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In the Heat of the Night Season 3 Episodes
Season 3 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 1989 - 1990
Episode 1
Rape
Tue, Oct 24, 198947 mins
Althea Tibbs is raped by fellow teacher Stephen Ainslee after she comes home from grocery shopping. Althea says it was Stephen Ainslee that raped her even though she never saw his face but she recognized his voice. Detective Virgil Tibbs has problems coming to grips on how his wife could let something like this happen to her which infuriates Althea. Linda Ainslee, who is Stephen's wife, tells the Sparta P.D. at the time of the rape, her husband Stephen was at home with her which further complicates the charge against him. Stephen ends up threatening and harassing Althea about keeping quiet. When Virgil finds out about this, it sends him over the edge in which a confrontation ensues between him and the teacher. Chief Gillespie works on trying to convince Linda Ainslee to come clean about her husband's actions.
Episode 2
Fairest of Them All
Tue, Oct 31, 198947 mins
Murder takes center stage when the Sparta PD discover that the death of a beauty pageant contestant was no accident.
Episode 3
Murder Most Ancient
Tue, Nov 7, 198947 mins
Rochelle Conlan grows tired of the abuse from her wealthy husband Clarence Conlan. She and her lover, Roscoe Jeffrey, come up with a scheme to get rid of him, but her plan goes awry when the evidence seems to point to Rochelle's stepson, John Conlan, as the one responsible for the murder. Afterwards, she and Roscoe are at odds on how to resolve this issue. The Sparta P.D. ends up using a clever ruse to catch the true perpetrators of this crime.
Episode 4
First Girl
Tue, Nov 14, 198946 mins
Chief Bill Gillespie introduces Officer Christine Rankin to the Sparta City Council as the first African American woman to serve in the police department. Officer Rankin is sent out on a case almost immediately.
Episode 5
Crackdown
Tue, Nov 21, 198947 mins
Officer Wilson Sweet recognizes symptoms of the crack epidemic in a teenage girl caught trying to pawn items taken from her parents' home. Sweet has a personal connection to this case because he had a cousin who died due to the drug. Chief Gillespie tells Sweet to stay off the case because of his emotional involvement to it. Sweet disobeys the Chief's orders and goes after the drug dealer who supplied the crack to the girl.
Episode 6
Anniversary
Tue, Nov 28, 198960 mins
Chief Bill Gillespie fears that when civil rights leader Rev. John Carter comes to Sparta that there will be an attempt on his life from the same culprits responsible for Capt. Tom Dugan's murder and Chief Gillespie's kidnapping. Detective Virgil Tibbs tries to convince Rev. John Carter to leave Sparta due to the concern for his safety but Carter insists on staying.
Episode 7
Time of the Stranger
Tue, Dec 5, 198960 mins
A private investigator from New York who comes to Sparta to investigate a missing child case falls to her death after the meeting she had set up with a local dance teacher named Kate Morell, in whom Officer Parker Williams has a crush on. When Detective Virgil Tibbs questions the woman, he has a feeling that she isn't telling the whole story which doesn't go over too well with Parker.
Episode 8
Vengeance
Tue, Dec 12, 198960 mins
Bubba shoots and kills an armed robber while out shopping on his day off. It turns out that the man he killed is a member of the Wormley clan, a family of hillbillies that are notorious in the Sparta area. Soon they target Bubba for revenge and go all out to kill him.
Episode 9
My Name Is Hank
Tue, Dec 19, 198960 mins
While hitchhiking his way to Sparta to see Chief Bill Gillespie, a Vietnamese teenager named Hank is eyewitness to an armed robbery which results in murder. Hank tells the Chief that he is fathered by an old friend of his, but evidence is soon found to put doubt on the boy's claim. Meanwhile, the presence of Hank brings on some painful memories for Parker of his time served during the Vietnam War. The Sparta P.D. nabs one of the suspects involved with the deadly robbery, while on the lookout for the dangerous shooter who remains on the loose.
Episode 10
King's Ransom
Tue, Jan 2, 199060 mins
With Detective Virgil Tibbs out of town in New Orleans doing some work for the F.B.I., Agent Phil Trundle asks for Chief Bill Gillispie's help in dealing with an ex-prizefighter named Conrad 'King' Baylor, who once chauffeured for the mob but who is now trying to sell his silence to his former mob boss instead of testifying for the F.B.I.
Episode 11
Epitaph for a Lady
Tue, Jan 16, 199060 mins
Chief Gillespie tries to comfort his old friend Amos Haber after his wife dies. Amos tells Gillespie he believes that the doctor's misdiagnosis lead to his wife's death. A very distraught Haber goes after the doctor and threatens his life in public. When the doctor turns up dead later, Amos Haber is arrested for the murder. The Chief's friend later confesses to the murder and the rifle that was used in the crime has Amos Haber's fingerprints all over it. Even with this mounting evidence against his old friend, Chief Gillespie continues to believe in his innocence.
Episode 12
Triangle
Tue, Jan 23, 199060 mins
John Sevrance, a man regarded as docile kills his wife and her longtime lover when he returns home from work unexpectedly and catches them both in bed together. Afterwards, he tracks down his teenage daughter and takes her to the family cabin out in the woods. Chief Gillespie tries to reason with John to come out safely.
Episode 13
Hello in There
Tue, Jan 30, 199047 mins
Lt. Bubba Skinner doubts the evidence surrounding the suicide of Daryl Tyler, an old high school buddy and former football teammate of his. Daryl's 8 year old son has been mute ever since witnessing his father's death. Councilwoman Harriet DeLong tries art therapy on the boy in order to break his silence.
Episode 14
December Days
Tue, Feb 13, 199047 mins
Chief Bill Gillespie probes a elderly woman's suspicious death at the Munson Manor nursing home. Dr. Robb insists that the death was an accident but the victim's nephew Richard Pooley charges it was negligence to cause his aunt to die, while another resident at the home says it was murder. Chief Gillespie gets some assistance in his investigation from Tom 'Mac' McCauley, who is a retired policeman living at the nursing home.
Episode 15
A Loss of Innocence
Tue, Feb 20, 199047 mins
Althea Tibbs gets concerned when student Jana Craven gets caught skipping school for the fifth time. Althea is worried about her home life so she tries to get in touch with the girl's parents but is unsuccessful. Chief Gillespie and Althea are surprised to find no furniture, no appliances and no parents when they show up at Jana's home. When Chief Gillespie sends out several officers to Jana's house to find any evidence on where her parents could have gone, they instead find a body buried in the basement who turns out to be the girl's father. Jana's mother Colleen Craven is still no where to be found. With an ambitious district attorney who is eager to charge Jana with the murder, Chief Gillespie and Detective Virgil Tibbs travels to Jackson, Mississippi to question Jana's uncle on his sister Colleen's whereabouts.
Episode 16
Bubba's Baby
Tue, Feb 27, 199060 mins
Cassie Chapin comes back to Sparta after the old lady she was living with in Jackson dies. She plans to blackmail her former lover Roger Selworth about the baby that she says is his. Cassie has her close friend Paul Borden inform Selworth of her intentions. Roger knows if this information ever gets out, his soon to be marriage to the affluent Elise Bennington would never happen. When Cassie and Selworth finally meet up, he ends up killing her and has Paul to get rid of Cassie's body and the baby. Lt. Bubba Skinner, who is Cassie's distant cousin, comes home to find a baby that have been left on his doorstep and afterwards Bubba gets a little teasing from Parker about being a new dad. Meanwhile, two fisherman comes across a car in a lake that ends up having Cassie's body inside. The Sparta P.D. eventually arrests a likely suspect in Cassie's murder and later finds a note left by her stating who the real father of her baby is.
Episode 17
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Tue, Mar 6, 199047 mins
Maybelle Cheseboro is the madam of a traveling bordello who is getting harassed by Reverend Soames. One night Soames is shot to death after he had been caught lurking outside the windows of Maybelle's bordello. While Detective Tibbs agrees with the district attorney that Maybelle is the prime suspect, Chief Gillespie believes a closer look should be taken at the reverend's wife, Beverly Soames. During the course of Chief Gillespie's and Detective Tibbs investigation, they happen to come across a second murder which has to be solved.
Episode 18
An Angry Woman
Tue, Mar 13, 199060 mins
Althea Tibbs gets concerned when Eva Maffey, who is an employee of the high school, hasn't showed up for work yet. When Officer Wilson Sweet leaves her home after checking on her, he comes upon her burning wrecked car down in a creek. The Sparta P.D. are on the look out for a 18-wheeler that was seen smashing into Eva's car which killed her. Chief Gillespie believes Eva's ex-husband Carl Maffey has something to do with her death. Althea gets very emotional and worried about what will happen to Eva's two little kids. During the investigation Lt. Bubba Skinner uncovers that Carl's workplace is a front for a stolen semi-truck operation that lead to Eva Maffey's murder.
Episode 19
Indiscretions
Tue, Mar 20, 199060 mins
Althea's old high school friend Regina Cambell from Philadelphia comes to Sparta to visit her. Althea ends up playing matchmaker for Officer Wilson Sweet and Regina. Meanwhile, the Sparta P.D. traces a hit and run victim found on the side of the road back to Philadelphia and he was found the day Althea's friend Regina arrived in Sparta.
Episode 20
Night of the Killing
Tue, Mar 27, 199047 mins
When white cab driver Mike Cystak is found murdered in the Bottoms and the $1500 in cash he had with him missing, there is fear that racial tensions in Sparta could reach a breaking point. Officer Parker Williams arrives on the scene of the murder and catches a black man named William Jackson next to the victim with blood on his hand and sleeve, and he has around the same amount of money in his wallet that is missing from the dead cabbie. Chief Gillespie and Detective Tibbs clash over whether Jackson is the prime suspect in Cystak's death. Chief Gillespie believes that William Jackson is innocent while Detective Tibbs is confident that he is the one responsible for the crime. The Bottoms informant Jimmy Dawes gives some vital information that helps the Sparta P.D. in solving this case.
Episode 21
Citizen Trundel: Part 1
Tue, May 1, 199047 mins
Councilwoman Harriet DeLong's sister, Natalie, is found murdered in her home and Harriet is definitely sure of the person behind the killing. Chief Bill Gillespie is concerned for Harriet's safety and orders police protection for her in which she is not too pleased about. Detective Tibbs notices that Chief Gillespie seems to know more about this case than he is willing to tell him. A break comes in the case when Sgt. Jamison sees two employees at Trundel Allied Industries that match up to the description of suspects that Natalie DeLong's neighbor gave to the Sparta police, when he witnessed two men leaving her house the night of the murder. Chief Gillespie finally reveals to Detective Tibbs that person who he believed ordered Harriet's sister murder is a wealthy and powerful New Orleans business magnate by the name of V.J. Trundel and his connection to Natalie Delong. Meanwhile, Harriet DeLong is outraged that the suspect being held in the connection to her sister's murder has been granted bail by Judge Colter and she vows to get him struck off the bench. Harriet also tells Chief Gillespie that she wants him off the case and to have the state police take it over.
Episode 22
Citizen Trundel: Part 2
Tue, May 8, 199047 mins
Part two of episode #3.21. There is a major turn in the Trundel case when the suspect Jay Turkus who recently was released on bail was found murdered in his ransacked home and it is apparent that someone was looking for that photo he had taken from Natalie's house the night he killed her. Natalie DeLong's friend Burt Willins ends up giving the Sparta P.D. some valuable information on what may have been V.J. Trundel's motive in the murder of Natalie DeLong. Meanwhile, in a search of Jay Turkus' home, Officer Sweet finds that elusive missing photo that shows Natalie and V.J. Trundel together. Chief Gillespie and Detective Tibbs ends up arresting a couple of V.J. Trundel's associates who actually was responsible in setting up the murder of Natalie DeLong. Chief Gillespie knows that V.J. Trundel will never see the inside of a courtroom for his crime, but in the conclusion, Trundel will end up paying for it in a very surprising way.