Rumpole of the Bailey. S07 E03. Rumpole and the Eternal Triangle.
First broadcast November 1992.
After becoming enamoured of a beautiful violinist, Rumpole finds himself defending her husband on a charge of murdering her lover.
Leo McKern ... Horace Rumpole
Marion Mathie ... Hilda Rumpole
Peter Blythe ... Samuel Ballard Q.C.
Julian Curry ... Claude Erskine-Brown
James Grout ... Mr. Justice Ollie Oliphant
Denis Lill ... Mr. Bernard
Abigail McKern ... Liz Probert
Christopher Milburn ... Dave Inchcape
Jonathan Coy ... Henry
Camille Coduri ... Dot Clapton
Eleanor David ... Elizabeth Casterini
Patrick Drury ... Desmond Casterini
Richard Hawley ... Tom Randall
Jay Villiers ... Det. Insp. Baker
Garry Cooper ... Michael Mathieson
Juliette Mole ... Hilary Peek Q.C.
Howard Attfield ... Barber
Roger Ennals ... Waiter
Jon Jon Keefe ... Barman
Paul Grunert ... Porter
After becoming enamoured of a beautiful violinist, Rumpole finds himself defending her husband on a charge of murdering her lover.
Leo McKern ... Horace Rumpole
Marion Mathie ... Hilda Rumpole
Peter Blythe ... Samuel Ballard Q.C.
Julian Curry ... Claude Erskine-Brown
James Grout ... Mr. Justice Ollie Oliphant
Denis Lill ... Mr. Bernard
Abigail McKern ... Liz Probert
Christopher Milburn ... Dave Inchcape
Jonathan Coy ... Henry
Camille Coduri ... Dot Clapton
Eleanor David ... Elizabeth Casterini
Patrick Drury ... Desmond Casterini
Richard Hawley ... Tom Randall
Jay Villiers ... Det. Insp. Baker
Garry Cooper ... Michael Mathieson
Juliette Mole ... Hilary Peek Q.C.
Howard Attfield ... Barber
Roger Ennals ... Waiter
Jon Jon Keefe ... Barman
Paul Grunert ... Porter
Transcript
00:00This is Rumpol and the Eternal Triangle, a rare occurrence in Rumpol's life. He goes
00:09to a concert of classical music. There's a string trio playing. The beautiful violinist
00:16seems to be smiling at him, and he can't quite understand why. But then the developments
00:22occur. One of the trio, possibly her lover, is found murdered, and her husband, the other
00:29member of the trio, is put on trial for murder. The beautiful violinist now proceeds to court
00:36Rumpol, and he is incredibly flattered by her attentions. And why is she being so kind
00:45and flattering and encouraging to the man who is defending her husband for murder? That's
00:53what you'll find out happens in the Eternal Triangle, and I hope you enjoy it.
01:23For God's sake, turn that damn thing off, or I'll risk giving my way.
01:36Sir Constantine, let me listen to the music. I was listening with my eyes shut.
01:53I was listening with my eyes shut.
02:23I was listening with my eyes shut.
02:43Nymph, in thy origins be all my sins remembered. In my view, Claude, there's more music in those words than in all the quartets ever written.
03:06It was actually a trio, Rumpol. Perhaps he wasn't awake long enough to notice.
03:09Oh, don't be ridiculous, Hilda. Of course I noticed.
03:13Rumpol needs civilizing, Claude. It was a wonderful experience. It quite took me out of myself.
03:18Me too, Hilda. Schubert always does that.
03:21Yes, wonderful, Claude. Could you climb back into yourself for another large gin and tonic, Hilda?
03:26Say it again, please.
03:29Hello.
03:33Oh, hello.
03:38It is Mr. Rumpol, isn't it?
03:40I suppose it must be.
03:42You won't remember me. Someone I once knew at college, Billy Halliday. He was in trouble and you got him off.
03:48Well, he was innocent, actually.
03:50Oh, well, naturally, he must have been.
03:52I thought you were absolutely brilliant in court. You were so brave and well-commanding.
04:00I mean, I only watched you from the gallery.
04:03A large gin and tea, a B&S and an LP.
04:06Large block.
04:07Oh, yes, of course. There we are. Keep the change.
04:10Well, I'll have to go. I'm with some people.
04:15I'd love to meet you again, if ever you felt you had any time for me.
04:19The criminals of England are keeping me rather busy, unfortunately.
04:24You must stop for lunch sometimes.
04:26I'd love to talk to you again, hear what you felt about the concert and other things, perhaps.
04:359362709, where there most mornings.
04:38Elizabeth!
04:40You coming, Elizabeth?
04:45I've got to go.
04:52Ah, there we are.
04:53Thank you, Rumpel.
04:54Well, thank you, Claude. It was a wonderful evening.
04:58Yes, indeed. Wonderful.
05:02What are you doing, Rumpel?
05:04Oh, just writing down the name of that tune they were playing. What was it, Claude?
05:09Schubert Rumpel, Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Opus 99.
05:13It's already there in the programme.
05:15Oh, is it? Oh, well, fancy that. Yes, well, I've got it now.
05:19Well, cheers.
05:21Cheers.
05:22Good morning, Dot.
05:24Hello, sir.
05:25Enjoying your work, are you? No worries?
05:28We senior men are, of course, anxious to see the chambers as a happy ship.
05:33Working with Henry can be a bit of a headache, I imagine.
05:37Our clerk's always had a dominating personality.
05:40I think I can cope with Henry, thank you, sir. We come from the same neck of the woods, you know.
05:44Oh, really? Which neck's that?
05:46Bexley Heath. We have a tough breed of woman there, sir.
05:51We can look after ourselves.
05:54Oh, good afternoon, Dot.
06:01Yes, it's a two-handed problem. It's going to be three weeks and a half.
06:04Three weeks? Oh, we're going to miss you, Dave.
06:07Morning, Liz. Morning, Inchcape.
06:11Ah, is that Rumpel?
06:13Ah, sorry, Erskine Brown. Heavily engaged on the terrible pressure at work.
06:24The quality of romance starts to get sugar-coated.
06:27For God's sake, Tom, where's your soul?
06:29You can't play the notes as though you were a railway timetable.
06:32If you actually gave us the notes, it would make it easier.
06:35You can't just play romance, you know.
06:37It's got some bloody difficult chords attached to it.
06:39Well, I've been thinking about you, actually.
06:41I've been thinking about you.
06:43I've been thinking about you.
06:45I've been thinking about you.
06:47I've been thinking about you.
06:49I've been thinking about you.
06:51It's got some bloody difficult chords attached to it.
06:53Well, I've been thinking about you, actually.
06:57Well, we usually break about one.
07:01Half past one.
07:03Perfect.
07:05Just a little off the moustache, Mr Rumpel.
07:07Knocks years off you, sir.
07:09Oh, do you really think so?
07:11Oh, sure of it. Absolutely sure of it.
07:13And with the hair left in the fuller fashion,
07:15would you be having any fragrancy on that, sir?
07:18What are you offering?
07:20Makismo, Mr Rumpel.
07:22Just a light, manly sort of perfume.
07:24And very you, if I may say so, sir.
07:26Really?
07:28May I waft some on, sir?
07:30Oh, waft away, if you're really sure, yes.
07:32Our younger customers say this does wonders for their quality of life.
07:35Really?
07:37There we are.
07:39A truly distinguished head of hair, sir.
07:41Seems a shame to put that old hat of yours on it, sir.
07:44Hi, darling.
07:46Okay.
07:48Of course, darling. See you, darling.
08:16Now, I don't know what you'd like.
08:29Steak and kidney, rare beef, grouse?
08:32You don't eat meat, do you?
08:34Oh, it has been known.
08:36Oh, how long has this been going on?
08:38Oh, I suppose I must have got through a couple of herds of cows over the years,
08:41flock or two of sheep.
08:43Mr Rumpel.
08:44Please.
08:45Horrors.
08:46Yes, I'm afraid so.
08:48You don't believe in killing animals, do you?
08:50Well, don't they spend quite a bit of their time killing each other?
08:53Well, perhaps you should have more respect for them than they do for themselves.
08:56Oh, yes, of course, naturally, yes.
08:58Every time I pass a sheep, I take my hat off.
09:00Oh, you're making a joke.
09:02Ah, a bad habit I've got into.
09:04Look at all these meat-eaters around us.
09:06Pink faces.
09:08Accountants, probably.
09:10You don't want to look like them, do you?
09:11Are you ready to order, sir?
09:13How about a selection of fresh vegetables?
09:15Oh, well, if you really think...
09:17Perhaps some cheese afterwards?
09:18Oh, don't let's go mad.
09:20Just vegetables for you, Mr Rumpel.
09:22Of course.
09:23Do I look like an accountant?
09:27You look very good.
09:30And so do you.
09:32In fact, you look beautiful.
09:33All sort of silvery.
09:35Ah, you mean knocking on a bit?
09:37Oh, I don't think age matters in the least.
09:40Really?
09:41Not in the least when it comes to love.
09:44In fact, I can love almost anybody, Horace, can't you?
09:47You strike me as being someone full of love.
09:50Oh, well, yes, I suppose I can love people, yes.
09:52With a few exceptions, of course.
09:54Mr Justice Oliphant, for example,
09:56and Sam Ballard, our head of chambers.
09:59What's the matter with him, Horace?
10:00Isn't he lovable?
10:01Oh, I wouldn't say that being lovable
10:03is one of Sophie Sam's obvious qualities, no.
10:07Well, love him.
10:12Why did you want to have lunch with me?
10:14Does there have to be a reason?
10:16There usually is.
10:17You say that because you're a lawyer.
10:19I just admired you so much when you were doing Billy's case.
10:22And then when I saw you looking at me during the Schubert,
10:26I...
10:28I thought I'd like to get to know you better.
10:30Would you care to order your wine, sir?
10:32Wine?
10:33I don't think we need any artificial stimulation, do we?
10:36Oh, well, perhaps just a small glass of...
10:38That meeting used enough to intoxicate me.
10:41Isn't it the same for you?
10:43Yes, of course. More than enough, yes.
10:46What's the water like here?
10:48Ah, quite honestly, I've never tried it.
10:52Seems to me there's a lot of things you haven't tried.
10:56I suppose I wanted to get to know you better
10:58because I need someone to talk to.
11:01Someone wise.
11:03Would you care to taste your water, Mr Rumpole?
11:06No, thank you.
11:11I've been so lonely lately.
11:15Oh, I can't believe that. You're part of the trio.
11:19Well, we still play marvellously together, but...
11:23Tom can't seem to realise I am married to Desmond.
11:26Desmond?
11:27Desmond Castorini, the leader.
11:29Oh.
11:30Tom's got this awful, ridiculous jealousy.
11:33Tom?
11:34The cello.
11:35And Desmond's terribly suspicious of Tom for absolutely no reason.
11:39The atmosphere, it's...
11:41It's intolerable.
11:43Sometimes I can hardly breathe.
11:45From immortal trio to eternal triangle.
11:49Oh, yes.
11:50It's just the two men.
11:53Their jealousy's become a sort of obsession for them,
11:56a kind of unholy bond between them.
11:59Can you understand that?
12:01Oh, I can understand men quarrelling over you, yes.
12:05A remote object they're busy fighting over.
12:08And Desmond...
12:12He's got this wild blood in him.
12:15What do you mean, wild blood?
12:17His father's half Italian, half Irish,
12:20and very passionate, apparently, when he was young.
12:24It's his father's gun.
12:26It's what?
12:28It's an old army revolver.
12:30Desmond keeps it as a sort of memento.
12:33You mean it works with ammunition and...
12:36Oh, Lord, hand it in to the police.
12:39It must be pretty unnerving for a vegetarian.
12:42Yes.
12:44Sometimes I feel I can't bear it.
12:46I just want to get miles away from them both.
12:48I'm sure.
12:50It wouldn't be so bad if you and I could meet occasionally.
12:55So I could have someone to talk to.
12:58Oh, I don't see why that shouldn't be arranged.
13:03Sometimes I feel as if something horrible's going to happen.
13:07Don't ask me what exactly.
13:15Call it love, call it lust, call it a mixture of both.
13:18I don't give a damn what you call it.
13:20It's the shine on your hair, the beautiful pools of your eyes,
13:23the suggestion of soft breasts behind that modest white shirt,
13:27the whisper your stockings make when you cross your legs and sit beside me,
13:31your non-cool fingers.
13:33You mustn't say those things. You know you mustn't.
13:35Why? Because you want to hear them too much?
13:37No, it's not that.
13:38Is it fear, my darling? No need to be afraid.
13:41We should be together somewhere far away from the grey little people we work for.
13:45Just you and I.
13:47The two will become one when our bodies mingle.
13:50What's been going on in here?
13:52We have been at work, Mr Erskine Brown.
13:54We have been sending out bills and invoices for your fees
13:57so that you and our other gentlemen chambers don't go without your little comforts.
14:01It may seem dull and exciting work to you, Mr Erskine Brown,
14:04compared to your scintillating practice,
14:06but we do it, sir, and we do it to the best of our poor abilities,
14:09and we do it best without interruption.
14:11So is there something I can help you over, Mr Erskine Brown?
14:14Not at the moment, Henry.
14:15I shall have to consider any further course of action most carefully.
14:18I'm sure you understand that.
14:21I'll speak to you later.
14:24Thank you.
14:29Ballard! Ballard!
14:32Yes, Erskine Brown, what is it?
14:34I am on my way into church for my quiet moment.
14:37Yes, well, you'd better say a prayer for chambers.
14:39We're in deep trouble, Ballard.
14:41I have every reason to suspect
14:43that we have a serious case of harassing in our midst.
14:46What on earth is harassing?
14:48Well, harassing, then.
14:50But people call it harassing nowadays because Americans do.
14:53I don't understand that, Erskine Brown.
14:55You're not American.
14:57Anyway, I'm always being harassed
14:59by solicitors who want their papers the day before yesterday
15:02and by Henry who wants me in two places at once,
15:05and even by Marguerite, God bless her,
15:07who wants me to do a spot of do-it-yourself.
15:10Yes, but this is sexual harassing, Ballard.
15:13Someone tried to force their amorous advances
15:16on a defenceless and innocent young woman.
15:19Did you say sexual?
15:21I'm afraid so.
15:22That, of course, makes a difference.
15:24Indeed it does.
15:25Who is the guilty party?
15:27Someone of importance to us all.
15:29Someone we've known for a long time.
15:31It can't possibly be Rumpole.
15:34No, of course it can't.
15:36Look, I just thought I'd warn you what's in the wind.
15:38I'll report further when I've got a full statement from the complainant.
15:41The who?
15:42The girl in question.
15:45In my view, we must get our cooperation
15:47before we can move an inch further.
15:49It's a most delicate situation.
15:51Oh, yes, yes, of course. Certainly.
15:53Harassment indeed.
15:55We can't possibly have that at Three Equity Court.
16:00I can't go on like this. Not forever.
16:02Then I'll have to tell him.
16:03Don't you think it's about time I told him?
16:05Why?
16:06Before everyone else knows.
16:14No chops, thank you, Hilda.
16:16What did you say, Rumpole?
16:18I said no chops, thanks.
16:20As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of giving up meat altogether.
16:23Your what?
16:24Well, people who eat meat start to look like chartered accountants.
16:28Well, you've eaten enough of it.
16:30You should be much better at sons by now.
16:33I'm sure you're feeling quite well, Rumpole.
16:35Oh, wonderfully well, thank you, Hilda.
16:37Could I just have a selection of vegetables?
16:40Mild potatoes and cabbages are the only selection we've got.
16:44Rumpole, you're drinking water.
16:46Why, yes.
16:48Something wrong, Hilda?
16:50No, of course there's nothing wrong with water.
16:53It's just that it's so unlike you.
16:55Well, I think people ought to be sufficiently stimulated by each other's company.
17:00Don't you?
17:01Yes, of course.
17:03It's very nice of you to say that, Rumpole.
17:06Do you notice a rather peculiar smell around here?
17:09No, not particularly.
17:11No, it's probably that new washing-up liquid.
17:13Oh, no, no, it's not the washing-up liquid, Hilda.
17:16It's, um, it's machismo for men.
17:18I acquired a bottle, I popped in a Marcos and Chantry Lane for a haircut.
17:22A haircut?
17:23Hmm.
17:24There seems rather less of your moustache.
17:26Yeah.
17:28Rumpole, you did all this for me?
17:31I bought a new hat, too.
17:32The old one was getting a bit frayed around the edges.
17:35I beg your pardon?
17:36Just as you learned to dance, especially for me,
17:38I went to the concert to get a bit more civilised
17:41and gave yourself a new and powerful fragrance.
17:45All for me?
17:46Steady on, Hilda.
17:55Dot.
17:58Is there anything you'd like to tell me?
18:00What would you like to know?
18:01I could tell you the time.
18:03It's 1.25 precisely.
18:05You're young, Dot,
18:06and I'm sure this must be very embarrassing for you.
18:09But nowadays...
18:11Well, nowadays...
18:14girls of your age are much more open about sex and all that.
18:18Do you mind if I go on with my sandwiches?
18:20Not if it makes this easier for you.
18:22I'm sure you realise that men do get these...
18:25well, these urges that come over them from time to time.
18:28I'll take your word for it, Mr Erskine Brown.
18:30And you are, of course, a quite desperately fanciable...
18:34well, I mean to say you're an extremely attractive young lady.
18:37I'm doing my best.
18:38I'm sure you do.
18:39I'm absolutely sure you do.
18:42However, the thing is that no man is entitled
18:45to show his feelings in the workplace.
18:47I agree with that, quite honestly.
18:48We get a short enough lunch hour anyway.
18:50Dot, I'd like you to feel that we don't have any secrets between us.
18:54You can trust me.
18:55And I want you to succeed in Equity Court,
18:57perhaps rising from typist to junior clerk.
19:00And then, who knows?
19:02For your own sake, tell me what you're really feeling.
19:05Dot, statement of claim.
19:07It's extremely urgent and we're almost out of time already.
19:09Yep, just let me finish my sandwich.
19:10Oh, I say, thanks awfully, Dot.
19:11Look, we really can't talk in here.
19:13You seem to be managing.
19:14I mean, we can't talk properly.
19:16Why don't you just come into my room for a moment?
19:17And look at your etchings.
19:19No, no.
19:20Anyway, I don't have etchings.
19:22English watercolours, actually.
19:23Shall we go?
19:24I don't think so, quite honestly, Mr Erskine Brown.
19:26Anyway, I must get on with Mr Inchcape's statement of claim.
19:30He seemed quite desperate for it, didn't he, poor man?
19:42It's Tom!
19:44Tom Randall, upstairs.
19:47Something's happened.
19:52Go.
20:00Go.
20:31APPLAUSE
20:45Mr Desmond Castorini.
20:47You know that?
20:49I'm charging you with the murder of Thomas Paul Randall.
20:52You're not obliged to say anything,
20:54but anything you say will be taken down in writing
20:56and may be used in evidence.
21:01Have you been waiting?
21:03Oh, hardly at all.
21:05But I'm in court this morning.
21:07I know.
21:08I've got to work too.
21:09I just wanted to see you.
21:11It's been such a nightmare.
21:13It's all absolute nonsense, of course.
21:16Whatever they're suggesting, you will help Desmond, won't you?
21:19I've told him all about you.
21:21All about me?
21:22I've told him how well you did Billy's case.
21:24Oh, that's all organised.
21:26Bernard's been to interview him.
21:28Oh, I'm glad.
21:29I wanted to see you anyway.
21:31I've felt so alone.
21:33I'm sure.
21:34It's so wonderful to know you're there with us.
21:38Oh, where are you off to now?
21:40A recession.
21:41Throbbing violins to go with a deodorant commercial.
21:44Under your arms, it's always springtime,
21:46some rubbish like that.
21:47Not Schubert.
21:48Oh, Mendelssohn.
21:49Thank God they haven't ruined Schubert for me.
21:52The police keep calling.
21:54They keep asking me for statements.
21:56You haven't given them any?
21:57No, not yet.
21:58Don't worry.
21:59I won't say anything that won't help Desmond.
22:01And you, of course.
22:03Henry, I need to speak to Dave about Singleton v Singleton.
22:06If you could get me the robing room at Hull Crown Court.
22:08Should be there about now.
22:09Are they Mr Rumpole's room?
22:11Now she's into paying divorces.
22:13She's too high and mighty to put her own finger to a telephone.
22:16Can I see you soon?
22:17Oh, better not if you're going to be a witness.
22:21But when it's over, shall we have lunch again?
22:23I'd like that very much.
22:25Singleton v Singleton, Dave.
22:53Dave, you know our divorce case. Look, we're an ex-Miss Broadstairs and you're a
22:58filthy rich garage proprietor with a Volvo concession. Well, 20,000's absolutely
23:04useless to us, Dave. You've got to do better than that. Rumpel's had my
23:07archbold. But you know perfectly well we're having a baby, Dave. Well, of course
23:14it's yours. There's not a scrap of evidence to prove it's not yours. Well, of
23:18course you can afford it. Yeah, I know you've got to go, Dave, but think about
23:24it, OK? We've got to get this settled once and for all. Of course I miss you. Bye.
23:33Men. Totally irresponsible. See you, Ballard. See you, Probat. Mr. Castorini, you
23:43received a message on your answering machine from Tom Ryanville asking for a
23:47meeting for a talk. It was the last time I heard his voice. It's like a terrible
23:52dream. I still can't believe it. You made a note on the message pad beside
23:57your machine that Tom at rehearsal room six o'clock. Did you think that he was
24:01going to tell you that he and your wife were lovers? Apparently he had no
24:07suspicion. Oh? Dear God, Mr. Rumpel, it never crossed my mind. I've never had a
24:12single moment of doubt about Elizabeth, not a shadow, believe me. Yes, well, it's
24:16the jury that's going to have to believe you, and they may take quite a
24:19bit of convincing. I mean, the obvious explanation is that you shot Tom
24:23Ryanville in a fit of jealous rage. Upon my oath, Mr. Rumpel, by the great musicians
24:28I hold most dear, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert... A simple no will do. We might hit a judge
24:34that thinks those chaps are runners in the 330 at Kempton Park. Now, this, um, this
24:41rehearsal room, did you rent it permanently? The trio like to use it
24:46whenever they pleased. Well, that must have been rather expensive. It seems
24:50Mrs. Castorini has money. She started to make it when she was at college. That's
24:54what the client told me. My Elizabeth sold wonderful, magical clothes.
24:59Secondhand model dresses. We were born under a lucky star, Mr. Rumpel. Oh, really?
25:04You surprise me. Now, when she was at college, there was a trial. I, uh, I defended
25:09someone she knew. Oh, yes, yes, she told me about that. They got to know a dubious
25:14character called Hoffman. He'd left the college and become a musician's agent.
25:18It seems he was also an agent for hard drugs. There was a boy in the college accused
25:23of being in the ring, you see, a friend of Elizabeth's. Hoffman went down for ten
25:26years, but Elizabeth's friend Billy was acquitted. Yes, must have had a brilliant
25:31barrister. Of course, I didn't know Elizabeth in those far-off days. I hadn't
25:36found the happiness. Oh, then you weren't at college together then? Mr.
25:42Castorini went to Guildhall. He and his wife met later and formed the Castorini
25:45Trio. That's when his wife's money helped. Yes, I'll bet it did. Now then, this, this
25:51revolver, you kept it with, with ammunition? My dear old father, bless him,
25:57used to sleep with it loaded under his pillow in our house in Lismac Lane. He
26:02was a poet by profession, but, well, some of the bad boys were after his blood. Do
26:06you have any idea at all how this old family heirloom got behind the piano? No
26:11idea in the world. I swear to you, sir, by every... Yes, yes, all right, never mind all that. Now you received this
26:17message at about, about noon. Did you go out after that? It's terrible. It's like a
26:25dream. You had lunch with your sister Siobhan. She doesn't get over from
26:31Dublin very often. You saw a film together. You had tea. Like a dream. You
26:39got to the building at about six. The news had just started on your car radio.
26:44That's what you told me. Mr. Castorini, what happened then? In your own words,
26:53you're going to have to tell the jury. Well, the lift was stuck on another floor,
26:59most likely. It's, it's always stuck. It's a kind of prehistoric advance, Mr. Rumpel.
27:03Yes, and then? I went up the stairs. Well, did you meet anyone on the way up? Not a
27:08solitary soul. When you got to your room, was the door open? No, closed. Not locked, of
27:14course. And then you, uh, you found Mr. Randall. He was lying on the floor. I knelt down and felt
27:21his heart. Ah, yes, of course. That's how you got blood on your sleeve. Well, that'll be the
27:27defense case anyway. Now, look here, Mr. Castorini. In a matter as serious as this,
27:35some people may prefer to have a QC to defend them. I don't understand. What's he saying? Well,
27:40a Queen's Counsel, a queer customer. Now, I'm not saying they'd do it any better,
27:44probably worse, but I want you to realize this is a very difficult case. I rely upon you,
27:52Mr. Rumpel. Elizabeth told me you're a wonderful man. Oh, did she really? Oh, did she say that?
28:01Come. You wanted to see me? I thought it was about time we had a chat. Indeed it is. I have
28:15an important matter to raise with you, Erskine Brown. I raised one with you, Ballard, remember?
28:19Not our new girl in the clerk's room. Miss Clapton. Dot. What? Dot. What did you say,
28:23Erskine Brown? I said dot. I call her Dot. Yes, I expect you do. Well, that's what I wanted to
28:28raise with you. It's an embarrassing matter, but raise it I must. Do you know, I don't really
28:31understand, Dot. I suppose she doesn't want to cause trouble, but I simply couldn't get her
28:36to make a formal complaint. Well, she's made a formal complaint to me. She has? Oh, good. Good.
28:41You think it's good. Well, I don't think it's good at all. She says she's being harassed. Harassed,
28:46Ballard. I told you that's how they say it nowadays. Harassed or harassed, it comes to the same thing
28:50in the end. The point is, Miss Clapton, who seems to me a perfectly respectable girl,
28:54is extremely worried. I'm not at all surprised. Henry's behavior was unforgivable. Henry? She
28:59didn't say a word about Henry. She didn't? Who's she complaining about then? You. What? She says
29:05you pressed her to come into your room on the pretext of showing her your watercolors. Sounds
29:09a pretty flimsy excuse to me. But, Ballard. She says you talked to her about terrible urges. I said
29:14I could understand them. That's all I said. We all have them. Speak for yourself, Erskine Brown.
29:18And she said you found her extremely fanciful, an expression new to me, but I can imagine what
29:24it means. And you promised her a promotion to junior clerkship, no doubt in exchange for a
29:29certain consideration. Ballard, this is a totally unjustified accusation. Totally unjustified
29:35accusation. So, you never said it. Well, I may have said something like that, but what I meant was...
29:40No, no, no, no, no, no, Erskine Brown. No, no, no. I want to be fair to you. I want to give you ample
29:46time to consider your defense. My defense? I would only give you one word of advice at this
29:51time, Erskine Brown. Make a clean breast of it to your wife.
30:08I telephoned. It's Barnard of Barnard Humphreys. This is Mr. Rumpole, our owner at council. To view the scene of the crime.
30:13You'll have to walk up the stairs. The lift is stuck at the moment. Yes, it seems it often is. Room nine.
30:43They were here for hours on end, practicing, the client told me. Just the three of them.
30:54The eternal triangle, Mr. Rumpole. You can see how it happened. Can you? Yes, I suppose you can.
31:04Let's just run up to the top floor.
31:44Oh, well done, Bonnie Barnard. Yes, just one or two other things. Would you ask your friends in the Crown Prosecution Service
31:52to let you have a copy of the dead man's bank statements? Oh, and I'd like a copy of his birth certificate.
32:00Oh, and the bill took a great pile of documents out of the Castorini flat. Go over those with a fine-tooth comb, will you?
32:07Well, looking for? Oh, money dealings, itemized phone bills, that sort of thing. See what you can find. Bye.
32:17Rumpole? Yes? I feel, Rumpole, a sense of imminent collapse. Yes, it don't look any too well.
32:24No, I refer to Three Equity Court. The foundations are rotten. Oh, we're not getting the builders in again.
32:31I'm afraid the builders are useless in this situation. It's not their hammering so much, it's their bloody little radio set.
32:37Lust, Rumpole. Flagrant immorality has reared its ugly head all over this building. When I...
32:44Do I detect a curious odour in this room? Anyway, when my case is complete, I shall lay before a full Chambers meeting
32:52and stop the decline and fall of Number Three Equity Court. I love you, Ballard. I take you for a pompous, blinkered, humorless prig
33:03who seems to confuse the headship of a small and mainly criminal set of Chambers with the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
33:10And yet I love you with all my heart there. Tell me honestly, Rumpole, are you perfumed?
33:15As I was saying, I think it is our duty to love everything. And because of that, well, therefore, all I can say is I love you, Ballard.
33:24Yes, yes. Another time, perhaps. I have a case starting across the road. Now, you think very carefully about what I've said.
33:31Moral decay getting in everywhere.
33:36Is that the revolver which you found behind the piano in the room where the murder was committed?
33:43That's right, Mr. Rumpole.
33:45Not very well concealed.
33:46Not particularly.
33:48And no fingerprints on the weapon.
33:50That's right.
33:51Did that surprise you?
33:53Well, let's use our common sense about this, Mr. Rumpole. No doubt whoever did it removed the fingerprints in order to avoid detection.
34:01Does that make sense to you, members of the jury? I know it does to me.
34:04So this is the theory, is it? My client took great care to leave the gun where it could be easily traced to him and then took a lot of trouble cleaning up the fingerprints.
34:15Or else wore gloves.
34:16Or else wore gloves. That's another possibility, isn't it, members of the jury?
34:22But Mr. Castorini has agreed it was his weapon. He would have been mad to have left it at the scene of the crime, wouldn't he?
34:30Mr. Rumpole, we have a saying up north, where we come from. There's not so queer as folk.
34:35Oh, do you, my lord? How interesting.
34:38Well, down here in the deep south, we are more inclined to look for some sort of logical explanation.
34:44And that I shall be inviting the jury to do.
34:47And I shall be asking them to use their common sense.
34:49What an excellent idea. I do so thoroughly agree with your lordship.
34:54Any further questions, Miss Hilary Peat?
34:57No further questions, my lord.
34:59Mr. Justice Oliver, or Ollie, Ollifant, comes from the north of England, as he never stops reminding us.
35:07Regards all of us south of Leeds as idle dreamers who do nothing but lie in the sun plucking grapes and playing guitars.
35:16Why don't we all chip in and present him with a one-way ticket back to Ilkley Moor, or wherever it is he comes from.
35:22Are you Michael Matheson of 2 Acacia Avenue, Maida Vale?
35:26Yes, I am.
35:27Do you use the practice rooms on the floor under that used by the Castorini trio?
35:30Yes, I do.
35:31I think you know the members of the trio.
35:33Not well. I was at college with two of them.
35:36And you are a player of the French horn?
35:38I am.
35:39Ah, that's brass, members of the jury. It's a beautiful sound.
35:43We remember that from the old colliery, brass bands, don't we?
35:48On one occasion, did Mrs. Castorini and Mr. Randall, the murdered man, come down for the lift together?
35:53Yes, they did.
35:54Did Mrs. Castorini say something about...
35:56Ah, don't leave, please.
36:00What did she say?
36:01She said, I can't go on forever, not like this.
36:05And then Mr. Randall said, then I'll have to tell him.
36:09Don't you think it's about time I told him?
36:11Don't you think it's about time I told him?
36:15No doubt that means Mr. Castorini, the lady's husband.
36:19There is no evidence of that, my lord.
36:22But we can use our common sense, can't we, Mr. Rumpole?
36:25Isn't this just another case of the eternal triangle?
36:28At the moment, my lord, all we know is that they were members of a trio.
36:32Well, get on with it then, Miss Hilary Peake.
36:34This jury have all got homes to go to, you know.
36:36What time did you get to the practice rooms on the night that Mr. Randall met his death?
36:40It was shortly after six o'clock.
36:42The lift was stuck again, so I started up the stairs.
36:45That's when I met Mr. Castorini coming down.
36:48He said something had happened to Tom, to Mr. Randall.
36:51So we called the police.
36:54When I first saw Mr. Castorini, he had blood on his cuff.
36:57Thank you, Mr. Matheson.
37:02Did you hear a shot?
37:05No, I didn't.
37:06No.
37:08And did Mr. Castorini tell you straight away that he had found Mr. Randall dead
37:11and he had no idea who had done it?
37:13He told me that, yes.
37:14Now then, Mr. Matheson, you said that you were at college with members of the trio.
37:18Just Tom and Elizabeth. Desmond Castorini met them later.
37:21You said you knew Elizabeth Castorini well.
37:24Well, I suppose I was a bit in love with her.
37:27Most men were.
37:29You can understand that, can't you?
37:31You mustn't ask me questions.
37:33But I didn't get to know her well, no.
37:36Well, just help us with one thing, will you?
37:39Did Mrs. Castorini own a shop?
37:42Well, a boutique, I suppose you would call it, for selling model dresses?
37:46Yes, she did. I think it did rather well.
37:49Yes. Do you remember what it was called?
37:51It was Dreams of Youth, as far as I can remember.
37:55Dreams of Youth?
37:57Mr. Rumpole, what on earth had Dreams of Youth got to do with this case?
38:01Ah, I'm not quite sure, my lord.
38:03Perhaps they're just things that some of us like to have sometimes.
38:10Members of the jury, if we all want a good laugh,
38:11we can tune into the television set tonight.
38:14I believe they're giving us Coronation Street.
38:17And we all thoroughly enjoy that, don't we?
38:21I'm looking at the clock.
38:23Back at 10.30 tomorrow morning, members of the jury.
38:27And then use your common sense and take this case seriously.
38:32In spite of Mr. Rumple's performance.
38:36All yours, my lord.
38:51You say you had always feared something like this would happen.
38:56Desmond seemed terribly jealous, for no reason at all.
38:59I kept on telling him there was nothing in it, but he wouldn't believe me.
39:03I suppose I was frightened.
39:05Of course, he had the gun.
39:06He had the gun?
39:08Thank you very much, Mrs. Castorini.
39:12And while you're at it, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
39:14I'm going to ask you a few questions.
39:16I'm going to ask you a few questions.
39:17I'm going to ask you a few questions.
39:19And while you were at college, did you own a boutique called Dreams of Youth?
39:25Oh, we're not going back to these dreams of yours, are we, Mr. Rumple?
39:28Oh, don't worry, my lord.
39:29They may lead us to wake up to the truth.
39:32You did well out of the shop, didn't you?
39:34Oh, yes.
39:34We sold it in the end and invested what we'd made.
39:37And you've lived quite well ever since.
39:40With our fees for playing, yes.
39:42Yes.
39:43Let me just remind you of the last message
39:47the dead man left for your husband on his answering machine.
39:50I want to talk about our lives since the dreams of youth days.
39:55Was he referring to the shop?
39:57Oh, I don't think so.
40:00Well, let's just suppose that he was.
40:03While you were at college, a musician's agent was tried for dealing in hard drugs.
40:08Some of your fellow students were said to be involved.
40:11You know that, don't you?
40:13Yes, I may do, but the jury do not.
40:16You attended that trial, didn't you?
40:18Yes, a friend of mine was in the dock.
40:20You got him off brilliantly.
40:23Oh, we'll take that for granted, Mr. Rumple.
40:27During the course of the trial, there were a number of references
40:31to people meeting at the dreams of youth boutique.
40:34I can't remember all the details.
40:36But you were never charged.
40:38You know that I wasn't.
40:39There was nothing I could be charged with.
40:40My lord, if Mr. Rumple is suggesting the witness has committed some offence,
40:44she should be warned.
40:45Thank you, Miss Hillary Peake.
40:47I do know my business.
40:49Mrs. Castrini, I should warn you that you needn't answer
40:52any questions that might incriminate you.
40:55Oh, I'm quite prepared to answer all Mr. Rumple's questions, my lord.
40:59Why, thank you.
41:01Usher, one of the students gave evidence for the prosecution.
41:06And he was not charged either.
41:09A young man with a beard.
41:11His name was Tom Cogsmill then.
41:15That is a photograph from the News of the World.
41:18Do you recognise him?
41:20Tom Cogsmill, so far as I can remember.
41:23Later to be known as Tom Randall, beardless.
41:27A member of your trio, The Murdered Man.
41:31Yes.
41:33Who gave evidence for the prosecution.
41:35Yes, he did.
41:37But who gave no evidence implicating you in the musical drug ring.
41:41Mr. Rumple, are those all the questions you have to ask about this ancient trial?
41:46Seems miles away from the issues in this case.
41:49Yes, my lord.
41:51For the moment.
41:53Mrs. Castrini, your husband will say that he was never jealous of you and Tom Cogsmill,
41:58later known as Tom Randall.
42:00You know that he was, though, don't you, Mr. Rumple?
42:03No, I don't know.
42:05And the jury don't know.
42:06All we know is what you've told us.
42:09And perhaps, we don't know whether to believe you.
42:12Let us assume for a moment this was not just a matter of two men quarrelling over a beautiful woman.
42:17What other possible explanation could there be for Tom Randall being shot?
42:22I have no idea.
42:24Suppose you tell me, Mr. Rumple.
42:27Oh, indeed I will.
42:28After a few more questions.
42:31Did you ever pay money to Tom Randall?
42:32Money?
42:34No, I don't think so.
42:36When the trio was formed, did not you tell your husband that you had given Tom Randall
42:42some of your ample capital so that he could refuse other work and concentrate on playing with you?
42:48I said I'd helped Tom out, yes.
42:51And did you go on paying him from time to time?
42:54What are you looking at?
42:56Oh, the dead man's bank statements.
42:58The dead man's bank statements.
43:00He received a regular payment from a certain source.
43:03Was that source you?
43:05Perhaps.
43:06Sometimes.
43:09Is that what it says?
43:10Was he blackmailing you, Mrs. Castorini?
43:12Blackmailing me?
43:14Whatever for?
43:15Why, threatening to tell your husband and then the police of your part in the Hoffman drug ring
43:19unless you went on paying him?
43:21No.
43:23Do you remember what Mr. Matheson heard Tom Randall say to you one day by the lift?
43:29I will have to tell him before anyone else knows.
43:34Did he mean that he had to tell your husband that your nice lump of capital came from hard drugs?
43:40No.
43:41Well, what did he mean then?
43:43Perhaps that he loved me.
43:45I really don't know.
43:47What were you doing on the day Tom Randall died?
43:49I went out in the morning.
43:50I had a doctor's appointment.
43:52Then I went to a lunchtime concert in Portland Place.
43:56Oh, and I bought a dress.
43:59I had to have a drink with our agent at six.
44:01And before that, you popped back home,
44:04saw what your husband had written on the pad beside the answering machine.
44:07Tom Randall at rehearsal room, six o'clock.
44:10No.
44:11Mrs. Castorini, it didn't take you from lunchtime till six o'clock to buy a dress.
44:15Did you carry it around London all the afternoon?
44:17Did you carry it around London all the afternoon?
44:20No, I did just call back at the flat just to put the dress away.
44:23And you didn't look at the message pad?
44:26I never saw that.
44:28Did you ring Tom Randall from your car telephone,
44:32arranging to meet him at the rehearsal room
44:35at about half past five before he spoke to your husband?
44:38No. No, no, of course not.
44:42Car telephone bills have a nasty habit of showing the number called.
44:46You did ring Tom Randall that day, didn't you?
44:49No. No, I'm sure I didn't.
44:54I can't remember.
44:55Didn't you go to the rehearsal room
44:58before six o'clock taking your husband's gun in case Tom could not be dissuaded?
45:03No. I had to meet the agent at six at the Warren Hotel.
45:08I told you that.
45:09Well, there's plenty of time to do the deed.
45:12Hide the gun where the police could find it.
45:14Go up the stairs, across the roof, down the fire escape and into the street.
45:17And no doubt you could immobilise the lift on the top floor by leaving the gates open.
45:22How far is the Warren Hotel from the rehearsal room?
45:24It's just round the corner.
45:26You see, if your husband was the murderer,
45:30it's incredible he should have left his gun at the scene of the crime like a visiting card.
45:35My Lord, that's argument, not a question.
45:37I do know my job, Miss Hilary Peake.
45:41Move on to another matter, Mr Rumpel.
45:43Very well, my Lord.
45:45Let us go back to the vital question.
45:48Who else had a motive for killing Tom Randall?
45:52Might it be someone who wanted to stop paying him blackmail and shut his mouth?
45:56Well, not me. It wasn't.
46:02Why did you come here today as a witness, Mrs Castorini?
46:06The police asked me.
46:09You know you could not be compelled to give evidence against your husband.
46:12The police must have told you that.
46:14You came here of your own free will.
46:19Why?
46:21To tell the truth, as I know it.
46:25Or to make sure that your husband was convicted of a crime that you committed.
46:31Is there anything else wicked I'm supposed to have done, Mr Rumpel?
46:35Oh, yes.
46:36You persuaded your husband to brief a barrister you hoped would not attack you.
46:43I am sorry to have disappointed you, Mrs Castorini.
46:50I never intended to harass Dot.
46:52What?
46:53Miss Clapton.
46:54I heard Henry approaching her in the most outrageous manner
46:57and I simply asked her to tell me about it so that we could make a proper complaint.
47:01And, well, she must have misunderstood.
47:05No, Erskine Brown, she did not misunderstand.
47:07What sort of outrageous manner?
47:09Well, he was going on about the swishing sound made by her stockings
47:14and her modestly hidden breasts.
47:18Oh, yes, and he said,
47:19just you and I, two will become one when our bodies mingle.
47:23No, Erskine Brown.
47:24Is that all?
47:25Rumpel, Rumpel, just because you happen to have one in Castorini
47:29does not mean you can take over this important inquiry.
47:32I have investigated this matter, Ballard, which no one else seems to have done.
47:37May I ask a simple question with your lordship's permission?
47:40I'm grateful to your lordship.
47:41Erskine Brown, have you forgotten that Henry is a thespian, a mummer,
47:46a member of the Bexley Heath amateurs?
47:48That ghastly dialogue you heard was not Henry's,
47:52but the product of the fevered brain of Miss Mildred Hannay,
47:55a local author who has written a play especially for the group.
48:00What you had the misfortune to hear, Erskine Brown, was a rehearsal.
48:03Any further questions?
48:04Yes, why are we wasting our time on this meeting?
48:07It's not all a waste of time, Probert.
48:09There's the matter of your baby.
48:10The what?
48:11How can you refuse to maintain Probert's child?
48:13Are we to have a public scandal about that?
48:15A paternity suit in chambers?
48:17God, I know what it was.
48:19What?
48:20Ballard came into the room during our telephone conversation
48:22about Singleton v. Singleton.
48:24I wasn't talking about me and Dave.
48:26We were discussing our clients.
48:29It's hilarious.
48:30No, it's not.
48:31No, it's not. I quite agree.
48:34All of you seem to think that, like Sigmund Freud,
48:37sex is the explanation for everything.
48:41But sometimes it's... it's something else entirely.
48:44Mmm.
49:02Any chance of another chop going today?
49:08You give nothing vegetarian, then?
49:10Oh, Lord, yes.
49:11Last vegetarian I met was a murderer.
49:14And a teetotaler.
49:18Whatever came over you, Rumpel?
49:19Doing those extraordinary things.
49:25I met a lady in the Meads, full beautiful, a fairy's child.
49:31Her hair was long, her foot was light,
49:34and her eyes were wild.
49:39I suppose you're talking about that Mrs. Castorini.
49:42When I think we sat there and listened to her fiddling,
49:45I wouldn't have stayed if I'd known what she was like.
49:49Ah, but then we, uh, we didn't know, did we?
49:52La belle dame Sainte-Merci had us in thrall.
49:59There are actually two chops going begging, Rumpel.
50:02Oh, really?
50:03Oh, Hilda, thank you very much.
50:08You were never a fairy's child, were you?
50:11That's, uh, that's another thing in your favour, my little darling.