Murder, She Wrote (season 2)

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Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996) is an American television show, airing on CBS, about mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher.

Widow, Weep for Me [2.1]

Myrna Montclair LeRoy: Well, I do hope you enjoy your stay.

Jessica: I'm sure I will, Ms. Montclair, or it will be a short one.

Jessica: It's a pity you're so shy.

Michael Hagarty: God cursed me with a natural gift of the gab and an unnatural interest in my fellow man.

Michael Hagarty: Well, now, what's this I've always heard about crusty New Englanders?

Jessica: Oh, it's just a rumor started by our forefathers to keep out the tourists.

Michael Hagarty: I see. And if someday I should show up at your doorstep?

Jessica: An exception might be made.

Michael Hagarty: Well, in that case, Jessica, the question is no longer whether, but when.

Joshua Peabody Died Here... Possibly [2.2]

Henderson Wheatley: What kind of a jerkwater town is this?

Jessica: A town that knows how to take care of itself, Mr. Wheatley.

Sheriff Amos Tupper: David, you have the right to remain silent.

Jessica: And I think that would be a good idea.

Del Scott: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] For years, I tried to nail him, to gather evidence to get him sent to prison. But every time, every time I got close, he bribed the eyewitnesses and suppliers. He bought them off. I finally realized that I couldn't fight him legally and win. I'm not proud of what I did, Mrs. Fletcher, but don't ask me to be sorry.

FBI Agt. Fred Keller: A man must be pretty special to have people willing to stand up before an agent of the United States Department of Justice and each one willing to risk charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and harboring a fugitive. Not many men have friends like that.

Murder in the Afternoon [2.3]

Lt. Antonelli: Mrs. Fletcher, let me be frank. Your kind of writing is not my kind of reading.

Jessica: Well, Lieutenant, let me be even franker. Anyone who is capable of imagining that my niece can commit murder is being grossly overpaid for taking up valuable space in this office.

School for Scandal [2.4]

Beryl Hayward: Jessica, I am so looking forward to hearing your commencement address.

Jessica: Well, I'm still rewriting. Books are easy compared to speeches.

Daphne: I hear Picasso is really hot.

Jessica: Well, his pictures may be hot, but I hear that Picasso is dead.

Alger Kenyon: [after Jessica accuses him of committing the murder] It was all Daphne's fault. Daphne and those, those filthy books. It's because of Daphne that that man came into Jocelyn's life.

Jessica: Why don't you tell us what really happened?

Alger Kenyon: Well, after the party, I decided to go back and spend some time with Jocelyn. You know, to cheer her up after that dreadful scene with her daughter. Our friendship was discreet. She had given me a key. I could hear her voice in the bedroom. She sounded frightened. It was Fulton. He was demanding money from her. It was something to do with Daphne. Some sort of blackmail. He touched her. He touched Jocelyn. She, she told him to wait while she went out to get her checkbook. I hit him with the candlestick. Then I went out through the door before she came back in.

Sing a Song of Murder [2.5]

Oliver Trumbull: A bloke never gets in trouble chasing women. It's after they're caught the trouble begins.

Emma McGill: Television can't compare with the sort of live entertainment that we provide.

Bridget O'Hara: Well, you're right about that. But nothing goes on forever. Even ol' Queen Victoria found that out, she did.

Oliver Trumbull: [after Jessica exposes the murderer] Emma never harmed you.

Kitty Trumbull: But she was destroying you, Dad. Or couldn't you see it? You were so magnificent with a God-given gift that you, you prostituted to become a second-rate music hall comic. You couldn't break away. Every year, you got weaker and more dependent while I stood there and watched. You couldn't help yourself, Dad. But I could.

Reflections of the Mind [2.6]

Francesca Lodge: I thought I was alone. I heard noises. I guess I overreacted.

Jessica: That's enough to frighten anyone. Believe me, I'm an expert on the subject. In my books, of course.

A Lady in the Lake [2.7]

Sheriff Amos Tupper: This is going to look real good to the grand jury. The prosecution's star witness trying to prove that the accused is innocent of the crime that she saw him commit!

Burton Hollis: [after Jessica exposes him as the murderer] Howard's father cheated mine out of the family company. He accused him of embezzling funds. The scandal was too much, and Father died of a stroke. Then Howard's father died, and he inherited everything. He sold that company for a fortune! Half of that should have been mine! It wasn't fair!

Jessica: And what you did to Carolyn Clare, was that fair?

Burton Hollis: I had nothing against Carolyn. I was fond of her. But she had to die. Surely, you can understand. To inherit, I had to eliminate them both.

Dead Heat [2.8]

Jessica: By the way, there is one little thing that has been bothering me.

Pat Phillips: Only one? Glad to hear it.

Jessica Behind Bars [2.9]

Mary Stamm: I used to always dream of being a writer.

Jessica: It's never too late to start. Look at me. I'm living proof.

Jessica: I particularly liked the way the gas station bandit was caught, having the getaway car shift into reverse by mistake and crash into the police car. Now, that showed a great deal of imagination.

Tug: Not exactly. That's the way it happened.

Jessica: If this is navarin printanier, I'm afraid both the lamb and the vegetables died of old age. I suggest you give it a decent burial.

Sticks and Stones [2.10]

Sheriff Harry Pierce: [after Jessica exposes him as the murderer] Let me tell ya somethin' about Beverly. She was stupid and greedy. I did all the work. I torched the building. I found the buyers! I even greased the way for the zoning variance! She paid me all right, but what she didn't tell me was that she'd recorded our conversations. She tried to bleed me out of my cut. A lot wasn't enough for her. She wanted it all. Sorry about Elvira. I always liked her. Just as I've always liked you, Jessica.

Murder Digs Deep [2.11]

Jessica: [Fanning herself] Is the weather always like this?

Dr. Seth Hazlitt: Nope! It starts to get hot in a couple of hours. Jess, when I suggested you write a book called "Murder at the Dig", I never dreamed you'd come meandering out to a place like this.

Jessica: Suggested? As I recall, it was more like a dare!

Dr. Hazlitt: Now that I don't recall. In any case, when you leave here, you'll have one hell of a book or one hell of a suntan. Maybe even both.

Jessica: Well, I've met the resident egomaniac, the ingenue and the juvenile.

Dr. Hazlitt: Not to mention the mysterious Indian and the crusty Yankee doctor.

Jessica: At this rate, I'll have enough characters for a trilogy.

Dr. Stan Garfield: So will you be working with us in the pit?

Jessica: Wherever the action is!

Dr. Hazlitt: I hope you enjoy digging a six-foot trench with a teaspoon.

Jessica: How do you do?

Cynthia Armstrong: Don't ask.

Dr. Hazlitt: Karen and Steve. They've been sniping at each other since I got here.

Jessica: Well, it's either a case of heat rash or... something else.

Dr. Hazlitt: What, you mean romance?! C'mon, you've seen too many Gable Harlow movies!

Jessica: Seth, the trouble with you is you haven't seen enough.

Dr. Hazlitt: That Armstrong fella is amazing. He could fall into a pig sty and come up president of the hogs.

Dr. Benton: Archaeology is a harsh mistress, Mrs. Fletcher. I remember an expedition in the wilds of Kenya that was positively life-threatening! Weeks of incredible rain! I lost two Louis Vuitton bags.

Jessica: You must have been devastated.

Dr. Benton: One endures.

Jessica: Mr. Armstrong, at the risk of aggravating your already short-tempered disposition, may I remind you that there are laws regarding kidnapping even in New Mexico?

Gideon Armstrong: You're not a prisoner, Mrs. Fletcher. Feel free to leave anytime you want, but not in one of my vehicles. I would remind you that there are laws regarding grand theft in New Mexico.

Jessica: Not to mention murder.

Dr. Hazlitt: The next time I invite you to a place like this, kick me.

'Jessica: Well, the next time I accept, kick me.

Murder by Appointment Only [2.12]

Jessica: I'm looking for Grady Fletcher.

Glenda Vandevere: Sorry, I've never heard of him.

Jessica: But he works in the Lila Lee company.

Glenda: God help him.

Norman Amberson: A good secretary learns to forge her boss' signature.

Glenda: I'm saving that for something really big.

Jessica: Are you so sure it's a robbery? Or did the killer just want it to look that way?

Lieutenant Varick: Maybe it was a robbery because it looked that way. This is New York, Mrs. Fletcher. This kind of self-employment is a way of life for some people.

Fiona Keeler: [To Jessica] If you're an example of what the Vice Squad is sending out these days, our taxpayer dollars are well spent.

Jessica: It's so unlike the girl I remember. I mean when did she change? Why?

Fiona: I'm so glad you're without sin, Mrs. Fletcher.

Jessica: I'm not casting stones, Ms. Keeler. I'm just trying to understand. Why did she feel that way? She wasn't underprivileged, she had a good background...

Fiona: None of my girls came up from the street.

Jessica: I'm sorry. It's... it's absolutely senseless!

Fiona: Was her life more senseless than her death?

Fiona: Most men are fairly unpredictable. But a few aren't. Those are the dangerous ones.

Trial by Error [2.13]

Prosecutor Tom Casselli: Mr. Harris, do you recognize anyone in the courtroom?

Fenton Harris: In my business, it's good practice never to recognize the customers.

Keep the Home Fries Burning [2.14]

Jessica: [after running into a former Dixon's Diner employee] I didn't know you'd left Dixon's Diner.

Cornelia Montique: All my customers started coming here, so I thought I might as well join them.

Dr. Seth Hazlitt: At least, in the diner, you didn't have to dress up as Betsy Ross.

Jessica: Doctors who make their rounds in hip boots hardly qualify as fashion experts.

Harrison Fraser III: Suppose we cut to the bottom line. It's my word against his. I have a great deal of influence in this part of New England.

Jessica: I'm sure you do, but connections won't help you to evade a simple answer to a simple question.

Wilhelmina Fraser: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] When Betty suggested this trip, I did my homework. At least, I thought I did. I was so sure it would look like botulism. I didn't mean to make anyone else sick. I only wanted to get Harrison back.

Powder Keg [2.15]

Phil Bonner: Are you an expert in killing, missus?

Jessica: No, but I think I know something about people.

Frank Kelso: [after Jessica accuses him of committing the murder] 'Bout a couple of days after New Year's, soon as I come home, I knew Jolene had been with another man. I got mad. She just laughed at me. And I grabbed hold of somethin', a brass bookend, I think, swung at her. Next thing I know, she was laying on the ground there, eyes wide open, staring up at me. Then I realized he was there. The bedroom door. Ed Bonner. Seen it all. It was Ed's idea. Cart Jolene off, bury her in the woods, me say she was off visiting her mama. All the time, he was telling people behind my back that she'd run off with another man.

Jessica: Is that when the blackmail started?

Frank Kelso: Just a few dollars at first. You know, just, then more and more. He loved to see me sweat. Last night, he come back here after I closed, looking for his cigarette lighter and money. Whole lot of money. I couldn't pay him no more. I took out my gun, and I shot him. Wasn't like it was with Jolene. This time, I didn't feel nothin'. Just like killin' a wild dog.

Murder in the Electric Cathedral [2.16]

Carrie McKittrick: At my age, thirty years seem like last month. It's last month I have trouble remembering.

Rev. Willie John Fargo: Ms. Jessica, surely you cannot believe I had anything to do with that dear woman's death?

Jessica: At the moment, I don't quite know what to believe.

District Atty. Whittaker: Are you a doctor or something?

Jessica: Writing murder mysteries almost qualifies me, believe me.

Earl Fargo: [after Jessica exposes the murderer] Did you do it for Willie John?

Sister Ruth Fargo: For Willie John? No. I did it to Willie John. Or I tried to. I had to be free of him, but that meant destroying him totally. I tried to tell you, Mark. I couldn't. As much as I know you love me, you could've never understood. Willie John was crushing me, Mrs. Fletcher, wringing the life out of me with his sanctimonious piety. I'm a woman, and every day I've been getting older and older, living like some plaster saint. The dutiful wife of the great and good Willie John Fargo. What was I supposed to do? Divorce him? Oh, my God. Can you just see the headlines? Or kill him? That would have thrust me into an even more untenable role. The keeper of Willie John's flame living in chastity for the rest of my years.

Rev. Willie John Fargo: Ruth, why didn't you tell me?

Sister Ruth Fargo: I did, Willie John, every day in a hundred different ways. But you were always too busy to hear.

One Good Bid Deserves a Murder [2.17]

Jessica: Well, you know that Cabot Cove bus. It is not a model of punctuality.

William Readford: It is Mrs. Fletcher, isn't it? J.B. Fletcher?

Jessica: Why yes, but-

William:I'm an avid reader of the Sunday book review. William Readford.

Jessica:I know. I'm a sometimes reader of the society pages.

William: You wish to inspect the diary, Doctor, not speed-read its contents.

Dr. Sylvia Dunn: How am I supposed to bid on it if I don't know what's in it?

William: You're in it, Doctor. That's all you have to know.

Sal Domino: The last movie of yours, Sheila? Dynamite.

Sheila Saxon: I'm glad you liked it, Sal.

Sal: Actually, I thought it stunk. But you have always had a real talent for turning organic fertilizer into greenbacks.

Sal: That is so beautiful, baby. When they start to hand out the Oscars for Best Performance by a Hustler, you're gonna get my vote.

William:Lieutenant, this is absurd. You can't just arbitrarily close down this auction.

Lt. Casey: Excuse me, sir, but the body of a famous movie star tumbles out of a piece of furniture. It's not exactly business as usual.

William: Your superiors will hear of this.

Lt. Casey: They usually do.

Lt. Casey: McGraw, I'm giving you five seconds to get out that door before I throw you out.

Harry McGraw: Yeah, you do, Casey, and I'll go right to my pals on the Morning Bulletin and tell them how this Boston flatfoot with baked beans for brains just put himself in line for a foot patrol beat in Brockton.

Harry: I don't think it was such a hot idea leaving that million-dollar check with him.

Jessica:there's no possible way he could cash it, even if he wanted to.

Harry: Yeah, you don't know Boston cops

Harry: One thing I like about you, Jessica, you got a real sense of propriety. You'd make a lousy private eye.

Lt. Casey: If I find you near another body, I'm gonna book you. If murder were a disease, you'd be contagious.

Harry: Yeah, well, uh, listen. I'm gonna be a little tied up tonight.

'Jessica':You've got a date, Harry? Oh, that's nice.

Harry: Well, you know, all work and no fooling around, uh, ain't exactly living.

Harry: Yeah, you're a real fairy godmother, aren't you? You know, I never hit a dame in my life, but you're just begging to be number one.

Jessica: [Hearing McGraw's first name for the first time] Harlan?!!

Harry: Well, Jessica.

Jessica: Harlan...

Lt. Casey:Probably thought Harry sounded tougher. Well, it ain't!

Harry: Harry, Harlan, Harrison. Get off my back, will ya? What's the difference?

Jessica: Harry, I know that was very difficult for you. But now that you've put that diary to rest, honestly, don't you feel better?

Harry: Honestly? Jessica, you must be nuts.

If a Body Meet a Body [2.18]

Connie Vernon: Henry had been seeing Phyllis for several months. I found out. Henry told me that it was all over between them.

Jessica: Well, maybe Henry just forgot to tell Phyllis that it was all over.

Dr. Hazlitt: Amos, someday you're gonna break an ankle jumping to a conclusion.

Ned Olson: I just hate to see you get mixed-up with some hippie berry picker.

Christy Olson: He is a berry grower, Dad, and he's just going through a phase.

Ned: Dropping out of Harvard Business School to grow blueberries is no damn phase.

Phyllis Walters: Sheriff, I swear to you, I had nothing to do with any of this.

Sheriff Amos: Nobody said you did yet.

Sheriff Tupper: What is going on here?! First a missing man is dead, and then a dead man is missing!

Deputy: Sheriff? Sheriff, we just found Stew Bennett's van over on Ben Shipley's farm.

Dr. Hazlitt: Well, Amos, win one, lose one.

Dr. Hazlitt: You ever thought of becoming a writer?

Sheriff Tupper: No, sir. Me and Mrs. Fletcher have got ourselves an understanding about that.

Jessica: We do?

Sheriff Tupper: I don't write any books, and she don't give out any traffic tickets.

Christopher Bundy - Died on Sunday [2.19]

Jessica: Literary Lines Monthly! Now there is a misnomer. Anatomical, maybe. Literary, never.

Vanessa D'Argento: [after Jessica exposes her as the murderer] You never knew my father, Mrs. Fletcher. He was a very gentle man. He wasn't weak. But he was thoughtful, and he was considerate. And he was caring. They never understood him. He always had time for me, even when nobody else did. Time to listen and time to share. And then that beautiful soul was destroyed by someone who only taught me to be afraid.

Rachel D'Argento: Vanessa...

Vanessa D'Argento: Don't look at me that way, Mother! I only did what you never had the courage to do yourself. I'm only sorry it took me so long.

Menace, Anyone? [2.20]

Jessica: I can remember when tennis was a gentleman's game.

Carol McDermott: You've got a terrific memory.

Elliot Robinson: You get to be more tolerant when the loneliness of old age starts fogging you in.

Mitch Mercer: What are you trying to do, make a monkey out of my client in front of his fans?

Carol McDermott: Only God can make a monkey, Mitch.

Elliot Robinson: [after explaining how he found out his daughter was the murderer] I know I should have told you, but I couldn't. You see, she's all I had left.

The Perfect Foil [2.21]

Lt. Edmund Cavette: A picture just flashed through my mind. Two years ago, on a Sunday morning talk show, a charming guest was deftly carving up a pompous book critic. J.B. Fletcher, I presume?

Jessica: Guilty.

Congressman Brad Gardner: I don't think you should go pokin' around that club.

Rosalind Gardner: I was about to offer the same advice to you, darlin'.

Lt. Cavette: Are you quite ready, Mrs. Fletcher?

Jesssica: Actually, Lieutenant Cavette, it's, it's only a theory. But I'm ready if you are.

Lt. Cavette: I wouldn't deprive you of the pleasure of making a fool of yourself for only me.

If the Frame Fits [2.22]

Lloyd Marcus: Someday, Jessica, you and I will have a long talk about the joys of parenthood. In terms of gratification, it ranks right up there with molar extraction.

Police Chief Cooper: Still safer than New York. They kill you for cab fare.

Jessica: Oh, you worked for the New York Police Department, Chief Cooper?

Chief Cooper: Seventeen years, till the pressure on my arches got to me.

Jessica: Must be much quieter here.

Chief Cooper:Uh, not enough for the wife. She hates late night calls, wants me to go into plumbing with her brother.

Jessica: Plumbers get late night calls too.

Chief Cooper: At 24 bucks an hour, so the wife keeps remindin' me.

Jessica: Mayor? Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were in insurance, Mr. Tilley.

Frank Tilley: Yeah, well, maybe not for long, the way things are going. Home office is holding the bag, and when they're holding the bag, I'm holding the bag.

Julia Granger: Isn't Donald here yet?

Mildred Tilley: Lose him again, dear? I always know where my husband is.

Julia: Of course you do, Mildred. If you ever let dear Frank out of your sight, no telling what he'd be up to.

Julia: You must think I'm awful, but ever since those two people came here two years ago from New York, Cedar Heights has not been the same.

Jessica: Well, sometimes it takes people a while to adapt.

Julia: The dinosaurs never learned.

Lloyd: So how was the game?

Binky Holborn: Lloyd, my dear friend, I amazed this young thing with my flawless form and my superb follow-through. Unfortunately, for 18 holes the club-head and the balls never did get properly introduced to one another.

Binky: [After having his invitations for dinner refused by a few guests] It's just gonna be the three of us then. The servants are going to be crushed. They so rarely get the exercise.

Mildred: My, what a lovely outfit.

Ellen: Oh, well, thank you.

Mildred: I suppose if you're going fishing, it pays to have attractive-looking bait.

Mildred: You're hot on the trail of Julia Granger's killer! But I thought they had arrested Donald?

Jessica: They have. But, um -

Mildred: But you don't believe it. Oh, fascinating! I agree. Jessica, I have three words for you: Cherchez la femme.

Ellen: Donald and I, we happened to run into one another. I wouldn't try to read any more into that if I were you, Mrs. Fletcher.Or it might prove embarrassing.

Jessica: Embarrassing to whom?

Jessica: Golf is certainly good exercise.

Binky: Oh, my dear lady, this is not exercise. This is a test of one's capacity for total humiliation.

Frank: You're the chief of police, Cooper, not a plumber.

Chief Cooper: Not yet. The way the wife's been bustin' chops, you may have my badge back by suppertime.

Ellen: If you have something to say, Mrs. Fletcher, why don't you just say it?

Jessica: I'd rather hear it from you.

Ellen: You mean, were Donald and I having an affair? This is the '80s, Mrs. Fletcher. Promiscuity is not exactly page one news.

Binky: My aged mama and papa spent far too much of it before they passed on. And it's not as if they educated me to make a living, just to enjoy the finer things, I'm afraid.