"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "( airplane propeller whirring )" "( dinging )" "Operator?" "I want to place a collect call to New York City, please." "Person-to-person to Mr. Hugo Burnette." "Hello?" "Yes, this is Lucy Stevens." "I'll hold on." "Mr. Burnette?" "Yes, Lucy." "Five thirty-five." "Right on time." "I put the briefcase on the front seat and locked the car." "Wonderful." "You know, Lucy, this $60,000 delivery earns you a vacation." "I can't stand this anymore, Mr. Burnette." "I just can't." "We went over this before, Lucy." "You can't quit." "Please, Mr. Burnette, please." "There is no way you can quit." "Not now." "( sobs )" "There's a way you haven't thought of." "I can't go on living like this." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "( doorbell dings )" "Come in, Miss Ralston." "Mr. Locke is expecting you." "Thank you, Mrs. Locke." "Ah, Marjorie." "You're a bit late, but you have the briefcase." "Yes, sir." "Is this the briefcase that was left in your car?" "Yes, sir." "Is something wrong?" "Were there any calls at the office this afternoon?" "Just routine, Mr. Locke." "Councilman Runyon wanted to talk to you, and there was a call from the civic engineer." "LOCKE:" "What about Hugo Burnette?" "No, sir." "All right, Marjorie." "I'll see you tomorrow." "Yes, sir." "Who is Hugo Burnette, Whitney?" "Someone I know, Catherine." "Business?" "Yes." "And private?" "This is very important and very delicate, Catherine." "I don't tell you all my business because it would take hours and you're a worrier." "There may come a time when you might regret not taking me into your confidence, Whitney." "Not only on business matters, but other things too." "What do you mean by that?" "I mean that the cool and efficient Miss Ralston doesn't fool me for a second." "She's in love with you." "That's to absurd to even to discuss." "Will you excuse me, Catherine?" "Don't treat me like a child." "Then don't act like one." "( door shuts )" "WOMAN:" "Hello, sir." "I'm dialing Mr. Burnette for you." "Ringing now, sir." "Hold on, please." "( ringing )" "That must be Locke." "Hello." "Yes, yes, Burnette speaking." "Yes, put him on." "Go ahead, sir." "Hello, Whitney." "Expecting your call." "Everything satisfactory?" "Nothing is satisfactory, Burnette." "There's nothing in the briefcase but newspapers." "Newspapers?" "What kind of trick are you up to?" "Whitney, if the 60 grand isn't in the briefcase, somebody's double-crossing me and I'll fix it." "You just carry out your end of the bargain." "Not until you carry out yours." "Something wrong, Burnette?" "Temporarily." "What?" "The 60,000 wasn't delivered." "Where is it?" "I know where it is and I'll get it back." "What if you don't?" "What about our agreement?" "It will be carried out." "Whitney Locke will see to it that your land is rezoned." "You can go ahead and draft your building plans accordingly." "I'll take care of that double-crossing redhead." "( phone ringing )" "( water running )" "( phone ringing )" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "( engine starts )" "( engine revs )" "( tires screeching )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "I got the letter day before yesterday in San Francisco." "I called immediately." "Go on, Miss Morgan." "I didn't get any answer." "I tried several times." "I-I even called the apartment house manager." "You called from San Francisco?" "Yes." "What did the manager do?" "He went into her room." "He said that all her clothes and" "And suitcases were still there, but her bed hadn't been slept in in a couple of days." "And her car wasn't in at the garage." "What else did you attempt to check on from San Francisco?" "Well, I-I called the Los Angeles police." "Mr. Mason, I'm afraid." "What can I think?" "The way that letter sounds and the check." "What did the police say?" "Nothing." "Just that they'd look into it." "You came into town this morning." "Did you go to her apartment?" "Yes." "Anything there that led you to believe that she might have had suicide on her mind?" "Just these letters, papers and family pictures, were in a bundle like this in her bureau drawer." "Were there any previous indications that your cousin was, uh, depressed, in bad health, or in trouble of some kind?" "MORGAN:" "I had the impression that she was in some dreadful situation, but she wouldn't give me the details." "She was very, very upset." "Almost...emotionally unbalanced." "When was this?" "At Christmas time." "She came to visit me in San Francisco." "What make of car does she own?" "I don't know." "Few years old." "Grey." "A coupe, I think." "Those papers should have some information, maybe her license number or something." "Mr. Mason, what shall I do with the check?" "Well, I suggest holding it for a while." "Perhaps Miss Stevens might have an explanation for all of this." "You mean-- You mean if she's alive." "Well, let's hope she is." "I might add that under the law this check would be no good if she were dead." "You will let me know just as soon as you find out anything, Mr. Mason?" "Of course." "Della, see if Paul is in." "I'm going to put a private investigator to work on this." "You're, uh, sure you've told us everything that might be helpful?" "Yes, yes, I'm sure." "( Della speaking indistinctly )" "Thank you." "( hangs up )" "We'll keep in touch, Miss Morgan." "It must be something of a shock to receive a letter from a cousin who says she's going to commit suicide." "Not much of a shock." "She waited 48 hours before coming to town to investigate." "There are many of us who want to expect the worst." "Besides, she did call the apartment manager and she did call the police." "( knocking on door )" "Did you get Miss Morgan's San Francisco address?" "Yes." "Give it to Paul, will you, Della?" "Hi." "Glad you called." "I was coming down to see you anyway." "I've got a vacation itinerary all" "Give me what?" "We have a client who believes her cousin committed suicide." "Della will give you the details." "Work?" "A job?" "I want a complete check made on this cousin," "Lucy Stevens, you know the u" "Aye, what she's been doing, what kind of woman she is, who her friends have been, her background." "I also want you to check on our client's background." "Carol Morgan, San Francisco." "But with special emphasis on this Lucy Stevens." "Well, I'd better start with the police morgue." "And the hospitals." "Paul, what was all this about a vacation?" "Did I say that?" "You did." "I must have been dreaming." "Hm." "Well, some guy was skin diving and found this wreck on the ocean bottom." "It's about, oh, 19 feet deep." "Did he identify the car?" "Yeah, it's a coupe, license number CVX-266." "That's the one, Paul." "Anybody in it?" "Well, he couldn't say." "Or if he could, it wasn't for publication." "Anyway, they're setting up a crane and some winches, and we'll know soon enough." "All right." "I'll meet you there." "Della." "DELLA ( on intercom ):" "Right here." "Get Miss Morgan on the phone." "Tell her I'll pick her up at her hotel in 10 minutes." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Miss Morgan, Mr. Drake." "How do you do, Miss Morgan?" "How do you do?" "In time?" "Just about." "Hello, Perry." "It's interesting, isn't it?" "Much more interesting than Homicide should be here, lieutenant." "DIVER:" "All right, now, take it up." "( crane grinding )" "With the door open, if Lucy was in there" "The tides would" "Keep everybody away." "Bring it out." "You said, "Lucy."" "Do you know Lucy Stevens?" "She's my cousin." "That's her car, I think." "When you find her-- She will be found, won't she?" "I mean, even if the ocean tides" "Yeah, she'll be found all right." "( gasps )" "( ominous theme swells )" "Well, can you identify her, Mr. Burnette?" "I'm not positive." "Anybody else identify her as Lucy Stevens?" "A cousin by the name of Carol Morgan." "A cousin?" "From San Francisco." "And then we have the handbag, the driving license, her bankbook." "Personal things." "Well, it looks like her." "You know, since you told me who it was, it" "It looks like her." "Well, thank you, Mr. Burnette, for volunteering to help." "I just happened to catch the item in the New York paper." "Flew right out." "You don't happen to have the address of this cousin, do you, lieutenant?" "Yes." "She's staying at the Alexander Hotel." "Thank you, lieutenant." "Lieutenant." "Oh, Perry, I thought I left you in my office." "Did this Burnette identify Lucy Stevens?" "Oh, half and half." "Why did you follow me here to the morgue?" "Oh, I thought I'd take a look at the man who made such a long trip across country to see the body." "Why?" "Just curious." "Uh-huh." "Why is Paul following him?" "Is Paul following him?" "Well, you just sicked him on him." "You may not believe this, lieutenant, but I have no definite reason." "Well, you're right, I don't believe you." "Since when do you do something for no definite reason?" "Sorry to trouble you, lieutenant." "Oh, Perry." "I'm not holding your client." "I had her down here to identify the body, that's all." "What did she say?" "Same thing he did, said it was Lucy Stevens." "Thanks." "That's perfectly all right." "I just don't want you to think that I'm being uncooperative." "Oh, I don't." "Lieutenant." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Mr. Mason, why did you come here?" "Just an idea about places and people." "What's wrong?" "Something about the police?" "There was another identification this morning." "Oh?" "Someone by the name of Burnette." "Do you know him?" "No." "He's from New York." "No." "Don't you think it's about time you told me the truth?" "What do you mean?" "I have." "Why did you come to me in the first place, Miss Morgan?" "I told you." "The letter and the check" "After receiving that kind of letter, why did it take you two whole days to come to Los Angeles?" "I couldn't get away, but I phone the police." "Did you check back with them?" "I thought you would." "Did you check with the hospitals or missing persons?" "No." "No?" "You just sat back and waited for an attorney to figure out where your cousin might be." "What were you waiting for?" "The discovery of that car?" "I-I was afraid something had happened, I" "Afraid, Miss Morgan?" "You know, my investigator tells me there is no Miss Carol Morgan." "Not in San Francisco." "Now if you want me to continue as your attorney, you'd better start telling me the truth." "All of it." "Because if you're hiding something from the police, they're going to find it out." "( sighs )" "All right, Mr. Mason." "I'll tell you the truth." "Everything I know about it." "I'm Lucy Stevens." "Then who was the woman in the car?" "She doesn't know." "Does Lucy know how the woman got in the car?" "No." "What about this Burnette I followed from the morgue?" "She worked for him." "It was because of Burnette that Lucy decided to make it appear that she'd taken her own life." "There must have been something awfully wrong for her to have taken such a desperate measure." "She hinted that during her first visit here, Della." "She handled several large sums of money for Burnette." "She didn't realize until it was too late that the whole business was illegal." "You mean she had no idea what was going on?" "What other people were involved?" "No." "Paul, we're gonna have to work fast." "We know the dead woman isn't Lucy Stevens." "When Lieutenant Tragg finds that out, he'll be after us hammer and tongs." "Yeah, with questions like, "Who is the dead woman, and where is Lucy Stevens?" That's right." "Where is Lucy Stevens, Perry?" "I sent her to some hotel." "I didn't want to know which one." "Now, get after Burnette." "Find out what kind of business he's involved in that requires the transportation of large sums of money." "Find out all you can about him." "You said he has an apartment here in town?" "Yeah, Woodcrest Arms, apartment 6C." "She wasn't in her room in the Alexander." "I left word." "I'll keep checking." "Who is she?" "The police say a cousin of Lucy's." "If she was, I never heard Lucy mention her." "You're positive the dead woman isn't Lucy Stevens?" "Of course I'm positive." "And you don't know who the dead woman is?" "No." "No idea?" "No." "But Lucy's trying to pull a fast one." "What about Whitney Locke?" "He'll honor his obligation." "( knocking on door )" "I've been thinking about that, Burnette." "Just what is his obligation if he didn't get his money?" "Don't worry." "Mr. Burnette?" "My name is Mason." "I'm an attorney." "I beg your pardon if I'm interrupting." "No, no." "Then I'll just leave everything is in your capable hands." "Yes." "I'll" " I'll call you." "What can I do for you, Mr. Mason?" "I was curious about the woman in the morgue." "You were curious?" "BURNETTE:" "Why?" "Well, I saw you at the morgue when you identified her as Lucy Stevens." "What about it?" "It isn't Lucy." "Who is it, then?" "I was hoping you'd give me a clue." "I understood you were Lucy's employer." "Well, maybe an errand or two." "What kind of errand?" "Personal." "Involving large sums of money?" "Well, sometimes." "As a favor." "Illegal?" "What're you talking about?" "A businessman involved in legal practices doesn't transport large amounts of cash across the country in a briefcase." "Just where do you get your information, Mason?" "From a woman who called herself Carol Morgan." "The one who says she's Lucy's cousin?" "Well, this cousin knows more than I know." "Or you know more than you're admitting, Mr. Burnette." "What do you want?" "Cooperation." "Why should I cooperate with you?" "I might be more understanding, more charitable than the police." "About what?" "Perhaps about the..." "Everything Mr. John Ruskin just suggested he would leave in your capable hands." "How do you know John Ruskin?" "He spreads his picture in the real estate sections of the newspapers." "Ruskin's Rustic Village." "You might be more dangerous than the police." "I might." "I'll take my chances with them." "They'll want to know how your business activities tie in with $60,000, with a dead woman, with Mr. John Ruskin, and with Lucy Stevens." "You know, someone is being paid off or threatened." "Where did you get that $60,000 figure?" "Who is this Carol Morgan?" "You misunderstand me, Mr. Burnette." "I said I wanted your cooperation." "Whoever you're representing, you're just trying to keep ahead of the police." "If that isn't Lucy in the morgue, where is she?" "I'm interested in who is in the morgue." "I think you know or suspect." "Mr. Burnette, hasn't it occurred to you that when everything is exposed, you might find yourself holding the sack?" "All right, you've made your point." "There are some things I can tell you." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Thank you." "No, I-I'm sorry I cut you off." "Mr. Locke's on another line." "Would you hold on a minute please?" "You seem very busy." "My husband's secretary hasn't shown up and I'm filling in." "I" "I haven't done this for 10 years." "Can I help you?" "My name is Mason." "I'd like to see Mr. Locke." "Catherine, was there another call for me on another--?" "Oh." "This is Mr. Mason." "And there is another call for you." "You're an attorney, Mason." "Yes." "It's from your broker" "I'll speak to him later." "Come in, Mason." "Thank you." "Pardon the confusion." "My secretary has taken a few days off." "Unexpectedly." "I know how unsettling that could be." "More than unsettling." "Won't you sit down?" "Now, how can I help you, Mason?" "I'm in the middle of a complex situation, Mr. Locke." "Involving me?" "I've just had a meeting with a man who said you were involved." "Hugo Burnette." "Burnette?" "I don't know him." "Burnette intimated that he is the liaison man who passed on a certain $60,000." "Sixty thousand dollars?" "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." "Burnette also intimated that the money changed hands so that a tract home builder by the name of John Ruskin could get a particular acreage rezoned." "I don't know anything about $60,000, or John Ruskin, or anyone named Burnette." "I don't know why you should speak to me about a thing so completely unethical." "Dishonest." "Perhaps you are trying to intimidate me in some way." "I don't know why, I don't care." "I've heard about your reputation for razzle-dazzle and tightrope walking, Mason." "Don't try it on me." "As a man in the public eye," "I'm jealous of my reputation." "What's your secretary's name, Mr. Locke?" "Marjorie Ralston." "Why?" "Good day, Mr. Locke." "The way I see it, Della, the $60,000 is the link in the murder chain." "Now, get ahold of Paul immediately." "I want a thorough check on a Marjorie Ralston." "When Miss Stevens calls in" "DELLA ( on phone ):" "Perry," "Lucy Stevens is here in the office right now." "Tell her to go back to her motel and stay there." "Tell her I'm going to call Homicide," "I think this Marjorie Ralston is the murder victim, if she is," "Lt. Tragg is going to find a connection between the two of them." "Perry, Lieutenant Tragg is in the office too, and he said the dead woman is Marjorie Ralston, and Perry, he's been asking Miss Stevens an awful lot of questions." "Yes, and I got a lot more for her too." "Downtown." "I'm booking her for murder." "TRAGG ( on phone ):" "And I've got some questions for Mason too, like obstructing justice and withholding evidence." "( dramatic themeswells )" "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Now, Mr. Burnette, will you tell the court what happened on the morning of Tuesday, March the 5th?" "I deal with large sums of cash." "In New York, on that morning," "I withdrew $60,000 in cash with my bank." "Go on, Mr. Burnette." "Lucy was there with me." "She counted the money, put it into the briefcase and locked it." "There were two jet planes with reservations available leaving for the West Coast." "Lucy took the 3:00 flight." "That was New York time." "She arrived here at close to 5:30, Pacific time." "That's when I got a long distance call from her." "Close to 5:30?" "Yes. 8:30 New York time." "What did Miss Stevens say?" "That she had delivered the money and that she wanted to quit working for me." "She had delivered the money to whom?" "Well, the way she always did." "It wasn't to whom, it was to a car." "What was the procedure, Mr. Burnette?" "She'd been given the location, the description and the license number of a certain car." "She was to put the briefcase inside it, lock it and leave." "LAWYER:" "And the long distance telephone call was to let you know that she had done her job?" "BURNETTE:" "Yes, that's right." "Now, when she told you that she was going to quit, what did you say?" "I told her she couldn't, but she said she couldn't go on like this and that she'd figured out a way to quit." "LAWYER:" "And at this point, you only had her word for it that she had actually delivered the money as instructed." "BURNETTE:" "Yes, that's right." "Does the license number TVC-235 mean anything to you?" "Yes." "That's the car Lucy delivered the money to." "Or I assumed she had." "Do you know that this is the license number of the car which belonged to the deceased, Marjorie Ralston?" "Yes." "You may cross-examine." "What is your business, Mr. Burnette?" "I am a contact man." "I peddle influence to people who need influence." "What kind of influence were you peddling with that $60,000?" "BURNETTE:" "I don't really know." "I only know I had a job to do." "Get the cash to that car." "Do you recall a conversation you had with me in which you linked the name of Whitney Locke to that particular delivery?" "BURNETTE:" "Yes." "Mr. Burnette, who was on the other end of that $60,000?" "Who authorized you to deliver it to Whitney Locke?" "John Ruskin." "Now, Mr. Burnette, of your own knowledge, do you know whether the money did or did not reach Mr. Locke?" "Or whether it did reach him and was simply not acknowledged?" "Object, Your Honor." "Counsel is going into pure speculation." "It seems to me you opened the door, Mr. Cutter." "It doesn't matter, Your Honor." "I withdraw the question." "I'm through with this witness." "Well, it's fairly popular knowledge that my party is suggesting me for public office." "I've already begun to get contributions for campaign expenses." "Like the $60,000 mentioned here?" "Yes." "Now, would you please explain what transpired at your home when your secretary, the murder victim in this case, arrived with the briefcase?" "I unlocked it." "There was nothing but some cut up newspapers in it." "Now, we have followed the money from the bank in New York to the briefcase, fastened and locked, and given to the safekeeping of the defendant," "Lucille Stevens." "We have followed it across the country to the car of the deceased." "From there it was brought to you, still locked, and with the money missing." "Is that right, Mr. Locke?" "That is right." "Thank you." "Your witness." "Who saw you open the briefcase, Mr. Locke?" "My secretary, Marjorie Ralston, and my wife." "Your wife?" "Yes." "They both saw you open the briefcase and remove the contents?" "Well, they saw me unlock it." "But they did not see the contents?" "No, that was my own personal business apart from my secretary and wife." "My wife is a worrier." "I don't tell her all my business." "And what was to worry about in this instance, Mr. Locke?" "The money was a legitimate campaign contribution, was it not?" "Of course." "The only reason for the discreet handling was to avoid publicity." "Twisted interpretations are so often put on these things." "You mean, $60,000 sounds more like campaign expenses of a man running for a national office rather than those of a man who just might run for municipal government." "What gives you the right to insinuate that I--?" "That's enough, Mr. Locke." "No more questions." "The cause of death was three heavy blows with a metal rod or instrument, administered to the back of the head." "I show you this tire iron and ask if this could have been the murder instrument." "Yes." "As a matter of fact," "I marked it as the probable weapon when the conformation corresponded to the marks on the skull." "I would like this tire iron marked for identification, please." "It is so." "All right." "Now, lieutenant, where was the defendant's car discovered?" "In 19 feet of ocean water, off an embankment in San Pedro harbor." "And the body of the deceased?" "Inside the car." "Did you identify the deceased immediately?" "TRAGG:" "No, sir." "An attempt had been made to confuse the identity." "Explain, please." "Well, papers and identification had been left in the car to create the impression that the body was Lucille Stevens." "The next morning the defendant came to the morgue and positively identified the body as being that of Lucille Stevens." "Herself, in other words." "And whose body was it in actual fact, lieutenant?" "Marjorie Ralston." "Secretary to Whitney Locke." "She was the woman who was to pick up the $60,000." "Now, lieutenant, since it appears that Marjorie Ralston didn't pick up $60,000, but did pick up the briefcase from which the defendant had previously removed the money" "We object, Your Honor, on the ground that the question is leading and suggestive and assumes a fact not in evidence." "We submit, Your Honor, that the fact is in evidence." "There is certainly no doubt that the defendant lied about her identity and the identity of the deceased." "The evidence heretofore introduced clearly indicates that the defendant stole the $60,000 and killed the decedent." "Of course, we won't argue the point, since we have already established our case, we dismiss Lt. Tragg from the stand and move the court to bind the defendant over for jury trial." "If the court please, the prosecution cannot rest its case until I have cross-examined this witness." "When the prosecution does rest its case," "I'll decide whether the defense cares to put on any evidence and only then can the question be presented to the court as to whether the defendant is to be bound over." "That certainly summarizes the law in this case, Mr. Mason, and you have a right to cross-examine the witness." "However, not at 12:00." "I will call a customary adjournment until 1:30 this afternoon." "( crowd murmuring )" "I wanted Mr. Burnette to think I'd killed myself." "I didn't know any other way out." "He wouldn't let me go." "( sobs )" "I was so ashamed of myself." "I'd been so stupid." "Perry, I got some confirmation for you." "One is that Burnette has always maintained two apartments, one here and one in New York." "Go on." "Your client's plane arrived at International Airport at 5:20." "Her call to Burnette was placed at 5:35, that is 8:35 New York time." "How did you find that?" "Well, his answering service not only records the calls, but also the time they were placed." "Now, another long distance call was placed for him by Whitney Locke at 9:22 New York time." "Six twenty-two here." "Uh-huh." "According to Lucy, the Ralston woman left the parking lot at about 5:30." "According to Whitney Locke," "Miss Ralston left his home at 6:20." "Then at 7:00," "Lucy left her own apartment, got in her car and drove to the harbor." "Which just about eliminates Mr. Burnette as a suspect, his being in New York at that time." "Mm." "Della, I want you to try to reach Mr. Burnette." "He just left the courtroom." "He's probably at lunch." "Why so much money?" "Try to reach him through his New York exchange." "Paul has the number." "Thanks, Paul." "I got something on this Whitney Locke." "I ran into a friend of mine, he's a private detective, who's been watching Locke's house." "What?" "Mm-hm." "Now, an investigator isn't supposed to violate this kind of a confidence, but I've got a pretty good idea of who hired him." "Who?" "Ruskin." "No, but I would like to leave a message if you can't get in touch with him." "Oh, excuse me, what's the noise on the line?" "Do we have a bad connection?" "There, is that any better?" "And were you just trying to reach Mr. Burnette here in Los Angeles?" "Yes, Miss Street." "What was the message?" "Nothing, thank you, I'll reach him here." "All right, so I finally figured it out." "They held your call and tried to reach Burnette here in Los Angeles?" "The call goes from here to New York and back." "So Burnette could have been right here in town at the time of the murder." "( suspenseful theme swells )" "Lieutenant, did you examine the decedent's apartment for fingerprints?" "Yes." "Did you find the defendant's fingerprints there?" "TRAGG:" "No, no." "MASON:" "Her employer'sprints?" "That is, those of Mr. Whitney Locke's?" "No." "In what condition was Miss Ralston's apartment?" "Well, it looked like she was planning a trip." "She had some travelling bags packed and ready to go." "MASON:" "Did you examine those bags, lieutenant?" "TRAGG:" "Yes." "We didn't find any money." "And you did not find any sum of money in the defendant's possession?" "No, no." "All right, lieutenant." "Thank you, that will be all." "Your Honor, before passing on the prosecution's motion to bind the defendant over," "I would like to recall two witnesses." "Counsel may put on his own defense if he wishes, and call a hundred witnesses." "JUDGE:" "I take it you object counsel's request, Mr. Cutter?" "I was only thinking of the taxpayers of the state." "I will withdraw the objection if counsel doesn't abuse the patience of the court." "You may recall your witness," "Mr. Mason." "Mr. Hugo Burnette." "Hugo Burnette to the stand." "You may step down, lieutenant." "Now, you stated there were two planes, two jets, from New York on the afternoon of the murder." "Yes." "One at 3:00 New York time, upon which Miss Stevens traveled, Yes." "the other, an earlier plane, at, um, 2:15, I believe." "I believe so." "Which plane did you take, Mr. Burnette?" "Isn't it true that you took the 2:15 plane." "That you were here in your apartment by half past 5 that afternoon." "Well, Mr. Burnette?" "Well, yes." "Then at the morgue when you told Lieutenant Tragg that you had flown out from New York after the murder, just to identify the body, you were lying, were you not?" "Yes." "What did you do after you received the telephone call from Miss Stevens?" "Nothing." "I waited for confirmation of delivery of the money to Whitney Locke." "You were alone at that time?" "John Ruskin was in my apartment." "He was interested in the delivery also." "MASON:" "And then, uh, you received another telephone call?" "BURNETTE:" "From Locke." "Yes, telling me that the money was not in the briefcase." "MASON:" "What did you do?" "I called Lucy's apartment." "What time was that?" "About 20 or 25 minutes after 6." "I suppose Mr. Ruskin can corroborate that statement." "BURNETTE:" "Well, as a matter of fact, he had already gone." "He left just after Locke's first call." "First call?" "He called again later." "What time was that?" "About 6:30." "He told me to come over to his home." "I arrived there at approximately 7:00." "Now, there's about 30 minutes unaccounted for." "Mr. Burnette, you cannot prove where you were during that time, can you?" "Any more than Mr. Ruskin or Mr. Locke can prove where they were?" "I" "I guess not." "Mr. Burnette, how far is your apartment from Lucy Stevens' apartment?" "Five or 10 minutes by car." "Thank you." "Redirect, Mr. Cutter?" "Nothing on redirect, Your Honor." "( whispers inaudibly )" "You requested the recall of two witnesses." "Do you still want them, Mr. Mason?" "Oh, yes, Your Honor." "I would like to recall Mr. Whitney Locke." "JUDGE:" "You may stand down." "Whitney Locke to the stand." "You are already under oath, Mr. Locke." "Mr. Locke, do you know John Ruskin personally?" "Have I ever met him?" "No." "Can you explain why he would be so interested in your plans for a political career?" "Well, perhaps I've held certain opinions on zoning and building which Ruskin has admired." "Then you considered his campaign contribution routine," "Mr. Locke?" "Yes, sir, I do." "All $60,000?" "Uh" " Well, the" "It was a large contribution, wasn't it?" "Yes." "But perhaps not too large coming from someone who had such great admiration for you." "Tell us, Mr. Locke, did Mr. Ruskin admire your opinions in April last year when a rezoning request he made bore the recommendation of "no" by your office?" "I'm not sure that I-- Or again in September last year, when your office advised against another rezoning request made by Mr. Ruskin?" "There were a couple of Mr. Ruskin's requests that my office thought were not in the best interest of the city." "Or in your own either." "He hadn't made a contribution yet, had he?" "I beg your pardon?" "Mr. Locke, did you know in advance about the $60,000 contribution?" "I wasn't certain of it." "Then why did you have your secretary park her car in a certain place and wait there for the briefcase to be placed in that car?" "Well, I admit that I knew a campaign contribution was to be made to me, only I didn't know how much." "You insist then that the $60,000 campaign contribution was legitimate and not a bribe?" "Certainly." "Then why all the elaborate precautions to insure secrecy?" "Why all the surreptitious?" "All the furtiveness?" "Or do you customarily receive your campaign contributions in that manner, Mr. Locke?" "Objection, Your honor." "The questions are both leading and argumentative." "Sustained." "But the court finds them very interesting." "I withdraw the questions, your honor." "Now, Mr. Locke, I have a report which establishes the fact that your home was being watched on the evening of the murder," "March 5th." "LOCKE:" "My home watched?" "Why would anyone spy on me?" "Perhaps your wife had reason, Mr. Locke." "LOCKE:" "That's nonsense." "MASON:" "Very well, we'll leave that set aside for the moment." "Now, I ask you, Mr. Locke, where you were between 6:20 and 7:00 on that evening March 5th?" "Home." "MASON:" "You didn't leave the house?" "LOCKE:" "No." "When you discovered that the $60,000 was gone, didn't you realize your secretary must have taken it?" "Didn't you figure that she had access to your key and must have had a duplicate made?" "Didn't you go to her apartment and finding her packed and ready to disappear, accuse her of stealing the money?" "Then didn't she say that Lucy Stevens must have stolen the money, that she followed Lucy home, knew where she lived?" "How could she follow Lucy home?" "How long does it take to get from the airport to your home," "Mr. Locke?" "About 20 minutes." "Your secretary drove away from the parking lot at approximately 5:30." "She didn't arrive at your house until 6:15." "That's 40 minutes." "Just about the length of time needed to follow the defendant home and then report to you." "Now, in trying to convince you that Lucy Stevens had stolen the money, didn't she then drive with you to the defendant's house and institute a fake search of the defendant's car?" "It was at the defendant's car where the murder took place, with the murder weapon taken from that car." "You can't hang this on me." "I didn't kill her." "Your Honor, I protest all the fishing lines thrown from Mr. Mason's expeditionary boat." "It is clear that counsel, in lieu of a proper defense, is trying to make everybody suspect." "It doesn't change the facts of the case." "If the house was under observation, why doesn't Mr. Mason bring in the party who was doing the observing to testify whether or not Mr. Whitney Locke left the house between 6:20 and 7:00?" "Unfortunately, Your Honor, the man who did the observing left his post for about 10 minutes to make a phone call." "Well, if the Counsel is through with Mr. Locke," "I will call a witness who can testify accurately on this point." "I'm finished with Mr. Locke." "Very well, I call Catherine Locke to the stand." "No, Whitney didn't leave the house during that time." "You are positive of that, Mrs. Locke?" "There seemed to be something wrong, so I went into the study, it was about 6:30." "And what transpired there?" "He made a phone call." "Go on, Mrs. Locke." "To a man by the name of Burnette." "He told him he'd better come to our house." "And your husband remained at home?" "Yes." "When Mr. Burnette arrived, I left them in the study." "CUTTER:" "And what time was that?" "CATHERINE:" "About 5 of 7." "Fifteen minutes between the time of the phone call and Mr. Burnette's arrival." "Yes, that's right." "Your cross-examine." "Mrs. Locke, did you hire a private detective to spy on your husband?" "No." "Of course not." "Your Honor, assuming Mrs. Locke's testimony to be true, there's someone else I'd like to see on the witness stand." "Who is that, counselor?" "The one person who has no alibi for those 40 minutes during which the crime must have been committed." "Your Honor, there are a great many questions" "I would like to ask to the one person other than my client" "RUSKIN:" "You don't have to ask them, Mason." "Did I know Marjorie Ralston?" "Yes." "Did I tell her about the $60,000?" "Yes." "And did she double-cross me by stealing the money?" "Yes." "And did I follow the sequence of events you set forth?" "Yes." "And if you want to know why I hired a private detective, it was to nail Whitney Locke with the cash." "I wasn't aiming to buy his favors," "I just wanted to catch him taking the bribe he'd forced me to make." "I just don't like that kind of pressure." "Marjorie, unfortunately, not only took the money, but she tried to keep it by threatening me with exposure." "Hm." "All that theorizing with Locke." "You were after me all the time, weren't you, Mason?" "I must have been, Mr. Ruskin." "I was after the murderer." "( dramatic theme swells )" "PAUL:" "So the money showed up." "Ruskin found it when he caught Marjorie Ralston packing to duck out on him." "Perry, you said that she was killed at Lucy's car." "And she was." "I imagine Miss Ralston suggested shifting the burden of the theft onto Lucy." "Ruskin started to go along with the plan" "Until he got to the car and killed her." "Throwing not only the theft, but the murder onto Lucy." "That business with the answering service in New York dialing back here to reach Burnette" "I should have thought of that answering service bit." "Oh, you did your part when you came up with the detective doing surveillance." "That was only luck." "I happened to run into a friend" "Paul, don't give away your trade secrets." "Sure, Paul." "Why, Perry has Assistant District Attorney Cutter believing he did all of Perry's work when he got Mrs. Locke to eliminate everybody from suspicion except John Ruskin." "That's right." "He does believe he did it all." "Did he, Perry?" "( dramatic theme swells )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"