"## [theme]" "[chatter]" "[croupier] Number 2, the winner." "Watch your hand." "[giggling]" "[gunshots] [screaming]" "You've got to get out of here." "Come on." " Eva, somebody may be hurt." " Go on!" "Sneaking through the ladies' room." " Of all the ridiculous, college-boy" " Hurry, darling, hurry." "It's bad enough having to take you to a joint like that in the first place." "Thank heavens we had sense enough to leave our coats in the car." "No matter what happened in there, it doesn't really concern us." "Come on, get in." "Eva, I don't like running away from things." " Harrison" " Wait." "Listen to me." "No matter how much trouble" "Harrison, will you please shut up?" "Please?" "Please?" "Please?" "[siren in distance]" "Well, that's it." "The wages of sin." "Get down." "But, darling, I love you too much" "Get down." "Get down, please." " Where you think you're going?" " To the drug store." "Will you please get that jalopy out of my way?" "You always drive barefoot?" "Officer, my husband has heart disease." "I've gotten the druggist out of bed, and he's waiting for me right now!" "Lady, there's been some trouble in this place." "We can't let anybody leave the area until we" "Maybe there wouldn't be so much trouble in this place if you policemen would do your duty once in a while." "If you think it's any fun living right on the same road w" "Here." "This is us." "Robinson." "And my husband's name is Frank." "And he's white as a sheet, and the druggist's name is Jeb Fortescue, and you can call Dr. D.W. Whitney, if you like, except right now he's on his way over to my house," "and if Frank doesn't get his medicine, I don't" "Hey, hey." "Take it easy, lady." "I'm sorry, officer." "It's just-- I'm just so frightened, that's all." "You, uh, you want to use the car radio, Mrs. Robinson?" "Oh, no." "No, that's all right." "The doctor's on his way over right now." "Well, I'll move the car." "Thank you." "Psst." "Eva." "You think I'll look well on the floor of Congress?" "Why would I save a silly politician?" "I'm only trying to avoid being killed by my husband, that's all" "Ouch." "You know, my blasted reputation isn't worth three cents to your" "Yes, it is, darling." "I'd lie, I'd cheat, I'd steal." "I'd do anything to hear one good man say he loves me." "That is what you said, isn't it, dear?" "[horn honks]" "Harrison Burke, huh?" "You're crazy." "I know it's him." "I took some campaign pictures of Burke last year, and, well, I just know what he looks like, that's all." "That's a silhouette of a shadow in a dark tunnel." " Who's the woman?" " How should I know?" "It's already blown up ten times." "Look, Mr. Locket, this was just a chance shot." "I was getting out of my car with my camera" "Why didn't you move closer?" "Why?" "I didn't know it was him then." "Look, there was a shooting inside that joint, and I heard the police call." "And this caught the corner of my eye." "And you thought you might pick up a little side-money with blackmail." "Oh, no, Mr. Locket." "Blackmail-- Blackmail's your business." "I wouldn't say anything like that again if I were you." "How much do you want for that picture?" "Uh..." "Well, uh, you know something, Mr. Locket?" "This would make a sensational cover, wouldn't it?" ""How to run for Congress"" "or "The Capers of a Candidate."" "$25, okay?" "Oh, a good artist could touch it up, could touch it up." "Sure make it look like Harrison Burke." "All right, 40." "Now get out of here." "It's nothing but bait for a slander-suit, and you know it." "Either take that, or take your negative." "All I saw was this article in yesterday's newspaper." "Apparently, they rounded up some pretty unsavory people out there at that roadhouse." "Well, it's a very nice place for us unsavory people, Mr. Mason." "The lighting's very dark, the headwaiter never tells, and nobody ever notices who is out with whom." "I didn't mean it personally." "I just meant the shooting episode itself can't in any way concern you." "They have their suspects." "But that doesn't help Harrison any." "If his name came out if the police suspected that he was there that night, well, they'd have to question him, wouldn't they?" "As a matter of routine, I suppose they would." "But can't you imagine how an opposition party could make that look?" "How they could twist his presence there into something criminal?" "I've never met Harrison Burke." "I've heard good things about him, though." "Bachelor, isn't he?" "And you introduced yourself just now as Eva Griffin." "It's Mrs. Griffin, of course." "That they could twist into something, couldn't they?" "Mr. Mason, have you ever heard of a magazine called Spicy Bits?" "I most certainly have." "Of course." "What man hasn't who's ever had a haircut?" "Or woman who's ever been to a beauty parlor?" "Well, Spicy Bits is going to print a feature on Harrison Burke being in the gambling place that night." "How they ever got wind of this" "More important, Mrs. Griffin, where did you get wind of them?" "A girl I know works in the same building as they have their offices, and she overheard something in the hall this morning." "Mr. Mason, isn't there some way a person like you could get the magazine to stop printing that story?" "With money, I mean." "Here." "That's $700." "That's every penny I could find without my husband realizing what I was doing." "I don't like making blackmail payments, so why don't you let Mr. Burke take care of this himself?" "Unless, of course, you haven't even told him about it yet." " Unless you" " All right." "All right, I'm lying to you." "It's me I'm trying to save." "Not Harrison." "I'm the one that's scared to death." "Is that what you want me to say?" "If that story were printed, the police would ask questions." "You're afraid Burke would tell them the truth about your being there with him, right?" "The newspapers would hear about it." "Look." "My husband did that to me last Saturday... just because I smiled at the same man twice, at our own party." "Oh, please, Mr. Mason, help me." "Oh, I" " I don't care anything about Harrison Burke." "I mean, he doesn't mean a thing to me." "It's just" " Well, we have been out together several times, and if my husband ever discovered" "All right, Mrs. Griffin." "All right, I'll help you." "Della, would you come in, please?" "Oh, thank you." "Thank you, Mr. Mason." "Understand, though, I'll have to handle this my own way." "Oh, yes." "Yes, of course." "Oh, Mr. Mason, if you only knew what it means to find one good man to rely on." "Della, make out a receipt to Mrs. Griffin for $700." "Mm-hmm." "Before I attend to that, this letter on the Dibbly case" "Uh, later, Della." "Mrs. Griffin, as soon as I've had someone contact the publisher of Spicy Bits" "His name is Frank Locket." "That girl told me that there may be somebody more important behind him-- the owner, maybe-- but, well, nobody seems to know who he is, and, in any case, it's Mr. Locket you're meant to contact." "We'll attend to all that, don't you worry." "Goodbye, Mrs. Griffin." "Goodbye, Perry." "I'll be with you in a minute." "Thank you." "Didn't you read that?" "So her name isn't in the phone book." "What of it?" "But I checked the City Directory." "There is no such address as the one that woman gave me when she came in." "Of course not, Della, since Griffin is obviously not her real name." "Perry, what on earth are" "Della, last year, a friend of ours committed suicide." "He could have worked himself out of the mess he was in if it hadn't been for the rotten things printed about him in a rag called Spicy Bits." "Now stall that woman out there for five minutes while I get Paul Drake on the job." "I'm sorry, Perry." "The guy I had follow that dame from your office got shook." "He did say , however, that the car she disappeared in was ten miles long." "Never mind her." "What about Frank Locket?" "Does he really have a story on Harrison Burke?" "Frank Locket wouldn't admit he has a belly-button." "However, when I mentioned that I represented somebody who might have money and who might not want to read stories about Burke in his magazine," "He, uh, gave me this." "He does have something." "You bet he has." "A real sweet racket." "Here's how it works." "You buy advertising space in his magazine, cash in advance, with a forfeit clause in case you don't deliver the copy in time, which of course you don't." "You didn't think he'd call it blackmail, did you?" "What's his price?" "I painted a pretty glowing picture of 500 bucks, and for a while there, I thought I had him hooked." "But then he said he'd better think about it for a minute." "I went outside." "When he came out, he said he needed still more time to decide." "What does that mean?" "It means that your client was right." "There is somebody behind that guy." "You think Locket tried to reach somebody else for a decision?" "Yep." "Couldn't get through to him right then." "Only the trouble is Locket may be the only one who knows who this man is." "Which is why I asked you to meet me here." "Locket left his building just a few minutes after I did." "I tailed him here." "He's downstairs now in the barber shop getting a shave." "But here." "Take a look at that switchboard setup." "Yes, sir, that's a local number." "I'll have to dial it for you, though." "You can use that house phone over there." "See what I mean?" "No pay phone." "Suppose I was to put a call in here to Locket, real urgent." "Go on." "There's a drug store across the street." "[ding ding]" "Mr. Locket, please." "Mr. Frank Locket?" "Paging Mr. Locket." "Mr. Locket?" "Paging Mr. Locket." "Mr. Locket, a call for you." "You can take it over there." "Yeah." "I checked with those people I told you about, and $500 is a lot more advertising than they expected me to" "Listen, Drake, I told you" "All right, all right." "Where can I reach you?" "I'll call you right back." "Dial this number for me, will you?" "Yes, Mr. Locket." "All right, Mr. Locket." "There's your number." "Got it." "Well, Locket must have gotten his call through this time because he called me right back and" "Paul, find out who that girl is." "Gladly." "Perry, you may not want to meet this mysterious big-shot." "He turned my offer down." "He wants $20,000." "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but Mr. Belter's upstairs in his study working, and I'm afraid" "Did you say I had to see him, no matter how busy he is?" "Mr. Mason, I don't know Mr. Belter very well." "See, I don't really live here." "I'm Norma Vickers." "My mother's the housekeeper, and I'm just visiting, but I had the definite impression he just doesn't have time" "In that case, you can't be blamed for making a mistake, can you, Norma?" "Mr. Mason." "Carl?" "Is that you, boy?" "Say, why don't you call the golf club and get up a foursome?" "Mr. Belter?" "I'm Perry Mason." "Sorry to come to your house, but my business couldn't wait." "Look here, Mr. Mason" "I don't think much of people who prey on other people's weaknesses, who peddle gossip, who blow snapshots into dirty postcards" "What the devil are you talking about?" "You own or control the magazine Spicy Bits." "Right?" "I what?" "I've never even heard of" "Well, of course I've seen the magazine." "I'll make this short and sweet, Mr. Belter." "I represent someone Spicy Bits is trying to blackmail." "I'm telling you that I don't intend to pay the price you want." "I don't intend to pay one single penny." "And furthermore, your magazine is not going to publish the story." "Understand me?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "You hide behind Frank Locket." "He edits and publishes and probably takes the rap while you rake in dividends." "But, Mr. Belter, if Spicy Bits publishes one word about my client," "I'll rip your mask right off." "I'll ride you out of your filthy business so fast, it'll make your head spin." "You're absolutely crazy." "I don't even know anyone named Locket." "Then why did he call here less than an hour ago?" "Why did the girl downstairs say you received such a call and took it up here?" "You watch your own fences, Mason, before you start throwing mud over other people's fences." "Now get out of here." "Carl!" "Carl, where are you?" "Carl?" "You're wasting your time bluffing, Mr. Belter." "I know what I'm talking about." "A year ago, a broker here in this town with a wife and three children committed suicide." "Today, Fred's widow told me your name was" "Get your hand off my arm." "What is it?" "George, what's happening?" "Darling, this is a lawyer named Mason." "My wife, sir." "How do you do, Mrs. Belter?" "How do you do?" "Mrs. Vickers, take a good look at this man." "If he ever comes near this place again," "I want you to do exactly what Carl is going to do right now-- throw him out of the house." "Oh, now, look, Uncle George, I'm sure this guy can walk." "I can walk, all right." "In fact, Mr. Belter, if you don't keep that magazine of yours quiet," "I'll walk you straight into prison." "[sobbing]" "But why didn't you tell me it's your own husband who owns Spicy Bits?" "Why all that nonsense about getting your information from a girl friend?" "I was afraid to tell you, I guess." "I mean, nobody else really knows-- except Frank Locket, of course." "How much does he pay Locket for doing his dirty work?" "Oh, no." "No, George doesn't pay him much money." "He's got something on him." "George has got something on everyone." "I never realized it before I married him, but now, as each month goes by, I find more and more terrible things." "Is that why you're planning a divorce?" "What?" "That's something else you could have mentioned, isn't it?" "Rumored breakup for the George C. Belters." "Eva, you're not afraid of George because of his jealousy over other men." "You're just scared to death he'll get something on you that could prevent your receiving a good divorce settlement." "Now isn't that the truth?" "Perry, you can say anything you'd like to me." "You can think that, for me, it's money that makes the world go around." "You can call me unfaithful a gold-digger, a worthless, lying" "Oh, but Perry, please, oh, please, don't start a fight with George." "He'll kill you." "I know he will." "Perry, please just help me." "Just" " Just pay off that magazine." "$20,000?" "Eva, I'm warning you, George Belter won't stop at" "$20,000?" "Is that what they want?" "Oh, Perry, what are we going to do?" "20,000, hmm?" "Are you sure it's me he's gunning for?" "Just my political skin?" "No, of course it isn't." "Somehow Belter found out about you and Eva, and he'd like to know more of the truth." "And so would I." "Look here, Mason." "You may not understand Eva yet." "She's had the kind of a life that people don't even talk about." "Getting hooked on a guy like Belter was the last straw." "I wasn't going to criticize her." "Oh, yes, you were." "She may have told you a few stories or something, but no wonder." "That man beats her." "He's cruel, sadistic." "He cares only for himself and an idiot nephew by the name of Carl Griffin, a chip off the same bottle." "Mr. Burke, I was only going to ask what Eva really means to you." "If she wants the money paid, I'll raise it somehow." "But if you can put Belter out of business for good, so much the better." "Mason." "I love Eva." "Is that clear enough?" "[ring] [ring]" "Hello." "Yes." "Eva?" "Perry." "Oh, Perry, darling, come quickly." "I need you, I need you." "Well, of course it's my husband." "He's dead, Perry." "I think he's been murdered." "Where are the servants?" "They live in that little house down the road." "That's where I was running to, after I heard the shot upstairs and everything, to get help, to get Mrs. Vickers, and there weren't any lights down there and" "Still aren't." "Where are your keys?" "They're in my purse, inside the house." "Oh, but we can get in through the sun-room door." "There's a key under the mat." "Perry, I know I shouldn't have panicked and run the way I did" " Come on." " It was just that I" "This is where I grabbed the coat from." "It was raining out, and I just took the first coat I saw." "It's Carl's, I guess." "He's at the country club tonight." "You said you heard your husband arguing with someone up there." "Oh, yes." "George was yelling something about advertising space, and then there was this other man." "I'm sure he was someone he was trying to blackmail, I'm sure he was, only his voice was lower, and then I heard the shot, then there was this heavy thud." "Perry, I was so scared, I just hid." "Then I heard this man's footsteps running down the stairs and out the front door, and" "so I" "I made myself come up here to look." "Single shot." "Inside of his robe is still damp." "Perry, the telephone was dead, too." "There's something wrong with it." "I couldn't even call Mrs. Vickers." "So you ran nearly a mile to a phone down the highway instead of calling a neighbor or the police" "Perry, all I could think was that you would take care of it." "You were the only man I knew who could tell me what to do." "Don't touch a thing." "But the police shouldn't see this, should they?" "That's the receipt you gave me." "If they did, they'd start asking all kinds of questions." "When Frank Locket prints that piece about Harrison in Spicy Bits, and I'm sure he will." "I know he'll do it now." "How can he if you don't let him?" "If what?" "You own the magazine now, Eva." "Oh." "I never thought of that." "Didn't you?" "Perry, if the gun's around someplace, shouldn't we" "No, we should not." "Now let's get out of here." "Only before I call Homicide, you'd better tell me whether or not you killed him." "Perry, you know I didn't ." "I know you're in the worst trouble of your life unless you can lead the police to the man with whom you claim your husband was fighting." "[clatter] What's that?" "# Bringing in the sheaves #" "# Bringing in the sheaves #" "# We will come rejoi-- #" "Ha ha ha!" "Well, if it isn't Little Eva." " Hallelujah!" " Carl, are you all right?" " Go back to your room." " But, Mother" "Do as I say." "I'll take care of him." "Come along, Mr. Carl." "Uh-oh." "Whoops." "There's been some hanky-panky." "Mustn't let Uncle George see you." "Mrs. Vickers, throw him out." "Throw him out!" "Now, now, don't make so much noise, or Mr. Belter will hear you." "[car approaches]" "All right, buddy boy." "[Mason] Just a moment, Officer." "There's someone more important upstairs." "A man who is dead." "Hand me the cups, please, Norma." "The kitchen ones." "These are prettier." "Policemen are not guests, Norma." "Yes, Mother." "The maid wasn't in the house tonight, either?" "Night off." "I told that to the Lieutenant." "Look, Mrs. Vickers, I'm Mrs. Belter's attorney." "Whatever you say is" "I've said the truth." "That's all there is to say." "I know my place, Mr. Mason." "Now if you'll excuse me" "Oh, let me take it up this time." "Carl must have had about ten cups by now." "Norma, you will stay here." "I'll take it, Mrs. Vickers." "And, uh, do the eavesdropping for all of us." "Eva?" "No, I didn't say anything bad about Eva." "They weren't getting along very well, though, were they?" "She and George Belter?" "Oh, look how can I throw rocks at anybody?" "Uncle George was really a great guy, but not for a wife, that's all." "A rich great guy." "Well, I don't know anything about his business." "He kept me around because, well, I was somebody to party with, I guess." "Uncle George always said he'd missed his best opportunities, and he jolly well turned me into one young man upon whom youth would not be wasted." "[laughing]" "Boy, do I make myself sound like something." "Lieutenant, sure." "They hated each other." "Divorce was right around the corner." "But I'd never blame Eva for, well..." "For killing him?" "No." "Why do that?" "She'd make fifty times as much in a divorce court." "How do you figure?" "She's not in his will." "He cut her out." "Wrote it up in longhand." "Showed it to me last week." "You'll find it around here someplace." "Who does get the money, Carl?" "The unworthy youth, I'm afraid." "Most of it." "Me." "Mr. Mason, I think we're all through with you now." "Andy, my client lives here." "As long as she" "You just heard the man." "Her motive went out the window." "Then she's not detained in any way?" "Don't count on anything, Perry." "Good night." "Perry." "Have they found the gun or anything yet?" "Do they know what" "What time was Harrison Burke here tonight, Eva?" " What?" " It was he, wasn't it?" "That man you heard upstairs?" "That why you took so long to get to a phone to give him a chance to get away?" "Perry, I'm not going to tell who that man was." "I'm never going to tell." "And I'm certainly not going to say it was Harrison because it wasn't." "You know it wasn't." "I know?" "Perry, darling," "I'm just so positive that voice I heard w-was you." "Mr. Mason." "I said good night, counselor." "Hi, beautiful." "Perry in?" "He's been running down another lead on Harrison Burke." "Not back yet." "He probably won't find him." "Nobody's seen Burke since yesterday." "This is something about a gun." "Gun?" "What was the caliber of bullet that killed Mr. Belter?" ".32-- just the one shot." "The lab boys say that room was really combed for strays, but that's all there was." "Why?" "Well, Perry had a hunch, so we checked all of the big sporting goods houses." "Paul, Harrison Burke bought a .32 caliber revolver just a month ago." "Well in the meantime, tell Perry the phone company says the main lead to the Belter home was apparently jerked down last night." "What about the servants?" "He wanted to know something about them." "Big zero." "The only one that's been there very long is Mrs. Vickers, and she's been so busy running her daughter's life, she hasn't paid attention to the Belters." "Even tried to get the poor kid into the movies once." "When that didn't work and Norma married a nice decent truck jockey, the old lady got it annulled." "Della, hasn't Perry said anything at all to the police yet about Harrison Burke?" "How can he?" "You know what she'll say the minute he does." "That Perry was the guy that was there, fought with Belter, and maybe even killed him." "Oh, Paul, I knew that woman was poison the moment she walked in here." "But Perry simply will not listen to me." "She gets him in deeper and deeper, but he still won't-- [door opens]" "Hello." "Good morning, Mrs. Belter." " This is Mr. Paul Drake." " Mrs. Belter." "Oh, yes, of course." "Well, I think you people are all just wonderful to be helping me the way you are." "Mrs. Belter, I'm afraid Mr. Mason won't be back until" "Oh, that's all right, Miss Street." "I just wanted Perry to know that I'm being helpful, too." "Look." "What's that?" "Well, you see, Carl told the police about a will that he thought my husband had written." "They've been looking all over the house for it." "It gives everything to Carl, you know." " Is that the will?" " Mm." "You mean you just walked out with it?" "Aren't I clever?" "You see, I wanted to be sure that Perry saw it first." "Mrs. Belter, I'm sorry I've even seen it in your possession." "Well, you shouldn't be." "Don't you see?" "If Carl doesn't inherit that magazine Spicy Bits, then I'll own it." "Then I can just tell Frank Locket what not to print, just whatever I please, and" "But, Mrs. Belter, you just can't tear that thing up." "People know about it." "[laughing]" "Now, stop it, Mr. Drake." "Now, you see, you don't understand." "See, I brought this thing along because it's supposed to be in George's own handwriting, but I think this will is a forgery." "Of course, with only a couple of cancelled checks in Belter's true hand for a comparison" "Uh, no." "There's another one of those T's crossed the wrong way." "Perry, I'd say definitely this is not only a forgery, but a bad one." "All right, Joe." "Thanks." "Perry, I'm afraid I read about this case in the newspapers." "What are you going to do with this will?" "Something I don't want to do." "Of course I go out with Frank Locket." "But casually, do you know what I mean?" "Frank Locket comes from St. Paul." "So do you." "Four years ago there, you had a roommate who died under pretty strange circumstances." "Are you aware of how long a sentence you could get for not saying what those circumstances were?" "For not saying who the man was involved with your" "What the devil are you doing here, Drake?" "Oh, shooting in the dark." "Trying to find out what hold George Belter had over you." "Drake, do you want me to do a feature on you?" ""Illegal Methods of a Private Eye"?" "Relax." "You're going to be fired off that magazine by the new owner." "I'm what?" "I've just spent an hour with the new owner of Spicy Bits," " together with his lawyer" " With who?" "Young Griffin." "Who do you think?" "Well, Griffin's counting his chickens pretty fast, isn't he?" "Of course he is." "Why not?" "His lawyer saw Belter's will a week ago." "And it must be all in order because they're having no trouble getting credit." "And you should see the size of the rock that kid bought this morning for the girl he's going to marry." "Now tell me, where are you getting your stories from, Mr. Drake?" "Oh, Perry darling." "Well, it's about time you returned." "I ought to be getting that will back to the house, shouldn't I?" "I mean, if it's to be properly discovered." "[giggling]" "Sit down, Della." "Well, it is a forgery, isn't it?" "I mean, they'll just take one look at it and set it aside, won't they?" "Yes." "It is a forgery." "What's she going to do?" "Perry, what's he here for?" " He's here as a witness." " A what?" "Eva, some things a lawyer has to do aren't very pleasant." "He takes his clients as they come." "They're in trouble, so he can't always expect them to tell the truth." "Oh!" "Oh, that." "Perry, darling, I told you the other day I was sorry about any untruths that I" "He's a fool if he completely trusts any client, but that's beside the point." "His job is to believe and to help them as best he can." "The only times when he's really a fool is when he sticks by a client who won't trust him." "Perry, I don't know what you're talking about." "Eva, you've been trying to paint me as a suspect to your husband's murder ever since I started on this case." "Whenever you were afraid I wouldn't keep on helping you, you added a little more." "That isn't true, Perry." "Let me tell you what happened last night." "To begin with, Harrison Burke was out there." "That's why you tapped me, wasn't it, in case anyone had seen another man around the place." "No." "It was also Burke's gun that killed your husband, wasn't it?" "The handy little .32, small enough for a woman to use?" "That isn't so." "That just isn't so." "Suppose I showed you a statement from Harrison Burke saying it is so?" "I don't believe it." "Harrison would never sign such a thing." "I told him to leave-- ...town." "Of course." "When you called him last night, at the same time you called me." "The service station attendant said you made change for two calls, Mrs. Belter." "All right." "Yes, I" " I did phone Harrison last night" "After you'd given him time to get home." "But he didn't fight with George." "No, honestly, Perry, he didn't." "He did want to see him." "He wanted to talk to him and tell him the truth about everything and have it out with him, but I wouldn't let him." "I didn't even tell him that George was at the house that night." "If they had met, George would have killed him." "Instead of which, he killed George." "No!" "No!" "No!" "All right." "Perry, you're right about my having the gun, but Harrison didn't touch that gun last night." "I don't care what kind of lies he told you in any sort of statement, trying to protect me, but" "I didn't say he made that statement." "I just said suppose." "I don't understand." "I have to make you tell the truth, Eva, no matter how I do it." "Everything I've said is just obvious deduction." "And it's just as obvious that you're the one who had the fight with George." "Perry, please." "What happened, Eva?" "Did he hear you come in with Burke?" "Did he hear Burke leave?" "Did your husband yell for you?" "Was that why your purse was up in his room?" "Had he opened that purse while you were out and found my receipt and added 2 and 2?" "And when he yelled for you, did you take your gun upstairs and" "Don't!" "I can't talk about it." "All right." "Let's talk about the will." "Yes." "Carl Griffin-- he forged that will, didn't he?" "Well, if he'd do a thing like that" "He didn't forge it, Eva." "You did." "A very neat trick to take the heat off both you and Harrison." "Because last week there was such a will, wasn't there, in George's own hand?" "And you copied it, so only the copy would be found, the obvious forgery discovered?" "Eventually, the court would award you the entire estate." "All right." "Where's the original, Eva?" "What did you do with it?" "No." "No." "No." "Do you want me to call Norma Vickers now, Perry?" "Yes, I guess you'd better." "If she saw Eva, if she saw her at the desk writing on paper like this" "Stop it!" "[sobbing]" "It's true." "Perry, it's true, it's true." "Every terrible thing you've said is true." "Even to George yelling." ""Come on up here, you dirty little--"" "I was so scared." "I've never been so scared in all my life." "I didn't mean to shoot him, Perry." "Honestly I didn't." "But when I saw him standing in the bathroom door and he started toward me, yes, yes, I pulled the trigger." "I" "I wasn't even looking." "I just pulled the trigger, and I ran and ran and ran." "I murdered him, Perry, I murdered him." "[door closes]" "Guess I got here at the right moment, didn't I?" "Andy" "Now take it easy." "I'm sure Mrs. Belter will give us our own confession." "You see, we finally found the gun where you threw it in the bushes down the path." "Pretty dirty, but we got your fingerprints off of it, all right." "I suppose..." "Norma or someone led you right to that, too." "Hmm?" "Oh, no, no, that kid's too much up in the clouds to see anything." "Now, come along, please." "You mean..." "Norma..." "didn't see me doing anything?" "I only said if she saw you, Eva." "I told you before I had to handle this my own way." "I couldn't help you unless-- [sobbing]" "[Anderson] Perry?" "All set." "She's agreed to walk through it for us, to wrap this thing up." "[Drake] Here we are, Perry." "Hello, Mr. Burke." "Mason, I don't know what you think of me for ducking out of town when Eva told me to." "But I started back the second I heard Belter was dead." "But I certainly know what I think of you for" "Shall we go inside, Andy?" "I came through the doorway." "And I stood here." "He was just pulling his robe around him." "He yelled that he was going to beat me up." " What for?" " Because he hated me, because he thought I'd been unfaithful." "I see." "All right, go on." "He started toward me." "I screamed that I had a gun in my hand, but he didn't stop." "And suddenly there was this terrible explosion right in my hand, and he fell." "And I threw" "And I ran... outside, down the path, and I ran and I ran until I got to the telephone booth to call Perry, and that's all there is to it, Lieutenant." "That agree with what she told you?" " No, it doesn't, Andy." " Now see here" "She's still protecting Mr. Burke." "She must have been afraid that he was still around the place somewhere." "Otherwise, she wouldn't have pulled the phone line loose to give him a chance to get away." "She left that part out." "All right, so I left that part out!" "Tell them the whole truth, Eva." "She also left something out about the coat she grabbed as she ran outside." "I mentioned that right at first, Mr. Mason." "It was raining outside, and I grabbed" "You left out about the pool of water on the floor downstairs, remember?" "Underneath the empty place on the rack from where you'd taken the coat." "It was your coat, Carl." "Why would I remember a thing like that?" "Because obviously the coat had already been outside in the rain." "It was already wet." "Look, I was at the country club that whole evening." "Hold it, Griffin." "Go ahead, Perry." "What else?" "Well, the matter of a forthcoming marriage." "Oh, no one knew about it, did they, Carl?" "I mean, we only had a couple of dates, but I've never been so happy" "Be quiet, Norma." "This is none of his business." "Yes, of course." "You're the person I should be talking to, aren't you, Mrs. Vickers." "You're the matchmaker, the movie-mother, the boss of this outfit." "Mason, I don't know what you're driving at, but she just said it." "It was love at first sight." "This is one of the sweetest kids that ever" "Of course she is." "And you're just exactly the marrying type, aren't you, Mr. Griffin?" "Now listen" "Perry, what are you driving at?" "A very reluctant client, Andy." "She still hasn't told us what she really did with that gun." "Eva, when we came back here to this room, you expected the gun would be here, didn't you?" "You wanted me to help you look for it." "And just now you started to say that you threw the gun down before you ran." " Well, I" " Never mind." "Andy, she fired at her husband, all right." "But she didn't necessarily kill him." "Now, who moved the gun from here to the bushes outside?" "Eva thinks it was Mr. Burke, so" "No." "No, I didn't." "I'd already left." "Perry, I'm sorry, but if you're saying someone else picked up the gun after she left, someone who was here in the house all along, and that someone then killed Belter with a second shot," "you're way out in left field." "Why?" "When you found the gun, it had several empty chambers, didn't it?" "They could have been fired any time weeks ago." "The point is only one shot was fired inside this room, and the bullet was found inside the body." "No, Perry, I hate to do this to you, but look." "No windows." "We've gone over the woodwork, the ceiling, the furniture." "There just isn't a wild-shot inside here." "I hate to do this to you, Andy." "Look out, Perry." "Look out yourself, Andy." "We didn't look for scratches in the bathtub." "With all that water, there might not have been any." "The murderer probably just fished the slug out and walked away with it." "Isn't that what he did, Mrs. Vickers?" "You know who was in the house all the time, who'd already come back from the country club, who went out afterwards to drink himself into an alibi." "How about it, Griffin?" "No, no, Andy, she'll tell us." "This lady who made such a quick deal for her daughter." "This lady who must have seen enough to know who committed the murder." "This lady who's going straight to prison as an accomplice unless she starts talking right now." "I" "Well, I" "Shut up, Mrs. Vickers." "Shut up, shut up!" "Please shut up!" "Oh, please shut up!" "Apparently your shot missed him entirely." "But how did Carl know?" "After you shot at your husband and ran, he naturally went upstairs to see what had happened." "Your husband told him." "They found the bullet in the bathtub." "They" " They laughed about it." "Then Carl got George to show him where he'd been standing, and then Carl cold-bloodedly pulled that trigger for the second time." "His only mistake was in tossing the gun into the bushes close to your footprints." "Perry, I just feel sorry for poor Norma." "She didn't know anything about all that." "Of course not." "But even if her marriage had been completed, she and her mother couldn't have collected any of the money." "What do you mean?" "Well, your husband did intend to leave his money and properties to Carl, but a convicted murderer can't inherit, so in due time, you'll get it all back." "Perry, I never did destroy that will." "I just copied it because I wanted to make trouble so that Carl couldn't get that magazine and print" "Oh, but how can I ever expect you to believe me now about anything ever?" "I might say the same thing, Eva." "It's not a very nice thing, a lawyer tricking his client into a confession." "Oh, no." "No, Perry, you had to do it." "I mean, when I think how many more lies I might have told if you hadn't forced me into telling the truth." "I was so desperate." "Oh, Perry, if you only knew what it meant to me to have met one good man" "I know." "One good man who loves you." "[buzz]" "Goodbye, Eva." "Well, I've turned over all my information on Frank Locket to the police." "What's going to happen to the magazine now?" "I am glad to say that Spicy Bits is about to breathe its last." "And I'm going to have the supreme pleasure of burying it." "You are?" "Well, sure, as legal counsel for the new owner." "I certainly intend to go on being Eva's representative." "You don't have any objections to that, do you?"