Bleak House (2005) s01e12 Episode Script

Mr Tulkinghorn? Where d'you get to last night, guv'nor? Just a little walk, Phil.
What, with a pistol in your pocket? Ow! You numskulls! You wild beasts! Have a care, there! Now put me down softly.
Softly! Yeah.
There we are.
Judy, shake me up.
BONES CRACK George, my old friend.
I'm no friend of yours, and you know it.
What do you want? No need to take that tone with me, George.
I've come to take an inventory of all your goods prior to taking possession of the premises.
Now what do you say to that? Oi, steady on.
Judy, Judy, Judy! He's gonna kill me! JUDY SCREAMS Get me out of here! You'll regret this, George.
Mr Tulkinghorn will hear of this.
Shot through the heart.
Take a seat, Mr Clamb.
And a drop of this.
You've had a shock.
At least, I hope you have.
Go on.
He don't mind now.
Shot through the heart late last evening, I should say.
No weapon on the scene.
So we can surmise that this was no accident.
What we are looking at is a murder.
Are you with me, Mr Clamb? It's a terrible thought, Inspector.
It's a terrible thing.
This is very good wine.
No sign of a struggle.
No sign of a robbery.
So, I deduce, correct me if I'm going astray, Mr Clamb, that this murder was committed by someone who knew Mr Tulkinghorn and didn't like him.
That could be quite a long list.
Come on, old fellow.
There's a man, sir, I don't accuse him.
No, no, I understand.
Come on.
He goes under the name of Sergeant George.
I know the man.
He felt he was being persecuted by myemployer.
And was he? That's not for me to say, Inspector.
But he has been here more than once and uttered threats.
Threats? That's serious.
And as I was leaving last night, I nearly ran into him just outside.
And did he go up? That I can't say, Inspector.
That's all right.
Anyone else you'd like to mention? Not that I can think of.
Mr Tulkinghorn's clerk? He was most insistent on seeing you in person, Sir Leicester.
For what reason? He didn't give a reason, Sir Leicester, but said it was a matter of the utmost importance.
I will see him.
Have things come to such a pass that Tulkinghorn now sends his clerk instead of attending upon us himself? It would seem so.
Mr Clamb.
Well, Mr Clamb? Sir Leicester.
Lady Dedlock.
My master is dead.
What? Tulkinghorn dead? Wellhow? Was he taken ill? I'm very sorry to say that he was murdered, sir.
Shot through the heart in his office late last evening.
Shot? Tulkinghorn shot? In his own office? Tulkinghorn murdered? This is an outrage.
Tulkinghorn murdered, then none of us is safe.
Is there a policeman in charge of the investigation? Yes - Mr Bucket, sir.
Send Mr Bucket to me.
I intend to see to it that the ruffians who perpetrated this outrage against civilisation suffer the full majesty of the law.
Sorry, sir, no-one to go up without Inspector Bucket's say-so.
What's Inspector Bucket got to do with it? He's in charge of the investigation.
Investigation? Now, move along, sir.
You move along yourself! I've got urgent business with my solicitor.
And tell him it's Mr Smallweed! Constable! Let him come in.
I should think so.
Now make way! Oh, steady, steady, you're shaking me to splinters.
Ooh.
Ooh, my bones.
Set him down.
Ooh! And keep the rest of 'em out.
Now what is this? Oh, Lord! Oh, my eye.
He don't look well.
Nor would you if you'd been shot through the heart.
Mr Smallweed, right? Not had the pleasure before but I heard a deal about you.
I know who done this.
Oh, yes? Who, then? What's it worth? Three years hard labour for withholding evidence if you don't cough up, my friend.
Oh, I'm your friend, am I? Don't sound very friendly to me.
Come on.
Who's the murderer? Man called George.
Some call him Sergeant George.
He threatened to kill me not an hour ago.
Aimed his pistol right between my eyes.
I've heard him threaten to kill Mr Tulkinghorn scores of times.
Scores of times? In this very room, sir.
And you'd swear to that in court, would you? I would.
Circumstantial evidence, Mr Smallweed.
Not conclusive.
Interesting, though.
And what brought you here this morning? Oh, course.
The shock nearly drove it from my mind.
Mr Tulkinghorn's been holding some letters of mine.
I come to collect 'em.
Oh? And what letters were these? Private letters.
From a lady.
My property, though.
I'll just look 'em out and take 'em, shall I? No, you shan't, Mr Smallweed.
Constable! You can't do that.
I demand my property.
Take him away.
This is an outrage! I demand justice! Ooh, my bones! Have a care there, you brimstone beasts, or I'll have the law on you! We ARE the law, Mr Smallweed.
Caddy Jellyby's had her baby.
Caddy Turveydrop I should say now.
Oh, dear.
What is it? The baby is very poorly and Caddy is ill herself.
I think I should go to her.
By all means, if you think it'll do her good.
Well, she thinks so.
Then let us all stay on in London.
I have some business I could be attending to.
PIANO PLAYS A DANCE Oh, Miss Summerson.
I'm ever so glad you're here.
I've been very anxious about Caddy.
No need for anxiety, none at all.
My own personal physician, Mr Growler, is attending her.
Good day to you, ladies.
You are welcome.
BABY CRIES I've been treating them both with my black mixture four times a day.
Its powerful purgative action will soon see them both right.
Burns out the badness, do you see? Indeed, I have frequent recourse to it myself to keep out the winter cold.
Also very beneficial, you might be interested to know, for colic and gout.
And may be rubbed gently into the skin in cases of scabies and pustules.
Burns out the badness in every case.
I think perhaps it would do me good if I could keep it down.
I don't think it can be right to treat the mother and baby with the same mixture.
Oh? And what do you think you know about the matter, Miss? Enough to say that your services are no longer required, Mr Growler.
Thank you for your attendance.
You may send in your bill.
Oh, I see, hoity-toity.
Well, I don't stay where I'm not wanted.
But I may say my black mixture has never been called into question before.
Good day to you.
Esther, are you sure? Quite sure.
I'm going to send for Mr Woodcourt.
Mr Bucket, I want you to understand the importance of this inquiry.
Murder is always important, Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet.
Sir Leicester will do perfectly well, Bucket.
Mr Tulkinghorn, you must understand, was a very true and loyal servant of this family.
As was his father before him.
I wish to offer a reward of 100 guineas to anyone who can provide information leading to the conviction of the blackguard who perpetrated this vile deed.
My wife, Lady Dedlock, has been greatly shaken by this.
Murder's a shaking thing, Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet.
Not sure a reward will be necessary though.
You mean you've identified the culprit already? We have a suspect.
Then for God's sake, arrest the man.
The thing is, we have to be sure we've got the right man.
The evidence so far is only circumstantial.
It may be him, it may not.
I suppose you have to consider every possibility.
Exactly, my lady.
But the man may escape, may leave the country.
Not this man, sir.
He won't do that.
Don't worry, sir.
Don't worry, my lady.
We've got our eye on him.
Sir Leicester Dedlock, Baronet.
Is she very bad? I shouldn't be too anxious.
She has a good constitution and the human body has a wonderful capacity to heal itself.
She's near the crisis now.
I did do right? To send that man away? Absolutely right.
Your friend was lucky that you came when you did.
Miss Clare, this is a pleasant surprise.
I came to ask for directions to Mr Carstone's lodgings.
I am not sure it is in Mr Carstone's interest to be distracted just at present.
I think I know him better than you do, Mr Vholes.
So will you direct me, please? With the greatest respect, Miss Clare, if he were to leave off now, it might bring about a reversal of his fortunes.
And of yours.
I haven't come to persuade him to leave you, Mr Vholes, though I wish he would leave you.
I've come to see him because I love him.
Now will you direct me? Nothing would give me greater pleasure.
Ada.
Richard, what a miserable place.
Not now you're here.
He might have a change of heart, guv'nor.
Mr Tulkinghorn? I don't think so.
No heart there at all.
And his friend Mr Smallweed.
Just a little ball of bitterness and spite.
I'm sorry, Phil.
I said I'd look after you and I haven't been able to.
Don't you worry about me, guv'nor.
Old soldiers never die, eh? Maybe you'll go back to the country? How would that be? I couldn't do it, Phil.
Turn up like a bad penny after all these years? No, I've still got a bit of pride left.
But what if you got it wrong all along? What if they was waiting for you and longing for you all this time? Not them.
I'm the black sheep of the family, I am.
Always was, always will be.
You know what? It's my birthday today.
Is it? I'm sorry, Phil, then I've ruined that as well.
Very good of you to invite me, sir, on such an auspicious occasion.
We think very highly of you here Mr Woodcourt.
Don't we, Esther? Indeed we do.
He saved Caddy's life.
If you please, sir, Mr Carstone.
Ah.
Rick, my boy, you are welcome.
Come, shake hands.
I'm very glad you're here.
Well, for Ada's birthday.
Woodcourt.
Well, shall we sit down? Esther? Happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
Very handsome of you, guv'nor.
Mmm, not a bad bit of pie this.
It's a good bit of pie, guv'nor.
We're not done for yet, eh? No, no.
Not by no means.
It's very good to be sitting down at table with you again, Rick.
I came because Ada particularly wanted me to, sir.
I wouldn't have come for any other reason.
Well, let's not dwell on our differences now.
I cannot help but dwell upon them, sir, when No, I have to say it.
When you stand between me and my rightful claim No, Richard.
.
.
To what is mine.
Not now.
Not tonight.
Please.
For my sake? For your sake then.
I humbly beg your pardon, sir.
Well You're forgiven.
HE COUGHS You're right.
I'm truly sorry.
What should all this wretched business matter on Ada's birthday? Ada, I beg your pardon.
I beg everybody's pardon.
Do you ever feel, Woodcourt, as though you're lost in a fog and suddenly everything becomes clear? I wish I could see my way to making a living a little more clearly.
Perhaps I could be of some help to you.
Could I perhaps secure you a post in the north country where you nearly went before? Or overseas, indeed? I begin to think that you want to see the back of me, Mr Jarndyce.
Oh, no, no, not at all.
But things seem to be more difficult for you in London.
They are, sir, but I'm not ready to leave yet.
There's far too much to keep me here.
Well, here's to Ada.
21 years old today.
ALL: To Ada.
Now you're 21, you can do whatever you want.
I can, can't I? And I shall.
How did you think Richard looked? I think he's grown thinner.
He ate almost nothing, Ada.
I do love him so, Esther.
I love him, too.
But not in the same way, I think.
Hmm.
Mr Woodcourt looked very well this evening.
Yes.
And he thought you looked very well, too.
I believe he barely took his eyes off you.
Oh, don't talk nonsense, Ada.
You like him too, don't you? I admire him as a doctor.
And I like him very much as a friend.
And I hope he thinks of me as a friend and that's all.
How can you be so blind, Esther? Anyone can see he's in love with you.
Stop that, I don't want to hear it.
Why not? Perhaps you should know .
that Mr Jarndyce and I are engaged to be married.
I don't believe you.
How long have you been engaged to him? Quite a while now.
And you never told me? You kept it a secret.
Esther, how could you? I'm sorry.
He wanted us to be absolutely sure it wasn't a mistake before we told anybody.
And are you? Yes.
Quite sure.
PHIL: Present arms! At the ready.
In your own time, advance! Go, guv'nor.
Give it some.
My word.
Steady on, George.
What's all this? Bit of entertainment, like.
Phil, it's his birthday.
Oh, I see, savage amusements.
Is that a bottle of wine? I believe it is.
Will you take a glass, Mr Bucket? I will, George.
Thank you kindly.
I was just coming down the street, you know, and I thought, there's George's place, I wonder how he's getting on? Pretty bad, Mr Bucket, and that's a fact.
We're broken, and that's the long and short of it.
No, not a fine, strong fellow like you.
Never.
I won't hear of it.
Not bad wine, this.
Not as good as Mr Tulkinghorn's, but the company's better here.
Here's to you.
Happy birthday and may you have many more.
Thank you, sir.
And now to a less pleasant matter.
Friendship is friendship, but duty is duty.
I never want the two to clash if I can help it.
So I hope you won't think any the worse of me, George.
Why should I? Because I'm taking you into custody and I hope you'll go quietly.
Taking me into custody? What for? I'm arresting you for the murder of Mr Tulkinghorn of Lincoln's Inn Fields.
I have to tell you, George, things look bad for you.
You were seen that night lurking about Tulkinghorn's place.
True enough, I was there.
I can't deny it.
Is that all, George? Come on, you can do better than that.
What good will it do me? You've made your mind up, I can see that.
Let's hear your story all the same.
WellI went there and I took my pistol with me.
I didn't know what I should do, and that's the truth.
I hated that man.
I climbed the steps up to his office, but when I got there I couldn't go in.
I've killed men often enough in the heat of battle but I couldn't shoot a man in cold blood.
So I come away.
That is the truth and you can believe it or not.
Maybe I do, George, and maybe I don't.
Did you see anyone else while you was there? I bumped into a man in the dark as I was going in.
Tulkinghorn's clerk, it might have been.
Frightened the wits out of him.
Anyone else? Come on, there was someone else, wasn't there? I never saw her face.
Ah, a woman.
On the stairs.
As I was going down, she was coming up.
She had a black-fringed shawl held over her face.
Well, now, a woman.
A woman with a black-fringed shawl.
BELL TOLLS Well, well, well.
What's she doing here? Oi! Missy! Mademoiselle! Hold on there, Missy, just a word! All right, Missy.
Later'll do as well as sooner.
This is a wretched business, George.
How are they treating you? Very well, sir.
At all events, it's no worse here than Army life.
Except that they're gonna hang me for something I didn't do.
Although I can't deny I've wished him dead, more than once.
Have you spoken to a lawyer? No, sir.
I don't take kindly to the breed and I'd rather have nothing to do with them.
But you must be properly defended.
Let me engage a barrister for you.
I'll gladly meet the cost of it.
I'm innocent, Mr Jarndyce.
That's my defence.
I'm grateful to you all for your concern, but no lawyers for me.
Of course he's innocent.
No-one who knew him could doubt that.
But he was at the scene of the crime.
He was armed.
He made threats against the dead man.
If he simply declares his innocence in court, I'm afraid the jury will convict him and he'll hang.
We must get him to change his mind.
I have an idea.
Mr Squod, you know him better than anybody.
Could you not persuade him to defend himself? Me, Miss? I'm not a persuading sort of a man.
And the guv'nor's not the sort of a man to be persuaded.
I'd like to help but I don't see how I can.
Is there anybody else who could talk to him? Does he have any relations? Anyone else who cares for him? Ah, that's the question.
The answer is, yes, he does.
But it's a secret and I promised never to speak of it.
His life may depend upon it, Mr Squod.
He has a mother he hasn't seen since he was a young man when he ran away to join the Army.
He was his mother's favourite, I believe.
Must have broke her heart when he ran away.
What I reckon is, if she was to come to him, if she was to forgive him, like, she could get him to change his mind.
But do you know her name? Or how she could be found? Yes, I do.
Her name's Mrs Rouncewell.
She lives in Lincolnshire.
She works as a housekeeper in a place called Chesney Wold.
This just come, sir.
Give it here.
Who gave you this? Just some little guttersnipe, sir.
Said, "It's for Mr Bucket" and run off.
All right, Constable.