(MONITOR BEEPING STEADILY)
(MUSIC FADING IN)
SINEAD: It's gonna be OK.
♪ I just want to see you
♪ When you're all alone
♪ I just want to catch you
♪ If I can
- # I just want to be there - (STRAINING)
♪ When the morning light explodes
♪ On your face, it radiates
♪ I can't escape, I love you till the end ♪
'Someone had to be with my dad at all times, no matter what.
'By the time I would have been about ten at that stage
'I was making dinners for my dad, I was making his tea,
'I was cleaning up after him.
'I actually learned how to shave by...'
(CRYING)
(INCANTATION)
'I'm scheduling this to send to you this time tomorrow,
'and by now, you'll know that I...'
Well,
you'll know.
You know, you said something to me today. You said that I'm the...
the best man you know, and I try to fly as high as your dreams.
If there is some kind of pay-out for my contract, Harriet doesn't have long
and it would be nice if her last days were in some way comfortable.
I can't watch her die, Tamati.
'And I can't fix what I did.
'And I'm not a good man.'
And I'm not a brave man, but you are.
Please, my friend.
Undo what I've done.
(BEEP)
FUCK!
(SHOUT ECHOES AND FADES)
Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.
www.able.co.nz Able 2023
TANNOY: Reminder, everyone, our cycle trail grand opening is today.
(TURNS OFF MOTOR)
(CYCLE BELL RINGS)
(HUMMING)
(CHILD SINGING)
♪ Always on my mind,
♪ this is what you do to me
♪ Girl, you got me singing in some harmony ♪
Mum! Mama! Guess what happened at sports day!
The 100 metres, I had a stink start.
My foot slipped, Val took off. She was 20 metres ahead before I even got going.
I just put my head down, Mum, and went for it. Right on the line I passed her.
- Junior girls champ? - Diana May Huia.
Baby!
Everyone!
Forget the board, OK? Let's focus on the facts.
Colin Friends was in possession of physical evidence,
including the bird bones, linking him to the Mountain Murders.
But we know for a fact that he didn't kill Ronan.
- So, we're back to the copycat? - Yeah, maybe. Although...
If it is a copycat, how did they know about the bones?
BRUCE: Only two people in town knew - me, and I didn't tell anyone, which leaves...
Samuel.
Samuel was in a care home with advanced dementia. What if he told someone?
OK, a full list of staff, please, Bruce, and his visitors.
GWENDA: A copycat copies exactly.
With Ronan, there's so many anomalies.
The weapon, storing the body, means of disposal.
- They all break the pattern. - RICHTER: Exactly.
If they were copying past killings, Sinead would be long dead.
Yeah.
OK, alternative theory. Ronan was the target.
And Sinead just got in the way.
And either the Mountain Murderer came out of retirement again,
or it's just a diversion.
And if so, we need to know why, before someone else gets killed.
So, we're back to Ronan,
and Ronan's burner phone.
This is our last lead. There's only one person alive who might know the PIN.
- Do you recognise this? - Never seen this before.
It was hidden behind a panel in the Houkura car you used.
Lots of people use that car.
DIANA: Do you know what PIN code Ronan used?
SINEAD: No.
Did Ronan use it to sell drugs?
- He wasn't just some dealer. - Who are you afraid of?
We found the draft email on your laptop.
You said you were scared, everything was going wrong.
Sinead, this is a murder investigation.
RICHTER: Look, I get that you used your parents' credit card to pay off the cook.
I understand that, but why did you sell the car?
To start paying back the credit card before they noticed.
Couldn't let them down again.
What could I say? Could you pay off my boyfriend's dealer?
I was writing the email to you, Mum.
Ro needed help,
but I didn't want you to have to clean up another one of my messes.
So, I didn't send it.
I didn't do anything.
DIANA: Sinead, we really need Ronan's PIN code.
The day we met.
9th August 2019.
Any of this mean anything to you?
Oh, no.
What?
A couple of weeks ago, I needed some processing data from Colin.
He was tied up in a meeting with investors,
but there was this data key on his desk and I thought it might have what I needed.
But when I uploaded it onto my computer, it was just nuts.
- Colin! - 'The data was all over the place.'
Houkura's processes are failing.
'The system is releasing more contaminants than it's extracting.
I went to Colin and we had a fight.
We saw you arguing on the security camera.
Did you tell Ronan about this?
I mentioned it, but I didn't show him the data.
DIANA: Could Ronan have accessed this material without you knowing?
Is all of this because of Houkura?
Christ, Richter, one text sent. Look.
"50k by tomorrow or the world finds out. Keep your phone on."
You'd think he'd delete the text.
So, Ronan stumbles across evidence that Houkura's in trouble on Sinead's laptop.
Figures he can turn it into hard cash.
Who has the most to lose if Houkura goes under?
(PHONE RINGS)
- Bruce. - 'Diana, Tamati Davidson's here.
- 'He wants to talk to you.' - We'll meet you there.
(PHONE BUZZING)
VAL: I really don't want to intrude.
JOSEPH: She'd be delighted to see you. She'd want to say hello.
Sinead, love, this is Valerie Armstrong. She led the Search and Rescue team.
We are so grateful. Thank you so much.
I really didn't mean to intrude. I was just visiting one of our team.
- He did his ankle in on the maunga. - You found his body.
He wanted to go home.
He was so lost here.
I made him stay.
You can't blame yourself, Sinead.
You couldn't have changed anything.
You have to remember that.
I'm really glad you're safe.
Thank you.
- JOSEPH: Now, one oat flat white. - Thank you.
Darling, would you like some food?
VOICES RECEDING: There's a croissant here.
JOSEPH: One coconut milk cappuccino, just the way you like it.
(VOICES FADE AWAY)
TAMATI: Colin lied to me.
We were producing ten times more waste than what I believed.
DIANA: And on a bad day, it looks like a whole lot more.
Colin knew that I would pull the plug, so he hid the truth.
I mean, he was channelling the waste
through these storm water pipes that run underneath Houkura
and output at the mill.
And that's why Colin wanted the land around the urupa,
because he needs to maintain those pipes in order to get rid of the waste.
Mr Davidson, could you take a look at this for me, please?
"50k by tomorrow, or the world finds out."
- What is this? - Do you know anything about that?
What?
This is not my number.
Could have been sent to a burner phone.
Do you think I'm being extorted?
I didn't know anything about any of this until I got Colin's video.
OK, then the text could have been sent to Colin Friends.
Could he have got someone else to deal with the problem?
I don't even know who Colin was any more, OK?
And I certainly don't know who that text was for.
OK. You were giving a TED Talk the day Ronan died.
You were back by 5pm. Can you prove where you were for the rest of the night?
I had an investor come into town.
5pm or 6pm I took her for dinner and drinks.
I dropped her off at her accommodation around 10pm.
Call her and see.
Wait here.
- JOSEPH: She'll be all right on her own? - HANNAH: Let her sleep.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Tamati's alibi checks out.
The staff from the Samuel's rest home and his visitors in the last few months.
- Popular man. - Half the town's on this list.
He could have talked to anyone about the bird bones.
Someone on this list was out there that night.
On their way to Sinead and Ronan's house.
Driving down this road.
And no one saw a damn thing.
DIANA: Richter!
- (HORN BLARES) - Richter!
What the fuck are you doing, man?
- Is that camera recording? - Eh?
What the fuck's it to ya?
There's only one CCTV camera permanently in Mount Affinity,
but there's dozens of them rolling through this town every day and every night.
WIKI: Yeah, could be up the maunga.
Could be halfway round the world but, yeah, no, I've never seen it.
Who would send a photo without identifying it?
- Somebody trying to waste your time. - Mm.
- Would Buster know? - Why don't you ask him yourself?
If you can find him.
- When are you expecting him back? - I'm not.
Oh.
I went to see Frank Pastors.
- Why? - Because there's something about him.
Wiki, I thought he might have been playing with me
but then somebody sends me a message linking him to this lodge.
- You don't want to mess with that prick. - I'm on a plane tomorrow.
I'm just... following my gut.
- You're just nuts! - (LAUGHS)
If there's anybody who knows about Pastors,
it's his ex, Linda - here's her number.
OK.
Well, it's been so lovely knowing you.
You live in heaven.
Life's not meant to be perfect, but what you've got comes pretty close.
(CHORUS OF BIRDSONG)
- Come here. - Safe journey.
(CAR DRIVES OFF)
I'm just standing here remembering a gangly, pimply-faced high-school kid
trying to buy a six pack, walking out the bottle store door,
- straight into me. - Shit, eh? What happened to him?
- He became Mayor. - (LAUGHS)
Today's a day this town's gonna remember.
Proud of you, mate. The whole town is.
- Thanks, mate. - No problem.
TANNOY: Attention, everybody. The ceremony will start shortly.
SINEAD: Pull!
Pull!
(GUNSHOT)
You call me out of the blue, a total stranger?
The day after I bury my boy.
Linda, I'm so sorry about your son.
But this is about his father, Frank.
Right, all you want is some story about Jarred,
about his father abusing him and how he ended up on drugs,
how the low-lifes live and die.
Thanks for the cheap gin.
You can fuck off! You're not using my dead son to sell your papers.
Linda! Please...
Sorry.
I suspect that Frank Pastors has done some terrible things.
Yeah. He has fucked up the lives of everyone he's had anything to do with.
Yeah, but I think that he's involved in a murder.
Maybe more than one.
Linda, if he is...
I will find out.
And he will answer for it. All of it.
It's Frank's Uncle Jeff's place.
It's been empty for years, ever since Jeff got drunk one night
and decided to go possum hunting, tripped over and blew a hole in his chest.
Do you know where that is?
Yeah, it's up by the source of the Kaikakariki.
About as far into the middle of nowhere that you can get.
OK, so, how long will it take me to drive up there?
Oh, you'll need a four-wheel drive - unless you want to walk for three days.
Right.
Making new friends?
Oh, just tying up some loose ends before leaving tomorrow.
Sinead's found.
Happy ending.
You were being a bit of a dick.
But I get it now.
Surprised you didn't knock me out, to be honest.
I had no idea it was anything like this.
I was angry, I'm sorry.
Are you ever coming home?
I don't know what I'm doing.
When you told me...
Yeah, it changes everything, but...
...not how I feel about you.
And, er...
You've made up your mind.
But whether I stayed or left...
...I wish that choice could have been mine.
Don't be a fucking coward, Richter.
Don't use this
as an excuse to be alone.
Puha.
For the immunity, strengthen the blood?
Actually, I was gonna make a wee bottle of puha vodka for the Irishman.
(WIKI CHUCKLES)
Hey, last night, leading the karakia for Ronan and Sinead?
Together.
And one hour later, she walks into town?
So, you know that bomb scare at Houkura?
- (CHUCKLES) - You must know that was me, eh?
Think after 30 years I don't know you, girl?
You're gonna have to make a full confession.
Yeah, well, you're pretty big on confessions.
You reckon they'll lock me up?
I'll vouch for your good character.
Well, that's got to account for something, you old prick.
Buster.
No more secrets, eh?
You'd better come home, then.
Everyone, the dashcam drives from the trucks are here.
We're looking for a Houkura car around 8pm travelling from Ronan and Sinead's house.
DIANA: We find this car, we find the killer.
Hey.
Um, sorry about my meltdown earlier.
I wanted to thank you properly for finding Ronan.
I was just doing what I'm trained to do, but thanks.
I'm supposed to be at the opening of the trail...
Can I come in? Just for a minute.
I'd kill for a cuppa.
Yeah.
Thanks.
TANNOY: 'Attention, everyone. The ceremony is about to begin.'
- 'Hi, this is Val. Leave a message.' - Where are you?
I want to say a few words to you and your team for all your work.
(AMPLIFIED) Get your arse... Ooh! Sorry, about that everyone.
(FEEDBACK)
- BRUCE: Anything? - DIANA: Nothing yet.
Same here.
(CLEARS THROAT)
(SPEAKING IN TE REO)
SINEAD: After the first day,
I knew Ronan was...
- ...gone. - (STIRRING CUP)
Didn't know if I'd ever see Mum and Dad again.
VAL: Here you go.
Thanks.
My family is not of those that have lived here for a millennium.
But my blood, too, is in the soil of this place.
And I am humbled...
...and proud to stand on this stage today.
Oh, shit!
I've got it.
Sinead...
PTSD, it's not like a virus, it's...
There's not necessarily physical symptoms, but that doesn't mean it's not there.
I really think you need to talk to someone.
- I'm talking to you. - No, I mean a professional.
Did you need me to call your parents?
I'm pretty sure I don't have PTSD, Valerie.
Why are you here, Sinead?
I'm just fucking angry.
SINEAD: Those scars.
Why did you kill Ronan?
I know how to use this thing.
Slow it down, see who's driving.
Pause. Zoom in.
No fucking way.
He visited Samuel all the time.
Everybody move!
The Mount Affinity trail will bring in tens of thousands of visitors and tourists
to our town every year.
This trail will put Mount Affinity back on the map!
RICHTER: Who has the most to lose if Houkura fails?
DIANA: If the town loses everything, Ken loses everything.
RICHTER: Ronan was blackmailing Ken.
Today is a day
our proud town will...
...will talk about for, er...
So, er...
Before you cut the ribbon!
The council held an out-of-session meeting three weeks ago.
And by unanimous resolution of Mount Affinity town council
this trail is officially named the Armstrong Family Trail!
(CROWD CHEERS, BAND STRIKES UP)
(BUZZING)
- Sinead, please put down the gun. - Shut up!
Shut up, I know you did it.
The first night, when you took me to the hut, I grabbed at you.
(SCREAMING)
I felt those scars.
And this morning...
You can't blame yourself, Sinead.
Shooting me doesn't bring back Ronan.
It'll only destroy your own life.
I'm not here to shoot you. I'm here for a confession.
Sinead...
Sit down!
- Give me the gun. - Just admit it! You killed him!
- Sinead, please... - Shut up! Just shut up!
You stabbed my boyfriend and you threw him over a waterfall like he was nothing!
- Why? - Please don't do this.
Just fucking tell me why!
Just admit it! Tell me...
Hey.
She knows?
- Of course, blood is thicker than water. - Give me the gun.
She fucking knows.
(SIRENS APPROACHING)
- (BANGING ON DOOR) - Police are here.
(BANGING CONTINUING)
Val?
- VAL: Ken, no. - DIANA: Ken, put it down.
Stay down, Sinead.
She killed Ronan.
That's not what happened, is it?
VAL: Ken... Ken, just...
It wasn't Val. It was you.
She just figured out how to clean up your mess.
- Shut up! - You fucking idiot, put the gun down.
- We both go to jail? - Please just give me the gun.
- Put it down. - The safety's off.
Ken, please give me the fucking gun!
- Fuck! - Val!
Hey.
KEN: Say something.
DIANA: Val, stay with me, Val.
I'm OK.
I'm all right?
VAL: He's not a killer. Di, you know he's not.
Tell them, Ken. Make them understand.
I just wanted to give Ronan a fucking warning, make him back off,
let him know he wasn't going to destroy everything we'd worked for, but...
It just... It just all went wrong.
(HAMMERS ON DOOR)
- We need to have a little fucking chat. - Fuck off, man, honestly.
Think you can blackmail me?
Fuck!
KEN: He grabbed a knife.
I got him down on the deck.
I don't know how it happened, but...
(KNIFE WHIPS)
(STRAINING)
Oh, fuck!
Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck!
I called Val. She got there before Sinead. I knew she'd know what to do.
Ronan?
Ronan? Oh, Jesus Christ! Ronan!
(SHRIEKS)
It was my... It was my plan.
I took Sinead, told Ken what to do with Ronan.
I found a place to hide Sinead, how to make it look like a Mountain Murder.
Samuel told you about the bird bones.
DIANA: She needs an ambulance, Richter.
- Val, get up. We're leaving. - You move her, she dies.
Stop waving that thing around. You don't want to hurt anybody else, I know that.
You don't know me.
- Well, fucking shoot me, then. - Richter.
Come on, Ken. Fucking shoot Diana. Shoot Sinead.
Drag your sister out of here, see how far you get.
- Come on! - Richter!
- I'm not going to jail. - Ken, no!
No!
Yes, you are.
(SPADE CLATTERS)
Val. Come on, Val.
Come on, I need Val. Val.
(CRYING) Richter!
Thank you.
BUSTER: What a day, eh?
(WATER FLOWING)
So, um, I haven't seen you with your little stick and ball the last few days.
I read a book of Irish legends once, when I was a boy.
I remember one young fellow.
Koo Cherlane?
Cu Chulainn.
Seven years old, and he slayed a deadly wolfhound.
With nothing but the hurley and the sliotar.
Even in all those legends, the hero eventually meets his end.
As we all do.
Hm.
Cu Chulainn was set on standing tall when he met his death.
Tied himself to a high stone.
His enemies were still afraid until the raven landed on his shoulder.
Only then did they know he was dead.
Hm.
Maori and Irish, eh?
Can't get enough of our blood-and-guts stories.
(BIRDSONG)
("Slippin' Away" by Max Merritt & The Meteors)
I thought you hated this song!
Uh, yeah.
I heard it was your mum's favourite.
I guess it's grown on me.
You gonna be all right?
Define "all right".
Are you gonna be all right?
Define "all right".
(SHE LAUGHS)
Did you want him to pull the trigger?
I mean, standing there with a gun pointed at me, I wasn't really thinking anything.
I definitely didn't want to die.
Good enough for you?
For now.
Mauri ora.
Slainte.
Well, that's just fucking great.
(ENGINE STOPS)
Right.
(CACOPHONY OF BIRDSONG, CREATURES CALLING)
(FLIES BUZZING)
(HUM OF INSECTS)
(CLATTER)
You.
(PLANE LANDING)
'The gate is now closing.
'Calling last remaining passengers, Theo Richter, Aileen Ryan,
- 'gate is now closing. - (RINGING OUT)
'Theo Richter, Aileen Ryan.'
(PHONE RINGING)
(MUSIC RISING)
♪ I just want to catch you in my hand
♪ I just want to be there when the morning light explodes
♪ On your face it radiates I can't escape
♪ I love you till the end
♪ I just want to tell you nothing you don't want to hear
♪ All I want is for you to say... ♪