01x05 - The Frankenstein Murders

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Frankenstein?

It contains references to galvanism, sir.

Do you know much about it?

Not my subject, I'm afraid.

What brings you here, Mr. Marlott?

A crime I'm investigating.

A little girl lost, in a rose pink dress.

I know that picture.

He's out to catch someone and you're his bait.

For a tup?

They don't plan to tup you, Flora.

They plan to k*ll you.

How's Flora?

She breathes.

Nothing else.

A family of murderers that call themselves the Bishops.

They k*lled to sell to the surgery school, sir.

We now have a potential scandal on our hands which threatens to do exactly what that monstrous object you found was designed to bring about.

God help us when the newspapers get hold of this!

"Why, on the eve of the Anatomy Act, has the disclosure of this monstrous artefact been suppressed denying Londoners the knowledge of a diabolical surgeon in their midst acting in apparent imitation of Mary Shelley's infamous mad man, Victor Frankenstein?"

(LAUGHTER)

Oh! You're sure? I won't think any the less of you.

I feel as if I'm standing at the edge of the world.

The household's asleep.

William.

To the unflinching eye of the intellectual soul.

You're the poet, Shelley. Give us some words.

We're about to take a step that will alter the course of natural philosophy forever.

What words could possibly suffice?

James.

Is she to stay?

She's as committed as any man.

The honour is yours.

To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death.


Man outside: You scavengers!

Ingrates.


Woman outside: Bastards!

If it wasn't for us, they'd be wallowing in scrofula!

Mind your tongue, Garnet. And smile! When you learn?

At times like this, appearances aren't merely important, they're everything.

Get the nurses and orderlies to man the gates.

I won't have my hospital overrun.

You're on ward round this morning. I've urgent business to attend to.

Whatever you say... cousin.

You? Here?

How dare you? I told you I never wanted to see you again.

Out.

Not before you tell me why you went back to Hogg's laboratory.

Pirkis.

I'll reveal what you did.

What we did.

I have less to lose.

Sir?

Yes, thank you, Pirkis. Two glasses and my finest port.

Mrs. Shelley and I are going to toast the future of medicine.

Yes, straight away.

You ask me why I went back. Ask yourself why you've never left.

Mocking my achievements in your wretched novel!

Dragging my past endlessly into the limelight.

You've seen this no doubt?

12 years it took to disassociate myself from you. Now this.

On the eve of the Anatomy Act, my greatest triumph.

The Anatomy Act?

A free supply of corpses to do with as you wish?

It is you.

Literary wretch!

(GASPING)

(FOOTSTEPS RUN AWAY)

Your wine, sir?

I'm drinking alone, apparently.

Thank you, sister.

There's another patient in here, sir.

Flora.

Get out.

Sir.

(CLOCK STRIKES)

Mr. Marlott?

Sir Robert instructs me to tell you he is occupied.

What about this?

The Frankenstein murders.

It's history, Mr. Marlott.

Like yourself. Pack your bags and get back to Wapping.

Mr. Marlott! Sir Robert has known about this all along, hasn't he?

I'm not at liberty to say.

Mr. Marlott, the time for coyness is passed.

Who would place power into the surgeon's hands after this?

Don't berate him, Bentley.

None of this is his doing.

No. You are right, my dear.

He only answers to his master's voice.

Well, then, a gift from me to him.

An emergency vote to declare the Anatomy Act dead.

What better way to celebrate our engagement?

I apologise for Sir Bentley's rudeness.

He doesn't know you as I do.

Come to my house in one hour.

Thank you for coming.

What is it you wish to talk to me about?

When we met earlier, Sir Bentley mentioned our engagement.

Congratulations, my lady.

Please, Mr. Marlott.

He is... money to us and I am status to him.

Nothing more.

You would pledge yourself in a loveless marriage?

For my brother's work. Yes.

What I've concealed from him is my intention to disappoint him should the Act fail to pass and my brother allowed to continue his work.

Something I now have reason to hope, thanks to the scandals implicating the surgeons.

But I know Sir Robert well.

He will stop at nothing to get his own way.

Therefore, I have asked you here to... beg you to help me.

Do not let him succeed.

You should know, Sir Robert wants nothing more to do with me.

I've been removed from the case.

Then all hope is truly lost.

I have a confession of my own to make, my lady.

That thing you read about.

The Frankenstein murders were the reason Sir Robert hired me.

My investigations led me to suspect all who oppose the Anatomy Act, your brother included. My brother?

Responsible for that? Please, listen to me.

If Sir Robert's wrong, then the mad man who made it could very well have been a surgeon.

Sir William Chester? Someone without regard to human suffering.

I swear to you, whoever it is, I'll find him.

Should he be the highest in the land, I'll find him.

Then I was right!

You ARE a man of God.

If it's your position that concerns you...

No. It's not that.

Forgive me. Forgive me.

All things might be possible.

In time.

But time is not with us and my adversaries are powerful.

Then I will wait.

And pray for your success in bringing them to justice.

Who are you?

Joseph Nightingale, sir. Bow Street.

What do you want?

The patient is a witness. I'm to sit with her until she wakes.

Out of the question. I won't have you jeopardising her welfare.

Will she recover?

Out! At once! Go!

You have no authority here. This patient is under my care now.

My little girl lost has been found.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

It's about Flora, sir. I was...

Close the door, please.

I need a word in private.

I need you to withdraw a p*stol for me in your name.

Why? I'm not employed here any more.

My investigation is beginning to step on a few powerful toes.

So what now? The investigation goes on.

In private.

With me? If you'll agree.

I'll get that p*stol.

This newspaper article, Mr. Marlott.

This is where your missing girls have gone to, is it not?

Why did you not tell me? I couldn't.

If I'd known more I might have said more.

Now we have both been defamed. Then get a lawyer.

I've other business to attend to.

I know who you're looking for, Mr. Marlott.

I'm listening.

I was 17 and... in love with my husband.

And with science, too. That much you know.

We were visited in Oxford by Percy's friend.

James Hogg.

And he... He introduced us to his mentor, William Chester, and his... pursuit.

(HUMMING AND WHIRRING)

(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)

Again.

'Wretches, we four!'

We thought we could conquer death, but we found that death had conquered us.

'William banished us to our rooms, but sleep didn't come easily. At dawn, we were roused by Mrs. Hogg's screams. A scalpel had been placed in James's hand. His wrists cut... expertly. A verdict of su1c1de was infinitely better than one of m*rder. For all of us.'

A young mind driven to distraction by dark science.

Why didn't you tell me this before? How could I be sure?

Either someone was tracing our steps or William Chester himself had returned to his... great obsession.

Creating life from death.

Like your Victor Frankenstein.

He truly thought such a thing was possible.

Still does, if my surmise is correct.

Today, I confronted him and he att*cked me.

Where was this? The hospital.

I called on him at Greenwich, but there was no answer.

Greenwich?

Their old family home, where we first knew one another.

Years ago.

Do you admit purchasing bodies from this woman? I admit nothing.

Liar! He knows me well. Let's try again.

We buy things from many people. I can't know them all.

Your masters will let you hang to protect themselves.

Even if I did buy from them, it don't make me responsible for how they come by them.

That's for the law to decide. Ugh.

I'll ask you again.

Did you or did you not buy corpses from that woman? It's possible!

Adults? Children?

Adults, maybe. Kids is rare, I told you.

How come your masters had so many? What makes you think they did?

Sir William said eight children made up that composite, all dead within a fortnight of each other.

Well, you...?

You think that he created that thing?

If he did, it makes you an accessory. So save yourself.

Tell me everything you know. I've done so already.

I don't know what more I can say. Try this another way.

Does he ever require you to deliver bodies to Greenwich? Why Greenwich?

Because that poor creature floated to Bugsby's marshes from near Greenwich, the family home of Sir William Chester.

Sir William lives in Hampstead.

Garnet has the house in Greenwich, his cousin.

(CLOCK CHIMES)

What do you think you're doing? Taking her far away from you.

Where she'll be safe.

On whose authority?

The law's. And God's.

I am her doctor, damn you. You will leave her be.

Orderlies! Shall I tell them you drugged her and r*ped her?

Go ahead. No-one will believe you.

The picture of the little girl lost.

It was yours, wasn't it?

You gave it to her to tempt her from Billy.

There's no law against giving a girl a present. You've no proof.

There's proof that you knew Billy.

What other business did you do?

How many children did you purchase? This is outrageous!

Many, I'd wager. Some for pleasure, some for dissection.

Stop him.

It was him.

He's the one who tricked me.

It means nothing.

There's no law against what I did to her. Do you hear me?

Stop him.

Get out of my way. Move!

It's all right. It's all right now.

You're a dead man, do you hear me? Damn you!

You ned to get strong. I don't deserve to.

Why would you say that?

I k*lled my child.

I led Alice to her death.

I deserve to die.

All life is precious, Flora.

Yours, too.

If you've been brought back, well, there's a reason for it.

You've been given another chance.

Take it.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)

Stay here and guard her - with your life, if need be.

Where are you going? It's past midnight.

Garnet knows I'm on to him. I need proof of his guilt - fast.

What proof is there? Billy did business with Garnet.

The next link in the chain. I need Billy's confession.

It's my only chance. Then God help you.

I know Garnet bartered with you for Flora.

What other business did you do with him?

Did you sell Alice to him?

Who does this code of silence serve, Billy?

Only your masters, who'll gladly watch you hang to save themselves.

If you help me convict them, it'll go well for you with the court.

You may find your sentence commuted to transportation.

Billy don't peach, not for no-one.

Death holds no terrors for me.

You know Garnet cheated you of Flora's virginity?

That's right, Billy. She's not a virgin.

After you bilked him on the price, he drugged her, took her for free.

Laughing at you.

You lie!

It's the truth. She was with child and had it aborted.

The girl you were saving went to that bastard for nothing.

Now you're lying to save his skin.

How does that make you feel?

Transportation, you say?

"I, Billy Oates, this day of the 1st April 1827, do hereby confess that I provided numerous unwanted children from the streets of Smithfield to Garnet Chester of St Bartholomew's to do with as he wished with no concern for their safety or anything else, except my own profit."

Sign it, Billy.

What's going on?

Dawn raid, sir.

Where?

No idea.

Special order of the Home Secretary.

He's in there now.

Beale?

His man.

I am assured that Warburton will be there when you arrive.

Why are you still here? To get this.

A written confession describing the supply of children from the streets of Smithfield's to the surgeons at St Bartholomew's.

You were removed from this case yesterday.

And today I have this.

I suggest you take a copy to Sir Robert immediately.

Unless you want me to take this to our friend at the Chronicle.

You have your instructions.

(DOOR SLAMS)

You've been very busy, Mr. Marlott.

My initial surmise was right, sir.

That corpse child I found was not an act of political sabotage, as you assumed, but the work of a mad man.

Garnet Chester.

And those murderers you found in the East End?

The Bishops are murderers, sir, but not the ones we're looking for.

They deny k*lling children and I believe them.

This is the man who provided them, Billy Oates.

He sold them to Garnet Chester, who stitched them together.

I'd like your permission to arrest him, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Marlott, you have done quite enough.

I'll take care of this.

Personally.

What about Sir William?

This doesn't touch him.

His hospital, his cousin.

No man is his brother's keeper or his cousin's.

I imagine he'll be every bit as shocked by this as I am.

Go and rest now. You've earned it.

And when you wake, we'll talk about YOUR future.

(BLOWS WHISTLE)

(SCREAMS)

Stay where you are!

Get your hands off me, you brute!

I'm sorry, ladies. Change of venue.

Woman: Richard! Richard! Do something!

Man: Please don't tell my wife.

Get up the bloody stairs.

Get up. Go on!

This has all been a terrible misunderstanding.

I believe you're acquainted with this young man, Bentley.

What scandalous business is this?

Scandal is the last thing any of us want, Bentley.

Please.

What's this? It's a calendar.

How can you tell?

12 pictures, 12 months.

And it can tell you the seasons. Look.

Green leaves, red leaves.

Leaves falling and leaves gone.

Simple.

(SOUND DISTORTS)

(WOMAN HUMS SWEETLY)

(MACHINERY CLUNKS AND SQUEAKS)

(HUMMING CONTINUES)

Agh! Sir.

You'd best come quick, sir.

Sir William found him like this this morning.

su1c1de.

As clear an admission of guilt as any confession.

Mary: 'A scalpel had been placed in James's hand, his wrists cut... expertly.'

Thank you for coming so quickly.

Of course.

We don't have long.

su1c1de.

That's what I need YOU to determine.

What do you think?

It was m*rder.

If he'd d*ed from blood loss, there would have been less of it, much less.

I think he was k*lled another way.

The wrists were cut afterwards to make it look like su1c1de. But why?

Garnet m*rder*d, disguised as su1c1de.

Makes him look like the guilty one.

Just what is it you think they've been up to?

You read that story in the paper, the body stitched together from different corpses.

Galvanism?

Well, it will play into our hands all the same.

Jemima tells me we're on the eve of victory.

An emergency vote on the Anatomy Act tomorrow.

That means my work can go on. You still have to answer for Flora.

It's a criminal act to rob an unborn child of life, my lord.

At the very least, your practice will be closed, you yourself subject to prosecution.

Is that what you want?

I want to know how you justify it.

I believe her existence would have been blighted by the birth of that child, as did she.

She would have d*ed homeless and starving.

A vagrant or a prost*tute, along with her unloved offspring.

You call that life?

I call it suffering.

Does Lady Harvey know?

There is much about my work that I keep from her.

Though she would do everything to support you in it.

That is true.

Her heart is filled with love for me.

This, however, will surely break it.

I would not be held responsible for that.

You'll forbear from telling her?

For the while.

If your God exists, I believe he will cherish you for it.

'Your treatment didn't work. Too late in this case. And in mine? Maybe not, though you might want to act quickly, Mr. Marlott.'

Honourable members! Honourable members!

Let us bring this emergency meeting to order!

The motion before us is that this House would forbear the passing of any Act which would license the surgeons with greater power.

Pray silence for the honourable member, Sir Henry Warburton, proposing.

Hear hear!

Mr. Speaker.

Honourable members.

After much consideration... and in the light of recent developments... I regret to inform the House... I am withdrawing this motion.

(UPROAR)

Order!

Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the events of the last week have shocked us all.

Firstly, the discovery of a g*ng of bodysnatchers rumoured to have been engaged in the business of procuring corpses by acts of m*rder.

Secondly, the emergence in the press of a story of dubious origin implicating the surgeons in a grotesque act of defilement lifted straight from the pages of popular fiction.

And, most recently, the su1c1de of Mr. Garnet Chester, surgeon of St Bartholomew's, in what appears to be a gesture of despair after being uncovered as the source and culprit of one or more of these terrible crimes.

Never has the need for reform in the realm of public medicine been more pressing.

Hear, hear!

I therefore commend Sir Bentley's historical rejection of partisan interests in the name of the common good. Hear, hear!

I would also like to commend the fearless work and daring of Mr. John Marlott of Bow Street.

(MURMURS AND APPLAUSE)

Mr. John Marlott of Bow Street, whom I will be recommending as advisor to my special committee on the formation of the new Metropolitan Police.

Hear, hear. (APPLAUSE)

In light of these tragic events, it is our conviction that no further delay should be brooked in the passage of the Anatomy Act.

Let us, once and for all, banish this trade in bodies!

Let reason and regulation banish fear and scandal from our streets and hospitals.

To which end, I propose an immediate vote on the Anatomy Act as an alternative motion for this House today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The motion before the house is the immediate passage of the Anatomy Act.

(CLOCK CHIMING)

(DOORBELL RINGS)

John Marlott for Lord and Lady Harvey.

My lord and lady are not in residence.

(DOOR OPENS)

Lord Harvey: Come along, my dear...

Your office.

Sir Robert would like your proposal at the end of the week.


Sir Robert: 'This city, Mr. Marlott, dragged kicking and screaming, like a raucous infant, towards a better future. Do well by me and you'll be assured a part in it.'

Woman sings: ♪ ..sat him round with dismal stories ♪
♪ Do but themselves confound His strength the more is ♪
♪ No lion can him fright ♪
♪ No foe shall stay his might ♪
♪ He who with a giant fight shall be a pilgrim. ♪

(CLEARS THROAT)

Sir... I would like it if Flora... Flora and I... would like it if she would move in with me.

As your maid?

No, sir.

We wish to be married.

We're both of us without family, and... we feel that we belong together.

We'd very much like your blessing, sir.

Well, you have it!

(CHUCKLES) Thank you, sir.

But properly, with church and marriage bans.

Until then, she stays here. You agree?

Thank you, sir.

I'd like to buy us all a drink!

You two go. I can't.

It's a big occasion, sir. We'd appreciate it.

I have work to do. Tonight?

Come on now, sir. You can put your work off for once.

I can't. In fact, I have to leave now.

Where to at this time, sir? Greenwich.

Why Greenwich? Garnet Chester's house.

I missed something last time.

But the case is closed. He was guilty.

What are you looking for?

Alice.

Proof she was there.

What makes you think you missed it last time?

Either that creature was made there or it was kept there.

It found its way to the river by accident through a sluice or sewer.

A cellar, perhaps? Probably.

I'm coming with you.

No sluice. No sewer.

Nothing.

(SEAGULLS CRY)

Perhaps you were wrong, it came into the water from somewhere else.

I measured the tides. It came from here, Greenwich.

I'm sure of it. Then someone disposed of it.

Why risk it being discovered? I don't believe they did.

Sir, look at the distance from here to the river.

Do you really think it fell out of a cart and rolled down there?

By accident! It did get there by accident.

But not that way. I don't follow, sir.

It moved, Nightingale.

Sir William and Garnet were working together to resurrect the dead.

And they succeeded.

It crawled there.

I know who can help me prove it.

Dover stage? Yes, sir.

You're leaving London?

I asked you a question, Mrs. Shelley.

Leaving England, not that it's your affair.

You have unfinished business here. Go inside.

Do as I say, please. I've told you everything I know.

Sir William Chester walks free, a m*rder*r twice over.

Twice?

His cousin, Garnet, k*lled and made to look like su1c1de, just like Hogg.

What do you expect me to do? Tell the world what you told me.

Sir William Chester has returned to galvanism.

He thinks he can conquer death. He'll sacrifice anyone.

His madness is no longer my concern.

You have a duty to say what you know.

Let the dead bury the dead.

What if they won't stay buried? What do you mean?

Where you once failed, he now succeeds.

The dead live, Mrs. Shelley.

I don't believe you.

You must.

This nightmare is your creation.

It's not mine any more. It's yours.

Giddy-up!

(WHIP CRACKS)