"Train 31, Empire Service Express, leaving on track 5, for Albany..." "Father!" "...Utica,Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls." " Are you all right, father?" " I'm fine." " You should've let me come out to meet you." " To see me get out of prison." "It's not a thing I want you to remember." "You're home now, father." "That's all that matters." " What is it, father?" " Mr. Colby didn't come." " Did you expect him, too?" " Yes." "Yes, I did." "Father, please." "Let's go home now." "I'll call him." "I'll call Mr. Colby this afternoon." "Good morning, miss." "I..." "Excuse me, I'd like to see Mr. Colby..." "These are the contracts." "Mr. Colby wants them right away." " Excuse me, but I'd like to see..." " I'm sorry, you'll have to wait." "This is from the contract department." "They're for Mr. Colby." " Can you tell me where I...?" " Just a moment, please!" "These contracts are for Mr. Colby." "Well, I can't disturb him right now, he's at conference." "How many doors and secretaries do you have to get through to get to see this guy?" "Anything I can do for you?" "Any number of things, but unfortunately I'm here on business." " Are you...?" " I wanna see Mr. Colby." "What do you want to see him about?" "Well, he's been carrying out with my grandmother." "I'd like to find out what his intentions are." "If you have any business with Mr. Colby,..." "I have lots of business, but it's all personal." "I'm his secretary." "His personal secretary." "Well, it just goes to show you how far a girl can get it, ...she keeps her stockings seems straight." "Don't get up, thank you, I'll announce myself." "Just a moment, you can't go in there." "Don't blame the girl, Mr. Colby, whichever one you are." "She did her best." "I trust this is something urgent." "If you are Andrew Colby, this is very urgent." "I am." "Well, my name is Robert Regan, I'm an attorney." "I'm representing a client named Emilio Canepa." "As result of your negligence driving, ...his push car load of bananas were damaged to the extent of 68$ and 72 cents." "You ignored my letters, ...so I brought you a little invitation ordering you to appear in my district's court." "This, in case you've never seen one, is the summons." "They're issued by the city of New York." "Yes I've heard of the procedure." "In that case, good day." "Oh, just a minute, Mr. Regan" "Perhaps we can settle this matter out of court." "Forgive me, gentlemen." "I assure you, it wasn't my intention to defraud your client." "I turned your letters over to my attorneys, Porter and Griswold..." "Porter and Griswold!" "They wouldn't even take a bath, ...unless it involved a thousand hundred dollars." "Mr. Porter's wife might resent that remark." "Yes, I'm afraid she might." " This is Mr. Porter and Mr. Griswold." " Hmm..." " How do you do?" " How do you do?" "For your convenience, I've brought you an itemized account." "23$ for the damage of the push car, 12$ for the bananas..." "Emilio Canepa doesn't think this is funny." "Of course not." "I'm sorry." " Ok." " I'll see that Mr. Canepa gets a check." "And a letter congratulating him on his choice of attorneys." "Thank you." "Do you always attend to this matters personally, Mr. Reagan?" "Well, I thought my client was getting pushed around." "I didn't like that." "Well, goodbye, Mr. Colby." " Goodbye." "Sorry if I got you in a jam." "Anything for the cause of justice." "Say, you know you're a lot prettier than the girls out there." "But, obviously, that's why you're in here." "Obviously." "What do you do saturday nights?" "Oh, play marbles with the girls next door." " Look, I know of a little place..." " I'm sure you do." "Well, the name's Regan, Robert Regan." "I'll try to remember." "I'm in the book." "In case your push card ever gets pushed." "It very rarely does." "I don't anticipate any serious trouble on this loan, Andrew." "Did you ring, Mr. Colby?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Faraday." "Did Mr. Murdock return?" "No, he hastn't." "It is unfortunate that Kroner should be getting out of prison at precisely this time." "You can assure everyone concerned that Kroner has absolutely no connection with my organization any longer." " I think that's all we need." "Goodbye." " Goodbye" "I'm sorry about the interruption, Andrew." "You mean Regan?" "It was the welcome relief." " How did things go?" " Beautifully beautifully." "As a matter of fact, ...you can wire our Paris office that we'll be ready to leave in two weeks." " I'm ready right now." " Why?" " You're getting tired of New York?" " Oh, not particularly." "It's just that well, high finances aren't my idea of the most stimulating thing in the world." "But the things you can do with the money." "You can buy steamships, and oil wells and head waiters..." "Wouldn't you like an old stuff majordomo to use as a hat rack?" "Oh, come in, Charles." "I've been waiting for you." "Kroner got in at the 10.12." "Nobody met him but his daughter." "Five years it doesn't seem possible." " How did he look, Charles?" " Oh, 'bout the same." "Thiner, a little bitter." "I suppose I should see him." " Should I try to reach him for you?" " No." "No, we wait for him to call us." "Noel that young attorney who was here, ...what do you think of him?" "Well, I don't know." "Rushed, hot-headed, fairly bright, I imagine." "Have him come to see me tonight." "Come to see you?" "Yes, 9 o'clock." "At home." "Is Mr. Colby at home?" " Who should I say is calling?" " Mr. Regan." "Robert Regan" "Come in, please." "Expecting someone?" "Come this way, Mr. Regan." " May I take your things, please?" " Oh, thank you." "Quite a place." "A fella could get lonesome." "Good evening, Mr. Regan." " My name is Noel Faraday." " Well, hello." "I'm representing Andrew Colby." "This, in case you've never seen one, is not a summons." "Thank you." "When I'm worth 40 million dollars, I'm going to have a secretary who looks exactly like you." "Oh, my taste is fairly simple." "20 million would be quite enough." "How's Emilio Canepa?" "Expecting a check." "I feel like a man of distinction." "Are you?" "As distinctive as you can get it at Public School 45." "Well, what's the idea of this interview?" "Why don't you ask Mr. Colby?" "I thought you were his personal secretary." "Oh, he keeps a few secrets from me." "I couldn't." "What kind of a guy is he, anyway?" "Attractive, ...generous, ...warm-hearted, ...brilliant." " Good shot, Mr. Colby." " Thank you, won't you join me?" " I'm a little out of practice." " Good." "Thank you, Noel." "Don't forget to save your nickels, Mr. Regan." "20 million will do it." "That's a very attractive secretary you have there, Mr. Colby." "I'm still young enough to notice that myself, Mr. Regan." "Were you surprised to hear from me so soon?" "Sure I was surprised." "I was very much impressed with you this afternoon." "That's funny." "I didn't think you'd feel like that." "I like your agressiveness, your loyalty to your client." "It's a very rare thing to find this days, loyalty." "You can buy it at any dog store downtown." "Unfortunately, that's about the only place." "How would you like to come and work with me, Mr. Regan?" "Sounds fine." "For considerably more money than I believe you're earning now." "Sounds even better." " It's all settled?" " Not quite." "What do I do for all this money?" "What have I got that Porter and Griswold haven't?" "You wouldn't believe me if I told you I needed another attorney." "Nothing more than if you told me you needed another million dollars." "I didn't think you would." "Regan, you understand, of course, ...that this is aprofessional, rather than a social visit." "You can talk freely, if that's what you mean" "I'll try to make it short." "Up until five years ago I had a business associate, ...a man named Leopold Kroner." "He became financially entangled, ...and took nearly a million dollars' worth in bonds belonging to our firm." "He had counterfeit duplicates made, and then using his position as an executive, ...sold those counterfeit bonds." "Clever boy." "Not so clever." "He was discovered and sent to prison for five years." "I did everything I could for him at the trial, but it was hopeless." "He's been released from prison, ...but the long confinement seems to have unbalanced him seriously." "How do you mean?" "He seems to hold me responsible for everything." "I talked with him on the phone today, ...and he threatened my life." "You'd better call the cops." "If necessary I will, but I'd prefer not to." " Why?" " Well, the publicity involved" "Just now I'm negotiating a rather large loan essential for expanding my operations, ...and if certain of my perspective backers were to hear that my life has been threatened, or I had hired someone to protect me." "I see." "But, on the other hand, if I were to engage a bright young attorney to be constantly at my side..." "Nobody would think a thing about it." " Exactly." " That is, ...nobody except me." "'Cause I think about it a lot, and I wouldn't like it." "Why not?" "'Cause I'm a lawyer, not a bodyguard." " Yes, I understand." " I have a career" "Someday, I'd like to have an office of my own." "Someday, I'd like to be able to sue people like you and Porter and Griswold." "I'll be leaving the country in two weeks." "That's all the time it would involve." "I don't like to make a detour for even two weeks." "This might not prove to be such a detour." "5000$ should go along way towards opening that office." "I've heard of that kind of money." "Well, what do you say?" "If you think I'm going to turn it down, ...you're crazy." "But then you act a little bit crazy, anyway." "Believe me, it's worth it to me." "Believe me, it's worth it to me, too." "Ok." "You got yourself a bodyguard at 5000$ a body" " When do I start?" " You're working right now." "I'm a little bit short of the tools of my trade." "Help yourself." "Can you get a permit for that?" "I have a friend." "Alright, Regan." "Thanks, Matt." "Hi, Damico." "How's the kids?" "The kids are fine." "What's this about a gun permit?" "They passed a law, you know, you've got to have one to carry one of these things." "You're not suppose to carry it until after you have the permit." " Where'd you get it?" " Oh, the stuff brought it." "Some of your satisfied clients after you?" "No." "It's the man's shortage." "One isn't safe in the streets nowadays." "Why do you want to carry a gun?" "'Cause it makes me feel two feet tall." "Come on, come on." "Oh, there've been prowlers around my place lately." "Yesterday I've been held up in rod for 15000$." "An old girlfriend of mine has threatened my life." "Personally I don't like guys walking around with guns on them." "I like schoolboys playing cops and robbers." "A man thinks twice before he strangles somebody or sticks a knife in him, but if he's got a gun..." "Oh, come on, lieutenant, give me that permit." "Don't point that thing at me!" " But..." " And don't tell me it isn't loaded!" "Look, Damico." "I can't wait around for months for this permit." "You and my old man used to play hopscotch together." "First thing we teach a man in my department is that it's bad manners to point a gun unless you're gonna use it." "For Bob Regan's little boy?" "How 'bout it?" "Alright, get out of here." "Get yourself fingerprinted, photographed and questioned." "I'll call the captain." " Thank you." " You're not welcome." "Look, chum." "Hope you and I have an understanding right now." "You don't creep around dark rooms, ...I don't fire this in your direction." " I was just checking up." " You'd better wear a taillight" "I hope if the occasion arises you'll know how to use that thing." "You keep on playing Frankenstein and you'll find out." "Well the drawbridge is up, the house is locked, the barbed wire is strung and Murdock just scared the pants off me." "Oh, well." "A day in the life of a bodyguard." "I didn't even knew that there were bodies worth 5000$ and nothing personal, of course." "Say, now that the boss is safely upstairs, ...what do you say if you and I cut up a little bit?" "You'd better get out your little tattered black book and make other arrangements." "Why?" "I'm gonna get myself safely upstairs." "I was merely suggesting changing the radio and having a dance." "You could be lynched for the way you suggest it." "I was locked out, sir." "Sorry" " Have you finished checking?" " Everything's tight." "Fine." " Good night." " Good night, Charles." "What does he do for a living, except turn up unexpectedly from time to time?" "Oh, Charles?" "Lots of things." "He's been with Mr. Colby for years." "Nice compact little group:" "...Murdock, you and Colby." "There are lots of double meanings in that remark." "No, I just like to keep things straight." "What pigeon belongs in what pigeon hole, ...who belongs to who..." " Why should you care?" "Well, we're all hired to help together, maybe I have visions of asking you for a date sometime." " With what in mind?" " Oh, dancing, drinking catch-as-catch-can." " Thanks for warning me." "I'll bring along my police wistle." "Oh, no, you've nothing to fear from me." "My early years at reform school left a lasting impression." " Problem child?" " Just average." "I used to set fire to my kid brother ocasionally, but then who doesn't?" "Well, that's very encouraging." "Ask me nicely and you can have this dance." "You've been asked." "Reagan, look out!" "You won't need that." "He's dead." " Kroner?" " Yes." " How did he get in?" " I don't know?" "I'd better call the police." "I got up from my desk to put some papers away when I turned back there he was holding the gun on me." "His hands were trembling, his eyes were wild." "It was horrible." "Go on, please." "He called me every name imaginable." "He swore that he was going to kill me and then himself, because I had ruined his life." "I who have tried everything." " What happened then, Mr. Colby?" " I was afraid to call for help." "But then, when he came closer to me, ...I threw the papers in his face, and made a grab for the gun" "He fired one shot, that went into the floor." "I couldn't get his gun away from him, but I did manage to push him back." "That's when Reagan rushed into the room." "He turned on me with a gun, ...but he was off balance, I guess." "Anyway, ...I was able to fire first." "Lieutenant, does this testimony agree with the reports of your department?" "It does." "The absence of any evidence or presumption," "And in view of the testimony heard here makes it unnecessary for this office to pursue this hearing any further." "Thank you, gentlemen, for your cooperation." "Let's you and me have a little talk at my office, alone." "When?" "Now." "You haven't heard anything from Mr. Kroner's daughter?" "No." "We've been trying to locate her." "When you find her, would you please let me know?" "I'd like to make some provision for her." " Certainly, I will." " Thank you." "Ready to leave?" "I have a couple of things to do, Mr. Colby." "I'll see you at the house later." "Alright, Bob." "That made sense what I said yesterday, didn't it, about people carrying guns?" "Personally, I stuck my neck out a mile to get you that permit." "I would've looked great in there without it." "A guy takes a shot at your boss when you're downstairs romancing a dame and listening to a symphony." "You're a great bodyguard, you are." "Why didn't he come to the police, if he'd been threatened?" "Well, he didn't want the publicity." "He's got plenty of it now." "We knew where Kroner was all the time." "We could've picked him up without a sound." " You'd better ask Colby about that." " Maybe I will." " What was the payoff, Bob?" " Look!" "Are you holding me?" " No, ...but there's a couple of things that I don't like about this case." "Like what?" "I've been looking over the Kroner case of five years ago." "A guy counterfeits some bonds, ...sells them for a million dollars, and then pleads guilty." "But no one ever finds the million dollars." " Well, he stashed it away some place." " Great, and what's he sore about?" "A man with a million dollars isn't sore at anybody." "What's that got to do with me?" "Everything's got to do with you." "You killed him." "In self defense." "The guy had a gun in his hand, he'd already fired once." "Anybody can shove a gun in a dead man's hand." "Kroner's prints were the only ones we found on that gun, you know." "Colby picked it up after Kroner was dead, we told you that." "You told me a lot of things, I still don't like it." "Yesterday morning you get your permit approved." "Last night you killed a guy." "In self defense." "Kroner gets out of prison one day, ...and gets bumped off the next." "All the time there's a million bucks in cash laying around loose some place." "Couldn't be that you got a line on that money, could it?" "Now, lay off, Damico, you know me better than that." "I knew Benny Parsons all his life." "And two weeks ago he did a job on his uncle with a meat cleaver." "This case is a long ways from settled, as far as I'm concerned." "Remember that, Regan." "If I forget, you remind me." "I will." "You really think there's something phony?" "You heard me." "Noel, I'm really terribly sorry you had to be mixed up in all of this." "Maybe you'd like to go on to Paris ahead of me." "No." "I'll wait for you." "But let's go soon, Andrew." "I'm beginning to hate New York." "So hot outside, I thought I could get a drink in here." "Well, help yourself." "We began to wonder what had happened to you, Bob." "I haven't had a chance to really thank you for last night." " Oh, forget it." " I don't want to forget it." "I wanna show my appreciation." "Would a check for 20 million be asking too much?" "Yes." "But here's the amount that we agreed on." "Well, another day, another 5000." "Well, Bob, if you want to stay on with me..." "I'm afraid I couldn't stand the strain." "You know, try as I will I just can't get used to killing people." "What's the matter, Bob?" "Anything that police lieutenant said?" "No, he just wanted to talk." "The trouble with Damico is he reads too many detective stories, ...it spoils for routine police work." " What's the matter with you?" " Me?" "Nothing." " She's a little depressed." "But it didn't get me first, is that nice?" "You know, you and I had a date, remember?" "You're gonna way your police whistle?" "Let's make it for dinner tonight." "We're both of us ¿?" "we shouldn't ¿?" "our company on anyone but each other." "Why don't you?" "I'll pick you up at eight." "Dress up real pretty and I'll wear my graduation suit." "Tonight I wanna feel respectable." "You'd better call me in an hour, Regan." "Ok." "I'm checking in my gun, coach." "It was a great fight." "I'm glad I won." "I know it isn't easy, Bob." "But don't let yourself start brooding about this." "I'm Ok." "And I haven't forgotten." "You still owe Emilio Canepa 68$ and 72 cents." "I'm glad Regan suggested dinner tonight." "Are you?" "Why?" " Well, I thought you might enjoy it." " Maybe I will." " You don't have to go, Noel." " I know I don't." "Maybe you could cheer him up." "Oh, yes, Andrew, I'm just the girl to do it." "Specially tonight." "Seriously, Noel." "He denied it, of course." "But that lieutenant must have said something to disturb him so deeply." " And you'd like to know what it was?" " I didn't say that." "You didn't say it, but that's what you meant." "A few minutes ago you were sorry because I was mixed up in all this." "I'm still sorry." "I don't know what's come over you, Noel." "It isn't like you to suggest that I go out with someone else." "I can't ever remember suggesting that you shouldn't." "Regan has done us a great service." "It seems to me like the least that we could do for him." "The least?" "Of course." "I'll dig up some light bright table talk and a low-cut dress." "Anything else?" " No." " Good." " More coffee?" " Please." "I couldn't be more surprised when Colby let you out tonight." "What do you mean by that?" "If I were in charge of someone like you I'd be a little careful about how I'd pass it around." "Any passing round to be done, I do it myself." "Nobody else." "I saw the look you threw me before he gave you the nod." "I only wanted to know if he had anything for me to do tonight." "That's what I mean." "What's happened to the masculine ego?" "Or the girls that usually go out with you just done that as orders from somebody else?" "You know, I don't think myself that the president of three corporations isn't a little competition" "This is America." "You too can be competition." "That's a stirring thought." "I was just trying to figure out if I needed three corporations or if I could do it on my own." "Why don't you ask me?" "First of all, I'd like to find out how you stand with Colby." "Why, what does that matter?" "Maybe I've already made a few plans." "Well, if you have, they certainly don't include him, so why worry?" "I'm just naturally a worrier." " How long have you worked for him?" " All over six years." "You must know him pretty well." "I recognise him when I see him." " Any more questions?" " No." "No questions." "What's the use?" "Tonight I'm making awful passes at a beautiful girl, ...last night I killed a man." "Tomorrow..." "You're not to blame for what happened." "I'm to blame for getting in a spot like this in the first place." "Who am I to be carrying a gun, ...playing around with people's lives?" "I ought to have my head examined." "But last night, Bob, there was nothing else you could do." "I could've shot him in the shoulder, couldn't I?" "Or in the leg." "Could've kept my head and not have killed him." "Is that what they said at the police station?" "What do you mean?" "You seemed so disturbed when you got back." "Mr. Colby rears his ugly head." "And after I tell you, do you have to leave right away and then to stick around a while and report later?" " Let's go home." " Quit kidding." "He asked you to find out what happened down there." "I've had dinner with you tonight because I wanted to." "And up until now I've been having a very nice time." "You're rude, but you're upset, so I'll forgive that." "What you want is really know each other, ...why don't you stop acting like a schoolboy asking grown-up questions?" "I'm sorry." "So am I." "Remember." "If we ever go out again, ...I do what I want because I want to do it." "Now take me home." "Good night, Reagan." "Wait a minute." "I I don't like to leave things like this." "Why not?" "I'll be gone in a week anyway." "A lot of things can happen in a week." "France fell in eighteen days and you're not as tough as France." " Don't be so sure." " Look, ...about tonight." "I'm a warm-hearted, impulsive boy." "Sometimes I say things I don't mean." "It's alright, Bob." "Don't worry about it." "I'm not only warm-hearted, I'm shy." "I I need a lot of encouragement." "Well, ...I'm not really as tough as France, if that's any help." "That's fine, that shows you're thinking in the right direction." "I'm a great admirer of the Resistance movement, but I don't like to see things carried too far." "Kiss him goodnight, Noel, ...or we'll have him here for breakfast." "You must have rubbed soles." "It was such a nice night, I decided to walk." "Did you tiptoed the whole way?" "Why don't you come in for a while, Bob?" "It's still early." "Alright, I will." "Well, what did you two do tonight?" "Oh, not much, we sat around, threw a few rocks at each other..." "You boys can burn the candle's both ends if you want to, ...but my dangerous beauty depends upon eight hours of sleep." " Good night." " Good night, Noel." " Drink, Bob?" " No." "How much do you owe me for the billiards the other night?" "20 bucks, even." "Well, I'll give you a chance to get it back." "How about showdown poker, to dollar a hand?" "You must be interested in my 5000$." "I'm interested in everybody's 5000$." "Aren't you?" "It's worth thinking about." "Of course, lieutenant Damico doesn't settle so cheaply." "He's interested in a million dollars." "Ambition is a dangerous thing in policemen." "Kroner's million." " He thinks I know where it's buried." " Do you?" "Until this afternoon I've had to save up the way myself." "What else did the lieutenant think?" "Oh, I told you he's read too many detective stories." "He's always figuring out plots." " Oh." "What's his plot this time?" "Well." "It's not bad." "A wealthy industrialist has somebody he's anxious to get rid of." "He hires a not too bright, eager young man as a bodyguard, ...frames the situation where the bodyguard has to kill the guy in self defense." "The industrialist gets rid of the guy, ...he's in the clear and the not too bright young man never tumbles." "The lieutenant seems to have more imagination than most lieutenants." "There's an interesting legal point." "Because even if our dull boy should tumble." "And there's nothing he could do about it." "Why should he want to?" "Why shouldn't he?" "The man is already dead." "There isn't anything your young friend can do about that." "The district attorney has exonerated him, ...so there's no danger there." "On the other hand, he'd have made himself a powerful and influential friend." "You forget he's not too bright." "He may feel some twinges of conscience." "Why?" "There's no intent of murder on his part, ...morally he's as pure as the driven snow." "Hm." "That's true enough." "So why should he jeopardize himself?" "He can only cause trouble by refusing to accept his position." "First, with the police, who would never believe his story, ...secondly with the industrialist, who, if he's as ruthless as he sounds," "...might prove to be dangerous himself." "Well, ...it's lieutenant Damico,'s plot." "Let him worry about it." " Of course." "Bob, I honestly wish you'd change your mind and come to Paris with me." "Were in for an exciting time, a tremendous expansion." "You'd like it." " Maybe I would..." " Change your mind?" "I might." "Maybe I end up with as much dough as you have." "Not unless you improve your billiards." "That was the last time." "Pair of kings?" " Sorry." "Eights over fives." "There must be some way of beating you." "Not while I'm holding all the cards." "You're Kroner's daughter." "Come away from the door." "I know how you must feel, Miss Kroner." "How you must hate me..." "Do you?" "How much hate does it take to kill a man?" "You should know." " I didn't hate your father, ...I didn't even know him." " And yet you murdered him." "For what?" "For money?" "I could have waited for you outside and killed you." "But I wanted to look at you." "To talk to you." "To see for myself what kind of a man takes money to murder someone he never even knew." "There was nothing else I could do." "He had a gun in his hand, he'd already fire once." "You've got to believe me." " Believe you." "A hired gunman?" "No." "You murdered my father because you were paid to do it." "No other reason." "One dead body, cash on delivery." "He isn't a person." "He isn't anyone's father." "He's just a new car you can buy when he stops breathing." "Your father would have killed Colby." "He wasn't himself." " Don't lie." "It won't help you." "I never dreamed I could hate enough to want to kill." "I've reason enough to kill you ten times..." "I'm sorry I had to do that." "Why don't you kill me, too?" "You have the gun." "I don't want to kill you, Miss Kroner." "Any more than I wanted to kill your father." "I was hired to protect Mr. Colby." "Protect him?" "From what?" "My father would've never hurt anyone." "It isn't easy to believe that about someone you love, but when a man is out of his mind..." "He wasn't out of his mind!" "Well, a rational person doesn't threaten another man's life, ...or break into his house with a gun." "He didn't threaten Colby, ...and he never owned a gun." "How do you know?" "I knew my father." "You didn't." "Shall I tell you about him?" "You really want to know about the man you've killed?" "My father was a man who'd sprinkle bread crumbs in the window sill every morning," "...for the birds." "A man who'd grow faint if I cut a finger or pick up a splinter." "Leopold Kroner, ...a man whose child was never taken to the zoo because it was cruel to coop up animals in cages." "Is that the picture of a house breaker, a murderer?" "But he did break into the house." "All the doors were locked, I checked them myself." "He didn't break in, he was invited." "Invited?" "He was asked to be there at ten o'clock." "I was there when he phoned." "As though you didn't know all that!" "Are you sure of this." "Do you have any proof?" "If I had proof, do you think I'd be here now?" "Or you would?" "No, Mr. Regan." "If I could proof what I know, ...you and Colby would be where you belong." "In a dead cell." "Give me my gun." "I didn't murder your father." "I don't believe you." "I think you're absolutely right about people carrying guns." "Where'd you get that?" "Surplus war materials, ...marbled?" "into my appartment by a girl named Kroner." "Martha Kroner?" "Where did you find her?" "When I've seen she was trying to kill me." "You are asking for protection?" "No." "Information." "I'd like to find out how near you are to pinning this thing on me." "You just keep yourself handy." "I'll let you know when the time arrives." "Supposing I wanna tell you that I agree with you, ...that I think it was murder." "In that case, I'd take out a piece of paper, and a pencil and have you sign a confession." "That's not exactly what I meant." "Why not?" "You could turn state's evidence, ...see the daylight again when you're about 95." "I don't have any evidence, ...everything I told you was the truth." "I was hired as a bodyguard, ...I killed Kroner in self defense." "Well, then what are you worried about?" "Finally, it occurred to me I could have been a patsy in this thing." "Frame up?" "You must have heard of him in your profession." "Not as often as you think." "What's the matter, does Miss Kroner know something that scares you?" " Nothing that you could arrest me on." " That's your opinion." "Just what do you want, Regan?" "I want to work with you on this case." "What makes you think I need any help?" "I'm on the inside, I might be able to dig up something." "Yeah, and cover it right up again." "You seem to forget you're the one I'm after." "No, Damico." "I'm not the man you want." "You pulled the trigger." "It was your bullet that killed the guy." "If it's murder, you did it." "What's the motive?" "5000$ you deposited in the bank this afternoon." "Any more questions?" "You don't believe I could've been framed?" "If you were, you too stupid you´d better run around anyway?" "." "In other words, I'd better get out of town." "You wouldn't get three feet." "What do I do, then?" "Well, if I were on your shoes, I'd go to church every morning." "Pray that a certain cop named Damico is running himself right out of a blind alley." "That's great, except for a couple of little things." "What?" "I'm not a guy that goes around killing people." "I'd like to be able to sleep at night." "And I just talked to the daughter of the man I killed." "Personally, you're in a tough spot." "I didn't have to stay up this late to find that out." "Isn't there some way we can get together on this?" "Oh, sure." "You confess and I'll arrest you." "Alright." "I'll just start digging around on my own, that's all." "Regan, for a lawyer you're not very smart." "Like I said, if you prove that it's murder, you prove you're a murderer." "If there's a frame, there's only one guy that can clear you, Colby." "And I don't think he'd be too anxious to run to the rescue." "Do you?" "Thanks for nothing." "Any time." "Any time at all." "Well." "Here's all we've got on the Kroner case." "Uh." "This won't help." "You might want to try one of the other papers." "I already have." "Is this guy, Nolan, still on the paper?" "James Timothy Nolan in a newspaper?" "Did you read that famous bestseller "Wither Away, Mankind"?" "No." "Nolan wrote it." "He told you, "Wither"." "Hm." "That's great." "Where can I reach him now?" "These days, he lives in a people at the Barclay Tower." "Barclay Tower, hm?" "Oh." "Thanks for the help." " Have fun." " Right." "I want to see Mr. James Nolan, please." "My name is Reagan." "Yes, sir." "Please." "Never mind, operator." "There's Mr. Nolan coming out of the elevator now, sir." "Thank you." "Mr. Nolan?" "See my business manager, he'll pay you whatever I owe you." "You don't owe me anything, Mr. Nolan." "My name is Bob Regan." "I want to buy you a drink." "I don't care what your name is, I've got ulcers." "One minute, please." "Boy!" "Ulcers, eh?" "Will you send two glasses of milk up to room 512?" " Yes, sir." " Thank you." "Mr. Nolan, I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time, ...I'm a great admirer of yours." "Suppose we have a little talk." "Well, of course I don't remember very much about my newspaper days, ...but I do recall the Kroner case." "It was a pretty open-and-shut affair." "Kroner pleaded guilty and they took him away." "Do you remember Colby at the trial?" "Oh, yes." "He acted very decent about the whole thing." "Trying to do everything he could for Kroner." "Oh, come on, Nolan." "Earn your milk." "I'm looking for angles that weren't reported in the papers." "What angles?" "If I didn't write it in my stories, then it wasn't worth mentioning" "You let me decide that." "What about other people connected with the case?" "You know, surprise witnesses..." "What do you think it was, a pulp story?" "The man pleaded guilty, there were no witnesses." "I can't make any money around here." "Wait a minute." "Come to think of it." "There was a guy, ...name of Bruno." "Victor Bruno." "Who was he?" "The cops figured there were only three men in the country who could do the engraving job on those counterfeit bonds." "One was in the jug, another gone straight, ...and the third one was this Bruno." "What did he say at the trial?" "He wasn't at the trial, they never called him." "Victor Bruno, eh?" "Say, you don't mind finishing your milk alone, do you?" "Oh, I thought you wanted to talk about my book." "What's there to talk about?" "You wrote it, you sold it." "But wouldn't you like to hear how I happened to write it?" "I'm afraid not." "Not while I'm buying the milk." "Someday you'll give a party, and we'll talk about anything you like." ""Wither Away, Mankind"." "Hello?" "Hello, I'm trying to locate a certain Victor Bruno, an engraver." "What?" "Well, I know this is Theodore Bruno, ...I wast just..." "Well, do you know Victor Bruno?" "Well, do you know any Bruno that might know a Bruno that would know Victor?" "Oh, nevermind." "Fastest pickup I ever made." "Don't get the idea that a telephone call gets me running any time of the day or night." "It's a nice idea." "You've been looking tired over lately, a little of fresh air will do you good." "You said it was important." "When I feel like seeing you, that's important." "Where are we going?" "To a little parking spot I used to use when I was in high school." "Well, I have to apologize for the time of day." "I used to hit it a lot later in the evening." "I'm just as happy with the time of day, thank you." "Boy, oh Boy." "How I used to operate from this spot." "Public School 45 must have been a progressive school." "What did you want to see me about, Bob?" "Well, I've made up my mind about a lot of things of last night and today." "One thing, I'm not going to Paris with Colby." "And another thing I've decided, ...I don't want you to go to Paris." "Really?" "What do you want me to do?" " Stick around, see America first." "Might get to meet someone you like." "I might." "With Colby, what have you got?" "Money, influence, travel, yachts why don't you let me take you out of all that?" "That's an offer, if I ever heard one." "I'm really very serious." "I know you are." "What's the matter, Bob?" "I don't know." "Maybe today is not the day." "I've spent the whole morning going over the newspaper accounts of the Kroner trial." "But why?" "You just naturally get curious about someone you kill." "I kept running across the name of Bruno." "Who's he?" "A little engraver that counterteited the bonds for Kroner." "Honey, Kroner didn't look like the type to get away with a million dollars." "Neither did Bruno." "He was a strange little man." "A tremendous inferiority he was always trying to hide, ...he never managed to look like anything but a twelve-dollar-a-week bookkeeper, ...glasses two feet thick, not a hair in his head..." "Bruno." "A foreigner?" " Originally." "He spoke with a marked accent." "Is Colby going to be at home tonight?" "I think so." "Why?" "Maybe I could get him to throw some legal business my way." "I'll keep him at home for you." "You'd better get me back to the office." "One of us has to keep her job." "Well, well." "Little did I think when I first met Emilio Canepa that you'd be the mother of my children." "Why, is there some connection between the two?" "No Emilio, no summons." "No summons, no children." "We'll name our first one Emilio." "Over my beautiful muscular dead body." "Look out!" "You're not hurt, are you?" "Just a mild case of shuttered nerves." "Feeling that thing slipping didn't do mine any good, neither." " Have one?" " Thanks." "That little lantern fell like Hiroshima." "Forget it." "I think maybe you've given me a very good idea." "Just as long as it's not a busted head." "I'll make one yet, unless my luck holds out." " Hello, Murdock." " Good evening." "Much killing going around the place tonight?" "I think Mr. Colby's expecting you." "Ask a dull question, you'll get a dull answer." "Hello, Bob." "Don't be glad to see me until you find out what I want." "Noel has already told me." "I'm sorry you changed your mind about Paris." "Have you told him about the service our new firm is prepared to offer?" "I thought I'd better save that for you." "Well, we're offering everything in the legal line." "Ambulance chasings and grey subpoenas." "Sounds like an up-and-coming outfit." "We sympathize with our clients' troubles and charge only 500$ for the sympathy." "That's cheaper that the sympathy I'm getting from Porter and Griswold." "Your proposition sounds very attractive, count me in." "One call, one client." "Must be my personality." "Oh, did you know your house was being watched?" "Watched?" "Yes." "Some little bald-headed guy, with not a hair in his head, ...stopped me outside by the lamp post." "I don't understand." "It's hard to tell just what he wanted." "He spoke with a hard accent, ...kept blinking at me with glasses two-feet thick, ...seemed like he was a little bookkeeper trying to act important." "Bruno." " You say he stopped you?" " Yes." "He asked me for a light and wanted to know if I was coming in here." "Yes?" "When I told him I was, he said something about being a friend of Kroner's... and that you'll hear from him." "He must have gone." "He's not there now." " Is there anything I can do?" " I don't know, Bob." " There isn't any danger, is there?" " I don't think so." " Bob!" " 'Cause if you'd like me to talk to him." " Possibly I will, but there's no hurry." "If we want Bruno, we can always reach him." "But if he's of any threat to us, I could see him tonight." "No." "We'll wait to hear from him." "Thanks anyway." "Maybe I'll call on you later." "I hope this news isn't too bad." "It isn't good, but we can handle it." "Thank you for the information, Bob." "I'm glad you dropped around tonight." "Thank you for the business." "Good night, Noel." "Good night." "I wonder where Bruno's been all this years, ...and what brought him back." "The newspaper stories, I imagine." "He never impressed me as being the sort of fella who makes threats." "He was such a meak little man." "Did you ever meet him, Noel?" " Probably." " Of course you did." "Sometimes I forget how long you've been with me." "How long we've been together?" "Andrew, do you mind...?" "What was it you once said that he reminded you of a twelve-dollar-a-wee bookkeeper, wasn't it?" "Do you have anything else for me to do this evening?" "I don't think so." " Then I say good night." " Good night, Noel." "Hello." "This could give me a pretty bad name with my landlady." "I'd like to know what you meant by that little performance tonight." "Was I convincing?" "You're not a very nice person." "Are you, Regan?" "Your high school parking spot came through beautifully." " Now, wait a minute, Noel." " No, you wait" "I admit I am a little ashamed of what an easy target I was this afternoon." "But primarily I came to find out just what you were up to tonight." "What's your guess?" "Blackmail?" "That's a nice business, if you have the right connections." "I think I deserve a better answer than that, Bob." "You do." "Sit down." "There's several people in key positions in this town who believe that Kroner was deliberately murdered." "That's ridiculous." "Is it?" "Would have been comparatively easy for Colby to frame." "He invites Kroner to the house, ...in the middle of the conversation he pulls the gun, ...he fires one shot into the floor, ...shoves the gun into Kroner's hands, ...starts wrestling with him and yelling for help." "I rush in, Kroner turns startled, bang bang and it's all over." "You must be out of your mind." "The police don't think so." "In fact, they gave me the idea." " Why should Andrew want to kill Kroner?" "Suppose Colby dreamt up this old counterfeit deal himself." "He promises Kroner a share of the profits if he'll take the rap, ...while Colby takes the million and builds up the business." "Kroner gets out, expecting a share of the gravy, ...instead, the lights go out." "If I use that kind of reasoning I can think of at least fifteen motives why you killed Kroner." "The police have 5000." "What were you trying to do tonight?" "I wanted to see Bruno." "I thought I could startle Colby into giving me his adress, but he doesn't startle so easily." "How could you be stupid enough to believe all this?" "Andrew is one of the finest men I've ever known, ...and he's certainly been decent enough to you." "He may have carried his friendship a little too far for my own good." "So you take up the little corn-fed secretary, ...prime her up with some fake sincerity and just spills over with everything you want to know." "I know it's not going to be easy to convince you that the things I said today was sincere..." "It's just about the most hopeless proposition you've ever faced." "Things are a lot more desperate than you know." "I had to do something." "I must have looked like the easiest way." "Look." "I'm gonna have to make another try for Bruno's adress tomorrow." "If you give me away I'll be sunk, in more ways than one." "Don't ask me for any promises." "She went straight to Regan's appartment." "I don't know how long she stayed, I didn't wait." "I was afraid she had." "Why?" ", let's forget that girl and start thinking about Bruno." "She's not easy to forget." "I think a great deal of Noel, Charles." "If Bruno's back, you've got something to worry about, besides her." "The police might be very interested in a statement from him." "It isn't like Noel to do anything behind my back." "What are you gonna do about Bruno?" "We don't have to do anything, yet." "I rather suspect he'll telephone us tomorrow." "That will be plenty of time to decide." "Hello?" "Mr. Andrew Colby, please." "Victor Bruno calling." "Just a minute, please." "You sure this ain't illegal?" "Look, Emilio, haven't I always been your friend?" "Sure." " Didn't I graduate from law school?" " Sure." "Didn't I get you 68$ and 72 cents for your push car?" "Not yet." "Don't be so greedy." "Anyhow, if it hadn't been for your push car, ...we wouldn't be doing this in the first place." " Yes?" " Colby?" "This is Victor Bruno." "Oh, yes." "I heard you were around here last night." "I didn't like what I read in the paper about Kroner." "That was unfortunate." "Yeah, it will be maybe unfortunate for you, ...if the police all of a sudden find out where I am." "Yes, it will." "For 10.000, they don't find out." "10.000?" "That's a lot of money." "I've got a lot to say." "At the moment I don't have that much money available." "I figure you will know where to get it." "Possibly." "Stop by at my home, tonight." "At 9 o'clock." "Oh, no." "I don't make the same mistake that Kroner made." "You send it to me." "Where?" "You know the place." "You remember the adress?" "Yes." "You're sure you know?" "Yes, of course, I remember perfectly." "Now, listen, Bruno, I'll give you the money on one condition." "I want you out of the country, you and your wife." "With the money tonight there'll be two tickets to Mexico City." "Use them." "Ok." "And be sure to have the money there tonight, at 8:30." "Alright, but this is the last, Bruno." "Remember." "If you're going to start paying Bruno, you'll never going to stop." "Don't be absurd, Charles, that wasn't Bruno on the telephone." "What are you talking about?" "Who was it?" "Regan!" "Or one of his friends." " How do you know?" " I know these things, Charles." "That's why I am such an enormous success." " Bruno was here last night." " He wasn't here last night." " How can you be so sure?" " Bruno is been dead for five years." "How did Regan know what he looked like?" "Noel, of course." "She's the only one who could have given him that description." "You never told me Bruno was dead." "I thought you'd be happier not knowing." " How did he die?" " Testing his innocence." " What was Regan after?" " Bruno's whereabouts." "Either he's worrying too much about this Kroner business or he's trying a little blackmail." "Regan's no blackmailer." "Did you have Bruno killed?" " Don't be so inquisitive, Charles..." " I'm not inquisitive." "I don't want you to get the idea that anything like that could happen to me!" "What a curious thing to say." "I'm no Kroner, I'm no Bruno." "I don't disappear so easily." "I hope we'll have you here for some time, Charles." "That's my plan, exactly, Andrew." "What are you going to do about Regan?" "I've been thinking about that." "I want you to go to the bank, Charles, and get that 10.000 dollars." "Alright." " After that..." " Yes?" "...you'll have to do something I'm not going to like at all." "What about the girl?" "What about her?" "She's involved in this as much as Regan." "It looks that way." "You don't like the idea of getting rid of her, do you?" "I don't like it at all." "But if I have to, I'll do it." "You know that, Charles." "Yes, I know that." "Silly bit of doubted for a moment." "Noel, there's something I'd like you to do for me this evening, ...if you're not busy." "Alright." "In the safe, there's a large manila envelope, ...with 10.000 dollars in it." " Will you get it for me, please?" " Sure." "Then I'd like you to go down to the station and get two tickets for Mexico City." "Deliver them with the money to an address that I'll give you." "Oh no, leave it open." "There are a few other things I want to get." "It's for Victor Bruno." "You know, it's strange, Noel." "All my life I've worked for only one thing:" "...money, and the power that goes with it." "Right now I'm on the verge of getting everything I ever wanted to have." "And yet, when I look around me, ...I find there's only one person I know I can really trust..." " Andrew, please..." " Even that's remarkable, Noel." "Very few people have anyone." "I wonder if you know how much I appreciate it." "Well, it will be nice to get back to Paris again, won't it, Noel?" " We've always had a lot of fun there." " Yes." "Andrew, you know that telephone call from Bruno?" "Yes." "What about it, Noel?" "Nothing, it's not important." "Be sure and get the tickets, Noel." "I will." "I'm going right away." "She'll meet him some place and then they'll go on together." "Why do you suppose she did it, Charles?" "Did she fall in love with him, was that the reason?" "What difference does it make?" "For a moment I thought she was going to tell me." "If she had, I would've forgiven her, Charles." "That would've been a mistake." "Perhaps, but I would've forgiven her." " Wouldn't you better call the police?" " Yes, I guess I'd better." "Andrew, I'm not so sure this is such a clever idea..." "Aren't you, Charles?" "Why?" "On ground that we can have them picked up for stealing the money, ...but that doesn't really get them out of the way." "They'll find her fingerprints on the safe." "They'll be arrested buying two tickets to Mexico City." "You're mistaken, Charles." "I think it's very clever." "And then, what if they'd be arrested not merely for theft?" "What if they're arrested for murder?" "What are you talking about?" "Whose murder?" "Yours, Charles." "Lieutenant Damico, homicide." "When?" "I see." "Right." "Alright." " Round up the homicide crew." " Yes, sir." "And I'll need three extra men for Grand Central Station." "Train number 8, arriving on track 3, ...from Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, ...Utica, Schenectady and Albany." "Ok." "I'd like to make connection with Mexico City." "Two, please, leaving tonight, possibly." "309,78." "Excuse me." "Noel Faraday?" "Yes." "You're under arrest" "Come along, puss." "You're not going any place, Regan." "You're under arrest." "Wait a minute." "What are they doing with that girl?" "Calm down, buddy, and don't cause any trouble." "Make it more pretty." "How's it coming, Mike?" "What do you think?" " I'm having some photographs enlarged." "But the prints on the gun are very much like Regan's." " What about the prints on the safe." " We're working on them now." "The medical examiner just came in, lieutenant." "Good." " Hello, Damico." "How's business?" " There's your body over there, Doc." "Oh, lieutenant." "We've got Regan and the girl outside." " Keep them till I call them in, Joe." " OK." "Doc." "Ok." "You men are all through here?" "You've finished your pictures?" " I'm set." "Well, let's get this body onto the next room." " Call the boys in." " Alright." "Let me know when you get those prints on the safe, Mike." "Well, Mr. Colby, looks like you guessed right, ...we picked up the boy and the girl at the station." "I hope you'll be able to get this over with as quickly as possible." "I'm not anxious to hang around." "Regan, that was Charles!" "Was is right." "You may as well relax." "Damico will call you when he wants you." "What happened to him?" "Why are they holding us?" "Because I'm the biggest lunkhead of the year." "It never occurred to me he'd take it out on you." " Andrew?" " No other than Andrew." "He's got rid of the last guy that knew anything of the phoney bond deal and he's stuck us with the rap." "I am walking around the clouds, this guy builds a hole down to me." "He couldn't possibly hope to get away with this." "Why would he want to kill Charles?" "Don't worry." "With Colby tearing the evidence it will fit like a bathing suit." "He must have figured you were in with me." "I'm sorry, Noel." "If I could get loose for five minutes, I'd kick myself around the block." "Alright, you two." "Damico's ready for you now." "Come along." "Get the lady's fingerprints." "Well, laughing boy, I thought I told you not to leave town." "Give out, Damico." "What are the details?" "Murder and grand theft." "And you haven't a sure way in getting out of it." "How does she figure in?" "Oh, come now, Regan." "Let's not be ridiculous." "Did you find the money?" "She had it on her." "She was buying two tickets for Mexico City." "I suppose you wanted to change of scenery." "You ought to identify this, Mr. Colby." "Yes, that's the envelope." "I assume the 10.000 dollars is the same." " Get me a stenographer in here." " He's right here, lieutenant." "Fine." "Got anything to say yet, Regan?" "I'm speechless with your efficiency." "Let's have it, Mr. Colby." "You understand that this is very difficult for me." "Miss Faraday has been my secretary for over six years, ...her father was one of my dearest friends." "I understand." "Well, I I was up in my room doing some work about an hour ago," "...when I heard a shot." "First, I thought it was in my imagination, ...but then I decided to investigate." "I found Charles dead on the floor, ...with Regan´s gun beside him, ...and the safe was open." "But Damico, that was his gun!" "You can't keep quiet?" "We'll do this without you!" " I gave it back to him two days ago!" " Who saw you?" " Miss Faraday." "She..." " Mh-hm" "Go ahead, Mr. Colby." "I realised that Miss Faraday was the only person besides Charles and myself who knew the combination to the safe." "Andrew, you had me open the safe yourself!" "A couple of nights ago, I happened to overhear a conversation between Mr. Regan and Miss Faraday, in which Mexico City was mentioned, ...so when I called the police I told them that." "Ok, thanks." "She was buying two tickets to Mexico City when we picked them up." "You already told me that." "What are you looking for, promotion?" "Lieutenant, he knows why I had the money." "He send me for the tickets." "You'll get your chance to talk later, Miss Faraday." "What are you trying to do, Andrew?" "Everyone that's ever meant anything to you:" "...Kroner, Charles, and now me." " Lieutenant, this is very awkward for me." " We're nearly finished, Mr. Colby." "Why do you believe him, Damico?" "Only yesterday..." "That was yesterday!" "I am not interested in that case anymore." "Personally, I've got one right here that suits me fine!" "Look, what do you want, the truth or a quick arrest?" " What's your story?" " This is a frame!" "You get framed more than any guy I ever met." "You're supposed to be a lawyer, take a look at the evidence!" "Damico!" "You'd better change your charge." "The corpse is still alive." "Alive?" "We won't have him forever, ...but I may be able to string him along through the night." " Any chance of him coming to?" " If we don't move him." "Let me know the minute he comes around." "Is it alright if we leave him here, Mr. Colby?" "Of course, Charles is my very dear friend." "I'll see about having him moved upstairs." " Don't let him near that room!" " You still running this case?" "I'm telling you, Damico!" "Don't let this guy nearer!" "Just a minute, Regan!" "You're under arrest, you're not giving any advise around here, ...just get that through your head." "It's been one of my closest friends for years, ...naturally I'd want to see him before he dies..." "The doctor says he can't be moved." "With him liable to pop off any minute, ...I'd better wait around to have a talk with him." "Maybe we all would better wait around." "Well." "Damico's in his glory." "Two new suspects, fresh blood on the floor..." " Regan?" " Humm." "Why can't we tell them about Bruno?" "And how do you think that will sound from the witness stand?" "I was trying to find a man named Victor Bruno because I was convinced that the other killing I had done was murder." "Colby figured on that one." "Maybe somebody could find..." "Bruno's probably dead, too." "Otherwise how could Colby be sure it wasn't Bruno on the phone?" "Yes, I suppose so." "How could I be such a dope?" "You?" "I've been second guessing the whole way." "Regan, the boy detective." "He couldn't have put your life in worse hands..." "Come on in, Regan." "I want to ask you a couple of questions." " What about Charles?" " He's still out." "Don't even bother, Mr. Colby." "He's been dead for two hours." "Ever since you shot him." "You knocked him down." "Pick him up." "Tough break, Mr. Colby." "I really saw this one from left field" "I've had Regan tailed for the last three days." "I knew he wasn't here tonight." "It's quite a confort to us taxpayers to find our police department in such competent hands." "Thanks, thanks so much." "Oh, personally, just to keep the record straight, ...what ever happened to Kroner's million bucks?" "That's funny." "That's what Kroner wanted to know." "Yes, very funny." "Wait a minute." "What do you think you're doing?" "He still owes my client 68 dollars and 72 cents." "Well, you're a lawyer." "Sue him!" "That Damico is really the answer to our maiden's prayer." "You're right." "He's a smart cookie." "But he doesn't catch everything." "What's that?" "Two tickets to Mexico City." "Think we can use them?" "Don't forget you two you'll have to check with my department if you're figuring on leaving the country."