The Perfect Witness, Part 1

From Adventures in Odyssey Wiki

[edit] General information

Albums: Album 23: Twists and Turns

Classics 02: A Maze of Mysteries

Theme: God judges people by their hearts,not their physical appearance.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7 , Mark 7:1-23 and 2 Corinthians 5

[edit] Summary

Jenny Roberts has been kidnapped! Because of her blindness, the criminals think they have found the perfect hostage. Unfortunately for them, her other senses can help identify them.

[edit] Plot

At Holstein’s bookstore, Fred Holstein is showing Katrina Shanks a rare book, which he has acquired for Professor Marcus at Campbell College. Jenny Roberts, who is blind, comes inside. She is frustrated because people treat her like an invalid. Suddenly, two robbers, Russell Kosh and Martin Johns, lock the door and steal the money in the cash register. They also steal Katrina’s knapsack, which holds her college supplies. When the robbers realize Mr. Holstein has pushed the silent alarm, they grab Jenny, thinking she is a perfect hostage because she is blind. They take off with her.

The kidnappers eventually return Jenny to the police station. After Dr. Morton pronounces her all right, she is interviewed by Captain Richard Quinn and visiting Detective Pat Ethan. Detective Ethan tells Jenny that because of her blindness, she can help them paint a “sound picture” of the criminals and their hideout.

Meanwhile, Eugene Meltsner rushes to Holstein’s, frantic about Katrina and Jenny. He had heard about the robbery while he was at the police station, reporting that his laptop computer and car were stolen. Captain Quinn comes in and informs Eugene that his car was used as a getaway in the robbery.

While Jenny is questioned, she remembers things that lead the investigators to believe that it was the rare book, not the money, that was the motivation for the robbery. Captain Quinn and Eugene go over Eugene’s car for clues. Then the captain urges Eugene to go back to his room to see if anything else was stolen. Eugene discovers that a box of computer disks is missing, and the hard drive on his computer has been erased.

[edit] Discussion Questions

1. What was the big mistake the robbers made in taking Jenny hostage?

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

• PARENTS: This three-part mystery includes an armed robbery and kidnapping, which are played and replayed throughout all three parts. Although no one gets hurt in the episodes, they may be too intense for younger listeners.

• GOOF ALERT: Jenny's mother in this episode has a different voice in this episode than she has in AIO206: Pen Pal. In fact, her voice in Pen Pal is the same voice that Detective Ethan.

• GOOF ALERT (or is it?): In episode 267: ...It Ended with a Handshake, Eugene mentions the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on Bernard's computer. A few other comments in this episode confirm that Bernard has a MS-DOS/Windows PC. When Eugene's computer acts up, it says, "Non-system disk. Replace and strike any key to continue." This is a MS-DOS PC message. However, in "The Perfect Witness, Eugene starts up his desktop computer (at 22:52), and the distinctive Apple Mac II chime plays. Apple users are often fiercely loyal and almost always stubbornly anti-Microsoft. Thus, it seems unreasonable that Eugene, a Mac user, would also have a laptop PC and advise Bernard to get a PC. Of course, there are several plausible explanations for this. Perhaps Eugene realized that (even in 1994, when this episode was created) PCs are more ubiquitous than Macs, and wanted Bernard to have the more commonplace machine. Certainly we'd expect a computer scientist such as Eugene to be familiar with both systems, so perhaps this is the case.

• GOOF ALERT (or is it?): Detective Ethan remarks, "I was told I couldn't come to Odyssey without having ice cream at a place called Whit's End." This implies that Ethan knows very little about Odyssey. If she's from the same county (where Odyssey is obviously a prominent town), can she really know so little about it? Odyssey is proven to be a prominent town in several episodes. However, it is highly probably that the Detective was joking, considering that Eugene worked there, and she likely would've known Whit's End was well known aroudn town, and she sounded as though she was laughing.

• Jenny returns a book to Mr. Holstein and says she and her parents are almost finished with The Chronicles of Narnia.

[edit] Reviews

[edit] Quotes

• Johns-What are you doing?

Kosh-I'm changing shirts.

Johns-Well go in the other room will you?

Kosh-Why?

Johns-The girl!

Kosh-Don't be such an idiot; she's blind, remember?

Johns-W'l I'm goin' in the other room.

• Mr. Holstein-Don't count your chickens before there are eggs.

[edit] Resources

The Perfect Witness, Part 1 on whitsend.org

The Perfect Witness, Part 1 on AIOHQ.com

The Perfect Witness, Part 1 on AIO Soda Fountain