MURDER, SHE WROTE: WIDOW, WEEP FOR ME {SECOND SEASON PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The second season premiere 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, wealthy widow "Marguerite Canfield" – a.k.a. Jessica – arrives at a luxurious tropical hotel, the Brittany Bay, secretly intending to investigate the murder of her friend Antoinette Farnsworth, who had sent Jessica a fearful letter right before her death. She meets employee Myrna Montclair, a former famous actress, and Chief Inspector Claude Rensselaer, who is not fooled by her pretend persona and disapproves of Jessica's plan to entrap the murderer. Manager Eric Brahm sweet-talks the wealthy "Marguerite," and Jessica chats with fellow guest Mrs. Alva Crane and meets Veronica Harrold, a sweet-natured schoolteacher who's struck up a romance with Olympian medalist Sven Torvald. Irish charmer – and possible bank robber – jMichael Haggerty takes a fancy to Marguerite, but a mugger interrupts their stroll and makes off with Jessica's purse, closely pursued by security chief Sheldon Greenberg, who's been keeping an eye on the "wealthy widow."
Later, Veronica explains that she unexpectedly won her trip to Brittany Bay and has met a number of friendly strangers, including Antoinette. Elsewhere, Brahm discovers that Haggerty has fibbed about his past, and Jessica finds that Greenberg staged the mugging to undercover her true identity. Brahm and Montclair are revealed to be secretly married, and when Haggerty offers Jessica a lift to her rendezvous with Rensselaer, he explains that he knew intimate details about Antoinette's life, including the secret of her quickly annulled first marriage – and also knows that Jessica is not Marguerite. When Alva is found murdered as well, Rensselaer guesses it to be the work of the same robber who attacked Antoinette, but Jessica explains that a seasoned thief would've noticed that Alva's jewelry was fake. Greenberg suspects Brahm, as he was connected to Alva, Antoinette, and a third would-be victim.
Haggerty, now aware of Jessica's real mission, explains that he works for Antoinette's elderly father, who many years ago forced her to give up the child she had by her impoverished first husband – a child who is now Veronica. Jessica realizes that Veronica's surprise trip was engineered to reunite mother and daughter, and that Veronica could now be in danger from the killer seeking her inheritance. Haggerty and Jessica are extremely suspicious to learn that Veronica and Sven are suddenly engaged, but under stern questioning, he denies going as far as murder to gain his desired fortune. Sven's travel schedule exonerates him from the first robbery and therefore presumably the others, and Brahm decides to fire Greenberg for failing in his security duties. Jessica then determines that Greenberg is the real killer and must have used his master key to retrieve Alva's real jewels from her safe-deposit box, as she always kept her own key on her person, and Haggerty discovers Alva's and Antoinette's gems in Greenberg's belongings. With the mystery solved, Veronica heads off to meet her now-remorseful grandfather, and Jessica bids Haggerty a fond farewell. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 29, 1985 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:11199
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Murder; Jewel thieves
- 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
- Michael A. Hoey … Director
- Richard Levinson … Created by
- William Link … Created by
- Richard Markowitz … Music by
- John Addison … Theme Music by
- Angela Lansbury … Cast, Jessica Fletcher
- Len Cariou … Cast, Michael Haggerty
- Cyd Charisse … Cast, Myrna Montclair LeRoy
- Mel Ferrer … Cast, Eric Brahm
- Howard Hesseman … Cast, Sheldon Greenberg
- John Phillip Law … Cast, Sven Torvald
- Anne Lockhart … Cast, Veronica Harrold
- Raymond St. Jacques … Cast, Chief Inspector Claude Rensselaer
- Mary Wickes … Cast, Mrs. Alva Crane
- Jerry Boyd … Cast, Doorman
- Emmett Dennis … Cast, Sergeant D'Arcy
- Geoff Heise … Cast, Barnes
- Ed Randolph … Cast, Croupier
- Ektara … Cast, Desk Clerk
- Reggie Savard … Cast, Antoinette Farnsworth
- Claude Cole … Cast, Bellman
- Tony Webster … Cast, Steward
- Marilyn Conn … Cast, Secretary