Searchers Search Top of the Lake

They're chucking a bunch of boxes off to Paradise.

-Hey, GJ...

-Is she in charge?

-Yeah.

-Is she a she?

She's 12 years old.

Do you have an ultrasound facility?

Who is the man that did this to you? This is statutory rape.

You don't think I know that?

-Is he all right?

-No, he's not all right.

It's the past, it's history. Leave it there.

You really want to shoot someone, you point right here.

You've got a time bomb in there.

Boom!

Tui Mitcham's missing.

This programme contains strong language,

scenes which some viewers may find disturbing

and scenes of a sexual nature.

HORN BEEPS

MUSIC: "Living Next Door To Alice" by Smokie

# ..To tell her how I feel and maybe get a second glance... #

This is for a fuck.

Seven minutes, not a minute more.

I'll be in...

room six.

DOOR CLOSES

# ..Now she walks through the door With her head held high

# Just for a moment I caught her eye

# As the big limousine pulled slowly out of Alice's drive

# Oh, I don't know why she's leaving Or where she's going to go

# I guess she's got her reasons But I just don't want to know

# Cos for 24 years I've been living next door to Alice... #

Come in.

Take a shower.

When you finish, the clock will start ticking.

I like to be undressed, that should take two minutes.

That leaves five for the fuck.

Why the seven minutes?

Please undress me.

-Um...

-Sarge.

Please undress me, Sarge. Time's running out.

Why the time limit?

Do you really want to know?

Yeah.

I have these compulsions, serious ones,

that my...teacher is helping me with.

If I spend more than seven minutes with a man...

..with any kind of a man,

I run the danger of growing a romantic attachment

that could take seven weeks or seven months to get over.

-Yeah, right.

-Slower!

The time thing's probably arbitrary, but it's a restriction...

SHE GASPS

..that stops me feeling too much.

Jesus, I don't feel much about anybody, really.

Nothing?

Not even angry?

No. Oh, er, pissed off, maybe.

Hm.

Leave it be.

How are we going for time?

Well...

You want your tits done?

Don't talk.

Uh, just shove my hands and my head where you want 'em.

Yeah, yeah. Here.

HE GRUNTS

Right.

Well, the most important is immigration.

Good. Hospitals and homeless shelters?

Right.

Great. Thank you.

Um, well, I'm off track somewhere near Lake Sylvan.

Paola from the cafe thinks she saw smoke out here this morning.

OK. Thank you, Zena.

Are you early?

Hope so.

Did you sleep there?

I'll see you in an hour.

Shaved legs aren't a bit of a turn off? Are they not a bit gay?

I don't know. For who?

I don't have a boyfriend.

Take a look at this, then.

Name tags, mate.

-Excuse me, that's my seat.

-Yeah.

-No, yours is over there.

-Sit somewhere else, then.

MURMURING

Shh.

OK.

Tui Angel Mitcham, 12 years of age.

Matt Mitcham and Kimmie Wongsawat's only daughter.

Eurasian appearance and she is at present five months pregnant.

She was last seen at the Paradise property.

The new residents, eight females, said she arrived by horse and stayed one night.

And according to Matt Mitcham, she never came home.

But her dog did.

And her horse was found here, on the Rees River bridge.

-So, either she fell or...

-How about we start with the current situation?

I thought I was.

No, the clear facts. How long has she been missing for?

-36 hours.

-Well, that's not a good sign already.

-Correct.

And let's also remember we are looking at a crime.

Whoever did this to her might want to hide her, or even eliminate her

to avoid the possibility of a DNA match.

There was a case in Canada and another in Australia

where young victims were found with their wombs removed.

-WOMAN GROANS

-So, who are the suspects?

So far, it's the usual family members.

Matt Mitcham and his sons,

Mark, Luke and Johnno.

But there is one other possible suspect.

A Wolfgang Zanic.

He's on the sexual crimes register as a paedophile.

He's 55, Austrian, resident of Eel Creek, Laketop.

Two previous arrests and one conviction.

He did time at Mount Eden,

two years, reduced from five.

Hmm. Is anyone aware of him?

Yeah, I know Wolfie. Does a couple of shifts at the Laketop pub.

-Uh-huh. And?

-You don't want to go up there interviewing him.

Yeah? Why not?

He's a deerstalker, Al. He's got he's got a bunk bed piled high with rifles.

Has he got a cellar?

I suggest a search warrant for Wolfgang Zanic, Al.

Um...

-Pete, can you review his weapons licence?

-Yep.

Right now, I want to search the river flats first.

And then sections of the bush from the Routeburn Saddle down to Greenstone.

Robin, hi. Uh, John. I'm coordinating search and rescue.

-Hi.

-Do you realise you've nominated an area

of around 200,000 acres of bush land?

No, I didn't know the acreage.

They don't want to be found if they're hiding.

It's going to be difficult.

John, I'm sorry it's difficult.

No, what I mean is, even if we do find her,

won't she just run off again?

No. Even if Tui manages to stay out in the bush and keep alive,

what will happen when she has the baby?

The overwhelming likelihood is that they'll both die.

Don't mumble, Joy, speak up.

What about in primitive societies

where they get married early and just

wander off lying in the bush to give birth?

What about that?

I just think you're exaggerating. In any case,

more than likely she's already dead.

Could I speak to you in the hall?

Now.

Now?

INDISTINCT CHATTER

What's this? About women giving birth in the bush?

Oh, I saw it on a National Geographic documentary.

Where did your wife give birth? In hospital, right?

-What I'm saying is that in Africa...

-We're talking about a 12-year-old,

whose pelvis may not be developed enough to deliver a full-term baby.

-Thanks. I got to go. Sorry.

-What?

Um... Excuse me...

There's a couple more matters.

I've set up a file, Wildbird. Please add to it whenever you have relevant information.

And also, I've put in a C24 to DNA test every male in the Laketop area,

including teachers, coaches, et cetera in Queenstown.

What? Al. Now, has that gone through?

Don't erupt, mate. Or we'll start with your DNA sample.

I don't want Officer Joy on the team.

-I think we got that.

-Good.

Why weren't they listening? It was like...

"Yeah, yeah. Day two, she's dead."

Yeah. Maybe some of them.

-This is nice.

-Yeah, the coffee's great.

Local business community set it up.

It's um...

It's a youth support scheme, really.

We teach, er, struggling kids hospitality skills,

they get a barista certificate, then they can compete with the gabby kids who've got manners.

Uh, Chase, the usual, thanks, and for you?

Uh, skinny flat white.

-Anything else with that?

-There's a huh?

Mate? Mate, open your mouth when you talk, OK?

People need to hear you.

-Anything else with that?

-No, thanks.

Oh, you could understand that?

"Anything else with that?"

Yeah, these are some of the graduates.

Hmm.

Tui.

Yeah. She was headed for an old judge direction.

-What was she doing?

-Shoplifting.

Hair clips, chemist stuff.

Hey, don't over-think it. You did well today.

They're a bloody hard bunch to win over.

Anyway, today did me good. It was, um...

It was a good reminder.

You know, when you spoke, you spoke with real heart. I like that.

I, um...

I didn't join the force for the right reasons.

-No? Does anyone?

-Hmm.

-Thank you.

-When I was a teenager,

there was a murder in our apartment block, a crime of passion.

These two detectives arrived,

very, very smartly dressed. They were full of flare.

My mother and her friends couldn't do enough for them.

And my mother ended up dating one of those two detectives.

When he cheated on her, she dated the other one.

So what's your story?

An avenging angel?

-Don't know about "angel".

-I do.

So, er...

who's getting you all to himself?

What?

Sparkler on your left hand.

Oh.

Steve.

He's a cop, too, so...

-He's a really good guy.

-Oh, yeah? But?

But what?

Oh, that's the thing with good guys - very boring.

He sets the bar high.

While I'm here, I'm going to have a bit of a think.

Oh, you're going to have a bit of a fling?

-No. A bit of a THINK.

-Oh?

AL CHUCKLES

-A think.

-Oh.

Al, look. I need a budget.

I need helicopters.

I want to search the river banks and the lake and up into the bush.

One helicopter a day.

Two. We can cover the area quicker.

All right. But, um, the lake's another thing, that's 77-kilometres long.

And it's almost a kilometre deep in some areas.

And what if she's in there?

Well, if she is, she's gone.

-Well, what about Bob Platt?

-I'm sorry, but if Tui was weighted,

what with the water pressure, she might never come up.

And Bob Platt wasn't weighted, his death was an accident.

You know what my bet is? Tui's going to come back into the house one night,

curl up in bed, very grateful.

Very grateful?

No, I don't think so.

HELICOPTER WHIRS

How the fuck could you leave her on her own

when you knew she wasn't well?

Stop talking about me, Dad! You arsehole!

I had to fly back from Beijing.

-I'm fucking fine!

-The hospital wouldn't release her, right,

without a parent to sign.

Where the fuck were you?!

What are you doing here?

-Are you out of your mind?

-Shut up!

You've got 15 minutes to pack a carry-on bag.

That's all we can fit in the chopper.

No. No, Jock.

HE SIGHS

He had the softest, softest fur.

Softer than, than, than anything you could imagine.

And these, these really big eyes.

You think it would be all gristly, but it was really...

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

What's the problem, Jock?

I don't have a problem.

Actually, I'm getting married again.

Quite a young woman.

We're having a baby shortly and I...

I know that's all a bit cliche, but...

No, the problem is Bunny's daughter.

Now, what sort of programme do you run here?

-No programme.

-No programme.

You must have some type of timetable, a structure?

-No structure.

-No structure.

So what happens here?

Nothing.

We stop. We don't think. We don't do.

(Don't do.)

And you're the teacher?

No, no teacher.

She won't talk to me. She swears at me.

She wouldn't sit next to me on the plane.

How long have you got?

Oh, I have to get that helicopter back in an hour,

-so I would say...

-Mmm.

-..five, ten minutes.

-Mmm-mmm.

Mmm.

Not enough, Jock.

Shit, how long do you want?

I don't know. But minimum, seven days.

And no guarantees.

Seven?

Listen, I'm leaving Melissa with you in your care

and if anything happens to her, I'll come back in full force.

Big Mr Jock(!)

Can't look after your own daughter, so you expect me to.

No. Don't accept.

Give him a chocolate.

GUITAR STRUMMING

You all right?

HE IMPERSONATES LEAD GUITAR

MOBILE RINGS

Hello?

Can you take me over Paradise?

That's where Tui was last seen.

Delta Echo Charlie.

I'm in Laketop looking to go over the Double Barrel to Paradise.

Have you spotted any smoke?

ON RADIO: 'No, nothing yet.'

Welcome to Paradise.

See this clearing, they call it Eden.

Oh, look, there's Eve as well(!)

Delta Echo Charlie, heading north up the Dart now.

We'll go over the Saddle and come back down the Rees, over.

HELICOPTER WHIRS OVERHEAD

Why weren't you at the search?

-There's no point.

-There's no point looking for your sister?

Here's her jacket.

Where was it?

Some kids found it down by the lake edge where she went in.

Those kids didn't say anything to you?

No.

For five minutes? Nothing?

What would she be wishing for?

You should never have taken her back to Matt's.

I want to interview you.

OK. Well, what's your number?

Oh.

Mine's 021-967-4114.

You can call any time.

MUSIC: "Repo Man" by Ray Lamontagne

# ..Don't fill my heart with no pity... #

THEY TALK INDISTINCTLY

THEY LAUGH

I want to thank everyone for coming here today.

You did the right thing.

'Course, most of us knew we weren't going to find anything,

cos Tui's not stupid enough to go camping in the bottom of the riverbed,

but the powers that be know better than us.

So we had us a search picnic.

Hope you all enjoyed yourselves.

Let's hear it for the powers that be(!)

I still think that Tui is up there.

That's what I think.

She's got the skills to survive,

and she knows, my little one knows that in her heart of hearts,

she can come home whenever she feels like it.

No matter what she's done, doesn't matter.

She can come home.

We're a small town

and we all know no-one can hide anything.

Someone here...

..knows something.

I look at the mountains and the hills

and I like to think of my little one shooting deer, hunting,

doing whatever she needs to do to survive.

What I can't bear...

..is the very idea...

..that someone has her chained up against a wall,

holding my little one captive

so she can suck his cock whenever he feels like it...

OK, Matt, I think we get the picture.

You've had your little party.

So, if anyone wants to come forward,

not tomorrow, not next week,

not next month, not next year,

but right now,

it's your last chance.

If you are that person,

and you're holding something back, then quite frankly,

you deserve to fucking die.

We'll fucking kill you.

Huh, Lukey?

Thanks, Matt.

I think, um... I think everybody here, er, understands

what you, er, must be going through at the moment.

OK, people, Matt's been kind enough to put some money behind the bar so everyone can have a drink.

Yeah, but they're only actually for people that were there.

Excuse me, the drinks are only for the people

that were on the river flats between 12 and 4.30 PM, OK?

There's a few of you who weren't here, like Penguin.

-Fuck, I was...

-You weren't there, mate. Pay up.

Boganville.

It is beautiful down there. Just beautiful.

Tui should stay down there.

I'll tell her. I must tell Tui all about this.

Buy me a vodka. Could you, could you buy me a vodka?

HE MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY

You've got to leave her down there, you see,

because it's so beautiful. It's all so slo-mo.

Just leave her down there.

And you can get fucked.

Yeah, go get fucked.

Yeah, fuck off, Terry.

You from Sydney?

Not now.

Oh, sounds like you are.

Are you the detective?

-Sounds like YOU are.

-ALL: Ooh!

So, tell me, you a feminist?

Are you a lesbian?

-You'd be better off being a lesbian.

-Why's that?

Well, it's pretty lonely up here.

Because?

Well, no-one likes a feminist, except a lesbian.

Well, that makes sense.

So I get a lesbian. What do you get?

Who would want you?

About 10,000 sheep.

-They're up there in the cold and the dark waiting for me.

-Sick bastard.

What? A sheep's vagina

is the closest thing to a woman's vagina,

so I can get it whenever I want.

-Anything with a pulse, eh?

-Fuck you.

Not as good as Thai pussy, though.

I mean, they make all other women irrelevant.

Not just talking about the sex, either.

It's the little fruit salads they make you when you wake up. Bonuses.

MAN WHISTLES

You be careful.

Mitcham got himself a Thai lady.

Yeah, and we've got Tui, our Thai poontang.

Excuse me?

Hey, what does it mean when a girl gets around town wearing tiny shorts?

I don't know. What does it mean?

It means she's hot.

Or a slut.

THEY LAUGH

Jesus Christ!

The girl was 12.

Yeah, she's a liar, OK? She tells a lot of lies.

I don't care what she said. I'll collect the DNA of every man in this town.

-And when that baby is born, one of you gentlemen will go to jail.

-ALL:

-Ooh!

Well, I'm ready, love. You can collect mine now.

Putty doesn't come in cups.

-Ah, she's just a kid.

-I don't come in cups.

-You wouldn't catch me...

-No, I don't serve you.

-Come on.

-No!

-Fuck!

-Good bloke, eh?

Except he's your main suspect, according to that cop, Joy.

-That's the gingerbread man, Zanic.

-Zanic?

-That's him?

-Yeah.

Shotover reckons he heard a girl crying at his place the other night.

DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE

Who are you feeding?

My old lady.

May I come in?

Why are you snooping around the house here?

That's Tui.

Ja. Tui.

She's wearing Lederhosen because never enough boys.

I teach kids folk dancing.

Tui was a good dancer.

Pumpernickel?

I saw your charge sheet.

Ja, so...

..I'm not supposed to work with children.

But you have been.

I don't touch no-one.

What happened in Auckland?

Long time ago now.

Uh, I was working...at hotel.

Cook. Good job.

Everything going OK.

Then...one evening...

..the most beautiful person I ever saw in my life...

..come into dining hall.

-That was a young boy?

-Yeah.

At first, he sit alone.

He order a hamburger.

Then his family come to dinner.

We get talking.

I realise they don't understand him.

They don't know him.

And they don't love him.

How old was he?

Ja, so...

..I'm sick, old man

who should be looking for love of equals.

What you call real love.

But you don't realise,

something so pure,

so powerful.

You never have it.

I chuck up on what people call real love.

I do big shit on real love.

I already sit in jail for him, thinking about him.

I don't care if I tell you.

I love him.

And you can't do nothing!

Where were you last Thursday?

I am on medication. No harm to anybody.

No danger to the people. Not dangerous!

Someone said they heard crying.

I need to look through the house.

Is there a basement?

Oh, ja.

The basement.

Zanic?

I never hurt kids!

GUNSHOT

HE GRUNTS

DOGS HOWL

I never! Never hurt kids!

They said I hurt kids!

DOGS BARK

-Tui?

-They lied!

Tui?

Tui, if you're here, call out!

GUNSHOT

Fuck.

GUNSHOT

Hello, Johnno? It's Robin.

I've done something a bit silly

and I'm going to need your help pretty fast.

-Where are you?

-Do you know Wolfie Zanic?

Yeah, yeah, Eel Creek.

-I'll be there in ten minutes.

-'No, no, no, wait.'

He's outside and he has a gun.

Yeah, OK. Just lock the doors, front and back,

stay away from the windows. I'll be there.

SHE BREATHES HEAVILY

MUSIC: "Six Months In A Leaky Boat" by Split Enz

Wolfie, where are you?

Wolfie, step out!

Wolfie, can you hear me?

GUN IS COCKED

You're OK. (It's OK.)

I'm alone. It's all right.

It's OK. You're fine.

Wolfie. Wolfie, it's fine.

I didn't do nothing.

I know. I know.

I know.

I didn't do nothing.

I know.

(It's OK, it's OK. Put it down.)

WOLFGANG CRIES

Robin!

I NEVER HURT KID!

Do you want to come in for some tea?

I'd like to, but I can't. I've got someone waiting.

OK.

Thanks.

Hey, can you deal with that?

Al, I have the paperwork for the Mitcham search warrant.

Can you look at it?

I heard you got into a bit of trouble last night.

You got Mike Bolt with a dart.

Yes. Happy accident.

-So he wasn't annoying you?

-No. He just got in the way.

-They're self-policing up there. Back-up's an hour away. You be careful. Everything OK?

-Mmm-hmm.

-There you go.

-Ta.

-You heard from Tui?

-Nope.

-You're not worried at all?

She can look after herself.

She'll come home when she's ready.

Well, we're going to do a bush search.

She'll see you coming, man.

She'll be watching everyone from the top of Mount Earnshaw.

What did you do to Bob Platt?

Nothing. I wasn't there.

Yeah, no more accidents, Matt.

We're, um...we're going to have to search your joint.

I'm not having the police in there.

No way. Or is this one of your detective's ideas?

It's going to happen.

Why haven't you got rid of that bitch, Al?

What, like an accident(?)

Why aren't you in the women's camp, hmm?

That's where she was last seen.

I want you in there. I want you to get in there

and check on those fuckin' bitches' visas...

Hey, Matt, don't tell me how to do my job.

We, um... We've identified a suspect.

What the fuck are you talking about? Who?

You know Zanic, the Austrian fella who teaches the kids folk dancing?

-Uh-huh, what about him?

-He's, um... he's a convicted paedophile.

How long have you known that?

Huh?

Can you open this one, please?

-Hey, how long have you been engaged for?

-Five years, almost.

Whose is this container?

It's where we keep all the dead children(!)

Do you think it's really important to be sexually passionate with each other, after that long?

-Is this yours?

-Yep.

-Are you Anita Schultz?

-Yeah.

Your visa's good for another two months.

After that, you'll have to renew it.

-Is this your first marriage?

-Yes.

Hey, no-one has a happy marriage.

Well, no-one here.

My husband, he was a workaholic and alcoholic.

-Could you get the key, please?

-Yeah.

Is this everyone?

I've got nine passports here.

There are two people missing.

Is that how many people there are, nine?

-Yes, nine.

-So where are they?

GJ is resting.

Barry, my husband, he also lied all the time.

Couldn't face any kind of reality.

That's normal.

Who's GJ?

She's asleep.

No. Not now.

-She's looking for the girl?

-Yes, I am.

She's not here, lady. That's for free.

Searchers search.

All the bitches here are searching for love.

And when they don't find that, for enlightenment,

they don't find anything.

Not one of them.

Are you travelling on a Swiss passport?

GJ's a Swiss national.

How are your knees?

Pardon?

You will go down hard. Bang.

The search will bring you low.

To the ground. On your two knees.

That's right.

No-one likes it.

Face in the dirt.

-Hi.

-Hey. Steve.

He asked if you could give him a call the minute you came in.

Where were you? We were expecting you home last night.

-Hi, it's me.

-'When are you coming home?'

(Hi, Mum.)

'Where's your commitment, Robin? It's getting ridiculous.'

Come on, Steve. She's a 12-year-old girl. What do you expect me to do?

STEVE SIGHS

'I don't like what's happening to you.'

So how long have I got?

'Not long.'

I don't deserve you.

-'Come on.'

-No, I mean it.

'I've got to go.'

Why don't you just marry him?

Yeah, why don't I?

I'm hoping he'll find someone better.

Do you love him?

I don't know.

Oh, fuck!

I never got to the doctor's appointment.

Shit. It was yesterday, right?

Mum, what happened?

No more chemo.

That's good.

Isn't it? Isn't it?

Yeah, it is good.

I don't have to put any more poison through this body.

Well, what did he say?

There's more here and there's more here.

And it's not going away.

That's it.

Do you want a cup of tea?

COUPLE CHATTER

COUPLE CONTINUE CHATTING

Get out of the way.

Move away.

Move!

-The Mitcham warrant.

-OK.

I hope you're ready, cos Matt's going to love this(!)

Let's go.

MUSIC PLAYS ON CAR RADIO

# ..Life is a roller-coaster

# Just got to ride it

# I need you... #

You OK in there?

I'll take care of Matt, don't worry about it.

You just do the searching, OK?

Pull over, please.

SHE VOMITS

Nothing to do with me, is it?

No.

Mitcham loves to find people's soft spots and poke them.

The only person who ever had it over him

was his mother - she used to flog him with his father's belt.

Bloody horrible woman, terribly bitter.

What, are you two friends?

No-one's ever really friends with Matt.

Still, I'm close enough to regret it.

Afternoon.

Come on, what kind of handshake's that, huh?

Sweaty.

We need to check through the house and all the sheds.

I'll do the sheds, you go on in.

What the fuck's going on?

You said you'd resist this.

Er, it wasn't possible, mate.

WOMEN CHATTERING

What's his old man like?

Just eats meat, drinks beer, eats meat, drinks beer.

-A real man's man!

-Yeah, well. Maybe.

-Hey.

-SHE GASPS

If you want to use a toilet, you can use my en suite.

I saw two ladies leaving.

Must have been the cleaners.

I know. Hopeless, aren't they?

Your boss wants you.

I'll sort it out when I get back.

Robin?

Any sign of the girl?

OK, we're on our way. Bye.

It looks like we've got our guy.

Wolfie's hung himself.

He left a suicide note.

What about Tui, Al?

What's happened to her?

When you get to the edge of the universe,

what's so scary?

A lost little girl

with a secret growing inside.

Come on, Al, someone's obviously been harassing him.

Look at his house.

OK, Miss Marple, I know this, all right?

'Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden,

'the coming of the serpent.'

Sometimes, maybe once in your career,

a case come along that fits so tightly that you can't let go.

Can't we do a bit more of the wrong thing before we do the right thing?

I know you from somewhere, don't I?

SHE SOBS

-ECHOING:

-TUI!