Nightmares of the Juror

by DoctorH

A teleplay, like watching a Murdoch episode. A jury has found a murder suspect not guilty; and now one of the jurors (severely traumatized by what he saw during the trial) comes to Murdoch asking whether the real murderer can be caught and put on trial. Did Murdoch make a mistake that would have sent the wrong man to the gallows? Solution included.

2. ACT 2

ACT II

(FADE IN. EXTERIOR SHOT OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER 4. CUT TO: INTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER 4, BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. BRACKENREID is sitting behind his desk. MURDOCH stands. The door to the office is closed.)

BRACKENREID
You what?

MURDOCH
I promised him that I would have another look at the Robertson case and check out the lead that he gave us.

BRACKENREID
But the case is closed, Murdoch. Robertson shot his wife. You know it and I know it. He was the only suspect. The jury that your man sat on, those mutton-heads let Robertson go, and there's nothing we can do about it!

MURDOCH (awkwardly)
I made a promise to Mister Milton—

BRACKENREID
You made a promise, to an obvious lunatic? Well, there's no reason you need to waste any time on following that so-called "lead," is there? Just tell Milton that you checked and there was no basis for any further investigation.

MURDOCH
Mister Milton may be a bit irrational, as you suggest, sir, but I did not see overt lunacy in what he said. And I did make a promise to him and I would like to carry it out. I would prefer not to lie to him.

BRACKENREID
It's a fool's errand; a waste of police resources.

MURDOCH
That may be so.

BRACKENREID (softening, suddenly somber)
Any chance this Milton might not be a lunatic? Any chance he might know what he's talking about? Any chance he's found this Flynn that we couldn't find?

MURDOCH
I have my doubts. We have no evidence that anyone was present at the scene of the crime, other than Mister Robertson and Mrs. Robertson. The evidence we had was that Mister Robertson went to visit his estranged wife on the evening of February seventeen. We know that Mrs. Robertson was shot multiple times with a shotgun, and that the shotgun belonged to her husband. We know that Mister Robertson somehow received an injury to his head—

BRACKENREID (recalling the details)
Said his wife threw a candlestick at him.

MURDOCH
Yes. And hit him in the temple. Mister Robertson claimed he had no memory after that. He had no memory of shooting his wife. When questioned, he flatly denied that there was anyone else involved. He never mentioned anyone named Flynn.

BRACKENREID
Until shortly before his trial.

MURDOCH
Yes. He blamed his inability to recall upon his head injury. Even so, I investigated whether there might actually be a man named Flynn who might have been there or who might have been involved in some way. According to Mister Robertson, this man Flynn had a distinct reddish-stain birthmark on his forehead. I must have questioned fifty or sixty members of various Flynn families, asking about any man with such a birthmark. I found nothing.

BRACKENREID
Because Flynn never existed. He was a figment of Robertson's imagination.

MURDOCH
Yes. That is what I concluded back then. That is what I testified to.

BRACKENREID
And this jury that your boy Milton was a part of, they decided you might be wrong. Somehow, they got it into their heads that, hey, (mocking) maybe there IS a Flynn who shot this lady! Maybe he's a murderer with no known motive, who leaves no footprints and no finger marks, and who borrows estranged husbands' shotguns to kill their estranged wives!

MURDOCH
As you recall, I was just as surprised by that verdict as you were.

BRACKENREID
This Milton gave you an address of somebody named Flynn.

MURDOCH
He did, yes.

BRACKENREID
There's no chance this Flynn, whoever he is, could be guilty. You know that.

MURDOCH
Very likely, sir. I suspect this will be, as you say, a fool's errand.

BRACKENREID (uncomfortably, with a sigh)
And Murdoch: if it DOESN'T turn out to be a fool's errand, if this Flynn fellow actually has that red birthmark and actually DID have something to do with the Robertson case—

MURDOCH
Yes?

BRACKENREID (with grit teeth)
He's a free man. Even if he comes out and makes a full confession to you, you can't arrest him. There's no way we could put him on trial.

MURDOCH (not sure he understands)
Are you saying that, if it appears this Flynn DID have something to do with Mrs. Robertson's death, he is not to be arrested or charged?

BRACKENREID
That is exactly what I'm saying.

MURDOCH
But— assuming hypothetically this Flynn IS the murderer— are we consciously to let a murderer go free?

(BRACKENREID thinks MURDOCH is slow on the uptake. BRACKENREID tries a different approach.)

BRACKENREID
All right, Murdoch. Let's suppose, just for the sake of argument, that Flynn IS the one who shot Mrs. Robertson. And let's suppose he gives you evidence of his guilt. And let's suppose you decide to arrest him for the murder of Mrs. Robertson. Now. If we want to have Flynn punished to the full extent of the law, there's going to have to be a trial— isn't there? — and a formal finding of guilt. And if there's a trial, what will Flynn's defence be? Even if his lawyer is a complete idiot, what will Flynn's defence be?

MURDOCH
He might—

BRACKENREID (interrupting)
His defence WILL be that that the Toronto Constabulary already caught the man they were certain was responsible, and put him on trial! The Toronto Constabulary previously took the position that SOMEONE ELSE, beyond all reasonable doubt, killed Mrs. Robertson! And now the Toronto Constabulary is singing an entirely different tune, saying that FLYNN, beyond all reasonable doubt, killed Mrs. Robertson!

MURDOCH
But if we made a mistake—

BRACKENREID
We cannot admit it! If Flynn went on trial, how could we explain ourselves? How can we say that we were so CERTAIN that the husband was responsible, and then later say that we are equally CERTAIN that this Flynn is really responsible? If we prosecuted the wrong man once, couldn't we be prosecuting the wrong man again?

MURDOCH
I see your point, sir. The case against Mister Flynn would be a difficult one to maintain.

BRACKENREID
It's not just the case against Flynn that would give us trouble; it's the case against EVERY other criminal we try to bring to justice! Every defence will argue that we admitted we prosecuted the wrong man once, and so we cannot possibly be trusted to prosecute the right man NOW.

MURDOCH (troubled)
Uh.

BRACKENREID
And your own credibility, Murdoch, would be in tatters. You get up on the witness stand and admit under oath that you made mistakes that nearly sent an innocent man to the gallows, and that testimony will be used against you in EVERY case from here on in. Your career as a detective would be FINISHED!

MURDOCH (troubled)
I—

BRACKENREID (pressing)
Wouldn't it!?

MURDOCH (reluctantly)
Perhaps so.

BRACKENREID (nodding)
You can question this Flynn if you want to. But I just wanted to be clear about what action you can take.

MURDOCH
I understand, sir.

(CUT TO: MURDOCH'S OFFICE. MURDOCH is gathering some papers when OGDEN approaches. MURDOCH smiles and beckons her in.)

MURDOCH
Julia!

(OGDEN closes the office door. MURDOCH gestures for OGDEN to sit, and OGDEN does. Then MURDOCH sits.)

OGDEN
I spoke to Mister Milton.

MURDOCH
Yes?

OGDEN
I should tell you, William, that I promised Mister Milton that anything he said to me would be held in confidence. Mister Milton expressly gave his consent to me, in writing, that I would be allowed to share what he told me with you. He said, and I quote: "Go ahead and tell the Detective everything, so he won't keep thinking that I'm craven or touched," unquote.

MURDOCH (smiling a little)
All right.

OGDEN
Mister Albert Milton is thirty-five years old, widowed, no children. He operates a bookstore about three miles from here. Until the Robertson case, he had never sat upon a jury.

MURDOCH
Mmm.

OGDEN
The Robertson case was— at the risk of understating it— quite gruesome.

MURDOCH (nodding, remembering)
Yes, it was.

OGDEN
Mrs. Robertson had been repeatedly shot with a shotgun in several places on her body. Her head, her chest, her— other places. The shots resulted in some ghastly wounds and great shedding of blood.

MURDOCH
Yes. It was a horrible scene.

OGDEN
The scene of the crime was photographed. Some photographs were also taken during the autopsy, to show key findings. As a juror on the case, Mister Milton was obligated to view those disturbing photographs. (with difficulty) He— he— his personality was affected by what he saw. He has not been the same since. And hearing the details of the crime merely made his anguish even worse.

MURDOCH
It was a shocking crime.

OGDEN
He says he sees these images almost all the time, while dreaming and even while awake. He says he re-lives the events of the crime, as though he were actually present himself. And most bothersome is that his ability to exist as a bookstore operator is adversely affected, as is his ability to exist as a human being. He cannot sleep well, or concentrate on his work. He finds himself frightened or emotionally compromised by the smallest things. His hands shake at times, uncontrollably. Sometimes, his entire body shakes.

MURDOCH (sympathetic)
I understand. He saw things no person should ever have to see.

OGDEN
The closest comparison that I can relate is that his situation is similar to that of some soldiers in war, in which they'd been stressed so severely, and seen some extraordinarily gruesome things. Some of them lose their ability to be soldiers, and they begin behaving erratically. Some commanding officers think behaviour like this is indicative of cowardice, but it isn't.

MURDOCH
I see. Perhaps Mister Milton could talk to some soldiers who have been similarly affected. They might be understanding. They might be able to help him.

OGDEN
I do not think so. I've worked with several soldiers, William, and I do not think they would exhibit understanding toward a man whose condition arose from jury duty, rather than from actual experience on a battlefield.

MURDOCH
There must be someone who can help him.

OGDEN
Mister Milton is trying to help himself, and I feel he is making a valiant effort. He feels that he can better handle the horror if he is helping bring the person responsible for that horror to justice.

MURDOCH (uncomfortably)
I sincerely hope that he will be able to find his personal peace, regardless of what happens.

OGDEN
He says that he gave you the name of a witness, who you hadn't found before?

MURDOCH
Yes.

OGDEN
He says that he checked dozens of men named Flynn, and found this one to match the description given at trial. Mister Milton says he is confident that this Mister Flynn knows something.

(MURDOCH fishes a note from a pocket with a name an address on it.)

MURDOCH (indicating the note)
I will be going to pay a visit to Mister Donald Flynn later today. But I make no promises as to how I'll proceed after that.

OGDEN
Mister Milton asks only, after you have talked to this Flynn, that you contact Mister Milton and let him know how things went. He said that he will accept your assessment, whatever it is; and he will have the satisfaction that at least he tried to do what was right.

MURDOCH
I will call Mister Milton after I return.

(CUT TO: EXTERIOR APARTMENT BUILDING on a city street. MURDOCH stands outside a door to the building. In MURDOCH's hand is a slip of paper, with a name and address. MURDOCH checks the address of the building, then enters. CUT TO: INTERIOR APARTMENT BUILDING, a hallway. Apartment doors are on each side of the hallway. MURDOCH approaches one of the doors, briefly checks to be sure that the apartment number matches what is written on the paper, and knocks on the door. A man— who will turn out to be FLYNN— opens the door just enough to see who is knocking. FLYNN has a red-wine-stain birthmark on the side of his forehead.)

FLYNN
Yeah?

MURDOCH
Mister Flynn?

FLYNN (mildly irritated)
No. My name's Donald. My Christian name is Flynn. Are you looking for someone with the LAST name being Flynn?

MURDOCH (making sure he has the name right)
Mister Flynn Donald?

FLYNN
Yeah?

MURDOCH
My name is William Murdoch, and I am a detective with the Toronto Constab—

(FLYNN slams the door, startling MURDOCH. After a moment, MURDOCH knocks on the door and shouts, but does not shout urgently.)

MURDOCH (shouting)
Mister Donald, you are not in any trouble. I just have some questions for you. Mister Donald?

(The door remains closed. MURDOCH sighs and walks down the hall to the apartment building's front door. CUT TO: EXTERIOR APARTMENT BUILDING. MURDOCH exits the front door of the building, and turns to walk away from the building on the sidewalk. As MURDOCH passes an alley next to the building, he sees FLYNN climbing out a window into the alley. FLYNN sees MURDOCH, and with a look of fright, FLYNN turns and runs. MURDOCH is startled at first, but then gives chase. FLYNN is fast.)

MURDOCH (shouting)
Mister Fl— Mister Donald! You are not in trouble! I just have a few questions!

(FLYNN reaches the end of the alley and makes a quick turn, and vanishes. MURDOCH realizes FLYNN is too fast for him and MURDOCH gives up the chase. FADE OUT.)