The Coroner Page #6

CUT TO:

EP2/SC28. INT. JUDITH’S HOUSE. OFFICE. DAY 1. 13:07

JANE:

[JANE PINS UP THE PM REPORT. SHE ALSO PINS AN

A4 1:
1 SCALE PHOTO OF KEVIN BURTON’S WATCH.

LASTLY SHE PINS UP AN OLD PROMO PICTURE OF

BURTON AS A BOXER]

JANE:

I know when you died and I know how you died, but if you could tell me

where you died, and better still who you are, that would help.

(ADDRESSING THE PICTURE OF BURTON) Let’s say it is you. You

stole some money and thought you’d sail away but someone caught up with

you and tossed you overboard. Really? Look at the size of you. And for

seventy-five grand. You risk everything to steal that and you leave behind a

woman who doesn’t know which teeth you’re missing, can’t remember the

colour of your eyes and buys you fake presents? Doesn’t fit does it?

[HER EYES FALL ON THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE

FAKE ROLEX]

JANE:

None of it…fits.

[JANE PRESSES HER ARM AGAINST THE PHOTO. IT

LOOKS TO HER LIKE THE WATCH IS TOO SMALL.

AN IDEA DROPS INTO HER HEAD]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC29. INT. POLICE STATION. DAVEY’S OFFICE. DAY 1.

13:
12

DAVEY:

NSE POLICE OFFICERS, VOICE (OOV)

[DAVEY SITS AT HIS DESK LOOKING AT BURTON’S

RECORDS ONSCREEN. HE’S HANDSFREE ON HIS

LANDLINE, ON HOLD TO THE POLICE NATIONAL

DNA DATABASE. THE HOLD MUSIC IS A MUZAK

VERSION OF WHO ARE YOU BY THE WHO]

VOICE (OOV):

National DNA Database…

DAVEY (INTO PHONE):

(PICKING UP THE RECEIVER) This is DS Higgins from Lighthaven

Police, I’m having trouble with a file…

[BEAT]

DAVEY (INTO PHONE) CONT’D:

Kevin Burton, yeah, I’m sure we’ve done a DNA test on him in the past but

it’s not showing.

[BEAT]

DAVEY (INTO PHONE) CONT’D:

Arrested but not charged back in…June two thousand and twelve. I don’t

know if that’s a glitch or…

[DAVEY’S EYES WIDEN]

DAVEY (INTO PHONE) CONT’D:

Deleted!?

CUT TO:

EP2/SC30. INT. BLACK DOG. DAY 1. 13:21

MICK, JUDITH, JANE

NSE CUSTOMERS:

[JUDITH AND JANE ARE PEERING INTO A BUCKET

AT THE BOTTOM OF WHICH IS A LIVE LOBSTER.

JANE’S EATING LUNCH]

JANE:

And Mick caught it himself?

MICK:

You don’t catch lobsters, you let them catch themselves in traps.

JANE:

How’re you going to kill it?

MICK:

Not sure yet.

JANE:

Mum, shut your eyes for a sec.

JUDITH:

Are you giving me a present, I love surprises.

JANE:

(TO MICK) What colour are mum’s eyes?

MICK:

I don’t spend a lot of time looking at her eyes. But blue. Blue as a summer

sky.

[JUDITH OPENS HER EYES AND BEAMS]

JUDITH:

Got such a treat for you later.

MICK:

If you don’t know the colour of your lover’s eyes you’ve got no business

knowing her otherwise. You know, in the biblical sense.

[JANE’S PHONE RINGS]

JANE:

Davey.

[HER EYES WIDEN]

JANE:

Coming now.

[JANE HEADS OUT WITHOUT HER SANDWICH]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC31. EXT. LIGHTHAVEN. FISH & CHIP SHOP. DAY 1.

13:
25

JANE, DAVEY

NSE PASSERS BY:

[JANE ARRIVES JUST AS DAVEY’S EXITING THE

CHIP SHOP. THEY STROLL TOWARDS A BENCH]

DAVEY:

They keep DNA for three years.

JANE:

Thought you kept it forever.

DAVEY:

Used to, but now we keep it for three years and after that, if they want it

wiped, they can fill out some form and we have to ditch it.

JANE:

But Kevin Burton was arrested –

DAVEY:

But never charged. And that was in 2012 – thee years ago. And when did his

request to clean his record come in? First of last month.

JANE:

If someone wanted to vanish he’s doing a good job.

DAVEY:

Still doesn’t explain the Rolex. If that’s not Burton, how come that body’s

got Dora’s fake?

JANE:

I don’t think it’s Burton’s watch. Look.

[SHE PULLS THE WATCH OUT OF AN EVIDENCE

BAG AND TRIES TO PUT IT ON DAVEY BUT IT’S TOO

TIGHT]

JANE (CONT’D):

How’s a heavyweight boxer got wrists thinner than you? Hands like shovels,

he said.

DAVEY:

I am pretty tough; I lift weights, ok.

JANE:

Davey, the only thing you’ve ever lifted’s a pint glass. Dora’s not giving us

the full picture.

DAVEY:

Well she’s clearly not prepared to voluntarily give us DNA…suppose I

could get a warrant, could trap her that way.

[A TEXT LANDS FOR JANE FROM “BETH”. SHE

OPENS IT BUT WE DON’T SEE WHAT IT READS]

JANE:

You ever caught a lobster?

DAVEY:

Why!?

JANE:

You don’t catch a lobster. You let it catch itself.

[DAVEY’S PERPLEXED AS JANE SPRINGS UP AND

HEADS OFF. HE FOLLOWS]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC32. INT. BLACKSTONE’S UNDERTAKERS. DAY 1. 13:36

CLINT, MRS BLACKSTONE

[ETHEL BLACKSTONE’S BUSINESS IS SPARTAN BUT

METICULOUSLY CLEAN. DEATH IS COLD AND SHE

HASN’T WARMED IT UP]

CLINT:

Can I speak to the Undertaker please?

MRS BLACKSTONE:

You’re looking at her.

CLINT:

I’m here from the Coroner’s Office…

MRS BLACKSTONE:

And you’ve come about these botched sea-burials. Well we haven’t done

any. We don’t have the custom.

CLINT:

You mean you don’t do them?

MRS BLACKSTONE:

No I mean we don’t have that kind of customer. The rich kind.

CLINT:

Thanks for your time.

[CLINT HEADS OUT]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC33. EXT. BLACKSTONE’S UNDERTAKERS. DAY 1. 13:37

CLINT, MRS BLACKSTONE

[MRS BLACKSTONE FOLLOWS CLINT BACK TO HIS

VAN]

MRS BLACKSTONE:

I won’t pay to be in your pocket.

CLINT:

Why would you pay to be in my pocket?

MRS BLACKSTONE:

We get our business two ways. The first’s when you call us. Let’s say a

person dies in a road accident. Police are called and they contact your boss

who then calls an undertaker to remove the body.

CLINT:

I know how the job works -

MRS BLACKSTONE:

That’s the most valuable call in this business because when that person’s

loved one organises the funeral they’ll need an undertaker to prepare things.

And your everyday Joe Public doesn’t know a great number of undertakers

so they tend not to shop around.

CLINT:

So they use the undertaker the coroner calls –

MRS BLACKSTONE:

Pays to be in her pocket.

CLINT:

Jane’s honest.

MRS BLACKSTONE:

Not suggesting she isn’t. But she could cast the net wider. There’re a lot of

undertakers in this area but she’s only got a handful on speed-dial. That

breeds complacency. Maybe that’s why these bodies keep floating up.

[BEAT]

CLINT:

You said there were two ways you get your business…

MRS BLACKSTONE:

The other’s advertising. But since the local paper’s owned by Bill Jeffries,

who also chairs the Undertakers Association meetings…

CLINT:

…makes him a difficult person to criticise.

MRS BLACKSTONE:

Not just a hat rack. Rates go up month on month. Squeezes out small

operators like me.

[CLINT RUMMAGES IN HIS POCKET FOR

SOMETHING TO WRITE ON]

CLINT:

Let me see what I can do.

MRS BLACKSTONE:

I don’t want preferential treatment, I just want it to be a fair distribution of

work.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes