[Jessica] Tonight on Murder, She Wrote.
I’ve decided to sell the company.
Ten million or we kill the deal.
Cabot Cove does need another doctor.
I don’t like losing patients to him.
You wiggle your hips a little
and I’m supposed to tell you everything Doug sent you here to find out?
-Harriet? -Please.
I’m sorry to say it looks as if Dr. Hazlitt
was treating her for the wrong problem.
You’ll do damn near anything to get him off the hook,
including if necessary, shifting more of the blame onto me.
As long as he’s still practicing medicine,
he’s nothing but a public menace.
[cheerful orchestral music]
[beeping]
[knocking on door]
Oh, Harriet, you don’t know how welcome you are.
I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, Jessica.
I was fixing some bugs on a new program
and when you start rewriting codes, time gets away from you.
Harriet, are you all right?
I’m fine. Thank you.
A little stressed out, but fine.
Oh, that makes both of us.
Would you like a cup of tea?
Water, please.
Oh, absolutely.
I’m so sorry to bother you like this, you know,
but except for you, the rest of Cabot Cove
seems to have very successfully ignored the computer age.
Well, hopefully this time tomorrow, I will be doing the same.
I have decided to sell the company.
What?
We are, as they say, in negotiations
and we had an offer
and we’re hoping the buyer’s pockets
are deeper than he’s letting on.
We should know one way or the other this afternoon.
I started writing computer programs because they were fun.
They’re no longer fun and haven’t been for some time, Jessica.
And they are causing more than just stomach problems.
Oh, I’m sorry.
You and Allan?
Yes, unfortunately.
Now what do you say we find those 40 pages you claim to have lost?
Listen, Harriet, if you can do that,
I will dedicate this book to you.
I mean, it’s bad enough that I did
or didn’t do what I should have done.
The fact that it just sits there and beeps at you.
Oh, don’t let it get to you.
I’m more than half convinced they’re designed to make us all feel stupid.
Well, they certainly succeed.
[man] Oh, come on, lighten up, would you?
I mean, we’re not exactly talking serious money here.
At least not the way you make it.
How I make it isn’t the issue, John,
it’s how you lose it.
When five million of my dollars go south,
I want to know why.
Okay. How’s this?
It’s the nature of the game.
I come up with a hot original idea
and the same day, 27 nerds between here and Silicon Valley
hit on the same notion.
I don’t know, it’s--
It’s like, it’s floating around in the ether,
for God’s sake.
So goodbye all the money for research and development.
Does that do it for you?
No.
I wasn’t sure about all this computer crap
when you first came to me about investing
and I’m less sure about it now.
So you had better make sure that this Cabot Cove deal is a lock.
It is. Rudy, it’s a slam-dunk.
The woman hasn’t even scratched the surface on this software of hers.
It makes every other small business
virtually look like stone tablets and the market is there.
Your ten million is gonna get you 25, maybe 30 inside a year.
Six months.
Six.
Oh, and, John, just so that we understand each other.
That money doesn’t belong to me.
It’s funneled through me, right?
I’m accountable for every cent and these people don’t tolerate failure.
[sheriff] I’m telling you, Doc,
I feel like I’ve had this cough about half my life.
I mean, shouldn’t I be taking some kind of pill
or shot or test or something?
Pills or tests or something cost money.
I don’t figure you’re all that anxious to spend unnecessarily.
Not on what you get paid.
And frankly, I don’t think you need them anyway.
Sheriff, if I could help you, I would.
So I say, chances are you’re tired.
Your resistance is down.
But that’s nothing that a week in the Bahamas wouldn’t fix just fine.
Well, that’s wonderful.
If I can’t afford medical care, how can I--
Afford a trip to the tropics?
Man has no sense of logic.
You’re kidding.
No.
The tests show it’s definitely not hay fever
or any other kind of pollen reaction.
So what am I allergic to?
-Printer’s ink. -What?
Specifically, the kind they use in the Cabot Cove Gazette.
You mean I’m going to have to get someone to read it to me?
Hardly, Miss Simpson,
there’s a wonderful new medication that just got FDA approval.
A series of shots, we should have you cleared up in a couple of weeks.
No wonder.
Pardon me?
Oh, nothing, it’s just that apparently,
my former physician was treating me for the wrong problem.
Look, why don’t you stop by my office tomorrow?
We’ll get you started.
On one condition.
That you take a look at the open house I’m showing, over on Elm.
I think it’s a bit premature for me
to be looking at houses, Miss Simpson.
Oh, nonsense, doctor.
This house is you.
The truth is,
I don’t know how long I’ll be staying in Cabot Cove.
Setting up a practice in a one-doctor town
was not the smartest move I ever made.
Particularly, when the competition happens to be well,
like one of the founding fathers.
Good morning, Eve.
[woman on PA] Mrs. Evans, please meet your party in the visiting room.
Dr. Beckwith.
Dr. Hazlitt.
Bless you.
I hope you’re looking after that allergy of Mrs. Simpson’s, doctor.
Maybe you’ll have more luck with it, than I did.
[Jessica] Oh, Seth, that’s ridiculous.
I mean, what the computer has done
is to increase my output by about 40%.
[Seth] Sure, and you know what’s gonna happen then?
You’ll write more and more books.
Supply will outstrip demand.
Jessica Fletcher mysteries will become a drug on the market.
You’ll be writing yourself to the poor house.
Has it ever occurred to you
that your bad mood has absolutely nothing to do with my computer?
Oh, is that so?
I’ll have you know, there’s a law
against practicing psychiatry without a license.
Look, I don’t blame you.
Believe me that--
I know what you’re gonna say next.
You’re going to say it has something to do with this Dr.--
What’s his name?
Yes, but the truth is
Cabot Cove does need another doctor.
And for one thing, it’ll make your life much simpler.
Oh, sure.
Another young hotshot who figures that computers
and lab tests can take the place of intuition
and treating the whole patient.
Oh, all right.
All right, you win.
I don’t like losing patients to him.
Now are you satisfied?
Well, it’s a start.
Got it.
No, no, they don’t need any special fertilizer.
Well, that’s fine.
No, delivery is no problem.
-My regular run to Boston is Wednesday. -Hi, Allan.
Excellent. Thank you.
Harriet’s in the house.
Seth, can we talk a minute?
Of course.
Seth, I want you to give it to me straight.
How’s Harriet doing?
Basically, I think she’s healthy.
This chronic indigestion she seems to be having.
My feeling is that’s stress.
As soon as she gets out from under this computer business,
I think she’ll feel a lot better.
That makes two of us.
Damn thing’s taken over our lives.
Now her health.
Seems to be getting worse not better, Doc.
Allan, I’m keeping a careful eye on her.
I promise you,
if she doesn’t get better in a couple of weeks, we’ll try an upper GI.
Beyond that, well there’s not much else I can tell you.
Jessica, you did not have to do that.
I know, but you didn’t have to save my life
or find that 40 pages.
Oh, by the way I almost forgot.
You left these in my house.
Oh, my.
First my stomach, now my memory.
-I’m falling apart. -No.
I hope you don’t mean that.
Oh, come on, Seth.
How could you be cool, calm, and collected
if you were going to meet somebody
who’s going to hand you several million dollars?
Well, not me.
Hmm, I was going to wait on this.
But I think I’d like you to check
into the medical center tomorrow morning.
I’ve got some tests I want to run.
Seth, that’s impossible.
Promise I’ll come in the first of the week.
Seth, I’m fine.
Allan, we’re supposed to leave in 15 minutes.
You relax.
Your brother’s not here yet.
[car honking]
Allan, I’m afraid you’re wrong.
He’s just arrived and he has Gretchen with him.
Now there is no way that I am going to allow
that woman to go to this meeting.
Allan, you have got to keep her here and keep her preoccupied.
Only if you promise to calm down.
Don’t let your brother lawyer you into blowing this deal.
This is not the time to discuss that.
I think we’ll be running along.
Bye.
Thank you, Seth, Jessica.
Look, just remember what we want.
To get rid of this business.
Start spending some time together again, okay?
Okay.
Couldn’t you have done that between here and Boston?
If you would have picked me up on time,
I could have checked into the hotel
and we could have freshened up there.
Hi, Mrs. Fletcher, doctor.
[Jessica] Hi, Doug.
[Seth] Hi, Doug.
It’s only for a day or two.
So please try to make the best of it, all right?
All right.
But if she says one word about how much my shoes cost,
or my jewelry, I’m walking out.
All right, enough of the fun and games.
The number’s ten million firm.
Oh, hey, come on-- look, Mrs. Wooster,
you know how grim the whole computer market is these days,
software in particular.
I mean, I was barely able to convince my people
to give me this one last chat.
And when I suggested
that out of fairness to you that they up the price,
they laughed in my face.
Please, Halsey, spare us the snake oil.
You think I don’t do my homework?
You think I don’t know what kind of shape your operation is in?
And how badly you need us?
Maybe we should just forget about the whole thing and get out of here.
Come on, let’s go.
Mrs. Wooster, you’re gonna be making a huge mistake.
Just don’t listen to him.
Sis, he thinks because you live in the sticks,
he can con you out of everything you own.
Doug, I am perfectly capable.
Oh, I know you are.
What’s the matter?
Harriet, what’s the matter?
-Harriet. -Please.
Mrs. Wooster, are you all right?
Oh, my God.
Yeah, yeah.
We need a doctor and an ambulance fast.
Mrs. Wooster?
She’s in surgery.
For what?
I don’t know, doctor. I wasn’t told.
Mr. Wooster.
We did everything we could.
I’m afraid Mrs. Wooster has died.
There was massive internal hemorrhaging.
Oh, my God.
Apparently the result of a stomach ulcer.
Of course, there’ll be an autopsy.
An ulcer?
But she didn’t show the symptoms.
What indications did she display, doctor?
Mild gastric irritation, no severe pain,
common stress related dyspepsia.
Then I assume you ran a GI series.
Well, I told her to come in next week.
If he had done it, would he have anticipated this?
It would probably have revealed
the presence of stomach lesions in the early stages, yes.
Wait a minute.
Harriet Wooster was my patient for 20 years.
I treated her for what I saw.
What my knowledge of her told me she was suffering from
and that was certainly not a bleeding ulcer.
You know what it sounds like I’m hearing from you?
A lot of damned excuses.
Well, I suppose the tests might have shown something,
but until recently, there was absolutely nothing
to indicate for any tests at all.
It was simple garden-variety chronic indigestion.
Which I’m sure you know, we now regard as a far more
significant indicator of future problems.
Oh, right, right.
Whether you know the person inside the patient or not,
just prescribe a pricy computer printout.
[Jessica] Oh, please, stop both of you.
You’re not going to settle anything here, whatever the reason.
The fact is, a dear friend is dead.
We, uh, the entire staff did everything we could.
We gave her a couple of transfusions.
We thought we had it under control.
But we lost her.
Allan.
I’m sorry.
Excuse me.
That old hag blew it, didn’t he?
Oh, Doug, please.
No. He killed my sister, right?
I’m right about that, right?
Well, yeah.
I’m sorry to say, it looks as if Dr. Hazlitt
was treating her for the wrong problem.
As long as he’s still practicing medicine,
he’s nothing but a public menace.
Mr. Wooster.
Forgive me for startling you.
I’m very sorry to hear about your wife.
I--I never had the pleasure of meeting her,
but we shared certain interests.
And now-- now you and I share them.
What are you talking about?
Who are you?
Jut someone with a piece of friendly advice.
If you say no to Mr. Halsey’s offer to buy your company,
certain people will be deeply offended.
And these people are unpredictable.
You understand me?
Good.
I just need a little information to complete my report.
Like what was that term you used to describe Mrs. Wooster’s condition?
You know, when we brought her into the emergency room,
something about her extremities.
They were cyanotic.
Yeah, that’s it. [coughing]
Excuse me.
What exactly does that mean?
It usually indicates inadequate oxygenation of the blood.
How long have you had that cough, sheriff?
I don’t know, about four or five weeks.
So that’s the reason her fingers were kind of blue?
Yes.
Open your mouth, please.
But I--
Yeah.
Just as I thought.
There’s a lot of inflammation down there.
You’re allergic to any medications?
Not that I know of.
Anyway you also said something about her eyes.
Sheriff, I think the person you ought to talk to is the coroner.
And take two of these a day,
it’s gonna knock out that cough in a hurry.
No I don’t--
Thanks.
[Allan] Doesn’t seem real.
I can’t believe she’s gone.
That makes two of us.
You know, growing up, she always seemed so solid,
so indestructible.
Are you gonna be all right?
Listen, I really appreciate your taking care of all the arrangements.
I don’t think I could’ve managed that myself.
No problem.
Oh, I spoke to Halsey.
I’m gonna be meeting with him tomorrow after the services.
What are you talking about?
I gave him an ultimatum.
Ten million or we kill the deal.
Doug?
Don’t worry.
He’ll find the money somewhere.
I can’t believe you’re talking about money at a time like this.
Look, it’s not easy for me either, okay?
But somebody’s got to take care of the things that need to be finished.
Then take care of it my way, the way Harriet wanted it.
Accept the man’s offer and get it over with.
What, and let you throw away an extra three or four million dollars?
Without Harriet, the company isn’t worth what he’s offering now.
Well, I happen to know how bad Halsey needs the deal.
Sure it isn’t you who needs it?
All right, Allan, come on, that’s not fair.
Doug has always put your interests ahead of his.
Yours and his sister’s.
Let’s not forget where the seed money
for this little venture came from, huh?
Who wrote the check that got this whole thing started?
You won’t do too badly, will you?
Twenty per cent of $7.5 million on a $15,000 investment?
Not before Harriet’s even buried,
you’re running around trying to fatten up your share?
You bastard,
you know, all the time when she is working on this,
you never gave her an ounce of support.
Okay, okay. Stop, Doug, stop it.
Allan, he really is doing this for you.
He’s a negotiator.
He knows business.
At least think about taking his advice.
Oh, hi.
Have you seen Dr. Hazlitt?
I just saw him up at the front, doctor.
Great. Thanks a lot.
Dr. Hazlitt.
You have a minute?
Dr. Beckwith.
I know we have our differences,
but I wanted to offer my condolences.
I know you were close to the deceased.
Amazing how you can start out to be
sentimental and end up clinical all in the same breath.
Her name was not the deceased.
She was Harriet Wooster.
She had a mole on her left shoulder blade.
And an appendectomy when she was 14.
She used to drive to Boston every fall
to see the Celtics play the Lakers.
I believe there was some sort of a side bet.
But I never asked and she never volunteered.
I’m sorry.
Are you?
Good. That’s a start.
Dr. Hazlitt, I really wish you would cut me some slack.
You have your way of doctoring and I have mine.
There’s no reason why both can’t coexist.
I’m afraid there is.
A little something called the Hippocratic Oath, perhaps you remember it.
"I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life
to the service of humanity.
I will give my teachers the respect and gratitude which are they due.
I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity.
The health of my client will be my first consideration."
I know the oath, doctor.
I think you know it here, all right.
But I’m not at all sure that you know it here.
That’s not fair and it’s not true.
Look, I know you’re angry.
I know you’re upset.
You have every right to be.
Death is worse when it comes to someone we care about.
But don’t take your anger out on me.
I don’t deserve it.
And I don’t need it.
And we have to find some way to work together in the same world.
Dr. Beckwith, I’m afraid that you and I
will never work together in the same anything.
And I for one would like to keep it that way.
[sheriff coughing]
The autopsy?
I haven’t heard.
Anyway we already know what she died from.
Do we?
You’ve got that look on your face again.
Why do I have that feeling that you’re gonna tell me something
I really don’t want to hear?
Well, it isn’t anything that I can really put my finger on, sheriff.
But if Seth is to be believed,
Harriet’s ulcer does seem to have taken
an awfully abrupt turn for the worse.
Oh, come on, Mrs. F.
I know how you feel about Doc Hazlitt.
And I could certainly understand
why he would want to believe something unusual happened.
I mean, not that I have any doubts about him or anything.
Hi there, Mrs. Fletcher.
Hello, Andy.
Here you go, sheriff. Here’s that prescription from Dr. Beckwith.
Thanks.
Hi.
Hello, Dr. Beckwith.
You know, I didn’t get a chance
to say this over at the medical center,
but I’m really sorry about the dec--
About your friend, Mrs. Wooster.
Thank you.
Look, I know that you and Dr. Hazlitt go back a long ways
and well, I just hope you don’t regard me as the enemy.
Oh, of course not.
I know he’s convinced I’m part computer
and part textbook, but what it is,
is I just want to make as many people well as I can.
It’s not about money.
I do what I believe, is good science, good medicine.
It’s the way I was taught.
Well, Seth is going through something
that would tear anyone apart.
You’re not to blame for his suffering, doctor.
And I think he knows that.
In a way, he reminds me of my father,
always blustering and snapping.
But Dad always felt deeply about things.
He just didn’t like to show 'em, kind of kept bottled up.
As if an honest emotion ever got out,
it might contaminate someone.
Listen to me, I’m sorry, I’m rambling.
No, no, no.
I’m glad that we had a chance to talk,
and that I have the opportunity to tell you
how really very delighted I am
that you’ve decided to practice here.
Well, I better go practice.
Is she a beauty or what?
Look at this Jameson heavy duty, model number 28.
Seth, that’s not the one you showed me in the catalog that cost $395.
Hey, yeah.
The sine qua non of fly reels.
But aren’t you always bragging to me
that you never pay more than $25
for a piece of fishing equipment
because the trout can’t tell the difference?
Well, maybe I’ve decided to
be a little good to myself for a change, huh?
Take a little more time off.
Catch up on some things I ought to be doing.
Seth.
Who knows?
I might even decide to retire.
Move over before I fall over.
Make room for the new.
Seth, will you please stop?
Now look, there is not a shred of evidence
that anything you did or didn’t do
actually caused Harriet’s death.
Who said this conversation had anything to do with Harriet?
I did because I know how your mind works.
[telephone ringing]
Pardon me, woman.
But you happen to be mistaken.
I’m doing exactly as you said.
I am dealing in reality.
Hello?
Yes, he’s right here.
Dr. Hazlitt.
Yes.
Well, thank you.
I appreciate the call.
That was the county coroner.
He just completed his autopsy on Harriet Wooster,
turns out the actual cause of death
was the transfusion.
She was given the wrong type of blood.
By mistake, AB instead of her own type, O-negative.
Oh, how awful.
But it does prove that you aren’t to blame.
You're wrong.
If I had been treating Harriet for what she really had,
a severe stomach ulcer causing hemorrhage,
she wouldn’t have needed that transfusion.
She’d still be alive.
Mrs. Fletcher, since I’ve been suspended,
I’ll be spending all my time in Bangor.
I told you, I’ve got nothing to say.
Look, I’m really trying not to fix blame or point fingers.
Mrs. Fletcher, don’t try and do a number on me.
I might not live in Cabot Cove,
but I’ve worked with Dr. Hazlitt for years,
so I know how tight the two of you are.
Which means you’ll do damn near anything to get him off the hook,
including if necessary, shifting more of the blame onto me.
Oh, no, Laura. That’s not--
No. I said goodbye, Mrs. Fletcher.
Well, not before you hear me out.
Look, I’m here because a good and kind man
has been severely damaged.
And if it’s at all possible, I want to help him,
but not at your expense
unless that would also be to expense of the truth.
I simply want to get as much information as I can
to cut through the rumors and the innuendo,
so that we can really find out what happened to Harriet Wooster.
Believe me, so would I.
Before they suspended me, I went back over the records.
It turns out I was the one who was on duty four weeks ago
and then ten days ago when Mrs. Wooster donated blood.
See, it’s common policy.
A lot of people donate blood for themselves
and we hang on to it until they need it.
And when Harriet needed the transfusion,
who delivered the blood to the OR?
I did.
The same two pints I took from her.
See I handled all the labeling, all the testing.
I just don’t understand it.
And you have no idea
how those labels could’ve gotten mixed up?
Oh, believe me, Mrs. Fletcher.
I have retraced my steps a dozen times.
I couldn’t even find a vapor trail.
-Would you like some coffee? -No, no, thank you.
We were running our annual blood drive.
Most of the time I was the only one on duty.
All I know is it happened, because of something I did,
some mix up.
And now, it’s cost me my job,
it’s going to cost the center millions of dollars in lawsuits
and worst of all,
it’s already cost that poor woman her life.
I’ll take that one. It looks good.
Thank you.
Hello, John.
What are you doing here?
Oh, I just--
Just came to extend my congratulations.
Deal isn’t closed yet.
No, I’m talking about the recently deceased, Harriet Wooster.
Wait a minute.
You’re not suggesting that I had something to do with her death.
Look, she was a problem and the problem disappeared.
You’re becoming more efficient.
Oh, I see. This is terrific.
You could just show up one day and start accusing me
of something you probably did yourself.
I mean, it wouldn’t the first time.
As long as we’re on the subject of efficiency.
I’ve got a plane to catch.
Now I spoke with the grieving husband.
I think he’s a man we can work with.
So close the deal.
Oh, and without Harriet Wooster,
this company’s assets aren’t quite so juicy.
So I’m not going to authorize one cent over four million.
You can’t do that to me. You can’t tie my hands like that.
Just wrap it up, John.
All right?
If a problem comes up, deal with it, efficiently.
[Jessica] I’d like a number in Bangor, please.
Laura Garrison.
I don’t have an address.
Thank you.
[telephone ringing]
Hello?
[Jessica] Yeah, Miss Garrison, this is Jessica Fletcher.
I have a question.
Did you actually see Harriet Wooster’s face
when she was brought in to the medical center emergency room?
No, I wasn’t in the emergency room.
I didn’t see Mrs. Wooster until I took her blood into the OR and--
Oh, no, no, wait a minute.
No. I never did see her face.
It was obscured by an oxygen mask.
I wonder, could you describe her to me?
What she looked like the day she came in to give blood?
Well, no, not really.
You’re positive?
Try to remember.
Mrs. Fletcher, it was the middle of our blood drive.
I’m good at remembering faces if I see them again, but--
No, there were so many people going in and out.
It was all a blur.
Yes.
Well, thank you.
Look, what I’m trying to do is just get a little whiff
of what’s going on inside of this guy
Halsey’s head, okay?
Mm-hmm.
How far he’s willing to go so I can gauge
how far I should turn to heat up.
And what’s the matter with just asking him?
Gretchen, are you serious?
He’s not gonna tell me a damn thing.
You see, with Harriet out of the picture,
now it might be all new ball game.
Are you saying that you want me to find out?
Well, you do always get me to tell you anything you want.
My God.
Are you saying that you want me
to do the same thing with John Halsey?
Maybe a little variation on the theme.
Prelude, maybe.
I don’t believe this.
We’re the next thing to married, Doug,
and you’re asking me to crawl into the sack with some guy
that you’re doing business with?
Well, I’m not saying you have to go the distance,
but what I am saying, sweetheart,
is that when you talk to the man,
just picture 20% of seven and a half million dollars.
[sheriff] Am I allowed to ask where this is going?
[Jessica] A drug store in Bangor.
Laura Garrison’s there waiting for it.
I don’t get it.
What does she need with a picture of Ms. Wooster?
Forget it, sheriff.
You’re not going to get anymore of an answer than I did.
You do know something, don’t you Mrs. F?
Oh, come on, give.
There was nothing in that autopsy except the blood mix up.
Well, as far as the autopsy went, yes.
Well, so what are we talking about?
Well, sheriff, if I was to tell you now,
you’d probably say it was too far fetched.
Say, I just realize your cough is getting a lot better.
Yeah, it-- it is.
At least I can do something right.
[telephone ringing]
Sheriff’s station. Metzger.
Uh, yeah. She is.
Just a minute.
Hello, Laura?
Are you certain?
Thank you.
Well, gentlemen, I was right.
Harriet Wooster’s death had absolutely nothing to do with negligence.
She was murdered.
Now wait.
We fax the blood bank nurse this picture of Ms. Wooster.
The same nurse who took two pints of blood from Ms. Wooster.
And now the nurse says she never laid eyes on Ms. Wooster before?
Jess, that’s not possible.
It is if the Harriet Wooster who gave blood
wasn’t the same Harriet Wooster as the photograph.
You mean that someone other than Harriet,
with a blood type fatally incompatible
with Harriet’s, donated blood in Harriet’s name?
I think that’s exactly what happened.
Well, that would mean the donor was setting up
Ms. Wooster in advance for murder?
But how would anyone know when Harriet’s ulcer
was going to start hemorrhaging?
Well, that’s the part that I can’t answer,
but maybe a doctor would be able to give us an explanation.
In fact, I’d be willing to bet that two doctors
would be able to do it even better.
Two doc-- oh, no, Jess.
You can forget that, not this fella.
No.
[Jessica] Now look.
Look, the reason you’re both here
is far larger than any philosophical differences.
And if you don’t put it all behind you,
a murderer may escape.
All right, now.
If your plan was to set Harriet Wooster up,
so that she’d acquire the symptoms of a bleeding ulcer,
and start hemorrhaging, so that she’d need a blood transfusion,
how would you make that happen?
[both] Poison.
Yes, I thought that was a possibility.
Yeah, but I was there when she died.
I didn’t see any obvious indications of poison.
And the autopsy certainly didn’t show any?
Well, of course, you gentlemen would know more about all this,
but in researching poisons for one of my books,
I seem to remember that certain substances
don’t normally show up in a post mortem
unless the medical examiner is looking for them.
And even then they can be very difficult to detect.
There are certain acids
that produce the symptoms Harriet displayed.
Corrosives. Sure.
Particularly when administered in gradual amounts.
And aren’t there some alkalis that produce the same effect?
Antimony for one.
Yes.
And steroids taken orally.
Yes, and isn’t it true that if the dose is really small,
it might never show up in an autopsy?
Pathology 201,
poisons ingested in less than lethal amounts
can sometimes be impossible to detect.
Which leaves us where, Jess?
And why?
Why would anyone want to kill Harriet Wooster in the first place?
And who could have given the blood?
I think I may have part of the answer.
Dr. Beckwith, may I use your phone?
I have to call Bangor.
[Gretchen] I don’t know.
It’s just been building for weeks and weeks
and then yesterday, I just couldn’t take it anymore.
I guess Doug and I just see the world
through different colored filters.
It happens.
I’ve always felt relationships were made to be broken.
I mean, best parts are always the beginning.
Yeah.
So what now?
Now back to Boston, and writing ad copy,
and getting back into circulation.
What about you?
Do you think you can still get this deal going with Doug?
It’s worth a shot.
I don’t know, he’s not exactly
in a negotiating mood these days.
What are you in the mood for?
Another drink, maybe.
Then what, we go back to my room?
You wiggle your hips a little
and I’m supposed to tell you everything Doug sent you here to find out?
Maybe I should have played along
just to see how far you would have gone.
Pardon me, Miss Price.
Would you happen to know where I’d find Doug Simmons?
No, no, I wouldn’t,
but I would be more than happy to give him a message.
Well, all right.
Mr. Halsey, would you be offended if I took Miss Price away
for a private talk?
Actually, it’d be my pleasure.
Well, I assume that Mr. Simmons has not completed the sale.
No, he hasn’t. Why?
And I assume that your conversation with Mr. Halsey
is in some sort of negotiating capacity for Mr. Simmons?
Mrs. Fletcher, what’s the message?
Well, I just wanted to warn
Mr. Simmons about being very careful
about his dealings with Mr. Halsey.
You see, the autopsy of Harriet Wooster
has revealed traces of hydro-benzo propene.
I’m not sure that I’m following you.
I...
well, there’s nothing conclusive yet.
But it’s a compound that’s been traced
to his manufacturing operation near Boston.
Are you saying that Mr. Halsey might have--
Well, it’s a highly toxic substance.
And the county medical examiner
is going to run another autopsy tomorrow
to see if it might have contributed to Harriet’s death.
My God, that’s awful.
Well, please warn Mr. Simmons to be very, very careful.
Mrs. Fletcher, thank you very, very much.
I will.
I really appreciate it.
What the hell are you doing here?
The autopsy.
They found traces of the poison.
What?
No, so far they think it was Halsey,
but by tomorrow they’re gonna know for sure that it was murder.
No, they’re gonna find out that it was my blood and then--
Allan, none of this was supposed to happen for us.
Gretchen, stop.
Look, the poison, there is no way they could’ve discovered it.
No, it turns out it’s the same stuff
that Halsey’s company uses in computers.
Computers? A herbicide?
Yeah, well, that’s what Mrs. Fletcher said.
She said that it was hydro-benzo something
or other, I don’t know.
Yeah.
Damn it, Gretchen, she’s tricked you.
What?
There’s no way she can prove it.
You go back to Boston with Doug,
keep your mouth shut and we’re covered.
[Jessica] Not quite, Allan.
Gretchen, I was sure that you had an accomplice
and I really didn’t think that it was John Halsey.
But in my wildest dreams I’d never guess that it was you, Allan.
So that’s how it happened.
When I asked Laura Garrison to contact the Red Cross in Boston,
she was able to learn that Gretchen’s blood type was AB.
The same type that killed Harriet Wooster.
So you just showed up at the county blood bank
and told them you were Harriet Wooster?
The next time you donate blood,
see how many people ask to see your verification.
As it happened, Miss Garrison didn’t know
Harriet anyway.
But how did you put that part of it together?
Well, it was tea that I was drinking this afternoon
in Dr. Beckwith’s office.
Then what, we’re doing tea leaves now?
No.
It was the plastic cup I used
that reminded me of something I saw at the medical center
right after Harriet died.
I noticed that Gretchen disappeared for a few minutes.
And when she came back, she brought tea and coffee in paper cups
that were imprinted with the blood bank logo.
Then yesterday when I visited the blood bank,
I saw Nurse Garrison take some of those same cups
from inside a cabinet.
I didn’t realize it at the time,
but for you to know where to find those cups,
you have to very familiar with our little medical center
which is rather remarkable for someone who lives in Boston.
Well, it’s just beyond me.
You had to have been planning this thing for months.
Almost a year.
And the herbicide, it was alkaline?
I gave her small doses, couple of times a week.
Which induced chronic indigestion.
And then when her blood was in place in the blood bank,
that’s when you zapped your wife with a big one, right?
Enough to ulcerate the stomach lining,
bring on the hemorrhaging,
so that she’d need more blood.
All this, so that you and this woman could be involved.
That and because I was sick and tired of playing second banana
to that damn computer nonsense.
The day Harriet started that business was the day
our marriage ended and then...
Doug introduced me to Gretchen on one of my trips into Boston and...
it’s like the clouds parted.
I was being offered a new life.
Andy, get them out of here.
Well, sheriff, it’s nice to see
that Dr. Beckwith has provided you
with such a quick cure for your cough.
Well, it was sort of an accident.
Although, I have to admit,
I was getting pretty tired of coughing.
Wonder how long it’s gonna be
before you’re tired of that rash?
Do you remember a couple of years ago,
when we decided to try one of these miracle cures
and it turned out that you were allergic?
Well, that’s why I didn’t prescribe it this time.
Oh, boy.
Sheriff, I distinctly remember asking you
if you had an allergy to any medication.
On the other hand, I suppose I should have
double-checked with Dr. Hazlitt.
I’m coming to the conclusion there is a great deal
I can learn from you, doctor.
I’m hoping we can work together more closely in the future,
if that’s okay with you.
Well, I’d like that a lot.
Matter of fact, there might be one or two new wrinkles
you could fill me in on.
Well, now that we have ironed that one out,
gentlemen, do you suppose you could put your heads together
and save Sheriff Metzger from his misery?
Absolutely.
And Dr. Beckwith and I can take that under advice
but in the meantime, as far as I’m concerned, he can suffer.
Doc!