Original subtitles

-Picture the scene.

It is 3 o'clock in the morning.

And there you lie in the imagined safety of your own

bed, listening is that a movement you hear downstairs?

A servant, perhaps, whose duty drives him to check the

silver, even at this late hour.

No.

It is something far more sinister.

So you rise from your bed, looking around yourself.

And what do you see in the moonlight?

A poker.

Yes, the iron poker from your bedroom fireplace.

Grasping it firmly in your hand, you proceed to the

stairs and descend to the hall.

There you stop.

You look around.

All is silence.

And then--

- miss Boxer.

-Picture the scene.

-Uh, lunch, I think.

Thank you, mr. Jardine.

-Cut it out, quatermass.

-What's the hurry?

-Warwick Jardine's on his way out, and I got on the wrong

Side of him when I sprayed his daimler.

-Oh, well, he'll never get fungal rot.

-Or a shine on his paint work.

Come on.

-Mrs. Thyme.

Miss Boxer.

-I'm sorry about the, um-- you know.

-How much more of your professional attention may we

look forward to?

-The blight's all but gone.

-Are you?

Good.

-Here's a trick the rest of us use.

Imagine him in women's underwear.

-Does it work for you?

-A bit too well.

I've had to stop.

You nearly done here?

-We've thinned out the infected leaves, sprayed to

protect the rest of them.

There's not a lot more we can do.

-I've got a proposal I'd like to run by you.

Tea shop in half an hour?

Frazer!

-The buns are on me.

-It's just a little old place out in the country.

It's been in the family since god was in short trousers.

-How big's the garden?

-Tiny, tiny.

And it's barely worth five minutes of your attention.

Actually, I'm lying.

It's quite huge.

Oh, I don't know.

Which gets you more interested?

Do you know how hard it is to nail down a landscaper?

-Martin, just describe the problem.

-I want to put the elizabethan garden back the way it was.

But it's gone to pot.

Could you take a look at it?

-Yeah--

-We'll, uh, check our diary, and let you know.

-I've been asking about you.

You know your stuff.

And you don't pad your overheads.

Here's my number.

I'll be home anytime from 9:00 on friday.

-Why check the diary when there's nothing in it?

-It's bad business to seem too eager.

Anyway, he's already dropping hints about our low overheads.

-Oh, I can't imagine what gave him that idea.

I've always fancied getting my hands on

an elizabethan garden.

Yes, and, uh, speaking of overheads,

I've had an idea that could save us a ton

of money this summer.

What is it?

Oh, dear.

Uh, if I just come out and tell you,

You'll only say no.

-See, you've got your two sleeping compartments on

opposite sides while the middle opens right out

in good weather.

-Oh, I like this one.

-Have you been camping before?

-Oh, yes.

In the brownies.

That's great news.

-Well, just one more thing.

What's that?

-Is there anywhere decent we can stay?

Well, that depends on what you

class as decent.

-Walls and a roof.

We've got bags of room.

-Oh, great.

Right.

Well, you're on.

Ah, we'll see you on sunday.

-Look forward to it.

-Bye.

-Slide poles into pole sleeves on outside of fly sheet.

Brace pole, and locate pole pins on pole end.

-Why don't you use the english translation?

-I'm sure it will be perfectly clear when it's laid out on

the ground.

-Ah, here we are.

Martin said we go left when we see a post box.

And there it is.

It's my turn!

-Doesn't it get lonely with Martin not around during the

week, Suzanne?

-Not with a class of 20 to teach.

-What?

You work, as well?

-Part time.

It's the only way to keep it all going.

-We haven't had a holiday in five years.

And the kids got second-hand bikes for christmas.

-Isn't there an income from the estate?

Nowhere near enough.

Oi, Toby!

Play nicely.

Yeah, but it's my turn to have the--

-I've had this all week.

-Go on.

We'll find our own way to the garden.

-Come on, now.

Why can't you learn to share?

- Oh, dear.

-I ought to warn you.

I've put Martin on lunch duty.

-Why is that worth a warning?

-Well, it depends on whether you're ok with caveman food.

If he can't burn it, you'd better like it raw.

Oh, lord.

-This old print shows what it used to be like.

Every generation leaves its mark on the place.

Martin wants this to be his.

-Why don't you leave us alone for a bit?

-Yeah, we'll just have a poke around, and see what's what.

-Ok, well, come and join us when you're done.

It's going to take a bit more than a prune and a tidy.

-No, it's not quite as bad as it looks.

The basic layout's still here.

-Ooh, you are the biggest optimist I've ever known.

What are you looking for?

Rather fear that old

sun dial's long gone.

Oh, but look at this.

Won't it be something?

There's been a building here.

You can see the old foundations.

-It will take more than the two of us

to get those dug out.

We'll have to get in some extra labor.

Big hunky blokes with picks and shovels.

-And a couple of deck chairs.

-Deck chairs?

-So we can sit and watch.

-Pardon me.

-Were you sent to fetch us?

Sorry we're taking so long.

-I don't even know who you are.

I'm Jim.

-Laura Thyme.

-Rosemary Boxer.

-I would count it a great favor if you didn't mention

that you'd seen me.

-What?

-I'm not really supposed to be here.

I've been banned from the property.

-Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that.

But you can't ask us to cover for you.

-We're guests here.

-I'll just go then.

-Me bring meat from mighty aga.

There's free ice cream for anyone who

can take these scroungy dogs away from the table.

-A plant pathologist?

-That's right.

-Like quincy of the greenwood?

-If you like.

-Don't let him wind you up.

-No, no, no.

I'm intrigued.

I'd like to know how you do a post-mortem on a tree.

-With a chain saw.

-Are you being serious?

-You started it.

-Have you lived here all your life?

-Born here.

Went away, came back.

Now I'm in charge of the Lyvedon trust.

-And the first girl I ever kissed.

-But don't you dare tell the mrs. That.

Katie, are you all right?

-Thanks, I'm on call.

-Are you a doctor?

-Anesthetics.

And I've heard all the jokes, thank you.

-And what do you do?

-Book jackets.

I'm an illustrator.

-Really?

Would I have seen any?

- I don't know.

Can you read?

-Chris! -What?

-Fern, that's a lovely name.

Where'd it come from?

-Mum's an old hippie.

You wouldn't know it to look at her now.

-I don't know how to take that.

-I think you're very lucky.

-I know.

If I'd been a boy, it would've been bambi.

-See there's another job half finished.

Looks like you'll be left with a builder's yard.

-It belongs to the odd-job man.

And he only comes back because we hide his tools.

I think Martin fell for you two because you'll live on the

job till it's done.

-Oh, did you tell Martin about the man we saw?

-No, uh--

-Where was this?

-At the door in the walled garden.

-See, he seemed a bit odd.

He asked us not to say that we'd seen him.

He said his name was Jim.

-Cousin Jim.

-What did he want?

-I don't know.

He didn't make a lot of sense.

-I thought he'd been told to stay away.

-Is there something we should know about?

-No.

He's perfectly harmless.

But he's troubled.

Nothing you should lose any sleep over.

Speaking of which, Laura here absolutely insists on spurning

our hospitality for a night under the stars.

Where's the best spot to pitch the tent?

-Oh, definitely the dingle.

Down by the river.

-Well done, girls.

You've just spared my poor, long suffering a whole heap of

Extra laundry.

-Cheers.

-Cheers to that.

-Did you notice how everyone reacted when cousin

Jim's name came up?

-I am so happy to be inside a thin layer of nylon while

Heathcliff's out there, stalking the countryside.

-Martin says he's harmless.

-Martin's in a house.

-You seem to be getting on well with chris.

Is he the artist?

He says he's always on the lookout for life models.

-Ooh, I'd watch him.

-No, no.

I don't think that was what was on his mind.

Not with his wife sitting right there.

Oh, I don't know.

These artistic types.

"While titian was mixing rose madder, his model

reclined on a ladder.

Her position to titian suggested coition, so he ran

up the ladder

and at her."

-Anyway, it's who he wants to paint.

-Laura, you awake?

-I'm going for water.

-Jim?

Jim!

Start down there.

The last person that fell in this river turned up three

days later and a mile downstream.

-Dead?

-Upsetting for you, I know.

But I can tell you this.

One way, or another, this was a tragedy waiting to happen.

If Jim Frazer hadn't topped himself,

someone around here would have murdered him.

-Why on earth would you say that?

-He was a loner.

He was a bit strange.

And he made it his life's mission to rub people

up the wrong way.

You ask george hamilton teed.

-George who?

-Hamilton teed.

Editor of the "Lyvedon observer." He can fill his

ledgers page 10 times over with the stuff he got from our

Jim.

-If it wasn't for the law of libel.

Look, I know it's a bit of a bad time, but can I have a

quick word?

-I was at a breakfast meeting in chambers.

Have they found any sign of him yet?

-They say he could fetch up anywhere down river.

I'll get away as soon as I can.

You know Warwick Jardine.

Mention compassionate lenience, he'll reach for a dictionary.

-Well, there's nothing you can do for Jim anyway.

-Martin.

-I've got to go.

I'll call you tonight.

-Bye, love.

-Are you going to take the day off?

-School's closed for half-term.

-Here.

-Do you want us to carry on with the garden?

-Oh, lordy.

Yes, nothing changes there.

You'll have some help with the heavy work.

-Apparently Jim wrote to the local newspaper, complaining

about everyone and everything.

And all of it unprintable.

-Well, everyone needs a hobby.

-Well, this was like an obsession.

I think he saw himself as the conscience of the village.

-You aren't letting this get to you?

-Well, what do you expect?

You didn't see the look he gave me.

Oh, and the policeman said that if Jim hadn't thrown

himself in the river when he did, he--

-Ladies.

-I think it's our labor force.

-Cool hand luke and the gang.

-Not going to eat you.

Not here in broad daylight, anyway.

-It's all very well for an ex-copper.

You have experience with law breakers.

What if one of them tried to make a run for it?

-There's no wooden horse.

And steve mcqueen himself couldn't get a

Motorbike over that wall.

-Well, he's not going to be much of an obstacle.

-Don't be mislead by our mr. Coutts.

He's like a coiled spring.

-Hello.

-Would you like me to introduce the boys?

-Huxton Rymer, mp.

Ring any bells?

-George Marsden plummer.

An example to us all.

If you're going to burn down a building, and claim from five

different insurance companies, make sure you put the claim

Forms in the right envelopes.

-You look familiar.

-I'm Rupert Waldo.

Celebrity chef.

You may have seen my show on the home and kitchen channel.

-You didn't poison someone on air, did you?

-Fraud, I'm afraid.

Those, uh, recipe books with my name on them.

Didn't write a single one of them.

-They put you in jail for that?

-Well, plus a small matter of misstated profits and the

inland revenue.

-So what are you all doing here?

-We are on loan to mr. Frazer from bleakmoor grange.

He's done a deal with the governor.

He has an eye for a bargain, mr. Frazer.

I bet he got you cheap.

-Um, any chance of a look at a plan?

-There's been a-- a building here that doesn't appear on

the original plan.

-No.

Um, now this was the victorian chapel.

As ugly a piece of Jerry-building as ever spoiled a garden.

-It had been a ruin for years.

We spent the last three weeks loading up stones for carting away.

-Well, we'll have to, um, dig out the foundations and make

the ground good before we can recreate

the Elizabethan design.

-When the judge said 10 years, he never mentioned hard labor.

-Is this a problem?

-I am kidding.

We're all volunteers.

You're not the only ones that want to see

this garden restored, you know.

-Have you done this sort of thing before?

-Best window box display Kettle Hampton

flower show last year.

-Runners-up best garden in

a small, enclosed yard.

-They'd have given us best hanging basket.

But they wouldn't let us have a ladder.

-Oh, Rosemary?

-What?

-What do you make of these holes?

-We've been seeing them all over.

-Oh, I didn't know moles brought their own spades.

-Maybe that's why Jim was sneaking into the garden.

-Digging in the chapel ruins for some ancient family treasure?

Have they found Jim?

-Nobody found anything.

Look, I know you're very comfortable here.

But, would you mind awfully staying

with me in the house tonight? But, would you mind awfully staying

with me in the house tonight?

Martin can't get back until morning.

-Well, if you insist.

Come on, Rosemary.

We can't let Suzanne down.

-Enjoy it while you can.

-Oh, I will.

I will.

-Toby.

Tim.

Back into bed right now, and stay there.

Mommy's got friends round.

-As long as they stay upstairs after 8 o'clock, that's all

the victory I ask for.

-Ah, who's joining us?

-Gwynne.

You met her yesterday.

She's my best friend in the village.

And she was Martin's first girlfriend, I know.

He tells everyone.

And then he tells them not to mention it to me.

- Bless him.

-Cheers.

-Whoever it is, I've had enough for one day.

-They might have found him.

-Well, that's the last thing I want to think about.

Hello, love.

Old hauserstokes says I can take the rest of the week off

once I've covered the custody hearing.

So I'll definitely be home by tomorrow, I promise.

I'll try and be back by night.

-By the way, I stopped by and fed Jim's chickens on the way over.

-Oh, thanks.

-Ok.

-Has anybody any idea what made him do it?

-Nobody was that close to him.

Nobody wanted to be.

-Oh, there'll be so much to do.

There's the whole house to clear.

-We don't even know that he's dead yet.

-Bless you for helping, but you don't interrupt rapids downstream.

-He didn't get out before that?

-He didn't get out.

-Why did Martin have to warn him off?

-Jim could never appreciate the fine line between

being a welcomed guest and a trespasser.

- Gwynne.

Well, look at the number of times Martin

Caught him on the property.

You saw for yourselves.

Never mind she's here on her own

with the children all week.

-Oh, that'll be Fern.

I told her to call by after work if she needs a lift home.

You're early, darling.

-Only three tables, and the tips were lousy.

-Do you want anything to eat?

-Oh, chef made me some chips.

What were you talking about?

-I'll give you one guess.

-Well, I saw Jim hanging out here on friday night.

-When?

-When I was walking to work.

He was out there on the lane, outside the gates.

I reckon he didn't want me to see

him posting one of his letters.

-You mean one of the letters he sent to the local paper?

-Jim was harmless.

-He could have a nasty mind when it

Came to certain people.

-Gwynne!

Please.

-What about some acidic fertilizer?

-See what I've got in.

-Jim?

Sorry.

-They found jim's body in the river.

Martin's just been to identify him.

-Just stand up, say what you saw, and sit down.

That's all there is to it.

-Morning.

-Good morning.

-Morning.

-Rosemary, I think ought to warn you.

Do you know who the coroner for the Lyvedon borough is?

-No.

-Well, technically, it's supposed to be me.

But when there's a clash of interest, what happens is--

-Surely Martin can't be expected to present over his

own cousin's inquest.

-No, of course not.

When something like this happens, they swap duties with

the part-timer from the next borough.

-Well, why would that be a problem for Rosemary?

-Warwick Jardine?

You're joking.

-The body was washed down river, and was retrieved from

the weir at 11 o'clock on tuesday morning.

It was in a very poor condition.

But mr. Martin Frazer was able to identify his

cousin at the scene.

-And the reason for that poor condition being--

-all the rocks and stones.

It's a very fast-moving river.

Our pathologist said it was the battering that killed him.

-Thank you, constable stuart.

And now I'd like to hear from miss Rosemary Boxer.

-I saw james Frazer out on the stepping stones.

He seemed to be waiting for something.

And he looked straight at me for a moment.

And then he just let himself fall into the water.

-Did he struggle or cry out?

-No, he was carried away in a matter of seconds.

-So, in effect, you were the last person to see him alive.

Miss Boxer?

-I thought I saw him again at the tuesday market.

It was only for a second, and i--i couldn't be sure.

But it isn't a face that I'd quickly forget.

-Miss Boxer, I want you to think very carefully about

what you're telling us.

-I thought I saw him, but I couldn't swear to it.

-Miss Boxer, this is a coroner's court.

You are swearing to it.

-In that case, I would have to say that I

was probably mistaken.

-Thank you.

-You can forget it now.

It's over.

-Anything to say about the suicide verdict, miss Boxer?

Thank you.

-Well, he might have waited for an answer.

-He's a journalist.

He can make up his own--

-You poor thing.

Are you all right?

-Oh, I'm fine.

-You mustn't take any of that awful summing up personally.

-Yeah, anyone can have a wildand irrational flight

of fantasy at any time.

I know I can.

-Thank you.

-I, uh--

I wondered if you had a chance to mention you-know-what to

you-know-who?

-What?

-About posing.

-No, I didn't see the actual event.

-No, I don't think she's interested.

-Yeah, I'm sorry, Martin.

But if Warwick Jardine hadn't put me on the spot, I wouldn't

even have mentioned it.

-You could see what I'm getting at, though, can't you?

The last thing I want is Suzanne and the kids being

spooked when I'm not here.

-I'm not saying that they're going to meet their dead uncle

Jim on the doorstep in the moonlight.

-I saw him dead.

You saw him die.

What are you suggesting, Rosemary?

Some kind of funny business?

-She was under oath, Martin.

She had to say what she believed she saw.

-I'll tell you what.

Do this, and you'll be doing me a big

favor at the same time.

Go to jim's cottage.

Sort out his bloody animals for me.

You have my permission to snoop, sneak,

and crawl all over that place.

And if you find anything that smacks of dodgy business, tell

constable Stuart.

Tell the world.

But most of all, tell me.

Because I want to be the first to know.

-As if this isn't embarrassing enough.

-I--

I'm serious.

Jim was my cousin, but we grew up like brothers.

He was the best friend a boy could ask for.

It broke my heart to see how he went as he got older.

How do you think it felt to watch him turn into the

Village nutter?

-Martin.

-Well, that's what he was.

That was not the jim that I knew.

The Jim that I knew was here.

The man that you saw was a stranger to me.

I don't know what pushed him over the edge.

But it only put him in a kinder place.

-Perhaps we should discuss this again when we're all a

little bit less worked up.

Rosemary.

I don't believe you.

Well, you can't expect Martin to

move chickens and a goat in the family peugeot.

-You know what I'm talking about.

-Constable Stuart said that if Jim Frazer hadn't topped

himself, somebody around here would have murdered him.

Well, what if somebody has?

-He still wouldn't be alive, and walking around the market.

-Unless the Jim we saw in the garden wasn't Martin's cousin,

but someone pretending to be him.

-Why?

-Because the real cousin Jim's already

Dead, and in the river.

-What are your experience with goats?

-None.

-Chickens? -Only in soup or sandwich form.

-Gwynne said she's been popping around to feed them.

Poor things.

Lost your daddy?

What?

Go on.

No one's going to jump out at you.

-I wouldn't be so sure.

Rosemary.

Why would anyone murder Jim, and then

pretend to be him just to chuck himself in the river?

-So everyone would assume it was suicide when Jim's actual

body turned up downstream.

-Bearing the marks of a murder victim?

-No, not necessarily.

You'd have a hard time sorting out the injuries after the

river bed pinball.

-Why didn't you try and find some picture id?

Surely that would settle the question once and for all.

-Help me look.

-No, I shall be establishing a rapport with a goat.

-What will they think of next?

-If you never travel, you don't need a passport.

And if he didn't have a car--

-not one picture of him, though.

Not anywhere in the house.

-People keep pictures of other people.

That doesn't have to be significant.

-Unless that means that somebody went through the place before us.

I'd call that significant.

-You heard Martin.

His landlord's key was the only spare.

-Strange.

Even Martin didn't have a picture.

And speaking of Martin, he seems to be the only person

around here who doesn't get a mention in jim's

Letters to the press.

I wonder if they're all here.

-What have you got there?

-Carbon copies.

- You-- you never took them from the cottage.

-Well, I'm only doing what Martin told me to.

-Oh, listen to this one.

"She has access to all those drugs at the hospital.

But someone ought to ask her what she's hoarding in that Bridge."

-Who?

-Katie stevens, the anesthetist.

Drugs!

Maybe Jim saw something there that could

have got him killed.

-Katie.

One of us has a perfect excuse to know who's around the Stevens' house.

-Who would that be?

-I'm not the one her husband wants to paint.

-You see?

-Nothing much got past him, did it?

"She's growing up a terrible flirt, but then look at who

her father was."

-Which one's that?

The one about Gwynne's daughter.

Fern?

Now, just remember.

If you see him start mixing rose madder--

Is that the face you're going to pose with?

-I don't care how charming he is.

The kit stays on.

-Hello?

Hi, her.

-Hello, mrs. Thyme.

-Be with you in about 10 minutes.

You want to find the kitchen?

Grab a coffee?

Thrud the barbarian.

Reprinting the whole series with new covers.

You know, they're all written by psychiatrists.

-I'll, uh, leave you to it, then.

- Full monty.

Hey, if my sergeant saw that.

-All right, you two.

Settle down. Come on.

Work to do.

-Milk?

-Feeling peaky?

That could solve all your problems.

-It's for the children's little ailments.

I make it up myself.

Do you know how homeopathy works?

-You take a heavily diluted form of something that would

cause the same symptoms as the disease.

-Ah, you've done study.

-Just what I've read in magazines.

-Of course, when they set the dilution levels, they failed

to realize you need to drink 8,000 gallons of this stuff to

get one molecule of the additive.

So then they came up with the memory of water.

-I was never that good at science.

-You see it doesn't matter if the additive's long vanished.

The water remembers it.

Now, when I make up medicine for the children, I just take

that one stage further.

I simply show the additive to the water.

And the water imagines it.

-You don't believe any of this, do you?

-I do believe in the placebo effect.

The power of suggestion.

And I don't think plain water ever did anyone much harm.

-Unless your name is Jim Frazer.

Could the power of suggestion make someone kill himself?

-I doubt it.

Unless the person's weak and vulnerable, and deep in his

heart really needed to die.

-Chris is ready for you now.

-Bye, Fern.

Don't forget your coffee.

-Oh, thanks.

-Ok, just wrap it around yourself.

Fling it across.

Like this.

-Ooh, very Scarlet Pimpernel.

What's the book called?

-"The king's

Last mistress."

Sounds racy.

Have you read it?

Now, can you look surprised?

Really surprised?

-Well, I'm not used to this.

-You here to work, or just waste my time?

-I beg your pardon.

-Good.

Excellent.

More of that.

Come on, you trollup.

Let's work.

Good, good, good.

More like that, or I'll throw you out of here.

-Shock!

Horror!

Shock!

Horror!

-Mr. Teed!

Mr. Teed.

-I love it when women chase after me.

Tell me what I can do for you.

-I was wondering if you were running a picture of Jim Frazer

alongside the inquest report.

-Of course.

He's barely 10 years old in this.

Is there nothing a bit more recent?

-Alas, that's all Martin could give me.

-Is there nothing on file?

-Miss Boxer.

This newspaper stays afloat on one simple principle.

Whenever there's an event in one of the villages,

I turn up and photograph the crowd.

If those people buy the newspaper, I break even.

If some of them buy a copy of the picture, I'm in profit.

James Frazer, I'm sorry to say, was never a welcome face

in any crowd.

-He sent you a lot of letters, though.

-Big part of his problem.

-Did you print any of them?

-I like my house too much.

-They didn't look pretty contentious.

-Well, you couldn't say.

I got to the point I dropped them in the shredder

without reading them.

-So you wouldn't even know if any of the gossip

concerned his cousin, Martin?

Well, you know, you've got to understand something about the

setup in Lyvedon.

Everybody in this entire valley depends on Martin Frazer

and his family's estate in some way or another.

They rent from him, sell to him.

They work in trades would have vanished without him.

He keeps the school open, the--

The developers out.

-So what you're telling me is even if there was any scandal,

you'd only lose readers if you printed it.

-What I'm telling you is you'd go a long way to

find a better man.

I don't suppose I could, um, put you down to, uh, buy a

picture, hmm?

This week's page three.

-You're really good.

-Well, say it a bit louder so the mrs. Can hear.

-I mean it.

You could be in galleries.

You could be stinking rich.

-I am stinking rich.

Have the overdraft to prove it.

-I've read some of these.

-Well done.

-Do you often use people from the village?

-Always.

I like to use real faces.

I've had just about everyone through here.

-Including Jim Frazer.

-There is a limit.

-What you mean?

-Well, all due deference to Martin, but I wouldn't have

that cousin of his anywhere near my house.

-Why not?

-He tried to make trouble for me and mine.

God rest his soul.

I shall say no more.

-Um, who was the model for that one?

-I can't recall.

Thank you.

-Yes, Martin.

Yes, she just left within the last minute.

Now, the thing is, I told her the

Letters had been destroyed.

So what should I do?

Do you know if Jim kept copies of what he wrote?

This sounds to me like--

Like she's had her hands on them.

Ok.

No problem.

I'm doing it now.

The owner said it would be out here.

-Ah, very good.

-Look.

Closer.

-Jim?

-Chris said he'd never used James Frazer's

Face on a book cover.

And when I asked him who the model for this

was, he went all blank.

-At least you know I'm not going mad.

We just assumed the man was cousin Jim,

because he told us so.

And everyone round the table seemed to confirm it.

But they didn't see him.

-Yes, so when you saw him fall in the river the next day--

-and the real cousin Jim turned up dead--

-you could put your hand on your heart and say it was

cousin Jim you saw trying to take his own life.

-Constable Stuart said that the last person who fell in

the river turned up three days later and a mile downstream.

But Jim turned up one day later and a mile downstream.

-Which could mean that he was already dead and being carried

downstream before we got here.

-Now, he was alive on friday evening.

Fern saw him.

-Assuming Fern is telling the truth.

She was named in those letters along with everyone else.

-We daren't trust anybody.

Isn't this all terribly boring for you, mr. Coutts?

-To tell you the truth, ladies, I've had many a worse

Summer than this.

-Suzanne has made a game casserole for tonight.

There's loads.

What's on your menu?

Sausage and beans.

-Why don't you join us?

You can give us a progress report.

-On the garden?

-What else?

-I was hoping I might have set your mind at rest over Jim.

But a little bird tells me I just fanned the flames a bit.

-You've had a call from Hamilton Teed.

-This is your original tight-knit community.

And to me, that's not such a bad thing.

Look--

I could take the hump.

Or I could build bridges.

I know which one Suzanne would rather see.

-We'd love to.

-Hamilton Teed showed me the picture you gave him.

Were you the other boy in it?

-Ah, those were happier times, all right.

-What made you move apart?

-It all got set in motion when my father died.

I couldn't be the same friend I'd always been.

I had responsibilities now.

Our fathers were brothers.

But my dad was the oldest.

So my side got the family silver.

And Jim's got the free school dinners.

-Well, you seemed very close in the picture.

-Oh, we were.

When we were kids, he practically lived here.

I suppose he still felt as if he could treat the

place as his own.

-If you didn't keep the doors locked, he'd come walking in.

It's very sad.

But I wasn't having it.

-I know he irritated a lot of people.

But would anyone actually want him dead?

-Take a number and stand in line.

-Don't go taking that too seriously.

Jim was always out and roaming.

You'll see all the world's indiscretions

from a country park.

-Including yours?

-Everybody's got something they want to keep quiet.

Very neatly avoided.

-In my case, I'd have to say it was the old

chapel in the garden.

-Why's that?

-It was so bloody ugly, it looked marginally better when

it fell down.

I had this long-term plan of restoring the garden back to

its proper state.

But then I heard that someone was trying to

get the ruins listed.

-Which would mean you'd have to keep it.

-Oh, they might even force me to rebuild it.

Can you imagine that?

Bang goes any hope of getting the garden back to its

original state.

So I got the lads to move the stones and the odd-job man to

clear them off into the woods.

-Why was Jim digging about in the grounds?

I have no idea.

Rosemary, answer me this, honestly.

Have you turned up anything about Jim's death that isn't

pure speculation?

Then please, for my sake and my family's sake.

I invited you to act on your suspicions.

Now I'm asking you to let the matter drop.

So I had all the bits of the chapel stacked in the woods.

And I'm planning to reuse the stones and the

slates in the house.

-If you can find a builder who doesn't spend half his time

away from the job and the rest on the phone to his stockbroker.

-Smells great, love.

Need a hand?

-Now he asks.

-Wait till I get my hands on Hamilton Teed.

He must have got straight on the phone the moment I walked out the door.

-Yeah, at least it made Martin open up a bit in there.

-Ah, didn't give much away.

That chapel business could be more serious than he's letting on.

-Just a pile of old stones.

-Tampering with a listed building is

the criminal offense.

You can get up to 10 years in jail.

-He reckons he cleared the ruins before

the order was made.

-Yeah, but if he's wrong, he could be forced to rebuild the

chapel exactly as it was, stone by stone.

-Oh, it'd cost a fortune!

Did you leave the lamp lit?

-That's not a lamp.

All my clean underwear's in there!

-And the carbons of Jim's letters.

-Sleep well?

-Well, it's hard to sleep easy when you've been burnt out of

house and home.

-It was a tent.

-It's the same principle.

-You know, yesterday, in the garden--

-I saw Martin pass George something.

And he looked very furtive.

-Our George?

- George Marsden plummer, the arsonist.

-Good morning, miss Boxer, mrs. Thyme.

-Oh, I thought you worked evenings.

-8:00 Till 10:00, but someone called in sick.

What can I get you?

-Oh, I think I could strangle down some brown toast and tea.

-Wholemeal or granary?

-Surprise me.

- I'll bring you an egg, then.

Mrs. Thyme?

-I think I'll have the full monty.

-Is that one of Chris's covers?

-I don't know.

Is it?

-I can always tell.

-You probably recognize the sitter.

-Mm, you see him around.

-What does he do?

-Something with a van.

I think he does odd jobs for Martin.

-I bet you could work wonders with a couple of those for

Sunday lunch, Rupert.

-You'd be amazed at what I could get up to with a pair of

old broilers.

What was that for?

-Just in case.

-Oi, oi!

Found tools, lads.

-Unexploded doodlebug.

-Well.

Now, this is just about where the altar would've been.

Maybe it's holy relics.

I doubt they'd've kept their sainted

biscuit tins.

Wonder if this is what our hole-digger was looking for?

Did you ever bury a time capsule when you were a boy?

-I buried a frog in a matchbox once.

Dug it up after a week to see how it was doing.

A message to the future.

-It's a friendship pact.

"We, the undersigned, do solemnly declare this lifelong

pact of loyalty and fidelity.

And may he that breaks it or betrays the other suffer dark

days, disgrace, and a horrible death.

Signed in their heart's blood this 13th of october by--

Martin Frazer and James Anthony

Frazer."

-Good morning, Martin.

Um-- the post has just arrived with a final letter from your

Cousin Jim.

It's, uh, about an affair that could

Affect the whole village.

And I didn't want to shred it without giving you a

Chance to see it.

-Mr. Teed!

Mr. Teed.

-Well, there'll be another inquest.

-Maybe it won't be with warwick jardine.

-The police think this was a petty cash robbery gone wrong.

Petty cash.

The only cash in the office was the editor's bus fare.

And that was still in the jam jar.

-So how do they explain?

They think the thief

panicked and ran.

-Loser.

-Now, look, boys.

I'm--

I'm fine, really.

Just go back to work.

You're worrying mr. Coutts.

He was making tea for two.

So he obviously knew who it was.

And then when he turned his back on them, bang.

-What else did you see?

An envelope from Jim Frazer's typewriter.

But I couldn't see a letter anywhere.

- Didn't touch anything?

- No!

Well, apart from picking up the phone to call the police.

Although, while I had the phone there in my hand--

-you couldn't resist pressing redial to find out who his

last call was to.

-I hung up when I heard Martin's answerphone.

-Think about it.

Suppose the last letter from Jim said

something about Martin.

-Sent from where?

Beyond the grave?

-From the box on the lane outside the gate that only

gets emptied twice a week.

-So when Hamilton Teed finally gets the letter, he phones Martin.

-And within the hour, George Hamilton Teed, rip.

-We've got to find the name of that odd-job man.

He's the key to everything.

-We could ask Suzanne.

She'd only tell Martin.

Laura, do you think Chris has a record of all

the models he's used?

- No, no, look, I--I have no excuse for going back there.

-Laura.

-I have to take this biscuit tin to Martin.

-I can see to that.

-You know, love, I don't think that cousin of mine ever threw

away a single piece of junk in his life.

Rosemary.

-Suzanne said I'd find you here.

-Had to face it sometime.

I'm Jim's executor.

-Mm, well, serves you right for being the lawyer in the family.

-These tin robots would fetch something on ebay.

The furniture I'll send down to the auction.

And the rest of it's for the skip, I'm afraid.

Not very much to show for a life, is it?

-What will you do with the house?

-Well, you can see the state it's in.

It'll need a fair bit of work before I can advertise for a

new tenant--

another job I'll have to fit into my copious spare time.

What have you got there?

Does it look familiar?

-Bless me, that's the time capsule.

You do remember it.

-And the friendship contract.

Oh, I'm keeping this.

We were supposed to sign it in blood.

We had a pin, but neither of us could raise the nerve.

So we ended up using ... instead.

-We think someone has been digging for it.

-I'd have rescued it myself if I'd remembered.

"We, the undersigned, do solemnly declare this lifelong

pact of loyalty and fidelity.

And may he that breaks it or betrays the other suffer dark

days, disgrace, and a horrible death."

-Who was to know?

-Rosemary.

-Gwynne.

-Well spotted, girls.

Top marks in the observation round.

I've, uh, sorted these out for the shop.

The Lyvedon trust has a charity shop.

I told Gwynne that she could pick out anything useful.

-Er, package for collection.

Mr.--

Stevens.

-Where's Dave?

-See, I normally leave my artwork in the kitchen

for Dave to pick up.

-Well, they've sent me.

-I'll show you where.

Are you, um--

are you into sports at all?

-Well, I like to watch the snooker.

-More!

- You're a barbarian!

Did you ever throw the javelin at school?

- No!

-I did.

One sports day, I got a new school record,

and one of the marshals.

-That'll be the bloke about the boiler.

I'll be two seconds.

-It's already been half an hour.

-We-- we're nearly done.

Promise.

-I'm a barbarian.

What're you?

-Hobbit in a hole.

-Still ironing out the kinks?

-You try squatting for an hour while thrud the barbarian

waves his magic javelin over you.

-Many's the Saturday night.

-And all for what?

For this.

September the 25th.

The odd-job man.

Transport fridge and photo shoot, 50 quid.

"The odd job." And you didn't find anything more

substantial, did you?

-No.

-Mind you, I don't know what is more interesting--

the fact that Gwynne was there or the way they both reacted

when I walked in on them.

-If it was a lover's tryst, Rosemary, they'd hardly be

consummating it in the middle of a dead

relative's house clearance.

-But if the old flame was still sparking, and cousin Jim

saw something--

-Are you going to be all right for tomorrow?

-Oh, what's special about tomorrow?

-Market day.

-Here.

-Thank you.

-Ooh, isn't the Lyvedon trust office

somewhere close to here?

-Yeah, middle of church street.

It's out that way.

-Thank you.

I'll be back in a couple of minutes.

Are you stalking me, Rosemary?

-I know it must seem like it.

No, I was wondering if the trust, um, kept records on the

listed buildings in Lyvedon.

-Er, not really.

We're more about local business than buildings.

-Then where would I find who nominated a building for protection?

-This is about the chapel, isn't it?

I can see what you're getting at.

And I don't think I like it.

- I don't know what you mean.

-Ever since the inquest, you've been trying to stir

things up over Jim.

And now it's Martin's turn, is it?

Martin's a good man.

He doesn't have any enemies, least of all his own cousin.

-Hm, everybody seems to love Martin.

Anyway, um, I only wanted to know whose toes we could be

treading on with the restoration.

-I'm sorry.

I don't think I can help you any further.

-You could tell me the name of Martin's odd-job man.

-Eddie Brooks.

-Hello.

-Looking for anything in particular?

-Uh, no.

There was a man I saw, uh, there, at last week's market.

-Oh, yeah?

-I think he's called--

Eddie Brooks?

He's got his own vehicle.

-Eddie Brooks?

-He does a lot of work at Lyvedon manor.

Oh, that Eddie.

Yeah.

Calls himself the odd-job man.

Does a bit of scaffolding, bit of plastering, bit of

everything.

-Now, that-- that sounds like him.

-Yeah.

Yeah, he bought a hammer.

Left his old one on a job.

Someone walked off with it.

Um, have you seen him since?

-Ok.

Right.

-Hah, morning mr. Coutts.

-Mr. Coutts!

-Yeah?

-Is this the paper with the inquest report?

-Well, there's been no other since.

-May I borrow it?

-Feel free.

-Laura?

-I was thinking about the old sundial and how nice it would

be to put it back using the original materials.

-Yeah, but they knocked it down to make way for the chapel.

-Look at that.

There it is.

In the wall behind them.

-So it is.

I bet they reused the stones from the base as well.

-So it might be out in the woods with

the rest of the stones.

-You need to follow the cart track out across the river.

-Is that where you took it?

-Well, we didn't get to go out there.

We just loaded the truck for Martin's odd-job man.

-Not Eddie Brooks?

Steady Eddie.

Why go to all this trouble

just to hide old stone?

-To avoid drawing attention.

And to keep it from the sight of thieving eyes.

Architectural salvage is big black-market business.

-I can hear ghosts.

-No, no, the house is just over there.

We, uh--

We're on the other side of the river.

-My gosh, this could take a while.

-The sundial has, uh, curved sections.

Whew.

Rosemary.

Come and have a look at this.

I just wanted to be sure it was what I thought it was.

-What's that on the business end?

-Blood and hair.

I'm putting it back.

One of us has to find constable Stuart and tell him

we located a murder weapon.

-One of us?

-Ah, just the job.

You got a tow bar on this thing?

-We've found the weapon that killed Jim Frazer.

It's a--it's a hammer, belonging to Eddie Brooks, the odd-job man.

And it's got blood and hair on it.

-Where?

-Hidden in the chapel stones, in the woods.

-And how exactly does one commit suicide with a hammer?

-No, no, it wasn't suicide.

It was murder.

Jim was hit over the head.

And then his body was put in the river.

And by the time he was smashed about by the rocks--

I mean, you couldn't tell the death wound

from his other injuries.

-But you swore at the inquest--

you saw him go in.

-Yeah, I--

I thought I saw him.

But now I know I didn't.

Look, you don't have to believe my story.

But you should go and secure your evidence, or you won't be

able to prove it one way or another.

-All sounds pretty feasible to me.

By the way, have you got a rope for the tow bar?

-Where's your friend?

-Laura?

Uh, she stayed behind to keep an eye on it.

No, she knows not to interfere with it.

She's an ex-copper.

-All right.

-I'll show you the way.

-I know where it is.

You're staying at the lamb, aren't you?

-Yes.

-Well, find the landlord.

Tell him to meet me at Lyvedon hall with the evidence kit.

He's a special constable.

-You're doing the right thing.

-For your sake, I hope so.

-Next time, I'll just hit the bloody squirrel.

-Hello?

Help!

-Help!

Help!

Heeellllllllp!

-You can make as much noise as you like.

No one's going to hear you.

-What are you doing?

-Why couldn't you just see what you were supposed to see,

say your piece, and then shut up?

-Nice people don't look the other way when you kill someone.

- I've killed nobody!

-Did you wear a life jacket under that top?

I bet it gave you a better chance than you gave poor Jim.

-You have got it all so wrong.

-Can you explain the hammer hidden in the chapel stones?

With blood all over it?

It's where?

Where?

-Oh, teacher always told me ....

Hey, bring that back!

-And if there is some physical evidence, then I'm not in a

position to ignore it.

-No, you're absolutely right.

-So can I have your permission to conduct a search on the Estate?

-Search away, old lad.

Don't worry about a warrant.

I'll even come along with you.

-Where did he go?

-Towards the house.

-Eddie?

Eddie!

-No, no!

It's too dangerous.

-Oh, my god.

-Eddie Brooks said he killed no one.

And I think he was telling the truth.

I think that he was pressured into playing

a role in the cover-up.

-By who?

-By the person who used his hammer for the killing and

then threatened to incriminate him with it.

-And he didn't even know where it was hidden

until I told him.

Clearly, he wasn't the one who hid it.

-You had his tools locked away, didn't you, Martin?

It was your way of making sure he stayed on the job.

Did you kill Jim with Eddie's hammer and then force him to

put on that show for us?

-Why on earth would I want to do that?

-To avoid being exposed as Fern Evans' father.

I'm sorry, Martin.

But it's going to come out.

I've seen the way Gwynne Evans is with you.

-And everybody can see how much you'd lose if your

marriage was threatened.

You depend on Suzanne for holding everything together.

-You're mad!

-Fern Evans--

Do you mean Fern Stevens?

Chris Stevens, the artist--

he's her father, not Martin.

Everyone in Lyvedon knows that.

-Chris was married to Gwynne for five years.

-The missing letter.

What missing letter?

-Hamilton Teed receives Jim's last letter.

He phones you to tell you about it.

And then within an hour he's dead and the letter's disappeared.

-And we're supposed to believe that Jim wrote up everybody's

scandals and never once mentioned you?

-I haven't seen or spoken to Teed since

your tent caught fire.

-And we found the letter screwed up in the street.

It was a complaint about the maintenance on the war memorial.

-I asked them to call me here if they found Eddie.

Hello?

Constable Stuart.

Yeah.

I'll let them know.

Thank you.

They've pulled Eddie out of the river.

He's alive.

-Um, that's the answerphone, isn't it?

-Yes.

-May I just try something?

- Good morning, Martin.

The post has just arrived with a final letter from your

Cousin Jim.

It's, uh, about an affair that could

affect the whole village.

And I didn't want to shred it without giving you a

chance to see it.

-I've never heard that before.

-An affair that could affect the whole village?

-It is an affair that can affect the whole village.

They've been arguing about the memorial for months.

-But what if someone heard it and thought it meant a different kind of affair?

-How many times do I have to tell you I am not having one?

-I don't mean you.

Well, Suzanne?

Did you hear that message while Martin was round at

Jim's place?

If I'd heard that and I had something to hide, I'd go

straight round to Teed's office, try and get hold of

the letter before anyone saw it.

-And maybe silence Teed at the same time.

-But that's bollocks, eh, suze, love?

And you might have forgotten about

that biscuit tin, Martin, but Jim hadn't.

That friendship pact still meant something to him.

-And then you warned Jim off.

You didn't want the village nutter hanging around your

wife when she was at home alone.

-I told Eddie to look after her while I was in town.

-He did that.

And a bit more.

Jim must have seen them.

-So who are we saying killed him?

-Fern saw Jim alive that friday night.

And he was heading this way.

And now, Fern starts work at 8 o'clock.

-So Jim got here between 8:00 and 9:00.

That after the children go to bed and before Martin

gets back from town.

So Jim was with Suzanne, alone.

After that, no one saw him alive again.

-What did he want to talk about?

Was he going to expose what you and Eddie had been up to?

Or was it just to plead with you to

stop it for Martin's sake?

-It would have been fine if Eddie had stayed out of sight

like he was supposed to.

-Suze.

Don't say anything else.

- My lawyer forbids me to speak?

-Was it really so difficult for you?

-Difficult?

I don't have a husband.

I'm hitched up to a house and a history.

And I am the silent saint who keeps it all together.

Good old Suzanne.

Isn't she marvelous?

Isn't she his rock?

How she must love that great ball and chain.

The odd hour with Eddie was the only freedom I got.

But Jim found out, sneaking back and forth at all hours,

digging for that stupid biscuit tin.

And he wouldn't have it.

Not for his beloved cousin Martin.

You should have heard him.

He went on and on and on about it.

Till I stopped him.

There you are.

Will I go to prison?

I really don't mind.

I should be glad of the rest.

-Who has the evidence?

-Do you mean the hammer?

I gave it to Martin.

-Donald!

He's the coroner.

-Suzanne, love, what did we do with the hammer?

-I wonder if the water remembers Jim.

-Everyone's remembering him now.

If he's speaking.

Everyone except for us.

-What do you mean?

-Well, we never even met him, did we?

-We did right by him, though, wouldn't you say?

Who goes there?

-Very funny.

-Hey.

So.

-What do you think?

-Hello.

-Come on.

-I hope you like it.

-Come and look at this.

-Thank you.

-Didn't you have something to show Laura?

-Oh, yes.

-The art director approved the rough.

Is that why I had to wrap up in a black cloak?

-What do you think?

-Excuse me.

-Mr. Jardine.

-Miss Boxer.

-I understand you're defending Suzanne.

-I understand you're a key witness.

Won't that be fun?

-And if she pleads guilty, you won't have to appear.

-Is that what she intends?

-Believe me, I'm working on her.

-Oh, no.

It's going out.

-George, it's gas.

It doesn't need firelighters.

-Don't mind me.

I'm stoking up for the journey.

-Good idea.

Do you think Martin will be all right?

-All right, dad?

-Hello, boys.

To the beloved memory of James

Anthony Frazer.

-I think so.

unCapsLock & resynch for 93' version by 7kozlov - www.myfbs.ru