Magpie Murders

'Sir Magnus Pye was murdered

'two days after he returned to his home at Pye Hall.

'Oh, no, that's crap.

'Monday... Tuesday evening. The funeral.

'The burglary.

'There is nowhere more dangerous than an English village.

'Much better.

'And, in Saxby-On-Avon,

'everybody had a reason to wish Sir Magnus dead.

'But which one of them was it? Who struck the fatal blow?

'Brent, the gardener?'

"You're worse than useless. I've had enough of you..."

- '...Sir Magnus said.' - "What are you suggesting?

"That I didn't want to be fired, so I cut his head off?"

'Very snarky.

'But could there be another reason for the killing?

'What about the tragedy at the lake twelve years ago?

'Could it be that Sir Magnus was responsible?'

"You never blamed him?"

'Pund. Very German accent.'

"If I say I did Mr Pund, would you accuse me of his murder?"

'Yes, I like that.

'And then there was the untimely death of Mary Blakiston.

'Did her ex-husband want revenge?'

"You were no friend of Sir Magnus."

"He took my wife and my family.

"He took everything I ever loved."

'There was no love lost

'between him and his sister Clarissa.'

"Pye Hall and all the land should've been mine."

'And as for his marriage, it was worse than mine.

"One day, I swear, I'll put a knife in you,

"and I won't care if I hang for it."

'That's it. Get all the suspects lined up,

'and then...

'That night, Sir Magnus was alone.

'Darkness had fallen on Saxby-On-Avon.

'At Pye Hall, all was still.

'But in the grounds, a soft breeze rippled across the lake.

'The water was as cold and as black as death itself.

'And that night, indeed,

'the house was to be witness to murder.'

"I think you ought to leave."

Huh-huh.

Here we are. Your tea.

Thank you, James.

Did you see this?

Yes. Dreadful.

Poor Lady Mountbatten.

- I'm sorry? - Her car was stolen.

It says it was in the middle of Hyde Park.

Oh, no. No, no, no.

That's not the story I meant. Here.

"Baronet Murdered."

"Police were called to the village of Saxby-on-Avon

"following the death of Sir Magnus Pye,

"a wealthy local landowner and the owner of Pye Hall."

Sir Magnus Pye.

- We don't know him, do we? - No,

but Saxby-on-Avon is the village the young lady came from.

Joy Sanderling.

You introduced her to me recently.

Of course!

And Mary Blakiston, the mother of her fiance,

also died at Pye Hall.

- She worked for Sir Magnus. - Eh... quite a coincidence.

A coincidence? You think so?

I told Miss Sanderling that I could not help,

there was nothing I could do,

but what she asked me was rumour, innuendo.

A suspicion that Robert Blakiston

might have played a part in his mother's death.

And does this make any difference?

Oh, yes.

This is murder.

And murder can be solved.

So you think they're connected?

Mary Blakiston and Sir Magnus Pye?

She was his housekeeper, so the answer is self-evident.

It's my belief there is no such thing as a coincidence.

Everything in life is part of a pattern,

and coincidence is simply the moment

when that pattern becomes briefly visible.

As such, it must be of great value to the detective.

It's something that I've written about.

Mm, your book.

"The Landscape of Criminal Investigation".

I can't wait to read it.

The way things are going, you may end up having to write it.

You'll never stop this flame

I will never let you go

Well, who am I to say?

Maybe by now you should know

You got your somebody calling

You think you're somebody, don't you?

I think you're scared of keeping somebody close

You'll never stop this flame

I will never let you go

Excuse me.

- Uh, what's happening here? - Roadworks.

Y... Yeah. I... I sort of got that.

Um, it's just that I've been sitting here quite a while.

- There's lights. - Do they ever go green?

They're green now.

- Nobody's moving, though. - Yeah, I've noticed.

Come on!

- Hello, you! - Hi, Katie!

- Ah, this is a surprise! - I told you I was coming!

I know, but you actually turned up.

Oh!

Come on, come on in.

- I'll put the kettle on. - Oh, great. Thanks.

Hey.

Uh, how's the room?

Perfect. Of course.

Sure you don't mind me staying?

Oh, no, no. I'm happy to see you.

It's just going to be us, though, I'm afraid.

- Oh, where's Gordon? - Uh, New York. At a conference.

New York! And you didn't want to go?

Oh, I couldn't get that much time off.

- What, from the garden centre? - Mm. They made me manager.

- I know. Congratulations. - Thank you.

Well, it's Horticultural Manager.

It's one under General Manager.

- But you enjoy it. - Yeah, it keeps me busy.

Jack's in Amsterdam,

getting up to God knows what, and Daisy's with friends,

so it really is just me and you against the world.

Like we always were.

What do you mean?

Oh, when we were children.

Yeah, I saw the photo.

- Which photo? - In the bedroom.

Oh, that's just there because that's where it is.

- I didn't put it there. - Oh, I know.

It's funny, though, looking at it, though, isn't it?

We were inseparable.

- We were. - Until we separated.

I'm not sure that we did, did we?

Well, you in London, me here.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

I haven't really been in touch very much lately.

It's just that I've been so busy with the company

and now this business with Alan...

- No, I was sorry to hear that. - Yeah.

Look, I know you hate it, but do you mind if I smoke?

You never liked him, did you?

Oh, he was a complete pain in the arse.

Every dot, every comma...

I mean, I know a lot of authors are protective of their work,

but with Alan it was like I was trying to rewrite the Bible.

He took against me at our very first meeting,

so from then on, we only ever communicated by email.

So, are you here for the funeral?

No. That's next weekend.

I know it's gonna sound crazy,

but I'm here to look for the last chapter

of his new book, "Magpie Murders".

Is it missing?

Well, we don't even know if he wrote it,

but he certainly never sent it.

Now he's dead and we really need it,

or we could go out of business if we don't find it.

- Seriously? - Seriously. Yeah.

When did you last see him?

Oh, about two years ago, I think.

I used to bump into him in Woodbridge.

He must have shown the book to someone.

Maybe he even gave someone a copy.

So, where are you gonna start?

Alan lived outside a village.

I'll start there.

I was a great fan of his books.

I have to say it was a terrible shock.

You found him.

On Sunday morning, yes.

It was horrible.

I'll never get that image out of my head.

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

How well did you know him?

Well, I'd been his solicitor for many years.

I acted for him when he bought Abbey Grange

and of course in the matter of his divorce

from his wife, Melissa.

Did you know that he was ill?

No. He never mentioned it to me.

So you had no idea he was intending to kill himself?

Of course not.

Although...

What?

Well, he had decided to make a new will.

That was the reason I was there at the house.

Oh, so it wasn't social?

No, no, no. We didn't have that sort of relationship.

Right, right.

And the will?

Well, obviously I can't disclose any of the contents.

No. No, no, no. Of course.