Neil’s illness seems to have had less to do with impending doom than with the 39-character limit (or whatever it is) imposed by the budget, especially for the parish council meeting on January 31. Neil should have been there, but with seven characters already appearing, someone had to go, and this time of year a cold is always a convenient device to explain someone’s absence (by this rule Kathy must have had tuberculosis for the last couple of years).
Death is coming to Ambridge, but I predict it’s coming for Joe. He’s been given a return to Grange Farm, a nice Christmas, and a very nice Valentine’s Day. I was expecting Bartleby to die first and Joe within a day or two, but it looks like he’s getting a sweetness-and-light sendoff, so it’ll be Joe and then Bartleby instead.