Please everyone stay safe during COVID-19. Best wishes.
(A few hours later, Rachel's got a new plaster to replace her Princess Belle, fresh blood soaks through, since she's just reopened the wound. She occasionally bites down on it, as Anna, an annoyed Sammy and smug Janet all sit nearby to watch the live feed from the interrogation room. In the interrogation room, Anthony Brown sits looking tired and a little disheveled. His arms are folded and Lee goes over the normal introductions stating Anthony's rights as required by law.)
Lee: Do you understand?
Anthony: Yes.
Lee: Good.
Lee: Now Anthony, explain to me, your relationship with Zoe Slater.
Anthony: We didn't have no relationship. She were me Mum's foster daughter. I tried to look out for her and her sisters, ya know. But there weren't no relationship. She was a little girl. I'm not a pedo.
Lee: No one was suggesting you are.
Anthony: You were, saying this about a relationship. I would never think of her like that. She were a child. She was a good kid. I'd never. I'm what kept her safe. I'm what kept her alive. I knew this would happen once he kicked me out.
Lee: You knew Zoe would end up dead?
Anthony: Well, nah, no, I didn't fucking know that. I mean, I knew wifout me there he weren't gonna stop. There weren't nobody there to stand up to him.
(Briefing room.)
Rachel: (smirks at Janet) I knew it was the Grandad.
Janet: There's still no proof of that. All we've got is Anthony's word and Anthony's fingerprints found at the scene.
Rachel: Found, where the body was found, but not where Zoe was murdered.
Janet: You don't know that.
Rachel: You don't either.
(Interrogation.)
Lee: So, you're saying your Grandfather, Timothy Brown, was abusive toward Zoe.
Anthony: That's exactly what I'm saying. Not just her, mainly her, but it's whoever is closest to him when he's pissed. It doesn't matter, what for, he'll beat someone over nowt all. It wasn't a problem when it were just me and Mum. I could handle it. I could take it. But once she got them little ones in, for the benefits, ya know. But she never stopped him. They littl'uns. I couldn't sit there and watch. So, he put me out. Didn't want me interfering no more. Didn't like me standing up to him.
Lee: So, if Timothy is the one who hurt Zoe, why is it, Anthony, that the only fingerprints we found near Zoe's body were yours?
Anthony: Because I took her there, didn't I?
Lee: Why?
Anthony: The girls rang me after me Grandad and Mum went out. They told me what happened and they told me they didn't think she was breathing. So, I go there. See what's happened. And I, I didn't want them to try and cover it up.
Lee: The girls?
Anthony: No, me Grandad, me mum. They could say she ran away or somefing. So I took her. I took her where I knew someone would find her. I wanted the world to see what a monster he is. What he done to her. And I, (gets teary, recalling the event) I took some of her things, her favorite toys, a little sword she made, her stuffed dog. So that she wouldn't be alone.
Lee: Why, when you realized that Zoe was dead, didn't you phone the police?
Anthony: She was dead. They couldn't have helped her.
Lee: But you just said you wanted everyone to see what happened to Zoe.
Anthony: Yeah, but I get there and I realize she's dead. I see her and I'm shocked. I'm gutted. She was battered. Head to toe, black and blue. And why? For what? All that beating over a missing 10p? Then, the girls, Lexi and Arianna, they're crying. I'm tryna calm 'em down but I'm not ashamed to admit it. I started crying too. She was a good kid. Ya know? She probably didn't even knick the 10p. He probably just misplaced when he was pissed.
Lee: So, you didn't call the police because you were in shock?
Anthony: Well, I panicked didn't I?
Lee: Did you? Why did you panic Anthony?
Anthony: I was hugging the girls. They were telling me all that happened, how he was hitting her with the cane, and then I hear keys in the lock. Either me Mum or Grandad were coming back. If it were him, I couldn't get caught there. We'd all get it. Lexi, Me, even Mum. He hits her and all. Grandad would go off his nut if he saw me there. If he knew the girls' had phoned me. Lexi told me to take Zoe somewhere safe. So, I picked her up, I grabbed her things, and I left with her.
Lee: Do you normally do what 14 year old girls tell you to do?
Anthony: No but, I didn't know what else to do. I snuck out round the back garden and I put Zoe in the wagon.
(Briefing room)
Anna: (to Janet) Remember the wagon?
Janet: You're right. (to Rachel) We'll need to get forensics on the wagon.
Rachel: We need to apply for a new warrant to search the Brown's house. We'll need forensics on the wagon and we'll be looking for a cane, or walking stick, anything cylindrical that could have been used in the beating. We'll be looking for the restraints that kept Zoe from fighting back. DNA and forensics on all of it. Also, Janet, we need to bring the Slater sisters back in.
Janet: Right.
Rachel: Sammy and Anna, you've built a rapport with them. You'll get them talking and telling us some truth now that Anthony's put Grandad Tim in the frame. See what they've got to say about him now.
Sammy: They didn't have anything bad to say about him. Anthony could be lying to turn us off his scent.
Rachel: No one wants to be the person who lets the cat out of the bag. But, once it's out- (Rachel shrugs) I reckon their story will change. It's not all bedtimes and cupcakes in this house. I said that, didn't I?
Anna: Instinct.
Rachel: Experience. (Sammy and Anna stir to action. They leave the room.)
(Interrogation room)
Anthony: (cries) I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go. She was a good kid. She didn't deserve that.
(Rachel squeezes the plaster on her finger and can almost hear her brother's voice "He can't hurt you anymore." "I did it for you." The red spot on the plaster grows.)
