Lay off him? But I’ve got to talk to him. I’ve got no other line of inquiry.
Griswold:
I said, Lay off him. That is an order.
Wexford:
Ah, There it is. Angela Hathall, 36, was last night found dead in her home in Wool Lane, Kingsmarkham. She had been strangled. The police are treating the case as murder. I don’t know, Mike, if Dora had been murdered, the last thing I’d want to do is to read about it in the papers. Yet I found Hathall scanning it very intently.
Mrs Lake:
Are you important?
Wexford:
Well, I daresay I’ll do.
Mrs Lake:
Yes, I really think you might.
Wexford:
Do you know Berry cottage?
Dora:
Berry cottage, where’s that?
Wexford:
Wool Lane. Do you think I’ve lost weight?
Dora:
Weigh yourself and see.
Wexford:
I don’t trust those scales. A man called Hathall lives there. His wife was murdered this afternoon.
Dora:
Oh dear. Is it going to be straightforward?
Wexford:
I don’t know yet. I wondered if you’d come across them.
Dora:
The only person I’ve ever come across from Wool Lane is that Mrs Lake.
Dora:
You’re a snob, Reg Wexford and about your own nephew too.
Wexford:
What do you mean, a snob?
Dora:
just because he’s a higher rank than you are.
Wexford:
It’s nothing to do with it.
Dora:
And they live in a fashionable part of London.
Wexford:
Trendy.
Dora:
You see.
Most Difficult Subject
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Fabia:
I gazed, I touched your hair. Your eyes were closed. I knew it was too late.
Most Original Storyline
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Wexford:
Are you playing semantics with me?
Arlene Peterlee:
Or I could be dead stupid.
Wexford:
Or dead clever
Arlene Peterlee:
Or dead clever.
Wexford:
I wonder just how clever you are being.
Joe Peterlee:
I always turn the light out.
Monica Peterlee:
Don’t put the light out, Joe. Please don’t put the light out. [MONICA SCREAMS]
[A ram-raid scene]
Eva Peterlee:
She’s too young for you.
Wexford:
Too young for what?
Eva Peterlee:
Oh hark at him. That’s a nice question to ask a senior citizen. Mind I don’t cast a spell on you.
Most Dramatic Episode
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Wexford:
I’m making inquiries about a claimant. Melanie Akande.
Leyton:
Come again?
Wexford:
Akande. A-K-A-N-D-E. It’s a Nigerian name. She had an appointment with this office at two-thirty on Tuesday. Mr Leyton, she hasn’t been seen since. Time is of the essence.
Leyton:
Should be in the system by now.
Wexford:
Good.
Laurette Akande:
Is she like Melanie?
Dr Akande:
No.
Laurette Akande:
How dare you do that to us.
Wexford:
I deeply regret that this has happened.
Laurette Akande:
You deeply regret it. You deeply regret being caught out because you find a dead black girl. It’s got to be our girl because we’re black and we all look alike, don’t we?
Dr Akande:
Two days now, total silence.
Laurette Akande:
We think it’s time to do this officially. Report her missing. Is there a procedure?
Wexford:
Well, forms to fill in, inevitably. One of you will have to come down to the station.
Laurette Akande:
You may not know this, Inspector Wexford, but black Africans are the most highly educated members of British society. We have high expectations of our children.
Finest Story Telling
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Mrs Crown:
So RIP Rhoda hey. That’s a turn-up.
Wexford:
Was it?
Mrs Crown:
It was to me. I’ll tell you something. You won’t get me down that footpath again in a hurry. It was a sex crime I take it?
Wexford:
I wouldn’t have thought so.
Mrs Crown:
Nor would I. The only thing she had in her draws was cobwebs.
Wexford:
Miss Flinders?
Polly Flinders:
Yes
Wexford:
Inspector Wexford, Kingsmarkham C.I.D. This is Mr Burden. May we ask you some questions?
Polly:
Yes.
Wexford:
You are Mr West’s secretary?
Polly:
Part-time, yes.
Burden:
How long have you been doing it?
Polly:
two years.
Wexford:
When you were working for him … in his flat? Perhaps you presumably answer the phone?
Polly:
Sometimes.
Wexford:
let in his visitors? Amongst his friends, acquaintances, business associates, could there be anybody who could be conceivably this woman? Think carefully.
Best Location
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Vine:
… Was five rounds being fired from a 44. From a black powder revolver sir.
Burden:
Martin was killed with a 44. calibre. I’m pretty sure that ballistics mentioned black powder then too.
Wexford:
Do they match?
Vine:
No.
Wexford:
That’s a shame.
Vine:
And the probability of it being the same weapon. So it works out to be 535 to 1, Sir.
Wexford:
How you’ve worked that out?
Vine:
Well, what it does is it looks up all the previous crimes and where they were committed.
Wexford:
Don’t tell me, don’t tell me.
Pathologist:
I’ve heard it said that all women when they get old turn into either goats or monkeys. She was a monkey. I’d say, wouldn’t you? Not a sagging muscle to be seen.
Most Intriguing Crime
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Peter Capaldi [sings]:
Remember me in my life-without-life. Come once more to be my wife. Come today before I grieve. Enter the web of let-me-believe.
Wexford:
I liked the seventies. I never went to a music festival, but perhaps I should’ve. [DRUM BEATS] Want a hot dog?
Burden:
I’d rather have a pair of earplugs.
Wexford:
A girl has been murdered. [CROWD QUIETENS] Thank you. We do not know who she is. Nobody is to leave the Sundays estate until I give permission. [CROWD BECOMES ANGRY] We shall be making further announcements shortly. Thank you.
A Teasing Storyline
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Wexford:
[RUNNING WATER AND BARKING DOGS] Get that dog of yours on a lead.
Maurice Cullam:
Oh, he must’ve fallen in.
Wexford:
Maybe. Get that dog under control.
Mrs Fanshawe:
She wasn’t in the car. Nora wasn’t there.
Wexford:
Has the doctor said anything?
Dora:
Well, I don’t think there’s been much change in my condition since yesterday, Reg.
Wexford:
Well, I’m not silly. I realised that.
Dora:
Are you all right?
Dora:
She fancies you
Wexford:
Nonsense, old man like me.
Dora:
Well, I fancy you. Is that nonsense?
Wexford:
It’s different.
Dora:
Don’t be so stuffy.
Favourite Episode
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Wexford:
I’m gonna go for a walk and see what’s happening.
Dora:
Nothing is happening. That’s the point. Nothing is supposed to happen.
Wexford:
Well, I’m going to stretch my legs. Doing me no good this flopping around.
Dora:
We are here to relax.
Wexford:
I’ll see you later.
Philip Blackstock:
Sorry about that.
Burden:
What was the hurry?
Philip Blackstock:
Dying for a swim.
Burden:
Oh, I see.
Jenny Burden:
So am I.
Burden:
Well, I’m sure we all are. I prefer a more conventional route to the beach than being plunged over a cliff.
Dora:
In the 13th century, the Genoese arrived. And instead of settling like all the others around the bay, they came up here.
Wexford:
Fascinating.
Wexford:
That small craft, over there.
Dora:
Oh, that’s who it is.
Iris Blackstock:
We’re co-directors.
Wexford:
Husband and wife on the same board. Well, that’s unusual. Isn’t it?
Philip Blackstock:
Iris’s father owned the company. I just joined as promotions officer. When we got married, he promoted me.
Wexford:
Where are you based?
Philip Blackstock:
London. We have offices in London and a factory in Downhampton.
Wexford:
Oh, that’s in my area.
Most Controversial Plot
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Wexford:
I realise this must’ve been a shock for you.
Denys Villiers:
Well, tell you the truth, it makes very little difference. My sister and I weren’t particularly attached to each other.
Wexford: Oh?
May I know why not?
Denys Villiers:
We had nothing in common. She was an empty-headed, frivolous woman. And, well, I’m not a frivolous man.
Dora:
What time Is it?
Wexford:
Sorry love, Go to sleep.
Wexford:
There’s a torch missing from the garden room.
Quentin Quentin Nightingale:
I beg your pardon?
Wexford:
A torch. A big one. 10, 12 inches long. Brass coloured. You’ve seen it lately?
Quentin Nightingale:
It was there on Sunday. I went in to get my golf clubs. I saw it then.
Wexford:
But isn’t there now. That torch killed your wife, Mr Nighingale.
Quentin Nightingale:
I don’t honestly think I could take anymore. Yesterday was the worst day of my life.
Wexford:
Well, I can’t promise you that today or tomorrow will be any improvement.
Lionel Lionel Marriot:
Well, well, well. The assembled might of the Kingsmarkham Law Enforcement Agency.
Burden:
I’m just leaving, Mr Marriot.
Lionel Marriot:
Not on my account, dear boy, I trust.
Burden:
No, no. Goodnight, sir.
Wexford:
Goodnight Mike.
Burden:
Goodnight, Mr Marriot.
Lionel Marriot:
Goodnight.
Wexford:
Sit down a minute, Lionel.
Lionel Marriot:
Oh dear. Is he happy in his work do you think? He always looks so miserable, poor dear.