Jessica investigates the possibility that a man spent 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Season 3, Episode 21: The Days Dwindle Down (April 19, 1987)

An elderly waitress begs for J.B.’s help in solving a decades-old murder.

Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?

Richard Beymer (Sydney Jarvis): Best known as Tony in the original West Side Story, cult cinema fans adore him as Ben Horne in Twin Peaks. Here, he plays the man on trial for his life, providing the episode’s central tension.

June Havoc (Thelma Vantay): A true vaudeville legend (and the real-life sister of Gypsy Rose Lee), she brings old-school theatrical gravity to the role of the domineering mother-in-law.

Harry Morgan (Retired Lt. Richard Webb): Before he was Colonel Potter on M’A’S’H, he was Jack Webb’s partner on Dragnet. In a fun meta twist, he plays a retired detective whom Jessica hires to help her dig into the case.

Susan Strasberg (Dorothy Hearn Davis): The daughter of legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg, Susan was a “Method” darling who appeared in everything from Picnic to the psychedelic cult classic The Trip. She plays the tragic wife whose death sets the plot in motion.

Gloria Stuart (Edna Jarvis): Decades before she became a household name (and Oscar nominee) as “Old Rose” in James Cameron’s Titanic, Stuart was a 1930s starlet. She appears here in the present day, while Katherine Emery appears in uncredited archive footage as a younger version of her.

Art Hindle (Rod Wilson): A Canadian legend! If you love 70s/80s horror, you know him from David Cronenberg’s The Brood and the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He plays the Wilson family’s son.

Martha Scott (Georgia Wilson): An Academy Award nominee for Our Town, she’s perhaps most famous for playing Charlton Heston’s mother in both The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur. She plays the Wilson matriarch.

Jeffrey Lynn (Sam Wilson): A former leading man from the 1940s (Four Daughters), he returned to the screen for this role after a period of semi-retirement.

Debbie Zipp (Terry Wilson): A Murder, She Wrote regular. She appeared in several episodes playing different characters, most notably as the wife of Jessica’s nephew, Grady Fletcher.

Tom Dreesen (Peabody): A legendary stand-up comedian who famously toured with Frank Sinatra for years. He steps into a character role here.

Emory Bass (Manager): A character actor staple who you might recognize from 1776 or his numerous appearances on The Love Boat.

Russ Marin (Lt. Sharp): A “that guy” actor seen in everything from The Rockford Files to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Mark Pilon (Male Secretary): A prolific voice actor and performer who appeared in various 80s staples like Knots Landing.

Walter Smith (Restaurant Patron): One of the unsung heroes of Hollywood—a professional background actor who appeared in hundreds of episodes of television, including over 40 episodes of Murder, She Wrote alone!

What happens?

Jessica is living the high life in a luxury hotel suite—probably on the dime of her publisher or some poor sap who didn’t realize inviting J.B. Fletcher to your city is a death warrant for at least one local socialite.

While she’s being pampered, she’s approached by Georgia Wilson. Georgia’s husband, Sam, just got out of the slammer after serving thirty years. He was sent up for the rub-out of his boss, Richard Jarvis. Sam’s story? He was framed. He claims Jarvis’s firm went bust, and the guy offered Sam his last ten grand to make his suicide look like an armed robbery so the insurance company would cough up a fortune for the Jarvis family. Only problem? Someone actually did kill him before the plan went south.

Sam and Georgia’s son, Rod, became a cop specifically to clear his old man’s name. He puts his badge and his expertise at Jessica’s disposal. Along with a retired Lt. Webb, they start digging into 30-year-old forensic evidence.

Naturally, someone isn’t happy about this walk down memory lane. After someone takes a literal shot at Jessica with a matching bullet, J.B. realizes the past isn’t dead.

Who did it?

The victim died by accident. His wife arrived home, caught him mid-attempt and tried to snatch the heater out of his hand because she actually loved the guy. Bang! The gun goes off in the struggle. The big giveaway for J.B. Webb? The fingerprints on the barrel proved it was a wrestling match, not a solo act.

Who made it?

This was directed by Michael J. Lynch and written by Philip Gerson.

Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?

No. I’m wondering if I’ll ever see that.

Was it any good?

Yes, as always.

Any trivia?

The flashbacks are taken from the film Strange Bargain. Jeffrey Lynn, Martha Scott and Harry Morgan reprise their roles from the movie. In the movie, Lt. Webb identifies the murderer, and Sam is saved from prison.

Richard Beymer, who played Sydney Jarvis, was actually 14 years younger than Raymond Roe, who played the same character in Strange Behavior. By this point, he’d retired and was a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Give me a reasonable quote:

Retired Lt. Richard Webb: I figured she was playin’ bedsheet bingo with the boss.

What’s next?

A temporary blackout at a recording studio leaves Jessica in the dark when the wealthy, soon-to-be-owner is stabbed to death.