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03:00I beg your pardon, Miss Bennet. Which file was that?
03:06The Calthorpe transfer. I asked for the papers an hour ago.
03:11It's tough.
03:12The relevant documents are in Mr. Robert's indray.
03:20Sometimes I wonder if that woman was actually born like the rest of us.
03:25I think she was knitted by the Ministry of Labour.
03:29She could have told me an hour ago that you had the wretched file,
03:32but oh no, not our Tuffy.
03:35Neville?
03:36Hmm?
03:38Do you ever feel that you've been left out?
03:41Left out of what?
03:43Life.
03:45What's going on out there?
03:47Can't say I do, old chap.
03:50What?
03:51Don't you ever feel this is it?
03:54This is all you're ever going to have?
03:56This, that?
03:58Dearie me, what brought this on?
04:00Oh, I don't know.
04:02Perhaps I need a holiday.
04:04You need a holiday, Robert?
04:07Aha.
04:09Wills, conveyance, seeing investments, mall wills.
04:13What happened to life?
04:15The most exciting thing I've done since VE Day is fall off a horse.
04:19Well, at least we got through it in one piece, old man.
04:22It's the inevitability of it all.
04:25I found a Miss Tuff's biscuit routine. Have you ever noticed?
04:28Digestive Tuesday and Thursday, ginger Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
04:32Never varies.
04:33Summer or winter, hell or high water.
04:35You seem a bit put out. Why don't you call it a day?
04:38Don't be ridiculous, Neville. It's only four o'clock.
04:41Good Lord, Robert.
04:50Senior partners, old chap, can do what they like.
04:55Impudent lackey.
05:26I can't understand where she's got to. It's only ten minutes' walk from the school.
05:30Mrs Wynne, I don't want to keep on at a subject which must be unpleasant for you.
05:34Has Betty spoken any more about the week she was missing?
05:40Why Betty?
05:42How can anyone be so cruel?
05:47That's a heart.
05:50Ah.
05:52Why don't you clean that? Don't start, Mum.
05:54Inspector Grant's been waiting such a long time.
05:56She doesn't want to go, dear love.
05:58I'm afraid I have to insist that she does.
06:00Can't you make an arrest without her?
06:02The poor kid's scared stiff.
06:04You've no need to be frightened, Betty. I'll be there with you.
06:07How do you expect her to feel going into that house again?
06:09She says she won't, unless I go too.
06:12Betty?
06:14Does she really have to do this?
06:16I'm afraid so, yes.
06:18She's made a very serious accusation.
06:20Bloody right it's serious.
06:22Leslie.
06:23I'm afraid this business has got him all worked up so he can't think straight.
06:26They must be mad who beat her up.
06:28You didn't see her that night.
06:30Her face all swollen and covered in blood.
06:32Do you think she made that up?
06:34Leslie.
06:35I have seen the doctor's report. Thank you.
06:37Now, Mrs Wynne, we really should be going if you want Betty home before dark.
06:40All right, love.
06:41Don't worry. Mrs Scott here will look after her.
06:43What about a tea?
06:45I'll make sure she gets a sandwich.
06:47At the Milford station.
07:04What are you staring at, you nosy old cow?
07:47Come on.
08:18I'm so glad to have caught you, Mr Blair.
08:20I thought you might have gone for the day.
08:22My name's Sharpe.
08:24Marianne Sharpe.
08:26I'd rather not explain over the telephone what's happened,
08:28but I'm afraid I'm in trouble and I need a lawyer.
08:31I mean, I need one now, this minute.
08:34Will you come, Mr Blair?
08:36I'd be so grateful.
08:38I'm afraid I can't.
08:40I'm afraid I can't.
08:42I'm afraid I can't.
08:44I'm afraid I can't.
08:46I'd be so grateful.
09:10I live with my mother at the Franchise.
09:13I'm sure you know the place.
09:15About a mile out of Milford, on the Larborough Road.
09:43I'm afraid I can't.
10:13I'm afraid I can't.
10:35Mr Blair, I'm Marianne Sharpe.
10:37Good afternoon.
10:38Come in, please.
10:44I'm afraid I left the gates open.
10:46I hope that's all right.
10:48Thank you so much for coming.
10:50I'm more grateful than I can say.
10:52Inspector Hallam gave me your name.
10:54We haven't been in Milford very long, you see.
10:56Well, I know you and your mother by sight.
10:58Or at least that splendid car of yours.
11:00The police are in here.
11:02I take it it's nothing to do with your car.
11:05When people say they're in trouble in Milford,
11:08it generally means one of two things.
11:11Either an affiliation order
11:13or an offence against the traffic laws.
11:15I doubt if Scotland Yard are terribly interested
11:17in minor traffic offences.
11:19Scotland Yard?
11:23I haven't murdered anyone, if that's what you're thinking.
11:26The point is, are you supposed to have murdered someone?
11:29I'm supposed to have kidnapped someone.
11:34You know Inspector Hallam, of course.
11:36And this is Detective Inspector Grant.
11:38Glad you could come, Mr Blair.
11:40Couldn't very well proceed until Miss Sharpe had some kind of support.
11:43Is there to be a charge, Inspector?
11:45I'm supposed to have abducted and beaten up someone.
11:47Beaten her black and blue, apparently.
11:49Beaten her?
11:50That girl sitting outside in the car.
11:52Perhaps I'd better do the explaining, Miss Sharpe.
11:54Yes, do. After all, it's your story.
11:56Sit down, Mr Blair.
12:00Will your mother be joining us?
12:02I hope not.
12:03But she lies down in the afternoon.
12:06I'm hoping we can get this whole business over and done with
12:08before she wakes up.
12:18Just before Easter, Mr Blair,
12:20a 15-year-old schoolgirl called Elizabeth Kane,
12:23who lives near Birmingham,
12:25went to spend a short holiday with a married aunt who lives in Larborough.
12:29She went by coach because they pass right through Larborough
12:32and she'd be within a few minutes' walk of her aunt's house when she got off.
12:36After she'd been with her aunt for a week,
12:39Mrs Wynne received a postcard from the girl.
12:41Mrs Wynne?
12:43The girl's parents were killed in an air raid in 43.
12:46Mrs Wynne's a legal guardian.
12:48In this postcard, the girl said she was having a lovely time
12:51and was going to stay on with her aunts for a bit.
12:54When she hadn't arrived home the day before she was due back at school,
12:58Mrs Wynne telegraphed to find out what was going on.
13:01She learned that Elizabeth had stayed on in Larborough
13:04for only three days after sending that card.
13:07Her aunt had seen her off at the coach stop
13:10on her way home two weeks previously.
13:13It's on the 28th of March.
13:15Mrs Wynne went straight to the police, of course,
13:18but given the time it took for the telegrams to go back and forth,
13:21it was almost three weeks before anyone realised anything was wrong.
13:26Then one night she turned up,
13:28suddenly, late at night, on the doorstep.
13:31In a terrible state.
13:3320th of April.
13:34And I mean terrible, Mr Blair.
13:36Some of the bruises were still visible much later
13:38when she made her statement to me.
13:40That child had been very extensively knocked about.
13:46It was a week before the police had a full statement from her.
13:49To begin with, all they could get was that she'd been kidnapped.
13:52She was completely hysterical.
13:54From where had she been kidnapped?
13:57The coach stop.
13:58I thought you said her aunt put her onto the coach.
14:01No, only to the stop.
14:03The coach was late.
14:04The suggestion is, Mr Blair,
14:05that my mother and I enticed a schoolgirl into our car
14:08and then into this house,
14:09and that we beat her almost senseless every time she tried to escape.
14:13If you don't mind, Miss Sharpe...
14:14Do you wonder that I wanted help in a hurry?
14:24The girl says in her statement
14:26that while she waited at the coach stop,
14:27it started to get dark and then to rain.
14:30The coach was very late,
14:32or at least that's what she thought.
14:48Then a car pulled up on the curb.
14:51At first, she could only see the driver,
14:53a woman wearing a bright silk scarf round her neck.
15:00She asked the girl if she wanted a lift.
15:03The woman told her that the Birmingham coach had already gone,
15:06and she could get another from Mains Hill in about 40 minutes.
15:12She was very grateful for the offer of a lift
15:14and got in beside an older woman in the back.
15:18But very little was said on the journey.
15:20The older woman never spoke at all.
15:24It wasn't until the car suddenly left the main road
15:26that the girl realized they were no longer heading towards Mains Hill.
15:34The younger woman told her she still had plenty of time before the coach left,
15:38and that she could get another lift.
15:42The younger woman told her she still had plenty of time before the coach left,
15:46enough time for a cup of tea.
15:50Soon after that, they pulled off the road.
16:01The younger woman got out and opened some large iron gates.
16:12Then the car was driven up a drive to the house.
16:15It was too dark for her to see what it looked like.
16:32They went through a hallway first,
16:34and then into a large kitchen where the younger woman made her a cup of coffee.
16:38And then into a large kitchen where the younger woman made her a cup of coffee,
16:41not tea.
16:53While the girl drank coffee, which she didn't like,
16:56the younger woman apologized for the state of the kitchen
16:59and told her that they had no maid to help them.
17:02She asked the girl if she was looking for a job.
17:05The girl said she wasn't.
17:08No maid at all? No, there wasn't a maid at all.
17:11Come on.
17:36She doesn't remember much after that until she woke up in the attic.
17:40She remembers both women dragging her up a flight of carpeted stairs,
17:46and then a second flight with something hard underfoot.
17:50Come on.
18:07When she woke up, she found herself lying on a bed in a room
18:11with a round window which wouldn't open.
18:14The door was locked.
18:16She had been kept prisoner, Mr. Blair, for over three weeks
18:20and repeatedly beaten by both women or deprived of food
18:24if she refused to mend the linen they brought her.
18:30I know domestic help is scarce nowadays, but that is ridiculous.
18:34There's no end to the extravagances of human conduct, Mr. Blair.
18:39To enlist a servant by forcibly detaining her, Inspector,
18:42would say nothing of starving and beating,
18:45and no one is going to be that absurd.
18:48No normal person, certainly.
18:51Perhaps Miss Sharpe can provide an alibi for the 28th of March?
18:54No, of course I can't.
19:08Our days here hardly vary at all.
19:11I couldn't possibly remember what I was doing six weeks ago.
19:15Could you?
19:16Yes.
19:20How did the girl escape?
19:22She tried to get out of the roof at first,
19:24but they caught her breaking the window and beat her almost senseless.
19:29Then she noticed that they always left the key in the lock,
19:32and one night she managed to poke it out with a pencil
19:35and pull it back under the door on a piece of paper.
19:38How resourceful.
19:39And when she got out of the house, she just ran.
19:42She was picked up semi-conscious on the Birmingham Maisel Road.
19:46And her suitcase?
19:47Never saw it again.
19:54Three strange men.
19:56How extravagant, my dear.
19:58Would you present them to me, please?
20:01This gentleman is Detective Inspector Grant from Scotland Yard,
20:05Inspector Hallam from Milford,
20:07and this is Mr. Blair from Blair, Haywood & Bennett.
20:10Blair, Haywood & Bennett?
20:12So you occupy that lovely house in Milford High Street?
20:15Part of it, yes.
20:16It needs re-tiling.
20:18Yes, I'm afraid it does.
20:20This is difficult to explain quickly, but I'll try.
20:24The police have brought a young girl here...
20:26You shouldn't be sitting in that chair. You're much too heavy for it.
20:29Hallam, since you're up, perhaps you would...
20:32Yes, excuse me.
20:38There's a schoolgirl waiting in a car outside.
20:41She was missing from home last month.
20:43She told the police that she was locked up in an attic
20:46by two women who beat her and starved her.
20:49I see.
20:50And was she referring to us?
20:52I'm afraid we seem to fit the description.
20:55So does the house.
20:57She described the house quite minutely, Mrs. Sharp.
21:00And the occupants.
21:01How remarkable.
21:02And what did we beat her with?
21:04A silver-topped cane and a dog lead.
21:09We have no dog, Inspector.
21:11I take it you've brought this person here
21:13so that she may identify us as the people that held her prisoner.
21:16Have you any objections, Mrs. Sharp?
21:18On the contrary, Inspector.
21:20I look forward to the meeting with impatience.
21:23It's not every afternoon I go to my rest a dull old woman
21:26and rise a potential monster.
21:28Can you imagine a more nightmare piece of nonsense?
21:31Believe me, Miss Sharp,
21:32I've come across many stories much more incredible.
21:35You have my sympathy, young man.
21:37Why is that, Mrs. Sharp?
21:39Well, I imagine criminal lunacy is a little out of your line.
21:42Oh, really, Mother?
21:43Just a little.
21:44However, the distractions of Milford are pretty mild.
21:47I find all this very stimulating.
21:51Excuse me.
21:56Ah, hello.
22:15Now...
22:18Have you ever seen either of these women before?
22:23Yes, these are the women.
22:25I have never, to my knowledge, seen this girl before.
22:29I did not give her a lift anywhere on any occasion.
22:32She wasn't brought into this house either by me or by my mother,
22:36nor was she kept here.
22:39Mrs. Sharp?
22:44The two people on beating terms were distressingly ill-acquainted.
22:48It's understood, then, Mrs. Sharp, that you also deny Miss Kane's story.
22:51Yes.
22:53Miss Kane, this is a very grave accusation.
22:57If you have any doubt, any doubt at all, you must say so now.
23:01Are these the two women who detained you,
23:03took your clothes from you, forced you to mend linen, starved you and beat you?
23:07Yes.
23:09It's the girl of Virgin.
23:11Mrs. Sharp, I do not think that's relevant.
23:13Well, I do.
23:14If I'd been missing from my home for any length of time,
23:16it's the first thing my mother would have wanted to know about me.
23:19Inspector Grant, are we to be arrested now that this girl's identified us?
23:23Certainly not.
23:24No, things are a long way from that.
23:26And what do you propose to do?
23:28To go around this house so that Miss Kane's various descriptions
23:31of the rooms she says she was taken to can be verified.
23:34If they are, I report to my superior
23:36and he decides in conference what further steps to take.
23:39That's an admirable caution, Inspector.
23:41Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall go back to my interrupted rest.
23:44Don't you wish to be present when we go around your house?
23:47Oh, dear, no, I've not the slightest doubt Miss Kane will identify our attic.
23:50I shall be surprised beyond words if she failed to do so.
23:53She's already proved herself a most remarkable liar.
23:56Goodbye, Mr Blair.
23:58I do hope you continue to find a stimulator.
24:02I take it you have no objection to letting Miss Kane see the relevant parts of your house?
24:06No, of course not.
24:07The car?
24:08Ah, yes.
24:09The car's in the garage at the back of the house.
24:11Shall we, then?
24:17Sorry.
24:25Sorry.
24:55The
25:24Blair's Affair continues next week at the same time, 5.55.
25:545.55.
26:245.55.
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