"(theme song playing)" "I'm sorry, Wilson, but, uh, you'd better use some other cover design." "Something a little less..." "indiscreet." "Indiscreet?" "A drum majorette?" "Dr. Cromwell, this is practically prim, compared to the pin-up we had on last year's commencement issue." "I remember it well." "But..." "last year, James Vardon was not about to give the school a million-dollar endowment." "We need that money, Wilson." "It means a whole new future for the school." "We can't afford to jeopardize it." "Jeopardize it?" "With this?" "Mr. Vardon has some curiously straitlaced notions." "Boy, he must have." "I mean, what is it with him, anyway?" "Does he want the whole world scrubbed antiseptic just because he made his money in soap?" "(laughs) You should be majoring in psych, instead of journalism." "Well, okay, Dr. Cromwell." "I'll try and come up with something." "(door shuts)" "(whistles) Cromwell." "Knock it off and get out here, will you?" "We've got trouble." "What's the matter, Marcus?" "Don't tell me someone spiked the tea." "Oh, no such luck." "It's that Haskell idiot." "If you don't peel him off our backs, there's going to be open rebellion." "You and your commencement rehearsal-- fouling up a perfectly good faculty garden party." "If this is a sample, Heaven help the college when you take over as president." "You're only saying that because it's true." "Anyway, it wasn't my idea" "Haskell insisted on it." "There is no benefactor like Vardon, and Robert Haskell is his prophet." "Let's go, before your wife slips a mickey in his tea." "Oh, Mr. Haskell, do have some tea." "Oh, thank you, no, Mrs. Cromwell." "I don't have time now." "Everything must be just right for Mr. Vardon at the commencement." "I'm sure he won't mind your taking one moment off." "After all, the exercises are still a week away." "Pete, bring the sandwiches, will you?" "You're very kind, Mrs. Cromwell." "But at another time." "Next time, we'll hit him on the head." "Yes, ma'am." "That would slow him down." "But you got to hand it to him." "He sure is on the ball for Mr. Vardon." "I trust, Mr. Grove, that the stage will be decorated." "Mr. Vardon would not like to receive his honorary degree on a bare platform." "Customarily, we drape it in the college colors." "Unless, of course, you'd prefer something else." "That'll be fine." "Now, if you people will be kind enough to, uh... sit in the chairs." "I'd like to get the full effect." "Oh, there you are, Dr. Cromwell." "I hope you don't mind my checking on these things." "Oh, not at all." "Though we have had other commencements, you know." "Why don't you relax and enjoy the party?" "Duty before pleasure, Dr. Cromwell." "Now... the student body will be seated out there, right?" "The graduating class will march up here, receive their diplomas and go out over there." "Now, where will Mr. Vardon be?" "Seated on the stage, as the guest of honor." "I see." "I have a suggestion." "Wouldn't it be more impressive if Mr. Vardon arrives during the ceremonies?" "I mean, his car could come in the driveway there, where that taxi's coming now." "The car would stop, and he'd get out." "(woman grunts)" "(groans) Ah, ah!" "(woman yells)" "Hi, everybody!" "Hey, start the music, huh?" "(groans) Oh!" "(laughing shrilly)" "Hi, there." "Are you all right?" "(laughing) Sure." "I'm all right, fellas." "I'm... perfectly all right." "I sure sat down in the wrong pew, didn't I?" "(laughing)" "Huh?" "(whimpers)" "Oh, leave me alone." "I just want to see Curly." "(panting)" "Old Curly." "That's all." "Old Curly." "Curly, he'll take care of me." "(engine starts)" "Dispatcher?" "I'm trying to locate one of your taxi drivers." "It's very important." "No, not regarding an accident." "It's about a passenger he drove to the college campus a while ago." "(doorbell rings)" "Hi, Dr. Cromwell." "I'd like to check the new cover with you, if you got a minute." "Uh, well, all right, Wilson." "Come in." "I dug up this shot of the campus." "It's, uh..." "It's been used before, but I figure I can dress it up with a couple of mortised inserts-- maybe a picture of you up here as incoming president and then a shot of Mr. Vardon down here." "Uh, yes." "Yes, I think that should be all right." "Wilson?" "You're not carrying anything on... about what happened today." "Well..." "Well, I had kind of thought about, uh, running a box asking this Curly she was looking for to come forward and identify himself." "Wilson!" "Oh, I'm just kidding, sir." "I mean, even without Mr. Vardon to worry about," "I wouldn't poke fun at a sick person." "She had a heart attack in the cab, you know." "They took her to Mercy Hospital." "No, I..." "I didn't know." "Charles?" "Dear, you haven't much time to freshen up for that regents' meeting with Mr. Vardon." "Dick, you will forgive me if I interrupt." "I'd forgive you anything, Mrs. Cromwell." "(chuckles)" "(chuckles)" "What I mean is, uh, uh... thanks a lot for okaying the cover, sir." "Not at all." "I'm sure it'll be fine." "I hope so, and, uh, thanks again." "(door closes)" "Charles, you better hurry up." "Just a couple of minutes, Mary." "As soon as I make one phone call." "Is there something bothering you?" "You seem so preoccupied." "Only because of the Vardon endowment." "Once that's settled, I promise not to be so neglectful." "Now, I do have this call to make." "(phone rings)" "Cromwell speaking." "Oh, yes, Haskell." "Mr. Vardon will be leaving the hotel in a few minutes." "He'll pick you up in his car." "Very good." "I'll tell him you'll be ready." "He sounded a little jumpy." "Not that I blame him, with a million dollars about to drop in his lap." "You're not exactly fond of Dr. Cromwell, are you, Bob?" "Well, I am." "Isn't often you meet a man of his moral fiber." "Oh, I've got nothing against him personally." "It's just this endowment that he's talked you into." "Bob, when I sold out and retired," "I kept you on to manage my investments, not to question my spending." "Remember?" "Well, if you go through with this, there won't be nearly as many investments to manage." "Oh, is that what's worrying you?" "Afraid you'll be out of a job someday!" "That's hardly fair, Mr. Vardon." "It's not my future I'm thinking of." "It's yours." "At my age, there's a future?" "(chuckles) No, Bob." "I want my money to do some good while I'm still here to see it." "And I think a few up-and-coming educators like Cromwell are exactly the men to put that money to the very best use." "This year, not next." "(door opens)" "You really should move around a little." "Or at least let me bring you some coffee." "You've been sitting there for hours." "Oh, I'm quite all right." "I don't need anything." "Ah..." "Hi, Maizie." "Who scalped you, Curly?" "The years carry tomahawks." "Funny, I knew you'd be here." "I'd even have bet a fifth of tequila on it." "Boy, not much like that honky-tonk down in Panama, is it?" "All right, young lady." "You're supposed to be resting." "Doctor's orders." "Oh, tell him to go fly a kite." "Curly and me got a lot of remembering to do." "Not much time to do it in." "Curly, I..." "I'm sorry about this afternoon." "I didn't mean to drink and..." "Then I got all confused and..." "Nah." "No." "Forget it." "Curly?" "You were the nicest thing that ever happened to me in my whole life." "You know something?" "I used to save those things I read about you in the papers." "From that brawl, right on down through the years, when you got to be somebody." "Well, I even kept the clippings in a book." ""My little sailor boy,"" "I'd say to myself." ""I'm going to see him again someday before I... die."" "I took your advice, Maizie." "I came back and went to work." "Curly, listen." "I got a couple of grand stashed away." "I want you to use it to help some other kid get..." "Hold me, Curly." "Don't let me go!" "(breathing heavily)" "Nurse!" "You're going to be all right." "Here's Dr. Hunterlin." "Now, you be a nice girl while he tries to help you." "Shove off, Doc." "(weakly):" "Curly'll take care of me." "He remembered me." "Honey... you had such pretty, wavy hair." "Is there anyone we should notify?" "I don't know." "Look here, Doctor." "There's something I'd like to explain." "I mean, about my knowing her." "You see, that wonderful woman..." "That poor creature." "She must have been loads of fun in her day." "Why, even as sick as she was, the way she kept wisecracking..." "Miss Talbot, she is not to be discussed, particularly not in connection with Dr. Cromwell, for reasons that must be obvious to you." "If that's the way it is, though," "I think you should know about the paper she signed and had me witness before you came." "Paper?" "She acted like it was important." "Something about..." "a surprise for Curly." "And then when I came back later, it was gone." "Gone?" "Where?" "Well, I wouldn't know." "Unless she gave it to the orderly while I was relieving the duty desk." "You might ask him-- his name's Jonas." "Well, she asked me if I'd mail a letter for her." "She wanted me to put it in the box right away." "She said it was her will." "Her will?" "Are you sure of that?" "That's what she said." "Anyway, she was such a nice gal, I took it right downstairs." "Did you notice how she addressed the envelope?" "No, sir." "Made sure it had a stamp and sent it on its way." "Thanks." "Thanks a lot." "Years ago, before I was dry behind the ears," "Maizie Freitag saved me from a very ugly situation, Mr. Mason." "It was nothing to be ashamed of, but... well, I'd rather not go into details." "Now, I know it may sound callous to want to deny someone who did so much for me, but if Mr. Vardon learned that I even so much as knew a woman like Maizie, he'd cancel his gift to the college," "and we'd lose the Sumner Foundation million, as well." "So you'd like to keep the relationship concealed?" "Not for myself..." "but for all the others." "So... isn't there some legal way to hush up this will of hers, before Vardon learns about it?" "Not if it's probated, Dr. Cromwell, as under the law it must be." "The will then becomes a matter of public record." "However, it's possible she didn't actually name you." "No, I'm..." "I'm sure she did." "That $2,000." "Now, see here, couldn't I refuse the bequest, whatever it might be?" "The beneficiary has that right, yes, but that wouldn't suppress the will." "If only I knew who had it, where it was sent." "But I don't." "There is one hope, Dr. Cromwell." "If Miss Freitag mailed her will directly to the court, it might be delayed on the clerk's desk for a few days, pending petition for probate." "I could ask Paul Drake to inquire into the matter, if you wish." "But what good would that do?" "He..." "He couldn't get it back, could he?" "No." "But at least you'd be informed." "You would know best how to cope with the situation." "Yes, thank you, Mr. Mason." "Meantime, I'll make some inquiries of my own in Euclid Heights." "Well, she must've been belting that sauce pretty hard before I picked her up." "Nothing she said made much sense to me, and I certainly didn't talk to her." "But you don't remember where you picked her up?" "Well, it was someplace on the River Road, but exactly what cross..." "Your company record book says Wilson Street." "Yeah, that sounds about right." "You know, a guy's got so many..." "Th-That's near the Travel Rest Lodge, isn't it?" "Yeah." "Well, did she come out of the lodge?" "Was she staying there?" "Well, come to think of it, uh, yeah, she did say she was staying there." "Yes, here it is." "(piano tune plays)" "Miss Freitag checked in about 9:00 in the morning." "Stayed in her room till, oh, 1:30, quarter of 2:00..." "You say she had a reservation?" "Yeah, for one night-- paid in advance by Mr. Haskell over at the Park View Hotel." "Haskell?" "Robert Haskell?" "That's right." "Quite an important man, I understand." "I don't know what the connection with that woman was, but you might ask Jerry-- he's our barkeep." "I saw Mr. Haskell talking to him after he'd stopped by to reserve the room." "Thank you." "Sure,I'm sure it was Haskell." "He's been here before." "First time he's ever tipped me, though." "Tipped you for what?" "Oh, for stocking the woman's room with liquor before she checked in." "When I saw what she looked like," "I didn't think it was a very good idea." "Maybe some sort of a joke or something." "Anyway, I saw him slip ten bucks to the cabdriver." "A cabdriver?" "He told him to pick the dame up later and float her out to the college campus-- something about a..." "an old pal out there she was gonna surprise." "Haskell, I want to talk to you." "Open up, I know you're in there." "They said so down at the desk." "Hask..." "When I found there was no Freitag will in probate downtown, I drove out to Euclid Heights and ran into something else." "And that was?" "Remember you wondered why Maizie would pop up out of Cromwell's past at just the moment it would most embarrass him?" "You said it puzzled you." "Still does, Paul." "Now, coincidence might be the answer, but don't you think there's the possibility this whole thing might have been contrived by someone with ulterior motive?" "Well, motives I wouldn't know about, but..." "I did backtrack Maizie to a motel." "Now, the reservation was made and paid for by one Robert Haskell, who just happens to be a financial watchdog for Cromwell's millionaire, James Vardon." "Well, now." "There's more." "It was also Haskell who saw to it that Maizie was stoned and then sent out to the campus." "And on top of that, somebody else checked all this just ahead of me." "It wasn't Cromwell, was it?" "Could be." "Well, Paul, what do you think?" "Well..." "I think we should go and have a little talk with this Robert Haskell." "MASON:" "Mr. Haskell?" "Mr. Haskell?" "Paul." "Well, let's see what we have." "Victim's name was Robert Haskell." "He worked for a James Vardon." "You found the body at approximately 2:10, called us without disturbing anything and didn't see anyone until we got here." "Neither of you knew Haskell personally, have no idea who killed him or ransacked the room." "Is that the story?" "Complete and correct." "Not quite." "You still haven't told us what you were doing here." "I wanted to talk to Haskell on behalf of my client." "Mm-hmm." "What client?" "I'm sorry, that's privileged information." "Of course." "How dense of me." "Man out here named Vardon wants to talk to you, Sergeant." "And by Heavens, I intend to." "Who's in charge here?" "I am." "I just heard about Bob." "I want to know what's being done about it." "Vardon?" "Oh, yes, Haskell was employed by you." "He was almost a son to me." "I'm asking you what's been done to find his killer!" "Let me ask the questions, Mr. Vardon." "I'll get in touch if I want you, Mr. Mason." "You can begin by telling me what enemies he had." "Enemies?" "Bob had no enemies!" "He had one." "(phone ringing)" "Hello." "Dr. Cromwell's residence." "Oh." "Well, I've been downtown shopping." "I just this moment got in." "Yes, I know" " I heard it on the car radio coming home." "(doorbell rings)" "Wait a minute, somebody's at the door." "What?" "Well, of course I have to answer it." "Why shouldn't I?" "Well, what's happened?" "Wh... (doorbell rings)" "Wait a minute." "Mrs. Cromwell?" "My name is Mason." "May I speak with your husband?" "Oh, I'm sorry, but he's not in." "PerryMason, the attorney?" "Yes." "I'm very anxious to find Dr. Cromwell." "Why?" "There's been some trouble, I'm afraid-- a man by the name of Haskell." "Oh, yes, I know about that, but my husband doesn't have anything to do with it, does he?" "No, I'm sure not." "If you can just help me locate him." "Perhaps he's at the college." "Why don't you try there?" "Uh, yes, and, uh, I'll call you if I hear from him, right away." "Would you... happen to have a recent picture of him I might borrow?" "Uh, they must have one down at the Vanguard-- that's the undergraduate magazine." "Oh, wait a minute, our... our daughter took a snapshot of us just the other day." "Yes." "Here it is." "It's rather casual, but..." "Thank you, Mrs. Cromwell." "This will do nicely." "(door closes)" "(exhales):" "Now, what on earth is wrong?" "What happened?" "You did what?" "!" "No..." "No, never mind." "Where are you?" "All right, wait there." "Don't leave." "I'll be right there." "(piano tune plays) JERRY:" "Yes, sir, if it hadn't have been for the regular desk clerk's afternoon off, he'd have said the same thing." "This is the man, all right." "You're positive?" "Oh, absolutely." "There was a Paul Drake by here later, and he wanted some information on the Freitag woman, too." "But this is the first one that asked me." "And when I told him what Mr. Haskell arranged for out here-- the liquor and the cab-- he took off mad enough to blow a fuse." "I see." "Well, thank you very much." "Not at all." "Say, that woman's quite a looker." "She's been in here, too." "She's, uh... been here with the man in the snapshot?" "No, a younger fellow-- a college student, if I had my guess." "And I remember him for a different reason, too." "He came back later to pick up the handbag the lady left here, and you have never seen a kid so shook up when I told him Mr. Haskell already had it." "Uh, the young man who was here with this lady, can you describe him?" "Yeah." "He was about, oh, medium height." "He had sandy hair... and he had a scar right here, like he'd sliced himself the first time he ever shaved." "MARY:" "What you've told me's bad enough." "You had a fistfight with Mr. Haskell because he wouldn't return my handbag." "Now he's dead." "Why was it so important, Dick?" "Why?" "I..." "I wanted to protect you from scandal." "I..." "I was afraid he'd tell your husband." "Tell him what?" "If you only knew." "The trouble is, that night in the cocktail bar," "I..." "I-I slipped a poem into your handbag when you weren't looking." "It was a... a-a love poem I-I wrote and... signed and put your name on." "Oh, Dick, you didn't." "That's why I insisted on going back after it when you left it." "I..." "Well, I-I wanted to tear up that crazy poem before you saw it." "I..." "I got to thinking you might laugh." "But... well, Haskell had your purse by then." "Now the police'll find that crazy poem, and it'll... it'll be in all the papers, and... your husband'll know it came from your handbag." ""You hold my heart in thoughtless hands."" "Mr. Mason, there's no point in being persistent." "I tell you I simply don't know where Dr. Cromwell is." "And that's exactly what I told the police not five minutes ago." "All right." "But what about the young man I described?" "What about him?" "We're in a world full of young men." "You quite sure you don't know him, Dr. Tate?" "When you've been around a campus as long as I have, they all begin to look alike." "My investigator says he drives a car registered under the name of Richard Wilson." "The college office says that a senior named Dick Wilson takes two courses from you." "All right." "What is it about Wilson you're interested in, Mason?" "His relationship with Mrs. Cromwell." "Now, see here, the Cromwells happen to be very dear friends of mine." "I take it there has been gossip, then." "There's gossip on every campus." "You'd need a computer to count the undergraduates who've had callow crushes on faculty wives or coeds who've fallen for instructors." "I'm only concerned with things affecting Dr. Cromwell." "Look here, Mason." "Robert Haskell had that same malicious habit of digging up scandal about everybody." "DRAKE:" "Perry." "Excuse me, Dr. Tate." "Anything more, Paul?" "Well, Maizie's will still hasn't arrived at probate." "But I understand the police have been down at Mercy Hospital talking to a nurse." "Something about a Curly Oliver." "He was the guy Maizie kept calling for just before she died." "Well, that certainly gives us less and less time." "How right you are." "Sergeant Landro's just over there talking to a man named Grove, checking up on the endowment thing and on Cromwell." "Oh, Mason, wait." "Look here, is Cromwell really going to be in trouble?" "Would you like an opinion or a fact, Dr. Tate?" "There's an old office that I didn't mention to anyone." "It's in the old lab building." "Charlie goes there sometimes." "Charles." "I was afraid I wouldn't find you." "Mary, where have you been?" "I called the house and called it and called it." "Darling, listen." "There..." "There's something I want to explain to you." "There's nothing to explain." "But I think you should be at home now, in case..." "No!" "Not until I find out what's troubling you." "Mary, now, we both know what this is all about." "As far as young Wilson's poem is concerned, those things happen;" "forget it." "You don't have to explain it to me or anyone else." "No one'll ever see it." "I burned it." "And your handbag is where it could've been mislaid accidentally, under the seat of the car." "Then you found my handbag." "Where?" "Where you overlooked it, I guess." "Though it was in plain view." "In Haskell's hotel room." "Charles." "You thought I..." "We have a daughter to think about now, nothing else." "Go home and look after her." "I'll take care of the rest of it." "Oh, darling, you thought I..." "Then you were there." "In his room." "Hurry, darling." "You can go out the back way." "Hello, Doctor." "Mason." "How did you find me?" "Did you tell him?" "No." "I've..." "The point is, Dr. Cromwell," "I did find you, as the police will find you." "I don't know what you mean." "Dr. Cromwell, I came here to help you." "Obviously, you've been avoiding everyone." "Now, there's no time for equivocations, either from you or from Mrs. Cromwell." "Leave her out of this, Mr. Mason." "I don't want Mary so much as mentioned in connection with Haskell." "Is that clear?" "She's going home now." "If you want to talk to me after she leaves..." "We'll talk now, Curly." "That's for me to decide." "What did you call me?" "Curly." "And you responded automatically." "But... how did you know?" "Simple addition." "Doctor, you can't delay any longer." "The police have already been to Mercy Hospital." "Yes, the nurse who witnessed Maizie's will." "The doctor who was the..." "Hello, Mr. Mason." "Dr. Cromwell." "Yes." "Sorry, Doctor, but I'm taking you to headquarters for questioning in connection with the murder of Robert Haskell." "I warn you that anything you say at this time may be used against you." "I arrived at the hotel at 2:30 and immediately noticed decedent's face bore subcutaneous discolorations characteristic of fist bruises." "I also observed a lateral mid-temporal skull fracture, which my subsequent autopsy examination confirmed as having been the cause of death." "HORNER:" "In your opinion, Doctor, how was this fatal skull injury inflicted?" "Well, decedent had obviously been knocked down." "Uh, in falling, his head struck a corner of a bureau." "HORNER:" "Now, did you form a conclusion as to the time this had happened?" "Well, I would venture the death had occurred between 15 minutes and a half hour prior to my arrival." "Certainly, Haskell died no earlier than five minutes before 2:00." "Now, Mr. Wilson, at what time did you accost Mr. Haskell outside of his hotel?" "About 1:00, or maybe a few minutes before." "Had he then any facial contusions?" "No, sir." "Did you hit him?" "Well, I..." "I tried, but he beat me to the punch and knocked me flat." "After which, you say, he went back into his hotel." "Yes, sir." "And I thought about following him, but then I changed my mind, like I told you." "So that's the last I saw of him." "Now, I show you this handbag, Mr. Wilson, marked People's Exhibit Number One and previously introduced as having been found in Dr. Cromwell's automobile." "And I ask you if you recognize this as belonging to Mrs. Cromwell." "Yes, sir, that's, uh... that's the bag I fought with Haskell about." "Was it in the possession of the decedent on the day of his death?" "Objected to as calling for a response not within the knowledge of the witness." "But he said he had it." "I withdraw the question, Your Honor." "Cross-examine." "Mr. Wilson... after being ingloriously knocked flat by a much older man, you say you just thought about going after him?" "Well, no, of course not." "I..." "I already said I started after him into the hotel." "I..." "I just changed my mind, that's all." "Where were you when you changed your mind?" "I-In one of the corridors, I-I guess." "I-I realized it was crazy..." "In which corridor, Mr. Wilson?" "Look, I already said all this to the police." "I didn't see him again." "Which corridor?" "The-the one that goes to the rooms." "MASON:" "Which floor?" "WILSON:" "Well, the third floor..." "MASON:" "The floor on which Mr. Haskell's room was located, is that correct?" "Yes, sir." "Now, how many people were in that corridor?" "Nobody was there." "Yet you changed your mind about entering Mr. Haskell's room." "Did you knock on his door?" "Yes, I started to..." "And then you stopped." "Why?" "Why, Mr. Wilson?" "Did you see something?" "Did you hear something?" "WILSON (sighs):" "All right." "Yes." "There was somebody there in the room." "I..." "I heard Haskell yelling at him." ""What's the big idea," he said, "searching my room?"" "And then Pete said," ""I want the money you promised me, you dirty welsher."" "Well, I-I..." "I was afraid there'd be worse trouble and I'd be caught there, so I, so I beat it." "I..." "Now, just a minute." "You said, "Pete." Pete who?" "You recognized the other person's voice?" "WILSON:" "Sure." "It was Pete Gibson." "Bailiff, stop that man." "Mr. Horner, the court appreciates that the prosecution may not wish to vouch for this man as a prosecution witness." "And certainly the defense should not be bound by his testimony." "But since the court wishes to find out what this man knows," "I'm going to have him put on the stand as the court's witness and question him as such." "Now, uh, the procedure is irregular, but the court feels it to be in the best interest of justice." "Sure, Mr. Haskell caught me going through his room." "I had a right to." "He owed me money, and he wouldn't pay it." "Every time I asked him for it, he put me off." "Go on, Mr. Gibson." "So, I-I figured I'd maybe find some cash in his room." "That or something I could hock for what I had coming." "But I never laid a hand on him, I swear I never." "We, uh, did some yelling, but there wasn't any rough stuff." "Uh, didn't the doc say a little while ago that he was killed a little before 2:00?" "Well, I can prove by Dr. Tate that I was out of the hotel a few minutes past 1:00." "Uh, Your Honor, I didn't intend to call Dr. Tate at this time, but I notice he's here." "So if it'd please the court..." "You intend to call Dr. Tate before cross-examination of Mr. Gibson?" "Mr. Gibson has not yet been adjudged a prosecution witness, Counselor." "Well, I have no objection to his being considered as such, Your Honor." "Very well, then." "So ruled." "And you may call Dr. Tate to the stand, yes." "You may step down, Mr. Gibson." "Of course I know Gibson." "He's been a combination handyman-janitor at the college for the past ten years." "Thank you." "Now, calling your attention to the afternoon in question... did you see him coming out of the hotel, as per his testimony?" "Oh, yes, definitely." "I offered him a lift to the campus, but he had the college utility pickup, so we drove off separately." "HORNER:" "Did you notice the time, Dr. Tate?" "Yes, I did." "The campus tower clock strikes every quarter hour." "You can hear it all over town." "It rang 1:15 as I got into my car." "I remember setting my dashboard clock with it." "So then if Haskell wasn't killed until around 2:00, you are in a position to establish at least a partial alibi for Mr. Gibson." "Well, more than partial." "I saw Gibson already on the campus when I got back there at 2:00." "Thank you." "That's all." "Any questions, Mr. Mason?" "Not at this time, Your Honor." "I would also like to postpone my cross-examination of the witness Gibson until I've had time to study and consider the testimony." "Very well." "I remember what time it was because I was to get off at 2:00, and I hadn't cleaned up Mr. Haskell's room yet." "So I decided to leave the sheets and the towels outside for the other chambermaid to attend to it." "That's when I saw a man come out of the room and hurry down the stairs." "Now, is that what impressed you-- his using the stairs instead of the elevator?" "No, no." "Lots of folks do." "What really struck me was that he was carrying a lady's handbag." "Men don't usually like to." "Anyhow, my husband gets embarrassed if I ask him to take mine for a minute in a store or somewhere..." "Now, is this the handbag you saw him bring from Mr. Haskell's room?" "Well, or one about like it." "The same big initials and all." "Now, I ask you to look around and tell me if you recognize the man you saw." "Well, yes, sir." "That's him right there" " Dr. Cromwell." "Well, Dr. Cromwell had worked very hard to obtain a million-dollar endowment from Mr. Vardon, and to obtain it during the present fiscal year." "Well, we're only concerned with the general background of Mr. Haskell's relationship with the college and the defendant, Mr. Grove." "Now, my question is..." "Yes, I know, sir." "You're seeking motive." "Mr. Haskell was just a go-between for Mr. Vardon." "And as such," "Mr. Haskell was here, apparently, to ask questions." "To investigate, to open our books and pry in our private lives." "To make himself thoroughly offensive." "And did he ever discuss any of his findings with you personally?" "Well, he admitted that he was against the endowment, if that's what you mean-- at least at the present time." "HORNER:" "And did you discuss this matter with the defendant?" "Don't be ridiculous." "I wanted us to have the money as badly as he did." "Mr. Vardon, let me ask you... was Mr. Haskell a wealthy man?" "No." "All he had is what I paid him." "About 15,000 a year." "Yet did he, over the past four years, maintain trading accounts with several different brokerage houses?" "Well, I would say that was his privilege." "As I told you last night, Mr. Horner..." "I'm afraid we have a few more figures since then, Mr. Vardon, figures which I'm prepared to offer in evidence." "But to save time, I'll simply ask you." "Is it possible that Mr. Haskell could have invested as much as $750,000 in highly speculative issues, issues which at current market prices happen to be down a quarter of a million dollars?" "One moment, Mr. Prosecutor." "May I see those papers?" "Mr. Mason?" "I have no objection to this line of questioning, Your Honor." "I'm aware of the evidence." "Very well." "Proceed." "Mr. Vardon, I show you a list of securities hypothecated by Mr. Haskell to obtain credit for his speculations." "I ask you if these items are familiar to you." "Why, yes." "Yes, they're identical to a number of my own holdings." "Precisely." "Now is it possible that Mr. Haskell could have used his power of attorney to put them up as security to finance his own stock market operations?" "Why, it's obviously what an audit will discover." "Had Haskell been forced to sell his speculative issues at current market prices, he would have been out a quarter of a million dollars." "He thus would have been unable to redeem your gilt-edged securities and replace them in your portfolio, is that not correct?" "And of course, that's why he was so anxious to keep me from giving money to the college." "It would have brought on an immediate audit." "There, is that what you wanted me to say?" "Yes." "Thank you very much." "No further questions." "Do you state under oath, Mr. Vardon, that you were unaware of all this until after Haskell's death?" "I was completely ignorant of it." "Why, if I'd known that Bob was stealing from me," "I would've..." "You'd have done what, Mr. Vardon?" "What would you have done to Mr. Haskell?" "Now, Sergeant, it has been established in testimony that the decedent was instrumental in bringing a woman here to town named Maizie Freitag, for the purpose of embarrassing and discrediting Dr. Cromwell." "We have heard both a doctor and a nurse admit that they saw the woman die with Dr. Cromwell holding her hand." "Now I ask you, Sergeant, do police files contain any reference to a man known as Curly Oliver?" "Objection, Your Honor." "The question is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial." "Your Honor, I intend to show that this Curly Oliver and Dr. Charles Cromwell are one and the same person." "I further intend to show that this identical individual, 26 years ago in Panama City, was involved in a barroom murder by stabbing." "Now, this present witness has investigated and made himself familiar with the case, which is still open in Panama." "To which we would object, Your Honor, on the ground that the investigation by this witness would be predicated upon hearsay testimony." "Your Honor, we have no intention of relying on this witness to establish the facts of the case, but to provide additional motivation for Haskell's murder." "I further intend to show that there is still a fugitive warrant out for this man known as Curly Oliver-- whose escape from the police 26 years ago was aided and abetted by a bar girl known as Maizie Freitag." "The very same Maizie Freitag who was brought here by Haskell and who died with the defendant at her bedside." "Talk about a tailor-made murder motive." "I can already hear Horner pouring it on a jury." ""Ladies and gentlemen, it must be obvious to you" ""that a man with one homicide charge already against him would, in order to conceal his past, kill again."" "Just because he was accused, doesn't mean he was guilty of stabbing anyone." "He told me it was nothing but a free-for-all barroom fight." "He didn't even see the man get killed." "He was just a kid." "He was sick." "He'd been dropped from his ship." "He ran, didn't he?" "Oh, there was a lot of bad feeling in those days." "He was the only stranger there-- 17, scared to death, being chased by the police." "That's when Maizie Freitag took him in." "By luck, he'd just happened to save her neck in that fight." "She nursed him back to health, gave him some good advice and helped him get out of the country a couple weeks later." "All right, but any man who changes his name..." "He just took the name Curly Oliver so his family wouldn't find him when he ran away to sea." "After he came home, he went back to being Charles Cromwell, that's all." "Argue all you like, but he's still painted into a heck of a corner." "Paul, we only have the weekend, but I want a complete background on Pete Gibson." "Also, on Mr. Grove." "Uh, the man who set up the endowment business." "On my way." "Della." "Mm-hmm." "I'd like the earliest plane reservation to Panama." "Also, put in a call to Panama City" "Señor Rafael Dominguez y Sandoval." "That's the man who helped us on the extradition case two years ago." "He's a great lawyer." "And politically, a most influential man." "Photostatic copies of the police file, amigo mio." "And names of all persons found in the barroom when the stabbing occurred." "I'm very grateful, my friend." "Por nada." "To you, my door is always open." "I'm also a little surprised at such a complete record." "Not the police record, this one." "But you see, the stabbing victim was the older brother of someone who now has much importance in Panama." "Someone who has watched every lead the police have taken to locate the murderer." "Plus, a great many leads of his own." "Someone who would step in the moment something new developed in the case." "But there, I leave you to search the records for yourself." "Señor Sandoval, who is this someone you just spoke of?" "Myself, Señor Mason." "Well, of course I talked to Mr. Haskell." "Several times." "Now, I've already said that." "You also testified that Haskell owed you money." "How much money, Mr. Gibson?" "Uh... $300." "I needed it bad." "I was being pushed for it." "What service worth $300 had you rendered Robert Haskell?" "I-I-I don't recollect." "Perhaps we can help your recollection." "How did you get your job at Euclid College?" "Well, Mr. Gibson?" "Uh... it was ten years ago." "I walked into Dr. Cromwell's office." "Uh, I-I was new in town, and I needed a job pretty bad." "Uh..." "My wife has always been ill, you see." "Uh..." "You just walked in and asked for a job?" "Did you have any sort of recommendation?" "Any sort of letter with you?" "It was just a note, uh, that's all." "It said, "Please give this man a job."" "That's all it said." "And who had signed that note?" "Maizie Freitag." "Now, Mr. Gibson, in consulting certain personal records in Panama, your name appeared as a one-time friend of Maizie Freitag." "What of it?" "Well, did you discuss that friendship with Dr. Cromwell?" "No, sir." "Uh, Maizie told me not to." "She told me, "Don't impose."" "She said just show the man this note if I was ever really in trouble for work." "So-so that's what I done." "Uh... oh, the doc, he asked questions and said what a nice person she was and all, but" "I just said I barely met her, and that's all we ever talked about it." "How much did you talk about it with other people?" "GIBSON:" "Not to anyone." "Why would I?" "Of course." "Why would you?" "Until Mr. Haskell came along." "No, no, now..." "Until Mr. Haskell came along looking for anyone to help discredit Dr. Cromwell, and you needed $300 desperately." "All right, I told him about Maizie." "But I didn't know much about any killing down there." "It was only gossip, like you hear in those joints." "But Haskell investigated, is that right?" "And he sent for Maizie, knowing the embarrassment of her presence here would make it impossible for Dr. Cromwell to explain away his past to Mr. Vardon." "Sure, that's what we fought about." "Haskell sent for Maizie, and he signed my name." "He told her that Dr. Cromwell said it was okay for her to come up here, and he signed my name." "And after he used you like that, you killed him because he refused to pay you that $300, isn't that so?" "No, I wanted more money." "I wanted a lot more." "But I never killed him." "I swear, I never." "Look, you heard Dr. Tate say what time I come out of the hotel, didn't you?" "You heard what time he saw me on the campus." "Yes, I did, Mr. Gibson, but I'm afraid we'll have to hear from Dr. Tate again, because frankly, I believe you're lying." "No, sir, the chimes were ringing." "It was 2:00 when I saw him on the campus, all right." "Yet, I have depositions from three students who said they saw him downtown tinkering with his car." "They would have offered to give him a tow, but they were afraid of missing their 2:00 class." "Well, perhaps I was a few minutes off." "Yes, it could have been a little later." "Could the mistake have been in your attempt to furnish Gibson with an alibi he didn't need, in order to give yourself an alibi you do need, Dr. Tate?" "I don't understand." "Dr. Tate, do you recall a conversation with me in which you stated that I would need a computer to count the times an undergraduate has had a callow crush on one of the faculty member's wives?" "Or that a coed has fallen for an instructor?" "I may have said that." "Do you also recall stating that Haskell had a malicious habit of digging up scandal about everyone?" "I don't see the importance..." "Dr. Tate, did you ever teach at a small New England college?" "I beg your pardon?" "A college where a certain young coed once tried to slash her wrists?" "I won't answer that." "I refuse to." "Your Honor, I would like to recall another witness at this time." "Who, Counselor?" "Mr. Grove, the Euclid College Treasurer." "I said that Mr. Haskell asked questions, that he pried into our private lives, but that's all I said." "Well, he was certainly trying to find means of bringing pressure on everyone to stall the endowment, is that correct?" "I suppose so." "Did he try to bring pressure on you, Mr. Grove?" "No." "Now, Mr. Grove, as an officer of the college, you have access to all the faculty personnel records, do you not?" "Yes." "Dr. Tate's record?" "Oh, stop it!" "Stop!" "Of course Grove knows!" "Charlie Cromwell knows!" "It's just not the sort of thing you tell the regents, that you tell the public, that's all." "A poor, tragic girl trying to kill herself." "Yes, yes, it nearly wrecked my career once." "But there was no blame to it, only in the mouth of a man like Haskell." "When I discovered what Haskell was up to," "I went to his hotel." "I was already outraged over what he was trying to do to my best friends, the Cromwells." "When I told Haskell what I thought of him, he struck me." "I struck him." "You killed him?" "Yes, yes, make me say it." "I struck him, and he fell against something." "And he didn't move again." "Let me tell you what I am-- a disgusting, frightened coward who almost let his best friend be tried for murder!" "Where's Dr. Cromwell?" "In there, telling Vardon that before he can accept any million-dollar endowments, the regents will have to approve a $2,000 gift from the estate of Miss Maizie Freitag." "The gift to be used as scholarship loans to male students." "I have a hunch Vardon'll second the motion." "There's just one thing, Perry." "If Dick Wilson's poem was so innocent, what was Mrs. Cromwell doing in the cocktail lounge with him?" "Discussing a gift from the graduating class to her husband." "Who told you that?" "Dr. Cromwell." "And in a very firm tone, too." "You've just restored my faith in marriage and men." "DRAKE:" "Perry, what about this Panama thing?" "After all, if your friend Sandoval's keeping the caseopen..." "Apparently, it was just a barroom brawl." "And apparently, Sandoval suspected who did the stabbing, but simply didn't want to pursue the matter." "All that concerns us is the fact that it wasn't Curly Oliver" "Cromwell." "I knew he didn't do that." "How?" "Well, Mrs. Cromwell told me." "She said that..." "Well, she just convinced me that her husband couldn't have done such a thing." "There you are." "No logic, but it... confirms your faith in women." "Confirms your faith in women." "(chuckles)" "(theme music plays)"