Original subtitles

Still messing with my youth.

I'm not messing with it. I'm just, you know, trying to teach myself how to play

it. Well, you have to make chords.

Chords. Take this finger right there, put it on that drink. Like that? Yeah.

Okay. Take that finger and put it right there. Like that. All right, now play

the four.

The four of them? Uh -huh.

Hey, that's a C chord. Hey!

Now that.

Did Will call?

No, uh, he didn't.

He's late.

Well, it was only four minutes late.

I can't wait to get out to that lake.

We've already picked out our favorite spot and everything.

Oh.

Will you get that?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Careful. All right. I'll take it. There you go.

Coming.

Oh, Ben.

Hey, Ben.

What happened?

Well, I got mugged last night.

What? Well, I don't know who it was, came up behind me and whacked me on the

of the crowbar, took my wallet and ran off.

That's awful.

And I know how much you really wanted to go on this trip. I thought I could fish

left -handed.

Well, as always, next year.

I'm sorry, Ben.

Take care of your arm.

Thank you. Yeah, I'll see you, Will. See you.

See you, Will.

That's got to hurt.

What do you look so dejected for? You know, you can still go fishing.

I don't want to fish by myself.

Don't you remember I told you yesterday one of Judge Stern's law clerks called

and he invited you to go out on his boat tomorrow.

You know, Judge Stern's invited me a hundred times and I've never been able

go. Well, give him a call.

Hi, guys.

Oh, hey, Jer.

I thought you'd be long gone by now.

Tomorrow.

I'm going fishing on Jed Stern's boat.

I thought you got seasick on boats.

Oh, no. That was a long time ago.

Here's some soda water. Drink some of that, and you'll be all right getting

sea legs back in those.

Now, Ben, would you mind if I went back out there for about 30 minutes?

I've both been in dry dock for a week getting painted, and I sure would like

do a little more fishing. You know I have.

You'll be all right.

Glenn Silver?

Yeah. I'm Detective Marks. This is Officer Brown. I'd like to ask you a few

questions.

What's this about, Detective?

Were you at the marina yesterday?

Yeah, why?

Did you happen to see Judge Michael Stern while you were there?

Judge Stern?

What are you talking about? It's a straightforward question. Did you see

Stern yesterday when you were at the marina? And I'm not answering that until

you tell me what this is about.

Judge Stern was killed in an explosion on his boat yesterday.

I haven't seen the judge in over four years.

Why are you asking me this?

We found your fingerprints near the slip where the judge kept his boat.

What? What do you say we talk a little more about this downtown?

Hi, Mr. Matlock.

Hi, Ray.

Still in a state of shock?

Yeah, we all are.

Oh, I'm Cliff Lewis. Hi, Rick Peck. Good to see you all.

You know, I didn't even think the judge was taking his boat out this week.

Said he was getting it painted.

Well, if he wasn't going to take the boat out, why did you call Cliff and

me he wanted me to go fishing?

You know, you don't sound like the guy I talked to.

I wasn't. I didn't call you.

Well, maybe it was one of Judge Stern's other law clerks.

No, I'm it.

Now, Ben, I'm not delusional. I know someone from Judge Stern's law office

called me up, said they were his clerk, and invited you out on that boat.

Somebody wanted me on that boat.

Why are you so interested in the guy who mugged me?

Well, I got a kind of sick feeling that the explosion on that boat was meant for

me and not the judge.

Get out of here.

And if it was meant for me, then somebody...

had to know that you and I were going fishing. In order to get me on that

I had to make sure we did not go to the lake.

What are you saying, Ben?

I mean, the guy who broke my arm, did it just so that you'd go fishing with

somebody else?

You didn't even get a glimpse at the guy that whacked you? He told me if I

turned around, I'd die.

And I didn't want to die.

What did his voice sound like?

Kind of raspy, I remember, and a little high.

I'd gotten a call from the head of human resources at D .C. Drake Corp.

He said his name was Don Arnold.

The company sells boating equipment.

He said a friend of mine recommended me for a sales job in the company, and he

wanted to discuss it over lunch down at the marina.

Did you call your friend to verify if he did?

I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, Mr. Matlock. I haven't worked

in a long time.

So you made it for lunch.

Yeah. He seemed like a nice guy.

So much for my judge of character.

So we had lunch and we took a walk down by the dock.

What did he look like?

Nice looking guy. Very muscular.

Blonde hair.

Looked like he'd just gotten a cut.

What about his voice?

It's funny you should mention that.

I remember thinking that he had a very high voice.

Mr. Matlock, five years ago when Judge Stern had me disbarred for jury

tampering, I hated him.

I was very vocal about it.

I was just angry that I got caught.

The years of law school, the indignity of it all.

I know you didn't kill the judge, Glenn.

But whoever framed you really did his homework.

Killing the judge on the anniversary of your disbarment.

Somebody must have really wanted to kill Judge Stern.

Unless I missed my guess, this had nothing to do with Judge Stern.

What? I think whoever blew up that boat had something else in mind altogether.

Killing me.

If somebody wanted you dead, Ben, wouldn't it be easier just to shoot you

or poison you or something?

What a way to talk.

You know what I'm saying.

He would have had to make all those phone calls, pretend to be a law clerk,

you on the judge's boat, and then frame Glenn Silver.

I think it had to be more than one person. You know, think about it.

Because this muscular guy with this high voice, he would have had to have

attacked Will.

set up Glenn Silver, and killed Judge Stern on it. It doesn't make sense. If

tell me how many killers out there would actually take a guy to lunch, they're

going to be framing.

I think the guy Glenn had lunch with works for whoever blew up the judge's

Yeah, yeah. A long calculated plan that took months to get together.

I got a lot of enemies.

Fortunately, most of them are in jail.

What if one of them is it, you know?

What if someone's on parole or escaped?

Let me look into that, all right?

Oh, yeah, thanks.

Yeah,

I've been checking out all the barbershops in the area.

Muscular guy with blonde hair and high voices.

Mm -hmm. He might have gotten his hair cut here, like, last Tuesday or

Wednesday.

Something wrong?

No, hair's just a little stringy.

Well, you're not stringy.

You remember cutting a guy's hair that fits that description?

No, but one of my guys was out sick with the flu today. He might have killed. I

could call him.

Well, here's my business card.

You can call me at that number.

What? Nothing.

You really like bangs, huh?

That probably might come back.

What do you think of the way I wear my hair?

Okay.

Okay? Yeah, I like old -fashioned hairdos.

Ben, Ben.

Wayne Drummond was released from prison four months ago.

Who's Wayne Drummond? Oh, he got out. Yeah, he must have had a friend on the

parole board.

Who's Wayne Drummond?

Oh, he really hates him. Who's Wayne Drummond?

Oh, he's a bad actor who turned killer.

Oh, that Wayne Drummond.

A while back.

Leanne and I stayed at the Wilmot Hotel for a cousin's wedding.

Turns out I got sick as a dog that night and spent the whole weekend in my hotel

room. I was having trouble sleeping that first night and just by chance took a

peek outside my window.

In a house across from the hotel, I saw a young guy fighting with a girl.

They were at each other pretty good.

But it was their business, and I wasn't about to stick my nose in it.

A little while later, I happened by the window again.

And I saw what turned out to be this girl's husband coming home.

The moment he drove up, the boy inside hightailed it out of there.

The next morning, I found out the girl had been murdered.

And the world is going on down there.

I don't know.

But that's the house I was telling you about last night where I saw that sign.

Looks like the medical examiner's car.

Who died?

Elaine Cameron.

Dark hair, mid -thirties?

Yeah.

The police say she was stabbed in the back.

Yes.

I think that's her husband.

Being arrested.

That's not the man I saw fighting with her last night.

It's not?

No.

I think they got the wrong guy.

You're looking mighty pretty.

The kid I'd seen fighting with Helene Cameron was Wayne Drummond, a wannabe

actor. When I saw him rehearsing the play he was in, well, I got a sinking

feeling in my stomach.

Dad?

rehearsing that scene.

Yeah.

Mr. Drummond, I'd like you to meet my father, Ben Matlock.

I saw you at Helene Cameron's house the night she died.

Were you working on this scene?

Yeah. That's her understudy.

I guess that's what made it look like you were fighting.

The scene.

How much did you see?

Did Helene break up with you that night?

Did she tell you she was never going to see you again?

We were making plans to spend the weekend together when her husband went

town.

Who told you she was going to end it?

Her husband?

Is that what he said? He said that he and Helene were going to put their

marriage back together.

That's a lie.

I loved Helene and she loved me.

She was alive when I left.

Leanne ended up defending Helene Cameron's husband, Phil.

Turned out Wayne Drummond hated Philip Cameron from when he was doing another

play several years ago.

You killed her, didn't you?

No, I did not.

Yes, you did.

And for the life of me, I could not figure out why. I mean, why would you do

such a thing?

Why would you date a married woman, over two months ago, take out a life

insurance policy in her husband's name in order to frame him for the murder? Do

I have to listen to these wild accusations, Your Honor?

Not if she doesn't have proof, Ms. McIntyre.

I have proof, Your Honor.

Proceed. This play that you were doing in Porterville, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,

had to close, didn't it?

Yes. Would you tell the court why?

A few days into the play, there was a car accident, and one of the cast

died. Her name was Carla Waters.

Yes.

You were in love with her, weren't you?

And Philip Cameron was driving the car that hit her. Okay, it's true. I was in

love with Carla Waters.

This is a copy of the play taken this morning by warrant from your house.

You'll notice that all of the dialogue in here that is highlighted is for

Helene's role.

Well, I guess I picked up her copy.

You'll also notice that on page 14 there are bloodstains, which the medical

examiner has identified as Helene Cameron's blood.

Oh, come on. You saw the scene we had to do in that play, and so did your

father, and he thought I was killing her.

I remember I had accidentally hit her in the nose, and she got a nosebleed.

Not according to the medical examiner who did the autopsy.

There was no blood anywhere near Helene's face. No cuts on her body at

except for the wound that killed her. So maybe it happened the night before. We

rehearsed the scene for a week. I don't remember.

That's not possible either.

You see, as it turns out, Helene bought a new script the morning that she died.

So the only way those bloodstains could have gotten on that script was when you

killed her.

Mr. Drummond, this was a cold, murderous act.

You didn't kill out of passion or hate.

In order to get back at Philip Cameron, you killed somebody you didn't even

dislike.

Well, he certainly sounds like the type to hold a grudge.

Hello?

Yeah?

He did.

What was the name?

Great, thank you. Bye.

That was my barber friend.

Our soprano muscle man now has a name. Ty Foster.

Ty.

If this is your guy with the high -pitched voice, you're not going to hear

Nothing. Not one single week.

That's the way it goes sometimes.

Maybe forensics will come up with something in the morning.

See you tomorrow.

Have a good night.

Did you call the police?

There's no need.

Ben, you gotta call the police.

I know who broke in here last night.

Jeffrey Spiedel.

That's why there were no clues over at Ty Foster's place.

That was him, too.

Jeffrey Spiedel broke in this house two years ago and tried to strangle me.

I just learned this morning he's out of prison.

Jeffrey, what are you doing here?

You slipped off last night before I could tell you to have a good day.

You are something.

Oh, thank you.

Jeffrey Spidell was one of the most charming, likable men you'd ever want to

meet, except for one thing.

He was a cold -blooded serial killer.

What are you doing?

I don't want to leave any fingerprints.

Oh, Jeffrey!

I met him after he strangled Patricia Downey, a senior partner in my

accountant's firm. I figured Spidell must have really hated her.

I was wrong.

The person he really hated was me.

Yes, we had a wonderful evening. You sure you didn't have a big argument with

her? Of course I'm sure. She didn't lock herself in the bathroom?

Where did you get such an idea? I've got to ask you where you were the morning

Patricia Downey was murdered.

I can't believe you.

I really don't have time for this. I hate to be blunt with you, but I'm gonna

have to ask you to leave right now, please.

This makes you look awfully guilty.

Yes, Mr. Matlock.

I know.

He knew exactly what I'd do and used it to humiliate me.

And she's all set to testify that she saw your car parked in front of

house at 7 .15 the morning she was murdered. A black Jaguar XJS

convertible parked right on the street, just like always, by one of

Patricia's... Water sprinklers. That was your car. You parked it there. Then you

went inside and you killed her, didn't you?

My car was in the shop that morning, sir.

What?

My car was in the shop that morning getting service.

They picked it up the day before the murder. They returned it to me the day

after. Call Doug Harding Motors. They keep records, too, you know.

I have no idea why he came after me like that. It was totally uncalled for and

frankly a little pathetic.

Saw the news?

The legendary Ben Matlock really got cut down to size today, didn't he?

Being humiliated like that really hurts, doesn't it?

You know something? The pain never goes away, never goes away. Every time you

look in the mirror, it comes right back at you like a kick in the gut. You're

never quite the same.

Councilwoman Dez and Bill David, you humiliated them before you killed them.

Put them out of their misery, is a better way to put it.

They were both lawyers.

Very good.

That mark on their forehead wasn't the Roman numeral two.

No, no, it's Greek.

Uppercase pi.

Plaintiff.

A little touch of irony.

No more talk.

Why lawyers?

Why not?

Stay right where you are.

You thought I'd never know you were coming for me.

But I pretty well had the whole thing figured out.

Yeah. He's working at the plant house.

I want to see him today.

Maybe I should go with you.

No. I want to see him alone.

I heard you're out of jail.

Mr. Matlock.

I didn't know you were a plant lover.

How'd you get out on parole so soon?

Well, the appeals court threw out all the evidence.

I just was reading about you. You're defending that guy who blew up that

boat and almost killed you.

He didn't do it.

So you're going to pull one of your famous rabbits out of the hat and prove

someone else did it? I might.

I'd like to see that.

Maybe you will.

I think whoever blew up the boat...

was actually trying to kill me.

It was the same fellow who broke in my house last night and slipped on a pair

rollerblades. Then he broke his neck.

You think it was me?

Crossed my mind.

Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Matlock, no. I was at home last night, alone.

You've got to believe me.

I'm a changed man.

Where were you yesterday afternoon about 5 .15 when Ty Foster was killed?

I'm sorry, who is Ty Foster?

Ty Foster is a fellow who unfortunately used to work for you.

He was killed in Willow Springs, and I want to know where you were.

Well, I don't think I know a Ty Foster, but let me see. Yesterday at 5 .15.

I was involved in a car accident over in Highgate between 4 .30 and 5 o 'clock.

You can check the police report.

And let me see, at rush hour, that's got to be at least 40 minutes from Willow

Springs.

I didn't kill anyone, Mr. Matlock. I'm telling you, I'm a changed man.

I'm sure.

I'll check with the police.

I've been waiting for you.

Oh.

I got the police report on Jim Spiedel's accident yesterday.

He couldn't have gotten from Highgate to Willow Springs in time to kill Ty

Foster.

Well, remember the Baxter University baseball cap they found next to Ty

body? Yeah.

It wasn't his.

Cap didn't fit his head, and the hair inside wasn't his.

What color was the hair?

Black and short.

I know a boy with black hair who went to Baxter University.

You think it was his hat?

It could be, but he was convicted of murder.

Do you have anything to do with that?

Oh, yeah.

A couple of years ago, I agreed to give a lecture to the law club at Baxter

University. It turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

Yeah, Mark?

Have you ever seen the perfect murder?

Well, I've seen cases that were never solved.

You really hate somebody, and you want to kill them.

How do you do it? Yeah, how do you do it? How do you do it?

Theoretically, if you wanted to kill somebody, you'd first have to have a

motive. So you'd want to do it. Then you'd find somebody to kill.

And you'd have to get rid of the body.

Yeah.

You'd get rid of the body and then try to frame somebody else.

One of the girls in my class had just broken up with a bully named Eddie

who everybody hated.

We're over after six months. No, hey, you'll see to get it. She doesn't want

see you anymore Why don't we just get out of her way? You're beginning to

me See around

me alone

leave me alone

Right after Eddie Price died, the dean of students called me to his office and

actually accused me of teaching those kids how to commit a perfect murder.

Ben, I think you had a hand in this.

What did I do?

You all but gave your class a blueprint of how to commit a perfect murder.

The police think I'm in on this?

Well, no, I didn't say you did it intentionally.

I'm saying I didn't do it at all!

I saw you at the cafe, Bobby. For all I know, you might be trying to frame me.

Bobby, I spoke to Buddy Hart, Eddie's roommate. He said you hated Eddie

he took Carol from you.

Hated?

Isn't that a little overstated?

Bobby, you said you wanted to kill him.

Time out here. Okay, I was madder than hell when Carol first dumped me, but

was a long time ago. You may not believe this, honey, but guys do get over you.

You know what? I don't like being treated like a suspect.

Don't you get it?

We're all suspects.

Fortunately, what I told this group turned out to be true. There is no such

thing as a perfect murder.

Now, the night Eddie disappeared, you were in your room studying.

Yes. The proof we have of that is that your car was parked down front. That's

right, it was.

How about Carol's car that night? Did you drive it?

No.

I didn't. I told you I was at home, so... Oh.

This is the gas pedal off Carol's car.

You see that shiny part right there?

Yeah, I see it. I think that's varnish. What about you?

Could be.

Yeah?

And, uh... And this is, uh... What are you doing with my shoe?

I borrowed it.

What the hell is going on? I don't have to sit here and answer your questions.

I'm out of here. Hey, Bob.

You got something to hide?

No. Then sit down and answer the man's questions.

You see this shiny spot here on the bottom of your running shoe?

I see it. I think that's varnish, too.

I think it's the same varnish that's on the gas pedal from Carol's car.

Your uncle owns a speedboat, doesn't he? An old mahogany inboard?

Yeah, he does.

Are you aware that on September 30th, at

5 o 'clock in the evening, a fresh coat of varnish was applied to that boat?

No, I wasn't.

I believe the varnish on that boat

The same as the varnish on your running shoe and the gas pedal from Carol's car.

That doesn't prove anything.

Well, I think... I think you... I think you might have killed Eddie.

I think you might have slipped out of your apartment that night. You didn't

your car because you knew that somebody might notice it was gone.

I think you might have...

Use the keys to Carol's car that she gave you when you were dating.

I think you might have driven her car out of the parking lot to the library,

over to Eddie's house, killed him, put him in the car, driven him to the boat,

taken him out to sea, and dumped his body overboard.

You can't prove that I killed Eddie Price.

Mr. Matlock, you can't prove that Eddie's dead.

No.

No, I can't.

There's no body.

There may never be a body.

I'm just making suppositions. But I tell you, as sure as we're all sitting here,

if I'm making these suppositions, the police will too.

Well, I'll find out where he is. I might still have his parents' number. Let's

see.

Let's see.

Ben Matlock.

I was calling about your son.

No, I didn't.

I'm sorry.

Bye.

What happened?

Bobby Simpson got out of prison four months ago.

And six weeks ago...

He was killed in an automobile accident outside Miami.

Drunk driving.

Ben, if he's dead, what was his hat doing at Ty Foster's?

Jeffrey Spidell.

He put it there. He's toying with me.

It has to be Jeffrey Spidell.

Sure as I'm sitting here.

Pretty sure Judge Stern's boat was over there.

Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why do you care where we kept the boat?

Oh, uh, well, we figured the bomb was put on the boat while it was here. Not

that we've ever blown up anything, but we figured the guy had easier access on

land instead of in the water.

Well,

that's what it was.

Huh.

I'd have never known the judge had his boat up here.

He hadn't said he was having to paint it.

Do you

think

you could rope off this whole area for the rest of the day?

Again? Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, two years ago, I accused you of murder and ultimately you were

convicted. Remember that?

Yes, I was in prison for two years before the case was thrown out. How do

feel about me since I was the one responsible for sending you to prison?

Well, I think you were just doing your job.

No animosity?

No, sir, none.

You ever feel like killing me?

Mr. Matlock.

I am not angry with you. I've come to terms with all that. I don't believe

for a second.

Didn't you hire Ty Foster to mug my friend Will Owens so we'd have to cancel

fishing trip? And didn't you have Ty Foster take my client, Glenn Silver, to

lunch at the marina so his fingerprints would be found in the vicinity of Judge

Stern's boat slip?

I told you, sir, I do not know a Ty Foster.

As always, you were smart. You did everything just right.

You chose Glenn Silver to frame for the judge's murder because you knew that

Glenn blamed the judge for disbarring him. And the murder took place on the

anniversary of the disbarment.

You had everything pointed at the judge as the target.

When all the time...

You were trying to murder me, weren't you?

I don't want to murder anyone.

And it should have worked. It should have worked. I went fishing with the

The bomb went off.

But I had seasick and got off the boat before it happened.

Now the judge is dead.

Ty Foster works for you, and he's probably figured out what's going on. So

you just tell the court where you were at 5 .15 p .m., January 15th?

Well, as I told you, I was involved in a car accident in Highgate. It was rush

hour. You were about 45 minutes from where you were to Ty Foster's house when

was killed.

This Baxter University baseball cap was found near the body.

It apparently belonged to Bobby Simpson, another young man I was responsible for

sending to prison.

Ever seen it before?

No, I don't think so.

Bobby was killed about six weeks ago.

Car accident.

Of course, you knew that, didn't you?

No.

I think you did.

Get this. Somebody stole this cap and placed it by the body.

It was you, wasn't it?

No. I think it was.

You were toying with me.

You were waiting your chance to get back at me.

When you stole his cap, you also stole Bobby's motorcycle.

That's how you got across town and rush our traffic.

You had the car accident on purpose.

You had the motorcycle hidden right there. All you had to do was hop on it,

over to Ty's house, and kill him. Right?

No. Objection. Irrelevant.

Your Honor, possibly Mr. Matlock is confused. He's trying the wrong case.

Your Honor, I apologize for this digression.

But this man is a cold -blooded killer. And in time, it will come out that he

killed Ty Foster.

But I intend to prove that he killed Judge Stern.

Make it snappy, Mr. Matlock. Yes, sir.

You like boats, Mr. Spydell? Not particularly, no. Ever own one?

No. So you don't go to places like marinas and boat shows and dry docks?

never. What would you say if I told you I had an eyewitness who saw you at the

harbor dry dock?

Well, I'd say he was a liar.

And you'd be right.

But I've got something better.

I know maybe it's easier to put a bomb on a boat when it's up on blocks than in

the water.

But I decided I'd make a trip.

to Harbor Tri -Dot, where Judge Stern's boat was painted.

And there was paint all around on the ground, and you know how people are.

You can't keep them out of it. There was shoe prints here and there, different

shoes, different sizes.

And the police took

this pair of shoes from your place this morning.

And this is what the police report says.

The report states that this paint on the bottom of your shoe is an exact match

with the blue bottom paint used at the harbor dry dock. It also says that this

shoe is an exact match with a print found in the paint at the harbor dry

right next to where Judge Stern's boat was kept.

You were there, Mr.

Spidell.

Probably at night, you couldn't see the paint.

You planted the bomb that killed the judge.

And you tried to kill me again.

And this time, if I have anything to do with it, I'm going to send you to prison

for the rest of your life.

Clocker's Fish Market, dig in.