The Oxford Murders Page #6

what you or the police|have told him in confidence.

Well, he does right|not to tell you anything.

After all, you're still|on the list of suspects.

Me?

Well, don't look so surprised.

Both murders are closely linked|with the hospital.

You could have gone|into the room and injected

that substance which, curiously,

only you and the forensic|pathologists know about.

That's ridiculous.|She has no motive.

Of all the vast mountains of|knowledge you have not yet scaled,

Martin, this slope is one|of the most slippery. Be careful.

Don't even go there, Arthur.

Let it suffice to say

that our relationship|transcended the purely intellectual,

and when it ended,

she took it anything but sportingly.

If you don't shut up|I'll kill you, I promise.

There, you see?

Has she or has she not got a motive?

You are so obnoxious.

You enjoy playing with people.

Now do you understand?

Any formulation|is valid in the series,

because we can always find|a rule that justifies it.

Heart on a line,|now you've got the eight...

now you give me the fourth.

Ah, well, well, young man.|You are certainly not a total idiot.

One, two, three, four.

- This was easy.|- The murderer's series

is infinitely more complex.

Tell me what the third symbol is.

Circle, fish...

What's the third?

I'm sorry, I can't say.

- Why not? Don't you trust me?|- I trust you

implicitly but|that's not the point.

If I tell you,|then you'll stop thinking.

You might come up|with a better idea

than mine.

No, there's something else. You|could have easily told the police.

For them, anything|is better than nothing.

You're right.

But there's a good reason|why I didn't.

I'm scared.

Scared?

This whole business terrifies me.

We're playing|with symbols and puzzles,

but behind it all|is the real world,

do you understand?|It's about people's lives.

If we make a mistake in an equation,|we rub it out, no problem.

But where life is concerned,

there's no turning back.

In the real world any decision,

however insignificant,|has irreversible consequences.

At least, that's|what life has taught me.

You're very young.

I've already paid|a high price for my mistakes.

Keep this.

What is it?

It's the third symbol of the series.

You can do one of two things: you|can open it now and have your answer

or you can work out|the solution yourself,

and prove you're not an idiot.

Thank you very much.

We're finished.

Thanks.

I'm glad to see you.

That was spectacular.

You should see it|with the fireworks

- and everything...|- What, here?

No. It's just a rehearsal|for the Guy Fawkes' day concert.

Guy Fawkes?

Remember, remember|the fifth of November?

No, sorry, I don't remember.

And...

it'll be my last concert.

I'm taking your advice|and getting out.

This "marvellous" city|can be stifling.

It's too dismal.

I want to go somewhere|with more light.

Spain or...|maybe South America.

Beth, I want to apologize|for what happened.

It was my fault.|I needed help,

a little affection, you gave it|to me and I spoiled it all.

You were going through|a difficult time, I understand.

You're very sweet.|So, you coming to the concert?

I'll be there.

Martin!

There's something else|I need to tell you.

I spoke with Petersen and maybe|I said more than I should have.

Why?

He began to ask me|some questions about you.

Me?

He wanted to know

why you chose|my house in particular.

What did you tell him?

The truth.

That you're obsessed with everything|there is to do with Seldom.

You told him what?

I didn't think it was important.

I'm sure you're not going to deny|that you're obsessed with him.

What are you talking about?

He also asked me...

if... there was any relationship|between the two of us.

- And you said...|- I told him what happened.

What happened?|Nothing!

Exactly, that's what|I told him, nothing happened.

Okay, okay... You'd have been better|off not saying anything at all.

I know, and...

as soon as I said it|I regretted it but...

I was angry|with you and it was

the first thing|that came into my mind.

What else did you tell him, Beth?

I told him that I...

I had a feeling that|you weren't interested in me

and that you preferred|being with Seldom.

Oh, bloody hell!

I'm sorry.

You don't think they'll take|something so stupid seriously?

They take everything|seriously, Beth.

Well, I don't think it's going|to put you on the spot.

It's absurd that the police should|think that you're the murderer.

Does the perfect crime exist?

For years, writers|have speculated on this idea

and murderers too.

Some even managed to put|the idea into practice.

Like the case|of Howard Green, in London.

Green was a humble tailor,

well-considered socially.

He kept a diary which|the police found in his own house.

In the diary, he analyzed

in great detail

fourteen ways of murdering

his wife, for whom he professed|a deep and secret

hatred. Some of

the procedures were ridiculous,

others brutal, one or two

really brilliant.

But what Green understood at once

was that the main danger|for the criminal

was not the possible investigation|of facts in the past

but the problems that

might arise in the future.

Every alibi contains an element|of falsehood which with patience

can be discovered.

His conclusion was that|the only perfect crime that exists

is not the one that remains|unsolved but the one

which is solved|with the wrong culprit.

Does he kill her in the end?

No, she kills him.

One night she found the diary.

She ended up stabbing him with

the kitchen scissors.

The jury, horrified|by the reading of the diary,

judge the murder to have been

in self-defence|and declare her innocent.

Julia Green,

you have been found|not guilty, you are free to go.

I don't understand.|How is it the perfect crime?

It was discovered recently

that the handwriting in the diaries|was not Howard Green's.

So, who wrote them?

His wife's lover,|a forger of works of art.

The murderer is 30/36 years old.

Born into a lower middle class|family, in a small town or a suburb

of a big city.

He's got the characteristics|of a precocious genius.

And probably

some form of physical defect.

He imagines that his talents

triumph and that he can destroy|those who humiliate him.

Then his big chance arrives:

to leave his environment and put|his former world behind him.

And it is here that something|unexpected happens: he is rejected.

For some, probably|unfair reason, he is expelled

from the place that he considers|to be his by right.

And he finds himself|faced with the prospect

of having to return to the world|that he thought he'd escaped.

Goodness, sounds like|this woman knew him personally.

That's crazy, she has no basis.

In any case, we're not talking|about a psychopath,

there are no elements of cruelty.

In fact, we could say|that he is virtually innocent.

Exactly. The psychologist|puts special emphasis on that.

The murderer is seeking

vengeance and admiration.

The murders are, in a sense,|a way of paying court to you.

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