In this episode, Jessica is visiting Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, California. While in town researching a case from 65 years ago involving a silent movie director, she is also staying with a friend who used to be an aspiring novelist but who now works for a gossip magazine called “A List Magazine”. Things are pretty stressful for her friend at work as the business is dealing with a potential leak that is passing on their top stories to a rival magazine. However, she is nonetheless able to take a break from her stresses by hosting a dinner party shortly after Jessica’s arrival.
Although the dinner conversation is lively, Jessica’s jetlag gets the better of her as she feels herself getting drowsy. The next thing we know, she learns that the florist who had delivered flowers to the dinner party was found dead in his shop that night.
Just the facts:
Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.
Click to reveal the victim
It was Billy Kyle, the florist!Click to reveal the killer
It was Junie Cobb!Click to reveal the weapon
The victim was stabbed with gardening shears, probably his own!Click to reveal the location
It was in Billy Kyle’s flower shop!Click to reveal the motive
It was blackmail — Junie had ordered flowers from Billy Kyle to be sent to Dr Windhurst when she had an affair with him!Click to reveal the major clue
The killer mentioned seeing Frances chew on her glasses — something that most people would not have known.However, the biggest reveal of all in this episode was…
That it was all a jetlag-induced dream!Cast of characters:
Through Jessica’s visit to A List Magazine, she meets:
- Penny Fuller as Frances Hunt, Jessica’s friend and former aspiring novelist who is now an editor at the magazine. This is Fuller’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Mourning Among the Wisterias“.
- Sally Kellerman as Junie Cobb, the owner of A List Magazine.
- Taylor Nichols as George Erwin, a new writer at the magazine who just started a few weeks ago. This is Nichols’ first of four appearances on MSW.
- Carnetta Jones as the office Receptionist.
In addition to Junie Cobb and George Erwin, other guests at Frances Hunt’s dinner party include:
- John Gabriel as Dr Johnny Windhust, a plastic surgeon to the stars who is dating Frances Hunt and seen flirting with other women.
- Richard Herd as Arnett Cobb, Junie Cobb’s husband. This is Herd’s second and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Murder in the Electric Cathedral”.
- Mort Sertner as Stan Hendricks, a real estate agent.
- Marji Martin as Aggie Colbert. This is Martin’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Ballad for a Blue Lady“.
Others characters who have ties to the guests at the party include:
- Denise Miller as Betty O’Hara, Frances Hunt’s housekeeper and gossip.
- Gary Beach as Billy Kyle, a famous florist.
- Robert Firth as Davey Wells, a famous football player that is the subject of an upcoming gossip article and who is staying at the hospital that Dr. Windhurst works at.
- Elmarie Wendel as the Nurse Receptionist at the hospital where Davey Wells is staying at and where Dr. Windhurst works at. (She at one point refers to herself as “Nurse Tickle”.)
There are also several police officers in this episode:
- Gregory Sierra plays Lieutenant Gabriel Caceras, a local police detective tasked with investigating the murder. This is Sierra’s fourth of six total appearances on MSW. He previously appeared in “Broadway Malady”, “Murder Through the Looking Glass“, and “Day of the Dead“. This marks Sierra’s first appearance as Caceras; he reprises the role in two more episodes.
- Sandahl Bergman plays Sgt Daisy Kenny, an undercover cop and an aspiring actor who gets enlisted into helping trap the killer.
- James C. Brockelman plays an Officer who brings evidence from the killer’s home. This is Brockelman’s first of three appearances on MSW.
Final thoughts and other trivia:
Aside from the final twist reveal at the end, this episode is quite interesting from the point of view of show trivia.
Starting with the characters, this episode marks the introduction of Lieutenant Gabriel Caceras, who goes on to make two more appearances in a later season. In this episode, Jessica mentions that she had met Caceras when they worked together on a case 3 years ago, at which time he was about to be married. But of course, while Gregory Sierra had made multiple previous appearances on MSW, this is his first time playing this character.
Another interesting thing about the characters is their names. As I mentioned in my summaries of certain previous episodes, scripts written by Donald Ross often incorporate names of jazz musicians — and this one is no exception. Billy Kyle, Johnny Windhurst, Frances Hunt, Arnett Cobb, Junie Cobb, and George Erwin were all names of jazz musicians.
I also found it particularly interesting that some scenes were actually filmed on the streets of LA as opposed to on a studio lot.
There were two scenes filmed in the same small stretch of Hollywood Blvd (between Cherokee and Las Palmas). The first one, which happens about 18 mins into the episode, shows Jessica walking with Lt Caceras. They are first seen walking south on Cherokee and then turning west on Hollywood Blvd. The second scene, which happens about 33 mins into the episode, shows Jessica walking with Betty O’Hara. This time, they are first seen walking north on Las Palmas and then turning east on Hollywood Blvd. This block is of course part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
I will also mention that it appears that an early scene in which Jessica happens upon the crime scene in Billy Kyle’s shop might also have been filmed on a city, but I haven’t been able to identify that specific location.
There are also several references to other shows and movies in this episode. Most notably, the episode title is a reference to the 1936 film The Petrified Forest, which was also an inspiration for the earlier MSW episode “Truck Stop“. Aside from that, we also hear Sgt Daisy Kenny mentioning that she had appeared on “Moments of Our Years” — clearly a reference to the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
And finally, going back to the scene in which Jessica is walking on Hollywood Blvd., I found it interesting to see the movie posters that are visible on the wall behind her and Lt. Caceras. If you look closely, you’ll see posters for the following 1991-1993 films (many of which I didn’t even know existed): American Me (with Edward James Olmos); Mr. Baseball (with Tom Selleck); The Babe (with John Goodman); At Play in the Fields of the Lord; CB4 (with Chris Rock); and Scent of a Woman (with Al Pacino).
I also must say, I’m curious to find out about the posters that are visible behind Jessica and Betty O’Hara in the street scene, as it seems like at least one of them has some shockingly racy content!
Murder, She Watched 
I don’t usually like episodes that end with this type of twist but it was well made. It’s like a pick into Jessica’s writer’s mind.
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