The Salisbury Poisonings | Manhunt | 3

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. Do you have a suggestion for a scandal you would like us to cover? Or perhaps you have a question you would like to ask our hosts? Email us at [email protected] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Alice Levine?

  Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of British Scandal ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.

• 0:13Alice 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.

• 0:22Matt Forde?

  Sure.

• 0:23Alice 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.

• 0:30Matt Forde?

  Okay, yeah, sure.

• 0:32Alice Levine?

  So likely to come up, I think, is what's it like to work on British Scandal?

• 0:36Matt Forde?

  Okay, let me get it on.

• 0:39Matt 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.

• 0:48Alice Levine?

  Oh, thanks, that's really nice, that's great. Number two, do you and Alice do the research?

• 0:55Matt 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.

• 1:05Alice 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.

• 1:16Matt Forde?

  Okay.

• 1:17Alice Levine?

  What is it like working with the legend that is Alice Levine?

• 1:21Matt 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.

• 1:47Matt Forde?

  To be honest, I'm scared, very, very scared.

• 1:51Alice Levine?

  Uh, okay, I think that was probably a little bit too natural. On an unrelated note, could you just pass me those nunchucks?

• 2:06Alice 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.

• 2:51Alice 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,

• 3:36Alice 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.

• 3:48Matt 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?

• 3:57Alice 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.

• 4:13Alice 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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• 6:11Alice Levine?

  From Wondery, I'm Alice Levine.

• 6:13Matt Forde?

  And I'm Matt Ford.

• 6:14Alice Levine?

  And this is British Scandal.

• 6:27Alice 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?

• 6:56Matt 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.

• 7:40Alice 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.

• 8:21Alice 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.

• 8:58Speaker 04

  Any update? Toxicology confirms both Skripals were exposed to the same strain, Novichok, military grade.

• 9:06Alice Levine?

  May's brow flushes cold.

• 9:09Speaker 04

  Which means it was most likely deployed with approval from the Kremlin.

• 9:13Alice Levine?

  She purses her lips as her phone buzzes. She looks at the screen, sighs.

• 9:19Speaker 04

  Excuse me. About bloody time, hell's bells, Theresa. I can get my ex-wife on the phone quicker than you.

• 9:26Matt Forde?

  Which one?

• 9:30Alice Levine?

  May rolls her eyes. Hello, Boris.

• 9:35Speaker 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.

• 9:44Alice Levine?

  She pinches the bridge of her nose.

• 9:46Speaker 04

  I'm with National Security now.

• 9:49Speaker 04

  Without me? Christ's wounds, keep him there. I'm on my way.

• 9:54Alice Levine?

  She hangs up, gives her adviser a knowing look.

• 9:58Speaker 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.

• 10:07Alice 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.

• 10:22Matt Forde?

  Oh, if it's one thing he loves more than anything, flexing his muscles, topless on the back of an animal.

• 10:31Alice Levine?

  Her phone buzzes again. Her eyes glance down at the message.

• 10:35Speaker 04

  I'm serious. Iron fist, pulverise paper tiger Putin.

• 10:42Alice Levine?

  She looks back up, her mind scrambled. Is she really in agreement with Boris Johnson?

• 10:49Matt 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.

• 11:04Speaker 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.

• 11:15Matt Forde?

  Bulling done in a china shop.

• 11:16Speaker 04

  Am I right? How long have you been sat on that one?

• 11:20Matt Forde?

  Years.

• 11:21Speaker 04

  Waiting for a tea up.

• 11:22Matt Forde?

  Oh, man, since about 2010.

• 11:26Alice Levine?

  She shuts her eyes, takes her necklace between thumb and finger, rubs it like a rosary and thinks.

• 11:38Alice 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.

• 11:49Speaker 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.

• 12:21Alice 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.

• 12:49Speaker 04

  One hour later, National Forum of Agricultural Producers, Krasnodar, Russia.

• 12:57Speaker 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.

• 13:40Speaker 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.

• 14:24Speaker 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.

• 14:36Matt 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.

• 14:44Speaker 04

  What do you have to do?

• 14:46Matt 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.

• 14:59Speaker 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...

• 15:07Alice Levine?

  A bid for London.

• 15:08Matt 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.

• 15:21Alice Levine?

  Putin smiles to himself. That's the way to hit Britain where it hurts: football.

• 15:27Matt Forde?

  Turns out he's right. He's got me going.

• 15:29Alice 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.

• 15:53Speaker 04

  Mr. President, do you have any response to Prime Minister May's allegations?

• 15:59Alice Levine?

  Putin steps one foot into the car. He's not rising to this.

• 16:03Speaker 04

  What about the daughter, Yulia? Any message for her now she's showing signs of life?

• 16:09Alice 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.

• 16:20Speaker 04

  Any idea what she might say now that she's trying to talk?

• 16:26Alice 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.

• 16:56Alice 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.

• 17:20Alice Levine?

  When she hears an unexpected voice from the foot of her bed.

• 17:24Speaker 04

  Hello, Yulia. Welcome back.

• 17:27Alice 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.

• 17:42Alice 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.

• 18:05Speaker 04

  My name is Neil Bazoo. I'm head of counter-terrorism in the UK.

• 18:12Alice Levine?

  She feels a brief moment of calm, which then turns into confusion. Terrorism? What has happened? Where is my father? Neil crouches.

• 18:26Speaker 04

  He is alive. I won't lie, he's not in a good way. But he's a fighter. Like you.

• 18:34Alice Levine?

  He slips a hand into his pocket, pulls something out.

• 18:38Speaker 04

  Here. This is for you.

• 18:41Alice Levine?

  It's a smartphone.

• 18:42Speaker 04

  We have reason to believe your phone may have been compromised by Russian special forces.

• 18:49Speaker 04

  This device is secure. But we recommend you not take any calls from anyone back home.

• 18:55Alice Levine?

  Yulia stares at herself in the small black screen. Pale. Gaunt.

• 19:02Alice Levine?

  Compromised? But... What? She feels her eyes start to fill with hot tears.

• 19:10Alice Levine?

  This was my fault?

• 19:13Speaker 04

  No. More should have been done to keep you and your father safe. That was our fault. But we do need your help.

• 19:23Matt 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.

• 19:43Alice Levine?

  Sitting ducks is the expression that's been used. They had nothing.

• 19:46Matt Forde?

  And now Neil's got to compensate for that by trying to find the people that did it.

• 19:51Alice Levine?

  She turns her head away.

• 19:54Speaker 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.

• 20:03Alice Levine?

  Her head snaps back around.

• 20:05Speaker 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.

• 20:22Alice Levine?

  Yulia scrunches her eyes shut, pictures the waggling tail of her black mongrel. Neil leans in.

• 20:29Speaker 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.

• 20:46Alice 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.

• 21:21Alice Levine?

  Two and a half months later. National Counterterrorism Security Office, London.

• 21:28Alice 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?

• 21:41Matt Forde?

  I wonder who is in charge. There must be a stationary department, where they have to have corkboards, red string.

• 21:48Alice Levine?

  Oh yeah, red string's essential.

• 21:50Matt Forde?

  Maps and photo-quality paper. You cannot do the job of a modern cop without all those crucial things, and pins.

• 21:57Alice Levine?

  The tack style is going to set the whole tone. You can't have novelty magnets that say, "I loved Tenerife."

• 22:05Matt 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."

• 22:22Alice 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.

• 22:44Alice Levine?

  His phone rings. He sees the number flash up, grimaces as he realizes exactly who it will be.

• 22:51Speaker 04

  Prime Minister, hello. How... No, nothing yet. We have identified two persons of interest, but...

• 23:02Alice 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.

• 23:13Speaker 04

  Yes, Prime Minister, I understand, but it's Sergey who will hold the key. And with him still undergoing treatment... Yes, yes.

• 23:24Alice Levine?

  He hears the line click dead.

• 23:28Alice 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.

• 24:13Alice 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.

• 24:58Alice 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.

• 25:17Alice 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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• 26:23Speaker 05

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• 26:26Alice Levine?

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• 27:10Alice Levine?

  8th of July, 2018. Downing Street, London.

• 27:17Alice 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.

• 27:28Speaker 04

  I am appalled and shocked by the death of Dawn Sturgess, and my thoughts and condolences go to her family and loved ones.

• 27:36Alice Levine?

  She swallows, sweat on the tips of her fingers.

• 27:39Speaker 04

  Police and security officials are working urgently to establish the facts of this incident, which is now being investigated as a murder.

• 27:51Alice 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.

• 28:34Alice Levine?

  She needs to get a handle on this and reassure the public her government is responding.

• 28:44Alice Levine?

  She storms into her office. Neil Bazoo turns and stands to greet her.

• 28:49Speaker 04

  How close are we to finding these men?

• 28:53Speaker 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.

• 29:08Alice Levine?

  She swivels the file he's placed on her desk around.

• 29:12Speaker 04

  Excellent. When can we expect their arrest?

• 29:16Alice Levine?

  Neil fiddles with his lapel.

• 29:18Speaker 04

  I appreciate your frustration, Prime Minister, but as you know, we would prefer this operation be conducted covertly.

• 29:26Alice Levine?

  May places a hand to her forehead.

• 29:29Speaker 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.

• 29:43Alice Levine?

  May raises her hand to silence him, studies the file at her fingers, takes in the suspects' grim expressions.

• 29:52Speaker 04

  Please, we just need a little time.

• 29:57Alice 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.

• 30:20Alice 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.

• 30:40Speaker 04

  Suspect's named in salt spray poisoning.

• 30:44Alice Levine?

  He jumps in his seat as his door crashes open. And a toiled Chapega barrels in, rattling a newspaper.

• 30:51Speaker 04

  Have you seen?

• 30:53Alice Levine?

  Mishkin nods dumbly.

• 30:55Speaker 04

  That fucking bottle. I told you.

• 30:58Alice Levine?

  Chapega runs both hands through his hair, grasping his skull. Pasting frantically. Mishkin feels the same agitation, but stares into the middle distance.

• 31:09Speaker 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.

• 31:20Alice Levine?

  Chapega slams his hand down on Mishkin's desk, growls in a low voice.

• 31:26Speaker 04

  You do not hide from GRU. Are you crazy? They kill us twice. First for fuck up, then for running.

• 31:35Alice Levine?

  Mishkin pushes himself up from his seat, meets Chapega's glare. Their foreheads almost touching.

• 31:44Alice Levine?

  When Mishkin's phone starts ringing. An unlisted number.

• 31:48Speaker 04

  Oh fuck.

• 31:50Alice Levine?

  Chapega sees it, knows what it means.

• 31:53Speaker 04

  Pick up, Jesus. Don't make worse.

• 31:55Alice 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.

• 32:08Speaker 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.

• 32:24Alice Levine?

  Mishkin's blood runs cold. La Fortovo. He watches the colour drain from Shepiga's face at the word.

• 32:31Matt Forde?

  Why are they both so scared of that?

• 32:33Alice 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.

• 32:49Matt Forde?

  It's like their Tower of London.

• 32:50Alice Levine?

  Absolutely.

• 32:58Alice 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.

• 33:36Alice 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.

• 33:59Alice 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.

• 34:29Alice 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.

• 34:43Alice Levine?

  She's determined to have one quiet night in with her husband, Philip.

• 34:49Alice Levine?

  Her phone buzzes, a message from her Home Secretary, Amber Rudd. Are you watching this? Absolute insanity.

• 34:57Matt Forde?

  She's watching Naked Attraction.

• 34:58Alice Levine?

  I'd love to think of the two of them texting along to it.

• 35:02Alice 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.

• 35:21Alice 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.

• 35:41Matt Forde?

  And they're naked.

• 35:42Alice Levine?

  But only from the waist down. She sets down her phone and sits.

• 35:49Speaker 04

  Explain, what were you doing in Salisbury?

• 35:52Alice Levine?

  May clutches the arm of her sofa. They're talking.

• 35:58Speaker 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.

• 36:18Matt Forde?

  Anyone who saw this will never forget this moment. It was absolutely ludicrous.

• 36:24Alice 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?

• 36:40Alice 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.

• 37:22Alice 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?

• 37:55Alice 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.

• 38:19Matt 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.

• 39:01Matt Forde?

  And yet, there is this comedic level of incompetence around them.

• 39:08Alice 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.

• 39:44Alice 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?

• 40:16Alice Levine?

  The adviser looks up, blinks distractedly.

• 40:18Matt Forde?

  I was just booking some flights. I don't tend to start till nine.

• 40:22Alice 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.

• 40:38Alice 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.

• 41:19Matt Forde?

  I hate to tell you Theresa, a lot of people buy this rot.

• 41:24Alice Levine?

  Excuse me Prime Minister, Neil Bazoo on the line for you. She makes her way through to her private office.

• 41:31Speaker 04

  Mr. Bazoo, how are you today?

• 41:34Alice Levine?

  But her cheery tone quickly fades as she hears the somber note in Neil's voice.

• 41:40Speaker 04

  It's been, um... A challenging morning, Prime Minister.

• 41:45Alice Levine?

  Her smile pauses in the silence.

• 41:48Speaker 04

  The GRU has closed ranks, entered full protective lockdown. Our back channels to Moscow have gone dark.

• 41:56Alice Levine?

  May's brow knits.

• 41:59Speaker 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.

• 42:15Alice Levine?

  May feels her legs turn weak.

• 42:17Speaker 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.

• 42:26Alice Levine?

  An uneasy shudder creeps over her.

• 42:30Speaker 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.

• 42:40Alice Levine?

  He clicks off.

• 42:43Alice 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.

• 43:10Alice 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.

• 43:46Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Kenya Barris.

• 43:47Speaker 07

  And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.

• 43:53Speaker 06

  We're bringing you fresh, new conversations from guests like Anderson Paak, David Zedars, Ryan Howard, Rich Roll, Amy Sherrill, and many more.

• 43:59Speaker 07

  Sign up for a free trial to Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 44:07Speaker 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.

• 44:52Speaker 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.

• 45:18Alice 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,

• 46:03Alice 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.

• 46:15Alice 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.

• 47:00Alice 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.

• 47:23Speaker 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.

• 47:38Alice 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.

• 47:56Alice Levine?

  I'm Caroline Sturgess, Dawn's mother.

• 48:01Alice 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.

• 48:20Alice Levine?

  She looks up to see Dawn's sisters and kids, tears glistening in their eyes, smiles wobbling.

• 48:28Alice Levine?

  But then her tone changes.

• 48:32Alice 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,

• 49:16Alice Levine?

  or what remains of justice in this country, is served.

• 49:32Alice Levine?

  The next morning, somewhere in New Zealand.

• 49:36Alice 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.

• 49:51Alice 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.

• 50:00Alice 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.

• 50:11Alice 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.

• 50:31Alice 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.

• 51:16Alice 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.

• 51:47Alice 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?

• 52:13Alice Levine?

  Yulia looks up from her deck chair, gives him a thumbs up. All good, be safe. Sergei smiles at his daughter.

• 52:23Alice Levine?

  I will.

• 52:31Alice 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.

• 53:14Alice Levine?

  The Russian government still denies any involvement in the attack.

• 53:25Alice 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.

• 53:44Matt 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.

• 54:11Speaker 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

• 54:44Speaker 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.

• 55:15Alice Levine?

  From Wondry and Samizdat Audio, this is the third episode in our series, The Salisbury Poisonings.

• 55:21Matt 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.

• 55:28Alice 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.

• 55:44Matt Forde?

  Please email us at [email protected] if there's a scandal you'd like us to cover.

• 55:48Alice Levine?

  Yes, please do. British Scandal is hosted by me, Alice Levine.

• 55:52Matt Forde?

  And me, Matt Ford.

• 55:53Alice 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.

• 56:37Speaker 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?

• 57:20Speaker 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.

• 57:32Speaker 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.