Murdoch Mysteries (2004) s19e15 Episode Script

(INTRIGUING MUSIC)
Dr. Newsome,
you're standing trial in
the murder of your wife,
Lucinda Helmsworthy-Newsome.
You've entered a plea of not guilty.
Will you be acting in your own defence?
Yes, Your Honour. I am confident that
this is but a teensy misunderstanding,
The truth will come presently to light
and we'll all be home by lunchtime.
Very well. The Crown may
proceed with its case.
Why aren't you representing him?
- He's eschewed representation.
- Oh, bless you.
He refused.
Why not just say that
then? You always have to be
- so high and mighty.
- The Crown calls Dr. Rupert Newsome.
Dr. Newsome, you are not compelled
to testify in your own trial.
Oh, pshaw. All the quicker
to set the record straight.
Oh! I promise to tell the truth,
so help me God, and
all that other business.
Dr. Newsome,
please inform the court
what you were doing
in the hours that led up to
Mrs. Helmsworthy-Newsome's death.
Ah, yes. Uh, we were celebrating
Ruthie and Henry's anniversary.
Ah, Lucy was in one of
her moods, but the food?
The food was divine.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SOFT OPERA MUSIC)
The next course is tartare.
What took so long?
Mm.
(MAN INHALING DEEPLY)
Mm.
- (WOMAN GIGGLING)
- Oh, oh, oh. Bucky,
look at my new walking stick.
Both the eyes are real rubies.
Ha! You-you wouldn't believe the price.
Magnificent thing.
If you're not careful,
I'll steal it from you.
Naughty. (LAUGHING)
Whatever have you done to
your moustaches, Newsome?
Leave him be, won't you?
The times have changed since
you've been in prison, Bernie.
This style is all the rage now.
It looks as though your
lip has grown an eyebrow.
(LAUGHING)
(NASALLY LAUGHTER)
- (RUPERT): That's how he laughs.
- Hm.
Gentlemen of the jury, picture
me with thin moustaches.
I looked a marvel.
Dr. Newsome,
what were you doing after the party?
Oh, right. Um
everyone went home 'round nine.
I took a brandy by the fire.
Lucinda had gone upstairs
to prepare for bed,
and then I heard the
most terrible sound.
- (THUD)
- (WOMAN SHOUTS): No!
- (WOMAN SCREAMING)
- (THUDDING)
(TENSE MUSIC)
- You killed my sister!
- No, I didn't!
- Order!
- Bernie, I didn't!
Court officers, please.
Remove Mr. Helmsworthy.
Ah, bosh. You'll hang for this, Newsome!
Get your soiled hands
off. I'm a free man.
You'll hang for this!
Dr. Newsome, if we can
return to your account
of the night in question.
You were alone in the
house when your wife died?
- Yes.
- After the last of the guests
departed at nine o'clock,
no one else was in the house?
Uh uh, no. No one.
The Crown submits these photographs
taken the afternoon before the murder.
This is you, Dr. Newsome,
posing with your walking stick?
Yes. And, uh, gentlemen,
note the thin moustaches.
And where's that walking stick now?
Well, I haven't any idea.
I left it in the hallway that evening,
but then I was arrested and, well
(CHUCKLING) Clearly I
haven't seen it since.
The Crown submits further
photographs taken post-mortem.
They show the lacerations
on Mrs. Helmsworthy-Newsome's head.
I can't bear to look at those.
Forensic experts would testify that
though her neck was broken in the fall,
these lacerations were suffered prior,
inflicted by blows from a
weapon in the upstairs hallway.
That's where the attack began,
driving Mrs. Helmsworthy-Newsome
towards the staircase where,
fleeing her attacker,
she fell to her death.
Can you explain these
lacerations, Dr. Newsome?
Can you explain the blood
splatters in the hallway?
(TENSE MUSIC)
No.
You cannot.
Nor can you explain the fact
that the murder weapon left behind
a piece of evidence caught
in the victim's hair.
A ruby.
N-no.
A perfect match
from Dr. Newsome's
missing walking stick.
(CROWD MURMURING)
(THEME MUSIC)
I'm doomed, aren't I?
Effie, you have to help me.
Shh! (WHISPERING): I'm sorry!
You've elected to represent yourself.
You're meant to be using the law
library to build your defence.
I don't know what I'm doing!
Well, if I were your lawyer,
I would advise you to change your plea.
But I'm innocent.
You know that, don't you?
- You think I did it!
- Shh!
(WHISPERING): I'm sorry!
Rupert, can you explain
the blood in the hallway?
(RUPERT SIGHS)
The ruby from your walking stick?
No. I can't.
Well, Rupert, you have to at
least consider a guilty plea.
We can file appeals and
lobby to have you released.
It worked for Bernard;
he only served six years.
I know it's terrible, but
it's a terrible situation
and you don't exactly
have another choice.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Rupert?
Guards, did you see where he went?
(EFFIE): I don't understand.
There's nowhere he could have gone.
A trapdoor in the floor?
I checked. Nothing.
(INTRIGUING MUSIC)
No, he couldn't have fit in there.
And, besides, it only
went from here to there.
It never went out the door.
This cart travelled from here
to there at that precise moment?
Yes.
Well, then, perhaps it didn't
need to leave the room at all.
Um
If you, eventually,
made your way to here
and the cart was moving from here,
Mr. Newsome could have crouched down
and been obscured from this guard,
travelled along this
direction with the cart,
and then hidden from this guard.
And then travelled this
direction, hidden from you.
(VEHICLE WHIRRING)
This window is unlatched.
Uh-huh.
Henry! What's-what's going on?
Well, it's Rupert, dear. He's escaped.
- What?!
- I was meeting with him
at the law library and he
managed to slip out the window.
Oh. Very good.
Where is he now?
I didn't help him.
Oh, well, no! H-he won't say anything. No.
Darling, we really should be going.
We have to be at the
estate for the reading
- of Lucinda's will.
- Yes.
Wait. Henry, look.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Hm. Oh!
Oh, this is this
is Rupert's barbershop.
I'll fetch the detective.
- Uh, Ruthie.
- Oh.
- I'll see you at the estate later.
- Hm.
Must dash. Best of luck.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Hello?
Anyone here?
(MUFFLED SHOUTING, THUDDING)
It's all right. Police.
- It was Rupert Newsome.
The man's gone mad!
- Tied me up and put me in my own
- Okay.
Calm down. Calm down. Have a seat.
Start at the beginning.
What time did Rupert arrive?
Just after nine o'clock.
That's just after he escaped.
A-and what happened when he arrived?
I shaved his beard.
Then he grabbed hold
of a straight razor,
bundled me in the water
closet, and tied me up!
Was there anyone else here?
No, sir. My next
appointment never arrived.
I have a standing client
at 9:15 every Tuesday.
- Who?
- Bucky Featherstonhaugh.
The Featherstonhaughs?
Th-they live next to the Newsome estate.
And, sir, Bucky is Rupert's best friend.
And now for the reading of
Lucinda Helmsworthy-Newsome's will.
Oh. Phew. This is it.
Oh, we'll be all right, Ruthie.
I'm sure she left Rupert something,
and he'll take care of us.
To my brother, Bernard Helmsworthy
- That's me.
- who loves our horses as much as I,
I leave the stables,
the thoroughbreds,
and the sum of $40,000 for their care.
That's everything.
What?
What does that mean?
What-what about the estate?
Well, it goes to Mrs.
Helmsworthy-Newsome's next of kin.
Ah! Her brother. Moi.
No. Her husband.
- We're rich!
- Oh.
(LAUGHING)
Oh.
(CLEARS THROAT)
I never saw him.
We know you picked up
Mr. Newsome at the barbershop,
Mr. Featherstonhaugh.
Picked him up?
He barrelled his way into my carriage
and held a razor to my neck.
He nearly cut me.
Are you then saying that you didn't abet
- Mr. Newsome in his escape?
- Bet him what?
I beg your pardon?
I didn't have a bet with Newsome.
No, not a bet, abet.
My good man, are you quite all right?
What did he say to you when
he got into your carriage?
Uh, he told me to bring him to my home.
I refused, huh. Of course. (CHUCKLES)
But then he said it
again, so I assented.
But when we arrived, I
refused to allow him in.
Right. Where did he go then?
To the boathouse.
He has likely sailed halfway
across Lake Ontario by now.
That's what he told you to say.
Yes. (CHUCKLING)
Ah, ah, hm
Where did he actually go?
(SIGHS) East, across the acreage.
The property to the east
is the Newsome estate.
Right. The constables
are likely there already.
Let's retrace his steps.
(EFFIE SIGHS)
Uh
(CURIOUS MUSIC)
(DISTANT HORSE NEIGHING)
Sir!
Sir.
Toronto Constabulary.
What can I do for you?
You work here at the Newsome estate?
I keep the stables.
Did you happen to see
Rupert Newsome here?
- Isn't he in jail?
- (EFFIE): He's escaped.
Huh. I saw someone
crossing the fields earlier,
taking just the route you are now.
Never crossed my mind
it'd be Mr. Newsome.
- You didn't see his face?
- No, ma'am.
That was quite a distance.
And which direction was he going?
Towards the main house.
Sir, this is mad.
Lucinda had an appointment to
transfer half the estate to myself.
It was what Dadah wanted
as soon as I was released from prison.
- When was this appointment?
- Next week.
Then it didn't happen?
Well, no. She died.
Upon her death, everything
falls to the estate.
- The estate follows her will.
- Yes, we have to do more.
I'm sorry, Mr. Helmsworthy.
Uh, I wouldn't even know
what to do with that money.
Oh, I do! A mink,
dresses, jewels, shoes.
Ruth,
Henry,
be reasonable.
Hm.
What do you think, Henry?
Well, we could give him a share.
No, that doesn't sound
like something I would do.
Half the estate was intended to be mine.
It was the wish of dear departed Lucinda
and the wish of dear departed Dadah.
About that.
Dear departed Dadah promised
me that sculpture, remember?
But then dear departed Dadah died
and dear departed Lucinda
refused to give it to me. Hm.
So, what of it? You've
already stolen it.
- I did no such thing!
- (KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Pardon the interruption.
Henry, have you seen Rupert Newsome?
Here? Wha-what would
Rupert be doing here?
A witness may have
seen him crossing from
the Featherstonhaugh
estate to the house.
No, he hasn't been here.
Pardonnez-moi.
Someone was in my kitchen.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Now, this door is always locked.
We were told the lock is
jammed and cannot be used.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC CONTINUES)
Well, the lock is jammed,
but it's jammed open.
This cannot be locked.
Stands to reason that Rupert
would have known about that,
given that it's his house.
But what was he doing
sneaking into his own kitchen?
What's this?
Cocoa?
Hm.
Was Rupert pointing
us in this direction?
A servants' staircase?
I had no idea that this was there.
Shall we?
Leads to the upstairs hallway.
This is where the killer
struck Lucinda Helmsworthy
with the walking stick.
These are the blood spatters.
She was driven down
the hallway, this way,
to the main stairwell,
the end of the hall.
Is Rupert trying to
show us how someone else
may have entered the house that night?
He's trying to prove his innocence.
Murdoch. Where's Newsome?
It's all over the papers.
We look like fools.
Well, sir, we have not found him as yet,
but he was at the Newsome estate.
Constables are still
there searching for clues.
What was Newsome thinking, anyway?
I believe he's trying
to prove his innocence.
Everyone knows he did it.
He's just run off to
make up new evidence
to try and sully the case.
History does suggest Rupert
Newsome cannot be trusted.
Detective.
They've found something
at the Newsome estate.
I come bearing a deeper
understanding of our, uh,
shall we say, impasse.
- What?
- I assume you're familiar
with criminal forfeiture?
Why would you assume that?
It's an established and immutable
part of our jus commune.
It states that a criminal
cannot profit from his crimes.
(SCOFFS) So, what of it?
- I've done nothing wrong.
- No, no. But your brother has.
And if he is convicted
of killing my sister,
he will get nothing.
Ergo,
ipso facto, prima facie you
- will get nothing.
- No!
No. No, no, no.
That-that can't be right.
Ah, but it is. It is.
Everything is mine,
including that sculpture that you stole,
which I insist you return at once.
Ah.
(PLAYFUL MUSIC)
Constables found it just over
here by the summer house, sir.
Rupert's prison clothes.
So he was here.
Could he be hiding inside?
He may have been, but
there's no sign of him now.
The lads are searching
the grounds again.
We found a fresh patch
of oil and tire tracks
on the road down below.
Rupert may have driven off the estate.
I'll speak with the staff to see
if any of the autos are missing.
Right.
(PANTING)
Effie, there you are.
What is all this nonsense
about, uh, criminal forfeiture?
I beg your pardon?
Well, they're saying
Rupert gets nothing,
but the will states
he's to get everything.
Well, obviously, he
wouldn't inherit anything
if he murdered the testatrix.
- Well, he didn't murder one of those.
- His wife!
He can't have her
money if he killed her!
But that's not fair!
- Yes, it is!
- Don't worry, Ruthie.
We'll find Rupert and
we'll prove his innocence.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
We'll, uh, "prove" his "innocence."
What?
- What do you mean, dear?
- Well, only that
a jury could be encouraged
to find him innocent if
we provide a little
(SOFT MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
Rupert?
Ahh!
Hello.
I took the motor oil
out of the auto stables
and spilled it on the ground.
Well, that was awfully clever.
I am clever, Effie. I
just don't feel the need
to show it off all the time.
Anyway, as soon as they
find there's no car missing,
I am going back to jail.
No, you're going back to jail now!
Oh, no, please, Effie. I'm innocent.
So you snuck into the house
just to show that
somebody else could do it?
Why not just bring it up at trial?
Well, I-I-I may not have been
entirely truthful on the stand.
Rupert, what really happened that night?
Well, most of what I said was true.
After the party, Lucy and I were alone.
Come to bed, Perty.
In a moment, dear.
Don't tarry too long.
I have the most wondrous
joke to tell you.
- What was the joke?
- I haven't any idea.
You see, I never joined her upstairs.
After a moment, I heard something.
(LUCINDA): No!
(EFFIE): Yes, terrible
sound from the staircase.
- (RUPERT): No, the old kitchen door.
- (DOOR OPENS)
Hm. I knew what that meant.
Lucinda had a visitor. I
was to wait downstairs.
(EFFIE): Who was the visitor?
Well, the killer, presumably.
Ah-ah, initially, of course,
I assumed it was Bucky.
- Bucky Featherstonhaugh?
- Well, yes.
Bucky and Lucinda had been carrying
on an affair for some months.
She jammed the lock
on the old kitchen door
and reopened the disused
servants' staircase
so he could enter unnoticed
(WHISPERING): and do unto
her his carnal labours.
- And you knew about this?
- Oh! Yes!
Ha. Lucinda and I had an arrangement.
She could get lucky with Bucky
and I was free to enjoy the
pleasure of her contentment.
You can see why I could not
bring this up on the stand.
It would cast shame
upon Lucinda's memory.
- And it would give you a motive.
- Oh.
Yes, I suppose it would.
So, Bucky killed Lucinda?
No. No, no.
Effie, I confronted Bucky
straight away upon my escape.
- He said he didn't do it.
- And you believed him?
Effie, he's my top chum.
- He was sleeping with your wife!
- Well, somebody had to!
You don't understand.
Bucky was at home that night
emptying himself into the latrine
after being made sick
by that awful tartare
that Lucy insisted on serving.
So, somebody else entered
the kitchen door that night.
And whoever it was killed Lucinda.
But-but how did the killer get
ahold of your walking stick?
I don't know.
I left it in the hallway.
Listen, Rupert, we will
find whoever killed Lucinda,
but I have to return you to jail.
Oh, oh, no, no, no, no. Please.
No! No, you can't. Look. Look.
I received it in prison.
I don't know who sent it.
(TENSE MUSIC)
"You are not getting out of this alive."
It's a threat.
I'm aware.
Please, Effie Shpeffie,
you have to keep me
safe until we catch him.
Please.
Lucinda was having an affair
and Rupert wrote you an
entire account of his innocence
and placed it in your postbox?
Yes.
With no indication of
where he might be hiding?
I'm afraid not.
Right, then.
If that is the case,
then according to Rupert,
whoever came through
the kitchen door that
night is the murderer.
And his assertion that Bucky
Featherstonhaugh's innocent
- is suspect at best.
- The tartare did seem off.
And Lucinda was displeased with
just about everyone that day.
Anyone in particular?
I did see her having a
row with her stablehand.
Mr. Slattery,
why was Mrs. Helmsworthy upset with you
on the night of her murder?
I'd told her one of
the horses got loose.
Couldn't find him anywhere.
She dressed me down,
but it wasn't my fault.
The gate was broken.
And where were you after the party?
I was out with Mr. Helmsworthy
looking for the horse.
That's right.
We were searching all night.
I still have no idea what
happened to that poor animal.
I understand Mrs. Helmsworthy was quite
- displeased with you that evening.
- Lucy? Scarcely.
She said I was being too hard on Rupert,
as if he didn't deserve
all that he got, but, uh,
mostly she was cross with Ruth
about that damnable sculpture.
Her own father promised me
that sculpture on his deathbed.
Hm. I thought you said he
promised it to you during the hunt.
You sound just like her. What does
it matter? He promised it to me.
Where were you after the party?
(HIGGINS): We went home
shortly before nine.
Oh, but, uh, but I did see
Lucinda excoriating the chef.
Probably because the
tartare was inedible.
Oh, really? I quite liked it.
She kept asking,
"Where is the tartare?
Is it ready? Is it ready?"
I told her to close her mouth.
Horrible woman.
She's dead, Mr. Debussy.
Ah. Yes.
Where were you after the party?
In my quarters. Asleep.
- Was anyone else with you?
- No.
Chef Debussy has no alibi
for the time of the murder.
He claims he's never been upstairs here
where the murder took place and
that he had no prior knowledge
of the servants'
staircase that leads here.
So, if we find his fingermarks,
we'll know he's lying.
- Henry?
- Hm? Yes?
Is there something in that dumbwaiter?
No, there isn't.
Can I see?
Oh, is there something
in the dumbwaiter?
Mm.
Yes, there is.
Detective?
I think we may have found our sculpture.
Your fingermarks were found all over
the servants' staircase
and in the hallway where
Mrs. Helmsworthy was killed,
both places you claimed
you had not been.
Is that so?
Yes.
I believe
you snuck into the home in
order to steal this item.
Mrs. Helmsworthy caught you,
and you murdered her.
I went back to the house that
night to retrieve my sculpture.
Lucinda refused to give it to me,
so I just took matters
into my own hands.
Rupert told me about
Bucky's secret entrance,
which led me right to where
Lucinda kept my statue.
Once I got it,
I heard someone coming
up the main stairs.
I was worried about
being caught with it,
so I stashed him in the
hopes that I would
come back and retrieve him.
Probably should have made a run for it.
Who was coming up the main staircase?
I heard Lucinda say,
"What are you doing here?"
But I was halfway out the
door, so I didn't see anybody.
I didn't kill Lucinda.
I don't know who did.
If it wasn't Ruth
Newsome, then who was it?
She may be lying.
According to her story,
the killer came up the main staircase.
If so, Rupert Newsome
would have seen him.
One of them is wrong.
Or lying.
Higgins. What're you hanging around for?
Waiting for word about my wife, sir.
We should lock you up with her.
Did you really think you
could hide this thing?
Terribly sorry, sir. I panicked.
I know Ruth would never
actually hurt anyone.
Take her home.
One more cock-up and you're off the job.
Thank you, sir.
If he's hiding anything about
Newsome, I'll hang him myself.
(CURIOUS MUSIC)
Don't worry, Ruthie, we
still have some money.
You're a moving picture star.
I'm a working actor, Henry.
One cannot survive on the
wages of a working actor.
Hm. Well, perhaps Rupert
will be found not guilty
and we'll still be rich.
Yes, and perhaps you could arrange that.
We are not bribing the jury, darling.
No, no, of course not. No.
But you as a police, um, uh
- Constable.
- Yes, you as a police constable,
you could arrest
someone else for murder.
Like, um, like him.
Want me to arrest an
innocent person for murder?
No. No, no, no. No,
you misunderstand me, no.
I am suggesting that instead of Rupert,
you arrest someone
that nobody cares about.
I'm sure there are people
that care about that man, dear.
Well, not him, then!
Get one of those people
that's just sort of around,
you know? Not a real person.
Oh, him! Or, um
- Oh, no, him! Him, him, him.
- Hm?
They are all real people, dear.
Someone else. Whoever!
(SIGHS)
Dear, I cannot just simply arrest
an innocent person off the streets.
Ah, I'm not suggesting that!
My God, Henry, you
really are impossible.
Miss Newsome.
Detective!
I was just here to check on something.
Hm. Not hiding the fact
that Rupert Newsome
is inside this lodging?
How did you know?
That letter was odd.
And your reaction to the Chief Constable
threatening to punish anyone
aiding Rupert Newsome was palpable.
- Let me explain
- You have been aiding an escaped prisoner.
I highly doubt you have
a very good explanation.
- I intended to turn him in, but
- (THUDDING, SHOUTING)
What was that?
Toronto Constabulary! Stop!
(GASPING)
- (COUGHING)
- Rupert!
(HOARSE): Did he rip my neckerchief?
(PANTING)
(TENSE MUSIC)
Stop!
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Who was that man?
I don't know.
But the hands around my throat
suggest maybe the killer.
He received a threat
while he was in jail.
That's why I allowed him to stay here.
I feared for his safety.
That was not your decision to make.
You'll be returned to custody.
But, first,
your sister said the killer came
up the main stairs, which means
you would have seen him.
Oh. Well,
perhaps there is a teensy
detail I may have left out.
Rupert. What happened?!
Oh. As I said, I was in the sitting room
- when I heard the kitchen door open.
- (DOOR OPENS)
Instead of simply waiting there
for the duration of
the romantic interlude,
I slipped out of the
house for a few moments.
- Where did you go?
- I came here,
to the summer house.
I wanted to play Little Wars.
Bucky, Bucky and I
have an ongoing battle.
Pew-pew.
You and Bucky were here together?
No, no, no, no.
I thought he was with
Lucinda, but in fact
he was home sick with the tartare.
I was here alone.
I've read H.G. Wells'
book about Little Wars.
I've played with my son.
The game is a two-person
game, at minimum,
which means if you were
here alone you were cheating.
- How dare you!
- Rupert, you've deliberately
withheld information about an
ongoing murder investigation,
a murder for which
you may very well hang
because you were ashamed you
cheated at some silly game?
How dare you, madam.
How dare you. Pew.
Mr. Newsome,
recount for me, please,
precisely your movements after
you left the sitting room.
Oof! Well, I
I was here for no more than ten minutes.
I left to return to the main house.
(DISTANT CHATTER)
(RUPERT): But Lucinda's
companion had not yet left.
She was talking to a man,
but I couldn't make out his voice.
- I heard Lucinda say
- (LUCINA): Casanova!
Casanova.
- Casanova?
- Mm-mm.
Something about Casanova.
At the time, I assumed
she was referring to Bucky,
but perhaps it was another paramour.
Did you hear anything else?
Oh oh, y-yes!
Something about dinner:
"You like it." "Yummy." "Delicious."
She laughed.
That was the last thing I heard,
her sweet laughter
Ah-ha-ha! Ah-ha!
Ringing out across the grounds.
Did you return to the
main house at any point?
Well, I assumed she and Bucky had not
finished their rendezvous,
so I returned here
and, uh, moved a cannon
to the Western Front.
By the time I returned
She was dead.
Pew.
Right. Let's go.
Well, where are you
taking me, Detective?
Uh, you will be held in the cells
at Station House Number
Four for your protection
until you stand trial.
What are we going to do?
We have to prove his innocence.
You are no longer part of this
investigation, Miss Newsome.
Thank you for apprehending
the fugitive, Detective.
The trial will resume tomorrow.
And the Crown is confident
in the accused's guilt?
Of course.
The evidence is clear. No
one else was in the house.
He doesn't think Newsome did it.
Please, excuse my incredulity.
That man is as good as hanged.
Gentlemen.
You're putting a lot of faith
in the word of Rupert Newsome.
The police searched the
whole house after that night
and found nothing.
Nothing about the murder.
But perhaps they missed something
about who else was there that night.
Oh, uh, Henry.
Um, did you find anything
that could exonerate Rupert?
Not yet.
(SIGHS)
Oh my God.
What?
- Get rid of it.
- I can't do that.
- Well, do not tell the police!
- I am the police!
No, I mean, don't tell the real police.
Detective!
There's something in
here you need to see.
- Oh, my.
- Yes, he's very strong.
That's the murder weapon.
Well done, Henry.
What's this?
I spoke to the Chief Constable.
These are files of cases in
which you, Detective Murdoch,
deliberately withheld knowledge
from other investigating parties.
If I did, I did so with good reason.
As did I.
I was protecting my family.
I regret lying to you, Detective,
because I admire and respect you, but
I would do the same again.
Can you honestly say that you wouldn't?
I found it odd that constables
searched the sitting room
multiple times after the murder
and never found this murder weapon.
Yes.
It is odd.
I've checked and it's been
wiped clean of all fingermarks,
but I did get an interesting scraping
from the jewel-encrusted snake's head.
What did you find?
Horse dung.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
Gloves and a dark mask,
the same as those worn by the
man who attacked Rupert Newsome.
It was the stablehand,
Mr. Slattery. W-we need to find him.
Ruth, you have to speak to
me, please. I had no choice.
Anyway, it's out of our hands now.
Either he's guilty, or he's innocent.
Obviously he's guilty.
Well, imagine that I had
hidden the evidence, then,
and Rupert was acquitted.
We would be rich off
the proceeds of a murder.
How could we live with ourselves?
What kind of a question is that?
We would live! We would live
and Rupert would be there,
and when we saw him,
we would envision him
covered in Lucinda's blood,
and we would ignore this,
- and everything would be fine.
- Dear,
I know you don't believe that.
Why do you have to
be right all the time?
Come on, let's go home.
There's nothing else we can do now.
Yes, there is.
Rue-Rue
What do you mean, dear?
Please?
Please. Please. Please, please, please.
Get up, woman. You're an embarrassment.
Bernard, um
couldn't you give us just a teensy,
little bit of the fortune?
We would be indebted to you
and you could torture us,
or-or ridicule us,
just like your sister always
loved to do so, so much.
I never understood why
Lucy married Rupert.
She hated the Newsomes. But me?
I don't care about you at all.
You will leave this place
and I will never think about you again,
except, of course,
when I'm celebrated as the man who
finally rid Mimico
of the Mimico Newsome.
(LAUGHING)
You were wearing this
mask and these gloves
when you attacked Rupert
Newsome in the summer house.
I was. But I didn't kill anyone.
Hm.
The murder weapon was discovered
earlier today in the sitting room.
It had traces of horse dung on it,
indicating to me that it
was being kept in the stables
and was then planted in
the sitting room by you.
Yes.
But I didn't do the killing.
Then how did you end up
with the murder weapon?
I found it in some bushes near
the main house a couple days later.
So why plant it now?
When you policemen
started coming around,
I got worried.
Maybe you weren't sure
Mr. Newsome had done it.
And, well, I had the proof.
So you want Rupert
Newsome to be found guilty.
If he gets away with it,
he gets everything.
The estate, all the money,
and Mr. Helmsworthy
won't get a thin dime.
What does that matter to you?
I'm not just a stablehand.
We're business partners.
Ah!
How so?
We had this idea: thoroughbred racing.
With my know-how
and his money, we could make a killing.
You threatened to kill Rupert Newsome,
you planted evidence against him,
you tried to kill him.
Why should I believe
that you are not the one
who killed Lucinda Helmsworthy
in order to secure her
fortune for her brother?
She was giving him half
the fortune, anyway.
I told you already.
I was out all night
looking for Casanova.
I beg your pardon?
I was looking for Casanova,
Mr. Helmsworthy's horse.
Why would I kill my own, dear sister?
For money?
Money that would have
been given to me legally
had she lived long enough
to visit with our lawyer.
No, Mr. Helmsworthy.
But we do believe that you were the man
who entered the home
via the main staircase
moments before the murder.
(LUCINDA): What are you doing here?
Even if it was me, so what?
You discussed Casanova,
your beloved horse, which she set free
and that infuriated you.
Why would she do such a thing?
Because she'd had enough of
you ridiculing her husband.
Whatever have you done to
your moustaches, Newsome?
- Leave him be.
- (LAUGHING)
It was payback.
She had set your horse free,
knowing that that would hurt you
more than anything in the world.
But she didn't just
let him loose, did she?
Casanova was her grand joke.
When she said "You liked it,"
that's what she was referring to.
- Casanova was delicious.
- Mm.
(EFFIE): She made your
horse into a tartare
and served it to you
on a silver platter.
You had no idea.
When you saw her later that night,
she told you
and laughed in your face.
- You grabbed the nearest weapon at hand.
- No!
(MURDOCH): You lashed out.
(THUDS, LUCINDA SCREAMS)
And you killed her.
The horse did nothing wrong.
How could my own sister
do something so horrible?
Oh, what fun! We're rich again!
Ah, ah, ah, ah. I'm rich, Ruthie-Puthie.
But, of course, I'll take care of those
who believed in my innocence.
Yes.
Uh, Rupert, I suppose it
will be a touch lonesome
around the estate without your wife.
Yes. Well, truth is,
I've been fantasizing about
escaping my marriage for donkey's years.
It always did seem like Lucinda
didn't much care for you.
She detested me.
But, in the end, she defended me.
She stood up to her
brother and said, "No more."
- Mm.
- "No more shall my husband
be the butt of your japes."
And for this grand act of love,
she lost her life.
The act of love being
feeding Bernard his own horse.
Yes. She really did love me.
And now she's gone forever.
Nothing, nothing, shall
ever replace her in my heart.
(FEATHERSTONHAUGH):
Fire! Ka-pow! Ka-pow!
Ah, ha, ha, ha! Bucky! Bucky!
Ha, ha, ha! You naughty
boy! Wait for me!
(LAUGHING)
Bang! Bang!
Get ready, soldiers!
(RUPERT LAUGHING)
Return fire!
(THEME MUSIC)