We were introduced to Madeline Cain in Moonflower Murders’ second episode and she went on to play a major part in the BBC drama’s intriguing story-within-a-story.
Following in the successful footsteps of Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders is the second BBC drama based on Anthony Horowitz’s Susan Ryeland book series. It once again contains two fascinating mysteries running side-by-side and plenty of characters to weave webs of intrigue around. One of these is Madeline Cain, played by the brilliant Pippa Bennett-Warner, who appeared from episode 2 of Moonflower Murders alongside private detective Atticus Pünd, played by returning star Tim McMullan. She had a vital part to play in Moonflower Murders, though exactly how vital wasn’t revealed until the final episode. Because of this, some fans might well have been left wondering exactly who she was and how she factored into the rest of the plot.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
Who was Madeline Cain in Moonflower Murders?
Madeline Cain was the assistant of private investigator Atticus Pünd and like her boss, she was a character in the fictional book, Atticus Pünd Takes The Case, written by the late Alan Conway - author of the entire Atticus Pünd Investigates series. This means she isn’t part of the main investigation carried out by Alan’s former Editor Susan Ryeland, but a character in a story that Susan is re-reading to help gain insight into what Alan might have realised about a crime committed eight years earlier.
Anyone who’s either read or watched the 2022 BBC adaptation of Magpie Murders would be forgiven for being a little confused at first when we were introduced to Madeline in episode 2 of Moonflower Murders.
She didn’t appear in Magpie Murders, which had James Fraser as Atticus Pünd’s assistant instead. This is because Atticus Pünd Takes The Case is Book 3 in the Atticus Pünd Investigates series, whilst Magpie Murders was Book 9 and Madeline was no longer his assistant by this point in the Pünd series’ chronology. Because within the context of the show she was an already established Atticus Pünd book character, Madeline didn’t get an introduction in episode 2 but merely went about her duties as normal.
She was first seen in Moonflower Murders working in Pünd’s office, handing him tea and then presenting him with the case that he investigates for the rest of the show - the murder of film star Melissa James.
In Madeline’s view, it’s a case that would be "very good" for Atticus’ profile. She later accompanied her boss to Devon to investigate and was present, taking thorough notes, at each of his meetings with the various suspects in Atticus Pünd Takes The Case.
What happened to Madeline Cain?
*Warning: Spoilers For the Moonflower Murders Ending Ahead*
Twelve minutes into episode 6 was the last we saw of Madeline Cain in Moonflower Murders as Atticus Pünd had come to realise that she was one of the killers in Atticus Pünd Takes The Case. Although she hadn’t killed Melissa James, the Moonflower Murders ending explained that Melissa had killed Melissa’s husband John Spencer. Madeline had believed that John had murdered Melissa and she had been determined that he would pay for this crime.
Initially, Atticus shocked everyone when he told Detective Superintendent Chubb that it was *him* who’d killed John Spencer. He then went on to say that he felt responsible for the crime because it was him who’d brought Madeline to Devon and said she had been the one to stab John.
She had done it when everyone else had been distracted by the "intruder" outside Melissa’s house, who actually turned out to be Melissa’s butler, Eric Chandler. Before Atticus and Chubb had come into the hall after hearing Madeline’s faked screams, the assistant had killed John with the prop dagger from one of Melissa’s films that was displayed on the stairs. Madeline Cain was a Melissa James super-fan and Atticus went through all of the clues that indicated her admiration for the actor.
His assistant knew so many tiny details about Melissa’s movies and had pretended to faint in the star’s bedroom when she, Chubb and Atticus had been in there so she could pick up and hide one of her passionate fan letters. Madeline had known immediately that Atticus would have recognised her handwriting. She’d also hired an actor to pretend to be Melissa’s American agent and hire Atticus to investigate the murder.
"You loved her. You loved her films. She was everything to you and you could not bear that the man who killed her was still alive when she was dead," Atticus said.
Madeline had responded that it was John Spencer’s fault as he’d said he’d killed Melissa (because at the time he believed he had) and she wasn’t to know he was innocent. She later said she was "sorry" to Atticus who asked her, "Sorry that you committed a terrible crime? Or that when you killed John Spencer you had chosen the wrong person?"
To this she replied simply, "Well, both really", before offering her resignation to the detective and being escorted out of Melissa's hotel in handcuffs by Chubb. With this, viewers had to bid farewell to Madeline Cain in Moonflower Murders and it was because of her arrest that she was replaced by James Fraser as the assistant from Books 4-9 in Alan Conway’s Atticus Pünd series.
In the Moonflower Murders book by Anthony Horowitz, Susan Ryeland reflects that Alan had already decided he wanted to introduce James, who was based on his partner, and so had written Madeline out as a result. In both the Moonflower Murders novel and show, Susan also uncovered that Alan had created the name Madeline Cain because it’s an anagram of the name of the real killer of a man called Frank Parris.
The setting and people there inspired Atticus Pünd Takes The Case and alongside plenty of other clues in the text, Alan included this detail to hint at the real killer’s identity. In the Moonflower Murders novel this is even more significant because Melissa’s husband is called Francis Pendleton not John Spencer and is based on Frank Parris - therefore Madeline Cain killed Francis and her anagram counterpart killed Frank.
Moonflower Murders is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, with episodes also airing weekly on Saturdays on BBC One.
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