Houdini and Doyle (2016): Season 1, Episode 5 - The Curse of Korzha - full transcript

- Whose idea is this anyway?
- Comes from the top, Constable. Come on.

This way.

Bloody black magic.

It's a sacrifice to the spirits.

There.

There.

Water rushes in and floods
these sewers every day.

If the girl's in here,
she's probably dead.

Bloody hell!

It's all right.

I feel her. I feel her near.



- Julia!
- Julia!
- There she is.

Pull her out.

Get her out. Come on.

Momma!

It's OK.

- Ma, you look stunning.
- Thank you, precious.

Which one do you prefer?

As long as they're on you,
both are beautiful.

I have luncheon plans.

With a gentleman.

- Great.
- Ehrie, don't be like this.

What? I said "great".

I'm just surprised.

Your father has been gone
for a long time.



I miss... company.

Well, I'm company.

- You're upset.
- No, I'm not upset.
It's just out of the blue.

Who is this guy?
Where'd you meet him?

All right, all right.

Have a great time.

Make sure he takes you to your
favourite restaurant.

You know, the really expensive one.

I thought you'd left.

Off to Scotland Yard again
on one of your adventures.

No adventures today.
Just good, solid work.

Can you read it to me?

- Ah...
- You can still read
to your daughter. I'm only 11.

Did you like it?

- What about this?
- Ugh.

My book on the Boer War
is pretty ripping.

Maybe you'd prefer that.

Sorry, my love. Maybe another time.

Yes. I suppose you've seen the paper.

Uh, actually, no, not yet.

Oh. Never mind.

So our young Constable Stratton
is married.

When was she going to tell us that?

I can't see that it's our business.

And you only know because I told
you, so keep it to yourself.

How can she be married?
She had dinner with me.

- That's got to mean something.
- It means she was hungry.

I presume you're here
about Madam Korzha?

I was shocked Merring agreed to let her help. He
seemed desperate. A very strange move for Merring.

Perhaps we convinced him there's no
shortage of paranormal help -

- Of con artists or knuckle-dragging
idiots who believe them.
- Oh, bloody hell.

Sergeant Gudgett, we were just talking about
you. And you too, if you buy into this?

It was refreshing to have a consultant

who wasn't in it merely to
glorify their own ego.

We are most grateful for your help.

It was an honour to have served.

I've been fortunate enough to reunite
people with missing possessions

but to save a child...
it is a blessing.

Mm. It gives you a leg up finding things
when you were the one that hid them.

Are you accusing her?
I didn't know I was being subtle.

I admit, sir, the idea that the spirits
found the girl seems... dubious.

Oh, good, a rational member
of Scotland Yard.

Interesting.

Forgive my friends, Madam Korzha. We
are all very grateful for your help.

"If my record were closed tonight I
could still survey it with equanimity."

That's a Holmes story.

He was such a vivid character,
so poetic.

I was sad when he died,

but I suppose you can only do
the same thing for so long.

I imagine this has given you
the freedom

to write newer things.
- Absolutely.

Did you find him yet? Did you find the
man who murdered my little girl?!

- Calm down, sir.
- Give me five minutes with him.

I'm sorry, Mr Pearce. We didn't
manage to catch the perpetrator.

But, Madam Korzha here was able to
help us locate Julia Hargreaves.

So she didn't suffer the same fate
as your Emily.

So he's still out there?

She was all I had.

Please, please.
He took everything from me!

Was that Mitchell Pearce?

Tragic story. Widower.
Took an extra shift

on the docks one night
and his daughter was kidnapped.

We found her in Shoreditch...
in a water tank.

Now another eight-year-old girl, another
attempted drowning. Almost a year to the day.

Did the perpetrator leave this
"No Innocence" message last year?

No, that seems to be an escalation.
But the modus operandi is the same.

For the time being, we should
consider the crimes linked.

Madam Korzha... With the help of the
spirits, I will do everything I can.

- The psychic's on the case?
- There's a lunatic out there
trying to kill children.

We need all the help we can get
on this one.

So, the psychic's on the case.

So are you.

If Korzha's the kidnapper,

wouldn't that mean she's also
Emily Pearce's killer?

Merring thinks it's the same
perpetrator.

Merring's wrong.
The girl was never going to die.

If she did, Korzha couldn't
"find" her and get paid.

Why "No Innocence"? What does that
mean? A message for the parents?

- Why "No Innocence"? What does that.
- Perhaps.

- Why "No Innocence"? What does that.
- They may have had enemies.

- This is our stop.
- No, it isn't.

Yeah, I'm investigating a second
matter. I need your help.

You brought us here to spy
on your mother? Yeah.

- What do you think is going on there?
- My instincts tell me...

she's having lunch.
With a man.

Clearly my detective skills
are no match for yours.

- Could be a gold digger.
- Doesn't look like he needs her money.

- That's an expensive suit he's wearing.
- Going from woman to woman,

spending their money. What if he's trying to shake
her down? - What if he's a perfectly nice man?

Go talk to them. Just go, go.
Find out who he is.

- You're a cop, you can ask
whatever you want.
- Are you mad?

I need to know my mother's OK.

She's fine. Listen to yourself.

What an excellent use of our time.

- I'm worried about my mother.
- Poppycock. You're being selfish.

- Loving my mother is selfish?
- Monopolising her love is.

What if she falls for this man?
What if she marries him?

She's ready been married,
when she was much younger.

Around your age, Adelaide.
You ever think about getting married?

I make it a rule to never discuss
my personal life

with anyone hiding from their mother.

Well done.

Physically Julia's fine but
she's still suffering from shock.

It may be a while before she wakes up.

Poor thing. Hypovolaemia
from the blood loss?

That's the strange thing.
I can't find a single cut on her.

I thought that "No Innocence"
message was written in blood.

Not Julia's.

I'm Constable Stratton.
This is Dr Doyle and Mr Houdini.

We are so sorry for what has happened.

We're just glad she's safe.
We owe Madam Korzha everything.

I'm sure they'll get an invoice for
close to that.

Have you had any experience
of psychics before?

No. The police told us
she came to them.

Is there any reason the kidnapper
might have targeted your daughter?

Did someone want to hurt your family?

No.

I can't think of anyone.

Is it possible she went willingly?

- Willingly?
- Maybe whoever kidnapped
her seemed safe.

- A woman, perhaps?
- Whoever it was
might have coaxed Julia.

Perhaps with lollies or toys?

Well, that might explain the doll.

This isn't hers?

We'd never seen it before.

Yes? Constable Stratton,

Madam Korzha needs to see
the three of you immediately.

He was here, on this very path.

How do you know?
I feel the echoes.

Madam Korzha, when did you
discover these abilities?

When I was a girl, I felt
something beckoning to me.

At first I didn't want to believe it.

But when I opened myself up to the
spirits, they began to speak,

to show me things.

It is a gift...

...and a curse.

This way.

I feel her.

The girl was here.

Hm.

A disguise?

The kidnapper's tools?

Hm. Smells like sewage.

Look at this.

It's identical to the one Julia had.

I admit, that was remarkable.

What's remarkable? Our kidnapper
deduced where the kidnapper was.

If she's truly the culprit, why lead us
to a place that could prove her guilt?

If she's truly a psychic, why
couldn't she lead us to kidnapper?

No-one said she has all the answers.

There's a spectrum of things
the human mind can perceive.

What if psychics are further along
that spectrum,

like dogs are sensitive
to high-pitched sounds?

Like dogs are sensitive
You believe in dogs, don't you?

It was Korzha.

We know it wasn't Julia's blood.

And who do we know who enjoys spilling
their own blood for dramatic effect?

There's no psychopathic kidnapper
roaming the streets.

Just a very talented con artist.

- Chief Inspector?
- Another girl's been taken.

- She woke less than an hour ago.
- Is she all right?

Anything she can tell us
would be hugely helpful.

Another eight-year-old girl has been
abducted, we believe by the same person.

She appears to be fine
but it's tough to say.

She won't talk to me.
She won't talk to any man.

Julia, dear, is there anything you can
remember about who took you away?

I couldn't see his face.

He was wearing a funny mask.

He gave me a doll to play with.

He put something over my eyes

and he took me somewhere.

It was cold.

Julia, was there a woman there?

No.

He had a beard.

What?
I thought he was wearing a mask.

- What?
- He must've taken it off.

I scratched him and he had a beard.

Well?

Kidnapper has a beard.
Small world.

Korzha's assistant, Henri,
also has a beard.

So does Mr Hargreaves.

If she went willingly, it may
have been someone she knew.

- Does Hargreaves have a connection to
the latest victim, Helena Wood?
- Don't know.

Forget the latest victim. Why would
a father want to kill his own child?

If it's a madman,
rational thought may not apply.

You never know what can make someone
snap. Does the father have an alibi?

According to Mr Hargreaves, he and his
wife were attending a play at Wyndham's.

- We can look into that, sir.
- I'll see to it personally.

And post a man at the hospital. The girl
is not to be left alone with her father.

And Korzha?
Is she free to walk around?

I'll put her under surveillance.

We can see to that one, personally.

I hear a man's voice.

Yes.

She's wearing a very expensive coat,
but it's old.

Husband died two or three years ago -
she still wears the ring -

but the money ran dry. A broke widow.

Your husband,
he passed a few years ago.

He did.

It was so sudden.

He wants you to know
he is sorry he left.

He misses you dearly.

And he knows life is difficult
right now...

but... it will get better.

She's very skilled.

Dr Doyle.

Your wife is here

and she wishes to speak through me.

Ladies and gentlemen, when a spirit
wishes to communicate this way

we must summon them through
the mystical art of the seance.

You are to bear witness
to a remarkable event.

No fake table levitation.

And no ringing bells
with your toes, OK?

If we're going to do this,
we need to set some conditions.

What conditions?

You must open your minds...
and your hearts,

that we may reach the spirits who
have crossed over into the unknown,

who guide us in this world.

Arthur.

Arthur, my darling.

She says... her time is not up.

Your wife has not passed.

No, she hasn't.

Don't grieve, Arthur, my love.

Touie is still with you.

Thank you.

Folks, this lady is just trying
to separate you from your cash.

I tied him myself and it was your idea.

How could they prepare for that?
It's a multiple out principle.

If it is a trick, how is it done?

Oh, you're not buying into this,
are you?

Well, either you're right and
she's kidnapped Helena Wood

or you're wrong and we need her help.

Another girl is missing?
Yes.

So if the spirits really
can help you, let them.

So if the spirits really I will try.

But they do not always give us
the answers we seek.

- What, no dramatic lighting this time?
- Shh.

I see. By the stroke of midnight
she will be no more.

Helena Wood?

No...

Adelaide Stratton.

- It doesn't mean anything.
- Every prediction Madam Korzha
made has come true.

- Now she says Adelaide's in danger.
- Why say that? Because we're onto her.

She's distracting us. We're arguing
instead of arresting her.

- We need to protect Adelaide.
- We?

Do I get a say in this?

I was just trying to help you.

I'm a police constable
of Scotland Yard.

I don't need saving.

If you want to help me,
let me do my job.

- Charing Cross is not for two more stops.
- I'll walk.

Yeah, could've told you
that would happen.

I've forgotten how well you knew women.

Of all the psychics and mediums
I've ever visited,

Korzha's the only one who knew
my wife was still alive.

And none of them knew
that I called her Touie.

When she made contact, I felt
this... this sudden chill.

In that moment, I felt my wife
was communicating with me.

I don't expect you to understand
but I felt something.

I know.

There was an incredible psychic who used
to work carnivals in the north-east.

There was an incredible psychic One night,
he contacted this woman's husband for her.

The husband sang the first song
from their wedding,

said he'd never let go.

But then things started to go bad.

The woman started neglecting her
children, refused to move on,

because she knew her husband
was still there.

A month later, she killed herself...

so she could finally be with him.

I was the psychic.

It was all part of my act.

And that woman, she believed it all,
right to her end.

Harry...

my wife is ill
but she's still in there.

I'm not looking to run away
from anything.

But you - your father's dead and
your mother's whole life is you.

You feel safe with her
but she has a life to live,

with you and without you.

- Where are you going?
- To put an end to Korzha's con.

Hell of a show you pulled.

Top notch.

Where's your boyfriend?

Henri and I are not lovers.

Just partners in crime then, huh?

I've seen a lot of the tricksters
in whose company you think I belong.

I'm not one of them. You really
think I'd kidnap those girls?

Yes.

No. You're not sure.

Don't cold read me.

- Where's that girl?
- I don't know.

You're hiding something.

We all are.

I don't have anything to hide.

Yes, you do. You're afraid
of losing someone.

- The spirits tell you that?
- Mm-hm.

What are they telling you now?

- Thank goodness you're back.
- Didn't think I could make it
half a mile on my own?

I don't need protection
from a writer or a magician.

So what happens at midnight?

Korzha hasn't been wrong yet.

There's a first time
for everything, right?

I want to believe in Korzha because
it means that maybe when I'm gone,

I can still watch over my children.

I want that more than anything
in the world,

but that doesn't mean that
Korzha is right.

I can't imagine what it must
be like to lose a child.

It must be utter agony.

Am I right?

My son, Will.

Last year.

Hargreaves' alibi has been confirmed.

So he's not our kidnapper.

- Sir...
- Sometimes I feel completely lost.

Blind with rage.

But that won't bring him back.

It's a tragedy.

It's a tragedy that should never
have happened.

He died in this Boer War

you've defended so eloquently.

Find that little girl.

Well, that was unexpected.

You seem peaceful.
Peaceful?

I suppose.

A peaceful mind is an open mind.

Not that peaceful.

I hope you don't feel
I've taken advantage of you.

No. No, of course not.

Wait, you taking advantage of me?

I'm a passionate woman.
It's in my blood.

I have urges and sometimes
I act on them.

- What did you find?
- Ruffled shirt,
flecks of eye make-up on collar,

hair uncoifed.
I think we know what he found.

So you're allowed to spend time
with the opposite sex

but your mother is not, is that right?

- It was a one-time thing.
- If your mother just wanted
to have a one-time thing -

This is not about my mother.

It's about the case.

You stole her passport.

I prefer the term 'lifted'.

It sounds more skilful.

So, just to be clear,

you thought Korzha
might be a kidnapper,

and you just went to bed with her.

A sacrifice I had to make.

The first girl was taken on the fourth.
Korzha cleared customs on the sixth.

Doesn't that prove it wasn't Korzha?

Well, it's possible Henri
did the dirty work.

Yeah. Not being in the same country
is a pretty solid alibi.

That alibi might not be so solid.

This is fake.

Oh, it's you.

What do you know about this?

Don't know nothing.

Nah.

Give us a tenner.
I don't have £10.

- Well, then I don't know nothing.
- What if she arrests you?

She ain't gonna arrest me.

Fips is trying to help.
We don't arrest people for that.

Too right. Besides, I'll bet the
Great Houdini's got ten quid.

He's always flashing his cash.

Come on, Harry, pay the man.

She's good.

Over to you then, Arthur.

Would you take five?

Edith Pilkie?

Our Romanian psychic is really
Edith Pilkie from Croydon?

Her alibi is completely gone.

Just because she was here,
doesn't mean she did it.

She's a fraud. She's literally
not who she says she was.

She changed her name for effect.

That's not a crime, is it, Erich?

The ropes.

The ropes!

It's all about the ropes.

The first kidnapper,
a year ago he used simple knots.

She almost untied one.

The second kidnapper's knots
are way more complicated.

Whoever tied these was an ordinary
criminal.

Whoever tied these was a rope expert.

So the Emily Pearce and Julia Hargreaves
kidnappings were not committed by the same person.

That, by the way, is how the
switching trick was accomplished.

Henri used a Kellar Rope Tie,

positioning himself exactly how
he wanted when you tied him up.

Everything else was misdirection.

That's how he untied himself and switched places
with Korzha so quickly. It's a beautiful trick.

Only a couple of experts
would know how to pull that off.

And we are looking for a rope
expert. Yes, but not Korzha.

You lot. Have you found
the kidnapper?

We are working very hard on that,
sir, and we could use your help.

My help?

Well, I don't know anything.

Hey! What are you bothering me for?

There's a madman out there.

I can only imagine what it's like
to lose a child, Mr Pearce.

But we can see what it did to you.

When you heard that Julia Hargreaves
had been rescued,

you knew she might identify you.

Your visit to Scotland Yard wasn't to
see if the kidnapper had been caught -

it was to make sure
you weren't a suspect.

Julia Hargreaves couldn't
see your face,

but she knew her kidnapper
was a man with a beard,

so you shaved yours off.

Which was a gamble.

Keeping the beard might
have made you a suspect,

but it also could've hidden this.

It might've passed as a shaving cut,

but it was where Julia Hargreaves scratched
you as you carried her into the sewer.

You discarded the mask and your tools,

but you couldn't get rid
of that scratch.

You recreated the circumstances
of your daughter's tragedy,

but you added a message
written in your own blood.

And when you bound Julia's wrists,

you used knots that could only be tied
by a rope expert, an expert like you.

A docker.

What did your message mean, Mr Pearce?

What did you mean by "No Innocence"?

Madam Korzha?
The spirits sent me.

They are never wrong -
he's the one.

There's no innocence left
in this world.

It's gone, just like my little girl.

We're all guilty and we all
deserve whatever we get.

It's not too late, Mitchell.

My baby was only eight...

and no-one cared.

Coppers never found who did it.
Forgot all about it.

But I got people thinking
about her again.

You need to tell us
where Helena Wood is.

Revisiting your pain on someone
else is not the answer.

No? Maybe then they'll understand.

I understand.

I lost someone once.

My husband.

I loved him more than life.

Losing him nearly destroyed me.

It's like having your heart ripped
out, every second of every day.

You have to fight, Mitchell.

You have to fight not to lose
the battle for your soul.

It's too late for that.

Adelaide!

Where is she, Pearce?
Where's the girl?

- It wasn't me. I wasn't hit.
- Thank God.

He's dead.

The girl could be anywhere. There are
a million ways to drown a person.

- Can you help us?
- What?!

She's been right about everything,
including finding Pearce.

She might be right about me, too,

but right now Helena Wood
is out there, dying.

- Please help us. I'll try.
- Let's look at what we know.

If Madam Korzha hadn't led
the police to Julia Hargreaves,

she would've drowned just as Pearce's
daughter drowned in a water tank.

Scotland Yard checked the tank in
Shoreditch. It's empty.

And Gudgett's had bobbies
all over the sewers.

Turned off half the water in London,
but they didn't find a thing.

There has to be a common denominator.

I see water.

Brilliant. Our killer's MO is
drowning and she defines "water".

No, the water is rising.

The water is rising.

Pearce's daughter - the water literally
rose around her in the tank.

Julia Hargreaves would've died in the
sewer. The water would have swallowed her.

Where could Pearce have placed
Helena Wood

so the water would drown
her? What else would do that?

The tides.

Was the name of the company
Pearce worked for?

Hurry up, lads.
No time to waste.

Look for it there.
This way!

Do a right down there.

This way.

Houdini!

Do you see anything, you lot?

Nothing?

Helena!

This way!

We need a knife.

You're going to be fine, sweetheart.

OK? You're gonna be fine.

Help.

Piece of cake. Almost done.

Be brave, Helena.

When the water comes up to your nose,

I need you to hold your breath, OK?

You hold your breath
for as long as you can!

Harry!

Can you see her in the water?

Is the girl down there, sir?

- Do you see anything?
- Harry!

Harry!

- Is she alive?
- Harry, hurry! Fetch an ambulance!

Someone get an ambulance!

Careful. Careful, careful.

Help him up, help him up.

That's it, get 'em up.

There we go. Lay her down here.

Make room, make room.
Get out of the way.

- Is she all right?
- She's not breathing.

Move.

I work with water a lot.

The girl's parents are on their way.

Pearce... we let him down.

We let the insane kidnapper down?

His child's killer is still out there.

How could he not go mad?

Chief Inspector, perhaps
you'd like to meet the girl?

Thank you, Constable.

You're quite a brave little girl,
aren't you?

We owe the spirit our gratitude.

I wish I could believe that.

Even you now question my powers?

You do indeed have powers,
Madam Korzha. Powers of detection.

You solve crimes
by following the clues.

Somehow you discovered the doll
factory and the gloves,

which smelled like sewage, leading you
and the police right to the girl.

Sherlock Holmes
wasn't entertainment for you.

Those stories where your textbooks.

Whether through bribery
or some other means,

you borrowed the same police
photographs we were using.

Using your knowledge of ropes,
you analysed the knots

and deduced that Pearce
was the culprit.

You went to his house,
searching for a clue

as to where he'd taken Helena,
but he came home and surprised you.

There's a distinct set of finger
prints on these photographs.

A perfect match for...

Edith Pilkie.

You'd have been proud.

I found boot prints.

Near Julia's school there
was a set of small prints,

joined by a set of big prints.

Led me all the way to the factory.

I smelled the gloves and found
the nearest manhole.

Couldn't open it without some help,
so I went to the coppers.

Can't believe you matched
my fingerprints.

Actually, I didn't. That would've
been a very painstaking process.

Brilliant.

I figured out the rope thing.
Hm.

- I figured out the rope thing.
- More than just a pretty face.

I really wanted to believe in you.

I admit, I can't contact
the spirits of the dead.

But that doesn't mean
they're not out there.

But that doesn't mean
I've seen things, I've felt them.

Maybe they're trying to get through and we
just haven't figured out how to answer yet.

Arthur, what you felt was real.

Why did you say Adelaide
would be no more by midnight?

Did you really believe
she was in danger?

Or were you just trying to distract us?

The facts might be met
speciously enough.

Edith...

how did you know my wife's nickname?

It just came to me.

I saw you at the restaurant.

You don't want me to see him.

I don't. I didn't.

Look, Ma.

You're all I have.

I need you.

But I'm OK.

You have my permission.

- Your permission?
- My blessing.

I'm not going to stand in your way.
Just...

- don't forget about me.
- Ehrie.

I told him, no more.

What? You didn't have to do that.

You and I have each other.

We don't need anyone else.

Sorry I woke you, darling.

'The Adventure of the Stockbroker's
Clerk'. Good choice.

'Holmes stood by the table

with his hands deep
in his trouser's pockets,

and his chin upon his breast.

"I suppose we ought to call
the police in now," said he.'

Twisted Lip...

"The facts might be met
speciously enough"?

When Korzha said Adelaide
would be "no more",

she was trying to tell us
something about her.

- That we had to prove something?
- No, PRO stands for Public Records Office.

Thank you.

Section VE.

Look at that. And the quote?

It's from 'The Man with the
Twisted Lip', a Holmes story.

All this time
to figure out your own quote?

I bet you remember every line you've
used in every performance. Yeah.

Why that story? What's it about?

A person with a false identity.

Adelaide Stratton is not actually
Adelaide Stratton.

She's Penelope Graves?