Villainous robber Amanda Bly
Amanda Bly (Cassandra Sawtell) is the hidden main villainess from the 2024 Hallmark film, Tipline Mysteries: Dial 1 for Murder, the first film in the Tipline Mysteries series (airdate June 7, 2024).
Introduction[]
Amanda Bly is the girlfriend of Troy Meeks, who is an acquaintance of recently promoted detective Deacon Beaks. She was introduced by Troy during Beeks' visit to the house, as he was searching for Nick Ray during his investigation into the murder of jewelry store owner Joseph Trimani. The investigation saw Maddie Moore, the tipline operator for the Detroit Free Press, assist Beaks in the quest, which saw Marcella Trimani (Joseph's ex-wife) as a possible suspect due to her veterinary skills, as it was discovered that a chemical known as Xylapreen killed Joseph.
Reveal[]
The same chemical was used to subdue a security guard in a jewelry store robbery, and after learning about Amanda's work at a pet store, Beaks visited Amanda and asked her about the chemical and about Joseph's murder, with Amanda claiming that Troy had the chemical in his possession. After the dart gun used in the robberies and the murder was found in Troy's locker, Beaks pursued Troy; all the while, the film's climax saw Maddie spot someone breaking in to Panache Jewels, leading to Maddie tracking the culprit and seeing them break into the safe. As Beaks arrived, Maddie ended up tackled and fighting with the robber, who was revealed as Amanda.
While Amanda held Maddie at gunpoint with the dart gun, she revealed her entire story. She was set to receive a track scholarship, but her badly injured ankle hampered her chances. Amanda turned heel afterwards by resorting to robbing jewelry stores, doing so to gain enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing on her grandmother's home. The villainess used her dart gun and shot the Xylapreen into a security guard, and later did the same to Joseph, which ended up killing him due to the fact that he was also on heart medication, and she used Nick's job installing safes to plant cameras inside and get access to the codes.
As a backup plan, the evil Amanda planted the dart gun in Troy's locker to frame him, and during her admission, she stated that she had no intentions of killing anyone, while informing Maddie and Beaks that she acted alone. The villainous robber was fought off by Maddie, and afterwards, Amanda was handcuffed and arrested by Beaks.