Hallmark films are one-of-a-kind. They seem to cover every genre, but they have a subtle way of dealing with stories. Even murder mysteries, crime dramas, and love stories are PG-13, and they don’t go beyond a certain level of seriousness. Tipline Mysteries Dial 1 for Murder is one of the many films in the crime drama genre that takes the viewers through a series of robberies that take place in the city of Detroit and how the perpetrators are caught.
Spoilers Ahead
What was Maddie’s job?
The movie began with a robbery that took place in the jewelry store inside the mall at night, long after the mall was closed. The security guard tried to get to the bottom after hearing some noise but he was shot with a tranquilizer dart, and thus the robbery was conducted. The whole thing happened in Cleveland, Ohio, and it will play a huge role in the movie. Maddie Moore worked as a concierge in a local five-star hotel in Detroit during the daytime. To earn some extra cash, she worked on the hotline of the Detroit Free Press, the newspaper, as they receive many crime-related tips coming in at night. Most of the time, she received random tips that she forwarded to the local police station. The outgoing detective Grazier was hardly interested in the tips sent by Maddie. After a while, she was also joined by Ethan, whose stepfather wanted him to take up a job to distract him from his obsession with making a career out of music.
What was the tip given to Maddie?
One night Maddie received a tip from a person who used a device to distort their voice. This person informed Maddie about a robbery that would be taking place at a jewelry store. The person did not share the specific details of the crime and Maddie had to inform the detective manning the robbery desk at Detroit Metro PD. Grazier was now replaced by Det. Dawson Beeks, who decided not to take her tip seriously as she did not have specific details. To Dawson’s surprise, a robbery did take place at a jewelry store inside a strip mall as per the crime reported and the owner was shot by a dart that was seen at the beginning of the movie. Sadly, the old man passed, and this case became a homicide. Maddie was at the scene of the crime as she wanted to prove Det. Beeks was responsible for not taking her tip seriously. This was the second time they had met, but suddenly Maddie was interested in the case and wanted to find out who it could be.
Who were the usual suspects in the case?
Maddie began a parallel investigation that helped her pick up some leads. She looked up the name of the company that sold the safe and decided to approach the person running the store. At the same time, Dawson also learned that the safe had been replaced and was completely cleaned out. According to Dawson, the deceased’s wife was a usual suspect. Since the investigation was in its early stages, the police did not have proof to back their theories. The jewelry store owner and his ex-wife had been on the verge of getting a mutual divorce, and this put the spotlight on her. The store owner that sold the safe, Luke Patterson, revealed the safe in the jewelry store had been installed by Nick Ray, who had quit his job.
Dawson also learned Nick was about to get a divorce from Luke’s daughter Olivia, and their family dynamics were messy. Maddie placed her phone at the store and it recorded the phone call between Luke and someone after Dawson left the store. Luke on the call claimed they were in trouble. Since this recording was obtained through illegal means, it could never be used as evidence in court. However, their lead was Nick Ray, who was living with his old friend Amanda and her boyfriend Toby.
How did Maddie join the investigation?
Maddie assumes that a robbery of this kind might have happened before. She and Ethan find out a similar crime was reported in Cleveland, Ohio connecting it to the prologue of the movie involving a security guard getting knocked out. The report from Ohio stated the drug used on the dart was Xylapreen, a sedative given to animals and pets. This research was done by Maddie. The toxicology report received from the deceased in Detroit also stated the presence of Xylapreen in his body. Maddie claims the jewelry store owner may have had some underlying heart condition, and as a result, he was on a lot of medication. The medication in the body reacted to the Xylapreen on the dart which caused his death. Dawson’s boss was impressed with the investigation done by Maddie and as a result, she was given the post of reserve police officer and was allowed to officially join the investigation.
How were the robberies happening?
Maddie’s day job at the hotel put her in touch with several people. One of them was handy plumber/electrician Ron, who spoke about having gotten hands on a lot of money and his plans to retire. She also heard him talking about patching a hole in the wall with the help of paint. This detail led to the fact that the robber may have entered the jewelry store from the adjacent one. This made sense, because there was never any footage of the person getting in or out of the jewelry store. Maddie was right about her assumption, and as she and Dawson came out to a pawn shop next to the robbed jewelry store. They came across jewels encrusted with rubies robbed during the Cleveland robbery in the pawn shop. On further investigation, they found out the person who sold the ruby jewels in the pawn shop next door was Nick Ray.
How did they get to the final list of suspects?
Nick Ray was the final suspect, as many roads led to him. Dawson and Maddie were not sure how to pin him down as there was no concrete evidence to arrest him. Amanda was on good terms with the hotel guests, a certain Mr. and Mrs. White, who revealed to her about their new jewelry store in town. Since she and Dawson were following the hunch that Ron could be a robber, they found Nick at their store installing a safe and brought him in for questioning. Ethan, using software for music purposes, was able to decipher the voice of the person who called to offer a tip to Maddie at the hotline. It belonged to a woman, and in the background, she heard the noise of a baby. Maddie was quickly able to identify the person to be Olivia, Nick’s ex-wife.
Olivia claimed to have overheard the conversation between Nick, Toby and Amanda. She was not sure who was going to commit the crime as she heard no specific details. During the questioning, she revealed Amanda and Toby worked at the pet store, and they might have access to the Xylapreen. This was the kind of lead the duo was looking for as the case was heading towards the end. Whodunnits such as this always end up pointing fingers at those you’d least expect to be criminals. It was never the usual suspects that ended up being the culprits. Maddie was excited at all the twists and turns taking place. This was the anticipation and excitement with which she joined Dawson, who was initially not keen on having her on board.
Who was the robber?
As the case was closing in, Maddie and Dawson were curious to know how the trio were involved in the crime. The trifecta included Nick, Amanda, and her boyfriend Toby. Toby had been arrested before for several crimes, and Dawson had hoped his name would not spring up as he was a good kid at heart. Dawson was quick to confront Amanda about wanting to know if Nick asked for Xylapreen from her or Toby. Dawson and Maddie were only looking for a solid lead to make a case against Nick because they were sure it was he who had carried out the robberies and the murder. Toby was asked by Amanda to give up anything he knew about Nick and his past. Knowing Toby, Dawson wanted to check his locker at work only to find evidence that could incriminate him. Dawson chased Toby and convinced him to agree to be arrested. Toby was brought in for questioning to find evidence against Nick, and he hoped the young boy would be able to provide more details than the police already had.
Meanwhile, Maddie learned about some discrepancies that happened during the installation of the safe at Mr. and Mrs. White’s jewelry store. Maddie, being Maddie, went to the under construction jewelry store and the one next to it as she was sure there was a robbery that was going to take place that night. It made her make the dangerous call to pursue the culprit. Since Nick was a suspect out in the open and had installed the safe at the jewelry store, Maddie had to find out who the culprit could be. Maddie walked through the adjacent store into Mr. and Mrs. White’s place and gathered the courage to face the culprit. She was attacked by Amanda. Amanda claimed to have been short on money for her college and the mortgage on her grandmother’s home. She robbed the jewelry store to get some extra cash and roped in Nick, who may have fallen for her pitch. There were plenty of plotholes as Amanda was revealed to be the robber. It was not made clear how Dawson reached the scene of the crime. It could be Toby who revealed Amanda to be the robber and the location of the next robbery. There was a possibility Nick may also know of the crime, which was the reason his name came up in the pawnshop that stole jewelry from Cleveland, Ohio. Amanda confessed to having installed a camera on the safe after coming back as an employee of the safe company, which gave her access to the code for the safe. Amanda also carried out the Cleveland robbery, and with this reveal, the investigation came to an end. The robbery throws light on the plight of young women like Amanda, who had to resort to a life of crime to sustain her life the normal way.
Tipline Mysteries Dial 1 for Murder ends with Amanda being arrested, and Dawson and Maddie are happy that the case is done and dusted. It also ended with Maddie finding the number 219 police badge that had staggering arrest numbers through her application, which helped her track the police movements. This was a callback to the first few scenes in the beginning of the movie to prove Maddie was obsessed with finding out where the crime was being carried out. Maddie was stunned to find out that the police badge 219 belonged to Dawson. This was probably the beginning of their friendship or romance. It was assumed there would be more movies in the series.
