The Armchair Detective and the Peculiar Pocket Watch: Series Three
Page 3
RICHARD: I don’t think that would be a good idea.
DEBSY: Oh… right.
TRENCH: Rhonda, that message you left me – which is in the very paper you are reading – uncover what secret of the pocket watch? What does it mean?
RHONDA: Nothing more than we all want to unlock what the watch is hiding, don’t we?
TRENCH: Do we?
DEBSY: Richard, you’ll tell me what your message means, won’t you?
RICHARD: Certainly, it means – there’s not much time left, but come forward at the appointed hour.
DEBSY: I see – it says what it means. Thank you very much.
TRENCH: Well, we’re going to see Lord Reaves.
(There is a slight but sharp intake of breath from RHONDA at the mention of this name.)
DEBSY: Yes, maybe he can make more sense than you two put together.
(TRENCH and DEBSY get up to leave. Mysterious music ends this scene.)
(TRENCH and DEBSY are walking.)
DEBSY: This is all becoming distinctly odder by the minute.
TRENCH: Richard and Rhonda certainly weren’t talking.
DEBSY: Especially to each other…
TRENCH: We’re nearly at the Reaves’ residence.
DEBSY: Yes, what do you think of his house?
TRENCH: Luxurious… but modest. I thought he would have lived in something grander than a town house.
DEBSY: I agree – here we are.
(A steady ticking sound moves things along.)
LORD REAVES: Debsy, Trench – it’s nearly four o’clock. You are just in time for afternoon tea! Mavis, be a dear and make the necessary arrangements.
MAVIS: Me cut extra cakes, and make extra tea, my lord.
LORD REAVES: Good girl. Now, I suppose you youngsters want to know more about the pocket watch?
DEBSY: Yes please.
TRENCH: We’d be obliged, Lord Reaves.
LORD REAVES: My father originally had it made as a special commission from London Watchsmiths for my sixteenth birthday. (He chuckles slightly.) My father had a wicked sense of humour.
DEBSY: At least now, we know its actual origins.
TRENCH: And you eventually gave it to your late younger brother?
LORD REAVES: Yes, who bequeathed it to his daughter, Rhonda.
DEBSY: So, mystery solved then.
TRENCH: Yes… but no. There are still many unanswered questions. I mean, Richard and Rhonda have been behaving very strangely.
DEBSY: Yes, what’s Richard’s connection?
TRENCH: What is all this about, Lord Reaves?
LORD REAVES: Let me enlighten you. It concerns the reading of my will tomorrow morning at eleven o’clock.
DEBSY: You’re… you’re going to die?
LORD REAVES: I hope not child! I am the kind of man that wants to distribute his worldly goods, before his death. And tomorrow, the remainder of my family – I had no children of my own, you understand – and friends will discover who inherits what and how much.
TRENCH: And is all that somehow connected to this pocket watch?
LORD REAVES: Yes, that most special of timepieces is vital to the proceedings… There is a safe behind that painting.
DEBSY: And Richard’s connection?
LORD REAVES: All right Debsy, I will tell you…
(Intriguing music changes the scene.)
OLD TOM: So, Richard is Rhonda’s brother. Now that changes things – and explains a lot.
TRENCH: Does it? That tea was cold.
OLD TOM: Thank-you.
TRENCH: I mean, who’s playing what game and why, Old Tom? And why is the pocket watch so important?
OLD TOM: I suspect the pocket watch holds the key…
TRENCH: Oh come on – now you’re speaking in riddles.
OLD TOM: This watch has helped us to reveal most of the clues.
TRENCH: I suppose it has kind of sent us on a journey from Richard to Rhonda – and to Lord Reaves.
OLD TOM: And to the secret perhaps that the watch so proudly hides.
TRENCH: Please explain – the reading of the so-called will is in barely an hour, to which me and Debsy have been invited.
OLD TOM: I will attempt to point you in the right direction, so you achieve the correct time, so to speak.
TRENCH: Yes, time – that commodity is starting to run out so please get on with it.
OLD TOM: Here goes then. The pocket watch holds a secret that siblings Richard and Rhonda wish to unlock. They can’t manage that themselves, but using the pretence of discovering the watch’s origins, enlist your help at the Stokeham Herald.
TRENCH: Sounds plausible, I suppose…
OLD TOM: There seems to be a reason why Lord Reaves wants to impose obstacles in the way of them inheriting his fortune.
TRENCH: Yes..?
OLD TOM: Come on, think Trench think.
TRENCH: They communicate somehow, but don’t talk…
OLD TOM: Rhonda’s marriage failed – and Richard wasn’t exactly interested in Debsy, was he?
TRENCH: Which suggests a rather disturbing motive for the extraordinary lengths Lord Reaves is going – to make things awkward for his niece and nephew…
OLD TOM: And now is the appointed time to go, Trench – and discover the final secret…
TRENCH: Right, I’m going then.
(TRENCH gets up to leave.)
OLD TOM: (Who raises his voice.) And Trench.
(TRENCH comes back in.)
TRENCH: Yes?
OLD TOM: Don’t forget the pocket watch, will you?
(Sombre music filled with hectic ticking changes the scene.)
LORD REAVES: I bid you all good morning. Richard and Rhonda.
RICHARD: Thank you, uncle.
LORD REAVES: Invited witnesses, Trench and Debsy.
DEBSY: ‘morning.
LORD REAVES: And my constant companion, Mavis.
MAVIS: Me go make elevenses.
LORD REAVES: No, no. For once, Mavis elevenses can wait. What I am about to say here, concerns you also.
MAVIS: Me stay, my lord.
LORD REAVES: So, to business. The following will remain unchanged, whatever happens here this morning. Mavis, you will receive a small monthly allowance from this day forward. Richard, Rhonda – a regular modest allowance will be yours from now on.
RHONDA: What about your estate?
RICHARD: And your vast fortune, uncle?
LORD REAVES: I am coming to that. Now, Richard and Rhonda, in order to have a chance of inheriting, you agreed to not directly see or speak to each other for a year. Have you succeeded in achieving that – except today of course?
RHONDA: As promised, we have never spoken.
RICHARD: Or even looked at each other in the eye.
LORD REAVES: And I believe you have… just – because, I believe, you wouldn’t have dared to break the agreement. The wall safe, over there…
DEBSY: He’s taken the picture down.
TRENCH: I know, I can see.
DEBSY: Sorry.
LORD REAVES: …contains the deeds to this house; my other estates and the rights to the bulk of my monies, stocks and shares. As you know, my nephew/niece, you simply need to input a four-digit code and my fortune is all yours.
TRENCH: Can I just ask where the pocket watch comes into all this?
LORD REAVES: Yes, you may. To help out dear Richard and Rhonda here, I gave them my pocket watch and told them it holds a vital clue… which is…
RICHARD: Tell us.
DEBSY: I’d quite like to know too.
LORD REAVES: The pocket watch holds a clue to the four-digit code.
RICHARD: Where is it?
LORD REAVES: I decree that you only have until eleven o’clock to open the safe, Richard and Rhonda.
RICHARD: But that’s only two minutes away!
LORD REAVES: Failure to do so will result in Mavis here inheriting the lot.
RICHARD: Trench, you’ve had the pocket watch – what’s the c
ode?
TRENCH: I… I don’t know.
RHONDA: Richard, get the damned watch – there may still be time.
TRENCH: Debsy, here pass the pocket watch to Richard, will you?
DEBSY: All right.
(TRENCH passes DEBSY the watch.)
RICHARD: Debsy, what are you waiting for? We can dine out again, if you like, whenever you want. (He starts screaming.) Pass me the watch, now!
DEBSY: Oops, I’ve dropped it. (We hear it drop, and then a crunching sound.) And I’ve trod on it – and completely smashed the thing.
RICHARD: You fool!
RHONDA: I’ll try the safe – any combination!
(We hear RHONDA furiously turn and twist the safe dial, but to no avail.)
LORD REAVES: You are out of time, I’m afraid.
RHONDA: Damn.
RICHARD: Debsy, why did you break the watch?
DEBSY: I don’t know… I don’t like being used, I suppose. And I’ve just realised – those messages, ‘learn from ignorance’ – you meant me! The cheek of it.
TRENCH: I’m awfully sorry, Lord Reaves. Your pocket watch was very valuable…
LORD REAVES: Don’t be – the face will now forever display one of my favourite times of the day: eleven o’clock.
MAVIS: Me fetch elevenses? Oh, and err… thank-you, my lord.
LORD REAVES: Thank you, Mavis. And now to put everyone out of their misery…
DEBSY: Except Richard and Rhonda, of course…
LORD REAVES: …and reveal the secret code…
(Mysterious music ends the scene.)
TRENCH: Can I drink my tea, Old Tom?
OLD TOM: It’s not time yet – just give it a few more minutes…
TRENCH: So, what made you suspicious of Richard?
OLD TOM: I suspected something was wrong from the beginning. No normal person would leave such a valuable timepiece with relative strangers.
TRENCH: Are you saying you wouldn’t trust me and Debsy?
OLD TOM: You know very well what I am saying. The pawnbroker incident was simply far too convenient.
TRENCH; Yes, leaving that customer book on the counter now does seem rather contrived…
OLD TOM: And the wholesale jewellery magazine you found at Richard’s home probably indicates he owns or runs the pawnbrokers, which made it very easy to set you up with Rhonda’s address. Also, the pocket watch in a charity box story seemed strained.
TRENCH: Which we swallowed, nonetheless.
OLD TOM: Richard and Rhonda then unsuccessfully hoped you would somehow uncover and disclose the pocket watch’s secret. They also used you to correspond via cryptic messages in the Stokeham Herald, to communicate with each other whilst observing the strict no-talking rule from Lord Reaves. Remember you or Debsy only saw Richard on a Tuesday at his request, so you would place his message for Rhonda on a Wednesday for Thursday’s edition.
TRENCH: Brilliant – and, of course – one of the messages: be late – that meant latte, meet for coffee! Well, almost meet for coffee. And Richard’s ‘stay focussed on the pocket watch, and we will wind up’ – add ‘together’ and you have a clear message for Rhonda.
OLD TOM: Very good, Trench.
TRENCH: But why did Lord Reaves impose such a ban on his nephew and niece in the first place?
OLD TOM: I suspect Lord Reaves saw something in the brother and sister’s relationship that shouldn’t have been there. The love that perhaps dare not speak its name..?
TRENCH: A failed marriage, Richard’s apparent disinterest in other women.
OLD TOM: Maybe they only had eyes for each other…
TRENCH: And that coupled with their evident greed…
OLD TOM: Which meant Lord Reaves did not wish for them to inherit and so devised a scheme to make it very difficult for his remaining relatives to do so. If he would have done the usual thing and waited until he had died – he knew they would have contested the will. But, as he was a sporting fellow, he gave them a fighting chance – the clue from the pocket watch.
TRENCH: Well, that is one thing you don’t know, Old Tom – the all-important four-digit safe code.
OLD TOM: Four digits, eh? Oh, that’s easy. The code is: one, one, one, six.
TRENCH: Oh come on, that’s impossible. How in Stokeham could you have known that?
OLD TOM: The clue was clearly displayed on the pocket watch all along on the actual face. Remember the watch only stopped on weekdays at eleven and four o’clock respectfully which, of course, coincided with Lord Reaves’ beloved elevenses at eleven and afternoon tea at four.
TRENCH: My brain’s ticking, but still not quite there yet…
OLD TOM: I’ll spell it out then. As suggested by the pocket watch, Lord Reaves safe code consisted of elevenses and afternoon tea merged together.
TRENCH: Got it! One, one is eleven from elevenses – and one, six is sixteen from the twenty-four hour clock meaning four o’clock, afternoon tea!
OLD TOM: Correct, my friend.
TRENCH: Oh no, I’ve just had a terrible thought. Maybe we’ve all been hoodwinked by the real brains behind this master plan, the person who was left the entire fortune: Mavis.
OLD TOM: What are you suggesting, Trench?
TRENCH: Has an apparently slow, lowly cleaner outwitted the great armchair detective?
OLD TOM: An uncomfortable thought – drink your tea, Trench.
TRENCH: Oh don’t worry, Old Tom – as with the pocket watch and your mantle clock, I was only winding you up!
(An ever-loud ticking sound merges into:)
CLOSING MYSTERY MUSIC
Read More…
Read The Coffee Shop and the Pocket Watch, an original ‘sideways glance’ that accompanies and compliments The Armchair Detective and the Peculiar Pocket Watch.
Look for PLAY OF THE MONTH at www.thearmchairdetective.moonfruit.com
NEXT: The Armchair Detective In London
www.thearmchairdetective.moonfruit.com