Blue Herrings is the second episode of the third series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and originally aired on 22nd January 2000.
Synopsis[]
While taking a week off to move into their new home, Barnaby takes time to visit his aunt, Alice Bly, who is staying at a local convalescent home for a few weeks. She tells him that a resident died there the previous evening and at least one other resident believes it was murder. When the home's administrator tells Barnaby that residents' personal effects are going missing, he gets Troy to look into the goings on at the manor. When a second resident is found dead soon after, Barnaby begins to suspect that something is amiss.
Plot[]
The episode opens at Lawnside Private Residential Nursing Home for the Elderly. Alice Bly is looking through books. Another resident is playing solitaire. Two residents are playing scrabble.
Muriel Harrap says, "What's that supposed to be?" Madge Fielding replies, "Hopefull. You put down F-U-L-L and I added H-O-P-E. 'Hopefull." Muriel says, "Oh, come on. You don't spell it with two Ls." Madge says, "Why not?" Muriel says, "Well, you just don't. You stupid woman. Madge says, "I didn't come here to be insulted." William Smithers says, "Ladies, ladies, ladies." Muriel says, "Mind your own business, you interfering old buffer." William says, "Keep calm." Madge says, "I've had enough of this damned place and I've had enough of you. You are without doubt the most unpleasant person I've ever met." Madge gets up and leaves.
Someone drives to Lawnside. Arthur Prewitt straightens out the books. "That's better. That's much better." Alice Bly reads a book in her bedroom. Then she turns out the light. Someone enters the staff only door. Alice looks outside. George Watson presses the button for the elevator. She opens the door and finds Muriel dead inside. George screams. Someone runs from the building. Alice goes downstairs to see what's going on. Hilary Richards consoles George. William tells Alice that "Another Indian bites the dust. Did you know Muriel? Not my favourite person in the world. Rather the reverse. George found her. Very upsetting. Her real name is Marjorie. Everybody calls her George. Getting battier by the minute. See you in the morning, no doubt. If we survive the night." Alice says, "Do you think we may not?" William says, "At my time of life, one never knows."
The next morning the residents watch as Muriel is hauled away. George says she was only 81." Alice says, "They said it was a heart attack." George says, "Rubbish. Who said that?" Alice says, "One of the nurses told me." George says, "She would, wouldn't she? Well, that's what they want us to think."
The Barnaby's are moving into a new house. Gavin brings a cactus as a housewarming present. Tom asks Gavin what he thinks. Troy looks around. Joyce says there is a lot still left to do. Tom has a week off, seven whole days. He doesn't need that long to straighten the place out. Barnaby is going to get some paint. Then he's going to see Auntie Alice on the way home. She's at a nursing home near Aspern Tallow. She has been in hospital.
William greets Alice in the morning. Dr Warnford arrives. William wonders "how the hell can he afford a car like that? £60... 70,000. A country GP. It doesn't make sense. I don't trust him. Never have. A total creep." Alice tells William she is only there for a few weeks. And she has a nephew who lives close by.
Barnaby stops to buy flowers for Alice. He tells the florist that he would like some flowers for an elderly lady. The florist asks, " Lawnside?" Barnaby says, "Yes. Do you know it?" The florist says, "We know it well. Lots of funerals. Oh, dear, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'll make her up a nice bunch."
In the lounge of Lawnside, William asks Sister Lovelace "Nurse, I would like some toast and marmalade and perhaps a boiled egg. Is that possible?" Sister says, "You know the rules as well as I do. Breakfast ends at half past nine." William says, "I don't give a damn about the rules. I pay a great deal of money to stay in this hell hole. The least you could do is feed me." Sister says. "Behave yourself Bill. Don't be so grouchy." William says, "I do wish you'd stop calling me Bill. Nobody calls me Bill. To my friends I am William. To my intimates, Willy. Everybody else calls me Mr. Smithers." Sister asks if Alice is alright. William gets up to take a pill.
Madge walks outside with a cup of tea, spilling it everywhere. George tells Alice to be careful of William. He had his hand up her skirt last week. Alice and George sit at a table. Alice asks George, "What were you saying about that old lady? You said it wasn't a heart attack. George says, "They think I'm going soft in the head. Let them think what they like. I don't argue. Makes life easy. It isn't the first time it's happened. Far from it." Alice asks, "What do you mean?" George says, "They get them to change their wills. I don't know how, but they do. Miss Richards and Dr Warnford. They've got it all worked out. Nobody suspects anything. They pretend they're not even friends. Just professional colleagues." George says she's seen Richards and Warnford together when she was getting new shoes. George says there was nothing wrong with Muriel's heart. She saw the specialist only a couple of weeks ago. He said she was as fit as a fiddle.
Arthur follows Dr. Warnford out to his car. Barnaby drives up and watches them. Arthur says, "I've a pain in my shoulder. It's worrying. Especially at night." Warnford says, "Mr Prewitt, you are a hopeless hypochondriac. You're also a bloody nuisance. You waste my time and the nurses'. Take an aspirin. Take two. Stop thinking about yourself." The mean doctor drives away.
Barnaby goes into the nursing home with his flowers and asks Pru Bennett where Alice is. Pru tells him to look in the lounge. Barnaby asks how Alice is doing and Pru tells him he has mistaken her for one of the staff. Miss Richards walks in with Celia Armstrong. Pru asks Celia, "How are you feeling today?" Celia says, "Rather well, actually. Do we really have to go to the hospital?" Pru says, "The doctor wants to see you, so we ought to go. We won't be long. Back in time for supper."
Barnaby asks Miss Richards about Alice. Richards tells him "Oh, yes. The detective. She's very proud of you, Mr Barnaby. It's through there and then to your left." Barnaby greets Aunt Alice. Alice tells Barnaby that "Somebody died here last night. An old lady called Muriel. There's something odd about it. They say she died of a heart attack, but there was nothing wrong with her heart." Alice tells him what George said.
Barnaby says, "You know as well as I do that old people sometimes get confused. Look at my old mum. She thought everyone was stealing from her. The milkman, the paper boy, even me. I'm sure your friend is a very lovely old lady, but it might not be a good thing to believe everything she says. All right?" Barnaby leaves and then turns around and comes back. He asks to see Miss Richards. She's left so Barnaby asks for Dr. Warnford's address.
Barnaby goes to see the doctor. Barnaby says, "This is not an official visit. You look after residents at Lawnside Nursing Home. My aunt has just moved in there. She seems rather worried about the death of the old lady last night." Warnford says, "You mean Mrs Harrap? She died of acute myocardial infarction. Heart attack. Muriel Harrap was nearly 80 years old. There was nothing wrong with her heart, but at that age, things can happen at any time without warning. Your aunt has probably been talking to Mrs Watson. They call her George. Lives in a world of her own. The last time I saw her she was expecting the Queen Mother for tea." As Barnaby is driving off, Miss Richard sneaks around the corner of the house.
At night someone is driving to Lawnside. The nurses are watching TV in a lounge. One of the residents buzzes and a nurse goes to see what it is. The Nurse Bartlett goes to make tea in the kitchen. A man grabs her arm and she drops a cup, which breaks everywhere. "Where's Sister Lovelace?" The nurse says, "She's not here." The man says, "Well, where's she gone? I've got to see her. I've got to talk to her. I'm staying at the Stonor Arms Hotel. You know who I am. You tell her." The man leaves. A resident hears what is going on and looks out the window. She is scared.
At the Barnaby's, Joyce is counting curtain hooks. Barnaby asks Cully if she can go see Auntie Alice and see if everything is OK.
Sister arrives to Lawnside on her bicycle. Alice goes to talk to Celia Armstrong. Celia says that news from the hospital was not what she hoped. She worries about Pru. She was upset. Celia asks if Alice heard the dreadful row last night with Nurse Bartlett and some man. Celia thinks it was Mungo Mortimer. Celia says she used to live on the ground floor, next to his mother. She heard him say, "you won't sign it?" His mother said, "It's my money. I need it and I'm not dead yet." Mungo said, "If I don't get this money, I'm finished. The sooner you're out of the way, the happier I shall be." Celia says she saw him last night?
In the laundry, Nurse Bartlett tells Sister Lovelace she needs to do something. A man was asking for her. Sister says Mungo Mortimer is a dangerous man and she's having nothing more to do with him.
Cully comes to the nursing home and George and William visit with her and Alice. George asks, "So you're an actress, Miss Barnaby?" Cully says, "Trying to be." Alice says, "She was almost in Pride And Prejudice." George says, "Isn't that the one about the Russian spy?" William says he's been at Lawndale Five years. He prefers the hustle and bustle of city life. He was a driver, a chauffeur. Drove quite a lot of theatre people. He likes the Dr's car. It's an Aston Martin? Classic. William says, "I'd give £5,000 to spend an afternoon in that car, if I had £5,000 to spare."
At home, Troy drops by to visit. He tells Barnaby that Miss Richards phone and asked for his home phone number. Barnaby calls he. She asks to meet him at a tea shop in Causton.
William walks Cully out. She asks if he is happy at Lawnside. He tells her he's not unhappy. "It's not much fun being old. You cease to expect happiness." His wife died years ago. He has a daughter married to an accountant. He doesn't like either of them. They don't like him either. Williams says "the strangest thing about getting old is you become invisible. Nobody gives you a second glance." Cully says she noticed him as soon as she walked into the room.
At the tearoom, Miss Richards tells Barnaby that "One of our residents died a couple of nights ago. A Mrs Harrap. Your aunt spoke to you about the circumstances of her death. Although she wasn't rich, Mrs Harrap did have a good wristwatch. A Cartier. It was worth a lot of money. I helped her with the insurance papers. The point is, it's gone missing. I saw her the evening before she died. She wore it then. I helped her with her banking affairs. I checked her bank statements. I made sure all her bills were paid on time. She found that side of life a bit overwhelming. Most residents do." Barnaby says, "And you discovered that the watch was missing when?" She wasn't wearing it when they found her dead body. The tearoom door opens and Pru and Celia come in. Miss Richards becomes uncomfortable. She would prefer they hadn't been seen together. Any gossip could cause difficulties. Any hint of anything being stolen could be very damaging. People might leave. They can't afford that sort of scandal. Barnaby says he will get his sergeant to make some discreet enquiries.
William greets Alice. He is going to town and asks if she needs anything. William says he likes Cully. Alice says she had no idea William led such a colorful life. In town, William goes into a shop. The shop owner says "You'll be glad to know we found a home for your cigarette case. A theatre-lover. Delighted to possess something of Jack Buchanan's." William shows the shop owner a watch. William says, "This belonged to my late wife. As usual, financial necessity forces me to ignore sentiment." The shop owner says, "Ah, yes. Cartier. Very nice. We can certainly give you a good price for this, sir."
Troy goes to Lawnside. Nurse Bartlett tells him about Mungo Mortimer whose mother was a resident there. She died about three weeks ago. Last night he came by and was looking for Sister Lovelace. He shouted at Nurse Bartlett and grabbed her arm. An old lady called Mrs Harrap died a few nights ago. Nurse Bartlett saw Mr Mortimer outside. He said he was staying at the Stonor Arms Hotel.
Elsewhere, Mungo is picked up in front of the Stoner Arms by Dr. Warnford. Mungo says, "I went to the bank. Everything's going to be OK." Warnford says, "Well, let's hope so, old cock, for your sake as well as mine. Hop in." They drive off just as Troy arrives.
At Lawnside, residents are dancing along with the nurses. Someone creeps upstairs and goes into a room. Madge comes upstairs and goes into her room. She sees a shadow on a wall of a man. Alice goes to get her shawl from Madge's room. She opens the door and finds Madge on the floor. Dead.
Alice tells Barnaby what happened. "Oh, it was a dreadful shock. I saw her a few minutes before. We walked up the corridor together. She was perfectly well. She'd had a happy evening. I just don't understand it." Barnaby says, "You should have phoned me." Alice says, "Something frightens me. I lent her my shawl. Madge. She was wearing it when she died. Suppose... Well, just suppose she was killed. Perhaps whoever did it thought he was killing me." Dr. Warnford claims she had a cerebral haemorrhage. She'd had a couple of tiny strokes last year.
Barnaby asks Troy to go talk to the residents but not to let Miss Richards or Dr. Warnford know. Arthur comes in. George tells him that Troy is a detective. Arthur gets nervous and leaves.
At night, there are footsteps coming up the stairs. Alice wakes up after hearing muffled noises. She finds an earrings on the floor.
Troy goes to Barnaby's house. He reports that he couldn't get a straight answer out of them. Troy says, "There was one thing, sir. One old boy behaved strangely when I said I was a detective. Jumpy. Ill at ease. He was scared. Prewitt. Retired schoolmaster. Poofter."
Alice has tea with William. Alice tells him that George thinks Miss Richards and Dr Warnford are in cahoots. Fiddling money and changing wills. Miss Richards comes in and tells the residents that Mrs Armstrong passed away during the night.
Alice calls Barnaby. Mrs. Armstrong's dead. "She was so bright when I last spoke to her. There was no reason for her to die so soon." Troy says, "I spoke to Dr Warnford. He said she was very ill." Alice says, "I don't trust Dr Warnford. I think he's up to no good." Well, be that as it may, Mrs Armstrong was old and she was ill. She wasn't ready to die. You can tell. You said she was frightened Celia told Alice she was frightened of Mungo Mortimer. She saw him threatening one of the nurses.
Barnaby and Troy go to talk to Mungo. Barnaby says, "One of the staff complained that you barged into the nurses' sitting room and used abusive language and threatening behaviour." Mungo says there was a bit of a fracas when his mother died.
The detectives go to Lawnside and see Pru Bennett there. They speak to Sister Lovelace. Sister says Mr Mortimer has been having financial problems. He tried to get money from his mother. They had rows about it. She wouldn't give it to him. She was... a sweet woman, but very stubborn. They didn't get on. Not at all. And of course, she was very ill. The medication was heavy. She slept most of the time. Mungo told Sister he doesn't want his mother to linger... Four days later she died. Dr Warnford and Mr Mortimer are friends.
Arthur catches Barnaby and asks to speak to him. Outside, William comes to talk to Alice and George. He invites Alice to lunch but she declines. Arthur tells Barnaby that Madge Fielding was so untidy. He was busy tidying the dressing table which was a mess of hair brushes and make-up and soiled tissues. And then Madge came in. She saw Arthur and grabbed her throat and fell to the floor.
At the Queen's Arms, William arrives in a taxi. He has lunch and talks to the bartender. The bartender says the doctor lives in the village and his girlfriend works at Lawnside too. William goes over to Warnford's house. He sees the keys in the car and then goes over to the house. William goes in the patio door and sees Miss Richard dressed in a dominatrix outfit whipping Dr. Warnford. The stairs creek as William leaves and Miss Richards and Dr. Warnford turn around. William steals Dr. Warnford's car. He subsequently crashes it.
Troy reports to Barnaby about Mungo Mortimer. "He runs an up-market second-hand car business. Classic Cars. That's where he met Dr Warnford. Mortimer sold him the Aston Martin. His name is Maurice, by the way, not Mungo. Maurice Winston." says Troy. Barnaby says, "We had a talk to Sister Lovelace. It would be a very good idea if you told us your side of the story." Mungo says, "It all comes down to money. I borrowed money from Clive Warnford. He's loaded. His wife is, anyway. That's why he has to be careful....Miss Richards. They're knocking each other off. If the wife found out, she'd divorce him and the money would dry up." He says he didn't kill his mother. She died suddenly four days later. Mungo says, "Then I began to worry about Sister Lovelace. What if she thought I'd done something? Pills in the Lucozade. Suppose she'd gone to the police. There'd have to be a postmortem. Probate would be delayed. I needed the money immediately. I had to do something. I decided to talk to Sister Lovelace, tell her the truth."
Inspector Barnaby gets a call about Mr Smithers. William is in the hospital. He tells the detectives. He says, "I saw the car. He'd left the keys in the ignition. Stupid clot. The temptation was too great. I wanted a taste of freedom. Lunch at the Queen's Arms." Barnaby tells William that his aunt was worried about him. "She'd heard some garbled rumours about your adventures and asked me to find out what happened. She says you'd cooked up a theory about Dr Warnford and Miss Richards trying to defraud the residents." William says, "We were barking up the wrong tree. Their connection is more intimate, if you follow my drift." William tells the detectives about the watch he stole from Muriel. "She left the door ajar. Now, what would have happened if I hadn't taken it? It would have gone to some niece or nephew. Pushed into a drawer. Nobody needed it. But I did. I needed it to go to the pub once a week. A couple of G&Ts. A ploughman's with real cheddar. These things are important to a chap. They are to me, anyway. I'll tell you something. Whatever happens,... it was worth it."
At night Alice sees Pru Bennett in her aunt's room searching for her earring. Alice is frightened and leaves. Later a car drives up in the dark and someone gets out.
Barnaby and Joyce are out to dinner. Barnaby is worried about Pru Bennett. "Her aunt was in Lawnside. She's been very ill. The aunt died last night. Mrs Bennett reacted very strangely. I couldn't put my finger on it, but now I can. She wasn't upset. She was frightened of me. Alice calls Barnaby's house and Cully answers. Alice tells her she knows who killed Celia Armstrong. Cully calls her father at the restaurant and tells him what Alice said. Barnaby calls Miss Richards. Pru Bennett creeps around Lawnside. Alice hides and Pru Bennett finds her.
Barnaby finds an unlocked door in the back of Lawnside. He sees his aunt sitting on a couch and Pru Bennett is crying on her shoulder.
Pru tells Barnaby what happened. "Celia was the most important person in the world to me. It's as simple as that. My parents died when I was young. Celia was my mother's sister. She brought me up as her daughter. We were devoted to each other. Celia's husband died. So we shared a house. We were very happy. The cancer first came five years ago. We thought she was clear, but it came back. We went to the hospital on Tuesday. It was the worst possible news. At first, I didn't take it in. I'd been sitting there, I don't know how long, going over and over what the doctor had told me. He would do all he could, he said. But I must face up to the fact that she'd go downhill pretty quickly. She'd always been so kind and gentle, so full of sympathy for others. I knew the cancer was destroying her. I couldn't let her suffer and do nothing. It must have been two or three in the morning. The lock on the dining room French window was broken. Celia had complained about it. She looked so peaceful. And so content. I knew what had to be done. It was much later I realized I'd lost one of my earrings. It was a mistake to go and look for it. Was it wrong what I did? Was it murder? The doctor said two months. That's all she had left. I couldn't let her suffer."
Barnaby says, "My mother died a few years ago, and, like your auntie, she was very frail. Very fragile. Most of the time she seemed to sleep. I used to sit by the bed, and the silence... became oppressive. So I began talking to her as if she were her old self. I'd talk to her of childhood things. Holidays, trips to the seaside, special treats. No reaction. And then... one day as I was leaving, I leaned across and kissed her on the forehead, and I told her I loved her. She opened her eyes. She looked directly at me. 'I love you too,' she said. Had she heard everything I'd been saying? Perhaps she wasn't asleep after all." Troy escorts Pru to the police car.
At the Barnaby home, Joyce asks, "Will she go to prison?" Barnaby says, "Possibly, but I doubt it. I'm sure they'll be very lenient. Suspended sentence, perhaps." Joyce says, "Poor woman. It's quite dreadful. Yep. Presumably the others died naturally?" Barnaby says, "That's what the doctor says. I was thinking about Alice. She made a mistake going to Lawnside. She doesn't need nursing, does she? She needs some tender loving care." Joyce says, "Do you want her to come here? It's only a couple of weeks, after all."
Alice packs her things. She offers George some books. George declines saying she gets confused with all the blue herrings.
Barnaby speaks to Smithers who has returned to collect his things. He's going to Shrewsbury, near his daughter's.
Barnaby drives away from Lawnside with Aunt Alice. He asks, "Are you all right?" Alice says, "Yes, thank you, Tom. Very all right."
Cast[]
- John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby
- Daniel Casey as Sgt. Gavin Troy
- Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby
- Laura Howard as Cully Barnaby
- Phyllis Calvert as Alice Bly
- Nigel Davenport as William Smithers
- Geoffrey Bayldon as Arthur Prewitt
- Mary Wimbush as George Watson
- Gudrun Ure as Celia Armstrong
- Angela Down as Pru Bennett
- Colin Tierney as Mungo Mortimer
- Clive Wood as Dr. Clive Warnford
- Deborah Findlay as Hilary Richards
- Carolyn Pickles as Sister Lovelace
- Miranda Kingsley as Nurse Bartlett
- Mali Harries as Nurse O'Casey
- Sam Beazley as Cyril Toft
- Matyelok Gibbs as Muriel Harrap
- Georgine Anderson as Madge Fielding
- Daphne Goddard as Miss Laybourne
- Arthur Cox as Landlord
- Cyril Shaps as Jeweller
- Caroline John as Florist
- Sarah Ball as Shop Assistant
- Katherine Tozer as Hotel Receptionist
- David Killick as Waiter
- Richard Dee-Roberts as Police officer (uncredited)
Galleries[]
Body Count[]
Prior to the Episode
Died of natural causes several weeks ago.
In the Episode
Found dead in the elevator. Said to be natural causes.
Fell dead while being surprised by an intruder in her room.
Smothered with a pillow while she was sleeping.
Supporting Cast[]
Episode Images[]
Arrests[]
- Pru Bennett for the mercy killing of Celia Armstrong
- Probably William Smithers for stealing the doctor's car.
Notes[]
The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes:
- Cyril Shaps - Strangler's Wood
- Richard Dee-Roberts - Dead Man's Eleven and Death of a Stranger
- Angela Down - The Creeper
- Clive Wood - Secrets and Spies and Wild Harvest
- Deborah Findlay - Murder by Magic
- Carolyn Pickles - The Made-to-Measure Murders
- Georgine Anderson - Dance with the Dead
- Sarah Ball - The Straw Woman
Trivia[]
- As Tom Barnaby suggests at the end of the episode and John Nettles said in the video below, this was the first episode of the series to have no murder in it. There is a kind of murder, that of Celia Armstrong, but it is a mercy murder, the victim would have died anyway. The second episode with no murder is Habeas Corpus.
- This episode states that Barnaby's mother had died a 'few years' prior to the main events of the story.
The Trials and Tribulations of DS Gavin Troy:
- Troy goes to speak to the residents of the nursing home. He reports to Barnaby, "One old boy behaved strangely when I said I was a detective. Jumpy. Ill at ease. He was scared. Retired schoolmaster. Poofter."
Video[]
Midsomer Murders - Favourite Story Line E03
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