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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.
00:17You're not gonna run 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.
01:11What's your perfect murder?
01:13If I had to choose, it would be something silent, untraceable.
01:17Boredom to death?
01:20I was going to suggest the pillow over the face.
01:22Leaves no evidence.
01:23Almost foolproof.
01:24Gripping stuff.
01:26Lina, you had us all gasping for breath with the latest installment of your mermaid-themed
01:33romanticy series, The Siren's Conch.
01:37How would you do away with your victim?
01:40Well, murder isn't something that I turn my mind to very often.
01:43I think that my readers prefer drowning in desire.
01:54Brendan, you've always said that when you're writing Johnny Foxx, 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 Foxx feels so real.
02:11What about Leena'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, Leena?
02:20It's mermaid smut.
02:23Romanticy.
02:25I think that the true appeal of my work is the celebration of women unashamedly owning and satisfying their desires.
02:35Maybe the idea of a satisfied woman is foreign to you, Brendan.
02:40Well, in the words of Johnny Foxx, 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 Foxx 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.
03:26Please tell me you didn't brand yourself.
03:28I told you, I gotta live Johnny Foxx's life.
03:32Okay, but you killed him off in your last book. He's dead.
03:36It's gonna take more than death to stop Johnny Foxx.
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.
03:51Okay, well, I'm his publisher, ladies and gentlemen, and not even I knew about that one.
04:00And 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.
04:49You were brilliant. I'm gonna go find a quiet place for this one.
04:54I love you.
04:55I love you too.
04:56I love you too.
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.
05:17Look! Brendan?
05:28He's dead!
05:29He's dead!
05:30Oh!
05:31Oh!
05:33Oh!
05:42Oh!
05:51Yeah, wow!
05:54Oh-ô-oh!
05:56No!
05:57Blimey, 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.
06:27Do 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 do that.
06:43Killer dropped the knife then.
06:45Looks like it.
06:47Oh, Glenn.
06:49We're already here.
06:50Morning, Maya.
06:50Stab went to the upper chest.
06:58Any defence 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.
07:27A 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.
07:40The new Johnny Fox.
07:42Get him.
07:56It's a few bits of broken gold chain.
07:59Someone must have ripped the chain from around his neck.
08:02Mm-hmm.
08:03Did 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.
08:14Didn'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.
08:34It's already unlocked.
08:46It's nipped to the right, so why smash it?
08:50Unless you wanted it to look like a robbery gone wrong.
08:57A horrible accident with no premeditation.
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.
09:16So the killer had to be a someone with access.
09:19Mm-hmm.
09:24How'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.
09:39I think a claim breaks easier.
09:45Victims are walking pharmacy.
09:46Bathroom 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...
10:00I booked a magician.
10:07Glenn.
10:08McKenzie.
10:10McKenzie.
10:18Uh, 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.
10:35The panel was from 10 till 11 a.m.?
10:37Yes, but Brendan, um, walked out early, about 10.30.
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.
10:50What 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.
10:59Shouldn'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?
11:23I 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,
12:05you know, covered in blood, still holding his pen.
12:11And I, um, I tried to call the police, but I couldn't get any reception at the villa,
12:17so I, uh, I had to run back up.
12:19In those?
12:21I broke a heel on my stupid drain.
12:26Do you know if Brendan had any enemies at all?
12:29Well, according to him, he had enemies baying for his blood from Hobart to Cape York.
12:35What about today?
12:37Anyone suspicious in the audience?
12:40Ginny would have noticed.
12:43My wife.
12:44She was filming the panel.
12:47I'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.
13:06Did 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.
13:13Yeah, I'll send it when I get a chance.
13:14Now.
13:15Please.
13:17Fine.
13:17But my camera's in the room.
13:26Oh.
13:28When 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.
13:37He was coming up the path.
13:47Will Perera.
13:57Sorry, I'm not signing anything right now.
13:59Oh, I was so hoping you could make one out to Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Clark.
14:05Hello.
14:06Detective Sergeant.
14:06Was he really stabbed?
14:10Miranda said something about a knife.
14:11Yeah, but perhaps if I ask the questions?
14:14Of course.
14:14When 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?
14:35Well, 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?
14:59Ah, 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?
15:13Hmm.
15:14Hmm.
15:15Ah.
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've just got to chase up a couple, but they'll get back to me soon.
15:32Who else had access?
15:33Ah, 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.
15:50And 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.
16:09Yet somehow, it's not.
16:20Lena Shaw, author of mermaid-themed erotica.
16:26What are we calling it?
16:26Er, romantic-y.
16:28Yeah, not my thing.
16:29Romance, absolutely.
16:30Bedell was in theories.
16:31Yeah, no thanks.
16:33Okay.
16:34She is the former assistant to Brendan,
16:37Miranda East, his publisher,
16:39and Will Pereira,
16:42who's, yes, another crime fiction author.
16:46Yes, that is the panel.
16:48And then Ginny Shaw, Lena's wife,
16:51she was filming the whole thing.
16:52Mm-hmm.
16:52Just, um, can I, why, what, what?
16:56Oh.
16:58It's for the books.
17:00Has that been airbrushed?
17:01No, it has not.
17:03Mackenzie?
17:04I've been reviewing the footage from the panel,
17:06and Will is no fan of Brendan, I can tell you that.
17:09But listen to this.
17:12My heroine, Elka, isn't based on myself.
17:14She's more of a combination.
17:16Is that a baby guy?
17:17Ah, uh, Lena and Ginny's baby.
17:19Fucking Arlo.
17:24Oh, 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.
17:30Wait, I also just got an email
17:32from one of the staff that left early.
17:35He said he saw Brendan arguing
17:37with a woman holding a baby before the panel.
17:39She said,
17:40you have no idea who you're dealing with.
17:42Hmm.
17:43Well, we need to speak to Ginny again.
17:46Colin,
17:47I want that out of here.
17:51Oh.
17:51So sorry.
18:17Did 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.
18:40I'm so sleep-deprived,
18:40I nearly brushed my teeth with nappy cream this morning.
18:42Did you have an altercation with Brendan prior to the panel?
18:46A small one.
18:48I'd just gotten Arlo to sleep
18:49and Brendan bumped into us, woke him up.
18:53You have no idea who you're dealing with.
18:56That 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
19:07in the three months since we had him.
19:08And we went to so much trouble to have him.
19:12Wasn't smooth sailing.
19:14Putting it lightly.
19:15But he was worth it.
19:18Actually, do you mind?
19:20No.
19:22Oh, hello.
19:24Oh, you'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
19:39to 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,
19:47but 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.
19:58Sorry.
19:58He's a bit of a spewer.
19:59The 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,
20:17if 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.
20:23The Rocco files sophisticated crime fiction
20:33from a mature female perspective.
20:36Now, this little baby,
20:37she's ready for her first review.
20:39So, either of you keen to give it a go?
20:43Yeah?
20:45Yeah.
20:46Felix!
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.
21:06Oh, come on.
21:08All this space,
21:08and 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.
21:26You shouldn't drive a car in stilettos.
21:33Felix.
21:35A fight.
21:37Who?
21:38This is you and Brandon.
21:40Now, what else do you guys want?
21:42Shut up!
21:43I swear to God, Brandon.
21:44Or what, big fella?
21:45You're jealous.
21:46It's been driving, mate.
21:47Anyway, Alex Thorne, he comes...
21:49Last year's festival.
21:56Looks like he took a real swing at Brandon there.
21:59Almost took out Lena as well.
22:01Not my finest hour.
22:02What was the fight about?
22:04Brandon harangued Miranda for an advance copy of my book
22:07and 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 Brandon 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.
22:31Your 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.
23:09Well, your sales have, at least.
23:12A huge jump in the last five years since Brandon stopped writing.
23:15Almost as well as Brandon and his prime.
23:18It's not a competition.
23:20So why did you put your book in front of his on the display table this morning?
23:27No 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.
23:39A Johnny Fox mystery.
23:41You're suggesting I killed Brandon over a book.
23:43Not just absurd.
23:46Impossible.
23:47I was on the panel, on camera, while he was being murdered.
23:55Well, Brandon took his research seriously.
23:58Miranda's financials?
24:00Absolute shambles.
24:02She's deep in the red with debts.
24:04Everywhere.
24:05Brandon 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 webs.
24:15Who are they?
24:16A local bikey gang.
24:18He must have been talking to them about his book.
24:21Hang on.
24:21Ah.
24:27Brandon used biro in all of these.
24:30Until his most recent one.
24:33He switched pens?
24:34Yes.
24:35Ah.
24:37To this rather expensive looking fountain pen.
24:41Going by his journals, he'd never used it before.
24:44A gift, maybe?
24:46I'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.
24:52Where do I start?
24:53You know what?
24:54I'm just...
24:54I'll just read it myself.
24:56I'll read it myself tonight.
24:57Okay.
25:09Frankie!
25:11It's not him!
25:13I'm sorry.
25:15How's Brandon?
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 said about it is that no helicopter blade is as lethal as the love of a treacherous woman.
25:42He's not wrong.
25:42Frankie?
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.
26:05Okay.
26:05That's actually my body, folks, dropped on to his head.
26:17I believe that.
26:18I believe that.
26:19All right, team.
26:20The fun bus is arriving out front, so finish your drinks and let's go!
26:24Yeah!
26:24Oh, man!
26:25So, which of the two bars are going to?
26:27Your sticky floor or the other?
26:29Oh, yeah, little faith.
26:30I know you're better than that.
26:31You're a legend, Cole.
26:33You are the best man!
26:35Oh, 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.
26:50How is she?
27:06Uh, uh, yeah, they, um, they gave her the antiviral, and, um, they've put on an IV trip.
27:13Hi, Sarah.
27:13Mm-hmm.
27:16Oh, Glenn.
27:17Um, uh, they said that we should prepare.
27:20For ourselves.
27:43No change.
27:48Colin told you.
27:50Yeah, I'm glad he did.
27:53I yelled at her earlier.
27:55She was barking and barking.
27:57She was barking at the snake.
28:00She was trying to warn you, Mack.
28:02Well...
28:02Why 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, isn't it 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 just keep happening.
28:22What are you talking about?
28:24Come on, Mack.
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.
28:43Mary, you let me know if there's a change.
29:08Mm-mm.
29:13How's Frankie?
29:38Um, it could go either way.
29:40Or thing.
29:44Um, how, uh, you?
29:47Harlan, can we...
29:49Can we just...
29:52work?
29:57How's Donnie 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.
30:10Go on.
30:12Do you know who Calypso is in Greek mythology?
30:15Uh, would it surprise you if I told you I didn't?
30:18The one who conceals.
30:20And she's a mermaid.
30:24A mermaid?
30:25I was in love with him.
30:26I mean, it felt like love, but then everything does when you're 25.
30:34Eventually, I realised that what I really wanted was his approval, which is part of why I had to stop working for him, to make my own way as a writer and a person.
30:46You were tempted back to him, though, weren't you?
30:49You talk quite a lot about giving in to your desires, is that what happened last year?
31:01When he took a fan back to his room.
31:04With some poor moon-eyed, aspiring writer who thought he was the real deal.
31:09Once, a moment of weakness.
31:14Jinny and I had been going through hell with IVF, and Brendan could be very...charismatic.
31:21Jinny doesn't know.
31:23She always had a thing about Brendan.
31:25She thought that he mistreated me when I was his assistant.
31:29Did he?
31:30Maybe.
31:31He was a terrible boss.
31:32But he was an amazing writing teacher.
31:33And now he's dead.
31:34The man who holds a secret that could ruin your relationship.
31:38You're wrong.
31:39Jinny and I went through the ringer to have Arlo.
31:42Years of IVF.
31:43If we can survive that, then me having a one-nighter with Brendan isn't a great deal.
31:48You're wrong.
31:50Jinny and I went through the ringer to have Arlo.
31:53Years of IVF.
31:54If we can survive that, then me having a one-nighter with Brendan isn't a great deal.
31:58But Brendan isn't going to make a dent.
32:05You look up to someone for years.
32:07They take advantage of you, then sell you out in their book.
32:11Yeah, but would you kill for it?
32:13She's right.
32:14Her and Jinny have been through a lot.
32:16Mackenzie, a little word with you.
32:19Hmm?
32:28Is there any news on Frankie?
32:33Oh, uh, no.
32:35Well, if you need some time off, you need to go to the vet.
32:38Um...
32:39They'll update me if anything changes.
32:41Or...
32:42Or Glen.
32:43Glen, though.
32:44Oh...
32:45Glen.
32:46He's very upset about this.
32:49Yeah, he was quiet.
32:51Is everything okay there?
32:52Professionally?
32:53Yeah, of course.
32:54It's fine.
32:55Yeah.
32:56Of course.
32:57Oh, well then.
32:58Off you go.
32:59Mm-hmm.
33:00Uh, are you glad I came back?
33:01Am I glad?
33:02Hmm.
33:03Is me being here something that's...
33:04I don't know.
33:05It's okay there?
33:06Professionally?
33:07Yeah, of course.
33:08It's fine.
33:09Yeah.
33:10Of course.
33:11Oh, well then.
33:12Off you go.
33:13Mm-hmm.
33:14Uh, are you glad I came back?
33:18Am I glad?
33:19Hmm.
33:20Is me being here something that's...
33:23I'm glad.
33:24Hmm.
33:25Is me being here something that's...
33:29made your life easier?
33:33You mean professionally?
33:35Yes, I do, of course.
33:37Absolutely.
33:39What about on...
33:45any other level?
33:54Don't you have something that you hope you're doing?
33:56Yeah, I do.
33:57Yep.
33:58What are you all to there?
33:59Nothing.
34:00Nothing.
34:01Nothing.
34:02Nothing.
34:03It's Reggie's book.
34:04I told her I'd give it a read and give her my thoughts.
34:05Is it good?
34:06Good.
34:07Uh, look.
34:08Not my thing.
34:09Generally, I prefer something a little less...
34:10Adult.
34:11Oh, my days.
34:12Oh, my days.
34:13I mean...
34:14Oh, my days.
34:15People can read and write whatever they want.
34:16Who am I to judge?
34:17But she was my teacher.
34:18Yeah, well, um...
34:19Yeah, well, um...
34:20Good luck with that.
34:21Good.
34:22Mamma mia.
34:23Mamma mia.
34:24Enzo.
34:25Patrice.
34:26Patrice.
34:27Is it your mother?
34:28Is it your mother?
34:29Is it your mother?
34:30Is it your mother?
34:31Yes.
34:32Yes.
34:33So, if I had to come to Australia...
34:34Oh, my days.
34:35Oh, my days.
34:36I mean, people can read and write whatever they want.
34:39Who am I to judge?
34:40But she was my teacher.
34:41Yeah, well, um...
34:42Good luck with that.
34:43Mamma mia.
34:44Enzo.
34:45Patrice.
34:46Is it your mother?
34:47Yes.
34:48Good luck with that.
34:49Good luck with that.
34:50Mamma mia.
34:51Enzo.
34:52And you could be your mother, yes?
34:56So, if I should want to come to Australia, call me.
35:00Yes.
35:01Hi, hi.
35:02What a lovely bloke.
35:11What?
35:15Oh, oh, I've been learning Italian on my phone for the last few months.
35:19I'm on a 200-day streak.
35:21Anyway, that was the charming Enzo from the Greste Company in Milano.
35:28That's Milan. That is where Brennan's pen comes from.
35:31Expensive?
35:33Ooh, yeah.
35:35So why would a killer wanting to sell us a robbery gone wrong leave it behind?
35:39Maybe they didn't always expensive.
35:41Did Enzo...
35:45Enzo.
35:46Enzo.
35:48Yep. Did they tell us who bought it?
35:50See? A company called 43 Global.
35:53And what do they do?
35:56They're Brennan's new publisher.
35:59Signed contract from 43 Global.
36:02A massive media company with exclusive rights to the new Johnny Fox series,
36:07starting with Branded.
36:08Not just the book.
36:10Film adaptations, television rights, graphic novels, the works.
36:1643 such sharks they would have promised him the world.
36:20You knew.
36:22I had an idea. People talk.
36:25Losing your best-selling author.
36:27Tough break for a struggling publisher.
36:30Money and fame were all that mattered to him. Not loyalty and sure as hell, not friendship.
36:36Do you know his first book was rejected nine times before I took it on?
36:42I built him up from nothing and this is how he repays me.
36:45A writer of brutal crime novels gets brutally murdered.
36:49That's a story that guarantees his old bestsellers keep selling for you.
36:53Oh yeah. I'd kill him alright.
36:55But he was already dead when I found him.
37:03Ah, Glenn.
37:05Autopsy results are in.
37:07I haven't heard anything. Have you?
37:13No. I'm gonna go there after this.
37:19Ah, autopsy then.
37:21Fatal wound to the right lung and the knife and the blood is a match.
37:27Any prints?
37:28No. No sign of struggle either.
37:30Which I think I can explain.
37:32Stabbed wound was what killed him.
37:34But I've done a basic tox and...
37:37Well.
37:38There were a lot of drugs in his room.
37:40And he took all of them.
37:41He would have been, let's just say, slow.
37:44Yep. That explains why he was stabbed in the chest.
37:46But there was no sign of a struggle.
37:52Um, his inner...
37:54His inner left wrist, was there any branding or scarification?
37:58No. No tattoos, no scars.
38:01But I suppose a tough guy, he didn't have much to show for it.
38:04Right.
38:05He had nothing to do with the funnel webs.
38:07He wasn't living Johnny Fox's life.
38:10Doesn't look like it.
38:13But someone was.
38:25What do you want now?
38:27Lena told me about Brendan, if that's why you're here.
38:29It was a dumb mistake that meant nothing.
38:31Actually, we hear about your tattoo.
38:36You've covered it in vine leaves, but it's a funnel web spider, isn't it?
38:40So?
38:41The symbol of the funnel webs bikey gang, right?
38:44Can we please see your wrist?
38:47They call it the exit fee.
38:51Punishment for leaving.
38:53You hold out your arm, cut 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.
39:09I never thought that he'd use it.
39:13So, you knew about Brendan before the announcement?
39:16Well, sort of.
39:19I mean, he rang me, trying to get my permission to use Ginny's story.
39:24I said no.
39:25You have no idea who you're dealing with.
39:27It 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.
39:39Branded.
39:41Johnny Fox mystery.
39:43Yeah.
39:44He didn't even change the name of the gang.
39:46The connection to me is so obvious.
39:50The funnel webs would think you've spoken to Brendan.
39:53Yeah.
39:55And the one thing they don't like is publicity.
39:58You 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.
40:08Exposing 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.
40:19Not even to protect your family?
40:21I'd do anything to protect my family.
40:25But I told him he couldn't use my story and assumed that was it.
40:31You're the only one that had opportunity.
40:34I had a baby strapped to me all day.
40:36I couldn't have killed anyone.
40:40Ginny had good reason to hate Brendan.
40:42Putting her family in danger like that.
40:44And having a thing with Lena.
40:46Lena said Ginny didn't know beforehand but...
40:49Maybe she did.
40:50But she only had a six minute window during that Q&A.
40:52Not a lot of time.
40:53And hard to imagine her doing a thing with Arlo there.
40:56Where are we going?
40:57Fruit shop.
41:00Baby Arlo.
41:01Straps.
41:03Impressive skills, Felix.
41:05I don't have a world's best uncle mug for nothing.
41:08Okay, right.
41:09So, Ginny left the panel at 10.46, back at 10.52.
41:12Ready?
41:13Wow, wow.
41:14Baby crying.
41:15Go!
41:18Oh, no, leave him.
41:19Oh, no, leave him.
41:20Don't pick him up.
41:21I'm Brendan, writing in my notebook with my expensive, beautiful pen.
41:38And stabbed him.
41:39Okay, yep.
41:40Stop.
41:41And you're back at the panel.
41:42Even if you legged it, you wouldn't have made it.
41:43Then how did it happen?
41:44You...
41:45You...
41:46You dropped your pen.
41:47Which makes sense, doesn't it?
41:49Does it?
41:50Uh, does it?
41:51If someone attacked you with a knife, you would drop your pen, wouldn't you?
41:53But Brendan didn't.
41:54Maybe he didn't see them.
41:55The killer surprised him.
41:56How could they surprise him?
41:57How could they surprise him when he was stabbed in the chest?
41:58There were no defensive wounds on his body.
41:59It's like he didn't fight back at all.
42:00Why not?
42:01That, um, freeze response.
42:03It happens.
42:04Well, he didn't freeze when Will hit him at last year's writers' festival.
42:30festival and it's almost like he didn't see his killer coming at all but
42:35he didn't see them because it hadn't happened yet
43:00what are you doing the knife had to go somewhere uh yeah in an evidence bag
43:12and this one
43:20brendan trapmore best-selling crime writer murdered in his villa but much like his infamous rogue
43:29detective johnny fox the story of his murder wasn't what it seemed act one brendan returns to
43:38his villa act two lena and miranda find his body but the twist brendan wasn't actually murdered until
43:46act three our killer crafted the story of a robbery gone wrong the smashed lock on the front door the
43:55gold chain ripped from his neck the bloodied knife on the deck but i i found some plot holes i did
44:04including that expensive pen
44:09not just a gift from brendan's new publisher no this pen was the unexpected complication in our killer's
44:15plot why would a killer who wanted to sell us a robbery not take it when it was such a dead giveaway
44:25oh because you had to leave the scene exactly as it looked when you discovered brendan's body
44:33isn't that right lena
44:39what the lock on the front door that was easy enough to fudge you just lead miranda around the
44:43back to see the knife that you planted there earlier
44:45look and you pointed it out to her setting your scene a knife covered in fake blood just like your
44:56hands when you discovered brendan's body it really is just such a lovely shade of red that lip gloss
45:05why would i put a knife there to sell the fiction that brendan had already been stabbed and the fleeing
45:12knife a knife brendan didn't see because he came in through the front door so what other conclusion
45:18could there be other than brendan was dead but he was dead no miranda he just looked it he had fallen
45:25down there after struggling to sign his books because he had been drugged by a former assistant who knew
45:30his habits all you had to do was slip a mix of the barbiturates and sedatives that he had on him into
45:39his whiskey before the panel you knew that he never went to the q a but he would go back for his usual
45:48smoke and drink
45:54when the drugs took effect brendan tried to stand to uh get help or to get to his bed i don't know but
46:01the important thing is he was holding that pen when he slid to the floor and fell unconscious
46:10which brings me to the note
46:11jenny said as his assistant you did everything for brendan she signed his books for him the works
46:19it's a pretty good copy of brendan's handwriting
46:22you slip me this note
46:27why would i do that invite myself and miranda there to make sure you had a witness
46:33someone to say brendan was dead when you found him and then when miranda left to call the police
46:40that's when you took your chance
46:48and then you quickly staged the scene to look like a robbery smashing the lock
46:55ripping the chain lifting his wallet but you couldn't take that pen miranda had already seen it
47:04robbery scene set you swap the real murder weapon
47:08for the knife covered in your lip gloss that you had planted there earlier
47:13then there was only one thing left to do drop the decoy knife down the drain the same drain
47:18that miranda broke her designer heel on your prints were all over it lena
47:28brendan trapmore put your family at risk
47:31risk from the funnel webs but as it so happens he put your family at risk in more ways than one
47:43as we all know in greek mythology calypso
47:47a mermaid whose name translates as she who conceals i had a one night stand so what with brendan at this
47:56venue at last year's festival that's what that is how you knew there was no phone reception in brendan's
48:02villa and miranda would need to leave to call the police giving you your chance to shut him up for good
48:08in your room we found lactation medication to help jenny breastfeed
48:27because you're arlo's birth mother aren't you lena not jenny
48:36fine i did the ivf i carried arlo jenny breastfeeds that doesn't prove anything
48:42are you gonna tell her where am i
48:55arlo is brendan's son
49:01no no that's not possible conceived a year ago at last year's writers festival
49:08it's three months old isn't he you can't prove that i already have sorry he's a bit of a skewer
49:18the dna's a match brendan was arlo's father you knew he would hold that over you forever
49:26you knew that even though you and jenny have survived so much that was the one threat that
49:31could break your family apart after everything we've been through i couldn't risk losing our
49:41family i couldn't and now you have
49:46yes
49:53lena shaw you're under arrest for murder brendan
50:01you don't have to say or do anything but anything you do say or do maybe you used to it
50:16don't have to figure out what you're doing
50:20oh no no no stealing someone else's story i am all for artistic inspiration but my writing comes
50:27from my own life the real storytelling is about going deep into your own experiences so your
50:35imagination and maybe your fantasies yeah and then spinning a yarn out of that you know what i mean
50:41Felix? Yeah. How did you go with the Rocco files there? Yeah Felix, how did you go with the Rocco
50:47files? Very interesting. Love, very interesting. We'd only get you a four out of ten for a book
50:57report in my class. You can do better than that. Look, I just don't think it was quite for me.
51:06Ah, so you don't like well-plotted with complex characters and he gently touches her. Oh no.
51:23I gave you the wrong one. I didn't mean to give you this. This is not crime fiction at all.
51:31No, it's not. It's like a personal story. An exploration. Yeah, I got that part.
51:40You actually read it? Or most of it. I had to stop myself at the hot tub bit.
51:45You should have kept going. That's where the narrative really reaches its climax.
51:49Wow. Power of literature. Oh, speaking of power. I still have the real Rocco files here. If anybody's
51:59keen call. I've got a jujitsu. Same. I mean, I have a washing.
52:08Washing. Overdue for the eye check. Everything's a little bit blurry. Blurry.
52:14Always an excellent student, that one. Oh, Frankie. Hello.
52:29She's not supposed to run. You're not supposed to run. You're such a naughty girl.
52:35All you want to see her the moment she got out. Oh.
52:44So, um, what, she's going to be okay? Yeah. Keep an eye on her. Keep her fluids up and
52:49she should be fine. Oh. Oh, you're so clever. And make sure you keep her out of it.
52:54Yeah, keep her out of the garden? Yeah. Oh, I know.
52:57Look, 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.
53:13She's okay. Yeah, she's okay.
53:17So, uh, we're good to do the box? Like, properly this time?
53:22We must. Sorry, I interrupted. You finish what you're saying and, uh, we'll go.
53:29Uh, nothing important. Just to say it's not true.
53:36What's not true?
53:39Uh, um, that once a dog is bitten by a snake, it's immune.
53:46Right.
53:48It's not true.
53:50And, uh, it's a myth and it is a dangerous one.
53:54Lesson learned.
53:56We're good to go?
53:57Gotta get this box in the road. Wedding's only around the corner.
54:02All right, let's do it.
54:05See you, Mac.
54:05Professional?
54:17Always.
54:25Welcome to Daisy and Glenn's wedding.
54:38Awkward.
54:39No, you, look.
54:40Don't panic, everyone!
54:42Contact poison.
54:43The chances are the killer is still here.
54:45Stop! Police!
54:46You're in a criminal conspiracy with her.
54:48Not a crime.
54:49Yes, it is.
54:50I think everyone's having a really good time.
54:52You know the foot I found on the beach?
54:54She's a bit annoying, though.
54:55Glenn and Daisy are more than a couple to me.
54:58They're the family that found me and make me feel at home.
55:02If there are no objections, I will proceed.
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