John Harkins

Blanche encounters a former schoolmate who is the only man to ever turn her down.

Jessica befriends a Cabot Cove newcomer who is a murder suspect.

The newsroom is shocked at the bizarre death of Chuckles the Clown during a circus parade.

Still playing the charade, Bobby attends an important oil industry reception with Sheila, unaware of the ominous events about to change his life forever. Meanwhile, back in Dallas, J.R. ties up loose ends now that he is out of the sanitarium.

The charade played out, Bobby returns from his honeymoon in Paris, a changed man and alone. Meanwhile, Cliff proposes to Liz but she is forced to lie about her feelings to protect him from the web of revenge that ties her to Johnny Dancer and her former position with the government. James seeks allies in his scheme to destroy J.R., while J.R. strikes close to the heart in a move to blackmail McKay.

With the hoodlum Johnny Dancer dead, Carter McKay, Cliff Barnes, and Liz Adams all are likely murder suspects. In other developments, J.R. courts Vanessa, but his hold on her may be tenuous.