Millionaire Johnathan Nash is planning to leave his fortune to Community General Hospital. This would cut off his children, Julian, J. Edison, and Judith. One night, however, he calls Mark for help, claiming one of his kids is trying to kill him. When Mark arrives at the mansion, Johnathn comes rolling down the hall and down the stairs in his wheelchair. It's now up to Mark, Amanda, and Jack to figure out which one of the heirs is the one to have killed Johnathan, and how...
Oh, did we mention the Nashes are all played by Dick Van Dyke? Including Judith?
"Inheritance of Death" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- Asshole Victim: The actions of Johnathan Nash zig-zag things. Not funding a private medical clinic after your son gets his medical license revoked? Fine, fair enough. Throwing out your other son's plans and lab while he went to the army because you thought the inventions were a waste of time? Pretty crappy, but suppose there is the argument you were trying to help. Paying your daughter's fiancé to abandon her on their wedding day because you don't approve of their marriage?...Yeah, you're a douche.
- "Bang!" Flag Gun: Well, not a gun, but J. Edison does give Jack a device to hold claiming it will explode if Jack moves too much. When it seems to go off, out pops the flag.
- Inheritance Murder: The motive of the murder was simple. Keep the inheritance before Johnathan officially signed it all over to Community General.
- The Lost Lenore: Judith's is her former fiancé Giancarlo, who Johnathan sent away before they could marry.
- Meaningful Name: J. Edison is an aspiring inventor.
- Murder by Inaction: Johnathan starts having a heart attack in the beginning of the episode that can be stopped by one of the Nashes giving him his medicine. The three flatly "try" to get one of the others to give him the pills, but they don't do much to help. Johnathan is able to get the pills in himself, and this sets it clear in his mind that he's not going to leave the three of them squat.
- Murder by Remote Control Vehicle: Sort of. Johnathan is certainly sent down his stairs in his electric wheelchair, but he was already dead when it happened.
- Only Known by Initials: We never learn what the "J" in J. Edison stands for.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Dante, Judith's hairdresser, turns out to be her and Giancarlo's son.
- Theme Naming: All names in the Nash household start with the letter "J".
- Vorpal Pillow: While confronting Julian, Mark guesses that this is how Johnathan was really done in.
