The Murdoch Mysteries (2004) s15e07 Episode Script

1 HART: One would expect that the body would have been thrown by the oncoming train.
Indeed.
Instead of being hit and thrown, she appears to have been run over while laying on the tracks.
Suicide, perhaps? One possibility.
Doesn't appear to carry any identification.
We should get her body off the tracks before the 7:15.
Gentlemen? Seems your suicide might not be a suicide after all.
What are we looking at? Limestone, typical of macadam paving material.
I saw no macadam at the railroad tracks.
Someone must have moved her body.
It was likely she was already dead when the train cut her in half.
Excellent work, Mrs.
Hart.
We eagerly await your postmortem results.
Mrs.
Hart, where do you buy your hats? - HART: Hats? - Well, according to my wife, "Violet Hart wears the most exquisite hats.
" Oh! Well, tell your wife I'm very flattered.
I get them made at Miss Driscoll's millinery on Queen.
Ah! Thank you.
Margaret's been in the doldrums recently.
I think a jaunty new titfor might put the spring back in her step.
- Titfor? - Tit for tat! Hat.
Good day, Mrs.
Hart.
Oh! - What is it you're looking for? - A map.
Well, you've got plenty of them there.
I'm looking for a specific map.
Here it is.
BRACKENREID: The planning map of Toronto.
It indicates which paving material is used on each of the city's streets.
Macadam is green.
The deceased's body was found on the tracks here.
BRACKENREID: And the nearest stretch of macadam? MURDOCH: Here.
Her name was Jennifer Drask.
We were in the process of notifying the authorities of her disappearance.
A sad end to a wretched life.
What was her crime? Extortion.
Larceny.
Miss Drask had a knack for relieving people of their money.
And her record as an inmate? Exemplary.
As you know, we seek to rehabilitate, not punish.
Miss Drask was intent on bettering herself.
That's why her escape comes as such a surprise.
I don't think it was an escape.
I believe Miss Drask was murdered and her body was moved to the tracks.
Murdered? Dear Lord.
I'll need to familiarize myself with the facility.
Head Matron Klotz will show you around.
The pantry, where we store and prepare food.
The laundry, where we teach how to wash clothes.
The Mercer philosophy is redemption through domestic service.
Do any of your wards reject this brand of redemption? Yes.
But not Jennifer.
She was obedient and docile, a favourite among the matrons.
- And what of the inmates? - They were cruel to her.
Just last week she was viciously assaulted.
Miss Klotz? Who is this man? Detective William Murdoch, Toronto Constabulary.
- And you are? - Doctor Almira Cotton.
Head physician.
- I'm investigating the death of - Poor Jennifer.
I heard.
It's terribly sad.
She was one of your patients? These women are all my patients.
This isn't work for me, Detective.
It's a Calling.
One to which I must now return.
Dr.
Cotton? I'll need to see the clinical file on the deceased.
- Nurse Adelina, pull the file.
- Yes, Dr.
Cotton.
You'll receive the file on your way out, goodbye.
The sewing room.
Are all of the windows here at the reformatory barred? Yes.
Right, then.
I'll need to see the roof.
The roof? Inmates don't have access to the roof.
Miss Klotz.
Who smokes these cigarettes? All the inmates smoke those.
Attention everyone! I'm Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary.
I'm investigating the murder of one of your fellow inmates, a Miss Jennifer Drask.
We got no snitches here, Detective.
Least not now that Jennifer's gone.
KLOTZ: Miss Dowson! - I beg your pardon? - Beg all you want.
I got nothing more to say to you, nor do the others.
Have you made an arrest in the case? Unfortunately, not yet.
Hm.
It's a match.
It would seem Miss Drask did indeed fall from the roof.
Fall? Likely not of her own volition.
HART: What's this? May I use a scalpel? An engagement ring.
And it's engraved with the letters "E.
E.
" "E.
E.
" We do have an Edna Emerson in our care.
What led to her conviction? Her father brought her before the judge because she was pregnant and unmarried.
She was sent here for being incorrigible, and Oh, dear.
Her stillborn child was delivered here in the reformatory.
Oh.
Um, I'd like to speak with this Miss Emerson, please.
It has your initials on it.
I'm not the only E.
E.
in the world.
Anyways, we're not allowed to have jewelry in here.
- This ring isn't mine.
- You're quite sure? I would certainly know if I had been engaged, wouldn't I? I came as soon as I heard.
What's this about? This is about you, my darling.
I bought you a gift.
- Why? - Because I love you.
Go on.
Oh! You bought me another hat.
I did.
But not that hat.
- You bought me a hat, but not this hat? - Exactly.
But if you take that hat To this shop, then you can exchange it for any other hat you like.
I arranged it myself.
Really? I've also arranged dinner reservations at that fancy French place that you like.
- Hm.
- So, go and pick yourself something nice and we'll show it off all over town.
Thank you, Thomas.
I've yet to set foot in the Plaza Theatre.
It's supposedly quite the marvel, seats 900 spectators.
- 900, eh? - Current show sounds promising, Quebec's Queen of Vaudeville, Eva Tanguay.
Jack? Ah, could we turn down this way instead? I spotted Clara's cousin over there.
I'd like to avoid her.
Also on the bill is Long Tack Sam, a magician whose performance is said to enchant.
I could use a bit of enchantment, couldn't you? I just can't stop wondering how many of those 900 people would tell Clara that they've seen us together.
I owe it to her not to incite gossip.
Plus, she finds vaudeville crude.
Well, let's not invite her.
Be kind, Lewellyn.
My marriage helps shield you and I from scrutiny.
It's a flimsy shield if I can never been seen with you, Jack.
BRACKENREID: Ah! Watts! Perfect timing.
Uh, this is What's your name again, sir? Milo Strange.
- Detective Llewellyn Watts.
- Charmed.
Uh, what is this regarding? Walt Whitman has been abducted.
Uh Walt Whitman is dead.
Don't say that.
Walt Whitman.
The poet? Walt Whitman the peacock.
Someone has absconded with him.
- I'll leave you to it, then.
- But It's a bit of a head scratcher, but I'm sure you'll crack it, Watts.
- You're smirking.
- I assure you I It's fine.
I understand.
Mockery's a defense deployed when a person is confronted by nonconformity.
I'm sure you're familiar with the experience.
- Nice jacket.
- Hm? - Oh.
- Will you help me? Thank you for breakfast, Julia.
What a surprise.
It's nice to have the time.
The perks of being unemployed.
MURDOCH: Indeed.
Well, one thing is certain: the inmates at that reformatory will not speak with me.
I've heard the reformatory's a dreadful institution.
The Mercer claims to provide the inmates with the skills required to integrate into the general populace.
Yes, but most of those women have been imprisoned for such atrocities as disobeying their parents.
And fornication.
Or socializing with other races! All things that men can do with impunity.
I'm not surprised they won't confide in a man with a badge.
Any idea how I could go about getting them to trust me? I suppose you could plant an investigator amongst the prisoners, someone that the women would trust and confide in.
Intriguing proposal.
I wonder who I could get to do that? Maggie Muldoon, you have been sentenced to the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for an indeterminate period.
Welcome, Dr.
Ogden.
So, what am I being convicted of? Or, rather, what am I in for? - It seems you are a pickpocket.
- Oh! Marvelous.
- Hello.
- No talking amongst inmates.
This is not a social club.
- Stop it.
- No talking in the halls, Miss Muldoon.
- Now look what you made me do! - Silence! What is going on here? New girl has no respect, slopping her filth all over.
You pushed me! You must like it in the hole, Queenie Dowson.
I lie there dreaming of you, Helga.
Guard, take Miss Dowson to the basement! Don't trust this one, girls! She's hiding something! She really did push me.
No one likes a snitch, Muldoon.
Go fetch a mop.
Move! [JULIA WINCES.]
This is how you sew the hem correctly.
See the stitches? Evenly spaced and in a straight line.
- Fine work, Edna.
- Thank you, Miss Klotz.
And this is how you sew the hem incorrectly.
See the blood? The mess I don't even know what to call this.
- If blasphemy was a textile.
- I'm so sorry, Miss Klotz.
I wish I had Edna's talent.
Perhaps she could show me what I'm doing wrong.
Bleed on the cloth again and you'll be scrubbing floors.
Edna, show her how to sew the hem.
Thank you.
So, how how do you? Oh.
Oh.
You make it look so easy.
Thank you.
I'm Maggie.
Queenie's gonna kill you when she gets out of the hole.
This is where I saw him last, scratching under the lilac.
Why Walt Whitman? We share the same vocation.
As well as the same Inclinations.
You're a poet? And I too "celebrate myself and sing myself.
" "And what I assume you shall assume.
" "For every atom belonging to me " "As good belongs to you.
" Whitman was a bit of a peacock himself, don't you agree? - SCHLAGE: Strange! Where are you? - Who is that? A brute whose soul contains not one iota of peacock.
My neighbour, Burl Schlage.
I heard you've been making accusations.
Where is he, Burl? I didn't take your dang bird, you niminy-piminy fop.
It had to be you.
You hate Walt Whitman.
- You've made that clear.
- Is that true? Sure, I hate him.
Drives me mad with his infernal squawking.
You see? What kind of monster hates birdsong? - Hm.
- Who's your little friend, Strange? Oh.
Ah, thing is, Detective, it ain't birdsong.
It's more like, "squaw, squaw, squaw.
" Excuse me.
This is a criminal investigation.
You'd do well to take it seriously.
What makes you think someone would take it? Well, any birdbrain can see This latch don't hold.
I'm making no headway with Edna Emerson.
Or the other inmates, for that matter.
You need to make them believe you are one of them.
I agree.
But how? Punch someone? William.
I would prefer a less violent approach.
What if Maggie Muldoon were to bring in contraband? Edna.
Want a burner? KLOTZ: Put the fabric down, Muldoon.
I'm taking you off sewing duty.
Come.
Try not to burn yourself.
Oh, don't get tangled up with that one, Muldoon.
Queenie Dowson here spends most of her days in the hole.
Shivering in the dark like the vermin she is.
Not a word! Or I'll send you right back down there.
It's no wonder your family had you locked up.
You are wretched and shameless.
Unworthy, unloved and undeserving of anything You! OGDEN: Sorry.
I think it slipped out of my hand.
[GROANS.]
Next time, you get ten of those.
Back to work! Winifred? Has anyone seen Winifred Sanders? - Hold.
- There you are.
Winnie, Dr.
Cotton will see you now.
I don't wish to go, Nurse Adelina.
Please.
You can discuss it with the doctor.
WINIFRED: You know she'll turn a deaf ear.
What's this about? - I don't want to see the doctor.
- Not this again.
Guard! Take her to surgery.
Where are they taking her? - She's getting snipped.
- Snipped? Yeah.
It's the doc's specialty.
She says it stops incorrigibles from breeding.
That's barbaric.
The girl who died, did she get snipped? Jennifer? Yeah, but she didn't seem to mind.
Edna, how did Jennifer get your ring? Who told you? You know how people gossip.
Mm-hm.
Jennifer was my friend.
And when I ended things with Leon, I gave the ring to her.
Too many memories.
I'm sorry.
Leon's an Indian.
Being with him is what got me sent here in the first place, mixing races and all.
I had to end it.
Move! Psst.
New girl.
Ah, Mrs.
Hart, thank you for the recommendation.
So, how's the postmortem going? It's been challenging.
The trauma to her body complicates the process tremendously.
Understood.
What have you found so far? She was a robust woman of 32.
The injuries from the train occurred after Miss Drask had already died.
She was killed by the fall.
As we expected.
She also has a relatively new surgical scar.
Her file from the Mercer mentions she had a tubal ligation while at the reformatory.
- Anything else? - Yes.
There was an injection administered here shortly before her death.
The toxicology analysis shows she was heavily sedated.
So, she was drugged before she fell off the roof.
Come look.
Nice view, huh? And the fresh air is just How'd you get the door open? One of the girls stole a key from a guard.
We pass it around.
Up here, you can almost pretend you're free.
Is this where that girl fell? Jennifer? Yeah, probably.
I say good riddance.
She was a snitch and a teacher's pet.
Everyone hated her.
Edna said they were friends.
Some friend.
Should have heard Jennifer taunting Edna about the baby she lost.
Edna was crying and Jennifer wouldn't stop.
So, I socked her in the teeth.
When was that? Day before she died.
I was locked up in the hole when Jennifer went off the roof.
I asked Edna about it.
She said Jennifer got what she had coming.
You will stand in the corridor and maintain silence while we perform inspections.
Exit your cells.
Quickly now! So, the toxicology report found sedatives? And yet none were recorded in Miss Drask's medical file.
Well, apparently, the other inmates despised her.
Perhaps one of them obtained the drugs? I could try to search the doctor's office.
Also, I found a love letter from Edna's ex-fiancé, Leon Redbird.
She told me they'd broken up, but the letter says otherwise.
If Miss Emerson pushed Miss Drask off the roof, then I suppose Mr.
Redbird could have moved her body to the tracks.
Leon Redbird? - Yes? - May I have a word? Detective William Murdoch, Toronto Constabulary.
I understand you know Miss Edna Emerson? What happened? Is she okay? Oh! Miss Emerson is fine.
I'm actually investigating the death of another inmate, a Miss Jennifer Drask? Read the name in the papers.
No, never met her.
It's a sad story.
Mr.
Redbird? Ah, no, I'm worried about Edna in that awful place.
Ah, yes.
My sympathies.
However, I must ask, where were you two nights ago? Two nights ago.
I pulled an overnight unloading a truckload of cabbages.
Can anyone confirm this? Uh, the driver.
He'll vouch for me.
- May I? - You may.
Thank you.
[BABY CRIES.]
A missing bird is not police business.
- But - The law can't help you, Mr.
Strange.
But certainly someone would have noticed a peacock wandering the streets of Toronto.
I am positive he's been stolen.
Who on God's green earth would want to steal a peacock? The bloody bird likely just flew away.
And landed on your wife's head? You don't like it? It's exquisite.
I was on the brink of concluding my report and I found something quite unusual.
What is it? Though Miss Drask had a sterilization scar, she had not, in fact, been sterilized.
A surgical scar but no surgery? - Are you quite sure? - Yes.
Her reproductive organs are completely intact.
Then why the scar? That's your domain.
Put your back into it, Muldoon.
Edna Emerson! - I am thoroughly disappointed in you.
- No! No, please! Please don't put me in the hole! Please don't put me in the hole! You keep scrubbing 'til we come back.
COTTON: How did you get in here? Explain yourself.
I think I'm coming down with the flu.
I - I came to look for you, but the door was open.
- Lies.
- You're trying to steal from me! - No.
But I am curious why you're hiding all this money in your office.
That is none of your concern.
I'll not be questioned by an incorrigible.
You have no idea who I am.
Your impertinence is unacceptable.
Nurse, sedate this patient.
You will not! Matron Klotz, restrain her.
Don't touch me.
You're nothing but an insolent wastrel.
I'm a surgeon.
- And a better one than you, I'd wager.
- Surgeon? This one can't hem a tablecloth let alone sew up a wound.
She is clearly delusional.
STEP ONE: Gather your materials.
I prefer Holbein superfine needles, - threaded with cat gut.
- The same kind you use, Dr.
Cotton.
Quiet, Adelina.
OGDEN: Step Two: Sterilize your materials.
I hear you're a huge sterilization enthusiast, Doctor.
Miss Muldoon, you are being disruptive.
My name is Dr.
Julia Ogden, and you're damn right I am.
COTTON: Nurse Adelina, give her the injection! Don't! Call the warden! He'll tell you.
- Give her the shot.
- No! I'm sorry.
Let me out of here! Let me out! Just send the bill to my parents.
Of course, Miss Bowden.
- Is this your handiwork? - Oh.
It certainly is.
A beauty, isn't she? I call her "The Penelope".
You should call her "The Walt Whitman.
" Come again? - [DISTANT SQUAWKS.]
- He knows his name! How did you procure this peacock? I bought it off a street urchin.
He claimed he had caught it in the wild.
Are you suggesting that peacocks are native to Ontario? I'm suggesting I bought it fair and square.
Oh, come now.
It's even wearing the silver ankle band upon which Mr.
Strange inscribed its name.
I don't care if he dressed it in a ball gown and called it Aunt Sally.
It's mine now! I paid three dollars for it.
Regardless of how it came into your possession, this peacock clearly belongs to Mr.
Strange.
It's all right, Detective.
I believe this nice woman's story.
And vengeance is not an instinct I incline to indulge.
Tell you what: make me one of your gorgeous hats, using Whitman's feathers.
Name your price.
Add on the amount you paid the child.
I'll buy it.
But whatever you do, I'm taking my peacock home.
I'm so sorry.
I don't agree with throwing women in the hole.
There are a lot of things about this place I don't agree with.
Is it true? You're a doctor? Yes.
I'm secretly investigating the reformatory.
Really? It's about time someone exposed the conditions here.
Thank you for doing this.
Well, yes.
I think I've gathered enough evidence to finish my report.
Do you think you could get me out of here? Follow me.
You don't have an appointment with the Warden.
The warden has accepted unscheduled visits in the past.
It should be no different on this occasion.
Well, then it's a shame the warden isn't here.
- On this occasion.
- Where might the Warden be? Attending a family function in Kingston.
I am here on official police business.
I need to question one of your inmates, a Maggie Muldoon.
That one.
Always trouble.
You cannot see her.
She is undergoing corrective therapy.
- I beg your pardon? - She's being disciplined.
- Sir! - I warned you.
Julia! Julia! Julia! William! Thank you, Adelina.
Oh, thank God.
Are you all right? I'm fine, William, but I do believe - I'm ready to be sprung from this place.
- What have you found out? Edna Emerson could not have drugged Jennifer.
- The supplies are too well secured.
- Well, then who? Dr.
Cotton is acting very suspiciously.
She has a stack of money hidden in her office, which she most adamantly does not wish to discuss and when I confronted her on it, she She drugged me and put me in The hole.
I am appalled that you're taking the word of this reprobate over It's in the drawer.
This reprobate is working with the Toronto Constabulary.
That money has nothing to do with your investigation.
Did Jennifer Drask bribe you to stop the operation? - What? - Jennifer Drask's file indicates you performed a sterilization procedure.
Yet, in our postmortem, we found no evidence of such a surgery.
Did she threaten to expose you? Is that why you killed her? That's nonsense! You gave Jennifer Drask a fake scar in order to hide your corruption.
I'm sure Warden Burke will be very interested in your creative attention to detail.
All right.
I took her money.
But I didn't kill Jennifer Drask.
The night she died, I was dining at Chez Pierre.
Even if that is true, you'll still be fired.
For what? I was just doing my job.
You were sterilizing women against their will.
As mandated by the Mercer Reformatory, an institution that values my vision and expertise.
And what exactly is your vision? A society unburdened by the morally unfit.
I'll not stand idly by while habitual criminals pollute our world with their offspring.
I agree.
The woman's philosophies are despicable.
The entire system is despicable.
The entire system can wait.
Because right now I just need you to solve this particular murder.
Well, how could Jennifer have smuggled in this money to pay off the doctor? "Corktown Provisions.
" Looks like you're going shopping, me ol' mucker.
Mr.
Redbird? Mr.
Redbird, stop! Turn around.
Please, don't take him away.
MURDOCH: You didn't tell me your and Edna's son survived.
Well, you didn't ask.
So, it's not exactly a lie.
But I did lie about Jennifer Drask.
MURDOCH: So, you knew her? She was blackmailing Edna.
She said if Children's Aid found out that our son was alive, they'd take him away.
So, you paid her? What would you do if it was your boy? First Jennifer took Edna's ring.
Then she took all the money we had.
We gave her everything to protect Charlie.
But we had nothing to do with her death.
You checked my alibi.
Please, just let me take my son home.
Thank you for your time, Mr.
Redbird.
Mm-hm.
We'll contact you if we have any further questions.
All right.
Come on, Charlie.
Let's go home.
So, the money Jennifer Drask used to bribe Dr.
Cotton was in fact Leon Redbird's savings.
Miss Drask had been blackmailing Edna Emerson by threatening to expose the fact that her son had survived.
Blackmail gives Emerson a motive to kill Drask.
But Edna didn't have access to the syringe or the sedatives that were found in Jennifer's system.
Nor could she have carried the body to the tracks.
And Leon Redbird had an alibi, so he couldn't have done it, either.
I'm just stunned that Edna managed to smuggle her baby out of that dungeon.
She must have had help.
Anyone who helped her could be another potential target of Jennifer Drask's extortion.
Someone had to have signed the baby's death certificate.
Let's have a look at Edna's medical file.
And here it is.
Stillbirth.
Signed by Adelina DiMartino.
The nurse.
You see how happy he is? How does one determine whether a peacock is happy? By his strut.
So, I suppose our adventure ends here.
Oh, it doesn't have to.
- Oh! - I hope you will attend.
WATTS: Huh.
Thank you for taking me seriously, Detective Watts.
And thank you for granting me a reprieve from seriousness, Mr.
Strange.
Oh! Fix your latch.
All right.
I can't find Adelina anywhere.
I have looked upstairs, downstairs, the kitchen, the sewing room, the laundry.
I have searched absolutely everywhere! Julia? The roof.
Adelina! Miss DiMartino, step away from the edge.
It's all my fault, you know.
The death of Miss Drask? She fell right here.
I heard her head hit the ground.
Crack! I still hear it over and over.
If Jennifer fell, it is not your fault.
Yes, it is.
She wanted money to keep quiet about Edna's baby.
We came here to talk.
She started yelling her demands and I gave her a shot to calm her down.
She lost her balance.
She fell right here.
I heard her head hit the ground.
Crack.
Please, Adelina, just take one step down.
This place is evil and nobody cares.
I care! And I'll do everything in my power to see that you receive the most lenient sentence possible.
Everything in your power.
What power do you have? Not as much as I'd like sometimes, but, please, Adelina, I do believe that women can change the world.
But first we have to start trusting each other.
Please! Are you all right? I just wanted to help those women.
You did.
With every small gesture of compassion you offered them.
I wanted to show you something.
I recruited a lawyer friend of mine.
We lodged an emergency petition.
With my testimony, we believe we can secure Edna's release and have her reunited with her family.
Maybe you do really have power.
It's not just my doing.
You helped to keep that family together.
[CONSTABLE CLEARS THROAT.]
I suppose I'm going to jail now.
Thank you, Dr.
Ogden.
But what about the others? Who will speak for all the other incorrigible women? It's a small gathering, informal, and it sounds like a lot of fun.
You remember fun, don't you? I can't.
I have family obligations.
You're a married man, Jack, you will always have family obligations.
- I'm just asking for two hours with you.
- I'm sorry.
I'm late.
Clara's made a pot roast.
You'd choose boiled cow flesh over me? Thomas? - You look beautiful.
- Thank you.
You've had your coat cleaned.
- Want to look the bee's knees for my best girl.
- Oh.
I know what you're doing, Thomas.
You don't have to fuss over me.
Anything I can do to put a smile on my wife's face is no fuss at all.
I can't do it.
I can't pretend to be happy when every hour of every day I'm driven mad by the thought, where's our son? Where's Bobby? What did the men you've hired been telling you? They found him.
In Winnipeg.
What? Bobby's in Winnipeg? He was.
He got wind that I was looking for him.
He ran off again.
Why did he run? Margaret, Bobby's life is his own to salvage or destroy.
There's nothing we can do about it.
We could help him.
No we can't.
Not unless he wants it.
No.
No.
It's the truth.
I'm so sorry, Margaret.
No.
No.
[SOBBING.]
Thank you all for coming.
May this night transport us from this coarse and weary world and show us a place where we are limitless.
My name is Milo Strange.
[CROWD APPLAUDS.]