Midsomer Murders (1997) s16e02 Episode Script
Let Us Prey
Frank? Oh.
Wall came away, Vicar.
Is it serious? Hole's not the problem.
It's what's on the other side.
All right? Careful.
Take a look at the wall.
Good Lord.
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.
Er, Ava, I, um I was wondering if maybe, um Zach you might like to go out some time? Zach! 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.
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 how good a job you do.
How many babies are we having? This is just the essentials.
And we're planning on putting it where? In the back room.
You mean my study? Ha! Well, you call it a study but 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? Don't look at me.
Barnaby? So, we have an unidentified female found caught in the weir by our two river officers.
Nelson, take their statements.
Sir.
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 upriver.
She's wearing what appears to be a cloth mask, fastened at the back with an unusual knot.
Can we get a picture? Ma'am.
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.
At a 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 received the blow to the head.
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! How do 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? Uh, 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 rented a house in the village.
How did the husband take that? Not well.
Then we definitely start with him.
Michael Dewar? Who wants to know? How did it happen? We don't have all the details yet.
Were it an accident or what? We're treating it as suspicious.
We understand you and your wife had recently separated.
Oh, it was nothing serious.
But she'd moved in with someone else.
Hamilton turned her head, that's all.
She's a dreamer, she was.
My wife.
Easily bored.
He was something new but she would have 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.
Do we have to talk about him? Everything all right, Michael? What's going on? Nancy's dead.
You what? Found her in the river.
Sorry, sir, you are? Frank Dewar.
I'm Michael's dad.
I'm sorry, son.
Where were you both last night? What kind of a question's that? A relatively simple one.
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.
Well? What d'you think, son? Er, it's beautiful, Dad.
Hey, less of the sarcasm.
This is important, this is.
It's the first thing the customer sees.
It's got to have impact.
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 are you being so chippy? Cos I've got to go to work.
This is work, son.
Ewan! Ewan! There you are.
Victor.
Stella.
What can I get for you? Here on official flood business, Ewan.
We need to discuss your preparations.
Any chance we could do this another time? I can't put it off any longer, Ewan.
And 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, er, you haven't seen Michael about, have you? No.
Why? Is there a problem? Nancy's dead.
What? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate her taking me in, but you should see the house.
It's, it's like a pig sty.
I-I tried to square the place up but I don't know, I didn't know where to start.
Nelson? Sir? You do know I don't care? Yes, sir, yeah.
Just checking.
Being in churches 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's 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.
You 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-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.
A whirlwind romance, then? Something like that.
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.
A yellow hatchback.
A 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.
Sir You might want to see this.
Excuse me.
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? Guess what he has for breakfast.
I've no idea.
Green tea.
The man's a freak.
You're telling me.
OK, 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 river temperature, I'd say the night before she was found.
The head wound? 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've 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.
Sackcloth? 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.
Can't see it with the naked eye, but with the UV "SHC"? That's not much to go on.
Printed on the sack.
So let's start with local agricultural organisations, feed suppliers, independent producers.
Pretty much half the county, then? Pretty much, yeah.
Where are we on the car? Looking for a yellow Fiat Punto.
Hatchback.
Er, Traffic are still looking for it.
Well, tell them to get a move on.
It can't have just disappeared.
Right, we have a 28-year-old woman killed in a similar way to a character in a medieval 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 web site.
Anything on Hamilton? Respected academic.
Expert in the field of medieval arts.
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.
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.
OK.
Well, if you'd like to come down to the station, we'd be more than OK, er, give me your address.
Reverend Gould? Through the back.
Are you the detective? DCI Barnaby.
That's quite 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.
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 doing here? 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.
Too busy looking after this old wreck.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Do you have children? My wife and I are expecting our first.
Your first? A new dad, eh? 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, er, what news from the river authority? Don't worry, Victor.
We'll let you know well before it happens.
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.
You found a donor? You're looking at her.
That's if the tests 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? Martha's holding the vote tonight.
How? It wasn't supposed to be till the end of the month.
Yeah, well, she called a special meeting.
Because of the flood.
She'll slip it in.
Cow.
Hey.
Don't worry.
Me and Frank will be there.
We'll sort her out, all right? Everything OK? No.
Not really.
Nelson.
What have you got for me? You're not going in to 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 riverbank combed and let's get some casts of those tyre tracks.
OK? Thanks, everyone.
Fancied a dip, did you? Wild swimming.
It's all the rage.
Think this is where she went in? I found her rucksack in the shallows.
OK, 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.
Been trying to call you all morning.
Look, um, I'm really sorry about Nancy.
She didn't deserve this.
Bottle of vodka.
Look, 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.
There is 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 watertight.
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.
I shall miss all this when we go.
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? I just wish you could've 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.
The 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 nothing.
Concussion? Two cracked ribs? Well, she was plastered.
She was dancing in the kitchen and she fell.
Ask Dad.
He saw the whole thing happen.
Why does the village believe you were responsible for her injuries? Because they like to think the worst.
Nancy wouldn't have gone out of her way to put them 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 the shop.
Why didn't you tell us this before? Oh, I only just remembered.
Ah, there you are.
Listen, I've arranged a meeting tomorrow with the solicitor.
I thought you might like to come along.
Got to be at the church.
Look, this is important, Noah.
It's about the future of the shop.
Your 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.
Oi, you dozy sod.
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.
Mr Evans? DS Nelson.
You, er, you busy at the moment? No.
No.
Always got time to talk.
You're a friend of Michael Dewar's? Yeah, yeah.
We're good mates, me and Michael.
You were with him on Wednesday night? Wednesday? Wednesday just gone? That's the one, yeah.
Er, yeah, yeah.
Actually, me and Michael did get together Wednesday night, yeah.
Couple of drinks, was it? Always is with Michael.
And what pub did you go to? Who said we went to the pub? Sorry, you said a couple of drinks.
I assumed No, no.
We were upstairs in the flat.
All night? Well, it was pretty late when he left.
I'm sorry, I'm going to have to deal with this.
Sorry.
'Ere, I told you.
I didn't want any sandbags.
Mr Dewar? Frank? Noah, I want to know where you got it! It's no big deal, Dad.
No big deal? There's some nutcase running around murdering people and you've practically got the handbook.
Those pictures are vile, son.
That's your expert opinion, is it? and suddenly you're an art expert.
That ain't art.
And this poxy shop puts a roof over your head.
Yeah, well, I hate it.
I dunno 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.
Well, your son doesn't want it.
Noah! Hello! Hi.
We need to wait for Frank.
Oh, er, don't worry.
He'll, he'll get here.
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, um, 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 Goulds' home? Well, it's not technically their home.
The property belongs to the church.
You all know the decision we have to make Um, it's not an easy one.
But the sale of the cottage will give us the funds to start the necessary building work.
Sorry, Vicar, but isn't there any other way of raising the money? I'm afraid not.
I should tell you that Professor Hamilton believes the fresco will perish if we don't make the crypt watertight soon.
But evicting Reverend Gould and Ava, well, it does seem a little bit extreme.
Hear! Hear! 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 council rules say that 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 that we should respect her wishes.
Oh, no! No! No What happened? I'm sorry.
Happy now? Got what you wanted? It was a council decision.
To make a sick man homeless? Ava, 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, er, Frank did us a favour by not showing up.
So, looks like we both get what we want.
Isn't it beautiful? All that misery and suffering.
Almost makes me tingle.
People are going to flock to see this and they'll pay for the privilege too.
This is about preservation, Martha.
Absolutely.
Preservation's 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.
Hello? Hey! Who's that? Get out of it! Get out of it! What, what are you doing? Get out of there! Get out of there! No! No! Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Quite comfortable, are we? Basket.
It's in the kitchen.
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? 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.
I just Nancy's car turned up.
We find anything in it? Let's go and speak to Frank Dewar.
That's going to be difficult.
You know him? Name's Frank Dewar.
Any relation to our river girl? Father-in-law.
Well, two ton 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, it's quite a murder weapon.
The forensics get 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? 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 Goulds' 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, 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 troubles? 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.
They're rounding up the 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.
OK, see you.
Bye.
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.
When did you last see your dad? Yesterday afternoon before he left.
And where was he going? Work, I suppose.
Nancy's car, found two miles outside the village.
Your dad dumped it there.
What? 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 under caution It don't matter where I was.
I wasn't anywhere near Nancy.
Then why not tell us where you were? If you don't, we're going to have to charge you with Nancy's murder.
What? 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? 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 the therapist.
Signed all the papers.
They went off to look for a room and I walked straight out of there.
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 a drink? That 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 cos 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 is a bit extreme, but Yeah, but what the hell's Noah doing with it? That's what I want to know.
Well, he's the arty type.
They're supposed to be into weird stuff.
There's weird and there's weird.
What'd 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.
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! Eh! 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, eh? 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? The barman remembers him.
Took three of them to kick him out at closing.
OK, so where are we on the Dewar CCTV? Can't find a VCR.
You are 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've got a study? Nice.
OK, so no tape from the Dewars' yard for 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.
OK, 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.
Zach Lime.
32 years old.
He moved to the area from Leeds four years ago.
Criminal record? 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.
OK, thanks.
Thank you.
That was the Carford Station.
They say she's burst her bank three miles upriver.
It might still hold here.
We'll be lucky.
We need to speak to you, Mr Lime.
Nelson! We really do need to speak to you.
What do you want, Martha? You're not working on the fresco.
I'm taking the afternoon off.
Why? Are you ill? I have some things to take care of.
Well, do you think you could attend 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.
OK, wait.
I had nothing to do with Nancy's death.
Look, Nancy came to me, OK? She said she was leaving, she needed money.
Told me she could get her hands on patients' information, asked if I could find anyone who'd buy them.
Why did she come to you? I don't know.
Why do you lot pull me over once a month for no reason? I may have told her about my brother.
Why didn't you sell it on? I don't know.
It 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.
OK.
So why did Nancy leave her car at the Dewars' building yard? Well, she wanted Michael to sell 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.
Mind if we come in? What the hell's going on? That's exactly what we were going to ask you.
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 has 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.
Why should I? Philip 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 overreact.
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 swear 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 Now 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.
OK.
Nelson, arrest her.
What? OK, fine, right.
You've made your point.
The council was in deadlock.
I needed a majority to sell 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 round the village collecting money 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.
Wow.
That is beautiful.
Beautiful? Well, not the subject matter, obviously, but the quality of the work's 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 d'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 distant.
It's never the whole story, though, is it? No.
Not the whole story.
Uh! Uh! Uh! Agh! 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 any consolation, this one would have died relatively quickly.
Where did the chains come from? Take a look around.
Place is full of medieval replicas.
It's like a theme park.
Impalement.
At least it's different.
Thing is, sir, there is no impalement on the fresco.
In fact, it's one of the few gory deaths that are missing.
I think it's the, um, breaking on the wheel.
Right.
I see what you mean.
Got all that.
Fine.
Thank you.
I understand you found the body.
A rather gruesome discovery.
He didn't show up at the crypt, so I called round to see if he was OK.
Did you notice anything? I'm afraid, I was a bit too distracted by the dead body to play detective.
A nuisance him dying now.
A nuisance? Medieval art experts are hard to find.
Doesn't look like it's going to stop.
Thank you very much for your patience, ladies and gentlemen.
I will get you all in due course.
Now make sure you're stocked up on canned goods.
We have plenty of stock at the moment.
Ewan! Ewan! Take your time, ladies and gentlemen.
We'll get you all! DCI Barnaby looking for your son.
Noah! He's through there.
OK? Now, where were we? Excuse me.
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, 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, and 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, you know? We were all set to move into the Goulds' cottage.
The Goulds' place? He and Martha had agreed a quick sale.
Cheap as chips, the professor said.
Catch any of that, did you? I caught the important bits.
I don't want the shop, Dad.
But I would like to stay for a while.
On one condition.
Right, 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 & 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 any more.
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 in crisis and in need of some spiritual comfort.
I know what you're doing.
Good for you.
Now let's go.
This way.
In you go.
Come along now.
He was buying the Goulds' place! Sir? Hamilton was all set to move in.
This has got nothing to do with God or sinners or religion.
This is all about something far more mundane.
Property.
All our victims were involved in the deal surrounding the cottage.
Ava? Get over there now.
Place hasn't changed at all.
I'll get us a tea.
Ah, Reverend Gould.
Nice to see you again.
Victor.
How goes the crisis? Oh, all under control.
How are you? 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 Help of the helpless O abide with me 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.
' And though this is a dark time for our village, there is light in here.
The light of our people.
Crumpet? No, thanks.
You think you can come into my church and destroy something I've worked for? 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 800 years old.
But still People will come for 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? There's no talking to you, is there? You can't see that I'm trying to do something to help this village.
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.
Just stay right there.
You need to arrest her.
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, with this postcode.
Ta-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, Mr Barnaby.
And I don't like murder, Reverend.
Shall 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 car park.
A car park, 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.
Three people dead just so he could keep on pretending to be Ava's dad.
Well, it wasn't pretending to him.
As far as Gould's concerned, Ava is his daughter.
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.
Wall came away, Vicar.
Is it serious? Hole's not the problem.
It's what's on the other side.
All right? Careful.
Take a look at the wall.
Good Lord.
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.
Er, Ava, I, um I was wondering if maybe, um Zach you might like to go out some time? Zach! 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.
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 how good a job you do.
How many babies are we having? This is just the essentials.
And we're planning on putting it where? In the back room.
You mean my study? Ha! Well, you call it a study but 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? Don't look at me.
Barnaby? So, we have an unidentified female found caught in the weir by our two river officers.
Nelson, take their statements.
Sir.
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 upriver.
She's wearing what appears to be a cloth mask, fastened at the back with an unusual knot.
Can we get a picture? Ma'am.
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.
At a 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 received the blow to the head.
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! How do 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? Uh, 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 rented a house in the village.
How did the husband take that? Not well.
Then we definitely start with him.
Michael Dewar? Who wants to know? How did it happen? We don't have all the details yet.
Were it an accident or what? We're treating it as suspicious.
We understand you and your wife had recently separated.
Oh, it was nothing serious.
But she'd moved in with someone else.
Hamilton turned her head, that's all.
She's a dreamer, she was.
My wife.
Easily bored.
He was something new but she would have 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.
Do we have to talk about him? Everything all right, Michael? What's going on? Nancy's dead.
You what? Found her in the river.
Sorry, sir, you are? Frank Dewar.
I'm Michael's dad.
I'm sorry, son.
Where were you both last night? What kind of a question's that? A relatively simple one.
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.
Well? What d'you think, son? Er, it's beautiful, Dad.
Hey, less of the sarcasm.
This is important, this is.
It's the first thing the customer sees.
It's got to have impact.
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 are you being so chippy? Cos I've got to go to work.
This is work, son.
Ewan! Ewan! There you are.
Victor.
Stella.
What can I get for you? Here on official flood business, Ewan.
We need to discuss your preparations.
Any chance we could do this another time? I can't put it off any longer, Ewan.
And 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, er, you haven't seen Michael about, have you? No.
Why? Is there a problem? Nancy's dead.
What? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate her taking me in, but you should see the house.
It's, it's like a pig sty.
I-I tried to square the place up but I don't know, I didn't know where to start.
Nelson? Sir? You do know I don't care? Yes, sir, yeah.
Just checking.
Being in churches 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's 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.
You 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-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.
A whirlwind romance, then? Something like that.
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.
A yellow hatchback.
A 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.
Sir You might want to see this.
Excuse me.
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? Guess what he has for breakfast.
I've no idea.
Green tea.
The man's a freak.
You're telling me.
OK, 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 river temperature, I'd say the night before she was found.
The head wound? 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've 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.
Sackcloth? 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.
Can't see it with the naked eye, but with the UV "SHC"? That's not much to go on.
Printed on the sack.
So let's start with local agricultural organisations, feed suppliers, independent producers.
Pretty much half the county, then? Pretty much, yeah.
Where are we on the car? Looking for a yellow Fiat Punto.
Hatchback.
Er, Traffic are still looking for it.
Well, tell them to get a move on.
It can't have just disappeared.
Right, we have a 28-year-old woman killed in a similar way to a character in a medieval 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 web site.
Anything on Hamilton? Respected academic.
Expert in the field of medieval arts.
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.
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.
OK.
Well, if you'd like to come down to the station, we'd be more than OK, er, give me your address.
Reverend Gould? Through the back.
Are you the detective? DCI Barnaby.
That's quite 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.
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 doing here? 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.
Too busy looking after this old wreck.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Do you have children? My wife and I are expecting our first.
Your first? A new dad, eh? 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, er, what news from the river authority? Don't worry, Victor.
We'll let you know well before it happens.
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.
You found a donor? You're looking at her.
That's if the tests 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? Martha's holding the vote tonight.
How? It wasn't supposed to be till the end of the month.
Yeah, well, she called a special meeting.
Because of the flood.
She'll slip it in.
Cow.
Hey.
Don't worry.
Me and Frank will be there.
We'll sort her out, all right? Everything OK? No.
Not really.
Nelson.
What have you got for me? You're not going in to 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 riverbank combed and let's get some casts of those tyre tracks.
OK? Thanks, everyone.
Fancied a dip, did you? Wild swimming.
It's all the rage.
Think this is where she went in? I found her rucksack in the shallows.
OK, 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.
Been trying to call you all morning.
Look, um, I'm really sorry about Nancy.
She didn't deserve this.
Bottle of vodka.
Look, 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.
There is 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 watertight.
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.
I shall miss all this when we go.
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? I just wish you could've 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.
The 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 nothing.
Concussion? Two cracked ribs? Well, she was plastered.
She was dancing in the kitchen and she fell.
Ask Dad.
He saw the whole thing happen.
Why does the village believe you were responsible for her injuries? Because they like to think the worst.
Nancy wouldn't have gone out of her way to put them 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 the shop.
Why didn't you tell us this before? Oh, I only just remembered.
Ah, there you are.
Listen, I've arranged a meeting tomorrow with the solicitor.
I thought you might like to come along.
Got to be at the church.
Look, this is important, Noah.
It's about the future of the shop.
Your 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.
Oi, you dozy sod.
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.
Mr Evans? DS Nelson.
You, er, you busy at the moment? No.
No.
Always got time to talk.
You're a friend of Michael Dewar's? Yeah, yeah.
We're good mates, me and Michael.
You were with him on Wednesday night? Wednesday? Wednesday just gone? That's the one, yeah.
Er, yeah, yeah.
Actually, me and Michael did get together Wednesday night, yeah.
Couple of drinks, was it? Always is with Michael.
And what pub did you go to? Who said we went to the pub? Sorry, you said a couple of drinks.
I assumed No, no.
We were upstairs in the flat.
All night? Well, it was pretty late when he left.
I'm sorry, I'm going to have to deal with this.
Sorry.
'Ere, I told you.
I didn't want any sandbags.
Mr Dewar? Frank? Noah, I want to know where you got it! It's no big deal, Dad.
No big deal? There's some nutcase running around murdering people and you've practically got the handbook.
Those pictures are vile, son.
That's your expert opinion, is it? and suddenly you're an art expert.
That ain't art.
And this poxy shop puts a roof over your head.
Yeah, well, I hate it.
I dunno 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.
Well, your son doesn't want it.
Noah! Hello! Hi.
We need to wait for Frank.
Oh, er, don't worry.
He'll, he'll get here.
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, um, 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 Goulds' home? Well, it's not technically their home.
The property belongs to the church.
You all know the decision we have to make Um, it's not an easy one.
But the sale of the cottage will give us the funds to start the necessary building work.
Sorry, Vicar, but isn't there any other way of raising the money? I'm afraid not.
I should tell you that Professor Hamilton believes the fresco will perish if we don't make the crypt watertight soon.
But evicting Reverend Gould and Ava, well, it does seem a little bit extreme.
Hear! Hear! 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 council rules say that 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 that we should respect her wishes.
Oh, no! No! No What happened? I'm sorry.
Happy now? Got what you wanted? It was a council decision.
To make a sick man homeless? Ava, 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, er, Frank did us a favour by not showing up.
So, looks like we both get what we want.
Isn't it beautiful? All that misery and suffering.
Almost makes me tingle.
People are going to flock to see this and they'll pay for the privilege too.
This is about preservation, Martha.
Absolutely.
Preservation's 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.
Hello? Hey! Who's that? Get out of it! Get out of it! What, what are you doing? Get out of there! Get out of there! No! No! Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Quite comfortable, are we? Basket.
It's in the kitchen.
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? 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.
I just Nancy's car turned up.
We find anything in it? Let's go and speak to Frank Dewar.
That's going to be difficult.
You know him? Name's Frank Dewar.
Any relation to our river girl? Father-in-law.
Well, two ton 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, it's quite a murder weapon.
The forensics get 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? 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 Goulds' 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, 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 troubles? 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.
They're rounding up the 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.
OK, see you.
Bye.
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.
When did you last see your dad? Yesterday afternoon before he left.
And where was he going? Work, I suppose.
Nancy's car, found two miles outside the village.
Your dad dumped it there.
What? 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 under caution It don't matter where I was.
I wasn't anywhere near Nancy.
Then why not tell us where you were? If you don't, we're going to have to charge you with Nancy's murder.
What? 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? 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 the therapist.
Signed all the papers.
They went off to look for a room and I walked straight out of there.
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 a drink? That 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 cos 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 is a bit extreme, but Yeah, but what the hell's Noah doing with it? That's what I want to know.
Well, he's the arty type.
They're supposed to be into weird stuff.
There's weird and there's weird.
What'd 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.
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! Eh! 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, eh? 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? The barman remembers him.
Took three of them to kick him out at closing.
OK, so where are we on the Dewar CCTV? Can't find a VCR.
You are 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've got a study? Nice.
OK, so no tape from the Dewars' yard for 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.
OK, 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.
Zach Lime.
32 years old.
He moved to the area from Leeds four years ago.
Criminal record? 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.
OK, thanks.
Thank you.
That was the Carford Station.
They say she's burst her bank three miles upriver.
It might still hold here.
We'll be lucky.
We need to speak to you, Mr Lime.
Nelson! We really do need to speak to you.
What do you want, Martha? You're not working on the fresco.
I'm taking the afternoon off.
Why? Are you ill? I have some things to take care of.
Well, do you think you could attend 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.
OK, wait.
I had nothing to do with Nancy's death.
Look, Nancy came to me, OK? She said she was leaving, she needed money.
Told me she could get her hands on patients' information, asked if I could find anyone who'd buy them.
Why did she come to you? I don't know.
Why do you lot pull me over once a month for no reason? I may have told her about my brother.
Why didn't you sell it on? I don't know.
It 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.
OK.
So why did Nancy leave her car at the Dewars' building yard? Well, she wanted Michael to sell 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.
Mind if we come in? What the hell's going on? That's exactly what we were going to ask you.
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 has 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.
Why should I? Philip 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 overreact.
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 swear 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 Now 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.
OK.
Nelson, arrest her.
What? OK, fine, right.
You've made your point.
The council was in deadlock.
I needed a majority to sell 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 round the village collecting money 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.
Wow.
That is beautiful.
Beautiful? Well, not the subject matter, obviously, but the quality of the work's 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 d'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 distant.
It's never the whole story, though, is it? No.
Not the whole story.
Uh! Uh! Uh! Agh! 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 any consolation, this one would have died relatively quickly.
Where did the chains come from? Take a look around.
Place is full of medieval replicas.
It's like a theme park.
Impalement.
At least it's different.
Thing is, sir, there is no impalement on the fresco.
In fact, it's one of the few gory deaths that are missing.
I think it's the, um, breaking on the wheel.
Right.
I see what you mean.
Got all that.
Fine.
Thank you.
I understand you found the body.
A rather gruesome discovery.
He didn't show up at the crypt, so I called round to see if he was OK.
Did you notice anything? I'm afraid, I was a bit too distracted by the dead body to play detective.
A nuisance him dying now.
A nuisance? Medieval art experts are hard to find.
Doesn't look like it's going to stop.
Thank you very much for your patience, ladies and gentlemen.
I will get you all in due course.
Now make sure you're stocked up on canned goods.
We have plenty of stock at the moment.
Ewan! Ewan! Take your time, ladies and gentlemen.
We'll get you all! DCI Barnaby looking for your son.
Noah! He's through there.
OK? Now, where were we? Excuse me.
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, 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, and 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, you know? We were all set to move into the Goulds' cottage.
The Goulds' place? He and Martha had agreed a quick sale.
Cheap as chips, the professor said.
Catch any of that, did you? I caught the important bits.
I don't want the shop, Dad.
But I would like to stay for a while.
On one condition.
Right, 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 & 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 any more.
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 in crisis and in need of some spiritual comfort.
I know what you're doing.
Good for you.
Now let's go.
This way.
In you go.
Come along now.
He was buying the Goulds' place! Sir? Hamilton was all set to move in.
This has got nothing to do with God or sinners or religion.
This is all about something far more mundane.
Property.
All our victims were involved in the deal surrounding the cottage.
Ava? Get over there now.
Place hasn't changed at all.
I'll get us a tea.
Ah, Reverend Gould.
Nice to see you again.
Victor.
How goes the crisis? Oh, all under control.
How are you? 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 Help of the helpless O abide with me 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.
' And though this is a dark time for our village, there is light in here.
The light of our people.
Crumpet? No, thanks.
You think you can come into my church and destroy something I've worked for? 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 800 years old.
But still People will come for 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? There's no talking to you, is there? You can't see that I'm trying to do something to help this village.
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.
Just stay right there.
You need to arrest her.
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, with this postcode.
Ta-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, Mr Barnaby.
And I don't like murder, Reverend.
Shall 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 car park.
A car park, 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.
Three people dead just so he could keep on pretending to be Ava's dad.
Well, it wasn't pretending to him.
As far as Gould's concerned, Ava is his daughter.
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.