Original subtitles

All backup vehicles not engaged in fighting the main fire could report to

school. Pick up any volunteers at the church and the hotel.

Fire HQ calling Chief Webster. Come in, Chief.

HQ here calling Chief Webster. What's the take of it?

Look, we've got a bit of a problem at the spill, mate.

Say it again, please.

What? Let's go.

Shit.

Okay, pull back.

Come on, we've got to get everything out from inside.

Come on, fellas. Come on, hurry up, for Christ's sake.

All right, let's hope.

We've got to do something about this. The whole estate is going to go up. My

estate is going to go up. Listen, you'll get a unit as soon as one becomes free

and not before.

Meanwhile, Mr. Anderson, why don't you just go and piss on it? You know, piss

it.

What's the extent of the fire? What's it here?

There are several fronts. Where are you calling from sir?

Look we hope we can get someone up there once the main

front dive down, but right now What about the backup?

Why the hell aren't they here? Get them over here!

Hello?

Hello?

Blah -nickle.

8Q calling Chief Webster.

What now?

That's why it should never have been built where it is. Let it go. Let it go.

Webster?

Ah!

Wasn't I making up a fool?

See what your face burns down before our offering's finished. You wanna join?

No, Webster.

I'm a builder. I build.

That's what I am, and that's what I do, and that's how I make my living. Now,

what's your problem?

There's all I want from you. All I want from you, Webster, is what everyone else

up near the mountains is entitled to.

Fire protection.

Property protection.

And whatever you think of me, I'm a property.

It's irrelevant.

Just do your job. If you really want to see it, you need help.

An expert.

A professional.

You know what I mean?

Professional.

You all right? You ready?

Mr. Webster.

Thanks. Okay.

Sophie McCann, lawyer with Crown Insurance.

I did telephone.

Yeah, sure.

Ruff? Yeah?

Another cup of tea.

How do you take it?

Oh, just milk, thanks.

Oh, things seem a bit quieter than they have been.

Yeah.

The resort development.

Is it really possible that the whole place could have been burnt down?

More than possible.

I guarantee it will one day.

Guaranteed. Not that the fellow who's developing it can give it down.

Excuse me.

Sophie McCann, crown insurer.

You're an American. Yeah.

You're not going to hold that against me now, are you?

I hear there's a lot of opposition to this development.

Well, people have been taking a little time.

The tourist board like it, though.

Yeah,

but the forests go on.

You take us on. You're not going to back out on us now, are you?

Well, that wouldn't be up to me.

But it does appear to me that you're not quite on schedule.

Well, there's been some problems with delivery, availability of the right

materials and so on.

And, of course, you'd be in a lot better shape financially if the whole place

did burn down.

Why do you say that?

Well, you're insured with our company for $10 million.

But then you must know that, Mr. Anderson.

Boy.

Lose that, will you?

Come on, Howard. Spit it out.

It'll bring her on schedule. That much we already know.

Julian.

If the material I asked for arrived when it was supposed to arrive, then the

quantities I asked for and the specifications... Howard.

I will not go broke in the pursuit of your little dream.

It's a hotel, not a palace, and you'll get what I can afford.

We're both in business to make money. That's something that occasionally

you. Yes, well, that brings us to why I came here, Julian.

Miss Sophie McCann from the insurance company came to the site this morning.

happened to mention that it was insured for $10 million.

Is that true?

Sure is true.

I'm your partner. Tell me. Why don't you tell me? I mean, it's not worth a

fraction of that. You know that.

Technicality is not important.

Ten million dollars is not important.

Look.

To borrow from a bank, you have to raise collateral.

Collateral, in this case, is the insured value of the estate.

Now, we use part of the money to build it, and the rest of it for other little

projects here and there.

You're wrong.

I'm sitting in one right now.

Is the bank over there?

Why should they know? They're worried you're not sure ready.

Oh, Howard, stop looking like a virgin with a stick up your arse. It's all

legal.

We're a legitimate operation.

What a nice surprise.

Bye, Maggie.

Bye.

I had no idea you were coming so early.

Good luck.

Come here often?

I'm coming up the mountains tomorrow night.

Can I take you out to dinner tonight?

No, I can't. Steve and I are going out.

I've got to practice my finals with Dr. Schaefer.

I love you, Teddy.

If you're playing the toilet, you're bound to get a little sugar.

Let's have some fun.

What's your business?

Insurance.

Lloyds of London.

Get me Crown Alliance Insurance, please.

Oh. Mr. Farley, I've been waiting for you. Miss McCann, what is it?

I'm in a hurry. I have a speech for the Chamber of Commerce luncheon today.

There's something I need your opinion on.

Won't it wait until after Christmas? We're all very busy.

No, not really.

Well, tell Miss Hart to put you in after lunch.

Thank you.

Well,

Miss Hart?

Three o 'clock.

No, I'll hold on.

Do you know your way around the computer room?

Yes. Well, I'll meet you there in ten minutes. We've got work to do.

Thank you.

Let's punch up Blue Mountains Holdings.

It's insured for $10 million and the policy expires in 11 days.

I wonder who owns the company.

Yeah, I've met Anderson.

An offshore corporation.

That's owned by Julian Fane. He's just bought a $2 million yacht, that's right.

Let's go back to Blue Mountains Holdings, OK?

I wonder who did the building inspection of this.

Have a look.

S. Whittaker.

Who the hell's S. Whittaker?

Search me.

Check the personnel record.

Huh. Doesn't exist, eh?

Okay. Punch up Percy W. Farland.

Nothing exceptional there.

Secretary Sarah Hart.

Hey, let's have a look at her file.

Marital status, spouse's name, Whittaker.

Oh, that's impossible.

Sarah Hart, Sarah Whittaker.

I think we've found our building inspector.

Miss McCann, as you know, there are many reasons why people might wish to insure

uncommonly high, aside from intent to commit illegal acts.

Look, Sophie, I have got the papers in front of me, but you can be sure that

we're profitably co -insured on sound international markets.

And another thing you can be sure of is that the company satisfied itself at the

proper time that the property insured represented a good actual risk.

With all due respect, Mr Farley, you are talking to a lawyer and someone who

knows certain facts.

One, Blue Mountains Holdings' present policy expires midnight New Year's Eve.

Now, so far, no new policy has been initiated or asked for. Two, Blue

Holdings is insured for $10 million. I've been there. It's not worth close to

that figure.

Three, the insurance inspections were carried out and they indicated that it's

progressing on schedule, which is bullshit.

Four, a certain S. Whittaker... is the inspector consigned to Blue Mountains

Holdings. Five, I think you and I know who S. Whittaker is.

And she's not a million miles away from where we're sitting.

Six, Blue Mountains Holdings has a mysterious 60 % shareholder, an offshore

corporation.

Well, I think that's someone's idea of a little joke.

In fact, an offshore racing syndicate.

In fact, a boat owned by a certain Julian Fane, one of the people both you

work for.

No, Mr.

Farley, you don't have to say a word.

I'm a lawyer, and when it suits me, my oath is binding.

But I do feel you could use a good lawyer, Mr. Farley.

We are taking the afternoon off.

There's a man to see you in the foyer.

He didn't make an appointment.

Now, come on. Let's get out of this madhouse.

Come on.

Excuse

me,

Miss McCann.

Can you spare me a moment, please?

I'd like to ask you a couple of questions.

I beg your pardon, my name is George Engles, representing Lloyds of London.

I'm sorry, Mr. Engles, if you called my office and made an appointment.

Well, it's rather a delicate matter, how shall I put it? You see, you being, I

understand, the legal wing of Crown Insurance and myself representing

it's essentially a matter between lawyers.

Well, I'd be happy to meet with you tomorrow morning. But what matters in

concerning what policies, ma 'am?

Call insurance. Good mountain toting. Can I believe there's a hotel under

construction?

I said we'd be there by 8.

Bye.

I'm sorry, Sergeant. Can I interrupt you for a second?

I would like you to meet our local cop, Sergeant Owen Goodwood.

This is Steve Adams, a good friend of mine. He's a friend of my daughter's.

I couldn't resist it, John.

I just want to say that it would be difficult to thank each and every one of

for your support and your help.

So I won't.

But I hope that this little mad get -together we have here is some sign of

appreciation to all of you.

Thank you. Have a good time.

That's the toughest thing I've had to do in years!

I've seen it, a brown van, more than once, after every fire.

And it's local.

Late at night, a couple of times a week, cruising past the pub, nice and low.

Two people, I reckon, and one of them in bushfire fighting.

I tell you, no worries.

It's the van and it's him.

A bushfire fighter. One of his lot.

You think that bugger would have seen enough of fires?

No, Curly, he's just hurting up a year.

Thanks very much.

Is he the gentleman looking for Sophie McCann? Yes, that's correct. George

Engles, Lloyds of London.

Father, Mr Engles, General Manager.

That's me, sir.

Well, I'm surprised he's not here. It's most unusual.

Did you see her this morning?

Look, I'm just stepping out for a bite of lunch, an early lunch.

Perhaps you'd care to join me? Oh, that's very kind of you. Are we anywhere

a restaurant called Arthur's?

Drink, perhaps, Mr. Eagles?

No, I'll be fine.

Not for me, please.

Is there somewhere you have to be?

No.

I'm just trying to work out what time it is in London. I have this diabetes

problem. I have to keep giving myself injections of insulin.

It's a real nuisance.

Yeah. Isn't my brother the same?

I'll be all right for a few hours.

What exactly brings you out here to the colonies, Mr. Angles?

One might say Lloyds of London.

The elusive Miss Sophie McCann, I understand, has all the information that

need.

Word, that's fantastic.

Merry Christmas.

Yes, cheerio.

Mr. Serco?

Lonnie, come on.

Hi,

Joe. How are you doing? Good, mate.

Give him a pump?

Yeah. Give him the heaps, mate.

I've been trying to ring Mr. Faith.

You stay cool.

I don't want to know about it. I don't know who it is.

Oh, I won't worry. You worry.

They're sending a man up there to make sure, you know.

It was the same man.

What? The one today. The same man.

Don't you have somebody else?

Too late about changing things now.

It's your problem, isn't it?

Yummy? Yummy?

Don't do that.

It has to be wrapped up by the new year.

That fellow with your daughter, who is he?

He's a friend, a good friend.

That van is borrowed, Curly. You got that? Borrow it.

Look out for Lloyd from London.

They were here today.

Come on, Steve.

I'm just worried about Daddy.

Steve! I don't like it when you're like this.

Howard, how nice of you to drop in.

Bit early for a morning drink, though, isn't it? I'd like some breakfast.

You seen this?

Yes, I read it. What about that man from Lloyd's asking questions about the

estate? Lloyd?

He was having lunch with your, uh, Mr. Farley yesterday.

Routine. That's not routine, Julian.

All right, Howard, my dear Detective Howard, how do you see it? Obviously to

suspect Darson, Julian. The girl said as much.

Does anyone actually accuse you yet of being partner to fraud?

Don't worry.

To you and me, a great father.

Tommy.

You all right?

No, he's not all right.

Polly's sleeping.

Never mind about them.

Just get our end of it right.

Now meet me on the odd Monday, kick off at midday.

Unless, of course, your friend starts improvising.

Then forget it.

Good looking here, woman.

And a good swimmer.

Miss Hendricks, I realize only too well how painful this must be for you, but if

we're to find her murderer, you must help me.

What do you know?

We're best friends.

We did everything together.

We came from the same town.

We went to the same school.

And we went to university together.

Sophie was always one for adventure and excitement.

She even... I know she didn't mean anything by this.

It was just her way of exposing the system.

The corrupt system.

What did you discover?

You must tell me that.

She didn't mean anything by it. She wasn't going to take it any further.

It was just Sophie being Sophie.

No, he doesn't work there. You might try him at McCann's office, if you would.

Oh, without Sophie.

Oh, God.

He's going to drop the car. Yes.

Oh, Mr. Anderson.

I was hoping that you would ring me.

When she went for a swim. A drink after lunch, perhaps?

On that two o 'clock at the Menzies? We had an argument.

Fine, I'll be there.

And that was the last time I saw them.

Harold Larwood

made them look very cheap. You must be

Harold... Harold, I beg your pardon.

George Amos, my name. Oh, have a drink.

I just got a beer, thanks.

Yes, I see.

Just what

are you doing here, Mr. Engles?

George. Please, George. Well,

you're building a hotel and I'm building a dossier.

That really doesn't help me a hell of a lot. What kind of dossier, George?

Difficult, dear boy.

Very difficult.

Now, look, I'm willing to lay my ass on the line here.

I want to help you if I can.

Uh, I've gone into a mess here.

And, uh, I want to cooperate.

My dossier is on, um, your friend Julian Fenn and several others.

An insurance fraud, right? They want to burn the hotel down?

So it would seem.

But it's more than just stealing money from the insurance company. Julian Frayn

owns Crown Alliance Insurance.

Or to be more precise, he is a major force in an outfit which calls itself

Olympic Corporation, and they own Crown Alliance.

Okay, so what's happening?

Well, nothing terribly illegal, nothing totally legal. These people do things

that way.

Until, of course, your hotel burns down because of arson.

And that makes it illegal.

By co -insurance, the practice of sharing the risk with a group of

they're attempting to swindle Lloyds of London, and I happen to represent them.

Now, they need the services of a building contractor who appears, at

have a good name.

Now, I wish I could be a little bit more flattering, but strictly speaking,

anyone above a certain level of income is guilty of some offense.

All right, so what are we going to do about it? We're going to do something.

Where do we start?

Meeting you puts me in a very difficult situation.

On the one hand, at least from a...

moral standpoint, and even from an ethical one, I would do what I could to

sure that your hotel remains intact.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, so that I can complete the appointed job that I'm

here for, I'd be only too pleased to see it burned to the ground, preferably

with your partner, Mr. Fane, holding the match.

Jesus Christ, man, what are you up to?

Yeah, well, he wouldn't want to know about that. Oh, no, I don't want to know

about it.

Nobody wants to know about that.

All right, Joe.

I did it.

Did you?

Come on. What, do you think I'm crazy to you?

Yeah, well, I'm not that crazy.

There's someone heading our way, and I want you to dissuade him. I don't know

I want to do that.

Baby, baby, listen, you're my man.

I've gone all the way with you.

Come now.

Spider, going back to Wentworth. Can we give you a lift? Come on in.

Any of you young fellas drive a van, a brown one?

I keep seeing it. It's him. It's a fella with a brown van.

I reckon he's one of your lot.

A fireman.

Curly, you're not a bad bloke.

But if ever I hear you say anything like that again, you're a dead bloke. Do you

understand that?

I'm right, aren't I, Spider?

Spider? Aren't I?

I'd like to see some of your lists of dates and times, records of rainfall,

daily temperature, rain and wind, cloud cover, and perhaps bushfire activity.

I study that kind of thing.

Most impressive.

Hello, George.

If I could persuade my wife to get into an airplane, we could come here for a

holiday.

Better than Bogner, Regis.

I've found out a few things.

I've checked all the records that date back to the recent series of fires.

That's to say, taking into account only the ones that were suspected of having

been deliberately lit.

And a pattern seems to be emerging.

The fires start close by a main highway.

My second fact is that they are first sighted...

between 12 noon and 2 p .m. And finally, our chap lights all his fires on a

Sunday. Now, you and I know that only one Sunday remains between now and the

year, and that's Christmas Day.

Christmas Day.

Uh -huh.

You need your help.

I think you need my help, too. Yeah?

We got an arsonist in the loose up here. We know that.

You know what's the habit?

Start the fires on Sunday.

Christmas is Sunday.

Hello?

Somebody's gonna start a fire this Sunday and try to burn my hotel down.

I just put him out pure and simple.

I don't know how to prevent him.

Howard, the fact that you're a partner of a union plate in one venture does not

make you an accomplice to any... Keep an eye on it. ...to any fraction of the

law. Your liability is limited to what you do or condone being done for you.

Now, in short, as lawyers...

I feel that the less you know, the better.

I can't pretend nothing's going on, Clive. Hey, Lance, how long?

About five minutes.

Why do you think something's going on anyway? Well, if hardly something's

on, Clive, the lady said as much. No.

What the hell's the difference?

Look, Howie, look, you run the risk of making a party to something you don't

even understand.

Until someone starts making accusations against you, you'll be a fool to start

volunteering them yourself.

That's pretty close to what Ginny and Fanny tells me.

Look Howard, all the way out here... He's a long way back. Better get

That's not possible.

It's water.

I don't believe we've been properly introduced.

I can't seem to...

Thank you very much.

We were driving down a place called... Aha!

Still breathing, huh? I heard.

You got anything on this?

No, just this brown van that Curly keeps talking about.

No man, no description of the guy? No, just a vague shape.

Is there a Mrs. Anderson?

Yes, indeed.

Beautiful lady, too, George.

Unfortunately, it's an old familiar story.

I returned from a tour of duty to be presented with the backsides of my

countryman, Bill, from Internal Revenue.

A beautiful baby girl on the side of my wife. You can see the front door.

You're still young.

Well, my life went into a holding pattern while I got to know Maggie.

Tried several times unsuccessfully to get back into the construction business.

So I migrated here.

I had bought this site on one of the trips here. We used to resupply.

And that brings us pretty much up to date, George.

Why here?

Well, I think a man can dream here and still fulfill his dreams.

Be it in my case, perhaps.

Can I let him?

My country cottage.

You like it, Howard?

George, George, George.

You can stay at my house. You'll be safe there.

Nobody's going to be particularly safe.

Remember, Sunday begins at midnight, you know.

I don't want our boy to feel a march on us.

He may be an insomniac if that occurred to you.

Anyway, I'm sure that he's not suffering from an excessive sleep.

You all just make yourself very humble, aren't you?

Much obliged, chump.

This is home.

It's the same, baby.

It's your papa.

It's your papa.

Oh, thank you very much. You're very kind. You're welcome.

Australian champagne, just when I was getting to like the beer. George, I'd

you to meet my daughter Maggie.

Daddy, what's worrying you?

The hotel, isn't it?

I run into business with these people with my eyes open.

Told myself it didn't matter if they cut corners as long as I didn't have to.

Keep telling yourself that as soon as your turn.

But then...

Well, the long and short of

it is...

I'm not even halfway finished with the thing. Really? Yeah. He's got lots of

problems. What sort of problems? Ah, material, people, contracts, deception.

How can you stop that?

Well, you can't even spot it, mate. You can't even spot it. Somebody who's too

secret, too quiet.

Or if they joke or laugh too loud sometimes. No, no, no. The essence of

deception is the truth. It's the plain and simple truth. It's the only way.

Yeah, well, because nobody ever believed you.

Come on, give me a kiss.

Who's going to say grace?

Grace!

I remember when I was little, we used to talk about God.

Yes, I did, but you were never... God?

God, it's not from the pot.

What's your problem, Steve?

Hello, Christmas.

Goodwill and a little trust.

Jack.

What are you doing?

Dancing.

Dancing? I thought you were in the recording business. You were an engineer

something like that?

No, I like to dance.

Look at me.

How do you see me?

Lava. Why do you say that? What do you mean? You're like fire.

Who's being silly?

I was being silly.

You're paranoid.

What's the sign?

Well, I think they're very beautiful.

What's it do for money?

Make a scene of music.

Guess he doesn't have any.

What about family?

You see, what it amounts to is a question of what sort of a legacy

is to be passed on.

My generation, the old guard, what's left of it, we inherited a world that

needed to be rebuilt after two world wars.

He went to work with gusto.

Achieving, building, hoarding.

plundering, and all the time keeping it close within our grasp.

And your lot, our children, looked at our record and you said, phew, that's

for us.

You were generous, egalitarian, thoughtful,

and you tried, as best you could, to salvage the planet.

But then, when your children looked to you for guidance,

Instead of parents, they're firm pals.

They must secure compassion for weakness, your generosity for

For them.

If it feels good, do it. If it's there, take it.

If it gets in the way, burn it.

Hence our ultimate.

Merry Christmas, Howard Merry Christmas, George

Well,

I think they're very beautiful.

It's him.

It's him, the boy, Steve.

I know that. I saw him yesterday.

Jesus, man, why didn't you tell me?

It's still a question of trusting you, old boy.

Can we get it up?

Are you satisfied?

What's this?

Bad luck, Anderson.

I thought they might have let you build it.

Oh, my God.

God.