The Coroner Page #2

KAREN:

(OVER NOISE) Steven! Now!

TV REPORTER (OOV):

... they have reason to suspect foul play...

[KAREN CONTINUES MAKING SANDWICHES,

EYEING THE TV, COVERING ANXIETY]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC11. INT. SARAH'S BUNGALOW. LIVING ROOM. DAY 1.

12.15

LEE, SARAH

NSE RADIO REPORTER (OOV)

[ON A STEREO AS:
]

RADIO REPORTER (OOV):

... and are appealing for information. The information line number is...

[THE STEREO POWERS DOWN. HIDING THE

REMOTE, LEE EYES:

SARAH, REFILLING A BIRD-FEEDER IN THE

GARDEN. SEEING LEE, SHE SMILES (FRAGILE).

LEE SMILES BACK, PRIVATELY SHAKEN]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC12. INT. BLACK DOG. DAY 1. 12.45

JANE, DAVEY, JUDITH, MICK, BETH

NSE PATRONS:

[GETTING BUSY, BETH CLEARING PLATES AND

GLASSES , WIPING THE BAR. SETTLING AT THE

BAR, DAVEY (WITH LUNCHBOX) AND JANE ARE IN

MID-FLOW]

JANE:

I just don't see why it's always the woman’s fault?

[DAVEY WOULD ANSWER]

BETH:

(GROUCHY) Me neither.

JANE:

(MUM MODE) In your case, because you got caught. And you’ve missed

a bit.

[BETH RE-WIPES SARDONICALLY]

DAVEY:

Grounded again?

JANE:

Still rolling in at all hours, so I have to leave her in the care of a responsible

adult.

[SHE EXCHANGES A WAVE WITH JUDITH WHO IS

SERVING AT THE OTHER END OF THE BAR. DAVEY

IS AMUSED AS BETH HUFFS OFF]

DAVEY:

I’m not saying it’s definitely the mother. Just, if it was newborn then she

must have been part of what happened.

JANE:

Or, maybe the father or someone else could've...

[BOTH FLINCH AT (MICK'S) DRAMATIC SNEEZING

NEARBY]

DAVEY:

Yeah well, no-one reported a baby going missing. What mother’s gonna sit

idly by if her baby disappears, unless she’s the one who did it, hiding it

away in the middle of nowhere?

JANE:

Well if you'd ever been heavily pregnant, the last thing you'd contemplate is

trekking way out there on your fat ankles...

[THEY ARE DISTRACTED BY MICK (EARWIGGING

AS HE COLLECTS GLASSES), SLUMPING NEXT TO

THEM, SUFFERING THEATRICALLY]

MICK:

Yeah, lonely old place that cottage...

[HE PAUSES TO BLOW HIS NOSE LIKE A FOGHORN]

JANE:

Ahh, touch of the man-flu?

MICK:

Touch of that E-Bola, I reckon.

[A NEARBY CUSTOMER PUSHES AWAY THEIR

HALF-FINISHED PIE LUNCH AND MOVES OFF]

MICK:

As generously shared by your mother last week along with her delectables.

[JANE FIGHTS NAUSEA]

DAVEY:

You know it then? Bluff Point?

MICK:

My old man did odd jobs there back when I was a nipper, in the 60's. Nice

old couple, but miles from anywhere.

DAVEY:

Except that big old place up the hill. Who was living there then?

MICK:

Oh yeah, uh... (REMEMBERING) Grey... something, Greyvale? Ron

Tate's old place.

[AS HE SNIFFLES INTO HIS HANKY, JANE AND

DAVEY EYE HIM, EXPECTANT]

MICK:

Shut down... late 70's? So before your time. Childrens home.

[JANE EXCHANGES A LOOK WITH DAVEY (A

LEAD?)]

DAVEY:

I’ll see if I can turn up any contact names. If anyone’s still around.

JANE:

(STANDING) I might have a spin past. Check the distance.

[SERVING, JUDITH APPROACHES]

MICK:

Ahh babes, I’m pegging out here. Where’s that super-strength day nurse?

JUDITH:

Right here lover. I'm going to do you a nice hot toddy.

[QUEASY AS MICK AND JUDITH MOVE OFF, JANE

MAKES TO LEAVE]

JANE:

(TO DAVEY) See? Women always get a raw deal.

[SHE CLOCKS DAVEY FORLORNLY EYEING THE

SALAD IN HIS LUNCHBOX]

JANE:

(WRY) Okay, not just women, then. (HEADING OFF, TO JUDITH)

Cancel my chips will you, Mum?

[HUNGRY, DAVEY MOMENTARILY EYES THE

DISCARDED PIE LUNCH (TEMPTED), BUT GRABS HIS

JACKET, RESIGNED]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC13. INT. SARAH'S BUNGALOW. KITCHEN / LIVING

ROOM. DAY 1. 13.54

LEE, SARAH

[KITCHEN:
ON HIS MOBILE, ANXIOUS, LEE PRESSES

A PILL OUT OF A PACKET NEXT TO A GLASS OF

WATER, GLANCING OUT INTO THE GARDEN - NO

SARAH]

LEE:

(TO MOBILE, SOTTO) I know... (OVER) I know, I just have to find the

right time...

[CRASH! LEE LOOKS INTO:

LIVING ROOM:
STANDING OVER SMASHED MUGS,

STARING AT THE RADIO (THE NEWS QUIETLY

CHATTERING), SARAH IS PANICKED]

SARAH:

They know!

CUT TO:

EP2/SC14. EXT. GREYVALE. DAY 1. 13.55

JANE, PHIL

NSE SAMSON (DOG)

[(HAVING PARKED) JANE APPROACHES THE

LARGE, RUN-DOWN (LIVED-IN BUT NO SIGN OF

LIFE) HOUSE, ON HER MOBILE]

JANE:

Clint, did you get the lab? (LISTENS) Okay, and any progress on the

Grosvenor court date? (LISTENS) Good. Listen, see if you can find any

council records on a Greyvale Childrens' Home, will you?

[SHE TURNS, GETTING A SENSE OF GEOGRAPHY,

SPYING:

BLUFF POINT IN THE DISTANCE]

JANE:

Yep, that's it. Active in the 70's. (LISTENS) Anything you can turn up,

really. Okay...

[HANGING UP, SHE HEARS A CLINKING SOUND AND

TURNS TO SEE A LARGE DOG HURTLING TOWARD

HER. JANE STUMBLES BACKWARD, FALLING, THE

DOG ALMOST ON HER WHEN (CLINK!) IT HITS THE

LIMIT ON ITS CHAIN]

JANE:

Oh my... [God.]

[TERRIFIED AS THE DOG SNARLS, JANE FINDS PHIL

TOWERING OVER HER (IN PLASTERY OVERALLS)]

PHIL:

(SURLY) What're you after?

[JANE HESITATES, INTIMIDATED]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC15. EXT. GOWER ESTATE. DAY 1. 13.59

DAVEY, CHARLES

NSE GUESTS:

[BANG! A CLAY PIGEON EXPLODES IN MID-AIR.

LAUGHING WITH GUESTS, CHARLES HANDS A

SHOTGUN BACK TO ONE OF THEM AS DAVEY

WAITS IMPATIENTLY]

CHARLES:

Seems to be working now! (MOVING OFF) Perhaps a touch of

performance anxiety?

[ALL BONHOMIE HE MOVES OFF, DAVEY WALKING

WITH HIM]

DAVEY:

Quite a place you've got.

CHARLES:

Yes, open to the masses these days, of course, tramping through the Great

Hall. But it pays the bills!

DAVEY:

So, Greyvale? You were listed in an old police database as...

CHARLES:

Trustee, yes. Always getting "volunteered" for worthy causes. (JOKING,

RE SHOOTING) Price of being a straight shooter, I suppose.

DAVEY:

So what can you tell me about the place..?

CHARLES:

Gosh, now we're going back. But it seemed well-run, insofar as I could tell.

Ron... (REMEMBERING) Tate, the manager, preferred a free hand, as I

recall.

DAVEY:

And what about the kids? Any... troubled girls getting themselves into

bother?

[CHARLES EYES DAVEY, SOBER]

CHARLES:

Well, of course by definition they were all vulnerable. But I couldn't

possibly name names after this long. All rather lost in the mists of time, I'm

afraid.

[SPOTTING A DISTANT GUEST HACKING UP THE

LAWN WITH A CROQUET MALLET, CHARLES SIGHS,

ACCELERATING OFF]

CHARLES:

Do excuse me, they can't be left unattended. (CALLING BACK) Oh, if

you do see old Ron though, tell him Charles Gower says hello?

[UNIMPRESSED, DAVEY TRUDGES OFF TOWARD HIS

CAR]

CUT TO:

EP2/SC16. INT. GREYVALE OUTBUILDING. KITCHEN. DAY 1.

13.58

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