Death Valley episode 4 recap: John heads back to the stage... for murder!

Death Valley episode 4 sees Janie and John aiming to solve the murder of a theatre director during rehearsals for "Hamlet". Here's everything that happened in episode 4...

We're at the seaside and an actor is performing as Hamlet. It's a rehearsal and the director's assistant, Wendy (Car Share's Sian Gibson), is giving directions. Wendy says she can't hear him, and he stomps off stage to have a break. Hamlet actor Ben (Vahid Gold) says he doesn’t want to do fake Hamlet, it’s got to be real, like Marlon Brando or Danny Dyer! Wendy says she gets that, but they can't hear him. Ben says they should check it with the director, Menna. Wendy says they can't disturb her in her office, she deserves a rest. And then we see a body!

Baxter is at the scene and says strangulation looks like the cause of death. Evan says the victim was a retired headmistress, a property developer, and ran a theatre group.

Janie talks to Wendy and asks her if she knew that Menna recently changed her will. Wendy says she didn't know. Wendy, though, seems to have done pretty much everything else for Menna. Wendy says the show must go on, as the ticket sales money is going to charity.

Janie goes to see John. Janie says she thinks someone involved in the production is the killer. John notes that there was an urgent call out for an actor to play one of the key roles, Claudius. Why did Claudius leave? John thinks Leonard Price (William Thomas) is the actor who left the production, but why? Janie asks John why he quit acting, he says he felt it was the right time to retire.

Janie goes to talk to Leonard, who's a postman. He says he fell out with Menna over his dog, who bit her. She chucked them out of the group and reported the dog for being dangerous. He says he was surfing at the time of the murder.

Leonard said there were members of the theatre group who were unhappy about Menna’s holiday lets. She gazumped Ben and Rowena (Bethany Mary-James).

Janie goes to the rehearsals. Wendy says they've landed themselves a proper actor, and it turns out to be John! He's taken the part of Claudius. They argue over John's involvement.

Janie and John talk to Ben and Rowena, who is heavily pregnant. Rowena admits being furious that Menna gazumped them. Ben says Menna was his headmistress. Rowena says that Menna hadn't been herself recently and yelled at Wendy for not sending off some documents. Ben says Menna took advantage of Wendy.

John meets Greg, who says it's good to meet another pro and says he did a couple of episodes of Doctors last year. Wendy seems to be enjoying herself. John dodges rehearsing, does he have stage fright? Is that why he quit acting?

At the police station, Janie chats to her boss. She admits she hasn't got much.

Rhiannon is at the desk reporting a vehicle theft. Luckily, Evan steps in as things get tense.

At John's, Janie notices her mum's plates. Turns out she's been delivering meals to John. He pleads with Janie to make her stop, but she doesn’t think she can!

John thinks there's something in Menna’s properties being vandalised, and the fact that she asked the police to drop it. Janie wonders if Leonard, furious that Menna had his dog put down, strangled her with the dog lead. John thinks it’s strange that Rowena is in the group. He tells Janie he's thinking of quitting the group. Janie says he's just saying that because he’s scared he's lost it.

John arrives at rehearsals. Ben is still whispering. John is nervous, which Rowena spots, and she tries to reassure him.

Baxter tells Janie that Menna was strangled with a rope. Baxter says Menna was already dying from cancer and only had a few months left.

John has found his confidence on stage and has everyone enthralled. Ben leaves the stage to get some air. John goes to talk to him on the pier. John thinks Menna was Ben's mother, but Ben says she wasn't. She was, though, always there for him. Ben is upset and admits he was the one who vandalised Menna's houses. He says he was fuming over being gazumped. Menna called off the police because it was Ben.

Janie arrives at the theatre and tells John that Menna was dying. Janie says the solicitor says Menna had bought a cottage, which she was leaving to Rowena and Ben. And she was leaving everything else to Wendy. John says it's odd that Wendy neglected to wash the costumes.

Janie interviews Wendy at the police station and shows her a rope tie for one of the costumes, which was the murder weapon. It was found in Wendy's washing machine. Janie says Wendy has a clear motive because of the will. Wendy denies murder. When Janie says she was Wendy’s dogsbody, Wendy gets angry and starts ranting that it's not easy working with actors.

Rhiannon is at the station. Janie says she might still blame her for what happened with Sian, but she made her life hell once, and she can't do it again. She says she's no longer some 17-year-old girl who can be pushed around, and she's not hiding in her own town. Rhiannon, though, says she thought Janie was angry with her. Rhiannon says the way she treated Janie was awful, and she understands why Janie hates her. They emotionally agree to meet up soon for a drink!

Janie and John are in the car having fish and chips. John points out that as Wendy organised Menna's life, she'd have known about the hospital appointments and would know she wouldn't have to wait long to get her inheritance, so why would she kill her? Evan has been looking into Leonard's alibi, and it turns out the sea was flat that day and there was a sewage spillage, so he couldn’t have gone surfing.

Janie goes to Leonard's to ask him why he was lying. Turns out he was walking his dog, which he was trying to keep secret from Menna in case she forced him to get the dog put down.

Later, Janie is at John’s. He offers her a biscuit, and she takes one saying she just needs to loosen her belt. And this sparks a thought. She says she knows who did it!

Janie and John go to rehearsals. Janie asks pregnant Rowena if she's comfortable in her costume. John notes that she must be more comfortable now that she’s got rid of the tight belt she had. Janie says it’s not there, because it’s here as she holds aloft an evidence bag with the belt in it. Rowena denies murdering Menna. Janie says Menna had left the house to her and Ben. She wanted it to be the perfect family home for them because she felt guilty.

Ben is revealed as the killer

Janie says she's been digging into Ben's social care files. She discovered that he was taken into care after a concerned citizen raised the alarm. John continues that Menna, Ben's headteacher, was the concerned citizen. Menna hadn’t expected Ben to be taken away from his family, she felt guilty.

Janie says Menna told Ben the truth in her office. Ben had the belt from Rowena's costume. Menna wanted Ben's forgiveness. Ben says Menna shouldn't have stuck her nose in. Ben says he only strangled her for a few seconds, but then he came to his senses. However, she was already dead. He saw Wendy with her washing basket and quickly got rid of the rope in there. Another cast member turns up following Ben's confession and asks if they missed anything. Well, just Ben confessing to murder!

John and Janie walk past a poster for the play, which now says cancelled. Janie suggests John should bring back Caesar with perhaps Billie Piper, “lovely eyebrows”, playing a character like her. John reckons Rowena had worked out what Ben did after her belt went missing, but tried to ignore it. Janie offers to take John to the theatre to see "The Lion King"!