"(theme song playing)" "*" "Palm View Medical Center." "(chuckles)" "Well, now, what do you think of that?" "Dr. Wayne Edley." "(scoffs)" "Miss York, what on earth's going on?" "It's that Mr. Widlock who telephoned yesterday." "You know, the one that was a patient last year." "I told him it was after your lunchtime, but it didn't seem to do any good." "WIDLOCK:" "Doc?" "You in there?" "Mr. Widlock." "Crutches" " I'm sorry." "You'll be a lot sorrier when you see what's in here." "Why?" "What's this?" "Since I phoned for an appointment," "I thought I'd better have somebody else x-ray my hip." "The hip you treated a whole month for bursitis, remember?" "Till I ran out of dough and had to quit coming." "Go ahead, take a look at it." "What do you see?" "It looks like there was once a small fracture there." "Well, now, that's just what the X-ray man in Beverly Hills said." "And you know something, Doc?" "My hip was that way when I first came to you." "I'd had a bad fall, and if you look at your records, you'll see I told you about it." "Miss York." "Would you please bring me Mr. Widlock's record, please?" "Also, the X-ray we took on his first visit." "Now, Mr. Widlock, I think we're going to find that you did not have a fractured hip when you were my patient last year." "I remember very well." "Uh, may I see you please, Doctor?" "Yes, Miss York." "Excuse me." "Excuse us." "You've forgotten about that fire last April." "What's the fire got to do with it?" "Over here." "There weren't many X-rays, but the defective wiring did burn some of the ones between "U" and "Z."" "Between "U" and "Z"?" "That's right through "W" for Widlock." "Ah, swell." "Well, Doc?" "What's the matter, you afraid to show me the snapshot you took on that broken-down machine of yours?" "Let's sit down, Mr. Widlock." "I think we ought to discuss this." "No, I don't want to sit down." "My hip hurts." "Doc, if you got enough money to build a brand-new clinic," "I guess you got enough to pay me." "There's a thing called malpractice, and that's what I'm going to sue you for." "For every penny you've got." "Hi, Janice." "Grif, you didn't even wait for me." "Well, we got to the framing a little earlier than I'd figured." "Hey, hasn't Wayne been out to watch?" "No." "The least we should've done is broken open a bottle of champagne over a sawhorse." "Now, your husband wouldn't enjoy that half as much as me and the sawhorse." "(chuckles):" "Oh, yes he would." "You just don't understand Wayne." "It's only during office hours that he's so serious." "Oh, I wouldn't change him for the world." "Besides, this town can use some of his respectable energies." "Particularly when it keeps me in business." "Oh, Grif, if you knew what the clinic means to him." "You know, ever since I persuaded him to move out here, that's all he's been able to talk about." "(car door closes)" "Wayne!" "Excuse me, Grif." "Yeah." "Malpractice?" "Well, he claims I was treating him for bursitis when he was actually suffering from an undetected fracture." "I'd like to fracture his head." "Oh, but there must be some way of stopping him so there won't be anything public like a lawsuit." "Oh, he finally got around to mentioning a settlement, naturally." "Gave me 24 hours to decide." "How much will he settle for?" "$5,000." "$5,000...?" "But that isn't so terribly much." "What?" "I wouldn't settle for five cents." "I know that, darling." "And I also know we don't have $5,000." "Oh, you're darn right we don't have $5,000." "But we have insurance, don't we?" "Look, we've got to be realistic." "We're in a small town-- even one breath of suspicion can hurt you." "Well, even if you just couldn't make a mistake like that, if one person says you did..." "Don't be ridiculous!" "Besides, nobody'd say that about your uncle." "My uncle?" "What's he got to do with this?" "Well, he was a radiologist, wasn't he?" "This happened last year." "I was still checking my X-rays with him then, if you remember." "I'm sure I did in this case." "But he happens to be at the other end of the world." "Oh, Wayne, even if he weren't retired, you certainly can't expect him to remember one X-ray out of the millions he's looked at." "Dear, he used to make diagrams for me to illustrate his conclusions." "Now, you just run along, and I'll give you a call." "Oh, where you going?" "Well, Miss York's canceling all my appointments." "I'm going to drive down to Los Angeles." "I was thinking maybe your uncle's old laboratory might have hung on to some of these records and notebooks." "Darling, wait." "Hey, why don't you let somebody else handle this?" "A lawyer maybe or-or somebody who knows about business things." "Someone like who?" "Oh, you're so quick-tempered." "No, no, someone like who, Leslie Hall?" "Well, you can at least trust Leslie." "And he does know about local things." "Well, he'd realize what could happen to your new clinic if it..." "Janice, the last thing in the world that I need is advice from your hick town boyfriend." "Now, there are principles involved." "Oh, darling, I'm sorry." "I was just trying to..." "I know." "But you let me do this my way." "All right?" "Bye." "When Gates retired and went abroad to live, he pulled up most of his stakes." "But he did leave some of his medical library here." "Thought I might like to use it, seeing that I'm renting the building and the laboratory." "What I'm looking for are those little black ledger books that he used, Dr. Banning, for notes and things." "Oh, yes, I remember those." "We boxed them up, I think, with some of his other personal things." "Where are they now?" "What did you do with them?" "Well, we shipped them off to storage, I suppose." "It's a cinch Gates wouldn't want to be bothered." "Why don't you ask that fellow who handles his business affairs in this country?" "Name's Hall." "Leslie Hall, I think it is." "Yes, I'm sure Hall will be happy to advise you." "(phone ringing)" "Hello." "Well, Wayne, I'm glad you called." "Uh, look here, old boy, about that trouble you're in..." "What trouble?" "Come on, don't give me that." "I just finished talking to Janice." "She had no business..." "Wayne, you know you can trust in my discretion." "Don't blame Janice." "I" " Well, I pried it out of her quite by accident." "But, uh, the poor girl's really worried, and, well, I must say I sympathize." "Look, why don't the two of you drop over tonight and we can sit down and talk this thing through." "Well, there's nothing to talk about." "Look, all I want from you is some information on those little black notebooks of Janice's uncle, Dr. Gates." "Oh, forget about those, Wayne." "If I were you, I wouldn't even bother your insurance company." "Look, why don't you just pay this character off and be done with it?" "If you're a little short, I'll even lend you the money." "Leslie, I just want to find the books." "Now, where are they?" "Well, as I remember" "Let's see, you're in Los Angeles now, right?" "Yes, well, I think they're out here at the old farmhouse." "I'm sure that's where the box they're in is stored." "Yes, up in the attic at the old Gates farmhouse." "(doorbell rings)" "*" "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" "!" "Oh, there you are." "Hurry up, Roger, I want to get in." "Is that so?" "Just whose house do you think this is now, sawbones?" "I'm sorry, Roger." "I didn't mean to break in." "There's just a few things" "I want to get out of the attic in a hurry." "My property, all of it, you understand?" "Yeah." "Taxes, mortgage, dry well-- that's what dear Uncle Gates handed me." "Unlike poor Cousin Janice he ups and sends a cool $100,000 to, so you can hand out pills in a fancy building and tell all..." "All right, Roger, just quit moaning, will you, and let me inside." "Wipe your feet." "Roger's not a very polite young man." "Well, he, uh, he let me go up in the attic." "And we hunted through every box and crate without finding a trace of those little black notebooks." "I'm sure it must be very frustrating, but why have you sought me out, Dr. Edley?" "Well, you were the housekeeper for Janice's uncle for so many years, I thought maybe he might have stored some things with you." "Personal things that he might want to keep, like maybe some notebooks." "The only thing he left with me was the nicest of all possible gifts:" "an annuity." "Just imagine, I can spend the rest of my life painting." "Well, you're very fortunate, Mrs. Osborn." "Thanks again." "You know, if I were you, young man," "I'd go right back to Leslie Hall." "Oh, I don't think that would do any good." "I know." "I know." "Janice was engaged to him before she suddenly up and decided to marry you." "But I didn't say you had to like him." "Just see him." "Dr. Gates used to say Leslie Hall has a very shrewd mind." "There's a saying among lawyers, Dr. Edley, a saying almost as old as the common law." "It goes like this:" "You can win, but lose while you're winning." "Yes, I know." "I've already been reminded of that by my wife." "She's timid and frightened by something like this, but if it's the last thing that I do, Mr. Mason..." "You can also just plain lose, if there isn't any evidence or corroboration of your original diagnosis of this man." "Well, there's my word, isn't there, and my nurse's?" "And on his part, there's a hip that was actually once fractured." "If, as you say, you verified the new X-rays he showed you." "You mean you think that I ought to back off, too, is that it?" "Let some character who's obviously broken that hip after I treated him just walk all over me for $5,000?" "I didn't come here just to have you tell me" "Come in, Paul." "You're just in time." "Paul Drake, Dr. Edley." "How do you do, Doctor?" "How do you do?" "Mr. Drake has handled a good many malpractice investigations for insurance companies." "Well, I haven't contacted my insurance company yet." "I'm afraid of their reaction as" "Suppose you let us take care of it for you?" "Mr. Drake can contact them if necessary." "Perry, Della briefed me pretty thoroughly just now." "As I understand it, Doctor, this guy barged into your office and threatened to ruin you, both professionally and financially." "Then, out of the blue, he offered to let you off the hook for only $5,000?" "Yes, provided the money is paid within 24 hours." "I'm sorry, Mr. Mason." "I didn't mean to sound angry." "Forget it, Doctor." "This doesn't give us much time, Paul." "It'll be enough." "Don't worry, Doctor." "(laughing)" "Well, well, well." "So you've been asking questions about me, huh?" "What did you find?" "Police record?" "Draft dodging?" "Baby killing?" "(chuckles)" "Mr. Drake, my car is not even double parked because I don't own one." "Let's just say I'm stubborn." "Suppose this whole business was nothing more or less than the old disappearing X-ray stunt." "Now you see it, now you don't." "Oh, no." "That X-ray I showed Doc Edley today won't disappear." "And you can take 1,000 more like it any day you want." "You see, the bone" "I mean the original X-ray." "The one that, uh, was destroyed when the office burned." "Doc Edley's old snapshot?" "I got nothing to do with that." "Suppose my investigation proves you were in town at the time of the fire?" "You sure like to suppose, don't you?" "Well, please understand, Mr. Widlock." "I'm not accusing you of a thing." "But-But just suppose you were a confidence man." "There's something you ought to know." "Insurance companies keep elaborate files on the modus operandi of all these shakedown stunts." "By tomorrow morning, I'll have the dope on every broken hip that ever collected five cents." "Uh, any con man who'd stick around town comparing old aches and pains should have his head x-rayed." "Sure should." "(phone rings)" "Hello?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Drake." "I've just been waiting for your call." "Keep your fingers crossed, but-but I think he'll run." "Sure." "I've seen hundreds like him." "He's just as crooked as they come." "Oh, thank you, Mr. Drake." "You don't know what a relief" "Yeah, I understand." "Well, thanks again, Mr. Drake." "Yeah." "Good night." "Janice?" "Where are you?" "I think maybe it's over." "Mr. Drake just called, and he thinks" "Janice?" "Darling?" ""Darling, going to pick up my car" ""and go to committee meeting at country club." "Please don't wait up for me."" "(dialing phone)" "This is Dr. Edley." "Would you ask my wife to come to the phone?" "She's attending some committee meeting." "There isn't?" "Are you sure she's not?" "Well, hasn't she been there at all this evening?" "No, no, it's all..." "it's all right." "Thank you." "I guess I just misunderstood." "*" "*" "Hello, Wayne." "How'd you get in here?" "Never mind that." "Janice was here, wasn't she?" "I found her glove." "What if she was, old boy?" "Nothing to be upset about." "How about a drink?" "I suppose you think this is nothing, too?" "(knocking at door)" "Uh, is everything all right?" "Well, certainly, Mr. Morgan." "Why shouldn't it be?" "Well, one of the other tenants just reported somebody going through your patio out back there." "I thought I'd just check in and see if everything was all right." "Uh, sorry." "That's quite all right." "Thanks." "See here, Wayne, whatever you think you found, poking around in my fireplace..." "I don't think, I know." "This is part of the cover of one of Dr. Gates's notebooks." "No wonder I couldn't find them, because you burned them up." "Why?" "You trying to frame me for malpractice?" "Did you hire that guy Widlock?" "You're out of your mind." "Why would I do a thing like that?" "I don't know-- to get even because Janice jilted you." "You idiot." "The only reason she ran off and married you was because she knew" "I was getting ready to toss her overboard." "So before turning in for the night," "I thought I'd check around." "You know how it is." "When you're manager of a place like this, you're responsible for everything." "Well, this door was partly open and" "Is, uh..." "Is he?" "Oh, yes." "Dead as they make 'em." "(phone rings)" "Hello?" "Perry." "What time do you get to work in the morning?" "I was just going to leave this message with your night service." "I had to come by for my briefcase." "What was the message?" "Well, Widlock left his hotel at 1:00 a.m. in a hurry." "Then he boarded a cross-country bus." "Where was he headed?" "He bought a ticket to Phoenix." "You can tell your doctor friend not to worry." "Widlock's been scared off." "Paul, obviously you haven't read the morning paper yet." "Look on page two." "I just got a call from the doctor." "I'm going out there now." ""Mr. Leslie Hall was found stabbed to death in his apartment shortly before midnight last night."" "Have a nice trip to Phoenix, Paul." "Well, the police asked me to cancel all appointments." "They said they wanted to look around the place." "Sergeant Landro's been very nice, but so far, he hasn't explained a thing." "All right, let's go back to last night after you had the fight with Hall." "It was only a couple of pokes." "After he flattened me, he practically threw me out." "Unfortunately, he was able to do it." "What then?" "Well, Hall hadn't answered a single thing I wanted to know, and I-I guess I was afraid to talk to Janice." "So, anyway, I left the car and I walked about 10,000 miles," "I guess, trying to think." "Go on." "Well, it was after 2:00 when I got home." "I went to bed without waking Janice." "There's something else you ought to know, Mr. Mason." "Those scraps of Dr. Gates's notebooks that I told you about, the ones that I found burned in Hall's fireplace?" "What about them?" "Well, the police won't believe it because they couldn't find a trace." "By the time they got there, even the ashes were gone." "Excuse me, Doc." "Oh, hi, Mr. Mason." "Oh, hello, Sergeant." "Doc, I thought maybe you could tell me." "Um, this is a scalpel, isn't it?" "Yes, that's right." "No, no." "Don't touch it, please." "Why not?" "Well, for one thing, there's flecks of blood there." "Doc, do you have any idea why we'd find a perfectly good scalpel like this out in your incinerator?" "There was part of a bloody towel wrapped around it, if that helps any." "Look, I swear I don't know anything about it." "I swear I didn't kill him!" "All right, I hated the man" "Just answer their questions as simply and as truthfully as you can, Doctor." "LANDRO:" "Yes, sir, but I'm afraid you better be doing it down at headquarters from now on." "Mr. Mason, we, uh, we like Doc Edley around here." "If you're thinking about helping him," "I'd sure suggest you put on some speed." "Good morning." "Hey, you get around, don't you?" "Oh, on occasion." "So, what's the occasion?" "What else is new?" "Perry, he says we're barking up the wrong tree." "Well, it stands to reason." "If I had anything to do with the stabbing of" "What's his name?" "Hall?" " you think I'd let your retriever here catch up with me?" "I never saw Hall in my life." "I didn't even know he existed till you showed me those headlines." "Are you asking us to believe that you went away merely because you had a change of heart?" "That you decided not to sue for malpractice, after all?" "Now, wait a minute." "What I had was a change of bankroll." "A what?" "!" "I got paid off." "By whom?" "Well, first there was this woman who phoned me at my hotel room." "What woman?" "Oh, now, wait a minute." "She had a name." "Something like "Street" or something." "Hold on, now." "Is there a Miss Della Street?" "(chuckles uncomfortably)" "Would you, uh, recognize this woman's voice if you heard it again?" "Now, look, I had other things on my mind-- 3,000 of them, to be exact." "Uh, that's what I settled for." "Asked for five, settled for three." "Well... at least I made a good bargain." "For your information, Mr. Widlock," "I'm Della Street." "Okay." "Nice name." "But I never called you in my life." "Well, have it your own way." "All I know is somebody did." "And I got the green stuff to prove it." "Here." "See?" "Your witness, Counselor." "What else did this woman say to you when she called you at your hotel room?" "She said she'd send somebody over with the cash if I'd sign some papers and leave town fast." "So that's all there was to it." "That's what happened." "Would you recognize the man who made the payoff if you saw him again?" "Probably not." "Only there a couple of minutes." "Well, go ahead and send me to the DA, if you like." "I'll tell him the same thing." "I didn't want you to ring the bell." "You see, Janice-- uh, Mrs. Edley-- is lying down." "My name is Mason, Perry Mason." "Oh!" "Well, that's different." "Do come in." "Well, I'm sure she'll be awake soon." "Thank you." "Uh, please make yourself comfortable." "I'm Mrs. Osborn." "Oh, yes." "You were, um, housekeeper to the uncle, uh," "Dr. Eugene Gates." "Imagine you knowing that already." "My, you just find out everything, don't you?" "Sit down." "Well, right now, it's Janice who needs caring for, so I rushed right over." "Oh, poor dear, life just keeps on bringing her up so short." "How do you mean?" "Well, she was barely in her teens when she lost both parents." "Her uncle was kind, but like most bachelors, he was quite impatient." "She lived with her uncle?" "When she wasn't away at school." "But even when she was staying with us, she was off visiting friends most of the time, but that was as much because of Roger." "That would be her cousin, Roger Gates?" "He came from a broken home." "Dr. Gates took him in first, and then, when Janice came along..." "Then we fought like cats and dogs." "What else would you like to know?" "Oh, forgive me, my dear, I had no idea." "This is Mr. Mason." "Oh." "Hello, Mrs. Edley." "Excuse me." "I have some coffee perking." "Mr. Mason, I really don't mind your prying into my life if it'll help Wayne." "Your husband thinks this belongs to you." "And if it does?" "The natural thing would be for you to ask where he found it." "Unless you already know and would rather not explain how it got there." "Of course not." "I went to Leslie's apartment last evening." "I needed his advice." "Wayne's just never understood how a person can rely on someone they've known all their life." "And then what did you do, call Mr. Widlock?" "Who?" "The patient who threatened to sue for malpractice." "He claimed he was called by a woman." "Why would I do that?" "Your husband didn't want to settle." "You did." "Leslie Hall urged you to settle." "Kept on urging you, isn't that right?" "So after you left his place, you called Mr. Widlock, arranged to have $3,000 delivered." "No." "No!" "How could I possibly get hold of that much cash?" "But that is what happened, isn't it?" "I'll come back later after you've had a chance to think it over." "Mr. Mason, I don't want to hurt Wayne." "I understand, Mrs. Edley." "It's too bad you didn't listen to your husband rather than the rest of the town, isn't it?" "(sobbing)" "Roger Gates?" "What do you want?" "My name is Mason, I'm an attorney." "Dr. Edley's attorney." "Well, bully for you." "Ol' sawbones is really in trouble, isn't he?" "I'd like to be a help, but right now I'm in a hurry." "What did Leslie Hall promise you, Mr. Gates?" "Promise me?" "Hall?" "Yes, for not telling Dr. Edley what you obviously knew;" "that your uncle's notebooks had been in the attic, but that Hall had taken them." "What do you mean, I obviously knew?" "I'm a farmer." "I don't pay any attention to that stuff up there." "Anyway, Hall had his own key to the place." "How did that happen?" "He was my uncle's business manager." "He used to be out here all the time." "You knew that Hall could have removed those notebooks before the doctor could get to them, yet you failed to mention it." "Why?" "Why should I?" "Nobody does me any favors." "Now if you don't mind, it's the cops that are trying to ruin me." "The cops are trying to do what?" "They just phoned." "Dragging me all the way into L.A." "to see that old laboratory my uncle used to own." "Well, don't look at me like that." "I don't know why." "Just 'cause I had a lot of work to do out there." "That's the only way I can figure it." "Hi, Paul." "Hi." "Find out what's going on?" "Yeah, and Sergeant Landro has your client, too." "Hi, Mr. Mason." "Sergeant." "What have you got up your sleeve?" "Oh, a green thumb, among other things." "You know all about the man who used to own this place, of course, that uncle of Janice Edley's that sold out and went abroad to live about a year ago?" "What about him?" "Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but the bank says" "Janice and the doc received a great big cashier's check several months ago." "The doc claims old man Gates had his bank send it to them through Switzerland." "The only trouble is... that's Gates." "We confirmed the identification with a dental record." "So you see, he never went traveling to Switzerland or anywhere else." "Uncle's been dead and buried in that planter box the entire year." "And all that time he was treating me for bursitis, when what I really had was this little fracture." "It still hurts." "It hurts me something terrible." "You see, a man's thighbone sits up against the hip." "Mr. Widlock, I must remind you the defendant is not on trial here for malpractice." "All the State contends is that your visit to his office the other day set off a chain of events." "Events which resulted first in the murder of Leslie Hall and then in the discovery of the year-old murder of Dr. Eugene Gates." "Your Honor, may I remind the prosecutor that the defendant is not on trial for the murder of Dr. Gates?" "As a matter of fact, as I read the police investigation, their laboratory was unable to prove that Dr. Gates's death was murder." "It seems obvious, however-- people don't bury themselves in planter boxes." "Your Honor, the State will contend that both deaths were caused by one person." "There is a proper time for argument, Mr. Parness." "This is not it." "Proceed with the examination of your witness." "PARNESS:" "Mr. Widlock, you say that..." "Anything from Paul?" "Not yet, but he thinks the picture's a good idea." "And he said never mind telling him to go to Phoenix again." "He's already bought a commuting ticket." "Now, Mr. Widlock, will you look around the courtroom and see if you recognize the man who delivered the $3,000?" "Will Mr. Grif Roland rise, please?" "Well, yes, Janice Edley asked me to handle the business." "Where did the $3,000 you paid Mr. Widlock come from, Mr. Roland?" "That was mine." "I loaned it to Janice." "You see, we very often handle big payrolls." "I was able to get her the cash in a hurry." "Did you discuss this with Leslie Hall?" "No, of course not." "Why "of course not"?" "Did Janice Edley specifically request that you not tell anyone what you were doing?" "She obviously didn't want her husband to know about it." "At least not yet." "And Les Hall, Janice didn't even want him to know she was taking his advice." "Same way she didn't want to touch any of his money, I guess." "Why not?" "Did she tell you why she didn't borrow the money from Hall?" "No, but it's obvious how upset the doc would be if he discovered it." "You know, Wayne and Les, they hated each other's insides." "I'm afraid everyone knows about that." "Thank you." "That's all." "Mr. Roland, are you always in the habit of lending such large sums of money on a moment's notice?" "I owed it to Janice." "You know, she swung a pretty big contract to my company for the new clinic." "Is that the only reason you were so willing to help?" "Of course it was." "Except that I've known Janice all my life, naturally." "Apparently, you had also known Leslie Hall for some time." "Had you ever had trouble with him?" "No, Mr. Mason." "I've always been friends with just about everybody, I guess." "PARNESS:" "And now tell us, Doctor, how many stab wounds were there in the body?" "Just the one." "In your opinion, Doctor, would a person striking such an unerring blow have to have an expert knowledge of anatomy?" "In my opinion, yes." "What type of training would you consider most likely to give a person this knowledge?" "That of physician or surgeon." "Thank you." "Cross-examine." "Doctor, in your years with the coroner's office, you've been assigned to countless homicides, I suppose?" "Oh, yes." "Many of them stabbings?" "Knives are pretty convenient." "Looking back over all those stabbings, do you recall any in which the fatal wound was the same as in this instance?" "Why, yes, about five years ago." "Was that case ever solved?" "Indeed." "Can you tell this court the occupation of the person convicted of that murder?" "Bookkeeper." "Bookkeeper?" "(gallery laughing)" "Thank you, Doctor." "That'll be all." "I've told you I can't identify it." "But you agree this scalpel is of the same rare Swedish make as other instruments which belonged to Dr. Edley?" "Yes, I told you that." "And you already admitted that a knife of this particular size was missing from those instruments?" "Yes, it was, but..." "Miss York, where are such instruments generally kept?" "In a locked cabinet in the office." "But it's left open during the day, and any patient could easily have stolen it." "Now, Miss York, you've been instructed to answer yes or no." "Isn't it true the doctor always placed a bag in his car at night for emergencies?" "So couldn't this weapon have been quite handy, in other words, on the fatal night when he went angrily calling on the deceased?" "Yes, sir, my name's Asa Cooperman." "And where do you live, Mr. Cooperman?" "306 Maple Road." "That's just across the back lot from Doc Edley's office." "Now will you tell the court in your own words...?" "Excuse me." "Now, Mr. Cooperman, will you tell us what you saw on the night of the murder?" "Well, I saw a man out back of Dr. Edley's place." "I can't swear it was the doc himself, but it was about his size, and, uh, well, he moved quick like the doc does." "What time was this, Mr. Cooperman?" "It was about midnight." "I'd been out smoking for a couple of hours while my wife was watching television." "I wouldn't have noticed ordinarily because most of the time, there was a woman out there;" "Miss York, the doc's nurse." "She tidied up pretty late sometimes." "What was it that caught your eye?" "What did you see this man doing?" "Well, he was burning something, I guess." "Anyway, I-I heard the doc's incinerator go clank." "Then I saw him hurrying off in the dark." "This partially burned towel, Exhibit five, was removed from the incinerator the following morning in my presence." "We found the scalpel wrapped inside." "Were you able to make any sort of analysis of the bloodstain, Sergeant?" "We were." "Traces of dried blood on both scalpel and towel were of type B." "And what was the murder victim's blood type?" "The same, B." "Were any other laboratory tests made?" "Yes, a couple of small hairs adhered to the blood." "They were of identical type and similar color to the hair of the victim." "What about this, uh, this mark here?" "It's an ownership mark, the Palm View Laundry." "They've been supplying Dr. Edley's office for some time." "I think that's all that's necessary on this subject, Sergeant." "Cross-examine." "Sergeant, this particular laundry supplies other places with towels, don't they?" "Places such as hotels, motels, apartment houses?" "If so, that towel could just as easily have come from" "Leslie Hall's apartment, could it not?" "Yes, it could, but wherever he got it, the killer obviously wrapped it around the murder weapon and..." "And isn't it also possible that the traces of blood went from the towel to the knife rather than vice-versa?" "I, uh, don't understand." "Well, it is true, is it not, that the stabbing blow which killed Leslie Hall could have been delivered by almost any instrument equally as sharp as this scalpel?" "Say, a paper cutter or some kitchen utensil?" "Well, we can't absolutely prove that's the murder weapon." "Then isn't it possible that the murderer could have taken that stained towel from the death apartment, having perhaps wiped his hands on it, and then later, wrapped it around a scalpel belonging to the defendant?" "And if that happened, wouldn't the results of all your tests have been the same?" "Yes, I suppose they would." "Therefore, couldn't those items you found in the incinerator have been placed there as an attempt by someone to implicate the doctor rather than being an attempt by him to destroy evidence?" "Thank you, Sergeant." "There's no need for an answer." "Sergeant, there's another matter I'd better check you on." "We already know that your investigation of Hall's murder led to the discovery of the body of Dr. Eugene Gates." "But can you tell the court how this seeming coincidence occurred?" "Yes, sir." "We, uh, examined Hall's personal effects naturally, both at home and at the office." "In a locked file, we found letters from a Dr. Banning, the man who was renting Dr. Gates laboratory building in Los Angeles." "The lessee was upset because he'd been told he couldn't redecorate." "Couldn't move the large planter box which half filled the outer office." "He was also upset because he'd been unable to reach" "Dr. Gates in Switzerland." "Though Hall obviously had tried to calm him down." "He..." "Just a moment here." "You're trying to introduce these statements as evidence." "PARNESS:" "I am prepared to introduce both the letter file and police summary of content which the sergeant was now quoting." "Let's have them here." "Let's mark it properly." "Thank you, Your Honor." "Another question or two of this witness will help to clarify why I introduced the subject at this time." "Proceed." "Sergeant, were there any other places where you found pertinent personal records of Leslie Hall?" "There was one other we didn't find out about until just this morning." "A desk which Mr. Hall occasionally used." "It had its own typewriter." "And where was this desk and typewriter?" "At the old Gates farmhouse." "How did you find out about it?" "From the present resident there" "Dr. Gates's nephew, Roger Gates." "Hall told me he wanted to keep some stuff out there for convenience, that's all." "I didn't think anything of it." "He'd been handling Uncle's business matters for years." "Helped him close out things when he retired." "Uncle wanted to take mostly cash and securities with him when he went abroad." "Did, uh, the deceased ever discuss" "Dr. Edley's finances with you?" "Well-- about eight months ago when sawb..." "Excuse me." "When the doc and Janice here got that $100,000 from Switzerland, he did some photostatic." "A photostatic?" "That thing in your hand there." "It's a picture of the cashier's check that was sent from Geneva." "Or had sent to themselves, maybe." "I don't know." "They didn't get any personal note or nothing-- just the check." "How did Hall happen to show this to you?" "Well, he didn't." "I found it in the desk this morning, along with that other thing in his typewriter." "Let the record show, the witness is referring to the start of a letter." "There, um, isn't much to it." "Would you read this for the record, please?" ""Dear Dr. Edley," ""I know what's hidden in Dr. Gates's laboratory." ""I know how you got your money." ""I know your whole secret, and unless..."" "That's it." "I guess he got interrupted or something." "That's all there is." "Thank you, sir." "Cross-examine?" "Mr. Mason, may I suggest we both need a little time to digest these matters." "Recess until 2:00 p.m." "Well, he didn't send me any notes." "Hall never said a word to me." "It's true Janice's uncle didn't actually write to us..." "Wayne, I can have that note thrown out." "There wasn't any signature." "It was typewritten." "Yeah, but first the knife and then the note." "They keep adding things and adding things." "LANDRO:" "Excuse me, Mr. Mason." "You're secretary's here." "Thank you, Sergeant." "Perry, I think we have a little new evidence of our own." "Let's have a look." "Number one, I had Paul's office check every bank as you asked." "Guess what?" "Leslie Hall has a number of accounts-- all new in the last year." "None of them very big, but they're scattered all over." "Not much help, I'm afraid." "The prosecution will just contend that-- it was blackmail money from Dr. Edley." "All right, then." "Paul's been trying to reach you." "Operator 15 in Phoenix." "You what?" "You got him?" "Yep." "Just like the one you have." "Just like the picture." "Just exactly." "Good work, Paul." "Charter a plane and bring him up here as quickly as possible." "Perry, there's something else you better know." "My Mr. Widlock has $5,000." "He's what?" "All kinds of twins-- including twin payoffs the night of the murder." "Yes, all right, what if we did collect more than once." "There's nothing any more illegal about two cash transactions." "There is if the money is gained by pretense or fraud, Mr. Widlock." "Well, I deny it." "I..." "Mr. Widlock, if you'd prefer to be questioned in jail," "I can arrange it." "You were called back to the stand only to expedite this hearing with the truth." "Yes, sir." "Excuse me, Your Honor." "If that's all you want, I can certainly help you there." "I've got no fear of the truth." "Except when it might incriminate you." "All right, Mr. Widlock, you were paid $3,000 by Mr. Grif Roland." "Now will you tell us who it was that paid you or your brother $5,000?" "Well, to begin with, it was me." "My brother, he was out of town all the time." "(gallery murmuring)" "I'm quite sure you're familiar with the meaning of perjury." "Just tell us who it was that paid you." "Mr. Leslie Hall." "Well, you see he first ran me down that afternoon." "He said he was a friend of Dr. Edley's and wanted to help him out on the QT like, and if there was any hitch I should call him." "And then, when this lady phoned me at my hotel and said she'd have the money delivered, well, I-I called Mr. Hall." "And put the bite on him, too?" "Well, sure." "It was so easy, it would have been silly not to." "Anyway, I grabbed a cab and I went right over and Hall had the money ready and waiting." "When were you paid?" "Well, about a quarter to 10:00 that night." "Did you go inside his apartment?" "Oh, no, sir." "No, you're not going to hang that on me." "I-I didn't touch him." "I didn't even go near him." "I was back at the hotel by 10:00." "At which time Roland paid you, and left the hotel." "Then what happened?" "Well, I packed my bag and sat around waiting for a bus out of town." "MASON:" "Mr. Widlock, it was so easy to get two payoffs." "Why not a third?" "A third?" "You wouldn't have left town without trying to get at least a few dollars from Dr. Edley, now would you?" "Didn't you go to Dr. Edley's office about midnight?" "Prowl around a bit looking for him?" "Now see here." "If you mean was I the guy that man saw out back, how could I be?" "I heard him." "He said the man he saw moved around spry and quick like the doctor there." "Sure didn't say anything about crutches." "I'm sure you don't need crutches, Mr. Widlock." "Oh, I know you have an old fracture." "But these crutches are really just window dressing, are they not?" "You get ahold of a man's pants leg, you don't let go." "All right, I'm a fraud." "Was that man by the incinerator you, Mr. Widlock?" "Yes, of course." "There was nobody in around front, so I went out back." "I smelled cloth burning." "I looked in the incinerator and then I left." "That's all there was to it." "Your Honor, I'd like to recall a witness." "No, I wasn't there." "I swear I left the office before 8:00." "I went to a movie that evening." "But someone must have put that towel and knife into the incinerator, Miss York, between the time of the murder and the time Mr. Widlock arrived." "Now, shall I ask the reporter to read back what was said by your neighbor?" "Please." "I know Mr. Cooperman testified that he only saw the one person-- the one man, but..." "And you recall Mr. Cooperman was outside smoking during all the time in question-- the two or three hours before midnight?" "But that doesn't mean he'd notice everything." "That's right." "He said he might not have noticed a woman at the incinerator." "He was so used to seeing you there, he said." "No, it wasn't I." "Do you happen to have any idea as to just how rich Dr. Gates was?" "What?" "Well, I guess everybody in town knew that he was at least a millionaire." "So the gift of $100,000 would scarcely have used up his fortune." "There still would have been a great deal left?" "Maybe." "I don't know." "I'm not going to answer any more questions." "I didn't even know Dr. Gates." "And I didn't kill him." "And I didn't kill Leslie Hall." "I'm not the woman." "No, Miss York." "If any woman used the incinerator that night, it was the woman who was trying desperately to lay certain blame on Dr. Edley." "The woman who had access to the Gates's farmhouse." "Who also set up false evidence there." "The woman who must have killed Dr. Gates." "And then, having been blackmailed by one certain person for the past year, found she had to kill him, too." "The blackmailer" " Leslie Hall." "The woman..." "OSBORN:" "Me!" "Dr. Gates... he was going away without me." "Yes, I did it." "I went down to see him in the laboratory." "And it was late at night, and he was already packed." "And then after that, Leslie kept on asking questions." "You know, Dr. Gates always did say" "Leslie Hall has a very shrewd mind." "My Dr. Gates said that." "My Dr. Gates." "(sobbing)" "In planning to go abroad, your uncle's assets were largely converted to cash and negotiable securities." "Mrs. Osborn, of course, knew that." "And after she killed him, she managed to get her hands on nearly all of it." "So she could arrange to have you sent that $100,000 without too much strain." "She was probably afraid there would have been questions if we hadn't gotten it." "It had been promised as a wedding gift." "The only trouble was that Hall kept bleeding her." "In return, he kept the body from being discovered." "Also, he had your uncle's power of attorney, which made it even more profitable for him to maintain the illusion that Gates was still alive." "That's why Hall was so anxious that Widlock be paid off." "He knew that if someone started asking questions-- questions that could be answered only by your uncle, a ball would start rolling that he couldn't stop." "And then he made the mistake of trying to scare Mrs. Osborn, too." "Of trying to make her give him all the money she had left." "Unfortunately, Mrs. Osborn turned out to be tougher than he was." "The only thing I don't understand is just how the Widlocks planned to work this racket of theirs." "Easy." "One of them had an old fracture." "So the one without the fracture would fake some symptoms and get some treatments." "If there was an X-ray, they'd steal it or destroy it." "Later, the one with the fracture would go around and claim malpractice." "They were getting ready to pull the same stunt on several doctors." "You mean several suckers." "That's as old as the hills, that old con game." "A famous man once said," ""The oldest and best-known evil is even more supportable and tempting than one that's new and untried."" "That figures." "I always kind of liked the old temptations best." "(laughing)" "(theme music plays)"