Original subtitles

Got it?

Got it.

This was the last stop on her tour.

She was so happy to be home.

How did this happen?

How long were you her manager?

For as long as she had a career.

I discovered her.

When was that?

Four years ago. She was singing in a bar downtown.

It was amateur night.

I gotta tell you, from the first time I saw her, I knew she was no amateur.

I think

I'm gonna

spend the night alone.

We're coming up, Mr. Barry Bain.

Hey, Kathy, you are incredible.

Thank you. No, excuse me, I really mean it. You're too good to be playing joints

like this. For what, 50 bucks?

Well, yeah, if I win.

Oh, you're going to win. I guarantee it, kiddo. I'm Steve Fisher. Are you one of

the judges?

No, I'm just somebody who not only knows talent when he sees it, but knows what

to do with it.

You got anything against becoming rich and famous?

Uh -uh. Well, that's good.

Here, I'm an artist manager.

I gotta run now, but you call me.

You got a real future.

Her name was Kathy back then.

Kathy Westphal. Within six months, she was playing clubs and fairs under the

name of K .C. West.

In less than a year, she recorded her first album. Two years later, she went

on her first tour.

Last year, her third album went platinum.

Now she's dead.

You at the concert tonight?

Yeah, of course.

I attended all her performances.

Is there anything unusual about this one?

No.

Well, I had a guest with me, a lawyer.

I was trying to get him to represent a client of mine in a civil matter.

And I figured if I gave him a little taste of show business, maybe he would

the case.

Who are you trying to snow tonight?

Casey, meet Ben Matlock, a friend of mine, great fan of yours.

I really enjoyed your performance.

Thank you.

We got to talk.

Okay. Why don't you meet Ben and I after the show for a drink? We'll talk then.

Goodbye, Ben.

He's been on tour for the last three months. He's a little tired.

Would you drink another time?

Oh, sure.

Sorry, Ben.

He left right after that, not being one way or the other whether he'd represent

Jimmy Ray's case.

Naturally, I was a little ticked off, Casey.

I guess you heard about what happened next.

You're firing me?

Good God, Big D. I've been with you for four years.

My marriage didn't even last half that long. What more do you want? Give me a

reason why.

See, you've done all you can for me. It's time to move on.

Who put you up to this?

Nobody. I'm capable of making my own decision.

That is a laugh.

She hit you?

Yeah.

Did you hit her back?

No, of course not.

What did you do?

Well, I threatened to sue her for breach of contract.

And then she pointed out the buyout clause in our original contract. She

she was going to exercise it and went outside to her trailer.

You follow her?

No. Were you in her trailer at all tonight?

No, I wasn't in her trailer all day.

What you got there on your sleeve?

I don't know.

Stain. Probably ink from a pen.

Okay, Mr. Fisher, I appreciate your time.

You finished with me?

Unless there's something else you want to tell me.

Nothing I can think of.

Well, if we need you, we'll give you a call.

Okay.

Mr.

Page? Yeah.

Lieutenant Rutledge, Thomas Tynes.

I understand you were married to the victim once, is that right?

Yeah. Two years.

You took a quick trip to Haiti and that was that.

What were you doing at the concert tonight?

I was recording it.

I'm still her producer. We're cutting a live album.

So, uh, things between you were amicable?

When she was sober.

She's sober tonight?

Fair. I mean, she always drank when she was doing a gig.

Rum and Diet Coke.

You, uh... Talked to her after the show tonight?

No, the only time I talked to her was during soundcheck.

Talked to anybody after the show?

Yeah, I talked to, you know, my crew and my engineer.

And Casey's manager, Steve Fisher.

Casey asked for a rough mix of the show, so I was sitting at the console mixing

some tracks, and he came storming by.

Steve? What's wrong?

She fired me.

Oh, man, are you kidding me? No, I'm history.

What did you do? What did I do? I made her a star, that's all. Right up there

with Tanya and Winona.

How did she repay me? She dumped me.

Some agency in L .A. put a lot of talk about specials and movies and

in her head. She signed with them this morning.

So what are you going to do?

I don't know yet.

Where did he go after that?

I have no idea.

Where did you go after that?

Well, I sat there for about 20 minutes mixing those tracks, and then I went to

take the tape to Casey in the trailer, and the lights were on, and there was

music coming out, so I knocked on the door, and then I went in.

I just started yelling. I guess I kind of lost it a little bit.

Was there anybody else out back when you went by the trailer?

No, I don't think so.

Do you happen to remember when you were talking to Mr. Fisher whether or not he

had a mark or a stain on the sleeve of his shirt?

No, I don't think so.

Okay, Mr. Price.

If I have any more questions, I'll give you a call.

Randy Travis.

You know Randy Travis?

Come on, Ben. Of course, I know everybody.

Why, are you a fan of his?

Yeah.

How would you like to have dinner with him?

You can fix it so I have dinner with Randy Travis.

Hey, you take on Jimmy Ray's case, and I'll see to it that you have dinner with

a different star every week.

Sort of like blowing to one of those record clubs. I don't know. I mean, I

know much about entertainment law.

Hello again, Mr. Fisher, Pat Rutledge, Atlanta PD. We spoke last night. You got

a minute?

Well, as a matter of fact, I've got company.

Oh, this won't take long. I just want you to roll up your sleeve.

The right one.

What for?

Medical examiner found skin tissue and dry blood beneath a couple of Miss

fingernails. Figured she may have scratched whoever killed her.

Well, since there was something right on your sleeve last night, well, you can

understand why we'd want to take a look, can't you, Mr. Fisher?

What if I don't want to do it?

We can do it here, we can do it downtown, or we can do it after we get a

warrant, but we're going to look at that arm.

Oh, yeah?

Well, maybe we should just see what my attorney says about it.

What? Come on, Ben, you've got to help me out. Oh, no.

Just name your fee.

$150 ,000.

Up front?

Yep.

And expensive.

And a dinner.

I can't.

You have to. He has probable cause.

I think you better come with us, Mr. Fisher.

Excuse me.

Sorry.

Got in your way here about that picture there. Hi, Lieutenant.

I'm Mr. Matlock. Yeah.

There's not a lot of room in these things, is there? No.

Say, Mr. Matlock, listen, I know you have the right to be in here, but my men

are trying to find the murder weapon. Do you mind stepping outside till they're

through?

You go with me?

Okay. Excuse me again.

Oh. You know what you're looking for?

Knife with a six -inch serrated blade.

Hunt knife.

Probably.

In fact, we think it belonged to the victim. A couple of people remember

it on the shelf in there. Think she got it as a souvenir or something.

I'm sure it'd save us a lot of time if your client would just tell us what he

did with it.

All you've got on my client is a couple of scratches on his arm.

Scratches you're lying about.

Lieutenant, we just found this in the dumpster over there.

KC, looks like one of Miss West's handkerchiefs.

Don't care what you say, on my way, better this way.

How does he explain those scratches on his arm?

Well, he said, he and KC had an argument backstage, and she slapped him, and he

grabbed her, and she scratched his arm, and he turned her loose, and she went

stomping out to her, trying to better this way.

Did he go after her?

No, he didn't.

And you believe him because he paid you $150 ,000 up front?

That and he knows Randy Travis.

Hi, Benjamin.

Hello, Bunny.

Bunny?

Ms. Dubois.

Bunny. And you're?

Leanne McIntyre.

Benjamin's daughter.

Benjamin and I are very... Old acquaintances.

Watch who you're calling old.

Benjamin, aren't you going to invite me in?

Oh, sure, Bunny. I'm sorry. Won't you come in? Thank you.

Well, you look good.

Oh, thank you, Bonnie.

You look good, too.

What can I do for you?

25 years in the business.

About as much as a parking ticket.

And now this.

Now what?

You're the lawyer, Benjamin. You explain it to her. Actually, I'm a lawyer, too.

Do you mind?

I can... 25 years, and there I was.

Being handcuffed and hauled downtown and fingerprinted. It was mortifying.

Solicitation.

Entrapment. And believe me, this is something I'm not going to take lying

Hi, Steve.

Listen, I don't think I should answer any questions without my lawyer.

No question.

I have a duly authorized warrant to search your condo for the murder weapon.

You can call your lawyer if you want. Go ahead.

I didn't kill her.

Maybe you blocked it out. It happens sometimes.

Why don't you look at these?

Maybe you'll remember something.

You know what, Steve?

We catch a lot of killers, you know why?

They make mistakes.

You know what?

You're sick.

of minutes.

The knife's not here.

I would just dot in the eyes, grunt in the teeth.

I don't really need it.

I'll be okay.

It's better this way.

The bass is still too hot, especially on the verses. And, you know, I changed my

mind. I don't like those fills on the turnarounds. We're going to have to work

somewhere else. I'll take care of it.

What's up? What are you working on?

KC's last album.

It's a rush job, live and in concert. The record company is trying to cash in

the publicity.

Oh.

What can I do for you?

Well, somebody saw you backstage the night of the concert.

and said you and KC had an argument before the show.

Oh, that wasn't an argument. That was a discussion.

That was, you know, an exchange of ideas between two fairly vocal people, that's

all. I am not dropping the keyboard bit. It is practically the best number in

the show. The audience loves it. I cannot mic it properly, KC. I am trying

record an album here.

Well, that is your problem.

Seeing that these people get their 30 bucks worth, which means that me and

are doing that duet.

Then it won't be on the album. Come on, John. Figure something out.

You always do.

Not this time, I can't.

But it's my favorite number.

Then do it. Just leave the routine with Dusty out. That's all. I've been doing

the number the same way for three months. I can't just...

Do it different than screw up. I can't change horses midstream like that.

Oh, sure you can, honey.

You dumped me, didn't you?

You can do it, Kay.

All right, sweetheart.

So, uh, why'd she dump you?

Yeah, that's a long story.

Because, uh, you like to play the ponies?

I suppose that was probably part of it.

That $100 ,000 insurance policy you took out on her about six months ago, is

that because you like to play the ponies too?

What do you mean?

Well, a fellow that does as much business with bookies and loan sharks as

do, $100 ,000 would come in handy.

That would just be a drop in the bucket, Mr. Matlock.

This is how I keep those guys off my back.

It's the music of K .C. West. This is a multi -million dollar gravy train.

And I'd be the last guy on earth to derail it, believe me.

Could I look at it? Yeah, sure.

I don't... I don't have this one. I bet

it's pretty.

Be my guest.

Oh.

Thank you.

John. Hey, Steve, how you doing? I was, uh, just talking to your lawyer.

Yeah, I know.

Hey, look, man, I got a favor to ask.

Big favor.

Sure.

I need you to get something out of Casey's trailer for me.

A pen.

It's a fountain pen. I can't let the police find it. If they do, they could

it against me as proof.

Fountain pen?

What's a fountain pen gonna prove?

That afternoon, I signed a contract with Brian Levy. You know him. Yeah. The,

uh, record promoter.

Anyway, he gives me the pen that I used to sign the contract as a gift. It's got

his name on it. Oh.

Anyway, that pen somehow found its way into Casey's trailer.

And if the police find the pen, they talk to Brian Levy, they're going to

that I've just gotten the damn thing.

And they're going to say that the only way that it could have gotten in there

if I dropped it that night in Casey's trailer when I was killing her.

How did it get in there?

I don't know.

I swear to God.

Well, why don't you go get it yourself?

Because the police taped the trailer shut.

If they catch me sneaking around there, things are going to really look bad for

me. Well, I don't want them to catch me sneaking around in there either. Come

on, John.

No. I won't do it. That would be breaking and entering. I won't do it.

It would be doing me a big favor that I would never, ever forget.

Come on.

I can get you a key.

Is this the pen you tried to remove from the decedent's trailer that night, Mr.

Page? Yes, it is.

Why did you try to remove it?

Steve Fisher asked me to.

Did he tell you why he wanted it?

Oh, come on now, Mr. Page. You had to break through a police seal to get into

that trailer.

You knew you were breaking the law, but you did it anyway.

Now, why?

Steve thought that if the cops found the pen in there, they'd say that that

proved he killed her.

Which he didn't do. I've known Steve for a long time. He wouldn't kill anybody.

Thank you, Mr. Page.

Come

on,

Ben. Say something.

You don't want to hear it.

Hey, you don't think I'm guilty.

I think you're a bona fide card -carrying jackass who ought to be jailed

no other reason to keep you from reproducing.

Why didn't you come to me about that fountain pen?

You mean you would have stolen it for me? No.

I have to know the facts, all the facts.

If I'm going to defend you, there's something else you haven't told me?

Oh, man.

You're going to get mad.

I did go to her trailer that night.

Oh, great.

Let's hear it.

After we had our little altercation, I went up the aisle into the lobby, I hit

the front door, and I just started walking.

Only the longer I walked, the madder I got until finally I just turned around

and I came back.

I didn't tell the police for the same reason as I didn't tell you about the

fountain pen. I was afraid of how it would look.

I was there, but I didn't kill her. And I couldn't have dropped that fountain

pen. I wasn't there long enough.

Ben?

You saw the knife?

Yeah. It was lying right there next to her body.

Police couldn't find it.

I know.

Kind of bothered me when I heard about that, but I was in no position to say

anything.

Well, if you saw the knife and it wasn't there when the police arrived, where is

it?

Mr. Waugh.

So where's the silver fox?

Oh, he'll be here.

Mr. Waugh. Bunny.

Bunny. I was wondering, how well do you know my father, and how do you know my

father?

Well, um... Oh!

Hi, I'm sorry I'm late. Can I say anything?

Case number 1047B3. The state of Georgia versus Beverly Dubois.

I guess not. Come on.

Mr. Matlock, has the state provided you with the information you requested in

your pre -trial motions?

Yes, sir.

Then I shall begin hearing arguments at 10 a .m. on the 29th in this courtroom.

Is that okay with everyone?

Yes, sir. 10 a .m.

29th in his courtroom.

What? I just found this in my car.

I swear to you, Ben, I have no idea how it got there.

Steve? Yeah?

Close the door.

Jammed under the backrest of the passenger seat. Somebody must have

my car and put it there.

Call the police?

Of course not.

Who are you calling?

The police.

No, you can't do that.

This could be the murder weapon. It is the murder weapon. Believe me. It was

lying right next to Casey's body.

I can't withhold evidence.

Why not? I'm paying you 150 grand for crying out loud.

Get your finger off my phone.

I should have just tossed the damn thing off a bridge.

I'm surprised you didn't. I figured the way my luck was running, it would have

floated.

It's a frame, Ben.

In first the pen, now this?

Somebody's not only trying to get away with murder, they're trying to get me.

Atlanta Police Department.

Hello? Atlanta Police Department.

Lieutenant, would you identify these pictures for us, please?

They're the pictures the police photographer took at the crime scene.

And what purpose do they serve?

They record the position and condition of the corpse, as well as the exact

location of any objects in the immediate vicinity, which may or may not prove

relevant to our investigation.

This pin here, the picture of the pin, proved real relevant, didn't it?

Yes, sir, it did.

You know what's interesting?

is this pin only appears in one of these pictures. Why is that?

I guess it was only visible from that one angle.

And more interesting, the police photographer who took these pictures

the negative for this picture, and this one only, is missing from his files.

Why is that?

I have no idea. And what's even more interesting is that...

All of these negatives are in sequence from 1 to 31.

See that?

The rest of the roll was never exposed.

See?

32 to 36 blank.

So, where did this picture come from?

I don't know. Is it possible that someone could have taken this picture

different roll of film, maybe even a different camera?

No, the area was cordoned off and sealed.

Is it possible that someone simply shuffled a copy of this picture in with

other ten sets that were made and distributed?

No.

No? Why not?

It's only someone in the department could have done that, and I assure you

that's just not the case.

No? Suppose I told you that someone within the department not only was

at K .C. West's concert that night, but was the first one.

at the scene, not only spearheaded the investigation, but was responsible for

the distribution of these pictures.

What would you say to that, Lieutenant Rutledge?

Not much, because you were that someone, weren't you?

In the course of your preliminary interviews, you found out that someone

client a pin that afternoon. So you stole it?

Put it in Casey's trailer, took a picture of it. That's ridiculous. Then

waved it in front of my client's face in hopes he'd do something dumb to further

incriminate himself, which he did.

Then you planted the murder weapon in his car for even more evidence against

him. No, absolutely not.

The only question that remains is, why'd you kill her?

I didn't kill her.

It was him.

He killed her.

He started controlling her four years ago, and slowly, day by day, inch by

show by show, he destroyed her.

You got a real future?

Where'd he go, Barry?

Who let that one?

He's an artist manager.

He's got an office in Nashville.

He liked me. Yeah, why wouldn't he? Well, I mean, I mean, I mean, this could

it. Remember, that's a business card. It's not a contract. Where's the cheat?

Come on.

Are all officers so damn suspicious of everybody?

Mostly just me.

I loved her.

He changed her.

Her name, her hair.

There's nothing compared to what he did to her inside.

Made her mean and selfish.

Turned her into a drunk so she'd forget about everybody but herself.

I remember how she was.

He may have changed her, but you killed her. No.

You went into her trailer that night, confronted her with four years of hurt

anger, then you stabbed her to death. I couldn't have killed her. I loved her.

I've always loved her.

Then you planted the evidence.

Because I wanted to see him punished.

Lieutenant, the officers who answered the 911 call reported that

you were already at the scene when they arrived.

How do you explain that?

After the concert, I went to the bar across the street, had a beer.

Around 11 o 'clock, one of the stagehands came in and said Casey West

I rushed over.

Did anybody see you at the bar?

Lots of people.

The place was packed. I was there, Mr. Matt, like you ask anybody.

No further questions?

Bailiff, remove this man from my courtroom.

In the meantime, this court is in recess till 9 a .m. tomorrow morning, at which

time I will entertain any and all motion.

What's going on, Ben?

What does this all mean?

Sometimes it doesn't pay to get up.

Pat Rutledge had an alibi.

So what? He tampered with the evidence. You're bound to get a mistrial.

Might even get the case dismissed.

Well, I was sure he had done it.

Is that your tape in there or mine?

Um,

you like Casey West?

Oh, I do now. You played her so much, she grew on me.

Had to go out and buy my own.

Oh.

Mine's free.

Figures. Not to worry, Dad.

Some murder cases never get solved.

I'll see you later.

Yeah.

Some do, some do.

This court is now in session.

Be seated.

Let's hear it.

Your Honor, I know that you and everybody else here kind of expects me

for a mistrial, but first I'd like to call one last witness.

Why? So justice can be served, Your Honor. I believe the people who loved K

.C. West's music deserve to know why it ended.

Proceed. Defense calls John Page.

We've all heard of piracy in the music business.

How does that work? Say piracy in the cassette business.

Could you tell us about that?

Sure.

Somebody gets a hold of the master of an album, and they make an illicit copy,

and then they dub it onto cassettes using these high -speed machines called

slaves, and then they sell them to retailers who may or may not know that

they're buying bootleg tapes.

Yeah, well, these cassettes have distinctive covers.

Do they make illicit copies of those, too? Well, they could, but usually they

just have somebody copy them by hand, and then they run fakes from the copy.

You see, with cassettes, the thing is that they're so small, it's difficult to

see any detail in the artwork.

It's quite hard to tell the real stuff from the bogus stuff. Oh, yeah, I can

that. You seem to know a lot about this.

Well, I've been a record producer for seven years, and I was a sound engineer

for seven years before that. I think I've seen just about everything the

business has to offer, good and bad. Good and bad, yeah.

Do you remember the cassette you gave me of that Casey West album?

Yeah. Yeah.

You know, on the surface, it looks identical to the one my

daughter bought in a record store.

See?

But it's not.

The store -bought one has the address of the official KC West fan club

on it.

And the one you gave me doesn't.

Why is that?

I don't know. Maybe, you know, they changed the packaging. No, no, no. I

the printer.

And she said the fan club information was added to the artwork at the last

minute. But she guaranteed me that fan club information.

It was on every cover they printed. You know what that means?

The cassette you gave me, it pirated.

Where'd you get it?

I don't know.

Sure you do.

You made it.

Secretly. Illegally. And at great profit, didn't you?

No. And K .C. found out about it. When you went into her trailer that night,

confronted you with it.

Unfortunately.

She didn't know how much money you owned the loan sharks, how desperate you were

for money. She didn't know she was leaving you only one choice.

You had to kill her, didn't you?

I didn't kill her.

Now, I can't prove that you're in the piracy business, but I can prove you

killed Casey West.

The day after the murder.

The police found this in the dumpster behind the concert hall.

It's one of KC's handkerchiefs.

There were bunches of them all over her trailer.

This one has blood on it.

What was KC's handkerchief doing in that trash bin, Mr. Page?

I have no idea.

Think back to that knife.

Just think back. Your fingerprints are all over the handle of that knife.

So you took one of her handkerchiefs and you wiped it clean, getting blood on

the handkerchief as a result.

And you placed the knife on the floor by the body, rushed out of the trailer,

threw the handkerchief in the dumpster on the way back to the concert hall.

And then in a little while, you went back to the trailer as if nothing had

happened and discovered the body.

Right? No.

That never happened.

The police found these pants, removed them from your closet this morning,

with a warrant, of course.

These are your jeans, aren't they?

I guess so.

Would you please pull out the right -hand

front pocket?

Oh.

Lab tests prove that's blood.

B negative, same as KC West. How'd this blood get in your pocket?

You couldn't take a chance of walking into that parking lot.

Running into somebody out there.

You couldn't be seen waving a bloody handkerchief over your head. So you put

in your pocket.

And that's how this blood, KC's blood, got in your pocket.

Thanks to a policeman who tried to frame the wrong man.

And thanks to my client.

who out of the blue asked you, of all people, to steal that pen for him.

Thanks to them, you almost got away with it, Mr.

Page.

Almost.

How'd it go?

Oh, I quit. Good.

Is, uh, Bunny here?

Yeah, she's inside.

Relax, Dad. Judge Edwards isn't even here yet.

I'm not really prepared on this case. I don't feel good about it at all. I

wouldn't worry about it.

In fact, uh, 20 bucks says Judge Edwards dismisses the case.

Well, then, not a chance in hell.

And since this is such a clear -cut case of entrapment...

I see no reason to waste any more of anybody's time with it.

Case dismissed.

Thanks, Benjamin.

I think I owe you one.

Actually, I think I owe you two.

You're new.

What does she owe you for?

The court will now be in recess for 20 minutes.

Well, it's a long story.

It's a long walk to the car.

Well, I met her. I met her about five years ago. She was with

Marshal Conley.

The Supreme Court justice?

Yeah. Apparently they were having a thing and he wanted out and he... Asked

to take her out on a date. And did you?

Yeah. Dancing?

Yeah. She like it?

Yeah. What'd she say?

She said she liked my suit.

Did you go back to her place?

Yeah.

Music?

Yeah. White wine?

Then what?

I ate a hot dog.

Then what?

Well, it was after midnight with all the dancing and the white wine and

the hot dog with sauerkraut. I didn't feel good, so I went home.

And that's why she says she owes you one?

Who knows?