Jessica finds herself pulled into a case that hits far too close to home when an ex-convict, Andrew Durbin, shows up in town and begins driving local car dealer Bill Hampton to distraction. Digging into the event that sent Durbin to prison, Jessica becomes convinced that the convict is innocent, and that more than one person in town has been hiding a nasty secret. After Bill turns up dead, Jessica becomes even more determined to solve the mystery.
Notable for an excellent guest turn by John Glover as Andrew Durbin.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Boulder Bludgeon: The businessman Andrew was accused of murdering died from getting his head beaten in with a rock.
- Broken Pedestal: The murderer is none other than Coach Cauldwell, someone Jessica considered both a colleague and a dear friend.
- Downer Ending: Unusually so for MSW. Jessica has lost a dear friend and former colleague, not just to prison, but to the realization that two people she valued had got away with murder for at least fifteen years, right under her nose. In the final scene, Durbin visits Jessica to tell her he's leaving town, now that the real killer has been revealed, and thanks her for uncovering the truth. While Jessica acknowledges Durbin has every right to feel joyous, and no reason to care about her personal angst, part of her still wishes he'd never come back to Cabot Cove.Jessica: I can't help but think that justice could have been served in a better way.
Durbin: Oh? Well, you give it some thought, Mrs Fletcher, and when you figure out what could have been, you let me know. - Like a Son to Me: Coach Cauldwell was fond of all the boys on his football team, but he had a special relationship with Bill Hampton. Toward the end of the episode, he tells Jessica Bill filled the place of the son he never had. However, this didn't prevent Cauldwell from murdering him to keep his secret.
- Miscarriage of Justice: Durbin comes back to Cabot Cove to prove he was a victim of this; partly for lack of any other suspects, partly due to prejudice against an anti-Vietnam protestor.
- Never Suicide: Bill Hampton turns up dead, along with a suicide note that blamed the harassment Durbin had put him through. Jessica finds it suspicious, though, that a lefty would shoot himself in the right temple. Which was intentional: Coach Cauldwell wasn't really trying to make it look like suicide, but like someone who didn't know Bill was left-handed was trying to make it look like one.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Bill Hampton calls Coach Cauldwell for help after Durbin harasses him for several days. Cauldwell turns up ahead of schedule — and shoots Bill in the head before he can give him away.
- No Name Given: The episode never reveals the name of the businessman that started off this whole saga.
- No-Tell Motel: Bill tried to convince Alison to leave the prom with him early for a motel.
- Obfuscating Disability: One of the suspects, Arnie Wakeman, is in a wheelchair following a car accident. It turns out he is faking paralysis to scam an insurance payout. Jessica becomes suspicious when she sees a footprint of a man's shoe in his size outside his home and scuff-marks on the freshly-waxed floor inside the building, and tricks him into revealing himself.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Kevin finds Durbin at the waterfront and punches him in the face, yelling out that he killed Bill, who he loved like a son. Kevin most likely did this to deflect suspicion from himself.
