Original subtitles

And so I hope you find these estimates satisfactory. I personally have them

prepared by a very ablest man, Mr., uh, well, whoever it was.

And as my late boss, good old Jeff Devereaux, used to say, when you're

in the A -team with all the horses behind you, well, you know the sort of

he used to say, leader.

Why do you suppose I wanted you to take this instead of, uh, just a secretary?

Oh, who's trotting the estimates over to Phoenix? They ought to be there before

the weekend.

Clem Sandover, I believe.

Who?

In accounting.

You know that Mr. Sandover whose dumpy little wife used to be Mr. Devereaux's

boss lady.

In accounting?

He's been with us almost 20 years.

Mr. Sellers says he's the only man in the company who's never had an expense

account trip.

All right, all right.

You're the number one spark plug now, so spin the wheels, roll them down the

runway.

Your necktie is crooked, Mr. Banks.

Sandover.

Sandover!

Sandy! Sandy!

White paper, three reams, yellow two, ledger book seven.

Now, let's see.

I have one full box of black pencils, four red.

One, two, three extra pen fillers, seven airmail stamps, and a full roll of four

cents.

Sandy, old boy, what in the name of... The level of my sherry is precisely at

the top of the letter S.

Sand number!

Why the devil don't you answer? Shh, Mr. Sellers, we're busy counting paper

clips. And let me warn you, a single one is missing when my desk buddy returns.

All right, never mind.

Here, Sandy, you won't need this. I'm having a briefcase loaded with all the

estimates. Yes, I expected that, sir.

I'm taking along some work on my own, that's all.

Oh. Well, if you're a little overweight on the plane... I plan to travel by

rail, sir.

Well, there's still a letter from Mr. Banks with your instructions being

I'll tell Leader to... Yes, sir. I've already made arrangements to pick it up

from Miss Creel. Mr. Sellers, you don't think my old roomie would overlook

anything, do you?

You don't think he'd fail to pack in an extra timetable or make a note of how

many races he's leaving in the second draw?

Enos, shut up.

Sandover, we want you to have some fun on this trip.

Forget the work.

You find yourself the fanciest hotel suite and the thickest T -bone steaks in

town. All on us, mind you. All on us.

And when they turn on those bright lights, you just tell the nearest

I, uh, I rather thought I'd stay at the YMCA, sir.

Well... Goodbye, Sandy.

Don't you worry, Mr. Sellers. I'll be back at my desk at 9 o 'clock Monday

morning.

of my sherry, he said.

Listen to this. It's true. The level of my sherry is precisely at the top of the

land. So help me.

Haven't you girls any work to do?

I know you haven't, Mr. Waterton.

The man's world, Miss Crell.

I do not take orders from lady straw bosses.

Hey, hey.

Was that Miss Crell?

Is she back in her office? Pining for you. Pining for you.

Miss Crail.

Yes.

Everything's here already for you, Mr. Sandover.

These are the letters for you to carry. Thank you.

Lita. Yes?

I'm all packed, all ready to go.

All right.

Goodbye.

I just wanted to make sure that you hadn't changed your plans.

About what?

Oh, well, Sandy, there's so many things that I ought to be doing this weekend.

But you fly down there quite often, you said.

And you said you might even leave early tomorrow to be in Phoenix around noon.

And what if I do, Sandy?

Do you have something to tell me? You don't want anybody to know what you're

telling me.

Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do.

I have several more tidbits about people in the office.

But that's not what I meant.

It's not?

You promised you'd be there.

Lita, remember the money I mentioned I was coming into?

Well, you're the only one who can advise me.

I may want to live differently now, quite differently.

I'm even stopping off on the way to the train to buy a new sport jacket.

Mr. Sandover, your wife is here. My wife? What in heaven's name?

She said she stopped by because you didn't pack your sweater.

Oh, all right, all right. Thank you. I told her she could put the sweater in

of your bags. I showed her where the luggage was in the office.

I said all right, thank...

There.

Here, get that.

All the things I don't need on the desert.

I didn't mean to disturb you.

But I suppose I didn't kiss you goodbye this morning.

All right.

There, now run along, dear, for heaven's sakes.

Sandy, I ran into Frank Sellers in the hall downstairs.

He said he was surprised to hear I hadn't wanted to go to Phoenix with you.

said the company would gladly... How you could have worked here all of these

years and still be so stupid and gullible. Sandy, you're upset about

you know you are. You didn't eat your breakfast this morning, and last night

talked in your sleep again about water skiing. Please leave me alone.

Go home.

Of course I'll be in Phoenix tomorrow.

I've already made my reservations.

Seventy -five $100 bills, one, two, three thousand more, plus the ten

and the five makes $201 ,000 exactly.

The perfect embezzlement.

You may say that Rome wasn't built in a day, but neither was Fort Knox.

Neither was the treasure of the Incas.

The undiscoverable acquisition of $201 ,000, bill by bill,

month after month, year after year, is a financial feat worthy of a Clem

P. Sandel.

C .P.

Sandel.

C .P .S.

Yes, indeed.

If Croesus, Kruger, Rockefeller could afford to brag a little, well, in due

time, why not the perfect embezzler?

I only make these notes because someday people may recognize the...

43, 44, $45 ,000.

What? How in the name?

Hello? Who?

Who?

Just stand over.

Sally, listen to me. You handle receipts, incoming receipts.

I thought you were on a train somewhere. Look, I got home late, and I do have a

date tonight, so... Sally, did we get any money today? Was any cash received

the office?

Cash? Just the one loan deposit.

That what? I mean, how much? How much was it?

$45 ,000, but you already know about that.

I already know.

Look, Mr. Sandover, I really didn't pay any attention to it after I saw your

initials on it and your forwarding slip when you sent it out of the bank.

Try and remember. There may have been some other smaller reasons.

Mr. Sandover?

Get the bags.

Beth, it's me.

Don't get all excited now. I just missed my train, that's all.

But I have something to attend to this evening.

I'm taking the car.

You missed the train, but that was hours ago, Sandy. For heaven's sake, what

happened? I'll explain later, dear. I'll fly down to Phoenix in the morning

instead. Look, there's nothing to be alarmed about.

I thought you were going out to dinner with Dorothea this evening. Yes, but

later, so I really wanted to use the car myself, but...

Oh, I'm sorry.

Sandy, this is Perry Mason.

I've always wanted to meet you, Mr. Sandover.

Your wife and I are very old friends.

Yes, of course.

She's always talking about people she used to know when Mr. Devereaux was

Sandy, Perry was nice enough to come by on his way home from work to give me

some professional advice.

Oh, all right, Beth, if you're thinking of a divorce.

That's no reason to call in such an expensive lawyer.

Sandy. I never handled divorces. No, I only stopped by to... We were discussing

something quite different. All right, never mind. Oh, put them right over

Has anyone else been here this evening? Anyone called?

Just Enos Waterton. He wanted to make sure you got away all right. I didn't

then you'd missed a train. Enos Waterton.

Sandy.

Sandy, if you won't tell me, will you please tell Perry what's been upsetting

you so lately? I mean, that's part of the reason I wanted to talk to him. Oh,

for heaven's sake. If I don't care what you do... Sandy!

Driver, wait!

Taxi! Taxi!

Tell her.

Tell her.

Yes?

Who?

Oh, Sandy.

Well, I guess we all miss a train once in a while.

I'll catch the first plane in the morning, sir. The only reason I bothered

was to double -check to make sure that I have all the papers they'll need in

Phoenix. What?

I mean, in the briefcase, sir.

I had the impression that you put everything in there yourself and...

matter of fact, I didn't actually, but I'm sure you've got it all. Then who

sir? Who else touched the briefcase?

Sandy, for gosh sakes. If you'd stop worrying about things that aren't

important, you wouldn't overlook the things that are.

Yes, sir. I didn't mean to make you angry, sir.

You've already wrecked my evening with that deposit money you forgot.

There was a message waiting for me when I got home.

You should have sent that money to the bank the minute it came in.

You know our insurance doesn't cover leaving a wad like 45 ,000 around the

office all night.

But about that 45 ,000, sir.

I know you're sorry.

Well, skip it. The bank's sending an armored truck to meet me downtown.

take the money off our hands.

What are you doing, sir?

I'm on my way down to the office to turn the money over to them. Now, goodbye,

Sandover. Go to Phoenix!

Okay, boys, that's it.

Be right with you.

Hello. I was given this number to reach Miss Crail tonight.

Oh, Lita, is that you?

Lita, I tried to reach you before to tell you I got your message about double

-checking that cash that came in today.

No, no, no, you don't need to do anything about it. I'll handle it.

Just wanted to say thanks for calling into my attention, Ansel.

Good night.

Having trouble?

Oh, no. I do this for exercise. It helps my strawberries get ripe.

Uh, anybody home over there?

I haven't the faintest idea why.

Oh, I'm looking for real estate.

Well, he can have any of mine, this truck included.

You know, this is the second time in three weeks that I've missed the early

market. You know how long I've been asleep in that cab waiting for it to be

light enough to fix this thing?

You're crying a murder. She... She can't be. She just can't be.

Beth, why are you so frightened?

Last night you told me that you didn't like her, that you didn't trust her.

It's just that I can't believe it.

I'd like to talk to your husband.

He's gone out already.

I don't know where... Beth, last night I came over here because you were upset

about receiving a letter and a couple of phone calls.

You thought it was a man on the phone.

The letter was typed.

And it was unsigned.

But in plain nasty language, they all said the same thing.

Stop trying to bleed me or else.

I shouldn't have called you. I was scared, but it wasn't that important.

Yes, it was.

Obviously, someone thinks you're a blackmailer.

Now, you did remember that the man used the word office.

And until last year, your whole life has been tied up in your job with Devereaux

and Banks.

Since then, Lita Crail has had that job. Well, this morning I sent Paul Drake

out to talk with Lita before she went to work.

But now you see, Lita's dead and so everything's different.

Thank you.

Why did you leave your job?

Was it because Jess Devereaux died?

Yes.

I mean, no.

You see, Sandy's been after me ever since we were married two years ago.

He couldn't stand it that I had a more important position in the firm than he

did. Did he ask you to give up all your old friends?

You know, your marriage kind of came as a surprise.

I know that Jess was surprised.

He always thought... Well, frankly, he thought that...

You cared for someone else. Perry, stop it.

If I'm unhappy, or even if you think I've made mistakes, it's still my

isn't it? I'm responsible, so please just leave me alone.

Beth, a murder has been committed.

Now you do need help.

Why, you're scared to death thinking that your husband is in some way mixed

with Lita Crail, or even that he... I don't know anything about it, so please

just get out, Perry. We don't need you. Please, just get out.

Any luck yet on the guy with the strawberries?

No, not so far. I'm checking out the license number, and my men are checking

markets. What about the necktie?

Well, there was a cleaning tab on the label, and we're running it down as fast

as we can.

I gave my men a head start before I reported what I had to the police.

All right, Paul.

I want one of your men to watch that house.

Don't leave till he gets here.

All right.

you heard about the Leta Crail thing.

Shocking, isn't it?

Very shocking.

Such a pretty creature.

How did you hear about it, Mr. Banks?

Oh, the police just called a few moments ago.

Routine check the employer, that sort of thing.

I wasn't in town when Jeff Devereaux died last year, Mr. Banks.

I still miss him. Best friend, you know.

Very best.

It happened here in the office, didn't it?

He was alone, working late.

As I recall the newspaper story, one of the painting women said that she heard

him talking to someone about an hour before he died.

She said his voice sounded very angry.

And quite forgotten.

Mason, what does this have to do with Leta Crail?

His stroke may have been the result of a fight with someone.

Mason, you've got the wrong foot in the mouth entirely. Oh, sure, Leta Crail may

have been number one girl in a big firm, but... Did Leta earn just a salary

here, or do you think she had another source of income?

I don't follow.

Oh, for keeping quiet or arranging deals here and there?

Beth Sandover tells me that the job was a regular funnel of gossip and influence

if a woman so wanted to use it.

And so she did, your friend Beth.

Leta's told me what a big snoop she was.

It's her husband who was the snoop, Sandy.

Of all loves.

Creepy, calculating guys, I understand.

No, no, no, no, no. Frank Sticks and Stones.

Oh, uh, Mason, you know Sellers?

How do you do?

Frank Sellers.

Jess Devereaux told me that you were the one who would probably run the company

when he stepped up.

You mean, uh, Devereaux and Sellers instead of Devereaux and Banks?

Now, Mason, you've been shooting apples off my head ever since you came in.

I'm curious as to who's being blackmailed around here and by whom,

Blackmail? What kind of a... All right, all right, Sellers. It's a stormy

morning, police murder and all that.

We can't blame Mr. Mason if he doesn't recognize a big happy family when he

one. Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry. I have a call outside for Mr. Mason.

Thank you.

Gentlemen. Anytime. No offense.

All part of the game?

Hello?

Yes, Paul.

Who?

Is there an Enos Waterton working for the company?

Phone to say he had a headache this morning.

He's probably at home, Paul.

Why? That necktie that Lita Crail was holding in her hand belongs to Enos

Waterton.

I don't know how she got my necktie. Well, can't you understand?

When a guy drinks a little bit too much... But you admit she was over here

night and you took her home a little before 11?

I didn't even get into her house.

She had something else to do.

Like what?

I don't know. A couple hours earlier she asked me to call Sandy Sandover's wife.

Just to make sure that Sandy had left for Phoenix.

And then later she got a call from Mr. Sellers about something.

Why didn't she want to know that Sandover had left town?

Search me.

Although she did say she thought it was about time she fixed Sandy's wagon.

All right, Paul.

You'd better take Mr. Waterton down to headquarters.

They'll want him as a material witness.

How can I explain it? Look, fellas, you've got to believe me. I was wearing

brown tie last night, not a red one. This was a red one with a little figure

it. I don't own such a...

Was

the figure sort of gray? That's right.

Maybe that's one of the ones I left at the office.

Sure, that's it. You know, in case I lined up something kind of special. At

office?

Where anyone might have taken it. Yeah.

I mean, no.

A couple of months ago, Sandy spilled some soup and that's it.

That's the tie I loaned to Sandy.

Beth, I have to see him. Everything points in one direction. Now, if you

to help your husband before the police get here... Perry, I don't know what I

want. Just time to think, please.

Beth, stop that sniveling.

You don't have to pretend to be loyal.

Mr. Sandover, you went out to Lita Crail's cottage last night, didn't you?

lied to me.

She was up to something, trying to get you into trouble.

She said she'd meet me in Phoenix.

She lied to me. I bought a new sport coat.

I told her things, things I never told anyone.

You thought she cared for you. What did she do, laugh at you? I didn't give her

the chance.

She was asleep on the couch with the door open. I couldn't stop myself, Beth.

She lied to me. I picked up an ashtray. I hit her. I couldn't help but I hit her

and hit her and hit her. That's very interesting.

She explains a lot.

You're trespassing, Lieutenant. Take it easy, Perry. I have a warrant here.

Mr. Sandover, you understand that anything you've said to me that might

been overheard by Lieutenant Tragg. What difference does it make? I killed her.

I have to tell, Mr. Mason. I killed her.

Yes, and then I put a necktie in her hand. She was always playing with

It was Enos's necktie.

Thank you, Mr. Sandover.

But suppose you tell us all this down at headquarters, eh? Oh, look here, Tragg.

It's too bad you didn't check sooner with us, Perry.

You see, when this guy struck her, Lita Crail had probably been dead for over a

half an hour.

The doctor found the bullet in her heart. My warrant is for Mrs.

Sandover. For murder.

Well, that's... That's it, Perry.

I did go out there, but I was with Lita only 20 minutes or so. It was sometime

after 11.

When did she call you?

Oh, it was a couple of hours after you left the house that night.

She said there was something very urgent that we should discuss privately, and

since it takes only a few minutes to get out to her house... Did she tell you

that she'd also received threatening phone calls?

I didn't believe her then, and I still don't.

All right.

But it wasn't just the blackmailing thing she wanted to talk about, was it?

No, she said Sandy was going to be in trouble over some money.

She didn't know what Frank Sellers was going to do about it, but it might be

serious trouble.

And only she could get Sandy out of it.

If he'd quit his job and we'd both move out of town.

In other words, practically admit that we, or I, had been up to something.

What more proof did I need that she was the one?

And you told her so.

And that's when Lita brought out her gun?

Oh, she'd lost her temper. She tried to threaten me with some... Silly little

thing she kept in her bureau.

That silly little thing was the gun that killed her. And, Beth, your

fingerprints are all over it.

Oh, Perry.

I grew up with too many brothers.

I told Lita she ought to be spanked or worse.

I simply took the gun away from her, threw it down on the desk and walked

Well, I wish you told me all that the next day.

How could I?

I drove home that night. The lights were on. So I went for a walk.

I stopped at Dorothy's and we talked a while.

And at one o 'clock I went home.

I thought Sandy was asleep.

And I heard the car come in.

What else could I think the next morning but that he'd taken the car out after I

had, that he'd been out to Lita's and he'd killed her.

Maybe Sandy had provocation for what he did to Lita.

The police have checked out his story, you know. He was seen drinking in a

Hollywood bar just before it.

Well, it's not specifically against the law to try to kill someone who's already

dead.

Harry, you're making excuses for Sandy.

Why?

To find out why you've made so many.

Not ever again.

Oh, Barry, I do need my old friends back.

And what did the defendant then say to you when you told her that her husband

was busy in the office of the deceased Lita Crail?

Well, she said that little alley cat and then another word that I really didn't

listen to. I mean, everybody already knew how much they hated each other ever

since Lita was given Beth's job.

Objection. Sustained.

Now, Miss Adams, let's skip to later that day, shall we?

To that night, as a matter of fact. Did you have occasion to contact the

deceased then?

Yes, I did.

Well, you see, I got this crazy call from San... Mr. Sandover about money

deposits and money in the office.

Well, I got home from my date and I figured I'd better call Lita and tell

about Sandy's call.

So you actually phoned Lita's house?

A quarter past eleven.

She said she was too busy to talk and...

And then I heard another voice, hers, the defendant's, saying, hang up that

phone. And Lita says, I'm getting the orders around here, dear. And, oh, no,

you're not, says Beth. And there's a real loud scuffle noise, and bam, goes

receiver right in my ear.

That'll do all, Miss Adams.

Counselor? No question, Your Honor.

You're going to step down, Miss Adams?

I call Mr. Cyrus Potkin to the stand.

I'm sorry.

Just one moment, please.

Will you raise your right hand?

Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?

And what was all that about?

Perry wanted me to see if what the girl was wearing was really me.

It is.

Type is an accounting, huh?

Well, we'll check her out, too.

Right. Goodbye, Bill.

Oh, Miss, tell Mr.

Mason if there's anything my wife needs.

You understand?

No, I'm afraid I don't. Well, there must be a bill at least. Tell him whatever

is necessary to help. Anything. I'll be glad to manage somehow.

I have a little money saved.

Beth Sandover requested her release from the company, oh, about a year ago for

personal problems. It all seemed quite proper at the time.

At the time? Did something occur later which threw a different light on it? It

did. Leta...

deceased, that is, had made a number of remarks regarding certain discrepancies

she'd found on taking over her job. Well, women in business, you know, I

little attention.

Until just the day before her death, Lita handed me an itemized list of

kickbacks, little deals involving promotions.

Objection. Mr. Banks, of your own personal knowledge, what was Lita

expressed opinion of the defendant?

Oh, what of suspicion?

Bitterness?

Oh, yes, I'd say they quite hated one another.

Counselor?

Mr. Banks, did, um... Any of these allegations by

Lita Crail about the defendant involve criminal acts?

Oh, nothing quite that extreme, perhaps.

Was your firm missing any money last year?

Well, I really don't recall.

You don't recall?

Aren't the company books now being audited? Yes, the audit has been

Books are in perfect order, I'm glad to say. And last year?

That was a perfect audit, too.

Now, isn't it possible, Mr. Banks, that Leta Crail invented these things about

the defendant just to keep suspicion from herself?

Suspicion of bigger things, such as the identity of the office blackmailer?

I'll object to that, Your Honor.

There's been no groundwork laid for the subject of blackmail.

I'm afraid I'll have to sustain that, Counselor.

No more questions.

I just don't remember gossip much, Mr. Berger. Let me remind you that there

other witnesses present, Mr. Sellers.

Now, what did Leader Crail say to you on the morning two days before her death?

Oh, she... She said she thought I ought to know that Sandy... Mr.

Sand over there... had been hitting around to her about maybe getting his

on some money somewhere.

Well, she claimed it might have something to do with Sandy's wife.

But I didn't believe that... That's all. Thank you very much, sir. You're a

witness.

Mr. Sellers, you testified that Lita Crail sent you a message on the night of

her death suggesting that certain monies had not been deposited in the bank.

$45 ,000 in cash. That's right.

Was this a matter which could have caused Mr. Sandover serious trouble?

Well, he was the bookkeeper responsible, but... Could Lita Crail have mixed up

that deposit in some way so that he would have been blamed?

She'd have had to do something with the money itself for anybody to really be in

a mess.

No.

No, that money was still just lying there in the safe, and I went to get it.

your opinion, could Lita Crail have been a blackmailer?

Search me.

It is true, is it not, that six months prior to your wife's death, you were

occasionally seen in the company of other women? My wife was an invalid for

years, Mr. Mason.

Yes, and I took care of her.

Anybody I was seen with was...

A good friend.

And if you think there's anything like blackmail in that... If it please the

court, defense counsel is once again wandering into the briar patch we've

trying to avoid.

Now, in the interest of the court's time... Would you excuse me a moment,

Honor?

If it please the court, the state has unearthed new evidence.

Which will, I am happy to say, clarify once and for all just exactly who was

doing what.

On request of the district attorney, we just completed a more thorough search of

the defendant's house.

What did you find there, Lieutenant?

In several places in Mrs. Sandover's dressing room, we found bundles of

greenbacks. How much did it amount to in money, Lieutenant?

$201 ,000.

It's just about time. I suppose he's going to show up.

Well, he will if my information's correct. And Miss Adams here made the

sound pretty urgent.

Thanks, Sally.

Well, here's your friend Beth.

Perry,

what about her fingerprints on the gun?

Our expert admitted that some of the fingerprints were smeared.

I tried to argue that... Someone could have picked the gun up later, picked it

up with a handkerchief, and fired it.

There you are.

Sally, what's the big idea of telephoning a message to my house like

know how my wife... Mason.

Evening, Mr. Banks.

Care for a drink?

Well, so you finally hit your target.

All right, what's your price?

The truth.

You think it's in me?

It better be.

We've got enough on you and Sally. Never mind, Paul.

Have you been blackmailed because of her?

Yes.

By whom?

That's a trouble I don't know. I thought it was Beth Sandover, but now I'm not

so sure.

I'd had just about enough of this whole business, Mason. I was going to call in

a private detective.

Did Lita Crail know that?

Well, I did call an agency the other day from the office. It's possible Lita

might have heard me.

Man, we're scared into action.

All right, how much blackmail did you pay? How much have you paid in all?

$6 ,000?

That's a long way from $201 ,000, isn't it?

Della, you and I have a few subpoenas to get out.

There's only one way to handle the defense now.

In all my years of knowing her, Beth Sandover never once used her position at

the office for her own private gain. Just how would you account for the $201

,000 the police found at the Sandover house?

I wouldn't. I don't know anything about it.

Well, to your own personal knowledge, does the defendant gamble? Does she

the races?

Of course not.

How can you be so positive, Mr. Sellers? Because I know Beth for 15 years.

We could never do anything about it, but... Well, I... I know Beth, that's

Did her husband have any private source of income that you might know of?

Sandy?

Well, he's sure no gambler, I can tell you that.

What else can you tell us about him?

Plenty.

He's conniving and selfish.

Little and mean.

Only the money is relevant here, Mr. Sellers.

Now, could the defendant's husband have connived somehow to steal that money?

Well, not from us.

He's too cautious.

On top of that, he's just plain stupid.

Goes over and over every pin in that double -entry mind of his.

In my opinion, Sandy's got less imagination than any bookkeeper in the

That's not true!

But it's my work that kept Devereaux and Banks running, yes, for years.

Me, Clem Sandover. I asked about the money, Mr. Sandover.

It's my money. Yes, every penny.

Dollar by dollar, month after month, don't you understand?

My $201 ,000.

I embezzled it.

Your Honor, I...

I was about to object to this line of questioning, but I... And I would agree

with the objection, Your Honor. I'll withdraw the question, since the witness

obviously lying just to protect his wife. No, that's not so. I did it.

Don't you understand? You've got to believe me. Year after year, I worked on

plan. I was so clever with the books that no one even guessed.

No one even noticed a wrong decimal, a wrong... Didn't just everyone even

What?

Your former employer who died so suddenly of a stroke one night.

You know, we're also here to talk about murder, Mr. Sandover.

But Mr.

Devereaux, Lita Crail's murder.

Oh, but Lita, I can tell you more about. She was a blackmailer. She even got

information out of me about people.

I never told that before. Why not?

Were you that anxious to implicate your wife? No, I was confused. I was worried

about the money. I mean...

I confessed to everything else I knew, going there and striking her the way I

did, but they said she was already dead, and... And by that easy and intentional

confession, you hope to remove yourself as the suspect of her murder, isn't that

right? No one would kill a person twice. A man as methodical as you might have

done it, Mr. Sanova, if you'd been trapped.

Trapped? Yes.

Perhaps you went out there and fought with Lita. Perhaps she just laughed at

and ordered you out.

Then you saw her gun.

The next thing you knew, she was dead at your feet.

But when you started to leave, there was a truck outside.

It had just broken down.

And it stayed there and stayed.

No, wait.

I was seen in a bar at a quarter past twelve. The police confirmed that.

It's less than a ten -minute walk to that bar and that alibi.

Now you...

Couldn't leave your car forever at Lita's.

But when you went back, the truck was still there.

And that's when you created your second desperate alibi. And then you let your

car be seen by driving away.

She lied to me.

Is that why you killed her?

Because she lied to you?

Lita's not important.

Do you know how long it took me to plan that embezzlement?

Oh, yes, indeed.

You can say that Rome wasn't built in one day.

No, and neither was Fort Knox.

Oh, I want you to understand how complex it is. The

undiscoverable acquisition of $201 ,000.

Oh, I tell you, it's a financial feat worth your...

Well, I did it.

I did it. Won't you listen? Won't you understand?

I embezzled that money.

Me, Clem P.

Sandover. I did it.

I was so surprised when Frank here came out and said all those awful things

about Sandy.

Well, I'm sorry I couldn't have warned you, Beth.

But I had Mr. Sellers well primed. And Mr. Waterton.

And nearly led them into contempt of court just to help.

Well, it had to be done.

There was just no other explanation for all the things that happened, and the

circumstantial evidence against you could equally be applied to your

Sandy admitted that Debra almost caught him last year, which, of course, is what

caused Debra's stroke.

I know.

You can't be loyal forever to your own mistakes, Beth.

It's just that I'm so terribly sorry for Sandy, that's all.

You shouldn't be.

He's in a nice, comfortable place where he can do what he really wants to do for

as long as he likes. What's that?

Oh, he's writing a book about the perfect embezzlement.