Season 5 Episode 5 | 1h 23m | Video has closed captioning.
The investigation of an assassination attempt is quickly brought to an unexpected end, but Morse continues to probe. He's soon embroiled in the dark dealings of espionage, big business and a long-held secret at the heart of the Oxford community.
Aired: 07/22/18
Expired: 08/05/18
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ALAN CUMMING: This is "Masterpiece Mystery!"
WOMAN: Three, two, one.
We're coming to you from Oxford, England.
BRIGHT: One foreign national shot by another.
Last thing we need is an international incident.
Chasing down communist spies?
Leave the do or die to Special Branch.
You've wandered into no-man's-land, Mr. Morse.
Go back while you still can.
BRIGHT: Whatever it is, it's out of our hands.
I will get to the bottom of this.
♪ ♪ (phone rings) Morse.
CUMMING: "Endeavour."
(thunder claps) (moans) (click) (bell tolling, bird crowing) MAN: Now entertain conjecture of a time When creeping murmur and the poring dark Fills the wide vessel of the universe.
From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, The hum of either army stilly sounds.
That the fixèd sentinels almost receive The secret whispers of each other's watch.
Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames Each battle sees the other's umbered face.
(radio tuning) BOY: Sechs, zwei, vier... (line of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" plays on radio) BOY: Acht, sechs, zwei.
(line of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" plays) ("Zadok the Priest" by Handel playing) (knock at door) PAVEL: Room service.
MATTHIAS: Come in.
Oh, just put it over there, please.
(child laughs) ("Zadok the Priest" continues) ♪ Zadok the priest ♪ ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
The recording of "Jeux Sans Frontières" will commence shortly.
VT roll to record.
MAN (on radio): Recording.
MAN: Right then, good luck, everyone.
Julian set?
WOMAN: Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
MAN: Cue Julian.
Bienvenue!
Wilkommen!
Benvenuto and welcome to this British heat of "Jeux Sans Frontières"!
This week we are coming to you from Oxford, England, the famous city of dreaming spires and a renowned seat of learning for nigh on a thousand years.
(drawer closing) See you tomorrow.
(bell rings over door) Expecting rain, Mr. Mullion?
You know me, sir.
Never without my brolly, rain or shine.
How's Winston?
Slowing up a bit, sir.
Getting old, I expect.
Know how he feels.
(chuckles) ♪ ♪ ("Zadok the Priest" playing) ♪ And all the people rejoiced ♪ ♪ Rejoiced ♪ ♪ Rejoiced and sang ♪ (crowd cheering) JULIAN: And here come the teams.
The French team from Saint-Josse-du-Bois, a little ville in the Pas-de-Calais.
Great Britain, represented by Oxford, of course.
Competitors from all walks of life.
I'm told we even have a British bobby amongst their number.
Oh, dear, the British team is down.
Looks like he sprained an ankle.
What a time to get an injury, just before the fun's about to start.
All the way from Maienfeld, we have the Swiss.
CH there.
And last, but by no means least, Deutschland-- the Germans, bringing up the rear.
Well, there we have it, all the teams ready and under starters' orders.
(starter's gun fires) And they're off.
There they go, the giants racing along the track, over the hurdles, and to the far end, where they must collect the bones of an Englishman from one of their teammates.
And Great Britain already surging ahead there.
He's already got his bones, and he is off.
Oh, he has collided with Belgium.
(chuckling): Belgium is down!
And Great Britain isn't even pausing for breath.
He has got the finish line surely in his sights.
Ow!
♪ ♪ (crowd chanting) (softly): Steven.
Help!
JULIAN: ...but it's our late substitution from Great Britain who has come in first.
(cheers and applause) Well done, Great Britain.
Well done, everyone.
(groans) STRANGE: How about that, then, matey?
Well done.
I owe you one.
You owe me more than one.
How's the ankle?
I'll live.
MAX: Well, that was all rather marvelous, I must say.
What's wrong with the German?
Passed out, probably.
It gets bloody hot in those suits.
You're telling me!
ZOE: Help, help, please help us!
Why don't you see what that is?
ZOE: Doctor!
Find a doctor!
Please!
Steven!
MAX: Let me through!
Let me through!
Thank you.
It's all right, it's all right, it's all right, I'm a doctor.
Help me, please!
TREWLOVE: Stand back, give him room.
MAX: Right.
ZOE: What's happening with him?
What's the matter with him?
Please help me!
Ambulance-- now!
♪ ♪ Police!
MAX: Entry just below the sternum, no exit.
And there is a considerable loss of blood.
So there should be two units of O-neg on standby.
And Mr. Urquhart's on his way from the JR. No debate.
He's the best PT man in the country.
Be in theater, four minutes, go!
Go!
(doors swing shut) JULIAN: Ladies and gentlemen, I am afraid one of the competitors has unfortunately been taken ill.
I am sorry to say that today's tournament has... Sir.
Do we know who he is?
STRANGE: One of the West German team.
I've got Fancy and Trewlove talking to the coach for furthers and betters.
Four shots.
Three to the back, one to the side.
I'm no expert, but looks to have been pretty close-range.
Somebody wasn't messing.
STRANGE: There was a fifth round.
Looks to have struck a little boy in the crowd.
Dr. deBryn's gone with him to Cowley General.
Must have passed right through the giant's costume.
We'd have heard it, wouldn't we?
Not if the weapon was silenced.
This is just a bit of silly fun.
Why on Earth would people have guns?
Did anyone collide with anyone before he fell?
Everyone was running into everyone else, it looked like.
(cheers and applause) JULIAN (on tape): The plucky Belgian is down, and the Briton pulls in front.
And there goes the German, There.
Goodness gracious me... Take it back.
VT back to 5:21:30.
(tape rewinding) WOMAN: And play.
JULIAN: And the Briton pulls in front.
And there goes the German, goodness gracious me... Who's the Swiss?
♪ ♪ Chap called Werfeli, Matthias Werfeli, cried off this morning-- feeling unwell, apparently.
Looks like they played a sub for the giants' race.
Who's the sub?
Nobody seems to know.
But that's hardly surprising, given the size of the team.
Everyone took him for a bona fide, as he had the right tracksuit.
Only nobody's seen him since the race.
Dead man's a Karl Pfuscher, sir, according to the team coach.
Some sort of postal clerk in Werfen, Bavaria.
Only moved there about what, three months ago?
From where?
Strasbourg.
He'd been working as a translator for the Council of Europe.
Next of kin?
TREWLOVE: We're looking into it, sir.
I'll dig out this Werfeli, see what his story is.
Where are the Swiss team staying?
The Amber Lodge.
You think he's in on it?
Well, I think it's a long way to come and not take part in the games.
♪ ♪ (telephone ringing in distance) (lock turning, door opening) I'll take it from here, thank you.
(water dripping) (gasps) ♪ ♪ THURSDAY: So this is Werfeli?
MORSE: Mm-hmm.
A Swiss national.
Whoever shot the West German and the little boy was masquerading as this man.
MAX: Strangled.
Last six hours.
Taken from behind.
Some kind of wire garrote would be my best opinion.
Know more once I've got him unzipped.
Shall we say 3:00?
So someone killed him to take his place in the giant race?
Seems a lot of trouble to go to.
(door closes) Why not just do the German at his hotel, same as he's done this fella?
Perhaps Pfuscher knew his killer?
Maybe he was already in fear of his life and on guard.
Somebody comes all the way to Oxford to bump him off?
In front of a couple of thousand people?
And the telly?
It doesn't make sense.
Well, maybe it was the only way that the killer could get to Pfuscher.
THURSDAY: You better go over to Pfuscher's hotel now to get some real leads.
♪ ♪ (telephone calling out) (clicking pen) Girlfriend?
My guess.
I've asked for a list of everyone staying in the hotel.
Danulka's not a German name.
From where, then?
I think the church in the background is St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague.
THURSDAY: Czech, then?
Mm, I've been through Pfuscher's hotel telephone records.
He made two calls when he got here, one at 11:45 the night he arrived, Oxford code-- just rings and rings.
And the other?
20 past four yesterday afternoon to the porter's lodge at Beaufort.
BRIGHT: Division have been notified.
They are liaising with Interpol.
One foreign national shot dead by another.
The last thing we need is an international incident.
I'd say we got one, sir, whether we like it or not.
This is a family game show in Oxford, not the Mexico Olympics.
What's the news on the child?
Open order.
The next 48 hours should tell.
♪ ♪ Mrs. McLean?
Detective Chief Inspector Thursday, Detective Sergeant Morse.
Zoe.
How is he?
They said he wouldn't've made it if he hadn't been seen to by the doctor in the ambulance.
Dr. deBryn.
Have you got who did it?
No, not yet.
It wasn't intentional, as far as we know.
ZOE: But how could this happen to my boy?
We don't know, yet.
But we'll get to the bottom of this.
You have my word.
(clanks) (exterior door closes, footsteps echo in hallway) MAX: Yes?
May I help you?
WIN: About this little boy, is it?
I don't know what the world's coming to.
Rack and ruin, like as not.
(door closes) I mean, on a Sunday, too.
We had ballroom practice booked for 3:00.
Crime waits for no man.
That's something I won't miss.
We'd best be off.
No sandwich today?
Sunday?
We'll have a roast at the Lamb and Flag.
Come home safe.
Righto.
♪ ♪ STRANGE: It's gone.
All of it.
Special Branch came in the early hours.
Whatever it is, it's out of our hands.
Perhaps it's for the best.
Best for whom?
All right, Morse.
BRIGHT: I don't care for it any more than you, but such are our orders, and it behooves us to follow them.
All of us.
Two men are murdered on our ground, and that's it?
That's it.
And what about the little boy?
Go home.
It's Sunday.
See you tomorrow.
(telephone ringing) Morse.
A D-notice, if you please.
I haven't had one of those slapped on me since the war.
What's going on?
Your guess is as good as mine.
We're out of the picture, truly.
Special Branch.
National security, then.
Oh, the Greater Good, I don't doubt.
Did your photographer take any photographs?
Some.
What're you looking for?
The teams.
I'll drop them by the office first thing.
Could you mark it just for me?
Thank you for coming in.
Any news on the boy, McLean?
I just spoke to the cutter.
We were at Bart's together.
Best pediatric thoracic man in the country.
He's hopeful, but the boy's not out of the woods yet.
So Pfuscher.
I was working on him when they rolled in.
Credentials and paperwork all in order.
They've taken both bodies and my notes.
But not my brain.
Same weapon?
The bullets I dug out of Pfuscher were a match for those that the surgeon removed from little Steven McLean.
Right-- and the Swiss, Werfeli?
Whoever killed him knew exactly what they were about.
Right.
Anything else?
Well, it looks as if Pfuscher did a bit of shopping when he got here.
Amongst his personal effects, there was a receipt for a picture and a clock.
There was nothing like that in his digs.
Any idea where he bought them?
Afraid not.
Fiver for the picture, tenner on the carriage clock.
No furthers and betters on either.
But his teeth I do recall.
He wore an upper denture.
There's nothing unusual in that, is there?
No, but you said he was Bavarian, didn't you?
Mm-hmm.
Well, the last time I looked, Bavaria was in West Germany.
The workmanship on the dentures suggests they were made on the other side of the wall.
In the Russian sector?
Yes.
East Germany to you and me.
♪ ♪ (bicycle bell rings) (keys jingling) (lock turns, door opens) (rhythmic knock at door) I thought you had to work.
Clearly.
Are you going somewhere?
Just tidying.
It's a little late for a spring clean.
Well, you don't have to be a policeman all the time.
Sometimes things are just what they look like.
I thought we could get lunch.
A pub lunch, maybe.
Why, what would you like to do?
Something I've never done before.
♪ ♪ (ducks quacking) (camera clicks) (film winds) (camera clicks, film winds) (pole splashing through water) ♪ ♪ It's pretty.
Prettier in summer.
Sun's gone already.
Year's turned.
Pretty soon it will be bonfires and hoarfrost.
Mist'll rise.
Winter is on its way.
Hey.
(camera clicks) I wasn't ready.
(laughs): That's the point.
You ran into Dorothea.
She signed my book.
So she said.
Have you read it?
No.
You should-- it's a classic.
Is that what you want?
Something like that?
I'm not that good a writer.
That's why I've got this.
A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Well, depends on the words.
♪ ♪ (camera clicks) JOE: See you tomorrow.
(door closes) There, there, that's a good boy.
JOE: Usual?
Yeah, and a quarter of navy, too.
You been in the wars, Elsie?
Walked into a door, silly moo.
Is that right?
I've told her to go more careful.
DOROTHEA (voiceover): This is everything we have on file for Karl Pfuscher.
If you have any information for the press, please let me know first.
(phone ringing in distance) ♪ ♪ (slight bang in distance) RECEPTIONIST (on phone): University of Oxford.
MORSE: Good morning, this is Detective Sergeant Morse, Thames Valley.
I'm trying to reach a Dr. Schneider.
(sighs): I'm shocked.
Shocked.
That's simply terrible.
I can't believe it.
Had you heard from Herr Pfuscher recently?
(sighs): Not in a few months.
Was there anything troubling him?
No.
No, he was happy.
He had met a young woman and was very much in love.
Was this Danulka?
That's right.
Was there anyone else in Oxford he was close to at the time?
He had a girl in Headington.
On Sebastopol Terrace.
What number?
I'm afraid I never met her.
Samantha was her name.
Smith... or Samantha Jones or Brown or something.
And he was good friends with Professor Richmond, of course.
Alexander Richmond?
That's right.
Do you know him?
Excuse me, sir, I'm looking for Professor Richmond's rooms.
Stair J, sir.
Thank you.
Somebody called the gatehouse Friday afternoon.
A Karl Pfuscher.
I would like to know who he was calling to speak to.
What time, sir?
It was about 20 past four.
I will check the duty log, sir.
Perfect, thank you.
(knock at door) Come.
Professor Richmond.
(door closes) It's, um... Morse.
Of course.
Good heavens.
Didn't you partner me at the Traveler's once?
Once, yes.
Yes.
Not a bad dummy.
Lost the Grand Slam in the final rubber, I remember.
The bid was four, no trump, and you answered aces, wasn't it?
I couldn't say.
Yes.
Your mistake, you see.
Four no trump is not always Blackwood.
Well.
This is a pleasant surprise.
Sherry?
I won't, actually-- I'm here on official business.
I'm with Thames Valley Police, a detective sergeant.
Oh, I see.
I wanted to ask you about Karl Pfuscher.
A German student.
He came up in '58.
Oh, you flatter me.
I'm lucky if I can remember last term, never mind the best part of ten years ago.
Well, you remembered me.
I remembered the game.
(chuckles) Well, I can show you a photograph.
Perhaps that would help.
No.
I'm afraid not.
Why?
Um, what is all this about?
Well, if you don't remember, it doesn't matter much.
Sorry to have troubled you.
I have checked the duty log for Friday, sir.
No messages that afternoon.
Hm.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for checking.
Not at all, sir.
Anything we can do to help the boys in blue.
(telephone ringing) Morse-- hello?
SINGLETON (on phone): You've been asking about Karl Pfuscher.
Who is this?
SINGLETON: I might be able to help you if you fancy a trip to London.
Help me how?
SINGLETON: Museum tube, 6:00.
You got that?
Yes, I've got that.
SINGLETON: Oh, and wear an evening suit.
What?
(Singleton hangs up) Hello?
Hello?
♪ ♪ (bell tolling) (gate creaking) INSPECTOR: Tickets... thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
Sorry.
Morse, isn't it?
Singleton.
MORSE: Who are you?
I told you, I'm Singleton.
Is that your real name?
If you were important enough to lie to, you'd probably be dead already.
Where are you going?
You like music, don't you?
♪ ♪ MORSE: What's with all the pantomime?
Pantomime?
Bringing me down to London, all this.
Two old friends going to see a concert?
But we're not old friends.
And we're not going to see a concert.
MORSE: Are we being followed?
Spot of supper, don't you think?
(engine starting) BRIGHT (voiceover): With Special Branch having taken the international business off our hands, we can turn our attention back on this Ames character.
What's the latest development?
Nothing much to add since the last briefing, sir.
Jim?
We've braced all potential associates and regular informants, sir, particularly amongst the colored community, but so far there hasn't been a peep.
Where's Morse in all this?
He generally has something useful to contribute.
Pursuing inquiries, sir.
Good God!
It's a machete-wielding West Indian with a distinctive facial scar we're trying to find.
In Oxford!
It's not the Scarlet Pimpernel.
No, sir.
BRIGHT: We must redouble our efforts.
All of us.
Division want him found, and sooner rather than later.
Certainly not before another piece of his bloody handiwork ends up on Dr. deBryn's mortuary table.
Very well, carry on.
(typewriter clacking, telephone ringing) ♪ ♪ I bear grave news.
The chicken pie is off.
I call that a very bad show.
SINGLETON: Morse, Louis.
Louis, Morse.
You've 30 seconds to tell me who you are and what you want, or else I'm leaving.
We're wardens in ordinary attached to St. Peter ad vincula.
St. Peter in Chains.
That's the chapel at the Tower.
Thomas More is buried there.
Oh, yes.
Thomas Cromwell, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey.
The lopped heads of old England.
Traitors all.
If you know that much, you know it's a Royal Peculiar.
Please.
So you answer only to the crown.
That's right.
So what do you want?
To help-- what else?
With what?
Pfuscher.
And what's in it for you?
You should take a look at Sebastian Fenix.
The parfumier?
Oh, the world-famous multi-millionaire parfumier, playboy, and philanthropist.
Is what happened to Pfuscher in some way connected to Fenix?
He acted as interpreter to Fenix for a while.
Fenix has a factory north of Oxford.
We'd be very interested in anything you might pick up.
Particularly anything being made in laboratory four.
Why don't you take a look?
Do you love your country?
Do you still beat your wife?
We're on the side of the angels.
Quite literally.
I'm not a spy.
Neither are we.
Then what are you?
Keepers of the secret flame.
Guardians of the realm.
Britain's last line of defense.
MORSE: So why me?
SINGLETON: You're a policeman.
You can legitimately look into matters beyond our sphere of influence.
And you can just as legitimately wipe your hands of it if anything goes wrong.
Something like that.
Enjoy your potted shrimp.
It's entirely your decision, but this may prove instructive.
LOUIS: Our parfumier is quite photogenic.
Burn it when you're done.
We have copies.
(whistling) (projector running) ♪ ♪ (projector stops) ♪ ♪ ELSIE: Early for you, Mr. Thursday.
Early bird, Else, catches the worm.
Your eye's on the mend.
Pound of best rump that cost me.
Money well spent.
(kettle whistles) You want to watch where you're going in the future.
What I told her-- kettle.
Not the first time, is it?
She's clumsy-- what can you do?
I'd hate for it to be anything else, Joe.
Any man'd raise a hand to a woman is about as low as it gets, in my book.
Goes on between a husband and wife's their business.
Till it becomes mine.
(bell rings over door) Sir.
Anything in?
Pretty quiet as it goes.
Couple of car thefts.
Indecent exposure on Catte Street.
Oh, and a Dr. Schneider called.
It slipped my mind, Karl did ask something which I thought a little strange.
In one of his last letters, he asked if I had any information about our old language tutor.
Your language tutor?
Yes, when we came to Oxford, we both had lessons to improve our English with a Miss Bagshot.
It was recommended by the college for all foreign students.
Did he say why he wanted to speak with her?
No, only that she had been on his mind lately.
I found her address and telephone number and sent it to Karl.
Did he ever mention Sebastian Fenix?
The parfumier?
Mm-hmm.
No, never.
Not to me, at least.
♪ ♪ Miss Bagshot?
Yes?
So... what do you want, Detective...?
Morse.
I believe you knew Karl Pfuscher.
I'd be interested in anything you could tell me about him.
Pfuscher, Pfuscher-- that's what, German?
Mm-hmm.
He came up in '58, to Beaufort.
Ah, I have had a lot of pupils over the years.
He's the one on the right.
Oh, yes, I believe he came to me for a while.
Why?
He was killed.
In Oxford, Saturday.
Murdered.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
But I hadn't seen him in seven, eight years.
Do you recognize anyone in this photograph?
Am I likely to?
You tell me.
No, no one there I know.
Really?
I don't know what you could possibly expect me to tell you.
You could tell me why he called you the evening he came to England.
I wasn't aware he had.
I have his hotel bill.
He was on the line for three minutes.
Long time to listen to a ringing telephone.
You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
You look like a decent enough young man, so perhaps it's the former, but you really are involving yourself in matters way above your pay grade.
What matters?
Leave it to Special Branch.
How do you know about that?
You can't be that naïve.
The world is divided in two.
Freedom on one side, the Russians on the other, and a bloody great wall down the middle separating the two of them.
There's a war of shadows.
There's a little boy, Steve McLean.
Six years old.
He's been caught in the crossfire of whatever this is.
He's in Cowley General recovering from gunshot wounds.
I will get to the bottom of this.
For his sake.
You've wandered into no-man's-land, Mr. Morse.
Take my advice.
Retrace your steps, go back, while you still can.
What if I'm already too far in?
Then I'll light a candle for you.
♪ ♪ I don't want to have to raise my voice in front of the men, but this station is currently under review.
They wouldn't simply shut Cowley down, though, would they, sir?
Results, Thursday, results.
We shall live or die by our achievements.
Or the lack of them.
To be honest, sir, I'm not sure I've got the miles left in me to start over at a new nick.
Particularly if it meant a new governor.
STRANGE: Sorry to interrupt, sir, but there's a report just through that the Hope and Anchor on Shadforth Street has been turned over.
Mob-handed, according to initial reports.
That's Eddie Nero's boozer.
♪ ♪ Welcome to Fenix Industries.
♪ ♪ Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
(aquarium bubbling) (door opens) Remarkable creatures.
Erpetoichthys horrida.
Commonly known as the estuarine snakefish.
They secrete a lethal toxin from glands on the base of the spines on their dorsal fin which stick up when disturbed.
Or threatened.
Goes by the name of Tiddles, presumably.
That's an unusual pet.
I'm attracted to unusual things.
Can I have Miss Borgia to fix you a drink?
She mixes a martini to die for.
I'm sure, but no, thank you.
What is it you do here?
I'm curious.
A fatal flaw in cats, Mr. Morse.
We make perfume.
And an awful lot of money.
Dollars and scents.
It's easy to mock, but to make great perfume takes genius and a nose that would shame the greatest sommelier in the world.
Thankfully, I possess both.
And no end of modesty.
(chuckles): A much over-prized virtue.
Come, let me show you.
Fenix Industries has many interests.
The company began as a Venetian perfume house in the 13th century.
Our world-famous fragrances remain a source of great pride and no little income, but since the war, Fenix has diversified into many fields.
Such as?
One-half of this facility is a pharmaceutical research laboratory, specializing in bacteriological and virological research.
Tuberculosis bovina.
Foot and mouth.
But that's nothing you couldn't have ascertained with a single phone call to the right ministry, so what do you really want to know?
What you were doing with Karl Pfuscher in Geneva.
Business.
Our usual translator was indisposed.
We had a narrow window of opportunity to conduct our dealings.
Karl was free, came highly recommended, and was well rewarded for his time.
And when was this?
A couple of days last autumn.
Have you seen him since?
No-- why?
What's your interest?
Someone pumped four rounds of ammunition into him this Saturday at close range with a silenced automatic pistol.
Ah-- not now, thank you.
I see.
And you imagine, somehow, that Fenix Industries had something to do with that?
Oh, alas, I fear I must disappoint your expectations.
I'm a scientist, yes, but not a mad one.
We shall have to take your word for that.
Hm.
For the moment, at least.
I would be delighted to give you a complete tour of the facility, just to show you we have no secrets to hide, no dark agenda for world domination, but I am pressed for time-- it will have to wait.
Make an appointment with Miss Borgia.
I'd be more than happy to oblige.
Thought you might be in the mood to talk.
Now you've had a clear-up.
To you?
Think on.
The bookie's last week, now your boozer?
All I hear, since that lorry load of Kilorran was knocked off this summer, arse has fallen out of the hijack business, too.
STRANGE: Someone's beating you to the punch week-in, week-out.
Know a lot, don't you?
Who's putting the squeeze on, Eddie?
You think I knew that, I would be here?
I'd hope you'd come and have a quiet word with us before you did anything rash.
You don't want to be going taking the law into your own hands, Eddie.
That's Mr. Nero to you, boy.
Do I have to teach you some manners?
You want some n'all?
Any time, any place.
All right.
All right.
We're here after doing you a favor, Eddie.
But things can always change.
What favor?
This turns into a proper Watney Street knees-up, it's only a matter of time before some innocent bystander cops it.
I can't have that on the street.
You want whoever's at it out of your hair, we want him banged up.
I'm no grass.
I know.
Honor amongst.
But this ain't grassing.
Whatever you got, the smallest thing.
Some bastard's got the nerve to call me chicken.
Here.
(replaces lid) Whoever it is had better pray it's you finds that 'im first.
Black cockerel?
We've seen that before.
The Lloyd Collins killing, sir.
Part of this hijack gang, wasn't he?
That made off with a lorry load of whisky from Waddington Junction, that's right, sir.
Suspicion was he'd been murdered by one of his accomplices.
Some voodoo connection.
Ames?
You think he's behind this turf war with Eddie Nero?
Certainly looks that way, sir.
Does Nero know?
There'd be a lot more blood on the streets if he did.
(murmuring, telephone ringing) Anything for me?
Some mob smashed up the Hope and Anchor.
Eddie Nero's place?
Jim and the old man's in with Mr.
Bright now.
Oh, a Dr. Schneider dropped off a sketchbook of Karl Pfuscher's that he held on to from their undergrad days.
Said some Samantha girl could be in there.
Thanks.
Where'd you get to?
I was at the break-ins in the Oxpens.
What break-ins?
MORSE: It's in the log book.
Shirl.
Sir, do you have a moment?
Of course, Constable.
Uh, come through.
Don't go disappearing off.
I could do with the benefit of your wisdom on Eddie Nero.
♪ ♪ SCHNEIDER (voiceover): He had a girl in Headington, on Sebastopol Terrace.
TREWLOVE: I've just come from Dozier's Newsagents, sir.
Mrs. Dozier has been taken by ambulance to Cowley General.
She's pretty badly hurt.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dozier say she had a fall down the stairs.
You believe them?
It's possible.
The carpet's worn through to the floorboards at the top.
But to fall onto both sides of her face at once?
I just thought you should know.
All right, Constable, good work-- carry on.
(murmuring, telephone ringing) Where's Morse?
Just gone out.
Out where?
Overnight break-ins, he said.
♪ ♪ (doorbell rings) (latch clicks, hinge creaks softly) ♪ ♪ (floor creaking) (gasps) (glass and china breaking) (grunts) (twine pulling, Morse gasping) (silenced gun fires) (man collapses) (Morse coughing) (panting) (silenced gun fires) (birds chirping) MORSE (voiceover): He was on that Swiss team photograph I showed you.
Who is he?
Not a Swiss.
Pavel Mikhailovich Zorkin, KGB.
What is this place?
Who lives here?
Nobody-- it's a safe house.
Could have fooled me.
Well, I did warn you not to get involved.
Listen, if I fill you in on some of it, will you leave it all alone?
Well, I think I've got some of it already.
Karl Pfuscher was a British asset, recruited by Alexander Richmond, is that right?
Mm, Alex has always had a good nose.
A good eye, too.
Fancied you for a while.
Well, since '51, all eyes have been on Cambridge, but Pfuscher came into information that the Soviets were running an active cell out of Oxford since the early '30s.
Codename "News."
And Pfuscher knew who was in this cell?
Mm, he was going to tell me the list of names on Saturday night, after the games.
That's why he got himself onto the team.
God knows how many they've recruited, and there have been rumors for some time that HMG has been penetrated to cabinet level, maybe even beyond.
No, I don't believe that.
Well, you may not, but our friends on the continent seriously think so.
Why do you think de Gaulle is so determined to keep us out of the European Community?
"Buy British, Get Boris."
Well, would he have known who was in this Oxford cell?
If I'd thought that, it wouldn't have been him that I shot.
No, he's just a killer.
No, Karl was the only one who knew.
So what now?
Perhaps you'll realize why you really ought to stay out of it.
Well, you know I have a duty to report what's happened here.
Yes.
We all have a duty.
Your duty was to mind your Ps and Qs and report back to Special Branch.
That was your duty.
Yes, but a little boy has been shot.
Recompense will be made.
He'll recover, he'll get over it.
Just as I'm sure you will.
You don't want to go back to jail, do you?
Or worse.
Look, by the time your colleagues get here, they won't find anything.
Not him, not me.
Do you honestly think that they're going to believe that a retired civil servant who takes in language students goes around shooting Russian thugs?
(laughs) We're closed.
You've been asking after me.
Who's that?
You had some bad luck, mister.
Your boy-- Flynn, was it?
You got some neck, I'll give you that.
What's your name?
Ames-- Cromwell Ames.
What do you want, Mr. Ames?
Everything.
Protection, girls, numbers, the gym.
All of it.
You can keep the car ringing.
That's very generous.
Every dog has his day.
Is that right?
You think too small.
This is my town now.
I am serving you notice of eviction.
You walk into my place, alone... No.
Never alone.
The devil walks with me.
My name is Cromwell Ames, and I am come to set a fire upon the cane.
What are you doing here?
I tripped.
The lino rucked up at the top of the stairs.
Sure.
And the next time?
He has to kill you before I do something, is that right?
Is there anyone you can go to?
Family?
You can't go home.
I can't leave him.
Been together nearly 40 years.
He wouldn't know how to boil an egg.
(typewriters clacking) ♪ ♪ THURSDAY: Morse?
What happened to you?
Karl Pfuscher was, well, not friends exactly, but he was certainly very well acquainted with Alexander Richmond, a professor at Beaufort.
Who is he?
He's just an English don.
I attended one or two of his lectures.
He asked me to partner him at bridge.
And afterwards, we had a very odd supper.
Odd in what way?
Well, it was just the two of us.
He asked me about my feelings about the country.
Whether I'd consider working for the Foreign Office.
Gossip was, he was some sort of talent-spotter.
For who?
It's not our case.
Look.
Say it's on the level.
The Russian killed the Swiss to get to Pfuscher.
Your guardian angel kills the Russian.
The circle's closed.
And what about the little boy?
Does he not matter?
Of course he matters.
You want to do right by him, make sure he's safe, you keep him as far away from all this as you can.
There are still two murders on our ground.
Pfuscher was killed for what he knew.
Chasing down communist spies?
We're meat-and-two-veg coppers, not Dangerman.
Leave the do or die to Special Branch.
We're not paid to risk our necks the way you've been.
Got a girl now, haven't you?
Win was saying-- Joan mentioned it.
You're no use to her a dead hero.
(keys rattling) (lock turns) ♪ ♪ (exhales) (footsteps retreat, door closes) (people laughing) (people talking in background) Join you?
Yes, of course.
Can I get you a drink?
Uh, I'm fine.
Sure?
Thought I might find you here.
Claudine rang.
Did she?
She told me to tell you, "Vietnam."
(chuckles): Right.
You didn't know.
I'm sorry.
Was she?
(exhales) You liked her?
You know me.
Easy come, easy go.
Have you eaten?
Of course.
Today?
When did you last eat?
I had planned to get something with Claudine, but...
Doesn't matter.
You shouldn't drink on an empty stomach.
That's exactly when you should drink.
Drown your sorrows?
Just marinate them a little.
It's what they're for, isn't it?
Sorrows?
All right.
Good night.
I thought you were keeping me company.
Not like this.
Do you want me to call Jim Strange?
Make sure you get home?
No.
No.
Right.
(bell rings) MAN: Right, right, gentlemen, please!
♪ ♪ JOAN: How's it going with you and Jim?
MORSE: Well, it's hardly "The Yellow House."
But it means we can both put something aside.
I should have enough for a deposit this time next year.
A man of property.
Yeah, I suppose.
(exhales) Didn't Jane Austen have something to say about a single man in possession of a good fortune?
Oh, I doubt it will be Netherfield Park.
You didn't need to walk me back, you know.
Old habits.
Do you want to come in?
For coffee?
Yeah.
I don't go much for coffee.
Besides...
Besides?
I have got things to do.
Okay.
(laugh softly) Well, good night, then.
(kiss) What?
Is that Vespertine?
Mum got me a bottle for my birthday.
What about it?
♪ ♪ (scribbling) (machinery humming, footsteps echoing) ♪ ♪ (footsteps tapping) (aquarium bubbling) (door closes) ♪ ♪ (brakes squeak) Hop in.
Well?
You wanted to know what was in lab four?
(sniffs): Ambergris.
It's secreted in the guts of sperm whales.
It's used in perfume?
As a fixative, that's right.
Traps aroma on the skin for long periods.
LOUIS: Rare as hens' teeth.
And worth its weight in gold, quite literally.
However, fresh stuff is virtually useless to parfumiers.
It takes 20 years of immersion in the sea to produce the white, high-end stuff.
So he's curing his own, so what?
We had thought as much, but we couldn't prove it.
Until now.
Right.
So how's he coming by so much raw ambergris?
SINGLETON: Well, that's where Pfuscher came in.
He was the translator for the deal that Fenix struck with Russian Baltic whalers in Geneva.
As you know, that sort of trade with the Soviets is strictly verboten.
You couldn't keep a financial contract like that under wraps.
Indeed not.
The factory was also doing work for the chemical warfare boys at Porton Down.
Always something new out of Porton, the scamps.
So what you are saying is, he's buying raw ambergris with confidential scientific information?
How do you know that?
Because Pfuscher told us so.
We were as doubtful as you.
He visited Fenix's factory on the Friday night before the games to prove his story.
Well, he wasn't as lucky as you, though.
SINGLETON: No.
LOUIS: Came up empty-handed and had to make a run for it.
But now you've proved he was telling the truth, we can do something about it.
Well, yes, arrest him, presumably.
(chuckles): Nothing so heavy-handed.
LOUIS: Well, I suppose you deserve your quid pro quo.
For services rendered.
What is it?
(birds crowing) ♪ ♪ (presses handle) (hinges creaking) (turns radio on) (radio tuning) BOY: Sechs, zwei, vier.
(tune of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" plays) BOY: Eins, sieben, zwei, fünf, acht.
(tune of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" plays) (door clicks) BOY: Neun, sechs, zwei.
(turns radio off) ♪ ♪ (tires screeching, car accelerating) (exhales) (birds cawing) BOY: Vier, zwei, sechs.
(tune of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" plays) BOY: Acht, fünf, zwei, neun.
Creepy.
It's a numbers station.
A which?
A numbers station.
It's a device used to send coded information to intelligence officers working in foreign countries.
The sort of thing we used to broadcast to the Resistance during the war.
"The geese fly south tonight," "Uncle Pierre has a blue hat."
Rubbish mostly, but in amongst the dross would be key phrases that meant something to specific groups.
An instruction to blow a railway, or bring down telegraph poles.
Mm, it's the same idea.
We used to listen in on them in Signals.
Suppose none of it means anything, does it, unless you've got the key?
That's about the size of it.
So what's it doing here?
It's a hotline, presumably.
For the spy cell, codename News.
BOY: Vier... (turns radio off) Did you speak to the council?
Yeah, they weren't best pleased to be got out of bed, I can tell you.
Right, but who is it down to?
Most of it's given over to Beaufort College dons.
This particular strip's held in the name of... Ranunculus.
Is it Alexander Richmond?
Alexander Richmond, that's right.
Want me to notify Special Branch?
Yeah, I think you'd better.
Wait, wait, wait, Special Branch?
Yeah, we can hand him over to them, by all means, but he still has two murders and a wounded boy to answer for.
It's us that should arrest him, not Special Branch.
♪ ♪ Is Professor Richmond in his rooms?
I couldn't say, sir.
(door opens) Professor Richmond.
Morse.
This is my colleague, Detective Chief Inspector Thursday.
Oh, yes.
Uh, this about that German, still?
THURSDAY: Karl Pfuscher, that's right.
The man you recruited to the intelligence services while he was an undergraduate.
I heard the stories.
We've had it confirmed.
By whom?
Millie Bagshot.
Not like Millie to be, uh, so indiscreet.
Well, I may have done my little bit before and just after the war, but it was only spotting useful prospects.
No harm in that.
There wouldn't've been, if that's all it was.
But some years earlier, you'd been recruited yourself, by the Soviets.
MORSE: Every undergrad that you recruited, you sold out to the Russians.
There's no point denying it to us.
Special Branch are on their way.
MORSE: Now, we know you didn't do it alone.
Who else was in on it with you?
(telephone ringing) If you'll excuse me.
Hello?
Hello?
(gunshot bangs, window shatters) (grunts) ♪ ♪ THURSDAY: What're you doing here?
There's a body over at Dozier's Newsagents, sir.
Strange has already gone over there.
Has anyone come past you?
No.
Only the old bloke with the bowler and the brolly.
Guard Richmond's stairwell.
No one out or in.
Okay.
Mr. Mullion!
(bicycle bell rings) Mr. Mullion!
We need to you to call an ambulance for Professor Richmond.
He's been shot in the shoulder.
The shoulder?
I'll take that, if you don't mind.
Morse.
(clicking) Canny.
(rattling) Single shot.
All you need, if you know what you're doing.
And, of course, you knew exactly what you were doing.
Yes, I did.
I don't doubt it.
The gentlemen are all well and good, but if you want something doing...
It's the little people every time.
Hmm, "The meek shall inherit the Earth," that it?
That's right, sir.
And you won't even notice.
That's the thing about us.
Nobody pays us any attention because we don't matter.
Alex was a good comrade, but he couldn't be allowed to talk.
He knew that.
He knew when he picked up that telephone.
Who are you trying to protect?
They'll get it out of you.
Expect they will, sir.
In time.
But by then, it won't matter.
Do svedaniya, tovarishch.
(tires squeal) You finish up here.
I'll get over to Strange at the newsagent.
I saw that one coming.
I tried to warn her.
I'll make sure the bastard gets what he deserves.
(door closes, engine starting) (car drives off) ♪ ♪ (engine stops) Broken neck.
What's with the trousers?
Belt's about halfway up the stairs.
He'd taken it off for some reason.
Where is she?
Parlor.
(door opens) No, no.
You're all right, don't get up.
You sit there.
She said anything?
No, sir.
I...
Wait a minute.
You've had a shock.
You don't need to say anything.
"Not obliged" is the formal words.
But then, I haven't asked you anything yet.
Do you mind?
I like the smell.
Me, too.
My father used to enjoy a quiet pipe.
After tea.
See...
This is how it is, Elsie.
The way I read it.
Joe gets taken short.
"Martyr to his innards," as he used to tell me.
So he's got taken short, and in his rush to get downstairs, he's unfastens his belt, goes arse over (no audio).
That sound about right to you?
What happened was an accident.
You understand me?
(birds crowing) I thought this was Special Branch now.
It is, I'm just tying up loose ends.
Karl Pfuscher booked a second room under the name Samantha Smith.
I found it in the hotel guest list.
So?
So Dr. Schneider thought Samantha Smith was a girlfriend from Sebastopol Terrace, but the only connection he had to that place was as a safe house.
Why would he book two rooms?
Because he knew somebody was trying to kill him, and he didn't want whatever he knew to die with him.
What he knew about what?
It will be in here.
Not in his own room.
But what?
Something that couldn't be moved by the cleaners.
"Earth has not anything to show more fair."
"Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802."
Pfuscher had it bookmarked in his room with a picture of his girlfriend.
"9302."
He had a receipt for a picture in his personal effects.
What time do you make it?
What?
Just gone ten-- why?
The clock's stopped.
Hmm.
Well done.
What?
It's not stopped.
It's exactly the right time it is supposed to be.
The same time as Big Ben in the picture.
Right, Operation News.
That means there's four of them.
Four of what?
Four agents in the cell.
Richmond was obsessed with bridge.
It's a game for four players, each consisting of two pairs playing at partners, sat at north, south, east, and west.
N-S-E-W. Or in this case, N-E-W-S. News.
Ah.
Right, so, if Richmond and Mullion are north and south, who's east and west?
(water running) ♪ ♪ MORSE: Why would you do that?
You're not God.
God was out-- he left me in charge.
And what about justice?
Well, maybe that's what Joe Dozier got.
What, rough justice?
Natural justice.
And the law?
He'd've killed her.
No, you don't know that.
Yes, I do, and so do you.
Maybe, but it's not your decision to make.
This isn't the way.
Well, it's my way.
And I am too set in my ways to change now.
I'm calling time.
Putting my papers in.
I wanted you to be the first.
All this with the cloak-and-dagger mob?
It's not my idea of coppering.
This is my bread and butter.
Least I did this right.
Come, I'll buy you a drink.
No, it's, just, um...
I'll just make sure she's all right first.
All right.
♪ ♪ That's the last of us.
How long were you married for?
36 years.
So that would have been, what, '32?
'31.
Where did you meet?
Soup kitchen.
The Depression.
Hard times.
And when did you get the shop?
A few years later.
And would you and Mr. Dozier consider yourselves tobacconists or newsagents?
Oh, tobacconists.
Really?
Not "news" agents?
They must have laughed about that one.
No more dead drops and lonely park benches.
MORSE (voiceover): Mullion would come in here every day and buy a paper, pass across the latest, from Richmond to Moscow.
MULLION: See you tomorrow.
Richmond's dead.
Special Branch have Mullion.
Pfuscher came over with a microfilm.
Classified personnel files.
Communist Party cards.
Richmond's name was on it.
Mullion's, yours, your late husband.
How long have you been a member of the party?
Joe was already a member when I met him.
Local CP was the only place you could get a hot meal.
You came in with empty stomachs and they fed you revolution.
You've no idea.
You've never gone without.
People were dying.
Families thrown out on the street 'cause they couldn't pay their rent.
Men and women doing for themselves and their kiddies, on account of they couldn't afford to feed 'em.
It wasn't about revolution.
Well, not at the start.
Well, then, what was it about?
Fairness.
An equal share.
CP did more for the likes of us than any rich bastard.
Ruling class?
Rule is right, and with an iron fist.
I remember Churchill turning the troops on the miners.
We believed, me and Joe, in a better world.
But it didn't come fast enough?
Yeah.
When did the violence start?
With the drink.
A liability for a spy, I suppose.
He lost his way.
But you didn't.
No.
I still believe.
Mullion said if you want something doing, you have to leave it to the little people.
Well, each according to their gifts.
Hmm, yeah, I don't doubt it.
You may have just have been a small cog in a big wheel, but because of your actions, people died.
Innocent people, just like you.
Germans, Czechs, Russians.
Who didn't agree with your principles.
It's war.
I'd do it again, without a second thought.
Well, that's why you'll lose.
♪ ♪ (bell rings over door) ♪ ♪ (child crying in distance) Nurse.
Nurse!
I got you a pint.
I can see-- cheers.
What you were saying earlier.
You're not really thinking of... What, turning in the tin star?
Hanging the Winchester over the fireplace?
Win'd like me to.
While I can still turn a turn or two around the floor.
We've got a bit put by-- not a lot, but enough.
Sam's in the army, Joan's making her way.
I'd sooner she was settled, but I won't hold my breath.
I've had my go-- it's your time now.
I'm not ready.
You've always been ready.
You just needed someone to tell you, is all.
(exhales) When will you leave?
End of the year seems about right.
See what's what with the station.
Get the new man in, whoever he might be.
New year, new leaf.
Chin up.
These are the good days, the ones to look back on.
You got some good mates.
Strange, Mr.
Bright, Fancy.
Trewlove's promising.
A woman in C.I.D., imagine that.
Mm, imagine.
Trust me, people come and go.
Go, mostly.
Slip away and go their own separate.
You need to make the most of them while they're here.
That reminds me, Win's expecting me.
We're tripping the light this evening.
Semis.
One for the road?
Oh, I can't.
No, of course.
Next time.
Take my advice, you'll get back to that girl of yours.
♪ ♪ (click) CUMMING: Next time, on "Masterpiece Mystery!"
MORSE: You want me to pose as a teacher?
BRIGHT: You won't be alone.
(grunts) What's going on?
Natural selection, sir.
Cruelty's like cancer.
You've got to cut it out.
You've got to burn it out.
(shouting in panic) Hands in the air!
CUMMING: "Endeavour."
Next time, on "Masterpiece Mystery!"
♪ ♪ Go to the "Masterpiece" website, watch full episodes, listen to our podcast, and more.
This program is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
To order, visit shop.PBS.org, or call us at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
Interview
After a decade of playing iconic British detective Endeavour Morse, Shaun Evans brought Endeavour to a powerful conclusion with its gripping series finale. Evans shared his genuine reflections on saying goodbye, that last ride in the Jag, a certain message in a bottle, and more. Read on, and mind how you go.
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