S4·E2 Destroying Angel

Episode recap

Barnaby travels to the Easterly Grange Hotel for the funeral of its owner, where he learns that the hotel’s manager has disappeared. The reading of the owner’s will reveals that the property is to be divided among several parties: the missing manager, the manager’s attractive wife, the hotel’s chef and its accountant. Shortly after the funeral, a dog uncovers the manager’s severed hand on the hotel grounds, confirming that the missing man has met a violent end. The remaining beneficiaries each receive anonymous threatening notes, heightening the sense of danger surrounding the inheritance.

In the days that follow a series of seemingly accidental mishaps befall the heirs. One of them suffers mushroom poisoning after a meal, another appears to be the victim of an accidental shooting, a drinks cabinet crashes down in a dining area, and a vehicle used by one of the parties is deliberately sabotaged. Each incident raises the suspicion that the threats are being acted upon rather than idle intimidation.

Barnaby’s investigation uncovers that the missing manager possessed a more recent will, which would have altered the distribution of the hotel’s assets. That later will is also missing, suggesting that the perpetrator may be attempting to control the estate by eliminating both the original and the updated testament. As the pattern of violence escalates, Barnaby pieces together the connections between the threatening notes, the accidents and the concealed documents, working to identify the individual who is orchestrating the murders and attempting to claim the hotel for themselves. The episode concludes with Barnaby confronting the killer, revealing the motive rooted in the contested inheritance, and bringing the series of deaths to a resolution.