MURDER, SHE WROTE: DEADLY LADY (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, after a powerful storm strikes Cabot Cove, Jessica is surprised by a visit from self-proclaimed "hobo" Ralph, who offers her some handyman work in exchange for food. She agrees, though quickly observes that he is partially fibbing about his bucolic lifestyle, and he admits that he wishes to "see America from the ground up" since losing his wife and decades-long career. Sheriff Tupper then informs Jessica that wealthy businessman Stephen Earl apparently met a sudden death while yachting with his four adult daughters – Nan, Maggie, Lisa and Grace – though they explain that he was simply swept overboard during the storm. Tupper is suspicious, as the women stand to inherit $25 million apiece upon his death, and Grace admits that none of the four are truly sorry to lose their cruel, meddling parent.
Jessica finds that Ralph has placed a long-distance call from her home, and he questions her about the odd maybe-murder case. Lisa's husband Brian Shelby arrives and demands a coroner's inquest immediately, wanting to speed up the inheritance process, but Jessica then figures out that, according to the sisters' description of their location, they were actually in the calm eye of the storm when their father died, and Maggie suddenly confesses to shooting him dead on the previous night. Her sisters defend her, but Jessica remains unsure, and when she spots the Earl's obituary and photo in the newspaper, she realizes that Maggie is indeed lying and could not have killed her father on the boat – because Earl and Ralph are one in the same. His corpse soon turns up on the beach, however, and Nan's wayward ex-fiancé Terry Jones arrives just in time to "comfort" her. Brian implies that Lisa should "get rid of" all three sisters in order to inherit the entire fortune herself, and Maggie seems shocked to learn that her father is truly dead, explaining that she lied about shooting him and orchestrated the entire scheme with him in order to draw "fortune-hunter" Terry out of hiding and finally prove to Nan that he only desires her family money.
Maggie is apparently cleared when her gun does not match the bullets found in Earl, and Terry begs Nan to marry him right away, though Jessica is of course highly skeptical. Tupper finds the raft on which Earl escaped the yacht alongside a pair of Nan's custom-made high heels, suggesting that she is the true killer. Nan protests her innocence, and Jessica suggests arresting her and concealing the shoe evidence as a test. The other sisters deny borrowing the shoes, with Maggie adding that she "doesn't wear pink." Jessica then catches Maggie breaking into her home and reveals that she is the killer, as she did not mention the shoes' color and Nan's bare feet showed no signs of walking over a rocky beach. Maggie confesses framing her sister, declaring that she hated both her demanding father and the daughter he clearly preferred, Nan, and when she threatens to silence Jessica, Jessica reveals that she has already called Tupper, who has overheard everything. Later, she bids farewell to the three remaining sisters, urging Nan to forget the scheming Terry, and she heads out fishing with her pal Captain Cragg. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: October 7, 1984 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:29
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:11197
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Families; Murder
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1984-1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter S. Fischer … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Robert F. O'Neill … Producer
- Mike Stevens … Associate Producer
- Richard Levinson … Created by
- William Link … Created by
- Corey Allen … Director
- David Bell … Music by
- John Addison … Theme Music by
- Angela Lansbury … Cast, Jessica Fletcher
- Claude Akins … Cast, Captain Ethan Cragg
- Tom Bosley … Cast, Sheriff Amos Tupper
- Doran Clark … Cast, Nancy Earl
- Howard Duff … Cast, Ralph / Stephen Earl
- Marilyn Hassett … Cast, Maggie Earl
- Richard Hatch … Cast, Terry Jones
- Anne Lockhart … Cast, Grace Earl Lamont
- Dack Rambo … Cast, Brian Shelby
- Cassie Yates … Cast, Lisa Earl Shelby
- Tom Bower … Cast, Jonathan Bailey
- Carol Swarbrick … Cast, Emma
- John Petlock … Cast, Nils Andersen
- Robert Beecher … Cast, Elias Cobb