I'll not say the uniform don't suit you, Miss Cushing,
but it's nice to see you out of it.
Sarah. Sarah.
You must be the other Miss Cushing.
Ain't this an happy day, then, for all three of you?
Yes, yes, it is. Of course it is.
Just coming.
(Music box plays Daisy, Daisy)
"Body snatchers strike in north London."
Are we dealing with a modern version of Burke and Hare?
Well, sadly, the anatomy schools don't need
the bodysnatchers at this time of the year.
They are stocked with corpses from the poor.
What do you think, then?
I don't know. Some outlandish cult perhaps.
Have you been consulted on the subject, Holmes?
- (Knocking) - Come in, Hawkins.
Ah, Hawkins.
Make yourself at home. Have a cup of coffee.
Thank you.
- Have you brought those descriptions? - Yes, yes, I have.
"Bodies so far exhumed. Albert Cotter, 48.
"Fish porter of Shadwell. Heart disease.
"Martin Rubery, 54. Cirrhosis of the liver."
We don't know much about him.
It was thought he was an amateur pugilist of some sort in his youth.
"Jimmy King, 39. Covent Garden porter. Cerebral haemorrhage."
- You will continue your researches? - If you say so, Mr Holmes.
I do say so.
And keep your eye on the premises of a certain Murdoch Gull.
Yes? Murdoch, do you think?
He's the fence for anything out of the ordinary.
He could be our man.
One more thing, Mr Holmes, sir.
The men and I would be very honoured if you'd drop by Christmas Eve.
We try to get a bit festive at Christmas and we like to invite a few guests.
Christmas...
(Barrel organ plays Silent Night)
Mary?
Mary!
There. It's a start.
- Mrs Hudson. - Mr Holmes?
How am I supposed to think up yet another present for Watson?
Every year you inflict this agony on me.
It's quite simple, Mr Holmes. You go to Gamage's.
- Gamage's? - It's in Holborn, a departmental store.
The people's emporium. You will be quite spoilt for ideas.
Gamage's?
Mrs Hudson! How dare you take my aspidistra?
I do dare.
(Church bell)
- Miss Cushing. Season's greetings. - Good afternoon, Wilkinson.
- Looks like we're in for more snow. - I do hope not.
(Clink of crockery)
(Tea being poured)
- What is this, Monsieur Jacottet? - Madame Susan.
Our arrangement is that you may sit by the parlour fire after dinner.
Otherwise, I'd be obliged, when you are in the house,
if you would keep to your room.
Your sister, Sarah, gave me permission, madame.
This is my house, not my sister's.
- Even if she said it, which I doubt. - You doubt my word?
I'd be most surprised if my sister gave the run of the kitchen to my lodger.
You'd be surprised what your sister gives. Very surprised.
I think I'd be obliged if you left the kitchen now, monsieur.
- I don't think you hear what I am saying. - Susan!
Marcel.
Susan. It has worked. They made me warden at the Mission.
Now you ask her what she gave me.
Did you give M Jacottet permission to help himself here in the kitchen?
Oh...
I believe I did once.
- I didn't realise he'd... - Ask her.
- What do you mean? What's going on? - Ask her.
You English are such hypocrites. Now, you tell her what you gave me.
- What? - What is all this about?
Will someone please tell me...
I see.
Very well.
You are warden now.
Go and live there, then.
You'll have quarters at the Mission. Go there. I don't want you under my roof.
Go. I won't have you here. I won't.
And as for you, monsieur, you will leave my house immediately.
Immediately. Or I will call the police.
Your belongings will be packed and left at the tradesmen's entrance.
How dare you?
- You sound exactly like Mother. - And what if I do?
I thought I heard the last of that when she died.
How dare you talk about Mother like that? It's just as well I am like her.
I don't know what would happen to this family otherwise.
You hold us all together, do you? How splendid you are.
Do you realise that Mary has gone away without telling anyone?
Good. She's showing some spirit at last.
You call that good?
Sometimes I think you're not just feckless,
I think you're deliberately irresponsible.
- Mary is a married woman. - Well, no thanks to you.
You stood in her way to the last.
Jim Browner was never good enough for our family, was he?
The daughters of Major Cushing RE?
Never mind, he was a gambling wastrel. Our father was...
Be quiet. If anyone has disgraced this family, it's...
Me? I warn you, one day this diet of respectability is going to make you ill.
You...
...are so...
...horrid.
(Hums)
- Dear Mrs Hudson. - Mr Holmes.
The Doctor has someone with him. A Miss Susan Cushing.
- Oh, well. You'd better hold onto this. - What is it?
What's that?
That is a Christmas tree. It's a Norway spruce.
This is Miss Cushing.
Miss Cushing is concerned about her sister, Mrs Browner.
Pray continue...
Miss Cushing's younger sister lives not far from her,
just east of Camberwell.
Mrs Browner visits her every Friday for tea,
unless she sends excuses, which is most unusual.
Last Friday, the 19th, Mrs Browner failed to send excuses or to arrive.
So, Miss Cushing has made inquiries at her lodgings
but Mrs Browner has not been seen there since last Thursday.
Sounds to me as though she has disappeared.
Evidently, Holmes.
There could be one of two reasons.
Yes, I know. Either because she wished to disappear
or because somebody else wished her to disappear.
Do you know any reason why anyone else should wish her to disappear?
Mary? None. She's the most lovable of creatures.
Everyone loves her.
As to her whereabouts, I suggest you try the missing people's agency.
- I could find you a list of addresses. - (Holmes) There. Ha!
Charming.
Slight improvement on that rather sad picea excelsa.
Sarah. Sarah.
Marcel.
What possessed you? You've wrecked it all.
The waiting possessed me. You drive me mad, Sarah.
Sometimes I think I am possessed.
- Where are you now? - Some filthy hole near the hospital.
Thanks to your sister. I will not let her forget this.
You'll need a reference if you're going to find a decent place to stay.
- Are you going to Belgium still? - Yes. My uncle near Ostend.
Well, when you come back, I'll write a reference for you.
I'm warden of this place. It'll count.
I love you.
Come to me after Christmas.
(Children sing O Come All Ye Faithful outside)
(Knocking)
(Dog whines)
(Knocking)
The post, Miss Cushing.
- Shall I put the parcels under the tree? - Yes, please.
- Nothing from Mrs Browner yet? - Nothing as yet, no.
Did Sudgen's include the Madeira in their delivery today?
Yes, Miss Cushing. Everything's ready for this evening.
Thank you.
(Organ plays Silent Night)
- Compliments of the season. - Thank you and the very same to you.
Miss Cushing. I say, Miss Cushing.
- Sorry. - Mr Bradbrook?
I dare say your sister, Sarah, will be joining us?
I'm afraid not, Mr Bradbrook. She's warden of the Mission hostel now.
Her duties to her residents keep her there.
I shall see her only on Sundays now, I fear.
I am sorry to disappoint you, Mr Bradbrook.
No, no, no, you haven't. Not at all.
Come now, Mr Bradbrook. It's Christmas Eve.
To make up, we shall open our presents from under the tree
straight after supper instead of at midnight. What do you say?
Very well. Yes. Yes, fine. Splendid. Let's do that.
Well, Gladstone will be pleased at least. There's a treat somewhere for him.
Welcome, gentlemen. Very good of you to come.
- Gull. Has he been arrested? - No, Mr Holmes.
- He's come to complain. - Has he?
He spotted our surveillance of him.
- You won't give up? - Dear me, no.
(Laughter)
Join the party.
- Come on. - (Knocking)
Yes? Come in.
(Laughs)
- Oh, my dear fellow, you are wearing it. - Well, I had to try it.
What's so good about it is it stretches forward
over the handlebars if you need it.
- Where on earth did you find it? - Gamage's, the people's emporium.
Thank you. Pipe. Magnificent.
Hawkins, do come in, dear fellow.
Please, sit down. What is the news of the grave robberies?
The Camberwell force have been on to me. Incident down there.
They were wondering if it had any connection?
I don't think it does myself, but I'd value your opinion, Mr Holmes.
We need to get this nasty little joke solved and out of the way.
Joke?
Respectable lady, in company, opening her parcels, Christmas Eve.
One of them's a bit odd. Full of salt.
She empties out the salt. What's in it?
Two freshly severed human ears. We think it was a medical student.
She had a medical student as a lodger.
Post-mortem anatomy can make certain individuals thoroughly callous.
She threw him out just before Christmas. Bit of a row, apparently.
Knowing your methods, Mr Holmes,
I've had the ears left quite untouched at the lady's house.
Which is... Yes, here it is. Trafalgar Villa, Camberwell. A Miss Susan Cushing.
Oh, Mr Holmes. Have you come to help me find Mary, after all?
I'm afraid not, Miss Cushing.
The Inspector has asked me to look into that other unfortunate business.
Oh, that.
Well, I won't have those things in the house, Mr Hawkins.
If you wish to see them, you must go to the conservatory.
Have you arrested that wretched young man yet?
Just a matter of time, Miss Cushing.
Postmark, Harwich.
This student fellow, Jacottet, was going home for Christmas
to Ostend via Harwich.
Yes, I agree, Harwich is persuasive.
The writing is poor. Uneducated.
I know the medical profession is notorious for its illegibility, but this...
Writ with a broad-nibbed pen, very inferior ink.
Tarred twine.
Stockholm tar. Knots intact.
Rough salt. And embedded in it?
These very singular enclosures.
What do you think of it, Watson?
A ring has been torn from this ear.
They are not a pair.
It would be easier for Jacottet to have abstracted ears
from a dissecting room which were not actually a pair.
- To what purpose? - Some kind of disgusting practical joke.
Gentlemen, this is no practical joke.
What first strikes you when you enter a dissecting room?
Formaldehyde. It should smell of formaldehyde.
And it does not. This is no practical joke.
This is a serious crime.
(Knocking)
Your sister, Miss Cushing.
Mary.
At last.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary.
I thought it was Mary.
I've come to take some more of my things.
I bought you a present before we argued.
- You may as well have it. - I don't want it. I don't want it.
- What's the matter with you? - Is it another disgusting prank?
- What? - Well, he was your friend, after all.
- Who was? - I don't want your horrid parcel.
Take it. Let's preserve the proprieties at least, sister.
Proprieties? You dare to talk about the proprieties?
You've flouted the rules of society all your life.
You had the effrontery to accuse me of interfering with Mary marrying that man.
- Didn't you? - What did you do?
What did I do?
- I did nothing. - You know what you did.
You introduced Mary to other men, corrupting her.
- Mary has told me in her innocence. - She accused me?
Mary accuses no one. You know that. But I see your hand in her unhappiness.
Nonsense.
Why did Jim Browner start drinking again?
He signed the pledge for Mary.
That's what brought them together.
She pinned the blue ribbon to his chest and he was a new man.
So why did he break his pledge?
Why ask me?
Why did you quarrel with him?
I never approved of Jim Browner, that's true.
But he deserved better than being driven back to drink by your meddling.
- I'm back. - Jim.
Hello, Sarah.
Mary wasn't expecting you till later.
I managed to catch the tail end of the flood. Saved a tide.
- She's not here, then? - No.
Old Mrs Cooper's not well again. Mary's with her.
I said I'd help her with the laundry. She'll be back soon.
You help her a lot, don't you?
That's nice.
You know why I help her, I suppose.
What?
Why I'm always round here.
You're her sister.
Can't you be happy for five minutes without her, Jim?
Here, make yourself useful.
- Drop the side, then. - What?
Well, you drop this and bring it up the other side.
- What do you mean? - Mary doesn't do that.
There are plenty of things Mary doesn't do, I dare say.
Look, I'll show you how to do it, shall I?
Now...
No. Come on.
You take this corner.
Now, you drop this...
...and...
...you bring it up the other side.
You do it yourself.
That's not for me. I want no part of that.
Pushing women's work at me. You keep that to yourself.
Mr Holmes and the other gentlemen to see you, madam.
As long as they don't bring those things near me.
Where is he now?
Mr Browner was on the South American line when he and Mary married.
He was so fond of her that he found himself a berth in the North Sea boats.
The London-Den Helder line.
- And is Mary fond of him? - It was a love match.
- Love? - Although...
Yes?
I was loath to acknowledge it at the time.
Why was that?
I didn't think a sister of mine should be marrying a steward.
And now? How do you feel now?
I think Jim and Mary could be happy.
- You mean they weren't? - They were at first.
What happened?
Perhaps you should ask Sarah. She practically lived there for a while.
Which ship is Mr Browner serving with at present?
The May Morning.
She sailed on the 17th for Belgium and Holland.
They were in Rotterdam over Christmas.
The crews draw lots and Jim was unlucky this year.
Mary was to have spent Christmas with Sarah and me.
And now Sarah, of course, is warden at the Mission.
Are you sad not to have her living with you still?
Yes, I am.
To tell you the truth, Mr Holmes, things are not well between us.
You've quarrelled? What about?
It may have a bearing on what has happened to Mary.
I know that.
Of course it does. Do you think I don't know that?
- I blame her for everything. - Sarah?
Of course.
Sarah.
She spent far more time than was necessary at Mary's lodgings.
Jim and Mary were just married.
Making their own life, making their own friends.
Then Sarah introduced Alec Fairbairn to them.
I know it was not generously done.
Sarah seemed to want to shame Jim Browner.
I don't know what Jim had done to Sarah, but she seemed to hate him.
I believe that...
You believe what?
Ask her. Ask Sarah. She's here in the house collecting her things.
Ask her if she did not mean Mary to go off with Alec Fairbairn.
That is what she wanted.
I know it.
Ah, the message has been received, then.
Café, monsieur.
- Thank you for your help, Inspector. - It's very difficult.
We can't ignore the evidence. What have we got?
Two severed ears in a parcel.
The medical student, Jacottet, who's been thrown out of the lady's house.
Strong motive. Parcel, postmarked Harwich on the 19th.
He was in Harwich on the 19th. That's as good as you get.
- Your logic seems foolproof, Hawkins. - Thank you.
I just regret I haven't kept it out of the newspapers.
They're running the story tomorrow morning.
They've also got hold of Miss Susan Cushing's name. She won't like that.
Poor woman.
This other matter, Mr Holmes. You've clearly got some thoughts on that.
It is my belief that a member of Dr Watson's profession,
possibly of some distinction, has overstepped the mark.
The corpses all belong to pugilists, amateur or otherwise.
What is the unfortunate characteristic of boxers who have fought too long?
Well, there can be such scarring of the brain
that they behave as if they're drunk, slurred speech,
loss of memory and so on.
They become punch-drunk.
Precisely.
You mean somebody is studying the pathology of brain tissue?
For all the best reasons, I dare say.
And their passion for the subject has outrun their judgement.
Sir Marcus Lanyon. I'll wager a month's salary on Sir Marcus.
That's precisely his speciality and he's impatient to a fault, ruthlessly impatient.
There you have it, Inspector!
(Knocking)
She's very down. Like this ever since she got back here this afternoon.
Miss Cushing.
Why did you quarrel with your brother-in-law, Mr Browner?
What? Who are you? What are you doing here?
Sherlock Holmes. He is investigating the disappearance of your sister Mary.
She's... gone off with Alec Fairbairn, that's all.
Why?
She had become frightened of her husband.
Why?
Jim Browner was a drunkard.
He offered her violence. He was beneath contempt.
What is your explanation for the severed ears, Miss Cushing?
You saw that cardboard box at your sister's house.
Those severed ears were meant for you, were they not?
The message was for you.
You understood what they meant.
Marcel Jacottet sent them.
He told me he might do something.
I didn't realise he'd do anything so disgusting.
She's lying, Watson.
She's lying through her teeth.
(Door opens)
- Gull's outside. - Excellent.
- I've been to the shipping-line offices. - And?
As you thought, the May Morning set sail from London for Den Helder on the 17th
but a hogshead got loose in her hold.
She sprang a plate and had to put in for repairs.
- To Harwich? - To Harwich.
The crew were given leave on the 18th.
The May Morning left late on the 19th, the day the parcel was posted.
Excellent, Watson. We have it.
Mr Holmes.
- Mr Gull. - They have telegraphed.
Jim Browner came off the ferry at Ramsgate at seven o'clock this evening.
I knew I could rely on you.
- And I can rely on you, can I? - You can.
Does the name Sir Marcus Lanyon mean anything to you?
- It might. - He will be warned off.
The orders from which you have been profiting will dry up
but so will the police interest in you.
I'll be satisfied with that.
We've acquired a bargain...
Mr Gull.
(Train whistle)
- Holmes. - Hmm.
The knots on the parcel were a bowline and a sheet bend.
Yes, sailors' knots.
You know that sailors do not sharpen their knives?
Yes, in case of accidents.
Hence the crude amputations.
Harwich was the key and Browner was there.
Now...
I suppose...
Browner returned unexpectedly,
found his wife with Fairbairn.
He followed them.
He murdered them both.
He severed an ear from each and sent them, as he thought, to Sarah Cushing.
Of course, he will go there immediately.
He will be desperate for her to know
that the severed ears were for her and not for her sister.
Well, that being the case...
The railway is operating as if it were a Sunday.
- Why? - The Christmas holiday is still on.
Do you realise, Browner could have caught a much earlier train?
No, I did not know.
(Train whistle)
Mary?
- What is this, Mr Holmes? - A unique experience for you, Inspector.
You may apprehend a murderer before you have even acknowledged
there has been a murder.
Aye... Well you may stare.
Look at me, Sarah Cushing.
This is your handiwork.
- What have you done, Jim? - What have I done?
Nay, it's what you've done.
I beg you, Jim.
Look on me kindly.
Whatever I did, I did for you.
It was you.
You poisoned her mind.
I did it for you.
They have arrested the lodger.
I told them he did it.
They suspect nothing of you, Jim.
You can get away.
Get away?
You think I can get away?
- Put it all behind me? Do you? - (She screams)
It is me. It's in here!
Every last moment of it.
Comes out of the daylight at me. It goes on and on.
I dare not shut an eye in sleep since I did it.
I'm never without one or the other before me.
May the blood rot in your veins, Sarah Cushing!
No! No!
I love you!
I love you.
I love you...
- I love you... - Aye, I believe you do.
I'll tell you something, though.
I'd rather have one kind word from her I've killed than all your love.
No...
I'd rather see her breathing one minute more
than a lifetime of what you could give me.
Don't say that. Don't say that. (She weeps)
She loved me.
That's the root of the business.
But she knew...
She knew... She knew I...
I thought more of my wife's footprint in the mud
than I did of her body and soul.
Whoever would've dreamt it?
And...
...after you had rejected Sarah's advances?
I never said a word to Mary for I thought it would grieve her.
Then I began to see a change in Mary herself.
My wife had always been so understanding.
Now she was suspicious of everything I did.
We began to row about nothing.
Nothing at all.
It maddened me.
And this was Sarah's work?
Aye. I didn't see it then, mind.
I just saw it all go wrong.
She and Mary were inseparable.
And then...
Well, then I broke my blue ribbon and began drinking again.
So Mary had some reason to be disgusted with me now.
Then this Fairbairn fella chipped in.
He was a... dashing, swaggering sort of a chap.
Smart and curled. Educated too, I reckon. He could talk, he could.
Blind, I was.
It was a little thing put me onto 'em.
I came into the parlour unexpected one day.
As I came in, I saw the light of welcome in my wife's eyes but...
...when she saw it was me...
...she turned away with a look of disappointment.
There was no one but Alec Fairbairn whose step she could mistake for mine.
I tell you, from that moment, my peace was gone.
Sarah was in the kitchen and I went straight through and I told her
that if Fairbairn ever set foot in my place again...
...I'd send her his ears for a keepsake.
I believe I could wish you had committed this deed of yours in France.
They acknowledge the crime of passion there.
You won't let them leave me alone, will you, sir?
No.
I won't.
When I leave, I'll send an officer in.
I don't like to be alone, see?
Your turn.
(Knocking)
Won't be a minute.
(Door slams, key turns)
(Beating heart)
She made it go wrong, didn't she?
And you never thought of anyone but me.
Did you, Jim?
She loved you and she made me hate you.
There.
It was as if we had a secret, you see.
She made me think the worst.
The secret was her loving me.
You should have got rid of her from our lives, Jim.
I know.
But I thought it would hurt you.
Look at us now.
I was stupid.
Blind as a beetle.
(Birdsong)
What is the meaning of it, Watson?
What is the object of this circle of misery and violence and fear?
It must have a purpose.
Or our universe has no meaning and that is unthinkable.
But what purpose?
That...
...is humanity's great problem...
...to which reason, so far, has no answer.