-Hello, Mrs. Fletcher. -Hello, Tommy.
[Jessica] Tonight, on Murder, She Wrote.
Well, you look sensational to me.
You’ll stop when we tell you to stop. Got it?
Tell me what happened?
Cause of death was strangulation.
[woman] Listen, Fred, I’m going to have a bundle
by the end of the week.
I promise I will pay you back in full.
No, this afternoon.
You and Monica, you’re not--
I’m fixing the faucet.
I’m afraid I find that very hard to accept.
This is interesting.
A bullet.
[Jessica] That means there are two people,
who are determined to kill Tommy.
[man] Tommy!
Excellent.
The quality is better this time.
But why so few?
I was promised more.
I don’t know, I just deliver them.
No matter.
Guilders?
Dollars are tight this week.
There is a problem?
No, no, no problem.
[woman over PA system] Flight 115, from Amsterdam,
is now arriving, at gate ten.
[Jessica] Philip, I am sorry, but it’s just not possible.
Well, look, I’m barely half way through it.
It’s going to be all I can do to finish it by Wednesday.
Yes, you too, and don’t forget the dinner party.
Right.
I hate to disturb you again Jessica,
but I can’t find the oregano.
Oh, I--
I think it’s in the left-hand drawer there.
Hang on.
Ah, here we are.
Oh, this was so sweet of you,
but, I don’t think it’s the best idea you ever had.
Susan, this is going to be a huge success.
I mean, good heavens, think how effortlessly
you prepared those marvelous meals
for Seth and me and the Simpsons and--
Except none of you were thinking of commissioning me
to write a cookbook.
[knock on door]
Listen to me, I guarantee
that Philip will take one bite
of your marvelous food and he will conclude
that he has died and gone to heaven,
and you’ll get a book contract.
-Hello, Fletcher. -Hello, Tommy.
Right over there, please.
Listen, I want to thank you again,
for those notes on my story.
They were right on the money.
-Oh, I’m glad, they helped. -Are you kidding?
They’re printing it in next week’s school paper.
Oh, that’s wonderful.
Um, I’ve written another one.
Would you mind, you know, taking a look at it?
Well, if you give me a few days, yes.
Send it to me.
Actually, I have a copy of it right here.
Here, please take as long as you want.
Oh, and Mrs. Wells, best of luck with your big banquet.
And I bet I’ll see you again.
Have a great trip back to Maine.
Oh, thank you, Tommy.
Such a sweet boy.
And talented, too.
Oh, oh, no.
They’ve forgotten the bay leaf,
and I cannot start sauce Espagnole, without it.
The bay leaf.
Monica. Hey, how was your trip?
Oh, exhausting, I feels as if I could sleep for a week.
Well, you look sensational to me.
Tommy,
what is it with you, Tommy?
You’re driving me crazy.
I think you blew Mrs. Fletcher’s order.
You forgot the bay leaves.
Oh, man.
Plus she needs some more stuff.
Now, do me a favor,
try to get it right this time, okay?
Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir.
Monica, I came in second in the 100-meter butterfly.
Tommy!
I don’t know what it is with that kid.
His size 12 may be on the ground,
but his head is in never-never land.
Mr. Eigers, he was just saying hello.
Yeah, listen, Ms. Evers,
I don’t like to bother you at this, but your grocery tab?
It’s three months overdue.
I know, Mr. Eigers. Tomorrow, okay?
No, this afternoon,
or I’m afraid I’ll going to have to cut your credit off.
Oh, Ms. Evers, what a lovely, lovely surprise.
Hi, Vic.
Hey, hey, let me take that for you, give you a hand here.
Thanks.
So, you’re going to be with us for a while?
Ah, mm-hmm, I’m going to be in town about four days.
Oh, maybe that’s enough time to catch up a little.
Last time you blew in and out of here so fast,
we hardly had a chance to talk.
Look, Vic, I’m really tapped right now, okay?
But I was hoping maybe you could take some action for me.
See, there’s this filly in the fifth at Santa Anita, and I need a--
-You have got to be joking. -No.
Listen, Vic, I’m going to have a bundle by the end of the week.
I promise I will pay you back in full and also--
Wonderful. You give me the bet then, I’ll take it for cash.
Vic, I’m talking about $500 here,
it’ll almost get me even.
Hey, save it for the tooth fairy.
And you count your blessings, ’cause anybody else but me,
they’d come after those gorgeous kneecaps,
or something else, a long time ago.
You got me?
Ciao, sweetie.
Monica, I didn’t think you were coming back till tomorrow.
Well, I guess that shows how wrong a person can be.
I brought up your mail, some packages.
Thank you.
These roses came for you from that stockbroker,
long stems.
Guess he can afford them.
Yeah.
I noticed your answering machine.
Oh, my God, 27 messages, in just three days.
Oh, I’m sorry, what did you just say?
Oh, nothing.
Oh, Sandy, you don’t need to water my plants,
I can do that.
Oh, I’m here, might as well do it.
Today’s my watering day.
Planning a big night on the town.
No, no, actually I was just going to stay home tonight.
Tomorrow, then,
it’ll be party time as usual.
Nope, as a matter of fact,
I was thinking of maybe going out of town
for a couple of days alone.
With all of them that call you.
Listen, Sandy, I would love to stay and chat with you,
but the flight was very full, and I’m just wiped out.
I just need some time alone.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impose.
Oh, no. Oh, Sandy, you weren’t imposing, really.
You’re a great neighbor,
and I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me.
Well, you’ve sure got a funny way of showing it.
Sandy!
It’s me.
No, no, no problem. I got the money.
Billy, don’t slap the water, cut it!
You’re rushing your strokes.
Derrick, watch your breathing, pace yourself.
Sorry I’m late.
Everybody gets here on time but you.
Why do you suppose that is?
-I couldn’t help it. -You couldn’t help it?
Like you can’t help dogging your homework.
Dad, I’m doing my best.
Don’t blow smoke at me.
I see what’s on your computer,
and it isn’t homework assignments,
it’s those fantasies you write.
What’s on my computer, is none of your business.
That’s private.
Not as long as I’m paying for it, it isn’t.
Besides, I was doing my homework,
that’s why I’m late.
Oh, yeah? Let me see.
Oh, for God’s sakes, her again.
No wonder your studies are going to hell.
Please, dad, Monica is a friend, that’s all.
Friends like that, you don’t need.
She could almost be your mother.
That’s not fair, you don’t know anything--
Okay.
Shut up,
suit up and get in the pool.
Well, what are you looking at?
Hit the water!
This is all?
What’s going on?
Nothing, he said the market’s flooded
with stones right now.
Prices are way down.
Okay, then we’ll do better next time.
I have to get this turned into dollars before I pay you.
Fred, one more thing.
What is it?
I want out.
Why?
Because, it’s too risky,
I’m scared.
You, a gambler?
Come on.
No.
I don’t like the odds anymore,
and I’m not anxious to go to prison either.
You’ll stop when we tell you to stop.
Got it?
Then, Fred, I need an advance.
I need ten grand, and I need it fast.
You and everybody else.
Yeah, our boy in Amsterdam, has good hunches.
She’s doing it to us again.
Okay.
[glass breaking]
Oh. Are you all right?
I am, but I’m not too sure about my batter.
Well, nothing, that another half dozen eggs
and a couple of hours wouldn’t cure.
See, if I could just get these thumbs
to work like fingers again.
Oh, Jessica, I can’t tell you
how terrible I feel about what I’m doing to your schedule.
It’s all right, Susan, don’t worry about it.
If it wasn’t this, it would be something else,
I assure you.
Everything smells wonderful.
Oh, it does, doesn’t it?
Hmm, I just have to keep telling myself
that the future of Western civilization
does not depend on this meal.
Oh, speaking of civilization,
I just can’t find the white napkins
that are supposed to go with your white table cloth.
They’re downstairs in the dryer.
They should be ready in a few minutes.
By the way, I forgot to tell you,
the gourmet shop called.
They’re out of chanterelle mushrooms.
Oh, that’s not good.
No, the whole third course
depends on the chanterelle in the puffed pastry.
Ah, well, I will give Mr. Eigers a call.
He’s been rather handy at stocking up these things.
Ah, you have some money for me, Ms. Evers?
I will write you a check, Mr. Eigers.
Good, I’d appreciate that a lot.
[phone ringing]
Excuse me.
Eigers Grocery.
Hello, Mrs. Fletcher.
Chanterelle mushrooms?
Let me take a look.
Yeah, yeah, I think you’re in luck.
Okay, you want me to include them in your order?
That’s the total you owe.
Okay.
Oh, I don’t believe it. I’m out of checks.
Listen, Tommy, could you tell Mr. Eigers that I’ll be right back?
-Yeah, you bet. -Thanks.
Did you get her check?
No, but she’s--
I told you, no more credit,
and you let her walk, right out of the store!
Look, Mr. Eigers, she said she’d be right back.
She said, she said.
What am I going to do with you, Tommy?
Look, deliver this to Mrs. Fletcher,
but first, stop by Ms. Ever’s, and pick up her check.
Right.
Either she pays or I’m going to take it out of your hide
for the stuff she walked out of the store with.
Monica?
[gunshot rings]
Mrs. Fletcher!
Mrs. Fletcher, Monica’s dead.
He killed her.
He killed. Oh, my God, he killed her!
Tommy, please calm down.
Now, take a deep breath.
Now tell me what happened?
Monica, she’s a flight attendant,
friend of mine, and I saw this guy,
he killed her, and he took a shot at me too.
Well, I think that we’d better call the police.
He looked right at me.
I’d know him for sure if I saw him again.
So you didn’t actually see him kill her?
No, Monica was already dead.
So, then the guy shoots at you,
and you drop the groceries and run, is that about it?
Yeah.
Eddie, any luck with the bullet?
Negative, Sir.
We checked the floors, the ceilings,
didn’t find anything.
[lieutenant] If a weapon was fired in here and missed,
there’s got to be a bullet hole or a nick somewhere.
I’m not imagining it, lieutenant. I heard it.
And the body of this Monica Evers?
He must’ve taken her away.
Monica’s dead. I saw her.
Calm down, son. I’m trying to believe you.
Ah, lieutenant,
couldn’t the body have been hidden
in one of these storage lockers?
That’s entirely possible, Mrs. Fletcher,
but to get a search warrant,
I’ve got to convince the judge there’s probable cause.
And just between you and me,
about the only crime I can see here,
is maybe lying to a Police Officer.
But why would Tommy do that?
I don’t know, you tell me.
Maybe he panicked because he dropped the groceries.
He seems like a nice kid, though.
Lieutenant, would you mind if we went upstairs
to Monica Evers’s apartment just to see if she’s there?
It’ll be my pleasure, Mrs. Fletcher.
Guys, go on back to the precinct.
Eddie, Clark.
Looks like someone’s here.
Police!
Whoever’s in there, come out with your hands in the air,
right now!
Move, move.
Come on, come on. Don’t go crazy on me now.
Who are you?
I’m the manager. I’m Vic Gorman.
What are you doing in there?
I’m fixing a faucet.
I take it that Ms. Evers is not here.
No, she went out about two minutes ago.
-What’s going on here? -Two minutes ago?
Yeah, she got a little tired of me banging on the pipes. What’s wrong?
Flowers and I are going to check the basement again, Mrs. Fletcher.
-Yes. -Bring the kid.
-Thank you, lieutenant. -Let’s go, Tommy.
Look, lieutenant, I swear I’m telling the truth.
Take it easy, son.
I’m not going to press charges,
I just want you to know that making
a false police report is a serious crime.
You’ve wasted the time of four officers,
plus I don’t know how much you value Mrs. Fletcher as a friend,
but you’ve certainly shown her that your word
isn’t worth very much.
I don’t know what your problem is, son,
but you’ve got some serious soul searching to do.
I tell you something, if that was my kid, I’d ground him for a year.
I don’t know, Flowers.
He saw something, even if it wasn’t a murder.
Hey, how about that Fletcher lady?
Yeah, the guys at XXX were
right on the money about her.
She’s a genuine piece of work.
Look, Eddie, get Ms. Evers’s phone number, call her.
Keep calling her until you find out she’s okay.
Meanwhile, we both better keep our eyes out
for any Jane Does that turn up in the morgue.
-Got you. -All right.
Sandy, darling, you’re just the lady I wanted to see.
Oh, Vic.
Have you seen Monica?
I’m not her appointment secretary.
Oh, Sandy, don’t bust my chops here.
All I want to know is, did you see her?
It’s all this police business, isn’t it?
She’s in some sort of trouble.
Would you come on, already?
This is important. Answer my question.
Not since this morning.
-You sure? -Yes.
Listen, you and Monica, you’re not...
you know.
What, are you kidding me? This is business.
I could be out a bundle.
She did mention something about taking a trip by herself.
Oh, man. Oh, no, man.
I’m fixing brisket tonight,
your favorite.
You’re still coming over, aren’t you?
I’ll let you know.
Oh, I think I know why Tommy told those lies.
Jess, wine, 60 bucks a bottle.
He broke them all when he dropped the box.
You think he made up that fantastic tale
because he didn’t want to have to pay for all this?
Well, I guess it’s possible. How’s it going?
Well, less overwhelmed, I’m happy to say.
You know, I think it’s going to work out.
[phone ringing]
Hello?
Philip, how are you?
Well, let me ask her.
You’re going to love this.
Three of your hopefully
about to be publisher’s friends are coming into town unexpectedly,
and Philip wants to know if he could bring them along to the dinner party.
Well, yes, I could work it out, just somehow. Say yes.
All right, Susan says that she’d be delighted to welcome your friends.
I’ll tell her. He says he can’t wait.
Let’s hope he doesn’t have to.
Maybe I should buy stock at Mr. Eigers’s grocery store.
Fifty laps?
For what, telling the truth? That’s real fair.
Come on, Tommy, get real, for God’s sakes.
You’re damn lucky the police let you off.
Thanks, dad. Thanks for nothing.
Tommy.
Look, son, I’m not trying to give you a bad time.
Well, I guess I’m lucky, because you are doing a hell of a job, dad.
Tommy, I just want you to know that this is--
Where are you going?
What does it matter? Nothing I ever do is right.
Kid, are you crazy?
Three more people.
Must’ve been out of my mind.
Oh, well, I’ll just keep telling myself
I’m just going to be rich and famous.
Oh, oh, look, the sugar! Oh...
Hold it, let me get a bowl.
Oh, Jess, it’s for the creme brulee .
He must’ve broken it when he dropped it.
Oh, I don’t think that’s why it’s leaking.
What is this?
I think it proves that Tommy was telling the truth.
What are you looking for?
A bullet.
Somebody did shoot at him,
and the sugar sack absorbed the impact.
Oh, lucky for him.
[man] 37th precinct.
Is lieutenant Warren there, please?
Thank you, Mrs. Fletcher.
I want to get this right over to the forensics.
And Ms. Evers, have you been able to reach her?
Detective Flowers has been leaving messages
on her answering machine every hour or so.
If she doesn’t turn up by midnight,
I’ll give it to missing persons.
There’s one other thing, lieutenant.
Tommy Remsen, I mean, if there is a killer at large,
he could be in very grave danger.
That occurred to me too,
so I spoke to his father a little while ago.
It seems the kid
took off this afternoon and he hasn’t come home yet.
Oh, now wait a minute.
You’re not suggesting that you think that he--
If it turns out that there was a murder,
it could also turn out that Tommy was our perpetrator.
According to his father, the kid had,
or has, a very heavy duty crush on Ms. Evers,
and the feeling wasn’t mutual.
Okay, better. Not good enough, but better.
Five-lap cool-down.
Mrs. Fletcher, you’re the one
who’s been helping him with those stories of his.
Well, I think he is very talented.
Tell me something, outside of that,
do you have any idea what’s wrong with him?
Mr. Remsen, I really don’t think, it’s my place to--
Look, I’m a coach,
and when I can’t figure out why a member of my team
isn’t performing up to his potential,
I get another opinion, because every once in a while,
it turns out to be some simple thing that I missed.
Well, I don’t know Tommy that well,
but I have the sense
that he very much wants to be a writer.
That again.
And if I may say so, your reluctance
to recognize that part of him really bothers him.
Well, I tell you, I’ve got a hot flash for you, Mrs. Fletcher.
Sports scholarships are a whole lot easier
to come by than literary ones.
Writers aren’t exactly a big draw
at the college stadiums.
On the other hand, a writer can still perform after 35.
Well, you got a point there.
Anyway,
I guess like most parents today,
one of my big worries is that
he might be involved with drugs,
you know, that whole scene.
Yeah, well, has he ever given you any indication of that?
Other than running away?
I mean he’ll be back. This isn’t the first time.
Except now the police want to talk to him,
and that guy.
What guy?
You mean this might have to do with that thing
he was supposed to have witnessed?
Yesterday, when Tommy took off,
there was this bozo.
I saw him come down the street and walk towards Tommy.
Tommy took one look at him and ran.
Mr. Remsen, do you think
that you could describe him to the police?
Yeah, sure.
Monica murdered? Please.
She was home last night.
You saw her?
No, but when I came in,
I heard noises coming from her apartment.
I mean, she is always partying.
Very popular, even with delivery boys.
Ooh, it’s open.
Oh, my goodness, look at this place.
Hmm, this explains the sounds you heard last night.
Hello?
Monica?
Anyone home?
I’ll check the bedroom.
Now, it’s hard to believe,
but the bedroom’s an even bigger mess.
These don’t take much water.
No, once a week is enough.
It would be hard to tell if anything was missing here.
Impossible.
Mrs. Fletcher,
I’m worried about Monica.
I think you have reason to be, Ms. Oates.
So what’s this got to do with me?
V. G. Vic Gorman.
Lady, there are a lot of people with those initials.
Yes, but not too many
who claim to be repairing a faucet in a silk suit
and an expensive gold watch.
You know, I like you lady. You’re all right.
Yeah, I was taking bets from Monica.
That girl had the worst luck on the West side.
And she owes you money?
Big, 12 large, give or take.
So I was in the apartment. I was looking for cash.
And that’s why you said that Monica had just left.
You didn’t want the police to think
that you were in there without her permission.
You’re really out there, you know?
You want some?
When was the last time that you actually saw her?
Yesterday, sometime before noon.
I see.
I assume that Monica rented
one of those storage rooms down in the basement.
Yeah, a lot of the tenants do, why?
I wonder, would be possible for me to see it?
How about keeping me out of this, huh?
My only concern is the safety of a young man.
Okay, let’s go.
After you.
Jeez, what a load of junk.
It looks as if something was dragged across the floor.
Trunk, maybe.
Or a body.
What’s this doing here?
That’s Monica’s, and if she had left,
she didn’t go very far.
What do you mean?
Well, here’s her wallet, her passport
and a one-way ticket to Geneva.
Damn it, she’s bugging out on me.
Or perhaps you weren’t the only one.
[lieutenant] Eddie, tell him to take the storage locker apart if they have to.
Let’s find out what happened down here.
I got you, lieutenant.
See you later, Mrs. Fletcher.
Well, I hope that you and the super
didn’t destroy any evidence down there inadvertently.
Well, I hope not, lieutenant.
Now, you were saying you found Monica Evers’s body.
Yeah, they fished her out of Harlem river
up around 225th street.
Do you want some more coffee?
No, thank you, no.
Then Tommy was telling the truth.
Not necessarily.
Cause of death was strangulation.
She was garroted.
But if the killer strangled her, why--
Why would he fire a gun at Tommy Remsen?
Well, I got a couple of theories about that, Mrs. Fletcher.
One of which you’re going to hate.
We know that the kid had the hots for the victim.
Suppose he bumps into her in the basement,
nobody is around, he makes a pass at her,
and he goes a little too far.
Boys of that age can be kind of klutzy
where it comes to romance.
Anyway, she rejects him,
or worse, she threatens to report it,
so he strangles her.
And the gunshot?
You said he’s creative.
After he kills her, he dreams up this story.
And with his own gun,
he fires a bullet into the sugar sack,
knowing that sooner or later it’s going to be found.
Well, you were right, lieutenant.
I not only hate it, I find it very difficult to believe.
All right, I don’t love it myself.
And your other notion?
That the boy saw what he said he saw.
And the murderer wasn’t alone.
There was a second person who fired at Tommy.
An accomplice.
Yeah, I like that much better.
So do I.
Nobody likes to think
of a typical all-American kid like that,
with those clear blue eyes looking out at you
from under that baseball cap, is a killer.
But hey,
I wouldn’t be doing my job
if I didn’t keep all my options open.
Oh, I understand.
Anyway, Mrs. Fletcher, just want you to know
we are pursuing the hell out of the accomplice theory.
Well, I’m glad, because if it is true,
that means there are two people
who are determined to kill Tommy.
Oh, Tommy’s father called.
He asked if you had heard from him.
Oh, lieutenant Warren spoke to him.
I think Mr. Remsen is beginning to realize
that Tommy may be in more danger than he thought.
Oh, it would be so much simpler back in Cabot Cove.
There are not so many places to hide.
New York City? I don’t know, he could be anywhere.
Oh, I glanced at that.
I’m not a science fiction fan, you know,
but I think he writes beautifully.
Well, I think he has quite a flair for poetic images.
Oh, that’s exactly what struck me, Jessica.
It’s about a young space alien, you know,
and he comes from a distant galaxy.
He’s wrongly accused of treason,
so he hides in the dome of the space academy.
And he never learns that he’s been cleared.
By the time they get to him, he’s dead.
I think it’s very touching
and it has some real interesting characters.
What is it, Jess?
Lieutenant Warren?
Yes.
You know, I think I know where Tommy is.
Would you meet me over at his school?
Good, I’m going to call his father.
Listen, you may have to preside
over this dinner party on your own.
But it’s going to be a huge success.
I don’t know, Mrs. Fletcher.
It seems to me this is the last place Tommy would go.
Someone’s broken in here.
Wait, let me go first.
Oh, my God.
Tommy!
Thank God, it’s not Tommy.
Looks like a single shot through the head.
Is this the guy your son was running away from?
Yeah, it looks like him.
Well, he matches the description
the grocer gave of the man
who came in his store looking for your son.
Eddie, I want the full forensics team on this, and fast.
We got to get some prints ASAP.
We got to ID this guy,
find out who he was working for.
Got you, lieutenant.
Mrs. Fletcher, I assume
you think Tommy is holed up here
somewhere in the school?
Yes, yes, I do.
And I think I know where.
Detective Flowers.
I need a forensics team and a coroner
here at Montclair High School right away.
Thank you.
There.
Tommy, are you okay?
Yeah, sort of.
I thought you were that guy.
Son, how long have you been up here?
Since yesterday.
I didn’t know where else to go.
The guy that killed Monica, he was chasing me,
and no one would believe me except Mrs. Fletcher.
Thank God you’re all right.
Oh, Tommy.
Tommy, did you hear anything unusual
while you were up here?
-No, like what? -Like a gunshot.
You see, the man who was following you
was killed downstairs.
Killed?
This is interesting.
I’ve never seen that before.
This has been recently fired.
I didn’t even know it was there.
Son, pending the outcome of the tests
to determine whether or not this is a murder weapon,
I’m placing you in protective custody.
You’re putting him in jail?
Mr. Remsen, the man in the pool
could’ve been killed by his accomplice
in the murder of Monica Evers,
which means that Tommy’s life could still be in danger.
Or...
Victim’s name is Fred Turner.
He’s a jewel thief with a rap sheet about eight miles long,
also a suspect in a diamond center murder.
And you’re charging my son with his murder?
I’m afraid so, Mr. Remsen.
We’ve got fingerprints,
we’ve got a paraffin test, you name it.
I’ll see if the DMV records have come in.
And what about the weapon?
Now, this bullet was taken from Turner’s body.
It’s a .32 caliber from the gun
that I found in the school attic.
Yeah, but it could’ve been in self-defense.
I mean, this Fred Turner
was following him, threatening him.
Yeah, it could’ve been self-defense, all right.
But ballistics says that this bullet is a match
for the one you found in the sugar sack.
The one Tommy claimed was fired at him.
They were both fired from the same gun.
So you’re saying Tommy killed Monica Evers, too?
The truth is, I don’t think
Turner was anywhere near Monica Evers’s killing.
I think he was a part of some bad element
that your son Tommy had fallen in with.
Oh, God.
I’m afraid I find that very hard to accept.
Look, both of you,
this is lousy for me, too.
You know, I’m beginning to realize
how far away I pushed my son,
riding him the way I did,
trying to make him go the directions
that I wanted for him.
Suddenly, all that stuff seems so unimportant, so wrong.
Well, look, if it’s any consolation,
I’m quite sure you’re not the first
well-meaning father to have done it that way.
Well, thanks, but it doesn’t make it any less stupid.
And now it’s a little late to set things right.
Don’t be too sure of that, Dan.
You’ve been so supportive of me, Jess.
I just wish I could say something that would help.
There’s something that doesn’t quite track.
Oh, would you give me a hand with this? Now.
Oh, sure.
We’ve got to flip this.
Carefully.
And...
We’ve got to put it on this dish.
Yes, right, thanks.
Are we ready?
Come up, now. Come on.
It’s a vacuum.
Oh, Susan, that is beautiful.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Over the sink.
It looks like it’s getting ready to overflow.
Oh, it’s all stopped up.
Jessica, are you all right?
Susan, I feel a lot better now than I did a moment ago.
I think I know who committed those murders,
and it wasn’t Tommy Remsen.
Wait a minute, you know all that
just because those little holes
in the stopper basket were plugged up?
Actually, one little hole, and the bullet that made it.
If I’m not mistaken,
one more look at one of Monica Evers’s flowerpots
will tell me why she was killed.
Oh, thank you for coming, lieutenant.
It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Fletcher.
There is nothing I’d like better
than to see Tommy Remsen get off the hook.
So, what do you have for me?
Well, clearly everything revolved
around Monica Evers’s murder,
but the motive, that was really obscure.
And if the boy didn’t do it, you’ve certainly got that right.
Unless you were to suppose that she was killed,
at least in part, because she had something
the murderers wanted very badly,
and they were unable to find on her person.
Whoa, now, where did that come from?
Well, because they searched her apartment
after they killed her.
I’d assumed they’d found it,
but when my sink filled up
because the drain was blocked,
I remembered one of Ms. Evers’s plants
was dying from being over watered.
It occurred to me that the drain hole
in the bottom of the pot
was being blocked by something.
Something like a bag of diamonds.
Diamonds that she was holding out from the killers,
for whom she’d been working as a courier.
Mrs. Fletcher, that is very impressive.
Fred Turner was a suspected diamond thief,
and Ms. Evers was--
She was a flight Attendant,
who regularly flew to Amsterdam,
one of the great diamond centers of the world,
where she’d sell the stones Mr. Turner had stolen,
converting them to cash,
which she brought back to new York.
And she was holding these back.
I like it.
I like this.
Problem is, who killed Turner?
We’re still stuck with all that evidence
pointing towards Tommy Remsen.
Perhaps...
You’re losing me.
I think Turner was killed by his partner.
[Jessica] When Tommy entered the basement,
he saw Fred Turner crouching over Monica’s body.
What he didn’t see was the man
who fired the gun at him and then framed him.
That man could only be one person, you.
Mrs. Fletcher, I was with you right up until that one.
One of the things that led me to that conclusion,
lieutenant, were your own words.
Nobody likes to think,
that a typical all-American kid, like that,
with those clear blue eyes looking out
at you from under that baseball cap, is a killer.
So?
After witnessing Ms. Evers’s murder,
Tommy dropped his baseball cap
in the lobby of my building.
-Oh, my God, he killed her. -Tommy! Tommy! Please calm down.
Now, take a deep breath.
Now tell me what happened.
Monica, she’s a flight attendant, friend of mine.
When you arrived at the scene to investigate,
he was bare-headed.
The only time you could’ve seen him wearing it
was when you fired a shot at him.
This is not exactly what we call hard evidence, Mrs. Fletcher.
No, but there’s plenty of that.
The bullet you showed me in your office,
the bullet that killed Fred Turner,
you said it was the same .32 caliber round
that was fired at Tommy, and from the same gun.
It was.
I have ballistics tests that show that.
[Jessica] Test results concocted by you.
The truth is that bullet
that I found in the sugar sack was a nine millimeter,
the same caliber that’s used in police pistols.
It’s noticeably larger than a .32,
which was the bullet that you showed me
in the police station.
I can show you that the bullet
that you took out of the sugar sack
and the bullet that killed Fred Turner
were both .32 caliber.
Oh, I’m sure you can, because you switched them.
I’m also sure a real forensics report
will indicate that Tommy’s fingerprints weren’t on the gun,
which you must’ve planted
only seconds before you found it.
And I have no doubt they’ll be able to prove
you also faked the paraffin test
that implicated Tommy.
Well, Mrs. Fletcher,
you certainly seem to have everything all figured out,
but there is absolutely nothing to connect me to Fred Turner.
Wrong, lieutenant.
You caught Turner pulling a jewelry store robbery.
In exchange for not turning him in,
you made an arrangement with him.
He’d supply the goods,
and you’d find someone to carry it to Europe.
Enter Monica Evers.
And who told you that?
I did, lieutenant.
I checked a little further into the records,
Mrs. Fletcher, and as it turned out,
Monica Evers was caught in a gambling sting
right in our own precinct.
She was in deep to the bookies.
I figured she’d do almost anything to get out.
And unfortunately for her, you were right.
And Turner was the only one
who knew that you were involved.
And Tommy had identified him.
So as soon as I arranged to meet you at the school,
you called Turner, got there before we did,
and killed him with a silencer.
How did you know that?
Because Tommy didn’t hear the shot.
You are good, Mrs. Fletcher.
You’re good.
You know, lieutenant,
Mrs. Fletcher told me she thought you were involved.
I said to myself, no way.
I’ve just never known a better cop than you.
Eddie,
I know you’d feel better if I gave you the speech
about the kids in college and the leaky plumbing
and the wife’s surgery, all these bozos
who belong in jail are living like kings.
But the truth is,
I like money.
Enough to commit murder for it.
I guess the next time I see you, Jessica,
it’ll be at my autograph party for my cookbook.
At which, I guarantee, they’ll still be talking
-about your dinner party. -Oh.
It was a magnificent meal, Susan.
You really outdid yourself.
Your solving of those murders
will stay with people a lot longer,
and with considerably fewer calories.
Hi, Mrs. Fletcher.
Hello, Tommy.
Mrs. Wells, your ears must be burning.
Mr. Eigers has been bragging about you
and your dinner and your new cookbook
to everyone who comes in the store.
Well, that’s not the only bragging
that’s been going on, Tommy.
Your dad was telling me
about your college scholarship in creative writing.
I wanted to tell you myself.
He’s very proud.
I know. I applied for it months ago.
I was afraid to tell him, but when it came through,
I think he was happier about it than I was.
Well, I think it’s delightful.
Oh, I almost forgot, Mrs. Fletcher,
my dad and I would like to invite you
to our house for dinner next Friday night.
Well, thank you, that would be very nice.
Great.
And don’t be too disappointed if it’s not great.
My dad, he picked up this heavy duty recipe
that’s sort of beyond his talents.
He’s been practicing all week.
The kitchen’s already a disaster area.
Susan, we know a little about disaster areas, don’t we?