Loveday Writing

Steed comes out to investigate, much to Peregrine’s chagrin, and one of the first things they notice is a slimy patch on Morris’ arm and drag marks. They interview Babs Crawford, a woman who works in the boat hire shed and Morris’ girlfriend. She tells them that she last saw him an hour ago, and that he had been in disputes with the local Council about knocking the shed down. Peregrine also notices hand marks and bruises on Babs’ arm.

Steed and Peregrine interview the other suspects, which include Frank Quinn, a rower who arrived at the river at 7am, Abraham Sifo, a fisherman, Suzie, who was taking pictures with her new camera, and Enid, a retired cleaner camping nearby. When Peregrine asks Suzie for her camera film, she is reluctant to give it to her and almost exposes the photos. When Steed and Peregrine leave, Peregrine asks Steed why the name Morris Dunnet sounds familiar to her. At the station, Sparrow reveals to Steed that Morris Dunnet was put on trial for killing his wife, Irene, but was acquitted because her body was never found.

Meanwhile, it’s Steed’s birthday, which is revealed when Sally comes to the station with cake and a new watch for him. Sally tells him that she’s thinking about selling her house in Hartford. Meanwhile, Peregrine goes back to the river and finds a bottle filled with a sweet liquid. Samuel and Violetta confirm the bottle is filled with chloroform, and Samuel develops the photos on Suzie’s film, which turn out to be of nothing. Samuel suggests that Suzie took photos like this to make it look like she was taking photos. Peregrine and Steed discuss the case at her house, she notices the watch and is horrified that she forgot his birthday and is keeping him from celebrating, and sends him on his way. On his way out, she asks him to meet her at the river with his bathers the next morning. When they go there, Steed goes into the river and finds the stolen dinghy that Dunnet’s body was originally placed in, before Samuel reeled it in.

Throughout the episode, it’s eventually established that all the suspects had a connection to Irene Dunnet – Frank was Irene’s brother, Abraham was Irene’s pastor, and Suzie was Irene’s student, as Irene was a musician and music teacher. The only person who seemingly didn’t have a connection to Irene is Enid. Later, when Peregrine discusses the case with Steed (with a drunk Birdie lying on Peregrine’s couch holding Aleksander’s ashes), she laments on how Morris is a victim she can’t stand for, but Steed points out that as a police officer, he doesn’t get to choose his victims.

Peregrine then tells Steed that he and Sally seem well suited, pointing out that they’re both traditional people. This prompts Steed to try and prove otherwise by having a few drinks and dancing, only to end up getting drunk after his second drink, however he does have fun dancing with Peregrine and Birdie, managing to talking the latter into doing so. Meanwhile, Sally drops by the station again, this time with a Shepherd’s Pie, but ends up giving it to Sparrow when he tells her that Steed left for the day. Steed and Peregrine have a moment when she puts a blanket on him as he’s about to go to sleep.

When Peregrine notices Babs wearing a ring that used to belong to Irene, which Morris gave her, she has an epiphany on what happened, and gathers all the suspects and Steed to the boat hire shed. She tells them (and the audience) that when Enid camped at the river a few weeks ago, she recognised Babs’ ring as Irene’s, as Enid was Irene’s house cleaner. Enid realised that Morris was continuing his abusive ways with Babs, so she got in touch Frank, Abraham and Suzie, and they put a plan in motion. Abraham arrived at the river early enough to steal a dinghy, when Morris went to look for it, Suzie lured him towards the river, Enid made chloroform (as she makes her own cleaning products) to subdue Morris (with Frank’s help) and put him in the dinghy, which had a hole in it. His body wouldn’t have been found until they all left if it weren’t for Samuel reeling it in.

While Peregrine is explaining all of this, she is using a crowbar to pull apart the wood on the bottom of the boat hire shed, she uses a trowel to prove Irene’s body was buried under the shed, which is why Morris was fighting the Council. Enid takes the fall for everyone else, as she has a bad heart that is due to give way at any time. While everyone is reluctant for her to do so, she has made up her mind, especially as she feels guilty for not helping Irene.

Sparrow commends Steed on his good work, Steed says he doesn’t believe that’s what happened, but Sparrow tells him to let it go. Sally comes by to see Steed again, he apologises for not spending time with her, and she notices that his watch is missing. Steed quickly says he left it at home, but Sally goes to see Peregrine and finds it on her coffee table. Sally clearly becomes territorial as she tells Peregrine she’s sold her house in Hartford and will be moving to Melbourne. She then leaves, with Peregrine clearly jealous.

Overall I felt that this was a solid episode and felt different to the others this season, due to its mainly outdoor setting and multiple culprits of the murder. There was also some progression in the Steed-Peregrine-Sally love triangle as Sally is selling her house and moving to Melbourne. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next episode, the season finale.

Stray Observations:

-Samuel kept the key to the Adventuresses’ Club’s liquor cabinet on a chain around his neck. Birdie commends him on this plan, although admits to picking the lock on the cabinet anyway.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Aren’t you worried about her?” “Every day since I was nine years old.” (Peregrine-Samuel on Birdie)