The Marlow Murder Club episode 1 on Drama saw retired archaeologist Judith Potts (Downton Abbey star Samantha Bond) investigate the murder of her neighbor. But as she gathered evidence she crossed paths with dog-walker Suzie Harris (Holby City's Jo Martin) and vicar’s wife Becks Starling (The Sandman's Cara Horgan). And when the death toll increased the trio teamed up to discover more, much to the chagrin of the local cops.
Here's what happened in The Marlow Murder Club episode 1... (we also have a recap for episode 2).
At her riverside home, Judith Potts (Samantha Bond) is compiling a crossword for the local paper and eating travel sweets while her cat, Jasper, watches on. After she has a glass of whisky, she heads out to her boathouse and into the river for a naked swim.
Meanwhile, her neighbour, local art gallery owner Stefan Dunwoody (Rufus Wright), leaves his gallery to head home. But as he sits down on a bench in his garden, an unseen figure approaches him with a gun and shoots him.
The sound of the gunfire disturbs Judith’s peaceful dip and she calls out to Stefan asking if he is alright, but she can’t get a response, so she heads home to call the police and report that she thinks her neighbour has been shot…
It’s then time for us to meet harassed vicar’s wife Becks Starling (Cara Horgan) who is trying to juggle demands from her teenage kids Chloe (Sophia Ally) and Sam (Ethan Quinn) and her husband Colin (Niall Costigan).
Meanwhile, local dog walker Suzie Harris (Jo Martin) is seen chatting to her daughter Zeta (Teagan-Imani) via video as she awaits Zeta’s return from holiday in Jamaica. Suzie then pays her visit to her friend and client, cab driver Iqbal (Umit Ulgen), whose dog Luna she looks after. And when she finds Iqbal asleep in his car, she (rather presciently as it turns out!) jokes with him that she got a scare as she thought he was dead.
We also get our first glimpse of DS Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew) whose boss is off sick and her little girl needs to be picked up from school, so she’s rather dismissive about the suspected firearms incident, which she thinks is unlikely in serene Marlow.
It’s not long before she makes contact with Judith and tries to gauge whether she was mistaken about hearing a gunshot, as the police have found nothing suspicious but Judith is insistent and remarks that she knows their search was not thorough (she had her binoculars out to check!).
Judith sets out to investigate herself and punts across the river to Stefan’s home where she quickly finds a bullet casing on the grass and Stefan’s body in the river (that really wasn’t a thorough search by the police was it?!) As Tanika arrives, she learns that Stefan was shot in the head and insists to Judith that this is a police matter and she needs to back off.
Needless to say, Judith completely ignores Tanika’s warning and heads to Stefan’s gallery to chat to his assistant Antonia (Eleanor Nawal). They both agree that Stefan was a nice man, but when Judith asks about any enemies he may have had, Antonia tells her about his recent clash at the local rowing regatta with Elliot Howard (Daniel Lapaine), the owner of a Marlow auction house, who called him a fraud and a liar and a crook…
Intrepid Judith then heads to Elliot’s office, where she wangles her way past his wife and secretary Daisy (Juliet Howland). As she quizzes Elliot about Stefan, the smarmy auctioneer gives her short shrift and also, unfortunately, reveals that he has a perfect alibi – he was at choir practice with lots of witnesses when Stefan was shot.
Like a dog with a bone, Judith is still rather dubious about Elliot, so she heads to the church to find out whether he really was a choir practice and, in the seemingly empty vestry, she meets Becks, who is hiding in a cupboard trying to get some peace and quiet! When Judith explains why she is there, Becks, who is also in the choir, corroborates Elliot’s alibi and tries to encourage Judith to leave the case to the police, but Judith is convinced that Elliot is involved and had an accomplice and hints that Becks should make some enquiries herself.
Meanwhile, the cops work out that the bullet that killed Stefan was made in Germany in 1942, and they try to track down where the gun came from and decide to check local auction houses to find out about recent sales.
But it seems like Judith’s investigations might have rattled someone as, when she is sitting at home sorting through all her evidence, a brick comes through her window with a note wrapped around it saying ‘Stay Away’.
Elsewhere, Suzie is left deflated when Zeta announces she is staying on in Jamaica a bit longer. But Suzie soon has more problems on her mind when she turns up at Iqbal’s house, only to find the door wide open and Iqbal lying dead in bed covered in blood...
When she arrives at the crime scene, Tanika finds a medallion in Iqbal’s mouth with "Hope" written on it. And, as an upset Suzie waits outside, who should happen to come along but Judith, who quickly bundles Suzie off to tap her for information. Suzie reveals that Iqbal was a kind man who took on Luna after her previous owner, his neighbor Ezra, passed away. Convinced there might be a link to Stefan's death, Judith tells Suzie to come to her house if anything else comes to her.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that Becks' interest has been piqued by Judith's claims about Stefan's murder, so she reaches out to local gossip Mrs Eddingham (Rita Tushingham) and invites her round for tea, claiming she needs info about Stefan to help her husband write a eulogy.
Both Becks and Suzie then head to Judith’s where the Marlow Murder Club starts forming in earnest! Suzie reveals that she thought that Iqbal was due to come into some money as he seemed upbeat but then a short while later he looked downtrodden and she suspects he had been cheated or lied to in some way.
And Becks says that Mrs Eddingham revealed that Stefan had been involved in a scam with Elliot’s father Alec, whereby Alec would find a client with a pricey painting and value it cheaply. Stefan would then buy it and sell it for a big profit and give Alec a cut or keep the painting himself. Although Elliot apparently did not carry on the scam after his father’s death, the trio are left wondering about him, and they decide they need to get a sample of his handwriting to compare to the note on the brick through Judith’s house.
The police believe the same gun was responsible for both murders although there appears to be no link between the victims, they check Elliot’s auction house to see if he has ever sold a World War Two gun.
Naturally, Becks and Suzie are also at the auction house, and, as the police quiz Elliot, who reveals he did sell a World War Two Luger recently to a local collector, Suzie carries out a diversion and Becks manages to get a picture of the receipt, but Elliot’s writing is not the same as that on the note to Judith.
The trio then decide to visit the collector, Chris Bott (Tristan Sturrock) and he shows them his disturbing collection of Nazi memorabilia, but the Luger isn’t there as it has been stolen… As armed police swiftly arrive and arrest Chris, Tanika threatens to also arrest Judith for obstruction if she doesn’t stop sticking her nose in!
Clearly, Judith and her new pals have no intention of giving up their investigation, however, and at Stefan’s funeral they spot a woman, Liz Curtis (Phillipa Peak), rushing off suspiciously. She works at the local rowing club with her husband Danny (Mark Frost) and she has previously seemed upset reading about Iqbal’s murder…
Meanwhile, they also see Elliot’s wife Daisy there and notice that her writing in the book of condolence is the same as on the note sent to Judith. When they confront her, she confesses that she thought Judith was having an affair with Elliot and apologises. She also reveals that Elliot’s father Alec had a Stanley Spencer painting that Elliot loved and which inspired him to apply to art school but Alec left it to Stefan and not his son…
Later on, when the sleuths are back at Judith’s house, they hear a crash and an alarm go off at Stefan’s house and Judith (obviously!) goes to investigate while the others call the police. After she punts across the river she heads into the darkened house and says she is making a citizen’s arrest but someone hits her and rushes off. Judith is fine but when the others turn up, Becks notices, due to the dust marks on the wall (she is very house proud!), that a painting is missing and they suspect it is the Stanley Spencer that Stefan inherited and that it’s further proof of Elliot’s guilt.
Tanika (in vain!) again tells Judith to stay out of it as it’s getting dangerous and Becks and Suzie offer to stay with her to make sure she is OK, but Judith says she survived her husband who was not a good man, so she can survive this. We then see a young Judith (Molly Hanson) in flashback with her a man who is asking her to give him an alibi if the police ask…
Back in the present day, Judith is swimming when he spots two men magnet fishing and she goes to the station to speak to Tanika again. The police have worked out that the Stanley Spencer is definitely the missing painting and that Elliot was at home alone during the break-in so he has no alibi, while Chris Bott has been released and has gone to Amsterdam. But fingerprints at Stefan’s house are not a match to Elliot or Daisy or anyone else involved in the case. The Hope medallion in Iqbal's mouth is also leaving them stumped, particularly as nothing similar was found at Stefan’s murder scene, but Judith think she has some answers.
As everyone heads to Stefan’s home, she says that it is the same gun and bullets and the same shot to the forehead in both crimes, so there must be a medallion here too and, as she magnet fishes in the river, she unearths one. It says 'Faith 'on it and she recognises a quote from the bible about 'Faith, Hope and Charity' and deduces that there will be a third murder and they are dealing with a serial killer…
The Marlow Murder Club concludes on Thursday 7 March at 8pm on Drama.
