Come back later, my husband will be home at any minute.
First Aired - January 12, 1967
Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working in Juvenile division. While giving a speech on abused children, Friday and Gannon receive a call from a hospital. A mother has come into the hospital claiming that her baby fell down the stairs, but the doctor believes the baby was abused. The investigation finds that the husband is abusing the baby.
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Louise starts to divorce Walter when he is in jail, but she later admits that she misses him. When he shows up at her house after he is released, she takes him back, only for Walter to kill Andy.
- Abusive Parents: Big time, Walter hurts his child, Andy, to the point of being admitted to the hospital. Meanwhile the mother, Louise, stands by and does nothing. It is implied that she is also abused.Gannon: I've seen grown men in a street brawl that looked better.
- Bystander Syndrome: Ruth Fowler doesn't want to get involved with the Marshalls as she believes Walter spray painted mud on her door due to his temper. She changes her mind when she hears Walter kill Andy.
- Censored Child Death: When Andy is dead, the blanket in his crib covers his "body".
- Child Hater: Walter Marshall does not like his son, and believes that he is the cause of all the problems with his life. Louise also comes to this conclusion. When Andy dies, she believes that all the problems the two have were caused by Andy.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Louise keeps telling everyone that Andy fell down the stairs. However, not everyone is convinced due to the location of his injuries and the hospital doctor notes that x-rays showed healed broken bones.
- Happy Place: Deconstructed. Mrs. Marshall adores her husband and is happy that things can go back to normal when Andy is killed.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Mr. Marshall has one. Most of his anger is directed towards his child, Andy.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Andy is killed, Walter knows he is going to jail, even if he did not mean to kill Andy. Louise thinks they can go back to normal before Andy was born but Walter knows it won't happen. Walter is sent to jail for life according to the epilogue.
- Time Skip: One of the biggest in the series. The story skips ahead a year and five months between the beginning of the case and the end.
- Would Hurt a Child: The father, Walter Marshall, hits his child, Andy, so hard that it forces Andy to be hospitalized. Andy does recover, but when Walter visits his son a year later, he kills his son.
