01x01 - The Ripper

[bunniefuu]

If by chance you happened
to be in the Windy City...

between May
and June of this year,

you would have had very
good reason to be terrified.

During this period, Chicago
was being stalked...

by a horror so frightening,
so fascinating,

that it ranks with the
great mysteries of all times.

It's been the fictional subject of
novels, plays, films, even an opera.

Now, here are the true facts.

May .: a.m.

Across the state line at Werner's
Boom-Boom Room in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,

Michele Shifman, a dancer...
whatever... had just done her last number.

I mean, really her last number.

Hey! Grab that guy!

May .: p.m.

Three days later.
Milwaukee again.

Debbie Fielder:
, feet , weight .

Hobbies: breaking horses
and collecting bone china.

Debbie wanted to be successful.
She should have settled for being alive.

May .: a.m.
Tony Vincenzo and I...

were debating my coverage of the
robbery at First County Bank and Trust...

where thieves had escaped
with over $,.

For reasons I have never
been able to understand,

Vincenzo has always confused
my reporter's clever ingenuity...

with what he calls
high-handed lunacy.

I did not state
that I was a police officer.

No, but you acted like
the police commissioner.

- Well-Well... - You
commandeered a private automobile.

- You had six people under arrest.
- They were interfering.

Because of them, I missed one
of the biggest stories of the year,

so I-I placed them
under citizen's arrest.

- That's my right.
- I have a few rights too.

And I plan on
exercising one right now.

Well, let me...

- Now, I...
- Last night...

Last night, in one brief
moment of total madness,

you managed to tear
asunder the many ties...

that this news service has
built up over a period of years...

with the police department
and Captain Warren,

who hates you by the way...
A lot.

Okay.
What's the bottom line?

The bottom line.
Carl,

Miss Emily went on vacation
this morning.

Good morning, Miss Emily.

Go play with your pimples.

- How's it goin'?
- Have you read these?

- Have you ever read any of these letters?
- Sure, I have.

"Dear Emily. When a person
has been doing...

something rather personal
with another person,

"and she finds out the same thing
has been going on with other persons,

"many of whom are
personal friends or related,

what is a person to do?"

Sure, you get a few screwballs.

- But, by and large, they're mostly sincere people.
- Mmm.

They're just bewildered,
confused. That's all.

Now, Carl, all they want are
some simple, honest answers...

Homespun, grassroots.

Homespun, grassroots, huh?
You mean, don't go for a Pulitzer.

- Right.
- Right.

Now, answer every letter
with a return envelope.

Look, this is only for a week,
Carl, until Emily gets back.

Sure.

"Dear Emily: The three
dumbest things in the world...

are you, your column
and your paper.

"I am overwhelmed by
the accumulated dumbness.

P.S. Do you know of a cure
for acne? A friend of mine has it."

Hang in there.

Miss Emily.

- Let it all hang out, "Uptight."
- Updyke!

- Certainly.
- Oh!

"Dear Emily,
Since I last wrote you,

"the man across from me at the
south end of Wilton Park has come back.

"He is up to his old tricks, prowling
around nights in that foolish costume,

"looking right through me
with his x-ray eyes.

Can he k*ll me with his eyes, or
will they only make me sterile?"

- Kolchak! Where do you think you're going?
- I'm goin' out!

I can't stand it. I'm goin' to
see what's around the Loop.

What's happening around here is the "Miss
Emily" column, not anything on the Loop.

Kolchak! Come back here!

May . Laramie Street.
: a.m. Chicago.

Miss Laura Maresco:
age , a masseuse.

She was fond of stuffed animals
and had been given one as a gift...

by an exceptionally
satisfied customer.

She was anxious to get home
and find a place for it in her bedroom.

Code . All cars respond.

Homicide suspect on building at
intersection of Laramie and Pulaski.

Detain all matching description.

Code . Code .

All cars respond.

Hey! Where do you think you're
goin'? You can't drive over the sidewalk!

Get more light on that rooftop!

Where's Bolton? We need
a marksman with a scope!

Unit ! Unit !
Cover the back alley!

- Grab him! Grab him!
- Get his legs!

Get a rope! Get a rope!
Watch that arm!

- Get him by the legs!
- Give it to me!

May .: a.m.

They had the Ripper trapped,
treed and cornered, but he got away.

And later, no one could
agree on what they saw.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah?

Well? Nothin'.

Nothin'.
It's just-just sheer mud.

What'd I do wrong?

That pocket strobe light you
got won't reach over feet,

so you just got
a lot of headlights.

Some nice sh*ts
of the back of his head.

Yeah, well, send me up the
prints when they're dry, will you?

- You want these?
- Would I ask?

Anything you say.

Carl?

I think you've missed
the tone of "Dear Emily."

These answers are a
little terse, almost cynical.

Like this one, for instance. "Dear
Exhausted, You have an x-rated boyfriend.

Tell him to clean up his act or
get booked in another house."

Come on.
That's just not Emily.

What do you think you're doing?

"Late last night, the brutal
m*rder of Laura Maresco, "...

That's not your assignment.
That's somebody else's assignment.

You are Miss Emily.
Miss Emily, remember?

- Who'd you assign it to?
- Updyke.

- You didn't! You wouldn't!
- Yes, I did, and it's his assignment.

You could learn an awful lot
from Ron Updyke.

- He was financial editor for five years.
- Financial adviser, huh?

Yeah. Mortgages, interest
rates, soybean futures.

What has that got to do with the news?

It was horrible.
Horrible.

Have you got any background
on the m*rder*d girl, Ron?

She's dead.
Throat cut.

Her head was nearly severed
from her body.

Did you get that
from the coroner's report?

I got it from a reporter
from the Herald.

He actually saw the body.

Hesaw the body.

Well, what did you do, Ron?

Well, I went to where
she was... m*rder*d.

- It was...
- Horrible?

Exactly. May I go home?

- Go home, Ron.
- Thank you.

Yeah.

Horrible.

And that's about all we have in
the way of positive information...

on the homicide at this time.

In the meantime, a description
of the suspect is being circulated,

and we expect to have
more information in hours.

- Uh. Question. Question.
- Good day, gentlemen.

- Question. Question.
- Take your hat off.

Can you explain
how the suspect jumped...

from the top of a four-story
building and survived?

There are a number of
possible explanations.

The fall might have been
broken by something.

He might have dropped
from a lower floor, fire escape.

Might have, but didn't. I
know. I was there. I saw it.

I also saw him make scrap
metal out of one of your patrol cars.

Don't you worry
about our patrol cars.

As I think Mr. Vincenzo explained to
you, you're not the police commissioner.

I've given you all I have on the
subject. Thank you, gentlemen.

I'm no gentleman. What about
the letter? When can I publish it?

When it comes out of analysis,
you'll be the first to know.

- What letter?
- A letter from the Ripper.

If it's from the Ripper,
how come you've got it?

Because it's evidence,
Mr. Kolchak. Evidence.

Well, if it's from the Ripper, it's
also news, Mr. Warren. News.

Captain Warren.
Take your hat off.

What-What makes it
so special, Captain?

I mean, every newspaper in town's been
getting Ripper letters from these kooks.

This may shock you,
Mr. Kolchak,

but we withheld from
the press certain things...

the Ripper did to
Miss Laura Maresco's body.

Now, the letter
that Miss Plumm received...

describes in detail
what those things were.

- Do you grasp the implication?
- Well...

Now, Miss Plumm's newspaper
has agreed to withhold the letter...

in the interest
of responsible journalism.

May I ask the same
consideration from you all?

Jane Plumm is fat.

She talks a lot about
water retention, big bones,

but I have to believe the
six or eight meals a day...

with snacks in-between to keep
up her strength has a lot to do with it.

And Plumm is a reporter however.

We have mutual respect,
mutual trust.

I don't trust you, Kolchak.

You'd double-cross your own
fairy godmother for a story.

Why, Jane, how can you
say a thing like that?

Now, you know me
better than that.

Tell me. Tell me,
what was in the letter?

What have you got to trade?

How about a sack
of "Dear Emily" letters...

sodden with the tears
of humanity?

Great reference material.
Four novels in it at the very least.

I'll have a tongue
sandwich... triple-decker...

A side of fries, macaroni salad,

a root beer float... two scoops...

And a piece of pecan pie.

Chili.

My editor wants me to come up with
a series of features on the murders,

but I can't come up
with an angle.

You know the sort of junk
we print... lurid, sensational.

- Got any ideas?
- Yeah. Lots of 'em.

- Well?
- Well?

Okay.

Besides what Warren said, the
letter also had a P.S... a rhyme.

"And now a pretty girl will die
so Jack can have his kidney pie."

- I don't get it.
- The m*rder*r cut out her kidneys.

Just like the original Ripper.

There have been a lot of these
mutilation murders all over the world.

- It's a contagious psychosis.
- Oh, Jane.

That's my theory, and I've checked
it out with a few psychiatrists.

There's a definite pattern
to the killings.

- They seem to come in bunches.
- Hookers?

Mostly. Some semipros.

There was an Italian who
specialized in flower girls.

- Mm-hmm.
- Dismembered five of them.

Okay. I got a great headline
for you.

"Cannibalism!"

Cannibalism.

- Oh! I love it.
- Mm-hmm.

Thanks, Kolchak.

May .: p.m.
The Loop.

Chicago's answer to Times Square.
Miles of neon, crowds, excitement...

and the usual
big-city tourist traps.

And that night,
a very unusual tourist.

You can have the hot oil rub with
or without the vibrator and sauna.

There's also the regular
massage with talcum.

If you'll wait in the room
on the right,

I'll be right with you.

Cheryl? Watch the desk.
I got a customer.

He's weird.
He's weird.

Press.

Ron Updyke.
Independent News Service.

- How tall was he?
- Press. Pardon me.

Press.

Can you describe
what the man was wearing?

Press.

Hmm.

Oh! Excuse me.

Oh. Oh.

Where's the men's room?

Where do you think you're goin'?

Carl Kolchak, I.N.S.
Remember?

- You got a man there already.
- No, no. That's a mistake.

- No. He handles want ads.
- I got orders.

- Look. Captain Warren and I may have
had our little... - Move along. Move along.

It-It says...

- All right, all right,
all right!

Hey, wh-what happened?

I was doin' about . A
man runs out into the street.

- I hit him.
- In a cape yet.

Where is he?

- Tell him.
- He walked away.

- Walked away?
- You're right. Nobody'd believe it.

Yeah, you're right.
Nobody would believe it.

Carl. Your friend Jane...
Jane Plumm.

- Yeah?
- That's a feature lead?

"The Ripper Murders:
A Psychopathic Cannibal?"

Hey, that's very good. She
was looking for a good angle.

It's a shame that Updyke... or Uptight...
couldn't come up with as good a story.

She offered to meet the Ripper and
guarantee his safety, on his terms.

No kidding?

Well, if I were him, I'd meet
her anyplace but a restaurant.

What are you reading?
What are you reading there?

Nothing. It's just...
It's a... It's a, uh...

"Ripper Murderers
Throughout the Ages."

"While most Ripper murderers...

"were insanely courageous
at their execution,

New York Ripper Eugene Lang
went into a frenzy and escaped."

How many times do I have to tell
you, Kolchak? This is not your story.

Why do you behave
like a four-year-old?

- I know it's not my story.
- Then what are you doing with this rot?

- Helping Updyke.
- He doesn't need any help. He's not helpless.

No. I-I'm doing research
for him.

Let him do his own research.

- He can't. He's a "bibliophiliac."
- Huh?

He's, uh, persona non grata
down at the library.

- He's what?
- Yeah. Yeah.

You see, he takes books out.

He's got half the books in the
library out, and they're all overdue.

As a matter of fact, they've
got a warrant out for his arrest.

Well, that's not like Ron.

Oh, I know, I know. I was terribly
disturbed about it when I heard.

I don't know. It must be some
kind of a deep-seated illness,

a compulsion of sorts, I guess.

Bibliophiliac.

- Biblio...
- Yeah.

Well, whatever Updyke is suffering
from, what about the "Miss Emily" letters?

- They're all taken care of.
- Are they?

Oh, sure. Yeah. That's the only
reason that I had time to help Ron.

You see, Tony, what I've been
trying to do here in the office...

is establish a kind of an atmosphere
of friendly relationships... a rapport.

Lord knows,
life is hard enough...

without all of that
quibbling and nasty arguing.

Well, I know mine certainly is.

- Mmm.
- Well, I'm glad to hear it.

- Anything you can do to further
that end... - I'm glad you understand.

- Where are you going?
- Uh, furthering that end.

I'm going down to the, uh,
periodicals room of the main library...

to look up a few articles
for, uh, Ron.

I'll, uh... I'll see you around.

You think you get screwball
letters in the Dear Emilys?

I am personally interviewing
guys who claim to be the Ripper.

I'm up to number .

You are being very foolish,
Jane. You are being dumb, Plumm.

It's worth it.
I get a feature byline,

and I get to meet
some interesting guys.

- Yeah?
- Weird, but interesting.

That rag of yours... how can
they let you take chances like this?

You're liable
to get yourself k*lled.

Ah, you sweetheart.

- You're worried about me.
- Yeah, I'm worried about you.

Don't be.

What are you gonna do, k*ll him with jelly beans?

This would stop a
love-crazed moose in his tracks,

so it should be enough
to stop Jack.

Put that thing away, will you?

There's no chance. All these
guys operate exactly the same way...

Almost as if they were
the same man.

That'd make him older than
your suit, and that is saying a lot.

- I'm serious.
- That'd make him over years old.

- Right.
- Wrong. It's a simple contagious psychosis.

- Have I told you about my theory?
- Yeah. Yeah, Jane.

Yeah, you've told me all about
your theory. Now you listen to mine.

Now, they-they caught
a Ripper in Germany...

One of many...
And they tried to hang him.

They had a little trouble
with the rope.

However... Here, let me
show you some pictures.

Here. I got... Here.

- See? See? Right there.
- What? Where?

On his throat. Right there. Can't
you see it? Look. Right there.

- It's a rope burn.
- Could be a rope burn.

- Yeah.
- Could also be a carbuncle.

Okay.

Each one of these Rippers has
k*lled five women. Correct? Hmm?

Even you yourself said...

that your Italian "flower
girl" Ripper k*lled five, hmm?

- So?
- So our Chicago Ripper has got two victims left.

If his pattern follows, he's
gonna get both of them tonight.

Not before I get my story. I'm interviewing
three potential Rippers tonight.

And besides, he's not gonna
k*ll anybody. He promised.

Oh, he promised. Oh, that's
great. That's... That's just great.

No, it's true.
He sent me another poem...

Same thing that was written
on the massage parlor mirror.

"Jack is resting, be reborn, to
finish up on Wednesday morn."

Jane, listen to me.
Don't get involved in this.

Now, he wrote
the same thing in London,

and then he struck the night
before in exactly the same place.

Yeah, Kolchak, but that was
the real Jack the Ripper.

Well, uh... Uh...

Excuse me. I, uh...
I'll take, uh...

Uh, yeah, number seven.

- Do you have that?
- Yeah, it's my lucky number.

This way, please.

- Are you a tennis player?
- Uh, what? No. No, why?

Because your shoes are so funny.

- I run a lot.
- Ah, I see.

Uh... Miss, uh...

- Wh-Wh-What's your name? Susan? Susan.
- Susan.

Listen, Susan, I didn't... I didn't
really come here for a massage.

- You didn't?
- No.

See, I think something is
gonna happen here tonight.

It could happen
right here in this room.

And you wanna be here
with your camera recorder.

That's right. Now, if there's
some place that I could wait.

Hide.
I wouldn't disturb anybody.

- Where you could watch.
- That's right.

- Oh, no, no. Don't get...
- Don't get the wrong idea.

Please.
My name is Carl Kolchak.

- Hello, Carl.
- Hi, Susan.

I'm Officer Cortazzo,
and you're under arrest.

- Phil!
- What?

Shame on you, Kolchak.

Now, wait.

Lewd proposal. He wanted
to watch me with someone.

Wait a minute. Phil,
come on. You know me.

I always thought
you were straight, Kolchak.

Well, I am str... I am straight.

- Huh. These are his too, Phil.
- Look...

- Is Warren gonna love this.
- Wait. Phil, now, wait a minute.

Would I be caught dead in a place like
this if I weren't here under assignment?

Now... Look-Look...
Now, wait a minute.

This is all a mistake. Will
you let me put my shoes on?

Please. Will you please let me...
There's glass all over the joint here!

Look-Look... Wait.
Where-Where's Phil? Where's Phil?

Phil knows I'm innocent.
I don't like to watch girls.

- You don't like to watch girls?
- No, I don't... No, and I'm not that way either.

- Wait a minute. Wait.
- Get 'im outta here.

Now, wait! Listen, fellas. Can I tell
you something? This is all a mistake.

June .: a.m.

Warren's plan was to get me out of
the way, and it seemed to be working.

I lucked out,
and five minutes later...

I was back in the middle
of the action,

just in time to watch
Chicago's elite TAC squad...

trying to pin down one
man... without any success.

There he is up there.

Look out! Look out!
He's comin' down!

- Look out!
- Watch out! Watch out!

Watch out! Stay away
from the hot fence!

I hope you found our
accommodations to your liking.

- Terrific.
- Thank you for your patience, Captain.

- My film. You exposed my film.
- We open all containers.

- I had pictures of the Ripper.
- You can take some more at his arraignment.

Arraignment? Do you think
this is a run-of-the-mill kook...

you can go out and arrest?

- Yes, I do.
- You do. Well, you're wrong.

You can't, you won't,
and you'll never be able to.

Oh, boy.
- No, no. Wait a minute, Tony.

This guy just doesn't thinkhe's
the Ripper. He isthe Ripper.

Have you ever heard
of Jack the Ripper?

Let me see if I understand you.
Are you saying that our Ripper...

is the same man who k*lled those
seven women in London in the s?

to be precise. And it
was five... always five women.

He k*lled five women in and
around the Place Pigalle in Paris...

in the summer of .

Yeah. As a matter of fact,

he has k*lled, mutilated and maimed
over women during the past years...

in major cities from
Vladivostok to Milwaukee.

I'd better
tell Doc Harris to stand by.

I think we got a nut
that needs certifying.

For once be a cop
instead of an ostrich!

They tried to hang him in
Germany, and they couldn't.

On August , in ,

a cr*ck-sh*t, -man
Athenian f*ring squad...

tried three times to
execute him and couldn't.

Okay.

Okay, let's just take
Chicago, for example, right?

Now, he has k*lled three women.

He has jumped off of a
four-story building and survived.

He has been hit by an
automobile going miles an hour.

And he has taken on
your cr*ck TAC squad...

in a tooth-and-nail
confrontation.

Now, do you mean to tell me
you're just gonna sit there...

and tell me that this is just an
ordinary guy you can go out and arrest?

I can safely say that, Kolchak.

Well, then you're sitting
on your brains!

Your superman is upstairs
on the maximum-security floor.

I wanna see that prisoner.

Kolchak,
he's in maximum security.

You know what maximum security
means? Nobody goes in. Nobody goes out.

That prisoner... he just broke
out of maximum security!

Uh-huh! Huh? Uh-huh! Sure.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.

Yeah. Yeah, operator,
I'm still holding.

Thanks. Jane's paper hasn't
heard from her since this morning.

- Talk to this guy when he gets on, will you?
- About what?

About the electric chair. Find
out when it first went into use.

You were a reporter.
Dig. Go on, dig.

- Oh, Bob? Captain Warren.
- You still here? You must like it.

Maybe you should spend
a night in the slammer.

It's a wild goose chase if
you try to sh**t that guy.

We did it once.
We can do it again.

You did it once, and he
smashed down a steel door.

- How'd he do that?
- He had an accomplice on the outside.

He had an accomplice on the
outside? What's happening?

Will you shut up a minute! Not
you. There's somebody else here.

I talked to one of the guys
on the TAC squad.

It's that fence... the electrified
fence. That's what stopped him.

- What'd you find out? What?
- .

Think. In , in New York
City, they caught a Ripper.

- I don't have time for this.
- No. You gotta... You better make time for it.

Because that's one thing
that he's got plenty of.

And if you don't stop him
now, he's gonna go on forever.

You're an absurd man, Kolchak.

Listen, it's electricity.
Don't you understand?

That's the only thing he was scared of in
New York City in . Do you know why?

Because he was scared of
the electric chair. That's why.

The rest of those guys went to
their deaths with smiles on their face.

Hello, Mrs. Plumm? This is
Carl Kolchak. Is Jane there?

Well, I'm worried about her too.
Where is she? You have any idea?

Uh-huh. Yeah. Belmont
Harbor. The fire department p...

Get-Get a piece of paper.
Excuse me. Not you, Mrs. Plumm.

Yeah. The fire department
pier on the Chicago River. Yeah.

And Wilton Park. Thank you very
much. Thank you, Mrs. Plumm. Bye.

- And Wilton Park.
- Wilton Park!

Kolchak? Kolchak!

You got change for a quarter?

Is that you, Jack?

What in the world
are you looking for?

Nothing.
I'm looking for nothing.

Mr. Vincenzo took them
away from you.

- Took what away?
- What you're looking for.

- What?
- The "Dear Emily" letters.

- What'd he do with them?
- I'm not gonna tell you.

- Uptight.
- Updyke.

If you think that you were
sickened by the m*rder of that girl,

just imagine... just think how sickened
you're gonna be at your own m*rder!

- Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me!
- What...

Oh. Mr. Vincenzo.

- The only elevator is out again.
- Yes, terrible.

Mr. Vincenzo,
it's almost :.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Maybe you've forgotten... my Ripper feature.

The one I put on your desk...
The one you said you'd read.

I read it, Updyke.
I read it.

If it's to go out over the wire for the morning
editions, it'll have to go out by :.

:. Yeah, yeah.
What? Oh, yeah, sure. :.

I thought I'd put it on the
Teletype as is. It has been proofed.

It's gonna need
more than proofing, Ron.

- Has Kolchak come back?
- Uh... I didn't tell him.

What do you think
you're doing, Carl?

What does it look like
I'm doing, playing jacks?

- It's on blue paper.
- What's on blue paper?

A "Dear Emily" letter, postmarked about the eighth.

- It's almost :. I have to send it.
- Go ahead, Ron.

The eighth? You mean
there are letters there...

that have gone unanswered
since the eighth?

- Sloppy. Sloppy.
- Ron, hold it. Wait a minute.

What about this letter?
What's so important about it.

A woman wrote a letter
to "Dear Emily"...

complaining about her
neighbor who had x-ray eyes.

She lives in Wilton Park.
Wilton Park!

Will you get off your
upholstered seat and help me!

Mr. Vincenzo,
what's wrong with my story?

It reads like an exposé
of the massage parlors, Ron.

That's my angle... what really
goes on inside a massage parlor.

The excessive sensuality,
the suggestive costumes.

- Blue. Blue!
- They have mirrors in the ceilings.

- No. As a matter of fact, they're antique gold.
- The paper. Blue paper.

- What about the murders?
- Frankly, there's not too much to say about them.

No one even cares to discuss
it, and I can certainly see why.

That's it! That's the one! Leave
everything just the way it is.

I'll come back and clean it up.

- What do you think about it?
- Weren't you on your way to the john, Updyke?

What do you want?

Miss Aganweiler?
My name's Carl Kolchak.

I'm with the Independent News Service.
I'm here about your "Miss Emily" letter.

- Uh, oh, yes. Go to the end of the walk.
- What?

- The end of the walk.
- The end of the walk?

Come on up.
I'm number four.

Turn right
at the top of the stairs.

Miss Aganweiler,
here's your letter.

- Show me some I.D.
- I.D.

Uh-huh. I.D.
Carl Kolchak. See?

- Okay.
- Okay.

Well, it's really more than
I expected from the paper.

- Yeah.
- I read that column all the time.

- Uh-huh?
- Over here.

Oh, yes. What a charming
apartment you have.

Yes. Is this all you do
for Miss Emily?

- Do?
- Well, you know, check on weirdos.

Well...

There's his house,
right over there.

- Old "X-ray eyes" himself.
- Uh-huh.

Never goes out in the daytime.

- Only goes out at night.
- Ah.

Yes, indeed.

- Was he out tonight?
- Yes, he-he was.

Uh,

:.

I've got him clocked
for the whole month.

Yeah, I see you have.
I see you have indeed.

- Mean anything?
- Yeah. Certain of these names and dates in here...

coincide with some rather...
unusual events.

Uh, what happened tonight?

Well, he met this girl, right
down below there in the park.

- What'd she look like?
- Fat.

- Fat?
- Sort of fat.

Thank you very much.

And here's the postscript.

When they drained that
pond, they found nothing...

Nothing but some old clothes.

For some reason, the
police suddenly decided...

they wanted those... and my head.

I don't know how Vincenzo
will handle the charges...

of arson and malicious
mischief...

lodged against me
by Captain Warren,

but that fire was
a big one... a six-alarmer.

A blast furnace couldn't
have done a better job.

Everything gone... the
house, my story, the evidence.

Like they say, ashes to ashes.

One thing survived
the inferno however.

There's enough of it left to
read the name of the maker.

Peele's Footwear,
London, Southwest .

They're still there, of course, but they
don't make this style shoe anymore.

It was discontinued
over years ago.

Seventy... years... ago.

How could you explain it?

Who could explain it?

Who'd believe it?