The Murdoch Mysteries (2004) s05e06 Episode Script

What? Mr.
Wallensky! Mr.
Wallensky! Mr.
Wallensky, I just saw the strangest thing.
- The housekeeper discovered the body shortly after 9:30, sir.
Our initial assumption is suicide.
It wasn't suicide.
The rope he was suspended from is 3/4 inch.
But as you can see, the bruising is much thinner.
Excellent work, Doctor.
He was strangled then.
That's Ivan Wallensky.
You know him? - Yes, I met him last year at a battery exhibit.
Mr.
Wallensky had developed a new type of battery using nickel and cadmium.
Fascinating.
Excuse me, Doctor.
- Sir, when you're ready, I think you'll find what the housekeeper has to say quite interesting.
Murdered? - Do you know of anyone who may have wanted to harm Mr.
Wallensky? Good Lord, no.
He didn't have an enemy in the world.
I mean, the man spent all his time in his workshop.
Although, yesterday, I did see him arguing with a man just as I was leaving.
What time was this? - Just after supper, about 7:00.
- Did you know this person? - Um - I've never seen him before in my life.
Mm.
- Oh, my goodness.
I didn't even see that.
What kind of housekeeper am I? - Mrs.
Chalmers, I-I'd like to keep that, if I may.
Evidence.
Oh.
Did Mr.
Wallensky smoke? - No, it must've belonged to one of his business acquaintances.
Uh - Do you recall any of their names? Um One was called James.
I don't know his last name.
But he smoked cigars.
That's all I know, I'm afraid.
Mrs.
Chalmers, tell the detective about the spaceship.
- More of a bright light flying above the road.
It came at me faster than a speeding train.
I don't know what it was, but I am certain it was not of this world.
- Sir, I spoke to some of the neighbors.
A Bert Hawksworth up on Concession Five says he saw bright lights moving through the fields last night.
He thought they looked extraterrestrial.
His words, sir.
So it's your feeling that this is the work of Martians, George? No, no, no, sir.
Venusians.
Venusians, sir, have a motive for invasion.
- And what would that motive be? - Well, sir, Venus is permanently beclouded.
Clearly, they have somehow managed to sully their own atmosphere and now covet our clear blue skies, such as they are.
- Now, George, why go to the trouble of killing Ivan Wallensky and faking his suicide when they could easily dispatch him with a death ray? - Yes, death rays, well, that's a good ques- sir, are you mocking me? No, George.
It's just that your spaceship has left some decidedly terrestrial tracks.
It rained here last night, George, and we need to find out at exactly what time.
Come on.
Whoa.
Mavis! Alexander.
Alexander, this is Detective Murdoch.
He's investigating your father's death.
Mr.
Wallensky, I'm terribly sorry for your loss.
Thank you, Detective.
Do you know of anyone who may have wanted your father dead? - No.
He was completely harmless.
A little lacking in the social skills, perhaps.
The only thing he cared about were his batteries.
Perhaps money was a motive? Money? - Your father was an important inventor.
He held a number of patents, as I understand.
None of which were worth a dime.
And any money he did make went into his work.
We lived in poverty here, as you can see.
- Well, surely his battery ideas- there must have been some commercial potential there.
- I don't know anything about that.
I was never involved in my father's work, much to his disappointment.
I'm sorry.
L- I wish I could be of more help.
- It's quite all right, Mr.
Wallensky.
If you think of anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me.
I will.
Thank you.
- Sir, it's mostly diagrams and equations.
- Don't worry about those, George.
I'm more interested in Ivan's letters- who was writing to him, what was the nature of the correspondence.
- You think the killer may have written him? - Murder is usually a last resort.
If the killer had a problem with Mr.
Wallensky, chances are it was communicated to him.
Murdoch.
A word.
Progress on the case? Not much so far, sir.
Constable Higgins is taking finger marks, Constable Crabtree is looking into motive, and I'll be checking with Dr.
Grace shortly to see if she's established a time of death.
Good, good.
Sounds like you have this well in hand.
Is there anything else, sir? No.
Yes.
Bloody hell, Murdoch.
It's Margaret.
Your wife.
Shut the door.
She's been going out every Tuesday for the past few weeks.
She's been going to visit Alex Boddings.
Oh, her consumptive friend.
- Taken a turn for the worse, apparently.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, don't be.
It's a lie.
I bumped into her husband.
Alex Boddings has been at a retreat in Niagara Falls for the past two weeks.
She's doing just fine.
Oh.
"On," indeed.
Oh, it's all my fault, Murdoch.
Margaret saw me kiss Rosa Hamilton the other week.
What, the opera diva, sir? I thought she kissed you.
And I kissed her right back.
There's no point in denying it.
Margaret and I, we just- We just don't have that passion anymore.
I suppose that happens in a marriage.
There's nothing you can do about it.
- Sir, perhaps I could suggest a private investigator if only to allay your suspicions.
- I don't want to do that, Murdoch.
It's so tawdry.
- Well, sir, I'm sure it's not what you think.
- I took two rectal thermometer readings spaced half an hour apart and found that the rate of cooling in Ivan's corpse was in accordance with what would be predicted by the glacier equation.
I then determined the amount of digestion from his last meal, which, according to the housekeeper, was consumed between 5:10 and 5:20.
Comparing the two estimates- - Doctor, I'm sure your methodology is quite sound, but all I require is the time of death.
- What I'm trying to tell you is that both methods, digestion and algor mortis, agree exactly.
" And?" - Assuming a ten-degree ambient temperature drop from the time of death to when I first arrived, lam confident in asserting that the death occurred between 7:30 and 8:00.
Very good.
Thank you, Doctor.
Sir.
I spoke to Mr.
Wallensky's neighbors.
Apparently, it rained between 7:00 and quarter past last evening.
- So the tire tracks were made after that.
Also, I've gone through all of Mr.
Wallensky's correspondences for the last year.
" And?" - Well, there were a couple of letters from a Henry Lord in Detroit, the first of which was gracious enough.
The last was somewhat threatening.
"Dear Ivan, I will be in Toronto next week.
"I urge you to accept my offer.
I fear you will regret the alternative.
" Then in another correspondence, it seems there was a dispute over a patent for one of Ivan's batteries.
Who was the dispute with? - A numbered company located in Willowdale.
Coincidentally, the same address has another correspondent who simply went by "James.
" - Hmm, perhaps the smoker of this cigar.
Mm.
"Ivan, your stubbornness and greed "are destroying everything we've worked for.
"I will not let you pull this house down on both our heads.
" - George, let's take a little trip to Willowdale.
- Looks like somebody doesn't want us snooping around, sir.
- It certainly does, doesn't it, George? Whoa! - All set? - Sir.
Sir, can I tell you something in confidence? Of course, George.
- Now, it can't get back to the person to which this pertains that I told you.
- Well, yes, I believe that's what "in confidence" means.
Oh.
Yes, of course.
Well, sir, a certain somebody has asked me to engage in a sort of act of espionage.
- Would this certain somebody be the inspector at Station Number 4, George? - Yes, sir.
- Mm.
And did the inspector ask you to surreptitiously look in on his wife this evening? Yes, sir.
- I don't see a problem with that, George.
Well, sir, except what if she's being unfaithful to him? I mean, I'm not saying that she would, but she could.
Right.
Come to me first.
I'm aware of the inspector's concerns, and I'll deliver the bad news if need be.
Well, yes, I will.
Stop right there! Get off the road.
Identify yourself, please.
Get off the road now! I don't think you understand.
Sir, look out! James Pendrick.
Detective Murdoch.
We meet again.
I knew our paths would cross again.
Detective, this is Douglas Meadows.
- Mr.
Pendrick, your vehicle has a lamp.
Indeed it does.
- Did this vehicle happen to be at the home of Ivan Wallensky last night? Yes, it was.
Why? Around what time? - And what was the purpose of your visit? It was personal.
What's going on here, Detective? - Ivan Wallensky was found murdered in his home shortly before 10:00 last night.
Ivan.
Oh, God, that's terrible.
Douglas.
I can't believe it.
- What was the nature of your relationship? - We were partners in a business venture.
I'm sorry, Detective.
It was Ivan's battery that made the Pendrick Bullet possible.
Without him- - The Pendrick Bullet.
- Yeah, the name of this vehicle.
- I appreciate your loss, Mr.
Pendrick, but I'm trying to reconcile that with the tone of your latest letter to Mr.
Wallensky.
It's true.
We had a falling-out.
It was my fault.
I wounded his pride.
That's why I was at his house last night.
I was attempting to make amends.
Did you speak with him? - No.
He wouldn't come to the door.
This was at about 9:30.
Where were you between 7:30 and 8:00 then? - I was hosting a dinner for potential investors.
Douglas can vouch for that.
He was there.
Very well.
This is your latest venture, I take it.
I can see you're impressed.
Prepare to be astounded.
Get in.
You know you want to, Detective.
- George, meet me back at the station.
Yes, sir.
- Your acceleration pedal is on the left.
Your brake is on the right.
This is your velocity gauge.
Do not exceed 40 miles per hour until you hit the asphalt.
- This will go - Put your left foot down and see.
- Welcome to Pendrick Headquarters.
- I had it up to 55 miles per hour! It's been clocked at 62.
" Ho!" What's this? Photovoltaic cells.
We own the patent for that as well.
Ultimately, we want the Pendrick Bullet to run on solar power.
I foresee a time when- Solar power.
- Yeah, there'll be a time when you'll see cells like this on the roof of every house.
Free energy.
- It's a wonderful future we have before us.
Yes.
- This is what makes the Pendrick Bullet possible.
Oh.
Ivan Wallensky's battery.
Yes.
Poor Ivan.
The man was a genius.
It's lightweight, powerful, and completely interchangeable.
- So while one set of batteries is in use, the other can be- Charged.
Exactly.
They connect in a series so that each battery is small enough to be removed, even by a woman.
When we take the company public, we hope to produce vehicles for the single driver, the couple, and the family.
For long-distance travel, batteries could be exchanged or charged at roadside service stations which will double as hotels and eateries.
- Well, you appear to have thought of everything.
- It's only the beginning, Murdoch.
The Pendrick Bullet will change the face of the nation.
With limitless transportation, people will no longer be confined to downtown squalor.
Every man will own a house and a piece of land.
Cities will be connected both internally and externally by vast highways as wide as the Champs-Elysées.
Cigar? - Has he been bending your ear on his vision of the future? It all sounds fascinating.
Well, we're not there yet.
Much still needs to be done.
- We hope to make a public stock offering next week.
- At which point we should have the capital necessary to begin mass-producing these vehicles.
- We're in a race with the internal combustion engine.
Whoever gets there first will dominate the market.
- In fact, if you're looking for Ivan's killer, you might start with our competitors.
One of them is in Toronto at this moment.
There you are.
He's here to compete against me in the Pendrick Challenge.
- The Pendrick Challenge? What's that? - It's a road race I'm sponsoring.
The internal combustion engine against the Pendrick Bullet.
Mm.
And who's your competitor? Henry Ford.
Oh, I apologize, sir.
It really did look like "Henry Lord.
" - That's quite all right, George.
I'm sure it's the same man.
Let's bring him in.
Well, I can't right now, sir.
I have to attend to my off-duty duties for the inspector.
Oh, yes, of course.
Well, before you go, ring Mr.
Ford's hotel and request his presence for an interview.
- Sir.
- Thank you.
Mr.
Wallensky.
How can I help you? I know who killed my father.
I've just come from a visit to Sam Roland's office.
- Who is? - My father's lawyer.
I wanted to inform him of his death and to arrange matters of estate.
Of course.
- Mr.
Roland informed me that my father had just filed a lawsuit against a company owned by a James Pendrick.
Have you heard of him? Yes, I have.
- Well, apparently, this man Pendrick was about to make something called a public offering.
Do you know what that is? - When a company needs to raise money and sells a portion of its shares directly to the public.
- Yes, and apparently this whole public offering thing had been planned for months.
I would imagine, yes.
- According to Mr.
Roland, my father's lawsuit would have stopped it in its tracks.
And now that he's dead, the lawsuit is dropped, and the initial public offering goes ahead as planned.
- Detective, I think this Pendrick fellow may have killed my father.
- I ask you once again, Mr.
Pendrick, what was the nature of your disagreement with Mr.
Wallensky? I already told you.
I wounded his pride.
How so? - Ivan got it into his head that he'd been cheated.
- So that's when he launched his lawsuit.
Groundless, of course.
Nothing more than legal blackmail.
- That's why I went to his house the other night, because I-l was willing to agree to his terms.
- Or did it occur to you that it would be cheaper to simply kill him? What is it about me that offends you, Murdoch? Mr.
Pendrick- Every time we meet, you accuse me of the most heinous crimes.
Every time, your own investigations absolve me.
We should be friends, you and I.
We're men of science, men of vision.
And yet I sit here once again under your accusing stare.
What will it take, Murdoch, to convince you once and for all I'm not a cold-blooded killer? - A persuasive alibi would be a good start.
I already told you.
- One that isn't being corroborated by a suspected accomplice.
Now I'm being accused? - I was hosting a dinner for over 100 investors, many of whom will be at the Pendrick Challenge tomorrow afternoon.
Will 100 corroborations be enough? Thank you, Constable.
Mrs.
Chalmers, thank you for coming on such short notice.
Do you recognize either of these men? - The one on the left is that James fellow I told you about.
- Is either one of them the man you saw arguing with Mr.
Wallensky? No.
I'm afraid not.
What the-Are you quite sure? Yes.
He was the same age thereabouts, but it's neither of them.
- I'm here to see a Detective Murdoch.
That's him.
That's the man I saw arguing with Mr.
Wallensky.
Hello, Detective.
I'm Henry Ford.
Yes, I was at Mr.
Wallensky's farm yesterday.
- And what was the nature of your visit? - I was trying to convince him to join my company.
- According to his housekeeper, the two of you were arguing.
- Ivan took umbrage at my suggestion that his shares in Pendrick's company were worthless.
Worthless? - I told him that the electric car had no future.
I told him that his patent would be wasted in Pendrick's company and that he should bring his battery and come and work for me.
Mr.
Ford, why would a car that uses a gasoline engine need a battery? - At present, the engine needs to be hand-cranked.
It's a problem, especially for the weaker sex.
Wallensky's battery was just what I needed for an electrical ignition.
- So it's just a coincidence then that by depriving Mr.
Pendrick of Mr.
Wallensky and his battery, you would also be crushing your main competitor? I'm an engineer, Detective.
I build cars.
If I thought the electric car were superior, I would build electric cars.
But the fact is, the gasoline engine is superior.
- I've driven Mr.
Pendrick's bullet.
It was very impressive.
I've no doubt of that.
I'm sure it's lightweight, streamlined? - Yes, very much so.
- It has to be.
But the gasoline-powered car, on the other hand, can weigh a ton and look like an egg crate, but it can be driven because all it takes to keep it going is another tank of gasoline, and gas is cheap, always will be.
There's an ocean of oil under the Texan desert.
- Does this Henry Ford fellow look good for it? - I'm not convinced he has a strong enough motive, sir.
- Find out who stands to gain, and you'll find your killer.
What do I always say, Murdoch? Follow the money.
Exactly.
Sir.
Right.
Crabtree, in my office.
Uh Well, Crabtree, give it to me straight.
Is my wife seeing someone? - Sir, I'm afraid it could be worse than that.
Worse? - Sir, I think Mrs.
Brackenreid- I think your wife is seeing a gigolo.
A what? ' A gigolo, sir! A man who is paid to have- - I know what a bloody gigolo is, Crabtree! What exactly did you see? Well, sir Your wife arrived at the house of another man, and she gave him money and went inside.
And moments later, another woman showed up, and she did the same thing.
Your wife hadn't even left yet.
She's not seeing a gigolo.
Well-well, what then? - One-one of her charity things probably.
- W-well-well, why lie about it then? Why, indeed? Bloody hell.
It's a gambling den.
She's bloody gambling.
Well, then, I suppose that's a good thing, sir, relatively speaking.
I mean, at least she's not paying a man to- Yes, yes, yes, Crabtree.
She gave me such a hard time about my drinking- Temperance League preaching and all that- and here she is sneaking around and breaking the law.
Mm.
Crabtree, take two constables and arrest them.
- Sir? - The lot of them.
What, even your wife? Especially the wife.
So what's all this? - Ah, sir, I've been looking into James Pendrick's company.
Pendrick has been working on his electric carriage for the past two years.
He found out about Wallensky's battery back in the fall and offered him a stake in the company in exchange for the patent.
But he still needed capital to develop and build the prototype, and that's where Douglas Meadows comes in.
Meadows found four private investors to put in $20,000 each.
That gave him the capital necessary to build the prototype.
Pendrick now wants to take his company public in hopes that he will be able to raise enough capital to build and sell the vehicles en masse.
- How much are they hoping to raise? $1 million.
There's a lot of money riding on this, Murdoch.
It is, indeed.
And Pendrick has gone into considerable personal debt to finance this launch, sir.
He's invited from all over the continent, wined and dined them, and put them all up at the Queen's Hotel.
- So if this public offering didn't go off on schedule Pendrick would be ruined.
- Hard to find a stronger motive than that for killing someone.
Oh, excuse me, Murdoch.
There's no need to be upset.
The inspector just wants to have a word.
- So, ladies, I understand you've been gambling.
I can see that some of you are members of the Temperance League.
Yet here you are on the wrong side of the law.
I've half a mind to lock you all up for the night.
- Oh, Thomas, stop this nonsense right now.
- In this station, you refer to me as Inspector Brackenreid.
Crabtree, release them, except you.
Follow me, Mrs.
Brackenreid.
This is absurd.
We were playing a simple game of lotto.
It's fun.
There's nothing wrong with it.
Nothing wrong with it? We've been eating potato and beans for the last month.
A man needs meat, damn it, red meat! Well, if that's your concern, you can have all the meat you want now.
- How's that? - I won.
I won the jackpot.
How much? $786.
Good God.
- So what do you have to say now? Bloody hell.
- Do stop swearing.
- We can't keep the money.
- It's ill-gotten gains.
- What? You broke the law, Margaret, a law that I'm sworn to uphold.
- L-l didn't think of it that way.
I've never been on the other side of the law from you, Thomas.
Inspector.
Yes.
Inspector.
So does this make me a criminal now? - It does make me look at you in a different way.
Me too.
- James Pendrick isn't the only one with a stake in this initial public offering.
We need to get statements from each of these four private investors.
Also, interview all of the potential investors that were at Mr.
Pendrick's dinner.
Many of them will be at the race tomorrow.
We need to find out if any of them saw James Pendrick between 7:30 and 8:00 on the night of the murder.
Everything all right, sir? Bloody hell.
Everything's all right, Murdoch.
- That, gentlemen, is called aerodynamics, and this, what you'll notice here- the lines on this thing, all right? Now, compare that with the blunt instrument that Henry Ford would drive.
- I hope you don't mind a little shade, mister.
Oh.
Not at all.
- I tend to get sweaty in the midday sun.
- In short, more streamlined than other vehicles.
Like this here Sarsaparilla.
Ooh.
No, thank you.
Leslie Barnes.
William Murdoch.
Are you an investor? - Well, let's just say that I'm an-an interested party.
- Perhaps you'll see them in the future.
Shall we take a photo, gentlemen? It's a great pleasure to have you here with me today.
Great.
Wonderful.
Thank you so much.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you for coming by.
Here he comes now.
Hello.
Thank you for joining us, Mr.
Ford.
Gentlemen, you're about to witness a defining moment in history! We all know the automobile is coming.
But what kind of automobile will it be? A clean, silent, electric motor or a noisy, belching, gasoline engine? Henry Ford has said the electric car can't compete, that it can't go far enough, can't go fast enough.
So today we're gonna race our cars the 20 miles to Markham and back.
May the best car win.
- So who do you think's gonna win this race, Mr.
Murdoch? - Well, I would have to say Mr.
Pendrick.
- Course it's gonna be Pendrick.
This whole race is a show for would-be investors.
He's not gonna host a race he can't win.
- Then why would Mr.
Ford agree to race? - Well, Henry Ford is incapable of refusing a challenge.
It's a failing, really one that I admire.
Mr.
Pendrick, what's wrong? - We've all heard the story of the tortoise and the hare.
Well, today the hare wins.
What have you, George? - Sir, I spoke to all four private investors.
I think we can remove them from suspicion.
They all have alibis? - They no longer have motive, sir.
They all sold their stakes in Pendrick's company two weeks ago to a man named Barnes.
Leslie Barnes? You've heard of him? Excellent work, George.
Now interview all of the potential investors that were at Pendrick's dinner.
Sir.
Yeah, I bought 'em out.
For what purpose? - Well, I'm trying to take over Mr.
Pendrick's company.
Why? - Well, it's a good product, but Pendrick's a dreamer, wants to make the world a better place.
A company like this needs a profit-minded man at the helm.
But you only have 45%.
To control the company, you would've had to have bought Ivan Wallensky's shares.
Mm, that was my intention.
I offered Ivan $50,000 for his shares.
And what did he say? He said no.
So I offered him $100,000.
Said he'd think about it.
When did this happen? About two weeks ago.
Did James Pendrick know? - Well, if he didn't know, he'd be a fool.
Pendrick is no fool.
Higgins! 'Sir? - Run out and get me a bottle of scotch.
Oh, none of that low-end piss.
Get me something from the Isle of Islay.
That's spelt I-S-L-A-Y.
- Mm? - Oh, yeah.
Oh, bloody hell.
Hang on a sec.
What happened to the petty cash? - You spent it on the last bottle, sir.
Oh.
Hmm.
Sir! Have you heard this? Apparently, Pendrick stopped at the Markham lunch wagon- completely stopped, got out of the car, ordered the soup of the day.
He was only at the halfway mark.
- Mr.
Pendrick appears to be putting on quite a show for his potential investors.
Have you canvassed them? - Uh, Worseley and I took statements from everybody, sir.
They all concur that Pendrick was at the investors' dinner.
I see.
- However, the dinner ended at 7:30.
No one recalls seeing Pendrick after that.
- Mr.
Pendrick knew that Ivan Wallensky could collapse his deal.
So in his electric car, he could've made it to Wallensky's house and killed him before 8:00.
Motive and opportunity, George.
Here they come! Ford's in the lead! Here comes Pendrick! We did it.
We did it.
Out of the way.
- Yes.
- Excuse us.
Out of the way.
- Congratulations, Mr.
Pendrick.
Thank you, Detective.
I'm placing you under arrest for the murder of Ivan Wallensky.
- Am I to understand an arrest has been made in my father's murder? - Yes, I believe they've arrested James Pendrick.
- You're making a mistake, Murdoch.
You bastard! You think that you could kill my father and get away with it? - I didn't kill anyone.
- Mr.
Wallensky- I'm gonna ruin you, Pendrick.
I'm selling my father's shares to man named Leslie Barnes! Ever heard of him? Get him out of here.
I'm gonna see you ruined! Right this way, Mr.
Pendrick.
You are aware of Barnes' offer to buy Ivan's shares? Mr.
Pendrick? - For God's sakes, I have an alibi! - No one at the dinner recalls seeing you after 7:30, Mr.
Pendrick.
And as you demonstrated today, you had more than enough time to make it to Ivan Wallensky's house before 8:00 in your electric car.
Detective, please.
I have to attend to business before Ivan's son does irreparable damage to my company.
If you keep me in custody, I could lose everything.
- The only person who's lost everything in this matter, Mr.
Pendrick, is Mr.
Wallensky.
Hmm.
You owe it to yourself, Thomas S.
Brackenreid.
Sod it.
Bloody hell.
Sir, as per your request, I looked into Leslie Barnes' recent dealings.
" And?" - It was all very obscure, but I did discover he's the president of a holding company.
- What do they have holdings in? - Mostly assets in the transportation sector including a stake in the Detroit Automobile Company.
That's Henry Ford's company.
Very interesting.
- Well, I thought so as well, sir.
I've taken the liberty of asking him in.
- When I was an engineer at Edison, we needed investors for our gasoline-powered automobile.
Barnes was one of the people who showed interest.
At the time, he was working for an oil consortium.
- Oil.
- Makes sense.
My automobiles need gasoline.
The oil companies would only be too happy to see my cars on every street in this continent.
- So why then invest in an electric car? Perhaps he's hedging his bets.
Mr.
Pendrick.
You're aware that Leslie Barnes was attempting to take a controlling interest in your company, but do you know who Mr.
Barnes represents? - Private clients looking to get rich.
Oil companies, Mr.
Pendrick, some of the biggest.
Oil.
- Now, why would an oil consortium want to take a controlling interest in your company? Stop! Pendrick! No.
No! Come on! Come on! Come on! I have to stop them.
Ooh.
Mr.
Pendrick.
- An oil consortium won't want to build my electric car.
They want to destroy it.
E! (U, Douglas'? This whole time, you were working for them? Sorry, James.
It's just business.
Ah.
Mr.
Pendrick.
Put down the gun.
- And allow this travesty to proceed? I think not.
You so much as put a mark on that contract, I will stain it with your blood.
Ironic, isn't it? If you hadn't killed my father, these shares wouldn't be mine to sell.
As it is Touché.
" No! No!" Enough; Mr.
Pendrick, a man has already been murdered.
And I believe his killer is in this room.
- I swear by God, I didn't kill Ivan.
- No, Mr.
Pendrick, and I believe you.
What? Ivan Wallensky wouldn't sell his shares to Mr.
Barnes.
Instead, he tried to sue you for a larger stake in the company.
Isn't that right, Mr.
Pendrick? Yes.
- So then why kill the man who wouldn't sell when his shares would've been inherited by the son who would unless you were the buyer? Now, hold on a second.
Are you suggesting- - Mr.
Barnes, you told me the last conversation you had with Ivan Wallensky was two weeks ago.
That is the absolute truth.
- Where did this conversation take place? In his workshop.
- And that was the last time you spoke with him.
That's right.
- Well, then, Mr.
Barnes, tell me, why did I find your brand of cigar in the ashtray in Ivan Wallensky's house two weeks later? - Oh, my goodness.
I didn't even see that.
What kind of housekeeper am I? Mrs.
Chalmers.
Evidence.
You were there the night Ivan Wallensky was murdered, weren't you? I was.
But I did not speak to Ivan.
Well, then.
Who did you have a conversation with? Yes, we met! What of it? - What was the conversation about, Mr.
Barnes? - I was trying to convince Alexander to persuade his father to accept my offer.
Well.
Strange, then, that when we first spoke, you told me you knew nothing about your father's business affairs.
You did try to convince him, didn't you? Listen to me.
$100,000.
That's a lot of money.
You would've inherited all of it.
You would've been a rich man.
But your father refused to sell.
He was my friend.
That's enough, Mr.
Pendrick.
At least Alexander won't be able to profit from his father's death.
Doesn't matter.
The deal he signed with Leslie Barnes is still valid.
- What about your company's initial public offering? Barnes and his oil consortium own a controlling interest in my company.
There won't be a public offering.
All they wanted was Ivan's battery patent, which they'll now let collect dust.
- Until the internal combustion engine reigns supreme.
They ruined me, Murdoch.
They won, and I've lost everything.
I'm so sorry, Mr.
Pendrick.
So am I.
It would've worked, Murdoch.
It would've changed the future.
I've yet to crack the seal.
- Sir, just replace the difference from your earnings and send the money to City Treasury.
I don't want to do that.
Margaret won that money fair and square, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna see it disappear in some ledger book at City Hall.
It's what's required by law.
Bugger the law.
I'm gonna put the money into a fund for the widows and orphans of the Constabulary.
Any objections? - No, that seems like a fair compromise.
Ah, Crabtree.
Sir, here's a list of stocks that I've invested a few of my extra pennies with.
I've added Mr.
Ford's company and Standard Oil.
I think they'll both do quite well.
- You're investing the money from the widows and orphans fund in the stock market? Coca-Cola.
- Oh, very refreshing, sir.
I suggest you try it.
- George, you're investing in the fortunes of a soft drink company over the security of a Canadian government bond? That's folly, George.
"Business Machines, Bell Telephone, General Electric?" These are gambles.
- Yes, but it's legal gambling, isn't it? - Well, I'll stick with my bonds.
- I'll stick with my stocks for now.
We'll see how it pans out.
- Invest how you think best, Crabtree.
Right.
I'm off to meet Margaret for dinner.
How do I look? How do you look? How do I look? Uh, positively dashing, sir.
Ah.
Very good.
Well, good evening, gentlemen.
Dashing.
Good one, George.