Every season, GBH Drama prepares to bring you coverage of the latest and greatest in British dramas. This month, we're getting a brand new show from MASTERPIECE: Magpie Murders. Featuring a mystery within a mystery and some truly delightful acting, this series is sure to be your new favorite whodunit. GBH Drama contributor Amanda-Rae Prescott is here to recap the magic as it happens.
This week’s Magpie Murders is the penultimate episode. Several people have not told the truth to either Pünd or Susan in the past. By the end of the episode, some of these falsehoods are reversed, and Pünd has a pretty good idea of who killed Sir Magnus, while Susan has figured out that there’s someone she can’t trust. Let’s discuss the new findings.
The episode begins with another flashback to the writing course Lee Jaffrey took. Alan is reading aloud from his failed serious literary fiction novel. Another student called Brent says he’s confused by the plot of the novel and Alan calls him ignorant. Brent also makes the mistake of asking him about writing more Pünd novels. Alan threatens Brent by saying he would live to regret his critique. This is why the suspicious groundsman in “Magpie Murders” is named Brent.
Diaries and Silver
Pünd begins his section of the episode walking along an empty road contemplating ideas for his crime psychology book. James finds him and tells him Inspector Chubb is looking for them. They meet Chubb at the antiques shop where the stolen brooch was found. Mr. Whiteley claims he sold the brooch to a man named “Dave” but it wasn’t worth much. It turns out Mr. Whiteley’s real name is Jack Whitelaw and he was involved in a major heist in London a few years earlier. He claims he moved to Saxby on Avon to start fresh but Chubb believes selling stolen property isn’t what a reformed thief would do. We then see Brent holding a silver statue which was clearly part of the missing silver from Pye Hall.
Brent admits he found the statue while mowing the lawn after the break in. The thief clearly dropped it during their getaway. He tells Pünd and Chubb he sold the rest of the items he found, including the brooch. Pünd then asks for access to inspect Mary Blakiston’s house and asks Chubb if he can get divers to search the lake. Inside the house, Pünd and James find cobwebs and a creepy atmosphere. You can hear the ghostly echoes of younger Robert and Sam running around the house. They find some memorabilia, and most importantly, Mary’s diary. Inside the diary is proof she knew about Mr. Whiteley’s real identity. The diary is clearly blackmail fodder.
Pünd and James return to Clarissa’s house to ask her about the threatening Dingle Dell letter. James notices that her typewriter is a match for the typeface. Mary saw Clarissa delivering the letter to Pye Hall. Clarissa believes what happened was a good thing in the end because the Dingle Dell development isn’t going forward. Their next stop is the church to see Reverend Osbourne. He recalls that Mary was super nosy but she was also very active in volunteering for church events. Pünd also asks about who attended Mary’s funeral. There is a flash to the funeral where Robert is crying and Robert’s father Matthew is also in the crowd.
After the church, Pünd and James visit Pye Hall again to speak to Lady Pye. Mary’s journal mentions a man named Charles Dartford. Lady Pye admits Mary accused her of cheating on Sir Magnus but denies a threat was made. From Lady Pye’s perspective the secret died with Mary. Pünd is convinced Lady Pye killed Mary but holds off on revealing if he knows who killed Sir Magnus.
The Tower Photo
Susan’s story begins back at her sister’s house. She tells Katie about the anonymous emailed photo and accuses Andreas of lying to cover up something bigger. Katie apologizes once again for accidentally helping Alan steal their families’ story. Susan plans to go back to London but she gets a text from James Taylor offering more assistance. She drives up to Abbey Grange to hear this new information. James says he thinks Claire took the manuscript. He also says that he remembers Alan complaining about Andreas asking him for money but he didn’t actually meet him. There’s a flashback to Andreas from Episode 1 telling Susan he couldn’t see her because of the “school play”.
Pünd once again appears to Susan, this time in her car. Pünd tells her there’s only four main emotional motives for murder: fear, anger, envy and desire. She hates Andreas for lying but is still angered by Pünd’s deductions so she kicks him out of the car. Susan’s next stop is Claire’s house. She admits she took the manuscript and burnt it because of the depiction of Clarissa Pye mocking her. Alan paid her only £10 (about $11) an hour; far less than minimum wage for manuscript typing. Claire also says he never gave her credit for introducing him to the Inspector. Could Alan being a bad brother and a cheapskate boss be enough motive for murder?
Susan drives to Andreas’ school to confront him. Her anger, of course, amuses the kids. She shows him the anonymous photo of the man on the roof with Alan and it turns out to be Andreas. He admits to lying about his whereabouts the day before Alan died. Andreas drove down to Suffolk to ask Alan for 150,000 Euros (around $152,000) to buy the hotel.
There’s a flashback to Alan scoffing at the fact that he hasn’t seen Andreas in a decade, and now Andreas is turning up and asking for a lot of money. Andreas argues the hotel is a good investment because of tourism. After Andreas tells Alan about his connection to Susan, Alan, wanting to thank her for her editing, as “Magpie Murders” is the last Pünd novel, offers up the cash. This explains the earlier scene with Khan and Andreas from the audience point of view.
Andreas apologizes for lying about the check and omitting the fact that he dated Melissa. He is adamant the photo was an embrace of thanks and not anything malevolent. Susan is convinced Alan agreed to the investment as a way to control her. A breakup is inevitable but that still doesn’t explain Alan’s death or the missing manuscript. We’ll find out who did it for real next week on the Magpie Murders season finale.
