The Judge

Plot
Matlock accepts the pro bono case of Kevin Meredith, a young man accused of murdering his lover, whom Matlock soon realizes had a much more powerful lover. In order to capture the real killer, Matlock must throw away a many-years-long friendship with a prominent judge.

Summary
The episode opens showing a young couple passionately kissing then zooms in on an older man with binoculors watching them from across the building. The man then puts on a disguise and sneaks his way into their building and up to the room they are staying in. He grabs a large knife from the butcher block on the kitchen counter and stabs her to death while her lover showers. He then tidies up, and places a call to the front desk to alert them to come to the room. Soon after, the lover returns from his shower to find a bloody knife on the floor and the woman dead in the bed. As he picks up the knife, somebody from downstairs arrives to their room and catches him.

At Matlock's office, Charlene asks her father to take on a case for pro bono. She mentions the man from the hotel room, his name being confirmed as Kevin Meredith. She'd just got off the phone with his mother who was telling Charlene that her boy couldn't have committed the murder, that he didn't even own an overcoat (which is what witnesses saw somebody who entered their room wearing). Matlock decides to take the case and interrogates his client, Kevin, with Charlene by his side. During the interrogation, Kevin reveals that he loved the woman, Joanne. He said she was rich, but he never took anything from her. Kevin gets irate and tells Matlock and Charlene to get out if they don't believe him, thus revealing a temper on the client.

Next, at the court room an officer announces the Honorable Judge Carter Addison and in walks in the older man with the overcoat from earlier. After the brief hearing, Carter asks to see Matlock in his chambers. Matlock comes in while Carter is on the phone and he tells Ben that some of "the boys" were going to throw him a party at the Windsor to celebrate his 10th anniversary on the bench. Matlock jokes that he remembers when both he and the judge had brown hair, they seem to have a friendly past with each other. Carter asks Ben to step aside so that another Judge's son can take over the case, as a favor to him. Ben declines, and says he feels he has a duty to continue with the case as he's already accepted it.

Back at Matlock's office, Charlene walks in on Ben shining his own shoes and he tells her about what happened with Judge Addison. They both find it strange and Ben says he "never heard of a judge doing anything like that". In walks Tyler, who says he was late because he was busy getting his fall wardrobe together. Charlene tells him he just got a new wardrobe, to which Tyler responds "a man in my position cannot afford to be five minutes out of style". Tyler then tells Matlock he nominated himself to be Young Atlanta Businessman of the Year, and asks what the case is. Charlene tells him it's pro-bono which he balks at. They all walk out together to go to the scene of the crime, Charlene off to talk to the building manager. Ben inspects the place, and alerts Tyler to some strange burn marks he finds on a pillow and an ashtray on the coffee table. Ben tells him to check that and a bottle of Cognac in the cupboard for prints.

Charlene comes back and tells Ben that the woman lived there for 6 months but paid a full year in advance which came out to be $32,000. Ben finds out that Joanne only had a relatively poor mother as her only family. Charlene also reveals that when Joanne first moved in, she was given two sets of keys and then when she started seeing Kevin she asked for another set of keys equaling 3 sets total. Outside, Ben finds a ticket on his windshield and asks Tyler to check for parking tickets given on the street for the past few months, thinking that whoever was visiting Joanne may have gotten a ticket also.

Charlene goes to interrogate Claire Leigh, Joanne's mother. She tells Charlene she suspected another man in Joanne's life, someone who was "keeping her" but when prompted to tell Charlene, Claire says she doesn't know and never asked but that he was some sort of "big shot". Charlene gives Claire a subpoena to be in court, after the mother asks her for $5000 to testify. Back at the office, Tyler did not find any parking tickets of notice. Matlock keeps thinking about the Judge, saying he thinks someone could have made the ticket disappear. Later at night, Addison arrives at the Windsor where Tyler is in disguise as a valet. He takes the Judge's car and searches it while Matlock is inside keeping an eye on the Judge.

As Addison is walking out with his friends, Matlock asks if he can buy the Judge a drink of Cognac. At the mention of the drink, Addison visibly stiffens but accepts the offer. They make a bit of small talk until Matlock tells him he found a bottle of Cognac in Joanne's apartment. Addison pretends he doesn't know who she is. Matlock tells Carter he thinks the woman was being "kept" by an older man who drank Cognac and smoked a pipe. The Judge is seen with a pipe in his hand. They bid each other good night, and Matlock inspects the dining area of the Windsor to find an ashtray at the table Addison was sitting at. Meeting outside, Tyler tells Ben they found nothing in the car.

The next day at the office, Tyler tells Ben the tobacco from the restaurant matches the brand inside Joanne's apartment. They still need more proof the Judge committed the murder. Ben tells Tyler to check out the apartment building that was across from Joanne's that had a view of her window. While he does that, Ben and Charlene go to the trial of Kevin Meredith. The man who walked in on Kevin holding the knife at the apartment is on the stand. He points out Kevin as the man he saw with the knife. During Ben's cross-examination, he asks the man if there were house phones in every apartment, thus trying to prove that anyone could have come in off the street. The prosecutor objects and the Judge sustains the objection. After approaching the bench, Ben is still rejected. He calls Claire Leigh, Joanne's mother, but she is not around. Judge calls a recess and enters his chambers, where he finds Claire who tries to bribe him.

Back in court, Ben interrogates the mother. She said her daughter earned money by modeling, which Ben finds unbelievable. He confronts Claire with the things she said about Joanne having another lover and breaks down on the stand. The next morning, Matlock approaches the bench and tells the Judge he plans to call him as a witness. The prosecution objects, but Ben persists. They meet in his chambers and the Judge agrees as long as someone he knows presides over the case when the Judge testifies. Carter comes out of his chambers in a suit and sees Claire showing Matlock an envelope full of money. While court is in recess, Carter goes back to the apartment and burns the trash bag of evidence.

Back at court, Carter is on the witness stand and Ben is grilling him. He presents a situation where a Judge might be able to obtain a key to an premises legally. Matlock confronts the Judge with proof that he did not remove the evidence, but something else placed there by Tyler. Matlock empties the garbage bag to show the disguise the Judge used to get access to Joanne's apartment, the Judge is mystified and sits in shock on the stand. The trial is dismissed, and Kevin Meredith is free.

Trivia

 * Actress Linda Purl replaces Lori Lethin (who appeared only in the pilot) as Ben's daughter, Charlene.