"That's what I get for showing off, Carla." "You looked good while it lasted, Mark." "All the girls were watching." "Never mind that." "All I know is I goofed." "And I'm not sure they picked up all the pieces." "Well, as the man says:" ""That concludes the performance for this evening."" "And just in time." "It stopped raining." "Well, you're not planning on leaving, are you?" "You said that concluded the performance for the evening." " Is there a cartoon?" " Yeah." "Later." "Right now, it's time for the intermission." "Would you like me to fix you another drink?" "No, and I don't want any popcorn either." " Mark." " Don't fight me, baby." "Let me go." "[TEARS]" "[SLAPS]" "Betsy." "Betsy, wake up." "Did you hear that?" " Betsy, Betsy." " What?" " Didn't you hear that?" " What's the matter with you?" "How could I hear anything?" "I was asleep." "It sounded like a shot, and breaking glass." "Well, you must have been having a nightmare." "I tell you I heard a shot." "Came from Mark Cushing's place." " Did you look?" " No, it's" "[WOMAN SCREAMING]" " What was that?" " How do I know?" " Go look." " You go." " What's going on?" " I don't know about the shot, but you heard breaking glass, all right." "The window's busted." "SAM:" "Anybody there?" "BETS Y:" "Don't see nobody." "Sam." "Sam, come here." " Huh?" "What is it?" " Come here." "Look." "BETS Y:" "Isn't that Belle Adrian?" "SAM:" "Yeah." "It's Mrs. Adrian, all right." " I don't get it." " Something funny's going on here." "Sam, you better call the sheriff." "Oh, Betsy." "If Belle Adrian's there, it's all right." "You know she wouldn't be mixed up in anything funny." "What are you looking in there for?" " I gotta get my bathrobe, don't I?" " Just to talk on a telephone?" "Well, it's damp downstairs." "You can stop stalling." "She's gone." "Well, I wasn't stalling." "I was just commenting, which is entirely different." "Well, I'll go call the sheriff now." "Looks like a piece out of a small mirror." "See if you can find the rest of it." "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" "Oh, that will be the doc or Sam Burris." "Fellows, just keep on with your work." " Hi, Bert." " Sam." "Oh, uh..." "Let's talk over here." "Thanks." "What can you tell me about this, Sam?" "No more than I told you on the phone." "I heard this shot, the sound of busting glass, then this woman screamed." "Any idea who this woman was?" "Now, you wouldn't be holding out on me, would you, Sam?" " Why would I do that?" " You didn't like Mr. Cushing, there." "No, I didn't." "You know darn well he swindled me, Bert." "Now, that was an everyday business deal." "Everyday business deal, my foot." "Look, Bert, you know me long enough." "Heck, I didn't like the man and if he dropped dead that would have suited me fine, but this kind of thing, well..." "Sure." "Sure, Sam." " Anything else you want?" " No." "No, just be careful going home." "Well, that was a pretty heavy rain we had tonight." "Help bring out the tracks of anybody who might have been here." " We don't wanna mess them up." " I got you." "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" "Just a minute." "I'll be right there." "Good morning, Mr." "You are Perry Mason, aren't you?" "The lawyer?" "Yes." "I'm Mrs. Adrian, Belle Adrian." "We have the place just around the bend." "Could I speak to you a minute?" "Well, uh..." "Well, yes." "Come in." "I know you're here for a rest, Mr. Mason, and I" " I hate to bother you, it's just that we're in such desperate trouble." "What is it?" "It's" " Well" "There's been a murder." "Please sit down, Mrs. Adrian." "Oh, Mr. Mason, I don't know how to thank you" "Well, perhaps we'd better save that until we see what I can do." "Now, just go ahead." "I'll light a fire." "Well, we aren't actually involved in this personally, you understand?" "We?" "My daughter, Carla, and myself." "But I'm afraid that she may become involved in the notoriety." "Did you know Mark Cushing?" "Yes, we'd met." "Carla had dinner with him last night at his lodge." "It's next to ours in the other direction." "After she left, he was shot." " Murdered." " How did you find that out?" "Sam Burris told us." "He's the one who notified the sheriff." "He and his wife heard a woman scream." " When was this?" " About 2:30." "Were your daughter and Cushing alone at the end of the evening?" "Yes." "His cook left after she served dinner and cleared up." " Her name's Nora Fleming." " What time did your daughter leave?" "About 11:30, I should say." "Or a little after." "She home now?" "I don't think you have much to worry about." "Just have your daughter tell the sheriff the truth." "Oh, I'm not afraid of the sheriff, Mr. Mason," "Carla's innocent, of course." "But Mark Cushing was" "Maybe you know his reputation with girls." "And with Carla there that night" "You know how the papers can make it sound." "Right." "I wouldn't have much influence with the newspapers." "Oh, I didn't mean that." "I thought if you could find that woman who screamed, perhaps the newspapers would concentrate on her and leave Carla out of it." "Yes, that might be helpful, but what you need is a detective." "I'm a lawyer." "However, I do employ a good agency." "I'd be glad to ask him to come up and help." " Oh, I'd be so grateful if you would." " All right." " Excuse me." " Sure." "Long distance, please." "Oh, well, I'd like to speak to Paul Drake, the Drake Detective Agency in Los Angeles." "The telephone number is-- Oh, wait a minute." "Try him at Crestview 97441." "[CAR APPROACHES]" "It's the sheriff, Mr. Mason." "I was hoping I could get home before he found I was here." "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" " Mr. Mason?" " Yes." "I'm Sheriff Bert Elmore." "I'd like to speak to Mrs. Adrian if I may, please?" "Of course." "Come in." "Does this concern the Mark Cushing murder, sheriff?" " That's right." "Morning, Mrs. Adrian." " Good morning, sheriff." "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if I may?" "Oh, are you her lawyer?" "Let's just say I'm advising her for the moment." "I'm sure she'll give you all the help she can." "Won't you make yourself comfortable?" "Thank you." "We've already talked to your daughter." "That's how I found out you were here." "Why did you rush over here to see Mr. Mason?" "Oh, I didn't rush, sheriff." "Though I did come as soon as I heard, of course." "Why?" "Well, there's obviously going to be some publicity about all this." "I wanted to keep Carla's name out of it if possible." "How could Mr. Mason do that?" "By finding out the name of the other woman." "The one who screamed." "Mr. Adrian, did you know anything about this murder before Sam Burris came and told you?" "Why, of course not." "How could I?" "What time did your daughter get home?" "About 11:30, I should say." "It rained last night, Mrs. Adrian." "Good and heavy." " Yes, I know." " I did some checking around." "I found your daughter's car out where she left it on the road." "The ground under the car was wet so she had the flat tyre after it rained." "There's also some footprints in the mud, tracks leading from the car to your house." "Mrs. Adrian, your daughter couldn't have got in till after 1 at the earliest." "Of course, I could be mistaken about the time, sheriff, but I'm" "I think we should hear the sheriff out, Mrs. Adrian." "I believe..." " I believe there's something else?" " Yes." "Yes, there is." "That whole stretch of ground there is kind of sandy and I found a set of woman's tracks leading from the car to the Cushing house and back again." " Those couldn't possibly belong to" " Is, uh--?" " Is that all?" " No." "No, it's not." "There's another set of woman's footprints, Mrs. Adrian." "Leading from your house over to the Cushing house and back." "Now, then, what about those tracks, Mrs. Adrian?" "Did you go over to the Cushing house yourself?" "Why, of course not." "Why should I?" "Well, that's what I'm wondering about." "Well, we may be wanting to talk to you and your daughter again, Mrs. Adrian, so don't go anywhere without letting us know first." " See you again, Mr. Mason." "Bye." "MASON:" "Bye." "It begins to look like you need a lawyer after all." "Well, hi, Della." "Come on in." "Quite a layout." "You're really roughing it, aren't you?" "Would you believe it?" "Only three baths." "Some vacation, you come up here for a rest and I have to follow with half the office." "Have any trouble getting here?" "No, the roads are pretty well dried out." "Morning, beautiful." "DELLA:" "Paul Drake, when did you get here?" " I thought I started early." " I flew up in a chartered plane." "What happened?" ""Murder," he says." "And what's he want?" "Just the licence number of every car that's up here, that's all." "Don't ask me why." "Every car?" "Perry, don't you realise this is Water Carnival weekend?" "Why, there must be at least a thousand cars here." "At least." "But you can help." " Paul only brought three men." " What are you wa--?" "No, don't tell me." "I better get a cup of coffee." "In fact, I think I'd better eat a hearty breakfast." " Mr. Mason." " Hello." "Do come in, Mr. Mason." "This is my daughter, Carla." " How do you do?" " Miss Adrian." " And this is Mr. Delano." " Glad to know you, Mr. Mason." "How do you do?" "You live up here, Mr. Delano?" "No, I'm from L.A." "Just came up for the weekend to see Carla." "The sheriff was here, he had a search warrant." "He went through the house." "Yes?" ""Sheriff of county..." "Took possession of one pair of ladies shoes, one ladies blouse, torn." "One gold compact with broken mirror, engraved, 'Mark to Carla with love."'" "Why did the sheriff take it?" "Because he pieced together a mirror from some broken glass they found at Cushing's." " It fit Carla's compact pretty well." " Where did they find the compact?" "In the toe of a riding boot, stuffed in with a handkerchief." "You don't know how it got there?" "No." "You see, Carla doesn't remember coming home with it last night." "She may have left it in the car or lost it on the way." "[CAR APPROACHES]" "Excuse me." "Our friend the sheriff again." "Oh." "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" "Sorry to trouble you again, Mrs. Adrian." "That's all right, sheriff." " Hello, Mr. Mason." " Hello, sheriff." " Mr. Delano." " Hi, sheriff." "Miss Carla." "Oh." "I don't know if this will interest anybody here, but they're taking Mr. Cushing back to Los Angeles." "Funeral's Wednesday." "I just thought I'd mention it." "Sheriff, there's something I want to ask you." "I'd like to establish the relationship of these houses if I can." "Now, uh, the road goes about" " like this, huh?" " Mm-hm." "And here is this house, the Adrian house, the Cushing house, the car about here?" "No, well, it's about here." "And the road curves a little more." "MASON:" "I see." "And this is the Burris house, I believe, with footprints going to and from." "And" " And from this house, there were footprints to the car, here." "ELMORE:" "That's right." "MASON:" "And from the car to the Cushing house and back again." "ELMORE:" "That's right." "MASON:" "Here." "And from the Cushing place" " to here and back, across here." "ELMORE:" "That's right." "Now, were all these tracks made by women?" "No." "But those from the Burris place, those were Sam's, of course." "I see." "Now, then," "Mrs. Adrian, do you recognise this?" "Well, I don't know, sheriff." "It looks like" "But I can't be sure." "How about you, Miss Carla?" "DELANO:" "It's mine." " Oh, how do you know?" "Well, I dropped it and chipped the handle." "Where did you see it last?" " Well" " He loaned it to me, sheriff." " He's teaching me to shoot." " When did you see it last?" "Why, last weekend, I guess." "I keep it in the glove compartment of my car." " You knew about this, of course." " Yes, of course." "But I don't understand, sheriff, what's the point of all this?" "Well, it looks like the gun that killed Mr. Cushing." "It was found up the hill a little, in some brush." "About 30 feet from where Miss Carla's convertible was stalled." "I don't see why that's so important, sheriff." "Because it was near the car, it could just as well have thrown from" "From the tracks that lead from this house through the Cushing place." "Yes, it could." "And those shoes of yours, did you know they had a spot of blood on them?" "And particles of glass embedded in the soles?" "But, sheriff, that's insane." "You can't believe that I" "ELMORE:" "How do you explain it, Mrs. Adrian?" "I've got to arrest you for murder." "What made you think of this licence number stuff in the first place?" "Well, any woman friendly enough to be at Mark Cushing's place at 2:00 in the morning is certain to attend his funeral." "So you figure that by checking all the cars that were at Bear Valley the day of the murder against those who were at the funeral today, we might hit pay dirt." "Well, it's not foolproof, Paul, but it's certainly worth the effort." "What have you got if you win?" "The woman who screamed, I hope." "[PHONE BUZZES]" "DELLA:" "I'll get it." "Yes, Gertie." " It's for you." "Henderson." " Oh, thanks." "Yeah, Henderson." "Uh-huh." "Good." "He's got the rundown on those two women." "Go ahead." "Mrs. Sheila Creighton, 5'1 ", brown eyes, hundred and sixty-one pounds." "Age: 62." "Skip that one." "Give me the other one." "Marion Keats, 5'7", blue eyes, 123 pounds, 25 years old." "Address?" "1107 Rossmore, L.A." " Sounds more like it." " Thanks, Henderson." "Let's go, Paul." "Some vacation." "[DOORBELL RINGS]" " Miss Keats?" " What do you want?" "You're supposed to be announced." "I guess the desk clerk was busy." "I'm an attorney." ""Perry Mason."" "Well, you're the lawyer for that woman who killed Mark Cushing." "That's right." " I have nothing to say to you." " I understand your feelings" "You don't understand or you wouldn't be here." "I've just come from Mark's funeral." "I'm in no mood to talk to anyone." "Especially you." "And if you don't leave immediately, I'll" "I'll call downstairs and have you thrown out." "I'm sorry." "I thought if we talked about it now, it would save you the embarrassment of an appearance in court, however..." "What's this?" "A subpoena for a preliminary hearing." "You're ordered to appear tomorrow at 10 a.m." "Get out." "Get out." "Hi, Perry." "Well, I found the night clerk." "How did you do with Miss Keats?" "In a word, she was uncooperative, antagonistic, very angry, and just wouldn't talk." "Well, with the stimulation of a little folding money, the night clerk just talked his head off." "Here it is." ""Friday at 10:20," "Marion Keats received a phone call from Bear Valley."" "The night clerk listened in to be sure the connection was okay." "He hear the other party say one word, "Yes," then hang up." " That was the entire conversation?" " That was it." ""Ten minutes later, Miss Keats got in her car and took off."" "Now, we already know that she registered at the Bear Valley Inn at 3:20, and it's a three-hour drive." "She could've been up there for almost two hours before she checked in." "What do you suppose she was doing all that time?" "I'm depending on you to find that out." " How do you feel, Mrs. Adrian?" " Frightened to death." "Well, try not to show it." "Remember, the burden of proof is on the district attorney." "Mr. Mason?" "I'm Darwin Hale, prosecutor for the state." "How do you do, sir?" "I've heard a great deal about you, Mr. Mason." "It's a privilege to be opposing you." "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Hale." "Everybody rise and face the flag." "In the presence of the flag of our country, emblem of the constitution, remembering the principles for which it stands..." "My next witness is Nora Fleming." "Raise your right hand." "You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" " Oh, I do." " State your name and be seated." "Nora Fleming." " Is that the cook?" " And housekeeper." "You'll never convince me she was hired just to dust the furniture." "Miss Fleming, will you please tell the court exactly what your position was in Mark Cushing's home?" "I cooked and kept house for him." "And on the night he was killed, did you serve dinner at the Cushing lodge?" " Oh, yes, sir." " Who was present?" " Mr. Cushing and Carla Adrian." "HALE:" "No one else?" "No, sir." "What time was that, Miss Fleming?" "Oh, about 10:15." " Have you ever seen this before?" " Oh, yes, sir." "When?" "Miss Adrian was wearing it that night she had dinner with Mr. Cushing." "HALE:" "Will you examine it very carefully, please?" "Do you notice anything different about it now from when you saw it that night?" " Oh, well, yes, sir." " What?" "This tear in the front." "HALE:" "And it wasn't torn when you saw it that evening?" "Definitely not." "Your Honour, I ask the court to receive this blouse in evidence as People's Exhibit B." "MASON:" "No objection." "Cross-examine." "No questions." "JUDGE:" "Witness may step down." "Gentlemen, it's time for the noon adjournment." "This court will recess till 2 this afternoon." "Defendant is remanded to custody of sheriff." "Paul." "Right away." " Betsy, isn't this just terrible?" " I'll be outside." "You know, Carla may be mixed up in this some way but not Belle Adrian, you'll never convince me." " I say, they're trying the wrong one." " I wouldn't be too sure, Hazel." "You've been wrong before." "I remember once, you told" "I tell you, Betsy, you just don't know human nature." "Why, Belle Adrian is a lady." "She couldn't be mixed up in a thing like this." "She just is not the type." "Well, maybe you're the one don't know human nature." "Maybe you're in for a big surprise." "You and everybody else." " You know something?" " Well, never you mind." " What is it, Betsy?" "You can trust me." " I gotta find Sam." "Oh, sheriff." "Sheriff, I wanna talk to you." "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" "Yes?" "Oh, hello, Betsy." "Come on in." "Sit down." "Hey, you know, I haven't seen you in quite a spell." "You lost a little weight, haven't you?" "All right, Bill Hale, what do you want?" "Come now, don't be so edgy." "I just thought you and I ought to have a little talk." "Was that any reason to have Bert here pick me up like I was a common criminal or something?" "I wish you hadn't said that, Betsy." "Withholding evidence is a criminal offence, you know." " I don't know what you mean." " Look, Mr. Hale" "Oh, I know what you're gonna say, sheriff, but after all, we've got to consider Mrs. Burris' motive." "Betsy likes Belle Adrian, as who doesn't." "And she was only trying to help her, right?" "But now you're going to tell us the whole story, aren't you?" "Good." "Barbara, would you mind coming in here and bringing your notebook?" "Hey, leave some for me." "You'll have to admit, this is the world's greatest detective when it comes to finding food." "What did you learn, Paul?" "Well, I checked on that phone call to Marion Keats I told you about." "It was made on an outside pay booth at a service station near Mark Cushing's place." "The only trouble is, the service station was closed and we can't find out who put it through." "When the sheriff's men went over Carla's car, they found a fresh print they can't account for." "It looks like a right thumb." "My man's getting a photostat of it, and we'll have it soon." "I wonder how we can get a hold of Marion Keats' operator's licence?" "It should have her right thumbprint on it." "Suppose it matches the print on the car." "It would explain a lot of things." "Okay." "I'll see what I can do." "Thank you." "[SIREN WAILING]" "What's the meaning of this?" "May I see your driver's licence, please?" "Why?" "I wasn't speeding." "We got a report on a stolen car." "This is ridiculous." "Now, then, sheriff, I presume when you examined Carla Adrian's car, you checked it over thoroughly for fingerprints." " Yes, sir." " Did you find any that you couldn't identify?" "Yes." "There was one on the left door handle." " Do you have a photograph of that?" " Yes." "Your Honour, I don't think this is a proper cross-examination." "Well, I'm going to let him answer the question." "Mrs. Adrian's charged with a serious crime, and this court intends to give her counsel every opportunity to examine the evidence the sheriff has gathered." "Facts are facts and law is law." "But we're not leaving out anything like a fingerprint on account of some technicality." "The court would like to see it too." "Thank you." "Your Honour, I would like to introduce this as Defendant's Exhibit Number 1." " Of course." " No objection." "Thank you, sheriff." "Oh." "About the glass in the soles of these shoes, did you subject it or have it subjected to any sort of test which would determine if it were identical to any of the glass found in the room where Mark Cushing was killed?" "Well, yes, I did." " We used a spectroscopic analysis." " What did it show?" "Not too much, because it happened that most of the glass was from common formulas that might be found anywhere." "Except for the lavender vase, and there didn't happen to be any of that in the shoes." "None at all?" "None at all." "Thank you, sheriff." "That's all." "My next witness will be Mrs. Sam Burris." "I called Paul." "He said it's definitely not Marion Keats' fingerprint." "Wait." "Tell him to try Nora Fleming." " Right." "BAILIFF:" "Raise your right hand." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" " I do." " State your name and be seated." "Betsy Burris." "Now, then, Mrs. Burris, with reference to the early morning hours of last Saturday, did you have any occasion to look over at the Cushing lodge?" "Yes, sir." "What was that occasion?" "Well, my husband woke me up." "I'm a real heavy sleeper, but Sam isn't." "And he said" "Now, never mind what he said, Mrs. Burris, what did you do after he said it?" "I got up and looked over at Cushing's." "What time was that?" "Well, as near as I can tell, about 2:30." "Did you see anything?" "BETS Y:" "I saw lights on in the cottage." "HALE:" "Did you use any optical aid?" "BETS Y:" "Yes, sir." "Binoculars." "And what did you see?" "Well, I saw the window that had been broken out and broken glass on the sill and the table inside, and some of the room." "Part of his wheelchair, but just a little bit." "Did you hear anything?" "Yes, sir." "Just before I got out of the bed, I heard a woman scream." "HALE:" "Of your own knowledge, do you know who that woman was?" "No, sir." "Did you see any individual in the house at that time?" "Not right then, no." "Did you...?" "Did you later?" "Yes, sir." "A few minutes after we heard the scream." "Did you recognise that individual?" "Yes, sir." "Who was it?" "Belle Adrian." "[CHATTERING]" "Your witness." "Order." "Let's have order." "Your Honour, I request a ten-minute recess to confer with my client." "That seems a reasonable request, Mr. Mason." "Court will recess until 3:15." "Mr. Mason, I know what you must think of me." "Well?" "For some unaccountable reason, Mrs. Adrian, people in trouble foolishly try to escape it by lying to their lawyers." "But you're allowing me to go into court without complete knowledge of the facts is inexcusable." "This is no time for tears, Mrs. Adrian." "Now tell me, did you--?" "Look at me." "Did you kill Mark Cushing?" " Did you?" " No, no, no." "Really, I didn't, Mr. Mason." "But I don't expect you to believe me." "Why did you go to Cushing's?" "Because I was worried." "I hadn't heard Carla come in." "I went out to the garage." "The car was gone." "And just then, I heard this scream." "I was terrified." "I rushed right over there." "What happened when you got there?" "I went up to the house and I rang the bell, but nobody answered." "I went around to the back." "The door was unlocked." "When I opened it," "I saw him." "What did you do?" "Well," "I saw Carla's compact on the floor, so I picked it up." "And then I looked around for other incriminating evidence." "I wiped some fingerprints from some bottles and I washed three glasses and wiped them, put them away." "And I wiped some other places." "Does it look very bad?" "Couldn't look much worse." "Now, Mr. Burris, when you looked at the Cushing lodge through your binoculars, what did you see?" "Well, I saw the broken window and busted glass and all, and, well, I saw Mrs. Adrian." "Why didn't you mention earlier you had seen her?" "Because nobody asked me." "You, nor the sheriff either." "[LAUGHING]" "We decided to tell the truth if anybody asked us, but they didn't until now." "And Mrs. Adrian may have been over there, but she didn't kill Mark Cushing, neither did her daughter." "Never mind your opinion." "What did you do after you recognised Mrs. Adrian?" "Called the sheriff, then went over myself to Cushing's place." "What did you find there?" "You mean, besides the sheriff and the deputies?" "Yes." "Well, the broken glass and stuff we saw through the window, like I told you before." "And then, of course, I could see Cushing, sitting there in the chair, and the blood." "And you could see where he'd been watching movies with somebody, the way the chairs were and the ashtrays." "There was a glass with lipstick on it." "I don't recall it too good." "I guess seeing him like that, well, it kind of made my hair stand up, you know?" "You remember anything else?" "No, sir." "Seems about all I can recollect." "Your Honour, this witness has suppressed information and I'm not going to defend his conduct." "In fact, I'll state frankly to Mr. Mason that I'm not going to interpose any objections to his cross-examination of this witness." "He'll probably rip him to shreds, but it doesn't matter." "Sam Burris brought it on himself." "That's all." "I turn the witness over to you for cross-examination." "That's very generous of you, Mr. Hale." "However, I have no questions of this witness at the moment." "Later on, perhaps." "But nothing now." " Nothing at all?" " Nothing at all." "In that event, Your Honour, I'll let this conclude our case." "We're only attempting here, after all, to present sufficient evidence for the court to bind the defendant over for trial and I feel we've certainly done that." "Yes, there's certainly evidence that a crime has been committed, and I think there's sufficient evidence to" "Just a moment, Your Honour." "Aren't you gonna give me a chance to present the defendant's side of the case?" "By all means, Mr. Mason." "Most assured that the court didn't intend to foreclose the defendant." "I simply assumed that..." "Well, I won't commit myself in advance." "Go right ahead with your defence." "Thank you." "I call as my first witness Marion Keats." "Is Marion Keats in court?" "Your Honour, I am George Lansing." "I represent Miss Keats." "And I object, Your Honour, to having her called as a witness." "Mr. Mason is abusing the process of this court." "In what way, Mr. Lansing?" "Well, my client knows absolutely nothing about this case, yet Mr. Mason called on her completely unannounced." "And when she refused to grant him an interview, he served her with a summons as an act of personal revenge." "Now, there is nothing that Mr. Mason can elicit from this witness, and in forcing her to appear in this session of the court, she has been exposed to unfavourable publicity merely to create a diversion to distract attention from the defendant." "I submit, Your Honour, that this act constitutes a contempt of this court." "Mr. Mason, this is a serious charge." "I trust you are prepared to refute it?" "Put Miss Keats on the stand, let me ask her five questions, and we'll find out how much she knows about this case." "Mr. Mason, the court feels that you should be warned that if the charge made by Mr. Lansing is proved, the court will regard it with exceeding gravity." "Am I to be deprived of the opportunity to examine a witness on behalf of the defendant simply because of this charge?" "No, certainly not." "Then I want Marion Keats to take the stand." "Very well, Miss Keats, you may take the stand." " But you said I wouldn't have to." " It's all right." "I'm laying the foundation for formal charges." "Your guess was right about Nora Fleming the cook." " It was her thumbprint on the car." " Well, that's something." "Now, Miss Keats, don't be in any hurry to answer the questions." "The district attorney will probably object to most of them and I will object to all of them." "So let the court rule on each objection before you speak." "Your Honour, this is obviously a hostile witness." "I may have to ask leading questions." " How do we know she's hostile?" " Look at her." "Go ahead with your questions, Mr. Mason." "Miss Keats, I think you're acquainted with Nora Fleming, cook and housekeeper employed by Mark Cushing?" "Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, and having no bearing on the issue in this case." "And I object, Your Honour, on the ground that counsel has no well-defined objective in mind and is merely on a fishing expedition." "Mr. Mason, this objection has now formally put before the court the charge that you have no definite object in mind in using this witness." "Do you have anything to say?" "Yes, the charge is completely erroneous." "I expect to show by this witness that she was in love with Mark Cushing." "That she was insanely jealous." "That she had made arrangements with Nora Fleming, the cook, to telephone her the next time Cushing had a solitary date with Carla Adrian or any other woman." "Your Honour, this is purest fantasy." "This is invading the privacy" "I've been asked by this court to state my objectives and I'm stating them." "Now, I expect to show that Nora Fleming did so telephone Marion Keats last Friday night." "And that Marion Keats immediately drove up here, where she was joined by Nora Fleming." "And that together, they came upon on abandoned car belonging to Carla Adrian." "And that either Marion Keats or Nora Fleming then walked from Carla Adrian's car to the Cushing lodge at about 2:30 in the morning." "Approximately the same time Sam Burris heard a woman scream." "This is preposterous." "There's not a shred of evidence" "And to prove it, I'll ask this witness how Nora Fleming's right thumbprint happens to be upon the door handle of Carla Adrian's car and furthermore" "Stop." "Stop it." "I didn't do anything." "He was dead when I got there." "Your Honour, perhaps Mr. Lansing would like to continue his argument that I am abusing the due process of this court." "That I have no definite plan, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." "Well, Mr. Lansing?" "Your Honour, this comes as a complete surprise to me." "It changes everything." "So it does." "You may proceed, Mr. Mason." "Very well, Your Honour." "Now, then, Miss Keats, do you intend--?" "Please." "Please." "I'll tell everything." "But can't I do it my own way?" "Of course." "Go ahead, Miss Keats." "Well, you see, Mark was going to marry me." "That is, he said he was." "Anyhow, I thought he was playing around." "And, well, I wanted to catch him." "So I arranged with Nora to call me." "Then Friday night when she did, I went up and met her." "I wanted to use her key, you see, so I could get in without..." "On the way, we came to Miss Adrian's car." "So I knew she wasn't there any longer." "Then Nora found the compact in the car and showed it to me." "What compact?" "You don't mean the one that" "Yes, sir." "The gold one engraved, "Mark to Carla with love."" "JUDGE:" "And then?" "Well, it made me so mad that I just ran up to the house." "It wasn't very far, but when I" "Now, Miss Keats, you don't have to answer this question, but did you kill Mark Cushing?" "Kill him?" "Of course not." "Why should I?" "I loved him." "I just took one look and screamed." "That's when I dropped the compact." "Mr. Mason?" "Your Honour, I believe I have no further questions of Miss Keats." "No further questions?" "It seems to me there should be a lot of questions." "Mr. Hale, did you know anything about this?" "Naturally not, Your Honour." "Well, you know it now." "Yes, Your Honour." "May it please the court, I" "I am not accustomed to practising criminal law." "However, due to circumstances which have come as a complete surprise to me," "I now find myself representing a witness who could be charged with a crime." "Therefore, Your Honour," "I would like to advise Miss Keats to answer no further questions and I suggest that she leave the witness stand." "I suggest that the sheriff take this woman into custody until there can be a further investigation." "Right through here." "If there are no objections, I'm going to recess this hearing to confer with counsel in my chambers." "MASON:" "There is one thing I could bring out, Your Honour, and it might help our conference." "I'd like to call Sam Burris back to the stand at this time." "Very well, Mr. Mason." "BAILIFF:" "Sam Burris to the stand." "Now, then, Mr. Burris, are you ready to have my cross-examination rip you to shreds?" "Yes, sir." "I hate to disappoint anyone, but all I wanted to do was to establish one or two minor points." "And I'm sure you'll recall and report them as accurately as you can." "Yes, sir." "I'll sure do my best." "Of course." "Now, then, I believe you testified earlier that you heard the sound of breaking glass, a shot, and later, a scream." "And that the interval between the shot and the scream was as much as, oh, say, ten or 15 minutes?" "I know it don't sound reasonable, but it just feels that way." "I see." "Now, then, during the interval between the shot and the scream, do you recall hearing the sound of an automobile?" "Of someone starting a car or perhaps driving it off?" "Well, now, you know, it's funny, nobody asked me that before." "I never thought about it." "No." "I can't say there was any car." "Unless maybe I fell sleep for a little while and it was then." "All right." "Now, it seems to me that you also testified earlier with regard to what you found when you went to Cushing's to investigate." "You found "you could see where he'd been watching movies with somebody, the way the chairs were and the ashtrays, there with the glass with lipstick on it," and so on." "Is that right?" "Yes, sir." "Sounds about right." "Now, you may not have gathered this as yet, but when you were watching the defendant, Belle Adrian, through the binoculars, she, mistakenly, of course, but quite understandably, was removing all traces of her daughter's earlier visit." " Now, do you understand?" " Yes, sir." "Now, Mr. Burris, would you explain to me and to the court just how it happened that when you went to investigate, after Belle Adrian had left, that you saw a glass with lipstick on it when she had already washed it and put it away?" "Well, I" " You see" "I mean, I was so shook up, you see?" "I don't recall too clear." "But you do recall." "You recall it because it's true." "You did see a glass with lipstick on it, because you were there before Belle Adrian." "You were there before Marion Keats screamed." "You were there when Mark Cushing was shot because you shot him." "Sam." "I'm sorry, Sam." "[LAUGHING]" " No." " I don't understand this, Mr. Mason." "How could you figure it all out just from that glass?" "Well, that just started me thinking." "But once started along that line of thinking, anyone would have come to the same conclusion." " I wouldn't." " Oh, sure you would, Paul." "It couldn't have been anyone but Sam Burris." "He said he didn't hear the car start after the shot." "So it couldn't have been Carla." "The scream came well after the shot, so it couldn't have been Marion Keats." "And Mrs. Adrian didn't get there until even later." "But I still don't see how he did it, Mr. Mason." "Well, he knew the pistol was in your car, so he took it while you were in Cushing's place." "After you left, he went over there, shot Cushing, broke some glass, went back home, went to bed, and he woke his wife, and told her he'd just heard a shot and some glass breaking." "The fact that Marion Keats screamed, well, that was pure velvet." "Mr. Mason, were you surprised when you found I didn't do it?" "Of course not, Mrs. Adrian." "I knew that all along." "You just weren't the type." " And who is the type, pray tell?" " Oh, that's easy, Paul." "Anyone who is not represented by Perry Mason." "[LAUGHING]"