The Case of the Spurious Sister

Peggy Knudsen is one hardhearted golddigging dame and few tears will be shed when her demise comes. Come it does and the big wallet of a husband Karl Weber becomes the Perry Mason client.

Because he tries to control her gambling addiction Knudsen serves Weber with divorce papers. But she wants it all freedom and hubby's last bit of loot. She gets her money and later is found dead.

Perry has Paul Drake check on her Las Vegas background and he comes back with all they need. She was a showgirl and had a sister act with Marion Marshall though there is no blood relation. And she was forever on the lookout for guys with spending loot. She was however a bit sloppy with keeping track of marriages. Leads a bit to her demise.

I wasn't expecting the murderer I got, the mark of a good mystery.

Marie Chapman has a compulsive gambling problem and is angry that her husband Karl has her on an allowance in his absence, as he is going out of town for six weeks. Marie says she needs two thousand dollars and decides to get it by hitting up her ex-husband - actually his current wife - for the money he owes her. It sounds like it could be blackmail money, but it is not explained.

Karl Chapman returns after only two weeks and finds that he has been sued for divorce by his wife in his absence, who has seemingly moved to Las Vegas in the interim. Karl goes to Perry to handle the divorce and the redoing of his will that will be necessary. But then Marie is found dead, strangled, at her cabin. Karl is charged with the murder, mainly because he went to the cabin in the middle of the night and went straight to the wrecked car where her body had been placed. Great shades of Humphrey Bogart in Conflict.

What goes on here? How does a dead woman sue for divorce? If her husband killed her, why would he want to settle with said dead wife? Watch and find out.

Marie was really a piece of work. Has she ever loved anybody or anything but money? That is one question that seems easy to answer - No! I'm surprised her killing didn't result in a medal ceremony rather than a murder trial, but I digress.

Because somebody has been in Las Vegas impersonating Marie and suing for divorce, the multitude of similar appearing blondes comes into play, and Perry has to sort them all out.

A nasty woman is draining the checkbook of her husband and he puts a stop to it. This leads to her seeking a divorce. Of course, she is killed and her husband sits next to Mason in court. In the process there are identity issues, since putting big sun glasses on any blonde makes them look alike. This sounds silly but the actual case has some nice twists and turns, leading to the resolution.

When this episode finally gets to the climax of the mystery, we get a confession, after thinking, did not really makes sense but we take it for TV sake. Someone on the witness stand is caught in a lie it will bring the entire house of cards down and we hear those three little words, "I killed her".

The story is rather complicated since it involves four women, especially in B&W, looking very similar. Marie Chapman is the murder victim in this episode as she is killed at a cabin in a rural part of LA county. She and her husband, Bruce Chapman, have been having trouble due to Marie's gambling habit. And as Mr Chapman is leaving on a trip he tells her that he wants a divorce. Later Marie is found dead and Mr Chapman has a pile of evidence pointing to him as the killer.

But here is the rub, later Mr Chapman, after having information that his wife was killed, receives a divorce degree from a lawyer in Las Vegas asking for a divorce and it is signed by Marie Chapman. Someone has posed as Marie in Las Vegas and is trying to blackmail Mr Chapman. But with three other women, that all look similar to Marie, may also have a motive for murder.

Perry will defend Mr Chapman through a long session of courtroom examinations. And through these examinations, Perry will work his magic until the real murderer is clumsy caught in a lie and then confesses to the crime. Not one of the better shows but an episode that makes you watch just to see who was posing as a dead woman for a divorce settlement.