Happy Families is the third episode of the twenty second series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders.
Synopsis[]
As the owners of Karras Games gather for a murder mystery weekend, the immersive experience takes a puzzling twist when a killer strikes for real.
Plot[]
This episode takes place on an island which is only accessible by chain ferry. On the island is the mansion of renowned game inventor, Victor Karras. In the house are life size replicas of game pieces in his games.
In her dressing room, Eleanor Karras scolds her husband Victor Karras, who is vaping. "Those things will be the death of you."
Eleanor and Victor head down the stairs to his party. "All these people are here to celebrate your birthday, the least you can do is raise a glass." Eleanor is heavily pregnant, a surrogate for her sister, Alicia Matheson. Eleanor gives Alicia a glass of champagne.
The party features a Murder Mystery Game. The actors start playing their parts. A woman says, "How dare you" and throws a glass of wine on a waiter. He walks away. "Don't you walk away from me." says the woman. A woman screams. The group sees the waiter lying on the floor with blood on his shirt. "I never touched him," says the woman. In walks another actor, "Good evening. I'm Inspector Doppler. Doppler of the Yard, they call me. Sadly, it's my duty to inform that you this is now a crime scene. If you'd like to return to the hall, I shall address you in a few moments." The doors close. The waiter sits up and asks his mom if he used too much blood. "It is the jugular. It's bound to spurt."
Back to the main hall, the actor (Hugo Welles) dons his glasses and goes out to talk to the guests. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's my job to uncover the identity of a murderer who hides in plain sight. Now, I should warn you, unravelling this won't be easy. There will be lies. There will be red herrings. There may even be more murders."
Victor Karras touches his forehead. He tells his wife he is going back upstairs. He coughs, sputters, gasps. Then he falls down the stairs. He knocks the statue of Anubis on his way down. The spear from Anubus lands in his chest. Guests clap thinking it is the Murder Mystery. (Gasps, Screams, Thunder rumbles)
At the Barnaby house, John complains that he can't find one of the game pieces to a new game. "Why can't things be put back where they belong, I mean, how hard, is it?" He and his wife, Sarah Barnaby, argue. John has been in a foul mood all evening. Then Barnaby gets a phone call.
It's raining like cats and dogs when Barnaby meets DS Jamie Winter at the dock. Winter says, "Victor Karras. Head of Karras Games. Board games, mainly. High-end stuff, old-fashioned, beautifully made." They arrive at the mansion. They're all life-size replicas of various Karras games apparently. Probably wishes now they didn't include Dogman here," says Winter pointing to the statue.
"Anubis. Embalmer, protector of tombs. The god who got to decide a soul's fate," says Fleur Perkins, pathologist, as she examines the body. Apparently the spear from Anubis did not kill him. Cyanide- "Bright red...Tell-tale sign. The poor chap was as good as dead long before Anubis got involved," Fleur reports. The cyanide was likely administered via food or drink. It would have taken action from two to 15 minutes.
Barnaby interviews the widow, Eleanor. She explains that she and her husband were in their bedroom immediately prior to coming downstairs for the party. Joshua Kilbride, Victor 's assistant was there too. He wanted Victor's signature on a few things. Victor vaped. He was only supposed to have one a day per doctor's orders. He had one in the morning. He had one drink. Barnaby tells her that her husband was poisoned.
Barnaby asks Fleur to tell Sarah he will be late. He can't get a mobile signal.
Barnaby and Winter talk: Helen Welles does the Murder Mysteries. Her husband plays the detective and her son (Andrew Welles) is one of the waiters. They were there to set up in midafternoon. Victor didn't eat anything and his champagne came from a new bottle. Barnaby says he is only interested in the immediate family and the murder mystery actors. The rest of the guests can go home. Eleanor follows her husband's dead body to the ferry. Fleur gets on the boat with the body. The rain is pouring.
Winter inspects a cabinet with medications. There are bottles of Prussic Acid in the storeroom with the key on a nail outside. Prussic acid is another name for hydrogen cyanide.
Fleur and all get off the ferry. Suddenly the chain on the ferry snaps and the ferry breaks free from the mainland. Back in the house Eleanor tells everyone the ferry is gone. They are stuck until someone can work out how to get us to the mainland. .....Spooky music....
Barnaby asks everyone for their phones and computers. Danni Karras, Victor's daughter, objects. Eleanor tells her to just do what DCI Barnaby asks. Joshua Kilbride says "It sounds like somebody here would prefer it if the murderer wasn't found." Eleanor says, "Do you think this is some sort of game? I watched my husband die tonight. Killed by someone in this room. Do whatever you need to do, Inspector."
Hugo Welles sidles up to Barnaby "So, the game's afoot." He says that he and Barnaby have a lot in common. They are both the "students of the human mind.. The killer psyche. Like you, I solve mysteries." Hugo asks Barnaby to look on him as a resource.
Joshua shows Barnaby and Winter where Victor's computer is. It doesn't have a password on it. Winter says, "You're not much of a fan of Danni Karras, are you?" Joshua replies, "Daddy's golden girl? Not much...She's greedy, ambitious and has a fist where her heart ought to be. Victor was meant to retire this year and Danni was all set to take over the business. She'd already started a big PR drive. Online, magazines, newspapers, you name it. Company relaunch. The whole works. Only Victor changed his mind."
Eleanor sobs on the stairs. Alicia comes down to comfort her.
Barnaby interviews Danni Karras who says she didn't kill her father. Anyway, Karras games may not exist in six months. Karras Games is facing a hostile takeover. Danni overheard someone arguing with her father, demanding money. Noah Adomakoh, her partner, was upset with her father. Noah gave Victor a platter made of broken pottery. Kintsugi. Noah was looking for investors. Victor was not impressed with his pitch.
Winter speaks with Paul and Alicia Matheson. Paul was Victor's accountant until about six months ago. Then he fired him. "Victor's tax return was late and he had to pay a hefty fine, thousands. He blamed Paul," says Alicia.
Hugo Welles speaks to the remaining guests. "A trained detective can tell the difference between a mistake and a lie." Helen Welles talks about one of her murder mysteries. Andrew Welles goes over to speak to Joshua Kilbride and they hold hands.
Barnaby looks around one of the rooms which has a puzzle box and Hounds and Jackals. "Victor loved the games and puzzles," says Eleanor. "It's a Japanese puzzle box, very intricate, almost impossible to get into. Victor gave me this for my last birthday." Eleanor bends over in pain. She explains that she is a surrogate for her sister, Alicia. She tells Barnaby that she has arranged a room for he and his sergeant with toothbrushes and some of Victor's pajamas.
Winter walks in wearing the pajamas, which are huge on him. "Bit on the generous side. Still, yours should fit OK," he says. Barnaby says, "You don't snore, do you Winter?" Winter, "Certainly not. Although I'm told that I do breathe heavily. And grind my teeth. And talk."
The radio announces that several villages along the banks of the river have been evacuated.
Fleur arrives at the Barnaby's. "The landline's down too. I blame Brenda. The storm. They gave it a name." "They chose Brenda?" asks Sarah. "Yeah, apparently. It doesn't fully capture the raw, elemental power of nature, does it? Anyway, John wanted me to let you know he was going to be late... Only now he's not coming home at all. The chain ferry's gone, you can't get a boat across and there's no other way off the island. It's not like they're in any danger. Apart from the obvious. ..stuck in the house with a killer. And I'd say the closer those two get to unmasking them, the more dangerous it'll get. Wouldn't you?"
Barnaby walks back into their room and finds a note on the floor. "I bet the accounts don't match." Winter sees a light outside the window. They run downstairs. Someone is outside with a flashlight. "Off you go, then," says Barnaby to Winter. Winter runs in the rain, bare feet after someone. Then he gets tackled by Hugo Welles. Hugo says he thought he saw someone and went after them. Barnaby tells him not to help anymore.
Radio: Amber weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office as Storm Brenda continues to lash the country.
Helen Welles writes the murder mysteries that she and her family perform. She tells Barnaby she knows a lot about poisons. "My stories explore the darker reaches of the human condition, and it's important to get the science right. I've used arsenic, aconite, hemlock, twice. I'm a big fan of botulinum, particularly nasty," explains Helen. She's used cyanide a lot. It's one of her favorites. Barnaby asks about the row she had with Victor. Helen says that 25 years ago she invented a board game. "A serial killer is loose in the great London smog of 1952. You're a policeman, can you catch him in time? Anyway, I sent it to Karras Games. Naturally, I thought I'd come up with the next Monopoly," says Helen. She never heard from Karras Games. Then a few years later, they announced a brand new game which was Helen's game. They stole her idea. She tried to sue, but they were big and powerful. When Joshua Kilbride contacted her to do a murder mystery for Victor's birthday party, it was her chance to confront him face to face. He just laughed her in face.
Hugo Welles presents his theories to Barnaby. Barnaby isn't interested. Andrew talks to Joshua. He is worried the police will find something. Joshua tells him he took care of it. Winter tells Barnaby there is nothing in the financials that leaps out. Alicia tells Barnaby that she and her husband tried IVF and nothing worked. And it's so expensive. Her sister stepped in to produce the baby.
Hugo talks to Helen "What if I find the killer? Wouldn't that prove your innocence? ..The police. They don't seem to want my help, so... why not beat them to it? Oh! ( Laughs ) This is gonna be fun."
Barnaby and Winter confront Joshua Kilbride. "Did Victor Karras know you'd been stealing from him for months?" says Barnaby. Winter says, "There was a routine email about Victor's household insurance. On the list there was a designer watch, high-end, but I couldn't seem to find any record of it having been bought on any of his credit cards. You had access to the business credit cards, isn't that right? I found that there were no statements for one of his cards for the last six months. Someone deleted them from both your computer and Victor's. I was able to restore the original versions of the deleted files. It was you who broke into the study last night, wasn't it? You deleted the files to cover up your fraud. You used the card to make purchases totalling £68,000." Joshua says, "Do you know what it's like to be taken for granted? Without me, nothing would've worked. But Victor didn't care, or even notice. So I decided to... Balance the books." Barnaby asks "Any idea who sent me this?" Joshua says, "I'd start with Paul Matheson because he'd always blamed me for Victor firing him. That I was the reason the tax return was late and Victor was fined."
Paul admits that he left the message for Barnaby. Alicia says she saw Joshua buying a watch. She assumed it was for Victor. But she never saw Victor wearing the watch. So the last time Alicia was there, she looked around and found proof. They planned to find enough evidence and then tell Victor.
Danni confronts Eleanor. She says if Victor were here right now, he would love all of this. Everyone stuck here. One giant game. Danni says Victor promised her the job. Eleanor says Victor didn't think Danni was ready. "Everything goes to you now, doesn't it? The house, controlling shares in the business. Everything," says Danni.
Eleanor tells Barnaby that there was a mole inside the company. Victor hired someone to investigate. After the meeting with the investigator, he was subdued, like he'd got bad news. Eleanor doesn't know who the mole is or where the investigator's report is. Victor was going to reveal their identity this weekend. But he got killed before he could.
Winter asks Andrew if he knew about Joshua defrauding Victor Karras? Andrew says it was his idea. Joshua didn't kill Victor- they had every reason to keep him alive. Andrew loved that they could steal from Victor.
Hugo Welles is outside snooping. He picks up something from the ground and puts it in his pocket.
Barnaby and Winter wonder where the report is. If Victor Karras didn't want to put something in the safe, where would he hide it? Winter says, "A report that revealed who had betrayed him. A secret compartment? A loose floorboard? No, it's too obvious. Everywhere you look, it's games. Figures in the hall, board games laid out. You have to solve an anagram to get into his computer. Everything's a game, a puzzle. And if Victor wanted to hide something, it would be in plain sight. And he'd get a kick knowing he was the only one that knew that it was there." Barnaby gets an idea- "Winter, you're a psychological genius." They go to look in the puzzle box.
Hugo tells his wife, Helen, that he found something. He isn't telling the police till he knows more.
Suddenly, Alicia collapses to the floor. Barnaby sniffs her cup- it smells of cyanide. B12 that's what she needs. Winter says to Paul, "Your injection kit, in your room." Barnaby believes that the poison was either in the cup or added afterwards.
Eleanor confronts Joshua. A Petty Thief!! Joshua says if they had treated him better, he wouldn't have had to steal. When this is over, Eleanor says she wants him gone.
Hugo examines the item he found on the ground outside. He can't figure out what it is.
Barnaby wonders if Alicia saw something and didn't realize the significance of it. Eleanor says that unless he changed anything, her husband left her everything. Eleanor denies poisoning her sister. There is no legally binding contract and so legally the baby is hers.
Hugo is found talking to Alicia in her bedroom. Paul brings Alicia a tray. He tells her he was really worried about losing her.
Danni says that being stuck in the house is driving her crazy. Helen comes in and says that her husband is close to solving the mystery.
Barnaby works on the puzzle box. He manages to get one square piece out.
At night, Hugo walks into the dining room. He tries the light switch, but it isn't working. Suddenly someone hits him with a piece from "Hounds and Jackals." His wife says she last saw him at 11:30 last night. Barnaby finds a necklace in the hand of the corpse. It is Eleanor's. Barnaby asks her where she was. Eleanor says she keeps the necklace in a drawer in her room. Barnaby tells Winter there are no marks on her neck from the chain being torn off.
Helen shows Barnaby what Hugo found outside by the river. Hugo thought it had something to do with what was thrown in the river the other night. He told Helen he knew how Victor was poisoned. He wanted to wait until everyone was assembled for the big reveal.
Danni complains to Noah about being unable to work without a phone. Noah tells her that he is moving out when they get out of there. He is sick of Danni taking it out on him.
Barnaby says he thinks the vape kit was how Victor was poisoned. Winter says he is about to take a hammer to the puzzle box. Barnaby rearranges the box and finds a key to the puzzle box. They find a document inside from the private investigator. "The investigator traced a series of texts and calls to the opposition, all from a pay-as-you-go phone." They call the phone number listed. It is Danni's phone. Danni said Karras games was going under. All she did was speed things along and make some money out of it. Danni starts crying. She didn't want her father to find out. Barnaby sees the plate that Noah made from stuff thrown out on the day of the party. Barnaby finds a piece with the word "Nitrile" on it. Winter discovers that it is Acetonitrile, it's a compound containing carbon and nitrogen.It takes 12 hours to work. In that time, it metabolises. It changes into something else. Slow-acting Cyanide. So, the murderer replaces the cartridge from the vape kit with the poisoned one. Then gets rid of the empty ampoule, assuming it will get lost in the rest of the rubbish. They have a perfect alibi. They can be wherever they want to be, with whoever they like, when Victor dies. There's just one loose end. The vape kit itself. The killer has 12 hours to do it. Then all they have to do is wait until dark and then throw it in the river. Fool-proof. They didn't count on Noah Adomakoh going through the bins, getting raw materials to prove kintsugi is the next big thing.
Barnaby and Winter go to talk to the suspects and tell them they are close to solving the case. They have evidence retrieved at the scene of the crime and by the river. Then they leave the room... Later, an alarm goes off. They find Alicia in their room where the evidence is. Barnaby tells her he knows she was going to destroy it. She poisoned herself with a small amount of prussic acid from the kitchen. She knew her husband had the antidote. She tried to incriminate Eleanor. Hugo Welles started to get close to the truth and so she lured him to the dining room and stabbed him and left Eleanor's charm necklace at the scene. Alicia starts to itch and Barnaby asks if she wants to put some lavender cream on it. Barnaby says that if Hugo tore the necklace off Eleanor, there would have been a mark on her neck. He looked at the charm closer and could smell the lavender.
Barnaby: "When we get everything back to the labs, we'll find evidence of acetonitrile on the vape kit and traces of the skin cream you make. And that's before we examine Hugo's body and take your clothes to be tested." Andrew removes Joshua's hand from his knee. "Stabbing someone like that, you'd be amazed at the traces it leaves behind. Game's over," says Barnaby. Paul says, "Alicia, tell me it's not true."
Helen: "You killed my Hugo?" Hugo had worked out that the vape was poisoned. He'd seen Eleanor sack Joshua so he knew all about him stealing. Alicia told him she had something important to tell him and she would meet him later. She worried he would put the pieces together later. So she had no choice but to kill him.
Eleanor asks why?? Alicia; "I found out! I know you were going to take my baby. I found the estimate for the nursery. The new nursery that you were going to build. You were going to take my baby away." Alicia heard Victor and Eleanor talking about it and they said not to tell Alicia. "It's my baby. MINE!" So she killed Victor. She couldn't harm Eleanor. But if Eleanor was found guilty of killing Victor..... Eleanor tells Alicia, 'The estimate- They weren't going to build a nursery here." It was going to be a surprise. They weren't going to keep the baby. Paul looks aghast.
The rain has stopped. Barnaby and Winter wait for the boat to arrive. Alicia is taken by policemen to the boat. Danni tries to speak to Eleanor on her way out, but Eleanor turns away.
"Happy families," says Winter. "Which ironically is all Alicia Matheson wanted," says Barnaby.
Barnaby tells Eleanor he is very sorry about what happened to her husband. She tells him she is going to keep the baby. Something good to come out of all of this.
Barnaby comes home with the missing game piece given to him by Eleanor. Barnaby tells Sarah his anger wasn't about the missing piece. He has been offered a promotion. Where he will be behind a desk with a lot of paper and a rubber plant and he won't solve anything again. Sarah asks what he will tell them? He says he wasn't sure. But in the last couple of days, that moment when he solved the case.... Sarah tells him to let someone else have the rubber plant.
Sarah asks if he fancies a bit of a game and pours wine for them both. But before, she asks him to do something special, just for her ...to have a bath.
Cast[]
- Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby
- Nick Hendrix as DS Jamie Winter
- Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby
- Annette Badland as Fleur Perkins
- Stuart Milligan as Victor Karras
- Rachael Stirling as Eleanor Karras
- Paul Bazely as Paul Matheson
- Georgina Rich as Alicia Matheson
- Vanessa Emme as Danni Karras
- Ed White as Andrew Welles
- Caroline Quentin as Helen Welles
- Greg Lockett as Joshua Kilbride
- Aki Omoshaybi as Noah Adomakoh
- Adrian Edmondson as Hugo Welles
- Lee Byford as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Michelle Jeffers as Murder Mystery Party Guest (uncredited)
- Raju Ladwa as Murder Mystery Party Guest (uncredited)
- Vina Ladwa as Murder Mystery Party Guest (uncredited)
- Atul Sharma as Murder Mystery Party Guest (uncredited)
- Vinita Sharma as Murder Mystery Party Guest (uncredited)
- Chris Wilson as Police Officer (uncredited)
Galleries[]
Body Count[]
Poisoned with acetonitrile which he inhaled by vaping.
Struck on the head from behind, then stabbed in the right side of the neck with a game piece from Hounds and Jackals.
Supporting Cast[]
Episode Images[]
Arrests[]
- Alicia Matheson for the murder of Victor Karras and Hugo Welles
- Danni Karras- Mole. Made texts and calls to opposition business for money.
- Joshua Kilbride-Making purchases totalling £68,000 on Victor's business credit cards for himself.
Notes[]
The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes
- Stuart Milligan - Country Matters
Quotes[]
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Trivia[]
The Trials and Tribulations of Jamie Winter: Barnaby and Winter get trapped on the island when the chain ferry breaks away. They are loaned PJ's. Jamie's are humongous. Barnaby sees a light outside and sends Winter out to chase someone in his oversized PJ's with bare feet. Poor Winter- Never catches a break.