ACT III
(FADE IN. EXTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, daytime. CUT TO: INTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, INTERROGATION ROOM. MUIR sits in the hot seat, his face bruised, his hands manacled. Constable JACKSON stands behind MUIR, just in case. BRACKENREID and MURDOCH are seated opposite. CRABTREE sits further away, notebook at the ready. MUIR waves the manacles at BRACKENREID and MURDOCH.)
MUIR
Would you PLEASE remove these things? They are too tight, and they hurt!
BRACKENREID
You'll live.
MURDOCH
As we have already explained, Mr. Muir, you are in restraints because, when we came to talk to you at your place of work, you reacted with violence. You assaulted the officers and then resisted arrest.
MUIR (jerking his thumb at JACKSON)
I defended myself; your Constable punched me without provocation!
(BRACKENREID shakes his head disbelievingly. JACKSON purses his lips angrily but says nothing.)
MUIR
And I didn't want to be arrested because I was innocent!
BRACKENREID
Innocent of what? From what I hear, you never even bothered to let the officers tell you what crime was being investigated! And innocent people don't fight with cops and try to run away, bucko.
MUIR (stubbornly)
But I AM innocent! The word on the street was that Nick Donnan was murdered! When you coppers showed up, I thought you were going to arrest me for it. Well, I didn't murder Nick Donnan!
MURDOCH
Mr. Muir, I assure you that if indeed you are innocent in connection with Mr. Donnan's death, you will not be charged with murder.
BRACKENREID
And as of this moment, you haven't been charged with murder; only with assaulting police officers and resisting arrest. (threateningly) Which are some pretty serious charges. You're looking at some serious time behind bars, whether we charge you with murder or not.
MUIR (stubbornly)
I did not murder Nick Donnan!
MURDOCH
You knew Mr. Donnan, though?
MUIR
Yes.
MURDOCH
You had a grudge against Mr. Donnan?
MUIR
Yes; but a lot of people had grudges against him!
MURDOCH
Stanley Weston and Carlton Sykes were others who had a grudge against Mr. Donnan?
MUIR
Yes, among others!
MURDOCH
You are close friends with Stanley Weston and Carlton Sykes, are you not?
MUIR
Yes; so what?
BRACKENREID (with mock shock)
So what? Weston and Sykes were caught at the scene of the crime with blood on their hands, that's so what!
MUIR
So, I'm friends with two men who have been charged with murder, and that makes ME guilty?
MURDOCH
Your "friends" say you participated in the planning of the attack, and were with them when they assaulted Mr. Donnan.
(MUIR takes a moment.)
MUIR
That's not true!
MURDOCH
Mr. Muir, where were you last evening, between the hours of eight-thirty and ten?
MUIR
In my room, at Mrs. Radcliffe's rooming house.
MURDOCH
Can you direct us to any witnesses who would verify your whereabouts at that time?
MUIR
Mrs. Radcliffe could. She keeps tabs on the comings and goings of those who stay in her rooms.
MURDOCH
Can you give us the names of any other witnesses who might support your alibi?
MUIR (reluctantly)
No.
BRACKENREID
And if your pals Weston and Sykes were to tell us that you were with them last night, in that alley, killing Donnan?
MUIR
They'd be lying!
BRACKENREID
Would they, now?
MUIR
Yes, they would!
BRACKENREID
And if they told us that the three of you planned it all out, to trap Donnan and kill him, they'd be lying about that too, would they?
(MUIR hesitates.)
MUIR
Well, part of that would be true.
MURDOCH
What part would be true?
MUIR (carefully)
Sykes wanted to lure Donnan into an alley, and have Weston and me block the alley so that Donnan couldn't escape. Then Weston and me, we'd move in and we'd all have our turns going at Donnan. (takes a breath) But I didn't want to be involved with that, and I told them so! And I walked away! I went to my room at Mrs. Radcliffe's rooming house. That's where I was, all night. Since Donnan is dead, I guess Sykes and Weston went through with it. But they did it without me.
MURDOCH
You associates dispute this, and you have no corroborating proof of your alibi.
MUIR
Go ask Mrs. Radcliffe, if you don't believe me! Yow! You even sound like Mrs. Radcliffe! You think you know everything!
BRACKENREID (intimidating)
We'll check your story, all right. We don't like it when we get lied to. I'll bet you're glad that Donnan's dead now, aren't you? That's no lie, is it?!
MUIR
I'm not sad that he's dead, but I didn't kill him!
(CUT TO: BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. BRACKENREID plops himself in his chair, while MURDOCH stands.)
BRACKENREID
He thinks he's a tough nut, doesn't he? We have confessions from Sykes and Weston, but Muir won't admit his part in this crime.
MURDOCH
He probably knows we have no physical evidence connecting him to the attack. The only witnesses against him are his two purported co-conspirators, Mr. Weston and Mr. Sykes.
BRACKENREID
And we can't lay charges against Muir just on the say-so of two confessed murderers.
MURDOCH
It is possible that Mr. Muir is telling the truth, that he really didn't have a part in the attack. He gave us a possible alibi. I have asked Constable Crabtree to telephone the landlady of the rooming house where Mr. Muir stays, but apparently she does not have a telephone. So Constable Crabtree and I will be leaving shortly to speak to her in person. It may be that the landlady will corroborate his whereabouts at the time of the killing.
(CUT TO: EXTERIOR RADCLIFFE HOUSE, daytime. The house is a stately, well-kept dwelling, clearly capable of having multiple bedrooms. A sign on the door says: "Rooms Available Inquire Within". There is a large knocker on the door. There are windows in the front of the house. CUT TO: INTERIOR RADCLIFFE HOUSE, sitting room. Mrs. RADCLIFFE, an elderly lady who moves slowly but is still of sound mind and reasonably sound body, sits in a comfortable chair. MURDOCH sits in a chair facing her, and CRABTREE stands, taking notes.)
RADCLIFFE
So that is the story David— Mr. Muir— told you, is it?
MURDOCH
Yes. And he said that you might be able to testify that he was here, at your rooming house, at the time the attack was committed.
RADCLIFFE (to herself)
Now, why on Earth would he say that?
CRABTREE (helpfully)
He said that you are often aware of the comings and goings of those in the rooms, Ma'am.
RADCLIFFE
Did he? My, my. It is true that I sometimes take note of when my roomers leave and return, but I do not do so at all hours of the day. Rarely am I awake after eight-thirty. And last night, I was in bed by eight o'clock. I feel confident in saying that, between eight-thirty last night, and five o'clock this morning, I was asleep.
MURDOCH
So, you can neither confirm nor refute Mr. Muir's story that he was here.
(RADCLIFFE begins to laugh, more out of amusement than mocking.)
RADCLIFFE
You say you are a detective?
MURDOCH (surprised and puzzled)
Yes, I am.
(RADCLIFFE continues to laugh.)
RADCLIFFE
Heh. You ask me to say that I can neither confirm nor refute "Mr. Muir's" story. Heh. Well, Detective, here's what I say. I REFUTE "Mr. Muir's" story! David lied to you!
MURDOCH (puzzled)
But, you said you were asleep at the crucial time.
RADCLIFFE
I don't need to be awake to spot a lie when I hear one. And if you were any sort of a detective, you'd spot it, too.
(MURDOCH and CRABTREE exchange puzzled looks, perhaps wondering whether RADCLIFFE has all of her marbles. RADCLIFFE laughs.)
RADCLIFFE
Once again: what was the story David told you?
MURDOCH
Mr. Muir claims he was here, in this building, in his room, no later than eight-thirty last night; and in particular, that he was in his room between eight-thirty and ten o'clock last night.
RADCLIFFE
I'll take your word for it that that is his story, as far as it goes.
MURDOCH
And YOU say, from eight-thirty last night until five o'clock this morning, you were asleep.
RADCLIFFE
That's right.
MURDOCH
Therefore, it seems to me, you could neither confirm NOR CONTRADICT Mr. Muir's alibi.
RADCLIFFE
That is true. And yet I do say the story is fiction.
MURDOCH (baffled, but still polite)
But you have no basis for saying that the story is fiction.
(RADCLIFFE looks at MURDOCH critically for a moment.)
RADCLIFFE
As a witness, I cannot say that I have evidence that David's alibi is incorrect. But as a thinking, rational human being, I can say that what David has told you is balderdash.
MURDOCH (not following)
I do not understand. In what way?
RADCLIFFE
As you've explained it to me, the alibi is only part of the story. It is not the whole story, is it? There are other details. The details of the story itself, as a whole, render it beyond belief.
MURDOCH (puzzled, frustrated)
Mrs. Radcliffe—
RADCLIFFE (interrupting)
As you told me earlier, Detective: David admits that he and his associates discussed the commission of a serious crime, is that not so? And that crime was indeed later committed that day in the EXACT manner discussed, was it not?
MURDOCH
Yes—?
RADCLIFFE
And David also claims that he wished to have no part of that serious crime, correct?
MURDOCH
Yes—?
RADCLIFFE
And David further claims that, rather than participate in the crime, he walked away from his associates, isn't that right?
MURDOCH
Yes, that is correct. He claimed he came here, instead.
RADCLIFFE
Now, Detective. If we assume for the moment the story is true, put yourself in the place of "Mr. Muir." Here are the circumstances. Your KNOWN associates are planning a crime. You know the nature of the crime, as well as the date and time that the crime will be committed, but you wish— for whatever reason— not to participate in that crime with your associates, and not to share the blame with them. What, then, would you do?
MURDOCH
There are many things—
RADCLIFFE (interrupting)
You would establish an alibi! THAT is what you would do. It is not something you MIGHT do, it is something you WOULD do! Your KNOWN associates are going to do something criminal at a known time, and whether you participate in that dastardly doing or not, YOU will be suspected of aiding them! Therefore, to protect yourself, you MUST have an alibi for the time that the crime is expected to occur! Preferably you ought to have one or more reliable, independent witnesses, who will testify if called to trial, to the effect that you were elsewhere when the crime occurred!
(MURDOCH is befuddled. CRABTREE is somewhat surprised to see MURDOCH so befuddled.)
MURDOCH
Mr. Muir did give us an alibi.
RADCLIFFE
Yes, he gave you ME as his alibi. Only I could not support his alibi, could I? No, I could not. And I will not.
(MURDOCH is still befuddled.)
MURDOCH
But—
RADCLIFFE
If David wished to have me support his alibi, he should have made CERTAIN that I would support it! He should have woken me! He should have said, "I'm sorry that I woke you up at nine at night!" But he didn't! Or he should have gone to place where he knew people— a club, a public house— so that there would be no question of his innocence. But he didn't do that, either.
(MURDOCH catches on, a little.)
MURDOCH
I see what you are saying—
RADCLIFFE
If he truly did not want to be a part of the crime to come, he should have made CERTAIN that he had an alibi. He did not make certain that he had an alibi. Therefore, the original premise is unlikely to be true, suggesting that he DID want to be a part of the crime to come! Q.E.D.!
(MURDOCH is simultaneously impressed and a little put off.)
MURDOCH (slowly)
That is one way of looking at it.
RADCLIFFE
That is why, Detective, I do not believe David told you the truth.
(MURDOCH and CRABTREE are a bit abashed. CRABTREE sees MURDOCH somewhat shaken by this analysis, and allows himself a small smile. RADCLIFFE looks self-satisfied. MURDOCH absorbs the points that have been made and nods as if he were formulating a plan. FADE OUT.)
