"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "I should have known better than listen to the good museum directors." ""Not only a fine tapestry man, but an American," they assured me." ""None finer in Rio de Janeiro."" "What's the matter now?" "You call this clean?" "Isn't it clean enough for you, sir?" "Demay, I have nothing but contempt for the likes of you." "If I weren't on such a tight schedule on this South American tour," "I'd fire you on the spot to look for somebody else." "Go over this border again." "Carefully, this time." "Remember, it's a Pannemaker arras, not somebody's laundry." "And don't take all night with it." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "I'm leaving now." "Be sure to lock up when you go." "Yes, Mr. Voss." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( sirens wailing )" "Let go of me." "I didn't have anything to do with it." "I" " Please!" "Where are you going with this man?" "( speaking in Portuguese )" "Demay!" "Oh, he's a liar." "I didn't start any fire." "( speaking in Portuguese )" "That's a mistake, I tell you, a mistake." "I don't even know how those things got into my pocket." "I never saw them before." "I was almost out the back gate before the fire even started." "Demay, you'll pay for this." "You've destroyed a fortune in masterpieces." "DEMAY:" "I had nothing to do with it!" "I didn't start the fire." "I swear I didn't!" "( ominous theme playing )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "( tense theme playing )" "It's so far beyond the Bauer-Kandinsky tradition, it's a philosophy in itself." "Well, frankly, it looks pretty childish to me." "How long you been in business here in Los Angeles, Mr. Voss?" "Five, six years?" "Mr. Voss, may I speak to you?" "In a moment, Brenda." "Trust me, Mr. Hazlett." "Surely by now you know that you're one of my special customers." "When I tell you that this is an investment at 1,500, you can take my word for it." "Heh." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "VOSS:" "After what you paid for the Gorky last month, this is a drop in the bucket." "I'll let you know, Voss." "So long, Miss Larkin." "So long." "Oh, by the way," "I got an invitation in the mail today." "Somebody's selling a Pannemaker tapestry." "You heard about it?" "I didn't think there was a Pannemaker left on the market." "The last time I actually saw one was nearly six years ago, in Rio de Janeiro as it burned to ashes." "HAZLETT:" "Well, if those tapestries are that rare" "I guess I better go see this one." "Heh." "Who's offering it, Mr. Hazlett?" "Uh, well, the invitation didn't say." "But it's at Hastings Auction at 9 tonight." "Well, I'll be seeing you." "Uh, think about the picture." "Yeah, well, I have." "A Pannemaker." "That's a strange coincidence." "What is?" "I just saw a Pannemaker tapestry hanging in a pawnshop." "That's what I wanted to tell you." "In a pawnshop?" "Oh, don't be silly." "This one." "Theseus and the Minotaur." "That's impossible." "Yes, that was part of the Claver collection, wasn't it?" "The one that was supposed to have burned in Rio?" "It did burn." "I saw it." "It was completely destroyed." "The entire collection." "Voss." "VOSS:" "Ah, Mr. Claver." "This is an honor, sir." "Have you heard about this?" "Someone has a Pannemaker arras up for sale." "Oh, I see you have heard about it." "Rumors, yes, but, um" "Obviously, more than just a rumor." "But I can't understand it." "There are only six Pannemakers left in private collections and certainly none of them could be up for auction." "Mine was the seventh." "Are you suggesting that your tapestry didn't burn?" "It occurred to me when I got this." "You were in charge of that tour." "I always took your word for it." "I see no reason to doubt it now, Mr. Claver." "Ah, I guess there's nothing to do but find the answer at theHastings Auction tonight." "They'll certainly have the tapestry available for inspection beforehand." "It's probably an imitation." "Copy of some kind." "Well..." "We'll see." "Hazlett, now Claver." "This is no coincidence." "Did you go through today's mail?" "Not yet." "Well..." "This looks like it." "Well, we seem to be privileged." "Ours has a picture, Theseus and the Minotaur." "Where was that pawnshop?" "Third and Maple." "Didn't a man go to prison for starting that fire six years ago in Rio?" "Yes." "But, um, only part of the Claver collection went up in that fire, didn't it?" "What did you say?" "Leonard, if there's going to be trouble," "I want to share it with you." "About the Claver collection?" "I've been to the warehouse on Lake Street." "I found a rent receipt once" "That warehouse is no concern of yours." "It is now, Leonard." "But a wife can't testify against her husband." "We've worked together three years now, don't you think we--?" "We'll talk about this later." "( tense theme playing )" "( door opens, then closes )" "Can I help you, sir?" "This tapestry." "Oh, yes." "( chuckles )" "Uh, do you have a ticket?" "I don't have a ticket." "I didn't pawn it." "I want to buy it." "I'm sorry, sir, but it's not for sale." "Uh, it won't be for about seven months." "Oh, now, just a minute." "You" " You can't go behind my counter." "But where did you get the tapestry?" "Well, it was brought in here and pawned." "That's all." "By whom?" "Oh." "Look, I'm an art dealer." "If you loan it to me for an examination..." "It might even be stolen property." "If I call the police" "That would make two of us." "Now" " Now, you get going." "I'm a very busy man." "Say, give me that." "You've got a nerve." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( knocking on door )" "Mrs. Sarah Demay?" "Yes?" "I want to talk to you, about the tapestry." "A tapestry in a place like this?" "You must have the wrong party." "Uh, please, no need to play games." "I'm-- I'm an art dealer." "I want to buy it." "Oh, I see." "Well, come in, Mr. Voss." "Thank you." "The place is kind of a mess, but..." "Why don't you sit right down here?" "How did you acquire the tapestry, Mrs. Demay?" "Well, my brother-in-law brought it from South America." "I'll give you $1,000 for the pawn ticket right now." "Sarah, I" "SARAH:" "Oh, Claude, this is Mr. Voss." "I know Mr. Voss." "Sarah, leave me and Mr. Voss alone." "We've got private business." "( closes door )" "I just called your gallery." "I figured you'd want to see me before 9:00." "What is this tapestry?" "It's gonna cost you to find that out." "Where did you get it?" "How?" "The point is, I have it and I intend to sell it." "How much do you want?" "Well, you can bid for it." "Demay, I saw that tapestry burn." "I'm not holding a fire sale, Mr. Voss." "I made friends in jail." "They helped me do some checking." "Enough to learn about the crates you shipped out of Rio under a different name on the day before the fire I didn't start." "How much do you want?" "Well, maybe..." "Maybe we can work something out." "In the same way that the tapestry is alive, the other things are still alive." "Now, I might consider holding a piece of that which burned as an advanced payment." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Otherwise, I'll auction the tapestry, I promise you." "And you can bid against Nathan Claver and all your own best customers, who I'm sure would love to hear an explanation" "I said, how much do you want?" "And I just told you." "An advanced payment." "Something to hold as a token of your good faith." "Something else from the fire." "All right." "There was a bronze Buddha from the Tao Kwan Dynasty." "Remember it?" "Yes, I remember." "It'll do." "I'll have it at my gallery in an hour." "Bring the tapestry." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( closes door )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Sarah." "Sarah!" "The tapestry, it's gone." "Have you been in that locker?" "Well, have you?" "You've been sponging off me for three months." "You didn't give me a penny." "Not for rent, not for food, not for nothin'." "Where is it?" "What did you do with it?" "I" "I hocked it." "You what?" "Yes, I hocked it." "For a hundred dollars." "And I had every right to." "Me, a widow with no money, no noth" "Five years I spent in jail." "Five years I sweated to get Voss in a trap." "Now I've got him." "I'll kill you." "( ominous theme playing )" "( siren wailing )" "MAN:" "Hey, you!" "Hey, you!" "Hey, you!" "Police!" "Help!" "Help, please!" "That should keep Klee away from Hannover long enough for the dust to settle, anyway." "( knocking on door )" "( knocking continues )" "I'm sorry, but-- Mr. Mason," "I've got to talk to him." "Couldn't you come back tomorrow?" "It'll be too late then, I need help." "I kno" "It's all right, Della." "What is it you want, Mr., um...?" "Demay." "Claude Demay." "Miss Street and I were just leaving." "Please listen to me." "A few years ago I was working in an art museum in Rio de Janeiro." "The Nathan Claver collection was being shown." "Maybe you remember it." "Over a million dollars worth of art on a world tour?" "And I made Sarah give me the pawn ticket." "She said she'd seen the tapestry hanging up in the window but when I got to the place, the shop had been broken into and the tapestry was gone." "Well, I walked around trying to make up my mind what to do, and I decided I had to have some advice, so I came to you." "Mr. Demay, you wove the fake tapestry in prison for the express purpose of trapping this man Voss?" "Oh, no." "I started it to hang onto my sanity." "It was only when I saw how good it was going to turn out that I realized how I might use it." "And by threatening to auction the tapestry, you, uh, forced Voss to agree to surrender a Tao Kwan Buddha from the Claver collection as security, right?" "Yes." "You see, the tapestry is good, but an expert would expose it in no time." "Nobody'd believe me." "But the Buddha would be authentic and indisputable proof of your claim." "Yes." "And I had it almost right here." "Right here in my hand." "Now it's gone." "I understand how you must feel, Mr. Demay." "But I just don't see how I can help you." "Mr. Mason, I've suffered at that man's hands long enough." "I want to clear my name." "The minute I can prove my accusations," "I'll go straight to the police, I swear it." "You're a little late for your appointment with Voss." "Let's see if he's still waiting." "Della?" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Anybody here?" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Mr. Voss." "He's been dead a while." "Some sort of stab wound." "But he certainly put up a pretty good fight." "I'll be blamed for this." "I'll be framed again." "Now, take it easy." "The police will learn that you had motive and opportunity." "But obviously someone else also had motive and opportunity." "Now, I can help only if you tell us the truth, understand?" "That" " That paper." "Don't touch that." "Don't leave your fingerprints anywhere." "It's the kind we used for packing in Rio." "The only kind we could get at the time." "You're sure?" "Positive." "I wrapped dozens of pieces of the Claver collection myself, just before the fire." "So you think it's possible the Tao Kwan Buddha was still wrapped in this kind of paper?" "Of course." "So the Buddha must be around here somewhere." "It may have been here." "It's not likely it's here now." "All right, let's go." "Della, get hold of Paul." "I want to know what the police have on the burglary of that pawnshop." "Also whether or not they've found Claude's tapestry." "Where will you be, Perry?" "At the Hastings Auction." "In the meantime, Claude, find yourself a quiet hotel and stay there." "Use your own name." "Yes, Mr. Mason." "I'm gonna call Lieutenant Tragg." "Now get going, both of you." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( all chattering )" "AUCTIONEER:" "May I have a bid?" "MAN:" "Two hundred dollars." "AUCTIONEER:" "Two hundred dollars." "WOMAN 1:" "Three hundred." "WOMAN 2:" "Four hundred and fifty." "MAN:" "Four hundred and fifty dollars." "WOMAN 1:" "Six hundred dollars." "CLAVER:" "I'll see you at the bidding then, Mr. Ausberg." "( chuckles ) Mr. Claver?" "Yes?" "My name is Perry Mason." "Oh, yes, of course, the attorney." "Well, I didn't know our local art auctions were one of your interests, Mr. Mason." "I suspect we're here for the same reason." "A tapestry." "Really?" "Perhaps we'll be bidding in competition then." "I don't really think it's going to show up." "What do you say that?" "It was stolen earlier tonight." "But the theft of the tapestry was only part of it." "Leonard Voss has been killed." "Voss?" "I thought you might be able to help since you were acquainted with Voss." "Hm, I know nothing of Voss's recent activities." "Oh, I stopped by his gallery this afternoon to see if he or his assistant, Miss Larkin, had any information on this auction tonight." "They'd only heard about it, that's all." "So I left." "Pardon me, Mr. Claver, you're wanted on the telephone." "Who is it?" "The police, sir." "Well." "Heh-heh." "Excuse me." "Perry, where's that client of yours?" "Demay." "I don't know yet." "Oh, great." "So far, the police seem think he might've stolen his own tapestry from that pawnshop." "How do they figure that?" "Well, the pawnbroker saw him and when they finally found his sister-in-law, she verified the description." "Paul, I want you to get me a complete list of all the items from the Claver collection that were supposedly burned in that fire in Rio." "They found bits of melted bronze." "So it did look like everything was destroyed." "However, find out how much insurance was paid, who collected and so forth." "All right." "And here:" "Demay sent invitations like this to some of Voss' clients." "Ah, you mean people whose interest might pressure Voss." "Mm-hm." "It might be interesting to know who's gonna show up here." "Also, while you're about it, find out what you can about a Miss Larkin." "Voss' assistant?" "Right." "Will do." "Here's the Minotaur." "And here's the bronze." "Tao Kwan Buddha." "It's beautiful." "( knock on door )" "Hi." "DELLA:" "Hi, Paul." "What do you know about art?" "Me?" "Heh." "I don't even know what I like." "Uh, is this the Claver collection?" "It's part of it." "This is the tapestry." "I, uh, don't suppose it showed up at the auction last night." "Nope." "And after you left only one of Demay's invitations showed up." "A man named, uh, Jim Hazlett." "He owns a batch of oil wells in Texas and apparently was a good customer at the Voss galleries." "What about Miss Larkin?" "First name, Brenda." "She's been with Voss for three years." "A, uh, executive assistant." "Apparently she had a monaural romance going with him:" "All Brenda, no Voss." "Uh, we can dig deeper." "Oh, this is fine so far, Paul." "It's this item, the, uh, Tao Kwan Buddha, that our client is hoping to trade for the tapestry." "( knock on door )" "Good morning." "Good morning." "Well, well." "Your interest in art is quite persistent, Perry." "Attending things like the Hastings Auction." "( chuckles ) It's a nice hobby." "Oh, yes." "Yes, it is." "Oh, by the way, I'm looking for a Claude Demay." "You don't happen to know him, do you?" "He doesn't just happen to be a client of yours, does he?" "Why, lieutenant?" "Oh, I have some questions I want to ask him." "But he didn't come home last night." "You're not suggesting he stayed here, are you?" "Well, where there's smoke, there's usually fire." "And, uh, vice versa." "I'm just about to go downtown." "Can I drop you somewhere?" "No." "No, thanks." "I" "I'll go the hard way, as usual." "( door closes )" "Paul, when Demay calls in his location, have one of your men go out and stay with him, just in case." "Will do." "Della, I'll be at Hazlett's apartment." "Right." "( ominous theme playing )" "Oh, I won't say anything, Mr. Hazlett." "Don't worry." "It's a risky business." "You know, it's too bad you didn't call me sooner." "Well, at least he's not about to stick anybody else." "I wanna thank you for all of your help, Lawrence." "And you be sure and keep this" "Good day." "Mr. Hazlett." "My name is Mason, I'm an attorney." "Yeah, well, I got plenty attorneys." "I daresay." "I understand you've done business with Leonard Voss." "Whose ax are you grinding, Mr. Mason?" "My client, unfortunately, also did business with Voss." "Misery loves company." "May I come in?" "Why not?" "Well, what do you make of it?" "I'm a lawyer, not a critic." "That's a good one." "HAZLETT:" "Good?" "Oh, that's great." "That's the first one he sold me." "How about this one?" "Oh, that's okay." "Heh-heh." "If you like framed garbage." "( chuckles )" "What's on your mind, Mr. Mason?" "That tapestry auction last night." "Mind telling me how you were invited?" "Oh, a thing came in the mail." "It was a fizzle." "Voss didn't advise you about it?" "No, he hadn't even heard of the auction." "You sure?" "Well, sure, I'm sure." "I needled him over it." "You know, but now that I think of it, that girl Friday of his must have known." "In fact, while I was there at the gallery, she came in and she was just poppin' to tell him something." "What time was that?" "Oh, 4:30." "Why?" "The tapestry that was supposed to be auctioned was stolen at 6:30." "Less than an hour later, Voss was dead." "Are you looking for something in particular, Mr. Mason?" "Just a familiar face." "Did Voss ever mention the, uh, Claver collection to you?" "No." "When you asked about the auction, was that the last time you saw him?" "Now, look, Mr. Mason," "I said that I saw him at 4:30." "Now, you say he was dead by 7:30." "( chuckles )" "Now, you're not asking me to cut it any finer than that, are you?" "All right." "Thank you, Mr. Hazlett." "( dramatic theme playing )" "DELLA:" "Yes, I'll give him the message just as soon as he comes in." "Thank you." "That was Paul's office." "And for what it was worth, uh, Mr. Voss was in the pawnshop last night just before it closed trying to get the tapestry." "But the pawnbroker wouldn't give it to him." "That would be around 6:00." "Mm-hm." "Also, there was a woman who called and insists you call her back as soon as possible." "Who is it?" "She wouldn't tell me her name." "( phone rings ) Hello?" "MASON:" "This is Perry Mason." "Oh, yes, hello, Mr. Mason." "I found your name on a piece of paper in Claude's room, and I remembered he'd something about going to see you so" "Who is this?" "This is his sister-in-law, Sarah Demay." "Mr. Mason, do you know where Claude is?" "I've got to see him." "What about?" "Well, it's about the tapestry." "Well, suppose I send someone around to pick you up." "Well, yes, that'll be all right." "I'll wait right here." "The man's name will be Paul Drake." "Paul Drake." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "I worked with Leonard Voss but that's all." "He had his private life and I had mine." "Miss Larkin, there's a sequence in your story that puzzles me." "You say the first you and Voss knew of the proposed tapestry auction was, uh, when Hazlett mentioned it to you." "That's right." "When Mr. Claver came to the gallery, asked about the auction, all you could tell him was what you'd heard from Hazlett?" "Yes." "You see, until then, we'd both been too busy to open the day's mail." "Of course, our own invitation to the auction had been there all the tine." "Did the, uh, invitation say that the, uh, tapestry could be found in a pawnshop?" "Well, hardly." "Yet Voss went to the pawnshop, tried to get the tapestry before he went to the owner." "Now, that's what puzzles me, Miss Larkin." "How did he know the tapestry was there?" "I haven't any idea." "Did he talk with anyone else?" "No, not that I know of." "Except-- ( phone ringing )" "Oh, excuse me." "Hello?" "PAUL:" "Is Mason there, please?" "Yes." "Just a moment, please." "It's for you." "Thank you." "Hello." "Perry, this is Paul." "Oh, yes, Paul." "This sister-in-law, Sarah Demay, she's not home." "Oh?" "It seems she left her place in a hurry, just a few minutes after she phoned you." "But that's not all." "It must run in the family." "Claude's disappeared too." "He left the hotel?" "As far as I can find out, he got a call from somebody and then just took off out the back window." "I'll try and find out more but" "All right, Paul, I'll meet you at Fourth and June Street." "I have another idea to work on." "All right, Perry." "Is that all, Mr. Mason?" "Yes, Miss Larkin, I think that's all." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( door closes )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Of course I was excited." "A Pannemaker arras for sale is an exciting event." "Especially when it's one that was burned completely in a fire." "I don't follow you, Mr. Mason." "Mr. Claver, the tapestry that was stolen last night was Theseus and the Minotaur." "Impossible." "Is it?" "I've just finished talking with Voss' assistant." "Brenda Larkin's a liar." "Probably." "And when you asked her and Voss if they'd heard about the auction, you realized they knew much more than they were telling you." "And when Voss left the gallery, you and your chauffeur followed him to the pawnshop." "And there you saw the impossible." "You saw the tapestry." "This is outrageous." "Will you get out of my house?" "( inaudible dialogue )" "I don't imagine a person like you would actually commit a theft." "But if there were a great urgency, or if you had somebody do it for you" "Your chauffer, let us say." "Well, never mind." "We'll wait and see what he has to say." "Will you get that man away from my driver before I call the police?" "Go right ahead and call them, Mr. Claver." "But I'm afraid I'll have to suggest they bring a search warrant with them if they come." "Oh..." "Oh, you're" "You're guessing, that's all." "Mr. Claver, what has happened so far is excusable." "But if you destroy that tapestry now, you destroy evidence in a murder case." "I urge you to reconsider." "But if you want that kind of publicity," "I'll see that you get it." "All right." "I have the tapestry." "But it's a fraud." "From top to bottom." "It's a patent, dirty fraud." "Don't you mean it's a copy?" "What's the difference?" "TRAGG:" "Thank you, Mason." "I think we can piece this whole thing together now." "Lieutenant, taking this was entirely my responsibility." "But it wasn't stealing." "I-I-I thought it was my own property." "I'll make it up to the shop owner and I apologize for withholding facts from you." "Well, I guess what kind of a crime you committed is up to the District Attorney's Office." "We'd better go down and have a talk with him." "Now, uh, counselor, could I, uh, drop you off somewhere?" "No, thank you, lieutenant." "I have other unfinished business out this way." "Well, if it includes looking for Claude Demay, maybe I should tell you that, uh, we traced him to the hotel you hid him in." "And when my man called, Demay took off out the back way." "It just so happens that we had another man out there too." "So now we have your client for murder." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Then at ten minutes to 7, you phoned Mr. Voss at his gallery to find out if he was going to the auction." "Is that correct?" "That's right." "When he told me he wasn't, I asked him why not." "All he'd say was he had an appointment." "An appointment so urgent that he was willing to miss an event that should have been of great importance to him." "And 15 minutes later, a few minutes after 7, he was dead." "I think that'll be all, Mr. Hazlett." "Thank you." "Cross-examine." "Mr. Hazlett, you said you phoned Mr. Voss to see if he was going to be at the auction?" "That's right." "MASON:" "So that if you had bid on the tapestry, you'd have had his expert opinion?" "That's right." "MASON:" "But isn't it true that you recently hired an expert to see if you were being swindled by Mr. Voss?" "Well, I" " I did hire a man to make certain appraisals." "Surely then, you can't expect us to believe that you, uh, wanted the advice of a man who was swindling you." "You must have wanted to see Mr. Voss for a another reason." "To confront him, perhaps." "To accuse him of certain things." "That's not true." "I resent what" "( gavel bangs )" "MASON:" "I have no further questions." "JUDGE:" "Step down, Mr. Hazlett." "Now, you first heard the name Claude Demay in what connection?" "As the man who started the museum fire in Rio de Janeiro." "Well, did you hear his name in connection with the tapestry auction?" "BRENDA:" "Yes." "When we opened the invitation." "There was a picture of the tapestry enclosed." "Mr. Voss said, "This is Demay's work."" "Well, I asked him what he meant and he said that Claude Demay had sworn that he would get him someday and this was probably his twisted way of showing him." "BURGER:" "I see." "Now, when did you next hear the defendant's name?" "Well, shortly after Mr. Voss had left to go see the tapestry, the phone rang." "A man's voice said, "Tell Mr. Voss that he can" ""get in touch with Claude Demay at 334 Lee Street," "Apartment 203."" "And when Mr. Voss returned to the gallery did you give him that message?" "Yes, I did." "He said, "I've already seen Mr. Demay" ""and I'm going to see him again tonight for the last time." "We've reached an agreement." ( door opens )" "( inaudible dialogue )" "Excuse me a moment." "That'll be all, Miss Larkin." "Thank you." "Your witness." "Miss Larkin, this agreement the decedent told you he had reached, do you know what it was?" "Mr. Voss didn't say." "No." "Well, when he returned to the gallery did he bring anything with him?" "In a box or wrapped in paper perhaps?" "Not that I was aware of." "He just seemed anxious to be alone." "He told me to go home and so I left." "MASON:" "What kind of wrapping paper do you use in the gallery?" "Just ordinary wrapping paper." "Plain, brown paper." "Thank you, Miss Larkin." "That'll be all." "JUDGE:" "You may step down, Miss Larkin." "We have heard expert testimony here that the bloodstains on that letter opener match the decedent's blood type." "That the threads found near the handle match the material of the decedent's coat, and that the shaft of the letter opener fit almost exactly the death wound inflicted in the decedent's body." "Now, lieutenant, were we able to determine who owns this letter opener?" "Yes, sir." "It was, uh, part of the matching set on the desk of decedent." "And where did your men find it?" "In a storm drain in the 500 block on, uh, Lee Street." "That's only about a block from the defendant lives." "TRAGG:" "That's correct." "BURGER:" "Were there fingerprints on the opener?" "TRAGG:" "Yes, there were two clear prints." "Just two?" "The letter opener, uh, had been wiped clean before those two prints were placed." "Uh, would it be possible for you to show us from the position of those two prints, how the letter opener was held when it was dropped into the drain?" "Like this:" "It's obvious that held in that position, it could not have been used as a stabbing weapon." "Lieutenant, have you been able to identify those prints?" "The prints are of the thumb and first finger of the right hand of Mrs. Sarah Demay." "BURGER:" "Thank you, lieutenant." "Your witness, Mr. Mason." "MASON:" "Uh, no questions." "BURGER:" "I call Sarah Demay to the stand, please." "Well, Claude went to get the tapestry out of his trunk and when he didn't find it there, he got real mad." "I know I was wrong to hock it, but he never paid me anything for room or board or..." "Mrs. Demay, he grabbed you by the throat." "Now, did he say anything at that time?" "Well, yes, he said," ""I've spent six years to get Voss." "If you've spoiled that, I'm gonna kill you."" "BURGER:" "To get Voss." "I see." "What happened then?" "Well, then he left." "I was-- I was real shook up." "But I thought I better go find him and try to calm him down." "Well, I went to the pawnshop, but he'd already been there and there was cops around, so I left." "And then I figured that maybe he'd gone to see Mr. Voss, so I headed for Mr. Voss' art gallery." "BURGER:" "And that's where you found the letter opener?" "Yes." "It was sticking up in Mr. Voss' body." "And what did you do then?" "Well, I was real scared." "I guess I wasn't thinking very clearly, but I grabbed the letter opener and then I realized I'd better get rid of it." "So" " So I tried to wipe it clean, and then I threw it down the storm drain." "Mrs. Demay, why did you do all these things?" "To help Claude." "Then you must have felt certain that it was he who had plunged that letter opener into Mr. Voss' body." "Why did you believe that?" "Because I saw him." "As I drove up," "I saw him come out of the gallery and run away." "BURGER:" "Thank you, Mrs. Demay." "That'll be all." "Your witness." "Your Honor, it's almost ten minutes to 12." "I would like to postpone my cross-examination of this witness until after the noon recess." "JUDGE:" "Very well, Mr. Mason." "Court is recessed until 1:30 this afternoon." "She wasn't lying?" "You were at the gallery?" "I knew it would look so bad so I was afraid to tell you." "I didn't kill him, Mr. Mason." "He was already dead." "The rest of it's true." "Everything else is true." "All right, Claude." "All right." "Perry, I'm sorry but he doesn't have it finished yet." "Have him skip all the detail except right at the top." "We'll only unwrap it only that far." "Don't forget the matching paper." "Paul, I'll stall as long as I can, but I'm gonna have to have that in court this afternoon." "I'll get it, Perry." "( dramatic theme playing )" "But didn't he say, "I've spent six years to get Voss in a trap,"" "instead of, "I've spent six years to get Voss?"" "If it please the court." "For the last hour, Mr. Mason has been dragging us along with him on a series of semantical excursions which are apparently not only interminable but pointless." "JUDGE:" "Mr. Mason, it does seem that your cross-examination has been unnecessarily protracted." "I'll try to be more succinct, Your Honor." "Uh, Mrs. Demay, you decided to protect Claude simply because you saw him leave the gallery and hurry away." "Well, yes." "What more does a person need?" "But you left the gallery with the murder weapon in your hand." "Shouldn't we then conclude that it was you who stabbed Mr. Voss?" "Your Honor, that question is argumentative." "I object to-- I withdraw the question." "That'll be all, Mrs. Demay." "JUDGE:" "You may be excused, Mrs. Demay." "( whispering ):" "Paul had just left Plaxtex Novelties when I called." "Good." "I think Claver is their last witness." "BURGER:" "Mr. Claver, it's a matter of record that you owned a Pannemaker tapestry called" "Theseus and the Minotaur which was destroyed by fire." "I ask now that you... examine this tapestry and see if you can identify it." "Yes, it's a copy of Pannemaker's original." "The threads are recent and poor, the coloring uncertain, the hatching is inconsistent." "However, in view of the circumstances under which Mr. Demay claims to have woven it, this is a rather remarkable work." "BURGER:" "In your expert opinion, could this have been sold as a Pannemaker at the auction to which you were invited?" "Absolutely not." "It would have been detected as a fraud in five minutes." "Then wouldn't you say that the defendant never intended to auction off this tapestry at all." "That he had some other purpose in mind?" "Objection, Your Honor." "The witness may well be an expert on art." "But he is scarcely an expert on mind reading." "Sustained." "I have, uh, no further questions, Mr. Claver." "( dramatic theme playing )" "JUDGE:" "Mr. Mason, do you wish to cross-examine?" "MASON:" "Uh, yes, Your Honor." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Mr. Claver, you said the tapestry could be recognized as a fraud within five minutes." "Did you mean that literally?" "Yes." "It only took me a minute or two of close examination." "MASON:" "Could you have recognized it as a fraud from across the room, let us say?" "Well, not readily, no." "I see." "Now, you've received full insurance payment for your loss in that fire in South America." "Apparently, there was no question, at that time, that the tapestry ha been burned." "That's correct." "Yet, when you saw this copy in the Los Angeles pawnshop, you were driven to drastic action to get it." "Your chauffeur has admitted that he broke into the shop on your orders to get the tapestry." "Is that correct?" "Yes." "Then, Mr. Claver, isn't the implication inescapable that your feeling was that somehow the tapestry and other objects had survived that fire?" "And that you suspected Mr. Voss of being responsible for their survival?" "Well, I certainly wanted to explore every possibility." "That's all, no further questions." "Your Honor, we ask permission to recall Mr. James Hazlett." "JUDGE:" "All right, Mr. Mason." "Mr. Hazlett, you will take the stand." "That's all, Mr. Claver." "Witness is reminded that he's still under oath." "Mr. Hazlett, think carefully." "Did Mr. Voss ever suggest to you that he might have very famous or very important artworks for sale?" "Yes, he, uh" "He asked me once if I'd like to take a plunge." "Said he knew where he could get ahold of something real big." "Was he open about all this?" "Well, he went to a lot of trouble to make sure we were alone." "And he made me promise to keep it strictly confidential." "Very likely." "Thank you." "Your Honor, we realize this is unusual procedure, but we now wish to present a defense in this case and we ask for a recess to prepare." "If the court please." "I think the request is reasonable." "Court will reconvene at 9:30 tomorrow morning." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "What do you think?" "Well, everybody saw it." "All we can do is watch and wait." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( engine starts )" "Yeah, I got it." "Hazlett's at home and a guy by the name of Lawrence just showed up there." "That's his art expert." "Maybe we'd better watch him too." "Put a tail on Lawrence if you can." "Good." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( engine starts )" "( engine starts )" "Yeah?" "Where?" "Hold it a minute." "Brenda just parked her car in an alley near Commercial and Lake." "She's walking east on Lake Street." "Lake Street, what's down there?" "What's the neighborhood?" "Factories and warehouses." "That's it." "Come on." "Wait for us there." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "BRENDA:" "Yes, today." "Somebody was here." "You let someone in and you know it." "Nobody but Voss himself has been" "Will you please just give me the key?" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Hey, what's going on here?" "Take it easy, Charlie." "Everything will be okay." "( clattering )" "MASON:" "If you're looking to see if a Buddha is missing," "I think you'll find it is." "Better call Tragg, Paul." "( dramatic theme playing )" "I" " I can't believe it." "All these things here." "Here all this time." "The Gainsborough, the da Vinci sketches, the Utrillo." "You can identify all these things, Mr. Claver?" "Yes." "Yes, all the treasures" "Voss told me were burned, destroyed." "All but a certain Tao Kwan Buddha, right?" "You see, Voss took that Buddha to the gallery the night he was to meet Claude, the night he was killed." "But the trade never took place." "We found Voss dead, we didn't find any Buddha." "Only some package wrappings." "A few with blood spots." "Well, Miss Larkin, that must have been quite a shock to you today when that Buddha suddenly reappeared in court." "If it hadn't been such a shock, she wouldn't have come running here, which of course just about proves she didn't kill Voss." "Perry, it must certainly-- No, no." "The killer would have been much smarter." "Don't you think so, Mr. Claver?" "Six years ago, you paid Voss to burn a collection which you had over-insured, isn't that correct?" "A few days ago, a tapestry showed up." "You discovered it was just a copy." "But then you found that Voss still had the Tao Kwan Buddha." "Wasn't it then that you fully realized how completely Voss had betrayed you, Mr. Claver?" "Mr. Claver, you should know that the moment you left your house," "I arranged to have it searched." "They are looking, of course, for the Tao Kwan Buddha." "The Buddha that must have been taken from the scene of the murder." "And taken by the murderer, Mr. Claver." "( somber theme playing )" "You know, I'm glad that some of these things didn't burn." "It's like meeting old friends you'd heard had died." "( dramatic theme playing )" "But it was Brenda Larkin right down to the wire." "Not quite." "Claver was the only one that knew the tapestry was a copy." "That's why he confronted Voss at the gallery." "And that's when he spotted the Buddha, knew the collection hadn't been burned." "That Voss double-crossed him." "Right." "I'm sorry I'm late, Mason." "But you did a fine job." "A fine job." "Howdy, Miss Della." "But you are the man I came to see." "How'd you like to sell that tapestry of yours?" "I'd just love to take that back to Houston with me." "I tell you what." "I'll give you $10,000 for it." "But it's only a copy." "Well, if the folks back in Houston don't recognize it, they're gonna be plenty impressed." "And if they do recognize it, then I'm gonna tell 'em the story and they're gonna be even more impressed." "Well, Claude, I guess you finally made yourself a deal." "Ten thousand dollars." "I" "Well, I guess I have." "It's a deal." "A deal." "All right." "( noirish jazz theme playing )"