A Case of Spoliation

by DoctorH

A teleplay, like watching a Murdoch Mysteries episode. A murder occurs in a public park. Crabtree is first on the scene, and he comes to think that he handled his duties badly. Meanwhile, there is confusion about what actually happened: two suspects both admit they had means and motive and opportunity, but deny their guilt. It's up to Murdoch to sort it all out. Solution included.

4. ACT 4

ACT IV

(FADE IN. A STREET IN A RUN-DOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD. There are about six people on the street, all of them homeless, transients, down-and-outers; all are shabbily dressed. It is mid-day. MURDOCH and CRABTREE walk along the street, carrying a drawing of the face of a bald man. MURDOCH approaches a BUM on the street and shows the drawing to the BUM. The BUM looks closely at the drawing as MURDOCH gestures. The BUM nods, as if he might recognize the man in the picture. When MURDOCH asks another question, the BUM shrugs and shakes his head. MURDOCH and CRABTREE walk on.)

MURDOCH
Mister Alford told us he had no fixed address, but he said he usually found a place to sleep down here. A few people think they may have seen him, but those that have seen him claim to know nothing about him, and they do not know where we can find him.

CRABTREE
That's not unexpected, sir. People who stay in this part of town tend to move around.

MURDOCH
That is true.

CRABTREE
He may simply have moved on, sir.

MURDOCH
Or he might be elsewhere in town, asking people for money or food. He told me that he sleeps around here; he didn't say that he spends his whole day here.

CRABTREE
Three days ago, he wasn't here. He was in the park, and that's a little over two miles from here.

MURDOCH (sighs)
I suspect that, even if we find him, he might not have much to tell us. He might not have been part of the plot to kill Mister Clare, and there would be little reason for him to be part of the plot. It is possible that he may have simply been paid a small sum by Mister Huxley or Mister Ives, and told to pick up the pistol and handle it, and then turn it over to the police. Considering the living conditions here, I would think that someone might consent to perform such a task in exchange for just a few dollars.

CRABTREE
Possible, yes, sir. And his excuse for doing so would be plausible; namely, that he did not want anyone else, especially children, to pick up the pistol and be hurt. (sheepish) It certainly seemed like a plausible enough excuse, when he offered it to me. I never even thought about arresting him.

(MURDOCH stops and gestures for CRABTREE to stop. CRABTREE stops, and MURDOCH faces him.)

MURDOCH
If our suspicion is right, George, you have no cause to be ashamed about failing to preserve finger marks on the weapon, is that right? Spoliation of the finger marks was part of their plan, was it not?

(CRABTREE thinks, nods, and seems to feel a little better. MURDOCH and CRABTREE resume walking.)

MURDOCH
We should be heading back to the station house soon. Detective Pendragon should be arriving shortly, and we plan to question Mister Huxley and Mister Ives again. They've had the entire night, each of them to wonder what the other has told us. This could be interesting.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE round a corner and disappear. CUT TO: EXTERIOR STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR. CUT TO: INTERROGATION ROOM. IVES is in the chair, guarded by a CONSTABLE. MURDOCH and PENDRAGON sit opposite.)

MURDOCH
Mister Ives, you've already admitted to us that you and Mister Huxley went to the park to meet with Mister Clare.

IVES
Yeah. Clare contacted us through Huxley's brother and said he wanted to talk. And I wanted to talk to Clare. TALK to him. We'd been friends a long time. Truth is, I wanted him to look me in the face— and tell me he wasn't a double-crosser.

MURDOCH
But before you met with Mister Clare, you and Mister Huxley DISCUSSED a plan whereby you could shoot him at the meeting, and possibly cause enough confusion that neither of you could be charged with the murder.

IVES (a bit angry)
Did Huxley tell you that? We didn't plan nothing.

MURDOCH
Why else would the two of you dress in similar attire, so that witnesses would have a hard time telling the two of you apart? Why else would you immediately run in opposite directions after the shot was fired? This was, quite obviously, a coordinated effort on your part, and the part of Mister Huxley, to murder Mister Clare. You both planned it, you both participated in it. From the standpoint of the law, it doesn't matter which one of you actually pulled the trigger. You both can go to the gallows for this.

IVES
You're lying.

PENDRAGON (with a smirk)
No, he isn't.

IVES
But I didn't shoot! And I didn't know Huxley was going to shoot! I just wanted to TALK!

MURDOCH (pressing)
But you and Mister Huxley DISCUSSED shooting Mister Clare, because you believed he betrayed you.

IVES
Yeah, but it wasn't a— a— a plan, exactly! It was just an idea, a proposal! Truth is, I had no idea Huxley was actually gonna shoot!

MURDOCH
So Mister Huxley did shoot?

IVES
It had to have been him! If he says it was me, he's lying! I'll swear in court that it was him!

MURDOCH
Did you see Mister Huxley shoot?

IVES
Well— I mean— it had to have been Huxley!

MURDOCH
And Mister Huxley will say that HE just wanted to talk to Mister Clare, and it was YOU who fired the pistol.

IVES
No! I did not! No!

(IVES suddenly stops and realizes something. PENDRAGON starts to ask a question, but MURDOCH stops PENDRAGON. IVES seems to have realized something important.)

MURDOCH
What is it, Mister Ives?

IVES (almost smiling)
Was there a tramp in the park?

MURDOCH (his eyes lighting up)
Tell me about the tramp.

IVES
When we discussed— not planned— but discussed killing Clare, we knew that whoever fired the shot and dropped the gun would leave his finger imprints on the gun. And we would have to deal with that.

MURDOCH
Yes?

IVES
It was Huxley's idea to hire a tramp to pick up the gun and hold it. Huxley would go down to the wharves or places like that and try to find an old geezer who wasn't too wrecked by alcohol, and pay him five dollars to be in the park near us, and pick up the gun, and say he did it to protect the children nearby. Now, as far as I was concerned, this was just talk. But there WAS a tramp in the park, wasn't there?

MURDOCH
Yes, there was.

IVES (getting a bit excited)
And this tramp picked up the gun and rubbed over Huxley's finger imprints! Right?

(MURDOCH nods.)

IVES (still excited)
Now, I didn't SEE any tramp, and I didn't see anyone pick up the gun! But that's what happened! And how did I know that, eh? Because I know MY finger imprints wouldn't be on the gun! So Huxley must've hired the man to foul up HIS finger imprints; otherwise, you coppers would KNOW who'd fired the gun!

(IVES starts to laugh; he thinks he's proven his own innocence.)

IVES
I told you it was Huxley! He's the one who said we ought to get a tramp!

(CUT TO: INTERROGATION ROOM, with HUXLEY in the chair. MURDOCH, PENDRAGON and the CONSTABLE are there, too.)

MURDOCH
You and Mister Ives planned to kill Mister Clare.

HUXLEY
You can't prove that.

MURDOCH
You went to meet Mister Clare wearing nearly identical clothing.

HUXLEY
Because that is all the clothing we had!

MURDOCH
You went to the meeting armed.

HUXLEY
Of course! We had to be ready in case Clare really was a traitor and tried to bring the coppers down on us!

MURDOCH
You ran off in different directions.

HUXLEY
What should we have done? Wait around for the coppers to come and arrest us? Murdoch, you are THICK!

MURDOCH
You seem to have an answer for everything. How about this: Mister Ives has said he will testify that it was you who shot Mister Clare.

HUXLEY
"Mister Ives" is a liar. I went to the meeting with Ray Clare to hear what he had to say. And "Mister Ives" shot him. I'd swear to THAT.

MURDOCH
Tell me about the tramp.

HUXLEY (momentarily stunned)
What tramp?

MURDOCH
The one you hired to pick up the pistol after the shooting, and make it impossible for us to recover finger marks.

HUXLEY
I—

MURDOCH
You paid this tramp five dollars, isn't that right?

HUXLEY (suddenly indignant)
No! I didn't hire any tramp! Did Ives tell you that I did?

MURDOCH
There was a man in the park, a man who appeared to be a tramp, who picked up the pistol promptly after the shooting. Several witnesses confirm this, including a constable.

HUXLEY (not sure if MURDOCH is lying)
I didn't know that! If there was a tramp there, I didn't have anything to do with that! Ives must've hired him!

(MURDOCH considers this for a moment.)

MURDOCH
When you and Mister Ives talked about possibly killing Mister Clare— where were you?

HUXLEY (cautious)
Heh.

MURDOCH
Where?

HUXLEY
We were at the house that got raided a week ago. It was Talbot's idea. No one would ever think to look for us in a house we'd already run away from.

PENDRAGON
Impossible! That house was boarded up, and securely locked!

HUXLEY (mocking)
Oh, was it, now?

PENDARGON
Yes, it was!

HUXLEY (mocking)
If you say so, Mikey.

(PENDRAGON looks like he might be getting angry.)

MURDOCH
Detective Pendragon, I wonder whether I might have a word with you? (to HUXLEY) But Mister Huxley, just one more question for you: You said that going back to this house was Mister Talbot's idea. When you and Mister Ives were at this house, having the discussion about meeting with Mister Clare, what did Mister Talbot think?

HUXLEY
Talbot said he wanted no part of it; told us he was going to Mexico. Never saw him again.

MURDOCH
(to HUXLEY) Thank you. (to the CONSTABLE) Constable, you may take your prisoner back to confinement. (to PENDRAGON) Detective?

(MURDOCH rises and so does PENDRAGON, and the two of them leave the room as the CONSTABLE puts his hand on HUXLEY's shoulder. CUT TO: MURDOCH'S OFFICE. MURDOCH and PENDRAGON are standing.)

MURDOCH
I wanted to ask you whether you noticed anything unusual in the answers of Mister Ives and Mr. Huxley.

PENDRAGON
I'm not sure how you mean—?

MURDOCH
I have had several experiences in which I questioned two individuals who conspired to commit a crime. When I questioned such individuals separately, there tended to be a pattern to their answers.

PENDRAGON (getting it)
Yes! They almost always concoct a story and agree on it ahead of time, and stick to the story they concocted.

MURDOCH
And if you ask them anything about the details of their story or anything unusual—

PENDRAGON
Neither of them wants to say anything that is different from the other. So you always get answers like, "I don't remember," or "Ask my partner."

MURDOCH
And I find it odd that we have not heard that kind of evasive answer from either Mister Ives or Mister Huxley.

PENDRAGON
That is odd.

MURDOCH
They accuse each other of shooting the victim. And they also accuse each other of hiring a tramp to destroy the finger mark evidence on the weapon.

PENDRAGON
Well, ONE of them must have hired this tramp! If we find that tramp, we can ask him who hired him. (suddenly somber) If he remembers.

(MURDOCH has an idea.)

MURDOCH
I think I know who hired him. And I think he's now in hiding. And I think I know WHERE he's hiding. But I'm going to need some help to find out for sure.

(MURDOCH sizes up PENDRAGON.)

MURDOCH
And I think I have some workman's clothing that will fit you!

(CUT TO: EXTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR. It is afternoon. CUT TO: INTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, CONSTABLES' AREA. There are at least a dozen men in the room, all standing. Nine men, including MURDOCH, CRABTREE, HIGGINS, JACKSON and PENDRAGON, wear civilian working men's attire. The remaining constables are in uniform. BRACKENREID stands near his office. The same standalone blackboard, seen earlier, is present, with the same map of the house and surrounding streets. The four suspects' photographs are still below the drawing. MURDOCH points to the map on the blackboard as he speaks.)

MURDOCH
So, to summarize the plan: We will storm the house, the same house that we raided ten days ago, and arrest the occupant. Officers in uniform will take positions a block away from the house, and will attend to the safety of bystanders. Detective Pendragon's squad will approach from the north side, my squad will approach from the south side. My squad will approach the front door of the house first, in the manner we discussed. When I drop my hat, we will charge the house and open the door.

(PENDRAGON subtly shakes his head, not in disagreement, but in recognition of the risk that these men will be taking.)

MURDOCH
Just before we open the front door, we will have firearms drawn and ready. My squad will open the door and we will try to take the occupant inside.

(MURDOCH holds up a drawing of ALFORD.)

MURDOCH
The occupant is expected to be a man who is bald and clean-shaven, or who may have two or three days of hair growth.

(CLOSE-UP ON BRACKENREID.)

BRACKENREID
Alford?! Our missing tramp!

(FADE OUT.)