"Say..." "Say, you got a cigarette machine in there?" "Drug store's closed, see?" "Hey, what's the matter?" "Come on, Cal!" "Run!" "Come back here, you lousy chickens!" "You rotten punks!" "Some town, huh, Mac?" "It's not against the law climbing a fence, is it?" "I'll prove it." "I got a lawyer coming." "I didn't go in that place." "Just up on the fence is all." "But oh, no." "No, Seaview's gotta protect the rich old people, and the chicken kids they got here." "And that factory watchman with a gun!" "Listen!" "I hated this town since I was ten years old." "Snootsville." "Uppityburg on the beach." "When my lawyer gets here, he'll tear the place apart for me." "Hey!" "Cool it, kid." "You got a visitor." "You're Cal Leonard?" "Yeah, so what?" "Well, you wanted a lawyer, didn't you?" "It's all right, Sergeant." "Look, lady, I left his name at the desk ." "Doyle, Joseph Doyle." "They said they'd call his office, but I gotta see him in person." "I'm a friend of his, a real old friend." "I know he's a big shot but I can't just tell any-- any secretary, any..." "Any wife." "And law partner." "You're a lawyer?" "Yes." "Ever since we've been in California, we've practiced corporation law." "How did you get hold of our name?" "Look, Mrs. Doyle, I know I'm not president of any banks, but will you please just tell your husband I can't be here now?" "I can't be in jail right now!" "Why not?" "You just hit a uniformed officer." " Oh, for the love of..." " You've been in jail before." "The teletype out there says you're in the Orange County Probation Camp." "What of it?" "Will you please just tell your husband" "Joe Doyle is dead." "He died less than two months ago." "Now, come on, tell me the truth." "How did my husband ever meet you?" "Same to you, lady." "Well, all right, let's start again." "Whatever you boys wanted to steal tonight from the Otis Company, you didn't get away with it." "Skip it." "You can't help me any." "You don't trust women very much, do you?" "Why don't you trust people?" "Why you come in here like that?" "What if I did lie about your husband?" "So I only met him once." "Is that any reason to give me that "who are you" stuff?" " Young man, will you please" " No, no, go back to your fancy party." "Your fancy squaresville." "I don't need you!" "I don't need anybody." "Get out of here!" "Go on, get out!" "It's all right, Sergeant." "I think I just lost a client, that's all." "Goodnight, toughie." "[cell door closes]" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Doyle, but the man on the bench didn't know who Doyle and Doyle was, or he wouldn't have bothered you." "Calling you down here from your party or whatever." "[laughing] I fell asleep watching television." "I never got a chance to meet your husband." "You people only being out here a year or two, I guess." "But I certainly heard some mighty fine things about him." "Thank you, Sergeant." "Kid like that needs a little dose of the Youth Authority, anyway." "Courts know how to handle delinquents." "[door banging]" "Sergeant, would you take care of this for me?" "I think the boy's bail will be set at about $500." "That's the deposit." "Oh, no, look here, Mrs. Doyle." "You're not gonna waste your sympathy on that little punk." "I won't, don't worry." "But perhaps he-- Well, perhaps he did meet Joe once." "Good morning, Miss Givney." "Telephone's been ringing." "[chuckles] Was it a wrong number or haven't we paid a bill?" "Oh, there's a client waiting for you." "Oh, don't tell me he's out already." " And has came here?" " I don't know what you're talking about." "It's Mr. Otis." "Mr. Otis." "What a pleasant surprise." "Well, it sure is." " And say, you're looking fine." " Thank you." "You know, I've been meaning to come by and have a visit, ever since my company stopped using your firm as consultant." "I was sure you would understand." "When you two first came out here, it was a matter of Joe's name, and all the big people he knew in Washington." "But then, when Joe got sick, well" "My company was up to its neck in Air Force contracts right then" "And you didn't think I'd know all the famous people in Washington." "Well, I" " I didn't think you'd want to be bothered." "[chuckles] Please don't apologize, Mr. Otis." "You're not the first one who has cancelled." "Well, darn it, there sure ought to be plenty of business for one good woman lawyer in Seaview." "The trouble is, I don't care about divorces and wills... and suing the neighbor's dog." "There must be lots of fields a woman might be interested in." "Take the juvenile problem." "Delinquency." "Why did you come here, Mr. Otis?" "That boy who hit one of my plant guards last night." "I understand you arranged bail for him." "Is there any reason why I shouldn't have?" "Well, I just wondered what your interest was." "You see, when I noticed his name on a report this morning, Cal Leonard" "I realized he must be the son of a man who worked for me once." "What sort of man?" "Engineer, radio man." "Pretty bright, believe it or not." "Even had some ideas we put to use, in fact." "The only trouble was, they always came out smelling of liquor." "His liver gave in." "He died an alcoholic." " Tell me about his son." " Hasn't been around here for years, I think." "But you know how these tough kids are these days." "Mr. Otis, have you some idea that I'm one of those torch-bearing crusaders who'll claim that your guards laid hands on that boy?" "Now, now, nothing quite that wild." "But" "Save your breath, Mr. Otis." "I never even expect to see Cal Leonard again." "Well, I was also going to say we'll take care of it from here on." "For the sake of his father, I don't want any charges pursued." "Well, that's-- that's very nice of you, Mr. Otis." "Perhaps, um" "Perhaps even more then the boy deserves." "Well, anyway, I'm glad I had a chance to say how sorry I am about your Joe." "He was a wonderful man." "Yes, he was." "Good-bye, Mr. Otis." "Miss Givney, you'll find the Otis file" "Well, they let you loose." "Did they use rubber hoses first?" "No, they said I gotta stick around till next Tuesday for the trial." "I could hear you better if you'd stand up." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Excuse me, I'm sorry." "Well, that's some progress." "Look, Mrs. Doyle?" "The way it happened, I was in Probation Camp, sure, from juvenile court." "That's when your husband came to give this speech." "Well, it sounded interesting, I guess, because I said something." "And he was there all afternoon." "And he found out I played chess." "And he wanted to show me a couple of real tricky chess openings." "Well, uh, we talked a little while afterwards, I guess, and... that really is the only time I ever met him." "So I am a big liar, But I'm sorry, see?" "What was Joe's speech about?" "Well, I guess it was him, mostly." "But, uh, he reminded me a little of my father when-- whenever he was sober." " How long ago was that?" " My father?" "I, uh" " I never saw him since I was ten." " They wouldn't let me." " They?" "Welfare workers, parole guys" "She had 'em all conned, anything in pants." "Well, I guess I won't ask you anything about your mother." "Thanks." "Anyway, she died of something in Portland, so..." "So the reason why I came is to borrow ten bucks." "I figured, if I'm going to be in Seaview until Tuesday, why-- [telephone rings]" "Excuse me." "[ringing]" " Yes?" " Constant?" "Is that you?" " Fred McCormick." " Can I call you back?" "Just take a second, Connie!" "I have the steamship company on the other line." "You were talking about a freighter trip, and those reservations are hard to get." "Well, now, what's the use being an old-fashioned ship's chandler, if one can't use a little influence for one's friends, eh?" "Oh, Fred, please." "There's a Norwegian boat leaving in just a couple of days." " Hits Italy, Greece" " I'm hanging up." "Now, Connie, look here:" "if it's that case you're handling, that boy coming up for trial next Tuesday" "Well, there's no need to let a little thing like that interfere." "My, you get around, don't you?" "Matter of fact, I was just talking to Judge Simpson." "He says it's nonsense." "Yes, says the whole thing can be quashed, if you like." "Fred, I-I'll talk to you later." "[clears throat] Well, I figured ten bucks." "Cal, what were you boys going to steal at the Otis plant last night?" "Well, nothing." "See, I just wanted to get in the place, that's all." "Those other guys I picked up in the bowling alley." "They were going to keep the watchman busy so I could go on and" "What are you looking at?" "I just wanted to get in to see somebody." " Who?" " Cousin of mine." "Steve Arthur." "I thought he could get me a job." "Only when I went there in the daytime, the guards threw me out." "Here's a twenty." "Get yourself a haircut first." "Why didn't you go to his house to see him?" "Cause he's never there." "See, his wife" "She hates his-- and uh, vice versa." "Anyway, those guys work late at the plant at night, and, uh, and he wouldn't answer his phone." "Why on earth did you think he would give you a job?" "Why do you ask me such stupid questions?" " What do you want from me?" " Cal, shut up!" "Now." "Steve Arthur is his name." "Miss Smith, were you in my desk again last night?" "What'd ya say, Mr. Arthur?" "I found all these drawers open when I got in here just now, and I also noticed that the filing cabinet had been moved." "Want something outta the files, Mr. Arthur?" "Spit out that gum." "I had a racing form and a little notebook." "Steve, why can't you get to work on time?" "Hello, Mr. Otis." "Well, I ran into this little cocktail waitress down the street" "Here!" "Read that." "It's a gate report." "Go on." "Read the whole thing." "Mm-hmm." "Cal Leonard." "So what?" "He's a useless kid." "Tried to phone me yesterday" "I told the guards to make sure he" "Oh, he was up on the fence." "Steve, I want you to take a trip." "What if they caught him leaving this place instead of entering it?" "What do you mean?" "Suppose he got in here last night?" "Suppose he rifled my desk?" "I think you better do what I say, Mr. Otis." "I think you'd better let me handle this delinquent little cousin of mine." "What in the devil do you keep in that desk besides a whiskey bottle and racing forms?" "My bank statements." "So my wife won't see them." "There are times when I could murder that husband of mine." "But I don't think he has any life insurance-- does he?" "I wouldn't know anything about that, Mrs. Arthur." "I thought I told you last night where you might find all sorts of things about Steve." "Yeah, sure but, uh, you want another drink?" "Waitress?" "Here." "Have some of this, Cal." "They don't mind here." "I never have any money." "But I'm not embarrassed." "Oh, I just borrowed this some place." "But I could pay it back pretty quick if I wanted to" "Maybe fifty times over, don't you think?" "Waitress?" "I'll have another one, please." "You better make it a double this time." "You said Steve was broke." "And my dad paid all the bills." "Steve was a nothing." "A $62 a week clerk, and that's still what he expects me to live on." "You said Steve maybe even stole money from my dad." "Could it have been as much as $100,000?" "A what?" "You did find something in that office, didn't you?" "Don't get excited, I'm just guessing." "But didn't Steve ever let it slip?" "Didn't he ever talk in his sleep about all that dough he spends on those dames, and how he got it?" "About how much was my dad's dough, and how much is really mine?" "Just remember, I want my share." "All I want is just a little something, maybe, my parents might have left me." "Even if my old man left me nothing but five bucks, okay." "You can have the rest." "But I gotta know." "You understand?" "Sure, Cal." "I understand." "And your father did mean to leave you something." "I know he did." "But how that husband of mine managed to get it, and parlay it" "Go on." "Go on." "Okay, here's what you do next:" "Mrs. Doyle, were you looking for" "Mrs. Doyle?" "Are you back from lunch?" "Mrs. Doyle!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Miss Givney, what on earth are you doing?" "He was here." "He was in here." "I saw him running out the alley." "That brat!" " That dirty, thieving little" " Cal Leonard?" " Yes!" " Calm down, I told him to come back here." "Miss Givney?" "Where are my keys?" "I left them on the desk." "You see?" "And Heaven knows what else he took." "Well, I'll fix that young man." "Who are you calling?" "The police, of course." "What do you think?" "Well, you'll do no such thing." "Bring me the Los Angeles telephone directory." "Of course I remember you, Mrs. Doyle." "Friend of Perry's." "I'm afraid I've bitten off more than I can chew." "There's a boy, his name is Cal Leonard..." "Uh-huh." "But why didn't you" "Oh." "[chuckles]" "Yeah, I guess there are bigger fish to fry." "But while you're trying to find him, you sure need somebody to pin that kid's ears back." "Well, you'd better hurry." "I suspect this young you-know-what has borrowed my car." "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute." " I didn't do it!" " Do what?" " I didn't do it!" " Come on, kid." "It's my cousin, Steve Arthur." "Oh, I already told Mr. Drake," "I told the cops he called, I told that Lieutenant in the other office." "Well, it won't hurt you to tell it a few more times." "Now, you said you went out there at 7:00." "Is that right?" "Yeah." "It was dark in the house, so I started around back." "I went through the gate, and I tripped-- over Steve's body, I guess." "Anyway, I fell on the concrete." "That's how I got this." "Almost concussion, the doc said." "Pretty clumsy at your age, don't you think?" "Baby trips and bumps his little head?" "You lay off." "He's the one that's gotta answer things." "He's the one that got me out there." "It was his weekend place my cousin was killed in, wasn't it?" "Cal, I think Mr. Otis has an alibi." "Tell me exactly how he "got you out there"?" "Well, I was looking for Steve all afternoon" "It was about 6:00 I went back to his house." "Only one there was his wife Letty." "She drinks." "Anyway, the phone rang and it was Mr. Otis wanting to talk to me." "What did he say?" "He said the trouble with the guard was being fixed, and then he said Steve was out there with him-- and if I'd run on out, there was a big surprise for me." "Did you expect to get some money?" "I knew Steve owed me something." "The company had given my dad some dough one time for-- ...some ideas he had." "And Steve Arthur took it?" "The money you or your father should have had?" "Mrs. Doyle, I know better than to say too much." "Anyway, you told the Lieutenant I stole your car, didn't you?" "[clicks tongue] Oh, Cal, what's the matter with you?" "Now, come on, sit down and tell me about that money." "Well, do you know how many bank accounts my cousin Steve had?" "Four." "Number 3756 in Compton Security," "Number 4221 in Seaview National" "I remember 'em all." "I wrote 'em down once in a date book of Steve's." "He put all of his salary in Seaview, but in Compton Security last month, he put $6,350." "Then he made regular deposits over and above his salary?" "Sure." "In the last year and a half, all accounts total $103,260." "Cal, how could anyone remember such complicated figures?" "[chuckles] That's nothing." "When I was a kid, I'd go riding with my old man." "And he'd say, "Son, give me the next five license plates."" "I could remember them all, even if the cars went by 50 miles an hour." "I'd add up the numbers for him, too." "That's when I was 10." "No wonder my husband was interested in you." "Yeah, he was interested, all right." "It's no need to know, isn't it?" "That's all I got to tell you?" "Oh, Mrs. Doyle, you can't help me." "You're not even a criminal lawyer." "And that's what I am, isn't it?" "A criminal." "You saw Perry at the hospital, and he said he'd be out in plenty of time to defend Cal Leonard in the jury trial, right?" "Perry says, at a preliminary hearing, anyone can hold the client's hand... while the prosecution rattles off enough facts to bind the client over." "Of course, there are a few shots I want to fire myself before anyone gets into this." "Certain people in Seaview are far too interested in Cal." "If I can make them say why, maybe he won't be even charged with murder." "[chuckling] "Miniaturization"?" " What on earth..." " Miniaturization of instruments." "You know what that is." "You make navigational equipment, don't you?" "Oh, well, these days a ship's chandler has to branch out a bit, but" "I went to the Otis Company." "They told me to talk to Lawrence Otis." "But these days, Lawrence Otis only talks to the District Attorney in Los Angeles." "I thought there might be some mention of it in our files, but Miss Givney says no." "All right, Constant." "What do you want to know?" "Cal Leonard's father invented some instrument." "The Otis Company has made a fortune from it." " Isn't that right?" " Oh!" "Well, maybe it was Leonard's idea, the way Otis floats instruments in gas instead of oil." "Of course, in space research, where weight is an important" "Exactly." "Why didn't you mention it when I asked you about it yesterday?" "Oh, now, Connie, see here" "You didn't even tell me that Cal Leonard's father worked for you." "Why should I?" "The man was a drinker." "We fired him for it, as I recall." " Anyway, it had nothing to do with the boy." " Fred." "Isn't it possible that someone has stolen Cal's father's invention?" "How should I know?" "Constant, look, as a friend of yours I felt-- yes, and I still feel-- that there's just no sense in your getting all mixed up in this mess." "Fred, darling, what's the matter with you?" "All I wanted" "Constant, until this murder business is cleared up," "I'm not going to be the one to" "Well, I am simply not gonna to tell you anything, about anyone, that I don't know to be absolutely true." "I'll tell you anything want to know, Mrs. Doyle." "I've got nothing to hide." "I'm celebrating my freedom." "[chuckles]" "I do feel a little sorry about Cal, maybe." "Well, you ought to be." "You're the one who egged him on." " Now just a minute" " Got him all excited about money, and ideas and inventions, or whatever it is your husband perhaps stole from his father." "I've got news for you, Mrs. Doyle." "Sure, I knew that Steve was cashing in on something, and maybe Cal did help me find out how much" "but I also know that Steve Arthur didn't have the brains to steal olives from a martini." "Who do you think did the stealing?" "You really want to know?" "'Cause I figured that out, too." "Your husband." "Excuse me." "Mrs. Doyle." " Hello, I'm Letty Arthur." " Hi." "They're charging Cal Leonard with first degree murder, and for some reason Burger's handling the case himself, and" "Well, it'll be in all the papers anyway, so I might as well give you the rest of it." "Cal Leonard's fingerprints were found all over the inside of that cottage." " What?" " He must have lied to you again." "Anyway." "They claim they're gonna prove that he had a fight with Steve Arthur, and then followed him outside." "D-Don't shake her up too much, Mister." "'Cause I just told her something that it seems everybody else knew first:" "Her Mr. Joe Doyle was some sort of a crook." "We found Mr. Arthur lying there on his back." "I've already noted the two points where he'd been stabbed, through his trench coat and other garments." "Never mind the personal observation, Lieutenant." "We all heard the doctor's testimony." "If it please the court, I should like this photograph entered for the people and marked Exhibit 7." "[Judge] Clerk will so mark it." "Excuse me, Your Honor." "Counselor?" "Thank you, Mr. Burger." "Now, returning to People's Exhibit 5, the police laboratory report, just to review:" "What did the side of the table, the overturned chair, and the door moldings inside that house reveal?" "They all showed fingerprints of the defendant." "That, plus hair samples, blood, the rest." "There's just no question, Your Honor, they fought inside, and the boy followed him out toward the garage, they scuffled, and he stabbed him." "Lieutenant, the defense might reasonably object if you insist on expressing an opinion." "Even though the facts you introduce amply support the conclusions you've drawn." "Let's instead return to People's Exhibit 1, this handy garden implement, which the medical examiner has stated so firmly he believes to be the murder weapon-- Now where did you find this, Lieutenant?" "It was found right next to the body, sir." "A little under it." "Thank you, Lieutenant." "Counselor?" "Lieutenant." "In that photograph, did anyone, to your knowledge, touch the body or move anything prior to your arrival on the scene?" "Well, of course, ma'am, we can't tell what might have happened before we reached the scene." "But I do believe Mr. Paul Drake has already testified that's how everything was when he got there first." "I wasn't asking for a reminder, Lieutenant." "I have no further questions." "The witness may step down." "We'll take a few moments at this time while the clerk rearranges the exhibits." "Cal, you told me your cousin was nice to you when you went into the house." "Yeah." "Into the house." "And then Steve said that he knew I might think he owed my dad some dough." "So I gave him back that little black book, you know, the one I put the numbers and the deposits and everything on?" "And then he kidded me about giving me some girls' phone numbers or something." "Then he leveled with me, and he said he paid my dad in full, 2,000 bucks." "A measly $2,000, and he said, "Here, kid, here's 50 bucks." "He said, "Maybe I'll get you a job sometime."" "And so then you had a fight." "Yeah." "He shoved me away." "I went outside and I grabbed him." "And then he hit me, and that's the last thing I remember." "[Judge bangs pencil]" "You may proceed, Mr. Burger." "I call Mr. Lawrence Otis, please." "Well, about 6:00, I tried to reach young Cal Leonard." "I wanted him to come out and have a talk with his cousin, Steve." "So I phoned the office of the boy's lawyer first." "The only one still there was Miss Givney, the secretary." "She said a few nasty things about the boy." "She didn't know where he was." "So then I tried to reach Steve Arthur's house in town." "And that was when you invited the defendant out to the cottage." "But tell me this, Mr. Otis, why didn't Steve Arthur go back to his own home to talk to the defendant?" "I guess I can't testify as to why Steve always steered clear of his own house." "But Mr. Otis, would you explain to us, please, what it was you wanted Steven Arthur to talk to the defendant about?" "It occurred to me that we'd paid the boy's father a bonus, once, shortly before his death, for a manufacturing idea he'd had." "The bonus was for $2,000." "Obviously the boy had never seen any of it, so I thought we might give Cal a gift of the same amount." "Now wait a minute, Mr. Otis." "Wasn't $2,000 a very small amount of money to pay a man for a manufacturing idea which is netting your company perhaps millions of dollars?" "No, it wasn't." "I paid Mr. Leonard a good salary as a developmental engineer." "As such, his work contract stipulated that the company owned anything he invented outright." "And the bonus to the father was" "Strictly a bonus, that's all." "To make sure of it, I had another quit-claim drawn up by a lawyer, which Leonard signed when he took the money." "And now about the deceased, Steven Arthur." "How much did you pay him?" " Above his salary, you mean?" " Yes." "Well, in the past year and a half, about $103,000." "Why?" "What for?" "Well, it was Steven Arthur who persuaded me not to fire Leonard, when I realized that I'd taken on a drinker." "Then Steve said that if I'd be patient, he'd gamble his own salary and time on seeing that Leonard delivered-- provided I'd pay him a private royalty on any results of their work." "Counselor, you may certainly take objection to this type of questioning." "On the contrary, Your Honor." "I would like to hear it all." "Your Honor, I know it may seem unfair:" "the creator of something getting a couple of thousand, and the promoter, the agent, ending up raking in all the loot." "But that's how it happened." "Oh, sure, no wonder the kid wouldn't understand." "No wonder he might get sore enough to even commit murder over" "Now, that is enough, Mr. Otis." "I have no more questions, Your Honor." "Mr. Otis, is there any written record of your so-called "royalty" deal with Steven Arthur?" "Well, no." "Mr. Otis, why was that money paid so secretly?" "Well, he-- he didn't want his wife to know about it, that's all." "And you obviously conspired with him in that." "Mr. Otis, before you tangle yourself further, why don't you simply admit that Steven Arthur was blackmailing you?" " Now see here" " Blackmailing you for some sort of swindle" " that involved Cal Leonard's father." " Your Honor!" "Never mind, Mr. Burger." "Mrs. Doyle, you'll have to confine yourself to proper questioning of the witness." "No more questions, Your Honor." "I regret doing this, Counselor, but Your Honor, in order to protect the integrity of this witness," "I must ask this question:" "Mr. Otis, did you have proper legal advice in your dealings with Mr. Leonard?" "I thought so." "Mr. Joseph Doyle handled it for me." "It was Joe Doyle who drew up the quit-claim I referred to, that Leonard signed." "And in your dealings with Steven Arthur?" "Well, I know that Steve got together with the lawyer, Doyle, but what they cooked up between them, I" "No, no, no, I can't testify to any of that." "Actually, I knew very little about any of my husband's activities, money or anything else." "And yet didn't you state to me, that the day after your husband's murder, you had added up enough to know that Joseph Doyle was responsible for helping your husband steal?" "I was upset." "I'm a widow, you know." "Didn't you even claim to have knowledge that my husband, Joseph Doyle, was "some kind of crook"?" "Please, Your Honor." "I'm aware that this subject is extremely upsetting to the counselor but... these questions are immaterial." "These are not immaterial questions, Your Honor." "Mr. Burger opened the door himself when he introduced my husband's name." "I don't like this courtroom used for the bandying of baseless hearsay." "Baseless?" "He was the one who told me." "Cal Leonard." "He was the first one used the word "crook"." "Your Honor, I'm afraid I'm the one that should apologize." "If I could just interrupt this and call a certain unfriendly witness," "I think" "Well, Your Honor, the reason that I handled this case personally was to make certain that the whole unpleasant subject of these allegations and insinuations against the late Mr. Doyle could be clarified and then set aside for good." "Well, who is the witness, Mr. Burger?" "Miss Eliza Givney." "Miss Givney, you have to answer me." "Was there anything in your files on the Otis Company concerning a quit-claim letter?" "Yes, there was the quit-claim that Mr. Otis mentioned." "A letter to Mr. Leonard about the bonus." "I-I remember when Mr. Doyle wrote that letter." "But it is standard practice." "There's nothing wrong or unethical about it." "Well, no-one is suggesting that there is, Miss Givney." "But would you tell us, please, what did you do with your file copy of that letter?" "I" " After I saw the boy had been in the office, I destroyed it." "You destroyed it?" "Why?" "There were some notes, clipped on the back, about Steve Arthur." "Notes about meetings that Mr. Doyle was having with him." "I didn't want Mrs. Doyle to see anything that would upset her, I" "I didn't want anybody to misunderstand." "If Joe Doyle made a mistake in judgment, that's all it was." "Just a mistake." "And nobody's ever going to get me to say anything different." "Sure I saw those files." "I think that claim-letter thing is such a gyp." "$2,000 is really cheap." "And so you thought all the nasty things that I suppose everyone else in this town is thinking" "Why didn't you tell me?" "Why didn't you say something?" "Can't you ever learn to trust a woman?" "You mean, when you kept on helping me and I kept on lying and lying?" "Sure, I could open my fat mouth and say that Joe Doyle was nothing but a" "Oh, Cal." "I'm sorry." "Mrs. Doyle." "Here's the police list of all the things found on the body." "Oh, thank you." "Also, there's a call for you from Perry Mason." "I had it switched in here." "I've already told him that Burger just about wrapped up a pretty convincing case." "Perry?" "Hang on, she's right here." "Yes?" "I know we're in trouble." "Connie, wait a minute." "I wasn't going to say that." "I'm just sorry they had to drag in all that insinuation." "Don't you worry." "When we take the case into jury trial, we'll" "Perry, I'll make a deal with you." "If you don't give me any legal advice," "I won't take your temperature." "All right." "Bye." "Cal, what was in that date-book you gave back to your cousin?" "When I first found it in the desk drawer," "I thought it was just a little notebook, and I started to put down the bank deposits." "Later on, in the back, I found about 12 girls' names and phone numbers." "Get to work." "You're going to list off those license plates." "Paul, you're going to chase 12 girls." "You think maybe Steve had a date with one of them that night?" "I'll be back when court reconvenes." "Oh, Paul?" "Leave that raincoat here for me, will you?" "Sure, but where are you going?" "That is none of your business." "I have a date." "Well, here's the type of employment contract that we use for an engineer." "Did Cal's father sign one of these when he worked for you?" "Yes, I guess so, but what's the point?" "Well, you know very well that he might have developed that idea while he was still working for you, instead of later, when he went to work for the Otis Company." "Mm, he was such a strange man." "Kept so much to himself." "But if he did, then you'd own the idea, not the Otis company." "You would be cheated, not the Leonards." "It says so right here." "Now, Constant, I may have had wishful thoughts" "Heavens only knows I could have used a few of those Air Force contracts myself." "But I assure you, I've never been able to find one shred of concrete evidence." "But suppose Steve Arthur had such evidence." "Suppose somewhere he had dated drawings, something, and that's what Lawrence Otis has always been afraid of." "You mean, that's what Steve blackmailed Otis with?" "Of course." "And that's what you might have killed Steve Arthur to get." "All right, Constant." "You've added up a lot of things." "Well, so have I." "But I'm warning you, there's a stumbling block:" "somehow, it was your husband who fixed it so that no further investigation would be made." "Fred, Cal Leonard's on trial." "Not Joe Doyle." "I've already told you." "I didn't see Steve for a whole week before he was killed." "But don't you have one shred of curiosity, Mrs. Arthur?" "If you knew Cal was going out to a meeting with Steve that night-- a meeting where something was going to be settled about money-- didn't you at least try to follow him?" "To see what it was all about?" "I wasn't out there." "It's a dark place." "There are side roads." "Wouldn't it have been easy for you to have been there all along, watching what happened?" "I just didn't do it, I tell you." "Mrs. Arthur, who is Gloria?" "What?" "Who is Lida?" "Who is Susan Belle?" "I don't even know what you're talking about." "Mrs. Arthur." "If anyone is as anxious as you are to obtain a lucrative divorce, surely you've done some following." "Some watching." "Your Honor, would you excuse me for a moment?" "Very well." "[softly] No luck so far." "I managed to reach 11 of the girls, but they all claim they had other dates that night." " I've assigned other men to double-check." " What about the twelfth?" "That was just a number, and not even the right one." "Maybe Cal got mixed up." "What do you mean?" "Seaview 6124, that's all he could remember." "You can add other numbers, but there isn't even a prefix." "[hushed] Go try this." "May it please the court, I wonder if I could recall a witness at this time." "The police lieutenant?" "Watch, theatre stubs, handkerchief in the jacket" "Yeah." "I'm positive that's the whole list, ma'am." "That's everything we found on the body." "I see." "Now I wonder if you'd take a look... at this photograph again." "Doesn't the coat seem to be in disarray?" "Yes." "Oh, of course, ma'am." "Steve Arthur had just been stabbed." "Your Honor, would it be asking too much to inquire as to the purpose of this line of questioning?" "It's quite simple." "Defense will contend, Your Honor, that something was taken from Mr. Arthur's body by his murderer, who then rearranged his clothing so attention wouldn't be called to that fact." "Your Honor, the state is quite sure that Cal Leonard could have taken anything he wanted from the dead body of his cousin-- after he killed him." "Lieutenant, Cal Leonard was immediately apprehended by Mr. Drake, and then searched by you." "Did he have on him anything that remotely could have belonged to the deceased?" "No." "I guess he didn't." "Very well, then." "It will be further our contention, Your Honor" "Would you mind?" "that the murderer took this particular item, a small notebook from Mr. Arthur's body, while Cal Leonard lay unconscious on the ground." "Thank you, Mr. Burger." "Just what is it you're doing there, Counselor?" "By a simple demonstration," "I hope to prove not only the truth of what I've just said, but also to show who the murderer was." "Now, Mr. Burger, you have seen me knock Cal Leonard out." "And now you've killed me, and you've just stolen the notebook from one of these pockets." "Your Honor, I certainly object to this." "Well, now, it seems I've allowed you a great deal of latitude in this hearing, Mr. Burger." "I think we can do the same for Mrs. Doyle." "Very well." "If you would now arrange this coat-- button one button-- and tie the belt exactly as in that photograph." "Thank you, Mr. Burger." "That will be all." "It's nice to see Mr. Burger didn't make the same mistake as the killer did." "But then I" " I doubt if any man would." "Women button their coats... right over left-- like this." "Like the victim's coat in the photograph." "That doesn't prove anything!" "I wasn't out there, I tell you." "Sure, maybe I followed Steve lots of other nights, but not that night." " I didn't!" " [Judge] Order!" "Order!" "Mrs. Doyle, would you like to have Mrs. Arthur return to the stand?" "No thank you, Your Honor, I wouldn't." "I doubt if she could have known the full meaning... of just how or why her husband was blackmailing Lawrence Otis." "Or the importance of a number in that little notebook" "Seaview 6124." "Your Honor, please" "It's the number of a safe deposit box, isn't it, Mr. Otis?" "Maybe where Steve Arthur kept his evidence against you?" "Yes, yes." "I wouldn't have perjured myself, but I thought the boy was guilty." "May it please the court, there is someone else who knew of the meeting at the cottage that night." "Someone with all the background knowledge." "Someone who even added her perjury to Mr. Otis's today, in obvious hope of continuing to blackmail him herself-- because of course, she'd already committed murder." "Hadn't you, Miss Givney?" "[gasps, sobs] [laughing]" "[hysterical laughing continues]" "Connie, Hamilton Burger is fit to be tied." "He's called me ten times." "Says, why don't I get out of this bed, so he'll have somebody easy to fight with next time." "Seriously." "Burger's as glad as I am that the cloud over Joe has been cleared up." "Perry, I have one more thing I have to attend to." "Would you excuse me?" "Thank you." "Good night." " Well, Cal?" " I was just thinking about that, uh-- about that 20 bucks I owe you and everything." "Well, what about that 20 bucks?" "What do you mean, everything?" "Will you stop asking questions for once?" "I thought you might have some ideas." "Or you might be willing to talk to me about-- about me, or-- Well, don't you know what I mean?" "Cal, how about going out and buying the two biggest steaks in town?" "[chuckles] Okay." "Oh, um, Mrs. Doyle, you" "You don't really mind I haven't got that haircut, do you?" "[laughs] Come on." "Good night, Joe."