There are four parts to this episode guide:

Part 1 includes the setting, characters, and context of the episode.
This is Part 2, a detailed timeline of the episode’s events.
Part 3 is my analysis of the episode. (Coming Soon!)
Part 4 is a collection of fun extras that I like to call Bonus Features. (Watch this space!)

Using in-episode clues, I’ve been able to pin down a specific timeframe for the following events. You can find my methodology here. If pinning MSW episodes to the calendar is something that interests you, may I suggest the MSWSW Murder, She Wrote canon timeline.

Saturday, July 21, 1984

Saturday Morning

Michael Gardner solemnly swears to his boss, Horatio, that he will obtain Mrs. Fletcher, by hook or by crook. Meanwhile, Aunt Jess fixes little Billy’s bicycle.

A Digression

One of the weaker points of this episode is that its title clearly references the Wizard of Oz, while the episode itself does not bear much resemblance to the books or the film.

I may be grasping at the Scarecrow’s straws here, but I feel like there are a few vestigial Oz references in the episode, perhaps indicating a first draft version that was closer to the source material.

… And one of the few similarities that can be drawn to the 1939 film is an opening scene featuring a bicycle.

Another similarity is the frequent mention of Kansas. However, rather than our heroine finding she’s not in Kansas anymore, she’s not in Kansas (City) yet. Also, most of Kansas City is in the State of Missouri. Just sayin’.

Saturday Afternoon

Persuaded to visit Horrible Horatio and his latest House of Horrors, Jessica and her Chicagoland niblings are properly shocked at his opening stunt. The tasteless hangman’s noose gag foreshadows Horatio’s impending doom.

My last Oz straw: It’s clear that Horatio is meant as the titular Wizard, since he’s a larger-than-life impresario and illusionist. However, that’s where the similarities end. Horatio likes to be center stage, rather than behind the curtain. And, unlike the Emerald City’s venerated man of mystery, Horatio is despised by his entire horrible household.

After Horatio’s little tableau of terror, Jessica reluctantly agrees to meet with him, and descends in a red elevator to his Basement of Horrors.

Hands down the best line of the episode.

We meet the other inmates of Horatio’s subterranean lair, and they’re all either mad, sad, or bad:

Well Horatio, you’ve gotten J.B. Fletcher’s time and attention, so it’s time to make a polished business proposal to a well respected author. Don’t f*ck it up.

Ooh, and we’re off on the wrong foot. This line should definitely stay buried in the Basement of Horrors.

While we here at MSWSW have a weak spot for alliteration, our lady remains strong in her convictions. She “writes for people who read,” and says so with such aplomb that the viewer may not be bothered by the absurd tautology.

True fact: Fellow gadgeteer, showman, and infamous creep Matt Lauer watched this episode and took notes.

Well, that went just great. Time to call in your favorite boy, Mickey.

Saturday Night

At 7:15 pm, a gunshot disturbs the after hours quiet at the House of Horrors. Security guards Ned and Nemo investigate, but are thwarted by Horatio’s bolted door.

Ned calls Phil Carlson from Laurie’s desk. Phil tells him to break down Horatio’s door.

Moments after Ned and Nemo discover Horatio’s body, a shirt-sleeves Phil joins them from the anteroom.

Meanwhile, back at Casa Donovan, Aunt Jess cooks up a delicious family dinner while they tell Bert about their visit to the House of Horrors.

Detective Donovan is called away from his cozy Saturday night to investigate the Baldwin murder. Jessica is expressly invited, not as a witness or a suspect, but as a crackerjack mystery novelist who might be able to solve this quintessential locked room mystery.

The coroner is positive that Horatio was killed by a blow to the head, and yet he was found alone, locked in his impenetrable office with a freshly fired pistol in his hand. What looks like suicide must actually be murder. But how?

Sunday, July 22, 1984

Sunday Morning

After her early morning run, Jessica discovers Laurie Bascomb’s glamorous headshot on the front page of The Chicago Record.

Determined to protect Miss Bascomb, J.B. calls her airline to change to a later flight to K.C. and book a return flight to Chicago that evening.

Back at the House of Horrors, we hear Horatio’s voice from beyond the grave. Spooky! Tip of the hat to the production team- I think this larger-than-life set piece really captures the essence of the subject. I’m always impressed by a good caricature.

Jessica seeks out Phil Carlson in the Tunnel of Horrors, and we get our first introduction to the phone system from Nils.

Carlson insists that Horatio’s death must have been suicide, but also provides a long list of people with grievances. Our lady seems dismayed by the willing ease with which he speaks ill of the dead.

Sunday Afternoon

At the airport, Mickey uses a crooked skycap and a gun to force Jessica aboard a private jet. Thankfully, the situation cools off once we meet the icy Mrs. Baldwin.

Will J.B. help the grieving widow prove it was murder? Erica is short on cash and wants the life insurance payout.

After Erica and Mickey kindly drop her in Kansas City, Jessica gives a well-received lecture and makes a return flight to Chicago.

Sunday Night

Waiting for Jessica’s return in the cozy kitchen of Casa Donovan is the sweet and downtrodden Laurie Bascomb. Her confession makes for a classic commercial break cliffhanger.

That sweet Laurie killed Horatio is sheer and utter nonsense, of course. Through flashback, we learn that Laurie argued with Baldwin, quit despite his threats of blackmail, and left the office around 6:45, half an hour before the shot was heard.

Jessica and Detective Bert get a key piece of information from Laurie: Horatio had blackmail files on all his key staff members. Jessica is sure these files were kept in hidden somewhere in his Office of Horrors.

Monday, July 23, 1984

Monday Morning

Back at the House of Horrors, the show must go on. Nils and his team continue to prepare for the grand opening of the park.

Meanwhile, Jessica and Bert search Horatio’s Office of Horrors for the blackmail files. Our lady discovers the secret hiding place, but to no avail. Detective Bert concludes that the murderer must have stolen the files. Phil Carson derides the entire theory.

If you’re paying close attention to the timeline, you’ll notice that Phil’s 48 hours points to a Wednesday grand opening, while Nils’ sign says Friday.

Let’s chalk up this discrepancy to the fact that one of the men in question is a seasoned engineer, and the other is a liar liar pants on fire trying to neg the Keystone Cops into leaving him alone.

Jessica and Bert reassure Captain Davis that even though the files are gone, one of Horatio’s employees must have dug up all that dirt- but who?

Monday Evening

We are misdirected back to the airport, where a panicked and flustered Arnold Megrim just wants to escape – to Mexico City, to be exact.

After an airport security chase, a fool and his money are soon reunited in Detective Bert’s office.

Megrim’s a bookkeeper, not a killer! Horatio Baldwin’s blackmail files on Megrim point to embezzlement from a previous employer, but Megrim claims someone else took the money.
Just one thing- how exactly did Baldwin’s missing files end up on Bert’s desk?

We learn about two suspicious phone calls:

A disguised male voice called Megrim and told him that the police had the files and would be coming for him.
A phone call tipped off airport security about Megrim and his suspicious briefcase.

Detective Bert lets Megrim go home to his little cat.

Jessica and Bert discuss two suspicious aspects of the files:

They consider the dirt on Phil Carson- draft dodging- pretty weak stuff.
Michael Gardner’s name is conspicuously absent from the list of blackmailed employees.

Meanwhile, alone, aloft in a Chicago high rise, a plaintive mew can be heard:

I bet Megrim’s cat will be relieved when he returns home. Food bowls don’t fill themselves…

Say, that’s a pretty swanky looking pad for a timid soul like Megrim.

Wait, this is Mickey’s clubhouse! Quelle surprise!

Readers, I feel that, in his final moments, Mickey redeems himself. He loses his life trying to take pity on a poor, stranded cat.

An unlikely end? Perhaps. But let it be said that this man died as camp as he lived.

Tuesday, July 24, 1984

Tuesday Morning

The lurid details of a second violent death cannot dispel the gauzy haze of domestic bliss at Casa Donovan.

Did Mickey jump, or was he pushed? Detective Bert seems to be in a very “don’t know, don’t care” frame of mind this morning. He does tell his lovely wife that Mickey was working as a private investigator for Horrible Horatio…

…but the audience knew that already.