Original subtitles

The money, the loot, the cool green, Timmy, my rich friend. The loot, Timmy,

rich friend.

Will you guys lay off? I told you I couldn't get any.

I'm a grandfather. I was half a Californian. You couldn't get enough

couple of beers. Now, what is this, huh?

He's sick. I can't go to him all the time. So he's dying already. We must

beer, my friend. Yeah, we need a couple beers, my friend.

Look, Chick, what did you guys do with the 50 bucks I gave you the other day?

Oh, yeah, yeah, the other day. You're living in the past.

Hey, pull over.

Come on, Quincy.

Hey, where are you going?

Just relax, Tim. Just relax.

Wait till that guy comes out from the liquor store over there, huh?

Keep it smooth. Nothing rough, Gracie. Look, you guys.

We're only going to the man's store for a minute.

Relax. You wait here. Sure. You want a beer, don't you? Chick, wait.

Let's go and I'll see if I can get some dope from the housekeeper.

What do you think we are, real ape or something?

Come on, Gracie.

Okay, shut me at the back.

Okay, you walk.

Where is he going? Never mind, take off.

Take the first right turn.

What happened?

Claude, I told her nothing, Rob.

Stop the car.

You tell that housekeeper, whatever she is, that you've been home all evening,

huh? Did Greasy hurt that guy?

How should I know? I'll see him.

Chick! What if he did?

Then you're in trouble, Timmy, my rich friend.

I heard you drive up. Have you had anything to eat? You didn't come home

supper. I ate. Thanks. Here.

Someone phoned just a moment ago.

Someone named Chickie wants you to call back.

Chick, I've got news for you, Timmy.

The injured party made loud noises to the police.

He's so greasy, he gave them a description.

Oh, no.

Yeah, so Greasy's got to get out of town real fast.

But, you know, he's broke. He needs some dough, like two bills maybe.

Now, look here, Chick.

I didn't have anything to do with it.

Look, without Luke, Frank Greasy's not nice.

Now, you want him to get caught and tell the cops you put him up to it?

Well, I'll tell the police the truth.

Ah, Tim. Tim, listen to me, huh?

I think I've got the kind of friends who'll swear it was me and you they saw

running out of that place.

I mean it.

Me and you will wind up with blood all over.

So, uh, be nice, okay, friend?

And you get me the dough for that jerk.

And call me back fast, like in one hour.

I tell you, Father Tim's a delinquent. And not so juvenile at that.

Are you competent to judge that, Luke?

You don't have to take my decision. You never do.

So judge by Tim's record. How many traffic citations? How many for reckless

driving? Tim's on all his driving in Italy, where the Los Angeles police

function.

Yet. It's time for your pill, Mr. Balfour. All right, take Tim's record at

plant. It's a big day when he shows up for work. The day hasn't arrived yet

he does any.

You don't have to believe me, Father. Hal Minter will tell you the same thing.

Hal would have fired that punk long ago if his name wasn't Timothy Balfour III.

You know that that boy was only orphaned three months ago. He's in a new

country, a new family.

And why does he have to find the worst part of this country and run with the

hoodlums and bums who live in it?

Now, you listen to me.

That boy is all that is left of my dead son, your dead brother.

That boy is my conscience, Luke, and he should be yours.

He is our guilt.

We can't give him what we took from his father.

But we, you and I, are going to give that boy something.

Give, give, give. Why can't he work and earn like the rest of us? It's time for

Mr. Balfour's restaurant. I warn you, Father, if that kid isn't brought up

right now, he's going to... Later.

Please.

What are you trying to do, Luke? Kill him?

Please, please, don't make a scene like that again. Now look here, Edith. The

doctor said I could see Father, and he knows how loud I talk.

Anyway, the old man better live through a little scene or two with me before

that kid makes one that will kill him. All right, all right.

Uncle Luke.

What?

Could I talk to you for a minute?

I need some money.

Could you loan it to me, Uncle Luke, for a little while?

Only a little while.

Maybe a couple of hundred?

I never lend people money.

If they have to beg for it, I give it to them.

Uncle Luke.

My father and my mother were cold.

They were hungry.

They had no place to sleep.

Because of you and him.

Now you wait a minute.

Your father walked out of this house because he didn't want to work for a

living. He was an artist, an intellectual.

My father and my mother would be alive today if it weren't for you and him. I'm

responsible for a car wreck in Italy?

You're out of your mind.

Ed, be alive!

Jimmy, they didn't drive your father out. This just wasn't the place for him,

that's all.

I wish I had the courage he had.

I'd walk out too.

Don't feel that way.

Let us help you. Don't fight us all the time.

Okay.

You tell Grandpappy I've got to have some money.

Eat it.

Eat it.

It's your new car, isn't it?

Jimmy, you didn't have an accident.

Edith! Don't say anything to him. Please don't upset him. Not now.

I'll help you.

Dick, it's me, Tim.

I think I can get it from the housekeeper.

But I've got to have an excuse.

Yeah, she said the same thing. Thought it was my car.

Yeah, sure. I guess we can fake some sort of accident.

She'd go along with it, maybe, just to keep my grandfather out of a panic.

That road up in the orchard?

Well, sure, where it meets Skyline Drive.

That same cabin where we had the party.

Okay, I'll meet you there.

Then we'll figure it out.

Chick, where are you?

Edith. Timmy.

Where were you? I've been so worried. I wanted to help you, but you didn't wait

for me. I had to run down to the drugstore for your grandfather. Edith,

myself into a lot of trouble.

Timmy, what happened? Where's your car?

I'm afraid I... I hit some guy's fancy gate post. What?

Timmy, you're not hurt. Of course not.

But I guess I panicked a little, because instead of stopping, I drove away.

Only the guy spotted my license, I guess.

Because now he says... If I don't pay him for a whole lot of damages, he's

to report me to the police.

Well, who is it? We have insurance for such things.

Edith, I'm not supposed to be driving. Don't you understand?

With a suspended license, if the police or the insurance company ever found

out... Timmy, why didn't you tell me this? Your grandfather will be

furious. Now, wait.

I drove the car back up and parked it on the road.

I mean, suppose I say that someone else took it and smacked it up.

And then if we paid this guy just expenses, so he wouldn't make any more

trouble. How much does he want?

Good evening.

Does someone by the name of Tim Balfour live here?

Yes, sir.

Temporary license... Officer, we were just going to call you. Someone has

Timmy's car.

Temporary license 0163704.

That's right, sir.

Have you found it already?

Just a few minutes ago.

How long has it been missing?

Well, we just got back from the Hollywood Bowl, didn't we, Timmy? So we

don't know, but... Well, I suppose for several hours anyway.

I made you a sandwich.

No, thanks.

Please, Timmy, eat something.

You think I've done something terribly wrong, don't you?

I don't know. I just said that to the police. It was the only thing I could

think of.

Maybe I ought to call them and tell them I made a mistake. But that would only

make things worse, wouldn't it?

If your grandfather ever hears what I've done. You didn't do anything wrong. I

did.

It's not your fault if I got things so mixed up. All right, Timmy. All right.

least now it's over. At least now we have time. We can calm down and plan

you should do.

Mr. Balfour's residence.

Yeah, I want to speak to Timmy.

Tim isn't here. He's in Palm Springs.

But I'm sure if you tell me what it is, I can take care of it.

Well, you just tell Tim when he gets back from Palm Springs that the little

damages that we spoke about have gone up to $2 ,000.

$2 ,000?

For a gate post?

Chick, look here. What are you doing?

This is a shakedown and you know it. Take it easy. Take it easy.

Hey, don't you remember seeing an old man in the road tonight, buddy boy?

Well, uh... Somebody hit that old man with an automobile and then ran away.

Yeah, somebody who knocked the guy clear into the ditch.

$2 ,000 says it wasn't you, buddy boy.

$2 ,000 by tomorrow night, huh?

At the time of Mr. Balfour's heart attack, he was negotiating some rather

complex foreign matters.

These being incomplete, it makes it rather difficult for me to prepare a

financial statement of assets and liabilities satisfactory to both you and

me, Mr. Mason.

But I have to have such a statement, Miss Adler, in order to properly

Mr. Balfour's will.

I've told you before, I will expedite this matter for you as rapidly as

possible. Please do, Miss Adler.

Three weeks of waiting is... I'm doing the best I can.

That's all I can do, Mr. Mason.

Good day.

Good day, Mr. Balfour.

I just heard about this, Mason.

Isn't there something in the law about an old man being incompetent? Your

is far from that.

He's out of his mind giving that juvenile delinquent a share of his

Do you realize what the effect will be?

On you, Mr. Balfour?

On Balfour Enterprises.

That kid, that punk, he'll have a vote.

No fool may give him enough shares to put him in control.

Instead of you.

I don't run the company. Hal Minter does.

But, of course, if you had more shares.

Mason, the important thing is, are you going to stop this?

No. Then I will.

$2

,000?

Really?

Well, I know one thing you'll find out in going through Mr. Balfour's affairs

that I have never, in the 25 years I've worked for him, I have never asked for a

loan or a bonus or even a raise.

And you will also find out that Mr. Balfour is leaving me a $25 ,000 trust

So I feel I'm entitled to an advance of $2 ,000.

I was not hired by Mr. Balfour to judge the ethics of his employees, but solely

to determine, if I can, the assets and liabilities of his enterprises.

But he gave you authority to pay out money, couldn't you please?

And he also gave me the authority to use my own judgment. Good day, Miss

Summers.

$10 ,000.

Now, Edith, maybe I run the voucher company, but you know very well how far

stay away from the family.

Of course, on the other hand, if this is something private... Now, Hal, it isn't

polite to ask it.

Sweet old maiden lady, what she wants with $2 ,000.

Of course I'll loan it to you, Edith.

Oh, Hal.

Thank you.

$2 ,000 even?

You think that's enough? Yes, yes.

Hal, you don't know what it means for me to have someone like you appreciate...

Oh, excuse me a minute.

Hal Merritt.

Well, as a matter of fact, I was... All right.

That was from my bank.

There's something wrong with my account there.

That was Luke.

You'd better talk to him, Edith.

I mean, I'd be glad to help you, but... Thank you very much, Hal.

Do you mean interfering in my personal affairs? Edith, this is one time you're

not going to run things.

The old man's house, okay.

But you just want that money to cover up some crime of Tim's. Well, the only way

you're going to get it is over my dead body.

Haven't you any regard for your father's life?

It's him I'm thinking of, not the boy.

Ah, don't get righteous on me.

The sooner father finds out the mistake he's making, the better it'll be for

him. Shirley, call Perry Mason.

Tell him to hire a private detective.

I want someone to watch Tim Balfour. Watch that boy 24 hours a day.

Did you have any luck at your sister's?

No. Too many bills, I guess, lately.

Oh, Edith, what are we going to do?

You just never mind. I know what has to be done.

You wait for me in the den.

Here it is, Timmy. You took that out of grandfather's room?

I won't let you do this, Edith.

I mean, I should go up there.

I mean, I should explain it all to him. You will do no such thing, young man. I

know what's best.

If your grandfather is upset by one more family problem... Here, take it. Take

the money.

Edith.

How can I ever thank you for... Nonsense.

I'll figure out some explanation.

Now, the important thing is for us to see that man who telephoned you. I'm

to go see him by myself.

Chick said I had to.

He's going to be hiding, and if anyone comes with me or follows me, he won't go

through with the deal to keep that old man quiet.

You can't go alone.

He's dangerous. He might... I have to, Edith.

But he might hurt you.

Timmy.

It's all right. I won't have to use it.

All I want is for Chick to know I've got it. Please, no.

Okay.

Now look, you go check to see if the cook is going home.

I don't want anyone to see me leave the house.

He doesn't look so hurt to me.

Besides, I don't think I even hit him.

That's not ketchup on his head, my friend.

Well, then where did he disappear to when I ran back up the road?

So you knocked him into a ditch, maybe. Who knows?

Anyway, I found him wandering around.

Chick, just hold. Now you hit that guy, Timmy, unless you got two grand that

says you didn't. All right.

But I've also written something that you're going to sign that says you're

going to blackmail me anymore.

What?

You must think I'm crazy. Now, why would I ever... You'll do what I tell you.

Don't worry.

Only, what really happened out there, chick?

Did you throw this guy's coat out into the road? Throw out a dummy, maybe?

Anything to make me think that I'd hit him?

Now, listen to me.

You know what I think.

He's just a plain drunk that you dug up someplace.

Well, anyway, he's going with me.

I'm going to take him to be checked. No, you don't, my stupid friend.

The driver is 18 -year -old Timothy Balfour III.

The car is a late model convertible.

Temporary license 0163704.

Let me know if you spot him, Pete. The job is just to watch him.

All right, Paul, let's have that.

Funny remark about you. You just happened to be driving up from that

road. I just happened, Andy.

What's up? Come on.

A young punk named Charles Chick Montana.

You know him?

Never heard of him. What happened?

Somebody shot him.

Perhaps with, uh, with this.

Well, for once in my life, Lieutenant, we've got latent fingerprints on a gun.

All right, Paul. How does it happen that you turn up in this lonely place only a

little while after somebody gets murdered?

Just happened, Andy.

Excuse me.

Don't you work with that lawyer, Perry Mason?

Yeah, sometimes.

Yeah, I've seen you over at the Balfour House.

I'm Harold Minner.

Sure, I'm Paul Drake.

Friend of yours?

I never saw him before tonight.

I was just driving up from Balfour's. I live on down the road a couple of miles.

Oh, this kid was just lying here in the road.

Murdered.

Now, don't worry, kid. I can sober him up. You can pray for it. You don't think

he's really been hurt or anything? There wasn't even a scratch under this.

So a man hurt. There's nothing wrong with him that AA couldn't cure. No

bones or anything?

He hasn't got any bones.

When a man is recovering from a coronary, anyone who deliberately

that man grave emotional crises must be suspect.

Suspect of what?

If your father should die before he divides his estate with young Tim, you

inherit it all, wouldn't you?

Mason, you're about as subtle as a poke in the eye.

But you would, wouldn't you? That's not the point, Mason.

I'm not trying to kill my father.

I'm trying to stop him from making a mistake which could kill him, or at

ruin the rest of his life.

Since his heart attack, father's turned into a sentimental old fool who thinks

he can bring back my dead brother by giving a fortune to a hoodlum grandson.

If you're so sure Tim is a hoodlum, why did you ask me to retain a detective to

watch him?

Mason, if I ask you to hire a detective, that is my business, not yours.

Has he made any report yet?

No, not yet.

But what do you think you're going to prove?

Since Tim came to the States, some total of his police record is two speeding

tickets and one charge of reckless driving.

Are you a hoodlum, Mr. Balthor?

One more drunk driving conviction for you and you'll lose your license for all

time. I'll tell you one thing, Mason. When I get to be president of Balthor

Enterprises, you aren't going to be the company's attorney.

Be that as it may, at the moment I'm interested in why you're so intent on...

Hello?

I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my phone for your personal calls.

Yes? Perry, I've been trying to reach you for an hour.

One of young Tim's friends got shot near a cabin on the Balfour Estate.

There was a gun at the scene which I'm sure belongs to old man Balfour and

are prints on it.

There's also $2 ,000 in cash on the body.

That's rather interesting, Mr. Jones.

You can't talk.

Well, if Tim Balfour is connected with this, it won't take the police long

You're right, Mr. Jones.

I think I should have a little talk with the parents.

Then I'll meet you at old man Balfour's.

I'd say as quickly as possible.

Did you come home by the freeway or through the estate when you left your

father's house tonight?

By the free...

I haven't been near my father's house tonight.

Nowhere near it.

Samuel? Is anything wrong?

Did anything go wrong?

Edith, you're the only person that's been good to me.

Jimmy, listen to me. Perry Mason is in the house talking to your grandfather,

and I'm worried that maybe... All the rest of them treated me as though I were

going to steal something.

You don't suppose Perry Mason knows anything about your little accident, do

The old man.

Is the old man hurt?

The old man hit run.

None of it's important anymore.

Jimmy! Edith, I don't even know what's happened.

But just stay out of it, please.

Timmy, will you please listen to me?

No, just leave me alone.

Timmy, please, listen to me.

Edith, I've been waiting for you.

I understand that after you came to me yesterday, you asked Mr. Balfour, Mr.

Minter, and various other people for $2 ,000.

I'll explain all that to you later, miss.

What's your name? Nothing has to be explained to me, young man.

This woman, this so -called trusted employee, has just stolen $2 ,000 out of

your grandfather's room.

And I'm going to call the police.

That won't be necessary, Miss Adler.

Tim, I'd like to talk with you a moment.

And with me too, Mr. Mason.

Miss Adler is right.

Furthermore, I advise Tim... She did it for me, Mr. Mason.

And I'd like to tell you why.

Alone, if you don't mind.

I think maybe I'm in a mess, Mr. Mason.

And I wonder if there's any way that I can keep my grandfather from hearing

about it.

Do you think if he finds out, he will like you less?

Likes me?

Who cares?

Tell me about it.

There's a cabin about a mile from here. Will you go up there with me?

I think maybe I shot a man.

With one of those?

We got into a fight, and then I shot him.

And then I guess I dropped the gun. I was kind of panicky.

Will you go with me?

It isn't necessary, Tim.

But it is. He might be hurt.

He's dead.

It might look like murder to you, Mr. Mason, but I didn't mean to kill him.

I didn't even mean to hurt him.

You didn't mean to.

You took a loaded gun to a deserted cabin where a man you hated was going to

yet you didn't mean to hurt him? I didn't hate him. I thought he was my

The man is dead.

You're in jail under a murder charge, all because you were afraid you were

to be accused of hitting a man in a liquor store.

But you seemingly made no effort to find out if anyone had been hit in the first

place. Now, did you ask anyone for help?

For advice?

Who was there to ask?

Sorry, Perry, but last night Tim brought an old wino to a place called Rancho de

Health. It's out beyond nowhere.

The wino's still there and he's still drunk.

Wait for me, Paul.

I might as well tell you.

The liquor store thing was just the start.

I faked an accident so Edith would give me the money.

And while I was doing it...

Chick claimed that I'd hit an old man with a car. I hit and run.

I didn't think I'd hit him, but I wasn't sure.

So after I'd paid Chick the money, I tried to take the old man along.

And that's what we got into the fight about.

Then after you shot Chick, you took the old man to this rancher of the health.

How did you happen to take him there?

Edith told me about it. So Edith knew all about your troubles?

I just told her that I had a friend who was drunk, and I asked her where to take

him, that's all.

How much more are you going to conceal from me, Tim?

I've told you all there is.

I got into a fight with a guy and the gun went off and killed him.

You were at least ten feet away from Chick when you shot him in the back.

In the back?

What kind of person do you think I am?

Perry, are you committed to defending this kid?

All right.

Well, the boy Tim supposedly killed, Chick Montana, was a fast talker but a

thinker. He wasn't smart.

And all of a sudden, just after he meets Tim, he's loaded with money.

You sure?

Sure. Bought some new clothes. Even paid off a few bets.

Maybe there was someone behind Chick paying him for what he did.

All right, Paul, that's your job.

Find out who was really running the store.

Paul, let me know everything Anderson finds out about that gun.

All right.

In what position was the body when you first found it, Mr. Mentor?

Lying face down.

You didn't disturb it in any way?

I was pretty sure he was dead, but I felt for his pulse, and I went in the

and called the police.

I think that'll be all, Mr. Mentor. Thank you, sir. Mr. Mason?

Mr. Mentor, how did you know there was a phone in that deserted cabin?

I'd been in the cabin before.

I see.

Now, since the cabin is near the Belfort estate, may I assume that you were on

your way home from a visit with Mr. Belfort?

You may not. I don't visit with Mr. Balfour.

But you were driving through his estate at night, and you did happen to find a

dead man lying beside the road.

All right, yes.

I drove past Balfour's house thinking I might stop, but I didn't. I was on my

way home late, that's all.

When Mr. Balfour had his heart attack, did you as a neighbor and friend go to

see him?

I turned Mr. Balfour's ideas into real things.

Bridges, dams, freeways. But I don't hold his hand when he's sick.

I take it then that... You and Mr. Balfour are not very close.

He needs a man to run his business. I'm that man.

Whether we like each other personally has nothing to do with it.

Oh, by the way, had you ever seen Chick Montana prior to the night you found him

dead?

No.

Death was caused by a bullet from this gun entering the deceased from the back

and penetrating the heart.

Then whoever shot him stood behind him and cold -bloodedly shot him in the

I am not aware of the killer's emotions, but that is mechanically how death

occurred. Thank you, doctor, for your usual excellent testimony, your witness.

Doctor, were there traces of gunpowder on the front of the decedent's coat? I

have testified there were, and explained these traces of powder could have been

acquired at some other time.

After all, the deceased was a known criminal of unsavory repute.

Granted. Could you also explain why there was no bullet hole in the coat

the gunpowder was?

At least not with facts.

But if you're interested in the private theory, I think the coat could have been

unbuttoned, twisted around during the fight so that the front of it received

powder, too. With this type of gun, I understand the powder tattoo spreads

a wide area.

Now, this is the $2 ,000 which was found on the body, along with the note

suggesting that Chick Montana had somehow or other been blackmailing the

defendant. Miss Adler, can you identify this as the same $2 ,000 that was stolen

from Mr. Balfour's bedroom the night of the crime?

No. Of course not. All I can say is that Edith Summers took $2 ,000 without

asking permission, gave it to Timmy Balfour so that he... Thank you, Miss

That'll be all. You're witness.

Miss Adler, did you see Chick Montana in the offices of Balfour Enterprises on

the afternoon before he was killed?

No, of course not.

You did not see him?

You didn't talk to him about getting a job with Balfour Enterprises?

Perhaps this photograph of the deceased will refresh your memory.

Well, yes, I may have seen him.

There was a young man in the office that day.

That young man, Miss Adler?

He was a very polite young man.

He even knew my name.

Yes, he was in the office that day looking for someone.

For whom was he looking?

Mr. Luke Balfour.

Now, Mr. Balfour, you heard testimony that this gun with the defendant's

fingerprints on it was found at the scene of the crime.

You also heard that the bullet that killed Chick Montana was fired from this

gun. Would it have been readily possible for the defendant to get this gun out

of your father's house?

All Tim had to do was go to the gun case and take it out. He even had a choice

because they're two of them exactly alike.

Well, did your father usually keep these guns loaded?

Always.

He says a pistol is nothing but a useless piece of pipe without a

it. Thank you. That'll be all.

Mr. Mason?

In your testimony, Mr. Balfour, you said that the $2 ,000 taken from your

father's bedroom belonged to you, that it was part of $5 ,000 you were keeping

there. $5 ,000 in cash, which you'd asked Miss Adler to get for you that

morning. The morning, in fact, of the day Mr. Montana was killed.

Now, isn't $5 ,000 a rather large amount of cash?

Not to me, it isn't.

What would you need that much cash for?

Wouldn't a check or a charge account ordinarily be used in transactions

requiring that much money?

Do you know what a nuisance it is to rely on checks at the tables in Las

Mr. Mason?

You were going to Las Vegas.

And you didn't draw this money from your personal account, but arranged for Miss

Adler to draw it from your account at the firm. And you kept the cash in your

father's house instead of your own house. So my wife wouldn't find out

Okay. And this was not the first $5 ,000 in cash you'd left at your father's

house. Nor the first time I'd been to Vegas.

All right, Mr. Balfour.

Now, let's go back to Miss Adler's testimony.

Just how well did you know Chick Montana?

I didn't know him at all. Why should I?

Before I refresh your memory with that photograph... All right, all right. I

the kid, yes.

But only once in my life.

He came to my office that afternoon saying he was a friend of Tim's and

a job. So I threw him out.

You're sure he didn't come to your office to demand more money in cash?

Do what?

Why should I give him any money?

I wouldn't even give a creature like that a job raw hiding lumber.

I only talked to him because Hal asked me to.

Hal? Hal Medder.

With his office, Chick went to first.

Even before Miss Adler.

Now, Mr.

Balfour, I would... May I have a moment, Your Honor?

You may.

I'm through with this witness for the time being, Your Honor.

May I recall Lieutenant Anderson?

It's about time to adjourn for the day, Mr. Mason.

I have only one or two short questions, Your Honor.

Mr. Berger?

I have no objection, Your Honor.

Very well, but make it short.

May I remind you you're still under oath, Lieutenant?

Yes, Your Honor.

This gun is one of a matching set, Lieutenant.

Did your department by any chance run a fingerprint test on the other gun? The

one left in the house?

Why, no.

No, we didn't.

Since the defendant will testify that he handled both guns just prior to Mr.

Montana's death, would your department test the other gun for fingerprints if I

brought it in tomorrow?

Mr. Mason, what's the sense?

The state has established that that gun in your hand is the one that killed

Montana and that it had clear prints of the defendant on it.

Now, what would it prove if his fingerprints were on every other gun in

Angeles County?

But wouldn't it be interesting, Mr. Berger, if no prints at all were found

the other gun?

My argument is that anyone who's ever read the funny papers knows that

fingerprints on a gun are easy to smudge and hard to identify.

It's a good argument, but I hope in this case academic.

It may be that what doesn't happen will be more condemning than what does.

How's our non -anonymous alcoholic?

Well, I'm going to have to prop the old goat up, but at least he's breathing.

Identification positive?

Maybe not good enough for Berger, but pretty good.

Can you take a look, Mr. Mason?

This what you wanted?

This might be a very fast movement.

Don't worry, Mr. Mason.

Anything moves towards that gun gets its picture taken.

Thank you, Aiden.

How's the boy, Perry?

Too overwhelmed to relate to the situation.

The point is, how much more can you take?

I've talked with your doctor. I don't care about the doctors.

I hate it because I can't do anything for Tim. Lying here flat on my back

that's a very good place for you to be at the moment.

But if you could spare Edith for an hour or so.

Of course, of course.

You go on now. You let me know what happens, will you?

This is a photoelectric cell.

Shooting an invisible beam across the room.

Once it's turned on, anyone moving through that beam starts a movie camera

in the yard.

That's very clever. How long has it been in here?

Just long enough to get the trap set up.

And now to make it work, everything must be casual, ordinary.

No matter who comes to the house, let him in.

Accept whatever excuse he has for coming and say that you must hurry up to Mr.

Balfour. That will give the visitor an opportunity to get in here to the gun.

Well, forgive me, but I don't think anyone will come. I mean, it's so

isn't it, whether there are prints on the gun or not?

I don't think Luke, for instance, would fall into such an obvious trap.

Why did you pick Luke as your, uh, for instance?

I don't know. He stands to gain the most, I suppose.

You know, Timmy suddenly becoming an heir has spoiled every plan Luke ever

The whole thing is a tragedy.

Tim's parents dying and then this involvement.

You knew his parents, didn't you?

Only his father.

He's so like Tim, only... Really, he was a bad boy.

He drank too much, played too much, and the girls... Seems to run in the family.

Isn't Luke's wife divorcing him for the same reasons?

How did you find that out?

We've done everything we could to keep that a secret from Mr. Balfour.

In a murder case, we go as far as we can into the background of everyone

connected with it.

I know, for instance, that you're going to be corroborating witness for Luke's

wife about his infidelity with a girl named Rosalie.

Well, I've always admired you, Mr. Mason, but now even more so.

Thank you, Edith.

I know, too, that there was no infidelity with this Rosalie, nor anyone

Be perfectly casual, but act as though you've been interrupted and must hurry

back to Mr. Balfour.

Why didn't you let the stranger in, Edith?

Or wasn't he a stranger?

The old man wants to come in, Edith.

Good evening, Miss Summers.

Perry, can I speak to you a moment?

Sure.

Bad news, I'm afraid. The camera won't work? No, it just worked too soon.

While we were upstairs?

While you were.

The picture will be just her.

But she didn't touch the gun.

She just walked to the case a couple of times and looked at it.

Come in. Here it is. It's something I have to show you.

Sit down.

These are blanks.

Of course.

You don't think for a moment I'd let a man as depressed as Mr. Balfour was

his heart attack have loaded pistols in the house?

Very considerate of you.

Any accident to Mr. Balfour would have upset your timing, I suppose.

If you don't mind, I have other things to do.

Needless. I already knew this gun doesn't have any fingerprints on it.

But why were you worried?

Are you the one who wiped it?

Are you the one who knows it should still carry fingerprints?

Are you afraid the laboratory can somehow prove this is the gun he

fired, the gun he took and dropped, a gun only loaded with blanks?

Shall I tell you the rest, or will you tell me?

Can that old man out there identify you, or will you identify him?

Edith, you're the one who got Chick to hire that old man, who put Chick up to

everything, aren't you?

You were at the cabin that night, just after Tim, because you wanted to be sure

Chick had done what you'd told him.

And when you learned Tim had shot the blank and dropped the gun, you saw your

opportunity. A perfect opportunity to get rid of Chick and Tim along with him.

Because you'd brought the other gun along, hadn't you?

He doesn't know what he's saying. He's crazy. Help me. Yes, with live shells.

With that other gun bearing Tim's fingerprints, you shot Chick Montana in

back. You shot him as cold -bloodedly as you ruined the life of Tim's father. As

cold -bloodedly as you wrecked Luke's marriage with lies. As cold -bloodedly

you alienated Hal Minter from the whole family he works for.

You're lying. Look what I did for Timmy.

Oh, yes, and the poor kid thought he'd used you.

And all the time you were using him.

Using him? I gave him everything. I lied to the police for him. I stole money

for him. I was the only one who loved him and helped him.

You did it with love, all right. You used love like a weapon, like a mask.

You told a young boy the worst thing possible.

To keep quiet, to not tell the truth, to trust only you.

Why, with...

Nothing but loving sympathy, you were going to make that boy into a delinquent

faster than... All right, so what?

He is a delinquent. He doesn't belong here. In time, his grandfather would

seen it. He would have thrown him out soon enough.

And left only you.

You and the mansion.

And the dying old man.

You think you know everything.

Well, you don't.

The hardest part.

The hardest part was turning Mr. Balfour against Tim's father.

Because he adored his son.

He adored him. And I ruined it.

I ruined it.

I ruined them all.

All of them.

And then

he just shouted, Mr. Balfour.

She would have sacrificed him just as she sacrificed his father and Luke and

Minter. All right, Perry, so I'm not as surprised as you think.

In the years after my wife's death, Edith, well, she always managed to make

getting rid of her harder than keeping her.

So bit by bit, I suppose she possessed me. I was so blind.

And now look at the wreckage.

Luke, Kim, even Hal and poor little Miss Adler.

How can I make them understand, Perry?

How can I make them understand each other?

Well, here's a pretty good place to start.

Grandfather?