"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "Let go of me, will you?" "Go on." "We've put up with you long enough." "All I want to do is talk to Mr. Leonard." "Hey." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Take it easy." "You all right, Mr. Pike?" "No, I'm not all right." "I came here especially to talk to you, Mr. Leonard." "Well, will you stop pestering him and let him finish the story?" "Yeah, what happened to the midget when the ladder broke?" "( laughs )" "Hold on, you city boys." "Mr. Pike here runs a mighty fancy gun club." "You just be nice to him, he just might find you a mallard or two, huh?" "Oh." "The ducks-- That reminds me." "Madison Square Garden-- I was promoting" "Mr. Leonard." "I gotta talk to you tonight." "Mr. Pike." "You've got nothing to say I'll listen to." "I'm a happy man." "You're not gonna spoil it." "Now, you go cause trouble for somebody else, huh?" "Dad blame it!" "Why, you're noth" "( door closes )" "( ominous theme playing )" "( dog barking in distance )" "( gunshot )" "( car starts )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Mr. Pike?" "Is that you, Mr. Pike?" "( dog barking )" "Hey, wait a minute." "That's blood." "What happened?" "He's lucky he didn't smash the bone." "Is that a gunshot wound?" "What does Leonard usually use, water pistols?" "I saw the way he shoved you off back there in the bar." "I'm sorry I couldn't be any help." "Y-you don't have to apologize, Hal." "Job's a job, I guess." "Even if you work for a big gasbag like Leonard." "Your son's working for him again, isn't he?" "I see him over at the house." "No." "He never did." "Leonard's just a hired manager." "Nothing but a blowhard promoter." "And that's all he ever was." "All right." "All right." "Anyway, his wife owns the ranch." "She's the only reason I stick around." "That Denver Leonard wouldn't know one end of a horse from another." "Or a cow or a mallard, or anything else outdoors." "Well, thank you, Hal." "I guess I can make it home to the gun club, all right." "Mrs. Lopez can tend to a scratch like this." "Tell me what happened, Mr. Pike." "Well, I guess he thought he was just shooting in the air." "Figured I was trying to block his way maybe." ""Stand back, old man," he says." ""Don't pester me." "I'm warning you for the last time!"" "Then wham." "Felt like a sledgehammer hit my leg." "Hal." "You're dad-blamed, I was so surprised if I didn't stand there and just watch him drive off." "What are you gonna do about it?" "Suppose if I phoned the sheriff's deputy, he'd want to dig around and find that bullet... and maybe sort of compare it with Leonard's gun?" "For assault with a deadly weapon, you can put a man in prison." "Did you know that?" "Yeah." "I guess I could." "All right." "I'll help you do it." "Let's go." "( ominous theme playing )" "( men chuckle )" "Well, look who's here." "Hello, Jeff." "Uh, Mr. Burger." "I, uh" "I wasn't expecting any members out today." "Well, we only had a couple hours of daylight, but we got seven canvasbacks, anyway." "Mrs. Lopez is fixing us some supper before we go back to town." "Well, I'm sorry." "I had some shopping to do over in Palmdale." "I'll go tend to your birds for you, sir." "Now, wait just a minute." "I want you to meet my friends." "Gentlemen, you wouldn't think to look at this old cactus, but he's the father of one of the finest ice skaters in the world." "You remember young Fred Pike on our last Olympic team?" "That's his boy." "What happened to your leg?" "Say, if you're Mr. Burger, the district attorney," "I think you ought to-- PIKE:" "Now, wait a minute." "Hold on there, Hal." "It's nothing to pester these gentlemen with." "Huh?" "You better get on back home." "I can tend to things myself." "Later on, maybe?" "Huh?" "And, uh, much obliged for your help." "( door slams )" "Well, I...better see how the supper's coming." "Excuse me, gents." "Jeff." "If there's anything wrong, I wish you'd tell me." "Oh, it" "I-it's nothing, Mr. Burger." "Just a..." "Just a piece of barbed wire caught my calf." "That's all." "I hope you realize that if you need help anytime, I" "Oh, yes, sir." "I know." "I know that." "It's not your son, is it?" "What?" "Well, I mean, since... he's not able to skate anymore, uh, how is Fred?" "Has he found something else to interest him?" "Oh, sure." "He'll get straightened around, all right, Mr. Burger." "Oh, Fred will be fine." "I'm sure of it, Jeff." "If he's anything like his old man, he's gonna turn out fine." "( music playing )" "( song ends, applause )" "( music playing )" "Hey, Fred." "You in--?" "Oh, we're dancing." "Look, I'm a whirling bird." "I'm a cyclone." "I'm the fastest skates alive." "( laughs )" "( music stops )" "What do you watch it for, huh?" "Here, I can hold that better than you can." "You told me to bring that film." "I told you to bring it to show it to the Culvers, not to mope over it." "Look, kid." "You just impress this guy enough tonight, and we're back in business." "Who cares about skates when you can slosh around in money, huh?" "Yeah, yeah." "Yeah, that's what you said when you talked me into turning pro." ""Star in your own ice show," you said." ""Dig your own gold mine."" "Is it my fault you like to drive cars too fast?" "I lost my shirt too, you know." "Your wife's shirt." "And let's don't mix things up, Leonard." "That show was busted flat before my accident." "Look, kid, what's eating your father?" "He buttonholed me again tonight on the way home." "Like that, uh" " Who's that old pest in the poem?" "The Ancient Mariner." "He stabs you with his eyes, he grabs your coattails" "He just saw a lot of the publicity, that's all." "About us doing another ice show, if we got a star." "And look, Leonard, if this" " This Culver dame can't skate any better than I think she can... then I don't want any part of it, no matter how filthy rich her husband is." "I suppose you told daddy that you'd paid some of your bills by signing my name to a check, huh?" "That wasn't the way it was, and you know it." "Besides, you owed me a lot of back money." "I can still let the bank holler forgery." "Unless, of course, you want to talk to the guys you made that check out to." "So you make up your mind." "Yes or no." "We need each other tonight." "Denver, darling." "Just a minute." "I just wanted to ask a question, that's all." "Well... what's the question?" "How do I look?" "( laughing )" "( chuckles )" "Well, you didn't even say anything about the house." "I don't know what the Culvers will think about the way we live." "Now, Joanie, honey." "I-I've just seen the Culvers a couple of times, but they're plain, ordinary people." "Well, I'm putting them out in the cottage beyond yours, if that's all right." "Mm-hm." "Oh, and I thought they might like champagne." "Well, now." "That ought to make the Culvers think they're right in Shangri-la, huh?" "Domain of the mighty wind." "The P.T. Barnum of the West." "Oh, but they do have to be impressed, don't they?" "I mean, if you're planning some sort of business, well, oh, this time it just has to succeed." "Oh, darling." "Something ought to succeed, don't you think?" "Well, kiddo?" "( slow, dramatic theme playing )" "Don't mind me, Mrs. Leonard." "I'm just a...winter sports bum who" "Who's your husband's partner." "You won't regret it, sir." "No, sir." "You'll never regret it." "That young man certainly has some good ideas." "Well, this should start the ball rolling anyway." ""Tropical Ice" we thought we'd call our revue, huh?" "Mm-hm." "I'm gonna make a quick trip down to Cuba to investigate the possibilities." "Oh." "You're gonna be mighty proud of your wife, Mr. Culver." "Wait 'til you see her spinning around in those lights, huh?" "Vita never had much of a chance with the Follies." "Well, Fred tells me that you may have real talent, Mrs. Culver." "I showed him those motion pictures of her on skates." "We have more of Lake Placid on the machine now, if you're ready." "Oh, yes." "I do wanna see the rest of those before I go to bed." "Fifty thousand dollars." "( snickers )" "The suckers there are in this world, huh?" "( laughs )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Dad-blame it." "( car approaching )" "Fred!" "Fred, wait a minute!" "Son!" "What is--?" "( laughs )" "Well." "If it's not the old Ancient Mariner." "Hello, pop." "Where's that old albatross of yours, huh?" "Fred..." "I wanna talk to you, son." "A man over in Palmdale today asked me if you were going to Cuba." "He said Leonard had bought a couple of tickets" "( laughs ):" "Cuba?" "( slurring ):" "Oh." "No, no, Dad." "I'm supposed to stay here and hold the sack, see?" "But no, sir." "That's not for me." "I'm not gonna hold the sack anymore." "You hear me?" "Now, listen, son" "Let me go." "Son, listen." "Let me go!" "( ominous theme playing )" "( phone ringing )" "Hello?" "Who's calling, please?" "Jefferson Pike-- Oh, hello, Jeff." "Well, of course I meant what I said." "What kind of help do you need?" "Well, sir, it's about my son." "He's got to have some advice. um..." "I thought that maybe someone not quite so close to official things as you are..." "Yes, I understand." "I'll be happy to call anybody you want." "But Jeff... do you need a criminal lawyer?" "Oh, yes I do, Mr. Burger." "Please." "There's no trouble yet." "Fred's done nothing really wrong, only... well, uh, we can't waste any time." "All right, I won't ask you any more questions." "Whom do you have in mind?" "Me?" "Well, Hamilton, you're not calling me" "Oh, yes, of course." "Yes." "I could get out there first thing in the morning." "Here, wait a minute." "Oh, I'm awake, all right." "Just startled at the idea of you staying up so late drumming up business for me." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Are you Mr. Mason?" "Yes." "My dad left this note for you." "Says to wait here for him, but I" "I guess it's probably too late now." "What do you mean?" "Well, they, uh" "They woke me when they called." "Dad's over at the Leonards' now." "Mr. Mason..." "they said somebody" "Somebody killed Denver Leonard." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Fred?" "Fred, your father's here already." "I think they're looking for you too." "Yeah, I know." "Uh, Mrs. Leonard." "This is Mr. Mason." "Perry Mason." "He's a lawyer." "How do you do?" "How do you do?" "Oh, I'm so glad you've got someone." "I-I don't know what's gonna happen." "FRED:" "Mrs. Leonard, I, uh" "I'm awful sorry about what happened." "( sighs ) Thank you, Fred." "Uh, Mrs. Leonard..." "would you mind telling us how it happened?" "Well..." "I don't really know." "He liked to stay out in that cottage of his, you know." "The police say he's been dead since 1 or 2:00." "He'd...been beaten over the head." "But they don't even know what kind of a weapon it was yet." "Well, what about the Culvers?" "Weren't they in that other cottage?" "Oh, they went back to town." "He had that early appointment, don't you remember?" "No, I, uh" "I'm afraid I don't remember anything about last night..." "Mrs. Leonard." "TRAGG:" "Well, it does look like your footprint, Mr. Pike." "Even though the boy over here hadn't seen you park your car." "All right, I was here." "Sure I was here." "In the neighborhood of 1:00 to 1:30 he said." "He was on his own way to bed after helping out in the kitchen." "I wanted to see Leonard, and I wanted to see him alone." "Why?" "Why, Mr. Pike?" "So I could kill him, that's why." "What do you think?" "Roger, bring your notebook down here." "I didn't figure on being seen, that's all." "Well... those are my fingerprints you're getting off the door too, aren't you?" "So why keep everybody hanging around?" "Mr. Pike." "You know your constitutional rights." "And of course, you have been warned that anything you say" "I'll just attend to that, Mr. Mason." "Hello, son." "Uh, sergeant, take him in, have him finish his statement." "You'd better go along too, Mr. Pike." "Perry, you're, uh, interfering with an officer... in line of duty." "Hm." "Lieutenant, I didn't know that this was your territory." "Well, I happen to be here by specific, uh, request." "And I think I have enough authority to send you on your way." "Well, now." "Hello, lieutenant." "Hi, Perry." "Glad to see you got here." "You're glad that... you got here?" "Well, I, uh" " Oh, I've got to get in here." "Excuse me." "( playful theme playing )" "Well, Perry, you didn't exactly stop my friend, Mr. Pike, but you slowed him down a little anyway." "At least he's now taken the position he won't do any more confessing until they stop the "dad-blame questions."" "Hm." "You know, it just doesn't seem likely that he'd commit a murder at 1:30, and then make that call to you afterwards at 2:00." "Don't you think he's just trying to protect his son?" "Well, he's a funny man, Pike." "He...was here last night, there's no question about that." "And he does have a temper." "There's no question about that either." "You, uh" "Do you believe he--?" "He killed Leonard?" "Perry, Jefferson Pike saved my life once." "We were out on Marshes Lake, up in Canada." "Our rubber boat got flipped over in the wind, and...one of the oars caught my ankle." "Pike could have left me in the duck blind and gone for help." "But it was way below freezing." "So instead he carried me three miles... all the way to shore." "And in the course of wading through that icy water, he lost two toes." "That was 12 years ago." "I got him his job here at the club." "Now you may try him for murder." "No, I..." "I'll have to disqualify myself." "Uh... remove myself from any prosecution." "It" "But it would still be my responsibility." "And I suppose I have no right to be talking to you this way." "Let alone suggesting that" "Perry, if Jefferson Pike is arraigned for this crime... and...if you can find any merit in the case..." "I'll defend him, Hamilton." "Even if he did save your life." "( classical music playing )" "( people chattering )" "The police have asked me just about everything they can think of, Mr. Mason." "They ask what that, uh... whirling thing was that you were doing out there?" "Heh." "That's a camel spin." "I really can do it much better." "Oh, it looked pretty good to me." "Coffee?" "Please." "Please." "Three coffees, please." "Mr. Leonard was going to star you in a new ice show, wasn't he?" "Oh, well." "That wasn't anything very definite yet." "Hm, I don't know, $50,000 seems pretty definite to me." "When was the last time you saw Denver Leonard?" "You mean last night?" "About 12:45." "Who else was there?" "Oh, everyone." "Except Asa." "He's my husband." "He went back to the guest cottage earlier." "Hates to miss his sleep." "So that left you and Fred Pike and Mr. and Mrs. Leonard still at the house?" "Mm-hm." "And then the champagne was gone, and Fred left." "So we all said good night." "You went all the way out to the, uh, guest cottage alone?" "Mr. Leonard showed me the way." "I see." "After escorting you," "I suppose he went to his little place there." "That, um... cottage/study, whatever he called it." "Mr. Mason." "Don't ask me to explain other people's living arrangements." "( chuckles )" "But then you were the last person to see Denver Leonard alive, weren't you?" "I don't know." "Was I?" "What happened after he left you at 12:45?" "I went straight inside." "And I went right to bed without even putting up my hair." "And until 6:00 this morning," "I neither saw or heard anything more important than Asa's snoring." "( sighs ) Well..." "Look, Mr. Mason, believe me," "I think that this murder is a terrible thing, but..." "I feel very sorry for all the people involved." "But it doesn't effect us." "We'd barely met those people." "In other words, you'd say... there was nothing personal between you and Mr. Leonard?" "Absolutely nothing." "But how can I help you?" "Didn't my wife explain that I was asleep?" "Mr. Culver..." "I gather you've made most of your money in real estate." "Why should that possibly concern you?" "Well, I wanted your opinion on the Leonard place." "It seems, uh, rather elaborate." "It was dark when we arrived." "I had no chance to look around, I'm afraid." "My investigator tells me the property belongs to Mrs. Leonard." "Although the title isn't exactly clear." "Apparently..." "Mrs. Leonard owes more than she owns." "Is that so?" "The problem stems from her husband's various schemes, including their first ice show, which went bankrupt through mishandling, or perhaps, uh, dishonesty." "Mr. Mason." "Why do you tell me all this?" "Mr. Culver." "You're a businessman." "Now, why would you give a...check to Mr. Leonard?" "A check for $50,000, completely unsecured in any way?" "I'd hate to be asked that question in court..." "I'll admit." "You see... my wife is considerably younger than I am." "And when I persuaded her to marry me, several years ago, she had hopes of a career." "She still has those hopes." "And you thought you'd help her by financing a show produced by a man with a reputation?" "Mr. Mason, my wife can't skate for sour apples." "Oh, I'm sure you know that by now." "So I wouldn't have cared if Denver Leonard had just pocketed that money... if it helped get all this out of her system." "I love Vita." "Very much." "I wouldn't want her to be hurt." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Well, for some time now," "Denver Leonard's had a hold on my son, Mr. Mason." "Oh, Fred's a good boy." "Only, after his accident, he sort of went to pieces for a while." "Now, he don't know I know this, but... well, there's even a bad check he wrote once." "M-Mr." "Pike..." "Fred is gonna have to tell these things if you don't." "Well..." "I sure haven't done everything right in my time." "Oh, I even had a cockeyed, wild notion on how to stop Leonard." "How to pry him loose from Fred." "Uh" "Well, never mind that." "And then later..." "Fred came back so drunk, he couldn't hardly talk." "I" "I just saw red, that's all." "And, um... you went over to the Leonards at 1:30?" "Well, there wasn't much to it." "Door to the cottage was open." "So I just walked right in." "Place was an awful mess." "A mess?" "Well, it looked like there had been a fight." "Oh, I fumbled around a bit... 'cause the lights weren't on, but" "But there was plenty of moonlight." "Then I" "I saw Leonard lying there on the floor." "Dead?" "No." "No, I could hear him breathing." "You, um..." "You thought Fred had had the fight with him?" "What happened next?" "Well, I" " I finally figured I'd better stop doing things wrong... for a change." "So I" " I just turned around, and I walked right out of there, fast as I could." "But I wouldn't have gone back home and called Mr. Burger if I thought that man was dead." "Now, dad-blame it, that's the truth, and that's all there is." "And I ain't gonna budge from that." "Perry, may I see you a moment, please?" "I'll be right back, Mr. Pike." "I was told to inform you when this case seemed to be about ready for an indictment." "Uh, excuse me, sir." "I" "My name's Hal Kirkwood." "I'm the foreman out at the Leonard ranch." "I wonder if you'd tell Mr. Pike that I'm sorry, but I had to show 'em where to find that bullet." "Bullet?" "Well, Mr. Leonard shot Pike in the leg, Perry." "Our doctor noticed that, of course." "Oh, but I guess that Pike's told you all about that by now." "Well, they kept asking me about it." "I sure didn't want 'em to think that bullet had anything to do with things at the time of the murder." "Then Pike would really be in hot water." "Uh, they'll need, uh, your signature on that statement, Mr. Kirkwood, if you please." "We, uh... have the murder weapon, Perry." "Oh." "Twelve-gauge shotgun." "Shotgun?" "Leonard's." "It was used as a club." "The victim's blood and hair were on the butt end." "And on the barrel, where he gripped it... the fingerprints of your client:" "Mr. Pike." "( ominous theme playing )" "Now, dad-blame it, let's have the whole truth." "( slow, dramatic theme playing )" "CLERK:" "Be seated, folks." "If the court please..." "I'm Darrel Teshman, the special prosecutor appointed by the Attorney General for this hearing." "Since Mr. Burger has asked, for personal reasons, that he and his office be, uh, disqualified..." "I'm appearing here to prosecute this case." "JUDGE:" "All right, Mr. Teshman, you may proceed." "TESHMAN:" "Thank you, Your Honor." "There were three fractures in the skull." "One in the frontal bone, and the other two on top, back of the coronal suture." "And were these injuries matched in any way by the blunt instrument which the police showed you?" "That is, the shotgun with its scarred stock, its unusual toe plate." "Uh, they matched exactly." "There is no doubt that was the weapon which caused death." "Thank you, doctor." "Cross-examine." "Uh, doctor, regarding the blow on the top of the head... isn't that rather an unusual place to be struck by such an unwieldy weapon?" "Not if the victim had already fallen." "Then it's possible all of those blows were inflicted after the victim had fallen?" "SURGEON:" "Quite possible." "MASON:" "Could the deathblows have been inflicted by a woman?" "SURGEON:" "A normally strong and an athletic woman, yes." "Yes, of course." "MASON:" "Thank you, doctor." "That'll be all." "There were no other fingerprints on the barrel." "Only the deceased's, Mr. Leonard's, and the defendant's." "And just exactly where was this murder gun found?" "About a mile from the Leonard house." "It was thrown off the road, under a pile of junk." "Is this road the one a person would take when driving back from Mr. Leonard's place to Mr. Pike's gun club?" "Yes, it is." "Cross-examine." "Lieutenant, uh, this road you just mentioned... is it also a road a person would take to, uh, reach the highway into town?" "Yes, sir." "Now, lieutenant... did you find any evidence whatsoever to indicate that this gun, which belonged to Mr. Leonard, was actually in Mr. Leonard's room prior to the time of his death?" "Yes." "There were some used patches, a rod and, uh, cleaning oil on a little table there." "MASON:" "I see." "Now, if we're to adopt the line o that..." "Mr. Leonard might have been cleaning this gun that night... and he might have left it there... propped up, uh, next to the material that you've just described as being on the table, and that, uh... then a person might have entered that room" "in the dark, we'll say" "So I suppose there are a number of ways a man's fingerprints could arrive on a gun, aren't there, lieutenant?" "Your Honor." "I object." "Objection sustained." "I have no further questions." "And after you said good night to your husband, Mrs. Leonard?" "I went out to the kitchen." "That was a little after 12:30." "What did you do then?" "I washed dishes." "We had a boy helping us, but he wasn't experienced." "You're referring now to, uh, Pedro Guitterez?" "Yes." "He dried the dishes." "Then I let him go." "It was exactly 1:30." "After that, I went to bed." "Your room is in the main house there?" "Yes." "Now..." "Mrs. Leonard... you have testified that there was bad feeling between your husband and the defendant," "Jefferson Pike." "And that it was in some way related to your husband's partnership with Pike's son." "And that this bad feeling had increased rather bitterly during the past year or so." "Please." "I just don't know any more than that." "That's all, Mrs. Leonard." "Thank you." "Concerning your guests that evening, Mrs. Leonard." "You'd say that Mr. Culver left the party at 11?" "About then." "Uh, what about Fred Pike?" "You stated that he'd been drinking rather heavily." "JOAN:" "Yes." "Fred left a little after 12:30." "Mrs. Leonard... why did you allow him to drive home alone in that condition?" "As a matter of fact," "I did say something to Denver." "But he and Mrs. Culver just laughed at me." "They said Fred would be all right, and" "No further questions." "After Mr. Leonard left you at your door, did you notice what direction he took, Mrs. Culver?" "Yes, he went right to his room in the cottage across the way." "He told me so." "Oh, but you stated that, uh... after you went inside, you didn't hear anything from the direction of that cottage." "VITA:" "Well, I was asleep within a few minutes." "Well, now, Mrs. Cul when Mr. Leonard left you, do you recall what he said?" "Well, yes, of course." "He said good night, and he said he was going hunting in the morning." "Thank you." "Your witness, counselor." "No questions." "You clearly saw Mr. Pike leave his car and walk toward the cottage?" "Yes." "Very fast, like he is mad." "What then?" "GUITTEREZ:" "Well, I'm all through my work." "I go home." "I walk down the road." "As you walked down the road, did you see anyone else?" "Across the field, past the stables," "I see a flashlight over there." "The foreman, I think." "Mr. Kirkwood, walking by the barn." "Did anyone pass you?" "Any automobiles?" "No." "No." "Mr. Pike live the other way." "Oh, now, what do you mean by that?" "Five, six minutes after I leave," "I hear Mr. Pike's truck drive away." "Hear?" "Didn't you see it?" "Didn't you look back?" "If you could see a flashlight at that distance... surely you could see headlights." "No, sir." "No lights." "Mr. Pike drive without lights." "Drive away very quick." "Then this, uh, Pike came busting up to Mr. Leonard, where we were standing at the bar." "That was about, uh, 7 in the evening." "Did Mr. Pike say anything to you personally?" "Heh, he sure did." "He said, "Get out of my way, dad-blame you."" "Well, I hadn't done anything to him, but he was sore." "And, uh, then when Mr. Leonard started brushing him off, why...well, he was still persistent." "Did Mr. Pike say anything else to you personally?" "HUNTER:" ""Let me at that Leonard," he said." ""Let me at him, or-- Or he'll be sorry."" "Well...then I helped him up off the sand over to his truck." "See, the leg wasn't really hurt very much, so... we went back to the gun club, like I told you." "Oh, did Mr. Pike state clearly his intentions to you at this time?" "Oh, sure." "Soon as his temper blew down a little bit." "That's when he talked about using that bullet to put Denver Leonard in prison." "Your witness, counselor." "Mr. Kirkwood, whose idea was it that Mr. Leonard could be put in prison for assault, uh, with a deadly weapon?" "Heh." "I don't know." "Maybe Pike said it first, or maybe it was me." "And, uh, what happened to the idea?" "Well, I guess he got cold feet when he saw the district attorney was out there himself." "He" "Now, um, concerning the bullet, Mr. Kirkwood." "The next day you were the one who showed the police where to look for it, is that correct?" "KIRKWOOD:" "Yes, sir." "MASON:" "How long did it take to locate?" "Well, they" "They thought they were gonna have to use... you know, screens and things, but it was right there, exactly where Mr. Pike told me it happened." "So...oh, it took a couple minutes to find it, I guess." "And suppose I told you that Mr. Pike himself hadn't been so successful." "Huh?" "Suppose I told you that Mr. Pike had spent over an hour on his hands and knees looking for that bullet in exactly that same spot." "Well... sand like that, maybe it's a matter of luck." "Suppose I were to ask you, Mr. Kirkwood... did you drop that bullet there for the police to find?" "Did what?" "No." "What are you talking about?" "How would I have any bullet?" "Perhaps by having found it the night before." "Now, I'll ask you the question once more" "Now, wait a minute." "Wait a minute!" "Will the court please instruct this witness--?" "All right!" "Maybe I did." "Yes, sir." "But I didn't do anything wrong" "Why did you do it, Mr. Kirkwood--?" "Well, I had to put the thing back where it belonged." "MASON:" "Well, you understood my question better than that." "Why did you take the bullet in the first place?" "Now, look, I did not do anything with it." "I was just going to, that's all." "I kept that bullet in my-- Why, Mr. Kirkwood?" "Because if Pike was not gonna see Denver Leonard slapped in jail, I was." "I wouldn't get chicken-hearted." "Not with a chance like that." "I would bust that man into kingdom come." "Do you have any idea what it's like to work for a man like that?" "To see the way he treats his own wife?" "To see him...cheat and steal?" "To ruin a perfectly good ranch?" "If you could s" "I'm sorry, sir." "Kingdom come." "I have no more questions." "JUDGE:" "You may step down." "Gentlemen, I have a regular calendar which begins at 9:15, but I should be through by 10." "Therefore, we will continue this hearing until 10:00 Monday morning." "Court's adjourned." "( door closes )" "I'll talk to you shortly." "Perry...they're still saving a lot of their physical evidence, aren't they?" "They've already shown more than enough for a hearing, Della." "Take a look at Burger." "He knows." "Now, listen, we've got a lot to do, and in a hurry." "Mm-hm." "You take care of things here, I'll go get the car." "Mm-hm." "( slow, dramatic theme playing )" "( door closes )" "( slow, dramatic theme playing )" "Miss, wait, please." "Oh, I won't hurt anything, Pedro." "But this is the place where he was killed." "I know, but Mr. Mason talked to the police." "Go on, Della!" "Make some noise now!" "Uh, jump up and down, will you, please?" "Jump up and down." "( banging )" "What are you doing?" "We didn't wanna disturb you, Mrs. Leonard." "Excuse me." "That's enough, Della!" "I" "I just wondered if you'd like a cup of tea." "Let's get Della." "Perry, could you come in a minute, please?" "Uh, Mrs. Leonard, would you mind if I ask you, is this the jacket your husband was wearing that night?" "Yes, I guess it is." "Only earlier, in the house." "He wasn't wearing it when" "When they found him." "I'll hang it up." "( dramatic theme playing ) ( door opens )" "My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m." "We were gone by 6." "Did anyone get up to see you off?" "CULVER:" "No." "No, I'd particularly asked Mrs. Leonard not to." "TESHMAN:" "Cross-examine." "Now, Mr. Culver... you stated that you weren't quite certain of the time you fell asleep that night." "Is anyone ever quite certain of such a thing?" "Yet you were able to recall your wife's testimony, saying that, uh, when she came in at 12:30" "Or, uh, was it 12:45?" "Your Honor... may I ask the court's indulgence, and request that the court reporter uh, read back the one or two questions regarding time?" "Very well." "Mr. Culver had just told of his leaving the house." "COURT REPORTER:" ""Question:" ""Did you then go to the guest cottage to retire?" ""Answer:" "I did." ""Question:" "At what time did you retire?" ""Answer:" "I didn't look at my watch, but it was 11 when I left the house."" "And the one after that, please." ""Question:" "You have heard Mrs. Culver testify" ""that she came in at 12:45 and went to bed." ""Did you see or hear her?" ""Answer:" "No, I did not." ""Question:" "So you were asleep by 12:45?" "Answer:" "She said I was asleep then, yes."" "Uh, thank you, that's enough." "Uh, Mr. Culver... you never quite answered those questions." "So now I ask, did you leave the house at 11:00, and then go directly to the cottage, and then directly to bed and to sleep?" "Well, in my wife's testimony" "Just answer the question yes or no, please." "But I'm not sure I understand" "Mr. Culver... are you trying to avoid perjuring yourself?" "Is that it?" "Your Honor, I object." "The counselor is browbeating the witness." "JUDGE:" "Overruled." "Answer the questions, Mr. Culver." "I'll ask a simpler one, Mr. Culver." "Now, do you usually sleep with the window shut?" "What?" "No, of course not." "Then before you went to bed that night, you opened the windows, is that right?" "Yes." "I suppose so." "Now, isn't it true that if you had opened the window, sounds from across the way would've been quite clear?" "The alleged fight, the murder, people coming and going?" "Yet your wife insisted she heard absolutely nothing." "Vita was asleep." "You saw her asleep?" "Well, no, I didn't quite mean that." "Oh, I'm sure you didn't." "Now, we'd like the truth, Mr. Culver." "Were you in bed, or as a matter of fact, even in that cottage at all, when she came in at 12:45?" "I don't remember." "You don't remember?" "I mean..." "I don't have to answer that." "On grounds of self-incrimination?" "No!" "I didn't kill him." "I don't know anything about it." "Mr. Culver... do you recall confirming to me that... your wife's only interest in being at the Leonards' was in ice skating?" "Yes." "Did your wife plan to go to Cuba in the near future?" "CULVER:" "No." "It was only Leonard who spoke of going." "Were you aware of the fact that during the two weeks prior to the murder... your wife had been taking certain inoculations given usually only to travelers." "Uh, that is, shots for typhoid and yellow fever?" "No." "That's not true." "It can't be." "I'm prepared to introduce more exact testimony, Mr. Culver." "Now, tell me something else." "To your knowledge, has your wife used a lipstick uh, the shade of which is called "Latin Flame"?" "Your Honor, I object." "This entire line of questioning is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial." "( quietly ):" "Oh, sit down and be quiet." "Objection overruled." "Good." "JUDGE:" "Proceed, counselor." "Mr. Culver...concerning that lipstick" "But I don't know." "I haven't the slightest idea." "Would it surprise you to learn that lipstick of such a shade was found on Mr. Leonard's pocket handkerchief?" "The handkerchief he was carrying that night?" "Now, Mr. Culver... obviously, either you or your wife is lying." "Stop it!" "Stop, I'll tell you!" "I'll tell you everything." "He wasn't there." "He wasn't even in the room." "I can't stand it anymore." "He's the one who's lying." "( crying ):" "He knew about us." "He knew about Leonard and I. He must have." "He wasn't even in the room, I tell you." "Vita, please." "Be quiet." "Uh, Your Honor... in the interest of justice," "I would like to recall Mrs. Culver to the witness stand." "Oh, I doubt if prosecution have any objection, hm?" "( sighs )" "Not under the circumstances, Your Honor." "No, w-wait." "Please, I" "I'll have more to explain." "I-I went out for a walk." "I" " I couldn't sleep." "I wanted to have a look at the place anyway, so..." "I found a flashlight in a mackinaw, and I went out for quite a while." "Down the road... back up past the horse pastures... down by the barn." "I saw a truck leaving." "That must have been Mr. Pike." "When I came back... my wife seemed to be asleep." "The next day, she didn't say anything." "So I thought I'd just have to keep quiet." "Please, that-- That's all I know." "You'll take the stand again, Mrs. Culver." "And I wanna remind you that you're still under oath." "You step down, sir." "Uh" "Now, what was it you wanted to tell us, Mrs. Culver?" "( gasps )" "I'm not sure now." "It's just that I've been so frightened." "Was it that when you went into the cottage, your husband wasn't there?" "It was after 12:45." "Mr. Leonard and I... stood outside for a while." "And then you became afraid of what your husband might have seen?" "I didn't know where he was." "But I really didn't hear anything... except a truck that came and went around 1:30." "And then finally Asa came in, and..." "I pretended to be asleep." "Did you think that..." "your husband might have been with Mr. Leonard?" "The next morning, when you heard about the murder, did you think your husband might've been the one who fought with Mr. Leonard?" "Did you think he was the one who stood in the shadow watching, while Mr. Pike arrived?" "Because the... murderer must have seen Mr. Pike leave his fingerprints on this gun, don't you think?" "Mrs. Culver, after Mr. Pike left, was it then that your husband... picked up this weapon, and using it as a brutal club--?" "VITA ( crying ):" "Oh, I don't know!" "You don't have to blab all that, lady!" "Mr. Mason knows who saw Pike leave his fingerprints on that gun." "He's been aiming at me all along." "I killed Leonard." "( slow, dramatic theme playing )" "I killed the big gasbag." "( pleasant theme playing )" "You know, Perry, I wonder how" "I wonder how involved that Culver woman was with Leonard." "Thanks, Jeff." "She was gonna go traveling with him." "For a while anyway." "Heh." "Yeah, with her husband's money." "Oh, hold on there." "Maybe she just wanted to make certain that Leonard really would put her in that ice show." "Oh, I feel sorry for her." "Bird like him mixes people up, you know." "Well, take even Hal Kirkwood now." "He got so boiling mad at Leonard, and so unhappy about the way he treated the Mrs." "and ruined her ranch... well, that's why he killed him, you know." "Well, that's not entirely what he admitted later on, Mr. Pike." "There was also a question of money involved." "Blackmail money." "You see, if he'd just wanted to get even with Leonard, he would have left that bullet in the sand, where it was, for the police to find." "Incidentally, Perry, I'm glad you caught that point." "Now, Kirkwood thought that Leonard really had shot you, remember?" "Oh, yeah." "So, what he did was, dig up that bullet and then try to sell it to Leonard." "Leonard wouldn't have known what Hal was talking about." "He" " He must have thought he was off in the head." "( car approaches, honking )" "Hey, Dad." "I'm ready to go." "Well, at least some things work out." "Fred's on his way up to Tahoe." "A pretty good job up there, I hear." "Anyway, he's squaring up that check business on his own, Mr. Burger." "I just want you to know that." "Hurry up, Dad." "I gotta go!" "All right." "Good riddance, dad-blame it." "( chuckles )" "( pleasant theme playing )" "You know, I think I won this case." "( chuckles )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"