Original subtitles

All right, one final run -through without details.

Caleb Stone I, Latin Medicine King, died 1957,

age 88.

Only you don't know he's dead, Brooks. Don't forget that.

Great Aunt Sophia, age 72.

Great Aunt Nineveh, age 70.

Leonard, the houseman, the family chauffeur.

Maureen Kelly and the so -called Caleb Stone IV.

Picture taken 1946 in the Stone Mansion Library.

All right, turn on the light.

Now the interior of the house.

Where's the library?

To the left, off the entrance hallway.

An elf's head over the stone fireplace.

Gun racks on the wall. On the floor, a bare skin with a bullet hole in its

skull.

The old Caleb Stone mansion.

Pretty impressive, huh?

That and all the money we'll ever need, Brooks.

Provided you play the cards I've given you correctly.

Good luck.

No peeking, Nineveh. Who's peeking?

Well, maybe I was.

Jump a little.

I'll draw from you, dear.

Goodness, I should have taken the other one.

You should have, indeed.

Dame.

Fives. Queens.

Eights. How many?

Seventeen.

Wasn't that the doorbell, Sylvia?

Well, it certainly wasn't the air raid alarm, dear.

Who could it be at this time of night? It's almost ten.

Well, Leonard will let us know if it's anyone important.

Seventeen, you said?

Let me see.

I thought so.

Twenty -eight?

Which means that you now owe me sixty -five cents.

Sophia, after 60 years, I'm beginning to believe you're a card shop. Nonsense.

It's just that you didn't inherit the Stone family brains.

Yes, Leonard.

A man who says he has news of young Caleb.

Young Caleb?

Come in, young man. Come in.

What is this news you have for us?

I shouldn't have come this late.

But I may be shipping out tomorrow, so I took the chance that you'd still be up.

But... But you're Caleb.

Oh, yes, you've come back.

Please, Miss Nineveh.

I'm not Caleb.

Only a friend of his.

John Brooks.

A friend?

But you look...

Just the way I imagined.

Nonsense. He doesn't resemble Caleb in the least.

How did you know her name was Nineveh?

Well, I guess because Caleb told me about you both so many times before he

Died?

Caleb's dead?

Dead when?

Two years ago. Of typhoid in a hospital in Shanghai.

Red China?

What was he doing there?

We were deckhands on a Canadian freighter delivering grain.

This is the first time I've been on the West Coast since then.

I could have written, but I didn't know if you wanted to know about him or see

the things that he left with me.

Things? What things?

A locket containing a photograph of the man he said was his father.

Caleb III.

In his Air Force uniform?

This must have been taken just before his plane was lost.

His birth certificate.

A marriage certificate.

Caleb Stone III and Maureen Kelly.

You knew, of course, that she was a housemaid here and that the marriage was

declared void.

Yes, I knew.

After the funeral expenses, there was $37 left.

You'd better count it.

Sophia, look.

What are you doing, Mr. Brooks?

Doing?

Oh, the bullet hole.

I wanted to see if it was still there.

As Caleb remembered.

He used to touch the bear's head just that way.

Are you absolutely sure you're not Caleb?

Nineveh.

You must have been very close to Caleb, Mr. Brooks.

For him to have told you things like bullet holes and bearskin rugs.

We grew up together, Miss Sophia.

You were with him in St. Mary's Orphanage? I was there when he came.

We were both about six at the time.

So naturally, we became, well, almost like brothers.

And then at 16, he decided to run away to sea.

And I ran away, too.

Well, I must be going. It's a long haul back to the harbor. No, you mustn't go.

Not until we've heard everything about Caleb.

Won't you stay here tonight?

You can sleep in his room.

Nineveh!

Don't shake your head at me, Sophia.

Half this house happens to be mine.

I'm sure you must be hungry. Little Caleb always was.

Leonard! Find something for Mr. Brooks to eat and something for him to... I've

heard that sailors drink rum, but I'm afraid all we have is sherry.

Sherry will be fine, Miss Nineveh.

Good.

Show Mr.

Brooks where he can wash up Leonard and then bring a tray in here.

If you'll come this way, sir.

Nineveh, you are a complete and utter idiot.

I won't sleep a wink tonight.

But he could be anything.

A confidence man, a thief, an imposter.

But Sylvia, dear, he said he wasn't Caleb. So how could he be an imposter?

Oh, I must see if there's any of that Queen Victoria Sherry left that Father

so fond of.

Serena, it's early.

You could still be out with perfect propriety.

So why answer?

If it's Ernest, he'll ring every ten minutes the rest of the night.

Yes.

Who is this?

Oh, Sophia, I didn't recognize your voice.

No, Ernest isn't here.

He's in Ithaca, New York, the national trap shooting contest.

Said he died where?

Isn't it a bit risky letting the young man stay?

Insists. Why?

Yes, I'll tell Ernest when he calls and have him call you.

No, you didn't, dear.

I was just reading and listening to some music.

Good night, dear.

Who was that?

One of Ernest's aunts.

Ah, the pixelated stone sister, huh?

That was Sophia. And none of us seems to be the one that's pixelated at the

moment. Oh?

She thinks the mysterious young man who appeared on their doorstep tonight might

be Caleb Stone IV.

Not the patent medicine baby that was all that hullabaloo about after the war?

I heard the mother died after the marriage was proved a fraud.

She did.

But, Wayne, that wouldn't prevent the little boy from growing up.

They've asked him to stay?

Well, the pixelated one has.

Ernest isn't going to like this.

A new claimant to the Stone Millions?

Ernest will take care of him when he comes home.

No, I will.

As your family lawyer, I'm the one who takes care of things for Ernest.

Haven't you heard?

You finished, Mr. Brooks?

Yes, thank you.

I've just been on the phone with my nephew's house. That's Ernest Stone.

He'll be here sometime tomorrow to talk to you.

He's off hunting somewhere.

Hunting? Caleb told me he's an expert with a shotgun.

Yes, he is.

Are you sure you want to stay, Mr. Brooks?

If you'd prefer, I'll go.

No.

That would disappoint Nineveh.

I imagine she has Caleb's room ready by now.

I'll have Leonard show you up.

Don't bother.

Last room to the left, at the head of the big stairway.

Good night, Miss Sophia.

I think you'll find everything you need, Mr. Brooks.

Pajamas, robe and slippers, and in the bathroom, toilet articles.

I trust you'll be comfortable.

I'm sure I will.

Mr. Brooks?

Yes?

They killed her with their persecution just as surely as if they had killed her

with a gun.

Killed who?

The little boy's mother, Maureen.

They said she lied.

But they did.

Old Mr. Stone and the others.

They lied.

Is Mr. Brooks in there, Leonard?

Yes, Miss Leonard.

I suppose you'll think I'm a silly old woman.

But I always brought little Caleb a hot water bottle at night.

The bed being so big and cold.

You always brought a glass of warm milk, too.

Yes, I did.

What are you looking for?

Lions, tigers, elephants.

What's become of them?

Change the wallpaper.

And the hook over the bed?

It's gone, too.

Hook? Where the parakeet cage used to hang.

The birthday parakeet that you taught to say Caleb.

Don't you remember?

Yes.

I remember, Caleb, darling.

I remember.

A very considerable amount of money is involved.

You've known this young man less than 24 hours.

Don't you think he should be investigated first?

Mr. Mason, I know here he's Caleb.

The little Caleb I love so dearly. I don't care whether he calls himself John

Brooks or Ezra Snodgrass.

I want my money to go to him.

As your attorney, Miss Nineveh, I must tell you I believe that you're acting

precipitantly and unwisely. I know.

And I know you're trying to look out for me, but I have made up my mind.

And if you won't change my will, I'll just have to find another lawyer.

All right, Miss Stone.

You'll do it today?

I'll try.

Oh, you must do much more than try.

I want this settled at once.

Good day, Miss Street.

Goodbye, Miss Stone.

Well, Dylan, it looks as though we have no choice but to draw up a new will.

Poor thing is obviously being victimized.

And if it is a confidence game, it's as nearly foolproof as any I've ever heard

of.

Impostors have preyed on little old ladies before.

But he isn't saying he's Caleb Stone IV.

In fact, he's saying he isn't. That's the rub.

What can you do?

Well, there's nothing to prevent us from investigating this John Brooks on our

own. And you have one ally, at least, in Great Aunt Sophia.

Yes, obviously, she wants no part of this young man.

Miss Stone gone?

Leaving us and even more of her much than before. Let's have your highlights.

Well, this is going to come out a little jumbled.

Genealogy first.

Old Caleb Stone, the patent medicine king, had four children.

Caleb II, Sophia, Nineveh, and Samuel, who died in World War I, leaving his

Ernest, now 47.

And Caleb II?

Survived by Caleb III, one of our three main characters, along with Maureen

Kelly, the sewn housemaid, and her patent medicine baby.

Patent medicine baby?

I'll come to that.

Late in 1941, Caleb III was commissioned lieutenant in the Air Corps and sent to

a base near Charleston, South Carolina.

A few days before he was to fly overseas, Maureen joined him.

According to her, they were married the night before he took off on a plane that

went down somewhere over the Atlantic.

Why do you say, according to her, Paul?

Wasn't there a marriage certificate?

There was, which made her and the baby that followed and was named Caleb IV

members of the family until 1946 when the roof fell in.

The roof fell in?

How? Through an investigation started by old patent medicine King Caleb himself

and a crack of the old goat of 80, which proved that their certificate was a

forgery. And what happened then? A real beaut of a court battle.

It all ended up with a little boy nicknamed the patent medicine baby by

press being declared illegitimate.

Poor little fellow. It was none of his doing.

Yes, Gertie?

Mother and child were allowed to leave the state.

She died in Charleston a year later, back where it all started.

Miss Stone's back.

I have a comment. The boy was put into a Catholic institution there.

Quite a change. Your man's then impaled as orphan.

Mr. Mason, I want something done without an argument.

Done at once.

I want my will changed so that my money goes to a young man named John Brooks.

Good evening.

I'll tell Miss Sophia and Miss Nineveh you're here, sir. Thank you.

Mr. Mason.

I'm Irene Stern.

Yes, I know your husband.

Who's on his way from the airport now with Wayne James and his attorney.

Mr. Mason, are you actually drawing up new wills for the two sisters?

Did they tell you I was?

Yes, and how can you?

Mr. James says there's no possible doubt that they're being deceived.

They don't seem to think so.

Don't you?

Wayne says if this man were honest, is really Caleb, he'd say so.

Evidently, all you're interested in is your fee.

Well, there won't be one, Mr. Mason.

No. No.

Because for one thing, Ernest isn't a doddering, sentimental old lady.

And for another, he knew the little boy, too.

And no act or fancied resemblance is going to fool him.

You must be the lawyer.

Care for some sherry?

Not right now, thank you, Mr. Brooks.

I suppose you've come to deliver a warning.

Clear out, young man, before you land in jail.

Well, why should I?

I haven't done anything wrong, and I don't intend to.

Do you feel making two elderly ladies believe you're somebody you're not isn't

doing wrong?

You've got it just backwards.

They're making me into something I'm not.

And I'm beginning to believe it's not such a bad idea.

Oh, it's a fine idea, providing it doesn't backfire.

Tell me.

How did you win over Miss Sophia?

Once to amuse little Caleb, she taught him to dial the safe.

It was a secret between them.

And when she came in and found me opening it this morning, she was won

you put it?

Either you're the most brazen scoundrel I ever encountered, or... Or what, Mr.

Mason?

Could it be that...

I'm about to win you over, too.

Oh, there you both are.

Use the documents, Mr. Mason.

Only the preliminary draft from Sophia. There are a number of details to be

worked out.

Oh, and we so hoped it would be all settled tonight. Yes, tonight.

Why are you both in such a rush?

Wouldn't you be in a rush, Mr. Mason, if after 15 long years you had a chance to

cleanse yourself of guilt?

Guilt?

Yes.

Guilt. We want you to hear this too, dear, so please stay.

We both loved little Caleb.

Loved him very much. But after the trial, we let him be cast out.

Because we hadn't the courage to defy father.

And it was only after he died when Caleb was 17 that we tried to find him. And

by then, he vanished.

Now you understand why we're in a rush, Mr. Mason?

Yes.

But Mr. Brooks maintains he isn't Caleb.

I suppose this was definitely proven.

But we happen to know he is Caleb.

So, how could it be proven?

They're in the library.

Ernest, at last.

Aunt Sophia, Aunt... Ernest, this is Mr. Brooks.

The Mr.

Brooks.

I suppose you're a little big now for that chessman pony with the spotted left

foreleg.

Spotted right foreleg, Mr. Stone.

Yes.

So it was.

And so it was.

Caleb.

Even if he is Caleb, which I still doubt, you could have kept your big

shut.

Now nothing, but nothing can stop those two crazy old ladies from willing him

every penny they possess in the world.

And what pennies? Two -thirds of the stone estate.

Millions that should be ours.

Why can't we fight him on the grounds that he's illegitimate?

We're not fighting him on any grounds, darling.

On the fringe of bankruptcy, living from hand to mouth, every dollar you've

inherited gone, and most of my money too.

And you won't fight.

Irene, you're a very lovely woman with just one fault.

You never seem to know when to mind your own business.

How can you sit there smirking when you've just lost yourself? Not one, but

inheritances. I'll let you in on a little secret.

I haven't lost a thing.

My two esteemed aunts grew up wills years ago, leaving everything to

Then all this time you've been lying to me about inheriting.

How else could I have kept you from leaving me, darling?

You need to be afraid you might have missed the plan.

Only by the skin on my teeth I didn't.

You had some luck then?

Yeah, but mostly bad.

In the first place, there's no possible way of checking the Shanghai death

record short of sending a spy behind the bamboo curtain.

which is one assignment I'd just as soon pass up.

What about the Canadian freighter that Brooks said he and Caleb were on at the

time? I ran that one down.

The Saskatchewan Queen.

Company headquarters in Vancouver have a John Brooks and a Caleb Stone listed as

crew members on a Red China trip in 1959, with a notation that they both

ship in Shanghai.

Well, at least part of Brooks' story is true.

Only, which one died there?

Well, actually, Perry, what difference does it make?

Well, if the young man's Caleb, He can wait indefinitely for his great aunt's

money. But if he's John Brooks making them think he's killed, he may decide

before somebody proves he isn't to hurry things up.

You mean for Nineveh and Sophia, a bathtub accident, a fall down stairs?

You actually think that's a possibility?

Yes.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have called Lieutenant Anderson at homicide.

Nor would I have paid for two round -trip tickets to Charleston, South

First class, too.

You must be worried.

Sister Teresa?

Yes? Two gentlemen. You say they have an appointment to see you.

They say they talked to you on the telephone?

Yes, of course. Show them in, please.

Mr. Mason?

Yes, this is Mr. Paul Drake. How do you do? I'm Sister Teresa.

Won't you sit down, please?

Thank you.

I have the two boys' records here.

What did you want to know?

Well, everything you can tell us, sister.

Were you able to find any photographs?

We don't do much photography, Mr. Mason.

We feel while the boys are here, they're entitled to privacy.

Perhaps you feel our coming here is an invasion of privacy.

No, in view of what you told me, I believe I'm justified in giving you one

information I can.

John Brooks, admitted July 23, 1942.

A doorstep baby, approximately five days old.

Parents unknown.

Where did you get his name?

John, from Father John, who taught the boys carpentry, and Brooks from an

English poet, I believe.

As for Caleb, he already had a name when his mother left him here a few weeks

before she died.

Admitted, December 3rd, 1948, age six.

Two of my favorites.

Why did they run away?

Because of something cruel and completely unnecessary that happened to

A newspaper story entitled, What Became of the Patent Medicine Baby?

Locating him here and providing a lurid rehash of the whole case.

And his friend John Brooks vanished at the same time?

But they didn't quite vanish, Mr. Drake.

Christmas cards from both the boys.

58, 59.

Liverpool, Vancouver.

And then from John Brooks alone.

Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Bombay.

The other man who was asking about them said it was obvious they'd become

sailors. Another man?

When was this?

Several months ago.

He said he was a private detective tracing Caleb for some relatives.

Do you think they could have been the two great aunts?

No, I don't think so.

What was the man's name?

Oh, I don't recall that he told me.

Can you describe him, sister?

Well -dressed, well -spoken.

I don't suppose you can recognize him from that.

No. But we'd like to see if you recognize the man in this photograph,

It was taken with a telephoto lens, but it's still a good likeness.

My, how he's grown.

John Broke's sister?

Or Caleb Stone?

You say believing this boy's their own flesh and blood has made the great

happy?

Yes. Then let them continue to believe, Mr. Mason.

Let them.

Caleb. Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I meant John.

We thought if you're going to read me, perhaps you'd like some sandwiches.

No, now let me tell him.

You spoke at lunch of an English ale you liked, so we ordered some.

Is there anything else you'd like?

No. You've done far too much already.

Don't be too late, dear. Remember, we're car shopping in the morning.

I've decided I don't really need a car. If you're worried about the expense,

it's nothing compared to our joy of having you here with us.

Good night, dear.

Miss Sophia, Miss Nineveh, there's something I... Yes, dear?

Good night.

Hello?

Yes, he's here.

Just a minute.

It's for you, Ernest.

Yes?

Can't wait till morning?

You're what?

Oh, no, you're not.

I'll be right over.

A friend in trouble.

I'm afraid our game is over, Wayne.

Unless you want to play with Irene.

Attempting offer, but I think I'd better buzz off after I finish my drink.

Well, I'll see you tomorrow.

Oh, don't wait up for me. This may take a little time.

All right, darling.

Wayne, that was John Brooks.

Brooks?

Are you sure?

Yes, and I'm also sure there's something strange going on.

I saw them talking yesterday in Ernest's car.

And now this.

Maybe they just took a liking to each other.

It didn't sound that way.

No, it didn't.

Aren't you going to finish your drink?

Drink? Oh, no, I've had enough.

I'll see what I can dig out of Ernest tomorrow.

You'll call me?

Don't I always?

He was, yeah.

I'll find him.

Close the doors, Brooks.

Now, what's all this nonsense about pulling out?

It isn't nonsense, Mr. Stone. I am pulling out tonight.

Unless you get a bigger cut. That's the next step, isn't it? No, sir. I want

out, period.

You mean that seriously?

But why?

You thought it was a great idea when I first got hold of you. That was before I

found out a few things about your aunts and about you, Mr. Stone.

A police lieutenant by the name of Anderson was here this afternoon.

And he intimated he'd be very unhappy if anything should happen to Miss Sophia

or Miss Nineveh. So what?

You're not going to harm them.

After they sign the wills, all you have to do is just sit around and wait.

Yes, but the question is, will you just sit around and wait?

You think I might do something to them? My own flesh and blood?

Didn't you do something to your own flesh and blood just 15 years ago? To

Caleb and to his mother?

What are you talking about?

One of the things I learned from Leonard the houseman. He believes you were

responsible for what happened to them.

He's insane.

Is he?

After he talked to me, I went through old Mr. Stone's papers and I found this.

report that you sent him in 1946 from South Carolina.

No record of marriage between Caleb Stone III and Maureen Kelly.

In the Bureau of Vital Statistics.

No memory on the part of the alleged justice of the peace and the witnesses

ceremony performed.

And an affidavit declaring the marriage certificate to be a forgery. How much

did all that cost, Mr. Stone?

Plenty, if you must know.

But try and prove it.

Anyway, what do you care?

Your friend Caleb's dead.

I care about what happens to your ass even if you don't. So I'm leaving. And

tomorrow I'm writing everything down and I'm giving it to someone.

In case you get any more ideas, Mr. Stone.

Just a second, aren't you, forgetting something? That agreement you signed

land you in jail.

And you too.

All right, then, a bigger cut. 60 -40.

50 -50.

Get out of my way, Mr. Stone. No, you're staying up. I've got to knock your head

off.

Are

you all

right, Mr. Stone?

I guess so.

What in the world are you doing, dear?

I'm leaving, Mr. Miller.

It's an emergency.

But don't worry, I'll keep in touch.

Ernest is making you leave, isn't he? I heard you call him.

Well, he can't.

I'll not let him.

It's all right. You don't have to go.

Ernest is dead.

Body found in the library, shotgun apparently used as a club, John Brooks

first degree murder.

Well, you sure were right on your forebodings, only you got the wrong

I most certainly did.

Ernest Stone must have gotten proof that Brooks wasn't Caleb and confronted him

with it.

Mr. Mason, you must help Caleb. He didn't kill Ernest. I did. No, dear, I

Well, one of us did, so you must help him.

Gradually, I realized what a cruel thing it was to do to two such nice old

ladies.

But then when Mr. Stone first came to me, all I could think about was the

Then this remembering things that seemingly only Caleb could have

the result of his coaching?

Except for a few things that Caleb told me when we were kids.

Why are they charging me with first -degree murder, Mr. Mason? I didn't kill

intentionally.

The state is going to contend that you killed him to keep the money for

yourself. It may even suggest that you killed Caleb to initiate the plot. But

Caleb isn't dead. I can call him and prove he... Call him where, John?

Where?

I don't want to involve him in this.

Finding him will only bring all that patent medicine baby stuff down on him

again. But he is alive.

No, Mr. Mason.

Not as far as I'm concerned.

All right, then.

We'll see you in court.

Call Caleb Stone.

Call Caleb Stone? Where?

Transformation. New York City first.

It may take a little time.

A little time.

Death resulted from a massive brain hemorrhage caused by a violent blow on

base of the skull.

From my examination of the wound, I'd say the blow was delivered by a

cylindrical metal object.

Mr. Mason, the shotgun hit him on the temple, not on the back of the head.

quite possibly.

Thank you, sir, Mr. Mason.

Doctor, did your examination disclose evidence of any other blows?

Well, a minor contusion on the left temple, but there was no fracture.

I see.

Now as to the fatal blow.

Could a cylindrical metal object such as a shotgun...

Have been wielded with sufficient force by a woman to have caused death?

Yes, most certainly.

Thank you, Doctor. That'll be all.

Witness may stand down.

Now, Lieutenant, what did you find in addition to the body and the shotgun

in the library?

An open wall safe, a partially filled glass of sherry on a table, and then on

the body itself, folded up in the wallet of the decedent, we found that piece of

paper, that document.

Would you read this document aloud for us, please?

July 15th, 1963.

I, John Brooks, hereby promise that whatever property and sums of money I

inherit from Sophia Stone or Nineveh Stone or both, I will divide with Ernest

Stone on a ratio of 80 % for him and 20 % for me.

It's signed, John Brooks.

Indianapolis information.

I'd like the telephone number of Caleb Stone, please.

No, I don't know the address.

Oh, Caleb Stone, thank you very much.

No problem.

Nope.

I'll shuffle off to Buffalo next and you try Salt Lake City. Code number is 801.

Yes, I'm positive it was John Brooks who telephoned.

And what did your husband say to him, Mrs. Stone?

Well, something like, can't it wait until tomorrow?

And then, oh, no, you're not. I'll be right over.

And then he hung up.

and said for me not to wait up, and then he left.

And never came back.

Mrs. Stone told me who it was, and it was just enough of a mystery to cause me

to drive home by way of the Stone Mansion.

And what did you see there?

Ernest, Mr. Stone, going into the house.

I said, Ernest, are you dead?

And when he didn't answer, I ran out and told Caleb the good news.

The good news, Mrs. Stone?

It meant that Caleb could...

Mr. Knighton?

Just one question, Miss Stone.

Did you kill Ernest?

Yes, I did.

Thank you.

Miss Stone, upon being told of her legal and moral obligation to testify

truthfully, your sister retracted her statement.

Now, you must tell the truth, too.

All right.

I didn't kill Ernest either, but neither did Caleb.

Miss Stone, do you mean that in spite of the agreement that was read here in

this court, you still believe John Brooks to be your nephew?

Of course.

And so does Nineveh.

When did you tell John Brooks that Ernest Stone was responsible for ruining

Maureen Kelly's life?

The afternoon of the murder.

You had proof of this?

Knowing Maureen was proof enough.

She was a sweet, truthful girl, incapable of deceiving anyone.

What made you select Ernest as the villain of the piece?

He was the only one who stood the game.

Why did you tell all this to John Brooks?

Was it because you also believed he was Caleb?

Yes, Mr. Mason.

I did believe, and I still do believe he's Caleb.

Come back to avenge his mother.

Which he did.

I know, operator, but please keep on ringing.

Harry, we finally found Caleb Stone.

In Albany, New York.

How on earth did he find him? I finally got an answer from South Carolina.

What does Stone say?

Well, they said to call him back and he'd let me know what plane he was going

catch. But it sounds like he didn't wait.

He was willing to help us, though.

He was bowled over by Brooks' trouble, which he hadn't read about, and said

fly out here before I even had a chance to ask him to.

Find out what plane he takes out of Albany, then what connecting plane he

catches for Los Angeles and meet him at the airport.

That'll probably be tomorrow morning. I'll bring him straight to court if you

have to. Will do.

I think we may have a few rabbits to pull out of a hat in court tomorrow.

Gentlemen, before we begin, I'd like to remind you this is a homicide hearing

rather than a genealogical one.

Fascinating as that aspect of the case may be.

The state agrees completely, Your Honor.

I see Mr. Mason has reservations.

To which, of course, he's entitled.

May I have a moment, Your Honor? Certainly.

Perry, I tried to phone you at the office, but the left is Caleb Stone.

He was picked up by the police the minute he stepped off the plane, and

I know, Paul, I know. Well, that was very considerate of you, Perry, to find

Caleb Stone ahead of the Albany police.

Saves the state the expense of flying him out.

Your Honor, as the state's first witness today, I call Caleb Stone.

The color of a person's skin doesn't mean much to six -year -olds.

So we became friends, Caleb and I.

Brothers, really.

So that when he ran away after the stories in the newspapers, I ran away

Once outside, we decided to exchange names, knowing that even though I called

myself Caleb Stone, nobody would ever accuse me of being the patent medicine

baby.

For a couple of years at sea, I took correspondence courses, education

mostly, because I wanted to help homeless kids like myself.

When I finished the courses, we were in Shanghai.

I decided to go back to the States.

But Caleb was afraid that somebody might still be trying to trace him, some

newspaper man maybe.

So we agreed to say, if asked, that the white Caleb Stone had died.

In Shanghai.

And you knew nothing of what was going on here?

Well, Caleb wrote me about a month ago. He seemed kind of bitter. He said that

some relative of his had come looking for him but didn't recognize him. So

now he had a chance to pay back the Stone family in part for what they'd

him and his mother.

Did he say how?

Not exactly.

He said that the ironic thing was that it involved his pretending to be

Did he say who it was who'd given him this chance for revenge?

No.

But obviously it was the man that Sister Teresa wrote me about. The man who came

looking for him at St. Mary's.

No, it wasn't Ernest at the orphanage. He wasn't away at the time you say.

You're positive?

And are you equally positive you weren't away from your apartment the night of

the murder?

Now, what would you say, Mrs. Stone, if I produced another witness who saw you

outside the French doors to the library?

Leonard. He was in the library.

I thought perhaps he looked out and he saw me when I saw him.

Did you see him kill your husband?

Of course not.

He was just looking down at the body, smiling, and then he left the room.

All right, Mrs. Stone.

Did you kill your husband?

No. Why would I?

I understand he was quite heavily insured.

I didn't kill him. I didn't even go into the library.

Wayne can tell you that.

He met me when I ran into the house by the other door. Didn't you, Wayne?

It's understandable why I wouldn't want to come forward, isn't it? Not wanting

to become involved, even innocently.

Innocently?

That's a curious word for you to use, Mr. Jameson.

If you arrived as Ernest was entering the house, you must have been there in

plenty of time to witness the quarrel and the struggle over the shotgun.

Why didn't you intervene, or at least report what had happened?

It was none of my business. I suggest it was very much your business as the

instigator and hidden partner in the plot to cheat the two great aunts.

And I'd rather suggest that when you saw the plot explode, leaving you no share

of the Stone fortune and possible exposure, you decided the next best

would be Ernest Stone's wife, his wife, and his insurance.

Nonsense. I was never in any plot. I never knew anything about one.

Didn't you, Mr. Jameson?

Sister Teresa, would you point out for us the man who came to St. Mary's asking

the whereabouts of Caleb Stone?

No, no, never mind.

I knew that if Ernest were exposed, he'd drag me down with him and we'd both

lose out on a fortune. Well, I didn't want it to happen.

I was sitting on the floor.

Only half conscious, it was perfect.

I went inside.

Picked up the shotgun and... You were right.

It was still his insurance. His wife.

Yes, I killed him.

I killed him.

What started me on the right track was the attitude of Sister Teresa.

Neither affirming nor denying you were Caleb.

You figured if the man in the photo was an imposter, she would have said so.

She could see no harm in Caleb being accepted here as Caleb, nor in letting

exchange of names remain a secret until the death of Ernest Stone, of course.

But what kept me on the track was the faith you two had in Caleb.

Faith which incidentally paid off in another way because it turned the spirit

his revenge into... What shall I say, Caleb?

The only words, love, Mr. Mason.

We knew that would happen all the time. You did?

Why, yes, Miss Street.

Because as you just said, we have faith.