Original subtitles

Don't share it with me.

I am tired.

I've had it up to here with you. I'm not blaming you about it. I know that a lot

of this is my fault.

You bet it's your fault. Just, if you want what you want, it stands up to you.

mean,

Steve, what?

It's embarrassing to me. I'm embarrassed.

Sheriff.

Sheriff.

Joyful are ye nations, right?

Excuse me, miss, do you have any quarter, anything that you can spare for

anything? Christmas season.

Thanks a whole lot.

Thank you for the offer.

Oh,

listen, Eldon, just leave another bag. Oh, Eldon, please.

Eldon, please. It's a very bad time. It's a very bad day.

All right? Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, Mr. Lister.

Did you find your wife okay?

She called just after you left to say she'd be late.

Yeah, I found it. Thanks.

I don't know Santa's all about his stealth bombers this year, but may help

He's so nice to play with.

Steve, how was your trip?

I'm glad you're back.

Explain this, Carl.

Well, I hired a Santa, a couple of elves, an extra salesperson.

Well, they're bringing in business, Steve. Merry Christmas.

No, no, they are costing us more than they are bringing in. You show me the

profit.

Just start it. It takes a little while for word of mouth. Word of mouth?

What is wrong?

Is that grant yours?

Word of mouth.

You know, if you pay more attention to business... Your sister's husband was

just in here now. I saw him on the way in.

Tried to hit me up for some money.

Tried? You mean you actually said no?

Well, I made up my mind.

Eldon will never learn to stand on his own two feet unless I stop supporting

him. You happy?

No. No, I'm not happy.

Your deadbeat brother called me, begging for a job. I told him to forget it, so

he's coming over here tonight to ask you for one. And you are going to tell him

no way, aren't you, Carl?

I guess.

Good evening, Mr. Lister.

Sister Marie is here. She wants to talk to you about some toys.

Come here, come here, come here.

I want to talk to you in board games. Get over here.

Watch!

This year, we are sending our damaged toys straight back to the manufacturer

pays for breakage. No more orphanages.

But, Steve, we're talking about kids. I mean, orphans who have nothing.

When are you going to learn the difference between a business and a

What is that god -awful noise?

It's Christmas music.

I bought some tapes for the new PA system I had put in. You put in a PA

Yes.

Get out.

No more. This isn't a camera store.

Chubbs, you're fired. What are you doing?

Take a hike and take your Aaron with you. You can't do this. Half this snore

mine. And the other half is mine. And my half says profits.

And I'm not going to stand around while you give away jingle bells.

You got that?

Good night.

Merry Christmas.

Good night. Thank you, kid.

Good night.

Want me to stay and help?

Oh.

My brother's coming by.

He wants a little job anyway.

He'll help me.

Want me to call your wife and tell her you'll be late?

Thanks, but she isn't exactly waiting to hear from me.

Good night, Mr. Lister.

Good night, Donna.

Mom!

Mom!

Mom! Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

Mom! Mom! Mom!

Mom!

Mom!

You mean you already bought them and wrapped them? Yeah, what? Christmas

shopping's great.

Walking down a crowd of stories, people are pushing at you and shoving and

grabbing at stuff and telling their kids to shut up.

You like that?

No, no.

It's like when I go to the dentist. I hate it when I'm there, but I love it

I'm done.

And, folks,

the kid is done.

Ah, so am I.

Well, good on both of you.

Thank you.

Hi. Hey, look at you. Hey.

Well, Christmas isn't to be jolly.

I just wanted to give you this. Oh.

And since the gang's all here, Michelle, here's yours. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Christmas cards?

No, I mail those.

Huh? All right, it's a party.

Yeah, Christmas Day every year. You cooking?

Absolutely. The invitation's so early.

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away.

Bye. Hey, are you going to the courthouse? Yeah. Oh, I'll go with you.

Bye, Ben.

Bye. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Later. We're going to a party. Yeah.

Having a little fun.

Oh,

man. Tired?

Yeah, but it ain't a good time.

You know, every Christmas, it's the same thing.

I wait till the last minute. Nothing gets done.

I don't have any fun. I don't do anything people are supposed to do at

Christmas. Well, by dog, not this year.

I'm going to shop. I'm going to decorate. I'm going to go to church.

Hell, I might even make some gingerbread cookies.

You can cook?

Can a goose fly?

Hey, hey, hey, Les said that he might go to Ray Templin's about now.

Let's go over there. Let's go over there and wish him a Merry Christmas and have

a little cheer.

All right.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you.

Painting the folks a little.

Spreading a little Christmas cheer.

You seem a little down, Conrad.

Where's Ben?

Ben's why I'm down.

What happened?

We were going to come over here. We were going to have a little cheer.

Then we were going to go and do some shopping. Now he's over at the jail and

he's talking to that guy. Who's he at the jail talking to?

That guy who owns the toy store.

Steven Abbott?

That's what he do.

He's accused of killing his partner.

He did it all right. No question about it. He did it.

His dog dug up by a zealot.

Yeah?

He said it was his wife's dog, and he wasn't responsible.

But then his wife died.

And then his dog died.

Yeah. Oh, he killed the man, all right. No question.

You had a very loud argument with your partner the day before the murder.

It was not an argument. It was a discussion. Business.

Mr. Abbott went berserk.

He started screaming at poor Mr. Lester.

He even fired Santa in front of a nun and some orphans.

What kind of a monster does that?

He was stabbed with a letter opener.

Your letter opener.

That letter opener sat in plain sight on my desk in the back room day in and day

out. Anybody could have used it to stab Carl. Anybody!

We found Abbott's fingerprints all over the letter opener.

Just his. Nobody else's.

I am a respectable businessman who once in a while happened to have a minor

disagreement with his partner.

But his family, all bums.

Yesterday, his brother -in -law, Eldon Williams, comes into the store begging

Carl for money. For the first time, Carl turns him down. He storms out breathing

fire. His brother -in -law owed him money? His brother -in -law owed him

yeah. And then there's his wife, grade A bimbo.

finally wises up to what everyone else knew and confronts her yesterday at

lunch. She doesn't love him. He picks up the check.

His wife was seeing another man?

Yeah. Yeah. And then there's his brother, Stuart, another loser.

Calls me yesterday begging for a job. I turn him down. He says he's going to

come to the store after hours and con Carl into giving him one. Are you saying

that Carl's brother killed him? I'm only saying I didn't.

to repeat just what you told me.

You saw a man come up behind the man who was decorating the tree and stabbed

him.

Then the man who was stabbed fell down and the other man bent down over him.

Yeah.

Then I started yelling for my mom.

Well, that's very good, Matthew.

Now, I want you to do one more thing.

Can you show me the man who did the stabbing?

That's him.

Well, I'll try to get you a ring by this afternoon and maybe out on bail by

tonight. I'll hurry up. I got a store to run.

There is more to Christmas than running a store and doing business.

The only reason for any holiday is to sell. That's why the government created

most of them. Now, I'm going to represent you on this. I don't know why.

I guess it's because I know you're too smart to have committed a murder this

sloppy. I don't mean... that you wouldn't commit a murder. I think you

but not this one.

I'll tell you something else.

You're the worst neighbor I've ever had, and the absolute hatefulest man I've

ever known, and the meanest.

Firing Santa Claus in front of children.

You may not ever know that this is the season for giving and being jolly, but

damn once in your life, you're going to do it. I don't know about the jolly

part, but you're going to give, and I'm talking about give.

Bless my...

25 % because your dog dug up my azaleas. What do you think of that?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thank you. Thank you very much, sir.

Hey there, sir.

Merry Christmas.

Jeez, there's hardly anybody in here. It's like a morgue, isn't it? Yeah. You

want something?

No, I should buy something. I should buy that train.

I've never had a train before.

You're too old.

Mr. Abbott, I'm Conrad McMasters.

I work for Ben Matlock.

Two of you, huh?

I thought this was going to cost me.

Oh, yeah, there's a lot in our crowd.

And while it's a...

It's expensive. It'll be worth it in the long run, don't you think?

Why'd you come back here that night?

I wanted to pick up the damaged toys before Carl had a chance to fix them up

give them away.

Come in the front door or the back?

Back.

So the front door was locked.

So it was a back. I had to use my key.

So how'd the killer get in?

Maybe he knocked and Carl let him in. How should I know?

Who has keys?

Just me and Carl.

So Carl's wife could have had a duplicate mate?

Yeah.

Carl's sister, Eldon Williams' wife, she worked here a while back.

So did Stuart.

Carl's brother.

Yeah, the flake.

Carl used to let them open up. Both of them could have had keys.

Morning, Mr. Abbott.

How dare you show your face in here after what you told the police about me?

All I did was answer their questions.

Fire. Get out. Get out.

Get out.

Mr. Abbott, how could you do that?

It's Christmas time.

He's about as loyal as a snake.

I, for one, say good riddance.

Steve, uh... I'm so sorry.

Spare me.

I'm Conrad McMasters. I work for Ben Matlock.

Oh, good, good. And you are?

I'm Carl's brother, Stuart.

Oh, you work here? Yes. No.

Steve, you need me. You don't have Carl. You just fired Donna.

He's not thinking too clearly. My brother's death came as a terrible

and Carl were very close.

Now, I'm staying whether you pay me or not. It's the least I can do for my

brother. Now, where do you want the box?

All right, open it up.

Start stacking those shelves.

$5 .50 an hour. You work only through New Year's.

These kids are panhandling out front again.

What? What?

Hey, away from this store. Come on, get up.

Um...

He must be losing his brother now.

Yeah.

I hear you were going to drop by the store the night of the murder.

Talked to Carl about a job.

Yeah, I was, but I never got here.

How come?

Well, I started over here, and then I thought, why beg for a job? I mean, it's

the holidays, party season, so I figured, you know, I'd just wait for the

weekend. He'd call it for a loan.

But Carl's gone.

The cupboard's bare.

5 .50 now, it looks pretty good.

Where'd you go that night?

The movies.

With a girlfriend?

I'm between girlfriends.

Am I a suspect?

Depends. Now that Carl's dead, who gets his half of the story, his wife?

No, Sherry, no. She hates his place and Carl knew it, so he left it to Kathy,

our sister, and me.

You're a suspect.

Kids are always blocking my doorway, pestering my customers. Cops never do a

thing.

You leaving? Yeah. I got to talk to Stuart. Did you buy anything?

No.

Okay, wait a minute.

How much is the train?

Just the engine. It's $300.

Here's a tenth spot.

Hold it for me, all right?

Did you find out anything?

Yeah.

You think you know who did it? Oh, yeah.

All of them.

Hey, do you have any spare change?

A quarter, anything?

Hey.

Oh,

I've got something.

Worth a lot more than that.

Do you kids hang around in front of the toy store at night sometimes?

You a cop?

No, I'm a liar.

What I want to know is did you see anybody go in or come out of the toy

around, say, 7 .30 last Tuesday night?

That's when that guy got out.

That's right. Well, how much is it worth to you?

It's worth...

That. A crummy business card?

No, that's an IOU.

You tell me what you saw last Tuesday night.

Next time you get in trouble with the law, I'll help you out.

Forget it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Well,

all I have to do is tell you what I saw that night, and I got me a big -time

lawyer.

Well, we were out here all day and all night, right up until they carried the

body out, and we didn't see nothing or nobody.

They're going to be my lawyer.

Deal's a deal.

How about this?

You keep your eye on the toy store. You see anything unusual, you call it.

All right?

Okay?

Ray plays those Christmas songs. No, I don't do them. But I got to eat and go

Christmas shopping. It's always closing now.

Finished my Christmas shopping in October.

In October?

Yeah. My mother was like that.

She always finished her Christmas shopping in October.

All those cow hoes were like that.

Always finished their Christmas shopping in October.

In fact, in some places, We are still known as the October Calhouns.

October Calhoun.

So, how many presents do you still have to buy?

All of them.

You haven't bought any?

No, well, I've got this case and I haven't had the time.

Well, I've got time.

Let me do your shopping. Oh, no, no, no.

What are friends for?

I'm here.

I love to shop. I've got great taste.

And I've already been an October cow.

So now I'll be a December cow.

$22 ,000. That's what I said.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait, that's too much. Look.

$15 ,000.

At 20 % a week for eight days.

22 ,000 today, 23 ,000 tomorrow, 24 ,000 the next day.

You get the picture?

Yeah.

Good.

Oh.

Oh, hi.

Hi.

Hey.

Told me I might find you here a bit in that lot.

Too bad about your brother -in -law. I know how close you were.

Yeah. Yeah, he was always loaning you money and paying off your gambling

Abbott tell you that? He told me that Carl cut you off. That make you mad?

Abbott killed Carl.

Now that Carl's gone, who inherits his half of the stories? Why?

She'll get part of it. Yeah. What about you?

Your wife told me that you weren't at home around 7 .30 last Tuesday night.

I was with her friends watching the Longo -Robertson fight.

Till when?

Till it was over.

I've got to see somebody.

Not a bookie?

How'd you do?

Pretty good. Wait, wait, wait.

Count it.

26.

27. 83.

Oh,

wait a minute.

That's the door to the tour store.

Yeah.

So you think all of them did it, huh?

Well, they all could have.

And one of them did.

Now, was there a Robertson -Longo fight on TV that night?

Well, that's easy enough to find out.

You know, this stuff.

Eldon Williams is a compulsive gambler, and I bet he was just madder than hell

when Carl cut him off and wouldn't pay his gambling debts anymore.

You're putting all the red ones in one place, Conrad.

Well, you could help.

I'm helping.

Hand him that moose.

It's a reindeer.

Thank you.

Stuart Lister's a real piece of work, too.

He's been hired and fired so many times, it's amazing the IRS hasn't run out of

forms. Oh, that's right.

Carl was taking care of him, too.

See, now, if Carl was supporting both of those guys, why would either one of

them try to kill him?

Well, they both stood to inherit part of the toy store.

Okay. Well, what about his wife?

Grief -stricken.

She hasn't seen anybody or been out of the house for days, but according to her

maid, all that's over.

Why, what happened?

Her roots started to show.

Oh, it's so much better. Mucho, mucho, mucho better.

Suzanne, you're a genius. I love it.

Sherry Lister?

Yeah? Michelle Tomlin. I work with Ben Matlock, Stephen Abbott's attorney.

I'm in mourning.

Stephen Abbott is the reason why. You can just keep on going, Susan.

I can appreciate your feelings.

Your husband was a good man.

Generous. I hear he left his share of the toy store to his brother and sister.

He left everything else to me.

I'm not going to be rich, but I'll be comfortable.

He spend a lot of time at the toy store?

Every minute he could.

Must have been pretty bored.

I have my own interests.

Stephen Abbott says you were having an affair.

Stephen Abbott is a liar. He says your husband found out about it, confronted

you, and eight hours later, he was dead.

That jerk said that I killed him. Maybe Carl was so mad about your affair that

he threatened to cut you out of his will completely. And maybe you killed him

before he could do that.

That's it, Blondie. Where were you that night? I was out with friends.

What are their names?

Dennis Johnson.

Hey,

someone tried to break into the toy store last night. Yeah, we chased him,

he got away.

Did you get a look at him?

It was too dark.

Why didn't you call me?

So maybe we didn't have a call.

Keep up the good work.

Get out of here. The store is not yours to sell. It belongs to your wife.

What's going on?

Oh, Eldon here is trying to sell his wife's share of the store for half of

it's worth.

You can't do that.

I just wanted to give you first crack. I figured I owed it to Carl to make you a

good deal.

You can't do that.

He's only asking $2 ,000 over what he owes the loan sharks.

Okay.

Okay. Wind up with a total stranger.

Found to be an improvement over you.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hey,

hey, hey.

Why don't I take off?

You're off even when you're on.

So, business is slow.

Try stinks.

Gonna be my worst Christmas in history.

Well, there's more to Christmas than just business.

Like what?

Oh, like love, worship, giving.

But to get back to your...

Original complaint.

Your business, I believe you said, stinks because of your lousy attitude.

Who do you think you're talking to?

You. See, if there's two toy stores in town, and one of them's run by a nice

and the other one's run by a jerk, well, people are naturally going to go see

the nice guy.

See?

Now, you're going to trial before a jury of people, just people.

And whether you like it or not, most of those people believe that Christmas is a

time of giving, not just business.

So unless you want to alienate these people and go to prison for the rest of

your life, you're going to have to hide your true feelings of Christmas and make

those people think that you really believe it is more blessed to give than

receive.

Now, did you get that, or do you want me to run over it one more time?

He snuck up behind him and stabbed the guy who was decorating the tree.

Then the guy fell down. He didn't know where the thing was back.

Then the first guy bent down over him like he was going to stab him again,

maybe. When I started to hear, the guy looked up and saw me, then he stopped.

So you got a real clear look at his face.

Yeah.

This man that you saw, is he in the courtroom now?

Yeah, he's right there.

This is the man that stabbed Mr. Lister.

You sure?

I'm real sure.

Let the record show the witness has identified the defendant, Stephen

One word and you'll never hear the sound of a cash register again.

Thank you, Matthew. No further questions, Your Honor.

Does the defense wish to cross -examine?

We do, Your Honor.

How are you doing, Matthew?

Okay.

Hoo -wee, a lot of people here today.

Is it kind of scary knowing they're listening to everything you say?

Kind of.

I'm going to ask you a couple questions and you just answer them the best you

can, okay?

Okay.

Now, you said that man over there, Mr. Abbott, came up behind the man who was

decorating the tree, Mr. Lister, and stabbed him.

Uh -huh.

Who was taller?

The man who decorated the tree or the man who stabbed him?

I don't know.

Well, Mr. Abbott had to have been standing right behind Mr. Lister if he

him, so just think back real hard.

Who was taller, Mr.

Abbott or Mr. Lister?

Mr. Lister?

Maybe this question will be easier.

Who was heavier, you know, fatter?

The man who was stabbed, Mr. Lister, or the man who stabbed him, Mr. Abbott?

Mr.

Lister?

Well, as it happens, Matthew, Mr.

Lister was only about five foot seven inches tall.

Mr. Abbott's almost six feet tall, so he's the taller man.

He also weighs over 200 pounds, so Mr.

Abbott's the heavier man, too.

Look, here's a picture of him. See?

See, that's Mr. Abbott, and that's Mr. Lister.

Guess I made a mistake, huh?

Yeah.

And I think I know why.

It's because you never saw Mr.

Abbott and Mr. Lister standing up.

All you saw was Mr. Lister lying on the floor and Mr. Abbott bending over him.

Isn't that right?

And nobody's going to be disappointed in you.

Nobody's going to be angry with you.

As long as you tell the truth.

What did you see when you looked in the window that night, Matthew?

I saw me lying on the floor.

I saw that man over there leaning over him.

So you never saw that man over there, Mr. Abbott, stab anyone?

No.

Nothing further.

You ain't getting away from his death path, sucker.

I caught him breaking in. No, I wasn't.

I wasn't breaking in.

I wasn't breaking in.

No, I was trying to get my wallet.

Your wallet?

Yes, my wallet. I didn't realize I'd left it here until about an hour ago.

you leave it here a couple of nights ago?

Hey.

All right.

All right, I was going to use my key to get into the cash register and then I'd

make it look like a break -in.

Well, if you wanted to steal, why didn't you steal in the daytime while you were

working? He was afraid I might catch him.

Ah, I see.

You have a key, you need money.

Maybe you killed Carl.

No. I was in jail that night. Jail? Yeah, on my way to see Carl, I got

over for speeding. I had eight tickets for parking and speeding, so a bondsman

had to bail me in the morning. Now you owe him.

Yes. Give me your key to the store.

Get out of here.

How about... Get out.

Boys, you might as well go home, too.

I appreciate your help.

Looked like we had a live one there, didn't it? Yeah.

Just keep working, and next time we'll get one, I'll bring him up like that.

Okay. Thanks again for your help, boys.

Oh, hey, wait a minute. You know, I left home in such a hurry.

I left everything there. I didn't bring anything with me, but I... Oh, yeah, I

did find this. It's a five -by

-three.

Okay.

Like that. Good night.

Bye. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Here they are.

Took a while to find them all. Okay,

thanks, George. Yeah, I owe you one.

Stuart Lister was in prison the night of the murder.

Sherry Lister was with her friend.

Did Dennis watch his face?

Johnson, at the Emerald Lounge, the bartender and two waitresses saw them.

Okay, so it's got to be Eldon Williams or this bird we're defending.

Yeah.

Well, let's hope Santa Claus will give us a little present.

What's going on?

Well, I think I can prove you didn't kill Carl.

Well, finally.

First sign this.

What? Pass an amendment to our contract.

Right?

Uh,

Mr. Williams.

Are you in debt?

Aren't we all?

$30 ,000 in under a week cash plus interest.

I don't owe anybody $30 ,000.

Tony Costa says you do. You know Tony.

Yeah. You borrow money from Tony to pay your bookie, don't you?

Yes. You're a compulsive gambler, aren't you? I wouldn't say that. Your wife

would, and she'd just love to come up here and tell us all about it, shall we

call it?

My wife and I are having some problems. I know.

She's filed for divorce.

Objection. Relevancy.

Lloyd, how can you object to that? I say the man's a compulsive gambler. He says

he's not. His wife wants to testify.

He says they're having problems. She says she wants to file for divorce. How

that not be relevant?

Mr. Matlock, your blood pressure.

Objection is sustained.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Mr.

Williams, Carl Lister was your wife's brother, is that right?

Yes. And in his will, he stipulated that upon his death, she would receive

half of his half of L &A Toys, right?

Yes. Now, you owe Tony Costa money, and you were trying to sell your

wife's share of the store.

That's against the law. You can't sell a person's inherited possession without

their permission.

They'll put you in prison for that. But I guess you were desperate.

I suppose.

You knew that if she divorced you before she got her inheritance, you'd never

see a dime on it. Now, wait a minute. And when you got wind of the divorce,

didn't waste any time. You took her keys, put on some kind of gloves,

the toy store, took Stephen Abbott's letter opener, slipped up behind your

brother -in -law and stabbed him to death. That is not true. Objection.

fact, not in evidence. It's argumentative.

I have proof, Your Honor.

Overruled. Proof, Mr. Matlock?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Right here.

These pictures, which I'd like entered into evidence, as defense exhibits, C

D.

Now, this first picture, as you can see,

is a picture of Santa Claus. See? See?

Picture of Santa Claus taken about four hours

before the murder.

Now, the second one is a blow -up of the same.

What I wanted you to see was what was in that display case behind Santa Claus.

It's one of those tiny calculators that's also a date book.

It keeps dates, phone numbers, appointments, stuff like that. But

day after the murder, it was gone.

It hadn't been sold or anything. It was just gone.

Now, Mr. Williams, you have a calculator like that, don't you?

No.

Didn't I see it when I ran into you at the bar?

You're mistaken.

I asked your wife this morning, and she says that you have a calculator just

like this one. So you take it with you everywhere.

Said you just got it. Said you never said where you got it.

But I bet I know where you got it.

You got it out of that display case when you killed your brother -in -law,

didn't you? That is not true.

Empty your pockets.

No. Objection.

Your Honor, I believe that this witness possesses...

That piece of evidence, which is critical to my client's defense.

Empty your pockets, Mr. Williams.

Just... Just the inside left pocket.

Just a coincidence.

No. No.

And a comparison of the serial numbers will prove it.

Bet on it.

We're going to bring a man out here that I know you all...

Now, let me explain.

The main Santa, the main Santa, is real busy tonight. I'm talking real

busy.

So he couldn't come.

Well, what he did was, what he did was, he picked out a friend of his from our

very own town to be him.

explain about our Santa Claus.

You see, he's new.

He's new and he's inexperienced.

Now, he may act like he doesn't like what he's doing.

But don't let that bother you. Don't let that bother you. When he gives you a

present, give him a kiss.

Yeah, okay?

Maybe someday he'll like it too. What say?

Yeah!

All right.

Here he is.

The man of the hour.