Silent Witness season 28 episode 2 recap: Meet Kit Brooks

Silent Witness season 28 episode 2 sees crime analyst Kit Brooks (Francesca Mills) join the team, while poor Mr Dawson remains in grave danger.

The second episode of the two-part story opens where we left the opener with a dodgy man at Mr Dawson’s house. Meanwhile, at the lab, Nikki and Jack discuss if the victims were married. Nikki reveals that when she started her career she couldn’t sleep because she was haunted by the victims. Nikki speculates the pair have been dead for three weeks. Jack notes no one reported them missing. As she cuddles into Jack, Nikki speculates whether the pair wandered into the wilderness to die. Or she adds perhaps they just got lost.

Mr Dawson returns to his spot outside Gloria's house. The woman inside is very distressed by him being there.

DI Flynn arrives at the office. They discuss Edith. Nikki says that as the death hasn't been registered her pension would still be being paid, is that a motive? Jack says someone walked her to the cave and left her there. A cop asks Mr Dawson when the last time was he saw Gloria and he says three weeks ago. The cop says Gary and Lauren live there now and he needs to go home.

At the lab, the team including Flynn discusses the pair found in the woods. Nikki says they still can't identify the body. One body was partially eaten by animals, the other wasn’t. Nikki says the man had Lyme disease, which has been linked to dementia. Nikki and Harriet debate whether the two are linked for certain.
Flynn says perhaps he got lost, fell asleep, and then died from the cold. Nikki thinks she’d agree but the other body confuses matters.

Jack is being awkward with Maggie

So far Maggie has been nice, while Jack’s been rather off with her and this continues as they discuss the applicants for the job. Jack says he wants to interview the one candidate she’s not keen on. Jack conducts a video interview with the candidate, Kit Brooks (Francesca Mills). She impresses him with her knowledge of the DNA database. Talking about the actual case, which surely is irregular, Jack says the victim has Lyme disease and she says that’s great because it’s rare and will narrow down the potential victim list. Jack then asks her why one body has been eaten by an animal and the other hasn't. She suggests perhaps one of the bodies had something unappetizing on it. Kit then says she wanted to go into forensics after seeing a lecture by Clarissa Mullery (Lizz Carr))! She says Clarissa was a bit of a hero. Jack offers her the job.

Kit makes a big impression

Mr Dawson is at home but he's not alone. He's making a cup of tea. The police knock and come in. Someone has moved his tea and he looks to the police like he’s forgetful. He says he wants to report Gloria missing. It's about time the police tried listening to him! The cop says she will look into it but will she?

Nikki looks at the female body, and while she does this we also see Mr Dawson plant a Gloria Rose. Nikki swabs the fingers. Nikki tells Flynn she thinks there was third-party involvement in the death of the two found in the woods. She thinks this because she has found evidence of bleach being used to destroy evidence. Kit Brooks arrives at the office and after some awkward introductions says she will get cracking on their case. Mr Dawson makes himself a tea again. But again he’s not alone. The door goes, but no one is there. Has someone drugged the tea? Nikki tells Kit she found some thin black plastic in the victim’s mouth. Mr Dawson starts feeling odd, looks like he was drugged. Suddenly a black plastic bin bag is placed over his head!

Back at the Lyell, Kit says she thinks it was a piece of black bin bag Nikki found in the lady’s mouth. Poor Mr Dawson is totally confused. The two men say he’s now conscious and compliant and they will take him for a drive later. One of them references Cherry Hill, the care home we saw in the opening episode, so we take it he works there.

Flynn and Jack head to the bank which manages Edith's account. The bank worker says Edith is named on the account and so is her grandson! The address listed leads them to the home of the helpful care home manager we saw in the opening episode. It turns out Edith had lived there previously. She says she found the property via a noticeboard at work. She explains she’s never met her landlord and pays by direct debit. The team start working through Kit’s list of Lyme disease sufferers above a certain age.

Is Mr Dawson being led to his death?

Poor Mr Dawson thinks he’s being taken into the woods by Gloria, but he is in fact with the dodgy men. He goes for a kiss and one of the men thumps him to the floor. His accomplice is annoyed as Mr Dawson is now unconscious. The dodgy salesman guy puts a bin bag over his head and rolls him into some water. Kit says the only person they haven't been able to eliminate is Charles Mead, who lives with Gloria Mead. Flynn takes their address and heads there.

Nikki, Jack and Flynn call in and the young couple explain that Charles doesn't live there now, they do. Nikki congratulates pregnant Lauren. They mention a "crazy old man" who's been stalking them and saying he's waiting for Gloria to come home.

Jack asks Nikki if she'd like kids, after noticing the way she looked at the pregnant lady. Nikki questions if now is the right time to talk about it.

Flynn, Jack, Nikki and the cop go to Mr Dawson’s, and the dodgy salesman answers the door. He coolly claims Mr Dawson has moved. Flynn notes Mr Dawson seems to have left a lot of his stuff behind. Flynn asks the man's name — it's Matthew.

Back at the lab, Kit’s upset she’s been unable to follow the money. At Mr Dawson's, Matthew sips a large drink but then a bin bag is placed over his head. He’s then struck around the head and it's Mr Dawson! He tells him it’s his house and then plunges a fire poker into Matthew’s chest killing him!

Maggie spots a link between the victims — the care home. The cop visits Mr Dawson’s house again and sees Matthew’s body. She calls it in. We later see Nikki, Jack and Flynn standing over the body. They take prints from the fire poker. Jack isn't convinced they’re alone in the house and heads upstairs. Mr Dawson, who really now is a man on a mission, goes to Gloria’s house and whacks Gary.

Mr Dawson is finally safe

Back at Mr Dawson’s house, they find a photo of him with Gloria. Poor Lauren goes into labour. The police arrive in the nick of time. Nikki helps Lauren and they call an ambulance. Despite everything Gary, refuses to tell Flynn who he rented the house from. Gary eventually cracks and says they got it through someone Lauren knew from work. And of course, she worked at the care home. He tells them the name and Flynn and co head to the care home. At the care home, “Oscar" makes a run for it but the cops grab him and Flynn states his real name, Thomas, as he arrests him. Thomas smirks and tells Flynn to prove it. "We will," says Nikki.