Jessica is back in Cabot Cove but this time she has no time for investigating murders because she’s dealing with a leaky roof, a stack of student papers she needs to mark and mail back, and of course her usual book edits.
Meanwhile, Eve Simpson has a new beau who isn’t very popular as his company (which is testing a subsurface marine survey boat off the coast of Cabot Cove) recently laid off many of the town’s residents.
But when one person is found dead on a boat and then a second body is found dead in similar circumstances, Jessica joins the investigation just in time to figure out whodunnit.
Just the facts:
Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.
Click to reveal the victim
The first victim was Cabot Cove fisherman Henry Riddett! The second victim was Carl Ward, the financial analyst working for Pantechnics.Click to reveal the killer
It was Brian Bentall, Pantechnics’ main tech guy!Click to reveal the weapon
Head trauma followed by carbon monoxide poisoning.Click to reveal the location
The first victim was found in his fishing boat; the second victim was found in the Pantechnics boat.Click to reveal the motive
The killer wanted to prevent the first victim from calling the sheriff and revealing evidence that Pantechnics was smuggling embargoed armaments! The second victim found out about the shady deal and also wanted in on it, but the killer chose to get rid of him instead. The killer also figured that with a strong alibi for the second murder, the killer thought he wouldn’t be suspected for the first.Click to reveal the major clue
It was the marks on the second victim’s wrists that indicated he was handcuffed long before he died! A casual remark by Seth made Jessica think of triggering things with a phone call.
Cast of characters:
As this is a Cabot Cove episode, we have some regulars:
- William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt.
- Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger.
- Louis Herthum as Deputy Andy Broom.
- Julie Adams as Eve Simpson, in her very last role as the character.
At the center of the story is Eve’s beau and his company, Pantechnics:
- Chad Everett as Martin Fraser, the owner of Pantechnics Defense Industries and Eve’s beau. This is his fourth and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Obituary for a Dead Anchor”, “The Fixer-Upper” and “Terminal Connection“.
- Michael Beck as Brian Bentall, the tech guy working for Pantechnics. This is his third and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “The Search for Peter Kerry” and “Trials and Tribulations“.
- Hope Lange as Helen Lewis, Fraser’s secretary. This is her second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Night of the Headless Horseman”.
Additional people that have business dealings with Pantechnics include:
- Gregg Henry as Carl Ward, a financial analyst on Wall Street who was working with Pantechnics. This is his fourth of six appearances on MSW; he previously appeared in “The Taxman Cometh“.
- Dana Gladstone as Walter Kurtz, an arms dealer and “international bad guy running around Cabot Cove”.
- Don Stroud as Phil Shannon, an owner of a trucking company that helped with arms smuggling. This is his second and final appearance on MSW.
Cabot Covers that have some ties to Pantechnics include:
- Sandy Ward as Henry Riddett, a crab fisherman who gets involved in the Pantechnics smuggling operation due to financial needs. This is his second of two appearances on MSW.
- Kathy Molter as Sarah Riddett, Henry’s daughter.
- Richardson Morse as Russell Nielsen, a former employee recently laid off by Martin Fraser. This is his third of six appearances on MSW; he previously appeared in “Ever After“.
Minor roles include:
- Toshi Toda as Mr Tokuda, a Japanese Businessman at Martin Fraser’s party.
- R. Leo Schreiber as the Driver stuck in traffic due to the Pantechnics boat in Cabot Cove.
- Robert Patten as the Fisherman that Brian Bentall asks about Carl Ward’s whereabouts.
- Lyle Waggoner in an uncredited role as Mr. Ben Wright. This is his third appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Where have you gone, Billy Boy?“
Plus, a final shout out to the two eavesdropping ladies at the cafe, as well as Sheriff Metzger’s two poker playing friends (all of whom were uncredited in this episode).
Final thoughts and other trivia:
This episode is significant as it marks the last appearance of Eve Simpson. Given that she meets “Mr Right” at the end of the episode, I like to think that this means she leaves Cabot Cove to live happily ever after.
Aside from that, I thought it was interesting from a historical perspective that the recession was made a big plot point in this episode. The episode first aired in 1993, by which point the economy was already starting to bounce back.
And finally, as always, I do like to pay close attention to filming locations but I must admit I did not have much luck in identifying the locations used in this episode. Of course there were scenes filmed on the Universal Studios set, and there were even some establishing shots of the “Munster House”, which in this episode served as the home of Martin Fraser but was used to stand in for other residences in “The Witch’s Curse“.
However, what I’m most interested in identifying is the location of the Pantechnics company building, as well as the location used to stand in for the Cabot Cove harbor (which I’ve noticed was used in other episodes as well). If anybody recognizes any of these places or has some ideas as to their locations, I’d be very interested in learning more.
Bottom pictures: Pantechnics exterior (left) and interior (right).
Murder, She Watched 