Subject: Last episode: Can we guess the murderer?
From: Jon.Webb@CS.CMU.EDU
Date: 1990-05-25, 10:33
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

I think the last episode narrowed down the range of suspects if we make
two assumptions:
The person who shot Cooper is the muderer of Laura Palmer,
or closely associated with the murderer.

The person who dug up the locket is also the murderer.
I'm not going to justify these assumptions except to say that they make
the series seem more fair to me.  Otherwise they're introducing a
completely extraneous plot.

At the end of the last episode, most of the major characters are either
dead, dying, in the hospital, or otherwise occupied.  E.g., Ben Horne's
with his daughter; Jacques and Leo are dead, or nearly so; Jacoby's in
the hospital; Catherine, Pete, and Shelley are in the sawmill, etc.  Not
many people are left to attack Cooper.

In fact, the only people who could pull the trigger are:

Josie Packard (or the Chinese detective -- assuming that rumor is
correct -- also staying in the hotel).

Leland Palmer.

The Log Lady.

Donna Hayward.

Madeline Ferguson.

Doc Will Hayward.

Bobby Briggs.

If we intersect this set with the people who may have dug up the locket
(ignoring the evidence that Jacoby did it) we get Josie Packard, Leland
Palmer, and Doc Will Hayward.

I doubt Josie Packard dug up the locket since the digger was wearing a
denim jacket and leather work gloves.  This leaves Leland Palmer and Doc
Will Hayward.

To my mind, one of these people is the murderer -- or the murderer is a
minor character in the series.  The way things look now, I'd guess
Palmer -- but that may be another red herring, as with Leo.  In which
case the murderer must be Doc Hayward.

-- J