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01x04 - The Cruelty Man

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "The Woman in the Wall". Aired: 27 August – 24 September 2023.*
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Lorna wakes up to find the apparently dead body of a woman in her house.

01x04 - The Cruelty Man

Post by bunniefuu »

- That's Clemence's daughter.

- Do you think one of these girls

- could be mine?

- I don't know, Lorna, I hope so.

Lorna! Don't! Argh!

Father Percy Sheehan.

It looks to be blunt force trauma.

Found a potential m*rder weapon

just there.

The House of the Sacred Shepherd.

It's an adoption agency.

It could be what connects

Aoife Cassidy to Father Percy,

to the nuns from the

Sisters of the Seven Joys.

- To Lorna Brady.

- They closed in 1979.

What if your mother

hid it all somewhere?

Hid what?

The evidence of what happened

to our children.

My baby shivered to death.

And I wasn't there to hold her.

This house is the last place

Aoife was seen, Lorna.

So where is she?

I k*lled her! k*lled her!

SHOUTING: k*lled hed ! k*lled her !!

[BOARDS CLATTER]

Where is she?

Lorna, where is she?

Where is Aoife?

Don't know.

She's gone.

- She's gone.

- What?

Lorna, look at me.

Look at me.

She's gone.

- She confessed, Massey.

- Yeah?

Was that before or after she went

looking for people in the walls?

I told you to leave her alone.

I'm reporting you for this, lad.

She told me herself

that she k*lled Aoife Cassidy!

Well, where is she, then?!

You broke in here without a warrant!

I want you out of my town. Now.

Don't do this, Massey!

Skelly, escort Detective Akande

from Ms Brady's home.

We're sending him back to Dublin.

Come on.

[WIND HOWLS]

[SEA BIRDS CRY]

- [FAINT DOOR BUZZER]

- Lorna?

The door was open

so I'm coming in.

Jesus Christ.

WHISPERING: Are you real?

Am I what?

People are saying that

you said you k*lled someone.

Yeah.

What, you said you k*lled someone?

Or you k*lled someone?

Oh, it doesn't matter any more.

What?

She's gone.

Who?

My daughter.

Agnes.

Where did you get this?

I have to find her grave.

I have to find out where

they buried her.

Let me speak to James Coyle, OK?

See what he can do

about any of this.

And, in the meantime,

I don't want you doing anything.

Don't even leave this house.

Just stay put for me.

OK?

Do ye promise me?

Mother Sky by Can ♪

I say madness

is too pure like mother sky ♪

ON RADIO: I say madness

is too pure like ♪

Oh, bother

Lorna? Can I help you, Lorna?

- I doubt it.

- Where are you off to, Lorna?

Do you know what, you're not

making my life any easier, Lorna.

All right, please

Look, you need to be aware

of the situation that you're in.

You confessed to m*rder.

Now, whatever I might believe

about that,

it's my job to look into it.

So, you'd be wise to tread a bit

more carefully.

If you need to arrest me,

Massey, please, just do it!

Well, I would if I believed a word

that come out of your mouth!

- Or if there was a body.

- But there was! There was a body!

- Why are you saying this?

- Because it happened!

Well, then, where is she?

Where's Aoife?

Why don't you ask that woman

who's pretending to be

Aoife Cassidy's daughter?

Who? What woman?

I don't know, but she's lying.

She's n0t her daughter.

Lookit, you'll forgive me now

if I don't drop everything

immediately and look into that,

but I'm a biteen sceptical, Lorna.

Well, then, what use are you?

Lorna!

Don't stray too far now!

Lorna!

[SHIP'S HORN BLARES IN DISTANCE]

COLMAN: Good morning, Garda.

GARDA: Can you sign in, please?

FATHER PERCY: A detective, Colman.

It's a huge accomplishment.

[CORK POPS]

[DRINK POURS]

You ought to be very proud

of yourself. I certainly am.

Thanks, Father.

I guess I'm just feeling a little

out-of-place at the moment.

Ah, that's normal.

You'll get used to it.

I'm not talking about work, though.

Oh?

I think I want to find my mother.

My birth mother, that is.

Right

And, um, I was wondering if there

was anyone you could speak to?

Anyone I could speak to?

Yeah, cos Lazarus House is run

by the Church, so

I can have a think, er

But I don't think I ever knew

anyone at Lazarus House.

I never went there.

Is there no-one at all

that you could speak to?

Colman, have you talked

to your parents about all this?

Because I can't help but feel that

this whole endeavour,

well, it would be a bit of a slap

in the face for them.

You know, they've worked

so hard to give you a good life.

Can you honestly say that this other

woman would have done the same?

[HE SIGHS]

You all right?

SIGHING: Yeah

Fine.

What are you doing here?

The Super said to keep an eye on you

now that youtre back in town.

[HE SCOFFS] Right.

[COLMAN SIGHS]

FATHER KEITH: There y'are now, lads.

Milk and three sugars.

Hey!

Hey, Priest!

Er, what year was it?

Ah, here we are.

If your daughter's buried in

Kilkinure, she should be here.

Agnes.

It means " Pure".

Beautiful name.

No luck?

Have you tried the county archives?

Er, no.

They have all the burials

in the county in their system.

Just because she isn't

in our records here,

it doesn't mean we can't find her.

Don't lose faith, Lorna.

Right.

I'm aware the Church probably

has a lot to answer for,

after what they say you went

through.

But I 'd hate to think

that a few rotten apples

had affected your relationship

with God.

What?

What, my relationship with God?

Do you know Amy Kane?

She was in the laundry with me.

She used to tell me

about this room in the convent.

You know, when a baby was born sick,

when there were complications

when it looked like

it might not make it,

the nuns would put the baby

in this room

and just wait.

They wouldn't intervene,

call a doctor, do anything,

just wait and see.

Wait and see.

You know what

she called this room?

She called it the Dying Room.

And I never believed her,

but I do now.

So don't you worry,

Father, about me and God.

I never met the man.

None of us did.

God never set foot in that place.

[DOOR SLAMS]

COLMAN: Heard anything back

from the tech bureau?

The place was a mess, loads

of prints and fibrous materials.

A f*ck load of people

came through the house.

Even found rabbit hairs.

What's that about?

And more blood splatter.

It's all Father Percy's.

[SNIFFS]

What are you doing?

Did he have a phone?

Father Percy?

I didn't see a phone

catalogued in evidence.

Well, I guess

he didn't have one, then.

But there was one.

Could he have made

a phone call that night?

If he called the cops,

we'd know about it.

- And if he called someone else?

- Maybe.

So, there's no phone in evidence,

there's no phone in the house.

Where is it?

Look, you can see

where the cord used to be.

- [WHISPERING] f*ck' hell.

- What if someone took it?

Someone who doesn't want us

to know he called them.

Do you not think you might be

jumping to conclusions there,

Colman?

Hi.

We're closing soon.

I'm just looking

for a burial record.

Can you be careful with that?

[CLICKS MOUSE]

[CLACKING KEYS]

Did you find nothing?

No, sorry. There's no

record for Agnes Brady.

- Can you check again?

- It's right here in front of me.

[DOOR OPENS]

Is that where you keep

the hard copies?

We've everything digitised.

Well, obviously, you don't.

Can I have a look in there, please?

We don't allow anyone

into the archives

without prior written permission.

What, you're saying I can't see

my own daughter's burial record,

- is that what you're saying?

- No.

What I'm saying is, if there was

a burial record for you to see,

it would be here, in front of me.

But it's not.

Why not?

I don't understand the question.

How can she have

a death certificate?

I mean, how can she have died

and have no f*ck' burial record?

I can't help you if you're going to

go causing a big scene now.

What?! There's no-one

here, ye gobshite!

I'll have to call security

if you carry on like this.

But you're not going to take that,

are you?

No.

No, no, I'm not.

- You're not what?

- I want to get in there.

I want to have a look, please.

Let me have a l00k.

- Let me in.

- Security?

Let me in!

Let me in!

Can you let me in, please!

sh*t All right.

[APPLAUSE]

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I'm sure you're aware that

this is a cause

that is very close to my heart.

The Magdalene Laundries

are a stain

on our nation's history.

Was that a bit of

a thin crowd in there?

Ah, I wouldn't worry about it.

Um, James,

do you remember Lorna Brady?

I do.

Well, it seems that she's discovered

a death certificate.

For the child that she had

at the Mother & Baby Home?

Oh.

I'd like to help her

get some answers.

Of course.

Oh, my goodness, that's awful.

You know, I

I've been waiting

to tell you this but I

I just thought I'd wait

until I got confirmation,

but we're getting close, Niamh.

I have a meeting

with Judge Ferguson.

He's the man who can recommend

whether or not

the government will recognise

the convent as a laundry.

- And he's very sympathetic.

- OK, well

tha'ts great news, isn't it?

So, he'll be receptive to this?

These people are notoriously

fickle, Niamh.

And I would hate us to to undo

the good work that we have done.

If certain people were to get

wind of the rumours

that I've heard about Miss Brady,

then we might have a problem.

I think we need to tread

very carefully.

I'm sorry, Niamh.

I wish I could do more.

- See you tomorrow, Shane.

- Good evening.





[ALARM BLARES]

Ajodun ayo fun e ♪

Ajodun ayo fun e ♪

Ajodun ayo fun e, Lola! ♪

Ajodun ayo fun e! ♪

- Hip-hip!

- Hooray!

- Hip-hip!

- Hooray!

- Hip-hip!

- Hooray!

- Hip-hip-hip!

- Tayo!

Stop hip-hipping, the house

is going to burn down!

- OK.

- [TAKES A DEEP BREATH]

[SHE PUFFS]

[DISTANT SCREAMS]

[WHISPERING]

[LOW SNARLING]

[HE GASPS FOR AIR]

Father!

Help!

[HE GASPS]

Father!

[HE PANTS]

[CLICKING]

f*cking hell, what are you doing?

Are you OK?

I'm fine.

I just had a bad dream.

- You're drenched in sweat.

- It's nothing.

It's nothing,

you can go back to bed.

What was it about?

I was in a tunnel.

Someone was chasing me.

You had the same nightmares

when you were little.

When we brought you home

from Lazarus House.

I don't remember.

You would wake up screaming,

"The Cruelty Man!"

"Don't let the Cruelty Man get me! "

Cruelty Man

You don't remember?

Mam, can I ask you something?

Of course. Anything.

Father Percy.

Did he have something to do with

where I was born?

With Lazarus House?

I don't think so.

He just helped us

to find the adoption agency.

What do you mean?

He gave us the number for the

Sacred Shepherd people.

You mean the House

of the Sacred Shepherd?

That was them.

Father Percy recommended them,

but they took care

of everything after that.



1986

Where are you, Agnes?

Where are you buried? Come on!

Agnes, Agnes, Agnes

Come on!

Where are you?

Come on!

f*ck!

You're not here.

[SHIP'S HORN BLARES]

[BUOY BELLS CLANG]

[SEA BIRDS CRY]

[CROW CAWS]

[SEA BIRDS CRY]

[BIRDSONG]

[PHONE RINGS]

Kilkinure Garda.

COLMAN: Massey?

Well

If it isn't the prodigal son.

Yeah, for what it's worth,

Massey, I'm sorry

about what happened.

How it happened, I mean.

How's Lorna doing?

Not well.

Yeah, I'm sorry to bother you.

I just had a quick question,

um, about the House

of the Sacred Shepherd?

We said they shut down

in 1979, right?

Yeah.

I think they were still operating

until 1989.

Maybe longer.

And where's this all coming from?

Something my mam said.

Sorry, did you just say,

"Something your mammy said"?

She told me that Father Percy

put her in touch

with the House

of the Sacred Shepherd.

And I was adopted through them.

That was as late

as 5th of February, 1989.

What if they didn't shut down?

What if they just went underground?

If this is true, Massey, if I was

adopted through these people,

what does that mean about me?

If what you're saying is right

we're looking at a decade or

more's worth of ill*gal adoptions.

How many kids is that?

Hundreds probably.

Thousands even.

If Father Percy played

a role in that

there's got to be a motive for his

m*rder wrapped up there somewhere.

Something on this scale,

there'd have been

a lot more people involved.

We know of at least one place

they all had a connection to.

Lazarus House.

Where?

That's the place where I was born.

[SHE BREATHES IN AND OUT]



[LINE RINGS]

VOICEMAIL: Yeah, it's Michael's

phone. Leave me a message. Thanks.

- [BEEP]

- I need your help, Michael.

Look, I'm sorry

about what happened

but I've found something.



[KNOCK AT DOOR]

I'm so sorry, Lorna.

And you're saying that Agnes is not

the only one who died?

No.

Nearly three hundred children.

All in that convent.

How?

How did that many children die

in a place like that?

I don't know.

Look, that's decades' worth

of burial records.

Every graveyard

in the entire county.

And I just want to know if any

of these other kids are missing

or if my daughter was

the inly one without a grave.

Will you help me?

Course I will.

Thanks.

Here.

Thanks.

So, my secretary told me

that you wanted to speak to me

about a memorial to Father Percy?

Yeah, that's right.

So, ahead of that, I'm just talking

to the people that knew him best,

gathering some stories,

getting a bit of insight

into his earlier days, y'know?

Before I knew him.

Is that your way of

calling me old, Garda?

No, no, of course not, Your Grace.

[HE CHUCKLES]

Am I right in thinking you were

Chaplain of Lazarus House for a while?

Yes, I was.

Is that how you met Father Percy?

At Lazarus House?

Yeah, I understand

he was there often, you know,

helping with the children?

Well, for my life, I can't remember.

Perhaps I am an old man!

[HE CHUCKLES]

So, you had no dealings with the

House of the Sacred Shepherd, then?

Your Grace?

I've lost all track of time.

I have a very busy day today.

We'll have to finish this up

another time.

If you were involved,

you need to tell me now.

In what exactly?

Just tell me what you know.

You ungrateful boy.

You, of all people,

should understand.

Understand what?

Daly, Darcy, Donaghy, Duncan

No Doyle.

William Doyle,

he's not here either.

How about yours?

I haven't found her yet.

What does this mean, Lorna?

[MATCH FLARES]

[SHE PUFFS]

[MATCH FLARES]



How many's that, that have graves?

Three.

Three?

Three out of 298.

Like, what did they do

with their bodies?

Lorna, this might be a bit

They never left, did they?

- What?

- They're still at the convent.

They have to be.

Like, what if we're looking

at another Tuam, here in Kilkinure?

- You mean, like a?

- Like a mass grave

somewhere in the grounds

of the convent.

Go to the Guards with this.

- What?

- Let them take care of it.

Then get the f*ck out of this place.

This town.

I'm heading back to Dublin.

Come with me.

I can't, Michael.

I have to find her.

I have to find her body.

What are you going to do?

BYRNE: Colman! Get in here!

Is everything all right, Super?

No! Everything's not all right.

I've just gotten off the phone

to Bishop Brendan Rice.

Ah

He's made a formal

complaint against you.

Look, him and Father Percy were

wrapped up in something together.

I can smell it on them. I was just

waiting on something more until

Stop!

I want you to hand over everything

you've found to Drennan,

- he's going to take it from here.

- What?!

Bishop Rice believes

that you are personally targeting

and harassing him.

- He used the w0rd "discrimination"!

- Discrimination!?

Look, I need to deal with this

before he takes it any higher!

No! This is how it goes, right?

They call you, you tell me to stop,

I stop,

and then everything gets buried

for another ten, 20, 30 years!

You need to be very careful

how you speak to me, Sergeant!

SHOUTING: And nothing happens!

Cos nothing ever f*cking happens!

Take some leave.

I don't want you coming back

to work for a while.

f*ck this.

[DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE]

[GLASS SMASHES ON FLOOR]

[HE JANGLES FENCE]

[FENCE JANGLES]

[THUMPING ON DOOR] Sister Eileen!

[URGENT THUMPING ON DOOR]

Sister Eileen!

[GATE CLANKS]

[DRIPPING WATER]

NUN: Come on, girls, move along!

[STEAM HISSES]

[INDISTINCT MURMURS]

[SOBBING]

[DOOR CLUNKS]

[CRASHING]

[HE GROANS]

SISTER EILEEN: What are you doing?

Lorna Brady.

You haventt changed a bit.

Just as bold.

Where did you bury her?

Who'd that be, now?

My daughter.

Agnes.

Daughter?

You never had a daughter.

You think because you gave birth

that makes you a mother?

Motherhood has to be earned, girl.

You said she'd be

better off without me.

Then you left her to die,

didn't you?

You k*lled my baby.

Tell me where she is!

Where's her body?

Who do you think you are?

Coming in here

making demands of me.

- I know she's not the only one.

- Do you, now?

You think I'm still

scared of you, don't you?

Yes.

I do.

Well, maybe you ought to

be scared of me.

[SHE SCOFFS]

Lorna

you could have been

with your daughter,

but you chose not to.

What are you talking about?

We were only trying to help.

You knew that.

But you couldn't

even recognise your own child.

We wanted you to be together.

But when that proved an

impossibility,

we were forced to make other

arrangements for the girl.

No.

No, that's not true.

- You stole her from me

- SHOUTING: Shush!

Shush!

Shush, that's enough of that, now!

Lorna, I know

life hasn't been kind to you,

but youtve got to stop blaming us

for everything!

Take some responsibility

for yourself, Lorna!

You failed your child!

The end.

You know I tm right, don't you?

[LINE RINGS]

- Kilkinure Garda.

- Ah, Sergeant Massey.

- I'm afraid she's back.

- Aye, I see.

Well, I would appreciate some

police assistance. Thank you.

[HE GROANS]

[HE SIGHS]

Oh!

Help!

[HE PANTS]

[LIMPING FOOTSTEPS]

[CLUNKING FOOTSTEPS]

Father!

[LOW GROWLING]

[HE BREATHES HEAVILY]

I have no wish

to press charges, Aidan.

It was a simple misunderstanding,

but itts all been cleared up now.

[CAR DOOR CLOSES, ENGINE STARTS]

[SLURPING DRINK]

[HE SNIFFS]

I can't keep doing this

for you, Lorna.

This is going to be the last time

that I let you off the hook.

Do you understand?

So, here's what we're going to do,

we're going to finish our tea.

I'll drop you home and you're going

to get a good night's sleep

and we'll pretend that

none of this ever happened.

Clemence told me you gave her

a cup of tea, too.

What'd you say?

She managed to escape one day.

On her own.

She went all the way into town

in her bare feet.

She tried to make it to

the train station, but then, you

you picked her up.

You drove her here,

you gave her a mug of tea

and you said something like,

"We'll be heading back, so"

Then, you drove her back.

Our local Guard.

Would you like to know what Sister

Eileen did to her for running away?

I don't want to hear any more!

I won't have you tarnishing me

with the same brush

- How many other girls did you take back?

- What else could I do?!

Where else could I take her?

All of them?

Their own families didn't want to

take them in, for Christ's sake!

So, you just drove them back?

Clemence would have ended up

on the streets.

I did everything in my power

to help her!

You gave her a mug of tea.

[SHE SCOFFS]



That's a list of all the children

who died in the convent.

298 of them.

I could only find graves for three.

Where's the rest?

Just in case you feel like doing

something about that.

This is, um

I feel like I am in one

of your interrogations.

Hmm.

I saw where I was born, Mam.

You went to Lazarus House?

I saw the tunnel,

from my nightmares.

You knew that place was real,

didn't you?

No! I didn't know.

I thought it was just a dream!

It

It It doesn't matter now,

Colman.

The important thing

is we brought you home.

You always said that

I could ask you anything.

- Of course you can!

- Yeah, so tell me.

What happened at Lazarus House?

Look, we were new to this country.

We thought we were dealing

with good Christian people.

We did what we thought was right.

We got you out

Stop!

No more excuses.

Tell me the truth.

We heard rumours that

they were keeping you

separate from the others.

They called it

the Reject Room.

They put you in there with

all the other non-white children,

disabled children,

traveller children.

All the other kids that nobody

That nobody wanted.

I wanted you.

We want you.

You do know that, don't you?

I fell in love with you the moment

I laid eyes on you.

I didn't want to tell you because

no mother should ever have to

tell this to her child.

I'm not your child though, am I?

Did you ever meet my real mother?

No.

Do you even know her name?

Her name was Catherine Ivers.

Did she ever try to find me?

I don't know.

QUIETLY: You don't know.

Where are you going?

[DOOR OPENS]

[DOOR SLAMS]

[SHE SIGHS]



I'm leading an investigation

into the Lazarus House

Mother & Baby Home.

I need to see

any records from 1989.

Specifically, anything related to

Catherine Ivers, Colman Ivers

or any other significant parties.

It's haffway down.

Thank you.

[STOPS]

You think I'm about ye ♪

Well, I'm not ♪

The centre of my world ♪

ls a hot spot ♪

You think that you know me ♪

You're below me ♪

And you don't ♪

All of the people ♪

They can fly ♪

Straight to that white hotel ♪

Up in the sky ♪

I'm hard as my money ♪

Yeah, you're soft as a lie ♪

Well, a smile could be made so endless ♪

just happy, free and friendless ♪

No paper ♪

Lending ♪

just time ♪

Spending ♪

Yeah. ♪

- You look well.

- Do I f*ck.

I've got to show you something.

But you're alive

- Well, aren't you?

- Yeah.

I'm alive.

[SHE LAUGHS]

Dream, baby, dream ♪

Dream, baby, dream ♪

Dream, baby, dream ♪

Dream, baby, dream ♪

For ever. ♪