The Debt of Lies is the second episode of the twenty-second series of Midsomer Murders and first aired December 19,2022.
Gated estate Challis Court is a tight-knit community for retired police officers. Barnaby and Sarah attend the retirement party of one member but the next day she is found dead with her brake-line cut. The other residents regard the murder as an affront; Barnaby thinks the death has to do with a daring robbery several decades before.
Tropes:
- Acquitted Too Late: After years of rumors of corruption and stealing part of the money from the Goldman-Forbes heist, Damian Bennet is finally cleared after the real thief confesses. Unfortunately, Bennet has already been murdered by that point.
- Bludgeoned to Death: The second murder happens when Damian is bludgeoned with a hammer.
- Chekhov's Gun: The toy cars that Charlie Cabot obsesses over. They're how the thief has been cleaning the money from the heist, buying valuable collectors cars with the stolen money and then selling them off when he needed clean money.
- Death by Falling Over: The first death was a result of this when she is pushed over and hits her head on a table.
- Dirty Cop: The thief who stole part of the money from the Goldman-Forbes heist is suspected to be Damian Bennet, the patrolman who helped discover where the original gang was hiding the money. He's innocent, however, but the real thief is DCI Sebastian Cabot, Barnaby's old mentor, who stole the money to help pay for care for his autistic son.
- Hollywood Autism: Charlie Cabot fits many tropes for this; He is a manchild, he is Literal-Minded and is obsessed with toy cars and cars in general.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The killer stages a car crash, hoping that the Victim of the Week's fatal head wound will be missed among the other injuries sustained in the crash.
- String Theory: Damian, the husband of the first victim has a whole room and house of string looking at the past crime. It is also how partly where he is found dead, wrapped in the string.
- Vehicular Sabotage: The first victim was killed with cut brake lines. Fleur notes that while foxes could have nibbled the lines after the crash, the brakes are too obviously cleanly cut.
