"(theme song playing)" "...and three and four and five and six and seven and hold." "Now, for a more difficult exercise." "Hands on hips, feet apart." "You touch your heel with the opposite hand, so and so." "Ready?" "And one and two and three and..." "Mrs. Dwyer, below the knee." "Touch your heel with your hand." "I simply can't reach any lower, Miss Temple." "It hurts." "It's supposed to hurt." "Come on, everybody." "One, two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight and hold." "That'll do." "Five-minute breather." "Ward?" "Hello, Veronica." "You've been dodging me, haven't you, darling?" "Let's just say, I haven't exactly been seeking you out." "Which means, I suppose, you don't have the money yet?" "Look, Veronica, I told you." "I can't get the money now." "I managed to raise a couple thousand dollars by hocking everything I own, except my soul." "Then you'd better hock your soul, darling, and by Friday or the roof falls in." "No more great, big future with Health House and no more footsie-footsie with the boss's niece." "Or do you think I'm bluffing?" "I wish I did." "Look, Ward, I, I don't like this any better than you do, but can't you see I have to have the money if I'm to do what you want me to do?" "If I could only believe you would do what I want." "I promise." "I-I'll put it in writing." "I'll, I'll do anything you say." "Only, darling, say it by Friday." "WOMAN:" "I'm ready, Miss Daniels." "Miss Daniels, en garde." "(ball bouncing, smacking wall)" "Good shot." "(grunting)" "All right, that's game-- 21, 15." "All right." "I've had it." "Let's hit the shower, huh?" "Boy, either I'm terrific or your mind isn't on handball today." "Ward?" "Casey." "You just missed the upset of the week:" "law student beats former all-American." "Impossible." "No, just take a look at his face-- glum." "My natural expression." "Give me a minute with him, David." "I'll see what I can do." "Ah, love." "Isn't it time you told me what's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong." "Then why have you been acting so strangely the last two weeks?" "And that scene with Veronica this morning?" "We were just talking, that's all." "More than talking-- I could see your faces." "And I couldn't help overhearing her asking you for money." "How can she ask you for money now?" "Well, she..." "she just did, that's all." "Look, you don't have to worry about her." "Ward, I told you a month ago, I wanted my uncle to fire that girl." "No." "Why not?" "Darling, aren't people who are going to be married supposed to tell each other things and help each other?" "Look, you listen to me." "You got enough to worry about as it is, trying to persuade the great Bernard Daniels that I'm worthy of his precious niece." "He gave you the office job, didn't he?" "I'm sure he'll give permission." "Well, you just keep after him every minute." "You let the old quarterback worry about the minor problems like Veronica." "Okay?" "I guess." "Usual time tonight?" "I guess." "Okay." "(knocking at door)" "Come in." "You sent for me, Mr. Daniels?" "Yes, Miss Prentice, I did." "You are the bookkeeper here at Health House, I believe." "Yes, sir." "You know that." "And how long have you served in that capacity?" "14 years." "And in that time, has it not always been customary for me, as president of Health House, to pass on all sizeable checks before they're sent out?" "Why, yes, Mr. Daniels, always." "Then how do you account for my not having seen these?" "Oh, come in, Casey." "Try some of the piñon nuts or some celery." "I'll be with you in a moment." "Four canceled Health House checks made out to, endorsed and cashed by the A.B.C. Sporting Goods Company." "Two for $2,000 and two for $1,500." "Totaling what?" "$7,000." "Would you not say that was a sizeable amount, Miss Prentice?" "Yes, Mr. Daniels, I would." "But I've never seen these checks before, either." "Perhaps Mr. Houseman made them out." "It's his signature on them." "Casey?" "Ask Eugene Houseman to step in here, please." "You may go." "What's this, Bernard?" "Something about checks, Casey says?" "These." "Signed by you to the tune of $7,000." "Those are your signatures, aren't they?" "Yes, I signed these, all right, but I can't remember any firm called" "A.B.C. Sporting Goods Company." "You what?" "I just can't understand this." "And I'm just beginning to." "Bypassing me, made out by someone other than you or Miss Prentice..." "Forgeries!" "But how can they be forgeries with my signature on them?" "They could be tracings of your signature, couldn't they?" ""Tracings"?" "But each one's a little different." "See for yourself." "I've read somewhere that's the way real signatures are supposed to be." "A professional forger would know that." "A forger working here at Health House?" "Bernard, you know you've personally passed on every employee here." "(receiver drops)" "Not everyone." "Not on Ward Nichols." "Uncle Bernard, it doesn't have to be Ward." "It can be anybody." "It could be me." "As my heir, Casey, you'd hardly rob yourself." "Ah, well, then doesn't that apply to Ward, too, since we're going to be married?" "How many times do I have to remind you?" "As your guardian, I'll still make the decisions." "Now, I did not say the young man is a thief." "But suppose he happened to need ready cash?" "Didn't you say he talked to you about a loan?" "Yes, he said something a few days ago about needing some extra money, but that's hardly justification for condemning him out of hand," "Bernard." "Oh, I intend to have an investigation made." "The police?" "!" "Perhaps later, but first..." "The Cosmopolitan Insurance Company." "No, not our agent, the claims department." "You'll find the electric camel especially beneficial in slimming the thighs." "And the seat, I might add." "To start with, I'd suggest the slow position." "You can relax almost as if you were in a rocking chair." "Veronica, I want to speak to you." "I'm sorry, darling." "I happen to be busy just now." "It'll take only a moment." "And it's very important." "Oh, that's all right, Miss Daniels." "And don't rush on our account, huh?" "I already know what you want to say, darling." ""Hands off Ward."" "Well, you needn't get all lathered up about it." "I wouldn't take him as a gift." "But you would take his money." "Oh, I see." "Pointed little ears turned our way this morning." "What else did you hear?" "Never mind." "How much has he already paid you?" "Don't you think you better ask Ward that?" "I'm asking you." "Honey, you're beginning to bore me." "Why don't you get lost?" ""...and it would seem that the rule in California is" ""that in the absence of any evidence tending to fix" ""the time of death during the seven years period," ""the person unheard of is presumed to be alive" ""until the expiration of that seven years." "Therefore..."" "Yeah, what is it, David?" "I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Mason, but, uh, it's after 6:00 and Casey-- Miss Daniels-- the girl I told you about, is waiting in the law library." "Oh, um, all right." "Ask her in, David." "Della, we can finish this up tomorrow." "Casey?" "Um, Perry Mason, Della Street," "Casey Daniels." "How do you do?" "Please sit down, Miss Daniels." "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." "Now, to save time, suppose I go over a résumé of what I already know?" "You're engaged to Ward Nichols, a young man prominent in athletics several seasons ago." "You're afraid he's in some sort of trouble at Health House." "Trouble that may have been started by a fellow employee named, uh, Veronica Temple." "Well, actually, Veronica's more than a fellow employee, Mr. Mason." "She's Ward's ex-wife." "Oh?" "David didn't tell me that." "I didn't know." "We've kept it quiet, because Uncle Bernard won't employ anybody he knows has been divorced." "Or anybody he knows smokes or drinks, for that matter." "And now, because $7,000 has apparently been abstracted from a Health House checking account, you seem to think that Ward might be blamed." "Why?" "Veronica." "I wouldn't be surprised if she was stealing the money herself." "Does Ward know you've come to see me?" "I can't very well represent him without his, uh, permission." "Della?" "If Paul's still in the outer office, ask him to come in, would you, please?" "Paul Drake's a private detective." "I see no reason why you shouldn't ask him to try to find out what this Veronica Temple's up to." "Uh, Paul, this is Miss Daniels, niece of Bernard Daniels of Health House." "How do you do, Miss Daniels?" "There's a possibility, Paul, that Miss Daniels' fiancé is being threatened in some way by a Veronica Temple, an instructor at Health House-- might even be blackmail." "Veronica Temple?" "You know her?" "(sighs) Well, yes, and it puts me in kind of an embarrassing position." "I just completed an investigation of Miss Temple, among others." "An investigation?" "Who for?" "Bernard Daniels." "Oh, that's a coincidence." "You feel there might be a conflict of interest, Paul?" "No, no, no, it isn't that." "It's just that..." "Well..." "MASON:" "No, go on." "Well, I found out that Miss Temple couldn't very well be blackmailing" "Ward Nichols." ""Couldn't be"?" "Not unless a wife can blackmail her husband." "Ward's not her husband, Mr. Drake." "They're divorced." "Well, not according to the records, Miss Daniels." "A suit was filed three years ago in Reno, but no final decree was ever obtained." "Harrison, stop." "Stop it!" "Somebody'll see us." "It's after hours." "So, who cares." "I do." "At least until Friday." "Then this'll all be over." "It better be, Vonnie." "You know, from the start" "I haven't liked any part of it." "Not any, darling?" "Okay." "One part of it." "But..." "Eugene?" "He isn't in here, Mrs. Houseman." "Well, Veronica." "You know Dr. Berry, don't you?" "I may even know him better than you do." "Since he's been physician at Health House for over a year now." "Have you seen Eugene," "Doctor?" "No, Mrs. Houseman." "No, I haven't." "Maybe Buzz Farrell has." "He's working around here someplace." "Buzz?" "Buzz Farrell?" "Coming!" "Coming!" "Well, how do, Mrs. Houseman?" "Long time no see." "Hello, Buzz." "Do you know where my husband could be?" "Yes, ma'am." "I saw him just five minutes ago." "He's playing handball with the big boss." "Well, would you do me a favor, and tell him I'll be waiting in his office?" "Yes, ma'am." "Right away." "Sounds like he's hitting the bottle again." "Really, some of these old-timers around here should..." "Like me." "Is that what you mean?" "(chuckles)" "You know, you should be more charitable, since it's a man." "If it weren't for poor Buzz's weakness, he could've been a partner in Health House years ago." "Just think of the pleasure Buzz would've gotten-- out of discharging someone like you." "Hi, Buzz." "Punching your clock?" "Daniel sent word he wanted to see me." "Yeah." "He's in there, son." "Sweatin' the old celery juice, 'cause he can't beat a pro like Gene Houseman." "Oops." "Reminds me." "Say, Gene, your-your wife said to tell you she's waiting in your office." "Oh, I completely forgot" "I was supposed to take her out for dinner tonight." "Well, run along, Eugene." "I want to have a word with Nichols there anyway." "(coughs)" "Do I smell liquor on you, Buzz?" "You might." "I took some awhile ago." "Bad cold." "Bad cold nothing." "You're drunk." "No, I had maybe one, two little nips." "That's all." "That's all?" "Practically an entire pint." "Take him to the locker room." "Give him a cold shower to sober him up, and then send him back here." "You're not gonna do anything drastic, are you, Bernard?" "I'm going to fire him." "You're gonna fire..." "Come on, Buzz." "A shower and you'll feel better." "Muscle-headed windbag." "Gene, he can't fire me." "Let me go, I'll break his neck." "Come on, Buzz, take it easy." "You wanted to see me, Mr. Daniels?" "Yes, I did, Nichols." "I wanted to know if you knew of any good reason why I shouldn't send you to jail?" "Ward?" "Ward?" "Well, he must be here somewhere." "I telephoned Buzz and asked him to have him wait so we'd all have dinner together." "Who's Buzz?" "General factotum in charge of the men's locker room." "Let's go down to see if he knows where Ward is." "What's that?" "It's a broken whiskey bottle." "How do you suppose it got here?" "(gasps)" "CASEY:" "Mr. Mason!" "(exclaims)" "Uncle Bernard!" "Good of you to call and, uh, show us Mr. Daniels' body, Perry." "Oh, uh, you know, Lieutenant Anderson, of course." "Hello, Andy." "Maybe you could perform one more good deed for us, Perry." "What's that?" "Tell us who the murderer is." "Sorry, I haven't the remotest idea." "Are you sure it is murder?" "We're never sure until all the reports are in." "A bloody contusion at the base of the skull, a bloody dumbbell lying nearby... doesn't exactly suggest, uh, suicide." "No, it doesn't." "Which means, I'll need statements from all of you." "Lieutenant Anderson?" "Yes, Brice?" "Something you ought to see." "Oh?" "Uh, you mind if I take a look?" "Well, I should say no, Perry, not knowing what it is, but, uh, come on." "By the bench, Lieutenant." "Whiskey bottle, I don't see..." "Oh, I do see." "I tried to wake him, but he's out cold." "Any idea who he is?" "He's the locker room attendant here, Buzz Farrell." "It doesn't look as though Mr. Farrell could tell us very much at the moment." "Take a look in his locker, sir." "Looked to me like the twin of the one out there." "Well, they generally come in pairs." "We found this woman upstairs in one of the offices." "Claims she's a bookkeeper here." "I am the bookkeeper here!" "Buzz?" "Oh, Buzz..." "What have you done to him?" "Actually, the question is:" "What has he done to Mr. Daniels?" "Even when signatures seem identical as these seem to be, uh, the eye-- or perhaps I should say the microscope-- is able to discern subtle differences." "Now, here our experts found significant variations in the pressure patterns." "Isn't there also a slight variation in the slanting of the letters-- forward in the genuine and almost backward in the forgery?" "You have a good eye, Mr. Mason." "Our expert commented on that, too." "And as a result, we found that Mr. Houseman didn't need to worry any longer." "He didn't sign any of the checks in question." "And I was so sure I had." "Incredible." "Hasn't your expert any idea yet who did sign them?" "That's a problem for the police, I'm afraid." "Is there anything further, Mr. Mason?" "No, I don't think so." "Thank you for coming by." "It's quite all right." "Good day." "That the insurance fellow?" "Uh, Paul, this is Mr. Houseman." "He was brought over to explain that check business in Daniels' office." "How do you do, Mr. Houseman?" "How do you do?" "I hope you hit pay dirt, Paul." "That insurance man either couldn't or wouldn't tell us what his investigators have turned up." "Except that the checks were actually forged." "Well, I learned that much, but little else." "Uh, so..." "Well, I better be going, too." "Casey, if there's anything Mrs. Houseman or I can do..." "Oh, I'll be all right." "Thank you." "Well, good-bye." "Mr. Houseman." "(door opens and closes)" "What do you have, Paul?" "Well, it's mostly bad." "Here's a summary so far." "No sign as yet of Ward Nichols, either here or at his apartment." "I just can't understand Ward's vanishing like that." "Well, there's a possible reason, which I'll come to." "I had an interview with Veronica Temple." "Was told to mind my own business." "However, I did discover that she has a boyfriend." "A, uh, Dr. Harrison Berry." "Are you sure?" "He's consulting physician at Health House, you know?" "Well, he's been consulting with Veronica at night." "I checked the, uh, bank where A.B.C. Sporting Goods' account is kept." "But their office is in the Wyandotte Building on Hill Street." "The telephone doesn't answer." "You better go down there and take a look." "I intend to." "Now, here's the bad part." "Tragg is still holding Buzz Farrell, but there's a pickup out on Ward Nichols." "Apparently, Tragg heard about the forged checks and Ward trying to borrow money." "And there's worse." "On the broken whiskey bottle, was a bloody fingerprint." "Not Ward's?" "(phone ringing) Oh, no." "Yes, Gertie?" "Oh, put him on." "Perry, it's David." "Yes, David?" "Ward's at your place?" "Yeah, he was waiting for me when I got back here." "Well, I held off until Gertie said you were alone." "Sure, Mr. Mason, sure." "Look, uh, what'll I tell him?" "The truth-- that you did have a row on the handball court." "Well, it was more a wrestling match, really." "All right, a wrestling match, the upshot of which was you cut your hand on a broken whiskey bottle." "So, instead of meeting Mr. Mason, Casey and me, you went to Dr. Berry's to have your hand taken care of." "Wait a minute" " I didn't know I was supposed to meet you." "Buzz Farrell didn't tell you?" "Well, no." "MASON (on phone):" "David, tell him to talk louder." "Oh, Ward, where have you been?" "Yes, Ward, I understand." "Go on." "Well, I was on my way home from Dr. Berry's office and I got the flash then that Daniels' body was found in the handball court." "Well, I didn't know what to do." "Casey, I tried to find you, but you weren't home and..." "So, I went looking for Veronica." "I figured maybe she knew something about it." "And I couldn't find her, either." "Anyway, everyplace I went, the police were there and... you never came home." "Oh, you poor darling." "Never mind that for the moment." "Now, you didn't kill Daniels?" "But what about that check forgery, Ward?" "Tell me the truth." "Do you know anything about it?" "No, of course not." "Then tell me this." "Why was Veronica demanding money from you?" "That's what we thought." "But surely six weeks in Nevada doesn't cost as much as she apparently wanted." "That's very interesting." "Did she offer proof?" "I see." "Dr. Harrison Berry." "All right, Ward, now here's what I want you to do." "Stay there at David's." "Give David the keys to your apartment." "He can stop by later and get some clothes for you." "All right, I'll stay in touch with you." "Della..." "I seem to be coming down with a... slight cold." "See if you can get me an appointment with, um, Dr. Harrison Berry." "If you have a cold, Mr. Mason," "I'd, uh, I'd like one just like it." "Best sounding pair of lungs I've listened to in a long time." "It, um, was good of Veronica Temple to recommend me, even if I can't do anything for you." "How long have you known her?" "Hmm, not long." "Well, the fact is, isn't it, that you, uh, you don't know her at all?" "That you're here to find out what you can about, uh, about me and Veronica." "On behalf of Miss Daniels?" "I'm..." "I'm rather surprised a man of your reputation would stoop to a trick like this." "Well, I admit I'm somewhat curious about you and Miss Temple, Doctor." "But I'd hardly call an attempt to discover whether or not a physician is reputable... trickery." "Did I pass the test?" "I don't know yet." "That could depend on your relationship with Miss Temple." "She's a patient... and a friend." "Anything unethical about that?" "That, in turn, depends on whether a certain medical report was given to her as a friend or a physician." "I don't quite follow." "I'm referring to the report you gave her indicating that she's going to have a child." "Where did you hear about that?" "Ward Nichols happened to see the report in Veronica's apartment." "Now is that report true or false?" "I think you better leave, Mr. Mason, before I lose my temper." "You don't care to answer?" "Get out." "Very well." "In all fairness, Doctor, I should warn you that you may shortly find yourself on the witness stand being asked that same question." "You fool, treating him like that." "You didn't have to antagonize him." "What antagonized Mr. Mason, Vonnie, was Bernard Daniels' murder." "Well, why look at me like that?" "Seems to me I remember your saying he'd ordered you to report to him after work last night." "I did report." "What did he want?" "Who knows?" "He was dead." "(door opens)" "Sorry to have kept you waiting, sir, but I promised to have the new lease for Fortescue, Incorporated drawn up by 3:00, and that was that." "Did you locate the lease" "I asked you about on the phone?" "Oh." "Oh, yes." "134 square feet according to our usual rates, and signed for the A.B.C. Sporting Goods Company by one J.P. Jones." "Could be a dummy name." "Well, it could be, maybe." "What did this J.P. Jones look like?" "Why, I never saw him." "He rented by phone, messenger for the leases, our copy back by mail with the first and last month's rent." "Oh, uh, would you like to look inside?" "Yes, please." "Not what I call very elegantly furnished." "Some kind of a racket, Mr. Drake?" "Yeah, one that got slightly out of hand last night." "Thank you, Mr. Masters." "Well, if it isn't Mr. Gideon." "Fancy meeting you here." "Why, uh, Lieutenant Anderson." "That's right." "Mind telling me why you're borrowing a pair of pajamas or does Perry Mason want these?" "Why, no." "I'm just going through some of Ward Nichols' things." "Using a passkey to do so." "No, Ward gave me his key." "We're old friends." "Does he know you're here?" "(chuckles) I hardly think so." "Then what right have you to be going through his things?" "All the right that a search warrant confers, Mr. Gideon." "And I might add that what we found more than justifies the warrant." "Oh?" "Mm." "Torn-up scratch paper with the name Eugene Houseman tried several different ways, copy of an office lease to the A.B.C. Sporting Goods Company and two bank statements addressed to the A.B.C. Sporting Goods Company." "(phone rings)" "Hello?" "Oh, uh, speaking." "I'll be with you in half an hour." "Mr. Gideon, I don't suppose I could prevail upon you to tell me where Ward Nichols is, could I?" "Lieutenant..." "Well, it doesn't really matter because he was just picked up in your apartment." "Follow the girl, find the boy." "Ward picked up?" "On what charge?" "First-degree murder." "Veronica was a dancer in a Reno nightclub." "I was just out of college." "I fell hard." "In a week, we were married." "In a month, I knew it wouldn't work." "Not with her keeping up old ties with a couple of gambling friends." "So you, um, left town?" "After getting her a lawyer and signing what papers he wanted and paying for the divorce." "It was only two weeks ago that I found out she not only didn't get the divorce, but she took all the money back from the lawyer." "Didn't you wonder why you never received a report from him?" "No, it never occurred to me." "I don't know anything about how that works." "I came down here and..." "I met Casey and got the job at the Health House." "How did Veronica get her job there?" "I don't know." "All I know is I came back from my vacation last year and found she'd landed a job giving me as a reference." "This, um, child she claims she's going to have, any idea who might be responsible?" "No, not-not the slightest." "Now about the wrestling match with Daniels, he'd accused you of forging checks." "Yeah, $7,000-worth." "When I didn't confess, he lost his temper." "He grabbed me." "He started to shake me," "I struggled to get free, and we slipped and the whiskey bottle broke." "Excuse me for a moment, Ward." "Yes, Paul?" "Something you might want to ask him;" "the insurance company's new total on the Health House account loss:" "an additional $245 in petty cash." "Well, that doesn't seem very significant." "What comes next is." "Two more forged checks put through the A.B.C. Sporting Goods account totaling $75,000." "$75,000?" "Mm-hmm." "Now you heard the medical examiner testify that this heavy dumbbell which was found near the body of the deceased was, in his opinion, the murder weapon?" "I heard the doctor say it's probably what shattered the victim's skull, yes, sir." "I ask you if in your work at the police laboratory, you had occasion to examine this weapon." "Oh, yes, I checked that dumbbell for fingerprints." "Those are my initials right, right below Lieutenant Tragg's." "And on it you found?" "Nothing." "Somebody had wiped off all the prints." "Your Honor, I move that answer be stricken as being a conclusion on the part of the witness." "Your Honor, that dumbbell didn't just fly into the handball court." "Somebody carried it in there and committed a murder with it." "Besides, Your Honor, as an expert, this witness is entitled to state an opinion." "Mr. Mason, since an expert is entitled to a reasonable opinion, I'm going to let the answer stand." "You may proceed, Mr. Burger." "Now this is another item that was found at the scene of the death." "It's a broken whiskey bottle." "I ask if you examined it for fingerprints, too, sir." "Yes." "And what did you find?" "A thumbprint and an index fingerprint." "Were you able to identify these fingerprints?" "Yes, sir, we found they were the prints of the defendant" "Ward Nichols." "Yes, this is the office lease to the A.B.C. Sporting Goods Company." "And are these the bank statements to the A.B.C. Sporting Company that you also found in the defendant's apartment?" "Yes, sir, they are." "If it please the court," "I should like these bank statements entered in evidence for the People marked exhibit seven." "JUDGE:" "So ordered." "Have you finished with the witness, Mr. Burger?" "Yes, Your Honor." "Does the defense desire to cross-examine?" "It does, Your Honor." "Lieutenant Anderson," "I believe you testified that you found the lease and other documents hidden in the defendant's wardrobe?" "Yes, I did." "What does the word "hidden" mean to you?" "Well, concealed is when something is put in the place where people would have difficulty finding it." "But you found those documents easily, did you not?" "Yes, I suppose I did." "Then the word "hidden" is not quite right, is it?" "No, I guess not." ""Planted," would that be the word?" "Objection." "I'll withdraw the question, Your Honor." "That's all, Lieutenant." "And you led Mr. Farrell into the locker room at Mr. Daniels' request?" "He told me to make Buzz take a shower." "But I guess when I left Buzz at his locker, he took out another bottle." "Anyway, by the time I got the water running and came back for him, he'd passed out cold." "I see." "What did you do then, sir?" "Went out to report this to Bernard" " Mr. Daniels, but he was having such a violent quarrel with young Nichols on the handball court," "I decided to skip it." "I went back, took a shower myself and dressed." "Then I went upstairs to look for Rhonda, my wife." "Did you pass the handball court on the way?" "Yes, but I didn't stop to look in." "I assumed Bernard had gone to change in his office dressing room." "Perhaps if I had looked in, I could have helped him." "I think he was beyond help by that time, Mr. Houseman." "That'll be all, sir." "Cross-examine." "How long were you in the shower that night, Mr. Houseman?" "Five minutes, perhaps." "Took me about ten minutes altogether to shower and dress." "And Buzz Farrell was out cold all that time?" "I assume so." "Mr. Houseman, didn't you sneak out of the locker room during the time Buzz Farrell was out cold?" "Sneak out and kill Bernard Daniels?" "No, of course not." "Bernard was my friend." "No, sir, I didn't mean it if it sounded like Ward Nichols was the only one who knew I had a pair of dumbbells in my locker." "Practically everybody in Health House knew I had 'em." "Now you're sure you heard or saw nothing unusual after Mr. Houseman led you into the locker room?" "Well, unless you call finding that other whiskey bottle unusual." "One drink from that and I was gone." "Then you couldn't have seen Mr. Houseman if he had taken that dumbbell." "Not him or anyone." "Did you kill Bernard Daniels?" "He cut me out of my share of Health House." "He was gonna fire me." "I hated him." "I'm glad he's dead, but I didn't kill him." "I didn't." "With regard to this report to Miss Veronica Temple, Doctor, on the subject of certain laboratory tests, did you prepare this report yourself?" "Yes, I did." "And what did you report to Miss Temple?" "That she was going to have a child." "Of course, I told Ward Nichols about it." "But why was that?" "Why did you tell him about the child?" "He wasn't directly involved, was he?" "Because I needed the money." "I wanted to go to Nevada and finish getting my divorce-- I wanted to make a fresh start." "Well, what was Ward Nichols' reaction when you told him about the child?" "Was he concerned?" "Of course, he was concerned." "The last thing in the world he wanted was scandal." "Why, if Mr. Daniels had found out that Ward and I were still married and that I was mixed up in a thing like this..." "Yes, but what did Ward actually say to you about the money?" "He said he'd get the money for me." "He'd do just what I wanted." "He said... he'd get the money any way he could." "*" "Hi." "Hello, Paul." "Any luck?" "Well, some." "First, a couple of interesting items on Veronica Temple, though I don't know how they're gonna help you." "Item A" "A high school marriage in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with exactly the same pattern as her marriage to Ward." "No divorce there either?" "That's right." "Item B" "I finally got someone to talk at the commercial lab Dr. Berry uses." "There were never any tests on any Veronica Temple." "Then she wasn't going to have a baby?" "Nice girl." "What about the other people I asked you to check on?" "Well, nothing on Miss Prentice, except that she seems to have been in love with Buzz Farrell for years." "Nothing on Dr. Berry, except for the lab business." "And, uh, nothing on Rhonda Houseman." "No exception in her case?" "Well, not unless you consider her being Bernard Daniels' secretary up to about a year ago an exception." "And nothing on Eugene Houseman, except of course, for his once having been handball champ." "Oh, I'm sure that'll be a big help." "You know, Paul, maybe you're a genius." "I am?" "You've given me a new slant on a couple of things." "Well, you're welcome, I'm sure." "You want to hear about Buzz Farrell?" "Of course." "Something odd." "Remember the figure the insurance man said the Health House account was out?" "$82,245." "Well, Buzz bets the horses." "And last week he got around to paying his bookie what he'd been owing him." "Not $82,000?" "Nope. $245." "Buzz came to me, desperate." "He said if he didn't pay up, they might give him a beating." "Well, I didn't have enough to even start to help him." "So I took what he needed from petty cash" "$245.00." "I drew out the money the very next day from my savings account, but before I could put it back, there was an audit because of the forged checks." "And then it was too late." "I have the money here in this envelope." "Will I have to go to jail, Miss Daniels?" "Of course not." "You didn't intend to do anything wrong, Miss Prentice." "How can I ever thank you?" "Perhaps by answering one or two questions, Miss Prentice." "Now, were Bernard Daniels and Veronica Temple anything more than employer-employee?" "Oh, no, I don't think so." "He would hardly have fired her in that case, would he?" "Fired her?" "The afternoon he was killed-- he told me to figure out what was owed to her, and to make out a check." "And then he said, he was either going to fire her or expose her." "I didn't ask him what he meant." "I'm sorry, but, Perry, we only have 25 minutes and we're due back at court." "Yes, I know." "Did Mr. Daniels have a special place where he kept valuables, or important papers?" "Well, he-he did have a special drawer built in his desk a few years ago when he was worried about robberies, but I don't think he ever kept anything there." "It's here." "Do you know how to open it?" "Well, I think so." "I saw him do it two or three times." "You pull it up-- and then you pull..." "(snap)" "CASEY:" "Anything in there?" "Yes." "Yes. $75,000." "Now then, as an expert graphologist, you maintain that the forged signatures on the smaller checks and the signatures on these two checks totaling $75,000 are the work of the same person?" "I'll stake my professional reputation on it." "Now, what about the practice signatures-- the ones that were done on scrap paper and found in the defendant's apartment?" "It was the work of the same person, too." "Thank you, sir." "That'll be all." "Mr. Mason?" "I should like to request, Your Honor, that during my cross-examination of this witness, all other witnesses be excluded from this courtroom." "JUDGE:" "Very well, Mr. Mason." "Bailiff will clear the court of all witnesses." "I believe you just testified that the forgeries were all the work of one person?" "That's right, sir." "Upon your examination of them, were you able to discover anything about this person?" "Age, sex and so forth?" "Well, not on the little that we have here, no." "Then the forward slant of the writing in the real signatures, and the backward slant in the forgeries revealed nothing to you?" "Oh, I see what you're getting at now." "I, uh, started to enter that in my report, but I decided it was probably irrelevant." "But it would appear from the backward slant, that the forger was left-handed." "Left-handed?" "This, um, summary of the laboratory report on Veronica Temple-- is that your signature?" "Yes." "It's not a forgery?" "No, certainly not." "I have here an affidavit from the laboratory stating that at no time were tests ever made on Veronica Temple." "Now how do you explain that?" "Isn't it true that you and Miss Temple were partners in a blackmail scheme?" "That Daniels found out about it-- was going to expose you, so you had to kill him?" "No!" "No, I" " I did fake the report for Veronica." "But that's all." "I-I didn't blackmail anybody." "And I certainly didn't kill anybody." "Dr. Berry, on this paper," "I'd like you to copy Mr. Houseman's signature as closely as you can." "That'll do." "Thank you." "All right, I" " I did lie to Ward Nichols." "You lied to him about expecting a child, and then, using that lie, you tried to blackmail him, did you not?" "Blackmail?" "Who are you kidding?" "How can a wife blackmail her husband?" "Miss Temple, Ward Nichols is not now, nor never was your husband." "Due to your failure to divorce" " Who was it?" " your high school sweetheart back in Cedar Rapids?" "So it was blackmail." "Now you had Dr. Berry make a copy of his report." "What was the reason for that copy?" "Who else were you blackmailing?" "Bernard Daniels?" "And when he threatened to expose you, what did you do, Miss Temple?" "What did you do?" "Well, I certainly didn't kill him." "He-he wasn't mixed up in it at all." "If I was blackmailing anyone, it was Ward Nichols." "Just Ward." "Miss, Temple, would you please try to duplicate that signature of Mr. Houseman's?" "Thank you." "Yes, Ward became assistant treasurer at my suggestion." "Mr. Daniels was a little unsure of him, but I felt he was a fine young man." "You got to know him through playing handball with him?" "We had many good games." "Now, this handball I have here-- is it similar to the ones you use?" "Yes." "About the same." "You're, uh, left-handed, Mr. Houseman." "Left-handed and right-handed." "Many good handball players are ambidextrous, Mr. Mason." "Exactly." "Now, you, uh, did use your left hand to sign the checks described here as being forgeries, did you not?" "I figured the signature would be just different enough to fool the insurance company." "What made you stoop to forgery, Mr. Houseman?" "Was it because Miss Temple demanded money from you as the father of her expected child?" "Yes. $7,000-- more than I could raise without letting my wife or Bernard know." "So, I hit on the signature scheme." "But Bernard found out anyway." "MASON:" "What did he then do?" "He gave me a choice." "Either jail, or write out a full confession and forge two more checks." "You wrote that confession?" "You gave it to Daniels?" "Yes." "And those two checks amounted to $75,000?" "Yes." "He'd overextended with a new swimming pool, enlarged ice-skating rink." "This is a way he could use the insurance money to pay off his creditors." "And you passed those two checks through the A.B.C. Sporting Goods account just as you had the others?" "Yes." "As J.P. Jones." "Whose idea was it to plant the bank statements and other documents in Ward Nichols' apartment?" "Bernard's." "I didn't have anything to do with that." "But you did pay Miss Temple her money?" "Yes." "Now what did you do with the $75,000?" "I gave it to Bernard." "What did he do with it?" "I don't know." "Oh, I think you do." "I think you killed him for it." "No." "I wouldn't have dared to kill Bernard." "Not with his having a full confession" "I wrote out for him." "I wouldn't have dared." "I'm afraid that won't do, Mr. Houseman." "You had motive, you had opportunity." "Oh, yes, you killed him." "No, you're wrong." "I killed Bernard Daniels." "Rhonda." "I saw the confession after you wrote it, Eugene." "In the study." "I knew he'd squeeze us with it for the rest of his life." "So that night in Health House, while you were taking a shower and Buzz was sleeping," "I took the dumbbell." "And I waited until Bernard was alone in the handball court." "And the confession, Mrs. Houseman?" "I took it out of Bernard's secret drawer, and I destroyed it." "You took the confession, but not the $75,000?" "Mr. Mason, I'm not a thief." "And just signing these papers is all I have to do?" "Except for an appearance in court when your uncle's will is probated." "Well, I think I'll skip that." "I've had enough of court for the rest of my life." "Which incidentally, I'm grateful to you for saving, Mr. Mason." "We both are grateful." "Now, we'd better get back to work." "Yeah." "We'll keep in touch." "Bye." "I have a question of Miss Street." "In what way was I a genius?" "Oh, when you reminded Perry that Houseman was a handball champion." "I still don't get it." "Well, you weren't in court, Paul." "Handball champions are likely to be ambidextrous." "Well, brighter than I thought." "Hey, how do you suppose you start this thing?" "I'm ambidextrous." "Allow me." "(loud whirring)" "Hey..." "Hey, Della, turn it off!" "Perry..." "Somebody turn this thing off!" "Shall we?" "Help!" "Della, Perry, come back!" "Ah, well, Paint, old sport, I guess it's you and me." "Et tu." "(theme music plays)"