Original subtitles

. .

I can't believe you want this. I do.

More importantly, our new publisher does.

We've got to tuck our bleeding hearts back up our sleeves, Marty.

It's the 90s and MBAs are running the world.

Ah, the new religion, the church of the bottom line.

Since you brought it up, we're going to start deducting your legal fees from

your salary.

Abe, I'm getting incredible response to McBride's theories on block chemistry.

Phone calls, telegrams.

Excuse me. And we still have two parts to run.

with this, Forrester. We printed a retraction, Mr. Gabriel.

Call security.

Retraction? Oh, you mean those three crummy lines on page 56?

The article accusing me of insider trading was on page one. You proved your

innocence and we ran a retraction.

What more do you want? You ruined my business.

You ruined my life. And you think the three crummy lines on page 56 are going

make everything okay? You want damages? Go back to court.

With what?

I'm busted.

Broke. Show Mr. Gabriel the way out. No. You can't ruin a person.

and then just throw them out of your office. Things have a way of turning

around, and you're going to get yours, Mr.

Forrester. You'll get yours. This meeting is over.

I want to see everything we ran on Stephen Gabriel.

That story was an honest mistake.

Align a man on page one, and you damn well better exonerate him on page one.

Get me the file.

This is editorial.

I need someone up here.

I'm taking a leave from the DA's office, and I'm going home to Baltimore, and

I'm going to defend a client on a murder charge.

When did this all happen?

Well, I got a call today from an old friend from high school, Penny Gabriel.

was my very best friend.

And her brother has been arrested on a murder charge, but he didn't do it. He

couldn't have done it because he was always a real sweet kid, so I told her I

would come.

Well, is there a shortage of lawyers in Baltimore?

Ben, Penny's my friend, and Stevie's her brother.

Oh, so you're going to defend him?

Well, you don't think she'd hire me to prosecute him?

Oh, no, no, no, no.

You don't think I can do it, do you? Oh, I didn't say that. Ben, Ben, I can

handle a murder one case, blindfolded.

In fact, seeing as how the burden of proof lies with the prosecution and not

with the defense, I'm going to have a much easier job for a change.

Well, defending someone isn't any harder or easier than prosecuting someone.

It's just different.

And you'll be great at it.

Thank you.

Are we still on for dinner tonight? Oh, can we make it when I get back?

I really better work tonight.

He called me around 5 and told me to come to his office at 8 .30. He didn't

say why.

I got there promptly at 8 .30, I walked in the office, and I found him dead.

Did you see anybody in or around the office before you went in?

I passed some people looking at their desks, that's all.

Why do you ask?

Because the Baltimore Journal uses an air -tube system to deliver their memos

and their dummy pages.

And at exactly 8 .27 last night, the mailroom received a memo from Forrester

typed on his manual typewriter. Now that means that at 8 .27, he was still

alive.

I must have missed the killer by seconds.

Oh, Steve.

The jury is going to find that hard to believe.

I mean, if Forrester was alive at 8 .27 and dead at 8 .30, they're going to

think you killed him.

Now, there are a dozen people who heard you threaten Forrester the day of the

murder, two people who can place you at the scene of the crime, and a piece of

evidence that places you in Forrester's office only minutes before he was

murdered. Now, that is a good, solid case.

You sound just like the guy who booked me.

No, no, no. What I meant to say is that we have to focus

all our...

on finding the real killer.

No problem.

Ben Matlock.

Hi.

Oh, hi, Julie. How's it going?

Well, I've talked to my client and I've got a bail hearing this afternoon and

everything is moving right along.

This is very different.

I'm used to having the police at my disposal for everything. You know,

and all I have to do is pick up the phone. Here I am trying to do three

Well, I can't do it all either. That's why I have an investigator.

An investigator. Oh, Ben, that's just what I need. Is Conrad busy?

I can ask him. Oh, I'd appreciate that, Ben.

Now, you don't worry. Look, I've got to go, Ben. Bye.

I'm sorry, but the car rental place was jammed. I'm so sorry.

Julie.

You're prosecuting this case.

You're defending it?

Now that counsel is finally present, we will proceed to the matter of Mr.

Gabriel's bail.

Does the state have any recommendations?

Yes, Your Honor. We do, Your Honor.

See you again, Donald. You look great.

Oh, thanks.

Ben. Hi.

Conrad's busy, but I'm not. And I'm a pretty good investigator.

Oh, I... This is... I didn't... This is a surprise.

Julie. Oh, I'm sorry. Ben Matlock. This is the prosecuting attorney, Donald

March. Pleased to meet you. Hi.

Uh, March. Are you related? Not anymore.

We used to be married

So, anyway, what do you want me to do first?

Well, I think one of us should go to the scene of the crime.

Okay, scene of the crime. Abe Forrester's office. Uh -huh.

I'll go. Good.

Now, we need to find out who knew that Steve was going to be there that night.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where will you be? At the courthouse. Oh, yes.

Forrester had a secretary named Catherine Ellery.

At the courthouse. Then you'll see... Donald.

He's the prosecutor.

Of course.

Ben, it was a long time ago, and I was very young.

Would you like to know what happened? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Now, this...

Catherine... Ellery.

She's... Abe Forrester's secretary, and she was very reluctant to talk to me

over the phone.

Oh, well, we'll see what happens.

Will you be coming back here for dinner? I hope so.

Are you asking me if I'm having dinner with Donald?

Oh, no, no, no, no. No, it's just, if I find out something... I'm going to

tell you and I wouldn't know you.

Actually, I do have dinner plans.

Six o 'clock. Here.

With you.

Oh, I think I can handle that.

I'll see you later. Bye.

Yeah.

Now, let's see.

The coroner says that Mr. Forrester was sitting here and somebody slipped up

behind him.

Please, Mr.

Matlock. What? I don't want to hear this.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Mr. Forrester deserved better than this. He was a fine man.

That Stephen Gabriel did it.

Walked in here, picked up the statue and... He said he'd get poor Mr.

Forrester. I thought what he said was, you'll get yours.

Same thing.

And I thought it was Mr.

Forrester's idea that Stephen come up here that night.

What? You're standing on Mr. Forrester. Oh, I'm sorry.

Well, wasn't it his idea that Stephen come up here that night?

It was. I placed the call for him.

Well, you'd think that Stephen would at least have given him a chance to explain

why he wanted to see him.

Do you know why he wanted to see him? No.

Mr. Landers thinks Mr. Forrester felt sorry for him and wanted to help clear

name.

Who's Mr. Landers?

Martin Landers, the city editor.

And he knew that Stephen was coming up here?

He was right there when I placed the call.

Mr. Landers and Mr. Forrester started here as copy boys the same year I

Oh.

Well, you must know everything that goes on here and all the people.

Well, after 31 years.

Yeah. You know,

you know, you've been so helpful.

How about letting me buy you a cup of coffee?

Oh, come on, just a cup of coffee.

Julie. Thanks for the investigation report.

You're certainly as thorough as ever.

No.

Uh, if I were in your shoes, and I usually am, I would expect me to come in

and, uh, and, uh, plea bargain.

But I want to tell you straight out, Donald, that I, I, stop that.

Stop what? You know what.

No, tell me.

Staring at me like that.

I can't help it.

You're beautiful.

You were the best ten years of my life.

Oh, well, you didn't think so at the time.

We all make mistakes.

I made a big one and I've regretted it ever since.

Why don't you have dinner with me?

Julio's.

Julio's is still there.

Oh. Oh, my.

Veal, Marengo, and Polenta.

I'm sorry. I have a dinner date.

Excuse me, Donald.

Tomorrow? Call me.

Mr. Landers, could I speak with you for a minute? I'm Ben Matlock.

You're here to defend Stephen Gabriel.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Julie Marsh is defending. I'm just helping out.

You're very high -priced help, Mr. Matlock, and very impressive.

I covered the Lucy Sutton trial for City Magazine.

Oh, that was a long time ago.

For both of us.

I suppose you know, Abe Forrester was one of my oldest and dearest friends.

Was he thinking of retiring?

Next September.

I hear he was going after some hot shot from Chicago to take over his job.

That's possible.

Well, that's water under the bridge.

You're the editor -in -chief now.

That was the publisher's decision.

Well, not if Mr. Forrester had lived.

Are you suggesting that I killed Abe?

Well, you did know that Stephen Gabriel was going to show up at his office that

night. So did John Brady, Paul McBride, and Catherine Ellery. I told McBride and

Brady myself. Wait, wait, wait.

Brady. John. Brady. Brady, John.

He's a columnist. A columnist.

Paul McBride. McBride. Is an investigative reporter.

Investigative reporter.

Thank you. I appreciate this.

Anything to get off the hook?

Yeah.

Where were you?

I was at home.

With your wife?

I'm a widower.

And, uh... My children are growing.

Oh, Mr. Landers, uh... You're not quite off the hook.

But, uh... Thank you.

Where did you hear that?

Oh, somebody who talked to somebody who, uh...

Knows everything that goes on around here.

Okay.

Yeah, Abe and I had a few arguments. He was like a father to me. Fathers and

sons argue.

Yes, that's true. But didn't these arguments start about the same time your

expose on Block Chemical was running?

So what? So maybe he was getting some heat from Block Chemical and maybe he

was asking you to back off.

No.

Hey, but never give in to pressure. Then what happened between you? Nothing.

I'm sorry. I have work to do.

Excuse me, Mr. McBride, but what were you doing on the night Forrester was

murdered? I don't believe this.

The man hired me. He took me under his wing.

He turned me into one of the best reporters in this city. You think I

him?

I was at the Coronet Theater watching Linda Tyler in Home Before Dark.

I don't suppose you saved your ticket stuff.

Well, um, have a nice day anyway.

Hi,

Mr. Brady, Ben Matlock.

I don't talk to lawyers. My lawyers talk to lawyers. I just want to ask you a

couple of questions.

Sorry, it's lunchtime. I'm out of here.

Well, how about if I go with you? Have lunch with a lawyer?

I don't think so.

My stomach isn't what it used to be.

Ben, here you are. Come on.

I didn't get much out of John Brady.

Forget him.

Paul McBride said he was at the theater watching Linda Tyler the night Forrester

was killed.

And he was? No, he couldn't have been.

Linda Tyler was sick that night, and her understudy went on.

Oh, now we're on to something, huh?

Don't you think we're on to something?

Yeah.

Hi,

mind if I sit down?

Yeah.

How's the food?

How about the beer?

The food stinks and the beer is warm. You got a question to ask.

Okay.

Was Abe Forrester about to fire you? Now, where do you hear that?

That is true. No.

But one of your columns had provoked a libel suit, and Mr. Forrester was kind

unhappy about that.

Well, yeah.

Yeah. You've been sued a lot, haven't you?

Controversy sells newspapers.

I'm good at it.

Well, maybe Mr.

Forrester figured he had all the controversy he could have.

My column is sold in 127 newspapers across the country. One, more or less,

doesn't matter.

Yeah, but the journal's a pretty important paper.

If he fired you, then other papers might follow suit. You know, kind of a domino

effect.

Let's talk a little bit about Thursday night.

Well, I mean, where were you about 8 .30?

I was in a meeting in my office with Skip Howard and Danny Lloyd. It started

8, ended at 9 .30.

Now, you can not only ask them, you can hear the meeting.

Danny tapes everything.

Ideas, meetings.

He can't think, but God bless him, he certainly can tape. Go see him.

Okay.

Okay.

That is warm.

Hey, waiter!

The memo Mr. Forrester sent came in just like this.

It was from Harold William.

He's the new publisher.

A copy boy delivered it to his house immediately.

And you recorded the time it came in in your notebook just like you're doing

now? The clerk that was on duty did. How long did it take for a message to get

here from Forrester's office?

Six or seven seconds.

That's all?

Does Mr.

Forrester have a drop chute in his office?

Well, there are three or four on each floor.

The closest one to Mr. Forrester's office is in the reception area near his

secretary's desk. Is there any way to tell where in the building a memo comes

from? No, there isn't.

Excuse me.

What?

Well, the police think that Mr.

Forrester was alive when Stephen entered the building.

Because his memo, Mr.

Forrester's, got here at 8 .27. But what if he was already dead and somebody

else sent the memo?

Yes.

Somebody killed him, waited till almost 8 .30, sent the memo, framed Steve.

Right.

Now all we have to do is prove it.

Well, hell, that ought to be simple.

You testified that the defendant burst into the editorial room in the middle of

your meeting.

Yes, and began screaming accusations at Abe.

What kind of accusations?

That Abe was responsible for the loss of his business and his reputation.

Was Mr. Forster responsible?

Of course not.

Last year, the journal ran a piece on insider trading.

Mr. Gabriel's name was inaccurately mentioned.

However, we later printed a retraction.

Saying that Mr. Gabriel was in no way involved.

But he decided to sue anyway. He lost and he was not happy.

After Mr.

Gabriel made these accusations, what happened?

He was escorted out of the room by two security guards.

He was yelling that he was ruined.

And he threatened Abe. He threatened Mr. Forster?

Yes, he did.

What exactly did he say?

You'll get yours.

Thank you, Mr. Landers.

Does the defense wish to cross?

Mr. Landers, did you know that Abe Forrester had asked Stephen Gabriel to

to his office that night at 8 .30?

Yes. And you knew what the meeting was about, didn't you?

Abe didn't tell me. But you had your suspicions, didn't you?

Objection. Relevance?

Overruled. I'd like to hear the answer.

And you mentioned them to his secretary.

Shall I call her to the stand?

I know Abe.

Knew Abe.

He felt sorry for the guy and was going to do something to help him out.

Something to help him out.

Doesn't give my client much of a motive, then, does it?

No further questions.

Redirect, Your Honor.

Proceed.

Mr. Forrester never actually told you that he intended to do anything about

Gabriel, did he?

Well, no.

And in all the years that you knew Mr. Forrester, did you ever know him to help

or give restitution to anyone who was suing the journal?

No, never.

So, offhand remarks to secretaries aside,

you really had no idea whatsoever why Mr.

Forrester called the meeting at 8 .30 with the defendant, did you?

Objection, no relevancy whatsoever.

Overruled.

You opened the door to this council.

Answer the question, please.

No. I don't know what Abe had in mind.

Thank you, Mr. Landerson.

I'll be right back.

Donald hasn't changed a bit. He always had to have the last word.

Julia.

Fred Langley, is that you?

She can't go two steps without running into somebody she knows.

Well, Julie knows everyone here. We all miss her.

I'm sorry.

You wanted to see me.

Yeah, Julie, I don't know how this happened, but there's a witness's

that you haven't seen. A security guard at the journal. It's in my office if you

have time.

I'd better go.

Oh, of course. The hotel lobby is sick.

I'm going to get them.

Look, I'll get you the money, but you gotta leave town now.

Hi. I'm Ben Matlock. I'm looking for Paul McBride. He's not here. Of course

is. I saw him come in. Hey, get out of here. There you are.

Yeah, I know you, too.

You're that hood fellow. That Clayton Hood.

You're the one Paul here interviewed for his expose on the Block Chemical

Company. You don't look sick.

Aren't you supposed to be in a hospice somewhere barely clinging on to life?

I'm in remission.

Damn.

It was a fake.

The whole thing was a fraud.

No! There are serious health hazards over at Block Chemical, and because of

they're being cleaned up. You led the public to believe that innocent workers

were dying of cancer.

They are. I just couldn't get any of them to come forward.

So you hired a perfectly healthy man to pretend he was terminally ill? Why?

For purely surprise, money, fame?

Abe Forrester found out, didn't he?

He must have been disappointed. What was he going to do?

He told me if I didn't write an article confessing what I'd done, he'd write one

for me. So to save your character and your career from oblivion, you killed

No. You were not at the theater the night he died.

Linda Tyler was sick. Her understudy went off. All right.

I was here trying to convince this idiot to leave town. You promised me $10

,000. I'm not going anywhere until I get it. Yeah, well, now you're not going to

get one red cent. How do you like that, Einstein?

Was he here?

Yeah, I was starting to watch television. This guy waltzes in right in

middle of my favorite movie. Made me miss practically the whole thing.

Godzilla, the original.

Godzilla? He's one of my all -time favorites.

I did not kill Abe Forrester.

I know.

And you couldn't use him for an alibi because everybody would know your series

was a fraud, but there's one good thing.

Abe Forrester knew, and he ordered you to print that retraction, but once he

dead, you elected not to. Kind of a double -double deal.

Well, now everybody will know. It'll be a long time before you work on a

newspaper again. Maybe you're not too old to learn another trade.

Oh, that thing's impossible.

That thing belonged to H .L. Mencken.

And Mr. Forrester prized it highly.

What are you typing?

The memo that Mr. Forrester was supposed to have sent to the mailroom the night

he was killed. It's called, Rephrasing the Killer's Death.

Oh, daggone. Have you got any whiteout?

Not in this office.

Mr. Forrester never made any mistakes.

Never? Nope. He was so used to typing on that machine.

He didn't make a mistake?

That's what I said.

Dad? Dad, wait.

Where have you been?

Oh, it's a long story. I'm really sorry.

Oh, well, uh... Uh... I talked with Paul McGrath, and he's not the killer.

He's not?

No, he's not. Godzilla was on that night.

Godzilla? Well, that's a long story, too. You tell me yours first, and I'll

you mine.

Morning. Julie, you left this at my place.

Oh, oh, Ben, I owe you.

An explanation.

No, no, no, no.

You don't owe me an explanation. I mean, you're a grown woman, and it's just...

I mean, I know you were married to him at one time, and you don't owe me any

explanation.

Donald is driving me crazy.

He is?

Yes, it's... Well, it's a terrible situation, and this... I...

Well, come on. Let me tell you some interesting things I found out.

Mr. Brady, do you make a lot of money from your syndicated column?

I do all right.

What is all right these days? Five figures, six, seven?

Six. Objection.

Relevance? I intend to show relevance, Your Honor.

Overruled. Proceed.

Mr. Brady, do you own your own home?

Yes. Is it a nice house?

Yes. Six figures?

Seven. Your Honor, relevance asked and answered. What's the point of all this?

If you'll give me a moment, I'll get to it. Please do.

Overruled. Mr. Brady, do you own your own home free and clear, or is there a

large mortgage?

Well, it's mortgaged. Your Honor, for the record, may I restate my objection

this entire line of questioning?

So noted.

What kind of a car do you drive?

Jaguar. Do you own your car free and clear?

Objection relevant. Donald!

Will you let this woman finish what she's trying to say?

Mr. Matlock, you're out of order.

How could she conduct her examination of this witness if he won't let her

complete a thought?

If you don't sit down, I'll hold you in contempt.

What I am trying to determine is whether you own your Jaguar free and clear.

Your Honor. You write a lot of checks to the bank every month, don't you, Mr.

Brady? Big checks.

Your column must be doing very well.

Objection. This is still not relevant.

Yes, it is.

Are you going anywhere with this, Miss March?

Well, of course she is. Think she came in here for fun? You're very near

contempt. Your Honor!

Your Honor, may I have a moment, please?

Your Honor, with the court's permission, I think it would be in the best

interest of my client if my co -counsel, Mr. Matlock, would conclude the

examination of this witness.

Mr. March?

Why change horses in midstream?

I said it would be in the best interest of my client.

Mr. March?

No objection.

Mr. Matlock? Yes, sir.

A moment, Your Honor.

You've rattled this woman.

And you did it on purpose because you want to win this case.

More importantly, you want her to lose.

But if you try it on me, I'll put this table on top of you.

Mr. Matlock. Yes, sir.

Now, the questions my associate was asking about your house, your

car, the big checks you're writing, were meant to show.

that you'd be in pretty desperate financial shape if the journal dropped

column, wouldn't you?

If they dropped me another newspaper, it'd pick me up. But you can't be

absolutely sure of that, can you? Well, no, but after all these years... Abe

Forrester had decided that your talent wasn't worth the

lawsuits you provoked and was about to drop your column, wasn't he? No.

Didn't he say he was? Well, he didn't mean that. He used to say it at meetings

just to sound tough.

I suppose that would explain why he didn't mention it in the memo he

sent to his publisher the night he died.

Objection, Your Honor. Again, relevance.

Mr. Matlock! Oh, yes, sir. I was just admiring the wood on this table.

This memo was entered into evidence to prove that the decedent was alive

just moments before Stephen Gabriel entered the building that night. That is

simply not the case.

We intend to prove that by the time Stephen Gabriel arrived, Abe Forrester

been dead almost half an hour.

Proceed. Now this is the antique typewriter.

That Abe Forrester used in his office.

Sergeant Crider here will testify that it is, but you recognize it, don't you?

Oh, yeah.

Abe loved that typewriter. Typed everything on it, didn't he? Everything.

Are you a pretty good typist, Mr. Briggs? Fair.

No, don't be modest.

I've seen you. I bet you type 60, 65 words a minute. More like 80.

Oh, how about a demonstration?

Objection, Your Honor.

This is all very interesting, but I fail to see the relevance of it. trial i'm

getting to it i'm getting to it your honor if you and mr mark will bear with

me i'm getting to it overruled for now thank you

have a seat what do you want me to type well how about this memo

I'm used to an electric.

Just do the best that you can, as fast as you can.

Thank you.

You may go back to the stand.

Ooh.

A lot of typos.

Did Abe Forrester make a lot of typos?

I'm used to an electric. He was used to that thing.

In fact, Abe Forrester was famous with the journal for never making a mistake

that machine, wasn't he? That's right.

You know, there are typos on this original memo, aren't there?

I, uh, I don't... Oh, of course you do. Of course you do. But you have to look

closely, because somebody covered them with correction fluid. How about right

there?

Oh, yeah, I can see that. Can you make out what letter was whited out?

I can't tell. It's the three -quarter fraction.

White it out and the question mark put over it.

In the memo you just typed, the three -quarter fraction is in the same place

question mark should be.

And there, and there, and down there.

It looks like that whoever typed this memo made the same mistakes that you

made.

It's tempting to believe that you typed through this memo.

That's a coincidence.

Anyone who is not used to that machine is going to make the same mistake.

You were in the building that night. Three floors up in my office at a

with Skip Howard and Danny Lloyd. Started at 8, ended at 9 .30. What about

before 8?

Just before 8, you entered Mr.

Forrester's office, picked up that statue and killed him, didn't you? I did

such thing. I think you did. I think you killed him.

Then you sat down at the typewriter that Abe Forrester always used and typed

this memo and sent it to the mail room knowing that the police would think that

Abe Forrester was alive a few minutes before Stephen Gabriel entered the

building. I could not have sent it. I was in the meeting.

That's right.

With Skip Howard and Danny Lloyd. Right.

Skip told me that he was at the meeting, Danny was at the meeting.

And you were at the meeting.

But at some point during the meeting, you left the room to get a folder or

something.

Were you aware that Danny was taping that whole meeting?

Danny always had a tape recorder going. It's his way of keeping notes.

Danny also wore one of those wristwatches that beeps

every half hour, didn't he? Yeah.

Drives me crazy.

Keeps excellent time, though. And it's right in sync with the clock in the mail

room. I checked.

And if you listen to that tape, you can hear Danny's watch beep right at

8 .30.

And you know what?

Your voice is not on that tape for several minutes before 8 .30. And you

what else?

Skip and Danny, remember that you left the meeting a few

minutes. Before 8 .30.

You know what that means?

I have no idea.

8 .27.

At 8 .27, you went over to the mail chute for inter -office correspondence.

Put this memo in a cylinder, send it down to the mail room, and that's...

when the clerk received it at 8 .27.

What do you think, Mr. Brady?

I refuse to answer any further questions until such time as my attorney can be

present.

That was a good idea.

We find the defendant not guilty.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury.

Court is adjourned.

Thank you.

This is nice.

Congratulations, both of you.

Thank you.

We need to talk about last night.

We need to talk about what you did in court.

Well, that was just business.

Oh, really? And was it just business making Ben think we spent the night

together? We did. Oh, Donald, please.

You said 20 minutes, and you had me out there without a car.

And I was hungry, so I had dinner. And then we had an argument, and then I

cried, and then I did the dishes.

No wonder I don't miss being married to you.

Julie, I love you.

I told you that last night. I've always loved you.

I know you love me, Donald.

And you also love Sheila, your law clerk, and my best friend Marjorie and

friend Dory and the soprano in the church choir.

I never knew her name.

Stay. I'll make it up to you.

It hurt when I left, didn't it?

Yes.

There's the door.

This time you can leave.

Julie. Say goodbye, Donald.

You'll never have with anybody else what we had.

I hope not.

Well?

Yep.

Let's go home.

You bet.