Original subtitles

Yes? Mr. Charles Fuller is here.

Send him in.

You sent for me, Mr. Drake?

What is it, my mother?

Sit down, Mr. Fuller.

Have you located her?

Is that why you left word for me to come over here?

For six months, we've turned Southern California upside down looking for your

mother, for Alice Fuller.

We had nothing to go on but a single photograph in your story that your

was ill, hiding from her family for fear of being committed to an asylum.

Two days ago, we got our first lead. A lucky break.

An out -of -town doctor accidentally spotted your mother's photograph and

recognized her.

Is she in a hospital?

No, not now, but she was six months ago. A hospital in Nevada.

What was wrong with her?

Is she all right?

She was found in an open field, unconscious.

Half dead from exposure and a fractured skull.

But she was operated on and she survived.

Oh, thank God.

Where is she now?

Here in Los Angeles.

Oh, wonderful.

Really wonderful, Mr. Drake. I don't know how to begin to thank you. That's

we get paid for, Mr. Fuller.

The address where she is now in Los Angeles.

May I have it, please?

I believe this check should settle our account in full.

The address?

Again.

I'm deeply grateful, Mr. Drake.

By the way, we not only traced your mother to Los Angeles, we did some

investigating on our own to find out what happened to her.

We know the whole story.

This piece of paper is blank.

I'm a licensed private investigator, and I can't afford to lose that license.

I'm not going to tell you where your mother is. I'm going to take you to her.

That way, I may avoid becoming an accessory to a felony.

Accessory to what?

Don't play games.

You lied to me, hoping I'd be sucker enough to help you in getting your

to obey the law.

No, Mr. Drake, believe me.

Alice Fuller was your mother's name before she married William Bradley ten

ago. The day your mother disappeared, Mr. Fuller, was the same day she killed

her husband.

Shall we go?

All right, now let's get this straight. One half hour and you agree to call the

police yourself.

I give you my word.

All right.

It leveled with me in the first place. I could have told you what would happen.

No need to break the bell. Nobody's home.

Miss Hargrave? Miss Vera Hargrave?

That's right.

Anything for me?

I'm Paul Drake, a private investigator.

This is Mr. Charles Fuller.

Now I know who. Do you mind telling me why?

What for?

It's very important and very confidential.

Could we talk inside?

Well?

Paragrave, you were a practical nurse in a Nevada hospital?

Till a few months ago.

I'm semi -retired. I still work an occasional day, but I'm living here in

Angeles now.

With a friend who came from Nevada with you and whom you take care of, right?

There's something wrong?

Where is your friend now?

Some of the people here in the project have organized themselves. They call

themselves the Golden Age Club.

Alice, my friend, belongs to it. Are these Golden Agers meeting now?

In the recreation hall.

Is Alice with them?

Why are you looking for Alice?

She's my mother.

One, two, three. One, two, three. That's right, Bill. That's right. One.

One, two, three. That's her.

That's my mother.

Please don't say anything for a few moments.

There, you see? I told you you could do it.

Oh, excuse me.

Oh, the hours fly so, and I've been so busy. Is it time for dinner, Ver? Alice,

I want you to meet Mr. Paul Drake.

How do you do? Hello, Mr. Drake. And Charles Fuller.

Nice to meet you, Mr. Fuller.

Alice, why don't you say goodnight to your friends and get your record player?

Then we can go back to the bungalow and have dinner.

Yes, of course.

Nice to have met you both.

She doesn't know me.

I helped take care of her after an operation.

A brain operation.

When she woke up, she had no memory of anything that had happened before she

brought into the hospital.

May I help you?

Why? Thank you, Mr. Fulger.

Yes, you can close up the record player, if you will.

Alice.

Picnic tomorrow, Alice.

You won't forget.

And we've got to make plans for a neighborhood youth party dance.

Don't worry.

I'll be with all of you. Oh, thank you, Alice.

You're a kindly angel.

And at 70... You are an incorrigible flirt, Philip.

Shame on you, kissing me in public.

Wait for the picnic. I'll find a place that is not so public.

Oh, shame on you.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Bye.

Ready, Mr. Fuller? Yes.

There's no question about it, Mr. Drake.

She is Mr.

Fuller's mother?

She is his mother. She sure is.

Her name is Alice Bradley.

Mrs. William Bradley. Look, Andy, Mrs. Bradley doesn't... I know she has no

memory. They told me that down at the housing office.

It's true.

Is it?

Good evening, Mrs. Bradley.

There must be some mistake.

I don't know who you are. Who are you?

Lieutenant Anderson, Homicide, Police Department.

You just couldn't wait, could you, Drake?

I didn't call him.

No, Mr. Drake didn't call him the tip, but somebody did.

About 30 minutes ago.

Wouldn't leave a name.

And Mrs. Bradley, I think it would be better if we did our talking downtown.

I'm... I'm frightened, Vera.

It's all right, Alice.

It's all right.

Lieutenant, I don't understand. What do you want with Alice?

I'm afraid she's under arrest, ma 'am.

Arrest? On what charge?

The killing of her husband, William Bradley.

What? What possible reason in the world could you have had to do this, of all

the senseless, stupid things, to leave the police to your mother?

Why, Charles, why?

I didn't intend for the police to... Intend to what?

Have her arrested?

Have her sent off for murder?

What did you think would happen?

Or didn't you think?

Look here, Mr. Dickinson.

You may be Bradley and Brown's attorney, but I don't work for them anymore.

And you're in my office now.

I'll thank you not to shout at me.

Oh, yes.

Your office.

Yes, that's right.

You do have a good position, don't you?

Good company. Good chance for advancement.

Shame if you have to throw it all away when you leave here as you left us.

Left, Mr. Dickinson?

After Mr. Bradley was killed six months ago, I was fired.

And what exactly do you think is going to happen here once the trial starts?

Once we're all forced to testify.

If only you'd taken her out of the state, out of the country even.

We all would have helped.

I could have seen to it that she got the money from the estate.

But now... But now she's been arrested and there's nothing we can do about it.

I, um... I'm not so sure of that, Charles.

None of us, of course, at Bradley and Brown, have made public one word of why

you left us.

There was no reason for airing dirty linen then.

nor do we intend to do anything about it now.

Unless what?

Now, look here.

If you and your attorney decide to plead your mother not guilty, then, of

course, there will be a full trial, and a great many things will be forced into

the open.

We'll be legally forced to talk about you, for instance.

Do I make myself clear, Charles?

Blackmail is usually due, Mr. Dickinson. Now, don't behave like an idiot.

We're doing this not out of any consent for your worthless reputation.

We're trying only to save Alice from further hurts.

And that goes for George Brown, Mrs. Brown, Henry Clement, and for me.

For once in your life, do something right.

And you think it would be right for me to plead my mother guilty, is that

correct? A 60 -year -old woman with amnesia, unaware that she even had a

husband, much less that she killed him?

I'm no criminal lawyer.

My guess is she'd get no more than a suspended sentence, if that.

Ask your attorney.

I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing.

Miss Hargrave, you were on duty in that Nevada hospital when Mrs. Bradley was

brought in?

No purse, nothing identifiable.

Clothes half torn off her.

Poor thing, unconscious, bleeding. She was more dead than alive.

And after surgery?

Oh, now she's perfectly normal.

Except her memory goes back only as far as that hospital.

Sixty years of living.

Totally gone and forgotten.

Were any efforts made to identify her? The police tried, but without any luck.

She was physically, mentally well, but without an identity.

No name, no home, no job.

Nothing except that torn dress she was wearing when they brought her in.

I'll always be grateful for what you did, Miss Harvey.

Taking her with you.

It was a wonderful thing.

Wonderful for both of us, Mr. Fuller.

The Hospital Foundation decided to help Alice.

I wanted to retire and come back to Los Angeles.

They arranged for a small monthly support check if I'd look after her. I'd

already arranged for my bungalow here at Valley Gardens. There was room.

That check, believe me, has been a blessing.

You called her Alice.

Was that just a coincidence?

No, she was wearing a wedding band. There was a date.

engraved inside, and the inscription, To Alice from Bill.

Paul, how did you find the rest of the name?

Sure luck.

Once we got that doctor's identification, we started checking in

The pieces of the puzzle just fell together.

Mr. Fuller, your mother and stepfather evidently had quite an argument before

your mother struck and killed him.

What were they fighting about?

Me.

It was a question of a junior partnership.

It went to Henry Clements.

My mother thought I should have done it.

No more than that? Why?

Why do you ask?

You really did intend to use me, didn't you? You didn't think I'd find out about

that plan of yours to take your mother to Mexico City to live.

My mother was wanted for killing a man.

Is it a sin to want to see her safe?

No, that's no sin.

But it's more than strange that you intended to live there with her.

I just wanted to make sure she'd be all right. That's all.

I've got to get back to my work, Mr. Mason.

Is there anything else?

In view of your mother's amnesia, the courts may not feel that she's competent

to make the decisions that will have to be made.

I assume you're prepared to act for her.

To act for her?

Specifically, at this moment, our problem is one of entering a plea.

I can advise, but the decision is yours and your mother's.

Plea. Do we plead your mother guilty or not guilty?

Not guilty, Mr. Mason.

We plead her not guilty.

Fine.

I'll see you in court tomorrow, Mr. Fuller.

At that time, six months ago, Mr. Clement, you were employed by the

William Bradley, is that correct?

By Bradley and Brown, sir.

Investment brokers.

Mr. Bradley was the senior partner.

I was then the office manager.

I'm now a junior partner.

Would you tell us now, please, Mr. Clement?

What transpired between you and the decedent on the morning of the day he

Well, Mr. Bradley walked into my office.

Henry, he asked, do you have the audit?

This was a rather confidential audit he'd asked me to have made less than a

earlier.

Well, I showed him the audit and pointed out what it unfortunately had revealed.

And what was that? A shortage in one of the trust accounts.

A shortage of $25 ,000.

And who was handling that particular account?

Mrs... There's no need to be nervous, Mr. Clement.

Please go on.

Mrs. Bradley's son, by her first deceased husband, Charles Fuller,

that account.

Well, Mr. Bradley was furious. He slammed the audit on my desk.

I looked at it, realized there was a shortage.

But that's all the audit indicated, that money was missing.

Not why or how or who.

What happened then, Mr. Dickinson?

Well, Mr. Bradley yelled at me.

Carl, he said you're the company attorney. Tell me, in lawyer's language,

is embezzlement?

I told him that embezzlement was the fraudulent appropriation of property by

person to whom it had been entrusted.

Now, he sat down, white, shaking, looking sick, but an angry sick. Did he

you, Mr. Dickinson, Who it was he thought had embezzled that money?

This is all very distasteful and most distressing. But Mr. Bradley did tell

the name of the suspected embezzler?

Yes. He said he had proof personally that the embezzler was his own stepson,

Charles Fuller.

At the time, no.

I knew nothing of any audit or shortage.

Bill Bradley just stalked into my office and all but commanded that Mary, Mrs.

Brown, and I come to his house that night for dinner.

Did he give you any reason at all, Mr. Brown, for this request?

Well, Bradley and Brown have been fairly successful.

We've been talking expansion, opening a new office, maybe taking in a junior

partner. Mr. Clement?

Well, the choice was between him and Alex's son, Charles.

Both men were excellent choices.

Frankly, I thought that Charles might have more flair away about him with the

clients. And Mr. Bradley?

In some ways, I suppose, Bill.

Well, sort of resented Alice's son.

Perhaps the fact that Charles wasn't his son.

He'd been putting off the decision for weeks. I told him both men were fine,

that I would defer to his choice.

Do I understand that he invited you and Mrs. Brown to his house that night in

order to announce his choice?

Yes.

Bill was moody, obviously tense and strained through dinner.

He made his announcement later in the living room.

with the four of us, Bill, Alice, Mary, and myself present.

He... He said he was going to ask Henry Clement to come in as a junior partner

in the firm.

And how did the defendant, Alice Bradley, react to that announcement?

Obviously, she was stunned, disappointed, upset.

Did he say anything or do anything?

He walked up to him, looked him straight in the face and said, You've always

hated my son.

Why? And what did the decedent reply?

He said, your son is a thief.

Really? What did she do then, Mr. Brown?

He screamed.

Grabbed hold of his jacket.

Bill pushed, not hard, just enough to pull her hands loose.

Then he stumbled on the hearse and fell down against the fireplace.

And then... I realize this is difficult, Mr. Brown.

Please try to go on.

We were all startled.

Frozen for the moment.

Alex shook her head. He started up. He reached out.

I thought she was just steadying herself.

And was she? No.

He grabbed the poker.

I don't know whether she realized what she was holding.

Mary screamed.

I guess Bill and I both started to water.

But she... He jumped up, the poker in her hand.

Bill was closest to her.

She struck Bill on the head.

And what did you do then, Mr. Brown?

Well, I... I ran to him, grabbed him as he fell.

I yelled to Mary to call an ambulance fast.

William Bradley was dead before the ambulance arrived.

I finished calling for the ambulance, started back to the living room, and

ran past me out the front door to her car, and she... she drove away.

Thank you, Mrs. Brown. That'll be all.

Bless you, Mr. Mason.

Your husband testified that Alice Bradley stumbled on the hearth and fell

against the fireplace.

Did you see that, Mrs. Brown?

Yes, I did.

In falling, did Alice Bradley strike her head against the fireplace?

Well, yes, she did.

I remember I heard the thud as her head struck.

Did you get a good look at Alice Bradley as she ran past you to the front door

and out to her car?

Very good. Her head, Mrs. Brown.

Tell me, was it marked or cut by striking the fireplace?

Yes.

Yes, it was.

That's right. There was a bruise and a cut right here.

Medical testimony is obviously very important in this case.

The prosecution has obtained statements from doctors who were in residence at

the hospital in Nevada where the defendant was treated.

However, one neurosurgeon, Dr. Jesse Younger, has been out of the country and

has only just now been located and brought here by the defense counsel.

I realize that this is extremely irregular, Your Honor, but I do believe

This hearing could be expedited if Mr. Mason could be allowed to put Dr.

on the stand at this time. There was a laceration about three inches in length

over the patient's right ear.

The skull was exposed and depressed along the line of the laceration.

Was there a break in the defendant's skull?

Yes, the break was apparent in the right temporal area. X -rays confirmed it.

Was any instrument used to determine whether or not there was an increase of

pressure within the skull? Yes, a manometer.

It showed an increase far beyond normal pressure, indicating a swelling of the

brain due to injury.

There was also indication in the spinal tap of bleeding in the area between the

skull and the brain.

Was an electroencephalograph used, and did it confirm your diagnosis?

Yes. The dysrhythmia showed abnormal activity, indicating damage to the brain

the temporal area.

Doctor, did you assist in operating on the defendant?

Yes, what we call a decompression.

removing bone that had broken off and pushed down into the brain.

It was also necessary to remove brain substance cut off from the rest of the

brain by the decompressed bone.

Are you able to state, based on your experience, your years of experience,

result of such neurosurgery? Loss of memory?

There is no regeneration of brain tissue.

The loss of memory will be permanent.

Dr. Younger, what is the function of the brain cells in the area that was

damaged, aside from memory?

The area has a direct relationship to emotional stability, to reliability, to

the ability to reason, to engage in abstract thinking.

Those functions most specifically would control the ability of a human being to

act volitionally, to perform a willful act with intent.

Yes. The bleeding and pressure had increased until she became completely

immobilized. Now, I would say that hitting that man with a poker was pure

reflex, a delayed gesture of self -defense.

Now, she probably, in her unbearable pain, would have struck the first person

reach for her.

But as for her ability to function, to act volitionally, as you put it,

medically, Alice Bradley was unconscious seconds after she struck her head and

fractured her skull.

Unconscious, doctor?

Oh, I know. She ran away and somehow ended up the next day many, many miles

home. But during that time, she could not have had effective control over

herself or her acts.

So, yes.

Technically, medically, the woman was unconscious from the time of her injury.

The California Penal Code, Section 26, provides that all persons are capable of

committing crimes.

All persons, and this is vital to the case at bar, except persons who commit

act without being conscious thereof.

Defense therefore moves, Your Honor, that charges against the defendant be

dismissed. Your Honor, since the other doctors have indicated that they would

defer to Dr. Younger's opinion in this specialized field, we cannot believe

any further prosecution of the defendant would advance the cause of justice.

We therefore offer no objection to the dismissal of the charges.

So ordered.

Case is dismissed.

Court is adjourned.

Thank you, Hamilton.

Aha.

Well, I'm glad it's over for Alice.

Even if it does put Charles in hot water.

You know, all that talk about embezzlement this morning, did you

over there listening?

You want to bet this boy's been fired already?

I'm bleeding for it.

It has occurred to you, George, that this case dismissed, Charles Fuller may

his crooked little hands on $150 ,000.

Now, these papers are fine, Mr. Mason.

I'll see to it they're presented to the probate court at once.

Thank you for bringing them by.

There should be no trouble at all in resolving Mrs. Bradley's inheritance.

Just one other thing, Mr. Dickinson.

In view of Mrs. Bradley's medical history, there's a petition to the court

have her son appointed conservator of her estate.

You must be joking, Mr. Mason.

No, I'm not.

But you heard us on the stand.

We had no choice.

You heard us testify concerning Charles Fuller's embezzlement.

Alleged embezzlement. Oh, yes. Let's be proper by all means.

The alleged money Fuller is alleged to have stolen.

I warned the man.

And if he'd been smart, none of this need have come out in court.

Oh, yes.

She could have pleaded guilty.

That would have saved you a lot of trouble.

I don't know what you mean.

No?

As administrator of William Bradley's estate, you knew very well if Alice

Bradley pleaded guilty, she would automatically have disinherited herself.

Oh, what of it?

She's not disinherited.

And now Charles Fuller can petition the court to have himself appointed

conservator of her estate.

You call that justice?

Alleged embezzler and trusted with the use and disbursement of $150 ,000?

Why was her inheritance only $150 ,000?

Half of Bradley and Brown must have been worth more than that.

Mr. Mason, I am their attorney, not their accountant.

And I can assure you the partnership was quite properly dissolved by court

order. The assets were accurately divided at the time of William Bradley's

death.

I find that very hard to believe.

For instance, I happen to know that just one of their accounts, Carter Motors,

is worth five times that much.

Mr. Mason, I will fight any attempt to have Charles Fuller appointed

of his mother's estate.

Beyond that, I'm sure we have nothing to discuss.

You don't remember, Alice, but we used to be such good friends.

I hope we can be again.

Actually, we came about the house. There's been no one in it since Bill,

we've just hung on to the keys.

Carl Dickinson says he sees no objection as administrator to your using the

home, even though the will is still in probate. Oh, very thoughtful of you,

considering it's her house.

Yes, of course.

Here you are, Alice.

Thank you.

It was considerate of you to bring them over.

That's all right.

Please remember, Alice, if there's anything we can do, we'd be hurt if you

didn't call on us.

Bye -bye.

Bye -bye.

And thank you again.

I can't remember the house. Is it very big, Charles?

Yes, and very beautiful.

A product of your own taste, Mother.

From valley gardens to a mansion.

When are you moving in?

Do I have to?

Don't you want to?

I'm not sure. Of course she does.

We'll take a drive over there tomorrow morning. But what about your job?

I mean, you've already taken too much time from it. What's the use of being a

department head, Mother, if you can't set your own hours?

You are still department head?

All right, who told you?

Charles, there is no sense in pretending that everything is all right in your

job. If it isn't, it's the things they said about you in court, isn't it? It's

because you helped me that all those horrible things came out.

Now I want to help you, Charles.

I'm not in any real trouble.

As a matter of fact, I'm going over to see someone right now who's going to set

this whole thing straight.

Vera, you said I could take you somewhere?

Just to the bus station. I have a nursing job.

But, Charles...

Bye.

Bye.

Proof that I was framed.

Well, I did find out that Dickinson hired a new set of accountants on the

maybe he's digging, too.

Oh, no. He's trying to cover up.

They're trying, all of them, to cover up for the one who did it.

The one who did what?

Framed me.

Tried to discredit me.

Who would want to discredit you six months ago?

The man who got the partnership I should have gotten then.

Henry Clement.

The proof, Mrs. Bradley.

The proof that your son once embezzled $25 ,000, that proof, unfortunately, did

not vanish with your husband's death.

As I told you on the telephone, I still have that proof.

Yes, yes, I understand. And I don't want to turn it over to the authorities

after all you've been through.

Please, I told you I'd do anything you say.

Well, I've prepared a contract of assignment, Mrs. Bradley. It merely

that you realize the harm your conduct, however accidental, has done to the firm

of Bradley and Brown.

It states that you wish to make amends. In other words... But how?

What can I do to... Well, this is an assignment in full of the bequest left

by your late husband, assigning it to the Bradley and Brown Company.

Oh, but please don't misunderstand.

We're not really taking your money away from you.

In return, we'll pay you a monthly allowance, more adequate than your

We'll take care of you.

And if I don't... don't do this... Please, Mrs. Bradley.

Ever since I left the courtroom, I've been wrestling with my conscience.

trying to forget my obvious moral duty to turn the evidence about your son over

to the police.

Please don't make it any harder for me to avoid hurting people, hurting the

company, hurting everyone.

I said, where's Clement now?

Right now.

I warn you, George, unless we find him and get this business straightened out.

Well, why did you have to double -check everything?

Why did you hire those accountants?

Because I had to, George, you know that.

And the deeper they dig, the surer I am that whole embezzlement thing six months

ago was a tissue of lies.

A deliberate frame -up by Clement.

George, I know that's only the beginning.

Because if he could do that to Fuller, then you know where he's got us, don't

you? Of course.

Your ambitious little junior partner Clement could quite easily send both of

to prison.

You signed that paper? What could I do?

It does seem the best thing. You could have thrown it in his face. You could

have torn up his check.

But he can have you sent to jail.

A bluff.

A cheap bluff. Mother, you've signed away everything you own. The dirty,

chiseling blackmailer. I'll kill him.

Charles, I was only... Wait here. I'll be right back. Charles!

Oh, Mrs. Bradley. Nice to hear from you.

What?

I'll go after him now.

Charles? Mr. Fuller, are you in there?

Mr. Fuller, I don't believe you went to Henry Clement's house with the

deliberate, preconceived intention of killing him.

But I think the jury will believe you killed him.

And I think the jury will believe that provocation or no provocation, that

killing was first -degree murder.

What are you trying to say, Mr. Berger?

We'll reduce the charge to second -degree murder.

We might even consider voluntary manslaughter.

If you'll plead guilty.

Mr. Mason?

It's up to you.

Whatever your decision, I'll go on with the case. Do everything humanly

possible. I promise you that.

But... You don't have to give Mr. Berger your answer now.

We'll discuss it fully before you decide.

But I want to answer him.

It's a lie, all of it.

You went there that night. You assaulted him.

You feloniously stole that contract and destroyed it. Are any of those

statements lies?

I didn't kill him.

You didn't answer my question either.

I will when I testify, when I get up on the stand and tell my own story.

Charles, have you ever been on the receiving end of a cross -examination?

I don't care. I want to testify.

Mr. Fuller, did you hate Henry Clement?

No.

Not enough to kill him.

Really? You knew he framed you?

Yes. You knew he tricked and coerced your mother into signing that contract?

Now, wait a minute, Hamilton.

Be quiet, Mr. Mason.

I'm not afraid to answer him.

As a matter of fact, wasn't Henry Clement the man who robbed you in the

place? The man who stole from you the position that was rightfully yours?

Yes.

That man was the cause of all your trouble, wasn't he? The cause of all

mother's trouble.

Yes, I guess you say that. And yet you say that you didn't hate him?

I... You went to that house that night to kill him, didn't you? No. But you

didn't strike him?

Yes. You struck him once?

No, as a matter of fact, you didn't strike him once or twice, did you?

You just hit him and kept on hitting him again and again and again. No.

And then you finally picked up that desk knife and stuck in his desk. I didn't

kill him. I did not kill him. But you did hate him. I already told you that.

you wanted him dead, didn't you?

Yes. Yes, I hated him. Yes, and I wanted him dead.

You still want to testify, Mr. Fuller?

I suggest you be a little less concerned with what you want to do.

And a little more concerned with what your attorney tells you you ought to do.

I did not kill Henry Clement.

Well, that, Mr. Fuller, the jury will decide.

Well, what do you think of it, Mr. Drake?

Philip, it's just great.

We must dance together sometime, Mr. Drake. Princess?

That's okay.

Um,

Alice Bradley wanted to see me. Is she here?

I wanted to see you on Mrs. Bradley's behalf.

I see.

You're, um, you're Mr. Drake, aren't you?

That's right, Mrs. Brown.

I hope you don't mind.

But the folks here are having a fundraising thing for the kids in the

neighborhood.

Well, if that's all, I could have sent you a check. You didn't have to. No, no.

They don't want money, Mrs. Brown.

But they're planning a raffle.

And I thought possibly you might help them get the main prize.

Yes?

A car.

A car?

From me?

You must be bad.

Not from you, Mrs. Brown.

From Carger Motors.

Then why ask me?

Isn't Irwin Carger your husband's client?

As I understand it, his biggest client.

Someone told me that this year alone, Carger's business would be worth $250

to Bradley and Brown.

Well, then speak to my husband.

But I thought you were the one who brought the account into the firm.

No.

As a matter of fact, it was Henry Clement who brought in the account.

It's funny how you get things mixed up.

Yes, it is.

You know, I could swear that Clement's neighbor told me how you used to help

Henry Clement.

Wasn't there some sort of a private party there about a week before William

Bradley's death at which you helped Mr. Clement? Well, I think it was a dinner

about that time. My husband was out of town, and it was for the company, of

course. You and Henry Clement were pretty good friends, weren't you?

It's quite late, Mr. Drake. I do have another appointment.

I'll be most happy to call Mr. Parker.

You sure, Paul?

I'm sure.

Well, that's good enough for me.

What now?

I haven't much time. Charles goes to trial in just a few days.

That means I go to see Judge Penner tonight. Get him to issue that order.

Yeah, but Willie, Judge Penner's pretty much a stickler for form.

I think he'll overlook technicalities to get to the meat of the matter.

On the strength of what Paul has written in that notebook of his?

Right now, we have no choice.

It's use what we have with the power of the probate court to run a bluff.

Perry, please. Stella, we have a petition to get ready for Judge Penn.

Mr. Mason is here.

Send him in.

Well, this is a pleasure, Counselor.

A distinct pleasure.

My pleasure, Counselor.

As these things usually say, greetings.

This is a court order.

That's right, Mr. Dickinson.

Ordering you to appear in probate court before Judge Penner.

Probate court?

To appear and show cause why your authority as administrator of the

estate should not be revoked and all your powers thereunder suspended until

matter is investigated.

Matter? What matter?

Fraud.

The fraudulent division of the Bradley -Brown partnership assets and the legacy

of only $150 ,000 to Alice Bradley.

I'll see you in court, Counselor.

You and George Brown on the telephone.

Fast.

What were you looking for, Mr. Brown?

Something about Carger Motors, wasn't it?

Please.

Please, you've got to understand this.

Six months ago, when we divided the company assets, after Bill Bradley's

we did nothing dishonest.

What's this about Carger Motors?

The Carger account wasn't built into our office records until after Bradley

died. But you got the account before his death, isn't that right?

So money from it should have gone into the partnership and then have been

divided with Alice Bradley.

I didn't even know about it.

I didn't hear about it until long afterwards, until Clement told me.

He told me he and... Well, that he'd held the account

out.

That he didn't see any reason why we should just go on giving money to a

who had killed her husband, who had run away, a fugitive.

You started to say Clement and someone else, didn't you?

Was there someone else involved in that decision?

Mr. Mason... My wife, Mary.

She helped Clement? Yes.

So when you did hear about what they'd done, you kept quiet to protect your

wife? No.

Tell him the truth, George.

Clement came to me just a short time ago. He told me the whole story.

He said I'd have to keep quiet.

Yes, and Carl there, too, if he ever found out.

Because... Because he... Clement had fixed the books so that I'd be

in this fraud.

So I'd be blamed for the whole thing.

Now, wait a minute. Why would Clement volunteer information he knew would

trouble? Because they wanted the biggest share of the company, that's why.

Of course.

Six months have gone by.

He wasn't happy now with Jockey's junior partnership.

Clement now wanted the lion's share.

The whole thing was so shocking, I couldn't believe it at first.

I thought Clement had gone out of his mind. That's what I told you, Carl,

remember?

But then, that night when I went over there, I... What night?

What night did you go over there?

I... I was at Clement's.

The night he was murdered.

George, no.

So Charles Fuller was telling the truth. He did leave Clement alive.

You must have arrived after he left.

No. No, you've got to believe me.

I was there before Charles Fuller. I didn't tell him. Mary, I didn't.

How about tonight, Mr. Brown?

After my visit to Mr. Dickinson, did you go looking for papers in Clement's

hidden safe?

Papers which you were afraid might implicate you?

No. No, I...

I was already preparing to make restitution to Alice Bradley.

Carl here, he had already started working on the papers.

It was just that I... I was so afraid that Mary's name would be mentioned

somewhere.

I wanted to keep her name out of it.

George.

The police found out safe, you know. It was empty.

All right, let's get back to the murder.

How do you know that you were at Clement's house that night before Fuller

arrived there?

Because Clement and I heard him coming.

I slipped out the back door.

Don't you understand?

That's why I haven't said anything.

Because I've been so sure that Charles really is the murderer.

Wait a moment.

Did you unbolt that back door to let yourself out?

What?

Well, no, I didn't unbolt it. The door was wide open.

So what, Perry?

So someone else could have been there, Hamilton.

Someone else could have been there.

Here you are.

Alice, I just had a call from Mr. Mason.

You did?

He says Charles trials to be postponed for several more days.

Yes, I know.

Mr. Mason spoke to me, too.

Oh?

Well, did he tell you that now they think some other person was in that Mr.

Clemens' house while your son was there?

He said something I didn't quite understand.

All I could think of was that maybe now Charles won't be tried at all.

Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful?

It certainly would.

Charles just couldn't have killed that man.

I'm sure he couldn't. Of course not.

I never thought he did.

Only, uh, Mr. Mason didn't say who they thought that other person might have

been, did he? To you, I mean.

Oh, Vera, if I could just remember things.

I'm sure there must be things about Mr. Dickinson or the Browns that I could...

Alice, you can't remember, and that's all there is to it.

But I can remember things about the present.

I've been sitting here trying to... What sort of things?

Well, like that man Clement.

Vera.

I think maybe I saw him once. I mean, before I saw him at my trial.

You saw him?

Alice, people a lot sometimes think they see people that...

Where? Where did you think you saw him?

Well, there was a man one night watching our bungalow.

Vera.

Suppose it was Henry Clement who called the police and said I was here,

remember? Well, if he wanted me to be found, if maybe he wanted to frighten

other members of the company about that will, make them do what he wanted by

blackmailing them somehow... You could not have seen Mr.

Clement here, Alice.

I mean, maybe somebody, maybe at that Nevada hospital, found out who I was.

By some identification or something that they found and kept hidden. And if that

person told Mr. Clement, then... Now, dear, you mustn't excite yourself.

Even if Mr. Clement was here, which is ridiculous, at least he could have found

you accidentally, couldn't he?

No.

No. Because the night he was killed, he knew I was here alone.

He knew what?

He knew I was here alone because...

You were already at his house waiting for him, weren't you, Vera?

I was where?

He told me you were, Vera.

I don't believe you.

Vera, you've been nice to me.

I think I've been a nuisance.

And I've seen how it bothers you, but I knew you were being paid.

But... Who was really paying you? Mr. Mason said maybe it wasn't a foundation

all, but someone who... Did Mr. Clement tell you that, too?

Then it's true.

Oh, Vera.

Mr. Clement himself paid me, of course.

Yes, dear, I was paid to be your nursemaid, keep you out of sight.

Only when he found I'd brought you back here to Los Angeles, he had a screaming

fit.

Then he got some wild idea about going ahead with some blackmail scheme he'd

planned. He was crazy.

You killed him, didn't you?

All I wanted was more money, and I should have had it. By then I knew just

much about him as he seemed to know about everybody else.

But he got all hysterical.

He told me to get out.

He called me a greedy old woman.

A greedy meddling old witch.

Yes, you got all hysterical, Alice.

Just the way you are doing now.

Oh, with your remembering and your guessing.

It should have occurred to you, Vera, that I might have called you from here.

She really hated me, didn't she?

But if you hadn't had the courage to go through with all that you did to help me

bluff her into admitting it, pretty good detective for no memory, I'd say.

Well, I had someone to do it for.

For new memories.

Don't worry about the Browns and Dickens. They'll be busy apologizing for

rest of their lives.

Let's go, Mother.

Well, since this is ladies' choice, shall we?

Yeah.

You promise?

So I did, Princess.

So I did.