All language subtitles for Mannix S02E12 Fear I to Fall

Mr. John Fair, please come

to the ticket reservation
counter.

Mr. John Fair, go to the ticket
reservation counter, please.

Mr. Mannix?

I'm, uh, Viewcola.
Conrad Viewcola.

Sheriff here in
Manzana County.

Well, how do you do, Sheriff?

Subpoena.

To appear and
testify in the case

of The People v. Harry Barlow.

Moving a little fast
for me, friend.

I just came in from out of state

to meet a client,
a Mr. Dobie Dobson.

He was supposed to meet me here

at the airport.
He won't be here.
Let's go.

Flight 19 from Phoenix
departing on schedule...

I received
a special delivery letter

last night in Los Angeles.

There was a $1,000
cash advance in it,

a round-trip ticket to Manzana,

and a note
from a man I never met,

a desperate man
asking me for help.

Well, the letter was
from the district attorney.

The cash is your experts fee

for testifying.

You can't subpoena out of state,
you know.

The D.A. couldn't risk
your refusing.

I came here
to meet Mr. Dobie Dobson.

I don't leave
until I see him.

Well, you may
have a long wait.

The man at whose trial
you're supposed to testify,

Harry Barlow, is charged
with the murder of Dobie Dobson.

Flight 23 from Tulsa...

Is this your D.A.'s idea
of some kind of a joke?

Well, you're here, aren't you?

♪ ♪

Mr. Mannix,
so that the court will know

that you are an expert witness,

would you please state...

If the Court please.

Yes, Miss Richards?

Your Honor, the defense
stipulates acceptance

of Mr. Mannix
as an expert witness.

Thank you, counsel.

Let the record so indicate.

You may proceed,
Mr. Bartlett.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Mr. Mannix, it is
an accepted scientific fact

in the field of criminology
is it not,

professional criminals tend
to limit their activities

to special kinds of crimes,

special methods used

in committing
these crimes?

In short, they develop

a pattern in relation
to the crime,

a modus operandi,
a method of operation,

isn't that correct?

Yes, referred
to as an "M.O."

Uh-huh.

Now I have here three
police photographs.

People's exhibits
six through eight,

illustrating the pattern
of a specific burglary.

Now, Mr. Mannix,
where there is a burglary,

with the glass
from a rear window is cut

and a rubber suction cup
is used to remove the glass.

And where the burglar
uses white gloves,

cheap white gloves,
to cover his fingerprints,

and then he leaves the gloves
at the scene of the crime.

And where distinctive drill
patterns are used here

to insert TNT
into the safe.

And where foam
rubber is used

to deaden the explosion.

Would you say, Mr. Mannix,

that from this
method of operation,

you could identify
the probable burglar

as one that you previously
had apprehended,

and caused to be
brought to justice

for the crime of burglary?

Objection, Your Honor.

The prosecution
may not introduce

evidence of a prior
criminal act

for the express purpose
of discrediting

the defendant's character.

Your Honor, the question

is not an issue
of character, but rather

the method of operation
of a burglary.

The defendant is on trial
for murder, not for burglary.

Murder committed
during a burglary.

In this case, two
inseparable crimes.

The District Attorney means
two answers to one question.

One question raises
the probability

that if the defendant
committed a prior burglary,

then perhaps
he committed this one.

And if he committed
this burglary,

then chances are that he also
committed the murder.

When an expert witness
identifies a probable burglar

from his method of operation,
then simultaneously,

he identifies the murderer.

I assume both counsels
are arguing this legal point

for the benefit
of the bench.

Your Honor, the evidence
to be adduced

is totally inadmissible.

Not only the answer,
but the question itself

is highly prejudicial.

The defense moves
these proceedings

be declared a mistrial.

Your motive is good,
Miss Richards,

but your law is wrong.

Your Honor...

Motion denied.

Objection overruled.

But, Your Honor...

Now, Mr. Mannix,
from this method of operation,

this modus operandi,
this M.O.,

could you identify
the probable burglar?

Yes.

In all your years
of investigating,

have you ever seen a method
of operation like this before?

Yes.

In more than one person?
No.

Now, isn't this true,
Mr. Mannix, that seven years ago

you represented
an insurance company,

and during that time,
you investigated,

pursued and apprehended
a burglar

with this method of operation?

Yes, I did.

And is that man
in this courtroom?

Yes.

And would you point him out,
please?

The gentleman sitting
at the table.

Let the record show
that the expert witness

is identifying
the defendant, Harry Barlow.

No further questions,
Your Honor.

The defense may cross-examine.

I have no questions,
Your Honor.

May I please
approach the bench?

Why, yes, Miss Richards.

Mr. Bartlett.

Yes, Miss Richards?

With the Court's
permission, I respectfully

request to retire
from this case.

As the Court appointed me,
it can appoint

substitute counsel
for the indigent defendant.

Why, Miss Richards?

This is my first
appearance in court

as an attorney
in a criminal case.

If I keep making
mistakes about the law,

I can only lose the case,
but the defendant

could lose his life.

You've placed his
life in my hands,
and it would seem

that they are not
competent hands.

It takes a great deal
of courage

to make an admission like that,
Miss Richards.

The same kind
of courage

that made
your late father,

Jack Richards,
one of the finest

trial lawyers
in this state.

For his sake,
for your own sake,

I want you to think this over.

The defense is granted
a 24-hour continuance.

Court adjourned.

Miss Richards,
I'm very sorry...

She doesn't want
to talk to you

even off the stand.

I called and made
a reservation for you

on the next plane
back to L.A.

You can just make
it if I drive you
to the airport now.

Thanks, Sheriff.

It is a little chilly
here in Manzana.

That lady lawyer's old man,

Big Jack Richards,
ever known him?

I've seen him in court
once or twice.

Mr. Advocate.

Fighter, ooh-wee.

He was the kind you
took your hat off to

even while he was beating
the tar right out of you,

which was mostly
all of the time.

In fact, he never
once lost a criminal case.

That's more than they'll be able
to say for his daughter.

Yeah, it's a shame.

The girl lives only
for the memory of her father.

Well, they're loading the plane.

Have a nice trip,
and no hard feelings.

My usual expert witness
fee is $300 for the day.

You can return the balance

to the D.A.

I changed my mind.

I'd like to cancel
off Flight 31.

May I see
your ticket, please?

Taken care
of right away, sir.

Thank you.

Easy, Mannix.

Let's go back
the way you came.

Hold it.

In there.

Mr. George Sperling,
Mrs. George Sperling,

please report
to the car rental desk.

You missed
one plane to L.A.,

there'll be another
in about an hour.

Be on it.

My signed resignation
from the case.

If you think that's news,

Vera, you're free
to print it.

As a newspaperwoman,
I'll print it,

but as a friend,
I've got to tell you,

I think you're making
a mistake, Phyllis.

This is an admission
of incompetence.

It's a confession.

I failed.

I failed my father.

What about your client?

Harry Barlow,
did you fail him?

What could I do
after your testimony?

You know, if you'd been
less concerned with yourself,

and more concerned
with your client,

you might have cross-examined me
instead of passing.

You would have asked
questions

the D.A. didn't
and wouldn't.

You might have got the fact
into the record

that Harry Barlow,
as a burglar for 20 years,

never once resorted to violence,

even when he was
caught in the act.

You know...

I saw your father
argue a case once.

And he was scared.

You could tell
the way he fought

to keep his hands
from shaking,

the way the sweat stained

through the back
of his jacket on a cool day.

But he had guts.

Not because he had
no fear, but because

he fought hard,
despite the fear.

But you...

you're afraid,
so you run.

Tomorrow morning, early,

I want to see your client,

Harry Barlow.

You all right?

I'm Vera Hillsman.

I write for
the Morning News.

Well, do me a favor,

keep this out
of the paper, huh?

It's bad for business.

I put you away once, Harry.

You keep that collar-ad face
of yours shut now,

and I'm going to put you away
for good.

Now were you in
on that Dobson heist?

I... I think so.

You "think so"?

You don't know?

Not for sure, no.

Some guy, a drifter I ran into,
said he had an easy mark.

So I agreed to meet
him out of town

and help
pull off the heist.

I... I never met him.

Handsome Harry
passed up an easy mark?

Yeah, I passed it up.

I stopped in a bar before I left
to have a drink and I...

You met a pretty face.

She didn't even
belong in there.

Pretty, all right,
but square.

On the level,
just all mixed up.

Some kind of family problem.

Okay, so you parked in the hill

and psychoanalyzed
your unhappy housewife.

You got back to your
place late. What then?

The cops were
waiting for me.

Searched me, the car.

Found five grand in bills
hidden in my trunk.

Which means you want me
to believe that somebody

planted that stolen money
in your car before you left,

before the robbery
was committed?

So help me, I never laid eyes
on that dough before.

I wasn't even near
this Dobson's place.

Didn't even know who Dobson was.

Now, I swear that!

You've got to believe me.

This woman Barlow says
he was with,

what about her?

Well, he gave us her
description and her name:

Bonnie.

We turned the town upside down
looking for her.

Mr. Mannix,
if it wasn't Barlow,

if there was
this woman named Bonnie,

then the cash in Barlow's car
really was planted,

and Barlow
is being framed.

Why would anyone want to frame
Harry Barlow?

Because...

Because there was another
motive for the murder.

Exactly how do you know that?

Well, you don't "know" it,
you just kind of smell it.

By setting up an ex-con with
an easy-to-copy M.O. as patsy,

kept anybody else from looking
in another direction

for another motive
and another murderer.

That still doesn't tell us
who or why.

Yeah.

Just who is Dobie Dobson,

and why would anybody
want to kill him?

Well, that's got to be it.

There's nothing else that even
comes close to adding up.

The Max Taylor Ranch?

How do you add up a piece
of cheap real estate

to a utility company

and come up
with a murder?

One, Old man Max Taylor died.

No will, no heirs and the state
took over his property, right?

Dig.

Two, the late,
Dobie Dobson,

was vice president
of the Tri-State Power Company.

Now the company
needed a location

for a new multi-million
dollar nuclear power plant.

Right?
Still digging.

Three, Vice President Dobson

finds the old Taylor Ranch,
recommends it to his company.

His company buys it.

Well, that's it.

One plus two plus three
equals murder?

Sorry, I've just stopped
digging.

You forgot to add
two and a half.

Now could Dobson have
bought the Taylor Ranch

himself at auction,
very cheap?

And then sell it back to his
company at say, ten, 20,

maybe a hundred times
more than he paid for it?

No, of course he couldn't.

That's illegal in this state.

It's conflict of interest.

Dobson would be crazy
to try a thing like that.

Sure, under his own name.

But what if he used
a dummy middleman

to buy and sell it for him?

Wow! Illicit profits.

And fraud.
Which could add up to murder.

Yes, but you're still
guessing about this

two and a half link
in your chain, aren't you?

Say, girl reporter,
do you have any influence

on that paper you work for?
Sometimes.

Now, if Harry Barlow's
attorney couldn't find

this so-called
woman, Bonnie,

then chances are the murderer
couldn't find her either.

She's the one witness who
can destroy this frame-up.

If she knows that,
and she must,

she's hiding
to protect her life.

I want you to run a personal ad
in the classified section,

carefully worded asking
this Bonnie woman

to contact me, here.

Will do.

Oh, and keep running

that every day.
Right.

Now, if you'll take me to the
county recorder's office,

we'll see just how much
of a pipe dream

that number
two-and-a-half is.

Here's what you're looking for.

The Max Taylor Ranch sold to the
Amos Smith Real Estate Company

with a court order passing
title after a Sheriff's sale.

Smith Real Estate
to Tri-State Power, 1,500 acres.

Is there an address there

for the Amos Smith
Real Estate Company?

Sure thing.

Wilshireville.
Small town, north of here.

Thanks.

Shame you had to waste your time
coming here for the information.

Probably got it all
sitting in your files.

In my files?

Well, your father's, I guess.

He was in here getting
the same information,

about a week or so,
I guess,

before he was killed
in that accident.

As a lawyer, I maintain
quite a few companies.

The Amos Smith Real Estate
Company is only one of them.

It acted as a go-between

for the purchase and subsequent
resale of the Max Taylor Ranch.

There's no secret
about it.

We bought 1,500 acres
at ten dollars an acre.

The land was practically
worthless,

not good for farming
or cattle grazing--

actually good
for nothing.

Oh not "nothing",
Mr. Smith.

It apparently was an ideal site
for a nuclear power plant.

Not ideal, sir.

It was the only site
in the whole state

for that kind of plant.

The power company knew this.

They willingly paid
the asking price

without batting an eyelash.

Not only the fattest
commission I ever earned,
it was the easiest.

What did the power plant pay
for the 1,500 acres?

Now, that's a matter between
the buyer, the seller and me.

Mr. Smith,
the Tri-State Power Company

is a public utility as well
as being a private corporation.

I don't have to tell
you as an attorney,

that with a
company like that,

the details
of any financial transaction

are available on proper inquiry.

$1,000 an acre.

Not bad.

Bought for $15,000,
sold for a million and a half.

You say you acted
as go-between, Mr. Smith.

Go-between for whom?

I don't have to answer
that question, Miss Richards.

As an attorney...
there is, you know,

the matter of a
lawyer-client privilege.

A lawyer and client
conspiring to break the law

and hiding it under
the technicality

of a lawyer-client relationship
is not my idea of privilege.

Just you try to abuse
that privilege, Mr. Smith.

You let me subpoena you,
and just you try it.

Like father, like daughter.

Big Jack Richards--

pious, mealy-mouthed
Jack Richards.

He tried the same thing,
right here in this office!

A shakedown--

naked extortion!

There was nothing illegal
about it-- nothing to hide.

Big Jack Richards didn't collect

a cent of blackmail money
from me

and neither will you.

I'll tell you the same
thing I told him.

Get out! Both of you!

I don't believe it.

Not my father.

The county recorder said
something about an accident.

Exactly how did
your father die?

An auto accident.

He, uh, went off the highway
and over an embankment.

Where?

On this highway--
a few miles from here.

He was on his way back
from Wilshireville--

from seeing Amos Smith.

Hmm.

Well, shall we go?

♪ ♪

Are you all right?

I...

I know what you're thinking.

My father tried to blackmail
him and they killed him.

And they think we tried
to blackmail them

and they're going
to kill us.

Well, I'll tell you something,

my father never
blackmailed anybody.

My father never blackmailed
anybody!

Phyllis...
I know he didn't!

Stop it!
I know he didn't!

Phyllis!

We found the truck that tried
to force you off the road.

Abandoned.

Any registration?

No help.

Truck was stolen
earlier.

What about fingerprints?

No help either.

They were
wiped clean.

I wonder how that driver knew
that we would be going along

that highway
at that precise time?

Obviously, somebody
followed you from Smith's

to the highway diner, then
phoned ahead when you left.

And that, as far

as the authorities are
concerned, is that?

Any suggestions?

Yeah. You find some poor
innocent slob of an ex-convict

like Harry Barlow
and frame the rap on him.

Hey, now wait a
minute, Mannix.

It's all right, Sheriff.
It's all right.

Miss Richards, first
Mr. Mannix is assaulted,

and now the both
of you are,

but I can't tell
anything from these facts

which leads me to believe
that these assaults

had anything-- anything
to do with the murder

of Dobie Dobson
by your client.

That's for the jury
to decide

once they get
the evidence.

Yes, Mr. Mannix,

all the evidence,
including this letter.

"Mr. Dobson, you promised

"to call back and set up
an appointment.

"You didn't.

"I tried to get you on the
phone three times today.

"By now, I can recognize a stall
when it's tried on me.

"You're going to pay,
and pay through the nose.

"And the longer you refuse
to face that fact,

the more it's going
to cost you."

Dobson received that letter

on the day that the man
who sent it died.

He turned it over to me,
charging attempted blackmail.

I thought it best just
to forget the whole thing.

But I'm sorry,
I can't sit on it any longer.

Miss Richards,
if you enter any evidence

regarding the Taylor Ranch,

I shall be forced
to enter this letter

as evidence.

Two dead men will be libeled,
their reputations smeared:

your father and Dobie Dobson.

You see, your father sent
this letter to Mr. Dobson.

Do you still have
your father's files?

Thanks.

Here's a copy of all
the proceedings involved

in the sale
of the Max Taylor Ranch.

There's a copy of the letter
that Bartlett read us

from my father to Dobie Dobson,

a letter to my father
and my father's reply.

From whom?

Mm, some woman in Chicago,
a cousin of Max Taylor.

But I thought the State
took over the property

because there was no will,
no heirs.

Isn't a cousin an heir?

An heir, yes, but too late
under the law to inherit.

You mean, by the time the cousin
found Max Taylor was dead

and got in touch
with your father,

the state legally owned
the property

and had a right to sell it?

In nonlegal terms,
that's what happened.

That's what my father told her.

He could only get her
the auction price: $15,000.

Would that still be true
if he knew and could prove

that the sale of the
ranch was a fraud?

Why don't you ask what you
really want to know?

Did my father know enough
to have the sale set aside?

Did he know enough
to blackmail Dobson?

I didn't ask that, you did.

Well, what's the difference
who asked it?

The answer's the same.

Yes, he knew enough
to blackmail Dobson.

If he were capable
of being a blackmailer.

Martinis always
make you thoughtful?

Pretty mixed-up thoughts
this time...

about a little man who wasn't
there, who couldn't know.

You're late.

Mannix, has anybody answered
the ad I ran this afternoon

about Barlow's
girlfriend Bonnie?

No, not a word.

Some hausfrau who was out
on the town

for the first time in her life,

afraid her husband
and her family might find out.

More scared of being hurt,
I guess.

No, I think we can just scratch
that lead for now.

I'm not so sure.

I just got a phone
call, anonymous.

I think I know where
she's hiding.

Wish me luck!

You tired of living?

But she's a story.

And she's a witness
you've got to have.

And she's dynamite that could
blow up in anybody's face

that gets close to her.

Sugar'n spice
and everything nice?

That's not what girl
reporters are made of.

Now, why find out the hard way?

Okay, so what do we do?

Call the sheriff?

You give me the keys
to your car, the address,

and then you go back
to Phyllis Richards' office

and keep her company
with the doors locked tight

to everybody but me.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Don't you think you ought
to have a doctor look at this?

No, it's just a scratch.

You know, Harry Barlow's
girlfriend wasn't there,

never had been there.

That so-called newspaper tip
was just bait

for you and me and Phyllis,
maybe all three of us.

But kill us?
Why?

'Cause we're digging too deep.

Did you get the name
of that man out there?

Driver's license.

His name is...
name was Edward Lewis.

Edward Lewis?

You know him?

He used to work
for the D.A.'s office.

He got a little rough
with his hands,

and they fired him
about a year ago.

He, uh, he was involved
in a couple of Dad's cases.

Violence, murder for a price.

Well, that doesn't help us.

Anybody with a little dough
could have hired him.

I went through those files
we brought up from the cellar.

And?

I went through the transcript
of the trial

with a fine tooth comb.

I was looking for mistakes
and inconsistencies

and writing them down.

Question, counselor:

When court reconvenes
tomorrow morning,

are you going to keep on
representing Harry Barlow?

I'm not going
to just represent him,

I'm going
to fight for him.

Even if it means destroying
your father's image?

My father was no blackmailer.

And if he was...

I'm still my father's daughter.

Big Jack or
Dirty Jack,

I still love him.

But I'm a lawyer with a client
to defend.

Based on your investigation,
Sheriff,

would you please describe
to the court the chain of events

leading up to and including
the murder of Dobie Dobson,

insofar as the authorities have
been able to reconstruct

that chain through the evidence?

Well, after the safe was blown,

the burglar reached inside
and took out a metal cash box.

Now, Dobson, who must have heard
the burglar earlier,

approached the burglar
and pointed a gun at him.

The burglar was surprised
and turned to face Dobson

still holding the metal cash box
in his hand.

Dobson stepped closer,
the burglar panicked,

swung down with the metal
cash box he had in his hand,

striking Dobson on the head
and, uh, killed him.

Thank you, Sheriff.

No further questions.

Mr. Mannix,

as an expert witness
qualified to this court,

do you find the facts
in the sheriff's testimony

consistent with the inference
that Harry Barlow

struck and killed
Dobie Dobson?

No, I don't.

Why not, Mr. Mannix?

If it's all right
with Your Honor,

I'd like to demonstrate
physically to the court.

Proceed with your demonstration,
Mr. Mannix.

Thank you.

Miss Richards, if you'll
take the part of the burglar,

I will play the part
of the late Mr. Dobson.

Now if you will turn
your back and kneel

as if you were pulling
a cash box out of a safe.

What are you doing
at that safe?

I'll take the cash box.

Hold it.

Now, the coroner's report

lists as the cause
of Dobson's death

a depressed fracture of
the lateral parietal region,

the right lateral
parietal region.

Now would you hit me
on this side of the head

where Dobson was struck.

I-I can't.

As long as I'm holding
the box this way,

I can only hit your head
on the left side.

If you wanted to hit me on the
right side, what would you do?

Right.

Now would the defendant

show his left hand
to the court, please.

Partial paralysis
of the left hand.

Harry Barlow can't pick up or
even hold a book of matches.

If his life depended on it,
he couldn't pick up anything

as big and as heavy
as that metal cash box.

Let the record show
that the defendant

has a congenital deformity
of the left hand.

You may sit down.

Mr. Mannix, is it possible
that Dobson had his back turned

to the burglar when
the blow was struck?

A man with a gun
interrupts a burglar

kneeling before an open safe

and then turns his back
on that burglar?

I don't think
that's very likely.

Thank you, Mr. Mannix.

You may return to the stand.

Mr. Mannix,

is there any other theory

which you could present
at this time

which would be consistent
with the facts in this case?

Objection, Your Honor.

Counsel is asking the witness
to speculate.

The prosecution called this man
to be an expert witness.

If he has been certified
by this court as an expert

to create inference
for the prosecution,

he is equally qualified
to do the same for the defense.

Objection overruled.

The witness will answer
the question.

Now, Mr. Mannix,
is there any other theory

which is consistent with
the facts in this case?

Yes.

And what is that theory?

That Harry Barlow
was deliberately framed

for a murder
that he did not commit.

Is there anything in the record

or any knowledge which
you personally have access to

which would corroborate
this theory?

Yes, the facts concerning
the acquisition

of the Max Taylor Ranch
by the power company.

Mr. Mannix, you were with me

last night
in the sheriff's office

when the district attorney
gave me a letter.

Is this the letter?

Yes.

Your Honor, I'd like
to have this letter marked

for purposes
of identification only.

Mm-hmm.

Let the exhibit be so marked.

All right, Mr. Mannix,

will you please
read this letter?

"Mr. Dobson, you promised
to call back

"and set up an appointment.
You didn't.

"I tried to get you on the
phone three times today.

"By now, I can recognize a stall
when it's tried on me.

"You're going to pay and
pay through the nose.

"And the longer you refuse
to face that fact,

the more it's going
to cost you."

The letter is signed by
Jack Richards.

Thank you.

The district attorney
characterized this letter

as an attempt by my father
to blackmail Dobie Dobson.

Is that consistent
with your theory?

Consistent,
but unlikely.

Why "unlikely," Mr. Mannix?

Jack Richards was not
a blackmailer.

He was a good lawyer,
fighting for a client,

fighting to dig
out the truth.

I believe
he was deliberately killed

because he was getting close
to that truth.

What truth?

The purchase of
the Max Taylor Ranch was a fraud

engineered by Dobie Dobson
for an illegal profit

of well over a million dollars.

Again, as an expert witness,

what about the death
of Dobie Dobson?

I believe Mr. Dobson
had an accomplice

in the fraudulent sale
of that ranch.

The accomplice
killed Jack Richards.

Dobson refused to go
along with the murder

and threatened exposure.

The accomplice
killed Dobson

and then framed Harry Barlow
for that murder.

I have no further questions.

Mr. Mannix,
this, uh, excursion of yours

into the Never-Never
Land of theory...

is it not possible
that this theory of yours

is based on the fact that,
if the defendant is innocent,

then somebody else
must be guilty?

Put in those words...

Yes, Mr. Mannix,
put in those words.

I suppose so, yes.

And this theatrical
demonstration of yours

with the left hand
and the right hand,

can you state in fact
and in law

that the defendant couldn't have
struck and killed the decedent

by raising the cash box

with both hands?

It's possible.
And, Mr. Mannix,

have you any proof,
any tangible shred of evidence

that this theory of yours
is anything more

than a figment
of your imagination?

It's what I believe happened.

No further questions,
Your Honor.

Mr. Mannix,

to your knowledge,

is there any such proof--

proof that Harry Barlow
was framed,

proof that your theory
is fact and not

fiction?
Yes.

What is that proof, please?

The testimony of a witness,

a woman who was
with Harry Barlow

miles from the Dobson house
at the time Dobson was killed.

Is that witness
and her testimony

available
to this court?

I hope to have her here
in the morning

when the court reconvenes.

Court is adjourned
until 10:00 tomorrow morning.

I'm proud of you,
Counselor.

You know, whoever this Bonnie
is, wherever she is,

you just made
a target of her.

The murderer will kill her
if he can, to stop her

from testifying.
I know.

I hope you've got a rabbit
to pull out of that hat.

If you'll hold the hat.

Yeah?

Out of town call, Sheriff.

Woman says it's an emergency,
won't talk to anybody but you.

Put her through.

Sheriff Viewcola.

Sheriff, this is Bonnie.

Well, now the world is just
full of Bonnies, ma'am.

Which one are you?

Say, wait a minute,

you're not the woman who
was with Harry Barlow, are you?

Oh, Harry couldn't have
killed that man.

He couldn't.

Well, why didn't you come
forward and testify, ma'am?

'Cause I'm scared, Sheriff.

I'm scared that real killer's
going to come after me.

I'm scared.

Well, scared or not scared,
ma'am,

you've got to testify.

A man's life depends on it.

That's what Mr. Mannix told me

when I talked to him
on the phone.

I said I'd come in tonight,
but I'm frightened.

Ma'am, there's nothing
to be afraid of.

You just relax.

Supposing that I come
and get you?

Now you wouldn't be afraid
then, would you?

Well, I...

Well, where are you?

Well, I...

I'm north of town.

Out by Grace Farms.

Is there someplace I could hide

till you got here and be safe?

North of town,
there's not much out there.

Wait a minute, do you know
where the old Penner house,

the one that's
half burnt out is?

Well, is it safe?

Oh, it's safe, ma'am.
It's very safe.

You just go there
and wait for me.

And try to stay out of sight.

All right?

Good-bye.

♪ ♪

Bonnie?

Bonnie?

Bonnie?

This is Sheriff Viewcola.

Is it safe, Sheriff?

Well, not as safe as
if you'd never called me.

I'm sorry, ma'am,
I'm really sorry.

I just don't have a choice.

It's all over, Sheriff.

Hold your fire!

♪ ♪

Well, I figured

only a law enforcement
officer would think

of framing an ex-con
with a phony M.O.

and an expert witness.

That could have been me.

But it was Viewcola
who mentioned the fact

that Phyllis and I
had gone to see Amos Smith,

and only Amos Smith knew that.

And Smith telephoned Viewcola.

Right.

Viewcola and Dobson
were partners

and using Amos Smith as a front.

Which gives me
a pretty good reason

to pay a call to Mr. Smith.

I'm just so glad it's all over.

You know, I've got a feeling

Big Jack would have
liked your style.