Synopsis of BABY'S 1ST MURDER by Gerry Stimmler It's been quiet at MARGIE and JOE'S place since two-year old ALLEY was born. Not a single murder within shouting distance. But that changes abruptly when Joe stumbles through the dark to bring Alley a glass of water, trips, and falls, and wakes everyone except the man out by the pool. "Who dat?" Alley asks. Joe approaches the man and discovers it's their next door neighbor's brother-in-law, CHESTER, who they know a bit and who is kind of an ass. They decide to let him sleep it off. In the morning he's gone, but not far. Chester has been mysteriously moved next door -- chair and all -- and he's been murdered. So begins the fourth Margie Murder Mystery in which Margie and Joe -- and little Alley too -- must sort through a veritable mountain of suspects to solve the crime. Margie because she's wacky enough to think it's fun, and Joe because Margie's amateur sleuthing inevitably makes her a target for killers. Of course, Margie enlists her BFF, AMANDA, to help her solve the crime while Joe looks for ways to thwart Margie's activities. He's never been successful before, but he's persistent. Before the ladies get started, they encounter 'The Crime Sisters,' three women (JULIA, CLARISA, and RACHAEL) who write murder mysteries based on actual murders; they join forces. The plot thickens when a second murder is uncovered; it's Chester's ex-wife, RITA, who was a suspect in Chester's murder. Did one kill the other? Were they killed by the same person? While debating what happened, Margie meets an old school chum of her dad's named KNUCKLES. He's got a shady past that piques Margie's interest. He seems very nice, however, and connects Margie with EARL, a friend of his who has a small herd of miniature horses for Alley's upcoming birthday party. Stumped for any solid evidence, the ladies decide they need to visit Rita's crime scene. Not much to see, but Margie does discover a clue, a button that she's convinced belongs to the killer. Meanwhile, Joe seeks help from Amanda's husband, PETE; He's no real help, but uncharacteristically suggests that the Crime Sisters commit the murders so they can write their books. Stunned by this observation, Joe enlists the aid of RUSTY, an L.A. P.I., to investigate. A third murder makes the ladies cast their net wider. They try to diagram the crimes and motives, but only confuse themselves. Meanwhile Rusty reports that the Sisters' books read like diaries. Joe doesn't tell Margie; Rusty keeps digging. A break from sleuthing finds Margie and Amanda at a day spa where they meet Rita's sister. She's drunk and telling all. Chester is not Chester. He's Vincent Gallo, the godfather of crime in L.A. and Vegas. Amanda and Margie rush to tell the Sisters the news. The Sisters ponder who they know that might tell them if it's a mob hit. Knuckle's name comes up. Margie nearly falls off her chair. Knuckles is a hit-man. Margie remembers the button and convinces a skeptical Amanda that all they have to do to find out if Knuckles' shirt is missing a button. How? "Look in his closet." Wearing ill-fitting leotards, the duo go on the hunt for the missing button, but when Knuckles comes home unexpectedly they are caught red handed and end up cleaning Knuckles' condo as punishment for considering he'd do such a thing. Days later, Knuckles is found hanged. It looks like suicide; Margie insists it's murder. The cops discover a suicide note in which Knuckles confesses that he killed Chester because Chester killed Rita, who Knuckles loved. Margie rejects the idea of suicide and, on a trip to meet Earl and his miniature horses, discovers that the two served time together in prison. Earl is certain the suicide note is true. But then Amanda brings news that the suicide note was found on Knuckles' computer. Margie says a suicide note on a computer is not really a suicide note since anyone could have left it there. Back on the hunt. But before Margie and Amanda can regroup, Margie gets a call from the Julia. The Sisters want to meet her at Pololo Valley -- a beautiful, but dangerous tourist location at the north end of the island. She promises to give Margie the lowdown on all the murders. Margie tells Joe that she's going to Amanda's, and heads out. After Margie leaves, Joe gets a call from Rusty; the Sisters are all ex-cons -- murderers to be exact -- who met in prison and started writing there. Joe goes to Amanda's to tell Margie, but of course she's not there. Joe shares his information with Amanda, who is certain Margie's in trouble. Margie's got a big head start, so they enlist help from a friend of Pete's with a tiny chopper. The chase is on. Luckily, Margie takes a detour to ask Earl a question that should have been asked long ago: How did Knuckles know Chester had killed Rita? She disappeared and her body wasn't discovered until after Chester was killed. Earl says Chester must have told Knuckles he'd done it. Chester was a boss; he could do anything without fear of retribution, or so he thought. Margie leaves; Earl goes to find his car keys.\t Margie finally arrives to meet the Sisters who are happy to see she's alone; they head down the trail with Margie in the lead. Amanda and Joe have to land on the beach below and hike up. As they walk, Julia opens up and tells Margie that she and Clarise and Rachel were the ones who killed Chester, Rita, and Knuckles. They reach a treacherous overlook, and Margie realizes she's to be killed because she knows too much. Julia pulls out a gun and orders Margie to edge of the overlook. But before anything can happen, Earl appears with a gun and interrupts the show. But he's not there to rescue Margie, he's there to silence her, only now he'll have to silence the Sisters as well. As Earl ponders just what to do, Joe and Amanda bump into the crowd. Julia suggests Earl doesn't have enough bullets for them all. While Earl squirms, Rusty -- who has also followed Margie -- appears with a bigger gun and takes control of the situation. Margie runs to safety and Rusty orders Earl and the Sisters to the edge of the overlook. Unable to face prison again, Earl steps backward and disappears. Three months later, as Margie writes in Alley's Baby Book, Joe settles into his chair by the pool with a paper and ties up the loose threads. The Sisters never intended to hurt Margie, they just didn't have an ending for their book and thought Margie in a life and death situation would provide one. Obviously were they right. As for the murders: yes Chester killed Rita, but not for sleeping with Knuckles. He killed her for sleeping with Earl, and yes, Cheater gloated about it so Earl killed him. Earl also killed Knuckles because he was the only person who could connect the dots and incriminate him. Joe's paper has a big write-up about a grisly murder in Honolulu, and Joe tries to hide it from Margie. But as he walks past her to the house, she asks: "Was there anything about that horrific murder in Honolulu?" Rats.