ACT II

(FADE IN. STATION HOUSE NO. 4, later in the day on the fifth. CUT TO: INTERROGATION ROOM. MAXWELL is in the chair, being queried by MURDOCH.)

MAXWELL
I didn't see the gentleman's body, not at first. I saw the blood. On the path. Then I saw him in the water and he wasn't moving, so I thought he was likely dead, and so I telephoned you.

MURDOCH
Did you know Mr. Akers?

MAXWELL
I have seen him a time or two, yes, but I didn't know his name.

MURDOCH
Did you hear anything unusual? A struggle, perhaps, or a cry, or a splash?

MAXWELL
No.

MURDOCH
Did you see anyone in the area? Any strangers, anyone suspicious?

MAXWELL
No.

MURDOCH
Did you see anyone in the area that you know, anyone who may have witnessed the crime?

MAXWELL
No; I'd be surprised if there were any witnesses at all.

MURDOCH
Oh? Why?

MAXWELL
People don't walk by that pond much, 'specially in the morning. I walk it every day, usually 'round 8:30, and I almost never see anybody.

(CUT TO: Mr. TAFFET sits in the INTEROGATION ROOM, with MURDOCH.)

TAFFET
Can't help ya, I'm 'fraid. Didn't see nothin' or hear nothin'.

MURDOCH
I thought since your property backs onto the pond—

TAFFET
Naw, not with all them trees and bushes in the way. Can't even see that pond.

MURDOCH
Did you know your neighbour, Mr. Akers?

TAFFET
Oh sure, worked as a chartered accountant, I think. We weren't pals, but we were on friendly terms, you could say. He was a right nice fellow. It's a shame that someone did that to him.

MURDOCH
Did Mr. Akers have anyone with whom he was not on friendly terms?

TAFFET
Don't think so. I could sometimes hear him and his wife havin' some real shoutin' matches, but that's normal, I s'pose.

MURDOCH
How often did they argue?

TAFFET
Oh, I didn't keep track. Wasn't my business.

(CUT TO: MARY sits in the INTEROGATION ROOM. Her eyes are red and in her left hand she holds a handkerchief, which she uses to dab her face. She has stopped crying but is still in considerable distress.)

MARY
I still do not understand why. Why would anyone do this?

MURDOCH
We are confident that the motive was not robbery. The circumstances of the crime suggest that whoever assaulted him did so for reasons other than theft. Did anyone to your knowledge have reason to want to your husband to come to harm?

MARY
No! He had not an enemy in the world!

MURDOCH
He was a chartered accountant?

MARY
Yes.

MURDOCH
Perhaps one of his clients was unhappy with his work?

MARY
Impossible! Timothy had a superb relationship with his clients! They loved him!

MURDOCH
Perhaps he saw something he shouldn't have seen, some accounting that involved illegal activity?

MARY
Timothy didn't have any clients like that!

MURDOCH
Perhaps there was someone to whom he owed money, or whom he had offended?

MARY (dabbing her eyes)
No! Timothy wasn't like that! He was a good man! He— he didn't—

MURDOCH (uncomfortably)
I'm sorry, but I need to ask these questions. Perhaps he had a dispute with a neighbour, or with an employee?

MARY
No one! No one wanted to hurt my husband!

MURDOCH (sighs, then presses on, delicately)
Was your marriage happy?

MARY (slightly surprised)
Yes. I mean, it was a typical marriage. (Pause) I mean, we had our disagreements, but—

MURDOCH
We've heard there were many arguments.

MARY (tearing up)
We argued, you might even say that we argued often, but we worked things out. We were mostly happy. (Pause) What I'm saying is, most married couples fight sometimes, don't they?

(MURDOCH, seeing that MARY is being distressed by his questioning, begins to feel uncomfortable pressing her.)

MURDOCH
Yes, I suppose so. But some couples fight more often than others. And some couples get more— physical than others when they fight.

MARY (dabbing her eyes, her voice becoming weepy)
Well, maybe our marriage wasn't perfect, but we weren't always angry with one another. He never physically hurt me, or I him. I loved Timothy!

MURDOCH
I understand.

MARY (on the verge of losing control)
Detective Murdoch, I do not understand. Do you suspect ME? Do you think that I killed my husband?

MURDOCH (gently)
I have no reason at this time to suspect you. But I have to ask questions like this. (hoping to calm MARY) Let me change the subject. I understand Timothy's parents are deceased and that the two of you have no children. And you mentioned that Timothy has a brother, Terrence, who lives in Detroit. Does Timothy have any other family?

MARY (still upset, shakes her head)
No.

MURDOCH
How was Timothy's relationship with Terrence?

MARY (with difficulty)
They didn't see each other much. And they don't talk to each other much or write each other.

MURDOCH
Did they get along well?

MARY (dabbing her eyes)
Yes, but it's just— Terrence is in a different line of business, and Terrence and Timothy, well, they just don't have much in common. Terrence is in a less refined line of work and deals with a much less gentle breed of person than Timothy did. Timothy and Terrence don't fight. In fact, Terrence was supposed to be paying us a visit tonight.

MURDOCH (surprised)
Terrence is in Toronto?

MARY (dabbing her eyes)
Yes, on a business trip. He arrived in Toronto yesterday. He comes to Toronto about twice a year on business. We usually invite him for dinner when he's here.

MURDOCH
I believe Constable Crabtree has been trying to contact Terrence in Detroit, but has been unsuccessful. Do you by any chance know where Terrence is staying in Toronto?

(CUT TO: Outside the office of Inspector BRACKENREID. BRACKENREID and CRABTREE are looking at a piece of paper and are discussing it. MURDOCH can be seen escorting MARY out of the station and saying farewell to MARY. MARY holds a handkerchief in her left hand; she is no longer weeping. MARY exits. MURDOCH turns and head to his office.)

BRACKENREID (shouting)
Murdoch! (Holding up the paper) You'll want to see this!

(MURDOCH approaches BRACKENREID. MURDOCH sees the paper held in BRACKENREID's hand and is curious as to its contents.)

MURDOCH
Sir?

BRACKENREID
I contacted a friend of mine with the police in Detroit. I thought he might be able to help me track down Terrence Akers. (BRACKENREID hands the paper to MURDOCH) He helped me, all right. It seems our friends in Detroit know Terrence Akers quite well. He goes by the alias of Terry Anderson, and he has quite a history.

MURDOCH (looking over the paper)
Assault, extortion, arson— (shocked) and murder?!

BRACKENREID
Lots of charges laid, but no convictions. Most of the time, the charges were dropped for insufficient evidence. The only case that went to trial was the murder case, and Anderson— that is, Akers— pleaded self-defence. The jury bought it, and acquitted him. According to my friend in Detroit, Akers's principal business these days is smuggling. He smuggles contraband into and out of Canada. He smuggles anything for a price. He's very good at not getting caught. Not a very nice fellow.

MURDOCH
Terrence Akers is in Toronto.

BRACKENREID
What? He's in Toronto, right now, you mean?

MURDOCH
That's what Timothy's wife, Mary, said. She doesn't know where he's staying.

BRACKENREID
Well, if he's the kind of big shot the Detroit police say he is, he won't be staying in any low-end roadside inn. (to CRABTREE) Crabtree, contact the all the high-class hotels in Toronto, see if they've got an Akers or Anderson as a guest, and if you find the guy, do NOT talk to him. Instead, (with emphasis) tell me, and I'LL talk to him. Is that clear?

(CRABTREE nods.)

BRACKENREID
A man like that is not likely to want to talk to the police at all, so I might have to be— diplomatic.

CRABTREE
I'll get right on it.

(CRABTREE exits, to get right on it.)

MURDOCH
In the meantime, sir, I have a few leads to follow.

(BRACKENREID nods. CUT TO: An ACCOUNTANT'S OFFICE. It is now the sixth day of the month. MURDOCH is in a room with two employees of the late Timothy Akers: Mr. POLKE, a young, professional-looking gentleman; and Miss OLSEN, both of whom are teary-eyed.)

POLKE
I don't think he had an enemy in the world. He was a wonderful man, and a wonderful boss. He even— knew all of our birthdays.

MURDOCH
Anything, even something that might seem unimportant, might be helpful. Did he ever make anyone angry or upset? Did a client ever express dissatisfaction, or make any threats?

(POLKE and OLSEN shake their heads and wipe away tears.)

POLKE
No, never. He was a fair man, very decent and honest.

(MURDOCH smiles politely and nods. CUT TO: THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. MURDOCH is studying the walkway and the hedge. HIGGINS approaches, MURDOCH notices his approach.)

MURDOCH
Have you had any success finding any witnesses, Henry?

HIGGINS
No, sir, but I think we may have a lead on the murder weapon.

MURDOCH
Oh?

(HIGGINS starts walking toward a nearby building, and MURDOCH follows. The nearby building, of which only the rear is visible, has scrap pieces of wood piled up. Some of the pieces of scrap seem to be poles about the size of a baseball bat, but a bit larger.)

HIGGINS
This is the carpentry shop of a Mr. Chester Hull. As you can see, his shop produces pieces of scrap wood, pieces that are left over or pieces that aren't of good quality, and he piles those pieces of scrap here. And some of those pieces of scrap wood—

MURDOCH (picking up a pole, finishing HIGGINS's sentence)
— Could be used as a club! Very good, Henry! Have you checked each of these pieces of scrap for blood stains?

HIGGINS
Yes, sir; and there aren't any. But there may be a reason why there are no blood stains, sir.

(HIGGINS leads MURDOCH around a corner of the building. There is an incinerator.)

HIGGINS
Mr. Hull says that he disposes of some of his scrap wood by burning it. Let me show you something, sir.

(HIGGINS opens the incinerator. MURDOCH peers inside, and sees an intact but heavily charred piece of wood, that might have at one time been a hefty club-like pole, about three feet long.)

MURDOCH (sighing)
If this is indeed our murder weapon, I don't think we'll be able to get much from it. No finger marks, certainly.

(MURDOCH extracts the piece of wood, and looks at it, dejectedly. CUT TO: STATION HOUSE NO. 4. CUT TO: MURDOCH'S OFFICE. It is the afternoon of the sixth of the month. MURDOCH has a drawing of an overhead view of the crime scene on a chalkboard. BRACKENREID and OGDEN watch MURDOCH offer an explanation. MURDOCH gestures at the drawing as he explains.

MURDOCH
Here's what we know so far. According to his wife, every weekday at 7:30 a.m., Timothy Akers walks to work. He leaves his home, here, and walks along this walkway, by the grove, past the pond, over to the street and from there to his accounting office. It is a walk of about four blocks. Yesterday morning, someone was hiding behind this hedge, probably here, watching him. This assailant had a club of some kind, possibly a piece of scrap wood taken from outside Mr. Hull's carpentry shop.

OGDEN
I concur, by the way, that a piece of scrap, such as those Mr. Hull had, could have been the weapon. It would be quite consistent with the wounds.

BRACKENREID
COULD HAVE been the weapon. No proof that it WAS.

MURDOCH
That's true, we do not know for certain. But we do know the assailant had some sort of club. And when Akers walked to about here, the assailant stepped out and struck Mr. Akers on the right rear part of his head. Now, the nature of the wound and the unevenness of the terrain make it difficult to establish the height of the assailant, but we think that the killer was between five feet six inches and six feet.

BRACKENREID
Pretty big range, that.

MURDOCH
Yes.

OGDEN (helpfully)
The assailant was almost certainly right-handed.

BRACKENREID (unimpressed)
That's not much to go on, either.

MURDOCH
There was one blow, just one. Akers fell, and rolled down this incline and into the pond, face down. There were no other footprints in the soil, meaning his attacker did not go down to take anything from him, or "finish him off."

OGDEN
The blow did not kill him, at least not right away. Mr. Akers had water in his lungs, so the proximate cause of death was drowning. The wound he sustained, however, was very serious, and was bleeding profusely. Had he not fallen into the pond face down, he may well have died from the head wound alone.

BRACKENREID
And the killer, whoever he was, committed this murder in broad daylight—

MURDOCH
Early morning, actually.

BRACKENREID
— And there were no witnesses, and the killer just walked off?

MURDOCH
According to Mrs. Maxwell, Mr. Hull and others familiar with the area, that walkway didn't get used much at that time of day. They all said that they would be surprised if anyone witnessed the crime. And even though the area seems to be out in the open, the actual scene of the assault is fairly well hidden from all of the buildings in the surrounding area. In fact, the only building from which the murder scene can be viewed is Mr. Akers's own house. The killer would likely not have been seen, and after committing the crime, he could have walked to Mr. Hull's incinerator, and could have dropped his weapon into the incinerator; and then he calmly walked away. The ground at the site of the assault, and between there and Mr. Hull's, was too hard and rocky to have any footprints, so we have no way to know where the killer came from or where he went.

BRACKENREID
So. We have no weapon, no finger marks, no footprints, and no bloody witnesses! (Grunts.) The key is motive. Akers wasn't robbed. Somebody wanted to kill him, or hurt him, at least. Who had the motive to do that?

MURDOCH
Motive does, uh, present us with a problem. So far, everyone who we've spoken to about Mr. Akers has said that he had no enemies. So I have no solid suspects.

BRACKENREID (hesitantly)
What about the wife? I hear Akers and his wife had some serious spats. He may have had life insurance; she probably gets all his property in his will. How about it, Dr. Ogden? Could a woman have hit Akers hard enough to kill him?

OGDEN
It's possible, yes. But she would have to be a very strong woman.

MURDOCH
Since it is a fairly common thing for wives to inherit from their husbands or to be the beneficiaries of life insurance policies, I think at this stage, that such a motive would be an insufficient basis to lay charges. We would need supporting, corroborative proof. And so far, we have none.

BRACKENREID (reluctantly agreeing)
You're right. Remember the Sawyer case a few years ago? Where the wife was charged with murdering her husband to get his life insurance? The case was largely circumstantial, and the Crown argued motive, motive, motive. The jury came back with an acquittal within twenty minutes! Case should never have gone to trial, if you ask me.

MURDOCH
I remember the defense arguing that it was a common thing for a wife to financially benefit upon the death of the husband, but if that financial benefit was a valid motive for murder, then spousal murders would be happening every day.

BRACKENREID
And the jury agreed. (sighs) All we can say is that Akers's wife could've done it.

MURDOCH (dubious)
Perhaps.

BRACKENREID
But more likely, somebody hated Akers, enough to kill him, or to hire someone to kill him. But no one seems to know anyone who hated him.

(CRABTREE knocks at the doorway to get the attention of BRACKENREID, MURDOCH and OGDEN. CRABTREE addresses BRACKENREID.)

CRABTREE
Sir? Terrence Akers is here.

BRACKENREID
The victim's brother! Good! Tell him we'll be out to meet him presently.

(CRABTREE nods and exits.)

MURDOCH (smiling, somewhat impressed)
So, sir; you persuaded a man with extensive problems with the police to visit a police station— voluntarily.

BRACKENREID
It wasn't easy. I had to tell him that I knew about his legal troubles in Detroit but that we in Toronto had no cause to arrest him or even question him about any activities in the States. I told him that we only want to talk to him about his brother's death, and that was ALL we wanted to talk about. And Murdoch? (firmly) What I said to him, I meant it. He may be a criminal in the States, but in Canada, he's clean. Stick to questions about THIS case. We don't do the Detroit cops' investigations for them. Got it?

MURDOCH
Got it.

(BRACKENREID and MURDOCH exit MURDOCH's office. OGDEN follows. The three of them walk toward a reception area, where they see CRABTREE speaking with TERRENCE Akers, who is dressed in a professional business suit. Another burly man in a suit, a BODYGUARD, is behind TERRENCE. BRACKENREID, MURDOCH and OGDEN exchange glances when they realize that TERRENCE looks EXACTLY like his dead brother.)

BRACKENREID
Bloody hell! They must be twins!

(FADE OUT.)