Murdoch Solves a Murder in the 21st Century

by DoctorH

A complete teleplay, just like an actual Murdoch episode. Murdoch's detective skills help break open a case that occurs over a hundred years later. No time travel is involved, there are no departures from the canon; it's a mystery with a touch of humour. Solution(s) included. I'd love it if they actually made an episode like this!

4. ACT 4

ACT IV

(FADE IN. Exterior of the PRESENT-DAY POLICE STATION. It is now dark. CUT TO: Interior of the POLICE STATION. SIMS is at her desk, reading the book and drinking coffee. FINNEY approaches. SIMS looks up.)

FINNEY
How's that story going?

SIMS (laughs a little)
Okay, I can sure see why you think the Porter case is similar. Porter had LOADS of motive, and the killing looked like a revenge killing, et cetera, et cetera. There was a lot of hearsay and circumstantial evidence pointing to Porter. But when I check, I find that Porter has a kick-ass alibi! Porter says he was with Constable Cross at the time of the murder, and he gave a perfect description of what Cross looked like. And then Constable Cross backed Porter's story up, a hundred percent. We know that if we arrest Porter and charge him, the first witness for the defence will be Cross, a COP. (holds up the book) THAT'S pretty similar to the case in this book.

FINNEY (grinning)
It gets better. Read on!

(CUT TO: STATION HOUSE NO. 4. CUT TO: BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. MURDOCH, BRACKENREID and CRABTREE are there. BRACKENREID is the only one that is seated. BRACKENREID is in a fairly good mood.)

BRACKENREID
Have you ruled out Ted Wallace as a suspect, then?

MURDOCH (uncomfortably)
Not entirely, sir.

BRACKENREID
I know he was your prime suspect. I know that all of O'Casey's friends think he did it. But you know that if he gets charged and prosecuted, I'll be the very first witness for the defence. And I'll have to tell the truth, Murdoch. (dead serious) I'll have to say that he was with me at the time.

MURDOCH
Of course.

BRACKENREID
Seems to me you ought to be looking at who else might've done it. Maybe Wallace "persuaded" somebody else to commit the crime, at a time when he knew he'd have an unshakable alibi.

MURDOCH
Possibly. But I think it would be difficult to persuade someone to commit a murder as vicious, as "personal," as this one was.

BRACKENREID
Maybe if the money was right.

MURDOCH
That might require a rather substantial amount of money, and I did not get the impression that Mr. Wallace had very much cash at his disposal. Would you agree, George?

CRABTREE
Yes, sir, I would.

BRACKENREID
Nevertheless, I think we have to strike Wallace off our list of suspects, don't we?

MURDOCH (reluctantly)
I— think perhaps we do.

BRACKENREID
We know O'Casey had a criminal record, don't we? And I thought maybe one of his victims decided to take revenge on him. Maybe that's what happened. Also, we thought at first this might have been a killing in the course of a robbery, didn't we? Maybe that's what it was. Maybe O'Casey didn't even know the fellow who killed him. Well, it seems to me that the two of you have some tough police work ahead of you.

MURDOCH
Yes, sir.

BRACKENREID
Close the door on the way out, would you?

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE take the cue and leave BRACKENREID's OFFICE. CRABTREE closes the office door. As they step away from the office, MURDOCH talks to CRABTREE.)

MURDOCH
George, let's go to my office. We need to formulate a plan.

CRABTREE
Yes, sir.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE cross the constables' area and enter MURDOCH's OFFICE. MURDOCH closes the door and motions for CRABTREE to be seated. While CRABTREE takes a seat, MURDOCH sits behind his desk.)

CRABTREE
I am not quite sure where to begin, sir. We have no witnesses, no murder weapon, no other physical evidence—

MURDOCH
I am not quite ready to let go of Ted Wallace as a suspect. Not yet, anyway.

CRABTREE
Sir? Wallace's alibi seems to be iron-clad.

MURDOCH
Yes, it does. But something is not right. We questioned a lot of Mr. O'Casey's friends. They were ALL familiar with Mr. O'Casey's dispute with Mr. Wallace. But when we questioned Mr. Wallace's friends, NONE of them had much familiarity with the dispute with Mr. O'Casey. They didn't even know who Mr. O'Casey was.

CRABTREE
Yes, sir, that WAS odd. Mr. Wallace said something like, "I made no secret of my disagreement with Oak," but he apparently kept it secret from some of his closest friends. But I don't know what significance to attach to that. Perhaps he was protecting them, he didn't want them to get involved?

MURDOCH
And there was something else. There's one thing I want to do before I discard all the work we've done so far. I want to talk to Stewart Middleton again.

CRABTREE
One of Mr. Wallace's friends?

MURDOCH
Yes. There was something he said that— well, it's probably nothing. But I can't convince myself to let it go.

(CUT TO: A WAREHOUSE. MIDDLETON is dressed in work clothes and is moving boxes onto a cart. MURDOCH and CRABTREE approach. MIDDLETON sees them but keeps working.)

MURDOCH
Mr. Middleton! May we have a word with you? We spoke with your employer, and he said it would be all right if we asked you some questions. Would it be all right with you if we asked you some questions?

(MIDDLETON stops working and wipes his brow. MURDOCH removes his hat. CRABTREE removes his constable's helmet.)

MIDDLETON
Yeah, it's all right with me. What do you need to know?

MURDOCH
When we spoke earlier, I told you that we were investigating the whereabouts of Ted Wallace.

MIDDLETON
Uh-huh, yeah.

MURDOCH
And you said something like, "Do you mean Teddy?"

MIDDLETON
Well, that's who I assumed you were talking about. You were asking who was with Pat and Jonny and me, over at Jonny's house, when that Police Inspector came to lecture us about citizenship and staying out of jail and all that malarkey. Teddy was with us. If you're trying to blame that murder on Teddy, that's just wrong.

MURDOCH
I understand. But that's not quite what I want to talk to you about. When you said, "Do you mean Teddy?"— (pause) Mr. Middleton, how many Ted Wallaces do you know?

MIDDLETON
Oh, that. It was Teddy who was with us when we met with the Inspector. That's who I thought you were interested in. Ted wasn't there. Teddy was.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE exchange glances.)

MURDOCH
Just so I'm clear about this, you know a "Ted Wallace" and a "Teddy Wallace."

MIDDLETON
Yeah.

MURDOCH
And they are two different people.

MIDDLETON
Yeah, they're different guys. Their names sound similar, but they spell them different. Teddy's last name is spelled "W-A-L-L-I-S," I think. I went to school with both of them. Some of our teachers used to get these guys mixed up 'cause of the similarity of names.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE realize they are onto something. CRABTREE pulls out his notebook and begins scribbling some notes.)

MURDOCH
When was the last time you spoke to Ted— not Teddy— Wallace?

MIDDLETON
Last week, maybe. I made deliveries to the place where Ted works. We usually talk for a bit.

MURDOCH
What did you talk about, when you met with TED last week?

MIDDLETON
I don't remember. Just things.

MURDOCH
Did you by any chance mention to TED that you were going to have a meeting with Inspector Brackenreid?

MIDDLETON (thinking on it, then laughing)
I think I did. Yeah, pretty sure I did. Yeah.

MURDOCH
Did you mention the date and time of the meeting with Inspector Brackenreid, and the place where it would be held?

MIDDLETON
The date and time, yeah. And I mentioned that Jonny's old man was setting up this whole silly thing.

MURDOCH
And did you, by any chance, mention that TEDDY would be there?

MIDDLETON
May have, I don't remember. But even if I didn't, Ted knows that I'm good friends with Teddy, and that if a cop was coming to preach law and order at us, Teddy would have to be there.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE exchange glances. CUT TO: Exterior of the WAREHOUSE. MURDOCH and CRABTREE talk as they walk toward their bicycles, which are parked under a shade tree. MURDOCH wears his hat, CRABTREE his helmet.)

CRABTREE
I should have noticed it, sir. His friends used the name "Teddy" but everyone else used the name "Ted."

MURDOCH
That's an understandable oversight, George.

CRABTREE (checking his notes)
I think I almost have it, sir. Through Mr. Middleton, TED Wallace finds out that TEDDY Wallis will be meeting with Inspector Brackenreid at a particular day and time. TED Wallace decides to kill Mr. O'Casey at this particular day and time, and use Inspector Brackenreid as his alibi. TED Wallace goes to Mr. O'Casey's abode, and finds him outside or lures him outside somehow, and lures into the alley, and stabs Mr. O'Casey. And when he is questioned, as he surely knew he would be, TED Wallace gives the police the false alibi.

MURDOCH
Yes.

CRABTREE
Inspector Brackenreid, quite naturally, does not know that there are two "Ted Wallaces," so he confirms the alibi.

MURDOCH
Yes.

CRABTREE
And because of Inspector Brackenreid's position and status, his word is not going to be questioned. Therefore, we accept the alibi as valid, and we dismiss Ted Wallace as a suspect.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE reach their bicycles and stand near the bicycles.)

MURDOCH
And even if we do not dismiss him as a suspect, we give Ted Wallace time.

CRABTREE (not sure what Murdoch means)
Yes, sir, absent any solid evidence against him, and with what seems to be a very good alibi, he stays at liberty for at least a while. But there is still one thing that we do not know, sir.

MURDOCH
And that is?

CRABTREE
If TED Wallace did NOT actually MEET Inspector Brackenreid that morning, how was he able to DESCRIBE Inspector Brackenreid so— correctly?

MURDOCH (shrugs slightly)
It is possible that he may have met, or seen, Inspector Brackenreid in person at some time in the past. And even if there had been no such personal encounter, Inspector Brackenreid has had his share of publicity, hasn't he, George? He ran for public office. He has had his photograph in the newspapers from time to time. One can see from the photographs that he is a large man and that he has a moustache. At least some of the newspaper reports have mentioned that he is a Yorkshireman.

CRABTREE
But Ted Wallace described more than what you can see in a photograph, sir. He described the Inspector's demeanor accurately, sir.

MURDOCH (laughs)
Yes, he called him a "pompous ass."

CRABTREE (smirking, not sure whether he is at liberty to laugh)
Yes, sir.

MURDOCH
George, the term "pompous ass" is one that can be applied to ANYONE in a position of authority. Even you and me. "Pompous ass" is just a conclusory judgment besmirching a person's character; it is an insult that doesn't really describe anything specific.

CRABTREE
I see, sir.

MURDOCH (mounting his bicycle)
Let's get back to the Station House, and then prepare to arrest Ted Wallace. Let us hope he thinks he is safe for the moment, and that he is not in a rush to flee. And George: I think we'd better have some additional constables assisting us.

CRABTREE (mounting his bicycle)
That we should, sir.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE pedal away from the warehouse. FADE OUT.)