"( EERIE MUSIC )" "Going as far as, er, Kyneton?" "MAN:" "Mm-hm." "Don't waste much time, do you?" "( Gasps )" "( GENTLE MUSIC )" "SONG:" "Love, I will sing for you" "Sing such a sad song" "Love, when my song is through" "Please meet me alone" "Singing love is a stranger" "Comes quietly calling" "The eyes of a madman" "In the face of a friend" "Love likes to take you" "Without any warning" "But love leaves you cold" "With a fire in your heart in the end" "Some will sigh with love" "Some will be lonely and lost" "To die for love" "Some must survive" "Singing love is an eagle" "And you are a sparrow" "Hearing the call that you have to obey" "Love is the cupid" "Who kills with his arrow" "Yes, love is the name" "Of the deadliest game you can play." "Robbie!" "MAN:" "Who's that?" "Mark, you idiot!" "You in the bedroom or the head?" "( MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO )" "Vulgar word, that - head." "Why can't you say dike like everyone else?" "God, you're rough." "But you're early!" "5:00, you said." "It's only 3:1 5." "Yeah, thought I'd surprise you." "You surprised me, alright." "Caught me with my pants down, literally." "I wish you'd come when you say you're coming!" "What's wrong?" "Are you a bit frazzled or something?" "Why?" "I dunno, you just seem a bit edgy, that's all." "I'm sorry." "You know me - I don't really mind this contraption as long as I can kid people into not wondering how I manage the dike." "The dike is the thing that really bugs me." "It is so..." "Oh, forget it." "Good trip down?" "Deadly." "Pouring rain the last few miles." "And this terrible hitchhiking bird." "You picked up a bird?" "Hmm!" "A raging nympho!" "But you're always going on about hitchhikers and what a cheek they have expecting strangers to transport them for free." "You also leave doors open." "Yeah, I know all that." "She was lying in the road in the pouring bloody rain." "I thought, "Christ, a hit-and-run job or something," so I pulled up." "Before I opened the door, she hopped in." "A-ha!" "She said it always worked and please would I take her to Kyneton?" "Apparently, she, er, she had to meet her aunty at the post office or something." "A chance like that, I'm surprised you're early." "Huh, not my type." "I never went in for blondes much." "I notice you don't talk about sex much nowadays." "No, well, neither would you if you were at sea." "Nobody talks about anything else." "That's not the real reason, is it?" "What are you getting at?" "Look, stop being diplomatic." "I'm not being diplomatic." "Alright, forget it." "Don't suppose I'd talk about sex much either if things were the other way around." "If you were the eunuch and not me." "Care for a cup of tea?" "I brought some whisky with me." "Ah, no, sit down." "Sit down and talk to me." "It's only out in the car." "Leave it there." "You've bought me enough already." "Balls." "(Laughs ) Them, unfortunately, you can't buy!" "But you've bought everything else - car, television, this piss-elegant wheelchair and this bloody great mansion." "It's your money just as much as mine, you know." "Not strictly true." "The old man left it to you." "So what?" "I'm not complaining - very sensible." "He didn't want $80,000 frittered away on a second lot of death duties." "What death duties?" "The old man knew that I would die before you." "About 40 years before." "Crap, Robbie." "Don't 'crap' me!" "I know it, you know it and the old man knew it." "It's just a question of what packs up first." "Most likely it'll be my kidneys." "The paraplegic's occupational disease." "We should talk about something else." "What's the matter?" "Don't you like talking about death?" "Bullseye!" "Not bad!" "One in five?" "It's bloody terrible." "Now, stand clear." "I wouldn't insult you!" "Do what you're told." "Nowadays my neck gets a bit stiff and my aim can be hairy." "What would people think if I killed you?" "( UNNERVING MUSIC )" "See what I mean?" "( TENSE MUSIC )" "You gave me quite a scare then." "Doesn't feel right, shooting from here." "Suppose I should go to Kyneton and practise properly." "Why don't you go, then?" "Leave you here?" "You've only just arrived." "Well, er, I could come with you." "Forget it." "Look, you wanna practise, don't you?" "But you don't want me to come with you." "Would you believe me if I said you'd put me off?" "(Laughs ) Yeah, I guess I'd have to, wouldn't I?" "OK." "I'll put your things in the car." "NO!" "No, I do everything for myself, Mark." "You know that." "Just trying to be sociable." "I'm sorry I snapped." "It's just if I let anyone help with anything," "I'll end up letting them do the lot!" "Maybe you're doing too much." "These yours?" "They're phenobarbs." "If I did any less than I'm doing now, I'd throw it in." "What do you mean?" "I'd take those phenobarbs." "Don't be stupid!" "I'm the one who has to live my life, you know." "Not if you end it." "If it stops being interesting, why prolong it?" "If I'm going, I'd better go." "I'll see you at 6:00." "Uh-uh-uh!" "See you at 6:00." "See you." "( PHONE RINGS )" "Hello." "Mark here." "So, you're back." "Long time, no see." "It's only been 1 2 weeks." "I've been thinking about you." "Quite a lot, actually." "What are you doing tonight?" "Oh, nothing I can't put off." "Am I gonna be able to see you there, or are you still afraid of what big brother might think?" "Look, it... it's not that." "It's just that I don't want Robbie to know, that's all." "I'll see you tonight." "Aren't we a little bit old to still be necking in the back of a car?" "I'll pick you up at your place." "What time?" "Nine-ish." "I'll see you." "'Bye." "( EERIE MUSIC )" "( UNNERVING MUSIC )" "Shit!" "( SINISTER MUSIC )" "Excellent!" "You'd have taken the Australian record this year if you hadn't buggered your neck." "Weren't you expecting your brother down this week?" "I left him at home." "Not very hospitable of me, eh?" "Oh, he's a big boy now." "Tried to phone him about an hour ago but the line must've been out of order." "Uh-oh, look who's coming." "No, Charlie, it's your job to stay here and protect me." "You protect yourself." "If necessary, shoot 'em." "Afternoon!" "Robert, how lovely to see you!" "Mrs Lipton, Mr Lipton." "My dear chap!" "You must come to dinner and christen our new pool." "What are you doing tonight?" "I've got my brother staying with me." "Bring him along." "We've always wanted to meet him." "Ring him and ask him." "( QUIRKY MUSIC )" "( MOVIE SOUNDTRACK PLAYS FAINTLY )" "Two stalls, thanks." "It's already begun." "Yeah, that's...that's alright." "Four...five." "Thanks." "Anywhere you like." "Thanks." "ACTOR 1 :" "..I hadn't seen you for weeks." "ACTOR 2:" "I've got to get out of town." "You wouldn't get round the block." "You've had it, mate." "( LOCK RATTLES, DOOR SLAMS )" "We'll sit here, thanks." "ACTOR 3:" "This is a transcript of your confession." "Have you read it?" "Yes." "Do you find it a true and accurate account of what you said?" "Yes." "Are you willing to sign this confession of your own free will?" "Yes." "Right, Sergeant." "Witness the signature." "( Audience member coughs )" "( FOOTSTEPS ECHO )" "Morning, sir." "Morning, constable." "Prisoner from the city watch-house, sir." "Prisoner's papers, sir." "Thank you, Constable." "Name?" "Richard Francis Taylor." "You are now a prisoner of Her Majesty and from now on, you will address all prison officers as 'sir'." "Name?" "Richard Francis Taylor." "Sir." "Sentence?" "20 years, sir." "Crime?" "Murder, sir." "Take the cuffs off, Constable." "You are no longer Richard Francis Taylor." "You are now number 849 7." "As you were, 8498." "Got it?" "Yeah." "Yes, what?" "Yes, sir." "And don't bloody forget it." "No...sir." "Alright, empty your pockets." "Have you ever been in prison before?" "No, sir." "One rule here, son." "You do the right thing by us, we'll do the right thing by you." "Got it?" "WOMAN:" "Shh!" "Sir." "If you do the wrong thing, boy, I'll get jumped on." "And if I get jumped on, I'll jump on you." "Understand?" "Yes, sir." "One handkerchief, white, soiled." "When was the last time you had your hair cut, 8498?" "Before I went into court, sir." "It's too long." "We'll fix that tomorrow." "Let's get your particulars." "Religion?" "RC... ..sir." "Don't get smart with me, boy!" "Do you mean Roman Catholic?" "Yes, sir." "Hair - blond." "Fair hair, sir." "Eyes - grey." "Green eyes, sir." "Do you wear corrective spectacles or contact lenses?" "No, sir." "False teeth, false limbs, hearing aid or surgical truss?" "No, sir." "One brown leather wallet." "$1 2 in notes, a driving licence and laundry docket." "Are you receiving medical treatment for any serious illness or disability?" "No, sir." "Key ring, four keys." "Small change, 8 7 cents." "Have you ever suffered from mental illness or undergone psychiatric treatment?" "No, sir." "One packet of chewing gum." "Have you ever had any attacks of fainting or dizziness?" "No, sir." "One packet of cigarettes and matches." "Are you an epileptic?" "( CHILLING MUSIC )" "The line must be out of order." "He's not answering." "I'm afraid we'll have to postpone that dinner." "That's what you always say." "What is the time?" "Exactly 5:30." "Oh, my God, I'm late." "I'll have to rush." "Thank you for asking me!" "( SINISTER MUSIC )" "Jesus!" "( S USPENSEFUL MUSIC )" "( CAR DRIVES ON GRAVEL )" "( RADIO ANNOUNCER TALKS FAINTLY )" "( S USPENSEFUL MUSIC )" "Little brother, what on earth have you been up to?" "What?" "What have you been up to?" "!" "The place stinks of perfume!" "And petrol." "Oh, that." "Yeah, I ..." "I spilled some aftershave." "I tried to rub it off with lighter fluid." "Well, you've made a nasty clean patch." "Surprised you can smell it, though." "( Sniffs ) I can't." "I have a nose like a bloodhound." "Have you been out?" "The engine's been playing up." "So I thought I'd take her out for a spin." "Worse, if anything, though." "So I thought, "The hell with it."" "Why?" "I dunno." "Does everyone have to have a reason for everything?" "You always do." "Well, this time I didn't." "Perhaps I just felt like a snooze." "TV ANNOUNCER: ...price of oil" "The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a statement issued after their meeting yesterday in Cairo, announced a rise of 25%." "The rise, the third in 12 months..." "Do we have to have that on?" "..first, next year." "I wanna watch the news." "..to follow later in the year." "Now, here's a late story just in." "We've just been advised by the police of the murder of yet another hitchhiker." "The body of 23-year-old Janine Talbort of Middle Park was found less than an hour ago in the back stalls of the Rex Cinema, Kyneton." "We have a news team there and we hope to be able to cross direct for their report later in this news." "Sarge." "Want more shots of the body, Inspector?" "Another from that angle." "I want to see the wound." "Same pattern." "Stabbed under the breastbone and through the heart." "Neat job." "No trace of the murder weapon." "Is that all, Inspector?" "That'll do." "Those prints on the backrest helpful?" "They're pretty old, Inspector." "Come on, Sergeant." "We have to deal with those vultures outside." "This is Inspector Cheadle who is leading the investigation into the 'Maroondah Maniac' case." "Inspector, do you think this is the work of the Maroondah Maniac?" "I'm afraid so." "The fourth in just over a year." "The victim is always a blonde in her early 20s." "Do you think this one's been sexually assaulted?" "None of them ever are." "The first three girls were picked up on the Maroondah Highway, killed within an hour or so, and then, for some inexplicable reason, deposited on the steps of the local police station." "Why do you think this time it was the cinema?" "I rather think this one didn't go quite according to plan." "This time we do have a positive lead." "Sergeant, have you got that description?" "Yes." "It's a well-built young man, about 5'1 0", long fair hair, dark glasses, dressed hippie style in T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, seen entering the Rex Cinema, Kyneton, this afternoon at about 4:30." "Is there anything you'd like to add, Inspector?" "I'd like to impress on the public this man is dangerous." "If anyone suspects his identity, or is foolhardy enough to be protecting him," "I strongly advise them to contact the police immediately." "That report direct from our news team on the spot in Kyneton." "And now, finally, the weather, and there's more rain on the way..." "Why would anyone want to protect him?" "Wouldn't you protect me?" "If I knew that you were this maniac?" "It's a hypothetical question, little brother." "And the hypothesis is absurd." "Even if you did..." "Did what?" "Like a drink?" "Did what, Robbie?" "Nothing." "Robbie, did what?" "!" "Tell me that you picked up a blonde nympho and that the last 10 miles were... ..deadly!" "You know, you had me worried." "For a minute there, I thought you might actually suspect me." "You?" "A murderer?" "(Laughs )" "Did anyone see you?" "See me what?" "Picking up the blonde nympho?" "No." "Sure?" "Yeah." "Good." "Anyone see you put her down?" "Well, yeah." "Yeah, suppose so - it was in front of the post office." "I shouldn't think anyone noticed, though." "I mean, people don't, do they?" "I'm thirsty." "Is that Scotch still on offer?" "If you want it." "( Softly ) I want it." "Then I'll get it." "( OMINOUS MUSIC )" "JB - duty-free from Singapore." "Ah, just a small one." "That do?" "Perfect." "Cheers." "Feel like going to the flicks tonight?" "Anything good on locally?" "Only 'A Day of Horror' at the Rex." "I've seen it." "Really?" "When?" "Last voyage." "Bugger it." "The Rex is the only cinema I can get the chair into." "We'll go to 'Day of Horror' if you really want to." "Sure you don't mind?" "Why should I?" "It's a good movie." "Besides, I missed most of it last time." "Preoccupied with the bird beside you?" "MAN:" "Thank you." "Come on, move back, please." "Move back, please." "One down, two..." "Stand back, please." "Oh!" "So sorry!" "Are you blind?" "Just crippled." "How about you?" "I'm a police officer heading a murder investigation, if you don't mind!" "Oh, good for you!" "What time does the film start?" "The cinema, sir, is closed." "You seem to persist in your assumption that because I'm in a wheelchair I'm blind." "I'm aware the cinema is closed!" "I want to know when will it reopen?" "I have no idea!" "In that case, Constable, could you take me to someone who does?" "Sergeant!" "You will give your name and address to my sergeant, and then you will move along." "Where, I don't particularly care, though I'd prefer interstate!" "But you'll move along or you'll be arrested for obstructing the police in the prosecution of their duties!" "(Laughs ) Is that what this fiasco is supposed to be?" "( Yells ) Your name and address, sir!" "Raymond Burr." "Late of Hollywood." "Robbie, er... give it to them." "Robert Stephen Gifford." "The Wheel Inn." "Wheel?" "W-H-E-E-L." "l-N-N." "Wheel Inn?" "It's a... it's a joke." "Not at all." "It's very serious and most apt." "Wheel Inn, where, sir?" "Foster's Lager Lane." "You go down the road three miles and you turn left at the Chuck and Chunder and then right just before Saint Barassi's." "You can't miss it." "Kyneton?" "Thereabouts." "I'll pick you up round the back." "Goodnight, Mr Cheadle." "Goodnight." "Goodnight, gentlemen." "Hmm." "Did you notice that smell?" "Smell?" "Perfume." "On the cripple?" "No." "On the other one." "You think I went too far, don't you?" "Too far?" "With the copper." "I don't think you exactly endeared yourself." "Should I have?" "Oh, that's your business." "Only?" "( KNOCK AT DOOR )" "See who that is, would you?" "You made your point clear - that you don't exactly like coppers." "Do you have to rub their noses in it?" "Raymond Burr, for Christ's sake!" "May we come in?" "Oh, my God!" "They've come for me already!" "Good evening, sir." "I trust you found my directions helpful?" "Well, actually, I think my sergeant must've misheard you." "Can he hear?" "Oh, yes, sir." "Inspector, from behind, I detest being gawped at." "To my face, I find it intolerable!" "I'm sorry." "Well, whatever it is I'm supposed to have done," "I'm pleading blackouts and the Fifth Amendment." "Or does that only work in the United States?" "Well, actually, it's nothing you've done I've come about." "On the contrary, it's something I did." "I'm afraid I was rather rude to you." "I cried all the way home." "Poor Mr Gifford." "I can only say in my defence, I'd just rushed down from Russell Street - press were driving me mad." "When I realised we were passing this way and your lights were on..." "You felt you simply had to drop in?" "That's right." "And I need your help." "May we sit down?" "As someone who knows the disabled in this area, how would you class a person who allows her wheelchair to be pushed?" "A paraplegic?" "Yes." "Pushed uphill?" "No, downhill." "Definitely not doing very well." "Who is she?" "Well, that's what I came to ask you." "From around here, you say?" "Yes." "No such person." "Well, such a person was seen, being wheeled into the Rex by her long-haired boyfriend." "I don't care if she was seen being wheeled into Parliament House by Gough Whitlam, there is no such person." "Her boyfriend, or possibly her brother, dresses hippie style..." "Is in his mid-20s and is wanted by you." "We saw the whole thing on television." "Ah, that explains how your brother knew my name when we had our little altercation at the Rex." "You heard my appeal on the news, did you, sir?" "Yes." "You must have a good memory for names." "Or has this Maroondah Maniac chap caught your fancy?" "I was hardly aware of him till today." "Really?" "The story's been reported in all the newspapers." "Well, I don't buy newspapers." "I'm a seaman." "Oh!" "Navy or merchant?" "Merchant." "At sea, we get daily bulletins - who's on strike, who's at war, currency crises - but no murders." "And ashore I've got out of the habit." "Of murdering?" "Of buying newspapers." "Just one more thing." "If the cinema had been open this evening, and you and your brother had seen the film, how would you personally have left the Rex?" "By the side exit." "You see, the aisle to the side door slopes downwards, which we paraplegics prefer." "Mm-hm." "And, er, how would you have left, sir?" "Through the foyer." "That's the quickest way around to the car." "Well, I think that explains that, don't you, Sergeant?" "Explains what, Inspector?" "Why no-one front of house noticed the girl being wheeled out of the Rex by her boyfriend and why the usherette swears she saw a girl wearing a floppy hat wheel herself out the side exit unaccompanied." "Of course, I was hoping you were going to be able to identify the girl or her boyfriend." "And what good would that have done you?" "Well, they sat at the end of one of the back rows." "20 minutes later, they left." "When the film ended, the lights came up," "Janine Talbort was found dead at the end of that row." "We think they must've seen her murderer." "They left before the film ended?" "Having entered after it started." "Sounds like one hell of a film!" "I thought you said it was good." "What you'd seen of it." "You've seen part of this film already, sir?" "Yes, on the 'Canberra', last voyage." "I had to go on duty before it finished, though." "Ah, the film, that is." "Not the voyage." "Well, thank you for your cooperation, gentlemen." "You've been most helpful." "I am sorry to hear that!" "Goodnight, Mr Gifford." "Goodnight, Mr Gifford." "Inspector." "It's been nice talking to you, Sergeant." "Why can't Cheadle see it?" "It is so obvious." "What?" "It wasn't the girl wheeling herself out of the cinema." "It was her boyfriend." "He ditched her body in the back row then stuck her hat on his head." "You've gotta admire him for it really, though, don't you?" "Showed a lot of guts." "AND he'll get away with it." "He may... ..unless you enlighten the police." "Am I likely to?" "Don't you think you should?" "No." "No, I don't." "So you'll be holding you tongue?" "Certainly." "Do you want him to get away with it?" "You're indecently exposed." "( MUSIC PLAYS IN BACKGROUND )" "We've no ex-inmates answering that description." "There are thousands of paraplegics in Melbourne." "Most of them victims of car accidents." "Really?" "Except for a few freak cases like Robbie's." "Robert Gifford?" "What happened to him?" "He was playing squash, would you believe?" "Slipped and fell." "Another round?" "Yes, thanks." "Same again, please." "And that was enough to paralyse him?" "That on top of an old back injury he had as a kid." "He was what the courts called a neglected child." "That's how he came to get adopted by Mark's father." "So he and Mark aren't really brothers?" "No, but they're very close." "They'd do anything for each other." "What's wrong with you?" "Nothing." "Just don't feel like it tonight, that's all." "Terrific." "Three months and I can't even touch you." "Look, it's not that." "It's just that I... ..I just need to talk." "I've had this." "This may not strike you as odd, but a 24-year-old woman needs more than a stray screw in the back of a car every three months." "Look, Meg, can you at least just try and understand?" "Maybe that's normal for sailors on leave." "Margaret, for Christ's sake, just cut it out!" "You know the problem..." "I DON'T know the problem!" "Yes, you do!" "That?" "It was just a physical thing." "It would never have lasted, accident or no accident." "You know that." "Yeah." "But Robbie doesn't." "Mark, what is this hold Robbie has over you?" "He's my brother." "Some brother!" "Look, he has to know sometime." "Why CAN'T you tell him?" "I can't!" "Alright... ..I will." "( PHONE RINGS )" "Blast!" "( VACuM CONTINUES RUNNING ) Yes?" "Who is it?" "Just a minute!" "I'm sorry." "Who is it?" "Richard Fairburn." "Oh, hi, Doc." "What can I do for you?" "How's your neck?" "Fine." "Er...you sure?" "Of course I am." "Now what made you think...?" "Just, er... checking." "Your thicker patients might believe that, but not me." "Mark put you up to it, didn't he?" "He did not." "He's with you now, isn't he?" "Er... he... er... he telephoned me." "That's more like it." "Mark tells me you're complaining of stiffness of the neck." "Says you told him it's affecting your shooting." "Now, he suggests - and I'm inclined to agree with him - that you should come back to the hospital for a rest and a check-up." "Quite unnecessary." "I've never felt fitter." "Robbie, you've got lesions!" "I know I've got lesions!" "I still can't imagine how anyone as experienced as you could've been mad enough..." "To lift a television off the table, onto my lap." "It won't happen again." "Now is there anything else?" "I've got housework to do." "Nothing else, Robbie." "Good." "And goodbye." "We're closed." "Margaret..." "I'm sorry." "I have to close up." "I want to talk to you..." "Look, Mark, there's nothing I have to say to you." "Just go." "You are an irresponsible bitch!" "Why?" "Don't you like bitches?" "You ring up Robbie and arrange it all behind my back." "What the hell do you think you're playing at?" "!" "Well, he is my cousin, you know." "Not a blood cousin, but he's a cousin." "Just because he can't walk doesn't mean you have to treat him like an infant." "He's a lot stronger than you think." "Don't you tell me what Robbie's like." "Well, I thlnk I have a fair idea." "I'm not talking about his performance in bed." "Nor am I." "Then what do you mean?" "Look, I know Robbie." "He can face the thought of being replaced by you." "Oh." "Oh." "And what makes you think you're any judge of that, hmm?" "I'm probably the best judge there is." "Listen... ..if you tell him there's anything between us... ..I promise you, you'll regret it." "Quadriplegic?" "Ah, one who has lost the use of four limbs, compared with the paraplegic, who's lost the use of only two." "Does he know it's coming?" "Oh, yes, yes." "Before his accident, Robbie was a medical student, you know." "Hmm." "How soon will it come?" "( Sighs ) Any time in the... ..next few months." "Most likely at night." "He'll just... wake up one night and find he can't move a thing." "And then?" "Might be a year..." "And it all stems from those lesions?" "Er... that's right, yes." "Has Mark told you anything of his plans when it happens?" "He says he'll give up the sea and live with his brother." "What sort of a life will that be?" "Hell for Mark." "Worse for Robbie." "Damn surprised he doesn't kill himself." "He'll just be a head on top of a corpse." "Some manage marvellously." "Good afternoon, Inspector." "Good afternoon." "( DOOR OPENS )" "Come in, Inspector." "Thank you." "Take a seat." "Been cleaning your carpet, Mr Gifford?" "Oh, er..." "I spilt some aftershave." "On yourself as well, I think." "My sergeant noticed it on you yesterday." "When exactly did you spill it?" "Um... yesterday afternoon, just after I got here." "I'd say about... 3:30." "And what sort of lotion was it?" "Brut." "Don't tell me you're thinking about buying some." "My sergeant took a fancy to it." "Didn't you, Sergeant?" "Well, it takes all kinds." "Did you hear that, Mark?" "The sergeant's kinky for Brut." "Why don't you give him what's left of yours?" "There isn't any left." "Have you still got the bottle?" "No, I... threw it away." "Where were you between 4:30 and 6:00pm yesterday afternoon?" "I was having a sleep." "I left him on that sofa at 3:30." "I later woke him twice." "From the hospital?" "By telephone at 4:30, and again at 5:30." "Might I ask what prompted these calls?" "You may." "The first was to suggest that he join me at the hospital, because, as I pointed out to our chief physiotherapist," "I felt guilty about leaving him alone." "The second was to inquire whether he would agree to dine with a very boring couple called the Liptons." "That would be Mr and Mrs Stanley Lipton, would it?" "Oh, God!" "Don't tell me she's your sister?" "She's at least 1 ,000!" "No, she's not my sister." "Your daughter?" "No!" "Mr and Mrs Lipton live on the Maroondah Highway." "We questioned them at the time of the third girl's murder." "I've been obstreperous, haven't I?" "On the contrary... ..you've told us a great deal." "But now, Mr Gifford... ..I wonder if you can recall seeing anyone being picked up on the following dates." "Where are we?" "Yes, here we are." "The afternoon of August 4 last year." "The evenings of April 29 and July 1 0 of this year." "Or yesterday afternoon about 2:30." "I didn't see anyone picked up yesterday." "As for the other dates," "I can't even remember which part of the world I was in." "You were on leave, your ship was in Melbourne, and you were in THIS part of the world." "We've checked with the PO people." "Then I may well have been on my way down here, but... ..I couldn't honestly say." "Is it important?" "It could be helpful." "Well, we can easily find out." "What date last year, did you say?" "August 4." "April 29." "July 1 0." "On each of those days, a dead girl was dumped outside the Kyneton police station." "Mark, on each of those days, you were on your way down here." "Did you see anyone picking up anyone else?" "May I see those diaries?" "I see that on all these nights... ..you left here almost as soon as you arrived to visit the 'cousins', as your brother describes them." "Yes." "Yes, I often drop in on them." "I believe there's two of them." "That's right." "What are their names?" "Andrew and Margaret." "Have you - forgive my asking - any romantic interest in Miss Margaret Gifford?" "No." "Why don't you ask me if I have any romantic interest in her?" "Well, have you?" "Robbie and Margaret are very attached." "They have been ever since they were kids." "But you, Mr Gifford, never accompanied your brother on any of these visits." "I try not to monopolise Mark." "One thing about this last dead girl that's got us foxed." "Where did her boyfriend get hold of that chair that he used to wheel her into the Rex?" "'Dead' girl?" "!" "You said that she was seen wheeling herself out of the cinema." "Yes, but now we know that she didn't." "Why?" "Because she doesn't exist." "You told us that." "No such disabled girl, you said." "Which led us to deduce that if she wasn't disabled, she might be dead." "Post-mortem confirmed it." "She died at about 2:30pm." "The question remains, where did her boyfriend get hold of that wheelchair?" "Hospitals have wheelchairs." "Airlines have wheelchairs." "Quite a number of disabled people have two wheelchairs, both of which they're unlikely to be occupying at the same time." "Do you have two wheelchairs, Mr Gifford?" "Have had for months." "Ever since Mark bought me this new one." "Then I wonder if we might borrow your old one?" "It's in the garage, folded beside the wall." "Sergeant." "But you're wrong." "Wrong?" "A dead body in a wheelchair." "The head would flop." "Noticeably." "Yes, well, that's what we thought too, but according to the post-mortem, her head was propped up." "What with?" "A garden stake?" "No." "Some kind of brace." "Don't suppose you'd have one of those too?" "Should I have?" "Well, the trouble with your neck lesions when you lifted that TV..." "Alright." "So I've got a brace." "Might we see it, please?" "In the bedroom." "Second top drawer of the wardrobe." "Thank you, Mr Gifford." "Anything else you'd like?" "Set of calipers?" "Chest expanders?" "Kitchen sink?" "Hm?" "He rang his brother at exactly 5:30 by my wife's diamond watch." "And the line WAS out of order." "Now, you're sure he said "out of order", Mr Lipton?" "Not "no answer"?" "He said "out of order", Sergeant." "Of that I'm sure." "Thanks for your help, Mr Lipton." "Not at all, Sergeant." "So..." "Robbie didn't disturb our sailor boy's sleep." "Not at 4:30, not at 5:30." "Interesting." "But insufficient." "Thanks, Sergeant." "Can you get me the rainfall figures for Kyneton yesterday afternoon?" "Yes, I'll hold on." "Yes, the police were here all afternoon, young cousin." "Trying to break down your alibi for when you murdered those girls." "Me?" "!" "Oh, come off it." "Don't worry, I showed them my diaries, which proved Mark was with you." "Hmm." "Had me worried there for a minute." "Did the police tell you they were at our place yesterday?" "Asking about Mark." "Were they?" "Mmm." "So, you see, Mark's the one in the hot seat, now." "Eh, Mark?" "And the last four tricks...are mine." "( Chuckles ) I'm sorry, mate." "Robble, there's something we have to straighten out." "Forget lt, Meg." "You'll never make a bridge player." "You see, I knew you had openers, and I knew you had to have clubs and spades." "I had a string of diamonds and no clubs." "Any good player would have realised what I was up to." "I was out to squeeze you." "That's not what I'm talking about." "Margaret, could I see you for a minute?" "Oh, I don't think we can allow that, partner, do you?" "No, I definitely do not." "The rules of bridge state quite categorically that..." "Meg, please, just this once... ..can you hold off?" "I love you." "You love me?" "Well, you've got a damn weird way of showing it." "Please." "I'm sorry." "Ah!" "Just until tomorrow." "I promise you, after that you can do what you like." "Why?" "What's happening tomorrow?" "What's going on over there?" "If it's bridge advice you're giving her, you're wasting your breath." "He's not wasting his breath, I can assure you." "Well, what is there to straighten out between you and me?" "Nothing." "See you soon." "Do you have to go now?" "Well, it's late." "You right?" "Well, see that it IS soon." "You haven't been around for ages." "Goodnight, Andrew." "Ciao." "See you." "See you." "You really are a savage player, Robbie." "I like to win." "Because it's a gamble?" "Because it's a challenge." "It's all I have left now, the freedom to challenge." "Don't begrudge it me." "Bloody hell, look at the time." "Tell you what, while I'm brushing my teeth, you fix us a nightcap, and we'll drink to tomorrow's game with Cheadle." "( OMINOUS MUSIC )" "Thank you." "Cheers." "To tomorrow's game." "Where did you say you got this?" "Singapore?" "You should ask for your money back." "It's full of sediment." "Little brother," "I would've preferred to have talked to you, but our relations seem to be breaking down." "Are you afraid of what I might say to the police?" "You needn't have worried." "My hatred of the police goes back as...as far as I can remember." "(Man and woman groan with exertion )" "Stop it!" "Leave her alone!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it, you're choking her!" "Stop it!" "MAN:" "Piss off!" "OH !" "You little bastard!" "( THUMP!" ")" "Listen, Robbie." "You fell down the stairs, do you hear?" "You was sneakin' out while your father and me was asleep, and you fell down the stairs." "Could I see you for a moment, Mrs Thompson?" "(Whispers ) This is the most blatant case of child-bashing I've ever seen." "You can't prove it." "It's up to the police to prove it." "We've got more important things to do with our time." "ROBBIE:" "No, little brother... ..I'd be the last person to go to the police." "What is it, Sergeant?" "I've got those details for you on Robbie." "Robert Thompson is his actual name." "Any good?" "Well, I can see why he doesn't like cops." "Tell me later." "Is the wheelchair ready?" "Hello, yes?" "Good enough?" "Have you got the neck brace, Sergeant?" "Now, if we have to talk, I'll call you Iris, you call me Ted, right?" "Yes, sir." "Yes, 'Ted'." "Yes, Ted, sir." "Sorry." "Ted." "( QUIRKY MUSIC )" "Robbie, what are you doing here?" "It's about Mark." "Does he know you've come to see me?" "No, no." "He was still asleep." "He's in trouble, Meg." "Would you like a coffee?" "No, thanks." "Just sit down." "This is serious." "What were you two talking about last night at the bridge party?" "What sort of trouble?" "You're having an affair with him, aren't you?" "Not exactly." "I'm not asking for a ball-by-ball description." "I'm sorry, Robbie." "I wanted to tell you." "Then why didn't you?" "Mark didn't want you to know." "Why?" "Doesn't he think I can handle a bit of competition?" "It's no competition, Robbie." "You're absolutely right." "Mark would be a far more practical proposition than I." "Robbie, it's not that." "It's just..." "Obscene for a man in a wheelchair to have sexual feelings?" "Yes, I know." "Well, that's really below the belt." "You said it." "Look, I'm already late for work." "If you've got anything serious to say, please say it." "What did you come over here to say?" "Just that there's no future for you and Mark." "Well, she could've had leprosy or a hole in the head." "She could have been dead." "No-one would've noticed a damn thing." "Robbie!" "Robbie, what's going on?" "Robbie, for God's sake, answer me!" "I've nothing to say." "Robbie, come out." "Not until Cheadle arrives." "That'll be too late and you know it." "We've got to talk before he arrives." "I'll come out if you go down to the end of the garden." "What the hell for?" "So that you can't jump me." "Go right down the garden and shout when you get there." "And keep shouting." "I can't just stand at the bottom of the garden shouting." "( Shouts ) Sing, then!" "If I do, you'll come out and talk?" "I'll talk to you from the French windows." "If you rush me, I'll slip back inside and lock them." "I've got no intention of rushing you." "I'm glad to hear that." "Mark!" "What?" "Take the target with you." "I'll shout when I've set it up." "Do that." "The target's up!" "( Sings ) The Camptown ladies sing this song" "Doo-dah, doo-dah" "Camptown racetrack's five miles long" "Oh, doo-dah day" "Gonna sing all night" "Gonna sing all day" "Bet my money on a bob-tailed nag" "Somebody bet on the bay" "Camptown ladies sing this song" "Doo-dah, doo-dah" "Camptown racetrack's five miles long" "Oh, doo-dah day" "Gonna sing all night" "Gonna sing all day" "Bet my money on a bob-tailed nag" "Somebody bet on the bay... ( S USPENSEFUL MUSIC )" "The Camptown ladies sing this song" "Doo-dah, doo-dah" "Camptown racetrack's five miles long" "Oh, doo-dah day..." "Alright, you can stop now." "Gonna sing all night..." "That's enough!" "Gonna sing all..." "Right, now move aside." "Whatever it is you want to say, say it from there." "It's about Cheadle, Robbie." "Just leave the running to him." "You must make sure he hasn't got enough to arrest me." "Oh, yeah?" "I want you to promise me." "And if I do?" "You'll be safe." "Safe, maybe." "But pestered by coppers." "Cheadle will never give up, you know that." "Listen to me, Robbie." "It's the best we can hope for, isn't it?" "(Whispers ) Blast." "That's better." "Come inside." "You've only shot five." "The sixth I'll keep handy." "Now, nice and slowly." "No, no." "Slower than that." "Come inside." "We'll finish our talk in here." "Now, very carefully, sit down." "You'll not move an inch in any direction before there's an arrow through your heart." "My neck's fine, my arm's strong and from this range I could not miss." "Now, very carefully close those doors and sit." "Steady, kiddo." "Be very steady." "Turn around and sit!" "( METAL SCRAPES )" "You can turn back now." "I switched while your back was turned." "You could've got clean away." "What are you going to do?" "You know." "Don't be stupid, Robbie." "Whatever else I may be, I am never stupid." "What could be more stupid than getting yourself arrested for murdering me?" "Robbie, for Christ's sake!" "( S USPENSEFUL MUSIC )" "This is mad, Robbie." "Why murder me?" "I'm not going to murder you." "I'm accidentally going to kill you." "People sitting on the dike don't get accidentally killed with swords." "Which is why, when you're dead," "I'll shove the sixth arrow into your chest where the sword went in and dump your body down by the target." "You see, little brother, people standing in the vicinity of targets do get accidentally killed with arrows." "Do you think the police will believe that?" "I will tell them how you set up a target and stood back and watched me fire five." "Then, just as I let go my sixth, to my horror, you stepped right into the line of flight." ""Why did he do it?" I will groan." "And Cheadle will explain to me," ""Now, now, Mr Gifford, you mustn't blame yourself." ""You did your best to protect him but he was a murderer, you know," ""and he knew that the net was closing."" "They've established that you were at the scene of each crime at the relevant times and that you had access here to all the props you needed for your little stunt down at the Rex." "Aren't you forgetting my alibi?" "My phone calls to you?" "Charlie will tell them that you didn't answer." "So will the Liptons." "Don't underestimate Cheadle, Robbie." "I know you think I'm only saying that because I'm frightened." "Aren't you?" "I'm terrified, actually." "Ahh!" "( BANG!" ")" "Robbie!" "Don't, Robbie!" "It's no use, kiddo." "We've gone too far." "There is an alternative." "What?" "We can finish this bloody thing together." "Forget it, little brother." "It's too late." "Not quite, Robbie." "ROBBIE:" "How the hell did you get in?" "The key was in the door." "You always arrive at the most inconvenient times, don't you?" "I thought it wise." "One of my men radioed on his walkie-talkie that you were about to kill your brother." "Where is this walkie-talkie man of yours?" "Up my chimney?" "Out there in the garden." "Was my man mistaken?" "Was this man mistaken?" "Am I dead?" "You need medical attention." "I'm alright." "Are you sure?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I'm sure." "Alright." "Let's get down to business, then." "Mr Gifford, why did you go to such extraordinary lengths to dispose of Miss Talbort's body?" "You left her in the cinema, didn't you?" "Mr Gifford!" "Lay off him, Inspector." "You have no right asking leading questions without a warrant." "Oh, I have a warrant." "In that case, you should warn him that..." "Anything he says will be taken down but won't be used as evidence." "What are you playing at?" "I need to understand why your brother acted as he did." "Then you're even dimmer than I thought." "Why is that, Mr Gifford?" "Because any fool, even you, would see that he did what he did because that was his trademark." "I'm sorry, Mark, but I'm not telling him anything he doesn't already know." "( DRAMATIC MUSIC )" "You and your bloody promises." "Promises?" "When he's got a warrant for your arrest and I'm frightened of you?" "What do you expect me to do?" "Hold him and the sergeant at bay with me sabre while you make good your escape?" "You bastard!" "Yours has been a difficult role, hasn't it?" "Don't patronise me, Cheadle." "No, I mean it." "You played it superbly." "What do you mean?" "Well, all those various hints to us about your brother's guilt, for a start." "You had to tell us just enough to frighten him, but not enough to let us arrest him, didn't you?" "I thought that if I could frighten him into not killing again, and at the same time keep him out of your hands, then I was justified." "But then he started plotting to kill me." "But he's devoted to you." "He still wanted to kill me." "Last night he offered me a nightcap... ..full of phenobarbs." "Oh, your brother tried to kill you." "And you, when we came in just now, were about to kill him." "We were always a close family." "Mr Gifford, why did you try to kill your brother?" "Isn't motive supposed to be your job?" "Alright, try this for size." "You committed this series of murders close to your brother's house knowing the suspicion would fall on him." "En route to your cousin's place, you bundled the first three dead girls out of your car, while it was moving, under cover of darkness, in the vicinity of the police station..." "..knowing that a cripple as strong and determined as your brother could also do that." "When we failed to identify your brother as the maniac, you committed the fourth murder." "And disposed of the body in a manner befitting the maniac." "But then you very clumsily drew our attention to yourself... ..to convince us that you were merely an accessory." "A devoted accessory, ridding his murderous brother of an unwanted corpse." "It was all too pat, Mr Gifford." "Why did you return to the Rex stinking of the dead girl's perfume?" "Why?" "Unless it was to lead us back here to your brother." "Clever." "Clever Mark." "Clever copper." "You deserve each other." "How much did your father leave you, Mr Gifford?" "Leave me?" "About $80,000." "And how much has your brother cost you so far for this house, car, so forth?" "About $30,000." "And how much a year do you allow your brother?" "$8,000." "So, even if the remaining $50,000 were wisely invested... ..at the end of eight years, there'd be nothing left." "So what?" "So that if you murdered your brother this week, you'd be $50,000 better off than if he'd lived." "How's that for motive?" "Absurd." "Why?" "Because he's only got..." "Exactly." "I don't believe you've got a warrant." "Sorry, sir." "I want to confess." "Ready, sergeant?" "Christ!" "I, Mark James Gifford, of 15 Cornwall Crescent, South Yarra, being of sound mind, do hereby voluntarily confess to the murder of four girls since August last year." "I also confess to the attempted murder of my brother, Robert, the evening of Thursday the..." "What's the date?" "ROBBIE:" "Mark..." "What?" "Last night when I asked you to pour me a nightcap..." "..I wanted to die." "That's what I thought." "I'm sorry I didn't drink it." "I wouldn't have let you." "I don't want to interrupt this very personal exchange, gentlemen, but if we may now, Mr Gifford, have the rest of your confession." "The rest?" "There are still one or two details outstanding." "Such as?" "The murder weapon." "Oh." "Yeah." "One of Robbie's old sabres." "( DRAMATIC MUSIC ) Thank you, sir." "Sergeant, the warrant." "Robert Stephen Gifford, I have here..." "But I've confessed!" "To murdering four girls with a sabre?" "Yes." "But that wasn't the weapon employed." "Not that we're sure what it was." "But we know it wasn't a blade." "Whatever it was, we are sure your brother used it." "Indeed!" "As a cripple, your brother was an unlikely suspect." "But not an impossible one." "You, however, were." "Going as far as, ah..." "Kyneton?" "Thanks." "The PO company tell me that anatomy is not a subject which is taught to officers of the merchant marine." "MARK:" "I don't get the relevance." "Don't waste much time, do you?" "CHEADLE:" "Only someone with a thorough knowledge of that very anautical subject could've killed all four girls with an identical right-handed upward thrust from below the rib cage." "( Gasps )" "Your brother's right-handed and the Melbourne Medical School tell me he was brilliant at anatomy." "Why would anyone so brilliant fumble his fourth murder when he'd already succeeded with the first three?" "CHEADLE:" "Janine Talbort was killed at 2:30." "Her body was still in your brother's car when you arrived." "You were early and caught him by surprise." "You surprised me." "You caught me with my pants down, literally." "I wish you'd come when you say you're coming." "What's wrong?" "Are you a bit frazzled or something?" "He had to trap you this time or not at all." "He knew his neck lesions would kill him within a year." "ROBBIE:" "Do what you're told." "Nowadays my neck gets a bit stiff and my aim can be hairy." "What would people think if I killed you?" "Ironical, isn't it?" "He told us he got them lifting a television set." "In fact, he got them shoving dead bodies out of his car." "OK, I'll put your things in the car." "No!" "No, I do everything for myself, Mark." "You know that." "Conjecture." "The only body you're sure about was in MY car, not his." "Put there by him." "Impossible." "CHEADLE:" "He had plenty of time." "The cars were parked close together." "He could've transferred the body from his car to yours while you were phoning your cousin." "After all that rain on Wednesday, the lawn was very soft." "Wherever your brother moved, he left tracks." "The shallower ones, where he wheeled only himself, and the deeper ones, when he wheeled an added burden of about 1 00 pounds." "We've done tests." "Janine Talbort weighed 102 pounds." "Someone else could've put her in my car." "CHEADLE:" "Someone else in a wheelchair?" "Someone else with a knowledge of anatomy?" "Someone else who despised the police so much he incorporated in his plan a gambit to make them a laughing stock?" "What gambit?" "Dumping the bodies outside the police station." "The press loved it." "You've got to admire him for it, don't you?" "Showed a lot of guts." "AND he'll get away with it." "Do you want him to get away with it?" "That still doesn't prove him the murderer." "What else would?" "He hated sex, remember?" "And, in particular, young blondes of easy virtue." "I'm not partial to them myself." "You didn't have one for a mother." "What about the blonde I picked up?" "Aren't you forgetting her?" "Anyone see you put her down?" "Well, yeah, I suppose so." "It was in front of the post office." "I shouldn't think anyone noticed, though." "I mean, people don't, do they?" "Oh, yes." "She came to see us yesterday." "Gave us a good description of you." "So did her aunt, who was waiting outside the post office." "And now, Mr Gifford, if we can dispense with your confession." "It's about Cheadle, Robbie." "You must make sure he hasn't got enough to arrest me." "And if I do?" "You'll be safe." "Not until you provide me with a motive for why Robbie did it." "He hated his mother for leaving him as a child." "He hated the police for not punishing his mother." "Why me?" "Are you suggesting he hated me enough to frame and kill me?" "This is mad, Robbie." "Why murder me?" "I'm not going to murder you." "I'm accidentally going to kill you." "You came between him and his adoptive parents." "Also, you came between him and the girl he loved." "But the thing Robbie couldn't stomach was you remained healthy while he became a cripple." "Robbie!" "Now, sir, if you don't mind." "Robert Stephen Gifford..." "( DRAMATIC MUSIC )" "Last night when I asked you to pour me a nightcap... ..I wanted to die." "I'm sorry I didn't drink it." "I wouldn't have let you." "So that was the murder weapon." "Half an arrow." "I suppose we should have guessed." "Better ring for an ambulance, Sergeant." "No point in my staying, you know." "When will you be charging me?" "Hmm?" "I was an accessory to Janine Talbort's murder, remember?" "I don't remember that." "I'm sure my sergeant doesn't remember it, either." "Do you, Sergeant?" "No, the only accessory we remember is the hippie at the Rex and he's vanished." "Probably in Sydney by now." "Might even be dead." "All that heroin, amphetamines." "All the same, these hippies." "Well, we'll be on our way now." "I'll leave a man to look after the ambulance people." "You won't be required at the inquest." "Thanks." "I'd get someone to have a look at that leg." "Goodbye, Mr Gifford." "Goodbye." "Can you come over straightaway?" "MEG:" "What about Robbie?" "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."