Houdini and Doyle (2016): Season 1, Episode 10 - The Pall of LaPier - full transcript
In a small town in Ontario, a minister wakes up to find everyone in his village dead, without any sign of violence. Was this retribution for past acts of evil, and if not, how else to explain why the man of God was the only one spared?
(BIRDSONG)
(BELL CLANGING)
(BIRDSONG)
Mr LaPier.
Galen. Galen!
Are you all right? Galen.
Mrs LaPier?
It's... It's Jesper.
(HE GASPS)
Oh, my...
Ah... Help!
Help! Help!
Someone help!
D... Dr Millet!
Dr Millet!
(SCARY MUSIC)
Help!
Help!
Welcome back.
Oh...
Very stylish.
HOUDINI: Ah, the latest
in Canadian fashion.
- Someone stole my suitcase.
- Your mysterious woman?
Probably.
- How was New York?
- Terrific. I slept like a baby.
- How's the writing?
- Wonderful. I ran out of paper.
HOUDINI: I looked up a doctor for you.
Best respiratory specialist
in the world.
- He agreed to review your wife's case.
- You had no right to do that.
You're welcome.
(DOOR OPENS)
Ahh...
HOUDINI: Hey.
- Always late but worth the wait!
- Welcome back.
I've decided to stay here for a while.
Oh, you met a guy?
I arranged a meeting
with Mr Walbridge.
- DOYLE: For when?
- Two days ago.
- You went alone?
- STRATTON: I had to.
You have no idea who this man is
or what he's capable of.
He never showed up.
Benjamin.
Yes, my love. It's me.
You're alive.
It was all a lie. The funeral.
The mourning. Tears.
- You were an undercover agent?
- Until they found me out.
But you have to stop pursuing this.
They killed Nigel Pennington
and they won't hesitate
to kill you, too.
- Wow.
- DOYLE: Indeed.
Wonderful news.
You've been under a lot of stress.
He's been on your mind. You sure
this wasn't some kind of... you know.
Hysterical vision
to which females are prone?
Females? No... everyone sees things.
An Austrian doctor posited
we can have vivid dreams,
indistinguishable from reality.
Oh, yeah?
- See?
- This wasn't a vision or a dream.
HOUDINI: Which means
your husband was a secret
terrorist fighter
who faked his own death.
Yes. And that's why I'm not going
with you. I have to find him.
But... (LAUGHS)
He asked you to trust him,
leave him alone.
I trust him. Which is why...
I can't leave him alone,
knowing he's in danger.
DOYLE: Which is exactly why
you can't pursue this.
- I'm prepared to accept the risks.
- Well, we aren't.
DOYLE: I've been in touch with
the authorities at LaPier, Ontario,
there's a case they need our help with.
There's always going
to be another case.
There's always going to be something
that seems more important.
47 dead.
DOYLE: Whatever killed these people
may kill again.
They need you.
Whoa. Whoa.
Corporal Bazay?
Constable Stratton, I presume.
Indeed. What's the latest
on the investigation?
We're still waiting.
BAZAY: The feds
are sending specialists.
DOYLE: What if whatever it is
is spreading?
BAZAY: This could have been anything.
The plague, an act of God.
I'm not about to risk my men's lives.
So you're gonna risk
other people's lives?
STRATTON: There was a survivor?
One. Reverend Farley.
He went back in, won't come out.
DOYLE: What do you think caused this?
I think it was a sneak attack
by the Indians.
I understood there was
no sign of violence.
- They have their ways.
- Ah, so you're a bigot.
HOUDINI: Is there anyone credible
we can talk to?
BAZAY: If you want to risk
your lives... be my guest.
Right this way.
Am I the only one
who doesn't like Canadians?
In case there's something contagious.
I feel so much safer now.
(SIGHS)
Absolutely no sign of trauma.
Some of them died
over their breakfast.
No indication they tried to run.
What's just as important
as why these people died...
is why the Reverend survived.
Reverend Farley?
HOUDINI: Hey.
Whoa. Whoa.
It's all right.
Why me?
You're a man of God.
He entrusted me with their lives.
Why would he take them all away?
They say the Lord moves
in mysterious ways, but this, I...
Can you tell us anything about it?
What you saw or heard?
I fell asleep, working on the bell.
The last sign of life that I saw, was
Galen LaPier coming home around one.
When I woke up, it was seven.
DOYLE: That's a window of six hours.
Was anyone sick?
We'd all feared influenza.
I'd taken precautions,
drinking nothing but boiled coffee.
It may be best for you to leave here.
I... I... I can't abandon them.
Not now.
HOUDINI: Maybe it's the flu.
The Russian influenza killed
a million people in the last ten years.
My friend William Mycroft
succumbed to it,
but the flu doesn't strike
that quickly.
HOUDINI: Well, no flu you've seen.
Maybe the Lord mysteriously moved in
with a whole new strain.
God said unto Noah,
"The end of all flesh is before me,
and behold, I shall destroy them
with the earth."
If you're thinking
this is biblical, one,
God promised never to do it again.
Sealed the deal with a rainbow.
Two, that's just dumb.
Then maybe this is
the work of the devil.
HOUDINI: Come on.
We all know you're not that gullible.
You don't trust your husband, do you?
That's why you want to find him and learn
the truth. Not because he's in danger.
DOYLE: This wasn't the flu.
This killed both men and mice alike.
Maybe Adelaide is right.
I saw a doctor's office.
Let's see what his records has to say.
You know, before we completely
abandon reason.
HOUDINI: I'm guessing the doctor
was alive at five to seven.
This thing hit, he fell
and smashed his watch.
STRATTON: According to the Reverend,
everyone was dead by seven.
DOYLE: Inhumanly fast and fatal.
I thought I saw someone.
(OFF SCREEN)
An Indian man, by the trees.
He's gone now.
No, it wasn't a vision.
In the last four days,
the doctor had only one patient,
a 12-year-old girl,
complaining of weakness,
nausea and moderate hair loss.
Subsisting on nothing but broth.
Checked in three days ago.
No indication she checked... out.
Libby Cotter.
Tomorrow would
have been her 13th birthday.
(SHE GASPS)
LIBBY: I remember
being sick to my stomach.
My parents were scared I had the flu.
They brought me to Dr Millet.
This was Monday?
I think so.
Today's Thursday.
Do you remember anything
about the last three days?
No.
Something happened here, in LaPier.
We're not exactly sure what.
Where's Dr Millet?
- I'm sorry, dear.
- LIBBY: What do you mean?
- Where are my parents?
- Libby, I'm...
I'm sorry, Libby.
I'm sorry. I am... so sorry.
My parents.
(LIBBY SOBS)
STRATTON:
Corporal Bazay is with Libby.
He's arranging for a nurse
and tracking down her relatives.
I've been thinking about her symptoms.
I think she may have
Addison's Disease, a kidney ailment.
If Farley has the same thing,
could that be what kept them alive?
That was my hope. But Farley's records
suggest nothing of the sort.
(SIGHS)
I don't have a medical explanation.
So what else do the survivors
have in common?
Farley's been drinking
nothing but boiled coffee
and Libby's been out for three days,
so she hasn't had anything.
And before that, nothing but broth,
probably made with boiled water.
HOUDINI: If the survivors
didn't have any fresh water,
maybe the victims were
poisoned by the water supply.
Let's find that water source.
Another Indian?
(SNIFFS)
Highly acidic.
Quite possibly toxic.
And pouring out of every tap
and water bucket in LaPier.
But why would everyone die
at exactly the same time,
given the differences in age,
weights, tolerances?
Maybe the toxins were building
to a critical point?
(OFF SCREEN) Maybe there was
an increase in the sluice?
Whatever it was,
I bet this is our answer.
Don't pack your bags quite yet.
What about everyone downriver?
BAZAY: Wake up, Walt!
You've got visitors.
(CHATTER)
That's him.
I am Wattabakinai.
And that is why I answer to "Walt".
Constable Stratton.
Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle.
You break out of white man's jails.
All the time.
HOUDINI: Everyone here okay?
Everyone is good.
We think whatever killed the people
in LaPier was in their water supply.
We need you to stop drinking it.
- Now you take our water?
- It may be poisoned by the mine.
Why would the Corporal start
telling us the truth now?
- Perhaps we should stay.
- Here? With them?
- BAZAY: I don't think that's wise.
- We'll stay if they'll have us.
- You're welcome.
- And do what?
HOUDINI: Convince them
not to drink the water.
Failing that, treat them.
BAZAY: Suit yourself.
I'll be back in the morning.
Good luck.
HOUDINI: So, huh... what's in this?
Only what Mother Earth provides. Figured
you wouldn't want to drink the water.
Well...
HOUDINI: Ahh! Ooh!
Ohho! She knows how to throw a party.
I've... seen you in LaPier.
You're not afraid to be there?
I don't fear justice.
That's what happened
to LaPier? Justice?
Some sort of... revenge?
For crimes against our people.
Huh. You did it?
Mother Earth did it.
A long time ago, a young prospector
came to our valley and found copper.
He said we would
all share in the bounty.
He came back with many men.
Forced us off our land.
Some of us went peacefully.
Relocated here
to their abandoned cabins.
Most were killed.
Now we call this valley "MikoEw,"
"stained with blood".
We have waited a long time
for our day of reckoning.
Children died in LaPier.
Call that justice?
Our children died too.
As Galen LaPier did yesterday.
The young prospector is no more.
You had nothing to do with the deaths?
We did not take lives.
But it's because of our losses
that lives were taken.
A lie comes at a great price.
To both believer and the liar.
Oh... you're not joining us?
- I prefer water.
- Uh...
(WIND WHISTLING IN BACKGROUND)
If I die, you'll have your answer.
If I don't, I'll have mine.
- You're Sherlock's father.
- Ah... Well, yes, but he died.
- In a story.
- He was born in a story.
Hm.
I like him.
Grew rather fond of him myself,
for a while.
A lot of things happened.
My father died.
My wife took ill.
(ANIMAL HOWLS IN DISTANCE)
HOUDINI: You still feeling all right?
WALT: Yes. Good.
You have dreams, Walt?
Every night.
I dream we return to our home.
They seem real to you?
As real as this.
So how do you tell the difference?
There is no difference.
It is all life.
(DOOR OPENS)
So far, so good. No sign of illness.
Yet. I suggest we sleep in shifts.
Well, I'm wide awake.
I'll take the first shift. You go.
Night, Jailbreak.
Yeah! I've got an Indian name.
Hey. Here.
Thanks for the loan.
It was a good read.
This is the last thing
of my husband's I have left.
I know.
(FIRE CRACKLING)
(HE SIGHS)
(ROOSTER CROWS)
Good morning.
DOYLE: All seems to be well here.
Which means it may be time
for a new theory.
- You got one?
- No.
I was reading about dreams.
The Austrian doctor?
HOUDINI: Seems you can't read
in your dreams.
So I wrote this note to myself.
-
DOYLE: Why do you feel
you need this test?
This is about
your "obsessed fan", isn't it?
You've had inexplicable visions of her
and you're desperate
to prove they're dreams.
Otherwise, it could mean
you've been seeing a ghost.
- You'd love that.
- You'd never tell me anyway.
Cos it wouldn't be true.
Are you telling me that if, right now...
you were to see your mother...
standing before you,
a clear distinct image of her,
that you still wouldn't accept it
as evidence of the afterlife?
- It'll never happen.
- Hypothetically?
- No. I wouldn't accept it.
- So, how would you explain it?
Simple. It would mean
I was going insane.
Look at this inscription.
DOYLE: "Has everything a purpose
and a mission?"
It's a quote from the book.
I hadn't looked at it in years,
and then the other day...
I saw this in the paper you gave me.
It's the same quote.
_
There are a lot
of Twain fans over here.
What if it isn't a coincidence?
Then maybe it's... a cipher.
A key to unlock a secret code
somewhere in the book.
Like pirates showing us
where they buried their treasure.
Or anarchists showing
where they plan to strike next,
by communicating secret instructions
to their associates.
BAZAY: You were right.
It's not over.
We have three more deaths.
Not here.
In the village upriver from the mine.
DOYLE: No sign of trauma.
Just like the ones in LaPier.
HOUDINI: Why only three victims?
This village is even closer
to the copper mines.
It's not the water, it's the valley.
This village is part of the MikoEw.
STRATTON: Walt had nothing to do
with this. We were with him all night.
The good news is,
we have many survivors.
Unfortunately, it'll be much harder
to find commonalities.
Anything?
We need answers.
The people here are terrified.
You should evacuate
this village immediately.
BAZAY: To where?
47 people dead there. Another three
here. Where next? Battersea?
Sunbury? Kingston?
That's 20,000 people.
Just get them out of the MikoEw!
Now!
HOUDINI: Bazay's taking
the whole village to Toronto.
Let's hope there's safety in
numbers. How's it going?
Well, come on. Give me something.
I did have a thought.
The three victims: a 10-year-old boy,
a healthy 70-year-old-woman
and a 26-year-old man with a broken leg
_
did have something in common.
When they died, they were all in bed.
The first two had retired
and the third was laid up
because of his leg.
- OK. And?
- And...
that's it.
I said I had a thought, not a solution.
STRATTON: It is a cipher.
32 pails, 64 woollen rolls,
_
24 feet of lead pipe.
Pails, woollen, lead.
Words beginning with the same letter
repeat several times.
DOYLE: PWL. Page, word, letter.
And the numbers 32nd page, 64th
word, second and fourth letter?
And when this quote appears,
it signals that what follows
is an encrypted message.
- Without this book, there's no message.
- HOUDINI: So what does it spell?
KI... and NG.
I'm getting a date.
_
They're going to kill the King.
In two days.
We have to return to
London immediately.
What about the people here?
It's the King of England.
His murder could throw
the whole empire into chaos.
Which is why
he'll be replaced overnight.
"The King is dead."
"Oh, hey, long live the King."
Telegraph Merring. Put him on alert.
- I believe Houdini's right.
- That sounded weird.
DOYLE: The King's just one person.
If you can save more lives by staying
here, I think you should.
HOUDINI: What was your husband doing
with the assassin's handbook
in the first place?
The inscription wasn't
in his handwriting.
The Home Office must
have given it to him.
Yeah. I'd want to believe that, too.
Your dead husband shows up,
begging you to drop the case.
Why? Because he cares about you?
This coming from a man who let you
find him hanging from a rafter.
You didn't know him.
All I need to know is
that he lied to you.
And that you still love him.
Perhaps.
But if he was on the
wrong side of this,
he'd be in London right now, not here.
And if he is a good guy,
he needs to be informed immediately.
But if he is not... the last thing
you want to do is tip him off.
Your call.
I'll inform Merring.
I've no idea how to contact Benjamin.
(ANIMAL HOWLING IN DISTANCE)
(KNOCKING)
- What are you doing here?
- I had to see you again.
- How did you know where I was?
- I had someone watching you.
To make sure you were safe.
- I need the truth.
- I've told you.
You've told me a lot of things.
You just need
to hold on a little longer.
I can't. I need to know now.
Do you have anything to do with
this plot to kill the King?
I'm trying to stop it.
You worked it out.
You're absolutely amazing.
- Who are you?
(MOTHER'S VOICE) - Ehrie, it's me.
Don't be afraid.
You will come back
to New York very soon.
(BIRDSONG)
(HE GASPS)
_
(COOING)
Dogs and mice are dead.
Why aren't birds?
Because they were above the killer.
Er...
A gas heavier than air?
Carbon dioxide.
In high enough concentrations,
it's deadly.
I read about
the Cave of Dogs in Naples.
People noticed that as
they descended with their pet,
it would pass out because carbon
dioxide was collecting along the ground.
Harmless to them,
but not to their dog.
There is no link
between Libby and Farley.
She survived because
her Addison's caused alkalosis,
a deficiency of CO2, which allowed
her to tolerate an excess of it.
An excess that would
have killed anyone else.
Unless they were high above
the gas, the belfry, for example.
So, where did
this tidal wave come from?
Carbon dioxide.
The mine must have tapped
into a pocket of the gas,
unleashing a deadly wave,
which surged through the village,
maybe ten or 20 feet high,
asphyxiating everything in its path.
STRATTON: It dissipated but there was
still enough to cause the deaths upriver.
The three victims
who were in bed at the time,
they were just
a few feet off the ground.
If the gas is heavier than air,
how did it travel uphill?
There's another entrance
to the mine upriver.
DOYLE: It's still flowing out.
The match tells us that the wave
is now only a foot deep.
But who knows what might
happen in the future?
This mine has to be shut down
and sealed off immediately.
You may have saved a lot of lives.
HOUDINI: Well, I guess you can leave,
first thing tomorrow.
- Save your husband.
- DOYLE: We all can.
You're right. This is stupid.
Dangerous.
Which is why I can't
let you go with me.
I couldn't live with myself if
anything happened to either of you.
No mine.
Everyone's gonna be moving out.
Looks like the MikoEw is yours again.
Mother Earth moves
in a mysterious way.
The preacher said something
very similar to that.
He's a good man.
He and the girl
are welcome to stay with us.
Uh, the preacher's moving to Kingston.
The little girl's moving in
with her aunt.
It's nice of you to offer.
Especially since not many
would offer you the same.
I have what is in my heart.
No matter what they have in theirs.
I just lost my mother.
And it's... killing me.
She is not lost.
Do you believe in the afterlife?
There is no before or after.
It is all life.
The body returns to
the earth, and the spirit stays here.
What? As a ghost?
As part of us.
I am everyone who has died before me.
My father, my wife, my sons...
They live here now.
Your mother is not lost.
She's home.
Thank you.
She says,
"Say hello to the President."
He's coming to Buffalo tomorrow.
HOUDINI: The Pan-American Exposition
_
is in Buffalo, New York.
_
The President will be there
tomorrow, September 2nd.
And he's staying
at the King Edward Hotel.
STRATTON: The target isn't the King.
It's the President
of the United States.
_
You must be Houdini.
Agent Branowski. I got your telegram.
- It's just you?
- Until I can confirm your information.
- DOYLE: There's no time for that.
- Where's the President?
He's in his suite, getting
ready for his appearance.
They could be planning
to get him on his way out.
- Take me to him.
- I can't do that until I can confirm...
I'm Constable Stratton
of Scotland Yard.
You have my word our source are sound.
If we're wrong, you'll look like a fool.
If we're right,
you'll save the President's life.
You pick.
Just Mr Houdini.
You check the lobby.
I'll cover the mezzanine.
BRANOWSKI: You should know, the
President is very sceptical of rumours.
Sounds like my type of guy.
(CHATTER)
You're not gonna talk him out of
making his appearance.
Then he's just got
a brand new bodyguard.
Mr President. I'm Harry Houdini.
I'm here to save your life.
(CHATTER)
(BELL DINGS)
Herbert Delmar Murray,
you're hereby subpoenaed
by the Third Circuit Court.
Good day to you.
Benjamin Graves?
Arthur Conan Doyle.
I'm an associate of your wife.
Pleased to meet you.
I believe we're both here
for the same reason.
To stop the assassination
of the President of the United States.
Indeed, Dr Doyle.
_
(BELL TOLLING SLOWLY)
(HEARTBEAT)
(GUNSHOT)
HOUDINI: Get down!
(SCREAMING)
(GUNSHOT)
(BARREL FIZZING)
(URGENT SHOUTING)
- We need to get you to a doctor!
- HOUDINI: Doc! Doc!
I'm all right. I'm all right.
I'm sorry, Penny.
I tried to warn you.
You left me that note.
You vandalised my flat.
Took all your things.
Except that damn book.
BENJAMIN: I needed to stop you.
You killed people.
I freed people.
I never knew you at all.
I know...
I've told too many lies.
But I need you to believe one thing.
Believe that I loved you.
- Benjamin...
- Please tell me that you believe that.
I love you.
(DOYLE GROANS)
I think I underestimated my wound.
Oh, come on. I've lost more
blood than that shaving.
MAN: This way!
Forget him! Over here! Now!
Doc, they're gonna give you a medal.
You don't wanna be dead for that.
Doc...
Well, do something!
MAN: Apparently, you're dying.
Again.
What are you doing here?
The fact is...
that as you drift toward oblivion,
you're compiling
your dreary list of regrets.
And it seems
that topping the list is...
killing your golden goose.
I'm quite certain that isn't the case.
Of all the people in the world
you could be thinking of right now,
you've chosen me.
Not your adorable children,
nor your darling Touie.
Uh...
Leftward eye movement.
Quickening pulse.
Hand flinch.
You are thinking about your wife.
You are thinking about her
waking up again
and how much she'd love to find
you've resurrected me.
She didn't particularly like you.
She loved how you were
when you wrote me.
Engaged. Passionate.
Happy.
It seems that's all she wants for you.
Yes?
Yes.
Is it too late?
♪ I only know you half the time ♪
♪ I only know you half the time ♪
♪ Half the time
I think I'm really blind ♪
(SPLASH)
♪ I only know you half the time ♪
DOYLE: Ah.
Good to see you out and about.
Unless you gotta throw up again.
I seem to have found my sea legs.
- How are you feeling?
- Better every day.
- He says it still hurts when he pees.
- I did say that.
In confidence.
I wanted to say thank you...
for saving my life.
You're welcome.
I can't imagine how difficult it was.
I wish it was the level-headed
reaction of a professional policeman...
But it was far less noble than that.
He broke my heart.
Have you thought about what
you want to do when you get home?
- I'm going to stay at Scotland Yard.
- Oh, good for you.
People have to find their answers.
- Telegram, Doctor.
- Oh.
It's from your respiratory specialist.
He's agreed to treat Touie.
He's offered to leave
for London, immediately.
That's wonderful news.
- Thank you...
- Sir.
DOYLE: "Baskerville."
Thank you, Harry.
I don't want gratitude.
I want reimbursement.
It was an expensive suit
you chose to bleed out on.
(HE SIGHS)
(HE SNIFFS)
_
(BELL CLANGING)
(BIRDSONG)
Mr LaPier.
Galen. Galen!
Are you all right? Galen.
Mrs LaPier?
It's... It's Jesper.
(HE GASPS)
Oh, my...
Ah... Help!
Help! Help!
Someone help!
D... Dr Millet!
Dr Millet!
(SCARY MUSIC)
Help!
Help!
Welcome back.
Oh...
Very stylish.
HOUDINI: Ah, the latest
in Canadian fashion.
- Someone stole my suitcase.
- Your mysterious woman?
Probably.
- How was New York?
- Terrific. I slept like a baby.
- How's the writing?
- Wonderful. I ran out of paper.
HOUDINI: I looked up a doctor for you.
Best respiratory specialist
in the world.
- He agreed to review your wife's case.
- You had no right to do that.
You're welcome.
(DOOR OPENS)
Ahh...
HOUDINI: Hey.
- Always late but worth the wait!
- Welcome back.
I've decided to stay here for a while.
Oh, you met a guy?
I arranged a meeting
with Mr Walbridge.
- DOYLE: For when?
- Two days ago.
- You went alone?
- STRATTON: I had to.
You have no idea who this man is
or what he's capable of.
He never showed up.
Benjamin.
Yes, my love. It's me.
You're alive.
It was all a lie. The funeral.
The mourning. Tears.
- You were an undercover agent?
- Until they found me out.
But you have to stop pursuing this.
They killed Nigel Pennington
and they won't hesitate
to kill you, too.
- Wow.
- DOYLE: Indeed.
Wonderful news.
You've been under a lot of stress.
He's been on your mind. You sure
this wasn't some kind of... you know.
Hysterical vision
to which females are prone?
Females? No... everyone sees things.
An Austrian doctor posited
we can have vivid dreams,
indistinguishable from reality.
Oh, yeah?
- See?
- This wasn't a vision or a dream.
HOUDINI: Which means
your husband was a secret
terrorist fighter
who faked his own death.
Yes. And that's why I'm not going
with you. I have to find him.
But... (LAUGHS)
He asked you to trust him,
leave him alone.
I trust him. Which is why...
I can't leave him alone,
knowing he's in danger.
DOYLE: Which is exactly why
you can't pursue this.
- I'm prepared to accept the risks.
- Well, we aren't.
DOYLE: I've been in touch with
the authorities at LaPier, Ontario,
there's a case they need our help with.
There's always going
to be another case.
There's always going to be something
that seems more important.
47 dead.
DOYLE: Whatever killed these people
may kill again.
They need you.
Whoa. Whoa.
Corporal Bazay?
Constable Stratton, I presume.
Indeed. What's the latest
on the investigation?
We're still waiting.
BAZAY: The feds
are sending specialists.
DOYLE: What if whatever it is
is spreading?
BAZAY: This could have been anything.
The plague, an act of God.
I'm not about to risk my men's lives.
So you're gonna risk
other people's lives?
STRATTON: There was a survivor?
One. Reverend Farley.
He went back in, won't come out.
DOYLE: What do you think caused this?
I think it was a sneak attack
by the Indians.
I understood there was
no sign of violence.
- They have their ways.
- Ah, so you're a bigot.
HOUDINI: Is there anyone credible
we can talk to?
BAZAY: If you want to risk
your lives... be my guest.
Right this way.
Am I the only one
who doesn't like Canadians?
In case there's something contagious.
I feel so much safer now.
(SIGHS)
Absolutely no sign of trauma.
Some of them died
over their breakfast.
No indication they tried to run.
What's just as important
as why these people died...
is why the Reverend survived.
Reverend Farley?
HOUDINI: Hey.
Whoa. Whoa.
It's all right.
Why me?
You're a man of God.
He entrusted me with their lives.
Why would he take them all away?
They say the Lord moves
in mysterious ways, but this, I...
Can you tell us anything about it?
What you saw or heard?
I fell asleep, working on the bell.
The last sign of life that I saw, was
Galen LaPier coming home around one.
When I woke up, it was seven.
DOYLE: That's a window of six hours.
Was anyone sick?
We'd all feared influenza.
I'd taken precautions,
drinking nothing but boiled coffee.
It may be best for you to leave here.
I... I... I can't abandon them.
Not now.
HOUDINI: Maybe it's the flu.
The Russian influenza killed
a million people in the last ten years.
My friend William Mycroft
succumbed to it,
but the flu doesn't strike
that quickly.
HOUDINI: Well, no flu you've seen.
Maybe the Lord mysteriously moved in
with a whole new strain.
God said unto Noah,
"The end of all flesh is before me,
and behold, I shall destroy them
with the earth."
If you're thinking
this is biblical, one,
God promised never to do it again.
Sealed the deal with a rainbow.
Two, that's just dumb.
Then maybe this is
the work of the devil.
HOUDINI: Come on.
We all know you're not that gullible.
You don't trust your husband, do you?
That's why you want to find him and learn
the truth. Not because he's in danger.
DOYLE: This wasn't the flu.
This killed both men and mice alike.
Maybe Adelaide is right.
I saw a doctor's office.
Let's see what his records has to say.
You know, before we completely
abandon reason.
HOUDINI: I'm guessing the doctor
was alive at five to seven.
This thing hit, he fell
and smashed his watch.
STRATTON: According to the Reverend,
everyone was dead by seven.
DOYLE: Inhumanly fast and fatal.
I thought I saw someone.
(OFF SCREEN)
An Indian man, by the trees.
He's gone now.
No, it wasn't a vision.
In the last four days,
the doctor had only one patient,
a 12-year-old girl,
complaining of weakness,
nausea and moderate hair loss.
Subsisting on nothing but broth.
Checked in three days ago.
No indication she checked... out.
Libby Cotter.
Tomorrow would
have been her 13th birthday.
(SHE GASPS)
LIBBY: I remember
being sick to my stomach.
My parents were scared I had the flu.
They brought me to Dr Millet.
This was Monday?
I think so.
Today's Thursday.
Do you remember anything
about the last three days?
No.
Something happened here, in LaPier.
We're not exactly sure what.
Where's Dr Millet?
- I'm sorry, dear.
- LIBBY: What do you mean?
- Where are my parents?
- Libby, I'm...
I'm sorry, Libby.
I'm sorry. I am... so sorry.
My parents.
(LIBBY SOBS)
STRATTON:
Corporal Bazay is with Libby.
He's arranging for a nurse
and tracking down her relatives.
I've been thinking about her symptoms.
I think she may have
Addison's Disease, a kidney ailment.
If Farley has the same thing,
could that be what kept them alive?
That was my hope. But Farley's records
suggest nothing of the sort.
(SIGHS)
I don't have a medical explanation.
So what else do the survivors
have in common?
Farley's been drinking
nothing but boiled coffee
and Libby's been out for three days,
so she hasn't had anything.
And before that, nothing but broth,
probably made with boiled water.
HOUDINI: If the survivors
didn't have any fresh water,
maybe the victims were
poisoned by the water supply.
Let's find that water source.
Another Indian?
(SNIFFS)
Highly acidic.
Quite possibly toxic.
And pouring out of every tap
and water bucket in LaPier.
But why would everyone die
at exactly the same time,
given the differences in age,
weights, tolerances?
Maybe the toxins were building
to a critical point?
(OFF SCREEN) Maybe there was
an increase in the sluice?
Whatever it was,
I bet this is our answer.
Don't pack your bags quite yet.
What about everyone downriver?
BAZAY: Wake up, Walt!
You've got visitors.
(CHATTER)
That's him.
I am Wattabakinai.
And that is why I answer to "Walt".
Constable Stratton.
Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle.
You break out of white man's jails.
All the time.
HOUDINI: Everyone here okay?
Everyone is good.
We think whatever killed the people
in LaPier was in their water supply.
We need you to stop drinking it.
- Now you take our water?
- It may be poisoned by the mine.
Why would the Corporal start
telling us the truth now?
- Perhaps we should stay.
- Here? With them?
- BAZAY: I don't think that's wise.
- We'll stay if they'll have us.
- You're welcome.
- And do what?
HOUDINI: Convince them
not to drink the water.
Failing that, treat them.
BAZAY: Suit yourself.
I'll be back in the morning.
Good luck.
HOUDINI: So, huh... what's in this?
Only what Mother Earth provides. Figured
you wouldn't want to drink the water.
Well...
HOUDINI: Ahh! Ooh!
Ohho! She knows how to throw a party.
I've... seen you in LaPier.
You're not afraid to be there?
I don't fear justice.
That's what happened
to LaPier? Justice?
Some sort of... revenge?
For crimes against our people.
Huh. You did it?
Mother Earth did it.
A long time ago, a young prospector
came to our valley and found copper.
He said we would
all share in the bounty.
He came back with many men.
Forced us off our land.
Some of us went peacefully.
Relocated here
to their abandoned cabins.
Most were killed.
Now we call this valley "MikoEw,"
"stained with blood".
We have waited a long time
for our day of reckoning.
Children died in LaPier.
Call that justice?
Our children died too.
As Galen LaPier did yesterday.
The young prospector is no more.
You had nothing to do with the deaths?
We did not take lives.
But it's because of our losses
that lives were taken.
A lie comes at a great price.
To both believer and the liar.
Oh... you're not joining us?
- I prefer water.
- Uh...
(WIND WHISTLING IN BACKGROUND)
If I die, you'll have your answer.
If I don't, I'll have mine.
- You're Sherlock's father.
- Ah... Well, yes, but he died.
- In a story.
- He was born in a story.
Hm.
I like him.
Grew rather fond of him myself,
for a while.
A lot of things happened.
My father died.
My wife took ill.
(ANIMAL HOWLS IN DISTANCE)
HOUDINI: You still feeling all right?
WALT: Yes. Good.
You have dreams, Walt?
Every night.
I dream we return to our home.
They seem real to you?
As real as this.
So how do you tell the difference?
There is no difference.
It is all life.
(DOOR OPENS)
So far, so good. No sign of illness.
Yet. I suggest we sleep in shifts.
Well, I'm wide awake.
I'll take the first shift. You go.
Night, Jailbreak.
Yeah! I've got an Indian name.
Hey. Here.
Thanks for the loan.
It was a good read.
This is the last thing
of my husband's I have left.
I know.
(FIRE CRACKLING)
(HE SIGHS)
(ROOSTER CROWS)
Good morning.
DOYLE: All seems to be well here.
Which means it may be time
for a new theory.
- You got one?
- No.
I was reading about dreams.
The Austrian doctor?
HOUDINI: Seems you can't read
in your dreams.
So I wrote this note to myself.
-
DOYLE: Why do you feel
you need this test?
This is about
your "obsessed fan", isn't it?
You've had inexplicable visions of her
and you're desperate
to prove they're dreams.
Otherwise, it could mean
you've been seeing a ghost.
- You'd love that.
- You'd never tell me anyway.
Cos it wouldn't be true.
Are you telling me that if, right now...
you were to see your mother...
standing before you,
a clear distinct image of her,
that you still wouldn't accept it
as evidence of the afterlife?
- It'll never happen.
- Hypothetically?
- No. I wouldn't accept it.
- So, how would you explain it?
Simple. It would mean
I was going insane.
Look at this inscription.
DOYLE: "Has everything a purpose
and a mission?"
It's a quote from the book.
I hadn't looked at it in years,
and then the other day...
I saw this in the paper you gave me.
It's the same quote.
_
There are a lot
of Twain fans over here.
What if it isn't a coincidence?
Then maybe it's... a cipher.
A key to unlock a secret code
somewhere in the book.
Like pirates showing us
where they buried their treasure.
Or anarchists showing
where they plan to strike next,
by communicating secret instructions
to their associates.
BAZAY: You were right.
It's not over.
We have three more deaths.
Not here.
In the village upriver from the mine.
DOYLE: No sign of trauma.
Just like the ones in LaPier.
HOUDINI: Why only three victims?
This village is even closer
to the copper mines.
It's not the water, it's the valley.
This village is part of the MikoEw.
STRATTON: Walt had nothing to do
with this. We were with him all night.
The good news is,
we have many survivors.
Unfortunately, it'll be much harder
to find commonalities.
Anything?
We need answers.
The people here are terrified.
You should evacuate
this village immediately.
BAZAY: To where?
47 people dead there. Another three
here. Where next? Battersea?
Sunbury? Kingston?
That's 20,000 people.
Just get them out of the MikoEw!
Now!
HOUDINI: Bazay's taking
the whole village to Toronto.
Let's hope there's safety in
numbers. How's it going?
Well, come on. Give me something.
I did have a thought.
The three victims: a 10-year-old boy,
a healthy 70-year-old-woman
and a 26-year-old man with a broken leg
_
did have something in common.
When they died, they were all in bed.
The first two had retired
and the third was laid up
because of his leg.
- OK. And?
- And...
that's it.
I said I had a thought, not a solution.
STRATTON: It is a cipher.
32 pails, 64 woollen rolls,
_
24 feet of lead pipe.
Pails, woollen, lead.
Words beginning with the same letter
repeat several times.
DOYLE: PWL. Page, word, letter.
And the numbers 32nd page, 64th
word, second and fourth letter?
And when this quote appears,
it signals that what follows
is an encrypted message.
- Without this book, there's no message.
- HOUDINI: So what does it spell?
KI... and NG.
I'm getting a date.
_
They're going to kill the King.
In two days.
We have to return to
London immediately.
What about the people here?
It's the King of England.
His murder could throw
the whole empire into chaos.
Which is why
he'll be replaced overnight.
"The King is dead."
"Oh, hey, long live the King."
Telegraph Merring. Put him on alert.
- I believe Houdini's right.
- That sounded weird.
DOYLE: The King's just one person.
If you can save more lives by staying
here, I think you should.
HOUDINI: What was your husband doing
with the assassin's handbook
in the first place?
The inscription wasn't
in his handwriting.
The Home Office must
have given it to him.
Yeah. I'd want to believe that, too.
Your dead husband shows up,
begging you to drop the case.
Why? Because he cares about you?
This coming from a man who let you
find him hanging from a rafter.
You didn't know him.
All I need to know is
that he lied to you.
And that you still love him.
Perhaps.
But if he was on the
wrong side of this,
he'd be in London right now, not here.
And if he is a good guy,
he needs to be informed immediately.
But if he is not... the last thing
you want to do is tip him off.
Your call.
I'll inform Merring.
I've no idea how to contact Benjamin.
(ANIMAL HOWLING IN DISTANCE)
(KNOCKING)
- What are you doing here?
- I had to see you again.
- How did you know where I was?
- I had someone watching you.
To make sure you were safe.
- I need the truth.
- I've told you.
You've told me a lot of things.
You just need
to hold on a little longer.
I can't. I need to know now.
Do you have anything to do with
this plot to kill the King?
I'm trying to stop it.
You worked it out.
You're absolutely amazing.
- Who are you?
(MOTHER'S VOICE) - Ehrie, it's me.
Don't be afraid.
You will come back
to New York very soon.
(BIRDSONG)
(HE GASPS)
_
(COOING)
Dogs and mice are dead.
Why aren't birds?
Because they were above the killer.
Er...
A gas heavier than air?
Carbon dioxide.
In high enough concentrations,
it's deadly.
I read about
the Cave of Dogs in Naples.
People noticed that as
they descended with their pet,
it would pass out because carbon
dioxide was collecting along the ground.
Harmless to them,
but not to their dog.
There is no link
between Libby and Farley.
She survived because
her Addison's caused alkalosis,
a deficiency of CO2, which allowed
her to tolerate an excess of it.
An excess that would
have killed anyone else.
Unless they were high above
the gas, the belfry, for example.
So, where did
this tidal wave come from?
Carbon dioxide.
The mine must have tapped
into a pocket of the gas,
unleashing a deadly wave,
which surged through the village,
maybe ten or 20 feet high,
asphyxiating everything in its path.
STRATTON: It dissipated but there was
still enough to cause the deaths upriver.
The three victims
who were in bed at the time,
they were just
a few feet off the ground.
If the gas is heavier than air,
how did it travel uphill?
There's another entrance
to the mine upriver.
DOYLE: It's still flowing out.
The match tells us that the wave
is now only a foot deep.
But who knows what might
happen in the future?
This mine has to be shut down
and sealed off immediately.
You may have saved a lot of lives.
HOUDINI: Well, I guess you can leave,
first thing tomorrow.
- Save your husband.
- DOYLE: We all can.
You're right. This is stupid.
Dangerous.
Which is why I can't
let you go with me.
I couldn't live with myself if
anything happened to either of you.
No mine.
Everyone's gonna be moving out.
Looks like the MikoEw is yours again.
Mother Earth moves
in a mysterious way.
The preacher said something
very similar to that.
He's a good man.
He and the girl
are welcome to stay with us.
Uh, the preacher's moving to Kingston.
The little girl's moving in
with her aunt.
It's nice of you to offer.
Especially since not many
would offer you the same.
I have what is in my heart.
No matter what they have in theirs.
I just lost my mother.
And it's... killing me.
She is not lost.
Do you believe in the afterlife?
There is no before or after.
It is all life.
The body returns to
the earth, and the spirit stays here.
What? As a ghost?
As part of us.
I am everyone who has died before me.
My father, my wife, my sons...
They live here now.
Your mother is not lost.
She's home.
Thank you.
She says,
"Say hello to the President."
He's coming to Buffalo tomorrow.
HOUDINI: The Pan-American Exposition
_
is in Buffalo, New York.
_
The President will be there
tomorrow, September 2nd.
And he's staying
at the King Edward Hotel.
STRATTON: The target isn't the King.
It's the President
of the United States.
_
You must be Houdini.
Agent Branowski. I got your telegram.
- It's just you?
- Until I can confirm your information.
- DOYLE: There's no time for that.
- Where's the President?
He's in his suite, getting
ready for his appearance.
They could be planning
to get him on his way out.
- Take me to him.
- I can't do that until I can confirm...
I'm Constable Stratton
of Scotland Yard.
You have my word our source are sound.
If we're wrong, you'll look like a fool.
If we're right,
you'll save the President's life.
You pick.
Just Mr Houdini.
You check the lobby.
I'll cover the mezzanine.
BRANOWSKI: You should know, the
President is very sceptical of rumours.
Sounds like my type of guy.
(CHATTER)
You're not gonna talk him out of
making his appearance.
Then he's just got
a brand new bodyguard.
Mr President. I'm Harry Houdini.
I'm here to save your life.
(CHATTER)
(BELL DINGS)
Herbert Delmar Murray,
you're hereby subpoenaed
by the Third Circuit Court.
Good day to you.
Benjamin Graves?
Arthur Conan Doyle.
I'm an associate of your wife.
Pleased to meet you.
I believe we're both here
for the same reason.
To stop the assassination
of the President of the United States.
Indeed, Dr Doyle.
_
(BELL TOLLING SLOWLY)
(HEARTBEAT)
(GUNSHOT)
HOUDINI: Get down!
(SCREAMING)
(GUNSHOT)
(BARREL FIZZING)
(URGENT SHOUTING)
- We need to get you to a doctor!
- HOUDINI: Doc! Doc!
I'm all right. I'm all right.
I'm sorry, Penny.
I tried to warn you.
You left me that note.
You vandalised my flat.
Took all your things.
Except that damn book.
BENJAMIN: I needed to stop you.
You killed people.
I freed people.
I never knew you at all.
I know...
I've told too many lies.
But I need you to believe one thing.
Believe that I loved you.
- Benjamin...
- Please tell me that you believe that.
I love you.
(DOYLE GROANS)
I think I underestimated my wound.
Oh, come on. I've lost more
blood than that shaving.
MAN: This way!
Forget him! Over here! Now!
Doc, they're gonna give you a medal.
You don't wanna be dead for that.
Doc...
Well, do something!
MAN: Apparently, you're dying.
Again.
What are you doing here?
The fact is...
that as you drift toward oblivion,
you're compiling
your dreary list of regrets.
And it seems
that topping the list is...
killing your golden goose.
I'm quite certain that isn't the case.
Of all the people in the world
you could be thinking of right now,
you've chosen me.
Not your adorable children,
nor your darling Touie.
Uh...
Leftward eye movement.
Quickening pulse.
Hand flinch.
You are thinking about your wife.
You are thinking about her
waking up again
and how much she'd love to find
you've resurrected me.
She didn't particularly like you.
She loved how you were
when you wrote me.
Engaged. Passionate.
Happy.
It seems that's all she wants for you.
Yes?
Yes.
Is it too late?
♪ I only know you half the time ♪
♪ I only know you half the time ♪
♪ Half the time
I think I'm really blind ♪
(SPLASH)
♪ I only know you half the time ♪
DOYLE: Ah.
Good to see you out and about.
Unless you gotta throw up again.
I seem to have found my sea legs.
- How are you feeling?
- Better every day.
- He says it still hurts when he pees.
- I did say that.
In confidence.
I wanted to say thank you...
for saving my life.
You're welcome.
I can't imagine how difficult it was.
I wish it was the level-headed
reaction of a professional policeman...
But it was far less noble than that.
He broke my heart.
Have you thought about what
you want to do when you get home?
- I'm going to stay at Scotland Yard.
- Oh, good for you.
People have to find their answers.
- Telegram, Doctor.
- Oh.
It's from your respiratory specialist.
He's agreed to treat Touie.
He's offered to leave
for London, immediately.
That's wonderful news.
- Thank you...
- Sir.
DOYLE: "Baskerville."
Thank you, Harry.
I don't want gratitude.
I want reimbursement.
It was an expensive suit
you chose to bleed out on.
(HE SIGHS)
(HE SNIFFS)
_