Cold Case

A reunion of WW2 aircraft factory workers leads the cold case squad to reopen a 1943 death of employee Alice in the plant. I like how the writers ably depict the mores of the times: wives were faithful to their absent soldier husbands; shirking patriotic duty was a cowardly thing; a woman's place was in the home; class lines just weren't crossed; and a secretary didn't tell her boss' secrets.

When it is learned that the obvious suspect, factory owner Mr. Walker, has long ago died, Det. Valens appropriately tries to duck the case. After all, these are cops with a heavy caseload -- something that TV writers tend to forget. Their boss wisely presses on, probably confident that it would have been one thing for a wealthy man to get the authorities to look the other way on ration coupon fraud; and quite another for a murder.

I liked the nice touch of having Buddy mispronounce "Casablanca" when he asked Alice out on a date. The movie had just recently been released and was not yet well known.

As usual, the excellent musical selections are successfuly used in catching the spirit of the times.

Another nice touch that isn't often seen in this series is the sense of joy conveyed in the closing scenes. Usually all we see is the arrest(s) of the wicked, the still-sad survivors, and the fading ghostly image of the young victim. In this episode we get to see the happy reunion of the Alice's friends; Det. Jeffries playfully snatching his winning bet out of the air after Valens flipped it in his direction; and Lily's satisfied look as she returns the book (not box -- it was that old) to the shelf.