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.

5. ACT 5

ACT V

(FADE IN. EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE and nearby street. MURDOCH, CRABTREE, HIGGINS, and JACKSON walk along the right-of-way toward the house, quietly talking and joking like a group of co-workers on their way home from work. MURDOCH is wearing a working-man's hat. HIGGINS and CRABTREE are carrying what appear to be tool cases, and JACKSON carries a sledge hammer. They stop near the front of the house, but not directly in front of the front door; and MURDOCH stops ostensibly to tie or adjust his shoe. As he works with his shoe, he observes the house. The front door faces west, and the door is easily visible in the sunlight of the late afternoon sun. All of the windows are boarded up. There is a sign posted on the front door, which reads "Keep Out! By Order of the Toronto Constabulary." Another sign says "Condemned." The front door seems to be secured with a heavy chain and padlock. While MURDOCH fiddles with his shoe, CRABTREE and HIGGINS subtly pull firearms and crowbars from their tool cases. MURDOCH subtly pulls a revolver from a place hidden in his clothing. MURDOCH ends the ruse with his shoe and stands. The men begin walking again, talking as before; but they hold the tools and firearms so that anyone inside the house could not easily see them. As they get close to the front door, MURDOCH takes off his hat and drops it. JACKSON charges the door, sledge hammer held high, and pounds the padlock with a mighty blow. The padlock, despite being formidable-looking, had apparently already been broken, and it flies away. JACKSON is amazed at how easily the lock broke; his eyes go wide. CRABTREE throws away his crowbar and quickly opens the door. MURDOCH and JACKSON charge in, followed by HIGGINS and CRABTREE. CUT TO: INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE. It is an empty house, in poor repair, with no furniture. It is comparatively dark because there are no artificial lights, and the windows are boarded up, and the light coming through the door is obstructed by entering officers. An unidentified man scrambles on the floor.)

MURDOCH (shouting)
Toronto Constabulary! Do not move!

(MURDOCH points his firearm at the man on the floor. JACKSON swings his sledge hammer at a window and knocks the boards free. Light from the afternoon sun floods the room. The unidentified man, possibly a bit blinded by the light, continues to scramble. CRABTREE heroically dives on the man and holds him. It becomes evident that the man was reaching for a gun. CRABTREE holds the man tightly. It can now be seen that the man is ALFORD: shabbily attired, and mostly bald, with just a couple of days of hair and beard growth. CRABTREE cements his grip on ALFORD and prevents him from reaching the firearm.)

CRABTREE
You won't be able to pick up THIS pistol in time, Mister Alford! You are under arrest!

(HIGGINS and JACKSON move in to assist CRABTREE. ALFORD is caught, and he has no chance to get his weapon. CRABTREE begins a search for additional weapons, just as PENDRAGON charges into the house with his squad, weapons drawn. The officers with PENDRAGON secure the room, which doesn't need much securing.)

MURDOCH
(to CRABTREE) George, do you positively recognize this man as Mister Alford, whom you saw in the park?

CRABTREE
Yes, sir, I do!

(CUT TO: EXTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR. It is evening. CUT TO: INTERIOR OF STATION HOUSE NUMBER FOUR, CONSTABLES' AREA. MURDOCH, CRABTREE, HIGGINS, JACKSON and PENDRAGON are still wearing their civilian attire. There are other constables there, in civilian attire and in uniform. There is some back-slapping going on, but the men are more interested in relaxing than in celebrating. BRACKENREID stands by, with WINTHORPE at his side. BRACKENREID unobtrusively holds the four suspects' photographs, which he has apparently removed from the blackboard, and the drawing of ALFORD.)

BRACKENREID
(to WINTHORPE) The way the men are behaving, I'd say it looks like this raid was a success. (calling to MURDOCH) Murdoch!

(MURDOCH comes over to BRACKENREID and WINTHORPE. PENDRAGON joins the group as well.)

MURDOCH
(to BRACKENREID) Sir. (to WINTHORPE) Inspector. Forgive me for not shaking hands, I'm afraid my hands are not very clean.

WINTHORPE
That's all right, Murdoch. Do you think you could take a few moments to tell me—

BRACKENREID
And me—

WINTHORPE
— How things proceeded?

MURDOCH
We found the man we hoped to find.

WINTHORPE
And how did it happen that you expected to find him there?

MURDOCH
Sirs, as you know, our station houses raided the same house ten days ago. All of the criminals we sought to apprehend escaped. Mister Talbot, Mister Ives and Mister Huxley escaped together. They all assumed that Mister Clare had been captured.

WINTHORPE
Yes—?

MURDOCH
When it turned out that Mister Clare had NOT been captured, this suggested to them that perhaps the relationship between Mister Clare and the police was, shall we say, less than adversarial. They thought that IF someone had betrayed them to the police, that someone probably was Mister Clare. These men were on the run, they had to hide somewhere; and after a presumably unpleasant night in an alley somewhere, Mister Talbot proposed that they go back to the same house where the raid had occurred, thinking that no one would ever suspect they would go there.

(FLASHBACK/RE-CREATION: THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE. It is night. The house is boarded up and locked, and notices are posted. As MURDOCH watches in spirit, TALBOT, IVES and HUXLEY come to the door. One of them takes a saw to the padlock; another holds some source of light, the third acts as lookout.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
The house had been boarded up and securely locked, but they managed to break the lock and replace the body of the lock so that, from a distance, it appeared as though the lock was still in place.

(FLASHBACK ENDS; RETURN TO CONSTABLES' AREA.)

PENDRAGON
(to MURDOCH) When your man— Jackson?— hit the lock with a sledge hammer, (to everyone) the lock broke off easily! The hasp was broken, and the body of the lock was apparently held in place on the door by a small piece of wire.

WINTHORPE
I see. Where'd they get the tools to break the lock?

BRACKENREID
I'd wager there's a connection with that burglary reported at the hardware shop off Spadina last week.

(FLASHBACK/RE-CREATION: THE INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE. It is night. HUXLEY closes the door. The door has the body of the lock hanging on it. The lighting source gives the men some dim light. TALBOT, IVES and HUXLEY all sit on the floor, up against the walls. MURDOCH watches in spirit. TALBOT, IVES and HUXLEY discuss a few things among themselves. They are angry and make violent gestures, but they are also tired and wanting to sleep.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
They wondered what to do about Mister Clare. They thought he might have double-crossed them, become a traitor; but they were not certain of this. They did agree that, if he was a traitor, they ought to kill him.

(FLASHBACK ENDS; RETURN TO CONSTABLES' AREA.)

MURDOCH
Not long after that, Mister Clare got word to them, thorough Mister Huxley's brother, that he wanted to have a meeting with them, to prove that he WASN'T a traitor, and to try to restore their relationship. A meeting was proposed, a meeting in a public place. A city park.

BRACKENREID
A good idea, if he thought they might want to kill him. Killing Clare in a public place would be risky. Too many witnesses.

MURDOCH
A public park was beneficial also for Mister Ives and Mister Huxley: it was an open space, and gave them many possible avenues to flee in the event Mister Clare betrayed them again. While they were discussing the meeting, they mused about a plan in which one of them would shoot Clare and drop the weapon, and they'd all run away. If there were witnesses, there would be confusion among the witnesses about what had happened. But they also realized there was a serious flaw in this plan: the gun would have the finger marks of the shooter. So Mister Huxley proposed paying someone, like a tramp, to pick up the weapon before a constable could secure it, and despoil the finger marks on the weapon.

WINTHORPE
And that is what they did.

MURDOCH
No, that is what they TALKED about doing. Mister Talbot said that he didn't want any part of it, and told them he was going to Mexico.

(MURDOCH smiles.)

MURDOCH
But he had something else in mind.

BRACKENREID
Are you— are you saying that neither Ives nor Huxley hired the tramp, Alford, but that Talbot did?

MURDOCH
Not exactly, sir.

(FLASHBACK TO THE INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE, during the raid. CRABTREE is holding ALFORD.)

CRABTREE (in flashback)
You are under arrest!

(Still in flashback: HIGGINS and JACKSON move in to assist CRABTREE. ALFORD is caught. MURDOCH moves in.)

MURDOCH (in flashback)
(to CRABTREE) George, do you positively recognize this man as Mister Alford, whom you saw in the park?

CRABTREE (in flashback)
Yes, sir, I do!

MURDOCH (in flashback)
So do I. (to ALFORD) You are under arrest for the murder of Raymond Clare. (to PENDRAGON) Detective Pendragon, do you think you could identify this man? It is possible that the last time you saw him, he had a somewhat different appearance.

(Still in flashback: PENDRAGON moves in. Light from a broken window illuminates ALFORD's face. PENDRAGON looks at the man for a few moments, not sure who he is; then PENDRAGON smiles.)

PENDRAGON (in flashback)
Hello, Talbot. You got a shave and a haircut, I see.

ALFORD/TALBOT (smart-alecky, in flashback)
Hello, Mikey, how are the wife and kids?

(FLASHBACK ENDS; RETURN TO CONSTABLES' AREA. BRACKENREID holds up the photo of TALBOT and the drawing of ALFORD; the men depicted look nothing alike.)

BRACKENREID
Talbot was the tramp! He never went to Mexico!

WINTHORPE
He looks completely different!

MURDOCH
Without his beard and shaggy hair, and dressed like a hobo, Constable Crabtree did not recognize him, and neither did I! Even his own associates didn't recognize him! Indeed, two of his associates didn't even NOTICE him.

(FLASHBACK TO THE PARK. CRABTREE is strolling along, looking at the busker. CLARE is talking with HUXLEY and IVES. ALFORD/TALBOT walks nonchalantly close to CLARE, HUXLEY and IVES; HUXLEY and IVES have their back to ALFORD/TALBOT, and CLARE's focus is on HUXLEY and IVES. When the busker does a trick, the crowd laughs and applauds [SFX], and ALFORD/TALBOT draws a weapon and shoots between HUXLEY and IVES, hitting CLARE.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
Mister Talbot knew the time and place of the meeting. He was able to get quite close to Mister Clare, unrecognized by Mister Clare; and despite being right out in the open, he was unseen by Mister Ives and Mister Huxley. At an opportune moment, Mister Talbot raised his pistol and fired.

(Still in flashback: ALFORD/TALBOT tosses the pistol between the astonished HUXLEY and IVES, who look at the pistol, then at each other, then turn and run. CLARE, clutching his chest, falls. ALFORD/TALBOT immediately turns away and pretends to be utterly confused.)

MURDOCH (V.O.)
Mister Huxley and Mister Ives then see a pistol on the ground. Each assumes that the other actually carried out the killing. They are momentarily surprised, but quickly realize that they have no choice but to run. Of course, both men get caught; Mister Huxley gets apprehended first.

(Still in flashback: HIGGINS takes control of HUXLEY, allowing CRABTREE to run toward the body of CLARE. ALFORD/TALBOT just stands there, looking at CLARE, then walks over to pick up the pistol. CRABTREE, his attention drawn by the scene of the crime and by JACKSON, sees ALFORD/TALBOT bending over to pick up a pistol from the ground.)

CRABTREE (in flashback)
You! Don't touch that!

(Still in flashback: ALFORD/TALBOT picks up the pistol and holds it, putting his finger marks all over it.)

CRABTREE (in flashback)
Sir! THAT is evidence!

ALFORD (in flashback)
I know. I didn't want anyone to take it. Someone could get hurt! There are children in this park, you know!

(FLASHBACK ENDS; RETURN TO CONSTABLES' AREA.)

BRACKENREID
So: Talbot despoiled his own finger marks?

MURDOCH
In a way, sir. He made Constable George Crabtree THINK that the finger mark evidence had been ruined. Constable Crabtree then handled the pistol himself, thinking there was no evidence to be preserved.

BRACKENREID
So it was Crabtree who actually destroyed the finger mark evidence.

MURDOCH
Unwittingly, but, yes, sir.

BRACKENREID
So we can hold Talbot for murder. The case seems solid to me, though it is largely circumstantial. We've got no witnesses putting the pistol in Talbot's hands, and no finger marks on the murder weapon. But we've got lots of witnesses putting him right at the scene of the crime!

WINTHORPE
But we ought to have some other evidence, Tommy, evidence that will send Talbot to the gallows. Would you agree, Detective Murdoch?

MURDOCH
I would, sir. Mister Talbot's plan included having Mister Ives and Mister Huxley risking a trip to the gallows in his place. To save their necks, I think they'll be open to "double-crossing" him.

(FADE OUT.)

THE END