A scene from “Unfinished Business”

Charles Strickland: [after Jessica accuses him of committing the murder] You know, when Max first let me use Silverville for research, he wanted to see if there was any chance we could find this lost fortune. I didn't believe in it. Then one day he showed me McGee's diary.

Jessica Fletcher: Then you realized what the numbers were.

Charles Strickland: Well, not at first. Later I realized that if those were map coordinates, I could get that treasure for myself. I knew his sextant was limited in its accuracy, so first I got that book you saw me with, then I stole the sextant from the museum, and then burned it down to cover the theft. If the sextant had been the only thing missing, it would have looked suspicious. I was then able to recreate his reading. And in the library, I found this newspaper report on Cutter McGee's trial with a description of where he was captured, dying of thirst, and that description matched this canyon exactly.

Jessica Fletcher: Then you took those editions out of the library, so that no one else could follow the clue.

Charles Strickland: Then I started looking under cover of darkness. It was still a big area. Somehow, Max got suspicious and followed me out here. He accused me of a double-cross, said he was gonna turn me in for burning down his place. I panicked and shot him. It all happened so quickly. Then I took his body back to Silverville, 'cause I didn't want the police crawling all over here finding my treasure.