Still Waters The Doctor Blake Mysteries

# Well, I'm just outta school

# Like I'm real, real cool

# Gotta shake, gotta jive

# Got the message that I gotta be wild

-# I'm a wild one... #

-Woo!

# Ooh, yeah, I'm a wild one

# Ooh, baby, gonna break loose

# I'm gonna keep 'em moving wild

# I'm gonna keep 'em shaking, baby

# I'm a real wild child

# I meet all the guys I'm gonna meet all the chicks

# A shiver and a shake... #

BICYCLE BELL RINGS

All right, guys, turn it down.

-ALL COMPLAIN

-Turn it down.

ALL SPEAK INDISTINCTLY

MUSIC CONTINUES

And there we are. Isn't she lovely?

Oh, yes, sir, yes. Magnificent.

Oh, steady on, Blake. That's a bit strong, isn't it?

Keith! Didn't know you were an art critic.

I thought you were a chemist.

Ah, Patrick!

-Get it down.

-The painting stays.

Too far this time, Blake. That is offensive.

-Oh, you don't like it?

-Of course not. This is a gentlemen's club.

-And that's the problem.

-Come on, be reasonable.

Oh, Keith! What's wrong?

Worried a scandal will derail your election to council?

You can't just walk into the club and do whatever you want.

Actually, I can.

I refer you to item six of the club's constitution,

under Rights and Privileges re club decoration.

I think he may be correct.

You never come to the club.

You clearly despise everything it stands for. Why do all this?

Because it's a beautiful painting. She's a very promising young artist.

This was painted by a woman?

Yes, a woman.

Just think...

you'll have to let THEM join one day.

Never bloody well happen while I'm alive.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

WOMAN SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY

ENGINE REVS

Lawson, what have we got?

-Parks?

-Young woman, sir.

HE STRAINS

Heard about what happened at the club.

Can't help yourself, can you?

Turn her over for me, would you?

I'll need time of death, approximate.

Shouldn't take you too long.

I need to perform an autopsy.

She drowned. What more do you need?

Ann Fitzgerald.

-Age?

-17.

How long at she been at the reformatory?

It's a reform school, Constable. Five years.

Any family?

Well, thanks, Miss Patterson. We'll be in touch.

Lawson said it was a drowning. Doesn't need the two of us, does it?

Ever tried to drown yourself, Gus?

Not recently.

Not easy in three feet of water.

You're all right if I stay, aren't you?

-Do I have a choice?

-No, not really.

Let's have a look, eh?

Ah, substantial haematomas, both legs.

Possible broken tibia.

What were you doing floating in Lake Wendouree?

Haematomas to the neck, shoulders and upper chest.

I'm sorry about this. It's not very dignified, is it?

Would you not do that?

-What?

-Talking to the body.

You should always talk to your patients, Gus.

Oh, Gus.

Look. Cuts to the right palm. Evidence of gravel.

And...just bear with me a second.

Now, look at that.

Fragments of glass.

What happened to you?

-I am sorry.

-What?

I think she was pregnant.

-Poor kid.

-Yes.

No fluid in the lungs. Significant internal damage.

Actual cause of death was penetration of the heart

-by one of the ribs.

-So she didn't drown.

No. She was... She was run over.

Height of impact on the legs suggest whoever hit her

was accelerating at the time.

Which makes it deliberate.

Yes, if they saw her. Yes.

So how did she end up in the lake?

I have absolutely no idea.

-I understand your frustration, ma'am.

-Phillip's spent a lot of money on that car.

Those idiots think they can take whatever they want.

-We don't know they took it, Mum.

-Then who else was it?

-When did you last see the car?

-Last night, outside the house.

-When did you notice it was gone?

-This morning.

They race up and down Lydiard Street, they're rude

-and the way the girls dress...

-Mum!

They're sluts, Phillip. There's no other word for it.

Mrs Morrisey. Problem here?

Phillip's car's been stolen. It's those tearaways parked outside the picture theatre all day.

-You saw them?

-Well, who else would steal it?

-Parks, sort it out.

-Yes, sir.

-Make and model.

-It's a Standard Vanguard two tone.

Can I help you there?

Oh, sorry. I was... just cleaning up your desk.

Right.

You really don't need to hide all of these, you know.

There aren't many consolations in life, Jean.

Good whisky happens to be one of the few.

There's rather a lot of consolation here.

Perhaps I should take responsibility

for disposing of the empty bottles, eh?

Dinner's nearly ready.

Yes, look, I may have to skip that. I have a meeting down at the club.

Your father liked dinner on the table at half past five on the dot.

I'm not my father, Jean.

No.

DISTANT ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

Hard at work, are we?

You know, you almost look grown-up in that uniform.

Thank you.

-Is it a good book?

-SHE SIGHS

Are you taking interest in literature?

That book's banned.

Well, you can have it when I'm finished with it.

-I could arrest you if I wanted to.

-SHE SCOFFS

Well, you'll have to arrest the Doctor too, because it's his.

Something smells good!

Danny, you're just in time.

-Aunty Jean.

-Did you have a good day?

Oh, spent the morning pulling a dead girl out of the lake.

Oh, how awful!

-She's from the bad girls' home.

-The what?

You know, up on the highway.

I think you mean the reform school. No-one calls it the bad girls' home.

-I do.

-Thank you.

OK, so if she's a bad girl,

does that mean that she deserves everything she gets?

No-one deserves to be in that place, I tell you.

If you're not bad going in, chances are you will be when you come out.

-I'll keep that in mind.

-Oh, this from the boyfriend, how is he?

He's fine. He just got admitted to the Bar.

So? I do that every Saturday night.

-There's some mail for you.

-I can tell.

Another letter from Singapore.

Thank you.

Are you eating?

HUBBUB

This is an extraordinary meeting of the disciplinary committee, Blake.

You weren't invited.

Well actually, as a member, I'm allowed to sit and observe,

especially in this case, as it concerns me.

In that case, I propose that club member Doctor Lucien Blake

be censured for bringing the club into disrepute.

Namely, for displaying an unauthorised article

on club property, and then refusing to remove it when asked to do so.

It WAS unauthorised.

All those in favour?

Carried.

Gentlemen.

Fellow members.

She goes back to the bar.

Thank you, Cec.

Drugs?

Yes, amphetamines of some kind.

There's a margin of error of course, it's a fairly primitive test.

Did you find any on her or in her clothing?

-No.

-So that's the story then.

Amphetamines and cars.

There's still the fact that she was pregnant.

Oh, that's not what killed her.

We've given them warnings. Public nuisance, obstructing traffic.

This is a step up for these kids.

So what, you just pluck some suspects out of thin air

because you don't like their attitude?

Parks, who's the jacket?

Ricky Arnott, sir.

We went to school together.

-Tell him I want a word.

-Yes, sir.

Hey, Parksy. Blue's a good look on you.

Bet the girls just wet themselves when you turn up.

You hit something, Ricky?

Hey, get away from the car.

-Are you bloody deaf or something?

-What happened here?

-What's it to you?

-Mate, just tell me what happened to the front of your car.

You're not my mate, you...

Stay still! Calm down.

My boss, he wants you down at the station.

He's interested in any cars with front end damage.

So either you come with me easy

or I'll drag you down there by your bloody ears!

Can I help you there, Doctor?

What's this?

That is cochineal.

Boiled insects. Perfect.

And that is our last box of sugar cubes.

I promise I'll bring some back.

-Mattie!

-Mm-hm?

-Does the district nurse have a busy morning?

-Not terribly. Why?

Mm, do you think she might accompany me on a little visit

to the reformatory?

I'll see if she is free.

-She's free.

-Good.

Is your car actually working right now?

Today, yes. Tomorrow, who knows?

I think Jean's rather worried about you.

-Really?

-Yes.

You don't look after yourself. And you know she does try.

I know.

Maybe I'm just not cut out to have a housekeeper.

Now, come on. Bad girls are waiting.

I thought that your father saw to the girls' polio boosters last year.

Yes, well, unfortunately, I think dear old Dad

may have let a few things slide toward the end.

I always thought he was very thorough.

Yes, he was.

How are the girls, Miss Patterson?

They're upset. We all are. You can see them in here.

Thank you.

Let me ask you, did you know Ann Fitzgerald?

OK.

Kathleen.

Did you know Ann Fitzgerald?

Oh.

Didn't fancy that, eh?

-Good.

-Good.

There you go.

Josie, just while you're here,

can I ask you - did you know Ann Fitzgerald?

Yeah, I knew her.

Was she a friend of yours?

Oh, I am sorry.

It's not your fault.

Miss Patterson probably wants me back on kitchen duty. Can I go now?

Yes, of course you can.

Ann was pregnant when she died.

Do you know who the father might have been?

One of those boys who...parks down at the Regent Theatre, perhaps?

What do you think?

Ask Mr Morrisey.

She was a bright girl. It's a tragedy for the school.

Any problems teaching her?

Well, all of these girls have problems.

They're written off the moment they set foot in here.

And personally, I...

You know, I don't think that's fair.

But I was specifically asking you about Ann.

She was a good student.

Must be difficult, eh?

Why's that?

Well, hope you don't mind me saying, but you're a good-looking chap.

And these are young women.

I imagine things could get a bit tricky.

These girls develop crushes. It's fairly normal.

Did Ann have a crush on you, Phillip?

I really wouldn't know about that.

I...I simply tried to teach her as best as I could.

Are we done here, Doctor?

Yes.

Yes. Thank you for your time.

Mattie.

I didn't like Miss Patterson at all.

No. And what did you make of him?

Well, it's nice to hear someone defending those girls for a change.

Hang on a minute. If you were a bad girl here,

and he was teaching you...

Well, I'd probably have a crush on him too.

Oh, Mattie. Get in the car.

Ann Fitzgerald? Don't know her.

Really?

So you didn't talk to her the day before yesterday?

Nope.

Or the day before that, at approximately 10:15

in the morning and then again at 4:50 later that afternoon?

I don't know what you're talking about.

-HE SIGHS

-You're starting to try my patience.

That's your problem.

No, son. It's your problem.

Now if I were you, I'd start remembering

Ann Fitzgerald pretty bloody quickly.

-G'day, Doc.

-Danny.

-What's she doing here?

-Yeah, she's a bit of all right, isn't she?

She's more than all right, Danny. She's exquisite.

This is Tyneman's doing, isn't it?

Yeah, the boss wants her out of here.

Of course he does. Philistine.

I've just been up to the reformatory.

Seems Ann Fitzgerald had more than just a crush

on that science teacher, Morrisey. I think we should be talking to him.

Morrisey, he was in here yesterday. Someone stole his car.

Really?

Where's Lawson?

Ah, he's talking with Ricky Arnott.

The kid from outside the picture theatre?

Yeah. His car's out the front if you want to take a squiz.

There's some damage to the front.

Ah, he still thinks this is about the pills, does he?

Oh, maybe this will convince you.

We found them on Ricky when we brought him in.

Boss wants to know what they are.

Any idea?

What are you doing?! Are you insane?

Give me a minute. I'll tell you.

Don't go in there. Don't! Don't you go in there!

Please, Doc!

-My dear Lawson, I'm here to drum sense into you.

-Sorry, sir.

There are two issues to this investigation

-and so far you've only thought of one of them.

-Outside!

Well, look!

First of all, there's the issue of the running down of the girl, yes?

And then there's the question of the...

-What is it?

-Are you talking about pills?

Yes! Amphetamines, to be precise.

I'm sorry to be pedantic but accuracy is important.

You mention anything about this, you'll be dialling numbers out your quoit for weeks!

-Lawson, this is important!

-Outside!

What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?

Alpha-methylpehenethylamine.

Trade name Benzedrine, bennies, depending on how hip you are.

-I know what they're called.

-Well, I've conducted an analysis.

-That was quick.

Yes, well, increased blood flow, feelings of euphoria.

Tendency to indulge in high-risk behaviour

with overwhelming sense of invincibility.

-Definitely amphetamines.

-Marvellous.

-Yes. But it leads us to this point.

What is the point?

Ann Fitzgerald. Yes, amphetamines.

Are the two issues linked?

Which leads us to this question - who is the father?

Possibly Phillip Morrisey.

-Huh?

-I've pushed him as far as I felt was appropriate on that,

but short of tackling the man to the ground

-and forcibly getting blood...

-Go home!

And take that bloody painting with you.

There's something else going on here, Lawson.

Something we're missing.

Home!

Oh, seize the day, Lawson.

Seize it with both hands!

What are you smiling at?

Ah! I surrender.

If you can't appreciate the wonder of that painting,

there's no hope for you, and that's speaking as a doctor.

Your father would have hated it.

Well, neither of us can speak for dear old Dad, so let's not try, eh?

Nakedness, Patrick!

She was gloriously naked and you couldn't bear it.

Grow up, Blake. I couldn't give a damn what she was wearing.

As long as you're authorised,

you can put your arse up there for all I care.

That's exactly the hypocrisy I'm talking about.

Oh, don't you ever get tired of always making a mess?

Oh, I'm so sorry, Mrs Clasby. He seems to have been delayed.

Oh, that's perfectly all right.

I can't imagine Lucien is the easiest person to work for.

Would you like a magazine?

Oh, thank you. That'd be lovely.

He is very kind, though, despite what he's been through.

He was such a lovely boy.

I don't think his father knew what to do with him.

I just think he needs looking after.

Would you like a cup of tea?

Oh, that'd be lovely. Thank you.

I keep expecting old Doctor Blake to walk in through the door.

Ah, we can but dream.

Sorry, Dad.

Lucien, where have you been?

Nell Clasby's been sitting in there since four o'clock.

HE CLEARS THROAT Nell, forgive me.

I am so sorry to have kept you waiting.

That's perfectly all right. Jean looked after me.

-Come on through.

-Oh!

How are you feeling, Nell?

Not the best.

Your new prescription - it doesn't seem to be agreeing with me.

-Did you bring the pills in with you?

-Yes.

But I'm sure I'll pick up.

Well, perhaps you should leave the diagnosis to me.

Are you looking after yourself?

Of course I am.

Always rushing around looking after everybody else.

And I worry sometimes.

Nell, honestly, I'm fine.

It's lovely having you back in town.

And your mum would have been so thrilled.

Parks.

Yes, sir?

Any idea what happened back there?

With the Doc? No, sir.

None at all?

No.

He's an interesting man, Blake.

But that war really made a mess of him.

He's taken you under his wing, hasn't he?

Er... I suppose, sir.

Bit of advice, Parks.

It's not your job to save him from himself.

Your loyalty's to the force, Constable. Don't you forget it.

Yes, sir.

Breakfast.

Mate.

-Quickly.

-You gotta help me.

-I didn't kill that girl.

-The boss thinks you did.

Thinks you ran her down and you dumped her body in the lake.

He's going to set me up for it, is he?

Not if you tell us the truth, he won't.

Danny, you know me. I wouldn't do anything like this.

What about your headlight?

I ran into a fencepost. I can show you if you want.

How do you know Ann?

I tried to crack onto her a few times, but...

Yeah, and come on, Ricky. I need more than this, mate.

And she sold us bennies.

-Where did she get them from?

-I don't bloody know, mate.

Well, why wouldn't you have told us this in the first place?

I didn't touch her. I swear.

I can't see him killing anyone.

Well, Lawson seems to think he did it.

He just bought bennies from the girl. That's all.

And where did she get them from?

No idea.

You know, Danny, you should tell Lawson.

He's not going to like it.

He's a smart man, your boss.

You don't want to get into the habit of going behind his back.

Oh, well, you do.

Yes, well, he wouldn't expect anything else from me.

You don't think it's got anything to do with the pills, do you?

I don't know. It'd be good to have another look at them.

Yeah, well, you swallowed the only ones we had.

Yes.

Do you mind?

Lucien.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, you're a real hero, Danny.

Hey, I stuck my neck out for you.

Yeah, thanks. I owe you one.

Yeah, well, don't let me see you here again. All right?

Sure.

And get that headlight fixed!

ENGINE STARTS

ENGINE REVS

ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

Excuse me. How are you all?

A friend of mine would like to buy some bennies.

-Know where I could buy some?

-You're bloody kidding me, right?

-No.

-You're not a copper, are you?

No, I'm not a copper.

Then what were you doing at the station?

I'm a doctor.

And I'm ex-army which means I know more about amphetamines

than you kids ever will.

Now look, I spent two months, two months straight

under fire day and night on the Malay Peninsula.

How do you think we stayed awake?

By the time Singapore finally fell, I'd been awake for three days.

You could say I developed a taste for them.

You blokes were off your heads the whole war?

Until the Japs took us prisoner.

Now, are you selling?

Ten bob. Meet me in the lane in five.

Done.

That true what you were saying about the war?

Absolutely.

This is where you'd meet Ann Fitzgerald and do your business?

Mate, I thought you said you weren't a copper.

What am I looking for?

You see that pill has a groove down the centre,

and there's a little nick,

about a third of the way along the groove there?

Yes.

That's caused by a slight imperfection in the pressing mould.

So every pill that comes from that press will have that same nick.

Now...

tell me what you see there.

-It's a different colour.

-Mm-mm.

-But exactly the same imperfection.

-Yes.

Now, that pink one, that's one of Nell Clasby's blood pressure pills.

-And the white one?

-The white's one a bennie.

I bought it from Ricky in the laneway behind the theatre.

-You did what?

-I know, it's a long story.

But look, the thing is... those nicks are like a signature.

So they're going to be on every pill that came out of that press?

Exactly. And who supplied Nell's blood pressure medication?

Keith Morrisey?

Keith Morrisey.

I have no idea. Honestly, I have no idea.

-HE SIGHS

-You've seen these pills.

Yes, I have.

And?

There's no question they were made on the same press.

-How does that happen?

-I don't know.

-Mr Morrisey...

-I don't, I have no idea.

It's a nice little earner, isn't it?

Selling amphetamines to idiots.

God, no.

These pills were made on your press.

And you're saying the science is beyond you?

Anyone with a basic knowledge of science can do this.

Keith, who else has access to your pill press?

Well, this is just bloody marvellous, isn't it?

A science teacher who uses his lab

and his father's pill press to make bennies.

Quite the little operation going there, didn't you?

You know what makes me really angry?

You got one of your students to sell your pills for you.

You get her pregnant, very inconvenient.

You run her down and you dump her body in the lake.

No. I made the pills, but...

..I didn't kill Ann.

We're going to find your car.

If there's the smallest bit of evidence linking her to it,

I'm charging you with murder.

Lucien, what is going on here? Where's Phillip?

Right now he's being interviewed about manufacturing amphetamines.

I want to speak to Superintendent Lawson.

Did you know he was having a relationship with one of his students?

It's impossible.

Really?

She was pregnant.

Someone ran her down and dumped her body in the lake.

You're not suggesting that Phillip would do something like that?

Did he ever talk about her?

He talked about his students all the time.

Specifically, did he talk about Ann Fitzgerald?

No. Absolutely not.

Doc, you might want to have a look at this.

Excuse me, Rosemary.

Lucien, you tell the Superintendent

I am not leaving here until this is cleared up.

It was dumped out near Castlemaine.

It's Morrisey's car.

Right.

Dumped, you say?

Is this blood?

Yes.

Danny, hop in there for me, would you?

-In here?

-Yes, please.

Oh, it's tight!

I'm going to have to move the seat back.

No, no, don't adjust anything.

Try to, um...look in the rear vision mirror there for me.

Right.

Whoever last drove this car, Danny,

how tall would you say they were?

Oh, he would have been a real short arse.

You really think he did this?

You were the one babbling on about Phillip Morrisey yesterday.

BLAKE SIGHS

Yes, I was, wasn't I?

You know it's almost bloody impossible for me to work out

when I should take you seriously.

He's not confessing, is he?

Give him time.

And he reported his car stolen, didn't he?

12 hours after Ann Fitzgerald died.

Her blood was all over the backseat of the car, for Christ's sake.

Yes. Yes, it probably is her blood,

but I don't believe he was the last person to drive that car.

Can you give me any logical reason

why you doubt that Phillip Morrisey didn't kill that girl?

You're never satisfied, are you?

Seems I have a fair bit to catch up on in the old town.

What can you tell me about the Morriseys?

They're...nice.

Jean...

I'm about to make some pretty wild accusations about that family

and if I'm wrong, I may well be run out of this town

wearing nothing more than tar and feathers.

So nice doesn't really help me.

Keith's boorish.

-You don't like him?

-I don't respect him.

Phillip seems decent enough, though I don't know where he gets that from.

What about Rosemary?

When she married Keith, there were two chemists on Lydiard Street.

Morrisey's was the smaller shop.

She went to war against them.

They were bankrupt within two years.

Really? How did she manage that?

Oh, she ostracised the wife, spread stories about the children.

She claimed the husband propositioned her.

-And people believed it?

-Oh, the men did.

They seem to like her.

Yes.

Thank you, Jean.

My father brought me here for my 19th birthday.

And we sat in silence over brown Windsor soup.

-Ma'am.

-How was it?

It was very brown. Thank you, Cec.

Where's your infamous painting?

Oh.

It wasn't appreciated here.

I'll have to find her a new home.

I imagine Keith must be feeling rather out of sorts right now.

Running for council on a law and order platform.

Phillip finding himself in so much trouble.

We'll rise above it.

Yes, I'm sure you will.

Despite everything else that Phillip's done,

there's no way that he killed that awful little slut.

SHE CHUCKLES

Right.

Well, it was someone else.

Who?

Oh, someone who believes her social standing in the town

is more important than the life of a young girl from a reform school.

Someone who could steal her son's car

because she could easily get her hands on the keys.

Someone who lied to me

when they said they had no idea this girl even existed.

You pathetic little man.

How did you arrange to meet Ann?

Were you planning on killing her from the start?

You really believe I did all that?

Well, arrest me then.

I'm a doctor, not a policeman.

And that tells me everything.

You have no proof.

You come back to this town with nothing.

Everything you have is your father's.

His practice, his house, his housekeeper.

And don't forget his car.

Weak, drunk...

..and self-righteous.

You have nothing.

-There's another one.

-Thank you, Mattie.

-He wrote her a lot of love letters.

-Mm!

Well, I am in no hurry to wade through Lake Wendouree again.

I can tell you. What have we got?

Well, we can't make out many of the words, but they're all love letters from him.

They say things like "Darling Ann", "sweet girl", that sort of thing.

And there's his signatures, there and there.

Yes.

"Love always, Phillip."

-And lovely handwriting.

-Except...

..this one here.

This is the only one that's been typed.

Phillip, I, um...

I found Ann's bag in the lake.

She'd packed a change of clothes.

I think she was going somewhere.

I also found...quite a few of the letters you'd written her.

I mean, they're not in great condition now, obviously,

but you can still make out bits and pieces.

"Darling Ann",

"sweet girl".

I'm sure she loved you.

And I think you loved her.

Phillip, tell me about these letters.

We couldn't be together, so...

..I wrote to her.

And your letters were always handwritten.

Yeah.

Then why is this one typed?

I mean, it's barely legible,

but you can make out a few things, like "Bakery Lane",

and down the bottom here, "From Phillip".

That's not from me.

Who else knew Ann was pregnant?

I mean, certainly her friend Josie at the reform school didn't know.

No. Um...

Ann didn't tell anyone.

But you did, didn't you?

Phillip, did you tell your mother?

-Lawson.

-Where's your wife, Keith?

I don't know, but you've got to find her.

-What happened?

-She came home beside herself.

I tried to find out what was wrong but she started screaming

and saying it was all my fault.

-Where do you think she might have gone?

-I don't know.

-I know she's in a dreadful state.

-Mrs Morrisey!

Please find her.

SOBBING

Rosemary.

I found the bag. And the letters.

Go away.

Rosemary, it's over.

Keith and Phillip need me.

They won't survive without me.

Please...

SHE SOBS

Come here.

We should go.

Phillip told me he was in trouble. The girl was pregnant.

He declared his undying love.

That sort of nonsense.

Of course, he was going to do the right thing by her.

He's...he's so...

idealistic.

We had a huge row,

and he just wouldn't see sense.

You sent her a letter pretending it was from your son.

Well, I had to do something.

If he wasn't capable of seeing where this would lead,

I thought that she might.

You took Phillip's car.

Well, she would never have agreed to meet if she knew it was me.

What happened in the lane?

I...

I offered her money to go away.

Start a new life somewhere else.

But she wouldn't take it.

Perhaps I...

I should have been more generous.

Perhaps Ann wasn't for sale, Rosemary.

She told me that she loved Phillip, that she'd go anywhere with him,

as long as they were together.

Imagine that little slut, talking to me, about love!

He's my son.

And she was going to ruin him.

I just couldn't let that happen.

There we are.

I think she's lovely.

I like the colours and the way the light falls on her.

-Yes.

-But she's a little bit dominating.

Really?

-Yeah, colours are good.

-Yes, I thought you'd like the colours(!)

No, she brings a little light to an otherwise dark world.

-What do you think, Jean?

-Oh, I think she's gorgeous.

That's why I've contacted the curator of the gallery.

He'll pick her up tomorrow.

I mean, she's far too lovely to be hidden away here.

You're giving her to the gallery?

I've gifted her.

I mean, she deserves to be seen by lots of people, don't you think?

My mum used to paint.

Perhaps we could mount a little plaque alongside her in Mum's memory.

What do you think?

Do you think she'd approve?

Oh, she would have loved it.