Murder in the First: S1 E9 – Family Matters

Only one episode remains in the San Francisco murder cases on Murder in the First on TNT. As I surmised at the end of the previous episode’s write-up – that even though Erich Blunt walked free on the charges of murdering the Strauss woman and the unborn fetus

Blunt: Still think I did it?
Mulligan: Yeah. We do.
Blunt: Well, you are right. I did kill that dumb bitch.

– the police (Inspectors English and Mulligan) had heard with their own ears – You were right, I killed the dumb bitch, words that should never have been spoken, were spoken by Mr. Blunt.

I also gave my thoughts on who might be gunning for Mr. Blunt. I was wrong about Ivana West. I had said that she might be peeved because Blunt might fire her. Rather than having that happen, West and the nerdy programmer that Blunt had taken advantage of – founded their own competing company. West looked rather pleased with her self as she gave Blunt the news. Blunt told his Corporate Counsel David Hertzberg to immediately prepare a law suit. On what charge?, the lawyer said. I don’t know, think of something, was Blunt’s snarled reply.

My second choice was Bill Wilkerson, the pilot of the Blunt jet, and also a former lover of Ms Strauss. His motive would likely come from the fact that Blunt had a hand in destroying his marriage. He may have cheated on his wife, but he still loved her. From all appearances, he is none too pleased with Blunt.

My third choice was Lt. Kono. I picked him because he didn’t seem that obvious and he had a relationship with DA Perez.As I said last week, that fact has remained pretty submerged. Until this week, when we saw Hildy Mulligan who was coming down in an elevator to the parking garage. What she saw when the doors opened was Kono and Perez kissing deeply. She stayed in the elevator, without being seen, and kept the fact to herself.

Okay that’s where I am. The show opened with Blunt being interviewed by Larry King, and we clearly saw that West was displeased about what Blunt said – he claimed to have run the company even while he was in jail. Wilkinson was angry as well. And so was DA Perez. So the show set them up as aggrieved parties.

Inspector English did a few things of note. First he went up to Q to visit Chris Walton in jail. Walton was the guy who confessed to killing Nyers, Blunt’s old man – but then later told English that he didn’t do it. English also made a stop at the home of James and Betty Harbach. If you remember, it was their daughter who was Eric Blunt’s mother. English questioned them even though James Harbach was quite sick – dying of cancer actually.

James Harbach: Why don’t you get off my property!

Harbach got rather angry when English asked him about his whereabouts on the night of the first murder – which was 8 months ago. English snapped a photo of James Harbach with his cell phone as Harbach matched the description given by Walton.

The English visited D-Hop and his friend. These were the kids who initially fingered Walton as the one they saw at the location of the murder in the Tenderloin district. Walton was known in the nabe, but D-Hop actually didn’t see him at the time of the murder. They said they were threatened by a guy who put a gun to their heads. Can you describe him – yeah an old dude.

English showed them the picture on his phone of Harbach. That’s him. Bingo.

Lt. Kono: When was the last time you guys spoke to Erich Blunt’s grandfather?
English: Why?
Lt. Kono: Because he just killed himself…

Only James Harbach took his own life with a gun that matched the ballistics of the bullets that had killed Blunt’s father. And once more there was a suicide note/confession.

Mrs. Harbach said that the handwriting was that of her now dead husband. Really? The clever writers, who did a very poor job with Blunt’s trial, have now given us two suicide notes and confessions in one ten week series. That’s just sloppy.

English didn’t buy it for a second. He will tell Kono that they believe that Blunt asked his dying grandfather to kill Blunt’s father so to not spook Blunt’s big financial windfall as his company was going public. At the time, a bit of breaking news that Blunt’s natural father was a murdered drug dealer would not fly well in the press.

Kono assigned a new murder case to English and Mulligan – clearly to distract them. A socialite wife was found dead in her bath tub. And her husband had gone missing. That is until Warren Daniels marched him into the Homicide Division of the SFPD – right to Mulligan and English’s desk, with a supposed iron-clad alibi.

Mulligan had a small and brief talk with Kono. She said, Can I talk freely Lt? Kono had been urging them to let go of the Blunt case and move on to something else. Mulligan asked, What’s your game? Are you a cop or a politician?

Inspector English: I need to talk to you. You had your grandfather kill your father, and I’m going to get you…

So we have English out to get Blunt on a conspiracy charge for the 1st murder, and while English can’t get him for the Strauss murder, that case still needs solving. Bill Wilkerson is stilled pissed at Blunt, and Ivana West is virtually laughing in Blunt’s face. Salter was again questioned by English and Mulligan because one of the crimes scenes was too clean. As if it had been done by some one with knowledge of how the police investigated homicides, and what they looked for, who had obviously cleaned up carefully. Salter denied being involved.

So we shall see whether Erich Blunt ends up on Death Row at Q (San Quentin Prison) or ends up on the M.E.’s table in the city morgue.

If anyone has a theory about how and who will bring Erich Blunt down, I’d love to hear it. Thanks.