ABC SATURDAY MYSTERY: CHRISTINE CROMWELL: THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere in this drama series about lawyer Christine Cromwell, who works as a financial adviser for a San Francisco investment firm and solves mysteries while carrying out her job’s duties. In this episode (presented under the umbrella of “ABC Saturday Mystery,”) Christine counsels wealthy clients Olivia and Walker Garretson at their secluded waterfront home. Later, Christine talks with Olivia about their ongoing friendship, and Olivia’s troubled marriage. Olivia shows a bruise which she says Walker caused; Olivia also says that she only stays with Walker as she’s dependent on him for money. That night, Olivia prepares for bed as a storm moves in. From her bedroom, Olivia hears an alarm go off, announcing an intruder. Hearing a drunken Walker calling for her, Olivia then finds that the phone is dead and the car keys are missing. Wandering through the house with a rifle, Olivia finds Walker menacing her on the stairs and shoots him dead. The next day, Christine is informed by her boss Cyrus Blain that Olivia blew Walker’s head off. Christine is told that if Olivia is found guilty of murder, Walker’s fortune will go to his three grown nephews. Cyrus sends Christine off to speak with Olivia, who admits to killing Walker in self-defense. Olivia says she was afraid that Walker would beat or rape her, as he had in the past. Christine points out the discrepancies in Olivia’s story, including the fact that she called police after the killing while initially saying that the line was dead. Elsewhere, Olivia’s lawyer, Edward Stevens, meets with nephews Benjamin Garretson, Charlie Claghorn, and Arthur Garretson. They opt to offer Olivia twenty-five million so that they’ll inherit the rest. Olivia is shocked to learn that, if she is indicted, Christine may be forced to testify against her. Though Christine hasn’t been a public defender for ten years, Olivia wants her to replace Edward on her case. Christine accepts, and tells Edward that he’s been fired. Christine speculates to Cyrus that one of the nephews might have tried to “gaslight” Olivia on the night of the murder. That night, Olivia has dinner with her mother, Samantha, and meets her latest spouse, trophy husband Andreas Santiago. While discussing Olivia’s case with Samantha, Christine gets a call from her secretary, Sarah van Allen, and learns that Edward’s car was blown up. The next morning, Olivia calls and says she’s been indicted for first-degree murder. Christine talks with Olivia’s gamekeeper, Mr. Parker, about the murder weapon, and he says that Walker was “a pig.” Next, Christine goes to see Walker’s first wife, Sassie Taggert. En route to Sassie’s apartment, a “rogue BMW” tries to run down Christine and lands her in the hospital. There, she’s checked out by Dr. Brooks, one of Samantha’s former husbands. At Sassie’s apartment, the ex-wife tells Christine that Walker was “loathsome,” a misogynist, and battered her psychologically. She also says that Walker was sterile. Back at the office, Christine tells Cyrus that she’s no longer convinced of Olivia’s innocence. Cyrus wants her to drop the case. Samantha then tells Christine that Walker was dining with one of his nephews on the night he was killed. Samantha suggests that Christine visit with another of her ex-husbands, psychiatrist Horst Reichert to discuss the case. Christine subsequently gets new insights in Horst’s office, later discovering that Walker dined with Arthur. Elsewhere, Benjamin gets his BMW’s dented fender fixed. After some badgering, Olivia admits to Christine that she’s pregnant, and claims that Walker is the father. Christine tries to strike a deal for Olivia with prosecuting attorney Luke Grassi. He tells her that Arthur has an airtight alibi. On Olivia’s estate, Christine spies Olivia in a romantic clinch with Charlie. Confronting the pair, Christine learns that they’d been having an affair for a year and made love in Walker’s bed on the night of the murder. Next, Christine goes to see pathologist Barbara Marburg, who says that lesions were discovered in Walker’s throat at his autopsy, as if a tube was forced down his windpipe. Barbara also mentions that Walker’s stomach contained both red and white wine. Sarah soon discovers that Walker didn’t order red wine at the restaurant where he dined before being killed. Next, Christine takes some paint shavings from Benjamin’s car for further examination. At Samantha’s charity ball, Christine runs into Olivia, who says she’s taking the nephews’ settlement offer. She also sees Sassie, who says that Walker was allergic to red wine. After Olivia agrees to a plea agreement offered by Luke, Christine announces to Olivia and the three nephews that she’ll find Walker’s true killer and nullify the settlement offer. Doing some more snooping, Christine discovers from Luke that Benjamin studied pre-med in school and has a background in electronics. Elsewhere, Sarah learns that the paint samples match those of Benjamin’s car. Next, Luke and Christine are called to the site of Benjamin’s “suicide.” They find a note in which he confessed to his guilt in planning Walker’s murder with Olivia. Charlie tells Arthur that he doesn’t believe that Benjamin killed himself. Christine goes to see Fred Tulley, Benjamin’s chauffeur, who says that Benjamin didn’t drive the BMW on the day of the hit-and-run. He declines to name the driver. At a family reunion for the Garretsons, Christine witnesses Arthur performing a ventriloquist act for children. After learning from Charlie that Arthur used to imitate Walker’s voice, Christine confronts Arthur. She says that he set up Walker’s death, killed Benjamin and Edward, and tried to murder her with Benjamin’s car. She details all the evidence that points to his guilt before he throws her out of his house. Charlie tells Arthur that Christine is staying alone in Olivia’s house over the weekend. That evening, Christine hears a voice that sounds like Charlie calling to her, though it turns out to be Arthur with a gun. Before enacting plans to kill her, Arthur admits to his guilt in all the murders. Before Arthur can kill Christine, Luke shows up with his deputies, having heard all of Arthur’s confessions since Christine was wired. After Luke arrests Arthur and agrees to a full pardon for Olivia, Christine finally says she’ll go on a date with Luke. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 11, 1989 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:25:24
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:72872
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1989-1990
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- William Link … Supervising Executive Producer
- Lee Guthrie … Producer
- Michael Duggan … Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Daniel Sachheim … Co-Producer
- Robert Palm … Co-Producer
- Jeffrey Harstedt … Associate Producer
- E.W. Swackhamer … Director
- Lee Holdridge … Music by
- Mike Post … Theme Music by
- Jaclyn Smith … Cast, Christine Cromwell
- Celeste Holm … Cast, Samantha Cromwell
- Ralph Bellamy … Cast, Cyrus Blain
- Rebecca Cross … Cast, Sarah van Allen
- Laura Johnson … Cast, Olivia Garretson
- Tom Mason … Cast, Luke Grassi
- James Cromwell … Cast, Arthur Garretson
- Barry Sattels … Cast, Charlie Claghorn
- Arthur Rosenberg … Cast, Benjamin Garrretson
- John De Lancie … Cast, Edward Stevens
- Theodore Bikel … Cast, Horst Reichert
- Richard Bradford … Cast, Michael McDugal
- Mel Ferrer … Cast, Dr. Brooks
- Peter Donat … Cast, Walker Garretson
- Constance Towers … Cast, Sassie Taggert
- Linden Chiles … Cast, Larry de Roche
- Paul Collins … Cast, Eric
- Ellen Albertini Dowd … Cast, Lydia
- Lou Felder … Cast, Car Dealer
- Kathleen Freeman … Cast, Catherine
- Richard Green … Cast, Stewart Eno
- Steven Grives … Cast, Mr. Parker
- Eugene Lee … Cast, Detective
- Fran Montano … Cast, Fred Tulley
- Clare Nono … Cast, Barbara Marburg
- Rudolph Willrich … Cast, Andreas Santiago
- Dick Balduzzi … Cast, Service Manager
- Adele Claire … Cast, Relative
- David Ellenstein … Cast, Josh Kasner
- Keeley Gallagher … Cast, Child
- Stu Klitsner … Cast, Butler
- Laurel Lockhart … Cast, Mary
- Patrick O'Rourke … Cast, Kid #1
- Jeanne Reddick … Cast, Maid
- John Trodden … Cast, Kid #2