HEARD OVER THE HEDGE AT MIDSOMER NEWTON

As many of you may know I am accustomed to take a walk into the village most mornings, to pick up my newspaper. At my age you do need a little exercise to keep the mind sharp - and even then, it may not be quite what it once was. Anyway, as I was turning the corner into Montleberry Lane I heard raised voices coming from quite nearby - in fact, it sounded like it was coming from the late Colonel Don's vegetable patch.

"How very intriguing," I thought to myself, because of course, only recently there was that terrible hoo-ha in Midsomer Berryfield over the inheritance of Colonel Don's estate. In fact, the whole episode reminded me rather of when the housemaid at dear Mrs Codrington's disappeared with the silver cream jug. But of course, she hadn't taken it all! Anyway, where was I?

Ah yes, the vegetable patch. As I drew closer, I began to be able to pick out what the two voices were saying.

'It's just not on!" shouted one voice, a man's. Something in his voice reminded me a little of Eric Danby. Of course, he always liked to tell everybody he'd worked his way up from nothing. But it wasn't true - his mother was the daughter of an Earl.There are so many secrets, you see, in a village. Anyway, the first reminded me a little of Eric.

The second voice immediately replied, quite haughtily: "I'll do what I like! I'm in charge now -and there's nothing you can do about it!" I then heard that speaker stalking off.

Well, the conversation did seem to have turned nasty, but I felt it was really my duty to the peaceful life of the village to keep still for the moment, in case anything else ensued. Sure enough, I heard the first man say one more thing.

"We'll see about that," he snarled.

I do hope that something nasty isn't about to happen in Midsomer Berryfield.