Herbert Wise	...	(Director)
	...	(Writer)
James Grout	...
John Thaw	...
Kevin Whately	...

Summary: This entry in the series is highly entertaining, in that the viewer is kept guessing about the perpetrators and the exact nature of their crimes until late in the episode. At the beginning, the viewer is exposed to a competition between two candidates for the position of college master. One of the candidates, a wealthy man who neglects his wife but displays a predilection for erotic art, is found dead on the family estate. However, the cause of death (suicide versus murder) does not become entirely clear until evidence emerges later in the mystery. Just to confuse the issue, at one point in the story we learn that the dead man was the subject of attempted blackmail and we are confronted with its relevance (or lack of same) to his death. Later, the blackmailer dies in a car wreck under very suspicious circumstances. The role of the neglected wife is exceptionally well acted. As played by Patricia Hodge, the wife presents a somewhat aristocratic demeanor, correctly polite to those of "inferior position" in life--- yet, a politeness which thinly veils a certain sense of disdain and underlying superciliousness.
The viewer is tantalized with details (the program of a Covent Garden opera, a train ticket, an apparent suicide note, and muddy boots) which ultimately prove to be crucial in identifying the guilty parties and determining the extent of their misdeeds. All things considered, this entry in the Morse series is excellent.