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SHETLAND

Shetland Image Name: Shetland
Shetland Image Name: Shetland
Shetland Image Name: Shetland
Shetland Image Name: Shetland

Series 1, episode 2 “Raven black”

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Old wounds are painfully reopened for the shocked residents of Ravenswick, as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his team look to a past crime to solve the present day murder of a young teenage girl.

Synopsis:

17-year-old Catherine Ross is found murdered on a secluded beach. DI Jimmy Perez rapidly preserves the forensic evidence before questioning local recluse Magnus Bain, whose cottage overlooks the crime scene.  He is intrigued to discover that Magnus had recently forged an unlikely friendship with the victim.  Perez and his team – Detective Sergeant Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh and Trainee Detective Constable Sandy Wilson – begin piecing together the hours leading up to Catherine’s death.  Frustratingly, these events prove difficult to pin down as Catherine lived mostly alone while her father worked on the oil-rigs.  Perez questions Sally Henry, Catherine’s timid best friend whose mother – local schoolteacher Margaret Henry – makes no secret of her dislike for Catherine.  He follows up with Hugo Scott, Catherine’s evidently obsessed teacher, and Alan Isbister, a local playboy philanderer, who admits to seeing Catherine at his open house party on Midsummer Night.

When Fiscal Procurator Rhona Kelly draws Perez’s attention to the unsolved case of Catriona Bruce, a seven-year-old girl who disappeared from the same village 19 years ago, Perez realises that the two ‘victims’ even shared an address.  When revisiting Magnus Bain (who also knew Catriona) he sees an ageing photograph on the mantelpiece of a young girl holding a doll.  Magnus reveals that this was a sister who died in childhood.   Although Magnus’s name continues to crop up regularly throughout the investigation, Perez refuses to commit entirely to a link between the death of Catherine and the disappearance of Catriona – fearing a ‘witch hunt’ around Magnus.

But when the perfectly preserved body of a young girl is discovered in the peat bogs, clutching the same doll as in the photograph at Magnus’s home, Perez is reluctantly forced to turn his attention to Magnus Bain.

The discovery of Catriona Bruce’s body leads DI Perez to take Magnus Bain into custody for further questioning.  However, Magnus becomes deeply distressed at the station and attacks Perez.  While they await the results of psychological tests on Magnus, Perez re-examines the evidence from the Catherine Ross case.  Informed that Catherine used her phone mostly to create portraits, Perez is desperate to find any photos that she may have downloaded onto her laptop.  He is frustrated, however, to discover that all evidence has been wiped.  Viewing CCTV footage of Catherine clutching her bag at the bus station, Perez wonders if its contents hide a secret.

When the post mortem results verify Cora’s theory about Catriona’s death, Perez reports back to Catriona’s brother, who subsequently reveals that Catriona had a secret hiding place at their old home (where Catherine had lived).  After digging through old police reports, Perez gleans why Magnus hates being in the police station and moves him to a place where he can feel safe.  Magnus finally trusts Perez enough to reveal exactly what happened on the day Catriona disappeared: how the little girl saw something that greatly upset her – something that involved Margaret Henry.  Magnus also reveals that Catherine knew Catriona had a hiding place… With another girl in imminent danger, the team finally find the last, vital, clue which leads them to the killer – and the biggest twist of all.