Harlow Doyle, Private Eye

Jessie Morales has a problem no one at Whit's End quite knows how to fix: she's quit church, quit praying, and she's sure she has lost her faith completely. Enter Harlow Doyle, a bumbling private eye fresh from Chicago in a coonskin cap - and if something's lost, why, he can find it! Soon Doyle is on the trail, digging up clues at the bookstore, the ball field, and the Sunday school room. Then he gathers every suspect in one room, movie-detective style, and accuses nearly everybody in sight... including Eugene. It takes Whit to crack the case: Jessie never lost her faith at all - she just lost sight of it when she traded church and prayer for Sunday soccer, TV, and teen magazines. Jessie heads home ready to speak at Bible study after all, and Doyle declares another hot case wrapped. But where has Whit seen that face before?

Found on Meanwhile, in Another Part of Town Album 14 · 13 episodes

The run See every episode

1 of 2 0190 Moses: The Passover On his son's birthday, a workaholic father chases the boy into an Imagination Station adventure and finds himself trapped in ancient Egypt on the eve of the tenth plague.

2 of 2 0191 Moses: The Passover Trapped in different corners of ancient Egypt on the night of the first Passover, a father and son each discover that finding their way back to one another will take more than their own strength.

0192 Modesty is the Best Policy When her father vetoes her trendy new dress, a teenage girl discovers that turning heads at school is easier - and more complicated - than she expected.

0193 A Tongue of Fire When aspiring kid broadcaster Jimmy Barclay takes career advice from Odyssey's most notorious shock jock, his quest for laughs puts his friendships - and his show - on the line.

0194 A License to Drive When Connie is challenged to prove she has what it takes to be a teacher, her first pupil is the last person she'd choose: Eugene, who needs to learn how to drive.

0195 Father's Day When Connie's estranged father breezes into town for one night with an invitation and a suspicious hesitation, she hatches an elaborate scheme to rekindle her parents' old flame.

0196 Harlow Doyle, Private Eye When a girl at Whit's End confesses she's lost her faith, Odyssey's eccentric new private eye takes the case - determined to find it like any other missing item.

0197 The Midnight Ride At Whit's End, Whit sets the record straight on Longfellow's famous poem, telling Marsha the fuller, stranger, and truer story of Paul Revere's midnight ride.

0198 Treasure Hunt A charity treasure hunt turned water-pistol war game collides with a manhunt when an escaped convict stumbles back into the one town he swore he'd never see again.

0199 The 'No' Factor When everyone in Odyssey suddenly wants Connie Kendall at once, her enthusiastic yeses pile into a schedule no one could survive.

0200 Feud for Thought When Eugene discovers he's related to Bernard Walton, his first family reunion turns sour as a fifty-year-old grudge over a pig deal puts his grandfather's honor - and his newfound family ties - on the line.

0201 Fair-Weather Fans When a heat wave hits Odyssey, Isaac partners with a smooth-talking new kid to sell miracle fans door-to-door - and learns that easy money always comes with a catch.

0202 Timmy's Cabin When the state moves to bulldoze his orchard for a new highway, a grieving farmer's last hope may rest with a mysterious wandering stranger and the old cabin his late son left behind.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 3 more roles

3 supporting roles

Mr. King Bob Luttrell Mrs. Morales Sheila Stone Miss Turner (a) Pamela Hayden

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director · Producer Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Whit cannot keep his mind on a word Eugene says at Whit's End, and the morning paper is to blame. Harlow Doyle, a private investigator from Chicago, is opening an office right there in Odyssey. The paper says "no cases too large, too small, or too unusual" is his motto, his hat is a coonskin cap, and something about his picture strikes Whit as strangely familiar. Doyle's first case does not inspire much confidence. He is ready to have Miss Turner, his brand-new secretary, call the police over a stolen letter before she gently suggests that he has simply picked up an empty envelope, and he still wants a full report written up and a bill sent out, though it is hard to say who would pay it.

Meanwhile Jessie Morales comes to Whit for help. Connie has asked her to speak at the Tuesday night Bible study, but Jessie has quit going, quit praying, quit reading her Bible, and she is afraid the real problem is bigger than an empty page of notes. "I don't think I have any faith," she admits. "I think I lost it or something." Doyle, introducing himself at the counter, hears the one word he needs: lost. If she lost it, he can find it, and abstract cases happen to be his specialty. Since Jessie's allowance does not come until next week, he takes the case for free, and Harlow Doyle, Private Eye, is on the case.

The clues pile up in their own crooked way. The clerk at King's Bookstore remembers a girl in muddy cleats and a blue and yellow uniform who browses the teen magazines every Sunday afternoon. Coach Bart Rathbone reveals that his city league started Sunday morning games a few weeks ago, and that Jessie fussed about missing church, then shrugged, said she was bored with Sunday school anyway, and has not missed a game since. Her Sunday school teacher, Dale Jacobs, admits he has been too busy to prepare interesting lessons or to call when she stopped showing up. And Mrs. Morales confesses that she and her husband have watched Jessie drift toward television and cheap magazines while waiting for the right moment to say something.

So Doyle gathers every suspect in the conference room at Whit's End, just like the detectives in the movies. One by one he lays out their guilt: the clerk, dramatically unmasked as Mr. King, for not minding what his magazine racks sell; Rathbone, for tempting children away from Sunday school with his league; Jacobs, for letting his class go stale; Mrs. Morales, for waiting too long. Each of them bears a share of the blame, he announces, but the real culprit is... Eugene Meltsner! Whit objects. Connie Kendall! Wrong again; she has been working hard to keep Jessie on track. When Whit hints that the culprit is the person this whole thing started with, Doyle gasps that it must be Miss Turner, which would at least explain the missing letter. No, says Whit. Jessie. "You didn't lose your faith, Jessie. You just lost sight of it," he tells her, "because you stopped doing the things that help reinforce faith." She gave up church and Sunday school, prayer meeting and Bible study, and filled the space with TV shows and questionable magazines instead. Nobody always feels like doing what is right, Whit explains, but if we obey God anyway, the feelings usually follow. Jessie heads home with something to say at Tuesday's Bible study after all. Doyle pronounces the hot case wrapped, and Whit, still trying to place him, asks if they have met somewhere before. Could be, Doyle figures. He has been somewhere before.