Car In The Pool

## Synopsis

While her three bickering sisters are yapping in her ear, distracted driver Marie accidentally bumps Father Hargis's car, sending it rolling into the school campus's outdoor swimming pool. However, just before the collision, unlicensed driver Wendy was actually briefly behind the wheel. This causes the girls to panic, putting Marie back behind the wheel, and hightailing it out of there in a hurry.

This put the four girls constantly at each other's throats, worried over the potential consequences of their actions. They know that life will be miserable for them if/when anyone finds out about the incident, and they decide to keep it amongst the four of them. Just then, Elizabeth comes downstairs to see if anyone wants to join her and Graham at church. This makes the girls feel guilty, and they hastily lie by saying they have no sins to confess at the moment.

While outside, Graham notices a dent on his bumper, but he clears up any panic for his daughters by telling them that it actually occurred a long time ago. As soon as Graham and Elizabeth arrive outside the church, they see Father Hargis leaving. This is when the priest notices that something happened to his car. While trying to be calm and rational during a conversation with Elizabeth and Graham, Duane Johnson walks by to inform Father Hargis that his car is at the bottom of the campus pool. Clearly, this infuriates the priest/headmaster, and he is eager to find out who did it, and have them face the consequences.

Combined with Graham's discovery of red paint on his bumper that matches the headmaster's car paint, it's not difficult to figure out what actually happened. Unexpectedly, nobody is willing to come forward to take responsibility for the accident; that is, until a policeman, who initially comes to the house for an unrelated reason, is alerted to the reporting of the "crime". The four girls are brought in for questioning, although Father Hargis strongly feels that Graham should take the blame, both legally and morally.

The teenagers spend a few minutes trying to rationalize the situation with each other, while the adults watch them from behind a two-way mirror. After the girls implicate themselves, the adults come up with a plan to scare the girls into confessing on the spot. Once they see their father in handcuffs, the daughters' guilt gets the best of them, and they immediately confess that it was their fault for what happened to Father Hargis's car. Graham desperately tries to weasel his way out of going to jail, while Elizabeth sarcastically tries to ease his anxiety, and Father Hargis tries to enforce his wrath. When the police officer returns to the room, he informs Graham that it's now time to begin his incarceration. At this point, all four girls frantically admit that the blame falls squarely on them.

After a change of heart, Father Hargis decides not to press charges, and everyone walks away scot-free from the "accident", having learned a valuable lesson about honesty and taking responsibility for your actions. The girls' punishment is to wash and wax Graham's car every day for a month, but sneaky Wendy comes up with a plan to make the job much easier. Originally, Connie and Cindy (who actually were innocent in the previous incident) shun their scheming sister, but quickly become interested. Then, Marie pretends to want to just get the job done simply, until also agreeing to join Wendy's plan.

## Guest Appearances

*Sandy Simpson* as Officer Petty

*Eric Matthew* as Mark

## Memorable Quotes

**Connie**: "*Marie's starting to crack. She's going through her holy cards like a dealer in Vegas.*"

**Wendy**: "*I don't care what they told you. She did it...the constipated one.*"

**Marie**: "*Sure, go ahead...I deserve it.*"

--

**Officer Petty**: *(unaware of the accident)* "*Don't worry. I'm a nice police officer...just trying to sell tickets to the 'Policeman's Ball'.*"

--

**Officer Petty**: *(after getting called to a potential crime scene)* "*Whoops! I'm there.*"

--

**Cindy**: "*That's right...Take them all way; they disgust me.*" *(everyone glares at her)* "*Okay, I disgust me too.*"

## Trivia

* Final appearance of Dennis Haysbert as Duane Johnson.
* Only appearances of Sandy Simpson as Officer Petty, the school's outdoor pool, & Father Hargis's car.

## Mistakes

### Factual Errors

* When Officer Petty informs Graham that he will spend the next three years behind bars, that should not have been decided yet. Only the judge and/or jury can decide that — after the defendant is proven guilty in court. The arresting officer has nothing to do with sentencing and conviction. Nobody had even been charged with a crime yet.

### Revealing Errors

* It seems odd that the potential consequences go from the girls merely getting "a slap on the wrist" for their actions to Graham facing three years in prison — as well as why Father Hargis was so dead-set on Graham taking the fall. The priest was not even there when the collision happened, and neither was Graham. The only evidence was the red paint on Graham's bumper — which Graham even pointed out himself before Father Hargis ever noticed it. Typically, a devout Catholic priest/headmaster would not want to see one of his best teachers/coaches lose his job and/or go to prison.