Murder, She Wrote 11.9 “Murder by Twos”

Jessica Fletcher is in Cabot Cove, where her pal Seth is trying to organize a fine art club. In a bid to expose Jessica to some culinary delights, he takes her to have dinner at a local bowling alley where they witness some tensions among members of the local bowling team.

When the meanest of the bowling team members is found dead, Jessica investigates!

Just the facts:

Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.

Click to reveal the victim

As hinted at by the episode title, there were two murders in this episode! The first victim was Sam Bryce, town barber and bully. The second victim was his former mistress and high school teacher, Terry Deauville.

Click to reveal the killer

It was Al Wallace, the town pharmacist!

Click to reveal the weapon

The first murder was by electrocution (involving a power-saw with a cut ground wire and a puddle)! The second murder was by apparent hanging.

Click to reveal the location

The first murder happened in that victim’s garage; the second murder happened in the house that victim was selling!

Click to reveal the motive

The killer had fire-bombed his own pharmacy for the insurance money. He killed the first victim because he was blackmailing him about it; he killed the second victim to make it seem like she had killed the first victim and then killed herself in remorse!

Click to reveal the major clue

It was the fact that the rope the second victim was killed with was ordered before the murder of the first victim, thus proving that both were premeditated at the same time!

Cast of characters (in order of appearance):

• Chris Mulkey as Al Wallace, a bad bowler and Cabot Cove pharmacist. This is Mulkey’s second and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Always a Thief“.
• Douglas Roberts as Ron Friendly, another Cabot Cove bowler who runs a motor repair shop. This is Roberts’ first of two appearances on MSW.
• Thomas Callaway as Sam Bryce, yet another Cabot Cove bowler who runs a barber shop and is mean-spirited.
• Ben Browder as Ollie Rudman. a young bowler who is dating Sam Bryce’s daughter.
• William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt.
• Bibi Besch as Imogene Shaughnessy, a former Cabot Cover who is thinking of moving back after being away for the past 10 years. This is Besch’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “A Very Good Year for Murder“.
• Zanne Shaw (Winship) as the Waitress at the bowling alley. This is Shaw’s first of two appearances on MSW.
• Kelly Flynn as a Biddeford Bomber, i.e. a member of the rival bowling team.
• Troy Evans as Harvey Hoffman, the owner of a Cabot Cove hardware store. Fans of detective shows may recognize Evans for his recurring role as Det. “Barrel” Johnson in Bosch.
• Lise Cutter as Terry Deauville, a high school teacher who is Sam Bryce’s former mistress. This is Cutter’s third and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Good-Bye Charlie” and “Deadly Misunderstanding“.
• Jennifer Warren as Medora Finney, Terry’s neighbor who likes to spy on people and makes note of their secrets in a journal. This is Warren’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Thursday’s Child“.
• Vanessa Shaw as Gloria Bryce, Sam Bryce’s daughter and Ollie Rudman’s girlfriend.
• Claire Malis Callaway as Emily Bryce, Gloria’s mother and Sam’s wife.
• Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger.
• Louis Herthum as Deputy Andy Broom.

Final thoughts and other trivia:

Although the exterior establishing shot of the bowling alley depicts the former Palace Bowl in Cicero (a suburb of Chicago), the interior scenes were appearently filmed inside the Montrose Bowl, located at 2334 Honolulu Ave in Montrose, California.

The episode also gives more details about Seth as it mentions that he has a nephew named Simon.