"## [theme]" "Oscar Volney is dead." "In this, the centuries-old city that is the capital of his now-captive European country, the father of democracy in the Balkans today appears for the last time before the countrymen who revered and loved him." "Virtually under house arrest for the past five years, yesterday morning, in the gray hours of dawn," "Oscar Volney plunged to his death from a twelfth story hotel room." "Minister of Interior Franz Schreck, in an official government statement, called Oscar Volney's death suicide." "And so the shocked world mourns not only the tragic death of Oscar Volney, it mourns the knowledge which died with him" "Volney's private record of state secrets which might have rocked the world." "Of course, Volney's government will still only say his death was a suicide." "[on TV] Minister Schreck expresses his regrets." "But we expect local exiles from that government to talk quite differently." "We're hoping to get a statement here today from" "Schreck regrets." "You know what Schreck regrets?" "That he did not kill Oscar Volney years ago." "You" " You think Schreck found out that Volney was writing his papers?" "Of course." "The truth in Oscar's own words would destroy Schreck and all the rest of the evil corruption that swallows up our homeland." "Papa, we don't know-- we don't even know if there was such a thing as the Volney Papers." "Oscar Volney sent me word." ""Soon, Elihu, soon, dear brother in liberty," ""you will have the truth from me." "My testament in writing to the freedom that we lost."" "Alyssa, baby, you never knew him." "A giant among men." "Can't you get rid of those reporters outside, Mr. Richards, please?" " As papa's friend?" " I wish I could, Alyssa." "As a newspaper publisher, I'd like to keep everything your father says exclusive." "No." "Everyone must hear." "The whole world must know the truth." "[chatter]" "Please!" "Now, if one of you will speak for the rest, Mr. Laban will try to answer your questions." "There have been rumors of a book, an exposé, the so-called Volney Papers." "What can you tell us about them?" "Tyranny and truth cannot co-exist." "Oscar Volney had to die to keep the free world from learning the truth." "You think the Volney Papers died with him?" "The Volney Papers were destroyed as Oscar Volney was destroyed." "But Franz Schreck labeled Volney's death as suicide." "The Minister of Interior is a liar and a vicious assassin." "Schreck is due in Los Angeles a month from now on a trade commission." " Will you confront him?" " Confront him?" "If I get my hands on him, I'll kill him." "Do you hear?" "I'll kill him!" " Elihu!" " Kill him!" "How is he?" "He's resting quietly now." "No, I can't believe it." "Not Oscar." "He wouldn't do such a thing." "[Man] He didn't." "What?" "Oscar Volney died two weeks ago." "A bullet in his brain." "The suicide was staged." "Who?" "Who?" "Franz Schreck himself did the killing." " The reporters I must" " Stop." "I'd only deny telling it to you." "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "The Volney Papers are still in existence." "How would you like to get your hands on them?" "Each of us is involved in the nation Oscar Volney created and gave his life for ties of business, of ancestry, the bond of having worked together to restore that nation's freedom." "We all possess a big stake in what I'm about to tell you." "An official of our country's People's Party has the Volney Papers and is prepared to turn them over to me." " What?" " For a price, Mr. Waldemar." "[chuckling] Yes, for a price." "And what is the going rate for the people's leader to betray the people this year?" "Half a million." "Five hundred one thousand dollar bills, Mr. Tyson, unmarked." "Just a minute, please." "I'm delighted to have you meet on my boat and to be associated in your efforts as an unofficial attorney, but I must warn you, all of you, that you're playing with international political dynamite." "But we think the Volney Papers may be more than political, Mr. Hillman." "They may expose secret and illegal business deals." "If so, one of those deals could send a prominent American to prison." "Amos, how much would the Volney Papers earn, published soft-cover by your Waldemar Press for widest distribution?" "No royalties, my company recouping costs only." "Better than half a million, I am sure." "But how will we know the material is authentic?" "Papa was a member of Oscar Volney's cabinet, and a good friend." "He'll authenticate the papers." "Tyson, if your bank will accept it, I'll sign a note for it personally." "As President of the Sherman Oaks Bank," "I personally guarantee that five hundred one thousand dollar bills, unmarked, will be ready for you when you need them, Mr. Laban." "Good." "Now there is only one problem." "The official insists that he will make the transfer of documents for money with only one person-- an O.S.S. man he met during the war." "The O.S.S. man's code name was "Herr Umdrehen."" "Now, Amos, you had something to do with the O.S.S.?" "I know of the agent, but I was a political refugee like you, Elihu, used only as an occasional specialist advisor." "I would not know where to begin to look for this Herr Umdrehen." "Herr Umdrehen." "Mr. Turn-about." "It's not bad." "Garrett, you were connected with the O.S.S." "Do you think you can locate this Umdrehen?" "I've already started inquires." "Good." "Mr. Laban, this patriot who's about to sell out his country, who is he?" "He is not Zenas, who contacted me, but the bitterest enemy I have in the world-- a man whose principles have always been for sale." "His name is Schreck-- Minister of Interior Franz Schreck." " Mr. Richards." " Alyssa." "Herr Umdrehen-- you know who he is?" "Elihu, it took me three and a half weeks, but now I know." "The man who used the name "Umdrehen"" "was evidently one of our most decorated and efficient agents." "He met Schreck behind the lines on a top-level mission during World War II." "I imagine that's why Schreck is willing to trust him now." "When can we speak to this man?" "He lives here in Los Angeles now, fortunately." "He'll telephone you, Elihu." " Just you alone." " Mm-hmm." "Now you tell him what you want and let him decide if he'll see you, if he'll help." "If?" "This is important." "It is also dangerous, Alyssa." "This man was wounded three times." "Almost lost his life." "Spent six months in a hospital." "The decision is his, I'm afraid." "When will he call?" "Today, sometime this afternoon" "[buzz]" "Mr. Laban?" "Yes." "Are you our Herr Umdrehen?" "Thank you." "Sir, I am grateful." "When you told me on the telephone you would help" "Plenty of time for thanks when I put the Volney Papers in your hands." "Now, Schreck will be here in two days." "We haven't got much time." "This is Schreck's itinerary, the schedule of the places he will visit in Los Angeles" "It's the copy that you asked for." "Ah." "A law book." "You are an attorney?" "According to this itinerary, Schreck will only be in Los Angeles one day." "But what a day." "He's scheduled to appear at factories, trade exhibits, a banquet at night." "Schreck will be watched every single moment of the day." "To make the transfer will not be easy." "If Schreck wants or needs that half million dollars bad enough to put his political neck on the chopping block, we'll manage." "One other thing, sir." "The committee" " Such a big sum of money is involved, they naturally feel the need of some assurance." "You want to be present to authenticate Oscar Volney's handwriting on the Volney Papers before I turn over the money, hmm?" "Please." "Yeah." "Where to get Schreck alone, away from his bodyguards... and to keep the two of you from slitting one another's throats." "[chuckling]" "Sure." "Why not?" "The Tunnel of Love." "What?" "He's scheduled to visit an amusement park." "This is no joke." "Right here, Mr. Laban." "Right here at 12 noon we'll make the exchange." "An amusement park?" "The Tunnel of Love." "Dark amid the blaze of noon, Mr. Laban." "A perfect set-up." "Perfect." "Laban?" "Inside." "Now, you realize one thing-- the inside of these tunnels will be pitch black, completely without light." "Here, hold this." "When the car with Schreck in it comes around that turn, the turn before this one" " Mm-hmm." "This light will go on." "That light's your signal." "You'll be holding this metal bar." "When that light goes on, this is what you do." "Take the end of the metal bar." "Lay it across these wires like that." "Let this end of the bar drop on the metal rail like this." "And what does that do?" "That short circuits the electrical system on the entire ride." "Everything comes to an immediate halt." "The fuse box is on the other side of the building." "From the time you drop that metal bar until the attendant replaces the fuse, we have only three minutes-- three minutes only to affect the transfer." "You understand?" "Let's go over there." "As soon as you drop that metal bar and the ride stops, you come into the workroom." "You open this trap door and wait." "I'll bring you the Papers." "You check them as quick as you can." "If they're all right, you give me the money." "What then?" "You take that ladder down to the beach." "Get away from the park as fast as you can." "And you?" "I'm replacing the technician on duty here tomorrow." "I'll make the transfer and cover you until I'm sure you're away from the park with the Volney Papers." "Herr Umdrehen, suppose-- suppose Schreck does not take the ride or does not take it alone." "The man who contacted you, set up the deal" " Ulric Zenas, you said his name was-- will he be coming to Los Angeles with Schreck?" "Yes." "He's one of his bodyguards." "Good." "You get a message to Mr. Zenas." "You tell him who, when, and where the exchange will take place." "A message?" "Tomorrow, at the airport, when their plane comes in." "Mr. Laban, you're going to be an angry picket." "First day off in a month, and I get tagged for special duty-- wet nurse for a V.I.P." "Factories, stockyards, all make sense on a trade mission." "But why an amusement park, Andy?" "The new status symbol, maybe." "Didn't Papa Bear want to see Disneyland?" "[angry shouts]" "Butcher!" "Butcher, go home." " [Woman] Go home!" " Butcher!" "Butcher, go home!" " [policeman] Get back there!" " Go home!" "Get back behind the line." "[shouting continues]" "[laughing]" "[Zenas] This one." "[laughing]" "[laughter]" "What's wrong?" "Why has the thing stopped?" "Oh, it's a blown fuse." "Nothing serious." "Have it fixed in a minute." "Hurry." " Yes or no?" " Yes, yes I'm sure." "Give me the money." " Here." " Down and out fast." "All fixed." "Franz Schreck is dead." "Knifed in the back." "My briefcase... my manuscript... the Volney Papers." "We have your briefcase." "There's no manuscript inside." "We did find five hundred one thousand dollar bills in it, though, and the bloody knife you must have used to kill Franz Schreck." "No, Mr. Laban is mistaken." "I never brought him any message, and I was never in his house." "The one and only time that I saw Mr. Laban was when he tried to attack Franz Schreck at the airport." "That's not true." "Papa gave you a note at the airport telling you when and where the Volney Papers would be picked up." "There was no note." "And there aren't and there never were any Volney Papers." "Mr. Richards, he's lying." "Miss Laban, my investigators believe that it's your father who's lying." "No." "No!" "It's all right, Alyssa." "Mr. Burger, what do we do now?" "Well, sir, have you got counsel for Mr. Laban?" "Hillman, Lewis, and Callison." "In a criminal action?" "Oh, they've made arrangements for Perry Mason to handle the actual work." "and Phil Hillman's assigned one of the firm's attorneys, Bruce Jason." "Bruce Jason?" "Mr. Burger, my father's old and not in the best of health." "Can we have him released on bail?" "I'm afraid not, Miss Laban." "Your father is being charged with murder in the first degree." "Bruce Jason." "Oh, I've read his name in Hollywood gossip columns for years." "Movieland's most eligible bachelor." "I was upset about it when Garrett Richards mentioned his name in Mr. Burger's office." "Why, Mr. Hillman?" "Why Bruce Jason?" "Mr. Hillman, my father is still practically a stranger in this country." "And I've tried to take care of him and look out for him, and I don't think Bruce Jason is the lawyer for him." "Jason is very good." "When it comes to nightclubbing or holding hands with some dumb blonde temperamental starlet, oh, I bet he's good, all right." "He's also good at labor negotiating, drafting a gross profits participation contract, or arbitrating the most impossibly difficult industry grievances." "But this is murder, Mr. Hillman." "It's the practice of law, Miss Laban." "Now, additionally, I'm going to have Perry Mason's staff working with him on this." "And later on, Mason himself will take over, if necessary." "I don't know what to say." "Of course, I respect your judgment." "Well, where is he?" "Where is Mr. Bruce Jason?" "He knew I was coming here." "He knows my father is waiting to see him." "I suppose he's been unavoidably detained somewhere." "Vera, I asked Mr. Jason" "Do me a favor, would you, Vera?" "Call the tennis club." "Tell them I'll be over there as soon as I can." "Unavoidably detained." "Hi." "I'm sorry I'm late." "Mr. Laban's statement to the police and a certified true copy of the complaint filed with the Presiding Magistrate." "That's about it, Mr. Jason." "I haven't read Mr. Laban's statement as yet." "Keep that out for me, would you?" "And thank you, Miss Street." "Paul, did you get the men started?" "They're checking on everyone Miss Laban said was involved." "Fine." "We don't want to scare anybody off, so tell your men not to get too close." "He means no closer than the other side of the net on a tennis court." "I take it you don't play the game, Miss Laban." "I haven't had the time, Mr. Jason." "Nor the time for having my picture taken in night clubs or even getting engaged six times in one year." "Or was it seven?" "Well, press agents have to earn a living, don't they?" "Is advertising ethical for attorneys?" "Oh, I'd say about on a par with murder for refugee politicians." "I'm sorry." "That was uncalled for, wasn't it?" "Look, I'd really like to be friends." "Can't we give it the good old college try?" "Papa." "Alyssa, baby." "Papa, this is your lawyer, whom I've just been very rude to." " Mr. Bruce Jason." " Ah?" "You." "You left me for the police to find." "It was you who hit me." "It was you who killed Franz Schreck." "It must have been quite a shock for you." "I've never represented a suspected murderer before." "Do they usually say you did it?" "Well, I don't think there's any question but that you're right." "Laban's so upset, he doesn't know what he's saying or what he saw or what really happened." "It's not an easy life that he's had, Perry." "Up and down, chased, tortured, his family living in terror." "And being a refugee, if you've any idea what it's like" "Of course it's also possible Laban's mind has invented this whole story about you just so he won't have to face the realization that he did commit murder." "Well, I'll let the next attorney figure that one out." "The Labans certainly don't want me around anymore." "Not so fast." "I just talked to Phil Hillman on the phone." "He'll have a replacement for you, all right, but not for a couple of days." "Phil knows I'm not quitting the case." "I still have an investigation going on." "Is that the only reason you'd like to stay on as Laban's lawyer?" "I'm meeting Paul Drake down at the beach." "It's about closing time down there at the amusement park." "You know something?" "It's too bad we couldn't work together later on." "I mean, think of the billing." "Defense by Mason and Jason." "It sounds like a high wire act, doesn't it?" "I thought you had better sense than to hide it here." "Mr. Zenas," "I was taught never to point a gun at anybody unless I intended to shoot him." "You and I went to the same school." "Well, it's nice not to just share the customs but the language of a country." "You don't sound like a foreigner." "I cut my political eye teeth on your labor movement." "Better for our labor movement if you and yours had cut your throats instead." "Is that the kind of language you use when you're negotiating, Herr Umdrehen?" "What are we negotiating for, Mr. Zenas?" "The Volney Papers." "Where are they?" "The newspaper pictures showed you holding Schreck's briefcase when you found him dead." "And you emptied that briefcase after you made him dead." "Herr Umdrehen, I want those papers." "[Drake] Jason!" "Hey, Bruce Jason!" "Is, uh, this what they call reconstructing the crime?" "Oh, that's very funny." "Did you get him?" "Who?" "The man who hit me." "You know, that workroom's got to be haunted." "You and Laban both getting clobbered by the little man who wasn't there." "He was there all right, and he wasn't so little." "Zenas." "Mr. Laban must have been telling the truth about meeting him." "I doubt it." "Why do you say that?" "Well, Zenas flew into town the night Laban claims he saw him, all right." "But not to see Laban." "Zenas had a meeting with the president of the Sherman Oaks Bank," "Mr. Darius Tyson." "You get me out of bed in the middle of the night to come down here for what?" "To play straight man to an amateur Sherlock Holmes?" "Frankly, I was upset, too." "But I'm a little more interested in hearing from this Mr. Jason." "Waldemar's attitude is sensible." "We'll all have to answer questions in court." "All right." "Zenas did come to see me." "But there's nothing criminal or subversive about that." "Why did Zenas come to see you?" "To present an offer from his government." "To purchase the license for certain manufacturing rights." "What you mean is Zenas' government wanted to recover the patent rights which Trans-Balkan once sold to an American corporation." "Isn't that correct?" "Your investigation is thorough, Mr. Jason." "Yes, the rights were sold to an American company before America got into the war." "There's nothing mysterious or evil about it." "Bruce, we've been told that an American citizen faces prison because of what the Volney Papers contained." "Exactly." "And I want to find out who that person is." "But why?" "It could be anyone, could it not?" "Anyone." "Anyone with the right connections over there." "Tell me, Mr. Tyson, was Franz Schreck involved in the original selling of those rights by Trans-Balkan?" "Schreck?" "But we know that is not very likely, don't we, Mr. Jason?" "Considering how Schreck cooperated with the Allies in sabotaging two of the Trans-Balkan plants during the war." "What I'm driving at" "And what I'm driving at is you, Mr. Jason." "You are surely a man with connections." "Well, if you're referring to the fact that I once made contact with Schreck on an O.S.S. mission" "Once?" "Strange, Mr. Jason." "You see, the O.S.S. sent me along on that Trans-Balkan sabotage mission to assist their top agent-- to assist the only man Schreck would recognize on sight." "Mr. Waldemar, at the time those plants were sabotaged," "I was more dead than alive in an English hospital." "So I" "But like so many other things you have said, that just cannot be the truth, can it?" "And considering the time we spent together in those days," "I do not understand why you cannot or will not recognize me, Mr. Jason." "But let us tell the other gentlemen, shall we?" "The O.S.S. man with whom I parachuted behind enemy lines-- the man Schreck knew-- was you, of course," "Herr Umdrehen." "You can come out now, or would you prefer to wait till I've called the police?" "Oh, for the love of Pete, what are you doing in here?" "And how did you get in here in the first place?" "There was something I had to find out." "I, uh, told the apartment manager I was your sister." "Now, there's an original approach." "So I discovered." "The manager told me I was the fourth visiting sister in a month." "I like big families, but not tonight." "Goodbye, Miss Laban." "Mr. Jason" "Look, I've had it with you, your father, and the whole bit." "I've been called a thief, a liar, and a murderer, and I've been sapped over the head until I'm almost as batty as the rest of you." " Go, sister, go." " But I want" "But me no buts." "Just leave me alone, huh?" "No." "All right." "All right, suit yourself." "Me, I'm going to bed." "Mr. Jason, you denied seeing my father here in this apartment." "Then how do you explain the fact he was able to describe this place and everything in it?" "Extra-sensory perception." " Answer me." " How do I know?" "Maybe he eats mushrooms and has visions." "Will you listen?" "Look, Mr. Turn-about, maybe you do present two faces to the world, but you can't have two bodies." "If you didn't meet my father here, then who did?" " Bruce, answer me!" " Wait a minute." "Hey." "Maybe those other sisters weren't the only ones to visit this apartment while I was gone." "Sure, that's it." "That's what?" "Alyssa, I love you." "I love you like a brother." "Now you stay here and mind the store." "And if any other sisters show up, you tell them you've got a corner on the market." " I don't understand." " Trust me, Alyssa that's all, just trust me." "Where are you going?" "Well, first I'm going to go down and see your father and do anything that I must to convince him that I have to handle his hearing." "Then I'm going to take a little trip to Washington, D.C." "Check through a few records so that I can say hello to my doppelganger." "Mr. Richards, because of your refusal to answer direct questions," "I'm going to have to be forced to treat you as a hostile witness." "Now, isn't it a fact that when the defendant, Elihu Laban, was confronted by representatives of the press in your presence, some six weeks ago, that he, in truth, threatened the life of Franz Schreck?" "That is ridiculous, Mr. Burger." "Elihu Laban said no more to those reporters than you, I, or anyone else might have said under similar provocation." "The question is not why he said it." "The question is not whether somebody else with the same provocation might have said it." "The question is what did the defendant say to the press after the announcement that Oscar Volney was dead and that Franz Schreck was coming to this country?" "Of course he commented on whether Volney's death was a suicide." "And then there was the matter of the Volney Papers" "Please, Mr. Richards." "What were his exact words, please?" ""I will kill him."" "Thank you." "Now, the defendant, Mr. Laban, claimed in his statement to the police that he was visited that same night by a certain Ulric Zenas." "Did you see Ulric Zenas at the Laban home that night?" "No." "To the best of your knowledge, had you or anybody else aside from the defendant ever been contacted by Zenas or anybody concerning the purchase of the so-called Volney Papers?" "No." "I think it was you, Mr. Richards, who put the defendant in touch, at his request, with a former O.S.S. operative who during World War II was known by the name Herr Umdrehen." "Yes, I did, but only to the degree that I left a message for Herr Umdrehen to call Elihu Laban." "And do you know whether Herr Umdrehen ever made that call?" "No." "Did you ever speak to Herr Umdrehen about the purchase of the Volney Papers?" "No." "Were you or anyone else to the best of your knowledge ever present when the defendant spoke or saw Herr Umdrehen?" " No." " Do you actually know, as a matter of fact-- a fact, Mr. Richards-- whether Elihu Laban ever saw Ulric Zenas or Herr Umdrehen at all or whether this whole business is a figment of his imagination?" "Your Honor, the question is argumentative and calls for a conclusion on the part of the witness." "Is that an objection, Mr. Jason?" "Only for the record, Your Honor." "Defense wants the question answered." "The witness will answer." "I don't know." "I don't really know if Elihu dreamed all this or whether it actually happened." "Thank you." "Your witness, Mr. Jason." "Tell me, Mr. Richards, who supplied the half a million dollars to be used in the purchase of the Volney Papers?" "Darius Tyson's bank, to be repaid, understand, out of the profits from the publication of the Papers, after recoupment of costs by Waldemar Press." "No more security than the potential profit from an unknown manuscript?" "I signed a personal note for the money." "Why did you underwrite the loan?" "Because I believed Elihu Laban." "I believed it was important that those Papers be published." "And do you still believe Mr. Laban?" "Yes, I do." "You testified that you did not see Zenas visit Elihu Laban in his home." "Tell me, Mr. Richards, since you and the defendant's daughter spent a considerable amount of time on the front porch, if Mr. Zenas had entered and left that home by the rear window," " could you have seen him?" " Of course not." "Who is Herr Umdrehen?" "You are, Bruce Jason." "Even though you testified that you were never present when it happened, is it not entirely possible, Mr. Richards, that Mr. Laban did see and speak to me?" "Entirely possible." "Now, let's go over this again, Lieutenant Tragg." "First of all, Elihu Laban physically attacked Franz Schreck at the airport." " Is that correct?" " He tried to." "Lieutenant Anderson restrained him." "Now, in first place, the money." "You testified that the 500 $1,000 bills were found in the briefcase" " belonging to the defendant." " Yes, sir." "And second, the knife, which was identified by the Medical Examiner as the possible murder weapon" "This knife, as well as the money, was found in the defendant's briefcase." "Yes." "And finally, on the iron crow-bar which was used to short-circuit the amusement park ride and stop Schreck's car in the dark tunnel, you found fingerprints which were identified as those of the defendant, Mr. Laban." "Yes, sir." "As a precautionary measure, the public was kept out of the park during the visit." "In addition, every exit and every entrance was guarded by the police." "And after the murder was discovered, Lieutenant Anderson, was the amusement park searched?" "Yes, sir." "Every square foot of it, including the inside of every concession building and every ride." "Now, the defendant claimed, in his statement to the police, that there was another man, Herr Umdrehen, was inside the ride." "Was any such person found in the park?" "No, sir, he was not." "Lieutenant, in your investigation of this case, did you by any possible chance check on the whereabouts of Mr. Bruce Jason, from the time the defendant said he visited his apartment up to and including the time of the murder?" "Yes, sir, we did." "Mr. Jason told several people he was leaving on a skiing holiday." "Your witness, Mr. Jason." "Do you know who was with me on that skiing trip in the High Sierras, Lieutenant?" "You were alone, from what you said before you left." "Do you know, as a matter of fact and not conjecture, that I actually was in the High Sierras and not back here in Los Angeles?" "Well, no." "No, not as a matter of fact." "Again, as a matter of fact and not conjecture, do you know whether I was in the amusement park when Franz Schreck was murdered?" "If you were there-- if, Mr. Jason-- you must have flown away because you certainly didn't walk past any of my men, I guarantee you." "Lieutenant, is it possible that I..." "swam away?" "What?" "No further questions, Your Honor." "I have nothing on redirect, Your Honor." "You're excused, Lieutenant." "Call your next witness, Mr. Burger." "My next witness is Mr. Bruce Jason." "[judge] One moment, Mr. Burger." "You can't be unaware that in calling him to the stand," "Mr. Jason would be put in the position of an attorney testifying against his own client." "Even as defense attorney, Your Honor," "Mr. Jason happens to be a material witness in this case, and as such he is subject to be called to testify just like anybody else." "But an attorney cannot be forced to disclose privileged communications." "Your Honor, please." "Even where the privilege exists, it can be waived, especially since I did not and do not object to testifying in this hearing." "The rule in regard to privileged communication is for the purpose of protecting the defendant, not his attorney." "Only the defendant will be permitted to waive it and then only with advice from independent and competent counsel." "Now, with that understanding, you may take the stand, Mr. Jason." "Mr. Jason, you were with the O.S.S., the Office of Strategic Services, during World War II." "Is that right, sir?" "Yes, I was." "I believe that you were decorated four times for valor and in addition you received a personal citation from the President of the United States?" "Yes." "While you were a member of the O.S.S., did you operate with a code name?" "Yes, I did." "Could you tell this court, Mr. Jason, what that name was?" "Herr Umdrehen." "It means Mr. Turn-about." "Did Elihu Laban phone you to solicit your aid in obtaining the so-called Volney Papers?" "No." "Did Elihu Laban visit you at your apartment?" "No." "Did Elihu Laban accompany you to an amusement park to go over the procedures to be used in obtaining the Volney Papers?" "No." "Mr. Jason, were you in or about that amusement park at the time of the decedent's, Franz Schreck's, visit there?" "No." "Thank you, Mr. Jason." "Thank you very much." "I have no further questions of this witness." "Mr. Jason, in lieu of cross-examination, the court would be inclined to permit you to make a statement for the record at this time, if you wish." "Thank you, Your Honor." "I have nothing to say." "The witness is excused." "Mr. Burger?" "Your Honor, the prosecution believes that it has presented a prima facie case and moves at this time that the defendant, Elihu Laban, be bound over for trial in Superior Court on a charge of murder in the first degree." "Mr. Jason?" "We have no defense to offer at this time, Your Honor." "Motion granted." "Defendant is remanded to the custody of the sheriff and bound over for trial in Superior Court on a charge of first degree murder." "This court is adjourned." ""Trust me, Alyssa, that's all, just trust me."" "Oh, Papa." "Mr. Zenas." "Yes?" "What do you want?" "I read in the paper you were leaving today." "I've been waiting to talk to you." "Go ahead and talk." "My husband has something I think you're looking for." "Go on." "He thought the two of you might" "Might what?" "Go into business together." "Now, what is it your husband has he thinks I want?" "The Volney Papers." "Whatever she told him, he's interested, all right." "He must know." "Know what?" "Enough of what was in those Volney Papers to realize whoever got them wasn't exactly playing political cops and robbers." "You mean that business about an American facing prison?" "Yep." "Somebody was sweating blood for fear of what might be in that package Schreck brought here." "And brother, how Zenas would love to know who that somebody was and is." "Look." "Find a phone and call fast." "Come on over here." "I don't want to have to yell what we're going to talk about." "The last time we talked, I held the gun." "I never spoke a word to you in my life before now." "But in the tunnel" "Jason, what kind of game are you playing?" "The name is Viewcolo, Conrad J. Viewcolo, Jersey City, New Jersey." "That's my wife." "I don't get this." " You look exactly like" " Bruce Jason." "I found that out almost twenty years ago when they flew me from Fort Dix to England to take Jason's place on an O.S.S. mission." "Take his place?" "Jason was wounded in a hospital." "The mission couldn't wait." "The only contact was Jason, or somebody that would be accepted as Jason." "That second mission contacting Schreck, destroying those plants-- it was you, not Jason, who parachuted in with Amos Waldemar." "Now you're smart." "Then Jason did go on that skiing trip." "It was you who met Laban in Jason's apartment." "You must have" "Killed Franz Schreck?" "Yeah, I killed him." "You got the Volney Papers?" "No." "But I know who has." "You're not alone in this." "There's somebody else." "The same man who dug me up twenty years ago to take Jason's place found me a couple of weeks ago to do the same thing." "Who hired you?" "Those papers are worth a fortune." "You tell me why they're worth killing for, and I'll tell you who's got them." " We share information." " And the proceeds." "All right." "All I know is what Schreck told me was in those papers-- something about international patent rights that used to belong to Trans-Balkan." "They were never sold to an American before the war." "The transfer was made during the war with forged papers." "The forgery was done by two men-- one who has become a high official in my country, and an American." "Oscar Volney found out about it, made it part of the exposé in his Papers, huh?" "That's right." "But you never saw the name of that American." "Why do you say that?" "Because you wouldn't be here now." "Sure." "Sure." "That's why that man hired me to get those Papers-- to keep his name out of print, keep himself out of Federal Prison." "You still haven't given me the man's name." "Tess, dial." "Here, you take this paper." "You read what's on it into the phone-- only what's on the paper, nothing else." ""This is Ulric Zenas." ""I know what the Volney Papers said about Trans-Balkan." "Meet me aboard the Bonnie Mae in an hour."" "The Bonnie Mae, that's a boat." "That's right." "That was the only way it could be done." "The boat had to be anchored offshore near the amusement park." "After I killed Schreck, I swam out to the boat with the Papers." "I was supposed to be paid off with cold, hard cash." "Instead, I wound up with two slugs and a bath in the Pacific." "The man you're going to meet, Zenas, he thinks he killed me." "Mr. Zenas." "Garrett Richards." "I telephoned the pier They told me this boat belonged" "I've been renting this boat from Phil Hillman for the past month." "What is it you wanted to see me about?" "The Volney Papers." "As I told you, now I know what they must have said." "You killed Franz Schreck to get those papers." "The Volney Papers?" "Why, yes." "They're locked up in my safe at home." "They expose the patent rights forgeries." "They name your country's traitor, but they do not mention my name or the name of the company I used to register those patents." "Mm-hmm." "Then why did you have Schreck killed?" "I couldn't take a chance." "I didn't know my name wasn't mentioned until after I got the Papers." "But what interests me now, Mr. Zenas, is how you knew my name." "Oh, Conrad Viewcolo told me." "But that's impossible." "Oh, is it?" "You're just saying those things to me because you're trying to get rid of me, too." "Mr. Richards, You see, Viewcolo's waiting for me." "He's going to call the police if I don't come back." "It won't work." "Conrad Viewcolo is dead." "Oh, no." "Oh, you shot him twice, and you threw him overboard." "Shot him?" "What are you talking about?" "I strangled Viewcolo with my bare hands, right here on this boat." "I put his body in a weighted sack, and I dumped him ten miles at sea." "He swam back, Mr. Zenas?" "You're lying." "You're lying." "[door opens]" "No he isn't, Mr. Zenas." "We may never recover Viewcolo's body." "Without him, we have no way of proving who killed Schreck." "[Anderson] Those Volney Papers in your safe, Mr. Richards, you should have dumped them overboard, too." "After what witnesses heard you say here, they're part of your one-way ticket to the gas chamber." "Wait a minute." "If you're not Viewcolo" "Mr. Zenas, some trial lawyers are frustrated actors." "How did you know about Viewcolo?" " You told me yourself, Garrett." " Me?" "Mm-hmm." "Twenty years ago, in that English hospital." "Remember?" "I finally did." "As my commanding officer presenting me with a citation, you casually dropped the fact that you'd found my doppelganger." "Doppel" "Doppelganger." "It means a person exactly like somebody else, a double." "You know, it's a pity." "I never met mine." "Yes, Bruce, I just finished reading the first installment." "By the way, did you see the dedication?" "It says "To Bruce Jason, who twice fought for freedom and who twice was the victor."" "Congratulations, Bruce." "And again, good luck." "So long, Perry." "Thanks for the call." "I appreciate it." "And thank you, Mr. Laban, for the kind words." "By the way, Bruce, there was another call for you" " from the Beverly Hills jail." " Oh?" "It seems one of your actresses got into an argument with a neighbor over a Siamese cat" "Well, never mind the rest of it." "I told her that you now handle only the most important and serious cases." "And what's not important about a Siamese cat?" "Of course he'll take her case." "Won't you, Bruce?" "My daughter is learning, Mr. Hillman." "The big affairs of the world are only what is big to each person." "Everyone needs help." "You're right, Mr. Laban." "But Phil's right, too." "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me." "Alyssa." "Where are you going?" "Well, like you said, Phil, I've got more important things to do." "Lady, it's time for your first... tennis lesson."