Episode 7 of “Perry Mason” Season 2 started on an unexpected note, with Perry and Pete completely drenched as they washed ashore. After Pete helped Tom Milligan in the previous episode, a reunion this soon was quite unpredictable. While Pete believed that he cared about nothing more than money, he eventually realized that it was not easy to live with his conscience after betraying his friend. He could never share with Tom the bond that he shared with Perry, and he decided to come clean to restore their friendship. Perry’s (long-due) violent reaction was expected; he never considered Pete going against him, and the fact that he doubted everyone else around him, especially Ginny Aimes, made it worse. After fighting it out like two mature adults, Perry welcomed Pete onboard to bring the McCutcheon down.
Spoilers Ahead
What Did Pete And Perry Find In The McCutcheon Ship?
Another unanticipated reunion this season was that of Perry, Pete, and Holcomb. Who would have thought that the three would be on the same team after the first season? What struck them as odd was how the federal government officials were storming the McCutcheon ship, which supposedly consisted of only produce. The ship was headed to Japan, but it was obvious that the produce was dumped somewhere nearby. Pete and Perry boarded the ship to find out what the McCutcheons were hiding. The ship hauled sooner than expected, and the produce was thrown into the ocean while the pipes from another boat were attached to load the ship with oil. Clearly, the oil was illegally shipped to Japan, but the question was, why? The reason was cited by Mason’s secretary, Marion Kang. Japan was invading China, and she believed that maybe the McCutcheons were supplying them with oil for military purposes. McCutcheon chose the convoluted route because the League of Nations had declared a ban on trade and commercial activities with Japan.
Brooks McCutcheon was not involved in the oil business, but he had started to trade the vegetables and fruits wasted by his father in the black market. His business caught the attention of the federal government, and he and Charlie Goldstein were subpoenaed. While they were officially requested to testify before a grand jury, they were both killed before they could set foot in court. Perry deduced that it was Lydell who had his son murdered to protect his profits. Brooks black market produce would have revealed the illegal oil trade that he had been a part of, and it only made sense for him to do away with the trouble.
Who Was In The Blue Car?
It has been a few days that Paul has been staking out the corner street, but there has been no sight of the blue car. He was exhausted, and Clara came to his rescue. Since the assignment, he has barely had time for his family. He was consumed by guilt after the rough interrogation with Ozzie Jackson, making it all the more difficult for him to focus on his loved ones. Paul was a little relieved when Clara offered to keep her eyes on the street while he relaxed. Their conversation in the car reflected how Clara helped Paul loosen up a little. She had been with him through the ups and downs, and even though the recent situation was not easy on her, she extended her support. After staking out the area for days, the blue car finally came in; Clara was truly Paul’s lucky charm.
The two followed the blue car, which stopped at a white neighborhood. She knew how hostile the situation could get if Paul stepped out and knocked on a white man’s door. So, instead, she decided to do the job. She entered the house and found a woman seated on the sofa with a needle stuck into her arm. She was intoxicated and mistook Clara for someone else. As the woman tried to stand up on her feet, she collapsed on the sofa and had a seizure. Clara immediately hid as she noticed a man enter the house. The distraught husband held his wife in his arms while Clara sneaked out with a letter addressed to them. The man in question was Camilla Nygaard’s lawyer, Melville “Phippsy” Phipps. Therefore, Phippsy was the man who contacted Ozzie Jackson and hired the Gallardo brothers to murder Brooks McCutcheon.
Who Was Following Della Street?
Della realized that the stakes were higher than she had anticipated after her brief yet significant conversation with Hamilton Burger. She knew something was terribly wrong when he started avoiding her, and the fact that he agreed to a plea deal even though he was initially against it further raised her doubt. Hamilton confessed that he was blackmailed with pictures of him in a compromising position with a man. Clearly, someone did not wish for Perry and his team to dig deep into the matter and threatened Burger with the pictures to accept a plea deal and end the trial, but that did not turn fruitful. His advice to Della was to let the case go and allow the federal government to look into it. That was when she got to know that Brooks McCutcheon was under federal investigation before his death.
The Feds were not informed about the business Brooks conducted with Charlie, and that is what caught their attention. After contacting the man who was working on the case at the Department of Agriculture, she found out that both Brooks and Charlie Goldstein were subpoenaed and were killed before they could testify. While Mr. Denning was more than willing to help Della get access to the confidential files, the department was not happy about it. Della was asked to leave, and she was nervous when she sensed that someone was following her. As it turned out, in the end, the man who had been following Della all along worked for Camilla Nygaard.
Episode 7 Ending Explained: Who Killed Brooks McCutcheon?
Lydell McCutcheon had requested that Brooks leave the country and settle in Havana for as long as required. The sudden attention of the Feds was not good for the oil business, and he was trying to protect his son by urging him to leave. But Brooks refused to follow the orders of his father. He was confident that the Feds would not heavily penalize him for doing charity work, but he was aware that it would bring attention to his father’s business. Since he was not the one who messed up, he refused to leave, and in the end, that decision cost him his life. Perry confronted Lydell as soon as he solved the mystery, but as it turns out, there was more to the story.
Lydell never wanted his son murdered, but there was someone else who only cared about the business. Camilla Nygaard and Lydell McCutcheon were in the business together, and it was Camilla who did what was necessary to protect herself. In a recent meeting with the Japanese, Camilla proposed that they set up their own operations in Japan, considering how the restrictions would only get worse with time. Camilla’s composed demeanor disgusted Lydell, and she was worried that their strained relationship would negatively affect their deal with the Japanese. Now that Perry and his team have already come to know that Phippsy was responsible for hiring the Gallardo brothers, it will become obvious that he worked according to Camilla’s instructions. She surely knew about his wife’s condition, and maybe she used it to her own advantage to keep Phippsy under control. She also had Della in her mind, and she had gathered enough evidence that she could use to blackmail her and get her on board. She was afraid that Phippsy was struggling to handle it all, and she needed someone equally vulnerable yet trustworthy to do the job.
The ending of episode 7 answers one of the most crucial questions in the case: who was the murderer? It was not Lydell, but Camilla Nygaard, who was the reason behind the chaos. Her calm personality made it impossible for anyone to predict that she had orchestrated the murder. But now that she has found out that Perry and his team have figured out the truth, she will do whatever is in her power to stop them from taking the matter to court. Will Lydell and Camilla settle for a better plea deal? And more importantly, will Perry let go of the case after learning the truth?
