The Murdoch Mysteries (2004) s13e03 Episode Script

1 (THEME MUSIC) No, I think it's just the two of them.
No.
There's some movers.
He looks to be about 40.
She's a few years younger.
Oh, dear.
- They just saw me.
- (WOMAN): Hello! Because they're waving at me.
Oh no! They're coming this way.
No, I don't What Not without you here.
Because you're better at these things.
I I prefer peaceful coexistence.
It's just better that way.
I (KNOCKING) They're here.
I will.
I promise.
(WOMAN): Hello? - Hello! - (KNOCKING) (MAN): I hear footsteps in there.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Howdy, neighbour! - We saw you looking.
- Hmm-mm! Raymond Huckabee and this is my my better half, Goldie Huckabee.
- William Murdoch.
- We just had to see your house.
- It is so unusual.
- Hmm-mm.
Is there a Mrs.
Murdoch or ? There is a Dr.
Julia Ogden.
She's away at a medical conference.
- She'll be back Thursday.
- She? My wife.
Oh, your doctor's a wife? Oh! (LAUGHING) I said it the wrong way around.
She Ha! Ha! Ha! She said it the wrong way! Ha! Ha! (LAUGHING) Where are all the rooms? - (PHONE RINGING) - Uh (CLEARS THROAT) Detective Murdoch.
He's a detective! Correct, yes.
I'll be right there.
Duty calls.
Oh! What a shame, Detective.
- Ha! Ha! Ha! - Some other time, then.
Some other time.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING) We received the call at 6:35.
She was found with her head and shoulders down in the water.
No attempt to bury her.
- Thoughts, Miss Hart? - She's young.
She appears to be about 18 or 19.
As you can see, her throat's been cut.
But there was no sign of blood.
If she was found in the water, any sign of blood could've washed away.
Distribute these to the other stationhouses.
We want to have this woman identified right away.
- Any missing persons reported? - Not in the last week, sir.
Right.
Conduct a search using her Bertillon measurements.
Show Mr.
Parker how the Searchizer operates.
Oh, sir It never gives us a match.
There's always a first time.
Sir.
Detective Murdoch built this automated machine to calculate ratios between people's facial features and compare them against every individual the constabulary has on file.
Why don't I take the measurements while you dial them in? - You know the Bertillon system? - I was a Pinkerton.
Finding people was half our business.
Nose to chin Oh! - You use metric.
- Easier to calculate, apparently.
Ah.
8.
7.
Nose to corner of right eye 6.
2.
Left eye, 6.
1.
Nose to midpoint between the eyes 5.
4.
All right, that should do.
And (MACHINE WHIRRING) How long does it take to get a match? Well, to compare to every file on record, it takes about ten minutes.
As far as finding a match, so far, never.
(MACHINE DINGS) Lord.
Speak the words and they immediately become alive! Look at that! M0132.
M Yes, that's her all right.
When did she go missing? 189 1895? That's 12 years ago.
She still looks 18.
How's that possible? The same young woman.
Looks to be the same age.
But taken 12 years apart.
- Then it must be someone else.
- I have to agree.
The chances of someone having the exact same Bertillon measurements is slim, but not zero.
Perhaps it was a sister.
Non-twins siblings are not identical.
I knew two brothers born five years apart who were spitting images.
We used to call them the Percy twins.
Pointy faces, high foreheads, happy daftys the pair of them.
So what do we have on the family? Just what's on file.
Her name is Polly Townsend.
Reported missing by Jack and Doris Townsend.
- The parents, I presume.
- Her father and stepmother.
Her father, Jack Townsend, died last April and Doris has since moved away.
We haven't been able to locate her.
- This is a stationhouse 1 file.
- Yes.
I have sent a constable to collect the original files.
Reported missing 12 years ago.
Could she have been killed then and preserve somehow? I've considered that, sir.
If the body were kept in a sealed container, pressurized with an inert gas, then perhaps the tissue would be stopped from decomposing.
- Well, there you go.
- I then spoke with Dr.
Ogden and she told me that even if the body were kept in deoxygenated environment, it would still be consumed by anaerobic bacteria - already present in the tissue.
- So that's a no, then.
No.
Sirs, we have a couple of witnesses who think they saw the victim last night.
They're on their way in.
Right.
Very good.
Let's see if they can identify the victim in the morgue.
Oh! Mail is in.
It's from a publisher.
I recently sent them a manuscript.
This must be the reply.
A book? - You've written a book? - I'm not just a constable, you know.
So? Open it! I don't know.
As long as it remains unopened, I remain unrejected.
Give it to me.
(SIGHS) All right.
"Dear Mr.
Crabtree " At least they didn't spell it Carbtree.
- "Thank you for submitting your manuscript.
" - "Thank you"? Oh, great.
That's the way all rejection letters begin.
"It was an interesting and enjoyable read.
The passages describing the flower girls of Flower Hill were particularly appealing.
"Regretfully, we are not looking for a manuscript of this type at this time.
" Oh, I told you so! This is what comes from opening letters.
"Of this type"? What do they mean? It could be her.
I can't be certain.
She was a good 20 feet away and running.
- Screaming all the while.
- Like she was being chased.
- Dis you see her pursuer? - No.
We figured she was loony.
- What time was this? - Around about 8:30.
We were out for our evening walk.
The valley is so nice that time of day.
Do you recall anything else? - Uh - What was she wearing? Her dress was yellow.
Or or was it green? It was a floral pattern, dear.
Yellow with florets.
Puff sleeves as I recall, with a rose collar.
That's it.
Right.
Thank you very much.
Have you established a time of death? Given the rate of algor mortis, I've calculated her death at ten hours before she was found.
Her head and shoulders were partially submerged.
I've calculated the heat flux to various tissues.
If you would like to check my work So about 8:30 last night.
Maybe a little after.
The young woman was last seen just south of Park Drive in an apparent state of fright.
She must have known she was in danger.
And her body was discovered just north of Cudmore Creek.
So was she running from her killer or towards him? And who is she? - Hamish Slorach.
- Pardon? - Knock-knock.
- Inspector Slorach! What can we do for you, sir? Oh, nothing, nothing! I'm here to do for you.
The boys at my old stationhouse told me - you were asking about Polly Townsend.
- Yes.
I was the detective investigating her disappearance.
What year was that? 1895.
- 1899? - 95! 95.
95 November 15th.
No, no, no.
I think it was November 15th.
(SIGHS) 13th See here, got There's 13th and the 13th There's 13th.
15th.
15th! Uh "Eggs on toast.
Eggs runny.
Must tell Meg.
" Hmm.
Meg was my wife.
Is there anything about Miss Townsend there? Yes.
I, uh Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
See, I got it.
I interviewed the parents, Jack and Doris.
"He's shifty, she's a peach.
Polly TB.
" What could I meant by "TB"? - Tuberculosis? - Yeah, that's it.
That's it! She had consumption.
Any reason why she would've run away? - Polly had an argument with her father.
- Oh! What about? Doesn't say.
I went to lunch after that.
"Ham on rye at Hope's.
Good mustard.
" Do you remember anything other than what you wrote down? Uh Yes, actually, yes.
The father, he was very, very upset when he came in.
The stepmother, not so much.
You should talk to her.
We haven't been able to locate her.
- I know where she lives.
- You do? Yeah, she remarried.
To a lawyer who lives down my street.
Birdie Smothers is his name.
Mrs.
Smothers.
This is my husband, Birdie.
I came to offer support.
Now, Mrs.
Smothers, we don't believe this to be your stepdaughter, but we are looking to close off an avenue of investigation.
Just her face, please, Miss Hart.
This isn't possible! She was dying of consumption.
She had one year to live at most.
There were tuberculosis scars on her lungs.
Are you quite sure this is your stepdaughter? She had a scar.
On her leg.
From running into a barbed wire fence when she was a child.
She was very self-conscious about it.
(CRYING) Oh! How is this possible? So the dead girl is Polly.
- Yes, sir.
- So that brings us back to the same question.
How did she not age? I have no idea, sir.
(SIGHS) - Have you any ideas, Crabtree? - Yes, I have ideas, but it hardly seems worth my breath to utter them.
What are you rattling on about, Crabtree? Sir, if you haven't notice, every idea I have seems to get crushed under foot before it even leaves my mouth.
What ideas have you, George? Well, the first one is one you're going to dispel immediately.
She's a vampire.
- Bloody hell.
- You see.
- Go on.
- Sir, it's well accepted that vampires do not age.
She was last seen during the night.
Her body was completely drained of blood, which would suggest to me a second vampire.
I mean, there is a lot of infighting amongst vampires, don't even start with werewolves.
Finally, her throat was slashed to disguise the bite marks.
Any other ideas? She may have been kidnapped by aliens.
Possibly Venusian.
How did they keep her young? By travelling close to the speed of light What? It's here somewhere.
- What are you looking for? - Ah, yes.
Here.
This was from my lecture at Trinity College.
- Did you attend? - I did.
You spoke of a person travelling at the speed of light - not experiencing time.
- Yes.
It's more of a thought experiment than a practical reality, of course.
So it's not, in fact, possible.
Massive objects cannot attain the speed of light.
But if one could come close to that speed, a voyage of one month would be equivalent - to ten years on Earth.
- Remarkable.
It's a direct consequence of the principle of relativity.
Time itself travels at the speed of light.
Do you know of any existing technology that could permit such acceleration? No.
No, the force required is far beyond any capacity known to modern science.
At least on Earth.
Bloody aliens! You really think aliens are responsible? Sir, you have no idea how long I have waited for this moment.
See what you've started.
All I said was that we could not eliminate the possibility.
But sirs, it explains everything.
Why did she disappear? Because aliens took her.
Why hasn't she aged? Because they whizzed her off at the speed of light, had a bit of lunch, and came back in our time 12 years later.
All right then, smartarse.
Why did they take her? They took pity on her.
Dying as she was.
She wanted to see the world, - they showed her the galaxy.
- And did they kill her as well? They had to.
She discovered their plans for an invasion.
In the original version of my book, Venusians, you know, from Venus Oh, that's enough, Crabtree! This is bloody ridiculous.
Wait.
Louise Cherry? - How did she find out about this case? - Who bloody cares? Right, you, stop spouting nonsense and get back to work.
Sir, I came to tell the Detective Miss Hart would like to see him in the morgue.
I've analyzed the lung tissue in the microscope to determine the extent of her infection.
I ended up taking 20 samples and in not one could I find a single tuberculosis bacterium.
She was cured? It seems so, yes.
It also appears that she is decomposing at a slower rate than normal.
Do you have an explanation for this? I do not.
Perhaps Dr.
Ogden might venture an opinion.
Miss Hart, have you spoken to the press regarding this case? I was approached by Miss Cherry, who wanted confirmation on facts she'd already acquired.
Louise Cherry has interfered with every case she's ever investigated.
I have a standing directive forbidding any official communication with her.
Were you not aware of this? I am not required to take direction from you, Detective.
The coroner works with the police, not for them.
I answer to the Board of Control.
Your wife may do your bidding.
But I am not she.
(MURDOCH): Yes, I'm aware that she's technically correct.
It is nevertheless galling, considering what I know about her.
What could I say? As long as she continues to perform her duties without negligence, - I have no recourse.
- (KNOCKING) Someone's at the door.
Because I don't want them to know I'm home.
Our new neighbours.
Oh! Oh, you will.
(KNOCKING) (SIGHS) Yes, fine.
Oh! Murdoch! I'm sorry to bother you.
But I've been awakened to an idea that I felt compelled to share with you.
Where are the rooms? Something you wanted to speak with me about? Yes, yes.
I fear I hung my boots up too early.
- Oh.
- On the job, retirement was something I looked forward to.
Sleeping in.
Reading books.
- Taking long walks with my dog.
- That sounds wonderful.
Turns out I'm not that tired, I don't like reading, and the dog just wants to lay on the porch all day.
It's like we're both waiting to die.
Let me join your investigation.
Side by side.
Huh? Three ears are better than two.
(CHUCKLING) I've got ideas aplenty.
Oh, for instance.
We know that Polly's father was trying to cure her.
What if he didn't just cure her consumption but of aging itself? Aging is not a disease, it's a process.
Does it kill you? - Eventually.
- I rest my case.
(KNOCKING) - (GOLDIE): Hello? - (RAYMOND): Hello? - It's your new neighbours.
- (RAYMOND LAUGHS.
) (LAUGHING) (LAUGHING) We couldn't let our favourite neighbour go without a woman's cooking.
It's potted duck.
- I have company at the mo - Murdoch! You don't turn down food! Hello.
Come on in! The more the merrier! Oh! Oh! (SIGHS) (CHATTERING) - Parker, have a look.
- What? Solving Murder.
I wrote that book.
Solving Murder.
It doesn't say your name on it.
Well, I promise you I wrote every paragraph or at least rewrote every paragraph in it.
Which means I can clearly sell books.
I just can't sell myself.
Do you think it's my name? They just weren't looking for manuscripts of that type.
And what type is that? I mean, I would think that my type is the class of types that doesn't have a type.
I mean, the original was clearly science fiction.
Venusians, you know, from Venus, they come and attack my hometown and I have to save everybody.
But Effie, my lady friend, she convinced me to change it.
Morning edition! Eternal youth machine invented.
- Read it here, folks! - Here lad, let's have a look.
"Dear Father, I apologize if this letter should shock you.
I am after all supposed to be dead.
But I am very much alive, Father, and I must attribute this to your invention.
Not only has your machine cured me, but I appear not to have aged in all these years.
" I knew it.
I knew it! - Bring in Miss Cherry.
- Sir.
Miss Cherry I see no reason I should be denied the lunch I was enjoying until your boys showed up.
Could you fetch me a glass of water, please? I'll get that.
So, have I broken any laws? These letters are part of an ongoing police investigation.
They are also part of the story I'm following.
A young woman's body has been found.
- These are evidence! - And thanks to my initiative they are in your hands.
A little gratitude would reflect well on you.
Where did you get the letters? I found them in the drawer of Jack Townsend's laboratory desk.
How did you learn of this laboratory? - Did someone give you a tip? - No.
I investigated.
I knew he was trying to cure his daughter.
And he must have succeeded, because until last night, she was still alive.
So how did he do it? Elixir? No.
All the books he took out of the library were about electricity and magnetism.
I concluded that he built a device.
His wife knew nothing about it so he must have rented a space nearby.
I knocked on doors until I found the man who rented Jack his carriage house.
I then obtained permission to look and found the letters in the false bottom in his desk drawer.
- He had been hiding the letters? - Rather poorly, but yes.
He wanted to keep it a secret.
I wonder why.
- Where is this carriage house? - 148 St.
Patrick.
It's used for storage now, but the equipment is still bolted to the floor.
Would you like me to tell you exactly where it is or do you think can you manage that part on your own? That will be all for now, Miss Cherry.
There was something against the wall here.
You can see that.
Where is it? Where is the machinery? Maybe she should have told us.
She said there was something bolted to the floor.
Here.
- Someone has taken it.
- But who? My guess would be the killer.
My guess would be the killer.
Who knew about the equipment? Thanks to Louise Cherry, nearly all of Toronto.
It was probably taken to prevent anyone else - from getting their hands on it.
- Of course it was.
- This is the greatest invention ever! - He's right.
- If this machine works - It'd be worth more than every other invention combined.
- A fortune times a hundred.
- Polly's father hid her letters.
Was he attempting to keep her existence a secret? Were they hoping to cut the stepmother out? Is that why Polly was killed? - Was Jack Townsend murdered also? - No.
Jack Townsend died from a massive heart attack two months ago.
You're certain? I performed the post-mortem myself.
And how did you arrive at that determination? His left coronary artery was completely blocked.
Even if he were shot, stabbed and poisoned he would've still died of a heart attack.
If you doubt me, by all means exhume the corpse.
It may be partially decomposed, but the heart tissue may still be intact.
I, of course, will have to recuse myself.
Perhaps Dr.
Ogden would be up to it.
So Jack Townsend died of natural causes.
Polly's letters arrived from Europe last year.
Perhaps her father's death is what brought her back to Toronto.
She wanted the equipment for herself.
That's why she was killed.
That makes sense.
- What have you, Constables? - Good Lord.
Robert Parker, Special Constable.
Sir, Parker has something.
I figured that moving the lab equipment - would have required a wagon.
- So we checked around.
Guess who rented a wagon yesterday afternoon? Of course we have the equipment.
It became the rightful property of Doris at the time of her husband's death.
Why did you not tell me about this device earlier? I didn't know anything about it.
We read about it at the same time as everybody else.
Of course we moved to secure the equipment so no one else could get their hands on it.
That includes you.
Be that as it may, the device is evidence in a murder case.
- Good luck finding it.
- I will compel you to produce it.
This machine promises eternal youth.
It could be the most important invention in history.
This is proprietary technology whose workings have no bearing on your case.
We'll see about that.
- But Your Honour - That is my decision.
Next up.
Wilson vs Taylor.
- Thirty days! - Does seem quite a lot.
That is enough time to reverse engineer the machine - and apply for a patent.
- Sirs.
Morning edition.
What is it? "The Eternal Youth Machine will be demonstrated today at five o'clock.
- $500 dollars is the price tag for willing subjects.
" - (WHISTLING) That's a small fortune.
That's more than my annual salary.
But think what you'd be buying.
I mean, the problem with waiting to die is not the waiting.
It's the dying! You remove that, I want to live forever! Hmm.
The letters refer to something electromagnetic.
He'd been studying modern physics, although he was evidently an amateur.
So was the man who discovered relativity.
As such, I cannot rule out the possibility that Townsend's machine does, in fact, work.
But I would like to stress I cannot comprehend any mechanism by which it could possibly work.
Neither can I.
And I believe another explanation is far more likely.
Thank you.
All they have to do is convince people that the device works and then charge a small fortune for it.
The beauty of the scheme is that the machine doesn't have to work.
Aging is too slow a process to discern.
And by the time we discredit the device, they will have made millions.
But if it doesn't work, then how does she look so young? We only have her stepmother's word that it was in fact Polly and she is one of the putative conspirators.
So if the dead girl is not Polly, then we're back to your look-alike theory.
All they had to do to convince us that Polly was still alive was to hire this young woman to run down the street, - screaming, attracting witnesses.
- And then killed her, knowing we would stumble on her missing person's report.
No.
There's no way they could have known that we have the Searchizer.
They relied on the press.
You're accusing me of criminal collusion? It's not difficult to see how you could profit from this situation.
You may not think much of me, Detective, but I have principles and I am not a criminal.
The only way for this scheme to work is for it to become public.
All of it.
The dead woman.
The attention-grabbing headline.
"She disappeared 12 years ago and hasn't aged a day!" It sells papers.
- That's what I do.
- Hmm.
You approached Miss Hart for confirmation of a fact that you already knew.
How did you learn of Polly Townsend's disappearance? - I got a tip.
- You said you didn't.
You asked me if I was tipped to the lab.
I wasn't.
I figured that out myself.
Who gave you this tip? - It was anonymous.
- When? Yesterday morning.
I got a phone call.
It was a man's voice.
What did he say? "Polly Townsend.
" That's it? That's all I needed.
And I'm telling you you're wrong.
It is Polly.
The machine works.
And unless you're prepared to prove otherwise in court you'd best be careful how you make your accusations.
I have much to lose and I will seek recompense.
I don't understand.
I positively identified her.
He thinks we're lying.
He thinks that we found a girl that looks exactly like Polly and murdered her.
What? Where were you the evening of May 28th? At the Crystal Ballroom.
From 7:00 until 10:00.
Would you like a list of guests who could vouch for our presence? Yes.
Sir, their alibi is confirmed.
Bertie and Doris Smothers were both at the ballroom all evening.
We need to determine the woman's true identity.
Why not track down who bought the dress she was wearing? We would need to know where the dress was bought.
Eaton's.
It's in the window display.
I notice these things.
It's a lovely dress.
Yes.
Very good.
But Eaton's doesn't normally track their purchasers.
No.
But they do keep tabs on their debtors.
Most people buy with payments these days.
Why wait until you can afford it when you can buy it on credit? - Look into it.
- Sir.
You asked for me? I found something very strange about our victim.
I'm not sure it pertains to the case.
As you will note her skin seems slightly redder on the front than the back.
- She'd been in the sun.
- That's what I thought at first.
Until I noticed this.
Her kidney.
Not just her kidney.
Every organ in her body is a different shade on the front than the back.
As if the rays that tanned her skin went straight through her.
There was something against the wall here.
You can tell.
Detective? What do you expect to find here, Detective? Confirmation of a theory.
Bear with me.
We know that sunlight will fade any surface that it touches.
Of course.
We now understand it to be the consequence of the photoelectric effect.
My colleague assumed that this was caused by something blocking the light.
What if it was caused by light itself? - Some kind of a high energy beam.
- Precisely.
My God! I believe we may be looking at Polly Townsend.
- X-rays? - Or something with even greater energy.
X-rays were discovered in 1895, the same year that the young woman disappeared.
So that's how Jack Townsend intended to cure - his daughter's tuberculosis.
- Could it worked? It has been suggested that X-rays have an ionizing effect, which might kill germs.
I recently read of a proposal to use them to pasteurize meat.
- Thank you very much, ma'am.
- That'll be all.
All right.
- Your book.
You were saying - Right.
I feel like I may have made a misturn around Chapter Number Four.
How so? Well, instead of making the book about Venusians, you know, from Venus, Effie convinced me that I should centre the story around an aunt of mine who disappeared when I was still a lad.
Sounds compelling.
Not to Deakins of Canada, apparently.
Here we are.
(KNOCKING) Robert Parker, Special Constable.
- We're looking for Nancy Beard.
- That's me.
We understand you purchased a dress - from Eaton's last Thursday.
- A yellow dress.
With pink and green florets.
Yes.
I did.
Were you in the Don Valley on the evening of May 28th? - No.
- May we have a look at that dress, Miss Beard? I don't have it anymore.
- Where is it? - I took it back to Eaton's.
It should be easy enough to confirm.
(MACHINE WHIRRING) He was infected with syphilis two weeks ago.
Syphilis? I thought we were testing for tuberculosis.
You want an infected rat on an hour's notice, you take what you can get.
It shouldn't make much of a difference to our experiment.
We're testing whether it kills any indwelling bacteria.
How long should we maintain the exposure? - How long has it been? - Twenty minutes.
I'd give it another few.
We want to be sure.
I don't think it will make much difference.
Why do you say that? - It's dead.
- Oh.
It feels unnaturally warm.
My God.
Her father's treatment didn't cure Polly at all.
- It killed her.
- When? 12 years ago? Shortly before he reported her missing, I would imagine.
So could our victim, in fact, be Polly? Assuming the radiation killed all indwelling bacteria and she was kept in an inert environment She would never decompose.
My God.
Bertie Smothers is demonstrating the device that killed Polly at 5 o'clock.
- It's 4:50 now.
- Oh Out of the way! Police! Out of the way! Amazing, isn't it, Murdoch? I'm never going to get old.
- I'm never going to die.
- Turn it off! - No, you wait your turn, Murdoch.
- Now! Turn it off.
You can't compel me without a court order.
No! No! Murdoch, no! Stop! Stop! Murdoch! - What have you done!? - Why? I'll sue you! You're finished! And you are under arrest.
Both of you.
The machine worked until you broke it.
I hope you have very deep pockets.
It's a Roentgen machine.
- What? - An X-ray.
Whatever, it saved her life.
And it would have saved countless more.
And if you're still peddling the idea - that we killed a look-alike, well - Mr.
Smothers.
Please sit down.
I will concede that the dead young woman is Polly.
Well, good.
Finally.
And given we both have alibis for the time she was killed, I believe this conversation is at its end.
Your alibis are based on a time of death calculation which presumes normal body temperature.
Polly's body was kept at room temperature.
It was then placed in the river the following morning.
Do you have alibis for that time? You see, I believe it was you that tipped off the police.
You wanted her body to be found.
Just as I believe it was you who telephoned Louise Cherry to ensure she would look into the disappearance of Polly Townsend.
If you have any evidence of this, I'd happy to discuss it.
Otherwise, I am a very busy man.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Smothers.
I believe you know young Nancy Beard.
Hmm? She's the young woman you hired to run screaming down the street in front of witnesses while you were busy establishing your alibis at the Crystal Ballroom.
Well It's her word against ours.
I'd like to make a statement.
Jack was so desperate to save Polly.
He would have tried anything.
He noticed that sunlight killed germs.
If exposed long enough.
Yes.
But of course, her germs were inside her body where the sun can't reach.
But then, one day he said that they'd discovered some some new ray that went right through them.
X-rays.
I didn't know what it was.
I wanted nothing to do with it.
I thought he was crazy.
But she was willing.
But instead of curing her it killed her.
All I know is that she died and Jack couldn't accept it.
He wanted to cure her of death itself.
It was madness.
He placed her in a sealed container.
It was made of glass.
You could see her inside, lying there like she was Sleeping Beauty.
All those years he never stopped hoping that he could save her.
But then he died last April.
I didn't know what to do with her so I consulted a lawyer.
Mr.
Smothers.
He saw Polly with all her pumps and her tubes.
It was all Bertie's idea.
All of it.
The letters from Polly.
He said we'd be millionaires.
So what's the charge then? I don't know.
Their experiment would have killed Inspector Slorach.
You'd have to prove that they knew it was dangerous.
X-rays killed Polly Townsend.
A fact discovered by you.
Today.
Fraud then.
The checks were never cashed.
You have intent but not effect.
- Desecration of a corpse.
- Surely we have them for that.
Twelve months.
At best.
And that's for him.
She'll just testify and then go home.
It seems rather insufficient given the depravity of their scheme.
You can't always hang them, Murdoch.
I suppose not.
As far as I'm concerned, their biggest crime is that they got everyone's hopes up.
We were going to live forever.
- Probably best we don't.
- Aye.
I want to thank you for having me over to dinner.
What's one more place setting? And you were already here anyway.
Still, it was extra nice of you to feed my dog.
(CHUCKLING) Oh, let him go, it's not like he could get lost in here.
I've vowed though that both of us old dogs are gonna get out more.
Now that there's no hope of cheating death we may as well make the most of every day we have left.
I'm sure most of you'll both be around for some time yet.
(LAUGHING): Perhaps.
But I'm already jowly and that's only going to get worse.
Sometimes when I look in a mirror, I squint, I see the old man I'm going to be.
Assuming you're lucky.
(KNOCKING) I bet you that's Ray and Goldie.
I met them on the way in.
They said they might drop by.
He is a grand fellow.
Isn't he? (LAUGHING) That's your previous version.
- With the Venusians.
- Yes.
- The one your sweetheart - Effie.
- Talked you into changing.
- Yes.
So? Is it good? Well, I think so.
I mean, it's certainly of a type.
But I think it would sell like hotcakes to perhaps a small readership but an eager one none the less.
So send it in.
I don't know.
What if they publish it? What? If they publish this one, I can never publish this one.
(CHUCKLING) So your sweetheart was right.
Yes.
Not that you're to tell her that.
She has reason enough to feel superior as it is.
So write two books.
The one that you have now and another one with Venusians.
That's not a bad idea.
Set in Toronto I think.
In the aftermath of a meteor shower.
Or what they think is just a meteor shower.
No, no.
No.
There was no mistaking it.
That look.
That smile.
And so I confronted him.
- You didn't.
- I did.
I walked right up to him and I said, "Are you making eyes at my wife, sir?" And he said, "Oh no, sir.
Oh no!" - Of course he would.
- And I said "Why not? Is she not good looking enough?" (LAUGHING) (LAUGHING) Very amusing.