Midsomer Murders Ep. 'Judgement Day'
Page 3
64.
INT. VILLAGE HALL DAY.
Towards
the end of the day, MARY DRINKWATER is packing up the music
and
putting away the stands following the rehearsal. She has heard the news.
A sense
of sadness, of defeat. BARNABY and TROY come in.
BARNABY
Miss
Drinkwater?
MARY
That’s
me.
BARNABY
I’m
Detective Chief Inspector
Barnaby.
TROY
Detective
Sergeant Troy.
- 48 -
MARY
So it’s
true then. (Pause) News
travels
fast in a place like this. It’s
true
about Peter.
BARNABY
I
understand you’re related.
MARY
I’m his
grandmother’s sister. Or I
was.
She’s dead. I don’t know where
his
mother is.
TROY
We’re
going to have to ask you to
make a
formal identification, Miss
Drinkwater.
MARY
Yes. Is
it true that they used…a
pitchfork?
That’s what I heard.
BARNABY
I’m
afraid so.
MARY
You
know…I wasn’t happy when he
turned
up here in the village. I
knew he
was trouble. He always
was.
But this..! Anyone who could
do
something like this to a twentyyear-
old
boy…well, they must be
quite
evil. That’s the word for it. I
hope
you’ll find them quickly, Mr
Barnaby.
MARY
has finished tidying away. She reaches for her coat. BARNABY isn’t
sure
what to say.
MARY
They’ll
have got a taste for it now. A
taste
for blood. And you’ll see. It
won’t
be long before they do it
again!
CUT TO
- 49 -
65.
EXT. BARNABY’S HOUSE EVENING.
ESTABLISHING
SHOT
BARNABY
drives in and gets out of his car. CULLY is waiting for him.
BARNABY
Hello
you!
CULLY
Hi dad!
CUT TO
66.
INT. BARNABY’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM EVENING.
BARNABY
uncorks a bottle of wine and pours glasses for JOYCE, CULLY and
himself.
BARNABY
(To
JOYCE) So what news then, of
the
judging?
JOYCE
They’ve
booked us into the Crown
Hotel
in Wisden and we’ve got our
first
meeting tomorrow.
BARNABY
Do we
know the other judges?
JOYCE
Yes.
There’s Rosemary Furman,
editor
of the magazine. Frank
Mannion.
CULLY
Up the
Garden Path.
JOYCE
And
they were going to get Annabel
Croft
but at the last minute she let
them
down so they’ve managed to
get
Samantha Johnstone to step in.
- 50 -
A blank
look from BARNABY.
CULLY
She’s
an author, dad. She writes the
Sister
Claire Chronicles. Life in an
English
village seen through the
eyes of
a retired nun.
BARNABY
(To
JOYCE) So how long are you
going
to be away?
JOYCE
Only a
week. We’re at somewhere
called
Little Kirkbridge tomorrow.
Then
Midsomer Mallow the day
after.
BARNABY
(Remembering)
Ah yes! Actually, I
was
there today.
JOYCE
Another
burglary?
BARNABY
No.
Actually, I think we found the
burglar.
BARNABY
doesn’t want to tell JOYCE about the murder. He changes the
subject.
BARNABY
(To CULLY)
So while your mother’s
off
gallivanting around the country,
you’re
going to look after me.
CULLY
I’m
here to write my book, dad.
BARNABY
This is
a new departure.
CULLY
Well,
while I’m between jobs, I
thought
I’d write about the Causton
Playhouse.
A sort of history…
- 51 -
BARNABY
Ah yes.
Do you remember that time
I took
you there? Amadeus…
CULLY
I’m
hardly likely to forget, dad. A
man got
his throat cut. And yes, I
will
put it in the book.
BARNABY
I shall
expect a royalty!
CULLY
But,
seriously, a lot of big actors
played
there. Richardson and
Gielgud
back in the twenties. I
know
it’s only a provincial rep, but I
think I
can make something of it.
JOYCE
I think
it’s a wonderful idea.
BARNABY
Good
for you. Go for it. And with
your
mother away and you locked
up in
the attic, I can get on with my
work in
peace.
CULLY
Have
you made an arrest yet?
BARNABY
No.
CULLY
But you
said you’d got the burglar.
BARNABY
Yes.
But I’m afraid he didn’t have
very
much to say.
CULLY
glances at BARNABY, knowing he’s hiding something.
CUT TO
67.
EXT. LOTHLORIAN DAY.
- 52 -
The
following day. BARNABY pulls up outside Lothlorian. The red Renault is
in the
drive. BARNABY notices the house name.
BARNABY
Good
morning, Troy.
TROY
Good
morning, sir. That must be the
Renault
Ray Dorset told us about.
BARNABY
Yes.
Lothlorian. The Lord of the
Rings
isn’t it?
A blank
look from TROY.
BARNABY
J.R.
Tolkein.
TROY
Oh. I
never read it. I started “The
Hobbit”.
BARNABY
And…?
They
are walking towards the front door…
TROY
It’s
all dwarves and fairies. I like
books
with a bit of…you know.
BARNABY
Yes. I
can imagine.
CUT TO
68.
INT. LOTHLORIAN - LIVING ROOM DAY.
BARNABY
and TROY face MARCUS and BELLA in the living room.
BARNABY
will notice the many photographs of CAROLINE.
MARCUS
Peter
Drinkwater? Of course we
knew
him. Everyone in the village
- 53 -
knew
him and probably wished they
didn’t.
BELLA
I can’t
imagine why you would wish
to talk
to us about him, Chief Inspector.
BARNABY
Well,
I’d be interested to know -
when
was the last time you saw
him,
Mrs Devere?
BELLA
The
last time? I couldn’t tell you! A
week
ago?
MARCUS
I saw
him slouching outside the
Cock
and Hoop. That would have
been
last Thursday. I didn’t speak
to him
though.
TROY
So
neither of you saw him in the
last
twenty-four hours.
BELLA
No.
BARNABY
Then
how would you explain the
fact
that your car was seen leaving
Windwhistle
Farm just before three
o’clock
yesterday afternoon?
TROY
Exactly
the same time that Drinkwater
was
killed.
MARCUS
(Guilty)
What…?
BARNABY
I don’t
suppose anybody else drives
your
car. Your daughter perhaps?
- 54 -
BELLA
She
doesn’t drive.
BARNABY
Then it
must have been one of you.
MARCUS
Yes it
was. Actually, it was me.
BELLA
Marcus…?
MARCUS
Who was
it who actually saw me?
Out of
interest.
TROY
Ray
Dorset. The butcher. He was on
his way
to Causton.
MARCUS
Ah.
Rather landed me in it, hasn’t.
That’s
not like Ray.
BARNABY
So you
did see him.
MARCUS
No. No
- I didn’t. I did go to see him.
But he
wasn’t there. At least, I
tooted…you
know. But there was no
answer.
So I left.
BARNABY
May I
ask why you went to see him,
sir?
MARCUS
Well,
it’s a bit personal really. But,
the
thing is, he’s been carrying on
with
Caroline.
BELLA
Our
daughter.
- 55 -
MARCUS
I
wanted to see what his intentions
were. I
thought we ought to have a
chat,
mano a mano…Those were my
very
words.
TROY
Do you
remember what time you
left?
MARCUS
It must
have been about…half two.
(To
BELLA) You were just going up
for
your nap. (To TROY) She always
dozes
off in the afternoon. And that
was
when I went.
BELLA
It was
half past two. Yes.
TROY
But you
didn’t see anyone at the
farm.
MARCUS
Only
Ray. Yes. He drove past.
BARNABY
How did
you know it was him in the
van?
MARCUS
Well,
he had the window down. He
was
smoking a cigarette. Ray’s
always
smoking.
BELLA
You
can’t really think my husband
had
anything to do with what
happened,
Mr Barnaby. He was
with
the National Westminster for
thirty-seven
years.
MARCUS
Worked
in the city. That was before
I
retired here.
- 56 -
BARNABY
has noticed the many photographs. He picks one of them up. A
younger
CAROLINE.
BARNABY
This is
your daughter? Caroline?
BELLA
(Fondly)
Yes. That was taken on her
eighteenth
birthday.
BARNABY
I
wonder if it would be possible to
have a
word with her. Do you know
where
she is now?
BELLA
She has
a summer job. At the
Causton
Nursery.
TROY
Children?
BELLA
Flowers.
69.
INT. GREENHOUSE - CAUSTON NURSERY DAY.
CAROLINE
DEVERE is watering a plant and also talking to it. She’s in a
large
greenhouse in a typical small town nursery, wearing a green sweatshirt
with
the legend: CAUSTON NURSERY.
CAROLINE
You’re
not looking very happy today,
are
you! No! You’re never going to
go to a
nice garden if you don’t cheer
up a
bit.
She
turns to address BARNABY. We now see that he and TROY are waiting
patiently.
CAROLINE
I
always talk to the plants. You
know.
Like Prince Charles. It helps
them
grow.
CUT TO
- 57 -
BARNABY
I
understand from your parents that
you
don’t drive.
CAROLINE
No. I
can drive sort of…but I don’t
like
to. I don’t like cars.
BARNABY
So when
was the last time you saw
Peter
Drinkwater?
CAROLINE
Peter?
I don’t know. I suppose it was
the day
before yesterday.
TROY
Were
the two of you in a relationship?
CAROLINE
I
suppose Jack told you. Peter told
Jack
everything. Well, we were in a
relationship
but it was over. I ended
it.
BARNABY
And why
did you do that?
CAROLINE
Because
of Laura Brierly.
TROY
Brierly.
CAROLINE
Yes.
TROY
She
wouldn’t be married to a
Gordon
Brierly?
CAROLINE
Yes.
He’s the vet although mummy
says
he’s not very good. (To BARNABY)
Laura
told me lots of things
about
Peter. Private things. But I
- 58 -
knew
she was telling the truth and I
didn’t
want to see him any more.
BARNABY
You
were angry with him.
CAROLINE
I could
have killed him. (Pause) But
I
didn’t have to. Because somebody
did it
for me.
CUT TO
70.
EXT. THE VET CLINIC DAY.
We see
the brass plaque (as in scene 37): GORDON BRIERLY - VETINERARY
SURGEON.
BARNABY is ringing the bell of the clinic. No answer. TROY is
with
him.
TROY
Looks
like they’re out.
BARNABY
Yes.
TROY
According
to Jack Dorset, Laura
Brierly
was having an affair with
Peter
Drinkwater.
BARNABY
Yes.
And she must have told
Caroline
Devere about it simply to
clear
the field.
TROY
But it
was Gordon Brierly’s credit
card we
found next to the body. He
could
have found out what his wife
was up
to and gone up to the farm
to…
TROY
mimes with his fingers, a pitchfork going into his chest.
- 59 -
BARNABY
Well,
we’ll have to catch up with
them
later. But in the meantime,
has it
occurred to you, Troy, that
one
person actually threatened to
kill
Peter Drinkwater while we were
there?
Puzzlement
from TROY.
BARNABY
“If I
ever get my hands on the little
bastards
who did this, I’ll kill them.”
TROY
Edward
Allardice.
BARNABY
Let’s
take his property back to him.
I’d
still be interested to know why
he lied
to us about that white van.
TROY
Or
obfuscated, you mean.
A glance
from BARNABY as he walks back towards the car.
71.
EXT. THE COCK AND HOOP DAY.
ESTABLISHING
SHOT
MARCUS
(Voice
over)
What I
say is, I think we ought to
take a
vote on it.
72.
INT. THE COCK AND HOOP DAY.
A
second meeting at the public house. This time the place is open - but the
Midsomer
Mallow committee has managed to find a quiet corner, perhaps a
separate
room.
CUT TO
CUT TO
- 60 -
GORDON
and LAURA BRIERLY are there. MARCUS and BELLA DEVERE.
A
troubled RAY DORSET. The indomitable MARY DRINKWATER.
MARCUS
The
judges will be here the day after
tomorrow.
The question is, do we
call
the whole thing off?
GORDON
What…you
mean…?
MARCUS
Ring
the judges and tell them not to
come.
MARY
After
all our hard work!
MARCUS
There’s
always next year.
GORDON
If they
catch him before next year.
It
could be someone sitting in this
pub who
did it. It could be one of us!
BELLA
Don’t
be ridiculous.
RAY
I don’t
see why we should think
about
cancelling it. We’ve put a lot
of work
into this. And that five
thousand
pounds. The village needs
the
money. Everyone’s been looking
forward
to it.
GORDON
I
agree. It’s too late to cancel. It’s
not
just us. It’s the whole village.
LAURA
You
don’t think the fact that we’ve
just
had a brutal murder committed
won’t
damage our chances just a
teeny
bit?
- 61 -
BELLA
They
don’t need to know. The
judges.
Nobody needs to tell them.
MARCUS
That’s
right.
RAY
What do
you think, Miss Drinkwater?
MARY
Well, I
suppose I’m thinking of the
children.
A
pause.
MARY
The
village band. We’ve spent hours
practising
and…I know it was Peter
who was
killed. My own flesh and
blood.
I had to go and identify the
body
and…
She
stops, momentarily overcome.
MARCUS
Steady
on, old thing. Can I get you a
drink?
MARY
No. I’m
all right. (Recovering) Peter
never
did anything for the village.
and it
seems to me, that if we let his
death
spoil tomorrow, well, he’s still
spoiling
things, even though he’s
gone.
So I’m afraid I agree with Ray.
MARCUS
Well
are we ready to put it to the
vote?
Let’s start with the ayes!
MARY
raises her hand.
MARY
I say
this is a perfect village. We
have no
reason to be ashamed.
- 62 -
RAY
I’m
with that.
GORDON
And me.
BELLA
Yes. I
say we go on.
LAURA
Well I
say you’re all crazy. You can’t
have
music and chicken wings two
days
after a murder.
MARCUS
That’s
a “no” then.
GORDON
It
doesn’t make any difference. Ray,
Bella,
Mary and me. That’s a
majority.
MARCUS
And I’m
afraid I’m with the others,
Laura.
So the ayes have it.
BELLA
Judgement
Day goes ahead!
CUT TO
73.
INT. GREYFRIARS HOUSE - LIVING ROOM DAY.
TROY
carries the stolen computer back into the house. BARNABY and
EDWARD
ALLARDICE are both there. So, watching them menacingly, is the
gollywog.
EDWARD
I very
much appreciate this, Mr
Barnaby.
BARNABY
Oh -
just think of it as part of the
service,
sir.
- 63 -
EDWARD
What
about the rest of it?
TROY
The
rest of it’s probably down at the
station.
You’ll have to come in to
sign
for it.
EDWARD
I can’t
believe it all ended so well.
BARNABY
Well,
it didn’t, did it. Not for Peter
Drinkwater.
EDWARD
The man
who broke in. Yes. I’m
sorry…
BARNABY
You did
say you wanted to kill him
though.
EDWARD
That
was just words. Anyway, I had
no idea
who he was.
BARNABY
Yes.
Although I was wondering. You
say you
saw the white van. You got
part of
the number but you didn’t
actually
recognize the van itself…
even
though you must have seen it
often
enough around the shop.
EDWARD
What
are you suggesting exactly,
Detective
Chief Inspector?
BARNABY
Are you
sure you weren’t at home
that
night, sir?
TROY
You
could have been here. You could
have
seen them…
- 64 -
EDWARD
I told
you. I was in London.
TROY
There
was no-one else in the house?
EDWARD
I live
alone. My wife, Jane, died in a
car
accident…
He
briefly fingers his scar.
EDWARD
I was
almost killed myself. And now
I just
live here, quietly, on my own,
and I
resent your questions. In fact,
if you
don’t mind, I’d like you to
leave.
Now.
ANOTHER
ANGLE
EDWARD
ALLARDICE watches through a window as BARNABY and TROY
drive
off. Behind him there’s a click as a door slowly opens and a second
FIGURE
moves into the room.
EDWARD
It’s
all right. They’ve gone. But we
have to
be careful. They might be
coming
back.
74.
EXT. GREYFRIARS HOUSE DAY.
ALLARDICE
can be seen standing in the window. And now we can quite
clearly
make out a second FIGURE, moving to stand next to him. But we do
not see
who it is…
END OF
PART TWO
CUT TO
CUT TO
- 65 -
75.
INT. BARNABY’S HOUSE - HALL DAY.
CLOSE
SHOT
On a
local newspaper - THE CAUSTON ECHO. The headline reads: POLICE
HUNT
FOR PITCHFORK KILLER.
Pulling
back… BARNABY has just seen the paper and slips it somewhere out
of
sight. A moment later, JOYCE comes into the hall. Her suitcase is waiting.
JOYCE
Come
on, Tom. I ought to be going.
She
glances at the empty table.
JOYCE
Have
you seen the paper?
BARNABY
It
hasn’t arrived.
JOYCE
goes out. BARNABY picks up the suitcase and follows.
CUT TO
76.
EXT. BARNABY’S HOUSE DAY.
CULLY
is driving JOYCE to her hotel. BARNABY loads the case into the back.
JOYCE
I’ve
left a lasagne for you in the
fridge
for tonight. I’ll call you from
the
hotel.
BARNABY
You
enjoy yourself. I’ll see you
tomorrow
in Midsomer Mallow.
CULLY
Come
on, mum. We’re going to be
late.
JOYCE
Are you
sure about this, Cully? I
could
have taken a cab.
- 66 -
CULLY
I’m
happy to drive you.
BARNABY
Goodbye.
They
kiss.
JOYCE
I’m
quite nervous! I wonder what
the
other judges will be like?
CUT TO
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