Original subtitles

(pulsating music)

(fanfare)

(birds chirping)

(slow, dramatic music)

(slow, dramatic music)

(leaves crunching)

(slow, dramatic music)

(screaming)

(birds chirping)

(dramatic theme music)

(upbeat funky music)

(door opens)

- Uh, don't shoot, it's me.

- Jody.

- Hi.

I was, um, just passing by.

I thought I'd buy you some lunch.

- Oh, well, no chance.

I'm off to Rome.

- Oh?

Lucky you.

Unlucky Rome. - Unlucky Rome.

Well it's a nice once.

Straight forward surveillance, no problems, lots of loots.

Shouldn't take long.

- But you should stay on a few days.

- Maybe.

- Do you know any girls in Rome?

I've got some dynamite numbers.

- Jody, I wish you wouldn't do that.

- Do what?

- That.

Kid around like that.

- Well, I'm not kidding.

I know a lot of girls in Rome who would

be very glad to-- - Jody.

You're my wife.

- Well, I've got a big heart.

Anyway, if you happen to be in Rome alone--

- We are married.

- Separated. - By mutual agreement.

- Yes, but still separated.

- And still married.

(Jody sighs)

- Okay.

Okay, go to Rome.

Have a lousy time; I really don't care.

- Who said I was gonna have a lousy time?

I know lots of people in Rome.

Some of them girls.

- Who?

- What does it matter?

- No.

No.

Of course it doesn't matter.

We agreed, a trial separation.

You'll go your way, I'll go mine.

- Right.

What have you been doing?

- Oh, this and that.

Actually, I've been pretty busy.

- Not so busy you couldn't drop by to ask

me out to lunch.

- I was just passing by, I told you.

- But apart from that, you've been having lots of fun?

- [Jody] Yes, I have.

- Last night, for instance, having lots of fun then?

- Um, yes.

- Another party I suppose, out all night?

- Oh, dear.

- Alone, you were home by 7:30, no callers.

Your bedroom light was out by 10.

- Johnny, were you spying on me?

- No, no, no.

I just happened to be passing by.

- That's a mess.

Come on, let me do it.

I do it better.

- Oh, it's crazy.

Jody, you're crazy.

You hated the thought of sitting around at home

cooking for me, and now you just sit around

and cook for yourself.

Where's the sense in that?

Jody, I still love you, you still love me.

Now I know you still love so why don't we stop--

- Good idea.

Girls love to be read to.

- Now Jody, listen.

There aren't any other girls.

There never will be any other girls, you know that.

Now come with me, come to Rome.

- Oh Johnny, don't.

- It'll be hot, fun, romantic.

- You'll be working.

- Only for the first couple of days or so.

After that we can do what you like.

- Oh, tell me about those first couple of days.

What do I do?

I don't wanna wander around Rome alone

getting my bottom pinched.

- Well you wouldn't have to.

Listen, you could be useful.

There are notes to be taken, reports to be typed up.

- Useful?

Notes to be taken?

Johnny, that's what it's all about.

- Oh Jody, please.

- I wanna be my own person.

I wanna be somebody, I can't help it.

- You're my wife.

- Well, I guess that's not enough.

Oh, Johnny.

Johnny, I love you.

I really do.

But there's gotta be more than that.

- Jody.

Look, I can't miss that plane.

- Okay.

Have a safe trip.

- Yeah.

Now come on.

- Oh wait.

Hey, I could, uh, always mind the store for you

while you're gone.

Solve a few cases.

Nail a few killers?

- Jody, will you come on?

- Oh dear.

Well, you're just not ready for me yet, that's all.

- What?

- Well I was only kidding about minding the store, but.

- But?

- Well, if you had said yes--

- Oh come on Jody, this is a detective agency

for crying out loud.

It's man's work.

- Johnny, if you'd said yes you might find--

- Look, if this is gonna develop into a women's lib tirade

another round, then I have to take a rain check on it.

Look, my plane leaves--

I'm only just gonna make it.

Jody.

Look, I do love you.

I just, I just don't have the time.

If you change your mind, I'll be staying at The Royale.

- Why didn't you say yes?

(old man breathing heavily)

Excuse me?

May I help you?

- Oh.

Baxter, Confidential Enquiries.

Recommended.

J. Baxter, thank you.

- Yes.

Yes, that's right.

- You?

J. Baxter?

- Jody Baxter.

- Oh.

Recommended.

Highly recommended.

A woman.

I didn't expect it.

(deeply exhale)

Why not, eh?

Everything's changing, the whole world is changing.

Forgive me, my name is Tully, Arnold Tully.

- Well how do you do, Mr. Tully?

- How do you do?

Shouldn't we go in?

- Well, uh, no, actually, you see,

I was just on my way out to lunch, but,

well if it's important, you could join me.

If it's not, you--

- Oh, it's important, yes.

My niece,

Anabella,

murdered.

- Murdered.

Oh, well that's for the police.

- No, no, you don't understand.

She was murdered five years ago.

Since then the police, well, they've made no

progress at all.

- Five years?

- Impotent, abortive years.

And nothing, nothing.

That's why I decided, finally,

private detective.

- Five years, and you want me to find the killer?

- No, no, no.

I, uh,

I know who the killer is.

I want you to prove it.

(slow, dramatic music)

Here.

It was somewhere here.

Somewhere.

(birds chirping)

Somewhere.

It's hard to be exactly sure.

Five years, almost to the day.

So many things have changed.

It's a long time.

It seems like yesterday.

It will always seem like yesterday.

They say that when one falls in love,

time stands still.

Perhaps that's true.

But it stands still for tragedy, as well as for love.

It stands still when one loses...

such a precious thing.

I never married.

They dubbed me the misogynist of the family,

the woman hater.

The truth is, women always scared me a bit.

And then, suddenly, my brother and his wife

were both killed, and I became a parent,

with a woman of my own to care for.

A child woman.

Not someone to be scared of,

someone to mold.

To watch grow and blossom.

Someone to love,

at last.

I want him behind bars.

I want him to pay for what he did.

- Who, Mr. Dully?

Who?

- Peter Ingram.

(cars passing)

You see, they all know.

There isn't a dozen people in the whole town

that'll talk to him.

Some of the young men tried to beat him up.

But he's a powerful man.

- Why doesn't he leave?

- Bravado.

The killer, the brutal killer, walking the streets.

- Well what do the police say about it?

- Yeah, well Tully's right.

It was Ingram, definitely.

No doubt about it.

- Well if you know that, why didn't you--

- Knowing's one thing, proving's another.

Isn't that right, Charley?

Oh, we pulled him soon after the murder, held him.

How long was it Charley, about, uh, three days?

- Four.

- Yeah, and then we had to let him go.

I mean, we knew he did it, but we had to let him go.

- How do you know he did it?

- Oh, you know a lot of circumstantial stuff.

Timing's, opportunity.

Oh, and he, um, he fancied her.

They had worked together on some amateur

theatrical thing and he fancied her.

Besides, I mean he was the only possible suspect.

It was definitely him.

Yeah, we had enough evidence to bring

him to trial.

- You did?

- Yeah, but not enough to guarantee a conviction.

Bring him under trial, and they find him not guilty,

they can never touch him again.

- Well it's been five years.

It seems to me you haven't touched him at all.

- No, we couldn't take the chance.

But one day.

One day, some vital little factor may pop up,

and, uh. (snapping)

- Like what?

Like him doing it again?

- Mhm.

That's possible.

- Oh.

I mean, that's so coldblooded.

That's immoral.

- That's fact.

It's one of the facts of law.

You think I like seeing a murderer walk free?

Still.

Tully's brought in private help, so,

maybe you'll show us all the way, eh?

- Oh maybe I will.

- Look Miss Baxter, I'm not fool enough to turn down

any kind of help from wherever,

even from a woman.

I'll tell you what, though.

I'll you give all the cooperation you need.

Now these files are supposed to be confidential,

but, uh, if you wanna blast through them,

please yourself, okay?

- Oh, thank you.

- And, uh, anything that's not in there, ask me.

I was on the case.

(slow, dramatic music)

(birds chirping) (slow, dramatic music)

(funky music)

(birds chirping)

(underbrush crunching)

(birds chirping)

(dramatic music) (gasping)

What do you think Charley?

- Hm?

- Our girl detective.

- She might turn up something, a fresh eye?

- Ah, there isn't anything to turn up, is there?

No, I meant her.

That figure.

Your eyes practically fill out your checks, you sexy devil.

(chuckles)

Yeah, could do with a few

detectives like that around here.

It'd be a big improvement on you.

- George, go home, George.

- "Go home, George."

You're always saying that.

- [Charley] Give my regards to your wife.

- Ouch.

That's below the belt, Charley.

Ah, you're just jealous.

Just because you're not married.

Because you haven't found Miss Right yet.

Or maybe you have.

You're not telling me, aye?

- [Charley] Good bye, George.

- See ya.

- George.

- Hm?

- You told her wrong.

The only possible suspect?

What about that uncle of hers?

Tully?

Well there was an unhealthy relationship.

(slow, dramatic music)

- I'll get it for you.

- Thanks.

- This one?

- Fine.

(slow, dramatic music)

Thank you.

I teach back home in America.

The flora and fauna of a foreign country.

- I would have thought they had better trees in America.

- Oh yes, they do.

Yes, but actually you know, English birch.

Did you know they import genuine London fog in cans?

And Scottish water.

Anyway, the kids'll love it.

- I wish I'd had a teacher that looked like you.

- Yes.

Thank you.

- Is that all?

- Yes.

- Then how about some genuine English tea?

I love just on the edge of the wood.

- No, well actually I left my car--

- It'll be quite safe.

Hardly anyone comes this way any more.

Besides, it's only a few minutes.

- Okay.

Yes, I'd love to.

- Good.

After you.

(slow, dramatic music)

(soft lullaby music)

- "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

"Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

"and summer's lease hath all too short a date.

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

"and often is his gold complexion dimmed;

"and every fair from fair sometime declines,

"by chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;

"but thy eternal summer shall not

"fade."

- [Jody] Are you an actor?

- Was.

Once upon a time.

10 years of it.

Then I came to the conclusion that Lawrence Olivier

I was not, so I packed it in.

- And, uh, what do you do now?

- [Peter] I write.

- Oh.

What kind of writing?

- Oh, this and that.

A bit for the newspapers.

Some drama criticism.

I'm an authority on lousy actors,

having been one myself.

Yes, I used to do a regular column until,

until they found someone better.

Milk and sugar?

- Uh, no sugar.

(clattering)

(birds chirping)

Don't you find it a little spooky living her all alone?

- I find it private.

Well do sit down.

- So you don't do any acting now at all then?

- No.

- Well not even local, amateur things?

- Well, I've helped old Williams out a couple of times.

Williams, he owns the local bookshop

and runs the amateur dramatic society.

I've done the old thing for him once in a while.

- Well I suppose that's not a bad way of

getting to meet people.

Well, girls, anyway.

- Oh well there have been one or two occasions

where it is-- (glass shattering)

Leave it.

- But, somebody just-- - Leave it.

They'll have run away by now.

They always run away.

- Does this happen often?

- Not as often as it did.

Small towns are funny things.

They're close, like a family.

Well I had a bit of a problem with this town

a few years ago and they won't let me forget it.

You'd think after this time, they'd get tired.

You'd think they'd forget sometime.

- Why don't you call the police?

- The police.

(birds chirping)

Whoever it was, they've long gone by now.

(clears throat)

- Thank you.

You said you had a problem before.

What did you do?

- Well it's what they think I did.

Look, do you mind if we drop it?

- No.

- Are you gonna be around here long?

- No, just a few days.

- Well I'd like to buy you dinner.

There are a couple of places where they'll still serve me.

- Well no actually, I'm gonna be pretty busy.

- I see.

- Thank you for the tea.

- [Peter] You're welcome.

- I really ought to be going now.

- I'll walk you to your car.

- [Jody] Oh no that's all right.

Please, I know where it is.

- That's right, and you know where I am.

If you should change your mind.

Hey.

(slow, dramatic music)

- Thank you.

(slow, dramatic music)

- I'll be seeing you.

(slow, dramatic music)

(underbrush crunching)

(hitting) (underbrush crunching)

(dramatic music)

(heavy breathing)

(slow, soft music)

- Oh! (dramatic music)

- You're a bit jumpy for a detective.

- Someone was chasing me.

- I was chasing you.

- You?

- I lost you back there.

I cut across here to meet you.

- Well why didn't you call out?

- Because he might have heard me.

Ingram.

If he had something in mind, I didn't wanna put him off.

- Well thanks.

Thanks a lot.

- That's why I'm here.

I knew the first place you'd be heading for

would be here and at Ingram's.

You didn't think I'd let you walk

into a killer's house without police protection, did you?

I left my car down the road a bit.

You don't mind, do you?

- No.

I don't mind.

How long have you been here?

- Eh, a while.

- Then you must have seen who did it.

- Did what?

- Well somebody threw a rock through Ingram's window.

- Did they now?

- Well was it you?

- No, it damn well wasn't.

And if I had seen who did it, I'd look the other way.

Anything that rub's Ingram's nose raw

is okay with me, anything.

It'll make him break and give himself away.

- Yes, well that only works if you're sure of one thing.

- And what's that?

- That he's the man you want.

- She really was pretty.

- She was beautiful.

- You know, it's very odd.

The police reports are so full of Ingram and his behavior.

There's very little about her, her state of mind.

Where was she going that day?

- She merely went for a walk.

- No.

- You found something.

- No, it's just that she was a woman and so am I.

See, she wouldn't have just been going for a walk,

because it had been raining.

But she did go for a walk.

A long walk down a muddy path that doesn't go anywhere.

- Except to Ingram's cottage.

It's a mile further on.

- Yes, I know that.

I met him today.

- And?

- Well, I don't know.

You see, a woman usually takes a walk like that if

she has something on her mind, or if she's going to

meet her lover or if she-- - Lover?

She was a child.

- Well she was 17-years-old.

- I...

I would have known.

She would have told me.

- Would she?

How would you have reacted?

Angry, protective?

Jealous?

- I was responsible for her.

- Well Mr. Tully, that would have been a perfectly

normal reaction, a father's reaction.

You've kept her room exactly as it was, haven't you?

May I see it?

- The, the police went over it with a fine tooth comb.

- Well yes, I know that.

But not with a woman's eye.

May I, please?

- I'll leave you to it, then.

Please, be kind to leave everything as you find it.

- Well yes, of course I will.

(soft lullaby music)

(music box closing) Oh.

- Sorry.

I'll come back and do that later.

- Oh no, please, that's all right.

- You sure? - Yeah, stay.

- Mr. Tully likes it kept clean.

He insists.

Clean, and just as it always was.

I hope you catch him.

- Who?

- Ingram, that's what you're here for, isn't it?

- [Jody] Ah, yes.

- Yes, I hope you catch him.

She was lovely, Miss Annabella, lovely.

- You knew her well then?

- Oh, since she was that high.

I was the last person to see her alive.

Last but one, that is.

She came into the kitchen, she did,

to borrow a bag.

- A bag?

What kind of bag?

- Oh a plastic thing.

Like you use in the deep freeze.

And she tripped out again.

"It's a lovely morning, Auntie Fitch," she said.

Auntie Fitch.

Her last words.

That's my name, see.

I'm Mrs. Fitch, but she always called me Auntie.

- A lovely day?

- [Mrs. Fitch] Uh huh.

- But hadn't it been raining?

- Well it had just stopped.

But it was a lovely to her, poor little thing.

She didn't know she was going

to have a knife plunged into her ribs, did she?

- So she was really especially happy that day, then?

- [Mrs. Fitch] Uh huh.

- Why?

- Dunno.

Had something to do with that book, though.

- [Jody] What book?

- Well, the one she had with her.

Cuddling it she was, like it was something special.

A hanging would be too good for that man.

They don't even do that now.

- So she left, taking a book with her?

- I told you.

- Oh yes, I know, I was just thinking aloud.

Uh, what kind of book was it?

- It were a Shakespeare thing.

Like that one.

Yes.

Exactly like that one.

- But, Mrs. Fitch, there wasn't any book found on the body.

Did you tell the police about this?

- Oh I told them.

Fat lot of attention they paid me.

"Not important," they said.

Well, neither it was.

The important thing is, for you to get that

Ingram behind bars.

(door closes)

(sighs)

(slow, dramatic music)

- Stopped off for years.

Ah yes.

Here we are.

This is what I call one of my perennials.

Children passes exam, Christmas, a birthday.

It's an always welcome gift.

- Do you keep a record of all your sales?

- You mean copies sold at a particular period?

Well yes, so that we can restock.

- And um, how far back do your records go?

- Five years, maybe?

- Yes, she did.

She loved the theater.

Got that from me, I suppose.

- Were you an actor, too?

- Oh.

No, it's just that I always found the fantasy world

of the theater infinitely preferable to the realities

that life has to offer.

- So she only acted in amateur groups then?

- Yes.

But she was good.

Very good.

We talked of sending her to a drama school.

- Was her Rosalyn good?

Rosalyn, in As You Like It.

She did play that, did she?

- Superbly.

Eh, I am prejudiced of course, but,

I thought it was--

- The most beautiful Rosalyn you'd ever seen?

"For the most beautiful Rosalyn I've ever seen.

"From the worst Oberon ever."

Did you give her that look?

Well somebody did.

And you know what I found out?

The day before she died, the bookshop sold a book

just like that of Midsummer Night's Dream.

Now I think that Annabella bought that book

to give to someone.

To Oberon.

The worst Oberon ever.

Mr. Tully, I think that Oberon murdered your niece.

(dialing)

- Ingram was an actor.

- Mr. Ingram?

Jody Baxter.

Yes, is that dinner invitation still open?

(knocking)

(door opening)

Mr. Ingram?

(door closes)

Mr. Ingram?

Oh, I--

- A detective. (hitting)

A detective! (Jody grunting)

A dirty detective!

A professional snoop. (Jody choking)

(hitting) (grunting)

Ugh.

- Who told you?

- I still have some friends left.

Williams called.

He told me you'd been snooping around the book shop.

I am going to bleed to death.

- Hold it there.

Here, give me that.

(yelling)

(coughing)

- Don't waste anymore of it.

Glass.

(pouring)

Why did you come here tonight?

What else can I tell?

- Did you ever play the classics?

- Aye?

- [Jody] The classics.

Shakespeare.

- Well yes of course.

Every actor sooner or later-- - Midsummer Night's Dream?

- What?

- [Jody] The Dream, did you ever play that?

- Yes.

- Oberon?

- No.

Yes.

A couple of times, I suppose.

- How were you?

- What?

- [Jody] How were you?

Were you good, bad?

- I was okay.

- But you weren't the worst Oberon ever?

- What?

- Somebody may remember.

- Well, just a minute. (door slams)

(car door closes) (car starts up)

The worst Oberon ever?

- Witch Hazel.

It'll help keep down the bruising.

- Thank you.

That really was dumb of me to go blundering around

those woods after dark.

- Hm.

(clock ticking)

You left here to met Ingram.

You did meet him. - No, I did not.

I never got there.

- Mr. Briggs, sir.

- Good evening. - Good evening.

(Jody clears throat)

All right.

What happened? - Thank you, Mrs. Fitch.

(sighs)

- That's gonna be a nasty bruise.

- How did you find out about it?

- News travels fast in a town like this.

Especially bad news.

Now tell me about it.

- I just went walking and tripped and fell, that's all.

- But there's marks around your neck, too.

- Please.

- Oh, he had a go at you.

Well.

I've got him this time.

I'll pull him in.

- What grounds?

I'm not making any complaints.

Well I'm not, I'm not accusing anyone.

- Not complain?

This is what we've been waiting for.

Whose side are you on anyway?

What the hell do you want?

- I want to find the man who killed Annabella.

That's what I want.

(soft music)

(slow, dramatic music)

(soft music)

(slow, dramatic music)

(banging)

- Oh, Miss Baxter.

Found something?

- Mhm.

Look.

What do you think this is?

- Makes a change from the usual heart and arrow.

- "And this the cranny is, right and sinister."

- I'm sorry?

- Haven't you ever read Shakespeare?

- Played it once when I was a kid at school.

- Hm.

- Still looking for a vital clue?

No chance.

We had the best forensics men in the country.

- Oh?

Why are you here?

- I thought I'd take a country walk.

- No, I don't think so.

- You're right.

I thought I'd wander and recreate.

You never know.

What happened to your face?

- Ciao.

(birds chirping)

(slow, dramatic music)

(car starts up)

(slow, dramatic music)

(soft, dramatic music)

(dialing)

(phone ringing)

- Hello?

- [Man] Senior Baxter (speaking Italian).

- Oh, right.

(man speaking Italian)

- [Jody] Johnny?

- Jody?

- Hi, how are you?

- [Johnny] Well, I'm fine.

How are you?

- Well, I'm in a bit of a mess.

- I'm sorry, what was that?

This is a hell of a bad line.

- [Jody] I said I'm in a mess.

- No, I still didn't get that.

- A mess, Johnny.

I'm in a mess.

- Miss me?

Well I miss you, too.

- Oh, no, you don't understand.

Oh, I think I realize how lonely your job is.

- Well that's marvelous.

- [Jody] What?

- That's the best news I've had all week.

- [Jody] What is?

- That you're lonely.

Look, Jody, I should be back in a few days.

- Oh Johnny, well that's terrific.

Uh, listen, I need some advice.

- Yeah, I need you too.

Look, I'll try and cut this short,

get back as soon as I can.

- Oh, Johnny, it's no use.

It's okay, I'll work it out for myself.

- I'm sure we can work it out, my love.

Never had any doubts about it.

- Well I wish I were as sure.

- [Johnny] What was that?

- I said I,

I love you Johnny.

- What?

Jody?

Are you there?

(cars honking) Oh, shut up.

(birds chirping)

(fly buzzing)

(door opens)

- Oh, it's about time.

- Sorry.

(door closes)

Anything up?

- No, but you know it's my birthday.

The wife's expecting me to take me out for dinner.

What kept you anyway?

What you, you been chasing a bird across

some muddy fields, have ya?

- George.

Go home, George.

- "Go home, George." (chuckles)

Chasing a bird across muddy fields at your age.

(door opens)

(door closes)

(slow, dramatic music)

- Mr. Tully, I've taken a retainer from you.

I wanna give it back.

For a lot of reasons, but,

mainly 'cause I'm a fraud.

You see, you hired the wrong J. Baxter.

It's my husband who's the detective, not me.

Mr. Tully?

- Hm.

I know.

- You know?

- Hm.

I told you

J. Baxter was highly recommended to me.

When it turned out to be you,

I naturally checked back.

- I'm sorry.

- Why?

I am satisfied.

I want you on the case.

- Thank you.

Oh. (yawns)

I'm so sorry.

- You have done well so far.

Nothing concrete, of course, but,

looking at it with a woman's eye, I believe you said.

Perhaps that's what was always wanted.

There has to be one thing.

He must have made one mistake.

Perhaps it needs a woman's eye to discover it.

You're tired.

You can't possibly drive back to your hotel.

Stay here.

You...

You can have Annabella's room.

- "I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

"where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,

"quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,

"with sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.

"There sleeps Titania..."

(slow, dramatic music)

- Shh.

Go to sleep.

(slow, dramatic music)

- Where's Charley?

- Spencer?

He's not due until two, is he?

Do you need something? - No, no, no, no.

- On her birthday.

- Good morning.

- Good morning.

It suits you. - There's coffee.

- The bruise.

I like my women with a little imperfection.

Perhaps I should sent them all over to meet Ingram.

You're still not bringing charges, then?

No?

Well, maybe there's one or two I might like

to bring against you.

Yeah.

(tapping)

We're building evidence.

- Oh please, that book was up there

for anyone to see.

Your men obviously overlooked it.

Anyway, it's not evidence of anything.

- Isn't it?

Ingram's an actor.

- Well he's not necessarily a bad one.

The worst Oberon ever?

- All right, well how about fraud then?

You led Mr. Tully here into thinking you're a detective.

- No, I already told Mr. Tully the truth.

I offered to give him his retainer back.

Ask him.

- It's true.

- I see.

And now young lady, you're playing with fire.

You play with fire, you end up burnt to a crisp.

Morning, Mr. Tully.

- Good morning.

(phone ringing)

I'm sorry, I,

he arrived, started talking.

Perhaps I told him too much.

- Oh, it's not your fault.

That man.

- Yes? - Phone call, sir.

- For me?

- For Miss Baxter.

- Oh.

- It's from him.

From that man, Ingram.

- Yes, I wanted to thank you.

Well, obviously you didn't say anything about

what happened the other night.

Well, nobody's been here.

I wanted to thank you, that's all.

No, don't hang up.

Listen.

What you said that night.

"The worst Oberon ever."

Was that important?

Well, just because I've heard the expression before

and I remembered where.

Williams.

At the book shop.

He runs the amateur society, has done for years.

He must have seen some of the worst Ober--

Well you can't today, it's Sunday.

Hello?

Hello?

(clock tolling in the distance)

(door knob rattling)

(clock tolling in the distance)

(rattling)

(slow, dramatic music)

- Mr. Williams?

(slow, dramatic music)

Mr. Williams?

(slow, dramatic music)

(knocking)

Mr. Williams?

(slow, dramatic music)

(gasping) (dramatic music)

- Well thanks very much.

- Well?

- You seem to attract violence.

The doc says injuries are consistent with a fall

down the stairs.

- Or a chop on the neck.

- An expert in karate, too?

You weren't a bloody expert when you got that

bruise on your face, were you?

- So it's an accident.

- Well that's the first opinion.

The doc seemed pretty sure.

- Well what a convenient accident.

- Why?

'Cause you didn't have time to talk to him first?

What about anyway?

- Oberon.

- Oh, that stuff in the book?

- Yes, why not?

Williams had an amateur theater group for years.

He probably would have remembered

the worst Oberon ever.

- How did you know that?

- I prefer not to say.

- Ingram?

Did he tell you that?

Aye, then maybe Williams didn't fall down the stairs.

- Morning.

What's going on?

- A sudden death, accidental.

- Williams? - Yeah.

Miss Sherlock Holmes here found him.

What the hell are you doing here, anyway?

- I was just passing by and saw the car.

What happened?

- He tripped, fell, broke his neck.

According to the doctor.

- Poor old Williams.

- Poor old Williams, come on.

You've felt the back of his hand a few times.

- So did you.

- Yeah, but he singled you out particularly, didn't he?

He always gave you the lowest marks for everything.

Williams taught school here 'til he retired

and took this place.

He was miserable, and he was vicious.

Made sense he was one of the few who still

talked to Ingram.

Two of a kind.

Well Miss Baxter, there's no need for you to hang around.

I'll be in touch with you later.

Well now you're here, Charley, you can give me a hand.

I'll need to take a look upstairs.

- Mr. Tully-- - I know about Williams.

I can't say I ever liked him.

He was took close to Ingram for that, but,

I am sorry.

It was an awful accident.

- If it was an accident.

- You mean the police have found something

to suggest it wasn't?

- No.

- Hm.

I have been full of thoughts of vengeance.

I have incubated hate for so long.

That's why I came to you.

But these last few days, I've,

I've come to realize that eventually, one must forget.

Keep picking at an old wound and it never heals.

It just goes on hurting.

I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful.

I am very grateful--

- Mr. Tully, do you want me to leave?

- Yes.

(sighs)

- All right.

Tomorrow.

I'll leave tomorrow.

(door closes)

(slow, dramatic music)

(chopping)

(chopping)

(chopping)

- I'm sorry.

I misjudged you, didn't I?

You're open to trap him.

Ingram.

That's why you talked to him.

Yes, you'd have to speak to him.

Lead him astray.

Wait for the moment when he makes

that fatal slip and-- (chopping)

Mind you, I told him, when he first brought her here,

a mere child, I told him the heartache at the end of it.

Not right for a bachelor to be bringing up a young girl.

No.

Not right at all.

Now, if he'd married,

found himself a good, wholesome woman,

someone nearer his own age.

(tsking)

I told him.

(slow, dramatic music)

See, if you could prove Ingram did it,

it'd set Mr. Tully's mind at rest.

Then, perhaps, he'd start looking.

And his seeing his way clear--

(slow, dramatic music)

(door closes)

(slow, dramatic music)

(glass shattering)

- "Do you amend it then?

"It lies in you.

"Why should Titania cross her Oberon?

"I do but beg a little changeling boy,

"to be my henchman."

"Why should Titania cross her Oberon?"

(door opening)

(phone ringing)

- CID.

Oh yes, Miss Baxter.

Speaking.

What can I do for you?

- I just wanna check something out on the autopsy report

of Annabella Tully.

Could you have a look for me?

- I don't have to look.

I know that one backwards.

What do you want to know?

- Well, wasn't there something about dirt, or earth,

being found under her fingernails?

- Yes, earth was found under the nails of both hands.

Why?

- But, it was established she was attacked

from a standing position and then fell onto her back, right?

- Yes, but--

- Oh, I'm just following a hunch.

One more question.

- Well that was yesterday, but why--

Hello?

- What's she on about now?

- Don't know.

It didn't make sense.

Nothing.

See you later.

- Mr. Tully?

I think I'm about to earn that fee.

And all because of a plastic bag.

- Bag?

- Yes, you see, Annabella bought a book

to give to someone, right?

And then she put it in a plastic bag.

Now why not paper, and a ribbon?

Because she was going to hide it.

Bury it.

Mr. Tully, out in the woods, in a place that only

she and Oberon would know about.

Believe me, Mr. Tully, a young girl in love

would do that kind of thing.

Now I bet you that book is still there,

with her inscription on the fly leaf, and his name.

The killer's name, Mr. Tully.

I'm gonna find out.

- That wood is two miles wide.

It could be anywhere.

- No, there's only one place that it could be.

This loom, this rough-cast, and this stone tell the show.

Mr. Tully, for a theater buff, you don't know

too much about Shakespeare.

The wall.

I'm talking about the wall, Mr. Tully.

Through which the lovers did whisper often

and very secretly.

(slow, dramatic music)

- The wall.

(slow, dramatic music)

(digging) (slow, dramatic music)

(slow, dramatic music)

- You're clever.

Very clever.

I often wondered about that dirt under her fingernails.

(slow, dramatic music)

- You.

The worst Oberon.

- Yes.

But don't forget the effort.

Williams never did.

Just 10 years old, I was, and he leaned on me.

He shouldn't have told her.

Shouldn't have.

I had a wife and kids, she knew that.

If it were to come out, it would've killed

my chances at promotion.

She knew that, too.

Precocious little...

I'm sorry.

(slow, dramatic music)

- George.

You're big, George.

Bigger than me.

Remember in school.

Big as you were, I always took you apart.

He never won.

George?

Sit down, George.

You can't ask a question that like,

when was his birthday, and not expect to arouse

my curiosity.

I've been following him since.

Why did you ask it?

- Women's intuition.

- Was that his birthday present?

(slow, dramatic music)

- It's crazy.

It is ridiculous.

Jody, it's unethical.

- Okay.

Oh, come on, Johnny, it's money.

It's a signed check.

I did a good job.

- Oh, what am I gonna do? - Cash it.

Then cash in on me, I'm useful.

- Very.

- Oh come on, Johnny.

Cut me in as an equal partner, eh?

We'll work together..

- Work together?

You mean

you and me?

Here?

- Well yes.

- Okay.

- Oh, Johnny. (chuckling)

- Partners, again. - Uh huh.

(phone ringing) I'll get it.

Baxter and Baxter?

(slow, dramatic music)

(dramatic music)