Original subtitles

No, absolutely not. I'm telling you, we need more time. You've got a lot of

nerve coming to odds with me now.

Ed, you've got to handle this. How?

How? What the hell am I supposed to do?

We were even closer.

Tim. Tim.

Would you tell me what's going on? What do you mean?

I feel like I'm in the middle of a psychodrama and I don't know what it's

about. You're imagining things.

Don't treat me like I don't belong.

I'm as much a part of this company as you are. Jerry, relax.

I don't want to relax.

Someone's got to tell me what's going on in this place.

Hi, Jeff.

Hi. We're having lunch today.

Ed's in there with him. Why don't you have a seat?

Oh,

Jeff.

Come in.

Maybe we should reschedule lunch. Would you mind?

Of course not.

Are you okay?

No.

Well, you want to talk about it? It might make you feel better.

You know something?

You're right.

Remember Ed Billings, the president of the company? Sure.

He just fired me.

You? Yeah, me.

Welcome to the world of business.

Come on.

Let's get out of here.

We're going to lunch.

Remember two summers ago when you worked in my lab? I just started a research

project. Yeah, on hair growth. That's right. Well, it turned out better than

anyone thought.

It worked?

A bit in time.

Billings and Mass was going to make millions when the project comes out. So

did Mr. Billings fire you? So they don't have to split the profits. with me he

can't fire you like that just out of the blue you know i was such an idiot ed's

been jumping down my throat the past couple of months i thought he was having

personal problems he was setting me up getting ready to dump me so can't you

just take the formula someplace else the company owns it jeff they own

everything i create if i try to sell it somewhere else it'll claim i stole it

and sue besides i don't even have my notes and samples they're in my lab Ed's

posting a security guard at the door to make sure I don't go in. I can't believe

this. You?

I was looking at millions.

You know, I could get in.

What do you mean?

Well, I know where everything is. I know the lab. I could sneak in. I could get

your notes and those samples.

Forget it.

All I need is your security pass.

I could do it tonight.

You could get caught.

I worked there for three months. I know the place like the back of my hand.

Here.

My security card.

The key to the refrigerator lock. Oh, the combination to the safe.

I'm sure you'll be all right.

It's no problem.

Ready?

The good news is I got the notebook.

The bad news is that I lost the samples.

I tripped and fell and they all broke. I'm sorry.

That's all right.

My notes are all I really need.

You did it.

There's one other thing.

You know Harry the security guard?

Yeah. I think he recognized me.

I have to do while you're painting my house one time.

What are you calling me in the middle of the night for?

You didn't want?

No. No, I'm not coming down to that jail at 3 o 'clock in the morning.

No, you get all caught somewhere and go to sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Good.

3 o 'clock.

I didn't think I'd get caught, and I wouldn't have if it wouldn't have been

that damn guard.

I mean, I still can't believe he remembered me. I only worked there three

months. I should have worn a mask. Jeff.

It's not that you got caught. You committed a crime.

Well, so did Billings and Maslow when they fired Dr.

Kreider. No.

What, you're going to tell me that you don't think what they did to him was

wrong? The laws.

I wasn't stealing anything.

I was helping a friend get back something that was stolen from him. And

want to throw me in prison for that, well, then that's just fine.

You used to be a pretty good house painter, but your mind's really screwed

What happened to you?

Thanks a lot.

Well, I'm sorry.

Three o 'clock in the morning and I can't pull my punches.

Hey, where are you going? Home.

You just can't leave me here like this. What's one night in jail for somebody

that thinks going to prison is swell?

Guard! I don't want to go to prison. Don't do that. Don't shake me.

I'm sorry. All these people want their notebook back. If they get that back,

maybe they'll drop the charges. I gave it to Dr. Kreider. Okay. Guard!

They really are his notes. Okay.

Mr. Crider?

Yes? Hi.

Hi.

I'm Ben Matlock, a lawyer.

Excuse me. I was up half the night.

I represent Jeff Duvall. He was arrested last night for that burglary.

What burglary?

Out at the lab.

They had a burglary last night?

Yeah. Jeff broke in and stole your notes for your baldness cure.

Why on earth would he steal my notes?

I thought you told him to.

I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about. Excuse me.

Well, I don't intend to tell anybody at your company that you're involved if

that's what you're afraid of. All I want is for you to give me the notes so I

can give them back to them and we can forget this whole thing ever happened.

notes are under lock and key at the lab. At least they'd better be.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to work.

Work?

I thought you'd been fired. Who the hell told you that?

Jeff!

I like Jeff. He's a very hard worker, and someday I expect he'll make an

excellent chemist. But he is a little flaky.

Now, excuse me.

He gave you the pass card.

The key to the refrigerator lock, the combination to the safe, and he denied

He denied everything.

Why?

I don't know.

If Billings and Maslow don't get that notebook back, I'm in real trouble.

That's right.

I can't believe it. I was trying to do him a favor.

Jeff, what you did was really dumb.

It was so dumb, I believe you.

I'll get you out on bail.

Then what?

I don't know.

House painters are hard to find. You still know how to handle a brush.

So what do you think, Tim? How far behind does this put us?

Four months, maybe six.

Even with the samples we still have?

If we didn't have those samples, we'd be behind a full year.

What do you want me to tell the press?

The truth.

The formula for the hair restore that we were on the verge of marketing was

stolen.

We are actively engaged in redeveloping it and hope to be in production within

six months.

Shall I use the name Follinger?

Why not? That is the name we're marketing it under.

Nothing wrong with giving it a little exposure.

You're still working.

You told me you had been fired. You lied to me, Tim. What the hell's going on?

Somebody gets security.

Who is this guy?

The kid who broke in here last night. It was all a setup.

You used me to steal your own formula so that you could peddle into the highest

bidder and I could take the heat. That's ridiculous.

Do yourself some good, Jeff. I suggest you get out of here.

He told me that he had been fired.

He told me that you guys were ripping him off. He told me to steal his notes

that we could take his discovery to another company.

It was all his idea. I was just as fancy. Get him out of here.

Right away, Mark. How do you think that I got in here last night?

How do you think that I knew the combination to the safe? He gave it to

That's how. He gave me a security card and his keys.

Get him out of here.

Come on, bud. Let's go. What kind of creep are you?

How could you do this to me?

Tim?

Tim?

He's supposed to be bowling, but his car's still in the drive.

Hey, Ann.

Wait. No.

Hello.

Oh, Jeff.

What did you break into tonight?

What?

Somebody planted the murder weapon in my truck. There was no knife there when I

parked for the night.

I'm telling you, someone planted it there.

I went over to the lab yesterday.

Tim Crider was there. He lied to me about being fired.

I mean, I was completely flipped out.

He made me feel sorry for him, and he got me to do all this dirty work for

And I wanted to see if he had the nerve to deny it to my face, and he did.

A couple of guards came and threw me out. I mean, they were all there.

Ed Billings, Dr.

Masler, and some other guy that I don't know.

Who's Dr.

Masler? Head chemist, co -founder of the company.

Okay.

Sit down.

What?

Sit down.

Now, tomorrow we're going to court again.

And your parents are going to come up with bail again.

And then you're going to go home again.

But one thing's going to change.

You're not going to call me to come down here in the middle of the night again.

I understand.

Right. So you're going to go home, hit the books, help your mama wash the

dishes, clean your paintbrushes.

Stay out of trouble.

You got that?

Don't tell me the Duval kit is your client. He painted my house one time.

you found anything?

Oh, my, aren't we testy here. I didn't get much sleep last night, so...

Well, we're pretty sure that murder weapon came from Dr.

Carter's tool kit here.

His wife remembers seeing him using it in here a couple of mornings ago.

Where was his wife that night? She's at the mall with a couple of friends.

Seems that he went bowling every Wednesday night.

She went shopping.

Now, her friends remember that Tim Crider was alive when they picked her

And he was dead by the time they dropped her off.

I promise he's going to be all right. Is that Miss Crider?

Yeah.

The word is that her husband found a cure for a ball.

What's that?

Why don't you try it?

What?

What have you got to lose? Give it a try.

Come on, Ben.

They never have found a cure for baldness, and they never will. What do

me for, a chump?

Yeah, but what if this is it?

Aren't you curious?

I am.

Give it a try.

You grow a little bit of hair, I'll give you 50 bucks.

I just feel stupid doing it. Just forget it.

Forget it.

What the hell?

Miss

Kreider,

I'm Ben Matlock. I represent Jeff Duvall.

I'm sorry, but I would just as soon not talk to you.

Okay.

Your husband... Your husband was a baller.

Every Wednesday night.

I bet he was good.

Mrs.

Kreider, I'm looking for a black, loose -leaf notebook.

about Ye Thick.

Would you have seen it anywhere around the house?

Tim was looking through a notebook like that yesterday morning.

He put it down right over here.

It's gone.

Oh, would you mind waiting and I'll tell Mr. Billings you're here.

Oh,

and your name again is? Ben Mallow.

Yes, I did, sir.

All right, tell him that I'll be right out.

Very well.

Excuse me.

He'll be right with you. Thank you.

Mr. Matlock?

I'm Ed Dilling.

Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't get the message that you were dropping by. I didn't

leave one. If it's inconvenient, I can come back.

Is there anything I can do for you? Sit down.

Well, the paper said that the theft of your formula could set you back almost

three months.

Oh, that was when Tim Crider was alive. Now that he's gone, I don't know what's

going to happen.

What do you think it would have cost you if Dr. Crider sold the formula to the

competition? Tim would have no reason to do that. He had a lucrative contract.

He stood to make millions.

Well, he told my client that you didn't want to share the profits with him. I'm

afraid that your client is lying to you. Why don't you drop by the office and

look at Tim's contract? Now, is there anything else?

Yeah, yeah.

I want to know who was with you and Dr. Masler when my client confronted Dr.

Kreider. Why do you ask?

Well, I believe that book...

was more valuable than a jewel.

I'm told that in time, your formula might have been worth hundreds of

of dollars.

And one of you might have believed what Jeff said.

And one of you might have gone to Dr. Crider's that night in an attempt to get

that book back. And when that attempt failed, you framed my client.

That's a ridiculous idea, sir.

Who else was in the room?

Jerry Hughes, our PR man.

Just out of curiosity, where were you that night?

At my office, working until 8 .15, and then I drove home.

Okay.

So what time you wanted to stop by your office? For what?

To look at Dr. Kreider's contract.

At a three o 'clock sound.

Perfect.

Fortunately, not all the phalloderm samples were lost. So we're breaking

those that are left and aligning the components.

Sort of working backwards.

I hope we can do it in time. In time for what?

Oh, in time to get the product out before anyone else does.

The future of your company depends on it.

Your future, too.

What do you mean?

You and Ed Billings put up a million dollars a week to get your company

You had to mortgage everything you and your family had.

And three years later, the company paid me back.

But then last year, the company needed another infusion of cash.

So you and Ed Billings put up $3 million apiece.

You mortgaged yourself to the hilt.

And you did it because Tim Kreider was going to have a marketable product in 12

to 18 months, and you knew you'd never have to worry about money again.

Didn't you feel betrayed when Jeff said he stole the formula so Dr. Kreider

could sell it to someone else?

I didn't believe that for a second.

Well, then you won't mind my asking where you were Wednesday night.

My alibi?

I was here in the lab working.

Alone.

You know, if Dr. Kreider didn't help Jeff break in here, who did?

I mean, where'd he get a pass card and the key to the refrigerator and the

combination to the safe?

Somebody had to help him.

All I know is it doesn't make sense for Tim to have stolen his own formula.

maybe your client figured out a way to bypass security when he used to work

here.

You knew Dr.

Kreider well?

We bowled together every Wednesday night.

Oh, that's right. I saw your picture with the team at his house. Did he get

along with the people he worked with?

Yes.

I wonder if he stole that formula not to make himself richer, but to make

somebody else poorer.

You mean to get back at somebody?

Well, the way I understand it, everybody in the company stood to profit off his

discovery. Well, all of us who own stock would have that for sure.

Our president, Ed Billings, was trying to time it so that the company would go

public just as Faloderm was released.

Pretty much guaranteeing that the stock would go through the roof. Through the

roof, yeah.

So a lot of people besides Dr.

Crowder would have become millionaires, huh?

What's more important, I would have gotten my hair back.

Yes?

All right, I'll tell him.

That was Ed.

He has a copy of Tim's contract ready and waiting. Oh, good, good.

Nice to talk to you.

The game is a mess.

So I went back to the bar, and I snuck a peek at his tab.

Yeah. His name's Julian Ingersoll. Mm -hmm. He's in room 1627.

Yeah. Registered there the day before Dr.

Kreider was murdered. Yeah.

What did the fellow look like?

Big guy.

Big guy. Broad shoulders like a linebacker.

Blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.

That sounds like a guy...

I saw slipping out of the back door of Ed Billings' house.

Sneaking around a lot, huh?

Yeah. Well, what was in that briefcase?

Payoffs. No.

Well, I'll tell you one thing. Tim Crider had a good contract.

He lied to Jeff about getting ripped off, just like he lied to him about

fired.

Now, that gone.

Who would give me that?

You're supposed to get something for Christmas you can use or at least eat.

There's you.

There's you.

Next to your fruitcake. I love fruitcake.

I bought that for you so I could borrow it. You can't borrow fruitcake.

What are you doing here?

I was just getting your tray. I knocked, but you must not have heard me, sir.

Knock more loudly next time, yeah?

You bet. You bet. Be happy to.

Bob Brooks had the lab lift a couple of prints off the stuff from the tray and

ran them through the computer.

Came up dry.

No criminal record, huh?

The man talks with a heavy European accent. I think it's German or Swiss or

something. So Bob sent the prints over to Interpol.

Maybe they can come up with something there.

That'd take a long time.

Hey,

finally getting the hang of this thing, huh? I read the directions.

Did you get a look at this guy's phone bill?

He only talked to one person since he's been here, Ed Billings.

Never at his office, always at home.

And I also found out who picked up Mr.

Ingersoll's tab.

Not Ed Billings?

Nope.

Well, who is it then?

Dr. Masler?

Yes?

Who's Julian Ingersoll?

The man who's staying at the Fairview Hotel?

Well, all his expenses are being charged to your credit card, see?

Here's a copy of the imprint that was made when he registered.

It has nothing to do with your client.

Well, maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.

What about Dr. Crider's murder?

It has nothing to do with that either.

You and Ed Billings had fights with Tim Crider. They were discussions, not

fights. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy.

I think that's why Tim Crider stole that formula.

He was angry.

So angry, he decided to make sure neither one of you made a dime from his

discovery. Wrong on all counts, Ms. Thomas.

Now, I'm sorry, but I have work to do.

I don't care what he knows or how he found out about it. It just doesn't

We're not going to let some meddlesome lawyer keep us from doing... Keep you

from doing what?

What the hell is this?

Have you been following me? Well, sure.

I was following you, and he was following him, and she was following

Oh, Dr.

Kreider.

Notebook.

So tell me, did one of you kill him, or were all of you in on it?

None of us killed him.

Yeah. You see this?

It's worthless.

The formula's worthless.

Polyderm doesn't work.

Tim Crider knew it. Dr. Masler and I knew it.

There's no reason for any of us to kill with this notebook.

What the devil's going on?

About six months ago, we decided to test polyderm with people.

It was a miracle.

Within three weeks, people who had no hair began growing hair. People who had

hair began growing more hair.

But then, about two months ago, all of a sudden, the new hair fell out.

Like that, it was gone.

What if you continued using the drug?

Didn't work.

When the new hair fell out, there was no new growth.

Faloderm was a bust.

Well, why steal the notebook?

To buy time.

In the early part of the testing, we decided to take the company public.

As a cure for baldness, the stock would go through the roof.

The stock?

It was Tim's idea. We needed time to make the drug work.

But you set up Jeff.

We were between a rock and a hard place.

If we delayed the offering, people would think something was wrong.

If we had the offering and no drug, we'd never get our price.

We set up this lab so Tim could continue his research in secret. We brought Dr.

Ingersoll over from Europe to help.

Everyone at the lab's in a mad scramble to rediscover Tim's formula.

No one knows anything about this place or that the real name of the game is

fixing Tim's formula.

Why are you doing that?

Huh?

Smiling like that.

Oh, I don't know. I just think I might know someone who thought that

notebook was worth killing for.

I really appreciate you being here like this. I had to pick up a few things

anyway. I've been staying with friends.

If you don't mind, I'd like to get this over with.

What is it you wanted to ask me?

Okay, what time did you leave the house to go shopping that night?

7 .30.

And what time did your husband usually leave the house to go bowling?

He had to be there at 8, so he usually left about quarter till.

Did... Did everyone on the team have a jacket?

You had to have two things to be on the team, an average of at least 130 and a

jacket.

How tall was your husband, about 6 '2"? Exactly 6 '2".

So,

you've been head of public relations at Billings and Masler for how long, Mr.

Hughes? Seven years.

Are you good at it?

I think so, yes.

Well, how come you've never gotten a raise or even a bonus?

Well, I have. Every year I've gotten both.

Except instead of giving it to you in cash, they give it to you in shares of

company stock.

So how many shares would you say that you own now?

Around 5 ,000, I guess.

So if everything is gone as planned and Billings and Masler had been able to

market Dr. Kreider's hair restorer, About the same time the company went

Why, you stood to make, what, hundreds of thousands of dollars on your shares?

Maybe millions?

I guess. Boy.

So seven years of deferred gratification and blind faith

would have finally paid off.

Is that right?

I don't know what you mean.

You must have been very devastated when Dr. Kreider's formula... was stolen from

that lab.

And you must have been very angry when my client burst in there the next

and revealed the person responsible for that theft was none other than Dr.

Kreider himself.

There was no reason for Dr.

Kreider to steal his own formula. He stood the game more than I did.

You didn't think maybe, just maybe, that he didn't do it for financial gain, but

he did it to get back at the company for something?

No. You didn't think maybe just maybe it had something to do with those long

closed door arguments he had with the company president?

No. You had no doubts whatsoever?

I said no.

Then why did you go to his house the night of the murder?

I didn't.

Yes, you did, and I can prove it.

Mrs. Crider is prepared to testify that three days ago I removed

this jacket.

From the room in which her husband was murdered. Do you recognize it?

It's a jacket from the company bowling team.

You have one just like it, don't you?

Yes, I do.

Oh, what size do you wear?

Small. Can you be more specific? What size is the jacket you're wearing now?

36.

So whose jacket do you think this is?

Must be Tim's.

It's yours.

And I know for two reasons.

One, Tim Crider wore a size 44.

This is a size 36.

And two, I compared this jacket with all the other jackets on the team.

This one has a different zipper.

You had to have the zipper on your jacket replaced, didn't you?

Didn't you?

Yes. So this is your jacket, isn't it?

My jacket was...

At his house because we had mixed them up at the bowling alley the week before.

He grabbed mine, I grabbed his, and neither of us realized it until we got

We were going to switch them back at the alley that night.

Only he never showed up.

Well,

the night of the murder, did you go straight from your house to the bowling

alley? I already said that's what I did.

I think you're forgetting something.

I picked up a prescription for my wife at the drugstore.

What were you wearing?

I don't remember.

I think you know Mr.

Jack Greenstein?

The gentleman from the drugstore.

He waited on you that night. And he remembers.

And he's prepared to testify that you were wearing a black bowling jacket.

Now, since you say that you and Tim Crider...

Had switched jackets. You must have been wearing his jacket. Is that correct?

As I say, Tim Crider wore a size 44. This is a

size 44.

Would you mind standing up and putting it on?

Please do as you're asked.

Look at that.

Look at that.

Talk about a bad fit.

Your hands don't even come out the sleeves.

Mr. Greenstein told me that the night of the murder you were wearing a jacket

that fit you perfectly.

Certainly he would have remembered.

Anybody would have remembered. If he'd seen you wearing a jacket that fit as

badly as this one or looked as awful as this one does on you, please sit down.

You were wearing your jacket the night of the murder, and you left it at Tim

Crider's house after you killed him, didn't you? You knew that what my client

had said about Tim Crider stealing his own formula might very well be true. You

knew something was going on down at that lab, and you believed in that formula.

You believed that notebook could make you a millionaire.

So you went over to Tim Crider's house to talk to him.

He opened the door. He let you in.

You took off your jacket. You sat down. You talked.

But you didn't hear what you wanted to hear.

And you got mad.

Furious.

And you reached in his toolbox and you got his knife and you stabbed him with

it. And then you realized he was dead.

Then you realized my client was perfectly positioned to take the fall

But in your haste to leave and plant the murder weapon in my client's truck, get

over to the bowling alley for your alibi.

You picked up the wrong jacket, didn't you, Mr. Hughes?

We find the defendant not guilty.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

This court is adjourned.

Bob,

what are you doing here?

I got a little surprise for you, Ben.

You told me you'd give me 50 bucks if that polyderm stuff really worked.

I

don't

believe it.

What do you think?

I don't know, Bob.

It's not you. I mean, you've got hair, but something's missing.

He's right.

Something is missing.

You know what's missing?

That virility you had when you were bald.

You know, like Yul Brynner, Tali Savalas, even Daddy Warbucks. It's that

-charge, two -fisted, he -man, macho look.

Sexy.

Sexy?

Definitely.