Harvest

This is Masterpiece Mystery!

There's a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to atomic energy.

Day and night, light and dark in perfect harmony.

Autumnal equinox.

That's right.

We will have justice.

An eye for an eye.

WOMAN: Girl trouble?

MORSE: I haven't got a girl.

Maybe that's the trouble.

You are going on a journey.

Death waits at the end.

Endeavour, the season finale, tonight on Masterpiece Mystery!

Endeavour, the season finale, (thunder) (whimper) (click) (klaxon blaring in distance) (cans and metal objects clanking) (radio static crackling) ANNOUNCER (on radio): The Soviet Union has warned the United States that an attack on Cuba or on Soviet ships carrying supplies to the island would mean war.

In a statement from Moscow, the Russian foreign minister, Mr. Gromyko, said any such attack made by the United States would plunge the world into the disaster of a universal world war with the use of thermonuclear weapons.

(horn blaring) (tires squeal) MAN: And when he opened the seventh seal, there was a silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.

And I saw the angels that stood before God; and to them were given the seven trumpets.

CHORUS: ♪ Dies irae ♪ ♪ Dies illa ♪ ♪ Solvet saeclum in favilla ♪ ♪ Teste David cum Sibylla.

♪ ♪ Quantus tremor est futurus ♪ ♪ Quando judex est venturus ♪ ♪ Cuncta stricte discussurus.

♪ ♪ Dies irae ♪ ♪ Dies illa ♪ ♪ Solvet saeclum in favilla ♪ ♪ Teste David cum Sibylla.

♪ ♪ Quantus tremor est futurus ♪ ♪ Quando judex... ♪ (music stops) (door opens and closes) ♪ Quantus tremor est futurus ♪ ♪ Quantus tremor est futurus ♪ ♪ Quando judex est venturus ♪ ♪ Cuncta stricte discussurus ♪ ♪ Cuncta stricte discussurus ♪ ♪ Cuncta stricte discussurus.

♪ THURSDAY: On behalf of the whole station, sir, if I might just say, welcome back.

(applause) BRIGHT: All right, carry on.

Anything pressing that requires my immediate attention?

THURSDAY: One or two burglaries outstanding in the Oxpens area, sir.

Kids, probably, by the mess.

STRANGE: Just through from the Information Room, sir.

Body's been found at Bramford Mere.

Bramford, you say?

STRANGE: Bramford Mere.

That's county ground, isn't it?

Yeah, Division would like us to deal.

THURSDAY: Laxman went missing out that way.

Who's this?

Uh, before your time, sir.

Five years back-- Matthew Laxman.

A botanist.

Went missing from his rooms at Wolsey during the long vac.

Last sighting was from a hitchhiker, Nigel Warren.

Laxman told him he was heading out Bramford way, but his car was never recovered.

BRIGHT: Foul play, you think?

It wasn't my case, sir.

County investigation for the most part.

But my old bagman, DS Lott, liaised with them from the City end.

And he might not have been as thorough as he could've been.

And you'd like to set things right.

Well, there we are.

Not half an hour in the station, and all back to normal.

Carry on.

Morning.

Constable.

Archaeological dig, sir, out of Courtenay College.

Turned up a hand.

Belongs to the fellow in this trench.

THURSDAY: Morning, Doctor.

Inspector.

Gentlemen.

What have you got?

Male.

Age as yet undetermined.

Remains somewhat compressed, but remarkably well preserved due to the acidity of the soil.

Any chance it could be Laxman?

I'm afraid time of death rather mitigates against that possibility.

Time of death?

2,000 years ago.

2,000 years?

MAX: Yes, give or take a couple of hundred years.

We'll have trouble notifying his next of kin.

Poor chap does seem to have had rather a grim time of it.

There's trauma to the skull.

An ax, perhaps, or a rock-- fatal by itself.

But we also have a garrote, tightened by means of a stick.

And, finally, his throat has been laid open with a very sharp blade, right to left.

Torture, possibly.

And what's that?

MAX: What?

There.

Oh.

Inspector?

WOMAN: Matthew had a pair quite similar.

It's possible they're his.

Where did you find them?

Out at Bramford Mere.

Isn't that where he told the hitchhiker he was going?

Bramford Village was the destination.

The mere is about a mile or so outside.

Did he have any business out there, do you know?

No.

ENDEAVOUR: And you were out of town, at the time of his disappearance, yes?

Mm-hmm.

I did tell the police all of this at the time.

THURSDAY: We do like to be thorough.

To which end, I must ask...

There was the suggestion that your marriage wasn't altogether happy.

(scoffs) Matthew was, um... Passionate.

Driven, I suppose, in his work, in politics.

He had a temper in drink.

Sometimes I felt there was a side to his life I never really knew at all.

You should speak to Donald.

Professor Bagley at Wolsey.

He probably knew Matthew better than anyone.

Thank you, that will be all for now.

BAGLEY: Yes, he came by my rooms here, as he did most mornings, about 11:00.

We had a glass of sherry and caught up on the gossip.

After Anne, my wife, died, he was a good friend.

Have you any idea what he might have been doing out at Bramford Mere?

About his work, I should imagine.

Have you talked to Alison?

Mrs. Laxman?

We've just come from there now.

Wonderful girl.

These last years have been very hard for her.

Not knowing if he was alive or dead.

Thank you, Professor.

And the first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the Earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

THURSDAY: Nigel Warren?

City Police.

About five years ago, you hitched a lift off Dr. Matthew Laxman, going out Bramford way.

I gave a statement at the time.

To County, yes, not to us.

We are reviewing the case.

Well, then, you'll know I had an alibi.

Did Laxman say anything about going to Bramford Mere?

I thought he just said to Bramford.

He was in a pretty bad mood.

I think some woman had got his back up.

Did he say who?

His wife, I took it.

Right.

Well, if anything else comes back to you, we're at Cowley Nick.

Right.

THURSDAY: Get hold of a copy of the missing person's poster and have a patrol car run you out to Bramford.

Ask around.

See if you can jog any memories.

What?

Well... We're going to a lot of trouble over a pair of glasses, aren't we?

I mean if it had been Laxman's body in the mere, but it wasn't.

Five years.

If there was anything to be found, County would have found it.

County couldn't find their arse with both hands and a map.

This time, we're going to make sure it gets done right.

(rhythmic pounding) (men exclaiming and grunting) (dog barking) (growling) There you go, then, Seth.

On tick, is it?

Yeah, thank you.

WOMAN: See you on Saturday, shall we?

SETH: I will try.

Afternoon.

Afternoon.

Good afternoon, I'm Detective Constable Morse.

City Police.

Oh, you're a long way out then, aren't you, my dear?

I'm looking into the disappearance of a Dr. Matthew Laxman.

He went missing from the area around five years ago.

Yep, I remember.

I told the police at the time I hadn't seen him.

Well, I just wondered if you might've remembered anything in the meantime?

No, sorry.

Right.

Well, thank you.

What's with the Morris Men?

They're practicing their figures for Saturday.

Second Harvest-- the Balance of the Year.

Autumnal equinox.

That's right.

Day and night.

Light and dark in perfect harmony.

Right.

Well, thanks again.

Not at all, my dear.

Goddess bless thee.

(pounding and chanting continue) Hello.

I'm Detective Constable Morse, City Police, Miss... Mrs. Levin, Ros.

How do you do?

Oh, very well, thank you.

I'm looking into the disappearance of a Dr. Matthew Laxman.

He went missing about five years ago... Oh, well, we've not been in the area very long.

Jon, my husband, works at the power plant.

Right-- American?

Omaha, Nebraska.

And what do you make of it, Bramford?

Yeah, uh... Kind of quaint.

And the people seem nice, if a little strange.

Um... You should talk to Dowsable.

Uh, Miss Chattox.

She's a house in the woods, at the bottom of the valley.

Oh.

Right.

Well, thank you for your help.

Yeah, you're welcome.

Good luck with everything.

(laughs softly) (ominous animal sounds) (wind chimes tinkling) Hello?

Miss Chattox?

Hello?

Hello?

My name is... DOWSABLE: Morse.

That's your name, isn't it?

Morse.

I've been expecting you.

DOWSABLE: I get all sorts coming here.

Surveyors, water people, them buggers from the power station.

Besides, you was trespassing.

I thought you were expecting me.

What do you want coming here, troubling a poor defenseless old woman?

You didn't seem particularly defenseless from where I was standing.

I don't know what you're bothering me for.

I told that other policeman, the one that come before.

I never saw that Dr. Laxman.

Well, that was County-- I'm City.

It was five years ago this weekend.

I know when he went.

The balance of the year, when the veil is thinnest.

The veil?

Between the world of day and night.

The equinox is science, Miss Chattox.

It's not superstition.

In any event, sometimes people remember things they forget.

I don't.

Well, then, I've had a wasted journey.

Good afternoon.

The American girl sent you.

You want to keep an eye on that one.

Darkness presses in close upon her.

There are signs, if you know how to read them.

A lamb with two heads was born in the spring.

You ask my grandson Seth if you don't believe me.

(dog barking in distance) April 11, Joan's birthday.

"Agnes Chattox, "April the 11th, 1623- September 22, 1645, Spinster of This Parish."

I think I just met one of her relatives out in the woods.

Local wise woman-- or not.

MAN: She were hanged.

Agnes.

Tested and hanged.

For what?

MAN: Consorting with an imp.

And all other manner of black deviltries besides.

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Is that right, Mr...?

Zebulon Sadler.

Sexton of All Souls.

So you've found him, then, have you?

Him who's been missing since '62?

That's why all your people's all over the mere, isn't it?

I don't suppose you remember seeing him, do you?

No.

You won't find anybody hereabouts as did.

Why's that?

Because he never came here.

You seem very certain.

Of course I'm certain-- it was Harvest Weekend.

An outsider'd stand out like a sore thumb.

(klaxon blows in distance) That'll be the power plant.

They test their alarm bells every day about the same time.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I got a burial to see to.

I see you've met our sexton.

Curling your hair with tales of the devil walking abroad, was he?

(chuckling) Something like that.

He can lay it on a bit thick.

Particularly with strangers.

Dr. Berger, Tristan.

D.I.

Thursday.

I'm the local sawbones.

I've a surgery in King's Abbot, but I live here in Bramford.

You're looking for that chap that went missing?

Laxman.

You recollect anything?

No, I'm afraid not.

I was away that weekend.

Symposium in the Midlands.

I could ask my sister, Selina.

She keeps house for me at The Grange.

Where can I reach you, if... Cowley Station.

Well, then, we won't keep you.

Not at all, it was very good to meet you.

(car door closes) MAN: Hey.

How was your day?

Oh, it was an endless social whirl.

You'll read all about it in next month's Harper's.

If you want to meet people, you've got to go into the village.

You got to talk to them.

I don't like the way some of them look at me.

Well, try Oxford, then.

Um, a policeman came by.

That broke the monotony.

A cop?

What did he want?

Someone went missing near here.

A botanist.

When was this?

Oh, years ago.

Before we came here.

THURSDAY: I knew there was something not right about the Laxman case.

Right from the off-- felt it in my water.

What about County-- anything of any use there?

ENDEAVOUR: Well, I've been through County case files.

It appears to have been a textbook investigation.

THURSDAY: Well, that should tell you something from the start.

Since when have County done a textbook anything?

There is one oddity.

They didn't speak to anyone at Bramford Power Station.

It's just four miles up the road from where Laxman disappeared.

Huge staff.

700 potential eyewitnesses, and County didn't speak to one of them.

THURSDAY: See what you can dig out.

ENDEAVOUR: Sir.

Goodnight, Mrs. Thursday.

Win?

Morse is going.

She gets lost in her programs.

Tell me how you make out.

There was one more thing.

It's, um, the autumnal equinox this weekend.

I know because Bramford village make a big song and dance about it.

And?

It was the autumnal equinox five years ago when Laxman disappeared.

What're you saying, they're somehow connected?

I don't know, but it is curious.

What's the matter that you can't say cheerio to Morse?

(television playing) Win?

Winifred.

What's going on?

I thought he was fond of her.

In his way.

Police.

When it comes to murder, you can find a needle in a haystack, but when it's about your own daughter...

The pair of you!

Police.

If you could pull over by the barrier.

Do you have an appointment?

No.

Then, I'm sorry, sir-- there's no unauthorized access to the site.

This warrant card is my authority.

Up to the gate, sir.

Beyond that, you'll need to make an appointment.

With whom?

The appropriate ministry.

Turn the car around, sir.

ENDEAVOUR: Look, in the last two hours, I have spoken to the Atomic Energy Authority, who have referred me to the M.O.D.

The M.O.D.

have referred me to the permanent undersecretary's office, who have now referred me to you.

I just want to know how I get access to Bramford Power Station.

(sighs) Right, well, thank you for nothing.

(slams phone) (sighs) Rodents.

According to Dr. de Bryn.

The specs.

The rats have had a nibble, haven't they?

Anyway, you haven't forgotten about tonight?

We're counting on you.

(sighs) (thunder rumbling) Frank Saul, eh?

Who'd've thought?

Chip?

No, thank you.

Listen, I've been meaning to say.

Mate of mine in London's starting a new unit.

Asked me if I could recommend a good bagman.

Thought maybe after that knockback with your sergeant's...

It were more than a knockback.

Well, there you go.

If your face don't fit, matey.

Be automatic promotion.

More money.

London weighting.

It's a solid offer.

It's a D.I.

Craddock, Tintagel House.

We were at Hendon together.

You should give him a call.

(thunder rumbling) See you tomorrow.

Good night.

(keys jingling) (thunder rumbling) (sighs) Little toerags.

Sorry, matey.

Oh, it's one of those things.

We see it enough.

Yeah, but you're one of our own.

Well, you can't stay on here with it like this, can you?

You're welcome to doss at mine till you get yourself straight.

Oh, no.

Thank you, thanks.

I'd sooner make a start.

Right.

Well, the offer's there.

Chin up, matey.

Shirl.

Morse.

THURSDAY: Strange said they made a right mess of things.

ENDEAVOUR: Oh, it's nothing, really.

THURSDAY: Anything to go on?

ENDEAVOUR: Scene of Crime have dusted for prints, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Miss Berger called the station-- from Bramford.

The GP's sister.

(knocking) THURSDAY: Miss Berger?

SELINA: Yes.

THURSDAY: D.I.

Thursday, D.C. Morse.

I believe you rang the station.

It was a Friday.

I'd been into town to return my books to Boots and to take in the matinee at the cinema.

On the way back to Bramford, the bus was held up a moment by a milk herd being brought back from pasture.

And that's when I noticed it.

THURSDAY: Noticed what?

The car.

A black Morris Oxford.

It had come off the road.

Where was this?

About four miles out of the village.

A couple of miles before the turnoff for the power station.

What time was this?

About 6:00?

Perhaps a little later.

I suppose I just put it out of my head.

Didn't think any more about it.

You didn't notice it on the way into town?

No.

But the bus had to take a detour on the way in on account of a tree being down.

How come you've remembered it now?

SELINA: Well, Tristan said the police were in the village asking questions, and... Hello again.

Just popped home for some lunch.

I'm not interrupting?

Not at all, sir.

Right.

Well, I'll leave you to it.

THURSDAY: Why didn't you report it at the time, when Dr. Laxman went missing?

SELINA: I don't suppose I put two and two together at all.

But I certainly don't remember any mention of a car the first time the police came round.

THURSDAY: Sure it was a Friday, then?

I thought so.

Of course, I...

I might be mistaken about when I saw it.

I seem to think it was early autumn.

Certainly before I heard anything about Dr. Laxman.

What was the film that you saw?

You said you took in a matinee at the cinema.

Oh.

It was five years ago now.

Um, I think it was the one about the borstal boy who becomes a runner.

THURSDAY: All right, thank you, Miss Berger.

That's been most useful.

TRISTAN: They seemed nice, didn't they?

Yes.

I left some tongue in the fridge.

Did you see?

Yes, I did.

Did you have some?

Yes.

Was it nice?

It was, quite.

Good-- you're not angry?

Good heavens, no.

You're just doing your duty.

I'm very proud of you.

When will you be back?

Late, I should think.

Don't wait up.

(horn honking) (sheep bleating) Do you think it was Laxman's car?

Ask around the garages hereabouts.

See if anyone brought a Morris in for repair.

Think they would have been spoken to at the time, wouldn't you?

County.

If she even saw what she saw.

(sheep bleating) DOROTHEA: Laxman was anti-nuclear.

You think he had something to do with the power station?

(sighs): Well, not necessarily.

But it's such a huge staff, someone might have seen something.

Problem is, I can't get access to the site.

Well, I'm due to go out there, interview the director, chap called Elliott Blake.

How's that?

Their new reactor, Bramford B-- also known as "Goldenrod"-- becomes operational this weekend.

We've been invited to bang the drum.

By whom?

Blake himself.

He's the darling of the atomic industry, but there's a lot of bad feeling about their plans to flood the valley for a reservoir.

How are you with a camera?

THURSDAY: Right, then.

STRANGE: Can we give you a lift?

THURSDAY: No, a patrol car can run me.

What's all this?

From Morse's place.

Scene of Crime are done with it.

Wondered if he might want some of it back.

Anything?

Clean as a whistle.

The only prints they turned up are his.

You all right, sir?

Fine.

Fine.

Elliott Blake, director of operations.

Welcome to Bramford.

Thank you.

This is your photographer, is it?

For today.

But the rest of the time, he works for the City Police.

Detective Constable Morse.

He tried to get on to the site to see you.

Without success.

I was told someone from Oxford City Police had been by.

That was you, I take it.

Yes, that was me.

A Dr. Matthew Laxman who worked at the Botanic Gardens, he went missing from the area around five years ago.

Yes, I remember.

Though what has that to do with the station?

It appears some of our colleagues at County failed to question anyone on the site.

Do you remember Matthew Laxman visiting the station?

Well, we work very closely with many scientific departments, but I can't recall ever receiving a delegation from the Botanic Gardens.

But you're welcome to join Miss Frazil for the tour.

(doorbell rings) BLAKE: Bramford has been in operation since shortly after the war.

Early work here helped Britain take its rightful place at the atomic table.

Keeping up with Uncle Sam.

And Uncle Joe.

Please put these on.

What is it?

Film badge dosimeter.

It's purely a precaution, but safety is our priority.

What does it measure?

Cumulative radiation dose.

Should there be any exposure, the film will darken.

But don't worry.

That won't happen.

DOROTHEA: Well, that's put my mind at rest.

JOAN: I suppose Morse told you.

I asked him not to say anything.

He gave me his word.

He kept it.

I told you not to look for me.

You're my daughter.

Of course I'm going to look for you.

I didn't come here to row.

Good.

Nice place.

It's all right.

What're you doing for work?

A boutique in Leamington.

Oh, and what's this?

Afternoon off?

Half-day closing.

Who is he?

Why has there always got to be a he?

Unless you've started smoking Weights.

Is this what we raised you to?

Some bloke's fancy piece?

He's nice.

Married?

Kids?

He's going to leave her.

That what he told you?

I thought that you said you didn't come here for a row.

Come home.

(sighs) BLAKE: This building houses our new fast breeder reactor, Goldenrod.

It's due to join the National Grid this weekend.

So, who was he, this Dr. Laxman?

He was a friend of Professor Bagley.

Do you know him?

Bramford probably wouldn't have existed without him.

Professor Bagley proved vital to Britain's efforts in developing its own nuclear capability.

Before he lost his way, of course.

How's that?

His wife was with him at Woomera and the Montebello Islands for the first British nuclear tests.

Later, she developed a particularly aggressive leukemia.

And Bagley blamed himself.

When she died, he recanted his admiration for atomic energy.

Disavowed his achievements.

That's understandable, in the circumstances.

Perhaps, but... (sighs): You can't disinvent the wheel.

Please.

BLAKE: Let me show you the control room.

How's Mum?

Half out of her mind with worry.

You could've called, just to... set her mind at rest.

I couldn't.

She'd have got around me.

Would that have been the end of the world?

See?

That's why I had to go.

If I come home, what then?

Back to the 9:00 to 5:00?

Tea in front of the telly?

The Saturday dates with some nice boy who won't try and put his hand up my skirt?

Joan... Is-is that what you want me to be?

The engagement party?

Uncle Charlie's blue jokes at the wedding?

Two-up, two-down on some new estate, every house the same, with a pram in the hall?

Why not?

We'd have been glad of something like that, your mother and me.

You're too young to remember, but... Our first two years of married life after I'd come back from the war, we lived with your nan and granddad over the ironmongers'.

Moved into the prefab, we thought we'd won the pools.

I'm not you and Mum.

And it's not your life, it's mine.

(door opening) I'm her father.

Ray.

(clears throat softly) Pleased to meet you.

You want me to come back?

Take no notice, he's just leaving.

I'm not done here.

Oh, I think you are, mate.

Is this really what you want?

Well.

You've made your bed.

(door closes) (machinery humming) And the radioactive material... Is it safe?

BLAKE: Perfectly.

There's more radioactivity comes down the Thames from Oxford due to the hospitals than comes out of Bramford.

Goldenrod is controlled by a computer, thus removing the risk of human error.

The latest Joint Computing Nexus model.

Presumably there's a human failsafe, beyond the computer.

Dr. Levin, this is Miss Frazil of the Oxford Mail and, uh, Detective Constable Morse of the City Police.

I'm been giving them a tour of the facility.

Perhaps you could allay their fears.

Of course, of course-- well, uh, well, naturally, we do retain a human failsafe, based on the, uh, the SCRAM system.

(alarm sounding) BLAKE: Don't be alarmed, it's just a test.

Well, I have a few questions about Goldenrod's contribution to the arms race, Mr. Blake.

I'm sure Morse will excuse us.

Oh, Dr. Levin will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

And if you could dig out those visitors' books, I'd appreciate it.

Of course.

As Miss Frazil said, we've nothing to hide.

(alarm stops, bell rings) (whistling) Hello, Ray.

(grunts) Now, look, mate.

I'm not your mate-- get up!

I'll have the bloody law on you.

I am the law.

Detective Inspector Fred Thursday.

5-8-9, Lima, Foxtrot, Tango.

In five minutes, I'll know everything there is to know about you, from your home address to your inside leg.

I'll report you!

No, you won't.

You come near her again, I'll fit you up for a nonse and have you in chokey so fast, you'll wonder what's hit you.

You can't do that.

Watch me.

(coughing) I met your wife the other day.

Regarding a Matthew Laxman.

Yes, yes, she said.

But I'm-I'm sure she told you we've, uh, we've not been in England that long.

And how are you finding it?

There's a lot of misunderstanding amongst the public when it comes to atomic energy.

On the one hand, the plant has turned Bramford into a bit of a boomtown.

On the other, a cow's milk turns bad, or a bad harvest... Plant gets the blame.

Oh, it's just ignorance.

So you wouldn't call Professor Bagley ignorant, presumably.

You know Donald?

Yes, I've met him-- do you?

Sure, sure.

Prometheus Unbound was required reading for any physics major.

He's been a hero to me for as long as I can recall.

I saw him whenever I came to England.

In fact, I wouldn't be here without him.

How's that?

Oh, he gave me a reference.

The name Donald Bagley still opens doors at Bramford.

(inhales) When were you in England?

You said you visited Professor Bagley.

Yeah, uh, winter of '59, uh, fall of '62, and again in '65.

Fall '62-- September?

It's just, earlier, you said that you... Oh, uh, I was talking about Ros and me.

As husband and wife.

We weren't in England then.

So you could have been here when Laxman disappeared.

Yeah, yeah, sure.

I'd, I'd have to check my diary, but, uh... Like I said, I never met the guy.

Huh.

BAGLEY: I'm going away at the weekend.

Might not be back for some time.

I wonder, could I leave one or two things with you, for safekeeping?

Of course.

Is everything all right, Donald?

Oh, yes.

It will be.

ENDEAVOUR: Just drop me here.

DOROTHEA: Are you sure?

Oh, I need some fresh air.

All well?

You seem a little out of sorts.

Well, my flat was burgled.

Bad luck.

Maybe.

Or maybe someone's trying to tell me something.

Like what?

Go west, young man.

Or south.

London, maybe.

A man might lose himself there.

You want to be lost?

Well, might as well make it official.

(sighs) There's a job in the offing.

What's this?

Girl trouble?

I haven't got a girl.

Maybe that's the trouble.

Thanks.

(metal tinkling) (birds cawing) Why didn't you say that Dr. Laxman had come here?

I got enough trouble without being tied up in all that.

They want me gone, don't they?

Who?

The power station people.

They want me gone so they can flood all this and turn it into a reservoir.

Well, I won't go.

And they can't make me.

Well, what did he want, Dr. Laxman?

I can't remember.

Something to do with the Bram, maybe, the stream that runs through the valley?

So why did he end up with a tarot card in his pocket?

I did a reading for him and he took it.

That doesn't sound a particularly nice thing to do.

He wasn't nice.

So, what, he just did it out of mischief?

Or spite.

Perhaps he didn't like what the cards had to say.

Maybe he spoiled the pack because he thought he could change his future.

Why, what did they predict?

That a woman would bring him to ruin.

I could do a reading for you, if you like.

Oh, no, you're all right-- thank you.

You came here seeking answers, didn't you?

Now, first, you must ask a question of the cards.

Will I find out what happened to Dr. Laxman?

The first card stands for yourself.

(snorts) No, it's not a bad card.

Ruled by Uranus, the Fool is a symbol of the soul's journey.

It stands for change.

What can you tell me about Bramford Mere?

There are things in the world older than you know.

We come and go, but the land endures.

Behind you... Oh, the Lovers inverted.

You've been unlucky in love.

Who hasn't?

There's a maize field about a mile east of here.

Who does it belong to?

Zebulon Sadler-- he lives down the lane.

Now, before you... Judgment.

The heart of the matter-- The Tower struck down.

Crossed by... Don't tell me.

I'm going on a long journey.

By sea perhaps.

Where I'll meet a tall, dark stranger.

Your question will find its answer, but it may not be the one you seek.

And for Capricorns, tomorrow will be Saturday.

Thank you for your time.

You are going on a journey.

Death waits at the end.

But not for you.

Mr. Sadler?

(birds chirping, sheep bleating) SADLER: One of my boys saw it early Sunday morning.

We towed it back to the barn with the tractor.

We were going to sell the parts off.

And then the balloon went up.

It was his, wasn't it?

Dr. Laxman's.

So you put it in the barn, covered it in tarpaulin, and it's been there ever since.

SADLER: Well, we didn't want people thinking that we had anything to do with what happened to him.

We just found the car.

What's that when it's at home?

"Meter Survey Radiac No.

2."

Geiger counter.

What, for radiation and whatnot?

And whatnot, yes.

And this.

ENDEAVOUR: There's a scarecrow in your field wearing Dr. Laxman's jacket.

That's what I came to see you about.

Care to explain?

I don't know anything about that.

It wasn't in his car?

No.

I don't know where it came from.

Well, I think we'd best carry this on down the station.

Sergeant.

Oh, and there was this.

It's a film badge dosimeter.

From Laxman's jacket.

I went to Leamington.

You should have said something.

What could I have said?

That you'd seen her.

That she was all right.

It wasn't my place.

It wasn't your place to go looking for her, but you still did, didn't you?

(scoffs) Well.

Maybe we both had a wasted trip.

I found this in Laxman's glovebox.

THURSDAY: The Grange.

That's Dr. Berger's address.

He was away that weekend, wasn't he?

Well, you'd better go and find out what's what.

I've only got Tristan by way of male company, and he's my brother.

So we had lunch.

You knew he was married?

No.

No, not then.

I think he mentioned it the second time I saw him.

But he and his wife weren't happy with each other.

She'd found somebody else.

Anyway, I'd told him I usually go to the cinema, so we went together.

I let him kiss me, and we arranged to meet again the following Friday.

Here?

That's right.

Tristan was away for the weekend at a symposium.

I offered to cook supper.

Why on earth didn't you mention this before?

People talk.

Especially in Bramford.

So he came then?

Yes.

We ate, and he must have left about 10:00.

That night?

(voice breaking): It was Saturday morning.

So all of that business about seeing his car on the Friday, what was that?

I saw it early on the Sunday morning when I went to pick up Tristan from the station.

(birds chirping, child talking) Friend of Miss Berger's, is it?

I'm sorry?

What's your business up here?

Police business.

Yours?

I saw the car.

Seth Chattox.

I'm just down the lane a ways.

I keep an eye out for her if Dr. Berger's working late.

Is that right?

Have you known them long?

Oh, ever since they moved here.

Eight years ago now, I think.

Was it you I saw with another fella on the road by the lower pasture the other day?

He had a hat on.

Yes, that's right.

What were you doing there?

It was the sighting of a car, went missing five years ago.

It belonged to a Dr. Matthew Laxman.

I don't suppose you saw it.

No.

Can't say as I did.

Is that what all the police are doing down by the mere?

Looking for him?

Yes, that's right.

Well, good luck with it.

Away, Kip.

11:00 a.m., eighth floor, Tintagel House.

Thank you, sir.

Look forward to meeting you.

Thank you.

Oh!

Fetched you a rabbit, Gammer.

Oh, put it in the kitchen.

There's tea in the pot.

Aye.

I saw that copper you said about.

Morse.

Where's this?

By the Grange.

You want to keep clear of the Bergers.

Him and her both.

There's nothing for the likes of us up there.

Hear me?

I'll chop you some logs.

I'm afraid I've no idea what Matthew would have wanted with a Geiger counter.

Really?

He never discussed it with you?

He never mentioned the power station?

He wouldn't have.

He knew better.

Having been midwife to the devil, Bramford's rather a sore point with me.

Progress, sir.

Oh, yes?

You think so?

Well, I suppose I did too.

Can I offer you a sherry?

No, thank you, sir.

That's all I came to ask.

I best get home.

Are you married, Inspector?

Yes, sir-- 26 years.

Oh, same as Anne and me.

Well, goodnight then, sir.

Goodnight.

Home.

Fred.

Joan's rang.

She's all right.

She said she's fine and she's settled and everything's all right.

She didn't say where, and I didn't ask about coming home, 'cause I didn't want to push it, but she said she'd ring again next week.

That's a relief, eh?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's, uh... yeah.

I'm going to have a Mackesons to celebrate.

(knock on door) ENDEAVOUR: Evening, sir.

I wonder if you had a moment.

It's about my sergeant's exam.

I've been thinking about what you said.

About me leaving Oxford.

You're right.

There's nothing to keep me here.

No family.

I've been offered to join a new unit.

In London.

It means rank.

Well...

It goes without saying we should miss your abilities.

But you must do what you think right.

For an officer of your talent to remain a detective constable would be a waste of material.

Believe me, Morse, I've seen it all too often.

Better men passed over in favor of mediocrity because they weren't clubbable.

So you think I should take it?

That's a matter entirely for you.

You'll forgive the presumption, you're a man, I think, more used to putting the concerns of others before himself.

Perhaps, in this instance, you should consider what's in your own best interest.

Hello.

Hello.

Do you want to come in?

Yeah.

It's not how I imagined.

Where is he?

Where is he?!

No, it wasn't his fault.

It was me.

Don't say that.

Morse, please, it was me.

I provoked him.

He's, um, given me a couple of weeks to get out of the flat.

You should go home.

I can't.

Of course you can.

I can't.

I've made such a mess.

I don't know what to do.

Marry me.

(sighs) Morse, I...

I don't want your pity.

Never mind what Dad would say.

(exhales) (clears throat) I've been offered a job in London.

The Met... uh, Tintagel House.

Got to meet a detective inspector over there on Monday, but it's just a formality.

London?

How did Dad take it?

I'll drop him a line.

Well, if you're... if you're not going to go home... Just take this.

No, I can't take all that.

You might need it.

Please, just take it.

(sighs) You'll get it back.

(phone rings) It could be work.

It wouldn't be anything else.

Morse.

STRANGE (on phone): Evening, matey.

It's Jim.

There has been a development.

Can you just wait a minute?

Where are you going?

To get my things.

You're not going back to him?

The Met?

Save the world for me.

(door opens and closes) Morse?

STRANGE: That badge you found?

The dosimeter?

We've had it developed.

The lab says it's been exposed to a high dose of radiation.

Did Laxman go to the power station?

The director of operations said no.

All right, Mr. Sadler.

Tell them the same as you told me.

About the coat.

I got it off Seth Chattox, didn't I?

Why didn't you say so in the first place?

I didn't want to get him into trouble.

But if it's this dead fella's jacket, well that's different, isn't it?

I ain't going to get done for murder on nobody's account.

ENDEAVOUR: Where?

Where was this?

Down Bramford Mere by the water there.

(Geiger counter crackling) (ominous bird sounds in distance) (Geiger counter crackling) (crackling intensifies) Start digging here.

(crackling grows even louder) THURSDAY: Looks like we've found Dr. Laxman.

STRANGE: What the bloody hell's this now?

It's the autumnal equinox.

TREWLOVE: They've asked if they can come and observe the sunrise.

THURSDAY: Just keep them away from here.

We'll go and have a talk with this shepherd.

May their union be fruitful, ensure a bounteous harvest, and bless us with all good things throughout the coming year.

(all humming) (electricity hums) Sergeant?

THURSDAY: What were you doing with Laxman's jacket?

I found it.

Under a hedge up by woods, by the Americans' cottage.

So why didn't you report it at the time?

I find all sorts up the woods.

I didn't know anyone was missing when I picked it up.

No, I would have kept it for myself only it was... didn't fit, it was too small for me.

I was after taking up the church jumble, only I run into Zebulon and he thought it'd might do for Old Job, his scarecrow.

THURSDAY: Where did you find Sadler?

Oh, didn't he say?

By Bramford Mere.

THURSDAY: And what were you doing there that time in the morning?

I was after a ewe that got loose.

They like it down the mere for the clover, only you got to watch 'em with it.

Don't do 'em no good.

Was she down there?

The ewe?

No.

We must've missed the bugger in the dark.

By the time we got to the top field, there she was.

Innocent as you please.

(humming tune) THURSDAY: Is it him?

Oh, certainly.

I could recite his dental records from memory.

It's Matthew Laxman, no question.

THURSDAY: Cause?

MAX: There's a wound to the skull, not unlike that on the other one you pulled out of the bog.

Now, at some point, he was exposed to a fairly large dose of radiation.

Enough to be fatal?

Enough that I'll be ordering him a lead-lined coffin.

The ground readings are abnormally high.

(playing traditional folk music) THURSDAY: Mrs. Levin.

City Police.

We were hoping to have a word with your husband.

Oh, you missed him.

They went to the plant about an hour ago.

They?

A white-haired gentleman and a tall man with a beard.

Jon said they were colleagues.

(klaxon blaring) Very early for the emergency drill.

(klaxon blaring) (klaxon continues) Has Dr. Levin checked in?

OFFICER: About an hour ago.

ENDEAVOUR: Who was in the car with him?

A Professor Bagley and a Dr. Warren, the professor's colleagues.

Where's Mr. Blake?

He's in the control room.

This is a drill.

This isn't a drill, it's for real.

Open the gate.

I can't let you through, sir.

I'm not asking, I'm ordering.

This could be sabotage.

Now what's it to be?

Right, sir.

Lend us your sidearm.

Help with the evacuation.

Good work, Sergeant.

(different klaxon blares) WARREN: And the second angel sounded, and as though it were a great mountain burning with fire, it was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood.

BLAKE: Please, think about what you're doing.

Believe me, Blake, I've thought of nothing else for years.

Don, please.

You're a physicist.

Physics.

Science.

We're just children playing with matches.

And for what?

To find more efficient ways of turning our fellow human beings into ash?

That's what this is really about, huh?

Don, please.

Goldenrod, harvesting plutonium.

Professor Bagley?

It's Detective Constable Morse.

I'm unarmed, I'm unarmed.

Put your weapon down.

He's trying to purge the cooling ponds.

Tell him why.

There was a leak.

Six years ago.

Tell him.

Tell him!

A leak of radioactive material from the cooling ponds at Bramford A, where spent uranium rods were stored.

So what happened?

Human error.

Instead of drawing water, hundreds of thousands of gallons were purged from the ponds.

And entered the groundwater.

And he's doing the same thing now.

BAGLEY: They tried to hush it up, of course.

But Matthew Laxman had been monitoring the area around Bramford for years.

He threatened the status quo, so he had to be silenced.

They buried the truth about that leak, but they won't bury this one.

You're wrong-- Laxman wasn't killed by anyone here.

He's lying, Donald; they're all liars.

No.

Then who?

I don't know.

But I want justice for Laxman just as much as you do.

JON: Please, just think about what you're doing.

This is justice for Matt.

No, it's not!

I was with him the day he went missing.

Professor, it's not.

He went down to the mere to take readings...

Put your weapon down.

...and said he'd pick me up later.

But he never made it back.

All right.

Because these bastards killed him.

And you're protecting them.

But we will have justice.

An eye for an eye.

Don't try anything.

You watched your wife die, Professor.

You really mean to poison the land and condemn hundreds, maybe thousands, to the same fate?

Don't listen to him, Donald.

The world will take what happens here as a warning, and step back from the brink.

Maybe.

But people will still die.

Old, young, men, women, and children.

All of them loved by someone.

Same as you loved your wife.

Same as I love mine.

I'd like to go home to her right now, if I'm honest.

Walk away and leave you to it.

But I can't.

So...

If you really want to go through with it... you're going to have to shoot me.

I'll do it.

Maybe.

But I'm hoping you're the Donald Bagley who had dedicated the last 20 years of his life to peace.

I'm sorry.

Levin, can you stop it?

BLAKE: Get away from there, Doctor!

WARREN: Judas.

I believed in you.

You think I've come this far?

I'm the failsafe.

Remember?

Shoot me... Everybody dies.

(alarm starts and stops) (hissing bursts) (alarm beeping faintly) Stop-- stop.

Out of my way.

You're done.

Now, we all walk out of here nice and quiet.

(muted explosion, high-pitched ringing) (pounding and traditional music playing) (muted barking, high-pitched ringing) (voices echoing, slowly becoming clearer) BLAKE: The country owes you a debt.

If the reactor had gone into... (barking continues) Sergeant!

Can't you keep that animal quiet?

THURSDAY: Oh, it's all right, sir.

He's a bit like our chief superintendent, I expect.

Bark worse than his bite.

Sir.

Right.

Back to the nick?

Morse?

(klaxon fades) Can I take a look at your crook, please, Mr. Chattox?

First time I met you, your dog was chewing this.

Well, it's a habit.

I've tried to break him of it, but... We pulled a pair of spectacles from Bramford Mere chewed the same way.

Dr. Laxman's glasses.

Is that right?

You were in love with Selina Berger.

Minute I saw her.

She'd come up ahead of her brother, to get the place ready for him, and... Well, she seemed lonely.

A man gets an idea.

I mean, she had her brother.

But a brother's not a husband, is it, so...

I asked her to marry me.

And she turned you down.

It was her right.

ENDEAVOUR: But she didn't turn down Matthew Laxman.

You were jealous.

Not like that.

I just wanted her to be happy, but... Laxman was a wrong 'un, I could see that from the off.

And she deserved better.

You thought she deserved you.

Oh, well, I would have looked after her.

THURSDAY: I don't doubt it.

SETH: Quick with a backhander, he was.

But that's not a man.

Not to my way of thinking.

So you came across his car, after he'd been run off the road.

Because that's the way you take your sheep to the top field.

SETH: I offered to help him, too.

I went to get my car to tow him out.

By the time I got back, he was still wild about being run off the road by the plant truck.

Effing and Jeffing he was.

Starts trying to tell me how to tie a bowline.

How I was doing it all wrong.

Me.

I said, "I don't need no advice from you on tying knots."

He said, "That's not what I heard."

I said to him, I said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

And he said, "I'll tell you this... You don't know what you're missing."

One punch.

That's all it was, just one.

So you buried his body at Bramford Mere.

(regretful sigh) If I hadn't gone to help him, he'd still be alive.

Turn of the year.

I don't suppose you'd give me a minute to do for Kip, would you?

He won't understand not seeing me.

Hey.

We'll look to him.

(uncocks shotgun) Hard.

To leave the land.

(dog barks) (rifle fires, dog barks) Better to die under an open sky than prison.

Some men aren't born for walls.

Joan rang.

I think that's all her mother wanted, really.

Just to hear her voice.

Know she was all right.

No, thanks.

I'll see you Monday, then.

Monday, Morse.

Handshakes are for goodbye.

BRIGHT: "A small fire in a storage area was quickly contained "by Bramford's own fire brigade, "with the site suffering only the most minor damage.

"No members of staff were injured, and there was never at any time a danger to the public."

And they all lived happily ever after.

It's in the Mail, Thursday.

I hope you wouldn't gainsay Miss Frazil.

More than my life's worth, sir.

There was one more thing.

I have today received a letter.

(phone rings) Morse.

It was a bad fall.

Will she be all right?

DOCTOR: Well, we've given her something to help her sleep.

That's all.

Just one of those things.

Mother Nature.

Still, she's young, and fit.

Give it a month or two.

I'm sure you'll be able to try again.

Better luck next time, hmm?

(door closes) BRIGHT: "Dear Chief Superintendent Bright, "I am instructed to inform you that Her Majesty the Queen "has graciously approved the award of the George Medal "to our trusted and well-beloved subject "Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Albert Thursday "for special services in defense of the realm.

"Given the circumstances, details pertaining to the award "will be neither cited in the Gazette "nor entered into the public record.

"I am further instructed to inform you "that Her Majesty the Queen has also graciously approved "the award of the George Medal "to our trusted well-beloved subject "Detective Sergeant Endeavour Morse for special services in defense of the realm."

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