The Doctor Blake Mysteries

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the weigh-in

for tomorrow night's Battle in Ballarat!

Mickey! Mickey!

The fight of the year, ladies and gentlemen,

between the former light heavyweight champion of Australia,

the 10-year veteran,

the bad boy,

the mad boy, Ballarat's own Mad Mickey Harris!

Yeah, Mickey! Yeah, baby!

Versus the ex-junior welterweight state champion,

the challenger,

the King of Collingwood, Raging Ray Davis!

Mad Mickey to weigh in first.

Mickey Ellis, 13 stone 5.

Raging Ray to weigh in now.

Ray Davis, 12 stone 4.

Hey, where's the rest of ya?

Enough to knock you off, eh, punchy.

Buy your tickets, ladies and gentlemen.

Tomorrow night at the Grand. Don't miss out.

How about a pose for the cameras, eh, boys? Give 'em a pose?

It's alright, it's alright.

Ah, Flanagan.

You little leprechaun, eh?

Enough!

Tomorrow night you are a dead man.

Your kind are not supposed to be up here, Lou.

Come on!

Come on!

Come on! Move your feet!

Come on baby, hit him!

They're certainly not holding back, eh?

Come on! Get....get off me!

You're bleeding. Sit! Sit!

You're doing well, eh. You got the hit in.

There's still no sign of Flanagan?

You just keep jabbing that eye. Alright, jabbing that eye?

You stay on him, OK? You stay on him and you stay focused.

I can't tell Ray.

I still find it hard to watch him fight.

I can understand that.

If I didn't know Bernie was looking out for him, I'd be a wreck.

Remember what we talked about, son.

You can do it!

Fight.

I think he's had enough. We should call it, eh?

Move your feet! Gus, we need to stop this.

Guard up. Guard up!

Something's wrong. Stop the fight!

Stop the bloody fight!

Give me some room, Gus.

It's alright, son. It's going to be OK.

Let's get these off you.

Ray! You alright?

What do you think?

I am sorry.

Sure as hell didn't see that coming.

Now the police will want to speak with you,

but you just tell them the truth... Just not you.

No. No, no, someone else.

Charlie.

Yeah, yeah.

I'll check in later, alright? Thanks, Charlie.

Ah, Bill, Charlie.

Tell me, how's your brother?

Ah, he's pretty shaken up, Doc.

To be expected.

So, who's in charge? Frank still in Melbourne?

Not due back till tomorrow. Right.

Get your hands off me, Gus!

Bastard! What you are talking about it?

You cheated. And you! You murdered him!

That's enough. Nobody cheated.

Where's your cornerman, huh? Why has he run away?

Why? Why? Because he's hiding, like a little mouse.

Charlie, take him outside.

He was fighting up a weight class.

A younger boxer, though.

Are you alright?

Alice, these all the personal items?

That's all that came with him. Nothing too unusual.

There's some powder on the trousers.

Looks like chalk. Or talcum powder, perhaps.

I'll have it tested. Very good.

Dear, oh, dear.

I wonder if anyone's told her.

She wasn't there to cheer him on.

Maybe she doesn't like boxing.

Two men punching each other senseless

doesn't appeal to me, either.

Alice, do you know I'm finally getting used to your haircut

and I have to say, it's really rather nice.

More practical.

Plus, I'm attempting to do more things that scare me.

Embracing change.

Haircuts scare you? Hairdressers.

All that unsolicited touching.

Right.

Male, late 20s, athletic, obviously.

Laceration above the left eye. Old wound.

Opened up during the bout.

Bruising to the face and torso, consistent with the fight,

and this laceration on the right hand.

Ah, well, boxers can get abrasions under their gloves,

but this looks...

...bear with me.

Yes, teeth marks. A bite?

Well, not teeth into skin, rather skin into teeth.

Without his gloves on?

Nothing to do with what went on here yesterday.

I don't want anyone stitched up.

Charlie! Hey.

What are you doing here? Oh, Mum said you were here.

No, I just wanted to make sure Ray was alright.

We thought we might have left some gear behind here,

but it looks like we took it back to the hotel after all.

Oh, well.

I was just checking in.

Ray's just going down to the lake to have a bit of a run.

You know, clear his head.

Why don't you and I grab a quick bite? I've got the car.

No, I'm about to go on duty.

We'll drop you off at the police station anyway, hmm?

Feel like a beer later? I don't drink when I'm training.

It'd be good to talk, Ray.

Catch up.

I'm all caught up, thanks anyway.

Everything alright here? Yes, officer.

Plaque jaune.

Indicative of bruising in the brain over the long term.

Fascinating.

And look here,

bleeding between the dura and the brain.

Acute subdural haematoma.

Usually result of blunt force.

Gosh, he certainly took a hiding in those latter stages.

But most of the damage was sustained

after he lost motor control, but once his defences were down.

Two causes of death?

Mickey suffered both cardiac failure and a subdural haematoma.

I suspect he sustained the brain injury

just after he had the heart attack.

Well, so....so he didn't die from Ray's punch?

Charlie, I can't rule it out conclusively just yet.

Doctor Harvey needs to complete her tests.

I need to examine Mickey's medical records.

Doc, if he had a heart problem,

then surely everyone would have known about it.

Not necessarily.

Also, there are abrasions on Mickey's knuckles,

I believe from hitting someone prior to the actual bout...

Come on, we all saw what happened.

Let's close this down.

For Ray's sake, let's just put an end to it.

Sarge?

Oh, what's he done?

Thieving?

No, he's come in to...

I brought myself in.

I thought the police might be interested in some evidence.

Evidence?

Evidence of what?

I found 'em behind the Grand.

Plaster wraps.

You put plaster of Paris on the bandages.

The sweat makes it set hard.

Gives a stronger punch. Why didn't you show me these before?

You're the brother of the bloke who wore them.

I wouldn't want them to magically disappear.

Why bring 'em in now?

Because I don't want to get stitched up. There's witnesses here.

You used to be Mickey Ellis' coach, didn't you?

Yes.

Maybe you're trying to fit up the other guy.

Do what you want with them. I've done my bit.

If these are Ray's, then he'll definitely be up for charges.

Well, hang on a minute,

if it was in fact Ray's punch that killed Mickey.

OK, I'll talk to Ray.

You find the cornerman. What's his name?

Ah, Flanagan. Yes.

Doctor Spencer can help you,

not that Mickey went there too often.

Thank you, I'll call him.

Gus, I also wanted to ask you about...

Move!

I also wanted to ask you about teeth marks

we found on Mickey's hand.

Now you saw them too.

Before the fight. Inside!

Before the...? So he had another fight?

Did you ask him about it?

I asked, but he does not answer.

Your feet! Use your feet!

Do you have any idea where he was before the match?

Well, he was supposed to be resting. That was the rules.

But you know Mickey and the rules, they're not the best of friends.

Your feet! Move your feet. Gus, tell me.

Had he been experiencing head-aches or blackouts?