Original subtitles

Veronique slept with someone she found handsome in his uniform.

- I’d never seen that one. - It’s the last one she made.

The monks would rather sell to locals than strangers,

and since the Morencys are out of the running...

Maybe the whole production

was the killer making a fake statement to hide his true motive.

Sure, nab McNeil at the border,

but I can’t let my uncle

- You’re not going anywhere. - What’s happening?

I’m the one who took Veronique’s head down from the tree.

I put it in the freezer. McNeil ordered me to.

Emile’s bottle of diazepam had disappeared.

With too much he goes crazy.

McNeil found some of Emile’s things in the sugar shack.

You saw what happened, but it wasn’t you.

He waited 35 years for me to come back to tell me what he’d seen.

This whole time,

your Aunt Louise and Simon thought Emile was guilty.

- They still do. - Will you tell them?

I’ve no evidence. And there are things I still need to understand.

First, did Leopold know that Emile was supposedly guilty?

Everyone knows you’re not a bad boy.

Including Celine. She won’t say anything.

Do you want me to sing you a song?

Like I used to?

We’ll go to the woods no more

The laurels have been cut

That beauty there

will gather them up...

My buddy Pete in the village...

He saw your pal McNeil being escorted by Johnny and two RCMP guys.

Johnny, that arsehole!

You won’t say it, but I will.

Thanks, Xavier. You saved his goddamn skin.

Okay, listen.

Here’s what I saw the night you chased Olivia and me.

Olivia!

THE WALL

You saw who killed the abbot and never mentioned it?

I saw someone with a crossbow

I didn’t know there’d been a murder.

But who was it?

It was dark, I was far away. I couldn’t tell.

- But the quad looked familiar. - And?

I looked in the garage, and now I’m sure.

- It’s Louise’s. - Come on!

Her plan to buy the monks’ estate would never have worked otherwise.

- The Morencys would have got it. - Jolicoeurs don’t kill for business.

You said it was dark, you could barely see.

Mum...

She wouldn’t have done that.

If I have sinned

Quickly pardon me

Stop them fro-fro-from

Eating me

Stop them fro-fro-from

Eating me...

At least tell me how you found out.

The next day,

Emile ran away from home and came to see me.

I told him I’d buried my mother there with an apple in her hands,

that the tree had grown

and as long it was there, her memory would be alive.

I said I’d do the same for Veronique.

But I was never able to.

Then Louise arrived.

She couldn’t keep it to herself. She was right.

She was my daughter.

But he was my son too.

You can’t know what it’s like to lose a child.

Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t walked in on us.

I remember.

I didn’t know what was going on between you and Louise.

That makes it even harder to tell you...

You have to believe me.

Now I know it wasn’t Emile who killed Veronique.

- But McNeil had evidence. - Emile left traces at the scene.

- But he didn’t do it. - Who told you that? Him?

He didn’t speak, but he made it clear.

Emile is innocent.

I swear to you.

- Celine? - Yes?

- I’m Xavier, your cousin Kevin’s son.

Kevin used to send me photos, but it’s been a while now.

Yeah. Anyway, I imagine he’ll start sending them again.

I’m happy to meet you.

- Xavier! - Olivia!

My mum said yes. I can stay with you.

- Do you think Karen will hire me? - Of course!

- Is Alex there? - He’s grilling McNeil.

If he cooperates for Veronique’s murder,

he’ll get a reduced sentence for arms trafficking.

Are you okay with that?

Totally.

Thank you.

- I wasn’t fair to you. - No, I deserved it.

Let’s finish the job.

In 1986, you agreed with Louise Jolicoeur

to hide evidence implicating her son Emile.

Bullshit.

Let’s say that’s true. What more do you want me to say?

I don’t know.

What if I told you Emile didn’t kill Veronique?

Are you kidding me?

Found his coat 30 feet from the shack, covered in blood.

His fucking address written on it.

Pockets full of his stuff.

Had to wipe his prints off myself.

Kid could be violent on meds.

But what’s done is done.

And to separate him from his mother for 20 years?

What good was that gonna do?

Except, according to new information,

Emile went into the shack after the murder.

Supposing that’s the case, does the rest still hold up?

I don’t know.

But I never quite understood why Louise...

paid me extra to freeze the head.

- She paid you extra? - Yeah.

We already had a deal.

We didn’t discuss the head specifically, but I got a message.

At least not alive.

- And you know it. - What, me?

- I’m trying to find her! - She’s dead.

50,000 bucks to freeze the girl’s head right now.

- A message from Louise? - It was anonymous.

But who else. And why?

Freeze her head? Why would I have done that?

You didn’t pay him, other than with the land?

No, but somebody did.

Who?

Mrs Jolicoeur, she’s busy.

Oh, sure! She won’t return my calls. Here she is.

- I don’t have time, Mum. - Really?

- I think you’ll have time for this. - What is it?

It’s a theatre costume my cousin Veronique made.

It looks real.

You said she found her lover handsome in his uniform.

It was for no one in particular. She made firemen’s, chefs’ costumes...

Yes, but this is the last one she made before she died.

Was she doing a play about war? Not a medieval one, a modern one.

- She made them for fun, too. - Or someone else’s fun.

Whose? Her secret lover’s?

It’s a possibility.

Do you remember how I used to go for drives with Veronique?

One time she asked me to drop her at Rock Island library.

The one on the border? Half in Canada, half in the US?

She was meeting an American girlfriend.

- She never mentioned her. - She didn’t want you to be jealous.

I dropped her off and when I came back for her,

she was all upset, she’d been crying.

She said she’d had a fight with her friend.

- I didn’t believe her. - You think she’d been with her lover?

She’d made him an American uniform?

Isn’t it possible?

I remember on the way there she was nervous and fidgety.

More than for meeting a girlfriend in a library.

- To meet up... - They’d have to call one another.

Leopold’s phone records are in the file.

Yes, there were a bunch of American phone numbers.

I could try going over the list.

Thank you, Mrs Jolicoeur.

- Can we keep this? - Of course.

Celine, stop thinking that Veronique was the perfect girl.

She was fragile and unstable.

She pretended to be confident, to appear as strong as you.

She admired you more than anyone.

She was so scared of disappointing you.

When it came down to it, she wanted to be like you.

- You okay? - Yes.

I’ll go and check on Uncle Leopold. I need some fresh air.

No. No...

Please stop hiding your face when you see me coming.

Okay?

Uncle?

- Do you need help? - What?

- Can’t wait for me to leave? - Yeah, right.

No, I need to talk to you before you leave.

- I’ve been meaning to. - Is it about a guy?

No, why do you say that?

- It’s about me. - Of course. You.

- A decision I have to make. - About what?

Your future as a star? The colour of your Oscars dress?

- Have I done something to upset you?

Not yet.

Unless I don’t know about it. You’ve been hiding things.

- Speaking of which... - Have you been seeing Damien?

Will you see him while I’m away? I’m not back until Halloween.

What are you talking about? Is this about Maxime Fillion?

- We were 11! - It’s about what you’re like.

You always have to make people like you.

If everyone loves you and you just soak it up,

is there any point being your friend?

You’re my only real friend, you know that.

Don’t tell my mum, she’d be hurt.

If there were two of them, then the attack was planned.

- They had a specific target, Veronique.

Maybe they didn’t intend to kill her at first. It goes badly, they panic.

They display her head so it looks like a psycho killer.

- What do you think? - Right.

And they hid the rest of the body so we wouldn’t find any DNA.

It’s a theory, but it makes sense.

And if rape was the motive, her lover could be the killer, or one of them.

Maybe she broke up with him.

She left the library in tears. Maybe they fought.

So it was out of revenge.

That said, why freeze the head? It all comes back to the frozen head.

It was to hide something in Veronique’s blood.

I need to talk to you.

I’ve been meaning to... It’s about me.

A decision I have to make.

- What are you thinking about? - I’ve just realised...

I haven’t been looking in the right memories.

To understand what happened, I focused on the night she died.

But to really understand...

- Hello, Johnny. - I went over the American numbers.

They’re all places where Leopold sold his apples.

Except one. You’ll never guess.

A clinic? An abortion clinic?

Fuck! That’s it.

It still exists.

Veronique made an appointment for 24 August 1986.

- But she never showed up. - Okay, thanks.

If only I’d listened to her!

Things are falling into place. In August...

when she made an appointment, it was only 5 or 6 weeks.

- About that. - She goes to the US.

Then changes her mind.

- She decides to keep the baby? - Which didn’t suit her lover.

Wait!

The gay symbol, the arrows in Father Sebastien,

was a smokescreen.

A fake statement to hide the true motive.

What if they killed him to stop us finding her body?

If her body is buried on abbey grounds,

wouldn’t a development project involve excavation?

After 35 years, there’d be nothing but bones.

Forget the killer’s DNA.

On Halloween 1986, the foetus was 3 months old.

So there was a skeleton. It contains DNA.

The father’s DNA. According to McNeil’s report,

it seemed she was thrown in the lake, but we can’t trust McNeil.

No, he’d taken your aunt’s bribe. He didn’t want that body found.

But the killer or killers had 35 years to move the body.

That’s easier than killing Father Sebastien.

- Maybe they lost track. - Forgot where they’d buried her?

- Unless someone else moved the body.

Emile.

Yes! The only witness to the murder.

Hello, Mrs Jolicoeur. Could we please talk to Emile?

- It could help Alex’s investigation. - I’m sorry.

Leopold came to see him.

With all he’s going through, my poor baby’s exhausted.

- He just fell asleep. - No problem.

We’ll come by another time. No hurry.

He’s not here.

The RCMP took McNeil in. I couldn’t delay them.

Sorry.

Did you join the searches for her body?

No, but from what we learnt yesterday,

I bet McNeil deliberately diverted the search to the lake.

Anything new on who paid to have the head frozen?

I’ll call you back.

What are you doing?

Last year, for my PTSD, I was prescribed diazepam.

There are minor side effects, dizziness, drowsiness...

- Of course, it’s a sedative. - Yes.

But in large quantities, it can get bad. Anxiety, agitation...

- You think that’s what they took?

Aggressiveness, hallucinations, memory lapses...

The vodka.

- Veronique couldn’t have bought it. - We always got an older friend or...

A cousin?

The night Vero died, Louise found Emile’s diazepam bottle half-empty.

When he took too much, he got aggressive.

She thought he’d killed Vero.

Yes, but Emile didn’t take the diazepam.

The diazepam was mixed with the vodka.

- I barely took a swig. - But Veronique and Damien...

Diazepam has another serious side effect.

It causes pregnant women to miscarry.

I’m sure you’re aware my husband accepted occasional pay-offs.

To look the other way? I know.

But I didn’t take part. Except once, without knowing.

- That one was a big pay-off. - Yes, I remember that time.

It gave me a start when I found the cash in the shed.

Sandy had a special drawer. Come and look.

Someone paid to have Veronique’s head frozen

to hide evidence.

Emile could still be guilty.

Celine said he didn’t do it, and I trust her.

How can she be so sure?

She said Emile saw what happened. What’s going on with you?

It was him. It was Emile.

- I’m telling you it wasn’t. - Kevin, what’s going on?

He moved the body.

Mum...

I’m sorry.

Please...

Don’t tell Emile!

- Should we take him in? - No, I want to hear him out.

Won’t interrupt.

Vero was in love with me.

I’d noticed that she was attracted to me, but...

I was her cousin and I was about to get married.

I asked her to make me a uniform for the wedding,

like the one Claire’s father had worn during the war.

I wanted it to be a surprise.

A tribute to him.

When no one was in the house,

she’d call me to come over for fittings.

We’d talk, we’d laugh.

She’d take her time.

To spend more time with you?

I should’ve realised.

Each time, she’d flirt with me more.

Then the last time...

Pretend I’m not here.

I want to show you one I made for Phedre.

Yeah, Phedre, by...

Yes, it’s the story of a woman in love with a man she shouldn’t love.

I looked, alternately turned pale and blushed

To see him, and my soul grew all distraught;

A mist obscured my vision, and my voice

Faltered, my blood ran cold, then burned like fire;

Venus I felt in all my fevered frame,

Whose fury had so many of my race pursued.

When I invoked her name my heart adored

Hippolytus, before me constantly;

And when I made her altars smoke with victims,

’Twas for a god whose name I dared not utter.

Around mid-October,

she told me she was pregnant.

It only happened once, I swear!

She’s always been jealous.

She almost caught me with Veronique that day.

She’d noticed our secret meetings.

She caught me dressing up as a soldier.

Are you a complete idiot?

My father saw you,

a civilian who’s never seen a battlefield, wearing his uniform,

he’d eviscerate you!

Luckily, she was so upset over the uniform she saw nothing else.

So you asked Veronique to get an abortion?

I begged her to.

But she didn’t. She wanted us to run away to the US.

She wanted me to leave Claire and abandon the family.

- But you’re a Jolicoeur. - I didn’t want it to end like that.

I knew that medication could cause a miscarriage.

That’s all I wanted.

So you gave her diazepam-laced vodka?

You followed us.

You got her alone in the shack.

So she’d drink enough vodka to lose her baby and her memory.

But she took too much and overdosed.

You weren’t alone.

- There was someone else with you. - No, I was alone.

You’d never have chopped off Veronique’s head with an axe!

- Yeah? - Listen

Mrs McNeil found the cash for freezing the head but also saw who hid it.

- She doesn’t know why he paid McNeil...

The guy was Colonel Collins.

The guy who paid him was Colonel Collins.

He wasn’t in the shack with you.

He paid to protect his daughter.

She must be heading to the border.

No, alert the border guards and send out ATV patrols.

Even if she’s stateside, she can’t have gone far.

Can I do anything?

Truth always hurts more than not knowing.

Remind me next time.

You were strong.

- Veronique can rest in peace now. - No, not yet.

Ready?

Ready.

- Don’t give her more, it’s dangerous! - She has to lose it.

- She won’t remember a thing. - It’s dangerous!

Claire!

Shit, she’s not breathing!

What? She didn’t lose it.

We killed her.

Because of you!

We have to bury her.

If they find her...

She’s carrying your child.

You’ll be charged, and I know you. You’ll crack!

There’s a wheelbarrow, and the monks have a shed nearby.

They’ll have a shovel.

- They won’t know what happened. - That’s the idea, Kevin.

They won’t know if she’s dead or missing.

And the family... Uncle Leopold will go through hell.

- You’d rather we go through hell? - We will, anyway.

Are you serious? You want them to find her?

What are you doing?

Okay...

They’ll find her. But they won’t find your bastard.

- Claire... - Get out.

Get out!

Veronique’s here?

Yes.

Spare me the crocodile tears, Celine.

You hated Veronique as much as I did.

It wasn’t enough to be the most beautiful.

She had to be the nicest, the most talented.

And the sluttiest.

Are you surprised?

Kevin told me.

He came to me on his knees and told me what they’d done.

I demanded every detail.

That bitch!

She was confused. She was 17 and in love.

She wanted everything for herself.

The world existed just to admire her.

You think she wouldn’t have slept with your Morency?

I didn’t give her time to.

You should thank me.

I wanted everything too.

I was about to have everything.

My life...

My wedding...

She tried to take it all away.

Did you drink Emile’s bottle?

I was confused too.

I was only 20.

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort.

I will give them joy

after their sorrow.

Fire and light, sanctify that which...

I will turn their mourning into gladness,

I will give them comfort and joy.

Uncle Leopold gave the monks back the land

the Jolicoeurs had sliced off over the years.

The new abbot is consecrating the ground.

To build a cemetery?

For Marie-Therese, Veronique and Father Gabriel?

What will you do with the land and the orchard?

It’s not up to me to decide.

I’ve done what I needed to do here.

I convinced Leopold to give it all to someone else.

Xavier...

You’ll inherit everything.

I understand you’re hurting, but good news is good news, right?

Come on, just for me.

Go on!

And don’t be jealous, you.

I’m not jealous.

I’m happy for you, Xavier.

Champagne with your sausage wrap, Johnny?

The murder of an abbot and a 35-year-old cold case?

- Consider your career launched. - Yeah.

- The boss is happy. - He should be.

His new detective is no slouch.

- Are you going back to Quebec City?

I need to go away for a long time, far away.

- Right. - You?

I have a few details to clear up with your uncle.

Bye, Alex.

Thank you.

Thank you for everything.

The darkness has not overcome us.

Subtitles © SBS Australia 2023