Original subtitles

♪ Welcome to L.A. ♪

♪ Another sunny day ♪

♪ In Californ-i-a ♪

♪ Hey-hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ It's good to be here ♪

♪ I really have to say ♪

♪ That life's a holiday ♪

♪ So throw your worries away ♪

♪ Hey-hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Welcome to L.A. ♪

♪ Yeah, welcome to L.A. ♪

♪ Another sunny day ♪

♪ In Californ-i-a ♪

♪ Buh-do, buh-do Buh-do, do, do, do ♪

♪ Duh-duh do, do, do ♪

So when are you producing your movie?

Well, the script's finally in shape.

Location's all lined up.

Heh. The director's champing at the bit.

So why aren't you in production?

Well, we're still waiting for the studio

to give us a go-ahead. You'd better get it soon.

This party's gonna cost you a bundle,

if I have anything to do with it.

Heh. At the rate you're going, it sure as hell will.

Go on. Heh-heh.

Hey. What are you doing here, man?

Thought you were up in Fresno, expanding the kingdom.

Yeah, what did you sell, one, uh, franchise before lunch

and three after?

No, no, no. Four.

Get out of here.

Adam. Hey, Adam.

Glad you could make it, my man.

When I called, you said you weren't feeling well.

You were spending the evening at home.

I felt better.

Felt like going out behind my back.

Adam, cool it.

I felt like going out.

Come on. We're leaving. No, you leave.

I'm having a good time. I said we're leaving.

All right, it's getting kind of crowded in here.

Come on. Hey, knock it off, man.

Let go.

Let go, man! Let go!

Hey, take it easy. What is the matter with you?

Hey!

He's not worth it.

All right. All right.

Hey, Adam. Come on.

Are you all right?

Look, it's not like Deb's my date or anything.

I just thought with you out of town, that she

might like some company.

Yeah, come on. Lighten up.

There's a lot of available girls in there.

Adam, I'm really sorry.

Come on. Let's go back in.

No, no, no. No.

I'm gonna take a drive, up the coast or something.

I don't know.

Come on, Adam.

Let him go.

Come on.

Where's Adam?

He left.

Was he very upset?

He's gonna get over it.

I gotta go.

He won't be home. He went for a drive.

Well, then, I'll wait for him.

♪ Right from the start ♪

♪ You have been so afraid ♪

♪ To open up ♪

♪ Your heart ♪

♪ Why can't you see? ♪

♪ Love is so beautiful ♪

♪ If you can let in me ♪

♪ A little bit more ♪

♪ A little bit more, baby ♪

♪ Just a little bit more ♪

♪ Oh, a little bit more, baby ♪

♪ Just a little bit more ♪

♪ Give your heart to me ♪

♪ Baby, I know... ♪

Mm.

Aah!

♪ It's great to be here ♪

♪ Smack dab in the heart... ♪

Debra!

♪ Where the neon lights Shine so pretty ♪

♪ I love it all ♪

♪ Life's a ball ♪

Debra!

♪ Welcome to L.A. ♪

Deb?

Deb?

Somebody's dead.

Who do I call?

How far up the coast did you say you drove, Mr. Gardner?

North of Santa Barbara. That's all I know.

Like I said, I got tired of driving,

so I pulled over,

walked on the beach for a while,

turned around and drove... Drove home.

Mm.

See anyone on the beach?

No. Not at 5:00 in the morning.

He's already been over this part of it.

Is there a problem, detective?

Yeah, you could say that.

He tells one story, the facts tell another.

The facts exonerate my client.

The girl had too much to drink,

she passed out and she drowned.

There was an open bottle of champagne

right there next to her.

But very little alcohol in her blood.

Probably whoever killed her put the champagne there,

wanted people to think it happened

just the way you said, but it didn't.

Still could have been an accident.

She just fell and hit her head.

Only injuries the coroner found

were bruises on either side of her neck,

suggesting that someone grabbed her throat

and held her underwater.

Someone wearing your bathrobe, by the way.

Bottom of the sleeves were wet with water

containing the same amount of chlorine as in the pool.

Oh, excuse me, would you, please?

Damn it.

Take it easy, Adam.

She's dead. Sh... Carl, she's dead,

and I couldn't even help her.

Look, don't worry about the case.

I'm not a criminal lawyer,

but I know circumstantial evidence when I see it,

especially flimsy circumstantial evidence.

They don't begin to have a motive here.

Carl, we had a fight.

Debra and I had a bad fight

in front of a dozen people.

Adam, you don't understand.

To get a conviction in a murder case,

they really need an eyewitness and they don't have one.

Wrong again, counselor.

We just heard from one of Mr. Gardner's neighbors.

Says he saw the whole thing.

Uh... my client declines to answer

any further questions at this time.

Mr. Matlock.

Mr. Matlock!

Yeah?

Come on in.

Same thing every winter.

We've got this maintenance man who drinks.

Either I freeze to death, or it steams up my glasses.

What can I do for you?

I'm Adam Gardner from Los Angeles.

Oh, yeah.

The young man with all the cookie stores.

I believe you were expecting me.

I could have sworn there were

all manner of lawyers in Los Angeles.

Well, my lawyer, he's not a defense attorney.

You're supposed to be one of the best.

Look, Mr. Matlock, I didn't kill Debra.

I loved her.

Someone's framed me.

Yeah. Yeah.

You want me to come all the way to California to represent you?

Well, I want you to sit down with my lawyers first,

hear what their advice is and then give me yours.

Yeah. Well...

you caught me right at my busiest season.

My daughter's on vacation and everything.

I'd have to rearrange my whole schedule.

How much?

It's not a matter of money.

Twenty thousand?

Fifty. Fifty?

For now.

♪ Welcome to L.A. ♪

♪ Another sunny day ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo ♪

The point is, Adam's not just selling cookies.

He's selling what cookies stand for.

Youth, vitality, innocence.

A seamy, protracted trial

with all the attendant negative publicity

could very well drive the stock right into the ground.

I think it behooves Adam to get this thing behind him

as soon as possible.

The question is, how?

That's no problem.

The DA's evidence is grossly circumstantial.

He knows it and we know it.

We just need to negotiate until we can come up with a plea

that everybody can live with.

What do you think he'll go for?

Voluntary,

hell, maybe even involuntary manslaughter.

Adam comes home, finds the girl.

Fight starts up again. They struggle. They argue.

He pushes. She pushes.

Next thing he knows, she's dead.

I think we're talking a maximum of two years here,

probably even less.

Seems to me that settles it.

Adam, were you able to follow all that?

You're telling me to plead guilty?

To involuntary manslaughter, yes.

Uh, Mr. Matlock, what do you think?

Did you do it?

No!

I'd plead not guilty.

I appreciate your advice,

but I'm pleading not guilty.

Then I guess this meeting is adjourned.

Wanna go somewhere for a root beer?

I think you should be comfortable here.

I think a whole lot of people

could be comfortable here, all at once.

Only there was no way to prove it.

Sounds like they already are.

Now, I know that the only way I'm gonna break this case

is that I have to prove that the judge

hid his old clothes, right?

Uh... Oh, Ben.

Ben, we have Mark Williams,

Michael Porter. Hi, sir.

And Josh Sinclair. Good to see you.

These are Adam's closest and oldest friends.

Ah. Four of us grew up together.

Yeah, we've been accused of many things,

but never of growing up.

We went to the same high school.

The jock.

The brains.

And the clown.

And the operator.

Yeah, by those less fortunate,

we were called the Rat Pack.

Oh, ho-ho-ho.

So how are you gonna break down the DA's case?

I don't know yet.

But if Adam didn't do it,

then it was probably one of you.

That's absurd.

Well, you were the only ones

who knew that Debra was going to Adam's house

and that she would there be alone.

Wait a minute. It could have been

a hillside strangler or a serial killer or anybody.

That was just a josh.

Just a josh.

I'm sure you wanna help out,

and I'll be talking with you fellows.

All right.

Yeah. I'll call you later.

Bye, bye. MATLOCK: See you later.

I'll talk to you later. Yeah.

Oh, sorry.

Just a josh, huh?

Look, Mr. Matlock, those are my best friends.

There's often a lot of truth in a little josh.

One of them may not be your friend at all.

Do you have the key to Debra's apartment?

I need to look around.

All right.

It's California dip.

Well, Tyler, how are you liking Beverly Hills?

Ben, this is my spiritual home.

Taxi! There must be an avocado

out there with your name on it.

Almost too many, Ben.

Almost too many.

Well, are we gonna go to work or go to a funeral?

Compliments of my friend Mark. He has a limo service.

Mr. Matlock, I'm Jimmy Bowles, your chauffeur.

Oh. My associate, Tyler Hudson.

Good to meet you.

Ahem, you think we ought to ride in something a little smaller?

Are you kidding?

Hey, Jimmy, I'm gonna ride shotgun. Go ahead.

Okay.

Hey, Jimmy, you ever driven any celebrities?

Heh. You name them, I've driven them.

Clark and Carole,

Ed and Liz, Frank and Judy,

Frank and Ava, Frank and Mia.

I'm telling you,

if they ever made a movie about all the things

that went on behind my back, it'd be rated double X,

and have the longest run in history.

Jimmy, I'm gonna tell you, I don't say this to many people,

but you're an amazing man.

Yeah.

Fancy cars and movie stars, I tell you, Ben,

this is my kind of town.

Uh-huh.

♪ Another sunny day ♪

♪ In Californ-i-a ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ It's good to be here ♪

How much longer till we get to Debra's apartment?

Relax and enjoy the ride.

The air smells like somebody's having their dog dry-cleaned.

You smell smog. I smell paradise.

Well, I'm rollin' up my window anyway.

♪ Welcome to L.A. ♪

♪ Welcome to L.A. ♪

♪ Doo-duh, doo, doo ♪

Uh... You say Debra was an actress?

Extra, mostly.

Couple of bit parts last year. Nothing big.

She come from money?

No.

How do you explain that?

Twenty-five thousand dollars?

She deposited that much

every month for at least the last three months.

She couldn't have had that kind of money. She would've told me.

Maybe she didn't want you to know where she got it.

Ben.

What do you think of that?

Who are those from?

"I hate what we're doing,

"I really do, but I would hate life

without you even more. Love forever, Josh."

No. You're going home.

Like hell I'm going home.

First things first.

You may have been betrayed,

but your girlfriend was murdered.

We've got the, uh, mushroom light in the living room.

We've got the shaston outside, right?

Get it straight. Mr. Sinclair.

Oh, hey.

Oh, I'm sorry I'm late.

No problem. Heh. As a matter of fact,

you're a half-hour early. Oh, it's 11:30.

Oh, I'm sorry. My... My watch isn't on L.A. time.

You'll have to change it.

Well, my body's still on Atlanta time.

Could have been worse, though.

I could have shown up three hours early.

Yeah.

So this is one of your properties, huh?

Yeah.

What's a place like this go for?

Well, when I get done with it, uh...

Well, 280, 290.

Two hundred and ninety thousand dollars?

That's right.

I have a henhouse bigger than this.

It works. I've been doing it for a long time.

No kidding.

So, uh,

how long had you been seeing Debra?

Debra was Adam's girl.

Well, that's what he thought

until he read one of those letters

that we found in her apartment.

Written by you.

Tsk. Oh, God.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

He read them?

Yeah.

So how often did you see her?

Whenever he was out of town

and sometimes when he was in town.

She didn't want to say anything to him

because she... She didn't wanna hurt him.

Where'd you go after the party that night?

I went home.

Alone.

Look, I didn't kill her.

Did you ever give her any money?

I offered her some, but, I mean, she wouldn't take it.

Why? Just curious.

Two hundred and ninety thousand dollars, huh?

Hey, well, for you, uh...

Yeah. We can do something.

Thanks for the time.

All right.

Oh, I-I'm sure it's a good read, Jerry, but it...

It's just not right for me.

All right. Look, uh, I gotta go.

Okay. All right. Bye-bye.

Hi. Hi.

Boy, this is some experience.

This?

No. You.

The four of you.

Yeah?

Yeah. Four unique men.

You're young, successful.

You know, uh, you're the one who's unique.

Certainly one of the best-known

defense attorneys uh, in the country.

Mm, well.

Any offers to purchase the rights to your life?

No. What...? What would you get for a thing like that?

What would you want?

Oh, I don't know.

Maybe $25,000 a month for three months?

Where did you get the figure?

Ah, it seems like a good going rate.

Ben, out here everything is negotiable.

Oh, I see.

Where were you at 4:00

the morning Debra O'Keefe was murdered?

Party I threw ended around 3:30 and I went home.

By yourself?

Yeah.

Oh.

Did you ever have occasion to give Debra some money,

say, $75,000?

Look, I was nice to her because of Adam,

but I-I was never that nice.

Hey, Tyler.

Hey.

Where's, uh, Jimmy?

I gave him some money to take a little trip to Gardena.

They got legalized poker there.

When did you start subsidizing gambling?

Ever since I found out that there is something very weird

going on with Mark Williams' limousine service.

Seems that Jimmy and some of the other drivers

have been running these strange errands at night

where they're transporting things that are put

in their trunk that they're not allowed to see

for people that they're not supposed to meet.

Oh. So tonight, you're taking Jimmy's place?

That's right, and the address that he starts out on

is on Bellagio, which is in Bel-Air.

Stay in the car.

Who are you?

Tyler Hudson. Didn't Jimmy call you?

Yeah, and when he did he said he'd tell you the rules.

Stay in the car, keep your eyes forward, and wait.

Now pop the trunk.

Here's the address. The map is marked.

When you get there, same thing:

Stay in the car, keep your eyes forward,

pop the trunk and wait. Then come back here.

The round trip should take you exactly 43 minutes.

No stops.

No stops.

Come on. We gotta rush. They got me on the clock.

What is this stuff? I don't know.

I have no idea. But the sooner I get rid of it,

the better I'll feel. Here, just take some of it.

They'll never know the difference.

I'll pour a little bit. Wait, wait, wait.

Okay.

Okay, okay, okay.

Just gotta put it back the same way.

Okay. There you go.

All right.

Close the trunk!

Sir, stop right there.

Turn around, put your hands up there,

and don't move.

Officer, I know walking in these parts

is out of fashion but I didn't know it was illegal.

You live around here?

Nowhere near here.

What's this?

I was hoping you could tell me.

Let's go.

This is ridiculous.

I'm a lawyer

licensed to practice in the state of Georgia.

I wasn't loitering or dealing in drugs.

I have no criminal record whatsoever.

Well, then you have nothing to worry about, sir.

I suppose even in Beverly Hills

a persons entitled to one phone call.

Over here.

Operator, in Beverly Hills for Carl Richardson.

He's an attorney.

Thank you.

Carl, Ben Matlock.

I'm down here at the Beverly Hills Police Department,

I'm offered free room and board for the night.

Please come down here and straighten this out

as soon as possible.

Thanks.

That was two phone calls, that's your limit.

One was the operator, the other was an answering machine.

Tough.

Let's go.

Ha-ho. Man, am I glad to see you.

Ha. Name's Arthur Rydell.

Being in jail is one thing, being in jail alone...

Oh, talk about your cruel and unusual punishment.

I'm sorry, I-I didn't catch your name.

Ben Matlock. Excuse me.

Ben, you think you got troubles.

Ben, Ben, Ben, you don't know what trouble is.

And neither did I until two months ago

when that piece of refuse, then known as my wife,

hit me with the D word: divorce.

Whoa, ho-ho-ho. Heh.

Oh.

Want me to call the police?

Why advertise? TYLER: Wait a minute, wait...

I know you.

You're S.J. Sweet, the evangelist.

I seen you on TV.

And what might your name be, my brother?

Tyler Hudson.

I'm a private investigator.

Yeah, that's right.

He works for Adam Gardner's attorney.

Where's Jimmy?

I gave him the night off.

Mr. Hudson, what brings you to my house?

Well, Debra O'Keefe's murder appears connected

to a small blackmail scam that's netted about $75,000

in the last three months.

So I wanted to know what his limo driver's

secret deliveries were all about.

The Lord's work, that's what they're about.

Mark is helping me move my place of residence.

And that's the big secret?

You satisfied?

What's that white powder in those jars?

A special blend of grain for my breakfast cereal.

Mark, where were you on the night of Debra's murder?

I was at home, alone.

Not a very good alibi.

Mine is a high-profile business,

which requires the cleanest of hands,

which means I have to keep an eye on the people I deal with.

Lest any dirt on them rub off on me.

You been having me tailed?

I keep a close watch on my flock.

When Mark needed some cash for his business, he came to me.

So he couldn't have given any money to Debra

without my permission.

I am his solid partner.

N'est pas?

Your secret's safe with me.

I'm sorry about interrupting your evening

but I want to thank you for your cooperation.

And for you, brother, I apologize for any distress

I may have caused you.

As a matter of fact,

I'd like to treat you to dinner as a gesture of my good faith.

How could we say no?

All right.

We'll drop by my hotel and get a change of clothes

and then I'm gonna show you a spot that is so hot.

This town is just...

Then you know what she did?

After she took one half of everything I ever owned,

she issued a restraining order against me.

If I came within ten feet of her they were supposed to arrest me.

I didn't wanna come within ten miles of her...

only I forgot my golf clubs.

See, I decided to go to Carmel to play golf,

only I forgot that my golf clubs were still in my house.

My ex-house.

So I had to sneak into my own house

to get them back, only she caught me.

Next thing you know she's calling the cops.

I figure for as long as it takes them to get there

I'll be long gone, right?

First time in police history they are there in two minutes.

See, she had me arrested to teach me a lesson.

Thinks I'm gonna call her

and beg her to drop the complaint.

Well, I won't give her the satisfaction.

I'd sooner cut off my finger before I dialed that phone.

Excuse me.

The units are the private investors...

Michael, can I have a word with you?

Maybe some other time.

Well, it's just a few small details

that would help out your buddy Adam.

And I don't believe I've met this beautiful lady.

Elinor, uh, this is Tyler.

Elinor's a friend of the family.

So, uh, what is it?

Well, you told Ben that you were home alone

at the time of the murder but I checked with Adam,

he said he tried to call you and there was no answer.

That's just a small detail

but if you could help me out I'd be really appreciative.

You didn't tell him you were with me?

Elinor, I was trying to protect you.

From what?

You would rather let him believe

that you had no alibi for a murder

rather than say you were with me.

You're that ashamed?

No, no. Hey, look... He was with me...

all night.

And if you find that an embarrassment.

Tomorrow I'm withdrawing the letter of credit,

canceling your credit cards and all your charge accounts.

See you at the movies, Michael.

Oh.

I had no idea.

I mean, I called the creep and I'm on the clock.

I mean, "hello" costs me 5 bucks.

A full sentence costs 10.

I am not gonna call him,

there's no way he's gonna squeeze another dime out of me.

Have you called anybody since you were arrested?

Huh, I'd sooner drink battery acid.

Well, the call you have coming, give it to me.

Give it to you?

Call somebody for me.

You're gonna leave me?

Arthur, I know for you

being in jail's a matter of principle.

But it isn't for me.

Ah, I am sorry.

I am sorry. I-I'm being selfish.

Officer!

Hey!

Here. Call Tyler Hudson at the Bedford Hotel.

Tell him to get down here as fast as possible.

Hey, officer, I wanna make my phone call now.

Thank you, bud.

Hi, Buster.

So, uh, who do you wanna meet?

Her.

You can do better than her.

I don't wanna do better than her.

Ah.

Say, um, there's a guy sitting over there at the table

all by himself.

Johnny? Johnny? Johnny Alexander.

That's one guy you don't wanna meet.

Why not?

My partner over there

says you're doing some business with Josh. What?

Said my buddy over there says you been doing...

Now what did you say?

Heard you've been doing some business

with my friend Josh Sinclair.

Thought that's what you said.

When's he coming?

Well, he wasn't there. I left a message.

It's 3:00 in the morning.

Doesn't anybody go to bed in Beverly Hills?

Hey, listen, uh, Ben,

it seems my wife called and dropped the charges.

So this is adios, good buddy.

Hey, if you ever get into town look me up,

we'll do lunch.

Tyler!

Tyler!

Tyler! Ben.

Please, not so loud. Tyler.

You know where I was all night while you were partying?

Ben, please, not so loud.

I was in jail.

Ben, you are looking at a man in great pain.

You are looking at a man who sacrificed his body for his job.

Tyler, I was in jail.

Ben, I know.

I called and they just released you.

They thought I was a drug dealer.

That powder I took out of that jar

turned out to be some kind of powdered cereal.

You know S.J. Sweet, the TV evangelist?

That was his cereal.

What's a TV evangelist got to do with anything?

Ben.

Just calm down.

Relax and don't be so loud,

and I'll tell you all about last night.

I got busted breaking into S.J. Sweet's house

because that's where the limos were making the pickups.

Well, it turns out they're just moving S.J.

from residence to another under the cover of darkness.

S.J. and I had a chat,

turns out to be a nice man.

He also gives Mark Williams

an alibi for the night of the murder.

But then I shrewdly get his bouncer, Buster,

to go with me to one of the hottest spots in the city,

which also happens to be Michael Porter's hangout.

There, Michael Porter's alibi turns out to be a woman.

An angry woman, but an alibi nevertheless.

May I finish? Finish.

Now, Ben, I am a highly skilled professional,

and a dedicated one.

Do you think I would hit five of this city's hottest spots

for fun?

What did you find out?

I found out that Sinclair had a meeting

with Johnny Alexander last night.

Alexander is a major cocaine trafficker.

I find out from Buster

that Sinclair has made three big deals with Alexander

in the last couple months.

No kidding. No kidding.

Get up.

Ben, I can't.

Two of Alexander's associates

tap danced on my torso and I have yet to recover.

Get up. Tyler, get up. No, Ben. No, please.

I need you and Carl Richardson to do something for me.

This is gonna be a bonus situation!

All right. A bonus situation! All right, a bonus!

Get up! Ow, hey, oh.

Now, Mr. Wallingford,

you live next door to the defendant.

Is that correct? Yes, it is correct.

Our houses are perhaps 50 feet apart.

Mm-hm. So then you have

an unobstructed view of his house?

Yes.

Would you tell the court what you saw

around 4 a.m. on the morning of March 11th?

Well... Ahem.

I happen to be rather a light sleeper

and I was awakened by loud music from next door.

So I got up and looked toward Mr. Gardner's house

and I saw a young woman

who is a frequent visitor of Mr. Gardner's.

Uh, my bedroom is directly opposite his

so I can see inside.

Oh, it's 2:15.

What's the problem?

The problem is Tyler isn't here.

This is a photograph of the victim.

Is this the lady you saw?

Yes, that is she.

Where was Miss O'Keefe when you saw her?

She was in Mr. Gardner's bedroom.

She was wearing a bathing suit.

Did you see anyone else in the bedroom through the window?

Yes, Mr. Gardner himself came into the bedroom after she left

just as I was going back to bed.

Do you have any idea what time it was when you saw him?

It was exactly 4 a.m.

I looked at the clock as I was getting into bed.

But Mr. Gardner told the police that he arrived

at 7 that morning.

Are you sure you saw him? Positive.

He was wearing his blue bathrobe.

I've seen him in it many times.

It was not the first time his music woke me.

Thank you.

Uh, no further questions, Your Honor.

Your witness, Mr. Matlock.

Mr. Wallingford, I'm sometimes a light sleeper myself

so I can sympathize with you about noisy neighbors.

You say Mr. Garner's music has awakened you often?

Often enough.

So you've had quite a little experience

of peeping into Mr. Gardner's bedroom?

Objection, Your Honor.

Sustained.

Now, let...

Let me see if I can get this straight.

Your window faces directly across at Mr. Gardner's

and you can look right in there?

Yes.

Uh, bailiff?

Would you mind stepping down here a moment?

Now, this is an exact representation

of the French doors at Mr. Gardner's house,

and have been so stipulated by the prosecution.

Now, the blinds are the same way they were that night.

Is that the way you remember them?

Uh, pretty much like that, yes.

Mr. Gardner, would you step behind the French door?

Okay.

What do you see?

Mr. Gardner.

All I see is his suit.

Just as all you saw that night was his blue bathrobe

so you assumed it was Mr. Gardner, didn't you?

Yes, b... And when you saw Miss O'Keefe

you didn't focus on her face either, did you?

Objection.

Your Honor?

No further questions. Thank you, bailiff.

Thank you, Mr. Wallingford.

You may, uh, return to the hallway.

About time.

Ben, my head is throbbing, my legs are shaking.

I'm afraid I'm gonna pass out if I don't sit down.

Good. You got everything? Everything.

Next witness.

The prosecution rests, You Honor.

Mr. Matlock, are you going to put on a defense at this time?

Yes, we are, Your Honor.

I'd like to call Mr. Joshua Sinclair to the stand.

Mr. Sinclair, did you know the decedent, Debra O'Keefe?

Yes, I did.

Yeah, she was dating one of my best friends, uh,

Adam Gardner.

I show you this packet of letters

found in Debra O'Keefe's apartment

and ask if you wrote them?

Yes, I did.

In fact, they're written on

your own personalized stationary, aren't they?

That's right.

Would it be fair to categorize them as love letters?

Yeah.

Now, these letters are arranged in chronological order.

Would you tell the court

when the first three letters were written.

January 17th, 1986.

Uh... January 20th and the 23rd.

When did you purchase this stationary?

I don't know.

Well, I have a bill here from your printer.

You ordered this stationary March 2nd, 1986.

You picked it up and paid for it by check March 5th.

You couldn't have written those letters

when you said you did.

You planted those letters in Debra O'Keefe's apartment

after she was murdered, didn't you?

Yeah, I did that, uh,

because I thought I'd be helping Adam out.

And, uh, you know, take a little of the heat off,

confuse everybody, you know?

You cast suspicion of murder on yourself for a friend?

That's right.

You're some friend.

Are you also friends

with a young man named Johnny Alexander?

Never heard of him.

Isn't it true

that you made three very large,

very profitable cocaine deals with Johnny Alexander

to cover mortgages on your commercial property?

No, that's not true.

Isn't it true that Debra O'Keefe introduced you

to this cocaine dealer Johnny Alexander,

and you planted these letters in her apartment

to cover your real relationship with her?

No.

Isn't it true that Debra O'Keefe demanded $25,000

each time you and Johnny Alexander closed a deal?

No, it's not true.

Isn't it true you murdered Debra O'Keefe

because she demanded even more money?

No, it isn't true.

None of it's true.

How tall are you?

Six-three.

Six-three.

That's...

five inches taller than the defendant, right?

Yeah, I guess. Heh.

This is the robe the police say Debra's killer was wearing.

The bottom of the sleeves

were saturated with chlorinated water.

Would you mind trying it on?

Your Honor, there's no relevancy,

nor is there any foundation here.

Now, they may find Mr. Matlock's courtroom theatrics

amusing in Georgia,

but we have more pertinent matters to attend to here

than the fit of a man's bathrobe.

Your Honor, this line of questioning

is essential to our case.

I beg your indulgence.

Overruled... for now.

Thank you.

Would you slip off your jacket, please?

Sure.

There you go.

Now try that on.

That's a little small, isn't it?

Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?

Especially in the sleeves.

You know what's always bothered me?

Is that just the bottoms of the sleeves got wet.

If Adam had held the victim underwater

while wearing this robe,

well, the water would probably have come up to there.

But if someone taller,

someone like you had done it,

I bet the water would only have come up to...

about there.

Thank you.

That doesn't prove anything, does it?

When you drowned that poor girl, something got wet

besides the bottom of the sleeves, didn't it?

Hey, I didn't drown anyone.

You know, the other day when I asked you the time

I noticed that your watch

didn't match the tan line on your arm.

I got to wondering what happened to the watch you used to wear.

So my associate did some checking.

You took a watch in for repair March 6th, didn't you?

Now, easy Mr. Sinclair.

There it is.

Your jeweler hadn't repaired it.

He's backlogged.

That's your watch, isn't it?

Yeah, it looks like my watch.

What's wrong with it?

It stopped.

Why'd it do that?

I don't know, that's why I took it in.

Tell us what time the watch stopped.

Four-oh-one.

That's approximately the time the coroner said

that Debra O'Keefe died.

That's when you killed her, wasn't it?

That's when you closed your hands around her neck,

wearing this robe with the sleeves almost to your elbows,

and forced her head under the water,

wasn't it?

Wasn't it, Josh?

Your Honor, in light of the exculpatory evidence

presented at this hearing,

the State respectfully moves to dismiss charges

against Adam Gardner.

Motion granted.

Case dismissed.

Court adjourned.

Get him out of here.

Good work, Ben.

I don't mind telling you I'm impressed.

I bet we could throw each other a lot of business

if you were to make this move permanent.

What do you think, Tyler?

I'd be dead in a week, let's go home.

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