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Jane Dryden (Leslie Wing) is the main villainess from Matlock's eighth season opener, "The Play" (airdate September 23, 1993). She is a bank teller and a participant of a community play, which also had Ben Matlock, Cliff Lewis, and Leanne McIntyre as cast members.

Jane was originally a loan officer at her bank, but she was demoted to teller, which she claimed to accept willingly. Jane's acceptance was revealed to be nonexistent, as her demotion was made by her superior, Glenda Yarnell (a fellow cast member in the play), because of Jane embezzling money from the bank. She was also blackmailed by Glenda into doing odd jobs for her, in exchange for Glenda's silence. Jane was tired of being at Glenda's beck and call, and she decided that the only way she could escape and hide her greedy secret was to kill her.

After rehearsal late one night, the evil Jane snuck into Glenda's dressing room and strangled Glenda to death, using play director Doug Michaels' tie to commit the murder. The villainess ended up tearing two of her fingernails committing the murder, so she moved the body to the middle of the room and away from the sink (the actual location of the murder). Michaels ended up accused of the murder, and to further cover her tracks, Jane went to a nail salon and had acrylic nails put on.

In court, Matlock cross-examined Jane and revealed her villainous deeds as a loan officer, as well as her true motive for killing Glenda. It was also revealed that Jane's torn nails were found at the scene, and the manicurist she went to was in attendance — ready to testify and reveal that she tended to Jane. Following this, Jane was arrested (off-screen) for the embezzlement and for Glenda's murder.

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