Scarecrows Walk Among Us as 'Sister Boniface' Tackles "A Murder of Crows"

Sister Boniface Mysteries Season 4's second episode chronicles Great Slaughter’s absurd and sinister Scarecrow Festival. Relative newcomer Felix Livingstone finds the equally beloved and reviled Festival one of the Great Slaughter traditions that is absolutely bewildering. Alan Yarrow (Ben Rufus Green), ostensibly in charge, clutches a clipboard, but defers to Chief Constable Hector Lowsley (Robert Daws), who “volunteers” both Felix and Constable Peggy Button to work on decorations and crowd control. Reporter Norman Whalley finds the scarecrows horrific, particularly when one appears to come to life, but it’s only scruffy, straw-strewn villager Tom Thomas (David Sterne).

DS Felix Livingstone: “People keep telling me this festival is meant to be bringing you all together, but it seems to be doing the opposite.” 

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), there’s a possibility that this year’s Festival may be its last, despite its fundraising potential. The participants are warned that any form of violence, including scarecrow sabotage, fighting, kicking, punching, or biting, will not be tolerated. Last year’s Festival, it appears, was particularly violent.

Cake briefly unites Festival detractors and supporters, with Sister Boniface and Sister Reginald (Virginia Fiol) joining Mrs. Clam and DI Sam Gillespie in the refreshment tent. The Festival is a competitive event, with several categories and a grand prize of £7 cash. (Sister Reginald is miffed; last year it was £10.) Scarecrows are on display all over the town, and there’s a lot of sneezing since the effigies, mostly horrendous, are constructed from straw and sacking.

St. Vincent’s has an entry, a scarecrow of Moses Parting the Red Sea, of which the two Sisters are inordinately proud. (How could anyone possibly tell?) They generously give contestant Charlie Sanderson (Tommy Belshaw) some spare straw to keep his scarecrow’s head secure (a loving depiction of famous footballer Bobby Charlton). They also notice Charlie seems to be injured, but he reassures them that it was an accident at the shop. Charlie is the godson and downtrodden employee of shop owner Martin Hubbard (Tony Gardener), a habitual winner at the Festival and a stickler for contestants keeping to the rules. 

He accuses his sister, Sandra (Anna Crilly), of collusion as she helps dispirited contestant Clementine Bell (Kate Kordell) with her entry, supposedly Rapunzel. (If you say so...) This year, for the first time, Sandra has entered the competition (A Tribute to Breakfast at Tiffany’s), which spectators, including Felix, praise. Martin is furious that his sister has encroached on his territory – this is his moment of glory! (He also hasn’t paid his entry fee and frightens Alan away when he tries to collect.)

To their delight, the Sisters of St. Vincent win their class, and Sister Reginald and Miss Thimble go to check out the other entries, only to discover Martin, strangled, his body next to his Churchill scarecrow. (Identifiable by its cigar). A crumpled sketch of the scarecrow has been discarded nearby. Is it the murderer’s work? Understandably, both Sandra and Clementine are upset, and Sandra is now considering dropping out of the contest. CC Lowsley makes the decision to carry on with the Festival, although he cancels the morris dancing as a gesture of respect. Miss Thimble claims a scarecrow is the murderer – she’s just seen one come alive.

Back in her laboratory, Sister Boniface dwells lovingly on the possibility of herself as Frankenstein bringing a straw effigy back to life before snapping back into the present. She and Sam visit Martin’s cottage, where suspicious items include traces of petroleum jelly on the straw found stuffed into his mouth, some burned fragments of paper on the hearth, and a damaged shirt. His bruised knuckles suggest he’d been in a fight.

When Sam and Jerry talk to Charlie, he tells them of this godfather’s cruelty and contempt, and his refusal to let Charlie take a greater role in running the shop. His mother started the business, but Martin was contemptuous of her illiteracy, which he defined as a form of stupidity. Charlie’s only 18; he won’t inherit until he’s 21, and he’s too demoralized to believe he could ever manage the shop. He’s hardly aware of how much Martin abused him.

As CC Lowsley announces that Alan has won the Celebrity class with his rendition of Queen Elizabeth II (identifiable via her crown), Alan comes rushing in. His entry has been sabotaged – someone took the two corgis! It’s high treason, and, he suggests, if Miss Thimble is correct, a supernatural element may be to blame. Norman gets very distressed, so Felix escorts him away. But poor Norman is not having a very good day so far, and winds up frightened out of his wits when a scarecrow in a particularly grotesque grouping turns and gestures at him. 

Sister Boniface returns to announce there was a handwriting match for the sketch of Martin’s scarecrow: Sandra’s. Peggy is shocked. She and Sandra were very close, and it was Sandra who encouraged her to join the police. Peggy, Sandra, Sam, and Felix sit outside the pub and discuss the case so far. Sandra admits she was Martin’s designer, but he wouldn’t allow her to take credit for his many winning scarecrows or for her design work for the shop. Now she can’t bear the thought of staying in the competition, although Peggy encourages her to continue.

Sister Boniface is trying to find the origins of metallic fragments on Martin’s shirt, and takes samples from the three scarecrows with golden accessories: Queen Elizabeth, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Bobby Charlton. Charlie is thrilled to win the Sports Legend category after receiving so much negativity from Martin. Sandra was excited to hear of Charlie’s ideas for the shop, which included home delivery and a loyalty program. It gives her the confidence to tackle CC Lowsley and Alan, as she wants to re-enter the competition. The Best Celebrity category has already been judged, so she decides on Local Heroes. 

When Alan objects, CC Lowsley reminds him he’s a judge and a competitor, and Sandra has every right to make another entry. A heated discussion begins until Norman puts everyone into a panic by running up screaming, "They Walk Among Us," (etc) until Sister Reginald brings the full force of the Church to restore order. Question by Felxi and Sam, Clementine reveals that she and Martin were having an affair, and she visited his cottage to let him know how angry she was with his bullying. Someone else was with him upstairs, and their conversation seemed to suggest that Martin was cashing checks that weren’t his. She left in a panic, undetected, but expressed her anger by slashing his shirt.

The next day, a story about live scarecrows hits the local paper. Significantly, Sister Boniface has found fragments of burned financial documents in the grate at Martin’s home. Although it’s the weekend, Sam visits a (female) contact at the bank, and returns with disordered clothing, a stupid grin, and a story of embezzlement and blackmail. Martin was the embezzler, Alan the nervous blackmailer, and the money belonged to the shop. However, Sam and Felix are distracted as they spot a living scarecrow and set off in pursuit. The scarecrow narrowly misses Sister Boniface before disappearing, leaving behind a dropped glove, which Sister Boniface matches to the fibers found on Martin’s clothing. 

Back at the festival, Sandra has unveiled her new creation. When Peggy sees it, she is overcome (in a good way) by the unflattering depiction of herself as a scarecrow. As the first woman PC in the county, she is a local hero!

Felix enters Sister Boniface’s laboratory bearing HM Queen Elizabeth II (in scarecrow form) and dumps her in the sink when he’s told to fetch Sam. In the festival tent, CC Lowsley announces that Sandra is the overall winner of this year’s festival. He’s about to announce the grand prize winner when Sister Boniface, Sam, and Felix arrive at the tent. When he sees them, Charlie runs away. They catch up with him at the barn with the scarecrows outside, which he’s threatening with a cigarette lighter. 

Before he can destroy the evidence, he explains what he did and why. Martin wouldn’t discuss shop business with him, but Charlie discovered the truth about the financial mismanagement. Martin was stealing from the Festival as well as the shop, and let Charlie’s mother think the failure of the shop was all her fault. The petroleum jelly Charlie used on his nostrils to prevent hay fragments from getting into his sinuses transferred to Martin. Charlie is arrested, very gently and politely.

Back in the tent, CC Lowsley gracefully ends the Festival by awarding the Grand Prize, a silver cup, to Sandra. Sandra invites Clementine to work with her in her brother’s shop, where they can both exercise their artistic skills.

Votes trickle into the ballot box to continue the Festival (or not), and beer is served in the Refreshment Tent. Felix casts the winning vote and is appointed the official liaison for next year (presumably unpaid again). Norman, a former enthusiastic believer in scarecrows that come to life, strolls up to the others and announces how glad he is to return to real journalism. But he loses his cool when Mrs. Clam, sporting a scarecrow head, chases him as he squeals in terror.

Sister Bonita and Sister Reginald, disappointed that they didn’t win, discuss next year’s entry. The Last Supper, maybe? Think big!

Sister Boniface Mysteries Season 4 continues with new episodes every week on Tuesdays on BritBox through the end of September. Seasons 1 through 3 are currently streaming on BritBox. Seasons 1 and 2 are also available on select PBS Passports for members to stream; check your local service.