When DCI Barnaby and DS Winter discover a dead body covered in live rabbits it reveals a sinister side to the local pet show. Is this a rivalry taken too far or is the killer driven by something darker? Under cover of darkness, local Estate Agent Seb Huntington releases animals from their cages at the Belville Small Pet Show. Someone confronts Seb and the following morning Ailsa Benson arrives to set up her pet food stall to find Seb dead, surrounded by escaped bunnies... At the crime scene Barnaby and Winter meet Locum Pathologist Dr Oliver Marcet. While Winter hides his disappointment that Kam is on a course, Barnaby learns the victim died from a stab wound to the neck. Hearing Ailsa Benson’s alibi, Barnaby and Winter next interview Seb’s distraught girlfriend Tegan Langton and her boss, Hall owner and Pet Show patron the stately Delphi Hartley. Finding no reason anyone would want to harm Seb or sabotage the show, they leave Tegan to be comforted by best friend Shray Varma - watched from afar by the mysterious Errol Judd. Barnaby and Winter go to see Cleo Langton, Tegan’s mum and Seb’s boss at the Estate Agents, and discover Seb was trying to get Delphi to sell the hall, but Delphi wasn’t interested. Theorising the murderer might be a competitor sabotaging the show, Barnaby and Winter next visit Best In Show defending champion Timothy Benson, whose alibi unwittingly throws suspicion back onto his estranged wife Ailsa. Timothy is distraught to discover Hercules has been kidnapped. Meanwhile in a secret room an unknown figure strokes the sleeve of a luxury fur coat. When Winter gleans from Seb’s computer that he was sabotaging the show, Barnaby posits that someone murdered Seb to stop him. Winter reveals that local hotelier Perry Tressel has form for animal rights campaigning and fits the bill. Winter follows up on Ailsa’s dodgy alibi at the pet shop, learning of her affair with charming builder Jayesh Varma and sensing Ailsa is hiding something. At the pet friendly hotel he runs with wife Belinda, Perry dismisses his activism as ancient history. Upset at having uncovered wife Ailsa’s affair with charming builder Jayesh Varma, Barnaby witnesses Timothy accuse fellow competitor Cleo of stealing Hercules so she will win Best In Show. Cleo drives off, passing Errol Judd. She immediately turns round and attempts to run him over. Back at the show Barnaby witnesses workmen taking the sponsorship boards down and tasks Winter to looking into Delphi’s finances, finding she’s broke. Confronting her, Barnaby discovers Seb sabotaged the show to try to force Delphi to sell the hall earning him a big commission. When Errol reveals to Tegan he is her long lost father, Tegan reacts angrily towards Cleo – she lied saying he was dead. However, driving home it is Cleo who struggles for breath and ends up dead... When Oliver reveals Cleo died from respiratory distress, Barnaby cleverly identifies it was murder. Digging into ex-husband Errol, Winter uncovers a colourful past that puts him in the frame – along with the angry Tegan, vengeful Timothy and the Varma’s, who Barnaby discovers were suing Cleo for negligence. Facing financial ruin, Delphi reveals to Tegan she owns the luxury fur coats and plans to sell them to save the Hall and show – but they’ve been stolen. Tracing Cleo’s movements helps Winter to find the scissors used to kill Seb. Discovering they belong to Timothy Benson leads Timothy to confess - not to killing Seb or Cleo, but to the fact the real Hercules had died and he’d replaced him with a look-a-like. Fearing he’d be caught led to the kidnapping. When Winter catches Ailsa and Jayesh with Delphi’s missing fur coats, their revenge plot is foiled. Back at the show, Errol is knocked unconscious by an unknown assailant. Learning Errol plans to take Tegan away with him, Barnaby deduces the murders are all linked to Tegan, and Errol is in mortal danger. Racing back to the show, Barnaby & Winter arrive just in time to catch the killer...
Elenco: John Nettles , Jane Wymark , Barry Jackson , Laura Howard , Neil Dudgeon , Jason Hughes , Fiona Dolman , Tamzin Malleson , Kirsty Dillon , Daniel Casey , John Hopkins , Nick Hendrix , Gwilym Lee .