The Witness

"The Witness" is the fifth episode of the syndicated television series Queen of Swords, airing November 4, 2000. Tessa witnesses a shooting of a peasant girl. Anton the son of retired sea captain Mary Rose, now a rancher, is arrested. Mary Rose is determined that Tessa will not testify, but equally determined are the girl's brothers that she does. Vera holds the key. Tessa kills for the first time. Credited cast Cast as listed at the beginning and end of episode. Tessie Santiago as Tessa Alvarado/The Queen Anthony Lemke as Captain Marcus Grisham Elsa Pataky as Vera Hidalgo Peter Wingfield as Dr. Robert Helm (does not appear in this episode) Paulina Galvez as Marta the gipsy Valentine Pelka as Colonel Luis Ramirez Montoya Bo Derek as Mary Rose Neil Newbon as Anton Christopher De Andres as Arsenio Pilar Abella D'Arstegui as Carmina Richard Cruz as Geraldo Javier Hidalgo as Luke Miglen Mirtchev as Vlad Juan Valle Avellaneda as a worker Plot Evening in Santa Helena, and Tessa Alvarado, in an off-the-shoulder dress, is conspicuously alone amongst the happy couples attending a party, and decides to leave. Captain Grisham offers to be her partner or escort her home, but she dislikes him, and refuses. Walking across the square, she looks up at the hotel window, and sees the shadow of another couple kissing. Then a shot is fired, the window opens, and Carmina, a peasant girl, falls to the ground. A young man, Anton, appears at the window calling Carmina's name, as a curtain is drawn in an adjoining room. Tessa reaches the girl, followed by Captain Grisham, but the girl is dead, and Grisham orders the arrest of the young man. The next morning, Tessa is in the church paying her respects to Carmina, when she is approached by the girl's two brothers asking if she will testify against the young man. She assures them she will, but the elder brother is not convinced, saying Tessa only came to retrieve her shawl she had used to cover the dead girl's eyes. In the square, nine thundering horsemen arrive, and one, turning out to be Mary Rose, a former pirate and the boy's mother, goes to Colonel Montoya's office, and demands Anton's release. Despite pleading her son's innocence - and the threat of her armed men - Montoya maintains the law must take its course as there is a witness, Tessa Alvarado. Mary Rose visits her son in jail, but he is hostile to her, and expects to be hanged, posing an opportunity to the eavesdropping Montoya.