't know where I was.

Turns out the police did turn up, only to tell me my husband was dead.

Oi! Helen!

Grab the little one.

So, no-one saw you all night?

Not your farm hands?

No. I didn't see Ben after he left the game, either.

When did he leave?

When the fight got going -

after he won some money, and my watch.

My old man's watch.

Your father's? He handed it down to you, not your brother?

Yeah, I reckon he just knew that Ben would lose it.

Sell it, more like.

You didn't much like your brother-in-law, Mrs Dempster?

I'll admit it. I never really warmed to Ben.

-All the best things in his life, we practically gave him.

-Barbara.

Well, it's true. You know, you helped him buy that farm.

You loaned him God knows how much money.

He only met Ruth because she worked here.

I'm sorry, love. I know he was your brother, but enough was enough.

I'd like to continue this interview down at the station,

if you don't mind.

You have fallen arches. Is that right?

Excuse me?

This'll take a lot longer, if I have to repeat everything.

Yes, my shoes are custom-made.

Tell me about your relationship with your brother

-and why it was so fractured.

-What's that got to do with my feet?

I helped Ben for years, with his money problems.

Eventually, I had to stop.

That must have been hard.

Like watching a train crash.

So, Ben owed a lot of money, then?

A couple of two-up games isn't going to pay the bills.

Maybe you helped Ben out this time with his money problems.

No.

How often did you play two-up together?

Just this once.

Sergeant.

Can you open a window in here?

Ah, no, sir, they don't open.

Stuck in this tiny room, we can't even open a window.

And not a lot of oxygen to the brain.

Make officers forgetful.

That's not good, when we're trying to remember the details of a case.

If we get something wrong,

it can mean the difference between guilty and innocent.

That's why we need our interviewee -

that's you -

to be clear...

..so there's no room for error.

Now...

..how often did you play two-up with your brother?

Every month.

Thank you.

Now, all that's left to work out

is why your shoe print was found at the crime scene,

when apparently you were asleep in a barn.

What did Mark say to that?

He had no response.

Doesn't know how his shoe prints got there.

Everything all right with Jean?

No. It's the anniversary of Christopher's passing.

Where are you off to, Charlie?

Chief wants me back at that farm, to visit the widow.

See if she can tell me any more about

who exactly her husband owed money to.

I imagine it's no fun going back to the scene of a death knock.

Not much fun being on the receiving end of one, either.

-I think I'll join you, Charlie.

-No, Munro doesn't like...

I promised I'd go back with some sedatives. Just give me a moment.

Jean, do you mind if I ask you something?

That plant out there, the cactus-y looking one there.

What variety is that?

-Aloe spinosissima...

-Oh.

..or Gold Tooth Aloe, because of the red and gold rosettes.

-Doc, we need to go.

-Coming, Charlie.

Funny, I saw another one quite like it today,

at the farm we were at this morning.

Is that Ben Dempster's farm you're talking about?

Is he the one who's died?

Yes. How did you know?

Would you mind terribly, if I came along with you both?

I know Ruth Dempster. I'd like to check that she's all right.

Sure.

Who did we owe money to?

Easier to tell you who we didn't owe money to.

You don't take milk, do you, Ruth?

And the foreclosure date on the farm, it was two weeks ago?

We waited, but the bailiffs never came.

Kept our suitcases open, ready to pack.

That must have been very difficult.

We made the most of it.

But these last few weeks, Ben wasn't the same.

You know what it's like, Jean. Farmers working the land.

Up one minute, down the next.

And your husband never considered selling the farm?

He had an estate agent pushing us to sell,

but Ben thought we should hold off.

-Right.

-Last night, when...

..when he didn't come home, I...

..I should have gone looking for him.

This is my fault.

No, Ruth, it isn't.

This is what it feels like.

Your Christopher didn't come home, either.

No. He didn't.

Ben and I, we...

We used to say to each other that if one of us dies, the other one...

Do you think Ruth meant what she said,

when she said she couldn't go on without Ben?

Oh, I don't know.

-But my feeling is, we should keep an eye on her.

-Mm.

Goodness me, this crop's seen better days.

Yes, I don't understand. The soil's always been so rich.

Oh, did you see the plant? Our plant?

-The old Gold Tooth?

-Gold Tooth Aloe.

Yes, it's the same plant.

-Most definitely the same variety.

-No, it's exactly the same plant.

I took a cutting from that one and planted it at your house.

This was our farm, Lucien. Christopher's and mine.

Jean, I had no idea.

Oh, so much has happened.

It's a relief that it's still there. It's exactly the same.

A bit larger, of course.

Are you all right? Today, of all days?

Not really. But I wanted to be here.

Yes.

BLAKE SPITS

-Did you...?

-Yes, I didn't want to say earlier.

That is so damn salty.

BLAKE SPITS

Definitely the lettuce. And look, some are oily to the touch.

-I thought you'd given up cigarettes.

-I have.

Just for emergencies.

-Why would Ben use so much herbicide?

-Why, indeed.

BLAKE SNIFFS

There you are.

And good luck to you.

So, the chemical being used on Ben's crops is 24-D?

Yes, a substance originally intended for agricultural use,

now used as a type of weed killer.

Right.

So, if it wasn't Ben or Ruth who did it,

why didn't they notice the damage to their crops?

Well, maybe they did,

and didn't want to scare off any prospective buyers.

Next question.

Did the person poisoning Ben Dempster's crops also kill him?

Well, Ruth mentioned a real estate agent

who was bothering them to sell about a week ago.

Which is a good motive to destroy Ben's crops.

Either Ben starts to doubt his ability as a farmer,

or he gets sick of the vandalism to his property.

Decides to throw in the towel and sell up.

And the agent gets his healthy commission.

Then, there's Nathan Eaton -

the bloke who was in lock-up from the fight.

Ben and he were both at the alley the night Ben died.

So, apart from Mark Dempster, we have Nathan Eaton

and this real estate agent?

Yeah. Yeah, that's right.

They're the same bloke.

Nathan Eaton works at Wright Homes. He's a property developer.

And he has the right shoe size.

I don't enjoy taking the credit for your hard work.

Well, someone has to update Munro

and I get the feeling it's best it's not me.

Now, listen. With Ben Dempster dead, the property would go to Ruth.

Well, it turns out, Nathan Eaton is the real estate agent.

So, he knew she was happy to sell.

Could be a reason to kill Ben.

Even so, killing someone just to make a sale?

Oh, that Eaton, not the most measured chap I've ever met.

Murder may not be beyond him.

And listen, I had a phone call from Jean.

Her house plant? It's already started wilting.

You're saying there were two estate agents

vying for the sale of Ben Dempster's property?

Yep. No, Mrs Carter.

Us here at Wright Homes, and Lilley Estates.

The land surrounding Ben Dempster's has all been sold off.

Once he sold,

we could start developing the area for low-income housing.

So, getting that sale was important to you.

Mate, all sales are important to me.

And in order to get that sale, you befriended the Dempsters.

-Buttered them up.

-All part of the job.

Convincing people to do things.

Yes. Explaining farms to prospective buyers.

What makes for good soil, and so on.

You were here to enquire about Ben Dempster's property?

With Ben now deceased,

I imagine you'll be approaching Ruth Dempster

to get that sale that you wanted.

Why would I? There's no point.

Not now that their farm's off the market.

Lilley Estates got to the Dempsters before we did.

The deal was done a few days ago.

Mr Muir, you were Ben Dempster's bank manager.

What were the extent of his financial problems?

He was defaulting on his mortgage payments.

I suggested he sell his farm, pay back the bank what he owed.

Move somewhere smaller.

Oh, selling the farm would have been the right thing to do.

Pay off the mortgage, give us some money in our pockets.

But I stood by Ben's decision not to.

Well, according to the developers at Wright Homes, Ben did sell the farm.

-To Lilley Estates.

-No, that's not possible.

Well, the money was deposited into Ben's account.

The bank was paid back what it was owed - around £3,000.

So Ruth Dempster has a sizeable inheritance?

She doesn't, actually.

What do you mean, the money's gone?

A day after the money from the sale went in,

your husband took all the funds out again.

The money's gone.

Were there any other unusual transactions

from Mr Dempster's account that stood out for you?

I always found it strange that a man who seemed to have no normal routine

would come into the bank on exactly the same day every year

and take out £20.

So, would you like to tell me what we're doing here now?

This case, Charlie.

We've become so fixated on the financial side of things,

we've lost sight of the crime scene.

You going to introduce me to your friend?

No need. She's about to meet a very untimely end.

She belongs to Mrs Beazley.

What, and you're just going to throw her in?

Yes.

I have one or two theories I want to try out.

What are you doing, Charlie?

Put this over her.

How very decent of you.

She's going to tell us how easily cows stampede.

Whoever killed Ben Dempster needed to know for certain

that these cows would do precisely that.

Let's see, eh?

All right.

Sorry about this.

Absolutely nothing.

I wonder... What about noise?

Let's try a bit of yelling, Charlie.

All right, let's start with the money.

Off you go.

Peter Muir said £15,000 still missing.

Yah!

From the sale of the farm?

-Yes!

-Really?

Yes.

Yeah, we checked Mark Dempster's bank balance.

No large sums of money have gone in.

-Right.

-Ruth and Ben's accounts are almost empty, as well.

-Thanks.

-I see.

How's your whistle, Charlie?

-Oh, pretty good.

-Let her rip.

CHARLIE WHISTLES

COWS MOO

Ah! High-pitched noises, Charlie. Whistles.

That's what gets them moving - whistles.

Well, that narrows it down to every farmer in Victoria, Doc.

All right, Charlie, thank you.

-Doc!

-Yes?

Look at this.

That wasn't there before.

It's a money clip.

"MD."

Mark Dempster, I'm arresting you

under suspicion of the murder of Ben Dempster.

I must inform you that you do not have to say or do anything,

but anything you say or do may be given in evidence.

Do you understand?

We've confirmed the money clip belongs to Mark Dempster.

Oh, so you think it might have fallen out of his pocket when he killed his brother?

Well, that is what we initially thought.

But then, Evan Sanders' father dragged his boy into the police station.

-That's the teenager that found the body?

-Yeah, yeah.

He stole the money clip and the money from the crime scene.

That's until he realised it was a murder investigation.

-And so, he put it back?

-Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, you should have seen the boss go through him.

-It was like a hot knife through butter.

-Oh, I'm sure.

Look, all the evidence we have still points to Mark.

They're doing a search through Ben and Mark Dempster's houses tomorrow.

-I see.

-What about the man who's indirectly killing my plant?

Ah, Nathan Eaton.

Well, he isn't clear of suspicion just yet.

Oh, the showgrounds.

There's an article here about the agricultural show.

It says that there's farmers who are in uproar over...

-..over prize money.

-Oh, there's always a cash prize

for the Best of British livestock competition at the show.

-There isn't one this year?

-Apparently not.

It mentions the Muir family in the article.

Oh, they always put up the money.

They have done, for as long as I can recall.

Peter Muir, the bank manager.

It's the same Muirs?

Yes, Peter. He's an interesting sort.

They've always looked to him to manage their finances.

So, it would have been his decision to pull that prize money.

Oh, I presume so, yes.

You reckon he was at that two-up game, don't you, Doc?

Possibly.

You know he'll just deny ever being there.

Yes, I know.

But there may be another way to find out, Charlie.

There's my girl.

Doc! Bit early for you, isn't it?

-Leo.

-G'day.

Been in the wars, have you?

-Hey?

-Looks like you've had quite a scrap.

Ah.

I know you were at that two-up game with Ben Dempster the night he died.

Doug Ashby let me go.

I needed to do me milk deliveries.

I've already been dragged in by that Munro bloke to answer questions.

Leo, it's all right. You're not in trouble. I just need a name.

Someone who was at that game, in that fight.

Someone who wouldn't want people to know they liked to bet.

Really liked to bet.

-Finance can be quite dull, can't it, Mr Muir?

-I know, I know.

The only thrill I get these days is during a game of cards or two-up.

It's not a problem or anything, though. I... I can control it.

Then why didn't the Muir family contribute prize money

to the show this year?

I've informed my family to look to the future.

Start tightening their belts.

With your access to their accounts, you gambled it.

Your family could lose their business, their land.

I'm sure Ben Dempster could sympathise.

Let me tell you what I think, Mr Muir.

I think a man in your precarious financial position

may have misappropriated the funds

from the sale of Ben Dempster's farm.

What's to say you're not just lying through your teeth?

Maybe you were the one who murdered Ben.

Then you cook the books, pocket the balance

and try to play me for a fool.

No! No, please. You've got it all wrong.

Ben wanted in on some card games, bigger games.

A way to keep his farm. Except, he was a dreadful player.

He was just terrible. He told me to extend the foreclosure date.

I refused.

He threatened to notify head office about my gambling problem.

I didn't kill him. I didn't!

I know you didn't, Muir. Look at you.

Who threw the first punch at the two-up game?

Nathan Eaton. He went straight for Ben.

Tell me, Sergeant, how did you know Peter Muir was at that two-up game?

You initially suggested someone was sabotaging Dempster's crops.

You've done a very thorough job.

Perhaps even gone beyond the call of duty.

Now, I'd like to think that inside my station,

there is a certain structure and order.

Our name is attached to our role.

It means that we are qualified to be part of an investigation.

Constable Simmons, Acting Sergeant Davis...

..Chief Superintendent Munro.

We've earned our place.

Yes, you have.

But it's my name attached to those autopsy reports.

It indicates that I know the cause of death.

-We know how the victim died.

-Now, we need to know who killed him...

If I find that you are no longer a fit here,

the next station is in Bendigo.

It's an awfully long way from the people you love.

Sergeant, let's find those chemicals on Nathan Eaton.

We can bring him in with that.

Yes, sir.

So, Mr Eaton.

I found this in the bottom of the bin behind your office.

Much need for the use of dangerous herbicides

in the property sales business?

I just wanted the Dempsters to sell.

I didn't use enough to poison them, just their plants.

But you stopped using the chemicals once the place was sold?

No.

I stopped using them when I saw Ben shopping for his wife.

Shopping with his wife?

No, FOR his wife. He was at Thomson's Jewellers.

When he came out, I saw him holding a necklace.

Sorry, what does that have to do with anything?

Look, I've got a wife too, mate.

Ben was just a regular bloke, buying a present for his missus.

That's when I stopped.

Mark's already been questioned about that. You know he has flat feet.

Indeed.

But I was looking for this particular shoe.

Well, it could be his work boot.

-Give me a minute.

-Thank you.

-We're just getting a glass of water.

-Well, what a good idea.

-Hello, I'm Dr Blake. Lucien.

-Helen. Nice to meet you.

This is my little girl, Janet.

-Do you like my dress?

-It's new.

Well, yes, I do. It's lovely.

-We'd better get that water. Nice to meet you.

-And you.

What a beautiful child.

The whole family live on the property?

Ah, just Helen. She's raising Janet on her own.

You know, it's the weirdest thing.

That pair of Mark's boots is missing.

Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.

So, somebody else was wearing Mark Dempster's shoes?

Yes. That's how this footprint came to be in that cow pen.

Mark's shoes, not Mark's feet.

There's no sign of the money from the sale of the farm, either.

Did you find anything else?

Yes, there was something that took my interest earlier.

The Dempsters' children. I thought they had four kiddies.

We saw them playing together yesterday.

Turns out one of them wasn't theirs.

A little girl.

Belongs to a farm hand - Helen.

Does that mean anything?

Oh, I don't know.

This little girl, she...

She looks a lot like Mark Dempster.

-Oh?

-Yes.

Anyhow, the big question is,

where does someone hide £15,000?

Well, I know where I'd hide it.

Mark Dempster's confirmed it. He's Janet's father.

-His wife knows, too.

-Oh, how could she not?

I'll tell the Chief.

-He's going to be back any minute now.

-Good.

Doc.

Oh, Charlie, I have every right to be here.

Perhaps I'm here checking up on your mental health.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with my mental health, thank you very much.

-Oh, I'm sure I'd find something, if I looked hard enough. Tea?

-No, thank you.

Come on, what else have you been reporting back to the Chief?

Well, there's no cash at Ben Dempster's house, or Mark's.

And Mark Dempster bought a new car, only days before Ben died.

-Now, that's not cheap.

-Yeah, we searched his property. Nothing.

Perhaps the money's in a really, really good hiding place.

Yeah, I don't want to hear what you're going to say next.

What?

I'm off to speak to the jeweller about Ben's purchase.

If he was taking 20 quid out of the bank at the same time each year,

maybe the jeweller was an annual visit as well.

Exactly.

Doc, if Barbara catches you,

she'll tell the Chief, and you'll be making it easy for him.

DOG BARKS OUTSIDE

Jean, you're a marvel.

-Wash up time, kids. Come on.

-KIDS SHOUT

CELL DOOR OPENS

Yes, that's Ben's money.

It's from the sale of his farm.

I'm part of a local property group.

Ben wanted me to invest all of his money.

I was about to, when he died.

He was finally growing up.

He didn't want me to say anything to anyone.

You made me feel guilty, as though I was the one who killed him.

That's why I kept lying.

What's wrong with him?

Could show some compassion.

I'd like to do some more digging,

before we throw the book at Mark Dempster.

Among the smaller details of the case is the piece of jewellery

Ben bought on the same day each year.

Davis, I want you to speak to Ruth Dempster about the jewellery.

The rest of you, I want you to go over every report,

every statement again.

Leave no stone unturned.

Yes, and one more thing.

If Ben was buying jewellery on the same day each year,

it might be worth looking into birthdays and anniversaries.

Seems logical to me.

That's it for now.

I'll leave you to follow up your leads.

If it wasn't for the Dempsters' neighbour

reporting a 1937 Standard outside her property,

-I may never have known.

-Yes, I was trying to be...

I'm considering whether to make your act of trespassing

a disciplinary matter.

I know I probably don't work quite the way you'd like me to,

but I did find that money.

It may well be the best lead we have.

Are you telling me how to do my job?

No. No, absolutely not.

I just want to find out who did this.

You and I want the same thing.

Yeah, but you're happy to sabotage your career in the process.

You served on the Malay Peninsula.

Saw your fair share of nameless soldiers

dying without their loved ones.

So, what...

..now you have to somehow justify their deaths,

by justifying everyone else's?

RADIO CRACKLES

KNOCKS AT DOOR

-Sorry to interrupt.

-No, not at all, Charlie. Come in.

Well, we checked on Ruth Dempster.

She doesn't know who that jewellery was for.

And it's not her birthday for another six months.

I see.

Are you finally going through those boxes from my room?

Yes. This is the surgical records journal from Ballarat Hospital,

from around the time my dear mother passed away.

I should leave you in peace.

No, no, no, it's fine. It's curious, though.

I was told my mother died on the operating table. Appendix.

And yet, in here,

there's no mention of her having had an emergency appendectomy

on the night she died - or any other procedure, for that matter.

I put it down to doctor error.

We do make mistakes, on occasion.

-I'll leave you to it.

-All right, Charlie. Thank you.

Charlie, do you mind bringing in the milk?

-Where are you off to, Charlie?

-Just getting the milk.

Lucien, sorry about the mess. We're baking for the church fete.

-Ah.

-"We"?

Ruth Dempster and I. I'm going over there.

Thought it might be good to keep her busy.

-Yes, very good idea. You all right, Charlie?

-Yep.

-Thank you.

Charlie, tell me, what do you know about eye colour?

Not much.

Well, it's inherited, and it's influenced by more than one gene.

Sorry?

Er, different Jean. Here, look at this.

-Oh, your mother's?

-Yes, a wonderful old picture of my dear father.

Now, look. Here, she's used two different tones of blue on that tie.

It wouldn't have mattered how many different blues she used,

that tie would still turn out blue.

However, if she'd used a brown over the top of that blue...

Brown is a dominant colour. It would override the blue.

With eye colour,

the only way to have blue eyes is to have two blue genes.

-Mm.

-And if you have brown eyes, you can have either two brown genes,

or one blue and one brown.

Yes.

Remind me, Jean - your boy, Jack. What colour are his eyes?

Blue, like his father.

-What about all the other colours?

-Merely variants of the same thing.

Mark Dempster and Helen Patten both have blue eyes.

Meaning any child they had together would have...

Blue eyes.

Mark Dempster told us that Janet is his child.

And yet, it was his brother, Ben,

buying jewellery for Janet's birthday every year.

-People always bought presents for Janet.

-Yes.

Like the pretty brown dress that matches her eyes so beautifully.

Eyes just like her father's.

Ms Patten, Mark Dempster is under investigation.

He's about to be charged with murder.

Helen, if there's anything you need to tell us, now is the time.

Please, for Janet's sake.

She's Ben's daughter.

Ruth, I know it's not my place,

but I worry that you feel responsible for Ben's passing.

I am.

You weren't there when he died.

Anyway, I'm listening, if you need to talk.

I never met anyone like him...

..like Ben.

Together, we were unreliable.

Unpredictable.

We had the time of our lives.

I never stopped loving him...

..not even when we went through a really rough patch,

a few years back.

It was enough for him to look for someone else for affection.

KETTLE WHISTLES

He was like a child. He needed it.

I'd lost him to that Helen woman.

I found out for sure last week.

I found his bank book.

A lot of our money was going to her.

We'd been paying her for years.

All that time, we were struggling just to survive.

He did this to me!

Jean!

And suddenly, it didn't matter if he was dead or alive.

Jean!

Jean!

Ruth...

..I think we might need to find you a bandage, my dear.

I can't feel a thing.

You worked it out.

Yes.

You don't drink milk.

And I'd already cancelled our order when you arrived.

I must have already known he was dead.

None of it matters.

Ruth, please. Please, listen to me.

-I know...

-You know? What would you know?

What would any man know?

You're right, Ruth, he wouldn't know, but I do.

I know what it's like to be unhappy.

Christopher and I, we fought, just like everyone.

I always told him I wanted to see the world.

But he... he was happy with the simple life.

Some days, I felt so trapped.

And when he didn't enlist, I asked if him wanting to stay in Ballarat

was the reason why he didn't sign up.

And he took that to mean that he wasn't a man enough for me.

And that I thought he was a coward.

And one week later, he left for the front.

One stupid fight, and I never saw him again.

Every morning, I wake up feeling like you do.

Empty.

But it doesn't matter what we feel, because we're still here.

And we have to find a way to keep on going,

through the sadness.

I did what I did. You did what you did.

And we have to live with those consequences every day.

All right.

Ben was sitting on the gate.

I hit him with a spade...

-BEN GRUNTS

-..hard.

He fell in, dazed.

And then, I whistled to get the cows moving.

RUTH WHISTLES

Didn't take long.

After you left the showgrounds,

you went to Mark's farm to get his boots.

Well, I knew if I could find something of his to put in the pen,

I could make it look like he did it.

Why Mark?

He hid the truth about the baby.

He's just as bad as Ben.

You know, it's not your ability that's in question.

It's that I don't have time to manage someone who's a rogue.

And I can't do my job half-heartedly.

It's not your job.

An important lesson you learn during police training

is that we do not guess.

We do not follow up on every hunch.

It can and will divert you from the facts.

Yes.

Yes, Superintendent.

Look, you and I, we both want the same outcome.

We just go about it differently.

From today onward, you go about it my way.

You are either with me,

or against me.

Your decision.

I should be helping you with this.

Jean, I put you in danger.

Oh, you did nothing of the sort and I won't hear another word about it.

You didn't see much of the world after Christopher died, did you?

No.

I had plans, you know?

For his return.

The dress I'd wear, the meal I'd make.

We'd get a chance to sit down together

and I'd tell him that he was enough,

and that he meant everything to me and the boys.

We weren't finished. There was so much to say.

You're not responsible for Christopher's death.

Sometimes...sometimes, we end up exactly where we're meant to be,

facing the challenges we're meant to face.

It's your life, Jean.

Find that one thing, that one thing you want for your future

and go for that one thing.

I'm still not ready.

Maybe this is the beginning of you being ready.

Now, tell me something.

Did you remember what you were thinking

-when you planted that chappie there?

-I remember.

I remember wanting to take a piece of my old life to this house.

To keep Christopher's memory alive.

And you most certainly have.

And regardless... Regardless of whatever happens next,

I think you always will.