I'll show him.
An absolute disgrace.
See how he likes it when no one turns up.
This will teach him.
Hi.
They've been at it all morning. It's killing my business.
So I've seen. They're all over the village.
Blue or gray?
I prefer the gray.
Hmm.
Blue it is, then.
- Brad, hi. How are you? - Good, good.
- Good to see you. - Thanks for coming.
Did Brad rob a jeweler's?
I'd have stolen the crown jewels
to get Frankie to say yes.
What's with your parents?
They can't even stretch to real champagne?
Well, this is a step up for them.
I was expecting tap water.
- Champagne? - Cordelia, hi.
I'm not drinking this.
It's not-- It's not real champagne.
I don't know what you're smiling about.
The village have voted to boycott our flower festival.
Fear not, my dear.
Your brilliant husband has it all in hand.
- What does that mean? - Mm.
Oh, what have you done now?
There's nothing else?
No, unfortunately not.
Oh, they're beautiful.
Thank you, Kimonie.
I was hoping you might hire me
to do the flowers on your big day.
- Oh, I-- - Yeah,
we're not really making any clear-cut decisions yet.
- It's good to see you. - Are you all right?
I think I'm getting a cold.
Thought you'd be over the moon for Frankie.
This is me being over the moon.
Who the hell is that?
Yes.
It's amazing, isn't it?
My mum used to tell me about this place.
Why have you stopped?
Me and the others can start setting up.
Ness, you've got to come and say hello.
I can't do this on my own.
You're the one who couldn't wait to come here, not me.
Come on, guys.
Noah, I presume.
How shall we handle this?
Like Livingstone and Stanley?
It's-- It's a bigger moment than that.
Oh. Oh! Oh. Yes.
Um, girls, I want you to meet your uncle.
- We don't have an uncle. - What on earth is going on?
Myrtle, this is my half-brother, Noah.
And suffice to say, until recently,
neither of us knew the other existed.
Hi.
Well, it's great to meet you all.
I didn't want to turn up empty-handed.
Oh. That's, um...
That's lovely. Uh...
Time starts now, as they say.
Oh, I see.
Oh!
Cuckoo! - Wow!
Come on, everyone, let's get a photo of you all by the clock.
Well, it's a big moment.
Old family, new family.
Family of the future.
- I'm not family. - Just smile and say cheese.
All right.
Cuckoo.
Lovely. Hang on.
We need the happy couple in the middle.
Come on.
- Am I going to get my share? - You have your reward.
You're marrying my daughter.
That's not what we agreed, Alan.
It's Sir Alan to you.
Oh, very nice.
That's it. Well done, everyone.
I thought I was going to build this.
Yeah, you did think that.
And then I decided it needed doing properly.
As you are well aware,
my grandfather was a master carpenter.
And as a carpenter, you make a brilliant detective.
- Oh, Winter. - Sir.
Oh. What are you building?
Well, if I do it, it's going to be an arbor.
And if John does it--
Presumably there's a reason you're here this early.
- This way, sir. - Thank you.
Ah, I thought it'd be this place.
I almost came here last year.
They have an annual flower festival.
I didn't know you were into horticulture, Winter.
Well, I'm not, but this girl I was seeing was.
And when you say you almost came here?
Well, when she took one look at my houseplants,
she decided that I wasn't the one for her.
Apparently, I put the wrong perennials next
to each other in the same pot.
Small margins, Winter.
How am I supposed to know that some plants don't get on?
Looks like more police are arriving.
Do you think I should go up there?
- And do what? - I don't actually know.
I mean, how do brothers brother?
Sir.
Where'd you get to last night?
I woke up and you weren't there.
I, uh-- I had a nightmare.
I took a walk to calm down.
Look, if your brother needs you, he will tell you.
Hello.
Here's a new one for you.
The poor fellow was pecked to death.
Pecked?
We didn't realize it was the murder weapon
until it struck the hour and stabbed one of my SOCOs.
He's lucky he's tall. Well, taller than the victim.
Watch this.
Um, better stand back first.
Further.
Well, I've seen everything now.
The victim's name was Brad Furbank, aged 29.
Time of death?
Judging from his lividity and rigor,
I'd say he'd been dead at least five hours.
Well, that will put it about 3:00 this morning.
Who found him?
The lady at the house, Myrtle Bruce.
She lives here with her husband, Sir Alan.
Where was the clock hanging?
It was level with that ghoulish portrait.
The cuckoo stabbed Brad, and he came tumbling down the stairs.
It seems they were right all along.
Time is indeed the enemy.
I couldn't believe it.
Brad was just lying at the foot of the stairs.
What time was this?
Probably about 7:00.
You hadn't heard anything before that?
Say around 3:00 this morning?
I had a bit too much to drink last night,
so I was out like a light.
Don't look at me.
I tend to sleep the sleep of the just.
Quite. Well, tell me about, uh, Brad.
Presumably he lived here with you?
Oh, goodness, no.
He's been staying at the Raging Stag.
It's a pub in the village.
Would either of you know
why he came here in the middle of the night?
I hadn't a clue what Brad was doing here.
Presumably he was coming to see you.
He knew I was out last night with my friends,
carrying on the celebrations.
It was our-- It was our engagement party yesterday.
It's all right. I'm here.
And when did you get back to Godley Manor?
I didn't.
My friends and I crashed at Cordelia's flat.
I'm sorry, I can't believe this. - I'm sorry.
I just have a few more questions.
When did you last see Brad?
Yesterday evening
before I left with my friends.
That was around 9:00, I think.
And did anything untoward happen before then?
Does the arrival of an uncle we never knew we had qualify?
The clock was a gift.
From a brother-in-law I didn't know I had.
- It's a long story. - I'd still like to hear it.
Well, my father, Sir Percival Bruce,
sired Noah out of wedlock.
- Noah? - Noah Conoboy.
Now, I had no idea he existed
until the family solicitor told me at my father's funeral.
Was this recently?
Uh, it was about six weeks ago.
So I asked Brad to search for him.
He's very good at the Internet.
Well, was.
So Noah turned up with the clock.
Yes. He said that he'd made it especially for the occasion.
Shall I save you some time?
The only reason Noah's here is to claim his share.
Oh, so you think Sir Alan was the intended target?
A child of five could tell you that.
So off you trot and go and arrest Noah.
He'll be outside, contaminating our grounds.
What my darling wife means is that
Noah's arrived with his troupe.
They put on oldy worldy woodworking festivals.
Very popular, apparently. Brings people from far and wide.
So we don't need some limp flower festival
when we can replace it with something much more popular.
- Did Brad work in the village? - He could work anywhere.
He was in Bitcoin. He was doing really well.
Always on his phone checking the markets.
So he didn't have an argument with someone
in Godley Buzzard, say.
Oh, Brad? Never. He was really popular.
My sister can vouch for that.
He was lovely. Never seen Frankie as happy.
Thank you.
You know, I-I nearly came to the flower festival last year.
Would have been a waste of time.
It was rained off. Worst thunderstorm in decades.
Destroyed all the flower beds.
It was an absolute disaster.
Well, hopefully it'll be different this year.
No chance. The village have boycotted it.
Our magnanimous father decided to charge double this year,
which made a lot of people very angry.
We're looking for a Noah Conoboy.
That would be me.
I saw you earlier, but you were, um, a bit taller.
Oh. Yeah.
Yeah. No, I get that a lot.
Sorry. I'm Nessie. Nessie Copeland.
What's happening up at the house?
I'm afraid we have reason to believe that,
uh, Brad Furbank was murdered last night.
Murdered?
Are you serious? - That's awful.
And what can you tell us about the cuckoo clock?
It tells the time. What else is there to say?
- Did you build it yourself? - I craft everything myself.
Sorry, why are you asking about a cuckoo clock?
Its spring had been tightened to a-- a murderous degree.
A sharp piece of metal had been attached to the cuckoo's beak.
The second it chimed, it sprang out.
And I'm sure you can work out the rest.
Everyone saw the clock yesterday.
There wasn't anything attached to the beak.
Um, there was a woman taking photos that'll prove it.
Uh, I think she was called Kimonie.
Runs the flower shop in the village.
This has nothing to do with Noah.
Did either of you notice anything off
at the engagement party?
I wasn't there.
I was here with the others setting up.
There's a lot to do.
Alan wants me to put on a festival.
He couldn't get me here quick enough.
Did you know your father owned all of this?
I was born in the village.
It wasn't long before my mother upped sticks.
But she often told me about this place.
Is that your way of saying that you did know?
When you put it like that, I guess it is.
Well, sir, Noah could have been trying to kill Sir Alan,
because there's obviously something to gain.
I can see it now. He sneaks back up to the house,
rigs the clock, and then potentially inherits the lot.
But how would he know Sir Alan was going to get so close to it
and at the exact time?
Fleur.
- It's called a dibbler. - Say that again?
Gardeners use it to make holes in the ground.
- Thanks as ever, Fleur. - I'm still talking.
The so-called emeralds in its eyes are paste
and the beak is gold plate.
May look $1 million, but it's worth less than a real cuckoo.
Well, the piece of metal attached to the beak
is called a dibbler.
And what's a dibbler when it's at home?
If you'd bothered looking after your houseplants, Winter,
you would know that a dibbler is a tool that gardeners use.
And now murderers, apparently.
Sorry, mate, we don't need the extra kegs.
Blame the village for boycotting the flower festival.
I'm not going to shift a tenth of what I normally do
this time of year.
Sorry, pal.
Mr. Solanki.
Were you aware that Brad had gone up to Godley Manor
in the early hours of this morning?
Did he? I didn't know.
When was the last time you saw him?
Last night, just before I locked up.
Did you notice anything unusual at the engagement party?
Not really, no.
Not unless you count that moment with Kimonie.
- Kimonie? - Kimonie Bullitt.
Brad told her not to do the flowers for the wedding
and she seemed quite annoyed, but not murderously so.
And did you see the clock being hung on the wall?
Everyone saw it. It was a work of art.
Wish I had skills like that.
I can barely put up a shelf.
Should have listened to my mother and done a course or--
Thank you, Mr. Solanki.
My team will obviously need access to Brad's room.
Why? He wasn't killed here.
We need to go through Brad's things.
And we're still to locate his phone, for one thing.
I see.
- Problem? - No, no, not at all.
There must have been a sale on at the mirror shop.
Well, we've got a charger,
but still no sign of a phone.
Sounds to me like someone doesn't want it to be found.
- Dr. Perkins. - Hay fever.
I know the feeling.
Within five yards of a mustard plant.
Diamond.
Look real this time. - That's probably Frankie's.
Brad liked to splash out on her.
Please remove yourself, Mr. Solanki.
I've never seen anything like this.
Well, not for real. There's--
My mum wanted me to do a course in forensics.
Will you be done soon?
I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person, Mr. Solanki.
Fleur.
We're done.
For now.
What are you doing?
Kimonie, it's me.
Being you doesn't exonerate you, Sylvia.
Brad's just been murdered, for goodness sake.
Surely you can be a bit lenient. I'm in shock.
Then you shouldn't be out driving in the first place.
This isn't just a speeding offense.
It's a whole lot more than that.
And you know it.
Is this you for the rest of your life now?
Punishing drivers day and night?
I'm closed for the day.
Kimonie Bullitt, I take it.
The boycott of the flower festival
can't be helping business.
The village are furious with Sir Alan.
He tried to turn a quaint tradition
into a corporate cash grab.
I heard he doubled the entrance fee.
Almost tripled it
if you include having to pay for parking.
Oh, which reminds me,
I need to make a note of Sylvia's speeding offense.
I send them in every Monday first thing.
Noah Conoboy said you took some photos
that included the cuckoo clock.
Uh...
Ah.
I'll need you to e-mail that to me.
Oh. Of course.
Usually this time of year,
there's a queue all the way from the green to get in here.
You can't have been happy with Sir Alan.
That's an understatement.
Yet still, you went to the engagement party.
Myrtle and I have been friends for decades.
I could hardly let her down on Frankie's big day.
Have you sold any of these lately?
Who needs a dibbler when there's no flower festival?
Thanks to Sir Alan, I couldn't give them away right now.
I know a very good jeweler if you want to sell that ring.
How could you be so thoughtless?
There's no need to bite my head off.
We're all trying to process what happened.
It's not just you, Frankie. It's a big loss for us as well.
This is my pain, not yours.
Don't you dare try and hijack it.
Look, why don't we try to concentrate on the positives?
We've got this wonderful festival of wood thanks to Noah.
And we'll have tons of people streaming in.
And that's mainly down to Brad, God rest his soul.
My word, these people.
No one's going to pay to see a freak show.
Au contraire, my dear.
It will be the height of popularity.
We were in the middle of talking.
I'm sorry, dear, I thought you'd said your piece.
Why did it have to be Brad
that got killed and not one of you?
Hello.
Oh, hello again. How can I help?
I do flowers for all occasions. - A good thing too,
now we've got a funeral coming up.
- Oh, God. I didn't think. - Don't worry, I'm teasing.
I'm not here about flowers.
A little birdie told me you're the head of the village council.
Well, someone's got to keep this place in order.
Perfect.
Because I need to know about the grounds at Godley Manor.
Only we were due to put on a festival of wood
at Badger's Drift a few weeks back,
but the village voted against it,
even though we were holding our event on private land.
Well, there are a few archaic laws floating around.
Alan got me here so quickly I did have a chance to check.
You're-- You're putting on a festival at the manor?
He said it was to replace a flower day or something.
I see.
He thinks he could become a permanent thing if it goes well,
which it always does.
- Noah. - Sweetheart.
Can we get back now?
Yes, yes.
Be an angel and find out about those bylaws.
Sure.
Call me back when you get this.
I'm not 100%, but you will not believe who I just saw.
I'm getting bad vibes about this place.
I think we should pack up and go.
And leave my brother at his lowest ebb?
You know why you're really here.
He's using you.
His flower festival isn't happening
and he needed something to take its place.
I wasn't born yesterday, Ness.
And you're happy to be used?
Credit me with some brains.
I want something out of this as well.
Look around.
I'm owed half of this.
Noah, you promised me.
You said it would be two or three days at the most.
That was before we got here.
Well, I'm not staying here a second longer than I have to.
What's got into you?
As someone who grew up around here,
I thought he'd enjoy being back.
I hate it here.
What? Why would you say that?
After this weekend,
we are leaving and we are never coming back.
I mean it, Noah.
Call me back when you get this.
I'm not 100%, but you will not believe who I just saw.
Kimonie, I just got your message.
Oh, my God.
Are you sure it's her?
I can't, I just can't.
Not while there's breath in my body.
You're not working today?
Ah, blame Winter for running late.
Did you know he got dumped last year
because he planted some flowers the wrong way?
It's the little things in life, John.
You've got to get them just right.
But don't worry. You're getting there.
So what do you think so far? Would Granddad approve?
Well, if you don't mind me saying, it looks a bit lopsided.
Very funny.
Oh, I see where you've been going wrong here.
Look, you've had this upside-down.
You tear that and you're in big trouble.
Oh, Paddy! Paddy! Oh, Paddy.
Ow!
It's all right. I can dry it off.
Look, I will finish that off as soon as I get a moment.
Did I mention carpentry is in my genes?
I'll just grab the first aid box.
Tell me what's wrong with this picture, Winter.
The cuckoo is the only one that's smiling.
Mm-hmm.
Look at the clock.
It's not level with the top of the painting.
Fleur said it was level with Sir Alan's portrait,
but here it's at least four inches lower.
So someone moved it.
But look who is level with the portrait.
- Brad. - Which most likely means
he was the intended target after all.
Well, talking of Brad, sir, here's a strange one.
Tech managed to get into his laptop,
but as far as they could tell,
he wasn't doing anything in Bitcoin.
The truth is, he barely had a penny to his name.
Then how did he pay for Frankie's engagement ring?
Well, there's no sign of it
in his accounts or credit card statements.
Also, we heard back from his mobile phone provider,
and they confirmed that his phone was switched off
at the time of the murder.
Presumably they sent over a record
of his recent calls and texts.
Yeah. Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary.
Thanks.
- Here you go. - Also, sir, there is this.
This was found under Brad's bed at the pub.
Now, I presume that it belongs to Frankie,
but I think it's worth checking.
Hmm.
Did anything come back on Kimonie Bullitt?
Uh, yes. I found out that her husband was killed
in a hit-and-run a year ago, and the driver was never traced.
Well, that explains the speed gun
and her devotion to catching errant drivers.
Intriguingly, the hit-and-run happened on the same day
that the flower festival was rained off.
And almost exactly a year to the day,
Brad Furbank is pecked to death, as Fleur so eloquently put it.
If he didn't know that the emeralds and gold were fake,
imagine what seeing them might mean to him.
Someone who's not only penniless but also a proven liar.
You mean he went there to steal it?
Why else would he be there at 3:00 in the morning?
So someone booby-trapped the bird and then rehung the clock,
knowing that he would come for it?
That's exactly what they did, Winter.
I'll speak to Frankie
while you talk to her sister Sylvia.
I want to find out what they did or didn't know about Brad.
And while you're at it, I need a book.
- A book? - On, um, woodwork.
♪ My sweetheart, come along ♪
♪ Don't you hear the fun song? ♪
♪ The sweet note of the nightingale flow ♪
♪ Don't you hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale ♪
♪ As she sings in those valleys below ♪
Oh, sorry. We don't open until tomorrow.
I'm not a visitor.
All the same.
I'm Frankie.
Oh, I mean Francesca Bruce.
Myrtle and Alan's daughter.
Oh, I'm so sorry about what happened to your fiancé.
Oh. Thank you.
That actually means more than you realize.
I'm Nessie, Noah's partner. Were you looking for him?
No. I just needed to go on a wander.
How long will you be here for?
Oh, hopefully just for the weekend.
If I can convince Noah.
He wants to stay longer?
He thinks he can make a permanent home here.
Has he told my father that?
Doesn't matter if he has.
I'm going to convince him to up sticks.
Couldn't take me with you, could you?
That was a joke. Well, sort of.
Frankie, if you want to get away, then do it.
I did the same myself years ago.
Left Godley Buzzard and never looked back.
And now you're the singing stilts lady.
And I can see for miles and miles,
to the horizon and beyond.
I'd love to try that one day.
Please?
Let's see if you've got a head for heights.
Wow. You're right. You can see everything.
Frankie, do you have a moment?
Do me a very large favor, Sylvia.
Slap these up everywhere. - I'm working.
Yes, but you also have a civil duty
to assist any knight of the realm
whenever he should so request.
For God's sake, Dad, you're not a sir.
Granddad was the sir. You don't inherit that title.
You have to have it bestowed.
Yes, well, I was a DIY bestowment.
Nearly chopped my bloody ear off, actually.
Ah. Have you found the culprit?
The investigation is still ongoing.
Well, chop chop,
because the wonderful Noah's Bark is opening
tomorrow morning, 10:00 a.m. sharp.
More questions?
Yes. Do you mind if I step inside?
Miss Bruce,
can you start by telling me what you really thought of Brad?
Haven't I already made that clear?
I liked him a lot. - Presumably you didn't know
that he was a con man and a thief.
I'm sorry. He was what?
We found an antihistamine in Brad's room at the pub.
It's for hay fever.
So what on earth was he doing showing up at a flower festival?
And that makes him a thief?
Well, there's a good chance that he was casing the house
with the intention of robbing it later.
It's a well-known ploy.
Stately homes throw open their doors,
but they never truly know who they're inviting inside.
Brad did nothing of the sort.
All he did was meet my sister and fall madly in love.
Or he realized that there was more
to gain from seducing Frankie and marrying into the family.
Please stop. This is awful.
I've never seen it before.
Where did you find it?
It was in Brad's room at the pub.
This earring, it doesn't mean he was...
No, Brad wouldn't do that to me.
How did you meet?
It was on the eve of last year's
War of the Roses Festival.
We had a private preview.
We ended up talking, so I took him on a tour of the house.
He asked to see inside?
He seemed really keen.
I got the impression he liked me.
How much did you know about his Bitcoin business?
Only what he told me.
But it was doing great.
I'm afraid he was lying to you, Frankie.
He didn't have a penny to his name.
Of course he did. Have you seen this ring?
Why would you say that?
He was overdrawn and owed money everywhere.
No. He was always splashing out on me.
You need to get your facts straight.
Please don't let this be true.
It's been hard enough
trying to convince my parents I'm worthy of their love.
And now this.
Is that all you wanted?
Only my father's given me a job to do.
Were you around when Kimonie's husband was killed
in the hit-and-run?
What's that got to do with what happened to Brad?
Well, we're aware that he showed up at Godley Manor
the same day that it happened.
I remember spotting him with Frankie
and wondering who he was,
but I didn't give it another thought.
Not till she introduced him a few weeks later.
I need to get on.
Oh, and I need a book.
On woodwork.
Do you have children, Chief Inspector?
A daughter.
And you love her, right?
You love her with every fiber of your being.
Well, can you imagine what it's like when the opposite is true?
Can you imagine what that would be like for your daughter?
I can't see myself being anything other
than in awe of her.
That's because you didn't bring her into this world
for all the wrong reasons.
I had a brother, Chief Inspector-- Francis.
Well, what I mean when I say I had a brother
is he died when he was just over a year old,
and I was conceived shortly afterwards.
But solely in the hope
that my parents could somehow re-create him.
Myrtle, it was so long ago.
I was probably seeing things.
Don't backtrack now.
Something made you think you saw Aggie Marlowe.
Now, what was it?
It was the way she wouldn't look at me.
Like she didn't want to be recognized.
Perhaps you could have her arrested this time around.
Oh, what are you talking about?
The police said Francis's death was due to natural causes.
There's no arrest happening here.
No. Sometimes you have to take things into your own hands.
You don't mean that, do you?
Myrtle?
You're scaring me.
Apparently, my parents were out
at an afternoon do with my grandfather.
And when my mother came back,
she found Francis dead on the floor.
He'd fallen out of his cot. - They'd left him on his own.
No, they had a babysitter,
Aggie Marlowe, but she vanished into thin air.
Sylvia said it broke my parents in half
until one of them had the desperately sad idea
of making another Francis.
Hence my name.
So they went ahead.
And sadly for them, I emerged.
And that is when they realized
that they couldn't get Francis back.
But worse,
because they were saddled with someone every day
who reminds them that I'm not their precious son.
Sorry.
Best I could do, sir.
Is it for Mrs. B? - Mm. Thank you, Winter.
Yes, Sarah's struggling a bit with the arbor.
She even managed to, um, injure her thumb.
But I'm sure she'll be glad of this.
So, did Frankie recognize the earring?
In a word, no.
Oh, well, that puts the cat among the pigeons.
Brad must have been seeing someone else.
D.S. Winter.
Okay.
Yeah, thanks.
Sir, we've had an anonymous call from a withheld number.
A woman saying that she's very worried
about an Aggie Marlowe being back in Godley Buzzard.
We don't know an Aggie Marlowe, do we?
I think we do, Winter.
Aggie is short for Agnes,
which can also be shortened to Nessie.
Perhaps you should go and have a chat with her.
Who the hell are you? What are you doing in here?
You don't remember?
You couldn't keep your hands off me the last time we met.
Aggie?
This is Francis's room.
How dare you?
I was looking all over for you and Myrtle.
And then I saw Francis's name on the door.
I couldn't help myself.
If Myrtle were here,
God knows what she would do to you.
She's who I came here to see.
I'm going to tell her what really happened that day.
Noah is dead set on staying here.
And the only way I get to stay here with him is
if Myrtle and everyone else knows you are the reason
why Francis died.
As if anyone's going to believe you.
And you know what the best thing is?
You brought Noah back here.
Which means you brought me back here, too.
Everything comes home to roost eventually.
That's enough! I'm not having this!
Oh!
Ah.
You've joined a library.
Oh, Winter borrowed it.
He said he thought you might need it.
That's so nice of him.
I thought we could look through it together.
Oh, why would we need to do that?
When you've got the blood of a master carpenter
running through you?
You don't need this.
Not when it comes so naturally to you.
Try not to get any splinters.
Winter. Impeccable timing.
Have you found Nessie? What does she say?
I'll be right there.
A little bird tells me-- not a cuckoo this time--
you were looking for Agnes Marlowe.
The good news is you found her.
But the bad news is someone else found her first.
Talk us through it, Fleur.
Judging from the angle of the attack,
I'd say she was approached from behind.
And the billhook did the rest.
- The what? - Billhook, Winter.
It's a highly versatile cutting tool.
My grandfather had one.
Same sort of tool you might find in Noah's Bark?
You look 10% more handsome
when you say something intelligent.
I'll have to set you brainteasers--
up the percentage.
Time of death, Fleur?
I'd put it somewhere yesterday evening.
And the killer just left the weapon lying around?
It was stuffed behind that fallen log over there.
Let's start with Noah.
Before you lope off,
she was carrying this.
But I wouldn't get too excited.
I don't think he's the killer.
What the hell?
They're not letting the public in.
Well, what did you expect?
Aggie Marlowe was murdered last night.
Yes, that person was a blight on our family.
Yes.
And of course, we know who brought her here, don't we?
Noah couldn't have possibly known who she was.
How do we know that? I don't trust a thing about him.
Ever since he arrived, terrible things have happened.
Is it really that terrible that Aggie's dead?
You know full well what I mean.
I want him gone, Alan.
Nessie and I were together for years.
I saw her at a folk festival.
She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever set eyes on.
We started chatting
and realized we'd both lived in Godley Buzzard once.
From that point on, we never left each other's side.
Ended up creating all this.
Did you know that Nessie had changed her name from Aggie?
Aggie? No.
She was always Nessie to me.
She never mentioned that she used to babysit for the Bruces?
She never said a word.
How did she react after Brad found you?
To be honest, she didn't want me to come here.
When we pitched up, she got pretty nervy.
Even had a nightmare the first night we stayed here.
Had to get up and go for a wander.
Now, she said she never went up to the house.
But did she encounter any of the Bruces
other than Frankie?
Not that I know of.
Can you tell us where you were yesterday evening, Mr. Conoboy?
Don't even go there.
Nessie was the love of my life.
Mr. Conoboy.
I was at the pub with Angel.
We just finished setting up and deserved a pint or two.
Did you say Angel?
The ax man.
He looks ferocious, but underneath he's a kitten.
We believe that a tool from your troupe
was used in the attack on Nessie.
A, um-- A billhook.
Is there one missing?
I'd have to ask around.
But anyone could come in and take anything.
It's not like we lock anything away.
Saj, what are you doing?
Waiting for you to join me.
Here.
I don't understand.
I want to make a toast to Brad.
He lived here for a year.
And I'm gonna miss him.
Saj, you may as well know
the police are saying he was a con man.
No way. A con man?
Did you know or ever get a sense of it?
Like you said, he was here a whole year.
Me? No. Poor Frankie.
You sure you didn't know?
You sure you didn't?
What does that mean?
I don't know.
I always thought you had a bit of a thing for him.
A thing? What thing? Why would you say that?
Well, you're always so keen on him.
Always bigging him up.
Says his number-one fan.
That wasn't me. No way. - You fawned all over him.
In fact, you changed personality whenever he was around.
Aye, well, maybe it's a good thing
he's not around anymore, eh?
Look at this.
This is crazy.
None of this matters now. He's gone.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to say any of that.
Same.
Normal service has resumed?
Let's make a different toast, hmm?
Hmm?
Out with the bad and all that.
Unh-unh.
Out with the Brad, more like.
What was Nessie doing out here on her own?
- Maybe she was meeting someone. - What, with a teddy bear?
I'll get tech to check out her phone calls and texts.
Also have them chase up the anonymous tip
about Aggie Marlowe being back in the village.
She was killed almost immediately afterwards.
So whoever called us was clearly worried.
You think one of the Bruces found out she was back?
I'll go and see.
This is the last place I saw Francis alive.
I gave him a cuddle before Alan and I
took Sir Percival to a party.
I'll never forgive myself for leaving him.
And when you returned home?
Uh, I stayed longer than planned.
That was Kimonie's fault. She can chat for England.
Alan had wandered off ages before.
When I got back,
there was no sign of Aggie anywhere.
And then I found Francis lying right there, not moving.
Lady Myrtle, did you know that Aggie Marlowe was living
on your grounds with Noah? - Of course I didn't.
You never met or saw her?
I just said I didn't know she was back.
And trust me, if I had,
Aggie would have been dead a lot sooner.
I want that woman's body off our land.
You know what she did to Myrtle and I.
Where were you last night?
Are you listening to me, Barnaby?
It's Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby.
I was in my bed getting my beauty sleep
in preparation for the grand opening,
which actually won't be remotely grand now,
thanks to Aggie Marlowe.
Were you aware that she was part of Noah's Bark?
What on earth are you talking about?
Well, it turns out she was Noah's partner.
Had been for years.
My God, you couldn't make it up.
Brad didn't happen to find that out
when he was searching for Noah?
Would I have invited him here if he had?
Well, if you wanted revenge for Francis, then yes.
That's exactly what you would have done.
Look, I invited Noah here simply to raise some cash.
My father didn't exactly leave a pot of gold in his will,
and these stately homes cost a fortune to maintain.
On the outside, it looks like we've won the lottery.
On the inside, we can barely afford a ticket.
Well, there's still the house and grounds, though.
And surely you knew that finding Noah could result
in you having to hand over half of everything you'd inherited.
You've met him. He's a hippie.
They don't belong in houses like this.
Anyway, he'll drift away soon enough.
Did Brad know you were struggling financially?
I admit I was a little too keen to get Noah here.
And someone like Brad might have noted that.
"Someone like Brad"?
He was a parasite.
I didn't realize at first,
but he was a tapeworm eating his way into our family.
Sir.
I called Saj Solanki,
and he said that he remembers seeing Noah
and the ax man in the pub.
It seems the Bruces both had a strong motive
for killing Nessie,
and Sir Alan had an inkling that Brad wasn't the person
he claimed to be.
And talking of Brad, we know that he was desperate
for money to keep up his lies and lifestyle,
so all it would take is for his killer to know that as well.
What about the person the diamond earring belongs to?
It could be some kind of love rat thing.
Elegantly put, Winter.
Or Frankie found out that Brad was cheating on her
and killed him in a fit of jealousy.
I'm sure that's possible in your love rat world.
She was also the only member of the Bruce family
that we know for certain met Nessie.
Ah, and you were doing so well, Winter.
But Frankie hadn't been born
when Nessie was babysitting for the Bruces.
It's doubtful she'd know her on sight.
Now, here's a question for you.
How does a penniless man rent a room in a pub
for an entire year?
Kimonie won't report you for speeding.
There are mitigating circumstances,
just like you told her.
You know what she's like.
She takes her misery out on anyone she can find.
I can't have points on my license.
I could lose my job.
Well, come up work here then.
You'd probably earn more.
If this world of woodenness takes off,
this place will be packed.
It's not the money. I happen to love that job.
Ah, Mr. Solanki, a word, if you don't mind.
I thought you were all done here.
How did Brad pay for his room and board?
- Like anyone else. - He was penniless, Mr. Solanki.
We can just go through your books.
Right, well, uh, the thing is, uh,
hindsight's a great thing, right,
but, um, I kind of let Brad run up a tab.
For an entire year?
He was a nice guy. I totally trusted him.
Tell him, Sylvia.
You were always urging Frankie to marry him.
I took your lead on that.
While we have you, we found this in Brad's room.
Have you seen that before?
No. Sorry.
Brad ever have anyone other than Frankie back to his room?
- Not that I ever saw. - Fleur?
Believe it or not, we're at the pub right now.
We're going to need access to Brad's room again.
You'll be fine. Don't worry.
Oh, Noah, I'm so sorry.
I just heard about Aggie.
Aggie?
I meant Nessie. You must be devastated.
That answers everything.
She called herself Nessie, yet you just called her Aggie.
I know you're big pals with Myrtle,
my charming sister-in-law.
Did you do the family a favor
and tell them who Nessie really was?
I think you should leave.
I think I should go to the police, don't you?
What is it called? Accessory to murder.
Well, go on then. I've done nothing wrong.
I'll tell them you clearly recognized her.
And they'll realize you're the only one who knew who she was.
Why are you here? What do you want from me?
That's better.
I know I've got permission to put on my festival,
but what if I wanted to set up home there permanently
with all my people?
That's something else entirely.
You're the head of the council.
I'm sure you could make it happen.
They already hate Sir Alan.
I doubt they'd be too fond of you for riding to his rescue.
We're talking about my home.
A home I've been denied for far too long.
So make it happen.
What if I can't?
This is my birthright.
I'm not going to let anyone stand in the way of that.
What-- What are you doing?
- What's that for? - Care to explain, Mr. Solanki?
No idea.
It was already there when I started running the place.
Shall I keep going?
Where is this leading, Fleur?
I worked on a similar case once.
There were mirrors all over the walls in that place as well.
Clearly, the idea took off.
When I first encountered this sort of thing,
my boss told me to touch mirrors with my fingernail,
and my fingernail touched its reflection.
What else would it touch?
Index finger, please, Winter.
I promise not to bite.
If it were a normal mirror,
your fingernail and its reflection would never meet.
There'll always be a gap like so.
But with a two-way mirror...
...finger touches finger.
And they're in every room, aren't they, Mr. Solanki?
It's for security purposes.
Try again, Mr. Solanki.
Look, a lot of people book into hotels
and not just to sleep.
They meet up with lovers. Some of them do secret deals.
I've heard them on the phone lying about their whereabouts.
The list goes on.
I mean, half the people that come in here are up to no good.
So you thought you would make some money out of it?
When did Brad find out you were doing this?
First night he stayed.
He accidentally knocked over the mirror onto the floor,
and he saw the camera behind it.
But he didn't report you.
He told me to lose the cameras in his room,
but keep the rest in the other rooms.
He wanted in on it.
In fact, he took over.
Made me blackmail everyone that I could.
And for the last year,
he's lived here rent-free in exchange for his silence.
He's bled me dry in every way you can imagine.
Including forcing you to buy Frankie's engagement ring.
Well, how do you know that?
We didn't until now.
We'll need to look into Mr. Solanki's finances.
Am I going to prison for this?
At the moment,
I'm more interested in who Brad was seeing
behind Frankie's back.
Well, he wasn't seeing anyone.
You're in enough trouble as it is, Mr. Solanki.
I couldn't say anything before because then you'd come back
and ask for proof, and then you'd--
Find out what you've been doing.
She used to come in the back way.
Obviously didn't know I had a hidden camera outside,
but it was--
- Sylvia Bruce. - Sylvia? No.
It was her mum. Myrtle.
Look at these idiots, sir.
She can't give me a ticket.
This is official police business.
So is this.
Just so you know, you can pass on my information,
but it'll be up to the police if they decide to prosecute or not.
And, well, I am the police.
Well, we'll find out on Monday when I send in my data
whether that helps or not.
Mm.
When will you ever learn, Cordelia?
It's not 30 miles an hour through the village.
And don't think you can get away with this at night, either.
I'm on guard 24/7.
Sorry, Kimonie.
I'll go halves on the fine. - Okay.
Someone needs to take that speed gun off her.
Drive on, Winter, slowly.
Would you like to know where we found this?
You should know that Brad never loved Frankie.
I mean, how could he? She's quite unlovable.
Alan and I tried for years.
When did you and Brad start seeing each other?
Months ago.
I rather felt for him, all that pretending he had to do.
So the affair was still going on,
even at the engagement party.
Did Sir Alan know?
It doesn't matter if he did or he didn't.
He disappeared the night Francis died.
There's more life in his portrait.
When did you last see Brad?
When he was lying dead in our hallway.
- Lady Myrtle. - At the engagement party.
And you were never worried
that Saj would see you at the pub and tell Frankie?
I didn't go there often,
and Brad seemed to have some hold over Saj.
He said he wouldn't say a word
if he knew what was good for him.
Sadly for you, he can say whatever he wants now.
- What are you talking about? - Saj has CCTV footage
of you two arguing outside his pub the day before Brad died.
What was the argument about?
He'd found out that Alan and I aren't exactly wealthy.
He was furious. He said I'd been leading him on.
Did he break up with you?
- He threatened to. - How did you feel about that?
How do you think?
Did you get the dibbler from Kimonie's shop?
Call in to see her and slip one into your pocket?
I wouldn't know a dibbler from a punch on the nose.
And then you rigged the clock?
Oh, this is ridiculous.
Murder very often is, Lady Myrtle.
You're not going to bring Lady Myrtle in, sir?
Sir Alan has already given her an alibi
for the night Brad was killed.
We need something concrete.
D.S. Winter.
Oh, okay. That was quick. Thanks.
Sir, tech have managed to trace the anonymous call
regarding Aggie Marlowe.
It was from Kimonie Bullitt.
Oh, of course it was. We already know she likes
to share her findings with the police.
Pop over to her shop and find out if she told anyone else.
She was obviously worried about what might happen.
Hello?
You could have picked somewhere more accessible.
I never liked that hill.
There you are. Let me just catch my breath.
How's your thumb?
Throbbing.
Do you really think you can put that arbor together?
Only I don't want it suddenly collapsing
on Betty or her friends.
Or on me, for that matter.
That arbor will still be standing
a hundred years from now.
A monument to the inherited skills of a master craftsman.
Right.
Winter.
What's that around her mouth?
Fleur thinks it's some kind of industrial wood glue.
Super strong.
I'm afraid her lips are sealed,
so I'll have to talk for her.
It looks like someone stuck her to the chair.
And then, if I'm right,
they force fed her with whatever was left in the glue gun.
That's also covered in glue.
Whoever it was tried to make it cozy and inviting.
If only.
Any idea where the chairs came from?
Judging from the finish, I'd say a craftsman made that.
Would you like a ticket?
Oof.
I'm afraid Kimonie Bullitt was killed sometime last night.
My God.
I was wondering what had happened.
Were you at the house?
No. I stayed here last night.
Noah's a bit lost right now,
obviously, so I thought I could be there for him.
You didn't see or hear anything?
No.
Sorry. This is awful.
I've known Kimonie my whole life.
Excuse me.
Wood is so much more than we think it is.
It has sheltered us, defended us, given up its body to us.
Nessie came up with that.
All of this was her idea.
Show people how much they can learn and benefit from nature.
And turn it into furniture, namely a pair of chairs.
If you're looking to pin this on me,
anyone could have come in here--
You really should try locking things away, Mr. Conoboy.
Someone needs to go and tell the crowds
we won't be opening anytime soon.
They'll have to come back next year.
You're planning on returning?
I'm not actually planning on leaving.
I was born here.
Nessie was born here.
I belong here.
Hey, sir. Yeah. I'm in Kimonie's shop.
Someone's been in here
and looks like they've smashed up her laptop.
Yeah.
Is there anyone Kimonie might have upset recently?
If there was, she didn't tell me.
We know she left an anonymous tip-off
about Aggie Marlowe being back in Godley Buzzard.
Did she happen to tell you as well?
As I've already said,
that wouldn't have gone well for Aggie.
Is that why Kimonie decided to contact us?
You met her.
She spent half her life contacting the police.
Talking of which, did she ever mention the hit-and-run?
- Only to the point of boredom. - More recently, I mean, as in,
had she found out who killed her husband?
No, she'd have said.
In fact, she'd have screamed it from the rooftops.
We know that Brad checked into Saj's pub
on the same night that Kimonie's husband was killed.
Before you fall down that rabbit hole,
Brad got a puncture up at the house
and walked down to the village.
He couldn't have run anyone over,
let alone Kimonie's husband.
Mm.
I don't suppose I could have Francis's Teddy.
Only Kimonie bought that for him.
It feels so wrong that Aggie took it.
How did you know about the teddy bear?
We deliberately withheld that information.
Alan told me.
You must have let it slip, Chief Inspector.
Charles, how good of you to call.
Now, I may need you to sue the police for loss of earnings.
Yes, that's right, the police.
I'll send you an e-mail with all the details.
Speak soon.
Well, that should shrink your annual budget.
How did you know about Aggie Marlowe
taking Francis's teddy bear?
You told your wife, remember?
Well, I probably picked it up off of one of you lot.
Aggie must have gone up to Francis's room.
I think you saw her.
Absolute balderdash.
- Why would she go up there? - I didn't know she had.
It seems a strange place to return to,
considering the circumstances.
Or was she coming to see you and Lady Myrtle?
I very much doubt it.
She'd been avoiding being seen,
yet she felt confident enough to come to the house,
the place where she'd apparently left a child to die.
I'm afraid I can't answer for her actions.
I happen to think you can.
What really happened on the day your son died?
I'd really rather not go back there.
It's still exceedingly raw, even after all these years.
I know that you and your wife went to a party
with your father.
She said that she came back alone.
Which implies that either you were still at the party
or you'd already left.
I stayed till the bitter end.
Then you would have seen both Lady Myrtle and Kimonie
because they stayed late as well.
You've spent a long time living with this, Sir Alan.
She was extremely attractive back then,
and I was only a little older than her.
In your eyes, perhaps.
And I'd been drinking.
And, you know, sometimes on those odd occasions
when you have a romantic thought
and then that thought becomes a possibility,
and then before you know where you are,
it's a cast-iron certainty.
And I was Sir Percival's son.
How could she not be impressed?
But Aggie wasn't impressed, was she?
Well, she tried to be polite,
and I went along with it at first,
but then I said we hadn't got much time,
and perhaps we should move things forward.
Well, she was appalled.
Said she wanted to go and check on Francis.
He was crying, and, uh, I-I stopped her.
I didn't let her see him.
For how long?
Well, I thought I heard a thump or a thud or something,
but I-I just ignored it because I had other things on my mind,
and Aggie heard it too and told me to open the door.
She said it over and over again
and when I refused, she slapped me.
And then she dodged by me.
And her first thought was to go and check on Francis.
And that's when I heard her scream.
And by the time you got there...
Well, to my eternal shame, I blamed her.
I said it was all her fault
and that I would see her locked up for life.
So she ran,
knowing that no one would believe her word against yours.
The son of Sir Percival Bruce.
She came to see me a few nights ago.
She told me she was going to tell Myrtle the truth.
Well, everybody, in fact.
Why now, after all this time?
Well, Noah wants to set up
permanent residence on the grounds.
But I didn't kill her, I swear.
I didn't even try to get that damn teddy back.
I just stood there frozen in this pathetic excuse
that I call my life.
Winter.
Sir, I looked into Saj's financials like you said.
And the odd thing was that Sylvia paid for Brad's room
the night he turned up in Godley Buzzard.
But she said that she didn't meet him that day.
I think we'd better talk to her.
Also, Fleur's tech team found a smudge of blue ink
on Kimonie's laptop.
It was only tiny, but she's going to run it.
- Tell her there's no need. - I already have, sir,
because it's probably from the stamp
that Sylvia uses in her library.
Are you one jump ahead of me, Winter?
There is a first time for everything, sir.
You should get a bonus for all the things you've taught me.
Did tech have any luck with Kimonie's laptop?
They managed to retrieve most of the data,
but it was just the speeding reports that she'd been filing.
- Can I see? - Mm.
I should go and talk to her before she heads off.
Sylvia, I wanted to ask,
why did you pay for Brad's room the night that
the flower festival was rained off?
You said that you hadn't met him that day.
Sylvia!
Put your foot down, Winter.
Can't get around it, sir.
See if there's somewhere to pass up ahead.
Stop following me!
What's she doing? Where's she going?
She's on her way to Godley Manor.
You can't go and live with that excuse for an uncle.
I can do what the hell I like.
Noah's going to try and take all of this from us.
It's not just the grounds he wants.
He'll come for his share of the house.
And you think I'm on your side?
I hope he gets the lot.
Frankie. Frankie!
She's headed for the gates, sir.
She's going to go straight through them, sir.
Frankie!
Sylvia.
What are you doing?
- They know. - Know what?
- What I did. - Pull yourself together, Sylvia.
I killed him, Mother. I killed him.
What the hell is going on?
Shaking like a leaf.
Sylvia, I don't understand.
Ask them. They know.
Stop saying that.
Will somebody talk to me?
Tell them, then. Tell them what I did.
I'd rather hear it from you, Sylvia.
I didn't see him.
The road was empty one minute, the next,
he was just standing there, right in front of me.
Who is she talking about?
Kimonie Bullitt's husband Laurence.
- What? Sylvia. - Right.
Don't say another word. Alan, call your solicitor.
Tell us what happened, Sylvia.
Leave my daughter alone.
Alan, call Charles now. - Shush.
I didn't think anyone had seen me,
so I drove off not knowing what to do.
I was in such a state, though, I had to pull over.
I thought I was going to be sick.
A few minutes later there was a tap on the side of the library.
Brad had seen what you'd done.
He made me pay for his room at Saj's pub.
He was really after something else.
I'm so sorry.
He wanted to be in the manor.
He wanted a portrait of his own. He wanted it all.
So he told me I had to make sure you married him.
Doesn't anyone want me for who I am?
I know, I know, and I hated him so much for it.
I wanted to rescue you, Frankie. I wanted so many things.
Winter?
As I learned at great cost last year,
there are certain perennials
that shouldn't be planted next to each other.
Kimonie would know that better than anyone.
I think we found Brad's phone.
And on it, no doubt, we'll find out why it had to be buried.
- Mm-hmm. - Am I right,
Frankie?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
I know it was you who smashed up Kimonie's laptop.
Me? I had no idea that even happened.
I saw a list of number plates on a document
that Kimonie was putting together.
Your friend Cordelia's number plate was on it,
along with a date and time.
Then talk to Cordelia, not me.
Ironically, that was actually the very thing
you were trying to prevent.
When will you ever learn, Cordelia?
It's not 30 miles an hour through the village.
And don't think you can get away with this at night, either.
I'm on guard 24/7
You took Cordelia's car
after everyone had passed out after your celebrations.
You drove it up here, not thinking for a minute
that Kimonie would still be out monitoring the roads.
She was going to post her findings on Monday.
And the moment Cordelia received her speeding notice,
she would have questioned it.
You couldn't have that happen, Frankie.
Is this true?
Not a word of it.
And who stays up half the night looking for speeders?
Kimonie did. She was heartbroken after Laurence.
She couldn't sleep or find peace anywhere.
We know that the cuckoo clock had been moved
high enough to kill Brad.
And who would have known Brad's height better than you?
Try my mother.
She seemed to have spent a lot of time with him.
Yes, Mother, I knew that earring was yours.
Would you like to tell us what's on the phone, Frankie?
It won't take us long to access it.
Well, when you put it like that.
Frankie.
It was the look on his face that did it.
This look of pure and utter greed.
I knew what he was thinking, so I sent him a message.
Why don't we steal the clock and run away together?
He agreed.
Said we should do it after things had died down.
But you came up here and rigged the clock.
Because I knew he was lying.
He wanted it all for himself.
I hoped I was wrong,
but sometimes you just know.
It was horrible to watch.
How did you know that Brad would be there
at the right time?
Oh, it didn't matter what time it was.
Frankie knew Brad would turn the hour hand
to get the cuckoo to come out regardless.
Tell me about Nessie.
Presumably you saw her up at the house.
Kimonie, I just got your message.
Oh, my God.
Are you sure it's her?
I can't, I just can't.
Not while there's breath in my body.
I hadn't a clue who my mother was talking about.
Until you realized there was only one person
your mother could hate that much.
Aggie Marlowe.
And there she was, carrying Francis's teddy.
So you took revenge for your brother.
How could I not?
She's responsible for this nightmare I call my life.
Only she wasn't.
What?
I suggest you speak to Sir Alan about that.
I'm curious about the blue ink on Kimonie's laptop.
Presumably you wanted to throw us off the trail?
Sorry, sis.
You all but forced me into loving Brad.
It was his doing, not mine.
But I didn't know that, did I?
I believed every word he said. - I'm your sister.
I was put in a horrible position.
You want to know about horrible positions?
Try killing three people.
Most people would have just called off the engagement.
Blame them. They made me that way.
I grew up being rejected for not being what
they desperately wanted.
And there I was again, not being what Brad wanted.
What's a girl to do?
Though I rather hoped I was always one step ahead of you.
If it's any consolation, you were.
But you always saw the wood despite the trees.
Oh, how ironic.
I don't understand you, Frankie.
How are you saying all these things
as if you didn't have a care in the world?
Because I learned from the worst.
If only you and father had wanted me.
It's just a simple little thing.
Like loving a child.
But it was beyond both of you.
I hope your daughter turns out to be everything
you could hope for.
That's it. Almost there.
He's doing a grand job. - He is.
And I have to say, I am deeply impressed.
Did you know pergolas and arbors
date back to early Egyptian times?
Really? That far?
In some societies, they were actually status symbols.
Well, the Barnabys are going up in the world.
I'd have had that up an hour ago.
You'd be moaning about having a strained back by now.
I'm just saying it would have taken me half the time.
Don't listen to him, Winter.
You're doing a fine job.
A very fine job indeed.