The Murder, She Wrote Wiki
Register
Advertisement



The Murder of Sherlock Holmes is the double-length pilot episode of Murder, She Wrote. In most re-runs, it is split up into two episodes, with the second episode of the series being a part 2.

Summary[]

After the publication of her first mystery novel (thanks to her nephew Grady), Jessica Fletcher, a widow from Cabot Cove, Maine, travels to New York and attends a costume ball at her publisher's affluent estate. While there, Jessica must bring her sleuthing skills in her books out into the real world when a guest dressed as Sherlock Holmes is murdered.

Episode Chronology[]

Jessica Fletcher, a widow from the sleepy town of Cabot Cove, Maine, is thrilled and somewhat surprised when the mystery novel she wrote in her spare time is published, all thanks to her nephew Grady. Jessica heads off to New York where her nephew and his girlfriend, Kit Donovan, meet her at the train station. Jessica gets thrown into the world of publicity and signs autograph after autograph, but soon begins to realize it's not all it is cracked up to be. Jessica also meets her publisher, Preston Giles, a dashing older man who Jessica begins to show a slight interest in. After being insulted and harassed by interviewers of all sorts, Jessica is ready to call it quits, but when the charming Preston Giles convinces her to stay for the weekend to attend a costume party he is hosting, she decides to stay.

Jessica is escorted to Preston's glorious and affluent mansion where she meets several of Preston's family and friends, including the Broadway composer, Peter Brill, Grady's employer Captain Caleb McCallum, who is dressed as Sherlock Holmes, and his neglected wife Louise, and the posh Ashley Vickers, who also works with Grady. Jessica improvises a costume (Cinderella's godmother) and goes down to attend the costume ball, where the night seems to fly by as she is romanced by the alluring Preston Giles. But the fun is soon interrupted when Grady sees a light in his room from outside. Grady runs upstairs to his room, with others in pursuit. They discover a private detective Dexter Baxendale snooping around the bedroom. Preston quickly evicts him from the premises.

The next morning, Kit discovers the body of Caleb McCallum floating in the pool, shot in the head. The police arrive and Jessica decides to do some amateur sleuthing and deduces that the body in the pool is not Caleb McCallum, even though the body is wearing the Sherlock Holmes costume. They soon discover Caleb alive and they find that the body is in fact, the private detective, Baxendale, wearing the Sherlock Holmes disguise. Jessica then deduces that the intended victim may have been Caleb, but the killer, seeing the Sherlock Holmes outfit, thought it was Caleb and shot Baxendale. But what was Baxendale doing wearing Caleb McCallum's Holmes' costume? Jessica intends to find out. She continues sleuthing and discovers Louise and Ashley have alibis, but then she learns that Caleb McCallum was the one who hired the private detective because he suspected someone was stealing secret documents from his office. Jessica begins to look closer at Ashley. Also, Caleb tells Jessica anyone could have taken the Holmes costume from the hall closet. Then, to Jessica's surprise, Grady is arrested for the murder (the private detective was in Grady's bedroom snooping). Jessica is now more than determined to find out who killed the private detective. The plot thickens as Caleb McCallum is found murdered on his yacht. Jessica looks now even closer at Ashley Vickers, and suspects her and her accomplice are stealing the documents, and knowing that Caleb was onto them, Ashley killed him, thinking it was Caleb she was shooting. Jessica and Grady sneak into Ashley's office and Jessica deduces Ashley and the composer Peter Brill were in on it together. Jessica confronts them and they admit to stealing the documents, but they do not confess to the murder.

Jessica then figures out who the real killer is. She heads back to Preston Giles's mansion where she confronts the real killer: Preston Giles. Jessica figured out that the intended victim was indeed, the private detective, because the automatic lights at the pool were on when the private eye was murdered, so the killer would have been able to see who he was shooting. Jessica also remembers the private detective recognizing Preston Giles and commenting on Preston's costume: Preston was the Count of Monte Cristo that night. Preston was involved in a construction project years ago with three other men when an apartment building made by the company collapsed and killed several people. Although Preston wasn't involved with the construction end of things, he ended up being the scapegoat and went to prison. But he escaped after two years and destroyed his other partners in crime financially: just like Monte Cristo did. The private eye recognized Preston and the Monte Cristo costume jogged his memory and decided to confront Preston: the private eye was one of Preston's partners in crime many years ago who Preston destroyed financially. Preston had to kill him or he would reveal who Preston was. Then Preston dressed him up as Sherlock Holmes to make it look like the killer was intending to kill Caleb. He then killed Caleb to further throw the police off of his trail.

Jessica, who had a love interest in Preston, is upset that he was the killer, but nevertheless, turns him in and decides to head back home to Cabot Cove, but when Kit informs Jessica of a murder in Central Park that has the police stumped, she begins to have second thoughts.

Starring[]

Recurring Cast[]

Special Guest Stars[]

Guest Stars[]

  • Tricia O'Neil as Ashley Vickers
  • Herb Edelman as George
  • Raymond St. Jacques as Doctor

DVD Release[]

This episode was released with the other 21 episodes of the first season of Murder, She Wrote in a variety of formats, the DVD's didn't contain any special features.

Box art Title Region # of Discs Release Date
MSWS1(R1)F Murder, She Wrote: The Complete First Season Region 1 (US & Canada) 3 March 29, 2005

Substitute English Teacher Jessica Fletcher, has fame thrust upon her when her nephew Grady shows her manuscript to a publisher. It’s not long before Jessica is solving murders with the inquisitive mind that makes her a bestselling mystery writer. Jessica often finds herself in the middle of investigations; some more notable ones include investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw.

MSWS1(R2)F Murder, She Wrote: Season 1 Region 2 (Europe) 6 August 29, 2005

Substitute English Teacher Jessica Fletcher, has fame thrust upon her when her nephew Grady shows her manuscript to a publisher. It’s not long before Jessica is solving murders with the inquisitive mind that makes her a bestselling mystery writer. Jessica often finds herself in the middle of investigations; some more notable ones include investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw.

MSWS1(R4) Murder, She Wrote: The Complete 1st Season Region 4 (Australasia) 6 May 2, 2007

Substitute English Teacher Jessica Fletcher, has fame thrust upon her when her nephew Grady shows her manuscript to a publisher. It’s not long before Jessica is solving murders with the inquisitive mind that makes her a bestselling mystery writer. Jessica often finds herself in the middle of investigations; some more notable ones include investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw.

MSWS1-3(R2)F Murder, She Wrote: Seasons 1 - 3 Region 2 (Europe) 18 November 20, 2006

Here are the first three years of Jessicas carrer as a novelist. Notable cases include;investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw. The investigation into the death of a John Doe who may very well have been the Cabbot Cove hero Joshua Peabody, Jessica solving a murder while acting as foreperson on a jury and Another run in with PI Harry McGraw when the two are bidding against each other to get their hands on the diary of a sex symbol, however when the friend whom hired Jessica winds up dead, Harry must come to her rescue and the two pair up to solve the case. Another run in with MI6 Agent Michael Haggarty who drags Jessica into the middle of an international incident involving the defection of two East German Citizens and the murder of a fellow MI6 agent while on British Embassy grounds. Another run in with Harry McGraw, when he is arrested for the murder of a prominent Boxing Manager and investigating the death of a popular city mayor and his father which sheds some light on the shady individuals whom hold public office in the city.

MSWS1-5(R2)F Murder, She Wrote: Seasons 1 - 5 Region 2 (Europe) 36 October 22, 2007

Follow Jessica very eventful first Five years as a Mystery writer. Notable cases include;investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw. The investigation into the death of a John Doe who may very well have been the Cabbot Cove hero Joshua Peabody, Jessica solving a murder while acting as foreperson on a jury and Another run in with PI Harry McGraw when the two are bidding against each other to get their hands on the diary of a sex symbol, however when the friend whom hired Jessica winds up dead, Harry must come to her rescue and the two pair up to solve the case. Another run in with MI6 Agent Michael Haggarty who drags Jessica into the middle of an international incident involving the defection of two East German Citizens and the murder of a fellow MI6 agent while on British Embassy grounds. Another run in with Harry McGraw, when he is arrested for the murder of a prominent Boxing Manager and investigating the death of a popular city mayor and his father which sheds some light on the shady individuals whom hold public office in the city. Jessica's cousing Emma McGill must investigate when her close friend, The Viscount Blackraven, is poisoned and she is the only suspect, Jessica is forced to investigate who poisoned her meal when she hosts a dinner party for Amos' family and Jessica must Investigate the death of a campaign manager while simultaneously serving as the campaign's speech writer. Politics can be a deadly business! Jessica investigating a series of murders when she is snowed in at a ski lodge, Jessica going head to head with the KGB when she is accused of espionage and a man is killed attempting to escape from a state dinner and A Former top selling Mystery Novelist is consumed with jealousy of the prominent rise of JB Fletcher so hatches a plan to kill her.

See Also[]

External Links[]

Advertisement