"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( phone ringing )" "Mm?" "Lester, this is Sam Crane." "Did I wake you?" "Mm-hm." "Well, I'm glad I did." "You promised to be at the office at 10:00." "( groans )" "For crying out loud, Sam, it's only 9." "Lester, please, just be here." "For your sake as well as mine." "Sam, I'm only 15 minutes from the office." "At 10 sharp, I'll walk in that door, fully dressed, and throw mud right in my stepfather's eye." "Okay?" "Okay." "( gun cocks ) ( ominous theme playing )" "Come on, out of bed, sleepyhead." "W-Who are you?" "What do you want?" "Are you going to steal my car?" "You're insured." "What are you worried about?" "Come on, let's have breakfast." "Inside." "Come on, move." "Sit down." "Sit down." "Well, what do you like?" "Rye?" "Scotch?" "Bourbon?" "Gin?" "Drink it." "Drink." "( gags, coughs )" "( laughs )" "That's what you get for gulping." "Now, drink it slow, sonny, but drink." "Look, if" " If you're trying to make me drunk," "I already am." "I think you're faking, sonny." "Drink it." "Please..." "Drink." "( tense theme playing )" "( tense theme swells )" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Lester?" "(phone rings)" "Hello?" "Marge?" "This is Sam Crane." "Where in blazes is that boyfriend of yours?" "I just walked in, Sam." "I don't think he's here." "Is his car still there?" "No, his car's gone." "Is something wrong, Sam?" "He was due here at a meeting a few minutes ago, that's all." "No need to worry if he's on his way." "Goodbye, Marge." "Lester must be almost here." "It's nearly 10:30." "He could have walked here by now." "Judson." "I don't think the Martin Boat Company is going to flounder if we wait just a few more minutes." "I've been waiting a few years for that stepson of mine to decide whether he's a leech or a human being." "You seem pretty certain that he's not going to show up." "Sam, your contract as president is subject to annual approval by the stockholders." "That's us." "I've got my wife's proxy in my pocket and Lois is voting with me." "Lester and I own the majority of stock." "He's on my side." "Yes, but anytime Lester doesn't show up, you're finished." "Now, let's face it, Sam." "Sooner or later he's going to read one of your antiquated sales reports." "We're still making a profit, aren't we?" "I know an Indian who makes a profit building canoes out of tree trunks." "If I were running this company the way it ought to be run-- Now, stop it." "Both of you." "Stop it." "Sam, think of all the things you could do if you retired." "The places you could go." "And I was the one that suggested a woman head our public relations department." "Sam, when you and Mr. Martin gave me the few little shares that I own, it was because you valued my work, my opinion." "Now I'm saying that it's time for you to step aside and let somebody else take over." "I don't care if it's Mr. Bailey here or the man in the moon." "(clock bell rings)" "Judson, you've got to give me a little more time." "Why should I?" "Because there's such a thing as ethics." "You may be legally entitled to call a vote right this very minute, but if you do," "I'll have corporation lawyers on your neck forever." "What do you want me to do, Sam?" "I want you to postpone the meeting until I locate Lester." "He may have had an accident." "All right." "I'll postpone till 8:00 this evening, if you give me your absolute assurance you won't try any more delaying tactics." "You have my word." "( mysterious theme playing )" "You play rough." "That didn't hurt, did it?" "Jud, do you really think Lester will show up?" "Oh, let's not worry about Lester." "Your last chance, sonny, still want to argue?" "(bird squawks)" "( mysterious theme playing )" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( gunshot )" "(phone ringing)" "Hello?" "Oh, Sam, I'm busy in the darkroom right now, can I" " What?" "He called from where?" "From the other side of town." "Somebody filled him full of liquor, drove him 20 miles into the country and tried to kill him." "Sam, Lester's all right, isn't he?" "Yes, Lester is all right, but that's why Bailey was so sure he wouldn't show up at the meeting this morning." "Bailey must be behind this." "Now, Marge, Lester wants you to do him a favor, will you?" "Well, yes, of course." "All right, I told Lester I overheard Bailey making a date with someone to meet him at Corelli's Bar." "Now, if that someone should happen to be the man who took Lester for a ride, and you can get a picture of them together, we'll nail Judson Bailey once and for all." "Lester wants you to take one of your small cameras to Corelli's Bar, and if you should see Bailey talking to a man with a... with a dark suit and a light tie..." "( whirring ) (piano playing gently)" "I guess this is the last Scotch I'll taste in some time." "They have Scotch in Mexico City, haven't they?" "You ever been in Mexico City, Mr. Bailey?" "A few times." "You'll enjoy the bullfights." "No, thanks." "I tried that once down in Tijuana." "I don't think they should make a sport out of killing." "Do you?" "I really haven't given it much thought." "No, sir." "Killing's a serious business." "( shutter clicks )" "Well, I'm wound up here, so I guess I better be gone." "Been a pleasure, Mr. Bailey." "Real pleasure." "Hi." "Hi." "Who was your friend?" "Oh, him?" "Oh, just a guy." "I better call Emma and tell her I won't be home to dinner." "What are you looking at?" "That girl." "I thought she looked familiar." "Lester's girlfriend." "What's her name?" "Oh, Marge Fuller." "She just slipped a camera into her purse." "Well, she's a professional photographer." "And are you a professional model?" "She take my picture?" "I don't think she was doing a character study of the bartender." "Judson, it's just not fair, that's all." "I was planning on us going to the theater tonight." "Well, I know you said there was an 8:00 meeting, but that can't last more than a minute or two." "If you don't think Lester is going to be there anyway..." "Judson, I'm not arguing, I'm just" "All right, Judson." "Yes." "Goodbye." "( hangs up )" "Hello, mother." "Lester, what's happened?" "Where on earth have you been?" "It's not where I've been that's important, it's where I'm going and you're going with me." "What are you talking about?" "Mother, there's going to be a meeting at the office tonight at 8:00." "I want you to be there." "But I don't know anything about business." "Judson has my power of attorney." "I want you to take that power of attorney away from him." "Do what?" "Mother, you've got to do as I say, or sooner or later this man will destroy you, the way he tried to destroy me." "Destroy?" "Why, darling, Judson's your own stepfather." "Well, he just tried to have me killed." "I don't believe you." "When I woke up this morning" "I found a man pointing a gun in my face." "Oh, Lester, no" "He drove me to a place in the sticks." "We fought, and when I grabbed his gun he ran." "Mother, look at me." "Look at me!" "It was my stepfather, your husband, who hired that man." "Don't you understand?" "No." "No, that's not true." "Why would Judson have anything to do with" "Why do you think he married you in the first place?" "Judson Bailey wants our company." "He'll do anything in the world to get it." "Judson is a fine man." "He loves me." "I know you don't like him, but it's only natural when you loved your father so." "Mother." "I'm going to have the proof of what I say." "I'm sorry if it hurts you." "But please believe me." "Please do as I ask." "It's not true." "Not one single word." "I'll show you that proof tonight." "I'll show you a picture of the man who did this." "I'll show it to everyone." "Mother... ( ominous theme playing )" "The picture's gone, Lester." "How did it happen?" "Well, I was just finishing the print, when I got a call from Sam Crane's secretary." "She said he wanted to see me right away." "But it wasn't his secretary." "She hadn't even called me at all." "And the picture Miss Fuller took of this man and Bailey was stolen?" "That's right." "Negative and print." "She only made one." "Did you notify the police?" "No." "I came directly to you." "Let's get back to this man who kidnapped you." "What makes you think Bailey hired him?" "Well, who else would want to see me dead?" "You see, Jud conned my mother into giving him half the stock my father left her in his will." "He even tried to push Sam Crane out and take his job." "He's tried every way he could think of to cheat me out of my share." "And now this." "If your suspicions are correct, Lester, your stepfather could be charged with attempted murder." "You mean, we ought to go to the police?" "If your suspicions are correct." "Right now they're only suspicions, and since it's a family matter..." "If I only had that picture." "We'll see what my investigator comes up with, and I'll have him check the registration of this gun." "What do I do in the meantime?" "Well, you have no choice but to go to that meeting tonight if you want to protect" "Mr. Crane's position in the company." "I'd feel a whole lot better if you were there with me." "All right." "I'll meet you there." "( ringing )" "( door opens )" "Emma." "Hello, Sam, Lois." "Hello, Mrs. Bailey." "It's nice to see you." "Where's Judson?" "He'll be here any minute." "Please sit down, Emma." "Thank you, Sam." "Yes?" "What can we do for you?" "My name is Mason." "I came here at the request of Mr. Lester Martin." "He's not here yet." "I'm Sam Crane and this is" "Oh, Lieutenant Tragg." "Mason." "Lieutenant?" "Police Department." "I take it you're Mrs. Bailey." "I was told at your house you could be reached here." "Yes." "That's right." "There's going to be a meeting here." "Mrs. Bailey, I've been on the force for 30 years, and I've never found an easy way of saying this." "Your husband has been murdered." "Murdered, oh!" "( dramatic theme swells )" "Good morning, Perry." "Good morning, Paul." "Pour him some coffee, will you, Della?" "Thanks." "Well, I see the bloodhounds are out looking for your client." "If you still want to call him that." "I can't say I blame them, since the murder was committed at Lester's place." "Well, that's where he was heading when he left here last evening, wasn't it?" "Mm-hm." "Said he was going to change clothes for that meeting." "Here you are." "Thanks." ""Blunt instrument, signs of a struggle that raged through the house."" "Well, he's done about the worst thing a man can do under the circumstances, but until I find out why he disappeared" "I know, he gets the benefit of the doubt." "What have you found so far, Paul?" "I'm afraid it's not gonna make you very happy." "On that gun he claimed he took away from a hired killer, there were no finger prints except his own, and as for registration, it was part of a lot that was stolen several years ago." "Mm-hm." "And whoever ransacked Marge Fuller's studio apartment and took that photograph was real lucky." "Didn't leave a trace to go on." "Doesn't Miss Fuller have any idea where Lester is now?" "Nope, and I think she's telling the truth." "All right, then." "We'll just have to backtrack from the time of the murder." "How far back?" "Well, I want to know what Bailey was doing at Lester's house, everything he did last night." "Della, I'm going to see Mrs. Bailey." "Last night she was too upset to make any sense." "Right, Perry." "Paul, get me a list of everything that was found on the body." "And I'd like to know what the police found at the house." "All right, Perry." "And Della, get hold of Marge Fuller." "I'll meet you both at Corelli's Bar in an hour." "Corelli's Bar?" "Ask Miss Fuller to bring her camera along." "Make sure it's loaded." "Bye, beautiful." "You're going to help my son, aren't you, Mr. Mason?" "You're going to help Lester?" "Not unless I can find him, Mrs. Bailey." "I thought he might be trying to locate the man he met yesterday." "I don't know who you mean." "Yes, you do." "Though apparently you haven't told any of it to the police yet." "Why not?" "Told" "Told what, Mr. Mason?" "Now, look here." "Your son came to my office not long after he left you, yesterday afternoon." "He told me all about the man who tried to kill him." "( sobbing ):" "No, Mr. Mason, no." "It's been a nightmare." "I'll never wake up from it." "I've done nothing but harm to Lester, but if only I'd listened." "Didn't you believe his story about the killer?" "Well, what else could I think?" "To say such awful things about anyone." "Did you tell your husband about it?" "When?" "Where did you talk to your husband?" "After Lester left, I telephoned Judson at a place called Corelli's Bar." "He was busy with a client there yesterday." "But not too busy to listen to the story of his hiring someone to kill Lester?" "Or someone at least who was supposed to get Lester out of the way?" "I couldn't help it." "I thought Lester was out of his mind." "He'd said some things that...hurt me." "Oh, Mr. Mason, I wish I could take it all back." "If I'd only kept quiet," "Judson might never have been killed." "What was your husband's reaction to all this?" "He asked me to repeat it." "To repeat every word." "He was so deadly quiet that I began to be scared." "And then he hung up." "I tried to call him back and I couldn't reach him." "Next thing I heard, two hours later, he was dead." "Somehow..." "I know it's all my fault." "It was just a little after 5 when I got here." "Mr. Bailey was already over there at the bar, talking to the man." "How did you recognize the man?" "I was given a description by Mr. Crane." "He got it on the phone from Lester." "I'm sure it was the right man, all right." "Did Mr. Bailey see you take the picture?" "No." "Do you think anyone else saw you?" "I guess that's possible." "Miss Rogers might have." "Miss Lois Rogers?" "Yes." "I saw her at the bar on my way out." "Was she with anyone?" "Yes, she was with Mr. Bailey, of course." "Why "of course"?" "Lester says they met here almost every day, Lois and Bailey." "Miss Fuller, Bailey was about my size, wasn't he?" "Yes." "Do you any have pictures of him?" "Just something from a magazine, perhaps a side view?" "Well, I did some photo work for their publicity department once." "Yes, I think I could come up with something." "Good." "Now pick up someone who looks like the man Bailey was talking to." "Oh, well, let's see." "He was a little smaller than that one." "There." "The one in the dark suit, maybe." "At least, if he'd keep his back turned, that's the way he was sitting." "Is this the same table you were at yesterday?" "Yes." "You get the idea, don't you?" "Snap it as fast as you can." "( cash register dings )" "Hot enough for you?" "It's hot enough." "It just ain't quiet enough." "( shutter clicks )" "( doorbell buzzes )" "Miss Rogers?" "Oh, Mr. Mason." "May I come in for a moment?" "I'd like to talk to you." "Of course." "But I've already told the police all I know." "You're wasting your time, unless you enjoy seeing a woman cry." "I'm sorry." "Last night, I didn't realize that Mr. Bailey's death had been such a great personal loss." "It was a loss to everyone in the company." "He was a fine man." "But I suppose some lawyer with a bag of tricks will get his murderer off with a slap on the wrist." "So far, Miss Rogers, I represent only Lester." "Do you have some information that would suggest that he's the murderer?" "Oh, of course not." "Don't mind me." "I'm just upset, that's all." "Here." "Thank you." "I really came here to ask about a man in a picture." "A what?" "A man in a picture." "This was taken inside, on high speed film." "At a place called Corelli's Bar." "Where did you get that?" "Wait just a minute." "It's the only print we have." "You recognize it?" "Well, that's Judson Bailey, there, isn't it?" "It just surprised me seeing him, that's all." "Actually this is the man I'm interested in." "Do you know him?" "Well, how could I?" "In this view, his face isn't even turned." ""In this view"?" "And there's another picture somewhere?" "What difference does it make?" "I had no idea I'd overlooked a picture." "Yes, I stole the other one." "Why?" "I don't know why." "Judson asked me to and I did." "Then you did see Marge Fuller snap Mr. Bailey's picture?" "Yes, but he didn't seem so upset about it then." "It wasn't until his wife phoned a few minutes later." "When he came back from the phone booth, he was livid." "Did he tell you why?" "Did he tell you what she'd said?" "Well, he talked about the picture." "He said he wanted me to get it for him." "He didn't care how." "And so you impersonated Mr. Crane's secretary, to get Marge away from her apartment?" "Yes." "Then about 6:30, I met Jud back at the bar." "I gave him the picture and he left." "Did he say where he was going?" "He said he was going to look for his stepson." "For Lester." "But I-I don't know why he was so upset." "Mr. Mason, who is that other man?" "I have no idea who he is, but that's not Mr. Bailey." "That's me." "( dramatic theme playing )" "(piano playing gently)" "Hello, Perry." "Now, here's the list:" "a wallet with 43 dollars in it, car keys, identification, and credit cards." "No, the only picture was on Bailey's driver's license." "I'm positive." "There was no such picture on the body." "Mr. Crane, I've managed to reconstruct Bailey's activities up to the time he went to see Lester." "Well, that's very interesting, but why do you come to me about it?" "Because I think he might have come to see you." "Don't be ridiculous." "I know what the penalty is for harboring" "Yesterday, when Lester wanted help in trying to prove what his stepfather was up to, you were the first one he got in touch with." "And you want me to tell him to give himself up, to explain that he's making his own case worse, but I simply don't know where he is." "I haven't heard one word." "Yesterday you telephoned Marge Fuller and suggested that she try to get a picture of Bailey talking to the man who had kidnapped Lester." "What of it?" "That picture somehow got into Bailey's hands." "At least, he had it with him when he went looking for Lester." "Well?" "Well, the picture has now disappeared." "There are several possibilities." "One is that Lester has it." "Did he show it to you?" "Did he do what?" "Mr. Crane, I've had an investigator watching your house, but not your beach cabin." "I've stood about enough of this." "If Lester committed murder, or even came close to it, he must feel that finding that kidnapper is his only hope of proving self-defense." "Now, for the last time, Mr. Crane" "You get out of here." "How many times do I have to say it?" "Lester did not come to me for help, and I haven't the faintest idea where" "Sam, I've got to talk to you." "It's all right, Emma." "Mr. Mason was just leaving." "EMMA:" "Oh, no, Mr. Mason, please." "That Lieutenant just called me." "They've caught Lester." "They found him." "Where, Mrs. Bailey?" "Well, there's a little beach cabin that Sam owns." "Oh, Sam doesn't know anything about it." "I'm the one who told him to go there, to wait." "Well, don't look like that." "Both of you." "Is there anything wrong with a mother trying to protect her own son?" "( sobbing ) ( ominous theme swells )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Then Bailey accused you of trying to frame him?" "That's right." "He pretended he didn't know the guy in the picture." "He even claimed he wasn't trying to get his hands on our company." "And when you argued about it he hit you?" "I tried to hit him back, but he caught me off balance." "That was it." "How long were you unconscious?" "I don't know." "It could have been five minutes or half an hour." "When I came to, I went looking for him." "With a metal vase in your hand?" "But I never used it." "That's when I saw him lying there dead in the kitchen." "Please, y-you've got to believe me." "It would have been a lot easier if you volunteered this information 24 hours ago." "Hiding out was mother's idea." "Until she could get Sam Crane's advice." "You went straight to your mother, the night of the murder?" "No, of course not." "Not till this morning." "I guess I was just too scared to turn myself in." "And I had the crazy hope I could still find that guy someplace." "Mr. Mason, nobody will believe a thing I say unless I do find him." "The picture that Bailey had of himself and that man, did you take it out of Bailey's pocket after you found his body in the kitchen?" "But that's all I took." "I didn't touch anything else." "When the police took it from you, did they--?" "They didn't see it." "I hid it in Sam Crane's place at the beach." "Well, why didn't you say so?" "We'll have to turn it in, of course, but at least it'll give Paul Drake a head start." "If he has a good photo to go on" "You mean, you'll keep looking for the guy?" "You do believe me?" "You'll defend me, in spite of all the dumb things I've" "Dumb is right, Lester." "We all do dumb things." "That doesn't mean we're all murderers." "HOXIE:" "There were multiple fractures above the right ear, causing a severe internal hemorrhage and almost instant death." "SAMPSON:" "I show you this metal vase, Dr. Hoxie." "Could such an object cause the wounds you describe?" "Yes, sir, it could." "I ask this weapon to be entered in evidence as Exhibit A." "We would have to object to that, Your Honor." "That's a metal vase, not a weapon." "Sustained." "Is that your only objection to admitting this exhibit?" "Yes, Your Honor." "So ordered." "I have no more questions, doctor." "Cross-examine." "Doctor Hoxie, could the butt of a gun, properly applied, also cause the damage you described?" "Yes, sir." "Could a fireplace poker cause similar damage?" "Yes, indeed." "A hammer?" "A human skull can be cracked open by any heavy blunt instrument if the man hits hard enough." "MASON:" "Or a woman?" "HOXIE:" "Or a woman." "Thank you, doctor." "No further questions." "Lieutenant, what fingerprints did you find on the vase?" "Only the defendant's." "Of course, that's natural, since it was in his house, or his family's, but will you explain the prints a little more fully?" "Well, even in your own house you don't generally pick up a vase like this." "SAMPSON:" "Would you show the court exactly where the prints were?" "The thumb here and two or three impressions smeared where he'd shifted his grip." "And would you say the prints indicated the firmness with which he gripped the vase?" "Absolutely." "He gripped it with all his strength." "Your witness." "Lt. Tragg, did you find any traces of the victim's hair or blood on the vase?" "No, sir." "Thank you, lieutenant." "That'll be all." "One question, Your Honor, on redirect." "In all your police experience, lieutenant, in cases where a murder weapon was as slick and hard as this heavy metal vase, have you ever known hair and blood to remain?" "To adhere to such a polished surface?" "Very seldom." "Thank you." "Now, Mr. Crane, do you recall any previous times when the defendant quarreled with his stepfather?" "Well, there may have been little arguments, I suppose." "As an unfriendly witness, will you please answer just "yes" or "no."" "Do you recall, for instance, having lunch with the defendant just nine days before the murder?" "I may have, I don't exactly" "Mr. Crane, we're prepared to subpoena a waiter and two busboys who do recall that day very well." "Now." "Isn't it true that at said luncheon, the defendant threatened his stepfather, Mr. Bailey, and in a voice which could be heard all over the restaurant?" "I don't remember his raising his voice" "Yes or no, Mr. Crane." "Did Lester Martin say he'd get Mr. Bailey thrown out of your boat company even if he had to frame him to do it?" "But Lester had had a drink or two" ""Get him thrown out of your boat company even if he had to frame him to do it?"" "Yes." "Yes, Lester said that." "Thank you." "Your witness." "Mr. Crane, you are fond of the defendant, are you not?" "Of course." "I've known him since he was a boy." "You were also fond of the position you hold in the company?" "Well, of course." "Did Judson Bailey threaten that position?" "Yes, I suppose he did." "Tell us, Mr. Crane, how do you feel about Mrs. Bailey?" "The defendant's mother?" "Objection, Your Honor." "The witness's private affairs are immaterial and irrelevant." "Mr. Mason, I'll have to sustain that objection unless you can show some justifiable purpose here." "MASON:" "I hope to show prejudice on the part of this witness, Your Honor." "Very well." "Overruled." "Proceed." "Now, Mr. Crane, after her first husband died, did you ask Mrs. Bailey to marry you?" "Yes, many times." "And she turned you down?" "Yes, she preferred to marry a conniving, thieving..." "Well, you're quite right, Mr. Mason." "If anyone had a reason to kill the man, it was I." "And then you told your husband this fantastic story that the defendant told you, of a professional gunman being hired by Bailey to kill him?" "Yes or no?" "Yes." "And your husband's anger was so great that he hung up, and when you tried to call him back you were unable to reach him?" "Yes or no?" "Yes." "And the next you knew of Judson Bailey, he'd been murdered?" "Yes." "They fought many times, your husband and your son?" "Their apparent hatred was mutual?" "Yes." "Yes, yes..." "I realize that stealing the picture was wrong, but I had to get it for Mr. Bailey." "What were his words when you handed it to him?" "Well, he was bewildered and angry." "He said that Lester was trying to frame him." "SAMPSON:" "What did Mr. Bailey do then?" "LOIS:" "Well, he left me." "He said he was going to look for Lester." "Do you recall the last words he spoke to you?" "Yes, I do." "He said, "Lois, I'm going to take this phony photograph and shove it down that little conniver's throat."" "Thank you, Miss Rogers." "That's all for now." "Miss Rogers, how long does it take to drive from your apartment to Lester's house up in the canyon?" "I don't know." "Well, you have been there, haven't you?" "A few times." "Those few times, were you a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Bailey's?" "I don't know what you mean." "Well, those times that you did go there, were you a guest of Mr. Bailey?" "Mrs. Bailey?" "Or both?" "Mr. Bailey." "Then you and he were more than just business associates?" "We were good friends." "Did Mrs. Bailey suspect how good?" "We object, Your Honor." "This witness cannot possibly know what was in Mrs. Bailey's mind." "Then I withdraw the question, Your Honor, and ask in its place, did Mrs. Bailey ever say anything to you which would indicate that she suspected you and her husband?" "Object, Your Honor." "This question now calls for hearsay evidence and is not proper cross-examination." "I am trying to show the bias of the witness, Your Honor." "If the court please, he's trying to show the bias of a dead man's widow." "Of Mrs. Bailey." "The question is preliminary, Your Honor." "If the witness admits that she and Mrs. Bailey conversed, then I proposed to show the entire conversation." "Of course we talked." "From the time she accused me until I admitted that" "The witness will refrain from volunteering statements." "However, in view of the circumstances," "I'll overrule the original objection." "Proceed, Mr. Mason." "Your Honor." "Miss Rogers, were you and Mr. Bailey lovers?" "Yes, we were." "She knew about it too." "Even though she tried to pretend that it wasn't so." "She thought she could get him back that way, by pretending, by always pretending." "Miss Rogers, had Judson Bailey ever suggested that you and he be married?" "Yes, he had, and I'd answered yes." "And she knew about that too." "Well, my cottage is just across from the Martin place." "I went out to the kitchen for a drink of water, and I could hear them just as clear as if I was in the room with them." "They were yelling at the top of their lungs." "And what time was this again, Mrs. Stone?" "It was around 7:30 in the evening." "SAMPSON:" "And you're positive you recognized the voices?" "Absolutely." "It was Lester Martin and Mr. Judson Bailey." "I've heard them both over there fighting for years." "Simply years." "SAMPSON:" "Now, how long did you listen from your kitchen window?" "Oh, just a few minutes." "Then I went into the living room to watch television." "Do you mean you then just walked back into your living room?" "You just stopped eavesdropping on a fight like that?" "Well, it isn't as if I'd heard screaming or gunshots." "( crowd laughs )" "( gavel tapping )" "Anyway, it did begin to bother me." "After a few minutes I got to thinking, so I went back out and had another look." "SAMPSON:" "And what did you see when you looked out your kitchen window?" "I saw Lester Martin run out the back door, get in his car, and drive away." "Thank you." "Your witness, counselor." "JUDGE:" "Gentlemen, since it is approaching the noon hour, and if you have no objection, Mr. Mason--?" "MASON:" "I have no objection, Your Honor." "court will recess until 1:30 this afternoon." "What's the cast for, Perry?" "Oh, no serious injury." "Doctor feels it should be immobilized for a few weeks." "That's all." "I thought maybe you were feeling your bruises from the D.A." "Well, I hope it's nothing serious, Perry." "Things may be more serious than he knows." "I hope you got a lead on that man in the picture, we certainly can use him." "Why, what's the matter?" "Nothing." "Nothing at all." "Except they've shown about everything that's necessary to bind Lester over for trial." "Well, in theory, he should be easy." "Guy with a moustache, the scar, and of course, by now, the police are looking for him too, but Perry, this guy'll never show up." "If he can even read he's halfway to China by this time." "How can he be of any help to you anyway?" "No matter what that man was hired to do, it will only confirm more trouble between Lester and Bailey." "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Della." "Paul, I think I know where to find a man like that in a hurry." "A man just like that." "Yeah?" "Where?" "Police Call Central Casting." "Come on." "( suspenseful theme swells )" "Are you ready for your cross-examination, Mr. Mason?" "Yes, Your Honor." "Mrs. Stone, in your position as an outstanding citizen of this community, I know you'll want to give an absolutely honest and a very complete picture of what happened that evening." "Yes, sir." "Now, after you'd heard the fight and returned to your living room, how long would you say you watched television?" "Would you say ten minutes?" "Well, six or seven, maybe." "During that time, did you see anyone else enter Lester's house?" "How could I?" "I was watching TV." "It's a good point, Mrs. Stone." "( chuckles )" "So it's quite possible then that someone else could have come and gone without your knowing about it?" "Well, yes, if you put it that way." "but then, I'm a pretty observant person." "Not snoopy, you understand, but I do catch most of the comings and goings around me." "You do?" "Now, would you tell us, for instance, whether there were any comings or goings on the morning preceding the murder?" "STONE:" "Well, let's see..." "There was one man." "Then the girl." "That's all there was." "One man?" "And he drove away with Lester Martin." "That would be about 9:30 or 10 in the morning." "Would you recognize this man if you saw him again?" "Oh, yes, I think so." "He was there just before the girl came." "That Fuller girl," "Lester's friend." "Thank you, Mrs. Stone." "That'll be all." "The same girl that was there in the evening." "That's the one I mean." "Which evening, Mrs. Stone?" "That same day as the murder." "Around 6:30." ""I was alone in my house from 6 until 7." "Then I left and I didn't come back."" "Now, this is a portion of a statement that the defendant voluntarily made to the police at the time of his arrest." "It has already been entered in evidence as Exhibit D." "Miss Fuller, is this a true statement?" "But he was frightened." "He wanted to protect me." "Did the defendant lie in his statement to the police, or did he not?" "He lied." "I was there." "I got there about 6:30." "And what time did you leave?" "I left at 7:15." "Leaving the defendant still there?" "Alone in his house?" "Yes." "SAMPSON:" "Thank you." "That's all." "What was the purpose of your visit to Lester that evening, Miss Fuller?" "Well, to see if Lester was all right." "He'd been through a terrible experience." "A man had tried to kidnap him." "Concerning the picture you took of that same man talking to Judson Bailey at Corelli's Bar:" "on whose instructions did you take that picture?" "SAMPSON:" "Your Honor, the deceased is not on trial here, and even if he were, a picture of him talking to another man at a bar proves only one thing:" "that the person who snapped that picture knew how to operate a camera." "I take it you don't intend to introduce this particular picture into evidence, Mr. Prosecutor?" "Not until the jury trial, Your Honor." "We see no reason to waste the court's time now with secondary evidence which only corroborates another of defendant's lies about his stepfather." "We're quite willing to concede that there was a lie connected with the photograph in question, but a lie which the defense feels should be explored, because the man who posed with Judson Bailey in that photograph was quite real." "What's he trying to do to me?" "Shh." "And since the prosecutor has repeatedly suggested that the defendant in some way attempted to frame the deceased with said photograph," "I ask that we continue this line of questioning until the whole matter has been clarified." "And to that point, Your Honor," "I would like to recall a witness." "Which witness?" "Mr. Sam Crane." "If you have no objection, Mr. Prosecutor," "I'd like to understand this matter a little more fully myself." "Very well, Your Honor." "Well, Lester phoned me from what he said was a service station on the edge of town." "And that's when you first heard the defendant's story of narrowly averting death at the hands of a hired killer?" "Yes, that's right." "Mr. Crane, did Lester Martin describe his assailant to you?" "Yes, in great detail." "He wanted to find the man, naturally." "Do you recall any of that description?" "Yes." "Lester said the man was tall, six feet, had black, curly hair." "He said he wore a dark shirt with a white tie." "He had bushy eyebrows, and a scar on his left cheek." "Anything more?" "Uh, yes, yes." "He had a black mustache." "That's him!" "He's the one who came to the cottage in the morning." "Order." "Order, please." "Your Honor, I wonder if I might now recall someone." "Your Honor, there's a proper time for defense to parade his witnesses in here." "He certainly can wait a few minutes to question that man." "I said, recall someone." "One of your witnesses, Mr. Prosecutor." "Miss Lois Rogers." "JUDGE:" "You may step down, sir." "Miss Rogers, will you take the stand, please?" "May I remind you, Miss Rogers, that you are still under oath." "Now, Miss Rogers, you testified that when you met Judson Bailey in Corelli's, he had been talking to a man at the bar." "That's right." "Do you recall your exact conversation with Mr. Bailey?" "Well, I asked Judson who the man was and he said, "Just a guy."" "But he wasn't just a guy, of course." "Later on, Judson was very upset about the same man." "MASON:" "But couldn't he have been "just a guy," Miss Rogers?" "I don't understand." "Couldn't he have been some stranger who just struck up a conversation with Mr. Bailey?" "No." "Everyone here has described him." "I mean, Marge Fuller certainly knew who she was taking a picture of, didn't she?" "It must have been the same man." "That man could still have been a stranger to Mr. Bailey." "Well, I guess so." "Someone else could have hired that man, could they not?" "Arranged the picture-taking?" "Arranged it all so that Judson Bailey would be blamed?" "Stop it, stop it, stop it." "( crowd murmuring )" "I hired him." "I did it." "He'll tell you so himself." "I'm sorry, Lester." "The man wouldn't have killed you," "I told him to let you talk him out of it." "To frighten you." "To make you believe Bailey had hired him." "You understand, don't you, Emma?" "I had to make you hate Judson." "That's why I wanted to frame him." "When I got to the house, he and" "He and Lester had been fighting." "He had the picture and knew what I'd done." "I had to kill him then." "You understand, don't you Emma?" "I had to kill him." "Bailiff, you'll take Mr. Crane into custody." "Mr. Mason, I'll rule favorably on a motion to dismiss the charges against your client." "Court's adjourned." "My friend, for an impersonation like that, you've earned your 100 bucks." "( dramatic theme swells )" "Thank you." "Somehow I never figured Sam to be the murderer." "Well, if everyone was telling the truth, it had to be Sam." "What do you mean?" "Well, in the first place, it kept bothering me that Judson Bailey had accused you of framing him." "Everybody said he was so completely outraged, so angry at the accusations." "So if Bailey had told the truth, then someone else must have hired the kidnapper." "That's right." "Who told Marge to take that picture and exactly where to take it?" "And exactly when, and exactly what the hired man looked like." "Sam Crane told his man to go to Corelli's Bar, strike up a conversation with Bailey and leave after you'd had time to take that picture." "I don't know why I didn't get it when you did practically the same thing right in front of me." "Don't worry, I miss things like that all the time." "( shutter clicks )" "Excuse me, but didn't you want your picture taken?" "( all laughing )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"