Title: The Dead of Winter
Directed by: Bill Anderson
Written by: Russell Lewis
Air Date: May 2, 2010
Previous: Counter Culture Blues
Next: Dark Matter
Guest Starring: Richard Johnson, Georgia Groome, Pip Carter, Jonathan Bailey, Camilla Arfwedson, Guy Henry
"The Dead of Winter" is the first episode of the fourth season of Lewis, aka Inspector Lewis in the United States.
A bunch of guys in costumes are reenacting the Third Siege of Oxford
, a minor action in the English Civil War. Cannon are fired off, reenactors shoot blanks, and the reenactment ends—except, one of the fake soldiers has been shot for real! It turns out that the man, one Phillip Coleman, was only shot in the arm.
But there is a murder victim in Oxford that day. An Oxford don and a scholar of the English Civil War, one Dr. Stephen Black, is found dead on an Oxford tour bus. Lewis and Hathaway track where the bus went and eventually discover that Black was murdered on the grounds of Crevecoeur Hall, the estate of Augustus Mortmaigne, Marquess of Tygon. But who did it, and why? Lewis finds in Black's home a cache of love letters from one Linda Grahame, who as it turns out is the wife of Mortmaigne estate manager Ralph Grahame. Linda Grahame abandoned her family years ago, so when Ralph Grahame turns up dead in the stables of a shotgun wound, it looks like a case of revenge and murder-suicide.
Of course, there's more to it than that. The detectives find all sorts of secrets at Crevecour Hall, like how Augustus's much younger wife Selina has been having an affair with Phillip Coleman, who turns out to be Augustus's nephew. Titus Mortmaigne, Augustus and Selina's young son and heir to the title and estate, is dating Ralph Grahame's daughter Briony. Then there's the matter of a secret treasure dating back to the English Civil War and the days of King Charles I, which may or may not be buried on the Mortmaigne estate.
As it turns out, DS James Hathaway knows Crevecoeur Hall very well. Many years ago, Hathaway's father was the estate manager at Crevecour Hall. Hathaway lived there until he was 12 and knows the Mortmaignes well. As a child Hathaway used to play with Augustus's daughter Scarlett, as well as with the children of other servants, like Paul Hopkiss, who grew up to be head butler on the estate. Hathaway, who is in an emotionally vulnerable state after a difficult murder trial, finds himself drawn to Scarlett, now a gorgeous young woman who unfortunately is about to get married.
And in other news, DI Lewis adopts the late Stephen Black's cat.
Tropes:
- Answer Cut: Someone took the spare key to the chapel, which is where Dr. Black was murdered. Finally Father Jasper remembers, telling Lewis "I know who took it!" Cut to Lewis and Hathaway grilling Selina Mortmaigne. (She took the key so she could use the chapel as a hiding place for sex with Phillip.)
- Blood from the Mouth: How the driver of the tour bus figures out that the old man who appeared to have fallen asleep in his seat is actually dead.
- The Butler Did It: The killer is Hopkiss, head butler at the Montmaigne mansion.
- Cartwright Curse: Hathaway has sex with Scarlett Montmaigne, his childhood crush. At the end, Scarlett is arrested for helping cover up the murder of Stephen Black.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Who killed Stephen Black? Not any of the suspects, but instead Hopkiss the butler, who killed Black because he thought Black might accidentally dig up the body of Linda Grahame while Black was digging for treasure.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Dr. Hobson calls Lewis back and tells him that she found traces of corn starch on the murder weapon. Lewis looks up, sees Hathaway's shirt on a hook—the shirt that Paul Hopkiss cleaned, starched, and pressed after Briony spilled drinks on it—and realizes that Hopkiss is the killer.
- Finally Found the Body: Linda Grahame didn't leave her family or Crevecoeur Hall. Hopkiss killed her seven years ago and buried her under the statue on the estate.
- Foreshadowing: It's specifically stated that Augustus, who obviously is much other than Selina, married her when she was 17. While this was legal, it foreshadows the end where Augustus is revealed to be a child molester who abused both Briony Grahame and Paul Hopkiss.
- Idle Rich: Scarlett Mortmaigne uses this exact phrase to describe herself.
- Land Poor: Scarlett eventually admits to Hathaway that the Mortmaignes aren't as rich as everyone thinks. After Augustus's bank collapsed the family has been strapped for cash, which is why Scarlett's father is selling off the artwork, and why Scarlett is marrying the son of a rich businessman.
- Literal Metaphor: Professor Woodville tells Lewis the story of the treasure hidden on the Mortmaigne estate, which supposedly was meant to free Charles I from captivity, and calls it "a king's ransom, literally."
- Mal Mariée: Selina Mortmaigne eventually admits that she married her much older husband when she was only 17. After she bore a son, which was the whole reason Augustus married her in the first place, he lost interest in her and they haven't shared a room in 20 years. The trope is played with, however, in that everybody seems to be basically OK about it, and specifically, Augustus doesn't even care that Selina is having an affair with his nephew Phillip.
- Never One Murder: An iron law of Lewis—although it's a little vague as the show never specifically states that Hopkiss killed Ralph Grahame and indeed Dr. Hobson said that she couldn't rule out suicide. But the fact that Hopkiss got Scarlett to forge love letters from Linda Grahame to Stephen Black indicates that after Hopkiss murdered Black, he killed Ralph in order to make the whole thing look like murder-suicide.
- Never Suicide: The episode is actually rather vague in that it's never specifically stated that Ralph Grahame's death wasn't suicide. But it's strongly implied that Hopkiss killed Ralph in order to make it look like Ralph killed Black and then himself.
- Red Herring: As it turns out the whole bit about Phillip Coleman getting shot at the reenactment was a diversion planned by Hopkiss to distract attention while he was murdering Black.
- Shout-Out: Loads.
- Lewis says that he and Hathaway have to find out where Black "joined this Magical Mystery Tour."
- To Sherlock Holmes: A lost English Civil War treasure with coded clues to its location.
- To Brideshead Revisited: Hathaway's return to the Mortmaignes' stately pile.
- To Gormenghast: The young heir of the property is called Titus.
- To Clue: The victim's name is Dr Black, and an attractive young female suspect is called Scarlett. Other characters' names are also references; all the Cluedo characters except Mrs Peacock get some kind of mention.
- Uptown Girl: Titus Mortmaigne, heir to the title and estate, is dating Briony Grahame, daughter of the Mortmaigne estate manager.
- Visual Pun: Lewis and Hathaway follow a centuries-old treasure trail to a Roman statue of Juno and her geese - at which point Hathaway points out that it's a "wild goose chase".
- War Reenactors: A few dozen men in 17th century costumes are reenacting a minor skirmish of the English Civil War that was fought on the Mortmaigne estate. It's basically a show for tourists.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Lewis is extremely pissed after finding out that Hathaway had sex with Scarlett Mortmaigne, who is one of the suspects. So pissed that, after yelling at Hathaway that he endangered both the case and his own career, Lewis kicks him off the case and tells him to take leave.
