Original subtitles

The Chillingham Partnership?

No, I'm afraid it's with a client.

Can Mr. Han help?

I'm afraid I can't disturb Mr. Chillingham.

I can't really say how long.

Yes, I'll tell him.

Yes.

Bye.

Mr. Chillingham?

Mr. Chillingham?

What's going on in there, Mr. Stafford?

You'd better come in.

I shouldn't bother, I've already checked.

Mr. Chillingham isn't quite dead.

I expect you'll want to call the police.

Ah, Theresa.

Charles, quick, get the police.

Mr. Chillingham's been shot.

He's dead, Charles.

I'm sorry to drag you away from your

very expensive lunch, sir.

Anything happen since your phone ring?

Not a thing.

You run a check on him, have you?

What's his name?

George Stamford, sir.

Not a sausage.

He's all organised up there, isn't he?

You know me, Chief Inspector, sir.

Two witnesses, sir.

There's time, Mr. Han.

Any other stuff?

Time to lunch, sir.

There's no other way out of that office,

is there?

Well, you'd better get on with it, ain't

you, Jack?

Mr. George Stamford?

We're police officers.

I'm going to unlock this door and we're

coming in.

Understood?

Ah, the gentlemen of the law.

On your feet, Mr. Stamford.

Hands on the table.

He's not armed, sir.

Mrs. George Stamford?

Perhaps you'd like to tell us what happened,

sir?

Where is it?

Hmm?

The weapon, Mr. Stamford, where is it?

The weapon?

I'm sorry, I can't help you.

I see.

Look around, Sarge.

It can't be far away.

You, sit down.

Chief Inspector Walters.

What can you tell me about this man,

Stanley?

Well, we only met him today and I

understand he lives abroad in Australia.

His father was an old client of Mr.

Chillingham.

Why did he come here today?

I told the sergeant I assumed it had

to do with his father's estate.

Old Mr. Stamford died recently.

Are you all right, miss?

You don't want a cup of tea or

something?

I'm fine.

Not very lively company, is he, officer?

Comedian.

Hiding the weapon, that meant to be funny

too.

How can I hide what I never had?

There's no sign of it about, sir.

Well, maybe he threw it out the window.

Look below.

Owen Jack, don't come back without it.

We'll find it, Mr. Stamford, and when we

do, you'll be charged with murder.

Until then, you're not obliged to say anything,

but if you do, it may be taken

down and used as evidence.

Have you got that?

Now, any more little gems of wit?

Inspector.

Chief Inspector Walters.

Murder squad.

Well, Chief Inspector Walters, you seem to have

made up your mind about me.

Mr. Stamford, this office is on the sixth

floor.

There's no other way in except through that

door, which you locked from the inside.

No one else has been in here.

It's only you could have killed him.

I just have two questions.

Why he shot him, and what you done

with the weapon?

Forensics here, lads.

Small bore, I'd say 0.22 or 0

...25, but we'll see for sure.

What range?

I can't see it.

It was inside shot though, wasn't it?

It's possible.

It's also possible it came from that car

park across the way.

Oh, come on, Alec.

This has got to be done to our

friend here.

You could be right.

He's a lovely shot to roll clean as

a whistle.

Finish here, Chief.

Look, make sure your lads give him a

right going over.

I want chapter and verse on him.

No, get where you always get, laddie.

Well, he didn't throw it out the window,

sir.

That's for certain.

All right, Joe.

See that car park over there, top to

bottom?

You don't really think we're going to find

it there, sir?

No, but it's the only other place a

shot could have come from on your way.

Oh, for God's sake, do that in some

other office.

Problem tame, is it?

No weapon.

You'll need one, laddie.

It's got to be here somewhere.

It's got to be.

Oh, um, where'd they put Mr. Stanford?

Oh, in the documents room through there, Inspector.

I see.

Look, I'd like you to think carefully.

After you heard the shot, did Mr. Stanford

come out here, you know, even for a

moment?

No, Inspector, he couldn't have.

He was locked in.

Can you confirm that?

Well, I was in my office at the

time, but I did see Miss Tower lock

the door, and it remained locked till you

arrived.

When you saw Mr. Stanford in the office,

did he have a gun?

I'm sorry.

All I can remember is Mr. Chillingham lying

there dead.

My one thought was to get out.

There's nowhere inside that office that he might

have hidden it.

You know, a safe, for instance.

The safe's in the documents room.

Oh, well, what do you keep in there?

Confidential papers.

Have you got a key?

Yes.

Perhaps we could have a look.

They're in my desk.

It's a rotten way for her to end

her stint with us, Inspector.

Well, Clarissa, Miss Tower, was leaving us at

the end of the month.

Oh, I see.

Why was that?

Personal reasons, Inspector.

Not unconnected with marriage.

I'll open the safe for you.

Thank you.

Is that all, Inspector?

For the moment, thank you.

Oh, please wait outside.

It's the loyal secretary.

She thinks I did it too.

Didn't you?

Why should I want to do a thing

like that, Inspector?

Oh, don't worry, Mr. Stamford.

We'll find out.

What was your business here?

I believe I'm allowed legal representation.

Yes, sir.

It's a one call, isn't it?

May I?

Thank you.

Oh, we've

been discussing my father's affairs for about 10

minutes.

Well, we'd both been smoking.

The room had fogged up a bit.

So Chillingham got up and opened the window.

You don't believe me, do you?

Well, he made a remark about the view,

and then there was this noise.

I didn't think it was a shot at

first, and then Chillingham fell.

I thought he'd fainted, but when I saw

the blood...

So what you're saying is that he was

shot by somebody outside the building?

Well, it is the only possible explanation, isn't

it?

Do you know what a low calibre bullet

is, Mr. Stamford?

I have some idea.

And do you know what the chances of

killing a man of that range are?

Pretty remote, I should think.

Impossible, and we'll prove it too.

Then we'll be left with just you, won't

we?

I hate to labour the point, Inspector, but

without a gun, I couldn't have shot him.

Clever bastard, aren't you?

But this is just the start, Mr. Stamford.

I'll find a weapon and a motive to

go with it, and then I'm going to

put you away.

That's a promise.

Not what I'd call an impartial man, Inspector.

I always come like you're concerned, sir.

All right, take him away.

Well, how is he, Jack?

I've looked everywhere, sir, I promise you that.

Yeah, well, we'll wait and see what forensic

come up with.

If they rule out an outside shot, then

we're really slamming to Stamford.

If he's handled a weapon, it's bound to

show up.

I mean, all that garbage about an outside

shot.

He's just trying to throw us off.

It's got to be in there somewhere.

It's got to be.

All right, Jack.

Get some men out and tear the place

apart.

I want that weapon.

That's very, very smart of you, Inspector.

Sir?

Don't let me see your face till you've

found him.

Right.

Peters, check every last detail of Stamford's past.

Job, movements, the lot, right?

Bert, work on the witnesses, especially the secretary.

Check a flag, get a warrant if you

have to.

Noble, work on Chillingham, Old Man Stamford.

Harris, keep it moving my way and fast.

Not want a result on this one, so

get weaving.

Hello?

What's keeping you?

Your promotion is what's keeping me, Chief Inspector,

sir.

What?

Oh, still looking, sir.

Well, get on with it.

I need that weapon.

Is my lawyer here yet?

Why'd you lock the door?

I told you, Chillingham locked it.

Why?

Because we had private business matters discussed.

What private business?

Why won't you let me see my lawyer?

The truth, Mr. Stamford.

Then you can hold hands with whoever you

like.

Now, you say you weren't sure it was

a shot you heard, is that so?

At first I thought it was...

But it says here you're an ex-mercenary.

You don't know the sound of gunshot.

You're lying, Stamford.

Please yourself.

You went in, you locked the door, you

spoke a bit, then you let him have

it.

Admit it, Stamford.

Look, Inspector, you can't force me to admit

something I didn't do.

There's a long way to go yet.

You will.

Chief Inspector Walters, I'm not a fool.

I'd planned to kill Chillingham.

Do you seriously think I'd go to his

office, lock myself in, shoot him, and hope

to get away with it?

You did it, and then you disposed of

the gun.

How?

I don't know yet, but I will, Stamford,

I will.

Now...

Let's go from the beginning again.

Oh, you're a very persistent man.

You don't know the half of it yet.

This is junk, Alex.

Nothing on him.

Oh, sorry, but the judge will take kindly

to rewriting history.

That shot came from inside Chillingham's office.

He'll have to.

No powder marks on his hands.

I don't believe this.

Go and find me a pair of gloves,

and especially a low-calibre gun, and I'll

give you a case.

I want that arrogant sod.

Personal, is it?

Well, you could always lean on him a

bit.

Well, with an expensive brief breathing down my

neck.

Besides, Stamford's too smart to stampede under pressure.

He's planned this.

Without a weapon, he knows I'm going to

be laughed out of court.

Have a look at what ballistics say about

the slug.

No rifling marks.

That's right, the weapon was rigged.

Homemade, you know.

But a zip gun?

Aye, made up of bits and pieces.

So find me just a piece of it,

and you've got a case.

Yes?

Listen, Jack, leave what you're doing and start

again.

But this time, you're looking for a zip

gun.

A homemade job?

Yeah, bits of metal.

Stamford must have broken me down and hidden

it.

Just one piece, that's all I need.

From what you tell me, Chief Inspector, your

case is purely circumstantial.

So I must ask you either to charge

my client or to release him.

If you do not charge him, and he

is not released within the day, I shall

seek a writ of habeas corpus.

Anything else?

No, except to point out, of course, such

procedure would hardly be welcomed by your superiors.

But I hope it will come to that.

Walters.

Jack, you found him?

What, not even one bloody small piece of

it?

Hold him.

Yes?

Well, keep looking till I tell you not

to.

Excuse me, will you?

What do you want?

A connexion between Stamford and Chillingham, sir.

Looks like you've got a motive.

When do I see my client?

You'll be lucky.

You're a bit footloose, aren't you?

Oil drilling in South America, mercenary circus hand

in Australia.

You live there now, don't you?

And run a small engineering factory.

Tell me, why were you ever tempted to

go into your father's business?

Well, we didn't get on, my father and

I.

Oh, you know how it is, Inspector.

Successful father, wayward son.

When did you last see him?

About eight years ago.

How did you learn of his death?

Formal notice to the next of kin.

Did he come as a shock to you?

No, really.

Knew he suffered from heart disease.

Oh, how was that?

Well-meaning friends.

Always someone wanting to reconcile the irreconcilable.

How much money did he leave?

About two million pounds, sterling.

Didn't come to me, though.

No, no, it went to research into heart

disease.

Yes, that's what my father intended.

Yes, it was a lot of money.

Well, money was all that my father had

left to give, Inspector.

It's my fault, I suppose.

They do say I broke his heart, you

know.

The Association for Medical Research.

Yeah, my father's beneficiary.

At least I believe that's what it called

itself.

You did know it was a fraud, didn't

you?

It was under investigation.

Its president was due to face proceedings.

And as we both know, the president of

that association was Chillingham.

You killed him because he cheated your father,

isn't that so?

Chillingham didn't need killing.

Even you must admit that, Inspector.

Oh, so you killed him.

I deny that emphatically.

Do you hear that, officer, emphatically?

Come on, Mr. Stamford, we can prove time

and place.

The strongest possible motive.

We even know what kind of weapon you

use, so what more do we need?

A gun, perhaps.

Oh, yeah.

It was a zip gun, wasn't it?

Now, that's easy enough to make for a

man who's an engineer.

You broke it down into little pieces, didn't

you?

You found such a weapon?

Even a small piece?

Not yet.

That's hardly the point, is it?

I mean, we know how you did it

and why.

So come on now, admit it.

Admit you killed Chillingham.

You are going to have to prove it,

Inspector.

And can you without a piece of this

gun?

Hold it.

Dave?

Yeah, I'll come in a minute, sir.

Yeah, I know.

Well, look, tell him.

8.30, Sunday morning, first tee.

Get up.

What is it?

The report on the witnesses, sir.

Herne is clean, but the secretary...

Thanks, Ernest.

Uh, still looking, sir.

Forget the weapon, Jack, and get back here.

Bring Miss Tower in with you.

Sir, Miss Tower has gone home.

Go round and pick her up, then.

You've not been quite right with us, have

you, Miss Tower?

I'm not sure I understand.

Sit down.

Get to her.

Jo!

You told us you resigned.

I intended leaving at the end of the

month, yes.

In fact, you resigned to avoid being fired.

We know, Miss Tower, we found a letter

to that effect in your flat.

Now, why'd you lie?

Well, Mr. Chillingham suspected I'd done something unethical.

Such as?

He believed I'd passed on confidential information to

an outsider.

Get Stanford in here.

You also lied to Mr. Herne.

There's no fiancé.

You're not getting married.

Now, why was that?

There were reasons.

Oh, come in.

Chair for Mr. Stanford.

You know Miss Tower, of course, don't you?

Of course.

Rather better than you indicated.

He wrote to you from Australia.

She's not involved in this, Inspector.

Why didn't you both lie about your connexion

with each other?

I didn't lie.

I said I'd never met him.

Oh, just pen friends, is that it?

Exactly that, Inspector.

You told Stanford his father was being cheated

by Chillingham, didn't you?

Yes.

Why didn't you tell us then?

I didn't want to get involved.

Oh, and is that why you lied to

Mr. Herne?

It wasn't my place to tell him that

his senior partner was dishonest.

But you did tell Stanford.

Now, why was that, if, as you say,

you didn't want to get involved?

I did it for his father's sake.

No other reason?

What other reason could there be?

Your relationship with Stanford.

You're serious.

Oh, he's very serious indeed, aren't you, Inspector?

You knew Stanford had come to this country

for one reason and one reason only.

That was to kill Chillingham.

That's ridiculous.

I second that.

And as for you?

You'd have us believe that no one else

had gone into that office.

Absolutely right.

Wrong.

One other person went into that office.

You, Miss Tower.

You went in, you took the gun from

him, and then you disposed of it.

There's no other possible way he could have

left that office.

But that's just not true.

You planned this job together, didn't you?

You listen to me, Chief Inspector.

There was no relationship between us.

I knew and respected his father.

And I hoped for his sake there might

be a reconciliation with his son.

And there wasn't.

And when he died and I found out

what Chillingham had done with the money, well,

that was too much.

That's why I wrote to you.

I hoped you'd do one last thing for

your father.

Force Chillingham to use the money the way

it was meant to be used.

I didn't want Chillingham killed.

Inspector, who do you think put the fraud

squad onto Chillingham?

Chief Inspector Hyde.

Fred, Walter's here.

Oh, hello, Tom.

That tip-off you had about the Chillingham

affair, remember?

Who was your source?

Well, I think it was someone in his

house.

No, I know all that.

Well, it was his secretary, I think, Miss

Tower.

I see.

Anything else I can do for you?

No, thanks, Fred.

Show Miss Tower out.

Well, well, well, well.

I'll have my clothes back now, if you

don't mind, Inspector.

Clever bastard, aren't you?

Put this in the end, Stanford.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, I'm going

to be there.

I'll find that weapon and when I do,

we'll see you as the last laugh.

Now, get him out of my sight.

Yeah?

You're never going to believe this, sir.

What?

What?

Do you remember last October, Stanford, the one

that got away?

Who, the Whirling?

He found out how he got rid of

the gun.

And if you thought for 2,000 years,

sir, you'd never come up with this.

Get on with it, Jack.

Well, he did it all right and there

is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Well, see for yourself, sir.

That's right, sir, I've had the evidence.

Gun, gloves, swallowed a lot.

Oop.