Lynn Spearman is a character appearing in the episode Bad Tidings of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders.
History[]
Lynn was previously a childhood bully of Cully, because she'd always been insecure when Cully told on her. As their school years went they, they reconciled and formed a group of friends, which included the two of them, Rachel Rose, and Cassie Woods. Lynn eventually grew to achieve her ambitions of marrying rich, specifically a man named Mathew Spearman, despite their noticeable age difference.
Lynn was a bored egotist and her marriage was loveless, so she decided to start an affair with Noel Woods, Cassie's brother who was remembered as a harmless prankster back in school years. She rejected him after a while, but she found out she got pregnant and wanted to keep her baby. As Lynn and the rest of her friends, aside from Cully, kept in touch into their adulthood in Midsomer Mallow, they agreed to arrange for hiding Lynn's child, a daughter she gave birth to named Lily, ensuring the gossip wouldn't spread and Lynn wouldn't lose her status. Lynn went to New Zealand, where she had relatives, and she gave birth to Lily there. Rachel, in the meantime, as sent off to London for the same time, to make it look like she was the mother. When they both came back, Lynn gave Lily to Rachel to care for her. As they didn't look alike, they couldn't be seen together out in public, so Rachel would wheel Lily in a stroller through the night. They'd otherwise keep inside their old house, and none of the small group ever said a word, so the village never found out.
However, the former receptionist at Lily's doctor's office, Fiona Thompson, was skint on funds for her expenditure and tried to blackmail Lynn with extortion using the knowledge of her child. So when Fiona stormed out of a public event arranged by the village committee, Lynn followed her through the night while she was walking home in her costume. Cornering Fiona at a turn behind her home, while Lynn was wearing a large hooded windbreaker, Lynn pulled out a long, thin, curved kitchen knife, used for filleting or cake cutting, and stabbed Fiona to death at the scene. Because she longed for a humorous, jovial moment to remind her of her school days, which Mathew found too "childish" of her, she decided to stage Fiona accordingly. Lynn dragged her out to Cheney's Field, which Fiona hated, leaving her lips holding a rose.
She feigned surprise when she told Mathew about the murder, and she and Mathew were later questioned in their home. They spoke about how they didn't partake in the committee's activities for long, also pointing to Jacob Stokes, an odd job man, as a suspect, as he would get drunk and harass the residents of the village if he didn't sleep in his cart. She was officially introduced as one of Cully's old friends she staged a reunion with, hating having to step around poo on Cassie's farm but delighted to embrace Cully and share about her marrying into riches, with her finest day dress to match. They met at a table outside for drinks, and Cully discussed a high-end dinner to celebrate their reunion, which Lynn was game for because it's of her taste. She also took a liking to DS Dan Scott from his ruggedly handsome looks.
She sped ahead of DCI Tom Barnaby and his wife Joyce Barnaby on the way to the Midsomer Mallow garden festival. She was seen at Rachel's house, but she din't go inside, instead getting back into her car, donning her windbreaker, and driving to the festival. Charles Rust, the head of the committee and Lily's former doctor Fiona clerked for, was her next target. She crept into the house and stabbed Charles at his desk while covering his mouth to smother his screams. She decided to poke fun at him, by placing one of his apples in his mouth, leaving his blood-soaked papers on the floor, and ringing his bell so attention would be drawn to get him discovered dead, with "AWARDS DAY" written on his chalkboard. The bell was to be if he won the garden contest, but Lynn rang it for the first time in years before the results came in.
She later brought Rachel out to the lake the group went to when they were kids. The five of them met and had drinks and a picnic. Rachel wasn't aloud to speak about Lynn's daughter, as Cassie and Lynn did so for her, but Rachel did sneer Lynn should move north because she just married for itself. When Rachel wanted everyone to go swim in the lake with her, Lynn refused from it being too "filthy" or her. However, Rachel dragged her in with the rest of the group, and Lynn fell in, which Lynn smacked Rachel right upside over, leading to them getting into a slap fight. Cully was disturbed and ran in to break them up, which Rachel responded with dunking Cully under the water for fun. Lynn had gotten acclimated to the antics and was delighted to finally engage in letting loose, splashing water between her and Rachel, while Scott walked Cully out of the water for fresh air. Cully was quite sullen when she got home about how they changed and she felt like their connections weren't the same.
Lynn, up to that point, knew the village folks heard squeaking wheels at night, which Lynn assumed was from Stokes' cart. Fearing he was a witness, and needing a patsy, she tracked him to his card in the woods while he was out cold drunk. Lynn stabbed Stokes to death and set him ablaze in his cart. Lynn had a doll she was given by Noel that Cully wanted to be passed on to Lily. Lynn instead decided to leave it in Stokes' cart while he was burning, as part of her games in the murders. Lynn was finally identified when Noel gave up that he gave Lynn the doll, then he and Cassie admitted the truth about Lynn's child, who Barnaby met with Rachel and saw no resemblance between the two.
Lynn stalked Cully over to Rachel's and Lily's home, where Cully found out the truth from Rachel and Rachel kicked her out of the house. Lily appeared in her windbreaker and reminded Cully she hated when Cully told on her, then pulled out her knife and tried to kill Cully while bitterly snarling her resentment over the reunion through gritted teeth. Rachel appeared from behind Lynn and cracked a champagne bottle over her head to knock her to the ground, bitterly resenting how Lynn didn't care about all her efforts to care for Lily. Lynn gave a full confession in interrogation and solemnly lamented she hated when people told gossip of her and that she didn't have more fun in her life.
Victims[]
- Fiona Thompson - Stabbed at least twice with a long kitchen knife, then taken to Chaney's Field and had a rose put in her mouth.
- Charles Rust - Stabbed several times with a long kitchen knife from behind while sitting at his desk and had an apple put in his mouth. Then had his blackboard cleaned, on it written "AWARDS DAY" and the bell from his house rung to draw attention.
- Rachel Rose - Hit over her head and fought with slaps after she was pulled into the lake.
- Jacob Stokes - Stabbed with a long kitchen knife while sleeping it off in his cart from being drunk, had a doll put next to him and then burned.
- Cully Barnaby - Nearly stabbed with a long kitchen knife in a struggle; she was saved when Rachel Rose conked her head with a champagne bottle and knocked her unconscious, before Lynn was arrested.