The Case of the Libertine Belle

"The Case of the Libertine Belle" is the second episode of season seven of The Golden Girls. It originally aired on September 28th, 1991.

Plot
Blanche Devereaux, who has been employed at a museum, comes upon a new job opportunity--an assistant's position under a man named; Kendall Nesbitt. She is also revealed to be a member of the Maltese Falcon Club & organizes the museum's outing (which is mentioned to be the first annual). The outing is a murder mystery weekend at the Queen of the Keys Hotel. The name of the hotel implies that it is located in the Florida Keys. Two "guests"- 88 year old Philanthropist; Giles Forsythe, (who are really actors) at the hotel are first part of the murder mystery at dinner the first night there, one having been "shot" & his 22 year old wife; Candy, having had her throat "slit" with a Mayan sacrificial dagger. Dorothy Zbornak solves the "murder" single-handedly

(she states that it is unlikely for Forsythe's spinster daughter; Gloria, to murder him & that patricide is a male crime. If Gloria had committed the murder, she would NOT have tried to conceal the gun in her purse, it was planted in her purse to frame her. Dorothy then states that Giles' son; Philip, the well-known collector of pre-columbian artifacts, would NEVER pick a mayan sacrificial dagger as the murder weapon, because that would be too obvious, but it wouldn't be a problem for Gloria to sneak the weapon out of his collection. The dagger was found to the left of the victim & a throat is almost always cut from behind. Since the murder weapon was dropped to the left of the victim, the murderer is left-handed, like Gloria & most left-handed people, wears her wrist watch on her right wrist. It's perfectly clear that Philip & Gloria both committed the murders & they meant to frame each other. They knew the lights would be turned off, when the cake appeared, because siblings often think alike. The motive is that Gloria & Philip were both afraid that Candy would persuade Giles to change his will, so Candy would get everything & they would get NOTHING & they both hoped that pinning the crime on the other person would make them the sole inheritor).

Everybody applauds Dorothy, while Rose Nylund is just being...Rose & Sophia Petrillo merely wants some birthday cake. Soon after that, Blanche is told by Kendall that he needs to be alone with her & she gives him her hotel room key. She gets the second key from Rose & tells her that she can "bunk with Dorothy & Sophia". Blanche then goes to the room, later takes a shower & puts on a negligence as she waits on Kendall. She assumes that it is Kendall, but it is a young male waiter with a bottle of champagne. The waiter discovers Kendall's "dead" body on Blanche's bed & she is the only prime suspect in his "murder," but Dorothy argues her case & that the real murderer is Posey McGlinn, a rival of Blanche's for the assistant's job. Dorothy states that the only people who saw the room after the murder other than Lt. Alaverz & his staff, were the waiter, the security chief & the four girls. So, Posey accidentally gave herself away by stating what the room looked like after the murder & Dorothy states that she could’ve only known that if she was there prior to the murder. Dorothy continues on by saying & quote: "Last evening at dinner, when ms. mcglinn saw Blanche give Kendall Nesbitt her key, she was furious. She dropped a steak knife into her purse & when she felt that she wouldn't be missed, she slipped out of the dining room & headed upstairs. Kendall had let himself into Blanche's room while she was in the shower & was making himself comfortable, when there a knock at the door. Thinking it was champagne, he opened the door. Posey was there, she accused him of two-timing, he denied it, posey pulled out the steak knife, plunged it into his chest & left the room, before Blanche could discover her. Jealous-Rage was the motive, all right, but Blanche wasn't the murderer, there's her murderer; Posey McGlinn".

However, it turns out that it was Part #2 of the Murder Mystery & Rose helped, only to get back at Blanche for stealing her earrings before the party & when Dorothy checked for breath with her hand mirror, Rose had used Defogger on it.

Guest Stars

 * Richard Roat as Kendall Nesbitt.
 * Claudette Sutherland as Posey McGlinn.
 * Todd Susman as Spade Marlowe.
 * Tony Plana as Lieutenant Alaverz.
 * Leland Orser as the Waiter.

Trivia

 * When Dorothy checks for Kendall's breath, she reveals that she does it to Sophia when she's asleep, however it is only seen in the pilot episode.
 * Giles Forsythe’s children, Gloria and Phillip, share the same names as both of Dorothy’s siblings.