MURDER, SHE WROTE: SUGAR & SPICE, MALICE & VICE (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, San Francisco banker Paul Marlowe talks with his secretary, Laura, and his boss, Quatrain, about an upcoming merger. Michael Hagerty then breaks into Paul's office, managing to evade the police when he is caught. Elsewhere, Jessica arrives at a hotel for a conference and is pleasantly surprised to see her old MI-6 friend Michael, but asks not to be involved in his latest "caper." Paul meets with Mr. Lee about the merger between their banks, revealing that Lee's bank is involved in criminal dealings and demanding $5 million. He also shows the tape of Michael's break-in, saying that he knows him. As Jessica and Michael stroll through San Francisco, someone shoots at them. At the hotel, Quatrain and his wife Cynthia meet Paul and his fiancée Andrea for dinner, but Andrea spots Michael and tells him to leave her alone. Michael confesses to Jessica that Andrea is his daughter and that he has been largely absent from her life, but is now worried about her relationship with Paul because of his involvement with the merger and its illegalities. Jessica is unsure about talking to Andrea for him, and Michael considers just killing Paul.
Lee tells Quatrain about Paul's demands and Michael's snooping, suggesting that he cut Paul from their deal. Paul gives Andrea a string of pearls, but then receives a phone call and leaves, telling her to put the jewelry in the hotel safe. Andrea meets Jessica and asks her to help in making Michael leave her alone, and elsewhere, Michael follows Paul into the hotel basement and is hit on the head. He awakens to find himself beside Paul's dead body and is arrested, though he tells a distraught Andrea that he did not kill him. Lieutenant Hogan questions Jessica, telling her that the case is "a lock." Michael begs her to convince Andrea of his innocence, and Jessica has a heart-to-heart with the young woman. Laura approaches Andrea and asks if Paul had left certain papers regarding the merger in his briefcase, and they soon find Andrea's hotel room ransacked, though nothing has been stolen. Jessica then finds that Quatrain knew nothing about any papers, however, and Hogan reveals that Paul's apartment too was searched. Hogan tells Jessica that Michael seemed to have a "twisted grudge" against Paul, but Michael explains his beliefs about Paul's criminal involvement, though he has little proof. Lee surprises Andrea and Jessica and offers $2 million for a "boring list" detailing the merger that Paul kept on a computer disk, threatening violence when Andrea denies having it, but Michael intervenes, having escaped the police.
Michael then confronts the Quatrains and demands answers, but they deny killing Paul as well. Jessica asks Andrea about the call Paul received right before his death, and gets an idea when Andrea mentions the pearls. They find the computer disk in the jewelry case where Paul hid it and Andrea calls Laura, who arrives and demands it, refusing to pay when Andrea mentions Lee's offer. Jessica accuses Laura of killing Paul, explaining how she wanted the valuable information from the list and lured him downstairs to take it, killing him, framing Michael and later searching Paul's apartment and Andrea's room for the missing disk. Laura admits her scheme and pulls a gun on them, but Hogan arrives just in time and arrests her. Later, Jessica departs San Francisco as Michael and Andrea head off for some father-daughter vacation time together. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 29, 1992 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:47:20
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:46294
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1984-1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Angela Lansbury … Executive Producer
- Al Kraus … Coordinating Producer
- Bruce Lansbury … Supervising Producer
- Mark A. Burley … Supervising Producer
- Todd London … Co-Producer
- Vincent McEveety … Director
- Peter S. Fischer … Created by
- Richard Levinson … Created by
- William Link … Created by
- Robert E. Swanson … Writer
- Steve Dorff … Music by
- John Addison … Theme Music by
- Angela Lansbury … Cast, Jessica Fletcher
- Donna Bullock … Cast, Laura Downing
- Len Cariou … Cast, Michael Hagerty
- James Handy … Cast, Lieutenant Pat Hogan
- Lenore Kasdorf … Cast, Cynthia Quatrain
- Kevin Kilner … Cast, Paul Marlowe
- James Shigeta … Cast, Luc Lee
- Beau Starr … Cast, Charlie Bennett
- Kim Johnston Ulrich … Cast, Andrea Cromwell
- Efrem Zimbalist Jr. … Cast, Adam Quatrain
- Gary Hollis … Cast, Brad Filmore
- Patricia Idlette … Cast, Desk Person
- Steve Tschudy … Cast, Bartender