Original subtitles

Jeffrey! Someone's just killed the mayor of Marlow. They found traces of a

poison called aconite. Jeffrey was poisoned.

Do you grow aconite? Well, you can't possibly think it came from here.

Do the police suspect our place?

Everyone loved Jeffrey.

If you're looking for the person who put the poison in Jeffrey's coffee pot, I

bet it was the person in the kitchen.

Everyone has secrets.

Oi! Stop right there!

Did you see who it was? No idea.

No, you wanted Jeffrey to have a dark thinker.

What were you all doing here?

Ah, well, that is the question.

Yes, Judith, it's the question I'm asking.

We found out who Judith's mystery caller is.

His name's Dave Butler.

And you didn't think to tell me? We were going to. Just as soon as we could.

The point being that when we spoke to Dave, he said that he and Geoffrey were

working together on his novel, and we came here to check out his story.

It checks out.

Gov?

An intruder left here 20 minutes ago.

Black hoodie, average building height, go door to door, see if anyone saw

anything. Yes, Gov.

Anyway, as I was saying, you aren't able to just carry on and... I... I think I

know who the intruder was.

You do?

You do. You do.

Hello, Martin.

Mrs. Pott.

Detective Inspector.

Rupert, would you mind taking my next client for me?

Yeah, sure.

And tell two, no interruptions.

How can I help you?

Just got back from a house viewing, have you?

I really don't know what you're talking about.

The break -in at Mr. Truman's house.

And if you really don't know, why make sure we won't be interrupted?

Let me tell you exactly what happened.

You'll find I've done nothing wrong.

Although I am intrigued. How did you work it out? Well, the intruder was

definitely male.

There are only two men on the council, and D .I. Malick was with Terrence at

time. It was a guess.

It was correct.

I've committed no crime.

No, I didn't break in. I used Geoffrey's spare key. But you ran for it with the

blackmail letter you sent to Geoffrey. The blackmail letter wasn't sent to

Geoffrey.

It was sent to me.

Geoffrey was with me when I opened it. It was mortified.

Why would someone send something like this? But he said as mayor that he would

take it for me and try and find out who sent it.

When he died...

I realised it would fill up the house and knew how bad it would look covered

my fingerprint.

So that's all I was doing.

You know, taking back property that already belonged to me. OK, let's say we

believe you. The blackmail letter was sent to you.

Why? I really have no idea.

All an estate agent is, is their reputation.

And I wouldn't risk that.

Not for anything.

Don't you get it?

You know, I'm the victim here.

You know, someone has been harassing me.

If he's so innocent, why did he wear a hoodie and gloves to Geoffrey's house?

And run off when we challenged him.

But is whatever he's up to connected to Geoffrey's death, or is it something

else?

Can I give you a lift back to the station?

Oh, thank you. I'm meeting someone.

You know, you and I should do more interviews together.

I enjoyed that.

Don't push it.

Seriously?

All these receipts are from the council?

Seriously.

We could help, if you liked.

Get some food in, make a night of it. Bosh, get the job done.

That would be amazing.

OK, Marcus Percival's saying that the blackmail letter was sent to him and not

Mr Truman, but he doesn't know why.

What have we got on him?

So, Marcus is married, two kids, both in boarding school.

He spends a lot, you know, fancy cars, holidays and trips to nice restaurants.

Any hint of wrongdoing?

Well, I spoke to some of his colleagues and they all say that he's trustworthy,

honourable, perfect gentleman.

Brendan, Jason...

Mr. Clarkson's saying he saw someone with light hair in the kitchen at the

of the meeting, but he couldn't see them properly through the glass.

Can you check out his story?

Got it.

Hello,

Dave.

Why did you want to see me?

To give you this.

You've got my book.

I was an archaeologist once.

I know how important publication is.

And you must know more about the petty cash than you've told us.

All I know is that the total that was claimed went up significantly for the

two years. The accounts were still signed off.

Suggesting that there must be receipts covering all that extra cash.

Receipts that must be fake.

Yes, that's very interesting.

That is really kind of you.

Thank you.

It's not me you should be thanking.

It's Jeffrey.

He really was a great friend to me.

Who ordered the veggie supreme?

Oh, that's me.

Thank you, Susie.

We should definitely get pizzas delivered more often.

For you.

Oh, how lovely.

A party.

If you've got a boring job to do, you might as well have some fun.

My thoughts exactly.

How's it going?

We're focusing on the petty cash, just like Dave told us. There's a lot.

Dave had suggested there might be fake receipts in there to cover the cash that

was stolen.

But how can we tell which receipts are real and which are fake?

Lots of them are handwritten.

So what made you join the force, Alice?

Oh, um... Well, I had an aunt who was a copper.

Growing up, I just thought she was the coolest person in the family.

I just wanted to be like her.

She must be so proud of you.

My great -aunt was hugely important to me.

Well, to aunts.

And great -aunts.

An excellent take.

Oops.

That's me.

Sorry. I need to be somewhere.

Where? A group of us are trying to get the bridge reopened. We're meeting up.

Oh, should we come along? No, there's no need. I know how these things go.

We'll have a few drinks. We'll agree that the high street needs to be locked

down with some kind of massive protest. And then, yeah, we'll settle on starting

a petition.

I'm not giving up, though.

We're not going to finish this, are we? Why don't I take the boxes home?

I'd love the chance to really get stuck into them.

Yeah, they're all yours.

Let's get this show on the road, yeah?

Yeah, sure, I'll go over here.

Oh, hello, Suzie.

Oh, hi.

You all right, Shanti?

You're starting a petition?

Oh, we can't have these landowners closing bridges just because.

I mean, the community needs them. Oh, it's fine.

Oh, thank you.

There we go.

Nice. Sorry, I can't stop. I've got to get Shanti to school. Maybe see you

later? Yeah, later.

I spoke to your teacher.

When I was your age, I saw a girl being bullied and I did nothing.

I know it was wrong, but I was just so grateful it wasn't me she was bullying.

Is that what happened?

That's why you're feeling bad, Tweezy.

Because you're a good kid.

And you know if you see someone being bullied, you have to stand up for them.

Come on.

Hard at it, are we? Oh, sorry.

Just remembered.

I need to dig out that book on the Avery Standing Stones for Darius.

Oh, of course.

So I can show it to him when we meet for tea.

Oh, here it is.

Right, come on. I thought I was going mad with this one, but it really says £8

.88. Oh, hold on.

£8 .88.

We've had that before.

You can't possibly know where.

Give me a moment.

No.

Yes.

Here.

And here's another one.

They're both for £8 .88.

This one's for Jackson's Hardware Store.

Or Jackson's Clothes, two years ago.

So how come it was selling paint supplies this January?

They all have the same initials on them.

D .S.

You know he's got light hair.

Paul. He has, hasn't he?

And he'd have access to the aconite in Sophia's garden.

Can I help you?

I can only spare a few minutes.

We wanted to know why you've been stealing cash from the council.

Last year, no, earlier, I started getting forgetful.

It was like I had brain fog.

I thought I had early -onset dementia, and I couldn't sleep, and I had hot

flushes the whole time.

Oh, I see.

I found carrying a fan in my handbag worked wonders.

I was falling apart.

Work suffered.

Paul gave me a formal warning.

For going through the menopause?

I needed treatment.

But when I went to see my GP, he wasn't interested.

And the waiting list for a referral was over a year.

And I knew that if I went private, I could have a consultation tomorrow.

It would just be expensive.

I told myself I was only borrowing the money. I was always planning to pay it

back.

But you haven't.

Did Geoffrey find out?

I couldn't help noticing that on the day he died, only you and he went anywhere

near that coffee machine.

And your fingerprints were on his coffee pot.

He didn't find out. You know he didn't.

If he had, he'd have gone to the police.

And he never did.

Or maybe you poisoned him before he could.

It was a few thousand pounds.

People have killed for less. And you're an accountant.

A crime like this could mean you never work again.

No. I don't know why I did it. I was just... I was so desperate.

I will admit to skimming the money from the petty cash.

That was wrong, but Geoffrey never found out, and I didn't kill him. He was my

friend.

Sorry to interrupt, but where were you when Geoffrey died?

I beg your pardon?

Just so that we know.

Where were you?

As it happened, I went to the cinema that afternoon.

Oh. Who with?

On my own.

What did you see?

Brief encounter.

Oh. I didn't have you down as a romantic type.

That shows how little you know me.

I actually really love any kind of romantic, slushy film with a... happily

after ending.

And now, if you wouldn't mind, I was working.

How did it go?

I'll be honest, not good.

Everyone's down by the river for the swan upping.

How many signatures did you get?

43. I think no one's going to get a bridge reopened with 43 signatures.

Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, Susie.

Guys, I think I'm going to head to the cinema this afternoon.

I like it.

The cinema?

Box of popcorn, kick back and relax.

I'll catch up with you both later.

All right, later.

You know, we still don't know who sent Marcus his blackmail letter.

Do you think we'll be able to work out where the individual letters came from?

I don't know.

Perhaps.

All right.

Even if we figure out that one of those letters came from Holmes and Garden,

anyone could have got hold of it.

Anyone? Yeah.

Then what if I tell you that the C in this word secret is a perfect match for

the C in architecture international?

And I can't help noticing that Terence is the only architect among our

Let the record show I've been giving my full cooperation.

Let the record show that you've been blackmailing Marcus.

I beg your pardon?

You shouldn't have cut the letters out of your trade magazine.

Why did you do it?

You're an upstanding member of the community.

A town councillor.

There's a social media account that posts awful things about the council and

town. Yes, we've seen it.

Marcus is Marlow 1628.

The man who always thinks he's better than you because he's got money and a

fancy job.

I don't believe it. Nor did I.

Not at first.

But there's this thing that Marcus does where he says, under mime, instead of

under mine.

Idiot. And one day, that account, Marlow 1628, was attacking me, and it said,

under mime.

It got me thinking.

The next time I saw Marcus, I told him travellers had moved into Riley Park,

when they hadn't.

By that evening, Marlow 1628...

was spewing hatred against them.

You set a trap for him.

I had to know I was right.

I was.

But now you had a bit of a problem, didn't you?

You knew Marcus was behind the vile account, but how to prove it?

If you confronted him, he'd just deny it.

So you decided to mess with him?

How long were you planning on stringing him along?

I thought he'd stop after he got my letter, but he just carried on posting

stuff. It made no difference.

Which is why you were arguing with Geoffrey before the meeting.

You told him about Marcus, didn't you? And I bet Geoffrey took the side of the

law, telling you that you'd just confessed to blackmail.

Which is why Mrs. Eddingham heard him saying how badly you'd dealt with the

situation.

Did he threaten to tell the police?

And that's why you killed him. I didn't kill him.

And the fact we had an argument proved it. Oh, punchy.

Do you think I'd have time afterward to pick some aconite, extract its poison,

and then lace Geoffrey's coffee with it?

And remember, I saw the killer behind the glass in the kitchen. That's who

killed him.

Right then, let's see if Mr Terence Clarkson's story adds up.

Okay, ready?

Ready.

Right, I'm going to make everyone a lovely cup of tea and a hot pot of

Here's a cup of scoops of poison.

Step forward.

One more step.

One more. Really?

It's important.

I can see that someone was behind the glass, but until you got right up close,

you were just your hair colour and a shape.

Ah.

Then the architect's story checks out.

Go on.

OK, so let's say I'm the killer.

I put out the poison coffee pod and I've stuck around long enough to make sure

that Mr Truman's taken it.

What next?

You're going to want to get out of the building and fast through the nearest

exit.

OK. Well, let's see where that goes.

Hold on. I'm sorry.

I'm just gonna be sorry.

Why is there a laddie?

Hang on.

Look at this.

Right then.

Up you go. Okay.

Don't worry, I'll hold you.

I'm going.

It's just a ladder. What's your problem?

What can you see?

Dust.

Insulation and dust.

Hold on. What is it?

A fountain.

I stood there trembling like on the edge.

But I couldn't.

I wasn't brave enough.

I'd like to be able to say that it was the thought of you and the children that

prevented me, but it wasn't.

I had no thoughts at all.

Only an overwhelming desire not to feel anything ever again.

So we now know that it was Terence who was behind Marcus' blackmail because

Marcus has been running a vicious online account.

And it was Debbie who was stealing petty cash.

Welcome to the town council.

Any of these three people could have had reason to want Geoffrey dead if he had

found out their secret.

Leaving only Sophia with no secret.

Or motive.

Even though it's her that grows the aconite.

And who called Alec Miller and told him not to come to the meeting that day.

Oh, excuse me.

Thanks. I just finished watching Brief Encounter. Oh, is that where you went to

see him? It was brilliant, but Judith, it proves that Paul Hollingbury lied

about where he was at the time of the murder.

Hello, Paul.

If you're looking for Sophia, she's in the garden.

Actually, it's you.

We want to talk to you.

Oh. You told me you were in the cinema when Geoffrey died.

Watching Brief Encounter.

That's right. You also said that it ended happily ever after.

It does.

I don't know anyone who'd call that happily ever after.

I was there, OK?

Really?

All right, look.

Taking care of other people's money is high pressure.

You know, sometimes, when work, you know, ends...

I go to the cinema, and sometimes I fall asleep.

Oh, so that's your new line, is it?

You were asleep at the time.

Well, I didn't know I was going to need an alibi, did I?

I mean, what even is this? I barely knew Geoffrey. Why would I want to kill him?

Show yourself now, yeah?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He fell asleep.

It's not much of a defence.

Although he's right.

Why would he want to harm Geoffrey?

I don't know.

But he fits the description of the person in the kitchen that day.

He's got light -coloured hair.

Interesting.

Judith?

I've seen that earring before.

Not how it looked.

I hope not.

Because I think it looks like murder.

It's not what you think. Says the woman who grows aconite.

You know, I said how Jeffrey had helped me.

Well, I didn't really see him after that, not until he became mayor.

But it was then that I really got to know him.

And he was just so lovely and so supportive.

You may have noticed I don't get much of that at home.

And I know it sounds silly, but I found myself thinking about him more and more.

And then we had a council meeting at his house and I stayed behind after

everybody had left.

And Geoffrey was telling me about how much he was enjoying my podcast.

How he was using my tips to revive an orchid he was growing.

And I just... Oh, Sophia.

I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say.

But he wasn't interested.

He was still in love with his wife.

And that's what he told me.

My earring must have come off then.

I was so embarrassed.

What was I thinking?

When was this?

Last month.

Geoffrey said we could just forget about it and carry on as before, as friends.

But you couldn't, could you?

I was so confused.

But I would never hurt him. I loved him.

Oh, God.

Did I?

I don't even know what... He just... He just meant so much to me.

Did he threaten to tell your husband?

No.

Geoffrey would never have betrayed me like that.

Not when it would have ruined my marriage. You know that about him. You

what a good man he was.

I was the last to arrive at that meeting. I never went anywhere near him

coffee. And now I've got to meet up with the others because we're due to choose

this commemorative bench this afternoon, just in case you were wondering if my

day could get any worse.

Actually, Sophia's not the only person who needs to be somewhere else.

Of course.

Your afternoon tea with Daria.

You'll get as near as to that night cup, one meal at a time. Oh, stop it, the

pair of you.

6, 2, 7, 5, 8, 4, 2... OK, so Jason spotted a ventilation hatch

at the council building that wasn't properly closed.

In it, he found a plastic bag which contained a white coat, a catering

syringe and a blonde wig.

So whoever was in the kitchen was in disguise.

Which also means Terence Clarkson's description of him just went out the

It could have been anyone behind the glass.

Exactly.

Thanks. Just here, there you are.

There you go.

Jason and Brendan found a wig and a syringe hidden at the council building.

Forensics say they found traces of aconite in the syringe.

Is that how the poison got into the coffee?

That's how it's looking.

But they also found two strands of human hair inside the wig.

Both auburn coloured. Both a perfect match for Sophia Hollingbury.

So Sophia was in the kitchen?

Disguised in a blonde wig so no one would recognise her.

Thank you.

Alec Miller, are you saying you didn't ring him? That's exactly what I'm

Do you mind if we put some software on your phone in case he calls

again?

I was the last to arrive at that meeting. I never went anywhere near him.

Excuse me.

May I have my bill, please?

You haven't started.

Just the opposite.

I've reached the end.

Judith, how was your afternoon tea?

Darius was a no -show.

What? He stood you up? It doesn't matter, not now.

Do you own a wheelbarrow?

I'm sorry? Do you own a wheelbarrow? It's a simple question.

Yes. Why?

I need you to bring it to my house.

What's going on?

Bring Susie too. We need her as well. But don't come for an hour.

I need to make a couple of calls.

He loved this part.

It's perfect.

Now all we need is the dedication.

A great friend to all.

What are you doing here?

I'm here to tell you who killed Jeffrey Truman.

Who was it?

Could be you, Terrence.

Seen as Jeffrey found out it was you who's been blackmailing Marcus. That was

you?

What are you talking about?

But then you only sent the letter because Marcus is the person behind

account Marlowe1628.

How could you do that?

Because you can't speak your mind anymore, can you?

You say the wrong thing, you get shut down. You're right.

But shut up.

Do you see?

Canceled. What about Debbie?

There seems to be a theme here.

How did she cross Geoffrey? We don't need to go into that.

I did wrong.

You're right.

I've been dealing from the council's petty cash account.

To pay for medical bills.

You're a thief.

Well, a full confession and repaying the money can help.

Whatever comes, take it.

Let's be honest.

It always looked like Sophia was the killer.

I mean, it was her that grew the aconite.

And who phoned Alex that day to tell him not to come to the meeting.

Also, Sophia, we recovered a blonde wig from the council building, along with a

syringe that contained aconite.

A few of your hairs were caught in the wig.

This is what happened.

You started in the kitchen, wearing a wig and a white coat.

Then, using a syringe, you injected aconite into the decaffeinated coffee

you knew only Jeffrey would use.

Then you left, whipping off your disguise and hiding it.

And then you re -entered the council chamber, the last to arrive and a bit

But who was checking?

Sophia, is this true?

I could never harm him. You know that.

It was Jeffrey who helped me when I had all that trouble with the graves.

In fact, he and I had been working on correcting my mistake.

We had even managed to locate the one body that had never been found.

All the paperwork is in my podcast studio. Go and read it. I can prove it.

were working together.

I did not kill Jeffrey.

Judah, a fire's been reported at your house.

Emergency services are on their way.

I have to go home.

Now.

If one bit of it goes up, the rest will go up.

Please hurry.

We'll get there, don't worry.

Look, there's a fire engine up ahead.

Looking for something.

I can see the flames.

The whole house is on fire. It's all on fire. What's happening?

You're supposed to be at your house and miss this.

not letting it go up in flames judith come back have we got him

we've got him uh i don't understand you killed jeffrey truman how

can you say that i told you he was trying to help me he's a good man and

it is why he had to die you killed him precisely because he was such a good man

he helped sophia All those years ago. When she messed up running the

But then my mum died. I moved to the States to live with my aunt.

Sophia mixed up where people were buried.

The location of one body was never found.

It was your mother's grave that was never found.

How that must have eaten away at you.

Not having a grave to visit.

You tried starting a new life in the States.

But you couldn't let it go.

So you came back tomorrow.

You needed to find your mother.

We're right, aren't we?

Go on.

But you couldn't find her.

And you needed someone to blame.

And that's how you found out about all of that missing money at the council.

You were all over them like a rash, trying to find out what happened to your

mother.

But you kept hitting a brick wall.

But you did discover that Sophia was in charge at the time. And now she was on

the town council.

How could that be?

You needed to get closer to her.

Which is when you had a stroke of good fortune.

You bumped into Geoffrey, and when you learnt that he was now mayor, you

realised this was your chance to get to Sophia.

You started working with him on your novel, and when Sophia needed a podcast

studio installed, Geoffrey knew of your skills, and he put you forward for the

job.

Finally, you could get to the bottom of it.

You had access to all her emails and files from back then, but you still

couldn't work out where your mum was buried.

And while you guessed there might have been a cover -up, you never thought

Jeffrey could have been part of it.

But here was the proof.

He was the person who'd helped Sophia get away with her mistake.

So you decided to punish them both.

Jeffrey had to be killed for protecting Sophia.

And Sophia you'd frame for the murder so that she would suffer every single day

for what she'd done.

Just like you suffer.

I do.

I think about it every day.

You needed justice.

So you constructed a plan.

You took some aconite from Sophia's garden.

And some of her hair that she uses to repel the flood.

You then had to make sure Alec wouldn't attend the council meeting that day.

Easy for someone with your IT skills.

You constructed a fake message.

You then went to the council building, put on a disguise, and injected the

aconite into the decaf coffee pod you knew only Geoffrey would use.

You made sure you were seen.

And then slipped away.

Making sure to hide the disguise and the syringe where the police would later

find it.

So careful.

That you made a mistake.

When I returned your manuscript to you, you glanced down at the bench as you

said. He really was a great friend to me.

Which I thought rather odd at the time.

I knew the town council were organising a memorial bench for Geoffrey, and one

option for the plaque was a great friend to all.

But how did you know?

And then I remembered.

The police had put an app on my phone.

Do you mind if we put some software on your phone in case he calls again? And

here you were, the person who'd installed Sophia's ID.

It would be a simple matter for you to bug her phone, installing spyware to

listen even when it switched off.

But that cuts both ways.

Judith asked Sophia to lie, say that she and Jeffrey found the location of the

missing body.

She and I were working on correcting my mistake.

We had even managed to locate the one body that had never been found.

That was the bait. Next you have to set the trap.

Judith met up with Sophia this afternoon and together they recorded a little

play. Thank you so much for giving me a lift.

Oh, don't be stupid. My car was right there.

But what do you think happened?

I've no idea.

Can't you go any faster?

She got Alec to start a fire at her house, knowing that the smoke would be

from Marlowe.

Including from your house.

Oh, don't be stupid. My car was right there.

But what do you think's happened? You'd think they were rushing to the fire. So

the coast would be clear.

This was where you'd find the paperwork that would tell you, finally, where your

mum was buried.

Or so you thought.

You lied to me.

Sophia doesn't know?

We can look into it.

Start an inquiry, but currently, no.

It's just as bad as him. He was the worst.

Don't believe anyone who says how great he was. He was a bad man.

Covering up crimes is evil.

But he was trying to help. Where's my mum?

Where is she? Answer me that.

She's lost in the dirt somewhere, alone.

Butler, you're coming with us.

At least you had to burn down your house to catch me.

What makes you think I burned down my house?

Alice. Thank you so much for your help. Oh, what are you talking about? It was

an honour to assist the crime -solving trio of Marlowe. And who doesn't love a

good bonfire? Ah, quite.

Pairs in for an era again, doesn't it?

Although the three of you did more than just fiddle while I made rumba.

Thank you.

I've spoken to the chief fire officer.

Apparently they're called out to paper fires all the time. Dear Malik, if I

could have a word, please.

Sorry, I'm needed, but great work. Thank you, all three of you.

You really don't mind losing your great -aunt's archive like this?

She'd be thrilled to know we used it to catch a killer.

I love it.

I don't even want to go. That's not fair.

Okay, great. Thank you.

I'm getting in the shower first. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was

dead from the cold. Literally dead.

Hi.

Remember, what's the camping mantra?

We don't do these things for fun.

Judith, I am so sorry about this afternoon.

There was a medical emergency at work and I had to go to hospital with one of

staff. That's terrible.

Not that that excuses anything.

Look, I stood you up and that's unacceptable.

Please accept my sincerest and my deepest apologies.

As it happened, your absence...

allowed me to solve the murder.

You did?

You did?

Look,

Judith, let me be honest with you. I am very much taken with you, and

I hate the idea that I'm messed up.

Well, how about we reschedule?

Well, I would love that, but it would have to be in the next few days.

My colleague's illness means that I've been asked to head up a dig in Wales.

They found some new standing stones in the Preseli Hills.

Well, I say new.

They're at least 5 ,000 years old.

How fascinating.

But anyway, I just wanted to apologize in person and assure you that

it will never happen again.

How about now?

Would you like to come in for a drink?

There's a book I've been wanting to show you. I would like that very much.

Hello.

Hi, Sandy.

Hello, Susie. I wanted to help.

Oh.

I've shared the leaflet with my friends. Now. And Rico's mum made a form, and

I've collected 817 signatures.

Whoa. When you see something that's not right, you've got to stand up.

Preach. But make a difference.

Doing the right thing always makes a difference.

Come on.

Let's do this together.

So good.

Hi, would you like a flyer? Thank you.

Would you like a flyer? Thank you.

Would you like a flyer?

For the bridge at Temple.