The Turtle and the Stick The Missing

This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

-'Do you know the name Alice Webster?'

-'She was abducted in spring 2003.'

'Yesterday, she came back. Walked into the town square.'

What's happened to her, Sam? Where the hell has she been?

There's a name she mentioned when the paramedics asked who they could call.

She said the name Sophie Giroux.

Sophie Giroux?

This is a Photofit of the man who took Alice and Sophie.

It will be in every newspaper by the evening edition.

I have over 5,000 men and women in this garrison ready to help.

'I need to find someone to drive me to Azwya.'

Across an active warzone. That's a pretty good way to get yourself killed.

I must find this man - Daniel Reed.

Henry Reed was a soldier, but a father first.

He leaves behind his son Daniel.

Do you ever feel like your family is slipping away from you?

I believe that girl was not Alice Webster.

SIRENS BELOW

IN FRENCH:

Mrs Giroux.

Julien, leave me alone.

I promise you, I haven't given up on Sophie.

I won't give up until I find your daughter.

Do you believe that?

Mrs Giroux, however bad things seem now...it will get better.

-I... NO!

-WOMAN SCREAMS

CRASH

SCREAMING

SHOUTING

# Oh, my love, we pray each day

# May you come home and be OK

# For now we wait for you

# For you to come home. #

-You OK?

-Yeah.

Did you sleep?

Not really.

It's strange, isn't it?

Having another set of footsteps in the house after all this time.

Yeah. We used to be able to tell, didn't we,

who was going past the bedroom, just by their footsteps.

She'd always take them two at a time, wouldn't she?

Always in such a rush.

I've thought about it so many times.

What it would be like, if she ever came back.

I suppose somehow I expected it would just be the same as before.

It's going to take a while before she's back to herself.

Before any of us are.

But, in time, we'll recognise those footsteps again.

I promise you.

Are you all right, my love?

Do you want me to...?

Would you like a cup of tea?

No.

No, thank you.

I just need to...

TAP WATER RUNS

I've just got so many questions I want to ask,

but I keep stopping myself.

You can ask me things, you know.

Well, I was... I was just going to ask you how you slept, that's all.

I didn't.

Yeah. I'm sorry.

DOORBELL

-Good morning.

-What's going on?

My name is Julien Baptiste.

In 2002, a girl called Sophie Giroux was abducted in Paris

and I investigated her case.

I have been informed your daughter Alice was held captive with her.

If I could speak with Alice...

We've only just got our daughter back. She needs some time alone.

She's got people coming round today that she needs to talk to,

-so that's what's important. I hope you understand...

-Yes, of course,

but there is a man just like you, whose daughter was taken from him.

Only this man continues to live

with the uncertainty you must know so well.

That ever-present hope that today might be the day the telephone rings.

That somebody has called to say, "We've found her".

The man's name is Remy Giroux.

He's Sophie's father.

Please, let me talk to Alice.

You must be tired.

I know the last thing you feel like is answering more questions.

I'm just here to ask about Sophie Giroux.

I don't know what more I can say about her.

Why didn't she escape with you?

When I got ill, it happened so fast.

But Sophie...

She'd been ill for a while.

He kept her away from me, mostly. In the dark.

Sometimes he wouldn't feed her for days on end

because she'd talk back.

She argued with him and he hated that.

She could hardly talk or stand.

Then when I found the lock was open...

..I tried to help her to her feet, but she couldn't.

I promised that I would get help.

She didn't even have the energy to move when I left.

And the place you escaped from?

It was underground, I think.

But the light was so bright when I got out so I just ran.

Well, perhaps if you were to return to the woods, you might recall.

You might find the place you ran from.

In her state? She's only just come out of the hospital

and we have spoken to the police about this.

Sophie was your friend. If she's still alive...

Look, I hate to say this, but whoever did this, he'd know

that Alice is gone, so he would have moved the other girl already.

Now, what's important is for my daughter to get better, so...

Of course.

But if your abductor was in a hurry, perhaps he left something.

I don't know.

You must realise, Alice, you are the only one who can help us find your friend.

I don't know.

How long before you reached the road?

I've already been through this

All right, Mr Baptiste. That's enough, now.

And I don't remember, OK?

It's time for you to leave, OK?

Oi, do you hear me?

Are you listening?

Yes.

Forgive me.

Thank you...

Alice.

THEY SPEAK GERMAN

Ja, ja. Danke.

Danke. Wiedersehen.

DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES

-Poor Agata.

-Mm.

There is something going round. That's all.

She'll be fine.

I mean having to put up with that man as a husband.

You have to put up with me.

Size of a bloody auroch, that thing.

Ah! Something you don't know!

They were a large breed of cattle,

went extinct back in the 1600s, apparently.

Horns up to a metre long.

Aggressive bastards.

Goering tried to genetically engineer them

back into existence during World War II.

Tried to turn them into a symbol of the party, apparently.

People do the strangest things.

You always surprise me.

Well, I...

fell in love with a butcher.

I had to do my research.

Find some common ground before I came over and talked to him...

So...you were stalking me, hmm?

Trying to seduce me.

Maybe...a little bit.

So, what did you find?

I haven't figured it out yet.

Andreas?

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

It's me, your loving husband.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-How are you?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Do you remember when Sophie Giroux went missing?

Yeah. How could I not?

There was this video...

Every time there was a report on the news, they would play this clip.

I had a copy of that video in with my case files, in the attic.

Would you send it to me?

Well, I could... If I could find it...

But I'm sure it's online.

OK.

For your next birthday, I'm going to buy you a computer course.

SHE SIGHS

Right...

There's bound to be some news reports from the time

knocking around somewhere, it's going to be a lot easier

than me trawling through that mess in the attic... Ah!

Voila.

Voila quoi?

Here...

Check your e-mail. Then click on the link.

So, how's it going out there?

We are just at the beginning.

REPORTER SPEAKS FRENCH

I love you.

HE REPLIES IN KIND IN FRENCH

THE VIDEO CONTINUES IN FRENCH

INSECTS BUZZ

We're all set.

For only 500, you too can enter a warzone.

So the officer says there was a lot of fighting

around al-Mazwaa yesterday.

He says if we stick to the north and follow this road,

then we should be within areas controlled by the Peshmerga.

But right now, the larger villages to the south - Hawija, Abbasi -

are all being held by Isil.

It changes every second,

Isil are pushing north for more territory.

Look, I say we head straight for Azwya,

no stopping, and if there's anything at all, anything that

has us second-guessing ourselves, we turn back.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

-And you're sure this guy...

-Daniel Reed?

Yeah, Daniel Reed. Is he worth it?

If we find Daniel Reed, we will find who took those girls.

It's a long story.

We have plenty of time.

But first...and foremost...

BHANGRA PLAYS LOUDLY

What is this?

Bhangra. My wife got me into it, She's Punjabi.

It is very loud.

I'm sorry. It's non-negotiable.

HE TOOTS HORN

CHURCH BELLS TOLL

Do you have to rush off? I've got the room all day.

And what a room(!)

I'll let you book it next time.

We could come back tomorrow morning. Gemma's at school...

Not that she asks where I'm going these days...

I know. I don't want to talk about your family, Sam.

Any more than you want to hear me talk about the baby.

OK?

DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES

Thanks.

You write. Please?

The guest book. We insist...

Well, I haven't got a pen, so...

Ah, here.

Thank you...

..Mr Jones.

BHANGRA PLAYS

BHANGRA CONTINUES LOUDLY

This is Azwya?

Should be.

MUSIC STOPS

It's quiet.

Yeah.

I saw a few of these last time I was in these parts.

Ghost villages.

Caught in the crossfire.

Wherever your boy Daniel Reed is,

I don't think he's here. Not any more.

We have come this far. We must look.

So if this girl wasn't Alice Webster,

who was she?

I studied Sophie Giroux, for years and years.

There is a gesture she makes - a nervous habit.

This girl, Alice, made the same gesture.

So you think Alice was really Sophie?

Because of a gesture?

Such things are unconscious habits.

We do not know we do them.

When I saw this, I thought of photographs of the girls

when they were taken.

Even at that age, they could have been sisters.

The abductor was looking for a specific physical type.

What about the accent?

Sophie's mother was English.

The girls spent almost half their lives

with only each other for company.

Is it impossible they should become like one another?

And what? Alice's parents, they...

They just accept it?

Have you never fooled yourself into believing something,

just because you wanted it so much to be true?

Yeah, but I don't understand. Why would anyone...

Why would anyone...

Shit! That's an Isil flag.

Miss Stone, please...

I am sorry. It is too hard.

He pushed me. I cannot.

I understand.

Can you stay until I find another nurse?

-Two weeks.

-Thank you.

Dad?

GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS ON TV

Morning.

Watching this again?

This is the first film I ever saw.

I was just a boy. My father took me to the cinema.

He had his arm in a sling at the time.

He'd broken it, so he took the day off work.

I remember when it started. These figures, larger than life, appeared

doing impossible, heroic things.

I couldn't take my eyes off that screen.

And when we left the cinema, I talked a thousand miles an hour

about how brave the people were.

And he looked at me, at how entranced I was by it all,

and he said,

"Son, how do you think I broke my arm?"

He told me he was there, in the movie

and that I'd missed him in the background

fighting alongside the others.

I made my daughter, Eve, watch it when she was a girl...

Dad...

It's me. It's Eve.

Yes. Yes, of course. I know.

-Engel.

-Brigadier Stone...

Any luck with the Photofit?

It is with every major news outlet, in all the papers,

and with every police department.

The media might be more interested if we could tell them

what this man was wanted in connection with.

Miss Webster needs her privacy right now.

-Where are we with the search?

-The area is significant.

We have covered only a small part of the woods around the town.

Based on the girl's description, we are estimating at least...

-PHONE BUZZES

-Mrs Webster...?

Yes, of course. But... You're sure?

Right.

Thank you. I'll call right back.

-..into the forest...

-That was Gemma Webster.

Alice says she's ready to help us find the place she was kept.

Right, then, let's go.

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

Thank you for bringing me, Sergeant.

DOOR OPENS

You don't have to do this, you know?

I mean, the psychologists are coming, you just need to get better.

Or take me or your mum with you.

You're going to need someone...

I don't want you to...

be there.

Alice! Alice, look what I found.

Right. Yeah.

Don't you recognise it?

You made it for me. Just before your 10th birthday.

Oh. Yeah.

With your art teacher.

Miss Hammond.

Don't you mean Mrs Barker?

Oh, yeah.

My mistake.

Alice, are you ready? We'll take good care of her.

It's quite some way from Eckhausen.

To walk that journey in the state she was in...

..it's not an easy task.

It's amazing what people can do when they're trying to just stay alive.

-You OK?

-It's from an old case.

There are good days and bad, you know. And you?

I'm pregnant, not disabled.

I hear you went to see Alice, right before she called us.

What is it with you and the Giroux case?

I wonder - has anybody performed a DNA test on Alice Webster?

There was no need. Her own parents identified her.

It's only standard procedure if you can't get an ID.

Perhaps if you asked her parents for something - a lock of hair maybe.

Just to be sure...

What's going on, Baptiste?

I spoke with Alice Webster.

There was something about her.

The girl is lying.

What would she have to lie about?

I can't be sure. But...

It doesn't make sense.

She's picking up the pace.

Sam...

..does she seem...

..different to you?

Of course. How could she not be after what she's been through?

But she'll get better.

Yeah, it's just... When I gave her the scarf, she was...

What?

Nothing.

I thought when we had her back...

Well, it's all we've ever wanted, isn't it?

But now she's back...

..and the way she is now...

But she is back.

And that's all that matters, isn't it?

Pass auf, wir gehen gleich zusammen da runter.

What is this?

Looks like an old World War II bunker. They're all over Germany.

No-one ever bothered to seal them off.

They must have missed it in the original search.

METAL CLATTERS

Must be hard.

It was brave of you to come back.

Sophie...

I knew her parents when she was taken.

It was a tragedy, what happened to her mother.

-EVE:

-Julien! Julien, they're coming up.

Excuse me.

GERMAN SPEECH AND LAUGHTER

There's somebody here. I'll go.

Hello.

You're Henry Reed's son.

I'm sorry about your dad.

I saw you at the funeral.

That's why I'm here.

I'm speaking to everyone that knew him.

I didn't know him all that well.

They say he killed himself.

Only, he didn't have any reason to.

Me, if I was collecting my armed forces pension,

that shitty amount for risking my life on behalf of some shirt in Whitehall...

me, I'd be tempted.

But not my dad. He was happy.

So I've been going through his stuff,

trying to find something.

And...he kept a diary.

And you're in it.

Probably not the nicest account of me, I would imagine. I...

I had a reputation.

Every day on ops, he'd write in this diary.

Every day, no exception.

Except when he fought in Iraq in 1991.

It just stops.

So, what happened?

Being in combat changes you. You'll learn soon enough.

Don't patronise me.

You're all the same.

Officers.

You're a bunch of idiots.

You're in pain. I understand.

But you can't talk to me like that, trooper.

You're not in the Army any more.

You don't give me orders.

Who was that?

DOG BARKS

It looks like no-one's been down here since it was built.

The girl says they were moved here, yes?

She says they were moved a few times over the years.

Basements, cellars...

And then, most recently, here, for...several months?

As best as she can remember.

It's not like she had any way of telling the time.

This abductor - he takes Sophie. The following year, Alice Webster.

For 11 years he keeps them hidden from the world, and then...

..takes them to this place in the middle of a forest.

Why?

We'll find out when we catch the bastard.

We should turn back. Julien. Julien!

Julien. Julien, we can turn back!

Julien! Julien!

We are looking for someone. We are not seeking trouble.

THEY SPEAK THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

English? You speak English?

The jihadists are gone. Isil has fled for now.

The Peshmerga came and drove them out.

Who is it you are looking for?

His name is Daniel Reed.

The information I have says he was here a month or so ago.

I do not recognise him.

But perhaps someone else will.

Follow me.

I will show this photo around. Isil did not scare us all away.

Thank you.

Because of the surface area of the burns,

I would suggest a split thickness skin graft.

It allows us to cover larger areas.

And because the same site can be harvested after six weeks,

it's possible to do the surgery in stages.

How much is it?

Because of your situation, Mr Webster,

I would do the work for free.

The scarring would be minimal at first.

And, then, in time, you will not even be able to see it.

Back to the old me, then, eh?

DOOR OPENS

-Hey.

-Hey.

What did the plastic surgeon say?

-Yeah, he said he can do it.

-Oh, great.

But we can't afford it. I looked into it.

Just scars. I'll live with it.

FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS

Matthew!

Matthew, I want to talk to you.

Matthew!

SHE SIGHS

Well, no change there, then.

-Can't you talk to him?

-Me?

HE CHUCKLES

We can't just stop trying, Sam.

I haven't stopped trying. He just doesn't care, does he?

I nearly lost my job because of him.

Now I'm stuck pushing papers around. And for what?

So he can still hate me.

I'm going to go and work on the car.

You'll never get it going again.

Or is that the point?

Oh, don't get oil on your shirt again.

PLASTIC CLICKS

So, what do you think, then?

We should get back. We'll be late.

Dad, you need to look around. See if you like the place.

I...I've seen it. Now let's go home.

Dad, you're not even looking.

I know where I am, for Christ's sake.

I know what we're doing.

This is a place where you'll be looked after, Dad.

They'll be able to help you much better than I can.

These people gave their lives for their country

and this is how we repay them?

Scrabble sets with half the pieces missing and a shared toilet?

This is what passes for the state taking care of those who took care of them?

Stopped them talking bloody Arabic? It's not good enough!

Dad, this isn't a military hospital. This is a place where...

Henry knows what I'm talking about. Good old Henry Reed.

He's got his head screwed on. He'll tell you.

Dad. Come on.

BOYS SHOUT

Remarkable, is it not?

In front of all this, people still go about their business.

They adapt.

I guess it's the only way of taking control of your life, I suppose.

Feeling like your fate is in your own hands for a change.

I miss that feeling.

Is there really nothing they can do?

Well, they say...

..if I don't have it operated on, there is a chance I will die.

But if I have it operated on...

..there is a chance I will die. So...

You see my problem.

But with all that going on, why here, now?

Many years ago, I was given a case - a missing girl. Sophie Giroux.

I made a mistake. The mother died.

The father, Remy Giroux, lost his entire family

and I carry that guilt with me.

Always.

I once heard someone say that guilt is like a cancer -

you can treat the symptoms, but never the cause.

Perhaps that's all I am doing.

Nah.

HE LAUGHS

You're doing it for yourself. Right?

I mean...

Detectives are just a bunch of nosy bastards with badges, right?

And journalists are the same, non? Only, no badges...

We must leave.

-Wait, what?

-Right now.

What just happened? What did you see?

There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?

I think somebody is following me. Twice, I have seen the same man -

once in Kirkuk, at the bank, do you remember?

-And now again in the village.

-You're sure?

The same person followed you from Kirkuk all the way out here?

Well, maybe this explains why our hosts were so keen to keep us there.

Maybe they know exactly where Daniel Reed is.

Julien, you need to be honest with me. Why are you being followed?

And what's all this got to do with Alice Webster and Sophie Giroux?

HORN BEEPS

Look, look!

MEN SHOUT IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

HORN BLARES

What's happening?

It's fine, they're Peshmerga.

HE SPEAKS IN ARABIC

SOLDIER SHOUTS IN ARABIC

What is he saying?

He wants to know how you know that man.

-SOLDIER SHOUTS

-OK, OK.

What is going on?

I have no idea.

But that photo means something to them.

SOLDIER SPEAKS What?

Whoa, whoa!

ENGINE STARTS

MUSIC PLAYS QUIETLY

SHE KNOCKS

MUSIC GETS LOUDER

-MATTHEW:

-Hey.

SHE WINDS A CLOCKWORK DEVICE

Do you remember this? TINGING

Yeah. We had the biggest fight over that.

Here you go, Midget.

Mine at last.

I want to ask you something.

I want you to...

I want you to do something for me.

OK.

I can't sleep.

I just feel like anyone could get in.

No-one's going to hurt you now, Alice.

What's in the shed?

I don't know. Nothing much.

I want to sleep in the shed.

The floors here, they're... They're too soft.

It's cold out there.

I want to sleep in the shed.

And I need you...

to lock me in.

Is that what he did to you?

I haven't slept since I got here.

No, not like that.

I'm not locking you in like an animal.

I'm asking you to help me.

It's what I want.

Please.

I'll come and get you in the morning. First thing.

Thanks, Midget.

DOOR CLOSES

SHE SIGHS

PHONE RINGS

Hello.

'Sergeant, it's Jorn. I'm sorry for calling so early.'

But we've been combing through everything the search parties

found at the bunker and I think we have something.

Or rather Detective Baptiste found something.

A receipt, dated from a week ago.

'There was no other human debris down there.

'And, as far as we know, no persons were aware of these tunnels.'

Where's it from?

'A clothes store here in Eckhausen.'

The receipt shows only the last few digits of the card,

but we've called them, and we have a name.

THEY SPEAK IN GERMAN

-Kristian?!

-Argh!

Argh!

What the hell's going on, Sergeant?

We need to question your husband

about the abduction of two little girls.

ENGINE STARTS

PADLOCK RATTLES

SHE BREATHES RAPIDLY

I'm sorry.

Please don't... Don't blame Matthew. I-I begged him to do it.

Ssh-ssh. Hey, hey, hey.

It's all right.

-I don't like the light coming in to wake me up...

-Ssh.

-..it burns my eyes.

-It'll get better.

I promise you, it'll get better.

You should come inside. It's freezing.

And...

Well, something's happened.

There's been an arrest.

And the army police, they want you to identify him.

You know, the man that took you.

It's just a photograph.

All you have to do is look at a photograph and say if it's him.

Can you do that, my love?

Good girl.

DOOR SLAMS

Alice.

I'm going to show you some pictures, and I need you to tell me

if you recognise any of the men in these photos.

SHE GASPS

SHE GASPS FOR BREATH

That's him. Must be.

The way she looked at it - this is him, isn't it?

We need a positive identification.

-ADRIAN:

-Let me try talking to her.

It might be less overwhelming.

Do you mind?

So, the man in the photo.

Yes, that's him.

Must be something, all this.

Like being able to see again.

I can see just fine.

I always have.

Do you ever hear that fable about the turtle?

He lived in a tiny pond at the foot of a mountain,

swimming in circles and playing with frogs.

The thing he loved most was when his friends, the birds, came to visit.

They'd tell him about their adventures,

up snowy mountain peaks, lush green valleys.

He desperately wanted to go with them.

But he couldn't - they said - he didn't have any wings.

He replied...

.."You could be my wings."

And the birds came up with this idea.

They got hold of a long stick -

they clasped either end of it in their claws.

The turtle would be in the middle of them,

and he'd clench his jaw around the stick.

Then they'd be able to take him up into the sky.

Up he went, higher and higher.

And when he looked down and saw

the tiny place he used to call his home...

..he said, "Wow."

Opening his mouth.

And he fell back down to earth,

cracking his shell into a million pieces.

I've heard that story.

I thought he fell into the ocean.

That's the fairy-tale version.

The one for children.

And you're not a child any more.

Are you?

You don't want to end up like that, Alice.

Hold on to that stick.

How can you live with yourself...

..after what you've done?

Don't stay out here too long.

It's cold.