Credits roll
Phryne's dining table is laden with guns. Phryne is quizzing Dot on which gun is which. Dots knowledge of the weapons seems very comprehensive. Phryne realizes one of her guns is missing.
Aunt Prudence arrives and admonishes Dot for brandishing a gun. Aunt P asks Phryne for a private word.She presents Phryne with a telegram from Aunt P's sister asking for money. Phryne tells her she made sure her father wired her mother money before she put him on the boat to England. Mr Butler interrupts to tell Phryne Jack is on the phone and needs her assistance at a crime scene, Phryne promises she will get to the bottom of the money issue.
Meanwhile inside the hotel the maid is hiding something wrapped in a sheet inside the linen closet.
Jack and Phryne are in the hotel office where the safe has been robbed. Phryne asks Mrs Cobb who has access to the key she tells Phryne just herself and Frank the concierge. Phryne notices blood on the floor which suggests the concierge tried to fight off the robber. She follows the trail which leads to the stairs leading to the rooftop. Phryne surmises the robber chased the concierge to the rooftop stole the contents of the bag and shoved him off the edge.
Jack asks why only Phryne's bag was robbed and Phryne asks to look at the guest register.
Phryne and Jack then got to knock on a room door and find her father inside drinking with a maid. Phryne asks him what he is doing there as he is meant to be going back to England. He tells her he missed the boat. Phryne asks him if her mother knows and he tells her he didn't want to bother her due to her nerves. Phryne tells Jack she cannot bring herself to help with the case and leaves with Jack following behind.
Phryne rants that she watched her father board the boat herself and Jack tells her he outsmarted her. Phryne admits it. Jack tells Phryne he needs her help. Phryne agrees to assist but says her father is not as charming and harmless as he appears to be.
They go back into the barons room and Jack tells him about they concierges robbery and murder. Phryne tells him about her bag an pistol being stolen. Jack asks what else was in the bag. He says just clothing. Phryne asks about the money that was meant to be wired back to her mother and he tells her he had to keep some back to see him through. Phryne asks how much and he tells her he cant remember. Things get heated and Jack tells Henry they will be back in touch after they have examined the crime scene and drags Phryne from the room.
Outside someone is cutting junction box wires. He then enters the hotel and tells Constable Martin someone has sent him to fix the telephones. Mrs Cobb Gives him the cellar keys for the switch box. She then asks Enid the maid for any tips from room 23 (Phryne's Father's room) she says it might be the last lot after he run amuck the night before.
Dot notices the transaction but is stopped by Constable Martin who tells her he knows his position is temporary and Constable Collins will be back any day. He asks if Dot could teach him a few things in the meantime.
On the rooftop Phryne asks why the concierge would run to the rooftop and why the thief did not take her bag. She surmises that the concierge knew there was another way down she opens a hatch and slides down.
In the cellar Jack finds Phryne in a service elevator and she tells him the contents of the bag was even more interesting and shows him ...
Phryne and Jack ask Mrs Cobb where she was the night before. He tells them she has a hotel to run. Jack tells her he understands the grand has been the subject of a few police raids and asks if there is somewhere they can talk Mrs Cobb tells them she is too busy. Phryne says Dot can man the counter. Phryne tells Dot to make a note of all guests names and Contstable Martin offers to help.
In the ballroom Phryne tells Jack this was where her father wooed her mother. She said her father was a scundral then but her mother was wooed by his dancing.
Mrs Cobb enters and Phryne tells her that whoever robbed the place knew their way around and that Lord Fishers bag was in the safe so could be a member of staff. Jack asks who was working that night she tells them Frank the concierge was on the desk, she was sweeping up after the dance and one of the maids Enid was on.
The telephone man enters Henry Fishers room and begins to search it. He finds Henry's suitcase and searches that finding his passport which he pockets. He also finds Phryne's card. He is interrupted by Phryne and Jack talking to Enid in the hallway. They ask her about the dance. Phryne notices the maids expensive necklace and asks if it was a present from her father. The maid tells them she was in Henrys room the night before as he was upset and needed a shoulder to cry on. Phryne asks what he was upset about. She tells them Henry lost money in a game of cards and is down to his last 10 pounds. Phryne knocks on his door to confront him but Enid tells them he has gone to the races with one of Mrs Cobbs tips. The telephone man then watches Enid remove the bundles from the linen closet.
At reception Mrs Cobb tells Phryne and Jack she likes the nags because she grew up in the country but knows nothing about cards. Jack asks who was gambling and she says she cant say.
Dot shows Phryne the list and a code they found in the back of the ledger. Phryne tells Dot to keep and eye on Mrs Cobb and search her office as soon as she leaves. Constable Martin asks about the Karol woman in the ledger and Phryne says its not a woman. She says Karol is a polish name and finds a guest K. Volonski in room 37.
They go to room 37 but hear a confrontation between Mr Volonski, Enid and Henry. Jack breaks it up.
They question Mr Volonski at the police station about the altercation. Phryne says she knows he was playing polka with Henry and Henry was not paying up. Mr Volonski says its true and Henry agreed to pay when the safe was open in the morning but then in the morning had no money as it had been stolen.
Henry said he only lost because Volonski was a ringer and cheated. Jack asked what happened to Phryne's gun. Phryne asks if the bag contained all the money for her mother and he says no he had his expenses. Henry asks if they really think hed kill a man to avoid paying his debts.
Outside Jack asks if Phryne really suspects her father of murder and Phryne says it may not be the first time as during the war she woke in the night to her father arguing with a visitor. In the morning an unidentified man was dragged from the Thames strangled wearing the same coat as the man she saw.
Dot and Constable Martin search Mrs Cobb's office and find a cigar box in the office. Mrs Cobb comes in and Constable Martin kisses Dot to hide their plan. Dot is outraged as she is engaged. Constable Martin apologizes. The box is empty.
At the station Jack asks Constable Martin so send an inquiry to Scotland Yard about the man in the Thames death. Constable Martin says he found more evidence in Mrs Cobb's desk drawer and believes it reveals another suspect. Jack asks if it was his idea to search the drawer and he says Dot helped. Jack tells him the evidence is inadmissible in court as they did not have a warrant. Jack tells him that Dot is morally upstanding and sensible and he says pretty as well. Jack tell him he must return the documents to Dot. Dot is not happy that he kept the documents to impress Jack and further his prospects. Constable Martin apologizes and Dot gives him some biscuits to take back to the station. Outside someone is watching Phrynes house.
Inside Aunt P is telling Phryne she told her mother that Henry was nothing but trouble. and asks what Phryne's chances are of retrieving the money. Phryne tells Aunt P they have to wonder whether her father organized the robbery himself. Dot shows Phryne the documents found in Mrs Cobb's desk which are love letter to Mrs Cobb from Frank. The last letter is Frank splitting off their romance.
That night Phryne, Aunt P and Dot attend a ball at the Grand. Phryne goes to investigate. Mrs Cobbs tells Dot its a bit late for snooping and Dot tells her she is there to brush up on her dancing for her wedding. Mrs Cobbs said she had noticed Dots ring and thats why she and Constable Martin could not keep their hands off each other. Mrs Cobb and Dot dance and Dot asks her if there had been anyone special since her husband. Mrs Cobb tells her that her last love worked at the hotel but she had to sack him because he told her she was too old.
Phryne is snooping at the cards table and notices a plate on the floor The telephone man enters the room and Phryne asks what is on the other side of the wall. Henry arrives at the dance and Prudence confronts him she tells him she will give him as much money as it takes to get rid of him and leave her sister alone. Henry shouts that Prudence was always trying to take Margaret away from him because she couldn't bear her to have a passionate life. Aunt P leaves.
Phryne finds cigarettes the same brand is the concierge smoked and a spy hole behind the wall with a telescope aimed at the cards. Phryne tells Jack about the concierges and Mr Volonski's system of cheating at cards. He says Mrs Cobb must have known and taken a portion of the winnings. They tell Mrs Cobb they know about the cards scam and that Frank jilted her and ask if that is why she pushed him off the roof. She tells them she loved Frank. They say perhaps Frank robbed the safe on the way out.
Phryne sees Dot and Constable Martin looking friendly and asks Jack if he has heard from Hugh. He says Hugh is working on his promotion. Phryne asks if there is a chance of that coming quicker.
She then asks Mrs Cobb if she can talk Mr Volanski into one last card game. He arrives and sees Phryne is his opponent and says he doesn't play women. She puts a large stack of money on the table an says her money is as good as any mans. She then inspects the cards with some fancy shuffling.Then she says she feels a draft and plugs the spy hole under the painting so Mr Volanski cannot cheat.
Henry sneaks up to Enid's room and tells her he is spoken for. She tells him she is going back home. He invites her out for one last drink.
Phryne wins the card game taking all Mr Volonski's money she then tells him she will play for her fathers iou note.She wins and Mr Volonski leaves in disgust. He then confronts Henry and tells him it is not the end of the matter and he will destroy him. Henry pulls a gun on him telling him to go away. Mr Volonski throws down a gauntlet saying next time he sees Henry he will have a gun too.
Enid sneaks out with her case and the telephone man grabs her. Phryne hears their struggle and calls for him to stop but he stabs Enid. Phryne searches Enid's case and finds the money. Jack asks if Enid robbed the safe but Phryne said if that was the case she would have left that night. Phryne says that Enid would have just found the money that was dropped down the laundry chute. Phryne says the man dropped her fathers passport.
Phryne notices her fathers bag and asks Mrs Cobb where he went she tells her that her was in a lather about Enids death and went to the Botanic gardens for a duel.
Henry is at the Botanic Gardens with Cec and Burt challenging Mr Volonski to a duel they prepare weapons and prepare to pace. Burt attempts to talk him out of it and he says if it doesnt go well tell Phryne he is sorry. They walk and Mr Volonski shoots early. Phryne and Jack arrive and she tells Henry that Mr Voloski did not kill Enid and she has won back his money. She said the killer had an English accent and Henry's passport. Henry shoots of Mr Volonskis hat telling him it is his lucky day and leaves.
Constable Martin calls Dot and tells her that he cannot help how he feel but he knows she is engaged as the telephone man breaks into Phryne's house. Dot tells him that her heart belongs to Hugh. The telephone man grabs Dot from behind.
Back at the station Jack shows Phryne the description of the man she thought her father had killed. She realizes it is not the same man. She realizes the man who she saw with her father that night is the telephone man. Constable Martin enters telling them that Henry has disappeared and asks for an immediate transfer. The phone rings and Aunt P asks to speak to Phryne.
Phryne tells the man she remembers him and asks what the man has against her father. He tells Phryne her father is dishonorable and deceitful. Phryne asks if he owes him money and the man says more than that, more than you could imagine. Phryne tells him to tell her before she opens the safe. The man yells at her to open it as Jack sneaks up behind him and knocks him out with his pistol. Jack tell Phryne to telephone for an ambulance as the man is bleeding from the eyes.
Jack asks Phryne if her father shed any light on the man identity and she says of course not another secret in a secret life. Jack turns on the grammerphone and asks her to waltz. Phryne asks if he is sure as her mother lost all reason when she was waltzed. Jack said if she had not the world would not have Phryne Fisher in it and what kind of world would that be.
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