Murder, She Wrote s11e12 Episode Script
69517 - The Scent of Murder
(COCKS GUN) Next time, I'll blow your fool head off.
BUFORD: Kendall, I'd say every mother's son in Carolina is lookin' for this magnolia tree.
I'd hate to have to kill somebody.
(SIGHS) Then quit stalling.
Deliver the tree to Nina Larson and she'll stop sending people.
When'd you press this? About an hour ago.
It's got to be 30 times normal strength.
More.
The tree's peaked.
If they're gonna make perfume from it, it's gotta be now, before it deteriorates.
Look, Buford, all we have to do is deliver and collect royalties and go to work on our other projects.
The hell with royalties! But we have a contract.
And I know how to break it.
Kendall, this is once in a lifetime.
We're talking millions! SETH: I swear, some bonehead's re-routed all these roads.
JESSICA: You made a left when you should've taken a right about three miles back, Seth.
SETH: But notice, if you will, I compensated for that error if I take still another right up here at the fork it should put us back in the direction of Riverton.
Seth, two rights don't make a left.
Trust me, Jess, I know these roads like the back of my hand.
Oh, come on, Seth! I mean, it seems to me we should have gone left at the last intersection.
I just don't understand it.
This road has always led straight to Riverton.
Yeah.
But right now it leads to Savannah, Georgia.
It's that new thruway.
It's got everything all bollixed up.
All right.
All right.
We will take the next right.
And then turn left at the river road and then (CHUCKLES) We'll see! Mmm-hmm.
Why am I beginning to think that you really don't want to get to your cousin's plantation? You may have a point there.
(SCOFFS) CORY: Well, I wasn't having any luck during the daytime, so I figured I'd stay there through night.
And sure enough I spotted the jeep.
And old man Hazlitt must have spotted me at the same time because he jumped out and started taking shots at me.
And he wasn't kidding either.
Good.
Good? It means we're getting close.
Close? I don't figure to get myself killed over any magnolia tree.
Well, this isn't any magnolia tree.
I'm offering a thousand extra bucks to whoever finds it.
And don't come here again.
I told you who to contact if you had any problems.
Yes, ma'am.
(SIGHS) What was that all about? It started because I had to keep tabs.
I had to know if the tree was ready, if Hazlitt was gonna turn it over.
I don't know, I thought maybe he was dealing with somebody else.
But we have a contract with him.
Yes.
I am just worried he's gonna renege.
Nina, we're already $400,000 in the hole, because you went crazy on promos and packaging before you even had a specimen! I know that! Why do you think I am trying to find the damned tree? Do you get it now? (PHONE RINGING) Yeah? WOMAN ON SPEAKERPHONE: Mr.
Hazlitt on line one.
Put him on.
Good morning, Mr.
Hazlitt.
BUFORD: First of all, Miss Larson, get and keep your spies out of Riverton.
Or you'll have to answer for what happens to them.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, try this.
The essence of the Forever Scarlett magnolia is much stronger than anticipated, so we've changed our thinking.
Before we turn it over to you, we demand assurances it'll be used as the basis for a completely natural perfume rather than one that's chemically synthesized.
Mr.
Hazlitt, we have huge commitments.
I can't make any such assurances.
Well, then the deal's off.
Like hell it is! We have a contract.
You're in breach.
The contract's void! Nina, you're You can't fire me, it's too late! They'll can you anyway.
So, why don't you just keep a lid on New York while I go and I find the damn tree.
(DOORBELL RINGING) Oh, now, Evelyn.
John, what are you doin' here? You could have called.
I waited almost two hours.
Well, I never considered that I was under any obligation.
I told you that if I got to town, maybe I'd have a beer.
Well, I never got to town.
Now, if you'll excuse me, John, I have some work in the office I have to do.
Well, then how about tonight? A couple of steaks, no strings.
We're giving a dinner party for the Botanical Society.
All right, then, next Saturday, I've got tickets.
John, it's over.
It's been over for two years.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
I don't believe you.
You can't love old man Hazlitt the way you loved me.
Let her be! And don't show up here again without a warrant.
Mr.
Hazlitt I am really sorry you had to hear or see any of that.
Nothing for you to be sorry about, Evelyn.
Brighten up.
Our visitors should be along any minute now.
(CHUCKLES) I love you.
MAN: Come on now.
Be careful.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) SETH: Hello, young fellah.
Aren't you Kendall Ames' son? Are the Riverdogs gonna take the pennant? What do you know about the Riverdogs? (LAUGHS) Best single A baseball team in the south.
I've been a fan all my life.
How's your dad? He's okay.
At least he was last time I saw him.
Why don't you hop in? I'll take you on down to the house.
Kinda early to be out of school, isn't it? BILLY: Does that bother you, or something? SETH: No.
BUFORD: Seth always hated it here.
My earliest memories of Seth are of him sneezing all over the azaleas.
(LAUGHING) Goodness gracious! Well, I had an allergy.
I outgrew it.
Here.
Try this, Jessica.
Best julep in the South.
Well, that would be hard to do, but I believe you.
(CHUCKLING) It's different.
I developed that mint myself.
I have a patent on it.
Allergies are psychological.
Nothing wrong with my psychology, Buford, thank you.
Oh, come on, Seth, how many times have you been down here in the last 20 years? Twice, both for funerals.
You wouldn't be here now if you weren't (DOORBELL RINGING) Driving Jessica to Orlando.
Isn't that right? Well, I'll let Seth speak for himself.
I wish you'd both find some other topic other than childhood rivalries.
Bravo! Oh, it's all in fun, Jessica.
I always did like to see Seth sputter a bit.
But I don't mean anything by it, and neither does he.
Right? Right, Buford.
I just couldn't wait to get here.
Ask Jessica.
EVELYN: Well, actually, it's our good luck that you did.
And how clever of me to arrive just in time for your annual dinner.
Coincidence, I swear.
Margaret! What a nice surprise! How are you, Dad? It's snowing in New York.
I got homesick and so I thought I'd come down and see ya'II.
And meet you at last, Evelyn.
Margaret, I am so glad to see you.
(DOORBELL RINGING) Seth! Hey! And Jessica Fletcher of the ubiquitous book jacket.
Margaret Barkley.
Playwright.
Perhaps you caught my latest off-Broadway? Yes, I did.
MARGARET: We must talk about it.
Excuse me, my attorney.
(SOFTLY) Why did you come here? What she want now? She's threatening to sue for millions of dollars.
I don't care about that! We've got to do something! I don't care how much she is suing for! There is no deal! Now, young man, go earn your money! Yes, sir.
Mr.
Wilkes, we are asking 20 million plus punitive damages.
(LAUGHS) If you go to court, you'll lose.
Come on.
Under the law, contracting parties have an obligation to act in good faith.
Now, sending trespassers to steal the prototype tree is not good faith.
You're in breach.
(LAUGHS) Hey, nice try.
But we didn't do that.
We say you did.
You have no proof.
Want to go to court on it? I want the tree, it's as simple as that.
And I want it now.
Well, you're never gonna get it by threatening a lawsuit.
(CHUCKLES) You know, you are not at all what I expected.
I would've thought that Buford's lawyer would be a real good old boy.
(LAUGHS) Well, I inherited Buford from my father.
Bourbon? Fine.
Did you inherit a lot of other clients, too? Oh, enough to get started.
Oh.
I'm just trying to start my company down here, too.
Really? That's very interesting.
(CHUCKLING) (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) I'm a real jazz freak.
(LAUGHS) Really? So am I.
Really? Yeah! Oh, so you must know all the great jazz clubs down here.
(CHUCKLING) Oh! I'm at your service.
What can you tell me about Kendall Ames? He's Riverton's resident botanist.
He's worked closely with Buford for years.
Go on.
Uh, has university contacts.
Is very much in creating hybrid food grains to feed the world's hungry.
You know, he's got a boy to send through college, and I just know he'd like to be free to do more research.
How commendable.
(LAUGHS) Dad, can I talk to you? Billy, the cops called me.
They said next time they're gonna have to arrest you.
It was nothin'.
We were playing some ball in the schoolyard and all of a sudden things got out of hand.
They think you're in a gang.
Look, Dad, what do you say we have supper together, like we used to? I have to go to a dinner at the house.
It's always something, Dad.
Either you're working crazy hours, or you're at the university or you don't Dad, if we could just talk through it just once.
I'm not getting anything out of school, Dad.
Let me quit and come work with you.
Billy, I want you to be a botanist, a scientist, not some day laborer.
I have friends who can help you get into the university.
That's not what I want though, Dad.
You'll be years ahead of where I started.
You can do it, son, but not if you're fooling around out here.
But I'd be working with you.
Graduate from high school, son, get some good grades.
What's the use, Dad? What's the damned use? Billy! Not much like Greenwich Village, is it? Oh, frankly, Dad, that's a relief.
You know, sometimes all that excitement just gets so repetitiously boring.
Exacerbated, I'd imagine, if those "sometimes" are accompanied by a shortage of funds.
(LAUGHS) How clever of you to realize that.
Not a great deal of perspicacity required.
But I know you were workin' on that play for over two years and it closed after two nights.
Don't forget the matinee.
Oh, pardon me.
Honestly, I couldn't pay the rent this month.
Well, if I know you, Margaret, I'm sure you've been pampering yourself.
Cold water? And a shower down the hall? Do you know what a pizza costs in Manhattan? Frankly, Margaret, I don't Give a damn! Exactly.
However, you are welcome to stay here as long as you like.
Alone would be more to the purpose.
But totally out of the question.
You know, I could forgive your trashin' me in your play, but not your dear mother.
I'll see you later? (INDISTINCT CHATTERING) MAN: I just want to know, how many times do you have to have your car stolen? (PEOPLE LAUGHING) (DOOR OPENING) You haven't really told me what you thought of my play.
Well, Margaret, I thought that your personal feelings about your stepfather and Riverton really obscured what started out to be a very interesting drama.
I admit I let my resentments take over.
That's the price you pay with you and the critics.
And are you working on another play? Soon, I hope.
Oh, how lovely you both look.
Thanks.
And thank you for keeping my old room intact.
Well, Margaret, you must always feel that this is your home.
Yes, Margaret is gonna be staying with us for a couple of weeks.
To really get to know the lovely lady with whom my stepfather is spending so much time with.
I'm looking forward to it.
I had occasion to talk to Nina Larson this afternoon.
Your name came up.
Oh, in what connection? Well, she's very interested in what you're doing.
She'd like to facilitate your work.
How, exactly? Perhaps you should talk to her.
Doc Travis.
Well, I'm sorry, but I Seth Hazlitt.
Seth? Hazlitt? Oh, Buford's cousin! Seth.
The doctor.
Well, welcome to Riverton.
Thank you.
If you're looking to move to a warmer climate, Seth, Doc Travis is about to retire.
You wouldn't say that if you knew how much fun it was shoveling snow in sub-zero temperatures.
(BOTH CHUCKLING) Nice party.
Rob! I'm so glad you made it.
Buford.
Rob.
Jessica! How are you, Rob? Getting along, one day at a time.
Rob's been doing some contracting work for us.
Well, glad to hear it.
We cousins are all that's left of the Hazlitt's.
We have to look out for each other.
Wine, sir? No.
It's been a year.
I don't drink anymore.
I think that's great.
Seth, I don't give a damn what you think! Easy.
Now, easy.
It's been tough.
It's been tough but he's hanging in there.
Dinner is served.
(SNORING) (MUFFLED GROANS) (THUDDING) (FOOTSTEPS PATTERING) (DOOR CLOSES) JESSICA: It was 7:10 in the morning, Sheriff.
I had the room next door.
I heard Evelyn scream.
And when I came in, she was very distraught.
So I woke Seth and then I tried to reach Dr.
Travis.
But all I got was his service.
Petechial hemorrhages.
What's that? Well, they're tiny little hemorrhages, pale yellow, very difficult to see on the whites of the eyes.
They occur during death due to strangulation or smothering.
Are there neck bruises? SETH: No.
Which means Buford was probably smothered, I expect by a pillow.
(GRUNTS) Hmm, cadaveric spasm.
I think we'd better leave that for the coroner.
I've seen it take the strength of two men to open one of those spasms.
Lindley.
Go ahead.
I'm at a homicide scene, Riverton Mansion.
Victim is Buford Hazlitt.
I'm gonna need a forensic team and I'm gonna want Corporal Ardmore.
Ten-four.
Evelyn, I'm very sorry.
I know how you feel, but I do have to ask you some questions.
You were in here first? Yes.
I brought him his coffee every morning.
Was the door locked? He never locked it.
All right.
This is a crime scene now, so if you'd all keep yourselves available.
Thank you, Doctor.
Sure thing, Sergeant.
I'm very sorry, Evelyn.
Sergeant, this may be nothing, but at about 2:50 I heard a noise.
Now, I'm not certain, but it could have been somebody jumping or dropping from the balcony and perhaps hitting the wall.
All right, that could be useful.
Anything else? No.
Thank you, ma'am.
NINA: Mr.
Ames, in addition to the large amount of money up front, and the royalties ad infinitum we can discuss financing your experiments.
Look, my old friend and colleague was brutally murdered last night.
I'm not gonna double-cross him and make a deal that he opposed.
I am really sorry about Mr.
Hazlitt.
I am.
But I think that this should make things easier for us, not harder.
Well, that's one of the things that bothers me, Miss Larson.
You've had people lurking around here for weeks.
I'm not going to dignify that with a reply.
Look, I understand your quandary, I do, but we are rapidly running out of time, and pretty soon you're not gonna have anything to bargain with.
Look, if we'd talked yesterday, maybe something would have come of it.
But right now, I'm just too damned torn up.
I've got a lot of things to think through.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do.
JESSICA: Look, Billy, I haven't told the police anything, but would you mind my asking you what you were doing out in front of the mansion at 3:00 in the morning? Why should I mind? My ride dropped me off down the road and I was on my way home.
And did you see anyone around the mansion? No.
Now, when you turned back to the house, it was as if you'd heard something.
Yeah, but I didn't see anybody.
When you got home, was anybody there? Why all these questions? Because there's been a murder and maybe you can be of some help.
My dad came right behind me in his truck.
He works all these crazy hours.
Can I go now? I haven't got all day.
Thanks, Billy.
(SIGHS) That young man is not very forthcoming, is he? NINA: My feeling is that Kendall Ames is dealing with somebody else.
Well, Kendall and Buford were together a long time, don't forget.
We've been promoting Forever Scarlett so hard that the competitors would love nothing better than to grab it for themselves.
I'm just gonna keep the pressure on him, and meanwhile, have my people keep looking for the tree.
I assume that there's no longer a conflict of interest? Well, I still do have my obligations to the Hazlitt Estate.
Oh.
Then by all means, why don't we consider this payment for personal rather than legal services? You know, for the tour of the jazz clubs last night, and the view of the bay this morning.
(CHUCKLES) Thank you.
All right.
Some personal questions.
Have you read the will? Uh, well, I'll see it this afternoon.
Uh, Buford hand wrote it about a year ago and locked it up.
What do you know about Rob and Seth Hazlitt? Uh, well, Rob's got a thing for Evelyn.
Ah, she talked Buford into giving him some work about a year ago out here in Riverton.
Rob and Seth don't get along very well though.
Why not? Well, Rob drank too much for years, ticked off a lot of people along the way.
You know, I don't think either one of them knows anything about the tree.
My sources seem to think that Kendall's son, Billy, would be a good bet.
It's worth a try.
EVELYN: Tell the staff I want fresh flowers everywhere.
MAID: Yes, Miss Colby.
Evelyn, I'm sorry to see you hurting like this.
But I have to get back to Charleston.
Rob, don't leave.
I just don't feel right being here.
Please stay, for me.
I get the feeling I'm gonna be needing a friend by the time this is all over.
You have more than a friend.
MAN: Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
I know what's goin' on.
I'm on the case Mrs.
Fletcher, Doc.
See now, this broken branch may tie in with what you heard during the night.
Mrs.
Fletcher, Mr.
Hazlitt.
I left a message for you.
Oh! I've just gone over Mr.
Hazlitt's will and I'll be reading it to those concerned tonight.
You both should be there.
It's unlikely that will affect us.
You did say both of us? Well, you carried on a correspondence with Mr.
Hazlitt? Yes.
Over the years about his gardening articles.
Well, he valued your letters.
Well, Dr.
Hazlitt and I will be there.
Thank you.
BILLY: So, Cory, who's putting up all the cash? Well, forget about that, man.
Now, look, you just tell me where the tree is stashed and you get 10 big ones.
You think what you can do with 10 grand.
I told you, man, I don't know where it is.
Well, then find it, and get back to me.
Go on.
(SCOFFS) "To Della Jackson and Ralph Palmer, "who have been with us these many years, "I leave $10,000 each.
" Thank you for being here.
Thank you, sir.
"To my friend and colleague, Kendall Ames, "one half of the proceeds from the Forever Scarlett magnolia tree.
"To Robert Hazlitt.
"$5,000 to be used to make the back payments on his grading equipment.
" I have no back payments on anything.
"To J.
B.
Fletcher of Cabot Cove.
"In gratitude for her thoughtful letters and abiding interest in my work, "I leave a cutting from Riverton's two-century-old Queen Anne rosebush.
"And to my stepdaughter, Margaret Barkley, "who rejected both myself and her heritage, "I leave a free lifetime pass to Riverton Gardens.
(LAUGHING) (GASPS) (CLEARS THROAT) "To my cousin, Seth Hazlitt, "with whom I've had disagreements, "but a man of substantial character and good judgment, "and to my estate manager and the woman I love, Evelyn Colby, I leave "Riverton Gardens.
"Structures, land, assets, half and half, equally to both, "with the right of survivorship to each.
" Must I accept? We can discuss your options, Dr.
Hazlitt, at another time Very well done! What are you talking about? You knew what was in his will.
You were probably in bed with him when he wrote it.
And then last night when you asked him to marry you, and he refused That's not true.
I happen to know that it is! Because it was Buford who told me.
(GRUNTING) (DOOR CLOSES) Implicating Evelyn in the murder would certainly be to Margaret's advantage, because it would immediately invalidate the will and give her a chance at the inheritance.
I've never owned anything but my house and car, Jess.
The last thing I need, this stage in my life, is a southern plantation.
(LAUGHS) Face it, Seth, you're going to be bugged by this until you clear it up.
Would you like some coffee? Uh, no thanks.
Excuse me, I hope I'm not intruding.
Oh, I didn't know you were still here.
Well, I was just going over some papers in the office, particularly the contract between Mr.
Hazlitt and Nina Larson.
Let me fill you in.
We've been pretty well briefed, thank you, Mr.
Wilkes.
I called a friend at the Perfume Institute in New York.
I see.
Well, there's a lot of misinformation going around.
Uh, whatever you may have heard, I believe the contract to be a fair one and that you and Evelyn should comply before the Forever Scarlett tree deteriorates and becomes worthless.
We'd have to locate the tree first.
Well, I'm sure Kendall Ames knows where it is.
I've already spoken with him, and got absolutely nothing out of him.
Now, even if we had the tree, I'm having second thoughts about going against Buford's wishes.
Well, you see, I sincerely believe that Mr.
Hazlitt was wrong.
We can discuss that after we've found the tree.
Well, there is a time factor.
Yes, I'm sure there is.
Good night, Mr.
Wilkes.
Mrs.
Fletcher Good night, Mr.
Wilkes.
Good night.
MARGARET: I want to confess.
I killed my stepfather so that I could get my free lifetime pass to Riverton Gardens.
The D.
A.
's got it another way.
He thinks you killed Buford because he was planning to marry again.
Evelyn killed him.
There's no evidence against Evelyn.
You don't want to find any.
I know all about you and Evelyn after I left for New York.
But the hell with that for now.
I came about something else.
What do you know about the Forever Scarlett tree? It's worth a fortune and it has to be in Riverton Gardens.
Suppose I find it.
I might need help getting it out from under Seth Hazlitt and Evelyn.
We'll talk, but I'm not gonna break any laws for you.
I'll call you.
What do you suppose suddenly makes us so interesting? I don't think it's just us.
More likely he was watching the greenhouse and we just happened to come along.
NINA: I've used the time since yesterday to sweeten the deal.
New York has agreed that in addition to the cash and the royalties, we will fully fund your research.
To have been murdered that way Truly horrible.
What do the police think? Uh, robbery or Well, they don't know.
Ah! Jessica Fletcher, Seth Hazlitt, Nina Larson.
Nice to meet you.
How do you do? I've heard a lot about you, Miss Larson.
Aimant Fragrances' premier nose.
Well, I can't deny that, Mrs.
Fletcher.
This must seem like paradise to you.
Oh, yes.
It's fantastic.
Oh, I have to congratulate you and Evelyn Colby on acquiring it all.
Ah.
Well, please don't let us interrupt you.
No.
Not at all.
Kendall and I are old friends.
I merely stopped by to offer my condolences.
You know, you and myself and Evelyn should really sit down and talk sometime.
Actually, right now would be fine.
Not for me, Miss Larson.
NINA: Okay.
Why don't I call you? Mrs.
Fletcher.
Thanks for stopping by.
I'll be in touch.
Kendall, Evelyn and I agreed that we might want to follow through with Buford's plans for the tree, whatever they might've been.
But without your cooperation, we can't do a thing.
That's true, you can't.
You do know that the greenhouse is being watched.
And the woods and the old slave quarters and any place that tree may be hidden.
It's being well coordinated.
You know, the individual that we just saw was a very rough looking character.
He was wearing a baseball cap.
Well, that could be Cory Davis.
Billy said Cory offered him $10,000 if he'd tell him where the tree was kept.
What did Billy tell him? He didn't know.
I'm the only one who does.
Suppose something happened to you, Kendall.
Well, that tree could die before anyone found it.
Listen, the moment I disclose the whereabouts of the tree, my life is in danger.
Now, I don't know who murdered Buford and I don't know you or Mrs.
Fletcher that well either, but that tree is all the life insurance I have.
For how long, Kendall? I understand there was something you wanted to ask me? Yes, I do.
The coroner pried this out of Buford's death grip.
It's identical to the ones you wear.
What about it? Well, that's 10 of them.
You bought a package of 20 yesterday.
We checked at your drug store.
The other 10 are in my room, in my makeup kit.
I'm sorry, Evelyn, but we have a warrant and Corporal Ardmore searched your room and your makeup kit.
They weren't there.
I don't understand.
The D.
A.
Sees it like this.
You and Buford were very close.
You know what was in the will.
You wanted it.
You smother him thinking you can get away with it as a natural death.
In any event, who's gonna trace it to you? John But you lose one of your nails.
You don't notice it at first, can't be sure where it is.
If it's in Buford's grasp, you can't do anything anyway.
But maybe it'll turn up.
So you go to your package and you replace the one that's missing.
John, you believe that I The point is, the D.
A.
Will.
None of this is true.
Excuse me.
We found these in the trash out back.
There are only nine.
Sergeant, anyone could have stolen a false nail out of Evelyn's room and put it into Buford's dying hand, and then deposited the rest of them in the trash.
The D.
A.
's sure the jury'll go with his version, especially with the will giving Evelyn half the estate.
I am truly sorry and you know that.
But you're under arrest for the murder of Buford Hazlitt.
Jessica, Seth! I didn't kill him! Mrs.
Fletcher, your statement on what you heard from your room on the night of the murder is ready for signature.
If you'd be so kind to come down to my office at your earliest convenience.
Evelyn needs all the help she can get.
Well, yes.
Of course, Sergeant.
Thank you, ma'am.
Jessica.
Please, try to see Evelyn while you're there.
She must be feeling like hell.
You don't look so great yourself.
Never mind me.
Evelyn never killed anybody.
I'll do what I can, Rob.
Excuse me, ma'am.
You might want to take a look at this.
Oh, yes, of course.
See if there are any changes.
MAN: Sergeant.
Well, there's just one correction here.
Very good.
There.
Now my statement is accurate.
All right.
MAN: Sarge Just a moment, please.
Mmm-hmm.
I have something.
That's his office there.
(CHATTERING) Very good.
Ma'am, they're bringing Evelyn up right now.
A couple of minutes.
What do you want, Jessica? Evelyn, there are people who think you did not commit this murder.
A lot of good that's doing me now.
I loved Buford and this is the punishment I get.
Evelyn, the night of the party Well, there's only one accurate word.
I saw you sneak out of Buford's bedroom after he was already downstairs.
Mrs.
Fletcher, don't torment me or yourself.
I'm not gonna answer any of your damned questions! Evelyn And that is the end of it! Very well, then.
(SIGHS) Jessica, I sneaked up there to see Buford's will.
I was feeling rotten.
Buford had walked in on what he probably thought was a lover's quarrel.
Then all of a sudden Margaret was there, and I asked him if he would announce our engagement.
But he said it wasn't the right time.
So that was what Margaret was talking about.
That's what she distorted.
But I panicked.
And I went up there to see if Buford had changed the will.
It wasn't about the inheritance.
It was just I wanted to know if his feelings for me had changed.
And the lover's quarrel that you mentioned? That was with Sergeant Lindley? It had been over for more than two years, but he kept pushing.
Oh, Jessica, I'm sorry that I snapped at you.
I'm not feeling very well.
You just can't imagine how small a jail cell is until you're locked up in one.
Now Kendall said something about planting down in the river flats.
Of course! What, Jessica? I believe I know where that tree is.
You know, Evelyn said that she couldn't believe how small her cell was.
Well, I had the same feeling about this greenhouse.
It's much bigger on the outside than it is on the inside.
This is an odd way to get into a tool closet.
Unless this isn't what it appears to be.
(GASPS) The tree.
My Pretty.
Oh, that's not only beautiful but it's incredibly strong.
Oh, now I understand the fuss.
What's that all about? Work in progress.
These are new cuttings from the Forever Scarlett tree.
And I think it's going to help us to trap Buford's murderer.
BILLY: Look, I've told the police all I know.
JESSICA: No, you told them what you dared to tell them.
Excuse me, but I've got things to do.
Just a minute, son! Billy, did you see anybody under the balcony right after the murder? I don't want to talk about it! There's been a murder, Billy.
You're gonna have to talk about it! Billy, I want you to do something for me.
(DOOR CREAKING) I didn't believe it when Cory told me you'd found it.
You did very well, son.
Yes, he did, indeed.
Mrs.
Fletcher? What are you doing here, ma'am? I'm looking for you.
You see, Kendall was sure that somebody was coordinating the search operations for Nina Larson.
And when I saw Cory Davis going to your office, I thought Well, that's fine, Mrs.
Fletcher, but first I want you to know I'm not breaking the law by coming for the tree.
I'm acting as a collection agent with full authorization from the contractual owners, the Aimant Corporation.
Sergeant, whether you're breaking the law now is unimportant.
But you certainly did break the law when you murdered Buford Hazlitt.
Murdered Hazlitt? What are you talking about? It started to come together for me in your office this afternoon.
While you were going over my statement, I read the duty roster behind you.
Now, you were scheduled to come on duty at 8:00 a.
m.
But you were in Buford's bedroom at 7:20.
Now, according to the duty roster, Deputy Colfax, not you, should have answered the 911 call.
Well, I couldn't sleep.
I called Colfax.
I came on duty at 6:00 a.
m.
He was only too glad to get off early.
Oh, I'm quite sure he was, but there was much more involved than insomnia.
You had no way of knowing that when Buford's body was found, Seth would be there to act as doctor.
Well, I don't see what any of this has to do with Buford's murder.
Well, you expected Buford's physician, Dr.
Travis.
But you knew that Dr.
Travis's faculties were failing, and you were afraid that he'd miss the point that Buford was murdered.
In that case, there would have been no autopsy, only burial or cremation.
Mrs.
Fletcher, first you accuse me of murder, now you're accusing me of ruining a perfect crime.
To make it perfect you also had to destroy Evelyn Colby, the woman you loved but you couldn't have.
If Dr.
Travis missed the hemorrhages indicating murder, you had to be there to find them.
So the post-mortem trail would lead back to Evelyn as the killer.
Ingenious, but hardly proof of anything.
The proof is in the fact that you were observed leaving the murder scene by Billy.
I didn't mean to tell her! She tricked it out of me, I swear! Also, since you were of course out of uniform when you committed the crime, Corporal Ardmore was able to obtain cloth fibers from the brush where you fell that will undoubtedly match items in your wardrobe.
Mrs.
Fletcher, dear Mrs.
Fletcher, you're very good.
And you're very right, but you should have stayed in Maine.
Hold it, John! Don't let things get any worse.
Now, I gotta arrest you for the murder of Buford Hazlitt.
(SIGHS) Billy, I'm proud of you, son.
I didn't really see Lindley, Dad.
I couldn't recognize who it was there in the dark, and when you came home right afterwards, I thought it was you.
Well, what made you change your mind? Mrs.
Fletcher.
I told Billy that the only motive you could have had to kill Buford would be to make a quick deal with Nina Larson.
But instead of that you were preparing cuttings for more trees to plant here at Riverton.
That's absolutely true, Mrs.
Fletcher.
And, you know, the more I thought about it, the more I understood that Buford was right.
And we're gonna be just fine.
(LAUGHING) Everybody, listen up! This won't take much time.
Seth and I have talked to the Charleston Botanical Society about Riverton.
We need your approval.
We want Rob and Kendall to be our partners.
Oh! You're kidding? Oh, well that makes a lot of sense.
I won't be here, and the three of you are all specialists in what you do.
We live here and take care of it for the rest of our lives and then turn it over to the society.
Anybody have any problems with that? Evelyn, I'd like to try an experiment.
All right.
After Billy graduates this spring, I want to put him on here full time until he gets ready to go to college.
How about that, son? I like that.
(ALL LAUGHING) You mustn't become a stranger, Jessica.
Listen, I promise to get Seth to come here for a visit at least once every five years.
Oh, now, Jess, I (ALL LAUGHING)
BUFORD: Kendall, I'd say every mother's son in Carolina is lookin' for this magnolia tree.
I'd hate to have to kill somebody.
(SIGHS) Then quit stalling.
Deliver the tree to Nina Larson and she'll stop sending people.
When'd you press this? About an hour ago.
It's got to be 30 times normal strength.
More.
The tree's peaked.
If they're gonna make perfume from it, it's gotta be now, before it deteriorates.
Look, Buford, all we have to do is deliver and collect royalties and go to work on our other projects.
The hell with royalties! But we have a contract.
And I know how to break it.
Kendall, this is once in a lifetime.
We're talking millions! SETH: I swear, some bonehead's re-routed all these roads.
JESSICA: You made a left when you should've taken a right about three miles back, Seth.
SETH: But notice, if you will, I compensated for that error if I take still another right up here at the fork it should put us back in the direction of Riverton.
Seth, two rights don't make a left.
Trust me, Jess, I know these roads like the back of my hand.
Oh, come on, Seth! I mean, it seems to me we should have gone left at the last intersection.
I just don't understand it.
This road has always led straight to Riverton.
Yeah.
But right now it leads to Savannah, Georgia.
It's that new thruway.
It's got everything all bollixed up.
All right.
All right.
We will take the next right.
And then turn left at the river road and then (CHUCKLES) We'll see! Mmm-hmm.
Why am I beginning to think that you really don't want to get to your cousin's plantation? You may have a point there.
(SCOFFS) CORY: Well, I wasn't having any luck during the daytime, so I figured I'd stay there through night.
And sure enough I spotted the jeep.
And old man Hazlitt must have spotted me at the same time because he jumped out and started taking shots at me.
And he wasn't kidding either.
Good.
Good? It means we're getting close.
Close? I don't figure to get myself killed over any magnolia tree.
Well, this isn't any magnolia tree.
I'm offering a thousand extra bucks to whoever finds it.
And don't come here again.
I told you who to contact if you had any problems.
Yes, ma'am.
(SIGHS) What was that all about? It started because I had to keep tabs.
I had to know if the tree was ready, if Hazlitt was gonna turn it over.
I don't know, I thought maybe he was dealing with somebody else.
But we have a contract with him.
Yes.
I am just worried he's gonna renege.
Nina, we're already $400,000 in the hole, because you went crazy on promos and packaging before you even had a specimen! I know that! Why do you think I am trying to find the damned tree? Do you get it now? (PHONE RINGING) Yeah? WOMAN ON SPEAKERPHONE: Mr.
Hazlitt on line one.
Put him on.
Good morning, Mr.
Hazlitt.
BUFORD: First of all, Miss Larson, get and keep your spies out of Riverton.
Or you'll have to answer for what happens to them.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, try this.
The essence of the Forever Scarlett magnolia is much stronger than anticipated, so we've changed our thinking.
Before we turn it over to you, we demand assurances it'll be used as the basis for a completely natural perfume rather than one that's chemically synthesized.
Mr.
Hazlitt, we have huge commitments.
I can't make any such assurances.
Well, then the deal's off.
Like hell it is! We have a contract.
You're in breach.
The contract's void! Nina, you're You can't fire me, it's too late! They'll can you anyway.
So, why don't you just keep a lid on New York while I go and I find the damn tree.
(DOORBELL RINGING) Oh, now, Evelyn.
John, what are you doin' here? You could have called.
I waited almost two hours.
Well, I never considered that I was under any obligation.
I told you that if I got to town, maybe I'd have a beer.
Well, I never got to town.
Now, if you'll excuse me, John, I have some work in the office I have to do.
Well, then how about tonight? A couple of steaks, no strings.
We're giving a dinner party for the Botanical Society.
All right, then, next Saturday, I've got tickets.
John, it's over.
It's been over for two years.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
I don't believe you.
You can't love old man Hazlitt the way you loved me.
Let her be! And don't show up here again without a warrant.
Mr.
Hazlitt I am really sorry you had to hear or see any of that.
Nothing for you to be sorry about, Evelyn.
Brighten up.
Our visitors should be along any minute now.
(CHUCKLES) I love you.
MAN: Come on now.
Be careful.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) SETH: Hello, young fellah.
Aren't you Kendall Ames' son? Are the Riverdogs gonna take the pennant? What do you know about the Riverdogs? (LAUGHS) Best single A baseball team in the south.
I've been a fan all my life.
How's your dad? He's okay.
At least he was last time I saw him.
Why don't you hop in? I'll take you on down to the house.
Kinda early to be out of school, isn't it? BILLY: Does that bother you, or something? SETH: No.
BUFORD: Seth always hated it here.
My earliest memories of Seth are of him sneezing all over the azaleas.
(LAUGHING) Goodness gracious! Well, I had an allergy.
I outgrew it.
Here.
Try this, Jessica.
Best julep in the South.
Well, that would be hard to do, but I believe you.
(CHUCKLING) It's different.
I developed that mint myself.
I have a patent on it.
Allergies are psychological.
Nothing wrong with my psychology, Buford, thank you.
Oh, come on, Seth, how many times have you been down here in the last 20 years? Twice, both for funerals.
You wouldn't be here now if you weren't (DOORBELL RINGING) Driving Jessica to Orlando.
Isn't that right? Well, I'll let Seth speak for himself.
I wish you'd both find some other topic other than childhood rivalries.
Bravo! Oh, it's all in fun, Jessica.
I always did like to see Seth sputter a bit.
But I don't mean anything by it, and neither does he.
Right? Right, Buford.
I just couldn't wait to get here.
Ask Jessica.
EVELYN: Well, actually, it's our good luck that you did.
And how clever of me to arrive just in time for your annual dinner.
Coincidence, I swear.
Margaret! What a nice surprise! How are you, Dad? It's snowing in New York.
I got homesick and so I thought I'd come down and see ya'II.
And meet you at last, Evelyn.
Margaret, I am so glad to see you.
(DOORBELL RINGING) Seth! Hey! And Jessica Fletcher of the ubiquitous book jacket.
Margaret Barkley.
Playwright.
Perhaps you caught my latest off-Broadway? Yes, I did.
MARGARET: We must talk about it.
Excuse me, my attorney.
(SOFTLY) Why did you come here? What she want now? She's threatening to sue for millions of dollars.
I don't care about that! We've got to do something! I don't care how much she is suing for! There is no deal! Now, young man, go earn your money! Yes, sir.
Mr.
Wilkes, we are asking 20 million plus punitive damages.
(LAUGHS) If you go to court, you'll lose.
Come on.
Under the law, contracting parties have an obligation to act in good faith.
Now, sending trespassers to steal the prototype tree is not good faith.
You're in breach.
(LAUGHS) Hey, nice try.
But we didn't do that.
We say you did.
You have no proof.
Want to go to court on it? I want the tree, it's as simple as that.
And I want it now.
Well, you're never gonna get it by threatening a lawsuit.
(CHUCKLES) You know, you are not at all what I expected.
I would've thought that Buford's lawyer would be a real good old boy.
(LAUGHS) Well, I inherited Buford from my father.
Bourbon? Fine.
Did you inherit a lot of other clients, too? Oh, enough to get started.
Oh.
I'm just trying to start my company down here, too.
Really? That's very interesting.
(CHUCKLING) (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) I'm a real jazz freak.
(LAUGHS) Really? So am I.
Really? Yeah! Oh, so you must know all the great jazz clubs down here.
(CHUCKLING) Oh! I'm at your service.
What can you tell me about Kendall Ames? He's Riverton's resident botanist.
He's worked closely with Buford for years.
Go on.
Uh, has university contacts.
Is very much in creating hybrid food grains to feed the world's hungry.
You know, he's got a boy to send through college, and I just know he'd like to be free to do more research.
How commendable.
(LAUGHS) Dad, can I talk to you? Billy, the cops called me.
They said next time they're gonna have to arrest you.
It was nothin'.
We were playing some ball in the schoolyard and all of a sudden things got out of hand.
They think you're in a gang.
Look, Dad, what do you say we have supper together, like we used to? I have to go to a dinner at the house.
It's always something, Dad.
Either you're working crazy hours, or you're at the university or you don't Dad, if we could just talk through it just once.
I'm not getting anything out of school, Dad.
Let me quit and come work with you.
Billy, I want you to be a botanist, a scientist, not some day laborer.
I have friends who can help you get into the university.
That's not what I want though, Dad.
You'll be years ahead of where I started.
You can do it, son, but not if you're fooling around out here.
But I'd be working with you.
Graduate from high school, son, get some good grades.
What's the use, Dad? What's the damned use? Billy! Not much like Greenwich Village, is it? Oh, frankly, Dad, that's a relief.
You know, sometimes all that excitement just gets so repetitiously boring.
Exacerbated, I'd imagine, if those "sometimes" are accompanied by a shortage of funds.
(LAUGHS) How clever of you to realize that.
Not a great deal of perspicacity required.
But I know you were workin' on that play for over two years and it closed after two nights.
Don't forget the matinee.
Oh, pardon me.
Honestly, I couldn't pay the rent this month.
Well, if I know you, Margaret, I'm sure you've been pampering yourself.
Cold water? And a shower down the hall? Do you know what a pizza costs in Manhattan? Frankly, Margaret, I don't Give a damn! Exactly.
However, you are welcome to stay here as long as you like.
Alone would be more to the purpose.
But totally out of the question.
You know, I could forgive your trashin' me in your play, but not your dear mother.
I'll see you later? (INDISTINCT CHATTERING) MAN: I just want to know, how many times do you have to have your car stolen? (PEOPLE LAUGHING) (DOOR OPENING) You haven't really told me what you thought of my play.
Well, Margaret, I thought that your personal feelings about your stepfather and Riverton really obscured what started out to be a very interesting drama.
I admit I let my resentments take over.
That's the price you pay with you and the critics.
And are you working on another play? Soon, I hope.
Oh, how lovely you both look.
Thanks.
And thank you for keeping my old room intact.
Well, Margaret, you must always feel that this is your home.
Yes, Margaret is gonna be staying with us for a couple of weeks.
To really get to know the lovely lady with whom my stepfather is spending so much time with.
I'm looking forward to it.
I had occasion to talk to Nina Larson this afternoon.
Your name came up.
Oh, in what connection? Well, she's very interested in what you're doing.
She'd like to facilitate your work.
How, exactly? Perhaps you should talk to her.
Doc Travis.
Well, I'm sorry, but I Seth Hazlitt.
Seth? Hazlitt? Oh, Buford's cousin! Seth.
The doctor.
Well, welcome to Riverton.
Thank you.
If you're looking to move to a warmer climate, Seth, Doc Travis is about to retire.
You wouldn't say that if you knew how much fun it was shoveling snow in sub-zero temperatures.
(BOTH CHUCKLING) Nice party.
Rob! I'm so glad you made it.
Buford.
Rob.
Jessica! How are you, Rob? Getting along, one day at a time.
Rob's been doing some contracting work for us.
Well, glad to hear it.
We cousins are all that's left of the Hazlitt's.
We have to look out for each other.
Wine, sir? No.
It's been a year.
I don't drink anymore.
I think that's great.
Seth, I don't give a damn what you think! Easy.
Now, easy.
It's been tough.
It's been tough but he's hanging in there.
Dinner is served.
(SNORING) (MUFFLED GROANS) (THUDDING) (FOOTSTEPS PATTERING) (DOOR CLOSES) JESSICA: It was 7:10 in the morning, Sheriff.
I had the room next door.
I heard Evelyn scream.
And when I came in, she was very distraught.
So I woke Seth and then I tried to reach Dr.
Travis.
But all I got was his service.
Petechial hemorrhages.
What's that? Well, they're tiny little hemorrhages, pale yellow, very difficult to see on the whites of the eyes.
They occur during death due to strangulation or smothering.
Are there neck bruises? SETH: No.
Which means Buford was probably smothered, I expect by a pillow.
(GRUNTS) Hmm, cadaveric spasm.
I think we'd better leave that for the coroner.
I've seen it take the strength of two men to open one of those spasms.
Lindley.
Go ahead.
I'm at a homicide scene, Riverton Mansion.
Victim is Buford Hazlitt.
I'm gonna need a forensic team and I'm gonna want Corporal Ardmore.
Ten-four.
Evelyn, I'm very sorry.
I know how you feel, but I do have to ask you some questions.
You were in here first? Yes.
I brought him his coffee every morning.
Was the door locked? He never locked it.
All right.
This is a crime scene now, so if you'd all keep yourselves available.
Thank you, Doctor.
Sure thing, Sergeant.
I'm very sorry, Evelyn.
Sergeant, this may be nothing, but at about 2:50 I heard a noise.
Now, I'm not certain, but it could have been somebody jumping or dropping from the balcony and perhaps hitting the wall.
All right, that could be useful.
Anything else? No.
Thank you, ma'am.
NINA: Mr.
Ames, in addition to the large amount of money up front, and the royalties ad infinitum we can discuss financing your experiments.
Look, my old friend and colleague was brutally murdered last night.
I'm not gonna double-cross him and make a deal that he opposed.
I am really sorry about Mr.
Hazlitt.
I am.
But I think that this should make things easier for us, not harder.
Well, that's one of the things that bothers me, Miss Larson.
You've had people lurking around here for weeks.
I'm not going to dignify that with a reply.
Look, I understand your quandary, I do, but we are rapidly running out of time, and pretty soon you're not gonna have anything to bargain with.
Look, if we'd talked yesterday, maybe something would have come of it.
But right now, I'm just too damned torn up.
I've got a lot of things to think through.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do.
JESSICA: Look, Billy, I haven't told the police anything, but would you mind my asking you what you were doing out in front of the mansion at 3:00 in the morning? Why should I mind? My ride dropped me off down the road and I was on my way home.
And did you see anyone around the mansion? No.
Now, when you turned back to the house, it was as if you'd heard something.
Yeah, but I didn't see anybody.
When you got home, was anybody there? Why all these questions? Because there's been a murder and maybe you can be of some help.
My dad came right behind me in his truck.
He works all these crazy hours.
Can I go now? I haven't got all day.
Thanks, Billy.
(SIGHS) That young man is not very forthcoming, is he? NINA: My feeling is that Kendall Ames is dealing with somebody else.
Well, Kendall and Buford were together a long time, don't forget.
We've been promoting Forever Scarlett so hard that the competitors would love nothing better than to grab it for themselves.
I'm just gonna keep the pressure on him, and meanwhile, have my people keep looking for the tree.
I assume that there's no longer a conflict of interest? Well, I still do have my obligations to the Hazlitt Estate.
Oh.
Then by all means, why don't we consider this payment for personal rather than legal services? You know, for the tour of the jazz clubs last night, and the view of the bay this morning.
(CHUCKLES) Thank you.
All right.
Some personal questions.
Have you read the will? Uh, well, I'll see it this afternoon.
Uh, Buford hand wrote it about a year ago and locked it up.
What do you know about Rob and Seth Hazlitt? Uh, well, Rob's got a thing for Evelyn.
Ah, she talked Buford into giving him some work about a year ago out here in Riverton.
Rob and Seth don't get along very well though.
Why not? Well, Rob drank too much for years, ticked off a lot of people along the way.
You know, I don't think either one of them knows anything about the tree.
My sources seem to think that Kendall's son, Billy, would be a good bet.
It's worth a try.
EVELYN: Tell the staff I want fresh flowers everywhere.
MAID: Yes, Miss Colby.
Evelyn, I'm sorry to see you hurting like this.
But I have to get back to Charleston.
Rob, don't leave.
I just don't feel right being here.
Please stay, for me.
I get the feeling I'm gonna be needing a friend by the time this is all over.
You have more than a friend.
MAN: Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
I know what's goin' on.
I'm on the case Mrs.
Fletcher, Doc.
See now, this broken branch may tie in with what you heard during the night.
Mrs.
Fletcher, Mr.
Hazlitt.
I left a message for you.
Oh! I've just gone over Mr.
Hazlitt's will and I'll be reading it to those concerned tonight.
You both should be there.
It's unlikely that will affect us.
You did say both of us? Well, you carried on a correspondence with Mr.
Hazlitt? Yes.
Over the years about his gardening articles.
Well, he valued your letters.
Well, Dr.
Hazlitt and I will be there.
Thank you.
BILLY: So, Cory, who's putting up all the cash? Well, forget about that, man.
Now, look, you just tell me where the tree is stashed and you get 10 big ones.
You think what you can do with 10 grand.
I told you, man, I don't know where it is.
Well, then find it, and get back to me.
Go on.
(SCOFFS) "To Della Jackson and Ralph Palmer, "who have been with us these many years, "I leave $10,000 each.
" Thank you for being here.
Thank you, sir.
"To my friend and colleague, Kendall Ames, "one half of the proceeds from the Forever Scarlett magnolia tree.
"To Robert Hazlitt.
"$5,000 to be used to make the back payments on his grading equipment.
" I have no back payments on anything.
"To J.
B.
Fletcher of Cabot Cove.
"In gratitude for her thoughtful letters and abiding interest in my work, "I leave a cutting from Riverton's two-century-old Queen Anne rosebush.
"And to my stepdaughter, Margaret Barkley, "who rejected both myself and her heritage, "I leave a free lifetime pass to Riverton Gardens.
(LAUGHING) (GASPS) (CLEARS THROAT) "To my cousin, Seth Hazlitt, "with whom I've had disagreements, "but a man of substantial character and good judgment, "and to my estate manager and the woman I love, Evelyn Colby, I leave "Riverton Gardens.
"Structures, land, assets, half and half, equally to both, "with the right of survivorship to each.
" Must I accept? We can discuss your options, Dr.
Hazlitt, at another time Very well done! What are you talking about? You knew what was in his will.
You were probably in bed with him when he wrote it.
And then last night when you asked him to marry you, and he refused That's not true.
I happen to know that it is! Because it was Buford who told me.
(GRUNTING) (DOOR CLOSES) Implicating Evelyn in the murder would certainly be to Margaret's advantage, because it would immediately invalidate the will and give her a chance at the inheritance.
I've never owned anything but my house and car, Jess.
The last thing I need, this stage in my life, is a southern plantation.
(LAUGHS) Face it, Seth, you're going to be bugged by this until you clear it up.
Would you like some coffee? Uh, no thanks.
Excuse me, I hope I'm not intruding.
Oh, I didn't know you were still here.
Well, I was just going over some papers in the office, particularly the contract between Mr.
Hazlitt and Nina Larson.
Let me fill you in.
We've been pretty well briefed, thank you, Mr.
Wilkes.
I called a friend at the Perfume Institute in New York.
I see.
Well, there's a lot of misinformation going around.
Uh, whatever you may have heard, I believe the contract to be a fair one and that you and Evelyn should comply before the Forever Scarlett tree deteriorates and becomes worthless.
We'd have to locate the tree first.
Well, I'm sure Kendall Ames knows where it is.
I've already spoken with him, and got absolutely nothing out of him.
Now, even if we had the tree, I'm having second thoughts about going against Buford's wishes.
Well, you see, I sincerely believe that Mr.
Hazlitt was wrong.
We can discuss that after we've found the tree.
Well, there is a time factor.
Yes, I'm sure there is.
Good night, Mr.
Wilkes.
Mrs.
Fletcher Good night, Mr.
Wilkes.
Good night.
MARGARET: I want to confess.
I killed my stepfather so that I could get my free lifetime pass to Riverton Gardens.
The D.
A.
's got it another way.
He thinks you killed Buford because he was planning to marry again.
Evelyn killed him.
There's no evidence against Evelyn.
You don't want to find any.
I know all about you and Evelyn after I left for New York.
But the hell with that for now.
I came about something else.
What do you know about the Forever Scarlett tree? It's worth a fortune and it has to be in Riverton Gardens.
Suppose I find it.
I might need help getting it out from under Seth Hazlitt and Evelyn.
We'll talk, but I'm not gonna break any laws for you.
I'll call you.
What do you suppose suddenly makes us so interesting? I don't think it's just us.
More likely he was watching the greenhouse and we just happened to come along.
NINA: I've used the time since yesterday to sweeten the deal.
New York has agreed that in addition to the cash and the royalties, we will fully fund your research.
To have been murdered that way Truly horrible.
What do the police think? Uh, robbery or Well, they don't know.
Ah! Jessica Fletcher, Seth Hazlitt, Nina Larson.
Nice to meet you.
How do you do? I've heard a lot about you, Miss Larson.
Aimant Fragrances' premier nose.
Well, I can't deny that, Mrs.
Fletcher.
This must seem like paradise to you.
Oh, yes.
It's fantastic.
Oh, I have to congratulate you and Evelyn Colby on acquiring it all.
Ah.
Well, please don't let us interrupt you.
No.
Not at all.
Kendall and I are old friends.
I merely stopped by to offer my condolences.
You know, you and myself and Evelyn should really sit down and talk sometime.
Actually, right now would be fine.
Not for me, Miss Larson.
NINA: Okay.
Why don't I call you? Mrs.
Fletcher.
Thanks for stopping by.
I'll be in touch.
Kendall, Evelyn and I agreed that we might want to follow through with Buford's plans for the tree, whatever they might've been.
But without your cooperation, we can't do a thing.
That's true, you can't.
You do know that the greenhouse is being watched.
And the woods and the old slave quarters and any place that tree may be hidden.
It's being well coordinated.
You know, the individual that we just saw was a very rough looking character.
He was wearing a baseball cap.
Well, that could be Cory Davis.
Billy said Cory offered him $10,000 if he'd tell him where the tree was kept.
What did Billy tell him? He didn't know.
I'm the only one who does.
Suppose something happened to you, Kendall.
Well, that tree could die before anyone found it.
Listen, the moment I disclose the whereabouts of the tree, my life is in danger.
Now, I don't know who murdered Buford and I don't know you or Mrs.
Fletcher that well either, but that tree is all the life insurance I have.
For how long, Kendall? I understand there was something you wanted to ask me? Yes, I do.
The coroner pried this out of Buford's death grip.
It's identical to the ones you wear.
What about it? Well, that's 10 of them.
You bought a package of 20 yesterday.
We checked at your drug store.
The other 10 are in my room, in my makeup kit.
I'm sorry, Evelyn, but we have a warrant and Corporal Ardmore searched your room and your makeup kit.
They weren't there.
I don't understand.
The D.
A.
Sees it like this.
You and Buford were very close.
You know what was in the will.
You wanted it.
You smother him thinking you can get away with it as a natural death.
In any event, who's gonna trace it to you? John But you lose one of your nails.
You don't notice it at first, can't be sure where it is.
If it's in Buford's grasp, you can't do anything anyway.
But maybe it'll turn up.
So you go to your package and you replace the one that's missing.
John, you believe that I The point is, the D.
A.
Will.
None of this is true.
Excuse me.
We found these in the trash out back.
There are only nine.
Sergeant, anyone could have stolen a false nail out of Evelyn's room and put it into Buford's dying hand, and then deposited the rest of them in the trash.
The D.
A.
's sure the jury'll go with his version, especially with the will giving Evelyn half the estate.
I am truly sorry and you know that.
But you're under arrest for the murder of Buford Hazlitt.
Jessica, Seth! I didn't kill him! Mrs.
Fletcher, your statement on what you heard from your room on the night of the murder is ready for signature.
If you'd be so kind to come down to my office at your earliest convenience.
Evelyn needs all the help she can get.
Well, yes.
Of course, Sergeant.
Thank you, ma'am.
Jessica.
Please, try to see Evelyn while you're there.
She must be feeling like hell.
You don't look so great yourself.
Never mind me.
Evelyn never killed anybody.
I'll do what I can, Rob.
Excuse me, ma'am.
You might want to take a look at this.
Oh, yes, of course.
See if there are any changes.
MAN: Sergeant.
Well, there's just one correction here.
Very good.
There.
Now my statement is accurate.
All right.
MAN: Sarge Just a moment, please.
Mmm-hmm.
I have something.
That's his office there.
(CHATTERING) Very good.
Ma'am, they're bringing Evelyn up right now.
A couple of minutes.
What do you want, Jessica? Evelyn, there are people who think you did not commit this murder.
A lot of good that's doing me now.
I loved Buford and this is the punishment I get.
Evelyn, the night of the party Well, there's only one accurate word.
I saw you sneak out of Buford's bedroom after he was already downstairs.
Mrs.
Fletcher, don't torment me or yourself.
I'm not gonna answer any of your damned questions! Evelyn And that is the end of it! Very well, then.
(SIGHS) Jessica, I sneaked up there to see Buford's will.
I was feeling rotten.
Buford had walked in on what he probably thought was a lover's quarrel.
Then all of a sudden Margaret was there, and I asked him if he would announce our engagement.
But he said it wasn't the right time.
So that was what Margaret was talking about.
That's what she distorted.
But I panicked.
And I went up there to see if Buford had changed the will.
It wasn't about the inheritance.
It was just I wanted to know if his feelings for me had changed.
And the lover's quarrel that you mentioned? That was with Sergeant Lindley? It had been over for more than two years, but he kept pushing.
Oh, Jessica, I'm sorry that I snapped at you.
I'm not feeling very well.
You just can't imagine how small a jail cell is until you're locked up in one.
Now Kendall said something about planting down in the river flats.
Of course! What, Jessica? I believe I know where that tree is.
You know, Evelyn said that she couldn't believe how small her cell was.
Well, I had the same feeling about this greenhouse.
It's much bigger on the outside than it is on the inside.
This is an odd way to get into a tool closet.
Unless this isn't what it appears to be.
(GASPS) The tree.
My Pretty.
Oh, that's not only beautiful but it's incredibly strong.
Oh, now I understand the fuss.
What's that all about? Work in progress.
These are new cuttings from the Forever Scarlett tree.
And I think it's going to help us to trap Buford's murderer.
BILLY: Look, I've told the police all I know.
JESSICA: No, you told them what you dared to tell them.
Excuse me, but I've got things to do.
Just a minute, son! Billy, did you see anybody under the balcony right after the murder? I don't want to talk about it! There's been a murder, Billy.
You're gonna have to talk about it! Billy, I want you to do something for me.
(DOOR CREAKING) I didn't believe it when Cory told me you'd found it.
You did very well, son.
Yes, he did, indeed.
Mrs.
Fletcher? What are you doing here, ma'am? I'm looking for you.
You see, Kendall was sure that somebody was coordinating the search operations for Nina Larson.
And when I saw Cory Davis going to your office, I thought Well, that's fine, Mrs.
Fletcher, but first I want you to know I'm not breaking the law by coming for the tree.
I'm acting as a collection agent with full authorization from the contractual owners, the Aimant Corporation.
Sergeant, whether you're breaking the law now is unimportant.
But you certainly did break the law when you murdered Buford Hazlitt.
Murdered Hazlitt? What are you talking about? It started to come together for me in your office this afternoon.
While you were going over my statement, I read the duty roster behind you.
Now, you were scheduled to come on duty at 8:00 a.
m.
But you were in Buford's bedroom at 7:20.
Now, according to the duty roster, Deputy Colfax, not you, should have answered the 911 call.
Well, I couldn't sleep.
I called Colfax.
I came on duty at 6:00 a.
m.
He was only too glad to get off early.
Oh, I'm quite sure he was, but there was much more involved than insomnia.
You had no way of knowing that when Buford's body was found, Seth would be there to act as doctor.
Well, I don't see what any of this has to do with Buford's murder.
Well, you expected Buford's physician, Dr.
Travis.
But you knew that Dr.
Travis's faculties were failing, and you were afraid that he'd miss the point that Buford was murdered.
In that case, there would have been no autopsy, only burial or cremation.
Mrs.
Fletcher, first you accuse me of murder, now you're accusing me of ruining a perfect crime.
To make it perfect you also had to destroy Evelyn Colby, the woman you loved but you couldn't have.
If Dr.
Travis missed the hemorrhages indicating murder, you had to be there to find them.
So the post-mortem trail would lead back to Evelyn as the killer.
Ingenious, but hardly proof of anything.
The proof is in the fact that you were observed leaving the murder scene by Billy.
I didn't mean to tell her! She tricked it out of me, I swear! Also, since you were of course out of uniform when you committed the crime, Corporal Ardmore was able to obtain cloth fibers from the brush where you fell that will undoubtedly match items in your wardrobe.
Mrs.
Fletcher, dear Mrs.
Fletcher, you're very good.
And you're very right, but you should have stayed in Maine.
Hold it, John! Don't let things get any worse.
Now, I gotta arrest you for the murder of Buford Hazlitt.
(SIGHS) Billy, I'm proud of you, son.
I didn't really see Lindley, Dad.
I couldn't recognize who it was there in the dark, and when you came home right afterwards, I thought it was you.
Well, what made you change your mind? Mrs.
Fletcher.
I told Billy that the only motive you could have had to kill Buford would be to make a quick deal with Nina Larson.
But instead of that you were preparing cuttings for more trees to plant here at Riverton.
That's absolutely true, Mrs.
Fletcher.
And, you know, the more I thought about it, the more I understood that Buford was right.
And we're gonna be just fine.
(LAUGHING) Everybody, listen up! This won't take much time.
Seth and I have talked to the Charleston Botanical Society about Riverton.
We need your approval.
We want Rob and Kendall to be our partners.
Oh! You're kidding? Oh, well that makes a lot of sense.
I won't be here, and the three of you are all specialists in what you do.
We live here and take care of it for the rest of our lives and then turn it over to the society.
Anybody have any problems with that? Evelyn, I'd like to try an experiment.
All right.
After Billy graduates this spring, I want to put him on here full time until he gets ready to go to college.
How about that, son? I like that.
(ALL LAUGHING) You mustn't become a stranger, Jessica.
Listen, I promise to get Seth to come here for a visit at least once every five years.
Oh, now, Jess, I (ALL LAUGHING)