Murder, She Wrote Season 3, Episode 6
"Dead Man’s Gold"
Original Airdate: November 9, 1986
Writer: Robert Van Scoyk
Director: Seymour Robbie
Cast: Angela Lansbury, Tom Bosley, William Windom, Grant Goodeve, Robert Hogan, Wendy Kilbourne, John Laughlin, Sean McClory, Julia Montgomery, Leslie Nielsen, J. Eddie Peck, Ian Ruskin
Tonight on Murder, She Wrote, a clutch of sexy young fortune hunters arrive in Cabot Cove in search of sunken treasure. Seems a map uncovered in the Florida Keys led them to the resting place of a British merchant vessel that went down in 1777, laden with gold. Backing the venture is world-renowned adventurer David Everett (Leslie Nielsen), who greets Jessica with a big ol’ smooch! The silver fox knew her as Jessie MacGill 35 years ago. Though they never dated and it never would’ve worked out–that framed photo of Jessica and the late Frank is omnipresent–they both allude to unspoken feelings. She even knows he’s had four wives. Our girl knows her way around the society section.
This is as good a time as any to praise this episode for its period-appropriate sleuthing. In an era well before Wikipedia or Facebook, Jessica manages to dig up information via library resources like Allenby’s Leaders of Industry. That’s how she determines that one of the divers, Larry (Goodeve), isn’t the son of an electronics tycoon as David tells her, but the tycoon himself. Another plot point that roots this one firmly in 1986? Pay phones. Our murder victim’s pocket change–or lack thereof–helps Jessica determine if she made any calls in the moments leading up to her death. As I mention in my recap of this week’s It: Welcome to Derry, much of the fun in watching mysteries set in different eras lie in these methods of investigation no longer relevant or even available to us today.
Into the Deep End
Out on the harbor, David’s team scour the depths for sunken treasure. Our twenty-something divers include the aforementioned Larry, who’s secretly bankrolling the project under the guise of David’s “nephew.” The pair decided nepotism would play better with the others than wealthy playboy, I guess? The experienced divers are Coby Russell (Peck), Alexandra Bell (Montgomery; no relation), and Bill Ainsley (Laughlin). Bill’s glamorous wife, Susie (Kilbourne), remains on deck, reapplying her makeup. She is pointedly not a diver. But–just maybe–she’s a digger.
Everyone’s having fun pulling up old brass ship fittings until they realize Bill didn’t surface with everyone else. Something went wrong with his gear and he nearly drowned. He spends the rest of the episode in the hospital.
That night at Jessica’s, the paranoia sets in. It’s clear that someone sabotaged Bill’s oxygen tank, and Alex is pretty sure the financial arrangement is responsible for turning them against each other. As David explains, they all agreed to divide the treasure amongst themselves, with a decidedly mercenary “survivor takes all” clause in place should any of them die in the process. That means there’s real incentive to turn on one another. Scared and intoxicated, Alex crashes out, with Coby insisting on driving her back to their lodgings at Hill House. They don’t quite make it that far, however, and Alex demands to be left on the side of the road. Coby reluctantly leaves her with some pocket money and continues on to the inn, where he asks not to be disturbed.
Alex’s body is found early the next morning, presumably struck by a vehicle. Coby is taken into custody when glass from his smashed headlight is discovered at the scene. With Alex dead, Coby in jail, and Bill in the hospital, Larry pulls out of the expedition, taking his funding with him.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Larry’s offer to Jessica to ease the burden of her latest draft with the help of his company’s new software, Novelrite.
“505 best-selling plots from Shakespeare to Sidney Sheldon! Takes the work out of being creative.”
Jessica laughs off the offer of ChatGPT 1986 Edition.
“My Looks Are All I Have!”
It’s a bit flimsy, but the sticking point in this caper is the 20 cents missing from Alex’s person. Which was alleged to have been given to her by Coby, the lead suspect. But if she made a call, what number would’ve been known to her in this small town far from home? They’re literally looking for scraps of paper she could’ve written a number on. A different world. Jessica ultimately determines that the young woman would’ve called the number printed on the tag of her hotel room key. And she could only have spoken to one person, Bill’s wife Susie!
I mean, obviously.
Jessica confronts the Ainsleys in Bill’s hospital room, where Susie confesses to the whole conspiracy. She sabotaged her husband’s oxygen tank, not with the intention of killing him, but to create suspicion that other teammates were out to get each other. Bludgeoning Alex to death was an opportunity kill; she took her call and walked to meet her in the dark. After beating her to death, she smashed Coby’s headlight and planted the glass near Alex’s body. Why? Because she was convinced the others looked down on her as dumb, just a trophy wife. And with fewer hands on the purse, that would mean a bigger share for her and Bill. Sat in a wheelchair and apprised of his wife’s evil scheme, all color drains from Bill’s face.
Ships Passing in the Night
Seth and Amos spend much of the episode grousing over flirty David’s sudden arrival and Jessica’s acquiescence to his every whim. It’s more than a little adorable. They’re like fussy older brothers. The easy highlight is Seth letting himself into Jessica’s kitchen a little earlier than usual one morning to find David enjoying his breakfast, still cozy in his robe.
“Nice jammies,” Seth growls.
As it turns out, Seth has good reason for suspicion (though he should have a little more faith in Jessica). David’s affection for Jessica is real, but he’s definitely a rogue. He’s on the run from a loanshark, Barber (McClory), and his weasel of a body man, Small (Ruskin). The pair skulk about in the periphery, even observing David and his team from a little shoal, occasionally confronting him to remind him of the $50,000 he owes. Small doesn’t strike the most intimidating figure, and his blue collar English accent only makes him feel more like a petulant schoolyard bully. Great casting.
As the project unravels, Jessica loans David $10,000 to bail him out. Thankfully he’s able to repay her in the end, thanks to some poor decision making on Barber’s part. Through some fact-finding at the Cabot Cove Public Library (no wonder Jessica is crushing on him), David learns that the sunken ship likely isn’t in the harbor, but hopelessly lost farther out at sea. Sly as ever, he convinces Barber to bankroll the (doomed) project in exchange for any plunder, knowing full well there won’t be any. Jessica can’t help it. She asks David if any of his wives married him for his money, or if it was actually the other way around.
He’s off to his next adventure. They’re very fond of each other, but this was never meant to be.
“Seems you’re always sailing away,” she says.
“I never said I was smart.”
Next week, the Magnum PI crossover!
