- Title: Silk Stalkings – Dirty Laundry
- IMDb: link
Throwback Thursday takes us back to the unsolved crimes of passion in the wealthy playground of Palm Beach, Florida. The apparent natural death of a womanizing congressman (Tom Howard) brings in Chris (Rob Estes) and Rita (Mitzi Kapture) who discover there was more going on with the man’s family and death than meets the eye. First, there’s the son’s girlfriend (Kelly Miracco) who was also sleeping with the father (including on the night of his death). Second, no member of the family is all that sad to see the congressman dead. And third, there’s the drugs found in the congressman’s system which makes his “accident” look a whole lot more like murder. Miracco is well-cast as the gold digger who proves nothing more than a red herring for larger drama afoot.
The murder takes a few twist and turns, including the apparent suicide of their leading suspect which only leads Rita and Chris further down the rabbit hole into the family’s dark secrets and the older sister (Martha Byrne) willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family. When the true villain is the victim, there’s little for the detectives to celebrate (especially when the sister takes her own life rather than face her actions, leaving her brother to take the fall for the double-murder), although Chris and Rita do think up a way to offer some comfort to the family. The episode’s B-story focuses on Chris’ attempts to help Rita with a bout of insomnia that lasts through the entire case, including a ridiculously cute reading of Suzy Pratt, Girl Detective at her bedside which comes around full circle by the episode’s end.
