Original subtitles

Hey, Jude.

Guess what these are.

Uh, tickets.

And their names are?

Gilbert and Salker.

Oh, I hear that's the most fabulous production.

Does this mean one of these is for me? Oh, yeah.

How about I swing by your place about 7 .15?

Tonight?

Yeah.

Oh, Ben, I've made other plans.

Yeah. Yes.

Dinner plans.

But it's Friday.

I know.

Friday, we... Ben, I'm really sorry.

Maybe you could trade those in for another night.

Oh, sure.

Oh, sure, sure, probably.

Don't worry about it.

Stephen Cassidy was found shot to death in his house this morning. Did you hear

about that?

I haven't seen the paper. I was too busy rounding these up.

Have you been assigned?

Yeah. Apparently, he was in the middle of writing a book about Vanessa Douglas.

Senator Douglas is there?

Yeah. The police have taken her in for questioning.

Evidently, the book was largely concerned with her marriage to the

And the prevailing theory is that Cassidy got to know the real Vanessa.

I was going to portray her as something considerably less than a saint.

I see.

They have a witness, too.

Good. You know who Sylvia Richland is?

No. She's the one who does that television interview show.

She said she saw Vanessa enter Cassidy's house last night at about the time of

the murder. I was just on my way to, uh...

Talk to her.

Uh, oh, I... I better get going.

I'll have a regular.

I don't suppose you'd be interested in a couple of tickets to see Gilbert and

Sullivan tonight?

Where'd they fight?

Some music.

Oh.

I'm busy today.

Matlock? Ma 'am? I'm Dr. Sarah Perlman. I need to talk to you.

Now, if it's all right.

Well, I've got a nice office.

It's air -conditioned and everything.

I'm chief of staff at St. Andrew's Hospital. I've got to be back there at

for a meeting.

Well, in that case, doctor, you better talk fast.

I'm a close friend of Vanessa Douglas.

In fact, we've been best friends since grade school.

But the police think that she may have killed Stephen Cassidy.

They're wrong.

He was writing a book about her, that's true, but she didn't kill him.

No.

However, they have a witness that says she did.

So, I've come looking for you, Mr. Matlock, because she's going to need a

good lawyer.

Well, you may have a point there.

I know the prosecutor in this case, and she's a very tough cookie.

Vanessa's in jail right now.

How about it?

Oh, thank God.

I was afraid you hadn't gotten my message, or if you did, it didn't make

sense. No, it made perfect sense. Are you all right?

Yes, all right. Vanessa Douglas, this is Ben Matlock. He's a lawyer, a very good

one. Hello.

You sure you're all right?

Fine. You feel like answering a few questions?

This book that Stephen

Cassidy was writing about you, was it his idea or yours?

It was the publisher's idea.

I was approached about four months ago and offered a great deal of money in

return for my life story.

I needed the money.

Oh, you're a public figure.

They don't have to get permission to do a biography.

They didn't want to do my biography.

I was smart enough to realize that.

I was being paid to deliver the dirt on George's most fascinating family.

My marrying James Douglas.

had nothing to do with his family's money or power or political aspirations.

I loved him.

But... Wilson, his father, just... couldn't buy that.

They... insisted that I stay at the mansion away from the press.

And... When they did let me out, it was practically under armed guard.

I literally had to beg for money.

The Douglas's have millions. You had to beg?

It's all part of Wilson's plan to demoralize me.

To push me away, and it worked.

It was a prenuptial agreement, so... When I

left, I left with nothing.

In murder cases where, you know, somebody's been killed, there's usually

motive.

Somebody has something to gain, or there's an emotional upheaval, or...

had a mistress.

Oh.

Who?

I don't know.

Some nights he'd come home late.

Some nights he wouldn't come home at all.

Said that he was sleeping on his couch in the office.

I didn't know her name. I didn't want to.

Well, where were you between 10, 30, and 12 last night?

In my apartment.

Alone.

I have no alibi.

Dr. Perlman and I...

Well, what do you think?

That's going to be a difficult case.

It's purely circumstantial, but you can't. You can't overlook the popularity

the Douglas family.

Well, they're practically like the Kinnicks.

That's going to affect the jury.

Vanessa could very well sound like a grasping, vindictive ex -wife who killed

this fellow when things weren't going her way.

Are you going to take the case?

I don't know.

I'll pay the fee.

I make a good salary. I have property, stock, bonds.

A hundred thousand?

You are a good friend.

Stop by the hot dog stand any time.

looking for me? Oh, yes. As a matter of fact, I was.

I thought you'd change your mind. Change?

Oh, oh, no, no. I've still got the tickets. Oh, Ben, I'm really sorry about

that. I thought you were looking for me. Yes, I heard you were down here talking

to Vanessa Douglas.

Well, yeah.

You've agreed to represent her.

You think I made a mistake?

Well, the police just found the murder weapon.

In the trunk of Vanessa Douglas' car.

Bail will be set at $100 ,000.

As for the preliminary hearing, it will take place in this courtroom on March 7

at 9 a .m. Next case.

I don't have $100 ,000.

I met with the bondsman, had everything arranged.

Mr. Matlock had a good idea where bail would be set.

You should be released in about an hour. Meet me in my office around 1 o 'clock.

I want you to walk me through Stephen Cassidy's house.

As soon as you're released, I'll take you to brunch.

I swear, Sarah, one of these days you're going to be the one to need the help,

and I'll come right into your rescue.

I have a couple.

Hi. Oh, hi.

Oh, Ben, there's someone I want you to meet. Ben, this is Jeffrey Lindquist.

He's our newest WDDA.

Jeffrey, meet Ben Matlock.

I do? I'm honored.

You're sort of an institution around here.

I really have to get going. Julie, I'll call you later. I'm glad to finally have

the chance to meet you, Mr. Matlock.

Institution. Oh, he didn't mean to. He's really very nice.

He seems like a nice enough boy.

He's 27 years old. That's hardly a boy.

27? Mm -hmm.

Would you look at his teeth?

So, how was dinner Friday night?

Oh, it was fine.

Where'd you go?

Uh, new place down the street. It's, uh, it's called Renoir.

What'd you have?

Uh, chicken.

Here.

Everybody have that?

Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think so.

Uh, well, uh, I'll, uh... Me too.

Uh, please.

Still here.

Oh, you have to knock.

Yeah. Steve said that bell hasn't worked for years.

Did he live alone?

He had someone come in and clean once or twice a week, but that was it. A

private person.

Almost a recluse.

Come on in, Counselor. We were just finishing up. Okay.

Morning, boys. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.

When did Dr. Perlman give you that pistol?

Last year when I moved into my apartment.

She insisted I learn how to use it, but I never did.

Couldn't stand to even touch it.

When did you notice the gun was missing?

About a week ago.

Guess I should have reported it, but... Tell you the truth, I was kind of glad

it was gone.

Oh, didn't he?

Maybe he was hauling water.

At the time he was shot, maybe to make some tea.

Did a good job of it, didn't he?

Where did he do his writing?

In the study.

This way.

Say, he liked to spend a lot of time alone?

Yeah.

Well, he had plenty of room to do it, didn't he?

This is where he'd interview me. He'd sit there, I'd sit here, he'd turn his

tape recorder on and we'd talk.

Came here every day for four weeks.

Kind of therapeutic, actually.

Did he, uh, did he write anything down?

Put everything on his word processor.

He said he came up with some kind of computerized filing system that made

writing his books a breeze.

So the, uh...

The manuscript he was working on is somewhere in here.

Sure would like to take a look at it.

You know how to operate this?

I don't even know how to turn it on.

I know a fellow who does.

Cell phone bill.

Might be interesting to know who... Mr.

Cassidy was calling.

That's my filing system.

Tell him I'll do the animal trainer piece if I don't have to hold a baboon

something. They always either bite you or upstage you with bullets.

Oh, hello.

Is Sylvia Richland here? Oh, right this way.

Sylvia? Hi.

Hi, I'm Michelle Thomas. That's right. How do you do? Good. Have a seat. Thank

you. I'm just getting ready to go out on location.

Ever watch Eye in Atlanta?

Sometimes.

Would you like some tea?

No, thanks.

I really wanted to ask you about what you saw the night Stephen Cassidy was

murdered.

Well, like I told the police, at exactly 10 .30, I saw Vanessa Douglas walk up

to his house, go inside.

I was parked out front.

Why were you parked there?

Well, there was this rumor going around that he was writing a juicy book on the

Douglases. I thought it might be fun to interview him for the show.

He wouldn't return my phone call, so I figured I'd just go over there and talk

to him in person.

Did you talk to him?

No. Vanessa Douglas went inside.

I figured he wouldn't talk to me with her there, so I just went home.

Are you sure that the person you saw was Vanessa Douglas?

Michelle, I've been in the news business.

For five years.

Six, if you count my stint as a weather girl. I'm a very professional observer.

The woman I saw that night was Vanessa Douglas.

Right now, we're at approximately 100 % employment. If you add the double jobs,

I'd say we're anywhere from 103 % to 104 % employment.

Inflation is minimal.

Tax rates are declining.

People are spending and saving, and yet there's this nervousness going on.

And why? Is it because of a high deficit? Is it because the balance of

are so out of whack?

What's happening? Fine boy.

You must be very proud.

Hello,

Ben.

Rumor has it that he's a contender for the vice presidential nomination.

Anything to that?

James is the best that this country's got.

What brings you around here?

Well, uh, your son's, uh, ex -wife is a client of mine.

And, uh,

She had some uncomplimentary things to say about you and James.

So what exactly did Vanessa have to say?

Generally that nobody around here liked her much.

Well, he loved her.

Is that why you kept her virtually a prisoner here and why she had to beg for

money? That's ridiculous.

Precisely the same trash she told Steve Cassidy.

Yeah?

How'd you know that?

Because he was here.

He's a very good writer, Mr. Matlock.

He listened to what Vanessa had to say, and then he came to us to check the

facts. And what were the facts?

The woman was totally neurotic.

Whether my son loved her because of it or in spite of it, I'll never know.

But the fact is, we couldn't trust her when she left the house or spent money

functioned as a responsible member of this family.

Vanessa has emotional problems. I tried to deal with them the best I could. I

paid for the doctors, the clinics. Nothing helped.

Yes, it's true. We wound up keeping her here.

So she wouldn't go anywhere and embarrass you.

We couldn't let her destroy everything that I spent a lifetime building up.

Just to keep the record straight, after she ran up tabs of over $20 ,000 a

month, I cut her off.

Now, what would you have done, Mr. Matlock?

I get the picture.

That meeting with Pete Cassidy, did it really take place?

He recorded the whole thing and made me a copy of the tape.

I'll send it over to you tomorrow with the rest of the things. How's that

All right. Thank you, Senator.

Mm -hmm. Sir?

Oh, thank God.

Let me speak to Vanessa.

Please, come in.

Maybe you can talk some sense into her.

Stop by to see if you wanted to go to dinner and found her doing this.

Taking a little vacation?

I'm leaving for good.

It's the only sensible thing to do.

It is not sensible, Vanessa. It really isn't.

Please, tell her.

Skipping out on trial is the surest way I know of for conviction.

They'll never find me.

Yes, they will in 24 hours, guaranteed.

Don't you understand?

It's me against the Douglases, for God's sakes.

I lived with them for six years. I know what they can do.

Someone like me just doesn't stand a chance.

Vanessa, sit down.

Sit down.

Here.

Take this.

What am I going to do?

Vanessa, you're going to trust us.

I want you to lay down for a little while and just relax.

All right? Come on.

Lay down.

If you need anything, we'll be right outside.

Has this happened before?

She's very high -strung.

Once activated, the computer will automatically perform a variety of

tests. At the termination of these tests, the main menu will appear on the

screen.

All right, check.

Press the space bar until the cursor is positioned in front of the desired menu

function.

For an explanation of each menu function, see chapter three.

Whoa.

I thought I could be all alone here.

Let me make two of us.

Name's Lamont.

DA's office sent me over to see if I could access the book that Stephen

was writing.

Guess that's what you're doing, huh?

I'm trying to.

Name's Tyler Hudson. I work for an attorney.

You know anything about computers?

A little bit.

Well, be my guest.

It's not here.

It's not?

The book must be stored in another disk.

It's got to be around here somewhere.

Look, I'm telling you. I have checked every file, every drawer, every cabinet

this house. It is not here.

Well, then he must have been the paranoid type and hid it.

Maybe in a wall safe, a floor safe, something like that.

Or maybe one of those.

Looky here.

Douglass manuscript.

Do you think you can get that thing to print whatever is on here? No problem.

Now, that biscuit is gone, but you're not.

Now, it's for damn sure that you ain't from the DA's office.

So you know what you're going to do?

You are going to tell me who you are and why you did that. And you are not going

to lie to me. You know why? Because I hate liars.

Now, who hired you?

I need those figures as soon as possible. I have a meeting with the

chairman tomorrow.

It's the only leverage I've got.

I appreciate it.

If you can dig up that Coleman file, will you?

Hello,

Mr. Medlock. Yes, sir, Senator.

Did you get a chance to take a look at that information I sent over?

Yeah.

And if you're as innocent as you say you are, why did you hire this Lamont

Turkle to destroy that manuscript?

I didn't hire anyone to do anything of the sort.

Well, somebody using your name hired him to destroy material evidence.

You'll never prove that.

Well, might be fun to watch me try.

Here's your ticket to the show.

Subpoena.

One for your father, too.

Oh, okay.

Nice day.

Jeffrey Lindquist?

The deputy D .A.? I remember.

How are you? Well, I'm still a little wet behind the ears, but I'm getting

there.

Julie's been great.

Well, it's almost lunchtime.

I sure do dread going downstairs.

Yeah, those cafeterias get old real fast.

I hear there's a new place open just down the street, Todd. A Renoir. Have

ever eaten there? As a matter of fact, I have. It's pretty good.

I recommend the chicken Kiev.

This is the murder weapon, yes. It has my initials on it.

Would you please tell the court where the weapon was found?

We found it in the trunk of Vanessa Douglas' car.

Thank you.

Nothing further.

Cross -examine?

Thank you.

May I? Thank you.

Thank you.

That's a pretty nice gun, Lieutenant Brooks. Who owns it anyway?

We weren't able to determine that. It's unregistered.

Did you find your fingerprints on it?

No, sir.

.45 is pretty heavy, unwieldy.

Let me ask you something.

In your experience as an officer of the law, How often have you known a woman to

use a .45 caliber gun to commit murder?

Objection. Improper opinion. Lack of foundation.

Relevancy. Cause for sexist...

I was merely trying to ascertain what is usual in cases involving high -caliber

weapons. Not everyone shares your obvious enthusiasm for the usual,

submit there are some acts committed under some circumstances that give some

people the right to examine them under the somewhat general classification as

something usual. And I submit that making those assumptions in this case

for a sexist stereotype. What about sexist common sense?

Remember me?

I'm the person to whom you address your arguments, not each other.

The people's objection is sustained.

Let the record reflect that the witness has identified the defendant.

Miss Richland, are you sure it was the defendant you saw entering the

home on the night of the murder?

As everyone knows, I'm a reporter.

My job is observing and recognizing people.

There's no doubt in my mind.

Mrs. Douglas was the person I saw.

Thank you.

Nothing further.

Mr. Matlock?

Uh, Ms. Richland, you just testified that the reason you went to

see Mr.

Cassidy in person that night is because he had refused to answer any of your

phone calls. Is that right?

That's right.

Well, Stephen Cassidy's phone bills have been entered into evidence...

In this court, this bill covers the three weeks before his death.

You recognize that number right there?

Yes. It's the number at the TV station where I work.

But you said he never returned any of your calls.

He must have been calling someone else.

Your receptionist says otherwise.

She is prepared to testify.

that prior to his death, she put through several calls to you from Stephen

Cassidy. She said that she put through one call to you from him the day he was

murdered. Is that true?

Yes.

You and he had agreed to meet, hadn't you, at his house that night.

He was expecting you.

He'd put on water to boil. You must have told him you drink tea.

You're making this sound like I had something to do with his death.

I could make a case for that.

I didn't kill him. Why did you lie?

Because... Your meeting with him was personal, wasn't it?

He wanted to talk to you that night.

Because in doing his research for his book on the Douglases, he found out

something about you, hadn't he?

Had to do with a man, didn't it, that you had been seeing a few years before.

A man who could exert a certain influence on

the television station where you worked to give you your own show. A man whose

family owned that television station. Married man.

And his name is, uh... Objection. Relevancy.

Overruled. This is bias and motive.

Thank you. His name is... James Douglas.

But that doesn't mean I killed Stephen Cassidy.

But are you sure this doesn't all tie together somehow? This man was going to

expose your affair to the world. No, no, that doesn't change the fact that the

woman I saw that night was Vanessa Douglas.

Oh, she's the obvious one to frame for this murder.

She walked up to the door.

She knocked. She opened the door and she went in.

That's the truth. I swear it.

Mr. Matlock?

Your Honor.

Your Honor, if it please the court, I'd like to take a recess to confer with my

client. Well, since it is the end of the day,

We'll reconvene tomorrow morning at 10.

Thank you, counsel.

Farrow was right.

You really are brilliant.

For the first time, I feel like I got a chance.

What's wrong?

You did it.

I beg your pardon?

The doorbell.

Anyone coming up to Stephen Cassidy's house would ring the doorbell.

Impossible to miss.

But the killer knocked.

Because the killer knew the doorbell doesn't work.

The prosecution was right.

Stephen Cassidy's book was going to deliver the dirt all right.

It wasn't the Douglas's dirt.

It was yours.

So you killed him.

Your job is to defend me no matter what.

Your Honor, in accordance with the counsel's discussion in chambers this

morning, I'd like to reconstruct as near as possible the conditions under which

this witness identified my client.

People renew their objection.

Overruled. Proceed, Mr. Matlock. Thank you. The first thing I'd like to ask my

client to leave the room. Thank you.

And, uh...

Now, Ms.

Richland, I'm going to ask the bailiff to turn off all the lights in the room.

Then after my client has reentered the room, I'm going to ask him to turn the

lights back on slowly, carefully.

And when what you see by the light in this room approximates what you saw

by the light that existed that night outside Stephen Cassidy's house, I want

to tell him to stop.

Is that clear?

Perfectly. All right.

I'll ask the bailiff to turn off the lights.

Now open the door.

Now bring up the lights slowly.

Is that what you saw?

There was a little more light.

There. That's it right there.

That's approximately what you saw.

That's exactly what I saw.

So what you're saying is the woman you saw entering Stephen

Cassidy's house the night he was murdered was Dr.

Sarah Pearl.

I think what you're really saying is you saw someone enter Stephen Cassidy's

house that night.

It may have looked like Vanessa Douglas, but as we have seen, it could have been

anyone. Even one of Atlanta's most prominent physicians.

Thank you. No further questions.

Miss March?

No questions, Your Honor.

The witness may step down.

For my next witness, I call Dr.

Sarah Perlman to the stand.

First of all, doctor, I want to thank you for helping me with that little

demonstration. I was happy to do it.

Luckily, both you women are approximately the same height and

imagine that you swapped clothes often when you were in college.

Yes, as a matter of fact, we did.

Did Stephen...

interview you for that book he was writing about Vanessa?

Yes, he did, twice.

And that's because you were oldest and best friends?

Yes.

So what did you tell him?

What Vanessa was like as a child.

What she's like as an adult.

He wasn't looking for gossip. He was just doing research on her.

Did... Did he do...

Very much research on you.

What do you mean?

Well, did he know that you were in the habit of prescribing sedatives for

Vanessa? I've prescribed for her on occasion. Very addictive sedatives.

My patient needed them.

Addictive.

They have the potential of being addictive, yes. That's what he wanted to

about, wasn't it?

This unhealthy relationship you had with Vanessa, how you kept her dependent on

you through drugs.

No. Oh, come on, Doctor.

You know that's it.

That's the stuff bestsellers are made from.

And that's why you had to make sure that book was never published, wasn't it?

What are you trying to say?

Where were you the night of the murder?

I was in my office, working.

The office in the hospital?

No, my office downtown.

Did anyone see you there?

No.

Did anyone call you there?

I don't recall.

So you can't substantiate where you were at the time of the murder, can you?

This is absurd. Third.

You recognize this gun?

Yes, this is the gun I gave Vanessa for protection.

Is it registered?

I don't know. My ex -husband gave it to me.

Does she know how to fire?

No.

She said she would learn.

But you know how to fire it, don't you?

To a degree.

Did you know where Vanessa kept it in the apartment?

Yes, she showed me. She kept it in her bed stand.

So someone stole only this gun from that bed stand, didn't he?

Yes. She called me to tell me about it.

You had a key to the apartment?

Yes, I do. I go over to see how she is sometimes.

You stole this gun, didn't you?

No.

You had a key to the apartment, you knew where it was kept, and you stole it.

No, why would I go... That's, uh, that platinum wig that you wore in

court a while ago.

When did you get that?

Three or four years ago. Oh, so you had it the night of the murder.

Yes. And you used it to impersonate Vanessa that night, didn't you?

No.

You are saying I killed Stephen Cassidy?

He knew you were overprescribing for her. He was about to publish that in his

book. That would seriously have affected your job. Oh, no, I was not

overprescribing. Think that would have done how your patients would have

responded to reading...

That about you and that kind of best stuff. What are you trying to do to me?

You had motive, Doctor. You had access to the murder weapon.

You have no alibi.

You know what I think?

I think when you found out that your relationship with Vanessa was going to

exposed in Stephen Cassidy's book, you stole her gun.

Oh, no, this is ridiculous.

Disguise yourself as Vanessa.

No. That's enough.

Murdered him. No, that is not true. Put the gun in the trunk of her car. No,

stop it.

Order.

This court will come to order.

Mr. Matlock, please advise your client that such outbursts will not be

tolerated.

Yes, sir.

You've got to stop it.

I'm not finished.

You'll destroy her.

I think I can convince the court that she's guilty of this murder.

Please stop.

Dr. Perlman, I apologize.

Your Honor, I think my client wishes to change her plea

from not guilty to guilty.

Well, I never thought I'd see Ben Matlock lose a case.

How's it feel?

Feels fine. I've lost before.

It's sure fascinating watching you work over Dr.

Perlman. Jeffrey, he wasn't working over Dr.

Perlman.

Sometimes Ben has to use extraordinary means to arrive at the truth. In this

case, a confession from Vanessa.

He was using extraordinary means. He wasn't working over Dr.

Perlman. Well, he...

Excuse me.

Thanks. Well, he had no business talking to you like that. Well, I...

I did lose.

Yes.

And that means you won.

Yes.

I called for victory dinner this Friday.