"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( pleasant theme playing )" "( both laughing )" "( tiger snarls ) Lisa, wait." "What is it?" "The threshold." "I've got to carry you, you know." "( slurring ):" "The threshold." "The threshold." "(tiger snarls)" "The threshold." "The threshold." "The threshold." "The threshold." "The threshold." "You can't flaunt tradition like that." "And this is our home." "The elephants, the horses, the crowds and the smells." "You have had too much champagne." "And why not?" "How often do I get married?" "Just once." "Just forever." "You know, you don't know what you're doing." "And you don't know what you're saying." "As a matter of fact, you're not responsible for what you're thinking." "( chuckles ):" "But you're hooked." "I've got you and you'll never get away." "I love you." "I love you, I love you, I love you." "And this is our wedding night." "I'm so happy." "( snarls )" "Diavolo." "Hi." "Diavolo." "Diavolo." "Diavolo." "( door opens )" "Look." "There's Jerry." "We've gotta tell the boss." "We've got to tell him." "Lisa, wait." "I'll tell him." "Look, you've had a little too much to drink." "And Jerry's very much in love with you." "You'll only hurt him." "Jerry!" "(tiger snarling)" "Lisa." "Felix." "Hey, where have you two been?" "I wanted to go over an idea for your act, Lisa." "We were, uh, hiding." "Hiding?" "Right in there." "In Arimba's cage." "Oh, come on, don't joke " " Lisa!" "Lisa!" "(snarls)" "He won't come out." "Even if I unlatched it, he wouldn't come out." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to frighten you." "( tense theme playing )" "LISA:" "I've got something to tell you." "Felix and I-- Look out!" "( dramatic theme playing )" "(screaming)" "( tense theme playing )" "( intermittent fanfare playing )" "(knock on door)" "Yes, come in." "Felix." "Well, you're expecting someone?" "No." "Ah, of course not." "Lisa went on ahead today." "She's waiting in L.A. for us." "Oh, champagne." "Four candles on the cake." "Must be somebody's birthday." "Or an anniversary of some kind?" "What do you want, Curtis?" "Just about this time, wasn't it?" "Four years ago." "Oh, it was a terrible thing Lisa did with that cat and Jerry Franklin." "What do you mean, Lisa did?" "Well, she opened the cage and let the cat get to Jerry." "She didn't." "Everybody knows it was an accident." "No." "That's the story that went out." "Lisa knew how scared Jerry is of the cats." "Look, why are you bringing up all this now?" "She'd had a little wine, that's all." "Do you think she'd maliciously open the cage?" "Oh, I think she was a little drunk, Felix." "She's got a conscience." "That's why she married Jerry." "She didn't really love him." "That's why she's sticking with him when she really loves you." "What do you want, Curtis?" "Well, now." "You know that Jerry Franklin and I are are partners in the circus." "Yes." "He wants to buy me out." "Of course, the circus has fallen on bad times, but do you know what he offered me for my share?" "A hundred and eighty thousand dollars." "Why are you telling me all this?" "Well, according to our partnership," "I can turn around and offer Franklin the same amount for his share, and he has to accept it." "What are you getting at?" "I need a loan." "I don't wanna leave the circus." "Go to the bank." "I think I've got a better chance with you." "Well, I don't have that kind of money." "You've been raising it." "How much have you got in the till, Felix?" "All right." "I am raising it." "For Jerry Franklin, not for you." "If he has to buy you out," "I hope to be able to give him the money to do it." "See?" "That's just the point." "Who gets the money to buy the other guy out?" "Was it exactly four years ago tonight?" "I mean, the night you married Lisa?" "She didn't have time to divorce you before marrying Jerry Franklin out of pity, now, did she?" "( dramatic theme playing )" "You can't just blow out a marriage just like that, even with the best motives." "Look, you can't tell Jerry." "We kept it from him for so long." "What are you going to do?" "Well, I'm gonna wait for you to lend me the money you've been raising." "Felix." "You can't blow out a torch like that either." "( train blows horn )" "(circus music playing)" "Lisa!" "I'm all right, Jerry." "How many times have I told you to check your equipment?" "Suppose it had happened during a performance, without a net." "I'm sorry." "All right." "Run along and change." "You're going to have to be more careful my dear." "You're one of our star performers, you know." "Your solicitude touches me." "Oh, I'm even more solicitous than you know." "Ask Felix." "Hey, Judd." "Yeah." "I want you to scratch Lisa from the bill tonight." "What for?" "She's all right." "I said she's not going on tonight." "She'll have the jitters for awhile." "She's billed." "A lot of people are gonna pay money to see her." "Don't you forget we're still partners." "That's right, and we're gonna settle that too." "You're supposed to pick up my half interest for $180,000." "Well, it's due now." "Have you got $180,000 to buy me out, Jerry?" "That is, if I let you?" "I'll have it by tomorrow afternoon." "Now, that's when I planned on having it." "All right then." "By tomorrow either you buy me out, or I'll buy you out." "Sure." "I figure I got just as good a chance of getting the money as you have." "That was a narrow miss for Lisa, Mr. Curtis." "Imagine if that had happened tonight, with no net." "Well, in a couple more days she and Franklin will be out of the business." "That's too bad." "Lisa won't stay on when you take over." "She's great." "There'll be a few others who won't stay on." "Yes, sir." "I'm looking forward to that." "Look, Durant, if you're figuring on replacing Heidemann, forget it." "But you promised me when" "When I gave you the $10,000" "We'll have to call that a loan." "I made a mistake." "You can't carry the show." "You just haven't got it." "I can do everything Heidemann can." "I've got the experience, the ability, talent" "Everything." "Everything but his genius." "Well, it'll have to be by tomorrow." "It's him or us." "Tony and I just gave Felix our last 15,000." "It's all the money we have left in the world." "How much does that make altogether, Felix?" "I'll be able to make it now." "Lisa, Felix, Joyce, Tony and me." "Partners." "Curtis is bluffing." "He said he can raise that money, but he can't." "He can't." "And in these last four years we have loved each other without once saying the words." "Lisa has been an honorable and devoted wife to Jerry Franklin, Mr. Mason." "She has paid penance where none was demanded." "But as long as your marriage with Lisa is on the books, she is not legally married to Franklin." "She is really committing no crime, Mr. Mason." "Theirs is not a consummated marriage." "The accident" "The law makes no distinction on that account." "Now, you said, um, the accident occurred on the night of your marriage?" "Yes." "Then you could have had your marriage annulled." "Yes, Mr. Mason." "But the time never seemed right." "First we didn't know what to do, then when Lisa married Jerry, we couldn't just then." "I think Lisa wanted to hold onto that one thread." "Secretly." "Just as I did." "I came to you for advice, Mr. Mason" "Bigamy is a felony in this state, Mr. Heidemann." "Can it be worked out without Jerry Franklin's knowledge?" "Possibly." "And the loan Curtis is demanding?" "You mean the blackmail." "The money isn't all yours, is it?" "No." "Then how could you use it?" "Have you raised the entire $180,000?" "All but $15,000 of it." "I know where I can get that, but that isn't the problem." "The problem is that if Jerry finds out" "Lisa's been married to me all this time, it would just about kill him." "You see, he thinks Lisa has been in love with him all along." "I understand." "But these are things that you and Lisa must decide for yourselves." "Yes, Mr. Mason." "Thank you." "Oh, no." "Sit down." "You know, I haven't been to a circus for years." "I-I could reserve some seats for you for tonight's performance." "Della?" "Love to." "All right." "Let's see." "( applause ) ( fanfare playing )" "Thank you." "When does Heidemann go on?" "Uh, right after this act, the Gilberts." "Thank you." "(waltz music playing)" "( applause )" "( applause )" "( applause )" "(whistle blowing)" "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only, the incomparable Felix Heidemann, the funniest man in the world." "(playful music playing)" "( crowd laughs )" "( crowd laughing throughout )" "What's the matter, Paul?" "You scared?" "Sure." "I wouldn't let him aim that cannon at me if it was loaded with marshmallows." "Well." "Perry." "Well, hello, lieutenant." "You know, popcorn never tastes half as good as it does in a circus." "That's right, lieutenant." "Nothing like good circus popcorn and, um, good company to help you eat." "All right, Perry." "What are you doing here?" "Eating popcorn." "What about you, lieutenant?" "Oh." "Same thing you're here for probably." "Duty." "Homicide got a complaint from the owner." "Someone tried to kill him." "Curtis?" "No, Mr. Franklin." "Let a tiger loose on him about an hour ago." "Back in the dressing room area." "Oh, he's okay." "Nothing happened to him this time." "But I understand something did happen to him once before." "It was a long time ago." "(crowd laughing)" "(circus music stops)" "( grunts )" "( crowd screaming )" "( whistle blowing )" "Paul, you stay here with Della." "( blows whistle )" "Hold your seats, please, ladies and gentlemen." "Hold your seats." "The next act will be on in a moment." "(playful music playing)" "Where's Heidemann?" "Where's that clown?" "The funniest man in the world." "Well, I don't think this part of his act is going to make the jury laugh." "( somber theme playing ) (lion growls)" "That's the cat." "We've used safety catches on these cases ever since the time of the accident." "Four years ago." "This door couldn't possibly have unlatched itself." "Somebody opened it." "And it was common knowledge that Franklin was afraid of the cats?" "Oh, yes." "And the, um, tiger went through there toward the dressing room area." "Well, I would assume so." "Arimba the cat must have come right down through here." "I was in my dressing room when I heard Franklin yell." "I rushed out here and I saw Franklin." "For a minute I didn't know what he yelled for." "Then Lisa came out and just as she started to grab for the wheelchair" "I saw the cat start down toward Franklin." "By the time I got to him, he was screaming, and Lisa was trying to pull the wheelchair back into the dressing room." "I managed to give it the extra shove and the cat just missed us all by a half a second." "And what time was this?" "About 6:00." "TRAGG:" "Oh, Mr. Gilbert." "Uh, Della, would you please give this to Paul?" "Have they, um, found Felix yet?" "No." "Do you know where he is?" "No." "Where he might have gone?" "No, Mr. Mason." "You do know that Felix told me about your situation with Mr. Franklin?" "Yes, I know." "Now, Curtis was blackmailing you and Felix." "Had you decided what to do about it?" "No." "But Felix spoke to him again and Curtis wanted the money by tomorrow afternoon." "Mrs. Franklin, we're trying to place everybody." "And no one seems to recall just what happened to Heidemann, or in which direction he went." "Now, where were you when the fatal shot was fired?" "In my dressing room." "And did you hear the shot?" "I heard the silence, lieutenant." "What's that?" "Back here, when the performance goes on, there's a steady sound." "People talking, music, laughter." "I was putting on my make up when I heard the silence." "And then you came out into the corridor?" "Yes." "And then what?" "I went to the performer's entrance to see what was going on." "Did you see Heidemann?" "No, lieutenant." "Did you see anybody in a clown suit, Mrs. Franklin?" "No, Mr. Mason." "It's no good, Perry." "That was Heidemann in that suit, and underneath that greasepaint." "Since none of you are going to cooperate, you'll all come downtown and spend the rest of the night, if we have to, remembering what went on." "You too, lieutenant?" "Huh?" "It seems to me that you were just as much an eyewitness as anyone else." "How much do you remember?" "Well, I know one thing I didn't forget." "To put out an all points bulletin on Felix Heidemann." "( ominous theme playing )" "MASON ( on phone ):" "I was hoping you'd call, Mr. Heidemann." "Where are you?" "In San Francisco, Mr. Mason." "I just found out what happened." "What are you doing up there?" "I came up here to get the last part of the $180,000." "Why San Francisco?" "My bank is here." "When did you leave Los Angeles?" "I caught the 9:00 train from Union Station last night." "Nine o'clock?" "That's right." "The shot that killed Curtis was fired at 9:15." "Yes, sir." "And you're saying you did not shoot Curtis?" "Of course I didn't shoot him, Mr. Mason." "Look, I know they're looking for me." "What'll I do?" "Are you telling me the truth, Mr. Heidemann?" "Yes, sir." "Then you'd better come back to Los Angeles and tell it to the police." "The police?" "Give myself up?" "You'd be giving yourself up if you tried to run away." "( tense theme playing )" "I told it just the way it happened, Mr. Mason." "I took the 9:00 train to San Francisco to get the money out of the bank." "Well, if we can prove you were on that 9:00 train it will automatically clear you." "Well, I don't know if I can, Mr. Mason." "I didn't even keep my ticket stub." "I didn't sit next to anyone." "There's just no one I remember." "Maybe one of the conductors will remember." "We'll have Paul Drake check on that." "Now, what about the gun you use in the act?" "I left it in my dressing room, on top of the makeup table." "Then anyone could have taken it." "I left it there purposely for my replacement." "What replacement?" "I'd never leave the show in the lurch, without arranging for a substitute." "I left a note." "Then you know who was in your costume at the time of the shooting." "No, I don't, Mr. Mason." "You see, the man that was supposed to be in that costume was Mr. Curtis." "Curtis?" "Well, he used to be a clown." "He's filled in for me on occasion in the past." "Who could have filled in for you this time?" "Who could have made every single person there believe it was Felix Heidemann in that clown suit?" "Somebody did, Mr. Mason." "( somber theme playing )" "I thought it was Heidemann." "Of course, I wasn't looking for it not to be, if you know what I mean." "Where were you when the shot was fired, Mr. Durant?" "My act's with the elephants." "I was waiting over there to come in." "Did you see any part of Heidemann's act?" "Well, without really seeing it." "You know, you've seen it before." "It's a routine." "Well, this time, was there anything about it that struck you as unusual?" "Some, uh, missing characteristic?" "Something left out of the routine?" "No." "But as I say," "I wasn't really looking for anything." "What are you trying to do Mr. Mason, make out it wasn't Heidemann performing?" "I think it's a possibility." "Is that how you're aiming to defend him?" "Heidemann said that he took the 9:00 train to San Francisco." "That he'd made arrangements with Curtis to substitute for him." "Curtis did substitute for him occasionally." "Did anyone else?" "Occasionally?" "Why don't you say it?" "You mean me." "No." "No, I was never asked." "Oh, well..." "Franklin was sitting there in his wheelchair at the tunnel entrance to the dressing rooms when the shot was fired." "Do you recall that, Mr. Durant?" "I've been trying to remember everybody's position, but I'm more confused than sure." "Well, the killer was standing here, just about where we are." "And Curtis was standing directly over there." "A bullet fired along this line could have come from the dressing room entrance." "From where you say Mr. Franklin was?" "That's right." "Well, even if I'd been looking," "I couldn't have seen Mr. Franklin from where I was." "Could you have seen Curtis standing over there?" "Well, I guess I could have." "I don't remember looking." "Mr. Durant," "I need your help." "Now, the question has been raised that Felix Heidemann either had a substitute or that someone impersonated him." "Now, would you search back in your memory for some definite clues as to the fact that the killer could not have been Heidemann?" "How would I do that?" "The way a man walks, the way he holds his head." "You're a student of the art of clowning." "The way a man takes a fall, or tumbles, or spins a plate into the air." "You're suggesting that I might be able to testify that it wasn't Heidemann in that costume." "Yes, you might." "Sure." "That's the way of a lawyer to protect his client, figuring out angles like that, true or not." "Well, even if I might, I wouldn't." "You'd lie?" "There's no love lost between Heidemann and me, Mr. Mason." "I'm not saying I'd lie to hang him, but I wouldn't tell the truth to help him either." "( ominous theme playing )" "Well, Paul, anything new?" "Hi, Perry." "Plenty, but it'll keep" "The, uh, Gilberts are waiting for you and Della says it's important." "Della, I'm back." "Would you bring the Gilberts in, please?" "DELLA:" "Yes, sir." "Come in, please." "My wife has something to tell you, Mason." "Won't you sit down?" "No, thank you." "I don't know if it's important or not." "Tony seems to think so." "Last night, about 20 after 6" "I went into Judd's" "Into Mr. Curtis' office." "There was a note on his desk from Felix." "Saying he was going to San Francisco and couldn't make the performance." "And he wanted Mr. Curtis to fill in for him." "Felix said he had left a note for Curtis." "Go on, Joyce." "Later, after dinner," "I went back to his office, and the note was gone." "And you thought Curtis had picked the note up?" "Yes." "Yes." "And, um, when you saw Curtis lighting his cigarette during the performance, and you realized that he had not taken Heidemann's place, what did you think?" "I thought Felix had changed his mind." "Where were you during the clown's act, Mrs. Gilbert?" "I was standing in the entranceway." "Right behind Mr. Franklin." "Then you could see the clown in the center of the ring and Mr. Curtis at the mouth of the other tunnel?" "Yes, yes." "And where were you during that time, Mr. Gilbert?" "I was there in the tunnel too." "Behind my wife, as a matter of fact, waiting for Heidemann to complete his performance before I went back to my dressing room." "Then you could both see the clown." "Yes." "You know, I believe someone other than Felix Heidemann was in that clown suit." "And I'd like you to try to recall if there was anything in the act, anything different or out of the ordinary which would show that it wasn't Heidemann." "No." "I" "I don't recall." "I didn't notice anything." "Did Felix go to San Francisco," "Mr. Mason?" "That's going to be one of the major issues in this case," "Mrs. Gilbert." "Whether he did or did not." "The police will be very dubious" "Perry, that is some of the news I have for you." "I think the police are prepared to concede Heidemann went to San Francisco." "They are?" "Any time after 10:00." "Heidemann said he took the 9:00 train." "They got a call this morning from the state police near Santa Barbara." "A gun was found on the highway, presumably thrown from a San Francisco bound train." "Santa Barbara?" "Well, close by." "Carpentaria." "Kind of lucky it landed on the highway." "Yes." "Very lucky." "Was it Heidemann's gun?" "Registered to him, and identified as the .357" "long barrel Magnum revolver used in his act." "And according to Tragg, the gun that killed Judson Curtis." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "Well, it is my opinion the death was caused by a .38 caliber bullet passing through the heart." "Now I show you this bullet and ask if it could have been the murder bullet?" "EXPERT:" "Yes, sir." "It could have been." "Your Honor, I ask this be marked Exhibit A for the state." "If Your Honor will note the flat and bulging shape of the bullet?" "Duly noted, Mr. Mason." "We have no objection to it being marked in evidence." "Thank you." "Your witness." "Doctor, I take it from the condition of this bullet, that it did not lodge in the body." "It passed through." "Now, the distance from where the shot was fired to the mouth of the tunnel entrance is about 25 yards." "Could the bullet have traveled that distance and still have passed through the body?" "Without obstruction, a .38 caliber bullet fired through a long bore .357" "Magnum, could have traveled twice that distance and still have gone through." "And there was no obstruction?" "It touched only the flesh and the vital organ." "Thank you, doctor, that'll be all." "JUDGE:" "You may step down." "Yes, that's right, Mr. Alvin." "The statement said the defendant caught the train to San Francisco." "As a matter of fact, we received a telephone call from the defendant from San Francisco." "I show you Exhibit A and ask if you can identify it." "Yes, sir." "That's the bullet which passed through deceased's body and ricocheted off an iron plate on one of the tent poles." "And this peculiar flattened and bulging effect?" "That's when it struck the iron plate." "Thank you, lieutenant." "Lt. Tragg, I show you this gun and ask you to identify it." "Yes, um, it's the gun found on Highway 101 in Carpentaria." "That's on the way to San Francisco at a point where the railroad tracks cross the highway." "It's a Magnum .357, purchased by the defendant, Felix Heidemann, and registered in his name." "It was wiped clean of all fingerprints." "Thank you." "Now, lieutenant, on the night of the murder, did you, in the course of duty, visit the Curtis-Franklin circus?" "Yes, sir." "I had gone there to investigate an attempted homicide against Gerald Franklin, one of the owners." "ALVIN:" "What time was this?" "TRAGG:" "About, uh, 8:30." "Then you were present during the evening performance?" "Did you see a clown named Felix Heidemann performing that night?" "Yes." "What happened during that performance?" "He was caricaturing a shooting act which had preceded him." "And?" "He fired a shot at the deceased," "Judson Curtis." "But instead of having blank cartridges in his gun, there were real bullets." "Now, and I want to emphasize this point, lieutenant, was there, during the act, following the act, or in any discussion with any of the principals at any later time, any hint or suggestion" "that it was not the incomparable, world-renowned, Felix Heidemann performing that night?" "Oh, no." "No, sir." "Thank you, lieutenant." "You may cross-examine." "Was the clown in costume, lieutenant?" "Yes, sir." "And in heavy makeup?" "Yes." "Would you say unrecognizable?" "Well, if you mean, uh, feature by feature" "That's what I mean, yes." "Well, yes, he was unrecognizable." "Now, lieutenant, did you check the fatal bullet ballistically?" "We tried." "But the distortion was so severe, no comparison could be made." "Then for all we know, the gun found on Highway 101 was not the murder gun?" "Well, I wouldn't put it that way, I" "Just, uh, put the answer the way I put the question, lieutenant." "Well, we can't prove it was the murder gun." "Was the gun loaded?" "Yes." "How many bullets were in the cylinder?" "Four." "Then since the .357" "Magnum holds six bullets, it could mean that, uh, two shots had been fired." "Could." "Now, lieutenant, you took several members of the circus personnel down to police headquarters for questioning on the night of the murder." "What time did you release them?" "Well, various times." "Now, what time did the last of them leave?" "Well, about 3:00." "Now, I believe you stated in your testimony that the gun was found at Carpentaria early in the morning." "Now, exactly what time early in the morning?" "Well, the state police reported it at, uh, 6:50 a.m." "Then any of the people you had been questioning at police headquarters had ample time to drive to Carpentaria, toss the gun onto the highway, to simulate it having been thrown from a train?" "If you're asking if any of them had been kept under surveillance, no, they weren't." "Well, that's what I was asking." "Thank you, lieutenant, that's all." "JUDGE:" "You may step down." "And the amount to buy Judd Curtis out was, uh, $180,000." "Well, Heidemann was the treasurer." "As explained then, it was a question of your buying out Curtis, or his buying you out?" "Yes." "And you had partners on your end." "Including the defendant, Felix Heidemann?" "Yes." "Now, Mr. Franklin, let's dig a little deeper." "I ask you to explain the relationship which existed between you and your wife before your marriage." "FRANKLIN:" "Well, what is there to tell?" "We were all good friends." "I think Lisa had a great affection for Felix." "But I am proud to say she had a greater affection for me." "She" " She was in love with me." "And the measure of that love was that at the time of my accident, she had already made up her mind to accept me." "I don't know what else there is to tell." "Her devotion." "Her self-sacrifice over these past four years." "The way she gave real meaning to futility." "And Felix Heidemann, was he in love with your wife?" "Of course." "How could he help it?" "I knew it all along." "ALVIN:" "And did you also know--?" "Objection, Your Honor." "Defense has been very patient with this line of questioning." "But it's extraneous, argumentative, leading, and certainly not best evidence." "Your Honor, the prosecution is trying to lay a foundation as to the motive for murder." "The objection is not without merit." "Perhaps, Mr. Alvin, you will explain to me what your plans are." "Your Honor." "It is the intention of the state to prove that the defendant," "Felix Heidemann, was being blackmailed by Judson Curtis, that the blackmail centered around the relationships between" "Your Honor, I ask the witnesses in this case be excused from the courtroom." "Certain hardships might result" "There's only one way he can try to prove what he thinks he knows about us." "And that is to bring me to the stand, to ask me the questions, not Jerry or anybody else, just me." "Well." "I-I'm sorry, Jerry." "I'm very sorry." "But I cannot sacrifice Felix." "I will not testify." "Yong woman, you're out of order." "What do you mean you're not going to testify?" "He's my husband, Your Honor." "Felix Heidemann is my husband." "Can I be forced to testify against my husband?" "He was going to have the money by 3:00 the next day." "Did he say where he expected to get the money?" "From Heidemann." "From Heidemann?" "But now, Felix Heidemann was part of the combine that was going to buy him out." "Did he say how he expected to get the money from Heidemann?" "Well, he said that Heidemann and Lisa were trying to protect Mr. Franklin." "That they didn't want him to know that they were married." "It would be a terrible blow to him." "And by threatening to tell Mr. Franklin, he could get the money." "Yes." "Now, Mr. Durant, why did the decedent tell you all this?" "Well, why not?" "Mr. Curtis planned, after he took over the circus, to make me the premier clown." "He was going to get rid of Heidemann." "ALVIN:" "Mm-hm." "Did you witness the performance of Felix Heidemann on the night of the murder?" "DURANT:" "Yes, sir." "Well then, as a clown, as a working member of the profession, what's your expert opinion on the performance that night?" "It was superb." "I've never seen Heidemann in greater form." "Then, as far as you are concerned, it was Felix Heidemann, the defendant, who was performing that night?" "Of course it was." "There's not the slightest doubt about it." "Heidemann is a genius." "Wouldn't it take a bigger genius to impersonate him?" "Thank you." "You may cross-examine." "JUDGE:" "Mr. Mason." "Before you start your cross-examination, if you have no objection," "I'd like to call the noon recess now." "No objection, Your Honor." "Court is adjourned till 2:00 this afternoon." "( tense theme playing )" "Now, as I understand it," "Gerald Franklin was sitting in his wheelchair, watching the performance from here." "Yes." "I think so." "You know so, don't you, Mr. Gilbert?" "Well, yes." "Let's see, he was just about here, in the shadow of the stands." "He had a direct line to the clown in the center of the ring, and Judson Curtis on the other side." "Mr. Mason, if there's any way that I can help..." "Maybe on the stand I can remember some differences in the performance." "Uh, no thank you, Mr. Gilbert." "Now, you were watching the performance from there?" "Yes." "Right there." "And your wife?" "Joyce was sitting right beside me." "Then, when the shooting started, of course we ran out." "Did you notice in which direction the clown was running?" "That's what Lt. Tragg kept after us on." "Yes." "I think I did." "I think he ran back to the dressing rooms." "Nobody followed." "No." "Paul." "Yeah." "Paul, I wonder what happens when it rains." "PAUL:" "Oh, you mean the canvas roof." "MR. GILBERT:" "Oh, that's waterproof, Mr. Mason." "MASON:" "It shouldn't be." "There should be a hole in it." "A bullet hole." "The clown fired up at the platter." "But those were blanks." "One of those blanks killed Curtis, didn't it?" "Yeah, two bullets gone out of six." "But why do you want to find a hole in the roof, Perry?" "That's gonna present quite a problem, without striking the whole tent." "I don't know a better man to tackle it." "This is Durant's dressing room." "Perry, do you want me to get going on that canvas top?" "No, help me here first, Paul." "Sure." "Help you with what?" "Help me find some .38" "caliber blanks." "At least four of them and possibly six." "What blanks would they be?" "Well, if there were real bullets in that .357" "Magnum, then the blanks normally used would have been removed." "You expect to find them here?" "In Durant's dressing room?" "You want to chip in, Mr. Gilbert?" "Yes." "Certainly." "Anything I can do to help." "I noticed you were a little angry at your wife the day you came to my office, Mr. Gilbert." "No." "No I wasn't." "And she told you about that note soon enough?" "No." "What do you mean?" "Perhaps she had some reason for keeping it back." "Perhaps she had some reason for not telling you why she went to Curtis' office in the first place." "And then she went back a second time." "I forgot to ask her what for." "Do you know, Mr. Gilbert?" "No." "What kind of guns do you and your wife use in your act?" "We have them specially made." "Are you a jealous man?" "No." "Why should I be?" "Well, there had been a time when Curtis and Joyce were" "PAUL:" "Perry." "Here they are." "How many, Paul?" "Four." "( ominous theme playing )" "We'd better get back to the courtroom, Mr. Gilbert." "Uh, what about me?" "You cover the world, Paul." "The circus was in financial difficulty, wasn't it, Mr. Durant?" "I'm not an accountant." "Please, speak up, Mr. Durant." "I'm not an accountant." "But you loaned a large sum of money to Judson Curtis to enable him to take over the circus, did you not?" "Well yes, I did." "Why shouldn't I have?" "And he made you a promise at that time." "A promise that you could take over the act belonging to Felix Heidemann." "DURANT:" "Yes." "Now, Mr. Durant, on the afternoon of the murder," "Joyce Gilbert had occasion to go into Mr. Curtis' office." "On his desk she saw a note left there by Felix Heidemann." "Did you see that note?" "No." "You did not see that note?" "No, sir." "It was a note telling Curtis that Heidemann was going to San Francisco and asking Curtis to substitute for him." "What're you asking me all these questions for?" "Because I believe you've been lying, Mr. Durant." "I believe you did see that note." "I believe you destroyed it." "And further," "I believe you took Heidemann's place during his act." "You knew his routine by heart." "His every move, his every gesture." "Under all the paint, who could tell the difference?" "It was your great opportunity, wasn't it, Mr. Durant?" "All right." "Yes, it was my opportunity, and I took it." "Thousands of people laughed and watched and applauded, and thought I was Heidemann." "Curtis watched me," "Franklin watched me, all the professionals watched me and not one of them knew it wasn't Heidemann." "It was a greater performance than Heidemann ever gave." "Then Curtis fell to the ground, and you realized he was dead, and you fled to the dressing room area." "Yes." "Changed to your own clown costume to resume your own identity." "Yes." "Then what, Mr. Durant?" "Well, then there was questioning by Lt. Tragg, and we were taken down to police headquarters." "And released before 3 a.m." "That's right." "Go on." "Well, then I went back to the circus, back to my dressing room." "I got the revolver, got in my car, drove to Carpentaria, to a place where the railroad track crosses the road." "You knew Heidemann was taking that train to San Francisco." "Yes." "I dropped the revolver on the highway." "Trying to implicate Heidemann." "Yes." "I" "I don't suppose you'll believe me, but when I went into the ring, when the act started," "I didn't know the gun was loaded." "I believe you about that, Mr. Durant." "I believe that you did not kill Judson Curtis." "What?" "You thought there were blanks in that gun." "There were." "When you fired up at the spinning platter, you fired a blank cartridge." "Just as you fired a blank cartridge at Curtis." "But that's impossible." "The gun I took to Carpentaria was loaded with real bullets." "When did you first examine that gun?" "When?" "Why" "When I came back from police headquarters." "The only one who could have committed the murder waited for everybody to be taken to police headquarters, then calmly went to your dressing room, took the blanks out of Heidemann's gun, replaced them with four bullets" "and let you take it from there." "The murderer... is the only one who could have shot Curtis without having been observed." "His revolver, the counterpart of Heidemann's gun, concealed by the robe which covered his lap." "Why made you want to kill Curtis, Mr. Franklin?" "Why made you want to kill him?" "I killed him because" "Because he set the tiger on me." "He opened the cage door, knowing I was the only one in the aisle." "Unprotected." "Deliberately." "He wanted to kill me like that." "He set the tiger on me." "Thank you." "( somber theme playing )" "Thank you, Lisa, for those four years." "I never knew." "Thank you." "Curtis was desperate." "Not only couldn't he buy Franklin out, but he'd stolen so much an accounting would have disclosed that Franklin wouldn't have had to pay him one cent." "So that's why he tried to kill Franklin." "MASON:" "That's right." "He had to buy Franklin out, not be bought out." "And there's some other things I dug up." "Things that Perry's known but no one else has." "No one, that is, except Lisa." "About what, Lisa?" "Lisa never really married Gerald Franklin." "No, I didn't." "I wanted everybody else to believe I did." "But it was a mock ceremony." "A friend of mine acted as the magistrate." "So you see," "Lisa has never been legally a bigamist." "Now what happens?" "MASON:" "Now Paul." "Now?" "Now." "Now we're going to celebrate the beginning of a honeymoon you've never had." "There you are." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"