Fri, Dec 26, 1997
When the manager of the local building society and his wife are killed during an attempted kidnapping, Det. Superintendent Charles Wycliffe has to postpone a well-deserved holiday to Paris - much to the chagrin of his wife who decides to go without him. Since a shotgun was used in the killings, the police focus on licensed gun dealers, particularly Patrick Durno who has never had any convictions but is known to have had links to organized crime when he lived in London. When he's ordered to stop investigating Durno without an explanation, he disobeys and presses ahead jeopardizing a major investigation.
Sat, Jul 12, 1997
Seven jars of baby food from a local supermarket are poisoned by a blackmailer demanding 50,000 pounds, though the motive turns out to be for personal revenge, not opportunism, with a specific victim in mind. Meanwhile Kersey is investigated by Superintendent Le Page, following Sennam's death in custody. He is hostile but Wycliffe puts in a strong defence for him.
Sat, Jul 29, 1995
Agnes Currow scares off robbers trying to steal a skull from an archaeological dig on her land but the skeleton is under thirty years old, leading Wycliffe to the aristocratic Rawle family desperate to maintain their lineage in the face of a youthful indiscretion by child-like daughter Tilly.
Sat, Jul 26, 1997
Morna Petheric runs over and kills Dinah Curran, insisting that Dinah was a ghost come back to haunt her. The pathologist notes that Dinah bore stab wounds from years earlier and Morna believes she killed her when she was a little girl. Dinah was once married to Morna's uncle and her infidelity with Morna's father caused somebody, not necessarily Morna, to take drastic action, as Morna's mother is forced to confess. Superintendant Le Page returns. Her report fully exonerates Doug Kersey but criticizes D.C.C. Stevens for bad management.
Sat, Jul 4, 1998
Wycliffe is snapped with a tele-photo lens apparently giving money to Susan Brookes, who once helped him put her homicidal spouse away. He is accused of taking bribes when thirty thousand pounds is put into his account and he is suspended. Lucy, investigating the murder of two drug dealers, takes immediate maternity leave to help him and they discover that Selby, a notorious computer hacker and the ex-cell-mate of Susan's husband, is responsible. A showdown at Land's End also ties in with Lucy's investigation.
Sat, Aug 2, 1997
Hectoring land-owner Lionel Penmore is shot dead and the chief suspects are his tenants Kevin and Laura Kessell. Penmore has tried bribery and violence to evict the pair and their baby, Flo, from the house where Kevin was born, in order to pay off huge debts following the collapse of a business deal. Wycliffe unmasks the real murderer but Penmore's vengeful family exact their own revenge on the Kessells.
Sat, Jul 20, 1996
Psychiatrist Stanley Malvern's wife Dawn is murdered whilst he is out with his dog. He has no financial gain from the death and helps the police investigation as a profiler. Lucy is sure the killer is a woman and she is right. Disturbed neighbour Annabel Naylor fits the bill but Wycliffe believes someone else set her up with a motive.
Sat, Jul 6, 1996
Jamie Yelland is found dead, shot through the head on land owned by Dan Hobden, and his house is ransacked. Jamie had been a diver, obsessed with a sunken treasure ship, carrying silver coins, allegedly never found, and had had dealings with local historian Donald Treloar, similarly obsessed and murdered with the same weapon that killed Jamie. Wycliffe believes the treasure was found and that both men were killed by an interested third party.
Sat, Jul 19, 1997
Famous yachtswoman Paula Tresize goes missing after her boat 'Lone Voyager' is sabotaged and wrecked. A woman's body is found at china clay pits owned by the Davis brothers who were in a land feud with her but Paula's much younger husband Ben identifies it as Paula's doctor, Joanna, who was about to emigrate. Joanna has been shot with Paula's gun and had led her to believe she was mentally ill. Wycliffe, whilst propping up an embittered Kersey, still waiting on Le Page's findings, must establish why.
Sat, Jun 20, 1998
Policeman Alan Trier is murdered and the abrasive Deputy Chief Constable Roth orders Wycliffe to avoid any scandal which would attract outside criticism in his investigation, given that Trier's wife had been having an affair with another officer - making them the obvious suspects. However, nothing is ever obvious to Wycliffe. . .