Original subtitles

Hello.

It's Packenham.

Your name comes up.

There's a PolAir plane on the tarmac waiting for you.

You're flying out to Nulla for a homicide.

Why me?

You need a tan.

Who have I got?

Local detective from the area.

Ohh...

Don't give me the "I only work alone" bullshit, Ivan.

It's a few days. You'll survive.

Yeah, yeah. I'm coming.

Watch the house.

I'll be lucky to make the autopsy.

Can you just focus on the road, please?

Could you try to sound a bit less like my mother?

Sorry, Nell. I'm sure it's just first-day nerves.

It's more than that. What do you need to hear from me?

Tell me this is not going to be a shit show, Cal.

This is not going to be a shit show, Nell.

Good morning, Detective.

Beginning our descent into Nulla.

Might be a little rough coming in.

Thanks.

I thought we got rid of you.

Yeah. It's good to see you, too, Ray.

Are you here for the decapitation?

What? Lucic.

Yes.

Yuri Sedov. I'm the airport manager.

That's a nice hat.

I'm expecting a lift.

Not here.

Is there somewhere I can wait?

The chairman's lounge is closed for renovations,

but you can wait right here on the tarmac,

or I can offer you some refreshments.

Please.

Yes.

Sparkling water is $10. Beer, $20.

Alright.

Airport prices!

Detective.

Nell Buchanan. Ivan Lucic.

I got here as fast as I could.

Um, do you want to go to the motel first, freshen up?

I'll go straight to the mine.

He's been down there long enough.

OK.

This is my first homicide, so I appreciate it.

Water?

Good.

Victim is Jonas McGee, 42, ex-con.

He was found at the bottom of his opal mine, decapitated.

Head was in his lap.

Do we know who called it in?

Was an anonymous tip-off, so it's probably a ratter.

A what?

It's an opal thief around here.

They scurry down your mine at night

and steal your opals while you sleep, like a rat.

Sort of.

Weird name.

I don't know why they'd call it in...

risk implicating themselves for murder.

Right thing to do, I guess.

Listen, the local station is actually not that far.

Do you want to stop in, meet the sergeant?

No.

It might be good to introduce yourself...

just avoid a pissing contest.

I'm sleeping. Yes, you are.

I'm Detective Ivan Lucic.

Ah. Homicide.

I'm sorry. I'm... catching a bit of shut-eye.

I've been up all night here, Detective.

Uh, first time, is it, in Nulla?

I haven't had the pleasure before.

I think you'll find we're a backward, violent, inbred bunch,

but at least the parking's free.

Sergeant Richter.

Very good. This is Detective Buchanan.

She will be assisting me with my investigation.

Detective. Good.

I was stationed here when I was in uniform, so...

I taught young Narelle everything she knows.

Now she's back for more.

Hmm.

Tell me what you know about the anonymous caller.

The ratter?

How do we know they're a... ratter?

Well, no-one else is going to be down

someone else's hole after midnight.

Mm. Do you have a name?

Better than that - we've got him in the lockup.

Narelle knows where it is.

Very good.

Patricia.

It's this way.

Jesus.

Kyle Torshack?

Where's the uniform?

Where's your manners?

Why don't you tell me what happened? Kyle?

Have you seen my face?

I'm looking at it.

It doesn't look good.

Is that a question, Detective?

Tell me what a ratter is, Kyle.

It's a dog act.

Are you one?

Nah.

Jonas McGee is dead.

His head's been chopped off.

He's down his mineshaft out on the West Ridge.

His head is just lying there, off.

Is that you?

No.

Who did this to your face?

Mick The Brick Shithouse.

Passed him on the way in. The whistler?

Yeah. Suits him, doesn't it?

Keeping me bottom of the food chain.

But so are mosquitoes, and they're the deadliest...

..thing on the planet.

Mm. Pathogens.

Can anyone verify where you were last night, Kyle?

Yeah.

I finished my shift at the hospital,

and I was driving home when her boss pulled me over.

She's not my boss, Kyle.

What'd she say?

Routine questions.

And here we are.

Do you know Jonas McGee?

Yeah.

How do you know each other?

What?

Tell Detective Lucic how you know Jonas McGee.

He was my uncle.

Hmm.

His hospital alibi checks out.

He'll be alright.

I made sure it didn't get out of hand.

Leaving a cell door open

while a person of interest is violently assaulted

is not how I run a murder investigation, Sergeant.

Well, I've been running this station a long time, Detective,

and we have a thing here called self-policing.

These people...

they haven't got much, except hope in the ground -

and not much of that either.

So, when they strike opal, believe me...

only thing worse than being a murderer around here

is being a ratter.

Lovely.

Yeah.

How long were you here?

Three years.

I was under Richter for three years.

Mm.

So, you knew the murder victim?

No, he was in prison, but I knew of him.

That's why they assigned you - local knowledge.

Yeah, that would make sense.

Why did you leave? Why did...?

I was transferred.

What for?

I didn't understand my job description.

What did you think it was?

Charging people for committing crimes.

Most of the mines dried up years ago,

but people keep digging, hoping it'll pay off.

Jonas McGee was one of them.

His claim's out this way.

Carole.

Ivan.

Nell, Carole.

Dr Carole Ness, forensic pathologist.

Nice to meet you. You flying solo?

Yeah, just me and the flies.

Tell me things, Carole.

Uh, there's no fresh tyre marks.

Footprints everywhere. Size 13.

I'm a size 13.

I knew you'd come crawling back, Buchanan.

Well, I'm only human, Garry.

G'day. Garry Ahern. I've been holding your head for you.

You verified the tip-off?

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't want to jump the gun on your investigation,

but judging by the look on his face, he got a bit of a surprise.

Hole's this way.

You been down yet?

Nah. That's your job.

Empty lap.

No head.

This way.

Police. Stop!

Dead end.

You heard that?

Yeah. Yeah, I heard that.

Sorry.

Good.

One, two, three.

I am enough.

I am... enough.

As you breathe in now, on your next inhale...

I am... enough. ..I want you to picture a sunset,

feeling that sunshine on your face.

Garry. Yeah?

Do you mind if I call you Garry? Everyone calls me Garry, mate.

Where's the head, Garry?

Are you taking the piss?

You had one job.

Someone's been down there, Garry.

It's not my fault, mate.

There are literally miles of tunnels down there.

It's like a bloody rabbit warren, yeah?

Find the head, Garry.

Who lives over there?

Kyle's mum.

Don't expect a cup of tea.

I'm sorry for your loss, Ada.

I'm sure it was a long night.

Yeah, I slept most of it.

Had to take a couple of pills to knock myself out.

What time was that, Ada?

Do you mind if I call you Ada?

Mm-hm.

So, you didn't... see anything?

You didn't hear anything?

I didn't even know that Jonas had hit pay dirt.

Really?

He's your brother?

Yeah. Were you close?

Hmm.

We were neighbours but we didn't talk.

You live here with your son, Kyle?

Yeah, I do. You got a problem with that?

No.

No, I...

I think you're very lucky.

Why weren't you and Jonas close?

Well, we were.

Then he got in with a bunch of religious nutters

with David and that mob.

Who's David?

He...

runs a commune up here.

The Third Row. Mm-hm.

I moved up here to get Jonas out of it.

He was too far gone, though, huh?

Then what? I, uh...

I stayed. I bought a claim for myself.

Bought a claim, the neighbouring one, for him

so he could mine it when he got out of prison.

And?

Never even talked to me. Said I was a heathen.

Oh. Was he close to anyone?

There was one guy that Jonas took under his wing

when he was in prison.

Yeah, he... he worked the mine a bit when he got out, as well.

What was his name?

He didn't have a name. We just called him The Giant.

He's a man mountain.

Man mountain?

Man mountain.

Mm.

Did Jonas have other family?

Yeah. My niece, his daughter, Elsie.

Were they close?

Let me put it like this.

Uh, she had a restraining order on him.

Where is his daughter?

She left town years ago.

Never met her.

Talk to me, Carole.

I spoke to the coroner about the autopsy.

Once I winch his body up, I'll set up at the local hospital,

run his prints, do a tox screen.

I found a wallet.

No phone. I can look for a phone.

I'll check the database for his number.

Where are you staying?

There's only one place in town.

You know, the killer might have come back for the head.

Collecting a trophy?

Maybe.

There's one thing I know.

What's that?

I brought the wrong clothes.

Found his phone.

There's no passcode on it.

Outgoing calls?

One contact.

Elsie.

That's his daughter.

Yeah.

What was he in for?

Manslaughter. Mm. How long?

Eight years. Out for two.

How far back do the calls go?

Just keeps going.

What's in the box?

OK. OK.

Are you OK? Yeah.

Carole?

Yeah?

You alright?

Yeah. Why?

Man Mountain.

Hard to miss.

We need a name.

What's in the box?

Jonas had serious opal.

Nobody has $20,000 here.

Nobody gets that lucky any more.

Who buys and sells?

The opals?

Yes.

The Irishman.

He's down this way.

That's who Ada was talking about.

What do they call themselves again?

The Third Row.

Their commune up on the ridge, that's the largest claim in town.

Are there regulations on claim size?

Yeah, but what they do is they all just peg adjoining claims

and pool all their resources to the seer.

The seer? Mm-hm.

David Mamon.

They say he's a prophet.

Sounds like he's making one.

Used to have two hands, but they never went anywhere.

Now it's just flipping me off.

Irishman's this way.

Everyone brings their opals here.

Ratters? Oh, yeah.

Hello?

Good... morning.

Detectives Buchanan and Lucic.

We're working a homicide.

Oh. So, how can I help you, detectives?

You're the Irishman?

That's right. You're Scottish.

That's very perceptive of you, Detective.

Jonas McGee.

He was found by a ratter in his mine with his head cut off.

Aye. Rest his soul.

Mm.

He sold opals through you.

When he had them.

I heard he was having a lucky run.

Well, people like to talk,

and when they don't know, they make it up.

Is that right? You know what I think?

I think this ratter went down there for a reason.

I think they believed what they'd heard.

So...

Jonas sold me these.

See, there's no dead spots.

And that darker patch, it brings out the colours.

And that pattern there, that's star burst.

That's what makes it so valuable.

How valuable?

20 grand, thereabouts.

Mm.

Who else knows?

Well, I keep my mouth shut. It's safer that way.

There's a giant... man.

Oh, aye. You met Stan.

Stan? Yeah. Stan the Man Mountain.

I mean, that's what they call him.

I don't think that's his real surname, though.

I'm looking for him. Hmm.

Well, you'll have to speak to the mayor,

'cause he's the one who handles Stan.

Really? Mm.

Got it.

Good.

We'll be in touch. Great. I look forward to it.

That's him? Mm-hm.

Doug Tallon. Yeah. You'll see this everywhere.

He's the kit guy. All the mining equipment.

It's all him.

Doug Tallon?

Who's asking?

Detective Lucic. Homicide.

I'll give you 24 hours, Detective.

Tell me more.

Bit hot in the kitchen for you, by the looks of things.

Yeah. Welcome back, Narelle. You miss us?

It's 'Detective', if titles are important.

Ooh! Well, bully for you.

I'm looking for the Man Mountain, Mr Tallon.

Do you mind if I call you Mr Tallon?

Around here...

most people call me Mr Mayor.

You go around calling me Mr Tallon,

well, I think I'm in trouble or something.

There's no reason you would be in trouble, is there?

Not...

that I can think of, Narelle.

We're just solving the problems of the world in here, Detective.

Yep.

Albeit with some relaxing bubbles kicking in every now and again,

courtesy of my associates, Frank and Frankie.

Cheers. Yeah, I remember.

I bet you do.

Little top-up, boys? Oh!

Love it. Lydia.

My darling, you complete me.

Mmm!

My lady mayoress.

Now, they are running the Anne Boleyn case.

So...

the Man Mountain.

Oh, Stanley. Stanley.

No idea where he is. Mind you, he's hard to miss.

You got a phone number on him?

There's no point.

He doesn't talk. You got an address on him?

I'd love to see you get a dress on him, Narelle, I tell you.

Ignore him. Too many pina coladas.

You got a card, detective?

No.

Oh, well...

we see Stanley,

send you a smoke signal, won't we, boo?

Mm! Yeah. We're here to help, detectives.

Next time, bring your bathers, eh?

His fingerprints are a confirmed match to the record.

So is the blood type on the blade of the axe.

Now, the body shows complete cervical disarticulation at C2,

which is the upper vertebrae.

Bilateral compound fractures of both the tibia and fibula.

Additional fractures to the pelvis, ribs, and spine

indicate high-energy axial compression.

He was pushed down the mine shaft.

Yeah. And beheaded after.

"Are you the one to come?"

Number three there.

That's the position of the head before our souvenir hunter took it.

Time of death? Three days ago.

I could be more precise if I had the body in the 21st century.

Mm. Was he unconscious when it happened?

I hope so. Took three goes to finish him off, same as...

Mary, Queen of Scots.

Yeah.

With this.

Saxon miner's axe.

Medieval antique.

Prints on that?

No. Wiped clean.

Old school.

How can I help you?

We're here to check in.

Oh, you're the fuzz.

You're here for the whole, like, decapitation-business thing?

Yeah, that's probably been one of the best things

ever happened to the Golden View Motel.

Three rooms snapped up like that.

Yep. There's three of us.

Darryl. Do you mind if I call you...?

Oh, everyone used to call me Darryl, but everyone calls me Dazzler now,

'cause I'm a people's type of person, you know?

Key, please.

Oh, yeah. That's right. Yeah. That's you.

Now, I've got a few house rules.

So, number one, have fun.

Number two, flush. Number three, make...

Such a weird guy.

Not sure what his deal is yet.

Have you asked him what his deal is?

It's not really that kind of thing, you know?

There's more important questions to ask than that.

Like what?

Like, "Hey, Ivan",

"where do you think this guy's severed head is?"

I cannot believe they sent me back here.

What's that bringing up for you?

We don't have to do the therapy version of this, Cal.

I don't think you're qualified.

I'm sorry.

I was just trying to help. It's fine.

We can just be normal, you know? We can just talk like normal.

Well, what do you want to talk about?

Nell, are you still there?

Have you two had a missing head before?

Had a few feet.

A couple of hands.

Nose.

Two big toes.

Penis.

Any word on the anonymous tip-off?

Well, there's only one phone box.

It's on Flat Hill Road by the Emporium.

Yeah. No cameras and covered in fingerprints.

No, if it was the ratter, they were definitely wearing gloves.

We need a timeline on the people who saw Jonas McGee alive last.

Man Mountain.

I have a name.

Name? Mm-hm.

Stanley Honeywell. Works at Cuttamulla Mine.

Hello, Stanley Honeywell.

We need to talk to him. Mm-hm.

Mm. The sister with the claim next door.

Ada, yeah.

Ada.

OK. So, the Spaghetti Miscellaneous. Thank you.

The chicken, with chips a la mode. That means "on the side".

Thanks. And then the fish legs.

Thanks. Thanks. Thank you.

Are you not eating with us, Carole?

Nah. Looks good, though.

Carole. Ivan.

She prefers the company of dead people.

That checks out.

Are you good?

We're a long way from the ocean.

Then why did you get the fish?

Mm.

-Are you still open? -Uh, closed. Sorry.

Yeah.

Hang on. Um, Raf, can you get me that one?

We've got one burger left.

Ah.

Here we go. On the house.

Go on.

Thank you. You're welcome.

I went to the pub for dinner.

I still haven't eaten.

You...

You left this behind at the crime scene...

Detective Buchanan.

Ah, it's got a ring to it.

Hmm. Hope you're proud of yourself.

Mm. I guess.

Well, you should be.

If I was tough on you back then,

I hope you can see now it was 'cause I was, uh...

preparing you for the shit that I had to deal with.

Yeah.

Well, water under the bridge.

Yeah. No water up here, though.

Or bridges.

Need to get that?

Nope.

Not your boss, is it?

Mm-mm.

How do you say his name again?

'Lootch-itch'.

Huh. 'Lootch-itch'.

Mm-hm. You like him?

Yeah.

He seems good.

That's good.

It's important to have someone to trust.

Mm.

Well, I should let you go. Yeah.

Mm. Yeah. I should get some sleep.

Yeah.

It took some, um... took some guts coming back here, Narelle.

I admire that.

Not everyone who escapes the lion's den

wants to go back for their hat.

Night.

Nice caravan.

Swiss Alps. Mm.

You've been there?

Uh, no.

Uh, Rafi's father bought it,

painted it like this, and dragged us up here.

He lasted about as long as the snow would have.

That's hard... Yeah.

For a boy.

You got kids?

He is a good kid. He looks like one.

We sort of look out for each other.

Not here for opals? Oh, God, no. No.

Switzerland - I'm neutral.

I'm Ivan.

The detective.

Billie.

Burger maker.

Billie. Nice to meet you. Mm.

Welcome to hell.

Don't let it get to you. The heat can do really weird things.

Where are they going?

Iron Ring.

What's that?

Nothing good.

You have one new voice message.

Detective Buchanan,

this is Detective Senior Sergeant Nathan Phelan

from Professional Standards.

I'm calling with regard to Ivan Lucic,

Wondering if we could find a time to talk,

strictly off the record, of course.

Please give me a call when you can.

To call back, press 2-2.

To replay the message, press 1.

To reply, press 2.

To send a copy, press 3.

To delete, press 5.

Where are we going, Mum?

Carole called.

Carole called you? Yeah. We need to get to the morgue.

You look tired.

Is your air conditioning working?

Yeah.

Good.

Hi.

I'm Nell. This is Ivan.

Hi.

What's your name?

Is someone here with you?

Is your mum around?

I tried to tell her the body wasn't ready for viewing.

He's my dad. I have a right to be here.

What's your name?

Elsie. Elsie.

Mm-hm. Do you mind if I call you Elsie?

Yeah, it's my name...

Mm... so that's fine.

I'm Detective Lucic.

We're looking into your father's death.

Detective Buchanan.

Sorry for your loss.

You can't lose what you never had.

When was the last time you saw your father, Elsie?

Before my daughter was born.

You spoken to him lately?

Well, it doesn't really matter now.

Look, we needed his help, so when will his affairs be settled?

Not until we close the investigation, Elsie.

Right.

Bess?

Bess!

Bess!

Where is she?!

Do it again.

Bess?

I was just playing.

Hi, Elsie.

Hello, David.

Ivan, this is David Mamon from The Third Row.

Detective Ivan Lucic. Homicide.

Must take a bit of getting used to.

What's that?

Having that at the back of your name.

David Mamon.

Homicide.

I mean, that'll change how you're seen, won't it?

Well, that's who I am.

No, that's what you do.

Who you are is... something different.

OK.

You knew Jonas McGee.

Yeah. Yeah.

When's the last time you saw him?

You know how, um, some people, they got an aura, you know?

You know, like, an aura. You know that?

You know aura, yeah.

Yeah. So, Jonas, he had an aura.

You got an aura. It's like a child.

Is it you or is it yours?

You didn't answer my question. You haven't answered mine.

You got a place to stay?

I can't afford a motel.

Well, should we get you home, then?

Nice to meet you.

Yes?

OK.

That was Richter. We need to go now.

Ivan.

Jonas's head is pointing his finger at you.

How long are you gonna let

this big-city suit swan around our town?

I got your little note. I don't scare that easily.

Care to try your luck, Detective?

This town, everything in this town,

it's a waste of my time.

You know, out here, people are a lot friendlier

once you get to know them, Detective.

Do you feel what I'm capable of?

Do you feel it?

Captions by Red Bee Media.

Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation