Synopsis

On the evening before Fenton-Magna’s village fete, Kitty and Geoff are preparing their garden. As helpers arrive for the plant stalls, expectations and tempers run high. Dora is in charge of the teas and has produced photographs of the village in the past to join a display in the church hall. Newcomer Tricia is upset by Marina who runs the local garden centre, and seeks comfort with Geoff. But why are Marina and Rector Tim at daggers drawn?

When rain threatens, plans have to be changed and the fete moved to the church, much to the disgust of the sexton, Eddie, who is under threat of the sack. Marina and Dora are in conflict when the tea urn breaks down. And Kitty tries to smooth things over. As the storm breaks they run for cover, the lights fail and a body is found in the tool shed.

In the second act, Dora is discovered with her head beaten in and Eddie has disappeared. The police are unable to turn out because of flash flooding and Geoff is left to take charge despite the escalating row between him and Kitty.

No one liked Dora, but who was threatened by her? In the last moments Geoff finds the lethal instrument, a brick used to hold the tool shed door open, which had been concealed in a tea towel to prevent traces of DNA, and Eddie produces Dora’s photographs of a young Kitty. She had killed Dora to prevent her showing the photograph and so revealing her as a cheat since her school days.

Characters