Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

(crickets chirping) (mellow music) (wings flapping) (water pattering) (suspenseful music) (water pattering) (suspenseful music continues) (water pattering) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (group shouting) (group chattering) - What a win!

(group chattering) Gin!

- Abbotsford, let's hear it for the lads.

(group cheers) - Hey, give us an autograph?

- Get that into you, Vince.

What's happened to your captain?

Still off the booze?

- Down, Scotty.

(Scotty barking) - Coach.

- How are you, mate?

- [Vince] Coach, where's our captain?

- I left him to lock up the sheds - Still muckin' around with his health remedies and his bloody cold water treatments.

- As long as that helps him with his game.

You're the vice captain.

You make sure they have a good time.

(glass clinking) (Scotty barking) - And the winner of the esteemed- - Call the bloody number, Bert!

- Number 27.

(group groans) - Hang on, that's me.

- Go Abbotsford!

(group cheers) (group chattering) (tense music) (tense music continues) - Told you I could get it.

(tense music continues) - On ya, Coach.

- Ah, Coach.

- [Bartender] Last drinks, lads, and no hoarding.

- Righto, you lot?

This isn't funny.

Which one of you jokers has pinched my lucky hat?

- It's not just a hat, Miss Fisher.

It's Coach Mclean's lucky hat.

He wears it to every game.

- Miss Fisher, is it?

Joe Mclean.

- Do you have any idea who might have taken your hat?

- Someone who plugs for the opposition, West Melbourne.

- Come inside, have a chat.

I'll pull 'em out of fitness training.

(players chattering) - Come on!

- They look fit enough to me.

- Get the ball.

Bloody Harry, he forgot to lock it again.

You don't know how many times I've told him.

Superstitious lot, I'm afraid, footy players.

(water pattering) (water pattering) (ominous music) Harry!

(dramatic music) - Don't touch him.

- But it's Harry the Hangman, the team captain!

(water pattering) (dramatic music continues) - Those West Melbourne bastards did this!

I say we go and burn down their rooms.

West Melbourne finally took The Hangman back into the fold.

It's an evil bloody joke, that's what it is!

- He was hanged with a West scarf!

- There'll be no violence.

Anyone taking things into their own hands will be arrested and charged.

That means you, Pat O'Farrell.

- Yeah?

You probably barrack for West Melbourne, do you, Inspector?

- As a matter of fact, Abbotsford is my team as well, Mr. Johnson.

- And mine, too.

- So if you'd all like to go home, we can get on with our investigation.

Thank you, gentlemen.

- Where is he?

- Celia, don't go in there.

- What happened?

Vince, tell me what happened.

- Mrs. Harper, Inspector Robinson.

I think it's best if you go home and we'll come by and speak with you privately.

- Lads, take her home, would ya?

Harry wouldn't want her left alone.

(footsteps tapping) - [Pat] Sort it out, copper, or we will.

- A football ground, Miss Fisher?

The last place I'd expect to find you.

- I watched my first match from my father's shoulders, Jack.

- Collingwood supporter?

- Lapsed, since Collingwood versus Carlton, 1910.

- 1910.

But your team won.

Admittedly, some of the worst fighting ever seen on a football field.

Is that what put you off?

- You know me better than that, Jack.

- Why exactly are you here, Miss Fisher?

- She's here to help recover my hat.

- Your lucky hat?

- Stolen last night.

That's a West Melbourne scarf.

They might as well have put up a sign.

- I can understand the opposition stealing a lucky charm, but murder?

- That mob would do anything to see us go down.

(water dripping) - Why are his wrists taped?

- Injury.

- Unusual to have both taped, though, and there's bruising to the back of the head.

- He copped a blow at training yesterday, sir, from Barlow.

- What about the soles of his feet?

- What about them?

- Well, you should take a closer look.

It's strange.

- You have your brief to get on with, Miss Fisher, and I have mine.

- Amazing what football does to a man.

(footsteps tapping) (soft suspenseful music) - Blisters.

Some kind of burns.

- Hey, Pat, here comes one of them.

- Wests are only sour because we won the first clash of the season.

This is revenge, lads.

- Heard the news.

- Rubbing your hands, are ya?

- Come on, just because I'm a West man.

- You're a traitor to the suburb you were born in, Cec.

- Yeah, but I'm a good son to my mum.

She was born at West Melbourne, so.

- [Phryne] Good morning!

- Didn't realize you were called in on this case, miss.

- I called her in, to find Coach Mclean's lucky hat.

One of your mob's stolen it.

- Yeah?

We wouldn't stoop that low.

Besides, we were in our clubhouse all night last night.

- Oh, yeah!

- You two do realize I won't be taking sides?

- Why would ya?

You were born in Collingwood.

Gibbs.

- Neville.

- Hello, Joe.

- Here to rub it in, eh?

- No, I'm here to offer my condolences.

It's a damn tragedy.

(birds chirping) - Mr. Gibbs.

Saved us a trip.

Perhaps you'd like to speak with us inside?

- Certainly.

- What a cheek.

- Nev Gibbs?

He's no stranger to tragedy, Bert.

- In what way?

- He's a widower.

Lost his wife when he started coaching West, right?

Then a couple of years ago, his daughter dies.

He doesn't miss a beat.

We almost won the flag that year.

- (scoffs) Not even close.

- You said the hat was taken from the club rooms.

Well, how could a West Melbourne fan infiltrate without being noticed?

- Yeah, good question, miss.

- There was that kid hanging around asking for autographs.

I thought she looked suspicious.

Dressed like a boy.

- Dressed like a boy?

- Cheeky.

About 16, 17.

- I think it's our orange girl.

- Where could we find this tomboy, Cec?

- If I get my hands on her- - If Bert lays a finger on her, I'll drop the case.

- West Melbourne.

Fruit market.

- Now anyone coulda used that, not just one of us.

There are hundreds of them out there.

- Still, Harry Harper doesn't have many friends at West Melbourne, does he?

- He deserted, moved on to another club.

Now, no one likes that, but they wouldn't kill him for it.

- Harper was a gifted player, but not everyone enjoyed his tactics.

- [Jack] Or his reputation.

- He had an eye for the ladies, all right.

But why would someone from the West use their own club scarf to kill him?

It would just bring grief and suspicion on the whole club.

- Cover of the crowd.

I'm still gonna wanna talk to your blokes, I'm afraid.

- Oh, well, they're not going anywhere.

We've got a game to play.

But you might wanna talk to Harper's teammates as well.

Plenty of people closer to home, unlike your man here, happy to have a go at Harper.

(Hugh scoffs) Now I'll say g'day, gentlemen.

(somber trombone music) - [Hugh] I wasn't having a go, sir.

- We need to set aside our allegiances, Collins.

This is a murder inquiry, not a footy match.

(Hugh huffs) (trombone music fades) (engine whirring) - Sir, your wife.

Your previous wife, sir.

- Jack, we just heard.

What a terrible thing.

- Rosie, I thought you'd returned to the West Melbourne fold.

- Yes, Father would have loved that, but unfortunately for him, Sidney's a fervent Abbotsford man.

Another one.

- Jack.

Harry Harper was a brilliant player.

He was a good bloke, too.

- He worked in shipping, didn't he?

- Managing one of my warehouses, after he left West Melbourne.

Rosie and I have become quite close to both the Harpers.

- Celia must be shattered, poor thing.

Oh, and if you happen to see our favorite deputy commissioner, no need to mention we were here.

Father couldn't take any more antagonizing.

(Sidney chuckles) (engine rumbling) - Cheerio.

(engine rumbling) - So, Deputy Commissioner Sanderson's a West Melbourne fan, sir.

- Rabid, Collins.

Life member.

We'll have to tread carefully.

- [Peddler] Jonathan apples, one shilling sixpence a bushel!

Cabbages, jolly flowers.

12 shillings per dozen.

(somber music) (both chattering) (somber music continues) - Half a dozen oranges, please.

(bag rustling) One more.

- If you insist.

- But you can keep the change.

Is that more than you were paid for the hat?

- I don't have the faintest idea what you're- - [Phryne] Have you heard about Harry Harper?

- Yeah, The Hangman?

What about him?

- Found dead in the locker rooms last night.

- Well, I never liked him.

He was a traitor to the West.

- Nevertheless, I think Abbotsford have enough going against them without the coach losing his lucky hat as well, don't you?

And the police will be looking very closely at everyone who was at the club rooms last night, especially anyone with a motive to knock off Abbotsford's captain.

- Look, whatever you think I did, I did it for all of us that love West Melbourne, not for a rotten pound.

- I have a witness who can identify you, and if you don't cooperate, I'll take you to the police myself.

- If I tell you who it was, he'll kill me.

- A description will do.

(somber music) (Phryne whistles) - All right, go on.

- Bloody whistles.

- That's right, Stan Baines took The Hangman under his wing at West, then as soon as he becomes their shining star, The Hangman deserts his teammates and joins West's archenemy, us.

- Because Gibbs never let him off his leash.

- It speaks to the man's character, Collins.

Why do you think Harper was called The Hangman?

- The amount of time he could hang in the air.

- Or the amount of heads he almost took off.

He was out for himself.

- Yes, but that's what made him so invincible on the field.

I think you're wrong!

Sir.

Sorry, sir.

- Harper carried a guilty conscience.

That's why he went soft every time he went up against his old teammates.

- That didn't stop him the first game of the season.

Harper and Baines had that punch-on on the field, and then Harper ripped through him throughout the whole second half.

- Yes, a feat Harry Harper won't be repeating.

I wanna talk to his old teammates.

- Dark hair, big shoulders?

Could be half a dozen West Melbourne blokes.

- [Cec] Or Abbotsford blokes getting back at Coach Mclean.

He was always bluing with his players.

- Like who?

- Like Harry Harper.

(Pat scoffs) He wasn't above the odd set-to with his own coach.

- You can't speak ill of the dead like that.

Players and coaches argue all the time.

- Halftime, boys.

Poppy?

Another crumb?

- Gold front tooth.

- Has to be him.

- Who?

- [Both] Stan Baines.

(tense music) - Coach Gibbs dedicated the first match of the season to the dear departed.

And Harry thought we were trying to put the wind up him.

- And were you?

- No.

Gibbs meant his kid who passed on, Myra.

- How did you feel about him leaving West Melbourne?

- Bloody angry.

But you know why I wouldn't rub him out?

I wanted to make my 300.

And I wanted my last day on the field to be against Harry.

(door clicks) - Inspector, sorry to interrupt.

Stan Baines, captain for West Melbourne.

Delighted to meet you.

- Miss Fisher.

Lady Detective.

- If I might have a word with you about Joe Mclean's lucky hat?

- Is this a joke?

Harry Harper's dead and you're worried about his coach's flea-bitten old cap.

- [Jack] You're here about Harper's death.

Answer the questions.

- Do you know a young woman called Poppy Brown, West supporter, runs a fruit barrow?

- Maybe.

- Well, she confessed to the theft under heavy interrogation, but she refused to name the man who paid her.

- What is this?

She your fullback?

- I like the sound of that.

- Excuse me, sir.

- Yes.

- Deputy Commissioner Sanderson's here, with Coach Gibbs.

- Neville Gibbs telephoned me complaining of police harassment.

He tells me that you've brought Stan Baines in.

Now, he can't be a suspect in this murder, surely.

- It seemed worth a chat with him, sir, given the pair's history, recent and long-term.

- Have you turned up any hard evidence?

- A West Melbourne scarf was found at the crime scene.

- I said hard evidence.

Anyone could have planted that.

- But I can't rule out Baines yet.

- Jack, Stan Baines is still a popular player with West fans.

Now if word gets out that you are an Abbotsford man and you are harassing him unnecessarily, it's you who will be suspect.

- We're not holding Baines, Mr. Gibbs.

He's told us what we need to know and he's free to go.

- Good.

- For the moment.

- Why'd you do it, Baines?

(group shouting) - Get over, you bastards!

(group shouting) - Let him through!

(group shouting) (dramatic music) - Eh?

Why'd you do it?

- Let him through!

Hey!

Get back!

(dramatic music continues) - Down our best man, Gibbs, but we'll fight back.

(group shouting) - You're gonna pay for this, pal.

- Stay back, Pat O'Farrell!

(group shouting) Get back!

- Bloody hell.

(exhales) (dramatic music) (birds chirping) - Stan Baines took it, you reckon?

- Yeah, well, it doesn't surprise me.

(Dottie sneezes) - [Bert] Bless you.

- Thank you.

- Do you know why Harry Harper left West Melbourne to come across to you?

- Baines wouldn't let him spread his wings, and Gibbs wasn't on top of a thing because he had a bad trot.

First his wife died, then his kid, one after the other.

- So, moving to Abbotsford solved all Harry Harper's problems?

- Seemed so.

He married Celia, won the captaincy.

only got the willies when we played West Melbourne and he ended up one on one with Baines.

(Dottie sneezes) - Bless you.

- Thank you, Bert.

- So what will happen now that you've lost your captain?

- Vince Barlow will have to step up.

- He's the vice captain.

He was full forward, in line for the captaincy before Harry Harper moved across to Abbotsford.

(sniffles) (tense music) Hugh, he's my beau, explained it all to me.

- Abbotsford man, is he?

- Very much so.

(phone ringing) - Yeah, well you've chosen well.

Here, we'll have to shuffle a few of the lads, but nothing's gonna fill the hole that Harry's left.

- Telephone, miss.

The inspector.

- I'm off anyway.

Come on, Scotty.

Come on.

(clicks tongue) Come on.

Thank you for this, and the tea.

And if you could tell the inspector, any developments I'd appreciate a nod.

- [Phryne] Of course.

(Scotty barking) - Lucky you I didn't tell him you're a West Melbourne girl.

Until your hook up with Hugh Collins, that is.

- If Hugh marries me, I don't see why I should convert.

- No choice.

He'll wanna take his kids to the game.

- I'll divide them up, just like my mum did.

Girls for the West, and boys for Abbotsford.

(footsteps tapping) - It's people like you who bring footy clubs down, Dottie!

(tense music) (Jack clears throat) - I was just looking at his tattoo.

- You've seen it before.

- Well, my case is closed.

The hat is back where it belongs and Coach Mclean is most grateful.

- Full marks, but it won't win me any points with the deputy commissioner.

- It's very bad luck that his daughter found herself another Abbotsford man.

Sidney Fletcher won't be winning any points with him either.

- Let's talk about Harry Harper's feet.

The burns are third degree.

- Really?

Which doesn't make any sense.

- No.

We got the water back up to full heat, but even then it wasn't enough to burn skin.

- And his feet were hanging off the ground in any case.

It's a conundrum.

What about cause of death?

- We're still waiting on the full autopsy, but preliminary examination points to strangulation, no broken neck.

But these marks indicate a rope.

- If it was a rope that killed him, how did he come to be hanging by a scarf?

(soft suspenseful music) (players chattering) - Assuming we're dealing with a suicide, Harper throws a rope- - Yet to be found.

- Ties it off at the tap, climbs up, kicks the stool out, (stool clatters) hangs himself.

- Badly.

Slowly suffocating instead of snapping his own spine.

(water pattering) Why was the hot water running?

That's odd.

- Especially because Mclean's big on cold water treatments all winter.

Toughens up the players.

- Sounds hideous.

- He kicked out with his feet, turning the taps on by accident.

- Or perhaps it was whoever it was that swapped the rope for the scarf.

(locker door clicks) - Someone strong enough to haul him up again.

- Or smart enough to attach the scarf first, then release the rope.

- All right, manly strength versus womanly intelligence.

- Who would want to make a suicide look like a murder?

- And why would Harry Harper, a man at the peak of his football career, wanna kill himself in the first place?

- [Phryne] Hmm.

(soft suspenseful music) (players shouting) - No, I don't believe it.

Harry had too much fight in him.

You're wrong.

- Even if Harry Harper died by his own hand, someone interfered with the body afterwards.

- Why?

- That's another mystery we're trying to solve.

What were you doing last night, Mr. Mclean?

- Me?

- Where were you?

- I was here at the club rooms, having a drink with the lads after training, from about six.

- Until when?

- After 10.

After I gave up lookin' for my bloody hat.

And you are wasting your time!

Harry Harper was murdered by West Melbourne!

- And I will continue to interview people from both clubs, Mr. Mclean, until I've solved this case.

(suspenseful music) (engine whirring) Joe Mclean was at the club rooms last night, but we still need to verify the times.

- Bert was there.

He could help.

Mclean was no help at all with Harry Harper's state of mind?

- Refuses to even entertain the possibility of suicide.

- And I'm with him, sir.

- Collins.

Looks like I'll have to raise it with Harper's widow.

- You said she was staying with your wife.

- Former.

- Your, your former... - Wife.

Yes.

- Wife.

- And her fiance.

- Potentially awkward.

But then what's awkward compared to dying naked in the shower with the opposition's scarf around your throat?

Besides, you have me on your team.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) I'm looking over a four leaf clover That I overlooked before (upbeat music continues) - Whatever kind of shipping Mr. Fletcher dabbles in must be doing very nicely.

(fountain water pattering) (knuckles tapping) (fountain water pattering) (birds chirping) - (sighs) Oh, it's Jack.

- I thought it was Father.

It's that policeman's knock.

Just... (foot stomps) - We've come to speak with Mrs. Harper.

- Oh, and of course, Miss Fisher.

- Miss Sanderson.

- Please, call me Rosie.

- Likewise.

Phryne.

Is this a good time?

- Yes, I've just come to help Sidney with preparations for Harry's service this afternoon.

Please.

(birds chirping) - I know that he struggled after he left West Melbourne.

He was branded a traitor.

But after that, things improved.

Thanks to your help, Sidney.

I don't know what either of us would have done without your support.

- Don't be silly.

Offering him a job was the least I could do.

Jack?

Miss Fisher?

Yes, I've always admired him for his ability to play football, and surprisingly, (chuckles) a good head for business.

- So Harry wasn't in any kind of financial trouble?

- Not that I know of, though I'm sure there were things that Harry didn't share with me.

(clock ticking) I'm sorry.

Excuse me.

- (sighs) Poor Celia.

- Were Celia and Harry happy together, do you think?

- They'd only been married a couple of years.

- I think they had a perfectly good marriage.

Celia said they were planning a cruise to the continent at the end of the season.

- Sounds romantic.

- I thought so.

(clock ticking) - So this service you're holding today.

- [Sidney] Yes, it's for the team as much as Celia.

- Mm, we just hope the newspapers will stay away.

(Sidney grunts) Jack, we know you want to solve this case.

I mean, we all want that.

But it would be so much easier for Celia if there weren't a police presence.

(tense music) - Of course.

(soft suspenseful music) - I assume you never took Rosie on a continental cruise.

- No, but I did take her to Mrs. Moller's Holiday Cottages at Lorne.

- Excellent choice.

Rosie seemed very quick to defend Celia and Harry's marriage.

And what did Celia mean the things Harry never shared with her?

- I'm sure you'll try and find out at his memorial service while I keep my police presence away.

- Don't sulk, Jack.

I'm sure the deputy commissioner's not invited.

Besides, you may need to visit a travel agent.

- Where did you souvenir that?

- Vince Barlow's locker.

Looks like somebody else was planning a sea voyage.

(somber music) (fountain pattering) (mourners chattering) (somber music continues) (mourners chattering) - Phryne Fisher.

I didn't know you were an Abbotsford supporter.

- It's a fledgling interest.

- What are you hoping to find here?

- Vince Barlow seems very attentive.

- (sighs) If you're looking for a scarlet woman, I think you'll find you'll be disappointed.

- I'd never presume to judge a woman on the basis of her morals.

I'm only trying to solve a murder case.

- I thought you and Jack suspected suicide.

- I don't think Harper's the type.

- I'd have to agree with you there.

Purely on a basis of intuition.

- Intuition or observation?

Sometimes one becomes the other.

A gesture, a little too intimate.

- [Rosie] You suspect Vincent of harming Harry?

- People usually kill for love or money.

- Celia did ask my advice.

- About what?

- Um, divorce, but I don't think she had any plans of going through with it.

(mourners chattering) - What's Baines doing here?

- (sighs) Oh.

(ominous music) - It's all Baines, isn't it?

(tense music) - What's Baines doing here?

- Not what we expected here.

- I've come to pay my respects.

Despite everything, we were teammates.

This is for Harry.

Mrs. Harper.

(tense music continues) - Get him outta here.

- You're a liar.

- You have a bloody cheek turning up here.

You should not have come here!

- Get out of my house!

(ice clattering) (suspenseful music) - [Mclean] You've got no shame.

Go before we throw you out.

(mourners chattering) (tense music) (fountain pattering) - Celia.

Celia!

(Celia grunts) What are you saying?

What are you accusing me of?

- I don't know what else to think.

- [Vince] I would have waited.

I would have suffered for you.

But everything's different now.

I mean, this is our chance.

- Get your hands off me!

(suspenseful music continues) (suspenseful music continues) - Stanley!

I thought it was you.

We need to talk.

He's onto us.

- Oi!

What are you doing here?

You bloody hypocrite.

Your lot killed Harry.

This is Abbotsford's turf, mate.

(fist thuds) (dramatic music) - [Baines] You don't know the half of it, O'Farrell.

- Come back and finish the fight, Baines!

- You all right?

- Come on, ya coward!

- Hey, get that man!

(dramatic music) - [Jack] Did The Hangman know you and Celia were lovers?

- Harry was a useless husband, and didn't give a damn about Celia.

He didn't give two hoots about the other women either.

All he cared about was the game, nothing else.

Not his team, not other people, and certainly not his marriage.

- You and Celia Harper have tickets booked for the end of the season on the Halcyon Sky cruise ship, in adjoining cabins.

I checked with King and Co. - Celia was asking Harry for a divorce, so there was no need to get him out of the way.

(soft suspenseful music) - Vincent and I wouldn't have done anything to disrupt the game.

- Like go on a cruise together?

(Celia sighs) - You have to understand, Harry was too wrapped up in his own problems to have any time for me.

He never got over making the move to Abbotsford.

- [Phryne] Wasn't it his decision?

- He was only considering it.

And then Sidney Fletcher offered him that job on the docks, with a house as well, and... - A house?

- But there's something else you should know, something Harry said the night before he died.

- Go on.

(door clicks) - Where's Inspector Robinson?

- I'll just tell him you're here, Deputy Commissioner.

(door thuds) - We need to settle things down on the streets, Jack.

If we don't sort out this case before the match on Saturday, we will have a riot on our hands.

- Did you know Sidney Fletcher bought the Harpers a house?

- I have heard the rumors.

- Then you must know Harper worked for Fletcher.

- Well, if you have enough money, you can buy anything you want.

- So Fletcher bribed Harper to swap teams?

- I didn't say that.

Have you charged Barlow yet?

- At this point, he's only helping us with inquiries.

- Then hold him overnight.

- I'm not sure I can justify that.

- Jack, at least if you've got someone in custody, we can keep a lid on this unrest.

Just till the morning.

(door thuds) (bag rustling) That is evidence and you are not police.

And may I suggest that you make yourself scarce, Miss Fisher?

(door thuds) - A suggestion's not the same as an order, is it?

- Not in my book.

Does Mrs. Harper have an alibi for the night her husband died?

- Yes, and I just found out, according to Celia, Harry refused to grant her a divorce the night before he died.

- Looks like Barlow's spending the night with us after all.

(door clicks) - The full coroner's report has just arrived, sir.

- Strangulation, no surprise there.

Bruising.

Harper was struck with a blunt object on the right side of the back of his head.

- So it wasn't a training injury.

- And there was bruising under the tape on his wrists, consistent with the bruising to his neck, suggesting his hands were bound with rope as well.

- So he was murdered.

(tense music) - What I don't understand is why whoever did it removed the rope.

- In favor of a scarf?

Whoever spent so much time knitting this would be horrified by where it ended up.

(ball thuds) - Don't feel like helping out, Collins?

Do your bit for Abbotsford?

- No, there's no point, sir.

Harper's gone, and his vice-captain's locked up for carrying on with his wife.

- That was his motive, Collins, not the reason we locked him up.

- Anyway, I just need you to know, sir, I've burnt my footy scarf.

(soft plodding music) - Miss Fisher said you were in training.

- Hi, Dottie.

No, we're just giving Mr. Barlow some air.

- Are you sure that's safe, Inspector?

Letting an inmate out?

- Well, he's outnumbered, three to one now.

- I used to make this for my brothers when they played juniors.

Chicory with honey and pepper.

It's to fortify them.

They lost every game, but they gave it their best shot.

- Every game?

- Yes, but that's the hardest thing, isn't it?

Staying true to your team when everything's going wrong.

Just like you and the inspector.

(plodding music continues) - Make it count, Collins.

(plodding music continues) (ball thuds) (birds chirping) (music crescendos) (suspenseful music) (phone ringing) (suspenseful music continues) (receiver clicks) (suspenseful music continues) (door creaks) - Ah, Dot.

How's Hugh faring?

- He might still have some Abbotsford spirit left in him yet, miss.

- Ah.

(Dottie sneezes) Oh, bless you.

Not a cold coming on?

- No, I thought it was just that coach's dog that set me off, but maybe (sniffles).

(suspenseful music) - Dot, come here.

Take a sniff.

- I may have- - Take a deep sniff.

(suspenseful music) (Dot sniffs) - Have you been petting it, miss?

(Dot sneezes) (phone ringing) - No.

I was... (phone ringing) Hello, Phryne Fisher speaking.

(suspenseful music continues) - Stan Baines here.

(breathing heavily) I have a confession I need to make.

I'm at the West Melbourne club rooms.

- I'm on my way.

(suspenseful music continues) (footsteps tapping) - That you, Miss Fisher?

(suspenseful music continues) (gun cocks) (gun fires) (dramatic music) (tense music) (tense music continues) (tense music continues) (tense music continues) (tires screech) (footsteps tapping) - Now the West mob will be crying foul.

- A telephone call, you said.

- Baines was drunk.

Something about a confession.

(camera clicks) A woman was waiting for Stan Baines when he left the memorial service for Harry earlier today.

- Did she threaten him?

- No.

She wanted to talk to him, it seemed urgent.

But a bunch of Abbotsford rabble rousers showed up and- - Miss.

- Sorry.

That noisy Irish fellow kicked up a fuss, and Baines knocked him down.

- Pat O'Farrell.

Sounds like we need to find him as well as this other woman.

Any idea how to track her down?

- No, but she knew Stan Baines, so I guess we start with the West Melbourne camp.

(ominous music) - Look at this.

- Oof!

297.

Number of games he played, sir?

- No, no, but he played 298.

- So we have a killer who can't count.

Stan Baines was still a suspect for Harry Harper's death.

Perhaps someone else thought he did it, too.

- Someone like Pat O'Farrell, sir?

- If there was a confrontation, he's my first choice.

- And then there's Celia Harper, Joe Mclean, Vince Barlow.

- Barlow's still at the station, so he has a perfect alibi.

- Oh Christ.

- Thanks for coming, Mr. Gibbs.

We can talk outside.

- Poppy Brown.

- Hugh!

(Hugh gasps) - Yes, miss?

- [Phryne] I have an inkling of where we can track down this mystery friend of Stan Baines.

(tense music) - If I was gonna knock off a West player, it'd be one of their young guns, not a bloke who's on the way out.

- Why don't you take a seat, Mr. O'Farrell?

Please, sit down.

- Now, you have three times been ejected from various grounds for incitement and menaces.

You did three months for bottling an umpire.

- I'm passionate about the game.

- Hmm.

You were witnessed arguing with him yesterday afternoon.

Where were you last night?

- Raising a glass to Harry.

Then a fight outside around 11, then at the bloody hospital till two in the morning.

- Good.

We'll check with the medical staff.

- You do what you like.

You'll need another suspect.

Try one who owns a bloody gun.

- [Jack] Do you own a pistol?

- (scoffs) I wouldn't know how to use one if I did.

A Lee-Enfield rifle, maybe.

Shot, was he?

Baines?

(knuckles tapping) - Excuse me, Inspector.

Do you mind if I ask Mr. Mclean a quick question?

- Be my guest.

- Is your dog molting?

- I'm sorry, Miss Fisher?

What?

- Unfortunately, my companion, Dorothy Williams, has a terrible reaction to Scotty's hair.

- Maybe she should just keep her distance.

- But she also had a terrible reaction to my gloves, after I touched the West Melbourne scarf that was tied around Harry Harper's neck.

- Perhaps I just patted Scotty, and then I touched that scarf.

- You didn't go anywhere near that scarf after Harry Harper's body was found.

- Did you murder him before you tied the scarf around his neck?

- No!

- You'd better explain, then.

- One of the younger blokes stole the scarf from West sheds.

I gave it to Scotty to sleep on.

- So how did it end up around Harry Harper's neck?

- When I went to look for Harry when he hadn't turned up for the party, I found him.

Our club captain, (Scotty whining) hanging by a rope in the shower stall.

I went to my office, got that scarf, and swapped it with the rope.

I wanted West Melbourne to take the blame.

- [Jack] So you thought you'd covered up a suicide?

- [Phryne] Why should we believe you?

- He left a note.

(somber music) - Pinned to the coat rack.

- "I was a traitor to my team.

This is all I deserve.

I'm sorry for everything.

Harry."

- I couldn't have that come out, that Harry had killed himself because he left West Melbourne.

- You said Harry used ice treatments after training.

- Yes, he did that day, too.

There was a chunk of ice left over the drain.

- Ice can cause third-degree burns, can't it?

If the contact is long enough.

(dramatic music) (water pattering) - So what gave you the idea?

- An upset bowl of ice at Harry Harper's memorial.

(ice cubes clattering) - So how will this establish the time of death, miss?

- The ice was almost gone when Mclean found him around eight o'clock, and the water was still running hot.

- So we can work backwards to find out when Harry was placed on the block of ice that burnt his feet and eventually led to his death.

(suspenseful music) (water pattering) - An hour and 15 minutes.

- Which means Harper was forced onto the block around 6:45pm.

- So who had the opportunity then?

(group chattering) - [Newspaper Seller] Read the day's events!

(group chattering) - [Produce Seller] Get your tomatoes here!

(group chattering) - [Hugh] Poppy Brown?

- You just missed her.

- Ah!

(sighs) Well, I'll just make do with you, then.

Tell me who this woman is, standing next to you.

- It's Mrs. Dangerfield.

- And?

- She used to be the club nurse.

- Used to?

- Yeah, before Myra Gibbs died.

(tense music) (tense music continues) - Two years ago, Stan Baines telephoned me.

I delivered his first kiddie, and perhaps he thought I was discreet.

I had to be, at times.

Women would come to you for all kinds of help.

- If they were in trouble?

- But it was too late by the time they brought Myra to me.

She'd already tried to help herself, with a knitting needle, and she was losing the bub.

- So what'd you do?

- I did what I could.

And I managed to stop the bleeding, but I gave them strict instructions to head for hospital if anything started up again.

I heard next morning that she'd been rushed to hospital.

I couldn't come forward.

I couldn't even go to the poor lass's funeral.

(crying) (soft somber music) - July 29th.

(Mrs. Dangerfield crying) - You were away from the West Melbourne party for over an hour.

- Well, that doesn't prove anything.

- Your daughter died on July the 29th two years ago.

- What's that got to do with it?

- We thought the number carved into Baines' forehead was a mistaken tally of the games he'd played.

But it wasn't.

- It was the date of your daughter's death, 29-7.

(ominous music) - (chuckles) This is all speculation.

- No, no, it isn't.

- You took two years to track down Mrs. Dangerfield, but we had more luck.

(tense music) Myra's death wasn't from peritonitis, was it?

- I gave Harry a chance to confess.

- When you dedicated the match to the dear departed.

- Harry knew the game was up.

And he still didn't have the guts to front me.

Took it out on Baines instead.

- So you made him write his goodbyes.

(water pattering) (ominous music) But you wanted something else from Harry, didn't you?

- Myra told me there was two blokes involved, before she died.

- So you decided to force it out of him?

(ice block scraping) Harry must have told you about Stan Baines' involvement.

- Ah, eventually.

(water pattering) Said Baines told him to get shot of Myra because she was in trouble.

Footy was what mattered.

Just the game, nothing else.

- [Jack] So you left Harry there?

- Oh, I didn't care about him, about the game, nothing.

After what he did to my little girl.

Callous bastard.

- You planned it to look like a suicide.

What did you make of your team scarf ending up around Harry's neck?

(tense music) - I thought it was ironic.

Myra knitted that scarf for me.

- And Joe Mclean used it to cover up your deed.

- Of course.

Who else but a coach would risk going to jail for the sake of a lousy football team?

(tense music) - So then you went after Stan Baines.

- In for a penny, in for a pound.

(suspenseful music) (crowd cheering) - Here we go!

Here we go!

(crowd cheering) - Come on!

(crowd cheering) - Come on, Abbotsford!

- Go West!

(crowd cheering) - Abbotsford!

Abbotsford!

- [Group] Abbotsford!

(clapping) Abbotsford!

(clapping) Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

- You look dashing, Hugh.

- Well, you don't want anyone confused about who you barrack for.

And I used my best wool, so you're not allowed to burn this one.

(crowd shouting) - Abbotsford!

Abbotsford!

(crowd shouting) - Just wanted to wish you luck.

I'm surprised the game is still going ahead.

The club presidencies met last night to consider canceling out of respect.

Father lost to Sidney.

Even my observational skills tell me that this does not bode well.

Excuse me.

(crowd shouting) - Eh, go West!

- You do.

Here.

- [Group] Abbotsford!

(clapping) Abbotsford!

- Do you think Rosie knows her fiance bribed Harry Harper to leave her father's team?

- All's fair in love and football, Miss Fisher.

- I'm glad you think so.

- So tell me, what kept you away from the game?

- My mother.

After I was caught trying to sabotage Carlton's newest recruit by smuggling him beer.

- Always an unsuspecting man involved.

- I was only 10 at the time.

So this should be interesting.

At least the last week has leveled the playing field.

Two dead players, one coach locked up for obstructing an investigation, and the other one charged with murder.

Anything could happen.

- Even a Collingwood girl would have to stay for a game like that.

- So what do you think?

- To humor an Abbotsford man.

- Abbotsford!

- Go West!

- Abbotsford!

(whistle blows) (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) My baby don't care for shows My baby don't care for clothes My baby just cares for me My baby don't care for silks and laces My baby don't care for high-tone places My baby don't care for rings Or other expensive things She's sensible as can be My baby don't care who knows it My baby just cares for me (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (bright ambient music) (no audio) (logo whooshes) (no audio)