03x09 - Love and Human Remains

[bunniefuu]

Bring this around.

Bring it here, OK?

I want these hods on the back of that thing, OK? What's he up to?

You two, get in there.

Right? Come on.

Lamby!

We're already behind schedule, what do you think you're doing?

They look like gargoyles, sir.

The contortions of the bodies would suggest poisoning.

An astute hypothesis, detective.

Cyanide, perhaps? That would explain the clenched fists.

What about the colour of their skin?

Stained by the damp earth, I suspect.

Cyanide is often used in suicides.

Perhaps they k*lled themselves.

How did they then bury themselves, George?

Point taken, sir. So a m*rder, then?

Judging by the condition, I suspect they were k*lled within the last two weeks.

Not likely.

There was a shed built over those piles.

Could someone have cut the floorboards, then, to bury them?

No, Lamby and myself would have noticed a thing like that.

When was the shed demolished? We took up the floor this morning.

So the bodies were buried before the shed was built?

Any idea when that might have been?

About five years ago, as I recollect. Five years?

So they were lying there in the ground all of this time, perfectly preserved?

Five years in the ground and they've not decomposed? How's that possible?

They were buried in sphagnum moss, sir.

Moss? As in peat moss?

Yes, its acidic nature acts as a sort of preservative.

The watery, airless conditions prevent organic matter from decomposing.

I've never heard of such a thing.

Well, sir, there has been a recorded case just this year.

A young girl was found in a peat bog in the Netherlands, she was... I'll take your word for it.

So whoever built this shed did it to conceal the bodies?

That would be the owner of the factory, a James Kirkham.

I've asked George to find him and determine the nature of his business.

I did ask him to be quick.

Oh, good, because with a five year-old case, we wouldn't want the trail to go cold, would we?

Remarkable. I'm receiving telegrams from universities and museums, all but begging for information.

This is a very rare find. Did you know that earlier this year, the body of a mummified woman...

Was discovered in the Netherlands, preserved in a peat bog just like this.

Yes.

So, what have you learnt, doctor?

Well, they're a male and female, obviously, both approximately 40 years of age.

And how did you determine that?

Fine wrinkles where the skin has been folded on itself.

People go grey at different rates, but skin breakdown is fairly uniform.

Of particular interest, their internal organs are entirely intact, as are their stomach contents.

It looks like partially digested meat, potato and onion.

And cyanide, in both stomachs.

They were definitely poisoned.

Were they husband and wife, or brother and sister?

They are similar ages, and the fact they shared the same last meal would suggest they cohabited.

Yes, and there's this.

The dental apparatus I found in the woman's mouth.

Are these teeth human?

I'd guess goat or calf.

Clearly, the dentist they visited employed primitive techniques.

Or they could have been immigrants from Eastern Europe, perhaps?

Well, this is an excellent start.

Yes, well, I may have saved the best for last.

It's like it's staring at me, sir. Yes, quite realistic, isn't it?

How would one keep it from falling out?

I mean, imagine how embarrassing, at a lovely romantic dinner and...

Your glass eye falls into your soup.

Not this one, George. This one is very well made.

It would have been custom fitted to the man's eye socket.

There appears to be an identification mark of some sort.

Something to offer us some insight, sir?

George, there's a very attractive young lady to see you here.

Georgie! Penny! Oh, my!

Hello. Yes, thank you, that will be all, Higgins.

Georgie, how wonderful to see you. The trip was long and the rail car had a odour, but it went by quickly, and Toronto is bigger than I thought it would be.

You look so smart in your uniform!

Is that a glass eye?

I do believe it's staring at me.

Relative of yours, George?

Please allow me to introduce you to my cousin, Miss Penny Renton.

This is Detective Murdoch. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Renton.

Sir. If you don't mind, Georgie's always writing home about your brilliant ideas and how many experiments you do and how he's so much wishing he will be like you one day.

Penny tends to go on quite a bit, sir.

She came all the way from Belleville to attend secretarial school.

Well, in that case, I wish you all the success in the world.

Now, if you don't mind, I have a couple of things I need to discuss with Constable Crabtree.

Constable Crabtree! Of course.

Sir, about the letters, she tends to exaggerate.

It's quite all right, George.

Um, I looked into the factory and its owner and I think you'll be particularly interested in what they made there.

Very good. And please find out all you can about this glass eye - where it was manufactured, when and for whom.

Sir, I will look into it.

I'm nipping this in the bud.

As I already told your colleague, there'll be no photographs of the bodies released, nor any details of this case.

Yes, you can call back later if you wish.

But don't expect to hear anything differently. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Bloody reporters. That's the third one I've had sniffing around for your mummies, Murdoch.

Buried treasure, I understand, but buried bodies? What's this?

Information on James Kirkham, the factory owner who built the shed over the burial site.

It was an electroplating factory. Any significance in that?

An electrolyte used in both gold and silver electroplating is a cyanide solution.

Poison responsible for the deaths.

You think the bodies may have been factory workers?

Apparently Kirkham was very hard on his employees.

Check missing persons reports from the period. Already looking into it, sir.

He'd quite a violent streak, this fella.

Kirkham was arrested twice for harassment and three times for as*ault.

He does them in, up goes the shed and no-one's the wiser.

Am I really here to talk about a shed?

Two people were found buried underneath that shed.

You think I had something to do with it?

They d*ed of cyanide poisoning.

You used cyanide in your factory.

Yes, but I didn't feed it to anybody.

These people were m*rder*d, Mr Kirkham, and then buried beneath a shed you built.

Be that as it may, I didn't m*rder them.

You owed many people money, did you not? Still do.

Did any of them ever come to your factory to collect?

Afraid I can't answer that.

I beg your pardon?

I'm involved in several disputes of a civil nature.

My lawyer has forbidden me to discuss any details regarding my debt obligations.

Are you deliberately evading my inquiries, Mr Kirkham?

I'm doing no such thing. I'm free to talk at length about my shed.

Two people have been m*rder*d, and I believe you know something about it.

You will either tell me... Sir?

Excuse me. A word?

I'm in the middle of an interview, George. That's why I felt I had to interrupt you.

What do you mean? Sir, the glass eye found in our male body was made by an oculist named Brian Winston.

Winston stopped manufacturing glass eyes in 1850, almost 50 years ago.

What does that mean? 1850 is the last year our male victim could have been fitted with the eye.

If he was 18 at the time, which he would have had to have been to have been fitted with a custom glass eye, and 40 when he d*ed, 1872 is the last year he could have d*ed.

Before the electroplating factory was even built.

Which would exonerate Mr Kirkham.

And those bodies have remained perfectly preserved all this time? Yes, sir.

25 years, is this even worth pursuing, Murdoch?

The culprit's probably dead by now.

Age isn't amnesty, sir.

Two people have been m*rder*d. We owe it to the victims to find out the truth about their deaths.

If the k*ller is out there, I'll find him.

This map, dated 1888, clearly shows the Kirkham factory.

The X is where the bodies were found. That's right. This one, dated 1872...

The last year that we believe our mystery mummies could have been k*lled.

Right. It was mostly farmland back then, but there is a house approximately 20 yards from where the bodies were found.

When was the house torn down?
1880. Sir?

Any luck at City Records, Crabtree?

The land and the surrounding area was purchased from City Hall in 1852.

Whoever owned that house must know something about those bodies. Could well be our k*ller.

George, were you able to find out who purchased the house? His name is Horace Mooney.

On the old farm?

Yes. Well, I wish I knew how I could help you, detective, but I haven't lived there since I sold the place in...

1879. That's right.

The bodies have been there since at least 1872, Mr Mooney.

You were living there during that time, were you not? I was.

Then perhaps you can explain how two people came to be buried less than 20 yards from your door without you noticing?

That's a very good question, detective, and I wish I knew the answer.

I believe you do.

And whether you buried them or m*rder*d them as well...

m*rder? Detective, I didn't k*ll them, I didn't bury them.

I honestly wish there was something I could do to help you out.

Perhaps there is.

Do you recognise them, Mr Mooney?

How can they still be preserved like this?

They're mummified.

Do you recognise them?

No.

Someone who went missing, perhaps?

Neighbours, farm hands?

No.

So, complete strangers were buried on your property without your knowledge?

I suppose so.

If that's all?

Yes, Mr Mooney, that's all.

For now.

What do you make of his reaction to the bodies?

It's hard to say. He certainly seemed to study them with great interest.

Do you think he's their k*ller? I don't know, but I'm convinced he knows more than he's saying.

But how do I prove it after 25 years?

I think I might have something that will cheer you up.

At first I thought it was a birthmark or discolouration from having been in the ground for so long, but I realised...

It's a tattoo.

m*llitary, perhaps?

You're right, Julia, this has cheered me up.

Sir? Ah, Murdoch.

I've just received a telegram from the Times in London, they want to do a featured article on the mummies.

Word has spread to London, sir?

Can you believe it? Murdoch, I think these bodies are considerably more significant than we thought.

You don't say.

What have you got there?

Our male mummy had some kind of m*llitary tattoo on his arm. Can you identify it?

You're not going to believe this, sir, but the insignia is of the Caldwell Rangers, a Canadian regiment that last fought in the w*r of 1812.

1812?

Based on Dr Ogden's estimate of their ages and my assumption that he was at least 16 years old when he joined the regiment in 1812, the murders had to have occurred before 1836. That's 60 years ago.

Which puts Horace Mooney in the clear.

I was certain he knew something.

Toronto wasn't much of a city back then. Less than 10,000 people.

Would have been quiet and safe, not this sprawling, foul-smelling place we live in today.

This is what our m*rder site would have looked like back in 1836.

It's all fields west of Spadina, College Street didn't even exist.

What have you, George?

Sirs, the property was originally owned by a Samuel and Mary Blake.

They built the house there in 1815, farmed there until 1850 when the land was expropriated by the city.

For what? An insane asylum.

But then plans changed, the asylum was built on Queen Street and the land was auctioned in 1852...

To Horace Mooney.

Well, that clears things up somewhat.

One other thing, sirs, the Blakes had a child, a daughter.

Her married name's Rebecca Hastings. She's still alive and I have her address.

Hello!

Mrs Hastings?

Mrs Rebecca Hastings? Yes? How can I help you?

I'm Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary.

Oh, dear, has something happened?

Oh, goodness, no.

I didn't mean to alarm you. I just have some questions for you. Of course.

Are these your grandchildren? Great-grandchildren, actually.

Charlie Hastings. Detective William Murdoch.

Now, what can we do for you?

Excuse me, ma'am, do you teach at the secreta...

Pardon me!

Excuse me, ma'am, do you t...

Pardon me. Pardon.

Oh, of course. Pardon me, ma'am...

Yes, is there a problem, Constable?

Yes. Well, no. I'm here to meet my cousin, Penny Renton.

She began her first day of class here...

She absolutely did not. Classes begin tomorrow.

Are you quite certain, ma'am?

I dropped Penny here this morning.

She must have realised her mistake and left.

Yes, of course.

Good day, ma'am.

Lovely. Thank you, Mrs Hastings.

I was hoping to speak to you about your parents, Mr and Mrs Blake.

Goodness me, whatever for?

We recently found two well-preserved bodies buried on the property they once owned. That's disturbing news.

It appears the bodies were buried at a time when your parents still owned the property, around 1836.

I don't know how I can help you.

I'd left the farm by that time.

And how old were you then? 15.

15? That's rather young to be off on your own, isn't it?

Oh, I wasn't on my own.

Charlie left with me.

Mr Hastings? You lived at the home as well?

I was indentured. My parents couldn't afford to keep me, so they sent me to the Blake farm to work in exchange for food and lodgings.

And your parents must not have taken too kindly to you being courted by an indentured servant?

No, they did not. When we tell them we wanted to marry, they were very angry. So we left.

And did you keep in touch with your parents? Not very much.

My mother d*ed shortly after the sale of the property, my father followed a couple of years later.

So you have no idea who the people we found buried might be?

Not at all. I wonder, would you be willing to look at the bodies?

Perhaps it could trigger a memory, however small, that could help us identify them.

Well, if it will help.

SHE SHRIEKS Oh, those poor people!

They look frozen in time.

Do you recognise them?

I'm trying to think.

Well, I can't say that I've ever seen them before in my life.

Are you absolutely sure? Yes.

Thank you both for coming, it's most appreciated.

You don't need to pull on me, I can walk on my own!

I found her in Allan Gardens. What?!

I can't believe you sent the police. She was talking with a young man.

What?! I was merely asking for directions.

Penny Elizabeth Harriet Renton, what were you thinking? You could have been harmed. I...

I don't want to hear it. I went to your secretarial school to pick you up, only to find that your classes begin tomorrow.

I'm afraid that in all the excitement I mixed up the dates.

And you didn't come back to the station because...?

I was embarrassed. My first day in the big city and I get it all wrong.

Georgie, please don't be mad at me.

Constable.

Are you hungry?

I've got some bread and some cheese.

I'll get you something warmer in a little bit.

Sir?

I found something I believe you will find intriguing. Yes, George?

Well, I looked into the Caldwell Rangers and I found an officers list.

That fellow who used to own the property, Samuel Blake, is on it. Really?

Sir, it would be my guess that the buried bodies are those of Samuel and Mary Blake. Very good, George.

Which means we have identified our mummies - Rebecca Hastings' parents.

Yes, but it also means Charlie and Rebecca Hastings lied to me.

The bodies you saw in the morgue were those of your parents, Mrs Hastings.

There's no way you couldn't have known that. They looked so different, and it's been such a long time.

I simply didn't recognise them.

You told me your parents d*ed after the sale of the property. That was in 1850.

You lied to me. Why?

Did you m*rder them? m*rder?!

No! Charlie?

Rebecca, we need to tell him the truth.

You were right, we didn't leave the farm. It was my parents who left.

At least, that's what we thought until you showed us their bodies.

When did they leave?

Round 1836.

They just disappeared.

We never saw them again.

And you never went to the authorities?

What authorities?

There were no police then the way there are now.

At least none that you could trust, at any rate.

We knew something must have happened to them, but we never had any idea what.

We impersonated my parents by forging their signatures on the sales documents.

And we always feared this day would come.

Are you going to arrest us?

Not for forgery, no.

But I am conducting a m*rder investigation.

Oh, sir?

According to the House of Industry Records, Charlie Hastings was not the only indentured child living at the Blakes' when they disappeared. There were three other children.

Really? Still living?

All of them, sir, including one Horace Mooney.

Find them and bring them in for questioning.

Sir.

Sir?

Sir?

Sorry to disturb you, sir, but you have a telephone call.

Another reporter? This one's from the New York Times, sir.

New York Times?

Put it through. Right away.

Pardon me. Excuse me, I received a note at the university that I should come down here at once.

My name is Michael Webster. No?!

Excuse me, ma'am?

Why, it is you!

You little turkey!

No-one has called me that... Alice?!

I really don't know what more I can tell you people, constable.

We just have a few more questions, Mr Mooney.

Horace! It's Michael, and Alice.

My goodness!

Horace! It's a strange place for a reunion, but I'll take it!

Now, what in the world did they drag us all down here for?

Mr Mooney, you say that you didn't recognise the bodies of Samuel and Mary Blake, yet you lived with them.

I didn't recognise them.

The last time I laid eyes on them, I was five years old.

And then they left. Did you not wonder where they went?

To be honest, not really. I was glad.

They were horrible.

They just upped and left, as I recall.

And you never heard from them again, Miss Nugent?

No. And I didn't care one whit.

That was a... That was a cold thing to say.

They were, for all intents and purposes, your parents.

My parents d*ed when I was 10, the Blakes were my keepers.

You felt bitter about working for food and board?

I was bitter about 18 hours of farm work a day, and the beatings to top it off.

Beatings?

They were mean, those Blakes. Never a smile or a kind word from them.

Yet years later, you bought the house.

Why would you do that if there were such terrible memories?

Because after the Blakes disappeared there were nothing but good memories.

Rebecca and Charlie became like a mother and father to us. We were family.

Can you tell me anything about the last time you saw the Blakes?

My last memory is hearing old man Blake take his belt to Alice's backside.

I didn't deserve it. He stubbed his toe on a chair and accused me of pulling it to the hutch to steal candy from the top shelf, but I didn't.

The next morning, they were gone.

Who do you think k*lled them?

I've no idea.

I'm sorry, detective, I can't help you with that.

Don't know, don't care.

We were just happy they were gone.

So all their stories match.

They have remarkable memories for old people.

Except about what happened to the Blakes.

They could be telling the truth, sir.

The Blakes could have enemies that their children didn't know about. I don't think so.

I think Alice, Horace and Michael are lying to protect the Hastings.

Or they all did the mean bastards in to protect each other.

I don't know what's worse, these sweet old people k*lling the Blakes, or to think of them as young children, doing the same.

Either way, I think we are finally getting closer to finding out what happened in that house and who was involved.

Off you go, now, ladies. No loitering. All of you, let's go.

Good evening!

Hello again, ma'am.

Constable, you must be here to meet Miss Renton.

I am. I have the correct day today, I hope.

Yes, congratulations, constable. However, you do not have the correct time.

Ma'am, if classes end at 4.30, I'm nearly a full hour early.

Class is over at 3.30, something you might have checked first.

I'm certain Penny told me 4.30.

Constable, young girls do not have the capacity to focus.

Their minds wander aimlessly unless given proper instruction.

Yes, ma'am. Something I fear you are not doing.

Ma'am, she's usually a very responsible girl.

You must be responsible for her.

You are her guardian, are you not?

I am, ma'am.

I'll look for her straight away. Thank you.

Constable, Miss Renton went in that direction.

Thank you again, ma'am. You're too kind.

GIGGLING FROM NEXT ROOM Oh, I don't think so!

Penny, what in God's name is going on here?!

George! Oh, my gosh! You get your hands off her!

George, you don't understand!

Oh, I understand! This randy scoundrel is trying to take advantage of an innocent young girl!

I'm 16! Sir, I was only... Oh, yes, I know what you were only, you goat!

I should have you penned up in the rams' pasture!

What are you doing? This...whatever his name is is under arrest.

For what? Public indecency.

We're indoors. The curtains are see-through.

What has that to do with anything?

Well, it means that any member of the public could witness this indecency.

Now get a move on. George Crabtree, you let him go!

Penny, I'm doing this for your own good.

Clarence is my true love!

Don't be ridiculous! You arrived two days ago, you have only just met.

I've known him six months.

You came here to be with a boy? The school was just a ruse?

It was not, I came to do both. Oh! Penny, calm down. You know your cousin has every right to be upset.

Thank you. Er, you're not allowed to speak! No more speaking from you!

George, is everything all right?

Sir, forgive me for the disturbance, I was just making an arrest.

Sir, a man just phoned from the demolition site, it seems another body's been discovered there. What?!

As if two adults aren't bad enough, someone dumps a child like a piece of rubbish.

Something's different here, sir.

I don't believe this body was dumped.

The child is dressed in baptismal gowns and wrapped in blankets.

It was buried with love. If there's love in that grave, I don't see it.

Perhaps the Blakes had a second child.

That's unlikely.

Mary Blake had undergone a hysterectomy due to postpartum haemorrhaging after Rebecca's birth.

It's no coincidence that the body was buried just a few yards away from the Blakes.

So whose baby is it?

I believe I know.

That's enough.

This was your child, then?

We named him Martin.

He was just six months old when he...

He d*ed of congenital heart failure, there's nothing you could have done.

Why did you bury him like you did? We were just children ourselves.

Frightened we did something wrong.

Constable, please escort the Hastings back to the station, they're to be charged with m*rder.

Oh, no!

No, no, no, no, no!

William!

The child d*ed of natural causes.

And was buried less than 10 feet away from the Blakes.

That was no coincidence.

So if they buried the Blakes...

Then they m*rder*d them as well.

Mr Hastings, you have lied to me at every turn.

Yes. We buried them, but we didn't k*ll them.

We were trying to k*ll ourselves.

I don't understand. Rebecca and I had fallen in love.

We kept it a secret, but when Rebecca became pregnant, we had to tell the Blakes.

Mother and father were enraged. They threatened to have Charlie arrested on trumped-up charges of theft.

And they wanted Rebecca to take something to get rid of the baby.

We would have run away, but we had nowhere to go.

Rebecca told me to leave, but I wasn't going to abandon her to them.

We saw no way out of the situation. Except for su1c1de? Yes.

And how were you planning to do it?

The Blakes used cyanide on their farm as pesticide. I stole some.

We made a draught with the cyanide and put it in an old laudanum bottle.

Rebecca's parents had the habit of taking laudanum every night to help them sleep.

We planned to use some of their laudanum in our poison, with the mind of making our deaths less painful.

We said our goodbyes and fell asleep.

But in the morning, you awoke?

We...we had no idea why it didn't work.

Until we saw my parents.

That's when I realised I'd made a terrible mistake, I'd inadvertently switched the cyanide with the laudanum.

The bottles were identical.

We were so frightened. We panicked, buried the bodies in the backyard and told the children that the Blakes had just up and left.

If Charlie had accidentally switched the bottles, then the Blakes would have ingested laudanum as well as cyanide.

Would the laudanum still be in their bodies? It would be.

But it isn't?

Just cyanide.

I'm afraid they're lying. Oh.

And I wanted so much to believe them.

Yes, it's a shame.

What will happen to the Hastings? Will they hang?

If you'll please excuse me, Julia.

There was no laudanum found in the Blakes' bodies.

You never switched the bottles and this was no accident.

But what we told you was...

The truth?

I think one of you had something to do with the Blakes' death, I'm not sure which one, and perhaps you never even admitted it to one another.

But don't you think it's time to set the record straight?

Arrest me.

I will not. George Crabtree, you arrest me right now!

For what? I, too, was undressed and about to engage in carnal acts.

Penny, you came here and asked to stay with me under false pretences.

We plan to be married, George, I love him!

Penny, you are 16, you don't know what love is.

That's practically an adult. You're behaving like a child.

You're the one who arrested Clarence for no reason, just because you're angry.

I'm begging you, let him go. He put you in a compromising position and I have to charge him accordingly.

But that will go on his permanent record. He wants to attend medical school, it will destroy his life.

If I go home and promise not to see him again, will you please let him go?

What about your schooling?

I'll make other arrangements.

I love him, I won't let you ruin his life just because of me.

Please, George, let him go.

Either they both did it or one of them did it. So charge them both. We don't have enough evidence, and no jury would ever convict them, a sweet old couple like that.

Age is no reason for amnesty, Murdoch, you said it yourself.

I'm aware of that, sir.

But let's say one of them did switch the bottles and the other one is innocent, that's reasonable doubt.

And if they stick to their story, well... So break their story.

Interrogate them separately, get one of them to confess. By what means?

You'll figure it out.

You can solve this, Murdoch, I know you can.

Thank you, sir.

Sir, the reporter from the New York Times is on the line.

He wants to confirm your interview at eight.

Excellent, good. An interview, sir?

With a reporter? He came all the way from New York to pursue this story.

Which story would that be? The discovery of mummified remains, or the subsequent m*rder investigation?

Both. Well, you can't tell one without the other, can you?

Ah, so you would like a satisfactory outcome?

Of course, don't you? The eyes of the world's press are upon us, Murdoch.

Sir, given your distaste for the press, perhaps I should take this interview off your hands?

That's very kind of you, but I think this case needs you more.

Excuse me, sirs, Charlie Hastings would like to speak with you.

I k*lled the Blakes.

I switched the bottles on purpose.

I didn't put any laudanum in, just went in and switched the two bottles.

I meant to do it. I wanted them dead.

Are you willing to put your confession to paper?

Yes, just as long as you understand, I did this alone.

Rebecca had nothing to do with it.

George, can you join me with a pen and paper? We need to draw up a confession for Mr Hastings.

Sir, Rebecca Hastings is asking for you.

I've put her in the interview room.

I k*lled my parents.

You did?

I couldn't go along with the su1c1de.

I wanted to live with Charlie, not die with him, but I knew he would never have gone along with my new plan.

Which was?

I switched the cyanide with the laudanum.

I k*lled my parents.

I see.

So if they both switched the bottles, the second switch would have cancelled out the first one, so they can't both be telling the truth.

That means one of them gave a false confession.

If Rebecca switched the bottles and Charlie mixed the two concoctions, they would have also gotten a dose of the cyanide.

They would have d*ed along with the Blakes.

But if Charlie alone switched the bottles, then they live and the Blakes die.

So Charlie's our man?

Unless... What if they're both lying?

I mean, what if Charlie is confessing to save Rebecca, Rebecca is confessing to save Charlie?

Maybe they're making that sacrifice for each other.

But if they're both lying...

It means they are both telling the truth. About the su1c1de, that is.

Oh, but then the Blakes would have had laudanum in their stomachs. Which they didn't.

What if one of the other children made the switch?

Bloody hell, Crabtree!

We've solved it, it's Charlie. What did you say?

I don't know, what if one of the other children switched the bottles?

Sir, he has a point.

George, bring everyone back in here.

Mrs Hastings, you claim that you switched the laudanum bottle, unbeknownst to anyone else.

But I believe that you're simply protecting your husband.

That's not true! It is.

And I also believe that Mr Hastings is doing the same on your behalf.

He's right. Now, that leaves the other children in the household.

All of you had both motive and opportunity.

The Blakes were so awful that you can barely speak of it, Mr Webster.

Mrs Nugent, you suffered a b*ating on the evening that the Blakes d*ed.

And then there's little Horace Mooney, who claims to barely remember a thing because he was only five.

You were the youngest and also the smallest.

Now, can anyone tell me on this diagram where the laudanum bottle was kept?

Right here in the hutch, on the shelf. Which shelf?

The middle shelf.

The middle shelf.

Now, Mrs Nugent, you suffered a b*ating on that fateful evening because Mr Blake thought you had been stealing candy.

Where was the candy kept? On the top shelf.

The top shelf.

And why was it kept on the top shelf?

Because I could reach the others.

You could reach the others. Including the shelf where the laudanum was kept? Yes.

So in that case, you didn't need a chair to reach the laudanum bottle and switch it? No.

But there was a chair there that evening, wasn't there?

Yes.

Was the chair there when you changed the bottle, Mr Hastings?

I don't recall. No, if it was, I would have put it back.

So what was the chair doing there?

The only person who would have needed the chair to reach the lower shelf where the laudanum was kept was little Horace Mooney.

But how could you say that? That's a ridiculous notion.

He's right.

I don't remember much about that age, but I do remember that night.

I overheard Charlie and Rebecca, they were talking about going away.

You overheard them planning their su1c1de.

They saw how scared I was, so they told me they were just taking a magic disappearing potion that would make them go away for a while.

We told him it was similar to the "happy potion" the Blakes drank each night.

The laudanum. Yes.

But you didn't want them to disappear, did you?

No.

That night, I stole into their room with a fresh bottle of happy potion from the cellar, which I...

I put in place of the...

..what I presumed to be the disappearing potion.

So when I switched the laudanum with the cyanide, I was only...

Adding laudanum to laudanum.

I made sure that Charlie and Rebecca didn't disappear.

But that wasn't enough, was it, Mr Mooney?

I was afraid that as long as the Blakes were around, Charlie and Rebecca would try to disappear again.

So you gave the Blakes Charlie and Rebecca's disappearing potion, the one that contained cyanide.

After Charlie left, you replaced the laudanum bottle with the disappearing potion.

But to reach it, you had to drag a chair over, and that's where you left it.

I was too young to understand what "disappearing" meant.

The next day, Charlie and Rebecca told us that the Blakes had gone and they were going to be taking care of us.

I guess the potion worked.

Horace, you kept this secret all this time?

That must have been a heavy load for such a young man.

I never gave it much thought.

It was years before I understood what I'd done, and...

..I can't say I regret it. What's going to happen to Horace, detective?

Well, we can't very well convict a man for misunderstanding the meaning of a word when he was five years old, can we? No, sir, we can't.

Truly?

You mean I'm free to go?

You are. You all are.

Sir? It's almost eight o'clock, you asked me to remind you.

Bloody hell, what will I tell the New York Times now?

That we've solved the case but not made any arrests?

Well, sir, you could always dazzle them with scientific information about the details of mummification.

When have you ever heard me use a scientific term in a sentence?

You'll be fine, sir, just stick to the facts.

You should get a move on, sir. How do I look? Really?

You look very handsome, sir.

Penny! Clarence! All right, not so fast.

Now, listen, I know you say you're in love... We are in love!

I believe you. I just don't want you to rush into anything.

So I've written a list of conditions.

"Until you should decide to get married, you have to agree to be chaperoned at all times."

Is that all?

That's a sacrifice that two people in love would be willing to make. Do you agree?

I do. I do, too. Thank you, Georgie!

I'll treat her well, sir.

All right, that's enough, now. This is my workplace.

I wonder how the inspector's interview is faring.

Very well, I should think.

He is surprisingly sentimental about romantic stories like this, he'll do it justice.

You find this romantic?

Certainly.

Out of adversity grew a family, of sorts.

It's important to you, isn't it, family?

Oh, yes.

My family life was so erratic, I suppose it made me crave my own close-knit family some day.

You deserve such happiness.

As do you. If that's what you want.

Is that what you want?

Yes. Yes, of course.