The Marlow Murder Club

The three women regroup at the vicarage. Judith declares that they must retrieve and reconstruct the shredded paper. Suzie proposes breaking into Andy’s office to steal it. Becks is horrified by the illegal plan and refuses involvement, citing her position as the vicar’s wife. However, as Judith and Suzie begin planning, Becks feels left out and envious of their excitement.

Judith suggests exploiting their invisibility as older women. Suzie knows where to buy a wheelchair from the Marlow Hospice Shop. Their plan involves Judith sitting in the wheelchair while Suzie climbs through Andy’s open back window, with a third person creating a diversion.

Becks volunteers to create the diversion, provided her role is not illegal and she can maintain deniability. Suzie asks if Becks bakes bread; Becks confirms she has a fresh sourdough loaf. They realize they need replacement shredded paper to avoid detection, which Becks assures them she can get.

Just after four o’clock, the plan unfolds. Becks enters Andy’s office building with two slices of bread hidden in her coat. Suzie positions Judith in the wheelchair beneath Andy’s open back window; the sill is alarmingly high. Inside, Becks tells the receptionist she needs a lawyer and is given an appointment with Andy in thirty minutes. She refuses to remove her coat, arousing suspicion, then asks to use the toilet to escape.

Searching for the kitchenette, Becks finds it on the first floor. She encounters Andy, who introduces himself and flirts uncomfortably. After he leaves, Becks jams the thick sourdough slices into the toaster, sets it to maximum, and leaves quickly. Back in reception, she is told Andy will see her soon.

In his office, Andy opens his window further and briefly glimpses Judith in the wheelchair, but Suzie has hidden her behind a hydrangea. The fire alarm sounds. The office evacuates to the back car park assembly point. As staff emerge, Suzie launches herself through the window just in time. Inside, she panics as a fire engine arrives but swaps the shredder bag’s contents with hamster-cage shredded paper provided by Becks.

With staff reentering, Suzie photographs Andy’s unlocked computer calendar before hiding by his desk. Becks enters using a “damsel-in-distress” act and lures Andy out for a walk. Suzie throws the handbag with the real shredded paper down to Judith, then escapes out the window.

Judith and Suzie arrive home with the stolen shredded paper. Suzie’s elation turns to self-doubt as she worries her impulsiveness in photographing Andy’s calendar endangered them all. She reveals she hasn’t spoken to her daughter Amy in over a year. While Judith makes tea, Suzie tries the mysterious locked door in the sitting room but finds it still secured.

Suzie asks why Judith has no photos of her late husband. Judith reluctantly recounts her unhappy marriage to Philippos, a handsome but controlling Greek sailor who was unfaithful throughout their courtship and marriage. Her great aunt Betty had warned against the match. Philippos died in a sailing accident off Corfu during a squall; his body washed ashore a week later. Judith returned to England and resumed living with Betty, beginning to compile crosswords to maintain her equilibrium.

When Suzie asks why she still wears her wedding ring, Judith replies coolly that it reminds her of mistakes. The doorbell interrupts their conversation, with DS Malik announcing that there has been another murder.

Judith fears the victim is Becks, but DS Malik clarifies it is Liz Curtis. Malik asks Judith to identify the body, noting she had seen Liz twice recently, and to leave Suzie behind. In the car, Judith confesses she spoke to Liz a third time after being forbidden. She also tells Malik about Andy Bishop and his suspicious connection to Ezra’s will. At the rowing center, Malik is angry with Judith for putting herself in danger.

Judith identifies Liz from a crime scene photograph showing a bullet hole in her forehead. The time of death is established as between nine and 10 that morning, after a scout group saw her alive. Elliot Howard has an alibi: He was conducting a livestreamed auction. Danny Curtis also has an alibi: He was at a service station on the M1 motorway, over 100 miles away.

Judith spots an object in the photo, which DS Malik confirms is a bronze medallion. Judith connects it to a similar medallion found on Stefan’s body, but Malik refuses to reveal what is written on Liz’s. An officer announces that Danny Curtis has arrived.

As DS Malik speaks with the distraught Danny Curtis, Judith sneaks around a police van to eavesdrop. Malik questions Danny about his regular Tuesday night coaching trips to Nottingham, confirming his predictable absence. Danny insists that everyone liked Liz and that they had a loving relationship, though they were broke from repeated flood damage.

Danny states that Liz had minimal contact with Iqbal Kassam and, according to Liz, had not seen Stefan Dunwoody in months or ever been to his house. Danny denies owning a firearm. When Malik asks what faith, hope, and charity mean to him, Danny is baffled.

Judith’s phone rings, forcing her to move away. It is Suzie, calling to say that Becks has returned with significant news about Andy Bishop.

Judith returns home, where Becks declares that Andy is the killer. She recounts her walk with Andy, describing how he groped her and suggested she could secure a better divorce settlement by implying that her husband was abusive. He led her along the Thames Path toward Stefan’s house, a route he admitted using for clandestine conversations.

Crucially, Andy revealed that he knew Stefan had been shot dead with an antique pistol. Judith confirms that this information has not been released by the police. Andy then made a disturbing joke about getting Becks’s husband killed. Judith praises Becks for her bravery.

They reexamine Andy’s diary photo and note that his appointments never start before 9:30 in the morning, giving him time to kill Liz Curtis. They conclude that Andy has motive for Iqbal’s murder, a connection to Stefan, and opportunity for Liz’s murder.

Judith calls DS Malik and tricks her into confirming an antique pistol was the murder weapon. Suzie then receives a call from Brenda McFarlane, who reports that Elliot Howard is burning an oil painting in his garden.

Suzie speeds the three women to Elliot’s home. They meet Brenda, an elderly neighbor who has been watching Elliot. From Brenda’s upstairs window, they observe Elliot throwing several paintings onto a bonfire in his garden.

DS Malik arrives after receiving a report about the fire. The women meet Malik outside. Judith chides her for not sharing information about the antique pistol. Judith then reveals her deduction: the words faith, hope, and charity are the three theological virtues of the Freemasons, connecting the medallions found at each murder scene to Malik symbolism. Malik acknowledges this information is very useful.

The three women leave as Malik approaches Elliot’s security gate.

Malik is met by Elliot’s wife, Daisy, who is warm but protective, describing Elliot as a “damaged” artist with a kind soul. Malik finds Elliot by the bonfire. She pulls smoldering paintings from the fire; they are abstract canvases in the style of Rothko with modern, cheaply made frames.

Elliot admits he painted them himself and always destroys his work because he believes it is worthless. He recounts how Stefan cheated him out of a genuine Rothko from his father’s estate in 1988 by claiming it was a fake, purchasing it cheaply, then later having it authenticated.

DS Malik questions him about the break-in at Stefan’s house and the theft of the Rothko’s frame. Elliot appears genuinely ignorant of both incidents. Daisy interrupts, on the phone with their lawyer, and tells Malik she must leave without a warrant. As Malik departs, she observes Daisy admonishing her husband.

After disappearing for two days while intense media coverage engulfs Marlow, Judith summons Suzie and Becks. She has successfully reconstructed the shredded document by gluing the strips onto cellophane. It is a page from the Borlasian, the alumni magazine for William Borlase’s Grammar School.

Judith reveals that the two witnesses listed on Ezra Harrington’s will, Spencer Chapman and Faye Kerr, appear in the magazine’s obituary section. Both died in March of the previous year, yet Ezra’s will was done in May, proving Andy Bishop forged their signatures after their deaths.

Judith calls Malik, who confirms Iqbal Kassam Borlase’s for one year. Judith lays out her theory: Iqbal received the magazine as an alumnus, discovered the forgery, and confronted Andy. Andy then murdered Iqbal to silence him and protect his £650,000 inheritance. Judith presents this as proof Andy is the killer, speculating he is likely a Mason based on the medallions.

Malik reveals the theory is wrong. Andy Bishop has a confirmed alibi: He was on a two-week holiday in Malta during both Stefan’s and Iqbal’s murders. Judith is left speechless, realizing they are back at square one.