Original subtitles

[music playing]

[theme music]

[music playing]

[phone ringing]

The Chillingham Partnership.

No, I'm afraid he's with a client.

Can Mr. Hearn help?

I'm afraid I can't disturb Mr. Chillingham.

I can't really say how long.

Yes, I'll tell him.

Yes, bye.

[loud bang]

Mr. Chillingham?

[knock]

Mr. Chillingham?

What's going on in there, Mr. Stamford?

You'd better com in.

I shouldn't bother.

I've already checked.

Chillingham is quite dead.

I expect you'll want to call the police.

Ah, Clarissa--

Charles, quick! Get the police.

Mr. Chillingham's been shot.

He's dead, Charles!

Two witnesses, sir.

Miss Tower, Mr. Hearn.

Any other stuff?

[inaudible] sir.

There's no other way out of that office, is there?

Right, you'd better get on with it then, Jack.

Know what you're doing, do you, son?

Yes, sir.

[knock]

Mr. George Stamford?

We're police officers.

I'm going to unlock this door and we're coming in.

Understood?

Ah, the gentlemen of the law.

On your feet, Mr. Stamford.

Hands on the table.

He's not armed, sir.

Mr. George Stamford?

Perhaps you'd like to tell us what happened, sir.

Where is it?

Hm?

The weapon, Mr. Stamford.

Where is it?

The weapon?

I'm sorry, I can't help you.

I see.

Look around, Sarge.

It can't be far away. You, sit down.

Chief Inspector Walters.

What can you tell me about this man Stamford?

Well, we only met him today.

I understand he lives abroad in Australia.

His father was an old client of Mr. Chillingham.

Hm.

Why'd he come here today?

I told the sergeant I assumed it had

to do with his father's estate.

Old Mr. Stamford died recently.

Huh.

Eh, you all right, miss?

You want a cup of tea or something?

- Oh, I'm fine. - Ah.

STAMFORD: Not very lively company, is he, Officer?

Comedian.

Hiding the weapon-- that meant to be funny, too?

How can I hide what I never had?

There's no sign of it about, sir.

Well, maybe he threw it out the window.

Look below.

Oh, and Jack?

Don't come back without it.

We'll find it, Mr. Stamford.

And when we do, you'll be charged with murder.

Until then, you're not obliged to say anything, but if you do,

it may be taken down and used as evidence.

Have you got that?

Now, any more little gems of wit?

Inspector.

Chief Inspector Walters.

Murder squad.

Well, Chief Inspector Walters, you seem to have

made up your mind about me.

Mr. Stamford, this office is on the sixth floor.

There's no other way except through that door, which

you locked from the inside.

No one else has been in here.

So only you could have killed him.

Now, just two questions--

why you shot him and what you've done with the weapon.

Forensics here, lads.

Small bore, actually. .22 or .25.

[inaudible]

What range?

Can't say yet.

It was an inside shot though, wasn't it?

It's possible.

It's also possible it came from that carpark across the way.

[sigh]

Oh, come on, Alec.

This has got to be done to our friend here.

You could be right.

It's a lovely shot, though.

Clean as a whistle.

I'm finished here, Chief.

Aye.

Look, make sure your lads give him a right going-over.

I want chapter and verse on him.

You'll get what you always get, laddy.

Well, he didn't throw it out the window, sir.

That's for certain.

All right, yeah.

See that carpark over there?

Top to bottom.

You don't really think we're going to find it there, sir?

No, but it's the only other place

the shot could've come from.

On your way.

[mutters]

Oh, for god's sake.

Do that in some other office.

Problem time, is it?

Mm.

No weapon.

You don't need one, laddy.

[sigh] It's got to be here somewhere.

It's got to be.

Oh, er, where'd they put Mr. Stamford?

Oh, in the documents room.

Through there, Inspector.

Oh, I see.

Look, I'd like you to think carefully.

After you heard the shot, did Mr. Stamford come out here.

You know, even for a moment?

No, Inspector. He couldn't have.

He was locked in.

Can you confirm that?

Well, I was in my office at the time.

But I did see Miss Tower lock the door.

And it remained locked till you arrived.

Mm.

When you saw Mr. Stamford in the office, did he have a gun?

I'm sorry.

All I can remember is Mr. Chillingham lying there dead.

My one thought was to get out.

Hm.

There's nowhere inside that office

that he might have hidden it?

You know, a safe, for instance?

The safe's in the documents room.

Oh.

Well, what do you keep in there?

Confidential papers, sir.

- Have you got a key? - Yes.

Perhaps we could have a look.

They're in my desk.

That's a rotten way for her to end

her stint with us, Inspector.

What?

Well, Clarissa, Miss Tower, is leaving

us at the end of the month.

Oh, I see.

Why was that?

Personal reasons, Inspector.

Not unconnected with marriage.

I'll open the safe for you.

Thank you.

Is that all, Inspector?

For the moment, thank you.

Please wait outside.

That's the loyal secretary.

She thinks I did it, too.

Didn't you?

Why should I want to do a thing like that, Inspector?

Oh, don't worry, Mr. Stamford. We'll find out.

What was your business here?

I believe I'm allowed legal representation.

That's right.

It's one call, isn't it? May I?

Thank you.

We'd been discussing my father's affairs for about 10 minutes.

Well, we'd both been smoking.

The room had fogged up a bit, so Chillingham

got up and opened the window.

You don't believe me, do you?

Well, he made a remark about the view,

and then there was this noise.

Well, I didn't think it was a shot at first,

and then Chillingham fell.

I thought he'd fainted, but then I saw the blood.

So what you're saying is that he was shot by somebody

outside the building.

Well, it is the only possible explanation, isn't it?

Do you know what a low-caliber bullet is, Mr. Stamford?

I have some idea, yes.

And do you know what the chances of killing

a man at that range are?

Pretty remote, I should think.

Impossible, and we'll prove it, too.

Then we'll be left with just you, won't we?

I hate to labor the point, Inspector, but without a gun,

I couldn't have shot him.

[sighs] Clever bastard, aren't you?

But this is just the start, Mr. Stamford.

I'll find the weapon and a motive to go with it.

And then I'm going to put you away.

That's a promise. - Hm.

You're not what I'd call an impartial man, Inspector.

Not where scum like you are concerned, sir.

All right, take him away.

Where the hell is it, Jack?

I've looked everywhere, sir.

I promise you that.

Yeah, well, we'll wait and see what forensic come up with.

If they rule out an outside shot,

then we'll really slam into Stamford.

If he's handled a weapon, it's bound to show up.

All that garbage about an outside shot.

He's just trying to throw us off.

It's got to be in there somewhere.

It's got to be!

All right, Jack.

Get some man up and tear the place apart.

I want that weapon.

[inaudible], Inspector, sir.

Don't let me see your face till you've found it.

Is my lawyer here yet?

WALTERS: Why'd you lock the door?

I told you.

Chillingham locked it.

WALTERS: Why?

Because we had private business matters to discuss.

What private business?

Why won't you let me see my lawyer?

The truth, Mr. Stamford.

Then you can hold hands with whoever you like.

Now, you say you weren't sure it was a shot you heard.

Is that so?

STAMFORD: At first I thought it--

But it says here you're an ex-mercenary.

You don't know the sound of gunshot?

You're lying, Stamford.

Oh, please yourself.

You went in, you locked the door, you spoke a bit,

then you let him have it.

Admit it, Stamford.

Look, Inspector, you can't force me

to admit something I didn't do.

There's a long way to go yet.

You will.

Chief Inspector Walters, I'm not a fool.

If I'd planned to kill Chillingham,

do you seriously think I'd go to his office,

lock myself in, shoot him, and hope to get away with it?

You did it, and then you disposed of the gun.

How? I don't know, yet.

But I will, Stamford. I will.

Now, let's go from the beginning again.

Oh, you are a very persistent man.

You don't know the half of it yet.

This is junk, Alec.

Nothing on him.

Ooh, sorry.

But the judge won't take kindly to rewriting history.

That shot came from inside Chillingham's office.

It had to.

No powder marks on his hands? I didn't believe this.

Then find your pair of gloves and a special low-caliber

gun and I'll give you a case.

I want that arrogant sod.

Ooh, personal, is it?

Well, you could always lean on him a bit.

What, with an expensive brief breathing down my neck?

Besides, Stamford's too smart to stampede under pressure.

He's planned this.

Without a weapon he knows I'm going

to be laughed out of court.

Have a look at what ballistics say about the slug.

- No rifling marks? - That's right.

The weapon was rigged.

Homemade, you know.

What, a zip gun?

Aye, made up of bit and pieces.

So find me just a piece of it and you've got a case.

[phone ringing]

Yes?

WALTERS (ON PHONE): Listen, Jack, leave what you're doing

and start again.

This time, you're looking for a zip gun.

A homemade job? WALTERS (ON PHONE): Yeah.

Bits of metal.

Stamford must have broken it down and hidden it.

Just one piece.

That's all I need.

[dial tone]

(MUTTERING) Super.

From what you tell me, Chief Inspector,

your case is purely circumstantial.

So I must ask you either to charge my client

or to release him.

If you do not charge him and he is not released within the day,

I shall seek a writ of habeas corpus.

Anything else?

No, except to point out, of course,

that such procedure would hardly be welcomed by your superiors.

But I hope it won't come to that.

[phone ringing]

Walters.

Jack, you've found it?

What, not even one bloody small piece of it?

Hold it.

Yes?

Well, keep looking till I tell you not to.

Excuse me, will you?

What do you want?

The connection between Stamford and Chillingham, sir.

Looks like you've got a motive.

When do I see my client?

You will, [inaudible].

You're a bit footloose, aren't you?

Oil drilling in South America, mercenary,

circus hand in Australia?

You live there now, don't you?

And run a small engineering factory.

Tell me, why were you never tempted to go

into your father's business?

Well, we didn't get on, my father and I. Well,

you know how it is, Inspector.

Successful father, wayward son.

When'd you last see him?

About eight years ago.

How'd you learn of his death?

Formal notice to the next of kin.

Did it come as a shock to you?

Not really.

Knew he suffered from heart disease.

Oh?

How was that?

Well-meaning friends.

Always someone wanting to reconcile the irreconcilable.

How much money did he leave?

About two million.

Pounds, sterling.

Didn't come to me, though.

No, no, it went to research into heart disease.

Yes, that's what my father intended, yes.

WALTERS: It was a lot of money.

Well, money was all my father had left to give, Inspector.

It's my fault, I suppose.

They do say I broke his heart, you know.

The Association for Medical Research.

Yeah, Father's beneficiary.

At least I believe that's what it called itself.

You did know it was a fraud, didn't you?

It was under investigation.

Its president was due to face proceedings.

And as we both know, the president of that association

was Chillingham.

You killed him because he cheated your father,

isn't that so?

Chillingham did need killing.

Even you must admit that, Inspector.

And so you killed him.

I deny that emphatically.

Do you hear that, Officer?

Emphatically.

Come on, Mr. Stamford, we can prove time and place,

the strongest possible motive.

We even know what kind of weapon you used.

So what more do we need?

- A gun, perhaps. - Oh, yeah.

Yeah. It was a zip gun, wasn't it?

Now, that's easy enough to make for a man who's an engineer.

You broke it down into little pieces, didn't you?

Have you found such a weapon?

Even a small piece?

Not yet.

That's hardly the point, is it?

I mean, we know how you did it, and why.

So come on, now.

Admit it.

Admit you killed Chillingham.

You are going to have to prove it, Inspector.

And can you without a piece of this gun?

Hm?

[inaudible] Dave?

Yeah, I can't make it.

Yeah, I know.

Well, look, tell him.

8:30, Sunday morning, first tee.

Good night.

What is it?

The report on the witnesses, sir.

Hearn is clean, but the secretary--

Thanks, Ernest.

[phone ringing]

Uh, still looking, sir.

WALTERS (ON PHONE): Forget the weapon, Jack,

and get back here. Bring Miss Tower in, will you?

Sir, Miss Tower has gone home.

WALTERS (ON PHONE): Well, go round and pick her up, then.

You've not been quite frank with us, have you, Miss Tower?

I'm not sure I understand.

Sit down.

Get Joe in.

Joe!

You told us you resigned.

I intended leaving at the end of the month, yes.

Frankly, you resigned to avoid being fired.

We know, Miss Tower.

We found a letter to that effect in your flap.

Now, why'd you lie?

Well, Mr. Chillingham suspected

I'd done something unethical.

Such as?

He believed I'd passed on confidential information

to an outsider. - Get Stamford in here.

You also lied to Mr. Hearn.

There's no fianc .

You're not getting married.

Now, why was that?

There were reasons.

WALTERS: Hm?

Oh, come in.

Chair for Mr. Stamford.

Oh, you know Miss Tower, of course, don't you?

Of course.

Rather better than you indicated.

He wrote to you from Australia.

She's not involved in this, Inspector.

Why did you both lie about your connection

with each other?

I didn't lie.

I said I'd never met him.

Oh, just pen friends, is that it?

Exactly that, Inspector.

You told Stamford his father was

being cheated by Chillingham, didn't you?

Yes.

WALTERS: Why didn't you tell us that?

I didn't want to get involved.

Oh, and is that why you lied to Mr. Hearn?

It wasn't my place to tell him that his senior partner was

dishonest.

But you did tell Stamford.

Now, why was that-- if, as you say,

you didn't want to get involved?

I did it for his father's sake.

WALTERS: No other reason?

What other reason could there be?

Your relationship with Stamford.

You're serious!

Oh, he's very serious indeed, aren't you, Inspector?

You knew Stamford had come to this country for one

reason and one reason only.

That was to kill Chillingham.

That's ridiculous!

I second that.

And as for you, you'd have us believe that no one

else had gone into that office.

- Absolutely right. - Wrong.

One other person went into that office-- you, Miss Tower.

You went in, you took the gun from him,

and then you disposed of it.

There's no other possible way it could have left that office.

But that's just not true!

You planned this job together, didn't you?

You listen to me, Chief Inspector!

There was no relationship between us.

I knew and respected his father.

And I hoped for his sake there might be

a reconciliation with his son.

And there's wasn't.

And when he died and I found out what

Chillingham had done with the money, well, that was too much.

That's why I wrote to you.

I hoped you'd do one last thing for your father--

force Chillingham to use the money the way

it was meant to be used.

I didn't want Chillingham killed.

Inspector, who do you think put the fraud

squad on to Chillingham?

Chief Inspector Hart.

Fred.

Walters, here.

HART (ON PHONE): Oh, hello.

That tip-off you had about the Chillingham affair, remember?

Who was your source?

HART (ON PHONE): Well, I think it was someone in his outfit--

No, I know all that--

HART (ON PHONE): Well, it was his secretary,

I think, a Miss Tower.

I see.

HART (ON PHONE): Anything else I can do?

No, thanks, Fred.

[chuckles]

Show Miss Tower out.

Well, I'll have my clothes back now, if you don't mind,

Inspector.

Clever bastard, aren't you?

But this isn't the end, Stamford.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, I'm going to be there.

I'll find that weapon and when I do,

we'll see who has the last laugh.

Now get him out of my sight.

[door slams]

[knock]

Yeah?

You're never going to believe this, sir.

WALTERS: What?

Well, you remember last October, Stamford?

The one that got away?

What about him?

Found out how he got rid of the gun.

And if you thought for 2,000 years, sir,

you'd never come up with this.

Get on with it, Jack.

He did it, all right.

And there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Well, see for yourself, sir.

That's right, sir.

Ate the evidence.

Gun, gloves-- swallowed the lot.

Burp.

Ha.

[music playing]

[theme music]

[music playing]