In the fourth episode of Deadloch season 2, Eddie and Dulcie embark on a crucial mission to interrogate Frank under official record. However, their conversation is abruptly interrupted by a call from the Superintendent, notifying them of an urgent matter at HQ. Dulcie and Eddie are summoned, where the national newspapers have splashed full spreads claiming Jason Wade as Don's murderer.
The Commissioner Cotton is livid, with Don Darrell's family incessantly talking to the journalists (especially Leo), and he demands a swift resolution. To add fuel to the fire, Blunt's team has already made a breakthrough in their case, discovering two backpacks at River Creek. If Dulcie and Eddie don't make a breakthrough of their own soon, Blunt and his team will take over.
They need to find a motive for Frank if he really did kill Don, and that means finding evidence. Eddie and Dulcie retrace their steps back to the pub and question the locals about Frank's whereabouts that night. According to Flora, Frank left on his scooter at around 11.15pm. The drone footage shows Al and Don on the jetty at 11.30pm, which means Frank must have arrived at the donga after Al left.
One thing's for certain though, given Frank's scooter doesn't have the juice to make the distance – he didn't follow Don from the pub to the donga on his scooter. He may well have taken the boat up the river, as Dulcie and Eddie find his boat in the DRR. They also find fruity juice chewing gum wrappers, which is the exact brand that Frank eats. There's evidence he was camping out in the forest nearby.
As they traverse through the woods, they end up lost. They also come across an abandoned rusty car too. The scene unfolds with increasing tension and anticipation, as Dulcie and Eddie race against time to uncover the truth behind Don's murder.
As the duo's differing perspectives clash, Dulcie brings up the discovery of Bushy's weapon in the river. It's a bitter pill for her to swallow, and it doesn't take long before Miki and Ferguson swoop in to help the pair get back to town. While they clean up, Dulcie catches a news update that the task force has located some of the backpackers' belongings at River Creek Mine. However, their land cruiser has vanished. Interestingly, this matches the description of the car Dulcie and Eddie found in the DRR.
In the morning, Eddie takes matters into her own hands and sets out to interview Frank alone. But halfway through, she realizes she's got it wrong. Frank's boat is still on the donga side of the river, meaning someone gave Frank a lift home that night. Meanwhile, Leo has some intriguing news. She's found a message from Don on her crocodile-based tip-off line, left two days before his death. Apparently, it's about the lights in the sky and the NUA aren't happy, having booted him out.
The NUA are local conspiracy theorists, and Roger is in charge. Eddie shows up to see Roger and questions him about his connection to Don. Through him, Eddie learns that Miki was at the donga the night Don was murdered. She was also the one who gave Frank a lift. But the reason is completely different from what Eddie thought.
When Eddie confronts Miki, she explains that she was there because Don snuck the donga over the boundary into the DRR and she tried to drag it back with her winch. It soon becomes clear that Eddie's theory is completely wrong. Frank wasn't at the donga to kill Do; he was dropping off the dead croc at Don's cot.
Furthermore, Abby discovers that Don Darrell wasn't drunk when he died. There's no alcohol in his system, which means he was poisoned with his birthday cake. Meanwhile, Dulcie heads off to find the abandoned car in the DRR. She finds evidence of bullets from a police-issued weapon, and now it seems like someone else was involved in Bushman's death. And that car out in the woods? It's registered to Eddie.
There's no suicide after all, and furthermore, some new video footage on DJ's social media seems to show that Don actually knew the Swedish backpackers too.
