After an enthralling opening to Silent Witness season 27, we have the concluding part of the story entitled "Effective Range" (please note spoilers ahead!).
Following the first episode, we have loads of questions! Where is Calvin Dunn? Is the apparent serial killer alive or dead? Is he behind the dead body in the church? Or did someone else carry out the crime?
And what is the deal with Beck (John Hannah)? Did he murder his wife and dump her body? And if so, why did he alert the police to his crime after all this time? There's something that doesn't feel right about Beck, but could he simply be a man in deep grief following his wife's murder?
Well here's what happened in episode two...
A skeleton
Episode two opens at the reservoir with Nikki and Velvy looking at the skeleton of Beck's wife. DCI Ford suspects Beck killed his wife and used his knowledge of Calvin Dunn's murders to cover his tracks.
Nikki tells the team they need to work quickly as the body will disintegrate after all this time. Meanwhile, we see Beck look at a photo of his wife. Is this because of love or guilt?
Nikki inspects the body at the Lyell. She establishes from dental records that it’s Beck’s wife. It appears someone is watching Nikki. Turns out to be Beck. Beck appears vague and confused. And Nikki shows him out. Beck warns Nikki she needs to watch out for herself. Gabriel is concerned and suggests Beck might be trying to corrupt the evidence.
Jack has his doubts Beck is the killer. Why would he point the police to the body, he wonders. They find evidence that Dunn was on Beck's boat, which suggests he killed Beck's wife and not Beck. Ford is upset by the news as she feels responsible for the murder of Beck's wife. She says she told Beck to go on TV during the original murder investigation and that led to Dunn killing Beck's wife. Nikki says it's not her fault.
We go back to the creepy interview with Dunn, who is again seen toying with the police.
Back in the present, Gabriel tells Nikki that he's discovered Calvin was working for The Pentagon! Calvin apparently leaked records of his own work online and, as Nikki points out, that was six years after he vanished and was believed to be possibly dead.
Dunn had an accomplice!
Nikki visits Beck. Nikki notices Beck has notes posted everywhere. Nikki tells Beck the body is Zoe's. Beck tells Nikki he has Alzheimer's but doesn't want anyone else to know. He says he doesn't want to forget his wife. At the lab, Velvy finds a washing line like the one Dunn used, which again points to Dunn being the killer of Beck's wife.
In the woods, we see a man hanging up dead birds and he has the red washing line. Is this Calvin Dunn? Velvy discovers DNA on the washing line used to wrap the sail in. But it's not Calvin's DNA. So whose is it? And they've also found the same DNA at previous Dunn scenes. It appears he had an accomplice!
Ford interviews Dominic, the victim who got away. Dominic is shocked by the idea that Dunn might have had an accomplice. Dominic angrily hangs up the call.
They still haven't identified the victim at St Margaret's. They discover via horse hair that the victim is called Mason and he worked at some stables. We discover Mason had problems. They find out he called 999 shorly before his death. They listen to Mason's 999 called. They discover they sent a single person to help… Lee! And Velvy rings Jack saying that the secondary DNA matches at the crime scene matches Lee! Lee was with his dad when he killed.
We then cut to Lee in the woods! Lee was helping his dad then, says Jack, and he could be helping him now. We go back to Lee's interview when he was eight and he scarily says he helps his dad with everything!
Nikki uncovers evidence that Mason died before he was strangled. She believes someone wanted them to think that he was Dunn's victim and that's why they used his strangulation method.
Ford interviews Lee, who says he tried to save Mason, who suffered an epileptic fit. Lee admits he strangled Mason when he was already dead to make Ford think his father was back. "Why Lee? To punish us for not finding him. So it was all you?" says Ford. Lee cries as Ford says he was with his dad as he killed. "I helped him" admits Lee. Ford tries to reassure Lee that he's not his dad.
Is Calvin Dunn alive?
Nikki goes to visit Beck. Now, is this a good idea Nikki? You have a track record of vising people alone when you shouldn't and getting in trouble!
Nikki tells Beck he was right and Calvin wasn't the modern-day killer. Jack sends Nikki a text: "Beck’s DNA was at the Dominic scene. He was there!" Nikki rather than running (sensible option!) confronts Beck about why he was so sure Dunn was dead. She asks him how Dominic got away. "Calvin Dunn gave a voluntary DNA sample, and when it came back as a match to the victims, you'd have known before anyone, even before the police. Did you go after him, Charles? Was it you who stopped the attack on Dominic? That’s how you know Calvin Dunn is dead. You killed him!"
Nikki thinks of calling Ford, but has second thoughts as she suspects Beck might be about to attempt suicide. She goes to the bottom of a very creepy outbuilding. She calls out "Charles". And finds someone locked in a cage! It's Calvin Dunn! Beck isn't a killer but he has locked Dunn up for years.
"It took three years for him to start talking," says Beck. "After three more he had nothing left to say!” Beck then locks Nikki in! Charles Beck then dies by suicide.
Jack rather than telling Nikki she's a complete idiot for placing herself in obvious danger, nuzzles her.
The episode ends with Mia visiting her brother Lee in prison and his girlfriend presenting him with their child. Nikki takes the odd decision to visit the reservoir and lobs in a stone. Perhaps she and Jack should have just had that long lunch as he suggested!
