Original subtitles

(birds softly chirping) (whimsical orchestral music)

- Morning, Mrs. Plummer.

- [Amelia] Morning, Fred.

- [Woman With Stroller] Morning, Mrs. Plummer.

- Morning, Kylie.

(bike softly chimes)

- Morning, Mrs Plummer. - Morning.

(whimsical orchestral music)

This is charming, Mr. Judd, and Worcester?

- Yes, it is indeed, Mrs. Plummer.

(antique clocks softly ticking)

- May I have a look at the willow pattern plate

in the cupboard?

- Of course.

(bag softly zips)

- The one on the top shelf.

(bag softly zips)

No, no, I don't think so.

Thank you, Mr. Judd.

- Great pleasure, Mrs. Plummer.

(door lightly clattering)

(faucet loudly running)

(Mrs. Plummet softly gasps) (kettle loudly clatters)

(faucet loudly running)

(spooky orchestral music)

- I think I've found just the carpet

for Cully's old room, it's a sort of blue, did I mention it?

It's a bit dearer than we originally discussed,

about 100 pounds, well, actually nearer 200 pounds dearer,

but it's perfect, thought, we could go into Causton,

look at it together, on Saturday.

And I think we should buy a bed.

- Joyce?

What are you planning to do with that?

- With what?

- The Plummer's Relish.

- Bin it, I'm having a clear-out,

in case you hadn't noticed.

- You can't throw out the Plummer's Relish.

- Why on earth not?

It's been in the back of that cupboard for years.

- My father had Plummer's Relish

in his sandwiches every day of his working life.

- You never use it, Tom.

Anyway, this one's a health hazard.

At least let me buy a new jar.

- Doubt they make this stuff anymore.

Please don't chuck it out, Joyce, you know, just in case.

- All right, if you insist.

Did you hear what I said about the carpet?

- It's gonna cost us more than we thought,

like everything else.

(woman loudly shrieks)

(brakes softly screech) (sign softly crunches)

- What?

Oh, for God's sake!

Listen, I sent them a check about a week ago.

It did?

Well, take it out of the other account.

- Welcome to Plummer & Sons, ladies and gentlemen.

- No, it can't be overdrawn-- - My name's Sam Hardwick--

- There must be some mistake. - My great pleasure

to be showing you round our famous factory today.

- Well, you're the accountant, you sort it out.

That's what I pay you for.

- Right, well, we'll get you signed in

and kitted out with the appropriate clothing,

then I'll show you lucky people

how Britain's favourite relish gets made.

- Stop whingeing, man, try and look at the bigger picture.

- Morning, Mr. Anselm.

Gentleman, would you mind coming down this way please.

All down here, please, thank you.

Down this way-- - Fallen off again, Anselm?

- Nice to see you too, Caroline.

(crowd softly chattering)

- Anselm!

- Hello, Mummy. - You might have changed.

- Sorry.

- Caro dear!

You're so pale, are you eating?

- Oh, I wish.

- And where the bloody hell is Ralph?

- [Caro] Where do you think?

(birds softly chirping and cawing)

(whimsical flute ringtone) - Oh, buggeration.

(phone softly buzzes)

Oh, bugger.

- Right sir, if you'd be good enough to sign the book

and this nice lady will give you a Visitor's badge.

The nice lady happens to be my good lady wife,

so we have to be on our best behaviour, don't we?

- (softly chuckles) Enjoy the tour, ladies and gentlemen.

The AGM's due to start any minute.

I'd better get my skates on,

they'll be wanting their tea and biscuits.

- All right, love, see you later.

Right, everyone, oh, oh! (feedback loudly screeches)

This way, please, follow me.

(whimsical flute music on radio)

(cassette button clicks) (Ralph softly groans)

- Ralph, they're waiting for you.

- Do I really have to?

All that bickering, I don't think I can face it.

- Darling, you're the boss.

We can't have an AGM without you.

- When young Albert Plummer came back from India in 1851,

he didn't come back with a fortune as planned,

but he came back with a recipe, ladies and gentlemen,

a recipe for delicious relish

he'd come across in the Punjab.

Now, young Albert was determined

to recreate this relish for his friends and family,

and after many failures and setbacks, he duly succeeded.

That secret recipe, handwritten

by young Albert all those years ago,

is still kept under lock and key in the company boardroom.

- Chocolate biscuits, Mr. Ralph.

- Oh, lovely, Sonia, lovely, thank you.

Helen, if you'd like to start the ball rolling.

- You'll find a copy of the agenda in front of you.

The first item is the minutes of the last meeting--

- Proposed, seconded, blah blah blah.

- The second item concerns the boiler house.

- Do you mind if we fast forward to item three,

shareholders' dividends?

Or to be more specific, Helen,

why the bloody hell aren't there any?

- The thing is, some of the boilers

are increasingly unreliable.

We have to face the fact that they need replacing.

That's going to be very expensive.

- Okay, fine, but no dividends?

We're talking about Plummer's Relish here.

People lap it up all over the world.

(phone softly ringing) And you're telling me

there's no money for us?

Our names' on the bloody label, for God's sake.

- Well, we did lose quite a lot of money

on your restaurant, Anselm.

- Let's not forget your polo ponies.

God knows why the firm has to pay for them.

- [Anselm] What about your bloody cookbook?

That's cost us a few quid, if I remember rightly.

- I had to research it, Anselm!

- Yes, in five-star Caribbean hotels.

- Plummer's Relish Cookbook, what a lovely idea.

Have you finished it yet?

- Not yet, my novel takes priority, of course,

and I've had some health problems.

- Oh, how are you now, dear?

- A little better since I gave up dairy.

- I'll tell you when the cookbook's gonna be finished.

The same time as her famous bloody novel,

i.e. never. - Thing is, some of the boys--

- [Amelia] Oh, children, children.

(machines loudly cranking) (sauce softly bubbling)

- If you'd all just come through here.

Now then, in these vats ladies and gentlemen,

we have the dried mushrooms, mangoes, tamarind extract,

and malt vinegar, all marinading away like mad.

People ask me what the most

important ingredient of Plummer's is,

and you know what I always say, ladies and gents?

Patience, that's what.

Well, well, look who's here!

This is my son, Alex, ladies and gents.

He's management now, so by right,

I should call him Mr. Hardwick, isn't that right, son?

- Enjoy your visit, everyone.

- Speed it up, Dad, they only get in the way.

- It's like I was saying, one big family.

One big happy family, right, onwards.

- You're just jealous-- - Written by you is gonna be

a joke book, a great failure! - Because I had a good idea!

- Oh, shut up, everyone!

Helen, carry on.

- (softly sighs) Now, the fact is,

we have assets, but no cash.

As you all know, Fieldway Foods are desperate to buy us out.

- I thought we sent those cowboys packing.

- Didn't Fieldway come up with their own relish?

- Yes, yes, it was filthy stuff.

- Well, they didn't get it right, that's for sure.

- Well, they couldn't, could they?

They don't have the secret recipe.

- Good old secret recipe,

still locked up in there, is it, Ralph?

- Fieldway aren't getting their hands

on this firm, I'll tell you that.

- They might agree to inject some investment capital

in return for a minority shareholding.

- To hell with that, I say let's sell it,

lock, stock, and barrel.

Let's get the damn place off our backs and be done with it.

- You know we can't do that.

I promised Papa I'd keep the firm in the family.

- Ralph, pardon the crudity,

but the old man's brown bread and we're not.

- Well, you didn't actually make the promise, Anselm, I did.

- Still scared of him, Ralph,

even though he's dead and buried?

- [Ralph] A promise is a promise.

- Dammit, Ralph!

Fieldway Foods could make us rich.

- Can't we at least see what they're offering?

- There may be a compromise.

- Helen, do you mind?

You're not a Plummer and you're hot a shareholder.

So, please stay out of it.

Let's put it to the vote.

- Oh, what's the point?

Ralph's got more shares,

he always wins the vote.

- Not if Mummy votes with us, Mummy?

Mummy,

wouldn't you like to be very, very rich?

- Oh, darling, that would be lovely.

- Then stick your hand up when I tell you to.

Okay, I propose we sell the firm to Fieldway Foods,

always assuming that we get a stonking great shedload

of money, all those in favour?

Hand in the air, Mummy.

We've got to do something or we'll all end up stony broke.

- Mummy, let's at least find out

how much they're willing to pay.

- No.

No, Ralph is right.

The firm must stay in the family.

That's what Maurice would've wanted.

- Those against?

Carried.

- Well, there you are, maybe we could discuss it again

in six months time-- - So you propose

doing nothing, as per bloody usual!

- [Amelai] I saw a dead man in the garden.

- Saw what, Amelia?

- A dead man, hanging from a tree.

- Can anyone tell me what she's on about?

- And then when I looked again, he was gone.

- This is the steriliser, ladies and gents.

Here at Plummer's we're committed

to the most rigorous standards of hygiene.

Come along, sir,

you're missing all the fun.

- Well done, Ralph, another triumph of indecision.

(softly beeping)

- Now, ladies and gents,

this little beauty pumps steam at 200 degrees centigrade,

so we, we don't want to get too close, do we?

Right, now then, I've been saving the best till last.

- Ralph, what are you doing?

- Well, I'm gonna take a look around the factory, obviously.

Aren't you always telling me I should show my face?

- Well, yes, darling, that's marvellous.

It's just so unusual.

- Mr. Judd is here to see you,

Mr. Ralph, the antique dealer.

- Ah, not too bad this time, Mr. Plummer.

It's a little Worcester jug, 150.

- What the hell's this about?

- It's all right, Anselm, I'll deal with it.

- It's Mummy, isn't it?

She's been nicking things again.

- No, no, no, she's getting a little forgetful, that's all.

- What's all this nonsense

about dead men hanging in the garden?

- Well, she probably dosed off and had a nightmare.

- Oh, Mr. Judd, and what brings you here?

- Look, I don't want to talk about it

in front of other people.

You carry on and I'll deal with Mr. Judd.

- All right, darling.

- Thank you, dear.

- I believe you'll take a check,

Mr Judd? - Thank you.

- [Mr. Judd] I will, thank you so much.

(door softly clatters)

- It's 150? - We have to do something--

- Yes. - About Mummy.

- What do you mean?

- Well, it's obvious, isn't it?

The old girl's gaga.

- Well, what can we do about it, have her committed?

- Now there's a thought.

(Ralph and Mr. Judd softly chattering)

(machines loudly cranking) (sauce softly bubbling)

- These tomatoes are all grown

in our own greenhouses at Home Farm.

It's an old variety that's lots of flavour,

and after they've been cooked up here,

the flavour is even more intense.

Right, now we'll move on to the finishing room.

Come on you here stragglers, keep up in the back.

(visitors softly chattering)

- [Helen] Hello?

It is you, isn't it?

- Oy, careful!

(tour group softly chattering)

(ominous music) (machines loudly cranking)

(ominous music)

- Hello?

Oh, there you are.

Funny place for a meeting, isn't it?

(ominous music)

(forklift loudly cranking) (ominous music)

(forklift softly clatters)

Can't we go somewhere a bit quieter?

(ominous music)

Hey, hey!

Whoa!

(intense music)

Stop!

Stop!

Stop!

(intense music drowns out scream)

- Morning, Fred. - Morning, Mary.

(workers softly chattering)

(ominous music)

(steamer loudly hissing)

(loudly screaming)

(police radio static hissing) (people softly chattering)

- And you called the police straight away?

Alright Clare, Kath's gonna take you

to the station to take a statement, thank you.

Morning, sir, this way.

This one's a bit different, sir.

- So I hear.

- Morning, Tom.

Here's one for the memoirs.

- Yours or mine?

- Both, I reckon.

This thing here is a bottle steriliser,

it pumps steam at 200 degrees centigrade.

So chummy here is done to a turn.

- Do we know who he is?

- No, we don't, sir, we're checking the workforce,

see if anyone's unaccounted for.

- [Barnaby] Time of death, George?

- The scalding heat's gonna make it

very difficult to ascertain.

Best indicator will be the contents of his stomach.

- The steriliser was emptied

at the end of yesterday's shift, so whoever he is,

he found his way in there sometime during the night.

- And who would have been here last night?

- Security guard, sir.

He lives in that that cottage by the factory gates.

I'm assuming that someone's checked

this isn't the security guard.

- Yes, sir, he's at home, tucked up in bed.

- Well, send someone over to untuck him.

Wouldn't have been easy that, would it?

Forcing someone into a contraption like this,

against their will.

- Unless he was already unconscious.

- Or already dead.

Who's in charge here?

(birds softly chirping)

- Ha-ha, hello, beaut,

you beauty, oh!

(whimsical flute ringtone) Damn!

Damn, damn!

(phone softly buzzes)

- He must be in Albert Wood.

- We've better send someone to fetch him.

- The police want to talk to you, Mrs. Plummer.

They're in reception.

- Worked here 43 years till I retired,

I've never seen anything like it.

- You don't look as if you've retired, Mr. Hardwick.

- Oh, no, no, I do the guided tours now.

We get people from all over the world, you know.

Anyway, it keeps me out of trouble.

Oh, talking of trouble, here's my better half.

- [Sonia] And Tracey--

- This is Helen Plummer, sir.

- Go and get the visitors-- - I'm Detective Chief

Inspector Barnaby, I take it you're in charge here.

- Oh, no, I'm only the company's secretary.

My husband's the Managing Director.

- Hello, any news?

- He's, he's on his way.

This is Alex Hardwick, the Production Manager.

- When do you think we'll be able to start work again?

- Not today, that's for sure.

- Well, how 'bout tomorrow?

- Let's see how today goes, shall we, sir?

- Sam, you better cancel today's tour.

- Okie dokie.

- Thank you.

Everyone's here, Mrs. Plummer,

'cept eight on their holidays and three off sick,

so it wasn't one of us.

- Mr. Hardwick?

Did you take the tour around yesterday?

- Yes, I did.

- How many people on that tour?

- 12, wasn't it, Sonia?

- Yes, I think so, let me see.

Yes, 12 signed in.

- And 12 signed out?

- Yes, I counted the visitors badges

when they returned them.

- But you didn't count actual people,

you didn't count heads?

- No, I'm sorry, I never do.

Long as I get all the badges back.

- It's all right, Sonia, it's not your fault.

- Okay, so get the names, addresses,

all the visitors, check 'em out,

then tell everyone they can go home

once they've made statements.

- Just what I needed.

- Tracey.

- I suppose I better notify the family.

- Family?

- My husband's family, the Plummers.

This is still a family-owned business, you see.

We had the AGM yesterday,

so they're all staying up at the house.

- What time was the AGM?

- Four o'clock, tea time.

AGM's are always at tea time.

- And when was Mr. Hardwick taking his tour round?

- About the same time, now you come to mention it.

Oh, dear.

- What's the matter?

- No doubt this will end up being my fault,

one way or the other.

- [Barnaby] Why?

- Sorry, pretend I didn't say that.

Bit stressed at the moment.

(wind chimes softly chiming) (birds softly chirping)

- Mummy, are you listening?

- Oh, sorry, Anselm.

What were you saying?

- I was saying that this is an Enduring Power of Attorney.

- Isn't this what you tried to get me to sign before?

- Anselm, you devious bastard, you never told me!

- Shut up, Caro.

Mummy, listen, if, God forbid,

something were to happen to you,

this means that Caro and I would be able

to look after you, and your affairs,

if you were unable to look after them yourself.

- If I went gaga, you mean.

- He doesn't meant that, Mummy.

- Actually, yes, that's exactly what I mean.

Listen, Mummy, if you don't sign this and you go doolally,

we won't be looking after you,

it'll be down to the Court of Protection.

And God knows what they'll do,

what with you running around the village nicking things.

They'll probably lock you up!

- Ralph would never allow that.

- He wouldn't have any choice, that's the whole point.

- Look, face it, Mummy, Ralph is a busted flush.

All he wants to do is sit out there in Albert Wood,

staring at the lesser-spotted thingamajig.

- While his dreary little wife runs around,

pretending to be in charge.

- All right, if you won't sign this,

how 'bout giving me some of your shares.

- And me!

- You already have some shares, darling.

So do you, Caro.

- Yes, but Ralph has got more,

so we can't outvote him.

Whatever I suggest, Ralph votes against it.

The truth is, he resents the fact

that I'm the one with the ideas.

- What, like the Plummer's Relish theme park, I suppose?

- [Anselm] That was a bloody good idea!

- Hurling people around in giant vegetables, please.

(soft music)

(birds softly chirping) (wind chimes softly chiming)

- Perhaps I won't see you today.

- [Caro] What did you say, Mummy?

- Nothing, darling. (phone softly ringing)

- [Anselm] Yes, what?

What?!

Well, I don't see what the hell we could do about it.

(phone loudly slams)

Just what we need, some twerp's got himself killed

up at the works.

- Who?

Who's killed himself?

- How the hell should I know?

(people softly chattering) (police radio static hissing)

- Ah, Ralph, darling,

this is Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby,

and Detective Sergeant Scott.

My husband, Ralph Plummer.

- How do you do?

- How do you do?

Ghastly business, this, ghastly.

Do we, do we know who the poor chap was?

- Well, we've ascertained, Mr. Plummer,

it's not one of your employees.

- Oh, oh, well, thank goodness for that.

- But there's a chance, very good chance

it was one of the visitors on yesterday's guided tour.

- But how?

We take such care.

- Ralph, the inspector doesn't think it was an accident.

- That's right, Mr. Plummer,

we are treating the death as suspicious.

- Good God.

- That's why we've had to shut the production line, sir,

so we can gather forensic evidence,

and we'll need to double check the movements

of everyone yesterday afternoon.

- Of course, yes, of course.

- And not only the workforce, sir.

I want to talk everyone who was at the AGM.

- What you mean the family?

What on earth for?

- Well darling, Inspector Barnaby will need

to talk to everybody.

- Well, yes, yes, yes, of course, you will, yes, absolutely.

- Mr. Ralph, Mr. Ralph.

Chocolate biscuits.

- Oh, lovely, lovely, Sonia, thank you.

- I noticed you have CCTV cameras outside.

- Yes, that's right.

- Could we look at the tapes for last night, please?

- Tapes?

Oh, no, dear, there aren't any tapes.

We haven't put tapes in since the cutbacks.

- We've had to make some economies lately, Inspector.

- Well, if there's anything else,

please, don't hesitate to,

to ask my wife, because I'll probably be working

from home for the rest of the day.

Oh, I'll just.

Jolly good.

Well,

carry on, then, everybody.

- I'm sorry, he's always on edge

when the family's here for the AGM,

and the business with this poor man

has thrown him completely.

- Well, we'll want to talk to you both again, Mrs. Plummer.

- I suggest you come to Plummer House later today.

I'll try and make sure the rest

of the family are there as well.

- That's kind, thank you, I appreciate that.

Let's see if the security guard can cast any light

on the matter.

- I'm not holding my breath, sir,

this place is a shambles.

No one knows whether they're coming or going.

- [Barnaby] Well, at least Helen Plummer seems

to have her pretty little head screwed on okay.

- [Scott] Seems to, sir.

- Go on, Keith, tell him.

You don't owe the Plummers anything.

- All right.

All right, well, something did happen last night.

Mr. Anselm turned up at the main gates just after midnight,

shouting to be let in.

He said he'd left his mobile phone in the boardroom.

He'd been at the AGM, you see,

earlier that day, the whole family had.

- So what did you do?

- Why, I opened the gate and let him in, didn't I?

And then I unlocked the boardroom for him.

But after he hadn't come out after about 10 minutes,

then I went back in.

- Yes, and?

- Go on, Keith.

- Yeah, you see,

Mr. Anselm had the door to the safe open.

So, I said to him,

you know, "Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Anselm?"

And he said, "No, there bloody well isn't."

Like that, and then off he went.

He was in a right mood, he was in a right mood, Mr. Anselm.

He's always in a mood, isn't he, Anselm?

Always.

- And then you did a tour of the works?

- Well, sort of, I mean,

my routine was up the spout, wasn't it?

You know, I was all over the shop.

So I did two circuits, straight off.

To make up.

- And you did pass the bottle steriliser.

- Oh, yes, yeah, yeah.

I didn't see anything unusual, you know.

Honest to God, I mean, apart from Anselm turning up,

it had been a night just like any other night.

- If you work nights, Mr. Carter,

how come you're wearing your uniform this morning?

- Oh, well, I,

I do a little job now and again, you know,

the odd afternoon, down in Causton, you know,

not a lot to it, just a shopping centre, so nothing--

- That doesn't leave you much time to sleep, does it?

- If the Plummers paid him a decent wage,

he wouldn't have to moonlight, would he?

- Whatever happened last night,

he slept through it. (phone ringing)

Yeah, Scott.

Really?

Thank you.

One of the visitors on the tour yesterday gave an address

in Causton that doesn't exist.

- Name?

- [Scott] John Smith.

- John Smith. - Unbelievable.

- Hang about Scott.

What was missing when the victim was found?

- I don't know, sir.

- If he'd turned up nude,

even Sonia Hardwick might've noticed.

- His clothes. - His clothes.

Wonder if this place has got an incinerator.

(ominous music)

They look like bits of one of the factory coats.

Car key.

- [Scott] What's that?

Thank you.

- [Barnaby] Can you read that, what does that say?

Lockwood?

- [Scott] Dexter Lockwood.

(birds softly chirping)

(ominous music)

- Oh, pull yourself together, woman.

You're imagining things.

Look again, it'll be gone.

- He had a pizza for lunch,

a Neapolitan if I'm not mistaken,

followed by chocolate cake.

It's barely digested, so I'd put the time of death

between three and five in the afternoon.

- How, George?

- Rather interesting.

He was crushed to death

between two large corrugated surfaces.

Broken legs, pelvis smashed, ribs crushed.

As you surmised, Tom, he was very dead

before they put him in the steriliser.

- [Barnaby] Well, Scott?

- Credit card belongs to a Dexter Lockwood, sir.

He's aged 31, he's single, and he lives

with his dad in Midsomer Magna.

He's a brand executive,

whatever that is, for Fieldway Foods.

Now, he's a bit of a highflier,

he didn't come home last night

and he hasn't been seen at work for two days.

- Fieldway Foods?

- Yeah, they make convenience foods,

so soft drinks, snacks, you name it.

- The kind of rubbish this poor chap had for his last lunch.

- Now I'm not sure if this is relevant, sir,

but Lockwood's boss at Fieldway Foods says

they've been trying to buy out the Plummers for ages.

- Well then, Lockwood might have

been up the factory on business.

- Well, no, he says not.

He says they gave up trying to buy Plummers ages ago

because the family always knocked them back.

- Well, it's time to cast an eye over the Plummer family.

George, thank you.

- Oh, by the way, Tom,

Mr. Lockwood here had a stomach ulcer,

not surprising in view of his diet.

Apart from the pizza and the chocolate cake,

his belly was full of over-the-counter antacids.

(birds softly chirping)

- After the AGM broke up,

I went onto the factory floor

to talk to Alex Hardwick,

and we passed the boiling room

as the visitors group was leaving it.

I didn't pay them much attention, I'm afraid,

I had too much on my mind.

- Unlike the rest of us, I suppose.

- And you, sir?

- I left straight after the meeting, didn't I?

- Me too, I had to work.

I'm a novelist, you see.

- And last week she was a painter,

and the week before that she was a filmmaker.

- Anselm, please.

- And you, Mr. Plummer?

- I, well, after the meeting, I had a little business

to transact with Mr. Judd.

Then I walked home, I left the car for Helen.

- I did some paperwork and drove home about an hour

after the others had left.

- My hero.

- Who's Mr. Judd?

- Ooh, he's--

- He runs the antique shop in the village.

There was a personal matter.

(Anselm softly scoff)

- I was hoping to talk to Mrs. Amelia Plummer.

- I don't think it necessary to involve my mother.

She's very frail.

Anyway, she left straight after the meeting.

- Ah, okay, and none of you returned

to the factory after that.

Apart from you.

- Me?

- [Barnaby] You, sir.

- You returned to the factory after midnight, so.

- What?

- Ah, I left my mobile behind, that's all.

- Anselm, you're such a liar.

You were jabbering on it when you left the factory.

- The security guard, Mr. Keith Carter,

let you into the boardroom.

He said you wanted to see something in the safe.

- All right, all right, I was looking in the safe, so what?

It's my safe too, you know.

- What on earth for?

- I bet he was looking for Albert's secret recipe.

What were you going to do?

Flog it to Fieldway Foods?

- Nonsense.

- You are hilarious, Anselm.

- If you took any interest in the firm,

you'd know that the original recipe's

in the bank in Causton.

- The real secret is that it's inedible.

Albert poisoned the housemaid

when he tried it on the servants.

So his cook came up with another version--

- Yes, Helen, we mustn't bore strangers with it.

- Oh, sorry, darling.

- Well, you might be interested to know that

the dead man was in fact an executive for Fieldway Foods.

- Good God, you mean Fieldway had a chap

snooping round the works?

That's industrial espionage.

- We think his name was Dexter Lockwood,

is that a name which rings a bell with anybody?

- No, no, no, I can't say that it does.

- Mummy?

- Are you all right, Amelia?

- I saw the hanging man again

and this time, he didn't go away.

- I'm Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby, Mrs. Plummer.

What seems to be the problem--

- Mummy, the Inspector's got more important things to do--

- Shut up, Ralph!

A man,

hanging from a tree opposite my garden, Inspector.

That's the problem.

- Oh, what, would you like myself

and Sergeant Scott to come and have a look?

- Oh, yes, please.

- Really, Inspector, that won't be necessary.

- It's all right, I wanted to talk to Mrs. Plummer anyway.

Scott, come on. (fingers lightly snap)

- Bye.

- Lockwood, he's nothing to do with the chap--

- Oh, that's enough, Anselm.

- It's that one opposite the gate.

He's always hanging from that one.

- So he's got a rope round his neck

and he's hanging from the tree,

and then when you open your eyes again, he's gone.

- Until today, he didn't go today.

- Well, let's have a closer look, shall we?

There's footprints, lots of them.

- There's some bark rubbed off the branch up there, sir.

Could have been caused by a rope.

- It was obviously a dummy.

Someone's been trying to frighten you, Mrs. Plummer.

- Well, in a way, that's a relief.

I was starting to think I was imagining it.

- Any idea why anyone would want to frighten you?

- None whatsoever.

(birds softly chirping) (wind chimes softly chiming)

That man at the works, do you know who it was?

- Yes, it was a young man called Dexter Lockwood.

(ominous music)

- Did you know him, Mrs. Plummer?

- Forgive me, I suddenly feel awfully tired.

Will you walk me back to the house?

- [Barnaby] Yes, certainly.

- It's probably kids.

- Lot of trouble to go to

just to frighten an old lady, Scott.

- You're not saying it's got something

to do with Lockwood's murder, sir?

- I want to know why the whole Plummer clan go shifty

at the mention of Lockwood's name.

I'll talk to the father,

see if he can throw some light on it, and you, Scott,

you go back to the factory, and talk to everyone

who was on the factory floor at the time.

- [Scott] We've already taken statements, sir.

- [Barnaby] Yeah, I know we have,

we'll have to take them again.

(dogs softly barking) (birds softly chirping)

- No thank you, Mr. Lockwood.

- That's my father,

sitting right next to Maurice Plummer.

- Maurice Plummer, that was Amelia's husband, wasn't it?

- That's right.

Maurice was the same age as Dad.

(softly chuckles) There's Dad.

A village boy, but there he is,

white shirt, suit and tie, sitting with the Plummers.

- Did very well for himself.

- Oh, yeah, he revolutionised that bloody business.

They were filling jars by hand

till Dad built him a proper production line.

Didn't get on with Maurice Plummer, though, did he?

Soon as Maurice took over the firm,

he kicked Dad out on his ear.

Kicked him out of his house,

kicked him out of the village.

Dad never got over it.

He committed suicide.

That was the coroner's verdict.

But it was murder, if you ask me.

- Mr. Lockwood, what do you think your son was doing

at the Plummer's Factory?

- I don't know.

Dexter was a bright boy,

he was really going places, just like Dad.

And now he's dead.

The Plummer's killed my father,

and now they've killed my son.

(soft music)

I don't want to talk anymore.

- One more question, if you don't mind, Mr. Lockwood.

Your father, how did he commit suicide?

- He hanged himself.

(doorbell loudly beeping)

- Hello, Inspector!

Sergeant Scott said to tell you he's in the cafeteria.

Through the door, turn right,

and you'll find it next to the Relish Museum.

- Thank you.

Mrs. Hardwick, does the name Stanley Lockwood

mean anything to you?

- No, I can't say it does.

Sorry.

- [Man] Coming here after eight years--

- A very long time. (people softly chattering)

- I'm really, really interested, Dan.

Let's meet up later.

- [Scott] Great.

- Scott--

- Before you say anything, sir,

it's not what you're thinking.

- You don't know what I'm thinking.

- She's writing a book, it's got a policeman in it.

- Oh, research.

- Something like that.

You tried this?

- Indeed, I have, yeah.

- Well, when in Rome.

Oh, I've got something interesting for you, sir.

Bloke over there reckons he saw something

in the boiling room just before Dexter Lockwood disappeared.

- What, what did he see?

- Think it's best he tells you himself, sir.

It's interesting.

- It's an acquired taste.

- Peppery, it's fruity.

Hint of turmeric.

Quite autumnal.

- Yes, shall we do some work?

- [Scott] Mr. Milner?

- Oh, this way.

- Any idea when we can start work, Inspector?

- Not today, I'm afraid.

Mr. Hardwick, did you ever know a man

called Stanley Lockwood?

Be about your age, worked here in the factory

quite a few years ago now.

- Stanley Lockwood, no, I don't know.

Oh, yeah, Stan Lockwood, that, yeah, no, I do remember him!

Yeah, poor old Stan.

- What do you mean, poor old Stan?

- Well, he was a bit, how shall I put it?

A little bit soft in the head,

they had to let him go.

No, but, why do you ask?

- Young man who died here last night,

he was Stanley Lockwood's grandson.

- Stan's grandson.

Oh, wow.

Small world,

isn't it?

- I was working over here

when Sam Hardwick brought the trippers in.

I was busy, but I noticed one of them hanging around

as the others were going,

a young fellow in glasses.

Then, Mrs. Helen came in.

- [Helen] Hello?

It's you, isn't it?

- Oy, be careful!

I didn't hear what she said,

but the bloke jumped out of his skin.

I thought he was gonna fall in the tomatoes.

- Did you see which way he went?

- No, I didn't.

- Helen Plummer said she went straight back

to the office after her chat with Alex Hardwick.

But then, but no one can confirm her whereabouts

for the next hour.

- Well, she's only little, Scott, you're not suggesting

that Helen Plummer waylaid Dexter Lockwood,

somehow or other crushed him to death

and then manhandled him into the steriliser, are you Scott?

- No, but why didn't she tell us she'd spoke to him?

- Sam Hardwick took the visitors

to the finishing room that way.

So let's assume that Dexter Lockwood went this way.

(forklifts loudly rustling)

- Oy, that door's supposed to be locked.

- Can you switch that off, please sir?

- Scott, you take that end,

I'll take this.

(ominous music)

Scott!

- Blood?

- Relish.

(forklift loudly rustling)

(forklift loudly beeping)

George Bullard said that Lockwood was crushed to death

between two large corrugated surfaces.

It looks like we've found them.

- [Scott] You got any idea what happened here?

- It's nothing to do with me, mate.

- You working here yesterday?

- Yeah, my shift ended at two.

- Anyone take over from you?

- Nah, just me in here these days.

- Thank you.

(forklift loudly rustling)

(people softly chattering)

- I was looking for you.

- I was looking for you.

- [Helen] I think I know why.

- You recognised Dexter Lockwood on the factory floor.

- I'd rather not talk about it here.

Do you know the Two Brewers in Midsomer Market?

- Indeed I do, yeah.

- I'll meet you there at half six, if that's all right?

- Okay.

(soft music)

(bike softly chimes)

(ominous music)

- [Amelia] 100.

- [Mr. Judd] 50.

- 75.

- Done.

Five, 15, 35, and--

- Aha, just the person I wanted to see.

- Me?

- Please, finish whatever it is you're doing.

- 40 makes 75.

(bag softly zips) (register softly clicks)

- Well, Inspector, seems you have me bang to rights.

(wind chimes softly chiming)

- All clear.

- Thank you, Inspector.

(kettle softly whistling)

It's assumed as one gets older, one needs less.

All that matters is to be warm, fed,

and facing the television, it's all nonsense.

One needs cash as well.

One can never be too old for cash.

- Hence your arrangement with Mr. Judd.

- Indeed.

- How exactly did that work?

- Oh, simple,

I remove something

from Mr. Judd's shop without paying for it.

It's not shoplifting, you understand, I'm absentminded.

Now, Mr. Judd goes to Ralph

who pays for whatever it is I've taken,

and then I sell it back to Mr. Judd at trade price.

I don't make much, but every penny helps.

- I find it hard to believe

you're short of money, Mrs. Plummer.

- Oh, I don't have a bean.

I get a tiny allowance from Ralph,

and nothing at all from my shares

because the business is doing so badly.

- Did you ever know a man called Stanley Lockwood?

(loudly clatters)

Used to work at Plummer's with your late husband.

The man that was found dead at the factory

was his grandson, Dexter Lockwood.

- Will you take milk, Inspector?

- Now, now, please, don't try that on with me,

Mrs. Plummer, it's not going to work.

- I don't know what you mean.

- Your vague act.

Look, this is a murder investigation.

I get very touchy with people who do not cooperate.

- Yes,

I knew Stanley Lockwood.

He was handsome, funny, clever, and I loved him, Inspector.

And he loved me, Stanley was desperate

for me to marry him but...

(soft music) - But?

- He was a village boy,

so what did I do?

I married Maurice.

He was a Plummer, he was rich.

I married the wrong man, Inspector,

and I have been paying for it ever since.

- In what way?

- Maurice showed his true colours.

When we were married, he was a bully and a tyrant.

But I stuck with it, as one did in those days.

- And Stanley?

- Maurice was insanely jealous of Stanley,

and he couldn't bear having him around so he sacked him,

and I never saw him again, which was what Maurice wanted.

I read about Stanley's death in the local paper.

- Whoever's playing games at the bottom

of your garden, Mrs. Plummer, they know that story.

- Inspector, everyone in the village knows that story.

(door lightly clattering)

- Oh, it's you.

Mummy, where are my clean jumpers?

- I am not your housekeeper, Anselm!

- All right, keep your hair on.

Anyway, the quack's arrived to see you.

I parked her in the drawing-room.

(light cheerful piano music)

- Hello, I'm Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby.

- Oh, Dr. Sarah Stannard.

You must be investigating that poor chap at the factory.

- How do you do?

And you're here to see Mrs. Plummer?

- Yes, I pop in every three months or so,

give her the once-over.

- She's not physically ill, is she?

- No, fit as a fiddle,

at least she was the last time I saw her.

- What about mentally?

- Well, again, fine, if you ask me.

Otherwise I wouldn't have witness that EPA for Ralph.

- EPA?

- The Enduring Power of Attorney.

Ralph got her to sign one the last time I was here.

Said that he can take charge of her money

and so forth, if necessary.

Apparently, Anselm tried to get her to sign one,

and Ralph got wind of it.

Have you met Anselm?

- Indeed, I have.

- Well, I wouldn't let that one near my loose change.

- Mummy'll see you now, doc.

You're still here, Barnaby?

- Just leaving, Anselm.

(ominous music)

(tranquil orchestral music) (birds softly chirping)

- [Ralph] Now then, where are you today?

(bird wings loudly flapping) What the?

(tranquil orchestral music) (branches loudly crunching)

Anselm.

(tranquil orchestral music) (birds softly chirping)

(wall loudly thuds)

- I know you're in there, Ralph.

(door loudly creaks)

Ooh!

You have made it cosy.

- Please, Anselm, a pair of goshawks have taken up residence

in the wood and if you stomp about

like a demented-- - Let's have a look, then.

Goshawks, eh?

- Don't touch that, please!

- Do calm down, Ralph, you'll make yourself ill.

- Don't you think it'd be best if you went back to London?

- Ah, well, I would, like a shot,

only that policeman's asked me and Caro

to hang around for a bit.

- What for?

- We're suspects, I suppose.

In the gruesome slaughter of Lockwood Junior.

I'll tell you who my money's on, young Alex Hardwick.

- Oh, don't be ridiculous.

- No, he's a chippy little sod.

Oozing envy from every pore.

And as for his dreary parents, lovely old Sonia and Sam.

- They've been with the firm for years.

They have our interests at heart.

- Cobblers, they hate our guts.

- Heaven knows where we'd be without Alex.

- Yes, and look where he's got us.

We owe the bank millions, the domestic market has dried up.

Now the factory's closed down

because somebody shoved a stiff in the steriliser.

Not even you could find a silver lining in that little lot.

- Oh, they're back!

(birds softly cawing) The goshawks are back!

- Oh, dear God, I give up.

I absolutely bloody well give up.

- Anselm, please don't-- (door loudly slams)

(bird wings loudly flapping) Slam the door.

- Cobblers.

(patrons softly chattering) (man loudly laughing)

(soft country music) ♪ Let me baby, let me do ♪

- Oh, thank you.

I thought I recognised Dexter Lockwood on the guided tour

but when I went up to say hello,

he ran off, like a scalded cat.

So I thought maybe it wasn't him after all.

And then it turns out it was.

Maybe it was the glasses.

I hadn't seen him wearing glasses before, you see.

And I should have told you, I know,

but I didn't want to talk about it in front of the family.

- Why not?

- Because I'd had some meetings

with the Fieldway Foods people.

I was hoping I could hand write a compromise

that would save the firm without having to sell it outright.

- And what happened?

- Well, 'bout a month ago, suddenly, everything went quiet.

I phoned Dexter to ask him what was going on.

- And?

- Well, he didn't return my calls.

Isn't that your sergeant?

♪ Let me hear you say you love me ♪

- [Caro] Red wine.

♪ That you're always thinkin' of me ♪

- Can I get a glass of red wine please, and a bottle--

- Did you know about Dexter's grandfather

and his connection with Amelia?

- No, not until you told me about it.

Mind you that's typical of the Plummers.

Keep everything in the family.

- Well, well, Miss Goody Two Shoes

out boozing with a copper.

- [Scott] You don't like her very much, do you?

- Oh, she's such a teacher's pet.

When she married Ralph and started working at the factory,

she made a point of doing every job

in the place, talk about sucking up.

- What do you mean every job?

- Oh, you know, she worked on the production line

and the bottling plant, you name it, she did it, silly--

- She used to work in the warehouse?

- Yes, I think she did.

And nobody was the slightest bit impressed.

Anyway, we're here to talk about my book, not her.

- Yeah, what's the book about again?

- It's about at talented, sensitive woman struggling

to break free from her philistine materialistic family.

- Right.

Where does the policeman come into it?

- That's what we're here to find out.

- When Helen worked in the warehouse,

did she used to drive a forklift?

- Is that why you're here?

To pump me about the damn firm?

- Did she, Caro?

- Well, of course she did!

There's not much else to do in a warehouse, is there?

- Why do you think Dexter didn't return your calls?

- I don't know, Plummers may be making a loss,

but the name, the brand's still worth something.

- Not the secret recipe.

- No. - Okay.

- [Caro] Philistine.

(patrons chuckling and chattering)

- It's mostly sugar and vinegar, anyway.

The other ingredients just look good on a label.

Tomatoes, onion, garlic--

- Tamarind, ginger, Scotch bonnet, cinnamon.

- You've done your homework, I'm impressed.

- My father always had Plummer's on his sandwiches everyday.

I used to read the label, I thought it was so exotic.

And I was very disappointed when I found out

that Scotch bonnet was a sort of pepper,

and not a Celtic hat.

♪ Make me miss you so much ♪

- Oh, I better go and see how Ralph is getting on.

There's a pair of goshawks in Albert Woods

so he's taken to sleeping in the hide.

- Well, that must be, inconvenient.

(soft country music)

Where is Albert Wood?

- Across from Plummer House,

so, it's not as though he's miles away.

♪ All I want is this man in my life ♪

Well, thank you for the drink, Inspector.

I enjoyed it.

- Me too.

♪ Someone like you ♪

Helen, I wanted to ask you about the EPA

that Amelia signed in Ralph's favour.

- The what?

- Enduring Power of Attorney.

- I don't know anything about it, I'm afraid.

As I said, the Plummers keep family matters to themselves.

- Okay, thank you.

- Goodnight. - Goodnight.

- [Helen] Goodnight.

- [Barnaby] How was your research then, Scott?

- It was quite interesting, sir.

How was yours?

- Helen--

- Helen?

- Helen, didn't know about the connection

between Lockwood and Amelia.

She didn't know about the Enduring Power of Attorney either.

- Do you believe her?

- Maybe, yeah.

- Well, here's the thing, sir,

Helen Plummer used to work in the warehouse.

Apparently, the lady can drive a forklift.

- Yeah, but why would Helen run down Dexter

with a forklift, he was trying

to help her bail out Plummers only.

- Just keeping an open mind, sir.

- You're suggesting I'm not?

- No, sir.

(softly chuckles)

- Oh, hey, Scott,

apparently, Ralph does his bird-watching in the wood

across from Plummer House.

I think tomorrow, Scott, we should pay Ralph Plummer a visit

in his natural habitat.

- There's a colour called Oyster,

I think would go well with the blue carpet.

- Oyster?

Since when has oyster been a colour?

- It's sort of a grey, Tom.

- Oh, grey I've heard of, yeah.

- Well, I know it's boring.

But we can't all spend our evenings boozing

with glamorous murderers.

- You're as bad as Scott, you.

Helen-- - Helen?

- Helen Plummer is not the only suspect.

- Bright, attractive, hardworking,

she must be guilty of something.

- Who said she was attractive?

- You, I could hear it in your voice.

- What is this?

- Do you know, it's been so long

since I've cooked it, I can't remember.

Here, this might help.

- So Ralph Plummer gets his mum

to sign the Power of Attorney thing,

and tries to freak her out with a Hanging Man trick?

- Yes, the idea being that then,

he can take over running of her estate.

There's one problem with that theory, however.

- Which is?

- He doesn't have an estate.

Apart from her shares in the family firm,

and where the firm's concerned,

she does exactly what Ralph tells her to anyway.

- [Scott] There it is.

- Yeah, you have a look round, Scott,

while I chat to him.

See if you can find the Hanging Man.

(door loudly knocking)

- Go away, Anselm!

- It's Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby, Mr. Plummer.

May I have a word?

- Well, I, I'd rather see you at the office, Inspector.

- Yes, so would I.

Problem is, Mr. Plummer, you're never there.

- A pair of goshawks nested in the wood last summer.

I'm very keen they should do so again next summer.

I assume you've never seen a goshawk on the wing, Inspector?

- No, don't think I have.

- No, no, you'd remember if you had.

They're thrilling birds in flight.

To see a goshawk fly and speed

through a dense wood like this,

the agility, the anticipation borders on the supernatural.

So unlike us blundering around down here.

- Is that what you think I'm doing, Mr. Plummer,

blundering around?

- Aren't we all?

Did you get on with your father, Inspector?

- Yes, on the whole, yes.

- Well, I didn't, in my father's eyes,

I was always blundering around.

Trouble is he was right, most of the time.

But when I'm here watching the goshawks--

(something softly clinking)

What was that?

- It's probably my sergeant, blundering around.

(toilet water loudly plunging)

- Morning, Mr. Plummer.

- I wanted to ask you, Mr. Plummer,

about the Enduring Power of Attorney your mother signed.

- Why do you want to know about that?

- Well, someone's gone to great lengths

to frighten your mother, and I'm curious to know why.

- Well, she signed the papers, three months ago.

Pressure was being applied on her from other quarters so I--

- You mean Anselm?

- Well, yes, actually.

Though he meant no harm, I'm sure.

Anselm's well-intentioned, really.

So I felt that I ought to--

- Take precautions?

- Yes, yes, quite, I didn't want to upset Mummy.

Or Anselm, for that matter.

I do try not to upset people, Inspector,

but it's so difficult.

The family, the employees, the bank.

There's so many of them and they're all so, so easily upset.

- Thank you, Mr. Plummer.

Which is the way to Plummer House from here?

- That way.

Please don't repeat what I said about Anselm.

(birds chirping and hooting)

- There must have been two of 'em, Scott.

One keeping watch with the other hoisting

and lowering the dummy.

- Sir,

indigestion tablets.

- Dexter Lockwood had an ulcer.

His stomach was full of antacids.

- That couldn't have been Dexter, sir.

Last time Amelia Plummer saw the Hanging Man

was the day after Dexter was killed.

- Well, if Dexter Lockwood didn't come,

maybe his accomplice had to do it on his own.

- And made a mess of it.

She did say, didn't she, that the last time she saw it,

the body didn't disappear straight away.

- Time for another chat with Lockwood senior.

Now there's a man who really hates the Plummers.

- Come to tell me who's killed my son, have you?

- I'm afraid not, Mr. Lockwood.

We wondered if we could look at Dexter's room.

[Scott] Is that your son's car in the driveway, sir?

- Yes.

- You got the keys?

- No, I haven't.

- Would it be all right if we were

to try this, Mr. Lockwood?

- If you must.

- Thank you.

- Now, if we could, if you could show me the room.

- In here.

That's his office.

What are you looking for exactly?

- Anything that may tell us why your son,

why your son was killed, Mr. Lockwood.

(car lock softly beeping) - You've run out

of ideas, haven't you?

(ominous music)

- [Barnaby] May I?

- Be my guest. - Thank you.

(computer softly beeps)

(ominous music)

(computer softly beeps)

Don't suppose you know the password to Dexter's computer?

- No, I don't.

- I don't suppose you know

where that missing file is either, do you?

(computer softly beeps)

- No, I don't.

(climaxing music)

- What puzzles me, Mr. Lockwood,

is why you and your son were down in Albert Wood trying

to frighten the living daylights

out of poor old Mrs. Plummer.

- Poor old Mrs. Plummer, don't make me laugh.

- You don't deny it, then?

- I don't know what you're talking about.

And that thing, kids must have out that in the bin.

- What about the file, Mr. Lockwood?

Who put this in the bin?

- Why are you interrogating me?

It was my son who was killed.

- Yes, indeed it was, Mr. Lockwood.

And I think I'm beginning to understand the reason why.

An Enduring Power of Attorney.

They seem to be all the rage in these parts, don't they?

Signed by Amelia Plummer,

giving full power of Attorney to Dexter Lockwood,

if she's unable to administer her estate herself.

- Dated a month ago, roundabout the time

Amelia Plummer started seeing the Hanging Man.

You don't like her very much, do you, Mr. Lockwood?

- I'm not fond of the Plummers full stop.

- Not fond?

Your son goes missing and what do you do?

You go down to Albert Wood and hold that thing up a tree

to frighten an old lady.

- Dexter said we had to rattle her good and proper

on the day of the AGM!

- That's right, drive her mad

and activate the Power of Attorney.

- Now you listen to me, Barnaby--

- No, you listen to me, Mr. Lockwood.

I am trying to find out who killed your son

and all I'm getting from you is lies, evasions,

and an attitude that does your son no credit at all.

Now, you start being straight with me

or I will take you down to Causton Station

and charge you with conspiring

to pervert the course of justice.

- Not to mention coercing the old girl into signing this.

- Coercing, she didn't need coercing.

(ominous music)

- And why was that, Mr. Lockwood?

- It was the letters.

- What letters?

- Dexter Lockwood came to me about a month ago.

He said he'd found some letters

that I had written to his grandfather

and would I like them back.

I said yes, of course.

I don't have any of the letters that Stanley wrote to me.

Maurice found them and burned them.

- Mrs. Plummer, do you recognise this document?

- Oh! (softly gasps)

(ominous music)

- Are you all right, Mrs. Plummer?

- [Amelia] Yes, thank you.

- You're sure? - Yes.

Of course, I recognise it.

That's why I lied about seeing Dexter.

I feel so guilty about it.

- Why did you sign it, Mrs. Plummer?

- Dexter said Helen and Ralph were planning

to sell Plummer's to Fieldway Foods, he said--

- What, what did Dexter say?

- He said the firm was in terrible debt.

He was worried that once the deal went through

and all the debts were paid,

there would be nothing left for me,

and I would be shut away in some dreadful nursing home.

- And you believed him?

- I love my children, but I'm under no illusions about them.

They're all of them, in their separate ways,

totally unreliable.

I'm afraid the picture Dexter painted

was all too believable.

He was sweet, like his grandfather.

It was as if Stanley had come back to me.

- This is dated a month ago.

Can you remember, Mrs. Plummer,

when you first saw the Hanging Man?

- Well, it was just after my birthday, so...

(soft music)

A month ago.

- Sorry, Mrs. Plummer.

- Well, at least we've got a motive now, Scott.

Somebody must have found out that she signed over

the Power of Attorney to Dexter Lockwood.

Question is, who?

- Well, none of the Plummers would have been

particularly impressed, sir.

- [Barnaby] I don't suppose they would.

Before we do anything else, I want to find out

what Dexter's had on his computer, start with that.

- Helen Plummer was the one who had all the dealings

with Dexter, wasn't she, sir?

- Open mind, Scott.

- Sir.

(door softly clicks)

- Those coppers are looking very bright-eyed

and bushy-tailed suddenly.

- Perhaps they're onto you, Anselm.

- What do you mean?

- You were trying to steal the recipe

for Dexter Lockwood, weren't you?

- Nonsense.

- It's no good lying, Anselm, he told me.

- He told you?

You mean you knew him?

- Yes, he asked me out.

Wanted to know all about who owns shares and so on.

Said he'd get me on the Fieldway board if I helped him.

- Me too, two-faced little--

- Then about a month ago, he stopped calling me.

- Me too.

- Nobody does that to me.

- Bloody hell, Caro.

- Best not tell anyone.

- I won't if you won't.

- Anyway, I didn't kill him, did you?

- Certainly not.

- [Joyce] That's how they make their money.

- What do you mean?

- You can never get it all out of the jar,

they do it on purpose.

- It's congealed, look.

- Can't the glamorous Mrs. Plummer

give you some on the house?

- That might be construed as a bribe, Joyce.

- You haven't noticed, have you?

- Noticed what?

- My new reading glasses.

- Yes.

They're very, um...

(ominous music)

- [Joyce] They're very what?

Very sexy?

Very scary?

Give me a clue.

- Glasses.

What happened to the glasses?

Glasses, Scott.

- Sir?

- Helen Plummer said that she'd never seen

Dexter Lockwood wearing glasses before.

What became of the glasses, Scott?

- Well, they weren't in the incinerator, sir,

and the SOCO boys have been

through every inch of the factory.

- Whoever killed Dexter Lockwood was hoping

to get the body off the premises during the night.

- They probably reckoning on the security guard sleeping

through his shift as usual.

- But in the middle of the night,

Anselm turns up, creating mayhem, and after he's gone,

the security guard started doing his job properly for once,

patrolling the factory.

- So they make do with hiding the body in the steriliser.

- Maybe the glasses fell off while he was being killed.

- Or when the body was being moved?

- Yeah, so you're moving the body, glasses come off,

you bend down, you pick 'em up--

- And you put 'em in your pocket.

- And you put them in the pocket

of the white coat you have to wear on the factory floor.

And in the general panic,

you forget all about them.

- So we check all the white coats,

unless they've already gone to the laundry.

- Let's ask Sonia Hardwick, she's bound to know.

- Come on, sir, we tell Sonia,

it'll be all over Little Upton in ten minutes.

- Well, that's the last thing we want, isn't it?

- Oh, yeah.

(ominous music)

(something loudly crashes)

(ominous music)

- Hello?

Is somebody in there?

Is anybody here?

Hello?

Hey, hey!

Hey!

Hello? (intense jazz piano)

Let me out of here, hey, hello?

- I told you not to turn the lights on, Alex.

Oh, dear.

(intense jazz piano)

(loudly grunts) Leave him alone!

Sam, Help!

Leave him alone, Sam!

- Get off him, leave him, leave him be!

- Get off! - Sir.

- That's enough, all of you, stop!

Well, well.

- He should never have come here.

Trying to muscle in on other people's lives.

- Shut up, Alex. (sirens softly howling)

Wasn't our fault the lad died, I swear.

It was a terrible accident.

(ominous music)

- Did you get them?

- Yes.

Yes, I've got them.

Mr. Plummer, the Hardwicks have been taken

to Causton Police Station.

I want to talk to you before I charge them.

- They were only trying to help, Inspector.

- Oh, I'm sure they were.

They've always been a tower of strength,

the Hardwicks, haven't they?

- Yes, they have.

- And when Stanley Lockwood was hanged,

I imagine they rallied around then too.

- Of course.

- Fact, the whole Hardwick clan came out of that very well.

Promotion, company housing,

their son, Alex, becomes manager.

- He's a very promising young man.

- Until Dexter Lockwood turned up,

and a thorn in the flesh just like his grandfather.

- Yes.

- Darling, you don't have to tell them anything.

- It's all right, Helen.

I might as well get it over with.

I knew that Dexter Lockwood had approached various members

of the family, but when he got Mummy

to sign the Power of Attorney, that was the last straw.

- That must have made you very angry.

- Of course it did.

Of all the underhand, devious--

- It superseded the one Amelia signed in your favour.

- Yes, and then when Mummy started seeing men hanging

from the trees, I knew what was going on, oh, yes.

- Ralph, don't say anymore.

- I told Dexter Lockwood that I'd changed my mind.

I told him I wanted to do a deal with Fieldway Foods.

He said he'd have to look around the factory first.

He'd never set foot in the place before, obviously.

I said that would be difficult.

What if he were recognised?

It might start tongues wagging.

And he suggested joining one of our guided tours.

- And that suited you perfectly.

- Indeed.

- Enjoy the tour, ladies and gentlemen.

AGM's due to start any minute.

I better put my skates on.

They'll be wanting their tea and biscuits.

- [Sam's Voice] All right, love.

- The arrangement was that I'd meet him in the warehouse.

I'd made sure the side door was left unlocked.

Once he was in the warehouse, I,

I cornered him and ran him down with a forklift.

- Oh, Ralph.

- I waited until everyone had gone home, then I...

I cleaned up as best I could.

Then I dragged Lockwood to the main doors to the warehouse.

That's when his glasses fell off.

I picked them up and

put them in my pocket.

(door loudly clatters)

My plan was to leave him by the doors

and then somehow try to get him

into one of the delivery vans.

Became obvious that wasn't gonna work.

Thanks to Anselm, the security guard started

doing his job for once.

I realised I wasn't going to get the,

the body off the premises so I, well, I--

- Stripped Dexter Lockwood

and shoved him into the steriliser.

- Yes, yes that's right.

He was covered in relish.

- And you did this all by yourself?

- Of course.

Well, there you are, Inspector.

You have your confession, that's the end of it.

- I'm afraid not, Mr. Plummer,

'cause I don't believe a word of that.

Will you stand up, please?

Scott, the coat.

- Sir. - You try that on, please.

(ominous music)

Dexter Lockwood's glasses, they weren't in your coat.

They were in your wife's.

You put your coat on the wrong peg, didn't you?

And the fingerprints on the glasses, Helen,

they'll be yours.

You recognised Dexter Lockwood

on the factory floor, didn't you?

- Hello?

It is you, isn't it?

- [Mr. Milner's Voice] Oy, careful!

- Your husband can't have told you

about his meeting with Dexter Lockwood

so you didn't know what he was up to.

(ominous music)

So you followed him into the warehouse.

- [Dexter's Voice] Funny place for a meeting.

- I'm sick of your devious tricks, do you understand?

You don't go near my mother again, ever!

- You saw them talking together,

and that is when you decided to kill Dexter Lockwood.

- [Ralph's Voice] And I want the papers back,

I want them back now, now!

(ominous music)

- Can't we go somewhere a little quieter?

Hey, hey!

Stop!

Stop, hey!

Stop!

Hey!

Stop! (screams)

(glasses loudly crushing)

- All the rest happened pretty much

as you described it, Mr. Plummer.

Except it wasn't you who picked up the glasses, was it?

It was your wife.

(door loudly clatters)

(ominous music)

So then, you had to think of a place to hide the body

before you could get it out of the factory.

I wonder who thought of the steriliser?

- I did.

(door loudly clatters)

(ominous music)

As usual, I was the only one thinking straight.

I stripped him,

and dragged him to the boiling room.

Then we heard Keith Carter coming back.

(ominous music)

(door loudly clatters)

- The question is why did your wife kill Dexter Lockwood

in such a reckless fashion, Mr. Plummer?

- Because of what he did to my mother, of course.

And because,

she knew that I wasn't up to the job myself.

- No, Mr. Plummer.

Your wife killed Dexter Lockwood

so he couldn't tell you about this.

- [Ralph] What is it?

- This is a report prepared by Dexter Lockwood

on the Plummer's assets.

If you look here, you'll see that the factory itself, well,

that's not really valued very highly at all.

The property in Little Upton,

the houses where the employees live,

that's worth quite a bit.

But the real jewel of the crown, sir,

is Albert Wood.

- Albert Wood?

- Perhaps you didn't know, sir,

Albert Wood's been reclassified as no longer Green Belt.

Your wife and Dexter Lockwood,

they hired a consultant to assess the likelihood

of getting planning permission, you can read there,

he thought there was a very good chance indeed.

- That wood's big enough to build a small town on.

- Large fortune.

- Build houses?

In Albert Wood?

- It would have saved the firm, Ralph.

That's all care about, I promise you.

- But what about the birds?

- Oh to hell with the birds!

Someone had to do something.

- I saw that the lights were up.

- It's all right, Mummy, go back to bed.

- But what's going on?

It's the middle of the night.

- I'll tell you tomorrow, Mummy.

- And where's Maurice?

He'll have something to say about this.

(ominous music) (wind chimes softly chiming)

- I'll take you back to the cottage, shall I?

- Who are you?

- It's Ralph, Mummy.

Your son.

- Of course it is.

I'm going to bed, and so should all of you.

It's far too late to be gallivanting around.

(soft music)

(police radio muffling)

- [Officer] Go on, get your head down.

- [Anselm] I suppose this means I'm in charge.

- [Caro] It means we're in charge.

- What do you know about running a factory?

- What do you know about running a factory?

- Hell's bells, Caro, does this mean

we'll actually have to work?

- Don't say it, Scott.

- I told you so.

- Did you get a new blue carpet?

- No.

- What about the, what was it, the oyster paint?

- No.

- Good.

Not sure that was gonna work.

- Well, I'm glad to see you taking an interest at last.

I bought you a new jar of this.

- Oh, thank you.

But you shouldn't have bothered.

- I thought it was your favourite.

- Well, it was, but it isn't anymore.

I think they changed the recipe.

(soft music)

Sorry.

(chainsaw loudly rumbling)

(birds softly clucking)

(spooky orchestral music)