"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( piano music playing)" "David." "( piano music continues )" "( music stops )" "Why do you keep torturing yourself?" "I've compiled the information you wanted." "DAVID:" "Well?" "( sighs )" "You're broke." "There are so many ways to be broke, Andrew." "You're broke in all of them." "Finis, kaput, hasta la vista." "I see." "Forty thousand dollars for a partnership in this company." "If I hadn't had the accident, and if I could still play, still record..." "If." "If you hadn't gone through $100,000 in six months." "If you hadn't paid out $3,500 to the Bend Jewelry Company just the other day." "What was it, something for your wife?" "Well, that kind of extravagance is finis too, whether it's for Anita or anybody else." "You've just got to realize that your means of livelihood is gone." "I'm supposed to see the doctor at 4:00." "The final consultation." "I talked to him 20 minutes ago." "No good?" "David, there's always hope." "New discoveries, new techniques." "Why, it's possible to take a" "To grow new bones, new tendons?" "A fact for you to face, Andrew:" "You're a business manager for someone who has nothing left to manage." "There is something." "Donna, your protégé." "Your partner, Sturgis, tells me he has an offer from The Inn at Tahoe for her." "Four weeks at 6,250 a week." "Now, that's $25,000." "It's out of the question." "Donna will be a concert pianist." "David, you have $910 left in your bank account." "One thing you must remember:" "This will affect Anita as much as it affects you." "( sighs )" "( classical piano music playing )" "( rings )" "Hello?" "DAVID ( on phone ):" "Donna?" "I know you're there, Donna." "And I want to apologize." "A crippled old married man like me, more than 20 years older than you." "Enough years to have learned a little sense." "It won't ever be the same between us now, I know." "( piano music continues )" "But I'm not ashamed." "Donna, the doctor said there's no hope for me." "I'll never play again." "So you'll have to play for both of us." "Donna?" "You know that I love you." "( dramatic piano music playing )" "( dramatic piano theme playing )" "( somber theme playing )" "I don't want it to make a bit of difference, Donna." "All the plans my husband made for you, well, there's no reason for them to be changed." "And" " And they won't be." "It would be terrible if you had to give up your studies now." "It isn't fair to you." "Oh, nonsense, Donna." "As far as the money goes, it's not going to be too much of a strain on me." "Now, if you'd like, you can" "You can give up the cottage here and" " And come and live with me." "I'm all alone in the house now." "Anita, I've already spoken to Mr. Sturgis." "To Eric?" "What about?" "He told me what condition the company is in." "I-if you're worried about the money, Donna, there's the insurance." "There is more than enough for everything." "Now, here." "This is the spare key to my front door." "You're more than welcome to move in just as soon as you like." "Oh, Donna, please, let's try to keep on as it was." "Or almost as it was." "I don't know if I'm going to go on with my studies." "I've had an offer for a lot of money." "Oh, yes." "David said something about that, but, well, that wouldn't be right." "I-it's not concert work." "David wouldn't think of it." "I have to think of it." "It never occurred to me you wouldn't want to go on with your studies, with what David wanted for you." "I can always come back to it." "Oh, no, Donna." "No, you get involved with contracts and itineraries and things." "If David were here, he wouldn't let you." "But David isn't here." "( melancholy theme playing )" "There are the keys." "We are bankrupt, Anita." "I'm closing the company's office." "We'll sell whatever stock is left for the benefit of the creditors." "Eric, what have you been saying to Donna?" "I told her what I told David." "She's a beautiful girl." "And she's got a pair of talented hands." "For the concert stage." "For saloons." "Ted Fielding heard her switch some classical stuff into rock and roll." "He offered her four weeks at 6,250 a week." "That's $25,000." "On a 20-percent manager's contract, which is what your husband signed her to, that comes to 5 grand, Anita." "Five grand." "Donna hasn't made up her mind what she wants to do." "Don't worry about Donna." "Anita, you share Dave's contract, as her manager." "I'll handle her." "All you have to do is sign the release." "That's all that's necessary." "No, Eric." "( doorbell ringing)" "How are you going to carry on for yourself, Anita?" "Where's your money coming from?" "What do you mean?" "Well, th-there's the insurance." "What insurance?" "( doorbell ringing )" "Well, the $150,000 policy." "( door opens )" "David told me he'd taken it out." "We had it taken out." "( door closes )" "Well, yes." "Business insurance." "But it's not collectible." "It's not collectible?" "Why not?" "Hello, Anita." "Andy, is this true?" "About the insurance?" "Yes." "You mean, I don't get my money?" "No, because it was suicide, Anita." "The policy isn't 2 years old yet." "Our friend here would be an expert on the matter." "As a surviving partner in the business, half would go to him." "Collis, maybe you can convince her about Donna Ross." "She's our only asset now." "COLLIS:" "She has a contract with Anita and David for personal management." "It was the intent of the partnership to lump all our assets together." "Is that why you're trying to get Anita to sign over her rights to you?" "STURGIS:" "She's going to sign them over." "COLLIS:" "Now, wait a minute, Sturgis." "You're not going to deal with a bewildered widow." "I'm going to protect her, just like I did David." "STURGIS:" "Aren't you too late starting to protect Anita?" "Where was your protection on that two-year suicide clause in David's insurance?" "Usually that clause is for only one year." "Well, let's just say I'm going to start right now." "Right, Anita?" "Oh, Andy, I-I don't know." "STURGIS:" "Well, so it isn't just cut and dried." "Anita hasn't signed with you, has she, Collis?" "Oh, please, will you leave me alone, both of you?" "I-I don't know what I want to do." "I don't know what to do about Donna, either." "Please, Andy?" "Certainly." "Shall we leave, Sturgis?" "Anita, will you have dinner with me tonight?" "ANITA:" "No, Eric." "Thank you." "I-I'm sorry, Andy." "I just can't seem to think right now." "If you and Eric will only have patience with me..." "Call you later, Anita." "Thank you, Andy." "Goodbye, Anita." "Bye, Eric." "( cars start)" "( doorbell rings)" "Mrs. Carpenter?" "Yes?" "My name is Worthington." "Uh, but, uh..." "You are the Mrs. Carpenter who thinks her husband committed suicide last Thursday?" "Thinks?" "That's right." "He didn't, you understand." "He was murdered." "( dramatic theme playing )" "What's that?" "What are you saying?" "How do you know?" "Oh." "Oh, I know lots of things." "Say for, uh a thousand dollars?" "WORTHINGTON:" "Of course, my first duty is to the law, being a law-abiding citizen, but then it's, um, risky, if you understand me." "Where there's a murder, there's a murderer." "And a murderer can get angry." "Naturally, I don't wanna get hurt by anybody who thinks," ""That George Worthington." "If he'd kept his mouth shut," "I wouldn't be in trouble."" "All right, Worthington," "I'm familiar with all the rationalizations people use to escape their responsibilities as citizens." "I agree with you a hundred percent, Mr. Mason." "Well, Mr. Mason, what do you think of his story?" "I don't know, Mrs. Carpenter." "We'll just have to see." "Now, let's try to remember some of this in detail." "Sure." "You were on the highway." "WORTHINGTON:" "Right." "What was the height of the cliff at that point?" "I'd say about, uh, 100 feet." "That's where the car was perched?" "Right there, right on the edge." "All right, go on." "Well, I looked up from, uh, fixing the tire, and I saw the car, and there were two people there." "Two people, one slumped over the wheel, and the other out of the car, with the door open, and looking down at the bottom." "A man looking down or a woman?" "Couldn't tell." "Could've been either." "Anyway, I wasn't paying much attention at the time." "Most of the person was covered by the car." "Next time I looked up, the car was being pushed to the edge, then it toppled over, and started flying through the air till it hit the bottom." "Meanwhile, up there, somebody, looking down, then turning and running away." "You still couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman?" "No." "Now, how about that $1,000." "Worthington, I want you to identify where you were, where the car was, before you go to the police." "Sure." "Mr. Mason?" "I'd like you to wait here, Mrs. Carpenter." "I'm going to have an investigator trace your husband's activities last Thursday afternoon." "Della?" "Paul?" "Right." "Come on." "And he did not keep his appointment with the doctor." "He left his place of business at 3:30, drove his own car from the parking lot." "Was he alone?" "Well, so the attendant says." "Uh, by the way, where's this guy Worthington?" "I sent him down to headquarters." "That's why the police are here." "Perry, I'm not an expert tracker, but that car went over as though it were coming from Malibu and not from town." "Where is Carpenter's home?" "In town." "Westwood." "Huh." "Wonder what he was doing out here?" "According to the coroner's jury, he was committing suicide." "Well, if he was driving from town, as you say, he would've been heading in this direction." "Unless, of course, he drove past and then doubled back." "Mason?" "We just got a call, asking you to stop in at Lieutenant Tragg's office." "What's it look like?" "Could someone have pushed that car over?" "Well, you wouldn't even have to push it, Mason." "It slopes right there where it went over." "All you'd have to do is release the brake, if you wanted a one-way ride down." "Then a woman could have done it?" "If that's the way it happened, sure." "But you don't know yet how it happened." "I'll just make my report to Lieutenant Tragg." "Fellas." "Well, you made a good try, Perry." "I understand you're interested in the widow trying to get paid on an insurance policy." "I'm also interested when there's a possible homicide instead of an apparent suicide." "Oh, I don't believe that you put Worthington up to it, so it must've been Anita Carpenter." "Put Worthington up to what?" "The barefaced prevarication." "He made up that whole story?" "From A to izzard." "It was nice of you to send him down too." "He gave one of the vice-squad men a chance to spot him in the corridor." "Tell me about it, lieutenant." "Last Thursday, a bookie joint on Figueroa was raided about 5:00, and the vice-squad man recognized Worthington." "Recognized him as being at the bookie's at 5:00, Thursday?" "And the car, with Carpenter in it, went over the cliff miles away at 5:15." "You lied, Worthington?" "Oh, sorry, Mr. Mason." "Who put you up to it?" "Nobody, nobody." "Why would anybody--?" "Then why'd you do it?" "I was just trying to make a few bucks." "It just occurred to me." "That's why I didn't come before today." "Only this morning I figured I could maybe pick up a dollar or two." "It just occurred to you that some insurance was involved?" "Just spontaneously?" "WORTHINGTON:" "Yeah." "Hm." "Illogical, huh?" "That's what I meant, Perry." "And since I don't think you put him up to it," "I'm going to have a talk with your client." "All right, uh, Worthington, you can go now." "And, uh, as I say, I'm grateful to you for sending him down anyway." "Why?" "What did Sergeant Binns report?" "He said a car might've been sitting there on the edge of the embankment, so even if Worthington lied, he made us think in terms of murder." "( dramatic theme playing )" "MASON:" "As I understand it, he'd poured his time and energy into working with his protégé, Miss Ross." "Yes." "So it would seem he did have a purpose in life, a reason for going on." "However, the financial condition of this company has been pretty bad, hasn't it?" "Is pretty bad." "But, uh, the life insurance names you as a beneficiary." "That's right." "Half." "The other half, Anita Carpenter." "If it weren't for the suicide clause." "Yes." "So hiring someone to bring up the question of murder would be in order." "What are you getting at?" "A man named Worthington." "I don't know anybody by that name." "He was hired to establish the fact that David Carpenter did not commit suicide, but was murdered." "Why are you telling this to me?" "Well, only you and Mrs. Carpenter stood to gain if David's death was established as murder." "And Mrs. Carpenter didn't hire Worthington." "All right." "I did." "You paid him to go to the police?" "Yes." "To the police." "When he went to Anita, he was just going after his own private fringe benefits." "He told a remarkable story." "Did he?" "A very convincing story, except that he couldn't possibly have seen any part of what had happened." "So I heard." "I read the papers this morning." "How do you suppose, then, he knew just what to say?" "Came so close to what actually happened?" "You've just saved me $5,000, Mason." "I have?" "Out, Georgie." "You see, Georgie and I were in the middle of a conversation when you came along, Mason." "I didn't want you to see him, of course, so I had him wait in there." "Hello, Mr. Mason." "STURGIS:" "Did you hear what he said, Georgie?" "He wanted to know how you could tell a story about the accident which was so near what actually happened, when you were in a bookie joint on the other side of town." "I heard." "You see, Mason," "Georgie said all he had to do was to go back to the police, say I hired him and told him exactly what to say." "The inference being that since it had actually happened the way he told it," "I was the murderer." "And for a little bit of money, he'd stick to what he told the police, which would protect you." "That's right:" "$5,000 worth." "But now the blackmail is no good, Georgie." "I just confessed to Mason that I hired you, but not that I told you what to say." "Who did tell you Georgie?" "You did." "Heh." "You told me." "( door closes )" "( tense theme playing )" "Did you, Mr. Sturgis?" "No." "When I hired him," "I told him only to make up a story." "( tense theme swells )" "( mysterious theme playing )" "( piano music playing )" "That's beautiful." "( music stops )" "I don't quite place it." "Beethoven, isn't it?" "Who are you?" "My name is Mason, Perry Mason." "You have a wonderful gift." "No wonder David Carpenter was enamored of you." "Enamored?" "Of your musical ability, Miss Ross." "What do you want, Mr. Mason?" "I'm trying to find out whether David killed himself or whether he was killed." "Oh." "Mrs. Carpenter gave me your address." "I don't know how I can help you." "Did you, um--?" "Did you see David last Thursday?" "No." "Did you speak to him?" "Yes, he" " He telephoned." "What time?" "In the afternoon." "One o'clock?" "Two o'clock?" "A little bit later, I think." "Perhaps about 3:30." "Just before he left his office." "Did he say he was going home?" "No, not that I remember." "Perhaps he was going for a drive, and wanted you to join him?" "No." "Perhaps he just wanted to talk to you." "He did come out this way." "The car went over the cliff in a manner indicating he'd come from this direction, not from town." "Were you at home all afternoon last Thursday?" "Yes." "Mr. Mason" "If he had wanted to go for a drive, is there any reason he wouldn't have taken his wife?" "No, why should there be?" "I don't understand what you're getting at." "A man finds out he'll never play the piano again." "He doesn't tell his wife." "He tells another woman." "You, Miss Ross?" "Mr. Mason, you're implying that David and I" "That Mr. Carpenter and I" "You're very attractive." "You've been thrown into intimate contact with a man whose whole life, after a tragic accident, could have been devoted to you." "David must have seen in you his hope for the future." "Had he made love to you?" "Was he in love with you?" "No." "No." "No." "Did Mrs. Carpenter know?" "( footsteps)" "The door was open." "Forgive me, counselor." "The reason you're not getting any answers is because you're asking the questions from the wrong point of view." "Who is it?" "What do you want?" "This is Lieutenant Tragg of, uh, Homicide." "The question should be, um," ""Were you in love with David Carpenter?"" "Did he make all kinds of promises to you?" "Did he promise to get a divorce and marry you?" "And then, did he renege on his promises and leave you high and dry?" "It seems as though you aren't asking the right questions, either, lieutenant." "Well, whatever the right questions are," "I've got a better chance of getting the right answers down at headquarters." "Lieutenant, do you have a warrant?" "Yes." "( dramatic theme playing )" "She couldn't have." "She couldn't have done it." "I don't see how they could have arrested her." "Well, I don't know all the evidence against her," "Mrs. Carpenter, but the police don't arrest people without reason." "Yes, but she's only a girl." "She's only 20 years old." "Murders have been committed by girls a lot younger." "Do you think she killed David?" "Well, I don't know whether she did or didn't." "I don't even know if a murder has been committed." "Will you defend her, Mr. Mason?" "How do you know she wants me to defend her?" "Of course she does, I'll speak to her." "You understand if I do represent her, it severs my responsibilities to you." "What does that mean?" "My primary concern would be to exonerate her." "And that could be rough on innocent bystanders." "I've only loved two people on earth, Mr. Mason." "David, my husband, I've lost him." "Donna, the daughter I never had." "I don't want to lose her." "( intercom beeps)" "Yes, Della?" "DELLA:" "Mr. Andrew Collis is here." "Yes, please." "Would you, um, bring him in, please?" "Mr. Mason," "I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I just saw Donna." "Yes?" "I told her you wanted Mr. Mason to represent her." "ANITA:" "Yes, I think he will." "Won't you, Mr. Mason?" "I'm afraid you're too late." "She's already hired another lawyer." "ANITA:" "Did she say who?" "COLLIS:" "No." "She just said she wanted someone she could afford to pay for herself." "She, uh, doesn't want any more charity." "( tense theme playing )" "Anything wrong, Mr. Mason?" "Um, no, the, uh, sandwich was fine." "I'm through with it." "Thank you, Alice." "MASON:" "California State Penal Code, Section 1362, dealing in competency as evidence when witness u" "Ah, let's get back with this." "California State Penal Code, Section 1362, dealing in competency as evidence when witness unable to attend." "Subject to objection." "Depositions taken under the commission may be read in evidence by either" "Uh, incidentally, Mrs. Carpenter was in this morning while you were in court." "Oh?" "She's been after Donna to ask you to represent her." "And she's convinced Donna that while her attorney is terribly earnest, he's terribly young and inexperienced, and in terribly over his head." "I think the parting was mutually agreeable." "They've come to a parting?" "Donna discharged him." "And" " And he said, how could he possibly represent a client who was holding something back." "Poor Donna." "She must be very embarrassed." "Probably doesn't know how to ask you to be her attorney now." "( tense piano theme playing )" "DELLA:" "What are you doing?" "MASON:" "I just remembered the title to a beautiful Beethoven overture." "I'd like to make a telephone call, please." "To my attorney, Mr. Mason." "( dramatic theme playing )" "We will prove that the defendant," "Donna Lenore Ross, with malice aforethought, did put to death her benefactor, David Carpenter, at approximately 5:15 on the afternoon of August 5 this year." "Because of thwarted love, tangled emotions and frustrated ambitions." "We will prove that this young woman is emotionally immature." "She mistook affection, goodness, unstinting generosity for love and passion, and that this mistake led her to make impossible demands and eventually, to murder." "Death was caused by severe crushing internal injuries." "Could these injuries have been sustained as a result of a car falling over a 100-foot cliff?" "Yes, sir." "Exactly." "Now, doctor, I ask you to examine this photograph of the decedent's head." "It shows the severe lacerations, the head injury, and the tiny slivers of glass." "Would you please explain?" "DOCTOR:" "Well, decedent was struck on the head by an instrument that was associated in some way with glass." "At first it was believed to be from the windshield, but thenwe found it was not." "I show you this flashlight and ask if you can identify it." "Yes, sir." "It is marked." "Could the head injury have been administered with this?" "Yes, sir, it could." "The lens glass matched the slivers found in the head wound." "I ask this photograph be marked as State's Exhibit Number One, and this flashlight as State's Exhibit Number Two." "Mr. Mason?" "No objection." "Now, doctor, did your autopsy reveal when this blow was struck?" "That is, in relation to death?" "Well, it was struck prior to death." "It caused unconsciousness." "LAWYER:" "That would eliminate the possibility of suicide, would it not, doctor?" "DOCTOR:" "Yes, sir." "It would have been impossible for decedent to inflict that flashlight wound on himself, and then have driven the car over the cliff." "LAWYER:" "Thank you." "Now, the fragments of glass found in the decedent's hair and scalp were found to match the fragments of glass from this flashlight, and you then had laboratory tests made of the blood and hair found on the flashlight?" "Yes, the blood is the same type as the decedent's, and the hairs the same type, in, uh, appearance and structure, as the decedent's." "Now, did you have, uh, this flashlight tested for fingerprints?" "The only clear and identifiable prints were those of the deceased and of the defendant." "LAWYER:" "Did you have a fingerprint examination made of the interior of the decedent's car?" "Yes, sir." "We found several of the defendant's prints." "What else did you find in the decedent's car, lieutenant?" "Well, in a, uh, waste container" "Uh, yes, sir." "A cleansing tissue smeared with lipstick." "Now, I show you this lipstick, and I ask if you can identify it?" "Yes, sir." "This was found in the defendant's handbag at the time of the arrest." "LAWYER:" "Did you have a comparison test made between this lipstick and this lipstick-smeared tissue?" "Yes." "We tested the make, the composition and the color." "They were the same all right." "I ask these items be placed in evidence as follows:" "Lipstick A and Tissue B, as State's Exhibits Seven and Eight." "Now, where do you live, Mr. Gracie?" "11205 Sunset Canyon Lane." "Do you know the defendant, Donna Ross?" "Oh, yes." "She lives down the road from me." "And did you know the deceased, David Carpenter?" "The pianist fellow?" "Sure, and his wife too." "They used to come to visit Miss Ross." "Did you ever see Mr. Carpenter visit Miss Ross alone?" "Oh, yes, most of the time." "He was teaching her." "Now, Mr. Gracie, would you describe what you saw on the afternoon of Thursday, August the 5th?" "Well, Mr. Carpenter, he came to see Miss Ross." "Go on, Mr. Gracie." "Well, from my house usually I hear the piano practicing from Miss Ross' cottage." "It's really wonderful, even the exercises and scales." "Did you hear this piano on the afternoon of Thursday, August the 5th?" "GRACIE:" "Uh, no, sir." "And, uh, what did you do, Mr. Gracie?" "Well, after a little while, I went down to say hello." "Go on." "Well, there's nothing to go on about." "Before I got there, I saw Mr. Carpenter's car driving off and Miss Ross crying, looking after him." "Then she ran to her car, got in, and drove off after Mr. Carpenter." "Thank you, Mr. Gracie." "Cross-examine." "Mr. Gracie, did you observe anyone else visiting Miss Ross on the afternoon of Thursday, August 5th?" "Oh, no, sir." "Oh." "Could someone have paid her a visit without your being aware of it?" "Yes, I-I-I don't keep that strict a lookout." "Now, did you recognize Mr. David Carpenter as his car was driving away?" "Recognize him?" "Oh, I guess so." "Well, your words were that you saw Mr. Carpenter's car driving off, but you did not say Mr. Carpenter was driving it." "Well, you know, I-I don't recollect seeing him, just the car disappearing." "Thank you, Mr. Gracie." "That'll be all." "LAWYER:" "How long did your husband tutor the defendant, Mrs. Carpenter?" "For more than three years, since her parents died." "Now, was there ever any hint or suggestion that this teacher-pupil relationship changed during the last six months?" "No." "Now, Mrs. Carpenter, as a hostile witness, you still must answer to the best of your ability." "That's what I've been doing." "Then did your husband ever speak of Miss Ross in a romantic way?" "Now, perhaps suggest that she'd grown into a very lovely woman?" "That would be a hint or a suggestion." "No." "LAWYER:" "Were there many occasions when they were alone in Miss Ross' cottage?" "ANITA:" "Only while she practiced." "Nights?" "No." "Never?" "No." "No, never." "Not alone." "Perhaps they kept secrets from you, Mrs. Carpenter." "I show you this diamond bracelet." "Do you recognize it?" "No." "LAWYER:" "You never saw it before?" "ANITA:" "No." "It was purchased by your husband just three days prior to his death." "Oh, yes, now I remember." "He said he was going to get me one for my birthday." "Your birthday is April of next year, Mrs. Carpenter." "I-I mean my anniversary." "Six months ago?" "Now, come, Mrs. Carpenter, did your husband tell you he intended to give this to you?" "Yes, yes." "Of course he did." "Then why was it found in the cottage of the defendant," "Miss Donna Ross?" "Your Honor, I ask this bracelet be placed in evidence as State's Exhibit Number 17." "JUDGE:" "Mr. Mason?" "No objection, Your Honor." "And I would like a transcript of this witness's testimony for future study." "I have no more questions." "Mr. Mason?" "No questions." "LAWYER:" "Call Andrew Collis." "Now, Mr. Collis, what was the state of Mr. Carpenter's finances on the 1st of this year?" "His bank balance was close to $80,000." "As his business manager, would you please tell the jury what happened to caused this balance to shrink to $900?" "Well, several things happened." "What, Mr. Collis?" "Well, there was the car." "Oh?" "What car?" "Miss Ross' new car." "He bought it for her." "LAWYER:" "Anything else?" "Well, the cottage." "Oh, what about the cottage?" "He bought that outright for her." "He put that in her name?" "Yes." "I see." "Anything else?" "Well, there was the $500-a-month allowance." "I see." "Now, what about that bracelet?" "Did he say for whom he bought that?" "No." "Well, didn't you ask him?" "Yes, I asked him if he'd bought it for Anita." "His wife." "And what did he say?" "He didn't say he'd bought it for her." "Thank you." "Cross-examine." "Mr. Collis, when did the subject of the bracelet come up?" "That afternoon, Thursday, in his office." "And the time?" "Around 3:30." "What else did you discuss at that time?" "His finances and Donna." "And whether he would allow her to accept a commercial engagement at Lake Tahoe." "Yes." "And what was your, uh, position in that discussion?" "That the money would be most welcome." "His position?" "That she should continue with her concert training." "Mr. Collis, when did you become" "David Carpenter's business manager?" "More than ten years ago." "Was he married at that time?" "No." "Did you know Mrs. Carpenter before they were married?" "Well, yes." "Now isn't it true that without the possibility of Donna Ross taking up the financial slack, you would be without a job?" "( sighs )" "Well, Mr. Collis?" "Well, I" "I guess you might say I would be." "There was nothing left to manage." "Now, Mr. Collis, did you speak with David Carpenter's doctor about, uh, 3:00 the afternoon of Thursday, August 5th?" "Yes, I did." "And he told you that a consultation of doctors confirmed the diagnosis that David would never play the concert piano again?" "Yes." "Now, did you give that information to David Carpenter?" "Yes." "And after you left David Carpenter's office that afternoon, where did you go?" "I had some account work to do." "I went back to my own office." "Can your secretary corroborate that?" "I don't have any secretary." "I don't see what that" "I suggest, Mr. Collis, that you did not go to your office that afternoon." "I suggest that instead, you went to see Anita Carpenter and told her about David's hand." "I didn't see her until later that night, where David's body was found." "Are you in love with Anita Carpenter, Mr. Collis?" "What?" "MASON:" "I said, are you in love with Anita Carpenter?" "Haven't you been in love with her for years?" "Objection, Your Honor." "The question is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial." "And it's improper." "It's not related to direct examination." "I'll withdraw the question." "I'm finished with the witness." "The, um, court is recessed until, uh, 1:30 this afternoon." "And I would remind the jury that it's their duty not to converse with or to be addressed by any other person on any subject of this trial." "( ominous theme playing )" "And now I think you understand why you should have told me what happened between you and David, instead of letting me guess." "Yes." "Well, I'd like not to do any more guessing." "It has almost all been told in the courtroom." "The gifts?" "I-I didn't want them." "What about the bracelet?" "He left it on the mantel without telling me." "I didn't even know he had left it there until the police found it later." "The flashlight, the fingerprints?" "I've used his car so many times, and the flashlight too." "And the tissue with the lipstick smeared on it?" "He kissed me." "You mean, he made advances to you and you rejected him." "I didn't know how to handle it, Mr. Mason." "I'd idolized him." "He was always David Carpenter, a wonderful man." "What do you do when--?" "When suddenly you find that someone's thinking of you in a way" "I-in a way" "You became frightened." "And so lost." "So suddenly all muddled up." "I didn't know what to say to him." "He was such a sensitive man." "I couldn't hurt him." "And then I think he understood that" "That I didn't think of him that way." "I didn't love him that way." "Why the devil have you been holding all this back, keeping it secret?" "Because I didn't want to hurt Mrs. Carpenter." "You didn't want what?" "I didn't want to hurt Mrs. Carpenter." "( somber theme playing )" "Then on the day you received this bona fide offer from The Inn at Lake Tahoe, you told the defendant about it?" "That's right." "All right, go on, Mr. Sturgis." "Well, she didn't throw me out of her house." "What do you mean?" "Well, she knew what the score was with David's bank account, and she contemplated the idea of sacrificing her art for the almighty buck, without too much strain." "She knew that David Carpenter's funds were low?" "Sure she did." "It was no secret." "Now, did you also tell your partner, Mr. Carpenter, about this offer?" "Several times." "And his position?" "Negative." "Art for art's sake." "Then there was a definite point of difference between Mr. Carpenter and the defendant?" "Yes, sir." "Thank you." "Cross-examine." "Mr. Sturgis, did you also discuss the Lake Tahoe offer with Mrs. Carpenter?" "I may have." "MASON:" "Did you?" "Yes." "What was her feeling in the matter?" "Well, she really didn't know." "Didn't she tell you she believed that Miss Ross should keep on with her serious studies?" "Yes, I guess she did say that." "What was your response to that?" "Objection, Your Honor." "Question is incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant, and improper." "It goes into matters not part of direct examination." "Mr. Mason, you are going rather far afield." "I intend to connect up all these matters, Your Honor." "On your assurance that you will connect them up," "I will overrule the objection." "Now, I'll be blunt, Mr. Sturgis." "Did you threaten Mrs. Carpenter in any way when she told you that she was against" "Miss Ross accepting the Lake Tahoe offer?" "No." "What do you mean "threaten"?" "Do you know a man by the name of George Worthington?" "STURGIS:" "Yes." "MASON:" "Did you hire Mr. Worthington to make a statement to the police?" "STURGIS:" "Yes." "Will you please tell this jury exactly what you said to him." "I" " Well, it was after David died." "I told Worthington to make up a story to fit the facts so it would look like murder." "Why did you want it to look like murder?" "Your Honor." "Never mind, counselor." "I want to hear this now." "Well, Mr. Sturgis?" "Why did you want it to look like murder and not suicide?" "( sighs )" "Well, there was an insurance policy." "It would pay off for murder or accident, but not suicide." "She shared in it too." "Anita." "Mrs. Carpenter." "Yes." "Let's get back to Mrs. Carpenter." "Didn't you threaten her by saying you would accuse her of telling George Worthington exactly how the murder or accident took place?" "And what you wanted for your silence was the managerial contract for Donna Ross?" "N-no." "Uh, that's not true." "You did not want the managerial contract?" "Uh, well, that's true, but I did not" "You did not stand to gain through David Carpenter's death?" "No, you're twisting" "Wasn't it you who told George Worthington exactly how that car went over the cliff?" "No, no." "Your Honor, I-- I ask the court's indulgence." "I know this is unusual procedure, but I would now like to cross-examine Anita Carpenter." "Mr. Chamberlin?" "Your Honor, counsel was offered opportunity to cross-examine Mrs. Carpenter at the proper time." "I don't see why procedure should be violated in this way." "Is, um, this part of the connecting-up process too, Mr. Mason?" "It is, Your Honor." "Then I will permit you to continue." "Mrs. Carpenter to the stand, please." "You may step down, Mr. Sturgis." "You are still under oath, Mrs. Carpenter." "Yes." "I am going to ask you, Mrs. Carpenter, if the sum and substance of my charges against Eric Sturgis is correct." "He was trying to blackmail you, was he not?" "Yes." "Now, about Andrew Collis." "He also wanted to manage Miss Ross, did he not?" "Well, yes, but I don't understand." "You see, he never tried to force me into anything." "But he wouldn't." "He's in love with you, isn't he?" "Sorry, Mr. Mason." "I-I don't know." "He never said a word to me about that, but then of course he wouldn't." "Of course." "Now, Mrs. Carpenter, do you recall a conversation in my office when you asked me to defend Miss Ross?" "Yes." "I told you the time might come when, in defending her, someone else might get hurt?" "You did." "Where were you on the afternoon of the murder," "Mrs. Carpenter?" "I was at home." "MASON:" "No, Mrs. Carpenter, you were not at home." "Mr. Collis went to your home that afternoon to tell you about the doctor's consultation." "He didn't find you until later, at the scene of the murder." "I can't seem to recall." "I might have stepped out for a moment." "Much more than a moment, Mrs. Carpenter." "You went to the defendant's home, did you not?" "You wanted to speak to her?" "To Donna?" "No, I didn't speak to her." "I didn't say you spoke to her." "I said you went there to see her." "You drove there." "Did you overhear your husband making love to her?" "No." "I suspected." "I didn't know until I found out here in court." "MASON:" "And when he drove away, you went after him." "ANITA:" "I don't see how you can say such a thing, Mr. Mason." "What you found out here in court was that Miss Ross also followed him in her car." "You must know by now that she saw you stop your husband's car on the cliff road." "The reason she made no spirited defense was" "I haven't said anything, Anita." "I haven't said anything!" "No, Donna, no." "Of course you haven't." "So it's up to you now, Mrs. Carpenter." "Sturgis told George Worthington to go to the police, but you were the one who told Worthington exactly what to say so his story would be more convincing." "Yes, that's true." "It's all true." "I did follow David when he left Donna's cottage, and when I stopped him, he said that he wanted a divorce, that he was in love with Donna, even though she wasn't in love with him." "That his life was finished, and he didn't want to live with me anymore." "Well, I got angry." "I got so angry and so jealous that" "The flashlight was right there, and I-I grabbed it and I" "And I hit him and I hit him." "And then the blood came and he" "He slumped over the steering wheel." "I got out of the car." "His hand must have hit the brake release because the car started to roll forward." "I-I was out of the car." "I-- How could I stop it?" "I-I tried." "I tried to reach the brake but" "I cou" " I couldn't hold the car." "It kept rolling forward, faster and faster." "I couldn't stop it, I couldn't hold it." "( sobs ):" "Oh, please, please, I loved him so" "( sobbing )" "( tender theme playing )" "She was after me all the time I was in custody." "She kept saying, "Donna, let Mr. Mason defend you."" "She took a calculated risk, Donna." "What do you mean?" "Well, she knew if you were found guilty, she'd have to give herself up so" "So she figured that she'd take the chance that Perry could get you off and perhaps not get on to the fact that she'd committed the crime." "Oh." "What's going to happen to her now, Mr. Mason?" "Well, it's not premeditated murder, but she'll still have to stand trial." "After that, it's up to the judge." "Now, what's going to happen to you?" "Fidelity seems to be the theme in what has happened, so this is for you." "( upbeat piano theme playing )" ""Fidelio"?" "When did you record it?" "This morning." "It's only until I can afford to pay you with money." "Oh, no, I'll accept this." "So you're going ahead with your plans for concert work?" "Yes, Mr. Mason." "You'll keep in touch with us?" "Yes." "Goodbye, darling." "Goodbye." "And good luck." "Thank you." "Well, I, uh, wonder if she'll remember." "What, Paul?" "To send us tickets to her first concert." "Della, remind her to send us four tickets." "Four?" "There are only three of us." "Well, you should be able to find a blond music-lover." "( laughs )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"