Marple (2004) s02e03 Episode Script

-credit goes to the original subber- "Miss Marple"/ "Tommy&Tuppence" in: Agatha Christie's "By The Pricking Of My Thumbs" They won't find her.
She'll be in the witch's house by now.
Do you know the story of the witch, Ethan? My dad said she used to take children from the village, back in the golden days.
Come on! though near or far like a song of love that clings to me how the thought of you does things to me never before has someone been more Darling! unforgettable You're making me late! in every way Why do you do this to me? - Darling! Are you coming? - Yes.
I said I wanted to be there by 11, gone by 12 and back in London by 1:15! You should've told me.
We could have synchronised our watches.
- Yes, I wish we had.
- Yes, I know you do.
Come, come, come! Quick, quick, quick! Tuppence! Yes, coming! Come on! - Can't you drive? - Oh! I want to read my book.
- Macbeth? - Macbeth.
I was in Macbeth at my prep school.
''Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.
'' I heard you were marvellous.
- Who from? - You.
''By the pricking of my thumbs Something wicked this way comes.
'' Morning, Mr Beresford.
Miss Packard.
How nice to see you again.
Darling! Coming.
Your Aunt Ada will be extremely pleased to see you.
She's been asking after you for months, although she does enjoy the postcards.
Ah, yes.
I've been rather remiss, I'm afraid.
Even this visit is squeezed in between business trips.
She's been looking out the window all morning, cursing everything and anything that might have delayed you.
Ah, yes.
Do you really want to come in, darling? I could take that and if she's in one of her moods, you know how she can be.
No, I'd like to see her, thank you.
Wellyes.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Oh, I like your brooch! - Oh Thank you.
It's pretty.
Yes.
Thank you, Mrs Lancaster.
Would you like a Polo mint? Oh, no, thank you.
- Darling, come on! - The colour suits your eyes.
Come in.
Ah, ha, ha! Doesn't she look marvellous! Hello, Ada.
I hope there are no jam cakes in basket you're clutching.
I'm not an invalid, Tommy.
I don't need charity.
- No, no, no.
- Kissing, please.
What's in there? I baked you a cake.
Well, take it back down to the kitchen, or something.
I'm sure Miss Packard will dish it out to the old biddies.
You're one of the oldest biddies here, Aunt Ada.
To the young biddies, then.
I'm sure some of them need a bit of fattening up.
- There's something I wanted to ask you.
- Yes.
The United Nations building in New York - what's it like? - I've been reading about it.
- I haven't been, Aunt Ada.
You haven't been? Really, Tom! You're so clever, they should have let you run the place! Have you seen today's crossword? No.
Will you get rid of those cakes! You never had the intelligence for this kind of thing.
White House flowers away from the African plain.
Ah! Something ''-velt''.
''Roosevelt'', which means the answer's ''Rose''.
Hello.
You look lost, my dear.
Do I? I was looking for Miss Packard's office.
- It's on the ground floor.
- Ah.
The quickest way is the back stairs.
- Thank you very much.
- Come on, Marjorie.
Hello.
Er, yes? Ada asked if this cake could be used for everyone.
Oh, thank you.
Erleave it there.
And jam.
Is there somewhere I could sit and wait for my husband? Er, yes.
This way.
It's such a pretty brooch.
It was my mother's.
I think you must look like your mother.
- Yes.
- She must have been proud.
Would you like some tea or coffee, perhaps? - They're very obliging here.
- No, thank you.
Or a glass of milk? I know you don't like Polos.
II do, actually.
I was just being polite.
Oh, that's the spirit.
There.
Thank you.
Have you been here long, Mrs Lancaster? Oh, twotwothree years.
One loses touch with things.
Three.
One loses touch with people, too.
Any relatives I have spend all their time abroad.
Oh, that must be sad.
You make new friends.
Ada is a friend.
She suffers terribly from arthritis.
I do feel for her.
You're looking at the fireplace.
Am I? Yes.
Excuse me.
It wasn't your poor child? No.
I don't think so.
Oh.
I thought perhaps you'd come for a reason.
Someone will come sometime.
That's where the poor child was, you know.
The poor dead child.
Behind the fire.
Who? Cocoa! Cocoa! Where's my cocoa? - Oh, you want your cocoa, Marjorie? - Yes, I do! They really should give it to her on time.
Yes, they should! - I'll come and get it for you.
- Quick! Tommy, what do you think to this place? Excellent.
Aunt Ada's been very happy here.
Mrs Lancaster said something about a dead child being buried behind the fireplace.
Of course she did.
And I would imagine they all complain cocoa's been poisoned and that the cleaner is trying to steal their purse.
What does that remind you of? Act 1, Scene 1.
''When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain?'' SIX WEEKS LATER Yes? May I speak to Mr Beresford, please? No, I'mI'm sorry, I'm afraid he's on the Continent on business.
This is Miss Vera Packard from Sunny Ridge.
I'm afrald I've got some bad news for you.
Your husband's aunt died in the night.
Oh Oh, dear.
Poor Ada.
I realise this is not a good time, but I'll be in touch concerning funeral arrangements and the transfer of her belongings to your husband.
That's the last of it.
If you could sign this, ma'am.
All right.
Are you sure that painting was Ada Beresford's? I don't remember it from her room.
- Right.
Thank you.
- Thank you, ma'am.
Tommy, I am writing down certain matters which have come to my knowledge in recent days here at Sunny Ridge.
I believe there's a murderer at large.
Mrs Lancaster is not safe.
I will remain watchful and shall record facts as they become clear to me, but if I should die, Tommy, look to the painting and, for God's sakes, use your intelligence.
Hello? This is Christopher Beresford's mother.
May I speak with him, please? He's on a field trip this week, Mrs Beresford.
I see.
Well, would you leave a message with Judith that her father's out of the country - and I'd like to speak with her? - I'll pass it on.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Andrew,I think there's been a problem with Aunt Ada's death.
I think she's been murdered.
So, if you speak to your brother or sister, could you ask them to call me, please? Have you been drinking again, Mother? - No.
- Dad'll be home in a few days, won't he? - Mother? - Yes, darling.
- Mrs Beresford.
- Yes.
Good afternoon.
What can I do for you? Ada's funeral isn't until Monday.
No.
I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.
Have all her belongings arrived safely? No.
That's just it.
There's a painting among Ada's things didn't belong to her.
It's rather an attractive picture of a house in the woods.
I'm sure she'd have wanted it returned to the rightful owner No, it was hers.
- It was a gift from Mrs Lancaster.
- Oh.
She had it in her room and Ada had always admired it.
May I speak with Mrs Lancaster? I'm afraid she doesn't live with us any more.
Her relatives came for her a couple of days ago.
It was all rather sudden.
Excuse me, please.
Both of them! Both of whom? Oh, excuse me.
I was just talking to myself.
I'm not sitting on your bench, am I? Oh, I don't live here.
I'm Jane Marple, a friend of Marjorie Moody's.
We were neighbours in our village, St Mary Mead.
I couldn't help overhearing, but were you asking about the disappearance of Mrs Lancaster? Disappearance? Mm.
I'm here today because Marjorie has phoned me.
She's distressed at what she saw the night Mrs Lancaster left and your aunt died.
You are a relative of Ada Beresford? Yes.
What is it? Oh, it's probably nothing.
I don't know.
I Ada left a letter to be read after her death.
What did she write? She wrote it the day before she died.
''Mrs Lancaster is not safe.
'' And within 24 hours, she's dead and Mrs Lancaster's been taken away.
And when I was last here, Mrs Lancaster said she knew where a child was buried.
That's what she said.
And that someone was coming for her.
I think both friends discovered the identity of a murderer, Miss Marple.
And now both of them are gone.
Marjorie, can you tell Mrs Beresford why you think Mrs Lancaster was taken against her will? Well, she was! I've said it once and I'll say it again! - Go on, then.
- You were sitting there I was.
I keep watch.
- And you'd fallen asleep.
- I was woken by a noise! Leave me alone! What? Leave me alone! Leave me I don't want to go with you! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Listen! Don't let Come back! Come back! And then Ada died and they'd become so close! Did you see the person taking her? One eye.
The person only had one eye? No, the car only had one eye! One eye And Mrs Lancaster said that there was a child buried behind the fireplace in the sun lounge.
In my sun lounge? I think that both she and Ada had discovered the identity of the murderer.
Mrs Beresford, never a day goes by without some pearl of paranoia from the dear ladies that live here.
Only last year, Mrs Eburn left a note in her will claiming to be Copenhagen, the Duke of Wellington's favourite horse.
But Ada was as sharp as a knife.
For her to write this seems so out of character.
Unless it was true.
You saw her maybe once every two years, Mrs Beresford.
How do you know it was out of character? Did you know Ada had been diagnosed with a heart complaint and wasn't expected to live much longer? No.
I wasI was unaware of that.
Your husband was.
Sodo you think we shouldn't go to the police about this? There was nothing suspicious .
.
about her death.
Do you have a forwarding address for Mrs Lancaster? Of course.
Maybe it's still possible to forward that painting.
c/o The Cleveland Hotel, Piccadilly.
And here's the solicitors we dealt with while her relatives were in Africa.
- The relative whocame to collect her? - Mrs Johnson.
Mrs Johnson? Get in the taxi.
Quick! Where are we going? Get in, get in.
To the nearest police station, please.
It's Miss Packard.
She's the murderer.
- Really? - I have the proof of my own eyes.
I saw her.
She doesn't know this, but I saw her spiking the medicine with poison.
With arsenic or strychnine.
- I don't think it is Miss Packard.
- Why not? Because Miss Packard has always reminded me of lovely Mrs Dickens, the publican's wife in St Mary Mead.
She's very kind, very dependable.
The last person you'd think of criminal behaviour.
When things were tight after the war, the gin and whisky always seemed a little watered down.
This bottle you saw her spike - was it large and blue? - Yes.
- Oh, that'd be the tonic.
Very expensive.
I wouldn't be surprised if Miss Packard was helping it go a bit further.
You meanshe was diluting it? I know for a fact that Miss Packard has a good heart.
Marjorie's funds ran out during last year and she insisted on letting her stay on at Sunny Ridge, simply because it had become her home.
The train station, not the police station, please.
Butthe fireplace was in her lounge.
Mm.
A modern gas fire set against a wall, rather than a chimney breast.
There's no room for anything behind it.
I think Mrs Lancaster was talking of a different fire.
Maybe go and have a look at that painting of yours, like Ada suggested? Just so I have it right, no people called Johnson or Lancaster have stayed at your hotel over the last month? Very well.
Thank you.
It's almost a very good painting, if it weren't for these blotches of amateurism.
Strange perspective! Yes, isn't it mysterious? Why hasn't The Cleveland heard of the Johnsons? Because whoever took Mrs Lancaster gave Miss Packard a false forwarding address.
Use your intelligence.
I would, if I had some.
What does it mean? Well, Tommy's in the Oh.
I shouldn't say this, because of official secrets, and everything, but my husband works for military intelligence.
Abroad most of the year, visiting embassies, and so on.
I hope that's what she's referring to, because if it's my intelligence she's appealing towell The painting just looks like the Gingerbread House in Hansel And Gretel to me! - Would you like one? - No, thank you.
This may sound a little mad, butdo you want to know what I think really happened here? Go on.
Ada writes that Mrs Lancaster is not safe.
Why isn't she safe? Because she knows the secrets about a murder that her relatives are connected to, so they stick her in a retirement home, where nobody'll listen if she lets anything slip.
But Ada listens.
And Ada believes her.
So the relatives cotton on and when they come to whisk Mrs Lancaster away, they could've killed Ada while she slept.
It's all just too much of a coincidence, - that it happened the same night.
- You're good at this! I used to be.
There was a time when Tommy and I would do things like this together.
You know, I was approached to join the Service at the same time as him.
I washaving our first child.
Now I'm just someone to be kind to, someoneto placate, with the same postcards as he would send to his aunt.
I'm going to go to the police and insist on a postmortem.
No! Find the Johnsons first, because if you find them, you'll find Mrs Lancaster and there may be an innocent explanation for this.
How will I find them? Go to their solicitors on the pretext of returning the painting.
The only female of the species who receives mail here is a Miss Forsythe.
And as far as I know, she is not married to a MrLancaster.
Now, I know this because if she were, she'd ask me to address her by a different name.
Yes, but I wasn't saying that she works here, Mr Eccles.
I was saying you're her solicitor.
Oh, am I? Huh-ha! Yes, at least you take care of matters relating to her relatives, a Mr and Mrs Johnson? Er, yes, they're my clients and he lives in Keen-ya.
Oh, not supposed to say ''Keen-ya'' any more, are we? Not proper.
Get a rap on the old knuckles, what! That's right, but they're back from Kenya now.
Would you have a current address for them? Not current, no, but we do deal with matters pertaining to their account.
Excuse me.
Oh.
The Southern Counties Bank, Hammersmith branch.
- Right.
- That's all there is to it.
Thank you very much, Mr Eccles.
The bank wouldn't give out any information, Jane.
They never do, dear.
The trail's gone completely cold.
It's as though that poor woman just disappeared into thin air! - Oh! - Oh, hello.
This is Mr Timothy.
My pleasure, ma'am.
May Irelieve you of your burden? From the Eros Gallery, Piccadilly.
- Oh, I see.
- From my description on the phone, he recognised the painter's signature as of Graham Boscawen.
It made him very excited.
Boscawen's very in vogue at the moment.
Terribly, terribly so.
He died in penury several years ago.
Since then, he's become a very rich man indeed! Oh, dear! Oh, heaven help us.
An early work.
He didn't flower till the Thirties.
This is very much a a nursery plant, I'm afraid.
When was it painted? Mid-Twenties.
No later.
At that stage in his career, he was taking weekend commissions to paint country houses.
That sort of thing.
Oh! Thisappears to be vandalised.
I can't believe it's the artist's own hand.
What a funny little cottage! Yes.
Do you know where it is? I'm ahead of you there.
He keptassiduous notes throughout his career from a very early age.
I haveI have here somewhere Just a moment.
Let's just see Aah! There.
You see? Yes.
1925, the witch's house.
Farrell St Edmund.
You'll see the rope, the roses, this attempt at a figure and the name of the house have all been added later.
Well, I found Farrell St Edmund.
- Oh, good.
- It's where Norfolk meets the Fens.
Mrs Beresford.
My nephew Raymond has suggested we stay at the Chase Hotel in Ely for the night.
Are you sure you want to come with me, Miss Marple? Absolutely.
Ada and Mrs Lancaster are pointing us to the cottage.
We should try and find it.
Nice car! It wasa birthday present from Tommy.
I always wanted one.
I'm sorry.
- Kangaroo petrol.
- Yeah.
You'll get used to this in a minute.
Hold on tight, Miss Marple! Well, Miss Marple? Right or left? Well, I don't know.
Oh Right or left? Well, if all the signposts hadn't been destroyed, we'd have more of a clue! You haven't got the map the wrong way up again, have you? I ask politely.
No.
I respond.
Farrell St Edmund seems to be tucked away in a little pocket of woods.
We're practically on top of it.
Right.
- Careful! - I'm being careful.
Which way was it? No, no! I think it's Oh! Oh, no! Damn, damn and blast! Have you any idea where we are? Well, I'm normally good at map-reading.
My nephew Raymond says he wouldn't want another navigator.
For goodness' sake, about Raymond! I need a drink.
I hope you've brought your thermal nightie, Miss Marple.
We might be stuck here for the night in the middle of mad country.
Can you remember when we last saw a phone box? Wasn't there one on the Norwich Road, before the Friesians? - Jane! - Yes? Hey! You two girls broken down? Yes.
- Where you headin'? - Farrell St Edmund.
Oh, so are we.
I'm Chris.
- How do you do? - Oh I know a local mechanic who can help you.
- No! - Thank you.
Come on, hop in the back.
- We got your bags.
- Oh, thank you! Good evening to both of you travellers.
I'm Hannah.
- How do you do? - How do you do? Please, take a seat.
You must be exhausted! Thank you, dear.
Ethan, have you seen Amos Perry? Yeah.
He's putting up a sign at the edge of the village.
Someone keeps knocking them down.
Get him to look at this lady's car.
It's broken down on the road toward the base.
- Can't you do it yourself? - Things to do.
Hey, these ladies need a room for the night, Hannah.
- They're down here looking to buy a house.
- How exciting! Are you two ladies house-hunting in the village? Erof a kind.
I got what you want.
At great expense.
- No, thanks.
- Huh, huh! I've got a lovely double room, recently decorated in lime.
Would that be all right? - Do you only have the one? - Er, yes, just the one.
Oh, and a lavvy in the back yard.
Recently decorated in magenta! Let's do the bags first, Rosie, and show our house-hunters to their room.
Then maybe I can introduce you to our a la carte menu.
How can we help with your quest to find a new home? Oh, Chris I'm glad I caught you.
Do you have any tinned peaches or pears? Ahlet me see.
I got peaches and I got pears.
Oh, capital! I promised His Lordship a fruit salad.
So, what kind of place are you looking for? Erwell, somewhere .
.
somewhere quite specific, actually.
My friend Miss Marple here saw a painting of the witch's house in Farrell St Edmund - and fell in love with it, didn't you, dear? - I did.
And we were wondering where we might find it and if it might possibly be up for sale.
There's no such place.
A painting? Yes.
And where I left the car today we actually saw a witch in the woods, didn't we, Jane? Yes.
Oh, that's Alice, isn't it, Dad? Alice Perry, Amos's mother.
She did a play in the village hall and fell in love with her costume.
Won't take it off! I'm afraid the Perrys are soft in the head.
Oh, hello.
I'm Nellie Bligh, the vicar's wife.
- Oh, how do you do? - Hello.
The Perrys are fine.
They're just a little bit country.
Is the vicar herea Septimus Bligh? Yes.
That's right.
You say you have a painting of this house? Yes.
It's a Boscawen.
It's very pretty.
Perhaps one of you might know the house by a different name? Oh, it's not around here.
It's from a storybook, that.
Oh, yes.
We have a legend here of the witch, from the Middle Ages.
I think this Boscawen has drawn it from his imagination.
Where did youget the painting? Oh, it belongs to a friend of my family.
A MrsLancaster.
Is she a resident of the village? No.
No-one of that name lived round here.
Dr Waters? No.
Septimus.
Septimus.
I've brought you something to eat.
Go away.
Go on.
- I want to know.
- Give me the letter, Rose.
Who is this woman? I'm risking everything for you.
It's not what you think.
Then who is she? Tell me the truth.
Give me the letter, Rose.
Now.
Just be honest with me, Chris.
- Who is she, Chris? - She's no-one.
You left last Saturday, met up with this woman.
I know you did.
Just give me the letter.
She's making an arrangement for you to pick her up last Saturday evening.
I want to know who she is.
- Give me the letter.
- Get off! Did Aunt Ada paint? No, never picked up a brush in her life.
Are you sure? Yes.
She hated poetry or music.
Any kind of art.
She made the Philistines look like the Chelsea Arts Club.
If Ada never painted, then it must be Mrs Lancaster who put in here what she knew.
Waterlily.
The rope.
The roses.
This person at the window.
Did Tommy like crosswords? The cryptic, intelligent ones? Loved them.
It was Ada who taught him how to do them as a boy.
Did she? Yes.
I think what she meant was, he should treat these as cryptic clues.
''Use your intelligence,'' she wrote.
I'll be glad when the Americans finally go.
Won't you? I believe.
I believe I will, yes.
Oh, yes.
If you asked me to marry you, I'd say yes, Ethan.
Will you Will I marry you? - Yes.
- Yes.
Oh, the Johnsons have run the local post office for years.
Well, I say ''post office'' - but they've become high and mighty since their success.
They've invested their windfall in lots of new stock and are renaming their shop ''Johnson's Emporium.
'' - Aren't they, Ethan? - They are, yeah.
How have they come into money? Well Sir Phillip Starke lives at the manor house.
Made a fortune in mining.
He dotes on the Johnsons' daughter, and provides for them all.
Sir Philip invests in lots of things now.
Including films.
He's put cash into this Jane Eyre picture.
Pulled a few strings and got Nora a part.
Which is why we're all being treated to a regional premiere this weekend.
To celebrate how wonderful Nora is! He's having a cocktail party this evening.
Oh, Mrs Beresford, Amos said you'd flooded your engine.
He'll have it cleaned out for you by this afternoon.
Oh, thank you very much.
Beresford? Well, that's me.
I'm Beresford as well.
Maybe we're related.
Not unless you had an aunt Ada and a cousin Tommy.
My husband's extended family is quite small.
I had an Aunt Ada.
Well, no, she was more of a distant cousin really.
Spent a few summers here years ago.
Do you think she's the same one? No, we don't have a relative called Lancaster.
Do we, Eric? Er no.
We er We have a Kendal.
Oh yes, we have a Kendal in the family.
Which is a town near Lancaster.
I don't know if that's any good to you.
No, not really.
Maybe it's some other Johnsons you're looking for? Have you spent any time in Kenya recently? We've been very busy recently.
We haven't had any time for travel.
Our daughter is taking her first steps towards Hollywood.
Is she playing Jane Eyre in the film? No.
Helen Burns.
Helen Burns.
Yes, the other part.
Jane's friend, who dies of leukaemia.
Which is lovely.
It's lovely.
Good morning.
Is Nora ready? Good morning, Sir Philip.
Sir Philip here is a personal friend of Alfred Hitchcock and Sir Michael Balcon.
Have you ladies found your dream house yet? Oh Are you the ladies looking for this house you saw in a painting? Yes, that's right.
When I bought the manor, I inherited all the old maps relating to the village.
If you bring the painting up this afternoon, we could see if anything matches its description.
- Thank you.
- One o'clock.
I'm afraid Nora won't come down, Sir Philip.
But we arranged that she was going to come to manor all day.
She says that you're five minutes late, sir.
That's right.
Late? I've never been late in my life.
Is it all right if I come and have a word with her? No, no, no! - I wanted the brown pony today.
- Nora! - I will not ride the white one.
- Yes, you will.
- I hate the white one.
- She's beautiful.
I asked you for the brown one.
Does Sir Philip have any children of his own, Dr Waters? No.
His wife lost a child .
.
and died herself soon after.
He bought the manor house as a family home, to fill it with children.
You have never seen such money spent in preparation for a child but it was stillborn.
They went on holiday to the Continent to get over it, and she died there.
Broken heart.
He's always doted on the kids we've had in the village.
Oh, he was very good to my Rose, when she was growing up.
Old men can sometimes become too sentimental around children.
Really? I find myself becoming less tolerant.
Good morning.
Nora, stop it now! Mrs Bligh? Oh, good morning.
Is the Reverend Bligh here? Not at the moment, no.
Can I help you? That's it.
I knew I recalled the name from somewhere.
The Bishop of Norwich stayed with the vicar at St Mary Mead last year.
They're old friends from their days in the seminary.
Over dinner, they talked at length about a third friend from that time - Septimus Bligh, who they both described as the most spiritual young man they've ever known.
Oi, you two.
Sling your hook.
We're closed.
These are the two ladies I was telling you about, Septimus.
I don't give a monkey's.
We do the services we're obliged to do, and that's that.
Out.
Miss Marple knows the Bishop, dear.
The Bishop? He spoke very fondly of you at dinner last year.
May we ask you a few questions about some of the families in your parish? Septimus was of course joking when he said he kept church door locked except for services.
It's a joke I often play on our visitors, whichwhich they seem to enjoy.
Would you like to come to the vicarage for some luncheon? I was just finishing up here.
It would be no trouble.
That's very kind of you.
Thank you.
Your appointment with Sir Philip is at one o'clock, isn't it? That's right.
Nellie is Sir Philip's local secretary.
Aren't you, dear? Yes.
Actually, she does almost everything for him.
Chief cook and bottle-washer.
His wife passed away.
There's a plaque over there on the wall.
He's useless without a woman's touch around the manor.
Who are the Warrenders? Oh, they used to be the bigwigs round here.
The Warrender family lived at Farrell Manor for nearly 900 years.
- Why did they move out? - Theydied out.
People say they didn't marry properly.
Sir Philip bought the estate in 1924, since when he's turned the place around.
Well, the parish records have no mention of Sorry, dear.
Am I interrupting? - No, dear.
- Thank you, dear.
We have no record in the parish of Lancaster.
And the only Johnsons we have .
.
are the parents of that intolerable, evil little child .
.
whom we both like .
.
very much.
You said this Mrs Lancaster who owned the painting was a family friend? Yes, she was a friend of my husband's aunt, Ada Beresford, who I believe spent a couple of summers here in the village.
I think she stayed at the Bull And Butcher.
- Oh, the Beresfords.
- Yes.
She said that Mrs Lancaster and the Johnsons were friends from the village.
Unless she was mistaken.
No question about that.
I've lived here for 30 years and I've never set eyes on that house before.
Maybe Sir Philip will come up with something.
Did you see the painting? What do these women know, Josh? I don't know.
The name on the painting is Waterlily.
I know.
Waterlily.
The map is from 1516.
The earliest we inherited from the Warrenders.
Isn't it, Nellie? Some of these buildings here are still standing.
The legend of the witch in that house originates much earlier than that, of course.
The house in the painting looks like it was built much later than 1516.
Yes, butI think that proves it's from Boscawen's imagination.
Oh, this is a Boscawen.
Boscawen was definitely here.
Soon after we moved in, I commissioned a landscape of the estate for Julia, my wife.
Boscawen was here for three weeks RE: MRS YORKE where he must have heard the legend.
What is the legend? I know.
Oh, that's a good idea.
Why don't you tell our guests, Nora? In the olden days, when Sir Guillaume de Warrender first came here The family came from France at the time of the Norman Conquests.
I'm telling the story, Nellie Bligh.
Let her finish, please.
There was a witch at the edge of the village who used to steal the children.
Rather like Hansel and Gretel.
Hm? I also know where the witch's house is.
Where? That houseiswhere .
.
where Alice Perry lives.
No, it isn't.
She's the only witch around here.
Got a bottle of Glenfiddich here.
Do you want to help me christen it? Chris.
Miss Marple.
Will you be able to give Rose this? When are you leaving, Chris? Saturday.
Why don't you give this to her yourself? Because she won't see me any more.
But this is what we'd always planned: that she'd come over on the boat after I leave.
I still want it to be her decision.
Why won't she see you? I think now it's come to it, she won't be able to leave her dad.
Not after what happened to her twin.
Rose had a twin? Lily.
And they lost her when she was about 18 months.
She was last seen playing on the grass in front of her house.
What do you mean, lost her? She went missing from the village.
There was a search, but they didn't find her body until about two weeks later, somewhere in the woods.
It still haunts Dr Waters, and I think he's found out what we're planning and is putting pressure on her not to go.
She's all he's got.
Just er Tell her I love her.
What was that all about? Lily Waters.
This is it.
Waterlily.
This is the murder Mrs Lancaster knew about.
The child behind the fireplace.
Ada must have recognised the house in the painting.
It must be here somewhere.
Why is everyone lying to us? Sorry I'm late.
I've just had a visit from a rather nervous Ethan, asking for permission to marry you.
- I've already given permission.
- So I gather.
It's good, Rose.
Your mother would have approved.
There it is.
Mr Perry.
Mr Perry Oh.
Hello.
I'm Mrs Beresford.
I wondered when my car would be ready.
Five minutes.
Oh, good.
Whose Bentley is it? Sir Philip's.
What's it doing here? It was stolen last Saturday night.
They did for one of its back eyes.
Here, take a look.
Does Sir Philip know who stole it? Americans, weren't it, Alice? Returned it like this.
Does he know which American? That Chris, wasn't it, Alice? That's right.
One who was always after Rose Waters.
Mrs Lancaster.
- Thank you.
- Ta, guv.
Tuppence.
Tuppence! Beresford.
Tommy, you must order a postmortem for Aunt Ada.
Find out exactly how she was murdered.
- What? - She left a letter behind a painting saying she was in fear of her life.
Ada would have died of heart disease, Tuppence.
The Polo mints, and the one-eyed car and the witch's house all point at Ada being right.
She'd learned too much about the death in 1926 of Lily Waters and someone killed her.
I want you to come home, darling.
No, no, no, Tommy.
You must listen to me.
I know things have been difficult since since the children left home, and that you've been alone, that you've you've lost confidence.
I want you to stay where you are in Farrell St Edmund.
Colonel Beresford.
And who is this? My name is Jane Marple.
Your wife is right.
There is a possibility that Ada was murdered at Sunny Ridge and Mrs Lancaster abducted by someone in this village.
We are about to contact the police here and would appreciate your authorising that postmortem.
Do you understand? Would you go away, please, and put my wife back on the line? Do you know Sir Henry Clithering, the Commissioner of Scotland Yard? Well, yes, of course.
Our paths have crossed before and we are personal friends.
If you have doubt as to how seriously to take allegations I suggest you contact him, Colonel Beresford.
He won't make that call.
If he doesn't, he doesn't.
And we'll find out who was driving that Bentley without him, won't we? Ah! Sir Henry.
Tommy Beresford, MI6.
Yes.
Sir Henry, do you by any chance know an old biddy called Miss Marple? Oh, that's very good.
Very good.
Sir Philip.
Is there a problem, Ethan? Veryvery sorry, sir.
But It seems erm it seems our guests from the village have not have not been looking for property, sir.
Oh, haven't they? No.
I've spoken to Scotland Yard Sir Henry Clithering, actually - and it seems er it seems that on evidence supplied er by our guests, they are wanting to investigate the abduction of an old lady from Sunny Ridge Retirement Home in Oxfordshire.
Well, you must do your duty, Ethan.
Yes, sir.
Sorry, sir.
Can I ask where you were on Saturday night, sir? Why? It appears that the car used in the abduction was yours, Sir Philip.
What are you doing here? We've brought the nibbles for tonight.
Like Sir Philip asked Where's Septimus? At your house.
I only realised the Bentley was taken when I saw the damage on Sunday morning.
I didn't report it, Ethan, because I didn't want to cause trouble with American lads who I thought must have pinched it for a jape.
I'm relying on them this weekend to lend cinema equipment.
Of course.
Were you here all evening, Sir Philip? Hm? Yes, were you in all evening? I was.
I popped out a little later in the afternoon to umget some stuff at Johnson's shop and those Americans must have taken it.
So you were on duty when the Bentley went missing? Yeah, I was meeting up with Rose last Saturday, but it didn't happen.
I couldn't get away from the base.
But the other night, Chris.
Outside the pub.
I could hear you and Rose having an argument.
- I want to know who she is! - Just give me the letter.
You know what women are like.
You cancel a date, and they think you're with another girl.
And were you? Why would I want to be with anyone else? Christopher Murphy, I'm arresting you on suspicion of stealing Sir Philip Starke's Bentley and for the abduction of Where are you going? You're not arresting me for anything, Ethan.
Come back! I'm a policeman! I know he did it.
I was with Rose that evening he stood her up at the same time the Bentley went missing.
What would be his motive? His motive was that there's guilt written all over his face.
Is what I hear true, Dr Waters? Is she marrying him? Thank you, Alice.
No, no, my dear.
But you look after yourself.
- Thank you, dear.
- Thank you, Miss Marple.
Would you give this back to Chris, please, Miss Marple? Why are you marrying Ethan Maxwell, Rose, and not the man you really care about? Because he promised everything, Miss Marple.
Love.
New life away from here.
And then he carries on with other women behind my back.
He doesn't seem the type of boy who would do that.
Then how do you explain this? I found it in his jacket last Sunday.
The day after he stood me up.
DEAR CHRIS, I CAN SEE YOU SATURDAY.
PICK ME UP AT EIGHT.
DON'T BE LATE.
SYLVIA.
Does he know you're pregnant, Rose? No.
No-one does.
Apart from Alice Perry who prepared a ginger linctus for you I presume to counteract any nausea? Please don't tell Chris or Ethan.
Yes, of course, Ethan, I pinched the Bentley.
Um, what was I supposed to have done? Driven to Oxfordshire.
Oh, yes.
Driven to Oxfordshire and stolen a lady.
Eric, I've been accused of stealing a lady.
- Why? - Yes, why? For my own personal enjoyment, I imagine.
How lovely.
Come on.
- Was she in her 20s? - She was 75.
Ah, yes.
Well Who do I have to bless to get a decent drink around here? My husband was with me all Saturday evening.
It's the night he writes his sermons, isn't it, dear? And I was helping him cross-reference between the Gospels.
And what was the text for the sermon? Yes, what was it, Nell? The Good Samaritan.
Yes Bloody do-gooder.
- Septimus! - Well, he was, wasn't he? This collar is killing.
Excuse me.
Ethan.
Have you asked the young American yet? Sir Philip is sure it was him or one of his compatriots.
Good evening, Miss Packard.
Colonel Beresford.
Inspector James, Scotland Yard.
How can I help you? I am here on the authority of Commissioner of Scotland Yard.
My aunt Ada was poisoned, Miss Packard.
A post-mortem has revealed that she died as a result of an overdose of morphine.
Morphine? Morphine.
You're after a drink.
I recognise a fellow soak when I see one.
Do you hide your bottles under hedges, and behind books on bookshelves? Why do you drink? Why do you? Because life is empty of meaning.
I thought you and that other nervy lady were looking for a house, not a woman.
We thought the house might lead us to the woman.
Water Lily.
What happened to Lily Waters, Reverend Bligh? Rose is such a pretty name.
Yes.
She was telling me she had a twin.
Lily.
The doctor in my village has a daughter called Iris because it's his wife's favourite flower.
Did you choose your daughters' names for a similar reason? Yes.
My wife's favourite was the Tudor rose, and mine was the lily.
How did your wife die? We lost Lily, Miss Marple.
My wife never really recovered.
If they ever leave you, they take half of you with them.
They searched all over for the little girl.
Did they find her? Not till two weeks later.
Job found her.
Amos's brother Job.
Where? In the woods.
Job was erm off kilter.
You know? The way people used to get round here when they didn't see anyone else for generations.
The way the Warrenders got.
But old Job was a country boy and he believed all that Halloween guff about spirits in the woods and witches that turn into mice and birds, and country lore.
Anyway, people thought, ''Well, Job found her.
Maybe Job took her in the first place.
'' And did he? Job hanged himself.
Did they know how the child died? They did all sorts of tests and they thought, maybe poison.
Chris.
Rose.
The last two planes are leaving tomorrow.
I'm on the second one.
Use your ticket, Rose.
If you can't tell me what you were doing last Saturday night and who you were with, then how can I trust you? I I'll be at the film for a while tomorrow.
If you want it, I'll have your ticket.
What were you doing? You see what I don't understand is Both the Waters sisters were referenced in the painting.
Right? - Yes.
- And you see OhMiss Beresford, could I have another, if you would be so kind? I think she wants to leave.
There's Lily, with the name of the house, and Rose, with the flowers.
Of course, the rope has to be Job.
But God knows who's supposed to be standing at the window.
No.
You see, what Mrs Lancaster said to me was, ''Was it your poor child behind the fire?'' And Lily didn't die in a fire.
Exactly.
- She was poisoned! - So where's the fire? She was specific.
Oh! Thank you.
- Shall we take our drinks upstairs? - Oh! That's so kind of you.
- Good night, Miss Marple.
- Good night, Miss Beresford.
Good night, Mrs Beresford.
Oh, good night, Miss Beresford! - Shall we go upstairs, dear? - Hm? - Let's go upstairs.
- Oh There we are.
Whoops! That's it, dear.
Oh - what time do Scotland Yard come in the morning? Upstairs.
That's it.
Ooh.
Whoops-a-daisy.
Hannah.
Hannah! - Is the coast clear? - They've gone to bed.
Come.
What is it, my darling? She just wants me to lie and lie, Hannah.
- Nellie? - Well, of course Nellie.
Nellie - I hate Nellie.
I want her to die.
Something's making a strange screeching noise behind fireplace! Ooh! Aah! Open the window.
Look.
This is a warning.
''Something wicked this way comes.
'' Someone's trying to scare us.
''Behind the fireplace.
'' Are you all right, Miss Marple? Mrs Beresford? Are you all right? We're getting very close.
- Mr Eccles? - Aah! Excuse me, in my legal capacity I must ask that you make appointment with my secretary, Miss Forsyth.
- Please sit down.
Very well for you to say that.
My seat's wet.
Sit down.
My name is Colonel Beresford, of Ml6.
This is Inspector James, of Scotland Yard.
We have reason to suspect clients of yours, the Johnsons, of being involved in murder and abduction.
If you do not tell me everything you know about them you will be arrested for perverting the course of justice.
Do you understand me? Ah, well Johnson is what you might call a quiet client one doesn't ask too many questions about.
- What is his full name? - Oh, he doesn't .
.
use his real name, I have no doubt.
- What is his real name? - Well, heaven knows.
Um, you know, I apart from dealing with the bank accounts, we have had correspondence with the fellow.
I have some Yes, yesCommandant Beaurepaire.
- Who? Beaurepaire, care of the Post Office, Farrell St Edmund.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are luckyin this community, to have living amongst us a great man.
Hear, hear.
A great philanthropist, who has worked tirelessly through charitable trusts to improve the lot of his fellow man, and, of course, a great patron of the arts.
Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Philip.
Last night, up at the air base, I discovered Chris Murphy tried to sign a car out from the vehicle pool but was denied permission.
Look.
Consequently no-one up there saw him.
He went AWOL, a military term Yes, yes.
But between which times was he gone? Four in the afternoon till one in the morning.
Easily enough time to get to Sunny Ridge and back.
AndI went over Sir Philip's Bentley and found this, fallen down between the front seats.
.
.
Helen Burns - Hey! You looking forward to this? - Hello.
Apparently, Nora's only got one line.
It's a great pleasure to present Miss Nora Johnson, in Jane Eyre.
Thank you, thank you.
Lights.
Oh, Helen, you're my only friend in this school.
To think that I'll have to go through life without you! Oh, don't cough, Helen! Every cough breaks my aching heart! Have a glass of water.
They should arrest him now.
Scotland Yard will be here soon, and they've asked us to wait.
The Americans are moving out today! By tonight he could be in a different country.
Is there anything you would like to say to your dear Jane before you leave me, Helen? My kindest friend What was that? You couldn't hear me! Oh, stop it! Oh, dear! - Sir Philip Starke? -Yes.
What on earth's going on? Stop the film, please.
- What? - Stop the film! What's going on? Right.
Where are they, Sir Philip? Uh Ah.
Eric and Betty Johnson? - Yes.
- Colonel Beresford, MI6.
You are under arrest for the murder of Ada Beresford and the abduction of Mrs Lancaster.
Ah, there um there must be some mistake.
You're not obliged to say anything.
Take them out.
Ladies and gentlemen, would you mind leaving now, please? - Am I Commandant Beaurepaire? No! - No! - That's not me! - That's not him! He comes from Luton! For the past 12 years, correspondence has been addressed to him, Commandant Beaurepaire, at your address.
Yes, that's right.
Well, who picks it up? - We're not gossips.
Never.
- No.
It's easy to gossip if you deal with the post, and we don't do it.
Who picks it up? The only Commandant Beaurepaire I know is the name of the rose - the red-and-white one.
Round here they call it the York and Lancaster.
The Tudor rose.
Nellie Bligh picks it up! Would you allow me to lead investigation, please, darling? - She's right.
- Mm.
We think it's the code name for Nellie Bligh's fancy man.
Oh, no.
No, no.
It's the code name she uses for dealing with the old lady she hides away in an old people's home.
I saw this on her desk yesterday.
But this refers to the care of a Mrs York, not Lancaster.
I think she'd use both York and Lancaster - maybe alternating between them whenever she moved home.
We thought the roses in the painting meant Rose Waters, but they don't.
They mean the old lady herself.
Did Miss Packard give a good description of the Mrs Johnson another name stolen from the village - who came to pick the old lady up? Yes.
Ah, yes.
Did she give a good description? Here, sir.
It couldn't have been Nellie Bligh.
She was helping Septimus with a sermon that night.
No, Tuppence.
Septimus and Nellie have a cold marriage.
On the surface, the writing of the sermon is a lie to hide the fact that Septimus spends every night with the one woman in the village who really loves him .
.
Hannah.
The Blighs were anxious this adultery didn't get back to the Bishop, for if it did, he would lose his living.
But once you've unpicked that lie, the person left without an alibi is Nellie.
This has been Nellie all along.
It was she who had the best access to Sir Philip's car, she who corresponded with the solicitor, no doubt she who tried to scare us off last night and she who took Mrs Lancaster from Sunny Ridge.
Mrs Packard describes her as ''early-40s, 5'5'', brown eyes and always wears glasses'' - Mr Policeman! - What is it? Nellie Bligh's dead, sir! What happened? She's been run over, sir.
It's got to be Chris Murphy, sir.
He left the film before anyone else, and Americans drive their trucks like lunatics.
By the state of her injuries, it was a heavy vehicle, sir.
It could easily have been the truck.
- What's the name? - Chris Murphy, sir.
Where are these Americans based? I'll take you there myself, sir.
It was an accident.
Honestly.
I didn't see her.
I just didn't see her.
I thought I'd hit a pothole or something.
You know? Eran animal.
But when I got out, Mrs Bligh was at the side of the road.
Why didn't you report this accident? Cos it wasn't an accident, sir! I think that somehow, in some way, which I'm sure will be revealed by somebody, you were in league with Nellie Bligh.
- To do what? - You went with her to Sunny Ridge.
When the truth was about to be exposed, before you tried to leave the country, you took a truck and murdered her! How do you explain the presence of your cap in Sir Philip Starke's Bentley? Because you'd put it there, hadn't you, Ethan? Hadn't you? o blacken the name of your rival for Rose.
You've been trying to shift suspicion onto Chris from the beginning of the investigation.
It's probable that Nellie Bligh was not working alone, so let's check her husband, her employer and anybody to this Mrs Lancaster.
- Tommy.
Darling! You can leave this to us now.
Please.
Are you English, Chris? Half.
My parents divorced and I went to live with my dad when I was ten.
Yes.
Andwho's Sylvia? Is she the woman you picked up at 8pm last Saturday? Who is she, Chris? Is she your mother? Mm.
Where does she live? - London.
- Mm.
They wouldn't let me have a car, so I ah I went on the train.
- Mm.
You know since I've been here, I've been trying to find her.
Trying to get the courage to go and see her.
- She ahhad another family.
- Mm? She didn't want to know.
Andyou're ashamed of this? Mm? Ashamed oftelling Rose? Why? It appears that you are off the hook.
That was the hospital on the telephone.
Nellie Bligh was not killed in the accident.
She was dead before you hit her.
She had been poisoned.
I'm thinking Nellie didn't do this alone.
- So who was helping her? - Well.
Whose car was it? Who didn't report it missing? Who was Nellie Bligh in love with? So much so that she tolerated her husband living with another woman? Sir Philip Starke.
But he didn't go to Sunny Ridge with her.
He was at Emporium when she would have to have been on road.
What was he buying? Stocking up on basic provisions because he was expecting a sudden guest? Mrs Lancaster.
If only I could have another look at Nellie's desk at Manor.
I'm sure I'd find lots of papers relating to Mrs Lancaster.
Papers that would draw a straight line to Philip Starke, and reveal who this Mrs Lancaster really is.
Oh, I know who she is.
Don't you? - Who? - I just don't know where to find her.
Why are the bells ringing at this time of night? What on earth's going on? It's Septimus, sir.
You've got to come.
Hehe wants all of you.
Come on, quickly! - All of us? - Quick! - You go.
- Yes.
Septimus! What are you doing? I'm calling you to confession.
I know it's what the other lot do, but tonight, we're going to do a bit of it here.
When I first came here, I had a future.
Isn't that true, Sir Philip? I was going to be a bishop.
I could have gone higher.
This was the first rung for me and Nellie.
We had ambitions.
But then a child disappeared from this village Taken from outside her house as she was playing.
And as the spiritual leader, I had to make sense of this.
But how do you make sense of something insensible? Hm? When Lily Waters was murdered in our village, Job Perry knew we all blamed him for it.
He came to me, and he begged me for help, for guidance .
.
for a friend.
And I turned him out.
I'm sorry, Amos, but that night, your brother hanged himself from a tree because I hadn't helped him.
I hadn't helped him.
And later, I realised he was innocent of that crime.
My wife revealed to me who'd taken that child, and killed that child, and my wife - my wife - begged me to stay quiet about Job's innocence, and do what was right.
She said it was in our interest to stay quiet.
Who killed the child, Septimus? If you do not reveal who the killer was, there is a serious possibility that you will be arrested f or perverting course of justice.
Do you understand? Some secrets have been buried too deep and for too long to be easily revealed.
Isn't that true, Septimus? The Perrys weren't the only family in these parts that suffered from the softness of interbreeding.
Were they, Septimus? The Warrenders, at the other end of the social scale, suffered the same affliction.
But the last one had married properly, hadn't she, Sir Philip? It had struck me as odd that your wife's memorial plaque was with the other Warrenders, for that's her family, isn't it? Julia Starke was the last Warrender.
- Yes! - Mm.
And Julia Starke had taken Lily Waters and killed her.
Yes! And Nellie, full of deference to the social order, full of loyalty to you, Sir Philip, had agreed to support you in the cover-up, to let the blame fall on a man who couldn't defend himself and to persuade her husband to allow a fraudulent plaque to be placed in his church.
Hansel and Gretel.
If a woman is battling psychological problems, thenpregnancy, and especially the loss of a child, can be the crisis that pushes her over the edge.
I believe this must have happened to your wife.
She was a late mother, maybe 40, and I think you were aware of immense pressure she was under You bought her old family home and moved her here, to where she had been happy as a child herself.
You prepared house for the arrival of the child, with love, and when it didn't arrive .
.
she took onefrom the village.
My wife is dead! The wife you knew is dead.
But down the years, you and Nellie have taken care of the shell that was left of Julia, haven't you? Keeping her resident in institutions, I imagine, then retirement homes .
.
hiding her identity through the use of pseudonyms, likeMrs York, and Mrs Lancaster.
I thinkColonel Beresford's aunt had stumbled across the truth at Sunny Ridge.
Maybe she had recognised the name of the village when talking about painting, and asked too many questions.
When she wrote, ''Mrs Lancaster is not safe,'' what she had meant was not that Mrs Lancaster was in danger, but that Mrs Lancasterwas the danger.
''Behind the fireplace'' Do come in.
Please, sit down.
What a very pretty brooch.
Isn't it? Would you like a look? I've met you before, haven't I? Yes, Julia.
At Sunny Ridge.
Sunny Ridge? Yes.
You told me that there was a child behind the fireplace.
Yes.
Yes, I did.
That fireplace.
Where is she now, Sir Philip? Is she in the house Boscawen painted? The house you and Nellie went to great lengths with your maps to prove didn't exist? It doesn't exist.
Yes, it does.
I've played in it.
It's a playhouse he built for the babies in the woods on the estate.
Before he showed me, it had been abandoned for 25 years.
No-one knew it was there.
Where is it, Nora? Is this where you brought Lily Waters? To play, while I watched.
Why let all this love go to waste? Why did you kill her? Why should my baby die, and the common child live? Some things are simple when you look at them right.
You know what you have to do.
Have a glass of milk, my dear.
Andwhat about Ada Beresford? A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
That was a simple thing to see.
A glass of milk, my dear? No, thank you.
Ada wasn't the first.
All those with a little knowledge down the years have been removed, and Philip has moved me somewhere new.
I always wanted Philip to move me, not that woman who coveted him.
Stay! Sit in there! I have told you! Is that why you killed Nellie Bligh today? Hm.
Was that her name? Milk, my dear.
No.
No.
Here.
It's down here.
Argh! Ah! Aah! - There's no escape! I did tell you - Please, Julia! - I'll take that, thank you.
- Julia! Enough, enough! - I want that! - Enough, Julia.
- Oh, Phillip.
She knows, Phillip! - Enough.
Please.
Phillip? Phillip! - She knows! - It's all right, my darling.
- It's all right.
- Sir Philip and Lady Starke, I am arresting you for the murder of Nellie Bligh, Ada Beresford and Lily Waters.
Lily You are not obliged to say anything, but anything you say will be taken down and may be used in evidence.
Dad Chris and I are going to get married.
With your permission, sir.
Yes, of course.
And we're going to set up home here, sir.
Oh, Dad.
Oh! Well! Who would like a good old-fashioned English cooked breakfast? - A Beresford special? - A Beresford special, yes! It must run in the family.
It's the only thing he knows how to cook.
Then I look forward to your help in the kitchen, cousin.
Thank you, Miss Marple.
You did most of this yourself, Tuppence.
Remember that.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you! I thought I'd lost you, Tuppence.
I thought I'd lost you, Tommy, a long time ago.
After breakfast, let's just go straight back to London.
Yes.
And I'll drive.