- 4/15/2025
#missmarplemurderiseasy #theagathachristiehour #thewaywelivenow @bethfreed25
When a malicious poison pen writer targets both new and old residents of a small village, the prime suspect hires Hetty to find the real writer. Starring: Patricia Routledge, Dominic Monaghan, Derek Benfield.
When a malicious poison pen writer targets both new and old residents of a small village, the prime suspect hires Hetty to find the real writer. Starring: Patricia Routledge, Dominic Monaghan, Derek Benfield.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Come on, Toby! On our way home!
00:12Good boy!
00:30Get in the car, please.
00:40Come on, love, it does no good.
00:43You won't get away with it!
00:47You won't get away with it!
01:04You won't get away with it!
01:17You won't get away with it!
01:22You won't get away with it!
01:27You won't get away with it!
02:49Sorry, no callers at the house. Put it in writing, please, and we'll give it our attention in due course.
02:54So, where are we going to get the black leather?
02:58Oxfam shop.
02:58All we've got to do is take the ones with the least work for the best pay.
03:05How like a man?
03:06Well, I am the accountant, and we are a business.
03:10I didn't go into this to make money.
03:14Well, not just to make money.
03:17I did it for the...
03:18For the interest.
03:19You like puzzles, Mrs. Wainthrop.
03:22So do I.
03:22She likes tidying people up.
03:25I don't like mess.
03:28People whose lives have got into a mess.
03:32Ask for help. It's right to help.
03:35If you get the proper fee.
03:37Now, there's one here. Look.
03:39Decal-edged notepaper with a crest.
03:41A man of means who can afford to pay.
03:44I never thought I'd have to choose.
03:46Reject people.
03:47All these letters and phone calls and more coming in all the time.
03:51Oh, second post.
03:55Life is choice, Mrs. Wainthrop.
04:08Oh, funny one here.
04:13This is a poison pen letter.
04:21It could be abusive, obscene.
04:25It could accuse you of crimes you couldn't prove you didn't commit.
04:31It could threaten to kill you
04:34or hurt your children.
04:40That's sick.
04:43Oh, damn.
04:47All right, I'm coming.
04:52Wainthrop Detective Agency.
04:54No callers at the house.
04:57You got my letter, I see.
04:59You better come in.
05:00There's no truth in it, Mrs. Bransby.
05:21None at all.
05:23Well, I hardly need to tell you that.
05:26Obscene lies.
05:27Filth.
05:27Just like all the others.
05:30I don't know what to think, Mr. Winterton.
05:33Copies seem to have been sent everywhere.
05:35It's very embarrassing.
05:37I can't talk to Tommy about it in any depth.
05:41It would take a trained social worker.
05:43All he says is, everyone knows I'm his favourite.
05:51Meanwhile, it seems better to keep him out of school.
05:54Why should you pay for an investigation?
06:09Because I'm the prime suspect.
06:12Repressed middle-aged spinster living alone,
06:15watching the village from her upstairs window.
06:18Classic case.
06:19What are you repressing?
06:23Disappointment, mainly, at a wasted life.
06:26I was an accountant.
06:28Good at my job.
06:30But the firm was taken over and I was made redundant.
06:33I came back to the village to look after my parents.
06:35They died and left me reasonably comfortable,
06:38so I can well afford to employ you.
06:41How much were you thinking?
06:43600.
06:44300 now and 300 when the job's done.
06:47Have you had any of these poison pen letters yourself?
06:50Yes, some of them actually accusing me of writing the letters.
06:53But they could have been from anyone.
06:56600 and no knowing how long it'll take.
06:59With all the publicity, we've had other cases offered.
07:02When you think, what, we're in a position to charge...
07:05We'll accept the case.
07:06Eh?
07:07It's not a question of money, it's a question of need.
07:10There'll be expenses on top, but we're not extravagant.
07:16I can't see why the police can't help.
07:19You'd think they'd be able to do something.
07:22It's an impossible job.
07:24Local postmark.
07:25Means they were posted anywhere in the Hackersley area.
07:28Fingerprints.
07:29Lots on the envelopes, none on the actual letters.
07:31He or she wears gloves.
07:33Paper, you can buy anywhere.
07:35They'd have to lick the stamps.
07:36There's something in spit.
07:38DNA?
07:40Have you any idea how much a DNA test of the whole village would cost?
07:43And we can't force people to give samples.
07:45It's not a custodial crime.
07:47A nuisance, not a felony.
07:49Nuisance?
07:50There's folks left their homes.
07:53After seeing a couple tomorrow, I've had to move out to a flat in Preston.
07:56There's marriages broken.
07:58There's a woman on tablets for her nerves.
08:00Can you prove she wouldn't be on tablets anyway?
08:02Oh.
08:03The sergeant at Hackersley is doing his best.
08:05But as you say, it's a low priority.
08:07I say?
08:08And we haven't the time or the money.
08:11Anyway, it isn't a case for forensics.
08:13It's not logical.
08:14It's psychological.
08:15Twisted motives.
08:17Think laterally.
08:17Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Wainthrop.
08:20I'm delighted you're taking it on.
08:21But I tell you frankly, you're on a hiding to nothing.
08:27Oh.
08:28Six jobs on hold, all paying better money.
08:31I was thinking, you and me might take on one of the other cases.
08:39Ourselves.
08:43We'd have to tell her.
08:45Not immediately.
08:47I've never kept anything from her, you know.
08:51At least, not very often.
08:54Nothing really important.
08:58If you're a detective, who's paying you?
09:01I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to reveal the name of my client.
09:07You don't need to go to Shepton Vell to find out who's writing the letters.
09:12It's Miss Allerby.
09:15Done.
09:16They're at 500 a week.
09:17His name's Harold Skimmer.
09:19We'll need transport.
09:20Uh-uh.
09:21Not a car, Jeffrey.
09:22Now, once and for all, we just can't double.
09:24It's an investment.
09:25We could use the reward money.
09:27That 15,000 pounds has gone into the building society
09:30to top up my much-depleted redundancy money.
09:34What's wrong with your Prince Scooter?
09:36We can't always rely on it.
09:37She sometimes uses it.
09:39We'll find out if she'll sell it to us.
09:40We might be able to afford that.
09:42Right.
09:42If you can get it cheap enough.
09:46How do you know it's Miss Allerby?
09:49Who else would it be?
09:51She watches everyone.
09:56Selling your house and moving into town?
10:00It's a big step.
10:01We haven't sold it yet.
10:03What did the letters accuse you of doing?
10:12Personal matters.
10:14Private.
10:16Lies.
10:19They're late.
10:21People don't think.
10:21I've got a child to collect from school.
10:25If they were all lies,
10:29Miss Allerby wouldn't have seen anything
10:30because there'd be nothing to say.
10:33What she saw,
10:34she made something of it.
10:37But there was nothing.
10:38Okay.
10:40We'd only been here two years.
10:42We wanted fresh air and scenery for the children.
10:47Then the letters.
10:49Just insults at first.
10:51Calling names.
10:52Yuppies and such.
10:54Then worse.
10:56Sick.
10:56And at the end,
10:58copies sent all over.
11:00You can see everything
11:01from that bloody window
11:03and the village people
11:04looking at me,
11:05talking.
11:09Quarter to three.
11:11What kind of time is that?
11:12If people are serious
11:13about buying a house,
11:14you'd think they'd be punctual.
11:18Here's a car.
11:22I'll go up the street
11:23for a while
11:24and ask about.
11:25It's all local.
11:39Coconut ice,
11:40that's all village.
11:42The mango surprises new village.
11:44It doesn't sell.
11:45I remember the village shop
11:47when I was a girl.
11:48Men tumbunks in a jar.
11:50Oh, gobstoppers,
11:51licorice bill places,
11:53sherbet cushions.
11:54Those days are gone.
11:55We mustn't hanker.
11:57Have you made a decision?
11:58Oh, but fudge.
12:04They mix in then,
12:06do they?
12:06The old and the new.
12:08They mix.
12:09Mixing in might be
12:11overstating the situation.
12:12Pound of the fudge,
12:13you said?
12:14Half a pound.
12:15Gift wrapped?
12:16It is extra,
12:17but worth it.
12:18Gift wrapped.
12:22I was just wondering
12:24who mainly received
12:25these poison pen letters.
12:28Old or new villagers.
12:30Oh, yes.
12:31You're from some bloody newspaper,
12:33aren't you?
12:33Pardon my French.
12:35Do I look like a reporter?
12:37They come in all sizes.
12:39They've been here then,
12:40asking questions.
12:40We prefer not to talk
12:42to reporters.
12:43It's a private matter
12:44between ourselves.
12:46That'll be £3.50.
12:48Including the gift box
12:50with Moreland View.
12:54I'm not a reporter.
12:56I only came to see the village.
13:00Mrs Harrow gave me a lift
13:02from Preston.
13:02She told me about the letters.
13:04Bad business.
13:06Poor woman,
13:07something like that.
13:08Let everyone know it.
13:09Something like what?
13:11Black lace came into it,
13:13as I've heard.
13:14And latex underwear.
13:17And you believed it?
13:18No.
13:18Oh, no.
13:19Oh, no.
13:25New villagers are yuppies.
13:27People with jobs in town.
13:28Pay over the odds
13:29for their houses
13:30because it's an area
13:31of scenic beauty.
13:32And the old villagers?
13:34Grab a living
13:35from traditional
13:36village occupations.
13:37Mostly farming,
13:38I suppose.
13:39Oh, bed and breakfast,
13:41gift shops,
13:42job in gardening,
13:44cleaning,
13:45living off welfare.
13:47It's all sheep
13:47round here.
13:48They're not
13:49labour-intensive.
13:51What's this?
13:52Hake a la mode?
13:54Ah,
13:54but better not.
13:56She sees these things
13:57on TV,
13:58but they never seem
13:58to come out right.
14:00There's some
14:00scrag end not gone off yet
14:02at the back of the fridge.
14:03We'll have hot pot.
14:05Don't you ever get tired
14:05of the hot pot?
14:06It's safe
14:07and entirely free
14:08from additives.
14:10Ah,
14:11she's home.
14:12How are we going to tell her?
14:13Straight out.
14:14Best way.
14:18Have a good day, love.
14:20Oh, you look tired.
14:21Shall I get you
14:22some du bonnet?
14:23We've got something
14:24to tell you.
14:24Oh, can't it keep?
14:26Mrs Harrow's been
14:27bending me ear
14:27all afternoon.
14:28Straight out,
14:29you said,
14:29Mr Wainthrop.
14:30Straight out what?
14:31It's not important, really.
14:33Yes, it is.
14:37You remember the
14:40Deca-Ledge notepaper?
14:44The man of substantial means.
14:48Well,
14:49Geoffrey and me
14:50are underemployed
14:52at the moment.
14:54And with so many cases pending,
14:57there's an effect
14:59on cash flow.
15:00They need our services,
15:01Mrs Wainthrop,
15:02and they're not going
15:02to wait forever.
15:03There's nothing for us
15:04to do here
15:04while you're out
15:05on your own,
15:05so we've taken on a case.
15:10I'll have that
15:11to you, Bonnie, now.
15:12We'll come to the
15:31Deca-Ledge, gentlemen,
15:32in a minute,
15:32one case at a time.
15:36Think laterally,
15:37the DCI said.
15:38I'm not sure
15:41I know
15:41how to go about it.
15:43Well, you line
15:44your bat with
15:44your eyes closed
15:45and say the first
15:45thing that comes
15:46into your head.
15:48Is that really it?
15:49Yep.
15:51We've no room
15:52here for that
15:53kind of behaviour.
15:54If you don't mind
15:55me saying,
15:55Mrs Wainthrop,
15:56why are you
15:56keeping this case
15:57to yourself?
15:58I'm not.
15:59We're discussing it.
16:00Discussing it's
16:01not the same
16:01as doing it.
16:02Mrs Harrow
16:03wouldn't have talked
16:04freely in front
16:05of you,
16:05Geoffrey.
16:06Do any of them
16:07talk?
16:08No.
16:10None come
16:10to think of it.
16:12Who's writing
16:13these letters?
16:15Who's turn next?
16:17Does everyone
16:18get them?
16:18Can't tell.
16:20They keep it
16:21to themselves
16:21until it's public,
16:22then say it's
16:23all lies.
16:26It may have
16:27something to do
16:28with old villagers
16:29and new villagers.
16:32New villagers
16:32mainly get them.
16:33have too little
16:37to go on
16:38and I don't
16:41know how
16:41to find out.
16:43Lateral thinking.
16:45You'd have
16:45to get one
16:46yourself.
16:49You're what?
16:50If you was
16:51one of them
16:51persecuted like
16:52on the receiving
16:53end,
16:55they might
16:55trust you.
16:56You haven't
16:57even lain
16:57down on the
16:58floor yet.
16:59I'd have
17:05to be
17:05living in
17:06the village
17:06though,
17:07wouldn't I?
17:09Temporary.
17:20You've heard.
17:23Everybody's
17:23heard.
17:23People say
17:27you write
17:27the letters.
17:29How could
17:30I have
17:30known
17:30the details?
17:32There are
17:33no details.
17:35It's not
17:35true.
17:37Nothing
17:37happened.
17:39If you
17:40say so.
17:42Oh.
17:45What am I
17:46to do?
17:48Now,
17:49the deck
17:50ledge,
17:50gentlemen.
17:51He's
17:52thinking of
17:52getting married.
17:55It's a
17:56serious
17:56intention.
17:57He wants
17:57us to
17:58check up
17:58on the
17:58lady in
17:59question.
17:59We don't
18:00do divorce.
18:01They're not
18:01even married
18:02yet.
18:03It'll end
18:03in divorce.
18:05Bound to
18:06if he's
18:06already
18:06checking up
18:07on it
18:07before they're
18:08wed.
18:08You saw
18:09a program
18:09on telly.
18:11Oh,
18:11I?
18:11They do
18:11it in
18:12America.
18:13Hire a
18:13private eye
18:13to make
18:14sure you're
18:14intended
18:14is the
18:15faithful
18:15type.
18:16How?
18:17Well,
18:17the way
18:17it's usually
18:18done,
18:18you get
18:19someone to
18:20make
18:20themselves
18:20agreeable
18:21like,
18:21and if
18:22she responds
18:23that...
18:23You might
18:24call it
18:24entrapment
18:26in the
18:27nicest
18:27possible
18:28way.
18:28Yeah.
18:29And which
18:30of you two
18:31clowns will
18:31be making
18:32himself
18:33agreeable?
18:36Anyway,
18:36you can't
18:37start immediately.
18:39I shall
18:39need
18:40Geoffrey to
18:41go to the
18:41reference
18:41library
18:42first.
18:42go to
18:54ship
18:55in
18:56a
18:57going
18:58to
18:58go to
19:00the
19:01house
19:01and
19:01go to
19:02the
19:02house
19:03is
19:03are
19:04going to
19:05you
19:05have
19:05to
19:06you
19:06have
19:07to
19:07care
19:08And breakfast? Don't you remember me? I came yesterday to look at the village. I was fascinated. It's got such possibilities.
19:32I thought you were one of them reporters. A painter. Tara Hall. Perhaps you've heard of me? No. Oh, surprising, is that? I have quite a reputation among Royal Academy circles. But perhaps you don't get to the Royal Academy quite as often as you might like. Painters come in summer. We don't get winter painters.
19:55Well, I'm on a field trip. Just a sketchpad, camera and change of undies. I'm used to travelling rough. Yes, rocks are my speciality. There's a card in your window. The old forge.
20:10The old forge never do B&B in the winter. They've got his mother with them. Glebe Cottage you might get in if she don't mind mice. I do mind mice.
20:20Good morning. Miss Allaby'll know. She knows everything. This lady's a painter of rocks looking for B&B. Tara Hall. Rocks? Yes. Rocks? Yes. Yes. I think I've heard of you. Wasn't there something in the Sunday papers? Maybe.
20:46Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Beryl Pacey might take her. They've converted the pigeon loft. That's right. They have.
20:54Bed and breakfast starting this summer, but they might take one early.
20:57All their defences went up the moment you came into the shop.
21:21I've told you. They think I write the letters.
21:23Where did you get your artistic patter? It's very good.
21:29Jeff mugged it up in the reference library.
21:32The beginner's background to modern art in ten easy lessons.
21:35through here to the bathroom and toilet. Oh, yes. I hope you like a shower.
22:04Shut up, Bertie. Shoo. Shoo. That's Bertie. We couldn't bear to have him put down. He keeps trying to get back in again. Let me know if there's anything you need.
22:23I will. Thank you.
22:31I'm sure you'll be very comfortable. They're good people.
22:33How long will it take before everyone in the village knows I'm here?
22:37Oh, old village by this evening. New village don't always notice.
22:41I need them to trust me.
22:44Unlikely.
22:45I thought if I was to get one of the letters.
22:51Good. Good.
22:54I'll write it myself. I brought some of that cheap notepaper and a black pen.
22:58No. No?
23:00It wouldn't be convincing.
23:02You'd never bring yourself to write the words.
23:06I'll do it.
23:08I'll do it now.
23:10I'll have it in the post by half past four.
23:12Just as well I can iron shirts.
23:24Will you be taking that bit of cotton wool off before we get there?
23:27Hmm?
23:28Oh.
23:29No.
23:30No.
23:31No.
23:32No.
23:33No.
23:34It's all right if I come in and say.
23:58right if I come in and sit. You're that reporter. Painter. Of rocks. We know that now. I didn't.
24:09Then you must be a newcomer. I wouldn't say that. Five years. Twenty more and you may begin to
24:16qualify. Twenty more years, George, and you'll be dead. We'll be the old villagers then. I'm Janet
24:21Brunsby. Tara Hall. I'll put you on a grapevine for one bit of news anyway, Janet, because I know it'll
24:30interest you. John Winterton. I've heard. This is... Mr. Cullymore, we've met. Who's John Winterton?
24:41Head teacher at the school where Janet's little boy used to go. Tried to end his life. Coward's way out.
24:48Good lord, this side, when it's your time to go. We're famous for Eccles Cakes and parking.
24:57True taste of the north. Yeah. Yeah, you told us. I'm a good catch, you see. Those were mother's
25:05very last words. You're a good catch, Harold, for any young lady. You must be wary. Yeah,
25:11you said. Every Friday they go out, the four of them. Girls' night. An innocent outing.
25:18Old school friends. They said. Right. But they're all married. She's divorced. Can Mr.
25:26Wainthrop see her through the window, do you think? Clubs don't have windows, Mr. Skinner.
25:31Is she enjoying herself a little too much? Dancing close to strangers and such? Hey, I never thought
25:39when I first saw her on the cosmetics counter that it would come to this.
25:47They wouldn't let me in. Members only.
25:54Good morning. There's a letter for you.
25:57Nobody knows I'm here. Didn't you leave a forwarding address?
26:04I'm a free spirit, Mrs. Pacey. Anyway, I didn't even know where I was going to be staying.
26:12Local postmark.
26:13This is vile.
26:26There's been a mistake made.
26:28It's addressed to you.
26:30I'll tear it off.
26:31No, no, no.
26:33No, I'll keep it.
26:35You don't seem to be much surprised.
26:40We are surprised.
26:42Well, let me get in the letter, yes, but you seem to know what kind of thing it was before
26:48I opened it.
26:50What you're asking is have we ever had one like it?
26:52It's part of what I'm asking, yes.
26:54No, we haven't.
26:55But we've known folks as have.
26:56I went for a walk around the village last night.
27:07I went into the church.
27:10They told me what happened to the head teacher at the school.
27:14Nothing happened to him.
27:15He did it himself.
27:17Even then he mucked it up.
27:21He was never what you might call a practical motorist.
27:24His car ran out of petrol before the carbon monoxide could kill him.
27:28Doesn't seem to be much sympathy for him in the village.
27:32Well, I suppose they believe what was in the letter.
27:35Was it true?
27:36There is a history, but it was long ago and nothing more than affectionate behaviour.
27:43Here he's kept out of trouble.
27:44He's done a good job until the letter started, kept on, got worse.
27:50Well, if it were anything like that one, you wrote me.
27:52Sorry to shock you, but I wanted you to know what you're up against.
28:00John Winterton's were horrible.
28:02They terrified him, yet inflamed his imagination.
28:06He cracked under the stress and did something rather stupid.
28:10Then the last letter arrived.
28:12Copies of the boy's mother, the local paper and the police.
28:16You seem to know a lot about him.
28:23Knowing about people is my hobby.
28:24Oh, I wish I could draw.
28:30I know art's supposed to be funny these days, but not as funny as this.
28:35Oh, I've brought you something.
28:36A map of the village from my own computer.
28:42Showing where everyone lives, whose old village, whose new village, and who, as far as I can tell, has heard from Poison Pen.
28:51These letters and the copies made, just five so far.
28:55Are they always the truth?
29:00I can't say for all cases.
29:03John Winterton was true.
29:06And that Mrs. Harrow.
29:08I had a feeling.
29:10Gentlemen call us in the afternoon.
29:12Drive me into Preston, will you?
29:21I'll get a taxi back on expenses.
29:34I don't know how to begin.
29:36The way Mr. Skimmer did it.
29:37He was bringing his mother's prescriptions in regular.
29:41Just fell into conversation.
29:45Is there any chance it could be true?
29:48Why should I answer?
29:53Because whoever sent those letters forced you out of the village, and I'm trying to find out who it was.
29:59There's every chance it could be true.
30:00Now, please get out of my way.
30:02You knew.
30:04What was going on?
30:05I don't think you understand our kind of marriage, Mrs. Wainthrong.
30:11Let's just say there may be faults on both sides, but we have two children whom we both love.
30:16And now, if you'll excuse me, this is a working lunch.
30:18I'd like a glass of Dewbunny and a Scotch egg, please.
30:34Cat got your tongue?
30:37My throat's gone dry.
30:40What are you trying to say?
30:44I had it all worked out before I came in.
30:46Just give me a minute.
30:49Oh, is that it?
30:52I expect so.
30:55What?
30:56There's no need to be embarrassed, young fella, my lad.
31:00Not in this day and age.
31:02They're over by the pharmacy.
31:05Gossamer light, a whole display unit.
31:08Just pick up a packet and pay.
31:10Nobody will think anything of it.
31:21Oh, it's been a long day.
31:23You don't get much light for your painting in the winter.
31:26Enough.
31:28Gives me time to brood.
31:30About rocks.
31:32I might have been brooding about me poison pen letter.
31:35I can't make it out.
31:36My first full day in the village.
31:39I thought I might talk to some of the other folk who've had them.
31:42You can talk if you like.
31:44You'll find they won't.
31:45And I have waited for you to come over and give me hungry kisses of love, of love, of love.
31:59I don't think she really was even was in a romantic light.
32:14She called me young fella, my lad.
32:16She called me grandpa.
32:18I've got to face it, Jim.
32:20When it comes to entrapment, you're too young and I'm too old.
32:26I'd like to find somebody more single.
32:35Arrow's left the village.
32:40Davenport's left the village.
32:44Winterton attempted suicide, still in hospital.
32:48Palmby.
32:52Accident with farm machinery.
32:58That leaves one.
33:00The old villagers look after their own, usually.
33:03Get someone in the club and you're bound to it.
33:06Well, I had nobody to exert that kind of pressure.
33:10Put something in the meter, would you please?
33:12Or the fire will go out.
33:13Why did you stay?
33:20Nowhere else to go.
33:22Any road.
33:24What's to hide?
33:28I still get the letters, you know.
33:31Poison pen?
33:32It's a comfort in a way.
33:34Nobody else writes to me.
33:36What do they say?
33:38Just general abuse.
33:41But he puts a ten pound note in the envelope.
33:44He?
33:45Well, the woman wouldn't send me money.
33:46Why don't you find yourself a bird sanctuary somewhere down south?
34:02That pigeon's kept me awake these past two hours.
34:26Jim's just feeding him now.
34:28Oh, there's...
34:30Oh, so there is.
34:33Two days in a row.
34:35I find that interesting.
34:44If that's Mr Skimmer again, I'm lying down with a sick headache.
34:49Wayne Throck Detective Agency.
34:51It's not Mr Skimmer.
34:52I won't take a packed lunch today.
34:57I want to ask around the village.
35:00Your poison pen seems to have taken a fancy to me and I want to know more about him.
35:05Her?
35:08Why her?
35:09Always is, isn't it?
35:13What do I say?
35:16Buy something expensive and tell us she's beautiful.
35:18You could have done that.
35:20Yeah.
35:20When it came to the test, he found he couldn't.
35:37Has it got organic collagens for aftershave moisturising?
35:40Full of them.
35:41And a delicate yet totally masculine fragrance to enhance personal freshness.
35:46While we're on the subject, I think you're beautiful.
35:50Would you like to come out with me?
35:52Sorry.
35:53I'm already spoken for.
35:55Oh.
35:57Well, I'd better just have the, er...
35:58Wait!
36:00Take your glasses off.
36:01How about this evening?
36:08I heard your husband had an accident with a tractor.
36:13Farms are dangerous places when your mind is distracted.
36:17Spanner, please.
36:23I hope you won't take it amiss, but from what I heard, there was talk of fraud.
36:29Talk's cheap.
36:32There was nothing proved.
36:38I can see it's not easy for you.
36:41Oh, I'm not so badly off now.
36:43We got the insurance and I've sold the milk quota.
36:47It was my husband trying to hang on to the farm.
36:51But you're still here.
36:53We won't be when I've sold it.
36:55You can't...
36:57Sixty.
36:59Seventy.
37:02Eighty.
37:05Ninety.
37:06It's not enough, Mr. Wainthrop.
37:10A hundred.
37:18Don't worry, Mr. Skinner.
37:21They'll be under our expert surveillance the whole evening.
37:24Afternoon.
37:34It's Tara Hall staying here.
37:36I'm a nephew.
37:37I'll make it a hundred and fifty, and if there's any over, it'll go towards me feet.
37:41The sergeant at Ackersley had a letter from our anonymous friend this morning.
37:45Keep your grass off my patch.
37:48Do they think you're a landscape gardener?
37:50Technical terminology?
37:54Grass the informer.
37:56Patch the territory.
37:58Right.
37:58I've been hurt once already in me life, Kev.
38:04I've had a bad marriage, and the break-up was painful.
38:21You can't blame me for wanting somebody rich but steady.
38:24I don't.
38:25If you say you're twenty-nine, everybody thinks you must be over thirty.
38:29But I am only twenty-nine, Kev.
38:31I've got to put my glasses on.
38:35We keep bumping into people.
38:37Bump?
38:37It adds to the excitement.
38:44All my friends have settled for boring marriages.
38:47If you're a woman, you make your own amusement in this town.
38:50I'm sure I've seen those two before.
38:56What can they be doing in a place like this?
38:58Selling drugs, probably.
39:00They'll look the criminal type.
39:01The trouble is, my mother doesn't understand me.
39:12This job you do.
39:15Stock control, you said.
39:17In a cardboard box factory.
39:20Aye.
39:20How could you possibly afford to spend so much money taking me out?
39:43If we had proper transport, we'd be driving.
39:46Oh, go away, you loathsome bird, and stop distracting me.
40:00Oh, I'm too old for this game.
40:05It's logic I need.
40:10I think I've missed something.
40:11I've been doing some lateral thinking.
40:21It's murder getting up.
40:27You were five months pregnant,
40:29and you had nobody to exert pressure
40:32and make the father marry you.
40:34I didn't really like him much anyway.
40:35So what were you going to do?
40:40There's me auntie Jessie in Reed's bed.
40:42She's a witch.
40:43She knows ways.
40:46How to get rid of a baby?
40:48With herbs and such.
40:49And when the letter arrived,
40:51and all those copies?
40:53Well, everybody knew,
40:54so I thought I might as well have it.
40:56Thank you, Mandy.
41:04At first, I thought it was to do with old and new villagers,
41:08but that hair won't run.
41:09No, it won't.
41:10Both get letters.
41:12Then I realised it's not to do with poison pen either.
41:17Not in the usual sense.
41:19Explain, please.
41:20The letters most people get in the beginning
41:25are just a smokescreen.
41:27All lies.
41:29But the final letters hit the truth,
41:32and they get results.
41:35Tom Palmby's death was an accident.
41:38Easy to arrange with a tractor.
41:41Better than going to prison.
41:43And they collected the insurance.
41:47And what's the result for Mandy?
41:50She didn't get rid of the child.
41:53She gave birth to it,
41:55and she's rearing it.
41:57You've come a long way in a short time.
42:01I've come further since.
42:05It's all about controlling people.
42:11Somebody making herself responsible for the whole village.
42:15You think it's a woman?
42:16I do.
42:17Dishing out punishments.
42:21Laying down the law.
42:24And disguising it all behind poison pen letters.
42:27You never expected me to solve this case.
42:33Because even if I did,
42:34I'd never be able to prove it.
42:37And meanwhile,
42:38you've been the one to call in a detective.
42:41Proof of innocence, Miss Allaby.
42:44You've decided I'm the poison pen?
42:46Yes.
42:47Yes.
42:52Very good.
42:54Classic.
42:55The person who calls in the detective
42:57is really the criminal all the time.
43:00Classic plot for a detective story.
43:02Doesn't mean it isn't so.
43:05Do you want to know the real reason I came to you?
43:07Yes, I do.
43:10I knew weeks ago who the poison pen is,
43:12but I couldn't prove my case either.
43:14And since I'm already the prime suspect,
43:16nobody would believe me.
43:18But if the super grand sleuth
43:20were to point the finger at the poison pen,
43:23that's another matter.
43:25You've been using me.
43:27If you like.
43:29I don't like.
43:31You've been making a fool of me, Miss Allaby.
43:34And I don't like it at all.
43:37Oh, please.
43:40Don't undervalue yourself.
43:42You've come further in three days on your own
43:44than I did in three months with a lot of help.
43:48And you are right.
43:50It is all about control,
43:52though I'm not the controller.
43:58What help?
44:00I gather facts.
44:03Put them out over the internet on my computer.
44:06I have friends there.
44:08My only friends.
44:10We consult.
44:12Compare similar cases.
44:14Reach a decision.
44:18Now I need you to do what I can't do.
44:23Confront the real poison pen using my evidence.
44:28Keep your grass off my patch.
44:41That's police language, Mr. Cullymore.
44:44I don't expect you to understand.
44:47Try me.
44:49A village policeman knows everything
44:51if he can read the signals.
44:53I only used my knowledge when I needed to
44:55and I kept my village in order.
44:57Then they retired me.
45:00Took it all away and left me to rot.
45:04There was still work to do.
45:05You could help people.
45:06Oh, I do help people.
45:09Help the school kids when they're reading.
45:11Keep the church on tidy.
45:12Bell ringing.
45:13Help folk in their gardens when they grow past it.
45:15Helping folk's my middle name.
45:17And the letters?
45:20Was that helping?
45:21It was.
45:21People need keeping in order.
45:24They're happier.
45:26We don't have a village policeman now.
45:28There's still a job to do.
45:30Those letters were vile.
45:33The language.
45:34I felt sick.
45:38I knew what to ride.
45:44You feel no shame, do you?
45:46I was doing my duty.
45:48I always will.
45:50You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
45:53I don't think you'll be making any more omelettes in Shepton Fell, Mr. Collymore.
46:01No.
46:03Go away now, please.
46:05Go away now, please.
46:35Go away now, please.
46:36Go away now, please.
46:38She gave me the final cheque before I left.
46:40Not bad for a week's work.
46:44And the decal-edged gentleman?
46:47There's been a bit of a problem.
46:49We've not been paid.
46:52Well, we're too successful.
46:54She gave Mr. Skimmer the push and Kevin's moved in with her.
46:58Mr. Skimmer says he may sue us.
46:59How do you say it's left you feeling a bit dirty?
47:06Maybe a bit.
47:07As if you've been used.
47:09You could say that.
47:13It's the same with me.
47:14We shall have to choose our cases more carefully from now on.
47:21Joey, go home, boy.
47:41Go on.
47:44Home!
47:46Home!
47:48Home!
48:05HYKUS!
Recommended
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