[suspenseful music]
- [gasps softly]
Oh.
[groans softly]
[gasps]
[sighs]
Oh, so now you're with me on this?
- Let's just say I'm open to hearing you out.
[dramatic suspenseful music]
- Say the message warned about the trail going cold.
Hmm.
Freezer?
[tense notes]
- How do we freeze someone without killing them?
- We use a dummy.
Janey and I have a friend who does prosthetic for films.
We hire him to make the head a perfect match.
- But...
if we're going to go to the trouble of making a head,
why don't we have the corpse decapitated?
- But if he was decapitated, why would he need to be frozen?
- Oh, yes. Frozen is a bit cold.
- [sighs]
Well, maybe we should make Fredricks the victim.
- Fredricks?
You do realize he's still claiming that he can't locate
the unused mystery game plots that John Murtaugh wrote?
- You've mentioned it several times this weekend, yeah.
- Well, yes. It's maddening.
And speaking of maddening, who's been touching my things?
- Oh, sorry.
I was looking for a pen.
- All right.
Pens are in the middle next to the password book.
- Janey has a system.
- One that I prefer is not disrupted.
But I'm also not here to disrupt your process.
Please kill the victim however you see fit.
- So why did you come in here?
- Well, I have a Zoom meeting with Carlos
to pitch my new contest idea.
So come on, let's put on a good show.
- The Dream Team. How are you?
- Dreamy and teamy.
- Janey, I've got three minutes
before my next meeting.
- I only require two.
So you made me COO of Mystery Island
because you wanted me to shake things up a bit
and attract a broader audience.
- Yes, I'm getting a hard sell from the Davoren Group,
who want to buy the whole island
and turn it into a convention resort.
- Well, yes. We can't have that.
So I propose a mystery contest puzzle
that we post on various social media platforms.
And the first two people to solve the mystery
get an all-expenses-paid weekend for them
and a plus-one.
- Just two winners?
Is that enough of a guest roster?
- Well, no.
We invite a celebrity crime writer,
like Cassandra Cornwall.
I know she has a reputation for being difficult,
but she has a big social media platform
and can promote the contest.
And then we had prize money for the sleuth who solves it.
- Janey, this is brilliant.
Can you get me a draft by Monday first thing?
- Not a problem.
- Fantastic. Got to jump.
[quirky suspenseful music]
- [sigh]s I'm due to return to London in the morning,
but I suppose we could work separately and then Zoom.
- Can't stay another day?
- No, I have a stack of case files to review.
- Well, don't you have them on your computer?
- Are you micromanaging how I prepare for my day job?
- Is that what you think I'm doing?
Because I thought I was asking a very reasonable question.
- [scoffs]
- [clears throat]
- Hmm?
- Now, I adore you. Both.
But it is my job to remind you
that you are being paid handsomely
to create fun mystery puzzles and games.
And Mystery Island Inc. has been quite flexible
with the needs and schedules of your day jobs
at your respective police departments.
Quite frankly, those day jobs
only add to the work that you do here.
But that said, the man that hired us all
needs you to get over yourselves
and create a puzzle contest that we can launch this week.
OK?
And lastly, please make it a contest that absolutely kills.
See you when you get back.
[waves crashing]
[soaring orchestral music]
- Excuse me?
Detective Trent for you, Doctor Priestly.
- Oh, thank you.
[tropical birds singing]
Jason? - Hey.
I just got off work on the mainland.
I'm grabbing a burger.
So there really were files that were on your computer.
- Yep.
- About that.
Uh, not the files, but the, uh--
- Oh, disagreement.
- Yeah, I just wanted to say that I don't know why I--
I like working with you.
- You don't know why you like working with me?
- That came out wrong.
- I like working with you,
so I don't know why I've been--
- So difficult?
Or why I'vebeen so difficult?
I had a thought.
- And what is that thought?
- Um...
basically that we're both being excessively argumentative
not because we don't like working together,
but because we do.
- Pretty smart. You know that?
- That has been brought to my attention.
So, um, see you tomorrow?
- Yeah.
Looking forward to it.
- Me, too.
- This weekend, we will be joined by our game writers,
Dr. Priestly and Detective Trent.
I thought it fitting that they share with you
the background on our guests.
- Thank you, Fredricks.
I'm certainly excited to be joining you all this weekend.
- Me, too.
So arriving tomorrow will be...
NYPD Detective Bobby Teller,
who is the first to solve our puzzle in just 32 minutes.
- Detective Teller, welcome.
- He'll be joined by his younger brother Davis,
an investment banker.
- Our second winner is Alice Watley,
a college student
and host of the howdunit mystery podcast
who solved our puzzle in just under an hour.
- Congratulations, Ms. Alice.
- Alice's plus-one will be her aunt,
Louise Baker, a hotel manager from Manhattan.
- Given Miss Baker's an expert in the hospitality business,
let's take extra special care of her.
- Also joining us this weekend will be
best-selling mystery novelist Cassandra Cornwall,
an old friend of mystery island founder, John Murtaugh.
Janey convinced Ms. Cornwall to come play
with our contest winners and do some interviews
afterwards for some additional publicity.
Ms. Cornwall's husband, Ted, will be joining her.
And aside from being her biggest fan,
there's no record of him doing much of anything.
- And speaking of Janey,
our final guest will be our own chief operating officer,
Baroness Jane Alcott,
who is bringing her new boyfriend, James Elton.
James is from Texas and is in the oil business.
- [strong Texan accent] Oh, the famous Fredricks.
Janey's told me all about you.
I've always wanted a butler.
Maybe I can steal you away from this place. [chuckles]
- Thank you, sir.
I'm quite happy with my post here as house manager.
- Well, you haven't heard my offer yet.
- Baroness, the other guests?
- Yes.
James, darling, let's not keep the others waiting.
- Your wish is my command, darling.
- And Emilia and I will be here all weekend
working undercover alongside you as staff.
Having fun?
- It's the first time seeing one of our games played.
I haven't been this excited since--
- Since?
- Since we solved our first mystery together.
- * Catch me if you can
- Each guest room contains a murder board
and everything you require to play detective.
- There's no playing here.
- Of course, Detective Teller.
But I do hope you'll enjoy our game,
which will begin once each of the guests
opens the door to their room.
Emilia has your key.
Once the game begins,
at any moment on this island, somebody will be murdered.
- This is so cool. [chuckles]
- Hang on.
You're saying that one of us guests could end up dead?
- That's precisely what he's saying.
- So we all need to get to know each other,
figure out why one of us might want to commit murder.
- So then what?
The dead guy has to hide in his room?
- Certainly not, Mr. Teller.
If, in fact, one of you should fall prey to a killer,
you'll repair to what we call the Deceased Bungalow,
which has its own Jacuzzi and is adjacent to the golf course.
- Oh, well, in that case, please kill me.
[laughter]
- Jason will be collecting your mobile phones,
as we have no service on the island.
- Are you serious? - Oh, yes.
Quite golden-age detective authenticity here.
Oh, don't worry.
The old pro solved quite a few murders
without the use of Google.
And Evelyn Murtaugh's detectives, of course.
- And yours too, honey.
Have you read any of CC's books?
- No, I haven't had the pleasure.
- I have.
That's how Janey and I first met.
We were on a flight from London.
Sat next to each other, both reading "Killer Sunset."
- Did you like it?
- There was something else on that flight
that was holding my attention. [chuckles]
- So if you'll all go to your rooms,
the game can begin.
[dramatic suspenseful music]
[knock at door]
- Oh, yes?
- Howdy.
[both chuckle]
[normally] Did you think the accent was too much?
- Well, you're the actor, darling, not I.
- And like most actors, I am deeply insecure.
- Oh, well, I think everyone is convinced
that you are a wealthy Texan who is madly in love with me.
- Mm, the last bit's not acting.
[both chuckle]
Oh. - [chuckling] Mm-hmm.
- So you're happy we changed rooms.
- Well, it's adorable.
You've given me the better view with the biggest room.
But no more unscripted kisses in front of Emilia.
She has an uncanny eye for the truth.
- So we fell in love for real. What's the problem?
- Well, I'm the COO of the company that's employing you.
That's what.
But after the weekend,
once your contract is finished,
we can go fully public with our relationship.
Agreed? - Agreed.
You're the boss.
- I think there's something going on
between James and Janey.
- Based on?
- Body language. - Oh.
I read that language, too.
Nice to know we're both bilingual.
- Well, I'm heartened we're seeing eye to eye.
- Best way to see and be seen.
[soft dramatic music]
- I should pass canapés.
- You really should.
[indistinct chatter]
- Different for every novel.
The first one just came to me like a divine delivery.
[laughter and chatter]
- Well, I've read all of your books at least twice each.
Did you catch any of my podcasts about them?
- I don't seem to have time for podcasts.
Excuse me.
- I have lots of time for podcasts.
Though I prefer the finance ones.
- Right.
[soft suspenseful music]
- That's just not good enough.
You owe me.
- Ms. Cornwall is unhappy with her room.
- Oh, can I show you another option?
- That would be lovely. Thank you.
- Honey?
- Oh, not now, Ted.
[quirky tense notes]
- Excuse me. - [chuckles politely]
She's intense. - Indeed.
- I saw you with Louise Baker.
- Forgive me. I must prepare for dinner.
[mysterious notes]
[stately orchestral music]
[indistinct chatter]
- [Texan accent] Oh.
- [clears throat] - Last steer to the barn.
Sorry about that, folks.
Sweetheart.
- Ladies and gentlemen.. - You look great.
- Following dinner, your presence is required
in the game room at 9:00 p.m. sharp.
Not a moment before.
Thank you.
[Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"]
- So I was wondering if you'd maybe
come on to my podcast, Detective.
- Sure.
Maybe you can tell me how you sold it so fast.
- Well, Aunt Louise helped a lot.
- Oh, I just gave you a few thoughts.
- She's being too modest.
She figured out nearly everything.
- You got the final piece, and that's all that mattered.
- Bobby had a little help from a family member, also.
- You know my genius brother
got kicked out of three colleges?
Stick to your studies, kid.
- I'm confused.
I thought you were an investment banker.
- Oh, Wall Street'll hire anybody.
- [sighs] Robie brothers don't just hire anybody.
- You work for the Robie brothers?
- Oh, you know us?
- I know your boss, Jack Robie.
Fired him last month for mismanaging my money.
- [clears throat] Ms. Cornwall.
I'm sure Alice told you what fans we are of your books.
- Thank you.
It's so nice to meet fans like you.
And, of course, Baroness Alcott and Mr. Elton.
- Did I say I was a fan?
- Yes, you said.
- Well, I said Janey and I were both
reading your book when we first met.
God's honest truth, I couldn't even finish it.
I told her she was wasting her money bringing you here.
- James.
- I also told her this whole contest
is a waste of capital and resources.
- James.
- When I'm running things--
- When you'rerunning things?
- [chuckles] I'm planning on buying the island, sweetheart.
- And as I told you, darling,
Carlos isn't interested in selling.
- And as I told you,
darling,
I just have to find a way to take you from him.
[suspenseful music]
[crickets chirping]
- Nice to see the game playing out the way we wrote it.
- James is quite talented.
I can see the attraction for Janey.
- He's all right.
- What's Fredricks doing?
[soft suspenseful music]
Fredricks?
What's going on?
- I don't think I follow you.
- You're clearly stressed.
You dodged my question about Louise Baker
and you avoided telling me why CC was really shouting at you.
- Dr. Priestly, I think you've been
writing too many mystery games.
- Further evasion.
Fredricks, you can talk to me.
If not as a colleague, then as a doctor.
And whatever you say, I will keep in confidence.
- Guys, it's almost 9:00.
Game room.
- Indeed.
- Where is Ted and Davis?
We were told 9:00 sharp.
- I'll go and look for them.
- I guess that's the game break.
I'm going to fix you some of my signature drinks.
Called a paloma.
Excuse me.
So, little lady,
my company's in talks to buy the network
that owns your podcast.
- For real?
- Mm-hmm.
- Well, you've been quite busy, haven't you, James?
- Like my father said,
there are cattle and there are rustlers.
I guess I just prefer to rustle.
You can expect your show to become a little bit
more family-friendly in the future there, sweetheart.
- Hey, where you been?
- What? I got lost.
Scotch.
- You didn't happen to see my husband, did you?
- Right here.
Sorry, just admiring the stars.
- Has anyone seen my Aunt Louise?
- Palomas for everybody.
Here we go. [clears throat]
[grunts softly] Look at those.
The virgin Paloma has the pink umbrella.
- Oh. Oh, dear, now, whose is whose?
[all chuckle]
- Ah, ah, ah, ah. Young lady.
- [laughs] I was 18 when I had my first Paloma.
I just roped my first steer. My daddy wanted to celebrate.
I thought he was kidding.
[coughs]
- James? - [coughing]
[short gasp] - He's choking.
- James?
- Are you choking? You all right?
[tense music]
[James gasping and coughing]
- Get him on his feet!
- Game of death has arrived.
- James!
[explosion and gasping]
[flames whooshing]
[slow ominous music]
- Choking andan explosion?
- I don't recall an explosion being part of the script.
[dramatic music]
- I assure you this is not part of the game.
- Fredricks.
[scattered gasping]
- Arrest.
[tense music]
- He's gone.
- Did he just say something to you?
- Arrest. - Arrest who?
- I don't know.
- Hey, I'm going to take charge of this situation
until the local cops arrive, OK?
- They're already here, actually.
Detective Jason Trent with the mainland police.
This is my colleague, Dr. Emilia Priestly,
criminal psychologist with the London Metropolitan Police.
We wrote the murder game you came down here to play
and as Janey said, this is definitely not part of it.
We need everyone to go inside, get your passports,
and wait in the game room.
- [sobbing] - Inside.
Inside now. Please.
- Hey, buddy.
I'm an NYPD detective. I handle major crimes, OK?
- I respect that, but this is my jurisdiction.
And as a fellow cop,
I know you'll help me by doing what I say.
- Fredricks was our colleague.
But Jason, something wasn't right.
He was being elusive earlier about interactions
with CC and Louise.
I offered to help-- - Hey, hey, hey.
This isn't your fault.
- But it's someone's.
And we're going to find out whose.
[somber music]
[tense notes]
- It's a tripwire.
- Which Fredricks obviously triggered.
What was he doing down here
in the middle of James's death scene?
[flames crackling]
- It's a suitcase.
- That must be how they got the explosives down here.
It's going to be challenging for forensics to get
anything from this scene.
- [sighs] I'm going to go to the office and call it in.
Will you get everyone's passport?
- Yeah.
- I'm happy to help advise you on this.
I am known as the Queen of Crime.
- Thank you.
[suspenseful orchestral music]
- That's Alice's, too.
- Listen.
I'm helping Jason figure out what happened,
but I'm also here to support anyone.
- Thank you.
- So you must be an actor.
I really thought you were dying.
- [normally] Thanks, I guess. [chuckles]
- Wait, you're not from Texas?
- No. - [chuckles softly]
- I should, uh, introduce myself.
Folks.
I know this is all super upsetting,
but, uh, so there are no more surprises,
you should know my name is James Elton, but I'm...
I'm an actor from New York City.
Mystery Island hired me to play a character
that rubs you all up the wrong way and then dies.
- You were amazing. Where did they find you?
- Janey and Fredricks caught my one-man show.
- It was brilliant.
His own adaptation of "Orestes."
[James chuckles softly] We saw it off-Broadway.
- You had an off-Broadway run. That doesn't come cheap.
- I recently came into some money
from an angel investor, so yeah.
- Wait a minute.
I thought I recognized you. You're in "Ship of Fools."
- I worked with them, yeah.
- What's "Ship of Fools"?
- It's an improv group. Hilarious.
I caught him on a cruise ship
around Manhattan a few years back.
- I'm confused.
You do improv comedy andGreek tragedy?
- Well, James is incredibly versatile.
And his "Orestes" was quite funny.
- Correct me if I'm wrong, but "Orestes" is about a man
who kills his mother because she killed his father.
- Sorry, how long do we have to wait here?
- Janey and I will speak to Detective Trent,
but it will be longer than planned, unfortunately.
[soft suspenseful music]
- [sighs]
- [yawns]
[tropical birds singing]
[suspenseful music fading]
- I'm still going over security footage.
- You're thinking staff?
- [sighs] It's the closest to Fredricks, right?
But they're all accounted for in the window
that someone prepared to set the explosives.
Thank you.
Ray's on his way with forensics.
- Oh, all the guests' passports.
- Why do you need those?
- Fredricks hardly ever left this place.
I wanted to see if any of the guests were down here recently.
- Well, Fredricks did go to New York
a couple of months ago with Janey to look for actors.
Maybe he met someone there? - It's possible.
But we were only there two days.
And we were together the whole time.
- But you didn't share a hotel room.
Maybe Fredricks went out after you went to yours.
James's last name is Frankenheimer?
- Yes, Elton's his stage name.
I mean, with a surname like Frankenheimer,
can you blame him?
Jason, the guests are getting nervous.
What can we tell them?
- Uh, that Emilia and I are going to interview
every last one of them, starting with you.
- Me? - Janey, you know the drill.
- Well, you've certainly made no secret
of your growing dislike of Fredricks.
- I dislike several people.
Well, at least five, possibly seven.
And I don't go around blowing them up. [scoffs]
- Of course.
But you do need to be truthful with us, Janey.
- When am I otherwise?
- When you don't tell us the truth
about your relationship with James.
- I knew that you saw through us.
I said it to him last afternoon in his room.
In my room, actually.
He switched rooms with me, which was really quite sweet.
At any rate, I was just being mindful
of our professional relationship.
- So you do have more than a professional relationship?
- Yes.
Well, now we've got that sorted,
I will go and tell the guests that you need to speak to them.
- In the kitchen hall, please.
- Hmm.
Well, we were right about her and James.
- Mm. Hopefully, it's just as easy to find the killer.
- What were you and Fredricks arguing about before dinner?
And don't say your room.
He already told me it wasn't there.
- My publisher wanted me to negotiate
a Mystery Island tie-in for my next novel.
I wanted Fredricks to back me. He said he would try.
And frankly, I didn't think trying was good enough.
I do feel awful now about shouting at him.
- Did you see anyone near the gazebo
while you were stargazing?
- No.
The stars were far too distracting.
[quirky suspenseful music]
- You were late getting to the game room.
- I got lost, like I said.
- Did you help your brother with the puzzle
that won the contest?
- Help him? I did it all.
But I let him have the win.
- There's more to it than that, though, isn't there?
Bobby seems quite triggered by status.
It must rankle him that his younger brother is
more financially successful and clearly more clever than he is.
- He's got an ego.
For instance, he got into debt last year.
I offered to help him. He wouldn't hear it.
Figured it out himself.
- Fredricks went to New York a few months ago.
Did you meet with him?
- I never met the guy until I got here.
Local cop.
Do you seriously think one of us
had something to do with this?
Have you ever worked a homicide?
Because I can help you.
- Bobby.
- Detective Teller.
- Detective Teller, yes, I think one of the guests
planted the explosives that killed Fredricks.
And since you're one of the guests,
I can't bring you in on the investigation, can I?
- You helped with the contest puzzle, didn't you?
And we know you have a history with Fredricks.
He confirmed that for me.
- Did you meet up with him a couple of months ago
when he was in New York?
- Mm.
Thank you.
- This history with Fredricks must have been quite special.
- We met working hospitality on cruise lines.
And we fell in love.
But then seven years ago,
he broke things off quite suddenly.
- That's when he helped start Mystery Island.
- I was devastated.
I thought that was that. I moved on.
I got married, divorced.
And then two months ago,
he and Janey walked into the hotel I manage in the city.
We met that night late, up on the rooftop.
And he told me he booked the hotel
because he wanted to see me again.
He knew about my divorce.
He knew about Alice's murder podcast.
- He offered to give you the solution
to the contest puzzle for you to give to Alice, didn't he?
[suspenseful somber music]
- I didn't know what to expect down here.
But last afternoon at the gazebo,
he told me he was going to resign.
That this would be his final year on Mystery Island.
He said he wanted us to be together.
And that he wanted to give me
the kind of opulent life that I deserve.
- I'm so sorry, Louise.
And I'm sorry that we have to put you through this.
Thank you for talking with us.
- Fredricks made good money here even after the demotion,
but I don't think he was in a position to deliver opulence.
- We knew he wasn't happy with the demotion.
Maybe he had another job lined up.
Either way, Fredricks was keeping secrets.
And one of them may have gotten him killed.
[seagulls calling]
[soft suspenseful music]
- Ray. - Hey, Jason.
Buenas tardes,Dr. Priestly.
- Emilia's fine, Ray.
I heard about your promotion from coroner to chief.
Congratulations.
- Gracias.
Benefit of working in a small police force.
- Ray also spent years on the beat when he was younger.
- That I did.
Sorry to hear about Fredricks.
- Yeah, we're all in a bit of shock.
Emilia's been helping with the interviews.
- Not surprised.
You on board to consult with us on this?
- Of course.
- Let's go take a look at Fredricks' room.
- Sure.
- My hunch is right. Someone was in here.
- You thought this might have happened.
- We know Fredricks was keeping a lot of secrets.
- Who could've done this?
- But hasn't had guests since 9:00 p.m.
- Except Ted and Davis.
- Huh.
I found something.
- Fingerprint lock. - Mm-hmm.
Mm, hairbrushes are good for pulling clean prints.
Ah, bingo.
[soft dramatic music]
I'm good to go through the rest of his place
if you guys want to finish your interviews.
- Open.
- So there I was, right? Pretending to be dying.
And then--
I should ask, as professionals,
do you think my dying was too much?
- I was actually a bit worried you might hurt yourself.
- Oh, no, no.
There's no worries there.
I'm a stage combat specialist, accredited fight choreographer.
So, uh, I'm never in any real danger.
Speaking of danger, I, uh...
I found this in my room today.
On the floor by the door.
At first, I thought it was somebody who was into me,
but now I'm kind of worried that somebody wants me dead.
- "Meet me at the gazebo tonight for some real fun."
- Get what I mean?
- We do, yes.
- Jason, this was typewritten with a typewriter.
Like the one we have.
- In the library.
[soft suspenseful music]
- It's gone. - What is?
- Evelyn Murtaugh's typewriter. It's kept right here.
The staff would never move it.
- And it being gone is not part of the murder mystery
you guys wrote?
- Most definitely not.
And I don't think that note was meant for you.
- "Meet me at the gazebo tonight for some real fun."
So then, Fredricks wasn't the target.
James is.
- Emilia had another thought.
- Did you tell anyone that you and James had switched rooms?
- No.
What do you think?
- The note was slipped under
what the killer thoughtwas your room, Janey.
You were meant to go to the gazebo and trip that wire,
but Fredricks got in the way.
- Which means--
- I'm still a target.
- Which is why we need to move you to the safe room.
[elevator bell rings]
[electronic beeping]
- Now, this feels like overkill.
Sorry.
Poor word choice.
But I certainly don't feel like being cooped up in here
when I could be helping you solve the case.
- Don't open the door for anyone but me.
Close it on your way out.
- That includes me, honey.
- [sighs] Listen, if you wanted to murder me,
you have had ample opportunity to do it before tonight.
- Fair point.
- Oh.
- [smooches]
Be safe, OK?
- [sighs]
Bye.
- Bye.
[electronic beeping] [door clicks]
Mm.
- James, why don't you head back to your room, too?
- Unlock the door.
- Of course.
Hey, um, glad you guys are here.
- I'm heading back to the mainland
to get the autopsy started.
We have DNA on the guests
and we've sent them to the rooms for the night.
I'm not sure how long you can keep them here.
- Oh, their flights are Monday, but hopefully,
they'll be sympathetic to the fact
that one of our own's been killed.
- All right, I'll be in touch in the morning.
And thank you for helping us on this, Emilia.
You two work well together.
- Mm.
Nice to be working well together again.
- Yeah, it only took a real murder.
Should we start building a murder board?
- Two murder boards, one with Fredricks
as the intended victim and one with Janey.
But my stomach is reminding me that I haven't eaten all day.
You want to grab some crisps or--
- Oh, chips. We can do better than that.
[quirky dramatic music]
[eggs sizzling]
- He cooks?
- He cooks.
When you live on a cop's salary,
you can't afford nice restaurants,
so you learn to become one.
- The kitchen staff won't be cross with you?
- He cleans, too.
They'll never know I was here.
- Thank you.
[soft dramatic music]
Mm.
Why have you kept this a secret from me?
- I didn't realize that's what I was doing.
- Well, talking of secrets,
Fredricks clearly had more than any of us knew about.
I'm still troubled by the fact
he revealed the puzzle solution to Louise.
- For love.
- It's one way to look at it.
Another is that he was trading for Louise's affection
and betrayed our trust in the process.
I'm beginning to think he had NPD.
- Which means?
- Narcissistic personality disorder.
- Do you think he was lying to Louise
about giving her a life of opulence?
- Mm, possible.
I'm also thinking about the profile of the killer,
clearly organized with terrific attention to detail
and open to brutality.
- Blowing someone up's far more brutal than poison.
- Precisely.
So whomever the killer was targeting,
Fredricks or Janey, we can infer that
they had personal animus towards their victim.
- That was--
- Not the last meal I will cook for you, I promise.
- I shall hold you to that.
[yawns]
- Yeah.
Murder boards tomorrow?
We won't hear from Ray until then, anyway.
- Murder boards tomorrow. [sighs]
[soft dramatic music]
Good night, then.
- Night.
- Ugh, my key.
[sighs]
[keys jingling]
- Why'd you hit me? - Why did you sneak up on me?
- I didn't want to startle you.
- Well, you achieved the opposite effect.
- I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to you.
- OK, well, sit down.
Get some ice on that.
- Thank you. - Yeah.
So what did you want to talk about?
- I wanted to offer my help.
Don't know if you've heard my podcast,
but I'm really good at solving mysteries.
- I have heard it.
And I'd say you're really good about telling stories
about mysteries that have been solved by other people.
[soft dramatic music]
- I solved the contest puzzle that got me here.
- Alice, I know your aunt gave you that solution,
which was actually given to her,
and I suspect you want to help us with this case
so that you can get an extraordinary scoop
for that podcast?
- Is that wrong?
- Uh, the hours after the murder of a colleague of mine,
you're thinking of how to use that murder
to increase your downloads?
I don't know if that's wrong,
but it's certainly ethically questionable.
Let's look at this.
Looks like we've avoided a bad bruise.
[insects droning]
[door closes]
[approaching footsteps]
- Started without me.
- Well, you know how I feel about your penmanship.
- It's totally warranted.
So motive for killing Janey
could be to hurt Mystery Island.
- Another real death of the new COO.
Carlos could end up wanting to sell to the Davoren Group.
- Ah, the same could be said for Fredricks as the new CEO.
We'll get back to this. We should go spring Janey.
- En route.
I'll fill you in on some further developments
after we parted last night.
So I'd say that Alice isn't the sweet Midwestern girl
that she presents.
- She does do a podcast about murder.
- [scoffs]
One can be fascinated with crime and still have ethics.
[elevator bell rings]
[electronic beeping]
- I've had a thought.
There is simply no earthly reason
why any of these people would want to murder me,
but what if one of them wants to murder
the COO of Mystery Island
in the most explosive way possible?
Pun very much intended.
And why, I hear you about to ask.
Well, the answer is quite simple.
Someone is working on the behest of a buyer
who wants to ruin our business
and force Carlos to sell the island.
Like the Davoren Group.
- That's good thinking, Janey.
- Well, don't sound so surprised.
- But that motive also applies to Fredricks as CEO.
[quirky suspenseful music]
- Oh, I suppose you're right.
Does that mean I'm still in danger?
- It means we still need to be careful.
- Hey.
Murder girl.
You got any thoughts on who killed Fredricks?
- I know it wasn't me.
- That's good.
So how about you and me, the two contest winners,
we get together and we solve this thing?
- No, thanks.
- Did my brother tell you I was a lousy detective?
Because that's not true. [approaching footsteps]
- Janey.
- If I was such a lousy detective,
how do you think I figured out
that the baroness and the actor are a real-life couple?
[suspenseful music]
- You OK, sweetie?
- Yeah.
- Could I have everyone's attention, please?
- Have there been any developments?
- The case is ongoing, and I'm hoping you'll all stay
through your original departure.
- Sounds good to me.
Look, I'm sorry about Fredricks.
But I was thinking that maybe the rest of us
could try finishing playing the murder game.
- Well, what do you think, Aunt Louise?
- Well, I suppose it could be distracting.
- Well, I'm certainly game.
Honey? - Oh, why not?
- Bobby?
- I'm out.
- Hang on.
Does this mean I have to be dead?
- [sighs] Well, I'll accompany you to the Deceased Bungalow.
- Alfredo, could you take them?
Davis?
I know your brother has a problem with me,
but I need him to stick around.
- He'll stay.
And he'll play.
He needs the prize money.
- I thought you said he was out of financial trouble.
- He was,
but he thinks he might have to retire earlier than he thought.
- Why is that?
- Davis, this is a homicide investigation.
- I know, I know.
Look, I pressed him last night, OK?
Why is he being more of a pain than usual?
He said that he's stressed.
He's under investigation with internal affairs.
They're saying he's been taking bribes.
- From who?
- The Torino crime family.
Do you know them? - By reputation.
- I'm so sorry to hear this, Davis,
but thank you for telling us.
- Yeah.
- Sounds like Bobby's in bed with some bad people.
- Allegedly.
I better let Ray know.
Have him contact New York, see what they can tell us.
- Yeah.
- Thanks, Ray.
[electronic beep]
Thank you.
- Excuse me?
- Alice?
You can come in.
Dr. Priestly, I'm--
I'm really sorry about last night.
I've never been part of an actual investigation before,
and I got carried away.
And I appreciate what you said about ethics.
- Good.
- Can I just ask?
Are Baroness Alcott and James a couple in real life?
[suspenseful music]
- Did you figure that out?
- Detective Teller told me.
I wonder who told him.
- It's a great question.
Thanks, Alice.
There is no way Janey told Bobby that.
- But have you noticed that Bobby
constantly has that earwig in?
- Yeah, of course.
You're thinking--
- He planted a listening device.
- And heard our interviews with Janey and James.
- And everyone else.
[energetic suspenseful music]
- We should check the office and the game room.
He probably bugged them after everyone arrived
to get an edge on solving the game.
- Yeah.
If we accuse him, he'll just deny it.
- Feels kind of dumb just standing around here, waiting.
- Mm, maybe one of the sleuths will solve your murder
before Sunday night.
- What if I come back?
- What are you pitching, resurrection?
- Hear me out.
So what if I play a private detective
hired to investigate the murder of James Elton?
I wear a disguise, I--
[British accent] I put on a British accent.
- [chuckles]
- [normally] My dad was born there,
so I know the dialect pretty well.
- Oh, I'd love to meet your father.
[soft dramatic music]
[chuckles softly]
- I would've liked that too.
He, uh, he passed.
My, uh, my mom died of cancer when I was 15,
so it was-- it was always me and Dad.
Until he, uh...
- Oh, my gosh, that's--
that's devastating.
Is that why you did "Orestes"?
Well, that must have been cathartic.
- It was.
Also threw up a bunch of stuff, you know?
But I'm--I'm good. I'm--I'm at peace.
- Well, I'm so glad.
- Well, a big part of that's because of you.
[approaching footsteps]
- We need your help.
[dramatic music]
- Jason.
Janey got another note to meet someone at the beach,
and she's gone there.
- We need to get down to the beach.
Come on.
- Baroness?
Hey, game's over, pal.
What is this?
- Proof that you were spying
on an active homicide investigation.
- I'm just trying to help you.
- Well, maybe we should call NYPD internal affairs
and ask them how good you are at helping on the job.
- My brother ratted me out.
- Your brother cares about you, Bobby.
- We know you planted the listening devices.
- So you entrap me?
You proved your point. Are you happy now?
- No, I'm not.
I need all your equipment and your files.
[tense music]
You should be grateful that you're not under arrest.
[dramatic suspenseful music]
- Detective Trent?
The police on the phone for you.
- Thank you, Agnes.
I'll be right back.
This is Trent.
- Please don't touch those.
They're a new addition, and they're very valuable.
- The man who trained me used to say the detective's job
is to get the killer to lift the mask themselves
and show their true face.
- He sounds quite poetic.
- Detective Ruiz was a poet.
- This Detective Ruiz, do you still work with him?
- No.
He relocated to Boston a few years ago.
- Everything all right?
- Let's go get that gear.
The chief put in a call to internal affairs in New York,
and they confirmed what your brother told us.
You're under investigation
for taking bribes from the Torino crime family.
- Well, internal affairs are wrong about that.
- What Davis didn't tell us or maybe didn't know
is that the Torinos of the lead investors in the Davoren Group.
- You're joking.
- Am I supposed to know who the Davoren Group is?
- Property developers who have made an offer on this island.
[tense music]
- Did the Torinos pay you
to kill the CEO of Mystery Island
to destabilize the property?
- I'm not saying another word without my lawyer.
- Shut up. - Oh, really.
And what are you going to do about it?
How dare you.
- Dr. Priestly, help!
- Do you have any idea who I am?
- Being a famous writer
does not give you license to attack young women.
- Enough.
What happened?
- We were just talking about the game.
And she started drinking.
- I had two drinks.
- Ms. Cornwall, please.
- She started asking Alice
about her aunt's relationship with Fredricks.
- How do you know they have a relationship?
- Because his brother, the detective, mentioned it to me.
And as a best-selling author,
I'm simply curious about human relationships.
And then this woman started screaming at me.
- Is that true?
- She was asking in the most prurient way imaginable.
- Ted, could you please take your wife back to your room
and let her cool off?
- If you still want to play golf tomorrow,
you will let me go now.
- Louise, are you all right? - [sighs]
I'm OK.
- Just stay away from CC.
I got to go meet the chief.
[tense music]
- Is your mentor a Detective Ruiz?
- Good memory.
- Did he work in New York before Boston?
- Yeah. How'd you know that?
- Did he have an aphorism regarding the wearing of masks?
- Drilled it into me. We all wear masks.
- It's the detective's job to get the killer
to lift the masks themselves and show their true face.
- Emilia, what's going on?
- Bobby told me.
He was trained by Ruiz in New York.
- You're kidding.
Well, he was a great mentor, trained a lot of cops,
I guess, if you were going to break bad, like Bobby.
Hey, Chief.
- Hey, agent. Doctor.
Fredricks' autopsy confirmed
third-degree burns led to heart failure.
And I had the latex fingerprint to open the safe.
[suspenseful music]
[electronic beeping]
- These are Mystery Island game plots that John Murtaugh wrote.
- And ones Fredricks told Janey he couldn't find.
- There must be over a dozen of them.
- I got paperwork here for an estate in Scotland.
- He was in contract on it.
Price is $2.1 million. - The opulent lifestyle.
But where was he getting this kind of money?
- Here's a number for the realtor.
- I knew he was holding out on me.
But whatever for?
- That's an excellent question.
- Thank you.
I'll let you know if I have any more questions.
The realtor said Fredricks had
already put down a million-dollar down payment.
Apparently, he wanted to retire there and said
he'd have the additional $1.1 million next week.
- Hang on.
I know this one.
This mystery plot that John Murtaugh wrote,
but never used on the island.
It's the plot of one of CC's novels.
[suspenseful music]
- So based on the dates on Murtaugh's files...
- Every one of Murtaugh's unused Mystery Island plots
predates CC's book publication.
- We need to talk to CC.
- We?
- Well, you wouldn't have discovered all these
if it wasn't for me.
- This is true, Jason.
- Up to you, Detective.
- Fine.
Please don't talk.
- Zip.
[quirky dramatic notes]
- [sighs]
- Oh, hello.
- You'll be happy to know
I haven't provoked anyone in over an hour.
- We need to talk about this secret deal you had
buying John Murtaugh's unused plot lines from Fredricks.
- [chuckles] What secret deal?
- You didn't know?
- We found the files that you were looking for
when you dug through Fredricks' quarters yesterday.
- What?
- That's what you and Fredricks
were arguing about before dinner, isn't it?
It wasn't your room.
- That's why you're so far behind
getting your next book published.
Fredricks was all out of plots to sell you.
- Which is also why he couldn't show them to me--
because I'd have figured out
you were using them for your books.
- CC, what are they--
- Ted.
I don't know what you think you know.
- We know every plot you used
originally written by John Murtaugh.
- And we don't think Fredricks was giving you them
out of the goodness of his heart.
- [sighs]
Nothing I did was illegal.
- Maybe not.
But if Fredricks told the world
that you were a plagiarizing fraud,
I don't imagine that would help book sales.
- But it would help make you our prime suspect.
- CC, secrets take a psychic toll on us.
They're like carrying around a heavy weight
we're never able to put down, not even in our sleep.
[suspenseful music]
But if you come clean now, you'll not only make things
easier on yourself with the police,
but I--I promise you your mind will be more at ease.
- [crying]
Oh, I came down to this place the first year
it was in operation.
And I was so struck by John Murtaugh's plot game.
And I asked Fredricks if--
if he thought John might want to collaborate with me.
Oh, he came up with this different arrangement instead.
My books are mine.
I wrote the dialogue. I wrote the prose.
I just paid for John's storyline.
- How much did you pay him?
- Not very much at first,
but as my success grew, so did Fredricks' price.
But I was happy to pay it.
- Did Fredricks threaten to expose you if you didn't pay?
- No. And I would've paid it.
I'm not a murderer, Detective.
- Do we believe her?
- Well, if you're asking me, certainly not.
She's a proven liar.
- We should talk to Ted before CC does.
- Agreed.
- I'll let you handle that.
I'm going back to the mainland.
- CC didn't tell you any of this?
- You saw how she shuts me up.
- What did she tell you?
- Just that she had writer's block.
And now you're saying that's not true?
She's not going to write another book? [scoffs]
[sighs] I can't believe this.
- Ted, I have to ask.
Do you think your wife's capable of murder?
- Look, I know she can be challenging.
But no.
[suspenseful music]
- So, are we now sure that I'm not the target?
- Well, the jury's still out.
We're following the evidence where it leads.
- [British accent] Following the evidence where it leads.
Sound practice.
Greetings. Detective Hugh Walsh.
I'm here to investigate the murder of James Elton.
- This is just too adorable.
- [normally] You like it?
It's kind of like a sort of cold British detective.
If it's not too derivative. - No, no, no.
It's inspired. I mean, don't you both agree?
This is a masterful turn.
- It's quite clever.
- Oh, let's introduce you to the rest of the guests.
Now, I promise I will never be alone.
And I will return to the safe room straight after dinner.
[quirky suspenseful music]
- Murder boards?
- Oh, I thought you'd never ask.
So let's think about motive
other than destabilizing the business and buying the island.
- CC obviously had her reputation as a novelist
to protect, which Fredricks could've destroyed.
I don't know what her motive for killing Janey would be.
- No, nor do I.
- Louise had her history with Fredricks.
We're taking her word that she wanted to reunite.
She could've wanted revenge
for having her heart broken all those years ago.
- Definitely possible.
Not seeing her motive for wanting Janey dead, either.
Certainly not stronger than what
may have been driving Bobby.
- I still can't believe we were both trained by Ruiz.
- Maybe you can use that to talk to him.
- Bobby, I want you to forget about what happened here
and tell me about this detective
that gave you the advice about people wearing masks.
- Why are you asking me about him?
- What was his name?
- Didn't your shrink tell you that?
Ruiz.
- Fernando Ruiz.
He was my mentor in Boston and the reason I'm down here.
I came here to investigate his murder.
- Wait. Ruiz is dead?
- He was robbed on his way to the bank one night
after work, stabbed fatally.
- I thought Ruiz had retired.
And who got the drop on him?
- He did retire,
but he picked up a security job down here at a nightclub.
The autopsy revealed he had GHB in his system.
Killer drugged him before he killed him.
- You get the killer?
- We're both cops, Bobby.
Both students of Ruiz.
- Yes, we are.
But I'm still not going to talk to you without my lawyer.
[tense music]
- [British accent] As a private investigator,
I've been employed by Mr. Elton's firm for years.
Subsequently,
I was sent here immediately upon learning of his murder.
[quirky suspenseful music]
Now, you said that you were all set here
at the game's table together.
- We were, yes.
So you--
Jamesmade the drinks over there at the bar
and he brought them over here for us.
- So hang on.
Mr. Elton mixed the drinks himself?
Huh.
Are you suggesting, then, that this is suicide?
- No.
So Janey, Aunt Louise,
you remember the lazy Susan got nudged?
The drinks spun around to different people.
- Mm, you had the-- the pink umbrella.
- And you had to prompt him to drink.
[suspenseful music]
- I'm thinking what if James
intended the poison for someone else?
- Then you're suggesting that the murderer
inadvertently killed himself?
[insects droning]
[knock at door] - Bobby, it's Jason.
[knock at door] Bobby, open up.
[somber ominous music]
- Jason, the typewriter.
The note is to you.
- "Detective Trent, I killed Fredricks.
"I knew it was only a matter of time
before you and the shrink--"
I can't read the rest without touching it.
I need to call Ray. We should tell Davis.
I'm sorry to do this now,
but I need to ask you something.
- Sure.
- Do you think it's possible that your brother
would've taken money from the Torinos to commit a murder?
- Are you thinking he killed Fredricks?
- We know it's hard to hear,
but it's something we've considered.
We think it's possible there would have
been a financial motive
not only for Bobby, but for the Torinos.
- No.
No, my brother was, uh...
ethically shaky.
But murder for money?
I just cannot believe that.
- Well, if you want to talk one-on-one, I am a therapist.
- Thanks.
I, um...
I just need to get some air.
- What's wrong?
- Bobby Teller's dead.
- What? - How?
- He appears to have killed himself.
And confessed to the murder of Fredricks
using Evelyn Murtaugh's typewriter.
- So Bobby was the one
that left the note in the door for Janey?
- It appears so.
[tense music] - Help!
Ted's attacking Davis!
- We had a deal and you go back on it!
- Get your hands off me! - No, you can't go back on it.
- Don't touch me! - We had a deal!
- Hey, hey, hey, hey!
- Ted, stop.
- What is going on?
- It's a private matter.
- He went nuts when I told him our deal was off.
- Shut up!
- Hey, hey, hey, hey! [Ted groans]
Take it easy, Ted. - OK, OK, OK, OK.
- What deal?
- The night of the explosion, he wasn't looking at stars.
And I wasn't lost.
We met in the entry hall.
He slipped me a note during dinner.
Mm? He had a proposal.
In exchange for his wife bringing my brother on board
as a co-author of her
new book-- - What?
- CC.
- [scoffs] - Go ahead.
- I was going to become his new financial advisor.
Pro bono, obviously.
- [scoffs] This is absurd.
Ted is in no position to make that kind of deal.
- CC, come on.
I knew you were out of ideas.
Now I know they weren't even your ideas to begin with.
I've been worried for months that you wouldn't write again,
so I had to find a way of making money.
So I started playing the market.
I should've had an advisor like Davis.
- Yeah, you should have.
[suspenseful music]
- How much did you lose?
- Well, from my understanding, nearly everything.
- [snarls softly] Ted.
- And you called off the deal
because he had nothing more to offer.
- Yeah, and because my brother's dead.
- Enough.
- Time of death was between midnight and 2:00 a.m.
Two sets of bruises on his neck.
One rough, which matches the rope used to hang him,
while the other one is smooth, also darker.
- Which means he was strangled before he was hanged.
- A second murder.
I think this board was wiped clean.
See the remnants of writing here?
Maybe he worked something out.
- Detective?
- It's the rest of the note.
[camera shutter clicks] Notice the last line.
- "In my brother's defence, he knew nothing."
- Look at the spelling of the word "defence."
D-E-F-E-N-C-E.
Americans spell it with an S.
You and Janey are the only Brits here.
- Jason, you can't think--
- I know.
But I need to interview Janey without you this time.
- So I've gone from potential victim to potential killer?
- Mm, couple months ago,
you did say you wanted to kill Fredricks.
- Oh, my God, in a game.
And I said that to you, a police detective
who I chose to be here on the island when
the explosion that killed Fredricks happened.
Why would I do these things if I was the culprit?
- When's the last time you saw Bobby?
- Well, when you put him under house arrest.
- [normally] What's going on?
Yesterday, Janey's the intended victim.
And then today?
- Yes, well, new things have come to light.
- Such as?
- The proper spelling of a word.
- Janey. - Well, I'm sorry.
It is a bit absurd.
- James, we must let Jason pursue the case as he sees fit.
[soft suspenseful music]
And I am sure I'll be fine
because, as you know, I am innocent.
- OK.
OK.
You know that Janey wouldn't do anything to hurt Fredricks.
I thought Bobby confessed.
- Yes, but we have reason to suspect
that Bobby didn't type that note.
And if it's any consolation,
I don't think that Jason believes Janey actually guilty.
- I'm going to go for a walk and clear my head, OK?
[sighs]
- Oh, you don't appear to be under arrest.
- Well, of course not.
After my momentary humiliation of being considered a killer,
I realized that Jason was just doing his job.
- Yeah.
And it seems possible to me that whoever did this
not only wanted to kill Bobby, they wanted
to hurt Mystery Island by implicating you.
- Well, yes.
And having two unsolved murders is hardly good for business.
And maybe I should just tell Carlos to sell the island
and then I'll go and live with James in New York.
- If we don't have a breakthrough in this case,
Janey's prepared to let Mystery Island end
because she is in love, but I am not.
- You're not in love?
- No, I'm not prepared to let Mystery Island end.
- Your syntax was a little confusing.
- Well, I'm upset.
- Clearly. You're normally so well-spoken.
- Oh, thank you.
Now has it dawned on you
that the most likely reason Bobby was murdered
is because he had learned who killed Fredricks?
- Yes, it has.
- So you know what we need to do?
- Go back through all of Bobby's recordings.
- Precisely.
We need to hear what he heard us saying in the interviews
because, somehow, we missed something.
- * I can feel it like a shadow *
[soft dramatic music]
* In the corner of my mind
[recorded indistinct chatter]
* Calm down the cyclones
* You catch me from behind
[recorded indistinct chatter]
- It's gone.
* This is the reckoning
* If this is the enemy
* Hold on
[suspenseful music]
- Have you been messing with Janey's desk again?
- No, why?
- Well, it's disorganized.
And I think someone's opened the password book.
- Let's check the computer.
[mouse and keyboard clicking]
- Bobby must've snuck in here last night.
I wonder what he was looking for.
- Check the history.
- Thank you, all, for gathering this morning.
I believe that I, with Aunt Louise's help,
have solved the mystery of who killed James.
- Oh, do tell.
- Should we wait for Dr. Priestly and Detective Trent?
- I think we should just crack on.
- OK, so we all know that more than one person in this room
had a reason to want James dead,
based on his remarks at dinner and then later on
in the games room, myself included.
But sometimes when there are too many people with motive,
you have to focus on method.
How was James killed?
- Well, his drink was poisoned, obviously.
- Was it?
- What do you mean?
- OK, so we all know that James made drinks
in full view of everyone.
He then brought them over to the lazy Susan,
set them down, and the lazy Susan got bumped.
Does anyone remember who bumped it?
OK, Aunt Louise and I couldn't recall, either.
- But James drank the drink that landed in front of him.
So assuming the killer was the one who bumped the lazy Susan,
how would they know that they weren't the one
drinking the poison drink?
- So was this just a random killing, some homicidal maniac?
Or did the killer have a much more clever method
to target their intended victim?
And that is when I realized...
- It didn't matter who bumped the lazy Susan.
- It matters who stopped it.
That person was you, Baroness Alcott.
James was brazen, boasting about how
he was going to force a hostile takeover of Mystery Island.
He said this in front of us.
And it was clear it wasn't the first time
he'd made the threat.
You started dating him. You lured him down here.
You killed him to protect Mystery Island.
- Well done, Alice.
You have solved the mystery! [applause]
And you have won the prize money.
[applause]
- [normally] Good work, kid. [chuckles]
Why don't I make us a round of drinks to celebrate, huh?
- And I promise not to poison them.
[all chuckle]
[gong resonating]
[suspenseful music]
- [gasps]
- [chuckles softly]
- What's going on?
- What is going on?
Because I'm-- I'm getting confused.
- Yes, that's been the point.
Confusion.
But we are here to provide clarity
and tell you who killed Fredricks and why.
- Masks.
My mentor, Detective Fernando Ruiz,
said we all wear them.
It's the detective's job
to get the killer to lift the mask themselves.
- At first, we thought the murderer of Fredricks
masked the killer's original target, Janey.
This note was pushed under her door,
inviting her to the gazebo after the games.
- A suicide masked the fact that Bobby was murdered
and a British spelling pointed to Janey as a suspect.
- More confusion.
But what was the evidence
for Janey being both the target and culprit?
- Evelyn Murtaugh's typewriter,
stolen from the library and found in Bobby's room.
Both notes were written on it.
- How many manuscripts did Evelyn Murtaugh type on this?
And here it is being used to type a fresh script,
two very short plays, both starring Janey.
In one, she is the intended murder victim.
And in the other, she's the murderer.
- But what if we forget about the star of the plays
and instead focus on the writer?
- Wait, are you talking about CC?
- [scoffs] Sweetheart, have you not been paying attention?
I'm no good at plotting.
- There is a writer among us hiding behind a mask.
Janey, in ancient Greece, what do the actors wear?
- Masks.
- Oh, hang on.
You're talking about me?
- You were the one that brought us the first note.
- Yeah, because it was shoved under my door.
- We only have your word for that.
- So you're saying that I typed the confession from Bobby?
The one that implicates Janey?
- We are, yes.
- I love Janey. You know that.
- Which is why you could point us her way,
knowing she'd never be convicted of murdering Bobby,
but hoping that we would waste our final day
with you all here trying to figure out how she might have.
- But why would James kill Bobby Teller?
He hadn't even met him before this weekend.
- True.
But Bobby had seen James before.
- Wait a minute. I thought I recognized you.
You're in "Ship of Fools."
- Over a million people have seen "Ship of Fools."
- But only one of them was a detective
that connected you to Fredricks.
[suspenseful music]
Which leads us to why you killed him.
- I'm done.
I'm not going to stand here and listen to this insanity.
- No.
[tense music]
You're going to sithere and listen to it.
[CC chuckles]
- OK.
OK.
- [chuckles] You're right about insanity, James.
There is a kind of madness at play,
the madness of revenge.
- Bobby had bugged several rooms to gain an advantage
on winning the game and had recordings
of all the interviews we conducted
after Fredricks' murder.
- Last night, Bobby snuck into the office
to get onto the internet.
We know this because he used Janey's password book to do so.
- He needed to look
at the Azure Cruise's social media page.
He went back seven years and found this.
James and Fredricks both worked
on this Azure Cruise ship.
- Look at the photo.
Over 100 people worked on that ship.
- But only one of them was blackmailing you.
Fredricks needed to pay off his Scottish estate
where he planned to retire with Louise.
- But he'd run out of unused John Murtaugh mystery plots
to sell to CC.
He needed a new source of funding,
which he found when he went to New York
a couple of months ago.
- Janey, you and Fredricks went scouting for an actor
to play your Texas oilman boyfriend.
You saw an off-Broadway play.
James, what was the name of that show?
- You know perfectly well what it is.
It's "Oreste"-- - Stop.
"Oreste."
- "Oreste."
- Arrest. - Arrest who?
- That is what Fredricks whispered to me
as he was dying, not arrest.
"Oreste."
He died before he could say the final syllable.
- So this whole theory that you've pieced together
is based on that?
A missing syllable?
- No.
But it is the basis of your motive,
not for killing Fredricks.
But for the murder James committed seven years ago,
the murder which Fredricks realized James had done
as he sat beside you in that theater
watching him play "Orestes,"
a man determined to avenge his father's murder.
And that is where Fredricks remembered
where he'd seen you before.
- Bobby didn't bring us the James-Fredricks connection
because he needed money.
Bobby was about to be fired from the NYPD
for taking bribes from the Torino crime family.
- We believe Bobby went to James
and threatened to expose him if he didn't pay.
But as James told us, he's a combat specialist.
- He strangled Bobby.
- We wouldn't have even known Bobby was in Janey's office
if he hadn't disturbed the organization of her desk
as he searched for the password book.
We realized he signed into the computer,
and the first thing he searched for was Azure Cruise lines
because his listening device had picked up something
Louise had shared with us.
- We met working hospitality on cruise lines.
And we fell in love.
- Bobby was able to connect James and Fredricks,
which was enough to threaten James
without knowing the whole story.
But Emilia and I kept looking for the whole story.
- We thought about "Orestes," their revenge for the father.
And so we did some digging into James's father.
- James's last name is Frankenheimer?
- Thomas Frankenheimer was arrested
15 years ago for embezzling.
Thomas Frankenheimer's case never made it to trial.
He was killed in a jailhouse brawl.
And mourned by his only surviving family member,
James Elton Frankenheimer,
who naturally blamed the cop who put his father in jail.
- Detective Fernando Ruiz,
my mentor, trained Bobby, too.
He trained dozens of detectives
and arrested hundreds of criminals,
including Thomas Frankenheimer.
- We know Fredricks thought he was
going to pay off his Scottish estate in a week, $2.1 million.
And you just had a windfall.
- I recently came into some money
through an angel investor, so-- so, yeah.
- That was a clever way of saying your father
left you money, wasn't it?
Had you recently discovered the offshore account
where he'd put all his embezzled funds?
Your father wasn't an innocent man, was he?
But he was still your father.
Is that why you chose to do a play about the tragedy
that is revenge?
- Fredricks was desperate, desperate enough to have you,
someone he knew had committed murder,
come to the island to deliver the blackmail money in cash.
But to be safe,
he had you leave it in a suitcase in the gazebo.
- Janey, did James and Fredricks talk
after you saw his "Orestes"?
[suspenseful music]
- We went for drinks, the three of us.
- Were you together the whole time?
- I, um...
I went to the ladies room and-- [sighs]
And when I came out, James had left.
And Fredricks said--
- What did Fredricks say, Janey?
- He said he'd had a call from his father,
which I now know is impossible.
- James's passport is brand-new.
But we checked with customs and their records show that
he washere the day Ruiz was murdered,
part of the "Ship of Fools" troupe
performing on the local Azure Cruise ship.
And Fredricks was part of that ship's crew.
- Did you plan your revenge like "Orestes"?
Or did fortune place you in front of Detective Ruiz,
the man you blamed for your father's murder?
The way you planned Fredricks',
I would think it was the former.
But you certainly showed your improvisational skills
when it came to handling Bobby.
- This is all conjecture.
- It is.
But the DNA at Ruiz's murder isn't.
See, after the killer stabbed him, he spat in Ruiz's face.
[metallic clinking]
- And we matched that to your DNA.
You're under arrest for the murders
of Detective Ruiz, Mr. Fredricks,
and Detective Teller.
- Oh, you can't write this. [laughs]
[dramatic music]
[handcuffs clicking]
- Was it all an act?
- Janey, it's always been real.
I love you.
- Well, you've wound up in a tragedy after all.
- Janey.
[dramatic music fading]
- The guests have left.
- Thank you both for handling that.
- How you feeling?
- Well, you know me.
I always fancied myself a bit of an expert in love.
And clearly, I'm not.
- I believe it was Shakespeare who said love is blind.
- I suppose I'm in good company.
And I am grateful to both of you
for getting him to drop his mask.
- CC told me she'd like to write a nonfiction book
about this weekend.
She was hoping we'd give her permission.
- Ah. If there's going to be a book about this,
then we need a writer who can actually
make sense of all these horrible things
and still show us in a positive light.
I mean, I'd prefer someone who is not only brilliant,
but has extensive experience with actual crime
and a degree from Oxford.
- Are you talking about me?
- Say you'll do it.
- I'll do it.
- [sighs]
- Thank you.
Right.
I must go search for a new house manager.
- So I suppose I'm writing a book.
- Well, if you need a ghostwriter,
I am at your beck and call.
- Oh, I've never had someone at my beck and call before.
- Well, now you do.
- So we haven't talked about what this all means to you.
You did what you came down here to do seven years ago,
solve your mentor's murder.
How you feeling?
- I know he'd be proud of me.
There's not a day I don't wish he were still alive,
but I feel a sense of closure.
- Good.
- And like Janey,
I'm grateful to you for working with me.
- I'm grateful to be working with you.
But since I solved this--
- Yousolved this?
- I'm wondering whether you should report to me now.
- I think we'll just have to keep working together
until it's clear who works for who.
- Who works for whom.
- You're so English.
- And you're so American.
[soaring orchestral music]