The Coroner

AN ABANDONED COTTAGE, ONE WINDOW

BOARDED UP, BREEZE RIPPLING THROUGH THE

OVERGROWN GARDEN, BIRDSONG - THE IDYLL

SHATTERED BY ANIMALISTIC SOUNDS FROM

INSIDE, A GIRL SCREAMING IN PAIN:

LARGE, SLIGHTLY BLOODY KITCHEN SCISSORS

GLIMPSED THROUGH THE BROKEN WINDOW

BOARD]

ADOLESCENT GIRL (OOV):

(AGONISED) No! No..!

[SLANTING SUNLIGHT BLEACHES OUT THE VIEW]

MIX TO:

EP2/SC2. EXT. COTTAGE. DAY 1. 07:25

[THE SAME COTTAGE, ALL WINDOWS BOARDED UP

NOW, THE GARDEN WILD, A SIGN:

"DANGER:
KEEP OUT".

SOUND OF A MECHANICAL DIGGER WORKING]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC3. INT. COTTAGE. DAY 1. 07:32

NSE WORKMAN:

[DIGGER SOUNDS OUTSIDE. CLOSE SOUNDS OF

SLEDGEHAMMER HITTING MASONRY AND: A

COLLAPSE, DUST CLEARING TO REVEAL:

BROKEN, DECAYED BOARDS - A CORNER OF OLD

NEWSPAPER (FOR SCALE) AND THE SMALL BONES

OF A BABY'S FOOT POKING OUT. SOUND OF BOOTS,

A WORKMAN RUNNING OUT]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC4. EXT. COTTAGE. DAY 1. 08:40

JANE, DAVEY, CLINT

NSE PC'S, CSI

[CREDITS OVER ESTABLISHING SHOTS OF THE

RUGGED LANDSCAPE AROUND:

THE COTTAGE, CORDONED OFF WITH POLICE TAPE,

PC'S EXAMINING THE GARDEN.

JANE APPROACHES (FROM HER CAR) WITH CLINT

AS DAVEY APPROACHES FROM THE COTTAGE]

DAVEY:

You found it then? Should have sent a man for you.

JANE:

(WRY) I didn't need a man, I had Clint.

CLINT:

I heard that. (UNDER BREATH) Sexist.

[A SENSE THE BADINAGE IS A SHIELD AGAINST THE

GRIM DISCOVERY]

DAVEY:

(RE COTTAGE) Shall we?

CLINT:

No thanks. The adult ones are bad enough.

DAVEY:

(NOT RELISHING IT HIMSELF) Very manly.

CLINT:

It's just... human remains! And spiders. And big... boozy, smoochy women.

(SEEING THEM LOOKING) Early Great Aunt trauma.

[THEY SMILE AS CLINT MOVES OFF]

CLINT:

(TO JANE) I need to take the demolition guys names, anyway.

[JANE AND DAVEY SOBER AS HE LEADS HER INSIDE

(AS CSI EMERGE):
]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC5. INT. COTTAGE. DAY 1. 08:41

JANE, DAVEY

[JANE PICKS HER WAY IN AFTER DAVEY, EYEING:

FADED DECOR, DECAYED FURNITURE - STILL

WEIRDLY HOMEY.

DAVEY POINTS HER TOWARD THE COLLAPSED

WALL - CAREFUL, JANE PEERS CLOSER, TOUCHED

BY:

SMALL BONES]

JANE:

So small.

[DAVEY GLANCES AROUND THE COTTAGE

(RELUCTANT TO LOOK AT THE REMAINS, ITCHING

TO GET OUT AGAIN)]

DAVEY:

Wrapped in 1970's newspaper. Elderly couple lived here way back in the

60's, but it's been empty since.

JANE:

(PREOCCUPIED BY REMAINS) And way off the beaten track.

DAVEY:

Condemned due to coastal erosion. Another few years and the sea probably

would have had it. Bury the evidence forever.

[JANE STANDS, SENSING DAVEY'S TENSION]

JANE:

Looks newborn, or near enough. If the birth happened way out here in the

middle of nowhere, the Mum must have been frightened... confused.

[UNCONVINCED, DAVEY TURNS FOR THE DOOR]

DAVEY:

Managed to hide the body, didn't she? That says foul play.

JANE:

(FOLLOWING) Not necessarily. We don't know the circumstances.

Childbirth is traumatic.

CUT TO:

EP2/SC6. EXT. COTTAGE. DAY 1. 08:43

JANE, DAVEY, CLINT

NSE PC'S, HELICOPTER CAMERAMAN & PILOT

[CONTINUOUS:
THEY EMERGE, PICKING THEIR WAY

OVER RUBBLE]

JANE:

Women don't have an easy ride.

[DAVEY IS RELIEVED TO RETURN TO FRESH AIR]

DAVEY:

(WRY) Yeah, neither do men, putting up with them.

[FAUX-OFFENDED, JANE WOULD REPLY]

DAVEY:

(RE RUBBLE) Watch your step, Calamity.

[SHE STUMBLES, DAVEY CATCHING HER ARM,

STEADYING. A BEAT, BOTH SLIGHTLY

EMBARRASSED AS HE LETS GO, JANE SEEING CLINT

APPROACH]

CLINT:

Must have been nice here, once upon a time.

[THEY ALL FEEL A CHILL - JANE HAUNTED,

GLANCING BACK TO: THE COTTAGE, DARK INSIDE,

HIDING ITS SECRETS]

JANE:

Mm. Poor little thing, abandoned in such a lonely place.

DAVEY:

Yeah. What sort of person does that, eh?

[PERTURBED, JANE IS DISTRACTED BY A SCRAP OF

FADED BLUE RIBBON CAUGHT ON THE FENCE,

FLUTTERING.

A BLARE OF NOISE, JANE, DAVEY AND CLINT

TURNING TO LOOK UP (AS A NEWS HELICOPTER

ARRIVES OVERHEAD)]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC7. EXT. COTTAGE. DAY 1. 08:44

JANE, DAVEY, CLINT

NSE PC'S, CSI

[AERIAL SHOTS OF COTTAGE TO BE PLAYED INTO

TV IN SC8&10]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC8. INT. LIGHTHAVEN CARE HOME. LOUNGE. DAY 1.

09.25

RON:

NSE RESIDENTS, TV REPORTER (OOV)

[IN HIS WHEELCHAIR, SLUMPED ON LEFT SIDE,

IMMOBILE (A STROKE SURVIVOR) LOOKING OUT

THE WINDOW, RON REGISTERS:]

TV REPORTER (OOV):

... remains of the baby were found early this morning, hidden in a

condemned Bluff Point cottage. Demolition workers onsite said that the

remains had been sealed up in a small nook in a chimney breast...

[RON EYES THE TV (PICTURES OF THE COTTAGE) -

ALARM GROWING]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC9. INT. MORTUARY. DAY 1. 11.50

JANE, DAVEY, CLINT

NSE FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, PEDIATRIC PATHOLOGIST

[AN X-RAY OF THE BABY'S SKELETAL REMAINS.

AS THE NSE PATHOLOGISTS EXIT, JANE EYES THE

X-RAY (CLINT TAKING NOTES), SEEING DAVEY

ENTER WITH HIS PAPER REPORT]

JANE:

Not much to go on. Sex undetermined, maybe a month premature, but

perfectly formed.

DAVEY:

(DARK) Apart from the broken ribs.

[JANE CATCHES HIS TONE AND RELUCTANCE TO

LOOK AT THE X-RAY]

JANE:

There's no way to tell whether that happened post mortem.

DAVEY:

Or prior to death. I tell you, the longer I do this job, the more I realise some

people shouldn't be allowed to have kids.

[CLINT IS AWKWARD. AWARE OF THE SUBTEXT

(DAVEY'S CHILDLESSNESS), JANE INDICATES A

SHRED OF (EVIDENCE-BAGGED) NEWSPAPER]

JANE:

At least we have a date: 1976.

DAVEY:

Yeah, decades back, so DNA's doubtful.

JANE:

(RE PATHOLOGISTS) Full nuclear DNA they said, but we might get

something from bone marrow, and the baby had hair...

[THEY BOTH PAUSE, TOUCHED BY THAT]

JANE:

(TO CLINT) Actually, can you get the lab to put a rush on that?

CLINT:

On it.

[CLINT TACTFULLY EXITS]

JANE:

(TO DAVEY, CAJOLING) So there's a chance we'll get mitochondrial

DNA to check against potential mothers.

DAVEY:

(EYEING REPORT) Good. It's the mother we're after.

[JANE EYES HIM, CONCERNED]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC10. INT. KAREN'S HOUSE. KITCHEN. DAY 1. 12.10

KAREN:

NSE FOSTER CHILDREN, TV REPORTER (OOV)

[(BACKGROUND TV AND) CHILDISH SHRIEKS AS

RED DRIPS SPLAT ON THE COUNTER. FINGER-

SWIPING THEM INTO HER MOUTH, STRESSED

KAREN HURRIEDLY SPREADS JAM INTO

SANDWICHES AS 4 (VARIOUS ETHNICITIES) KIDS

TUSSLE AROUND HER]

KAREN:

(ABOVE DIN) We won't be going

at all at this rate!

TV REPORTER (OOV):

... may have been there for up to 40

years, hidden in a cottage which has

been derelict since the 1960's.

[HER ATTENTION ABRUPTLY CAUGHT BY:]

TV REPORTER (OOV):

Police say that although the condition of the baby's remains makes

determining cause of death difficult...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes