Pod Insights British Scandal The Salisbury Poisonings | Manhunt | 3 About this episode When Novichok’s deadly tendrils claim an innocent victim in Dawn Sturgess, Prime Minister Theresa May must find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. But any response risks plunging Britain into full-scale chemical war.
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0:00 Alice Levine? Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of British Scandal ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
0:13 Alice Levine? Okay, Matt, today's the day. We've got that big interview with the magazine. I think this could be amazing for us, great for publicity, more listeners. We just really need to nail it.
0:22 Matt Forde? Sure.
0:23 Alice Levine? So I've sent you a PDF with some of the questions they're probably going to ask, and I think it just makes sense if you just stick to the script, basically, I've written.
0:30 Matt Forde? Okay, yeah, sure.
0:32 Alice Levine? So likely to come up, I think, is what's it like to work on British Scandal?
0:36 Matt Forde? Okay, let me get it on.
0:39 Matt Forde? Working on British Scandal is the privilege of my life. Alice Levine isn't just a valued colleague, she's an inspiration to me in many ways.
0:48 Alice Levine? Oh, thanks, that's really nice, that's great. Number two, do you and Alice do the research?
0:55 Matt Forde? I don't do any research. Alice does lots. She has a keen eye for history and a sharp mind. She remains an inspiration.
1:05 Alice Levine? I'm blushing. All I would say is that delivery, it does sound a little bit red. So maybe for the next one, make it a bit more your own, loosen up, nice and natural.
1:16 Matt Forde? Okay.
1:17 Alice Levine? What is it like working with the legend that is Alice Levine?
1:21 Matt Forde? Oh, honestly, it's a nightmare. She will often steal my jokes, re-record them, pass them off as her own. She really doesn't understand history at all. She thought 5G was a boy band. She also has anger issues. She keeps a series of weapons that, it's really odd, at the start of recordings, she will just lay them out deliberately on the table while eyeballing me. She doesn't always let me eat.
1:47 Matt Forde? To be honest, I'm scared, very, very scared.
1:51 Alice Levine? Uh, okay, I think that was probably a little bit too natural. On an unrelated note, could you just pass me those nunchucks?
2:06 Alice Levine? July the 8th, 2018. Muggleton Road, Amesbury, eight miles from Salisbury. Dawn Sturgess checks her hair in the bathroom mirror, adds a touch of red to her lips, then looks at the bottle in her hands, tilts her head to read the label. Nina Ricci. Hmm, sounds fancy. She gives it an excited shake, holds the nozzle to her nose. What's brought this on? Her partner Charlie shrugs. Consider it a moving gift. She feels her bottom lip start to tremble. She never imagined she'd meet someone like Charlie. Her guardian angel must have been keeping an eye out for her after all. And now she's getting gifts too.
2:51 Alice Levine? She twists her left wrist up, puts a finger to the cap and presses. A small translucent gloop splurges out, lands noiselessly on her wrist. She looks at it, confused, brings it cautiously to her nose, gives a tentative sniff, but smells nothing. She rubs her wrists together. It feels oily against her skin, unpleasantly so. She gives another sniff, deeper, but still, nothing. I can't really smell anything. Did you try it in the shop? She holds out her wrist for Charlie to sniff, but sees him look down and away,
3:36 Alice Levine? sheepishly trying to avoid her eye. A prickly sense of guilt scurries across her. She hadn't meant to embarrass him. Oh, well, it was a nice idea, love. Thank you.
3:48 Matt Forde? What I don't understand is, we know this bottle was thrown in the bin. So, has someone then taken it out of the bin and sold it to him?
3:57 Alice Levine? So this is horribly bad luck. So Charlie had a habit or a hobby of hunting for treasure in bins, magpie style, seeing things and bringing them home. So he did this regularly and this is just one of the things he found.
4:13 Alice Levine? Dawn smiles, leans forward to give him a kiss. But as she makes her way up the stairs to wash the grease slick off, she begins to feel a little woozy. She grabs the banister as a biting sensation cuts across the back of her eyes. The last thing she needs is a migraine on her night out. There's a blinding flash of pain. She drops the bottle. It clatters along the edge of the sink and onto the floor. Dawn, everything all right? She hears him bounding up the stairs, sees a look of terror on his face as he appears across the landing, before everything goes black.
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6:11 Alice Levine? From Wondery, I'm Alice Levine.
6:13 Matt Forde? And I'm Matt Ford.
6:14 Alice Levine? And this is British Scandal.
6:27 Alice Levine? Matt, things in Salisbury have now got super serious, as we knew they would. So Sergey and Yulia have been poisoned and are now fighting for their lives. And then we've got these two clowns who were in charge of the assassination. They've just chucked a deadly nerve agent in a bin and legged it to Heathrow. So the authorities are in a position where not only do they have to wonder if they have to shut down a city, but also how the hell are they going to deal with what amounts to a chemical attack by a hostile foreign power on British soil?
6:56 Matt Forde? And this is so difficult for the Prime Minister Theresa May, and we can all remember that period. Her premiership was basically one long extended crisis, trying to negotiate Britain's withdrawal from the EU and manage the different tensions in her parties. Chaotic figures like Boris Johnson, who were trying to undermine her for their own political furtherment. And as well as that, the same pressures that any prime minister would face is that in a crisis like this, there are competing priorities, and they all have different perspectives. So there's the public health issue, there's the national security issue, there's the foreign policy element, Britain's role in the world and how you counter the power of Putin. But it's the politicians' job, really, to be the voice of the public in all these things.
7:40 Alice Levine? As you say all that, I'm reminded of Covid and the response to Covid, and how people now say, with hindsight, which is very easy, we should have dealt with that differently, here's how we should have acted. But of course, as we know, because it was the catchphrase of the pandemic, it was an unprecedented event, an unprecedented situation. But this, with Theresa May and with the Skripals, is unprecedented. Litvinenko was only a few years before. Let's see how Britain responds this time. This is episode three, Manhunt.
8:21 Alice Levine? Four months earlier, 12th of March 2018, Westminster, London. Theresa May stares up at the clock. She's due to deliver a statement in the House of Commons about the situation in Salisbury. Half the city is in lockdown. Sergey Skripal and his daughter both lie comatose in the ICU. Parliament and the nation will look to her to map out Britain's response to this horrifying attack. And right now, she has no idea what that is. There's a knock at the door, her National Security adviser.
8:58 Speaker 04 Any update? Toxicology confirms both Skripals were exposed to the same strain, Novichok, military grade.
9:06 Alice Levine? May's brow flushes cold.
9:09 Speaker 04 Which means it was most likely deployed with approval from the Kremlin.
9:13 Alice Levine? She purses her lips as her phone buzzes. She looks at the screen, sighs.
9:19 Speaker 04 Excuse me. About bloody time, hell's bells, Theresa. I can get my ex-wife on the phone quicker than you.
9:26 Matt Forde? Which one?
9:30 Alice Levine? May rolls her eyes. Hello, Boris.
9:35 Speaker 04 We need to take a pop back. Bloody Putin's nose. He's acting with impunity, and we're just bobbing about like a school of crippling jellyfish.
9:44 Alice Levine? She pinches the bridge of her nose.
9:46 Speaker 04 I'm with National Security now.
9:49 Speaker 04 Without me? Christ's wounds, keep him there. I'm on my way.
9:54 Alice Levine? She hangs up, gives her adviser a knowing look.
9:58 Speaker 04 It's delicate, Prime Minister. I'd urge caution about responding too forcefully. At this early stage, it would only inflame tensions with Putin.
10:07 Alice Levine? She's not convinced Putin is as well situated as everyone seems to think he is. He's up for reelection in one week. There's every chance he ordered this hit on Skripal as a desperate flex of muscle. Which we know he likes.
10:22 Matt Forde? Oh, if it's one thing he loves more than anything, flexing his muscles, topless on the back of an animal.
10:31 Alice Levine? Her phone buzzes again. Her eyes glance down at the message.
10:35 Speaker 04 I'm serious. Iron fist, pulverise paper tiger Putin.
10:42 Alice Levine? She looks back up, her mind scrambled. Is she really in agreement with Boris Johnson?
10:49 Matt Forde? You can never trust where Boris is coming from at any point because he's talking tough here about Putin. But as we record this, you've got a situation where Donald Trump is trying to convince Ukraine to give up land and Boris Johnson is backing Trump up.
11:04 Speaker 04 And imagine in a moment of high stress and high responsibility, if you're, you know, number two in this situation, you can't really trust. Definition of bull in a china shop.
11:15 Matt Forde? Bulling done in a china shop.
11:16 Speaker 04 Am I right? How long have you been sat on that one?
11:20 Matt Forde? Years.
11:21 Speaker 04 Waiting for a tea up.
11:22 Matt Forde? Oh, man, since about 2010.
11:26 Alice Levine? She shuts her eyes, takes her necklace between thumb and finger, rubs it like a rosary and thinks.
11:38 Alice Levine? Fifteen minutes later, she steps up to the dispatch box. A grave silence fills the room as she turns the cover page of her statement.
11:49 Speaker 04 Mr. Speaker, it is now clear that Mr. Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia. There are only two plausible explanations for what happened. Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country or Russia's government has lost control.
12:21 Alice Levine? May's confidence soars as a roar of hear hear swells from the benches. She knows Putin won't be able to let a challenge to his authority go ignored. But what she says next could plunge Britain into full-scale chemical war.
12:49 Speaker 04 One hour later, National Forum of Agricultural Producers, Krasnodar, Russia.
12:57 Speaker 04 Vladimir Putin tries to focus on the tray of seedlings he's been shown. But his attention keeps wandering to the giant combine harvester at the other end of the hall. A picture of him in the cab of that massive machine hovering over its fearsome blades. That's what he wants from this campaign visit, not photos of him gawping at puny little plants. But with six days to go until the election, he knows he has to play the part of dutiful leader. His eyelids droop as the farmer drones on about wheat strains when he feels a hand at his elbow, an aide hovering anxiously. Mr. President, it's the Skripal situation.
13:40 Speaker 04 Putin drops his head, exhales, gives a ridiculous smile to the farmer, then takes the aide by the arm and drags him aside. The British Prime Minister has just released a statement blaming Russia for the attack. The aide hands him a printout. She's expelling 23 of our people from the UK, calling them undeclared intelligence officers. But no sanctions. This is it. This is Britain's response. He shoves the paper back into the hands of his aide. I have no time to worry about Britain's inability to keep its citizens alive. He gives one last glance over at the combine harvester, sighs, then turns back to his aide.
14:24 Speaker 04 Put our people on this, cast it out. Have them say Britain launched the attack themselves, a false flag, to stir up hatred of Russia ahead of the World Cup.
14:36 Matt Forde? They got the World Cup in 2018 after the initial invasion of Ukraine, then Qatar get the World Cup, Saudi Arabia have got it in a few years.
14:44 Speaker 04 What do you have to do?
14:46 Matt Forde? We haven't hosted one since 66. I say this all the time. London itself could host a World Cup tomorrow. We have the stadia, the infrastructure, and we are, oh man, it drives me mad.
14:59 Speaker 04 I thought you were making a point about rewarding crimes against humanity with major world events, but what you're actually doing is making...
15:07 Alice Levine? A bid for London.
15:08 Matt Forde? It's a bit of both. I am appalled that FIFA seems to reward some of the most repressive regimes on the planet. But at the same time, that doesn't mean they are overlooking the home of football.
15:21 Alice Levine? Putin smiles to himself. That's the way to hit Britain where it hurts: football.
15:27 Matt Forde? Turns out he's right. He's got me going.
15:29 Alice Levine? And his highly-trained cyber task force will know exactly how to cede this theory. The aide nods, peels off to start making calls. Putin pushes his way through the waiting pack of journalists. He twists his face from the cameras, presses forward to his waiting car, when he hears a voice cutting over the top of the clamour: thin, reedy English.
15:53 Speaker 04 Mr. President, do you have any response to Prime Minister May's allegations?
15:59 Alice Levine? Putin steps one foot into the car. He's not rising to this.
16:03 Speaker 04 What about the daughter, Yulia? Any message for her now she's showing signs of life?
16:09 Alice Levine? Putin stops, shoots the journalist a look, tries to keep a thunderous scowl from his face, before slamming himself down in his seat and pulling the door closed behind him.
16:20 Speaker 04 Any idea what she might say now that she's trying to talk?
16:26 Alice Levine? He cannot let this situation jeopardise his campaign. The stakes now are far too high. So if this story, like the Skripals', refuses to die, he's just going to have to take matters into his own hands and clean this mess up himself.
16:56 Alice Levine? March 28, 2018, Salisbury District Hospital. Yulia Skripal comes to with a cough, places a hand to her throat, a plastic tube scratching its insides. She blinks, her eyes adjusting once again to the bright white light of the room, her skin brushing against the stiff hospital sheets.
17:20 Alice Levine? When she hears an unexpected voice from the foot of her bed.
17:24 Speaker 04 Hello, Yulia. Welcome back.
17:27 Alice Levine? She tips her head up from her pillow to see a man, bald, trim white beard, dressed all in black. She feels her scalp start to prickle. The beep of her heart monitor quickens as he moves towards her.
17:42 Alice Levine? This isn't her doctor. A panic starts to crawl up her body as he slowly makes his way to the side of her bed. Her muscles still weak from her coma, tense. Her eyes dart up and down, searching him for a clue. Then land on a lanyard. The Metropolitan Police.
18:05 Speaker 04 My name is Neil Bazoo. I'm head of counter-terrorism in the UK.
18:12 Alice Levine? She feels a brief moment of calm, which then turns into confusion. Terrorism? What has happened? Where is my father? Neil crouches.
18:26 Speaker 04 He is alive. I won't lie, he's not in a good way. But he's a fighter. Like you.
18:34 Alice Levine? He slips a hand into his pocket, pulls something out.
18:38 Speaker 04 Here. This is for you.
18:41 Alice Levine? It's a smartphone.
18:42 Speaker 04 We have reason to believe your phone may have been compromised by Russian special forces.
18:49 Speaker 04 This device is secure. But we recommend you not take any calls from anyone back home.
18:55 Alice Levine? Yulia stares at herself in the small black screen. Pale. Gaunt.
19:02 Alice Levine? Compromised? But... What? She feels her eyes start to fill with hot tears.
19:10 Alice Levine? This was my fault?
19:13 Speaker 04 No. More should have been done to keep you and your father safe. That was our fault. But we do need your help.
19:23 Matt Forde? It is unbelievable that in the wake of Litvinenko, this is only a few years later, the security services would not have adequately protected Sergey and Yulia against Vladimir Putin. It's not like we didn't know what he was like. It's not like he hadn't done this before. That is an absolute system failure.
19:43 Alice Levine? Sitting ducks is the expression that's been used. They had nothing.
19:46 Matt Forde? And now Neil's got to compensate for that by trying to find the people that did it.
19:51 Alice Levine? She turns her head away.
19:54 Speaker 04 I want to go home. I'm afraid Moscow is no longer safe for you. We need to keep you here, under police protection.
20:03 Alice Levine? Her head snaps back around.
20:05 Speaker 04 But I have a fiance. My apartment, my dog. I know this must be a lot, but the people who did this could still be out there. We need to find them and stop them before they hurt someone else.
20:22 Alice Levine? Yulia scrunches her eyes shut, pictures the waggling tail of her black mongrel. Neil leans in.
20:29 Speaker 04 We have 250 of our best officers scouring the city. But we need to know more about what you did that day. Who you saw. Yulia, we need you to think.
20:46 Alice Levine? Every time she's tried to think of what happened, all she sees is her father, convulsing, vomiting, choking. But if what this man says is true, that her father is still alive and still in danger, then she has no choice. She's going to have to bring back those memories, fight her way through them, and help the British state find her attacker.
21:21 Alice Levine? Two and a half months later. National Counterterrorism Security Office, London.
21:28 Alice Levine? Neil Bazoo drives another thumbtack into his corkboard, steps back to take in the whole picture. I know this is really serious and I'm sure there's so much pressure on Neil, but they love making those boards, don't they?
21:41 Matt Forde? I wonder who is in charge. There must be a stationary department, where they have to have corkboards, red string.
21:48 Alice Levine? Oh yeah, red string's essential.
21:50 Matt Forde? Maps and photo-quality paper. You cannot do the job of a modern cop without all those crucial things, and pins.
21:57 Alice Levine? The tack style is going to set the whole tone. You can't have novelty magnets that say, "I loved Tenerife."
22:05 Matt Forde? There must be an internal style guide. "How many times, Keith, you cannot use Comic Sans. This is serious. Times New Roman, Franklin Gothic Book maybe. And keep the clipboard clear of anything else. I don't want staff night out stuff on there. It's the wrong notice board."
22:22 Alice Levine? He shakes his head. Still makes no sense. He knew this job was going to be tough, but it's taken over every waking moment of his life these last two months. He's hardly seen his wife, his three sons. And with every lead coming up cold, he has no idea when that's going to change.
22:44 Alice Levine? His phone rings. He sees the number flash up, grimaces as he realizes exactly who it will be.
22:51 Speaker 04 Prime Minister, hello. How... No, nothing yet. We have identified two persons of interest, but...
23:02 Alice Levine? He pulls the receiver back from his ear. He bristles. He knows the Prime Minister is under pressure, but the press is coming after him just as hard as they are her.
23:13 Speaker 04 Yes, Prime Minister, I understand, but it's Sergey who will hold the key. And with him still undergoing treatment... Yes, yes.
23:24 Alice Levine? He hears the line click dead.
23:28 Alice Levine? He squeezes his eyes shut, takes a breath, looks again at his evidence board, and stares at the grainy CCTV still pulled from a petrol station of two men loitering suspiciously. His thoughts are interrupted by a rap at the door. Sir, I think I might have something. Neil turns, sees the officer's urgent expression, follows her along the corridor to her desk. I think I've picked up our two men in the morning of the incident in London. Neil's brow furrows as his officer flicks through stills of two men crossing the concourse of Waterloo Station. His eyes narrow as he takes in the two men's familiar silhouettes.
24:13 Alice Levine? Half an hour earlier, they got on a tube of Bow. Been staying at a place called City Stay Hotel. Pull their booking information. The officer grins, points to the printer. Neil grabs the sheets, his jaw dropping as he sees copies of two passports, Russian, belonging to Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Bozhirov. His heart leaps in his chest. I want to know where they came in and when. Whoever they are, I want every step they took on British soil detailed and on my desk. Understood? The officer nods, turns to leave the room. But as she nears the door, another officer comes bursting through.
24:58 Alice Levine? Sir! Neil looks up. What is it? He notes a fretful expression on his officer's face. That was a hospital, sir, in Salisbury, not Sergey. No, sir, a woman and her boyfriend, admitted to intensive care, convulsing, foaming from the mouth, pupils like pinpricks.
25:17 Alice Levine? Neil's chest heaves as he hopes and prays he's wrong about the next word to come out of his officer's mouth. But he isn't. Novichok. The air in his lungs empties. It looks like Britain is under attack once again. He needs Downing Street on the line, now.
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27:10 Alice Levine? 8th of July, 2018. Downing Street, London.
27:17 Alice Levine? Theresa May steps up to the podium, her eyes cast down, away from the reporters. She looks at her statement, says a short prayer, then lifts her head.
27:28 Speaker 04 I am appalled and shocked by the death of Dawn Sturgess, and my thoughts and condolences go to her family and loved ones.
27:36 Alice Levine? She swallows, sweat on the tips of her fingers.
27:39 Speaker 04 Police and security officials are working urgently to establish the facts of this incident, which is now being investigated as a murder.
27:51 Alice Levine? She gives a short nod as she steps back from the podium, indicating that she won't be taking questions. But still, the questions come. Do you have any suspects yet, Prime Minister? Is Putin responsible for this attack as well, Prime Minister? Can the people of Salisbury sleep safe in their Bed beds tonight, Prime Minister. She bites her tongue. Her security advisers are pressuring her to not divulge details of the investigation so as not to alert the Kremlin. But a civilian has been slaughtered in cold blood, on her watch. The people of Salisbury are living in fear, thinking the next thing they touch could kill them. And it's very possible they're right.
28:34 Alice Levine? She needs to get a handle on this and reassure the public her government is responding.
28:44 Alice Levine? She storms into her office. Neil Bazoo turns and stands to greet her.
28:49 Speaker 04 How close are we to finding these men?
28:53 Speaker 04 We believe the suspects are currently in Moscow. The one calling himself Petrov is Alexander Mishkin, a doctor and colonel in the GRU. The other one, Bocherov, is Anatoly Shapiga, also GRU.
29:08 Alice Levine? She swivels the file he's placed on her desk around.
29:12 Speaker 04 Excellent. When can we expect their arrest?
29:16 Alice Levine? Neil fiddles with his lapel.
29:18 Speaker 04 I appreciate your frustration, Prime Minister, but as you know, we would prefer this operation be conducted covertly.
29:26 Alice Levine? May places a hand to her forehead.
29:29 Speaker 04 A woman is dead. People need to see justice being served. I realize, Prime Minister, but if the Kremlin learns we've ID'd their men, there's a real chance they might disappear.
29:43 Alice Levine? May raises her hand to silence him, studies the file at her fingers, takes in the suspects' grim expressions.
29:52 Speaker 04 Please, we just need a little time.
29:57 Alice Levine? She flips the file over, consigning their headshots to her desk. Her mind is made up. There is no time. She's going to identify these suspects publicly and force these murderers out into the sunlight.
30:20 Alice Levine? September the 5th, 2018. GRU HQ, The Glass House, Moscow. Alexander Mishkin stares in horror at the TV screen. The unblinking glare of his passport photo boring its eyes into him. His flesh turning cold as the newscaster reads his name.
30:40 Speaker 04 Suspect's named in salt spray poisoning.
30:44 Alice Levine? He jumps in his seat as his door crashes open. And a toiled Chapega barrels in, rattling a newspaper.
30:51 Speaker 04 Have you seen?
30:53 Alice Levine? Mishkin nods dumbly.
30:55 Speaker 04 That fucking bottle. I told you.
30:58 Alice Levine? Chapega runs both hands through his hair, grasping his skull. Pasting frantically. Mishkin feels the same agitation, but stares into the middle distance.
31:09 Speaker 04 We need a plan. I have car downstairs, so we kick off licence plate, we drive, we stop, steal another car, drive again, all night, steal and drive.
31:20 Alice Levine? Chapega slams his hand down on Mishkin's desk, growls in a low voice.
31:26 Speaker 04 You do not hide from GRU. Are you crazy? They kill us twice. First for fuck up, then for running.
31:35 Alice Levine? Mishkin pushes himself up from his seat, meets Chapega's glare. Their foreheads almost touching.
31:44 Alice Levine? When Mishkin's phone starts ringing. An unlisted number.
31:48 Speaker 04 Oh fuck.
31:50 Alice Levine? Chapega sees it, knows what it means.
31:53 Speaker 04 Pick up, Jesus. Don't make worse.
31:55 Alice Levine? Mishkin wipes his palms down on his chest. Tries to steel his nerves, but his heart is pumping like a steam engine. His mouth dries.
32:08 Speaker 04 Colonel Mishkin? You and comrade Chapega, you are to report to Building 3, Borovaya Street. Lefortovo, within the hour. A driver has been dispatched.
32:24 Alice Levine? Mishkin's blood runs cold. La Fortovo. He watches the colour drain from Shepiga's face at the word.
32:31 Matt Forde? Why are they both so scared of that?
32:33 Alice Levine? Because La Fortovo is a notorious Russian prison. Stalin used it for mass executions. The KGB then used it for interrogating political prisoners. And so just the name of it will say to them, we're in serious trouble.
32:49 Matt Forde? It's like their Tower of London.
32:50 Alice Levine? Absolutely.
32:58 Alice Levine? Forty minutes later, Mishkin peers out through the tinted window of a government car, up at the golden walls of La Fortovo prison. He shivers as he recalls the horror stories he's heard about the treatment of its inmates. He puts his head against the window, swallows, tries to stop the rising wave of nausea. But the car rolls right past the prison, takes a right, then a left, then pulls up at a security checkpoint at the foot of Building Three, a green and grey block, stood in what looks like an industrial park.
33:36 Alice Levine? He and Shepiga exchange glances. A guard summons them forwards. Disarmed by its bright corporate decor, Mishkin gives their names at the reception desk, and they're whisked along the carpeted corridor to a dark room filled with banks of monitors, one that looks out over a small TV studio.
33:59 Alice Levine? Colonel Mishkin, Colonel Shepiga, thank you for coming. Mishkin turns to see a woman clutching a clipboard to her chest with one hand, extending the other to shake. He has no idea what's happening, but he knows that if he has any hope of surviving the next 24 hours, he's going to have to go along with whatever it is Putin has fixed up for them.
34:29 Alice Levine? 9pm, The Residence, 10 Downing Street, London. Theresa May stands at her kitchen counter, chopping a head of lettuce. Little did she know, in years to come, it would actually be banned from that residence.
34:43 Alice Levine? She's determined to have one quiet night in with her husband, Philip.
34:49 Alice Levine? Her phone buzzes, a message from her Home Secretary, Amber Rudd. Are you watching this? Absolute insanity.
34:57 Matt Forde? She's watching Naked Attraction.
34:58 Alice Levine? I'd love to think of the two of them texting along to it.
35:02 Alice Levine? May's shoulders slump. She types an apprehensive reply. Watching what? She has visions of Boris spouting gibberish at Andrew Neil, Dominic Raab getting shirty as Cathy Newman runs rings around him on Channel 4. Russia Today, Channel 113.
35:21 Alice Levine? May puts down her knife, paces through to the living room, switches on the telly, and is confused to see two familiar faces on screen. It takes her a second to place them, sat, slouched and blinking, in a bright beige room. It's then the suspects.
35:41 Matt Forde? And they're naked.
35:42 Alice Levine? But only from the waist down. She sets down her phone and sits.
35:49 Speaker 04 Explain, what were you doing in Salisbury?
35:52 Alice Levine? May clutches the arm of her sofa. They're talking.
35:58 Speaker 04 Our friends have been suggesting for quite a long time that we visit this wonderful city. It's a tourist city. They have a famous cathedral there, Salisbury Cathedral. It's famous for its 123-metre spire. It's famous for its clock. It's one of the oldest working clocks in the world.
36:18 Matt Forde? Anyone who saw this will never forget this moment. It was absolutely ludicrous.
36:24 Alice Levine? If it wasn't so tragic and so violent, it would almost be funny. They are spouting facts like from a fact file that you might write in like primary school geography, and this is supposed to be the cover story?
36:40 Alice Levine? May blinks, her breath catching. Her counter-terrorism team has spent months tracking these men, insisting these were a pair of highly skilled Russian killers. But on screen, they look and sound like utter morons. Her stomach knots. And did you have that bottle of Nina Ricci perfume, which the UK presents as evidence of your alleged crime? She watches as the camera stays trained on the suspects, sees them shuffle awkwardly, guiltily. Don't you think it's kind of stupid for two straight men to be carrying perfume for ladies? Even an ordinary person would have questions.
37:22 Alice Levine? Why would a man need perfume for women? Her jaw drops. She cannot for the life of her figure out what's going on. Darling, come in and see this. Her husband Philip wanders in. May points at the screen. Speaking of you being straight men, all the footage features you two together. You spent time together. You stayed together. You went for a walk together. What do you have in common that you spend so much time together?
37:55 Alice Levine? Philip slumps down on the sofa next to her. Good grief. She shushes him. You know, let's not breach anyone's privacy. We came to you for protection. But this is turning into some kind of an interrogation. You are going too far. We came to you for protection. I am really confused now. What on earth is happening? I'm not sure what the motivation for this is at all.
38:19 Matt Forde? No, and these two must wonder what the hell is going on now. Because they've been bounced into doing this interview, which I presume they think is going to help them out some way. And now, live on TV, in a country that has a deeply homophobic regime, they are now being accused of being gay. It's so hard to decide whether this is planned by Putin to make them look like idiots to then say, well, they can't have done it. I also think with Putin, I think he's punishing them for their incompetence. He wants to see these two guys sweat on telly. He's enjoying torturing them in this way. It's such an odd thing about Putin's Russia, where we know they're dangerous. They've murdered people here. We know what they're doing in Ukraine.
39:01 Matt Forde? And yet, there is this comedic level of incompetence around them.
39:08 Alice Levine? She watches as Mishkin rubs a twitching palm across his glistening brow, and is amazed to hear the interviewer remark: You are sweating. Let me turn on AC. May can hardly contain her glee. Putin has lost the plot. Putting two clearly guilty men under a dazzling spotlight, he's as good as signed their arrest warrants himself. She's caught them red-handed, and the stage is set for her to finally reel these killers in.
39:44 Alice Levine? 6am the next morning, 10 Downing Street. Theresa May shouts at her adviser to get Neil Bazoo on the line. She barely slept a wink last night, but she's feeling as refreshed as if she'd got a full eight hours. It's now only a matter of time before Dawn Sturgess's family will receive the justice they deserve. Popping her head into the Cabinet Room, she finds one of her com staff, tapping feverishly on her laptop. How's the media pick-up been?
40:16 Alice Levine? The adviser looks up, blinks distractedly.
40:18 Matt Forde? I was just booking some flights. I don't tend to start till nine.
40:22 Alice Levine? Papers are good, lots of write-ups about how mortifying it is for the Kremlin. Um, but, uh... May notices a frown forming. What? It's social media, it's a bin fire.
40:38 Alice Levine? She squints at the screen her adviser twists around. Every trending topic is flooded 10 to 1 with Russian trolls. May tries to keep up as her adviser scrolls through stream after stream of tweets. She catches sight of one casting doubt on the timestamps of CCTV stills from Salisbury. Another suggesting the two men were actors, stars of some foreign soap opera. But this is all nonsense! A new tweet appears at the top of the feed, claiming MI6 orchestrated it, along with 9/11 and JFK. May shakes her head, laughs. Surely nobody buys this rot.
41:19 Matt Forde? I hate to tell you Theresa, a lot of people buy this rot.
41:24 Alice Levine? Excuse me Prime Minister, Neil Bazoo on the line for you. She makes her way through to her private office.
41:31 Speaker 04 Mr. Bazoo, how are you today?
41:34 Alice Levine? But her cheery tone quickly fades as she hears the somber note in Neil's voice.
41:40 Speaker 04 It's been, um... A challenging morning, Prime Minister.
41:45 Alice Levine? Her smile pauses in the silence.
41:48 Speaker 04 The GRU has closed ranks, entered full protective lockdown. Our back channels to Moscow have gone dark.
41:56 Alice Levine? May's brow knits.
41:59 Speaker 04 But why do we need back channels? These men were on television, publicly begging for protection. Well, it seems they got it. They've gone to ground. Any eyes and ears we had on Miskin and Chapega, they're gone.
42:15 Alice Levine? May feels her legs turn weak.
42:17 Speaker 04 What do you mean, "gone"? Gone where? They didn't go home last night. The chances of them being within a hundred miles of Moscow are growing slimmer by the second.
42:26 Alice Levine? An uneasy shudder creeps over her.
42:30 Speaker 04 I'm afraid this leaves us twisting in the wind somewhat. I'm sorry, Prime Minister. These men are never leaving Russia. Not now.
42:40 Alice Levine? He clicks off.
42:43 Alice Levine? May stares dumbfounded out of the window as Larry the Cat toys with a mouse, until with a final twist, the mouse slips free and scurries triumphantly down the road and into the bushes. She lands heavily in her chair, the weight of it hitting her. Without an arrest, there can be no trial. No trial means no justice. And no justice means no closure.
43:10 Alice Levine? Putin was goading her, dangling them like bait. May feels sick. They have the men, they have the evidence, the case is there, it's all within grasp. It's not just Dawn's family who need closure on this matter. Britain does. And she does too. But right now, there is absolutely nothing that she, nor anyone else in Britain, can do about it.
43:46 Speaker 06 Hi, I'm Kenya Barris.
43:47 Speaker 07 And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.
43:53 Speaker 06 We're bringing you fresh, new conversations from guests like Anderson Paak, David Zedars, Ryan Howard, Rich Roll, Amy Sherrill, and many more.
43:59 Speaker 07 Sign up for a free trial to Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
44:07 Speaker 06 Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia spent her life exposing powerful people. Then, in 2017, she was killed in a car bombing. I'm Stephen Gray, and for the past nine years, I've been trying to find out who wanted her dead. That search took me to Malta through secret companies, organized crime, and eventually to one of the island's richest and most powerful men. Now, after years of waiting, his trial has finally happened. But when the verdict came in, the case took a turn that almost no one had expected. In a brand new update to the multi-award winning podcast, Who Killed Daphne?, I'm returning to Malta to find out how we got there and where the search for the truth goes next. Listen to the new episode of Who Killed Daphne? wherever you get your podcasts.
44:52 Speaker 06 And you can hear the full six-part investigation from the beginning, ad-free with Audible. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app and by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
45:18 Alice Levine? Six years later, the 13th of October, 2024, Salisbury. Caroline Sturgess clutches a photo of her daughter Dawn as she approaches the stone steps of Salisbury's Guild Hall, stops as she stares at the pack of reporters assembled outside, her stomach somersaults as she takes in the armed security officers manning the large oak doors. It's been six years since Theresa May first set up this inquest. Six torturous years. She hopes that at least now, there will start to be some answers surrounding her daughter's death. She hadn't wanted to be involved in any of this. But when she sees her husband, her kids, and grandkids all stood beside her,
46:03 Alice Levine? she knows there's no turning back. This is something she has to do. She just didn't expect it to be such a media circus.
46:15 Alice Levine? Inside the building, she sees signs all over the walls, directing her towards the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry. She's been asked to open the inquiry with a statement about Dawn. A pen portrait to remind everybody about the human life lost in the Novichok attack. But as she takes her seat in the grand mustard-coloured hearing room, she knows she has another reason for appearing today. One question that has plagued Caroline ever since Dawn's death is why she died when everyone else exposed to Novichok survived. She was furious when she read headlines labelling Dawn a drug addict, but she'd been absolutely apoplectic to learn police had at first made that assumption too.
47:00 Alice Levine? A mistake that prevented her getting essential treatment in those critical early hours. A lie that still casts a cloud over her memory today. And as Caroline adjusts to the glare of the light of the livestream's camera, that is what she's resolved to put right. She studies herself as the chairman makes his opening statement.
47:23 Speaker 04 Thank you for coming, Mrs Sturgess. I think I speak for the entire inquiry when I say I sympathise hugely for your loss. What you're doing is not easy, and we appreciate the courage you're showing by being here today.
47:38 Alice Levine? But Caroline can barely hear him over the sound of her own shaky breathing. The room falls quiet. Everyone waiting for her to talk. Her papers rustle noisily under the microphone as she tries to steady her hand. She leans in.
47:56 Alice Levine? I'm Caroline Sturgess, Dawn's mother.
48:01 Alice Levine? A picture of Dawn is projected up on the wall over her shoulder. She hears murmurs and sighs from the gallery. She begins to read from her prepared statement, trying to hold back tears as she recalls Dawn's best qualities: her intelligence, her humour.
48:20 Alice Levine? She looks up to see Dawn's sisters and kids, tears glistening in their eyes, smiles wobbling.
48:28 Alice Levine? But then her tone changes.
48:32 Alice Levine? The narrative that has been set for Dawn on social media and in the press was extremely distressing to everyone who personally knew her. She was not a known drug user. She pauses, takes in the rest of the gallery, then brings her eyes back down. She was a very loved mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, auntie, niece, cousin and friend. She catches the eyes of journalists and police officers in attendance. She feels terrible, but she's determined to reclaim her daughter's memory and she will continue to fight until her daughter's name is cleared and justice,
49:16 Alice Levine? or what remains of justice in this country, is served.
49:32 Alice Levine? The next morning, somewhere in New Zealand.
49:36 Alice Levine? Sergey Skripal rubs a shaking palm down his face as he watches Caroline Sturgess make her closing statements on his laptop. He blinks back a tear. That poor woman. Her poor mother.
49:51 Alice Levine? He grabs for his glass of water, takes a soothing sip and tries to breathe away the germ of a headache that's taking hold.
50:00 Alice Levine? It's been six years since Sergey left Salisbury, set himself up on the other side of the world, adopted a new name, started afresh.
50:11 Alice Levine? He's done his best to forget his previous lives: as a soldier in Russia, a spy in Spain. But when his old MI6 handler, Sebastian, approached him about giving evidence to the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, his mind started wandering back to his days as an exile in Britain.
50:31 Alice Levine? In the end, he declined to appear in person. He felt terrible about the woman who died in the aftermath, but he couldn't risk putting himself back on Putin's radar. He hadn't expected to see his old neighbour, Ross Cassidy, appear and give evidence about him. He refreshes the video stream and watches as Ross takes the stand. He knows he's not supposed to make contact with anyone from his past. Any trace, however slight, risks exposing him to Putin's agents. But now that Sergei is watching Ross talk so kindly about him and their friendship, he can't help himself. He just wants to get a short message to them, to let them know he's alive and well.
51:16 Alice Levine? As a former spy, he should be able to manage that much. Sergei slides open the drawer of his desk, rifles through the items in it, then takes out a Christmas card and lays it out flat. Picking up his pen, he tries to control the tremor the Novachok has left him with. And he writes: Dear Ross and Mo, wishing you all the best. Then writing a name he hasn't used in years: Your friend, Sergei.
51:47 Alice Levine? He folds the card, slips it into the envelope, licks it shut, turns it over to write out the address: Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, UK. All he needs now is a stamp. He walks through the kitchen, stands at the door to the back porch, and pokes his head outside. I'm going out, a quick errand to run. Can I bring you anything back?
52:13 Alice Levine? Yulia looks up from her deck chair, gives him a thumbs up. All good, be safe. Sergei smiles at his daughter.
52:23 Alice Levine? I will.
52:31 Alice Levine? The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry concluded its hearings in December 2024. The Chair, Lord Hughes, is compiling his report, expected to be published later this year, 2025. Both 45 Christie Miller Road and Charlie Rowley's flat on Muggleton Road were demolished. Sergey Skripal submitted evidence to the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry. He and Julia were last reported to be living under protected identities in New Zealand. Vladimir Putin won reelection in 2024, earning himself a fifth presidential term, with 88.5% of the vote. He was invited to give evidence at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry. None came.
53:14 Alice Levine? The Russian government still denies any involvement in the attack.
53:25 Alice Levine? Hey, I'm Cassie DePecce. The host of Against the Odds from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, we track the story of Hugh Glass, the real-life revenant that inspired the 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
53:44 Matt Forde? In 1823, Glass was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear in present-day South Dakota and left for dead. His survival depended on trekking through 350 miles of wilderness alone with grave injuries, but he was driven by his thirst for revenge. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
54:11 Speaker 06 There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, a great book with Barack Obama. President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and the Fire Next Time, to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead, the President is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped
54:44 Speaker 02 ...thinking on everything from fatherhood to leadership and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A Great Book with Barack Obama ad-free right now, plus access each audiobook discussed in the series. Download the Audible app today.
55:15 Alice Levine? From Wondry and Samizdat Audio, this is the third episode in our series, The Salisbury Poisonings.
55:21 Matt Forde? A quick note about our dialogue. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, but all our dramatizations are based on historical research.
55:28 Alice Levine? If you'd like to know more about this story, you can read The Script Owl Files by Mark Urban, Spy Swap by Nigel West, Bellingcat's Investigations into the Poisonings of the Script Owls at bellingcat.com, or you can listen to The Crime Next Door from the BBC.
55:44 Matt Forde? Please email us at [email protected] if there's a scandal you'd like us to cover.
55:48 Alice Levine? Yes, please do. British Scandal is hosted by me, Alice Levine.
55:52 Matt Forde? And me, Matt Ford.
55:53 Alice Levine? Written by Chris Lockery. Additional writing by Alice Levine and Matt Ford. Our story editor is James Maniac. Sound design by Dan King. Our engineer is Jai Williams. For Samizdat, our producer is Redzi Bernard. Our assistant producer is Louise Mason. Our senior producers are Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitzina. For Wondry, our senior producer is Theodora Leludis, and our senior managing producer is Rachel Sibley. Executive producers for Wondry are Estelle Doyle, Chris Bourne, and Marshall Louis.
56:37 Speaker 07 For decades, two legendary brands fought for the hearts of American bikers: Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson. The battle looked a lot like Coke versus Pepsi or Ford versus Chevy, but tastes changed and Indian didn't adapt fast enough. The icon all but died. Then came the con men, the dreamers, a string of spectacular failures that kept Indian in the grave, until one company finally got it right. This is the story of an improbable revival. And the reignition of an old rivalry. Hey, I'm David Brown, the host of the podcast Business Wars. And every season, we bring you the true stories behind the companies that shape our world. Indian's new owners are going all in, but an existential crisis looms. Can Indian and Harley recruit enough younger riders to survive?
57:20 Speaker 07 Make sure to follow Business Wars wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Business Wars early and ad free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
57:32 Speaker 05 I'm Gemma Whelan, and in the new season of The Spy Who, we tell the story of the original femme fatale, The Spy Who Was Mata Hari. A famous dancer turned World War I secret agent accused of seducing Allied officers to uncover their plans. But was she a temptress or a scapegoat for French failures? Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Was Mata Hari, early and ad free on Audible.
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