At the precinct, in the interrogation room.
Murdoch: Good morning Mycroft.
Mycroft: (silence)
Murdoch: I have some more questions for you today. Are you going to be cooperative or should I just put you back in your cell?
Mycroft: (agitated) I'll answer your damn questions if you let me see Patricia first.
Murdoch: (smiles) I'll let you see Patricia if you answer my questions first. You have my word.
Mycroft: I suppose you were always a trustworthy person. (smirks) That's why I was able to deceive you so easily last time.
Murdoch: A mistake that I will not be repeating.
Mycroft: If you say so, detective.
Murdoch: Let's get started then. Where did you meet Miss Rochestor?
Mycroft: She was in Montreal with her sister. They were enjoying the winter wonderland. One day some tramp had the audacity to try and mug them. I dispatched of him easily. Needless to say, she was very grateful to me.
Murdoch: And did you by any chance happen to orchestrate this attempted mugging in order to get close to Miss Rochestor?
Mycroft: (laughs) I cannot take credit for our unusual meeting. I can see how you might think that though. But ask yourself this: why would I want to intentionally entangle myself in someone else's affairs? When I'm tied down to one place, it makes it harder to escape capture.
Murdoch: So why did you let yourself?
Mycroft: It wasn't on purpose, detective. But I couldn't help feeling something for this woman.
Murdoch: She is very beautiful.
Mycroft: That's not my point, detective. I couldn't care less about physical beauty. There was something inside of her that was mystifying to me. She was able to look beyond my own defects and somehow come to have genuine feelings for me. I never thought it possible. After all, I am a monster, inside and out.
Murdoch: Yes, I've been wondering about that. What happened to your brown eye?
Mycroft: Do you know how hard it was to keep a low profile with two different coloured eyes? I might as well have walked naked through the streets. I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Murdoch: (repulsed) You removed your own eye?
Mycroft: (shrugs) The pain was intense but short lived. And the rewards were well worth it. I was able to remain hidden much easier after that.
Murdoch: I wouldn't have thought that a glass eye was less conspicuous than a different coloured one.
Mycroft: Well it was. If nothing else, it threw doubt into men's minds as to my identity. (silence) And now get to the point, detective. I'm anxious to see Patricia.
Murdoch: I almost believe you're being sincere.
Mycroft: I am.
Murdoch: Did you know of Mr. Rochestor's heroin habit?
Mycroft: Yes, it was a rather poorly kept secret amongst the household.
Murdoch: Did you kill Mr. Rochestor?
Mycroft: I may be many things, detective, but I'm not stupid. Why would I kill the father of the woman I intended to marry?
Murdoch: To ensure she and therefore you would acquire her inheritance.
Mycroft: I have no interest in wealth, I never have. Why else would I have taken up ventriloquism as my profession?
Murdoch: (smiles) Come now Mycroft, tell the truth, I know it's hard. You had only been a ventriloquist for a few months before you killed your father. Clearly you just wanted to appear very odd to us so you could deceive us easier. It was a very good performance, you should have been in the theatre.
Mycroft: Be that as it may, detective, I didn't commit this crime. You should stop wasting your time on me and find the real villain.
Murdoch: Yes, I can see that I'm getting nowhere with you. (Mycroft looks at him enquiringly) When she next comes in, I'll make sure she can see you...in your cell.
In Murdoch's office.
Murdoch: Thank you for coming down, Miss Rochestor.
Patricia: (nods)
Murdoch: Tell me Miss Rochestor, where was Donald when you called him?
Patricia: At his home.
Murdoch: And at what time did you call him?
Patricia: Sometime after eight.
Murdoch: Could you be more specific than that?
Patricia: I don't know, I was very distraught at the time. You'd have to ask Cynthia, she was with me when I made the call. Why do you want to know?
Murdoch: I'm trying to determine if your fiance is guilty or not.
Patrica: (purses lips) I thought I told you that he wasn't? That he couldn't be?
Murdoch: Can you explain his disappearance?
Patricia: (looks away) Well no. (hopeful) Have you managed to locate him?
Murdoch: As a matter of fact we have.
Patricia: (frowns) Then why hasn't he come to see me? (concerned) He's not hurt is he?
Murdoch: No, nothing like that.
Patricia: (angry) Are you trying to tell me that he's in one of your holding cells right now?
Murdoch: There are extenuating circumstances here that you are not aware of.
Patricia: Well then by all means, please enlighten me.
Holding cells. Patricia comes in with Murdoch.
Mycroft: Patricia! (grabs bars) I'm so glad to see you!
Patricia: (wide eyed) Is it true?
Mycroft: (solemnly) I swear to you that I did not kill your father.
Patricia: (looks into his eye) No, is it true?
Mycroft: (quietly) Oh. (awkward silence) Patricia, I-
Patricia: (very emotional) Don't! I never want to see you again!
Mycroft: Patricia, wait! (glares at Murdoch) Why did you have to tell her now? Why couldn't you have waited for awhile?
Murdoch: It was bound to happen sooner or later and I'm not in the habit of accommodating killers.
Mycroft: I suppose you're going to frame me for Mr. Rochestor's murder as well?
Murdoch: (smiles slightly) No, Mycroft. If anything, I'm going to prove your innocence.
At the mansion. Murdoch is speaking with Cynthia as she cleans.
Murdoch: Miss Rochestor tells me that you were with her when she spoke to Mr. Kimble on the night of Mr. Rochestor's death. Is that true?
Cynthia: Yes, sir.
Murdoch: At what time was that?
Cynthia: I'd say about ten after eight.
Murdoch: You're quite certain?
Cynthia: Yes, sir.
Murdoch: Thank you for your time.
In Rochestor's bedroom once more.
Butler: Now what are you looking for, detective?
Murdoch: Hidden passageways. Do any lead into this room?
Butler: Why, yes as a matter of fact, they do. (walks over to the closet and pushes back a false wall)
Murdoch: (sticks his head in) Where does this lead to?
Butler: It connects to most of the second floor.
Murdoch: Could someone have exited this room via this passageway and left the house without anyone being the wiser?
Butler: Yes, if they knew where to come out, they could have exited through the late Mrs. Rochestor's bedroom. Her room is always kept empty and there is a rather large window leading out back.
Outside the mansion, Murdoch is standing with an open pocket watch, viewing the horizon. George is just starting to become visible as he runs towards him. He's removed his overcoat so that his suspenders are showing and he's covered in sweat. Murdoch takes note of the time as George passes him. George abruptly stops, hunched over, trying to catch his breath.
George: (gasping) How was that, sir?
Murdoch: Very good, George. I now know without a doubt that there was no possible way Mycroft could have made it back to his place in time to receive the telephone call.
George: Couldn't he have taken a horse?
Murdoch: Of course but then he would have been much more noticeable. I've since interviewed others and no one recalls anything of the sort. No, the only way he could have escaped unnoticed was on foot.
George: If not Mycroft, then who?
Murdoch: I'm not sure, George but things are becoming clear to me for the first time.