The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

Airdate: Saturday, March 14, 1959
Episode 59

TV Episode


Spoiler Alert

This page contains plot information, including the resolution to the murder.
Enter at your own risk.

Plot

Bishop Mallory is looking for a girl. Not just any girl, he's looking for a girl approximately 24 years old from the Midwest who can speak French and play the piano. Someone doesn't want him to find this girl, and Mallory gets roughed up. Carol Delaney answers the Bishop's ad in the paper. She fits the bill for the girl he is looking for - the granddaughter of a multi-millionaire, Charles Burroughs. Mallory believes that Carol is Janice Burroughs, who was put up for adoption by her mother after her father, the estranged son of Charles Burroughs, died. Unfortunately, Delaney doesn't believe the Bishop's story until she is visited by Mr. Wallace Lang, who is employed by Charles Burroughs. Afterwards, she begins to wonder whether the story is true. She, along with the Bishop, consults Perry and tells him the whole story. Perry is a little skeptical, especially since they have never encountered a stuttering bishop before. Perry has a visit with Charles Burroughs to find out his side of the story. Burroughs is an antagonistic old coot who tells Perry that Mallory is a fake, and that Lang had found the real Janice Burroughs. Later that evening Charles Burroughs is found dead by Janice and Philip, Charles' nephew. Philip then attempts to blackmail Janice in order to get a larger share of the estate. Carol becomes the chief suspect when Tragg learns that Carol had an appointment with Burroughs on the night of the murder. Soon thereafter, Mallory disappears. There's bad blood between Lang and Philip when Lang learns of the blackmail attempt on Janice. After getting beaten up, Philip goes to Perry and lets him know that Lang and Janice were married, and were attempting to fool Burroughs to get his money. He also gives Perry a letter that Lang wrote to Janice that backs this story up. Burger is not present at the trial, so Deputy D. A. Westin is handling the trial. During the trial, Perry attempts to show that other people have sufficient motive to have killed Charles Burroughs. Perry probes into the circumstances behind Lang finding the real Janice Burroughs, whose real name is Mildred White. After Lang tells his story and denies that he is anything but a friend to Mildred, Perry produces the marriage license of Lang and White. During a court recess, Bishop Mallory's body was found in El Camino Bay. Perry raises the question that Mallory may have been murdered. He recalls Philip Burroughs to the stand and produces the letter that Philip gave him earlier. Perry proves that Philip had killed his uncle while he was discovering the body. As it turns out, Philip also killed Bishop Mallory. At the end, a letter found in Bishop Mallory's effects proves that Carol is the real granddaughter of Charles Burroughs.

Resolution

AccusedCarol Delaney
DeceasedCharles Burroughs
Guilty PartyPhilip Burroughs

Comments

For once, the murderer did not break down and confess at the end of the trial. Perry simply states his theory, and counters all the arguments that Philip could come up with.