(birds chirping) - [Hugh] Thought we might go to Sorrento for the honeymoon.

- Good fishing there, is it?

(birds chirping) Oh.

- Hey!

(Dottie laughs) (chuckles) Hey, you got one!

Reel her in.

Reel her in.

Whoa, there you go.

- [Dottie] It's going to break!

(reel rattling) (Dottie gasping) (ominous music) (reel rattling) I can't... What is it?

(tense dramatic music) - Turn your back.

- Hugh.

That's... - Dottie, I said turn your back!

(tense dramatic music) (water splashing) (tense dramatic music) (tense sinister music) (Hugh gasping) (tense sinister music) (lively theme music) Nothing in the missing persons records, sir.

(door creaking) (footsteps approaching) - Pardon us, gentlemen.

Dot asked me to drive her here.

- Dot, I told you not to come.

- She's Catholic, Hugh.

- It's the scapular, sir.

Dot wanted to see it, but... - I want to help.

- Dot may know which school or parish favors whatever motto's on it.

- All right.

- [Dottie] "Whoever dies wearing this scapular "shall not suffer eternal fire."

- And the back?

- "Behold the sign of salvation."

"Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

That's no help anybody could have that one.

(light curious music) - [Phryne] These look like rope burns.

(light dramatic music) - She was bound when Collins found her.

There's something else.

It was stitched into her smock.

The name's been washed off, but there's a religious emblem.

- That's the Magdalene Laundry mark from the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Miracle.

- [Jack] Are you sure?

- Yes.

The fallen and friendless girls do our laundry.

(bell tolling) (choral singing in foreign language) - Mother Aloysius, Inspector Robinson.

The bishop has cleared my visit with you, I take it.

(birds chirping) - He didn't say anything about you bringing a companion.

(Phryne's heels tapping) - The Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher.

- Miss Fisher is a lady detective.

- Yes, well, unfortunately, City South Police have yet to appoint any policewomen.

Thankfully, I am happy to serve that function.

- In that case, I'm sure the bishop will approve.

- Policewoman?

- Don't worry, Jack, you'll never get me in that uniform.

Unless, of course, you cuff me.

- Mother.

Mother, we've confirmed Catherine is to be apprenticed to a milliner.

- Oh, well, now, if your needlepoint is anywhere near as good as I think it is, you're going to be a great success.

- Wait by the gate, Catherine.

The cab will arrive presently.

- [Mother Aloysius] The police are here about Bernadette's disappearance.

Perpetua, who oversees all our programs with the girls.

And Sister Dominica.

- Don't we do your laundry?

- You do, indeed to absolute perfection.

(Jack sighs deeply) - Do you know Bernadette's full name?

- I'm afraid we don't.

She came to us as an orphan some years ago now, and we named her for the saint.

- You said she's gone missing.

- Yes.

She was placed in employment at the Federal Hotel some time ago, but she returned to us late last night in a state.

- [Phryne] About what?

- She was of the opinion hotel kitchen hand was beneath her.

Hysterical.

I couldn't calm her.

I put her to bed.

- But by morning, she was gone again.

- Are any of you familiar with this?

We suspect it could be Bernadette's.

I'm afraid we fished her body out of the river this morning.

- And it appears her death wasn't an accident.

- Oh.

Dear God.

(machinery rattling) - I'll take you through the laundry.

(workers coughing) (steam hissing) (machinery rattling) (light somber music) (workers coughing deeply) (steam hissing) (light somber music) This is where I put her for the night.

- Not in the dormitory?

- Well, it was past midnight.

She would have unsettled the other girls.

We call it the penitence room.

Back to work now.

You will take over from Agnes on the mangle.

- My favorite job.

- [Perpetua] And remember to beg our Lord's forgiveness for your wicked, ungrateful attitude.

- If I do that, do you think he'll start paying us wages?

- Ada, go.

- My name is Mary.

- You ain't fit to kiss the Holy Mother's feet, let alone share her name.

- Do you mean to tell me these girls aren't paid?

- We are blessed to live in the Lord's house, Miss Fisher.

No one gets paid here.

- The Magdalene Laundries are exempt from the usual labor laws.

(Phryne sighing) - Do you think you could make it any less harrowing?

This place is straight out of the pages of "David Copperfield".

- How did Bernadette get out of here?

- Those were hanging from the window.

- [Jack] What's on the other side?

- The riverbank, as it happens.

It's quite a drop.

Perhaps she slipped and fell.

- I'll need to talk to the girls one by one.

- Of course.

- Though we'd prefer your policewoman wait outside.

- I would prefer her presence.

- The girls are grateful for the shelter we provide, Inspector.

We don't want to stir up dissatisfaction with the talk of workers' rights and regulations.

- I'm sure you don't.

- We're not a factory here.

We're a family.

- If Miss Fisher keeps her opinions to herself-- - It's all right, Jack.

I'd rather leave than do that.

I do have other leads to follow and a new launderer to find.

(light dramatic music) (engine revving) And... Voila!

These sheets were tied with thief knots.

They'd never bear the weight of a young girl.

- Hmm, I do know my knots, Miss Fisher.

I'm curious as to how you do.

- There was this Portuguese sailor I once knew.

- Enough.

So, somebody prepared the rope to explain Bernadette's escape.

Who would need to do that?

- Whoever let her out.

One of the girls?

- They're hardly forthcoming.

- Well, what do you expect?

They live in fear of the penitence room.

My father used to lock me in a cupboard to try and break my spirit.

- Clearly he didn't leave you there long enough.

What about Perpetua or one of the nuns?

- I can't imagine them doing Bernadette a favor.

- Oh, you've creased it now.

- Oh, come here.

(gentle tender music) - Jack.

Miss Fisher.

You do indeed keep close company these days.

- I was just on my way out.

- I received a disturbing telephone call from a very irate bishop.

We need to tread very carefully with the Catholic Church, Jack.

You know that.

- A little too carefully, it seems.

If that laundry was run outside of the convent, it would be in breach of child cruelty laws.

- The Church answers to a higher law, and we're obliged to respect that.

Which is why you're handing the investigation over to Detective Inspector O'Shaughnessy.

- O'Shaughnessy's an incompetent!

- O'Shaughnessy may not be up to your standards, Jack, but he has the distinct advantage of being Catholic.

It is now his case by order of the chief commissioner.

- Well, then, I need to speak with him.

- Chief Commissioner Hall resigned this morning.

- Well, who's his replacement?

- You're looking at him.

- Congratulations.

- It's my first day on the job.

Don't make it any more difficult.

- Does George Sanderson really believe that a man with an "O" in front of his name will bring charges against a pack of nuns?

- Leave it alone, Miss Fisher.

(light dramatic music) - We worked so hard to find jobs for those convent girls.

The Gratitude girls were not the ones we plucked out from the gutter.

Only the best behaved were chosen.

- What, and the rest were doomed to slavery amongst the suds of that hideous laundry?

Bad girls, good sheets, and not a penny in wages?

- I would have turned to the convent if I hadn't met you, Miss.

They have no choice.

- All the more reason not to exploit them.

As for your good girls, Aunt Prudence, are you telling me that two of them have gone missing?

- (chuckles) Joan did not go missing.

She absconded during my Gratitude Patrons' dinner.

She wasn't even part of the program.

But I gave her a chance, a plumb placement in my very own household.

- Bernadette had a plumb placement, too, at the Federal Hotel.

- All of our board are well connected.

The Worthingtons, the Countens, the Fletchers, and we all do what we can.

- Fletcher as in Sidney Fletcher?

- Yes, their eldest.

He's godson of George Sanderson, Deputy Police Commissioner.

- And fiance to Jack's ex-wife, Rosie.

(Prudence scoffs) - You have a very roundabout way of looking at things, dear.

Ah.

Yes.

There's Joan.

- [Phryne] Joan?

She didn't seem the runaway type.

(gentle music) (Prudence sighing) - She made a wonderful flummery.

But not even those bottle-top glasses could save my Royal Albert tea set from ruin.

(light dramatic music) (engine humming) (brake squealing) (handbrake clicking) (engine powers down) - Morning, Sister, the Honorable Miss Fisher's laundry as per usual.

- Today is Wednesday.

"As per usual" is Monday.

(birds chirping) "Eight sets of satin sheets, "18 pairs of smalls, 12 camisoles?"

- House guests.

- That woman.

Put it round the back.

- [Bert] Bless you, Sister.

- Keep the noise down.

They're at morning prayers.

(light curious music) - All clear.

- Taking Holy Orders would have been the easier option.

You call that driving?

- Happy to swap cars if you like.

- How will you get out?

- Meet you out the front in an hour.

(footsteps departing) - Give me three good reasons why I shouldn't scream the place down?

- Give me three good reasons why you should?

Why did Perpetua call you Ada yesterday?

- They change everybody's name when you get here to saints.

- What was St. Ada's claim to fame?

- She was a dedicated virgin.

- Hard act to follow.

- This was the factory foreman's idea, not mine.

- You know I'm not the police, Mary.

Did you see Bernadette the night she came back?

- I was reprieved on her account.

It was the first time in a month I got to sleep in the dorm.

She was bawling like a baby, and begging Perpetua not to let him get her.

- Who?

- She said something about a man outside the hotel.

And she was going on about a car.

A fancy black car.

She was talking about Joan.

- Joan?

- We called her four-eyes.

The nuns' pet.

She and Bernadette were best friends until they sent Joan off to work for some rich old battle-ax who took a shine to her cooking.

(Phryne chuckles softly) - Was Bernadette prone to hysterics?

- I hardly knew her.

They kept the good girls away from us bad eggs.

But she left a message.

(light dramatic music) I only saw it there this morning.

- 112 DeVere.

This has been scratched in.

- With these.

(gasping) (light dramatic music) - Joan's?

(door opening) (door closing) - Good morning, Collins.

- Sir, the autopsy report on Bernadette.

- Uh... Give it to O'Shaughnessy.

He's in charge of this case now.

- But... - Immediately, Collins.

- Shall I send Mr. Fletcher to O'Shaughnessy, too, sir?

You telephoned him yesterday.

Asked him to come in.

He and your wife.

Your ex-wife.

Ex-wife.

- Yes, Collins.

- How many times, Collins?

(door creaking) - So why were you locked in there?

- This time?

I put Epsom salts instead of sugar in the sisters' tapioca pudding.

They were up all night with the... (door creaking) - I assure you I have personally reassigned the case.

There will be no more aggravation.

- Commissioner.

Perpetua.

Excellent drying weather, wouldn't you say?

(Mary groaning) - [Jack] You broke in to the convent?

- No, of course not.

I was smuggled.

- I thought these dilettante society types slept till noon.

Unlawful trespass, break and entry, I want this woman brought to heel.

- Would you like me to roll over and fetch, too?

- You seem to have some sway over her.

Rosie, Sidney, what are you doing here?

- We were summoned.

Well, at least Sidney was.

We've come to see if we can help with that poor convent girl.

- And as a member of the Gratitude Board.

- So my aunt tells me.

- I forgot to cancel the appointment.

- Father, I believe you've taken Jack off this case.

Why?

- It's a diplomacy issue, my dear.

Jack understands.

It's nothing for you to worry about.

- No, no, no.

- But if you don't keep Miss Fisher under a tighter reign, you may find yourself suspended from all duties.

(light dramatic music) - Goodbye, Miss Fisher.

(Phryne sighing) - Jack, I'm sorry.

- Please tell me your break-in was worth all this fuss.

- You tell me.

Mary found these in the penitence room the day after Bernadette did her disappearing act.

Joan's.

Aunt Prudence's runaway maid.

Only according to Mary Joan was a good girl, and never did time in the penitence room.

- How'd they get there?

- Bernadette had them with her when she returned to the convent, and she used the glass to scratch this into the wall.

112 DeVere.

- [Jack] An address?

- Possibly.

Of the man she referred to?

- Why scratch it into a wall?

Why not tell the nuns?

- Well, according to Mary, she tried, but perhaps they didn't listen.

- Collins!

- I really am very sorry, Jack, that you're in so much hot water because of me.

- Don't be remorseful.

It only confuses me.

Collins, when I told you to send on that autopsy report immediately, I... - Hardly had time to get onto it, sir.

- Thank you.

It is addressed to me, after all.

- Thank goodness, I'd hate to think you were disobeying a directive.

- So was the victim already dead, or did she drown in the river, sir?

- Jack?

(light dramatic music) - Drowned, Collins.

(Jack sighing) - It can't have been pleasant for Hugh to fish her out of the water.

- "In the water overnight.

"Injury found under the hair "most likely caused by a blunt instrument."

- But not the cause of death?

- No, there was seawater in the lungs, notable for an exceptionally high saline content.

- Then the body can't have come downstream from the convent.

It must have been washed upstream from the bay.

- Much further than that.

"The lungs also contained traces of red algae, "a type that is not found in either the River Yarra "or Port Phillip Bay."

- [Bert] Here's where Hugh and Dottie found the girl.

- The Warmies?

Why do they call it that?

- [Cec] 'Cause the water's warm on account of the power station here.

- Tide comes in, tide goes out.

Anything bobbing about in the bay or the river can get caught up.

- How do you explain the saltwater in Bernadette's lungs?

- Some foreign ship in dock was dumping ballast near where she went into the drink?

- So somehow after leaving the convent, she winds up at the docks, where she's fed to the sharks and washes upriver.

That make any sense to you?

- [Phryne] Not yet.

If we knew where the ship was from... - The Red Sea.

It says here it has an exceptionally high salinity, and that the reason it looks red is because of some special algae.

- Can we find out who's in port?

- Cec's niece's husband will know.

- Excuse me, Miss Fisher.

There's a young lady here demanding to see you.

- Your lockpick!

Thank you, it worked a treat.

- You're a bad influence, Miss Fisher.

And, no, you can't keep her.

- "Her" is Mary, and I'm certainly not gonna send her back to that laundry.

She is clearly unfit for heavy duties.

- All I want is a job, any job, but who's gonna take in a girl in my condition?

(dreary dramatic music) - No.

Absolutely not.

- But you love a challenge, Aunt Prudence.

Your very own Pygmalion.

(Prudence sighs) - Passion-fruit flummery I should have known.

- Mary made it herself.

(Prudence sighing) They do say charity begins at home.

- Honestly, Phryne.

I sit on 13 boards.

I spend most of my life raising money for worthy causes.

Don't you think I do enough?

- What is it, Bert?

- We've struck a snag at the harbor master's office.

Cec's niece's husband doesn't do family favors anymore.

Getting that ship's name is going to cost.

(seabirds cawing) (boat horn blowing) (dramatic music) (people chattering) - Where is he?

- He's a chatty one, old Ted, once you loosen his tongue.

(Phryne sighing) - Well, I think 10 pounds has loosened it too much.

(Phryne sighing) - Next time I'm planting petunias, I'll ask your advice!

Thank you.

Thank you.

(sighs) Sorry, sir.

DeVere Crescent is Shannon's nursery.

- Damn!

Maybe it's a name.

- Then what are the numbers?

- Post-office box?

Motor registration?

- DeVere sounds foreign.

(dramatic music) (engine humming) - She's a merchant ship called the Pandarus.

On a run between Antwerp and Melbourne, via the Red Sea.

The captain's Belgian, one Wilhelm DeVere.

- [Phryne] 112.

(dramatic music) A fancy black car.

(engine revving) (dramatic music) (engine idling) - [Worker] No!

No, over here!

- Looks like our captain.

Ted said she docked three weeks ago, but she's due to sail out in another week.

- What's she carrying?

- According to the manifest, sugar.

Could be a cover for something dodgy.

- Then I'd better find a way to get on board and find out.

(dramatic music) (birds cawing) (boat creaking) (dramatic music) - Yeah, right-o.

Yeah, sacks, sacks.

Here's something to do.

- [Worker] (groans) Oh, thanks!

(workers chattering) (birds cawing) (dramatic music) - [Worker] Yeah, what about the belt?

- [Worker] We'll use that light first.

(suspenseful music) - [Worker] The Captain wants the recesses to really hold.

(dramatic music) - [Captain] And keep that hatch closed!

(Phryne gasping) (suspenseful music) - [Worker] Captain DeVere.

- What now?

- [Worker] The davit's jammed again.

- Well, fix it.

There's been enough delays.

I want us back on schedule.

- [Worker] We've tried, but it won't budge.

- [Worker] We think it's broken.

(suspenseful music) - [Captain] Can't you do anything right?

(dramatic music) (Phryne sighing) - So, how did a good convent girl like Bernadette come to be in the cabin of this Captain DeVere?

And why did he try to abduct her from the Federal Hotel?

- If it was him.

There's no car, big, black, or otherwise registered in the name of DeVere.

- Well, he's Belgian.

Must belong to an accomplice.

- What kind of car was it?

- A Cadillac.

- Under normal circumstances, I'd take this to George.

Commissioner Sanderson.

- But you're already perilously close to being out of a job.

- You don't think it's wise to antagonize him any further?

- You're much more use to me if you remain a policeman, Jack.

- A policeman who can't bring anyone into the station for questioning.

- No offense, but my parlor is much more comfortable.

- Why would a Gratitude girl be in the cabin of a Belgian sea Captain?

- We can only speculate at the moment.

- You think she was a stowaway?

- That's one possible explanation, yes.

- (scoffs) Off to see the world.

- But that doesn't explain why Bernadette carved the captain's name into the penitence room wall, or why her hands were bound.

- Perhaps she was discovered in the hold.

- Did Bernadette say anything to the nuns about a ship?

- Well, she knew the name of the captain.

- So their paths must have crossed.

Anymore than that?

- We don't know.

But whatever happened to Bernadette we need to consider Joan may have gone the same way.

- You think they ran away together?

(sighing) Perhaps I was a little too snappy with Joan, but she needed to learn.

- Do you know if any other girls went missing from their Gratitude placements?

- (sighing) Jack, don't you think you should pass all this information on to Father?

- Do you think that's wise?

Considering he took Jack off the case?

- He didn't have a choice.

The bishop was breathing down his neck.

And your constant meddling hasn't helped.

- Darling, Jack's right.

(sighing) As the new chief commissioner, George's hands are even more tightly bound than Jack's.

I'll get you a list of the Gratitude employers.

My address book's out in the car.

- Good, I'll get them onto Collins.

(footsteps departing) (door creaking) - You've really made things worse for Jack, you know.

(footsteps departing) - Unusually devoted, isn't she?

For an ex-wife.

(gentle music) - Pandarus was due to sail next week.

But it turns out she's sailing tonight.

Sudden change in itinerary.

- Well, that's suspicious.

She could have sailed already.

- No, she won't want to go through the heads until slack water tonight around midnight.

- I'll inform the commissioner.

He'll have to act now.

- You can wait for Sanderson to act, Jack, but I'm certainly not holding my breath.

- No, wait, wait.

Whether he's trading in kidnap or murder, that captain's a nasty piece of work.

I don't want anyone to go near the docks.

Please, Miss Fisher.

Do what you're told just this once.

I'll let you know what I find.

(door opening) (door closing) (light dramatic music) - The inspector's right.

It's far more dangerous than I imagined.

(light dramatic music) But I am well-armed and an excellent shot.

- We can't do anything, Miss?

- A thermos of tea would be lovely.

(light upbeat music) - What do you reckon, Cec?

Fists of steel?

- Could be risky.

- If weaponry is your only problem, gentlemen, I may be able to assist.

And this is the Mauser broom handle semi-automatic.

Not quite as impressive as the MP18, but so much more compact.

- These should do the job.

(Mr. Butler chuckles) - Thanks, Mr. B.

- Happy to help.

(engine humming) - [George] You said that was handed in?

- Found at the docks, near the Pandarus.

- Well, that is certainly enough for a raid warrant.

- Good.

We've only got a few hours before she sails.

If you organize the paperwork and the manpower, Collins and I can head to the docks.

- I'm afraid not, Jack.

Look, I appreciate your help, but this is not your investigation and you have already overstepped the mark.

- O'Shaughnessy's an imbecile.

If that ship sails, you'll be letting a murderer get away.

- I am aware of O'Shaughnessy's limitations, Jack.

That's why I'll be leading this raid myself.

But I'm ordering you to stop interfering.

If you disobey, I won't hesitate to dismiss you.

(light dramatic music) (light dramatic music) (Mary screaming) - The doctor says it's too late to go to the lying-in home.

He'll get here as soon as he can.

- No, I don't need a doctor!

It's not my time!

- Hold on to me.

(Mary screaming) Come on, have a seat.

- Oh, dear.

I'll boil up some water and get the scissors sterilized.

- And bring some towels, Mr. Butler!

Loads of towels!

- No, no, no, no, don't bring anything!

It's not my time!

- Nonsense, girl.

- Oh, bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

I've been bad and wicked, and God is gonna let the nuns take my baby away!

- God will do nothing of the kind, or he'll be answerable to me!

Now pull yourself together, girl.

You've got work to do It's not called labor for nothing.

(Mary crying) (Mary screaming) (engine humming) - [Phryne] No sign of the black car.

(engine powers off) - [Bert] No one on deck, either.

- It looks like the coast is clear.

- Keep your head down and the doors locked, Dot.

(dramatic music) (bell clanking) (dramatic music) (rats squealing) - You know what they say about rats on sinking ships.

- Maybe DeVere's been warned.

- If he had been, Pandarus would be halfway out to sea by now.

- Well, if they are hiding anybody on board, it's going to be hard to find them.

- Smugglers are a crafty lot.

How do you think we get your French champagne into the country?

Or that Russian caviar you're so partial to?

- Here I was thinking you'd picked it up from Victoria Markets, Bert.

(metal rattling) (dramatic music) (wood creaking) (metal clanking) Who's there?

(suspenseful music) Joan.

- Miss Fisher, is that you?

I can't see.

(Joan weeping) - Joan, it's all right.

- Please, we have to leave.

Please, they'll come back.

- Shh.

- Please.

- You're safe now.

You're safe now.

(footsteps shuffling) - Joan?

(dramatic music) Here.

This tea should keep you warm.

Here.

- What the hell's happened to Miss Fisher?

- I hope she finds the others before it's too late.

- What others?

- I was locked up with the others before they brought us water.

That's when I escaped.

- Come on.

We're going back.

- [Cec] Righty-o.

(suspenseful music) - Get out of the car!

Come here.

Hey!

Come here all of you!

Get out.

(suspenseful music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (door creaking) (suspenseful music) - Oh, you poor lambs.

(gun cocking) (Phryne gasps) (tense suspenseful music) - I'm afraid I'll have to tie you up, but I'm sure you'd prefer your own cabin anyway.

Come down.

(suspenseful music) Now.

- Collins.

Any news on the raid?

- No, sir, but I managed to track down some more details on that black motorcar.

It's registered to a company, sir.

An SWF Exports.

- SWF that sounds familiar.

Who owns it?

(ominous music) (suspenseful music) (suspenseful music) (brakes squealing) - What are you doing here, Jack?

I told you everything was under control.

- Doesn't look like it.

Where's your manpower?

- I will handle this any way I see fit.

You two set one foot on that ship, your jobs are finished.

- You can go, Collins.

- No, thank you, sir.

- You can reprimand me, you can dismiss me if you like, but I am searching that ship.

(tense dramatic music) (tense dramatic music) (Phryne sighing) (Phryne muttering) (striking dramatic music) (suspenseful music) (dramatic music) (shoe thudding) - Where is she?

- I told you not to set foot on the ship, Jack.

- George?

What the hell are you covering up, George?

- I warned you, Jack.

- Constable, handcuff him!

Constable, handcuff him to this post!

(striking dramatic music) And leave him there.

Miss Fisher!

Phryne!

Miss Fisher!

(suspenseful music) (muffled voice grunting) Miss Fisher, where are you?

(Phryne gasping) Miss Fisher!

(Phryne grunts) (suspenseful music) - Jack!

- Miss Fisher!

- Jack.

(Phryne gasping) Jack, the girls are locked in the front hold, and Fletcher's behind it all.

(gunfire blasting) (suspenseful music) - [Man] Let's go down!

(fighters grunting) - He went that way!

- Where?

(fighters grunting) - Right there!

- We've got to get the girls before Fletcher does!

- Okay!

(dramatic music) (fighters grunting) - [Dottie] Hey!

(henchman grunts) (Hugh gasping) - Dottie.

(suspenseful music) - Fletcher!

(dramatic music) - Stop!

Stop!

(suspenseful music) (Sidney grunting) (Phryne grunting) (tense music) (gunfire blasts) (Sidney groaning) (dramatic music) (light dramatic music) (Sidney coughing) (Sidney gasping) (Phryne gasping deeply) (Sidney gasping) - Should we fish him out, sir?

- I suppose we'll have to.

- Make sure you take your time.

(water splashing) (somber music) (wind blowing) (wind blowing swiftly) (dramatic music) Dot, Bert, Cec, well done.

- Fists of steel, Miss.

Fists of steel.

(engine rumbling) - You wouldn't let me take my vows, so I was serving the Church however I could.

- By sending those girls away?

- Ten pound a piece DeVere paid me, and every penny of it went into the Good Works fund, Mother.

I swear it.

Ten pound a piece.

- And Fletcher made sure all the chosen girls were white, fair-haired, and virtuous.

What's known in the trade as white gold.

- You used innocent girls to further your own cause.

- Innocent?

They were born out of wedlock, most of them.

The offspring of whores.

Their souls were already lost.

- It's your soul that's lost, Perpetua.

- [Joan] I lost them at the back of that car.

- And Bernadette found them when DeVere tried to abduct her the same way.

Your spectacles were Bernadette's warning to flee.

She left them for me?

(tense music) - [Phryne] Along with the clue that we needed to find you all.

- Why did they kill her?

- She'd already escaped once, and she knew too much.

(suspenseful music) (Captain shouting angrily) (Bernadette screaming) (Captain grumbling) The captain was carrying out Fletcher's orders.

- I hope he burns in hell.

(light dramatic music) - [Jack] Fletcher's bargaining power, all souvenirs from the best clients, the best brothels in town.

- There is nothing of mine in that box.

I tried to close down the brothels.

He couldn't blackmail me.

- But he could bribe you, by promising to bring down Commissioner Hall with all this, so you could take his place.

- You'll have to prove it first.

- True.

And luckily, we have a witness.

- The night of my aunt's Gratitude Dinner, her scullery maid, Joan, overheard you and Fletcher having a heated discussion on the verandah.

- We know you did him favors, protected Fletcher, turned a blind eye to his cargo.

- Joan wasn't meant to be on that ship, was she?

She was abducted because she'd heard too much.

- Who's going to believe the word of a guttersnipe against that of the chief commissioner of police?

- My aunt, Prudence Stanley, happens to be very fond of Joan.

So she will come with the highest references and have the best legal representation that money can buy.

- I looked up to you, George.

I respected you.

(somber music) (somber music) (Rosie gasping deeply) (light somber music) - I didn't know what Fletcher was up to, Rosie, I swear.

(Rosie sighing) - How could you not know?

Those poor girls.

- Please.

Please try to understand.

- How could you?

How could you?

I can't look at you.

(Rosie sobbing) (weeping) Oh, God!

(Rosie crying) - I'm sorry.

- Oh, don't!

Don't.

(Rosie crying) (sobbing) Oh, no!

Oh, God!

(door creaking) (crickets chirping) - Are they always this red?

- Always.

But the doctor says this one is as strong as an ox.

Aren't you, my little man?

- Wonderful.

Now all we need to do is find a placement for Mary.

- Oh, she already has a placement with me.

Once she's completely recovered, of course.

- Doing what?

- (sighs) She can assist Cook.

I've no doubt that her soup will come up to scratch once she's had a bit of practice.

- And her flummery?

- Quite good, actually.

- It's all right, Mrs. Stanley.

I can take over.

- Good, thank you, Dot.

- Bye, bye.

(footsteps departing) (tapping on door) - How am I gonna be able to come home to you and our own kids when my head's so full of all these terrible things people do?

That girl wasn't much younger than you, Dottie.

If you hadn't have met Miss Fisher, that could have been you.

- But I did meet Miss Fisher, and it wasn't me.

And there are good things in the world, too.

Look.

(crickets chirping) (engine humming nearby) (light tapping on door) (engine humming nearby) - I thought you were with Rosie.

- I was.

Is it too late?

- Never.

- I've never seen her like that before.

She was in shock, and she just needed some company.

- She needed you, Jack Robinson, the man who always does the right thing, the noble thing.

- Not always, Miss Fisher.

- Was that the baby?

It's very late, Inspector.

- Yes.

Yes, it is.

But I'm glad we cleared up that detail, Miss, Fisher.

- So am I, Jack.

So am I.

(baby cooing) - It's all right, little man.

I'm coming.

- Until our next murder investigation then.

- I look forward to it.

The investigation, not the murder.

- Of course.

Jack.

- Miss Fisher.

(light upbeat music) (upbeat closing music) (bird chirping) (lively upbeat music) (bright music) (logo clicking) (dramatic tone)