Jessica is in New York City, where she learns that a building in her neighborhood (a historical brownstone) is about to be torn down for a new development (a skyscraper). When one of the owners of the development company is killed, and one of Jessica’s editors is arrested for the murder, Jessica gets involved in the investigation.
Just the facts:
Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.
Click to reveal the victim
It was Walter Gillrich, one of the owners of the Gillrich development company!Click to reveal the killer
It was Lee Gillrich, the victim’s sister-in-law!Click to reveal the weapon
It was a gunshot through the back!Click to reveal the location
It was in his office, but then the body was moved to his brother’s office to obscure the motive!Click to reveal the motive
It’s hard to describe the motive in a single word, but perhaps “hubris” is fitting here. The killer shot the victim after the victim was disrespectful towards the killer.Click to reveal the major clue
It was the carpet fibers in the victim’s chair wheel, and the street parking laws!Cast of characters (in order of appearance):
- Barbara Babcock as Carol Collins, a member of the city preservation committee who is spearheading the protest against the new development and who is trying to talk Jessica into supporting the cause. This is Babcock’s fifth and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Murder on Madison Avenue” and “Shear Madness“.
- Hallie Foote as Margaret Johnson, another member of the city preservation committee who also works for Jessica’s editor. This is Foote’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Murder on Madison Avenue“.
- Jeff Conaway as Nolan Walsh, the owner of a historical bar in the basement level of the building facing demolition. This is Conaway’s third of four appearances on MSW; in his previous two appearances he played Jessica’s nephew-in-law Howard Griffin.
- Kevin Kilner as Eugene Gillrich, one of the brothers who own the Gillrich Development Corp, responsible for tearing down the brownstone. This is Kilner’s second and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Sugar & Spice, Malice & Vice“.
- Susan Walters as Lee Gillrich, Eugene’s wife and an aspiring interior decorator.
- Robert Pine as Walter Gillrich, the other Gillrich brother who owns the development company. This is Pine’s third of five appearances on MSW; he previously appeared in “Class Act“. Pine is best known to detective show fans for portraying Sgt. Joseph Getraer on CHiPs.
- Ray Abruzzo as Mike LaRocca, a local investigative reporter working for Channel 6.
- Wendy Hoffman as Evelyn, Walter’s Secretary.
- Alex Courtney as “Victor” Vic Barton, a colleague of Mike LaRocca who invested in the Gillrich development.
- Lela Ivey as Nurse Josie Miles, a nurse who’s been taking care of Mrs Rhodes — an elderly building resident. This is Ivey’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “How to Make a Killing Without Really Trying“.
- John Dennis as Pete, the bartender. [mislabelled by imdb]
- Herbert Edelman as NYPD Lieutenant Artie Gelber, in charge of the murder investigation. This is Edelman’s sixth of ten appearances on MSW; he previously appeared as Artie Gelber in “The Mole” and “Threshold of Fear“.
- Leonard Lightfoot as Detective Henderson, Gelber’s partner. This is Lightfoot’s first of five appearances on MSW; he is one of only a handful of MSW recurring actors who plays the same character each time.
- Jodi Russell as Peggy, Margaret Johnson’s assistant.
- Alexander Folk as Al the Mailman who delivers the social security checks and other mail to the bartender. This is Folk’s seventh and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Bite the Big Apple“, “See You in Court, Baby“, “Jack and Bill“, “Something Borrowed, Someone Blue“, “Murder in a Minor Key“, and “Keep the Home Fries Burning”.
- Lisa Dinkins as the Female Reporter on TV at the end of the episode delivering the news that the building is not going to be torn down.
Final thoughts and other trivia:
One very interesting thing that I discovered while researching this episode has to do with the actor who played Pete the bartender. For some reason, the IMDb listing indicated that the actor had almost no other credits, but it did seem odd to me that they would focus on the bartender’s face so much in the episode — unless it was somehow significant. After searching for the actor’s name separately, it turns out that this same John Dennis is quite a prolific actor and — among many other roles — he portrayed Dutch Schultz in ten episodes of a 1959-1961 TV series titled The Lawless Years. Those who have recently watched this episode of MSW may remember how it makes a big deal of the building having once housed the likes of Eugene O’Neill, Ernest Hemingway, and the gangster Dutch Schultz! (In fact, they make a point of repeating Dutch Schultz’s name multiple times.) Thus, mentioning the name Dutch Schultz in an episode with John Dennis appears to have been very much on purpose. Depending on where you are in the world, you may be able stream episodes of The Lawless Years on Tubi.
Another detail of note is that the building facing demolition is said as being at #65 West 64th Street. This would actually put it in the same block currently occupied by the Lincoln Center Plaza. This was probably done on purpose to make sure that any addresses given were not real. However, together with the mention of West 61st Street in “Threshold of Fear“, this tells me that the location of Jessica’s NYC apartment must definitely be somewhere on the Upper West Side close to these streets.
And finally, I found it interesting to pause for a moment and read through the editorial notes that Margaret Johnson sent to Jessica regarding her latest novel since I thought it might give us some more insight into its contents.
Murder, She Watched 
Thank you, this is fascinating research!
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