Original subtitles

( noirish jazz theme playing )

( mellow theme playing )

Hello, Frank.

Hi.

Funny time to be coming to work, Mr. Osgood.

Nearly 5:00.

Well, I'm not going to work, Frank.

I'm gonna pick up Miss Fursten in the hospital.

I should have guessed.

( chuckles )

See you.

( grunting )

( growling )

( elephant trumpeting )

( growling )

( vehicle approaching )

Mr. Osgood.

What's the matter, Boris?

I'm troubled about the male lion.

His tooth is hurting again. Maybe it should be taken out.

Well, you better tell Dr. Braun.

Oh, would you do that for me?

Dr. Braun and I are, well,

not exactly friends.

Well, you don't have to be friends to get a dentist, Boris.

All right, I'll speak to him the first thing in the morning.

Thank you.

( mellow theme playing )

Hello, Mr. Beacom.

Hello, Professor.

Well, I'm not quite a professor yet, Mr. Beacom.

Miss Fursten in?

Yes, sir, she's in the nursery.

Thank you.

Don't work too hard.

No, sir.

You don't have to be frightened.

You've had a long trip and you are here now.

And nobody is going to hurt you,

including that man who just walked in.

Well, look who's here.

When did he arrive?

By jet this morning from Europe.

( laughs )

Isn't he handsome?

Well, say hello to Mr. Osgood, Toto.

( with German accent ): Hello, Toto.

Good to meet you.

( laughs )

( in normal voice ): If I remember my Swahili right,

that means "little one," doesn't it?

Yeah. Toto is just 14 months old.

Hm.

It's hard to believe that someday he'll grow up

to be a 400-pound gorilla.

He's going to make a good linebacker for a football team.

Yeah, yeah.

How long do you have to stay here with him?

Oh, just until Dr. Braun arrives.

He should be here any minute.

Well, everybody needs a dentist.

What's up?

Oh--

Oh, a sore gum the director thought should be looked at.

They had a cable about it from its keeper in Europe

but, uh, I think Toto's simply teething.

Well, I have a few things to do at the office.

Why don't I pick you up later? Okay?

That's okay, Tony. That's okay?

Okay. Okay.

( laughs )

Time for little gorillas to go to bed.

Tomorrow, if you are good,

I'll take you on a tour of the zoo

and introduce you to your relatives.

Ja, Miss Chimpanzee, Mr. Orangutan

and the other grown-up gorillas.

But I'm sure they'll like you.

Come here.

( ringing )

( grunting )

Hospital nursery. Miss Fursten speaking.

( quiet banging in background )

Hello. Hello?

Is anybody there?

( woman speaks indistinctly over phone )

Operator, this is Miss Fursten.

Were you trying to reach me?

No? Well, it must have been somebody on the grounds.

No, no, no, don't bother.

They probably got the wrong extension.

Yeah.

Mr. Beacom?

( bird chirping )

Mr. Beacom.

I'm coming, I'm coming.

Uh, Mr. Beacom, did you move Toto?

T--?

No. You-- You mean the little gorilla?

Never mind. Just call the security, please.

Go on, quickly. Quick.

( tense theme playing )

( mysterious theme playing )

( elephant trumpeting )

What's going on here, Crawford?

Looks like someone walked off with the baby gorilla, doctor.

Cage and all. Walked off?

You mean, stolen?

That's right stolen, kidnapped,

gosh knows what.

That baby's about the most valuable animal

in the whole zoo, isn't it, doctor?

Where's Miss Fursten?

Uh, she's inside there.

What I hope is that whoever took it

didn't get outside the gates.

They're closed now, but, what with night coming on,

and over 200 acres--

( growling )

( snapping )

Hilde?

Oh, Walther, I'm so glad you are here, finally.

How could you let this happen?

You were told to stay here with the gorilla

until I arrived.

He had a swollen gum.

Ja, Walther, you are right, but it was so strange.

The phone rang in the other room,

I left to answer it but nobody was there.

When I came back the window was open,

Toto was gone.

And where was Mr. Beacom?

What kind of an attendant is he?

But he was in his office, Walther.

I called and he came running.

And that was all there was?

That was every bit?

Ja.

I think you are lying, Hilde.

Now, what really happened?

Get your hands off me--

I want the truth. Tell me the truth.

What's the matter with you?

I told you the truth, I swear.

Let her go. Leave me al--

What the devil do you think you're doing?

You keep out of this.

No. Not until you cool off.

Now, what's going on?

Dr. Braun thinks I am responsible for Toto.

But I know how valuable he is, of course,

but, doctor, you do not work for the zoo--

All right, all right, come on.

Let's get out of here.

Yes, by all means go.

Go along with your young man.

Go on.

Uh, I'm sorry, Tony,

but I think I should stay here for a while.

What?

Why? I don't understand.

Well, don't try to understand. Just go.

Please.

All right.

( mysterious theme playing )

TONY: Hilde.

What's the matter?

Nothing is the matter.

I'm all right.

Where's Braun?

Please, Tony, he's busy helping search for Toto.

Now, nothing's the matter.

I must go home now.

I'll take you home. I'd rather go alone.

Hilde, will you please tell me what's the matter?

I want to marry you. Don't you understand?

Stop, Tony, please. Now, listen to me.

I must go back to Germany.

What? As soon as they can find someone

to replace me in my job.

Don't say any more. Wait a minute,

because of Braun? No. It's not your affair.

Please.

( tense theme playing )

I realize this is inconvenient, Mr. Mason,

since you have made a special trip down from Los Angeles,

but our overcrowded calendar leaves me no alternative

but to postpone this hearing.

Now, the State has already indicated

that a date two weeks from today

would be acceptable.

How do you feel about that?

My client will remain out on bail?

Yes, of course.

Then I have no objection at all to the postponement, Your Honor.

JUDGE: Very well.

Schedule the matter for 10:00 two weeks from today.

Perry.

I'll be with you in a moment.

Paul back at the hotel yet?

No, but there was a message from a young man

here in San Diego that heard you were here

and he seems very anxious to see you.

Well, if we're going back to Los Angeles...

Of course, I don't know any of the details,

but this apparently has something to do with it.

"Zoo Baby Kidnapped?" Mm-hm.

Interested?

( grunting )

MASON: These are the same species as Toto?

Lowland gorillas from the Congo.

We're the only zoo in the world

that has an adult family living together.

You mean that poor little thing in the paper

will grow that large?

Well, provided he survives whatever's happened to him.

They still don't have any leads on him.

But, uh,

you're not absolutely certain the missing gorilla

has anything to do with what's, uh,

upsetting your Hilde Fursten.

Well, it sure seemed to trigger Dr. Braun.

Mr. Mason,

I need advice on this.

Supposing he's holding something over Hilde's head,

could he force her to leave the country?

She's still a German citizen.

Is Dr. Braun her employer?

No, she works for the zoo.

But he is on the staff here, isn't he?

No, we don't have any regular dentist here.

The work's done by doctors like him.

Braun just donates his time and services.

Well, if that's his only connection with the zoo, I--

Well, never mind.

Della, you wait here at the zoo for Paul.

Ask him to talk to Hilde.

I'm gonna see if I can make a dental appointment.

You're going straight to Dr. Braun?

Well, we might as well find out as quickly as we can

why he's so upset.

Let's go.

( tense theme playing )

( grunting )

Don't I have trouble enough, without your barging in here?

Of all the days to come yapping.

I only agreed to stay in Seattle

if you kept up your end of the bargain, Walther.

But you haven't. Not for nearly two months.

I wrote you, explaining.

Explanations don't buy groceries.

Groceries?

I've given you enough in the last eight years

to buy a supermarket.

It's just that I'm temporarily out of money,

that's all, Trudie.

You've been spending it

on that nurse of yours, perhaps?

Or on that girl you brought from Germany?

Don't bother to lie.

I've been checking.

Still up to your old tricks, aren't you?

Well, suppose I tell certain people

about some of your old habits, Walther?

Certain federal people.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Two thousand dollars for two months,

and a thousand for next month.

Today, please.

I'll have to borrow the money, Trudie.

Something went wrong with the--

( knock on door )

What is it, Frieda?

Mr. Mason's here.

That lawyer who telephoned.

Oh. Oh, yes. Uh, have him come in.

Call me tonight, Trudie.

Now, goodbye.

Walther,

don't forget the money.

You may go in, Mr. Mason.

Thank you.

Dr. Braun?

May I ask you something, Mr. Mason?

Why is a prominent lawyer meddling in my personal affairs?

I'm "meddling," doctor,

only so far as Miss Fursten is concerned.

All right, all right, of course.

But it's just as I told you over the phone.

I secured Miss Fursten her job at the zoo hospital,

personally vouched for her competence there.

So when she allowed a creature

valued between 5 and $10,000

to-- To be stolen from right under her nose,

I lost my temper.

That's all there was to it.

But you apparently threatened to send her back to Europe.

That was temper speaking, Mr. Mason.

I am a very busy man.

I have a great many problems.

You actually think you could have her sent back?

Oh, yes, since I am her sponsor, so to speak.

But, really, whether she goes back or not

is quite up to her.

Do you mean by that, doctor, she wouldn't have to go back

if she fulfilled certain requirements laid down by you?

And suppose I have laid down certain requirements.

Is that illegal?

I can't say without knowing what those requirements are.

But I can say this, doctor:

Miss Fursten can be deported

only if there is something illegal

about her status in this country.

If you point this, uh,

illegality out to the authorities,

Miss Fursten will undoubtedly have to go back to Europe,

but you, as an accessory,

will just as undoubtedly have to go to jail.

Good day, doctor.

( laughing )

Oh, this is really your day.

Having trouble with your little Brunhilde, dear?

All right then,

tell me about your lady wrestler friend.

Who is she? An old flame, darling?

Just a woman I used to be in business with, that's all.

Must have been a pretty shady business,

for her to still be blackmailing you over it.

Frieda,

I've put up with a great deal from you.

Your insolence, your slovenly ways,

even your affair with that lion tamer at the zoo.

Boris is the head keeper.

And there's been no affair.

I happen to know better.

And I must warn you,

if you don't keep out of my private business,

even Boris isn't going to care for what's left of your looks.

Do you understand, my dear?

( angrily ): Do you?

I'm sorry, Walther.

( phone ringing )

Zelbowski speaking.

Oh, Frieda.

Yes, I'm alone.

He what?

He said what to you?

I just told you, he threatened me.

No, don't come here.

I'm all right.

But he'll be at the zoo this evening.

He has to examine one of your lions, doesn't he?

And you'll have him alone then.

Frieda, I am worried about this.

Boris, this is our chance.

You've got to do it tonight.

But I am not sure it is right for us.

If you want me, Boris,

you'll do just as we planned.

All right, Frieda.

Yes.

Yes, I will do as you say.

But I will need your help.

( footsteps approaching )

Boris,

what's wrong with the lion?

I just moved him into an empty compound

so we could work on his tooth tonight.

Well, something seems to be wrong.

Let's take a look.

( growling )

( grunting )

Shh.

It's okay. I've got you.

Easy. Take it easy.

Beacom.

Oh, no, no, please let me go.

I-- I didn't hurt him.

You stole the gorilla, Beacom?

I couldn't get him off the ground.

It was my first chance.

Why would you steal such a poor little creature?

Money. F-- For money.

I didn't wanna make so much trouble and upset

but there was a man across the border.

He offered me $7,000.

Exactly seven.

Mr. Osgood,

now maybe everything will be all right.

Yeah, maybe.

( upbeat theme playing )

( tense theme playing )

( animal growling )

( growling )

( grunting )

Hello, Toto.

His feeding instructions are on the clipboard.

Dr. Braun left the medication for his gums

and the directions are on the bottle.

We'll get along fine, Hilde.

You run along.

Good. See you tomorrow morning.

Bye-bye, Toto.

Hello, Miss Fursten. Well, hello.

Would you like me to drive you to the gate?

Oh, thank you, but I'm only going to the lion compound.

Where?

Well, actually, the building next door.

I'm meeting Mr. Osgood there.

Oh, oh.

It seems to me you look a little happier tonight,

Miss Fursten. Heh-heh. Well, I am.

I certainly am.

Good night, Mr. Crawford.

Good night.

( growling )

Miss Fursten.

Mr. Beacom.

Oh, what are you doing here?

Oh, just picking up some clothes, Miss Fursten.

They didn't arrest you?

Well, the director thought that firing me

was punishment enough, I guess.

Oh. He was very kind.

Good.

But I-- I heard you're leaving too.

It's not because of what I did, is it?

Oh-- Oh, no, Mr. Beacom, as a matter of--

Oh, I'm awfully glad,

because we always got along fine.

Ja, but--

Well, good luck back in your lovely Germany.

Well, thank you, Mr. Beacom, but I don't have to go now.

I may not have to leave at all.

( lion growling )

( growls )

What's the matter with that lion?

Surely his tooth can't still be aching.

( growling )

Dr. Braun?

( lion roars )

HILDE: Dr. Braun!

I was working late in my office over there

when Hilde came in and told me what had happened.

I found Boris and he helped me haul Dr. Braun out.

When we discovered he was dead,

I called our security police and they called you.

You're the head keeper, is that right?

Yes, sir. Boris Zelbowski.

You're also helping Dr. Braun treat the lion, I understand.

Yes. I fired the anesthetic and helped with the tooth.

Fired the anesthetic?

Yes, lieutenant.

With the more dangerous animals

we use a low-powered rifle to plant the anesthetic.

It doesn't hurt them and it's a good deal safer for us.

I see.

Why didn't you stay with the doctor until he'd finished?

But I did.

The tooth had been pulled,

the doctor was outside the compound when I left.

Why'd he go back inside?

That I do not know.

Well, maybe he left a piece of his dental equipment inside

and figured the lion was still out cold.

DETECTIVE: Well, if he figured that, he figured wrong,

from the claw marks on his body.

Well, you're all free to go now.

But I'll expect a full report from each of you tomorrow.

Mr. Osgood, what will they do with my lion?

I'm afraid they are gonna have to put him to sleep, Boris.

But that's not right.

He did not kill Dr. Braun.

How do you know that?

Remember, I kept the animal away

while you were dragging the body out?

Yes, I remember.

Well, I held onto his mane and he licked my hand.

Now, is that an action of a lion who has just killed a man,

Mr. Osgood?

( suspenseful theme playing )

Do you think he could be right, Tony?

I'll get my coat and take you home.

All right.

( dramatic theme playing )

Well, I'm not an authority on lion psychology,

as your friend Zelbowski apparently is,

but, according to the morning newspaper,

that lion certainly killed Dr. Braun.

But, Mr. Mason, what about Tony's sport coat?

Why would anyone want to steal it?

Well, maybe we're worrying

a little bit too much about that, Hilde.

You haven't been able to find that coat any place?

No, I looked in the building next to the lion compound.

That's where I left it earlier.

But it was gone.

Hi.

Well, what'd you find out, Paul?

Enough. The police just received a preliminary autopsy report

which confirms the fact that Braun's body

was badly clawed.

Well, then the lion really did kill him.

Well, he'd be an odds-on favorite for the job,

except for one thing. What's that?

About ten minutes after the head keeper, uh, Zel something?

TONY: Zelbowski.

That's right, Zelbowski. About ten minutes after Zelbowski

claims he left Braun alive outside the lion compound,

a man was seen inside the compound.

A man wearing a dark blue sport coat.

( suspenseful theme playing )

Frieda, you must believe me.

I did not kill Dr. Braun.

Oh, I believe you, Boris.

At least for the record.

And off the record, well, frankly,

I'm glad you got rid of him.

It makes our lives much less complicated.

Now we can just take over his little racket.

But I did not get rid of him. I didn't even speak with him.

You expect me to believe that?

But it's the truth.

I lost my courage to even talk with him last night.

Boris.

Boris, this is Mr. Mason, an attorney.

Mr. Zelbowski. Miss Frieda Crawson.

How do you do? How do you do?

I'm making some inquiries into Dr. Braun's death.

I understand, Mr. Zelbowski,

that, uh, you maintain the lion did not kill him.

That is correct.

Don't be foolish, Boris.

Of course the lion killed him.

How do you know that, Miss Crawson?

Are you an expert on lions?

No, but I'm an expert on Boris.

You see, we're engaged.

And I know how he feels about lions. They can do no wrong.

Now, if you'll excuse us, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Zelbowski,

did you see anyone besides Mr. Osgood

wearing a dark blue sports coat on the zoo grounds last night?

Don't answer him, Boris.

I don't know what you're up to, Mr. Mason,

but I suggest you ask your questions someplace else.

How do you feel about that, Mr. Zelbowski?

Answering the right questions

could mean saving your lion's life, you know.

I will do as Frieda says.

Very well.

You know, it's quite possible the next time we meet,

you and Miss Crawson will be on the witness stand in court,

where failure to answer could result in a jail term.

( tense theme playing )

I must sacrifice the lion?

Well, who would you rather have put to sleep,

a lion or you?

Tony.

Whatever happens, I meant what I said the other night.

Every word.

What do you mean, "whatever happens?"

You must stop talking like the voice of doom.

Now, we haven't done anything wrong.

Come on, give me another kiss.

No. Please.

Tony, I must tell you something.

Something that may-- May change how you feel.

Maybe I already know what it is.

Walther and me?

Yes.

We were not lovers.

If that's what you're thinking,

it was something quite different.

How different? He never touched me.

( footsteps approaching )

Not once, even though we were--

Tony?

Any luck?

Not with the coat.

I told your security people about it,

they're looking for it.

Uh, Della ran across a couple of interesting items, though.

Some woman was on the grounds last night, after hours,

looking for you, Hilde.

Yes, but she disappeared just before the body was discovered.

A Mrs. Appleman from Seattle?

But I don't know any Mrs. Appleman.

You any idea who she might be, Tony?

Not the slightest.

I'll have Paul Drake check it out, then.

Now, about Dr. Braun's nurse, Frieda Crawson.

As I understand it,

at one time she might have been his mistress,

but now she says she's going to marry this fellow Zelbowski.

( car door slams )

Excuse me, folks.

I guess you're Mr. Mason.

I'm Lieutenant White, sir.

You wanted me, lieutenant?

No, it's Mrs. Braun we're looking for.

Mrs. Walther Braun. That is you, isn't it?

DELLA: Mrs. Braun?

Tony, I must tell you how--

Now, never mind. We'd just like you

to come down to headquarters with us, Mrs. Braun.

Headquarters?

Why does she have to go down there, lieutenant?

WHITE: We'd like a statement from her

regarding her husband's homicide.

You've proven it was homicide, lieutenant?

Yes, sir. And we've gone even further.

Mr. Osgood, I have here a warrant for your arrest,

charging you with first-degree murder.

( dramatic theme playing )

Dr. Prince, as Senior Pathologist

for the coroner's office,

you have quite properly described the cause of death

in medical language.

Could you now put it so we laymen can understand?

Yes.

Dr. Braun died of a broken neck

caused by a blow delivered here.

In your opinion, could a lion have delivered such a blow?

No, not unless the lion was capable of wielding a crowbar

or some similar instrument.

PROSECUTOR: What makes you say that?

The, uh, shattered fragments

of, uh, vertebrae at the point of impact.

Only a rod-like bar of metal or hard wood could cause this.

Perhaps a metal bar such as this,

already entered in evidence

as having been found near the lion compound?

PRINCE: Yes, a metal bar such as this.

But, doctor,

if the deceased had been killed

by a human wielding such a weapon,

how do you account for the claw marks found on the body?

Well, judging by the light amount of bleeding

along these marks,

I'm quite certain that Dr. Braun was clawed

after he was dead.

In other words, the already dead body

could have been placed in the compound,

perhaps so the lion could claw it

and be blamed for the death?

Yes, I have no doubt that's exactly what happened.

Your witness.

I'd like your opinion about something else, doctor.

Could the marks on the body have been caused by a nail

or a small garden cultivator or some similar agency?

No, absolutely not.

Why absolutely not?

The marks run in series' of four,

just as a claw would leave.

Now, the separations between the marks in each series

correspond exactly with the normal separations

found between the claws of a full-grown lion.

Where did you learn so much about the claw separations

of a full-grown lion, Dr. Prince?

From Mr. Osgood's former employer,

the San Diego Zoo.

( mysterious theme playing )

PROSECUTOR: And when you processed this bar in the crime laboratory,

you say you found blood on it. Did you type the blood?

Yes, sir. It was type AB,

the same as that of the deceased.

And now I show you this sport coat,

already identified as belonging to the defendant.

Do you recognize it?

WITNESS: Yes, sir. We processed that in the lab too,

and found bloodstains. It was the same grouping,

type AB.

I see.

Any questions, Mr. Mason?

May I have a look at that coat, Mr. Talford?

Of course.

Now, uh, concerning this coat,

am I right in identifying these stains on the sleeve,

on the front of the coat and here on the inside lining,

as bloodstains?

Yes, sir. They're the ones I've been talking about.

How do you account for their presence?

Well, if the defendant carried Dr. Braun's body

into the lion's compound,

the coat would naturally get stained.

Well, aren't you forgetting the, uh, body was not clawed

until after it was placed in the compound?

Oh, well, I suppose there's several ways the blood--

Thank you.

That's all.

TALFORD: You were in the zoo at the time of the murder, Miss Crawson?

I think so.

Tell the court about it, please.

Yes, sir.

Well, I had this dinner date with Boris Zelbowski

and I drove out to pick him up.

TALFORD: And what time was this?

A little after 7:30.

It was already pretty dark.

Boris wasn't waiting.

But I knew he and Dr. Braun were working on the lion,

so I went in to see what gave.

Did you see what gave?

Well, I didn't see Boris or Dr. Braun.

But I did see a man coming out of the lion's compound.

A man wearing a dark blue sport jacket.

And this man,

is he anywhere in this courtroom, Miss Crawson?

Why, yes, sir.

He's at that table right over there.

Mr. Osgood.

( lounge music playing )

Hi, Perry.

Hello, Paul.

Well, we got the rundown on Dr. Walther Braun.

He came here eight years ago from Trenton, New Jersey,

after he had some trouble there.

A charge of, uh,

"Selling and diverting dental gold."

The charge was somehow dropped.

And, somewhere between Trenton and here,

he also managed to somehow drop a wife.

Where before Trenton?

Hannover, Germany, where he worked for a big drug firm,

which ties in with what I found here.

What's that?

In addition to becoming a consultant at the zoo

and doing fine at dentistry, on both humans and animals,

Braun started a small drug company

specializing in antibiotics.

It's called the, uh, "Apex Pharmaceutical Company."

You been there, Paul?

No, but I got the address.

It's, uh, Seventh and Ash.

Anything else?

Yes, but not about Braun.

I spoke to the curator of mammals at the zoo

and he agrees with Tony.

Unless a lion was starving,

he would never claw anything already dead.

You'd better check on that, Paul.

While I run over to the Apex Pharmaceutical Company,

you and Della go to the zoo. Could be important.

What do we do at the zoo?

I want you to give a lion a manicure.

( comical theme playing )

( growls )

He does not like this.

Must this really be done?

You said it didn't hurt.

No more than a needle does when the doctor gives you a shot.

But this lion is such a baby.

And besides, I can go in there

and do whatever you want without this.

Not a chance.

The director said he had to be anesthetized.

Boris, do you want me to shoot?

No, no.

I will do it.

Then we will go in and scrape his claws.

( lion roars )

You a policeman? Some of your people already been here.

No, I'm an attorney. My name is Mason.

And, uh, you?

Keller. Abner Keller.

Bookkeeper.

Or was, up until the time he died.

Dr. Braun was the sole owner?

Well, could be his partner in Germany had an interest.

I was never told.

Who is this partner?

A Dr. Elick Plum.

Oh, I had his address somewhere.

Or you can reach him at the Hannover Zoo.

Hannover Zoo.

Yeah, veterinarian, Plum is.

For the zoo.

I see.

Uh, Dr. Braun's business here,

was it lucrative?

( scoffs ): Boom or bust.

Shipment comes in, we boom.

Ten, 12 girls filing orders.

Then nothing, sometimes for months.

Oh, look, here's last year's ledger.

See?

Boom starting Jan. 5, ending Feb. 2.

Another, June 6.

Another, Sept. 9.

Feast or famine.

( pounding on door )

Now, now, maybe you wouldn't mind

going out the back way, Mr. Mason?

( pounding continues )

What's the matter?

Answering questions all day for policemen

and people like you, that's one thing.

But out there's a dame from Seattle

who's 50 times as nosy.

And there's sure no law says I gotta be polite.

Did you say that woman's from Seattle?

Yeah.

( pounding continues )

Come in, won't you?

You know, I think the police

will be very interested in talking to you.

( suspenseful theme playing )

( dramatic theme playing )

Mrs. Braun, you must answer

the District Attorney's question.

Unless, of course, you feel your answer

may incriminate you in some way.

No, it is not that.

Yes, Tony?

Mr. Osgood, and Dr. Braun did have a quarrel,

just as Mr. Beacom said.

And this quarrel was over you, Mrs. Braun,

because Dr. Braun was threatening

to send you back to Germany?

Yes.

Will you tell us how Dr. Braun could threaten such a thing?

It was because of the way we were married.

TALFORD: Explain that, please.

Well, I wanted to come to the United States.

My parents were dead and I had only a part-time job

in the hospital at the Hannover Zoo.

And I met Dr. Braun through a friend of mine,

a Dr. Elick Plum.

Well, when Dr. Braun heard of my desire to come here,

he said he would be glad to fix it so I could get on the quota.

That it was my only way to marry him for a while.

It seemed all right to do.

And after you were married?

A year later, my name appeared on the quota

as Mrs. Walther Braun and--

And I came here.

To live with Dr. Braun as man and wife?

HILDE: No, no, it was only to help me.

We had agreed that the marriage would be secret

and in name only.

In name only, Mrs. Braun?

Are you sure that's how it was?

HILDE: Yes, I am sure that's how it was.

And we were to be quietly divorced

as soon as I became an American citizen.

So, with things worked out so neatly,

how could Dr. Braun have had you deported?

Well, he threatened to tell the authorities that--

That I had tricked him into the marriage

to get into the country.

Then why should he threaten this

when you had an agreement?

He wanted to break the agreement,

to assert his rights as a husband.

And you told this to the man you admitted in court you love,

you told this to the defendant, Anthony Osgood?

HILDE: No, I didn't tell him anything.

Osgood didn't kill to save you

from having to submit to Dr. Braun's embraces

or be sent back to Germany?

No, of course not.

Tony didn't even know that I was married to Dr. Braun.

As clerk in the immigration office,

you were asked by the defendant

to look up the records on Hilde Fursten?

Yes, sir. I found her name in our cross files,

under the name Hilde Fursten Braun,

wife of Dr. Walther Braun.

And did Mr. Osgood express surprise

on finding her so registered?

Not in words.

He just walked away.

Any questions, Mr. Mason?

No questions.

I'm sure you'll have some questions

to ask our next witness.

I now call...

Mrs. Walther Braun.

Please state your name, place of residence,

and occupation.

Mrs. Walther Braun, 6134 Front Street,

Seattle, Washington.

I guess my occupation would be housewife,

even though I haven't lived with Walther

for over eight years.

But you are, or rather were,

his wife at the time of his death?

Oh, my, yes.

We were married in 1947 in Trenton, New Jersey.

You can look up the record.

You were never divorced?

No. After we left Trenton, we agreed to live separately,

but there was never a divorce.

Then this woman who just left the stand,

this so-called Hilde Fursten Braun,

was never Dr. Braun's wife?

No.

Either she's lying, or Walther tricked her.

Uh, Your Honor,

I must object to the State's line of questioning.

Miss Fursten is not the defendant here

and whether or not she was Dr. Braun's wife

is completely irrelevant.

I move both question and answer be stricken.

Mr. Talford?

I could argue the matter, but since the time is late,

I'll simply withdraw the question

and go on to something undeniably relevant.

Mrs. Braun,

where were you between 7 and 8

on the night of your husband's death?

I was at the zoo.

What were you doing there?

I'd been following Dr. Braun.

I knew he went out there.

You see, I'd come down from Seattle

to collect rather a considerable sum of money

that he owed me and I wanted to make sure that he paid it.

Besides, I wanted to get a look at that German girl of his.

She's the one I told the guards I'd been to see.

And did you follow Dr. Braun to the lion compound?

Oh, no. I couldn't find where he went.

The place is so big

and anyone I asked a question of simply said I should go.

It was after closing, so finally I had to leave.

What did you do when you heard about the murder?

I stayed in my hotel room in Coronado

to wait and see what would happen.

And it was your sense of public duty

that made you come to us?

No, sir.

Mr. Mason made me come to you.

Mr. Mason sent you?

I, too, have a sense of public duty, Mr. Talford.

Why didn't you tell me you'd seen Mr. Mason?

You didn't ask me.

No, I didn't.

But I'm asking you now what you saw

when you passed the lion compound

while wandering around the zoo on the night of the murder.

I saw someone in back of the compound.

Somebody wearing a dark sport coat.

Thus confirming other testimony.

Now, tell us, Mrs. Braun, do you see that somebody,

who wore the sport coat, here in this courtroom?

Well, after getting a good look at Mr. Osgood,

I can tell you this:

It wasn't him.

It was somebody smaller.

Much smaller.

It was somebody about...

About exactly her size.

Whose size, Mrs. Braun?

Hers.

Frieda Crawson.

My dear husband's mistress.

And what about the lab report

on the manicure you gave the lion, Paul?

I picked it up on the way here.

"None of the tests run on the nail scrapings

show the slightest trace of human blood or flesh."

Well, this gets odder and odder,

if that means what I think it does.

It almost certainly means the lion never touched the body.

Which in turn means--

Here are last year's records, Mr. Mason.

Each card shows when a new shipment of animals

came into the hospital.

January 3rd, June 5th, September 7th.

Exactly what I wanted, Hilde.

Now, what about the cage?

The director of the zoo

said you could have anything here to help Tony,

but how can Toto's cage help?

PAUL: That's what I'd like to know.

Have you ever heard the story about the customs inspector

and the Mexican boy on a bicycle, Paul?

No.

Well, the boy kept cycling across the border

carrying a sack over his shoulder.

Convinced that he was smuggling something,

the inspector examined the sack each time,

and each time all he found was sand.

He finally met the boy in Tijuana

and pleaded with the boy

to tell him just what he had been smuggling.

The boy finally broke down and told him.

Told him what?

The same thing that Toto's cage

should tell us in court tomorrow.

But in the meantime, Paul,

I have a chore for you to do.

Not to give another lion a manicure, I hope.

Oh, no.

This time I, uh, want you to kidnap a lion.

( dramatic theme playing )

MASON: Then Mrs. Braun was telling the truth.

She did see you wearing Tony Osgood's coat

in the lion compound. Well, what of it?

Why are you going after me? She gets his estate.

She must have been the one who killed him.

Why don't you go after her?

Perhaps I will, after you explain

why you attempted to incriminate Mr. Osgood.

Well-- When you went to the lion compound

to search for Boris,

you found the body of Dr. Braun outside the compound,

did you not?

Miss Crawson, you've already admitted--

All right, yes. That's what happened.

I went to the keeper's office.

Boris wasn't there, but I saw Mr. Osgood's coat

and the lion pelt,

and that gave me an idea.

And wearing the coat,

you then dragged the body into the compound.

Is that not correct?

It was only a few feet and the lion was still out cold.

And then, with this,

you clawed the body to make it look as though

it had been clawed by the lion.

And then later you lied to the police by telling them

you'd seen Mr. Osgood inside the lion compound.

Is that not correct, Miss Crawson?

Yes.

Apparently you were trying to protect someone

by doing all this.

Who was that person?

Boris.

Boris Zelbowski.

Very well, then,

let us say you did not kill Dr. Braun.

What made Miss Crawson think you'd killed him?

That's because of what she had wanted me to say to him

while we were treating the lion.

And what was that?

We were going to make ourselves partners in his--

His racket.

Did she explain to you what that meant?

BORIS: She said Dr. Braun would know.

But I didn't even talk to him about it.

About anything. I lost my courage.

But even if I had killed him, Mr. Mason,

I would never be so stupid

as to try to put the blame on the lion.

Why, all the keepers know what a big coward he is.

Why, he is afraid of his own shadow.

Well, he would never dare to attack anyone.

Mr. Zelbowski,

do you recognize that cage?

Uh--

That is the cage in which the baby gorilla came.

And what happens to these cages after the animals are delivered?

They take all the new animals up to the hospital first,

I don't know.

Harry Beacom, he-- He was a cleanup man.

Maybe he could tell you.

With the court's permission,

I would like to recall Mr. Beacom.

Recall Mr. Harry Beacom.

You may step down.

I must remind you, you're still under oath, Mr. Beacom.

Uh, yes, sir.

Mr. Beacom,

would you please examine this cage.

Why, uh, it's Toto's cage.

Isn't it true that, uh, when you took Toto,

what you really wanted was the cage?

Cage?

Well, what would I want with a cage?

Because of what was concealed in it.

Beneath this false bottom.

Packages of pharmaceuticals.

Purchased wholesale in Europe

to be sold three to five times their cost

through Dr. Braun's drug firm.

Isn't this what you really wanted, Mr. Beacom?

No, I didn't want that stuff.

I was trying to force Braun

to cut me in on his smuggling racket.

Just like Frieda Crawson wanted him to.

And then when you found Dr. Braun alone,

after he had treated the lion,

he refused to cut you in,

you used this on him.

No.

I-- I didn't mean to kill him, Mr. Mason.

I-- I swear I didn't.

He got angry and--

And he swung at me with that iron bar.

I took it away from him and-- And hit him.

I wouldn't kill.

I just meant to stun him.

Just to stun him.

( upbeat theme playing )

( trumpeting )

You know, I suppose Braun figured

he'd eventually let Hilde take over

as receiver of the shipments.

That's why he got her the job here.

Well, you sure scored a bull's-eye on the tie-in

between the new supplies for Braun

and the new animals for us.

You know, the records show

that Braun and his friend from the Hannover Zoo

have been averaging three shipments a year

for the past five years.

And at $30,000 profit per shipment, tax-free,

that's a pretty fair business.

And a pretty safe one.

A wild animal cage would be the last place in the world

you'd expect a customs inspector

to check for smuggled antibiotics.

Speaking of customs inspectors,

you never did finish the story

about the Mexican boy on the bicycle.

No, I didn't.

DELLA: Perry.

Look. Look over there.

Look how happy Toto is, Mr. Mason,

with his new relatives,

Mr. Orangutan and Miss Chimpanzee.

Uh, speaking of customs inspectors...

Oh, yes, for heaven's sakes, tell him the rest of the story.

Well, as I told you,

the inspector got mighty tired of examining the sacks

the boy kept carrying over the border,

week after week.

And then the boy finally promised

to tell him what he was smuggling.

And what had he been smuggling?

Bicycles.

( all laughing )

( grunting )

( noirish jazz theme playing )