- Hm. One finds a kind of comfort in the woods.
- Indeed,
a sort of symbiosis with nature.
- Well, to be within nature, one must learn to respect it,
lest it swallow you whole.
- Oh, please, Effie. - Someone needs some wine.
- What?
- Oh.
- No.
- That's positively decrepit.
- It's not that bad.
I knew the Carmichaels would only let me keep this
because it was worthless.
- That picture must have been painted years ago.
Well, should we turn back?
- The carriage left hours ago.
- Ladies, look.
We're missing the best part.
It's beautiful here.
- Well... it is a lovely day.
- And we packed all that wine and cheese.
- So much wine and cheese.
- I suppose the cottage does have four walls and a roof.
- What else do we need?
- I think William snuck some survival items in my bag.
- What is that?
- Oh, be careful with that.
It's capsicum expellant.
William made it to ward off bears.
It sprays compressed pepper, oil and air.
I imagine it would be very painful.
- Will it work on drunk men in the city?
- If it does, then every woman
should carry some in her handbag.
- Let's start with this. - Ooh.
- Oh.
- No time like the present.
- To nature.
- That is two dollars you owe me now, Effie.
- Good thing you're a lawyer.
- I will work off my debt in your defence.
- What does that mean?
- It means that you will undoubtedly
get arrested again, Julia.
- Here, Effie. This'll make you feel better.
- What is that?!
Is that a real hand?!
- It would have been once.
- I brought it from the morgue as a lark.
Don't worry. It's 'armless.
- Ugh...
You two spend far too much time around dead bodies.
- Are you all right?
- I need your help! There's a murderer out there!
Our Young Adventurette group came out to the woods yesterday.
- What's a Young Adventurette?
- It is a new outdoor adventure group for girls.
- I believe the organization broke off
from the boys' outdoor group, the Young Adventurers.
A flurry of girls showed up and demanded to take part.
- Right. Now we have our own troops.
- Where is the rest of your troop?
- I don't know.
- What happened to you, Gemma?
- Where did the blood come from?
- This morning,
I went out to gather wood when I found our troop leader,
Miss Townes, laying on the trail covered in blood.
She was dead.
I tried to help, but...
- You've been very brave, Gemma.
- Could you show us where Miss Townes is?
Maybe we could help you.
- I can't. I'm scared.
- You don't have to worry. We'll be there to protect you.
And, besides, you can do it. You're a Young Adventurette.
- All right.
- Do you think it could have been an animal attack?
- It's most likely.
- She could also be mistaken.
That the troop leader might not even be dead;
she could just be hurt.
- I can tell the difference.
She's dead. I'm not a fool.
There she is.
- This looks like a murder.
- Indeed.
- Oh, it must be the madman.
- The madman?
- The victim was bludgeoned with a blunt object.
Holding a bouquet, no less.
- A rendezvous gone badly?
- Strange place for it.
- A Victor Lourde...
was released from Kingston Penitentiary last evening.
- I suppose he was better off in the pen.
- Who is this madman?
- I saw the shadow of a man
lurking amongst the trees. Then he ran away.
- You saw someone in these woods?
Why didn't your troop leader lead you to safety?
- I told Miss Townes!
She said I was being hysterical.
- Where are the other girls?
- Well, the camp's right over there,
although I don't see them.
They must still be in the woods somewhere.
- We need to find them.
- Well, we can't leave the body like this.
- We'll split up.
Louise and I will find the other girls.
- Where did you last see them, Gemma?
- They were headed in that direction.
- Take Gemma with you.
Violet and I need to examine the body.
Somebody's coming!
- Fern, Khristal, it's me!
- Oh, gosh, I was sure you were the madman.
We were so terrified.
- We've come to take you to safety.
- Don't worry. They're going to help us.
- Thank goodness.
- I thought we might die out here.
- Just like poor Miss Townes.
Miss Townes!
- Here, here, here. Let me help you. Are you hurt?
- I am mortally wounded!
- She tripped on a root and sprained her ankle.
- That's a pretty good splint you have there.
Did you make it?
- That's Khristal's handiwork.
She's the only one from the Toronto Young Adventurettes
to have earned herself a medical badge.
Right, Khristal?
- That's impressive work, Khristal.
You could be a fine doctor someday.
- Can't be a doctor.
- She's shy.
- Let's get a move on before this madman
character returns.
- I don't think I can walk.
- Well, looks like one of you will have to carry her.
- Miss Hart will do a postmortem
when she returns on Tuesday.
Take a look at this.
- A love letter.
With instructions to meet behind the Villacci factory.
And is this the writer?
- I would expect.
- What was Mr. Lourde in prison for?
- Um, he ran his horse and buggy
onto the sidewalk after drinking a pint of whisky.
- And that's worthy of jail time?
- Oh! Thereby running over a young woman and killing her.
- Well, could have mentioned that first.
- Well, this is interesting.
In court, the dead woman's sister vowed revenge.
- Maybe she kept her word.
- Julia.
The blade is clean.
- There's an inscription on it...
- Oh. "Young Adventurettes."
- But this isn't the weapon.
- The blade is far too wide to have made that wound.
I think we're looking for a smaller blade,
like a folding knife.
- I think we need to move this examination back to the cottage.
- How do you suppose that we do that?
- Actually, I think William may have packed me
just the thing.
- What in the Dickens is this thing?
- William made it.
Apparently, it's for floating on top of on the lake.
- What for? - Ah...
For fun and relaxation, supposedly.
- Huh. Poor Miss Townes is having the first go.
- Indeed.
- Can you help me? I've been lost for hours.
- Oh! Dear God.
- So, who are you, anyways?
- If you must know, my name is Louise Cherry.
- The reporter?
- You know me?
- My father hates you.
Says you're a threat to civilized society.
- I am that.
- Seven feet.
- Come again?
- You must be at least seven feet tall.
- I'm only six foot!
- Only?
- You said you couldn't carry her because of the concavity
of your spinal cord. Liar.
- Most everyone has a concave portion of their spine.
- Exactly. I tell only truths...
specifically applied to my benefit.
- You are of the most sinister sort, Miss Cherry.
I like you.
- You must be taller than my dad.
- I couldn't say. I've actually never met him.
- You're taller than that tree.
- Oh.
That I am.
- I bet you could thoroughly
whip the madman if he reappeared.
- I would certainly do my best.
- He was killed?
Well, I hope it was in the most brutal way.
- Sorry, let me repeat: We are police detectives.
- He should have seen the noose for killing my sister.
- Did you have something to do with his death?
- Absolutely not!
- Well, you'll have to forgive us
if we find that hard to believe
based on what you've just said.
- Well, then, hear this:
Last night, I was on the five o'clock train
from Montreal to Toronto.
- The murder was around eight o'clock.
You were still on the train.
- Precisely.
There is no way I could have done it.
- You recognize her?
- The peacock?
- Ah! Nope, nope. Nope.
Her.
- Never seen her before in my life.
- Mm.
All right. All right.
- Bella, you lily-liver! You ran away!
- What was I supposed to do? Miss Townes was killed!
- Stay? Help? Something!
- Girls, everyone reacts
to stressful situations differently.
It's an awful thing you've been through!
- Running away from danger is a very normal response.
- Tell us what happened when you lot found the body.
- She was already dead when I got there. I swear.
- No one's accusing you-- - Mm.
- We're just trying to figure out what happened.
- After I found her, I screamed,
so the other girls came running.
And Bella ran away!
- I was scared.
- So then we decided that Fern and Khristal
would go get help and I would stay behind.
- But we didn't get very far since Fern twisted her ankle.
- And then I heard the madman coming,
so I ran away, too.
- Did you get a look at him? - No.
- Are you sure it was him?
- Why don't you girls sit and rest for a while?
You must be tired after all that walking.
- Do we believe them?
Children can be quite the deceivers.
- Once we get Miss Townes inside and the girls rested,
one of us should set out for the authorities.
- We should all go!
We can take the girls to the next town ourselves.
- With the madman out there?
It's too dangerous.
- We'll be safe in the cottage tonight.
- If there is a madman. - Louise!
Come, girls.
- You girls wait out here.
- It's the madman!
- Wait! What?
Wait!
- What's going on? - Stay outside, girls!
- Why?
- Wait. I-I...! I...
Whoa! Hey! Whoa, hey! Whoa!
Watch the face! Hey, hey.
Please, please. Please stop.
Stop.
- Who are you?
- I-I-I'm Mr. Osidius Jones.
- How did you get in here?
- The door was open. - Oh, so you just waltz
into other peoples' houses? That is criminal trespass, sir!
- I-I-I thought it was abandoned!
I-I've been using this house to store supplies for years.
- Even though it's my cottage?
- As I said, I thought it was abandoned.
I mean, it certainly looks it. You should definitely
keep it in better repair.
- But that's none of your concern.
And why are you storing things in here?
- I-I-I'm a Young Adventurer leader.
There's-there's canned food, tents, medicine,
all in that storage closet back there. Take a look.
- He doesn't look like a madman. Lacks that killer edge.
- What-what happened to her?
- That's exactly what we're trying to determine.
- Did you know Miss Townes?
She was a Young Adventurette troop leader.
- No. No, I didn't.
- Did you notice anything strange in the woods today?
- Yes.
Yes, now-now that you mention it,
my troop did have a strange encounter.
- Where's your troop now?
- Waiting for me at our camp site.
I came here to get supplies.
- What was the strange encounter?
- Earlier today,
one of my boys fell into a giant hole,
one that was clearly dug purposefully
and-and as we were getting him out,
I heard someone running away through the trees.
- It could be this madman.
- What are you talking about?
- These girls think there's a killer on the loose.
- Wh... Well, then, we must get the police!
Let me go.
I-I can go get the help.
- Quite a lot of customers.
The line was around the corner.
- Yes. Uh, Miss?
- Yeah. - Pardon me. Miss?
- Fifty percent off family portraits, sirs.
- No, no.
- We'd like to ask you some questions.
- Do you recognize the woman in this photograph?
- Maybe. Uh, she looks vaguely familiar,
but I can't be sure.
- Uh, your photography shop stamp
is on the back of it.
- I really have no recollection of that particular customer.
- I think I've an answer.
- There's an entire table of these right over there.
- Oh! The frames! Of course.
A copy of this photo
is already installed in the frames
courtesy of the manufacturing company.
- Then why is your stamp on the back of each photograph?
- I stamp everything, Detective. It's advertising.
- Ah!
So if someone were to purchase one of these frames,
they would receive one of these photographs with it?
- Yes.
Now, if we are quite through,
I need to get back to my customers.
- Oh, yes. Of course.
- So, whoever was corresponding with him
used a fake photograph to lure Mr. Lourde to his death.
- Strange.
Very, very strange.
- Uh...
- Before you leave, I need you to show me
where you heard that person in the woods.
- Of course.
- Are you mad, Julia?
You can't be alone with that man in the woods.
There's a killer out there.
In fact, he may well be the killer.
- How do we know he saw anything at all, Julia?
He may well be leading you to your death.
- I have to find out for myself.
I have my capsicum expellant and my wits.
I'll be fine.
- Keep it down in there, girls!
- I'll join you.
- I'll start the examination while you watch the girls.
- Why do I have to watch the gerbils?
We heard that. We're not gerbils!
- Well, I don't want them to see the body
while I do the examination.
I need you to preoccupy them.
- How?
- Dazzle them with your natural charm.
- I'll dazzle them, all right.
I know!
- Okay, gerbils. - We're not gerbils!
- This is, uh, where I heard him.
- Are you sure, Mr. Jones?
- Quite.
Well, I should be off now to fetch the authorities.
Be careful.
- How do we know he hasn't left us
on some wild goose chase while he makes his escape?
- We don't.
He's right, you know.
- Gemma! What are you doing here?!
- Helping. I'm a certified tracker.
- Well, you need to go back to the cottage.
- See these broken branches?
The madman went this way. Furthermore...
- Is that Mrs. Townes' rucksack?
- Where did you find this?
- Up that way.
It was open and her things were hanging out.
- Someone's been through it.
- Gemma! Gemma, wait!
- Can't go wrong with 50 percent off.
- While you were otherwise occupied,
I telephoned the frame manufacturer
and he informed me that the woman in the photograph
passed away years ago. - Oh.
We need to uncover the real author
of Mr. Lourde's love letters.
- The only person with clear motive against him has an alibi.
- Perhaps he had some other enemy we don't know about.
Catfishing is all the rage right now. Try some?
- No, thank you.
Just one.
- They live in mud.
- Miss Hart?
- Hello, Khristal. Are you all right?
- Are you a doctor?
- Not quite.
I am the coroner for the City of Toronto.
- How'd you manage that?
- Oh. I have a talent
for taking things that I want in this world.
- But you're a Black woman.
- As are you.
- I want to be a doctor, but I can't.
- The only one who can determine
what you want out of this world is you.
- Miss Townes said I shouldn't set my aspirations so high.
She said I was more likely to be a maid.
- Well, you don't have to listen to her anymore.
- I suppose.
- Is there something else you want to tell me?
- None of us liked her,
especially Fern.
She's only been acting sad.
She was fighting with Miss Townes
only the night before.
- Why don't we go join the other girls?
- Now, remember,
it is our job as laypeople
to hold those in authority accountable.
If you give a man an ounce of power,
he will not hesitate to lord it over you.
- Can't imagine the boys at school lording over me.
They aren't nearly smart enough.
- You'd be surprised.
Are you finished with the examination?
- Yes. Nothing new to report.
We should move the body to the woodshed.
- That would be best.
- Girls,
maybe we should go around and say something nice
about Miss Townes, in her memory.
Girls?
- Go.
Okay.
Miss Townes...
was our rock.
Unbending and hard.
- That's the nicest thing you could say?
- Okay, well, then you go!
- I liked her cooking.
- She was our guide and she led us
with an iron hand.
- I gather you all disliked her?
She took some getting used to.
- She had a rather unpleasant disposition.
- The truth is she said awful things to all of us.
- Are we ignoring the obvious?
- What?
- That the killer may be one of those hobgoblins?
- Miss Cherry,
they're just little girls
squabbling as little girls do.
Where's Gemma?
Who?
- Louise!
- Policeman.
I-I'm-I'm looking for a, for a policeman.
I've been attacked.
- And this woman that hit you, what did she look like?
- Well, I only saw her back as she ran away.
- Do you have any idea who it could have been?
- Not at all, but I haven't been around much
for the past three years.
Been behind bars in the Kingston Penitentiary
for the last while.
- Do you recognize this man?
- Never seen him.
- Y-you were both in the same jail at the same time.
- Lots of people are in jail.
Guess you're good at your job.
- What were you doing in the park?
- I wanted to spend my first day as a free man with my new love.
- And you wouldn't happen to have
a photograph of this new love?
- Oh, of course.
Ain't she pretty?
- Uh-huh.
Gemma,
hide behind that tree. Stay out of sight.
- Those carcasses are ghastly.
- They're certainly not welcoming.
- Dear God! - Julia!
- Stay still. Stay still!
I'll pull you out in three. One...
Two... - Julia.
- Please, uh, we meant no harm coming here.
- Come here to steal some more?
- Steal? No! We've stolen nothing.
- Lies!
Someone broke into my cottage today
and it had to be one of you lot.
- I assure you we've done nothing of the sort.
We've never been here before.
- C-could someone help me?
- Use that to trap animals.
But this one's just skin and bones,
so I'll skip this meal.
- Thank you.
- Get off there.
- Earlier, we...
we found the dead body of a woman near the lake.
You don't happen to know anything about that, do you?
- No.
- She'd been stabbed,
perhaps with a folding knife,
similar to one a hunter might use for skinning.
- That so?
- We also found this rucksack
on the path to your cottage.
It had been rifled through.
- Found the sack but didn't see any body.
- You sure about that?
- You calling me a liar?
Let them go! - Gemma!
- You can't...
Listen, I don't know who you people are,
but I'm done with you.
Get outta here.
- Did you see anything-- - Next shot goes
right through you.
Git!
Run!
- This man also received love letters
and this same photograph was enclosed.
- My girl was cheating on me?
- Ah, no. You see, we do not believe this woman
was the one writing the letters.
- The person writing the love letters
is not the same person in the photograph.
We believe this was a plot to lure you out and to kill you.
- Oh.
It was too good to be true.
- We are all fools on the battlefield of love.
- You're telling me.
Uh, I suppose I should call my wife to pick me up.
- I-I beg your pardon? Your wife?
- Do you have a telephone?
- Oh, that was terrifying. I was sure she would shoot us!
- She must have been the one watching you from the shadows.
- Oh!
- Oh, dear God. That's a dead crow.
I wonder what killed him.
It's a bit of a bad omen, is it not?
Hey!
Hey.
- Can you believe it? She hit me right here.
It's still bloody.
- Mr. Feiss's wife is the owner of the photography studio?
- The deceptive photographs came from her photography studio
and now we find that she has a direct connection
to one of the victims?
- Perhaps we should have a word. - Mrs. Feiss!
- Hm? - A word, please?
- Certainly.
- Your husband was just attacked.
- Three days out of jail, already on one of his trysts.
Typical.
- Hm.
Did you have something to do with this attack?
- Of course not!
- What were you doing an hour ago?
- I was at my photo studio dealing with my one-day sale.
- You could have slipped away at some point.
- My employees were with me the entire time.
You can ask them.
I haven't had a moment's rest.
I only just closed the shop.
- Ready?
- Good evening, detectives.
- You said you went to fetch the authorities, Mr. Jones.
- Yes! Yes, I-I loaded up my boys
and sent them to get the help instead.
And what of your excursion, Effie?
- Well, the madman turned out to be a woodswoman
who was setting traps in the forest to catch her food.
- Do you think she could be the killer?
Why was she lurking in the bushes?
- Checking her traps.
- Perhaps she just takes pleasure in scaring people
away from her woods.
- Maybe.
She didn't seem to know much about the murder.
- Mr. Jones?
- Uh, yes?
- Miss Townes has love letters in her rucksack,
all signed by, "yours truly, Osidius Jones."
You lied, Mr. Jones.
- You knew Miss Townes more intimately than you let on.
Did you kill her?
- No!
No, no, no. You've-you've got it all wrong.
We were in love. I-I would never hurt her.
- A likely story.
- I stayed behind so that I could investigate
her murder on my own.
- Why would we believe anything you say?
You've already lied to us once.
- Hey! - What it this?
- That belonged to Miss Townes.
- And it's covered in blood!
- You are the killer! - Wait, wait, wait, wait!
I can explain.
It wasn't me. I-I-I can prove it.
Stay back! Stay-- Stay back!
- Stop! Stop! - Julia!
- Julia, stop! He's a killer.
He's far more comfortable out there than we are.
- We have to get help as soon as possible.
- I doubt he sent anyone to fetch the authorities.
- We never saw any evidence of Young Adventurers
in those woods at all.
- He must have lied about everything.
- We set out in the morning.
- What if he comes back before then?
- We'll set up a watch rotation.
- Julia!
- Oh! - It's time to switch.
No, I fell asleep!
- It's all right.
Everything is fine and everyone is accounted for.
- Oh, thank goodness.
- I can't sleep.
- Oh, well, you can sit with me for as long as you like.
- I wish I was more like you, Miss Hart.
- What do you mean?
I think you're wonderful the way you are.
- Well, you're kind and confident and honest.
- Where is this coming from?
- I've always felt like I needed to blend into the background
to get by.
But then I see you
and you're standing in the front.
- You can stand wherever you please.
This is a very unforgiving world.
You have to take what you want and never regret it.
All right?
It should be an hour walk back to the road
and another three to the nearest town.
- I hope everyone will be all right without us.
That's Mr. Jones' bag.
- Hello?
Mr. Jones?
- There's his hat.
- There he is!
- He's alive. - Barely, by the looks of it.
Are you all right?
- What happened?
- Oh. I-I-I was pushed.
- By who?
I don't know.
- Julia, where are you going?
- You tend to him. I think I know who did this.
- Let me see your arm.
Huh. What do you want?
- I want to know why you tried to kill Mr. Jones.
- Who's that?
- Please, don't act innocent.
- I am innocent.
You know, y'all been here two days
and it's been nothing but trouble.
I'd say you're looking in the wrong direction.
- The police will be coming to talk to you.
- I don't take kindly to these accusations.
Get off my property!
- I'll be back. - I'll be waiting.
Keep walking, girlie!
Mrs. Feiss must be connected
to this scheme somehow.
- She's clearly weary of her husband's philandering ways.
- But what of Victor Lourde?
She had no connection to him whatsoever.
- And, like our last suspect,
she also has an iron-clad alibi for her husband's attack.
- And there's no connection
between Mrs. Feiss and Miss Todd?
- Other than them both being women,
both having motive and both having ironclad alibis.
- However,
neither has an alibi for the other crime
for which they have no motive.
- Watts...
Could they have switched murders?
- Let's pay Mrs. Feiss another visit.
Bella, get away from the window.
- Rest. We leave soon.
- Julia. What about this?
- How do you explain this?
- W-what are you talking about?
- The knife. I found it in your bag.
- I've never seen it before.
I didn't kill her.
I-I loved her. Please, you have to believe me.
- What do you think?
- It is a Young Adventurette knife.
- You don't think...
- Perhaps one of the girls
could have planted it on him
to make him look like the killer.
- It's not my fault your husband has a hard head!
- There must be a connection
between Mrs. Feiss and Miss Todd
that we're overlooking. - Hm.
- What was that?
Let's continue this conversation
down at the station house, shall we?
- Who does this knife belong to?
- It isn't mine. I have mine right here.
- Everyone, get your knives out.
- Gemma, where's your knife?
- I don't know.
One of them must have stolen it.
- Sure. - It's true!
My mom had my knife engraved
so it wouldn't be mixed up with the others.
- Let's see the rest of them.
- Bella, open your hand.
Why do you have Gemma's knife?
- Bella, stop!
- And that's how you catch a rabbit!
- What are you doing here?
- Well, I realized I wasn't very neighbourly,
out in the woods for so long, so I brought a peace offering.
But it looks like you might have your own troubles.
- I was the runt of the group,
and the other girls were constantly harassing me,
so I went to Miss Townes for help.
The horrendous woman called me a tattletale
and told me to be stoical as a Young Adventurette
should be.
- So, you killed her?
- My body just...
moved on its own, and...
next thing I knew, she was dead.
- And what about Mr. Jones?
- I-I put my knife in his bag
because I knew you would think he was the madman.
- You pushed him off the cliff?
- I figured that if you found him dead
with the weapon, it would...
...it would all be over.
I was scared.
- You tried to kill him to cover your crime.
- What's going to happen to me?
- We were indeed strangers.
We met for the first time at a parole hearing
a week before the release of my husband and Mr. Lourde.
- I wanted revenge on my sister's killer
while Mrs. Feiss sought to dispose of her husband.
- I needed to be rid of that filthy philanderer!
Just wanted to move on with my life.
- She found herself a new man!
- And, so, you devised a plan to switch crimes?
- Killing each other's targets
would provide us both with alibis.
- Except Miss Todd didn't uphold her end of the bargain.
- And thus the scheme unraveled.
- The plan was quite ingenious.
- Hm. Not genius enough.
- Easy does it.
- Goodbye, Gerbil.
- Later, Louise.
- Will you carry me again?
- There is a very nice officer
outside who will help you with that.
- Are you sure you have everything?
- Yes, I do. Thank you, Miss Hart.
Will you be our new troop leader, Miss Hart?
I'm sure you'd be wonderful.
- Oh, I don't think I could handle any more of the woods.
But with or without me,
I hope that you'll stay true to yourself.
- I will.
- What shall I do with this place?
- Perhaps you could restore it to its former glory.
- Hm. It could make a cute rental lodging.
- Let's not get carried away.
- Maybe I'll rent it to
the Young Adventurettes association.
- Oh, that would be lovely!
That way they'd have a comfortable place to stay
for their woodland trips.
- And I can make a pretty penny.
- Mm.
I think it's time for wine.
- Mm. - Yeah.
- It's a shame about the floatie.
I was looking forward to trying it.
- Oh, I know!
- I suppose we should burn it.
- What are you wearing, Effie?
- Where did you get such a scandalous swimsuit?
- The racing ladies of Milwaukee wear these.
- It's positively salacious.
You're going to give people the wrong impression.
- I don't care one iota.
- And you shouldn't.
- Perhaps I should acquire one?
William wouldn't know what to do with himself.
- Please don't.
A full body suit is obviously the elegant choice.
- Oh, hush!
Your swimsuit looks like my grandmother's bloomers.
- I'll have you know my grandmother
was quite something. She was arrested three times
before she turned 20.
- Still looks like bloomers.
- I'm afraid I have to agree, Louise.
- Miss Hart?
- Hm? Don't drag me into this.
I'm just trying to enjoy my summer retreat.
- Who drank all the wine?
Julia!