"( noirish jazz theme playing )" "( peaceful theme playing )" "You're home early." "Where are you going?" "Where have you been all afternoon, Thelma?" "I had lunch with Lois." "I told you." "You didn't have lunch with her." "All right, I didn't." "I was taking care of something." "Not something." "You've been seeing someone for a long time now." "That's not true." "So now you're gonna pack your little bag and take a little trip?" "You're gonna sulk?" "This is a little more than just a sulk, Thelma." "I've had enough of this kind of life with you." "You're leaving me?" "At least a separation." "A divorce can be worked out later in a civilized way." "I'm going to take this opportunity to do some work on my anti-collision device." "In privacy." "And what does that mean?" "Who's been going through my papers?" "You know no one can get in here when you lock the door." "Somebody did." "( mysterious theme playing )" "Your car is blocking the driveway." "James, I don't want a divorce." "It's not your choice, Thelma." "Now, your car." "You won't get rid of me so easily." "I hadn't anticipated that it would be easy." "Please get your car out of the way." "It's been three months now, sergeant, and all you can tell me here at Missing Persons is no report and no trace yet." "You haven't heard anything, have you, lady?" "No." "No arguments?" "No warnings?" "He just disappeared?" "Look here, sergeant, if you're presuming this is simply a case of abandonment..." "Our experience is, when they leave this way, ma'am, that's what it is." "That's rather unlikely, sergeant." "James Frazer is in love with his wife." "Besides, he has a great many responsibilities he wouldn't neglect under any circumstances." "Are you a relative, ma'am?" "No, I'm just a friend and neighbor." "Then what do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Frazer?" "Maybe he was in an accident and had a loss of memory." "Maybe he's in a hospital somewhere." "That's routine check, ma'am." "We'd know by now if any of that was the case." "Well, I want to find out what's happened to him." "A man doesn't just disappear off the face of the earth, does he?" "Sometimes, ma'am." "And sometimes under it." "We aren't giving up looking for him." "( mysterious theme playing )" "I'll only be a few minutes, Lois." "You're an angel for coming along." "Oh, don't be silly." "I told you I'd spend the day with you." "Go ahead." "Thelma?" "What did you come here for?" "Well, not just to see you, Calvin." "I also have to speak to the Haydens." "You mustn't be seen in my office." "If they even suspected about us it would mean real trouble." "Okay, darling." "All right." "See you tonight." "( phone rings )" "Yes?" "Who?" "Oh, yes, send her in." "And tell my brother to come in." "( humming )" "( stops )" "( humming )" "( stops )" "Not quite perfected yet." "Thelma, you look exquisite." "If I didn't know better," "I'd say Jim's absence is agreeing with you." "Your registered letter came this morning." "What does it mean, Robert?" "Just a formality about the contract between Jim and us." "Sit down, Thelma." "It sounds ominous." "Not at all." "Simply request Jim to show up here." "See, we've been developing this anti-collision device." "Might need his expert touch." "What about the contract?" "You've been married to Jim for almost three years, Thelma, hasn't he told you the details of our partnership?" "I know he owns 40 percent of the company and you two own 60 percent." "That's right." "What's the penalty if Jim doesn't show up?" "Well, there is no penalty as such, but you must realize that Jim is the engineering genius." "The inventor in our company." "We need him to handle his end of the firm, just as Arthur handles production." "I handle sales." "And what happens if he doesn't?" "Something bad?" ""If within the three month period you, James Frazer," ""have not assumed your partnership duties" ""at the company's place of business," ""this is to notify you that said three month period" ""is concluded at 5:00 p.m." "Tuesday, February 2nd."" "That's tomorrow." "That's right." "Is everything all right with you, Thelma?" "Is there anything we can do?" "Yes, you can tell me what Jim forfeits if he doesn't show up at the plant by tomorrow." "He doesn't forfeit anything, Thelma." "What if he's ill or sick somewhere?" "Then why hasn't he let us know?" "What if he's dead?" "What makes you say a thing like that, Thelma?" "( door shuts )" "The invading object has to get too close before it triggers the alarm." "It's still a tremendous piece of work by Calvin Boone." "Done by himself without benefit of Jim Frazer." "It's still a calculated risk if we're thinking of him to replace Frazer." "Calculated risk?" "Frazer gets 40 percent of millions." "All we have to give Boone is 1,200 a month." "Boone developed the invention up to this point, why can't he finish it himself?" "Imagine eliminating aircraft collisions." "That's only the beginning of the unlimited possibilities of the anti-collision principle." "( humming )" "( mysterious theme playing )" "Do you mind driving downtown with me, Lois?" "Of course not." "Where to?" "First I have to pick up something at the house and then to a lawyer." "( engine starts )" "It's quite clear what the involuntary sales clause means, Mrs. Frazer." "Well, from what little I know of business practices, it seemed to me that some kind of forfeit is involved." "No, not really a forfeit." "Gives the other members of the partnership the right to buy out James Frazer's interest." "And the registered letter?" "Puts Frazer on notice and the Hayden brothers on record." "At 5:00 tomorrow afternoon, if your husband hasn't appeared at the factory offices, they can buy him out." "For how much?" "Well, there is a formula in the agreement, arrived at five years ago." "Evaluation of the company is put at $100,000." "And they can buy out all 40 percent for $40,000?" "That's right." "But the company's worth millions, and they're developing an anti-collision device that will be worth many more millions." "Isn't there any way to stop them, Mr. Mason?" "Well, I don't know." "I've only given this document a cursory reading." "Well, perhaps you can find something or think of something." "They're trying to take advantage of me." "This, uh, disappearance of your husband, Mrs. Frazer, has he ever done anything like that before?" "Well, no." "That's what frightens me so." "We've always been so close and had such a wonderful relationship." "Was he working on anything in particular when he disappeared?" "You mean, like the anti-collision device?" "Not that I know of." "And you do have Missing Persons working on it?" "I went to them this morning for a report." "They've accomplished exactly nothing." "All right, Mrs. Frazer," "I'll, uh, go over these papers this evening." "Thank you, Mr. Mason." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Miss Street." "Mrs. Frazer." "( door shuts )" "Let's put Paul Drake to work, Della." "Sometimes the mills of the police department grind exceedingly slow." "( mysterious theme playing )" "Come on in for some coffee, Lois." "Oh, thanks dear, but I think I'll paddle off home and get outside a cold martini." "Lois?" "Yes?" "Where is he?" "What's that?" "I said, where's Jim?" "Where's Jim?" "Well, how should I know?" "There are millions of dollars involved, Lois." "This is no time for stupid pretenses." "I don't understand, Thelma." "Why do you think that I know where Jim is?" "Because you've been seeing him behind my back for months." "Did you think I didn't know?" "Thelma, you're out of your mind." "I want him home." "So you tell him he'd better show up before" "Make it tonight." "( tense theme playing )" "Thelma!" "Thelma!" "( door buzzes )" "Thelma." "Thelma!" "Thelma!" "Jim?" "What is it, Jim, is anybody in there?" "Thelma." "Oh, no!" "No, you can't do anything!" "Go on, get out!" "You'll only kill yourself!" "( ominous theme playing )" "( ominous theme swells )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "She left this partnership agreement and letter with me." "I advised her on the basis of a quick reading that your position was vulnerable, but then, you know the provisions under involuntary sales." "Yes, I-I think so, but then I've never been too bright about legal matters." "I promised to check the contract thoroughly to see if there was some loophole." "That's why I'm here." "Well, it's" " It's academic now anyway, Mason." "I-I've returned." "It's just that since I'm in jail I can't get to the office." "Well, that's no excuse." "The terms are explicit." "If you don't show up by 5:00 today, you could be bought out by your partners, jail or no jail." "But I-I can't get there." "I'm charged with murder." "Well, let me suggest that you get in touch with your attorney." "Uh, have him call me." "I'll be very glad to pass on to him, uh, any observations I might have on the contract." "Mason?" "I don't have an attorney." "Who's representing you on this murder charge?" "No one." "I guess I, uh, will need an attorney, won't I?" "Would you represent me?" "Did you kill your wife?" "No." "No." "You disappeared for three months." "The evening you returned she was murdered." "Why did you come back?" "I, uh" "I-I suddenly remembered that clause in the agreement and" "And then there were some notes I needed to finish my latest invention." "What notes?" "Where were they?" "Relating to radar sensitivity in my workshop." "Did you get them?" "No." "Then you were not in your workshop at all yesterday." "No, I-I haven't been there since I left three months ago." "Why did you disappear then?" "I'd found out that my wife was seeing at least one other man, and I wanted to get away to finish this project I was working on." "It was a most important piece of work." "Your wife said that you and she had never had any trouble." "That you had had a wonderful marriage." "Oh, we did... for at least the first day or so of the honeymoon." "That was three years ago." "What man was she seeing?" "I don't know." "How can you be sure there was anyone?" "There were so many lies, and evasions, and evidences of guilt." "I didn't care who it was, Mason, it was the fact that-- That there was somebody, that" "That was the terrible thing." "I know how busy you are, but if you could find the time to defend me, I'd" "I'd be very grateful." "Here, Mr. Frazer." "Sign this." "Sure, but, uh, what--?" "What is it?" "Power of attorney." "What's it for?" "( chuckles )" "To clip a few wings." "Before I forget, do you think you could get to the filing cabinet in my workshop at home?" "I, uh, gave Lieutenant Tragg my key." "I guess he didn't run across the one" "I suspect Thelma had made." "I'll see what I can do." "Now, I think we'd better go through your whole story." "Where you've been, when you came back, and so on." "Oh, all right." "Well, when I left town three months ago" "I, uh" " I drove north up Sepulveda..." "Most of the three months he stayed at the Wayfair, a little motel north of the valley." "Working on his invention." "It's about an hour's drive up Sepulveda, Paul." "Registered under his own name?" "No, under the name of James Freeman." "All right, what do you want me to do there?" "Pack his belongings." "Clothes, papers, everything." "Bring them here?" "Mm-hm." "Then start a check on that woman neighbor Lois Langley." "Also do some digging into the Hayden brothers." "They're Frazer's partners." "I, uh, hope the police don't get to the Wayfair motel ahead of me." "They won't." "They don't know about it." "Which means they, uh, might resent our getting there ahead of them?" "If there's one thing the police want that our client has in his effects, we'll give it to them, of course." "Uh, Paul," "I'm particularly interested in this invention Frazer's working on." "All right, Perry, I'll get right on it." "Goodbye, beautiful." "Here it is." "Of course, I don't understand what it's all about, but it's just the way you wanted it." "Oh, this is fine." "And, um, now about the check." "Mm-hm." "In the amount of one dollar." "Will you please tell me what I'm buying?" "Della, I can only tell you that you're a very rich woman." "At least for the afternoon." "Now, don't spend your money too recklessly." "( ominous theme playing )" "Well, good morning, lieutenant." "Oh, uh, Mr. Mason, Miss Langley." "How do you do?" "Neighbor?" "Yes, I was home last night at the time of the fire." "Please, excuse me." "Oh, lieutenant, if there's anything I can do." "You finished with your experiment?" "Yes, almost." "We, uh, have an arson man coming." "You working on the, uh...?" "Oh, just running an errand." "What kind of an errand?" "I'm gonna get some notes out of the file cabinet." "Well, I'm sorry, Perry, we entered the file cabinet and we're holding the contents." "Experimenting, lieutenant?" "Yes, you might say that." "Uh-huh, ah, you know how to open that door, Perry?" "MASON:" "Oh, it looks like something an inventor might contrive." "No doorknob, no lock." "Just that slot." "But it does have a key." "Uh-huh." "You know how it works?" "No, but I know how to work it." "May I?" "Go ahead." "( door buzzing )" "Pretty clever, isn't it?" "It's better than a key or a combination lock." "Actually, that's fool proof." "It would seem so." "I got it from Frazer and there are no duplicates." "His, uh, wife was found in here, you know." "What makes you think in terms of arson, lieutenant?" "Thelma Frazer was dead before the fire started." "Somebody killed her, brought her in here, and set the fire to cover up the murder, and only Frazer had the key." "I'm sorry my brother isn't here, Mr. Mason." "He would have enjoyed meeting you too." "Thank you." "Watch the cigarette lighter." "( humming )" "( stops )" "That's our latest invention." "Not quite perfected." "Of course, it has other applications." "Anti-collision." "Yes, very perceptive." "Sit down, Mr. Mason." "Thank you." "Is it, uh, Mr. Frazer's invention?" "No, as a matter of fact it's a development of one of our bright young engineers." "Mind telling me who he is?" "His name is Calvin Boone." "He's under long term exclusive contract." "Signed a new deal with him today." "I'd like to meet this bright young man." "Ask Mr. Boone to step into my office, please." "Have you discussed Mr. Boone's new contract with Mr. Frazer?" "No." "Should I have?" "Well, isn't he a partner in the company?" "Five o'clock today, that's less than a half hour, he'll no longer be a partner." "You're deliberately taking advantage of a technicality in your agreement." "Mr. Frazer cannot assume his duties here today because he's under arrest." "Fortunes of war, Mr. Mason." "( phone rings )" "Yes?" "Oh, thanks, never mind." "Calvin Boone's out of the office just now." "I'd like you to meet him next time you're out this way." "Oh, Arthur, meet Mr. Mason." "He's representing Jim Frazer." "My brother Arthur, Mr. Mason." "How do you do?" "I take it then your intention is to buy Mr. Frazer's interest for $40,000?" "That's right." "The papers are already prepared." "A more equitable amount would be, say, $300,000, wouldn't it?" "What if it is?" "What if it's worth double 300,000?" "Can you give us one good reason why we should pay him more than we have to?" "The contract is tight, legal, and definitive." "You can't break it, Mr. Mason." "Oh, I don't wanna break it." "Now, as James Frazer's attorney," "I'm asking you for $300,000 for his partnership interests." "( scoffs )" "I've heard of some of your courtroom maneuvers, Mason." "We're dealing now with contracts, words on paper." "You can't twist them around." "Then you refuse to buy at the $300,000 figure?" "That's right." "And you, sir?" "I refuse also, Mason." "Thank you, gentlemen." "ROBERT:" "Mason, uh, what's this all about?" "Read your partnership agreement very carefully." "I'll be at my office in the morning." "( door shuts )" "Well, it was no great problem." "The manager, a Mrs. Nicholas, let me in, and that package was wrapped just as you see it." "I don't know what's in it." "What progress downtown, Paul?" "Not very good." "There's a quiet air of confidence emanating from the D.A.'s office and Homicide's lip is buttoned." "How was she killed?" "Shot." "Who's gun?" "Frazer's." "Motive?" "I can't find out." "What about other men in her life?" "I've got operatives on it, Perry, but I have nothing to report yet." "All right, Paul, I want you to check on the whereabouts of the brothers Hayden at the time of the murder and" "( rings )" "Good evening, Perry Mason." "Also a bright young engineer by the name of Calvin Boone." "Okay." "One moment please." "Uh, anything on Lois Langley?" "No, nothing I've been able to dig up yet." "Paul, Mr. Stewart Connor." "Oh, that's the, uh, that's the operative assigned to Lois Langley." "Yeah?" "Well, is he there now?" "Good, thanks for calling, and stay right with Lois Langley." "There's a bright young engineer named Calvin Boone in Lois Langley's house right now." "Well, frankly, Miss Langley," "I was a little surprised at your call." "And you were wondering." "Well, I was wondering if you had perfected the invention you were working on." "Miss Langley, what do you know about the invention?" "Quite a bit." "I'm kind of a silent partner in Hayden research." "You see, I advanced Robert quite a bit of money when they started out." "I see." "So it's understandable I should be interested in your invention, isn't it?" "Well, I've just one little final problem to solve and then it's done." "That last problem seems to have been escaping you for weeks." "I've been working on it." "Oh, really, Mr. Boone, don't you mean you've been working on Thelma?" "I drove out to the plant with her yesterday afternoon." "I don't understand." "Well, I waited in the car for her while she went upstairs." "I saw her in your office." "It was rather romantic." "Miss Langley, it's not what you think." "Oh, heavens, I hope that it is." "Mr. Boone, let's be honest, shall we?" "That isn't your invention at all." "It's Jimmy Frazer's, and you've been using Thelma to get at his notes and sketches on that anti-collision device." "Did you, uh, succeed in getting the last part from him?" "Well, how could I?" "He just came home last night." "I mean last night." "At the Frazer's house." "About, uh, 20 minutes before the fire." "Didn't Jimmy bring the final notes home with him, and didn't Thelma let you into the workshop to get them?" "Of course not, how could she?" "Nobody could get in." "Oh, come, Mr. Boone." "Thelma must have had a duplicate key all along." "How else could she leak bits and pieces of the invention to you from time to time?" "What do you want with me?" "The company has a chance... to get rid of Frazer." "The company doesn't need him if you get the last part of that invention." "And you want me to get it from Frazer." "Well, what if he hasn't got it himself?" "Well, let's hope he does." "What if he hasn't solved the last problem?" "Or what if he didn't bring it home last night?" "And what if he did?" "And what if you're trying to keep it for yourself?" "No, Mr. Boone, if you haven't got it already, get it." "You know, I really would hate to tell the police about seeing you at the house last night just before the fire." "( humming )" "Where did you get it?" "James Frazer's effects." "It's the invention he's been working on for the last three months." "Ours works at four inches." "This works at six feet." "Frazer says if that works on an augmented scale, the problem of air collisions is solved." "But how did you get it?" "We've been working on that same principle." "Calvin Boone." "Coincidence, isn't it?" "Can't be a coincidence." "Then either Mr. Frazer stole from Mr. Boone, or Mr. Boone stole from Mr. Frazer." "Must have been Boone who did the stealing." "What difference does it make anyway?" "It belongs to the company." "Does it?" "Mason, we took your advice and studied the partnership agreement." "According to the involuntary sale provision we were absolutely within our legal rights." "At 5:00 we bought Frazer out." "Here's our check for $40,000." "Sorry, I can't accept it." "Why not?" "It's certified." "At 5:00 yesterday afternoon" "James Frazer no longer owned any interest in the company." "He'd already sold it." "Sold it?" "How could he?" "Oh, he could, all right." "You were so preoccupied with the involuntary sale provision you overlooked the voluntary sales provision." "I remember now there is one." "That's why you asked us for $300,000 for his interest, wasn't it?" "According to the voluntary sale provision, he must offer us the chance to buy before he can sell it to someone else." "To whom did Frazer sell his interest?" "Miss Street." "Well, that doesn't change the fact that Frazer developed this invention while he was still a partner on salary with the company, so it belongs to the partnership." "Oh, the, uh, last part of the voluntary sale provision says, uh," ""In the event of the disollution" ""of the partnership," ""all inventions on which any of the partners are working," ""but, uh, those which have not been reduced to patent," ""shall be the property of the person working on such invention."" "Mason, we want that anti-collision device." "We'll make trouble." "Not by talking about it." "Pardon me, Mr. Mason, did, uh, Frazer say he's got that distance problem solved?" "You've seen as much of it as I have, Mr. Hayden." "Where were you last night at the time of the murder, Mr. Hayden?" "You, Mr. Hayden?" "Well, Mason, we're stuck with a messy situation involving patents and law suits." "You're stuck with a murder." "( door shuts )" "( dramatic theme playing )" "TRAGG:" "Yes, sir, this is the murder weapon, it has my mark on it." "It's registered in the name of the defendant," "James Frazer." "I see." "I show you now this flat rectangular piece of metal and ask if you can identify it." "Yes, that has my mark on it too." "Yes, but would you tell the court, please, what it is?" "It's an electronic key." "You can't duplicate it without having this precise key as a model." "And what door does this electronic key open?" "The only door to the workshop behind the defendant's house." "BURGER:" "And where did you find the key?" "TRAGG:" "In the possession of the defendant at the time of the arrest." "I see." "I call your attention now to these shoes and ask you to examine them." "TRAGG:" "Yes, sir." "The defendant was wearing them at the time of the arrest, approximately 9:15 on the night of the murder and the fire." "All right, but what else is special about these shoes?" "Well, spectroscopic analysis show that parts of the leather had been soaked with gasoline." "A particular brand of, uh, green dye gasoline, called, uh, Emerald." "BURGER:" "Is this Emerald gasoline sold locally?" "No, it's a new brand." "It's being, uh, tested in the outlying districts." "BURGER:" "Your witness." "Lieutenant, you indicated that a locksmith could not open the door of that workshop without a key." "Unless he broke down the door." "MASON:" "Oh, isn't it true that there is a way to duplicate the key by way of making an electronic analysis of it?" "Yes, it could be done that way." "Thank you, lieutenant." "That will be all." "JUDGE:" "Step down, lieutenant." "In my opinion, this fire was deliberately set." "Traces of gasoline in the floor and baseboard, matches." "Spontaneous combustion was impossible where this fire originated." "I see." "I show you now this burned match and this matchbook and ask if you recognize it?" "Yes, sir, found in the workshop." "Yes, sir, that, uh, partially burned one, my identifying mark is on it." "A comparison analysis of the torn end proves it to be from this book of matches." "Paper was ignited, which lead to the gasoline and, uh, this particular match failed to ignite the paper, so it was tossed aside." "Well, the Emerald gas station is down the hill." "I watched him coming from the station with a gasoline can." "BURGER:" "And was this man a regular guest at your motel?" "Oh, yes, sir." "Uh, he had been for almost three months." "And what was his name?" "Well, he called himself James Freeman, but that's him over there, the one you call James Frazer." "Let the record show that the witness is pointing to the defendant James Frazer." "Now, Mrs. Nicholas, I show you this matchbook and ask if you recognize it?" "Sure, that's one of mine." "I had to pay to get that Wayfair Motel printed on there." "You can't get them anywhere else but my motel." "I see." "Would Miss Lois Langley please stand up?" "Mrs. Nicholas, would you look at Miss Langley standing there?" "Yes, sir." "Have you ever seen her before?" "Oh, yes, sir, twice or three times." "Where?" "At the Wayfair." "My motel." "Would you explain to this court, please, how you happened to recognize this woman?" "Well, she came to visit Mr. James Freeman." "Uh, that is James Frazer, that one over there." "BURGER:" "You may sit down, Miss Langley." "Thank you, Mrs. Nicholas." "Your witness, counselor." "Now, you said the defendant brought the Emerald gasoline back to the motel in a can." "That's correct." "Were you aware, Mrs. Nicholas, that Mr. Frazer was engaged in building a model of some sort?" "Yes, sir." "Now, was it possible that he bought the gasoline in a can to use for cleaning tools and parts?" "Well, it's possible, but I can't prove it one way or the other." "Thank you, Mrs. Nicholas, that will be all." "JUDGE:" "The witness may step down." "I call Miss Lois Langley to the stand, please." "The defendant spoke to you on what day?" "November 2nd, two days after Halloween." "Go on, Miss Langley." "What did he say to you?" "Well, he asked me to keep an eye on Thelma and said he'd get in touch with me." "Did he say why he wanted you to keep an eye on his wife?" "LOIS:" "Yes, he wanted to know if she was seeing other men." "And if so, who." "I never stopped hoping I was wrong about her." "BURGER:" "Well, you saw the defendant yourself at the Wayfair Motel, didn't you?" "Yes." "What for?" "Well, he didn't wanna come back to town, so he asked me to do certain things for him." "I understand." "Now, Miss Langley, did you have a conversation with the deceased on the" "The day of her death?" "Yes." "Would you tell this court, please, the gist of that conversation?" "Well, she accused me of having had an affair with her husband, and she made it clear that she wanted him back in town by that night." "So, what did you do?" "Well, I telephoned him and relayed the message." "I told him he'd better get home if he wanted to safeguard his holdings in the Hayden Research Company." "BURGER:" "And did you see the defendant that evening?" "Yes." "BURGER:" "Where and when?" "He was coming out of his workshop... while it was burning." "And his wife Thelma Frazer, the deceased, was inside?" "Yes." "So he said." "I see." "Thank you, Miss Langley." "To you, counselor." "JUDGE:" "Just a moment if you will, please, counselor." "I see it's getting close to 5:00." "If you intend anything more than a very brief cross-examination," "I'd like to adjourn until morning." "Defense has no objection to the adjournment, Your Honor." "Very well, then, court will recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning." "How does it look?" "Burger's building a nice case." "He making it seem you and Miss Langley were having an affair." "Anything to it?" "No, she told the truth." "I, uh" " I asked her to keep an eye on Thelma." "Was it possible for anybody to get hold of your workshop key long enough to make an electronic analysis of it?" "No, not unless it was Thelma at night after retiring." "Did you ever give the workshop key to her?" "No." "All right." "We'll get a resolution on it tomorrow, one way or the other." "Perry, I finally got hold of Calvin Boone, and I told him about Frazer's electronic device." "I gather the Haydens had already told him about Frazer's latest addition to it, but Boone denied any kind of stealing." "We have time for a bite to eat before it gets dark." "Fine." "( dramatic theme playing )" "( beeps and hums )" "Calvin Boone?" "I wanted to see how it worked." "I couldn't believe it." "All right, Della." "You wanted to steal it." "No, it's too late for that now." "I just wanted to see how Frazer solved the problem." "Well, he didn't." "But it's working now." "It's stationary." "Radio waves." "At least, that's how Frazer explained it to me." "Do you know what that means?" "BOONE:" "Yes, it will work like this, but not traveling at high speeds." "In a way, it's the model Frazer was working on." "We had it especially fixed to make it operate." "Apparently it was successful enough to get you here." "Haven't you, uh, been pretty foolish in doing all these things?" "How much do you know?" "I'm talking about using someone as a crutch when you can stand by yourself." "Weren't you second in your class at Cal Tech?" "Yes." "With an excellent scientific potential?" "Why did you steal from James Frazer?" "I don't know." "I guess I was afraid." "I guess I had no security in my ability." "I don't know." "How did you get access to Frazer's notes and papers?" "Through Thelma." "Do you want me to tell you about the whole mess?" "The whole sordid mess?" "Is that what you want?" "( dramatic theme swells )" "MASON:" "Miss Langley, the prosecution has sought by innuendo to establish an illicit relationship between you and the defendant." "Is there any truth to such an insinuation?" "No." "Now, these, uh, errands Mr. Frazer asked you to do for him, why did you do them?" "LOIS:" "Well, why shouldn't I have?" "You profess to be a friend of Thelma Frazer." "I was." "Yet you spied on her, reported her activities to her husband, and dissembled to her." "With a friend like you a woman wouldn't need many enemies, would she?" "Now, exactly what did you report to the defendant, Miss Langley?" "There were two men Thelma was seeing." "Who?" "LOIS:" "Calvin Boone." "MASON:" "Who else?" "LOIS:" "Robert Hayden." "How often was she seeing Robert Hayden?" "Quite often." "At home?" "Yes, and at several of the large and popular restaurants and nightclubs." "Had she been seeing him before her husband left town?" "Yes." "Now, how did you come by this information, Miss Langley?" "She told me." "She had no hesitation in telling me." "Or her husband." "She liked men." "That's what drove Jimmy away, he couldn't stand knowing she was seeing other men." "Your Honor, the prosecution objects." "This is not proper cross-examination." "Counselor is on a fishing expedition." "I move that that answer be stricken from the record on the grounds that it's hearsay and deals with matters not covered on direct examination." "On the contrary, Your Honor." "It goes to show the bias of this witness and the state of mind of the defendant." "Well, it may or may not be proper cross-examination, but it is pertinent evidence and, uh, I'm going to allow it." "At least to the extent of showing the defendant's state of mind." "Miss Langley, did you ever see exhibit A, this key which opens the workshop door?" "No." "You mentioned an in connection with Thelma Frazer." "Calvin Boone." "Did he ever show you this key, or its duplicate?" "No." "Now, isn't it true that shortly before the fire you saw Calvin Boone at the Frazer residence?" "LOIS:" "Yes." "And didn't you threaten Mr. Boone the day after the murder with exposure if he didn't procure the last part of the anti-collision invention from Mr. Frazer's workshop?" "Certainly not." "Why should I?" "What concern was that of mine?" "Didn't you tell him that you were a silent partner?" "And that it would inure to the company's benefit if Mr. Frazer were bought out?" "Well, I am not a partner." "Silent or in any other way." "This whole story is ridiculous." "MASON:" "Then what was your motive?" "LOIS:" "I had none." "I told you." "Why did you telephone the defendant and urge him to come back to town?" "I've already told the court." "Thelma asked me to." "Now, what happened on the night of the murder, Miss Langley?" "How did you discover that Calvin Boone was stealing the anti-collision invention from Mr. Frazer?" "Did Boone tell you?" "No." "Did Thelma Frazer tell you?" "No." "Was, uh, Robert Hayden at the Frazer residence that night, Miss Langley?" "Yes, I saw him." "He didn't know that I saw him." "He probably was keeping a date with Thelma." "MASON:" "What time?" "LOIS:" "Oh, uh, right after Boone, about 20 minutes before the fire." "Miss Langley, do you know Arthur Hayden?" "No." "Not even by sight?" "Can't you recognize him now in this courtroom?" "LOIS:" "No." "Would Mr. Arthur Hayden please stand?" "Recognize him, Miss Langley?" "No." "The murderer had to have access to the workshop." "Now, the prosecution has made quite a point of the unique electronic lock on the door." "Wasn't it possible that Thelma Frazer herself had a duplicate key?" "Well, I wouldn't know about that." "Well, I think we can be pretty certain that Mrs. Frazer did have a duplicate key." "Wasn't she, uh, maintaining Calvin Boone's interest in her by feeding him the invention bit by bit?" "LOIS:" "That has nothing to do with me." "When did you find out" "Calvin Boone was stealing the invention?" "You're repeating yourself, Mr. Mason," "I told you I didn't." "Now, Miss Langley, we can call Calvin Boone to the stand to testify to your conversation with him." "Wasn't it a conversation that put the lie to your seeming disinterest in consolidated industries?" "Tell us actually what happened that night in the Frazer home, Miss Langley." "Not in the workshop." "In the house." "Did you face Mrs. Frazer with your knowledge of her affair with Calvin Boone?" "No, no, I didn't." "Did she persist in trying to link you with her husband?" "No." "Now, you stated that the deceased told you that she and Robert Hayden saw each other frequently." "Visited certain popular clubs and restaurants together." "Which ones, Miss Langley?" "Oh, uh, Briggos, and, um, La Legra Supper Club." "Now, you must know that all this can be verified by an investigation." "I think you've lied, haven't you, Miss Langley?" "I think you've lied about Robert Hayden being with Thelma Frazer at these places." "I think Robert Hayden was at the Supper Club and Briggos, but with you." "Or were you with Arthur Hayden?" "All right." "All right, I do know Arthur." "MASON:" "How well?" "Very well." "What of it?" "What does that mean?" "It means we now understand your interest in having Frazer ousted as a partner." "You wanted a larger share of the profits for Arthur Hayden." "All right, suppose I did?" "Suppose I did want him out?" "Then that brings us to, uh, why you called James Frazer and told him to get back to town on the pain of losing his partnership." "The very thing you didn't want." "Unless, of course, something had happened that made it the lesser of two evils." "Something like murder, Miss Langley." "Even if it was because Thelma was dead, and I'm not saying it was, but even if it was, why would I want him to come back?" "To involve him in it." "To throw the onus of murder on him." "It all fell into place very neatly didn't it, Miss Langley?" "You had access to those Wayfair Motel matchbooks, and the Emerald gasoline sold only out of town." "Did you run out of gas on one of your trips there?" "You're making up a whole plot." "You made up the plot, Miss Langley." "After you killed Thelma Frazer." "No, there wasn't any murder." "A person has the right to protect themself." "There" "What person?" "What person?" "What person called the defendant and told him to come home?" "What person needed help in setting the frame up against the defendant?" "And carrying the body to the workshop?" "What person called Arthur Hayden for that help?" "I refuse to answer... on the grounds that it may incriminate me." "( dramatic theme playing )" "MASON:" "Then we're agreed in principle." "Mr. Frazer doesn't want to hold any rancor." "And we revert to the status of six months ago." "I think that's very generous of you, Jim." "I think so too." "Mason, why did Miss Langley lie about me?" "She was trying to implicate everybody connected with the murder to protect herself and Arthur." "What did happen between Thelma and Lois?" "Miss Langley told her story at headquarters just an hour ago." "It seems that Mrs. Frazer really believed that you and Miss Langley had been seeing each other." "Oh, there was never anything between us." "Oh, incidentally, Mr. Mason, the reason I never told you that I'd asked Lois to keep an eye on Thelma was because, well, I was ashamed of myself." "In any event, Mr. Frazer, your wife believed that you and Miss Langley had been seeing each other and that she knew where you were." "Miss Langley denied this." "Your wife was so desperate to get you back in town, that she took your gun out of the library desk and threatened her with it." "Then it was accidental homicide?" "That's what Miss Langley says." "The gun went off in the struggle." "Well, anyway, I'm glad it's all over." "Well, it may be all over for all of you, but it's certainly not over for me." "Oh, what's unfinished as far as you're concerned, Della?" "A little matter of my 40 percent in the company." "That's right, you own it." "Of course, I don't mean to be mercenary." "I'll gladly give up my interest for the purchase price." "Well, how much?" "One dollar." "Just exactly what I paid for it." "That's the least I can expect if I'm going to give up the idea of being rich." "( all chuckling )" "( noirish jazz theme playing )"