Cover

A barn burns down on Maggie Jarman's land, and arson is suspected. That would be a small case in most weeks. Then the money starts moving, big money for a new building on the site, and Det. Sgt. Evans goes undercover to watch what is actually being planned. What he finds is the Thornleys and Johnny Drew, and whatever they are building, it is not a barn. But the police read the smoke and the money the same way the neighbours do: somebody wanted that barn gone. Barns burn for reasons, and the reasons are usually money.

Vivien Merchant plays Maggie Jarman, and her presence lifts the whole hour. Merchant was a stage actress of real standing, and she makes the loss of a barn feel like the loss of something bigger. William Marlowe's Roy Jarman, Mike Pratt's Johnny Drew, Frederick Arle's Coulton and Fred Bryant's Speed complete the circle, and George Ballantine's pub patron holds down the corner where some of it is discussed. Merchant's career was mostly on the stage, which is why seeing her here, in a police series, is a small event in itself.

Elwyn Jones and Arnold Yarrow wrote it, Kenneth Ives directed. Watt, Snow and Nesbitt work the edges while Evans does the dangerous part, the part where you stand in the middle of a conspiracy and hope nobody counts the faces twice. Terence Rigby's Snow and Grahame Mallard's Nesbitt are the watchers, and they are good at it. Evans undercover is a different Evans, looser and lighter, and Meredith makes the switch look easy.

The title says it all. Everyone in the episode is covering something, and the pleasure is in watching which cover comes off first. It is a solid, watchable hour, and Evans' undercover work is the best of it. The fire is quick; the case is not.