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Magic Moments
> 2024
> Death In The Outback: Part Four
Episode 9099
Written
by Jason Herbison, Directed
by Scott Major and Kate Kendall, Produced
by Andrew Thompson
10: 22/08/24, Amazon Freevee: 22/08/24
Paul tries to comfort Terese... Krista works out that Tess has been embezzling SinCast... Haz and Mack fly out to Mount Harper... Haz and Mack prepare to
drive to Warrawee Cattle Station, but get lost and then the GPS freezes... Tess tells Heath that he needs to follow her instructions... Heath gets annoyed
with Toadie... Mel asks Toadie if he's questioning his love for Terese... Karl is upset over Holly's disappearance... Heath shouts in Holly's face when she
tries to use his phone... Heath reminds Holly that she barely knows him... Holly hides out in the back of the ute as Heath drives to the cattle station...
In the cottage, Mel and Toadie are still tied together, but he's trying to break the ropes by rubbing them against the metal pole they're tied to. Meanwhile,
Heath arrives and gets out of the ute, answering a call from Tess as he does so. As he tells her that he wants his money, Holly uses the distraction to get
out of the ute and look for somewhere to hide. Tess, who is now driving somewhere, asks if he's checked on Toadie and Melanie but Heath is only interested in
the money. Toadie manages to break the ropes and frees himself before helping Melanie. Tess is telling Heath that she isn't going to send him any money and
he tells her that he's tired of her calling the shots. As they continue to argue, Melanie and Toadie are trying to find a way out of the cottage so they can
get back to the train lines, but Holly hears them and gets them out. They're all very relieved to see each other, but as Mel explains what happened, Heath
has heard the noise and is on his way over. Holly sees him coming and sends Toadie and Mel off in the opposite direction, insisting that she can distract
Heath for long enough for them to get away. As they go to hide in the bushes, Holly surprises Heath, telling him that she thought it was unfair that he kept
coming to the cattle station alone, so she hid out in the ute. He says that he thought he heard voices, but Holly says no, but as Heath stares at her, she
tries to escape, jumping into the ute, only to find that he already has the keys.
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Holly gets out and tries to make a run for it, dashing into a nearby tin shed as Heath gives chase. She tries to escape through the back door of the shed
but finds herself trapped as Heath catches up with her, saying that he heard her talking to Toadie and Melanie. She asks why they're there, and whether Tess
did something, adding that he can trust her to help him. Heath says that he can't trust anyone and Holly tries again to escape by climbing up a silo. Heath
follows and, when they both reach the top, she begs him not to hurt her. He tells her he's sorry, then pushes her back into the silo.
Toadie and Melanie continue to hide, wondering where Heath and Holly have gone. Toadie says that it seems deserted so he's going to go and see if he can
find the train line.
 ..
Holly lies on top of the grain in the silo, as Heath looks down at her. As Holly moves around, she starts to sink into the grain and she begs him not to
leave her. He pauses briefly, before climbing back down the ladder as she screams at him. He then takes a breath and walks away.
As Melanie continues to hide, Toadie returns and says that he thinks he can see a house in the distance so he's going to check it out.
 ..
In the middle of nowhere, Mack and Haz have woken up and they get out of the car to find that the GPS is now working. They realise that they're about
twenty minutes off the road they should be on. Mack then finds that there's a message from Andrew on her phone, telling them that there are two police
officers heading down from Mount Isa and that they're three hours away. He tells them not to go to the station until the police are there, but they decide
that a lot could happen in three hours, so they continue their drive to Warrawee.
Meanwhile, Holly continues to sink into the grain, and she grabs onto a piece of tarpaulin to try and pull herself back up.
 ..
Heath returns to the cottage to find that Toadie and Melanie have gone. He then goes over to the red toolbox and pulls out a gun. Melanie, hiding
behind a bush in the distance, watches him walk off in the opposite direction, so she decides to make a run for it and follow Toadie.
At no. 22, Paul sits and watches Terese, who's asleep on the sofa. He then receives a text message from someone wanting five million dollars if he ever
wants to see his friends alive again.
 ..
Heath returns to the accommodation to find Tess waiting for him. She explains that she knew something was wrong, so she came, telling Heath that she wanted
to assess the situation with her own eyes, rather than take his word for it. She shows him Holly's wallet, asking why he has it. He claims that he stole it
before he left Erinsborough, but Tess says that she's seen Holly's clothes and bags in the accommodation too. She becomes upset as she realises that Heath
has been seeing Holly behind her back and he doesn't deny it, but he tells her that she doesn't need to worry about Holly - or Toadie and Melanie - anymore,
as he's taken care of it. She wants to know what he means by that, but he tells her not to worry and that the coast is now clear for them to escape. Tess
won't accept this, however, reminding him that he was just meant to give food and water to Toadie and Melanie and that nobody was meant to get hurt. An
increasingly angry Heath shouts that they should just go, but Tess continues to ask him what he's done.
At no. 22, Terese continues to sleep while Paul agonises over the text message. As Andrew then arrives, Terese quickly wakes up and asks if there are any
updates. Andrew explains that Tess has been seen on CCTV at Cairns Airport and appears to have left again this morning after chartering a flight to Mount
Harper. Paul then shows Andrew the text message he received and Terese becomes distressed after hearing about it, but Andrew assures her that they'll be
able to trace where it came from, and that he can reply, pretending to be Paul, and asking for proof that Toadie, Melanie and Holly are still alive. Paul
says that he can find a way to pay the ransom, but Andrew tells him not to, as they can use it as leverage. Terese then begs Andrew to do whatever he has
to in order to bring them all back.
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Toadie is running through the bush, getting closer to what he thinks is a house, but when he gets there, he's disappointed to find that it's just a rusty
old tank.
Melanie, meanwhile, is trying to find Toadie, calling out his name as she stumbles around. She then loses her footing completely and hurts her ankle and
is forced to sit down by a tree, calling out Toadie's name in anguish.
 ..
Holly is sinking further and further into the grain, desperately trying to keep hold of the piece of tarpaulin, which suddenly starts to tear. She starts
to desperately scream for help from Toadie and Mel.
Toadie continues to walk around, now finding himself completely lost.
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Melanie has made her way back to the cottage and calls out Holly's name. She stops as she hears Holly screaming for help and rushes to find her. Suddenly
realising where she is, she grabs a hosepipe and climbs the ladder, reaching her just in time to pull her to safety.
At the police station, Andrew shows Karl, Paul and Terese that they've traced the text messages to Warrawee. Paul confirms that he's heard nothing from
Heath since he sent the bank transfer details. Terese wants proof that Toadie, Mel and Holly are OK, so Andrew decides that they need to call him and that
he'll tell Paul what to say.
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The call has been set up and Paul starts talking to Heath, who is driving and immediately says that he wants the money. Paul says that it'll take time to
get that sort of cash and that, before he proceeds, he wants proof that Toadie, Melanie and Holly are safe. Heath says that they're fine, but Paul refuses
to take his word for it, asking Heath to put one of them on the phone. Heath says nothing for a few seconds, then says that he'll get Paul a photo, before
hanging up and turning the ute around.
Haz and Mack have arrived at the accommodation, and although there's nobody there, the bed has been slept in and Holly's stuff is inside, but there's
nothing of Heath's. They decide that they should wait.
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Toadie reaches the river and starts to drink before spitting it out. He then hears a noise in the distance and, believing it could be the train, he decides
to cross the river, unaware that there are crocodiles nearby.
As he's almost at the other side of the river, Toadie spots the crocodile in the distance and speeds up, managing to make it onto the riverbank.
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Mack and Haz are on the phone to Andrew, who confirms that Heath must be in the vicinity as that's where his text messages have been coming from. Realising
that Toadie, Mel and Holly must be around somewhere too, Mack asks if they should go to the cattle station and look, but Andrew advises them to stay a safe
distance away and wait for the police. As they end the call, they see Holly and Melanie running towards them, closely followed by Heath, who is in the ute
and trying to stop them. Haz and Mack watch from a distance as Heath circles Mel and Holly, forcing them to run back into the surrounding bushland. Heath
then grabs the gun and gives chase. Haz tells Mack to call Andrew, then he follows.
Toadie is wandering aimlessly and growing weaker.
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Holly and Melanie are running through the bush, with Melanie worried about what's happened to Toadie.
Mack is on the phone to Andrew, telling him to get the police to hurry up, as Heath has a rifle. She then hears a noise coming from the back of Heath's ute
and rushes over, thinking it's Toadie. She's shocked to find an apologetic Tess inside and they hear gunshots off in the distance.
 ..
Heath is firing at random, calling out to Holly, telling her to stop running as he wants to make a deal. Mel and Holly are nearby, but decide to keep going
as they can't trust him. Heath continues his search while Haz follows closely behind. Mel, meanwhile, can't go any further on her injured ankle so she says
that she'll hide while Holly continues to try and get help. An increasingly angry Heath starts shouting and then firing at random, narrowly missing Haz in
the process.
Holly reaches the river and is trying to work out where to go, as she hears shots in the distance. Melanie remains hidden as someone walks up to her and she's
very relieved when she realises that it's Haz and not Heath. He tells her to get back to the accommodation, so she starts to make her way back, as Haz
continues to look for Holly.
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Heath has spotted Holly and runs after her, with Haz close behind. As Heath reaches the water, Holly is nowhere to be seen, so he calls out to her,
saying that he just needs something from her. As he puts the gun down, Holly appears behind him and pushes him into the water. Heath laughs and begins
to swim back to the riverbank but a crocodile then appears and drags him under. Haz arrives just in time to witness Heath's final moments and to comfort
a hysterical Holly.
As Melanie slowly makes her way back to the accommodation, she's horrified to spot Mackenzie, lying on the ground unconscious with a gunshot wound to her
shoulder.
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A distressed Toadie continues to wander around with the sun beating down on him, eventually stopping and lying down on the ground. He begins to have visions
of his weddings to Dee, Steph, Sonya, Melanie and Terese, then remembers Dee and Sonya's deaths. He asks them not to go, telling them to take him with them.
As he closes his eyes, we see that he is lying in the middle of the train tracks.
Featured Regular Characters: Holly Hoyland, Melanie Pearson, Toadie Rebecchi,
Paul Robinson, Terese Willis, Andrew Rodwell, Karl Kennedy, Mackenzie Hargreaves, Haz Devkar
Guest Cast:
Anica Calida as Tess Carmichael,
Ethan Panizza as Heath Royce
Trivia Notes
• There were no opening titles for this episode, with just a title card featuring the Neighbours logo over a shot of the outback. The titles cards used for Death In The Outback week can
be viewed here
• This episode was roughly three minutes longer than a typical Neighbours episode
• The text message Paul receives reads: 'Five million if you want to see your friends alive. No police or I'll kill them' and its comes from
the number +61491571266
• Past characters Dee Bliss, Steph Scully, Sonya Rebecchi are shown in flashback
Summary
by Steve
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