"The Perfect Foil" is the twenty-first episode of the second season of Murder, She Wrote and its 43rd episode overall. It aired on April 13, 1986.
Summary[]
In New Orleans at Mardi Gras, Calhoun, a distant cousin of Jessica's, is falsely accused of the murder of criminal Johnny Blaze.
Plot[]
The episode begins with a poker game that's being held in a secret New Orleans saloon where four people (Congressman Brad Gardner, attorney Mitch Payne, Gilbert Gaston) draw chips and cards. One of them is Jessica's cousin, Calhoun Fletcher, who draws 200 and pulls out 500, though is asked to pull out 5,000. When he responds to only have a light 400, the dealer Johnny Blaze assures him he's among their friends; though after pulling a full house by discarding a jack, Cal calls the dealer a scoundrel and a cheat as he slaps him in the face while Gil drags him out of the room after Johnny punches him. Cal stutters that he's going to kill him while Blaze responds that he'll be dog meat the next time he shows his face there.
Back at Cabot Cove, Jessica Fletcher is on the phone with Aunt Mil who tells her she's worried about Cal, Jane and Edward's son who collects butterflies for a living, as he hasn't written back in three months like he does to Mill. She suspects he's dead and that he slipped on her unannounced. Even though Jessica is packing for a trip in Houston, Mill asks her to drop into New Orleans to check how Cal is doing.
Back in Louisiana as the Mardi Gras parade is going on, Blaze puts some money in a secret vault behind a painting as a woman in a purple genie dress named Kitty Manette shows up to flirt with him. He gets very aggressive with Kitty as he squeezes her lips tight, though stops as soon as Gilbert pops into the room. Blaze asks him if anything is strange about Kitty and what she's scared about. He suspects he has something going with another guy, though Gil assures she is obsessed with Blaze; much to his adamance as he orders Johnny to find out who he is. In another part of the suite, Congressman of Louisiana Brad Gardner is arguing with his wife Rosaline about owing money to Blaze and that if some IOUs get in the wrong hands, it'll damage his political career. He assures he'll pay them off, though she reminds him his allowance is almost running out. She goes on to ask if he was messing around with other woman and reminds him that they have a shot at Pennsylvania Avenue by a few more years as Brad promises to get back the IOUs, though Rosaline says she'll do it herself. Jessica arrives at the hotel asking for a reservation, though the clerk says she can only check in tomorrow night as she asks him to find anything else to do. The clerk can only redirect her to another hotel on Baton Rogue since this is the final night of Mardi Gras.
Back outside on the streets, a masquerade performer in a red outfit and opera mask pulls out a revolver which he spins the barrel of and reloads it, almost as if he has the intention of killing someone. Inside a cab, the driver tells Jessica he can't find anymore hotels and that he'll lose his license if he lets her sleep in the car. When Fletcher pulls up the address #7 Lafitte Lane and that a relative of hers lives there, he says its a long block away though agrees to take her there. After thanking the driver for taking her to the hotel, Jessica begins her search for Cal in the apartment where she runs into several masqueraders including a hooded executioner, who mistakes her for Marie Antoniette ("I think she was guillotined." "She was, well how about Anne Boleyn."); Napoleon Bonaparte, who refers to her as Josephine and kisses her while speaking in a French accent; a vampire lady who gives her a spare mask since she's out of uniform, and Sir Walter Raleigh who offers her his cape ("If this is Southern hospitality, I must say I am overwhelmed by your generosity.").
The party stops for a minute as Johnny Blaze, dressed up as pirate John Lafitte, gives a rousing speech about drinking and being merry until yesterday when they are forced to walk the plank. Jessica asks him if he's seen Blaze and responds she must be out of town as he opens the door to the study room while forcefully shoving Kitty inside. Jessica bumps into the mysterious red masquerader who she identifies as Cardinal Richelieu and takes off his red glove to hold her hand. She asks him if he's seen Cal, though he walks off as she tries speaking to Gilbert who says he was around a few minutes ago and said he was wearing a nose-mask costume that resembled Cyrano de Bergerac. Kitty then arrives to take Gilbert out of the scene as she says they need to talk.
As Rosaline is heading out of a wardrobe while wearing an elegant costume, she bumps into Jessica who she presumes is dressed up as Lady Macbeth ("You look as if you've seen Banquo's ghost" before admitting that it was Sir MacBeth who saw it). She draws a blank on the Cyrano's whereabouts, though Gilbert says he might be upstairs. As the Cardinal mysteriously emerges from the room again, Jessica goes upstairs when she notices a man dressed in the Cyrano costume previously described to her. Overjoyed, she immediately assumes its Cal and goes down to "reintroduce" herself, though he does not seem to recognize her as he walks off and into the brown office door where he shouts in a stammering "stutter" for Blaze's name and that he's gonna kill him; hoisting out his sword and barging into the room. After the door closes, clashes of swords can be heard from the other side which everyone assumes is all part of an act until a man's groan be heard following by a thud afterwards. ("I wish I had brought my camera" - the Napoleon dude). Jessica knocks on the door to see if Cal is in there and suspects something's wrong while Kitty walks in, knocking for Johnny to say something. Gilbert comes out of nowhere from behind and knocks on the door for Johnny to respond. Realizing its locked, he breaks down the door with his arms as he, Kitty and Jessica come in to see Blaze's body on the floor ("Sacre bleu!").
The police arrive on the scene to investigate the crime scene (beforehand, a grim reaper masquerader can be seen walking in front of the cruisers) with local Lt. Edmund Cavette and Sgt. Baxter on the scene where they find Cal's name written in blood. Jessica notes that the sofa was moved closer to the wall to hide a patch of blood stains and Cavette believes the victim managed to knick the killer for a bit, though she corrects that Blaze's sword has a protective button on the end and finds an empty sheath for a pen opener on the desk; theorizing that it was used for the murder weapon. Cavette reminisces about watching a charming guest carve up a pompous book critic on a talk show two years ago and suspects that it was JB Fletcher, who she confirms was her. Cavette is grateful to see her, though asks what business she has being in New Orleans in the first place. She states she came to see her cousin which leads Edmund to reveal that he only owns the Lafitte sporting club and lives somewhere else. Baxter directs him to the safe behind the painting while Gilbert leans over to tell Jessica that she should get his cousin out of town fast and that he lives in a pad across the alley.
Cut to the apartment, we see Cal's loft; a messy-looking bedroom with butterfly paraphernalia when Jessica comes in and wakes him up. She reintroduces herself to him and explains her family relations being that her husband Frank's uncle was his father's cousin, though may have been a nephew as she's not quite sure. Cal says he's shocked to see Jessica at this time as she tells him Blaze was murdered and that the police will come to him about it since "he" was last seen shouting threats at the victim before coming into the study; along with finding his name written in blood. Cal denies to having any precense at the gambling house last night while Jessica asks why the man was running a gambling parlour in his house. He explained that after his parents left him the house, it was too big to manage so he leased it out to Blaze and his company, though had no idea until then what they were up to.
Cavette arrives to interrogate Fletcher while his acquittance discovers the "Cyrano" costume hanging from the closet, with Cal's door key in the pocket painting him as the killer while he is arrested. At the police headquarters, Cavette explains to Jessica that Blaze's gambling parlour was running under the cover of a private club and that he was a thug with his demise coming across as no tragedy for the community. Jessica brings up the probability of others wanting him dead, though Cavette is satisfied that the evidence points to her cousin being the perpetrator; despite Jessica vouching he wasn't even there. Cavette insists he had to be there as along with making threats in front of witnesses over the card dispute, his gambling debt with Blaze makes it a perfect alibi. Nevertheless, he allows Jessica to see him in the interrogation room where she asks why he threatened to kill Blaze over a card game, despite not knowing about the gambling problems going on in his property. Cal says he was cheating, though Jessica states he's not being very open and that he was in debt. He denies to being the killer as he's a self-proclaimed naturalist who mounts rare insects for museums; meaning that he allowed the game of cards to happen as long as Johnny paid him well with the leases. Cal admits he was losing heavily and that Johnny threatened to take over the parlour to pay his IOUs, which was when he caught proof of him cheating. As Jessica mopes about this defense performing badly in court, Cal's lawyer Mitch introduces himself to Jessica, though she says they already met at the party as he states he came in for a quick drink before the "excitement." Jessica calls the bluff on Cal testifying for self-defence since he wasn't even there, though Mitch assures that he will get his client bailed.
Back at the gambling club as Kitty hangs a black wreath on the door for Blaze, Rosaline shows up to talk about her husband. Kitty does not remember, though Mrs. Gardner states she has some business she'd like to do with her involving the $27,000 IOUs he signed to Blaze, though were stolen before the police arrived at the incident. She demands Kitty to find out who has them if its not her or Gil who took the IOUs. She goes on to ask if she's been sleeping with her husband, though Kitty says she was engaged to Blaze.
Fletcher and Cavette have a romantic afternoon together in a fancy restaurant where Jessica doesn't want another drink, though he states that its bad luck to never finish the bottle. While Cavette tries getting his mind off the murder case, she informs her that Cal has a lawyer who wants him to plead self-defense. Cavette also confirms some suspicions about Mitch Payne as he was friends with Johnny Blaze, who he successfully defended on a murder charge; involving a young man he killed over a card game. The two witnesses that testified against him were either paid off or intimidated. Fletch states that if Cal is convicted, then the real killer of Blaze would get off scot-free.
The next morning at attorney office Maison Neuf, Rosaline demands that Mitch get the IOUs back and destroy them, though he states he already went through the police who said they didn't find them and that Cal is not the thief. Mrs. Gardner states she put out feelers at the club while Brad says she should stop poking around the club and just let Payne handle it; which Rosaline claps back at him to do the same. On the other side of the room, Fletcher tells Miss Collins that she'd like to see Payne, though he's still in his meeting with Rosaline as she states he'll need someone to fill Brad's seat in the districts upon returning to Washington after the election and if he gets the IOUs back, Payne might just be able to fill that position. Jessica introduces herself to Gardner, who assumes she's from Women's Voters League as she recognizes her as MacBeth from the party, though Rosaline insists it was someone else. In the room with Mitch, Jessica brings up Cal being short of funds as Payne assures her his equity in the house is more than valuable, along with looking after Cal's interests. Fletcher then brings up Blaze's interests as he reminds him of his defense against a murder charge. The attorney defends that he was only testifying his innocence while Fletcher suspects Rosaline might be the murderer since Mitch is now doing business with her.
In the Lafitte room, Gilbert and Kitty share a cigarette in "mourning" of Blaze as Jessica comes in to state her concerns about Cal as his friends were convinced he did it, though the suspect denies him being there. The two say that he was at the party all drunk and because of Johnny, they figured it'd be best to get him out of there. Gil says he brought him out back, though he later heard "him" say "Blaze, I'll kill you." When asked if congressmen Gardner was at the party, Kitty says he wasn't there, though Gil says his limo was parked down on the street. He denied to informing any of the cops about it, especially Cavette as there was some trouble years ago involving a kid getting knifed in the alley and Cavette suspected that Blaze was the culprit; culminating in a year-long vendetta since the victim was his son. Back at Cal's loft, upon being released, he wraps up a phone call with his aunt Mil about the letters he sent not getting through postage and a Smithsonian expedition as he wants to take Jessica on a tour around New Orleans, though his cousin calls out his lies for not being at the club despite Kitty and Gaston saying otherwise. Cal sighs and admits that he was there earlier in masked costume as he figured Blaze would be none the wiser until Kitty ran up excited and said "He knows;" a phrase that Jessica suspected meant trouble, which Cal confirms as Gaston gave him one for the road as he hustled him out the back. He remembers nothing else that happened on the night, except that Mitch and Brad were sitting in the gambling game, along with signing some IOUs. In a mansion, Brad and Mitch have a meeting where the former tells the latter that Kitty can get the IOUs at face value while informing him to tell Rosaline that he's got a line on the IOUs through somebody else. Brad further instructs the attorney to keep Kitty out of it as he'll give the cash to her after Mitch takes it from Mrs. Gardner. Mitch objects that she won't like it if she finds out, though Brad states that he'll need someone like him to cover things in Louisiana when he returns to Washington. He asks if Rosaline will be okay with it, though Brad assures that she is being sent a one-way ticket back to New Orleans.
Jessica and Cavette have yet another diner in a fancy restaurant where the chief suggests she move to Orleans while the writer mentions if he found any IOUs lying about in the safe. He draws a blank as the commissioner asked him the same thing, though Jessica states Cal and the Congressman signed them. The chief suggests Cal took it, though Jessica thinks he didn't. Realizing that she's on to something, he mentions his son Eric who was on a vacation from Tulane as he wanted to be a doctor, though somehow ended up at the gambling club. One witness, who later had to change his story, stated that Eric caught Blaze cheating one day and was foolish enough to pay the price for it as he was stabbed to death; his body was later found in the alleyway. Cavette admits to wanting to kill Blaze several times, though never fell through with it and insists he wasn't there on the night of his death as he kisses Jessica's hand. However, she realizes he's lying as she spots a golden ring on his hand with a coat of arms motif on; matching the "Cardinal Richelieu" masquerader she saw at the party.
After the break, Cavette admits to being there as he wanted to find something that would re-open the case of his son's death and calls her stubborn because she can't accept her cousin's guilt. After stating for like the third time that Cal is actually Frank's cousin, Jessica suddenly gets a Eureka moment as Cavette asks her to bring up any further evidence the police doesn't know.
At the Lavender Cat antique cafe, Kitty, Baxter, Cavette and Fletcher summon all the suspects into the room to test a theory that will proof Cal's innocence while getting one of them, the real murderer, to reveal what they have to say. Mitch accuses her of slandering the suspects, though Fletch assures she has no intentions of harassing anyone. She starts by having everyone try to recount what happened not seconds before Blaze was murdered, but hours before Blaze was murdered as she remembers seeing Blaze an hour before the body was discovered and that Kitty went in with him. She said it was before "Cal" stabbed him and Jessica notices that was when her lip got cut. Kitty admits that Johnny hit her and it wasn't a new occurrence. When asked if it happened before or after they told Cal to leave, she said it was right after that Gilbert rushed him out, though "he" made his way back in. Moving onto Mrs. Gardner who was also in the study room, she said that she was looking for the ladies room and that nobody was in during her time there. An impatient Cavette asks Fletcher to get to the point, though she mentions seeing a "Cardinal Richelieu" emerge from the study. While the chief does not admit to dressing up as him, he makes a statement on the "masquerader's" behold that Blaze was not in the study with him and theorized that he slipped out the window and returned before "Cal" killed him. Jessica suspects that Blaze may have been in the room, though no one saw him because his body was hidden behind the sofa. Cavette and Kitty are still insistent that Cal was the one to do it, though Fletcher suggests they reenact what everyone saw happen as "Cal" is brought into the room wearing his Cyrano costume once more. Kitty states they say him go into the study and shout that he wanted to kill Blaze when Fletcher has "Cal" reenact the banging on the door and reciting what he said, right down to the stammer. Cavette states that it is only a small detail as he had locked the door from the inside, though Fletcher then states that everyone should come inside the study to get an even clearer picture.
She finds that the window was open and remembers hearing of Cal and the victim sword fighting. When asking for someone to play the part of Blaze, she tosses the sword to Gaston who instantly catches it with his left hand as he clashes swords with "Cal;" followed by a scream and thud as described by Fletcher. Cavette states once more that only her cousin could've done it as Fletcher demands Cyrano to unveil himself; though instead of Cal being behind the costume, its Brad Gardner as she asked him to take part of clearing Cal's name; naturally agreeing in the interest of justice. Fletcher theorizes that someone must've imitated Cal by stealing his Mardi Gras outfit and replicating his distinctive stammer and asks Cavette to pull up photos taken of Cal's name written in blood, as she thinks Blaze was trying to write something else. Mitch isn't convinced at first, though Brad thinks the "L" was supposed to be a "V" as in Cavette's name, which the chief shrugs off.
Fletcher asks Gaston to go out on the street to get Sgt. Baxter to come in while she asks the chief if he came into the study to kill Blaze for Eric's justice. Behind their back, Gaston realizes the door is locked and fondles through the Cyrano costume to pull out a key from the right pocket when the sergeant catches him. Fletcher asks how he possibly knew about the key being in there as he defends seeing Gardner pocket it away during the re-enactment. Cavette says that Brad never had it in his pocket and that Baxter locked the door with a duplicate from the other side. Fletcher states the only answer of him knowing was if he put in the pocket as she remembers the Cyrano waving the sword with his left hand; like Gil did when he was portraying Blaze seconds ago. He nervously defends that a lot of people are left-handed, though she brings up another slip of his: him being completely silent about being related to her when she mistakes him for Cal in the Cyrano costume, and later telling him to get her cousin out of town once the body is discovered; despite no one else knowing about her family relations. She suspects that Gaston was the one wearing the Cyrano costume as Kitty comes clean and admits that Johnny would've killed them both. Jessica states that Cal thought he meant Blaze knew he was at the party in disguise, though in reality, the "he knows" was directed to Gaston as Blaze found out she was in love with someone else. Fletcher suspects the "one for the road" that Gil gave Cal was laced as he dragged him back to his bed across the alley. What followed afterwards is him coming back into the study through the window as Blaze was checking the contents in the safe and stabbed him with the letter opener. As Kitty cries in despair and Gil faces life behind bars, he assures her that it had to be and repeats what she said earlier about Blaze killing them both.
The night afterwards, Jessica and Cavette have one last outside dinner with Cal as she tells him how easy it was for the murderer to pin the blame onto him. When Mr. Fletcher asks what happened to his IOUs, the chief says Gaston took them and that Kitty knew, though was unaware of her lover being the murderer. Jessica checks her watch and realizes she has a plane to catch as Cal mopes about not getting to show her his insect collection. She promises there will be a next time and Cavette asks if he'll be moving back into his house, though Cal says he found himself a new tenant - a lovely lady who wants to start a new business. Checking his watch, he also realizes he's getting late to show her as he heads off while Jessica reminds him to write back to Aunt Mildred. When Cavette asks what kind of business the mysterious lady is into, Cal states that its for an out-of-town businessman from some sort of escort service. Fletcher and Cavette nervously chuckle as he states he'll have a little talk with him.
Starring[]
Regular cast[]
Guest stars[]
- Barbara Babcock as Roslyn Gardner
- Peter Bonerz as Calhoun Fletcher
- Cesare Danova as Lt. Edmond Cavette
- George Di Cenzo as Johnny Blaze
- Robert Forster as Gilbert Gaston
- David Hedison as Mitch Payne
- Lisa Langlois as Kitty Manette
- Penny Singleton as Aunt Mildred
- Granville Van Dusen as Brad Gardner
Trivia[]
- The late George Di Cenzo previously played a victim in We're Off to Kill the Wizard.
- Guest star Granville Van Dusen (Brad Gardner) is probably best known as the voice of Race Bannon in the 80's version of Johnny Quest.
Gallery[]
Home media releases[]
| Item | Region | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Second Season | Region 1 | December 6, 2005 |
| Murder, She Wrote: Season 2 | Region 2 | May 1, 2006 |
| Murder, She Wrote: The Complete 2nd Season | Region 4 | August 1, 2007 |
| Murder, She Wrote: Seasons 1 - 3 | Region 2 | November 20, 2006 |
| Murder, She Wrote: Seasons 1 - 5 | Region 2 | October 22, 2007 |
External links[]
"The Perfect Foil" at the Internet Movie Database