Original subtitles

(ominous music) (rain splashing)

- Frank?

- Oh!

Wall came away, vicar.

- Is it serious?

- The hole's not the problem.

It's what's on the other side

- [Frank] All right, careful.

Take a look at the wall.

(crescendo music)

- Good lord.

(water rushing) (church bells chiming)

- She's running at 387 and she's up five feet.

- Better call the Environment Agency.

- You really think she'll burst?

- Well, depends how much rain we'll get.

Ah, Ava, I was wondering if maybe--

- Zach?

- You might like to go out sometime, you know?

- Zach!

(ominous music)

- It's just I thought with you being a scientist,

the place would be ordered, precise,

at least vaguely clean.

- Only boring people have clean houses.

- Uh, you're confusing boring with normal.

- All right, as your landlady,

I give you my permission to tidy the place up.

- Do I get a rent reduction?

- Depends on how good a job you do.

(spooky music)

(light music)

- How many babies are we having?

- This is just essentials.

- And we're planning on putting it where?

- In the back room.

- You mean my study?

- (laughing) Well, you call it a study.

You don't really do much studying in there, do you?

- I contemplate things in there.

- No, you store things in there

that I tell you to get rid of but that's over.

Baby's coming and we need the space.

- But babies are tiny.

How much space does something that small really need?

- Oh, look at you.

You're so sweet, so naive.

You have no idea what's coming, do you? (laughing)

(phone ringing)

- Don't look at me.

Barnaby.

(siren blaring)

- So we have an unidentified female,

found caught in the weir by our two river officers.

Nelson, take their statements.

- Sir!

(echoing music) (water dripping)

- Right, let's see what we have.

She's female, good physical shape.

Got abrasions on her arm and legs.

Post-mortem injuries.

Probably sustained by the body bouncing off the rocks

further up river.

She's wearing what appears to be a cloth mask,

fastened at the back with an unusual knot.

Can we get a picture?

Pretty girl.

Foam around her mouth is consistent with drowning,

suggests she was alive when she went in.

- How long has she been in there?

- No sign of adipocere.

The skin's in good condition.

I'd guess I'd say 24 hours.

- Chances of us finding the entry point?

- You'll be lucky.

The river runs for 60 miles,

through three separate counties.

Hang on.

We've got blood.

Blunt force trauma to the back of the skull,

sustained before death.

The mask went on after she sustained the blow to the head.

- [Nelson] And you found the body wedged under the steps?

- Must have got carried by the current.

- Did you notice anything else?

- It's Nancy.

It's Nancy!

Zach, it's Nancy!

- Hey, hey, take it easy.

Take it easy.

- [Nelson] How'd you know her?

- She's my friend.

- Nancy Dewar, 28, lived her whole life in St. Claire.

Works as a nurse for the Midsomer Health Trust.

- Family?

- She's got a husband, Michael Dewar.

He's a local builder, apparently.

- Then we start with him.

- Maybe not.

It seems Nancy left him three months ago

for an art historian called Hamilton.

They'd been renting a house in the village.

- How did the husband take that?

- Not well.

- Then we definitely start with him.

(heavy engines running)

- [Barnaby] Michael Dewar?

- Who wants to know?

- How'd it happen?

- We don't have all the details yet.

- Were an accident or what?

- We're treating it as suspicious.

We understand that you and your wife

had recently separated, Mr. Dewar.

- [Michael] Oh, it's nothing serious.

- But she'd moved in with someone else.

- Well, Hamilton turned her head, that's all.

She's a dreamer, she was my wife, easily bored.

He was something new but she would've tired

of him sooner or later.

- So who is this Mr. Hamilton?

- Professor Hamilton, he likes to be called.

An art buff.

He's here for the fresco.

We have to talk about him?

(door slamming)

- Everything all right, Michael?

What's going on?

- Nancy's dead.

- What?

- They found her in the river.

- Sorry, sir, you are?

- Frank Dewar, I'm Michael's dad.

Sorry, son.

- Oh!

- Where were you both last night?

- What kind of a question's that?

- A relatively simple one.

- [Nelson] It's just routine, Mr. Dewar.

We need to be able to count people out.

- I were at home.

Michael?

- I was out with some people.

- Can I ask where?

- Lots of different places.

- Well that wasn't weird at all.

- Run a background check on Michael Dewar.

I want to know more about him.

- You didn't push him on his alibi.

- No point, until we get a time of death.

Meanwhile, let's go talk to Hamilton.

(upbeat music) (church bells chiming)

- Well, what do you think son?

- It's beautiful, Dad.

- Hey, less of the sarcasm.

This is important, this is.

It's the first thing the customer sees.

It's gotta have impact.

Well, come on then.

You're the one with the art degree.

Give me some tips.

- Yeah, unfortunately Dad, I was off the day

they did veg displays.

- Why you being so chippy?

- 'Cause I've got to go to work.

- This is work, son.

- Ewan!

(door bell ringing)

Ewan, there you are.

- Victor, Stella, what can I get for you?

- Here on official flood business, Ewan.

- We need to discuss your preparations.

- Look, is there any chance we could do this another time?

- I can't put it off any longer Ewan.

- You haven't ordered any sandbags.

- See the thing is,

if I block my doorway up with sandbags,

my customers can't get in.

- And if you don't, you may be knee deep in river water.

Zach, how are the levels?

- Up another five feet.

Listen, you haven't seen Michael about, have you?

- No, why is there a problem?

- Nancy's dead.

- What?

(car engine revving)

- Don't get me wrong, I appreciate her taking me in

but you should see the house.

It's like a pig sty.

I tried to square the place up but I don't know.

I don't know where to start.

- Nelson?

- Sir.

- You do know I don't care.

- Yes, sir.

- Just checking.

(ominous music)

- Being in church just gives me the creeps.

- It's the feeling of being watched.

Every move catalogued, every thought recorded.

Nothing escapes Him.

I've often thought God is a bit like the Stasi.

Only more effective and with nicer agents, obviously.

Reverend Hillcott.

Call me Martha.

- DCI Barnaby, this is DS Nelson.

We're looking for Professor Hamilton.

- Oh yes, of course.

Poor Nancy.

Terrible shock.

- Sorry, how did you know about Nancy?

- His first time out of the city?

- Transferred from London a month ago.

- Still a tourist then.

- News travels fast in a village.

- Word of Nancy's death reached us this morning.

The professor's distraught.

- And where is the professor?

- He's working in the crypt.

- Oh, so not that distraught then?

- We all grieve in our own way.

- Want me to upload these?

- What?

Oh, sorry.

Yes, upload them.

- Professor, this is DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson.

They're here about Nancy.

- Why don't you take a break, Noah?

- You're restoring the fresco?

- Restoration is a long way away.

Right now, we're just trying to stop the rot.

We need to record every detail

before the intonaco deteriorates further.

It's the river, you see?

The water seeps through the foundations.

Speeds up the decay.

- But we're all working very hard

to find a more permanent solution.

- I'm sorry.

You wanted to talk about Nancy.

- How long had you known her?

- I came here around six months ago.

Nancy moved in about three months later.

- [Barnaby] A whirlwind romance then?

- [Hamilton] Something like that.

- [Barnaby] When did you last see her?

- Yesterday morning, around eight.

- You weren't concerned

when she didn't come home last night?

- Nancy works across the whole county.

It's not unusual for her to stay over at a hotel

when she's working late.

- Did Nancy have a car for work?

- Yes, yellow hatchback Fiat, I think.

- Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt Nancy?

- No.

- What about her husband?

How did he react to your relationship with her?

- Michael wasn't best pleased.

- [Nelson] Sir, you might want to see this.

- Excuse me.

(suspenseful music)

- Remind you of anyone?

- Do you know he went for a run this morning

at six o'clock?

Six o'clock!

- Is that a fact?

- And guess what he has for breakfast?

- I have no idea.

- Green tea.

- The man's a freak.

- You're telling me. (chuckling)

- Okay, ballooned lungs confirm suffocation in water.

- She drowned?

- That's about the size of it.

- What about time of death?

- Comparing her liver temperature

with the temperature of the river,

I'd say the night before she was found.

- The head wound?

- Well, the skull had collapsed into the occipital lobe

in an uneven depression.

She had tissue damage and hair loss.

There were no signs of any defence wounds

and nothing to suggest a violent struggle.

- She was taken by surprise.

- More than likely.

The force of the blow would have

probably rendered her unconscious.

- Giving the killer time to fit the mask.

- We found blood, hair and tissue on the inside.

All of it belonging to Nancy.

- What about prints?

- Your killer was careful.

Analysis of the material showed it to be sisal based.

Burlap to be exact.

- Sack cloth?

- And it's been around a bit too.

The process used to bleach it is over 30 years old.

The mask was cut from a larger sack.

We found a fragment of the logo on it.

You can't see it with the naked eye but with the UV.

- S-H-C?

That's not much to go on.

- Printed on the sack,

so let's start with local agricultural organisations,

feed suppliers, independent producers.

- [Nelson] Pretty much have the county then?

- [Barnaby] Pretty much, yeah.

Where are we on the car?

- Looking for a yellow Fiat Punto, hatchback.

Traffic is still looking for it.

- Well, tell them to get a move on it.

It can't have just disappeared.

Right, we have a 28 year old woman,

killed in a similar way to a character in a mediaeval fresco.

What do we know about this?

- Discovered six months ago,

apparently it's big news in the field of church art.

- How many people have seen it?

- Well, it's got its own website.

- Anything on Hamilton?

- Respected academic, expert in the field of mediaeval art.

Spent most of his working life

in various churches around Europe.

- What about the murder site?

- Nancy was local, so I've gone

with a five mile radius around the village.

These are potential entry points.

I was planning on checking them out.

- Then you'd best get on to it.

(phone ringing)

- Causton CID.

Can I ask who's calling?

It's Reverend Gould, former vicar at St. Claire.

Wants to talk to you.

- DCI Barnaby speaking.

Okay, well if you'd like to come down to the station.

We'd be more than, okay.

Give me your address.

(suspenseful music)

- [Barnaby] Reverend Gould!

- Through the back.

Are you the detective?

- DCI Barnaby.

It's quiet a view you have here.

- I barely noticed it until I retired.

- And how long were you at St. Claire's?

- All in about 25 years.

I knew Nancy when she was a girl.

She was wild, even back then.

She liked to tear around the village,

drinking with the boys from the travellers' camp.

Some called it high spirits

but the truth is, the girl was shameless.

- Still no reason for her to die.

- Someone obviously thinks it was.

- Any idea who that someone might be?

- No, but I know what inspired them.

(Barnaby sighing)

Ah, there it is, that weary sigh.

You think the old man's lost it.

Some fire and brimstone preacher,

blabbering on about God punishing the sinners.

What?

You think this was a coincidence?

Nancy dying like that?

Just like that fresco they're all wetting themselves over?

Things like that are covered up for a reason.

- Dad?

What are you going here?

- [Gould] I called him.

- Everything all right?

- Everything's fine.

The detective and I were just chatting about Nancy.

Ava and Nancy used to be friends.

Not that she has much time for friends,

to busy looking after this old wreck.

- Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

- [Gould] Do you have children?

- My wife and I are expecting our first.

- Your first!

A new dad, hey?

This must be an interesting time for you.

- It's very exciting.

- Ha, you're scared stiff

and if not, you have no business being a father.

- Oh, I say!

What news from the river authority?

- Don't worry, Victor.

We'll let you know well before it happens, all right?

- It's just I need some info for my presentation.

- What presentation?

- The Council meeting.

- What, tonight?

- The vicar's asked me for a status report.

- Sorry, Dad can be a bit intense.

He's not well.

- Is it serious?

- Leukaemia, diagnosed last year.

He's had a bit of chemo

but they reckon he needs a bone marrow transplant.

- Have you found a donor?

- You're looking at her.

That's if the test confirm I'm a match.

- What was Nancy like then?

- Good fun, could be reckless.

- What about her and Michael Dewar?

- Well I don't blame her for leaving Michael.

His drinking was a problem.

- Do you think he might have harmed her?

(car horn beeps)

- [Zach] Martha's holding the vote tonight.

- How?

It wasn't supposed to be till the end of the month.

- Yeah, well, she's called a special meeting

'cause of the floods.

She'll slip it in.

- Cow.

- Hey don't worry, me and Frank will be there.

We'll sort her out, all right?

(phone rings)

- Everything okay?

- No, not really.

- Nelson, what have you got for me?

- You're not going into work, are you?

- I got to make a start on them quotes.

- I can do that, no problem.

You got to think how it looks.

- How what looks?

- You.

Swanning into work while your wife's body's still

in the morgue.

You stay here, keep your head down.

I'll take care of the yard.

- Right, we need the river bank combed

and let's get some casts of those tyre tracks.

- Yes, sir.

- Thanks everyone.

- Fancied a dip, did you?

- Wild swimming.

It's all the rage.

- You think this is where she went in?

- I found her rucksack in the shallows.

- Okay, Nelson, in your own time.

- Tyre tracks.

One set leading from the road.

They stop here and then turn back the way they came.

- So unless the car drove off by itself,

we can assume Nancy wasn't alone.

- Or maybe she came with someone

or this was a prearranged meeting.

- Either way, she knew them.

Anything in the rucksack?

- Change of clothes, toilet bag, books,

water, passport, air sickness pills.

- She was taking a flight.

- Australia, one-way.

Due to fly out the night she died

and a work visa.

- So she was leaving?

- Until someone stopped her.

(door bell chimes)

- Been trying to call you all morning.

Look, I'm really sorry about Nancy.

She didn't deserve this.

- Bottle of vodka.

- If there's anything you need,

you just ask.

- I need a bottle of vodka.

- You don't have to go through this on your own.

We are here for you.

(cash register beeping)

- There's one thing you could do for me.

- Just name it.

- We must think about the future of the church, Stella.

- But should we really be discussing the fresco,

so soon after Nancy?

- Nancy's death was tragic

but that doesn't mean we neglect our duty.

- But the way she died, vicar.

It was just like the poor girl in the painting.

- The fresco wasn't to blame for Nancy's death.

Whoever killed her was evil

and they will face the consequences.

- We've more ingress.

- Then I'll order another pump.

- It won't help.

The problem's structural.

You want to save the fresco,

you have to make the crypt water tight.

- And that's what I plan to do.

- The thing is, you keep saying that.

- All will be sorted by tonight.

- Professor Hamilton.

- What do you mean, Nancy was leaving?

- You don't think it odd that Nancy didn't tell you

she was going?

- Why would that be odd?

- You were in a relationship with her.

- I don't know what idea you have of me and Nancy

but it wasn't serious.

- She left her husband for you.

- I wasn't the only reason Nancy walked out on Michael.

- Care to expand on that?

- Well, the man's a drunk and he has a temper

and when he gets angry,

look, all I know is Michael wasn't above

taking his anger out on Nancy.

- Did you ever see him do this?

- No but the whole village knows he put her

in hospital last Christmas.

(metal creaking)

(ominous music)

- [Gould] I shall miss all this when we go.

- [Ava] We're not going anywhere.

- Martha will have her way no matter what.

Her sort always do.

- Don't worry.

I can handle Martha.

- You're such a fierce one.

Same as your mother.

You look so much like her.

The first time I saw her,

I was standing outside the shelter

and she was coming up the road.

The prettiest girl in Shoreditch.

And do you know what?

- You knew right then, she was the girl for you.

So you took her for tea in a cafe

and you talked all night,

till the waitress threw you out.

- Have I told you that story before?

(Ava laughs)

I just wish you could have known her.

- Yeah, me too.

- It's not been so bad, has it?

I mean, you're happy enough aren't you?

- I'll be happier when we get the test results back

and we can start living again.

- Question is where?

- Listen to me, this is our home.

I won't let Martha take it.

I promise.

- Hamilton's a liar.

Yes, Nancy and I had rows but I'm not a wife beater.

- What about Nancy's trip to casualty?

- Well, that was nothin'.

- Concussion, two cracked ribs?

- Well she was plastered.

She was dancing in the kitchen and she fell.

You can ask Dad.

He was here and saw the whole thing happen.

- Then why does the village believe you were responsible

for her injuries?

- Well because they like to think the worst

and Nancy wouldn't have gone out of her way

to put 'em straight.

- Oh, so now Nancy's a liar?

- No, she's an attention seeker.

She were never happy unless everyone were talking about her.

- Where were you the night Nancy died?

- I told you I was out.

- You need to be more specific.

- All right, I was at a mate's.

- Does your mate have a name?

- Ewan.

Ewan Evans, he runs a shop.

- Why didn't you tell us this before?

- I only just remembered.

- Ah, there you are.

Listen, I've arranged a meeting tomorrow with a solicitor.

I thought you might like to come along.

- I've got to be at the church.

- Look, this is important Noah.

It's about the future of the shop.

You're future.

- I need to be there.

- Noah, you've been back for three months.

I want to get this sorted out,

once and for all.

- And we will, I promise.

(door bell chimes)

- Hoi, you dozy sod!

(door closes)

Noah!

- He's hitting the bottle early.

- I don't think it's early for him.

Go and speak to Ewan Evans.

See if he backs up Michael's story.

- What about you?

- It's time I had a word with Frank Dewar.

Find out what he really thinks of his son.

(suspenseful music)

- Mr. Evans?

DS Nelson.

You busy at the moment?

- No, no, I've always got time to talk.

- You're a friend of Michael Dewar's?

- Yeah, yeah, we're good mates, me and Michael.

- Were you with him on Wednesday night?

- Wednesday?

Wednesday just gone?

- That's the one, yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

Actually as a matter of fact,

me and Michael did get together on Wednesday night, yeah.

- A couple of drinks, was it?

- Always is with Michael.

- And what pub did you go to?

- Who said we went to the pub?

- Oh, I'm sorry.

You said a couple of drinks, I just assumed.

- No, no, no.

We were upstairs in the flat.

- All night?

- Well, it was pretty late when he left.

I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to deal with this.

I'm sorry.

- Ere, I told ya', I didn't want any sandbags.

(ominous music)

- Mr. Dewar?

Frank?

- Noah, I want to know where you got it.

- It's no big deal, Dad.

- No big deal?

There's some nut case running around murdering people

and you've practically got the handbook.

Those pictures are vile, son.

- That's your expert opinion, is it?

Twenty years working in a poxy shop

and suddenly you're an art expert.

- That ain't art

and this poxy shop puts a roof over your head.

- Well, I hate it.

I don't know how you can stand it here.

Every day the same thing.

- No, no, not the same thing

because every day I build this business up,

just a little bit more.

And why?

So I can hand it on to my son.

- Your son doesn't want it.

(door bell chimes) (door slams)

Noah!

(people chattering)

- We need to wait for Frank.

- Oh, don't worry.

He'll get here.

(suspenseful music)

(engine sputtering) (alarms dinging)

- Well as soon as we get the nod from Zach that she's burst,

the Flood Volunteer Force will be mobilised.

That's me, Stella and anyone in one of these.

First priority is to get the word out.

We go door to door, in case we lose mobile communications.

After that, we need to evacuate the vulnerable.

Red dots represent households

with elderly persons or children.

Now, we'll get them to the church,

that's going to be our HQ, headquarters.

Stella's on top of all that.

- We'll be providing tea, coffee and hot soup.

Tomato and cream of chicken.

- Now, should the worst happen and the church be flooded,

then we go to--

- Surely if the church floods, Victor,

then the whole village is lost.

- Not necessarily, vicar.

I like to believe we've got a pretty solid plan B.

- Well then, we'll pray you never have to use it.

Thank you, Victor.

- Oh, thank you.

- Now shall we talk about the cottage?

- I think you mean the Gould's home.

- Well, it's not technically their home.

The property belongs to the church.

You all know the decision we have to make.

It's not an easy one but the sale of the cottage

will give us the necessary funds

to start the necessary building work.

- Sorry, vicar but isn't there any other way

of raising the money?

- I'm afraid not and I should tell you

that Professor Hamilton believes the fresco will parish

if we don't make the crypt watertight soon.

- But evicting Reverend Gould and Ava,

well it does seem a little bit extreme.

- Here, here.

- Thank you.

- Of course, you're right.

It is rather cruel that the reverend should have

to leave his home and for what?

To save some silly old painting?

But then I remember something Reverend Gould said

to me when I first came to St. Claire.

He said to me, "Martha, your job is

"to take care of the church and for that,

"you must make sacrifices."

So, while it pains me to do so,

I propose we take a vote on the cottage.

- Well, hold on.

The rules say you can't vote

if more than one member is absent, so.

- Well, there's only Frank missing.

- You're forgetting about Nancy.

- No, Nancy gave me her vote a few days ago

and asked me to cast it for her.

- Why would Nancy give you her vote?

- I don't know but she did.

And I for one feel we should respect her wishes.

- No, oh God, no!

No, no!

(crashing metal) (glass breaking)

(horn sounding)

(suspenseful music)

- What happened?

- I'm sorry.

- Happy now?

Got what you wanted.

- It was a Council decision.

- To make a sick man homeless?

- Ava, you know we've provided alternative accommodation

for you and your dad.

- Oh yes, I've seen it.

A poxy caravan on the other side of the village.

It won't happen.

I'll pull that place down before I let you take it from us.

- I thought we should celebrate.

- You mean you got the votes?

- I must admit, I was surprised

but Frank did us a favour by not showing up.

So, it looks like we both get what we want.

Isn't it beautiful?

All that misery and suffering.

Almost makes me tingle.

People are gonna flock to see this

and they'll pay for the privilege too.

- This is about preservation, Martha.

- Absolutely, preservation is paramount

but once that happens,

we have a duty to share its beauty with the world.

- You know what I like about you, Martha?

You know exactly what you want.

- To the fresco.

(Frank sniffling) (metal hitting the floor)

- Hello?

(urgent ominous music)

Hey!

Who's that?

Got out of it!

Get out of it!

What are you doing?

Get out of there!

Get out of there!

No!

(debris crashing)

(melancholic music)

- Uh-huh, yeah, quite comfortable, are we?

(dog growling)

- Basket, it's in the kitchen.

(dog barking)

We may have to sit Sykes down

and talk to him about the changes that are coming.

- What if it doesn't like me?

- What?

- The baby.

What if we just don't get on?

- Well, there's not much to get on with.

They're practically blobs for the first year.

- No, well I mean after that.

What if it grows up and our relationship breaks down?

You hear about it all the time.

Parents not talking to their kids.

Vice versa.

- That's other people.

- Is it?

I'm sure they didn't set out to have bad relationships

with their kids.

Something must have happened.

- Where is all this coming from?

- I don't know.

(door bell buzzing)

- Nancy's car turned up.

- We find anything in it?

Let's go and speak to Frank Dewar.

- That's gonna be difficult.

- [Kate] You know him?

- Name's Frank Dewar.

- [Kate] Any relation to our river girl?

- [Barnaby] Father-in-law.

- Well two tonne of rubble fell on top of him.

So we have multiple injuries to head and upper body.

None of these injuries were enough

to kill him outright, though.

In the end, he bled out slowly.

- First drowning, now stoning.

- Stoning on an industrial scale.

- Yeah, that's quite a murder weapon.

- The forensics got anything off this?

- Not yet.

- Let us know if they do.

- Huh, talk about a relic, VHS.

- Is there a tape still in there?

- No such luck.

- Let's take them back to the station.

- Andy, do you mind?

- [Tech] Sarge!

- Looks like Frank Dewar was struggling.

He's borrowed a lot of money too.

- Frank tries to get rid of Nancy's car.

- And then someone got rid of him.

- So why was our second victim trying

to hide evidence relating to our first?

- Because he was protecting someone.

- Michael Dewar.

- Find him, bring him to the station.

- You don't want to come with me?

- According to this,

the last call Frank made was to the Gould's cottage.

- You have to admit it's frightening.

- I'll admit it's disconcerting.

- But the drowning and the stoning, Reverend?

- I prefer to think of the friends we've lost,

rather than how they died.

- But it's just like the fresco.

- You're not suggesting the fresco killed them,

are you, Stella?

- No, but it might be best if we--

- If what?

- Cover it up again.

- You know, the thing about fear is,

it's actually a choice.

We can choose to be afraid

or we can choose to be strong.

Now choosing to be afraid is easy.

We just surrender and let the fear overwhelm us.

Choosing to be strong is more difficult,

unless we have support

and I know we can face these terrible times,

if we just stand together.

Frank Dewar was stoned to death.

- What?

- That lot are blaming the fresco.

Mind you, a bit of notoriety

wouldn't do our profile any harm.

- Excuse me.

- Poor Frank.

He was a weak man and he had his troubles.

- You mean like his debt trouble?

- That and then there was Michael.

The bad seed.

Frank did what he could.

You see, that's the problem with having children.

Who knows what you'll get?

I was lucky with Ava and I pray you will be too,

when yours comes along.

You never told me how he died.

- Unusually.

- Unusually, eh?

Well, I did warn you.

- Tell me, if this fresco is inspiring someone

to commit these murders,

what do you suppose their motive is?

- Do you know what the fresco's about?

It's a purge, a reckoning.

A rounding up of sinners and making them pay.

- So Nancy and Frank Dewar were sinners?

- Somebody obviously thinks so.

- Did Frank call you last night?

- About eight o'clock.

- What did he want?

- He wanted to apologise.

The Council met last night and decided to sell the cottage.

Frank was meant to vote for us but he didn't show up.

(engine firing)

- Your Dad says you're being evicted.

- Not if I have anything to do with it.

Dad brought me here when I was six months old.

My Mum died just after I was born.

Dad was devastated.

So we left London and we started afresh.

- Sounds like a happy home.

- Dad made it a happy home.

Gave me everything I needed.

It was perfect.

That's why I'm going to fight this.

- [Barnaby] When did you last see your Dad?

- Yesterday afternoon, before he left.

- Where was he going?

- Work, I suppose.

- Nancy's car found two miles outside the village.

Your Dad dumped it there.

Why would Dad do that?

- He needed to get it out of the yard.

- Our forensics team matched oil found in your garage

to a leak in Nancy's car.

- Hang on.

How can that be?

- You tell us Michael.

- I don't bloody know, do I?

- Where were you on the night that Nancy was killed?

And don't say with Ewan Evans.

- He backed up your story once

but if we get him in here under caution.

- It don't matter where I was.

The point is I wasn't anywhere near Nancy.

- Then why not tell us where you were?

- [Barnaby] If you don't,

we're going to have to charge you with Nancy's murder.

- You think I killed my wife

and my Dad in the space of two days?

- Unless you can give us an alibi.

- All right.

I was at Carrington Hall.

- The rehab clinic?

- I went there to dry out.

- And it only took a day, did it?

- No, of course not.

Don't be so stupid.

I wanted to get myself together, get my life back.

Maybe even get Nancy back.

So, I booked myself in.

Had a nice chat with a therapist.

Signed all the papers.

They went off to look for a room

and I walked straight out of there.

I lasted all of two hours.

- Where did you go?

- Nearest pub.

- What was it called?

- The Bull.

They'll remember me.

They had to carry me out.

- Why didn't you tell us this before?

- You think I want

to admit I can't go half a day without drink.

I'm a failure.

Everyone thinks I'm a loser.

My Dad did, my wife did, all my mates.

I didn't say where I was 'cause I didn't want

to give them another chance to write me off.

- Do the initials SHC mean anything to you?

- I just don't know what to think.

- Well maybe it's a bit extreme but--

- But what the hell's Noah doing with it?

That's what I wanna know.

- Well, he's the artsy type.

I mean, they're supposed to be

into weird stuff, aren't they?

- There's weird and there's weird.

What would the police say

if they knew he had a book like that?

- It's just a book.

- Yeah, a book full of torture and death.

And with everything that's been going on around here?

- I better get going.

- Something I can get you, Professor?

- Actually, I was looking for Noah.

- Noah's gone out.

Something I can get you?

- No, nothing important.

- Hang on a minute.

Hey, Professor!

Hold on a minute!

I said wait!

This is yours, isn't it?

What do you think you're playing

at giving Noah something like this?

My son doesn't need this filth.

- And what would you know about

what your son needs, Mr. Evans?

- He's my boy!

- Give me that.

- Just you stay away from Noah!

You hear me?

- Carrington Hall confirmed

that a Michael Dewar booked in but left.

- And The Bull?

- Well, the barman remembers him.

Took three of them to kick him out at closing.

- Okay, so where are we on the Dewar CCTV?

- Can't find a VCR.

- You're kidding me?

- It's the 21st century, sir.

- Get a car round to my house.

They'll find an old VCR player in my study.

- You got a study?

Nice.

(fire crackling) (ominous music)

(chanting voices)

- Okay so, no tape from the Dewar's yard

from the night Frank was killed.

- The killer probably took it.

- Yeah, fair bet but we did find the tape

for the night Nancy was killed.

Okay, so it's all quiet until 21:37,

when this happens.

- That's Nancy's car.

And that's Nancy Dewar.

What's she doing?

- There, she's getting picked up.

- By Zach Lime.

(suspenseful music)

- Zach Lime, 32 years old.

He moved to the area from Leeds four years ago.

- Criminal record?

- No, there's nothing on him

but he's got a brother who was charged with identity fraud.

Hold on a minute.

Before coming to the area,

Lime spent a year training to be a priest.

- Okay, thanks, thank you.

That was the Carford Station.

They say she's burst her bank three miles up river.

- It might still hold here.

- We'll be lucky.

- We need to speak to you, Mr. Lime.

Nelson!

(footsteps thumping)

We really do need to speak to you.

(door bell ringing)

- What do you want, Martha?

- You're not working on the fresco.

- I'm taking the afternoon off.

- Why?

Are you ill?

- I've some things to take care of.

- Well, do you think you could tend to them quickly?

We've got plans to discuss.

- I'll see what I can do.

- Anything from Lime's house?

- Nothing to link him directly to the murders

but we managed to retrieve some erased files

from a memory stick that we found discarded in his bin.

- Hospital records?

- Patient details.

Confidential stuff.

Someone with the right contacts

could make money out of this information.

- Someone like Zach Lime's brother.

- Okay, wait.

I had nothing to do with Nancy's death.

Look, Nancy came to me.

Okay, she said she was leaving and she needed money.

She told me she could get her hands on patient's information

and asked if I could find anyone who'd buy them.

- Why did she come to you?

- I dunno.

Why'd you lot pull me over once a month for no reason?

I may have told her about my brother.

- Why didn't you sale it on?

- I dunno.

Just didn't feel right

and plus I haven't seen my brother in ages so in the end,

I just paid Nancy from some savings.

- Hold on a minute.

You gave her your own money?

Why not just tell her you couldn't find a buyer?

- Nancy said if I helped her,

she'd put in a good word for me with Ava.

Look, I know it's pathetic.

Right, I know.

But I work with Ava every day

and I still never seem able to tell her.

- Tell her what?

- That I love her.

- Okay, so why did Nancy leave her car

at the Dewar's building yard?

- Well, she wanted Michael to sale it

and I was supposed to tell him to send the money on.

- So why did she leave in your van?

- She wanted a lift, back to Hamilton's house.

(door bell ringing)

- Mind if we come in?

- What the hell's going on?

- That's exactly what we were going to ask you, Professor.

Why didn't you tell us

that you saw Nancy Dewar on the night she was killed.

- Because I didn't see her.

- We have a witness who said he dropped Nancy

back here around 10 o'clock.

- Look, I don't know what your witness told you

but I didn't see Nancy that night

and that's the truth.

- And why should we believe you?

- Because I was with him.

- Noah, put some clothes on.

- And why should I?

Phillip and I were here all night.

Nancy never came home.

- Is this true?

- We were discussing the fresco.

- In bed.

- All right, Noah.

That's enough.

- We've got nothing to be ashamed of.

- I said that's enough.

- Noah, Noah.

Please don't over react.

Noah, Noah!

Noah!

Noah, I didn't mean it!

I'm afraid that Noah, this revelation,

came rather late in life for me.

I'm still struggling to come to terms with it.

- Did Nancy know?

- Poor Nancy.

I think she thought we'd fall in love

and run away together.

She just found me at the wrong time.

- So Zach swears Nancy went home

and Hamilton and Noah swears she didn't.

- Somebody's lying.

- Not necessarily.

- If Zach Lime took Nancy home,

he'd have dropped her here, right?

- More than likely.

- So when he drove away,

he would naturally have assumed

that Nancy was going back to Hamilton's

but what if he was wrong?

What if she was actually going somewhere else?

- Yes, know you come to mention it,

Nancy did pay me a visit that night.

- You didn't think to mention it?

- Well, I get a lot of visitors.

- Why did she come to see you?

- She was leaving the village.

I think she dropped in to say goodbye.

- That's it, nothing else?

- There was a bit of business

with the parish Council we had to tie up.

- What sort of business?

- Minor issues, I barely remember.

- Why don't you try to remember?

- Nancy and I had a private arrangement.

- Go on.

- Well, I'd like to, of course

but Nancy was keen to keep it between ourselves

and I feel I should respect that.

- Okay.

Nelson, arrest her.

- What?

Okay, fine, right.

You've made your point.

- The Council was in deadlock.

I needed a majority to sale the cottage.

Nancy needed money,

so I saw an opportunity to help my cause.

- You bought her vote?

- To speed up the process.

I know I would have convinced her

to see it my way in the end.

- So she came here for money, then what?

- Then she left.

- Where did she go?

- I assumed to the airport.

- I don't trust that woman.

- Unfortunately we can't prove anything,

other than she met with Nancy.

On the night she was killed,

Nancy was going around the village collecting any money

that she was owed.

- Calling in the debts before she left.

- Which means we need to find out

whether she was due to collect from anyone else.

(suspenseful music)

- Wow, that is beautiful.

- It's beautiful?

- Well, not the subject matter obviously.

The quality of the work is exquisite.

- What's this?

- Your Mum sent it to me.

- Wow, I'd forgotten about this.

This is Cup Final Day.

Dad got us tickets.

- You both look very happy.

- We weren't so happy when we got beaten

but yeah, it was still a great day.

- What did you remember about it?

- Not much, just a happy memory.

Sunny, Dad was off work.

Just me and him.

- You know you're right, of course.

Sometimes relationships aren't perfect.

They can be awkward and a little distance.

It's never the whole story, though is it?

- No, not the whole story.

(chains clanking)

- No!

No!

- Who found the body?

Let's take a look.

- Puts me in mind of Mousetrap.

All we need is a little man diving into a plastic tub.

Looking at an acute penetrating trauma, obviously.

The shaft punched a hole in his lower abdomen.

Came out the other side.

No doubt taking a few of his major organs as it went.

If it's only consolation,

this one would have died relatively quickly.

- Where did the chains come from?

- Take a look around.

The place is full of mediaeval replicas.

It's like a theme park.

- Impalement, at least it's different.

- The thing is, there's no impalement on the fresco.

In fact, it's one of the few gory deaths that wasn't.

- I think it's the breaking on the wheel.

- Right.

I see what you mean.

- Got all that, fine.

Thank you.

- I understand you found the body?

- Rather gruesome discovery.

He didn't show up at the crypt.

So I called round to see if he was okay.

- Did you notice anything?

- I'm afraid I was bit too distracted

by the dead body to play detective.

A nuisance him dying now.

- A nuisance?

- Mediaeval art experts are hard to find.

Doesn't look like it's going to stop.

(voices chattering)

- Ladies and gentleman, I'll get you all in due course.

Now make sure you're stocked up on canned goods.

We have plenty of stock at the moment.

- DCI Barnaby, looking for your son.

- Noah!

He's through there, okay?

- I remember the first time I saw him.

He came in the shop.

Bread, milk, blue cheese, two bottles of red.

Right then and there, I knew.

I mean, it wasn't obvious

because he was always around the women, flirting.

But when they weren't there,

he was around me.

- Did you see the Professor last night?

- Last time I saw him, he was with you.

- You didn't go back to his house?

- Hold on.

You think I killed him?

- You were very angry with him.

- Yeah, no wonder.

I was trying to help him and he treated me like that.

I loved him, even if he was old and boring

and couldn't admit who he really was.

I still loved him.

- Did he die like the fresco?

- I'm afraid he did.

- You know, whoever's doing this,

they know their audience.

- What makes you say that?

- They're a superstitious lot round here.

They'll lap this stuff up.

He was buying a place for us ya' know?

We were all set to move into the Gould's cottage.

- The Gould's place?

- Yeah, he and Martha had agreed a quick sale.

Cheap as chips, the Professor said.

Catch any of that, did ya'?

- I caught the important bits.

- I don't want the shop, Dad.

I would like to stay for awhile.

- On one condition.

Right ladies and gentlemen,

everyone else might be running for the hills

but we are made of sterner stuff.

So, come flood, fire, famine or the devil himself,

Evans and Son are open for business.

- I'm not leaving over a drop of rain.

- It's the river I'm worried about.

- I doubt it'll wash the house away.

- Better to be safe than sorry.

- I'm not going to that place.

- Dad, it's your church.

- Not anymore.

Belongs to her now.

- The congregation doesn't.

They're still your people, still your flock.

- Some have stayed loyal, I suppose.

- Exactly and right now,

they're crisis and in need of some spiritual comfort.

- I know what you're doing.

- Good for you.

Now let's go.

- He was buying the Gould's place!

- Sir?

- Hamilton was all set to move in.

This has got nothing to do with God

or sinners or religion.

This is about something far more mundane, property.

All our victims were involved in the deal

surrounding the cottage.

- Ava?

- Get over there now.

(suspenseful music)

- Place hasn't changed at all.

- I'll get us tea.

- Reverend Gould, nice to see you again.

- Victor, how goes the crisis?

- All under control.

(motor churning)

- This lot could do with some music.

♪ Abide with me fast falls the even tide ♪

♪ The darkness deepens ♪

♪ Lord with me abide ♪

♪ When other helpers fail and comforts flee ♪

(motor running drowns out singing)

- What the hell are you doing?

♪ Help of the helpless ♪

♪ O abide with me ♪

- Been a long time since I heard singing like that

and I've missed it.

I know this is a dark time for our village.

There is light in here.

A light of our people.

- You think you can come into my church

and destroy something I've worked for?

- It's not your church.

God's church.

- He brought me here.

God put me here to protect His gift to us.

- Just graffiti, Martha.

Granted it's eight hundred years old.

But still.

- People will come from miles to see this.

- So that's it!

The reason that you threw my Dad out of his home.

So you could build a tourist attraction.

- A place of pilgrimage.

- Exit through the gift shop!

- Oh, there's no talking to you, is there?

You can't see that I'm trying to do something

to help this village.

(ominous music)

- You want to do something to help this village, Martha.

Stop trying to turn it into Lourdes

and be a proper vicar.

- What like your Dad?

Thumping bibles in the pulpit every Sunday.

- My father is loved in this village.

- They couldn't wait to see him go.

- Stay right there.

- You need to arrest here, right now!

She tried to destroy this church.

- Don't be hysterical.

- And she tried to kill me,

you saw her.

- Right, you need to come with me now.

- Kate, I need you over here.

I need the internet on this.

- Do I look like IT?

- Please, just do it.

And then search for SHC in this post code.

- Da-dah!

Oh, look at this.

- Is there a phone number?

- There.

- Hello, Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby,

Midsomer Constabulary.

Who am I speaking to?

- And why have these tragedies come to our village?

Who's to blame?

Is it God?

No, we're to blame.

We're guilty.

- I didn't try to kill anyone!

- We can talk about this at the station.

- I just wanted to wreck the fresco.

- Oh, so you admit it then?

- Guilty of forgetting Him

and we're in this mess because of people like her.

A woman with no humility.

A woman who lacks compassion.

A woman who values profit above God Himself.

Rather than follow her, we should condemn her.

Let he who hath not sinned, Reverend.

I don't like heckling, Mister Barnaby.

- And I don't like murder, Reverend.

Should we do this in private?

- I have nothing to fear in God's house.

- And what about Shoreditch Homeless Centre,

have you anything to fear there?

Or from a young woman by the name of Tina Bell?

It was all such a long time ago,

you might be forgiven for thinking

that your secret was safe.

But then along came Nancy Dewar.

You see, whatever else you thought about Nancy,

she was a nurse and a good one.

So when you became ill and you needed your tests,

Nancy went out of her way to get your results

as quickly as possible.

She was surprised by what she found.

When she left on the night she died,

she had one last thing to do.

To tell her friend Ava the truth.

- What truth?

- Ava, go home.

Right now.

- What's he talking about, Dad?

- But Nancy found you instead.

You couldn't have her exposing you, so you killed her.

You dressed it up to look like the fresco.

Same with Frank.

He found your test results in Nancy's car.

So he had to go too.

And then you were safe until,

Nancy came back from the dead to spoil your party.

A reply came to a letter that Nancy had sent

to the Homeless Centre asking about you.

Professor Hamilton received it yesterday.

I imagine he contacted you about it.

- What letter?

- Nothing important, my love.

- It explains what Nancy had discovered

from your test results,

which the Health Trust have very kindly emailed to me.

- Don't read them, Ava.

- I don't understand.

It says we're not related.

- Of course we are.

I'm your father.

- Who was my mother?

- You know who she was, Marjory Gould.

She walked into the Centre, we went for tea,

there was a waitress--

- You are the daughter of Tina Bell,

a troubled young woman who walked

into the Homeless Centre.

You were taken from her and never seen again.

Tina was an easy target.

A young girl, drug user, mental health issues.

So when she claimed that her newborn baby had been stolen,

nobody believed her.

What happened to her?

- She died five years ago

but she never gave up looking for you.

You took me from my Mum.

She wasn't a Mum.

So full of drugs, she never even woke up.

She couldn't take care of you.

I took care of you, Ava.

You were so small.

Wrapped in a dirty towel.

She birthed you in a carpark.

A carpark, Ava!

She wasn't capable of looking after a child.

You have to understand.

I spent six years trying to help those people.

I couldn't save them.

Not all of them.

So, I decided to save one.

You.

You changed everything.

You gave me a purpose again.

A reason to believe.

- But you lied to me.

- Only because I loved you.

- No!

- Ava?

Ava!

- That's as far as you go, Reverend.

(melancholic music)

(crowd murmuring)

- [Nelson] Three people dead,

just so he could keep on pretending to be Ava's Dad.

- [Barnaby] Well, it wasn't pretending to him.

As far as Gould's concerned, Ava is his daughter.

- [Nelson] Except she's not.

- Well he brought her up, watched her grow.

- Stole her from her Mum's arms.

- My point is, he killed three people to protect Ava

from the truth.

- Sounds like you feel sorry for him.

- No, I feel sorry for Tina Bell.

Imagine what she must have felt

when she found her baby gone.

- So, the flood didn't come then.

- I had noticed that.

- By the way, guess what I found

under Kate's sofa yesterday?

- Nelson.

- Sir.

- I still don't care.

(spooky music)