The Murdoch Mysteries (2004) s18e02 Episode Script

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Effie Crabtree, Canada's
first female Crown Attorney.
And Clara Brett Martin was
the first female attorney
in the entire British Empire.
She forged the path
that I have followed.
I'm writing a profile on you.
"Woman Lucks Into Success"
isn't exactly a headline
that will attract readers.
I'm just being honest.
Your first case with the Crown
is one of the biggest
in Toronto's history.
You will argue that a former
city councilman should hang
- for the killing of three people.
- That's right.
However, Mr. Alister
Gordon will be lead counsel.
I'll be assisting him.
You're an assistant?
No. I'm a newly appointed
lawyer for the Crown.
What do you say to those
who believe that women
are mentally inferior to men and
incapable of logical reasoning?
I would say that it is their
reasoning that is illogical.
Women are the equal to men in every way.
And if they don't believe
that fact, then, well
Just watch me.
(ENGINE RUMBLING)
Ta-ta, dear. Safe voyage.
(CURIOUS MUSIC)
Oh! You must be Mr. Murdoch.
I'm the landlord, Stanley. Lester.
Oh, it's a pleasure to
make your acquaintance.
And thank you for accommodating
me on such short notice.
- Just moved to town?
- No. I'm living on my own
for the first time in quite some time,
and my home is just very
empty and quiet.
Well, you won't have that problem here.
Follow me, sir.
You're in 2C.
(DOG BARKING)
Make yourself at home.
Thank you.
Detective Murdoch?
Yes. Do I know you?
No.
Oh but thank God you're finally here.
There's been a murder.
(THEME MUSIC)
Jonathan B. Booth.
He lived in this room for about a year.
Was it two years?
I only lived here for seven
months. Well, seven and a half.
And you believe this
Mr. Booth was murdered?
Yes.
It happened two weeks ago,
just after I last saw him
on Thursday at 4:15 p.m.
- You saw his body?
- No.
Then how do you know he was murdered?
- He was gone.
- Gone?
Oh, he wouldn't just disappear.
Without saying goodbye?
No. No, no. No. No,
sir. No, not Mr. Booth.
Now, I told all of this to the
constables at Station House Four.
MacLaren and Cruickshank
can't remember their Christian names.
It's all right. I know them.
But you're here now, so I can rest easy.
Actually, I am moving into these rooms
because this is to be my home.
- Oh.
- For now.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- Oh.
So, if
you don't mind.
Of course. I beg your pardon.
Was just, wh-wh-what about the murder?
I'll look into it.
So you'll be living here?
With me!
So it would seem.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Didn't know the hallowed halls
of power would be quite so dull.
Well, you are causing quite a stir.
I'd hate to see them when
they're not stirred up.
Hm.
So, let's, uh, go over this
once again, Chief Constable.
(SIGHS) Tell me exactly
what Francis Stewart said to you.
I've already told ya.
Tell me again.
Chief Constable Stewart
admitted to Councilman
Vaughan's involvement
in the murder of two
women almost 20 years ago.
Just a boy. A good family.
I knew the father.
They told me that the burglary was a
was a youthful lark.
Some sort of a dare gone terribly wrong.
And what of the murders next door?
I believed them to be an accident.
If I'd known it was murder
(BRACKENREID): He also admitted
to letting Chadwick Vaughan
into the cell occupied
by Richard Tauber,
a man that was found dead
immediately after that visit.
And he'll admit to all
of that in open court?
He gave me his word.
(PHONE RINGING)
Detective Murdoch.
What are you doing here?
Isn't it your day off?
Something you'll soon
learn about me, Inspector,
is that I much prefer work to leisure.
Then we have something in common.
What's troubling you?
I'm moving into a rooming house
and the man who rented
my rooms before me
apparently has disappeared.
- And?
- W-well, uh,
all of the neighbours seem to agree
that the man, Mr. Booth,
was planning to move to
Hamilton at the end of the week,
but was seen with a
blue suitcase in hand
and all of his possessions cleared out.
Perhaps he simply left a couple
of days early to save on rent.
Hm. Hardly a mystery then.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The Crown will prove to
you that Chadwick Vaughan
took distinct and an intentional action
to kill Elsie and Nora Haines in 1891
to hide the truth of an
affair he was carrying on.
Furthermore, the Crown will
show you that Mr. Vaughan
killed Detective Richard Tauber
while he was being held in the cells
of Station House Number
Four just last year
to keep quiet the truth of his
guilt in those previous murders.
Now Mr. Vaughan's considerable
power and influence
in the city of Toronto
has allowed him to get away
with these heinous acts.
None less than former Chief
Constable Francis Stewart
was under his sway
and will testify to his guilt.
You'd best hope Mr.
Vaughan is convicted.
Why do you say that?
You won't be long for a job if he isn't.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(CAT YOWLING)
(PROJECTOR FLICKERING)
(SQUEAKING, THUDDING)
(SQUEAKING, THUDDING CONTINUES)
Yeah?
Beg your pardon.
I'm William Murdoch and I just moved in.
What do you want?
There is a tremendous amount
of noise coming from your rooms.
It's quite loud.
- What exactly are you doing?
- I'm not making any noise.
(KNOCKING)
- What?
- Now see here
What's that on your hand?
Leave me alone.
So, you are investigating?
I was just complaining about the noise.
Is that so?
Well, just so you know,
Mr. Holland there
he is my prime suspect.
(TENSE MUSIC)
(DOOR CLOSES)
King's Counsel has
prepared an expansive case
against Mr. Vaughan
with over a dozen witnesses
prepared to testify.
And very shortly we will be, uh
- (WHISPERING): Where is he?
- calling forth our first
witness to the stand to, uh
Your Lordship, the Crown apologizes.
Our first witness is not
present in the courtroom.
We request a brief adjournment.
(MURMURING)
(KNOCKING)
Francis!
Something's blocking the door.
(GASPS)
Dear God.
Suicide.
Bloody hell, Francis.
And there is no sign of foul play?
The letter was in his handwriting.
He said he couldn't bear to testify.
He wanted to see Vaughan
hang as much as anyone.
But he was too much of a coward.
- The man is barely cold.
- By his own choice!
And now he's left our
case to fall apart.
If this man was to testify at trial,
didn't he provide a statement?
He refused.
And I allowed it.
Win the case, Mrs. Crabtree.
Because if you don't, then it's on me.
You last saw Mr. Booth two weeks ago
on Thursday at 4:15 p.m.
Yet, the landlord, Mr. Lester,
heard Mr. Booth here in the room
the following morning at 10 a.m.
"Walked past door at 10
a.m. Heard banging inside.
Assumed packing his belongings.
Slipped note under door to
request final week's rent.
No sign of note two days later."
And two days later, Mr. Booth as well
as all of his belongings were gone.
And the previous evening,
quicklime was stolen
- from the garden shed.
- What?
There's no mention of
quicklime in the police report.
Well, that's because I didn't notice it
until after the constables
started ignoring me.
Oh, what is that horrible smell?
- That?
- Mm.
No, it always smells like that.
I don't what it is,
but it's coming from 1C.
I'm boiling cabbage.
Hm. Yes, I, I, I can smell that,
but I'm not entirely sure
it accounts for all of
Bye, Frank!
Be done. In a bit.
Your Honour, the Crown humbly asks
that you offer us an adjournment.
A key witness has taken his own life.
Our case was to begin with his testimony
and build upon its foundation.
We need time to regroup.
Your other evidence and
witnesses are available to you?
Yes.
Then present them to the jury.
Court will resume at nine
o'clock tomorrow morning.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
(MURMURING)
Effie, I have some questions.
Now is not the time, Louise.
It will only take a moment.
Tomorrow morning, before
court. My office, eight a.m.
Wipe that smirk off your face.
- I beg your pardon?
- You killed him.
Stewart? I didn't do a thing.
You manipulated him
into covering for you.
And now he's dead because of the shame
- you brought upon him.
- Chief Constable,
I am an innocent man.
If Francis Stewart killed
himself out of shame,
any responsibility for his death
should fall at the feet
of those who accused him,
and myself, of things we did not do.
Mr. Holland, in 2E,
and Miss Fink in 1C.
I can say after being here only one day
that neither is an ideal neighbour.
- Mm.
- And I have to agree
both are acting rather suspiciously.
Mm-hmm. Mr. Booth was
rather persnickety, too.
He was always in
everyone else's business,
- just like yourself.
- (HORN HONKING)
I wouldn't consider myself persnickety.
(KNOCKING)
Inspector Choi.
I brought you a housewarming gift.
- Oh! Uh, come in.
- (CHUCKLING)
(CLEARS THROAT)
Oh! You have company?
- This is
- Tippy Longfellow.
- Uh.
- I live across the hall.
Uh, ah, Inspector Albert Choi.
(CHUCKLING) Uh
What's this then?
Ah! This is to do with
the case I was looking into
at the station house. We
The Case of the Man Who
Moved Out One Day Early.
Hm. All right, then, Detective.
I have no plans for the time being.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Impress me.
Mm-hmm.
Where do we stand?
We have plenty of
evidence to convict Vaughan
of the murder of Detective Tauber.
Fingermarks, eyewitness
accounts, including your own.
And there's a recording
of him confessing to it.
- Hm.
- Precisely.
The two murders from
1891, I'm not so sure.
There's the original police file,
which was adulterated by
Stewart on Vaughan's behalf.
Without Stewart to confirm that,
they can say Stewart was lying.
There's a witness, the jeweller.
- He gave a police sketch.
- Hm.
Twenty years after events.
The sketch looked exactly like Vaughan.
There's no way such a distant
account could be that reliable.
The Chief Constable's testimony.
He knows everything that
Stewart was going to say.
Hearsay.
And he got Vaughan's confession.
Only for Tauber.
He didn't deny the others,
but he didn't admit to them, either.
Look, this is not how
the law is meant to be.
We know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that Vaughan is guilty, and
the defence knows it too.
And yet they will trot out
every excuse in the book,
every arcane stratagem,
to sink this case and thwart justice.
That's their job.
It is not their job!
The purpose of our courts
is not to win at any cost.
It is to pursue the truth,
jointly, and in good faith.
It's defence attorneys who
choose to pervert justice.
Oh! Still bitter that I won?
- I beg your pardon?
- The sleepwalking case.
That has nothing to do with this.
But, yes, that trial
is a perfect example.
You lied before King and country
to achieve the result you desired.
What I argued was the truth,
to the best of my knowledge.
And you were wrong.
You were wrong, and you won anyway.
Well, now you're going to feel what
it's like to be on the other side.
And of course, there's the quicklime,
and we know what that's used for.
(SIGHS)
Speculation.
That's all this is. Now!
Let's focus on something
more important, hm?
Where shall we hang this?
- (CHOI CHUCKLES)
- Ah
Ah, huh
Perhaps Ah!
A peephole!
Detective, have you been
spying on your neighbours?
I have not.
But perhaps Mr. Booth was. May I?
Hm.
Oh! Th-this must be Mr.
Lester, the landlord's room.
So this Mr. Booth was a Peeping Tom.
- Mm-hmm!
- Sir, have a look.
There is a blue suitcase
matching the description
of the one Mr. Booth was seen packing
prior to his disappearance.
So
Booth was a Peeping Tom.
The neighbour finds out,
gets angry, kills him,
then hides his suitcase in his bedroom?
Yes! Yes! Yes, that's it! Detective!
We cracked the case!
Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
- Oh, my.
- What's this?
"Dear Tippy, No one told me Hamilton
was so beautiful this time of year.
Sorry I did not get a
chance to say goodbye.
Jonathan B. Booth."
You heard from him
and you didn't tell me?
No, no, no. You don't understand
I believe I do understand,
Miss Longfellow.
You lied to us.
You have been wasting our time.
You could be charged with
filing a false police report.
No, no. This only arrived today.
So
So, do you see, it
doesn't, it doesn't quite
make sense.
Detective, I was just having
so much fun working with you.
And I'm terribly sorry.
(BRACKENREID): We'll
get him for Tauber then.
I'm not prepared to
argue the Tauber case.
We weren't meant to
start till next week.
I know the case.
- Well enough to try it?
- Yes.
I can act as lead counsel.
I'll review all the
details before morning,
even if it takes me all night.
Very well.
But write down how you intend to proceed
so that I can step in as necessary.
Of course.
(HAMMER THUDDING)
Hm. I probably should have
maintained my initial skepticism.
Ah, sometimes we see
intrigue where there is none
because we need a distraction
from our own thoughts.
What thoughts?
Well, I can't answer that.
But surely you could see
why a man would concoct
a fanciful story, a
mystery to embark upon
with a cheerful new friend
from across the hall,
rather than sitting alone in his rooms,
watching films of people
halfway around the world.
I wasn't always a bachelor.
My life used to be very different.
Losing someone is
an adjustment.
Well, I haven't lost Julia or Susannah.
Of course not, not in that sense.
But even if their absence is temporary,
they are not here.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
What is that?
What is that?
Has no odour.
Huh. Quicklime.
(MURDOCH GRUNTS)
Ah!
I think we may have found Mr. Booth.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Effie. Effie!
Where were you? Eight a.m., remember?
I was working all
night. I barely had time
to go home and get changed.
Well, you could have let
me know. I'm busy too.
I'll make it up to you.
Counsel? Is the Crown
prepared to proceed?
We are, your Honour.
The Crown would like to inform
the court that the charges
of murder relating to the 1891 deaths
of Elsie and Nora Haines
are being withdrawn.
(MURMURING)
And the third charge? Tauber?
We intend to proceed.
Very good, then.
Miss Hart? Inspector Choi.
I've heard a great deal about you.
Charmed.
I'm wondering how a
woman of your background
came to hold such a position.
It must be quite the story.
The same must be true of you, sir.
Indeed.
Ah! I see the two of
you have met. Wonderful.
What have you discovered, Miss Hart?
He's covered thoroughly in
quicklime, as you thought.
Quicklime desiccates the
body, limiting decomposition.
Making it difficult to
establish a time of death?
- Indeed.
- Hm.
Cause of death, on the
other hand, is easier,
thanks to the quicklime.
He was hit on the head. A
heavy object with a sharp edge.
- Hm.
- There was a lot of blood.
His clothing was soaked through.
I found this in his pocket.
"The truth sins you must know
going on in there
Signed J.B. Booth."
He was definitely planning to
expose someone's wrongdoings.
Sounds like a motive for murder.
Where were you on the
afternoon of December 9th, 1911?
Home, the office, the club.
You also went to
Station House Number Four
- that afternoon, did you not?
- I did.
Constable Tucker
allowed you into the cell
specifically occupied by
Detective Richard Tauber.
- That's correct.
- A man who had provided
information regarding two murders
he had investigated in 1891.
Your Honour, we object to
any discussion of murders
- for which charges have been withdrawn.
- Your Honour,
this is pertinent to the circumstances
under which the victim was killed.
Proceed, counsel.
You were aware that Tauber
was implicating you in the deaths
- of Elsie and Nora Haines, correct?
- Yes, I was.
And that is why you entered his cell.
- Yes.
- It is also why
you struggled with him there,
leaving your fingermark
on his shirt button.
- Yes.
- And it is the reason you killed him.
No. I did not kill him!
He was found dead less
than an hour later.
He was alive when I left.
You said yourself you fought with him,
leaving evidence on his dead body.
I fought with him
because he was threatening
to go to the police about me.
But we came to an agreement.
I paid him money to tell the truth,
that I had nothing to do with the deaths
of Elsie and Nora Haines.
You paid him?
- Yes.
- Then where is the money?
No payment was found on him.
Perhaps the killer stole it.
A-all I know is he
was alive when I left.
Then why did you confess?
But I didn't.
(TENSE MUSIC)
In December of last year,
you questioned Mr. Vaughan
at his home, did you not?
I paid him a visit.
We played snooker. I won.
We had a conversation.
Did you discuss the murder
of Detective Richard Tauber?
- Yes, we did.
- What did Vaughan have to say?
He said that he never
intended to bribe him
because he knew that it wouldn't work.
- So, he killed him.
- Objection, your Honour.
My client just testified
that that never happened.
This is secondhand information
that clearly falls
under hearsay exclusion.
Thank you, counsel.
The jury will disregard the
Chief Constable's last comment.
Your Honour, the Crown would
like to play a recording
of the conversation in question.
Objection on the same grounds.
This recording has already
been entered into evidence.
My learned friend
submitted it just yesterday,
believing it to be exculpatory
in the cases of Elsie and Nora Haines.
(VAUGHN ON RECORDING):
Francis helped me once,
so I helped him in turn.
(BRACKENREID): And you both helped
each other out with Richard Tauber.
The Chief Constable arranged
for you to visit the cells.
You already know a great
deal, don't you, Inspector?
Francis made arrangements for
me to slip in the back door.
He thought Tauber could
be silenced with a bribe.
I'm delighted to have
had this conversation.
That it's been recorded for posterity.
Now wait a minute! That's not right.
- That's not what happened.
- That's how I remember it.
You confessed! Someone's
altered the recording!
Sit down, Mr. Brackenreid.
And remain silent.
The Crown provided the
recording, your Honour.
We simply listened to it and
submitted it to the court.
Your Honour, foul play is afoot.
This is not the complete
recording as obtained
by the police and shared
with the defence by the Crown.
What are you suggesting?
We all heard the conversation
with our own ears.
- They've adulterated it.
- Is that possible?
A portion of the conversation
has simply been excised.
It's easily done when
making a duplicate.
This is a damning charge.
It certainly is, but we
are prepared to prove it.
The Crown has the original
recording in our files.
I can have it to you in 20 minutes.
So I was right. Mr. Booth is dead!
Indeed.
We'll need to have another
look at that postcard.
It was obviously a
fake sent by the killer.
Of course.
Oh, this is very exciting.
To think that I had it right
and the great Detective
Murdoch had it wrong.
There you go.
Thank you, Miss Longfellow.
We'll let you know if
we need anything further.
Whoa, Detective! Just
I made you something.
- What are these?
- They're pillowcases.
The linens provided
by Mr. and Mrs. Lester
are always somewhat threadbare.
Well, I only have one pillow.
I, I, I don't need both.
No, no, no. I already monogrammed both.
Perhaps you'll have company one day.
No, I don't think so.
But, uh, thank you. Thank you.
(BABY CRYING)
It's not here.
What do you mean, it's not here?
- I
- It's in our case files.
I listened to it last night!
So you had it last
night and now it's gone?
It can't just have disappeared.
M-maybe you just misplaced it.
I don't understand. This can't be.
So you've lost it. Wonderful.
You spent the night before the trial
losing our key piece of evidence.
Oi, Gordon. Easy.
She was alone here when
we left her last night.
Was anyone else in the building?
No! I only left at 7:30 this morning.
There was no one else here.
We'll ask the staff,
but it certainly appears
no one else has been
in here, Mrs. Crabtree.
Your negligence may have
just lost us this case.
The handwriting on
this postcard is similar
to the letter found on Mr. Booth's body,
but it's not the same.
Not the real McCoy then.
The killer must have
travelled to Hamilton
to send that postcard yesterday,
maybe because he knew you
were looking into the case.
Start with the landlord.
Booth's letter threatened
to expose a secret.
I think it was whatever he saw
while looking through that peephole.
When I first arrived, I saw Mr. Lester
helping his wife into
a coach and see her off.
When you paid me a visit,
I saw a much younger woman
walking down the hall
toward Mr. Lester's rooms.
An affair.
Possibly.
And then there's Miss Fink.
Whatever's she's up to is
causing that horrible smell.
What smell?
That smell I'm smelling right now?
(SNIFFS) It's, uh, cabbage.
Some shame and (SNIFFS)
Marijuana.
Marijuana? Oh, yes, I've heard of it,
but I've not come across it just yet.
It's becoming popular in California.
Your neighbour would surely be evicted
if anyone found out
she was smoking dope.
- Dope?
- That's what they're calling it now.
Apparently, it makes one fuzzy-headed.
Why would anyone want that?
(SQUEAKING, THUDDING)
This neighbour making all of the noise,
he's the one I find the most suspicious.
(SIGHS) Maybe so,
but when we were here yesterday,
I heard that same sound.
Right.
There's no way he could
have gone all the way
to Hamilton and back.
Oh, that's odd.
This obliterator mark
has no letter or number.
The I'm sorry, what
are you talking about?
Uh, every postmark in
Canada has this circle
with information, time, date, location,
and these wavy lines are
used to mark a stamp as used,
or, or cancelled, hence obliterator.
- All right.
- Inside, there is often
a letter, or a number,
depending on which machine was used
at that particular post office.
The fact that there
is no number means ?
Well, some postal locations
only have one machine,
so there is no need for
a letter, or a number.
But I happen to know that
Hamilton has two such machines,
so any postmark coming out of Hamilton
would bear the number one, or two.
How do you know this?
I subscribe to a quarterly publication
on postal innovations.
At any rate,
this postmark is a forgery.
Meaning the killer
did not have to travel
to Hamilton after all.
It could still be your neighbour.
That's the secret he's been hiding.
A-and the marks on his hand,
it wasn't blood.
It's ink.
He's a forger!
- Yeah.
- Mr. Holland,
Toronto Constabulary.
- (SIGHS)
- Stand back.
Plates, dyes, pulp stock,
everything needed to
print counterfeit money
and cut it to size.
(SQUEAKING, THUDDING)
Booth? Who's Booth?
Your former neighbour. 2C.
Oh, him. Huh.
- What about him?
- We found his body
hidden in the wall
between his room and yours.
I don't know nothing about that.
Where were you on the 18th
between the hours of 4 p.m.
and the following morning?
What day was that?
Thursday.
Oh! That's the day
that they locked me up.
For passing a bad bank note.
(SIGHS)
It's not here.
So what? We have my word.
You heard him. The judge won't allow it.
There's other evidence.
Enough to argue the case,
maybe, but to get a conviction?
I don't think so.
I shouldn't think so either.
I've spoken to defence
counsel and the judge.
We'll make it official tomorrow, but
the Crown is dropping all charges.
So Vaughan goes free.
I'm afraid so.
And I am sorry, Mrs. Crabtree, but
I have no choice but to
recommend you for termination.
(TENSE MUSIC)
One of the metal counterfeiting plates
found in Mr. Holland's room
could be the murder weapon,
but no traces of blood
were found on any of them,
so there's no way to prove it.
Mm. Hardly matters.
He was booked at Station House One
the afternoon of March 18th
and they let him out late that evening.
So he couldn't have done it.
What about the postmark?
Someone else forged it.
Or had it forged.
Or went to Hamilton to send it,
and your little magazine was wrong.
It's been a considerable amount of work
to scrape away the quicklime
without damaging the body.
I need to be particularly
careful with the hands,
for example, in case there
are any defensive wounds
or scrapings under the fingernails.
- Anything?
- No.
But he had a small object
clutched in his hand,
a metal trinket of some kind.
- Hm.
- May I?
Uh, of course.
This appears to be
an ornate thimble.
And it's been engraved.
A thimble? That's odd.
I know of at least one
person at the Regent Arms
that does a great deal of sewing,
and this thimble bears her monogram:
Tippy Longfellow.
Your admirer.
(SIGHS)
Do you recognize this?
- Yes!
- It's yours?
No. No,
but I saw it in a shop window once.
Without my monogram, of course.
I stopped to admire it one day when
I was out walking with Mr. Booth.
Maybe he bought this
for me as a parting gift.
Perhaps he was on his
way to give it to me?
Why would he give you a parting gift?
Unless the nature of your relationship
was more intimate than you let on?
No.
But
I always suspected
that he was sweet on me.
It's why I was so sure
he would say goodbye.
And why I was, I was
quite worried about him.
Or it's yours, and you killed him.
What? No! Why would I?
Because you're obsessed.
With Detective Murdoch.
You killed Mr. Booth to lure him in,
to see if he was smart
enough to solve your crime.
No! I
How else would you have known
about the tarp and the quicklime?
Both were identified by you
as being relevant to the murder
- before the body was found.
- Mm.
- How did you know?
- Ugh!
Well, just hang onto your horses there.
If all of that was true,
why would I beg the world's greatest
detective to take on the case
and then lead him to the very evidence
that would expose my guilt?
To meet your hero.
And hang by the neck forthwith?
(CLEARS THROAT)
Sir, though it is
true people have killed
in order to get close to me,
the fact that I moved
into the Regent Arms
was pure happenstance.
Miss Longfellow here did not lure me in.
Nevertheless.
Put her in the cells.
It's a bloody hatchet job.
But you'll be back on
your feet in no time.
Maybe. Maybe not.
I highly doubt the
Crown Attorney's office
will hire another woman anytime soon.
A recording can't just vanish.
It's impossible that Vaughan's lawyer,
or anyone hired by them,
could have broken in.
I was there all the way
until after daybreak.
There wasn't a sign of anyone.
And no sign of a break -in.
Maybe they got your keys somehow
and waited for you to leave.
If they did,
someone would have seen them.
What's all this?
We've been focusing
on our suspects' alibis
for the time of the murder itself.
Now the killer engaged in
a series of complex steps
to cover up the crime.
Interviews with, uh,
neighbours, gardeners, witnesses,
all narrow down who could have performed
- each of the steps and their cover-ups.
- Hm.
The murder, obtaining the
tarp from the basement,
stealing the quicklime, and
hiding the body in the wall.
All right. And?
As you can see, our
results are inconclusive.
- Hm.
- No one person
could have performed all of the steps
required of the killer.
I fear we may be looking
in the wrong direction.
Hm. Well, we know it's not Holland,
he was at Station House One.
You seem decided it
was not Miss Longfellow.
- Hm.
- The simplest explanation,
then, is someone is either mistaken
or lying on behalf of the killer,
who has to be either Fink or Lester.
Let's bring them in.
Right.
(MCNABB): Told you to clean your hands.
It's ink. It takes a
couple days to come off.
Anyway, you're just putting more on 'em.
Fine. Index finger.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Mr. Holland,
when did your hand
become stained with ink?
Couple days ago.
The evening before last,
your other hand was
stained with red ink.
How were you able to wash one
hand clean and not the other?
I don't know what you're talking about.
Come on. Off to the cells.
Am I mistaken?
I could have sworn I saw
something red on his hand
that I even mistook
for blood at the time.
Maybe it was blood.
Maybe.
No. It wasn't.
The first time Mr.
Holland answered the door,
his left hand was clean.
The second time, his left
hand was stained with red.
Meaning he spilled something?
Meaning Mr. Holland could have done each
of the steps required of the killer.
He just didn't do them alone.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Miss Cherry?
When you were waiting
for me this morning
at the Crown Attorney's office,
did you see Mr. Vaughan's lawyer?
- No. Why would I?
- Are you sure?
Maybe someone he sent
to break into the place?
I was there for nearly an hour, waiting,
and I didn't see Vaughan's attorney
or any other hired goons.
Did you see anyone at all?
It was early in the morning.
The place was nearly empty.
One person came and went inside.
- Who?
- Can't say.
What do you mean you can't say?
This person was one of my sources.
They spoke to me with the
promise of complete anonymity.
Listen to me, young lady,
this isn't about protecting a source.
Whoever it was more than likely
sabotaged the Crown's case.
And my career along with it.
- Sabotage?
- Yes! Tell us who it was.
I can't. My sources are confidential.
You'll tell us, or I'll
throw you in a cell.
And I'll publish my feelings
about the new Chief
Constable from behind bars.
Goodbye.
Wait.
Sir, the article.
There are very few people with
intimate knowledge of the case.
If the culprit was a source
We could probably figure out who it is.
Stewart's suicide.
It says he was wearing his kilt.
But there was no one
else there except us.
And Gordon.
He claimed I was the only one
at the office this morning,
but if he's Louise's source
Bloody hell. He scuppered his own case.
(SOFT CLATTERING)
I hear something. Should we knock?
There shouldn't be anyone in there.
As I suspected.
The reason Mr. Holland
only had red ink on his hand
the second time he answered the door
was because the first time was his twin.
Two Mr. Hollands.
Both under arrest.
(SIGHS)
Mr. Booth was planning to expose
your counterfeiting scheme.
He'd even written a
letter to the police,
detailing your operation,
but before he could send it,
you killed him.
But not before one of
you got himself arrested
in order to create the perfect alibi.
But why keep him in the wall?
We wanted to move him.
Mr. Lester, he was in the room,
trying to rent it straight away.
He even took the man's suitcase
as recompense for last week's rent.
How long were you planning it?
You lived in that rooming
house for nearly two years.
None of your neighbours knew
that there were two of you.
Mr. Lester charges by the head.
How did Vaughan get to you?
- I beg your pardon?
- Bribery? Blackmail?
I have no idea what
you're talking about.
We know you were here this morning!
We know you lied about it!
You stole that recording
to sink our case.
Typical.
A woman blaming a man
for her own failings.
We will prove what you did.
It's only a matter of time.
You know full well I have the
ear of the Attorney General.
We'll see what he has to say about it.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(SIGHS)
Effie.
I'm not here to apologize.
I didn't ask you to, Miss Cherry.
- I was just doing my job.
- At the expense of mine.
Would you prefer I
didn't report the news?
That I hung my sources out to dry?
I would you prefer that you
show some decency. To a friend.
And if you were referred
a case in which a friend
was accused of a crime,
would you turn your back on your job?
I would recuse myself.
If I didn't protect my sources,
I wouldn't be writing about how Gordon
is preparing to submit his resignation,
due in part to the swirling rumours
of bribery reported in my newspaper.
If it's information you want from me,
you won't be getting it.
Not about that. But there
is one claim I need verified.
Is it true that you've been reinstated
in the Crown Attorney's office?
No comment.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Chadwick Vaughan.
Look at you, a free man.
Justice chooses its own path.
Everyone in this room knows the truth.
They might smile at you in public,
but believe me,
they know.
You'll be hearing the word "killer"
whispered behind your back
for the rest of your life.
Hm.
I don't much care what people whisper.
Fact that they think
I'm a ruthless killer
may end up being to my benefit.
We'll see about that.
Not everyone in this city is a coward.
Good luck to you in your
career, Chief Constable.
Just remember,
the man who put you there is dead.
And you've made more
enemies than friends.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
I apologize for locking you
in our cells, Miss Longfellow.
Are you kidding me?
I was arrested for murder
by Detective Murdoch.
Ah Hoowee!
(CHUCKLING) What a story.
Well, if we hadn't discovered
the Holland twins' ruse,
it might not have had a happy ending.
Were you not worried about
possibly facing the noose?
No! No, not for a minute.
The great detective always gets his man.
And to think, I live right
across the hall from him!
(LAUGHING)
(SOFT MUSIC)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(PROJECTOR FLICKERING)