Original subtitles

[Somber music plays]

[Jacinta sobbing]

[Somber music plays]

[Speaking Arrernte]

TONI: You told us to leave it to you.

You said you'd bring him back.

Now he's dead.

What the fuck happened?

[Speaking Arrernte] I went and looked for him...

In English.

[Speaking English] I found him.

He knew he was in trouble.

He took off, crashed,

and now he's...

He finished up.

TONI: Did you go alone?

Did you take anyone with you?

Was he sung? Punishment for stealing those paintings...

[Speaking Arrernte] This is not your business. Shut your mouth.

[Speaking English] You got no fuckin' respect...

Don't you hide behind our culture.

Sleeping with Isabelle.

Drinking.

You're full of shit.

You choose the cultural line when it suits you.

I know where my line is.

I might have broken whitefella law,

not my family law.

[Dramatic music plays]

NICK: So this whole singing thing.

Is it, you know,

is that real?

Was he sung to death?

I'm guessing Keithy was the one

who slept with Mariah that night.

[Sighs]

So she was using him to get him to steal the paintings.

He knew he did the wrong thing.

That's why he feels guilty. That's why he's drinkin' more.

He was waiting to be found out,

waiting for punishment.

NICK: Did Samuel actually kill him?

Right, I'm gonna get out there

and we need to set up a crime scene.

You think Samuel's gonna show you the right spot?

Toni, it's possible that your uncle killed a witness.

Go back to Alice and keep Rhonda off our backs.

- Well, what are you gonna do? - TONI: I'm gonna stay.

Find out what happened.

[Somber music plays]

[Breathes shakily]

[Indistinct conversation]

[Knock on door]

I've got something to show ya.

TONI: They match.

Whose are they?

Keithy's.

How do you know?

[Sighs]

Hit play.

[Cheers and applause]

[Sighs]

Why are you telling me this now?

This is the only way to get rid of you.

You want evidence? There it is.

Keithy killed Mariah.

Contrary to what you think of me,

I actually listen to people.

[Dramatic music plays]

[Sighs]

I know when policeman come, it's not good news.

Our investigation found a few things about your niece's death.

It's not good.

She was stealing paintings and selling them in town.

Jacinta's son was mixed up in it all.

Something happened between them.

He chased after her.

She crashed into the tree.

They had a fight and he hit her over the head.

[Sighs]

I can't prove any of this.

So no one's going to court or jail

for the death of your niece.

This is what I'll write up in my report.

I'm sorry I couldn't do more.

I don't need whitefella's justice.

We done this the proper way.

Blackfella way.

It's finished now.

[Bird calling]

[Dramatic music plays]

Hey.

You okay?

Look at me.

Look at me.

Right, hold your arm.

I'm gonna get you to sit down here, alright?

It's alright.

Hey! You right?

[Dramatic music plays]

Hey.

- Stay down, stay down. - [Coughing]

I'm holding your neck. That's it.

Stay down, stay there.

That's better.

[Breathes shakily]

ASHWINA: I'm sorry.

Internal bleeding.

He lost too much blood.

[Sighs]

ASHWINA: Are you okay?

I've never had to do something like that by myself before.

Unfortunately, I see it too much.

Especially recently.

How come?

This last week or so,

we've had quite a few rollovers.

People coming from Alice, drunk.

What's happened in the last week?

Do you keep stats on admissions?

ASHWINA: It's the only thing the government is interested in.

Statistics.

The government loves numbers.

TONI: When there's grog coming into the community,

the rates of violence go up.

When it's not, the rates go down.

The drinkers are either in Alice,

or they're driving back drunk.

We know that Mariah was taking paintings out.

But what if she was bringing something else in?

People in the communities spend big money on grog.

$300 on a bottle of vodka,

$200 on a carton of beer.

Okay.

But Mariah was underage.

Yeah.

So there's no way she'd be able to get that much

from a bottle shop.

[Dramatic music plays]

No more bullshit, right?

I heard the rumor.

That little prick Keithy's killed my daughter, hasn't he?

- Is it true? - It's an ongoing investigation.

That's fuckin' bullshit.

Keithy's dead.

Well, he got off lightly then, didn't he?

He's lucky I didn't get my two hands on him.

'Cause I would have done 20 years, no problem.

Okay, Bull.

We need to know who does your accounts.

No one.

Mariah had the head for numbers, didn't she, so she did 'em.

You wouldn't mind us running our eyes over them, would you?

- You wanna check my accounts? - Mm.

They're on the computer out the back.

Come on.

Let me know how you go.

You're not coming?

Nah, something about these paintings are bugging me.

Alright.

[Dramatic music plays]

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Humming]

I'm not a bad person, you know.

I didn't say anything.

Didn't have to.

5 bucks a painting, that's all I make.

Barely covers my costs.

Mariah's still dead.

LIZ: Don't you throw that at me.

I'm not exploiting people.

If anything, I'm providing a service.

Really?

Not everyone can be like the Isabelles of the world,

swan in here with their international money

and connections.

And not every artist is in that league.

So where do they go?

Hey, I'm helping the artist.

[Speaking Arrernte] Hello.

[Speaking Arrernte] Hello, my girl.

That one giving you cheek?

Nothing. She right.

You wanna buy a painting?

This one is my country. Lrlwentye.

[Speaking English] Yeah, they're beautiful.

But I'm actually looking for this lady right here, Yvette.

Do you know her?

Hey, what you wanna buy her painting for and not mine?

No, I don't wanna buy her paintings.

I just wanna talk to her.

I don't know Yvette.

[Sighs]

Yvette got the sugar.

Her daughter brings her in town for dialysis.

Which clinic?

[Speaking English] You big shot, figure it out.

[Television playing indistinctly]

MICKEY: [Speaking Arrernte] Hello.

[Speaking Arrernte] Hello.

[Speaking English] Mickey?

Whoa!

You're my right skin lady. Could be my number two wife.

What if I already got a husband?

I'll flog him.

TONI: [Speaking Arrernte] Hey, behave.

[Both laugh]

[Speaking English] Does this old lady come in here?

Nah, I haven't seen her around.

I've seen her at the other place.

Which one?

That east side one.

[Speaking Arrernte] Thank you.

You come for another visit one day.

[Speaking English] Maybe.

Hey! Stop.

[Laughs]

- [Speaking Arrernte] - [Speaking Arrernte]

Can I have a drink of water?

[Machine beeps]

TONI: Oh, I hate needles.

LOIS: What kind of doctor doesn't like needles?

[Chuckles] I'm not a doctor.

I'm a detective.

I saw some of Yvette's paintings at the Saltbush.

I just wanna have a yarn.

What kinda yarn?

Your mum can't even hold a cup of water.

So I'm wondering how she can hold a paintbrush.

See, in this painting,

there's fine lines, dots, no smudge.

Your mum, she's putting her name on paintings

that she physically could not have done.

Well, she's an old lady.

It's fraud.

She could go to jail.

[Speaking Arrernte] Why this policeman

want to lock up an old lady for?

[Speaking Arrernte] She's talking rubbish,

you not going to jail.

You wanna lock my mother up?

What about those white people?

They make $500 from a $50 painting.

She hasn't painted in years.

Someone used to come around with paintings.

Get Mum to hold them, take photos,

and they'd give her $200.

That's the only way we could pay for dialysis.

But dialysis is free.

We need money for fuel to get here.

So who was the someone who was bringing paintings?

That young girl.

She passed away now.

Bull's daughter.

[Dramatic music plays]

Fuck off!

What do you fuckin' want?

This is bordering on police harassment now, hey?

You can't just walk in here like you own the place, hey?

You're not in the outback now. Fuck, woman!

[Muffled dance music plays]

[Chuckles]

Whose country you painting?

Is that your country?

Don't look at him.

Whose country are you painting?

Nuh?

What about you?

You wanna tell me the story of this painting?

Is that your story?

So what's your story?

Ripping off old ladies?

Paying backpackers to do paintings for you?

Using your own daughter to take it to Yvette

to authenticate them?

[Sighs]

What kind of scum does that?

Why don't you get off your high horse?

TONI: It's fraud.

Jail.

Charge me.

You know, go on, just charge me.

'Cause then you gotta go and charge

all those galleries in the mall,

'cause they're doing the same shit.

None of them are using European backpackers

and pretending that they're 70-year-old

Aboriginal artists.

I've referred Bull to the Fraud Squad,

but we need to focus on Mariah's death.

It's gotta be connected somehow.

You find anything in Bull's accounts?

Yeah, I did, actually.

So Mariah had quite the system going.

She did the weekly orders for the Saltbush,

but every week, five bottles of vodka, five cartons of beer,

and five casks of wine wouldn't make it

from the order list into the Saltbush inventory.

So the night she died,

she was taking grog in and paintings out.

Yeah, probably.

That's just another side hustle.

It's got nothing to do with Keithy or why he killed her.

If he killed her.

Look, I was thinking about what you said.

Maybe it wasn't Keithy at all.

The tires on Keithy's car here?

I don't think they're the ones you found in the gully.

Why not?

Well, these are more like road tires.

You know, for sealed roads.

Something's not right.

[Dramatic music plays]

You're right.

They're not a match.

So it wasn't Keithy's car that chased down Mariah.

It doesn't look like it.

That tread's clear.

It's new.

The only people with new tires are Karl, Xavier,

but we've already checked them.

There must be one four-wheel drive

around here with new tread.

Shit.

[Indistinct conversation]

[Dramatic music plays]

I need to do this by myself.

Who does the roster for the Night Patrol?

Those tires match the tracks on the basketball court

made by Jacinta's son's car.

How'd they end up on your troopy?

They were swapped over.

When?

[Breathes shakily]

Did you chase down M?

Is that what happened?

What about you?

[Speaking Arrernte] What kind you,

stand over old ladies?

Who swapped the tires over?

Who was driving the car?

It was me.

What?

No, no, you...

[Dramatic music plays]

[Speaking Arrernte] I knew what she was doing.

She brought grog here. Took her own people's money.

I waited for her, I waited a long time.

I watched her drop the grog off at the creek.

Then I lost her.

I waited until she came back from Alice Springs.

I chased her, then she crashed.

[Speaking English] I got out of the car,

then the fire started.

She went to the boot.

That's when I saw them.

Them paintings.

She shouldn't have them paintings.

That's men's lore.

That's blackfella lore.

That's my lore!

I had to finish her.

You said you were with Isabelle that night.

I was.

Later.

VIV: [Speaking Arrernte] You can't do this.

You can't lock him up.

He's your uncle. The boss of us. He's done nothing wrong.

ISABELLE: I don't believe that you killed that girl.

- SAMUEL: Hey... - Please. Don't do this.

Please don't do this.

[Speaking Arrernte]

[Speaking English] You big detective.

Do your job.

[Dramatic music plays]

SAMUEL: [Speaking Arrernte]

[Camera shutter clicks]

RHONDA: Locking up your own uncle.

They don't teach that.

You could have easily looked away, let this disappear,

but you didn't.

I've gotta respect that, Toni. So should you.

[Dramatic music plays]

[Speaking Arrernte] Why you frightened of me?

You told me none of the men in our family

could have killed Kumantjayi,

because if they did,

no one would be able to find her body.

That girl...

[Speaking Arrernte] Did the wrong thing.

[Dramatic music plays]

There's only one person you'd take a murder charge for.

[Breathing shakily]

[Knocks on door]

[Sniffles]

[Door closes]

[Dramatic music plays]

[Speaking Arrernte] I need to show you something.

This is our grandfather's country,

your country.

When I die,

you and your little one

will be responsible for our country.

She broke the law taking those paintings.

She took our story.

It was my job to stop her.

They were men's stories, not women's stories.

What were you doing looking after men's stories?

It's all our stories.

Family stories.

THELMA: [Speaking Arrernte] Go on, get him.

[Speaking Arrernte] Slow down. What kind of driver are you?

Get us killed.

THELMA: Hey, pull up now. We can't go there. Stop.

I don't care. I'm gonna get them people with that grog!

Poor thing, what happened?

GRACE: They smashed the tree!

What the fuck do youse want?

THELMA: [Speaking Arrernte] She's a proper cheeky one.

MARIAH: Leave me alone!

THELMA: [Speaking Arrernte] Viv, let's go.

That's the ceremony men coming back.

GRACE: Come on, Viv, let's go!

Come on, Viv, let's go!

You got to come with us.

You can't look at men's story paintings.

That's my family's story.

Where'd you get them?

Shut up, old lady.

They're mine now!

GRACE: Viv, that mob is coming.

[Speaking Arrernte] We can't leave her here.

These men can take her to the clinic.

GRACE: This girl is making big trouble. We gotta go.

[Speaking Arrernte] Did she have to die?

I didn't mean to kill her.

I have to arrest you.

Listen to me.

Take me to Theadora.

Let's do it whitefella way.

[Speaking Arrernte] You know we have to do it blackfella way.

It will stop this business.

[Sniffles]

[Somber music plays]

[Blows thudding]

[Crying]

THEADORA: Your mother done the right thing.

It's over.

Business finished.

[Speaking Arrernte] All good now.

NICK: How is it finished?

I get that your mum didn't mean to kill Mariah,

but you need to let the courts judge her crime.

My mother's been punished.

Mariah's family don't want her to go to jail.

Okay.

But how the hell are we going to convince Rhonda?

TONI: It was the Night Patrol women

who were chasing Mariah that night.

She knew she was in trouble.

After crashing the car, she made a run for it.

She tripped over and hit her head on a rock.

Do we have the rock?

No.

The crime scene was completely destroyed by roadworks.

So why would your uncle confess?

Samuel's the boss for our family.

He's our kwertengerle,

the caretaker for the paintings.

And where are the paintings now?

In a safe place.

You said for community,

stealing those paintings is as bad as murder.

Someone on the outside had the money

and the knowledge to manipulate Mariah

into betraying her culture.

That person's still out there.

It has to be Isabelle.

[Speaking Arrernte] How are you going?

[Speaking Arrernte] Good.

How well did M know Isabelle?

They don't even know each other.

You never saw them together?

Did M mention Isabelle?

What, you got no ears?

[Sighs]

That night that you two were together,

you said that she got a text message.

- [Vehicle passes] - Yeah?

Who from?

I don't know.

So she didn't say anything?

Nothing. She just took off.

Do you know where she went?

[Sighs]

We gotta find out who sent Mariah that text that night.

Do you know the password to my phone?

Yeah.

And I know yours.

Dimples.

Ah...

[Both laugh]

Never mind.

[Indistinct conversation]

How's it going?

[Speaking Arrernte] Good. Why?

I've been thinking about your cousin sister, M.

Inside here is a part of a story that we're still looking for.

[Speaking English] Lots of stories in there.

Not for anyone else.

I'm just looking for one.

What's that one?

Who texted M the night she crashed her car?

Do you want to help M?

Nobody can help her.

She's finished now.

Somebody got her into trouble,

and I wanna find that somebody before they do it again.

Do you know the password?

She didn't have one.

But the phone's locked.

Fingerprint lock.

We shared it.

[Cellphone chimes]

There it is.

8:00.

And what's that name?

Arerte akaperte. It means "mad in the head."

[Chuckles] Isabellle?

Sounds like it.

There's some messages here in Arrernte.

NICK: What's it say?

"Where are you? I'm waiting.

Get those paintings to me now."

[Radio plays indistinctly]

[Line rings]

It's ringing.

BULL: Saltbush Backpackers.

[Dramatic music plays]

Hindmarsh was small time.

You know, and I knew we could do better, so...

I said we sell 'em down south, you know,

find a big player and we'd make a killing.

And we just cut that bloody Liz out, you know.

I said, "Bring the paintings to me."

You killed her.

Fuck, what?

TONI: She died because of you.

Don't you dare do that, right?

Well, I know what happened.

Yeah, the Night Patrol vehicle.

Yeah, those crazy women.

They run her down.

But it was your mother.

It was your mother that hit her.

Because she saw the paintings.

She saw what Mariah was taking out there, for you.

Don't you dare put that on me, right?

TONI: No?

You were married to Clarabelle.

You lived out at Perdar Theendar.

You know what those paintings are and what they mean.

Did you teach your daughter that?

You taught your daughter nothing but disrespect.

Getting those backpackers to create fake art,

that taught your daughter to disrespect her people,

her culture.

[Scoffs]

You can tell the police what you know.

You can have my mother charged.

But you know in your heart.

You broke your daughter.

[Somber music plays]

[Door opens]

[Knock on door]

- Hey. - Hey.

[Door closes]

Nick, there's something we need to talk about.

I have a prenatal checkup in the morning.

You can come if you want.

It's up to you if you want to be a part of the chaos.

[Indistinct shouting]

[Speaking Arrernte] I knew Xavier and Karl

was getting grog from that girl.

And they were selling it.

I could've done something, but I didn't.

I was weak. For a bottle of grog I kept my mouth shut.

No matter what you do,

if people want grog they'll get it.

I told myself

it's better they get their grog here

than go to town

and drive back drunk.

What does that achieve?

Is it a good thing that Perdar Theendar's dry?

I dunno, ask the experts.

They know everything.

Either way people still gonna get hurt.

You still haven't told me what happened, have you?

What happened to Keithy?

Modern world.

Everyone thinks they have the right to know everything.

I'm a detective.

I need to know everything.

No you don't.

You have the right

to some knowledge.

Some things...

they're not for everyone.

[Dramatic music plays]