The Alibi of the Man With No Alibi

by DoctorH

A teleplay of a Murdoch Mysteries episode, involving a "locked room" mystery. A murder occurs in a house, with Murdoch and Crabtree in the house at the time. Everybody in the house has an alibi, except for one man; and Murdoch finds that this man actually has an alibi as well! So whodunit? The solution appears in the the teleplay, which is like watching an actual episode on TV.

2. ACT 2

ACT II

(FADE IN. Station House No. 4. BRACKENREID and MURDOCH are standing outside the interrogation room, as a burly CONSTABLE escorts CRAWFORD out of the interrogation room, presumably to a jail cell. CRAWFORD goes meekly.)

BRACKENREID (nodding in the direction of CRAWFORD)
What's his motive?

MURDOCH
Mr. Crawford owed a considerable amount of money to Mr. Tate.

BRACKENREID
Like every other guest at that little "party," as I understand. Some of them even owed more money than Crawford did.

MURDOCH
Yes. Mr. Tate was pressuring Mr. Crawford to pay his debt.

BRACKENREID
Again, Tate was doing the same to every other so-called guest. Isn't that wonderful? If Crawford has a motive to kill Tate because of his debt, then everyone in the bloody house has the same bloody motive! (Sighs.) Does Crawford have a history of violence?

MURDOCH
No. He's previously been convicted of burglary, but his record shows no violent crimes.

BRACKENREID
Did anyone see Crawford shoot Tate?

MURDOCH
No.

BRACKENREID
Anyone see him WITH Tate?

MURDOCH
Three of the guests— Mrs. West, Mr. Smithson and Mr. Pascal— saw Mr. Tate in his office shortly before his death. But none of them saw Mr. Crawford with Mr. Tate.

BRACKENREID
Anyone see Crawford enter the office where Tate was?

MURDOCH
No.

BRACKENREID
Did anyone see him flee from the scene of the crime?

MURDOCH
Uh, no.

BRACKENREID
Was the firearm HIS firearm?

MURDOCH
I don't believe so. It may have been stolen.

BRACKENREID
Were his finger marks on the firearm?

MURDOCH
No. The handle and trigger had been wrapped with fabric, apparently to prevent finger marks from being retained.

BRACKENREID
Then you'd better tell me again, Murdoch, why Crawford is our man.

MURDOCH
He had no alibi.

BRACKENREID
He thinks he did. You and Crabtree saw him in the library just before all hell broke loose, yes? You saw him go into the drawing room, and he says he was in the drawing room at the time of the scream. We don't have a single witness who can say he's lying about where he was.

MURDOCH
Sir, neither do we have any witness who can support him! His alibi is the only one for which there is no corroboration. While George and Mr. Crawford were outside searching the grounds, I asked each of the other guests where they were when Mrs. West screamed. Every other guest— every single one!—could say where he or she was; and every other guest— every single one!— had at least two other guests corroborating their stories. The only one whose whereabouts was unknown was Mr. Crawford.

BRACKENREID
How'd he get into the office to commit the crime?

MURDOCH
There was a hallway entrance. After George and I saw Mr. Crawford leave the library, he had enough time to proceed down the hallway and enter the office through that door—

BRACKENREID
But that door was locked on that side, wasn't it?

MURDOCH (cautiously)
Yes.

BRACKENREID
Tate was at his desk; and that hallway door would be right in front of Tate's desk, yes?

MURDOCH
Yes.

BRACKENREID
Not a very good way to sneak in, then. Did anybody see Crawford use that hallway door?

MURDOCH
No.

BRACKENREID
Did he have a key to that door?

MURDOCH
He had no keys at all.

BRACKENREID (with a wave)
It sounds to me like Crawford could have been in the drawing room, just like he said.

MURDOCH
Sir, the killer HAD to be someone in the house. We KNOW no one else came onto the property and we KNOW no one left! Except for Mr. Crawford, every person in the house, including George and me, has a corroborated alibi.

BRACKENREID (harrumphing, switching gears)
This Tate: I understand he was quite a bully and a bastard. He made his living by making "business deals," as he called them, that amount to loans with high interest rates. The way he operated, it wasn't exactly an illegal business, but it was dirty as all hell. Right now, dozens of people in the Toronto area owe him thousands of dollars. That makes for lots of enemies, Murdoch.

MURDOCH
Yes.

BRACKENREID
You said Tate received a threatening note this morning?

MURDOCH
Yes, and there were three previous threatening notes. Mr. Briggs— Mr. Tate's assistant— understandably feared for Mr. Tate's safety, which is why he asked George and me to be present at this gathering.

BRACKENREID
Can we prove that Crawford wrote those notes?

MURDOCH
George is looking into that now. But I suspect the answer is no.

BRACKENREID (sighing)
It's pretty thin, Murdoch. Circumstantial.

MURDOCH (grudgingly, and not with much confidence)
Archibald Tate is dead and someone in that house killed him. We can eliminate everyone else as suspects, but not Mr. Crawford.

(CRABTREE enters, carrying some sheets of paper. MURDOCH and BRACKENREID turn to face CRABTREE.)

CRABTREE (to MURDOCH)
Sir, I have completed the analysis of the threatening notes. I'm afraid there is not much to go on. We cannot match the handwriting to Mr. Crawford, or to anyone else, for that matter. The paper, ink and envelopes are of a kind that is widely available.

BRACKENREID
Untraceable, then. How about the pillow that was used to stifle the shot?

CRABTREE
Also untraceable, sir. And as for the murder weapon itself—

BRACKENREID
Untraceable?

(CRABTREE nods. MURDOCH and BRACKENREID exchange glances. BRACKENREID offers a small shrug. CRABTREE glances over their shoulders and sees BRIGGS arriving at the Station House No. 4.)

MURDOCH (to CRABTREE)
The interrogation of Mr. Crawford ended a few minutes ago. He admits that he was angry at Mr. Tate; he admits he owed him a considerable sum of money; and he admits he was penniless and even desperate; but he adamantly denies being the killer and steadfastly maintains that he was in the drawing room at the time of the murder. Except for Mr. Briggs, we now have statements from all of the witnesses.

CRABTREE
And I noticed Mr. Briggs has just arrived.

(MURDOCH is pleased with the timing of the arrival. Cut to interior of interrogation room. BRIGGS is in the hot seat while MURDOCH and CRABTREE stand beside the table. BRIGGS is nodding.)

BRIGGS
Yes, I would say that every person there held an intense dislike toward my employer. Some had never met him, but I'm pretty sure they all hated him. They all owed him large amounts of money and he was threatening to— (choosing his words carefully) to take strong— but legal!— steps to induce payment. If you were to say that every single person there had a motive to kill Mr. Tate, I don't think I could disagree with you.

MURDOCH (slightly smirking)
Does that include yourself?

BRIGGS (laughing, possibly nervous)
Yes, I suppose it does! (More serious) I was trustee and beneficiary on many of his business ventures, and I now stand to benefit financially. Add to that, I didn't care much for Mr. Tate and thought he was a horrible boss.

MURDOCH (smiling insincerely)
You seem to be incriminating yourself, Mr. Briggs.

BRIGGS
Not at all! Everything I just told you, you would have found out sooner or later. I'm trying to be honest with you. I will benefit from Mr. Tate's death, yes; but I did not kill him. And you KNOW it. You saw me, you KNOW I was not with him when he was shot.

MURDOCH
Actually, we did not see you at the time Mrs. West screamed. But at least four other witnesses did.

BRIGGS
All right, then. I have a solid alibi.

MURDOCH
Tell us why all these other people, all of whom had an intense animosity toward your employer, happened to be in the house at the same time?

BRIGGS (laughs again)
First, gentlemen, Mr. Tate certainly had FAR more enemies than the people who were in the house that day. (Suddenly serious again.) Mr. Tate invited these particular people to offer them a business proposition.

MURDOCH
Yes, that is what we understood; the other guests all told us of an invitation from you saying that Mr. Tate had a "business proposition" for several special guests, which included them, and it would be in their interest to be at the house at the appointed day and time. But they never learned exactly what that "business proposition" was. And neither have we.

BRIGGS
It was a business proposition by which they could discharge their debts to Mr. Tate.

CRABTREE
How so?

BRIGGS
Essentially Mr. Tate's plan was that he needed a new addition on one of his warehouses, and the idea was that these, uh, debtors would help build this new addition for him. At drastically reduced pay or no pay at all. Mr. Tate selected these debtors because of their abilities. Mr. Pascal, for example, is an architectural draftsman, and could design the new addition. Mr. Lawrence could be a bookkeeper on the project. Mr. Oliver is in the construction business, and—

MURDOCH
That was why they were there? To be offered a chance to discharge their debts, in exchange for various services?

BRIGGS
Well, yes. Mr. Tate thought that getting all of them there at one time would convince them that his proposal for discharging their debts was genuine.

MURDOCH (carefully)
We searched Mr. Tate's office. We found many pieces of correspondence on his desk, but no documents about any such "business proposition."

BRIGGS
If you knew Mr. Tate, you'd know he wouldn't put anything in writing until the deal was assured. (BRIGGS sees MURDOCH looking skeptical.) Mr. Tate used a similar plan last year, to build a cottage down by Lake Ontario. (Seeing MURDOCH and CRABTREE exchange looks.) There's nothing illegal about it!

CRABTREE (upon a glance from MURDOCH)
I'll see whether I can find out about that cottage.

BRIGGS
I'll give you the names of the people who worked on it, if you like.

MURDOCH (changing the subject)
The door from the hallway to Mr. Tate's office: is it always locked?

BRIGGS
Yes. That is, it is always locked from the hallway side, but it can be opened from the office side.

MURDOCH
Was the hallway side locked before Mr. Tate was murdered?

BRIGGS
I assume so, it always is. I didn't check.

MURDOCH
Do you have a key to that door?

BRIGGS (getting nervous)
Yes.

MURDOCH
Did you use your key that day?

BRIGGS (suspicious, more nervous)
No. No, I did not go in through that door! You saw me, those other witnesses saw me, saw where I was when the crime was committed!

MURDOCH
Did you give your key to anyone?

BRIGGS
Of course not!

(BRIGGS is clearly offended by the line of questioning, which he perceives as accusatory. MURDOCH backs off and rubs his chin. CUT TO THE MORGUE. OGDEN is cleaning up as MURDOCH and CRABTREE enter. In the background, a covered body is being wheeled away.)

OGDEN
Ah, William, I was just about to go to your office.

MURDOCH
You've finished your postmortem?

OGDEN
Yes. The victim was shot in the back of the head at close range. The shot was fired through a small pillow. Penetration of the bullet was not very deep but the trauma indicates the victim died almost immediately.

MURDOCH
Time of death?

OGDEN
Consistent with the time you arrived.

MURDOCH
Could the murder have been committed a few minutes before we arrived, or a few minutes after?

(CRABTREE is surprised by this question but says nothing.)

OGDEN
Yes; I cannot fix time of death to the exact minute.

MURDOCH
Can you estimate the height of the killer, based upon the angle of bullet entry?

OGDEN
No. For one thing, I cannot be certain about the position of the victim's head at the time the shot was fired. The killer could be almost any height. Any of the guests could have fired the shot.

MURDOCH
Even the diminutive Mrs. West?

CRABTREE (surprised that MURDOCH would ask)
It is unlikely Mrs. West could be the killer. It's true that she saw Mr. Tate shortly before we arrived, but she saw him in the presence of another witness, Mr. Pascal. And Mr. Smithson saw Mr. Tate alive after that.

MURDOCH
George, we've assumed that only one person in the house lacked a corroborated alibi. Perhaps we ought to reconsider whether the other guests' alibis can withstand scrutiny.

CRABTREE
Sir?

MURDOCH
Well, haven't you wondered why the killer fired the fatal shot through a pillow? Why not simply shoot Tate?

CRABTREE
I assume that the killer was trying to soften the sound of the shot, so that it would not be heard in the other rooms.

MURDOCH
All right, but what if the killer were unsure that the pillow alone would cover the noise of the shot? What else might the killer do?

CRABTREE (getting it)
The killer might make a loud sound to mask the noise. Like a scream. And Mrs. West screamed. Sir: you think Mrs. West, on the pretense of investigating some sort of noise, entered the office and shot Mr. Tate, while screaming to cover the sound of the gunshot?

MURDOCH
If the killer were Mrs. West, she'd need to enter the room, take out a weapon and pillow concealed on her person, cover the barrel of the pistol with the pillow, cock the pistol, and— while screaming— shoot. How much time would that take?

(CRABTREE pantomimes the scenario. CRABTREE moves quickly but deliberately.)

CRABTREE
Five seconds, thereabout.

MURDOCH
At least. George, we need to talk to Mr. Tate's guests again.

(FADE OUT.)