- 19 hours ago
Return.to.Paradise.2024.S02E05
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00:00Don't forget the celebrant.
00:02I won't forget the celebrant.
00:03And then no turning back.
00:05I don't want to turn back.
00:06You're the best.
00:07Cheers.
00:08The best man.
00:10You're choking him.
00:11Oh, brilliant!
00:13I've got to get cracking on a box note.
00:17I've not been running out of air.
00:18Let's get on the floor.
00:20Let's get on the floor.
00:21Let's get down here, okay?
00:25Hello?
00:26Hello?
00:27You should probably take Frankie.
00:29Permanently.
00:30So she's not pulled between two people.
00:42Well, I dismember them with a rusty old circular saw.
00:46I mean, yeah.
00:48One of those serrated blade jobbies, you know.
00:51Really fire it up.
00:52Start with their arms and legs.
00:54Me!
00:57Crime fiction bestseller, Brendan Trapmore, starting our festival with a bang.
01:05Um, Bill Pereira, author of the critically acclaimed Alex Thorne Mysteries.
01:10Yeah!
01:11What's your perfect murder?
01:13If I had to choose, it would be something silent, untraceable.
01:17Boredom to death?
01:19I was going to suggest the pillow over the face.
01:22Leave no evidence.
01:23Almost foolproof.
01:24Gripping staff.
01:25Lina.
01:26Yes?
01:27You had us all gasping for breath with the latest installment of your mermaid-themed romantic
01:34series, The Siren's Conch.
01:38How would you do away with your victim?
01:40Well, murder isn't something that I turn my mind to very often.
01:44I think that my readers prefer drowning in desire.
01:54Brendan, you've always said that when you're writing Johnny Fox, you had to live his life.
02:01Wasn't it dangerous, immersing yourself in the criminal underworld?
02:04I mean, there's no other way to get inside a story.
02:07That's why Johnny Fox feels so real.
02:11What about Lina's work?
02:13Do you expect her to breathe underwater or to commune with Poseidon for her, um...
02:18Sorry, what's the genre again, Lina?
02:20It's mermaid smut.
02:23Romanticy.
02:25I think that the true appeal of my work is the celebration of women unashamedly owning
02:31and satisfying their desires.
02:35Maybe the idea of a satisfied woman is foreign to you, Brendan.
02:40Well, in the words of Johnny Fox, there's nothing as lethal as a woman's love.
02:46But hey, you know, whatever floats your boat.
02:50I mean, who cares if the critics call it thinly disguised pornography?
02:54Well, they also called your novels Airport Pulp, as I recall.
02:59Oh, there you go. Well, here's your latest review.
03:02Aren't you officially...
03:03Retired?
03:05Writer's block?
03:06Wrong.
03:08Coming soon, my new novel.
03:11Branded a Johnny Fox mystery.
03:14A bikie gang is cutting a murderous swathe across the country, leaving a slew of bodies in their wake, each victim branded on their wrist.
03:27Please tell me you didn't brand yourself.
03:29I told you, I gotta live Johnny Fox's life.
03:33Okay, but you killed him off in your last book. He's dead.
03:37It's gonna take more than death to stop Johnny Fox.
03:39So, just, if you could, we just, we haven't even started the Q&A.
03:48Yeah, make yourself useful.
03:49We have questions.
03:50We have questions.
03:51We have questions.
03:54Okay, well, I'm his publisher, ladies and gentlemen, and not even I knew about that one.
03:59And that was our last question. Please thank our panelists, Lena Shaw, Will Pereira, and who knows where he's gone, Brendan Trutmore.
04:13Um, don't miss our next panel, Wave of Hormones, Coastal YA.
04:34We need to talk.
04:36He slipped me this before the panel started. Summoned.
04:38Whiskey and cigars with my girls after the panel. Good. Because he's got some explaining to do.
04:50You were brilliant. I'm gonna go find a quiet place for this one.
04:55I love you.
04:56I love you too.
04:57I love you.
05:07Did you really not know about Brendan's new book?
05:09He wasn't a guaranteed bestseller. I'd kill him.
05:15Brendan, you owe me details.
05:22Look!
05:23Brendan?
05:27It's tremendous.
05:28It's amazing.
05:29Don't ask him quite if you remember him now.
05:30You're wasting time getting non-human in
05:54Blimey, Brendan Trapmore.
06:10I read three of his Johnny Fox books on the plane back from the UK once.
06:13Big mistake.
06:14Oh yeah, they're terrible.
06:15Oh, I couldn't put them down.
06:16Didn't sleep a wink.
06:18Brutality.
06:21Guest access only?
06:24Do we have a list of who was staying here?
06:29The only other ones that checked in were the two panellists and the moderator.
06:32Okay.
06:33Reggie, can you tap off the area and Felix get statements from all the attendees?
06:37Yeah, sure.
06:38I'll be done.
06:43Killer dropped the knife then.
06:45Looks like it.
06:47Oh, Glenn.
06:49We're already here.
06:50Morning, Maya.
06:54Stab went to the upper chest.
06:58Any defense wounds?
07:00Not that I can see, no.
07:06A writer who died with his pen in his hand.
07:09How poetic.
07:10The patch means death.
07:28A Johnny Fox mystery.
07:29That is absolutely savage.
07:32There's a scene in there with a pillowcase full of broken glass.
07:35Gave me nightmares.
07:38Branded.
07:38The new Johnny Fox?
07:42Get him!
07:43Get him!
07:56The few bits of broken gold chain.
07:59Someone must have ripped the chamber around his neck.
08:02Mm-hmm.
08:02Did you check his pockets?
08:04Was there a wallet?
08:05Nothing in there.
08:05A broken gold chain.
08:08No wallet.
08:09Signs of forced entry here.
08:12Robbery gone wrong?
08:13Brendan came in through the back, didn't see them.
08:15They got startled.
08:18He's still holding his pen, so clearly he was at the desk signing when the killer came in.
08:22The intruder broke the lock on the front door with, with what, with what, with that.
08:34Oh.
08:34Oh.
08:35Oh.
08:44But it's already unlocked.
08:47It's nibbed to the right, so...
08:49So why smash it?
08:50Unless you wanted it to look like a robbery gone wrong, a horrible accident with no premeditation.
09:03Huh.
09:03The killer didn't exit through the front door.
09:06They dropped the knife here as they left.
09:12We're surrounded by cliffs.
09:14There's only one way in.
09:15The guest only gate.
09:17So the killer had to be a salon with access.
09:19Mm-hmm.
09:20How's Frankie?
09:27Yeah, driving me nuts.
09:29Barking at every surfer that walks past.
09:32She misses you.
09:36Take her for a run if you wanted to.
09:38I think a claim breaks easier.
09:45Victims are walking pharmacy.
09:47Bathroom is full of prescription drugs.
09:49We'll get them tested.
09:50Hey, don't work too late.
09:52You've got to be at the surf club for seven.
09:55Our box night.
09:56Our box.
09:57It's going to be debauchery and chaos.
10:00I've, uh...
10:01I booked a magician.
10:08Glenn.
10:10Mackenzie.
10:10So, uh, so, so, who found the body?
10:25Miranda East.
10:26I'm Brendan's publisher.
10:28I was, um, hosting the panel for Brendan and my other writers, Will Pereira and Lena here.
10:34The panel was from ten till eleven a.m.?
10:37Yes, but Brendan, um, walked out early, about ten-thirty.
10:42Not for the first time, either.
10:43He hates the Q&A.
10:44We have questions.
10:45We have questions.
10:47Typical Brendan.
10:48Made his big announcement and then waltzed off.
10:51What was this announcement?
10:52His first book in five years, branded.
10:55But the manuscript was in his room.
10:56Oh, so it exists.
10:58Hmm.
10:58Shouldn't his publisher know about his new novel?
11:02Well, you would think.
11:03Um, I had no idea it was even happening.
11:06He, uh, sprung it on us while we were on the panel.
11:09Loved to keep me and everyone on their toes.
11:11Nightmare, really.
11:12Hmm.
11:12Sounds like he was quite difficult to work with.
11:15No, no, not at all.
11:17I mean, he could be a bit erratic.
11:21You knew him pretty well?
11:22I used to be his assistant.
11:24But Brendan, um, always encouraged me to write.
11:29Even when I didn't know what I was doing, he saw something in me.
11:34So Brendan left the panel.
11:36The rest of you stayed for the Q&A.
11:39Why, why go to his villa afterwards?
11:42Oh, he, uh, he slipped me this note.
11:48Whiskey and cigars with my girls after the panel B.
11:52With my girls.
11:55Hmm.
11:56I know.
11:57Only slightly patronising.
11:59What happened when you got there?
12:01Um, so we, we went inside and he was, um,
12:07you know, covered in blood.
12:10Still holding his pen.
12:12And I, um, I tried to call the police,
12:14but I couldn't get any reception at the villa,
12:17so I had to run back out.
12:19In those.
12:20I broke a hill on a stupid drain.
12:26Do you know if Brendan had any enemies at all?
12:29Well, according to him,
12:31he had enemies baying for his blood
12:33from Hobart to Cape York.
12:36What about today?
12:37Anyone suspicious in the audience?
12:40Ginny would have noticed.
12:43My wife.
12:44She was filming the panel.
12:45I'll introduce you.
12:48No, no one's us.
12:59Just your usual book festival crowd.
13:02And you were at the panel the whole time?
13:04Yeah.
13:05Did you see anyone following Brendan when he left?
13:09Arlo was grizzling.
13:10I was trying to film it.
13:11We'll meet the footage.
13:12Yeah, I'll send it when I get a chance.
13:14Now.
13:15Please.
13:17Fine.
13:18But my camera's in the room.
13:26When Miranda left, what did you do?
13:31Well, I was right behind her.
13:32That's when we ran into Will.
13:35Brendan's dead.
13:36He was coming up the path.
13:56Will Pereira.
13:57Sorry, I'm not signing anything right now.
13:59Oh, I was so hoping you could make one out
14:02to Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clark.
14:04Hello, Detective Sergeant.
14:09Was he really stabbed?
14:10Miranda said something about a knife.
14:11Yeah, but perhaps if I ask the questions.
14:14Of course.
14:17When did you last see Brendan?
14:18When he walked off.
14:20And you didn't leave the panel at all?
14:22No.
14:23What about after the Q&A?
14:25I signed some books and then headed back to my villa.
14:28Where did you bump into Miranda and Lena?
14:30In the garden.
14:30They were very shaken.
14:32I told them not to go back into Brendan's villa.
14:35Why?
14:36Well, they'd already disturbed the crime scene once.
14:38Not great for forensics if they kept going back in.
14:42Expert, are you?
14:43Not Detective.
14:44I've read a lot of crime novels.
14:46I know the basics.
14:48I've read them.
14:49You don't?
14:50Ah, yes.
15:01Now, this is interesting.
15:02I wonder who did the cover art.
15:05Now, that one, that's boring.
15:09Hang on.
15:11Hmm?
15:12Hmm.
15:14Hmm.
15:14Yeah.
15:16Yeah.
15:18A copy of Will's book has been placed in front of all of Brendan's.
15:21Hmm.
15:22So, nobody's reported a robbery or anything suspicious.
15:26Staff accounted for.
15:27They were all at a meeting.
15:28Nowhere near the villas.
15:29I just got to chase up a couple, but they'll get back to me soon.
15:32Who else had access?
15:34Ah, just the four people on the panel.
15:35Ah, and Ginny, who was filming.
15:38One of them must have snuck out.
15:40Doesn't look like it.
15:41I've just skimmed through Ginny's footage.
15:43They're present the whole time.
15:47Brendan surprises everyone with the announcement of a new book.
15:51And then, 35 minutes later, he's dead.
15:55One of the enemies that Miranda and Lena mentioned?
15:58They couldn't have got in.
16:01The only people who could have killed Brendan had guest access,
16:04and they were all on that panel.
16:06I saw them on the footage.
16:08It's impossible.
16:09But somehow, it's not.
16:20Lena Shaw, author of mermaid-themed erotica, what are we calling it?
16:26Er, romantic-y.
16:28Yeah, not my thing.
16:29Romance, absolutely bedelves in theories.
16:31Yeah, no thanks.
16:34Okay.
16:34Uh, she is the former assistant to Brendan, Miranda East, his publisher,
16:39and Will Pereira, who's, uh, yes, another crime fiction author.
16:45Uh, yes, that is the panel.
16:48And then Ginny Shaw, Lena's wife, she was filming the whole thing.
16:52Mm-hmm.
16:52You just, um, can I, why, what, what?
16:56Oh, it's for the books.
17:00Has that been any brushed?
17:01No, it has not.
17:03Mackenzie?
17:04I've been reviewing the footage from the panel, and...
17:07Oh, Will is no fan of Brendan, I can tell you that.
17:09But listen to this.
17:12My heroine, Elka, is based on myself.
17:14She's more of a combination...
17:15Is that a baby guy?
17:17Ah, uh, Lena and Ginny's baby, uh...
17:19Oh, it's getting fainter.
17:26Ginny said she was at the panel the whole time,
17:28but it sounds like she left with the baby.
17:31Wait, I also just got an email from one of the staff that left early.
17:35He said he saw Brendan arguing with a woman holding a baby before the panel.
17:39She said, you have no idea who you're dealing with.
17:42Hmm.
17:43Well, we need to speak to Ginny again.
17:46Colin, I want that out of here.
17:51Oh.
18:13Ah.
18:14So sorry.
18:25Did you leave the panel this morning at any point?
18:28I took Arlo outside to change in.
18:30I was gone, like, five minutes?
18:32Yeah.
18:33Six minutes, actually.
18:34We can hear your return on the footage.
18:37I wasn't trying to hide it.
18:38I just forgot.
18:39I'm so sleep-deprived, I nearly brushed my teeth with nappy cream this morning.
18:43Did you have an altercation with Brendan prior to the panel?
18:46A small one.
18:48I'd just gotten Arlo to sleep and Brendan bumped into us, woke him up.
18:51You have no idea who you're dealing with.
18:55That sounds like a threat.
18:59Did I say that?
19:00Mm-hmm.
19:01I didn't mean to threaten him.
19:03I'm just on a very short fuse at the moment.
19:06I haven't slept more than a few hours in the three months since we had him.
19:09And we went to so much trouble to have him.
19:12Wasn't smooth sailing.
19:14Putting it lightly.
19:16But he was worth it.
19:19Actually, do you mind?
19:20No.
19:20Oh, hello.
19:24Oh.
19:25You're okay.
19:27Yeah.
19:31Must be tough, travelling with a baby.
19:34Wouldn't you rather stay at home?
19:36Oh, no.
19:37Lena's worked so hard to get away from Brendan to focus on her career.
19:40I just want to be as supportive as I can.
19:42Um, get away from him?
19:44I thought he encouraged her.
19:46She'd say that, but back when she was his assistant,
19:49she did everything for him.
19:52His cleaning, his research,
19:54signed his books for him, the works.
19:57Sorry.
19:58He's a bit of a spewer.
20:04The Brendan Trapmore brand and manuscript?
20:07Oh, gosh.
20:09Inconsistent tenses.
20:10Spelling all over the shop.
20:12And the women?
20:13The characters aren't well-rounded at all.
20:15I mean, they're well-rounded, if you know what I mean.
20:18But their personalities are...
20:19like you could do better.
20:21That is uncanny that you should say that, Felix.
20:28The Rocco files sophisticated crime fiction
20:33from a mature female perspective.
20:36Now, this little baby, she's ready for her first review.
20:39So either of you keen to give it a go?
20:41Yeah?
20:45Yeah.
20:47Felix!
20:47Good.
20:48Thank you so much.
20:50I cannot wait to hear your thoughts.
20:53Vickies?
20:54Good on you, Felix.
21:02Whoa!
21:04Watch him.
21:04Oh, come on.
21:08All this space, and they parked this close.
21:12I think that's Miranda's car.
21:14This old bomb.
21:15Did you not see her high heels?
21:16That's a week's wages right there.
21:18And that broken heel.
21:19What a waste.
21:20Why do you think it's hers?
21:23Loafers.
21:23Under the steering wheel.
21:24Well, you shouldn't drive a car in stilettos.
21:32Felix.
21:35A fight.
21:37Who?
21:38This is you and Brendan.
21:40Now, what else can I ask for?
21:42Shut up!
21:43I swear to God, Brendan.
21:44Oh, what big fella?
21:45Don't jealous.
21:46Hey, turn it back.
21:47Hey, look.
21:47Alex Thorne, he comes...
21:49Last year's festival.
21:56Looks like he took a real swing at Brendan there.
21:59Almost took out Lena as well.
22:01Not my finest hour.
22:02What was the fight about?
22:04Brendan harangued Miranda for an advance copy of my book,
22:08and decided to use this very public forum to spoil the ending.
22:12But no one was hurt.
22:14I wasn't.
22:15And nothing stopped Brendan when he was in the mood.
22:17He took a fan back to his villa that night.
22:20Probably some poor, moon-eyed, aspiring writer who thought he was the real deal.
22:25You're saying he wasn't?
22:27He was very good at selling a certain image.
22:29Especially to people he wanted to sleep with.
22:33Your image is very different, though, isn't it?
22:37I mean, you know, I've read the Alex Thorne novels.
22:42So you said.
22:44What did you think?
22:46Yeah.
22:46I guess the killer in the first one.
22:49When?
22:50Page 20.
22:51Oh, 15.
22:53The serviette.
22:55I mean, where else is the powder going to come from?
22:58Of course.
23:00Well, you should read the new one.
23:01It's out now, and there's a red herring in it that I'm very proud of.
23:04Winning the reader one way so they don't look the other.
23:07I've improved, detective.
23:08Well, your sales have, at least.
23:12A huge jump in the last five years since Brendan stopped writing.
23:16Almost as well as Brendan in his prime.
23:18It's not a competition.
23:19So why did you put your book in front of his on the display table this morning?
23:23No idea what you're talking about.
23:29Hmm.
23:30I think you were livid that he was back with a new novel because you knew it would eat into your sales.
23:37Brandon.
23:38The Johnny Fox mystery.
23:40You're suggesting I killed Brendan over a book.
23:44Not just absurd.
23:46Impossible.
23:47I was on the panel, on camera, while he was being murdered.
23:55Well, Brendan took his research seriously.
23:58Miranda's financials?
24:00Absolute shambles.
24:02She's deep in the red with debts.
24:04Everywhere.
24:05Brendan announcing a new Johnny Fox novel must have been very good news for her.
24:09That's a shame he didn't put the same effort into his prose as he did his handwriting.
24:14Funnel whips.
24:15Who are they?
24:16A local bikey gang.
24:18He must have been talking to them about his book.
24:21Hang on.
24:25Ah.
24:27Brendan used biro in all of these.
24:30Until his most recent one.
24:33He switched patterns?
24:34Yes.
24:35Ah.
24:36To this rather expensive looking fountain pen.
24:41Going by his journals, he'd never used it before.
24:44A gift, maybe?
24:45I'll chase it up.
24:47Stationery is my thing, so...
24:49Oh.
24:50How did you go with the branded manuscript?
24:52Oh, my God, where do I start?
24:53You know what?
24:54I'm just...
24:54I'll just read it myself.
24:56All right.
24:56I'll read it myself tonight.
24:57Frankie!
25:11It's not him!
25:13I'm sorry.
25:14Sorry.
25:14How's branded?
25:29Do we know how Johnny survives being chopped up into a thousand pieces by that propeller in the last book?
25:34No.
25:35All he's said about it is that no helicopter blade is as lethal as the love of a treacherous woman.
25:42He's not wrong.
25:46Frankie?
25:52Snake.
25:53Uh, did it get her?
25:55Was she bitten?
25:56Um.
25:56Oh, Colin, I've got to get her with a vet.
26:01Um, shall I, uh, shall I call Glenn?
26:03No, no, no.
26:04Just, uh, let him enjoy his night.
26:05Come on.
26:15That's actually my body first dropped onto his head.
26:18I believe that.
26:18I believe that.
26:20All right, team.
26:21The fun bus is arriving out front, so finish your drinks and let's go!
26:24So, which of the two bars are going?
26:27Is it your sticky floor or the other one?
26:29Oh, yeah, you little faith.
26:30I know you're better than that.
26:31You're a legend, Cole.
26:33You are the best man.
26:37The night's not started yet.
26:39Let's go, people!
26:43I'll meet him, mate.
26:44You've had some knocks lately, but you always come through.
26:48Come on, guys.
26:49All right, let's do it.
26:54How is she?
27:06Uh, um, yeah, they, um, they gave her the antiviral, and, um, they've put on an IV trip.
27:13Hi, Sarah.
27:14Mm-hmm.
27:14Yeah.
27:16Oh, Glenn.
27:17Um, uh, they said that we should prepare ourselves.
27:21No change.
27:43No change.
27:44Mm.
27:48Colin told you.
27:50Yeah, I'm glad he did.
27:52I yelled at her earlier.
27:55She was barking and barking.
27:57She was barking at the snake.
28:00She was trying to warn you, Mac, or...
28:03Why would you let her go off like that?
28:05No, that's not fair.
28:08No, ever since she was a puppy, she's been running around at Mum's place and at your place.
28:12This was an accident.
28:13This is not my fault.
28:15I'm not saying it's your fault.
28:16I'm saying that since you've come back, these things, they just keep happening.
28:22What are you talking about?
28:24Come on, Mac.
28:25You know exactly what I'm talking about.
28:28And since you've come home, everything is harder.
28:30Oh, your life, it would just be so much easier if I'd never come back.
28:35Yeah, I guess it would be.
28:38Uh-huh.
28:42I'm gonna go.
28:47Yeah, you let me know if there's a change.
28:48I'm gonna go.
29:18How's Frankie?
29:38Um, it could go either way.
29:42Or thing.
29:44Um, how are you?
29:47Holland, can we?
29:48Can we just...
29:51work?
29:56How's Johnny Fox?
29:58Well, he's heartbroken because he found out his lover, Calypso, has found love with someone else because, well, she thought he was dead.
30:05What, fair play to her?
30:06Found love...
30:08with a woman.
30:11Go on.
30:12Do you know who Calypso is in Greek mythology?
30:14Uh, would it surprise you if I told you I didn't?
30:17The one who conceals.
30:19The one who conceals.
30:20And...
30:21she's a mermaid.
30:24A mermaid?
30:25I was in love with him.
30:30I mean, it felt like love.
30:32But then everything does when you're 25.
30:34Eventually, I realised that what I really wanted was his approval.
30:38Which is part of why I had to stop working for him.
30:42To make my own way.
30:43As a writer.
30:45And a person.
30:47You were tempted back to him though, weren't you?
30:52You...
30:53You talk...
30:54quite a lot about...
30:56giving in to your desires.
30:59Is that what happened last year?
31:02When he took a fan back to his room?
31:04With a poor, moon-eyed, aspiring writer who thought he was the real deal.
31:12Once.
31:14A moment of weakness.
31:17Ginny and I had been going through hell with IVF.
31:19And Brendan could be very...
31:22charismatic.
31:25Ginny doesn't know.
31:29She always had a thing about Brendan.
31:31She thought that he mistreated me when I was his assistant.
31:34Did he?
31:35Maybe.
31:36He was a terrible boss.
31:38But...
31:39he was an amazing writing teacher.
31:41And now he's dead.
31:43The man who holds a secret that could ruin your relationship.
31:48You're wrong.
31:50Ginny and I went through the ringer to have Arlo.
31:53Years of IVF.
31:55If we can survive that,
31:57then me having a one-nighter with Brendan isn't gonna make a dint.
32:05You look up to someone for years,
32:07they take advantage of you,
32:09then sell you out in their book.
32:11Yeah, but would you kill for it?
32:13She's right, her and Ginny have been through a lot.
32:16Mackenzie, a little word with you.
32:18Hmm?
32:31Is there any news on Frankie?
32:33Oh, uh, no.
32:34Well, if you need some time off, you need to go to the vet.
32:38Um...
32:40They'll update me if anything changes.
32:42Or...
32:43Or Glenn.
32:44Glenn, though.
32:47Glenn.
32:51He's very upset about this.
32:53You know, he was quiet.
32:56Is everything okay there?
33:01Professionally?
33:04Yeah, of course.
33:06It's fine.
33:07Yeah.
33:08Of course.
33:12Oh, well then.
33:13Off you go.
33:17Uh, are you glad I came back?
33:19Am I glad?
33:24Hmm.
33:28Is me being here something that's...
33:31made your life easier?
33:34You mean professionally?
33:36Yes, I do, of course.
33:38Absolutely.
33:44What about on...
33:46any other level?
33:49Don't you have something...
33:55that you have to be doing?
33:56Yeah.
33:57I do.
33:58Yeah.
33:59Mm-mm.
34:08Why are you two there?
34:09Nothing.
34:10No.
34:15It's Reggie's book.
34:16I told her I'd give it a read and give her my thoughts.
34:20Is it good?
34:21Good.
34:23Uh, look...
34:24not my thing.
34:26Generally, I prefer something a little less...
34:29adult.
34:30Oh, my days.
34:31I mean, people can read and write whatever they want.
34:32Who am I to judge?
34:33But she was my teacher.
34:34Yeah, well, um...
34:36Good luck with that.
34:37Oh, my days.
34:38I mean, people can read and write whatever they want.
34:42Who am I to judge?
34:44But she was my teacher.
34:46Yeah, well, um...
34:48Good luck with that.
34:49Good luck with that.
34:50Mamma mia!
34:53Enzo!
34:54Potrei essere tua madre!
34:57Si!
34:59Allora, se ma dovessi venire in Australia, chiamami.
35:04Si.
35:06Ciao, ciao!
35:07What a lovely bloke.
35:13What?
35:16Oh, oh, I've been learning Italian on my phone for the last few months.
35:20I'm on a 200-day streak.
35:22Anyway, that was the charming Enzo from the Greste Company in Milano.
35:29That's Milan.
35:30That is where Brennan's pen comes from.
35:33Expensive?
35:34Ooh, yeah.
35:36So, why would a killer wanting to sell us a robbery gone wrong leave it behind?
35:40Maybe they didn't always explain it.
35:43Uh, did, um...
35:45Enzo...
35:47Enzo.
35:48Enzo.
35:49Yep. Did they tell us who bought it?
35:50Si!
35:51A company called 43 Global.
35:54And, uh, what do they do?
35:57They're Brennan's new publisher.
36:00Signed contract from 43 Global.
36:02A massive media company with exclusive rights to the new Johnny Fox series.
36:07Starting with, uh, Branded.
36:09Not just the book.
36:11Film adaptations, television rights, graphic novels, the works.
36:1743 such sharks they would have promised him the world.
36:21You knew.
36:22Uh, I had an idea. People talk.
36:26Losing your best-selling author.
36:28Tough break for a, uh, struggling publisher.
36:31Money and fame were all that mattered to him.
36:34Not loyalty and sure as hell, not friendship.
36:37Do you know, his first book was rejected nine times before I took it on?
36:41I mean, I built him up from nothing and this is how he repays me.
36:46Writer of brutal crime novels gets brutally murdered.
36:50That's a story that guarantees his old best-sellers keep selling for you.
36:54Oh, yeah. I'd kill him alright.
36:57But he was already dead when I found him.
36:58Uh, Glenn.
37:05Autopsy results are in.
37:12I haven't heard anything. Have you?
37:15No.
37:17I'm gonna, um, go there after this.
37:20Uh, autopsy then.
37:23Fatal wounds of the right lung and the knife and the blood is a match.
37:28Any prints?
37:29No. No sign of struggle either.
37:31Which I think I can explain.
37:33Stab wound was what killed him.
37:35But I've done a basic tox and...
37:37Well.
37:39There were a lot of drugs in his room.
37:40And he took all of them.
37:42He would have been, let's just say, slow.
37:44Yep.
37:45That explains why he was stabbed in the chest.
37:47But there was no sign of a struggle.
37:52Um, his inner...
37:55His inner left wrist.
37:56Was there any...
37:57Branding or scarification?
37:59No.
38:00No tattoos, no scars.
38:01But I suppose a tough guy, he didn't have much to show for it.
38:05Right.
38:06He had nothing to do with the funnel webs.
38:08He wasn't living Johnny Fox's life.
38:11Doesn't look like it.
38:14But someone was.
38:15What do you want now?
38:27Lena told me about Brendan if that's why you're here.
38:30It was a dumb mistake that meant nothing.
38:32Actually, we hear about your tattoo.
38:33You've covered it in vine leaves, but it's a funnel web spider, isn't it?
38:40So?
38:42The symbol of the funnel webs bikey gang, right?
38:45Can we please see your wrist?
38:48They call it the exit fee.
38:51Punishment for leaving.
38:53You hold out your arm, grit your teeth, and once it's done, you're free.
39:00When I was working for Brendan, I told him Ginny's story.
39:04Showing off, I suppose.
39:06Wanted him to think that I was cool and dangerous.
39:10I never thought that he'd use it.
39:12So, you knew about Brendan before the announcement?
39:17Well, sort of.
39:19I mean, he rang me, trying to get my permission to use Ginny's story.
39:24I said no.
39:26You have no idea who you're dealing with.
39:28It was a threat.
39:30Yeah.
39:32It was.
39:34And I assumed that was the end of it.
39:37But then he announced it on the panel.
39:40Brandon.
39:42Johnny Fox mystery.
39:44He didn't even change the name of the gang.
39:47The connection to me is so obvious.
39:51The funnel webs would think you've spoken to Brendan.
39:54Yeah.
39:56And the one thing they don't like is publicity.
39:59You think they'd come after you in retribution?
40:01I know they would.
40:04It's a pretty good reason to want to take Brendan out of the picture.
40:07Exposing you to danger like that.
40:11I have a dodgy past.
40:13I was born into it.
40:15My dad was in it.
40:16My brothers.
40:17But it was never by choice.
40:18I'm not a killer.
40:20Not even to protect your family?
40:22I'd do anything to protect my family.
40:24But I told him he couldn't use my story and assumed that was it.
40:27You're the only one that had opportunity.
40:29I had a baby strapped to me all day.
40:31I couldn't have killed anyone.
40:32Ginny had good reason to hate Brendan, putting her family in danger like that.
40:36And having a thing with Lena.
40:38Lena said Ginny didn't know beforehand, but maybe she did.
40:40But she only had a six minute window during that Q&A. Not a lot of time.
40:41And hard to imagine her doing a thing with Arlo there.
40:43Where are we going?
40:45Fruit shop.
40:47Baby Arlo.
40:49Straps.
40:50Wow.
40:51Impressive skills, Felix.
40:52Yeah, I don't have a world best uncle mug for nothing.
40:53Okay, right.
40:54So, Ginny left the panel at 10.46, back at 10.52.
40:55Mm-hmm.
40:56Ready?
40:57Wow, wow.
40:58Baby crying.
40:59Go!
41:20Oh, no, I'm leaving.
41:21Don't pick him up.
41:23I'm Brendan, writing in my notebook with my expensive, useful pen.
41:39And stabbed him.
41:43Okay, yep, stop.
41:45And you're back at the panel.
41:47Even if you legged it, you wouldn't have made it.
41:48Then how did it happen?
41:53You...
41:57You dropped your pen.
42:01Which makes sense, doesn't it?
42:04Uh, does it?
42:08If someone attacked you with a knife, you would drop your pen, wouldn't you?
42:10But Brendan didn't.
42:12Maybe he didn't see them, the killer surprised him.
42:15How could they surprise him when he was stabbed in the chest?
42:17There were no defensive wounds on his body.
42:19It's like he didn't fight back at all.
42:21Why not?
42:23Um...
42:24Freeze response?
42:25It happens.
42:26Well, he didn't freeze when Will hit him at last year's writers festival.
42:31And...
42:32It's almost like he didn't see his killer coming at all, but...
42:34He didn't see them.
42:43Because it hadn't happened yet.
42:44Because it hadn't happened yet.
42:53Here we go.
43:00What are you doing?
43:01The knife had to go... somewhere.
43:04Uh...
43:05Yeah.
43:06In an evidence pack.
43:07Uh...
43:08Yeah.
43:09In an evidence pack.
43:11Ooh.
43:12And this one?
43:13Brendan Trapmore.
43:14Best-selling crime writer.
43:15Murdered in his...
43:16Villa.
43:17But...
43:18Much like his infamous rogue detective...
43:19Johnny Fox.
43:20The story of his murder...
43:21Wasn't what it seemed.
43:22Act 1.
43:23Brendan returns to his villa.
43:24Act 2.
43:25Lena and Miranda find his body.
43:26But...
43:27The twist.
43:28Brendan wasn't actually murdered until...
43:29Act 3.
43:32Our killer crafted the story of a robbery gone wrong.
43:36The smashed lock on the front door.
43:38The smashed lock on the front door.
43:40The blade they were thrown into the ground.
43:42And with the...
43:43The underside of the knife.
43:46The murder of the pain...
43:48Our killer crafted the story of a robbery gone wrong, the smashed lock on the front door, the gold chain ripped from his neck, the bloodied knife on the deck.
43:58But I found some plot holes. I did.
44:04Including that expensive pen.
44:09Not just a gift from Brendan's new publisher, no.
44:12This pen was the unexpected complication in our killer's plot.
44:16Why would a killer who wanted to sell us a robbery not take it when it was such a dead giveaway?
44:27Because you had to leave the scene exactly as it looked when you discovered Brendan's body. Isn't that right, Lena?
44:39What?
44:39The lock on the front door, that was easy enough to fudge. You'd just lead Miranda around the back to see the knife that you'd planted there earlier.
44:47Look!
44:49And you pointed it out to her, setting your scene.
44:52A knife covered in fake blood, just like your hands when you discovered Brendan's body.
45:01It really is just such a lovely shade of red, that lip gloss.
45:05Why would I put a knife there?
45:07To sell the fiction that Brendan had already been stabbed and the fleeing killer had dropped the knife.
45:13A knife Brendan didn't see because he came in through the front door.
45:17So, what other conclusion could there be other than Brendan was dead?
45:21But he was dead.
45:22No, Miranda, he just looked it.
45:25He had fallen down there after struggling to sign his books because he had been drugged by a former assistant who knew his habits.
45:30All you had to do was slip a mix of the barbiturates and sedatives that he had on him into his whiskey before the panel.
45:41You knew that he never went to the Q&A, but he would go back for his usual smoke and drink.
45:49When the drugs took effect, Brendan tried to stand to get help or to get to his bed.
46:00I don't know, but the important thing is he was holding that pen when he slid to the floor and fell unconscious.
46:10Which brings me to the note.
46:14Ginny said as his assistant, you did everything for Brendan.
46:17She signed his books for him, the works.
46:19It's a pretty good copy of Brendan's handwriting.
46:22This would be this note.
46:27Why would I do that?
46:28Invite myself and Miranda there to make sure you had a witness.
46:33Someone to say Brendan was dead when you found him.
46:37And then when Miranda left to call the police, that's when you took your chance.
46:42And then you quickly staged the scene to look like a robbery, smashing the lock, ripping the chain, lifting his wallet.
46:57But you couldn't take that pen.
47:00Miranda had already seen it.
47:01Robbery scene set.
47:05You swapped the real murder weapon for the knife covered in your lip gloss that you had planted there earlier.
47:13Then there was only one thing left to do.
47:15Drop the decoy knife down the drain.
47:17The same drain that Miranda broke her designer heel on.
47:22Your prints were all over it, Lena.
47:28Brendan Trappmore put your family at risk from the funnel webs.
47:33But as it so happens, he put your family at risk in more ways than one.
47:42As we all know, in Greek mythology, Calypso...
47:47A mermaid whose name translates as she who conceals.
47:52I had a one-night stand.
47:54So what?
47:55With Brendan at this venue at last year's festival, that's what.
47:59That is how you knew there was no phone reception in Brendan's villa and Miranda would need to leave to call the police.
48:05Giving you your chance to shut him up for good.
48:10Why would she do that?
48:20In your room we found...
48:23Lactation medication.
48:25To help Ginny breastfeed.
48:27Because you're Arlo's birth mother.
48:31Aren't you, Lena? Not Ginny.
48:36Fine.
48:37I did the IVF. I carried Arlo. Ginny breastfeeds.
48:41That doesn't prove anything.
48:45Are you going to tell her?
48:47Or am I?
48:55Arlo is Brendan's son.
48:57Oh.
49:01No.
49:02No, that's not possible.
49:05Conceived a year ago at last year's Writers' Festival.
49:08He's three months old, isn't he?
49:11You can't prove that.
49:12I already have.
49:14Sorry.
49:15He's a bit of a skewer.
49:18The DNA's a match.
49:20Brendan was Arlo's father.
49:21You knew he would hold that over you forever.
49:26You knew that even though you and Ginny have survived so much,
49:30that was the one threat that could break your family apart.
49:36After everything we've been through...
49:39I couldn't risk losing our family.
49:42I couldn't.
49:44It's all gone.
49:45And now you have?
49:46Yes.
49:53Lena Shaw, you're under arrest for murder.
49:55Brendan.
49:56Please.
49:57Please.
49:58You don't have to say or do anything, but anything you do say or do, maybe use it at least.
50:06Oh, no.
50:21No.
50:22Stealing someone else's story.
50:23I am all for artistic inspiration, but my writing comes from my own life.
50:29The real storytelling is about going deep into your own experiences.
50:35So your imagination and maybe your fantasies, yeah?
50:39And then spinning a yarn out of that.
50:41You know what I mean, Felix?
50:42Yeah.
50:43How did you go with the Rocco files there?
50:46Yeah, Felix.
50:46How did you go with the Rocco files?
50:48Uh, very, uh, interesting.
50:53Love, very interesting.
50:55Would only get you a four out of ten for a book report in my class.
50:59You can do better than that.
51:00Mm.
51:01Look, I just, I don't think it was quite for me.
51:07Ah.
51:08So you don't like well-plotted with complex characters and he gently touches her...
51:16Oh, no.
51:18Oh.
51:19Oh.
51:19Oh.
51:19I gave you the wrong one.
51:25I didn't mean to give you...
51:27This is not crime fiction at all.
51:31No, it's not.
51:33It's like a personal story.
51:35A, uh, an exploration.
51:39Yeah, I got that part.
51:40You actually read it?
51:41Well, most of it.
51:43I had to stop myself at the hot tub bit.
51:45You should have kept going.
51:46That's where the narrative really reaches its climax.
51:49Wow.
51:50Power of literature.
51:52Oh.
51:53Speaking of power, huh?
51:55I still have the real Rocco files here.
51:59If anybody's keen, Cole.
52:01I've got, uh, uh, ju-jitsu.
52:04Uh, same.
52:05Uh, I mean, I have, uh, washing.
52:08Washing?
52:09Overdue for the eye check.
52:11And everything's a little bit, uh, blurry.
52:13Blurry.
52:14Always an excellent student, that one.
52:22Oh, Frankie!
52:24Hello!
52:25Oh, look at this.
52:29She's not supposed to run.
52:32You're not supposed to run.
52:34You're such a naughty girl.
52:36What do you want to see her the moment she got out?
52:40Oh.
52:41So, um, what, she's going to be okay?
52:47Yeah.
52:48Keep an eye on her.
52:48Keep her fluids up.
52:49And she should be fine.
52:51Oh.
52:52Oh, you're so clever.
52:53And make sure you keep her out of the...
52:54Yeah, keep her out of the garden?
52:56Yeah.
52:56Ooh, I know.
52:59Look.
52:59Look, at the vet last night, it was a really stressful situation.
53:06Yeah.
53:09I might have said some things about it being easier if you weren't here.
53:14She's okay.
53:15Yeah, she's okay.
53:17So, uh, we're good to do the box?
53:20Like, properly this time?
53:22Uh, we must.
53:24Uh, sorry, I interrupted.
53:26You finish what you're saying and, uh, we'll go.
53:29Uh, nothing important.
53:30Just to say...
53:32It's not true.
53:36What's not true?
53:37Uh, um, that once a dog is bitten by a snake, it's immune.
53:46Right.
53:48It's not true.
53:49And, uh, it's a myth.
53:51And it is a dangerous one.
53:54Lesson learned.
53:56We're good to go?
53:57Got to get this box in the road.
53:58Wedding's only around the corner.
54:02All right, let's do it.
54:05See you, mate.
54:07Professional?
54:17Always.
54:17is welcome to uh daisy and glenn's wedding awkward no you look don't panic everyone
54:41contact poison the chances are the killer is still here stop police you're in a criminal
54:47conspiracy with her not a crime yes yes it is i think everyone's having a really good time you
54:52know the foot i found on the beach she's a bit annoying though glenn and daisy are more than
54:57a couple to me they're the family that found me and make me feel at home if there are no objections
55:04i will proceed
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