MURDER, SHE WROTE: THE DAYS DWINDLE DOWN (TV)
Summary
One in this murder mystery series about an unassuming Maine mystery writer turned sleuth named Jessica B. Fletcher, who uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases. In this episode, Jessica meets with her publisher, Peabody, and he describes his grand plans to promote her books on talk shows. Later, a Mrs. Georgia Wilson comes to her hotel room and shyly asks for her help, explaining that her husband Sam just finished a 30-year prison sentence for a murder he did not commit and returned home "broken." Jessica goes to the Wilson home and learns the story: three decades ago, Sam's boss, Mr. Jarvis, offered him $10,000 to help him collect on his life insurance by making his suicide look like a murder. Sam initially refused, but when he found that Jarvis had shot himself anyway, Sam took the money and fired the gun into the house from outside, throwing the gun into the sea and burning Jarvis' note of explanation, meaning that he could not prove himself innocent to the police. Jessica meets Rod, Sam's son, and he tells her that his father's file is mysteriously missing and shows her his own research. Jessica suggests that a third party could have killed Jarvis, musing that the facts do not add up. They journey to the Jarvis home and meet Sydney Jr., Jarvis' son, who seems uncomfortable with Sam's presence but allows them to "snoop around" for evidence, also stating that his mother is dead. Jessica then meets with Dorothy Davis, granddaughter of Herne, Jarvis' former business partner, and she quickly grows upset when Jessica suggests that Herne was a suspect in the man's death, telling her that Herne had planned to take over the entire business before Jarvis' death, not only after.
Next, Jessica questions Thelma Vantay, Jarvis' personal secretary, who is excited to meet the famous writer but says that she received nothing of the insurance settlement, adding that Mrs. Jarvis did not have the "guts" to murder her husband. When Jessica leaves, Vantay calls someone and mentions "our problem." Jessica wonders which party is lying about the business takeover, and then learns that Mrs. Jarvis is in fact still alive. That night, someone fires a gun into Jessica's hotel room, but misses her, and the evidence suggests that it is the same kind of gun that killed Mr. Jarvis thirty years ago. Jessica and the others visit the senile Mrs. Jarvis in a nursing home, and Sydney is annoyed to find them there, reiterating that Herne planned to take over the business only after Jarvis' death. Jessica returns to Davis, who says that Jarvis was a "failure" and often argued with Herne over business, and Jessica notes from her angry reaction that she too suspects her grandfather. Sam begins to despair that the truth will ever be uncovered, but Jessica receives an anonymous call and goes to meet Webb, the retired detective who worked the case, and he presents her with Sam's "missing" file and says that he always doubt his guilt, but closed the case quickly under pressure from the D.A. Jessica finds that the ballistics from the shooting in her room matches the gun from Sam's case exactly, meaning that someone retrieved it after Sam disposed of it in the water.
Jessica visits Vantay again with Rod in tow and accuses her of blackmailing the Jarvises, and she admits that she picked up on the insurance scheme thanks to the sudden policy increase, and that Sydney then paid her off for many years. Rod suggests that Sydney fired the gun at Jessica, and when they go to see him, he states that he followed Sam to the pier and recovered the gun after killing his own father. Jessica believes that he is covering for his mother, however, guessing that Sydney then fired at her to throw her off the track. He then confesses that his mother caught his father in the midst of his suicide plan and tried to stop him, accidentally shooting him as they struggled. Mrs. Wilson is furious that he allowed Sam to be punished for the crime, but Sam concludes that everyone has been punished enough and it is time to let the matter go. They thank Jessica for her help in solving the mystery, saying that their family can now be happy together. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: April 19, 1987 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:33890
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1984-1996
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Raisin Bran cereal
- TV - Promos - "High Mountain Rangers"
CREDITS
- Peter S. Fischer … Executive Producer, Created by
- Robert F. O'Neill … Producer
- Anthony J. Magro … Associate Producer
- Richard Levinson … Created by
- William Link … Created by
- Michael Lynch … Director
- Philip Gerson … Writer
- David Bell … Music by
- John Addison … Theme Music by
- Angela Lansbury … Cast, Jessica Fletcher
- Richard Beymer … Cast, Sydney Jarvis, Jr.
- June Havoc … Cast, Thelma Vantay
- Art Hindle … Cast, Rod Wilson
- Jeffrey Lynn … Cast, Sam Wilson
- Harry Morgan … Cast, Retired Lt. Richard Webb
- Martha Scott … Cast, Georgia Wilson
- Susan Strasberg … Cast, Dorothy Hearn Davis
- Debbie Zipp … Cast, Terry
- Tom Dreesen … Cast, Peabody
- Emory Bass … Cast, Manager
- Gloria Stuart … Cast, Edna Jarvis
- Russ Marin … Cast, Lt. Sharp
- Mark Pilon … Cast, Male Secretary
- Cynthia Leighton … Cast, Secretary
- Martitia Palmer … Cast, Nurse