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[Animal squealing]
[Squealing continues]
[Crunch -- squealing stops]
[Dog snarling]
[Hawk screeching]
MAN: Ripley, come!
Ripley!
Come on, Ripley.
[Hawks screeching]
[Crows cawing]
MAN: Morning, Sir.
WOMAN: DCI Barnaby, am I right?
John.
And you are Kate Wilding.
Um...
Oh.
Ah, doctor, professor?
Both, as it happens. "Kate" will do.
-Welcome to Midsomer. -Some welcome.
DS Jones -- Ben.
It's pretty gruesome.
I've got a strong stomach.
Unlike the victim, who lacks a stomach entirely.
He's been disemboweled.
BARNABY: So was that the cause of death?
KATE: Not necessarily.
He's got a head injury
which looks as though it was enough to kill him.
JONES: So he was already dead before he had his guts...
KATE: Let's hope so.
[Clears throat] Time of death?
Early this morning.
Midnight to 1:00 would be as good a guess as any.
So, before sunrise.
Blood sacrifice?
Be pretty exotic, wouldn't it?
Should I assume his assailant was a man?
KATE: Well, it's a hard job,
opening a body up like this.
On the other hand, I'm a woman,
and it's all in a day's work for me.
OFFICER: Ben...
Trevor.
I heard you were first on the scene.
Well, except for the man who found the body.
Evan Jago.
Local poacher.
He's done some time for breaking and entering.
He got out a couple of months ago.
In fact, he's still on weekly report.
So a suspect?
Well, everyone's a suspect, isn't that what we used to say?
It's good to see you.
JONES: Sir, Sergeant Trevor Gibson.
He was desk sergeant at Causton.
We were in the gun team.
Clay pigeon.
Ah!
Oh, uh...
found this at the scene, sir.
JONES: A woman's brooch.
Perhaps...
Do we know who he is?
Alex Preston. This is his land --
-Crowcall Farm. -Can you think
of anyone who might have wanted to harm him?
Oh, yeah...
definitely.
WOMAN: Stone and stars...
and the sleeper under the hill.
GIBSON: Leticia Clifford and Ezra Canning.
Now, they're both high priests of the New Dawn Druids,
and Crowcall Circle -- that's holy ground to them.
And Preston intended to plow the meadow.
Now he's new to farming.
He's keen on modern methods.
And that's the sort of thing
that doesn't go down well round here.
JONES: But surely the circle is protected?
Well, yeah, but he wasn't going to uproot the stones,
that's an ancient monument, but a field of ***
and a barbed wire fence all around,
that would have made them inaccessible.
And the Druids opposed this?
Ezra Canning's been cautioned for issuing threats,
but Preston had the law on his side.
Was Preston married?
Eleanor Preston.
Not your typical farmer's wife, either.
Has it occurred to anyone that she ought to be told?
[Doorbell ringing]
JONES: Sir?
Look!
We need to get Kate Wilding to the scene --
take some samples.
Okay, I'll give her a call.
Well, no, um...
Kick the door in first.
[Grunts]
It was open.
BARNABY: I noticed.
You look through there.
[Clears throat]
Hi, Kate, it's Ben Jones.
Can you get up to the farmhouse, please?
[Mobile phone chimes]
So he was killed here,
then taken to Crowcall Circle?
But how did he get there? And where's Eleanor Preston?
This could be her blood, too.
What's that?
Oh, I found it on the kitchen table.
It's a woman's phone.
Well, hairdresser, manicurist, yoga teacher...
Men do yoga.
BARNABY: We need to find Eleanor Preston.
Get a list of recent calls from the service provider.
Wait for Kate Wilding. Show her the blood.
And see if you can get any more local gossip
out of Sergeant Gibson.
Where will you be?
Looking for Druids.
Well, that's easy.
They'll be wearing sheets and talking gibberish.
[Barnaby chuckles]
[Dialing mobile]
[Engine starts]
Trev?
[Bins thumping]
BARNABY: Mr. Canning?
We're used to being made fun of, Mr. Barnaby.
Anything spiritual.
We live in a materialistic world.
Did you threaten Alex Preston?
Physical violence is alien to us.
BARNABY: What did you say?
I told him he was compromising
his life-force by denying access to the stones.
You say he was found there -- in the circle?
His body was on the central stone.
The bloodstone.
Is that what it's called?
CANNING: Only by the ignorant.
People love the idea of sacrifice --
ritual bloodletting, so forth.
It's all nonsense.
The circle is sacred to the old gods, yeah,
but it's not a slaughterhouse.
Where were you between midnight
and 1:00 this morning, Mr. Canning?
Well...
up until midnight --
maybe a bit after -- I was with Leticia Clifford.
-She's a -- -A believer,
like you.
CANNING: We were going over local deeds
and charters...
as a last-ditch attempt to stop Preston plowing.
Any luck?
Depends what you mean.
Look, I'm sorry he's dead.
I'm sorry about the manner of his death.
But if it means Gorse Meadow won't be plowed,
well, I'd be lying if I told you I was sorry about that.
[Chimes ringing]
WOMAN: Sorry he's dead, of course.
I imagine there's already talk of ritual Druid sacrifice
and other such nonsense.
You were at odds with --
He fenced the meadow
knowing we were preparing for a bloodstone ceremony.
Did it quite deliberately, of course.
The bloodstone?
What's the signif--
Nothing to do with bloodletting, Mr. Barnaby.
Reference to the spring equinox --
essence of Druidism,
the hallowed earth.
Happens in two days' time.
Nothing to stop us now, I suppose.
Apart from the fact that Crowcall Circle
is now a crime scene
and, therefore, totally off limits.
Nettle and hartshorn.
No animal is harmed in the process.
Ah.
Makes all the difference.
Ezra Canning says he was with you
between midnight and 1:00 this morning.
He was.
And if you want my alibi, I was with him.
Hmm.
Ley lines.
An ancient power grid.
In this case,
between the churches at Long Blaydon,
Barton Holt, and here at Midsomer Mow.
BARNABY: Which ends in Crowcall Circle.
LETICIA: Well, no. It would make more sense if it did.
The stones carry power, Mr. Barnaby --
a spiritual charge.
You must have felt it.
Well, I'm happy to give it another go.
So what were you planning on doing --
since your last-ditch attempt to stop Preston had failed?
-Direct action. -Meaning?
Occupy the site, picket his farm --
anything to stop him plowing the meadow.
Anything?
Oh, don't be ridiculous.
***?!
It's unthinkable.
Well, somebody thought it, somebody planned it,
and somebody did it.
[Laughter]
MAN: £1.50, please, sir.
[Dog barks]
Oh, sorry.
[Barking]
Thank you.
[Coin rattling]
Well, folding money would be favorite.
We take disadvantaged kids on outings.
We got a target of 500 quid.
We're almost there.
Thank you.
Mr. Singer, you were a witness.
Sorry?
When Ezra Canning threatened Alex Preston.
SINGER: Yes, I was there at the time.
SINGER: Humph.
You didn't really expect him to dob in, did you?
He's strapped, everyone knows that.
The fact he's never bought a round
don't mean he's on the parish.
[Dog barking]
Detective Sergeant Jones, Causton CID.
Caradoc Singer.
A few questions?
Yes, of course.
This row...
What was said?
It was about Preston's intention
to plow Gorse Meadow.
But what was said?
Canning maintained it was sacrilege.
Preston told him he was talking drivel.
Canning said, if he had a heart, he'd rip it out.
Or something of the sort.
Which is just what someone did --
on the bloodstone.
That's what the locals call it. It's just a grave marker --
or was.
Mr. Singer's an expert.
Local history. Just a hobby.
What do you know about the New Dawn Druids?
Harmless eccentrics.
BARNABY: So he says he was with her,
she says she was with him.
JONES: That's convenient.
BARNABY: Though logical if it's the truth.
GIBSON: Well, it isn't.
I saw Ezra Canning last night on the road
to Alex Preston's farm.
BARNABY: Does the road lead nowhere else?
GIBSON: No -- well, it would take you to the farm
if that's where you were going.
But he was not with Leticia Clifford.
BARNABY: What time was this?
About 11:30 or thereabouts.
Thank you, Pam.
I was doing the rounds.
There have been some burglaries in the village just lately.
Break-ins -- all of them at night.
JONES: What about Evan Jago?
Yeah, yeah, it had occurred.
Well, the timing's right.
Kate Wilding put Alex Preston's time of death
between midnight and 1:00.
JONES: So why go to the trouble of carting
his body all the way to Crowcall Circle and gutting him?
Well, it makes a point -- you threaten the stones,
die among the stones.
I've put your dinner in the oven --
BARNABY: Hi.
Hi yourself. Sorry, PTA meeting.
And you're late.
Not as we speak, but I will be by the time I get there.
What do you know about Druids?
Try the "Druids R Us" website.
This is about Crowcall Circle?
Ah, you've heard.
News came with the school bus this morning.
We took the sixth form archaeology lot
up there a couple of months ago.
They would have loved a dead body or two.
-25 minutes. -Huh?
-For your dinner. -Ah.
Mwah!
See you!
[Dog grumbles]
I know she's fed you already,
so don't give me that look.
Cheers.
[Mobile rings]
Barnaby.
I'm on my way.
Call DS Jones.
Tell him to call me on the mobile.
[Loud folk rock music plays]
[Loud music plays over pager alert]
Call me!
VOICEMAIL: This is Detective Sergeant Jones.
Leave a message and I'll get back to you.
Where are you, Jones?
Did you get my message?
Look, I'm on my way -- stop whatever you're doing
and call me!
[Beeping]
[Panting]
JONES: I was in the pub.
BARNABY: Mobile phone provider?
JONES: It's registered to Eleanor Preston.
Thought so.
The most frequent recipient of calls
is someone named Aiden.
I was in the pub
picking up gossip.
There was a folk rock band playing,
and I didn't hear my phone.
You called him -- Aiden whoever?
JONES: It went to voice --
"To make an appointment, call me at the club."
What club?
Don't know yet.
We're checking all sorts of local clubs.
Was Evan Jago in the pub?
Well, since you ask, no.
Find out where he was.
Caradoc Singer...
Good on local history.
BARNABY: Hmm...
and witnessed Ezra Canning's alleged threat
against Alex Preston.
He's a good witness, very clear.
I want to know what's happened to Eleanor Preston.
Forensics have done their stuff at Crowcall Farm.
Let's make a thorough search -- house, land -- everything.
Take the place apart.
You think she's dead?
It's a clear possibility.
Maybe I'll pay Mr. Singer a visit.
I did call you back
during the band's cider-break,
but you didn't answer.
I was chasing a hooded figure
across Gorse Meadow at the time --
single-handedly.
Folk rock?
JONES: Yeah...
You were more at risk than me.
-There. -Ooh, thank you.
SINGER: The hare features in almost all religious systems,
Mr. Barnaby, from east to west,
from pagan to orthodox.
It's a trickster,
it's twinned with the moon.
it's a witch's familiar,
it's a fertility symbol,
and it appears -- heavily disguised --
as the Easter Bunny.
So a hare
disemboweled in the same manner
as Alex Preston and on the same spot...
Is both sacrifice and warning I'd have said.
Care for a drink?
It's a little early for me.
Oh, one of the delights of retirement --
a small Scotch before midday.
[Chuckles]
Of course, this talk of sacrifice, bloodstones,
all that's poppycock.
The locals love it, but there's no historical evidence
to suggest that Crowcall Circle was anything but a burial site.
Now, if you want bloodshed,
the Battle of Hallows Beck was fought
about two miles away --
Anglo-Saxon army up against the Norsemen.
[Chuckles]
Wholesale slaughter.
Guts and body parts all over the place.
Hmm, you've made a study?
I've become interested
in local history.
I find it absorbing.
Do you...
Do you know what this is?
Ah, yes -- the Awen,
a symbol of New Dawn Druidism.
If you could read medieval Welsh,
you'd know what it means --
inspiration.
Three bars of primal light --
they represent the Supreme Being's
utterance of his own name to create the world.
Huh.
Also poppycock, of course.
People need belief systems, Mr. Barnaby.
Druidism is as good as any.
So you're an expert,
but not a believer.
Expert, no.
I have an interest.
[Barnaby chuckles]
That's an excellent reproduction.
SINGER: Ha!
You say that because you know it can't be a genuine Picasso.
Well, actually, it's an original,
but not a Picasso.
It's a Jack Weston.
Famous faker of old masters,
Cubists, Impressionists,
and even the odd Michelangelo.
Odd, isn't it --
how a forger can become collectible in his own right.
He was good.
Picasso was better.
What's going on?
I'm afraid there's been an incident.
What's happened?
It's all right, I'll take you to see someone.
-DS Jones, Causton CID. -What the hell's going on?
And I'm Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby.
And you are Eleanor Preston.
Yes.
BARNABY: Let's go inside.
ELEANOR: Who killed him?
BARNABY: There's an investigation in progress.
Yeah, well, you want to try talking to the Druids.
Alex was planning on plowing --
Gorse Meadow, yes, we know. We've spoken to them.
You weren't the first person to...
point the finger.
And?
And...
we'll speak to them again.
ELEANOR: You say he was...
he was gutted?
That's so sick.
I have to ask you where you've been.
I'm sorry.
No... No, I was staying with friends.
Yeah, we were having a bit of time off
from one another.
You might as well know, Alex and I, we were, um...
we weren't getting on all that well.
You left your phone behind.
Yeah.
The last recorded calls were to someone
called Aiden, yes?
Hmm, Aiden Hardy, he's my fencing coach.
I called to cancel and re-book.
I had a few problems getting through.
Listen, um... I don't think I can stay here,
sleep here, I mean.
BARNABY: No, no, of course. A hotel in Causton, perhaps.
Let us know.
Yes, of course -- same goes for you.
Sorry?
Keep me informed.
JONES: Either she really was staying at a friend's, or --
BARNABY: Aiden -- let's ask him.
But first, I want another look at the crime scene.
There's something that puzzles me.
GIBSON: Ben?
I saw Mrs. Preston's car just yesterday --
overtook me on the Causton road, doing well over the limit.
What time was that?
-About 8:00. -Did you see who was driving?
Well, it was a woman. Other than that...
Have you reported it?
GIBSON: Paperwork.
JONES: Well, okay.
[Eleanor's engine starts]
She was lying.
Trevor saw her car in Causton last night.
[Car driving off]
JONES: Who's that?
Leticia Clifford, bad-tempered Druid.
BARNABY: Crowcall Circle is off limits, Ms. Clifford.
You are contaminating a crime scene.
Then so are you.
Except the forensic evidence
will have been gathered, of course.
You are committing an offense.
I dare say.
Take a look.
[Clears throat]
You see?
A ley line, directly from Long Blaydon to here.
A line of mystical power.
The church spires line up, all right.
I can't see any flying saucers.
You're a sceptic, Mr. Barnaby.
Like so many, you see, but you lack vision.
Ley lines have nothing to do with UFOs,
and they're pre-Christian.
Preston...
put barbed wire on the gate into the meadow.
Surely that's illegal.
I could sue.
Take up your theodolite,
Ms. Clifford, and walk.
Oh, by the way,
do you recognize this?
It's the Awen,
it's a symbol of --
Yes, I know what it is.
I asked you if you recognized it,
meaning, is it yours?
No.
I don't approve of our symbols being manufactured
as gift-shop trinkets, Mr. Barnaby.
Faith comes from within.
JONES: What did she say it was?
An Awen,
symbol of Druidical power.
The word means inspiration --
loosely translated from the Medieval Welsh.
How do you know that?
Caradoc Singer.
But what I don't know is how the killer
got Preston's body from the road to the circle.
He must have been strong enough to
move it single-handedly.
Unless there were two of them.
Do you have any gloves?
Forensics should have picked that up.
JONES: Leticia Clifford, she cut herself.
She wasn't wearing blue.
WOMAN: Out and down.
And back up...
[Swords clanging]
[Grunting]
Aiden!
We need to talk.
Yes!
[Telephone ringing]
Hello?
Hello, Ezra? It's Leticia.
I think I've found something rather interesting.
If it's not too late,
I'll come over and show you.
I'm sorry, Leticia, I was asleep.
Early start.
Oh, God.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
-Talk tomorrow? -Yes!
Fine, see you then.
[Screams]
[Stabbing]
Something's been removed from here.
Cause of death?
Pretty straightforward. Multiple stab wounds --
10 at first count,
any four of which could have been fatal.
Overkill, you might say.
BARNABY: So what was on the paper
that's been removed?
What about that?
KATE: Inflicted after death.
There's a definite taste for gore in all this.
Who found her?
Delivery man from the local grocer's.
He came in, threw up, passed out.
KATE: And made a mess of my crime scene.
He found her at 9:00, but I'd say
she's been dead for a while, 10:00 last night.
JONES: That Druid thing again.
BARNABY: The Awen.
Maps of ley lines --
three churches,
Crowcall Circle...
JONES: There it is again.
It speaks for itself --
bloodstones, Druids...
Go on.
Ezra Canning kills Alex Preston --
desecration of a holy site.
Maybe it wasn't pre-planned.
Maybe he went to the farmhouse to reason with him,
lost his temper, attacked him.
One thing led to another.
Leticia found out or he told her.
She refused to be an accessory.
He killed her to keep her quiet.
-Exactly. -Okay.
Well, we'd better have Ezra Canning in for questioning.
If he's still in Midsomer Mow.
[Dog barks]
[Dog snarling]
What time was it taken?
Sometime last night.
They forced the door at the back.
A charity box.
-You didn't hear anything? -Out like a light, me.
It was nigh-on full, that box.
What kind of heartless ***?
A regular, for sure.
Oh, I don't like the thought of that, Trevor.
I don't like it at all.
Out with the dog last night, were you, Jago?
[Dog snarls]
No.
Watching TV.
I expect he's...
quick on a hare.
I haven't done nothing, Gibson.
You hold your piece.
Watching telly all night, were we?
Anyone vouch for that?
Everyone knows about it -- hare on the bloodstone,
Leticia Clifford done away with.
No secrets in this village.
Remind me, what was on telly last night?
I think I'll do my drinking in a different pub.
I haven't finished with you yet. [Dog snarls]
Ohh!
Jago, what the bloody hell, man?
Come on!
[Horn blares]
Are you all right?
Yeah.
Evan Jago.
I asked him where he was last night.
The charity box has been nicked.
And what with...
the hare lying dead on the bloodstone,
he's a poacher,
he's also a thief.
I'm just putting two and two, you know?
[Grunts]
I've told you a hundred times,
if you don't come en garde properly, you'll be carded.
Anything else?
Yes, you're kinking your wrist.
[Siren wails]
Get away!
No.
Do it.
Don't be stupid.
I said do it!
Now then, Evan.
EVAN: I've got two barrels.
No, you've got two choices.
A slap on the wrist for acting like a fool
or a life sentence.
I'm warning you!
-No! -Evan!
Come on, now.
You give it over.
You give it over, now...
Get off!
Calm down, Evan, calm down.
[Barking]
No!
[Dog whimpers]
I'll kill you for that, Gibson!
I'll kill you!
JONES: Evan!
I'll kill ya!
I'll kill ya!
Evan!
Evan!
Evan!
I'll put out an APB.
Okay.
He can't stay out here forever.
You reckon?
He's been poaching half his life.
I think he knows how to live rough.
AIDEN: Come on, show some aggression.
[Grunts]
You're dropping your hand in the lunge.
What's wrong with you today?
Is this about the ring, Aiden?
What?
It is, it's about the ring, isn't it?
I gave it to you, you gave it back.
I get the message.
Ben!
So that's why...
Poacher and burglar.
*** in pursuit of a robbery?
Would make sense, wouldn't it? He never had a job --
just lives on air and what he can take off the land.
When did you buy it, Aiden, hmm?
That's what puzzles me.
Yesterday, after I told you that Alex had been murdered?
Or did you have it up your sleeve for a while
and thought, "Oh, she's been a widow for a day,
just the right time to propose"?
Come off it. We've been lovers for ages.
Your marriage was over long ago.
That doesn't make me indifferent to the fact
that Alex was found in Crowcall Circle
with his intestines ripped out.
Okay, so my timing was off.
Yeah, that's one way of putting it.
AIDEN: If it was all about money,
why would I buy you such an expensive ring?
Bait!
As far as I'm concerned,
you can shove it where the diamonds don't sparkle!
Aiden Hardy?
Yes.
Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby,
Causton CID.
Sorry if this is a bad time. Just a couple of questions.
Why would it be a bad time?
Mrs. Preston, she seemed...
upset.
How can I help you, Mr. Barnaby?
How long have you been seeing Mrs. Preston?
Sorry?
Fencing lessons?
Oh...
A year or more, I suppose.
And how's she coming along?
Well, she'd be better if she gave more time to it.
But she has aptitude.
Pretty deadly.
You could turn someone inside out with one of these.
Ha ha!
[Chuckling]
Do you fence?
Oh, no, not really...
At university, a little.
And were you any good?
Well...
Oh.
[Grunts]
Sorry...
I assumed you knew how to defend.
Ah...
Where were you last night, Mr. Hardy?
Why do you ask?
There was another *** in Midsomer Mow.
It's part of normal routine to check people's whereabouts.
Just box-ticking.
Is this connected to Alex Preston's death?
It's too early to say,
though both victims were killed with some sort of...
blade.
Well, I was with Mrs. Preston.
Ah...
We were at the pub in Midsomer Mow having supper.
Oh.
We've become friends.
Her lover.
You're having an affair, aren't you?
It's not illegal.
No.
But it can lead to things that are.
Bleeding farmers!
Stop!
Stop!
Oh!
Ezra, stop!
Stop!
Trev!
I was just cruising the lanes looking for Jago.
Luckily, I left one up the spout.
Oh, you all right?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Ms. Preston!
Ms. Preston!
Um, ha!
The people you were staying with
on the night that your husband was murdered,
I'd better have their name and number.
No, they're friends.
I don't want them dragged into this.
I know about you and Aiden Hardy.
He told you?
He didn't have to.
Look, all right, I was with Aiden.
I told you -- I told you what I told Alex.
Where?
A hotel in London. The Berkeley in Knightsbridge.
You can check.
Yes, I will. [Mobile ringing]
Barnaby.
Oh, yes, thank you for calling back.
I believe you act for a Mr. Alex Preston.
Yeah, we need to talk...
Hmm, yeah.
Eleanor!
BARNABY: Could you just hold on a moment?!
[Horn blares]
-You okay? -Yeah.
EZRA: I didn't see him.
Yes, you did.
He was trespassing.
He's a police officer.
Look, I wasn't going to kill him,
for heaven's sake.
It's just someone commits a ***
and immediately the Druids are suspect.
I was fed up with it.
I expect you've been harassing Leticia, too.
What?
Leticia Clifford was murdered last night.
I assumed you knew.
It seems to be common knowledge in Midsomer Mow.
I haven't been into the village.
I started spraying early. It's a big job.
I'm sorry.
She called me last night...
said she had something she wanted to show me.
It was late.
Said I'd see her another time.
Good acting, perhaps?
I don't think so.
He's still a prime suspect.
She was going to shop him, so he killed her.
Didn't want to, but had to.
Hence the tears.
He says he was in the Six Bells until after 11:00.
Offered Caradoc Singer as a witness.
Eleanor Preston and Aiden Hardy, too.
Oh, which reminds me, we're checking the hotel she gave you.
I knew they were at it.
You were right.
It all works out well for them, doesn't it --
now she's a rich widow.
BARNABY: Is she?
Obviously -- she inherits.
Does she?
I checked with Preston's solicitor.
Preston changed his will recently.
The new will disinherits her completely.
Does she know?
According to the solicitor, no.
So Alex Preston
found out his wife was having an affair.
And Sergeant Gibson saw her car in Causton
on the night of Preston's ***.
Any CCTV evidence for that?
-Not yet. -Okay, keep on it.
[Mobile rings]
And step up the search for Evan Jago.
Barnaby.
John, it's Kate.
Hi, Kate.
Yes.
Are you sure?
No doubt about it.
Okay.
Thanks.
[Man speaking indistinctly on TV]
[Buzzer]
Mr. Barnaby.
Please.
Does this make any sense to you?
SINGER: A ley line map.
Leticia Clifford?
Terrible business.
Just here, she's written
"Battle of Hallows Beck?"
SINGER: Well, that's wrong.
The Battle of Hallows Beck was fought
a good two miles north of Gorse Meadow.
It's on the Midsomer Mow website, you can look it up.
Oh, I did.
Um, yeah, there's a mention of...
oh, what is it... "The sleeper under the hill"?
Oh, yes, yes.
The belief that the old warriors will one day rise
to avenge the slain.
Tennyson wrote a poem on the subject.
And the rest of it?
Meaningless to me, I'm afraid.
Oh.
Allow me.
BARNABY: Oh, I... I saw you on the TV.
I'm sorry?
As I arrived, you were watching.
Oh, no, that wasn't...
ha ha --
I keep a visual diary.
It's part of my local history interest.
People think it's the big events
that make history, Mr. Barnaby,
big events and big people.
But it's not.
It's the way
ordinary people live their lives.
I spend time in the Six Bells
not for the company -- I go for the gossip.
Gossip is the real history.
BARNABY: So you were on screen...
SINGER: Telling the story of Midsomer Mow.
When I die, it'll be put into a time capsule
for future generations to find.
Another...
"sleeper under the hill."
Yes, since you put it that way -- ha ha.
What a delightful thought.
[Chuckles]
Bye.
Sergeant Gibson?
Oh, hello, sir.
BARNABY: To keep you in the picture,
I just spoke to Caradoc Singer.
He confirmed seeing Ezra Canning in the Six Bells last night,
but can't say what time he left.
Which doesn't help us much.
BARNABY: Hmm, you're right.
However, we have confirmed your sighting of Ezra Canning
on the road to Crowcall Farm on the night of Preston's ***.
Canning admitted it in interview.
Right. Good.
Oh, um...
And we've got CCTV of Eleanor Preston's car
in Causton on the same night,
thanks to you.
Just luck, really, eh? Right place, right time.
Secret of good policing.
[Car door closes]
[Engine starts]
JONES: Interviews with members of the New Dawn Druids,
all securely alibied.
The ones I met
seemed rather gentle types.
Why does that surprise you?
Well, sacrifices to the earth god,
sacrifices to the sun god...
The Internet's a dangerous place to do research, Jones.
Any sign on the CCTV of Eleanor Preston's car?
I've had four officers working shifts,
staring at a screen for two days.
But CCTV's not foolproof.
No, but it does lend weight
to a certain line of investigation.
Trevor Gibson gave us the first lead --
the Awen brooch.
So a stone circle, a man dead,
a Druid symbol...
Then he mentioned having seen
Ezra Canning on the road to Crowcall Farm,
and said he'd spotted
Eleanor Preston's car
in Causton that night.
Where is this going?
He also as good as accused Evan Jago
of having laid the hare on the bloodstone.
Oh, come on.
Very subtly, but quite deliberately,
he has been manipulating the investigation.
Sir --
He found the brooch -- or he planted it.
He saw Canning. Canning denies it.
He saw Mrs. Preston's car.
There's no CCTV evidence for that.
Here's something else.
He discharged a shotgun at Ezra Canning.
Yeah, to stop him running me down!
Perhaps.
But suppose that he'd actually
been aiming to kill.
The fact that Canning was chasing you
in the crop-sprayer might have been interpreted
as an admission of guilt
and Canning's death as a neat end to the investigation.
I can't believe you're saying this.
Trevor Gibson is a good cop.
I've known him for years.
How well have you known him?
Oh, this is...
There is no evidence
to suggest he planted the brooch.
Of course, Canning denies being near the farm.
CCTV is unreliable,
and maybe Jago did leave the hare.
As for the crop-spraying incident,
it may have escaped your notice, but he saved my life!
I saw Gibson today.
I told him that Canning had confessed
to being close to Crowcall Farm
on the night of Preston's ***
and that we had Eleanor Preston's car on CCTV.
He knew perfectly well it couldn't be true.
Yeah, how do you know?
His reaction.
Oh, the -- the...
I had a call earlier from Kate Wilding.
The blood beneath the broken window at Crowcall Farm...
it came up on the police database.
It's Gibson's.
She triple-checked.
He'll be off duty now.
Yes.
-Yeah, I'll go and talk to him. -No.
We'll take this one together.
And, Jones, my lead, okay?
Sir, I'd like to be the one --
My lead.
[Knocking on door]
Maybe he's asleep.
BARNABY: Maybe he's not.
Meaning?
BARNABY: He's gone. JONES: Or he's at the pub.
I don't think so. We can try.
When was the last time we had rain?
A week ago, more.
Aagh!
I'm pretty sure he drowned --
I mean he was probably alive when he was put in the water.
He must've been unconscious though.
Impossible to wrestle a man into that if he was not only alive,
but also kicking.
How long has he been dead?
It's difficult to be accurate with drowning,
but two hours,
maybe less.
JONES: One of our own.
He was one of our own.
Not a suspect -- a victim.
We need to find Evan Jago.
He threatened to kill Trevor,
and he meant it.
BARNABY: Yes, okay. JONES: I'll get on to it.
BARNABY: Kate.
I'll need an analysis of this.
Type of cloth, no problem. Origin may take a little longer.
Want to take a guess?
No.
Amateurs guess...
and then they apologize afterwards.
[Siren wails]
Good cop.
Explain the blood on the farmhouse window.
He could have explained it, given the chance.
Any sign of Evan Jago?
Two search teams... [Mobile rings]
an APB issued, nothing so far.
DS Jones.
Oh, thanks for getting back.
Are you sure about that?
7:30?
Could you send a copy of the bill
to Causton Police Station marked for my attention?
Thanks.
That was the manager of the Berkeley Hotel.
Eleanor and Aiden booked in for three nights,
but only stayed for two.
So on the night of Alex Preston's death...
They checked out at 7:30 --
more than enough time...
What are those?
Whatever they are, they don't belong.
Eleanor Preston and Aiden Hardy!
Yes, they had time enough.
[Dog barks]
ELEANOR: Yes, all right, we checked out early.
So you lied.
-Yes. -Why?
Isn't it obvious?
You didn't want to reveal your relationship with Mr. Hardy.
See, it is obvious.
Or you didn't want to reveal
that you'd given yourself more than enough time
to go to Crowcall Farm and *** your husband.
Yeah, but why would we have checked out?
Surely, we'd have just driven
to Midsomer Mow, killed Alex,
driven back to the Berkeley, gone to bed,
and left the next morning.
People make mistakes. It's how they get caught out.
Oh.
Why did you check out?
I ran into some friends
on their way to the restaurant.
I made up an excuse about a work meeting.
Aiden took the cases to the car.
I, of course, paid the bill.
Where did you go?
Aiden's house in Long Barton.
It's risky because he's got nosy neighbors.
We parked a couple of streets away.
Lowther Road.
I didn't kill my husband.
You cheated on him.
It's not quite the same thing.
Look...
It wasn't a good marriage.
I probably should have left him.
I was unfaithful to him, yes, but we lived
largely separate lives, I felt entitled.
Do you also feel entitled to the farm
and the bank balance?
Since you ask, yes.
[Clears throat]
We might want to talk to you again.
ELEANOR: Well, you have my number.
Crowcall Farm is no longer a crime scene, by the way.
You don't have to stay here.
I know but I can afford it, so...
Crowcall is my past.
You don't intend to run the farm as a going concern?
Going, yes! As in going, going, gone.
Hmm.
Check with the nosy neighbors --
and for any sighting of a Mercedes convertible
parked a couple of streets away.
JONES: Shouldn't we have told her
Preston changed his will?
I think we'll keep that for another time.
JONES: Can't wait.
OFFICER: Tea's up!
OFFICER #2: Lovely, about time.
KATE: So I was right.
Prior to death, he suffered a blow to the head -- here,
at the back of the cranium.
Enough to stun him.
He would have only have lost consciousness
for a few minutes.
Except for the fact that he was
then submerged in the water butt.
Except for that, yes.
What's that?
An incision.
Two days old, maybe.
-Glass cut? -Could be.
BARNABY: And the scraps we found in the stove?
It all takes time, John.
Oh, the search team found some papers.
They were in his desk. They're over there.
BARNABY: Like the ones found by Leticia Clifford's body.
KATE: Not like them, they are the papers
she was working on when she was killed.
He took them before he left.
Looks that way.
BARNABY: How do you know...
that these papers were at the scene?
They've got her blood on them.
Another ley line.
And where they meet...
the king stone.
Oh, Leticia!
BARNABY: Found in Gibson's house.
They were among the papers
that Leticia Clifford was working on when she was killed.
Oh, and there's more.
He had a cut on his left wrist.
The broken window at Crowcall Farm.
Hm. And that's Eleanor Preston's car.
JONES: In Lowther Road,
two streets away from where Aiden Hardy lives,
which is what she said.
9:30 -- that's when they parked.
BARNABY: About right for the drive from London.
They come out at...
7:50 A.M.
BARNABY: Hmm.
[Thunder rumbles]
[Birds twittering]
[Buzzer]
[Buzzer]
Good morning.
Ah!
I didn't expect a senior detective
to be on the case.
Sorry?
The burglary.
I called the station about an hour ago.
Someone broke in last night.
Took a bottle of brandy
and a few things from the fridge.
Ah...
Well, I'm sure someone will be out to take details,
but it's not me, I'm afraid.
Any damage done?
Back door was forced. Apart from that, no.
So why are you here?
Oh, I need some help.
Some advice...
Just a sec.
BARNABY: You know more about the stones
and their history than anyone else.
The sketches that Leticia Clifford made,
I'm sure they're crucial in some way,
I just can't figure out how or why.
That's why I thought a bit of practical fieldwork
might be the answer.
SINGER: It was Alfred Watkins
who developed the theory of ley lines.
He put it down to early man finding the quickest route
between two points.
Nothing more to it.
To suggest they have mystical power is waffle.
[Beep] BARNABY: Druids believe it.
SINGER: My point exactly.
This one, for example.
It appears to follow a course,
but that takes it
outside the stone circle.
The theodolite confirms it.
See?
It actually passes through a point over there
where Leticia Clifford...
wrote, hmm...
"King Stone" on her map.
But other reference points
might put it somewhere else entirely.
I'm sorry, I don't see the point.
Leticia was a Druid.
Cults need their rituals and beliefs.
BARNABY: Yeah, what intrigues me is
why she went to such lengths -- what was she after?
Fanatics are tireless, Mr. Barnaby.
It's part of their charisma.
Oh, by the way...
what do you make of this?
May I handle it?
It's a sword pommel.
Can you date it?
I'm no expert.
Where did it come from?
Oh...
Some ramblers crossing the meadow,
which might suggest that...
the Battle of Hallows Beck was fought closer to here
than previously thought.
Agh.
I doubt it.
It's not my theory --
I showed that to the Causton Archaeological Society.
They got very excited about it.
They're planning on opening a dig on the site.
Are they?
Where exactly?
Well, um...
just up there, I should think.
And...
when do they start?
Oh, pretty soon.
Eleanor Preston's given her permission.
Yes...
Well, fascinating stuff.
More for your visual diary.
[Mobile rings]
Jones.
JONES: Super ***, A.K.A. Eleanor Preston,
just called in to say she's leaving.
I thought we ought to go and give her permission.
I'll pick you up.
See you in a bit.
AIDEN: Is that what we were, just a cliché?
ELEANOR: Oh, for sure.
Me with a sad marriage, you with a sad bank account.
So now you're free and rich, and I'm not needed.
ELEANOR: Darling, you were never needed.
Our affair was a distraction.
You were good in bed, but I think we can
both say I paid my way.
AIDEN: You ***!
ELEANOR: Well, what do you want -- another loan?
I say "loan," but we both know I mean gift, don't we?
Okay?
No, no, you're not leaving. You're going to stay here,
and we are going to talk this through.
Yeah...
[Car door closes]
is that it, Aiden?
Kill me sooner than let me go?
What you gonna do, huh?
What are you waiting for?
[Aiden grunts]
Actual bodily harm -- textbook case.
Self-defense.
If you're here to tell me
I can't leave, you'd better charge me with something.
No, there's no question of that.
I know you didn't kill your husband.
CCTV evidence puts you exactly where you said you were.
You're free to go whenever and wherever you like.
ELEANOR: You've had all you're having from me.
Looks like your husband feels the same way about you...
He changed his will.
Apparently he has a brother in New Zealand...
who inherits everything.
House, land, cash.
You've seen the will?
Oh, the reference to you is...
it's very specific.
"To my wife Eleanor,
liar and cheat, I leave nothing.
I would leave her less if I could."
[Laughing]
Well, I shall contest it.
BARNABY: I'm sure you will.
And I'm just as sure it'll make no difference.
Excuse me, sir.
Nah, no, thanks.
[Siren]
Stop him!
Watch it!
Right, get the painting!
Leave me in peace, will ya?
Darling, can you make a salad?
BARNABY: Yeah. What do you want in it?
Lettuce, tomato, fennel --
salad stuff.
BARNABY: No problem.
SARAH: Good day?
BARNABY: Um...
Remains to be seen.
SARAH: I had two sets of angry parents --
one lot, pushy; the other lot, not pushy enough.
I had a bent copper --
now a dead copper.
And the end of an affair.
And ley lines.
SARAH: Crowcall Circle?
Yes.
And I'm taking the sixth form lot up there
to help out at the dig.
What does fennel look like?
Greenish.
So...
chop it all up, then?
John, it's a salad.
What time's dinner, by the way?
Well, I just put a four-pound chicken in the oven at 180,
so you can work it out for yourself.
Why do you want to know?
Oh, because I've got to go out again.
When? [Mobile rings]
About now.
[Clears throat] Barnaby.
JONES: You said to call you, sir.
He's on the move.
Perfect.
Sorry.
[Owl screeches]
[Screeching]
[Grunts]
Stay away!
[Sirens wailing, men shouting, dogs barking]
BARNABY: That's enough!
That's enough!
[Grunting]
Caradoc Singer, I'm arresting you on suspicion of ***.
You do not have to say anything,
but it may harm your defense if you fail to mention
when questioned something you later rely on in court.
Somewhere off this room.
There's more to this house than meets the eye.
Where is the Braque, Singer?
Where's what?
When I saw you watching yourself on TV,
that was filmed in another room.
Never mind.
JONES: Sir.
BARNABY: Tsk!
Oh!
Behind that?
Jones.
[Chuckles]
[Whirring]
Jones, lights.
BARNABY: Picasso...
Dali...
Giacometti...
Stubbs...
Klimt.
Just the ones I know.
Must be worth millions.
The local gossip says
he was penniless.
Lived like a miser.
BARNABY: Well, that was his cover.
No, I should think that he's got
a substantial number of offshore accounts.
SINGER: You are about to enjoy a tour
of one of the world's great art collections.
My name is Caradoc Singer.
By the time this is being viewed,
I shall have died.
But my fame as being one of the world's great collectors
will live on.
BARNABY: It wasn't about appreciation,
it was about ownership.
Am I right?
It was about appreciation...
BARNABY: Meaning only you could properly appreciate
the Gorse Meadow treasure.
It was the ultimate collectible.
SINGER: When Alex Preston brought me the first few items,
I knew it was the find of the century,
and I had to have it.
He turned up a snake amulet
and a brooch.
He didn't know what he'd got,
but he thought I might...
And I did.
I'm prepared to make you a better offer...
PRESTON: For the bracelet?
For whatever you find.
He guessed it was a treasure trove.
PRESTON: No. This was close to the surface.
Who knows what's deeper down?
A treasure trove.
There are laws.
I need to know where I stand.
BARNABY: But Preston proved annoyingly honest.
He wanted to
report his find and take whatever might be
his legal share.
He went to Trevor Gibson to find out
about the legal position on ownership.
BARNABY: And Gibson told him to keep quiet about it,
but Preston mentioned that he'd already shown his find to you.
Gibson told me he consulted some experts
who said the items were of little interest.
Of little interest?!
Please!
I'm not simple-minded!
I knew what he was up to.
It was his chance of the good life.
[Grunts]
BARNABY: Did Gibson tell you he was going to kill Preston?
SINGER: He hinted.
I encouraged.
JONES: Which is why Gibson pretended
to have found an Awen brooch at the scene.
I gave it to him.
He'll have to die --
this will help.
Incriminating evidence...
Easy to manipulate
someone that needy.
Preston had to die.
He was about to reveal
the location of the hoard to the world.
JONES: And taking the body to Crowcall Circle,
disemboweling him -- whose idea was that?
SINGER: Again, I might have hinted.
BARNABY: Because people tend to associate Druids
with all sorts of nasty rituals,
and it was common knowledge that they and Preston
were at loggerheads.
[Gibson grunting]
LETICIA: Something's wrong.
BARNABY: And Leticia Clifford?
LETICIA: The ley line through the churches
seems to bypass the circle...
Perhaps it passes through the spot
where the king stone would have stood?
SINGER: She was getting too near the truth.
BARNABY: And she was right about the Battle of Hallows Beck
being fought much closer to Gorse Meadow, wasn't she?
It was fought in Gorse Meadow.
BARNABY: After the battle was over,
the victorious Saxons
buried the hoard and used the king stone
as a marker.
Who killed Leticia?
Oh, Gibson.
Policemen seem quite habituated to violent death.
BARNABY: But it was your idea.
SINGER: A hint well taken.
[Screams]
JONES: And carving the Awen into her forehead?
Would make Ezra Canning an obvious suspect.
The Awen...
embroidery --
in both senses of the word.
JONES: So was it Gibson's idea
to provoke Jago in the Six Bells?
Ah, yes.
Jago was our wild card.
And, as luck would have it, he found the body.
BARNABY: Gibson put the gutted hare on the bloodstone.
SINGER: Gibson knew
you were onto him.
He made the mistake all amateur liars make --
he overcompensated.
The hare lying dead on the bloodstone.
He's a poacher, he's also a thief.
When you told him you'd confirmed those fake sightings,
he knew it was just a matter of time.
He called me.
He said he was going to make a run for it.
Listen, I'll just disappear. I'll get a cross-channel ferry!
How do you know they might be waiting for you
to do just that?
Go home.
Don't worry, I'll think of something.
[Toy produces evil laugh]
BARNABY: You couldn't bring yourself
to bludgeon him to death.
SINGER: The very thought turned my stomach,
but it was a job that had to be done.
BARNABY: Gibson didn't tell you that he'd kept this,
did he?
SINGER: No.
But when you said it had been found by ramblers and that
the archaeological society were about to open a dig...
yes, that was very clever of you.
Tell me...
what made you suspect me?
What did I do wrong?
You didn't need to display the stolen pieces.
It was enough for you just to own them.
But you couldn't resist the idea of having just one of them out
to look at, to gloat over.
SINGER: The Picasso.
I asked you if it was a copy. You said it was a fake --
but a Jack Weston -- a collectible fake.
You just couldn't bear the idea
of letting me think
that you might possess something as crude as a copy.
It didn't look like a fake to me.
I checked.
Jack Weston never copied a Picasso.
Where will my collection be housed?
It'll be catalogued by the Arts Squad.
Then everything will be returned to its rightful owners.
I am the rightful owner.
Not a chance.
These pieces must be kept together.
No one could love them as I do!
Love and possession aren't the same thing.
Didn't anyone ever tell you that?
SINGER: It must be shown.
It must be displayed for the world to see.
Nah.
It'll just be a little paragraph
at the bottom of page five --
the story of a common criminal.
The Picasso was a mistake,
but your biggest error
was something you couldn't avoid,
something that makes you the person you are,
something the gods always punish.
You want this to be your enduring legacy.
No.
This will only be seen
as prosecution exhibit number one.
Then never to be seen or exhibited again.
JONES: What was it --
the thing the gods always punish?
Hubris, Jones.
Arrogance.
Caradoc Singer is directly responsible for three deaths,
which couldn't matter less to him.
And his so-called love of art is really nothing but self-love,
which never ends well.
Hmm.
Hmm.
MAN: Mrs. Barnaby...
SARAH: What is it?
MAN: It looks like a Saxon cloak brooch --
could be solid gold.
[Gasps]
Look -- solid gold!
It's part of a Saxon hoard that's lain here
for a thousand years.
It's a cloak brooch. It's beautiful, isn't it?
JONES: Worth how much?
Oh, half a million?
-Easily! -Maybe more.
BARNABY: That much, really?
Whoo.
Come on.
John! John!
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