All language subtitles for Perry Mason s06e08 Stand-In Sister

Sit down, John Chek. I'll let you know
when you may go.

Senator Cord, the subcommittee is
recessed for lunch. We are not now in

So is Mr. John Chek's counsel. May I
point out... You may not.

I subpoenaed you out of a federal
penitentiary because it occurred to me

after having served almost all of a 20
-year sentence, you might have undergone

at least the rudiments of reformation.

It was my hope that you would cooperate
with this committee in its efforts to

expose the organized criminality
existing in this country today.

Fat chance, Buster.

Instead of cooperating, you have blocked
us at every turn.

In the course of this first day's
hearing, you have evaded, you have lied,

have seen fit to plead the Fifth
Amendment no less than 27 times.

I didn't ask to come here. Your attitude
may be different when you face a

federal grand jury on charges of perjury
and contempt of a United States Senate

committee. But...

Marshal.

Yes, Senator.

Have this man return to the
penitentiary. I don't want to see him

Now, wait a minute.

What's this about a grand jury? What's
going on here?

You've been parroting your counsel's
advice. Ask him.

All right, let's have it. What was he
talking about in there?

Well, stay here for lunch. Never mind
him. I asked you a question.

They had you cold, Steve. Every time you
lied to that committee, they were

looking down your throat with documented
proof.

I didn't say anything but what you told
me to say. Oh,

you knew about that proof before you...
Big Steve John Jack.

I'm elected.

Public patsy number one. That's it, huh?

Well, the boys upstairs, the ones who
pay me, Steve, they get the odds, that's

all. Sure, sure.

Let's not open any new canopies.

Let Big Steve take the rap, huh?

Let him rot a couple of more years in
jail. Why not?

Well, I'll tell you why not.

I got dough waiting for me, big dough.
I'm not the lamb out of this country. I

live like a king. That's why not.

Now, be smart, Steve. If you get a
bankroll set aside, it'll wait. It'll

be there. That's where you're wrong. It
won't. I can't wait.

Steve, the answer is no.

It's got to be this way. I won't sit
still with this. I won't. I won't.

Don't do it, Steve.

Steve, they'll throw the buck at you!
Steve!

Yeah.

John Gregory.

G -R -E -G -O -R -Y.

1416 North La Brea Boulevard.

Los Angeles, California.

Night letter, that's right.

Relax, Nick. I never saw you so jumpy.

Relax, he says.

You the captain of one little tuna boat?
Look at me. I've got 25 just like her

and 10 more on lease purchase. You don't
see me sweating it?

No, I'm sweating for you.

I should have my head examined
suggesting this deal in the first place.

You know what happens if just one single
step goes haywire, don't you, John?

You lose your shirt.

I'll make the tonnage and that means my
merge with Bickle's Cannery will go

through. Then I'll pay for my books.

If you deliver as much fish as you
signed up for.

If you don't, you're dead.

We'll see.

Daddy? Hello, baby.

Oh, you didn't shave.

Just like when you were a little kid.

Go in a couple of weeks and you complain
about your old daddy's wish.

Well, they scratch.

I missed you, you big hunyack.

What you got rigged for me today?

Some shopping? Stuff for a trousseau,
maybe?

Nothing so extravagant. We're going to
hear Van speak at a women's club rally.

It isn't bad enough I'm losing my
daughter to a rising young politician.

got to listen to his campaign speeches
and the bargain.

I stopped by your office.

Nothing urgent.

Except, uh, maybe this telegram.

Anything the matter, Fisherman?

No, no, it's just that I'm... Well, I
can't go to the rally with you, Helen.

Tell Van I'm sorry I couldn't make it,
but I just remembered I've got to see

somebody on business. Go on.

I'll use the company car here on the
dock.

The story on Janczek's escape is almost
a week old. It's buried way in the back

of the paper.

What? Don't be alarmed. Mr. Gregory, I
only wish to speak to you. My name is

Moray. I'm not looking for work. I am
retired.

What do you want?

From the Boston office of the Swiss
Federated Bank of Zurich.

Look, Mr. Moray, I'm a busy man.

Did you say Swiss?

Federated Bank of Zurich. For the past
20 years, I personally handled your

daughter's trust fund.

Yes, I remember your name now. I've seen
your name on correspondence.

$200 ,000.

Half of the trust fund paid when your
daughter was 10. The other half is due

when she's 21 in less than a year.

Not an unusual trust fund at all, sir.

Except for the difference in the names.

See, a trust fund set up by another man
for his daughter being paid to your

daughter.

The girl you call Helen Greger. You
don't know what you're talking about.

A trustee of the trust fund, you've
already accepted $100 ,000.

And I assume you plan to accept the
remaining $100 ,000 for your own

despite the fact that the money was left
to someone else.

Get out of here.

The young man who's about to marry your
daughter is running for Congress.

What would happen to him and your
daughter if I lodged a criminal

against you?

For what?

Felony fraud.

$100 ,000.

And you'll never see or hear from me
again.

There is a way, papers I can sign, put
me in your control to make sure that you

make only this one pension payment if
you go along with me now.

Every cent I own is tied up.

Where am I going to come up with that
much cash?

That's your problem.

I'll call you later.

Good days.

As Mr. Gregory's attorney, I appreciate
your coming here on such short notice,

Mr. Bickle. You trying to renege on the
merger?

No, certainly not. In fact, as Mr.

Bickle, we'd like to ask for a
postponement.

As you know, Mr. Gregory has $300 ,000
of his own company stock in escrow.

I have an equal amount tied up in case
you've forgotten.

We realize that.

But Mr. Gregory finds himself in urgent
need of ready funds for another purpose.

For what other purpose? It's something I
can't talk about. I haven't discussed

it with Mr. Mason.

I don't know what you're trying to pull,
but I don't like the smell of it.

Either this merger goes through and on
the date specified, or it doesn't go

through at all.

And if that happens, you forfeit your
escrow.

You ought to know the penalty clause.
You helped write the contract.

Look, Bickle, you won't lose anything by
letting me off the hook for a couple of

days. If I could only explain... You
wouldn't do one bit of good.

The answer would still be no.

Nick, how much money is in that special
account you've been keeping for me?

Well, as near as I can remember, a
little over 100 ,000. I want you to draw

out.

All of it? In cash.

Now, today.

I thought you told me you could swing
the new fleet and the cannery merger

without touching that money. What's
wrong?

Don't push me. Don't push. I'll tell you
if I could.

Okay, John, anything you say.

I'll call and tell you what to do with
it.

Just get the money for me.

Don't ask why.

Stefan. You get my telegram?

Make all the arrangements?

Don't be scared.

Nobody knows about us or I'm here.

They're looking for me in Boston.

It won't work, Stefan.

Why not?

You got the boats?

You put the two of us on one, take us
down to Mexico. I got contacts there.

I'll need some dough, porch passports,
plane fare to Switzerland.

The two of you.

Sure, me and my daughter. Who else? She
knows she's going with me.

20 years.

Not a word. Not a letter.

How is she? What is she?

Now you want her to pack up and run off
to Switzerland with you. Why?

You want me to draw pictures for you?
Why do you think?

The trust fund, 100 ,000 bucks. She
don't sign for it, I don't get it.

why. You set up that trust fund for her.

Oh, sure.

For some brat I never even saw.

What I even didn't care two cents for, I
set it up for her, yeah.

She's already got a hundred thousand
bucks. Or you have, what's the

The rest of that dough I always figured
is my own private nest egg. For me, Big

Steve, alone.

I wasn't sure.

But I'd have bet my life that was
exactly how you felt. What you would

No, Stefan.

Even if she were alive, I wouldn't let
her go with you.

You wouldn't, you...

Even if she were alive, what are you
talking about?

Your daughter's dead.

You lie to me, I'll cut your heart out.
There was a nix up in the hospital

records. I didn't know about it until
years later.

Your daughter's dead, Stephon, dead.

You cheap, chiseling thief.

What about the money, the money from the
trust fund? What did you do with it?

Held it for you.

Ten years ago, the first $100 ,000, I
put it in a special account for you for

when you were released as untouched.

And what about the other $100 ,000? With
the kid dead, how do I get it?

I've got everything you need. Notarized
statements, records, everything.

You'll give me a hundred grand in cash?

Get me out of the country in one of your
boats? Fix me up with papers so I can

collect the other hundred grand myself?

Yes, yes.

When?

I'll need a couple of days.

Nah, nah. It's too risky. Tonight. I
want it tonight.

That's the cops.

Hello.

This is Prince Murray, Mr. Gregory.

Hold on a minute, please.

Somebody's coming over now. You'd better
get out of here.

Tonight. I want that money tonight.

All right.

San Pedro Harbor.

The tuna clipper, Helen G.

Near the oil dock.

It'll be empty.

Meet me on board in the galley.

9 .30.

Don't fool with me, I warn you.

9 .30.

All right.

Listen.

The money?

You can have it.

Tonight, sir.

Tonight. One hundred thousand dollars.

Cash.

Tonight.

You know where we talked?

The dock?

My boat? The LNG?

There won't be anyone on board.

Meet me there.

Ten o 'clock.

The money, the papers?

You'll get them, I promise. Promise?

What are you pulling off here? Nothing,
believe me. I told you it'd take time.

You've got to help me.

Now, listen.

Here's what I figured.

You stay here, out of sight a couple of
days, then I'll be able to... I said

tonight. Listen to reason. Listen to
reason.

What's going on here, Gregory?

Mr. Bickle, I've got to talk to you.

Mr.

Bickle, wait.

Listen.

It's nothing. Nothing at all. Just one
of my sailors.

Drunk, that's all. Drunk. I had to hit
him.

You hit him all right.

He's dead.

Well, Lieutenant, homicide, Perry. All
we have to find out now is why he was

killed. Plus who he is, what he was
doing here, and why Mr.

Bickle just happened along at so
opportune a time.

Don't start hinting that I've got
anything to sweep under the rug.

I wanted to talk to Gregory, but he
wasn't home when I phoned him.

I knew that he had a habit of coming to
whichever of his boats happened to be in

port whenever he was upset.

Why should I be upset, Mr. Bickle?

Why not?

That man was trying to extort money from
you. You know what you're saying?

Very much so, Mr. Mason.

I was curious when he wanted me to
extend that escrow.

And tonight I received a telephone call
from someone who calls himself Moray.

He said he had information on Gregory
that could be disastrous.

He suggested that I ask him about it.

Well, Lieutenant, if that doesn't
suggest extortion, then I don't know

Look here, Bickle. Sorry, Mr. Gregory,
I'm afraid I'll have to take you in.

What's the charge, Lieutenant?

Suspicion of murder, Counselor.

I'll see you downtown, John.

We're into his effect. His name was
Franz Moray, formerly of the Boston

of the Swiss Federated Bank of Zurich.

Paul, I'd like you to... I know, be on
the next plane to Boston.

No, I don't know why my father went down
to the harbor tonight.

I don't know anything, except my father
isn't a murderer.

I'll go along with that, Mr. Mason.

In all my life, I've never met a man
less capable of killing.

And neither have you ever heard of this
Franz Morey?

No, not until I got that crazy phone
call at my campaign headquarters.

Mr. Gregory shrugged it off as a
practical joke.

I'd say it was anything but a joke.

Helen, do you know of any business
dealings your father had with the

Swiss Bank of Zurich?

If he had, he never spoke of it.

I must know the truth about his
relationship to Maury.

If the man was an extortionist, I want
to find out what hold he had over your

father. Can you recall anything at all?

Any possible occurrence in your father's
life that might furnish us with a lead?

No, nothing.

My father never harmed anyone in his
life except... No, that couldn't be.

couldn't be, Helen? The automobile
accident.

Back east in Boston 20 years ago.

I don't remember it. I was only a few
months old.

My mother and baby sister were both
killed.

Helen's told me all about it.

You see, Mr. Gregory was driving, but
the accident wasn't his fault. The other

car ran into him.

So there couldn't possibly be any basis
for extortion there.

Besides, Mr. Gregory is the one who
suffered losing his wife and child.

I think the tragedy still weighs on his
mind.

The fact that they both died and we came
out without a scratch.

We? Dad and myself.

And the nurse who was staying with us,
taking care of us. Can you remember the

nurse?

No, I don't remember her.

There's a picture of me in an album.

As a baby in her lap.

The name underneath the picture.

Stone.

That was it.

Mrs. Margaret Stone.

Operator, this is Paul Drake from 806.

I'd like to place a long -distance call
to Los Angeles, please.

Come on in. It's open.

Yes, I'd like to speak person to person
to Perry Mason.

What about, Paul?

Perry, I want to... Never mind,
operator. Thank you.

What are you doing here? Hi, beautiful.

How'd you make out at the Swiss bank
office?

Oh, just fine.

Talk to a stuffed shirt named Corby who
wouldn't give me the time of day except

that Franz Murray, the dead man, worked
there but retired over a month ago.

Well, we'll have to see Mr. Corby again.

But before we do that, I want you to do
some ambulance chasing, Paul.

We're checking all the hospitals near
the waterfront. The man's name was

Gregory. And when did this accident
happen?

About 20 years ago.

If you don't mind waiting.

They were transferred to a private
ambulance and taken to the hospital.

This can't be the only clipping, Perry.
It doesn't say what hospital.

I know, Donald, but we can follow it up
in some other newspaper office.

Well, Paul. Hi. Pay dirt. I found the
hospital where the car crash victims

taken. And it turns out to be the same
hospital where Gregory's daughter was

born. Here.

Look at this maternity record.

Notice it lists the birth of a pre
-opera female infant, Susan Gregory.

Susan?

Susan, but I thought... Yeah, well, this
is the auto accident admittance record,

dated exactly two months later.

It lists the...

Mother and baby Susan is dead on
arrival.

The survivors, Gregory, the father, a
nurse named Mrs. Stone, and a baby

daughter, Helen, three months old.

How could that be?

I mean, if Susan was... Exactly, Della.

If Susan was a firstborn infant, then
how could the Gregories have another

only a month older?

You think that might be necessary?

Yes, Mr. Corby.

I'll have to examine your records.

The man's life is at stake. To defend
him, I must know the facts.

The head office in Switzerland would,
I'm sure, be most disturbed that the

Boston records and personnel should be
introduced as evidence into a Los

court.

That wouldn't be necessary if I were to
be given the information I needed. I

suppose you're right.

I haven't the file here, but I can
probably answer your questions.

Susan was the name of the Gregory's real
daughter, but of course you know that

already. Yes, she was the only child
that Gregory's had.

According to the records, Helen was
adopted as an infant about the time

was born. At least the adoption papers
were prepared and being processed.

And as you said before, that trust fund,
that $200 ,000 trust fund, was set up

for the adopted child by her real
father.

The adoption was started before Helen
was born.

You see, the mother didn't want the
child.

Would you please give me the name of the
real father?

Well, it's been in the headlines often
enough since he escaped from the Senate

committee.

John Check.

Stefan Big Steve John Check.

If I'd wanted you to know, Perry, I'd
have told you.

What actually happened the night of your
automobile accident, John?

There was a mix -up in the hospital
admittance records.

Somebody made a mistake.

The death certificate was made out in my
daughter's name, Susan.

But it was really Stefan's child, Helen,
who was killed.

You knew all this?

Yet you didn't make any attempt to
correct it.

I didn't know.

Not right away.

But when I learned about the truth of
the mix -up two years later, I corrected

it.

Except for the name. I didn't think that
was important.

But you didn't correct that mix -up with
the Swiss bank that handled Helen's

trust fund.

Now, as trustee...

Knowing your own daughter, Susan, had no
legal right to that trust fund, you

still accepted the first installment of
$100 ,000.

Perry, that money hasn't been touched.
Not a cent of it.

Whom did you fight aboard the Clipper?

Nobody. Nobody. I just had too much to
drink, fell down, and got messed up.

You told Bickle you fought with a
sailor.

No, I just made that up about the
sailor. I didn't know what I was saying.

Why? Because you just left Maury dead on
the galley floor?

No, I never saw Moray. He wasn't here on
board to... You did have an appointment

with him.

To pay extortion money.

I didn't kill Moray.

You started adoption proceedings before
Helen was born.

And that was a month before your own
daughter was born.

Now, why would a gangster like John
Check ask you to adopt his baby?

Because he and I... Look, Perry.

25 years ago in Boston...

Stefan was a waterfront hoodlum.

He smeared dirt on the name of John
Check.

Such dirt that it made me ashamed.

I changed my name from Gregor John Check
to John Gregory.

Stefan is my brother.

I only wish I could help you, Mr. Mason,
but I don't know anything.

Not about the murder, perhaps, but there
are other areas where you might be of

assistance.

Matter of... Mr. Gregory's real name,
for example.

Okay, Mr. Mason, for whatever good it
does.

I knew John Gregory when he was Gregor
John Chick.

He's been my closest friend.

There's nothing he wouldn't do for me,
and there's nothing I wouldn't do for

him. Does that include hiding his
brother from the police?

You think Big Steve's aboard this tub?
You're dreaming, you must be.

Better place for a wanted man to take
cover.

Scene of a murder when the police have
come and gone.

You're wrong, Mr. Mason.

Absolutely wrong.

John Check is not on this boat.

You'll have no objection to my going
aboard and looking around.

You're just like my brother, a double
-crosser.

That's a lie, and you'll know that,
Steve. He's never double -crossed you in

life. He's been doing it for 20 years.

I gave him my kid to adopt. I set up a
trust fund for her. And when she gets

killed in an accident, he puts his kid
in her place so he can collect the

You make it sound like he was crooked.

I'll give you something else to worry
about, that Murray guy.

He must have known about the automobile
accident and the switching of the kids.

He must have used it to put the squeeze
on my dear brother.

John Check, you say those things in
court, you'll send your brother to the

chamber. You are so right.

I'll send him straight to the gas
chamber.

Lieutenant Anderson, I show you this
wrench, People's Exhibit 1.

I ask if you've ever seen it before.

Yes, sir. It has my mark on it.

We found it on the galley floor near the
body.

And did you have this wrench subjected
to laboratory analysis, Lieutenant

Anderson? It was looked over carefully
by the lab.

There were many sets of smudged and
obliterated fingerprints, and over them,

the handle, one clear set.

And whose fingerprints were these?

The defendant's.

John Gregory's. Thank you, Lieutenant
Anderson. That'll be all, sir. Yours,

Mason.

Lieutenant Anderson, where on board the
Clipper Helen G where the wrench is

kept? In a rack in the machine shop
adjacent to the galley. Was there a

missing from this rack?

Yes, sir, there was.

Just one, Lieutenant?

No, sir, there were two wrenches
missing.

Did you look for the other one?

We looked.

Did you find it?

No, sir.

No further questions.

Oh, by the way, Captain Paolo, you are
aware, are you not, that charges are

being brought against you for harboring
a fugitive?

Okay, okay, so I admit it, okay?

Sure, I knew Steve Johnshack.

I knew he was my boss's brother, and I
let him hide out on the boat, okay?

As your boss's close and accommodating
friend.

Were you aware of the meeting between
the decedent and John Gregory the night

the murder on board your boat?

The first I knew of that was when the
police got me out of bed at home and

brought me down to the boat in the
middle of the night. Your landlady is

to testify that you received a phone
call late that afternoon from John

Do you deny that?

No.

And you immediately thereafter went down
to the docks and ordered the shore

watch of the Helen Gee off the boat,
explaining that the owner...

had insisted that he wanted no one on
board the boat that night. Do you deny

that?

No.

I wish I could.

Well, Moray, on the phone, intimated
rather than stated that he could make

trouble for Gregory because of certain
information he had.

And Moray suggested that if I wanted to
protect our business deal, that I should

urge Gregory to be... I think the word
he used was cooperative.

Yes, I think that explains it, Mr.
Bickle.

You were worried about your merger deal
with the defendant, and you became more

worried as a result of this strange
phone call from Maura. Isn't that

I tried to get Gregory at home a few
times.

As I told the lieutenant, I knew that
whenever Gregory was worried, he always

went to one of his ships. And I went
looking for him down at the docks. It's

perfectly legitimate. Well, of course it
is, Mr. Bickle. You don't have to

worry, sir. You're not on trial here.
Well, I should hope not.

Now, after you discovered the body of
the decedent, did John Gregory make a

statement to you? Oh, he rambled on with
some nonsense about a drunken sailor.

And then he said, and I remember his
words exactly.

Then he said, I hid it.

Any luck?

Nope. And I had a small army looking for
her. Mrs. Stone is either dead or out

of the country.

Is she that important, Barry?

I have a feeling she's very important.

An elderly nurse who was involved in an
accident almost 20 years ago.

What can she tell you?

What my stubborn client has refused to
tell me.

Speaking of clients, Bickle's story
certainly didn't do John Gregory any

He sounded almost as if he hated him.

Or stood to gain financially.

Can he?

Aside from the escrow, Gregory sank most
of his capital into those fishing boats

on lease purchase to meet the merger
terms.

I think we ought to look into that lease
purchase transaction, Paul.

Find out if Pickle's involved.

We'll get a man right on it.

Gertie, this is Paul.

Will you ring my office, please?

Seal, is Jack Farnham there? I want...
He has.

All right, let's have him.

Okay, Seal, thanks.

Well, no wonder we couldn't find the
missing nurse, Mrs. Stone.

Berger's had her on ice for days.

He plans to spring her in court tomorrow
as a prosecution surprise witness.

Mrs. Stone, approximately 20 years ago,
you were involved in an automobile

accident in Boston.

Do you remember that?

Well, it started out a pretty happy day,
as I remember.

You see, Mr. Gregory was coming home
after three months at sea, and they were

going to meet him at the dock.

They, Mrs. Stone?

Mrs. Gregory, of course, their infant
daughter, Susan, and the infant child

they had adopted, Helen.

Now, Helen was a month older than Susan,
I believe.

I say believe, Mr. Berger, because I
didn't know. You see, I was hired by

Gregory that very morning.

Mrs. Stone, let's get this very clear.

When he stepped off his ship 20 years
ago, John Gregory had never seen his own

daughter? Or his adopted daughter?

No, sir, he hadn't. Now, what happened,
Mrs. Stone, after you picked John

Gregory up at the dock?

Mr. Gregory was driving home when we had
the accident.

Mrs. Gregory and one of the children
were killed.

The other child and I were not injured.

But you all went to the hospital?

Yes. With Mr.

Gregory unconscious, I had to make the
identifications.

I'm afraid, Mr. Berger, it was then I
made my mistake. I improperly identified

the dead infant and the live one.

Helen, not Susan, had been killed.

Well, I really wasn't sure of it myself
until two years later.

And what happened two years later?

Mr. Gregory was moving from Boston out
here to California.

I couldn't leave with them, but before
they left, I told Mr.

Gregory of my doubts, of the remote
possibility that the surviving child was

really his own daughter.

Then, of course, he took some sort of
steps to check out the true identities

the girls.

And what did he find out?

Susan, his daughter, was alive.

Helen, his adopted child, had been
killed.

Before Mr.

Gregory went to California, he had me
swear out some notarized statements and

things corroborating her identity.

And did you keep in touch with the
Gregories after that?

No, I didn't.

It wasn't until five years ago, when I
came out here myself on a sort of

semi -retired basis, that I looked Mr.

Gregory up.

My appearing seemed to bother him a
great deal.

So much so, he paid me $5 ,000 if I
promised never to see him

or his daughter again.

Acting as trustee for Helen Gregory, the
defendant accepted $100 ,000 on the

occasion of her 10th birthday.

When he had you sign those statements 18
years ago, did John Gregory say to you

that among the records he had to set
straight, was the matter of a $200 ,000

trust fund which his daughter Susan was
not entitled to receive?

Why, no.

I never knew anything about a trust
fund.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Still.

Counselor?

Your Honor, I would like to request that
you adjourn these proceedings and grant

a brief conference in chambers.

You can't go on with it, John.

Every step you've made gives you away.

You call the girl who lives with you
Helen because that's really her name.

There was no baby mix -up after your
automobile accident.

But it really was your child that was
killed.

That Helen is your adopted daughter.

No, Perry.

No, you mustn't say that.

Why mustn't be if it's true?

Oh, the bereaved father.

Your heart bleeds, doesn't it, Brother
Stefan?

You never wanted her.

You never cared for her.

All she ever meant to you was a gimmick,
a clever way to bury money you could

get your hands on when they let you out
of jail.

I'm gonna see you fried. All right,
John, check. That's enough.

Mr. Mason, I permitted this highly
unorthodox hearing in chambers on your

assurances that it would help solve the
case.

But if the record's gonna show nothing
more than a vituperative exchange of

insults... I shall deem none of it in
evidence, strike it off from the record,

and reconvene back in the courtroom.

If your honor will just be patient for a
moment, I believe we can get at the

truth.

John, why this deception over
identities?

Was it because you wanted to get the
money and still claim Helen as your

daughter? I love that girl more than
anything in the world. Too much to let

be hurt knowing her real father is a
gangster, a criminal.

And the $100 ,000 from the trust fund.

You put it aside for her in a special
account.

I also know that you borrowed against
it.

As against all your assets.

In order to close that cannery merger.

You were lying when you told me you'd
give me that money. You were lying!

No, no, you don't understand. There were
two accounts.

I couldn't rob Helen of the money you
set up for her. The special account in

name is my money.

Money I've saved over the years to match
what you left her.

Well, what happened to my money?

That was the second account.

The one Paolo kept for me.

Your money, Stefan.

Untouched. He was to leave it for me on
the boat. There was Moray. He wanted the

money. You wanted the money.

I didn't know what to do.

I thought you would help, would wait.
Your Honor, I... I fail to see the

of all this.

It really doesn't have anything to do
with the murder.

Even if this man did rig himself into
this impossible situation for the sake

the girl.

We're still faced with the fact that the
situation led to an extortion and the

extortion led to a murder.

Judge, I'm willing to plead guilty.

Well, I find your offer quite
paradoxical, Mr. Gregory.

In order to keep your adopted daughter
from learning that her true father is a

convicted felon, you're willing to
expose yourself to a possible murder

conviction. Now, wouldn't that have the
same effect upon her future?

Maybe. I don't know.

You see, my fine brother is quite a guy.

His wife didn't die when Helen was born
for the simple reason she wasn't his

wife. He hadn't even bothered to marry
her. Neither of them wanted the child.

The least I could do was to give her a
home where she was wanted and a name

was not only clean but legally hers.

Will everybody please rise?

Mr. Mason, I believe we recessed before
you had an opportunity to cross -examine

Mrs. Stone.

I have no questions of Mrs. Stone, Your
Honor.

All right, well, Mr. Berger, you may
call your next witness.

If it please the court, to anticipate,
Mr. Mason, and to make it abundantly

clear for the record exactly how the
district attorney's office feels on this

matter, let me state now that it is with
extreme distaste and reluctance.

that the state finds it necessary to
call his final witness a notorious

convicted felon.

Now serving time in a federal
penitentiary, I call Stefan Janczyk to

Yeah, that's the statement I gave to the
cops.

So what?

It's not true.

Not true?

Don't you try to play games with me,
Janczyk. It's not true that you thought

your brother lied to you and double
-crossed you?

It's not true that you wanted $100 ,000
that you thought he stole from you?

Those things are not true?

No.

I asked him for enough cash to get out
of the country, that's all.

You expect me to believe a story like
that, a fantastic story like that?

Well, just a few minutes ago in the
judge's chambers, you said that...

enough.

I told you the truth.

Mr. Janczyk, do you know what the
penalty for perjury is?

Yeah.

They send you to jail, don't they?

No further questions.

What time on the night of the murder did
you go aboard the tuna clipper?

No time on the night of the murder. I
went down there the next morning after

cops had left.

A little after ten that night, the man
was seen in a Gregory Company power

launch drifting from the oiling dock to
another dock some distance away.

Now, he tied the launch there and went
ashore.

I can produce a witness to swear to that
fact.

Shall we call that witness now and ask
him if you were the man in that launch?

All right.

So I went down to the waterfront.

When I no sooner got aboard the clipper
than I heard someone coming along the

dock. I was scared, so I scrammed. You
were scared because someone was coming.

Yet you had gone there for the express
purpose of collecting $100 ,000 from

brother. All right. All right, all
right. So I was there at a quarter to

satisfied.

John Gregory was marked up from a fight.
It wasn't a fight with Moray. It was a

fight with you, was it not?

Yeah. I tried to hit him with a wrench.

But he knocked it out of my hand and we
wrestled. Then he got hold of it and he

hit me with it. But I wasn't out, see?

Just stunned when he went up on the
deck.

Then you heard Bickle shouting to your
brother?

Well, how did I know some cop hadn't
come along?

I couldn't go back in the dock, so I
went the other side.

And I saw this motorboat tied up to the
clipper and... Just a minute.

Are you saying that that motor launch
just happened to be tied up alongside

clipper?

Sure. How else would it be there?

Because it was left there by the man who
planned to use it to get to the boat

and to leave the boat without being
seen.

Nah.

I saw the launch. I took it.

But I didn't bring it there. I don't
know where it come from.

Your Honor, if I'm allowed to recall a
witness...

I think we might determine the truth
about this motor launch.

Your Honor, this motor launch has
nothing to do with the issue. I must

I believe the use of the motor launch by
Stefan Johnczek is the key to the

entire murder, Your Honor.

Well, you may recall your witness.

Captain Powell, when not in use, the
motor launch is kept at the marina?

Yes, always.

Mr. Johncheck stated that he called you
for permission to hide aboard the

Clipper. Now, may I take this to mean
that you gave him permission?

Yes. Did you tell him he could take the
power launch from the marina and bring

it to the Clipper?

Absolutely not. You have heard testimony
that the decedent, Franz Morey, made

phone calls to many of Mr. Gregory's
friends and associates in an effort to

exert greater pressure for his planned
extortion.

Now, did Morey ever phone you?

Did he, Captain?

I guess.

Then you knew about Maury.

And you knew that Mr. Gregory was
meeting someone at 10 o 'clock that

the tuna boat, and you correctly guessed
that it was Maury.

Did you not then phone Maury and tell
him to be there earlier than 10 at 9,

or 9 .15?

No.

Why should I?

Did you bring the motor launch alongside
the clipper so you could get away

without being seen?

Me?

What is this, Mr. Mason?

You're talking about a killer.

I'm Gregory's best friend.

Would I commit a murder and then let him
take the blame?

You may not have meant to.

But when John Check and Gregory
unexpectedly arrived and had the fight,

already killed Maury with that wrench
that is still missing.

And you were hiding with the body of the
man you had killed in the machine shop

right next to the galley.

You're crazy.

John Check panicked and took away the
launch, so you had no alternative but

to... Leave your victim's body in the
galley, slip off the stern of the boat

the shadows, and hurry home.

How wrong can you get?

I worked like a slave to keep that
outfit going for John.

For yourself, Captain.

Not for John Gregory.

My investigator has discovered that it
was you acting through a dummy

corporation who furnished the defendant
with ten tuna boats on a lease purchase

agreement.

Okay.

Okay, so Gregory pays for those boats
and I make a profit.

Is that illegal?

This trust fund, which you kept in a
special account under your own name,

that why you had to get Maury out of the
way?

Because Gregory had asked you for that
money to pay off Maury, asked you to

bring it to the boat that night, but you
couldn't, could you?

You'd already used that money to get
control of the ten tuna boats.

Captain? Why not?

Why not?

Why should I be the skipper of one lousy
tunable while he gets rich?

Sure.

Sure, I used the money to tie up the
boat.

If that cannery deal went through, John
would pay plenty to get those boats.

I could put the money back and still
make a fortune.

And then came the extortionist and
Gregory wanted the money.

And the money wasn't there.

I... I only meant to knock Maury out and

ferry him to a freighter.

I was going to have him kept on one of
the salt -bound tuna boats.

I... I never... never figured to kill
him.

I never meant to kill him. You must
believe that.

I... I hit him too hard.

I hit him too hard.

I hit him too hard.

Congratulations. I'll see you later.
Right.

Well, was it worth it, John?

What do you think, Perry?

Step on.

In the judge's chambers, you said you'd
see me executed.

But on the witness stand, you
deliberately lied.

Why?

Wise up.

I gotta be nice.

You're still holding my 200 ,000 bucks,
brother.