No fashion notes.
Marginally better set of episodes although still not as good as I would like. First one is from Francis and John. Second one is from Ron Sproat and Lela Swift.
This is where we learn that Sheriff George Patterson is supposedly a shrewder man than he looks. I for one remain unconvinced. I do, however, covet his coffee mugs.
Burke storms in to see George demanding that the Bill Malloy case be reopened. Very calmly the sheriff reveals that the case was never really closed. Why George has decided it's now cool to disclose this is unclear. It sounds like it this might also be illegal. I'm no lawyer, but I was under the impression that a coroner's inquest was kind of a quasi-legal procedure and the verdict of this was a matter of public record. Now it turns out that they changed the verdict so that the locals would go back to their normal business while George ate donuts and played Columbo. Finally Burke discloses what happened to Vicki and what she knows. About bloody time.
In the foyer, Liz sits on that hardwood bench in the back doing needlepoint. She looks very uncomfortable there not that I'm surprised. Roger comes back. I guess Liz does think he might have tried to run Vicki down as she wants to know where he was a half an hour ago. He denies any involvement and guesses it was Sam.
As George pours coffee for the two of them, he tries to play devil's advocate as Burke delivers the requisite exposition. Burke tells George that he has a plan to get solid non-circumstantial evidence that will prove Roger's guilt. Although George doesn't know what this plan is or entails, he's all for it. As a viewer who happens to know what the plan is, I will say that it won't be turning up anything other than circumstantial evidence. But more on that later.
Roger and Liz discuss Vicki and Sam and Vicki's unwelcome visitor. Bizarrely for Liz, she speculates that it may have been a ghost. Now granted that the two siblings are alone and that seems to be the only time that they will ever admit to the possibility of the supernatural, but still. It's totally out of character. Burke and George stop by. There are accusations. There is denial. Vicki should take lessons from lying from Liz who may I just say is a champion at the art of misdirection and untruths. Liz totally glosses over both incidents while Roger basically says that Vicki's delusional.
Mitchell Ryan delivers a short expository speech about the pen. I know he had his share of personal problems during his run on the show that sometimes resulted in missed or botched lines, but he does a praiseworthy job with this impossible piece of dialogue. Roger suggests that perhaps someone else found the pen. Burke then shares Vicki's "evidence" with Roger who denies it. George just lets all of this go on without interference. Burke then directly accuses Roger of murder. Roger asks the sheriff to produce the pen. And he obliges (hence the trip to Bangor). Roger claims it's not the same pen.
After Heckle & Jeckle leave, Liz makes a fruitless request for an explanation.
Roger makes the critical error of taking off for Lookout Point so that he can dig up the pen. He looks up to find George and Burke staring down at him. Burke seems to believe they've found concrete evidence.
So it's Day 17 and Vicki arrives at the police station. Roger is being held somewhere off camera. Richard Garner (played by late Hugh Franklin, aka Dr. Tyler from AMC) is there to represent Roger and of course, George. Roger wisely kept his trap shut until his lawyer showed up.
Vicki identifies the pen and recounts its tortured history. I have to say that for a soap opera lawyer, Richard Garner really seems to know what he's doing. Sheriff Patterson in a terrible display of bias keeps objecting to Richard making his own comments.
If I was the DA, I wouldn't touch this case with the proverbial 40 foot pole. Vicki would be a terrible witness. Burke's little game with the duplicate pen has served to demonstrate that indeed there are at least two of these stupid things. And at the end of the day what does the pen really prove? It's circumstantial evidence at best.
Richard has his own questions. Vicki gets defensive and hysterical when Richard pokes large holes in her theory that Roger tried to kill her.
Then Carolyn enters into the picture. She's a total mess, but then early Carolyn is really a bundle of nerves. She recognizes the pen and shares her own experiences with it. At this point the authorities now know the whole cycle of the pen and its travels throughout Collinsport. It's kind of like knowing the saga of the One Ring from the Lord of the Rings but without all the battles, hunky men, and Cate Blanchett's voiceovers. But I digress. Carolyn's reaction on hearing why suddenly everyone cares so damn much about the Office Supply O'Love is close to a nervous breakdown. There's an initial attack on Vicki followed by more tears upon learning that Roger allegedly tried to kill her. The sheriff packs her off with Vicki (now they're friends again) back to Collinwood. He orders Vicki to stay indoors and accompanied but I think we can guess how that will turn out.
An unshaven Roger is brought in for questioning. He snarkily admits to setting up the appointment with Bill, finding the body, and leaving without alerting the authorities, which is probably a legal offense of some sort.
Back home Carolyn professes her belief in Roger's innocence.
On the subject of Miss Winters, he denies all. Pressed for an alibi for the attack by sedan, he finally remembers getting gas somewhere. George is going to check into that. And of course, that'll raise the question that Vicki posed herself. Namely, if Roger didn't try to kill her, who did?
