Episode 59 - 9/15/66

Roger comes downstairs to meet the Sheriff. He asks Roger about the portrait of Ben Collins in the foyer, and Roger says he doesn't believe he came to see him discuss his genealogy. The Sheriff says that he needed to follow up with Roger. Roger offers the Sheriff a drink, and hesitates before deciding not to have one himself. They discuss that Bill's body wasn't a pretty sight. He did have a wound on his head, but the Sheriff doesn't know when that happened. He needs to work out how Bill got into the water.

Liz comes downstairs and runs into Vicki. She came back from town after spending all her money. She says she has plans for dinner. Roger steps out and invites her to join him. He asks Liz who Vicki is dining with, but she doesn't know. Roger tells her the Sheriff wants to ask them some questions. Before they go in, Roger reminds her that he's her brother.

The Sheriff explains that he can't yet rule out murder. He revisits the time frame of the night with Roger. Liz asks if Roger is a suspect. Roger says he can answer for himself. The Sheriff asks if Roger made any phone calls before heading to the meeting. Roger says he wasn't the one to call Bill's house. Roger says he left at 10 minutes to 11, but no one saw him leave. Liz interrupts the questioning and the Sheriff explains that Bill's watch was stopped at 10:45. Roger reiterates that he didn't know why the meeting was scheduled. The Sheriff asks Liz if Bill was planning to clear Burke Devlin of the murder charge. Liz says Bill was going to keep Burke from harassing the Collins family. The Sheriff says that Burke told him the meeting was to clear him of the manslaughter charge. Roger proposes that the Sheriff is suggesting that Burke told him that Bill was going to suggest he was responsible, and that Sam was a witness, and the Sheriff clarifies that Burke didn't know why Sam was there. Roger claims that Burke is the one who is lying. The Sheriff asks Liz, and she says, "you heard my brother, didn't you?"

A jolly David pops into Vicki's room. He says his father is going to prison; that the Sheriff is arresting him for murder. He says that his father murdered Bill Malloy. David says Vicki's scared that she'll be the next one his father pushes into the water. Vicki asks how he knows his father killed Bill. David explains that the Widows told him, and he saw it in his crystal ball as well. She asks him to leave so she can get ready for dinner, and David says he hopes his father does kill her.

The Sheriff asks what Burke Devlin has to gain by lying. And that his and Roger's stories are exactly opposite. Roger asks about Sam, and the Sheriff confirms that his story matches Roger's. As the Sheriff is leaving David asks if he's taking his father with him. He gives the Sheriff a chart showing exactly where Bill's body went into the water. Roger doesn't say anything to David and returns to talk to Liz.

While David listens outside the door, Liz explains that she lied for Roger. Bill was upset about Burke. She asks if Burke was telling the truth. Roger won't answer. Roger's upset that she believes Burke. She asks if she should believe that Bill lied to her. Roger says he'll tell her the truth. Roger tells her he testified falsely against Burke. And then he describes hitting Bill with a rock and throwing him into the water. And then he says of course none of that is true.

As they leave, David tells his father that they'll get him. Vicki is in the foyer, leaving for dinner with Maggie and her father. Liz asks if that's Sam Evans, and why that bothers Roger. He sheepishly says it doesn't and goes upstairs.

Our thoughts

John: Wait—Roger didn't take a drink? GUILTY! That's a tell if there ever was one.

Christine: And he LIED! Roger says he left the house at ten minutes to eleven, but if you revisit the time frame in Episode 46, he actually left the house at 10:25. He had plenty of time to send Bill Malloy for a swim.

John: As soon as Roger started his confession to Liz, I knew he'd follow up with a statement that it was all untrue. Thankfully, they didn't split that over two episodes. Sadly, Liz seemed to buy it.

Christine: It might have been believable on a Friday. Apparently David cleaned up after the Sheriff arrived and decided to put on a suit and tie in hopes of seeing his father arrested and taken away.

John: Something tells me Bill Malloy's murder is going to go unsolved, but I've got faith in the Sheriff that he isn't going to give up so easily.

The portrait of Benjamin Collins is always hanging in the foyer.

Jeremiah's portrait has never moved from the place it hangs over the mantle.