Quillsville Cold Case: Peggy Harvey

"Quillsville Cold Case: Peggy Harvey"
Queen of the Willis episode
Episode no.	Season 13 Episode 1
Directed by	Season Atkins
Written by	Ava Zinn Karly Jameson
Featured music	(see article)
Production code	1301
Original air date	August 16, 2024
Guest actors
Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
Episode chronology
<span /> ← Previous "Quillsville Cold Case: Cruel & Desperate Justice" Next → "Quillsville Cold Case: The Final Teaching"

"Quillsville Cold Case: Peggy Harvey" is the season premiere episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series Queen of the Willis. It originally aired in broadcast syndication in the United States on August 16, 2024 as a two-hour movie. In the episode, Peggy's widow Charlie Harvey disagrees with Ava that the mother of Ava, Albert, and Mandy died from a freak accident at Tepinyaki's Restaurant 12 years earlier.

The episode was written by series creator Ava Zinn and Karly Jameson and directed by Season Atkins.

Plot

The episode opens on April 5, 2012 at the Willis' home as Ava, Angie, Deanna and Brandi go to Teppinyaki's Restaurant, an Indian steakhouse à la Benihana, as they are planning on going out, with Heather arrives late. At the same time Peggy comes by and offers to watch the sextuplets. Ava and Angie are hesitant at first, but finally decide to go to the restaurant as Peggy volunteers to stay and watch Brynn, Brian (now Brittany), Ron (now Rhonda), Stuart (now Suzanne), Emilie, Luanne, Hillary, Rags (now Tabby) and Shushu as Heather arrives. But after Peggy gets into an altercation with the chef at their table, even though the chef only speaks Japanese and she goes on a rampage after having war flashbacks and ends up choking on peanuts and getting burned on a grill. Once going to the hospital the doctor explains that Peggy is allergic to tree nuts, has an infection, third degree burns, and many other problems. While at the hospital two days later, Angie and Peggy continue the verbal argument in which Angie says Peggy is unfair to Ava and that it is fine if she wants to die alone. Peggy, after saying "Oh, do you, now?" and laughing at Angie's statement, finally dies. Ava comes back in the room and Angie tells her that Peggy had told her that she loved Ava before she died. At that moment, Ava comes in, and Angie tells her that Peggy said she was really proud of her.

In the present day, a handsome old man with Mandy in a business suit talks with Sgy. Lilly Rush and Pamhouser about the cold case of Peggy Harvey. This man turns out to be Mandy's biological grandfather, Keith Harvey, and the father of Charlie Harvey. Keith Harvey says he was ashamed of Charlie because he had married a prostitute in Baltimore, who is now serving a death sentence for killing Charlie in 2020. While the police believed Peggy's death was to have been a peanut accident, Keith has found letters from Charlie to Mandy, which suggested otherwise. One of the letters said and it was confirmed from "Serves Me Right for Giving Plasma to Frank O'Bannon" that Charlie lost custody of Mandy after she revealed to Sgt. Rush at the police station and ealier to Ava she was a victim of incest (Mandy, along with Ava 42 years earlier, were two of the ten children molested by Joanna Ferguson). In a large storage facility, Lilly, Ava, Melissa, and Pamhouser find the police case folder for Peggy Harvey. It contains X-ray photos of Peggy’s chest and esophagus. At the police station, the detectives examine the folder’s contents. The records say that Peggy died from complications after being wounded in Russia and attacked in Quillsville in 1988. The last to see Peggy alive was none other than Ava's wife, Angie.

At Sweethearts Restuarant (where they find Ava, Mandy, Finola and Harry working and Angie having lunch with Deanna, Brynn, Tabby, Shushu and Heather), Lilly asks if Angie ever mentioned Peggy, and Ava pulls out a 1985 photo of Harry, Peggy, Ava, and Albert. She reads part of the accompanying letter. In a flashback of 2012, we see a close of up then-6-year-old Mandy’s letter being written and, then, of Mandy reciting the letter. At the storage facility, Lilly, Ava, Melissa and Pamhouser find a police folder on Charlie Harvey, arrested for solicitation of prostitution in 1987 in Bloomington and revealed that his date of birth was May 6, 1963. Ava recognizes the name of the woman that bailed him out: Robert "Crob Bob" Craven and his wife Tina (Lake) Craven — the same Tina Craven that sold Sweethearts Restaurant to Ava and owned Craven Enterprises until her death in "Rich Ava, Poor Ava" two years earlier.

Lilly and Ava visit an upscale apartment complex in Fishers, Indiana (where Charlie, Peggy, and Mandy lived). A lively woman identifies herself as Rachel Craven (previoulsy seen in What Happens on Aeverine Willis' Facebook Profile, Stays on Aeverine Willis' Facebook Profile) greets them. Ava recognizes Rachel as Tina's illegitimate daughter and then calls to her wife, Jana. Settled in the living room, Rachel says she didn't remember much about Tina knowing of any plans of Charlie's. At the mention of ”prostitution”, Rachel tells of a white man named Dave with a fire-scarred face, calling him a ”Midwestern rebel wannabe”.

In a flashback of 2012, a delivery truck with a middle aged man and young transman pull up to Charlie and Peggy's apartment as Peggy descends the steps to the sidewalk. The driver has a scarred face and refuses delivery. The young transman, called Ryan, notices Peggy as she emerges from the house.

In the present, when Lilly mentions the letters to Mandy, Rachel reveals that Mandy wasn't quite herself one night and Peggy needed a break.

Back at the Quillsville police station, Lt. Nick Jefferies and Captain Brad Hunter inform the others that Peggy was shoved by a cook at Teppinyaki's Restaurant. The detectives wonder if the incident at the restaurant was justified under Indiana's Stand Your Ground Law, and so Officers Battishill and Reed takes the findings to an expert who immediately identifies the chef was just as negligent as Peggy.

At what was belived to be Crob Bob’s address, Lt. Jeffries and Officer Dailey find Crob Bob and Tina's daughter, Virginia Craven, who reveals that Crob Bob died 10 years earlier and that he left a diary. At the station, Jeffries and Vera tell what they learned from Crob Bob's diary.

At the police station, the detectives speculate that Crob Bob was the guy that worried Peggy and Mandy. They also decide to check criminal records for Crob Bob. At the DA’s office, Lilly learns from DA Pia Yoque that in 2012 Mayor Kelso the city didn't have funds for a review, and the need for a 2012 case is not pressing enough to guarantee an exhumation. Their relationship seemed to be in the same type of limbo but Ava lays down the law on Pia, even tells her "you better allow it or I'm gonna kick your ass."

The detectives read a note from Charlie Harvey, which promises Ava (as she was Peggy's next-of-kin due to Indiana's Next of Kin law) to care for Mandy. Another note revealed that Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) recommended Mandy be taken away from Charlie and Peggy. At the Willis’ house, Ava admitted but she fulfilled Peggy's last requests and Tina didn’t know until the day Peggy died.

In a flashback of April 5, 2012, Crob Bob approaches the Fishers apartment complex with the intention of a one night stand with Peggy. However, he is startled to see Charlie and Mandy inside the house, unaware of the incest that was going on. Crob Bob leaves empty handed, making some noise, which draws the Charlie's attention.

At the station, the detectives say that Virginia has volunteered her ancestry DNA to be checked since both her parents are deceased. While Tina Craven and Crob Bob are considered a prime suspect, they wonder why Charlie wanted to leave town so quickly, speculating that Crob Bob learned about them. Lt. Jeffries and Captain Hunter have discovered that Tina Craven has a sibling named Kristen Lake and they might be able to use that to narrow down the list of names. At that point, DA Pia Yoque arrives to tell them that there isn’t the money to allow any exhumations and Mayor Pence explains that the Kelso administration nealy ran Quillsville into Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Crossing a bridge on foot, Officer Dailey and Sgt. Rush discuss the case. Pierce’s granddaughter’s DNA as well as Manross’ are being compared to the DNA found under Sadie’s fingernails. Just then, Lilly gets the news via her phone that Manross’ DNA didn’t match. She also admits to making a mistake in her relationship with Yoque yet doesn't blame Mayor Pence for the financial mess made by former Mayor Kelso.

Somewhere in Indianapolis, Sgt. Rush and Officer Reed question a man named Luigi Lake, now a retired chef living with his grandchildren and Tina Craven's father. The first thing Luigi tells them is that Tina and Peggy weren't elderly prostitutes. He mentioned that Tina built the apartment complex next to Sweethearts Restaurant (where Teppinyaki's Restaurant now stands as Sweethearts moved to a larger facility nearby) and Peggy just lived at that particular apartment because there weren’t other places for her. He says the night of the accident Peggy died, he and Ava tried to stop Peggy's rampage.

In a flashback of the restaurant that night, Pierce and three other men are demeaning Sadie while Luigi sits nearby, uninvolved. Luigi is surprised to learn that they intend to attack Peggy that night. He rushes to the apartment complex, calling for her. In the present, Luigi says she wouldn’t leave, so he left. Lilly and Scotty don’t believe him. They ask him to volunteer his DNA. Luigi’s grandson is eager for him to comply since he believes Luigi has nothing to hide. Pressured, Luigi tells what really happened that night. At the restaurant, Luigi tries to convince Peggy (while Ava had earlier tried to stop Peggy from fighting the chef due to Peggy's PTSD) to leave without telling her exactly why. Together, with Luigi standing helplessly by, he and the chef cooking at the table where Ava, Angie, Deanna and Brandi were sitting at Joe Papinolli pin Peggy down on a hot table. She screams for Ava and Luigi puts his hand over her mouth, her fingernails gripping and cutting into his arm. When the men are done, they are shocked to find that Peggy wasn't dead.

In the present, Luigi rises after telling his story. He is arrested for the 2012 murder of Peggy Willis, handcuffed and led off. Charlie Harvey and Tina Craven were dead and they could't be charged with first degree murder. Peggy’s case file, marked ”closed”, is returned to the storage facility. As she and Officer Reed leave, Lilly glimpses Peggy's smiling image down an aisle. Lilly goess to the Willis' house and informs Mandy and Ava of Mandy being a victim of incest at the hands of Mandy's biological father, Charlie Harvey while at the same time praised Ava for saving Mandy once again and mentioniing Ava is truly a "sister's keeper".

Production and development

Music

All of the songs featured in this episode were performed either by Ellie Goulding or Adele.

No.	Title	Original artist	Length
1.	"Lights"	Ellie Goulding	3:31
2.	"Turning Tables"	Adele	4:10
3.	"Rolling in the Deep"	Adele	3:48
4.	"Skyfall"	Adele	4:46
5.	"Set Fire to the Rain"	Adele	4:01
6.	"Rumour Has It"	Adele	3:41
7.	"Someone Like You"	Adele	4:45
8.	"Figure 8"	Ellie Goulding	4:07
9.	"Anything Could Happen"	Ellie Goulding	4:46
Total length:			37:35