Episode 28: A Brooch for All Occasions

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE we're goin' back to school where the teachers are all sluts who are lying to each other, the typewriters are ever so distinctive, and the train station attendant is just out to mess with you. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), noted mystery writer and murder solver, has been asked to speak at the commencement for Grenshaw College. She is quickly witness to the extracurricular activities of the faculty, made up of professors who are either sleeping with each other or utterly shocked at the notion that they're sleeping with each other. Things get wild at the party held by English department head Dr. Jocelyn Laird (Polly Bergen) when a frequently shirtless, up to no good former student (Morgan Stevens) shows up with Laird's daughter, literary smut writer Daphne Clover (Mary Kate McGeehan). Mother and daughter are both suspects when the hunky alumnus is found dead on campus the next evening. Detective of the week, Police Chief Griffin (Jack Kehoe), is certain it's either of them, but Jess is unconvinced when there are so many other partygoing academics that it could be instead. Could it be Dr Kenyon (Roddy McDowall) or Professor Mercer (James Sutorius), who are both up for the next promotion, or the easily appalled Henry Hayward (John Vernon)? Mrs. Mercer (Darleen Carr) also seems to know the murder victim, and Beryl Hayward (June Lockhart) seems to be the only sensible one who knows what everyone's been up to.  Train schedules, candlesticks, and curved typography all factor into the conclusion of SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. This is going to affect enrollment, isn't it?