An Eye For Murder (audio story)
An Eye For Murder was the third story in the audio anthology, Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories, which comprised the one hundred and eighty-eighth release in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Una McCormack and featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.
Publisher's summary
The year is 1939, and a case of poison pen letters at St Ursula's College threatens to change the course of the Second World War. Fortunately thriller writer Miss Sarah Perry is on hand to investigate...
Plot
Following strange energy readings, the Doctor takes Peri to St Ursula's College in September 1939 where she is mistaken by Dr Petherbridge for Susan Perry, a thriller writer whom she is expecting. Dr Petherbridge tells Peri that anonymous poison pen letters have been sent to Jewish physicist Dr Horwitz and, to avoid involving the police and damaging the college's reputation, asks her to look into it, which the Doctor agrees that they will do.
Peri vists Dr Horwtiz and looks at the letters, discovering that Dr Horwitz is a Jew who fled Europe and the letters threaten her on account of her Jewish identity. The Doctor, meanwhile, is warned to not wonder about and is left to his own devices when he wonders off to find the energy source and is discovered by Dr Joan Dalton who warns him that he must hide in order to not give a poor impression to undergraduate students.
Peri questions Dr Backhouse who tells Peri to talk to Doctor Dalton, claiming her politics betray her. The Doctor and Peri meet up to discuss the situation and Peri reveals that Doctor Backhouse pointed her to Doctor Dalton. Just then the announcement for the declaration of war is heard over the college speakers, announcing the beginning of World War II. Later Peri and the Doctor discuss their suspects when suddenly Ruth bursts in exclaiming that someone tried to kill her while she was working.
Ruth describes the encounter while the Doctor notices the readings are becoming stronger. The Doctor asks Ruth how she escaped but they don't quite understand her explanation. They hold a meeting in Doctor Petherbridge's office to decide what to do next. They suspect Doctor Dalton given her communist leanings and her alibi that she approached Doctor Horwitz to see if she held similar leanings and the police are called and Doctor Dalton is escroted away to prison. Doctor Horwitz bursts in after Dalton is taken away saying it's been a mistake. She and Peri walk back to her room, only to find the door open and the Doctor inside, saying he has discovered the source of the readings coming from the room and interrogates Ruth. They discover that Ruth was given a family heirloom as a girl and was curious about its properties, and so studied physics so she could further investigate the mysterious object. The Doctor realises that it is a petrified alien eye that has the ability to cloak other, albeit small, objects due its properties. Ruth explains that there are many people after the artefact, primarily the Nazis and that her family, who are in Vienna, are being held hostage for it by Dr Backhouse. They expect Dr Backhouse has fled with the artefact so the Doctor goes with the police in pursuit of Backhouse, assuming she hasn't gontten far. However, the further car gets, the more the energy readings die down and the Doctor realises he's made a huge mistake.
Peri, Dr Petherbridge and Ruth celebrate but Peri reveals she's uneasy as she thought Backhouse would have put up more of a fight... but then they hear a noise and discover that Backhouse was hiding amongst them and never left the college using the artefact eye to hide herself the whole time. Peri and the others pursue her and the doctor arrives just in time and chases after Backhouse as the others are not able to keep up in order to stop her as she poses a danger to the girls in the dorms. He tries to pursuade Backhouse to give him the eye when they reach the roof as rain falls, making it slippery, but Backhouse refuses. She suddenly sees her hand and legs beginning to disappear and the Doctor tells her that it is the dark vacuum energy affecting her at a molecular level and destabilising her and explains he can only save her if she throws away the eye but she refuses, however, missing her limbs she slips and falls off the roof, destabilising completely as she hits the ground while the eye shatters and breaks much to the others' despair.
In the epilogue it is revealed that Ruth's notes on the eye were lost as they flew out the window after her room was ransacked but her family managed to flee Vienna and make it to Paris and are now on their way join Ruth in Britain, and the Doctor suspects that without a hostage to threaten Ruth with Backhouse now had to act quickly. The department asks the Doctor to address the college but the Doctor defers the duty to Peri who says she'd love to but needs to get her notes she left in the police box near the campus and they slip away, Peri merely using "fetching the notes" as an excuse.
Cast
- The Doctor - Colin Baker
- Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
- Dr Maria Backhouse - Jemma Churchill
- Dr Joan Dalton - Allison McKenzie
- Dr Petherbridge - Janet Henfrey
- Dr Ruth Horwitz - Jessica Knappett
- Policeman - Andy Secombe
Worldbuilding
- The Doctor wears a London drape suit while visiting St Ursula's College.
- Peri describes the Doctor's coat as resembling "an explosion in a paint factory."
- Peri likes coffee.
- Dr. Ruth Horwitz is Jewish. She has been receiving anti-Semitic poison pen letters for two to three months.
- Dr. Joan Dalton is a Communist while Dr. Maria Backhouse is a Nazi.
- Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union have signed a non-aggression pact.
- Dr Petherbridge mistakes the Doctor and Peri for a couple.
- The Doctor is a dab hand at typing and with a typewriter.
- The energy readings are dark energy fluctuations.
- Dr Joan Dalton is an economist as the Doctor claims.
- Adolf Hitler and Jospeh Stalin are mentioned.
Continuity
- The Doctor and Peri hear a radio broadcast announcing the declaration of World War II. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus; AUDIO: Neverland)
