In Have His Carcase Episode 2, Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane dig deeper into the mysterious seaside murder. As new suspects emerge and the victim’s identity is called into question, the puzzle grows more complex. With time working against them and tensions rising, Wimsey and Harriet must unravel clues hidden beneath alibis, politics, and motives. A brilliant continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers’ classic detective story, full of 1930s intrigue and romantic tension.
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TVTranscript
00:00The End
00:30That's peculiar.
00:45I say...
00:49I say...
00:53I say...
01:00We've identified the man.
01:04One of the professional dancers at the hotel where you're staying, Miss Vane.
01:09Did he leave a note anywhere?
01:11Well, if he did, we've not found it. Nor the body neither.
01:15I'm afraid they think it was suicide.
01:18Oh, no.
01:20No, that's impossible. I know it is.
01:22Well, Mrs Weldon, I find the body.
01:24No, no, no.
01:27He would never have killed himself when he was so happy.
01:30You see, Miss Vane...
01:37We were going to be married.
01:39Why should a man wear gloves to cut his own throat?
01:42Yes, I wondered about that.
01:45And what's a man with a full beard doing with a razor?
01:49Anyway...
02:00I'm afraid I'm not a very good dancer.
02:09You dance very correctly, mademoiselle.
02:10But when a heart dances with the feet, then it will be en merveille.
02:18Is that the kind of thing you have to say to all these old ladies?
02:33One may say truthfully to mademoiselle what in another case might be mere qualitance.
02:40Very kind.
02:42But, Monsieur Antoine, I really must talk to you about Alexis and to Cherie too.
02:48That can be all right.
02:49When we finish work, if that would suit mademoiselle.
02:51Always wanted to take the spot back with Mr Paul Alexis.
02:55You think he did the floor a favour by dancing on it?
02:58And then the fairy prince comes down to marrying an old woman for her money.
03:02Now, Doris...
03:03Well, I think that sort of thing is disgusting.
03:04I feel sorry for her.
03:05No, you feel sorry for everyone.
03:06I beg your pardon, but I've been calling you Cherie.
03:07Oh, Cherie is my professional name.
03:08My friends call me Doris.
03:09They call me Doris.
03:10I don't know if I'm sorry for her.
03:11But I'm sorry for her.
03:12I don't know if I'm sorry for her.
03:13You can't do it.
03:14I don't know if I'm sorry for her.
03:15I can't do it.
03:16But you can't do it.
03:17I can't do it.
03:18But I can't do it.
03:19I can't do it.
03:20It's just too much.
03:21And then the fairy prince comes down to marrying an old woman for her money.
03:22Now, Doris...
03:23Oh, you feel sorry for everyone.
03:25I beg your pardon, but I've been calling you Cherie.
03:27Oh, Cherie is my professional name.
03:30My friends call me Doris.
03:32Oh, I see.
03:34Oh, thank you, George.
03:36And you?
03:37Cognac, s'il vous plaît.
03:38Two brandies, please.
03:39Certainly, madam.
03:41You see, what I really need to know from you two
03:44is whether you can think of any reason
03:46why Paul Alexis should commit suicide.
03:49Truly, that I do not understand.
03:51One does not cut one's throat for some music.
03:53Now, the minute I heard about it,
03:55that's not Mr. Alexis, I thought.
03:57Well, he hadn't the nerve to do a thing like that.
04:00You needn't look at me like that, Antoine.
04:03You know it as well as I do.
04:05Alexis was a regular namby-pamby.
04:07If he'd have wanted to kill himself,
04:09he'd have taken sleeping pills.
04:11Did he have anything the matter with his skin?
04:13I mean, did he always wear gloves?
04:16No, no.
04:17The Chicolo must not have things the matter with his skin.
04:20That would not do at all.
04:21The ladies would not like it.
04:22Yes, but you know, he did say that his skin was very sensitive.
04:26That was why he didn't shave.
04:30That's room 223.
04:32Thank you, madam.
04:34Cheerio.
04:35Cheerios.
04:36Salute.
04:37So, he always had a beard.
04:38Yes, but Doris is right.
04:40I remember when he first came to ask for a job.
04:43The manager say, well, I'll take you on trial,
04:45but you must shave the beard.
04:47The ladies will not like it.
04:48And Paul say he cannot shave.
04:50If he shave, he come out in, what do you call it?
04:52A rash.
04:53Si, sir.
04:54So, the manager say, you can stay until we find someone else.
04:58But the ladies, they love the beard.
05:00It is so distinguished, so romantic.
05:02So, Paul stay, and the beard stay too.
05:04So, it isn't likely that he'd have a razor.
05:07That I cannot tell.
05:08Doris, do you know?
05:09Don't ask me.
05:10He wasn't my fancy man.
05:12He was engaged to Mrs. Weldon, if you can call it that.
05:16I suppose she represented financial security.
05:19Yes.
05:20Yes, you are right, mam'selle.
05:23It is well enough when one is young, as Doris is young,
05:26to say, tell her a young man to marry an older woman.
05:29But one is not young forever.
05:31Soon the head grows bald and the joints become stiff.
05:35And then the manager says, my clients prefer a younger dancer.
05:39Yeah.
05:40I suppose you're right.
05:42Oh, it's not easy for us dancers, Miss Faye.
05:45Everyone treats us like dirt.
05:47I'm so sorry.
05:51But you still can't think of a reason why Paul and Alexis should kill himself.
05:55No reason, mam'selle.
05:57No reason at all.
05:59It's not.
06:00That's right.
06:01An endicote razor with a nick in the ivory handle.
06:04Well, would you believe it?
06:06I sold that razor only a few weeks ago.
06:08To a foreign chap with a beard?
06:09Oh, dear me.
06:10No, no.
06:11It was one of those itinerant fellows came round here looking for a job.
06:14Oh.
06:15I had no work for him and, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't have given it to him if I had.
06:23Didn't like the look of him, eh?
06:24You'd be surprised the number of these men who come round here.
06:27And half of them are no more skilled hairdressers than my tomcat.
06:30Well, I generally give them a few razors to set and the way they go about it you can tell.
06:34Nine times out of ten they've never set a razor in their life.
06:37And that's how it was with this one, eh?
06:39Mind you, he spoke very well.
06:41Very refined and quiet.
06:43Very well kept hands.
06:47That's the first thing I look for.
06:49Dirty or bitten nails.
06:50Can't do with that in this business.
06:52Anyway, I said I didn't need him.
06:55And he said, could I sell him a second-hand razor?
06:59So I sold him this one to get rid of him.
07:01Did he give a name, Mr. Merriweather?
07:05He did.
07:06I'm sure.
07:07George.
07:08That sneaking little sandy-haired fellow that came round here the other day.
07:12What did he say his name was?
07:14The one that brought the razor off me.
07:16It's quite an ordinary name.
07:18Brown, was it?
07:19Brown?
07:20Well, no such thing.
07:21You'll forget your own name next.
07:23It did begin with a B, though.
07:27Bright.
07:29That was it.
07:30Cos don't you remember me saying he didn't live up to his name when it came to setting razors?
07:35Oh, yes.
07:36So you did, Mr. Merriweather.
07:37Bright.
07:38That was it.
07:39He said his name was Bright.
07:41Ah, Bunter.
07:42You come most carefully upon your hour.
07:45I've just been telling Miss Vane of our success in tracing what I'm sure Sally Hardy will call...
07:50The fatal weapon.
07:51Precisely.
07:52Lord Peter tells me you had a very good description of the man who bought the razor.
07:56Yes, Miss.
07:57Medium build.
07:58Sandy-haired.
07:59Dark eyes.
08:00Smallish.
08:01He doesn't have a limp or nothing like that, but he does have one shoulder higher than the
08:05other.
08:06Good heavens.
08:07Like Richard III.
08:08Now all we have to do is discover how the razor passed from the possession of an itinerant
08:13barber into the hands, the glazed hands of Paul Alexis.
08:17Unless that itinerant barber came from the sea and cut Alexis' throat.
08:21From behind.
08:22Why from behind?
08:23Well, forgive me, Bunter.
08:24With that particular weapon...
08:25Thank you, Bunter.
08:26I'll be with you in the car in ten minutes.
08:27Very good, my lord.
08:28I'm so sorry.
08:29What nonsense is...
08:30It's just that having seen him, I...
08:31No, no.
08:32I'm a brute.
08:33And should be kicked from here to Sea Hampton.
08:36And when time allows, I shall go down on my knees and apologize and probably propose
08:39to you at the same time.
08:41Peter.
08:42Well, I'm a brute.
08:43What an idiot you are.
08:44Aren't I though?
08:45However, I now have to go in search of Sally Hardy, who is thirsting for information.
08:46Why?
08:47I told them everything I know.
08:48He said anything the police would allow.
08:49We don't owe him any favours.
08:50I think he owes us one though.
08:51Don't you?
08:52I think he owes us one though.
08:53Don't you?
08:54Well, I'm a brute.
08:55I'm a brute.
08:56I'm a brute.
08:57I should be kicked from here to Sea Hampton.
08:58And when time allows, I shall go down on my knees and apologize and probably propose
08:59to you at the same time.
09:00Peter, what an idiot you are.
09:01Aren't I though?
09:02However, I now have to go in search of Sally Hardy, who is thirsting for information.
09:04Why?
09:05I told them everything I know.
09:07He said anything the police would allow.
09:09We don't owe him any favours.
09:10I think he owes us one though.
09:12Don't you?
09:13You coming?
09:14No.
09:15No, I've got work to do.
09:16I've got a book to write.
09:17Of course.
09:18Your next bestseller.
09:23Sally, fancy finding your hair.
09:25Abandoned by your fellow scribes.
09:27That's good.
09:28Oh, they've got to watch the police rowing round the rocks.
09:31Ah, they think the body might have been lodged under the grinders when the tide turned.
09:35But I had faith in you, Whimsy.
09:38Can I get you one?
09:39Ah, a bit early for me.
09:41But you're treating me damn badly, old man.
09:44You wouldn't be hanging round here just for the suicide of a foreign gigolo.
09:48I know you've got something up your sleeve.
09:51Unless it's just the girl.
09:53Oh, for God's sake, Whimsy, say it isn't the girl.
09:56You wouldn't play such a trick and a hard-working journalist.
09:59Look here.
10:00If there's nothing else, give me a story about you and Harriet Vane.
10:04Romantic engagement of Pierce's son and crime novelist.
10:07Pull yourself together, Sally, and keep your inky paws off my private affairs.
10:11Are you reasonably sober?
10:12Sober?
10:13When did you know me not sober when there's a good story?
10:15Sit down.
10:16I've got an exclusive for you.
10:18But you've got to get into tomorrow morning's first editions.
10:21And you've got to write it exactly as I say.
10:24Oh, no.
10:25Not again.
10:26My last story was practically dictated by Miss Vane.
10:28Really?
10:29And I thought your style was improving.
10:31Now, take this down.
10:33You can begin with your usual audible tragedy at Flatiron Rock.
10:36And then...
10:38Interviewed by our special correspondent.
10:41Lord Peter Whimsey explained, with his characteristically modest smile...
10:46Peter, really?
10:48That he had himself been at pains to trace the previous history of the razor.
10:53How did the razor get into the hands of the dead man?
10:56Demanded Lord Peter.
10:58Until and unless that question is answered...
11:01I shall hold that Paul Alexis was foully and brutally murdered.
11:05And I shall spare no effort to bring the murderer to justice.
11:10Really, Peter?
11:12Sally Hardy's style is unique, unfortunately.
11:15But, as you'll see if you can bear to read on...
11:18He did persuade his editor to offer a £100 reward for information about the razor.
11:23So, if we can discover how it came into the possession of Paul Alexis...
11:27Then you'll be satisfied that it was suicide.
11:30But would you?
11:32Of course not.
11:34Then I'm never satisfied.
11:53Hello.
11:57He's here.
11:58Well...
11:59I suppose I'd better come and look for Blagger over.
12:01Is he handsome?
12:02Yes.
12:03Rather.
12:04Shall we go?
12:05In that case, you'd better tell him we're engaged.
12:07Then I won't be obliged to assassinate him.
12:09Would you?
12:10That's splendid.
12:11Will you marry me?
12:12Certainly not.
12:13It's 25 tonight.
12:14All right.
12:15Come on.
12:16I'll help you wrap it down, sir.
12:21Thank you, Mrs. Weldon.
12:22May I introduce Lord Peter Whittenden.
12:23Oh, Lord Peter, how pleased I am to meet you.
12:26Mrs. Weldon.
12:27If there's anything I can do to help you at this unhappy time.
12:29Mrs. Weldon may I introduce Lord Peter Wigensy? Lord Peter how pleased I am to meet you.
12:40Mrs. Weldon if there's anything I can do to help you at this unhappy time.
12:44Too kind. This is my son Henry. Miss Harriet Bane.
12:48How do you do? Lord Peter Wigensy.
12:50Why don't you sit down?
12:59Henry has most kindly come to help me through this terrible time.
13:04Gash could.
13:06Yes well you see Henry knows how utterly devoted Paul was to me.
13:11And that he never, never would have taken his own life like that and left me without a word.
13:17It hurts me so when I at least suggest her to thee.
13:21Now mother don't upset yourself. We all know that Alexis was all right.
13:26I mean damn fond of you and all that.
13:28Yes dear I'm so sorry at all. We had such a shock.
13:32Look Miss Vane has been so kind.
13:35And now you and I and Miss Vane and Lord Peter are all going to work together.
13:39To clear Paul's memory.
13:41And discover who murdered him.
13:44Yes.
13:46Wigensy would you like a drink?
13:48Oh yes dear call the waiter.
13:50Oh I thought we might nip over to the bar.
13:52That is unless Miss Vane.
13:54Oh no I'm quite happy with coffee. Thank you.
13:57Two excuses.
13:58Yes.
14:05Isn't it beautiful how kind everyone is when one is in trouble.
14:10Henry and I haven't always been as close as a mother and son ought to be.
14:16But when I wrote and told him of Paul's murder he came at once.
14:22Though I know how busy he must be.
14:24I'm sure that's a great comfort to you.
14:26Oh yes.
14:28Especially since I did wonder whether he might well resent Paul.
14:35It's such a comfort to know that he too feels that Paul's murder was a tragedy.
14:43It makes a chap look a bit of a fool when his mother proposes to give him a 30 year old lounge lizard as a stepper pup.
14:48All over now anyway.
14:50I suppose the chap did himself in.
14:53It looks like it.
14:54Hmm.
14:55I saw that piece of yours in the morning star about the razor.
14:58It was going a bit far.
15:00Oh.
15:01You think so?
15:02Damn it all whimsy.
15:03You're a sound sort of chap.
15:04Brainy and all that.
15:05Can't you put my mother off this murder idea?
15:07She's taken a notion that you and that Vane girl are encouraging her.
15:10I take it you mean Miss Vane.
15:12Of course I see your game all right.
15:13You're nuts about this kind of thing and it's all a darn good advertisement.
15:16And it gives you a jolly good excuse to go barging around with the girl.
15:19But it's not quite the game to go playing my mother up if you see what I mean.
15:24Just thought I'd give you a hint.
15:26You won't take offence.
15:27I'm quite ready to take anything I'm offered.
15:31That's good.
15:32Johnny, another Martell three stars.
15:34Glad we understand each other.
15:36No, no.
15:37You misunderstand me.
15:38But I understand you perfectly.
15:41Perhaps we ought to go and join the ladies.
15:43Ladies, eh?
15:45You be careful, my boy.
15:47Getting to a dangerous age.
15:48If you ain't careful, you'll find yourself getting hooked one of these days.
15:51Oh, I think I shall manage to keep my head out of the noose.
15:54Oh, yes, of course.
15:56Excuse me.
15:57Erm, I think I'll work with you, too, eh?
15:58Yes.
15:59Please.
16:00Please.
16:01Please.
16:02Please, please.
16:03Please.
16:04Yes.
16:05Please.
16:06Please.
16:07Please, please.
16:08One, please.
16:10Please.
16:11Please.
16:12Please.
16:13Please.
16:14Please.
16:16Would you like to dance?
16:18Peter, how kind, but no, thank you.
16:22Not so soon after.
16:24In fact, never again.
16:26But I beg Miss Vane to enjoy herself.
16:32Isn't it a delight to see her looking so happy?
16:35Yes.
16:42There you are.
16:43Friveling. I'm sure you'd end to prove.
16:45No, I don't know. That all depends.
16:47What arm?
16:48Who you'll frivel with.
16:49Try doing it with me.
16:51Excuse us.
16:58Now that I've got you to myself.
17:00Yes.
17:01What do you think of Henry Weldon?
17:02Oh.
17:04Well, please don't apologise.
17:07Look, I'm a rotten dancer. Can't we sit down?
17:09Darling, even if you danced like an elderly elephant with arthritis,
17:13which I assure you you don't,
17:14I'll still say that I've waited all my life to dance with you.
17:18In that frock.
17:19Qu'est-ce que je vous ai dit, mademoiselle?
17:27Léna, c'est trouvé.
17:28What did that blighter say?
17:35There's something about how I don't know it's better with you than with him.
17:40Infernal chief.
17:41Yes, wasn't it?
17:43Shall we sit down anyway?
17:46We are here on business after all.
17:48What about Henry Weldon?
17:55Well, in the first place, what's he doing here?
17:59A sudden spasm of filial affection.
18:02She thinks so.
18:03Do you?
18:04No, not really.
18:06He's here to look after the money, that's all.
18:08Hmm.
18:09And warn me off.
18:11What?
18:12Oh, yes.
18:13This detecting business must stop.
18:16And Mrs. Weldon is to be dissuaded from spending time and money on the pursuit of a non-existent
18:20murderer.
18:20He said that.
18:21In the most offensive manner.
18:22But if you were to tell Mrs. Weldon that, she'd disinherit him.
18:27He knew he was stupid.
18:29Ah.
18:30That's what you think.
18:32Henry, tell me he didn't want Paul Alexis as a step-papa, and now the bans have been very
18:38effectively forbidden.
18:39Yes.
18:40But are you seriously casting Henry Weldon for first murderer?
18:45I'd like to.
18:47But, um, I can't.
18:48You see, if this is murder, and not suicide, it's an uncommonly clever one, and I agree
18:55with you.
18:56I don't think Henry Weldon has the brains to have murdered Paul Alexis.
19:00But you do think someone did.
19:02In all seriousness, I must say that I do.
19:07The thing we must get right is the time of death.
19:11Now, that morning, Alexis travelled from Wilbercombe by a train to Darley Hall to arrive
19:16at, um, 10.15.
19:18The guard remembers him, and he bought a return ticket.
19:22A return ticket?
19:23Would a suicide do that?
19:25Very questionable, I thought, to Inspector Rathalem, who said that, uh, suicides, particularly
19:30foreign suicides, were that inconsistent there was no accounting for.
19:33All right.
19:34Let's suppose Alexis hadn't quite met up his mind.
19:37Yeah.
19:38While he was thinking about it, he travelled to Darley Hall in order to walk the four and
19:42a half miles to Flatiron Rock, arriving at, say, um, 11.45.
19:49And what about the tide?
19:51When I was there, it was coming in.
19:53Not when he arrived.
19:54It was still open then.
19:55The tide didn't turn until 1.15.
19:57So, at 11.45, our friend who could have walked dry shod to the rock and sat upon it.
20:03Sometime later, Miss Harriet Vane arrived, sat down round the corner of the cliffs with
20:09her picnic, and closed off.
20:12So, you came round the cliffs, and knew you'd found a corpse.
20:27No, not immediately.
20:29I was woken by the seagull.
20:31At, uh, two o'clock?
20:33Yes.
20:33I looked at my watch.
20:35I wanted to know if I could get to Wilvercombe along the seashore.
20:38So, I came round the corner, and I thought he was asleep at first, and that he'd be cut
20:46off by the tide.
20:47So, when I went to wake him, there was all this blood running down.
20:51Just a minute.
20:53You've said that before.
20:54Blood.
20:56Thick red clots.
20:57No, no, it was liquid.
20:59And when I put my hand into it, it was quite wet.
21:01But if the blood was still liquid, Alexis could only have been dead a few minutes, ten at
21:07the outside.
21:11Couldn't he have been slowly bleeding to death for some time?
21:14No.
21:15Not with a wound like that.
21:16Death would have been almost instantaneous.
21:19Oh.
21:22Harriet, you do realise what this means?
21:24I have staked my reputation on murder.
21:26I shall have to leave the country and shoot tigers in fever-haunted jungles.
21:29Well, I'm very sorry to hear that, but I, too, have my reputation.
21:33I cannot lie.
21:37You're absolutely certain that when you came round the corner and saw the rock for the
21:41first time, there was no one in sight?
21:44Absolutely no one.
21:45It was just a man lying here, dead.
21:49I approached from there, and the tide was coming in then, and there was just one set of footprints,
21:56his.
21:58Peter!
21:58And the murderer, sir, Peter.
22:02Peter, where are you?
22:04Can you see me from where you are?
22:07No, where are you?
22:13Oh, Peter, you don't think that while I was examining the body, the murderer would...
22:18It is possible.
22:21It is possible.
22:21Nice drop of ale, there.
22:36You don't get anything like that in London.
22:38More's the pity.
22:39Summer visitor, are you?
22:40No, no, no.
22:41I'm here on business.
22:43You get enough of them, I dare say.
22:44Too many, I shouldn't wonder.
22:45Summer visits.
22:47They'd be round here like floats.
22:49Pitching their tents and hiking up and down to their little socks and their shorts and their
22:53packs on their backs.
22:54Get themselves drowned.
22:55Yeah, I met a fella only a couple of weeks ago, said he was thinking of camping in this area.
23:02I'll think of his name in a minute.
23:04Six-set chap, ginger hair, moustache, whiskers.
23:07What was his name?
23:09Sounds like your camper, Tom.
23:11What?
23:11Gentleman here asking about your camper.
23:15Oh, ah.
23:16Had to wear dark glasses.
23:18Said there was something matter with his eyes.
23:19That's the one.
23:20Nice enough fella, though, apart from that.
23:22Martin, his name was.
23:24Martin.
23:25Mr. Avalon Martin.
23:27Martin.
23:28I knew it began with a name.
23:41I say.
23:44Yes?
23:45This is odd.
23:47What's odd?
23:49It's a ring.
23:50In the rock.
23:52Looks quite new, as if it's fixed quite recently.
23:55The sort of ring you'd tie a boat to, or possibly.
23:58There was a boat.
24:00A fishing boat, I think.
24:02I waved and shouted, and they took no notice.
24:05Either they didn't see me, or they thought I was doing my health and beauty exercises.
24:12And not one of them wasted.
24:16Peter, I wish you wouldn't.
24:20Admire you.
24:21Say silly things you don't mean.
24:25Or even if you do mean them, I wish you wouldn't.
24:28You make it very difficult for me.
24:31I can't help my feelings.
24:34But I will keep my tongue firmly between my teeth.
24:40Peter.
24:41I feel we should continue looking for clues.
24:54Now, the tide's been in and out half a dozen times.
24:58It'll be difficult to distinguish between clues and, uh...
25:01Flotsam and jetsam.
25:02No, only jetsam.
25:04Flotsam is if it's still floating on the waves.
25:12This wouldn't float.
25:15Could it be jetsam, do you think?
25:16Hardly.
25:20I wonder how it got here.
25:21Do people ride horses down here as well?
25:24Too dangerous to get down, I should have thought.
25:28I'd better get bumped her to check with the, uh, local riding stables.
25:32And if not...
25:33Belongs to a nice little car of about, uh, 15 hands.
25:38Fairly well-bred.
25:40Gives it to kicking her shoes off and pecks a little with the off four.
25:44Very impressive, Holmes.
25:46But I simply don't believe you can deduce all that from an old horseshoe.
25:49Not old.
25:50Quite new.
25:51You see, it hasn't been worn thin from the amma, amma, amma on the Ard Eye Road.
25:56It's a little rusty from line in the water.
25:58Well, but it's, uh, hardly at all rubbed by sand and stones and not at all corroded, so
26:03it hasn't been here long.
26:05All right, I grant you that, but the actual horse?
26:08The size of the shoe denotes the size of the nag.
26:11Oh, yes.
26:12Well, I might have thought of that, but well-bred.
26:15A nice little round, well-bred hoof.
26:18It's a little worn down on the inner front edge, which shows that the wearer was disposed
26:22to peck.
26:23And the way the nails are placed and clinched shows that the smith wanted to make it extra
26:27shoe co-op, which is why I said that, uh, a lost shoe was a common occurrence with this
26:32particular gene.
26:34Well, well.
26:35I don't suppose you could go on and tell me the sex and colour while you're about it?
26:40I do have my limitations.
26:42Really?
26:46Funny, I never thought of you as a country man.
26:50My dear girl, I've been riding since I was three.
26:53On and off.
26:54I must say, finding this shoe is the most gorgeous piece of luck.
26:59And observation.
27:01Quite right.
27:02I could kiss you, Father.
27:03I think you're getting a little intoxicated with the excitement of the discovery.
27:09You need not shrink or tremble.
27:11When I kiss you, it will be an important event.
27:14Icon's first taste of lychee.
27:16Not a casual adjunct to a kissing detective investigation.
27:19Certainly.
27:20Kisses, like wine, should be allowed to mature.
27:23Preferably over a period of years.
27:25Hoist with my own petard.
27:29Your shoe, madam.
27:30Now all we have to do is to fit the shoe to the horse.
27:35Which may lead us to the murderer.
27:39Peter, from a ring in the rock and a horseshoe on the beach.
27:45You don't seriously think Alexis was murdered by a madman riding out of the sea clutching a cutthroat razor?
27:51Peter, do you?
27:56No.
27:58No, it's impossible.
28:03So Mr. Martin was in here last Monday, was he?
28:05So he was, sir?
28:07He parked his Morgan outside.
28:09I didn't know he had a Morgan.
28:10Oh, and he said he'd only rented it.
28:12I mean, I happen to remark on it being an unusual make of a car.
28:15And he said the trouble it was giving him, he wished they'd given him another one.
28:19Anyhow, in he comes.
28:21As half point, asked away to Tom Goodrish's farm.
28:24Said he wanted permission to camp on his land.
28:27Asked if he could pitch a tent in Inks Lake.
28:29Is that a regular camping site, is it?
28:31No.
28:33I don't remember anybody asking for it before.
28:36You're a good elf, sir.
28:38Oh, well.
28:40Have one yourself.
28:41Oh, thank you very kindly, sir.
28:43But he was a quiet sort of chap.
28:47I've no objections.
28:48Some poor devil lives in a town.
28:50Helping himself to a mouthful of fresh air and a drink of water.
28:54So long as he leaves the place tidy.
28:55So, Bunter, Miss Harriet Bain's camper friend arrived two days before Alex's death and left the morning after.
29:18And here's a funny thing, my lord.
29:20Mr. Goodrish and the landlord are both pretty certain they've never seen him in the area before.
29:23And yet he asked for Mr. Goodrish by name.
29:26And he seemed to know this place.
29:28Though it's not a regular campsite.
29:30Curious, sir.
29:31I'm curious, sir.
29:32And very handy for the beach.
29:35Tire marks here.
29:38Three-wheeler.
29:39The Morgan, my lord.
29:41Little patch of oil.
29:43Yes, the landlord said he was having a spot of trouble.
29:45I told you.
29:46He was tinkering with the engine when I asked him the way to Darley.
29:51This is where he pitched his tent.
29:53Hello.
29:57What have we here?
30:02A nice little cob.
30:05About 15 hands.
30:13And I should be very much surprised if that gate doesn't lead on to a path down to the beach.
30:22Oats.
30:23And on this side of the gate.
30:38Come on, boy.
30:39Up, boy.
30:40Up.
30:42Up.
30:44You need a new show, old boy.
30:45You seem to have lost here somewhere.
30:46Something here, my lord.
31:02Oh, not quite so.
31:08Odd that he should try to burn it.
31:12Unless...
31:12You will have noticed, my dear Holmes, that the horse has a headstall.
31:18With an experienced rider and a bit of rope.
31:21I really think we ought to speak to him, Mr. Martin.
31:30You're sure you can't remember anything else about him?
31:33Quite honestly, I was only concerned to get on to Darley and report the death.
31:36Yes, as soon as he pointed me in the right direction.
31:41Are we anywhere near Darley?
31:43Yes.
31:44Ten minutes down the road.
31:45First right, half a mile inland.
31:47Thank goodness.
31:48Is there anything the matter?
31:50Well, I've just found a dead body on the beach.
31:54Good lord.
32:01I think we have earned a small yet powerful drink.
32:04I absolutely agree.
32:08But first, I must wash and tidy up.
32:10I must look a mess.
32:11Oh, I'm not allowed to comment.
32:12But I will meet you at 6.30 in the bar.
32:14Ah, resplendent.
32:16I refer merely to the name of your hotel.
32:29Oh, Miss Vane.
32:31Is there any news?
32:32The hotel said you'd taken a picnic lunch.
32:35And I wondered if you'd gone to the place where...
32:38Yes.
32:39Lord Peter thought he ought to have a look at it.
32:41And did he discover anything?
32:42Anything that might lead him to the murderer?
32:45Now, Mother.
32:47I think I ought to talk to the police first.
32:49Oh, yes.
32:50Of course.
32:51I quite understand.
32:52I won't ask anymore.
32:54I tell you what.
32:56There's an awfully jolly little pub I know just outside Seahampton that does cream teas.
33:00If we arrange to go there sometime, perhaps you'd like to join us.
33:03What do you say, Mother?
33:05Oh, yes, my dear.
33:06Would you?
33:07I should be delighted.
33:08What a kind thought, Henry, dear.
33:15Whimsy, glad to see you.
33:28There's a fellow claiming the reward.
33:30It says he gave the razor to Alexis.
33:32Good help.
33:33Where is he?
33:33He'll be here in about 45 minutes.
33:37He telephoned my paper from Seahampton, and they put him on to me.
33:40But he says he won't talk unless you're there.
33:42His name's Bright.
33:44And he should have been here five minutes again.
33:45Yes, Mr. Bright.
33:51This is the gentleman you wanted to meet, Lord Peter Whimsy.
33:54How do you do?
33:54How do you do?
33:55Miss Harriet Vane?
33:56How do you do?
33:57How do you do?
33:58But I've told him, Lord Peter, that if he wants to claim the Morning Star Award, he'll have to let me in on the story.
34:03I suppose that's only fair.
34:04I haven't done anything wrong.
34:06I'm sure if I'd known what that poor gentleman meant to do with the razor.
34:10Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
34:12Do sit down.
34:14You won't mind Miss Vane being here.
34:15She discovered the body, you know.
34:17Oh, no, my lord.
34:19Not at all.
34:20Do sit down.
34:21Perhaps you'd like a drink?
34:23Um, Sally?
34:27Miss Vane?
34:28No, thank you.
34:29Lord Peter?
34:30No, thanks.
34:30Well, my lord, I am, as you might say, an itinerant hairdresser.
34:41I used to have my own business in Manchester, but I lost it through misfortune.
34:47Whereabouts in Manchester?
34:49Massingbird Street.
34:53It's all been pulled down now.
34:55Well, it's all been pulled down now.
35:00When was your last job?
35:05Well, I...
35:06Recently, I've only had temporary posts.
35:09Work's been hard to come by.
35:11I did work for a week at Leicester Home.
35:13What was the name of the shop?
35:15Ravages.
35:16But I had to leave.
35:19Where was that?
35:20One of the customers.
35:22I had the misfortune to cut him slightly at...
35:24Drunk, were you?
35:25No.
35:26No, I...
35:30It's true that a glass of spirits does affect me more than the ordinary person, and...
35:34Nobody's trying to criticise you.
35:36We're just trying to get at the truth.
35:38The truth?
35:42The truth is, I was at the end of my tether.
35:44The truth is, I was at the end of my tether.
36:14Anyway, I bought this razor from old Meriwether in Seahampton.
36:24It wouldn't give me a job, but I thought if I had my own razor, I might find it easier to get work.
36:31Could you describe the razor?
36:33Oh, yes.
36:35It had an ivory handle.
36:37I think it had a slight crack in it.
36:39But it was a good razor.
36:41Came from a place in German Street.
36:43How was the blade?
36:45Oh, quite all right.
36:47A bit worn, but perfectly sharp.
36:49So, I came to Wilvercombe.
36:56That would be last Monday.
36:58And I tried for work at Morton's.
37:00But Mr Morton said the season was over, and he didn't want any extra help, and he didn't employ casual labour.
37:07Very hurtful he was in his manner.
37:08Well, to tell the truth, I was at the end of my resources.
37:14I hadn't got enough left for a cup of tea.
37:16Go on.
37:23Go on.
37:23I walked down to the sea.
37:30About midnight, it must have been.
37:32And I could hear the waves breaking against the sea wall.
37:36And they seemed to say, chuck it.
37:39Why don't you chuck it?
37:41I'll tell you no lie, my lord.
37:44I did think of ending it all there and then.
37:46I actually took the razor out and opened it.
37:51And then I saw this young man further along.
37:56And he moved towards me.
37:58He was in evening dress and he had a black beard.
38:03I remember that.
38:04Because it is unusual in a young man.
38:07Unless he's an artist.
38:10So he offered me a cigarette.
38:13He had a gold cigarette case.
38:16I remember that.
38:18And it was one of those Russian cigarettes.
38:24Sometimes you get talking to a stranger when you wouldn't to anyone else.
38:28So I told him my troubles.
38:30And he said,
38:31I only wish my difficulties could be solved as easily as yours.
38:35So he gave me some money.
38:37Five pounds it was.
38:38And he said,
38:39Now you give me the razor.
38:41I can't do that.
38:43It's my livelihood.
38:45In the mood you're in, it's more likely to be your deathlyhood.
38:51A funny way he had of talking.
38:53Quick.
38:54Sort of poetic, you know.
38:56So he put the razor in his pocket and he said,
39:00Funny we should meet tonight.
39:03Two minds with but a single thought.
39:06And then off he went.
39:08He said that.
39:10He did.
39:10But if I'd guessed that he really meant,
39:14I never would have given him the razor.
39:17But he never actually told you his name.
39:20He didn't, miss.
39:22But he said he was a dancing partner at one of the hotels.
39:26Wasn't it a hell of a life for a man that ought to be a prince in his own country?
39:31Making love to ugly old women at Tuppence Hape near time.
39:34Very bitter, he sounded.
39:38You'll have to let the police know.
39:40Oh, I...
39:41After all, you've done nothing wrong, as you said yourself.
39:44Why don't you get it over with right away?
39:46Go round to the police station with Mr. Hardy and perhaps you can discuss the reward.
39:52Well, it all sounds okay to me.
39:54But we'll have to check up on your story, of course.
39:57If it's all okay, that'll be a good fat check for you.
40:00I should keep you going for some time.
40:01If you'll just steer clear of that little weakness of yours.
40:06The great thing about weaknesses is never to let them interfere with business.
40:11Well, I very much obliged you.
40:14That seems to settle things very nicely, thank you.
40:16Thank you, my lord.
40:18Miss Fane.
40:19Bye, Mr. Bright.
40:22That was rather horrid.
40:49Yes, it was.
40:50Still, if it got the truth out of it.
40:55If it was the truth.
40:56Ah, you think it wasn't.
40:59It doesn't sound quite right for Alexis, somehow.
41:04And also...
41:05Yes?
41:07Speaking as a novelist,
41:08if I were trying to think of an explanation as to how that razor got into the hands of Paul Alexis,
41:14that's exactly the sort of story I'd come up with.
41:16Oh.
41:17Oh.
41:19Bunter, you had a reason for melting into the mouldings.
41:23Yes, my lord.
41:24I thought it advisable in case your lordship subsequently desiring to have the person kept under surveillance.
41:29Your forethought is as ever, Bunter, remarkable.
41:35You wouldn't happen to have a tied table on you, would you?
41:38Certainly, my lord.
41:39Oh, thank you.
41:41Well, I don't know.
41:44I find it all rather evocative and convincing.
41:48The waves have broken against the sea wall.
41:53Except that they weren't.
41:55Your instinct was quite right, Harriet.
41:57But at the time he mentioned, the tide was at the extreme bottom of the ebb.
42:04No, I agree with you, my lord.
42:06Mr. Bright's story just doesn't hold water.
42:09If you'll forgive the pun.
42:11Still, you know what they say.
42:13Truth is stranger than fiction.
42:15Oh, certainly.
42:17The most difficult thing for a writer of fiction is to make the truth sound convincing.
42:20Maybe that was Mr. Bright's difficulty.
42:24Maybe he just got carried away by his imagination.
42:28Well, Sally Hardy has insisted on him collecting the reward from the offices of the Morning Star.
42:34And they've said they'll need time to check on his story, so we're going to keep in touch with Mr. Bright.
42:38And if he doesn't show up for the reward?
42:40Then we'll know there's something fishy about him.
42:44A report on Mr. Haviland Martins.
42:46Can the sort of man who goes camping really be called Haviland Martins?
42:51They've traced the car.
42:53MY12.
42:55Tom Goodrich remembered it.
42:57Short and sweet, eh, Percy?
42:58MY12.
43:00Haviland Martins rented the car from a garage in London last Thursday week.
43:06Paid the deposit in cash and returned it on Sunday night.
43:10He gave his reference a Cambridge banker and showed them a driving licence made out in the name of Martin.
43:17Hmm.
43:19My lord.
43:21What does your mystery writer's mind make of that?
43:24I think that if I were trying to invent a way for a murderer to reach an appointed spot and leave it again,
43:30complete with bag and baggage, leaving no traceable trail,
43:34I'd have him behave exactly as Mr. Haviland Martins has.
43:39I'd have him open a bank account in a false name,
43:42hire a car,
43:44giving the bank's address to the garage as sole reference,
43:47pay cash,
43:48and then possibly close the bank account again in the near future.
43:53Did they check on the bank?
43:55Oh.
43:56Um,
43:57Mr. Haviland Martins has been a depositor for five years.
44:01I would agree with you, Harriet,
44:04but, um,
44:04five years seems rather a long time to premeditate a crime.
44:08Hmm.
44:10Yes, Percy, what is it?
44:11Oh, I saw old Pollock, sir.
44:12I told him to be here by eleven o'clock.
44:14Oh, no.
44:16All right, I'll see him in a minute.
44:19Pollock's the old devil we think was fishing out there that day, my lord.
44:23I don't know if you want to be present.
44:25Oh, uh, thank you.
44:26Very decent of you, Inspector.
44:28Oh, would you mind, Miss?
44:29That's quite all right, Inspector.
44:31I have to go anyway.
44:33I meant to tell you.
44:34I've been changing my address.
44:35Oh.
44:37You needn't worry.
44:38I'm not going to leave town or anything like that.
44:42You're quite right, Inspector.
44:43The resplendent is rather large and rather expensive,
44:46so I'm taking lodgings.
44:47Oh, very wisely.
44:48The address, by the way, is 4 Jubilee Walk.
44:52Thank you, sir.
44:54That's where the dead man lived.
44:56What she'll do now, I wonder.
45:03Morning, Mrs. LeFran.
45:05Oh, I'm sorry, love.
45:08You're earlier than I expected.
45:10I'll, I'll just finish this.
45:16A make the front to look nice.
45:18Oh, that's all right.
45:20I'm in no hurry.
45:21No, I never asked.
45:23Are you in the business?
45:24What business?
45:25A theatrical.
45:27No, I write books.
45:29Oh, you're not one of them journalists, are you?
45:32Oh, no.
45:33Worry to death I've been with them,
45:35poking their long noses into my private affairs.
45:39Never a thought for my feelings.
45:42Poor Mr. Alexis.
45:43I can imagine how you must feel, Mrs. LeFrancq.
45:48I can imagine how you must feel, Mrs. LeFrancq.
45:52As a matter of fact, it was me who found him.
45:55Well, I never would you like to see the room.
46:04This is it.
46:06And I'm sure you won't find better in Wilbercombe.
46:09It's nice and quiet, and you'll be able to do your writing beautiful.
46:12I've had it all cleaned up in his clothes and things put away, but if you was to dislike
46:18the books or bits and pieces about, then I could always put them down in the set.
46:22No, they're no bother at all.
46:23I mean, it's not as if he died in this room, is it?
46:28Poor love.
46:30And anything infectious, there is not, for he always enjoyed good health,
46:35barring the pain in his joints, which used to play him up from time to time,
46:39and the agony he went through was cruel.
46:43My sister had the rheumatics, so I know all about it.
46:47A trapeze artist, she was.
46:50I've got a photo in my room, Miss Vane, if you'd like to see it.
46:53And the wreaths our old pal sent to her funeral was beautiful to see.
46:59Now, how long would you be wanting the room for?
47:02Well, I don't really know. It depends when the inquest is held.
47:05Oh, yes.
47:06They have to find him first, haven't they?
47:09Poor lamb.
47:11I can't sleep of nights for thinking of him washing about in all that nasty sea.
47:18Would you be wanting two and a half guineas per week, all found,
47:20or twelve shillings and find for yourself?
47:23Can't a man take his own boat out when he likes?
47:25So you admit, you were there?
47:27You said so.
47:29Hey, Baines's, I suppose.
47:31Nasty, peering, prying lot.
47:33Now then, Mr. Pollock, think carefully.
47:37What time did you get to the Flatiron Rock?
47:41Well, you'd better ask Tom Baines.
47:43Poking and prying like one of these bloody Bolsheviks.
47:46Oh, never mind all that.
47:48If you've nothing to hide, just answer the question.
47:52Were I off the Flatiron Wednesday?
47:54Right.
47:54Yes, I were.
48:02About what time?
48:06One?
48:09Two?
48:10Might be about then.
48:12Did you see anyone on the shore?
48:14As the evil of a woman keep her in a boat on the beach, that's what I see.
48:18Going on as if she was loony.
48:20I must tell Miss Baines she'd appreciate that.
48:22Did you see anyone on the Flatiron?
48:26There were a chap lying down.
48:30How long had he been lying there?
48:33Couldn't say.
48:34She climbed up on the rock and then starts a yowling, waving her arms.
48:38I didn't take no notice.
48:39I never takes no notice of females.
48:40Now, Pollock, just answer me this.
48:42Did you see anyone else on the shore that morning?
48:46Couldn't say.
48:46Were you inside of the shore all the time?
48:49Yes, I were.
48:50And you saw nobody apart from the woman and the man lying down?
48:52Ain't I telling you, I never looked.
48:55What were you doing off the grinders that day?
49:01Was someone else with you in the boat?
49:04No, there weren't.
49:04How about your grandson?
49:06Oh, him.
49:07He were there.
49:08Why shouldn't he be?
49:10Mr Pollock, can we get one thing quite clear?
49:12Did you see anybody walking or riding along the shore between one and two o'clock?
49:22Can't say.
49:22Never noticed.
49:25All right then, Pollock.
49:27Then give your statement to Constable Armand outside.
49:32And we shall want to question your grandson.
49:34No, you can't, then.
49:34He's been here.
49:35He's gone to Ireland.
49:36Come on, Pollock.
49:37Pack of fools.
49:38Police here.
49:39Police there.
49:39There's no blasted freedom in this country.
49:45Well, my lord, what do you make of that?
49:48If he was in his boat off the grinders that day, and he did see Miss Vane and the body on
49:53the rock, then he was bound to see anybody else on the beach.
49:58And yet he says he didn't.
50:00So it has to be suicide.
50:04Of course, he could be lying.
50:07He is certainly lying, Inspector.
50:09But about what and why?
50:14Oh, excuse me, sir, but there's a gentleman here from Seahampton, a dealer in old coins.
50:19He saw the picture of Paul Alexis in the paper and thought you ought to know something.
50:23Well, know what?
50:24Well, the day before he died, Alexis drew everything out of his bank account and bought 300 gold
50:30sovereigns.
50:31Well, if this is suicide, it's like no suicide I ever heard of.
50:37Well, if you will, but there's no suicide.
50:38Well, if this is not right, I don't know.
50:39Well, I'm sorry.
50:39Well, I'm sorry.
50:40Well, I'll see you next to my life.