The Body

**The Body** is the thirteenth episode of the second season of *Matlock*, and the thirty-sixth episode overall.

## Plot

Matlock agrees to defend Donna Stewart when she's accused of murdering Christie Huntley, an aerobics instructor at Pinewood Spa who slept with her husband. Matlock soon realizes that Christie's death had nothing to do with who she slept with and everything to do with why she slept with them.

## Cast

### Main

* Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock
* Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas
* Kari Lizer as Cassie Phillips
* and Kene Holliday as Tyler Hudson

### Guest Stars

(in alphabetical order)

* Phillip Richard Allen as Robert Bell
* J. Kenneth Campbell as Jack Berlin
* Rick Hill as Vince Campbell
* Rosalind Ingledew as Linda Miles
* Penelope Windust as Donna Stewart

### Co-Starring

* Michelle Zeitlin as Christie Huntley
* David Ralphe as Assistant D.A. Sloan
* Lucille Meredith as Judge Irene Sawyer
* Nick DeMauro as Charlie

### Featuring

* Michael Allen Ryder as Bellboy
* Barbara Beckley as Mrs. Mitchell
* Julie Hayek as Masseuse
* Greta Brown as Jury Foreman
* Bob Snead as Fred Stewart

## Trivia

* Kari Lizer does not appear in this episode.

## Quotes

**Christie Huntley:** Keep breathing. Be sure not to hold your breath. That’s it. And exhale, into stretch. *(easy listening music playing on stereo)* Now, slowly drop your left arm, and bring your right arm over your head. Feel the stretch in your waist. That’s it. Other side. Good. And the hips. And pulse, pulse. Just relax. Let the tension go. And four, release. And tighten. Release. Forward. Keep those hips facing forward. I don’t want you to hurt that back of yours. And reach. Reach. Reach. Good. Don’t arch your back. And... *(to Donna Stewart)* Good. Few more days, and you’ll be rid of this tummy. You’re gonna feel like a whole new woman. Now...

**Donna Stewart:** Damn you! *(slaps Christie; tense theme plays as instructor screams)*
**Vince Campbell:** Hey. Hey, girls, girls. Whoa, whoa. *(screaming)*

**Christie:** *(angrily, to Donna)* What the hell’s your problem, lady?

**Vince:** *(to Donna)* What did she say to you, Mrs. Casey?

**Donna:** It’s not what she said.

**Vince:** Mrs. Casey, what’s this about you smacking one of my instructors?

**Donna:** My last name is not Casey.

**Linda Michaels:** You registered in that name. I remember because I was the one that checked you in.

**Donna:** My name is Donna Stewart. I’m Fred Stewart’s wife.

**Vince:** Uh, why is that name familiar?

**Jack Berlin:** He’s one of our major investors.

**Vince:** Mrs. Stewart, what did Christie Huntley do to provoke you?

**Donna:** She didn't have to do anything. I only came up here to see what she looked like. When my husband was here, Christie Huntley had an affair with him.

**Vince:** *(to Jack)* Is that how you attract investors, Mr. Berlin?

**Jack:** Mrs. Stewart, I assure you, if what you’re saying is true, I will take steps to do something about Miss Huntley immediately.

**Donna:** Oh, not on my account. I’m going to have what passes for dinner here at this place, go to bed. First thing in the morning, I’m gone.

**Donna:** My husband was one of the original investors in the Pinewood Spa. He met Christie Huntley
the day he went out there to check it out as a possible investment.

**Michelle Thomas:** When did you find out he was involved with her?

**Donna:** *(sighs)* A friend of mine was staying there at the time. She saw them together.

**Michelle:** What did you do when you found out?

**Donna:** I told him to pack up and *leave*. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he’d hurt me.

**Michelle:** You want him back?

**Donna:** No.

**Ben Matlock:** *(to Jack)* You never intended to, uh... open that wing, did you?

**Jack:** Of course I did.

**Ben:** You intended to use construction delays to drive Pinewood to financial ruin. And you intended to conceal the fact that you oversold the spa, and divert that cash flow to your own pocket.

**Jack:** That’s ridiculous.

**Ben:** I think you did that. And I think Christie Huntley was, let’s say... part of your scheme. She was a natural girl. She liked fellas. She especially liked fellas with money. She had intimate relations... with five of your investors. And let’s put it this way: with your blessings. Those five own 120 percent of Pinewood, and she wanted her
share of your cash flow. She was blackmailing you, wasn’t she?

**Ben:** We’ve interviewed... every employee at Pinewood we could find, and none of them ever saw you wearing glasses before the night of the murder.

**Jack:** Well, that’s entirely possible. Uh... I lost a contact lens.

**Ben:** Oh, you **lost** one.

**Jack:** Yes, but, uh... I can't remember exactly when.

**Ben:** I think *I* know when. Sometime before 9... that night... you arranged for Christie Huntley... to be in the area by the pool. And when you left your meeting with Robert Bell, you didn’t just go to the kitchen. I gotta hand it to you, you made some time. You went to the pool, found Christie Huntley, killed her. But in the struggle, you lost your contact lens. Then you had to go to your room, take out the other lens, put on your glasses before you returned to Mr. Bell.