More Secrets and Lies
... Abound tonight on Brookside. But who will get away with what?
It’s the day of Ron’s appointment with his solicitor, and Tim stands on the Dixon doorstep. He’s come to see Ron before his departure, anxious to know if he’s still intent on sticking to the plan Jimmy devised to keep Tim out of prison. Tim comes straight to the point and asks Ron if he’s decided what he’s going to tell the solicitor.
‘You mean if I’ve decided to bubble Sotto,’ corrects Ron. He admits that he’s yet to make his mind up, despite promising to nail Sotto the day before. Ron has to be absolutely certain of his story before setting it before the solicitor.
In the background, we see Mick pacing back and forth in front of his house, like a caged lion, and glaring across the way at the Dixon and Farnham abodes.
His attitude isn’t going unnoticed by Max Farnham, who stares through the nets at Mick. Jacqui is with Max, remarking on Mick’s increasingly disturbing behaviour towards the couple. Just who did Mick Johnson think he was, Jacqui wants to know. First he tries accusing her of killing Susannah; now he’s levelling his accusations at Max for the same deed.
Max dismisses his rants, but - still peering at Mick peering back at him - Max remarks on Mick’s demeanor. He’s been pacing back and forth like that for hours. Why was he intent on torturing them so much?
Jacqui suggests that they call the police. After all, this is harassment. Perhaps if the police had a word with him, he’d see the error of his ways. Max vetoes that. He doesn’t want to get the police involved (for obvious reasons).
By now, Mick has finished his aimless pacing and heads toward Hotel Corkhill, to be met at the door by Jimmy. It isn’t long before he’s voicing his new murder theory to Jim, telling him that he’s convinced that Max was responsible for Susannah’s death. Jimmy listens patiently, but discourages his rant. Mick, he reckons, is letting his imagination run riot.
Mick denies this. Didn’t Jimmy see? Everyone thought that Susannah’s death was an accident, but things have changed now. Mick was sure of it. Everything fits the crime. Jimmy stops him. Mick, he says, appears to be stuck in a time warp at the time of Susannah’s death. Her death, he reiterates, was a tragic accident. Nothing had changed. Susannah fell down the stairs, Jimmy explains. She hit the bottle on the night she died and took a tumble. End of story.
But Mick refuses to believe this. Just look at the behaviour of Max and Jacqui, look how inseparable they had become after Susannah’s death. Jimmy shrugs. So? There was no denying that Max and Jacqui had been through some traumatic times lately. They’d come to rely on each other for help and support. People do grow closer after a nightmare (unless you’re Ron and Anthea Dixon). Mick should just stop doing what he’s doing to himself and everyone else ... Right now.
Jimmy continues. He reminds Mick that Max and Susannah had divorced, and that went through all right. The two of them were getting on with their lives. They’d even sorted out Max’s having access to the children. No probs there.
Mick still remains convinced. There was something just not right about her death, something that still niggled Mick.
Jimmy’s had enough. It’s Mick who has the problem, he says. Why, all Mick had to do was remember what Max was like after Susannah died. He was an absolute mess for ages. For the good of everyone else and mostly for himself, Mick should back off now. His imagination was in overdrive.
As Mick leaves the Corkhill house, he continues to stare intently at the Farnham’s.
Max still gazes out the window, remarking to Jacqui that Mick is still staring at the house. Max actually feels sorry for Mick - his kids have gone, his girlfriend’s left him, he’s all alone. Well, Jacqui replies, with exasperation and scant sympathy, that’s still no reason for him to be taking it out on them. She’s still of a mind to tell the police about his behaviour towards them. Max asks her not to get the police involved.
As they talk, Jacqui’s busy folding ironed clothes for Max. As she does so, she finds several tea towels that she recognises as belonging to her flat. Funny, she muses, she’s hardly at the flat anymore. On the spur of the moment, Max suggests that Jacqui should move in with him. Jacqui’s flattered and left speechless for a moment. Is Max actually asking her to move in with him? Is he sure? Max confirms that he would love her to move in. Well, in that case, Jacqui says smiling, she just might move in for good. And she leaves, sorry, flounces out of the room to put the tea towels in the airing cupboard, as Max smiles a smile of relief.
The peace has been disturbed at the Murray household as well. Adele and Diane are having a barney about Adele’s performance the previous evening. Adele can’t see the deal in her stepmother’s over-reaction. She was only in Wigan, she points out.
That’s not the point, says the pious hypocrite Diane, Adele had lied and caused an inconvenience to the Plank, as he had to pick her up. In fact, Diane remarks, lying seems to be a way of life for Adele at the moment.
The Plank enters the room as he hears his name spoken and tries to make a phone call. He notes that he heard his name mentioned and proceeds to tell Adele that she blew his night out with Nisha. Adele is royally pissed off with his and everyone else’s attitudes. All she did was go clubbing with a few of her mates, like any other NORMAL 15 year-old. She was fast becoming sick and tired of the way everyone in the family was treating her - as though she was abnormal, because she’d had an abortion. And ... Guess what? She flounces out of the room.
As Jacqui walks away from the Close in the direction of the Parade, Mick calls after her. He does so for no other reason than to further bait the girl. He taunts her, wanting to know why she isn’t playing happy families with Max. In fact, Mick comments, he reckons Max has her sussed ... Cleaning for him, looking after the kids, doing whatever ‘else’ she does for him.
Jacqui turns to face him, asking him why he took so much pleasure in bad-mouthing her and Max.
Mick merely states that he’s only speaking his mind.
Well, in that case, says Jacqui, she’s going to speak her mind. Did Mick realise that Jacqui had comtemplating calling the police about his harassing behaviour that morning? She was still tempted to do just that, but it was Max who insisted that she do no such thing.
Oh? Mick is suddenly interested. So Max didn’t want her to ring the police? Could it be that he has something to hide?
Of course he does, cries Jacqui. His feelings - the grief he’s felt for Susannah’s death, the stress of raising the children on his own and trying to maintain the house and a job for them.
Jacqui walks away angrily.
Turning back in the direction of the Close, Mick encounters Diane Murray, on her way to work. He stops her suddenly. He needs to know something from her, something about the night Susannah’s body was found.
Diane is a little puzzled at Mick’s request, but she listens. Didn’t she think it strange, Mick asks, that Max should go around Number 7 that very night? Why, Mick had been after Max to go around the house all the previous week, but Max had been putting him off, saying something silly about losing his keys.
Yet the night that Susannah’s body was found, Max had said he was going to a film. He’d even dropped the kids off with Diane and Marty. AND he had his keys, after all. Something doesn’t add up.
Didn’t Diane think that was fishy?
Diane is unconvinced. Susannah’s death was an accident. Mick should move on now and put all that behind him, like Max had done. She remembered very well how upset Max was at Susannah’s death.
The Plank is standing at the bar at Bev’s (or whatever it’s called now). In walks Miss Fancy Britches, AKA the Naughty Nurse. She stands coldly by him at the bar. The Plank greets her and she responds politely, obviously giving him the cold shoulder and not deigning to even look in his direction. He asks if he can buy her a drink. She informs him that she’s capable of buying her own, and anyway, she offers a cruel dig, it might stretch his finances now that he was unemployed.
The Plank apologises for having to bow out on their date the previous evening. Perhaps he could make it up to her and they could go out another time? Nisha is non-commital. The Plank asks if she had a good night. Yes, she responds blithely. She met up with two of her mates, and a good time was had by all. As a matter of fact, all three pulled. (I would love to see this prize bitch get a good case of gonorrhea - nurse or no nurse).
Chez Johnson, Mick sits alone at his dining room table. He opens a glass of whiskey and pours himself a glassful.
Ron and Mike have returned from the solicitor. They are not long home before Tim shows up apprehensively on their doorstep. How did Ron get on? He asks. Ron is mentally overwrought and exhausted. He admits the going was rough, but he survived. Did he stick to his story? Ron nods. Yes, he dropped Sotto. But he really had to do some convincing his solicitor. The man really grilled Ron with some tricky questions.
Tim wants to know if he’s in the clear now, but all Ron will say is ‘wait and see.’ Now they have to see what SOTTO says and if SOTTO mentions Tim’s name as the person to whom he gave the gun to give to Ron. Ron excuses himself from the conversation. He’s simply shattered.
Mick continues to drink, pouring himself another glass of whiskey, whilst staring at a photograph of Susannah. Suddenly he rises and strides purposely off in the direction of the Farnham house.
Max is pottering around in the kitchen, listening to the radio. A knock sounds on the door. When he answers, he finds an angry Mick on the doorstep. It’s time for a chat, Mick says shortly, before pushing rudely past Max to enter the house. Bored at the thought of another encounter, Max asks Mick what he wants to chat about. Mick says he wants to know what happened between Max and Susannah the night that she died.
Max tries to dismiss Mick, saying that he doesn’t need to listen to this. To what? Asks Mick. The truth?
‘To your sick fantasies,’ replies Max.
Max admits that he was in the house the night that Susannah died. Emily was here at the same time. In fact, they left together, and Emily saw Max leave to go back to his flat. Lance was awake when Max arrived. They watched the film, Shallow Grave , together.
Well, of course, Lance would say that he was with Max that evening. Max asks what Mick means. Mick laughs maliciously. Lance would say that, because Lance fancied Max. Everyone at the bar talked about that at the time.
Max has had just about all of the insinuations he can take. He pleads with Mick to leave him to enjoy a normal life - a life it had taken him months to achieve after Susannah’s death.
The Plank stands beside Nisha at the bar, as Nisha guzzles a long drink. It’s her afternoon off, she teases, and she can’t decide how to spend it. The Plank suggests that she spend it with him. What? Nisha sneers. ‘In your Wendy House, playing games with your baby sister?’ The truth was, she taunts, the Plank wasn’t really old enough for a real woman. (And that’s you, is it, Nisha?) However, she might give him a call sometime ... If she ever got stuck in Wigan and needed a lift.
Mick is refusing to leave and stands intimidatingly over an emotionally shattered Max as he sits at the table. Mick wants to talk about Susannah. He wonders what she would say, if she were here, about Max’s entanglement with Jacqui. Max reckons she would be happy for him.
But then, of course, says Mick, if she were here, they could ask her about what happened on the night that she died. Specifically about what went on.
Ron and Mike sit alone in Casa BevRon when the phone rings. Mike answers. It’s the solicitor for Ron, who takes the call. When he finishes the conversation, he tells Mike that the police have found Sotto and searched the place where he was living. In the course of the search, they found a couple of guns and some cartridges. They now reckon that they have enough evidence to throw the book at Sotto, and Ron’s story had a ring of truth. So Tim is in the clear, remarks Mike. Yes, replies Ron, but Ron isn’t.
Max has finally roused himself to stand up to Mick. He orders him to leave the house, or he’ll call the police. Funny, remarks Mick, upon hearing that, Jacqui told him that Max was dead set against the police coming around. What’s the matter? Is Max scared of the questions the bizzies will ask?
Mick reiterates that it was funny that it should be Max who found Susannah’s body, on the night when he had left the kids with Diane Murray, and especially when he was supposed to have no keys to the house.
Mick begins to struggle roughly with Max. During the course of the struggle, he grasps Max around the neck, trying to strangle him, whilst accusing him of all sorts - he pushed Susannah down the stairs, left her lying there. Max was jealous of Mick and Susannah, he says. He begins to beat a frightened Max, when Jacqui suddenly enters and screams for Mick to stop. But Mick protests that he merely wants the truth. He wants Max to admit that he killed Susannah. (Whoever choreographed this ‘fight’ will win no awards - it was worse that Dikko’s pitchfork!)
Mike Dixon stands onthe threshold of Hotel Corkhill with Jimmy. Tim stands on the foyer steps behind Jim. Mike is saying that Ron is relieved to have the solicitor’s meeting over with. He tells them about the police finding a stash of guns at Sotto’s place, and Tim asks Mike to thank Ron for sticking with his story.
When Mike goes, Tim says he reckons he should thank Jimmy also. Jimmy says that the best way Tim could thank him would be to stay away from guns - no, on second thought, stay out of bother in general.
Jacqui has managed to separate Mick from Max, and Max sits, shaken, on the floor nearby. Jacqui wants to know what the hell Mick was playing at, forcing his way into the Farnham house and attacking Max like that?
‘You’ve got some nerve,’ she remarks. ‘Accusing Max of killing Susannah.’
If anyone was to blame for Susannah’s death, she says, Mick was as much responsible as anyone. Mick looks at her uncomprehendingly.
Jacqui explains. Who walked out on Susannah? Mick defends himself by saying that Susannah was seeing someone else.
Yes, says Jacqui, and who can blame her? Susannah had had enough of Mick, just like his kids, just like Yvonne. Mick should realise that he loses his temper too easily, and because of these recent desertions, he’d chosen to take his frustration out on her and Max.
She goes on to basically reiterate what Tim had accused Mick of previously. Mick wasn’t the same person as he’d been before. Now he went around intimidating and bullying people, stepping on others to get what he wanted. Why, look at the state he’d left Max in. He’d made a wreck of the house and of Max. It’s no wonder everyone had left Mick to rattle around in that house all on his own. He really was a sad case - with no friends and no family left.
The last remark suddenly hits home to Mick, who’s immediately apologetic and concerned, asking if Max is O.K. Of course, he isn’t O.K., says Jacqui, he was scared for his life.
Mick is contrite. He’s humbly sorry. He says he lost it. He truly never meant to cause anyone any harm or to accuse anyone of anything. Jacqui and Max embrace exhaustedly. Mick continues waffling. He realises how much Max loved Susannah now. He knows he could never have hurt her. He got it wrong.
Jacqui raises her eyes and wearily asks Mick to go now, before she calls the police. Close to tears, Mick says he’s sorry once more and leaves. Jacqui and Max embrace tightly again, Jacqui murmuring words of comfort to Max.
Outside, Mick slumps disconsolately onto the sidewalk. Jimmy spies him and runs over, concerned. He asks if Mick is all right. Mick rises slowly, with an angry look on his face. He says he’s fine. Jimmy asks suspiciously if Mick’s been on at Max again, but Mick is stumbling away, with a dazed expression on his face. He’s mumbling under his breath about his failing everything in his life - his kids, his marriages and his businesses. He mutters that with Susannah, he thought he had a future. Mick begins to cry, as he staggers toward his house.
Now he’s left with nothing. Susannah was lucky, after all, being well out of this. Maybe that’s where he should be now - with her, to keep her company. No one would miss him. Jimmy slowly follows him at a distance.
Jacqui and Max remain rooted to the floor of the Farnham house, clinging onto one another.
Back at home, Mick washes his face at the kitchen sink. Standing upright, he opens the cupboard and removes a jar of coffee. Trying to prick the seal, he pierces his hand with a fork. (Why do accidents always happen in Brookside with a jar of coffee - c/f: Nikki Shadwick). He picks up the coffee jar and dashes it against the mirror in the lounge, smashing it to bits. His frustration unleashed, he begins to trash his house, whilst swigging full from a bottle of whiskey.
All the time this occurs, Jimmy is knocking and calling loudly at the front door. He starts to look through the front window, but Mick suddenly answers the door, demanding to know what Jimmy wants.
Jimmy explains that he’s worried about Mick, as he’s obviously in a state. Mick remarks, in anger and despondence, that no one cares about him, no one.
Summary © 2001 Marion Watts
Brookside and all related materials are © Mersey Television 1982-2001