The Pale Horse (2020) s01e02 Episode Script

- Mr Easterbrook? - What is this? Why am I here? It's because of Jessie, because of her list.
- She was on to them, the witches.
- It's a scam! They kill to order.
For money! There's a girl standing next to you, a girl with a red handbag.
Mark It would never have lasted with the first Mrs Easterbrook.
It was infatuation.
The old demon lust.
Why are you throwing your clothes away? I hit a cat.
Delphine went there.
She went to them, those three? By autumn, he will be married to someone else.
Everyone on that list is dead, Mr Easterbrook! They're coming for us! - They're coming! - Mark - There you go, madam.
- Thank you.
You've just caught me before my next cruise.
You now, you're not the first antique dealer to pay a call, wanting to buy my late husband's collection.
I'm deluged.
Then I must make a special effort to seduce you, Mrs Tuckerton.
Yvonne.
Mark.
You and I are both part of the same, very exclusive club.
Are we? Which club? The Pale Horse.
I use them all the time.
Get a discount for being a loyal customer.
They are very odd.
They are.
Did you get the same letters? We all do.
"There is an obstacle blocking the path to your happiness "and prosperity.
"We can remove it.
" Oh, they do that all right.
And how they do it.
I know.
Gives you a shiver.
How do they do it? - You said - Yeah, I lied.
- You're hurting me.
- Are you going away because questions are being asked about your step-daughter? She had a bleed on the brain.
She drank too much and took drugs.
And now she's dead, you'll inherit everything.
How do they do it? I'm devastated, there are too many painful memories.
- How do they do it? - You're hurting me! Tell me.
Witchcraft! What do you want? Your friend, David, went to the Pale Horse.
He had his Aunt murdered.
David would never do that.
Clemency had endless relatives.
But who inherits? It's going to be us next.
It's coming.
They're coming.
There's a question mark after my name.
A question mark, does that mean nothing's going to happen to me? My hair's falling out.
So is yours! I, I can see it on your shoulders.
Someone wants you dead.
Someone's paid them to put a curse on you.
Curses flying on reeking wings! For us! I don't believe in magic.
I don't believe in it.
I believe in science.
You know deep down I'm right.
You just can't bring yourself to admit it.
You know, the worst thing about all this, the worst, is you, talking at me, breathing on me.
That's the worst thing.
Don't ever come here again.
Our lives are ticking away while we do nothing! I didn't hear you come in.
No, I'm stealthy.
How was your day? Oh, I went shopping.
Ah.
What have you been spending my money on? Nothing.
I did buy a bottle of scotch, though.
So you can have a drink.
I'm getting the hang of being a wife.
I'm in the bedroom.
I got your suit back from the cleaners.
The one you said was covered in blood.
There wasn't any blood.
So, where were you? Who is she? What are you talking about? You threw your clothes away! I watched you do it.
Sorry, why would I throw away a perfectly good suit? Well, that's what I'd like to know because you certainly didn't hit a cat.
A cat? What cat? The cat! We had entire bloody conversations about the cat, Mark! Mr Tiddles! Are you just going to stand there and lie to me? No.
All right, I hit a cat and I threw my clothes away.
No, that's my point, you didn't hit the cat! Hermia, I'm lost.
I don't even know what I'm supposed to be agreeing with.
That's your good suit, is it? Your good suit that you didn't throw away because you like it so bloody much.
Goodbye, lovely suit, that you like so much.
You lied about throwing it out and hitting a fucking cat in it! There.
Now it's fit for the rubbish, isn't it? Clemency died.
I had to call David and tell him to come back and bury her.
She died? Yes, she died.
You're still taking your tablets aren't you? I'm not angry.
I'm just worried.
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth.
And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
When I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another.
I thought she'd live forever.
I really did.
Her poor heart.
Shall we, er, get out of here for a bit? They've gone off somewhere.
Use a fucking ashtray, you bitch! Well, this is charming.
Is there some reason you brought me down here? I didn't want us to be heard.
Oh, I know what this is about.
You're divorcing Hermia.
Well, about time.
I told you it was too soon.
Those three women at the funeral.
You paid them to cause Clemency's death.
Oh, Mark Don't.
Just don't.
I swear I'll pop your eyes out of your fucking head if you keep lying to me.
I know.
I know.
I know you had her killed.
I had to.
She wouldn't bloody die! The money, the house, everything.
It should have been mine years ago but she wouldn't bloody die.
She kept giving everything away! To donkey sanctuaries, Mark! Fucking donkeys! My inheritance! I mean, I was fond of the old girl, but there are limits.
When I told you about that list, you, you made a joke of it, you, you told me I was obsessive.
What was I supposed to say? I should get out of town, maybe leave the country? It wouldn't make a difference.
Not to them.
If you're cursed, you're cursed.
They're witches.
Well, you tell me what they are! They don't even need an address, they just need a name.
And you never say the words, kill or murder or, or dead.
And when it's all arranged and paid for, you get a date to go to them.
It's innocent.
It feels like nothing's even happening.
You're just saying a name.
Getting their fortune told.
That's all.
And then It's done.
No-one touched her, no-one hurt her, she, she wasn't scared so It's really not that bad.
This is my life.
You arsehole! Someone's put a contract on me.
What do I do to stop it? I don't know! What, are you scared? They don't even leave their house, so yes, I'm scared of them.
What about the law, does that not scare you? Why, should it? All the letters are burned.
I paid by banker's draft.
If it wasn't for that list, there wouldn't be a paper trail.
No-one would put it together.
It's just people dying like people do.
Like I'm going to.
I can't help that.
Now let me out so I can get Poppy and go.
I held you at your christening.
I renounced the devil for you and all evil.
I loved you.
I really, I really loved you.
Love! You should probably be thinking about who hates you enough to want you dead.
She'd been told her marriage wouldn't last.
By autumn he will be married to someone else.
I did marry someone else.
I married someone else.
I told you it was too soon.
Love The suit that you like so much You should probably be thinking about who hates you enough to want you dead.
Didn't ask you to wait up for me.
And yet, here I am.
Waiting up for you.
I suppose I should feel lucky you've prised yourself out of your current tart's sticky thighs long enough to come home at all.
God, you sound like such a wife.
You're so banal, Hermia.
You're so banal, it's almost a talent.
Why did you marry me? Someone had to unpack the boxes.
I'm going to bed.
No, no, no, no, no, stay here.
We're having a little nightcap together.
Like normal people do.
Let's enjoy it.
You've got such a beautiful face.
So perfect.
Perfect face.
No-one would ever guess what's really underneath it, would they? Maggots and the rot and stink? You're not going to get what you want.
I will win.
Nightcap done.
I'm off to bed.
Join me? - I'm going to read for a bit.
- Suit yourself.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It's my wife.
I know it.
She hates me and she actually wants me dead.
Do you believe me now? I should've believed you before.
I should have listened.
How do I stop it? You don't know your Bible, do you? Fearful and unbelieving.
Like the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Revelations 21.
We need a cleansing.
A purifying.
We can only answer them with fire.
You smell of petrol, Mr Easterbrook.
Yes, I er, I spilt some on myself when I was er, filling my car.
I don't have long, I'm afraid.
I have a social engagement.
Oh.
Oh, you're quite the, quite the chap, aren't you? I mean, you're suave, you're sophisticated, you're popular.
Thank you.
It's all very flattering.
Is it going somewhere? Well, I've been working very hard to make sure you don't die, Mr Easterbrook.
I've been considering your past to see if you've got any enemies and you're absolutely right.
You don't.
You just slide through life, don't you, and everything just, just slides off you.
Nothing snags.
Apart from a dead girl in a bath.
That snags, don't it? It was It was an accident.
She left the radio on the side of the bath.
I told her not to.
She wouldn't listen.
Just a brutal, tragic accident that I'll never recover from.
You see, when sudden deaths occur, police are called to take statements from neighbours.
Well, we hadn't met the neighbours, we'd only just moved in.
I went through those old statements and you're absolutely right, nobody knew you or your young wife but when you move into a new flat, there's no furniture or carpets to muffle the sound.
And in one of these statements, your downstairs neighbour said that she heard footsteps, heard voices.
That's impossible.
She was alone.
Oh, maybe the Bobby that took the statement might have left that little detail and put it down to shock.
But, you see, I'm a detail kind of copper.
Inspector Lejeune, let's stop dancing around, what exactly am I being accused of? I'm an old hand at this, Mr Easterbrook.
I'm like a junkyard dog and I get the scent off you and you smell wrong.
No-one gets away with it forever.
It all catches up with you in the end.
You're just saying a name.
Getting their fortune told.
That's all.
And you never say the words kill or murder or dead.
Is this where she sat? Right there.
What do you want? I want you to set me free.
Now.
Tonight.
And what if we're not who you think we are? What if all we do is read cards and tea leaves? Deliver babies, set a broken limb.
Make a salve for your creaky knees, your wheezy chest, what if that's all we can do? You do other things.
You have particular abilities.
You have skills and you're going to save me.
You have to save me.
What are we saving you from? From the curse my wife put on me.
She wants me dead because I don't love her.
That's all I've done wrong.
Not loving her.
I can't.
There's nothing there.
I've already used it all up.
There's not much left.
I'm just an empty shell.
But I quite like being an empty shell.
And I don't want to die.
No-one ever does.
There's someone else after me.
I mean, really after me.
And they're not going to stop.
And I want you to stop them both.
- Anything else? - Erm I want to sleep without dreaming because, Christ, my dreams She's always in my dreams.
I need them to stop, so that's what I want.
And if that means selling my soul to the devil, then so be it.
They always want the devil.
Old hairy bollocks with his goat hooves.
- Why aren't we enough? - You are.
You are enough.
So I want the obstacles removed.
Hermia Easterbrook and Inspector Stanley Lejeune.
Tell me their fortunes.
Shut your eyes.
Shhh, Mark.
When does it start? - Belt up! - Shhh.
I did buy a bottle of scotch, though, so you can have a drink.
I even unwrapped some glasses.
I'm getting the hang of being a wife.
Well, well.
Am I pouring you one? Hermia's coming over later.
Said she'd give me some ideas for decorating.
Help unpack.
We could get fish and chips.
If we can't find the plates, we'll just eat it on the newspaper.
What did you do today? I told you, I went shopping.
Who's Oscar? Did you go through my bag? Who's Oscar? Please Please, don't get angry.
Who is he? Please don't be angry.
What did you do with him? - Mark.
- Tell me.
- Mark.
- Tell me, what, what did you do with him? - This is not what you think, Mark.
- Tell me! Delphine.
Wake up! Wake up! - Oh! - For the new flat.
Delphine's in the bath.
She's sent me out to get some fish and chips.
Keep me company? This is a surprise.
Delphine! Delphine! No! No! No! How do you know it's worked? It's worked.
I don't feel any different.
You're different.
You'll see.
Goodbye, Mark.
Don't ever come here again.
That's that.
Nearly.
Not here.
Stanley! It was probably an overdose.
We don't know if she'll wake up.
She could be like this for the rest of her life? I'm sorry.
Punish me! Everyone on that list is dead, Mr Easterbrook.
They're all dead except for you, me and Ardingly.
You, me and Ardingly.
And they're coming for us, they're coming! They was fiddly, those sodding dollies.
I nearly gave up on 'em.
I take it you've made a mess of my shop door.
I'll be billing you for repairs.
You said that everyone on that list was dead, except for you, me, and Ardingly.
But Thomasina Tuckerton hadn't been found yet.
I could have cut my tongue off with that one.
I said to myself, "Zachariah Osborne, you turnip," I said.
Hope this doesn't come back to bite you on the bum.
Rat poison.
Nearly.
Thallium.
You don't know what that is, do you? You can't see it, you can't smell it, you can't taste it, it's untraceable.
It's beautiful.
Were you able to clear the tank? All done, Mrs Ardingly.
You won't have any more problems.
It's easy really.
People are so greedy.
You go through the papers, and see what wealthy old bag is giving all her money to animals, or what shameless daughter is making a show of herself, and you write a little letter.
You'd be amazed how many people write back.
How many people want members of their family put to death by the dark arts.
It's quite shocking actually.
And no-one ever sees me.
I'm anonymous.
Invisible.
Untraceable.
Like Thallium.
I believed it.
That I was cursed.
I believed it was the witches, but it wasn't them - it was you.
You made me believe.
Well, that's the point, isn't it? Making people believe.
I watched you running away from that Thomasina.
I watched you run.
And when I saw you at the police station, I couldn't believe my luck, because I knew I could do anything with you.
A man with a grubby secret.
Guilty man.
I knew you'd believe anything.
Devils and demons.
Curses and hexes.
Pissing your pants.
Just think.
If you'd done the right thing, you wouldn't be here now.
You poisoned me.
A little bit.
But I poisoned me too.
You're fine.
If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead.
Like that Lejeune.
He was tough.
I had to turn him inside out.
I melted him.
Blood running out of every hole.
My wife's in a coma.
Yeah, it's a bit annoying.
I don't like leaving things hanging.
But fair do's, I didn't have long to crack on with her.
She might stay like that, she might not.
But you don't really care about her, do you? You don't really care about any of this lot.
You only care about you.
And that's fine.
I only care about me.
Why was I on the list? I'd never even heard of you until Jessie got all haggie.
And by the way, this is all her fault.
How? I had this grand little set-up.
Brought Jessie in to help me.
She never asked a question.
Thick as shit.
But she found those three from The Pale Horse.
I never even met them.
What a royal pain in my arse those were.
The clients paid by bankers draft.
Thought they were paying the Pale Horse.
But all the money came to me.
Them three knew nothing.
They thought they were just telling fortunes.
Thank you.
I worry so much about the dear girl.
But now I can go on my holiday with my mind at peace.
Come in, Miss Davis.
Was all ticking along nicely until those horrible bints started getting clever.
Back again, Jessie.
It's almost like you're here to check up on people, see who's kept an appointment.
No, what an odd thing to say.
Do you think we don't read the papers, Jessie? Think we can't read? The death notices.
We recognise some of those names.
What about Tuckerton that just left? You're wrong, I only want to hear from my mum.
Your mother hates you, Jessie.
She's here right now, looking down at you and she hates you.
What you've become, your wickedness, she wishes she'd never ruined herself pushing you out.
The shame of it, you're cursed and going to burn in hell, Jessie.
Delafontaine.
Hesketh-Dubois.
How many others, Jessie? What about Easterbrook? Mark Easterbrook? His wife came here, and now she's dead.
Is he paying you too? They said my mother wants to see me in hell.
They're frauds.
You know that.
Nasty bitches.
Upsetting you.
They know a few names.
Not all the names.
They've got no proof.
They said another name as well.
Who's Mark Easterbrook? You doing jobs without me? Course not.
Just goes to show they haven't worked it out.
Not really.
So all we've got to do is sit tight.
Not get all silly.
Oh, God.
Jessie.
How can you think that of me? Treacherous bitch.
No loss to the world.
How many have you killed? You lose count after 30.
You're not going to go to the police, tell the truth, are you? That's not who you are.
What are you going to do with that? Go on, then.
Let's see if you've got the stones? I didn't set light to the Pale Horse.
I didn't burn it.
They're still there.
Bottled it? I'll deal with them myself, and one of these fine days, I'll have you too.
You'll never know when.
Every time you put something in your mouth, every sip of drink, every bite of food, you'll wonder if I've been at it with my beautiful poison.
You'd have to starve to death to avoid me.
You broken, sweaty ape.
You shiny-shoed ponce.
You gutless, wincing turd.
I thought I was going mad! And what about Mark? What happens to him now? I just woke up.
Not again.
Not again.
Please.
Please.
Not again.