© ITV Pic/Mark Bourdillon
MIDSOMER MURDERS
CRIME
AND PUNISHMENT
DETAILED
SYNOPSIS
© ITV Pic/Mark Bourdillon
Dusk falls in
Bleakridge, the most remote village in Midsomer, and a group of
villagers walk the streets, reporting anyone who falls foul of the
law. Welcome to Bleakridge Watch country. 'Code Red' sounds through
their walkie talkies. One of their members, local butcher Angus
Colton, is dead, lying frozen in his meat freezer...
Barnaby and
Winter meet Angus' devastated sister, Maxine Lockston and her
daughter Tara. They learn that Angus was investigating a recent spate
of burglaries in the village, but hadn't identified the culprit. Next
port of call is Ingrid Lockston, the Watch leader. She set up the
Watch two years ago in honour of her brother Frank, Maxine's husband,
who was killed in a hit-and-run accident. His killer was never found.
Adrian Peck, Ingrid's lackey, tells the police that pub landlord
Mitch McAllister hated Angus. At The Gallows, Barnaby and Winter
learn from a beleaguered Mitch and his partner Lena, a mobile
hairdresser, that the Watch are a total nuisance. Abuse of power is
rife amongst them. Later in a dark field, an old barn is set alight...
Angus'
post-mortem reveals strange restraining injuries on his wrists.
Winter finds it odd that Angus made a Sam phone call to fellow Watch
member Azeem Meer. Azeem tells him Angus wanted to borrow his digital
camera for 'Watch business', but the camera is nowhere to be found.
Ingrid causes tension with Maxine when she muscles her way into her
niece Tara's affections. Maxine is distracted as she is secretly
seeing Henry Marsh, local builder and bad boy turned good. Later that
night, someone breaks into The Gallows and causes a flood. A sleepy
Mitch tries to stop them but is hit over the head as the intruder
escapes into the night... Barnaby and Winter track down the culprit -
disgruntled ex-employee Adrian Peck - but Ingrid gives him an alibi
and the police leave frustrated. Winter asks an awkward Kam out for
dinner to talk about their drunken night in Dorset. Over ribs, they
are coy about whether or not something happened between them. Both
agree to be professional. Back in Bleakridge, Azeem is working late
in his hardware shop when someone enters and selects a hammer from
the display....
Next day
Barnaby and Winter find poor Azeem bludgeoned to death and are
perplexed to spot similar restraining marks. Winter discovers a stash
of stolen goods hidden in the shop: Azeem was the village burglar.
Barnaby then finds proof that Ingrid organised the burglaries to keep
the village in check An outraged Watch turn on their leader.
Meanwhile, Winter has spotted a photo of a barn on Azeem's cloud
account, but finds it has been torched to the ground.
Amongst the
debris, he spies a burnt-outcar... but whose is it? It belongs to
mild-mannered Duncan Walton, a retired GP who runs a community cafe
with his wife Barbara. Barnaby and Winter arrive to find Maxine
informing best friend Barbara that she plans to move to Wales with
Henry. Duncan tells the police the car was stolen two years ago on
the day of Frank's hit-and-run. Meanwhile, Lena heads off to yet
another hairdressing appointment and Mitch is suspicious: what is she
up to? Kam finds traces of hair dye on Azeem's body. Believing Lena
is connected to the murders, Barnaby traces her to a hotel. Uniform
enter to find Lena dressed in full dominatrix gear with a blushing
Duncan shackled to the bed. The mystery of the restraining marks is
solved. Barnaby receives confirmation that Duncan's car killed Frank,
but who was driving it? A fingerprint points to Henry Marsh. After
his arrest, Henry explains that he stole the car but didn't hit
Frank. Barnaby and Winter find out that Frank was abusive to Maxine
and the final piece of the puzzle falls into place.... but who would
go to such lengths to protect the person they loved?