Things Better Left Dead – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: Cal Coons
This one starts with Frankie bringing some guy back to her office at night. It looks like they’re about to bang right there on the steps, but there’s blood on the floor and their passionate moment is shattered when Frankie sees Trudy’s lifeless body on the floor. Yeah, apparently Trudy’s dead.
The next day, Frankie is questioned at the police station by a detective named Ingers. She’s already given a statement, but Ingers wants to double check, so we go into flashback mode. Four days ago, Frankie and Trudy were hired by Verna Bishop to find out who killed her husband, Edgar—a case Detective Ingers was also working. Verna tells them that Edgar was home for lunch as usual (while she was out running errands) and apparently let
someone in … someone who stabbed him in the back. Frankie and Trudy talk to the maid, who confirms the facts but mentions that Verna had been seeing a medium named Kardec lately, who was spending a lot of time with Verna and his “spirit board” (which looks a bit like a Ouija Board, but they probably couldn’t use that because it’s trademarked). Verna admits she has been consulting Kardec quite a bit, trying to contact the souls of her dead brothers and sister. Verna says Edgar was really into spiritualism (even using it to make business decisions) and was the one who brought Kardec in to help make contact with Verna’s dead siblings. In the present, Frankie turns things around, interrogating Ingers on why he’s so interested in her going over stuff he 
already knows. He admits he has some information and agrees to share it with her … after she finishes her story. We get more flashbacks of Frankie and Trudy meeting with Kardec, who confirms that he was helping Verna but denies boning her (although he says the medium and subject need to have an “intense personal bond” for the spirit board to work). When he and Frankie try the board, the spirits refuse to tell her who killed Edgar and Kardec can tell Frankie thinks it’s all bullshit. He asks Trudy to try since she believes in life after death, but being a good Christian she’s a little reluctant. When Kardec asks what the future holds for Trudy, the board spells out “danger”.
Flo tells Frankie and Trudy that Edgar was stabbed repeatedly, probably with pinking shears, by someone who was almost in a frenzy. Flo admits that she tried a medium after her husband was killed in the War, but nothing came of it. Frankie consults Nora, who knows a good scam when
she sees it. Nora tells her how mediums prey on people’s fears and hopes, especially since so many people lost loved ones in the War. Trudy’s mom (Mildred) shows up and freaks out when she sees the Spirit Board. Nora and Mildred meet for the first time and decide to hang out and talk about their wayward daughters. Frankie and Trudy figure Kardec is probably a con man, but aren’t sure if the murder is connected. They realize the murderer must’ve known Edgar’s schedule and was probably someone familiar to him, since he let them in and turned his back on them. That suggests Kardec could be the killer, so Frankie promises to keep him busy while Trudy searches his place. Frankie takes Kardec to the office and flirts hard with him, which he reciprocates, using the Spirit Board 
to hit on her. At Kardec’s place, Trudy finds a book with detailed notes on all his clients and comes to the office to tell Frankie. At the morgue, Flo and Mary discuss spiritualism, with Flo being skeptical and Mary wondering if it might have some basis in reality. (Mary is impressed that Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Edison believe in spiritualism, but Flo says Tesla is smarter than Edison. Yeah, Tesla never believed anything weird, right?) While going through Kardec’s notes, Frankie and Trudy find info about a seamstress named Maisie Trilby and, remembering the pinking shears that killed Edgar, decide to talk to her. Maisie immediately admits that she killed Edgar … because he was a warlock.
Maisie tells them how her husband Fred used to work with Edgar, but when Edgar started getting into spiritualism, Fred got him fired and ruined his reputation. Edgar supposedly retaliated by casting a spell that gave Fred consumption (which is what he died from). Maisie says she learned all this
during some sessions with Kardec, but made the decision to avenge her husband all on her own. Frankie keeps investigating, since she figures Kardec used Maisie’s grief over her husband’s death to manipulate her into killing Edgar. Frankie talks to Kardec (who claims he had no idea what Maisie was planning), admitting she searched his room and telling him her professional interest in him is over … but not her personal interest. That leads to the opening scene, with 
them about to bang when they found Trudy’s body. In the present, Detective Ingers shows Frankie the coroner’s report on Trudy’s death, which says she was stabbed with pinking shears. Frankie and Mary attend Trudy’s wake, where Kardec shows up to offer his condolences. Mildred blames Frankie for getting Trudy killed and slaps her, but later we see the whole thing is an elaborate ruse and Trudy is still alive.
Turns out Flo gave Trudy a shot to simulate death and faked the coroner’s report. We get another quick flashback to Mary letting them know that
Kardec is a small time con artist named Nelson who specializes in women. Frankie figured Verna and Kardec are lovers and needed to get rid of Edgar, so Kardec used spiritualism to push Maisie into killing him, and Verna hired Frankie and Trudy to find the killer and close the case. But Frankie and Trudy don’t appreciate being used, so they’re going to turn the tables on Verna and Kardec. Frankie goes to Verna’s place to consult Kardec, asking him to contact Trudy’s spirit. 
Kardec agrees but can’t make contact. He does let Frankie know he’s interested and agrees to walk her home. Trudy’s “ghost” shows up in Verna’s house with a message from her dead siblings. Trudy says they’re worried about Verna’s soul and want her to confess everything to the cops. Kardec congratulates Frankie on her con game and she pulls a gun when he decides to get rough.
Detective Ingers isn’t happy about Frankie holding back, but she agrees to let the cops take the credit for catching Kardec and Verna. She also asks
Ingers to go easy on Maisie, since Kardec used her grief to manipulate her. Later, Mildred tells Trudy she’s proud of her work helping people and even decides to have a drink or two with her. At the office, Frankie, Trudy, Mary, Flo, and Nora consider using the Spirit Board to contact Flo’s dead husband … at least until Nora points out that he might not be happy about all the guys she’s been dating since he died.
This is a pretty good episode, which delves into the world of spiritualism. As Nora points out, the early 1920s were a great time for it, since so many 
people had lost loved ones in the War or the subsequent influenza epidemic. Frankie and her friends play Kardec perfectly, beating the con man at his own game. It’s nice to see the contrasting views on spiritualism (and an afterlife in general) among the women, although they all agree that people like Kardec are scumbags for preying on people’s hopes. It’s great to see Nora and Mildred finally meet, with Nora having an immediate influence on Mildred, not necessarily for the better.
Favourite Quotes:
- “I lost three bucks.” Flo summing up the results of her first trip to a medium.
- “The fact that our mothers are together, talking about us?” Trudy’s response when Frankie asks what she’s worried about.
- “Yeah, thank you for suggesting it, Nora.” Frankie when she finds out it was her mother’s idea for Mildred to slap her … all in the name of realism, of course.
- “And now I’m going to get ossified with my daughter.” Mildred loosening up a bit.