SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW was another of the episodes of the "Sgt. Cribb" series that Peter Lovesey and his wife wrote specifically for the show, and not originally as a novel about the Victorian sleuth and Constable Thackeray. It had a very effective conclusion - one of the best ones in the series.
Henry Russell (Arthur Hewlett) is a well-to-do elderly man who has met an extremely pretty young woman named Denise Winter (Alison Gennie) who has slowly worked her way into his heart. She has been assisted in this by her mother (Charlotte Mitchell) and her sister Daphne (Sally Osborne). Russell is now intoxicated by the young lady - or as intoxicated as a seventy year old man can be by a pretty 19 year old.
Naturally, the relationship, which seems headed for the alter, has not sat well with some people. The local Vicar (William Abney) is a trifle suspicious about how quickly the Winters made a fast campaign of Russell's affections. He takes the matter to Scotland Yard, and Cribb is put on the case.
Cribb finds that Russell will not hear anything against rushing into matrimony with Denise. So the Sergeant and Thackeray investigate the background of the mother and her two daughters. And sure enough a pattern emerges. Both the mother and the older daughter have been married to older men in recent years, who died soon afterward. But both men (being elderly) were expected to die soon, and both died of heart attacks.
SPOILER COMING UP.
Cribb finds the clue to unlocking this particular case in the horticultural interest of Mrs. Winter. He discovers among plants in her garden is foxglove. This particular plant is like arsenic, except that it's effects look like a heart attack. As the two previous poison victims were both cremated, there is little chance that anything can be examined for traces of foxglove. So the only chance is to catch the Winters red handed.
SECOND SPOILER.
Shortly after Henry marries Denise, Cribb (who has had the Winters under observation) finds that Mrs. Winter has been collecting some foxglove from the garden. He decides to act. He comes into the house without warning just as Henry is about to be served dinner, and notices the soup that was about to be served to him. Cribb wonders if the ladies would like to sample the soup. They back off that offer quickly. He arranges to have Thackeray take the soup to a nearby kitchen to be transferred to a small container for storage at Scotland Yard. He then informs Mrs. Winter and her daughters that if Henry should die suddenly of a heart attack, or of an accident, he will have the soup sample examined for foxglove. He suggests that they accept that Henry is not going to die soon - in fact, Henry comes from a long living family (his father died over 100) so that Denise better be prepared to expect to be a middle aged woman when she becomes a legal widow. This news does not sit very well with Denise, but there is nothing she or her mother and sister can do about it.
I apologize for giving away the conclusion (this one time). Normally I don't like to - but it was such a satisfactory one that I just felt like I had to tell it.
Henry Russell (Arthur Hewlett) is a well-to-do elderly man who has met an extremely pretty young woman named Denise Winter (Alison Gennie) who has slowly worked her way into his heart. She has been assisted in this by her mother (Charlotte Mitchell) and her sister Daphne (Sally Osborne). Russell is now intoxicated by the young lady - or as intoxicated as a seventy year old man can be by a pretty 19 year old.
Naturally, the relationship, which seems headed for the alter, has not sat well with some people. The local Vicar (William Abney) is a trifle suspicious about how quickly the Winters made a fast campaign of Russell's affections. He takes the matter to Scotland Yard, and Cribb is put on the case.
Cribb finds that Russell will not hear anything against rushing into matrimony with Denise. So the Sergeant and Thackeray investigate the background of the mother and her two daughters. And sure enough a pattern emerges. Both the mother and the older daughter have been married to older men in recent years, who died soon afterward. But both men (being elderly) were expected to die soon, and both died of heart attacks.
SPOILER COMING UP.
Cribb finds the clue to unlocking this particular case in the horticultural interest of Mrs. Winter. He discovers among plants in her garden is foxglove. This particular plant is like arsenic, except that it's effects look like a heart attack. As the two previous poison victims were both cremated, there is little chance that anything can be examined for traces of foxglove. So the only chance is to catch the Winters red handed.
SECOND SPOILER.
Shortly after Henry marries Denise, Cribb (who has had the Winters under observation) finds that Mrs. Winter has been collecting some foxglove from the garden. He decides to act. He comes into the house without warning just as Henry is about to be served dinner, and notices the soup that was about to be served to him. Cribb wonders if the ladies would like to sample the soup. They back off that offer quickly. He arranges to have Thackeray take the soup to a nearby kitchen to be transferred to a small container for storage at Scotland Yard. He then informs Mrs. Winter and her daughters that if Henry should die suddenly of a heart attack, or of an accident, he will have the soup sample examined for foxglove. He suggests that they accept that Henry is not going to die soon - in fact, Henry comes from a long living family (his father died over 100) so that Denise better be prepared to expect to be a middle aged woman when she becomes a legal widow. This news does not sit very well with Denise, but there is nothing she or her mother and sister can do about it.
I apologize for giving away the conclusion (this one time). Normally I don't like to - but it was such a satisfactory one that I just felt like I had to tell it.
