... who was the public defender on Hill Street Blues for six years. But instead of being an attorney, the prototype is a pretty pathologist who gets called in to sub for Quincy in the coroner's office while Quincy is on forced vacation.
While Quincy is away from the office, the body of a controversial city councilman running for higher office is found in a stairwell in an apartment building by a night janitor. Quincy hears about the case on the news and barges back in to help out. He assumes that his replacement is a man and is charmed to find it is a lovely female doctor. The replacement determines that the councilman died of a heart attack, but she also notices that there is a weird pattern on his back, like he lay on some tile floor somewhere a good while after death before being moved to the stairwell, plus the substitute notices that there is a whiff of perfume about the body, and she recognizes the brand. And the murder mystery is on.
The councilman had plenty of enemies, and the episode made a point of showing the audience a couple of definite possibilities. Quincy and his substitute, though antagonistic at the beginning -and for good reason because Quincy is second guessing her entire autopsy - reach a truce and work together to solve what happened in this particular case.
Today Quincy's flirtatious ways in the workplace would be a lawsuit waiting to happen - and you wouldn't need to wait long, but in 1980 this kind of thing was still tolerated. At any rate, it's a very good murder mystery and harkens back to the earlier days of Quincy when these kinds of sleuthing episodes were more common.
While Quincy is away from the office, the body of a controversial city councilman running for higher office is found in a stairwell in an apartment building by a night janitor. Quincy hears about the case on the news and barges back in to help out. He assumes that his replacement is a man and is charmed to find it is a lovely female doctor. The replacement determines that the councilman died of a heart attack, but she also notices that there is a weird pattern on his back, like he lay on some tile floor somewhere a good while after death before being moved to the stairwell, plus the substitute notices that there is a whiff of perfume about the body, and she recognizes the brand. And the murder mystery is on.
The councilman had plenty of enemies, and the episode made a point of showing the audience a couple of definite possibilities. Quincy and his substitute, though antagonistic at the beginning -and for good reason because Quincy is second guessing her entire autopsy - reach a truce and work together to solve what happened in this particular case.
Today Quincy's flirtatious ways in the workplace would be a lawsuit waiting to happen - and you wouldn't need to wait long, but in 1980 this kind of thing was still tolerated. At any rate, it's a very good murder mystery and harkens back to the earlier days of Quincy when these kinds of sleuthing episodes were more common.