ACT IV
(FADE IN. ESTABLISHING SHOT OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, morning [Thursday]. CUT TO: INT. STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. The desk is clear of reports. BRACKENREID is standing behind his desk, with his jacket off, speaking with MARGARET.)
BRACKENREID
I can't dear, not tonight.
MARGARET
Tomorrow?
BRACKENREID
I don't think so. (hopefully) Can we visit them some time next week?
MARGARET
(sadly) I was hoping—(trails off)
(BRACKENREID comes out from behind his desk and hugs MARGARET.)
BRACKENREID
Believe me, I wish I could. I wish I could take the afternoon off and be with you. I honestly wish I had the time. But with Murdoch and Watts being gone—
MARGARET
(resigned) Your work comes first. I can't wait for Detective Murdoch to get back, and take some of the load off of you.
BRACKENREID
We might be able to lighten the load without his help. My boys say they expect to make arrests in those riot cases very soon, and Crabtree says he has a plan to find and arrest his arson suspect, who has gone into hiding. And if I can find this Quinn Sutton, I might be able to crack this stabbing case as well. Maybe this will be my lucky day.
(HIGGINS bursts into the office, unnecessarily knocking as he does so.)
HIGGINS
(excitedly) Sir! Jackson just found the son of the owner of the pub, Quinn Sutton!
(BRACKENREID's eyes go wide and a smile spreads across his face.)
BRACKENREID
(to MARGARET) Maybe it is my lucky day!
(MARGARET sees that BRACKENREID is delighted, and she is delighted as well.)
MARGARET
I'll let you take care of business, then! Please telephone me, Thomas, if everything works out.
(BRACKENREID escorts MARGARET out.)
BRACKENREID
I will.
(BRACKENREID and MARGARET kiss briefly, and MARGARET exits. BRACKENREID is bouncing on his toes.)
BRACKENREID
(energized) Jackson's got Quinn Sutton! Best news I've heard all week! Get his finger marks, Higgins, and compare them to the finger marks we found on the knife.
HIGGINS
Jackson is taking his finger marks as we speak, sir!
BRACKENREID
Right! After you let him wash the ink off his hands, have young Quinn brought to the interview room.
HIGGINS
Yes, sir!
(CUT TO: INTERVIEW ROOM. QUINN sits in the hot seat, with JACKSON standing behind. BRACKENREID sits opposite QUINN, an open notebook in front of him.)
BRACKENREID
Do you know Hans Mueller, also known as "Doc?"
QUINN
I didn't kill "Doc!"
BRACKENREID
That's not what I asked. I asked, did you know him?
QUINN
(uneasy) Yes.
BRACKENREID
Did you borrow money from him?
QUINN
(uneasy) Yes.
(BRACKENREID edges slightly closer to QUINN, to be more intimidating.)
BRACKENREID
How much did you borrow from him?
QUINN
(even more uneasy) I don't remember. More than I should have.
(BRACKENREID again edges closer to QUINN, to be even more intimidating.)
BRACKENREID
Did you pay it back?
QUINN
I didn't kill "Doc!" And I don't know who did! I don't know anything about his death, except what I saw in the newspaper!
BRACKENREID
(icily) Now you listen, and you listen good. Did you pay it back?
QUINN
No. Not all of it.
BRACKENREID
Your mother, Angel Sutton: did she pay "Doc" on your behalf?
QUINN
(with difficulty) Ma never gave him any money. (uneasy) No money.
BRACKENREID
Where were you, Tuesday morning, at about nine-fifteen in the morning?
QUINN
(with some confidence) You can easily verify this: on Tuesday morning, I was—
(QUINN is interrupted when abruptly the door the room opens and HIGGINS pops in his head. HIGGINS seems unnerved. BRACKENREID pops back away from QUINN.)
HIGGINS
I beg your pardon, sir. May I have a word with you?
(BRACKENREID is irked, but takes the meaning and gets out his chair and goes out the door. CUT TO: The HALLWAY outside the Interview Room. BRACKENREID and HIGGINS move away from the door and speak in low voices so that the suspect being questioned cannot hear what they are saying.)
HIGGINS
I've checked Quinn Sutton's finger marks very carefully, sir. NO MATCH to what we found on the knife.
BRACKENREID
What!?
HIGGINS
It's not even close; I triple-checked, sir!
(BRACKENREID is dashed.)
BRACKENREID
(to himself) Oh, bloody hell! (to himself and HIGGINS) The lady who confessed to the crime didn't do it. She was almost certainly confessing in order to protect her son, but he didn't do it, either?!
HIGGINS
I know, sir, that you were hoping there would be a finger mark match, and that would resolve the case—
BRACKENREID
You're damned right I was!
HIGGINS
(continuing) — And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you the news, but I thought you'd want to know right away, sir.
BRACKENREID
Bloody—! (resigned) You're right, Higgins. I needed to know this right away. (muttering) My lucky day. Bad luck, that is.
(CUT TO: INTERVIEW ROOM. BRACKENREID re-enters, his attitude more subdued, and sits opposite QUINN.)
BRACKENREID
(professionally, not intimidating) My apologies for the interruption, Mr. Sutton. You were about to tell me where you were on Tuesday morning, at just after nine in the morning. (to JACKSON) Oh, Jackson, you're dismissed; return to your duties.
(JACKSON, somewhat surprised, exits. QUINN is puzzled by the change in BRACKENREID's attitude, and is suspicious.)
QUINN
(carefully) I was going to tell you that I was working on a job, building a stairway at a church. The people working on the job will verify it, as will Reverend Carson, the pastor of the church. I— I don't remember the name of the church, but I know where it is and I could take there—
BRACKENREID
(holding up his hand) That won't be necessary, right now. Did you say the pastor was named Carson?
QUINN
Yes.
BRACKENREID
Did people call him "Parson Carson?"
QUINN
(surprised, smiling) Yes, they did!
BRACKENREID
I know him. His church is on Richmond Street.
QUINN
(nodding) Yeah! That's the one!
BRACKENREID
I'll contact him to verify your story— which I expect he will. Quinn: you know "Doc" and what his business was.
QUINN
(cautiously) Yes—?
BRACKENREID
Do you know who killed "Doc" or who may have wanted to kill him?
QUINN
(carefully) Am I a suspect?
BRACKENREID
No. We arrested you because we thought you might be a suspect. But unless Parson Carson calls you a liar, I would say that you are not a suspect.
QUINN
(after a moment) If I'm free to go, I'm going.
(QUINN stands, and makes for the door, but BRACKENREID gets in his way.)
BRACKENREID
Did you know, lad, that your mother confessed to killing "Doc?"
(QUINN stops in his tracks, stunned.)
QUINN
She didn't.
BRACKENREID
You listen to me: We KNOW she didn't KILL "Doc"—
(QUINN is relieved.)
BRACKENREID
— But she DID CONFESS to killing him.
QUINN
(totally befuddled) What?!
BRACKENREID
Why would she confess? Why would she want to take the blame for a crime she didn't commit? The explanation is obvious. She thought that YOU killed "Doc"; and that is why she confessed. In order to protect YOU.
(QUINN backs up toward his chair but does not sit down.)
BRACKENREID
Now, tell me, lad: you didn't do it, but your mother thought you did. Now, why should she think her son committed this crime?
(QUINN tries to think of a reason.)
QUINN
Because I owed money to "Doc."
BRACKENREID
Lots of people owed money. Why would she think it was you?
QUINN
Because "Doc" was killed in my mother's pub.
BRACKENREID
Lots of people visit that pub! Why would your mother think it was you?
QUINN
(with difficulty) Because the pub wasn't open to the public that early in the morning, and because I have a key to the pub—
(BRACKENREID knows he's onto something; he thinks there's more to the story.)
BRACKENREID
(prompting) And—?
QUINN
Because I used my key to let "Doc" into the pub at about 8:50 on Tuesday morning, before I went to work at the church.
BRACKENREID
And why did you let "Doc" into the pub?
QUINN
Because he asked me to. Because he TOLD me to. Because I owe him. (hanging his head) Because he said he'd reduce my debt if I did. (after swallowing) Ma has helped me reduce my debt by letting "Doc" use the pub's dining room as a kind of office; he sometimes meets people there in the mornings and early afternoons.
BRACKENREID
Who was "Doc" meeting with Tuesday morning?
QUINN
I don't know.
BRACKENREID
I'll wager you have an idea who it was, or who it might have been! Who?
QUINN
(shaking his head) I don't know! "Doc" said he needed to meet with somebody, but he didn't say who. I didn't stay around long enough to see who it was.
(BRACKENREID backs off and becomes less confrontational.)
BRACKENREID
Sit down, lad. Let's talk some more.
(CUT TO: EXT. CITY MORGUE, mid-day. CUT TO: INT. CITY MORGUE. BRACKENREID and OGDEN are talking; they sit, stand, pace, and lean as they talk.)
BRACKENREID
So I checked Quinn Sutton's alibi, and the alibi seems solid.
OGDEN
So he's not your prime suspect anymore.
BRACKENREID
He isn't a suspect anymore, that's right. But he is an important witness. Quinn Sutton owed quite a bit of money to "Doc" Mueller, and he couldn't pay it back. According to young Quinn, Mueller agreed to reduce the balance of Quinn's debt if Quinn or his mother would perform certain actions.
OGDEN
Oh?
BRACKENREID
For one thing, Mueller wanted a reliable local meeting place where he could talk to borrowers— or should I say, to threaten them or make demands of them— and Angel Sutton allowed Mueller to use her pub's dining room which ordinarily didn't get used until evening. Mueller also agreed to reduce Quinn's debt further, if Quinn would unlock the pub so that Mueller could use the pub as a meeting place on Tuesday morning, before Angel Sutton arrived.
OGDEN
So whoever met with "Doc" Mueller that Tuesday morning— is the killer.
BRACKENREID
He would be my prime suspect, yes. Whoever it was came to the pub, and Mueller let him in. He met with Mueller, stabbed him, killed him, and probably sneaked out unnoticed after Angel arrived at ten o'clock. The big unanswered question, of course, is who Mueller was to be meeting that morning. We have no witnesses, not a one.
OGDEN
If Mueller used the pub as an office for conducting his illegal loan operations—
BRACKENREID
Which he apparently did.
OGDEN
— Then whoever met with him was probably there to talk about a, uh, a loan.
BRACKENREID
(with grit teeth) Which could be a lot of people. It could include not only those who HAD borrowed from Mueller, but those who WANTED to borrow! That's HUNDREDS of people! Or more! (sighs) What would Murdoch do?
(OGDEN laughs politely; BRACKENREID is not offended.)
OGDEN
If I know William, he would try to identify the most likely suspects. For example, William might ask whether those who only WANTED to borrow or who were CONSIDERING borrowing might be likely suspects.
BRACKENREID
You're right! Prospective borrowers wouldn't be strong suspects would they? They'd have no motive. It was those who actually DID borrow from Mueller, and who found themselves under Mueller's cruel thumb, who might want to destroy him. (sighing) But that doesn't narrow things down much; there are still dozens of people who were under Mueller's thumb.
(OGDEN pauses, because she has an idea.)
OGDEN
And how do we know that Mueller had so many enemies?
BRACKENREID
Because the file from Station House Five said so.
OGDEN
So Mueller ran most of his operations in Station House Five's territory?
BRACKENREID
Yes; that's why they had a file on him.
(OGDEN pauses again.)
OGDEN
And yet, Mueller was not murdered in the territory of Station House Five. He was murdered in the territory of Station House Four.
BRACKENREID
That's right.
OGDEN
Would one of Mueller's enemies come all the way from Station House Five's territory to our territory and kill him here?
(BRACKENREID mulls the idea.)
BRACKENREID
That's possible. (pause) But it wouldn't be likely, would it? (pause) Mueller set up a temporary office in Angel's Pub. It would make sense, wouldn't it, that the temporary office would be used to meet with local people, people who live in our Station House's territory? Wouldn't that be the point of using the pub as a meeting place?
OGDEN
Is there any reason to think that whoever was meeting with Mueller wasn't local?
(BRACKENREID ponders this, then seizes upon a thought.)
BRACKENREID
Hmm. It seems to me that whoever killed Mueller MUST HAVE BEEN from around here! I mean: whoever killed Mueller must have known about the layout of the pub, the use of the dining room as a meeting room, where the exits were, that kind of thing. The killer may also have known that the building would be deserted at the time of the meeting, and that there wouldn't be any witnesses to see him come or go, and what time Angel Sutton might be expected to show up.
OGDEN
Making it likely that the killer worked at the pub or was a frequent visitor or a nearby resident.
(BRACKENREID thinks a moment, then smiles.)
BRACKENREID
These are the kinds of things I should have noticed sooner! If my brain hadn't been so muddled! (nodding) You know, I think my investigation just got a whole lot easier. I've got the names of four of Mueller's customers, all living close to the pub. If this were Murdoch's case, he'd talk to those four people first, wouldn't he?
OGDEN
He would. He'd haul them into the Station House's Interview Room and give them each a stiff interrogation, one at a time.
(BRACKENREID paces a little, and sees the grease pencil that had been used to mark flasks.)
BRACKENREID
You know, Doctor— I'm NOT going to do what Murdoch would do!
(BRACKENREID picks up the grease pencil and shows it to OGDEN.)
BRACKENREID
Mind if I borrow this?
(CUT TO: EXT. OF THE PUB, early afternoon. CUT TO: INT. THE PUB, DINING ROOM. The door from the main area of the Pub opens, and BRACKENREID is seen holding the door for ANGEL, who enters the dining area first. BRACKENREID closes the door behind him. BRACKENREID carries a notebook. ANGEL's hands shake throughout.)
BRACKENREID
Let's sit down.
ANGEL
Let's get this over with.
BRACKENREID
(more forcefully) Let's sit down.
(They sit at one of the tables.)
ANGEL
Are you trying to find Quinn again, to arrest him again?
BRACKENREID
No. Quinn had an alibi. We checked it, it withstands scrutiny. Quinn didn't stab "Doc."
ANGEL
(stunned) You're certain?
BRACKENREID
Completely certain. Mrs. Sutton, you thought Quinn did stab "Doc," didn't you?
ANGEL
(nodding sadly) Damn that "Doc." Damn him! He was crushing Quinn! My boy got caught in his web and couldn't get out! (pause) Yes, I thought it was Quinn. The only one who could have let "Doc" in here was Quinn. I thought it had to be Quinn.
BRACKENREID
You didn't want Quinn to hang. I understand that.
ANGEL
If you charged Quinn, Quinn wouldn't hang. "Doc" worked for the German, and the German's musclemen would kill Quinn before you could ever hang him.
(BRACKENREID pauses for a moment; he hadn't considered this.)
BRACKENREID
I will make sure the word gets out; that Quinn is not a suspect. Now, you tried to help Quinn, didn't you? In exchange for letting "Doc" run his operations out of this room, "Doc" agreed to reduce Quinn's debt.
ANGEL
Yes.
BRACKENREID
Quinn wasn't the only one caught in "Doc's" web, was he? Some of your customers got caught in the same web.
ANGEL
They did.
(BRACKENREID consults his notebook.)
BRACKENREID
I know about Norman Ingram, Eugene Whatley, Joseph Nash, Mark Hardwick, and Quinn. They all owed money to Mueller at one time or another.
ANGEL
Yes.
BRACKENREID
Anyone else? Did you see anyone else come into this room to have a meeting with "Doc?" Anyone else who owed money to him?
(ANGEL thinks a moment.)
ANGEL
Just Ed Tremaine, but he's been dead for two months. No one can prove it, but we all know that "Doc" had Ed killed.
BRACKENREID
These other fellows— Norman Ingram, Eugene Whatley, Joseph Nash, Mark Hardwick— do you think you could get them to meet with me here at the pub?
ANGEL
Well, they all pretty much come in around about now. But would they want to talk to you? (laughing bitterly) Not a chance. I guarantee: they don't want to talk to no copper.
BRACKENREID
Do you think they might want to talk to a gentlemen who was offering them free beer?
(ANGEL makes a face that suggests that such an offer might make these men more likely to want to talk. FADE OUT.)