User Reviews

Fred Hornbeck, just released from prison after serving ten years in prison for murder, approaches Longstreet asking him to investigate this murder - a murder he says he didn't commit. Longstreet is reluctant to do this until Hornbeck is run into by a hit and run driver. Longstreet visits Hornbeck in the hospital and hears his story. He was convicted of murdering a man named Kingman who was the owner of Meacham Sugar Refinery. Hornbeck wonderfully describes Kingman: "He owned a big plantation, a big house, a big car. Just about everything about him was big except his heart which you could shove through an eye of a needle." With Kingman's death his wife, who has since remarried, received a $300,000 life insurance benefit. Kingman's son is angry that Longstreet is raking up old news and there's also a search for a young woman, Abby, who could give Hornbeck an alibi for the night of the murder and who Hornbeck refused to name at his trial. The best part of this episode was Victor Jory's magnificent performance as Hornbeck. Thus far in the series none of the characters - not taxi drivers, not waiters, not local cops (and of course, not the main cast) - have spoken with even a slight Southern accent. It's like the setting is Los Angeles instead of New Orleans. In this episode a couple of the characters do use a slight accent which was refreshing. It's a good episode and recommended.