Hope to Die

And he’s right to ask: it’s by far the simplest explanation. The Rowans manhandled mountains to stay under the radar: they moved house, they changed their name, they obliterated their old lives. And now suddenly, all these years later, without warning, there’s a ring on the bell one dark night and the whole ordeal starts up again. The idea that they’d take a gun to a random housebreaker strained everyone’s credulity, including mine; taking a gun to someone who brought that nightmare back to their door? That’s a theory that makes sense.

But it needs stress-testing, all the same.

I take a deep breath. ‘Wouldn’t a newspaper have reported one of their reporters missing by now?’

Hansen looks at Gis, and then at me. ‘Could be a freelance, looking to make a name for himself?’

‘Well, let’s just hope he’s not about to manage it. For all the wrong reasons.’

Gis nods grimly. ‘Careful what you wish for, eh?’

* * *

Channel:

Netflix

Programme:

Infamous, season 4

Number of episodes:

4

First shown:

09/03/2016

[THEME SONG – ’KARMA CHAMELEON’ [CULTURE CLUB]]

TITLE OVER:

INFAMOUS

FADE IN

THE CHAMELEON GIRL

MONTAGE: shots of Camilla Rowan – as a baby, as a toddler, ona swing, with her parents in the garden, building a sandcastle,with her pet dog, on her pony, etc.

VOICEOVER

She was a little princess. An only child from a wealthy and high-profile family, and the apple of her father’s eye. Smart, pretty, and popular, and so good at sport she played at county level. A responsible, kind-hearted girl who raised money for charity, and was trusted to babysit her neighbours’ children. Everyone agreed: Camilla Rowan had a bright future ahead of her.

So what went wrong?

How did Camilla the beloved daughter, happy student, and school captain – a girl who, by all accounts, had never put a foot wrong – turn, seemingly overnight, into Milly Liar the murderer? Reviled in the press, screamed at in the street, and charged with killing her own child.

MONTAGE: clips relating to the trial – newspaper headlines, people holding banners and shouting outside the court, Camilla trying to escape the cameras, her hand in front of her face, her parents trying to fight their way through journalists outside their house, the words ‘baby killer’ daubed in red paint across a garage door, interspersed with vox pops/news broadcasts/clips from later interviews:

VOICE 1

She deserved everything she got – anyone who could do that to an innocent child. If you ask me, in cases like that, life should mean life.

NEWS ITEM 1

There were dramatic scenes outside the Old Bailey today, as Camilla Rowan appeared in the dock for the first time. Protesters hurled abuse at the 23-year-old, who had arrived at court flanked by her parents and defence barrister.

VOICE 2

Rowan was given a full psychiatric assessment before her trial, and was deemed fit to plead. But the full results of that assessment have never been made public. Is she a sociopath? Is she a narcissist? Or is she just a pathological liar?

VOICE 3

The Camilla I knew – she just couldn’t have done anything like that. Not her own baby. Not any baby. I didn’t believe it then and I don’t believe it now.

NEWS ITEM 2

After six sensational weeks the trial of Camilla Rowan came to a shocking conclusion today, with the former head girl being sentenced to life for the murder of her newborn child.

VOICE 4

The reason why we’re still so obsessed with this case, even all these years later, is that it challenges so many of our basic human beliefs – about trust and truth, about our capacity for cruelty, and the sanctity of maternal love. I think we’re all terrified that if we dared look into the darkest corners of our own hearts we’d find Camilla Rowan staring straight back at us.

Cut to: John’s office. Files, desk, photos and docs from the case pinned on a board behind.

JOHN PENROSE