Sapphire (1959) Movie Script
[ Birds Chirping ]
[ Crow Cawing ]
[ Bells Pealing ]
[ Car Door Closes ]
Get back there, please.
- Good morning, sir.
- Good morning, Sergeant.
- Good morning, Superintendent.
- Morning.
- Inspector Learoyd!s here.
- Thank you.
- Who is she, Phil?
- Hello, Bob. No idea.
Bloodstained handkerchief in her pocket.
Letter !!S!! in the corner.
You won!t like this, Hazard.
She!s very young.
Half a dozen knife wounds
around the heart.
She died instantly.
- What sort of knife?
- Any sort, as long as it was sharp, pointed.
No sign.
- Who found her?
- Couple of kids.
No blood on the ground
or any signs of a struggle.
Must have been killed somewhere else
and dumped here.
How long has she been dead?
Between 5:00 and 8:00 yesterday evening
is the nearest I can put it.
- Missing Persons have nothing to report, sir.
- Oh, thank you.
Ground!s pretty hard.
We!ve searched the area, sir,
but found nothing.
[ Crow Cawing ]
- Nothing but the handkerchief, huh?
- No, nothing.
Well, send her clothes
along to the station, will you?
- Yes, sir.
- Come on, Phil.
Nice, simple things.
Are they?
- Don!t quite go together, do they?
- These do.
Could be some hysterical, frightened boy.
I don!t think so.
In my experience, an hysterical, frightened boy
stabs once, oh, twice maybe...
and then runs.
But this monkey went on and on
until he was exhausted.
No, this girl was killed in hate, not fear.
I should say she was a student.
Now, if she was in the habit
of going away for the weekend...
she may not be missed until tomorrow.
Get a list of every college
and academy in London.
See if a girl doesn!t turn up
in the morning.
Particularly any girl
whose name begins with !!S.!!
[ Vehicles Passing ]
- Patsy.
- David.
Where!s Sapphire?
Isn!t she in Birmingham
with her brother?
I don!t know. She was going,
and then she changed her mind.
I don!t know what she did.
Well, if you!re worried,
why don!t you phone him?
No, I don!t want to speak to her brother.
Oh, she caught the morning train,
I expect.
Don!t worry.
Sapphire will be in Foscari!s for coffee.
See you then.
[ Background.:Dixieland Jazz ]
- Hi, David.
- Hi.
Congratulations on your scholarship.
- When are you off to Rome?
- Next month.
Lucky devil.
David! David.
David.
[ No Audible Dialogue ]
Mr. Harris.
We won!t keep you very long.
I - I!m sorry, but we think
you may be able to help us.
Thank you, miss.
[ Continues ]
[ Fades ]
[ Patrons Chattering ]
Hey. What!s the matter with you?
Come on.
- Patsy!
- What is it?
That murdered girl on Hampstead Heath?
- It!s Sapphire.
- What?
Hey, Anna, coffee. Quick.
Sapphire. How ghastly.
The police kept asking me
questions about her-
who her friends were.
- I said us.
- Well, of course.
- We were all her friends.
- What else did they ask you?
All about David -
the scholarship and everything.
If she!d had any boyfriends before him.
Oh, I couldn!t tell them.
I!ve only known her since I took her
to stay with me at my digs.
- Where was she living before that?
- A dump in Earls Court.
- The landlady turned her out.
- But why? Sapphire was such a sweetie.
Who!d do such a thing to Sapphire?
Who!d do it?
[ Sobs ]
You say her name was Sapphire Robbins?
I!d like you to come down to my office,
ask a few questions.
Do you think you feel up to it?
We!ll send you home
in a police car afterwards.
We were going to get married.
I!m sorry.
You say the last time you saw her
was on Friday night?
Yes.
Do you know what she did on Saturday?
Well, she came to my house, apparently,
just after lunch.
You weren!t in?
No, I went to Cambridge to sketch.
I - I!m a student architect
at the Polytechnic.
What train did you catch?
I hitchhiked both ways.
- What time did you get home?
- About 1 1 :00.
Who gave you a lift from Cambridge?
A chap in a black Consul
dropped me at the post office.
- What time was that?
- About quarter to 1 1 :00.
You wouldn!t remember
the number of the car, I suppose.
No.
Somebody ought to tell Sapphire!s brother.
We contacted Dr. Robbins in Birmingham.
He!s on his way to London now.
Oh.
Did you and Sapphire have a quarrel
on Friday night?
- No.
- Thank you.
Sergeant, drive Mr. Harris home, will you?
Very good, sir.
You!ll let me know if you
find out anything, won!t you?
You!ll be informed, Mr. Harris.
Oh. Mr. Harris. What time did you say
you got back from Cambridge?
- About 1 1 :00.
- Thank you.
The truth, do you think?
Well, not what I!d describe
as the whole truth.
I don!t believe he came in
when he said he did...
but his grief seemed genuine enough.
You never know with these monkeys.
They can act their heads off when it suits them.
Ring up the Yard and get them to ask the BBC
to broadcast for the driver of that black Consul.
Right.
Meanwhile, we!ll take a look at that girl!s room
before her brother gets here.
- Had she been with you long?
- About six months.
Hmm. Not very tidy.
Sapphire wasn!t naturally an orderly child,
but she did her best.
- Did you like her?
- Indeed I did.
I - I felt sorry for her.
Her parents were dead,
and she wanted so much to -
to be counted in, to belong.
Did you ever meet her brother?
No, but I spoke to him on the telephone.
He sounded very nice.
- This one!s locked.
- I!m sorry. I haven!t the key.
Oh. I wish you wouldn't.
[ Lock Clicks ]
I never saw Sapphire
wear anything like that.
Hmm.
I wonder who she was dancing with.
- Did she play the gramophone often?
- All the time -very softly.
She was a student
at the Royal Academy of Music.
Hmm.
Well, thank you, Mrs. Thompson.
You!ve been most helpful.
Well, evidently there was a side to Sapphire
she didn!t know about.
Yeah.
Maybe young Harris found the same thing
and didn!t like it.
Could be.
Unless the person she was dancing with
found out about young Harris.
jealousy!s very near to hate.
[ Bell Dings ]
Oh, Mrs. Farr.
Mrs. Farr, your brother!s here.
David? What!s the matter?
Milly, I!ve got to speak to you.
The girl!s brother!s here, sir.
Dr. Robbins.
- Right. Send him in.
- Sir.
[ Sergeant ]
Dr. Robbins. sir.
- It!s very good of you to come so quickly, sir.
- How do you do?
- Please sit down.
- Thank you.
I suppose there!s no doubt.
It is Sapphire?
No doubt at all, I!m afraid.
I know this must be painful for you...
but there are some questions
I have to ask you.
Of course. No, thank you.
I understand you expected your sister
for the weekend.
Yes, I did.
Weren!t you worried
when she didn!t turn up on Saturday?
No, no. She rang me, said something
unexpected had stopped her.
With Sapphire, something unexpected
was always happening.
- How did she sound?
- Excited, I thought.
What sort of a girl was your sister?
Happy, lively- exactly as she looked.
No, no.
That!s not quite true, is it?
Are you -
Were you Sapphire!s half-brother?
No.
Our father was a doctor-white...
our mother a singer- black as I am.
You never know which way it!s gonna go.
Since Sapphire came to London,
she learned to pass for white.
Did David Harris know
that your sister was colored?
I don!t know.
I knew little of Sapphire!s life up here.
She seemed happy. I didn!t pry further.
My sister was 21 , you know.
Why did you let her come to London?
She wanted to come.
I didn!t see why she shouldn!t have
the same chance as any other youngster.
I!m a bachelor.
I could afford to stake her.
Did she every talk about anyone else
besides young Harris?
I can!t remember.
I hardly listened,
Sapphire chattered so much.
It!s unbelievable.
I can see her now...
sitting on the table
in my consulting room...
swinging her legs, laughing...
twittering like a bird.
Patients waiting, but on she went.
I could have slapped her sometimes.
Who would do such a thing?
Who would do it?
- I!d like to see my sister.
- I!ll take you.
No, I!d rather go alone.
- The New End Hospital, Hampstead.
- Thank you.
- Bob, that girl who -
- Oh, this is Dr. Robbins.
Detective Inspector Learoyd.
How do you do?
Hello.
You can get me at the Dorset Hotel.
They take us there.
Thank you.
So, that!s the brother.
Yes.
I think I was right.
Hate killed Sapphire.
I think she died
because she was colored.
She was also pregnant.
Three months. The autopsy!s just in.
Young Harris, of course.
Oh, I don!t know.
We can!t be sure now, can we?
I mean, uh, might be anybody.
[ Vehicles Passing ]
Dad, I!ve been trailing everywhere after you.
What!s the matter?
The girl on Hampstead Heath -
it was Sapphire.
- Sapphire?
- Yes, David!s had to go and identify her.
David?
- I!m so frightened, Dad.
- Don!t worry, girl. Where!s David now?
He!s gone home.
You didn!t tell us
you were the father of Sapphire!s child.
You didn!t ask me.
Were you on the other side of that?
No.
[ Children Chattering. Laughing ]
It!s the police, Ted.
They!re in there with Davy now.
Don!t worry, dear.
It!s only routine.
- Where do you think you!re going to?
- Up to my room, Dad.
I told him he could,
and I want him to.
Show him, Milly?
- I!m Davy!s father.
- Uh, Superintendent Hazard.
- What!s been said?
- They know about the baby, Dad.
Well, what of it? We knew.
She came here to tell us on Saturday,
just after lunch.
My boy was going to marry her.
I gave her my word he would.
They want to know what time
I got in on Saturday night, Dad.
About 1 1 :00.
Did you talk to anyone in Cambridge,
anyone who might remember you?
- Where did you eat?
- I took sandwiches.
He always does.
We can!t afford meals in cafes, you know.
Finished, Inspector?
Yes. Uh, thank you, Mrs. Farr.
He went through David!s room
with a magnifying glass.
I don!t care if they take the boards up.
Davy!s got nothing to hide.
Do you think they!ll be gone
by the time the twins get back?
They!ll hear it at school, Milly.
You can!t keep it from them.
You!ve got to make up your mind to that.
Excuse me. Superintendent Hazard
would like to see you for a moment, Mrs. Farr.
Uh, Mrs. Farr, what time did you
finish work at the dairy on Saturday?
- About half &:00.
- A little late, surely.
My assistant was away all last week.
I had the tidying up to do.
I see. Did you come straight home?
- This is your home?
- For the moment.
My husband!s away at sea.
- Who was in the house when you got here?
- Nobody.
I was at the club.
My wife was at her sister!s with the twins.
- Twins?
- My children.
Oh. Uh, the girl, Sapphire,
had gone when you got in?
Yes. She wasn!t here.
How did she seem
when you saw her earlier in the day?
Same as usual - full of life.
Did you know that she was colored?
- We knew.
- How long?
We knew. That!s enough, isn!t it?
I see.
I understand you!ve just won
a scholarship that takes you abroad.
Of course, you won!t leave
till all this is settled, will you?
- Don!t worry. He!ll be staying here.
- All right, Dad. I can answer for myself.
-[ Front Door Closes ]
- Is that all, Superintendent?
There are the children.
I must get their tea.
Why, of course, Mrs. Farr.
Superintendent?
Hadn!t you better advertise for the fellow
that drove Davy back from Cambridge?
I don!t want any slime
sticking to my son, you know.
We have that in hand, Mr. Harris.
You say this man
dropped you at the post office.
Did anyone see you
at that time of night on Saturday?
I don!t know.
Yes. Yes,jack Ferris.
He saw me, Dad.
The local constable.
You wouldn!t call him a liar, I suppose.
Ifjohnny Turnbull trod on your feet,
he didn!t mean to.
- Little boys are clumsy dancers.
- It wasn!t your feet he trod on.
Oh, Mummy, he!s always stumbling.
I hate dancing classes.
Last week, you loved them.
Hello. Good day, Mrs. Farr.
Good day.
Thank you.
- There!s angel cake for tea.
- Ooh, good!
- They knew she was colored then.
- Yes. But the point is when.
And that!s a very important point.
- Find anything upstairs?
- No, nothing.
- All his clothes were clean and put away.
- Hmm.
Pretty rocky alibi of young Harris!s.
- Familiar motive too.
- It!s all too pat for my liking.
You know, if he!d married that girl, he probably
couldn!t have taken up that scholarship.
- It wouldn!t carry a grant for a wife.
- Hmm.
Are we gonna have a word with this local
constable -What!s his name, Ferris?
Yes, right away.
Yes, sir. I did see young Harris
walking home on Saturday night.
- What time was that?
- Oh, as near 1 1 :00 as makes no difference.
- And he was coming from the post office?
- From that direction, sir.
- What sort of people are the Harrises?
- Oh, very respectable, sir.
Cut above the average.
Mrs. Harris was a schoolteacher.
How long have they known
the girl was colored?
- What?
- Yes, she was, you know.
Ooh, I shouldn!t have thought
they knew that at all, sir.
- He!s very bigoted, Ted Harris.
- And very ambitious for his son.
Oh, very.
Ted Harris has scrimped himself
to do for Davy.
Mind you, the boy!s repaid it all
with that scholarship he!s won.
- And the daughter?
- Oh, Milly!s her father all over again.
Dancing classes for the twins. Elocution.
Must have that bit extra.
- Her husband!s a sailor?
- Merchant navy.
Bit of a laddo, Sid Farr.
Doesn!t seem to get much leave,
or doesn!t want it.
Can you find out if Harris
used his van on Saturday night?
I!ll do my best, sir.
He only saw him coming
from the direction of the post office.
That!s no alibi, you know.
Well, the boy looks truthful to me.
What!s the track width of Harris!s van,
would you say?
Oh, I don!t know.
Four foot, 4 foot &.
Hmm. I think I!ll go back to the Heath
and take a look around.
- Four foot & inches, sir.
- Yes.
Yes. it's more than possible.
Sir.
You shouldn!t have come.
I wanted to see where my sister died.
Not here.
- No?
- No.
She was brought here somehow and... left.
- There is no roadway for a car.
- Oh, I don!t know.
A small one could have just made it,
but the ground!s too hard to show tracks.
- Did David Harris kill her?
- What makes you say that?
She was pregnant.
- I!ve seen the autopsy.
- Yes, but that!s no proof that he killed her.
If he did, we!ll get him, rest assured.
There is no assurance for me or my kind,
Superintendent.
I!ve been black for 38 years.
I know.
She may have looked white,
but Sapphire was colored.
Your sister was murdered.
We!ll find out who killed her.
- I!m sure that is your intention.
- It is my intention.
It!s also my job.
I!m sorry.
Thank you.
When I was a child...
another boy touched me.
He then held out his hand.
!!Look,!! he said...
!!nothing!s come off on me.!!
Trouble is,
something came off on me.
- How do I get to Bloomsbury?
- I!ll give you a lift. It!s on my way.
- Oh!
- Sorry, sir.
[ Chuckling ]
[ Boys Chattering ]
[ Rings ]
[ Rings ]
I!m full.
I don!t want a room. I!ve come to thank you
for looking after my sister.
You!ve got the wrong address.
I take only white students.
My name is Robbins.
How much did Sapphire owe you?
Her rent was paid up.
May I come tomorrow
and pick up Sapphire!s things?
The police have sealed her room.
You must ask them.
Patsy.
Patsy! You in, Patsy?
What is it, Mrs. Thompson?
That girl you brought here -
Did you know she was colored?
- What girl?
- Sapphire.
Yes. Yes, I did.
- When did she tell you?
- Well, she didn!t. A friend told me.
This house is my living.
If it got round
that I took colored students...
certain white people wouldn!t allow
their children to stay here.
- Well, I think it!s a damn silly prejudice!
- I!m not saying it isn!t.
But I can!t afford
to have my rooms empty.
- To think that she could be so sly.
- It!s people like you who made her sly.
Well, you!ve jolly well
got another room empty now!
Patsy!
Yes?
You took Sapphire home to Guildford,
didn!t you?
Yes.
Did you tell your father and mother
she was colored?
No.
Well, then don!t be so quick
to call me prejudiced.
[ Crying ]
Are you sure? Right.
Well, Harris!s van could have made it.
- Not on Saturday night, it couldn!t.
- What?
The van was in the garage
having a big end fixed.
Harris didn!t pick it up
until Monday morning.
Well, how the blazes
did he get her there?
Ask Sergeant Cook to come in, will you?
Thank you.
Red taffeta under a tweed skirt.
Yes. That!s the black
under the white, all right.
- Oh, come off it, Phil.
-[ Knocking ]
- Yes?
-[ Door Opens ]
Oh, come in, Sergeant Cook.
Tell me...
what do you make of that?
- I wouldn!t know what to make of it, sir.
- Oh, come. You!re a woman.
Now, where do you suppose
a thing like that could be bought?
- I wouldn!t know, sir.
- No.
Try Babette!s, Shaftesbury Avenue.
- And how would you know?
- You just take my word for it.
They cater for girls
who like flashy, pretty underwear.
- It certainly isn!t built for durability.
- No.
Well, check on it
first thing in the morning, will you?
- Babette!s, you say?
- Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue.
There!s a good girl.
And I bet you her boyfriend
bought it for her.
- Going in today, Davy?
- Course he is.
I!m not going in.
You!ve got to face it sometime, lad.
Better now than later.
It!s in the paper this morning.
The autopsy-
- They don!t mention David.
- Won!t stop them guessing.
Oh, Davy, whatever made you
get mixed up with a colored girl?
[ Silverware Clatters ]
I didn!t know.
- When did you know?
- Last week.
- By then, I didn!t care.
- That!s what she banked on.
Never say you didn!t know
till last week. Never!
What!s it matter?
It gives you a motive.
That!s what it matters.
It gives us all a motive.
We none of us knew
till the weekend, did we?
No.
I!ll never forget her
standing here Saturday.
And when Dad said he!d see her brother
and tell him that Davy would stand by her...
she laughed and said...
!!He!ll be a shock to you.
He!s as black as a pot.!!
- Shut up!
- Milly.
Then she laughed some more
and said, !!Don!t look like that.
David doesn!t care.!!
Have you done your teeth?
- Hands well scrubbed?
- Smell.
[ Sniffs ]
Mmm. Lovely smell.
Oh,janice, I!ve got something for you.
- Here you are. Now you!ve both got one.
- Oh, thank you, Granddad.
Granddad, will you make me another one?
I can!t find mine.
Well, you better look for it.
Buck up with your breakfast, you two,
and Grampy will take you to school in the van.
Don!t bother, Dad.
I!ll take them to school.
Yes, I remember the girl.
She used to spend quite a bit of money here.
She was a good customer for a little while.
- When?
- About six, seven months ago.
- Did she come alone?
- Usually.
- Oh.
- Except once.
- Well?
- She had a young fellow with her then.
- Tall, slim boy, fair?
- No, I remember being very surprised.
She was such a dainty kid...
and he was a great big colored chap.
Colored.
!!A great big colored chap,!! she said.
- [ Phone Rings ]
- Hmm. The other side of the picture.
Before she learnt
she could pass for white.
Really? It!s a doctor in Bloomsbury.
Says Sapphire went to see him
on Saturday morning.
- Tell him we!ll be right over.
- Right.
Sergeant, ring up the Royal College of Music...
and see if they have any record
of Sapphire!s previous addresses.
Very good, sir.
Oh, and then you could nip over
to the Harrises! place...
and see if any of the neighbors
saw the girl leave on Saturday.
No, she wasn!t a regular patient.
I!d never seen her before.
She rang for an immediate appointment.
I saw her at 1 2:30 on Saturday.
- Did you tell her at once?
- Yes, she was bursting to know.
- Was she upset?
- No, on the contrary, excited.
Delighted at having
her own suspicions confirmed.
- What name did she use?
- The one on the card.
Mrs. Harris.
Did she tell you she was colored?
No, she didn!t mention it.
No, I!ll bet she didn!t.
But you can always tell, can!t you?
No, Inspector.
As a matter of fact, you can!t.
What? [ Chuckles ]
Well, I can tell them a mile away.
Oh, I don!t know, Inspector.
- Would you say you were a policeman?
- What?
Well, you haven!t got
very big feet, have you?
Don!t they say you can always tell a policeman
a mile off by the size of his feet?
Oh, that!s bloody silly.
Yes, isn!t it?
Well, I!m afraid there!s nothing we can do
about Learoyd!s feet.
But regarding the girl, was there
anything else about her that struck you?
Yes. I thought she was a rather nice person.
- Well, thank you, Doctor.
- Not at all.
You!ve been most helpful.
- Good-bye.
- Good-bye.
Good-bye.
She must have been pretty sure
about young Harris.
At any rate, she thought he!d take
the doctor!s news happily enough.
- Perhaps she summed the boy up wrongly.
- Mmm.
- Any of the girl!s addresses come through?
- Yes, sir.
A house in Bloomsbury.
Before that, a place in Earls Court.
And another lead -
Chelsea Women!s Hospital.
- We!ll try Earls Court first.
- Yes, sir.
- Yes, I remember Sapphire Robbins.
- What sort of a girl was she?
Nice enough girl,
considering she was colored.
- Oh, you knew then?
- I guessed. You can always tell.
Too eager to please, laughed too much,
noisy with her gramophone.
But I never mind
so long as they don!t look it.
Still, I had to get rid of her in the end.
Why?
Couldn!t risk upsetting the other tenants.
Some big colored bloke
started calling for her.
Black as your hat, he was.
I run a white house.
You never can tell
when the others are going to kick.
- What was this fellow!s name?
- I don!t know.
Did she get any phone calls?
One or two, from the International Club
and her brother.
Were you surprised
when Sapphire got herself killed?
All depends upon
how much hate she stirred up.
Hate?
- I dare say she was passing for white.
-So?
Would you be pleased
with a brass sovereign, Superintendent?
- Is that all?
- Yes. Thank you very much.
These landladies.
They know it all, don!t they?
Oh, I wouldn!t say that.
After all, they!ve got a living to earn,
I suppose.
- Chelsea Women!s Hospital, isn!t it?
- Yeah.
[ Learoyd ]
Miss Mary Dawson.
[ Woman Chattering ]
- Miss Dawson?
- Yes.
Well, my name is Hazard.
This is Inspector Learoyd.
- You want to talk to me about Sapphire?
- Yes.
I saw it in the paper.
It upset me very much.
- Did you like Sapphire?
- Yes, I did.
- Tell me, was she fond of dancing?
- Mad about it.
And who were her dancing partners?
Ray Landa, Paul Slade.
Uh-huh. How can we get in touch
with these people?
Ray Landa went home to Nigeria
six months ago...
but I can give you
Paul Slade!s telephone number.
- What is that?
- Chancery 2 49&.
- Thank you.
- Paul Slade was a law student then.
Now he!s a barrister.
Well, thank you, Miss Dawson.
You!ve been most helpful.
Oh, tell me -
Why did you stop seeing Sapphire?
She stopped seeing me.
I!m rather distinctive, you know.
Hello, Ted.
He!s down there.
He!s been back and forth
along that footpath all afternoon.
- What!s he looking for?
- Search me.
But whatever it is,
he hasn!t found it.
See you.
None of the neighbors saw Sapphire
leave Harris!s house on Saturday, sir.
-[ Knocking ]
-[ Hazard ] Yes?
- Mr. Paul Slade, sir.
- Oh, bring him in.
- The dancing lawyer.
- I beg your pardon, sir?
What? Oh, it doesn!t matter.
This way, sir.
Oh, it!s very good of you
to come all this way, Mr. Slade.
- Not at all.
- Thank you, Sergeant.
I!d rather call on you
than have you call on me.
My father!s in London
for a conference at Lambeth Palace.
I don!t think there!s a bishop living
who!d appreciate his son...
being mixed up in a murder inquiry...
however indirectly.
Here, won!t you sit down?
Here, let me take that.
I understand you knew Sapphire Robbins.
Very well.
- May I?
- Please do.
Oh, thank you.
Where did you first meet her?
At the International Club -
one of those get-together,
let!s-be-brothers places.
How long since you last saw her?
Seven, eight months.
Has she any other friends
besides yourself?
Chap called Ray Landa.
He!s gone home, I believe.
Anyone else?
Not that I know of.
You sent for me
to ask where I was on Saturday.
I was meeting my father
off a boat at Southampton.
We stayed the night...
and I drove him back to town
on Sunday morning.
Thank you.
Did you ever have a photograph
taken with Sapphire?
Yes.
In a group.
Did you ever have one taken alone,
dancing at a nightclub?
Never alone, Superintendent.
Did you ever take her shopping
in Shaftesbury Avenue?
- Babette!s, for instance.
- [ Laughing ] Good Lord, no. Why?
Well, if you didn!t, it doesn!t matter.
What sort of a girl was Sapphire?
Oh, neither one thing nor tother
when I knew her.
I imagine she changed
after she got this yen to marry light.
If you know what I mean.
I do. That ruled you out anyway.
The question of marriage between Sapphire
and myself could never have arisen.
- How's that?
- My father would never have permitted it.
Well, why not?
Sapphire came from a good home.
Her brother!s a doctor.
She was part white.
- Is that all?
- Well, for the moment, yes.
If we need you, we!ll send for you.
- Any help I can give.
- Thank you.
Hmm.
- Did he ask aboutjohnny?
- No.
- Good.
- [ Exhales ]
If my old man knew
I!d been around places like Tulip!s...
he!d cut off my allowance
and yank me back home.
- Is this policeman likely to get onto it?
- Shouldn!t think so.
Didn!t strike me
as being overburdened with brains.
Sanctimonious -
Always so careful
to have his hand out first.
I know.
We!re all the children of God.
Forget it.
[ Engine Revving ]
I see you!ve been talking to Slade.
I suppose he!s got a cast-iron alibi.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
But there!s something
he didn!t want me to know.
- What!s that?
- I don!t know.
He said he met Sapphire
at the International Club.
Get onto them, find out what time
all the kids are likely to be there together.
- Okay.
-[ Knocking ]
Yes? What is it, Sergeant?
- It!s about young Harris, sir.
- What about him?
He!s up on the heath. He!s been there
all the afternoon looking for something.
He pushed it down the drain. sir.
It was quite deliberate, so I thought
I!d best find out what it was.
Well, it!s a piece of wood.
Must have been painted
at some time.
Look, you can see
the red and blue marks.
Yeah.
Been jointed at both ends.
Must have come off something.
Off what, I wonder.
- Take this to the lab
and see what they make of it.
- Very good, sir.
Now, why on earth should that boy be
so anxious to find that and then get rid of it?
[ Children Chattering ]
You didn!t go in today.
Davy, this is a terrible thing that!s happened,
but you!ve got to pull yourself together.
In three weeks, you!ll be going away.
Rome. It!s a new world.
New people, new places.
You!ll forget.
I shan!t.
I can!t.
Davy, you did speak the truth
about Saturday?
You didn!t meet Sapphire, did you?
Davy...
what happened on Saturday night?
Mum, never ask
what happened on Saturday.
Never.
Davy.
You didn!t meet Sapphire
on Saturday, did you?
Answer me, Davy. Did you?
-[ irl ] rannyI
- There are the twins.
- Answer me, Davy.
- rannyI rannyI
- ranI
- All right, kids. Granny!s here.
- Granny! Granny!
- Granny! Granny!
What!s the matter? I thought
you!d gone to tea with Molly Turnbull.
- Her mother didn!t want us.
- Why?
She said we were a funny family
and she didn!t want us.
What!s happened?
What is it, Mother?
Go and take
your hats and coats off, hmm?
What is it?
Mrs. Turnbull wouldn!t have the twins for tea.
I think they ought to go and stay
with Katie in Richmond.
Oh, I don!t know what Sid would say.
Stop pretending about Sid.
He doesn!t care whether they!re here
or in Timbuktu.
He!s a bad husband and a bad father.
All right, Mum.
I!ll get Dad to drive them down tomorrow.
Ring Katie now.
All right.
Mildred.
What time did you leave Sapphire
on Saturday?
Half 1 :00, Mum.
Then I went back to the shop,
left her here with Dad.
- Then only Dad was at home.
- That's right.
- Davy wasn!t.
- No, he didn!t get in till 1 1 :00.
- Did you see him?
- No, I was in bed, but Dad was up.
Then we!ve only got Dad!s word
that he came in when he said he did.
Mum.
What are you thinking?
Nothing.
I!ll ring Katie.
You see to the children!s tea.
Oh, dear. We!ll never live it down.
- Who says?
- Molly Turnbull!s mother.
What won!t we live down?
I don!t know, but it!s something to do
with Auntie Sapphire.
- She!s dead.
-[ Door Opens ]
Time to settle down now, children.
Mummy, why are we going to stay
with Auntie Katie?
Ask no questions,
and you!ll be told no lies.
It!s because of Auntie Sapphire, isn!t it?
No. And don!t call her !!Auntie.!!
She!s nothing to us, and she never was.
- Good night, my darling.
- Good night, Mummy.
Good night, my love.
Good night, Mummy.
Straight off to sleep. No talking.
- Yes. Mummy.
- ood night.
[ Ted ] I've told you a dozen times
if I've told you once...
so why go on arguing about it?
David came in at 1 1.:00.
That's what I told the police.
and it's the truth.
[ Mrs. Harris ] It's what you told the police. Ted.
but is it the truth?
Stop accusing David.
Please, Mum.
Milly, if we!re to help him,
we!ve got to know the truth.
Lies are never any good.
- Who says Davy!s telling lies?
- [ Doorknob Turns ]
I don!t want any supper, Mum.
I!m going out.
- Where are you going, Son?
- I!m going for a walk, Mum.
Don!t be too late, will you?
[ Door Closes ]
[ Front Door Opens. Closes ]
[Jazz.:Ballad. Muffled ]
- [ Continues ]
- [ Loud Chattering ]
I don!t think you!ll find who you!re
looking for here, Superintendent.
We haven!t seen Sapphire
for six, seven months.
We!re merely trying
to fill in her background, Mr. Young.
- As you wish. This way.
- Thank you.
- [ Continues ]
- [ Loud Chattering ]
I!ll get some quiet.
Quiet, everybody, please.
Quiet, please, everybody.
And just gather around me, will you?
Won!t keep you a moment,
but these gentlemen are police officers.
[ Club Members Murmuring ]
They want to ask you a few questions
about Sapphire Robbins.
[ Man ]
Sapphire Robbins?
Was anyone here
a particular friend of Sapphire!s?
- We all were, weren!t we?
- Once.
What do you mean !!once!!?
I mean she stopped coming here.
Oh, why?
They drift away, Superintendent,
grow out of us.
Sapphire didn't drift away.
She used to come here regularly.
- Then suddenly, she never came again.
- Why was that?
Sapphire found she could pass for white.
I was there the day it happened.
Tell me.
We had just finished coffee.
I went to pay the bill.
A white lady came in,
took one look at my black mug and said...
!!Oh, I see they!ve let the jungle in.!!
She said this to Sapphire, you see,
like they were the same.
Sapphire left before I got my change.
When I went outside, she had gone.
Silly little peasant.
Did you ever dance with Sapphire?
No, not me.
Slade, Ray Landa -
They were her partners.
And Wishy Washy there.
- Where did you dance with her?
- Here, sir.
Did she mention anyone else?
Outside the club, I mean.
[ Club Members ]
No. No.
If you do remember anything,
speak to Mr. Young.
He'll know how to get in touch with us.
I think you!re right.
I don!t think I shall find anything here.
Thank you so much, everybody.
It!s been most kind of you.
- [ All Chattering ]
- I!ll see you out.
Please don!t bother.
You!ll miss the performance.
- [ Piano ]
- Right.
He!s a good pianist.
Yes, and he!s lucky.
- He!ll be accepted for what he is.
- And what!s that?
A good pianist.
- [ Ballad ]
- [ Chattering ]
- There!s a young lady in the car, sir.
- Ah, I thought as much.
Drive around the block.
Phil, get in the front.
Very good, sir.
Yes, I know a lot about Sapphire
they don!t know.
Go on.
The rhythm at the club -
it wasn!t hot enough for her.
So Paul Slade used to take her to Tulip!s -
a dive in Shepherd!s Bush.
- Oh, dear. His father, the bishop, huh?
- Yes. I know His Reverence.
He!d as soon see his precious son
in hellfire as at Tulip!s.
Paul got into a fight there over Sapphire.
Well, who did he fight with?
Oh, a johnnie someone.
!!Big, ugly fellow,!! he said.
Sapphire danced crazy with him.
Real crazy.
- Paul dropped her after that.
- Poor Sapphire.
Oh, she couldn!t care less.
She!d gotjohnnie then.
Of course, he didn!t last very long
when his color went out of fashion.
How did you know that?
He rang up, left a message for her.
!!Ring johnnie at Tulip!s.!!
Sapphire had gone white then,
so we never saw her.
I told him. He was mad.
They!d entered for some dancing competition.
Cash prize he said.
You didn!t like Sapphire.
No. I was Paul Slade!s girlfriend
till she cut me out.
I hated that high-yellow doll.
You can drop me anywhere here.
I!ll walk back.
- What are you studying?
- Montessori - child welfare.
- I shan!t bother with it though.
- Oh, why not?
I want to get married, stay here.
I like the English.
- Well, thank you.
- Bye-bye.
By the way, did you give this johnnie
Sapphire!s new address?
No, I wouldn!t do that.
Perhaps he got it from someone else though, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
- Try Tulip!s Club, Shepherd!s Bush.
- I will. Good night.
- Good night.
[Jazz.:Muffled ]
[ Continues ]
- Two beers.
- No beer, sir.
- Two beers.
- Scotch, Irish and bourbon, sir.
- Buy me a drink, copper.
- Three beers.
- Ever heard of Sapphire?
- Doubles, sir?
Three beers.
- The chick that was done on Hampstead Heath?
- That!s the chick.
Ten shillings, sir.
Sorry I!ve got nothing smaller.
- Ten shillings, sir.
- Keep the change.
Now then, ever heard of Sapphire?
- Down the hatch, copper.
- Is johnnie in tonight?
johnnie - is he in tonight?
- Talking to me, sir?
- Yes.
Lots ofjohnnie here tonight, sir.
There!s johnnie Fingers.
johnnie Hot Feet.
johnnie Rags.
And johnnie Tiger over there.
Sure, all thejohnnies in the world
are here tonight, sir.
We want thejohnnie
who danced with this chick.
This chick was never here at all, sir.
Can I help you, Superintendent?
- Mr. Tulip?
- That!s what they call me.
We!re looking for thejohnnie
who used to dance with Sapphire -
this Sapphire.
You mean the chick that was cut up
on Hampstead Heath Saturday night?
- Mm-hmm.
- She!s new to me. I never saw her here.
That!s a lily-skin.
Your chick was a lily-skin, wasn!t she?
- Hmm?
- It!s in the evening papers.
I think I would!ve remembered
if she!d ever been in here.
Oh, you can always tell.
!Cause once they hear
the beat of the bongo -
[ Bongo Drums ]
Yes.
No matter how fair is the skin,
they can!t hide that swing.
Your chick was never here,
Superintendent.
Somewhere else
she danced with herjohnnie.
Let!s get out of here.
Blow,johnnie.
And don!t come back.
You!re wearing too much trouble.
Johnnie.
Where was you on Saturday night,johnnie?
You wasn!t in the club.
Was you with Sapphire?
Was you,johnnie?
You blow,johnnie. Blow.
Can!t blow without loot.
I!ll bring you loot.
[ Ends ]
That!s him.
Brother, I!m in trouble.
The police. I!ve got to hide up.
We have never been in trouble with the law
and don!t care to be.
Go on away with you, boy. It!s you and your kind
that get us respectable folk a bad name.
Trash.
The police - on my tail.
[ Panting ]
Get out, nigger.
We got copper trouble, too,
but we ain!t got your sort of woman trouble.
Now get out and stay out.
Dirty black bas -
-[ Man ] Right. Up.
-[ Metal Banging ]
Here, look at that.
What!s the hurry, nigger?
[ Man #2 ]
Out of the way. nig.
[ Man #3 ]
On your way then. sonny boy.
And hurry!
[ Dog Barking ]
- They!re after me. Please.
- Who!s after you - the teds?
- Please help.
- I daren!t.
They!d break the place to pieces,
tear the shop down. It!s my living, boy.
- Please, mister.
- I tell you I daren!t.
Dad, you!ve got to.
He!s in trouble.
- I tell you I daren!t.
- You!ve got to, Dad.
Come in. This way.
[ Dog Barking ]
[ Footsteps Running ]
- Where were you on Saturday night,johnnie?
- On the streets.
- With Sapphire?
- No, boss. No.
- Which street,johnnie?
- Down the West End.
- Who was with you?
- No one. I was on my pat.
-johnnie all alone, eh?
- The truth,johnnie. Let!s have the truth.
- Where were you Saturday night?
- Where were you Saturday night?
- Answer!
- [ Panting ]
Davy? Where have you been?
Walking.
Davy.
Where were you on Saturday night?
In a car on my way back from Cambridge.
- Where were you on Saturday night?
- I told you.
Davy.
Ever since you were a little boy,
I!ve known when you were lying to me.
Where were you, Sonny?
Mum, I told you never to ask
about Saturday night. Please.
[ Door Closes ]
Saturday night,johnnie.
Where were you?
Out! Out!
- Where?
- On the streets.
- Who with?
- On my pat.
- Who with?
- On my pat.
- When!d you see Sapphire last?
- I don!t know Sapphire!
You phoned the International Club
and left a message for her.
Now, where were you Saturday night?
Out! Out!
Someone!s gonna look at you
in the morning...
someone who saw you with Sapphire.
Want to change your story,johnnie?
No! No!
- Right. Book him.
- Come on. On your feet.
Why do you say you didn!t know Sapphire?
You had a fight over her at Tulip!s.
Didn!t kill her.
All right.
Knew Sapphire, but didn!t kill her.
- You were crazy about her, weren!t you?
- No. We just dance, laugh.
She went white and dropped you,
didn!t she?
Then you ran into her on Saturday night,
followed her and knifed her.
No! We used to dance.
That!s all,just dance!
Where is your knife,johnnie?
Your knife,johnnie -where is it?
Where!s your knife?
All right. Take him away.
Find the knife and we!ve got him.
- [ Train Engine Chugging ]
- [ Children Chattering, Shouting ]
[ Children Shouting, Laughing ]
- Yes?
-johnnie Fiddle.
Out.
Upstairs, far as you can go. Left.
Thank you.
[ Train Engine Chugging ]
[ Learoyd ]
There you are. the two of them.
- In congress, aren!t they?
- No, I wouldn!t say that.
She wasn!t any delicate flower, you know.
just the same as him underneath.
Besides, he didn!t look
so black to her then.
No.
Let!s take a look around.
Huh. Look at this.
And this.
Looks like young Harris
is in the clear.
Yeah, looks that way.
Let!s see what the lab
has to say about it.
[ Children Shouting ]
- It!s quite a long trip.
- What?
From here to Hampstead Heath.
It!s the other side of London.
How the devil did he get there?
Oh, there will be a simple answer
to transport.
You!d really like it to be
this colored boy, wouldn!t you?
Message over the car radio, sir.
There!s a gentleman at the station says he drove
Mr. David Harris from Cambridge last Saturday.
Hey.
[ Laughing ]
There!s your transport for you.
These spades are a load of trouble.
I reckon we should send them back
where they came from.
We wouldn!t have half this bother
if they weren!t here.
Oh, I suppose you!re right.
just the same as you wouldn!t have
old ladies being clobbered by hooligans...
if there weren!t any old ladies.
So, what do you do - get rid
of the hooligans or the people they bash?
Look. Phil. given the right atmosphere.
you can organize riots against anyone-
jews, Catholics, Negroes, Irish...
even policemen with big feet.
[ Laughing ]
Is this the boy you gave a lift to
just outside Cambridge on Saturday?
- Yes.
- What time did you put him down?
I dropped him at the post office,
oh, around &:00.
He said it was only a 1 0 minutes! walk
away from where he lived.
Are you sure?
[ Chuckles ]
I wouldn!t be here if I wasn!t.
- Do you deny this?
- What!s the use?
Well, thank you, sir.
I hope we haven!t wasted
too much of your time.
Oh, it!s quite all right.
Sorry, old chap.
Well, sit down, Mr. Harris.
What time did you get home
on Saturday?
- 1 1 :00.
- You heard what the man said.
I got back to town at &:00.
I didn!t get home till 1 1 :00.
Then what did you do in between?
Walked about.
Then I went to the pictures.
Well, why didn!t you say this before?
I didn!t want my father to know.
He worries if I go to the pictures too often
in term time. Thinks it strains my eyes.
Give me your glasses.
- Which cinema did you go to?
- The Ritz.
What were you doing
on Hampstead Heath yesterday?
- If I told you, you wouldn!t believe me.
- Well,just try, will you?
I - I wanted to see where it happened.
I had some idea
I might stumble on something -
something I!d recognize
and you wouldn!t.
And did you?
No.
How about this?
Why were you so anxious
to get rid of this?
I didn!t. I-I -
I-I never saw it before.
I!m told it!s part of a child!s doll,
a wooden doll.
A leg possibly.
- Is that what you think it is?
- Oh, I don!t think it!s anything.
ju-just a piece of wood
I was doodling with.
- You admit picking it up then.
- Yes.
- You just said you didn!t.
- I - I!d forgotten.
Stop lying, Harris.
You were seen pushing this down a drain.
- Why?
- I don!t know. I don!t know.
You mean you won!t say. On your way home
from the post office on Saturday night...
- was it then you met Sapphire?
- No. I never saw her.
- Was it then she told you about the baby?
- I tell you I never saw her!
- How long had you known she was colored?
- I didn!t care! I didn!t care!
But you did care
about your scholarship.
It didn!t carry a grant for a wife, did it?
If you married Sapphire, the scholarship was off.
I loved her!
[ Sobbing ]
I - I tell you I loved Sapphire.
Where were you when she was killed?
- [ Knocking ]
- Yes?
Oh, excuse me, sir.
Mr. David Harris!s father is here
with a solicitor.
Right.
All right, Harris.
You!d better go with him, Phil.
Ralph Piggot.
Piggot, North & Piggot.
Finsbury Pavement.
Mr. Harris asked me to come
and look after his son.
Can I see my client, please?
He!s all yours.
Tough monkey that father. Must have moved
like the wind to get a lawyer around here.
Yeah. There they go.
[ Hazard ]
Hmm.
I wonder where he was on Saturday night.
They!re getting into a taxi now.
Going over to the Ritz
to find a witness, I!ll bet. Hmm.
That was a very human lie.
Boy didn!t want to upset his father.
Couldn!t own up later.
He was in too deep.
Where was he on Saturday night?
- Who?
- Old Harris.
Oh, at the, uh, local social club.
Did we check it?
All right, don!t look so horrified.
We can!t think of everything,
not even us.
Constable Ferris is also
a member of that social club.
No, sir. Ted Harris didn!t come into the club
till late on Saturday night.
About 1 0:00. That!s definite.
- All right, Ferris.
- Sir.
Not until 1 0:00, eh?
He gave us the impression
he!d been there all evening.
No, he didn!t. No. His daughter took it
for granted, and we naturally followed.
I think I!ll go round and see her...
try and bounce her
into giving something away.
We still haven!t had the report
on johnnie Fiddle!s knife.
No, we!ve got that to come.
Drive round to that dairy, will you?
Of course Dad spent the evening at the club.
He always does Saturdays.
My information is
he didn!t get there until 1 0:00.
You!re not trying to suggest
that he had anything to do with it?
I!m not saying he did.
I merely want to know where he was.
Then ask him. Superintendent.
- Did Sapphire often go to your house?
- Yes.
I suppose, really, you were all
as much to blame as David.
- What do you mean?
- You shouldn!t have made her so welcome...
if you didn!t want him involved
with a colored girl.
We didn!t know she was colored,
not until -
Not until when, Mrs. Farr?
Not until Saturday, was it?
The day she was killed.
My father didn!t do it,
I swear, Superintendent.
You can search the house
from top to bottom.
You!ll not find a speck of blood
or a trace of Sapphire.
Thank you, Mrs. Farr.
[ Front Door Bell Dings ]
I!m peckish, Lilly.
Slip across to Mac!s and get me
a ham sandwich, will you?
Well, go on.
[ Door Opens. Closes ]
- [ Doorbell Ringing ]
- [ Phone Ringing ]
No. Old Harris can!t be back yet,
or he!d answer that phone.
- No, wait a minute.
- [ Ringing Stops ]
- She!ll ring again.
- Who?
- Mildred.
- [ Woman ] Oh. there's no one in.
Mrs. Harris has gone down to Richmond,
and Milly!s at the dairy.
Oh, thank you.
You might find Mr. Harris in the paint shed. but
you'll have to go round the yard at the back for that.
Thanks.
[ Learoyd ]
No, he!s not here.
[ Hazard ] I'd like to know
what's underneath that dust sheet.
We haven!t got enough evidence
to get a search warrant for this place.
No.
[ Piggot ]
It was expecting too much.
Saturday night, packed house.
How could she remember?
You didn!t make this up
on the spur of the moment, did you?
If the boy says he went to the pictures,
he went to the pictures.
You sound like the police.
If I!m going to help you,
I!ve got to think like the police.
It!s no use boggling.
They!ve got a very good circumstantial case.
They!ve got no case at all.
The boy didn!t do it.
- And if you can!t clear him, I will.
- You hope you can. That!s what you mean.
- I know I can. I know I can.
- Shut up talking across me.
He!s never talked to me like that
in his life.
Perhaps there!s a side to the boy
you!ve never seen, Mr. Harris.
I know my own son.
He didn!t kill Sapphire.
I know he didn!t.
- Tell Sergeant Newton I want him right away.
- Very good, sir.
[ Learoyd ]
Right. Thank you.
Report from the lab, Bob.
The blood on johnnie Fiddle!s shirt
is the same group as the girl!s...
and his knife could have
inflicted the wounds.
- Right. Let!s have him up.
- Okay.
- Uh, you wanted me, sir?
- Oh, Newton.
Get a warrant to search all the sheds
at the back of Oakland Road.
Say we!re looking for stolen lead.
- I want to see inside Harris!s paint shop.
- Right, sir.
Is this yours,johnnie?
No, boss. No.
Then what was it doing in your mattress
on your bed?
Someone put it there.
He - He put it there!
- What?
- All right.
The blood found on this knife,
on your shirt...
matches Sapphire's blood.
And what about this?
You and Sapphire, isn!t it?
Did you kill her,johnnie?
Did you?
No, boss. No!
- The blood matches.
- Not Sapphire!s blood.
Then whose, you big lug?
Horace Big Cigar.
We fight Saturday night.
Why the hell
didn!t you say this before?
- They say I kill him, boss.
- They say?
- Who saw this fight?
- Them.
Them? Who!s !!them!!?
Alexander, Gin Ricky, Big Sam.
- Where do we find these people?
- Number 1 &, down the street from my place.
It was self-defense, boss.
Horace Big Cigar attack me.
I not mean to kill him.
I!ll bet.
[ Children Chattering ]
- [ Radio.:Jazzy ]
-[ Man ] No. no. I cover. I cover it.
-[ Man #2 ] Okay. come on. baby.
-[ Dice Clatter]
-[ Man #3 ] You take it.
-[ Man #1 ] Eight point. huh?
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Baby wants new shoes.
- Seven out. Seven out.
What!s your name?
Horace Big Cigar.
What!s yours, man?
This man!s the law.
Now, no ignorant, foolish talk. Mind?
- [ Gamblers Chattering ]
- All right, Horace.
According to our information, Horace,
you!re dead.
Incorrect.
Not ready for my coffin yet.
[ Laughing ]
[ Others Laughing ]
- Where were you Saturday night, Horace?
- Right here, boss.
- Why are you in bed?
- Sick man, boss.
Very sick.
How come?
- How!d you get that?
- Oh, hit by a jumble car.
What car?
Knocked out.
Had no opportunity to see the vehicle.
[ Laughs ]
johnnie Fiddle one big lie then, huh?
What you say, boss?
What you sayjohnnie Fiddle done?
We!re booking him for the killing
on Hampstead Heath Saturday night.
That!s whatjohnnie Fiddle done.
- Sapphire - that chick that got cut up?
- The same.
[ Laughing ]
That sure is one big pity.
johnnie Fiddle in plenty trouble, eh?
[ Laughing ]
You hear that, men?
Saturday night.
[ All Laughing ]
You really booking johnnie Fiddle, boss?
Unless you can give him an out.
He says he was with you.
You sure wastin! your time.
I got no out forjohnnie Fiddle.
You go - [ Clicks Tongue ] hang him.
[ Laughing ]
Is that where the jumble car
knocked you down, Horace?
You sure wise man, boss.
- Alexander.
- Yes, boss?
- Gin Ricky.
- Yes, boss?
- Big Sam.
- Yes, boss?
Why did you telljohnnie Fiddle
he!d killed Horace Big Cigar?
johnnie Fiddle wears too much
of a high hat.
We seek a way to knock it off.
Make that big bushman sweat, boss.
- Were they all here Saturday night?
- All here, boss.
Right. Names.
- You.
- Alexander.
[ Vehicle Approaching ]
- [ Doorbell Rings ]
- I!ll go, Ted.
We!re in here.
Did you find what you wanted?
I think so.
Well?
I!ve just seen Sapphire!s brother.
I!ve asked him to call round here.
- Not her brother.
- We don!t want him here.
You had better tell him that yourself.
He!ll be here in a minute.
I said we don!t want him here.
I want him.
I wonder if Sapphire
would have been happy here.
What do you think, Mr. Harris?
Why shouldn!t she be?
I don!t know. I!m asking you.
[ Doorbell Rings ]
Answer the door.
How do you do?
[ Mumbling ]
How do you do?
I!m Mrs. Harris.
- Will you sit down?
- Thank you.
Dr. Robbins.
I!ve asked you to come here
because I think you may be able to help us.
If I can.
Did Sapphire want to marry this boy?
Yes, I - I think she did.
Well, David!s father here
has been insisting all along...
that he was willing to let them marry.
That!s right.
Assuming he!s telling the truth,
that would have left the decision with David.
Did your sister give you the impression
that he would have married her?
Well, I don!t know
that I can answer that.
I mean, we -
we really never discussed -
I!ve told you over and over again. Yes.
But supposing your father were lying
and didn!t want you to marry her?
I didn!t care.
But you cared about your scholarship, didn!t you?
You cared about your career.
- Marriage would have stopped all that.
- It wasn!t me that was mad about the career.
So you say.
I wouldn!t know.
You may have thought
that a bit of fun was one thing...
but that marriage was too high a price
to pay for it.
This boy couldn!t do anything like -
- We don!t need you to defend our David.
- Mildred.
How about you, Mr. Harris?
You had your reasons, too, didn!t you?
- I didn't wish her any harm.
- Of course not.
She was going to marry David.
That!s what you said, wasn!t it?
That!s right.
And I gave him my word he would.
But she didn!t marry him, did she?
-She would have done.
- Would have done?
- If you hadn't stopped her.
Is that what you mean?
- That!s not true.
I didn!t wish her any harm. None of us did.
We liked her. We liked her!
If David wanted her.
that was the end-
- That was good enough.
- Shut up!
Why don!t you tell him the truth?
You hated her!
All you ever wanted
was for me to be an architect.
''My boy-an architect. ''
You were going to send me away. but you-
You hated her so much that you finally-
Get him out!
Don!t want his hands on my kids! toys!
Don!t want him near my kids!
Don't want his dirty hands
on my childrenI
Tearing up my family.
They!re mine.
You really hate colored people, don!t you?
You really hate them.
And with Sapphire,
you couldn!t control yourself.
And that!s why you killed her.
It wasn!t like that.
It wouldn!t have happened
if she hadn!t come to the dairy.
I!d locked up, drawn the blinds.
She banged on the door
and called to me.
I had to let her in.
She said she was fed up waiting for David
and wanted my company.
She sat on the counter
all the time I was tidying up -
sweeping, doing Lilly!s work-
swinging her legs and laughing.
[ Sniveling ]
She couldn!t see what she!d done.
She didn!t care.
Ruining David!s life...
ruining Dad!s dream.
When I said she!d better watch out...
David might prefer to give her
1 0 bob a week for the yellow brat...
and keep his scholarship...
she laughed in my face and said David
didn!t care what color the baby was...
or what color she was, he wanted her.
And I!d forgotten what that was like.
I!d forgotten what it was like to be wanted.
She was taunting me
with Sid never coming home.
Then she jumped down from the counter,
put her hand on my shoulder and said...
!!Give the twins Auntie Sapphire!s love...
and tell them they!ll have
a new little cousin soon.!!
!!New little cousin.!!
There was a knife on the counter.
And then there was blood.
[ Shudders ]
[ Groaning, Sobbing ]
[ Crying ]
[ Both Crying ]
I!m sorry, Dad.
I - I know, Son.
You thought I killed her.
I don!t blame you.
We all had hate in our hearts.
[ Sniveling ]
I loved Sapphire.
I loved her.
Yes, I believe you did.
[ Footsteps On Stoop ]
- Are you going back to Birmingham tonight?
- Yes.
- Can we give you a lift to the station?
- Thank you, I!d like to walk.
Well.
We haven!t given you very much
to take back, have we, Doctor?
No.
But then I see all kinds of sickness
in my practice, Superintendent.
I!ve never yet seen the kind
you can cure in a day.
Cases don!t get solved
without somebody getting hurt.
You know that.
We didn!t solve anything, Phil.
We just picked up the pieces.
[ Crow Cawing ]
[ Bells Pealing ]
[ Car Door Closes ]
Get back there, please.
- Good morning, sir.
- Good morning, Sergeant.
- Good morning, Superintendent.
- Morning.
- Inspector Learoyd!s here.
- Thank you.
- Who is she, Phil?
- Hello, Bob. No idea.
Bloodstained handkerchief in her pocket.
Letter !!S!! in the corner.
You won!t like this, Hazard.
She!s very young.
Half a dozen knife wounds
around the heart.
She died instantly.
- What sort of knife?
- Any sort, as long as it was sharp, pointed.
No sign.
- Who found her?
- Couple of kids.
No blood on the ground
or any signs of a struggle.
Must have been killed somewhere else
and dumped here.
How long has she been dead?
Between 5:00 and 8:00 yesterday evening
is the nearest I can put it.
- Missing Persons have nothing to report, sir.
- Oh, thank you.
Ground!s pretty hard.
We!ve searched the area, sir,
but found nothing.
[ Crow Cawing ]
- Nothing but the handkerchief, huh?
- No, nothing.
Well, send her clothes
along to the station, will you?
- Yes, sir.
- Come on, Phil.
Nice, simple things.
Are they?
- Don!t quite go together, do they?
- These do.
Could be some hysterical, frightened boy.
I don!t think so.
In my experience, an hysterical, frightened boy
stabs once, oh, twice maybe...
and then runs.
But this monkey went on and on
until he was exhausted.
No, this girl was killed in hate, not fear.
I should say she was a student.
Now, if she was in the habit
of going away for the weekend...
she may not be missed until tomorrow.
Get a list of every college
and academy in London.
See if a girl doesn!t turn up
in the morning.
Particularly any girl
whose name begins with !!S.!!
[ Vehicles Passing ]
- Patsy.
- David.
Where!s Sapphire?
Isn!t she in Birmingham
with her brother?
I don!t know. She was going,
and then she changed her mind.
I don!t know what she did.
Well, if you!re worried,
why don!t you phone him?
No, I don!t want to speak to her brother.
Oh, she caught the morning train,
I expect.
Don!t worry.
Sapphire will be in Foscari!s for coffee.
See you then.
[ Background.:Dixieland Jazz ]
- Hi, David.
- Hi.
Congratulations on your scholarship.
- When are you off to Rome?
- Next month.
Lucky devil.
David! David.
David.
[ No Audible Dialogue ]
Mr. Harris.
We won!t keep you very long.
I - I!m sorry, but we think
you may be able to help us.
Thank you, miss.
[ Continues ]
[ Fades ]
[ Patrons Chattering ]
Hey. What!s the matter with you?
Come on.
- Patsy!
- What is it?
That murdered girl on Hampstead Heath?
- It!s Sapphire.
- What?
Hey, Anna, coffee. Quick.
Sapphire. How ghastly.
The police kept asking me
questions about her-
who her friends were.
- I said us.
- Well, of course.
- We were all her friends.
- What else did they ask you?
All about David -
the scholarship and everything.
If she!d had any boyfriends before him.
Oh, I couldn!t tell them.
I!ve only known her since I took her
to stay with me at my digs.
- Where was she living before that?
- A dump in Earls Court.
- The landlady turned her out.
- But why? Sapphire was such a sweetie.
Who!d do such a thing to Sapphire?
Who!d do it?
[ Sobs ]
You say her name was Sapphire Robbins?
I!d like you to come down to my office,
ask a few questions.
Do you think you feel up to it?
We!ll send you home
in a police car afterwards.
We were going to get married.
I!m sorry.
You say the last time you saw her
was on Friday night?
Yes.
Do you know what she did on Saturday?
Well, she came to my house, apparently,
just after lunch.
You weren!t in?
No, I went to Cambridge to sketch.
I - I!m a student architect
at the Polytechnic.
What train did you catch?
I hitchhiked both ways.
- What time did you get home?
- About 1 1 :00.
Who gave you a lift from Cambridge?
A chap in a black Consul
dropped me at the post office.
- What time was that?
- About quarter to 1 1 :00.
You wouldn!t remember
the number of the car, I suppose.
No.
Somebody ought to tell Sapphire!s brother.
We contacted Dr. Robbins in Birmingham.
He!s on his way to London now.
Oh.
Did you and Sapphire have a quarrel
on Friday night?
- No.
- Thank you.
Sergeant, drive Mr. Harris home, will you?
Very good, sir.
You!ll let me know if you
find out anything, won!t you?
You!ll be informed, Mr. Harris.
Oh. Mr. Harris. What time did you say
you got back from Cambridge?
- About 1 1 :00.
- Thank you.
The truth, do you think?
Well, not what I!d describe
as the whole truth.
I don!t believe he came in
when he said he did...
but his grief seemed genuine enough.
You never know with these monkeys.
They can act their heads off when it suits them.
Ring up the Yard and get them to ask the BBC
to broadcast for the driver of that black Consul.
Right.
Meanwhile, we!ll take a look at that girl!s room
before her brother gets here.
- Had she been with you long?
- About six months.
Hmm. Not very tidy.
Sapphire wasn!t naturally an orderly child,
but she did her best.
- Did you like her?
- Indeed I did.
I - I felt sorry for her.
Her parents were dead,
and she wanted so much to -
to be counted in, to belong.
Did you ever meet her brother?
No, but I spoke to him on the telephone.
He sounded very nice.
- This one!s locked.
- I!m sorry. I haven!t the key.
Oh. I wish you wouldn't.
[ Lock Clicks ]
I never saw Sapphire
wear anything like that.
Hmm.
I wonder who she was dancing with.
- Did she play the gramophone often?
- All the time -very softly.
She was a student
at the Royal Academy of Music.
Hmm.
Well, thank you, Mrs. Thompson.
You!ve been most helpful.
Well, evidently there was a side to Sapphire
she didn!t know about.
Yeah.
Maybe young Harris found the same thing
and didn!t like it.
Could be.
Unless the person she was dancing with
found out about young Harris.
jealousy!s very near to hate.
[ Bell Dings ]
Oh, Mrs. Farr.
Mrs. Farr, your brother!s here.
David? What!s the matter?
Milly, I!ve got to speak to you.
The girl!s brother!s here, sir.
Dr. Robbins.
- Right. Send him in.
- Sir.
[ Sergeant ]
Dr. Robbins. sir.
- It!s very good of you to come so quickly, sir.
- How do you do?
- Please sit down.
- Thank you.
I suppose there!s no doubt.
It is Sapphire?
No doubt at all, I!m afraid.
I know this must be painful for you...
but there are some questions
I have to ask you.
Of course. No, thank you.
I understand you expected your sister
for the weekend.
Yes, I did.
Weren!t you worried
when she didn!t turn up on Saturday?
No, no. She rang me, said something
unexpected had stopped her.
With Sapphire, something unexpected
was always happening.
- How did she sound?
- Excited, I thought.
What sort of a girl was your sister?
Happy, lively- exactly as she looked.
No, no.
That!s not quite true, is it?
Are you -
Were you Sapphire!s half-brother?
No.
Our father was a doctor-white...
our mother a singer- black as I am.
You never know which way it!s gonna go.
Since Sapphire came to London,
she learned to pass for white.
Did David Harris know
that your sister was colored?
I don!t know.
I knew little of Sapphire!s life up here.
She seemed happy. I didn!t pry further.
My sister was 21 , you know.
Why did you let her come to London?
She wanted to come.
I didn!t see why she shouldn!t have
the same chance as any other youngster.
I!m a bachelor.
I could afford to stake her.
Did she every talk about anyone else
besides young Harris?
I can!t remember.
I hardly listened,
Sapphire chattered so much.
It!s unbelievable.
I can see her now...
sitting on the table
in my consulting room...
swinging her legs, laughing...
twittering like a bird.
Patients waiting, but on she went.
I could have slapped her sometimes.
Who would do such a thing?
Who would do it?
- I!d like to see my sister.
- I!ll take you.
No, I!d rather go alone.
- The New End Hospital, Hampstead.
- Thank you.
- Bob, that girl who -
- Oh, this is Dr. Robbins.
Detective Inspector Learoyd.
How do you do?
Hello.
You can get me at the Dorset Hotel.
They take us there.
Thank you.
So, that!s the brother.
Yes.
I think I was right.
Hate killed Sapphire.
I think she died
because she was colored.
She was also pregnant.
Three months. The autopsy!s just in.
Young Harris, of course.
Oh, I don!t know.
We can!t be sure now, can we?
I mean, uh, might be anybody.
[ Vehicles Passing ]
Dad, I!ve been trailing everywhere after you.
What!s the matter?
The girl on Hampstead Heath -
it was Sapphire.
- Sapphire?
- Yes, David!s had to go and identify her.
David?
- I!m so frightened, Dad.
- Don!t worry, girl. Where!s David now?
He!s gone home.
You didn!t tell us
you were the father of Sapphire!s child.
You didn!t ask me.
Were you on the other side of that?
No.
[ Children Chattering. Laughing ]
It!s the police, Ted.
They!re in there with Davy now.
Don!t worry, dear.
It!s only routine.
- Where do you think you!re going to?
- Up to my room, Dad.
I told him he could,
and I want him to.
Show him, Milly?
- I!m Davy!s father.
- Uh, Superintendent Hazard.
- What!s been said?
- They know about the baby, Dad.
Well, what of it? We knew.
She came here to tell us on Saturday,
just after lunch.
My boy was going to marry her.
I gave her my word he would.
They want to know what time
I got in on Saturday night, Dad.
About 1 1 :00.
Did you talk to anyone in Cambridge,
anyone who might remember you?
- Where did you eat?
- I took sandwiches.
He always does.
We can!t afford meals in cafes, you know.
Finished, Inspector?
Yes. Uh, thank you, Mrs. Farr.
He went through David!s room
with a magnifying glass.
I don!t care if they take the boards up.
Davy!s got nothing to hide.
Do you think they!ll be gone
by the time the twins get back?
They!ll hear it at school, Milly.
You can!t keep it from them.
You!ve got to make up your mind to that.
Excuse me. Superintendent Hazard
would like to see you for a moment, Mrs. Farr.
Uh, Mrs. Farr, what time did you
finish work at the dairy on Saturday?
- About half &:00.
- A little late, surely.
My assistant was away all last week.
I had the tidying up to do.
I see. Did you come straight home?
- This is your home?
- For the moment.
My husband!s away at sea.
- Who was in the house when you got here?
- Nobody.
I was at the club.
My wife was at her sister!s with the twins.
- Twins?
- My children.
Oh. Uh, the girl, Sapphire,
had gone when you got in?
Yes. She wasn!t here.
How did she seem
when you saw her earlier in the day?
Same as usual - full of life.
Did you know that she was colored?
- We knew.
- How long?
We knew. That!s enough, isn!t it?
I see.
I understand you!ve just won
a scholarship that takes you abroad.
Of course, you won!t leave
till all this is settled, will you?
- Don!t worry. He!ll be staying here.
- All right, Dad. I can answer for myself.
-[ Front Door Closes ]
- Is that all, Superintendent?
There are the children.
I must get their tea.
Why, of course, Mrs. Farr.
Superintendent?
Hadn!t you better advertise for the fellow
that drove Davy back from Cambridge?
I don!t want any slime
sticking to my son, you know.
We have that in hand, Mr. Harris.
You say this man
dropped you at the post office.
Did anyone see you
at that time of night on Saturday?
I don!t know.
Yes. Yes,jack Ferris.
He saw me, Dad.
The local constable.
You wouldn!t call him a liar, I suppose.
Ifjohnny Turnbull trod on your feet,
he didn!t mean to.
- Little boys are clumsy dancers.
- It wasn!t your feet he trod on.
Oh, Mummy, he!s always stumbling.
I hate dancing classes.
Last week, you loved them.
Hello. Good day, Mrs. Farr.
Good day.
Thank you.
- There!s angel cake for tea.
- Ooh, good!
- They knew she was colored then.
- Yes. But the point is when.
And that!s a very important point.
- Find anything upstairs?
- No, nothing.
- All his clothes were clean and put away.
- Hmm.
Pretty rocky alibi of young Harris!s.
- Familiar motive too.
- It!s all too pat for my liking.
You know, if he!d married that girl, he probably
couldn!t have taken up that scholarship.
- It wouldn!t carry a grant for a wife.
- Hmm.
Are we gonna have a word with this local
constable -What!s his name, Ferris?
Yes, right away.
Yes, sir. I did see young Harris
walking home on Saturday night.
- What time was that?
- Oh, as near 1 1 :00 as makes no difference.
- And he was coming from the post office?
- From that direction, sir.
- What sort of people are the Harrises?
- Oh, very respectable, sir.
Cut above the average.
Mrs. Harris was a schoolteacher.
How long have they known
the girl was colored?
- What?
- Yes, she was, you know.
Ooh, I shouldn!t have thought
they knew that at all, sir.
- He!s very bigoted, Ted Harris.
- And very ambitious for his son.
Oh, very.
Ted Harris has scrimped himself
to do for Davy.
Mind you, the boy!s repaid it all
with that scholarship he!s won.
- And the daughter?
- Oh, Milly!s her father all over again.
Dancing classes for the twins. Elocution.
Must have that bit extra.
- Her husband!s a sailor?
- Merchant navy.
Bit of a laddo, Sid Farr.
Doesn!t seem to get much leave,
or doesn!t want it.
Can you find out if Harris
used his van on Saturday night?
I!ll do my best, sir.
He only saw him coming
from the direction of the post office.
That!s no alibi, you know.
Well, the boy looks truthful to me.
What!s the track width of Harris!s van,
would you say?
Oh, I don!t know.
Four foot, 4 foot &.
Hmm. I think I!ll go back to the Heath
and take a look around.
- Four foot & inches, sir.
- Yes.
Yes. it's more than possible.
Sir.
You shouldn!t have come.
I wanted to see where my sister died.
Not here.
- No?
- No.
She was brought here somehow and... left.
- There is no roadway for a car.
- Oh, I don!t know.
A small one could have just made it,
but the ground!s too hard to show tracks.
- Did David Harris kill her?
- What makes you say that?
She was pregnant.
- I!ve seen the autopsy.
- Yes, but that!s no proof that he killed her.
If he did, we!ll get him, rest assured.
There is no assurance for me or my kind,
Superintendent.
I!ve been black for 38 years.
I know.
She may have looked white,
but Sapphire was colored.
Your sister was murdered.
We!ll find out who killed her.
- I!m sure that is your intention.
- It is my intention.
It!s also my job.
I!m sorry.
Thank you.
When I was a child...
another boy touched me.
He then held out his hand.
!!Look,!! he said...
!!nothing!s come off on me.!!
Trouble is,
something came off on me.
- How do I get to Bloomsbury?
- I!ll give you a lift. It!s on my way.
- Oh!
- Sorry, sir.
[ Chuckling ]
[ Boys Chattering ]
[ Rings ]
[ Rings ]
I!m full.
I don!t want a room. I!ve come to thank you
for looking after my sister.
You!ve got the wrong address.
I take only white students.
My name is Robbins.
How much did Sapphire owe you?
Her rent was paid up.
May I come tomorrow
and pick up Sapphire!s things?
The police have sealed her room.
You must ask them.
Patsy.
Patsy! You in, Patsy?
What is it, Mrs. Thompson?
That girl you brought here -
Did you know she was colored?
- What girl?
- Sapphire.
Yes. Yes, I did.
- When did she tell you?
- Well, she didn!t. A friend told me.
This house is my living.
If it got round
that I took colored students...
certain white people wouldn!t allow
their children to stay here.
- Well, I think it!s a damn silly prejudice!
- I!m not saying it isn!t.
But I can!t afford
to have my rooms empty.
- To think that she could be so sly.
- It!s people like you who made her sly.
Well, you!ve jolly well
got another room empty now!
Patsy!
Yes?
You took Sapphire home to Guildford,
didn!t you?
Yes.
Did you tell your father and mother
she was colored?
No.
Well, then don!t be so quick
to call me prejudiced.
[ Crying ]
Are you sure? Right.
Well, Harris!s van could have made it.
- Not on Saturday night, it couldn!t.
- What?
The van was in the garage
having a big end fixed.
Harris didn!t pick it up
until Monday morning.
Well, how the blazes
did he get her there?
Ask Sergeant Cook to come in, will you?
Thank you.
Red taffeta under a tweed skirt.
Yes. That!s the black
under the white, all right.
- Oh, come off it, Phil.
-[ Knocking ]
- Yes?
-[ Door Opens ]
Oh, come in, Sergeant Cook.
Tell me...
what do you make of that?
- I wouldn!t know what to make of it, sir.
- Oh, come. You!re a woman.
Now, where do you suppose
a thing like that could be bought?
- I wouldn!t know, sir.
- No.
Try Babette!s, Shaftesbury Avenue.
- And how would you know?
- You just take my word for it.
They cater for girls
who like flashy, pretty underwear.
- It certainly isn!t built for durability.
- No.
Well, check on it
first thing in the morning, will you?
- Babette!s, you say?
- Shaftesbury Avenue.
Shaftesbury Avenue.
There!s a good girl.
And I bet you her boyfriend
bought it for her.
- Going in today, Davy?
- Course he is.
I!m not going in.
You!ve got to face it sometime, lad.
Better now than later.
It!s in the paper this morning.
The autopsy-
- They don!t mention David.
- Won!t stop them guessing.
Oh, Davy, whatever made you
get mixed up with a colored girl?
[ Silverware Clatters ]
I didn!t know.
- When did you know?
- Last week.
- By then, I didn!t care.
- That!s what she banked on.
Never say you didn!t know
till last week. Never!
What!s it matter?
It gives you a motive.
That!s what it matters.
It gives us all a motive.
We none of us knew
till the weekend, did we?
No.
I!ll never forget her
standing here Saturday.
And when Dad said he!d see her brother
and tell him that Davy would stand by her...
she laughed and said...
!!He!ll be a shock to you.
He!s as black as a pot.!!
- Shut up!
- Milly.
Then she laughed some more
and said, !!Don!t look like that.
David doesn!t care.!!
Have you done your teeth?
- Hands well scrubbed?
- Smell.
[ Sniffs ]
Mmm. Lovely smell.
Oh,janice, I!ve got something for you.
- Here you are. Now you!ve both got one.
- Oh, thank you, Granddad.
Granddad, will you make me another one?
I can!t find mine.
Well, you better look for it.
Buck up with your breakfast, you two,
and Grampy will take you to school in the van.
Don!t bother, Dad.
I!ll take them to school.
Yes, I remember the girl.
She used to spend quite a bit of money here.
She was a good customer for a little while.
- When?
- About six, seven months ago.
- Did she come alone?
- Usually.
- Oh.
- Except once.
- Well?
- She had a young fellow with her then.
- Tall, slim boy, fair?
- No, I remember being very surprised.
She was such a dainty kid...
and he was a great big colored chap.
Colored.
!!A great big colored chap,!! she said.
- [ Phone Rings ]
- Hmm. The other side of the picture.
Before she learnt
she could pass for white.
Really? It!s a doctor in Bloomsbury.
Says Sapphire went to see him
on Saturday morning.
- Tell him we!ll be right over.
- Right.
Sergeant, ring up the Royal College of Music...
and see if they have any record
of Sapphire!s previous addresses.
Very good, sir.
Oh, and then you could nip over
to the Harrises! place...
and see if any of the neighbors
saw the girl leave on Saturday.
No, she wasn!t a regular patient.
I!d never seen her before.
She rang for an immediate appointment.
I saw her at 1 2:30 on Saturday.
- Did you tell her at once?
- Yes, she was bursting to know.
- Was she upset?
- No, on the contrary, excited.
Delighted at having
her own suspicions confirmed.
- What name did she use?
- The one on the card.
Mrs. Harris.
Did she tell you she was colored?
No, she didn!t mention it.
No, I!ll bet she didn!t.
But you can always tell, can!t you?
No, Inspector.
As a matter of fact, you can!t.
What? [ Chuckles ]
Well, I can tell them a mile away.
Oh, I don!t know, Inspector.
- Would you say you were a policeman?
- What?
Well, you haven!t got
very big feet, have you?
Don!t they say you can always tell a policeman
a mile off by the size of his feet?
Oh, that!s bloody silly.
Yes, isn!t it?
Well, I!m afraid there!s nothing we can do
about Learoyd!s feet.
But regarding the girl, was there
anything else about her that struck you?
Yes. I thought she was a rather nice person.
- Well, thank you, Doctor.
- Not at all.
You!ve been most helpful.
- Good-bye.
- Good-bye.
Good-bye.
She must have been pretty sure
about young Harris.
At any rate, she thought he!d take
the doctor!s news happily enough.
- Perhaps she summed the boy up wrongly.
- Mmm.
- Any of the girl!s addresses come through?
- Yes, sir.
A house in Bloomsbury.
Before that, a place in Earls Court.
And another lead -
Chelsea Women!s Hospital.
- We!ll try Earls Court first.
- Yes, sir.
- Yes, I remember Sapphire Robbins.
- What sort of a girl was she?
Nice enough girl,
considering she was colored.
- Oh, you knew then?
- I guessed. You can always tell.
Too eager to please, laughed too much,
noisy with her gramophone.
But I never mind
so long as they don!t look it.
Still, I had to get rid of her in the end.
Why?
Couldn!t risk upsetting the other tenants.
Some big colored bloke
started calling for her.
Black as your hat, he was.
I run a white house.
You never can tell
when the others are going to kick.
- What was this fellow!s name?
- I don!t know.
Did she get any phone calls?
One or two, from the International Club
and her brother.
Were you surprised
when Sapphire got herself killed?
All depends upon
how much hate she stirred up.
Hate?
- I dare say she was passing for white.
-So?
Would you be pleased
with a brass sovereign, Superintendent?
- Is that all?
- Yes. Thank you very much.
These landladies.
They know it all, don!t they?
Oh, I wouldn!t say that.
After all, they!ve got a living to earn,
I suppose.
- Chelsea Women!s Hospital, isn!t it?
- Yeah.
[ Learoyd ]
Miss Mary Dawson.
[ Woman Chattering ]
- Miss Dawson?
- Yes.
Well, my name is Hazard.
This is Inspector Learoyd.
- You want to talk to me about Sapphire?
- Yes.
I saw it in the paper.
It upset me very much.
- Did you like Sapphire?
- Yes, I did.
- Tell me, was she fond of dancing?
- Mad about it.
And who were her dancing partners?
Ray Landa, Paul Slade.
Uh-huh. How can we get in touch
with these people?
Ray Landa went home to Nigeria
six months ago...
but I can give you
Paul Slade!s telephone number.
- What is that?
- Chancery 2 49&.
- Thank you.
- Paul Slade was a law student then.
Now he!s a barrister.
Well, thank you, Miss Dawson.
You!ve been most helpful.
Oh, tell me -
Why did you stop seeing Sapphire?
She stopped seeing me.
I!m rather distinctive, you know.
Hello, Ted.
He!s down there.
He!s been back and forth
along that footpath all afternoon.
- What!s he looking for?
- Search me.
But whatever it is,
he hasn!t found it.
See you.
None of the neighbors saw Sapphire
leave Harris!s house on Saturday, sir.
-[ Knocking ]
-[ Hazard ] Yes?
- Mr. Paul Slade, sir.
- Oh, bring him in.
- The dancing lawyer.
- I beg your pardon, sir?
What? Oh, it doesn!t matter.
This way, sir.
Oh, it!s very good of you
to come all this way, Mr. Slade.
- Not at all.
- Thank you, Sergeant.
I!d rather call on you
than have you call on me.
My father!s in London
for a conference at Lambeth Palace.
I don!t think there!s a bishop living
who!d appreciate his son...
being mixed up in a murder inquiry...
however indirectly.
Here, won!t you sit down?
Here, let me take that.
I understand you knew Sapphire Robbins.
Very well.
- May I?
- Please do.
Oh, thank you.
Where did you first meet her?
At the International Club -
one of those get-together,
let!s-be-brothers places.
How long since you last saw her?
Seven, eight months.
Has she any other friends
besides yourself?
Chap called Ray Landa.
He!s gone home, I believe.
Anyone else?
Not that I know of.
You sent for me
to ask where I was on Saturday.
I was meeting my father
off a boat at Southampton.
We stayed the night...
and I drove him back to town
on Sunday morning.
Thank you.
Did you ever have a photograph
taken with Sapphire?
Yes.
In a group.
Did you ever have one taken alone,
dancing at a nightclub?
Never alone, Superintendent.
Did you ever take her shopping
in Shaftesbury Avenue?
- Babette!s, for instance.
- [ Laughing ] Good Lord, no. Why?
Well, if you didn!t, it doesn!t matter.
What sort of a girl was Sapphire?
Oh, neither one thing nor tother
when I knew her.
I imagine she changed
after she got this yen to marry light.
If you know what I mean.
I do. That ruled you out anyway.
The question of marriage between Sapphire
and myself could never have arisen.
- How's that?
- My father would never have permitted it.
Well, why not?
Sapphire came from a good home.
Her brother!s a doctor.
She was part white.
- Is that all?
- Well, for the moment, yes.
If we need you, we!ll send for you.
- Any help I can give.
- Thank you.
Hmm.
- Did he ask aboutjohnny?
- No.
- Good.
- [ Exhales ]
If my old man knew
I!d been around places like Tulip!s...
he!d cut off my allowance
and yank me back home.
- Is this policeman likely to get onto it?
- Shouldn!t think so.
Didn!t strike me
as being overburdened with brains.
Sanctimonious -
Always so careful
to have his hand out first.
I know.
We!re all the children of God.
Forget it.
[ Engine Revving ]
I see you!ve been talking to Slade.
I suppose he!s got a cast-iron alibi.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
But there!s something
he didn!t want me to know.
- What!s that?
- I don!t know.
He said he met Sapphire
at the International Club.
Get onto them, find out what time
all the kids are likely to be there together.
- Okay.
-[ Knocking ]
Yes? What is it, Sergeant?
- It!s about young Harris, sir.
- What about him?
He!s up on the heath. He!s been there
all the afternoon looking for something.
He pushed it down the drain. sir.
It was quite deliberate, so I thought
I!d best find out what it was.
Well, it!s a piece of wood.
Must have been painted
at some time.
Look, you can see
the red and blue marks.
Yeah.
Been jointed at both ends.
Must have come off something.
Off what, I wonder.
- Take this to the lab
and see what they make of it.
- Very good, sir.
Now, why on earth should that boy be
so anxious to find that and then get rid of it?
[ Children Chattering ]
You didn!t go in today.
Davy, this is a terrible thing that!s happened,
but you!ve got to pull yourself together.
In three weeks, you!ll be going away.
Rome. It!s a new world.
New people, new places.
You!ll forget.
I shan!t.
I can!t.
Davy, you did speak the truth
about Saturday?
You didn!t meet Sapphire, did you?
Davy...
what happened on Saturday night?
Mum, never ask
what happened on Saturday.
Never.
Davy.
You didn!t meet Sapphire
on Saturday, did you?
Answer me, Davy. Did you?
-[ irl ] rannyI
- There are the twins.
- Answer me, Davy.
- rannyI rannyI
- ranI
- All right, kids. Granny!s here.
- Granny! Granny!
- Granny! Granny!
What!s the matter? I thought
you!d gone to tea with Molly Turnbull.
- Her mother didn!t want us.
- Why?
She said we were a funny family
and she didn!t want us.
What!s happened?
What is it, Mother?
Go and take
your hats and coats off, hmm?
What is it?
Mrs. Turnbull wouldn!t have the twins for tea.
I think they ought to go and stay
with Katie in Richmond.
Oh, I don!t know what Sid would say.
Stop pretending about Sid.
He doesn!t care whether they!re here
or in Timbuktu.
He!s a bad husband and a bad father.
All right, Mum.
I!ll get Dad to drive them down tomorrow.
Ring Katie now.
All right.
Mildred.
What time did you leave Sapphire
on Saturday?
Half 1 :00, Mum.
Then I went back to the shop,
left her here with Dad.
- Then only Dad was at home.
- That's right.
- Davy wasn!t.
- No, he didn!t get in till 1 1 :00.
- Did you see him?
- No, I was in bed, but Dad was up.
Then we!ve only got Dad!s word
that he came in when he said he did.
Mum.
What are you thinking?
Nothing.
I!ll ring Katie.
You see to the children!s tea.
Oh, dear. We!ll never live it down.
- Who says?
- Molly Turnbull!s mother.
What won!t we live down?
I don!t know, but it!s something to do
with Auntie Sapphire.
- She!s dead.
-[ Door Opens ]
Time to settle down now, children.
Mummy, why are we going to stay
with Auntie Katie?
Ask no questions,
and you!ll be told no lies.
It!s because of Auntie Sapphire, isn!t it?
No. And don!t call her !!Auntie.!!
She!s nothing to us, and she never was.
- Good night, my darling.
- Good night, Mummy.
Good night, my love.
Good night, Mummy.
Straight off to sleep. No talking.
- Yes. Mummy.
- ood night.
[ Ted ] I've told you a dozen times
if I've told you once...
so why go on arguing about it?
David came in at 1 1.:00.
That's what I told the police.
and it's the truth.
[ Mrs. Harris ] It's what you told the police. Ted.
but is it the truth?
Stop accusing David.
Please, Mum.
Milly, if we!re to help him,
we!ve got to know the truth.
Lies are never any good.
- Who says Davy!s telling lies?
- [ Doorknob Turns ]
I don!t want any supper, Mum.
I!m going out.
- Where are you going, Son?
- I!m going for a walk, Mum.
Don!t be too late, will you?
[ Door Closes ]
[ Front Door Opens. Closes ]
[Jazz.:Ballad. Muffled ]
- [ Continues ]
- [ Loud Chattering ]
I don!t think you!ll find who you!re
looking for here, Superintendent.
We haven!t seen Sapphire
for six, seven months.
We!re merely trying
to fill in her background, Mr. Young.
- As you wish. This way.
- Thank you.
- [ Continues ]
- [ Loud Chattering ]
I!ll get some quiet.
Quiet, everybody, please.
Quiet, please, everybody.
And just gather around me, will you?
Won!t keep you a moment,
but these gentlemen are police officers.
[ Club Members Murmuring ]
They want to ask you a few questions
about Sapphire Robbins.
[ Man ]
Sapphire Robbins?
Was anyone here
a particular friend of Sapphire!s?
- We all were, weren!t we?
- Once.
What do you mean !!once!!?
I mean she stopped coming here.
Oh, why?
They drift away, Superintendent,
grow out of us.
Sapphire didn't drift away.
She used to come here regularly.
- Then suddenly, she never came again.
- Why was that?
Sapphire found she could pass for white.
I was there the day it happened.
Tell me.
We had just finished coffee.
I went to pay the bill.
A white lady came in,
took one look at my black mug and said...
!!Oh, I see they!ve let the jungle in.!!
She said this to Sapphire, you see,
like they were the same.
Sapphire left before I got my change.
When I went outside, she had gone.
Silly little peasant.
Did you ever dance with Sapphire?
No, not me.
Slade, Ray Landa -
They were her partners.
And Wishy Washy there.
- Where did you dance with her?
- Here, sir.
Did she mention anyone else?
Outside the club, I mean.
[ Club Members ]
No. No.
If you do remember anything,
speak to Mr. Young.
He'll know how to get in touch with us.
I think you!re right.
I don!t think I shall find anything here.
Thank you so much, everybody.
It!s been most kind of you.
- [ All Chattering ]
- I!ll see you out.
Please don!t bother.
You!ll miss the performance.
- [ Piano ]
- Right.
He!s a good pianist.
Yes, and he!s lucky.
- He!ll be accepted for what he is.
- And what!s that?
A good pianist.
- [ Ballad ]
- [ Chattering ]
- There!s a young lady in the car, sir.
- Ah, I thought as much.
Drive around the block.
Phil, get in the front.
Very good, sir.
Yes, I know a lot about Sapphire
they don!t know.
Go on.
The rhythm at the club -
it wasn!t hot enough for her.
So Paul Slade used to take her to Tulip!s -
a dive in Shepherd!s Bush.
- Oh, dear. His father, the bishop, huh?
- Yes. I know His Reverence.
He!d as soon see his precious son
in hellfire as at Tulip!s.
Paul got into a fight there over Sapphire.
Well, who did he fight with?
Oh, a johnnie someone.
!!Big, ugly fellow,!! he said.
Sapphire danced crazy with him.
Real crazy.
- Paul dropped her after that.
- Poor Sapphire.
Oh, she couldn!t care less.
She!d gotjohnnie then.
Of course, he didn!t last very long
when his color went out of fashion.
How did you know that?
He rang up, left a message for her.
!!Ring johnnie at Tulip!s.!!
Sapphire had gone white then,
so we never saw her.
I told him. He was mad.
They!d entered for some dancing competition.
Cash prize he said.
You didn!t like Sapphire.
No. I was Paul Slade!s girlfriend
till she cut me out.
I hated that high-yellow doll.
You can drop me anywhere here.
I!ll walk back.
- What are you studying?
- Montessori - child welfare.
- I shan!t bother with it though.
- Oh, why not?
I want to get married, stay here.
I like the English.
- Well, thank you.
- Bye-bye.
By the way, did you give this johnnie
Sapphire!s new address?
No, I wouldn!t do that.
Perhaps he got it from someone else though, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
- Try Tulip!s Club, Shepherd!s Bush.
- I will. Good night.
- Good night.
[Jazz.:Muffled ]
[ Continues ]
- Two beers.
- No beer, sir.
- Two beers.
- Scotch, Irish and bourbon, sir.
- Buy me a drink, copper.
- Three beers.
- Ever heard of Sapphire?
- Doubles, sir?
Three beers.
- The chick that was done on Hampstead Heath?
- That!s the chick.
Ten shillings, sir.
Sorry I!ve got nothing smaller.
- Ten shillings, sir.
- Keep the change.
Now then, ever heard of Sapphire?
- Down the hatch, copper.
- Is johnnie in tonight?
johnnie - is he in tonight?
- Talking to me, sir?
- Yes.
Lots ofjohnnie here tonight, sir.
There!s johnnie Fingers.
johnnie Hot Feet.
johnnie Rags.
And johnnie Tiger over there.
Sure, all thejohnnies in the world
are here tonight, sir.
We want thejohnnie
who danced with this chick.
This chick was never here at all, sir.
Can I help you, Superintendent?
- Mr. Tulip?
- That!s what they call me.
We!re looking for thejohnnie
who used to dance with Sapphire -
this Sapphire.
You mean the chick that was cut up
on Hampstead Heath Saturday night?
- Mm-hmm.
- She!s new to me. I never saw her here.
That!s a lily-skin.
Your chick was a lily-skin, wasn!t she?
- Hmm?
- It!s in the evening papers.
I think I would!ve remembered
if she!d ever been in here.
Oh, you can always tell.
!Cause once they hear
the beat of the bongo -
[ Bongo Drums ]
Yes.
No matter how fair is the skin,
they can!t hide that swing.
Your chick was never here,
Superintendent.
Somewhere else
she danced with herjohnnie.
Let!s get out of here.
Blow,johnnie.
And don!t come back.
You!re wearing too much trouble.
Johnnie.
Where was you on Saturday night,johnnie?
You wasn!t in the club.
Was you with Sapphire?
Was you,johnnie?
You blow,johnnie. Blow.
Can!t blow without loot.
I!ll bring you loot.
[ Ends ]
That!s him.
Brother, I!m in trouble.
The police. I!ve got to hide up.
We have never been in trouble with the law
and don!t care to be.
Go on away with you, boy. It!s you and your kind
that get us respectable folk a bad name.
Trash.
The police - on my tail.
[ Panting ]
Get out, nigger.
We got copper trouble, too,
but we ain!t got your sort of woman trouble.
Now get out and stay out.
Dirty black bas -
-[ Man ] Right. Up.
-[ Metal Banging ]
Here, look at that.
What!s the hurry, nigger?
[ Man #2 ]
Out of the way. nig.
[ Man #3 ]
On your way then. sonny boy.
And hurry!
[ Dog Barking ]
- They!re after me. Please.
- Who!s after you - the teds?
- Please help.
- I daren!t.
They!d break the place to pieces,
tear the shop down. It!s my living, boy.
- Please, mister.
- I tell you I daren!t.
Dad, you!ve got to.
He!s in trouble.
- I tell you I daren!t.
- You!ve got to, Dad.
Come in. This way.
[ Dog Barking ]
[ Footsteps Running ]
- Where were you on Saturday night,johnnie?
- On the streets.
- With Sapphire?
- No, boss. No.
- Which street,johnnie?
- Down the West End.
- Who was with you?
- No one. I was on my pat.
-johnnie all alone, eh?
- The truth,johnnie. Let!s have the truth.
- Where were you Saturday night?
- Where were you Saturday night?
- Answer!
- [ Panting ]
Davy? Where have you been?
Walking.
Davy.
Where were you on Saturday night?
In a car on my way back from Cambridge.
- Where were you on Saturday night?
- I told you.
Davy.
Ever since you were a little boy,
I!ve known when you were lying to me.
Where were you, Sonny?
Mum, I told you never to ask
about Saturday night. Please.
[ Door Closes ]
Saturday night,johnnie.
Where were you?
Out! Out!
- Where?
- On the streets.
- Who with?
- On my pat.
- Who with?
- On my pat.
- When!d you see Sapphire last?
- I don!t know Sapphire!
You phoned the International Club
and left a message for her.
Now, where were you Saturday night?
Out! Out!
Someone!s gonna look at you
in the morning...
someone who saw you with Sapphire.
Want to change your story,johnnie?
No! No!
- Right. Book him.
- Come on. On your feet.
Why do you say you didn!t know Sapphire?
You had a fight over her at Tulip!s.
Didn!t kill her.
All right.
Knew Sapphire, but didn!t kill her.
- You were crazy about her, weren!t you?
- No. We just dance, laugh.
She went white and dropped you,
didn!t she?
Then you ran into her on Saturday night,
followed her and knifed her.
No! We used to dance.
That!s all,just dance!
Where is your knife,johnnie?
Your knife,johnnie -where is it?
Where!s your knife?
All right. Take him away.
Find the knife and we!ve got him.
- [ Train Engine Chugging ]
- [ Children Chattering, Shouting ]
[ Children Shouting, Laughing ]
- Yes?
-johnnie Fiddle.
Out.
Upstairs, far as you can go. Left.
Thank you.
[ Train Engine Chugging ]
[ Learoyd ]
There you are. the two of them.
- In congress, aren!t they?
- No, I wouldn!t say that.
She wasn!t any delicate flower, you know.
just the same as him underneath.
Besides, he didn!t look
so black to her then.
No.
Let!s take a look around.
Huh. Look at this.
And this.
Looks like young Harris
is in the clear.
Yeah, looks that way.
Let!s see what the lab
has to say about it.
[ Children Shouting ]
- It!s quite a long trip.
- What?
From here to Hampstead Heath.
It!s the other side of London.
How the devil did he get there?
Oh, there will be a simple answer
to transport.
You!d really like it to be
this colored boy, wouldn!t you?
Message over the car radio, sir.
There!s a gentleman at the station says he drove
Mr. David Harris from Cambridge last Saturday.
Hey.
[ Laughing ]
There!s your transport for you.
These spades are a load of trouble.
I reckon we should send them back
where they came from.
We wouldn!t have half this bother
if they weren!t here.
Oh, I suppose you!re right.
just the same as you wouldn!t have
old ladies being clobbered by hooligans...
if there weren!t any old ladies.
So, what do you do - get rid
of the hooligans or the people they bash?
Look. Phil. given the right atmosphere.
you can organize riots against anyone-
jews, Catholics, Negroes, Irish...
even policemen with big feet.
[ Laughing ]
Is this the boy you gave a lift to
just outside Cambridge on Saturday?
- Yes.
- What time did you put him down?
I dropped him at the post office,
oh, around &:00.
He said it was only a 1 0 minutes! walk
away from where he lived.
Are you sure?
[ Chuckles ]
I wouldn!t be here if I wasn!t.
- Do you deny this?
- What!s the use?
Well, thank you, sir.
I hope we haven!t wasted
too much of your time.
Oh, it!s quite all right.
Sorry, old chap.
Well, sit down, Mr. Harris.
What time did you get home
on Saturday?
- 1 1 :00.
- You heard what the man said.
I got back to town at &:00.
I didn!t get home till 1 1 :00.
Then what did you do in between?
Walked about.
Then I went to the pictures.
Well, why didn!t you say this before?
I didn!t want my father to know.
He worries if I go to the pictures too often
in term time. Thinks it strains my eyes.
Give me your glasses.
- Which cinema did you go to?
- The Ritz.
What were you doing
on Hampstead Heath yesterday?
- If I told you, you wouldn!t believe me.
- Well,just try, will you?
I - I wanted to see where it happened.
I had some idea
I might stumble on something -
something I!d recognize
and you wouldn!t.
And did you?
No.
How about this?
Why were you so anxious
to get rid of this?
I didn!t. I-I -
I-I never saw it before.
I!m told it!s part of a child!s doll,
a wooden doll.
A leg possibly.
- Is that what you think it is?
- Oh, I don!t think it!s anything.
ju-just a piece of wood
I was doodling with.
- You admit picking it up then.
- Yes.
- You just said you didn!t.
- I - I!d forgotten.
Stop lying, Harris.
You were seen pushing this down a drain.
- Why?
- I don!t know. I don!t know.
You mean you won!t say. On your way home
from the post office on Saturday night...
- was it then you met Sapphire?
- No. I never saw her.
- Was it then she told you about the baby?
- I tell you I never saw her!
- How long had you known she was colored?
- I didn!t care! I didn!t care!
But you did care
about your scholarship.
It didn!t carry a grant for a wife, did it?
If you married Sapphire, the scholarship was off.
I loved her!
[ Sobbing ]
I - I tell you I loved Sapphire.
Where were you when she was killed?
- [ Knocking ]
- Yes?
Oh, excuse me, sir.
Mr. David Harris!s father is here
with a solicitor.
Right.
All right, Harris.
You!d better go with him, Phil.
Ralph Piggot.
Piggot, North & Piggot.
Finsbury Pavement.
Mr. Harris asked me to come
and look after his son.
Can I see my client, please?
He!s all yours.
Tough monkey that father. Must have moved
like the wind to get a lawyer around here.
Yeah. There they go.
[ Hazard ]
Hmm.
I wonder where he was on Saturday night.
They!re getting into a taxi now.
Going over to the Ritz
to find a witness, I!ll bet. Hmm.
That was a very human lie.
Boy didn!t want to upset his father.
Couldn!t own up later.
He was in too deep.
Where was he on Saturday night?
- Who?
- Old Harris.
Oh, at the, uh, local social club.
Did we check it?
All right, don!t look so horrified.
We can!t think of everything,
not even us.
Constable Ferris is also
a member of that social club.
No, sir. Ted Harris didn!t come into the club
till late on Saturday night.
About 1 0:00. That!s definite.
- All right, Ferris.
- Sir.
Not until 1 0:00, eh?
He gave us the impression
he!d been there all evening.
No, he didn!t. No. His daughter took it
for granted, and we naturally followed.
I think I!ll go round and see her...
try and bounce her
into giving something away.
We still haven!t had the report
on johnnie Fiddle!s knife.
No, we!ve got that to come.
Drive round to that dairy, will you?
Of course Dad spent the evening at the club.
He always does Saturdays.
My information is
he didn!t get there until 1 0:00.
You!re not trying to suggest
that he had anything to do with it?
I!m not saying he did.
I merely want to know where he was.
Then ask him. Superintendent.
- Did Sapphire often go to your house?
- Yes.
I suppose, really, you were all
as much to blame as David.
- What do you mean?
- You shouldn!t have made her so welcome...
if you didn!t want him involved
with a colored girl.
We didn!t know she was colored,
not until -
Not until when, Mrs. Farr?
Not until Saturday, was it?
The day she was killed.
My father didn!t do it,
I swear, Superintendent.
You can search the house
from top to bottom.
You!ll not find a speck of blood
or a trace of Sapphire.
Thank you, Mrs. Farr.
[ Front Door Bell Dings ]
I!m peckish, Lilly.
Slip across to Mac!s and get me
a ham sandwich, will you?
Well, go on.
[ Door Opens. Closes ]
- [ Doorbell Ringing ]
- [ Phone Ringing ]
No. Old Harris can!t be back yet,
or he!d answer that phone.
- No, wait a minute.
- [ Ringing Stops ]
- She!ll ring again.
- Who?
- Mildred.
- [ Woman ] Oh. there's no one in.
Mrs. Harris has gone down to Richmond,
and Milly!s at the dairy.
Oh, thank you.
You might find Mr. Harris in the paint shed. but
you'll have to go round the yard at the back for that.
Thanks.
[ Learoyd ]
No, he!s not here.
[ Hazard ] I'd like to know
what's underneath that dust sheet.
We haven!t got enough evidence
to get a search warrant for this place.
No.
[ Piggot ]
It was expecting too much.
Saturday night, packed house.
How could she remember?
You didn!t make this up
on the spur of the moment, did you?
If the boy says he went to the pictures,
he went to the pictures.
You sound like the police.
If I!m going to help you,
I!ve got to think like the police.
It!s no use boggling.
They!ve got a very good circumstantial case.
They!ve got no case at all.
The boy didn!t do it.
- And if you can!t clear him, I will.
- You hope you can. That!s what you mean.
- I know I can. I know I can.
- Shut up talking across me.
He!s never talked to me like that
in his life.
Perhaps there!s a side to the boy
you!ve never seen, Mr. Harris.
I know my own son.
He didn!t kill Sapphire.
I know he didn!t.
- Tell Sergeant Newton I want him right away.
- Very good, sir.
[ Learoyd ]
Right. Thank you.
Report from the lab, Bob.
The blood on johnnie Fiddle!s shirt
is the same group as the girl!s...
and his knife could have
inflicted the wounds.
- Right. Let!s have him up.
- Okay.
- Uh, you wanted me, sir?
- Oh, Newton.
Get a warrant to search all the sheds
at the back of Oakland Road.
Say we!re looking for stolen lead.
- I want to see inside Harris!s paint shop.
- Right, sir.
Is this yours,johnnie?
No, boss. No.
Then what was it doing in your mattress
on your bed?
Someone put it there.
He - He put it there!
- What?
- All right.
The blood found on this knife,
on your shirt...
matches Sapphire's blood.
And what about this?
You and Sapphire, isn!t it?
Did you kill her,johnnie?
Did you?
No, boss. No!
- The blood matches.
- Not Sapphire!s blood.
Then whose, you big lug?
Horace Big Cigar.
We fight Saturday night.
Why the hell
didn!t you say this before?
- They say I kill him, boss.
- They say?
- Who saw this fight?
- Them.
Them? Who!s !!them!!?
Alexander, Gin Ricky, Big Sam.
- Where do we find these people?
- Number 1 &, down the street from my place.
It was self-defense, boss.
Horace Big Cigar attack me.
I not mean to kill him.
I!ll bet.
[ Children Chattering ]
- [ Radio.:Jazzy ]
-[ Man ] No. no. I cover. I cover it.
-[ Man #2 ] Okay. come on. baby.
-[ Dice Clatter]
-[ Man #3 ] You take it.
-[ Man #1 ] Eight point. huh?
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Baby wants new shoes.
- Seven out. Seven out.
What!s your name?
Horace Big Cigar.
What!s yours, man?
This man!s the law.
Now, no ignorant, foolish talk. Mind?
- [ Gamblers Chattering ]
- All right, Horace.
According to our information, Horace,
you!re dead.
Incorrect.
Not ready for my coffin yet.
[ Laughing ]
[ Others Laughing ]
- Where were you Saturday night, Horace?
- Right here, boss.
- Why are you in bed?
- Sick man, boss.
Very sick.
How come?
- How!d you get that?
- Oh, hit by a jumble car.
What car?
Knocked out.
Had no opportunity to see the vehicle.
[ Laughs ]
johnnie Fiddle one big lie then, huh?
What you say, boss?
What you sayjohnnie Fiddle done?
We!re booking him for the killing
on Hampstead Heath Saturday night.
That!s whatjohnnie Fiddle done.
- Sapphire - that chick that got cut up?
- The same.
[ Laughing ]
That sure is one big pity.
johnnie Fiddle in plenty trouble, eh?
[ Laughing ]
You hear that, men?
Saturday night.
[ All Laughing ]
You really booking johnnie Fiddle, boss?
Unless you can give him an out.
He says he was with you.
You sure wastin! your time.
I got no out forjohnnie Fiddle.
You go - [ Clicks Tongue ] hang him.
[ Laughing ]
Is that where the jumble car
knocked you down, Horace?
You sure wise man, boss.
- Alexander.
- Yes, boss?
- Gin Ricky.
- Yes, boss?
- Big Sam.
- Yes, boss?
Why did you telljohnnie Fiddle
he!d killed Horace Big Cigar?
johnnie Fiddle wears too much
of a high hat.
We seek a way to knock it off.
Make that big bushman sweat, boss.
- Were they all here Saturday night?
- All here, boss.
Right. Names.
- You.
- Alexander.
[ Vehicle Approaching ]
- [ Doorbell Rings ]
- I!ll go, Ted.
We!re in here.
Did you find what you wanted?
I think so.
Well?
I!ve just seen Sapphire!s brother.
I!ve asked him to call round here.
- Not her brother.
- We don!t want him here.
You had better tell him that yourself.
He!ll be here in a minute.
I said we don!t want him here.
I want him.
I wonder if Sapphire
would have been happy here.
What do you think, Mr. Harris?
Why shouldn!t she be?
I don!t know. I!m asking you.
[ Doorbell Rings ]
Answer the door.
How do you do?
[ Mumbling ]
How do you do?
I!m Mrs. Harris.
- Will you sit down?
- Thank you.
Dr. Robbins.
I!ve asked you to come here
because I think you may be able to help us.
If I can.
Did Sapphire want to marry this boy?
Yes, I - I think she did.
Well, David!s father here
has been insisting all along...
that he was willing to let them marry.
That!s right.
Assuming he!s telling the truth,
that would have left the decision with David.
Did your sister give you the impression
that he would have married her?
Well, I don!t know
that I can answer that.
I mean, we -
we really never discussed -
I!ve told you over and over again. Yes.
But supposing your father were lying
and didn!t want you to marry her?
I didn!t care.
But you cared about your scholarship, didn!t you?
You cared about your career.
- Marriage would have stopped all that.
- It wasn!t me that was mad about the career.
So you say.
I wouldn!t know.
You may have thought
that a bit of fun was one thing...
but that marriage was too high a price
to pay for it.
This boy couldn!t do anything like -
- We don!t need you to defend our David.
- Mildred.
How about you, Mr. Harris?
You had your reasons, too, didn!t you?
- I didn't wish her any harm.
- Of course not.
She was going to marry David.
That!s what you said, wasn!t it?
That!s right.
And I gave him my word he would.
But she didn!t marry him, did she?
-She would have done.
- Would have done?
- If you hadn't stopped her.
Is that what you mean?
- That!s not true.
I didn!t wish her any harm. None of us did.
We liked her. We liked her!
If David wanted her.
that was the end-
- That was good enough.
- Shut up!
Why don!t you tell him the truth?
You hated her!
All you ever wanted
was for me to be an architect.
''My boy-an architect. ''
You were going to send me away. but you-
You hated her so much that you finally-
Get him out!
Don!t want his hands on my kids! toys!
Don!t want him near my kids!
Don't want his dirty hands
on my childrenI
Tearing up my family.
They!re mine.
You really hate colored people, don!t you?
You really hate them.
And with Sapphire,
you couldn!t control yourself.
And that!s why you killed her.
It wasn!t like that.
It wouldn!t have happened
if she hadn!t come to the dairy.
I!d locked up, drawn the blinds.
She banged on the door
and called to me.
I had to let her in.
She said she was fed up waiting for David
and wanted my company.
She sat on the counter
all the time I was tidying up -
sweeping, doing Lilly!s work-
swinging her legs and laughing.
[ Sniveling ]
She couldn!t see what she!d done.
She didn!t care.
Ruining David!s life...
ruining Dad!s dream.
When I said she!d better watch out...
David might prefer to give her
1 0 bob a week for the yellow brat...
and keep his scholarship...
she laughed in my face and said David
didn!t care what color the baby was...
or what color she was, he wanted her.
And I!d forgotten what that was like.
I!d forgotten what it was like to be wanted.
She was taunting me
with Sid never coming home.
Then she jumped down from the counter,
put her hand on my shoulder and said...
!!Give the twins Auntie Sapphire!s love...
and tell them they!ll have
a new little cousin soon.!!
!!New little cousin.!!
There was a knife on the counter.
And then there was blood.
[ Shudders ]
[ Groaning, Sobbing ]
[ Crying ]
[ Both Crying ]
I!m sorry, Dad.
I - I know, Son.
You thought I killed her.
I don!t blame you.
We all had hate in our hearts.
[ Sniveling ]
I loved Sapphire.
I loved her.
Yes, I believe you did.
[ Footsteps On Stoop ]
- Are you going back to Birmingham tonight?
- Yes.
- Can we give you a lift to the station?
- Thank you, I!d like to walk.
Well.
We haven!t given you very much
to take back, have we, Doctor?
No.
But then I see all kinds of sickness
in my practice, Superintendent.
I!ve never yet seen the kind
you can cure in a day.
Cases don!t get solved
without somebody getting hurt.
You know that.
We didn!t solve anything, Phil.
We just picked up the pieces.