"Quiet!" "We must now turn toward the question of physical evidence, Mr Whicher." "Quiet!" "I said sit down, Mr Whicher!" "There cannot be any grounds to send you to trial." "You are free to go." "Mr Whicher?" "Have you anything to say?" "This is a triumph for justice, don't you think?" "The shining light of truth has defeated the irrational forces of rumour and prejudice!" "Inspector!" "Go back to London!" "All aboard!" "I'll just get another pail." "I'm sorry, ma'am." "Are the children awake?" "Children?" "There is only one child with me." " Is Master Savill not with you?" " Certainly not!" "I thought you must have heard him crying in the night and brought him in with you." "You know I cannot lift a child of his age in my condition!" " When did you notice he was missing?" " Shortly after dawn." "Why didn't you tell me?" " Samuel!" "Samuel!" " What is it?" " Savill is missing!" " Missing?" "Elizabeth says he's not been in his cot for at least two hours, she thought he was with us!" "One of the other children must have taken him to their room." "I shall get dressed." "Mary Ann!" "Elizabeth!" "Have you seen Savill?" "Constance, is Savill with you?" " No, Father." " Is he with William?" "No, sir, he's not with William." " You haven't seen him at all?" " Not since last night, Father." " He's not with them." " Then where can he be?" "For heavers sake, Samuel, find him!" "Emily?" "Sarah?" "Emily!" " Savill!" " Savill!" "Savill!" "Savill!" " Savill!" " Savill?" "Savill!" "Mr Kent!" "The window was open." "You would have secured that last night, wouldn't you, sir?" "As I did all the house." " Then someone has been in." " Someone has taken my child!" "James." "Master Savill has been taken!" " Taken, sir?" " Master Savill has been taken!" "Scour the grounds." "Savill!" "Savill!" " Anything?" " Nothing." "I'll wager if we do not find a living child we shall find a dead one." " Savill!" " Savill?" "Savill!" "Benger!" "Blood?" "There's something." "Oh, God." "Inspector Whicher!" "Whicher." "An Englishmars home is not just his castle." "It is a sacred place!" "Hear!" "Hear!" "The security of every family and every home is now at stake!" "Until this despicable crime is solved, there is not a man, woman or child who can sleep easily in their bed!" "I call upon the Home Secretary to use every means at his disposal to ensure that the culprit is brought swiftly to justice!" "Hear!" "Hear!" "The village constables appear to be no better than idiots and the Wiltshire Constabulary even worse." " How so, sir?" " They're arrogant, obstructive, unscientific, and they're getting absolutely nowhere." "The Home Secretary no less has requested that I to dispatch an intelligent officer to Wiltshire as soon as possible." "Your record is impeccable." "There is no better detective on the force." " Thank you for your faith in me, sir." " But you should be aware of what's at stake." "The reputation of the detective branch depends on this case." "I shart let you down, sir." " Good luck, Whicher." " Thank you." "You have the look of Wellington on the way to Waterloo, sir." "I have the look of a man who's been sent to Wiltshire, Dolly, that's all." "I shall expect you back triumphant within a few days." "There'll be a brandy waiting for you in the Old Red Lion!" "Thanks, Dolly." "Until this despicable crime is solved, there is not a man, woman or child who can sleep easily in their bed!" "But you should be aware of what's at stake." "Superintendent Foley?" "Whicher." "Ah..." "I was expecting someone in a uniform." "Welcome to Wiltshire." "Thank you." "Of course, this is not London, this is an English village." "A world apart." "You may feel it wise to rely heavily on local knowledge." "And local knowledge points heavily to Elizabeth Gough, the nursemaid, as the murderer." "Which is why I have her in custody." "Why is the hearing being held in private?" "Inspector Whicher!" "Well now!" "My bed was in the middle and Savill's cot was further along to the left." "He could not possibly have got out on his own." "I heard nothing in the night." "I slept soundly." "When I awoke and saw little Savill's cot empty I thought nothing of it." "But the child was in your care, Miss Gough." "I know that, sir." "But I honestly believed he had been taken to his mother and father's room." "I did not kill the little boy!" "How could I?" "How could anyone?" "She weeps, but for the child or for herself?" "It is our view that the evidence remains inconclusive." "There are therefore no grounds to detain you in custody any longer, Miss Gough." "You are free to go." " Ah, I gather Inspector Whicher has arrived." " Indeed, sir." "Mr Whicher, this investigation will now be placed firmly in your hands." "Your reputation goes before you." "We trust that you will bring the murderer to justice, and for everyone's sake, with the greatest possible speed." "That's my intention, sir." "Gentlemen, Inspector Whicher of the Metropolitan Police." "First, I wish to announce that a reward has been offered of L200 for information leading to the conviction of Savill Kent's murderer." "Half of this is being offered by the government, the other half by Mr Samuel Kent himself." "Some might say that's just a ploy by Kent, to disarm those who suspect him of some part in the murder?" "You know I won't be drawn into answering questions like that, Mr Redman." "And from now on this investigation will driven by me, not by you." " Take me to the house, Superintendent." " Inspector..." "Come on, Jack." "Why are you here?" "Who's in charge of the investigation?" "Are you in charge?" "Come on, Jack!" "Inspector Whicher." "Welcome." "Allow me to begin by expressing my sincere condolences for the loss of your child." "Thank you." "And, with the greatest of respect to the Superintendent, may I say how relieved I am at your arrival." "I have been pressing for a detective to be sent from London." "This dreadful uncertainty must be brought to an end!" "You see for yourself my wife's distress." "My children are suffering likewise." " As you yourself must be." " My suffering is of no account in this." "Sorry to intrude." "I wanted to ask if you wish me to resume my normal duties now?" " You may, Elizabeth." " Thank you, ma'am." "Neither of us doubted Miss Gough's innocence." "Why is that, sir?" "I can't believe anyone in this house, be they family or servant, capable of such an act." "And you, Mrs Kent?" "My husband is the best judge on these matters." "Gough is released, Mr Kent, not exonerated." "Well, these judgments are now in Mr Whicher's hands." "And I shall do my best, sir." "It goes without saying the Inspector will tread lightly here." "This is your home." "It's not a place where anyone, even a detective," " should go poking about without the utmost..." " On the contrary." "Mr Whicher must come and go here without let or hindrance until the truth is known." "Thank you, sir." "I'll need to see the plans." "Plans?" "You must have made detailed floor-plan of the house made as part of your investigation?" "Mr Kent did not wish it." " You mustrt take him literally." " Sorry?" "No matter what he says, we must proceed here with the utmost sensitivity." "I shall take him at his word, Superintendent." "Have plans made." "A crude attempt had been made to suggest that entry had been forced from the outside." "The window was found open, thus." "And the shutters?" "Partly closed and barred from the inside." "So entry could not have been made from the outside?" "And even if an intruder had entered by the window, he would have found the drawing room door locked." " All the other doors and windows were secure?" " Mr Kent is very particular about security." " Why's that?" " Liberties have been taken." "There has been trespass." "Fruit stolen from the orchards, fish poached from the river." " He's not a well-liked man?" " He's a prosperous man." "And in a place like this envy can easily turn into a deeper malice which can endlessly corrupt the truth." "And the truth is Mr Kent is a man of substance and integrity." "The two older daughters by Mr Kent's first marriage slept upstairs." "Mary slept in her parents' room next door." "Eveline, the baby, slept here next to Gough... and the boy Savill over here." "I've left the cot as it was after the night of the murder." "Far enough from Gough's bed for someone to have slipped in and taken the child" " without waking her?" " I think that's extremely unlikely." "I still think that Gough murdered Savill and hid the body in the privy." " Why would she kill the boy?" " I don't concern myself with motives, Whicher." "Well, I must." "I believe that young Savill awoke and saw a man in Miss Gough's bed." "And began to cry out, so she pressed the blanket to his mouth but he would not stop, and she suffocated him." "But I give no credence to the rumours the man in Miss Gough's bed was Mr Kent." "I will not be a party to implicating him in the murder of his own child." "Nor will I, Superintendent." "Not without good reason." "But a detective must always look for meaning in mers actions, just as he must always look for thoughts in their faces." "These are the back stairs down to the kitchen." "Why do you think the murderer would have used this route?" "It is the shortest and the most secret route to the back door." "It would have been a simple matter for Gough to have used this door to admit a lover... and to carry the child out to the privy without being heard." "There was a small amount of semi-congealed blood on the floor, and a scrap of bloodied newspaper at the side of the privy." " Which newspaper?" " Morning Star." " Which newspaper does Mr Kent take?" " The Times." "Further evidence of an outsider." "Was there ever a more sordid end to a child's life?" "You see now the horror of it, Mr Whicher?" "You understand now how grotesque are the accusations against Mr Kent?" "Whatever darkness may be inside this house, we mustrt shrink from it." "Dr Stapleton." "Inspector Whicher wants to ask you about the post-mortem." "Whicher, thank God you're here." "A good man is being crucified - you must put an end to it." " You see no evidence against Mr Kent?" " None whatsoever." "It's impossible he killed the child." "He doted on the boy" " So tell me your findings." " I'll make it simple for you." "There were wounds to the neck and chest and the lips had a blackened and bruised appearance." "Which supports my belief that something was pressed to his mouth to stifle his cries when he awoke and saw Gough with a stranger." "But if the boy had already been suffocated, why stab him?" "To disguise the real cause of death, and make it look like he wasrt killed in the bedroom." "Which, with respect Superintendent Foley, is nonsense." "I believe the child was asleep in his cot." "He was lifted gently and carried, still sleeping, from the house." "Once in the privy, he was stabbed." "First in the chest, but when that failed to kill him, the throat was cut." "And how do you explain the blackened lips?" "The child was thrust head down into the void beneath privy." "The blood drained down into his lips." "But if the cause of death was stabbing not suffocation, his heart would still been pumping." " There would have been blood everywhere." " Indeed." "The blood was clearly mopped up afterwards with the blanket." "And possibly by the garment Superintendent Foley found." "What garment?" "I examined the cesspit beneath the privy with a crook." "It was in there." "What is it?" "It's a garment women wear, between the bosom and the corset." "I'll need to take this." "Thank you very much for your help." "To Sir Richard Mayne, Commissioner, Great Scotland Yard." "Sir, I beg to report as instructed." "The magistrates have given me all necessary authority, as has Mr Kent, to investigate within his home and among his family." "Despite the unelpful manner of Superintendent Foley," "I'm inclined to agree with him in one respect." "That an inmate of the house may have been responsible for the murder." "However, as you would expect, I continue to keep an open mind." " What are you doing?" " Superintendent." "Morning." "You cannot possibly put such an intimate female garment on display." "Why not?" "Well, what do you think the press will make of this?" "A good deal, I hope." "I'd like as many people as possible to see this, so we can identify the owner." "I'm sorry, Inspector, but you're playing with fire." "And I'd like you to print and distribute handbills to every house in the area, worded as follows." "We're already drowning in information!" "I'm not drowning." "Now, who found the body?" "William Nutt." "Who I believe may have been the man in Miss Gough's bed when the child awoke." "I want to meet him." "Nutt, the Inspector wishes to speak to you." "Whatever he's said, it ain't true." "Whatever who said?" "Kent!" "As if I'd go that far." " What are you talking about?" " My nephew." "He took a few apples from Kent's orchard." "Kent had him prosecuted." " Quite right too!" " A month's hard labour they give him." "12-year-old child!" "But to try and say I'd go as far as murdering his child in revenge..." " Has he suggested that?" " I'll swear he has." " It's a lie." "I tried to help find the boy." " Why?" "Because... it was the right thing to do." "Whose idea was it to look inside the privy?" " Well, mine but..." " What made you look in there?" "The constables said search every outbuilding!" "But you made a remark just before you found the child." "Tell the inspector what it was." "I..." "I said... we shall find a dead child if we did not find a living one." "Why did you think he might be dead?" "Don't answer, William!" "He's just making trouble and I'm not afraid to say it to his face!" " Who are you, madam?" " Hester Holley." "It's me as does the Kents' laundry." "But I shall not touch a stitch of it again till they take back their lies about me." " What lies, Mrs Holley?" " That I lost a nightdress just after the murder." "I never did." "What significance is this nightdress?" "I don't know but there must be a reason or Mr Kent wouldn't be blaming me over it!" "And he wouldn't be making made such a fuss!" "Superintendent?" "The womars a liar." " But a nightdress did go missing?" " Yes." "Which suggests it might have been worn by the murderer" " and discarded because it was bloodstained?" " Theoretically, perhaps." " Who did it belong to?" " One of the daughters." "Constance, I believe." " Have you questioned her about it?" " I didn't see the need." "She's hardly more than a child." "I think it's time I went back to the house." "Alone, this time." "Thank you, Superintendent." "Mr Kent has gone to Trowbridge to see about the inscription on Master Savill's grave." "It's Miss Gough I want to see." "Miss Gough." "Mr Foley noted that you did not cry when you saw Savill's body." "Well, I'm his nursemaid, not his mother." "You told Mr Foley..." ""He's a tell-tale." "He goes to his mama's room and tells her everything."" "Don't all children do that?" "Was there anything in particular you didn't want him to tell?" "I know what you're suggesting." "That something unspeakable was going on between myself and Mr Kent." " And Savill saw us." " Did he?" "No!" "How well do you know William Nutt?" "This is the other thing - equally grotesque - that has been said." "I never met the man!" "He only lives nearby." "We keep ourselves apart from the village in this house!" "So some stranger simply came in and took the child whilst you were asleep?" "They must have done!" "This child that you appeared to have no real bond with?" "I should have loved him more but I could not bring myself to." "Why not?" " Because of your feelings for his father?" " No!" " Then why?" " Because..." "Because what?" "In a former house where I worked there was a small child who I grew to love almost as my own." "He died." "It broke my heart." "I... swore then that I would never allow myself to become so close to a child again." "I cannot expect you to understand." "Why didn't you tell Mr Foley this?" "To admit that I had deliberately hardened my heart against the child might have made him more convinced of my guilt." "That'll do." "Where's Miss Constance?" " She's in her room." "I'll show you up." " That's all right." " Top floor, isn't it?" " Yes." "Thank you." "By what right do you enter and search my room?" "By the right your father has granted me, Miss Kent." "Search on." "You will not find any clue in here, I promise you." "Miss Kent!" "I'd like to talk to you, please." "This is a list of your linen?" "I recently returned from school." "I make one whenever I am packing." "There are three nightdresses on here." "Where are they?" " Two are in there." " May I see?" "And the third?" "Was lost by our washerwoman a few days after Savill was killed." " Was it identical to these?" " Yes." " So whose is this?" " My sister's." "Since Mrs Holley now refuses to take in our laundry, I had to borrow a clean one." "Why does she refuse to take the family laundry?" " She's angry at being blamed for the loss." " Who blames her?" "My father." " Do you?" " Why should I?" "Because the disappearance of your nightdress might put you under suspicion." "That's a dreadful accusation." " I loved Savill..." " It's not an accusation." "I'm glad to hear it." "It is a trick of the detective, I suppose." "To see my reaction." "Well, you have seen it." "Happy?" " I'll need to take these away." " Constance, did I..." "Oh, it's there." " William?" " Yes." " Inspector Whicher." " I know." " It's very good." " Esocidae lucius." "The northern pike." "Terrifying." "Thank you." "I'll need to talk to you again." "Both of you." "Plans of the murder house?" "What I wouldn't give for a copy of those, Inspector." "Brandy?" "Wouldrt be an attempt to bribe a detective, would it?" "Jack!" "How's your enquiry progressing?" "When have I ever answered that question?" " Pretty well, then?" " I'll take that in my room, landlord." " Sir." " The Prince of Sleuths, eh?" "Why do you think the murderer would have used this route?" "It is the shortest and the most secret route to the back door." "I can't believe anyone in this house, be they family or servant, capable of such an act." "So some stranger simply came in and took the child whilst you were asleep?" "They must have done!" "There was a scrap of bloodied newspaper at the side of the privy." " Which newspaper?" " Morning Star." " Which newspaper does Mr Kent take?" " The Times." "I see you're in need of information, Inspector?" "Well, a detective can never have enough information." "I think you've found some new clue." " Perhaps." " Really?" "What brings you back here?" "I have to press you on a matter relating to the Kent family." "I am the family physician, I do have a duty of confidence." "And if there were any other way of getting this information, I would use it." "What information?" "Constance Kent." "What kind of a person is she?" " A very interesting character." " In what way?" " Have you read this?" " I've heard of it..." "Darwin argues that to understand who we are, we must first recognise what we evolved from." "And as we evolve, gradually, over the generations, much of our identity is inerited." "How's this relevant to Constance?" "Her mother" " Kent's first wife, Mary Ann Kent - was quite mad." "Now, as a scientist and physician," "I can tell you that female madness is generally inerited from the mother." " Is that so?" " Undoubtedly." "Are you suggesting that Constance is mad?" " Kent has not mentioned this?" " No." "Well, it's a subject which he finds immensely painful." "And he can never have imagined that it would lead to this." "Lead to what?" "Well, you clearly suspect Constance of the murder." "But in my long experience, I know that the cold-blooded murder of one child by another is so rare as to be almost unknown - unless the perpetrator is not in their right mind." "You say Constance is mad, can you give me evidence?" "Two weeks before her stepmother gave birth to Savill, Constance lost the use of her legs." "I examined her." "There was no physical cause." " That doesn't prove..." " The girl terrifies me, Inspector." "I wouldn't sleep in the same house as her without locking my bedroom door." "Sir, I now find myself departing further from the findings of Superintendent Foley." "Evidence has come to light which suggests that Constance Kent may have been involved in the death of her stepbrother." "I intend now to interview Constance's school friends, in an attempt better to understand her character." "Emma?" "Inspector Whicher." "Thank you." "I'm investigating the murder at Road Hill House." "I understand you're a friend of Constance Kent?" "I just want to ask you a few questions." "Is she happy at home?" "Miss Moody?" "She doesn't like her stepmother." "How so?" "She says she makes her wear old clothes and if Constance wants a brown dress, she will be told she can only have black." "What about Savill?" "I don't want to say anything to get her into trouble." "How did she get on with Savill?" "She told me she used to pinch him to make him cry." "I told her that was horrible." "She said, "How would you like it if your father remarried" ""and his wife treated you like a servant?"" "Is that what she told you?" "She was so unappy she ran away from home once." " When was that?" " When she was 12, I think." "She dressed up as a boy and took William." "They set off for Bristol with the idea of going to sea as cabin-boys but they were caught before they got there." "You won't tell her I told you any of this?" "Will you?" "Who did it belong to?" "One of the daughters." "Constance, I believe." "The disappearance of your nightdress might put you under suspicion." "You must have hard questions for me, Whicher." "Continue." "Do you wish me to leave?" "I have difficult questions for you too, Mrs Kent." "Very well." "Samuel and I have no secrets." "There are allegations about you and Miss Gough." " Is there any truth in them?" " None whatsoever." "Then why the rumours that you're responsible for the death of your own son?" " I'm not a popular man here." " Why's that?" "Can't be just jealousy." " It's because of his work." " A sub-inspector of factories?" "He must enforce the law." "Only last week he had to turn 20 under-age children out of a local mill." "Their parents were furious!" "He has been abused, spat at, simply for trying to protect children!" "It seems the same people who accuse me of having a hand in my own sors death, are ready to put their own offspring at the risk of death for the sake of a few shillings a week." "Well, those few shillings may be desperately needed." "Yes, of course." "But how can one possibly put a price on a child's life?" "I must ask you about Constance." "Dr Stapleton suggested she may be suffering from mental weakness." "I..." "I shrink from calling it mental weakness." "She has fits of passion that erupt for no apparent reason." "Yet she has an ability to remain blank and detached when you would expect anger." "So there's no love lost between the two of you?" "I've done my best to be a good mother to all of Samuel's children." "Including William?" "My wife has raised him almost as her own child." "His boots, I notice, are worn and scuffed, and Constance's nightdresses are of coarse linen?" "I don't believe in spoiling children." "So when Constance and William ran away from home..." "It wasrt because you made them unappy?" "That was a childish adventure!" "When she changed into boy's clothes and cut off her hair." " Mary." "Mary..." " She did it in the privy... where Savill was murdered!" "The window was found open and barred from the inside." "So entry could not have been made from the outside?" "I can't believe anyone in this house, family or servant, capable of such an act." "Constance..." "I need to speak with you further." "Then do so." "I don't care." "Why did you lose the use of your legs just before Savill was born?" "I had influenza." "It had no connection with the fact your stepmother was about to give birth to your father's child?" "None at all." "Did you resent the birth?" "No more than I resented the arrival of little Eveline and Mary." "I loved Savill." " As much as you love William?" " I cannot compare them!" " But you and he are very close." " Of course!" "When Mother was dying and afterwards, Constance looked after me." " There's nothing she wouldn't do for you?" " Nor I for her." "But she knows nothing of the murder." "Nor do I." "When you ran away from home you left your clothes in the privy where little Savill was found murdered." "It is a coincidence." "Is it also coincidence that you disposed of your hair and garments in the very cesspit where he was found?" "It is a coincidence and a coincidence does not make someone a murderer, Mr Whicher." "You should know that!" "Or do you not care if you send an innocent person to the gallows?" " Of course I care." " Are you quite sure you've never done so?" "Yes." "That does not mean you could not make such a mistake in the future." "Father's newspaper reports you have a new clue." "Let's hope it helps you." "Are they all right?" "The Home Secretary promised an urgent resolution, and yet there has been none!" "He assured the House that the arrival in Wiltshire of a Metropolitan Police officer would be followed by a swift arrest!" "But no such thing has happened!" "This is rapidly becoming a national scandal!" "Inspector, I have received further correspondence from the Home Secretary seeking assurance that an arrest be imminent." "He reflects growing public concern." "It is critical for the reputation of the detective branch, and your own, that you make an arrest as soon as possible." "Will the Home Secretary seek an urgent commitment from the Commissioner that the murderer will be arrested and put safely behind bars without any further delay!" " Inspector Whicher." " Mr Whicher, sir." "Do you know who the murderer is?" " I believe so, sir." " So you wish to issue a warrant for arrest?" "I would..." "like a little more time." "Why?" "Well, I'm not yet as set with regards to evidence as I would like to be." "The Home Secretary has urged that we bring the case to a swift conclusion." "I know." "Are you now confident that if you move now, you can do so?" "I'm sure I can." "Then surely you must!" "In here, please." "No." "What's happening?" "The Inspector has something important to say to Constance." "I'm a police officer and I hold a warrant for your apprehension, charging you with the murder of your brother Savill Francis Kent, which I will read." "I am innocent!" "This warrant is issued for the arrest of Constance Emily Kent, being charged with the wilful murder of Francis Savill Kent at Road Hill House in the county of Wiltshire." "Inspector, I am innocent!" "No..." "I'm innocent!" "No!" "No, no, no!" "No!" "Inspector, has she been charged?" "Mr Whicher, is he under arrest?" "What about her father?" "Is her father a suspect?" "Mr Whicher, has she been charged with murder?" "Mr Whicher!" "Quiet, please." "Inspector Whicher." "You have a statement to make." "I have been engaged since Sunday last in investigating the murder of Francis Savill Kent." "I have examined the premises and concluded that the murder was committed by an inmate of the house." "I've asked certain questions of those inmates, including Constance Kent." "I've examined her bedroom, including drawers containing her personal linen." "Quiet!" "Quiet, please." " Shame on you!" " Thank you." "I found this." "A list of her linen." "The list, composed by Miss Kent, includes three nightdresses." "She was only able to produce two of these, the other one is missing." "It is my belief that this missing nightdress provides the key to this murder." "Quiet!" "It is also my belief that Miss Kent harboured certain dark feelings towards the deceased and that she suffers from a mental infirmity." "I ask you now to remand her in custody to enable me to gather further evidence concerning these two aspects of the case." "How much time do you require?" "One week would be normal, sir." "Have you anything to say, Miss Kent?" "No, sir." "Very well, then." "A week is granted." "Miss Kent, you will be taken to Devizes Gaol and held on remand on suspicion of murder." " I'm very sorry, sir." " You're doing your duty Whicher, that's all." "You better be right about this!" "To Sir Richard Mayne, Commissioner of Police, Great Scotland Yard." "Sir, I have, today, apprehended Constance Kent and she is remanded in custody." "The magistrates granted one week to get up evidence." "I am awkwardly situated with local police and want assistance." "Please send Sergeant Williamson." "Urgent." "Desperate gamble or ingenious ploy, Inspector?" "That's what we're all asking." "Eh?" " What is it, Mr Whicher?" " Come on, Mr Whicher!" "So, Jack, all quiet up here in the country?" "Dolly." " How does Kent afford this?" " It's rented." "So he's only playing the squire?" "He lives as every Englishman dreams of living." "Nothing wrong with that." " But you're sure he's not the murderer?" " Everyone wants it to be him but it's not." "I gathered all the laundry up and brought it in here to sort." "And you're absolutely certain you saw the nightdress?" "Yes." "I collected it from Constance's room." "Put it in that basket." "Entered it in the laundry book like always." " What condition was it in?" " What do you mean, sir?" "Well was it clean or was it dirty?" "Just... as you'd expect after a week's wear." " Any bloodstains?" " No!" "But the laundry woman never received it." "Could anyone else have come in here and interfered with the laundry, Sarah?" "Answer the detective." "Miss Constance did come here." "She..." "She asked me to look in the nightdress pocket because she thought she might have left her purse in it." "So I found the garment and checked." "There was no purse." "I put it back in the basket and then..." "I don't want to make things any worse for her!" "Go on." "She asked me if Id go and fetch her a glass of water." "I was only gone a minute." "I don't think she did anything!" "Thank you, Miss Cox." "She could easily have stolen the nightdress when Cox was getting the water, and secreted it under her skirts." "But this wasrt the bloodstained nightdress." "No, she must hidden that one somewhere." "This was a clean one she put on after the murder." "Bu why steal back a nightdress which had no blood on it, that couldn't incriminate her?" "That's the mark of her cleverness." "Constance... has three nightdresses." "One she's wearing the night of the murder and gets blood all over it, so she hides it." "She now has two nightdresses." "She knows someone might ask where the third is so she takes one of the remaining nightdresses, puts it out for the laundry." "But after the maid Cox collects it with all the other laundry, registers it in the laundry book," "Constance steals it back - the nightdress never reaches the washer woman." "But she gets blamed for losing it." "So now Constance can account for all the nightdresses." "You're right, that is clever." "It's like a three-card trick." "So where's the bloody one?" "We have to find it." "I'd like to search the house for the nightdress." "I already have." "Besides, in the unlikely event your theory is correct and Constance is the killer, wouldn't she have destroyed it?" "How?" "She couldn't have burnt it - you said no fires were lit in the house overnight." "It must be there." "Send a dozen constables if you have to." "I want that nightdress." " This one's locked." " I'll get the keys." "William." "We have a few questions to ask you." "Did you hear Constance leave her room on the night of Savill's murder?" "Did you hear anything at all that night?" " Look, I know this difficult for you..." " I have nothing to say." "Except that I know she's innocent!" "However painful this is, I must get to the truth." "Do you understand?" "Inspector!" "He has lost his brother, his beloved sister stands accused of killing him." "This is breaking his heart." "And I apologise, but I have to ask questions." "If you push him too hard, I honestly fear for his sanity." "And I believe that there is a way that we can avoid putting him through this." "Go on." "If I were to visit Constance, entreat her, as her father, to tell the full truth before God." "Wait here." " Are you all right, sir?" " I've never been inside such a place before." "It's grim, I grant you." "The thought of her being confined here..." "Of course I want the truth to be known, Whicher, but if it is as you suggest and I fear then..." "I cannot face her!" " Mr Kent..." " I'm sorry, Whicher." "I find myself caught between pity for my daughter and horror at what she may have done!" "I cannot face her!" " Mr Kent!" " Sorry, Whicher." "I was told my father was coming." "That he had something important to say to me." "Your father regrets he does not wish to speak to you after all." " Then lock me back in my cell." " Constance..." "Please call me Miss Kent, Inspector." "What your father wants, Miss Kent, is for you to tell the truth." "He is in anguish." "I know that." "And you could deliver him from the worst of that anguish." "By confessing to something I have not done?" "By telling the truth." "No matter how painful that may be, there would be more understanding than you might think." "Sympathy even." "Oh, because I'm mad?" "Madness is not a crime, Miss Kent." "Indeed, the law absolves those afflicted of responsibility." "So you mean I would not face the hangmars noose?" "You wish me to persuade me into confession by tempting me with the alternative?" "A lifetime in an asylum?" "Shaven-headed, bound, chained, tortured..." " Miss Kent..." " I am neither mad nor a fool, Inspector!" "I would sooner hang!" "Please lock me up." "Come on, lock me up, please!" "Mr Redman." "Oh, Foley is calling off the search for your famous nightdress." "What?" "Does that mean you may have over-estimated its significance?" "Has the search been completed?" "I've wasted enough of my officers' valuable time on your obsession with a piece of linen." "Time that should be spent on other enquiries." "What other enquiries?" "Enquiries aimed at undermining me?" "Most people believe it's the other way round." "That you've made a terrible misjudgment and you're sending an innocent girl to the gallows." " Jack." " What?" "Someone to see you." "I would have come forward sooner, but a servant has a duty of confidence to those she works for and I was afraid you would think it just more malicious gossip." " But then I heard of Miss Constance's arrest..." " Just tell us what you know." "I was employed by the family when they were living in Somersetshire." "The first Mrs Kent was still alive and the children were looked after by a nursemaid, Miss Pratt..." "Who is now the second Mrs Kent." "During all the time I worked for them, Mr and Mrs Kent never shared a bed." "They slept in separate rooms." "Isn't that understandable?" " Mrs Kent was ill after all." " Not ill in the way they said." "There was a physical illness, yes, and she was distressed at times, but that was because of Mr Kent's relationship with Miss Pratt." " Are you suggesting they were lovers?" " We were certain of it." "And yet Mr Kent directed all of us, servants and family alike, to regard Miss Pratt rather than his wife as our mistress." "And Constance?" "Was too young to understand what she was doing." "What do you mean?" "When Miss Pratt mocked her mother, she'd join in." ""A certain person" she'd call her." ""A certain person has thrown her tea on the floor!"" "And they'd laugh together." "Her and William." "How guilty they must have felt when they came to learn the truth about their father and Miss Pratt." " Constance's mother wasrt mad, Mr Whicher," " And neither is Constance." "Then how could she have killed the child?" "Because she did not act alone." "I'm sorry this has taken so long for me to grasp, but I know how cruelly you've been treated." "Your stepmother turned you against your real mother when you were too young to understand." "You will gain nothing by feigning sympathy, Inspector." "It's not feigned, Constance." "You joined in with all her cruelty and she robbed your mother of all the love you could have given her." " You were only five or six years old." " I do not dwell on the past, Inspector." "It must have tore your heart out... when you realised the truth." "For years, you've been longing to atone for your betrayal." "But your mother's dead now." "You can't." "If I have felt wretched about anything, I've learnt to live with it." "What about William?" " He must have felt wretched too." " That might be true." "Both of you must have been ready to do almost anything to take away each other's pain." "Oh..." "I see where this is leading." "The detective fails to prove the accused murdered because she is mad, so now he tries to suggest she did so because her brother helped her?" "What I know, from experience, Constance, is that two people together are capable of carrying out acts that alone they would not dare." "William was unappy enough to run away from home before Savill was even born." "Imagine how desperate he must have felt when he realised his place in his father's affections had been taken by..." "It is you who is desperate, Inspector!" "I can see it in your face." "I've been defeated by a 16-year-old girl." " She knows we lack evidence." " And time." "All she has to do is hold he nerve for a couple of days more." "If I can't break Constance, I've no choice but to speak to her brother William." "What about the boy's mental fragility?" "Kent said if you push him too far..." "Kent's said a lot, Dolly." "How much of it's actually be believed I don't know." "But if he truly wants justice for his son, he mustrt stop me from getting to the truth." "I'll see you in the morning, Jack." ""Shall not God search this out."" "Very apt." "The problem is, I need to search out the truth and I don't have divine powers." "And the honest truth is I need your help, Mr Kent." "You are still sure of Constance's guilt?" "I have reason to believe he may have assisted Constance in the murder." "Do you have evidence?" "The evidence I've been seeking hasn't materialised, but other evidence has." "A servant has come forward who worked for you some years ago." "She said you shared the bed of the governess - the woman you since married - while your first wife was still alive." "There was nothing improper between us." "Which is the response you gave me over the allegation you shared your bed with Miss Gough." " I know." " You see, I'm finding this very hard, Mr Kent." "Your life, at the very least, is a terrible tangle of coincidence and ambiguity." "Why should I believe a word you say?" "I can think of no simple way of convincing you Inspector, except..." "Go on." "By entrusting you with the most difficult confession I could ever make." "Every father should love his children equally." "Favouritism is wrong, but my feelings for Savill..." "Something about him, a look on his face sometimes when he saw me entering a room..." "His death is God's punishment for loving him more than my other children." "I'm sorry." "Just the thought that I will never see that face again." "And so you hold it in your memory, knowing in the end that it's all you'll keep of them." "You've lost a child?" "Little boy." "Long time ago now." "I'd rather have your leave to question William, but if you do not grant it..." "No." "No, you must do as you see fit, Whicher." "Nothing must come between you and the truth." "That's very imaginative, William." "I want to see if you can imagine something else." "Come on." "I want you to imagine the night that Savill was stolen from his cot." " No." " Better still, let's imagine it together." "It's not easy, is it?" "There are certain things that have always troubled me about it." "For example, how does his abductor manage to lift him from the bed without waking him?" "I mean, he's no baby, he's nearly four years old." "And then leave the blankets neatly smoothed back." " Could it be that she has an accomplice?" " I don't know." "It'd be easier if someone could open the door for her as she carried him from the house." " Let's think it through." " I don't want to do this!" "Come on." "Now let's have a think." "She's got to carry the child all this way." "I'd say it would be much easier, wouldn't you, to have somebody assisting her?" "Don't forget she's got to have the murder weapon with her." "Where's she got the knife if she's carrying the baby?" "In her nightdress pocket?" "Makes much more sense for someone else to carry it." "And don't forget, all the time she's thinking, "When I get that little boy into that privy," ""I'm going to have to stab him while he's sleeping in my arms" - that beautiful infant - "and shove him down a filthy cesspit!"" "On her own, she might be losing her nerve." "Maybe that's why she needs an accomplice to urge her on?" "Because the accomplice has as much reason as she does to wish the child dead!" " Can you imagine it, William?" " No!" "Perhaps if we went in there together, you might be able to." "Shall we do that?" "My sister did not harm Savill, neither did I!" "But would you change your story if I took you in there?" " Please don't!" " Come on, have a look." "Look at it!" "Anything coming back?" "Eh?" "Look!" " Come on, William, eh?" " Please!" "What's coming back to you?" "Eh?" "Anything?" "Have a look!" "Come on!" " Eh?" " Please, no!" "Eh?" "Look!" "Please." "Go on, boy." "On your way." "Well?" "I didn't push him enough." " That was understandable." " Why is it understandable?" "Because it's not in your nature to be harsh to a child." "It's not in my nature to let the murderer of a child escape justice, Dolly." "I'm a detective." "I came here hoping to bring a family's suffering to an end." "But it's only got deeper." "I can't break Constance because she's too strong and I can't break William because he's too weak." "There will be no confession!" "We have to find that nightdress!" "Foley never searched these grounds properly." "She could easily have concealed it in the house on the night of the murder, then brought it out here the following morning!" "It could be anywhere." "There..." "There..." " Maybe she threw it in the river." " Then it would have washed away." "Not necessarily." "It's shallow, slow-moving." "It could have sunk, got caught on the river bed." " We could have the river lowered and dragged." " How?" "I don't know, build a dam, divert the water." "The court hearing's tomorrow." "Jack, we've only got a few hours!" " I'm right about this, Dolly!" " And I think you are too." "But we're not going to find the nightdress now!" "Look, we've done all we can." "We have one priceless thing in our favour." "Your reputation, Jack." "Anyone who understands the criminal mind knows you would not get this wrong." "In the end, it'll be your word against Constance's." "Yours will prevail." "Go back to London!" "You should be ashamed, Mr Whicher!" "You haven't got a clue, have you?" "Miss Kent!" "Do you still proclaim your innocence, Miss Kent?" " Let the girl go!" " You're a meddler, Whicher!" " Miss Kent..." " Go on, be off with you!" "Confident, Inspector?" " Oh, Father!" " No, Constance, no." "You must bear up." "No." "Strength, child." "Strength." "Now do you understand what you've done, Whicher?" " I've done my job, Superintendent." " And brought a family to the brink of ruin." "Kent has employed a barrister for Constance." " So I see." " But there is none for the prosecution." "No..." "All rise." "No." "Stand, please." "Miss Kent." "I must ask you first if you have anything to say to the court." "Only to repeat that I am innocent." "Quiet!" "Please." "Inspector, there were two areas of evidence that you sought to investigate further." "The first of these was what you described as Miss Kent's "dark feelings" toward the deceased." "To that end, you have subpoenaed Emma Moody to give evidence." "Miss Moody, please." "Miss Moody." "You will need to answer some questions." "Mr Edlin." "Emma, have you ever heard Miss Kent say anything with regard to her deceased brother?" " A little, sir." " And what did he say about him?" "Only that she loved him, and he her." "And that they often gave each other presents." "Is that what you told Inspector Whicher when he came to see you?" "It is, sir." "Mr Whicher claims you told him Constance resented the boy and used to pinch him to make him cry?" "I never said that." " Are you sure?" " Yes, sir." "I told him the same as I told Mr Foley when he came to see me last week." "Constance always said how much she loved Savill." "Emma." "Didrt I impress upon you the importance of telling the truth?" " Yes, sir." " But that's not what you told me." "Mr Whicher." "Please don't interrupt." "I'm merely reminding her that she's on oath." "Then Inspector, we must assume she is telling the truth." "I would like the prisoner to look at me and confirm she is telling the truth!" "The child is a witness not a prisoner, Mr Whicher, you are getting confused!" "Please sit down!" "Quiet!" "Quiet, please!" "Continue, Mr Edlin." "Emma, are you quite certain that Miss Kent harboured no ill-feelings towards her brother?" "Quite certain, sir." "No further questions, Your Worship." "Miss Moody, you stand down." "We must now turn toward the question of physical evidence, Mr Whicher." "Quiet, please!" "Come on, then, Whicher!" "Mr Whicher, you intended to make some inquiries concerning the disappearance of a nightdress." "Constance Kent had a laundry list, showing she owned three nightdresses." "One of them and so by the clever subterfuge of sending the maid for a glass of water," "I believe that Miss Kent took the nightdress from the laundry basket." "And have you found this nightdress?" "No, sir, I have not." "Have you found any other significant new evidence against Miss Kent?" "No, sir." " Though I feel confident..." " Confidence is not evidence, Mr Whicher." "Please take your seat." "Mr Edlin?" "Mr Whicher hangs his entire case upon a nightdress." "He makes much of the fact that Miss Kent went to the laundry room to ask the maid to retrieve her soiled nightgown, because she believed her purse might be in the pocket." "But when the maid retrieved the gown there was no blood whatsoever on it." "The Inspector makes much of the fact that Miss Kent then asked the maid to fetch her a glass of water." "He suggests she used this time, this opportunity to steal back the garment." "But why steal back a garment that did not incriminate her in any way?" " You're deliberately misunderstanding." " It makes no sense at all, Your Worship!" " You're deliberately misunderstanding!" " Mr Whicher, please sit down!" "The reason she stole back an innocent garment was because..." "I said sit down, Mr Whicher!" "The Inspector was baffled, and then thought he found a clue." "He clutched at that clue, but then found it was no clue at all." "There is absolutely no evidence." "The one fact is the suspicion of Mr Whicher." "I ask the court to put an end this disgraceful state of affairs and release Miss Kent now." "Yes!" "Miss Kent, we are in agreement." "There cannot be any grounds to send you to trial." "You are free to go." "Satisfied?" "How could he possibly be satisfied, Inspector?" "He has lost a child, as have I!" "You tell me you'll do anything to help me get to the truth about how he died, then hire a lawyer to destroy me!" "It is the decision of the court, Inspector, I cannot help it." "I thank you for all your efforts, but we have to face the fact that the truth may never be known." "That may be so." "But whoever wielded the knife against your son - whether it was Constance with William's encouragement, or the two of them together " "I believe that you, with your selfishness, your lies and dissembling, you are the real author of this tragedy." "Jack!" " Get out!" " Jack!" "Mr Whicher?" "Have you anything to say?" "Not so clever now, are you?" "This is a triumph for justice, don't you think?" "The shining light of truth has defeated the irrational forces of rumour and prejudice!" " Mr Whicher!" " Go back to London!" "Mr Whicher!" "Sorry, sir." "After a few days' rest I shall be ready to return to Wiltshire to resume my duties, sir." "There will be no return to Wiltshire." " If I could go back to Wiltshire and continue..." " Whicher." "This case is over." "Consider yourself on leave." " Sir." " I'm sorry, Whicher." "The disappearance of your nightdress might put you under suspicion." "Inspector, I am innocent!" "The Home Secretary promised an urgent resolution, and yet there has been none!" "This is rapidly becoming a national scandal!" "The one fact is the suspicion of Mr Whicher." "Jack!" "Jack!" "Dolly." "Or should I address you as Inspector Williamson now?" "Sorry about the mess." " Consequence of my condition." " Condition?" "The doctor who discharged me from the force called it "congestion of the brain"." "He said it might improve once I had stopped dwelling on mysteries." "I'm here with news of Constance Kent, Jack." "What?" "Have a seat." "You were right, Jack." "A nightdress covered in blood was found." "Foley knew of it and he kept it from you." "One of his constables came forward and admitted it to the local magistrates." "Foley knew." "And there's more." "After the investigation ended, the family sent Constance into the care of nuns." "Over time it seems, she became increasingly religious." "And last summer she moved to Brighton to an institution under the direction of a certain Reverend Arthur Wagner." "And this last Holy Week she went to him and said she wanted to make a confession." "Yesterday, accompanied by the priest, she walked into Bow Street Magistrates and admitted to the murder of Savill Kent." "You were right, Jack!" "Constance, the nightdress!" "What exactly did she admit to?" "Did she mention anything about William?" "I don't know." "But they're reopening the case." "There's to be a new hearing." "All rise!" "Miss Kent." "You have confessed to the murder of Savill Kent." "This hearing is to determine whether you should now be sent to trial." "I must remind this court the grave consequences of that happening." "A charge of murder, if proven, can have only one sentence." "Death." "The case must be tested with the utmost rigour." "Mr Whicher, please take the stand." "Your statement, please, Inspector." "Constance bore a grudge against her stepmother and sought to punish her by murdering the child." "I've always maintained that the key to this case was the stolen nightdress." "But it has never been found." "I've learned that a bloodstained nightdress was actually found after the murder." "It was shown to Superintendent Foley, who concluded that the blood was probably menstrual, and that the gown belonged to a servant girl who concealed it there out of embarrassment." "Is this true, Mr Foley?" "It it, Your Worship." "Silence!" "Silence!" "And what happened to this gown?" "As I did not believe it was connected with the murder, I had it replaced where it was found." "Silence!" "In the days following, realising my mistake," "I sent a constable to retrieve it but it had disappeared." "And you concealed the fact that it had ever existed from Mr Whicher?" "I did." "Presumably because you knew you might have made a catastrophic error, which, if discovered, would ruin your reputation?" "I am deeply sorry, Your Worship." "It has damaged the reputation of Mr Whicher." "My reputation is of no concern." "I never sought to persecute Miss Kent." "But believing her to be guilty I had to take the actions that I did." "I know that the purpose of justice is, no matter how painfully, to restore order and to cleanse." "I hope that may happen now." "The full facts brought into the light of day." "Thank you, Mr Whicher." "You may stand down." "We turn now to the question of the confession." "Reverend Wagner, please." "Reverend Wagner." "You say Miss Kent made a full confession to you?" "Yes." "In the chapel." "What exactly did she say?" " I cannot tell you." " I beg your pardon?" "To do that would breach the seal of the confessional." " We must know." " I'm sorry, sir, I cannot." "Silence!" "I must answer to the authority of God before that of a magistrate." "Silence!" "Silence!" "Then you are wasting the court's time." "You are dismissed." "Miss Kent, did you make your confession to Reverend Wagner of your own free will?" " I did, sir." " What did you tell him?" "Er..." "I..." "I told him all the facts that mattered." "The next day, I was taken to Bow Street Magistrates where I made a written confession." "Please read it to the court." "I, Constance Emilie Kent, alone, murdered, at Road Hill House, Wiltshire, Francis Savill Kent." "Before the deed, none knew of my intention, nor after of my guilt." "No one assisted me in the crime, nor in my evasion of discovery." "It is very brief, is it not?" "It is all the facts that matter." "And it seems as concerned with removing suspicion from others as it does with your own guilt." " Order!" " I stand by it." "I'm ready to face the consequences." "Order!" "Order!" "Miss Kent, you appear to have allowed feelings of jealousy..." " Not jealousy!" "...and anger to work in your breast" "Until such a time as they assumed the power and the influence of the devil over you." "Have you anything more to say?" "No." "You will be committed to Crown Court to stand trial for murder." "Order!" "Miss Kent." "Constance!" "You're drawing all the darkness to yourself!" "You know you did not do this alone." "Lead me on, please." "William, it seems that your sister has given you a life and a future at the cost of her own." "You had better use it wisely."