"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( machinery grinding distantly )" "( man speaks indistinctly over speaker )" "MAN 1 ( over radio ):" "On switch." "Go on." "Arm light on." "MAN 2 ( over radio ):" "Station command to internal." "( man speaks indistinctly over radio )" "Major." "Mm?" "Lots of luck, Major Reynolds." "Thanks, sergeant." "We can use some." "MAN ( over speaker ):" "T minus 60 seconds and counting." "( man speaks indistinctly over radio )" "Minus 50 seconds." "Minus 40 seconds." "Thirty-five." "MAN:" "Water system ready?" "MAN ( over radio ):" "Affirmative." "I have a prepped complete light." "Locked, tanked and secured?" "MAN ( over radio ):" "Locked, tanked and secured." "Relax, Mr. Morgan." "Relax?" "Ha!" "That's easy to say, major." "That Scepter out there is my baby." "My own flesh and blood." "I've got a lifetime tied up in it." "Yeah, I'll relax, all right, after it flies and this time it better fly." "MAN ( over speaker ):" "Minor 20." "Status check." "Command on intel." "MAN 1 ( over radio ):" "Affirmative." "Telemetry in launch condition." "MAN 2:" "Affirmative" "Missile, intel and AC?" "MAN 3:" "Affirmative." "Pressurization complete?" "MAN 4:" "Affirmative." "Status check." "Bring safety arm light on." "MAN 5:" "Affirmative." "Drain's ready?" "MAN 6:" "Ready." "Count." "MAN ( over speaker ):" "Minus ten, nine, eight," "MAN 7:" "Ignition." "It's got to fly." "MAN 7:" "Main stage." "It's got to fly." "...Three, two, one, zero." "Plus one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten..." "Go, honey." "Keep going, baby." "Keep going, baby." "Destroyed." "Destroyed." "Destroyed." "Destroyed." "MORGAN:" "There's no reason for it." "There's no reason for that bird not flying." "No reason at all." "You know it had to fly." "Take a look at that screen." "Take a look at what's happening out there." "Tell me why." "Why!" "( dramatic theme playing )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Hello, Helen." "Hello, Jerry." "All right, then, call the man." "I'd like to talk to Ms. Rand." "They're testing a standby bird on the hydraulic pumping unit." "Now, tell them to check out the gimbal shafts on both booster engines." "That's the only thing that fits the pattern." "Yes, sir." "You look as tired as I feel." "Reporters still riding you hard?" "( sighs )" "Jerry, isn't there something we can tell them?" "Sure." "Tell them we're testing our reactions to failure." "We all passed with flying colors." "I put that out and the Morgan Missile Company will be searching for a new public relations counsel." "The Scepter isn't an Air Force bird." "Not yet." "It's Morgan's baby, until the Air Force accepts or rejects it." "The next test shot's the last one, Jerry." "Unless the bird flies right, this could be goodbye Scepter contract for Morgan." "You know that." "It'll fly, on schedule, on course." "( phone rings )" "You're not canceling next Friday's shot?" "No." "That bird can fly." "And it will." "Telephone, sir." "Oh, thanks, sergeant." "Here." "Major Reynolds." "( man speaks indistinctly over phone )" "Mm-hm." "Well?" "Well, I" " I pick" "Picked up this thing." "Uh, but I" " I'm sure it was after they, uh" "They cleared up the debris off the range yesterday." "Uh, no, major." "( laughs )" "Uh, I haven't the faintest idea whether the part was, uh, off your missile." "But there's something on it, uh" "I think you should see." "Well, fine." "Then you'll run it over tonight when you've finished for the day." "Thank you." "Well, some civilian engineer found something on the base that could be or could not be part of the destroyed Scepter and maybe does or doesn't show significant marks." "( phone rings )" "Major Reynolds." "( man speaks indistinctly over phone )" "Uh, I'll leave now." "Yes, sir." "( sighs )" "Jerry?" "( dramatic theme playing )" "I might just be relieved of the whole problem." "A man named Colonel Sloan is arriving in half an hour at the airfield." "( dramatic theme swells )" "The only reason I'm taking over, major, is so you can concentrate on the technical side." "It goes no deeper than that." "You're not being reprimanded, believe me." "Then I stay on as project officer?" "Of course, Jerry." "We simply want you to be free of the detail work so you can get that shot off next Friday." "Oh, Major Reynolds, Captain Caldwell." "Mike flew out with me from Washington." "It's been a long time, Mike." "I heard you made major." "Congratulations, even though they are late... sir." "SLOAN:" "I borrowed Mike from the Air Force inspector general's office." "He'll be in charge of investigating the possibility of something other than your functional failures on your missile aborts." "Other than functional failure?" "The right-handed monkey wrench on a left-handed nut and bolt." "Never can tell, can you?" "So give him everything you've got or know about, or he asks for." "Turn that aspect of the job entirely over to him." "Anything you say, Colonel Sloan." "Jerry, all I want you to do is to concentrate on making that next shot a success." "The Air Force could use a bird like the Scepter." "Just leave the rest of the details to us." "Now, let's see about quarters." "( jet flying overhead )" "( machinery humming and buzzing )" "( inaudible )" "Sergeant." "Come here." "( machinery buzzing stops )" "You don't seem to be taking this very seriously, doctor." "I hardly think that's called for." "Well, you haven't learned exactly what caused that failure." "Well, we're trying to find out for sure, captain." "A guess is meaningless in science." "Dr. Bradbury, you've been senior Morgan Company scientist on the Scepter project since the beginning." "Now, tell me, were you just as heavy a drinker then as you are now?" "That" "That's none of your concern." "The Air Force and the American people have spent millions of dollars on the Scepter so far." "And that's a pretty expensive bar tab, doctor." "You usually supervise the preflight tests." "You didn't before the last shoot." "Who ran those tests?" "Major Reynolds." "Major Reynolds?" "Alone?" "Well, the regular staff, some of the Air Force personnel." "I guess some of our people helped him." "Uh..." "Yes, Dr. Harrison gave him a hand, I think." "Dr. Harrison." "I told you my activities here for the Morgan Company are restricted to one thing:" "working on a radically new, all-inertial guidance system." "For the man that comes up with this radically new inertial guidance, it could be worth a lot of money to him, couldn't it?" "If the man you mean is me and I did develop the system, it would belong to the Morgan Company, not to me." "It might be to your advantage not to complete it as long as Morgan was still in business." "By the way, you took Dr. Bradbury's place before those last preflight tests, didn't you?" "Yeah." "Dan Morgan and I helped with his checkup." "Now that you've all but intimated that I sabotaged the Scepter, why don't you ask Mr. Morgan if he didn't destroy his own missile?" "I may do that, doctor." "I may very well ask him." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Mr. Morgan." "I thought you'd finished here." "All the troubles you've been having." "Your company's in pretty bad shape." "I know that better than you do." "That's the reason the shot Friday better" "Well, can't fail." "Well, what if it does?" "The Huxley Company is just waiting for something like that to happen." "The Huxley Company." "What, is that a competitive bidder?" "If that Scepter shot washes out Friday, they pick up the contracts." "But it won't." "I hope not." "Mr. Morgan, I" "Oh, it's you." "My job is not to hurt anybody, Ms. Rand." "But it is to find the truth regardless of whether anybody does get hurt." "Exactly what do you mean?" "Aside from the question of patriotism, or the survival of the free world" "Hear, hear." "Well, however you characterize it, Ms. Rand, there also happens to be the question of the billions of dollars spent on the missile programs." "So I'm sure you won't mind my thoroughly checking you and your company, as well as the, uh, Huxley Corporation." "Oh, Perry, I'm taking a job with the Huxley Corporation." "They have a fine reputation." "Good choice of, uh, companies, Jerry." "Well, about a year ago they opened a missile division." "There's a good spot for me with the company." "What's happened with you and the Air Force?" "I always thought that you and the service were made for each other." "Even back on Ulithi I would have bet on it." "Hey, how about that." "Joint operations." "Navy and the Air Force in a frontal assault on the officer's bar on Mug Mug, the enchanted isle of the Pacific." "Remember that, Perry?" "When was it, '44 or '45?" "Forty-four." "You know, you should be able to retire in four or five years." "You, uh, disenchanted, Jerry?" "No." "No, I love the Air Force." "It's part of my life, I guess." "Always will be." "No, it's my dad." "For years I've sent him every cent I could scrape together to keep his business going." "Now he's in the hospital." "Pretty expensively sick, I'm afraid." "And that business of his has left us both broke." "I'm very sorry." "Well, it's a good deal at Huxley's." "Too much money to turn down." "Oh, like it or not, I'm gonna have to resign my commission." "Have you signed with Huxley?" "Oh, that's why I asked you to come up, Perry." "Uh, these are the contracts." "I'd appreciate your looking them over before I sign." "Something wrong with them?" "Huxley's a strong competitor of Morgan." "Now, am I running a danger of conflict of interest by signing with Huxley?" "You work for the Air Force, not Morgan." "Yes, but Huxley's project is essentially the same as the one I'm supervising for Morgan." "Now, I don't want to put myself or the Air Force on the spot." "I'll check out the contracts." "Get in touch with you in a couple of days." "Thanks for coming up, Perry." "It was impossible for me to get away." "I had to fly to San Francisco." "No problem stopping over." "Say, would you care to stick around for the shoot?" "I can arrange it." "Oh, sorry, Jerry, no time." "I don't want to miss that plane out of Santa Maria." "Oh, Perry." "I can, uh, get you to San Francisco real quick." "( laughs )" "Thank you, no." "I think jets are fast enough for me." "Well, now, Ms. Arrange-It-All, exactly why did you fix it for me to see the shot of Vandenberg tomorrow morning?" "Why, Mr. Huxley, to see the Scepter shot, of course." "As a new prime contractor in missiles, you should be here." "Now, uh, why should it be a problem?" "And why else would I want you here?" "Yes, why, indeed?" "Oh, um, would you like a drink?" "Hm." "George, that shot tomorrow morning will never get off the ground." "You put an awful lot of stock in wishful thinking, Helen." "This, uh-- This isn't a fairytale world." "Well, here's to the Scepter." "To Morgan's bird and to the egg it will lay." "MAN ( over speaker ):" "Risky." "Risky." "T minus ten seconds and holding." "Repeat." "Repeat." "Risky." "Risky." "T minus ten seconds and holding." "Why doesn't Major Reynolds get back?" "What's holding him up?" "The safety officer spotted something on the range." "Reynolds went out to check it." "Whatever it was, it's been removed." "Reynolds is on his way back." "No need to get upset." "Everything's under control." "As soon as the major comes back inside, pick up and start your final countdown." "Now, just take it easy, Mr. Morgan." "T minus ten seconds and counting." "T minus nine, eight, seven, six" "Colonel, we've got to scrub the shot." "No, that's crazy." "Don't stop." "What happened?" "Never mind." "Stop it." "Too late." "Nothing we can do now." "T plus one, two..." "Go, go." "Go." "Come on bird, fly." "...six, seven, eight, nine, ten..." "Go, go, go." "Go." "Go." "...13, 14, 15, 16, 17..." "Go." "Go." "...19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25..." "Oh, you beautiful, beautiful bird." "Jerry, what was this all about?" "Why did you try to stop the shot?" "Captain McVey, colonel." "Air Police." "That, uh, delay" "Yes, Captain McVey, the safety officer thought it was some sort of unidentified object on the firing range." "There was no object, sir." "It was a man's body." "Captain Caldwell of the inspector general's office." "Caldwell?" "He's been murdered." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( jets flying overhead )" "Mr. Mason." "Mr. Drake." "I'm Mason." "This is Mr. Drake." "How are you?" "I spoke to you earlier on the phone, Mr. Mason." "My name is McVey." "Yes, captain." "Is Major Reynolds waiting for us?" "Yes, sir." "He is." "Uh, Mr. Mason, uh," "Major Reynolds has been relieved of his duties and restricted to the base." "The restriction is in lieu of arrest pending completion of investigation." "Uh, he been charged with murder yet?" "Uh, technically, yes." "But, uh, whether or not a general court-martial is actually convened depends to a great extent on the investigating officer's report." "That's my report, Mr. Mason." "Now, uh, it's not my job to try and work up a case against him but just to see if there is a case." "That seems fair enough." "Major Reynolds is not only entitled to counsel of his own choice during a trial" "In case there is one." "but also during my investigation." "Defense is entitled the same privileges as the prosecution." "So, uh, witnesses, physical evidence, it's all yours to study and question." "Now, uh, you've both been cleared by security." "So in addition to the plane the brought you up here, there's a car and driver for each of you, and identification badges to get you around the base." "So you're all set." "Your driver will take you to Major Reynolds." "Thank you very much, captain." "See you later." "Well, my men should be in Santa Maria by now." "We'll get located and I'll put a tail on everyone Reynolds mentioned on the phone." "Some of them may still be here on the base." "Uh, oh, Paul, that, uh, civilian engineer who made the phone call to Reynolds after the missile failure" "Yeah, let me see." "Uh, thin voice, Midwestern accent, a tendency to stammer." "You told me that, uh, Reynolds couldn't remember his name." "Doesn't matter." "Find him." "Thanks a lot." "And where do I find you?" "When I finish with Jerry," "I plan to see a man by the name of George Huxley." "I understand he's in a hotel in Santa Maria." "You'll be able to find me all right." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Well?" "Well, then when Caldwell was grounded for having failed to carry out an order, he blamed me for his being reprimanded and reassigned." "Claimed I'd never given him the order." "I, uh, never told you about it, Perry." "It was in Korea, quite a few years back." "Captain McVey tells me that Caldwell was killed at approximately 3 a.m." "Now, where were you at that time Friday?" "The worst place you can think of." "With Caldwell?" "Well, I wasn't exactly with him." "I just happened to run into him at the Officer's Club here." "But it was an accident, Perry, honest." "We had an hour or so before final checkoff." "I dropped in to look for Helen." "That's Helen Rand." "I wanted to ask her about a press release she did on the shoot." "She wasn't there." "Who was there?" "Well, Dr. Harrison and Caldwell." "All right." "Then what happened?" "Well, Caldwell saw me." "He came over." "Grabbed my arm all excited." "Began yakking away about finally catching up with me, being able to prove I wasn't the bright genius" "I was supposed to be." "Oh, a lot of stuff." "It didn't make much sense to me." "Harrison saw and heard this?" "Well, I guess so." "I walked away from Caldwell, went outside to my jeep." "Did he follow you?" "Yeah." "Still dishing out the insults, same kind of accusations he'd made inside." "I, uh" "I guess I finally lost my temper and took a swing at him." "I knocked him down." "What happened after you knocked him down?" "Well, I, uh-- I don't know for sure." "I was just so boiling mad," "I" " I started walking around the base." "I wasn't going anywhere in particular." "I just-- Trying to cool off, I suppose." "Jerry, exactly what did Caldwell say to you that make you angry enough to hit him?" "That I really knew how to take care of myself." "That he found out about the" "The cushy job I'd set up for myself with the Huxley Corporation after I, uh" "( laughs )" "after I made sure the Morgan Company would fold." "( dramatic theme playing )" "And inasmuch as I'm a late starter in the missile field, I'm" "I'm willing to overpay to get top men for my company." "Major Reynolds has a good reputation." "So it's as simple as that, Mr. Mason." "If the Morgan Company went out of business, Mr. Huxley, wouldn't you be in line for additional Air Force missile contracts?" "Yes, it's possible." "Very likely, as a matter of fact." "But, uh, they haven't failed." "Not yet." "You were on the base at the time of the firing, as an observer." "Did you by any chance, uh, talk with Captain Caldwell?" "The officer that was killed?" "Yes." "No." "I've never even met him." "Why should I have talked to him?" "Well, I understand he was making a thorough investigation of, uh, last week's missile failure." "You know, Mr. Mason, I'm getting very tired of these efforts to involve me in whatever goes on over at the Morgan Company." "All these efforts?" "That's exactly what I said." "You now, and earlier today a phone call." "Who was it that called you?" "I don't know." "Some man." "He sounded quite drunk." "Insisted he meet me here and tell me something about the Morgan Company." "As if I cared whatever he had to say or anybody else." "Including you, Mr. Mason." "So now, if you don't mind, I am a little busy." "Uh, just one more question, Mr. Huxley, and I'll leave." "When was the last time you saw Helen Rand?" "Miss Rand?" "Well, now, I" "I haven't seen her since the Western Region Ballistic Missile conference about a month ago." "Why do you ask me that?" "MASON:" "Interesting shade of lipstick on these filters." "Sorry to have troubled you, Mr. Huxley." "Hi, Perry, I'd hoped I'd catch you here." "News, Paul?" "Uh-huh." "I found out that Helen Rand took off from the base just as we arrived there." "One of my men spotted her in town and trailed her." "You'll never guess where." "Well, my guess is that he followed her right here to this hotel." "Why pay me to find out something you already know?" "( chuckles )" "I didn't know." "It was just a guess." "Go on." "Well, she was inside for a while, then she came out and waited in her car." "A couple of minutes later a cab pulls up and a drunk got out." "A drunk?" "PAUL:" "A drunk." "He staggered toward the lobby and Helen Rand spotted him." "She ran out of her car, grabbed him, started yakking at him like a house afire, put him in her car and drove off." "That was, oh, about half an hour ago." "Where'd they go?" "She dropped him off at the downtown hotel." "He managed to make it into the lobby and she took off for the base." "The drunk's name is Bradbury." "Dr. Bradbury." "Good work, Paul." "And there's more." "The engineer who called Major Reynolds last week and said he'd found something that might relate to the last missile failure?" "You've seen the engineer?" "PAUL:" "No, but we know who he is." "His name's Bert Springer, and we're trying to locate him now." "Do you, uh, wanna come along?" "No." "No, I think I'll try my luck with Dr. Bradbury." "Keep in touch." "Will do." "( ominous theme playing )" "( groaning )" "Dr. Bradbury." "Hm." "Dr. Bradbury." "Hm." "Who are you?" "Perry Mason." "Major Reynolds' attorney." "( sighs ):" "Oh, yeah, yeah, sure." "Major Reynolds." "He's a good man." "He's a fine scientific mind." "Sorry." "I'm real sorry he's got into so much trouble." "It's not good." "I, uh, thought you might be able to tell me about it." "How did I help him?" "He's a good friend, Jerry." "He's a good friend." "Is that why you called George Huxley, then tried to see him?" "Huxley?" "Who said I called Huxley?" "Why, um, you did, Dr. Bradbury." "You said you called him." "Oh." "Well, maybe I did." "What about it?" "What are you gonna do?" "I just wondered, uh, what it was you wanted to tell him that Helen Rand was against you telling him?" "Bradbury." "Brad, I brought your key." "You've got to go upstairs and get some sleep." "Come on." "( slurring ):" "Can't you see I'm talking to, uh, Perry Mason?" "Uh, it's a very important conversation, Dr. Harrison." "You're Dr. Harrison?" "Mm." "He's in no condition to talk." "He wouldn't make any sense." "Come on, Brad, on your feet." "Come on." "Oh, but, I was-- Come on." "But you" "I wanted to tell him... ( sighs ):" "Perry." "I found that man Springer for you, but there's just one trouble." "Yeah, I'm afraid I found him first." "Afraid you found him first?" "Why?" "Well, this is what Springer discovered last week." "It's what's left of the retainer bolt from the yaw gimbal shaft of booster engine number one of the Scepter missile that was aborted last week." "Here, have a look." "They've both been sheared off on one end." "MCVEY:" "Yeah, it was cut halfway through with a hacksaw." "And the rest of it just snapped under 300,000 pounds of pressure." "This two-bit piece of hardware, deliberately tampered with, was very likely responsible for the destruction of a million-dollar missile." "That's what, uh, Springer called Reynolds about?" "Mm-hm, instead of giving it to Reynolds, he turned it over to Captain Caldwell before he was murdered." "We, uh-- We hadn't known that." "Although we had found the bolt." "You found that bolt before Springer told you about it?" "Where?" "It was carefully tucked inside a hardhat." "Whose?" "The personal protective headgear that Major Reynolds kept at the launch control center." "I'm really sorry, Mr. Mason." "Sorry, captain?" "I'm going to recommend that the general court-martial be convened and that Major Reynolds be tried for murder." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Prosecution is ready to proceed with the trial in the case of the United States v. Gerald Reynolds, major, United States Air Force." "Sergeant Diamond has been appointed reporter for this court and will now be sworn." "Will counsel representing the accused state whether the legal qualifications of the appointed member of the defense are, other than as stated, in the appointing orders, and will individual counsel state whether he's been certified as counsel" "by the appropriate judge advocate general?" "The legal qualifications of the appointed member of the defense is correctly stated in the appointing orders, as certified by the office of the judge advocate general." "Trial will proceed on the charges." "The accused, Gerald Reynolds, major, United States Air Force, pleads to all specifications and charges: not guilty." "The prosecution has no opening statement." "Very well." "Proceed with the first witness." "The prosecution calls as witness" "Dr. Richard Stanton." "Dr. Stanton, please." "( door closes ) ...And there were numerous abrasions and, uh, lacerations on Captain Caldwell's forehead, cheekbone and chin." "And did you, uh, determine the cause of death, doctor?" "A heavy blow in the cranial area, directly over the occipital lobe." "The left side of his skull was literally caved in." "Death was instantaneous." "And the time of death?" "Uh, between 3 and 3:20 in the morning." "I show you this rock." "Prosecution exhibit number one for identification." "As I shall establish subsequently, it was discovered near the body of the decedent." "Have you examined the rock, doctor?" "Yes." "There was cortical tissue adhering to it." "Its size and weight conform to the extent of the blow, and, uh, specimens of blood and hair I found on it are similar in type to those of the decedent." "In my opinion, that rock was used to kill the decedent." "...And who was there in the Officer's Club when you arrived in the very early morning?" "Uh, Dr. Bradbury and Captain Caldwell." "They were having coffee together." "Did you join them?" "No, I had some reports to look over." "I sat at another table." "Then Dr. Bradbury left the club and Captain Caldwell came over to me." "We chatted for a while and then Major Reynolds came in." "What time was that?" "About ten minutes later." "I'd say, uh, a little before 3 a.m." "And may I ask what happened then, doctor?" "Well, Major Reynolds went over to the coffee urn, and, uh, Captain Caldwell followed him." "They got into rather a heated discussion and, uh, Major Reynolds pushed him away and left." "Then Captain Caldwell followed him out of the club." "Now, let me understand this clearly, sergeant." "At 12 minutes after 3 in the morning, you picked up Major Reynolds walking alone on the range, and you brought him directly to the launch control center." "And the major stayed inside the control center, where you could see him, until considerably later that morning, when you both left the control center." "Yes, sir." "The final countdown was stopped when something was spotted on the range." "The air police, Captain McVey, had discovered the body of Captain Caldwell." "At 3:12 you picked up Major Reynolds on the range." "Uh, tell me, sergeant, where was the body of the murdered man in relation to where you picked up Major Reynolds?" "About 300 yards further downrange, sir." "COOKE:" "Thank you, sergeant." "The prosecution has no further questions." "Sergeant, when you were searching for the major, didn't it occur to you to try the Officer's Club?" "Oh, but I did look in at the Officer's Club." "You did?" "At what time?" "About 3:05." "Well, didn't Dr. Harrison advise you that Major Reynolds had just left?" "Why, no, he couldn't have, sir." "There wasn't anybody there at that time." "The Officer's Club was empty at 3:05?" "You're positive?" "Yes, I am, sir." "So you saw no one in the club or no one entering or leaving the club at 3:05?" "Yes, sir, that's correct." "But just as I got to the club, a jeep was pulling away." "I called Major Reynolds over my speaker, but the jeep didn't stop." "You called Major Reynolds over your speaker, but did you have any idea who was in that jeep?" "No, sir, just someone in a big hurry." "Thank you, sergeant." "Defense has no further questions." "Please, continue, major." "Now, Dr. Bradbury, the court has examined the bolt to see how it was deliberately tampered with." "Now, could you tell us whether a bolt, so tampered with, could have been a prime factor in the failure of the Scepter missile?" "By shearing and affecting the gimbal control of one of the booster motors, it could have been, yes." "Now, on the day of the successful shoot, who was in charge of all pre-flight testing?" "I was." "Going back a week to the shoot that failed, who was in charge of all pre-flight testing then?" "Were you, Dr. Bradbury?" "Well, no, I-- I was ill that day." "Major Reynolds had assumed my duties." "So before the missile failed, the missile carrying this tampered-with bolt," "Major Reynolds took over your duties?" "Well, he... ( sighs )" "Yes." "COOKE:" "Previous to my placing this bolt in your hands, doctor, when did you last see it?" "At the Officer's Club the morning before the successful launch." "Captain Caldwell showed it to me." "Within minutes of the murder, the decedent had this damaging evidence in his possession?" "Yes." "COOKE:" "Thank you, Dr. Bradbury." "Prosecution has no further questions." "Uh, Major Cooke, may I see that bolt, please?" "Thank you." "This, um" "This illness which came over you on the day of the missile failure, was it sudden?" "Well, no, not sudden." "It" " It just happened." "Of course, you checked with a medical officer." "Well, it wasn't that serious." "No?" "It prevented you from carrying out your pre-flight checkoff duties, did it not?" "Well, I'd" " I'd had a couple of drinks." "I'd been under great pressure." "Great pressure, doctor?" "Could that pressure have been the result of Captain Caldwell's investigation?" "No." "No, he wasn't accusing me." "Uh, he didn't even understand the significance of that bolt." "I" " I had to explain it to him." "Now, uh, Dr. Harrison testified that you left the club a little before 3." "Is that correct?" "Yes." "How well do you know Helen Rand?" "Well" "We're, uh" "We're good friends." "Defense has no further questions." "...And this protective headgear belonging to Major Reynolds is always kept on top of the clothes rack just inside of launch control center 576-B, where the major works during test shoots." "What else can you tell us about this particular hardhat, captain?" "Well, the bolt that had been tampered with, the one the decedent had in his possession prior to his death, we found that bolt tucked inside the headgear, right here underneath the webbing." "Thank you, captain." "One moment, Major Cooke." "Is it the contention of the prosecution that this bolt was placed inside the protective headgear by the defendant when he was brought to the launch control center by his sergeant sometime after 3:12?" "COOKE:" "Yes, sir." "BISHOP:" "All this, of course, hinges on the fact that the decedent must have had the bolt in his possession when he was murdered." "May I remind the court that Dr. Bradbury testified that the decedent had the bolt and showed it to Dr. Bradbury prior to leaving the Officer's Club?" "Subject to objection from the law officer or either counsel, the court would like to recall two previous witnesses to clear up this point before going on with Captain McVey's testimony." "Uh, well, Captain Caldwell showed me the bolt and then returned it to his pocket." "To the best of my knowledge he still had it when I left the club." "Bradbury and Caldwell were examining the bolt and discussing it." "Then Captain Caldwell put the bolt back in his pocket." "When Dr. Bradbury left and Captain Caldwell joined you, did he show you the bolt?" "No." "BISHOP:" "When Captain Caldwell went to join Major Reynolds, did he show him the bolt?" "Not inside the club, no." "Did you see him give it to anyone or otherwise dispose of it before he left the club?" "To the best of my knowledge," "Captain Caldwell still had the bolt in his pocket when he and Major Reynolds left the club." "I hand you prosecution exhibit number six for identification." "A regulation-issue flashlight." "You recognize it, captain?" "Yes, it has my mark on it." "It was found in a clump of bushes approximately 40 yards distant from the point at which the decedent's body was found." "Since it was badly smashed and there was considerable blood on the top portion of it, we checked it over carefully." "And what did you discover, captain?" "Well, the blood was of the same type as that of the decedent." "Additionally, the lacerations and abrasions of the decedent matched in size, the top of the flashlight." "In my opinion, sir, this flashlight was the weapon used to inflict wounds on the face and forehead of the decedent." "And have you determined to whom this flashlight belonged?" "The flashlight is Major Reynolds'." "One moment, Major Cooke." "I must object." "No possible foundation has been laid that would justify the statement that that flashlight has in fact been in the defendant's possession." "May I?" "How can it be distinguished from the thousands and thousands of identical flashlights issued by the military?" "No marks, and obviously no fingerprints on the barrel." "Captain McVey, why did you say the flashlight was Major Reynolds?" "Mr. Mason is right." "The outside barrel was smeared as if by a cloth." "And even if it hadn't been, it's doubtful if we could have lifted any useful prints." "But inside, on this reflector, we did find two clear fingerprints." "And whose fingerprints were those?" "The defendant's." "Major Reynolds." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "Well, Paul, did you get the lowdown on the good Dr. Bradbury's finances?" "They're lean but very lean." "Except for a $5,000 check he cashed and deposited the day before the missile failure." "The teller in Bradbury's bank has a memory like an elephant, especially where it comes to $5,000 checks." "And especially when they're signed by no less than George Huxley." "Guessing again?" "Hm." "Well, it was signed by Huxley, all right, but it wasn't made out to Bradbury." "It was made out to Helen Rand and she endorsed it to Bradbury." "How's that for a triangle?" "It's the kind of triangle a clever Air Force attorney like Cooke will turn into an edifice of damaging proof." "Quite a lawyer, that Major Cooke." "All the service attorneys I've met are highly competent." "They're as dedicated to the legal profession as they are to the uniforms they wear." "Well, where to now, Perry?" "Paul, I think it's time to get out the tackle and do a little fishing." "Good luck." "( dramatic theme playing ) ...And after that failure it became apparent that unless the next launch was a success," "I would be finished and so would the Scepter." "Did you know that the defendant was planning to resign his commission in the Air Force?" "Yes, he told me so himself." "And about his father and about needing the money." "I offered him a job but he turned it down." "For what reason?" "He said he would have to do better than the 15,000 a year I offered him." "The prosecution has no further questions." "Mr. Morgan, didn't you resent Captain Caldwell's investigation of your company?" "No, why should I?" "You had no idea of what he was reporting to his superiors?" "Mm, not exactly, no." "But, uh, he kept me posted on all his activities." "Would you mind telling me when he last kept you posted." "It was, uh, that Friday morning, early." "Before he was killed." "I was in my office going over some reports before the final countdown." "Captain Caldwell came to my office about, uh, 2:00, I think it was." "He was very excited, as a matter of fact." "Excited about what?" "Well, he said he had the final proof as to the cause of the prior failure." "He showed me a partly sawed-through bolt." "Said it represented the culmination of his entire investigation." "And before Captain Caldwell left my office he said," ""After I see Major Reynolds, you won't have to worry anymore about a failure, Mr. Morgan."" "Major Reynolds was resigning." "I offered him a job." "A good job." "Captain Caldwell was completely aware of the situation." "At no time was there any implication that I was rating either the Air Force or the Morgan Company." "Without impugning you personally, the fact remains that with the Morgan Company out of business, you would have picked up its contract and Major Reynolds, who could have insured the Morgan Company failure, was seeking employment with you." "What salary was the major to receive from you?" "Thirty-five thousand dollars a year." "Are you aware that that's more than double what the Morgan Company offered him?" "No, I'm not, nor do I care." "Major Reynolds was worth that to the Huxley Missile Corporation so that's what I offered him." "Prosecution has no further questions." "May it please the court," "I request that each and every witness connected with this trial be physically present in the courtroom during my cross-examination of Mr. Huxley." "The prosecution objects." "We see no valid reason to waive the rules of procedure." "Before ruling on the objection, the court would like to hear from the law officer," "Colonel Fremont." "May I ask, uh, for what purpose of the defense counsel makes this request?" "To establish voice identification in regard to a telephone conversation." "Both the request of the defense counsel and prosecution's objections are within the discretion of this court." "The Air Force is interested in justice, not form." "Subject to objections from any member of the court, the prosecution's objection is overruled." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Mr. Huxley, the day following the murder, you received a telephone call from a man purporting to have important information for you regarding the Morgan Company, isn't that so?" "Yes, I received such a call." "But that's as far as it went." "Wasn't the man who called actually your contact inside the Morgan Company?" "Of course not." "Then why did you write a $5,000 check which ended up in Dr. Bradbury's bank account?" "I did no such thing." "That's absolutely untrue." "You deny the check?" "Let me refresh your memory." "It was made out to Helen Rand, endorsed by her to Dr. Bradbury." "No." "No, I don't deny that check." "I gave it to Helen" "For what, Mr. Huxley?" "Well, it" " It was a gift." "I" " I wanted her to buy something for herself." "We're very old friends." "So the check was merely a token of friendship, or to put it another way, a token of love?" "Yes." "Yes, of love." "You cheat." "You no-good cheat." "Brad, shut up." "You've got it all wrong." "I thought you were supposed to be in love with me." "There'll be order in this court." "BRAD:" "That was just an advance." "BISHOP:" "Order!" "I was to wreck that missile, put Morgan out of business and then the whole world was gonna be ours." "Yours and mine." "Shut up, you fool." "BISHOP:" "Order!" "Just shut up!" "( gavel banging ) Yeah, sure," "I'm a weakling and I'm a drunk but who made that Scepter go?" "BISHOP:" "Order!" "I did." "Me." "I couldn't fail again, not even for you." "There'll be order in this court." "BISHOP:" "Order." "The defense has no further questions." "But with the court's permission," "I would like to recall a witness." "Mr. Dan Morgan." "...And as I stated before," "Captain Caldwell showed me the bolt to assure me that he had finished the investigation." "According to your testimony, that was at approximately 2 a.m." "Yes, about that time." "That's most interesting, Mr. Morgan, considering the fact the decedent had no idea at all of the significance of that bolt until Dr. Bradbury explained it to him" "45 minutes later." "Well, I" "No-- Now, the only time you saw Caldwell that morning, was when you killed him." "Isn't that so, Mr. Morgan?" "The Scepter was the most important thing in my life." "I would have done anything to see it fly." "Anything." "I would have, and-- And I did." "Many of the things I did over the past few years were wrong, against the law." "But it was-- It was either that or stop, and nothing was going to stop me." "Captain Caldwell found out." "Enough to put me out of business." "Enough to keep the Scepter from flying." "Don't you understand?" "He wouldn't let my bird fly." "I" " I didn't want to kill him." "But I-- I begged with him." "I" " I pleaded." "I" " I cried." "But he wouldn't listen." "The Scepter, my Scepter, he wouldn't let it fly." "You don't understand what it means to build out of nothing but a dream." "Why, jets hadn't even been" "They hadn't even been invented when I was talking about" "About missiles." "M-Morgan, the fool visionary, they called me." "But I fought it through." "Yes, I killed him." "( dramatic theme playing )" "Let it be, no matter what," "I built the first Scepter." "And it flew." "It flew." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( upbeat theme playing )" "So it was Morgan's jeep that your sergeant saw pulling out of the Officer's Club that morning." "But my flashlight, how did that get involved?" "Well, you must have dropped it by accident and Morgan saw it and decided to try and frame you for the murder." "He picked it up with a handkerchief and beat Caldwell with it." "And almost defeated himself by wiping your fingerprints from the barrel of the flashlight." "But not the inside reflector." "No, Captain McVey, not the reflector." "Morgan then took the, uh, bolt from Caldwell's pocket and completed the frame by hiding it in your helmet." "Well, Perry, what can I say but thanks." "Oh, it might help if I told you that I've, uh" "I've decided not to take this uniform off." "Somebody still has to nurse the Scepter along." "I'd like it to be me." "Good, Jerry." "We can work things out as far as your dad's concerned." "I think you'll agree that, uh, the uniform belongs on you, major." "Be seeing you." "Captain." "Bye-bye." "( majestic theme playing )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"