Fake History

by DoctorH

A teleplay in five acts, like watching an episode on TV. An early-morning murder leads Murdoch through a strange world of fakes and frauds and falsehoods, in which it is unclear who is on the up-and-up and in which it is unclear whether national treasures are what they purport to be. A solution to the mystery is included.

4. Act IV

ACT IV

(FADE IN. EXT. WOODWARD ESTATE MAIN HOUSE, immediately following on the same day. CUT TO: INT. WOODWARD ESTATE MAIN HOUSE, DRAWING ROOM. MURDOCH, CRABTREE, and WOODWARD are in the same positions as before. The BUTLER gathers up the documents from the table as the others speak.)

WOODWARD
Those documents, gentlemen, prove beyond all question the ring's existence and its extraordinary value.

CRABTREE
(to WOODWARD) Sir, if I may— I wish to be certain my notes are accurate. You say you dealt only with Mr. Reed, and not with Mr. Paulin?

WOODWARD
I never met this Paulin fellow. I met Reed when he came to meet me, knowing I had an interest in things pertaining to English history, asking if I wanted to buy a hat that General Isaac Brock had been wearing when he was killed in 1812.

(MURDOCH cocks an eyebrow, noting that the story told to WOODWARD about the hat may have been different from the story told to MURDOCH. The BUTLER finishes packing up the documents and leaves with them.)

WOODWARD
I told Reed that I wasn't interested in any artifact from any war in which England fought to a stalemate. (laughs grumpily) You know, here's a funny thing: I didn't even know Reed had a partner, until last week, when I made a telephone call to Reed and this Paulin took the telephone call, identifying himself as Reed's partner. That was news to me. I told this Paulin that I wanted to take possession of the ring as soon as Reed acquired it, and that I would be quite cross if there was undue delay. (laughs) Well, THAT was news to Paulin; it was plain that Reed had told his partner NOTHING about the ring! (smirking) Reed had been trying to go behind the back of his own partner!

CRABTREE
So you made the arrangement to acquire Queen Elizabeth's ring with Mr. Reed, and not with Mr. Paulin?

WOODWARD
With Reed, yes. That telephone call I just described was the only contact I've ever had with this Paulin fellow. And gentlemen, (smirking) it occurred to me that if Reed was ready to cheat his own partner, he might be willing to cheat me as well. He might get the authentic ring, but try to give me a counterfeit and keep the real item for himself! So I retained three well-qualified experts to examine the ring and evaluate its authenticity. And I told Reed that he would not receive a single pence from me until those experts were satisfied. He was unhappy when I told him this, but he had little choice but to agree.

MURDOCH
I see. Can you tell me, Mr. Woodward, how it happened that Mr. Reed mentioned to you that he had, or could acquire, this ring that you want so badly?

WOODWARD
I asked him.

MURDOCH
I'm sorry? You asked him?

WOODWARD
Yes. I told him I had no interest in the Brock hat, but that if he knew anyone who could help me obtain Queen Elizabeth's ring, then I would have a GREAT interest in that. I was speaking lightly; but Reed blurted out that he thought he knew of a man in Toronto who had such an item. Well, I was thunder-struck, I must say! But I asked whether this could be confirmed, and— you have seen the photographs yourselves— a man in Toronto DID indeed have the ring!

(The BUTLER quietly returns and quietly stands where he stood previously.)

MURDOCH
And what did Mr. Reed tell you about that man who had the ring?

WOODWARD
Nothing. And I cannot blame him. Reed did not trust his partner, and he did not trust me. Reed almost certainly thought that, if he told me about the seller, that I would deal with the seller directly and cut Reed completely out of the transaction. But that is not how I do business. I prefer to deal with intermediaries.

MURDOCH
I see.

WOODWARD
As I've told you, my concern here was that if the possessor learned that it was ME who was interested in the ring, then the price would be greatly multiplied. So: I told Reed that, if he could discreetly get the ring for me, I would pay him— by his standards— a small fortune.

MURDOCH
A small fortune, but considerably less than the ring is worth.

WOODWARD
(laughing) Of course. It would be a fortune to Reed, but a small price to me! Remember that the value of the ring comes not only from the ring itself, but from the documents I hold, proving it to be genuine.

MURDOCH
Did you show Mr. Reed those documents that you showed to us?

WOODWARD
Of course. He studied them very carefully and at length. Reed needed to be able to make a determination as to whether the article was genuine. He subsequently told me that he had seen photographs of the ring, and they appeared to show the genuine article. A week later, he brought those photographs to me.

MURDOCH
And you thought—?

WOODWARD
(with conviction) It was authentic. I know every detail of that ring, every notch, every groove, every imperfection— and the ring shown in those photographs had them all! My experts would still examine the ring, of course, but I was very confident that they would concur!

(WOODWARD nods to show his certainty. MURDOCH is not quite convinced. CUT TO: TORONTO STREET, later in the day. MURDOCH and CRABTREE approach a business with a small sign reading "Reed and Paulin", and below that, "Antiques, Curiosities, Heirlooms". Without knocking, MURDOCH tries the door. The door opens abruptly, causing a bell on the door to ring [SFX] After exchanging looks, MURDOCH and CRABTREE enter. CUT TO: INT. OF THE BUSINESS. Apart from a few varied items on display, there is little to see. Near the rear of the business is an open door, and as MURDOCH tries to peek inside that door, abruptly REED pokes his head out. REED is in the process of putting on a jacket.)

REED
(startled) Detective Murdoch! (recovering, but harried) What do you need? I'm sorry, but I have an important event which I must attend, so I cannot talk—

(REED steps toward MURDOCH closing the door behind him and surreptitiously locking it.)

MURDOCH
This will not take long. I just wanted to tell you that we spoke with Mr. Woodward this afternoon.

REED
(cringing) Please tell me he's not angry with me! I don't want him to be angry with me. It's not my fault I couldn't get the ring! It's not my fault!

MURDOCH
As far as I could tell, he is not angry with you. But he did say something odd. He said that he dealt only with YOU in connection with obtaining Queen Elizabeth's ring.

REED
(cautiously) Yes—?

MURDOCH
And he did not deal with your partner, Mr. Paulin.

REED
Yes—?

MURDOCH
And that you never even mentioned to Mr. Woodward that you had a partner. Which suggests that you were trying to earn a substantial profit from the sale of the ring to Mr. Woodward, and keep the proceeds all for yourself, and not share them with your partner.

REED
(nodding nervously) The thought of keeping it all for myself had occurred to me. However— I changed my mind and got Monty involved.

MURDOCH
Yes. And that led to his death.

(REED reacts with surprise and seems offended.)

MURDOCH
Mr. Reed: since YOU had done all of the negotiation with Mr. Jones, and YOU had done all of the negotiation with Mr. Woodward, why is it that it was your partner, and not YOU, that met with Mr. Jones for the fateful exchange?

REED
Look, I really must be going, but what I can tell you is this: I was planning to do this deal all by myself, and not tell Monty. But then, maybe a week ago, Monty came to me and told me that he had just received a, quote, "very threatening telephone call from some man named Woodward," unquote. The telephone call was about some sort of ring, he said, and this Woodward said he wanted the ring as soon as it was acquired, and that if I delayed delivery, I would be sorry I was ever born. Well, one doesn't take threats like that lightly. Monty demanded to know what was going on. (ruefully) And I was forced to come clean with Monty. I had to tell him the whole story. I had to apologize for not telling him sooner. I promised to share the proceeds with him. And it was Monty who insisted on being the one who made the exchange with Jones. He felt that, if he held the ring, he was guaranteed to get his share of the proceeds.

MURDOCH
Did Mr. Paulin threaten to end his partnership with you?

REED
(after a moment) He threatened to, yes.

MURDOCH
I see. One more thing.

REED
I must go.

MURDOCH
Did you know that Mr. Woodward had retained experts to examine the ring?

REED
Yes, yes, he told me a few days before the exchange was to take place. He told me he wouldn't pay me anything until the experts were satisfied, and for good measure, threatened to kill me if his experts said I'd tried to switch rings on him.

MURDOCH
He said those words, that he'd kill you?

REED
You really must excuse me.

(REED uncomfortably and unceremoniously shepherds MURDOCH and CRABTREE out of the business, locks his outer door and quickly walks off. CUT TO: EXT. STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, later in the day. CUT TO: INT. STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. BRACKENREID, MURDOCH, CRABTREE, HIGGINS, and JACKSON are all standing.)

BRACKENREID
If Woodward really wants the ring that badly—

MURDOCH
I believe he does.

BRACKENREID
— Then he WOULD kill to get it, I have no doubt. And if he thought he was being cheated, he'd have those who cheated him killed. He's had others killed for less.

MURDOCH
Possibly; but I do not see how that would make Mr. Woodward a suspect here. Mr. Paulin never swindled Mr. Woodward, Mr. Paulin never had the ring, and as far as I can tell, killing Mr. Paulin would do nothing to get him the ring.

BRACKENREID
(Grumbling, turning to HIGGINS and JACKSON) You, lads! You've been trying to track down this Jones fellow for two days now. Did you find him?

HIGGINS
To be plain, sir, no.

JACKSON
We couldn't find anyone who ever heard of this Jones.

BRACKENREID
(slightly irritated) That's no surprise, since the name "Jones" is a bloody alias! But did anyone give you any leads about a man who conducts business trades at night, or hides his face, or carries a stiletto, or has a Queen's ring or a General's hat that he's looking to sell?

HIGGINS
No, on all counts. We asked about all of those things, sir, and more. We got no leads.

JACKSON
And we must have talked to fifty people.

HIGGINS
More than fifty! Nobody knows this man. Nobody ever heard of anyone who might know such a man.

BRACKENREID
(more irritated) You lads weren't really spending your days at the pub, were you, instead of talking to people who actually might know about dealers in historical artifacts?

HIGGINS and JACKSON
(shocked) NO, sir!

BRACKENREID
Are you lads trying to tell me that you spent all this time and talked to all those people and came up with nothing? Not a bloody sausage? Is that what I'm supposed to believe?

HIGGINS and JACKSON
(stammering) Well—

MURDOCH
(interrupting) Actually, sir, I am not at all surprised by the report of these two fine constables. I would have been surprised if they had found something.

(HIGGINS and JACKSON don't breath easy yet, but they see they have an ally. BRACKENREID is befuddled.)

BRACKENREID
Explain that, Murdoch.

MURDOCH
There are many strange things about this case. The mysterious identity of this Mr. Jones is just one part of the picture. Consider the strange nature of the crime itself. We had assumed that this Mr. Jones, whoever he is, killed Mr. Paulin in order to acquire General Brock's hat, a valuable artifact, without giving up his own valuable artifact, Queen Elizabeth's ring, in return.

BRACKENREID
Are you saying that assumption is wrong?

MURDOCH
I think it is wrong. If Mr. Jones wanted to acquire the hat without actually keeping his end of the bargain, then— why not simply go through with the exchange? I mean, both the hat and the ring were in packages, ostensibly to protect them, yet the package proffered by Mr. Jones was a dummy package; it had no ring, only a bag of sand.

BRACKENREID
Which makes sense. If Jones was going to use the dummy package as a decoy and drop it to the pavement as a distraction, why put the real ring in the package, where it might be damaged by the drop?

MURDOCH
Yes, but more to the point, Mr. Jones didn't need to drop the dummy package at all! He could simply GIVE Mr. Paulin the dummy package, take the hat in return, and simply vanish into the darkness! In that way, Mr. Jones would get the hat and Mr. Paulin would not realize that he had been cheated until later, when he and Mr. Reed open the package in a well-lit area and find that there is nothing in the package but sand. By which time, of course, Mr. Jones would be long gone, with the hat! And since no one knew his identity, Mr. Jones would be very difficult to find.

BRACKENREID
Of course! Jones could cheat Paulin just as easily— without killing him! If his goal was to cheat Paulin, that is.

MURDOCH
Which suggests that the purpose of the meeting between Mr. Paulin and the mysterious Mr. Jones was, from the outset, not to trade artifacts, but rather to kill Mr. Paulin.

BRACKENREID
And make it appear like a transaction that became ugly. This wasn't a swindle. It was a premeditated murder from the very start!

MURDOCH
Yes. And if this was a murder rather than a swindle in the buying and selling of rare goods, it is no surprise that the character of "Mr. Jones" has no history of buying and selling rare goods. He was a fictitious dealer, so he has no history for Constables Higgins and Jackson to find.

(HIGGINS and JACKSON stand easier; HIGGINS smiles a little and bounces on the balls of his feet.)

BRACKENREID
Could it be that Jones intended to kill Reed, but killed Paulin by mistake?

MURDOCH
No, Mr. Reed said he'd met Mr. Jones, so Mr. Jones knew what Mr. Reed looked like. And the street lamps provided sufficient lighting at the scene of the crime, that Mr. Paulin's face could be seen. There was no mistaken identity.

CRABTREE
(a bit puzzled) Mr. Paulin supposedly sold numerous forged documents to collectors, who bought them in good faith. If Mr. Paulin was the intended victim, could it be that one of these defrauded collectors is the killer?

BRACKENREID
That's looking more likely, I'd say.

MURDOCH
(begging to differ) I think unlikely. Until a few days before the supposed exchange, it was Mr. Reed, not Mr. Paulin, who was supposed to be present at the exchange. And Mr. Paulin was present only because he himself insisted upon it, according to his partner.

CRABTREE
(confused) I am confused. Was Mr. Paulin somehow tricked into participating in a sham exchange that was to lead to his own murder?

MURDOCH
George, I believe you and I— and Constables Jackson and Higgins— need to talk to someone who could clear this all up.

(FADE OUT.)