The Diplomat

by DoctorH

A five-act Murdoch Mysteries teleplay, just like watching an episode on TV. Two Toronto families have a past history of violence, but they have been at peace for over a year and a half. Then a member of one family is shot, and a member of the other family is the prime suspect. Can Murdoch solve the case without jeopardizing the peace? The solution to the mystery is included.

3. ACT 3

ACT III

(FADE IN. STATION HOUSE NO. 4. CUT TO: INTERROGATION ROOM. ELIOT Stroud seated. MURDOCH and CRABTREE sit opposite ELIOT, and WINTHORPE is seated in the background.)

MURDOCH
Mr. Stroud, thank you for coming to talk to us.

ELIOT
Certainly. Are you going to tell me what this is all about, then?

MURDOCH
Where were you on Tuesday afternoon, at about 5:30?

ELIOT
Why?

MURDOCH
Where were you?

ELIOT (shrugging)
I don't remember.

WINTHORPE
Eliot, this is not a game. We need to know.

ELIOT (shrugging)
I don't remember. Might have been home, might have been out running errands, I don't know.

MURDOCH
Were you, by any chance, at a public library about four blocks from this station house?

ELIOT (adamantly)
I don't remember.

WINTHORPE
Eliot, maybe you don't know what's going on. Eric Cameron was shot and killed in that library on Tuesday afternoon. I know it was Eric, because I saw his body in the morgue and identified him. And these officers have evidence showing that you were there.

ELIOT
You said I wasn't under arrest.

MURDOCH
You are not.

ELIOT
But Inspector Winthorpe there seemed to say that I murdered Eric Cameron. Did I understand that right?

MURDOCH
We wish to know whether you will agree that you were present in the library on Tuesday afternoon.

ELIOT
Are you going to arrest me?

(As MURDOCH prepares to answer, WINTHORPE jumps in.)

WINTHORPE
No, Eliot, you are not going to be arrested.

(MURDOCH is not comfortable with such a guarantee being made. MURDOCH looks momentarily at WINTHORPE with incredulity, and WINTHORPE looks back as if to say "I know what I'm doing." MURDOCH presses on.)

MURDOCH
Mr. Stroud: Were you at a public library about four blocks from this station house last Tuesday afternoon?

ELIOT
I. Don't. Remember.

MURDOCH
Do you have any explanation as to how marks from your fingers happened to be in that library, near where the body of Eric Cameron was found?

ELIOT
No. You seem to think, though, that I had something against Eric. Well, I had no reason to murder him. Why would I do it? Why? You can't answer that, because I did NOT murder Eric Cameron.

CRABTREE
Is it—?

MURDOCH (interrupting)
Do you own a gun, Mr. Stroud?

ELIOT
No. If you mean a pistol, no. I have a hunting rifle.

MURDOCH
Not a revolver?

(ELIOT hesitates. WINTHORPE interrupts before ELIOT can respond.)

WINTHORPE
Eliot, Eric Cameron is dead. Somebody shot him. Now, the Camerons are bound to think it was someone from your family, aren't they? So you say you didn't do it, all right; but we need to find out who DID do it. If it was someone other than a Stroud, well, then that may help your family keep the peace with the Camerons. So can you help us in any way, help us find who is guilty? If you help us, I will personally go to Roy Cameron and explain the whole thing. We might be able to avoid opening up old wounds.

(ELIOT sits silent.)

WINTHORPE
Eliot, I can't help you unless you help us.

ELIOT
I didn't murder Eric Cameron. Beyond that, I don't think there's anything else I can tell you.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE exchange glances. CUT TO: EXTERIOR of a nice house. A carriage pulls up, with WINTHORPE driving, and MURDOCH as a passenger. WINTHORPE and MURDOCH get out of the carriage and approach the house. They are met by two formidable GUARDS.)

WINTHORPE
I'm Inspector Winthorpe, this is Detective Murdoch. We are expected. We are unarmed; if you wish to search us to verify this, you may do so.

(One of the GUARDS begins patting down MURDOCH, who is uncomfortable. ROY Cameron appears at the door of the house. He calls down to the GUARDS.)

ROY
It's all right, Jeremy. They don't need to be searched. Let them come up.

(The search stops, and the GUARDS escort WINTHORPE and MURDOCH to the door of the house. CUT TO: INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE, a drawing room. ROY sits imperiously in a comfortable chair, and WINTHORPE and MURDOCH are seated on smaller and less comfortable chairs, facing ROY. One of the GUARDS stands unobtrusively, and two other men, ARTHUR and LEONARD, sit behind ROY, facing WINTHORPE and MURDOCH. By his position and demeanor, ROY shows he is the patriarch of the Cameron family. A desk or credenza near ROY holds several family photographs.)

ROY
Frederick. You have lost weight, I see. Tell me. Why are you here?

WINTHORPE
Eric was killed two days ago, as you know.

ROY (sour)
Yes. He was shot in a library.

WINTHORPE
The death did not occur in my jurisdiction, so this man, Detective Murdoch, is leading the investigation.

(ROY reaches over and takes the framed photograph of Eric and looks at it for a moment. ROY shows the photograph of the balding Eric to MURDOCH and WINTHORPE.)

ROY
Who killed my nephew, Detective Murdoch?

MURDOCH
We do not know, yet, sir.

ROY
But you have arrested Eliot Stroud.

MURDOCH
No, sir, we have not arrested Eliot Stroud. He came to Station House Number Four voluntarily to answer questions.

ROY
Why Eliot? You requested criminal records of at least seven other Stroud family members. Certainly you must think one of them had a hand in it.

(MURDOCH is surprised that ROY knows this, but WINTHORPE is not surprised at all.)

MURDOCH (carefully)
We thought Eliot might have helpful information.

(ROY's expression shows that he is not pleased with this evasive answer.)

WINTHORPE
Roy, we— the police, that is— did suspect someone from the Stroud family as having murdered your nephew. It would not surprise us at all if you suspected the same thing. But we wanted to let you know that, at this time, we do not have any basis for arresting Eliot Stroud, or any other member of the Stroud family, and we certainly have no basis for laying charges.

(MURDOCH is not pleased with this statement, but he holds his peace.)

WINTHORPE
We don't want to jump to any conclusions. And we want to impress upon you, Roy, our desire that YOU not jump to any conclusions.

ROY
And I'm sure you would not want any of Eric's brothers or other relatives to jump to conclusions, either.

WINTHORPE
That is correct. We were hoping that you might speak to them, so that they would understand our concerns.

MURDOCH (slowly)
Sir: Is there any assistance that you, or any member of your family, could give to us? Did Eric have any enemies? Was he in a dispute with anyone?

(ROY turns silently to ARTHUR and LEONARD, who lean forward. ROY, ARTHUR and LEONARD discuss things quietly for a few moments, then ROY faces MURDOCH.)

ROY
Detective Murdoch. Eric had his troubles, but they are personal troubles and are of no concern to you. I do not think there is anything that we could tell you that would be of any help. I am sorry.

MURDOCH
Can you tell me whether you know of any reason Eliot Stroud might have had for shooting Eric?

ROY (with a degree of sadness)
I am not saying that Eliot Stroud shot my nephew. But if Eliot Stroud DID shoot my nephew, I can say that it was a totally senseless thing for him to do.

MURDOCH
Can you tell me, sir, was there any reason for Eliot and Eric to MEET? Not to fight or shoot one another, but to MEET to discuss something?

ROY (shaking his head)
Senseless. The whole thing would be senseless.

(CUT TO: CITY STREET. WINTHORPE and MURDOCH are on the carriage. WINTHORPE pulls the carriage off the road and stops. He checks behind to see whether anyone is watching or following.)

WINTHORPE
Roy Cameron lied to us.

MURDOCH
In what way, sir?

WINTHORPE
He said he knew of no reason for Eliot and Eric to meet. That is not true. Eric was trying to make an arrangement with Eliot for the sale of some real property. Eric wanted to buy, but Eliot didn't want to sell. Roy thinks Eric's desire for that property is— not rational. And Detective: those personal troubles that Roy mentioned—

MURDOCH
Yes?

WINTHORPE
I don't know all of the details, but I have heard that Eric has been having trouble emotionally. This is all hearsay upon hearsay, you understand; but the Cameron family does not understand why Eric is so interested in making the purchase. They're trying to keep this whole thing quiet.

MURDOCH
So perhaps this is the way it happened: the two men agreed to meet at the library to discuss the sale. It was supposed to be a peaceful meeting. But then perhaps something was said— a threat, an insult— and Mr. Stroud became enraged and shot Mr. Cameron.

WINTHORPE
I don't see it. I know the kind of man that Eliot is. Eliot isn't one to lose his composure over such things. Even if Eric insulted him and threatened to kill him, Eliot wouldn't suddenly become violent. (hypothesizing) It's more likely that someone followed Cameron to the library and shot him, and Eliot ran away, thinking he'd be blamed.

MURDOCH (gently sarcastic)
And before fleeing, Mr. Stroud decided to cover the murder weapon with his finger marks.

WINTHORPE (smiling)
Okay, maybe that particular scenario won't wash. But what I'm trying to say is: I just can't see Eliot killing Eric in cold blood.

MURDOCH (changing the subject)
Inspector, do you have any idea how Mr. Cameron was made aware that our station house had asked your station house for Stroud criminal records?

WINTHORPE (wincing)
I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. (sighs) Two of the officers who work in my station house have the last name of Cameron.

MURDOCH
Are you saying they spy for the Cameron family?

WINTHORPE
I don't know for a fact that they do, but I wouldn't wager against it. They're both good officers, Detective. They don't get involved in any Stroud-Cameron disputes. But they are Roy's grand-nephews or second cousins once removed or something like that, and it wouldn't surprise me if they keep him apprised of things at the station house that might be of interest to the family.

(CUT TO: INTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NO. 4. MURDOCH heads to his office, and CRABTREE follows, with his notes.)

CRABTREE
Sir!

(MURDOCH beckons CRABTREE to follow, and MURDOCH and CRABTREE enter MURDOCH'S OFFICE. MURDOCH takes off his coat and hat, and gets comfortable.)

CRABTREE
I have some findings about the weapon, sir.

MURDOCH
All right, let's hear them.

CRABTREE
The bullet that Dr. Ogden recovered from the victim is of the same type as were in the weapon we found, sir. This suggests that the gun we found was the murder weapon.

MURDOCH
As we suspected.

CRABTREE
Yes, sir. I also made a visit to the library. On the assumption that there may have been a second shot, I checked the walls and bookshelves and books near the desk, to see whether I could find a stray bullet or damage caused by a bullet. I did not find any such thing, but I believe I may have learned why some witnesses reported hearing two shots.

MURDOCH
Oh?

CRABTREE
An echo, sir. While I was in the library, a patron accidentally dropped a book, and it struck the floor with a loud WHAP! I saw the book fall, and I know only one book fell, but I heard that same sound twice.

MURDOCH
This suggests that there was one, and only one shot, and not an exchange of gunfire.

CRABTREE
Yes, sir. The librarian has graciously allowed us to return after closing time, to see whether gunshots would echo under similar circumstances.

MURDOCH
Excellent. Let's conduct such a test tonight.

CRABTREE
And I have something else, sir. It seems that Eric Cameron and Eliot Stroud have had some dealings in the past. Now, according to a witness I talked to, their past dealings have been cordial. But recently—

MURDOCH
Yes?

CRABTREE
The two men have been negotiating about the sale of a piece of land.

MURDOCH
Yes, I heard about this.

CRABTREE
And these negotiations have been more intense, and less cordial. Basically, Mr. Stroud owns the land, and Mr. Cameron wanted to buy it. Apparently the desire to buy the land comes from a desire to own certain appurtenances on the land. But Mr. Stroud didn't want to sell. According to my witness, the negotiations have become emotional.

MURDOCH
Who is this witness, George?

CRABTREE
He asks that his identity be confidential, sir.

MURDOCH
You said Mr. Cameron is interested in appurtenances on the land? What sort of appurtenances?

CRABTREE (slow to answer)
Treasure, sir.

MURDOCH
I beg your pardon?

CRABTREE
Treasure, sir; buried pirate treasure. Mr. Cameron was under the impression— some would say he was under the delusion— that there was some sort of treasure buried by pirates on the land.

MURDOCH (unsure what to make of this)
Pirates? He thought pirates sailed up into Lake Ontario?

CRABTREE (uncomfortable)
Please don't ask me any more about this, sir; it might get my witness into trouble.

MURDOCH (frowning)
Assuming your witness is being accurate, George, I don't see how this adds up to a motive. Mr. Cameron may be irrational; but if Mr. Stroud kills Mr. Cameron, Mr. Stroud gains nothing. Mr. Stroud already owns the land, and there is no legal reason that Mr. Stroud would have to sell the land. I thought it might be possible that the men chose the library as a place to negotiate the sale of the land, and in the course of the negotiations, Mr. Cameron was annoying or insulting to Mr. Stroud, maybe even threatening.

CRABTREE
And for that reason, Mr. Stroud killed Mr. Cameron?

MURDOCH (heavily)
But such a scenario strikes Inspector Winthorpe as being insufficient reason for Mr. Stroud to kill Mr. Cameron. And it seems unlikely to me as well.

CRABTREE
Sir, we may have it backwards. There might not be sufficient reason for Mr. Stroud to kill Mr. Cameron, but there might be sufficient reason for Mr. Cameron to kill Mr. Stroud.

(MURDOCH is surprised. FADE OUT.)