in september 1991, while eddie is taking his pet poodle, roly, for an evening walk he is stabbed to death. clyde tavernier discovers his bloody body in the square, and after foolishly picking up the murder weapon, he flees in panic. unfortunately for clyde, there is a witness who had seen him standing over eddie's body and fleeing the scene – nick cotton (john altman). clyde is arrested for eddie's murder and imprisoned. however, a second witness, joe wallace (jason rush), later comes forward to attest that he had seen nick cotton in the vicinity on the night of the murder. it turns out that nick was attempting a robbery when eddie saw him, and to silence him, nick stabbed him. clyde is released and nick is arrested for the murder, but surprisingly he is found 'not guilty' at the trial in 1993, as there is not enough evidence to convict.