Original subtitles

Anyway, she said her name was Beth Jones and took her seat.

Before Ed could start his cross, the judge looked at her and said, anyway, I

knew a Beth Jones once.

She says, no, sir, you don't. You knew me at least twice.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. But did you hear about what happened to Judge Kingsley?

I heard he's getting divorced. Did you hear? Why?

You know that little blonde clerk over in Judge Chang's court? Oh, yeah. She

came in one day morning with a whole new body. That's the one. That's the one

where he called her into his court. Oh, excuse us, Perry. You two guys got to

see this. Perry, just tell us a good story. We'll have to wait. Sorry.

It's about Judge Kingsley and Judge Kingsley and having that girl come into

chambers. Well, honestly.

Objection, Your Honor.

Mustaine.

Mr. Haskins.

You and the decedent were lovers, is that correct?

Yes, we were.

Watch this guy.

Where were you the night that he was murdered?

I went to see a movie by myself.

Jay had already seen it.

Which movie was it?

In the Line of Fire.

And when did it start, do you remember?

Seven o 'clock.

And which theater did you go to? I don't know.

So, on the night of the murder and... at the time of the murder, you were at the

Kelly Square Cinema watching a Clint Eastwood movie.

Right.

See, the problem is, as you can see from this newspaper, they had a sneak

preview that night.

In the Line of Fire wasn't playing.

So, where were you really, Miss Morgan?

You were off murdering your lover, weren't you?

Objection, Your Honor.

Just let her answer the question.

It wasn't a question. It was wild speculation.

Sustained. But if you would just let her answer the question, Your Honor... I

can't sustain.

But I'm just saying, if you would just let me... Are you deaf, Mr. Haskins?

But she's lying, and I can prove it. Then do so.

Quickly.

Remind you of anybody?

Yes.

No, I shouldn't.

When was the last time that you saw the deceased, Miss Morgan?

That morning.

I left for work around 7.

Oh, that's pretty early, isn't it? Especially for an unemployed house

like Jay. Was he up?

No, he was still in bed.

Mr. Haskins.

These yours?

Yes, they are.

Mind explaining how they wound up sitting on his bed that night, not five

away from where the body was? You can see them right here in this photograph.

It's a police picture. There they are.

I left them there that morning.

But you said when you left that his feet were still in bed.

Yet, according to these pictures, the bed was made, which means that you must

have come back later, after he had gotten up and made the bed.

I left them on his dresser. He obviously moved them.

Oh, come on now.

He had moved them. He would have left his fingerprints on them now, wouldn't

But you see, when the police checked, the only fingerprints they found on them

were yours.

You didn't go to that movie.

You went over to his place and you confronted him about the way that he had

sponging off of you.

And when he laughed at you, you killed him.

Then you arranged the scene to make it look like my client had done it.

Unfortunately, by that time, it was dark out.

See, if it's still been daytime, then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have

forgotten these darn sunglasses.

Pardon me.

Mr. Matlock.

I'll see you all later. Okay.

I, uh... I saw you back there in court. I can't tell you how honored I felt just

knowing you were watching. I'm Sam Haskins.

Leanne, hi. Sam Haskins. Hello. You did a fine job in there.

Do you think so?

Oh, yeah. The way you had the DA sounding like he was whining, toying

judge, and you sucker -punched that witness.

Couldn't have done a better job himself.

At least not much better. Well, you just made my day.

Heck, maybe even the whole life.

Well, would you, by any chance, please let me buy you both a hot dog?

Well, I... I don't see a thing in the world wrong with that.

I'm originally from Arkansas, a tiny town near Little Rock called Ridgeview.

Yeah, I'm from a small town myself.

Oh, I know, I know. Mount Harlan, 1 ,207 people.

They get two hot dogs and one turkey dog, and you don't even use ketchup.

Covered right up. Well, listen, I just discovered this place up on Pipe Street.

Foot -long hot dogs, 79 central feet. Get out of town.

That's my heart.

How is it that you know so much about us?

Well, the fact is, your dad here has been a hero of mine for a good ten

Ever since I read the transcripts of Benedict versus State of Georgia when I

in law school.

That was one of your best cases, Mr. Matlock. That takes my breath away just

thinking about it. Mine too.

And when I found out that you came from a dirt poor family in some small rural

town like I did, well, I read everything about you, I'd get my hands off.

I figured if you'd go from being nothing to being one of the best criminal

lawyers in the country, well, by golly, maybe I could too.

Then I got a hold of a videotape somebody made of that Shuler trial.

I've been playing that thing day in, day out ever since. I study like a book.

You know, I couldn't help but notice how similar your courtroom style is to my

dad's.

Darn, listen, I've got to get back to the office.

Well, you know, now that we've met, and I figured we would eventually, and if

you guys have some time, maybe you could come over for dinner sometime.

We'd love to.

Okay.

Oh, listen, I'm leaving tomorrow with my girlfriend for a long week in the

Caribbean.

But as soon as we get back, I will give you all a call, okay?

Oh, yeah, okay. Bye -bye.

The Shuler trial.

What was the Shuler trial?

Dad, this hero worship stuff kind of gives me the creeps. I don't like it.

What?

Well... There's a lot of weirdos out there. Anything could happen.

You've been watching too much Geraldo.

Yeah, watch. We go over there for dinner, and he serves me as the main

and you get packed up in some big old pickle jar.

Way too much Geraldo.

Can you drink the water here?

Sure.

Much more fun to drink the coffee.

Damn relaxed.

I'm going to love it here.

What I am going to love is having you all to myself before all this.

Okay, here are your coupons. Convos, everyone.

These are good for discounts in a lot of the shops and restaurants in town.

One per person, please.

Thank you. And for all of you shop -to -use droppers, the Talk of the Town tour

bus will be leaving in exactly 45 minutes. Just go out front and climb

I'll go get our stuff.

Okay. Move along. Here we go.

That's it. Great.

You've never been here before, have you?

No, I haven't. It's showing.

What's showing?

Your Virgin Islands virginity.

You know, I'd be happy to show you everything there is to see.

Actually, I'm here with my girlfriend, and we're with a tour.

So we're all taking care of it when it comes to seeing everything.

All right, well, you know, if you change your mind, let me know.

I'll be around.

That's Compass Rose Imports, 50 % off.

We got it going there.

Hey,

look at this.

You're obviously looking for something.

Let me help.

If you want to get a gift for the folks back home, the figurines are very

popular. Oh, thanks anyway.

Uh, yeah, I'll take this one here.

Oh, one of my favorites.

Cash? Yes.

If you give me the name of your hotel, I can have it delivered so you don't have

to carry it around.

Well, thank you. I'm at the breakage.

It kind of reminds me of a fish I caught in Cabo San Lucas.

You should get it.

Oh, hey, not even half the price. That is way too much. Sam, if you like it,

let's buy it.

I don't like it that much.

Come on, let's go to my shop.

No, you go on. I want to look around here some more, okay?

I'll meet you outside in five minutes.

Okay. Bye.

May I help you? Yes, I'd like to get this. Oh, one of my favorites.

Cash or charge? Charge.

Oh,

it's nice. It's very nice.

You look thirsty.

You know, I know a bar where the pina colada's are to buy for.

Oh, really? Well, maybe my girlfriend and I will stop in sometime.

Where is it?

It's on the wayward end.

Over on Seat Side? I'm sorry, what was it? The wayward end over on Seat Side?

Oh, the wayward end on Seat Side.

I just, I was saying the wayward end on... Seat Side, okay.

Thanks a lot.

I told you I don't even know the girl's name.

Do you wish you did?

No. Sam, you must be doing something misleading, Your Honor. She wouldn't be

throwing herself at you every time. I swear to you that I have not said one

to her that could possibly be construed as a come on.

Now, you've got to stop this, Joanne.

There never has been and there never will be a reason for you to be jealous.

As far as I'm concerned, you are the sexiest, most gorgeous woman in the

I'm sorry.

My therapist tells me that my tendency to overreact is because I just can't

believe that someone would want me and not just my money.

Hon, that money of yours can take a flying leap.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Well, looks like dinner's here.

Sam.

Like I said, I love you, Joanne.

I think it's time that we stopped living like husband and wife and started being

husband and wife.

So, will you marry me?

Yes.

Well, did everything go all right, Mr. Hedges?

Well, she accepted, if that's what you mean.

Wilcox, order the hotel.

And Maitre D told me what was going on. I'd like to say congratulations and

offer you a complimentary bottle of champagne.

Shall I open it?

Please.

Well, tell me now, folks, where are you from?

Atlanta. Oh, really?

Really? I can get up there quite often myself.

Is that right?

Yes, my mother lives there now.

Matter of fact, I was there last week for her birthday.

Voila. Yes.

Sir, that's my baby. No, sir, I don't mean maybe. Yes, sir, that's my baby

now.

Rupier? No, thanks. We got trouble.

You're Aunt Ellen.

You're Aunt Ellen.

She died?

No.

She's coming for a visit.

Coming for a visit, coming for a visit, coming for a visit now.

I tried to talk her out of it, but she's very insistent.

Very insistent. And when she comes, she's stand for weak, stand for weak,

weak, stand weak, stand weak, stand weak.

Oh, no.

She is so negative.

Doesn't have a nice thing to say about anything or anybody.

Nothing like Mom.

I bet they weren't even sisters.

She always liked this old song, so I thought I'd warm it up.

Yes, sir, that's my baby now. We'll have to get the carpet cleaned.

Maybe, yes, sir, that's my baby now.

Dad.

Dad. What?

Dad, we have to get... You know, I can't talk to you when you're playing on that

thing. What? We have to get the carpeting cleaned.

Carpeting?

Oh. Well, maybe the drapes, too, I guess.

Mm -hmm.

Did you see this?

better get that paid.

You know what?

We could do all this stuff ourselves.

No, we can't. Yeah, we could. It'd be simple. And just think how impressed you

and Alan would be.

You'd say nothing of the money you'd save.

Yes, sir.

That's my baby. No, sir.

Just get off of me, all right? I

don't know what your problem is, lady, but I've

had it, all right?

Leave me alone.

Do something.

What do you want me to do?

Referee?

Mr. Matlock.

Sam Haskins, we met last week. Oh, yeah.

How was the Caribbean?

Oh, it was great. I got engaged.

Well, congratulations.

Thank you very much.

But a weird thing happened to me when I was down there, and I wondered if you

could give me some advice.

I can try.

Well, there was this beautiful woman. She was a total stranger, and she kept

kind of throwing herself at me like she was trying to seduce me.

And finally I caught this guy taking pictures of us, and, well, he...

Kind of got me in this compromising position.

Oh, so you figure it was a setup?

Well, that's all I can figure, yeah. And actually, the guy disappeared as soon

as I made him and after he decked me.

But he was with the same tour group as me, so I got his name and his address

from the travel agent.

Turns out he's a private investigator.

That's how you got him. You figure maybe somebody's paying him to set you up?

Right, right. So I checked if he had deposited any checks with any one

particular person lately, but he hadn't.

How did you get a look at his bank account?

I did what you did in the McMillan case.

The McMillan case? You devil.

Anyway, the guy's name is Richard Pepp. Now, do you know him?

No.

I knew you knew a lot of PIs. I thought maybe you'd work with them. Oh, well,

thank you anyway, Mr. Mallick. And listen, as soon as I get this thing

away, I'm going to have you and Leanne over. Now, that is a promise.

Okay, and call me Ben.

Okay. Ben.

Okay. Bye, Kevin. Bye.

The Millen case.

Oh, boys, come on.

What the hell are you doing here?

Told you to stay in St.

Thomas and lay low until I got in touch with you. Yeah, chill out, Dick.

Happens I'm doing you a favor.

Who's winning? Who's winning?

Look, something funky is going on in that hotel down in St. Thomas.

Want to speak English? What do you mean, funky?

Go in the bathroom, shut the door, and be quiet.

Go!

Hi. Remember me?

No. Who hired you to take those pictures?

What pictures?

Give them to me!

Hey, pal, maybe you better get out of here. Not without those pictures.

Where is she?

But isn't this body beautiful?

Come here.

You're out of here.

Come on.

You're trespassing, pal.

I can shoot you now, nobody better than I.

Now beat it.

Don't come back.

What's so funky at the hotel?

She needs her signature here, here, and down there.

Shelly, where's my orange juice?

It's in the microwave. It's a frosting.

Hurry.

Hello. Good to see you again. Richard Pepp?

Hi.

I'm sorry you had to leave St. Thomas so abruptly.

Oh, well, I was a little embarrassed by that event at the beach.

What was that all about, anyway?

Oh, well, it's kind of a long story. Could I ask you two a question?

Please, sit down. Thank you.

Shelly, orange juice.

Okay, okay.

So, what can we do for you?

Well, I was just wondering how you do it, that's all.

Do what?

Well, you charge so little for those long weekends in St. Thomas, I mean.

Well,

we give the airlines and hotels down there a lot of business.

And they gave us price breaks, which we in turn pass on to our customers.

Well, you both live in such beautiful homes down by the river. I mean, I don't

see how you can afford them. You're practically giving these trips away.

Thank you, Shelly.

Would you like some more shoes?

No, thank you.

Business was particularly good in the 80s, Mr. Pepp. And Brian and I are

particularly good with saving our money.

That's how we found such lovely homes.

So what's this all about, really?

Well, I'm just curious.

Thank you for your time.

Sure. Take care.

So, you think they're involved?

Oh, yeah.

True, you want to do this?

Either we do it ourselves or pay somebody else to do it.

Want my vote?

I had a wallpaper man out here and give me a bid.

$650 plus tax.

Sounds fair to me.

The nice thing about it, while he was giving me the bid, he told me exactly

I had to do.

Come over here.

I'll show you.

All you have to do is let the paper down real good with it.

Then you make sure the plaster and your wiring underneath

good

That's my baby.

I don't mean maybe, yes.

That's my baby now.

These are very good.

Yeah, well, unfortunately, Haskins saw me take them.

He knows he's being set up.

Does he know about me?

Nope.

No harm done.

Thank you, Mr. Pepp.

I hope you don't mind cash.

How much do you think it's worth?

Well, I'm no expert, but 30 ,000.

You are splitting this with me, right? I mean, you never would have known any of

this stuff was going on if it weren't for me, right?

60 -40, sweetheart.

And the same thing applies for whatever else we can shake out of those bozos

when we go back down.

I want to see it.

Why don't you just wait here?

Hey, what the hell are you doing here, man?

Richard?

did the state prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that my client, that Mr.

Rolf the Death, I think not.

Were his fingerprints on the murder weapon?

No, they were not.

Thank you, Your Honor.

You're going to wear that tape out, you know. That's okay. I made copies.

I'll get it. Would you put this back over there, please?

Lieutenant Ed Bronson, Atlanta PD.

Search warrant? Gives us the right to search your residence and your car.

Where is your car, by the way?

It's in the garage. It should be unlocked.

What the heck is going on here?

Well, a private detective by the name of Richard Pepp was found shot to death in

his home last night.

Sam, what are they doing here? Lieutenant Ed Bronson, Atlanta PD, ma

got a warrant to search the premises.

So you live here, too?

Yes, we're engaged.

You are, huh?

So I understand you knew this Mr.

Pepp. I met him. I wouldn't say that I know him.

Then how come we found your fingerprints all over his house?

Well, because I dropped by the other day to see if he wanted to do some work for

me. He didn't, and that was that.

You sure you didn't drop by to discuss these?

Oh, jeez.

We printed those from the negatives we found at Pep's house. One of my men

recognized you.

So, if you're engaged to her, who's the babe?

That was a setup, Joanne. That girl kept throwing herself at me so this Richard

Pep guy could take those pictures.

The only reason I didn't tell you is because I figured that some guy was

to get back at me for something, and I didn't want to scare you. You expect me

to believe that?

Hon, you've got to. It's the truth.

Is this guy blackmailing you, Mr. Haskins? No.

No, man, please. Nothing happened.

I don't even know that woman.

Please, don't be upset.

You know, when we found the negatives at Mr. Pep's house, we kind of wondered

why there weren't any prints with them.

Now we know.

I just found these in the trunk of your car.

Your fingerprints were all over his house, in his hall, bathroom,

on the knob, door jammed to his bedroom. What in the world were you doing?

When I found out that girl was there, I went tearing through the place looking

for her.

What were you going to do with her if you found her?

I don't know.

I wasn't thinking straight.

It's Joanne, my fiancée. She gets real jealous.

I mean, real jealous. She gets nuts, and I guess...

Thinking about her seeing those pictures made me kind of nuts.

What would you have done?

Followed Richard Pepp, maybe.

Tried to get the girl off by herself and bluff something out of her. Anything

but what you did.

Ouch.

I'm sure you don't have an alibi.

Nope.

I can see now the only way I'm going to get out of this thing is to find the guy

who really did it.

It has to be someone who knew... That I had a motive. It's either that girl or

whoever hired Richard Pett to take those pictures.

Or maybe somebody who saw him deck you on the beach at St. Thomas.

Yeah, that too.

Well, you keep thinking on it, I'll see you at Bale, Harry.

Evidently, he didn't die right away.

Police figure, he took the bullet over here, right?

And he was on his way to the phone, made it as far as the dresser, and then he

killed over dead.

What's on this business?

Oh, well, the police figure that he knocked this off the dresser when he was

trying to pull himself up to his feet.

What's that?

He could stub the first tour.

Got his blood on it. Yeah, it was in his hand.

Telephone's off all the way over there. Why'd he go by the tracer?

I don't know. He was dying. He probably didn't know what he was doing.

Did you speak to the top of the town tourist people?

No, not yet.

What's the client we've gotten from that one ad just this week? I want to make

sure that we keep running that. Oh,

hi, I'm Ben Matlock. I represent Sam Haskins.

Judy Poole. I'm Brian Lowry. Hi.

I wonder if we could have a minute to... Oh, certainly.

Here, come down here where we can sit down.

All right, thank you.

I take it Shelly's offered you something to drink? Yes, I'm fine, thanks.

Well, it seems that Mr.

Haskins is in one heck of a lot of trouble.

Oh, yes.

Maybe it would have been better if he'd stayed down at St. Thomas or if Mr. Pepp

had stayed.

I understand he came over to your office the other day.

Who?

Richard Pepp.

Oh, yes, he was. He had wanted to come in and apologize to us in person, you

know, for that fight he'd gotten into with Mr. Haskins in front of our clients

down on the island.

Just as a... Matter of curiosity, how did you happen to find out that he was

here?

I went over to his house. I went through his stuff.

Files.

I'm pretty nosy.

Of course, he's pretty nosy, too. He's a private investigator.

You know that?

Well, yeah. I mean, after I read about his murder in the paper, I did.

Maybe that's how he found out about those big houses.

I still don't know why he found out about those beehives.

You don't suppose he was investigating you?

Well, if he was, I have no idea why.

Well, I'll go then.

Okay. Oh, could I have one of those little brochures on that St. Thomas

Certainly. Excuse me. I hear it's a real good deal, and I really like good

deals.

Here you go. I'm giving you two.

It's our most popular tour.

Hey, as a matter of fact, we're going down this weekend, and I think we still

have some room. You should join us. Well, maybe I will.

Okay.

Bye,

Ben.

Join us? Are you out of your mind? Please.

It's like the man's really going to go off gallivanting in the islands when

in the middle of a big case.

And it's in the oven. I've already eaten.

I thought you were going to call somebody to do that.

I did.

He told me what he was going to do, and I said, well, heck, I can do that.

So I got rid of all the old plaster, and I'm putting up this wall board.

What if the plaster is rotten underneath the rest of the paper?

We'll just get rid of that, too.

This is fine.

Not for me.

Yes, that's my baby now.

Happiest moment of my life is when I walked into that bail hearing.

There you were.

I tried to leave you, but I couldn't.

I love you.

I love you.

Where's the remote?

Oh, just leave it on.

Wasting electricity.

It's supposed to be right here, though.

Oh, here.

I had to come, sweetheart.

Come on in.

Hello, Sam.

Joanne called me this morning and told me the whole story.

Would you excuse Sam and me for just a moment, sweetheart?

Sure. Okay, thanks.

Joanne tells me that you're being framed.

That's right.

She also says that in spite of some rather lurid photographs,

He still loves you.

And intends to marry you once this whole mess is over.

You got that right, too.

I don't like you, Sam.

I don't like the way you talk.

I don't like the way you act.

And I hate the way you look at my daughter.

Still, I never intended for anything like this to happen.

What do you mean?

I'm the one who hired Richard Pepp to take those photographs.

He's going to send them to Joanne anonymously.

After what happened last year, I was hoping that this would be the final

that would drive you out of her life for good.

I don't believe this.

Even though you have many less than desirable qualities, I know you're not a

murderer.

And because it's more or less my fault that the police think you are.

Came here to apologize to offer you whatever financial assistance you need

beat this thing Joanne Joanne come in here

Want

you to hear what your father did

He offered to pay all my legal expenses.

Well, that's wonderful.

Ben Matlock's defending him. Did he tell you that?

No. He's always been Sam's idol. He's not cheap, but he's the best.

Oh, thank you.

Maybe Sam deserves it.

Do you mind? Oh, sure, sure. Yeah, I thought you were... Oh, no, he's, uh...

He's on his way out.

I always said... I had the impression you were going to be with us for another

week. Well, I... Can I ask why you're checking out so soon?

Oh, my plans changed.

You know, I've got to get back to the States and... I thought there might be a

problem with the accommodations.

Oh, no.

It's been great.

Good.

Julie!

Well, that's her.

That's the woman who helped Richard Pep sent me up.

Yolanda Burke.

Does this mean you know where she is?

I know exactly where she is.

The morgue down at St. Thomas.

She's dead.

Jumped off a four -floor hotel balcony yesterday afternoon.

Apparent suicide.

Came in off the wire about an hour ago. Just called you down here because she

matched the description you gave us of Richard Pep's accomplice. Also, the

she bailed out of is the same one that you and Richard Pep stayed at. With the

breakers? Yeah.

Anyway, that's all I got.

Just thought you might be interested.

Well, thanks, Ed. I appreciate it.

Buy you a beer sometime.

Sure you will.

Sure would like to know where those people on that travel agency were

afternoon.

Think they took a quick trip to St. Thomas, gave Yolanda a little shove off

golf course?

Well, Richard Pep did go see him right before he was murdered.

Maybe they're all involved in some scam that went sour or something.

You know...

It happens they got a secretary that likes me and likes to talk.

I think I'll go home and give her a jingle.

How could you do something like that?

So what?

Look, I don't want to go over this on the telephone. Where are you?

We'll be there.

Shelly, Brian and I are going out. We'll be back in about an hour.

Okay.

Talk of the town tour. Shelly speaking.

Well, hi, Mr.

Matlock. How are you?

Table for two? No, thank you.

Bloody Mary, anyway.

Are you out of your mind?

I thought you liked Bloody Marys.

What did you have to kill that girl for?

You were the one that said you saw her in Richard Pepp's car when he left your

agency that day. No, we have to assume that he told her everything he knew.

I, for one, don't like loose ends.

I'd like a mineral water with lime, no ice, please.

Let me have an orange juice, a big one.

You're disgusting with us.

We are disgusting.

That's why I came to Atlanta.

That's another stupid thing.

Why? My mother lives here. I visit her quite often.

In fact, when's the last time you visited your mother, Brian?

Hey, don't, all right?

Look, somebody dies at your hotel on the very next day you leave town. Don't you

think that the police are going to think that's just a little strange?

I spoke to the police at length, and I told them if they had any more questions

for me, they could find me here, so calm down.

Now, you look terrible.

I feel terrible.

I've got low blood sugar, but I'm going to be up.

Orange juice. I need some orange juice. I'll be fine.

So I followed them into the hotel restaurant, and guess who they met with?

The owner of the Breakers Hotel down in St. Thomas, Paul Cox.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but seeing as how Ben had just found out

that both Judy and Brian were here in Atlanta when Yolanda died... Paul Cox is

prime suspect.

Oh, I love it when you talk legal.

What about the guy who hired Richard Pepp to take those photos? Is he still a

suspect? No, no, that turned out to be a dead end.

So what do you want for lunch?

Sam. Somebody's been in here.

What do you mean?

Now, I always close these blinds before we leave, you know, so the furniture

won't fade.

Well, nothing seems to be missing.

Well, you better check the bedroom.

Did you move this fish you bought me down at St. Thomas?

No.

Somebody did.

Well, what do you mean? It's right there. I always line it up at the end of

table here. Now look, it was all crooked.

Oh, come on, Sam.

I am telling you, Joanne, you know me. I can't sleep at night unless I know

everything is in its proper place.

I would not have left it like that.

Somebody's been here.

Mr. Cox?

Yes. Hi, Ben Matlock. Please. I appreciate you meeting me like this. I

afraid I was going to have to fly down to the Virgin Islands, but surprise,

you're right here in Atlanta.

Well, my mother. My mother lives here now, so I visit quite a lot.

I represent Sam Haskins, the young man who's been accused of killing Richard

Pepl. And the two of them stayed at that hotel of yours in St. Thomas recently.

Yes, I heard about that.

Who told you, Judy and Brian?

As a matter of fact, they did, yeah.

You talk to them a lot?

Oh, they bring me an awful lot of business, Mr. Manlike, so you can bet

talk to them as often and as nicely as I can.

I read their brochure on that St. Thomas tour they have, and what I don't

understand is how you can make any money when you give all their clients such

big discounts on their rooms.

I more than make up for it with the money I make on the food, the drink, the

parasailing rental, the equipment rental, that sort of thing. Believe me,

need to make a profit down there is volume.

How long have you been in town?

I arrived this morning.

Oh, so you were in St. Thomas when that young lady... It's a terrible tragedy.

And you were in Atlanta when Richard Pep died.

I was visiting my mother. And no, I was not in Dallas when President Kennedy

died.

Well, I'll be going. I've got to go to the hardware store.

My little daughter and I are redecorating the house, putting up some

in the dining room.

Handy, huh? Fair.

Golden. Village retirement community.

Hannah Cox.

Hannah Cox.

Okay.

I

talked

with the man at the wallpaper store, told him exactly what to do. This has

been pre -cut, measured.

Put the paste down, put it up on the wall. You're putting on too much paste.

you need a lot of paste.

A lot of paste. A lot of paste. Come on.

Bring it right along.

Don't let it curl.

Okay, bring it along.

Come on. There you go. Come along.

It's dripping right over there, Dad. It's not dripping. Come on.

Turn it loose. You can't turn it like that. Dad!

Yes, sir.

That's my baby.

No, sir.

I don't mean baby.

Hi, Ben. I didn't hear you.

How'd you get in here?

Well, I wanted to take a look around. I figured the police would never allow

that, so... Sam, the person accused of the murder shouldn't be sneaking around

and saying it's a crime.

I had to follow my instincts, Ben. I mean, isn't that what you're doing?

Next time, call me with a carpool and save me some gas.

What is in your hair?

Wallpaper -paved.

Come here, I gotta show you something.

Somebody broke into my house and did something to a figurine that Joanne had

bought me down in St. Thomas.

When I came over to see Richard Pepp, I saw that he had a figurine, too. He paid

money for nothing?

We got it for half price.

This is what's really interesting.

He was planning on going back down to St. Thomas.

His plane tickets were ordered by phone and were delivered to his house just

hours before he was murdered.

This time he was planning on staying at the Hotel San Suzy.

He stayed at the Breakers last time.

I don't get it.

What some butt -ugly figurine and some airplane tickets got to do with his

murder? I don't know. But I do know that he, a private investigator, was going

to the Caribbean and he dies. And Yolanda, his partner, was in the

she dies.

Something's going on down there.

Wallpaper paste.

Wait a minute, wait for me.

Mr. Jenkins?

Yes. Judy Paul from Talk the Town Tours. Very nice to meet you. We almost left

without you.

It's the way of my life.

And for all of you who can't wait to get into

town and use these coupons, the Talk of the Town tour bus will be leaving in

exactly 45 minutes.

Thank you. You're welcome.

I'll be back in a minute.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Did you happen to notice that that man was wearing a wedding ring?

Mr. Lowry.

No, I didn't know. I didn't notice.

Lieutenant Bronson, did you take a duly authorized search warrant for the

defendant Samuel Haskins' home? Yes, sir, I did. At that time, did you ask

defendant if he knew the deceased, Richard Pepp?

Yes, I did.

What did he say?

Well, the defendant claimed to have gone to the deceased's home with the

intention of hiring him as a private investigator.

Did he mention that he had previously had a fistfight with Mr. Pepp in the

Caribbean? No, he did not. What brought you to Mr. Haskins' house in the first

place? We found compromising negatives of Mr. Haskins with a woman at the scene

of the crime.

Now, as a detective with the Atlanta police force for over 15 years, did you

have some sense of what these pictures were for?

In my estimation, they were pictures for blackmail.

I see.

And in the course of searching Mr. Haskins' house and his car, what did you

find? Hidden in his trunk were a set of photographs of Mr. Haskins with a woman

that corresponded with the negatives we found at the scene of the crime.

Was there anything on these pictures?

Blood that was later identified as Richard Peps.

Nothing further.

So take care of the rooms on the third floor. Everything should be fine.

My name is Joanne Walters. I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Your Honor, I'd like to remind the court that Ms. Walters lives with the

defendant and should therefore be considered a hospital witness.

Proceed.

How long have you and Mr. Haskins lived together, Ms. Walters?

Since we moved to Atlanta about two months ago.

And how long have you known him prior to that?

Almost a year. You are in love with him, aren't you?

Yes.

We're going to get married as soon as this is all over.

So when it comes to Mr. Haskins, you tend to get jealous very easily, don't

Well, I get jealous. I don't know about the easily part.

Well, for instance, approximately six months ago, Mr. Haskins had lunch with a

former girlfriend, and you had quite a reaction, didn't you?

Objection. Relevancy.

I'm establishing motive, Your Honor. And she is, again, a hostile witness. I

have to have a little latitude here.

Overruled. Please, answer the question.

Well, naturally, I was a little hurt.

A little hurt.

You broke up with him, didn't you?

Well, I didn't... For three weeks, you wouldn't talk to him, either in person

on the phone, isn't that right?

Yes, but I... All because he had lunch. Not dinner, not a little drink, just

lunch with a former girlfriend, isn't that right?

Yes.

Most people would call that getting jealous easily, Ms. Walters.

You were with the defendant in your house when he was arrested for Richard

Pepp's murder, were you not?

Yes, I was.

And the photos that led the police to Mr. Haskins in the first place, the ones

they developed from the negatives that were found at Mr.

Pepp's house, you saw those photos, right?

Yes.

Who were those photos of?

Sam and some woman.

And what were Sam and some woman doing in those photos?

They were together. That's all I really remember.

Are these the photos?

Yes.

How did you feel when you first saw these pictures?

Surprised.

Confused?

Angry?

Jealous?

Miss Walters, not only are you under oath, but I can always recall Lieutenant

Bronson to the stand. Now, please answer the question.

Did these pictures make you jealous?

Yes.

Now, you were also present when the police found this duplicate set of the

photos in the trunk of Sam's car, weren't you?

Yes.

Now, Miss Walters, be honest.

When you saw these photos stained with Richard Pepp's blood, didn't it flash

through your mind that maybe, just maybe, Sam Haskins had killed him in

keep you from ever seeing these pictures?

Objection. Because he knew that if you ever saw these pictures, you would walk

out on him for good. You'd be so jealous. Isn't that right?

Your Honor.

That's not a question. Hell, it's not even an answer. I don't know what it is.

Withdrawn.

Nothing further.

Hi. Thanks for coming.

Well, I came as soon as you called.

I'm sorry that you had trouble on court today, sweetheart.

It couldn't have been any worse.

Well, you told the truth, didn't you?

Dad, I made Sam look guilty.

It sounded like you'd stick with Sam through thick and thin.

I would.

Well, if the jury got that, then Sam has nothing to worry about.

You're just trying to make me feel better.

No.

I never was a big fan of Sam's.

I know.

I suppose I always wanted you to be involved with someone like us.

Someone with culture and sophistication.

I just wasn't ready for someone like Sam.

Sam is a wonderful person.

Yeah, I know.

No, Dad, you don't know.

Today I came here to offer Sam financial support.

He's very kind of you.

I came here that day to tell Sam that... I was the one that hired Richard Pepp

to take those pictures of him.

What?

I know. I'm sorry.

But you was a hell -bent on marrying him. I didn't know what else to do. How

could you do that?

I don't know. But when I told Sam, he was furious. He wanted to tell you right

away. But then he changed his mind.

I think he realized...

How much pain there was there, and he didn't want to do that to you.

He's a good man, Joanne.

And he loves you very much.

He would never tell you this.

I just couldn't live with it anymore.

I just hope you'll find a way to forgive me.

I am really sorry.

Hi. Hi.

So, is he?

I beg your pardon?

Brian Lowry. Is he married?

Oh! Oh!

Divorced twice.

Not a good sign. No.

No, not at all.

If I ask you to do something for me, do you think you could view it as a simple

act of human kindness and not a come -on meant to tease, titillate, or otherwise

manipulate you emotionally?

You completely lost me. Could you put some sunscreen on my back? Oh, yes. Oh,

course. Of course I can do that. Of course I can do that. Oh, yeah.

You know, I don't know why I bother coming to the tropics anymore.

I spend the whole time putting sunscreen on.

But you gotta go where the guys are.

Men don't care much what happens to their skin, do they?

I mean, if you get lines or wrinkles, it means you've got character.

If women get them, it means they got old.

You can do my other shoulder now.

Oh, no.

Oh, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let me help you out. Let me help you out.

Let me just get that for you.

I'm fine. I'm fine. Thank you.

Yes, hello?

Yes, I need to call the USA.

Atlanta, Georgia. One moment, please. Right.

Well, I'll bet you anything they were made by fingernails. Why else would he

wearing makeup to try to hide them?

Okay, call the police down there and see if they found any skin underneath

Yolanda Burke's fingernails.

Then catch the next plane home.

Tell the police they can reach you at this number.

Okay. Ben, I did good, didn't I?

Real good. Now hang up. This call must be costing a fortune.

Thank you both don't let any more of mr. Jenkins calls through for a while,

okay?

Operator how may I help you?

Could you could you try the police again for me?

Mr.

Jenkins?

Mr.

Jenkins? What are you doing?

How are you doing?

Mr. Cox.

Yes.

Mind opening your shirt?

Opening my shirt?

Well, yeah, I do mind.

Do it anyway, please.

Got a cat or something, Mr. Cox?

I'd like to call my lawyer.

Sure, you can as soon as we get to the station.

Well, they're interrogating him now, but so far he hasn't copped to anything. I

think his lawyer is going to make it very difficult for us to get a tissue

sample. It's going to be days before we can tell whether or not that was his

skin under Yolanda's fingernails.

Even if he did push her off that balcony?

We still don't know why.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the figurines.

What figurines?

These wooden fish.

Remember you told me to check out the curio shop?

I did, and it turns out that they're only open when Talk of the Town tour

are here.

They give you these 50 % off coupon books to buy these wooden figurines.

I found a whole stack of these things in Paul Cox's office.

All right.

Yes. Yes, and I also found these lists of everyone who bought the figurines

weekend and the weekend that Sam and Richard Pepp were here.

Well, good. Bring it by when you get home.

Oh, good.

This is working out real good.

Joanne!

Oh, I stopped off at Ben's after court.

His investigator just got back from St. Thomas.

Here, hold this.

Is everything okay?

Everything is fine.

Stop worrying.

If everything's fine, why am I standing here holding a garbage bag?

Why are you making like your hands are tuna sandwiches?

Come here and I'll show you.

Ben is asking everyone who bought a fish like this on that tour that we went on.

to bring him over to his house tonight.

Why? I don't know, but we're not supposed to touch him any more than is

absolutely necessary.

Here, open that bag.

I think he's checking for fingerprints.

Fingerprints?

And this is the last one we'll need from you.

Now, folks, we're not sure who or why or what or when

or for what reason, but we believe...

that these items have something to do with Richard Pepp's birth. So if you'll

just sit tight while the police do their things, well, Mr. Haskins here and

I will appreciate it. And I think you'll find the cookies are quite good.

And the pickles.

I don't know what to do then.

I've got an idea.

Play something.

Play what?

That song you played at the church picnic last week.

Play. Oh, Paul.

While we're waiting for the police to finish doing their thing, why don't we

have a... A little sing -along.

This is a beautiful little song called In the Pines. You sing the bird. In the

pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines.

Gonna shiver when the cold wind blows.

If I had listened to what my mama said, well, wouldn't I have been

here today?

No, I'd have been sleeping.

© BF -WATCH

TV 2021

Mr. Matlock?

Oh, excuse me.

Yes.

Okay.

Two things.

First, Richard Pep's has been hollowed out, see? Uh -huh. Somebody split it

open. These other ones are solid.

Second thing is it's got his fingerprints all over it.

Well, it was his.

Which means you'd think that these other ones would have these peoples on them,

right? Yeah.

Wrong. None of them do. They're all clean, except for Sam's, and even his

has a couple of fingerprints.

Well, that's weird. Everyone here would have taken these home. They would have

taken them out of the box, looked at them, put them on the shelf. I don't

why they wouldn't have their fingerprints on them.

Sorry. Maybe after they were placed on the shelves, somebody came in with

on and switched them. Except they didn't bother to switch Richard Pepps because

he was dead.

And his was empty.

Mr. Cox.

I, uh, just wanted to drop by and see how you were holding up.

Oh, that's very nice of you.

I heard they took a tissue sample.

My lawyer couldn't hold him off any longer.

Damn it. Well, the only thing it proves is Yolanda threatened me before she

died.

My lawyer said unless and until they show motive, they don't have a solid

Which means that it's in your best interest not to mention anything about

So far.

So, by the way, four more of those figurines are on their way to Atlanta.

What? Well, couldn't be helped.

They were all ready to go in my office when I got arrested.

The people who bought him picked him up when I was being questioned.

Sir?

All right, hold it.

Put the pack down.

Put your hands behind your head. Move.

All right, we're clear.

Mr. Lowry?

No wonder he's been divorced so many times.

I've been following you, Mr. Lowry. Saw your case in the place today. Thought

we'd arrange a little reception for you. Take him to the car.

Take a look at this thing.

You get a knife?

Ah, Ben always tells me to be prepared.

They hollowed it out, just like Richard Pep's.

Cold.

How long do you think this gold smuggling's been going on?

I don't know.

Whoever was doing it didn't want it to end. When Richard Pepp started looking

around, they just killed him.

Hey, you think it was a team effort?

Well, Paul Cox was his mother. I asked some people out at the retirement home.

Well, that just leaves... Hi, Brian and Judy from Talk of the Town Tours.

Let's look in here.

Do you always look for clues in people's refrigerators?

Sometimes when I'm hungry.

It's pretty sloppy.

I give up.

Oh, come on now.

You'll feel better after lunch, especially if I pay.

Richard Pepp was into recycling.

A P .I. with a social conscience.

I understand that you're the co -owner of a travel agency.

Yes, uh, Judy Poland and I run the, uh... Top of the town tours.

Yeah.

Business must be booming. I hear last year you bought a house on the river

that's worth more than a million dollars.

Yes. It's a beautiful home. Yeah.

Yeah. I read your St. Thomas package.

It's one of our most popular tours. Oh, yeah.

Four nights at a nice hotel, airfare, discount shopping, all for $700.

How can you make money like that?

Well, actually, the key is volume. We send a lot of people down there.

Actually, you make the bulk of your money on what people bring back into the

United States, don't you?

You broke into one of your clients' house named Mrs.

Patty Locke the other day, didn't you?

Under the Fifth Amendment, I refuse to answer that question. When the police

caught you...

You were carrying this.

Under the Fifth Amendment, I refuse to answer that question. Well, just read

tag.

Okay, I will.

Confiscated from backpack worn by Brian Lowry at scene.

ID'd as belonging to Patty Locke. Removed from scene 2138 hours 21794.

Signed, Atlanta Police Lieutenant Ed Bronson. Is that what it says?

Yes.

You want to read this?

Yeah. Okay, I'm going to read it to you.

Left on table in Locke's home by Brian Lowry, removed from scene 2140 hours, 2

-17 -94, signed Lieutenant Ed Bronson. Is that what it said? Yes.

In other words, you were caught having broken into Patty Locke's house,

switching this fish, which she bought in St. Thomas on one of your tours, with

this one. Is that right?

Under the Fifth Amendment, I refuse to answer that question.

Which one of them is heavier? Can you answer that question?

Answer the question.

That one. This one.

That's because this one contains a

very large hunk.

of exceptionally pure gold.

So Paddy Locke bought this figurine in St. Thomas

on one of your tours in a curio shop that happens to be owned by you, Judy

Pohl, and Paul Cox.

Paul Cox has been indicted for murder in St. Thomas. Do you know that?

No.

She had this wrapped and delivered to her hotel so she wouldn't have to carry

around all day.

In fact, she didn't have to touch it until she got it home.

See, she didn't know that that fish was filled with gold.

So what she did, without knowing it, was she smuggled

over $30 ,000 worth of gold into the United States.

Ms. Locke wasn't the only one, was she, Mr. Lowry?

A lot of your customers bought these figurines, and you used them as

mules. They involuntarily smuggled gold into the United States for you.

The hard part, then, was breaking into their houses and switching the fish so

you could get the gold. You broke into every one of those houses and switched

these fish.

What happened when you broke into Richard Pepp's house to switch his?

I'm sorry, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Well, he

one of these in your store, didn't he? I don't know. How should I know?

Well, the police removed this fish

from Richard Pepp's house.

See, it had been hollowed out, just like Ms. Locks had.

He was smuggling gold for you too, wasn't he?

Only he found it.

And when you went to his house to switch the fish, you

knew that he knew.

And you knew that he would either go to the police or try to blackmail you, or

maybe both.

So you decided to kill him, didn't you?

No, I didn't. Oh, yeah, you did.

You went over there.

You looked around. You found the gold.

And you sat in his house and waited for him to come home.

I never set foot in that house.

Objection. You've gone far enough.

Especially since Mr. Matlock has yet to present one iota of actual proof.

Right here.

This is more than just one little bitty iota.

Get on with it, Counselor.

Yes, sir.

It's a well -known fact around your travel agency that you suffer from

hypoglycemia.

Yes.

Apparently, your blood sugar gets very low unless you have some form of sugar

every couple of hours, right?

Yes, that's right. You get all shaky and nervous.

It's not that big of a deal, really. Yeah, well, not if you're prepared. But

what if something unexpected happens, like when you went to Richard Pep's

and found that he had found the gold?

And you realized you had to kill him.

Why, you had to wait there for hours.

And you finally got really shaky.

I never set foot in that house that night or any other night. Oh, yes, you

You got real shaky.

You went to the refrigerator and you found this can of soda pop.

And you drank it down.

And after you were finished with it, You wiped your fingerprint off the can and

threw it into the trash compactor.

This can.

The police removed it from Richard Pepp's house yesterday afternoon.

See, he was pretty big on recycling.

So when I saw this can in his trash compactor, I

knew that somebody else had used it.

Probably.

The killer.

And as it turns out, that was you, wasn't it?

I wasn't there.

Yes, you were.

And I can prove it with a fingerprint.

You just said there weren't any fingerprints on that. Not on the outside

can, no.

You have a habit. You've probably done it so long you don't even notice it.

When you open up... can of pop.

You take your pinky, little finger, and push that tab all the way down.

Or maybe you did it just that once. I don't know. The important thing is the

police found your fingerprint on the inside of this can.

That means you were at Richard Pepp's house.

And the only reason I can figure you keep lying about it is you killed him.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

Yes, sir, Your Honor. We find the defendant, Samuel Haskins, not guilty.

He's still here? He's just finishing up.

Your aunt's airplane came in 35 minutes ago. She'll be here any second. Why

didn't you pick her up? She didn't like the way I drive. I could have driven.

She liked that even less. Oh, Ben.

Isn't it gorgeous?

How much does it cost?

I should say it would have been a lot cheaper if we'd hired him in the first

place.

Ben.

Ben. Pay the cab, would you?

Putting on a few pounds?

I'm here, Ellen.

Oh.

Cataracts. Yeah, yeah, pay the camera.

Hello, hello.

You're breaking.

You know what that means?

You're looking older.

Well, yeah.

You remember Leanne?

Hello, Aunt Ellen.

You look good.

You could use some padding.

I need to be excused. To the lab.

I remember.

That wallpaper is awful.

While I'm here, we can put up some new.

Yes, sir, that's my baby. No, sir, I don't mean maybe.

Yes, sir, she's my baby now.