'Grantchester' Recap: Season 9 Episode 4

Grantchester airs Sundays at 8:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous and following episodes and other seasons. 
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Grantchester’s church is in need of repairs – some two thousand pounds’ worth. Fortunately, Alphy has been invited to dinner at the estate of the wealthy Marwoods, whom he is planning to ask for a donation. Mrs. C, who has reinstated herself as housekeeper at the vicarage without asking Alphy, fears that he won’t be successful. The Marwoods are snooty and haven’t often donated, and also have a kooky sister who lives there.

Alphy finds that only one Marwood is snooty: the Lord is icy and a bit racist towards him. Alphy offends him when he brings up a donation. But Lady Marwood assures Alphy that she’s the one who controls the money: her family has the wealth, while his has the title. And she is welcoming, even flirtatious, towards Alphy.

She’s disappointed when her sister Beatrice, a dress designer, plops herself into a seat next to Alphy at dinner. Lord Marwood displays casual disdain to both Beatrice and Alphy, but the vicar manages to charm the rest of the table. After dinner, Lady Marwood tells Alphy that she will fund the church, but they can work out the details later – for now, there are games to played!

Everyone scatters for hide-and-seek. Alphy startles Lord Marwood near the servants’ quarters while looking for a spot, and eventually ducks into the basement. There, in a pantry, he finds a young man’s body.

Dennis Lacey was a gardener for the estate. He has been stabbed multiple times with something that left a distinctive wound. A crumpled note in his pocket demands one thousand pounds to keep a dark secret.

Geordie and Alphy question the Marwoods. (Geordie is amused at Alphy’s continual insertion of himself into the investigation despite his previous reluctance.) Lord Marwood answers questions directed at his wife or sister-in-law or overrides them when they speak. But it emerges that Dennis either left or was fired after only three weeks because he wanted more money. Lord Marwood answers a question for Leah, the house’s maid, and Geordie and Alphy resolve to speak to her alone later.

But first Alphy tells Geordie that Lady Marwood is going to give the church money. Geordie warns Alphy, telling him that it would be dirty money that came with expectations.

Leah has known Lady Marwood since they were girls, because her mother worked for the Lady’s mother. She herself has worked for them since she was 16. She says that Lord Marwood screamed at Dennis the day he was due to leave the estate.

When Alphy and Geordie return to the Lord to ask him about this, he tells them that Dennis had become overly friendly and touchy with his wife, so he yelled at and dismissed him. Lady Marwood confirms this, and says her husband is a brute – but he couldn’t murder someone, because he’s weak. Their marriage is one of appearances and circumstances.

She promises to get Alphy his money once this whole business has blown over.

Geordie is hoping that the tension between Cathy and Esme will blow over soon. They’re constantly fighting as Esme asserts her independence and youth and Cathy tries to protect her. Geordie heads to the vicarage to avoid the yelling. While he’s there, Mrs. C cuts flowers for a vase and Alphy has a revelation: Dennis’ stab wounds are from scissors.

Geordie and Alphy head to the Marwood estate and look at Beatrice’s dressmaking tools – and find blood on one of her pairs of scissors. Beatrice cluelessly denies any involvement in the murder and explains that she and Lord Marwood were having an affair. She even has embarrassing photos of them together to prove it – although Dennis stole one.

Lord Marwood denies the affair until he is shown the photos. He says it’s blameless because his wife is not interested in him in that way. Dennis wrote him the note demanding one thousand pounds, and the Lord scrounged up the money even though his wife controls most of their wealth. When Alphy startled the Lord near the servants’ quarters, he was checking to see that Dennis had actually left and was surprised to find the money still there, so he took it back.

But Lord Marwood didn’t kill Dennis – he couldn’t even if he wanted to. Even during the war, he was never able to kill a man. That must make him a coward, he says.

Daniel is praised as courageous by Sam, the street preacher whom Leonard has taken in at his halfway house. Sam encourages Daniel to open up, and Daniel talks about not being able to be with his family anymore because of his homosexuality. Daniel later asks Leonard if talking to Sam might be beneficial for him, even though he never knew before that he might need some help. Leonard heartily endorses the idea, but privately begins to feel sad that Daniel hasn’t come to him and jealous of Sam.

That feeling is worsened when Daniel tells Leonard he wants to talk to Sam alone. He shows Sam a photo of his mother and father – something he hasn’t shown anyone else – and says he hurt them, but still loves them. Leonard sees the two men laughing together from another room.

Alphy is wakened in the middle of the night by Dickens’ barking. He goes downstairs and sees the front doorknob rattling, but when he shouts and opens the door no one is there. He has also been receiving pages ripped from a Bible with odd passages circled.

Mrs. C is a less frightening but still unwelcome intruder. Alphy kindly tells her that he doesn’t need a housekeeper, and she responds that she was more than that for his predecessors – she was a friend, too, motivated by mutual love.

Her invocation of a locket given her by Sidney makes Alphy think of the fine gold bracelet Leah wears. Leah couldn’t afford it, so it must be a gift from someone she loves. Alphy suspects it’s from Lady Marwood, and that the pair are – or were – lovers.

He and Geordie go speak to Leah and she admits that she has loved Lady Marwood since they were children and that the bracelet is from her. But then Leah noticed that the Lady enjoyed Dennis’ advances – even though he didn’t love her like Leah did. So she killed him.

Case solved, Lady Marwood gives Alphy a check for a thousand more pounds than he expected, flirtatiously telling him more money could come the church’s way if he continues to attend dinners and events at her estate. Alphy returns the check and tells her no.

Geordie’s proud of him – and gives him a how-to book on repairs as compensation.

The detective is less happy with his wife and daughter. Esme tells her parents that she’s moving out; she has been offered a place to live with a friend. Cathy refuses to let her but as the argument escalates she yells, “I hate you,” and tells her to go. When Esme packs her bags and is ready to leave, Cathy refuses to say goodbye. Esme asks Geordie if Cathy really meant it. He assures her no.