- 3 weeks ago
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00:00Dear friends, let us begin.
00:33I can see you. I can see you, Papuji. You missed a cliff.
00:42Papuji. That's what you always called me.
00:46You're not weak for me, Papuji. All is well.
00:52Say it again, then.
00:54Papuji, why don't you give me? Let me give you.
00:59I have to go now, Papuji.
01:04Farewell.
01:08Death is but a door.
01:12There's nothing here but peace, universal, never-ending.
01:18Peace and joy.
01:24The connection is fading.
01:28Papuji, I can't see you, Papuji.
01:34Oh, bless you, Papuji.
01:47Mr. Snead? Mr. Snead, are you alright?
01:54What was the idea?
01:55I'm sorry.
02:05I've missed you.
03:38Medium.
03:40And killed by a single blow to the heart.
03:42Done with some force.
03:44Can we deduce anything from the angle?
03:48Pretty much straight on.
03:50We'll obviously know more when we get the prints analysed.
03:52Yes, yes.
03:53Right, well, we're holding the others down at the stations.
03:55Any obvious suspects?
03:59Oh, apologies, Inspector.
04:01Like the dead, murder travels fast.
04:05Well, news of it, anyway.
04:07And I must confess to a personal interest in this matter.
04:10You see, I rather suspected that something of this sort might happen to Harold Terence Sneed.
04:17Really?
04:17You knew the victim.
05:05Half cloth.
05:06Oh, uh, paper-covered boards.
05:08Uh, spine-bounding cloth.
05:10Excellent.
05:10Duodecimo.
05:11Uh, uh, a book.
05:14Good start.
05:15Uh, seven inches tall.
05:17Seven or eight?
05:18Want an aura?
05:19Do I get a shilling?
05:20You may.
05:21Bastard title.
05:22Oh, hang on, hang on.
05:24I know this.
05:24Come on, come on, come on.
05:26Uh.
05:26Come on, come on.
05:27The page before the title, page with nothing but the title one.
05:31Correct.
05:32Yes.
05:33Bugger.
05:33Definitely worth a shilling.
05:35Come on, Jack.
05:35Nora's putting you to shame.
05:37She doesn't even work here.
05:38I could just say the word.
05:41Impossible.
05:42Your uncle says you're indispensable.
05:43That's only because he doesn't pay me.
05:47Oh, Mr. Basehart.
05:49Hello.
05:50Good morning.
05:51Good morning.
05:52What can we do for you?
05:54Uh, Mr. Booker.
05:56Uh, I was wondering if you could help me with a little problem.
06:05Come this way.
06:22His name is Harold Sneed.
06:33I've heard that name before.
06:36Gently now, Aisha.
06:42Sneed.
06:42He's a medium.
06:43A psychic.
06:45Ah.
06:46Oh, you remember young Jack?
06:48You may speak freely in front of him.
06:51He's by way of being apprenticed here.
06:53Think of him as Pip to my Joe Gargery.
06:56Really?
06:58Oh, well, I have great expectations.
07:01Oh, no.
07:02Well, anyway, all that psychic stuff is not really something I believe in.
07:07You are wise in your generation.
07:08Oh, I did go and see one once.
07:10A medium.
07:11Yeah.
07:11End of a pier.
07:12South End.
07:13Old girl.
07:13All scarves and bangles.
07:15How did that go?
07:16Well, she got in touch with a few people, you know.
07:19Including my Aunt Irene.
07:21There was a lot of moaning, as I recall.
07:24And how was she?
07:25Who?
07:26Your Auntie Irene.
07:27Oh, very happy in the veil of mist and looking down on me with pride.
07:31They always are.
07:32So, how exactly can I help you, Mr. Basel?
07:36Ah, well, now, it's not me I've come for.
07:40I know how you helped clear up that nasty business with Eric Wellbeloved and George Harcup.
07:47And people tell me you're very, um, discreet.
07:51How indiscreet of them?
07:53Oh, uh, I'm actually here about someone else.
08:08Mrs. Dredge, you're close, are you?
08:11Well, you know, we were nodding acquaintances and then, well, after Harcup died, I just seemed
08:19to keep on bumping into her.
08:21We'd become very fond of one another.
08:24Then, then, when she lost her boy, I...
08:26I heard about that.
08:27I just heard.
08:28Well, what happened?
08:30Accident.
08:31Overdose of his morphine.
08:33He was in so much pain.
08:35Yes, I remember.
08:36Hmm.
08:37Anyway, Mr. Book, the thing is, Ada, she's...
08:40Well, not to put too fine a point on it, she's wallowing in it.
08:44Wallowing in her grief.
08:45I mean, I always knew she had an interest in spiritualism.
08:49And she kept on mentioning it more and more.
08:53And that there was this chap, Sneed, and how he was the only one who could put her in touch
09:00with her boy.
09:01And, well, it seemed altruistic.
09:03I mean, he doesn't charge a bean.
09:06And it helped at first.
09:08But now?
09:09She can't keep away from him.
09:14I just think it's making it all worse, Mr. Book.
09:19Much worse.
09:20And she's never going to move on.
09:22So I just wondered if perhaps you might think there was something to do to help?
09:32I'm sure she'd listen to you, Mr. Book.
09:34Look, we shall have to tread carefully.
09:39If she's a true believer, then Mrs. Dredge might not take too kindly to any intervention.
09:46It's rather like waking a sleepwalker.
09:49Oh.
09:50But, uh...
09:54I'll do what I can.
10:18I'll do what I can.
10:26Right-o.
10:27Morris.
10:28Sir.
10:29Stick-up job.
10:31Tobacconist.
10:31It's on Mercer Street.
10:33Bring the car around.
10:36Well?
10:37Morris.
10:39Jump to it.
10:41Yes, sir.
10:54Spiritalism began in America, not surprising, where all sorts of silly things have started.
10:59Yeah.
11:00Hot dogs.
11:01Coca-Cola.
11:02The Fox Sisters, they were called.
11:04Three of them.
11:05Cowboy films.
11:07Gangster films.
11:08Electric chair.
11:09Such an uncivilized way to kill someone.
11:12The Sisters convinced everyone they could communicate with the dead by making strange banging noises.
11:17Created a whole industry out of it.
11:19Where are bananas from?
11:20Uh, not America.
11:22Never had a banana.
11:24Anyway.
11:25Years later, one of the Sisters revealed they'd done the whole thing by cracking the knuckles in their toes.
11:32It was too late.
11:33Even though it was a proven fraud, people wanted to believe.
11:37And they still do.
11:39Here you are, Mr. Book.
11:40The best for you.
11:41Ah, thank you, Youssef.
11:43I owe you.
11:44You do.
11:45Six shillings.
11:46Uh, yes.
11:47Uh, pay the man, would you, Jack?
11:50What's that?
11:51Life is short.
11:52Eat your pudding first.
11:54A present for Mrs. Dredge.
11:56Off the ration.
11:58A sweet tooth is always a reliable way into someone's confidence.
12:01Come on.
12:03Up, up, up.
12:03Not you, young lady.
12:05Dishes.
12:07Oh, what?
12:08There is a pile of dishes in there higher than the Hagia Sophia.
12:12Howdy.
12:18You should give the girl a rise.
12:20She eats, she has a roof over her head.
12:22What more does she want?
12:25Cheerio.
12:46Oh, Turkish delight.
12:48Oh, it's been years.
12:50My late husband used to get me a box every Christmas.
12:53Of course, he's long gone now.
12:55Long gone.
12:57Oh, it's just one thing after another.
13:00First him, then poor George Harkat, and then...
13:04And then my elf.
13:05Yes, I had heard.
13:06I'm so terribly sorry.
13:09Yes, I still keep his boots just as they were.
13:13And now he's in Our Lady of Dalston, down the road next to his dad.
13:17A veil of tears, this life, Mr. Book.
13:20That's what it is, a ruddy veil of tears.
13:22Still, you're managing?
13:24Oh, yes, yes.
13:25George, Mr. Harkat's money won't come through for a while yet, but I'm all right.
13:30But to the matter in hand, Mrs. Dredge,
13:33I noticed some advertisements when last I visited.
13:37Footfalls on the boundary of another world.
13:40Oh, you've noticed those, yes.
13:42Well, I used to give little talks on it up at the Temperance Hall.
13:46The spirit world.
13:47It's concerning that that we're here, dear lady.
13:49I understand you're an acquaintance of Mr. Harold Sneed.
13:53Oh, oh, you've heard of him.
13:56Yes, oh, well, remarkable man is Mr. Sneed.
14:01I talk to my elf regularly now, through Mr. Sneed, of course.
14:06Great comfort it is.
14:08We're believers, too, Mrs. Dredge, aren't we, Jack?
14:12Oh, yeah, big fans of the dead.
14:20It's not quite the way I'd put it.
14:22Of course, Mr. Sneed caters to a very sophisticated clientele.
14:27I don't doubt it.
14:28But if there were any way of, um...
14:31Getting you on the list?
14:34Well, I do pride myself that Mr. Sneed and I are on very good terms.
14:39I'll see what I can do.
14:47Well, thank you very much again, Mrs. Dredge.
14:50And if we are fortunate enough to attend,
14:53is there anything we need to do to prepare?
14:56Well, Mr. Sneed does sometimes ask his sitters to bring an object
15:01closely related to the dear departed keepsake or some such
15:05of the one you have lost.
15:07Do you have anything like that?
15:11I'll have a think.
15:13Good day.
15:22Cheerio.
15:26Cheerio.
15:27Cheerio.
15:32Cheerio.
15:46Cheerio.
15:55Cheerio.
16:03I don't know.
16:38My plan was gradually and subtly to unpick his schemes.
16:43Someone's unpicked him unsubtly, and for good.
16:47This window, is it always open like this?
16:50Yes, why? You think someone chucked the knife through it?
16:54So, six persons present, excluding the deceased.
16:58All of them swear their hands were joined at the moment of the murder.
17:01Well, they would, wouldn't they?
17:04What's this?
17:07Bracelet? Napkin ring?
17:10Oh.
17:12Shall we?
17:18Got a print?
17:19Oh, a couple of beauties.
17:21Oh, excellent.
17:47Do we know if they were regulars, the ones at the sales last night?
17:50Looks like it.
17:52First up, there's the factotum.
17:54One Aisha Jean-Baptiste.
17:56Then there's Geraldine Mercer.
18:00Our old friend, Mrs. Ada Dredge.
18:04Yeah, she has no luck, does she?
18:07Lastly, a professor, Bed Chopra, and the spinster Mrs. Plum Chute, Clara and Amelia.
18:15Looks like the usual collection of lost souls in search of some meaning in that pointless and miserable lies.
18:23Dear me, Inspector.
18:24We do have the gloves today.
18:25How is, um, Mrs. Bliss?
18:31Much the same.
18:34Ernie, forgive me.
18:36Were you ever...
18:38What?
18:39Happy.
18:43I seem to recall an afternoon just around the time of the abdication?
18:49It doesn't have to be like this, you know.
18:51There is such a thing as divorce.
18:52I couldn't.
18:55Just wouldn't sit right with me.
18:57So you're condemning yourself to a life...
18:59The question is one of motive, then.
19:02Yes.
19:04Well, you met the man.
19:06Why would any of these people want to kill him?
19:10How long have you got?
19:13Yes.
19:15Would you be so kind as to clear away the gin and biscuits now, Aisha?
19:25Poor child is mute, alas.
19:27But loyal, loyal to a fault.
19:30Where did you find her?
19:32Well, charming name.
19:34She who must be obeyed.
19:36Have you read Ryder Haggard?
19:37It's a corker.
19:38Shh.
19:39Sorry.
19:41Again, we're very grateful.
19:44I found Aisha on the old Kent Road.
19:47Would you believe in a circus?
19:49No.
19:51Now, would you be so kind as to lower the lights, Aisha?
19:59Brightness, as we know,
20:03is anathema to those from the land of mists.
20:12Now, then.
20:14Any mementos?
20:16A special something.
20:19As we know,
20:21this will help in summoning the loved one
20:23from the...
20:25from the beyond.
20:27of the world.
20:36Where are we?
20:41No.
20:43...
21:10How are my friends, old and new?
21:12Small in number, but stout of heart.
21:15Let us join hands in the prescribed manner.
21:19Hold on your right.
21:23Be held on your left.
21:42There it goes.
21:43Chaps going under, witnesses before.
21:46Malay one are out for him.
21:48Spirits will be coming through now, from Summerland.
21:52Summerland?
21:53What are you talking about?
21:55It's Summerland.
21:56It's what they call the spirit world.
21:59This isn't your first time.
22:01No, no, no, no, quite in the old hand.
22:03Oh my god.
22:05They're here.
22:06They're here.
22:07They're here.
22:08Oh, listen.
22:10What is it?
22:11Birds.
22:12There are birds on the other side.
22:14It's a proven fact.
22:15They go to heaven too.
22:17And dogs.
22:18It's reassuring.
22:27Mom.
22:30Mom.
22:32Are you there?
22:33Oh, well.
22:35Oh, well.
22:36Is that you again?
22:37Yeah.
22:38Yeah, mother.
22:39It's me.
22:42Do not weep for me, mother.
22:46I'm happy.
22:48You too.
22:49I'm happy.
22:49Oh, well.
22:51I wish I could see you.
22:53Mom.
22:55Oh, I'll say very weary, Mom.
22:59But perhaps I can linger just a moment more.
23:07Good Lord.
23:10Touch.
23:12Touch my hand, mother.
23:14Let me feel your touch.
23:17Just once more.
23:20Mom.
23:21Oh, it's cold.
23:22It's so cold.
23:23Mom.
23:23Oh, well.
23:24Oh, well.
23:25Did I do right?
23:27Did I do the right thing?
23:30No, no, no, no.
23:34No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
23:36no, no, no.
23:36No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
23:37no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
23:37no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
23:38no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
23:44no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
23:49no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
24:06Vrchli, gluchli.
24:10What's he saying?
24:14Do not grieve, my son.
24:18I am happy.
24:22Truly happy.
24:52Thank you so much for coming.
24:56You heard what he said.
24:58How did he know about my dad?
25:05Fascinating, fascinating.
25:07I'd love to hear more, Mr Sneed.
25:09Perhaps you could pop over and see me tomorrow.
25:13My God.
25:15Books, books.
25:17How charming.
25:19No, no, no, keep it, please.
25:21Oh, well, you're very kind.
25:22I'm all right now.
25:24Ladies.
25:26Shall we say eleven-ish?
25:29Ish.
25:31Of course, um,
25:33I always, um,
25:34like to spread the word.
25:37Goodnight, Ben.
25:39It's nice to see you.
25:40You too.
25:44Well, thank you again,
25:45Mrs Dredge. Most enlightening.
25:48Will I see you here again?
25:49Oh, I should think so. And you?
25:51Oh, of course.
25:53Well...
25:55Night, Ben.
25:56Goodnight.
26:01Night-night.
26:02Ta-ra.
26:13Did you know Kate the autopsy report on her boy?
26:17Accidental overdose.
26:19Hmm.
26:20There was something else very interesting in it, though.
26:23Oh?
26:23The boy's fingers, splashed with ink.
26:26He'd been writing?
26:28Nothing at the bedside.
26:30No pen, no paper.
26:33Did I do right, she said.
26:36Did I do the right thing?
26:39Well, what could that mean?
26:4121's coming.
26:43I think we should treat ourselves to a cab,
26:46don't you?
27:03Poor Jack.
27:05When he got out that photo.
27:07Yes, that was, as they used to say,
27:09a bit of a facer.
27:12We need to look after him, Trotty.
27:14Make sure he feels involved.
27:16He's obviously desperate for answers.
27:18Like me.
27:20Where's he got to?
27:22Got for a smoke.
27:25And how's that all going?
27:26Finding out about what happened to Elix.
27:31You can say his name, you know.
27:33I know, it's just...
27:34We progress.
27:38Time for bed, I think.
27:40You sure you'll be all right down here?
27:41Oh yes, perfectly all right.
27:43At least until my ceiling's fixed.
27:45Whole place is crumbling, Trotty.
27:48Like the Empire.
27:51Don't shut me out, Book.
27:55Shut you out?
27:56I know how delicate all this is.
27:58I know how much it must all hurt.
28:01It's fine, I'm fine.
28:04I just want to help.
28:05You are helping.
28:07It takes time, that's all.
28:08Getting us into Germany.
28:10Strings must be pulled.
28:13You'll know everything just as soon as I do.
28:15I promise.
28:18Be careful, my love.
28:20It's not always a good idea.
28:23Disturbing the dead.
28:26Good night, Mr. Book.
28:29Good night, Mrs. Book.
28:52Good night.
28:56I never had his name, just that, just that one picture.
29:06Your father was a German.
29:10German.
29:18I last saw your father, Felix von Bode, in a Berlin
29:24railway station in 1935.
29:27According to the information I received, he was sent to a sanatorium shortly afterwards
29:32and died there, and was sent the death certificate.
29:35And?
29:36Some sort of tumour on the brain.
29:39I wrote to his family, expressed my condolences, but I never had any reply.
29:46And then one day, only last year, just after V-Day, in fact...
29:50You heard from him?
29:50Not exactly.
29:53A photograph came into my possession.
30:04That's him.
30:07That's my dad.
30:10Yes.
30:12Dated December the 5th, 1936.
30:18So?
30:21The day I was told Felix died, in the sanatorium.
30:55And you already Pratt's a black man.
30:56I took a Corinth as a guy to faces in a night, almost this time.
30:57Even then the noises, I took a nomination after four inches of college,
31:07An amontillado.
31:08Only a glass, not a cask.
31:11Ah.
31:12Poe.
31:13Poe.
31:13So early in the morning, one does feel a little naughty.
31:17You prefer something milder?
31:19Tea?
31:20Coffee?
31:20We have only chicory, alas, the ration.
31:23No, no.
31:28We could all do with a little cheering out, don't you think?
31:31The war does cast a very long shadow.
31:36Quite.
31:44Bugger at there.
31:46Mm-hmm.
31:47Do I find myself in a socialist household?
31:49I try not to be too tribal about these things.
31:51The Prime Minister's doing a very good job in difficult times, is all I think.
31:55Bring back Winston, I say.
31:56He does have his uses.
32:00Speaking of the war, Mr. Sneed, last night, he is...
32:04That photograph the young man gave him.
32:07Oh, oh yeah.
32:08How did you know all that?
32:13The ways of the beyond are a mystery even to Harold Sneed.
32:20I am a mere vessel, Mr. Bourke.
32:23Come now, Mr. Sneed.
32:25We are not children.
32:31And you had heard your name before, so I asked around.
32:34You've been a professional medium since the 20s.
32:37But during the war...
32:38Yes?
32:38Your powers were utilised by the authorities.
32:42Oh, how did you know that?
32:44Because I was pressed into service too.
32:46I thought you were a mere bookseller.
32:48Well, I read books and people like you do.
32:54Very useful method of acquiring information.
32:57According to my sources, you were very helpful in laying hands on all kinds of undesirables.
33:02Miscreants, black marketeers, fifth colonists, fascists like Sir Gideon Fay and Harrison Hopper.
33:13I did what I could to serve my country.
33:16And the spirits were kind.
33:18You used the same crooked methods you do in your so-called profession.
33:22But for once on the side of the angels.
33:24Did you invite me here just to insult me?
33:26No, that's just a bonus.
33:29Crooked methods.
33:30Well, explain it then.
33:32Explain what happened last night.
33:35Trauert nix, mein sohn.
33:37Ich bin glückli.
33:39Vakly glückli.
33:41It was rather touchy, I thought.
33:43The fatuous platitude.
33:44But you people always deal in generalisations, don't you?
33:47Oh, we people do, do we?
33:49You'd heard Jack's name already when we arrived.
33:52You asked him for a memento.
33:54Obviously, it would be something linked to a meaningful loss.
33:58A quick glance at the photograph told you it was of some age, so probably not a brother.
34:03My son could merely be a term of affection,
34:06or more specifically, a father talking to his child.
34:10Worth you taking a punt.
34:11But the German now, the German.
34:13How did you manage that?
34:15Ah, yes.
34:16There's a number on the back of the photo with a crossed seven in the Continental Manor.
34:21Could have been French.
34:22And presumably, you would have tried that too, if Jack hadn't reacted the way he did.
34:35All I offer is a little comfort, a little hope.
34:42Now, my clients...
34:43Your customers?
34:44Well, hardly.
34:45I don't charge.
34:47They see me as a confidant, a father-confessor, if you will.
34:55Paul de Dash.
34:57Don't bring heaven into this.
34:59We must make the best of what we have.
35:02And if there is a god, he is a cruel and abhorrent thing, is he not?
35:06No, Mr. Sneed, no gods, no ghosts.
35:11Consider this a warning.
35:12Oh, people, Paul de Dash.
35:15I'm not about to let you get your claws into Jack Blunt, nor into Mrs. A to Dredge.
35:20You, sir, are a grief leech.
35:23I beg your pardon.
35:25Psychics, mediums, whatever you choose to call yourselves.
35:29Grief leeches.
35:30Peddling a few tatty, ancient parletrics,
35:33and passing them off as supernatural powers.
35:35Feasting off the bereaved,
35:38and fleecing them so they can never move on.
35:41Filthy, crooked, mendacious, disgusting pigs.
35:46Can I help you?
35:48Good morning.
35:50You want me to have a book?
36:01Thank you, Mrs. Pham.
36:03Cheerio.
36:11The sight of that picture did provoke quite a reaction in you, too, Mr. Book.
36:17Perhaps you were expecting a message from the beyond that was less platitudinous and more intimate.
36:25What exactly are you suggesting?
36:31We all have our secrets, Mr. Book.
36:34Perhaps you'd be so good as to keep your nose out of mine.
36:46Thank you for the Montiato.
37:26Sorry.
37:28What for?
37:30It wasn't what you hoped for,
37:32but it wasn't Felix who came to you last night.
37:39That's okay, Mr. Pug.
37:41We need to concentrate on what's real.
37:45Don't we?
37:47Yes, Jack.
37:51Yes, we do.
38:05Oh, Mr. Smeet.
38:12Oh, Mr. Smeet.
38:25Good evening.
38:26Good evening.
38:27Evening.
38:28Who knows what tonight might hold.
38:31Yes, indeed.
38:31Good evening.
38:34Good evening.
39:22Dear friends, let us begin.
39:36Could you tell us about what happened to your daughter?
39:40There is little to say.
39:42Akshmi was the light of my life.
39:46After my wife passed over, my daughter was all I had.
39:49You're a professor, sir.
39:52Chemistry, University of London.
39:54I came here before the war.
39:57Which was a distinguished one, by all accounts.
39:59I did my bit.
40:00May I ask you, Miss, the nature of your loss?
40:04My mother.
40:05She had rather an unhappy end.
40:08I suppose I've been going to the seances looking for some kind of answer.
40:13What happened to Akshmi?
40:15A car struck her.
40:21Hit and run.
40:23We were taking a little holiday in Scotland.
40:26One moment everything was fine.
40:28And the next, my whole world changed.
40:33Very sorry.
40:34The police, they said they could do nothing.
40:37The driver.
40:40There were no witnesses, so it was impossible to trace her.
40:44The seance had been proceeding as usual.
40:48Mr. Sneed was sitting next to me.
40:50All our hands were linked.
40:52Well, technically, I suppose, our wrists.
40:54Yes, we did the same at the one I attended.
40:57It had been a very successful session.
41:00Mr. Sneed had made contact with Professor Chopra's daughter,
41:04Mrs. Dredge's son, a high priestess from Atlantis,
41:08and Mr. Bonalore, the late Prime Minister.
41:13Busy night.
41:14I know what you must be thinking.
41:16He's a rational man, a scientist.
41:20What's he doing messing about with table-dappers?
41:24Well, I can't answer that.
41:26I only know I needed solace in whatever form I could find.
41:32I tried my faith and found it wanting.
41:37When one loses a child,
41:40one descends into a particular kind of hell.
41:45And that's when you came across Harold Sneed?
41:48In hell.
41:49Was there anything unusual about this particular seance,
41:53this particular group of people?
41:55Well, I don't think I'd met any of them before.
41:58I just got a phone call confirming I was on the list.
42:01There was nothing unusual other than that.
42:04There was a rota, a schedule.
42:06Yes.
42:07I went every other Thursday,
42:10although my invitations had increased somewhat recently.
42:14And the phone invitation, a voice you knew?
42:18Yes.
42:19Yes, it was Mr. Sneed himself.
42:21And that was unusual?
42:23It's usually a letter.
42:25It's never happened before.
42:27I go quite regularly.
42:28I was simply informed that it was my turn again.
42:30By letter?
42:31No, by telephone.
42:33Sneed called you?
42:34Yes.
42:35That was unusual.
42:42Right.
42:42Who's next?
42:45Well...
42:45No point.
42:47No point?
42:48Well, we got statements from the others,
42:50but it's got to be Miss Mercer or the Professor, isn't it?
42:52Has it?
42:53They were the ones sat on either side of the victim.
42:56Stands to reason, doesn't it?
42:57One of them must have stabbed him.
42:58It's just a question of proximity.
43:01Well...
43:02I think he's right.
43:04Sneed was stabbed front on.
43:06So, yeah, it must have been one of them.
43:10You don't think so?
43:12We're in the land of mists, Inspector.
43:15We're dabbling with the dead.
43:18Perhaps not all...
43:21is what it seems.
43:25Very good.
43:41Well, you don't remember how wounded.
43:46No, um...
43:48Yes.
43:49Yes, from the...
43:50Yes, the seance.
43:52Good Lord, did you hear?
43:53Oh, yes.
43:55It was stressful.
43:56Poor old Sneed.
43:57Sorry, I didn't mean to distress you, Miss...
44:00Uh, Trotty.
44:01Book.
44:01Trotty book, this is.
44:02And you don't need to worry about me.
44:04I'm made of fairly strong stuff.
44:05Reggie Winters.
44:06Colonel.
44:07Delighting.
44:08Wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances.
44:11Not at a bus stop, you mean?
44:16About the, um...
44:18seance, how did you...?
44:19Oh, somebody got me on the list, friend of a friend, and I thought I'd give it a whirl.
44:22And how did you find it?
44:24Very entertaining, actually.
44:26Well, more than that.
44:27I suppose it gave me...
44:31something.
44:34Forgive me, what was the nature of your bereavement?
44:37Well, I lost a lot of pals during the war, obviously, but more particularly...
44:42the Memsarp.
44:44It's my wife.
44:45Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to...
44:47No, it's kind of all right.
44:48We're also made of stern stuff in the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders.
44:53Perhaps we'll run into one another again.
44:55Yes, perhaps we will.
44:57It's my boss.
44:59Cheerio.
45:06Cheerio.
45:14Hmm.
45:18Oh, no.
45:20Oh, no.
45:34Oh.
45:36Oh.
45:40Oh.
45:41Oh, oh
45:42Oh, oh.
45:46Oh, oh.
45:46Oh, oh, oh.
45:55How long have you been in Mr. Sneed's employ?
46:03Five years come Christmas.
46:06You met at the circus, I gather.
46:09I had an accident.
46:11On the trapeze.
46:13And then Mr. Sneed offered you a job with him.
46:16Happy in your work?
46:23Happy as a sound boy.
46:25And you were in charge of the appointments you arranged to us to come to each seance?
46:34Mr. Sneed selected the patrons.
46:37I just contacted them.
46:39By letter, clearly.
46:42Aisha, I may call you Aisha, mayn't I?
46:45How did you feel about your employer's profession?
46:48The flummery, the mummery, the tricks of the trade.
46:53Like that.
46:54Is that how Sneed made all the lights go out?
47:03It's a living.
47:05Well, thank you very much.
47:08Oh, finally, Miss Jean-Baptiste.
47:10How do you feel about the death of your employer?
47:23Out of a job, aren't I?
47:40Out of a job, aren't I?
47:43And how would you refer to it?
47:45A calling, perhaps.
47:47A vocation, rather.
47:48Yes, perhaps the better word.
47:50You see, after Amelia and I lost Teddy.
47:53In the war.
47:54The previous war.
47:55The great war.
47:56The war to end all wars.
47:57Oh.
47:57Oh, the horrible irony of that.
47:59If any of us had known.
48:00How could we have known?
48:01That a few wretched years later.
48:03It would all happen again.
48:04And poor Teddy's sacrifice.
48:05All for nothing.
48:06Nothing.
48:07So we do what little we can.
48:09To alleviate the sufferings of this world.
48:11And here you find us.
48:12Oh, but to get back to the seance.
48:14Do you want bread with that, dear?
48:16Yes, please.
48:17Over there.
48:20Well, you see, we've been in touch with Teddy.
48:23Ever since he passed over.
48:25We know all about his last moments on the Western Front.
48:28Terribly distressing, of course.
48:30But then, how much more wonderful to know that he is happy on the other side.
48:36And Harold Sneed, you've been attending his seances.
48:39Oh, my.
48:41Forever.
48:43Since 1928.
48:45In fact, oh, very impressive was Mr. Sneed.
48:49There has been ectoplasm.
48:51Really?
48:52And an angel sever.
48:54And he didn't charge you for this?
48:55No, nothing.
48:57Nothing at all.
48:58Only a voluntary contribution.
49:01Money was of little interest to...
49:03Of course, Mr. Sneed.
49:05And I have to ask, can you think of any reason why anyone...
49:09Would want to kill him?
49:15None.
49:18Well, thank you, ladies.
49:20You've been most kind.
49:27Fascinating.
49:29Handiwork as distinctive as the brushwork...
49:32To an old master.
49:35And?
50:01Profitable day, dear.
50:02Exhausted.
50:04Jack and I have tramped miles, haven't we, Jack?
50:07Miles.
50:08Inspector Bliss is focused on Professor Chopra and Miss Geraldine Mercer.
50:12The police mindset.
50:14But it does leave us a pretty clear field to investigate the other suspects.
50:19So, perhaps, maybe it's time.
50:24Oh, the pattern book.
50:26Oh good, it's been ages.
50:29The what?
50:29The pattern book.
50:31What's the pattern book?
50:33Well, no man is a hero to his valet, Jack.
50:36Isn't that what they say?
50:37The same thing is true of commerce.
50:39Right.
50:40It's really quite simple.
50:41We all of us develop habits.
50:44We tend to go to the same grocers, cobblers, bakers.
50:47We wear a groove into our own lives.
50:50A groove that can be analysed.
50:52And after numerous years in this business, Trotty's become rather good at it, haven't you, dear?
50:57I'm not bad.
50:59Gossip, you mean?
51:00Intelligence, Jack.
51:02We need to find out everything we can about all the people who attended the fatal seance.
51:07And there's really no better way than by scrutinising their spending habits.
51:11We call this the pattern book.
51:13You and I shall adopt the guises of twittery persons and go about our business.
51:19You and me?
51:20Of course.
51:21You're one of the family now, aren't you?
51:28Anything else to go on at the moment?
51:30Oh, no.
51:30It's far too soon to speculate.
51:32Nonsense.
51:33I know you.
51:34Three things?
51:35No.
51:36Heaps of things.
51:37This is a rum old case and no mistake.
51:40I would offer these up, Mrs. Book.
51:43An unbroken circle, a hit-and-run accident, and a pioneering plastic surgeon.
51:50Sorry.
51:52Uh, it's spectra on the blower.
51:54He wants to see you in the morning.
51:59Hmm.
52:02Oh, wow.
52:05Well, we got prints off the murder weapon.
52:08Professor Chopra's or Miss Mercer's?
52:11Neither.
52:12What about?
52:13Neither.
52:14A totally different set of prints.
52:16What?
52:17The fingerprints I took off the dagger were very distinctive.
52:20An odd double-looped wall pattern.
52:23They seemed familiar.
52:24Rang a bell.
52:25So, I went looking.
52:31Harrison Hopper.
52:32Remember him?
52:33Of course.
52:33Black, sir.
52:34Interned during a war, escaped to Germany, then arrested in 44.
52:37They hanged him, didn't they?
52:39Earlier this year.
52:40On evidence provided by Harold Sneed.
52:43What?
52:44Yes, I did some digging too.
52:46Sneed was co-opted by British intelligence.
52:49The war was a murky time.
52:52Made strange bedfellows of us all.
52:54No one around to clean the sheets.
52:56Sneed used his tricks to get all sorts of shady contacts.
53:00As a result, he knew where lots of Nazi sympathizers were hiding.
53:03Doctor, where's all this?
53:06Harrison Hopper had very unusual fingerprints.
53:09Double-loop.
53:10No two sets of fingerprints are alike, Inspector.
53:13The prints on the dagger belonged to Hopper.
53:15An executed Nazi.
53:17What?
53:19You heard what you said, Inspector.
53:22Harold Sneed was murdered...
53:24...by dead man.
53:40...by dead man.
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