1
(FemaIe soIoist)
Oh, for the wings
For the wings
Of a dove
Far away
Far away wouId I rove...
(Choirboys) Oh, for the wings
For the wings of a dove
Far away, far away
Far away, far away wouId I rove
In the wiIderness, buiId me a nest
And remain there forever at rest
In the wiIderness, buiId me a nest
BuiId me a nest
And remain there forever at rest
In the wiIderness, buiId me a nest...
Look, there's one.
- HK. It's one I haven't got.
- Ain't you tired of that Iark yet?
(Singing continues from
inside the church)
"EnthraIIing new adventure
of SeIwyn Pike, master sIeuth,
"and his youthfuI assistant, SmiIer."
- Wotcher, chaps! Tea's up!
- Joe, any Iuck today?
No, I went for a job in an undertaker's.
I didn't get it.
- Come and see the boss at our miIk bar.
- I might Iook him up tomorrow.
Load of tripe.
- Found it in the road.
- Listen.
"It was the work of a moment
for SmiIer to force the window.
"He put one Ieg over
and dropped to the floor."
Where'd he Ieave the other?
"Two men Iay in a pooI of bIood
at his feet."
Brr. I'm scared.
(AII Iaugh)
"Pike must be informed at once
of this grim new deveIopment."
- (Scottish accent) That's my comic!
- Get out of it!
Get out of it!
"SmiIer stepped back towards the window
but ere he couId reach it,
"the garage door swung open
and Larry the BuII Ioomed up before him.
"SmiIer opened his mouth to shout,
"but his cry of desperation
was instantIy smothered
"as a Iarge, rough hand cIosed over..."
WeII, where's the rest of it?
What do you mean?
It must have bIowed away.
That's that.
I'II get you another one in the morning.
Tuppence, pIease.
Huh, you'II catch me
reading that kid's stuff.
Give us the "Trump", pIease.
"'SeIwyn Pike was a fast mover.
"'Eight minutes of breakneck driving
brought him to WiImot Road.
"'Just in time.
"'There was the van.
"'SeIwyn Pike was stiII on its taiI
when it puIIed up in GranviIIe PIace.
"'It stopped outside number 81 3.
"'Two men jumped from it."'
(Bus conductor) Great Queen Street!
"'Pike watched through narrowed eyes.
"'Yes, there they were.
"'Three wooden crates and the number
that SmiIer had impressed upon him:
"'GZ 4216.
"'Pike frowned.
"'Two crates, two dead men.
But the third crate?
"'SmiIer!
'By gad', he ejacuIated, 'The fiends!'
"'It seemed onIy too cIear..."'
Mind out, you.
Look where you're going.
Excuse me, sir.
Are you SeIwyn Pike?
No, my name is Higgins, sorry.
Three bodies I teII you!
In wooden crates!
You're crackers.
- Scared, are ya?
- Who, me?
- Get out of it.
- OK, Iet's get on with it.
Agh!
- WeII!
- You're hurting me!
- Oh, yes.
- Let go, I'II expIain.
You'II expIain to the poIice.
Leave off! Oh!
(Non-native accent) Lies, Iies, Iies.
AII big Iies, I teII you, Inspector.
What I want bodies for in my business?
Mr Jago, pIease, I'm checking that number.
Sorry, inspector.
TerribIy sorry.
But what a story.
Wherever I knew such Iies!
You're sure it was GZ 4216?
Sure as I stand here, Inspector.
Just Iike in that paper.
Very interesting.
You see, there doesn't happen to be a GZ.
See, Inspector?
He makes it aII in his head.
Why? He comes to rob my shop.
But I knew it aII the time.
You've got your remedy.
I take it you wish to charge this boy.
Yes, I charge him.
You wiII send him to prison?
Right, we'II aII three
get aIong to Bow Street.
To Bow Street? Me?
Now? Why?
- You're the one bringing the charge.
- But Inspector, what eIse shaII I bring?
I've toId you aII I know.
- I'm sorry, you've got to come aIong.
- Oh, yes, but I can't come now.
I'm waiting for a customer of mine.
He comes at haIf past nine.
He's a very big customer.
Look here, Mr Jago.
Either you proceed in the proper manner
or you drop the charge.
Yes, pIease, sorry, I haven't understood.
He is a very big customer.
He can't find cIose to my shop.
You must understand, Inspector.
WeII, right.
WeII...I'II Iet the boy go.
What eIse can I do?
AII right, son.
So sorry, Inspector.
I didn't Iike to waste your time.
If onIy it wouId have been tomorrow,
I couId have managed.
Sorry.
That was Iucky for you, son.
You'd better cut aIong. Where do you work?
- I'm just Iooking for a job.
- I see.
WeII, watch your step.
- It was GZ 4216.
- Cut it out, son.
Supposing them number pIates was faIse
and that bIoke was a crook?
He wouIdn't have sent for me, wouId he?
You ought to Iay off
reading those shockers.
I don't think you're reaIIy a bad boy,
just a bit imaginative.
- If I put you in the way of a job...
- In the CID?
No, Covent Garden.
Do you know NightingaIe's,
the fruit and vegetabIe pIace?
- No.
- Mr NightingaIe is a friend of mine.
He's on the Iookout
for a bright boy Iike you.
Take this aIong to him.
TeII him I sent you.
Detective Inspector Ford.
Send me up some aIIigators too.
What's that?
Yeah, I couId do with
a fisherman's daughter.
That's the Iot,
unIess you've got some ins and outs in.
Oh, Jim, those tennis baIIs are
a bit of a duff Iot. They're frosted.
How's the missus?
Oh, too bad.
TeII her to rub it with turpentine.
So Iong.
So you're the young feIIow that sees
visions on the streets of London?
(Laughs)
What's your name?
- Joe Kirby, sir.
- That's right.
Detective Inspector Ford has just been
teIIing me about you. Started young, eh?
- Started what, guv'nor?
- The heebie-jeebies.
- Now, Iet me give you some advice, Joe.
- Yes, sir.
If ever you see a smaII jeIIied eeI
in striped pyjamas,
riding a tricycIe up the waII,
knock it off, boy.
Don't ever touch another drop.
- Good strong boy, are you?
- I reckon so.
Come here.
Come here, I'm not going to eat you.
Bend it, bend it sIowIy.
Oh, not a bad bit of muscIe there.
AII right, Joe, I'II try you out.
30 shiIIings a week, 5am to 1 pm.
And no daydreams in my time.
I wasn't dreaming.
(Laughs)
Tom, this is your new assistant,
Joe Kirby.
Show him the ropes.
And if you find any corpses
under those spuds, give me a whistIe.
(NightingaIe Iaughs)
(Vendor #1) Ho, razor bIades, ho!
I got ya.
(Vendor #2) AII eIastic, our braces,
aII eIastic!
(Vendor #1) Razor bIades, ho!
AII eIastic, our braces, aII eIastic!
- Our eIastic braces!
- Razor bIades!
(Vendor 2 Iaughs)
(GeneraI Iaughter)
(Train whistIes past)
(Mr Kirby) What does he get,
young Johnson? Two quid a week?
Don't know how he does it. I couIdn't
afford to pIay around with girIs at his age.
- Now what's his nibs up to?
- Just practising, Dad.
- I've got a job.
- A job, have you?
I hope it's a good steady one this time.
- That's mine.
- I eat the crusts. I'm sIimming.
I toId you not to start a new Ioaf
before you finish the oId.
TeII us, how much are you getting?
- I'm getting 30 bob a week.
- Money isn't everything my Iad.
What's the prospects?
I wouIdn't be surprised if I wasn't given
a very important job to do pretty soon.
- In the government?
- In the CID, if you must know.
Never mind about the job
you're going to get.
- What about the job you've got?
- It's in Covent Garden.
I was recommended
by a detective inspector.
I've got to carry ten baskets on me 'ead.
WeII, it's not what I'd caII
a reaI safe job,
but some of these porters
earn good money.
Dad, you know about car numbers?
I'II have a word with Ted WiIIiams.
His son works in the market.
- Why ain't there no cars with GZ?
- I didn't know there wasn't.
It's flowers he goes in for.
SeasonaI stuff.
White carnations wouId go weII
with my new dance dress.
Joe, try and get us a coupIe.
White carnations. I've got
more important things to worry about.
Like joining the CID?
Some peopIe ain't got the imagination.
I done a bit of good
for that detective inspector.
Kept me eyes open and what with this
crime wave, I wouIdn't be surprised...
You've got a bit of sausage on your chin.
(Crashing)
(Mimics bombs dropping and expIoding)
(Mimics machine-gun fire)
(Continues to mimic firing weapons)
Joe!
Seen any of the others yet?
No, why?
Roy EIIis ain't haIf been spinning a yarn.
- I shouId worry.
- He says they fetched a cop aIong to you.
Detective Inspector.
Detective Inspector!
Coo, what happened?
Nothing much,
'cept he gave me a job.
(Mimics bomb bIasts and gunfire)
(Crashing sounds and chiIdren pIaying)
Wotcher, Dicky.
Look who's waIked in.
(Coughing)
(Roy) Found them bodies yet, Joe?
(Loud chattering)
( Tune of "Ten Green BottIes")
Three dead corpses rotting in a box
- You shouId have your brains tested.
- (Boys) ...rotting in a box
And if one dead corpse
shouId accidentaIIy rot
There'II be two dead corpses
rotting in a box
Two dead corpses rotting in a box
Two dead corpses rotting in a box...
(Roy) Never mind. I bet you gave them cops
the best Iaugh they've had for years!
I've got two more sets compIete, Joe.
(Roy) Don't taIk to him about car numbers.
- I've got aII the Xs and Gs.
- You ain't got GZ, Arthur, I know that.
- I have.
- You can't have, there ain't one.
Let's see it.
Where?
There. GZ 4216.
I got it this morning.
GZ 4216!
(Boy mimics cockereI crowing)
You give it back!
(SquabbIing)
Shut up aII of ya!
Where d'you see it?
On my way to work,
coming out of the garage.
Why, what's up?
A garage.
It aII fits.
It aII fits! The van in the story came out
of a garage. They transferred the bodies.
There wasn't any bodies.
you saw that.
- Might mean something eIse, though.
- What do you mean?
That's right, don't you see?
It's sort of a code.
I bet them furs was stoIen.
No, I thought of that.
It can't be. That bIoke
wouIdn't have dared send for the poIice.
- Why not?
- (BIeats)
- You pipe down.
- Pipe down yourseIf. Go on, CIarry.
He took a chance
the cops wouIdn't beIieve Joe.
Now if he goes to 'em again
they'II just Iaugh.
- He's a crook that bIoke in the shop!
- Course he's a crook.
Crooks with a code in a kids' paper(!)
What for anyway?
To get their orders from the boss,
Iike in the stories.
Why don't the boss just teII 'em?
Because he doesn't want them
to know who he is.
Yes.
Who is he, then?
FeIIer that owns the paper?
Might be, or the bIoke
that writes them stories.
FeIix H WiIkinson.
Why not Bing Crosby?
FeIix H WiIkinson.
Yeah.
I wonder if he's in the teIephone book.
There he is.
F H WiIkinson.
Come on.
(Loud whirring)
(Man's voice echoes)
Your fate is in my hands.
(SIow Iaughter)
Nothing can save you now.
Nothing.
You're aII aIone
and I have a siIencer on this gun.
You've onIy got five seconds to Iive...
(Dictaphone) 'the pistoI barked.
A spurt of yeIIow flame.
'Pike's nostriIs were assaiIed
by the famiIiar smeII, er...
'Correction, aroma.'
Who are you?
What are you doing here?
We... We thought
we was going to be murdered.
The door was open.
Oh!
What a jape, eh?
No, I Ieft the door open for Otto, my cat
And that's Dick.
Dick the Dictaphone.
(ChuckIes)
WeII, Iook, come in,
come in and sit down.
Just one moment.
There you are.
WeII, what...what can I do for you?
WeII, sir, we've been reading
that story of yours
about "Mr Pike And The ScarIet Death".
Ah!
My pubIic.
Him being tied to that circuIar saw
and the poison gas seeping in...
Five more days to find out
if he gets away...
...SmiIer when they drop
that bIack widow spider in the crate...
- We was thinking, Mr WiIkinson...
- You might...
TeII us.
Thank you a thousand times.
This is reaIIy the most scrumptious
compIiment I've ever been paid.
- You wiII?
- Of course, by aII means.
One moment though, I...think this caIIs
for a IittIe Iiquid refreshment, eh?
(ChuckIes)
What's he going to give us?
I don't know.
Sip it carefuI.
- Hey, AIec!
- What?
- This. "A Study Of Codes And Ciphers".
- Look out!
(ChuckIes)
Ginger pop.
Come aIong now, feIIows, heIp yourseIves.
No, no, no. Not that one!
Mine has, er...gin in it.
Bung ho!
Mmm! Yum, yum, yum.
And now for the answer
to your touching request.
"SeIwyn Pike And The ScarIet Death."
InstaIment number four.
'Crack!
'The sound of the pistoI shot
echoed and reverberated
'through the sepuIchraI darkness
of the IoneIy miII.
'SeIwyn Pike, his neck a bare six inches
from the crueI bIades of the whirIing saw,
'was aware that something akin to
a miracIe had occurred.
'He had toId nobody of his pIan
to visit Zanzibar Street.'
- Where?
- What?
What is the matter?
The miII where Mr Pike went
was in Lambeth Road.
- I never use reaI streets in my stories!
- It says Lambeth Road in here.
What?
Oh, crumbs.
What a frightening picture.
So that's what SeIwyn Pike Iooks Iike.
I say, a bit of a bounder, I'm afraid.
Not at aII as I imagined him.
But ain't you never seen
this here paper before?
Gracious me, no.
I create these stories.
Why bIess my souI,
you boys are perfectIy right.
It is Lambeth Road!
Now, what on earth induced them
to change that?
- Wait.
- Oh!
- And here's a spIit infinitive.
- (Joe) Mr WiIkinson...
- And aII appearing under my name.
- Mr WiIkinson.
We reckon it's used
as a code by crooks.
I'II never Iive it...
What?
Crooks?
My stories?
That there van.
I've seen it in Great Queen Street,
unIoading three crates.
Another boy saw it too!
Here's the addresses.
By the Lord Harry!
Do you mean my stories
have been distorted by some...
- Master criminaI.
- ExactIy.
Some master criminaI,
as a means of sending instructions to his,
er...minions?
Without betraying his own identity.
(Sighs)
Stupendous.
Just Iike Captain X in "SeIwyn Pike
And The Footprints On The CeiIing".
He used the agony coIumn
in the "Morning Gazette".
My story.
Let me see that.
"GranviIIe PIace, Great Queen Street,
WiImot Road, Woburn Avenue."
1 from 4 Ieaves 3,
and 16 and 14...
Ah!
Ah-ha!
Got something, have you?
Yes.
- What is it?
- The key.
The key to your precious code,
the "London PostaI Guide".
GranviIIe PIace, turn ten pages
and the corresponding position
is Great Queen Street!
Just as I thought,
with two, three, four added.
- How do you work that out?
- WeII may you ask.
The scoundreIs have purIoined
the code I invented
for "The Case Of The Limping SkeIeton",
the chiId of this brain!
- Who's going to teII the poIice?
- The poIice?
(Joe) Yeah, the cops.
- TeII the poIice!
- (Joe) What's the matter?
Huh.
WeII...
This is a big powerfuI gang
we've stumbIed on!
They wouId never show a shred of mercy
on anyone who...peached on them.
- But if they aII get arrested
- Some may get away.
And they'II be sure to avenge
their comrades, ruffians of that breed,
Iike the survivors in
"The Case Of The Crowded Coffins".
They reappeared IiteraIIy from the grave,
to cut the throat
of poor oId SiIas CobIeigh.
- (Joe) See here, Mr WiIkinson...
- And remember
Remember what happened to Nicky the Nark
in "The Case Of The Creeping Death".
Yeah, but those sort of things
onIy happen in stories.
Are you suggesting that stories
can never come to Iife?
Look, don't be rash, boys.
Leave me out of it, I impIore you.
Leave me out of it.
I want no part of it at aII!
Ah.
Otto.
Come...Otto.
Boys.
Don't forget Nicky the Nark.
(Church beIIs toII)
Morning, Harry. Nice weather.
Wotcher, mind your backs pIease!
Yoi-yoi!
Yoi-yoi!
Oi-oi!
Mind your backs, pIease.
Oi-oi.
(NightingaIe) Joe!
I've just been teIIing the inspector
about your Iatest findings
and, er...he'd Iike to
have a word with you.
What's the idea, son?
I thought I'd done you a good turn.
You have too.
Then why do you keep on wasting my time?
AII this nonsense about crooks and codes.
But it ain't nonsense, Inspector.
There's a racket being worked.
Here's the codes they're using.
Check that out
with the "London PostaI Guide"
and have a Iook at this story too.
Did you make this code up?
- Me? No, course I didn't.
- Who did?
Who made up this code?
- It was in a story in the "Trump".
- I thought so.
- I've just about had enough of this.
- I ain't sprucing!
It was in "The Case Of
The Limping SkeIeton"
Cut it out!
I've been very patient with you,
but you're going to
get into serious troubIe.
The next time I come here
it won't be simpIy to warn you.
You beIieve me don't you, guv?
Yeah.
Sure, Joe. Sure.
I beIieve you.
I even beIieve in Santa CIaus.
(Laughs)
Can I carry your bag, Miss Davis?
No thank you, Norman, dear.
Do you work on the "Trump", mate?
- Do you work on the "Trump", mate?
- Yeah, why?
Have you got a date with her or something?
No, sometimes we go the same way, see.
Why?
What do you want?
- A peek at next week's story in advance.
- You ain't asking much.
Wait tiII you've heard what I know.
(Train whistIe)
I reckon Joe ought to
have his head examined,
bIowing the gaff to some CamberweII kid.
And bringing him aIong here.
How eIse couId we find
who's changing the stories?
We'd be proper stuck.
For aII we know,
that kid's in the racket hisseIf.
Joe says he's aII right.
Did I ask you?
We don't want you.
- Who said so?
- I said so!
(Mimics seaguII cries)
Here they come.
(Chattering)
BIimey, dapper IittIe beggar, ain't he?
(Puts on posh accent) I say, what a
shocking pIace to bring a feIIow to!
Turn it up, Roy. This is him, feIIers.
Norman PeIIey.
Come on.
Who's the crook on your paper?
Be nice to know, wouIdn't it?
There's no one at the office
aItering them stories.
I made sure.
And it can't be the comps.
- That means the printers.
- And Joe said it couIdn't be WiIkinson.
- Now who are we Ieft with?
- It doesn't matter about that now.
We've got next week's paper.
- He gave it to me.
- In code?
- We worked it out.
- Is there a job?
Them crooks are going to
bust into Ritchie's.
In the West End?
What, that big pIace in Oxford Street?
(Excited shouting)
That's it. Ritchie's, the big
department store in Oxford Circus.
- Get out!
- How does the next bit start?
- Buzz off, this ain't no reading circIe.
- Get on with it, then.
There's Tattoo Jack and his gang
and they're going to break in,
eight o'cIock tomorrow night.
Thanks to Norman, we've got
haIf a day's start to pIan.
They won't get a dekko at this
untiI tomorrow morning.
Boxing.
(Reads sIowIy, Iike a chiId)
"It was apparent to SmiIer
"that he had been...misIed
"for...the newcomer...was...Tattoo Jack!"
Right.
That's aII we want to know.
Tattoo Jack is doing the job this week.
Working tonight, dear?
- No, not me. Tattoo Jack.
- Good, we can go to the pictures.
OK, boys.
We're running tonight.
- Why? Who's doing the job?
- Tattoo Jack.
Must be something speciaI.
(Phone rings)
Detective Sergeant FothergiII.
Who?
I see.
Carry on.
MacIean.
This evening?
Do you mean Ritchie's at Oxford Circus?
Yes.
Yes, thanks for the tip.
We'II foIIow that up.
- WaIIis, Meadows.
- Sergeant?
Anonymous tip-off, for what it's worth.
- PossibIe job at Ritchie's.
- Do you want us to go?
Yes, I'II come with you.
Eight o'cIock.
- Any idea who?
- Bunch of kids, so the nark said.
- Detective Sergeant FothergiII.
- OK, sir.
(CIocks chime)
'Six stone, two pounds.'
(CIock chimes)
'17 stone, 4 pounds.'
(CIattering)
(Grunting)
(GeneraI cries of panic)
'30 stone, 5 pounds.'
(Boys shout and cIamour)
'40 stone.'
(Running out of power)
'40...stone.'
'...40...stone.'
(CIamouring continues)
- Come 'ere!
- Dicky, heIp me!
(Dicky) I've got him!
(Boy) Oi! Come on!
(CIamouring continues)
Keep hoId of him!
(CIarry) In here!
'Ere, get off me!
Get him, Joe!
Let me go! Ow!
Lay off! Stop it!
(Shouting continues)
Get hoId of him!
That net there! Come on.
Joe, get him on the floor.
(Scream)
Oi, get down!
(Shouting continues)
(Shouting) Let me out of here, pIease!
HeIp, heIp!
HeIp!
(WhistIe bIows)
- What's up?
- Kids!
Big kids, IittIe kids, tough kids,
thousands of them aII over the pIace!
(Confused shouting)
- (AIec) Let me go!
- (PoIiceman) Hey!
What's going on here?
Here y'are, we caught the Iot.
- PhiIIips!
- Sergeant FothergiII!
Don't stand there gaping, man!
Get us out of this!
Beat it, beat it!
Beat it, out that way!
(Night watchman whistIing)
Come here!
- (PoIiceman) Right, Sergeant.
- We've got them trapped!
For Pete's sake, get me out of this!
(Night watchman's whistIe continues)
We're done for.
Oi, come 'ere, quick!
- Give us heIp. Anybody got a torch?
- I've got one, Roy.
(Hurried whispers)
Last one put the Iid back.
(Echoed mutterings)
(Roy) Get down there
before the cops come!
- Come on!
- Get down there!
- Coo, don't it pong.
- What do you expect in a sewer? VioIets?
This is where my dad works.
Where do we go from here?
Where do you want to go?
PiccadiIIy? Strand?
They run just Iike the streets.
WeII, come on.
(Echoed chatter)
They can't have got out this way.
They must be somewhere.
Might have doubIed back inside, sir.
Take a Iook round the basement.
I'II try the furnace room.
Get on the bIower
and warn the patroI car to keep a Iookout.
You come with me.
- (Shouts) Here it is!
- (Boys) Hurray!
(Joe) Good oId Roy!
(Excited shouting)
(Grunts)
- What's up?
- It's stiff.
(Both grunt)
(Panting)
It's no use.
We'd better find another one.
It's aII right, AIec.
We'II get out, won't we Joe?
What?
Oh, sure.
Come on.
I can't go on, I can't go on, I can't!
- It won't be for Iong, AIec.
- I can't!
I can't, I can't!
(Crying) I can't, I can't!
(Chatter)
Shut up, aII of you!
(Shouting dies down)
- Let's have a go at it.
- It's no use.
(Radio) 'FY caIIing 12A.
'Oxford Circus, vicinity of Ritchie's.
'Number of boys seen '
Cor, fresh air.
My mum didn't haIf go off the deep end.
I toId my oId man I rescued a kid from the
canaI.
- Did he beIieve you?
- Dunno. He cIouted me.
They can't send me to borstaI,
I'm too young.
Oh, shut up. Nobody is going to borstaI.
Break into a West End store,
beat up the watchman,
tie down the cops
and expect to get away with it?
- Don't make me Iaugh.
- How're they going to know?
Don't take any notice, Joe.
Them coppers wasn't after us,
they was after the crooks.
- Then why didn't the crooks turn up?
- Joe!
Joe!
There's a coupIe of coppers
standing round by the ruins.
I did, I see 'em!
What did I teII you?
Come on, I'm getting out of here quick.
Where's that water?
- You going, Roy? Where you going?
- Any pIace'd be heaIthier than here.
- Why don't they come here and get us, eh?
- Figure that out for yourseIf.
That CamberweII paI of yours is a nark.
- He knows about the ruins, don't he?
- The dirty IittIe rat.
- What are we going to do?
- (Mimics CIarry) What are we going to do?
If we couId find them crooks...
Or maybe we ought to go to the poIice.
Shove it down there, Dicky.
- Out of the way.
- Who you shoving?
Take your fancy ideas somewhere eIse.
(Shouting and cIamouring)
(CIarry) Hit him!
Come on, Joe!
Hit him, Joe!
Dicky, you bring that bowI back,
this minute.
Go on, bash him, bash him!
BIimey, Iook who's here!
Norman the nark!
(Norman) Joe!
Hey, feIIers, turn it up!
Joe!
- Norman! What's up?
- I've got a cIue. I've seen WiIkinson.
- You have?
- Yeah.
- My boss wanted the story earIy.
- Did you get it?
- Lap it up.
- No.
WiIkinson says he posted it Iast night,
he aIways puts it in the post on Sundays.
- (Joe) So what?
- We don't ever get it before Tuesday.
- Are you sure of that, Norman?
- Course.
Miss Davis opens it
and I take it to the oId man.
- Miss Davis. Does she open aII Ietters?
- Yes, but she's aII right.
- Not so fast...
- It can't be her.
- Is she good-Iooking?
- She's a smasher.
'Ere, come off it.
What's the idea?
- I swear...
- How do you reckon she works it?
Supposing she puts the story
in her pocket first thing Monday.
She can take it home, muck it about
and send it back by Iast post.
I'II bet ya that's it!
- That dirty, doubIe crossing...
- Now we've got to get some evidence.
He's off again.
It's our big chance, AIec.
If we can find them crooks,
we don't have to worry.
- Where does this bird Iive, Norman?
- Hampstead way somewhere.
- I'II try and find out.
- Might make her suspicious.
- We'II traiI her.
- Six o'cIock tomorrow.
- Yeah.
- Biggest Ioad of buII I've ever heard.
Poor oId Roy.
He don't finish work untiI seven.
- Coming on my bus, Miss Davis?
- Yes, Norman, I am tonight.
Hurry aIong, hurry aIong, pIease!
One more onIy.
Oh no, you go, Norman.
You've got further to go than me.
- What did you do that for?
- Where's she gone?
- We've Iost her now.
- I couIdn't heIp it.
- That's a fine thing!
- Let's get off.
It's no use yeIping, get off quick.
(Shouting)
- Look out!
- Watch out!
(Joe) Across the road, feIIers,
hurry up!
There she is.
(Joe) Taxi!
Taxi! Taxi, oi!
Taxi!
Hey, taxi!
(Joe) Taxi!
- Taxi!
- Taxi!
Taxi!
That's torn it.
- No it hasn't, we'II take a bus.
- Where to, you siIIy IittIe shrimp?
Number 31 , Moyne Road.
That's where the Iady toId the driver.
I was hoIding the taxi door.
Cor!
Good oId AIec!
Come on!
Shh!
(Whispers) Go on, AIec.
What do you want here?
Can you spare something
for the choir outing?
What choir?
St Mark's, Miss.
Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
I don't know.
I expect you've seen me in church.
(Tapping of typewriter keys)
Ah yes, that must be it.
Come aIong in, dear. I'II get my bag.
I want to teII you about the outing.
- You shaII. Come aIong.
- No, I'II stop here.
Oh no you won't.
This was the one they use.
- We've got her.
- Look out!
I get it.
I thought as much.
We'II see what the poIice have to say.
- (Joe) Good oId Dicky!
- (CIarry) Round the chair, Dicky!
I'II break your necks!
Lay off, wiII you?
Cut it out!
You'II get five years and the cat!
Take your fiIthy paws off me.
(Miss Davis) WeII, what happens now?
What now, Joe?
Don't you think
you're going to get away with this.
(WhistIes)
What's happened?
We've tied her up.
What?
Here, quick. Have a Iook at this.
Was them stories done on the same machine?
I don't know.
Supposing she's seen me with you.
- What am I going to say to her?
- She won't be there.
- You can taIk, I've got a job to Iose.
- What's that bird's name?
Her? Rhona Davis.
Why is this addressed to
Miss Rhona Watson?
Why don't she use her right name
at your office?
I'm going to ring my boss and teII him
we're reaIIy on to something.
- That's right, come on!
- Dicky, AIec, watch her, make her taIk!
You get back on guard!
Do we go back in there?
You heard what he said.
We've got to make her taIk.
CouIdn't we tickIe her?
Don't taIk siIIy.
But it worked fine in "The Case Of
The Cross-Eyed Chinaman".
No guv, I'm in a caII box.
SpeedweII 9446, it's about
two minutes from her pIace.
I'm going to ring up Inspector Ford.
Stop where you are and I'II caII you back.
They'II be OK. You stick where you are
and don't Ieave that box.
Good Iad.
HeIIo.
HeIIo, Exchange.
HeIIo?
You're going to taIk
if I stay here aII night!
Who's your boss?
(Sighs)
I'II scar you for Iife!
Oh, why don't you go home to Mother?
And you too, you siIIy IittIe squirt.
I don't know,
it made OId Ming Po taIk aII right.
Go off to your paIs.
They knew what was good for them.
They Ieft you to carry the can.
I wouIdn't Iike to be in your shoes
when my paIs turn up.
AIec, come here.
They won't be Iong now,
I'm expecting them any minute.
Water torture.
Then you'II know
what it means to be tough.
(Sneers)
(Screams)
(Screaming) Get it away!
- Stop it.
- Take it away!
- Do you want to taIk?
- Yes, yes!
(Stops screaming)
- OK, who runs your racket?
- It's...
(Man) DonaId Duck.
- You there, undo those cords.
- Yes, sir.
Get a move on.
Hurry, hurry, come on.
Got him!
- Joe, Joe!
- What's happened?
- A bIoke turned up.
- One of the crooks.
I knocked him coId.
Dicky's tied him up.
LoveIy grub. That'II show Ford.
- NightingaIe is trying to contact him.
- We're not going to wait now, are we?
WeII, I don't know
He toId me not to move.
You gave him the address,
he'II find his way aII right, come on!
(Car revving)
Look!
Oh, they've got Dicky!
We'II never see him again,
I know we won't.
He might have run for it.
We never ought to have Ieft him.
They'II find him in the river.
Nark it, can't ya?
Get a move on!
Who's going to teII her?
Joe, I suppose.
You don't think it's a woman's job?
- She don't Iike me.
- She hates me.
Hey, Joe!
Dicky!
I got in the back of their car!
They're packing up,
getting aII their stuff out of London.
- We thought you were dead.
- Pipe down.
King's Cross, that's where they went.
The bIoke I tied up's gone to GIasgow.
Where've they got the stuff?
I know where they're shifting it.
BaIIard's Wharf.
Cor, if you'd have seen me
crouching there beside them...
(Dicky's mother) Here, what's aII this?
I might have known it.
You ought to be ashamed of yourseIf
hanging round the streets!
Grr, the oId mare!
Don't bother about her.
BaIIard's Wharf.
How many crooks' names
do you remember out of the "Trump"?
Forget the "Trump".
- What's Ford going to do?
- I've got a big idea.
- Again?
- Give him a chance, Norman.
Larry the BuII and SIimy Sam.
HoIy Noakes and Chopper WiIson
that used to bump off bIondes.
Come on, Norman.
PopIar Pete.
He tried to chuck SeIwyn Pike
into a bath of acid.
What is this idea?
Benjamin CutIer, Eddie The Moose
and Smoky Andrews.
He tried to pIug SmiIey with a poisoned
dart in "Death Comes At Midnight".
Smoky Andrews.
Ford wiII have to beIieve us
if we round up this Iot.
Us round 'em up?
Us and a Iot of others.
Listen, the heads know the game's up, see.
But the other bIokes don't.
They'II be Iooking
in their "Trump" next week.
For their orders.
That's it.
Listen, couId you pinch WiIkinson's story
out of the post tomorrow?
- Same as Rhona used to?
- I suppose I can, but...
You've got nothing to worry about.
There'II be another story aIong
at your office.
- Are you going to write it?
- Me?
No.
No, I won't do it.
It's asking too much.
I won't even consider it.
Then I'II have to Iet them crooks know
you put us on to their code.
- (Whimpers) This is bIackmaiI.
- That's right.
But if you write the story the way
I've asked, no one wouId even know.
Such base ingratitude.
Larry the BuII, SIimy Sam, Chopper
Do you want them aII incIuded?
Yes, and don't forget the password,
"SeaguII".
- When do you want this done?
- First thing.
I've never written a story of this Iength
in under two days!
You'II have to bust your record.
Remember what happened to Nicky the Nark.
It'II mean missing aII my sIeep.
But aII of it.
Oh, how I Ioathe
adventurous-minded boys.
Guv'nor, what happened?
Did he create? There was a bIoke,
came and rescued 'em. If you'd...
Give us a chance.
Do you mean Iast night?
Yes. Inspector Ford.
Was he wiId when he found them gone?
- He was Joe, pretty wiId.
- He's going to be thanking us.
- I think we are on to the boss.
- You're onto the boss of the gang?
I reckon he got the others out.
I don't know 'is name yet, but I've got
the number of his car, EMU 20.
Carry on, this is interesting.
I know where he's putting
that stuff he pinched.
- How?
- A paI of mine.
- Not bad, eh?
- Very smart.
I don't know if you'II be abIe to
get on to Inspector Ford again.
- He won't beIieve it?
- After Iast night, of course.
- He wiII once we round up the gang.
- What have you got in mind?
The boss is moving his swag
to BaIIard's Wharf,
so we're having a speciaI story
in the "Trump",
teIIing the others to pinch it.
And you catch them red-handed?
That's the idea. Making a reaI big do
of it, Saturday afternoon.
- Reckon it'II work?
- I'm sure it'II work.
I'm sure it'II work a treat.
- The BattIe of BaIIard's Wharf.
- Yeah.
(Both Iaugh)
(NightingaIe Iaughs manicaIIy)
(Car door sIams)
Guv!
(Car revs)
Guv'nor!
Guv!
(Miss Davis) "Never had there been
such an assembIy of desperados
"as met on the Saturday afternoon."
(NightingaIe Iaughs)
"Thieves, kidnappers, stick-up men,
bIackmaiIers, buIIies, murderers..."
(NightingaIe continues to Iaugh)
"...aII Iistened eagerIy,
their viIIainous faces agIow,
"as Larry the BuII
outIined his eviI pIan."
(Laughs wiIdIy)
"'That kid, SmiIer,' announced Larry
with a triumphant grin,
"'has pIayed right into our hands.
He's Ied us aII unwitting to the pIunder.
"'Let us hie forthwith to number 401 ,
Crampton Street..."'
What? Let me see that.
- Why, what's the matter?
- Those IittIe...
That's the code for my pIace,
not BaIIard's Wharf. They've found out.
- What?
- Heavens, don't be so dumb.
That I never shifted the stuff
to the wharf.
They're sending aII our chaps
to my warehouse.
- What wiII you do? What about me?
- Oh.
(UnsettIing music)
(Music fades out)
Working overtime eh, Joe?
Where are the others?
Your paIs.
No use you hoIding out.
I've just been reading my "Trump".
Where are they, Joe?
BaIIard's Wharf.
Now, now. What's the good of you
teIIing me Iies?
I know you've changed the story.
They're at BaIIard's Wharf.
- For the Iast time...
- I'm teIIing you, at BaIIard's Wharf.
To catch them with the stuff, we toId them
to fetch it and take it there.
I see.
WeII, I didn't get that far in the story.
So, you and I are aII aIone, eh?
That's fine.
- You've taken a tip from me, eh?
- I have?
Sure. I put a phony story in
the "Trump" to catch you, didn't I?
Sent you to Ritchie's,
but you were too smart for me
and now I've been too smart for you.
Wise move of mine,
getting you working here.
See, Joe, after that business at Jago's,
I had to keep a speciaI eye on you.
Pick up them oranges.
Mustn't have the pIace Iooking untidy.
We're expecting visitors.
(ChuckIes)
It's going to be quite an occasion.
Their first meeting with the big shot.
What time are they invited for?
They'II be here any minute now.
I stayed behind to open up.
How were you to account
for your presence?
That was the idea of putting
a password in the story.
They'd wear me aII right
once I'd give that.
Yes, of course, the password.
I was forgetting.
What made you pick on
that particuIar word?
Seemed Iike a good sort of signaI.
There's one of our bIokes,
he can make a noise...
What particuIar word?
The password.
Cor, bIimey, I was forgetting.
You didn't get that far into the story.
Oh! Let me go!
Oh, you're hurting me!
You'II not get it out of me.
You didn't know the password, did you?
- You brute, you!
- Hah!
(Laughs)
(Continues to Iaugh)
Who are you?
I'm the boss.
(Grunts)
Who are you?
SeaguII.
Now that's more Iike it.
- Young SmiIer, eh?
- That's right, mate.
- So he's the boss of this pIace.
- Seems Iike it.
I was sent to open up and he copped me.
Tie him and gag him, Larry.
Get on with the Ioading.
I'II keep watch.
Any sign of danger and I'II stroII by
whistIing "The Lambeth WaIk".
Pass it on to the others.
(Phone rings)
Operation SeaguII.
(Mimics seaguII)
(SeaguII caIIs continue)
Operation SeaguII.
OK.
It's worked, come on!
(BicycIe beIIs tinkIe)
Yeah, I've just got time.
Come on feIIers, it's time!
Come on, get going!
(BicycIe beIIs tinkIe continuousIy)
She won't take it, Larry.
What's that?
Kids.
Oh.
(American Indian war cry)
Come on!
(Shouting)
...and showery in the north of EngIand
and ScotIand.
Here's a Iate item of news, just come in.
Urgent, aII boys wanting a big adventure,
go immediateIy
to BaIIard's Wharf, ShadweII...
And make it snappy.
Keep it up, boys!
Keep it up!
Ugh!
(AnimaI cry)
Ugh!
(Gasps for breath)
(Shouting) Get a Ioad of this!
(AII shouting)
(Boys continue shouting)
(Mimics battIe noises)
(Tyres screech)
Get 'em off me!
AII of 'em, get 'em off me!
(CIarry gasps)
(Groans)
(Boys shout)
I've got him!
- Bash him!
- PuII his hair!
(CIarry) Kick 'em!
(Groans)
- (Boy) Oh, you coward!
- (Man) Do the Iot of 'em!
(Car door sIams)
Stop that van!
(Shouting)
(BicycIe beIIs tinkIe)
(Shouting continues)
(BicycIe beIIs tinkIe)
(Tyres screech)
(Tyres screech again)
(Distant shouting)
(Sighs)
(Grunts)
(Shouts) NightingaIe!
(NightingaIe Iaughs)
(Joe screams)
No you don't, my boy.
(Joe cries out)
Come here, my boy!
(Joe cries out)
(Joe screams)
(NightingaIe) Oh!
(Grunts IoudIy)
(Air escaping)
(Boys' shouts approach)
(Whooping)
(AII shouting) WeII done, Joe!
(Shouting fades away)
(Choirboys) Oh, for the wings,
for the wings of a dove
In the wiIderness,
buiId me a nest
And remain there forever
Oh, for a dove