ACT V

(FADE IN. Station House No. 4, MURDOCH's office. The blackboard still has the floor plan drawn on it. MURDOCH stands close to the blackboard, studying it while simultaneously listening to BRACKENREID and CRABTREE converse. BRACKENREID and CRABTREE stand further away.)

BRACKENREID
I telephoned Freddy Winthorpe. He says that the guy who got sent to hospital, Yates, was a known thug, worked on and off for Joe Werner's gang; and they say our boy, Crawford, did everyone a favour by knocking out Yates's teeth. All Crawford says is that it was self-defence.

(BRACKENREID expects MURDOCH to say something, but MURDOCH stays silent; MURDOCH is listening, but MURDOCH is studying his blackboard at the same time, working out some final details of a scenario in his mind.)

CRABTREE
Is there any chance Crawford will be released before we have a chance to question him further?

BRACKENREID
I asked Freddy that very thing, and he said, and I quote, no chance in hell he'll be released today, unquote. But, if we want to question Crawford further, Freddy's boys will bring him over.

(MURDOCH nods, but it is not clear at what MURDOCH nods, since his attention seems divided. Suddenly, MURDOCH straightens up and faces BRACKENREID.)

MURDOCH
If it was robbery, the robber must have thought Mr. Crawford held some cash. Yet Mr. Crawford told us that he was penniless. How much money did Mr. Crawford have?

BRACKENREID
Freddy says he didn't have any.

MURDOCH (mildly surprised)
None?

BRACKENREID
That's part of the reason why Crawford's in custody. Crawford doesn't look the type to be a good target for a robbery, so it doesn't make sense that Yates would want to rob him, and therefore, it doesn't make sense that Crawford beat Yates in self-defence. At least, that's what Freddy thinks.

MURDOCH
Make sense? (Dismissing the troubling issue with a wave.) Gentlemen. I want to present to you an explanation for how the murder of Archibald Tate could have been committed. Your questions and criticisms are welcome. I will start by reviewing some things we already know for certain. We know that the killer, whoever he was, had to get into the office somehow.

CRABTREE
There is only one entrance to the office. From the dining room.

MURDOCH
There is a second entrance. From the hallway.

BRACKENREID
Which was locked from the hallway side.

MURDOCH
So we had assumed. What if that door was NOT locked?

CRABTREE
Then the killer could have entered at any opportune time.

MURDOCH
Yes.

BRACKENREID
So what'd the killer do, Murdoch? Unlock the door with a key? Knock and have Tate let him in?

MURDOCH
I considered the possibility that a key, Mr. Briggs's or Mr. Tate's or even a duplicate, might have been used; but I deem that very unlikely. Unlocking that door takes time, and the killer would want to enter the office with little delay. Further, a key to the crime scene would be very incriminating evidence for a suspect to be holding; better for the killer not to have a key. No, I suspect that the door was indeed locked, but was left slightly ajar so that it appeared to be closed, but the lock was not engaged with the frame of the door. I tested the door myself to see whether such a thing was possible; it is. (Seeing skepticism on BRACKENREID'S face) For the time being, sir, let's simply assume that the door could be opened from the hallway side without a key, simply by pushing on it. If that assumption is correct, it would follow that the killer must have known, in advance, that the hallway door COULD be opened from the hallway, without a need for a key.

BRACKENREID
How the bloody hell would he know that?

MURDOCH
Just bear with me for a moment, sir. In my scenario, a few moments before the shooting, the killer enters the office through the hallway door. As you can see from the diagram (indicates the blackboard), none of these people can see the hallway door clearly.

BRACKENREID (pointing to the drawing room)
Except maybe Crawford. (light dawns) If he really was in the drawing room, that is. You think Crawford really was our killer after all?

MURDOCH (takes a deep breath)
Yes.

CRABTREE (shaking his head)
But—

MURDOCH
I know, George, you have many unanswered questions. But again, just bear with me for a moment. The killer— Mr. Crawford— enters the dark hallway and pushes on what everyone else thinks is a locked office door. The door opens; he enters the office. He extracts a small pillow and a firearm from somewhere on his person. The firearm has been prepared so that he does not need to worry about his finger marks appearing on the weapon. He goes behind Mr. Tate, aims the gun through the pillow, and shoots him in the back of the head.

BRACKENREID (not buying it)
Bollocks!

MURDOCH (pressing on, pointing to the blackboard)
And after he shoots Mr. Tate, he exits the way he came, through the hallway door. Moments later, there's a scream, and everybody runs to the office, including Mr. Crawford. All attention is directed to the office; nobody sees or remembers where Mr. Crawford, or any of the other guests, came from.

CRABTREE
Once we we're all in the office, it was Crawford who ran through that same door yet again, under the pretense of chasing the killer. If any of his finger marks had been on the door, this could have been used to explain their presence.

MURDOCH
Correct. Now, while Mr. Crawford and George are out searching the grounds, I ask everyone to tell me where they were, while their memories are fresh. When Mr. Crawford returns, I ask for his alibi, and he gives me one, and by the strangest coincidence, it is perhaps the only alibi he COULD give that places him well away from the scene of the crime, AND that no one can contradict. So in the event Mr. Crawford is charged with murder, he has a very good chance of establishing in front of a jury reasonable doubt of guilt.

BRACKENREID (still not buying it)
Bollocks! Bordering on bloody impossible. How'd Crawford know the hallway door was unlocked? Did he unlock it himself? If so, how and when? How'd he sneak up to shoot Tate? He'd have to pass right in front of him! What did Tate do, just sit there like a tree stump while some stranger circled around behind him and shot him?

MURDOCH
Let's take those questions one at a time. How did Mr. Crawford know he could get into the office through the hallway door? The answer is simple. His accomplice told him. His accomplice also arranged it so that the door appeared closed but the lock was not engaged.

CRABTREE
But the accomplice, who—?

MURDOCH (to BRACKENREID)
Once Mr. Crawford is in the office, as you say, sir, Mr. Tate would see him at once.

BRACKENREID
And make a ruckus if he didn't leave! Like he did with West and Pascal— and Smithson!

MURDOCH
Yes. UNLESS it had already been arranged that that Mr. Crawford's presence was not unwelcome, but actually EXPECTED.

BRACKENREID
Arranged? Expected?

MURDOCH
Arranged by the accomplice. The accomplice might have told Mr. Tate any story: perhaps that a courier was going to deliver a new work of art. It doesn't matter. Mr. Crawford enters the office, and Mr. Tate is not alarmed because Mr. Crawford is expected to be there. Mr. Tate returns his attention to his correspondence, and this gives Mr. Crawford an opportunity to get behind Mr. Tate, pull out the gun and pillow, and commit the murder.

BRACKENREID (still skeptical)
There's a lot riding on that accomplice.

CRABTREE
Briggs. He has to be the accomplice. He was Mr. Tate's assistant. He had the best opportunity to tell Mr. Tate that there would be an expected visitor that day, and that the visitor would be entering by the hallway door. Briggs could have left the door partly open.

MURDOCH
I believe you are right, George. The one person in the best position to plan this was Mr. Briggs. That is why about half an hour ago I asked Constable Higgins to bring in Mr. Briggs.

BRACKENREID
But Crawford's alibi— have we forgotten about that? How'd Crawford know that no one would refute his "I was in the drawing room" story? Don't tell me that Briggs, his accomplice, told him to say that.

MURDOCH
Mr. Briggs, his accomplice, told him to say that. But it was done in a clever way.

(Flashback to BRIGGS talking to MURDOCH and CRABTREE at the entrance to the house. They speak, then BRIGGS admits them to the house.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
Mr. Briggs had planned things carefully. To make his plan work, he needed two neutral witnesses, in this case, George and me. Two policemen.

(Flashback to guests milling about in the house. Viewpoints of several different witnesses are shown.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
The guests were allowed to wander on the first floor wherever they pleased, except for the office. There is no vantage point on the first floor from which it is possible to see every corner of every room, so, it is unlikely that any single witness would be able to see everyone else.

(Flashback to CRAWFORD encountering MURDOCH and CRABTREE in the library, and CRAWFORD leaving. MURDOCH imagines CRAWFORD entering the drawing room, then promptly going to the hallway and looking to the right to see whether the coast is clear. In the darkness of the hallway, CRAWFORD's dark clothing makes him hard to see.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
Mr. Crawford saw an opportune moment early on. George and I saw him in the library right after we arrived, but Mr. Crawford promptly left the library.

MURDOCH (pointing to the blackboard)
He went into the drawing room, but I believe he promptly entered the hall. No one was in a good position to see him, he was wearing dark clothing, and the hallway was dark. Indeed, the hallway may have been deliberately kept dark to conceal Mr. Crawford's presence.

CRABTREE
And a darkened hallway would deter the other guests from wandering there. People would rather wait in well-lit areas.

MURDOCH
True. So. Mr. Crawford pushed on the hallway door and entered the office. He may have identified himself to Mr. Tate as, as I have supposed, a deliveryman. There followed the shot, the scream, the hurried assembly of everyone in the office, and Mr. Crawford and George hastily leaving to chase an imaginary killer.

(Flashback showing BRIGGS in the office. BRIGGS listens as the witnesses say where they were and point. MURDOCH can be seen briefly addressing the witnesses and making some notes.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
While Mr. Crawford and George were gone, I asked the others about their alibis. So I knew essentially where each of them were at the time of the scream. Mr. Briggs heard the alibis, and so he learned all the guests' locations as well.

MURDOCH
I remember asking Mr. Briggs to telephone the police, and he did; but he waited until he had heard all of the alibis before doing so.

(Flashback to CRABTREE and CRAWFORD rejoining the group in the office.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
When Mr. Crawford returned to the office, I asked him for his alibi.

(Flashback showing BRIGGS in the office, positioning himself so that CRAWFORD can see BRIGGS, then rubbing his left forearm while staring accusingly at CRAWFORD. MURDOCH is seen glancing at BRIGGS.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
Nobody knew this house better than Mr. Briggs, and so Mr. Briggs knew where in the house Mr. Crawford could have been so as to have a plausible alibi. Mr. Briggs had to convey that knowledge to Mr. Crawford somehow. The two men had a prearranged series of signals. It was by gestures that Mr. Crawford learned where his best alibi would be.

MURDOCH
It was possible that, given the unpredictable movements of the guests, there might have been another guest with an uncorroborated alibi. But as it happened, everyone else had a corroborated alibi, except Mr. Crawford. But Mr. Crawford would still have an alibi that could not be refuted by any witness, and thus a basis for reasonable doubt. Add to that, the fact that everyone else in the house had a possible motive to kill Mr. Tate, and Mr. Crawford would have a good chance of convincing a jury, if it ever came to that, to acquit him.

(There is a small commotion outside MURDOCH's office as HIGGINS appears with BRIGGS. BRIGGS sees MURDOCH and shouts.)

BRIGGS
Murdoch, what in the world is this all about?

MURDOCH
You are under arrest for the murder of Archibald Tate.

BRACKENREID (to HIGGINS)
Lock him up!

(BRIGGS shakes his head in denial. HIGGINS hustles BRIGGS away.)

BRIGGS (while being taken away)
This is absurd! (His voice fades.)

BRACKENREID (to MURDOCH and CRABTREE)
I'll telephone Freddy and have him bring Crawford over here. I'll bet you want to talk to him again, eh?

MURDOCH
Yes.

BRACKENREID
Crawford'll probably deny it all. He knows we don't have any solid evidence against him.

MURDOCH
Actually, sir; I think he may well confess to the crime.

CRABTREE (puzzled)
Confess? Why would he confess?

(BRACKENREID wonders the same thing. MURDOCH just smiles. CUT TO: interrogation room, with CRAWFORD in the chair. CRAWFORD is tight-lipped. CRAWFORD has the start of a black eye and a scrape on his face. A CONSTABLE stands behind CRAWFORD. CRAWFORD massages his wrists, as if he had recently had manacles removed, and stares stubbornly at MURDOCH and CRABTREE. BRACKENREID watches from outside the interrogation room.)

MURDOCH
Mister Crawford.

CRAWFORD
It was self-defence. I have nothing more to say.

MURDOCH (nodding)
I didn't bring you here from Station House Number 2 to ask you about that. I brought you here to tell you something.

CRAWFORD
Huh? Tell me what?

MURDOCH
We know that this— (MURDOCH rubs his own left forearm)— means "Say that you were in the DRAWING ROOM."

(CRAWFORD's jaw drops. MURDOCH continues rubbing his own forearm.)

MURDOCH
Now, Mr. Crawford, is there anything that you would like to tell us?

(CRAWFORD lowers his eyes and shakes his head. How could MURDOCH know this? CRAWFORD's emotions well up.)

CRAWFORD (eyes lowered)
Briggs, that back-stabbing bastard! He sold me out! (Facing MURDOCH, angry) Don't believe what he told you! He can't blame it all on me! It was HIS idea! He made me do it! Maybe I deserve to hang, but Briggs deserves to hang with me!

(The CONSTABLE places his hands on CRAWFORD to make sure CRAWFORD doesn't try to escape or do anything violent. CRAWFORD realizes he's had it; CRAWFORD slumps and lowers his head.)

MURDOCH
So let's go over it, from the beginning.

CRAWFORD (emotional)
I owed money— lots of money, more than I owed Tate— to a man named Joe Werner.

MURDOCH
I know Mr. Werner, quite well: a racketeer.

CRAWFORD
Werner said he was going to have me killed if I didn't pay. I went to Tate to see whether he could lend me more money, but I ended up talking to Briggs. Briggs said he'd give me enough money to pay off Werner if I— helped him— kill Tate. I had no choice. What else could I do? Briggs told me he'd set it up so that no one would be able to prove anything!

MURDOCH
Go on.

(CUT TO: MURDOCH walking with OGDEN along the street at a leisurely pace.)

OGDEN
So he confessed it all?

MURDOCH
Yes. When I rubbed my left forearm (MURDOCH demonstrates) and said that we knew this was a signal to say "I was in the drawing room," he broke. He couldn't imagine that anyone would figure out what happened, so he concluded that Mr. Briggs must have betrayed him. So he then betrayed Mr. Briggs.

OGDEN
And Mr. Crawford was blackmailed into committing the murder?

MURDOCH
In a manner of speaking, yes. In exchange for killing Mr. Tate, Mr. Crawford received cash to ransom his own life from Joseph Werner.

OGDEN (knows the name)
Werner, despicable man.

MURDOCH
After Werner got paid, a criminal named Yates heard that Mr. Crawford had some money, and so Yates tried to take it by force. By that time, Mr. Crawford had paid off Werner and had no money remaining for Yates to steal.

OGDEN
So Crawford DID act against Yates in self-defence.

MURDOCH
Apparently so. Further, Mr. Crawford was able to resolve a few unanswered questions about Mr. Tate's murder.

OGDEN
Like what?

MURDOCH
He described the array of signals that he and Mr. Briggs had worked out: hand on forearm (gesturing) meant "drawing room"; hand on top of head (gesturing) meant "library"; and so on. He also explained how he was able to get close enough to Mr. Tate in order to shoot him. Mr. Tate was aware of threats against his life— the threatening notes were actually written by Mr. Briggs— and Mr. Tate asked Mr. Briggs to obtain a bodyguard, who would be present while Mr. Tate spoke to his guests. When Mr. Crawford entered the office, he simply said, "Sir, I was hired to protect you today; Mr. Briggs gave me a key and told me to enter through this door." Of course Mr. Crawford used no key, but nevertheless, Mr. Tate welcomed him in and resumed working on his correspondence. While Mr. Tate's guard was down, Mr. Crawford moved behind him and killed him.

OGDEN
And Briggs, what did he say?

MURDOCH
He denied everything. I suppose that Mr. Briggs's defense will be that that he has an alibi, that the only evidence against him is the testimony of Mr. Crawford, and that Mr. Crawford is a confessed murderer who ought not to be believed. Add to that the fact that Mr. Tate had many other enemies, and Mr. Briggs might try to lay the blame on any number of them.

OGDEN
But there's evidence Briggs orchestrated this murder— yet Briggs might convince a jury that there's reasonable doubt. If he escapes punishment— it wouldn't be fair.

MURDOCH
I am confident that I have solved the case. Inspector Brackenreid agrees. I've done all I can do, for now. When Mr. Briggs's case comes up for trial, Mr. Crawford will testify.

(MURDOCH smiles slightly, and then becomes dead serious.)

MURDOCH
And so will I.

(MURDOCH and OGDEN walk on. FADE OUT.)

THE END