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BRITCOM I
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00:00I mean, you know, one of those serrated blade jobbies, you know, really fire it up, start
00:06with their arms and legs.
00:08Me!
00:11Crime fiction bestseller, Brendan Trapmore, starting our festival with a bang.
00:18Bill Pereira, author of the critically acclaimed Alex Thorne Mysteries, what's your perfect
00:25murder?
00:25If I had to choose, it would be something silent, untraceable.
00:30Bored them to death?
00:32I was going to suggest the pillow over the face.
00:35Leaves no evidence, almost foolproof.
00:37Gripping stuff.
00:38Lena, you had us all gasping for breath with the latest installment of your mermaid-themed
00:45romanticy series, The Siren's Conch.
00:49How would you do away with your victim?
00:52Well, murder isn't something that I turn my mind to very often.
00:55I think that my readers prefer drowning in desire.
01:04Brendan, you've always said that when you're writing Johnny Fox, you had to live his life.
01:11Wasn't it dangerous immersing yourself in the criminal underworld?
01:14There's no other way to get inside a story.
01:18That's why Johnny Fox feels so real.
01:21What about Lena's work?
01:23Do you expect her to breathe underwater or to commune with Poseidon for her, um, sorry,
01:28what's the genre again, Lena?
01:29It's mermaid smut.
01:31Right?
01:32Romanticy.
01:33I think that the true appeal of my work is the celebration of women unashamedly owning
01:40and satisfying their desires.
01:45Maybe the idea of a satisfied woman is foreign to you, Brendan.
01:47Well, in the words of Johnny Fox, there's nothing as lethal as a woman's love.
01:55But hey, you know, whatever floats your boat.
01:58I mean, who cares if the critics call it thinly disguised pornography?
02:02Well, they also called your novels airport pulp, as I recall.
02:05Oh, there you go, Will.
02:09Here's your latest review.
02:10Aren't you officially retired?
02:12Writer's block.
02:14Wrong.
02:15Coming soon, my new novel.
02:18Branded a Johnny Fox mystery.
02:24A bikey gang is cutting a murderous swathe across the country,
02:28leaving a slew of bodies in their wake, each victim branded on their wrist.
02:32Please tell me you didn't brand yourself.
02:35I told you, I've got to live Johnny Fox's life.
02:39Okay, but you killed him off in your last book.
02:41He's dead.
02:42It's going to take more than death to stop Johnny Fox.
02:50So, just, if you could, we just, we haven't even started the Q&A.
02:54Yeah, make yourself useful.
02:55We have questions.
02:56We have questions.
02:59Okay, well, I'm his publisher.
03:02Ladies and gentlemen, and not even I knew about that one.
03:19And that was our last question.
03:24Please thank our panellists.
03:25Lena Shaw, Will Pereira, and who knows where he's gone, Brendan Troutmore.
03:29Don't miss our next panel, Wave of Hormones, Coastal YA.
03:36We need to talk.
03:37Okay, who will?
03:39He's written this before the panel started.
03:41Summoned.
03:42Whiskey and cigars with my girls after the panel.
03:45Good.
03:46Because he's got some explaining to do.
03:47You were brilliant.
03:54I'm going to go find a quiet place for this one.
03:57I love you.
03:58I love you too.
03:59Did you really not know about Brendan's new book?
04:11He wasn't a guaranteed bestseller.
04:12I'd kill him.
04:16Brendan, you owe me details.
04:22Look.
04:24Brendan?
04:24He's dead.
04:36Blimey.
04:37Brendan Troutmore.
04:38I read three of his Johnny Fox books in the plane back from the UK once.
04:41Big mistake.
04:42Oh yeah, they're terrible.
04:43Oh, I couldn't put them down.
04:44Didn't sleep a wink.
04:46Brutality.
04:48Guest access only?
04:49Okay.
04:50Okay.
04:54Do we have a list of who was staying here?
04:56The only other ones that checked in were the two panellists and the moderator.
04:59Okay.
05:00Reggie, can you tap off the area and Felix get statements from all the attendees?
05:04Yeah, sure.
05:04With that.
05:10Killer dropped the knife then.
05:11Looks like it.
05:13Oh, Glenn.
05:15Over to here.
05:16Morning, Maya.
05:16It's that we're into the upper chest.
05:24Any defense wounds?
05:26Not that I can see, no.
05:31A writer who died with his pen in his hand.
05:35How poetic.
05:35How poetic.
05:36The patch means death.
05:52A Johnny Fox mystery.
05:54That is absolutely savage.
05:56There's a scene in there with a pillowcase full of broken glass.
05:59Gave me nightmares.
06:01Branded.
06:04A new Johnny Fox.
06:06Oh, get him.
06:19A few bits of broken gold chain.
06:22Someone must have ripped the chain from around his neck.
06:24Mm-hmm.
06:25Did you check his pockets?
06:26Was there a wallet?
06:27Nothing in there.
06:29A broken gold chain.
06:31No wallet.
06:31Signs of forced entry here.
06:34Robbery gone wrong?
06:35Brendan came into the back.
06:37Didn't see them.
06:37They got startled.
06:40He's still holding his pen, so clearly he was at the desk signing when the killer came in.
06:45The intruder broke the lock on the front door with...
06:52With what?
06:53With what?
06:53With...
06:54With...
06:55That.
06:55But it's already unlocked.
07:07It's nibbed to the right, so...
07:10So why smash it?
07:12Unless you...
07:13Wanted it to look like a robbery gone wrong.
07:17A horrible accident with no premeditation.
07:21The killer didn't exit through the front door.
07:26They dropped the knife here as they left.
07:32We're surrounded by cliffs.
07:34There's only one way in.
07:35The guest only gate.
07:36So the killer had to be a salon with access?
07:38Mm-hmm.
07:42How's Frankie?
07:43Yeah, driving me nuts.
07:47Barking at every surfer that walks past.
07:51She misses you.
07:54Take her for a run if you wanted to.
07:56I think, um, claim breaks easier.
08:02Victims are walking pharmacy.
08:04Bathroom is full of prescription drugs.
08:07We'll get them tested.
08:08Hey, don't work too late.
08:10You've got to be at the surf club for seven.
08:12I'll box nothing.
08:14Our box.
08:15It's going to be debauchery and chaos.
08:17I've, uh...
08:18I booked a magician.
08:24Glenn.
08:26Mackenzie.
08:34So, uh, so who found the body?
08:41Miranda East.
08:42I'm Brendan's publisher.
08:44I was, um, hosting the panel for Brendan and my other writers, Will Pereira and Lena here.
08:50The panel was from 10 till 11 a.m.?
08:53Yes, but Brendan, um, walked out early.
08:56About 10.30.
08:57Not for the first time, either.
08:58He hates the Q&A.
08:59We have questions.
09:00We have questions.
09:01Typical Brendan.
09:03Made his big announcement and then waltzed off.
09:05What was this announcement?
09:06His first book in five years, branded.
09:09But the manuscript was in his room.
09:11Well, so it exists.
09:12Hmm.
09:13Shouldn't his publisher know about his new novel?
09:16Well, you would think.
09:17Um, I had no idea it was even happening.
09:20He, uh, sprung it on us while we were on the panel.
09:23Loved to keep me and everyone on their toes.
09:25Nightmare, really.
09:26Hmm.
09:26Sounds like he was quite difficult to work with.
09:29No, no, not at all.
09:31I mean...
09:32He could be a bit erratic.
09:34You knew him pretty well?
09:35I used to be his assistant.
09:38Brendan, um, always encouraged me to write.
09:42Even when I didn't know what I was doing, he saw something in me.
09:47So, Brendan left the panel.
09:48The rest of you stayed for the Q&A.
09:52Why, why go to his villa afterwards?
09:54Oh, he, uh, he slipped me this note.
09:56Whiskey and cigars with my girls after the panel B.
10:05With my girls.
10:07Hmm, I know.
10:08Only slightly patronising.
10:11What happened when you got there?
10:13Um, so we, we went inside and he was, um,
10:18you know, covered in blood, still holding his pen.
10:22And I, um, I tried to call the police,
10:25but I couldn't get any reception at the villa,
10:27so I had to run back up.
10:30In those.
10:31I broke a heel on my stupid drain.
10:36Do you know if Brendan had any enemies at all?
10:39Well, according to him,
10:41he had enemies baying for his blood
10:43from Hobart to Cape York.
10:45What about today?
10:46Anyone suspicious in the audience?
10:50Ginny would have noticed.
10:52My wife.
10:53She was filming the panel.
10:57I'll introduce you.
11:06No, no one's us.
11:08Just your usual book festival crowd.
11:11And you were at the panel the whole time?
11:13Yeah.
11:14Did you see anyone following Brendan when he left?
11:17Arlo was grizzling.
11:18I was trying to film it.
11:19We'll meet the footage.
11:20Yeah, I'll send it when I get a chance.
11:22Now.
11:23Please.
11:25Fine.
11:26But my camera's in the room.
11:33Oh.
11:35When Miranda left, what did you do?
11:38Well, I was right behind her.
11:39That's when we ran into Will.
11:42Brendan's dead here.
11:43He was coming up the path.
12:02Will Perera.
12:03Sorry, I'm not signing anything right now.
12:05Oh, I was so hoping you could make one out to Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clark.
12:09Hello, Detective Sergeant.
12:14Was he really stabbed?
12:15Miranda said something about a knife.
12:17Yeah, but perhaps if I ask the questions.
12:19Of course.
12:22When did you last see Brendan?
12:23When he walked off.
12:25And you didn't leave the panel at all?
12:27No.
12:28What about after the Q&A?
12:29I signed some books and then headed back to my villa.
12:32Where did you bump into Miranda and Lena?
12:34In the garden.
12:35They were very shaken.
12:35And I told them not to go back into Brendan's villa.
12:39Why?
12:40They'd already disturbed the crime scene once.
12:42Not great for forensics if they kept going back in.
12:46Expert, are you?
12:47Not Detective.
12:48I've read a lot of crime novels.
12:50I know the basics.
12:51I've read them.
12:53You don't?
13:02Ah, yes.
13:04Now, this is interesting.
13:05I wonder who did the cover art.
13:08Now, that one is boring.
13:12Hang on.
13:14Huh.
13:16Huh.
13:18Yeah.
13:20A copy of Will's book has been placed in front of all of Brendan's.
13:24So, nobody's reported a robbery or anything suspicious.
13:28Staff accounted for.
13:29They were all at a meeting.
13:30Nowhere near the villas.
13:31I've just got to chase up a couple, but they'll get back to me soon.
13:33Who else had access?
13:35Ah, just the four people on the panel.
13:37Ah, and Ginny, who was filming.
13:39One of them must have snuck out.
13:41Doesn't look like it.
13:42I've just skimmed through Ginny's footage.
13:44They're present the whole time.
13:45Brendan surprises everyone with the announcement of a new book, and then, 35 minutes later, he's dead.
13:54One of the enemies that Miranda and Lena mentioned?
13:58They couldn't have got in.
14:01The only people who could have killed Brendan had guest access, and they were all on that panel.
14:06But I saw them in the footage.
14:07It's impossible.
14:13Yet somehow, it's not.
14:19Lena Shaw, author of mermaid-themed erotica.
14:25What are we calling it?
14:25Er, romantic-y.
14:26Yeah, not my thing.
14:28Romance, absolutely, but elves in theories.
14:30You see, no, no, thanks.
14:32Okay.
14:33She is the former assistant to Brendan, Miranda East, his publisher, and Will Pereira, who's
14:40a, yes, another crime fiction author.
14:44Yes, that is the panel.
14:46And then Ginny Shaw, Lena's wife, she was filming the whole thing.
14:49Mm-hmm.
14:50Just, um, can I, why, what, what?
14:53Oh, it's for the books.
14:57Has that been airbrushed?
14:58No, it has not.
15:00Mackenzie?
15:01I've been reviewing the footage from the panel, and Will is no fan of Brendan, I can tell you
15:06that, but listen to this.
15:08My heroine Elka isn't based on myself.
15:11She's more of a combination.
15:12Is that a baby boy?
15:14Ah, uh, Lena and Ginny's baby.
15:15Shh, fucking Arla.
15:20Oh, it's getting fainter.
15:22Ginny said she was at the panel the whole time, but it sounds like she left with the baby.
15:25Wait, I also just got an email from one of the staff that left early.
15:30He said he saw Brendan arguing with a woman holding a baby before the panel.
15:35She said, you have no idea who you're dealing with.
15:37Hmm.
15:38Well, we need to speak to Ginny again.
15:41Colin, I want that out of here.
15:43So sorry.
16:10Sorry.
16:13Did you leave the panel this morning at any point?
16:21I took Arlo outside to change in.
16:23I was gone, like, five minutes?
16:25Yeah.
16:25Six minutes, actually.
16:27We can hear your return on the footage.
16:29I wasn't trying to hide it.
16:31I just forgot.
16:32I'm so sleep deprived, I nearly brushed my teeth with nappy cream this morning.
16:35Did you have an altercation with Brendan prior to the panel?
16:37A small one.
16:40I'd just gotten Arlo to sleep and Brendan bumped into us, woke him up.
16:44You have no idea who you're dealing with.
16:48That sounds like a threat.
16:51Did I say that?
16:52Mm-hmm.
16:53I didn't mean to threaten him.
16:54I'm just on a very short fuse at the moment.
16:56I haven't slept more than a few hours in the three months since we had him.
17:00And we went to so much trouble to have him.
17:03Wasn't smooth sailing.
17:04Putting it lightly.
17:06But he was worth it.
17:09Actually, do you mind?
17:10No.
17:10Oh, hello.
17:14Ooh.
17:15Oh, you're okay.
17:17Yeah.
17:21Must be tough, travelling with a baby.
17:24Wouldn't you rather stay at home?
17:26Oh, no.
17:27Lena's worked so hard to get away from Brendan to focus on her career.
17:30I just want to be as supportive as I can.
17:32Um, get away from him.
17:33I thought he encouraged her.
17:35She'd say that, but back when she was his assistant, she did everything for him.
17:40His cleaning, his research.
17:42These aren't his books for him, the works.
17:46Sorry.
17:47He's a bit of a spewer.
17:53The Brendan Trapmore brand and manuscript?
17:55Oh, gosh.
17:57Inconsistent tenses.
17:58Spelling all over the shop.
18:00And the women?
18:01The characters aren't well-rounded at all.
18:03I mean, they're well-rounded, if you know what I mean.
18:05But their personalities are...
18:07Like you could do better.
18:08Oh, that is uncanny that you should say that, Felix.
18:16The Rocco files sophisticated crime fiction from a mature female perspective.
18:22Now, this little baby, she's ready for her first review.
18:25So, either of you keen to give it a go?
18:29Yeah?
18:31Yeah.
18:32Felix?
18:34Good.
18:34Thank you so much.
18:36I cannot wait to hear your thoughts.
18:39Vickies?
18:40Good on you, Felix.
18:48Whoa!
18:49Watch him.
18:51Oh, come on.
18:53All this space, and they parked this close.
18:55I think that's Miranda's car.
18:59This old bum.
19:00Did you not see her high heels?
19:01That's a week's wages right there.
19:03And that broken heel.
19:04What a waste.
19:05Why do you think it's hers?
19:07Loafers.
19:08Under the steering wheel.
19:10You shouldn't drive a car in stilettos.
19:17Felix?
19:17Oh.
19:19A fight?
19:21Who?
19:22This is you and Brendan.
19:24Now, what else do you guys want?
19:26Shut up!
19:27I swear to God, Brendan.
19:28Oh, what do you feel like?
19:28You're jealous.
19:29You're driving by.
19:30Anyway, Alex Thorne, he comes...
19:32Last year's festival.
19:39Looks like you took a real swing at Brendan there.
19:42Almost took out Lena as well.
19:43Not my finest hour.
19:45What was the fight about?
19:47Brendan harangued Miranda for an advance copy of my book
19:50and decided to use this very public forum to spoil the ending.
19:54But no one was hurt.
19:56I wasn't.
19:57And nothing stopped Brendan when he was in the mood.
19:59He took a fan back to his villa that night.
20:02Probably some poor moon-eyed, aspiring writer who thought he was the real deal.
20:07You're saying he wasn't?
20:08He was very good at selling a certain image.
20:11Especially to people he wanted to sleep with.
20:12Your image is very different, though, isn't it?
20:18I mean, you know, I've read the Alex Thorne novels.
20:22So you said.
20:25What did you think?
20:26Yeah.
20:27I guess the killer in the first one.
20:30When?
20:30Page 20.
20:31Oh, 15.
20:34The serviette.
20:36I mean, where else is the powder going to come from?
20:38Of course.
20:40Well, you should read the new one.
20:41It's out now, and there's a red herring in it that I'm very proud of.
20:44Winning the reader one way so that I don't look the other.
20:47I've improved, Detective.
20:47Well, your sales have, at least.
20:52A huge jump in the last five years since Brendan stopped writing.
20:55Almost as well as Brendan in his prime.
20:57It's not a competition.
20:59So why did you put your book in front of his on the display table this morning?
21:06No idea what you're talking about.
21:08Hmm.
21:09I think you were livid that he was back with a new novel because you knew it would eat into your sales.
21:15It's Brandon, a Johnny Fox mystery.
21:19You're suggesting I killed Brendan over a book.
21:22Not just absurd, impossible.
21:25I was on the panel, on camera, while he was being murdered.
21:32Well, Brendan took his research seriously.
21:35Miranda's financials, absolute shambles.
21:39She's deep in the red with debts everywhere.
21:42Brendan announcing a new Johnny Fox novel must have been very good news for her.
21:46That's a shame he didn't put the same effort into his prose as he did his handwriting.
21:50Funnel webs.
21:52Who are they?
21:53A local bikey gang.
21:54He must have been talking to them about his book.
21:57Hang on.
22:01Huh.
22:03Brendan used biro in all of these.
22:06Until his most recent one.
22:08You switch pens?
22:10Yes.
22:11Huh.
22:13To this rather expensive looking fountain pen.
22:16Going by his journals, he'd never used it before.
22:19A gift, maybe?
22:20I'll chase it up.
22:22Stationery is my thing, so.
22:24Oh.
22:25How did you go with the branded manuscript?
22:26Oh, my God, where do I start?
22:28You know what?
22:28I'll just read it myself.
22:30I'll read myself tonight.
22:31Frankie!
22:44It's not him!
22:46I'm sorry.
22:47Sorry.
22:47How's it branded?
23:02Do we know how Johnny survives being chopped up into a thousand pieces by that propeller in the last book?
23:07No.
23:08All he's said about it is that no helicopter blade is as lethal as the love of a treacherous woman.
23:14He's not wrong.
23:18Frankie?
23:24Snake.
23:25Uh, did he get it?
23:26Was she bitten?
23:27Um.
23:28Oh, Colin, I've got to get out of the vet.
23:32Um, shall I, uh, shall I call Glenn?
23:34No, no, no.
23:35Just, uh, let him enjoy his night.
23:36Okay.
23:45That's actually my body.
23:47I believe that.
23:49I believe that.
23:50All right, team.
23:51The fun bus is arriving out front, so finish your drinks, and let's go!
23:56So, which of the two bars are going to?
23:58Your sticky floor or the other one?
23:59Oh, yeah, you little face.
24:00I know you're better than that.
24:01You're a legend, Cole.
24:03You are the best man.
24:07The night's not started yet.
24:08Let's go, people!
24:12I mean, mate, you've had some knocks lately, but you always come through.
24:17Come on, mate.
24:18All right, let's do it.
24:28How is she?
24:34Uh, um, yeah, they, um, they gave her the anti-bellum, and, um, they've put on an IV trip.
24:41Hi, Sarah.
24:41Mm-hmm.
24:44Hi, Glenn.
24:45Um, uh, they said that we should prepare ourselves.
24:48No change.
25:10Colin told you.
25:16Yeah, I'm glad he did.
25:18I yelled at her earlier.
25:21She was barking and barking.
25:23She was barking at the snake.
25:26She was trying to warn you, Mackle.
25:28Why would you let her go off like that?
25:31No, that's not fair.
25:32No, ever since she was a puppy, she's been running around at Mum's place and at your place.
25:37This was an accident.
25:38This is not my fault.
25:40I'm not saying it's your fault.
25:41I'm saying that since you've come back, these things just keep happening.
25:47What are you talking about?
25:48Come on, Mack.
25:50You know exactly what I'm talking about.
25:52And since you've come home, everything is harder.
25:54Oh, your life, it would just be so much easier if I'd never come back.
25:59Yeah, I guess it would be.
26:00I'm going to go.
26:10Mary, you let me know if there's a change.
26:30How's Frankie?
26:58Um, it could go either way.
27:03Or thing.
27:05Um, how are you?
27:07Colin, can we...
27:09Can we just...
27:12work?
27:17How's Johnny Fox?
27:18Well, he's heartbroken because he found out his lover, Calypso, has found love with someone else because, well, she thought he was dead.
27:25What, fair play to him?
27:26Found love with a woman.
27:30Go on.
27:31Do you know who Calypso is in Greek mythology?
27:34Uh, would it surprise you if I told you I didn't?
27:37The one who conceals.
27:39And she's a mermaid.
27:43A mermaid?
27:43I was in love with him.
27:49I mean, it felt like love, but then everything does when you're 25.
27:52Eventually, I realised that what I really wanted was his approval, which is part of why I had to stop working for him.
28:00To make my own way as a writer and a person.
28:03You were tempted back to him, though, weren't you?
28:10You, you talk quite a lot about giving in to your desires.
28:16Is that what happened last year?
28:18When he took a fan back to his room.
28:21It was a poor, moon-eyed, inspiring writer who thought he was the real deal.
28:26Once, a moment of weakness.
28:33Ginny and I had been going through hell with IVF, and Brendan could be very charismatic.
28:41Ginny doesn't know.
28:42She always said a thing about Brendan.
28:47She thought that he mistreated me when I was his assistant.
28:50Did he?
28:50Maybe.
28:52He was a terrible boss.
28:54But he was an amazing writing teacher.
28:56And now he's dead.
28:58The man who holds a secret that could ruin your relationship.
29:03You're wrong.
29:05Ginny and I went through the ringer to have Arlo.
29:08Years of IVF.
29:09If we can survive that, then me having a one-nighter with Brendan isn't going to make a dent.
29:19You look up to someone for years, they take advantage of you, then sell you out in their book.
29:25Yeah, but would you kill for it?
29:27She's right.
29:28Her and Ginny have been through a lot.
29:30Mackenzie, a little word with you.
29:33Hmm?
29:39Is there any news on Frankie?
29:46Oh, uh, no.
29:48Well, if you need some time off, you need to go to the vet.
29:50Um, they'll update me if anything changes.
29:54Or Glenn.
29:56Glenn, though.
30:00Glenn.
30:00He's very upset about this.
30:05No, he was quiet.
30:10Is everything okay there?
30:14Professionally?
30:15Yeah, of course.
30:17It's fine.
30:18Yeah, of course.
30:22Oh, I love him.
30:24Off you go.
30:24Mm-hmm.
30:24Are you glad I came back?
30:33Am I glad?
30:35Hmm.
30:37Is me being here something that's...
30:41made your life easier?
30:44You mean professionally?
30:46Yes, I do, of course.
30:47Absolutely.
30:48Absolutely.
30:48What about on...
30:55any other level?
31:03Don't you have something that you have to be doing?
31:06Yeah, I do.
31:06Yeah.
31:08Mm-hmm.
31:08Mm-hmm.
31:16What got you there?
31:17Nothing.
31:17No, no.
31:23It's Reggie's book.
31:25I told her I'd give it a read and give her my thoughts.
31:28Is it good?
31:29Good.
31:30Uh, look, not my thing.
31:33Generally, I prefer something a little less...
31:36adult.
31:46Oh, my days.
31:46I mean, people can read and write whatever they want.
31:49Who am I to judge?
31:51But she was my teacher.
31:53Yeah, well, um...
31:54Good luck with that.
31:56Oh, my...
31:57Mia. Enzo, potrei essere tua madre. Si. Allora, se mi dovessi venire in Australia, chiamami. Si. Ciao, ciao.
32:14What a lovely bloke. What? Oh, oh, I've been learning Italian on my phone for the last few months.
32:24I'm on a 200-day streak. Anyway, that was the charming Enzo from the Greste Company in Milano.
32:33That's Milan. That is where Brennan's pen comes from. Expensive? Oh, yeah.
32:40So, why would a killer wanting to sell us a robbery gone wrong leave it behind?
32:43Maybe they didn't know it was expensive. Did, um, Enzo... Enzo. Enzo.
32:51Yep. Did they tell us who bought it? Si.
32:54A company called 43 Global.
32:57And, um, what do they do?
33:00They're Brennan's new publisher.
33:03Signed contract from 43 Global.
33:05A massive media company with exclusive rights to the new Johnny Fox series, starting with, uh, Brennan.
33:11Not just the book.
33:14Film adaptations, television rights, graphic novels, the works.
33:1843 is such sharks. They would have promised him the world.
33:23You knew?
33:25Uh, I had an idea. People talk.
33:28Losing your best-selling author. Tough break for a, uh, struggling publisher.
33:32Money and fame were all that mattered to him. Not loyalty, and sure as hell, not friendship.
33:38Do you know, his first book was rejected nine times before I took it on? I mean, I built him up from nothing, and this is how he repays me.
33:46A writer of brutal crime novels gets brutally murdered. That's a story that guarantees his old bestsellers keep selling for you.
33:54Oh, yeah. I'd kill him, all right. But he was already dead when I found him.
34:03Ah, Brennan. Autopsy results, Ren.
34:11I haven't heard anything. Have you?
34:14No. I'm gonna, um, go there after this.
34:19Ah, autopsy, then.
34:20Fatal wounds to the right lung, and the knife and the blood is a match.
34:26Any prints?
34:27No. No sign of struggle either, which I think I can explain.
34:31Stab wound was what killed him, but I've done a basic toxin, and, well.
34:37There were a lot of drugs in his room.
34:38And he took all of them. He would have been, let's just say, slow.
34:42Yep. That explains why he was stabbed in the chest, but there was no sign of a struggle.
34:48Ahem.
34:49Hmm. Um, his inner, his inner left wrist, was there any branding or scarification?
34:56No. No tattoos, no scars.
34:59But I suppose a tough guy, he didn't have much to show for it.
35:01Right. He had nothing to do with the funnel webs.
35:05He wasn't living Johnny Fox's life.
35:08Doesn't look like it.
35:10But someone was.
35:11What do you want now?
35:23Lena told me about Brendan, if that's why you're here.
35:26It was a dumb mistake that meant nothing.
35:27Actually, we hear about your tattoo.
35:32You've covered it in vine leaves, but it's a funnel web spider, isn't it?
35:35So?
35:36The symbol of the funnel webs bikey gang, right?
35:39Can we please see your wrist?
35:43They call it the exit fee.
35:44Punishment for leaving.
35:48You hold out your arm, grit your teeth, and once it's done, you're free.
35:52When I was working for Brendan, I told him Ginny's story.
35:58Showing off, I suppose.
36:01Wanted him to think that I was cool and dangerous.
36:03I never thought that he'd use it.
36:07So, you knew about Brendan before the announcement?
36:10Well, sort of.
36:13I mean, he rang me, trying to get my permission to use Ginny's story.
36:17I said no.
36:18You have no idea who you're dealing with.
36:20It was a threat.
36:23Yeah.
36:25It was.
36:27And I assumed that was the end of it.
36:30But then he announced it on the panel.
36:32Brandon.
36:33Johnny Fox Mystery.
36:36He didn't even change the name of the gang.
36:39The connection to me is so obvious.
36:43The funnel webs would think you've spoken to Brendan.
36:45Yeah.
36:47And the one thing they don't like is publicity.
36:50You think they'd come after you in Retribution?
36:52I know they would.
36:56It's a pretty good reason to want to take Brendan out of the picture.
36:59Exposing you to danger like that.
37:02I have a dodgy past.
37:04I was born into it.
37:06My dad was in it.
37:07My brothers.
37:07But it was never by choice.
37:09I'm not a killer.
37:10Not even to protect your family?
37:12I'd do anything to protect my family.
37:15But I told him he couldn't use my story and assumed that was it.
37:21You're the only one that had opportunity.
37:24I had a baby strapped to me all day.
37:26I couldn't have killed anyone.
37:30Ginny had good reason to hate Brendan.
37:32Putting her family in danger like that.
37:34And having a thing with Lena.
37:35Lena said Ginny didn't know beforehand.
37:37But maybe she did.
37:39But she only had a six minute window during that Q&A.
37:41Not a lot of time.
37:42And hard to imagine her doing a thing with Arlo there.
37:45Where are we going?
37:46Fruit shop.
37:49Baby Arlo.
37:50Straps.
37:51Wow, impressive skills, Felix.
37:53Yeah, I don't have a world best uncle mug for nothing.
37:56Okay, right.
37:57So, Ginny left the panel at 10.46, back at 10.52.
38:00Mm-hmm.
38:00Ready?
38:01Wow, wow.
38:02Baby crying.
38:03Go.
38:03Oh, no, leave it.
38:14Oh, oh, no, leave him.
38:15Don't pick him up.
38:21I'm Brendan, writing in my notebook with my expensive, beautiful pen.
38:25And stabbed her.
38:29Okay, yep, stop.
38:31And you're back at the panel.
38:33Even if you legged it, you wouldn't have made it.
38:35Then how did it happen?
38:39You dropped your pen.
38:46Which makes sense, doesn't it?
38:50Does it?
38:53If someone attacked you with a knife, you would drop your pen, wouldn't you?
38:56But Brendan didn't.
38:57Maybe he didn't see them.
38:59The killer surprised him.
39:00How could they surprise him when he was stabbed in the chest?
39:02There were no defensive wounds on his body.
39:04It's like he didn't fight back at all.
39:06Why not?
39:08That, um, freeze response?
39:10It happens.
39:12Well, he didn't freeze when Will hit him at last year's Writers Festival.
39:15And it's almost like he didn't see his killer coming at all, but...
39:19He didn't see them.
39:27Because it hadn't happened yet.
39:29What are you doing?
39:44The knife had to go somewhere.
39:49Uh, yeah.
39:50In an evidence bag.
39:50Oh, and this one?
40:02Brendan Trapmore.
40:04Best-selling crime writer.
40:06Murdered in his villa.
40:08But, much like his infamous rogue detective, Johnny Fox,
40:12The story of his murder wasn't what it seemed.
40:17Act one.
40:18Brendan returns to his villa.
40:20Act two.
40:21Lena and Miranda find his body.
40:22But the twist.
40:24Brendan wasn't actually murdered until act three.
40:29Our killer crafted the story of a robbery gone wrong.
40:33The smashed lock on the front door.
40:35The gold chain ripped from his neck.
40:36The bloodied knife on the deck.
40:38But I found some plot holes.
40:41I did.
40:43Including that expensive pen.
40:48Not just a gift from Brendan's new publisher, no.
40:51This pen was the unexpected complication in our killer's plot.
40:56Why would a killer who wanted to sell us a robbery not take it?
41:01I mean, it was such a dead giveaway.
41:03Because you had to leave the scene exactly as it looked when you discovered Brendan's body.
41:11Isn't that right, Lena?
41:17What?
41:17The lock on the front door.
41:19That was easy enough to fudge.
41:20You'd just lead Miranda around the back to see the knife that you'd planted there earlier.
41:24Look!
41:25And you pointed it out to her, setting your scene.
41:30A knife covered in fake blood, just like your hands when you discovered Brendan's body.
41:38It really is just such a lovely shade of red, that lip gloss.
41:42Why would I put a knife there?
41:44To sell the fiction that Brendan had already been stabbed and the fleeing killer had dropped the knife.
41:49A knife Brendan didn't see because he came in through the front door.
41:53So, what other conclusion could there be other than Brendan was dead?
41:57But he was dead.
41:58No, Miranda, he just looked it.
42:01He had fallen down there after struggling to sign his books because he had been drugged by a former assistant who knew his habits.
42:10All you had to do was slip a mix of the barbiturates and sedatives that he had on him into his whiskey before the panel.
42:16You knew that he never went to the Q&A, but he would go back for his usual smoke and drink.
42:28When the drugs took effect, Brendan tried to stand to get help or to get to his bed.
42:35I don't know, but the important thing is he was holding that pen when he slid to the floor and fell unconscious.
42:42Which brings me to the note.
42:48Ginny said, as his assistant, you did everything for Brendan.
42:50She signed his books for him, the works.
42:52It's a pretty good copy of Brendan's handwriting.
42:55Can you slip me this note?
43:00Why would I do that?
43:01Invite myself and Miranda there to make sure you had a witness.
43:04Someone to say Brendan was dead when you found him.
43:10And then when Miranda left to call the police, it's when you took your chance.
43:20And then you quickly staged the scene to look like a robbery.
43:24Smashing the lock.
43:27Ripping the chain.
43:28Lifting his wallet.
43:29But you couldn't take that pen.
43:31Miranda had already seen it.
43:32Robbery scene set.
43:37You swapped the real murder weapon for the knife covered in your lip gloss that you had planted there earlier.
43:43Then there was only one thing left to do.
43:46Drop the decoy knife down the drain.
43:48The same drain that Miranda broke her designer heel on.
43:52Your prints were all over it, Lena.
43:58Brendan Trappmore put your family at risk.
44:02From the funnel webs.
44:05But as it so happens, you put your family at risk in more ways than one.
44:12As we all know, in Greek mythology, Calypso...
44:16A mermaid whose name translates as she who conceals.
44:20I had a one-night stand.
44:22I had a one-night stand.
44:23So what?
44:24With Brendan at this venue at last year's festival, that's what.
44:28That is how you knew there was no phone reception in Brendan's villa and Miranda would need to leave to call the police.
44:34Giving you your chance to shut him up for good.
44:37Why would she do that?
44:48In your room we found...
44:50Lactation medication.
44:53To help Ginny breastfeed.
44:54Because you're Arlo's birth mother.
44:58Aren't you Lena, not Ginny?
45:02Fine.
45:04I did the IVF.
45:05I carried Arlo.
45:06Ginny breastfeeds.
45:07That doesn't prove anything.
45:08Are you going to tell her?
45:13Or am I?
45:21Arlo is Brendan's son.
45:26No.
45:28No, that's not possible.
45:30Conceived a year ago at last year's Writers' Festival.
45:33It's three months old, isn't it?
45:36You can't prove that.
45:37I already have.
45:39Sorry.
45:40He's a bit of a skewer.
45:43The DNA's a match.
45:45Brendan was Arlo's father.
45:47You knew he would hold that over you forever.
45:50You knew that even though you and Ginny have survived so much,
45:54that was the one threat that could break your family apart.
46:00After everything we've been through...
46:02I couldn't risk losing our family.
46:06I couldn't.
46:07And now you have.
46:16Lena Shaw, you're under arrest for murder of Brendan Tratton.
46:19Please.
46:20Please.
46:21You don't have to say or do anything.
46:25But anything you do say or do, maybe use it.
46:28Thanks.
46:28Oh, no.
46:43No.
46:43Stealing someone else's story.
46:45I am all for artistic inspiration, but my writing comes from my own life.
46:50The real storytelling is about going deep into your own experiences.
46:56So your imagination and maybe your fantasies, yeah?
47:00And then spinning a yarn out of that.
47:02You know what I mean, Felix?
47:03Yeah.
47:04How did you go with the Rocco files there?
47:06Yeah, Felix.
47:07How did you go with the Rocco files?
47:08Uh, very, uh, interesting.
47:13Love?
47:14Very interesting.
47:15Would only get you a four out of ten for a book report in my class.
47:19You can do better than that.
47:23Look, I just don't think it was quite for me.
47:26Ah, so you don't like well-plotted with complex characters and he gently touches her...
47:35Oh, no.
47:37Oh.
47:38Oh.
47:40Oh.
47:42I gave you the wrong one.
47:44I didn't mean to give you...
47:46This is not crime fiction at all.
47:50No, it's not.
47:51It's like a personal story, a, uh, an exploration.
47:57Yeah, I got that part.
47:58You actually read it?
47:59Well, most of it.
48:01I had to stop myself at the hot tub bit.
48:03You should have kept going.
48:04That's where the narrative really reaches its climax.
48:07Wow.
48:08Power of literature.
48:09Oh.
48:10Speaking of power, huh?
48:13I still have the real Rocco files here, if anybody's keen, Cole.
48:17I've got, uh, uh, ju-ju-jitsu.
48:21Uh, same.
48:22Uh, I mean, I have, uh, uh, washing.
48:25Washing?
48:26Overdue for the eye check.
48:27Everything's a little bit, uh, blurry.
48:30Blurry.
48:35Always an excellent student, that one.
48:38Oh, Frankie!
48:40Hello.
48:41Hello.
48:45She's not supposed to run.
48:47You're not supposed to run.
48:49Oh, you're such a naughty girl.
48:52Well, you want to see her the moment she got out?
48:56Oh.
48:59So, um, well, she's going to be okay?
49:02Yeah.
49:02Keep an eye on her, keep her fluids up, and she should be fine.
49:05Oh.
49:07Oh, you're so clever.
49:08And make sure you keep her out of it.
49:09Yeah, keep her out of the garden?
49:10Yeah.
49:11Ooh, I know.
49:11Okay.
49:11Look, at the vet last night, it was a really stressful situation.
49:20Yeah.
49:20I might have said some things about it being easier if you weren't here.
49:27She's okay.
49:29Yeah, she's okay.
49:31So, uh, we're good to do the box?
49:34Like, properly this time?
49:35We must.
49:36Uh, sorry, I interrupted.
49:39You finish what you're saying, and, uh, we'll go.
49:42Uh, nothing important.
49:43Just to say, it's not true.
49:49What's not true?
49:52Uh, that, um, that once a dog is bitten by a snake, it's immune.
49:58Right.
50:00It's not true.
50:00And, uh, it's a myth, and it is a dangerous one.
50:06Lesson learned.
50:08We're good to go?
50:09Got to get this box in the road.
50:10Wedding's only around the corner.
50:14All right, let's do it.
50:16See you, Mac.
50:26Professional?
50:27Always.
50:30Always.
50:32May.
50:45Wow.
50:46Bop.
50:46Ballet.
50:48Bye.
50:53Bye.
50:55Bye.
50:58Bye.
50:59Bye.
50:59Bye.
51:00Bye.
51:00Bye.
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