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The Case of the Croydon Poisonings.
Julian Fellowes examines the unsolved murders of three members of the same upper middle-class family living in 1920s Croydon, who died within a year of each other from arsenic poisoning. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Christina Cole, David Schofield, David Calder, Stella Gonet.
The Case of the Croydon Poisonings.
Julian Fellowes examines the unsolved murders of three members of the same upper middle-class family living in 1920s Croydon, who died within a year of each other from arsenic poisoning. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Christina Cole, David Schofield, David Calder, Stella Gonet.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00This is 59 Byrdhurst Rise in Croydon.
00:08In 1929, it was the home of a pretty widow,
00:11Grace Duff and her three young children.
00:13Her mother, Violet Sidney, was a little way along the road
00:16and Grace's brother, Tom, was a few minutes walk away.
00:19They were an attractive lass, educated, quite amusing,
00:23good-looking, well-off.
00:25The last family in England, one might think,
00:26to lose three members of it through murder.
00:30I'm going to get you.
00:59I'm going to take it to school.
01:02What, an earthbore?
01:03It's a pet.
01:04You can't be very playful.
01:05So let me have a puppy.
01:06They make your sister sneeze.
01:08Hello?
01:08Grace, it's Robert.
01:09I can build a kennel.
01:10Darling, shh.
01:12Robert.
01:12It doesn't look good.
01:14I think you should come back.
01:17But I've only just left.
01:19Grace, I'm serious.
01:20You must come now.
01:26Um, find Amy.
01:28Tell her that she must put Alistair to bed.
01:30You and Grace Mary must look after yourselves.
01:36That mother will be all right, won't she?
01:39The doctor's up there.
01:41Your brother's with him today.
01:42Grace, thank goodness.
01:43I'm afraid she's far worse.
01:45I don't understand.
01:46Why so quickly?
01:46She must have eaten something.
01:48Taken it.
01:49It's the only explanation.
01:50What are you trying to say?
01:58Is she even though I'm here?
02:04She does.
02:08You're sure this is what you've prescribed?
02:10Of course he's sure.
02:11She was perfectly fine before she took it.
02:13Your mother's taken it for weeks.
02:14You said yourself she'd been picking up.
02:16Oh, no.
02:16Oh, no.
02:17At half past seven in the evening, on the 5th of March, 1929, Violet Sidney died in appalling agony.
02:36Her death was witnessed by her son, Tom, her daughter, Grace, and Dr. Robert Graham Elwell.
02:46The cause of death was acute arsenical poisoning, but there is insufficient evidence to show whether
02:53Mrs. Sidney killed herself or was murdered by some person or persons unknown.
02:58What complicated matters was that two other members of this luckless family had also died within the year.
03:07Grace's husband, Edmund Duff, and Violet's other daughter, Vera, perished in horribly similar circumstances.
03:13Inevitably, their graves were now dug up, and two new inquests were held.
03:18The results were loud and clear.
03:20Both bodies, just like Violet's, were full to the brim with arsenic.
03:25Stop press.
03:27Triple poisoner on the loose.
03:28And a poisoner who must surely be a surviving member of the family.
03:33Either that or, at the very least, someone close to them.
03:35Their housekeeper, perhaps, or that nice Dr. Elwell.
03:41Well, the police and the press had their suspicions, and so will you when you hear the evidence.
03:45Because one of them certainly did it.
03:48But in the end, no charge was brought.
03:50And so the Croydon poisoner of Birdhurst Rise walked free.
03:54Today, one might hesitate to describe Croydon as the acme of fashion.
04:21But once, before the First War, it was a choice of many prosperous, middle-class families in search of rural and yet convenient surroundings.
04:30It was a commuter's paradise.
04:31And even in April 1928, a year before the painful events you've just witnessed, it was still a very nice place to live.
04:38Violet Sidney was the unchallenged queen of all she surveyed.
04:50Mother, there you are.
04:51We've all been waiting.
04:53What are those crates of bear doing there?
04:56I suppose they're for him.
04:57Well, they're certainly not for me.
04:59I nearly fell over them.
05:00She wasn't always so autocratic.
05:03In her youth, she'd fallen deeply and hopelessly in love.
05:06But her parents had forbidden the match and selected Sidney as a more suitable candidate instead.
05:12Her reward was to be deserted by her husband for another woman, leaving Violet to bring up their three children, Grace, her only son Tom, and Vera on her own.
05:21Any little fish can swim.
05:27Over the years, she became their absolute ruler, demanding and generally receiving, unquestioning obedience.
05:34But after the pummeling life had given her, is it to be wondered at?
05:38I can't do anything at all but just love you.
05:42Tom Sidney was the odd one out in that family.
05:46After he left the army, he opted for a career in show business.
05:49Now buy the freight now.
05:51When there's a funeral to be.
05:53Noel Coyard was just getting started then and the rest of them.
05:56But actually, I suspect he had his eye on the movies.
05:59Oh.
06:00Too watery and not enough sugar.
06:02If there were no lioness, he'd lie down with a lamb.
06:04So why can't I?
06:06Any little cock can crow.
06:09Any little cock's crumb.
06:11Any little crab on any little shore.
06:13Hello, everybody.
06:14Have a little bit of a ball.
06:15Father!
06:15Hello, old boy.
06:17Oh, no.
06:18Hello, darling.
06:19Did you catch lots of fish?
06:22The river's empty.
06:24I think your father's pulling you a leg, John.
06:26Tom, don't stop on his account.
06:29No, indeed.
06:30Well, let's not pretend you'd be sorry.
06:32Well, I can take it.
06:34Especially as I know it won't be for much longer.
06:36What do you mean?
06:37Only that soon they'll be in America.
06:40Oops.
06:41Have I let the cat out of the bag?
06:43Tom, what is this nonsense?
06:45We've been thinking about it.
06:48That's all.
06:49Don't be absurd.
06:50America would be good for Tom's career.
06:53My son's career is here, as is his family.
06:59Isn't that right, Tom?
07:02Darling, why are you back so early?
07:05We weren't expecting you till tomorrow.
07:07Isn't it obvious?
07:08I couldn't stay away from you for one more minute.
07:12We must be going.
07:14But you'll stay to tea?
07:15No, that was before he came back.
07:17Come on, Vera.
07:18Mother?
07:20I thought they might like to spend some time together.
07:22Oh, do come along, Vera.
07:24I'm so sorry.
07:25It's not your fault.
07:27It's hard not to feel sorry for Vera.
07:30Forty, unmarried, and living with Violet.
07:33She was popular.
07:35She was sporty.
07:35She was kind.
07:37But Vera was still no match for her formidable mama.
07:41Sorry if I spoke out of turn.
07:43I told you in confidence, Edmund.
07:45Which doesn't explain why you told him at all.
07:48But you're such a close family.
07:51I can't believe that your mother didn't know.
07:53Edmund, stop it.
07:58If they want to go to America, you can't stop them.
08:01Tom's not going anywhere.
08:02It's just that Margaret being ridiculous.
08:05Oh, Mother, shush.
08:08Oh, ah.
08:09Tom, dear.
08:10I was thinking about Scarborough this year.
08:14The air would do the children so much good.
08:16We can't really make any plans not at the moment, can we, Tom?
08:19Why ever not?
08:20It's only April.
08:21There's plenty of time.
08:24No, I don't like things to drift on.
08:27We'll go for two weeks in August.
08:32Tom?
08:36Yes, Mother.
08:38Excellent.
08:39Well, it's settled.
08:41Leave all the arrangements to me.
08:44Tom met his wife when he was performing in the United States.
08:47Of course, a career in song and dance was an unlikely choice for someone of Tom's background.
08:53Edmund wasn't alone in despising him for it.
08:56By 1928, they had a son to educate.
08:59When professionally, things weren't going well.
09:03I just mentioned it, that's all.
09:05It was private.
09:06We agreed to keep it between ourselves.
09:07Only because you're scared of your mother.
09:09I'm scared of my mother.
09:10Two weeks in Scarborough?
09:12I rest my case.
09:13It doesn't hurt to keep her happy.
09:15It does, if it means we can't be happy, too.
09:19Tom?
09:20I'm sorry, Tom.
09:27You shouldn't tease Mother so.
09:30I can't resist it, I'm afraid.
09:31Well, we can't afford to fall out with her.
09:33And she doesn't find it funny.
09:35But she should develop a sense of humor.
09:38It's a bit late for that.
09:39John!
09:41Stop teasing your sister.
09:43Edmund Duff first met Grace through her father,
09:46that same runaway who'd left Violet in the lurch.
09:50And so naturally, there couldn't have been a worse introduction to his future mother-in-law.
09:54But he was a bluff, easygoing chap.
09:58Ex-army, ex-colonial service.
10:01And by 1928, he was eking out his modest pension with a bit of clerking in the city.
10:05Actually, this was quite a precarious time for a lot of people.
10:11The aftermath of the Great War had sent the world's finances into a loop,
10:14and the Wall Street crashed only 80 months away.
10:17But whether it was Edmund's fault or not,
10:20the fact remained that for the Duff's money was in short supply,
10:23and they needed every penny that Violet might dish out.
10:26Why are you back so early?
10:28Tell you the truth, I'm feeling a bit seedy.
10:30Not up to another day with the rods.
10:32Yes.
10:35Darling, you're ice cold.
10:39Not another.
10:41Grace, it's a sure thing.
10:42Six months' investment, 200% yield minimum.
10:46It's always a sure thing, except it never is.
10:48We've been unlucky.
10:50We've nothing left to invest.
10:52I thought I might cash in the insurance policy.
10:55How can you possibly consider it after the last time?
10:58Are you all right, Mother?
10:59Everything's fine, darling.
11:01Why don't you collect Father's things?
11:02We'll go inside.
11:05Come on.
11:06We'll have that wretched tea.
11:15Why don't you tell him to buy him?
11:17Don't be silly.
11:18Why not?
11:19He's my husband.
11:21I'll come round.
11:22All right.
11:23Looking forward to it.
11:24I'm looking forward to it, too.
11:26Goodbye.
11:27Goodbye.
11:29Father wants to know if his supper's ready.
11:32I thought he was supposed to be ill.
11:35Amy, where's Mr Duff's beer?
11:38Sorry, Mum.
11:39I'll take it.
11:47If you have an appetite, you must be feeling better.
11:50I'm not sure that I have.
11:52I just thought eating something might help.
11:54No.
12:00The seal's broken.
12:02I think it's all right, sir.
12:04Of course it is.
12:08We ought to get these two to bed.
12:10Come on.
12:11Leave your father in peace.
12:13No, no.
12:13Don't kiss me, darling.
12:14You might catch whatever it is.
12:16Good night, Father.
12:22I hope you feel better soon.
12:28Grace, I'm going to that meeting.
12:30I've telephoned the doctor.
12:32He'll be here as soon as he can.
12:33Well, give him our love, won't you?
13:00And make sure you don't catch it.
13:03All right.
13:03Bye-bye.
13:04Man makes such a fuss.
13:05You'd think no one was ever ill before.
13:07Well, she has called out the doctor.
13:09Of course she has.
13:10She always gives in to him.
13:12What about a game of cards?
13:14Mother, I'm going to the cinema with Margaret.
13:16I told you.
13:17You have to go?
13:20Yes, I do.
13:22Well, come straight back.
13:24Why do I have to spend the entire evening on my own?
13:29We had nothing to pay to the baker that day.
13:36And so we crept out of the pot.
13:42How long have you been standing there?
13:53You're very sweet with him.
13:55How's Edmund?
13:57I can't find very much wrong.
13:59Must have eaten something.
14:01Did he offer you a nightcap?
14:04He is the limit.
14:06Especially when you come all this way.
14:08I do a lot more than that, Grace.
14:12Do you want to come back?
14:13I could rustle up something to eat.
14:15Oh, I'd better not.
14:16You should stand up to her more.
14:21Shouldn't we all?
14:24That's Dr. Elwell's car.
14:27Gosh, I hope Edmund's not worse.
14:31Perhaps it's a social call.
14:33Oh, it's very late.
14:35What?
14:36I'm saying nothing.
14:38Well, I should hope not.
14:39Really, Margaret, behave yourself.
14:42Grace and Edmund are very happy.
14:44That's not what Tom says.
14:45Well, then Tom is wrong.
14:50Come on.
14:51For goodness sake.
15:00Mother?
15:03Mother, come quickly.
15:04Come on.
15:15I couldn't lift him.
15:18You did the right thing.
15:21We have to make him stable.
15:24What's that?
15:26Strychnine.
15:28Don't worry.
15:28I know what I'm doing.
15:36Dad, he's strong.
15:37He'll be fine.
15:38You'll see.
15:38Oh, but for God's sake, do something.
15:59Go.
15:59Go.
16:02Go.
16:04On the 27th of April, 1928, Edmund Duff breathed his last and was soon buried next to two daughters
16:12who had died as children.
16:13Their loss had been a source of great grief for the couple.
16:18And now this added blow of sudden, unexpected widowhood, well, it seemed to those present as if it was almost too much for Grace to bear.
16:27Oh, it's the children I feel sorry for.
16:31And to think he could have been saved if he'd only worn a hat.
16:35It's really too sad.
16:37The post-mortem had been conducted by Dr. Bronte, who came to the surprising conclusion that Edmund had died from degeneration of the heart muscle brought on from fishing in the sun without a hat.
16:47Almost as odd as this verdict was the fact that no one questioned it in those deferential days.
16:54Now, you mustn't worry about a thing.
16:56If you need anything, you just ask.
17:00We'll be all right.
17:01You're already such a darling about John's coffees.
17:04That's more than enough for one person.
17:06Oh, don't be silly.
17:08What else am I going to spend my money on?
17:11Dear Vera.
17:18I am sorry, Grace.
17:20Don't pretend you liked him.
17:23I wish you didn't have to go through this, that's all.
17:26Margaret's waiting for you.
17:30They had all inherited money from their grandfather, but only Vera still had her legacy.
17:37Grace's share was lost through her husband's dabbling in the stock market.
17:46Edmund was insured, of course, but it would be months before the policy paid out.
17:50Could I speak to your mistress?
17:56I'll see if she's at home.
18:02It's the doctor's home.
18:09Sorry, sir.
18:10She must have gone out.
18:11Will you tell her I call?
18:24I wasn't expecting you.
18:26Is Vera around?
18:27She's playing tennis with Mrs. Northbrook.
18:30Tell her I dropped by.
18:31You're out of funds.
18:35Have you any idea how much I've already given you this month?
18:39I wasn't asking you.
18:40No, you were going to ask your soft-hearted sister instead.
18:43Hasn't been easy, Mother.
18:45When I lost your father, I coped.
18:47But Daddy wasn't dead, was he?
18:48Daddy ran off with...
18:50...someone else.
18:51You have a way out, Grace, which is more than I had.
18:57I won't marry, just to please you.
19:00Oh, you've made that quite clear.
19:02Edmund was a good man.
19:04Edmund was an oaf.
19:08Dr. Alwell, on the other hand, is a gentleman.
19:21Oh.
19:28Tom!
19:35Tom!
19:36What is it now?
19:37It's from your club.
19:43It's just a whip round.
19:45One of the club's servants is leaving.
19:47You told me you'd given up your membership.
19:50It's an investment.
19:51Is it?
19:52We're supposed to be saving money.
19:54I need to get more work, and to do that, I must be seen around.
19:57Now, I promised I'd get you back to America.
19:59You promised a lot of things.
20:05Margaret Sidney came to England believing she was marrying into society
20:08and that her husband was a successful entertainer.
20:12As in many marriages, the reality proved rather different.
20:16By now, Tom had spent his grandfather's legacy,
20:18and the social world Margaret had anticipated had not materialized.
20:24She was a clever woman.
20:25She was a college graduate.
20:27But work wasn't considered appropriate, and their level of society,
20:31well, respectable, was hardly cutting edge.
20:35In short, she was bored to death.
20:39Shall we go out tonight, have some fun?
20:41What do you say?
20:42I'm not a fool, Tom.
20:44Don't treat me like one to be bought off with kisses and treats.
20:48We have to trust you, Walker.
20:50We will get to the States.
20:52When?
20:55Soon.
20:55I hope so, because one way or another, I'm going home this year.
21:01And the children are coming with me.
21:11In August 1928, four months after Edmund's death,
21:14and with the help of his life insurance policy,
21:17Grace bought 59 Byrdhurst Rise.
21:20It was a few doors down from Violet's house.
21:23And in truth, she'd begun to recover.
21:25Thanks to her mother and sister,
21:27she was no worse off, really, than when Edmund was alive.
21:30And she was at least free of his harebrained financial schemes.
21:34And she wasn't alone.
21:36In the years after the Great War,
21:37there were plenty of young widows around.
21:39Grace, you really can't put that oak chair next to the walnut desk.
21:44It doesn't work to mix woods in a drawing room.
21:47It's my drawing room, mother.
21:48And I shall do as I like.
21:53Where should I put these?
21:54Not in here, surely.
21:56They were Daddy's.
21:59Darling, let's put them on the mantel shelf for now.
22:02What on earth is all this stuff?
22:04My feelings entirely.
22:06It's my stuff, and it's my home.
22:09Well, hello.
22:13Who's ill?
22:15No one, I hope.
22:16Robert.
22:17I thought these might cheer you up.
22:20You exhausted?
22:22Why? Do I look it?
22:24Grace.
22:27By early 1929, almost a year had passed since Edmund's death,
22:31but not much had changed for Tom Sidney.
22:35He still hadn't made the grade in England.
22:37And he still hadn't made the break to America.
22:41No shadows born
22:43of earthly light.
22:51Oi!
22:51Get out of there!
22:58Come out of there!
22:59What do you think you're doing?
23:05I'm sorry.
23:06I needed some rope when making a swing.
23:08Well, the shed's out of bounds.
23:09You know that.
23:10I didn't touch anything.
23:11Think.
23:12If Cedric got it into his head to play in there,
23:14there's all manner of dangerous things.
23:15We have to be very careful.
23:16You're right.
23:18I wasn't thinking.
23:22You know you're never to come in here, don't you?
23:25Good man.
23:26John.
23:36John.
23:38John.
23:40Go on.
23:41Go and make your swing.
23:44Hello.
24:10Hi.
24:11Oh, show me.
24:33This is becoming a habit.
24:34I'm sorry.
24:36The game over, and then the wretched car wouldn't start.
24:39Miss Vera's soup, I suppose.
24:41Yes, ma'am.
24:42Do I get a first course, or am I just to sit here and watch you?
24:45I've done you a nice egg mayonnaise.
24:47It may be egg mayonnaise, but whether it's nice or not is too early to say.
24:54I can't think why you're playing tennis when you're not well.
24:57I'm fine.
24:58You don't look fine.
25:00You look dreadful.
25:02Thank you, mother. That makes me feel a lot better.
25:04I just want you to slow down.
25:06It's not like you to be ill.
25:09Well, you know how I hate staying in.
25:13I mean, you can't bear staying in with me.
25:16This is delicious.
25:18You should try some, mother.
25:20I've got my toast soup.
25:21As you know well enough.
25:22Mother, and...
25:23Yes?
25:24Nothing.
25:36Why do I have to?
25:38Because your aunt pays your school fees.
25:41I didn't ask her to.
25:43Don't be so ungrateful.
25:45It's all father's fault.
25:48Don't talk like that.
25:51Daddy didn't plan on dying.
25:54What are we going to do?
25:58Don't worry.
26:00I will look after you now.
26:02I'm the man of this house now, and I will look after you.
26:06We'll be all right.
26:08I've still got one or two tricks up my sleeve.
26:10Vera.
26:26You look awful.
26:28Oh, well, I wasn't too clever yesterday, but I think I'm on the mend now.
26:32Oh, John, they're beautiful.
26:35Um, let...
26:36Yes, yes, take it.
26:40Will you let me call Dr Elwell?
26:42No, I'd rather you didn't.
26:44Oh, Vera.
26:46Don't you start.
26:48I've already had all of that from Tom.
26:51I hate gossip.
26:52Do you?
26:53I love it.
26:54Not when it's about you.
26:56People are talking.
26:57Well, let them.
26:59You don't mean that.
27:01Does he want to marry you?
27:07I think he might.
27:09What about you?
27:11It's a solution, after all.
27:13I'm really sure mother would approve.
27:16But the more she pushes him towards me, the more it puts me off.
27:19Well, that's all very well, but I think you're going to have to consider it.
27:23Lack of money is so ghastly.
27:26It makes me feel dirty just to think about it.
27:28Lack of money makes people do worse things than that.
27:31Yes, I'm afraid it does.
27:33Vera was a simple soul.
27:35A wartime physiotherapist, she had total faith in fresh air and exercise as the cure for
27:40every ailment.
27:41Oh, is it that bad?
27:42It looks as if you'd seen a ghost.
27:44Oh no, miss.
27:45I didn't expect to see you up.
27:47Aren't you feeling better?
27:49I am a bit.
27:52I wonder what it was.
27:53A touch of influenza, I suppose.
27:59What is it?
28:00Miss Vera, I'm afraid I know what it was.
28:02It was that soup.
28:04Well, what makes you say that?
28:06You won't tell your mother.
28:07Of course not.
28:07Well, you know how strict she is about what I'm allowed to eat.
28:09Of course I do.
28:10Though I don't see the point of it.
28:12I mean, why shouldn't you finish up anything that's left over?
28:15Anyway, I did have a bowl of that soup.
28:17Then I gave some to the cat and blow me.
28:19You're sick as a parrot, the pair of us.
28:22Oh, well, that's it then.
28:25Well, I can't think what went wrong.
28:28I made it the same as always.
28:30Well, it's done now.
28:32Let's just forget about it.
28:34Well, not a word to mother, I promise.
28:47Mrs Sydney's residence?
28:48Is Vera there?
28:49Oh, no.
28:50I'm sorry.
28:50You've just missed her.
28:51But I thought she'd be laid up for days.
28:53Very well.
28:54I'll pop in later.
28:55See how she is.
28:56By the way, your mother wants to know whether you could meet your aunt off the moon train
29:00tomorrow.
29:01Aunt Gwen?
29:02I didn't know she was coming.
29:04She called today and invited herself to luncheon.
29:07Couldn't Tom do it?
29:08No.
29:09Mrs Sydney doesn't want to bother him with it.
29:11Ah.
29:31Aunt Gwen!
29:32Oh, how splendid.
29:33Yes, it is.
29:34It's rather spoiling.
29:35Well, I'm not sure Mrs Noakes will know what to do with you.
29:38It's quite simple.
29:39You do need a sharp knife.
29:40I thought I heard voices.
29:42Gwen, how lovely to see you.
29:44Do you know what otherwise brought?
29:46A pineapple.
29:47Heavens.
29:48Give it to me.
29:49I'll take it to the kitchen and let Mrs Noakes have her way with it.
29:52Then I'll shoot off.
29:53Aren't you staying for lunch?
29:55I'm afraid I can't.
29:56I must sort out the children.
29:58But I'll see you later for tea.
30:01I'm so pleased that things are looking out for grace.
30:04She spoils those children.
30:06Running around at their beck and call.
30:08As opposed to running around at your beck and call.
30:13These days I'm quite used to my wishes coming second with all my children.
30:17Are you, Mother?
30:18I'm sorry Tom couldn't join us.
30:20I should love to have seen him.
30:22I didn't want to bother him.
30:23Margaret says he's not feeling very well.
30:26If he isn't, it's her fault.
30:28Are you going to try some of my soup, Aunt Gwen?
30:31I'd love some if I'm allowed.
30:36Actually, I wonder whether I will.
30:38I'm not feeling terribly hungry.
30:40Nonsense.
30:41You always have soup.
30:47Cupsticks.
30:47That's what I'm doing.
30:49I'm not feeling bad for you.
30:49I'm not feeling bad for you.
30:50I'm not feeling bad for you.
30:53Your Aunt Gwen was the first to feel the effects, and although she did manage to get home, she
31:20was extremely ill. But when recovered, poor Vera was less fortunate. At last, Elwell decided
31:32he needed some help, and the eminent Dr. Charles Bolden, an expert in gastro diseases, was sent
31:39for. Try to keep still, my dear. You'll only make yourself hot.
31:50Gastrointestinal influenza. Aggravated by dilation of the heart, he says the exercise brought
31:56it on. He thinks that car's the culprit, the starter handle. It's much too violent an exercise
32:01for a woman. I've warned her so many times. Still, now we have a diagnosis, we can make
32:08sure we get you better. Is it incredible that nobody questioned these extraordinary diagnoses?
32:14Well, they didn't. I suppose the key factor was that Vera seemed to have influenza, a disease
32:23that had claimed more victims after the Great War than died in the war itself. In those days,
32:28flu was no laughing matter. Is it as bad as she says? I'm afraid so.
32:34There must be something you can do. I only wish there were.
32:41Vera. Oh, my God. Mother, let me. No. My child. Mother, let me.
32:49Vera, it's Grace. Please let me take your hand off.
32:55Take your hand off. Boy, oh, my God.
33:10Oh, my God.
33:14Oh, my God.
33:17Ah...
33:19I need that back.
33:32Despite the similarity to Edmund's death,
33:34the world accepted that the car starter handle had done for Vera.
33:39A few days later, she was buried next to her unfortunate brother-in-law.
33:49Where have you been?
33:53Meaning?
33:54You haven't been to see Mother since Vera died.
33:56What are you thinking?
33:57I've been ill.
33:59It wouldn't have helped to give her the flu.
34:07Don't be sad, Mother.
34:09Things will get better.
34:11Is that a promise?
34:12Of course.
34:13You'll get hard for us, Mother, won't you?
34:15She's only just died, John.
34:18I know.
34:20And it's terribly sad, and I'll miss her dreadfully.
34:22But maybe if she spits it with Uncle Tommy, I'll still get hard.
34:25I don't want to talk about it.
34:27See if Grandmother's all right.
34:28There's a dear.
34:30He was only trying to be helpful.
34:31Perhaps he's right.
34:34She only had her share of what Father left us.
34:36But she was careful.
34:37There should be something.
34:40Of course, there's one way to solve your problems.
34:43It would certainly solve mine.
34:47It's also muddled, Robert.
34:48But don't force me to make a decision when it won't be what you want.
34:57I don't know what you're thinking.
34:58One less time to hold us here.
35:01I was very fond of Vera.
35:02She was always very kind to me, unlike some of your relations.
35:07Do you think Vera left you any money?
35:08She might have done.
35:09Why?
35:09Why?
35:09Just as long as you understand, I'm not staying in England because you won't leave your mother.
35:17Vera has died.
35:19Mother needs me.
35:20I'm just warning you, that's all.
35:21Violet took Vera's death very badly.
35:33And not long after the funeral, Dr. Elwell had to prescribe her a tonic.
35:37You're looking for the will?
35:43Why?
35:44Have you already taken it?
35:45God knows what I'm going to do with all this stuff.
35:52Give it to the church, I suppose.
35:55Where's Mother?
35:56Downstairs.
35:57What are we going to do about her?
36:04Well, I'm not going to take over from Vera, so you can forget that now.
36:07You know Mrs Noakes is leaving next week?
36:09She can't.
36:10I think she is.
36:11Well, who's going to look after Mother?
36:13You'll have to talk to her.
36:15What could I say?
36:16I don't know, but you'll have to think of something.
36:20All I know is I have a dead husband, I have three children, no money, Vera's things to sort out.
36:26I can't manage an impossible mother as well.
36:34She left most of it, Mr Tom.
36:37Shame to waste it.
36:39Don't worry, I don't see why you can't see the leftovers.
36:42It's one of Mother's peculiarities.
36:44She's certainly got plenty of hers.
36:47Is that why you're leaving?
36:49You can't go, you know.
36:51I gave Mrs Sidney my notice in good time.
36:53Yes, but things have changed.
36:54I'm very worried about Mother.
36:58Vera's death has hit her heart.
36:59She's very depressed.
37:00Surely you can see that.
37:02Your daughter's dead.
37:03She'd hardly be cheerful.
37:04The point is we all need to be extra vigilant.
37:08And that's why I'm asking you to stay on.
37:10Well, I don't know what difference I make.
37:12She knows you.
37:13She's used to you.
37:15I'm not convinced she can survive without you.
37:17God alone knows what she might do if you go.
37:23I'm not convinced she can survive without you.
37:53Get me some water.
38:01What is it, Mum?
38:02It's a medicine.
38:05Great, it's a foul taste.
38:08Did you want to shake it?
38:10Oh, I think I did.
38:13Oh, don't let me make lunch late.
38:15You know how I hate that.
38:16Back then.
38:25Where's Mother?
38:26From the dining room.
38:28She's still having lunch?
38:29No, Miss, she's finished, but she's not feeling too well.
38:31She wants to sit quiet for a while.
38:36Mother, what's wrong?
38:37Grace, thank goodness.
38:40What the hell is it?
38:42I think I've been poisoned.
38:45What?
38:46It's the medicine, miss.
38:48Your mother thinks it tasted odd.
38:51Well, certainly it doesn't smell very nice.
38:53It's poison, I tell you.
38:56I feel dreadful.
38:57I must go and check on the children.
39:05I'll stay with her.
39:08Grace, it's not the right time.
39:10Robert, no.
39:11Not now.
39:13I know you mean well, but I wish someone would just let me manage my own life for a change.
39:19What do you mean by bitter?
39:25Do you think it's gone off?
39:27I tell you, I've been poisoned.
39:32And you prescribed this?
39:33It's a tonic.
39:34There's nothing in it to harm your mother.
39:39What did you have for lunch today?
39:42Chicken.
39:43Oh, well, there you are then.
39:44It must have been bad.
39:45Don't talk rubbish.
39:46This is...
39:48This is true.
39:54What on earth?
39:55What?
39:55It's a pet.
39:56It's hardly very playful.
39:57So let me have a puppy.
39:58They make your sister sneeze.
40:00Hello?
40:00Well, I can live in the garden.
40:01I can build at a kennel.
40:02Darling, shh.
40:04Robert.
40:05It doesn't look good.
40:07I think you should come back.
40:09But I've only just left.
40:11Grace, I'm serious.
40:11You must come now.
40:16The doctor's up there.
40:24You are with it, too.
40:26Grace, thank goodness.
40:27I'm a British far worse.
40:28I don't understand.
40:29Why so quickly?
40:30She wants to be eaten something.
40:32Or taken it.
40:34It's the only explanation.
40:35What are you trying to say?
40:36Is she even though I'm here?
40:52She does.
40:56You're sure this is what you prescribed?
40:57Of course he's sure.
40:59She was perfectly fine before she took it.
41:01Your mother's taken it for weeks.
41:02You said yourself she'd been picking up.
41:03And so Violet Sidney became the third member of her family to die within the year.
41:29At last, the alarm bells were ringing.
41:38And not before time.
41:40Elwell was asked to supply the authorities with the medicines he'd prescribed.
41:44And samples of Violet's food were taken away for analysis.
41:47Who are you calling?
41:53Aunt Gwen.
41:55No, don't.
41:58I thought I'd go up there myself.
42:00To Newcastle?
42:02Why?
42:02I think I ought to.
42:04At least somebody should.
42:05She's getting on and I think it's too much for her to hear it over a telephone.
42:08But when can you go?
42:09I mean, I quite agree.
42:10She needs to hear it from one of us.
42:12I'll go today.
42:12A wretched family reconvene at this same cemetery.
42:20There was a funeral, but only because the hopeless Dr. Bronte, he who diagnosed Edmund's death from lack of hat wearing,
42:27decided that Violet had died, and I quote, from unidentifiable causes.
42:32Unsurprisingly, she was not allowed to rest.
42:36An analysis of her medicine resulted in both Violet's and Vera's bodies being exhumed within the month.
42:41And it wasn't long before Edmund's grave also yielded up its secrets.
42:52But when?
42:53There were three inquests in all, and the coroner, Dr. Jackson, heightened the drama by declaring he would hold them all concurrently.
43:14So it was soon established that first Edmund, then Vera, and finally Violet had all swallowed arsenic.
43:22In other words, there was a triple poisoner at large.
43:26The last of the inquest was Edmund's, and by that time, the verdict was not a surprise.
43:31We find that Edmund Crichton Duff met his death on the 27th of April, 1928, from acute arsenical poisoning administered by some person or persons unknown.
43:47What the coroner did not do, however, was point the finger at a suspect.
43:51There were no arrests.
43:53There was no trial.
43:55Unless, of course, one were to count trial by public opinion.
44:01Press, public, even the police cast Grace Duff in the role of killer, ridding herself of her boorish husband and ending his reckless financial dealings.
44:16According to this version, she killed her sister and her mother simply to gain her share of their fortunes.
44:21The bitter truth is that Grace would live out the rest of her days under suspicion of murder.
44:29So were they right?
44:31Was it Grace?
44:33A popular image of the cool and stylish murderers.
44:36Remember, in those days, poison was very much seen as a female weapon of choice.
44:42All three victims had been poisoned with arsenic, then used in household pesticides and commonly available.
44:48The consensus was that the first dose of poison was in the beer.
45:03And it was certainly meant for Edmund, because nobody else in the house drank it.
45:07What are those crates of beer doing there?
45:10I suppose they're for him.
45:11Well, they're certainly not for me.
45:12I nearly fell over them.
45:16Vera's poison was in the soup.
45:18Absolutely no question.
45:19Actually, I wonder whether I will.
45:21I'm not feeling terribly hungry.
45:23Nonsense.
45:24You always have soup.
45:26Everyone knew that nobody else in the house drank it.
45:30It was Violet's tonic that finished her off.
45:36What is it, ma'am?
45:37Medicine.
45:39Grishy.
45:40Foul taste.
45:40Could it have been Violet?
45:44She certainly hated her son-in-law.
45:46Could she kill him to make way for Dr Elwill?
45:48Then rid herself of an uncomfortable relationship with Vera and finally take her own life in remorse?
45:55Well, it was an idea put about at the time, and Tom appeared to believe it.
46:01My mother thought her garden paths looked untidy and asked me for some weed killer.
46:06I bought some and made up a solution for her.
46:08She never did the paths, but I dread to think what she might have used it for.
46:16To me, Tom's theory of homicidal suicide is the least convincing of all.
46:21However much she loathed her son-in-law, I can't believe she would have poisoned her beloved daughter Vera
46:26and then visited a similarly gruesome death on herself.
46:31No, it wasn't Violet.
46:35Could it have been Mrs Noakes?
46:37Obviously, it would have been easy for her to poison the soup, but why would she drink it herself?
46:46I think we can safely acquit Mrs Noakes,
46:49especially as she had neither motive nor opportunity to kill Edmund.
46:53So who did?
46:58Elwell came in for some suspicion.
47:00So in love with Grace, he'd do anything to make her his.
47:02How long have you been standing there?
47:09You're very sweet with him.
47:12How's Edmund?
47:13I can't find very much wrong.
47:15He must have eaten something.
47:17Did he offer you a nightcap?
47:20He is the limit.
47:21Especially when you come all this way.
47:23I'd do a lot more than that, Grace.
47:25No, as a doctor, he would surely have used an untraceable poison.
47:31Not arsenic.
47:32The right thing.
47:35And what about the most shocking theory of all?
47:38And what did you do with the rest of the weed killer?
47:40I kept it in my shed for safety.
47:43Could anyone have access to your shed?
47:45No, I always keep it locked.
47:48Although, now you ask, I did once find my nephew John in there.
47:53I was quite cross with him.
47:54I have young children, you see.
47:57Was it John?
47:59Tom's testimony suggested that it might have been the boy who took the weed killer.
48:04So desperate was he to make his mother's troubles go away.
48:08I thought I might cash in the insurance policy.
48:10How can you possibly consider it after the last time?
48:14Are you all right, Mother?
48:14Everything's fine, darling.
48:17Why don't you collect father's things?
48:18We'll go inside.
48:20Could it be true?
48:23Did he kill his father?
48:25Only to find he'd made his mother's life more difficult than ever.
48:30It's all father's fault.
48:34Don't talk like that.
48:36Daddy didn't plan on dying.
48:40What are we going to do?
48:42Don't worry.
48:44I will look after you now.
48:47I'm the man of this house now and I will look after you.
48:50I suppose the boy might conceivably have poisoned Elwell.
48:54But not his grandmother and aunt.
48:56Does he want to marry you?
48:58I think he might.
49:00It's a solution after all.
49:01I'm sure it wasn't John.
49:03I'm afraid we are left with the siblings, Grace and Tom.
49:10Where's Mother?
49:12Downstairs.
49:14What are we going to do about her?
49:15Well, I'm not going to take over from Vera, so you can forget that now.
49:18So which of them was it, Tom or Grace?
49:22Both of them had a motive to kill Violet as they both stood to inherit her money.
49:29But would they really want poor, harmless, generous Vera dead?
49:33Of course, she was the only one who'd husbanded the inheritance they'd all received from their grandfather, and she had no children.
49:41So Tom and Grace stood to benefit.
49:44At the inquest, Mrs. Noakes remembered seeing someone in the passage.
49:48But you think Mr. Thomas Sidney was in the house on the morning that you prepared the soup that later made you and the cat ill?
49:59Yes.
50:00Are you sure you saw him?
50:03I was sure.
50:06I just caught a glimpse of him.
50:07Oh, you just caught a glimpse.
50:09That's a little vague, don't you think?
50:11You're not muddling it up with some other day?
50:14Well, he was in and out all the time.
50:15I suppose it could have been another day.
50:20She thought it was Tom, but was it Grace?
50:22And was she muddled?
50:24On the day of the poisoning, Grace brought Gwen to the house.
50:27Do you know what other Gwen's brought?
50:29A pineapple.
50:30Heavens, if it's me, I'll take it to the kitchen and let Mrs. Noakes have her way with it.
50:34Then I'll shoot off.
50:35Aren't you staying for lunch?
50:36Even though Grace didn't stay, she knew that Gwen was there.
50:41I'm sorry Tom couldn't join us.
50:43I should love to have seen him.
50:45Tom, on the other hand, was unaware there even was a luncheon in Gwen's honour.
50:53Edmund's death is the awkward detail in all this where Grace is concerned.
50:59Tom might dislike Edmund, but Grace alone would benefit from her husband's death.
51:05The seal's broken.
51:07The police never accumulated enough evidence to charge Grace with murder and I'm confident that the reason for this is a simple one.
51:26She didn't do it.
51:27The key to the mystery is Gwendolyn Greenwell.
51:31It was essential that only Vera drink the soup.
51:35However, on the day, Aunt Gwen invites herself for lunch.
51:38So who of the possible poisoners knew that Gwen would be served the soup?
51:43Well, Violet knew.
51:45Mrs. Noakes knew.
51:47Grace brought her from the station.
51:48Obviously, if she put arsenic into the saucepan earlier, she would have gone into the kitchen and accidentally spilled the lot.
51:53The only member of their circle who did not know that Gwen would be in the house that day was Tom.
52:01No, Grace was innocent.
52:04The notion that her marriage was unhappy came from Tom.
52:07None of the servants' testimony bore it out.
52:10And she was close to Vera.
52:11And Vienna loved John.
52:14But anyway, there's something else to consider.
52:17Whoever killed Violet was in a hurry.
52:20There'd already been two deaths, surely, to risk a third.
52:22It was to fly in the face of fortune.
52:24And Grace wasn't going anywhere.
52:28But someone was in a hurry.
52:31And that someone was Tom Sidney.
52:34Later, he'd pretend that he'd fled to America to escape Grace.
52:37But we know he was burning to go just as soon as he had the money to do so.
52:40Well, you have to trust me, Margaret.
52:43We will get to the States.
52:45When?
52:48Soon.
52:49I hope so.
52:51Because one way or another, I'm going home this year.
52:54And the children are coming with me.
52:56It was Tom who originally planted the idea that Violet might have committed suicide.
53:02I'm very worried about Mother.
53:04Vera's death has hit her hard.
53:06Her daughter's dead.
53:07She'd hardly be cheerful.
53:08The point is, we all need to be extra vigilant.
53:11I'm not convinced she can survive without you.
53:18God alone knows what she might do if you go.
53:20And it was Tom who suggested that Mrs. Noakes could be the killer.
53:24Mrs. Noakes maintained that he'd been in the house on the morning of the first attempt to kill Vera.
53:36She said she saw him in the passage and he denied it.
53:39But later in court, the coroner forced her to question her own memory.
53:44Nevertheless, I'm sure she was right and he was there.
53:46Just as he would have been in the house the day that Violet died.
53:50And why did he go to Newcastle to tell Gwen?
53:54I'll tell you why.
53:56It was always part of his plan to set Grace up.
54:00And within the family, Gwen was Grace's special champion.
54:03But that was before she knew she'd narrowly escaped death by arsenic.
54:08Tom achieved his ends.
54:09The next time Gwen saw her niece, she was as cold to her as ice.
54:15Oh, Gwen.
54:18What have I done?
54:20I'm afraid the press have taken against you.
54:27Vera's death brought the first helping of cash and prevented her from taking a share of their mother's.
54:33After all, half of everything was the most he could hope for.
54:39You're looking for the will?
54:41Why?
54:42Have you already taken it?
54:44He was bound to share with Grace unless he was prepared to kill all her children and that would have brought detection.
54:50My guess is that having got away with the first two murders, he would have preferred to wait.
54:55Let Violet die naturally.
54:56But his marriage was hanging in the balance.
54:59He just didn't have time.
55:01I know what you're thinking.
55:02One less tied to hold us here.
55:05I was very fond of Vera.
55:06Vera, she was always very kind to me, unlike some of your relations.
55:10Do you think Vera left you any money?
55:12She might have done.
55:13Why?
55:15Just as long as you understand, I'm not staying in England because you won't leave your mother.
55:21The temptation, having brought it off twice, must have been great.
55:25As we forget, the arsenic was sitting there in his garden shed.
55:34The truth is, the whole grisly campaign of death worked.
55:40With his inheritance, Tom and Margaret left for America and made a new life.
55:46These are the graves of all three victims.
55:58Violet, Vera and Edmund.
56:03Why Edmund?
56:06He didn't like his brother-in-law.
56:08He detested being the butt of his coarse humour.
56:11But murder?
56:14Well, I think firstly, he wanted to rid himself of the only other man in the family who might challenge him.
56:21I also think he wanted to try out his method,
56:24which with both Edmund and Vera meant giving small amounts of the poison to simulate illness before killing them.
56:30That way he could achieve a diagnosis of natural causes,
56:33which, thanks to Doctors Bolton and Bronte, he managed both times.
56:38But finally, I'm sure his real motive for killing Edmund
56:43was to have a fallback position if the whole thing should go wrong.
56:48With Edmund gone, it meant whomever was killed later,
56:52suspicion was bound to fall on Grace.
56:55And in this, he was quite correct.
56:57It did.
56:58And it ruined her life.
57:07Grace is dead.
57:08And her son, John, another target of his uncle's malice, was killed in the Second World War.
57:14Her house survives.
57:16But Violet's does not.
57:18It fell into ruin and was replaced by a spanking new block of flats.
57:22Today, the Sidneys have departed.
57:28And Birdhurst Rides is just another street in Croydon.
57:32But it is a bit chilling to think that less than a century ago,
57:35an unconvicted killer walked down it,
57:38who murdered half his family,
57:39and would have placed a noose around the neck of his one surviving sister,
57:43all to help him on his way to the new world.
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