Original subtitles

This is all we were able to find.

It's not going to help, Eve.

We're bringing in floodlights, and we're going to continue searching.

The only problem is that this lake is so full of sunken logs.

Go away.

Please go away.

stuff about the floodlights. What do you do? Tell a woman we never fished

anybody out of that lake?

Tell her, hot dog, we just saved at the expense of a fancy funeral.

First thing in the morning, you can explain to her how dead he is.

There's a world of good news out there, and you'll find it every day on the

Believer's Voice of Victory with Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. It is for you.

Don't get off into stuff that you've heard.

All right, Haller.

If you sign these checks, Mr. Castle, I'll get them out today.

You know I can't cover these.

I've post -dated them, Mr. Castle. What's my balance?

Precarious.

Sign them tomorrow.

Was the contract in there, Mr. Castle?

Huh? Your agreement with Mr. Nesbitt.

I thought maybe he remembered to mail it to you before he went fishing

yesterday.

No, no, it's not here.

Maybe he didn't even remember to sign it.

In that case, your partnership with him is technically not dissolved.

So you don't owe his widow $10 ,000 in payment.

So... All right, all right, Ben. I'm aware of all that. Now, will you get out

here?

Oh, um, which reminds me.

Should I owe her some flowers sent to Eve Nesbitt?

The firm could afford a small wreath.

I don't know why I tolerate you.

Sure you do, Mr. Castle.

You'll tolerate me because I'm a good company man.

And a good company man knows everything that goes on.

Everything.

What's Ben giggling about?

Oh, there's the mayor. Lloyd, is it in there?

No, it's not.

What do you suppose happened?

Do you think he might not have signed the agreement?

Who knows?

I sent him all the copies weeks ago.

Probably just lying around his desk at home someplace.

If anything important comes up, where can I say you can be reached?

I can't be.

What are you going to do, Eve? Start a Willard Nesbitt Museum?

I don't understand you.

Didn't you have any feeling for your daddy?

Oh, he was some daddy, sure enough.

He loved you, Bruce.

Sure.

That's why he divorced my mother.

Stop squeezing that ball.

It's good for the arm.

Anyway, who needed him?

I'm big enough to take care of myself now.

Wouldn't you say?

I really have no opinion about that.

Oh, I'm not criticizing the guy, Evie.

I'm envying him.

When I'm past 50, I'd sure like a nice Georgia peach to come rolling into my

lap.

I loved your father dearly. Sure you did.

And there's nothing like a big fat insurance policy to keep his precious

alive.

You are a vicious boy.

I remember what the insurance man said.

Double indemnity in case of accidental death, Mr. Nesbitt.

Now, won't that be a comfort for your widow?

A hundred thousand dollars worth of comfort.

You're violent.

Is that the way to talk to a boy who's just been orphaned?

And in going through some of my husband's correspondence, I came across

name, Mr. Mason.

Willard Nesbitt.

Your lease contract, Perry, year before last.

Oh, yes, of course.

Didn't I read something in the newspaper about an accident?

Yes. My husband was drowned almost two months ago.

I'm very sorry, Mrs. Nesbitt.

Now, how can I help you?

Well, I'm really not sure, Mr. Mason.

You see, back in Georgia where I was raised, it was considered vulgar for a

woman to know too much about business matters.

So I'm kind of stupid when it comes to money.

But I can read a bank statement.

And to be perfectly frank, Mr. Mason, I am without funds.

No insurance?

Oh, yes. Willard took out a, I believe you call it a double indemnity policy.

And I am to get $100 ,000.

And what's holding it up?

I don't know.

The insurance company told me I'd get my money as soon as they concluded their

investigation.

Aren't there any assets in your husband's company that you could draw

That's what I'm getting at, Mr. Mason.

I'm not so sure it is my husband's company anymore.

You see, my husband had a business partner, Mr.

Lloyd Castle.

And for several months before he died, they were discussing a separation.

Was this a new business your husband was in?

No, same as when you knew him, I suppose.

Investment properties, oil and mining property.

Were the assets to be divided equally?

No, I don't think so.

Mr. Castle was supposed to buy my husband out for $10 ,000.

Now, if he did that, wouldn't that money be mine?

If that was the agreement, yes.

Oh.

Well, I've been trying to get Mr. Castle on the phone, and his secretary keeps

telling me he's out of town.

I don't know whether he's trying to avoid me or not, but I think I need a

lawyer, Mr. Mason.

Wouldn't you say so?

Yes, I'd say so.

Adela, let's see if we can make an appointment with Mr. Castle.

Well, let's put it this way, Mr. Mason. We might not be the luckiest mining

speculators in America, but we're among the poor.

I gathered you'd had a little bad luck from what Mrs. Nesbitt told me.

However, there seems to be some question about a dissolution of partnership.

Now, Jimmy, let me have those contracts from the briefcase, will you?

Well, there's really no question, Mr. Mason.

Of course, I've been out of town a good deal, so even Nesbitt might have

misunderstood a great deal.

Mr. Castle, my sole interest is in whether or not you and your partner

an agreement.

Oh, thank you. Yes, here we are.

We agreed to dissolve the partnership, Mr. Mason.

He drew up this contract with just a simple statement of terms.

I see.

Willard signed them just a couple of days before you were drowned.

Wasn't there to have been a payment of some sort?

I have a check right here, Mr. Castle. Thank you, Jenny.

Yes, there we are.

Drawn to Eve Nesbitt, according to the terms of the agreement, in the amount of

$10 ,000.

Now then, Mr. Mason, you said you were concerned about something?

What was it?

Nothing, I guess.

I'm sure she'll appreciate the money.

Thank you, Mr. Castle.

Miss Bartlett.

Goodbye, Mr. Mason.

Mason.

Jenny. Jenny, we've done it. Oh, we have, have we? What's the matter? Our

has come in.

Wait till you see the assays on that Mesa property and wait till the

start rolling in.

Jenny, will you marry me?

You mean it this time?

My only problem has been an empty wallet, but that's all over forever.

That $10 ,000 of yours is going to blossom into a cool half million

not one penny of it will go to Eve Nesbitt.

Half a million dollars?

That's what that Mesa property is going to be worth in a couple of weeks.

Oh, faithful partner, you didn't die a minute too soon.

Mesa mine, a mint.

When you're finished in the lobby, Joe, take a look at 203.

We've got a reservation coming in at noon.

Joe, you hear me?

Oh, sure, Mr. Anderson.

I'm going into town to pick up the linens.

Grab the phone if you're in.

Sure.

Mr. Castle, a speculator in oil and mining properties, took an option on 10

acres of hill country in Mesa, Nevada.

It proved to be more than scrub land.

A rich vein of gold was tapped, and experts estimate that Mr.

Castle will clear half a million dollars in the next year.

I want to call Dunkirk 20799.

Hello?

You'd better get Eve Nesbitt on the phone.

Uh, no, she's not here, Mr. Mason.

Well, I'm not her watchdog, but you might try the Lake Cottage.

Yeah, she went out there in a big lather last night.

Yeah, about 9 o 'clock she got a phone call.

Well, I didn't pay any attention. I was watching television.

Only I heard her give out with one of those silly squeals of hers, and then

grabbed her old coat.

Well, no, she didn't say anything to me.

Well, I mean, I figured since she took that coat, she...

I mean, look, Mr. Mason, she still isn't back, so where else would she be?

What can I do for you, mister?

My name is Mason. I'm Mrs. Medved's attorney.

What's happened?

How long has he been dead?

Well, I'm as confused as you are, mister.

I thought Mr. Nesbitt had been dead for over eight weeks.

But right now, I'd say it was closer to eight hours.

Summer's here! Did you hear that, Charles?

I don't know. I just

don't know.

See, ever since my husband disappeared, I believed he was dead.

I believed it until he called me on the phone last night.

Can't you recall anything he said to you besides the fact that he wanted to see

you here?

Mason.

My blood just froze up in me.

It was all I could do to keep from fainting.

Yes.

Yes, I remember he kept saying we'd been cheated.

And then he hung up.

Did he say he'd spoken with... Anyone else?

We can have Paul check the telephone company.

What time did you get out here, Mrs. Nesbitt?

I got the call about, uh, about 9.

And, uh, I guess I came here around 10, 15.

And I found the lights on.

Only there wasn't anybody here.

So I didn't know what to do. I just sat down and I waited.

And I waited.

Would you like some more coffee, Eve?

No.

I just gotta stop this bawling.

Well, anyway, I didn't know what to do, so I waited, and I

must have fallen asleep about midnight.

And the next thing I knew, there was a knock at the door, and...

policeman came in and told me he found my darling in the lake and that he had

been shot.

We'll be back later, Mrs. Ness, but now please don't, please don't worry.

Bye, Eve.

Della, may I see those notes you just made?

On shorthand?

I can have them typed up in just a few minutes. And I'd like the copy of the

Castle Nesbitt contract.

The one resolving their partnership.

I think it was signed on the 15th, as I remember.

That was just two days before Mr. Nesbitt disappeared.

That's the point, Della. It just occurred to me that Mr. Nesbitt must

signed that contract out at the cottage.

And he likely used that pen on his desk, the same one you used to write these

notes.

Mm -hmm.

What do you think?

It's not quite the same, is it?

The ink, I mean.

Of course, there could have been over a dozen pens out there.

Hi, Perry. Stella.

Phone company was most cooperative.

Nesbitt made two calls from the cottage last night. The first one was five

minutes after nine, was to Dunkirk 20799.

That's Mr. Nesbitt's apartment phone.

And the second one, a few minutes later, was to Dickens 51345, which is an

answering service, and the call was to Ben Otis.

Look here, Mr. Mason.

I was very fond of Will Nesbitt.

He was an old and good friend.

When I lost my job, he brought me into this office.

But I certainly had no part of what happened last night.

Mr. Nesbitt trusted you a good deal, though, I take it.

How does one measure trust?

By a telephone call.

Oh, so that's it.

Yes. Last night, Willard Nesbitt called you, not Lloyd Castle.

He called the answering service, or the service that this phone subscribes to.

Did anyone else know of the call?

Well, anyone checking the service could have got the message.

Mr. Castle?

Mr. Bartlett?

All right, Mr. George, thank you.

Mr. Castle's quite busy. The police were here all morning. I'll take only a few

minutes. Now, look here. I checked with the answering service last night and

learned of Nesbitt's call. Is that what you want to know? Because as I told the

police, I did not go out to the cottage.

We were too worried to know whether it was a crank call or not.

Well, didn't you try to check by calling back?

Yes, we did. There was no answer, so we ignored it.

What time did you call the cottage?

Oh, ten after ten or so. Anything else?

Yes.

I'm really here to pick up some of Mr. Nesbitt's files.

Oh, what for?

Well, I'm Mrs. Nesbitt's attorney.

I'd just like to examine his records.

Well, they go back for quite a few years.

I'll settle for his contract files.

Mr. Mason, what is it you're really looking for?

I want to run down every possible lead, that's all.

But I don't see why you need... Nonsense, Jenny.

Mr. Mason has every right.

Yes, there you are.

Nesbitt's files.

Make your choice.

I hope they help you.

Thank you, Mr. Castle.

I'm sure they will.

What's the verdict, Professor Lakin?

Real beauty.

But a forgery.

Well, I'm assuming that it is.

I don't want assumptions.

Now, look here. When the great Perry Mason assumes it's a forgery, who am I

say no?

But is it or is it not?

I don't know whether I can be absolutely certain about this or not.

Signatures are identical.

The pressure of the stroke is similar.

If it's tracing, it's an excellent job.

It has to be a forgery.

Nesbitt originally must have faked his death in order to give his wife the

benefit of his insurance.

But why would he then jeopardize everything he just set up?

He must have read about the Mesa mine.

discovered that his wife was being cheated. But how can you be sure that

Nesbitt's wife was telling the truth?

Maybe she was in the whole thing with him.

Harry, if you put me on the stand, I'll say that this very likely is a forgery.

It definitely lacks the smoothness of the other signatures.

But another expert might argue the case, and then your house of cards would

tumble. On the other hand, if you could get me one more copy of this, if I just

had something more for comparison.

Hello?

Thank you, Perry.

Thank you.

Hello. Perry, Paul located that motel.

The one where Mr. Nesbitt had been living the past few weeks.

He's on his way over there now and thought you might like to join him.

Perry, this is Mr. Anderson. He manages the place.

Well, I own it, that's all. I don't do much real managing.

How do, Mr. Mason?

Hello, Mr. Anderson.

I got a woman who keeps a little closer eye on things, but Fanny appears to be

out somewhere.

I just wish I knew more answers to help you.

Are you sure it was Willie Nesbitt who lived here?

I gave him a room and returned for a few odd jobs around the place.

He called himself Joe Smith.

Here's my note so far.

Take a look at this.

He expected to die.

Living on eggshells, on borrowed time, that's how he put it.

See, I only really talked to him this once.

I brought a few cans of beer in, and he kind of relaxed that night.

Seemed to want somebody to gab with.

Nesbitt said that he'd seen several doctors just a few weeks before, and

all agreed that he'd either have to live like an invalid or take a chance on

falling over dead fast.

His wife mentioned he hadn't been feeling well. She certainly didn't know

anything about this.

He didn't talk to me about any wife.

Just some young girl named Eve. Sure seemed crazy about her, though.

Some young girl? That explains quite a bit.

Why a man would decide to run away, try and let her cash in on his insurance?

Well, thank you, Des. You stop in any time.

Fanny?

You get in trouble?

I'll have you know I am a material witness.

A what?

Down at police headquarters, they showed me a bunch of women, and I picked one

out. Who?

What are you talking about?

A woman I saw sneaking in to visit that Willard Nesbitt handyman of yours one

night last week. That's who.

I just told these men he didn't have any friends.

No one ever came to see him here.

That's where you're wrong, because I heard somebody say that he had an

accomplice, and they were stealing insurance together. And do you know who

was? It was his own wife.

You saw Eve Nesbitt here?

I certainly did. And I saw her again 20 minutes ago.

You know what they said after I pointed at her?

Sergeant, they said, book that lady for murder.

Have you watched Designing Women and wondered, why is Anthony Aldred injured?

The state will prove that the victim and the defendant conspired together to

defraud an insurance company.

And we will then prove that the defendant, having learned that her

changed his mind about carrying out this criminal scheme, did for that reason

willfully murder him.

Yes, sir, that's the murder gun. That's my mark on it. Now, just one more

question, Deputy Gillis. To whom does this gun belong?

Well, according to the serial number registration, it belongs to the

Mrs. Eve Nesbitt.

Thank you, Deputy.

Your witness, Counselor.

Deputy Gillis, exactly where was that gun found?

Near the hedges next to the house.

Near the hedges, not in them?

No, sir. Right next to them, in the driveway.

Now, why do you suppose someone would have dropped the gun in a place where it

was so sure to have been found?

Your Honor, objection.

It's possible if this deputy sheriff were himself the murderer that he might

qualified to answer that question, but... Stand.

Thank you, Deputy Gillis.

That'll be all.

You stated that the defendant received a phone call and then ran out somewhere

after 9 p .m.

And that you yourself at a later time also went out and drove to the area of

lake and the cottage. Is that correct?

Well, that's right, sir, but not till about 11 o 'clock. And I had two friends

with me. Well, you talked to those two guys yourself.

Yes. Yes, the police are familiar with all of that. What I'm concerned with is

whether or not you stopped at the cottage.

Oh, no, just drove past is all.

Well, I'm concerned with what you saw there, if anything.

I saw there was a light burning in the house, and her car was parked in the

back. We drove past slow, and I didn't see anybody inside but her.

Well, that's all it was.

But why were you looking in? Were you planning to stop?

No, no.

Just habit, I guess.

And what do you mean by that, exactly?

My father used to do quite a bit of traveling, you know, examining mining

claims, checking property investment.

And whenever he was going to be gone,

He'd asked me to keep an eye on her.

You mean Willard Nesbitt asked you to spy on his wife.

Why?

Well, he wanted to find out if she was seeing any other man. I mean, sure he

asked me to spy on her. What do you think?

That's all, Mr. Nesbitt. Thank you.

You're a witness, Mr. Mason.

How many men would you say Eve Nesbitt was carrying on with?

How do I know?

What did you report to your father?

Well, nothing exactly.

Then to put it exactly, there was no other man in Eve Nesbitt's life.

I didn't say that, Mr. Mason. I said there was none that I could find.

Perhaps you also didn't say that Willard Nesbitt's real concern was only for his

wife's safety.

Now, what time did you pick up these people when you took driving?

Well, I met them on a drive -in on maybe 10 .30.

What time did you leave them?

Oh, I guess 11 .40 or so.

Did you hear the doctor testify that Willard Nesbitt could have been murdered

early as 9 .30?

And did you understand the police admission that his body could have been

the lake much later, around midnight perhaps?

In other words, before and after you were with these friends who serve as

alibi? I object to that, Your Honor. I'll withdraw the question.

Bruce Nesbitt.

If the defendant is brought to trial and found guilty of murder, do you have any

idea of how the court will dispose of your father's estate, his insurance

I guess I'll inherit it.

That's an excellent guess.

No more questions.

I called the cottage at ten after ten.

There was no answer.

I now read to you a portion of the...

defendant's statement to the police.

Quote, I arrived at the cottage at five minutes to ten.

I waited there for some time.

I then went down to the lake to look around for my husband.

Then I came back and just waited some more.

Unquote. Wouldn't that mean that the defendant was actually at the cottage

you called her?

I suppose so, but nobody picked up the phone.

Now, Mr. Castle, without going into the details of your personal or business

relationship with the deceased, did you notice any difference in the behavior of

Willard Nesbitt?

After he married the defendant.

Well, yes.

At first, he was happy as a kid.

Then the last few weeks, he quit paying much attention to work and started

borrowing money from the business.

Really? Did you question him about this?

Yes. He just got embarrassed.

I figured he needed the money because his wife had extravagant tastes or maybe

he was worried about hanging on to her.

Thank you, Mr. Castle. That'll be all.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

You say you called the cottage at ten minutes after ten and there was no

What time had you called your answering service, Mr. Castle?

Well, I can't recall the exact time. You don't have to. According to their

records, you called at ten minutes after nine.

Why did you wait almost an hour to return Mr. Nesbitt's call?

I don't know. Maybe I was stunned.

Perhaps you didn't wish to talk to him until you talked to someone else.

As a matter of fact, I did call Ben Otis and my fiancée, Miss Bartlett, to tell

them that Willard Nesbitt was alive.

You just inferred that Mr. Nesbitt may have borrowed money from the business in

order to cater to his wife's extravagant taste.

Well, he never actually showed me any of the bills.

Then permit me to show you some.

Bill from Dr.

E .F. Hopkins.

$75, medical consultation.

$120, medical laboratory test.

Two hundred and five dollars.

Didn't Mr. Nesbitt ever confide in you as to how ill he really was?

To my knowledge, Will Nesbitt hadn't seen a doctor in years.

Perhaps that was his misfortune.

Now, Mr. Castle, when did you and Mr. Nesbitt discuss the dissolution of your

partnership?

About two months before he signed the agreement.

Can you remember why you waited until the day after your partnership was

dissolved to renew an option on the Mesa Mining property?

I resent your implications, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Nesbitt knew of that mine. It was only one of many such properties.

He simply was not interested in continuing as my partner. I bought him

legally.

Thank you. That'll be all.

Well, there are a hundred ways of trying to embezzle an insurance company.

As investigator for amalgamated insurance, I've worked on most of them.

When I checked with Mr. Nesbitt's position and found out what a sick man

well, it certainly suggested that his accidental death might be fraud aimed at

collecting double indemnity for his wife to live on.

Double indemnity?

I see.

Thank you, Mr. Gibney.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

I take it the doctor told you that Mr. Nesbitt was aware of his own condition.

Nesbitt learned the whole thing just a week before he made himself disappear.

In your investigations, were you able to gather one particle of evidence that

Mrs. Nesbitt was partner to her husband's scheme?

Not specifically. Mr. Gibney, my client is being tried for murder.

Now, isn't it true that in all the time you were on the case, you were not able,

in spite of your suspicions, to prove complicity in fraud of any kind?

It's true.

I was not.

That will be all, Mr. Gibney.

The witness may step down.

Mrs. Fanny Werbler to the stand, please.

That evil woman.

I wish a thunderbolt would strike her.

Perry, it's all set.

You got the photo staff?

They're being blown up now.

Eve, where do you keep your contacts?

In my desk in the living room. Why?

I want you to get those checks right away. Meet me at Professor Lakin's. I'll

there as soon as they call recess.

Okay, Perry.

And Mrs. Werbler, I've just read to you from a portion of the statement made by

the defendant to the police pertaining to her belief that her husband was

Now, I ask you of your own certain knowledge if that statement was true or

false. If the lady said she believed her husband was dead, then it's false.

I've seen them together.

I've seen the defendant at the Havenhurst Motel visiting the man I knew

And the man you knew as Joe, I show you now a picture of the deceased.

was absolutely this man, Willard Nesbitt. Yes, sir, that is the man.

Thank you, Mrs. Werbler.

Your witness.

Mrs. Werbler, are you familiar with the penalty for perjury for lying under

oath? I ain't lying. You got some nerve.

Now, you said on direct examination.

That you were on the porch of the motel in front of the manager's room when the

defendant passed in front of you and went inside.

I did.

Can you recall what the defendant was wearing? Sure. She was wearing a tweed

coat with a button -down collar, a little off -the -face red hat and glove.

White glove.

What is the color of the tie I'm wearing, Mrs. Werbler?

I object to that, Your Honor.

There's certainly no possible reason for... Your Honor.

I'm merely trying to verify the skill of this witness in identifying clothing.

She seems to have an unusually retentive memory.

Objection overruled. The witness will answer the question.

A green knitted tie.

You'd better look again, Mrs. Werbler.

So it's blue. That's pretty close.

Blue and with stripes.

Well, you were standing sideways. I couldn't see you so good. But I seen

woman, I tell you, and she was wearing a red hat. I'm through with this witness,

Your Honor.

It is now 10 minutes after 12.

Court will recess until 1 .30.

Mr. Mason, I remember that red hat.

I only wore it once, so that must have been the day that the woman said she saw

me.

Where did you go that evening?

Well, I... I went shopping because Bruce was out of town and I stopped at the

corner drugstore to have a bite to eat. And Jenny was there.

Jenny Bartlett?

Yes. And we gossiped a bit, and then I went straight home about 8 o 'clock.

Did you tell Miss Bartlett that Bruce was away?

I do believe I did.

Then I do believe we're going to have a most interesting afternoon.

Have you ever been to the Havenhurst Motel, Miss Bartlett,

the place where Mr. Nesbitt was staying, where Mrs. Werbler works?

No.

Have you ever seen Mrs. Werbler before?

No, I haven't. Then perhaps you hired Mrs. Werbler's perjured testimony over

telephone. Objection, Your Honor!

Objection sustained, Mr. Mason.

You will not intimidate this witness.

You're engaged to marry Lloyd Castle, are you not?

Yes, I am.

Then you must have a great stake in his future.

Well, of course I have. He's going to be my husband.

Did you make him a loan of $10 ,000, allowing him to dissolve his partnership

with Mr. Nesbitt?

Yes, I did.

How did that happen?

Well, I had it. It was easily available.

It left your savings account with a balance of only $150.

Mr. Castle must have wanted that money desperately.

That's all. Thank you.

Yes.

Ms. Nesbitt kept this gun in the desk in her apartment.

I remember seeing it there just a week before her husband was killed.

Well, how did you happen to notice the gun?

Well, I do personal bookkeeping for Nesbitt and his wife.

There were still some tack things to clear up.

Ms. Nesbitt kept her papers in her drawer in the desk.

The gun was there, too.

I see.

Dear witness, Mr. Mason.

Isn't it true, Mr. Otis, that you once suggested to Mrs. Nesbitt that a gun

might be more useful out at the cottage?

Well, I might have.

For a woman alone, that cottage is pretty isolated.

Now, we know for a fact that Mrs. Nesbitt drove to the cottage on the

her husband's murder.

Were you suggesting that she took a gun with her that night?

Oh, of course not.

I just answered the questions that the prosecutor put to me.

She could have brought the gun out there any time during the previous week.

And with the gun at the cottage, any number of people might have found it and

made use of it.

Yes, I suppose so.

Mr. Otis, what is your position with the Castle Investment Company?

I'm the bookkeeper.

You're very modest, but you do own a percentage of the firm, do you not?

Well, yes, I have a certain share.

Where's your home, Mr. Otis?

At 1432 Melbourne Avenue, Canoga Park.

Now, with good traffic conditions, it would take Mrs. Nesbitt almost an hour

drive from her apartment to the cottage.

It would take you only 20 minutes or so, isn't that correct?

I don't know.

You have driven out there before, haven't you?

It takes about a half an hour.

So if you had called the answering service at 10 minutes after 9 and

that Mr. Nesbitt wanted to see you, you could have reached the cottage almost

half an hour before Mrs. Nesbitt arrived.

Yes, but I didn't go.

Thank you, Mr. Otis. That'll be all. Perry.

Your Honor, because of certain new evidence which has just come to my

I would like to recall Mr. Lloyd Castle.

Yes, this is a copy of the contract dissolving the partnership.

This is Willard Nesbitt's signature.

You're positive of that? Yes.

Your Honor, I would like to introduce this blown -up photostat of Mr.

signature, taken from this contract.

And this, Your Honor, is another photostat of Mr. Nesbitt's signature,

from an old contract.

Now, just a moment.

Would you both approach the bench, please?

I'm sure you may have some objections here, Mr. Prosecutor. I ask only that

examine these photostats.

They look identical, but then I'm no expert.

They are identical.

Now I ask that you compare this signature with those you've been

Do they look identical, Your Honor?

No.

No, not exactly.

May I show them to the witness?

Go ahead.

Aye, Mr. Mason, I have no objection.

Are these signatures identical, Mr. Castle?

Well, I'm no expert either, Mr. Mason.

Please look again, Mr. Castle.

You don't have to be an expert to see the difference.

Well, yes, I see a difference, but I can't explain it.

This is a photostat of Mr. Nesbitt's signature taken from the old contract.

Someone's forgery of that signature was excellent.

Forgery?

No. That's Willard's handwriting. I know it anyway.

I'm sure you would.

But this signature was photostatted from a check Mr. Nesbitt wrote during the

week just before his supposed drowning.

Will you please note that more of the letters slope downward, some of the

letters are smaller.

There's a slight trembling, less pressure on the pen.

I don't understand.

Willard didn't write that way.

All of the checks Mr. Nesbitt wrote during that week show the same signs,

Castle.

They are telltale marks of severe depression, of a decline in mental

I never heard of such a thing.

You recall what had just happened to Mr. Mesler.

He'd just learned that his days were numbered.

That unless he was cared for as an invalid, he might drop dead at any

That has nothing to do with a man's handwriting.

Besides, you're no expert. You can't tell me... Your Honor...

There is a handwriting expert in this court, one whose credentials are well

known both to yourself and to the prosecution.

May it please the court, as a witness for the defense, this expert has

an exhibit which will not only sustain what I've just said, but will prove

beyond any question of doubt that there was forgery here.

And when the proper time comes... Now, just a moment, Mr. Mason.

If there is going to be evidence of forgery, the court would prefer to see

right now.

so that all the evidence pertaining to this document might be considered

together. Is that agreed?

Agreed.

Now, to keep the record straight, let it show that the witness is to be examined

under a voir dire procedure to the document in question.

You may proceed, Counselor.

This, then, is the signature in question.

Willard Nesbitt's name is appended to one copy of the contract.

Dissolving his partnership with Mr. Castle.

But there were other copies of this contract, naturally.

And when we examine the signatures, we find a very unusual thing.

The writing is absolutely identical.

And what would that indicate?

Well, no man on this earth signs his name exactly the same way every time.

But look here.

You notice how all of these lines fit?

It's my opinion, Your Honor, that further laboratory tests will reveal

these are actually traced signatures.

Forgeries traced from some earlier... Of course it's traced. I did it.

Lloyd, no.

It's no use, Jenny.

Sure I signed his name.

You think I was going to share a half a million dollars with Nesbitt's widow?

Lloyd, stop. You don't have to tell them. Why should he stop, Miss Bartlett?

Because he might incriminate you as the one who murdered Willard Nesbitt?

No, that's not true.

Or did you just arrange for that woman's perjured testimony?

Yes, I did.

But I didn't kill him.

Ask him.

Ask him who did the murder.

Ask Ben Otis.

I guess you didn't know what you'd start, did you, Mr. Castle?

She can't hold it back now, but then why should she?

You see, she knew that I went to see Nesbitt that night after your call.

I told him that we'd make good, that we'd cut his wife in for a piece of the

business, but he wouldn't listen to reason.

Nothing would satisfy him but to see us all behind prison bars.

Well, I'm afraid I've never particularly liked the idea of a life behind...

If you're with yogurt.

Mr. Mason, what's going to happen to that woman, Mrs. Wurgler?

She'll be charged with perjury.

She sure was a dame up for a buck right from the start.

What do you mean?

Well, she was already curious about Nesbitt, and then when she saw his

in the paper the morning after the murder, she phoned the company and

fishing around to see who might possibly be interested in what she knew.

And Jenny Bartlett was the one who got her call.

Why did she hire that woman to lie about me?

Desperation.

Jenny had already guessed what Ben had done, and she made him admit it.

But she was afraid to tell Castle.

She also knew that the case against you was a slim one.

So she figured if she could pad that case and keep the truth down, she'd be

protecting Castle, her money, and her future.

Well, it's all as clear as crystal to me.

What is?

In this girl's handwriting, I can see loyalty, perseverance, and hunger.

Especially hunger.

And your client doesn't look too well -fed, either.

And if you could read my writing, you'd see that I'm starved also.

And from your handwriting, I can tell that you're a very rich man who can

the finest restaurant in town.