The carnival has come to Cabot Cove, along with a rash of robberies and in the eyes of many, the two events are not unconnected. Sheriff Metzger is surprised to find his high-school sweetheart Joanne and her husband Don running the carnival along with mysterious magician Carl Dorner, whose habit for making enemies easily establish him as the Victim of the Week well before he does indeed turn up dead.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Nicky Newton the knife thrower.
- Beta Couple: Nicky the knife thrower and his girlfriend Carmen, to the main romance of the week between roustabout Toby and local volunteer Lisa.
- Blackmail Backfire: The ultimate motive behind Dorner's murder, when he finds out who the real thief is and wants a cut.
- Dumb Muscle: Subverted with brawny roustabout Toby, who is saving up for college.
- Embarrassing First Name: Nicky is short for Nicodemus.Nicky: It's a family name,
- Good All Along: Nicky the knife thrower is seen rifling through Dorner's desk and having a suspicious meeting but it turns out that he is working with the IRS to try and expose Dorner for tax fraud in exchange for a reward.
- I Gave My Word: Nicky refuses to say why he was snooping around Carl's trailer even after becoming a murder suspect due to having sworn on a bible to keep it a secret.
- Percussive Pickpocket: Carl, during his magic act, even managing to slip off Seth's shirt without him realizing.
- Personal Effects Reveal: Dorner's magic act sees him take both a money clip and a wallet from Richard Binyon and Jessica wonders why he'd be carrying both, causing her to realize that the wallet is a fake and is hiding burglar tools.
- Pet the Dog: Irritable carnival guest Dick Binyon pays Jessica's attendance to the carnival for her. This also counts as Suspicious Spending.
- Romantic False Lead: Richard Binyon to Lisa (not that they're a serious couple), due to being kind of a stuffed shirt, and the thief and killer.
