The Jury's Out

**The Jury's Out** is the 3rd episode in the series.

## Plot synopsis

DI Knight and DS Slater are called to Mortcliff Bay Cliffs where they discover the body of Jemma Hall. who has fallen off the edge of the cliff or has she been pushed?

 Victim and Suspects

### Victim -

Jemma Hall - She is 25 and a local barmaid.

### Suspects -

Dale Colman - is Jemma's boyfriend though said to be seeing other women at the same time.

Hamish McBride - served on the same jury alongside Jemma. Hamish is gay and has faced homophobia from his neighbours.

Donna Atkins - was a member of the Jury of the Brendan Wilson case.

Margaret Donaldson - was a jury member on the Brendan Wilson case.

James Wilson - is Brendan Wilson's brother.

## Armchair Detectives

The armchair detectives playing in this episode are Charley, Bola and Simon

Here are the armchair detectives prime suspects after each round:

 Round 3
 Round 4
 Accusation

## Evidence

### Round 1 - Crime Scene

#### Video evidence -

DI Knight and DS Slater are called to Mortcliff Bay Cliffs where they discover the body of Jemma Hall. It turns out that this is the 5th fall victim from the cliffs within a year. Jemma's boyfriend Dale Colman (who she was with before the fall) says that they came to meet an old school friend of hers who recently got in touch. They arrived early and he needed the toilet so went to find a bush then heard a scream. When going back he said he saw someone running away. He assures that this wasn't an accident. As he shows DS Slater where the bush is, Hamish McBride appears and is questioned by DI Knight. Hamish says he just arrived for his daily walk. He presents DI Knight with his tracker on his phone. While at the top of the cliff, DI Knight and DS Slater find a phone (presumed to belong to Jemma). After researching, DS Slater tells DI Knight that all five fall victims served on the same Jury together of Brendan Wilson three years before.

#### Free Evidence -

A satellite image of the Bay Cliffs is shown when the location of where all five fall victims fell are indicated.

### Round 2 - Last Movements

#### Video Evidence -

Jemma and Dale are walking on top of the Bay Cliffs. Dale complains about Jemma always being on her phone and Jemma asks for a selfie. Dale receives a text on his phone but is secretive about what it was. Dale heads to go to find a bush as Jemma waits to meet Fiona. After taking a selfie of herself, she is heard screaming.

#### Extra Evidence -

The first three pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* Data from Hamish's App
* **A letter to Jemma**
* The last selfie of Jemma and Dale

 The letter is said to be from an old school friend named Fiona Williams who got her address from Ruth Potter and suggested to meet her at Bay Cliffs.

### Round 3 - Police Interviews

#### Video Evidence -

##### Hamish McBride -

Hamish says that he moved out of Mortcliff after getting married to his partner due to problems with his homophobic neighbor. He says he didn't like Brendan Wilson but he wasn't sure whether or not he was guilty as the evidence was that strong. He says he didn't get to know Jemma at all during the trial. DI Knight reveals that Jemma's parents were his former homophobic neighbours. Hamish admits that he knew they were Jemma's parents.

##### Donna Atkins -

She says that she believed that Brendan Wilson was 100% guilty because her gut told her and she always follows her gut instinct. She said that there were discussions about the case between jurors outside of the deliberation room with lobbying from both sides as there was a halfway split of guilty and non guilty verdicts. She believes that Brendan's brother James had something more to do with it. She lets out that she knows Brendan is dead and that she heard it in the media.

##### Margaret Donaldson -

She believes that there was flimsy evidence and that Brendan's brother was the person behind the fraud. She says she has received a number of letters from Fiona Williams to meet her at Bay Cliffs. However, she couldn't go as she has been having chemotherapy from leukemia and has low energy.

#### Extra Evidence -

The three pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* Data from Hamish's App
* Letters sent to Margaret
* **The last selfie of Jemma and Dale**

### Round 4 - Dig Deeper

#### Video Evidence -

Three years earlier at the Jury deliberations of the Brendan Wilson trial, Donna openly says that she believes that Brendan was flirting and winking at her during the trial and even pointed at his ring finger. Hamish was concerned about a postcard sent to Brendan. Margaret points out that it was James Wilson's company and that James is Untrustworthy. Donna says that if Brendan had come up to her that she would of believed him in which Jemma calls her deluded. Margaret doesn't believe that one testimony is enough to convict. Margaret votes not guilty, Hamish votes not proven and Donna and Jemma vote guilty. The vote is 8 to 7 guilty.

At Brendan Wilson's funeral, James Wilson says his brother was a ladies man and loved walking at Bay Cliffs and first proposed when was 16. Margaret approaches James afterwards but stops to thank Donna for helping with the service. James says he recognizes them from the trial. Jemma is also there and Margaret is outraged at the fact that those who voted guilty are at the funeral. Margaret and Donna get into a physical fight as James and Jemma look on. James says he was not going to stop the fight as this is what Brendan would have wanted, for ladies to fight over him. Donna's bag falls and it is revealed that she has stolen the money from the collection plate in which James is impressed.

Extra Evidence -

The three pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* Data from Hamish's App
* Letters sent to Margaret
* **Postcard sent to Brendan in Prison**

The postcard has a picture on the Bay Cliffs. On the back, it writes for them to meet Brendan at a hotel but they may be tired but going to get ingredients from a birthday cake.

### Round 5 - Final Clues

#### Video Evidence -

DS Slater finds out from Dale's work colleagues that Dale is known for one night stands but he did go to the toiler in the bush and James Wilson moved out of Mortcliff following the trial. DI Knight gets a call form Donna telling him that she has received a letter from Fiona Williams to meet at Bay Cliffs.

DI Knight and DS Slater interview James. He owns up about what he did and says he was too sensitive to go to jail. He talks about the woman fighting at the funeral. He says that Brendan had a secret admirer whilst in jail getting lots of letters.

#### Extra Evidence.

The final two pieces of evidence available to choose from in this round are: (The choice in bold was chosen by the detectives)

* **Data from Hamish's App**
* Letters sent to Margaret

The data from the app shows that he was not moving at the time of the murder and was stationary.

#### Unseen Evidence -

The letters to Margaret are the near the same to the ones sent to the other victims by Fiona Williams but there are multiple letters been sent.

## Solution

The killer was revealed to be Margaret Donaldson

Brendan Wilson had proposed to Margaret many years before on the Bay Cliffs. When she found out that Brendan was on the trial she was on, she kept knowing him a secret and tried to sway the other jury members that he was innocent but fell short. She sent him a hidden code on the postcard saying that she was on the jury and not to worry. She wrote to Brendan in prison and he told her that when he left prison that he would leave his wife for her but he unexpectedly died. Margaret felt that those who voted to send him to jail were to be punished and sent each letters to meet at the cliff. Margaret's bald head (without her wig) can be seen at the back of Jemma and Dale's selfie