Original subtitles

Hold it right there.

Mr.

Wright, you're next witness.

And what did you do with the watch that came off the defendant's wrist during

your struggle with him?

I turned it over to the police.

Thank you.

No further questions.

Your witness.

Mr. DeCarlo, how many lights were on in the hallway that night?

None. Did you have your flashlight on?

No, I turned it off so I could sneak up on him.

So, the hallway was completely dark.

Yeah, pretty much so.

And how long was it after you grabbed the man's wrist that he hit you?

A couple of seconds.

A couple of seconds?

Yeah.

Mr. DiCarlo, you saw the man who broke into Maxwell Toys for two, maybe three

seconds in a hallway that was practically pitch black.

Now, can you really say with absolute certainty that it was the defendant,

Giles? Come on, I got the guy's watch. Can you say unequivocally that the man

you saw in that dark hallway was the defendant?

Well... No. Thank you. But I got the guy's watch.

That's all. Thank you. You may step down.

Next witness.

Sidebar conference, Your Honor.

Your Honor, my next witness is the detective who traced the watch the guard

recovered to the defendant. You mean the alleged watch.

It's still missing from the property room. Your Honor, as far as the defense

concerned, this watch doesn't even exist.

And if this detective attempts to testify about it, I'll move this to

testimony. The watch exists, Your Honor. It's been misplaced.

Now, if the state can have a little more time... More time?

My client's right to a speedy trial is being trampled all over this courtroom,

Your Honor.

24 hours. That's all I ask.

That's all you're getting, Mr. Wright.

24 hours.

Not a minute more.

Thank you, Your Honor.

What the hell's going on?

Sorry, I couldn't call you because I still don't have the watch. I know you

don't, but I don't like the way you got everybody at the precinct because it's

my fault. Well, you were the last person to see it. The hell I was. You were.

When I opened that envelope, there was nothing inside it. It was the last time

saw it. Then somebody stole it.

If you want to go back to looking like an ace detective, then find it.

Nobody steals a watch worth $59 .95.

Now I wouldn't sit in the same room with a bag of coke worth a hundred times

that much.

Are you saying I stole it?

So the judge can dismiss the case and I can wind up looking like a jerk? Use

your brain, Doug.

So what's the problem?

Getting some heat from the detective who traced that watch to Giles.

Doug Savage?

Good man.

Yeah.

He's not gonna let up till he gets something on me.

I want out.

Then you're out.

I also want severance pay.

How much?

A hundred thousand cash.

I can resign and be out of town by the end of the week.

With you gone, what's to keep me from winding up holding the proverbial bag?

There's no connection between us. I've been very careful.

Getting that much cash together will take me at least a day.

Bring it to my house tomorrow night at 8 o 'clock.

I'll be out in the shop.

What about your wife?

She'll be at the movies.

I don't want to go by myself.

Call your sister.

What about you?

I just want to be alone for a while.

Do some work out in the shop.

Howard, what's wrong?

This case I'm working on, I'm probably going to lose it.

You lose lots of cases.

Thanks.

You know what I mean.

I've never seen you this worried before. I'm not worried.

Just fed up.

Burnt out.

Jean, you know how we've always talked about just packing up and moving to

Colorado?

Yeah.

Well, maybe it's time we did more than just talk about it.

Love you.

I love you.

Mr. Wright, I believe you are about to call your next witness.

Sidebar, Your Honor.

Your Honor, the watch is still missing.

Your Honor, without that alleged watch, the state does not have one shred of

proof that my client committed the break -in. I have the testimony of the night

watchman. You have the dip. I ripped the testimony to shreds yesterday.

I beg to differ.

Your Honor, it's obvious the state doesn't have a prayer of proving the

brought against my client. I therefore move to dismiss.

It would seem you have a point.

And you, Mr. Wright, you have wasted three weeks of this court's time, not to

mention that of the jurors and the witnesses.

There's no excuse for this kind of ineptness.

Back to your seats, gentlemen.

As a result of the prosecution's failure to produce critical evidence in this

case and in the interest of justice, the court, on its own motion, is dismissing

the charges against this defendant.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your service.

You're excused, and this court is in recess.

Are you Tom?

The Attorney General's coming here?

Yeah, you know Robert Stewart.

Good Lord, his name is not Robert Stewart, it's Stewart Roberts.

Attorney General, imagine that.

I'm here to see Ben Matlock. Yes, sir, we're expecting you. Come in, would you

care for anything?

No, I'd just like to see Ben Matlock.

Okay, well, there he is.

Yes, sir.

Ben Matlock at your service. Hello. Nice to meet you, Mr. Stewart. Robert.

Oh, this is Conrad McMasters.

We work together.

Pleasure. Yes, sir.

Oh, won't you come in?

Yeah.

I'll see you, Conrad.

What? The Attorney General and I need to... What?

Talk.

Oh, yeah.

Well, it was a great pleasure meeting you, Mr. Roberts.

If there's anything, anything at all that you need, I will be in the other

Well, please sit down.

You said something on the phone about Howard Wright's murder.

Yes. As you can imagine, it would be impossible for the district attorney's

office to prosecute this case without bias. Yeah.

And that means it falls upon me to appoint a special prosecutor for the

Someone who will conduct an investigation, issue an indictment, and

trial.

Someone beyond reproach, highly skilled, lots of experience in murder cases.

You talking about me?

Yes.

So have you ever prosecuted a case before?

The police have any idea who did it?

Naturally, they're looking into the possibility that he was killed in

retribution by someone he helped put in prison.

But I'm more inclined to think it had something to do with the case he

prosecuted or tried to. Oh, I read about that case.

Maxwell Toys. The police think Howard Wright may have deliberately misplaced a

critical piece of evidence.

You mean he threw his own case?

They think maybe he was bought off.

So, what do you think?

Are you interested?

Would I get complete cooperation from the police department?

Of course.

I could hire my own staff.

Whoever you like.

What do you say?

Well, there is one other thing I'm interested in. What's that? My fee.

Mr. Matlock, one...

doesn't take an appointment like this for money.

What does one take it for?

One takes it because one is honored to be asked and is interested in the case.

And from what I hear, you don't need the money.

Ms. Wright, I'm Ben Matlock. This is my associate, Michelle Thomas.

The Attorney General put me in charge of finding and prosecuting

the man who murdered your husband. Could we ask you some questions?

I have to be at the funeral home soon.

Yes, ma 'am.

The police got a call yesterday from Daniel Price.

Howard's friend from Miami?

Your husband...

called Mr. Price yesterday and told him that if anything should happen to him,

that Mr. Price should call the police and they should talk to two men, Tom O

'Hare and David Bennett.

Tom O 'Hare, the attorney?

Yes, ma 'am.

Who's David Bennett?

He's a judge.

Do you have any idea why your husband wanted the police to talk to these two

men?

No.

Um, you went to a movie last night?

It was my sister.

It was Howard's idea.

He said he needed some time to himself.

He spent a lot of time in his workshop.

As much as he could.

Did he make that?

Yes. Nice.

Oh, he's a man.

He loved making things with his hands.

Oh.

He didn't make this.

No, he bought that.

Oh, Chihuly.

It's valuable.

Norman Rockwell.

He inherited some money recently from a distant relative.

Do you remember the relative's name?

Right now, I can barely remember my own name.

I'm afraid I have to go.

Oh, of course. Of course.

Oh, you know David Bennett?

Uh, yeah, I know him. You know him well?

Pretty well.

Well enough to talk to him about this stuff?

I used to go out with him.

Oh. You talk to David. I'll go talk to Tom O 'Hare.

No, I have dibs on Mr. O 'Hare.

Why you?

You didn't read the paper this morning.

I didn't have time.

There's a big article on Tom O 'Hare.

His client is suing Maxwell Toys for...

Five million dollars.

And that's the same company that the guy Howard Wright was defending broke into.

Oh. Wash foot. Oh.

Transmission fluid.

How do you know about transmission fluid?

I had a car that leaked it for years. I'm an expert.

Well,

Mr.

Prosecutor. You heard.

Precinct all above, Michelle.

Find anything?

The plugs we dug out of the wall indicate the killer was standing here by

door. Two bullets, .38 caliber, right through the heart.

What's all that?

Well, apparently he was covering this piece of wood with barnacles when he was

shot.

Anything else?

No.

Oh, hey, you know, now that you're on the side of the angels, I can let you in

on a professional secret.

What's that?

Well, when the prosecutor shows up at the crime scene, it's sort of

for him or her to buy the officer in charge lunch.

Jimmy, Kyle?

Who are you?

Name's Conrad.

I'd like to talk to you about Howard Wright.

I'm busy.

What, are you taking a trip?

What's it to you?

I think it's a bad idea, Jimmy. It makes people think you've got something to

hide, huh?

Just want to talk?

Hey, better to me than the cops, right?

Right. Absolutely.

See you, sucker.

The Moody Mary doll was an instant hit, was it not?

Yes. Roughly how big a hit?

It's brought in somewhere around $15 million so far.

A doll that can change expressions.

That's very clever.

Where did your company get the idea for it?

We developed it in -house.

Maxwell Toy's correspondence file for the year in question has been subpoenaed

in this court.

And I ask you, sir, to identify a document from it.

It's a letter.

Let's get to it.

What is that?

But it looks like the Moody Mary doll. Who sent this letter?

I've never seen this before in my life. Who sent it?

Well, it's signed James T. Sullivan.

It's my client.

What's the date on it?

Listen, my office never received this letter.

February 23rd, 1989.

And it's stamped received by your secretary.

February 25th.

Nine months before the Moody Mary doll was introduced.

I'm telling you, neither I nor anyone in my office ever saw it. You didn't

develop the Moody Mary doll in -house. You stole it from my client.

And now you're trying to cheat him out of his fair share of the profit. How

you call me a thief?

I've been with Maxwell Toys for 20 years, and I've never stolen so much as

paper clip.

Gentlemen, that's enough.

We'll break for lunch here. It'll give you both a chance to cool off.

This court is in recess until 1 .30.

Jim, don't worry. I'll talk you in.

Mr.

O 'Hare?

Ben Mallow, remember?

We met at a bar convention a couple years back.

How you doing? Fine.

What are you doing in the civil court? I came to see you.

Boy, that was something just now. You got that toy manufacturer, Dead Rights,

huh? But we don't.

Yeah.

Actually, I came to see you about Howard Wright, the attorney general. Appointed

me special prosecutor.

Oh, congratulations.

But what's Howard Wright's murder got to do with me?

Well, he told a friend of his if anything happened to him, the police

talk to you.

That's odd. I barely know him.

Your past crawls lately?

No, I don't do criminal cases. I wonder why he said that.

Damn if I know. Of course, you have one thing in common.

Yeah? Maxwell Toys. His last case involved a break -in there. Yeah, um,

coincidence. That's what my associate said. You married?

No, I didn't.

I just wondered if you were with somebody or by yourself two nights ago.

If that was a question, Counselor, I'm not going to dignify with an answer.

Yes?

Michelle!

Hello, David.

Talk about surprises.

You look fabulous.

Thank you.

How have you been?

Fine. Fine.

I see you're doing well. Presiding judge, is it now?

Please, sit down.

Thanks.

My God.

It's been three years?

How's married life treating you?

Well, my wife and I are separated.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Just made the wrong choice three years ago, is all.

You know Ben's been appointed special prosecutor in the Howard Wright case.

Yes, I read all about it. Congratulations.

Thank you.

You knew Howard Wright?

Yeah.

Actually, we were at the same law firm eight, ten years ago.

Well, apparently he told a friend of his that if anything happened to him, you'd

somehow be involved.

He what?

When was the last time you talked to him?

Months ago.

Do you remember what you talked to him about?

I really don't. It wasn't anything earth -shattering, that's for sure.

Michelle, I'm due in court.

I'd love to talk to you. Can we have dinner?

Friday night, 8 o 'clock, Camille's?

David.

You're living with someone? No.

Dating someone?

No, that's not it.

Come on, it'll be fun.

Friday, 8 o 'clock.

Great.

Jimmy Giles said he paid his fee up front in cash.

And he drove off in a brand new $30 ,000 car.

Huh. State police put out an APB on him. Did they?

Nope. Well, I wouldn't hold my breath.

I expect somebody paid Jimmy Giles to get lost and stay lost for a real long

time.

Why won't you... Wait, wait. Why won't you tell me who you are?

Ah, ah.

What? What do you know?

The what aisle?

Where?

Now, uh... Hey, I'm a busy man. I don't have time to run around seeing people I

don't know on some kind of joke.

All right.

All right, I can leave right now.

Yeah, but listen.

Hello? Hello?

I got to go.

What's going on?

I don't know.

Who was it?

I don't know.

What did he say?

He said he could help me with the case.

I'll go with you. No.

I've got to go alone.

I don't get it. Otherwise he won't show.

Well, it could be a prank.

That's right.

Mr. Matlock.

Where are you?

Stay in your eye.

Move down.

Away from the end.

It sure would be nice if I could see you.

It would be better if you didn't.

Who are you?

That's not important.

How do I know I can trust you?

You don't.

Well, what the hell am I doing here?

Tell me what you know about Howard Wright's murder.

You said you could help me solve the case.

Tell me what you know.

I'll tell you if you're on the right track. Why don't you just give me the

information outright?

Because people would figure out I was the one who told you.

If Ward ever got around, I believe the whistle, I'd be finished.

The truth is going to have to come from you, not me.

Well...

Tom O 'Hare and Judge Bennett are both somehow involved. Of course, they won't

admit it.

What else?

This is really dumb.

If you don't tell me, I can't help you.

It also appears that Howard Wright may have lost his last case on purpose.

The key to this thing is the money.

Look for the money.

Leave your porch light on when you want to see me.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. Who's money?

Who's money?

Who's money?

What do you think he is?

I don't know.

You see him again?

I don't know.

You look for what money? What was he talking about? I don't know.

For heaven's sakes, you talk to him. Surely you know something.

Well, I guess he meant that... Ah, boy.

That Howard Wright was paid to throw his case.

So you're going to get a search warrant for his financial records?

No.

You see this hot dog?

Yeah.

Bob Brooks and the Atlanta police got his records.

Michelle and Bob are going to open them now.

Hot dog?

No.

No, I'm going to have a sandwich.

Ham sandwiches and mayo.

Yeah, lettuce and tomato pickle.

You know, this being a prosecutor is all right.

A lot of people do things for me, and I don't even have to pay them.

Hello.

My name is Michelle Thomas. I'm investigating the murder of Howard

I'd like to talk to John McLean, if I could.

I'm afraid John is no longer with us. I'm Glenn Conner. Perhaps I can help

Your name again?

Oh, Michelle Thomas.

Please, Miss Thomas, come in.

Thank you.

Yeah. All right.

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly does your company do, Mr. Conner?

We're a holding company.

We own a majority of the stock in a number of smaller companies.

And Mr. McLean was your controller?

Yes, he was.

Until he resigned.

Moved on to Greeter Pastures, I guess.

Do you have any idea where I could find him? I have no idea.

What did you want to ask him? I was going over Howard Wright's financial

and discovered that last week he deposited a check into his account that

signed by Mr. McLean.

I just wondered why the Conner Corporation would be paying an assistant

attorney $75 ,000.

Yeah, we simply paid him for some legal advice he'd given us. That's all.

Oh, he was your attorney?

More like a consultant.

He suggested things some of our companies could do to steer clear of

SEC violations.

$75 ,000 is a lot of money.

Well, he saved us 20 times that in fines. It's well worth it.

Anything else you'd like to ask me?

Yeah.

Where can I sign up to be one of your consultants?

Yeah?

Yeah?

No kidding.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, well, thanks, Michelle.

Yeah, bye -bye.

That's interesting.

What?

Howard Wright came into a lot of unexplained money.

Why'd you turn on the light?

I'm telling my friend I want to see him again.

So what did you find?

Why won't you tell me who you are?

That doesn't matter.

I'm prosecuting a case for the first time in my life.

And I'm supposed to tell a man I've never seen everything I know. I don't

it. I promise you I can help you.

You're just going to have to trust me.

Okay?

I'm sorry I can't do this any other way.

Okay.

I know that Howard Wright got a big check last week from the Connor

and I believe it was his payoff for losing a vital piece of evidence in that

Maxwell Toys break -in case.

Huh?

Huh? Go ahead.

Well, I also believe...

The man he was supposed to be prosecuting, Jimmy Giles, was paid off

Not for stealing anything from that office, but for leaving something there,

letter that Tom O 'Hare's client had written that made it look like Maxwell

had stolen his idea and plans for that doll.

So what about it?

Think it was all part of a scam spearheaded by Tom O 'Hare?

To build Maxwell Toys out of a nice big judgment?

What do you say?

What about David Bennett?

I don't know.

You tell me.

Like I said before, Mr. Matlock, look for the money.

Whose money?

Jimmy Giles? Howard Wright?

Tom O 'Hara? Judge Bennett?

The Conner Corporation?

Whose money?

Oh, okay.

Just tell me if I'm right about this Tom O 'Hara stuff.

How about it?

Mr. Matlock.

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Let's try this.

I saw it in a movie once.

If I'm wrong about Tom O 'Hare paying off Howard Wright and Jimmy Giles, drop

the book you're holding.

If I'm right about it, slip it back on the shelf and go away.

Okay?

Did she get the warrant? Judge Parker's in the process of finding him right now.

His clerk's bringing them out to me.

He didn't bat an eye when I told him I wanted to look at Tom O 'Hare's

record. But when I told him I wanted David Bennett's, he hit the roof.

How dare I question the integrity of a fellow jurist.

The old boy network's alive and well.

I think he's making me wait out here as punishment.

Miss Thomas. Yeah.

Here you go.

Thanks. Oh, Ben, have you met Judge Parker's clerk, Terry Lasher?

Nice to meet you.

Tell Judge Parker thanks again, okay? Sure. Bye.

Why don't I take Tom O 'Hare's records and you take Dave's?

Dave? Judge Bennett.

Hey, good looking.

Something going on with this guy?

Not anymore.

We used to go out a couple of years ago.

And then I went out of town on a case with Ben, and when I came home, he'd

gotten engaged to somebody else.

What, he dropped you?

I took it that way.

Man's a fool.

Well, now he and his wife are separated, and I agreed to have dinner with him

tonight. Uh -oh.

No, I can take care of myself, Conrad.

No, I'm talking about this $120 ,000 David Bennett put in the bank three

ago. It's from the Conner Corporation.

I don't believe it.

No, it's right here. Look.

I'm talking about the check for $120 ,000 that Tom O 'Hare got three months

It's from the Conner Corporation, too.

Uh, sure. Come on in.

Thank you for seeing me so quickly, Mr. McLean.

I'm surprised you found me. I just moved in here.

Pardon the mess. Please, sit down.

Working on my resume.

Oh, you're looking for a job?

Unfortunately, yes.

Well, Mr. Connor gave me the impression that you quit your job with him because

you'd gotten something better.

No.

So why did you quit?

Well, I just didn't feel right about things over there.

What do you mean?

You know, why don't you ask Mr. Connor about this? You kept the books.

Yeah, I know, but I quit.

Did you make this Mr. Conner's problem and not mine?

Mr. McLean, I believe you have information pertinent to the murder of

District Attorney Howard Wright.

Now, I suggest that you answer my questions, or I'm going to call the

have them take you downtown.

Okay.

Good.

So, why did you quit?

Well, money would just appear from out of the blue.

from this bank in the Bahamas, and I was supposed to enter it into the books, no

questions asked.

And I didn't like that.

Was it from one of Connor's subsidiaries?

Well, their earnings were nowhere near what was coming into the corporation,

I'd have to write these big checks to consultants for services that I'm almost

positive were never rendered.

Consultants like David Bennett and Tom O 'Hare?

How did you know?

To whom else did you write out big checks like that?

It was one of their...

One other person, but I can't remember the name. You know, I just did whatever

Mr. Conner told me to do, and I tried not to think about it.

And then I read that Howard Wright had been murdered.

I'd just written him a big check, a one -time only consultant fee.

That's when I quit.

Well, thank you, Mr. McLean.

I do appreciate your cooperation.

Yeah.

Oh.

Huh.

Isn't this Judge Levin?

Oh, yeah.

She and Glenn Conner are old friends.

Is she the other person that you wrote checks to?

No. No, that I would have remembered.

Special prosecutor, huh? A lot of exposure.

You play your cards right. You could parlay this into a run at the governor's

meeting. Oh, I don't think so.

So, what can I do for you? Okay.

You know Glenn Conner?

He's a friend, yes. We go way back.

Well, Howard Wright has been doing consulting work for him, some very high

consulting work.

Good for Howard.

He wasn't exactly high -paid around here. Yeah.

And David Bennett has been doing consulting work for him, and so has Tom

'Hare. In fact, I think you and I are the only two people in Atlanta that are

not on Mr. Conner's payroll.

I have a theory.

on why Howard Wright was murdered. Want to hear it? Of course.

Okay. I think Glenn Conner paid Howard Wright to misplace a piece of

evidence in the Jimmy Giles case.

Remember the guy who was accused of breaking into Maxwell's Toys? And I

that Howard Wright was killed so that no one would ever find out about it.

Are you saying...

That Glenn Conner murdered him? No, no, no. I'm more inclined to think that Tom

O 'Hare did.

Now, this is pure speculation and off the record, but I think Tom O 'Hare

Jimmy Giles in the first place, not to steal anything, but to plant a letter at

the company so that he could later get millions of dollars from Maxwell Toys.

Ben, that's my case.

What you are saying is prejudicial and could force me to declare a mistrial.

the case is already gone. The jury... Moreover, I resent the implication that

Glenn Conner is involved in some kind of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

As far as I know, he has never even met Tom O 'Hare.

But they had a mutual acquaintance, didn't they?

You...

You are way out of line.

You better leave.

It was just a theory.

It's Diana.

We have to talk.

Clark came to see me today.

He knows just about everything.

Thank you.

You know, I don't think I've been here since the last time I ate here with you.

My wife wouldn't set foot in this place.

Didn't like French food?

Didn't like you.

Couldn't go anywhere she knew I'd taken you.

Very jealous lady.

Still have that cocoa van you liked.

Can I have that?

I'm not ready to order yet, David.

I have to get some business out of the way first.

Business?

I'm afraid so.

Okay.

You got a check three months ago from the Conner Corporation for $120 ,000.

Mm -hmm.

Why?

I did some consulting work for them.

How long had it been since you talked to Howard Wright?

Oh, I told you, uh, six months at least.

Then why do his phone records show that he called your office on three different

occasions in the past month alone?

I don't know.

I didn't talk to him.

Maybe he talked to one of the clerks.

What was your meeting about this afternoon?

What? meeting?

The one you had with Tom O 'Hare and Diana Levin.

I won't be having dinner after all.

Thanks anyway.

Judge Levin, Judge Bennett.

Tom O 'Hare or N .I.? Glenn Connors, N .I., or at least his company is.

Good. You know all the players.

But I don't know what game they're playing.

Keep following the money.

It'll tell you everything.

Whose money?

I'm gonna be getting Glenn Connors' ledgers tomorrow.

But if I'm gonna be wasting my time going through them, I'd like to know

it now.

I tell you what.

Let's play the book game again.

If I'm on the wrong track, drop the book.

If I'm on the right track...

Thank you.