You have to admire the timeless quality of Midsomer Murders. It seems to have been on our screens for practically ever. In fact the genre may be older than we think. Take for example the recently discovered unseen episode……
It all started in Midsomer Regis with the discovery of a gruesome murder. Unemployed chef Rick was found dead in a vat of boiling liquid. Rick had been sacked from the employ of the local vicar, accused of attempting to poison the vicar and his family. Fortunately the vicar didn’t eat the poisoned meal, but others did, two of which died. Unfortunately Rick wasn’t found immediately leaving little evidence for the police.
Causton Constabulary were called once the body was found. At this time DCI Tom Barnaby and his Sergeant were away at a conference, so his step brother and cousin to John Barnaby, DCI Dave Barnaby was called in. Dave Barnaby was not like the affable Tom or John Barnaby. Dave was more a sombre, brooding man, so much so that he was known as “Starkey” at Causton nick. Accompanying Dave Barnaby was his Sergeant, Sergeant Worsley. Worsley and Barnaby were like chalk and cheese, Worsley having a wry sense of humour to Barnaby’s austere temperament.
Barnaby was quick to question whether Rick had poisoned the vicar’s family as a joke that went wrong or whether someone had paid him to do the deed. This meant that either the some one that employed Rick was responsible, or most unlikely, the vicar, John, had administered the poison. So, if not the vicar, then who would pay to harm the vicar and why? Barnaby asked John if he had any enemies. One man stood out as having a grudge against the vicar, the local Lord of the Manor, a brutal man by the name of Hal. John had had several disagreements with Hal over the years, firstly over a trust fund, and latterly over Hal’s separation from his wife, Kath.
Little conclusive progress was made. Things changed a few years later when a headless corpse emerged. Like Rick’s death the murder wasn’t detected until some considerable time after death. Eventually the corpse was identified as the vicar, John. Barnaby blew the dust off his original investigation and looked again at John’s relationship with Hal.
At the vicarage the housekeeper told Worseley about the blazing rows the vicar had had with Hal. John had taken up Kath’s cause and accused Hal of misappropriating church funds. Not only had the vicar rowed with Hal, but also his personal assistant Tom and his lawyer Dick. Dick in particular had tried to blackmail the vicar. Nothing conclusive yet but Barnaby and Worseley were becoming convinced that the Lord of the Manor was involved, directly or indirectly.
Whoever killed the vicar struck again just over a fortnight later. As before, a headless corpse was found. This time it was the body of a retired judge, Thomas. As before, there was a connection between Hal and Thomas. At one time Hal, Kath, Thomas and Alice, Thomas’s first wife, had been on friendly terms, playing bridge regularly. However, when Hal abandoned Kath, and set up home with Anne, Thomas cooled towards Hal. Nothing was said directly about Hal, but relations became particularly frosty, to the extent that Hal communicated with Thomas using his PA Tom. When Hal eventually married Anne, Thomas had been invited to the wedding, but declined the invitation. This appeared to be the last straw for Hal.
Worseley noticed some overdue books in Thomas’s study and pursued enquiries at the library. The books, in themselves were not important, but discussion with the librarian brought out the fact that Hal’s lawyer, Dick, had approached Thomas for a job some years back and been rebuffed by Thomas.
Whilst Worsley was at the library Barnaby did some background research on Thomas. Thomas had married a much younger woman after the death of his first wife. There was also evidence in the post mortem that Thomas had been into self flagellation. Perhaps there was a secret side to Thomas that needed investigation.
Nearly a year passed and the investigation had stalled. Things were to go from bad to worse. The beheaded corpses of two men were found. One of them had been tortured before death. They were eventually identified as Mark, a musician and George, an academic. George was in fact the brother in law of Hal, the local Lord of the Manor. At last Barnaby had murders that were close to his chief suspect Hal. A search of George’s rooms revealed a notepad that had been used to write a note. The impressions revealed that the note was a confession of the guilty secret about George’s incestuous relationship with his sister. Handwriting experts indicated that the note had been written under duress, and that there were strange legal references in it. Suspicion turned to the lawyer Dick.
A trip to the florists by Barnaby revealed that all was not well in Hal’s household. Hal had a habit of buying roses for his mistresses. The florist let slip that Anne’s sister, Mary, had been Hal’s mistress. Worsley elicited similar information from the lady in the wool shop. She gossiped that Anne wasn’t above entertaining gentleman as well, in particular Mark the musician. Anne’s step daughter, Mary, also hated Anne, so much so that she had left home because of it.
When Barnaby and Worsley approached Hal, he told them that he had come back from off-roading with some of his pals yesterday and found Anne had left without a note. Her disappearance wasn’t for long though. Within days the headless body of a woman was found. Villagers were starting to become restless, not knowing who would be next. The commissioner instructed Barnaby to hold a briefing with the villagers.
Barnaby assembled the villagers in nearby Causton Cathedral. He slowly and ponderously paced down the nave stating the facts as he knew them. It became clear from his analysis that he had more questions than answers. His biggest problem was the time lag between the murders and his presence on the crime scene. He knew, for example that John, the vicar, had died in June, but the exact date was only known as June AB. The musician Mark had died on CD May, but Barnaby only knew it was early summer. Similarly, Rick, the chef, died early April on E April, whilst Thomas, the judge, had died in high summer F July.
There are those that think that Midsomer Murders are formulaic. For those of you that do, then here is the formula
N54 02.(D)(C)(A+E) W001 41.(A+B+E)(F-C)(A+B+C)
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.