The Secret Agent (1992) s01e03 Episode Script

RAIN PATTERS THUNDER Is he one of your Embassy friends you've been bothered with of late? Who's been talking to you about Embassy friends? You've been talking in your sleep, Adolf - What did I say? Oh, mostly nonsense.
You've been worried about something.
Yes! I'd cut their hearts out, one after another.
But you let them watch out.
I've got a tongue in my head.
THUNDER Adolf.
Give me the money.
You've got it in your pocket.
I don't trust him.
Get rid of him.
As soon as you can.
And you come home to me.
- Yes.
You need looking after for a couple of days.
Daddy, Daddy! - Huh? Night night.
Take care of Mummy.
Oh! Vladimir, how nice to see you.
- My dear lady.
We've heard about the atrocity in Greenwich.
Here in England.
I thought I was dreaming and had woken up back at home.
But you have the best police force in the world.
They'll get to the bottom of it.
Excuse me.
I have some people I want to introduce to you.
New relations of Annie's.
Henry's cousins, Major and Mrs Anderson.
Vladimir Penskov.
Good evening.
BELL RINGS - CAT MEOWS I'd like a room, please.
Ah, Signor Verloc.
Five pence.
Top of the stairs.
Husband at home, Mrs Verloc? No, he's gone out.
Oh.
I'm sorry for that.
I've called for a little piece of information.
He'll be back soon.
The information I need is quite private.
I wonder if you could give me a notion of where he's gone to.
I can't.
You know I'm a policeman? I don't trouble my head about it.
My name is Chief Inspector Heat of the Special Crime section.
So, your husband didn't say when he'd be back? No.
Was he on his own? No.
A friend? A stranger.
A gentleman.
Oh.
What sort of gentleman? He was tall.
Blue eyes.
Very confident.
ASST COMMISSIONER: I know that you are the bottom of this affair.
Who put you up to it? I have got a tongue.
They had it coming to them.
Who? I was never involved in anything like this in Stott-Wartenheim's time.
Baron Stott-Wartenheim.
The former ambassador from their imperial majesties? Scores of these revolutionaries have been sent off with bombs in their pockets to get caught at the frontier at the risk of my life.
Venomous beast! Driving me into a ditch to starve.
Who? The Embassy lot.
Vladimir.
The old baron would never have called me to the Embassy during the day.
There are two or three people.
I know.
They'd seen me go in.
They'd what? They'd kill you? Are you telling me that the First Secretary of the Imperial Embassy told you to bomb Greenwich Observatory? The old baron knew what I was worth to his country.
And this Mr Vladimir threatened to dispense with your services if you didn't do this? Yes! And expose me as a police informant.
Which is worse than the death sentence.
You see, he thought you were too lenient with the revolutionaries here and that made it very difficult for him to crack down on them in his own country.
So he wanted an act of provocation.
He wanted to shock them all at the Milan conference.
He knew it all.
I should have taken that brute by the throat and rammed his head against the fireplace! ADOLF SOBS - Sshh.
It might have saved us all some trouble if you had.
I wanted to speak to your husband about a stolen overcoat.
We haven't lost an overcoat.
That's strange.
You keep a lot of marking ink here.
See, the overcoat, erm, has a label sewn on the inside.
With your address written in marking ink.
It must be my brother's.
Oh.
He could run.
I thought he'd get clear away.
But the fog was so thick, he couldn't see.
Who was he? My wife's brother.
He was simple.
HE SOBS I didn't mean him to die.
HEAT: Where's your brother? Can I see him? He's staying in the country.
With a friend.
What's the name of the friend? A Mr Michaelis.
I thought the worst was that he might get caught in the act.
He was simple, you say? Oh, he was alright, he was just feeble-minded.
And how did you hope to escape detection if he was caught? He wouldn't have said anything.
What were you doing buying tickets from Sittingbourne? Hm? Did Michaelis have anything to do with this? No, no.
He knew nothing about it.
The boy was staying with him.
I just I just didn't want my wife to know what we were up to, that's all.
So you fetched him from there and you were going to take him back, right? Yes.
Michaelis didn't put you up to it? - No.
What are you going to do with me? I'm going to let you go home.
You must talk to your wife.
Yes.
Well, I I've looked after him since he was a baby.
He's a bit absent-minded.
That's why this address is written in his overcoat.
Some people think he's peculiar.
It's just that he's nervous, and a bit slow.
Easily excitable? - Oh yes.
Yes, he is.
How did he come to lose his coat? I suppose you recognise this.
Why is it burnt like this? I'd like a word or two.
HEAT: Two men were seen entering the park.
You were the other man, Verloc.
ADOLF: Go on then, take me.
You have the right.
- HEAT: Oh no.
I know who you've been talking to.
I won't arrest you.
He'll have to manage this for himself.
But don't forget, I found you out.
I never even noticed Winnie's label.
You must have been mad.
Oh, I have been mad.
For over a month.
ADOLF: But not now.
It'll come out now.
HEAT: What will? ADOLF: Everything.
I've been useful.
I was straight with you.
If I were you, I'd clear out.
- Oh yes? We won't run after you.
- No.
You hope somebody else'll get rid of me.
You can't shake me off as easily as that.
Oh, I've been straight, but it'll all come out now.
Perhaps you'd tell me how you got away? After the bang I started running.
I lost my direction.
I was making for Chesterfield Walk but I didn't talk or see anyone until I was past the end of George Street.
Easy as that.
The bangs startle you, eh? - Yes.
It came too soon.
HEAT: We believe he stumbled.
Blown to small bits.
Limbs, gravel, clothing bone splinters.
All mixed up together.
WINNIE GASPS Had to fetch a shovel to gather him up with.
So, your defence will be a full confession? WINNIE SOBS Yes, it will.
ADOLF: Oh, I'm going to tell the whole story.
HEAT: You won't be believed as much as you think.
ADOLF: Well, perhaps not, but it will upset many things.
HEAT: I wouldn't trust the gentleman you've been talking to.
WINNIE SOBS HEAT: You may get let in for a sentence that will surprise you.
WINNIE GASPS HEAT: Take my advice, and clear out.
There are some of them who think you're out of the world already.
Indeed.
Oh god.
HEAT: Clear out.
Vanish.
Where to? I wish you'd take me away tonight.
I daresay.
Goodnight, Mrs Verloc.
I wasn't expecting you until after midnight.
- Can I see him? - I think so.
What about his bill? Well, at the moment the opposition is mercilessly boring a rather thin house with some shamelessly cooked statistics.
It's too bad of Henry.
- You know why.
Yes, but he is so late! What am I to do with myself? You would please me very much by keeping Henry's cousins entertained.
Well? Something? Rather.
The police informer Verloc is alive.
The victim was in fact his brother-in-law.
And you were right to suspect erm Oh, Verloc's indignation leaves me in no doubt whatsoever that the First Secretary of the Imperial Embassy drove him near out of his mind.
Well, how do you mean? - Why, an extraordinary performance! You and I might not have taken it seriously, sir, but Verloc did.
They bullied and threatened him to undertake an act of provocation which they thought would force us into some repressive measures.
Verloc thought they'd give him away and he'd be killed by his anarchist friends.
So what have you done with him? Well, since the fellow was anxious to see his wife, sir, I let him go.
He'll disappear! - I don't think so, sir.
It will be too suspicious to his friends and besides at the moment I don't think he has the moral resolution to do a thing.
I'll see the Attorney General tonight and send for you tomorrow.
He he had a wife, you say? Oh yes, sir.
A genuine wife.
And the victim was a genuine brother-in-law.
What you might call a domestic drama.
HE LAUGHS ADOLF: Winnie? Winnie, you can't stay in the shop like this.
Someone could come in at any moment.
This won't bring him back.
Be reasonable, Winnie.
What if you lost me? Winnie, please.
Don't be a fool.
If you only knew what a brute I had to deal with.
What was the point of telling you that I stood the risk of having a knife stuck in my back at any time these ten years.
Winnie! I'm not the sort of man to worry his wife.
Drive me into a ditch to starve.
I could tell he thought it was a joke.
Some of the highest in the world have me to thank for standing on their two legs this to very day! Then this swine comes along, this ignorant, overbearing swine.
Winnie.
If it hadn't have been for you I'd've been more than a match for that pink-faced, smooth-shaved I would have taken him by the throat! Don't think he would have called the police.
You know why, don't you? Don't you? I don't know what you're talking about.
- You've got to get a grip, my girl.
What's done can't be undone.
Winnie, go to bed, go on.
Go to bed.
Do you want to cry? Winnie, the world will know what I've done for them.
Nothing on earth can stop me now.
I was upset on your account.
Look, it can't be helped.
Winnie, you must pull yourself together.
Once I'm under lock and key, it'll be easier for me to talk.
But I might be away for two years.
Though of course it'll be easier for you than me.
You must keep this business going, Winnie.
.
But that's alright, you've got a good business head about you.
But you've got to be careful, you've got to keep as close as the grave.
The comrades will be watching you.
I don't want a knife in my back as soon as I get out.
I don't want one of them to get rid of me.
No, I'm too fond of you for that, Winnie.
When I get out of prison, we'll go abroad.
We'll lie low for a bit.
Where are you going? Upstairs? Oh, good, Winnie.
That's right.
That's what you need.
Rest.
And quiet You go on, Winnie.
It won't be long before I'm with you.
ADOLF SOBS Sir.
I must say now that it's against my principles to countenance the idea of bombers running wild and free! Well, there you have it.
Michaelis is behind this.
'Fraid not.
And as for bombers running wild and free, I think I can say there'll be no repetition.
If I'm wrong, and I can assure you that I'm not it is I and not you who will take the blame for it.
In short, there'll be no arrests, and you will say nothing.
Now, if you'll excuse me, Chief Inspector, I have an engagement.
PIANO MUSIC PLAYS I'd almost given you up, Henry.
I'm sorry.
Did you find out who was responsible? I'm glad to tell you that Michaelis is altogether clear of this.
Were your people stupid enough to connect him? You know he's non-violent.
Hatred of the middles classes, with murder and mayhem as their goal.
Picture it, picture it.
Mr Vladimir's been frightening me, Henry.
You don't look frightened.
Well, he's tried, at least.
Force of habit, perhaps.
He's been promising all kinds of horrors.
It appears we all ought to quake in our shoes if the people who are responsible for this explosion are unsuppressed.
I'd no idea it was so serious.
I'm sure Mr Vladimir knows just how serious it is.
Would you excuse us for just a moment, my dear? Excuse me.
We've arrested a man called Verloc.
- I beg your pardon? You know him.
- What makes you say that? Verloc says so.
You know, Mr Vladimir, there is one thing that pleases me about this affair.
It gives me the opportunity to clear out a whole lot of foreign political spies.
They're a ghastly nuisance.
And now do you see the prosecution of Verloc will demonstrate their danger to the public.
Nobody will believe a pornographer.
- Oh, you do know him, then? What they will believe is the wealth of precision and detail.
So this is what you mean to do, seriously? We've got the man.
We have no choice.
You're feeding off the lying spirit of these animals.
Why? Why a sudden sense of morality? No, there is a practical side.
You can't complain about the inefficiency of our police.
In twelve hours we've identified a man blown to shreds we've found the bomber, and we've caught a glimpse of the provocateur behind him.
We could, of course, have gone further.
But we stopped at the limit of our territory.
So it was planned abroad? In the diplomatic sense.
But that, of course, is a fiction.
I really don't understand you people.
We have greater experience of these revolutionaries.
We suffer greatly from their activities while you suffer their presence gladly in your midst which makes us suffer even more.
Well your government grumbles most about our police.
I just wanted to tell you about one of our successes.
I'm sure I'm very grateful.
This is the sort of news that can wait, Winnie.
Winnie.
Your mother will be in bed long before you get there.
Your place is here this evening.
Take that hat off.
Please.
I can't let you go out, old girl.
Can't you say something?! I know this deaf and dumb trick of yours! Take that hat off! I can't tell whether I'm talking to a live woman or a dummy! Winnie, I hunted high and low for somebody to do that job.
I even ran the risk of giving myself away but I couldn't find anybody hungry enough or crazy enough! What do you think I am? A murderer? Do you think I wanted him to blow himself up? Winnie, he's gone.
He's gone forever.
His troubles are over.
Ours are just beginning.
Winnie, it was an accident, a pure accident.
Just as if he'd been run over by a bus in the street.
And it was as much your fault as mine.
I never thought of the lad for that.
Only you kept shoving him in my way.
I was half distracted with worry about how to keep us both out of trouble.
Why the devil did you do that, Winnie, why? Tell me! Tell me why! You have such a devilish way of holding your tongue at times.
It's enough to drive some men mad.
It's lucky I'm not so easily put out.
Winnie, I'm very fond of you, but please, don't go too far, please.
Now is not the time.
Now is the time we've got to be thinking about what we're going to do.
Together.
I wish to goodness I'd never set eyes on Greenwich Park.
Come here.
WINNIE SOBS OSSIPON: Mrs Verloc! - WINNIE SCREAMS Where are you going? WINNIE: Don't ask.
What would you say if I was to tell you that I was looking for you.
I'd say you couldn't find anyone more ready to help you.
You you know, then? - Of course.
As soon as I read the evening paper.
I had to come.
I've been fond of you beyond words.
I couldn't conceal it, but you always seemed so distant.
Well, what do you expect? I I was a married woman, I I was a respectable woman.
Until he made me what I am.
You are worthy of something better.
He cheated me for seven years.
But you always seemed so happy.
That's why I was so timid.
I was surprised.
And jealous.
You seemed to love him.
SHE LAUGHS You thought I loved him? I was a a good wife, I I was a respectable woman.
There was a young man, once, I Oh, but he went away.
THUNDER WINNIE GASPS Seven years! Do you know what he was? That friend of yours? He was the devil.
He's dead now.
You know what I had to do, then? How how did you first come to hear of it? A Chief Inspector came.
Heat.
Chief Inspector Heat.
He he showed me.
Tom.
They had to gather him up with a shovel.
Do you mean, do you mean the police have been here already? Yes.
- Heat came to tell you himself? - Yes.
He showed me a piece of his overcoat.
What did he do? Nothing.
He he he He went away.
And then another man came.
Another inspector came? Yes, I Well, he might have been, I He might have been from the Embassy.
What Embassy? - I don't know! This other fellow.
What did he say to you? I I I I can't remember, I don't know.
Oh, please leave me alone.
SHE WHIMPERS Hide me.
- I can't take you where I live.
I share it with a friend.
You must.
Somewhere.
I I thought you cared for me.
But it may be possible perhaps to find a safe lodging somewhere but I have only a few pence.
I've got money.
How much have you got? - All of it, I've got all of it.
He he gave me all of the money.
They mustn't find me.
If If they do, you must kill me.
Promise me you'll kill me first, Tom.
- Sshh! It's alright.
Don't worry.
There is a boat train at midnight to St Malo.
What is it? The shop door is open.
Leave it! What does it matter? Look! WINNIE: The light's still on in the parlour.
Go and put it out! Where's all the money? It's on me.
Go and put the light out! THUNDER Policeman.
He's seen me.
WINNIE: Put the light out.
Put the lights out.
The meter then.
I won't be hanged, Tom.
I'll work for you.
I'll slave for you.
I love you.
I won't ask you to marry me.
He he took that harmless boy out to be killed.
That loving harmless, lad.
Wm.
'Come here, ' he said, after telling me I'd helped to kill him.
'Come here.
' Like that, after taking my heart to smash in the mud.
'Come here.
' What did he think I was made of? Tell me! Stevie! - Shut up! WINNIE GASPS Save me, Tom.
I won't leave you.
Get up.
Gm up! Let's get out of here.
We'll lose the train.
You go first.
Go.
See that the way is clear.
OSSIPON: When we get to the station, you go ahead of me.
We don't know each other.
Go straight to the ladies first class waiting room and stay there 'til five minutes before the train.
You'd better give me that money now.
Do you know how much is here? I don't know.
Did he have an account in his own name? Why? - Because the notes are numbered.
It's extremely important.
He had an account in the name of Prozer.
- You are sure now.
You are sure? I'm certain.
GUARD: Come on, now, hurry along, please.
Wait! Just a moment.
GUARD: Last train to Southampton, and then on to St Malo.
Hurry along, please.
Hurry along.
I told him not to let anyone else into our compartment.
You'll get me off, Tom.
Don't worry.
He was remarkable, that brother of yours.
He was.
SHE SOBS You were You were kind to him, Tom.
I loved you for that.
It is remarkable how alike you are.
I wanted to die when he was taken away from me.
Sshh.
No, I In my heart, I want to live, Tom.
I want to live.
Tom, I'll live all my days for you.
- Sshh.
WHISTLE BLOWS - It's alright.
Come, come.
Sit here, away from the platform.
GUARD: All aboard! TRAIN WHISTLES At last! SHE SOBS No! No! ANNIE: I see Mr Vladimir's been recalled.
He wens name? Wm; man.
THE PROFESSOR: He didn't know a thing about Verloc's death.
He doesn't read the newspapers.
They make him too sad.
HE LAUGHS He lives on a diet of carrots and milk.
- How does he look on it? Angelic.
His poverty of reasoning is astonishing.
He's elaborating now on the world planned as an immense hospital with gardens and flowers in which the strong are to devote themselves to nursing the weak.
He has no logic.
HE LAUGHS MICHAELIS: Anarchism was created by the laws which capitalism made to protect private property.
History is determined by economic conditions and the ideas that float around in the consciousness of man play only a tiny, insignificant part.
There is an inevitability about history, which will lead mankind ever nearer to a better future.
First slavery, then feudalism then individualism, then capitalism and finally collectivism.