"(theme song playing)" "All right, Mrs. Murdock." "All right." "Now, please." "Do you or don't you live in that neighborhood?" "Well, let me see, now." "1929." "My husband and I were living on Figueroa." "And it wasn't until... until 1934 that we moved to Sheldon Place." "And you've been living at your present address ever since, is that right?" "Oh, no, Mr. Fallon." "After my husband died, I moved a number of times." "Had me a bungalow, on Delsey, a flat on" "Is something wrong?" "No." "No, no." "Nothing wrong." "I think that will be all, Mrs. Murdock." "I'll see you out." "Oh, thank you." "(gasps)" "Thank you, sir!" "Thank you." "(phone rings)" "Drake Detective Agency." "One moment, please." "For you, Mr. Drake." "Amory, you called me and practically forced me to come along with you." "And I have no idea what this is all about." "And I don't think Paul Drake does, either." "I called you because you're my brother-in-law, and I may need a witness." "Now, don't ask questions." "Just-Just be patient." "Well, I think Paul Drake is losing his patience." "He's going to want to know the truth, whatever it is, long before you find this mysterious old woman you're looking for." "I found her." "Mrs. Murdock." "Yes." "I-I usually walk down Sheldon when I go visit my sister." "There's a bus stop on the cor" "Were you at that bus stop last night?" "Monday night?" "Amory, last night was" "Between 7:00 and 7:30?" "Sunday night, I was." "Monday." "Monday night, Mrs. Murdock." "No, I'm sorry." "I was in all evening." "Thank you, ma'am." "Good night." "Good night." "Good night." "Amory, you asked her about Monday night." "Does this have something to do with the fire?" "Never mind." "Well, now, what's going on?" "What is all this?" "I said, "Never mind." I'll tell you when I'm ready." "But Mrs. Murdock, you were sure she was" "The coat she was wearing, that's what fooled me." "That coat." "How are you feeling, dearie?" "Not at all well, Agnes." "Not well." "What was it all about?" "If I hadn't have been sick," "I'd have gone down with you to that nice detective's office." "(coughing)" "Oh, and tell me." "Was there any, uh, any money involved?" "No, not real money." "Only a few dollars for our trouble in going down there." "Oh, by the way, thanks for the loan of the coat." "You're welcome, Agnes." "(phone rings)" "Fallon Paint Company." "Good morning." "(woman speaking indistinctly)" "Oh, Mrs. Fallon." "Just a moment, Mrs. Fallon." "Your wife is calling again, sir." "I'm busy." "I can't talk to her now." "I'm well aware of how many times she's called, Miss Ames, but I don't want to talk to Mrs. Fallon." "Is that clear?" "Just a moment, sir." "Mr. Fallon." "I wasn't quite sure about you, so I did some checking." "When you left me last night, you called on Mrs. Murdock, didn't you?" "Now, look here, Drake." "Just relax." "Fallon, I've got a license to protect, and I don't like being played for a fool." "You didn't tell me, so I found out for myself that you're one of the owners of Fallon Paints, that you had a fire and explosion here last Monday night and the chances are, it was a case of arson." "Well, I..." "And... the story you gave me when you hired me was nothing but a pack of lies." "You were going someplace, Frank?" "That'll be all, Miss Ames." "Uh, please sit down, Mr. Drake." "I had a reason for telling you what I did." "Yes, this does have to do with the fire." "You're right." "The morning after the fire," "I-I received a phone call from somebody in the neighborhood." "A man." "He said he had some information that might be important." "This man, what was his name?" "Well, he, uh..." "he wouldn't identify himself." "He said that he had gotten off a bus near our plant here, uh, a few minutes past 7:00 on Monday night." "He noticed an elderly woman sitting on the bench, waiting for the next bus." "Now, she must have been there until 7:30, which was just before the explosion." "She, uh, might have seen someone either enter or, uh, leave the plant." "Mr. Fallon, why not tell all this to the police?" "Let them find this woman." "Or is there a reason for not telling this to the police?" "No, I don't want to withhold anything from the police." "If this woman can identify the arsonist," "I simply want to know who he is, fast, to protect myself and the company." "What you're not saying is you think the arsonist is someone in your company." "Oh, excuse me, Amory." "I just wanted to leave these contracts with you." "I have to be out of the office for a few minutes." "Why don't you look them over and we can discuss them when I get back." "Haven't we met somewhere?" "I'm Ned Thompson." "Oh, excuse me, um, this is my business partner Ned Thompson." "This is Mr., uh, Mr. Henry." "Mr. Henry." "Nice meeting you, Mr. Thompson." "I'll be running along, Mr. Fallon." "Amory, we haven't had much opportunity to discuss your trip." "I" "There's nothing to discuss." "Nothing to discuss?" "Well, you've been gone a whole month." "We get a wire from you-- suddenly you're on the way back." "I figured you'd hit something big." "Really lined up something." "What about the Carrera deal?" "Didn't you see Carlos Silva in Mexico City?" "Yes, yes, yes, yes." "A number of things may work out." "It's too early to tell, that's all." "All right." "But what about your wife?" "You got back Monday morning." "Today is Wednesday." "Almost three days." "You haven't been home." "Didn't you say you had an appointment?" "Yes, I have." "But if you" "These, uh, letters need your signature, sir." "Thank you, Miss Ames." "Miss Ames, hasn't it been standard procedure to keep the current files in this section of the plant?" "Well, yes, of course, Mr. Fallon." "Monday night, I came back to the office to do some work on those files." "They weren't here, Miss Ames." "Well, I know that, Mr. Fallon." "Do you also know that those files were moved to another office?" "Conveniently moved to where they just happened to be destroyed in that fire?" "Why, Miss Ames?" "Why were those files moved?" "Well, we were rearranging the offices, and those files were transferred there over a week ago." "On whose orders?" "Why, Mr. Thompson's." "Mr. Thompson's." "Of course." "That's all, Miss Ames." "Mr. Fallon, your, uh... your wife called again, and she left a..." "I said, that's all!" "(liquid bubbling)" "Oh, it's you, Mr. Fallon." "Who did you think it was?" "Your friend, Mr. Thompson?" "Well, no, sir." "It's just that, uh, the insurance investigators are still snooping around." "I thought they'd already pretty much decided that it was a neighborhood gang that broke in and started the fire." "Mm." "You think so, huh?" "Well, why, Nickols?" "Why?" "Well, there are still some traces of paint on the walls where the kids, uh, scrawled some rather indelicate language." "Mm." "Well, maybe that was just a cover-up to make it look like the work of young hoodlums." "Tell me, uh, did you give the investigators your version of how the explosion might have occurred?" "I don't have any version, Mr. Fallon." "It could have happened any number of ways." "How about these two, uh, chemicals coming into sudden contact?" "That could do it, couldn't it, Bert?" "Uh, do it and how, and just about blow the roof off the place and take some careless guy along with it." "Mr. Fallon, would you please be careful with that stuff?" "Why aren't these dangerous chemicals in the supply locker where they belong?" "Well, I've, uh..." "That is, Mr. Thompson and I have been working with them." "On the Martin experiment?" "The one we canceled out?" "NICKOLS:" "Well, actually, I, uh..." "FALLON:" "It was the Martin experiment, wasn't it?" "Now, answer me!" "Mr. Fallon, uh, there was a phone call for you-- not from your wife-- from a gentleman named Carlos Silva." "He was calling from the Downtown Hotel." "He was very anxious to talk to you." "Shall I...?" "No, no, no, no, no." "I'll, uh..." "I'll take care of it." "Uh, it's past quitting time." "Uh, you two go on home." "Look, Viv, I know a nice little quiet bar over in..." "Yes, I bet you do." "Not only little, but inexpensive." "Come on, Viv." "Don't be like that." "Bert, you're a nice boy." "You're a lot of laughs, but you're strictly minor league." "Look, Viv, wait a minute." "I want to talk to you." "Bert, will you forget it?" "It's over." "It's finished." "Look, wait a minute." "If Thompson asked, you wouldn't say forget it." "Look, don't kid me." "I know you two are pretty cozy." "Well, it's time you forgot him now." "He's got himself a string of dames, and you're not even on the first team, sister." "(phone ringing)" "Carlos Silva." "Hello." "(Fallon speaking indistinctly over phone)" "Oh, hello, Mr. Fallon." "How are you?" "(Fallon speaking indistinctly)" "Yes, I flew in from Mexico City this afternoon, and I'm all set to sit down and talk contract." "I wonder if you could give me a few more days, Mr. Silva." "Uh, we've had a fire here at the plant." "Everything's in a mess." "Oh, I see." "Well, whatever you say, of course." "Tell me, Mr. Fallon." "How does your partner feel about our deal?" "Well, as a matter of fact, we haven't had too much time to discuss it, but, uh, I can assure you, he's very excited about it." "Hmm." "He certainly should be." "It isn't very often that two partners like you get a quarter of a million dollars worth of business dumped in your laps." "(laughs)" "Well, Mrs. Temple, the man who just left-- is he the one?" "Nope." "Afraid not." "Like I said," "I did see a man on the street here the night of the fire." "And I'm sure I'll recognize him when I see him again." "EDITH:" "Amory." "Well, what are you doing here, Edith?" "I know you park your car back here." "I was hoping to catch you." "Amory, please." "What's wrong?" "Why haven't you been home?" "Why won't you talk to me on the telephone?" "I've been working late every night." "It was simpler to stay at a hotel." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I..." "Amory, please, talk to me." "There's nothing to talk about, Edith." "Look, I have an appointment." "If it's me, if it's something I've done, tell me." "Just tell me." "Edith, I..." "I..." "It's not that I don't lo..." "Were you looking for me, Edith?" "Tell me!" "Were you looking for me or was it him," "Ned Thompson, you were sneaking around here in back to see?" "!" "Tell me!" "No." "No." "I never want to see or talk to you again, do you understand?" "Never!" "(car door closes)" "(car speeds off)" "Mrs. Temple, so far, you haven't been able to identify anyone as the man you saw the night of the fire." "So this is the..." "Don't see him, can't point him out." "Of course, Mrs. Temple." "Now, this is the building where a Mr. Ned Thompson lives." "You think this Mr. Thompson's the man I seen?" "Well, I don't know, but he's the last one on the list." "All right, you know what to do." "You go upstairs, knock on the door, take a good look at him, if he answers." "Then, well, you made a mistake, wrong apartment." "Understand, Mrs. Temple?" "(gasps)" "Oh, uh, there he is!" "Uh, th-that's the man that was in the, at the fire!" "(yelling indistinctly)" "Hey." "It was just after 7:00, the night of the fire, when I, when I bumped into this woman on the street outside the plant." "She asked for a match." "Well, I didn't have any." "But before I entered the plant," "I noticed that she had stopped at a doorway down the street." "Somebody was lighting her cigarette." "He's right, Perry." "I checked with Mrs. Temple." "There was a man in the doorway, and he did give her a match." "But she can't identify him;" "it was too dark." "I went into the office where the files had been moved to, stayed there for 20 minutes or so, remembered I'd left something in my car, went out to my car and... (sighs softly)" "Right then is when the blast occurred." "And after that?" "Well, I..." "I realized that if I hadn't gone out to my car as I did," "I would've been killed in that explosion." "Well, I..." "I just stood by my car... shaking for a few minutes, and... and then I called the fire department." "From what you've told me, Mr. Fallon, I gather you suspect the man in the doorway was your partner," "Ned Thompson." "Well, yes." "Mr. Fallon..." "I don't wish to appear harsh or unsympathetic, but I somehow feel that this trouble that concerns you is of your own making." "The whole thing's in my mind." "That's what you're trying to say, isn't it?" "To some extent, yes." "Well, I don't have to take..." "You don't have to do anything except face the truth." "Now, if you'll permit me, I'd like to be able to help you." "Please, Mr. Mason." "Please, I-I can't stand it any longer." "I've got to know about..." "my wife..." "Thompson." "Well, let's look at the facts and see what we can make out of those facts." "You met your wife at the rear entrance of your plant." "Thompson appeared." "She came there to see him, just as I told you." "Or, Mr. Fallon, she came to see you, just as she told you." "That's possible, isn't it?" "It's also possible that Mr. Thompson's appearance was purely accidental." "Well, yes." "Yes, I..." "I suppose it is." "Now, you spotted a discrepancy in your company correspondence the day you returned from Mexico, the same night you decided to check the books." "And I would have, too, if it hadn't been for the fire." "So you assume the fire was meant to destroy the books or you or both." "Now, did anybody, anybody at all, know that you were going to be there that night?" "Nobody knew." "So even though arson may have been involved, it's highly unlikely that murder was involved." "You could be mistaken about Thompson and your wife." "You could be mistaken about Thompson and the books and the fire." "(sighs)" "I-I don't know, I don't know." "I'm-I'm all mixed up." "I..." "I don't know what to think, what to do." "Suppose you go back to your hotel room and get a good night's rest." "Tonight, if you like, I'll see this Mr. Thompson and get at the truth, once and for all." "Mr.-Mr. Mason... earlier tonight, when-when I was at Thompson's place," "I-I rapped at the door." "He" " Thompson wasn't there." "I... (sighs)" "I was drunk, I'm afraid, and, well, pretty angry and upset." "I wrote a note." "Now, I don't remember what I wrote in that note, but I do remember pushing that note under the door." "I'll straighten it all out with Mr. Thompson." "And I'll get back your note for you." "Thank you." "Thank you, Mr. Mason." "(doorbell buzzes)" "Well, good evening, Perry." "Paul." "This is a surprise." "I didn't know you were acquainted with Mr. Thompson." "We're not, Lieutenant." "Well, it's too late for that now." "Mr. Thompson's dead." "He's been murdered." "You, um, didn't know that he had deceased, Perry?" "No, I didn't." "My visit here had to do with a business matter I'm handling for a client." "When did all this happen?" "Well, the way we figure now, uh, between 7:00 and 8:00." "Well, uh, since the coroner hasn't had a chance as yet to examine the body, I gather you must have other evidence fixing the time of death?" "Well, a woman talked with Thompson on the phone earlier in the evening." "She called back several times, got no answer and became worried." "She then phoned a neighbor of, uh, Thompson's and asked him to look into it." "And the neighbor found him?" "Thompson was struck a number of times on the back of the head." "That statuette was lying, uh, beside him right there on the floor." "Oh, Perry, by the way, uh, your client, uh, wouldn't write a note like this, would he?" ""You can't hide from me." "I'll be back." "You'll get what's coming to you."" "Where'd you find that?" "In the murdered man's, uh, pocket." "I just can't remember what happened, Mr. Mason." "Everything's so mixed up." "It's a, it's a nightmare." "I don't even know why I went up to that apartment." "You must remember something." "(sighs)" "I recall knocking at the door, pushing that note under the door." "Then I became dizzy;" "sick inside." "It was so-so hot in that building." "And you'd been drinking, heavily." "(sighs):" "Yes." "I'm afraid I don't drink very much, Mr. Mason, and so it hit me pretty hard." "Now, I think..." "I'm not sure, but I seem to remember that I, that I sat down, to, uh, to clear my head." "Uh, after that... (sighs)" "Well, the next thing I remember is walking out of the building." "You didn't go into Mr. Thompson's apartment?" "I-I don't think so." "All right, Mr. Fallon." "Let's go back to this afternoon." "What did you do after you left your wife and Thompson?" "Well, I went to the neighborhood bar and had those drinks." "Did you talk to anyone at the bar?" "No." "Wait a minute." "Nickols was there." "Bert Nickols." "He's our plant chemist." "He was sitting in a rear, in a rear booth with a woman." "I couldn't see her very well." "Did this Mr. Nickols see you?" "Well, he may have." "I'm not sure." "After you left the bar, did you go straight to Thompson's apartment?" "Mm." "I-I guess so." "Did you, uh, see anyone when you entered the building?" "No, no, I..." "I don't think so." "You guess so, you don't think so." "Do you know what time it was when you left the building and ran into Drake and Mrs. Temple?" "Oh, I really don't know what time it was." "Thompson was killed between 7:00 and 8:00." "You left the building around 7:45." "(phone ringing)" "Mr. Fallon's room." "Yes, Paul." "Where are you?" "Your office." "I just got back from police headquarters." "Tragg's put the lid on, and I couldn't get a thing on who the woman was who called Thompson's neighbor." "Perry, I think I'll take a run out to the Valley and have a talk with Mrs. Fallon." "Good idea." "Oh, Paul, what'd you find out about the fire?" "Well, one thing." "The boys in the arson squad aren't buying that bit about a neighborhood gang accidentally starting the fire in Fallon's plant." "However, Fallon was right, at least about that." "The thing was rigged." "Not a professional job, but still rigged." "Thanks, Paul." "Mrs. Fallon isn't well." "She's in bed." "I'm sorry, but I just can't let you see Edith." "This is important, Mr. Wells." "Mr. Drake, please try to understand, my sister has been through enough as it is." "Now, with this terrible thing happening" "Mr. Thompson being murdered" "I really think it's best you don't see her right now." "Possibly you can tell me what I want to know." "Has Mrs. Fallon been here all evening?" "You mean does she have an alibi, Mr. Drake?" "Look, I'm not trying to..." "Don't worry, you don't have to apologize." "I probably couldn't help you anyway." "I don't know if she was here all evening." "I wasn't here myself all evening." "Well, would you know if she phoned a Mr. Ned Thompson earlier this evening?" "Phoned?" "Well, why should...?" "Oh." "Amory has been talking to you." "No, not to me, to his attorney Perry Mason." "Well, for your and Mr. Mason's information, there isn't a word of truth in it." "There never was anything between Edith and Ned Thompson." "It's all in Amory's imagination." "Imagination or real, did he and Thompson ever have a fight over Mrs. Fallon?" "Well, there was" "No, no, no, not really, not that I know of;" "just something that's been growing inside Amory and magnifying, torturing him beyond reason." "Mr. Wells, how well did you know Ned Thompson?" "Not very well;" "I met him six months ago when I first joined the company." "Why?" "Well, I was hoping you could possibly tell me something about who his girlfriend might be." "Oh, no, I'm sorry." "Wait a minute." "There was Vivian." "Vivian?" "Yes, Vivian Ames, his and Amory's secretary at the plant." "Now, I'm not sure, but I heard some talk." "Well, I understand they were very close at one time." "Vivian Ames." "Hmm." "Thank you very much, Mr. Wells." "Thanks again." "Frank, who was that?" "Well, it was nobody, nobody at all." "Oh, I'm so worried about Amory." "This isn't like him." "I know something's wrong." "I've got to go to him." "I've got to, got to!" "I've got to help Amory." "Hi, there." "Vivian not home?" "She doesn't seem to be." "Miss Ames does live here?" "Oh, yes, the lady lives here." "I was kind of hoping she'd be home tonight." "I'm all set to let her have my good shoulder to cry on." "A good neighborly gesture." "Then maybe that's why you're here?" "What I heard on the radio, I mean." "You, uh, from the police?" "No, I'm not from the police." "My name is Nickols, Bert Nickols." "Viv and I work for the same company." "You an old friend of hers?" "No, I'm not an old friend." "I'm handling a matter for Mr. Fallon." "Oh." "I just wanted a word with Miss Ames." "Well, if you're tied in with Mr. Fallon, you must know what happened to his partner, Mr. Thompson, tonight." "Yes, I know." "Here, let me take a crack at it." "We have, uh, kind of a signal we use sometimes." "(knocking rhythmically)" "Say, uh, do you think maybe she heard about it on the radio?" "Mr. Thompson being murdered, I mean." "She'd be pretty badly shaken up." "If she were shaken up, do you have any idea as to where she might be?" "No, not the faintest notion." "She has a sister living here in town, but I wouldn't know where." "Well, she's not home, that's for sure." "No sense in waiting around, is there?" "No sense to a lot of things, Mr. Nickols." "Never figured he'd get it like that." "Thompson, I mean." "Wonder why anyone would want to kill him." "Had you known him long?" "Oh, I guess about six years." "He came into the company as a chemist." "Next thing you know, he's a production manager." "Then, boom, Fallon himself makes him full partner." "And, uh, I'm still a chemist." "I understand he managed to spend considerable time in the lab." "Couldn't keep him away." "All the time experimenting, experimenting." "We, uh, worked on a number of ideas together." "Like the Martin project?" "How'd you know about that?" "Oh, Mr. Fallon happened to mention it." "Quite a revolutionary idea, the Martin project." "I imagine it could be worth quite a bit of money." "Yeah." "A lot of money." "The man who found Thompson's body-- his neighbor, a Mr. Green-- knows Vivian Ames." "He'd seen her several times in Thompson's apartment." "That, of course, was before she and Thompson broke up." "Anyway, Vivian Ames calls this Mr. Green a few minutes before 8:00 last night." "According to Green, she sounded real frantic." "Did he recall exactly what she said?" "Well, she was pretty excited and wasn't making too much sense." "She kept insisting that Thompson had to be in his apartment and just wasn't answering his phone." "Well, she was so worried and upset that Green finally went down to see if anything was wrong." "Which leaves us right back where we started." "Where is Vivian Ames?" "After you left last night," "I checked her apartment at least a dozen times." "No answer." "I checked the office, she hasn't been there all morning." "You should've asked me, Paul." "Your switchboard operator wanted to announce me, but I told her it wasn't necessary." "Oh, please, don't get up." "Please sit down, Perry." "After all, I'm practically a member of the family." "Good morning, all." "You were going to say something about Miss Ames." "Yes, I was, wasn't I?" "Well, now, if you're interested in Miss Ames-- and I gather you are-- she's at a hotel." "No wonder I couldn't find her." "For someone who's practically a member of the family, that was a dirty trick, Lieutenant." "Oh, but I told her just what Perry tells his clients when they very conveniently drop out of sight." "She's registered in her own name." "With the city paying the bill." "Oh, that sharp legal mind." "Just exactly what do you want, Lieutenant?" "Well, I thought you might be interested in coming down to headquarters." "Now, why should I want to do that?" "Well, you do intend to represent" "Amory Fallon, don't you?" "Well, there's, uh, no need for me to hang around..." "No, no, no, no, you're invited, too." "I had a charming chat with a number of sweet old ladies this morning." "One sweet old lady would've been enough." "Mrs. Temple was a fountain of information, Paul." "As a matter of fact, she even told me how the two of you saw Amory Fallon leaving the murdered man's building last night, around 7:45." "You're picking up Amory Fallon?" "Picked him up and booked him for murder." "There's some things we want to discuss with him." "Particularly, why he lined up a quarter of a million dollar deal with a Mexican company and forgot to tell his partner a thing about it." "GRANT:" "I'm a clerk and a part-time bookkeeper with the Fallon Paint Company." "We're concerned with something you found in the company books while the defendant was away." "Would you tell us about that please, Mr. Grant?" "Well, it was about a week before Mr. Fallon came back from Mexico, when I accidentally ran across this error in the company ledger." "What was the error?" "$20,000 unaccounted for in the books." "What did you do, Mr. Grant?" "Well, I went to Mr. Thompson right away." "He was very upset about it." "What did he say?" "Do you remember his exact words?" "He said, "I hope Mr. Fallon will have an explanation for this."" "Now, Mr. Grant, can you tell us, is evidence of this shortage of the company funds still in existence?" "No, sir." "It was destroyed in the fire." "Thank you, Mr. Grant." "Your witness." "Mr. Grant, why didn't you take this matter up with the company accountant, Mr. Wells?" "Oh, anytime I had a real problem," "I usually went straight to one of the partners." "Why was that?" "Mr. Wells was the kid brother of the boss' wife." "If you know what I mean." "Anyway, at that time, he had been sick for several days and away from the office." "Besides, from what I found in the books, that error occurred long before Wells came to the company." "While Mr. Fallon was away in Mexico, did Mr. Thompson have access to those ledgers?" "Oh, naturally." "He was one of the partners." "Thank you." "No further questions." "I had just returned to my home, on the night of the murder, when Mr. Thompson phoned me." "He, uh, asked me to come to his place, at once, to discuss some business." "And what time did you arrive at his apartment?" "Oh, 6:30, I'd say." "Now, while you were with him from 6:30 on, did Mr. Thompson have any visitors?" "Well, yes." "Uh, someone came, pounded on the door and called out and wanted to be let in." "It was Amory." "Amory Fallon, the defendant." "Was he admitted to the apartment?" "WELLS:" "No, no, Mr. Thompson didn't want to speak to him." "And would you tell us, sir, at what time the defendant caused this commotion outside Mr. Thompson's apartment?" "Oh, it was, uh, 7:00." "Thank you, Mr. Wells." "That'll be all." "Your witness." "Mr. Wells, during the commotion, did you open the door to tell this visitor that Mr. Thompson wouldn't see him?" "No, we sat quietly and waited for him to leave." "You say this occurred at 7:00." "How can you be so certain?" "Well, I was just getting ready to leave myself." "What time did you leave?" "Oh, five minutes after 7:00, I suppose." "I'm not sure." "Now, Mr. Wells, when you left Mr. Thompson's apartment, did you happen to see a note that had been pushed under the door?" "No, I did not." "Thank you, Mr. Wells." "No further questions." "The night he was murdered, Mr. Thompson called me." "He asked me to pick up the Carrera contract file at the office and bring it to his apartment." "But the locks on the plant had been changed since the fire and, uh, I didn't have a new key." "So, I told Mr. Thompson I would get one from Mr. Wells." "And did you, Miss Ames?" "No, Mr. Thompson told me I couldn't do that because Mr. Wells had just left him and he was on his way home." "Mr. Wells had just left." "What time was this call?" "It was, uh, five after 7:00." "Thereabouts." "I see." "Go on, Miss Ames." "Mr. Thompson suggested that I go out to the office and, uh, try to get the cleaning man to let me in." "And that's what I did." "And I looked and looked for the file, but I couldn't find it, and then I remembered what happened to it." "What had happened to the Carrera contract file, Miss Ames?" "Mr. Fallon had asked for it that morning." "He'd, uh, put it in his briefcase to take with him." "And did you call Mr. Thompson then, and tell him that Mr. Fallon had the file?" "Yes, but he didn't answer." "I tried several times." "He'd been so insistent about getting the contract file that, when he didn't answer my calls, I became worried." "And that's when I phoned his neighbor, Mr. Green." "Miss Ames, were you worried only because Mr. Thompson had been so insistent about the file?" "No, sir." "It was also because of what Mr. Thompson had said when he first called me that evening." "That, uh, Mr. Fallon had tried to force his way in several minutes before, and if Mr. Fallon was still hanging around the building when I came back with the file, I was to... avoid him." "Did he tell you why?" "He said that Mr. Fallon had been drinking." "That he was in an ugly mood." "Well, uh, it was a few days before the fire at the plant and, uh, Mr. Thompson and I were coming back from lunch and he wanted to stop in this photographic supply store." "For what purpose, Mr. Nickols?" "To pick up a camera and several spools of microfilm that he'd purchased." "Did the decedent tell you what he intended to do with the microfilm?" "It was his idea to film some of the more important company records and, uh, store them in a safe place." "Do you know if he put this plan into action?" "Oh, he got right with it." "I saw him myself, uh, photographing some of the ledgers in the office." "So, regardless of what the defendant might do to cover up the shortage of funds," "Mr. Thompson now had a valid copy of the altered records?" "Yes, that's right." "Thank you, that'll be all." "Mr. Nickols, how'd it happen that you were with the decedent when he purchased the camera and the microfilm?" "Did you usually accompany him on his shopping trips?" "Why, uh, why, no." "It's just that, uh, well, there was a matter that" "Mr. Thompson and I were discussing." "A matter of importance?" "Yes." "But not to the Fallon Company." "Since you left the plant to discuss it." "Isn't that so?" "Yes." "Now, Mr. Thompson microfilmed company records." "You saw him do that." "Did you not?" "Yes." "Did Mr. Fallon see those company records being microfilmed?" "No." "He was out of the country." "In Mexico at the time." "That's all, thank you." "You stated that, on the day of the murder, the defendant told you that he had discussed this quarter of a million dollar business deal with his partner." "But when you went to see Mr. Thompson at his apartment, a few hours before the murder, actually, he knew nothing about it." "Now, Mr. Silva, what was Mr. Thompson's reaction when he learned about this deal that had been kept secret from him?" "Well, he reacted violently." "He was angry." "He grabbed the phone, but he was so upset that he knocked a number of things off the desk." "And then he called Mr. Fallon's hotel." "But Mr. Fallon wasn't in." "And what did Mr. Thompson do then?" "After he calmed down, he said he'd handle the matter personally from then on in." "Now, you stated that a number of things were swept from the desk when Mr. Thompson reached angrily for the phone." "What were these things?" "Oh, some papers, magazines, oh, and a small cardboard box that spilled open when it hit the floor." "Did you happen to notice the contents of that box?" "Oh, uh, several spools of microfilm." "Half dozen or so." "Mr. Thompson was photographing the records of his company." "Now, Mr. Silva, this is important." "Was the microfilm that you saw on the floor exposed or unexposed film?" "Exposed." "Thank you, Mr. Silva, that'll be all." "Your witness." "Mr. Silva, you testified as follows:" "Quote, "When I went to see Mr. Thompson at his apartment, he actually knew nothing about it." Unquote." "I take it you meant he actually knew nothing about the quarter of a million dollar deal?" "No, no, of course not." "I didn't mean that." "He knew that such a deal was pending." "That's why Amory Fallon went to Mexico." "But he didn't know that such a deal had been closed." "I see." "By the way, Mr. Silva, if Mr. Thompson didn't know the deal had been closed, how did he know you were in town?" "He did call you, didn't he?" "No, I called..." "I called him." "You called him?" "Despite the fact that Mr. Fallon was handling the deal?" "Despite the fact that he assured you it would be all right?" "Despite the fact that you agreed to give him a few days to make the final arrangements?" "Despite all these things, you still called Mr. Thompson and went to his apartment?" "Yes." "Now, when you saw Mr. Thompson, it was in reference to the same quarter of a million dollar deal?" "Why, certainly." "What else?" "Yes, Mr. Silva." "What else?" "Is it possible that there were two deals pending?" "Is it possible that the second deal involved one, two, even three members of the Fallon Company, but not Mr. Fallon himself?" "We-Well, I-I..." "Go on, Mr. Silva." "Thank you, Mr. Silva." "That answers the question." "Yes, it was a rather warm evening, and that's what struck me odd when we arrived at the murder apartment and found a fire burning in the fireplace." "Well, Mr. Silva testified that he found half a dozen spools of microfilm in that apartment." "You did search the apartment carefully, huh?" "Yes, we did." "We found no microfilm." "It's possible, then, that the reason for the fire on the warm night was that the killer disposed of the microfilm, right there in the fireplace, after murdering Mr. Thompson." "Chemical analysis of the ashes in the fireplace confirmed that film had been burned in the fireplace." "BURGER:" "Now, Lieutenant Tragg, thus far, the defendant has been placed in the apartment house on the night of the murder, but not in the murder apartment itself." "Now, Lieutenant, in addition to the other things you discovered when you searched the murder apartment, did you find anything to throw light on these two questions?" "One: the whereabouts of the missing contract file?" "Two: whether or not the defendant was, in fact, inside that apartment?" "We found it inside the apartment, in a briefcase belonging to the defendant" "Amory Fallon." "BURGER:" "Thank you, Lieutenant." "Mr. Fallon remembers having the briefcase with him the night he went to Mr. Thompson's apartment house, but he swears he didn't go inside, Perry." "That's the key to the whole thing right there." "Fallon didn't get inside, but the briefcase did." "(knocking)" "I just got word from one of my men." "You hit it, Perry." "Thompson was quite the boy about town and a heavy gambler." "Good." "There's still one big if." "Everything fits in place if Fallon was where I think he was." "Mr. Mason, I don't know whether I should have..." "Oh, please, did I do the right thing in talking to you?" "Will it help?" "It was the only decision you could have made." "You won't be sorry, believe me." "And Mrs. Fallon... thank you." "All right, Mr. Mason, you may proceed with your cross-examination." "Lieutenant Tragg will return to the witness stand." "A moment, Your Honor." "I have no questions of Lieutenant Tragg." "Instead, I should like to recall Mr. Bert Nickols to the stand." "Mr. District Attorney?" "I don't know what purpose it'll serve, Your Honor, but I have no objection." "Bert Nickols to the stand." "NICKOLS:" "Well, it was around, um, 6:00, a few minutes after, maybe, when I saw the defendant come into the bar." "Were you alone?" "No." "No, I was with a friend." "A Miss, uh, Claudia Bruce?" "Is that right?" "That's right." "I don't know how you found out about Claudia, but that's right." "Did you also just happen to notice what time it was when the defendant left the bar?" "No." "I guess I didn't." "What time did you leave?" "Oh, about 7:15, I think." "I had some work to do, and I drove back to the lab." "Isn't it true that you told Miss Bruce that you were going to pick up Mr. Thompson first and then drive back to the lab?" "Uh... (sighs)" "Yes, that's right, except I went to my place first and picked up some notes that I needed." "And then you went to his apartment." "You knocked on the door." "What then, Mr. Nickols?" "Well, Ned Thompson didn't answer, so I figured he'd gone on ahead, and, uh, so I left, that's all." "And what time was it when you called at his apartment?" "A few minutes before 8:00." "Mr. Nickols, were you ever out with Mr. Thompson when he lost large sums of money gambling?" "Your Honor, I must protest this obvious waste of the court's time." "I see no possible reason..." "May it please the court." "The prosecution has sought to create the impression that the defendant doctored company books and stole company funds." "I intend to show that the books had in truth been doctored, but by someone else." "BURGER:" "But, Your Honor, certainly not by the decedent." "Counsel seems to have forgotten that Ned Thompson, in an effort to safeguard evidence of a crime, recorded that evidence on microfilm." "What possible reason would he have had to do so if he himself had been guilty of the embezzlement?" "With the court's permission," "I believe I can provide an answer to Mr. Burger's question." "Mr. Wells, how long have you been with the Fallon Paint Company?" "Six months." "You, Mr. Wells, are a trained accountant." "Mr. Grant, who testified yesterday, is a clerk and a part-time bookkeeper." "Yet, it was he, not you, who discovered a $20,000 discrepancy in the company books." "Your Honor, I object!" "Mr. Wells is not on trial here." "The books of the Fallon Paint Company were doctored a long time before Mr. Wells even joined the company." "I move that this whole line of questioning be stricken from the record." "Since there's no jury present, Mr. Mason, the court would be glad to hear your explanation for this line of questioning." "Your Honor, it's the contention of the defense that Ned Thompson was guilty of embezzlement before and after Mr. Wells joined the company, and that he had an accomplice who covered up for him, possibly even participated with him" "in further depredation of company funds." "(laughs)" "Your Honor, this is ridiculous." "If the decedent was an embezzler, it's the first time I've ever heard of a thief microfilming evidence to prove that he was a thief." "The district attorney has a valid argument, Mr. Mason." "Your Honor, I'm sure we're all interested in the truth." "With the court's indulgence and some measure of latitude in my questioning, I believe" "I can demonstrate the truth." "Mr. Burger?" "Well, what can I say to that, Your Honor?" "Naturally, the prosecution is interested in the truth." "Very well, Mr. Mason." "The court is disposed to grant you the latitude you request." "Your Honor." "Mr. Wells, if Thompson embezzled $20,000, is it possible he did have an accomplice who doctored the books?" "Not only to hide the original theft, but also to hide continued embezzlement from the company?" "Well, yes, it is possible." "Now suppose, without Mr. Fallon's knowledge," "Thompson and some other person from the company planned illegally and secretly to sell a company formula worth millions?" "And suppose the accomplice stumbled onto this and asked to be cut in on the deal?" "I don't know what you're getting at." "Well, if the records the accomplice had falsified were such that only he, and not Mr. Thompson, would be incriminated, they would then become a threat to his safety, and an obstacle to his accruing a fortune." "Isn't that right?" "Well, yes." "To remove both the threat and the obstacle, what logically would be the accomplice's first step?" "Well, to, uh... to destroy the falsified records." "MASON:" "Destroy them?" "You mean, with something like arson?" "A deliberate fire, such as the one at the Fallon Paint Company?" "Well, yes, that certainly would do it." "But what if Mr. Thompson had anticipated that, and had recorded the falsified records on microfilm?" "I don't understand." "The accomplice then could only do one thing." "Go to Thompson, get the microfilm and destroy it." "Even if he had to kill Thompson to get it." "Isn't that right?" "No!" "No, it wasn't me!" "I didn't do it." "Your Honor, I object." "Vivian Ames has testified that when she talked with Ned Thompson, he told her that" "Mr. Wells had already left his place." "Yeah, now-now, that's right." "I was gone." "Your Honor, at this time," "I should like again to recall Mr. Bert Nickols." "Amory Fallon was knocking on Thompson's door at 7:00." "Mr. Fallon himself believes he left the building immediately after 7:00." "He was seen leaving at 7:45." "It would appear the defendant doesn't know where he was for 45 minutes." "Do you know, Mr. Nickols?" "Why, I-I don't even know what you're talking about." "How long does it take you to drive from Thompson's apartment to your laboratory at the plant?" "Why, about..." "It'll be easy to check." "How long does it take?" "20 minutes." "You testified you were at Thompson's apartment a few minutes before 8:00." "Yet, the janitor at the laboratory not only saw Vivian Ames, but he saw you when you arrived a few moments after 8:00." "Now, how did you accomplish a 20-minute drive in five minutes?" "Look, wait a minute." "I..." "I don't know." "I must have been confused." "You arrived at Thompson's apartment at 7:30, not 8:00." "Isn't that so?" "Yes." "And on your way up to Thompson's apartment, you saw Amory Fallon asleep on the stairway." "Why, my, uh..." "Amory Fallon, unaccustomed to drink, had fallen asleep." "He slept for 45 minutes without knowing it." "But you knew it, didn't you?" "You were going to see Thompson, because the two of you had a date to sell the perfected Martin formula to Mr. Carlos Silva of Mexico, so you didn't dare wake Fallon." "All right, all right!" "Fallon was there asleep." "I saw him." "But I didn't kill Thompson." "No?" "The killer was Thompson's accomplice." "He had doctored the books." "He had to then set the fire to destroy this evidence against himself." "But Thompson still had the microfilm." "When the killer left Thompson's apartment, he found Amory Fallon's note." "He saw Amory Fallon asleep on the stairway, so he went back to the apartment." "No." "No, what are you talking about?" "The killer accidentally overheard Thompson's phone call to Vivian Ames, a phone call setting up a perfect alibi for him." "So he opened the door, went in, and then he killed Ned Thompson." "No!" "No, I didn't do those things!" "I didn't kill Ned Thompson!" "MASON:" "And you didn't plant Fallon's note in his pocket?" "NICKOLS:" "No!" "No!" "No, Mr. Nickols... you didn't kill Thompson." "But you did, Mr. Wells." "Yes!" "Yes, I killed Ned Thompson." "I killed him!" "I killed him!" "I killed him!" "I killed him!" "(sobbing)" "Mr. Fallon was asleep on the stairs." "Wells took the briefcase and planted it in the apartment." "I still don't believe it." "I honestly thought" "I'd closed my eyes for only a few minutes." "45 minutes?" "!" "Of course, there was still the question of motive for Wells." "The fact that, despite his small salary, he suddenly had large sums of money to spend, with no apparent source for that money, and with an insatiable appetite for more money." "I think you ought to know, Mr. Fallon, that's where your wife was most helpful in telling us the truth about her younger brother." "No need to tell me, Mr. Mason." "I know." "I know what that decision cost you, Edith." "And-And I know how stupidly wrong" "I've been about you." "Thanks for your faith." "And yours, Mr. Mason." "I always have faith, Mr. Fallon." "Faith in what Judge Learned Hand called" ""the eventual supremacy of reason."" "(theme music plays)"