Murder, She Wrote Season 2, Episode 2
"Joshua Peabody Died Here … Possibly"
Original airdate: October 6, 1985
Writer: Tom Sawyer
Director: Peter Crane
Cast: Angela Lansbury, Tom Bosley, William Windom, John Astin, Chuck Connors, John Ericson, Meg Foster, Michael Sarrazin, David Sheiner, Bobby Jacoby, Deborah White, Bobby Jacoby
Ah, the Harry Pierce saga! Having first appeared on Murder, She Wrote in "Hooray for Homicide" back in season one, John Astin returns in a new role for a unique multi-episode arc. Though a number of Mrs. Fletcher's friends and neighbors recur throughout the twelve seasons, real estate broker Harry Pierce is the only Cabot Cove regular who turns out to be a killer. Not yet though. Today's episode also sees the return of William Windom, last seen as lawyer Sam Breen in "Funeral at Fifty-Mile." Of course, he's better known as the loveable, if prickly, Dr. Seth Hazlitt M.D.. Swoon!
Right from the start Seth and Jessica exude a Tracy and Hepburn charm. It's one of my favorite friendship dynamics on television.
Then there's Joshua Peabody, hero of the American Revolution and Cabot Cove's favorite son. Possibly. Nobody can say for sure whether ol' Joshua ever drew breath (not yet anyway), but he'll continue to loom large over the series. He's the Great Pumpkin to Sheriff Tupper's Linus.
The Murder
We start at those unmistakable cliffs of Cabot Cove. Locals protest the construction of a luxury hotel with signs reading: "No Blind Progress" and "Down With Pollution." They're led by (one of) the town's (countless) antique dealer(s), David Marsh, played by Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?).
Fortunately, crooked developer Henderson Wheatley's operation is merely in the hole-digging stage. We know he's crooked because an illustration on the "Coming Soon…" placard depicts what appears to be LuthorCorp HQ standing vigil over the coast like a lost wonder of the ancient world. J.P. Morgan would be out there picketing. Work grinds to a halt as the locals stand in the path of the earth-movers.
Wheatley's obviously not the type to get dirt under his fingernails, but his red-faced foreman, Leo Kowalski (Swofford), and Harry Pierce are on hand to bluster with David and his people. Harry stands to make a king's ransom on this deal and he argues the tourist revenue is a boon for everyone. David wonders why, if it's so great for the Cove, Harry forced it through the zoning board when half its members were out of town.
Sheriff Tupper arrives to cool tensions just as workers spot something troubling in the excavation: a human skeleton.
Over at Doc Hazlitt's home office, Jessica picks Seth's brain. Forget her ailing back; she's met a roadblock plotting her latest novel. Before they can get into the weeds, Tupper barges into the office.
"Listen, Seth, if you can tear yourself loose from killin' off your patients—"
Quiet in the peanut gallery, but Cabot Cove doesn't have a full-time coroner. Seth has a go-bag. The man in the waiting area with a blanket-covered birdcage—your guess is as good as mine—will just have to wait.
Jessica tags along to the construction site, where Kowalski is eager to put his men back to work. Tupper's already made up his mind. The skeleton is obviously Joshua Peabody, struck down in heroic combat by a redcoat rifle butt in 1779. Seth discounts this immediately, believing Peabody to be little more than a folk tale. He's equally dismissive of crime scene protocol and chain of evidence, plucking the skull from the dirt and offering it to Jessica for inspection. Whoever this was took a heavy blow to the noggin'. Harry suggests they relocate the remains so they can continue working, but Jessica suggests this may be a crime scene.
"I'm not sure that anything should be disturbed, Amos," she says, still holding the skull.
As it turns out, the pit is the site of two murders. Henderson Wheatley winds up under a tarp before the hour's through. Good riddance, of course. But who did the deed?
The Players
The most obvious suspect is local do-gooder David Marsh. A family man, he and his wife Matty (White) run one of Cabot Cove's hundred-or-so antique shops.
His son Eric (Jacoby) is bullied for David's "Quixotic" endeavors. A prolific child actor, Jacoby appeared in Tremors and basically every 80s television show from Small Wonder to Manimal before turning his attention to…real estate development.
I really like David and wish he wasn't a one-off player. Stoic and righteous without being grim. But David is more than he seems. In another life he was Daniel Martin, an anti-war activist. Seventeen years ago he was sought for the bombing of a courthouse and he's been in hiding ever since, though he's still making waves for progressive causes as David Marsh.
That all comes to light when G-man Fred Keller comes calling, eager for Seth to compare an X-ray of Daniel Martin's leg—no kink shaming here—with David's records so he can finally collar the no-good hippie. Keller is played by Chuck Connors, who I know from The Rifleman and dads know from the MLB, the NBA, and The Rifleman.
The Joshua Peabody story also draws Del Scott to town. The reporter is unabashedly critical of Wheatley's dishonest business practices and dangerous cost-cutting measures. She's played by Meg Foster from They Live and Masters of the Universe. Maybe the most piercing, at times disconcerting, blue eyes in Hollywood. Before Wheatley ends up dead, Scott attempts to enlist Jessica in her efforts to lambast the mogul. Jessica's too media averse and media savvy to take the bait, but it leads her to question Kowalski, who confirms that Wheatley's penny-pinching led to more than one job site death.
Amidst it all, a ridiculous man called Ellsworth Buffom of the Joshua Peabody Society arrives out of Kennebunkport to claim the skeleton. It doesn't really go anywhere, but I love the performance.
So whodunit?
Jessica does some digging of her own and discovers Del Scott's vendetta against Wheatley began with her brother's accidental death on one of his job sites. She used the media circus as cover, ambushing Wheatley and transporting his body to the area where the first skeleton had been found. She fouled up later by mentioning Wheatley was found under a tarp, information which was never made public.
"I'm not proud of what I did, Mrs. Fletcher," she says, tears streaming from those cool blue eyes. "But don't ask me to be sorry."
Having cleared David of the murder, Seth and Jessica manage, somewhat clumsily, to throw Keller off his scent for the Philadelphia courthouse bombing (which we're assured he didn't do anyway). They argue that the Joshua Peabody skeleton actually belongs to Daniel. Furthermore, David couldn't have bombed the courthouse because a newspaper article points to him saving a child from a burning building in Cabot Cove just the day before.
Thankfully, the agent is ultimately a big softy. He sees through their efforts to prove David isn't Daniel and decides to punt his obsession of 17 years and walk away. Their loyalty to David is enough to let things slide. Again, another great character I'd have loved to see return for future adventures. Connors does turn up again in another role a few seasons down the line.
So, who did the first skeleton belong to? It's not clear. It might be Joshua Peabody. It could also be the remains of a young man named Joey Fawcett who disappeared after a dog chased him from a war reenactment. You know. Cabot Cove stuff.
Next week, the Harry Pierce saga continues.
