User Reviews

When Rick Lorenzo, the owner of a restaurant is found dead, his brother/business partner, Harold Lorenzo, asks Barnaby to investigate. He thinks Barnaby should focus on one of his brother's employees, the restaurant manager, hot-tempered Vince Bradford, who happens to be a now-married former boyfriend of Betty, and the two remain friends. It seems the deceased was always making passes at Bradford's wife, Nora. Another employee, Carl Fenton, saw the two men fighting on the night the owner died and tries to blackmail Bradford but Mrs. Bradford has other plans for Fenton.

Betty and Nora meet and some mild tension between the two women becomes apparent. Vince, now under suspicion over his dispute with Rick Lorenzo, tells Betty that he socked Rick in the mouth after a bitter dispute but the man was alive when he left. Nora confesses that she had to take care of matters (i.e. Kill Rick and Carl) because Vince is unable to handle things appropriately. When Betty tries to call the police, Nora takes out a gun and shoots at Betty but misses. Vince tries to grab the gun but gets shot accidentally. It is unclear how seriously he is wounded. Barnaby walks in and disarms Nora, who then begins crying that she never wanted to hurt Vince, whom she has always loved. Betty calls the police.

*** Final note: The show's performances are fine as always for this series, but Diana Hyland (as Mrs. Nora Bradford), battling the terminal cancer that would claim her life the following year (1977) is frail, which she hides as best she can but her lustrous mettle allows her to still make an impact. Interestingly, Dick Van Patten appears in the episode. Hyland and Van Patten would later star as a married couple in Eight Is Enough (1977), until Hyland was forced to withdraw due to her illness. The show continued and Betty Buckley was cast as the woman who becomes Van Patten's new love interest and second wife.

The episode begins with Vince (Gary Collins) slugging his boss, Rick Lorenzo. After all, Rick was groping Vince's wife! Shortly after this, Rick is found dead in the surf. Initially, the police think Rick slipped on the rocks and died by accident. However, Barnaby thinks it's possible the man was murdered.

As far as Vince goes, you can understand why he wouldn't tell the police he slugged the boss just before he died. This is made worse because apparently Vince has a history of being a bit of a hot head. Unfortunately, it would have been better had he told the police, as soon after Carl begins trying to blackmail Vince...as he saw the fight. But Carl and Vince are surprised what happens next! To muddle things a bit, apparently Betty and Vince are old college sweethearts.

The solution to the two murders is interesting...a plot twist that isn't typical on "Barnaby Jones". I could say more...but I don't want to spoil the suspense. My only complaint is that the big confrontation scene is a bit silly...especially since the perpetrator misses Betty and they are only a few feet apart! Plus, since this person had killed at least twice before, they should have been better at it when it came to Betty!

By the way, casting Gary Collins as the old boyfriend of Betty (Lee Meriwether) is interesting. After all, in real life he was married to Mary Ann Mobley...who, like Meriwether, was a Miss America back in the 1950s.