‘The Chelsea Detective’ Finale Proffers “The Petrov Extension”
“Throwing people from bedroom windows is the modus operandi of certain elements of the former USSR. I am from Belarus. Ergo, I must be behind this.”
The final episode of The Chelsea Detective Season 4 takes us to the cutthroat worlds of academia and architecture, beginning with a ritzy award ceremony at the Royal Chelsea Hotel. The building’s renowned architect, Rowan Jameson (Philip Bretherton), is to be honored with a lifetime achievement award. His wife Venetia (Michelle Duncan) fusses over him while being treated to an explanation of Rowan’s genius in the hotel design before she’s called down to the front desk for a flower delivery.
Guests arrive for the awards ceremony, including Victor Budimir (Paul Bazely), Rowan’s colleague/rival, who will present the award. As Venetia boards the elevator to return to her room, she hears a woman scream outside, finds Victor on the floor with a bloody nose outside her room, and sees Rowan’s body on the ground outside, having fallen – or been pushed – from the balcony.
The police arrive, as do rubberneckers. DI Max Arnold demands all guests stay until questioned, as he learns the latest conflict between Rowan and Victor was the Petrov Extension, an ultra-modern addition to St. Cuthbert’s College, Cambridge, in honor of philanthropist and environmentalist Francis Petrov. Although Rowan opposed the extension, his position as Chair of the Planning Committee would end in December, so they were waiting him out. Discounting the idea of suicide, Max and Layla wonder if it might have taken more than one person to tip Rowan over the balcony as Victor is arrested. Venetia, we learn, is Rowan’s second marriage, and it’s clear his colleagues regard her as a trophy wife.
