Vanessa Cross (Murder, She Wrote)

Vanessa Cross (Pamela Bellwood) is the main villainess from "A Murderous Muse," the penultimate episode of Murder, She Wrote's tenth season (airdate May 15, 1994). She is the ex-lover and assistant of Byron Tofolsky, the musical mentor for young pianist Leslie Walden.
Three years prior to the episode's events, Vanessa was named in Byron's will, as she was to receive a large monetary sum in the event of Byron's death. However, Vanessa noticed Byron's affinity for Leslie and his plans to marry him, and with all of that being an obstacle for her, Vanessa devised a plan to kill Byron before he could ever get the chance to marry Leslie. The villainess colluded with Steven Hoyt to arrange Byron's murder, as her accomplice rigged a gun inside a secretary, which would open once Byron played a certain off-key note. After Vanessa and Jessica Fletcher left Byron's apartment, Byron played the piano and hit the sour note, which set off the gun and killed him.
Jessica heard that note when it was played, and she connected it to Vanessa in the episode's climax. Vanessa denied the claims, but her scheme was officially revealed when Jessica opened the secretary and revealed the gun. After police arrived with Steven under arrest, it was revealed that he and Vanessa had planned to get rid of the gun. Following this, the evil Vanessa was also arrested.
== Trivia ==
* The way Vanessa had committed the murder is similar to how Murder, She Wrote villainess Joanna Rollins had done — they had accomplices to pull off their scheme and the murder involved rigged gun contraptions.
Category:1990s
Category:Boots
Category:Brunette
Category:Conspirator
Category:Greedy
Category:Hero's Lover
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Murderer
Category:Murder: Indirect
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Arrested