A good episode, a good story. Well done, I like it a lot. It’s the story of Beth, who grew up in a rich family with very little consideration, close to none I’d say. I don’t remember about her father, what was he like, but now both her mother and brother think she’s incapable of making good decision, they think that nobody would be interested in her if not for her money, they think that she needs looking after, basically she can’t do anything that it’s not been decided by her brother. This actually happened to a lot of women, nothing new at all, on the contrary: at least she was rich, otherwise she would have had to work for them too, and do everything for her brother. Innumerable women went through this, what makes her different is how she went about changing it. For years, women’s only hope to escape her father and brothers was to get married and go away, hoping for the better. Beth actually found a good man, she could have made it, instead she decided to kill her brother. It was not enough to change her future, she wanted payback.
She planned it meticulously, and we see through her imagination how it should have happened: she took the key to their house from his keyring, and she put a broken lightbulb on the front porch. She imagined things would go like this: Bryce driving home, not finding his key, so he rang the bell. The Help was out that night, and Beth didn’t open. At that point he would walk around the house towards her bedroom, call her to switch off the alarm and rhen enter through the French window. The alarm, still on, would go off, she would shoot him, then put the key back in the keyring and through it in the busges out the door, playing it like he lost the key and without light he couldn’t find them. She had taken a pill so she didn’t hear if he called or not; she was woken abruptly by the alarm, saw someone enter her room and she shot him. A tragic accident…
But it doesn’t work like that, because he had made a copy of the key and put it in a vase out the door, so he took it and entered through the door. The use of the key switches off the alarm. He appears at her door instead of her window, and she’s very startled, but then she shoots him anyway. Three times I think. She activates the alarm and hurries to put things in order as per her plan. She takes his suitcase and uses it to break the window, she does the keys, and of course she brings his body by the window.
Beth had a boyfriend, attorney Peter who worked for her family’s company. He was currently away for work, and when he called her to say he was flying back that night and could come for a visit, she hurried to tell him to rest at home and they’d meet the next day. He did intend to do that, but once home he took a look at his mail and found Bryce’s letter. Bryce basically told him, or heavily implied, that he’d be fired unless he left Beth alone. Peter was not overly surprised, but he was a little pissed. He drove to their house immediately, intending to have a serious discussion with Bryce, and if necessary resign his post. He stopped the car outside the gate because he didn’t have the remote control like Bryce, and waited a moment probably trying to figure out how to go about it, but then he hears shooting. He jumps the gate and starts running towards the house, with the alarm going off and very loud. He goes to her and stays at her side while the police questions her.
At the hearing (right term?) the jury declares it an accident and it should be over. She immediately starts changing things: she says she wants to lead the company, she goes through a rather drastic makeover, her wardrobe has changed completely as well. She has a new car (that needed to be ordered in advance) and gives Peter a big promotion, announcing their engagement during the same meeting. Peter is not pleased. He doesn’t like how she seems a totally different person, and he’d like to have been included in their engagement decisions… he liked her the way she was.
Colombo keeps investigating, he probably shouldn’t, and for sure no other cop would have, but he knows that she killed him, and keeps at it until he finds proof. From the very first night, he knew. When he entered the house, he found a newspaper, that day’s afternoon edition, and Beth said she never went out that day. There was nobody that could have brought home that paper other than her brother. Later she’ll explain it to him saying that without thinking about it she probably took it and left it at the entrance when she opened the door… but he was sure she did it. He has lots of clues but no proof, until he talks alone with Peter and they recall together what he said: that night, he told the police that he stopped at the gates and then he heard the shots, three (“and the alarm was going?” - “yes”) , but now Colombo has his proof, because Peter heard the shots first and the alarm only afterwards, invalidating her deposition.
So he arrests her.
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento