"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( eerie theme playing )" "The shutter's muffled and can't be heard." "The light's infrared and can't be seen." "It's a brand-new model." "Automatic and foolproof." "As soon as that safe door opens, the picture's snapped." "Since you already have a darkroom here in the house, you don't even have to call us to develop it." "We've found it the most effective discourager of burglaries yet devised." "I don't wanna discourage a burglary," "I wanna catch one while it's happening." "Oh." "Well, this'll do it." "After you've made the print, turn it over to the police." "They'll find him." "I already know where to find him." "He's a member of my household." "One of my two nephews." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Your father's will provides that the estate remain in trust until you are 25, Harry." "Yes." "Nine months from now." "Are you in, uh, financial difficulties again?" "No." "It's just that he needs money." "How much?" "Ten thousand dollars." "What do you need that much money for?" "I need it." "For what?" "I just need it." "Well, I'm trustee of the estate, and I'm not giving it to you." "What're you working on, uncle?" "ADAM:" "The, eh, La Costa Development." "That's the big one, isn't it?" "Figure out where you're gonna put it?" "I think so, Elliott." "You ought to be careful the information doesn't get out." "Some people would be willing to give a pretty penny if they knew where the next Thompson development was gonna be located." "The price of land would skyrocket." "I'm, uh, gratified at your concern, Elliott." "I've only now made up my mind." "By noon tomorrow," "I'll have had arrangements made to purchase the land." "Ellen?" "Yes?" "Lock it away." "Yes, sir." "Good night, Mr. Thompson." "Daddy says he'd see you at the office tomorrow." "I hope you make a hundred business deals and a million dollars so you can afford to give Harry a raise." "Well, thank you, Lydia." "Does, uh, he want the money for you?" "Harry doesn't tell me his financial problems." "I'm only his fiancée, not his wife." "Maybe he wants to give me a solitaire." "If he does, I vote for you giving him the money." "Good night, dear." "Good night." "Harry." "Uncle." "Elliott." "Good night, Uncle Adam." "Oh, Ellen." "You can go." "You've had a long day." "Oh, thank you, Mr. Thompson." "Good night." "( door closes )" "( ominous theme playing )" "You looking for something?" "My money." "My own money." "Come now, cousin." "We both know you're not after the money in that safe." "Well, what else would I be after?" "The map." "The marked map." "You're crazy." "Okay." "Okay, Harry, my boy." "But now I think you better not open that safe." "Well, you" "You could just forget you saw me." "Well, you open it and I'll tell the old boy I saw you here." "But why?" "Uncle Adam has been watching me like a hawk lately." "If he finds anything missing, he'll be sure I took it." "Oh, good morning, Ellen." "Good morning, Mr. Thompson." "You've been in the darkroom so early this morning?" "Yep." "Well, it's good to see you more like yourself, Mr. Thompson." "I have been moping a bit lately." "But I've just had good news." "On that negative?" "As a matter of fact, yes." "There's nothing on it." "No." "Nobody went to this safe after you put the map in it last night." "Well, of course not." "Why should anyone?" "Well, I was afraid somebody might." "Do you remember that, eh, parcel of land down by the beach that I bought last month?" "The one where the price went up more than $75,000 over the weekend?" "Yeah." "I'm ashamed to say that I thought one of the boys thought more of money than he did of me." "That he would take advantage of your confidence?" "Well, I should think you would be ashamed." "But what has that got to do with the picture?" "I wanted to make positive sure, Ellen." "Did you hear me say that I was gonna close on this piece of property before noon today?" "Yes." "Well, now, if Harry and Elliott wanted to make capital of this information, they'd have tried to get at it." "But neither one of them did." "That safe remained closed all night." "Nobody got at it." "No, nobody knows that these 309 acres are located" "Between Creek Road past the county line on the north, west to the border of Market Road, and east through the county easement." "Three hundred and nine acres in all." "That's the package." "You're a man of vision, Mr. Durstine." "Am I?" "I've had people look at this land without realizing that in 15, 20 years, it'll be worth five times the purchase price." "Sometimes events move even faster." "Ten percent down on a 60-day option, you said?" "That's right." "It comes to $37,000." "It's a deal." "Let's go to your office, draw up the papers," "I'll give you my check." "Sorry to put you to work on Saturday, but I've a plane to catch to Philadelphia." "No trouble at all." "I tell you, I can't understand it, Mason." "Look here." "That land was sold this morning, and it is impossible for that information to be gotten out of the safe." "As of late yesterday afternoon, I hadn't made up my mind where were gonna locate our new development." "You can ask my general manager Jarrett, here." "That's right." "Mr. Thompson has always maintained complete secrecy." "Even on the rather extensive preliminary costs:" "licenses, rights of way, and the very expensive commitments." "I see." "Then you went home and marked the map, baiting the trap for one of your nephews?" "Yes." "Nobody had any, uh, hints or foreknowledge?" "Nobody possibly could." "And this morning?" "Well, the infrared camera was operative but had not been tripped." "I'm willing to bet my very last cent that that safe was not opened and the map was not removed from it." "And yet, through some kind of weird magic, this very piece of land that I'd marked off in crayon was sold this morning." "The exact boundaries, Mason." "How much more is this gonna cost you?" "Ordinarily, a couple of hundred thousand dollars, because I would have invested that much more in, eh, preliminary costs." "But this time, not a blessed cent." "Do you think that I've lived 69 years to be made a fool of by a boy in his 20's?" "You mean, those were, um, fake crayon marks on that map?" "Well, I never had the slightest intention of buying that particular acreage." "The only consolation I have is that someone has bought himself a $37,000 pig in a poke." "Someone?" "Didn't the real estate office get his name?" "ADAM:" "Yeah." "On his check." "Norman Durstine." "Come Monday morning 10:00, it will be presented for collection at a local bank." "Well, with all this information, it shouldn't be too difficult to find this Durstine fellow." "Ah." "You won't have to." "I've got his address too." "It's back in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania." "Let me see." "It's, um, 1221 A Street." "He's probably flying back on his way east now." "Just what do you want me to do for you, Mr. Thompson?" "Well, I'm stumped, Mason." "I need help." "Which one of the boys got into the safe and told the mysterious Mr. Durstine?" "Are you interested?" "Oh, yes." "If we can't get at the truth at your end, we'll have to attack it from the other end." "Through this chap who bought the land, this Norman Durstine." "He must have some connection with one of the boys." "We'll just have to find out what it is." "( dramatic theme playing )" "It's the way I set myself up." "I wasn't worried about exposure." "The deal would have been over and done with before it could be traced to me." "Now I'm out on a limb for $37,000." "I tried to get in touch with the man to whom I gave the check." "He's out of town, can't be reached." "This doesn't involve you, it only involves me." "I'm explaining it to you because these circumstances force me to increase my demands on you." "I want $100,000." "It was 10 the other day, and I couldn't get that." "I may have a day or two before Mason backtracks to me." "You have the same period of time." "A hundred thousand dollars." "Even if it was possible, today's Saturday, the bank's closed." "You own this building, you have a home, you have two cars, you have a daughter who has jewelry that was left to her by your wife." "You can arrange it by Monday noon." "You'd take everything?" "You'd strip me?" "When everything comes out, I'm finished here." "I'll have no recourse, no job, nothing." "You'll at least have your profession." "Oh." "Am I interrupting?" "JARRETT:" "No." "We're just finishing." "How are you, Lydia?" "Fine, Mr. Jarrett." "What is it, Dad?" "Oh, it's nothing." "No, tell me." "Does it have something to do with $10,000?" "Lydia, years ago, when I got my architect's license, there were certain papers:" "school credits, affidavits, that, uh, weren't quite in order." "Oh." "I don't know how Jarrett got onto it, but he has some correspondence with people back east that could take away my license, if it became known." "Jarrett is making demands on me." "( ominous theme playing )" "This is it, Perry." "Durstine?" "Well, it's the address I got from Philadelphia." "It's lucky I had a friend there." "I wouldn't have been on this till Monday or Tuesday." "Was it a residence?" "No." "Just a mailing address." "Under a business name." "What name?" "JL Construction Company." "And this is the Los Angeles address." "( doorbell rings )" "Nobody home." "Yeah." "I checked the phone." "It's not listed under the JL Construction Company." "( rumbling )" "Paul..." "Not listed under the name Durstine either." "What's the matter?" "You hear something?" "Yeah, that's a hum of some kind." "The rear of the house." "Coming from in there." "Carbon monoxide." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Is he dead?" "Yes." "Well, that must be Durstine." "It might be, but he was introduced as Frank Jarrett, general manager of the Adam Thompson Company." "Oh, so he must've realized that the information leak would be traced back to him." "Well, the poor guy decided to commit suicide." "Wait a minute." "No, he didn't." "Not with all those bruises all over his head." "Come on, Paul." "Let's call Homicide." "( dramatic theme swells )" "( eerie theme playing )" "He, uh, looked as though he'd been in a fight, lieutenant." "Was he unconscious when the motor was turned on?" "The doc says it'll take a while to answer that." "Perry." "Hm?" "Did you, uh, know Frank Jarrett?" "Yes, I've met him." "Huh?" "Where?" "In my office." "Client?" "No, no." "He was introduced to me as general manager of the Thompson Development Company." "Oh." "The subdividers." "That's right." "What brought you out here?" "As a matter of fact, lieutenant," "I was looking for a man by the name of Norman Durstine." "Who's Norman Durstine?" "I don't know." "Well, why were you looking for him here?" "His trail led here." "Hm..." "Looking for Durstine, you wound up finding Jarrett." "Mm-hm." "Uh, Paul Drake in on this?" "In looking for Durstine?" "Uh, why, yes." "Where is he?" "Performing a chore." "Now, Perry, would you like to tell me all about it?" "Lieutenant, I'll, uh, answer any questions I possibly can." "All right." "Let's start with who your client is." "Adam Thompson." "What are you representing him for?" "Uh-uh." "You must know Harry Thompson?" "No, I've never met him." "He's Adam Thompson's nephew." "I believe he works for Adam." "Then you don't represent Harry Thompson?" "No, I don't." "Good." "Because we found his wallet on the floor in the house." "The room was a shambles." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( thud )" "Anybody here?" "( phone ringing )" "Hello." "Hello." "Hello," "Hello?" "What are you doing here, Harry?" "You look like you've been in a fight." "Did you do this?" "Yes." "Why?" "I was looking for something." "What?" "Evidence of your collusion with Frank Jarrett?" "What collusion?" "To buy land I'd selected for subdivision and hold me up for a bonus payment." "No." "Oh, no, Uncle Adam, I swear not." "Why, then?" "I can't tell you." "It has nothing to do with company business." "Did you get into the wall safe at home last night?" "No." "Did you learn where I marked off the 309 acres?" "No." "Elliott said something about that." "I didn't." "You're my brother's son." "I've tried to be a father to you." "I know you have, Uncle Adam." "( footsteps approaching )" "You Adam Thompson?" "Yes." "Homicide." "Lieutenant Tragg." "Jarrett's office?" "Yes, lieutenant." "Yeah." "What were you, uh, looking for?" "Oh, the office was like this when I came in." "Oh, then you, uh, didn't come in together." "Just a moment-- I'll handle this, Mason." "You Harry Thompson?" "Yes." "What's this homicide about?" "Frank Jarrett was found murdered." "Murdered?" "Jarrett, dead?" "I guess we better take a little trip downtown." "Mason." "Oh, lieutenant, I'm sure you'll tell the boy that he can ask the advice of an attorney before he answers any of your questions." "Mm-hm." "( door closes )" "Did Harry come up here with you, Mr. Thompson?" "No." "No, he didn't." "Then, uh, he was here when you arrived?" "Yes." "Will you act as his attorney, Mason?" "There are certain elements in this case of which you may not be aware." "Oh, that's all right." "I just want him to have the best support possible." "Will you?" "I'll talk with him." "You know, if he becomes my client," "I'd be committed to him." "What does that mean?" "I'd let the chips fall where they may." "He'd be my primary concern." "Oh." "Yes, of course." "Yes." "I understand." "I'll still wanna talk with him before I make any decision." "That mean you wanna find out first whether he's guilty or not?" "No." "Just whether I wanna represent him or not." "What was he looking for in there?" "He wouldn't tell me." "Maybe he'll tell me." "No, Mr. Mason." "I'm sorry." "I can't tell you." "Is it personal?" "Yes." "The police are likely to think that your going through" "Jarrett's office may be connected with his murder." "I didn't kill him." "But you did go to his house this afternoon." "Yes." "Late this afternoon." "On the same matter?" "Yes." "What time was that?" "I got there about ten of 5." "What started the fight?" "I accused him of something, and he got difficult." "It must have been something pretty important." "It was." "The police found your wallet on the floor." "I realized it was missing after I left." "Was he in the house when you left?" "On the floor." "Out cold." "After you left, what did you do?" "I" " I'd searched the house with no luck." "I thought the thing I was looking for might be in his office." "Why didn't you go back for your wallet when you discovered it was gone?" "Didn't you realize it could be evidence?" "Evidence of what?" "I didn't do anything." "I thought I'd get it later." "I just wanted to get to his office as quickly as possible." "Do you know about the infrared camera your uncle had installed by the wall safe at home?" "Yes." "I know about it now." "But I didn't last night." "Do you have any thoughts on how someone could've circumvented the camera and opened the safe?" "No." "No?" "No, I have no idea how it could've been done." "What have you told the police?" "Nothing." "I just said I wanted to speak to my attorney first." "You know, the way you indicated." "Harry, are you trying to protect someone?" "Your uncle?" "Your, um, cousin Elliott?" "Do you have a girl?" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Morning, Della." "( over intercom ):" "Morning, Mr. Mason." "Oh, from the tone of your voice, it appears we have a visitor." "Mm-hm." "She's quite lovely." "Someone I know?" "Lydia Logan." "Strike a note?" "No." "I had time to find out she's engaged to Harry Thompson." "Oh." "Has Paul been in?" "Mm-hm." "He said to tell you that he spoke to the infrared camera technician, who stated positively nothing could have gone wrong." "If anyone opened that safe, the picture would've been taken." "All right, Della." "Please ask Miss Logan to come in." "Mm-hm." "Won't you come in?" "Won't you, uh, sit down, Miss Logan?" "Mr. Mason." "( door closes )" "Mr. Mason, I trust your discretion because I know your reputation and because you represent Harry." "We're going to be married when this is all straightened out." "I'm afraid it's because of me that he's got himself into trouble." "How?" "Because 20 years ago, when my father got his architect's license, certain school papers, credits, weren't quite in order." "And if it became known, he might lose his license." "I see." "My father doesn't know how Mr. Jarrett got onto it, but it seems he had correspondence that established the irregularities." "So he, uh, blackmailed your father?" "Yes." "And I told Harry about it." "Go on." "Well, don't you see?" "Harry went to Mr. Jarrett's house, they got in an argument." "And then suddenly, Harry thought that perhaps the correspondence might be in the office." "That's what he was searching for." "Does your father work for the Thompson Development Company?" "Well, he has his own office." "But he has been doing work for them." "Now, as I understand it, your father was not present when the map was put into the safe." "No." "But I was." "Uh, Mr. Thompson went upstairs to bed when the safe was closed, did he not?" "Yes." "I believe so." "Did, um, Elliott go upstairs too, or did he remain in the study?" "He was in the study when Harry and I left." "And the secretary?" "Ellen Foster?" "She left the same time we did." "Mr. Mason, I don't know how that map was taken out of the safe." "But I do know that Harry has an idea about it." "An idea about how it was done?" "No." "An idea who did it." "Who did?" "He probably would deny it to you, out of loyalty." "But he said if anyone did it, it had to be either himself" "And he didn't." "or Elliott." "I didn't know there was a camera there." "Not at that time." "I had no interest in the map, anyway." "But you did know the value it represented." "Well, yes." "But I have no head for business." "Or should I say intrigue?" "Look, I wouldn't know how to go about capitalizing on something like that, even if I'd gotten the information." "Do you know the combination to the safe?" "No." "You seem surprised, Miss Foster." "Think harder, Elliott." "Hm?" "Ellen, hasn't the combination been changed in the last two years?" "No, Mr. Carter." "Then I guess I do know it." "I thought you certainly would've changed it, Uncle Adam." "You have a convenient memory at times, Elliott." "I didn't go into that safe." "What are you looking for, a scapegoat?" "I know you've got it all figured out that whoever got to the map is the murderer." "Well, I'll tell you what happened." "I've already told the district attorney," "I might as well tell you." "You told the district...?" "I was in bed." "I heard Harry going down the hall." "I put on my robe and followed him in here." "I found him right there, with his hand out to open that safe." "Did he open it?" "No." "Not then." "Not that I saw." "But I didn't." "And the way it shapes up, one of us did." "So now you figure it out." "He didn't follow me in here and stop me from opening the safe." "I followed him and stopped him." "The death was caused by asphyxiation from carbon monoxide gas sometime between the hours of 5:30 and 7:00 on the afternoon of Saturday, March the 5th." "Police describe physical details of an unusual nature." "There was a severe contusion on the lower portion of the back of the head." "And there were other marks:" "cuts, lacerations around the face, the forehead and the knuckles." "This gave evidence of physical conflict." "Was this blow on the back of the head severe enough to cause unconsciousness?" "Yes." "The blow caused a cranial hemorrhage which resulted in unconsciousness." "Did your autopsy disclose whether the decedent was conscious or not during the inhalation of the carbon monoxide fumes?" "The blood clot on the brain showed evidence of carbon monoxide." "It is apparent therefore that the decedent was alive but unconscious during the period of time when the carbon monoxide could have been inhaled." "Thank you." "Mr. Mason." "Mr. Drumm." "Uh, doctor, this, uh, contusion on the back of the head, could it have resulted from a fall?" "Without a weapon of some kind being used?" "No, sir." "It required a heavy instrument." "Oh, iron or steel, perhaps, weighing several pounds." "Was there evidence of more than one blow on the head?" "DOCTOR:" "Yes, there was." "Now, doctor, from the point of time, can you tell which blow caused unconsciousness, the first or the second?" "Well, as to that, I cannot state." "There was nothing in my examination to indicate the time sequence of the two blows." "Thank you, doctor." "That'll be all." "Well, on the 8th of February, a piece of land was purchased by Mr. Adam Thompson, at a price which had risen" "$75,000 practically overnight." "And that's why Mr. Thompson took security measures on the latest transaction?" "Yes, sir." "As Mr. Thompson's confidential secretary, would you know who purchased that parcel the first time?" "Yes." "A man by the name of Durstine, connected with the JL Construction Company o-of Philadelphia." "In some manner, Mr. Durstine must have obtained information about Mr. Thompson's proposed land transaction." "Yes." "DRUMM:" "Now, can you explain your employer's security measures in the latest transaction?" "Well, eh, Mr. Thompson didn't tell anybody which site he had selected." "H-he never did, anyway." "But, uh, on the night of Friday, March the 4th, he told each of us in his study that he had marked his map and that he would purchase the land by noon of the next day." "Well, now, who was in the study at that time besides Mr. Adam Thompson?" "Well, there was, uh, Elliott." "Uh, Elliott Carter, that is." "Uh, Harry Thompson, Lydia Logan a-and myself." "DRUMM:" "Go on, Miss Foster." "Well, I locked the map in the safe." "DRUMM:" "Well, who knew the combination of that safe?" "FOSTER:" "We all did, e-except Miss Logan." "Now, were you in the house on the following morning, when the safe was reopened?" "Yes, sir." "And the map was there." "It had not been removed." "Somebody must've learned about the markings on the map, because again Mr. Durstine bought the property before Mr. Thompson was able to do so." "Now, is that true?" "Yes." "Now I show you a photograph, and I ask you to identify it." "That's, uh, Frank Jarrett, Mr. Thompson's general manager." "The deceased." "Yes." "Now, will you relate to the court what transpired about 4:15 of the afternoon of the murder?" "A telephone call came for Mr. Harry Thompson from Miss Logan." "How'd you know it was Miss Logan?" "Well, I answer the telephone." "A-and I recognized her voice, a-and then she said it was Miss Logan." "And when she asked to speak to Harry Thompson, he called her "Lydia."" "Well, then, you were present and heard the defendant's half of the conversation?" "Yes." "Now, as near as you can remember, will you please tell the court about that conversation?" "Well, uh, he said," ""Talk slower, Lydia,"" "um, and "Why didn't you tell me this before?"" "And, uh..." "Then he said, um..." ""I can take care of Jarrett another way." "Look, honey, don't worry."" "And then he hung up." "What did he do then?" "He left the house." "And what time was that?" "Oh, about, um, half past 4." "Cross-examine." "Miss Foster, do you usually work on Saturdays?" "No." "Uh, but Mr. Thompson had asked me to work this particular Saturday." "What time did you arrive?" "Oh, about, uh, 9:00." "Perhaps a little after." "What time did you leave?" "About, uh, 5:00." "Perhaps a little before." "Now, as Mr. Thompson's confidential secretary, did he ever tell you of his plans when he was picking out or selecting property to buy?" "No, sir." "Did you know that he'd installed an infrared camera, designed to take the picture of anyone opening the safe?" "No, sir." "Not until the Saturday morning." "Now, you placed the map inside the safe and then you closed and locked the safe, is that correct?" "Yes, sir." "And you were present the next morning when Mr. Thompson opened the safe and took the map out?" "Yes, sir." "And what did Mr. Thompson say at that time?" "That nobody had opened the safe." "That the camera had not taken anyone's picture, therefore nobody had opened the safe." "Thank you." "That'll be all." "MAN:" "Yes, sir." "This is a photograph of the man that gave me the check for the $37,000." "He called himself Norman Durstine." "His check, drawn on a local bank, was signed "Norman Durstine."" "But this man has been identified as Frank Jarrett, the deceased." "Well, I guess it's one and the same." "Whatever he called himself, he knew exactly which 309 acres to buy." "Thank you." "Did Mr. Harry Thompson open this safe in your presence?" "No sir, he did not open the safe in my presence." "But he was at the safe, and he wanted to open it." "Then I went back to bed and don't know what else happened." "Thank you." "The JL Construction Company of Philadelphia, authorized signature Norman Durstine, had three transactions in my bank:" "the deposit of $75,000, the issuance of two checks." "One for $10,000, the second one for $37,000." "You say a check for $10,000?" "That's right." "Now I show you a check cashed February the 9th, just one day after the $75,000 deposit." "I ask you if you can identify it." "Yes, sir." "This is it." "Made to the order of Harry Thompson." "Jarrett gave you a check for 10,000?" "What for?" "He heard I needed it, so he offered to lend it to me." "Lydia didn't know anything about that." "I ask that this be marked State's exhibit K." "Mr. Mason?" "No objection, Your Honor." "Your witness, counselor." "No questions, Mr. Drumm." "Now, Miss Logan, you've been adjudged a hostile witness, you will therefore answer yes or no." "Did you speak to the defendant, Harry Thompson, on the afternoon of Saturday, March the 5th?" "Yes." "And did you tell him that your father was being blackmailed by Frank Jarrett?" "And that Jarrett had some damaging correspondence in his possession?" "Yes." "And is the testimony by Ellen Foster relative to the defendant's conversation with you essentially literal?" "Yes." "The defendant said," ""I can take care of Jarrett another way." "Look, honey, don't worry." Is that true?" "Yes." "Your witness." "Miss Logan, you are aware that Mr. Jarrett's home gave evidence of a search?" "Yes." "And that the defendant admitted to searching for something in Mr. Jarrett's office at the Thompson Company?" "Yes." "He was looking for that correspondence." "But he didn't kill him for it." "He was just trying to help my father." "MASON:" "Thank you, Miss Logan." "That'll be all." "We found the decedent slumped over the wheel of his car." "The garage abuts the house." "Lieutenant, did you cause the house to be examined?" "Yes, sir." "It showed evidence of a hasty search and, um, a struggle." "Go on, lieutenant." "Well, some, uh, furniture was overturned in the living room, a lamp smashed." "Bloodstains on the rug." "Did you have the bloodstains analyzed?" "Type AB." "Same as the defendant's." "And the deceased's blood type was O." "Lieutenant, I show you this wallet and ask you to identify it." "Yes, sir, it was found on the deceased's living room floor." "Inside the wallet, papers identifying it as belonging to the defendant, Harry Thompson." "And I show you this police laboratory report." "Can you identify it?" "Yes, sir." "These mark the defendant's presence in the garage." "A handprint and fingerprints on the doorsill of the car." "Fingerprints and one forefinger print, in blood type AB, on the chromium handle of the glove compartment, and a print on a strip of chromium on the trunk." "And they're all belonging to the defendant, Harry Thompson." "Lieutenant, did you have an occasion to visit the Thompson Company offices on Saturday night, March 5th?" "Yes, I did." "And what did you find?" "Well, the office of Frank Jarrett was in disorder." "In the office were Adam Thompson and Harry Thompson." "DRUMM:" "You subsequently searched the office?" "TRAGG:" "I did." "And what did you find?" "In a strongbox behind a file drawer, a cancelled check with a note, uh, clipped to it." "Now, lieutenant, I show you a cancelled check with a note written in longhand." "Can you identify it?" "Yes, sir." "This is the original check for $10,000, made out to Harry Thompson, endorsed by Harry Thompson, and this is the note clipped to it." "DRUMM:" "Would you read the note, please?" "It says, "Harry Thompson's participation in first deal, gross $75,000." And is in the handwriting of Frank Jarrett." "Your Honor, I would like to have these marked for identification." "( suspenseful theme playing )" "What else haven't you told me?" "( dramatic theme playing )" "He lied to me, he neglected to tell me all the truth." "But what's worse, I don't know yet what happened with that map, and I think it's the key to the whole case." "Well, whoever took that information out of the safe must've passed it on to Jarrett." "Then, when things went wrong, he had to kill Jarrett in order to protect himself." "What about the $10,000 check Harry Thompson cashed, Perry?" "Jarrett loaned him the money, all right." "Harry wanted it to help Victor Logan." "And the note?" "He couldn't explain that." "What about the fingerprints all over Jarrett's car?" "Harry said when he left Jarrett unconscious in the living room, he went out to the garage to search the car for those incriminating letters." "Anything else?" "Nope." "I haven't had a report on the Jarrett-Durstine research yet." "Della, call Adam Thompson." "Tell him we're on our way to see him." "I'll meet you back in court." "Come on, Paul." "( ominous theme playing )" "I worked on the map here." "And no one could see what you were doing?" "No one." "And then what?" "Well, Elliott started to approach me, so I folded the map, put it in the envelope, and gave it to Ellen to put in the safe." "Was there any way of Ellen seeing the map?" "No." "How long has she worked for you?" "Thirteen years." "All right, go on." "Oh, I've gone over this a hundred times." "I had left the safe open." "Ellen took the envelope, put it in the safe, closed and locked the door." "And from that moment on, if the door were opened, the camera would've automatically taken a picture." "And it didn't." "No." "Then the first thing I did when I came down here the following morning, was to take the film out of the camera and develop it." "It was blank." "And, uh, during that time, the map was inside the safe." "Yes." "Now, you did all this when you first came down in the morning." "What time did you get up that Saturday morning?" "Eight-thirty." "Possibly a bit later." "There's a law of logic that says if you're searching for the truth, you sometimes have to look for the illogical." "Paul, I'd like you to canvas this neighborhood for something that might've happened on the morning of the murder." "Something illogical, like a pink elephant or a wandering lion?" "No, nothing that spectacular." "Just something-- Something even slightly unusual." "All right." "Mr. Thompson." "Well, what have you got on your mind, Mason?" "( door closes ) A hope." "We couldn't find the correspondence" "Harry Thompson said he was looking for." "We couldn't find it in Jarrett's house, in his office, in his effects, anywhere." "Well, suppose there was no incriminating correspondence at all, lieutenant." "What then would the defendant have been looking for?" "The cancelled check." "Oh, but that would be foolish." "Records, photostats of it would still be available at the bank." "Well, then it must've been the correspondence." "But if, as the State contends," "Harry Thompson killed Frank Jarrett, he would've at the same time have removed the blackmailer, so the correspondence then would be a non sequitur." "Isn't that right?" "I protest the counselor's questioning, Your Honor, as argumentative and improper." "Furthermore, the State's next witness will clear up the matter of the blackmail and the correspondence." "Mr. Mason?" "I withdraw the questions objected to by the prosecutor, Your Honor." "And, uh, I have no further questions of this witness." "Mr. Drumm, you may call your next witness." "I call Victor Logan to the stand." "On the afternoon of Saturday, March the 5th, my daughter came to my office, just as Frank Jarrett was leaving." "Go on, sir." "What had transpired before her arrival?" "Jarrett made certain demands on me." "For what?" "Money." "And why?" "Jarrett had some letters, correspondence with officials back east, that would've ruined me." "DRUMM:" "I see." "And you told your daughter about this after Jarrett had left?" "Nothing to report on the Jarrett-Durstine business yet." "But I got lucky on the something unusual happening." "And then what, Mr. Logan?" "Well, Lydia called Harry and told him." "Then you heard her end of the conversation?" "LOGAN:" "Yes." "And what exactly did she say?" "LOGAN:" "Well, she told him everything." "About the correspondence, the architect's license that I could lose, money that I needed, all of it." "Thank you, Mr. Logan." "Cross-examine." "Now, Mr. Logan, these "certain demands" made upon you by Frank Jarrett, that was, eh, really blackmail, wasn't it?" "Yes." "About a month before Jarrett's death, was it also blackmail when, um, Harry Thompson borrowed $10,000 from Jarrett, and then gave it to you?" "Well, no." "I" "I hadn't asked Harry for the $10,000 then." "Well, the night before the murder," "Harry Thompson asked his uncle for $10,000." "What about that?" "A blackmail then, also?" "Yes." "For irregularities in your application for an architect's license?" "Yes, sir." "Eh, Mr. Logan, prior to this hearing, an investigation into your schooling, your affidavits, your records showed absolutely no irregularities connected in any way with your architect's application or license." "You went into that?" "Yes, and I suggest that the irregularities were just a fiction, made up by you, to account for Jarrett's blackmail." "And consequently there were no letters or correspondence." "Mr. Logan, since I have no desire to entrap you," "I must advise you that an investigation is also being made into the JL Construction Company:" "its officers, its partners, its business and its prospects." "Your Honor, it seems to me that Counsel is going far afield in his cross-examination of this witness, and I object." "I don't think so, Mr. Drumm." "And I'm extremely interested in the course this examination is taking." "Proceed, Mr. Mason." "Mr. Logan, I want a truthful answer to a previous question." "About a month before Frank Jarrett's death, did you ask the defendant to lend you $10,000?" "Well, I may-- Yes, I did." "MASON:" "And he got the money for you." "LOGAN:" "Yes." "Did he tell you that Frank Jarrett had offered to lend the money to him?" "Well, I-- I don't recall that." "Now, isn't it true that this whole $10,000 deal was for the purpose of implicating Harry Thompson?" "Implicating Harry?" "How?" "By making it appear that he was working with Jarrett, that he was the link to Adam Thompson." "That's what impelled Jarrett to write that little note and append it to the cancelled check, wasn't it?" "I don't know anything about that." "I think you do." "I think when you got the $10,000 from Harry, you didn't return it to Jarrett." "You put Jarrett off for several weeks, until finally, he demanded the money." "Why?" "Because it had to go into the coffers of the JL Construction Company." "Norman Durstine might've needed the money for an option on a forthcoming land purchase." "You can't prove that." "There's no evidence of it." "I'm getting evidence of it now." "On the following day, when the world of Frank Jarrett, alias Norman Durstine, crumbled around his ears, he came to you and blackmailed you, didn't he?" "What for?" "For your unethical conduct." "For your participation with him in the JL Construction Company." "JL," "Jarrett and Logan." "I didn't kill him." "He blackmailed you by threatening to reveal the whole story, didn't he?" "Yes, but I didn't kill him." "I didn't get the information on the map" "Your Honor, I think I can clarify this question of who did get the information and who was the link between Frank Jarrett and Adam Thompson." "JUDGE:" "What do you propose, Mr. Mason?" "MASON:" "I would like to recall Ellen Foster." "Miss Foster, we would like to clarify the enigma of how the information was obtained from that map." "Yes, sir." "I-I wondered about it myself." "An answer occurs to me, but it requires clarification from you." "Yes, sir?" "An answer?" "Well, we've been faced with the impossibility of anyone opening the safe and removing the map." "Yes, sir." "We should've agreed with that possibility and gone on from there." "Well, I-- I don't understand." "Well, if the information was obtained, and the map was never taken from the safe, obviously it was never put into the safe." "Oh." "But I put it in." "No, Miss Foster, you just made it appear as though you did." "But" " But it was there in the morning, in the safe, when Mr. Thompson himself took it out." "It" " It was in there then." "Yes, it, um, was in there then." "Miss Foster, a Mrs. Felicity Ambrose lives directly across the street from the Thompson house." "She owns a pair of Siamese cats." "And at 20 minutes before 9 on Saturday morning, March 5th, she took in the pint of milk the milkman had just left at her side door." "Well, what about it?" "With, uh, gentle prodding, Mrs. Ambrose remembered an unusual scene across the street." "She remembers seeing you come out of the house, wearing your coat, and getting into your car in front of the house, and picking up a newspaper in the car and starting to read." "Well, I was just looking for something in the paper." "Mrs. Ambrose also noticed from time to time that you went to the side window of the house and looked in." "And that about a half an hour later, you went back into the house, and this time you remained there." "Well, I was, uh, early for work." "Well, early or not, wasn't there a special reason you didn't remain in the house the first time?" "I just preferred to sit in the car." "Now, let's go back to the map being out of the safe all night." "Making its appearance at approximately 9:15 in the morning, when Adam Thompson opened the safe and removed the map." "I-I" " I still don't know the answer." "Yes, you do." "Because when you entered the house the first time, you went into the study, opened the safe and put the map back." "That you then heard Mr. Thompson in the darkroom, and though you didn't understand why he was there, you thought it best not to arrive for work until he'd returned to the study." "That's right." "I took the film into the darkroom and developed it before I opened the safe." "For that half hour, the safe was vulnerable." "She must've put the map back then." "Now, Miss Foster, you took the map because of Frank Jarrett, didn't you?" "The information on the map, you turned over to Frank Jarrett, didn't you?" "( sighs )" "Yes, I did it." "And I killed Frank." "He was going to leave me." "After all those years together, and" " And all we meant to each other." "He was going to get together all the money he could, a-a-and leave me." "He..." "In the garage, he-- He turned his back on me." "And I hit him with the wrench, and I put him in the car," "and I turned on...the motor." "( sobbing )" "Well..." "Thanks, Mason." "I never spent money with greater pleasure." "Thank you, Mr. Thompson." "In this instance, your pleasure is my pleasure." "You know, I had no inkling of a love affair between Ellen and-- And, uh, Jarrett." "As I understand it, she followed Harry to the house, and then after Harry left, she had a scene with Jarrett." "That's right." "Mr. Thompson, did you actually think that Harry killed Jarrett?" "I didn't know." "You see, I was afraid that because" "I hadn't loaned him the money, that he might try to get back at me." "What about Elliott?" "Oh, I never did figure it was Elliott." "No." "He hasn't the temperament nor the courage." "I understand Harry asked you for another loan." "Yes." "Honeymoon money." "I gave it to him this time." "( chuckles )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"