Birds of Prey is the fifth episode of the sixth series of Midsomer Murders and originally aired 31st January 2003.
The police investigate the apparent suicide of Julian Shepherd who drowned after driving his car into a nearby river. Shepherd along with several other local residents had invested money in Charles Edmonton's latest invention, a fuel-less transportation system. Edmonton, despite his advanced years, instilled a good deal of confidence in his investors but Shepherd was facing severe financial difficulties and urgently needed his investment to be returned. Troy meanwhile finds himself working with the comely PC Sarah Pearce who, as a wildlife liaison officer, is investigating the illegal sales of birds of prey and their eggs. The two cases come together when a birds' egg collector is found dead after a visit to the Edmonton estate. As the number of dead bodies begins to climb, Barnaby realizes that there is something far more sinister at play.
Tropes:
- Elder Abuse: Eddie Darwin is a middle-aged man who lives with his Maiden Aunts and orders them around their own house, makes them wait on him, and steals their pension money while they watch.
- Exact Words: Charles Edmonton promises investors a "revolutionary fuelless transportation system". Upon his death, investors are promptly sent a scooter, which fits the description perfectly.
- Murder by Inaction: Eddie Darwin's fate, at the hands of his abused aunts. When he comes home bruised after being hit by a car, one aunt realizes he's more badly injured than he realizes, but puts him to bed and leaves him to die in his sleep.
