The Case of the Grumbling Grandfather
Airdate: Saturday, May 27, 1961
Episode 122
Spoiler Alert
This page contains plot information, including
the resolution to the murder.
Enter at your own risk.
Plot
J.J. Gideon has a problem with Dorine Hopkins, thinking she was responsible for his son Lucious' death. Finding David in his office one evening, he assumes that he is returning to law school. What is really happening is a secret rendezvous between David and Dorine. Later the next day, David finds that Dorine is leaving, and wants to know why. She tells him that it's over between them, that he doesn't deserve to have a woman with her problems. When her husband Tony appears and hassles her, David decks him, without realizing it is her husband. As they are discussing it afterwards, David makes the comment that he should have killed the man for hitting her. (Of course, these comments are always used later as motive.) Dorine tells David that she cannot divorce him until she gets something back from him, but she does not tell him what it is. David vows to help her, even if she does not want him to, and she asks for $10,000. David and J.J. have an argument over Dorine, because J.J. does not like her. Dorine then phones David and tells him that she has found all of the money and can pay Tony off. She invites him over to celebrate her soon to be freedom. When David gets there, he is witness to Dorine getting shoved out of the car. Dorine tells him that Tony has taken all of her money and has no intention of returning anything to her. Of course, this makes David mad, and he goes off to find Tony. When he gets to Tony's place, he is hit on the head and knock unconscious. Upon awakening, he finds Tony murdered, and finds that the envelope that he was trying to recover for Dorine has been taken. David is then arrested for the murder, and Perry and Paul get to work in helping find out what happened. Perry questions David about Dorine and what was in the envelope. Perry finds out that Tony had worked at Gideon's business for a while, and suspects that Sue Franks had known Tony as more than just a co-worker. Paul had found that Sue had walked by Tony's place the night of the murder. Perry also finds out that Tony was a pretty big gambler, and had some large outstanding debts. So Perry has a talk with Si Farrell, who was a "debt collector" for the gambling interests. Sue Franks goes back to Tony's house and digs up an envelope that was missing the night of the murder. Paul has been following Sue and reports back to Perry. When Perry gets there, he finds that Sgt. Brice has already shown up and has taken the envelope. Brice also informs Perry that Sue told him that David had buried the envelope the night of the murder. Perry talks to David again, and the find out that Tony had been blackmailing J.J. for some time, by threatening to expose the relationship between Dorine and his son Lucious, and the possibility of Lucious embezzling from the company. Once the trial begins, Burger begins to lay the foundation for David's guilt. Lawrence Comminger is called to the stand, and when asked about the men Dorine was dating, could only mention David. When Perry asks if he had been taking her to dinner, Comminger tells him that it was only business. Burger presents all of the circumstantial evidence that points to David as the murderer. His anger over Tony pushing Dorine out fo the car, David's burying of the envelope outside of Tony's house, and the fact that Sue Franks had seen nobody but David at Tony's house that evening. Sue tells of a convertable that was driving away as she drove up. This ties in with what David had told Perry earlier. Upon investigating, Perry finds that Si Farrell had rented a convertible when he was in town the evening of the murder, even though the car company's records did not show this fact. Perry then gets Comminger on the stand and accuses him of Tony's murder. We find out that Comminger and Dorine were together on the night of the murder, and that he was the one that drove Dorine on that evening. Perry deduces that Dorine had killed her husband earlier that evening, and begins to work on Comminger to try to get him to accuse her. When Perry then accuses Dorine not only of Tony's murder, but Lucious Gideon's murder, she breaks down in the courtroom. We find out that Dorine was the embezzler, and killed Lucious because he found her out. Comminger and Dorine had a deal to split the hundred thousand that was embezzled.Resolution
 | David Gideon |
 | Tony Montgomery |
 | Dorine Hopkins |
