Original subtitles

MACKENZIE: ...for our next death-defying spectacular

in the Cavalcade of Mysteries!

As you can see, ladies and gentlemen,

the blade is deadly sharp.

[Audience gasps]

No magic for you tonight, then, miss?

Oh, I wouldn't say that, Mr. Butler.

[ Doorbell rings ]

[Sighs]

Jack!

JACK: Of course, Miss Fisher.

No doubt an unexpected guest

is far more enticing than an expected one.

Allow me to introduce to you

the new patron of Mackenzie's Cavalcade of Mysteries --

The Baron of Richmond.

Any final words, Miss Pearl?

Quick and clean please, Mr. Mackenzie.

- [Laughs] - [Laughter]

[ Drumroll ]

[Audience gasps]

[Laughs]

[ Woman screaming ]

Ripped By mstoll

Oh, miss, I hope I didn't spoil your evening.

Don't worry, Dot.

My plans were already sabotaged by an unexpected house guest.

But the less said about him, the better.

Miss Fisher.

What happened to your prior engagement?

I dealt with that.

Pearl Dyson. Magician's assistant.

Cut off in her prime.

You know, I saw the original

Cavalcade of Mysteries as a child.

I can't imagine you small and harmless.

Well, I was definitely small.

And luckily for you, I paid attention.

I, uh, can lend you my notes if you'd like, Hugh.

I-I think I can manage, thanks, Dottie.

Now, this guillotine is a rather rudimentary model,

but the principle remains the same.

JACK: So I assume the trick is

to keep the lethal section of the blade out of the way.

Exactly.

With this.

By pulling out this small nail.

Now, perhaps you could pass me some vegetation

and I'll demonstrate, unless of course you'd like to volunteer.

Now, without that small nail,

the blade should be rendered absolutely harmless.

Oh!

How?

What's this?

Another nail, with the head filed off.

This was no accident.

MACKENZIE: Something must have gone wrong. Think harder!

EVA: I did everything as always. I told you.

MACKENZIE: It's happening again, isn't it?

I knew it was happening again. I knew it!

Inspector.

Mr. Mackenzie, meet Miss Fisher, private detective.

And Mr. Mackenzie's right-hand woman, Miss Eva Callahan.

Callahan?

It was once Callahan's Cavalcade of Mysteries, wasn't it?

Yes, this was originally my father's show.

Oh, what a dreadful accident.

None of us can fathom it.

My poor Pearl.

The deceased was Mr. Mackenzie's fiancée.

My condolences, Mr. Mackenzie.

We don't really understand what happened.

Do we?

I mean, every detail was correct.

I'm afraid your guillotine was deliberately sabotaged.

So, what, poor Pearl was murdered?

Lord, no.

Oh, she was so kind and generous.

JACK: This theater is now a crime scene.

You'll all be questioned in turn,

so please remain in the building.

So who else had access to the guillotine

before it was wheeled onstage?

Anyone who used the props store.

Sid Forrest is in charge.

Then there's myself, Mackenzie.

Sarah Norden has her contortionist props

in the store.

She joined the act around the same time as Pearl.

They were very close.

Thank you, Miss Callahan. That's most helpful.

Keep your eye on the contortionist, Dot,

while I follow up with Mr. Forrest.

I know how dreadful this must sound, Inspector,

and Lord knows it's the last thing I feel like doing,

but I do hope the show can go on this Saturday.

Our new investor would be counting on it.

We'll do our best, Mr. Mackenzie,

but I can't guarantee we'll have the case solved by then.

Well, we're in financial straits.

We have theater rent and wages.

I thought you said you had a new investor.

I'll need to speak with him as well.

Yes, well, if you find him, can you send him my way?

We haven't seen the baron since we left the ship.

- The baron? - The Baron of Rich.

I'm afraid that's all I know him as.

Um, Sid Forrest?

Yes, yes. He'll be in the props store.

Uh, this way.

JACK: Did you notice anything unusual, Mr. Forrest,

when you wheeled the guillotine onstage?

No, it all looked good to me. What was I supposed to notice?

So Pearl had done it before without incident?

About a hundred times.

Did you notice anyone lurking near the machine

earlier in the day?

No, I was busy working on the mermaid tank for Saturday.

Pearl kept badgering me to check it over again.

Mackenzie hasn't performed the mermaid for 10 years.

Not since what's her name left.

Tillie, I think it was. Before my time.

Are you a magician too, Sid?

No, I'm just the general dogsbody.

Didn't they tell you that?

Oh, you must have picked up a few tips

in your time with Mackenzie.

I'd be an idiot if I hadn't.

As entertaining as this is, Miss Fisher,

I have an investigation to get on with.

Careful with that.

Are you sure you don't want your turn to star, Sid?

Don't worry. My turn will come.

Eva Callahan has taught me every trick her father ever knew.

Sounds like a woman with her eye on the future.

Oh. You might want this.

Remember, Sid -- The best trick is the one you least expect.

Hugh, I'm trying to be invisible.

Miss Fisher always says you never know

when a clue might pop up.

Well, I'm sure I'll find them eventually, Dottie.

Why did Miss Fisher send you to the magic show, anyway?

Because she had other arrangements.

Dottie, there's enough detective work going on here.

Why don't you go home for a cocoa,

and I'll come over once we're done and tell you what we find?

You can't. Sorry.

Miss Fisher has a gentleman house guest.

Constable. You working or gossiping?

I'm work-- It's -- I'm working. Working, sir.

Well, have you finished fraternizing?

Don't be like that.

That really is rather a nice tie.

So would you like to take another look

at the body with me?

Is that an invitation?

Well, I could wait all day for yours.

Miss Fisher! Got a mate of yours in the cab.

Reckons he's taking you for supper at the Green Mill.

Run along, Miss Fisher.

I wouldn't want you to neglect your social commitments.

Jack, it's really not as social as you think.

Show over, my dear? I thought a Manhattan or two.

Out of the cab.

Uh, I...

Don't worry, Baron. Ride's on us.

Cognac, my dear?

I don't want a drink,

I want an explanation, Baron of Rich.

So, murdered, you say?

- This is dreadful for me. - For you?

Saturday night is sold out.

The crowds have been waiting 10 years

for the return of the Miraculous Mermaid.

It's meant to be utterly thrilling.

Mackenzie was going to recapture the magic with the Amazing Ruby.

- Pearl. - Yes, her.

What am I going to do now?

Go to the theater and offer the troupe your steadfast support?

I'd dearly love to, my dear, but at a time like this

I want to be the bearer of happy tidings.

And that's not possible?

Let's just say the ticket money has been invested.

You've spent it?

There've been unforeseen delays

on my financial returns, that's all.

A few days.

Unless, of course, I can arrange a loan.

Why are you here?

Causing trouble can't be your only motivation.

I told you, my dear.

Your mother's doing the season in London with the Langleys.

But I needed to see more of my beautiful daughter.

It's been far too long.

For you, perhaps.

[Sighs]

I'll loan you the money.

If you insist, my dear.

What can I do to make you think better of me?

You can move into a hotel.

I'll have Cec and Bert load your bags.

What, now? I've only just arrived.

I put enough nerve tonic in this cognac to flatten a cart horse.

You'd better go quickly, then.

[Sighs]

Not much mystery to Miss Dyson's cause of death, I'm afraid.

- Hello, Jack. Mac. - Good, you're here.

For a moment there, I thought I stood an even chance.

Mac doesn't play favorites, Jack,

unlike her predecessor, who never, ever told me anything.

I promise to withstand her inveigling and bribery

for as long as humanly possible.

Telephone me when you have more on Miss Dyson.

- DR. MAC: Of course. - Jack, I've only just arrived.

Did you know Sid Forrest is a sword swallower?

A man of many talents, I'm sure.

Perhaps you should invite him to supper.

Good day.

[ Door opens, closes ]

What have you done to him?

Stood him up for another man.

Oh, come on. Cough up.

Men!

Can't live without them, you can't hit them with an ax.

- [ Door slams ] - Ah, sir!

I've found an inconsistency with Miss Eva Callahan's statement.

Go on.

Well, according to your notes,

she set up the guillotine at a quarter past 7:00.

But according to Dottie's notes,

she was reading fortunes at the ticket box

until the show started at 7:30.

Dottie's notes?

Dottie's notes, yes, sir.

Well, good, good. Let's get her in.

I already have, sir.

She's waiting in the interview room.

Jack! May I finish my conversation with you?

If I said no, would it make a difference?

I've been meaning to have another word with Eva Callahan.

Sid is an aspiring magician, and Eva has been grooming him.

And what do Sid's aspirations have to do with Miss Callahan?

Well, what if they're in cahoots?

Eva's been teaching him her father's entire repertoire.

If the two of them want to take over the show,

then what better way than by sabotaging

the Miraculous Mermaid and discrediting Mackenzie

all in one fell drop of the blade?

A drastic theory, but worth testing,

especially as we already have Miss Callahan here.

So you do.

I'm so sorry I misled you.

I didn't set up the guillotine last night.

- PHRYNE: Why did you lie? - I...

Miss Callahan, may I remind you this is a murder investigation?

I began a discreet arrangement with Sid.

He sets up the guillotine

while I tout for a little bit of extra fortune-telling money.

Mackenzie doesn't approve of clairvoyancy,

but I've been doing everything I can

to try to keep us all together.

By working up a new routine with your props boy?

Well, that was just part of the deal.

Sid wanted to learn, and I needed someone to do my checks.

How did Sid get along with Pearl?

I think maybe you'd better ask him about that.

No, I didn't like Pearl conning Mackenzie into the mermaid act.

So what?

You failed to tell us that before.

You never asked me.

I got nothing against her type, but I'm damn good at what I do.

I got talent.

And she trumped me by batting her eyelashes

and agreeing to marry the poor duffer.

She didn't play fair.

- So you retaliated? - What do you expect?

I didn't talk to her, I didn't share my lunch with her,

but I didn't lop her head off, either.

You had ample opportunity to add that second nail

when you set up the guillotine for Eva.

Yeah. That's not the same as doing it.

Ah, Inspector?

Someone's been very busy over here doing some metal filing.

And...

...look what I found in the forest green.

A nail head.

That -- That paint's been there for days.

You can't pin that on me.

Not yet, Mr. Forrest.

But if we do tests on those filings

and they match the nail used to sabotage the guillotine,

there might be a different story.

So now that Sid's officially been struck off

my supper guest list, perhaps we could try again.

- Tonight? - No unexpected guests?

Actually, that's what I want to discuss.

Good, good. So would I.

[ Car door closes ]

Phryne. At last!

Aunt Prudence.

Someone has tried to charge the Royal Suite at the Windsor

to my personal account.

Can you imagine who might have had the gall?!

Unfortunately, yes.

Prudence!

Henry?

How marvelous.

You look younger with each passing year.

What are you doing here?

Father took the opportunity to visit

while Mother's doing the season in London.

And I'm afraid there was some terrible misunderstanding

when I went back to the Windsor.

So it was you?

I was chatting to the concierge about you, Prudence.

He spoke very highly.

He must have confused our accounts.

You don't have an account at the Windsor.

As I discovered when the manager accused me of fraud.

And as all my available funds

are tied up with Mackenzie's Cavalcade,

I have nowhere to lay my head tonight.

I'm entertaining.

You'll barely know I'm here.

Unless you'd like some male company, Prudence?

I'm redecorating.

Looks like I'm yours, my dear.

SID: [Whispering ] Sarah.

Sarah, where are you?

[ Gasps ]

PHRYNE: There you are.

Any anomalies in my absence, Dot?

Sid and Sarah are definitely up to something.

HENRY: Salutations!

He's following me!

Why the glum faces?

Oh, of course.

My condolences, Mackenzie. I heard your tragic news.

- Where the blazes have you been? - Looking after your interests.

This should cover the theater's rent

plus outstanding wages

and a little something extra for any inconvenience caused.

Some good news at last.

This will certainly help the cash box.

Thank you, Baron. I'm -- I'm sorry I doubted you.

HENRY: No harm done. Just a small delay.

MACKENZIE: Ah, now this -- This is Miss Phryne --

HENRY: Oh, Miss Fisher and I are already

very well acquainted, aren't we, my dear?

[ Chuckles ]

Now, with this awful incident behind us,

we can think about the Miraculous Mermaid.

No, Henry, we can't.

It's an extraordinarily dangerous feat.

Pearl had been rehearsing for weeks.

But the tickets are sold.

What about the other young lady -- Sally or something?

- She could do it, couldn't she? - Do you mean Sarah?

I'm a contortionist. I can't even swim.

No one's asking you to cross the channel.

It's gone! The rest of the cash.

What did you do with it, Mackenzie?

MACKENZIE: Nothing. It should still be there.

Um, Miss Norden! Sarah.

Those were Pearl's pearls, weren't they?

Well, they're mine now.

And whose is this money?

Guard the stage door, Dot!

[ Air whooshes ]

[ Footsteps ]

[ Door closes ]

[ Metal rings]

[ Doorbell rings ]

Evening, sir.

Urn, if you wouldn't mind waiting in the parlor.

Miss Fisher's been slightly detained.

[ Snorts ]

PHRYNE: I know you're in here, Sarah.

[ Door opens ]

I do apologize, Inspector.

I'm sure Miss Fisher will be here shortly.

[ Door closes ]

[ Clock ticking ]

- [ Door opens ] - Whoa!

- What are you doing here? - We were waiting for the baron.

He's given us the slip.

Forget the baron. I've got a paying job for you.

[ Door closes ]

Jack! At last.

I am so sorry I kept you.

I'm sorry, too, Miss Fisher.

Why don't you sit down and have another drink?

No, no, no. I-I need to make something perfectly clear.

Go ahead.

You know I'm a liberal-minded man.

M-Maybe not as liberal minded as you'd like me to be

or as much as I would like me to be, for you,

but I don't want you to think I'm like

all those other liberal-minded men.

What other men?

Well, the parade -- the constant parade of French artists,

of fugitive anarchists, of -- of Russian clairvoyants.

Tango dancers!

And -- And men who -- Men who wear damned cravats!

Well, I'm not one of them and I never will be.

Even if you want me to be.

- That's all I have to say. - Jack, wait.

- [ Thud ] - [ Gasps ]

I forgot my nerve tonic.

[ Bell chiming]

[ Snoring ]

WOMAN: Ah!

Was that you?

WOMAN: Ah -- Ah-choo!

[ Birds chirping]

[ Knock on door]

Good morning, Inspector. I've pressed your suit.

Thank you, Mr. Butler.

No trouble at all, sir.

[ Door opens ]

[ Door closes ]

HENRY: Hungry?

I can recommend the omelet.

Morning, Jack. How's the head?

- Miss Fisher. - I offered him breakfast.

Father, I asked you to wait upstairs.

Father?

Henry George Fisher, Baron of Richmond.

We haven't been formally introduced,

though I did help to carry you up the stairs.

PHRYNE: This is Detective Inspector Jack Robinson.

Inspector?

Yes, Father. An officer of the law.

My father is the main financier of the Cavalcade of Mysteries.

You might recall Mr. Mackenzie mentioning him.

Yes, I-I do recall.

I think I'll try another omelet.

Jack!

I was going to explain last night,

but you were in no fit state.

- You assaulted me. - My father assaulted you.

Well, his nerve tonic assaulted you first,

but none of it was planned.

Who put me in pajamas?

Mr. Butler, of course.

After I undressed you.

[ Knock on door]

CEC: Coming through!

Urgent delivery.

Good morning.

Why did you take this money?

Because it was owed to me

and I needed it to send to Pearl's auntie

so she could buy her a proper headstone.

Shouldn't Mr. Mackenzie do that, as Pearl's fiancé?

You and Pearl were close, weren't you?

We were friends.

Sid said he had nothing against her "type."

Now, what would he mean by that?

- You took her beads. - Yes, I did.

They were covered in her blood.

I'm sentimental.

You were intimate friends, weren't you?

In a sapphic sense.

But Pearl had ambition.

She was perfect for that act.

She was a champion swimmer.

She'd dreamed about doing the Miraculous Mermaid

ever since she heard about the act.

And she was prepared to do anything

to get the part, wasn't she?

Even marry Mackenzie.

It doesn't mean that she loved him.

No.

But she gave you up for him, didn't she?

She was mine.

MACKENZIE: Prepare yourselves, ladies and gentlemen,

for the most dangerous and spectacular act

you have ever seen!

No, Mackenzie, it's not spectacular.

It's not dangerous.

We'll come back to this later, Mavis.

What happened to your last mermaid?

Mermaids don't just vanish.

You must at least remember her name.

It was Tillie, wasn't it?

MAVIS: No, her name was Millie.

Millie the Miraculous Mermaid.

It doesn't matter what her name was.

We're not doing it.

It's cursed, I'm telling you.

This act is cursed.

Come with me, Dot.

What exactly are you looking for, miss?

The original mermaid picture. I saw it the other day.

But this is far more informative.

DOT: Oh!

SARAH: Sid!

- SID: Hey, what happened to you? - Nothing.

I told them the money was for Pearl's family,

and they couldn't prove anything.

The cops just dropped me back.

SID: You nearly got us both caught.

SARAH: No, I didn't. And stop complaining.

You're lucky I didn't drag you into it.

The trouble with a dubious bunch like Mackenzie's Cavalcade

is sorting out the petty criminals from the killers.

Those two?

Well, they're definitely the former.

They obviously colluded to steal that money.

That's why Sid tried to stop me with his sword-throwing trick.

I'll reserve judgment on the latter.

Miss, look.

Mr. Mackenzie on his wedding day.

With a bride who looks like Eva.

Millie was Eva's twin sister.

And my darling wife.

HENRY: And why didn't you tell us?

Either of you?

We couldn't see what Millie had to do with Pearl.

She was obviously a big part of the show.

Why did she leave?

- S-She made -- - Eva!

She didn't leave.

- She died. - EVA: It's not true.

Eva, please, you don't need to cover up for me anymore.

I've had enough.

Millie drowned 10 years ago.

It was all my fault.

It was an accident.

HENRY: Oh, my stars.

I've invested in a bunch of crooks!

Be quiet, Baron!

We were on tour. In Kalgoorlie.

And I-I left her there. I just left her there.

You had no choice. The show had to go on.

The razzle-dazzle went on, didn't it?

But I failed her, just as I failed poor Pearl.

PHRYNE: Inspector, just in time.

Mr. Mackenzie has something he'd like to tell you.

I'd like to confess

for the manslaughter of my wife,

Millie Mackenzie.

10 years ago.

Miss Williams. You're still here?

I was just looking for Miss Fisher.

Oh, yes.

She holds your skills in very high regard.

Please.

Oh.

Oh, you have a very strong mind and an eye for detail.

That's what Miss Fisher relies on.

And don't worry -- Your fiance's dilemma will soon be resolved.

What dilemma?

The choice between a working woman and a wife.

Forgive me.

Millie?

[ Grunts ]

Trick hinges.

DOT: Miss.

Eva Callahan just dropped this.

[ Exhales sharply]

A letter from a dead woman?

Excellent sleuthing, Dot.

Millie Mackenzie?

Of course I can assist if it means saving Mervin --

Mr. Mackenzie -- From the gallows.

But what about your second husband?

Benedict died six months ago in Paris.

- That's why I came home. - I'm sorry.

I knew it was risky, but I missed everyone so much.

Especially my sister.

We were so close, as twins are.

[Thud ]

[Coughing ]

Oh, dear.

[Coughing ]

Could we bother you for a glass of water?

Of course.

[ Glasses clinking ]

[Water running ]

Quick, miss.

[ Footsteps ]

[Coughing]

Excuse me for saying so, but staging your own death

seems a rather complicated way out of a marriage.

Why didn't you just ask for a divorce?

At the time it seemed the only way.

Even if I'd told Mervin the truth,

that I'd fallen in love with another man,

he would never have let me go.

You were afraid of him?

I was terrified.

And so Eva helped you pull off your audacious stunt.

Please don't blame her.

I begged her.

- Have you released Mackenzie? - We had no choice.

Millie pretended to get into trouble.

But Mackenzie believed she'd drowned.

He was distraught,

so I promised him that I'd take care of everything.

So as far as Mackenzie knows,

Millie is buried somewhere outside Kalgoorlie.

I'm surprised that you didn't take over.

Millie and I are identical,

but unfortunately we don't share identical talents.

I get breathless when I'm nervous.

Is it true? Is Millie still alive?

How could you trick me like this?

- Millie was my wife! - Aah! Mackenzie!

You tell me where she is! I need to see her!

She broke my heart!

Like Pearl!

Let go of me! I need to find her!

Well, if you ask me, it's all to do

with bringing back the Miraculous Mermaid,

because each of our suspects had a reason to stop it going ahead.

Mackenzie obviously found out

that Pearl was taking him for a ride,

and the thing that she wanted most was not him

but to play his new mermaid.

JACK: And the last thing Sid wanted

was for Mackenzie's star to rise again.

And Sarah was furious with Pearl for casting her aside,

again for the sake of performing the mermaid act.

Eva could have murdered the new mermaid

to protect her sister's legacy.

What about Millie?

No obvious motive,

but I am curious to know what she was using this for.

Fell out of her handbag?

Paregoric.

A cough mixture, pain relief, diarrhea.

It's camphorated tincture of opium.

- Opium? - I’ll take that.

You may need her new address, too.

I'll pass on your regards.

[ Door opens, closes ]

If the killer didn't want the Miraculous Mermaid performed,

then performing it...

Would be dangerous.

But might flush out the killer.

So might a methodical investigation.

I'll leave the methodical part to Jack,

while I conduct a small experiment

in Aunt Prudence's swimming pool.

I can't believe Mackenzie's still stuck on this woman

after she ran away with another bloke.

He even wrote her a soppy love letter.

DOT: Are you going to deliver it?

Of course not, Dottie.

This is a police station.

It's not a post office.

We could go together.

I think Millie's definitely hiding something.

Bigamy, for a start.

And I don't do this job for fun, Dottie.

I have to follow procedure.

[ Telephone rings ]

City South Police Station. Constable Collins speaking.

I -- Sorry, Dottie. I can't chat now.

Sorry.

Yes.

Yes, that's correct.

- PHRYNE: What do you say? - You're not qualified.

I did study Houdini's water-torture cell

under the Great Levante.

I haven't done it for 10 years.

But it's what the audience have paid for.

No. No, it's too late without any rehearsal.

I've been rehearsing all afternoon.

You know you didn't drown anyone.

You didn't fail.

You didn't kill the Miraculous Mermaid 10 years ago.

What are you so afraid of?

Ah, Prudence! Can't stop.

I'm on my way to Mackenzie's magic show.

I want to know what my niece is up to.

She'll be at the theater too.

I've just had a call. We've found a new mermaid.

Mermaid?

I haven't met her yet,

but she'll be padlocked into an underwater tank

and have to escape from her chains or drown.

Thrilling stuff!

Henry, what kind of an idiot are you?

Steady on, Prudence.

Phryne has been submerged in my swimming pool all afternoon.

Oh.

So you think -- Oh...

It's another of your ridiculous schemes gone wrong.

If any harm comes to that dear girl, it'll be on your head.

Taxi!

Oh!

You were right about Sid Forrest, sir.

Previous charges of petty theft,

a minor assault on a train driver,

and jailed five years ago for counterfeiting.

Impressive list of achievements for a sword swallower.

- Mm. - Nothing on Miss Norden, though?

Just like Mackenzie. He's...

Hang on. Where's the...

Oh, no.

Something wrong, Collins?

Millie Naylor's letter's missing

from the Mackenzie file, sir,

and I think Miss Williams has taken it.

Just what we need. Two of them.

[ Lock rattling ]

MACKENZIE: It's Joe and Jerry!

MAN: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm here tonight to talk to you...

- [ Speaking gibberish] "[ Laughter]

I'm sorry, what are you doing here?

I've come to see the magic show.

[ Laughter]

Miss Fisher, please.

Can you please double-check that you'll be able to reach this

once your hands are padlocked?

It -- It slips in here.

Excuse me.

- EVA: You're too nervous. - Oh, Lord.

Here.

Miss Fisher.

Ah. Brava.

MAN: You can read minds?

I can see what that guy in the back row is thinking too.

Stop that, you naughty boy.

[ Laughter]

[ Door unlocks]

Yes!

[Car doors open, close]

[ Mid-tempo instrumental music playing ]

This is more like it.

J.C. Williamson's got nothing on you, mate.

[ Applause ]

Just remember not to panic.

Shame to lose a beautiful lady like you, miss.

Are you sure this is wise?

[ Applause ]

[ Cheering ]

Miss Fisher!

Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys,

at last what you've all been waiting for!

I give you my Miraculous Mermaid!

Anyone here?

Hugh!

[ Gasps ]

Dottie, what are you doing here?

Look at this.

Millie Naylor lied about living here.

Inspector.

Miss Williams.

Paregoric.

My cousin uses that for his asthma, sir.

In this most daring of feats,

my Miraculous Mermaid must channel the lungs

of a creature from the deep,

the wondrous powers of the great Houdini,

lest she find herself in a watery grave.

- [ Wheezing ] - Are you all right?

It was you!

[Clicks]

[Clicks]

MACKENZIE: How long does she have, ladies and gentlemen?

One minute!

Can she do it?

[ Clock ticking ]

WOMAN: Two minutes.

[Audience murmuring ]

- Three minutes. - [ Audience gasping ]

[Siren wailing]

- Four minutes. - [ Audience gasping ]

Get her out of there.

Get her out of there!

Phryne's in there!

Stop her!

[Audience gasping ]

[Wheezing ]

You're under arrest.

Good teamwork, Hugh.

How on earth did you manage that?

It helped that our murderer

showed a distinct lack of imagination

in her modus operandi.

[ Cheers and applause]

Thank you!

It was galling, wasn't it, Eva?

First your father and then Mackenzie,

forcing you to hide behind the scenes

while your sister received all the accolades.

And the more successful she became,

the more eclipsed you felt,

until you could bear it no longer.

So you murdered Millie by trapping her in the water tank,

and you convinced Mackenzie it was just some accident.

How could I not have seen it all?

Because you're a lovesick fool.

And it all played out just as you'd hoped.

You'd finally stepped out from your sister's shadow.

Till I'd lost my nerve and the show was ruined.

Until the baron came along

and convinced Mackenzie to revive the Miraculous Mermaid.

Then Pearl began to ask too many questions about the water tank.

She must have found the secret hole you'd drilled

to sabotage the lid.

That's why Pearl kept badgering me about the tank.

You were so worried it would all come out.

You had to stop her.

And so you fixed a second nail in the guillotine,

just like you fixed the lid of the water tank,

and you let poor Mackenzie believe

that he had made yet another fatal mistake.

What possessed you?

Millie possessed me, that's who.

The audience adored Millie but never even knew I existed.

I was just part of the trickery.

"Oh, look! Millie's over here! Now she's over there!"

But where was I?

This was my father's show, and it should have been mine too.

I deserved my share. I deserved to be a part of it.

[ Wheezes ]

This way, Miss Callahan.

Oh, your father has just arrived, Miss Fisher.

Not again.

Urn, Mrs. Stanley was quite insistent

that you read this letter before you speak with him again.

[Dixieland music playing ]

There you are, my dear.

I told you it was a wonderful show.

Of course, it will be difficult to replace you,

but you've at least made my money back.

My money.

What I'd like to know is

how you managed to squander yours.

Is that why you sold the estate in Somerset?

Mother wrote to Prudence.

She thinks you're in London looking to buy a townhouse.

Your mother wanted something less drafty.

The point is you're not in London,

and you've been lying to me ever since you got here.

I only invested in Mackenzie's Cavalcade

because of you, because you always loved magic.

Do you know why I studied magic so avidly?

To make you disappear, out of our lives.

[ Knock on door]

Don't.

Miss Fisher?

Inspector Robinson!

Just in time to help us celebrate.

- Come in, come in. - [ Door closes ]

Come in.

- And what are we drinking to? - To...

...magic.

To mermaids.

To my wonderful daughter.

To leopards changing their spots.

And to miracles.

Ripped By mstoll