NARRATOR: Previously on "Queens of Mystery"...
RHINEHEART: The auctioneers are coming
to collect "The Tell-Tale Heart" tomorrow
whether you like it or not.
Not if I have anything to do with it, they won't.
McGORRIE: I don't even own a baseball bat.
Step out of the car, please, sir.
I-I have to be somewhere.
DURRELL: Someone beat Henry up last night
and stole the manuscript.
Damn police.
But I'm more interested in what the thief left behind ...
a solitary black feather just like the one
in Mum's safe deposit box.
JANE: What if The Raven is back?
We've got to get down there.
FOSTER: There's something wrong with your Aunt Jane.
Everyone be quiet.
[Watch ticking]
I knew something wasn't right.
Why are your aunts here, Stone?
Aunt Jane was the one who found the body.
Of course she did.
KAREN: I should've said something earlier.
I killed Professor Rhineheart.
She's lying.
Because I killed Professor Rhineheart.
- MATILDA: Dr. Lynch. - DR. LYNCH: Matilda.
What can you tell me about the head wound?
I'd say the victim almost certainly fell backwards
onto the corner of the display case.
MATILDA: So they are both lying.
Yes, I've got the proof. It's gonna cost you.
You need to speak to Sally Capstan.
she interned for Professor Rhineheart.
[Sally grunts]
[Gasping] Reynolds.
Reynolds.
♪
[Theme music plays]
♪
There was a time in Matilda's life
when the harsh reality of attending the local mortuary
was offset by the excitement of seeing local GP
and pathologist Dr. Daniel Lynch.
Sadly, that time had passed.
Reynolds?
Stone!
Sorry, yes.
She said the name twice before she died.
PC Foster is compiling a list of anyone
with that name who lives nearby.
Dr. Lynch, cause of death?
By the skin pallor and traces of dried saliva
in the corners of the mouth, I'd say she was poisoned.
I'll know more after the PM.
Put a hurry up on it.
If it is the same killer,
we need to stop them before they strike again.
MATILDA: Sir.
Carry on, Doc.
[Door opens, closes]
♪
[Daniel gasps]
[Door opens, closes]
Reynolds.
I know, it means nothing to me either.
I had a one-night stand with a drummer of that band
we saw at the rec that time.
Weren't they called Reynolds?
Raymonds.
And she was the lead guitarist, not the drummer.
And it was a fight, not a one-night stand.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, God, I loved the '80s.
Oh, I meant to ask.
Who did you sell my Brian Flynn first edition to?
Your what?
"The Mystery of the Peacock's Eye."
It's been on display for weeks.
CAT: I didn't sell it.
Maybe I moved it.
Oh, I don't know. I'll find it later.
Hello, I've come to pick up a returns package.
- Hi, Henry. - You're keeping yourself busy.
I do a bit of delivery work on the side.
Mm, but it's not your only other job, though, is it?
I mean, from what I discovered yesterday, you have three.
Don't know what you mean.
Right. Come on, Henry.
We know you're sleeping on the job.
Spill the beans.
HENRY: Thanks.
Alison run off with another man about a year ago.
It's been tough, you know, especially for the girls
growing up without a mum, and it wasn't made any easier
with all the debt she left behind.
- So you took on extra work. - Yeah.
Except that still wasn't enough, so I took on a third job
and I used the shift at the Heritage House to sleep.
All worked like a charm until the other night.
[Alarm rings]
As soon as I woke up, I knew something was wrong.
I knew if word got out that I was sleeping on the job,
I'd get fired.
So I made it look like
I caught the intruders in the act
and that they tied me up.
[Muffled shout]
I never meant to knock myself out.
That was an accident. I was desperate.
If I lose the job, I lose the house.
[Yawns]
And while it was only a robbery,
I thought the insurance company could take the hit.
Except it wasn't just a robbery.
By the time I learned that,
I couldn't come clean without getting into more trouble.
Right, you need to go to the station and ask for Matilda.
Tell her everything you've just told us
and pray that Inspector Thorne doesn't want to charge you
with perverting the course of justice.
I will. I promise.
Although yawning is said to be contagious,
Jane Stone couldn't help but wonder
if her and Henry's recent bouts of oscitation
weren't somehow connected.
I do hope Matilda and Inspector Thorne go easy on Henry.
Me too.
It can't be easy raising those children on his own.
Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going.
[Laughs]
- That's okay. - My fault.
Ugh!
[Door closes]
CAT: Has to be around here somewhere.
Come on, Cat, think.
♪
- There we go. - Thank you.
Bye-bye!
Thieving cow.
He's up to something. I know it.
Oliver McGorrie, he's just clumsy.
I'm not so sure.
You're alright here for a while, aren't you?
Why? Where are you going?
Meddling.
But Matilda told us not to.
The dictionary defines meddling as interfering in something
that is not one's concern.
But, thought Jane Stone,
if the activity was directly connected
to why she kept yawning...
Then I wouldn't technically be meddling.
♪
Microfiche records?
Of the local paper.
I've been to The Wildemarsh Watchmen
looking for articles about The Raven,
but all their back copies went missing when they moved offices.
They said you'd have copies on something called microfiche.
It's funny, no one's asked me about microfiche for months,
then two people request the same articles in as many days.
Come with me.
Someone else was asking about The Raven?
Yes, Sally Capstan. She asked me yesterday.
♪
[Door slams, Oliver mutters]
Microfiche are miniature photographs of documents.
You need a staff ID card to activate a search.
You can use mine.
It'll give you a list
of where the physical microfiche files are located.
Do you remember the exact files Sally asked for yesterday?
Um, I should still have a printout here somewhere.
Yes, here it is.
You wait here. I'll bring you the files.
[Door creaks]
THORNE: You in here, Stone?
Sir.
I've had a call you've been pestering the local paper.
I was after articles about The Raven,
but they couldn't help.
The librarian's getting me their microfiche copies now.
There's, um...
something you need to know about the Raven case.
Yes, sir?
Sorry to interrupt, but those Raven files you asked for,
I put them back in the drawer
when Sally had finished with them,
but now they've gone.
♪
DANIEL: The thing is, Natasha...
[sighs]
Natasha, darling...
this isn't easy for me to admit.
That is, I've been thinking about it a lot
and I'm not sure we aren't maybe,
you know, rushing into this whole marriage thing.
Oh, she's gonna kill me.
- [Knock on door] - Come in.
JANE: I, um...
I need a favor.
♪
You think whatever it was Sally Capstan found
on the missing microfiche is what got her killed.
It's a possibility, sir.
Have the room dusted for prints.
Find out who's been in here who shouldn't have been.
But the sight of her aunt Jane's brooch
already told Matilda everything she needed to know.
Sir...
I mean, sir.
Just now, you said there was something
I should know about the Raven case.
Did I?
Um...
Nope, it's gone.
Couldn't have been important.
Carry on, Sergeant.
♪
Right, I want an explanation for this.
[Bell tolling in distance]
I'm sorry. I let you down.
You haven't seen my aunts, have you?
No, sorry.
I want a word with you.
Well, that will have to wait.
We have the test results for the coffee.
What coffee?
The other day, I borrowed some coffee from the security office.
I'm sorry, Henry. I should have asked first.
I've been really tired ever since.
When I saw that Henry keeps yawning, too,
I couldn't help but think there might be a connection.
I ran some tests on the coffee and found it was laced
with two different types of sedative.
So whoever stole the manuscript wanted to make sure
that Henry was out cold before they broke in.
No wonder you fell asleep, Henry.
Still doesn't excuse me lying about the break-in.
ROBIN: No, but given your circumstances,
this may be understandable.
Does that mean I'll get to keep my job?
That depends on whether Sergeant Stone wants to press charges.
Considering Henry's home situation,
Inspector Thorne and I have agreed
to let him off with a caution.
Then it's decided.
If you'd excuse us, Sergeant, I would like to show Henry
my plans for a new security system.
Has anyone seen Victoria Durrell?
Oh, yes, I just saw her heading home.
Matty, I found out something about Oliver McGorrie.
Right, that's it, I want a word with all three of you now.
And, Aunt Jane, there had better be a blooming good reason
why I found your brooch at the exact spot
important evidence was stolen.
I didn't even realize I'd lost it.
Actually, Matilda, I did need to talk to you
about Sally Capstan's postmortem results.
Why don't we wait for you by the gates?
Yeah, give you a chance to cool your jets.
Make it quick.
I don't think I have ever seen Matilda so angry.
Well I'm not hanging around here to get bawled out by my niece.
I'm off to find Victoria Durrell.
I'll come with you.
No, wait, I need your help tailing Oliver McGorrie.
I caught him searching Sally Capstan's locker.
I wonder what for.
Don't know. We need to find out.
Sally Capstan was poisoned with a lethal dose of camphor.
Camphor?
It's used as an embalming fluid.
There'd be a plentiful supply on-site
for preserving artifacts.
Thanks for letting me know.
I did also want to talk to you about something more personal...
[Sighs]
But it can wait.
Where have they gone now?
♪
[Knocking]
I know you're in there, Victoria.
♪
Victoria?
Victoria!
Get back!
Don't do it, Victoria.
[Crying] I'm sorry.
Ah, you are quite the bibliophile.
Bibliomaniac.
A bibliophile loves books.
Bibliomania is an obsessive compulsive disorder
involving the collecting and hoarding of books.
Oh, well, I stand corrected.
It's why I became a librarian.
I thought being around books all day would satisfy my cravings.
Mm, and how's that working out for you?
I have spent my entire inheritance on books.
When the money ran out,
I started stealing them from wherever I could.
I'd been stealing from Heritage House for years.
Ah, but now Matilda wants you to do a stock take.
I'd been trying to put the books back,
but there are too many of them.
I knew it wouldn't be long before the thefts
were discovered.
So you decided to destroy the evidence?
Except that proved harder than I thought.
♪
The missing manuscript.
Well, I never had Victoria Durrell down as a murderer.
[Children laughing, shouting in distance]
♪
Remember this number ...
0161 496 0972.
- Right. That's right. Bye. - [Receiver clicks]
♪
What was the number?
0161 496 0972.
[Keypad beeping, line ringing]
You're a wonder, do you know that?
Am I?
WOMAN: Antiquities and Fine Art Department, can I help you?
- So that's Oliver's game. - Hello?
It might also explain how I lost my brooch.
How do you mean?
Let's go and find Henry Wade. I'll explain on the way.
♪
[Door creaks]
Did Professor Rhineheart catch you stealing the manuscript?
Is that why you killed him?
I didn't kill anybody.
So, you're denying you stole the manuscript?
Alright, yes, I stole the manuscript.
But I stole it five years ago.
I replaced the original manuscript with a facsimile.
Whoever broke into Heritage House
stole the forgery.
[Door closes]
So...
For all his so-called expertise,
Professor Rhineheart never noticed
the manuscript was a fake.
But I knew the auctioneers
would spot it as soon as they picked it up.
Which was the real reason you were so desperate
to prevent the sale.
When my petition didn't work,
I knew I had to put the real manuscript back.
I thought if I got in extra early,
I could make the swap without anyone noticing.
Except by then, it had been stolen.
I can't tell you how relieved I was.
Heritage House would get the insurance money,
the thief got what he deserved, and best of all,
I got to keep the original manuscript.
Until I insisted on a stock take.
I've been panicking ever since I'd be found out.
I'm sorry for what I did, but I can't help myself.
Will I go to prison?
Forgery, theft, obstruction of justice...
it's highly likely.
Do you think they'll let me work in the prison library?
Thanks so much for doing this, Henry.
There.
We need to find Matilda.
What am I looking at?
Security footage from this morning.
Oliver McGorrie stole my brooch
and planted it beside the stolen microfiche
to put you off his scent.
- Why? - Money.
We caught him calling a company that specializes
in stolen artifacts and insurance rewards.
Right.
Are we going to speak to Oliver?
We aren't going anywhere.
You three have done enough for one day.
I've borrowed this from the recording booth
so you don't have to go back there.
If you want to make yourselves useful,
finish off Aunt Jane's audio book.
[Bell jingles]
Anyone would think she didn't want our help.
♪
Come clean or I'm arresting you
for perverting the course of justice.
You're a former police officer
who investigates the theft of rare books
for an antiques recovery agency.
I've just come off the phone with your employer.
I lied when I said I was a retired civil servant.
The disguise, the whole clumsy thing,
it was so people wouldn't suspect who I was.
I wanted to tell you, but I was determined
to be the one to catch Professor Rhineheart.
Professor Rhineheart?
In recent years, there's been a number of rare book thefts
from famous libraries and museums.
All looked like inside jobs,
but no one individual worked at all the sites.
The link had to be someone that made regular visits
to each of the locations.
Like a famous professor researching his new book.
McGORRIE: Precisely.
When I heard he was visiting Wildemarsh,
I knew he was planning on stealing "The Tell-Tale Heart."
So you volunteered to work at Heritage House
in the hope of catching him in the act.
Yes, that was the plan, except he must've sussed out who I was.
I'm certain Rhineheart planted the baseball bat in my car,
then made a false call to the police.
The period that I was detained in custody
was all the time he needed to steal the manuscript,
make his getaway.
But Professor Rhineheart didn't get away.
He was murdered.
I figured by his accomplice.
See, my theory is that Rhineheart targeted sites
where he knew someone who could help him.
Sally Capstan.
As I see it, Sally killed Rhineheart
and then took off with the manuscript.
See, I made it my mission to find out where she'd hidden it,
but first I had to delay your investigation
and get those nosey aunts of yours out of the way.
Which is why you stole my aunt Jane's brooch.
McGORRIE: I saw Sally ask Victoria for help
with the microfiche.
After she was killed, I knew you'd follow up
on her movements.
So I planted your aunt's brooch where I knew you'd find it.
And I was hoping to get your aunts to back off.
You clearly don't know my aunts.
But if Sally killed Professor Rhineheart, who killed her?
That's what I haven't been able to figure out,
but it has to have something to do with the robbery somehow.
What if Sally didn't kill the professor?
What if there were two robberies that night?
It would explain why Henry's coffee
was laced with two different kinds of sleeping draught ...
both sets of thieves trying to ensure he was asleep on the job.
Professor Rhineheart and Sally Capstan
could've tried stealing the manuscript
but ran into someone else doing the same thing.
Be ironic if it was true.
Professor Rhineheart, Sally Capstan ... both writers,
both dead trying to steal an old book.
Authors of their own demise, literally.
What?
Authors.
That's what Sally was trying to tell me.
I don't understand.
Reynolds is an author.
I don't have time to explain. I've got a library to search.
♪
Rameck...
Resnick...
uh...
Reynolds.
♪
Thank you, George.
♪
Robin Brunswick.
The 31st.
That was a week ago.
NARRATOR: And it was in that moment that Matilda realized
she'd been fooled not by one person, but by two.
It was a double double bluff.
♪
Thorne here. Leave a message.
Inspector Thorne, it's Sergeant Stone.
Meet me at Heritage House.
I know who the murderers are.
♪
WOMAN #1: [Distantly] It didn't have to come to this.
You could have let it be.
WOMAN #2: But you should have told me the truth.
I'd have understood.
WOMAN #1: Truth? You weren't ready for the truth.
No one ever is.
WOMAN #2: Oh, I can handle the truth.
It's the lies that kill me.
WOMAN #1: Oh, yeah.
[Grunts, objects clattering]
WOMAN #3: Watch out! He's got a knife.
- WOMAN #2: Come here! - [Yelling]
[Grunts, thuds]
Oliver?
- Oh, I'm sorry, I thought ... - JANE: What?
That someone might be stealing my jewelry?
Ah, that's what I came to apologize for.
It was wrong of me to plant your brooch
inside the microfiche vault.
I am sorry.
I explained everything to your niece,
and it seemed to help.
- Help how? - McGORRIE: I'm not sure.
She said something about authors and about
what Sally was trying to tell her, and then she left.
Did she say where she was going?
The Heritage House library, I think.
The library...
Authors.
Yes, of course.
Come on, we've got to help Matilda.
♪
Which of you killed Professor Rhineheart?
Does it matter?
It was an accident.
You should have told us the truth.
We'd have understood.
Like the police did last time, you mean?
I read your file.
You were convicted of first-degree murder.
It was self-defense.
He beat me for years.
Do you know the worst part?
Your sentence doesn't stop when you're released.
Prison leaves its mark.
People can smell the time on you.
It wasn't like that with Rob.
He saw me for who I really was.
And when I got out,
he was the only one who'd give me a second chance.
It wasn't difficult to fall in love with him.
When did you know the manuscript was a forgery?
Not until a few days ago.
I was cleaning
as Professor Rhineheart was studying the manuscript.
He left the room, and I couldn't resist taking a closer look.
I'm not an expert.
I shared a cell with a forger,
and she taught me enough to know I was looking at a fake.
I knew the auctioneers would spot it straightaway
and they would cancel the sale.
We couldn't let that happen.
Heritage House needed the money from the auction to stay open.
So you decided to drug Henry's coffee
to ensure the coast was clear, steal the manuscript,
and use the insurance money to save Heritage House.
All we needed to do was leave a few false leads
to make it look like The Raven was back.
Which is why I found Robin Brunswick's name on a list
of people who'd accessed the stolen microfiche files.
He was researching The Raven for what clues to leave.
We'd just finished setting everything up
then Professor Rhineheart turned up.
Rhineheart went mad.
- [Grunts] - [Gasps]
It was all Rob could do to defend himself.
- [Grunting] - [Sobs]
[Breathing heavily]
He's dead.
Rob panicked.
He wanted to call the police,
but I knew from experience that if the truth came out,
we were both going to prison.
So we hid Rhineheart in the grandfather clock
and agreed to come back the following night
to dispose of him.
Except in the meantime, my Aunt Jane found the body.
I knew you would eventually find my criminal record
and I'd fall under suspicion,
which is why we had to confess.
A double double bluff.
You each gave false confessions,
neither of which matched with how Rhineheart really died,
so as to place yourselves above suspicion.
ROBIN: And it would have worked
if it hadn't have been for Sally Capstan.
Rob.
It's over, Kaz.
Run.
Get as far away from this place as you can.
[Blade rings]
I'll keep the sergeant busy.
♪
Sally knew you had stolen the manuscript, didn't she?
ROBIN: She was Rhineheart's lookout.
She saw us leaving together.
After the robbery, Sally went looking in the microfiche vault
for information about The Raven,
and that's when she found proof that you'd done the same ...
proof she used to blackmail you with.
She threatened to show the police
unless I cut her in on the profits.
You never told me!
You poisoned Sally Capstan.
Killing Sally was the only way
you could guarantee the truth wouldn't come out.
And with Sally out of the way, you knew you'd be in the clear.
Say it's not true, Rob!
What was I supposed to do?!
She'd have ruined everything!
[Robin yelling]
[Both grunting]
♪
Rob, stop it!
Let her go!
Stop it, Rob!
[Screams]
♪
[Grunting]
- Rob! - Aah!
Rob!
[Blade slicing]
[Gasps]
♪
Rob...
♪
Put pressure on the wound. Call an ambulance!
KAREN: [Gasping] Don't... help me.
[Sobbing] I don't want to go back to prison.
No, no, no, no. No, please.
I love you.
♪
Karen.
Matty.
♪
[Police radio chatter]
Any deeper and that could have been serious.
All done.
I'll pop by tomorrow,
check if that dressing needs changing.
♪
So, all that stuff Sally told me
about the NDA in the auction house...
A cover story to explain why she pretended not to know him.
How's the shoulder, Sergeant?
- Fine, sir, thank you. - Quick question.
The feather, the rope ... they were all red herrings?
CAT: Robin and Karen wanted the theft to look like The Raven,
throw everyone off the scent.
They'd heard rumors about The Raven,
but they hadn't got the details.
Sally discovered Robin was searching microfiche files
for information on The Raven and put two and two together.
So then Sally hid the incriminating microfiche
in a book by an author named Reynolds for safekeeping.
Right, well, I'm glad that clears that up.
Carry on, Sergeant.
Ladies.
♪
Still volunteering?
Ah, Sergeant Stone.
The council has asked me to stay on
to supervise the sale of the real manuscript.
Look, I'm sorry about trying to fix your aunts up.
No hard feelings, eh?
Not as long as you hand over the rest
of the stolen microfiche.
I thought Sally Capstan took them all?
As far as I know, she only took the one I found in the book.
Well, sorry, Sergeant. It wasn't me.
♪
[Caws]
NARRATOR: As Aunt Jane admired her brooch,
the Raven badge found at Edith Bryant's house
was among the many corvus-related items
that her niece was struggling to pin down.
Another date with George?
Open mic night.
Oh, what's the matter?
I'd have thought you'd like that.
I do, but it's just this Raven thing.
It's still bugging me.
The police files were destroyed in a flood,
the newspaper reports vanished, and all but one
of the microfiche files have been stolen.
I thought Oliver McGorrie took them.
He says not.
It's like someone wants to erase all proof
The Raven ever existed.
Can't help wondering if Mum's disappearance
isn't somehow connected.
What do you think?
I think sometimes when bad things happen,
to try to make sense of those things, we make connections.
Yeah, maybe you're right.
Enjoy your date.
Thank you.
[Bell jingles, door closes]
While Jane Stone hated herself for keeping the truth
from her beloved niece, Dr. Daniel Lynch
was about to hate himself for telling the truth.
Oh, Beatrice, what do you think?
[Sighs]
Daniel!
Could you give us a minute?
BEATRICE: Of course.
What are you doing here?
You know it's bad luck for the groom
to see the dress before the big day.
There's not going to be a big day, is there?
I'm sure you'll have one.
One day.
Just not with me.
♪
It's, uh, Matilda, isn't it?
I'm sorry.
Do you love her?
I think so.
Yes.
Then you'd better go tell her.
You're not angry.
Oh, I'm working up to angry.
I'm currently in self-loathing.
[Exhales shakily]
Thank you.
Will Madam be taking the dress?
[Bell jingles]
Inspector Thorne.
Books.
You want to sell some books?
Stolen books.
- You stole some books? - Yes.
No!
No, these are your books. Victoria Durrell stole them.
I wanted you to have them back.
Oh, thank you, that's very kind of you, Inspector.
I-It's Derek, remember?
That's very kind of you, Derek.
Was there something else?
Um... no.
'Night.
[Quietly] I'd like to ask you out to dinner.
Did you say something?
No.
[Bell jingles]
♪
[Laughter and applause]
♪
Thank you, everybody.
Okay, next up we've got a first-timer ... be kind.
Terry Faster.
[Applause]
- It's Foster. - That's what I said.
Terry?
♪
FOSTER: This is an anonymous poem I found called "Raven."
Rank rebel raven,
all colored as a coal,
oh, crow untrue.
Flaps he into flight, fanning on the wind.
High is he upon his heart to hearken tidings.
Croaks he for comfort, for carrion he finds,
cast upon the cliffs where rotting corpses lay.
[Foster's voice fades]
Inspector Thorne.
[Foster's voice fades in]
Filling full his belly, full soon slips yesterday,
strife and storm, forgotten his captain's charges.
MATILDA: Mrs. Bryant?
FOSTER: Left in the coffer, the raven wrecking forth.
MATILDA: Mrs. Bryant!
[Gasps]
Matilda, is everything alright?
- Yeah. - You sure?
- [Applause in distance] - Yeah, everything's fine.
♪
It is a central tenet of any detective's investigation
that a single lie discovered
is enough to create doubt in every truth expressed.
What else, wondered Matilda,
had Inspector Thorne lied about?
And more importantly, why?
GEORGE: [Distantly] It's that sometimes,
you find the right person, you just...
know, don't you?
Sorry, what were you saying?
I said you just know.
And while Matilda's mind raced with a thousand questions
for Inspector Thorne...
Thanks for opening up late, Harry.
My pleasure, Ms. Stone.
... her aunts were doing everything in their power
to ensure the answer to the one question
that had haunted Matilda since childhood remained a mystery.
♪
If Matilda ever finds out...
We have to pray she doesn't.
Prayers were also in Dr. Daniel Lynch's thoughts
as he raced to declare his undying love for Matilda ...
prayers Matilda would see past his foolish engagement
to Natasha.
[Cheers and applause]
Prayers that in this instance were not to be answered.
So, as George seized the day, others in Matilda's orbit
were left to contemplate life's many missed opportunities.
♪
The opportunity to have grasped love
while it was still in reach.
♪
Or conversely, to have stopped love
slipping through your fingers.
♪
To have admitted past mistakes
before those mistakes were exposed.
♪
Or to have confessed to the truth
before being forced down a path of lies.
Opportunities that, once missed,
may never present themselves again.
At least, not without intervention
from a very unexpected quarter.
♪
[Lighter snaps shut]
♪
[Cawing]
♪