This summary is in no way intended as a substitute for viewing this fabulous episode.
Continued...
When the three, accompanied by two uniformed policemen in a second car, arrive at the specified meadow, they find Curling training his shotgun on an unconscious man hanging by parachute straps from a tree. Curling immediately turns his shotgun towards them. Foyle asks if this is his land. The farmer replies gruffly that it should be and then demands to know who they are. When he realises that the police have come to take charge of the German, he walks off. Foyle shouts after him, asking if he is Mr Curling. The farmer replies gruffly that he is, and keeps on walking.
The German airman, a Luftwaffe lieutenant, is cut down and laid on the grass. Foyle immediately checks his holster and finds it empty. Foyle and Milner consider the possibility that someone found the man, took his pistol and used it to shoot Jackson. Milner asks Foyle if Barbara, who is standing a little way off, could be a suspect. He replies that she could and goes to speak with her while the German is being taken to the second car.
Barbara tells him that she didn't see the man come down and assumed it happened during the air raid. Foyle asks if she came to the farm as soon as she found him and she replies that of course she did, as she wasn't going to get him down on her own. "English men are bad enough without getting tangled up with Germans!" She goes on to say that even if he did come down during the raid, he wasn't there at 4am, by which time the raid was over. She explains that she was there at that hour to see badgers in the meadow and is sure the man wasn't there because she had also looked at the tree, an English Oak. "This is Quercus robur - just as beautiful in the dark."
Foyle comments about the difficulty of distinguishing a pistol shot in an air raid making it hard to be precise about the time of Jackson's death. "Unless you know different. Nobody else seems to know."
Barbara says that she is sure the others told him that they heard much gunfire. "Some from the raid, but mostly from the inbred moron who lives next door."
Foyle queries, "Mr Curling?"
Barbara replies, "Yes."
Foyle says, "Thank you" and turns to go. But then he stops, turns back and asks casually, "Where d'you get your opinion of men?"
"Experience."
Foyle glances away as Barbara answers and so does not see her eye him up and down, and smile.
***
Foyle tells Milner to take the airman to the farmhouse to see what he has to say when he recovers consciousness and says that Major Cornwall should be informed but there is no need to do it immediately. Concluding that they will need to be in the area the next day, Foyle asks Sam to find them somewhere to stay for the night. She thinks it a good idea, especially as it will save petrol. Foyle says he will walk over to Curling's property to speak to the farmer and agrees that Sam and Milner give Barbara a lift back to Jackson's farm.
***
Curling is skinning rabbits when Foyle arrives. Continuing with the job on hand, he tells the DCS that Jackson was a drunk who was allowing his farm to run down before the offer of the workers from the Women's Land Army came along in 1939. Foyle asks about his relationship with the other farmer and Curling says that he got a place on the local agricultural committee, the War Ag, and explains that his neighbour used his position to get grants, jump the queue for a tractor and try to get him evicted.
Foyle asks if Curling knows of any reason why Jackson would kill himself and the farmer replies that the man never got over his wife leaving him for a farm hand, which is when he took to drink.
***
Major Cornwall arrives at Jackson's farm and finds Milner and a police constable in the farmyard watching the captured airman. Milner explains that they are waiting to interview him, but the major ignores him, introduces himself to the airman and orders his soldiers to put him in the car. He asks Milner if the man is hurt and the detective sergeant replies that he was concussed but has come round. The soldiers move towards the airman but stop as Milner politely
protests that the officer does not seem to understand the situation. When Cornwall replies that it is the other man who does not seem to understand, Milner nods towards his boss, who has just walked up to them, and says in deliberate tones, "Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle."
Cornwall turns to Foyle in surprise, uttering. "Detective?" He tells Foyle that he thought he had said he was a farmer.
The DCS wishes him a polite good morning and confirms that he is in fact a policeman, and is there because the airman might be able to help in what could prove to be a murder inquiry. Cornwall dismisses the explanation, saying that he doesn't give a damn, he's taking the man away now. Foyle begins to request they be allowed twenty minutes with the prisoner, but the major silences him abruptly. "We have all the authority we need!" He again orders his men to get the airman into the car. The German smirks at Foyle as he climbs into the vehicle.
***
Foyle returns to the farmhouse to examine the rest of the rooms and is in Jackson's bedroom when Sam looks in to let him know that she is back if he needs her. Foyle has discovered a brassiere on Jackson's bed. Sam points out that it is made from silk and when her boss suggests it might belong to one of the Land Army girls, she says it's probably Rose's or Barbara's, as it is too large to be Joan's. She asks if he wants her to find out and when he indicates yes, she stuffs it into her jacket pocket.
***
Sam takes Foyle and Milner to where they can stay for the night. All the hotels and pubs are being used for billeting troops, but she has found them rooms in the Woman's Land Army hostel. The hostel supervisor tells the two men that they will sleep in a separate part of the building and she invites them to sit down to dinner, which is just being served to the women in the main hall. Sam and Milner marvel at the food on the table. Along with various vegetables, there is roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. Sam says that there is apple crumble for dessert and bacon for breakfast in the morning. The three tuck in.
***
From the POW holding camp enclosure, Schimmel and Sabartovski observe the recently captured airman being brought in and taken directly to the sanatorium. The man spots Schimmel and gives him a Heil Hitler salute, which the other airman returns. It is obvious, however, that there is no love lost between the two men and Schimmel is somewhat alarmed at the other's arrival.
***
Next morning
Joan, Rose and Tom walk to a particular spot on Jackson's land, carrying spades. Rose says that they should talk to the Chief Superintendent, but Joan will have none of it.
The three begin to dig.
***
In the women's hostel, Foyle leaves his room and makes his way the bathroom. He is just about to try the door when it opens and Barbara emerges. She gets the shock of her life and demands to know what the policeman is doing there.
Her appearance and reaction fluster Foyle for a second and then he explains that he was just trying to use the bathroom. She says that she was referring to his presence in the hostel, as men aren't allowed and he replies that she's
absolutely right but they made an exception last night. He asks why she is there and not at the farm. When she says that she wouldn't feel safe staying at a place where someone was murdered, Foyle queries the word "murdered". Barbara explains crisply, "Well, if it were simple suicide, why would someone as lofty as yourself be spending so much time on it?" She walks off back to her room, leaving Foyle with the realisation that's he's been slapped down again.
***
Foyle and Milner visit the local postmistress who mans the village telephone exchange, a PBX switchboard in her post office. She tells Foyle that the call she took from Tom reporting finding his father's body was at six o'clock on the morning the farmer died. Foyle asks if that was the only call and she says that there was another one about thirty minutes earlier, but she doesn't know if it came from the farm because the caller did not give her long enough to respond.
As the policemen are about to leave, Curling comes in and gives the postmistress several dead rabbits. Foyle asks him if he heard any shots from the Jackson farm on the morning the man died and Curling replies that he heard one at around 5am and two more maybe half an hour later.
As Foyle and Milner climb into the Wolseley, a bus pulls up at a stop nearby. A rough looking character, unshaven, in old clothes and carrying a sack, alights from the bus and watches the Wolseley drive away without the occupants being aware of him.
Continue on...
When the three, accompanied by two uniformed policemen in a second car, arrive at the specified meadow, they find Curling training his shotgun on an unconscious man hanging by parachute straps from a tree. Curling immediately turns his shotgun towards them. Foyle asks if this is his land. The farmer replies gruffly that it should be and then demands to know who they are. When he realises that the police have come to take charge of the German, he walks off. Foyle shouts after him, asking if he is Mr Curling. The farmer replies gruffly that he is, and keeps on walking.
The German airman, a Luftwaffe lieutenant, is cut down and laid on the grass. Foyle immediately checks his holster and finds it empty. Foyle and Milner consider the possibility that someone found the man, took his pistol and used it to shoot Jackson. Milner asks Foyle if Barbara, who is standing a little way off, could be a suspect. He replies that she could and goes to speak with her while the German is being taken to the second car.
Barbara tells him that she didn't see the man come down and assumed it happened during the air raid. Foyle asks if she came to the farm as soon as she found him and she replies that of course she did, as she wasn't going to get him down on her own. "English men are bad enough without getting tangled up with Germans!" She goes on to say that even if he did come down during the raid, he wasn't there at 4am, by which time the raid was over. She explains that she was there at that hour to see badgers in the meadow and is sure the man wasn't there because she had also looked at the tree, an English Oak. "This is Quercus robur - just as beautiful in the dark."
Foyle comments about the difficulty of distinguishing a pistol shot in an air raid making it hard to be precise about the time of Jackson's death. "Unless you know different. Nobody else seems to know."
Barbara says that she is sure the others told him that they heard much gunfire. "Some from the raid, but mostly from the inbred moron who lives next door."
Foyle queries, "Mr Curling?"
Barbara replies, "Yes."
Foyle says, "Thank you" and turns to go. But then he stops, turns back and asks casually, "Where d'you get your opinion of men?"
"Experience."
Foyle glances away as Barbara answers and so does not see her eye him up and down, and smile.
***
Foyle tells Milner to take the airman to the farmhouse to see what he has to say when he recovers consciousness and says that Major Cornwall should be informed but there is no need to do it immediately. Concluding that they will need to be in the area the next day, Foyle asks Sam to find them somewhere to stay for the night. She thinks it a good idea, especially as it will save petrol. Foyle says he will walk over to Curling's property to speak to the farmer and agrees that Sam and Milner give Barbara a lift back to Jackson's farm.
***
Curling is skinning rabbits when Foyle arrives. Continuing with the job on hand, he tells the DCS that Jackson was a drunk who was allowing his farm to run down before the offer of the workers from the Women's Land Army came along in 1939. Foyle asks about his relationship with the other farmer and Curling says that he got a place on the local agricultural committee, the War Ag, and explains that his neighbour used his position to get grants, jump the queue for a tractor and try to get him evicted.
Foyle asks if Curling knows of any reason why Jackson would kill himself and the farmer replies that the man never got over his wife leaving him for a farm hand, which is when he took to drink.
***
Major Cornwall arrives at Jackson's farm and finds Milner and a police constable in the farmyard watching the captured airman. Milner explains that they are waiting to interview him, but the major ignores him, introduces himself to the airman and orders his soldiers to put him in the car. He asks Milner if the man is hurt and the detective sergeant replies that he was concussed but has come round. The soldiers move towards the airman but stop as Milner politely
protests that the officer does not seem to understand the situation. When Cornwall replies that it is the other man who does not seem to understand, Milner nods towards his boss, who has just walked up to them, and says in deliberate tones, "Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle."
Cornwall turns to Foyle in surprise, uttering. "Detective?" He tells Foyle that he thought he had said he was a farmer.
The DCS wishes him a polite good morning and confirms that he is in fact a policeman, and is there because the airman might be able to help in what could prove to be a murder inquiry. Cornwall dismisses the explanation, saying that he doesn't give a damn, he's taking the man away now. Foyle begins to request they be allowed twenty minutes with the prisoner, but the major silences him abruptly. "We have all the authority we need!" He again orders his men to get the airman into the car. The German smirks at Foyle as he climbs into the vehicle.
***
Foyle returns to the farmhouse to examine the rest of the rooms and is in Jackson's bedroom when Sam looks in to let him know that she is back if he needs her. Foyle has discovered a brassiere on Jackson's bed. Sam points out that it is made from silk and when her boss suggests it might belong to one of the Land Army girls, she says it's probably Rose's or Barbara's, as it is too large to be Joan's. She asks if he wants her to find out and when he indicates yes, she stuffs it into her jacket pocket.
***
Sam takes Foyle and Milner to where they can stay for the night. All the hotels and pubs are being used for billeting troops, but she has found them rooms in the Woman's Land Army hostel. The hostel supervisor tells the two men that they will sleep in a separate part of the building and she invites them to sit down to dinner, which is just being served to the women in the main hall. Sam and Milner marvel at the food on the table. Along with various vegetables, there is roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. Sam says that there is apple crumble for dessert and bacon for breakfast in the morning. The three tuck in.
***
From the POW holding camp enclosure, Schimmel and Sabartovski observe the recently captured airman being brought in and taken directly to the sanatorium. The man spots Schimmel and gives him a Heil Hitler salute, which the other airman returns. It is obvious, however, that there is no love lost between the two men and Schimmel is somewhat alarmed at the other's arrival.
***
Next morning
Joan, Rose and Tom walk to a particular spot on Jackson's land, carrying spades. Rose says that they should talk to the Chief Superintendent, but Joan will have none of it.
The three begin to dig.
***
In the women's hostel, Foyle leaves his room and makes his way the bathroom. He is just about to try the door when it opens and Barbara emerges. She gets the shock of her life and demands to know what the policeman is doing there.Her appearance and reaction fluster Foyle for a second and then he explains that he was just trying to use the bathroom. She says that she was referring to his presence in the hostel, as men aren't allowed and he replies that she's
absolutely right but they made an exception last night. He asks why she is there and not at the farm. When she says that she wouldn't feel safe staying at a place where someone was murdered, Foyle queries the word "murdered". Barbara explains crisply, "Well, if it were simple suicide, why would someone as lofty as yourself be spending so much time on it?" She walks off back to her room, leaving Foyle with the realisation that's he's been slapped down again.
***
Foyle and Milner visit the local postmistress who mans the village telephone exchange, a PBX switchboard in her post office. She tells Foyle that the call she took from Tom reporting finding his father's body was at six o'clock on the morning the farmer died. Foyle asks if that was the only call and she says that there was another one about thirty minutes earlier, but she doesn't know if it came from the farm because the caller did not give her long enough to respond.
As the policemen are about to leave, Curling comes in and gives the postmistress several dead rabbits. Foyle asks him if he heard any shots from the Jackson farm on the morning the man died and Curling replies that he heard one at around 5am and two more maybe half an hour later.
As Foyle and Milner climb into the Wolseley, a bus pulls up at a stop nearby. A rough looking character, unshaven, in old clothes and carrying a sack, alights from the bus and watches the Wolseley drive away without the occupants being aware of him.
Continue on...