All language subtitles for Perry Mason s08e24 Careless Kitten

Thank you.

Well, you just set your own pace, Mrs.
Howlett. We've got all the time in the

world. Speak for yourself, young lady.
You know I'm 65 years old?

No.

Well, I would have guessed a good 10
years younger.

Now, are you waiting till I phone my
boy?

He'll be here in no time and we'll drop
you any place you want to go.

Maybe I'd better phone my friend.

Just a minute.

Carl.

Telephone.

That's Carl Talbert. Who's this?

Dad.

Where are you calling from?

Union Station.

Here in Los Angeles.

Can you pick me up?

Oh, we're going over some new
arrangements for the night. I, uh...

Hey, is something wrong? I mean, I just
left Mom at my apartment a little while

ago. She didn't say anything about you
coming into town.

She didn't say anything because I didn't
call her.

She didn't know I was coming.

I... Dad?

Hey, are you okay?

Don't move, Mr. Calvin.

Just take it easy.

Here, I'll look for your tie.

I'll be all right.

Don't just stand there. Go get some
help.

I'll see if there's a doctor around.

Huh?

A policeman, a detective would like to
talk to you inside my office.

Who?

Who? What does the police got to do with
an old man dying of a heart attack?

Beats me.

Ask him.

Your

name's

Kitty Delaney, is that right?

Yeah.

You were with that man when he died?

Well, don't make it sound like a crime.

I know what else tried to help him.

I met him on the train. He was old. You
told the station master that there was

someone else near the phone booth.

Yeah, just some man. I sent him for
help.

First time he'd seen him?

Who knows?

Look, wouldn't it be nice if somebody
called Mr. Talbot's family?

I'll need a description of the man.

He was on the phone to his son when it
happened. He's probably going out of his

mind right now.

Talbot had two sons.

Well, we're very hard -boiled about
other people's troubles, aren't we?

No, Mr. Lane.

I'm the son he didn't phone.

It was only last Sunday I spoke to your
father.

I told him we were all coming out to see
him in Barstow to arrange for the

selling of the business in the house and
to bring him... Bring him?

Mom, please.

It wasn't right.

You and your own place.

Me, here with Carl.

And Daddy, alone there.

Don't you have to go back to work,
Danny?

Not if you don't want me to, Mom. I can
stay.

No.

No, I'm all right.

Carl wanted to stay.

But I made him drop me off and go to
work.

Oh, Carl promised.

He'd drive over later.

Drive? When Carl went to work for Mr.
Parker, he gave him one of his own cars

use. Wasn't that nice of Mr. Parker?

Wait a minute, Mom. You mean Carl... I
told you he'd change.

Everything's going to be all right now.

And when Daddy... You're busy, Danny.

And I'd like to be alone now.

I don't want you to be alone, Mom.

It's only for a little while.

You do what you have to do, son.

Good night.

About what?

With me, Carl, what kind of trouble are
you in?

What is this? Don't play innocent
either.

You wouldn't have sent for Pop unless
you were up to your ears in public. Send

for Pop?

You're out to lunch.

Talk. Look, you're not making an arrest.

They're even beginning to sound like one
of Louis Parker's two -bit punks.

Is he part of your trouble?

I'm a piano player with my own combo. I
was hired to play music here, not to sit

in judgment of Louis Parker's morals.

Sure. Turn the other way, huh?

But it won't work.

I said two weeks ago you were a run -of
-the -mill piano player working for

scale on a cheap joint.

Now, now you're big time.

Catch yourself a fancy monkey suit if
you drive a big fat gangster's car. It

nothing to do with pub.

No.

Except the sick old man got rid of his
nurse and took a trippy nuke and killed

him. A trip so urgent he couldn't call
it. He couldn't even wait a couple of

days until we came up to see him.

What happens when he gets here?

You. He called you.

All he said was that he was at the
station. Could I come pick him up?

Look, Denny, I feel just as bad about it
as you do.

Why don't you start pointing the finger
at me for something I didn't do?

You're lying.

It's got to be me that's lying, huh?

Why? Show me something. Show me one
piece of proof that says that he came to

me. Proof?

I'll give you proof.

$1 ,800.

What do you mean?

He took it out of the bank before he
left. He had it in his pocket. Every

he had in the world. Why?

I don't know why. Come on.

Carl.

Phone call for you. At the bar.

You can believe it or not.

But I didn't know Dad was coming, and I
wasn't in any kind of trouble.

And like the last time, when Mom came
down to stay with you, he swore you

weren't in any trouble then either. So I
was scared, and so I lied.

And now... I was like a guy going...

Can I

just call and tell him?

I want to talk business about your
music.

Let's just say it's in your best
interest to get over here right away.

I'll be waiting.

All right, sir.

Where?

Right away, sir.

Hey, Eddie.

This place, Louis Parker just runs it,
right?

A little more than runs it, kid. Yeah,
but it's owned by a man named Radom.

Steve Radom.

Yeah. This and a dozen other spots
across the country.

One of Mr.

Radom's enterprises, you might say.

Hey, that was him, Radom, on the phone,
wasn't it? Yeah, he just called me.

Maybe it's about playing as long as
other places.

Look, tell the other guys I'll be back
just as soon as I can.

Yep. Aye.

report.

You look upset, Charlie. Something
wrong?

I just heard Steve Radom's in town.

Don't make it sound like the world's
coming to an end.

You sit there so calm, just grinning. It
doesn't bother you he's in town?

Steve's one of the boys. And that piano
player you hired, he's one of your boys.

But Eddie the waiter just told me Radom
called the kid. He just left to go see

Radom.

Well, good.

Louie, what's going on here?

Relax, Charlie, relax.

I knew more than two weeks ago Steve
Rader was coming to town.

Steve!

Oh, for heaven's sakes, what are you
doing here?

I didn't have reservations. They're
getting a bungalow ready for me.

Well, it's good to see you.

Steve, I think they're worried.

You know, ever since I heard.

Yes?

Oh, yes.

Yes, I'll tell him.

Well, of course it's all right. He's my
brother, isn't he?

They've got a bungalow ready for you.
Number seven.

But he said there's a man waiting to see
you.

Steve, there isn't going to be any
trouble, is there?

Stella, how many winters you been coming
to the coast, huh?

Five or six. I don't know. You got
somebody here?

Some guy you like?

Just friends.

Nothing serious.

You should have got married.

Somebody to look out for you if I'm
gone.

It's a little business matter.

I've got to get settled.

I'm going back east.

Steve. That's all.

As far as you know, I'm still in that
clinic.

Back east, huh?

Who is it? It's all right, Bob. It's all
right.

What is it, Danny? What's wrong?
Nothing. I just don't want you staying

with Carl. Come on over to my place.

Carl, he's in trouble. No, no, no. Just
come with me now.

I won't leave.

What happens to one of us happens to all
of us.

If Carl's in trouble, it's my trouble.
You hear?

I stay.

Now, Mom, you... Now, Mom, I don't want
to argue with you now, only... Things

are a little messed up in there. Don't
let it bother you. I was looking for

something that Carl borrowed from me.

All a man would say on the phone was
that it had to do about business. I

he meant my business.

Maybe bookings in a string of nightly
spots around the country.

I was way off base, but way off.

What did he want to talk about, Carl?

Well, that was the funny thing, Mr.
Mason. Just as soon as I walked in, he

looked at me.

Sort of strange.

And then he kept right on looking at me
as though there was something wrong with

me. But he did indicate why he'd called.

He started to talk about a promissory
note about the fact that my father owed

him $10 ,000.

I could see the note. It was in a
folder.

Was it from your father?

I suppose so. I didn't look at it that
carefully. He said I could check it with

my father.

And when I told him that my dad had
died, he said, forget it, kid.

Forget all about it. And he rushed me
off and I got out of the bungalow.

Well, then, what's troubling you?

Mr. Mason.

The man's name was... Radom.

Steve Radom.

The gangster?

Yeah, that's partly what scared me about
the whole thing.

My father ran a hardware store in
Boston. Before that, he was an orange

Now, his entire life, he never went more
than 50 miles from that smudge pot.

I know that my father never had anything
to do with Steve Radom. You said

partly, Carl. What else bothers you?

You've never met my older brother,
Denny.

He's a sergeant with the Los Angeles
Police Department.

Did you try to see him? Did you discuss
all this with him?

I just can't talk to him. We don't get
along very well.

Is he on duty now?

Yeah.

I'm afraid I can't help you, Della. I
don't know where Sergeant Talbert is.

You better let me speak to Perry.

Perry?

What do you want with Talbert?

Do I have to clear it with you, Andy?

No, sorry. I'm in a bad mood.

Talbot quit his job.

Why? Who knows?

Danny's a nice guy and a good detective.
And right now, we need every man.

Was Danny working on something specific?

Yeah, part of a special detail
investigating Louie Parker's local

how they tie in with the national crime
picture.

And a big -time hood named Steve Radom.

My brother resigned from the police
department.

I don't believe it. Daddy was born to be
a cop.

He wouldn't quit.

Unless?

I wouldn't know, Mr. Mason. I wouldn't
know what would make him do it.

Now do you get the picture?

Now do you see why I was so calm last
night?

Why I was grinning?

Well, you're playing with fire.

Sure.

But how can you avoid it when the house
is burning?

So now you go do your part of the job.

Lawyer, I can't threaten a man like
Steve Red.

Just do as you're told.

Oh, cop, this is private property. You
ain't got no right in here.

I want to talk to you. You ain't got no
right to talk to me or touch me.

If you got a warrant, I'll come downtown
with you.

If you haven't got a warrant, beat it,
cop.

So I told you I would quit your father.

I told you this guy who was on the train
was outside the phone booth. And I sent

him for help.

But I never said I knew the guy.

Why should I? He was just another guy on
the train.

The name Steve Radom means nothing to
you?

Should it?

When you got on that train, you were one
week out of the California Women's

Prison. With a diploma, Sergeant.

I'm a sweet girl graduate.

That means...

I don't know you or anybody else at the
time of day.

Is that right?

I found out you were serving time for
shaking down a 70 -year -old doctor.

If you think I had designs on your old
man.

I asked about Steve Radom.

Your father was sick.

He needed help.

Nobody else made a move, and there I
was.

But that's all there was to it.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going
upstairs to change for a date.

The man at the phone booth.

The man on the train.

Was it Steve Radom?

Mr. Mason, it's his name I see in the
papers.

I wouldn't know him without him.

You recognize him?

What was Steve Radom doing on that
train?

Following your father.

This is Steve Radom, Mr. Mason.

I got a message for you called.

Yes, I did, Mr. Radom.

It concerns a claim against the estate
of the late Edward Talbert. Now, look, I

told the kid to skip it to forget all
about it.

Well, sure, if you insist.

You know where I am?

All right, come on over.

You've got business with the Talbert
family, right? And I'm the one you

talk to.

You're Danny, aren't you?

Come in.

Excuse me. Yes, sir.

Where will I find one of those sets?

It's the...

Why, that's, uh... That's the whole town
around you.

Tell them to call the police.

I found the dead man's sister, a woman
named Stella Radom. Has a room in the

hotel. I told her to stay there until
you came up to talk to her. Good.

It's getting a little late, Andy.

All right, Barry.

Tomorrow will be soon enough to get a
formal statement from you.

You can go.

Thank you.

May I come in, Miss Radom?

If you're a reporter, I've got nothing
to say.

I'm a lawyer. My name is Mason. I had an
appointment with your brother tonight.

Everything's happened so fast.

I can't begin to know what to do.

Mr.

Disappointment, what was it about?

My death.

Oh?

How much?

Ten thousand dollars.

Is that all?

He must have been a very wealthy man.

Did he have any relatives other than
you?

I'm Steve's only living relative.

When I entered the bungalow seconds
after the shots were fired, the smell of

perfume was quite noticeable.

He was my brother.

I was in and out of there half a dozen
times.

The murder occurred a few minutes after
8.

Now, where were you at that time?

Right here.

Then you have an alibi.

Obviously, you weren't alone.

If it's $10 ,000, you'll get paid off
when the estate is settled.

You misunderstood me, Miss Radom.

The money was owed to your brother.

Now that I've briefed you on the
questions the police will ask, perhaps

think of some better answers.

hours ago.

There's somebody waiting. Who?

Mr. Talbot.

Formerly Danny Talbot of the Los Angeles
Boogie.

Mr. Talbot?

Mr. Talbot?

Mr.

Mason, you were... You helped my brother
out of a jam once. I know your

reputation.

I think I need your help.

Let's say that I know you need help.

What?

I saw you running away from Steve
Radom's bungalow.

Here, sit down, won't you?

Now, since I know exactly where we
stand, will you explain why an ex

would run away from the scene of a
homicide?

I heard somebody leaving by the back
door of the bungalow. I chased over it

of the parking lot and then halfway
across town by car until I lost him.

Would you be able to identify the other
car?

Yes, sir.

Black sedan, four doors, late model.
There was mud or something on the

plates, but I caught the numbers 410.

Now, when you heard somebody leaving by
the back door, you were inside the

bungalow? Yes.

Why?

For the same reason my brother came to
see you.

A $10 ,000 debt.

Your brother told you he was here?

Oh, no.

I called my mother earlier.

Did you kill Steve Radom?

No. All right.

What happened when you saw Radom?

Well, I... I started to rough him up.

He didn't fight back. He just seemed to
hold when I grabbed him.

I didn't expect it. I lost my balance,
stumbled, fell over a chair,

wiped my head against the side of
Steve's furniture.

Gone. I felt sick, dizzy. I was
bleeding, so I went in the bathroom and

the blood off my head.

I must have started to pass out.

Maybe I passed out. I don't know which.

Then I heard the shots chased over
around the back.

Why didn't you return and tell
Lieutenant Anderson what had happened?

I started to, but just after I lost the
car I was chasing, I realized I didn't

have my service revolver.

I lost it.

I figured it.

When I grabbed Radom and we tumbled over
that chair, the gun must have fallen

out of the holster.

I didn't even notice it.

Mr. Mason, I... I couldn't see myself
telling that story to Andy.

I can certainly understand that.

Now, is that all that happened in the
bungalow?

Yes.

Everything. I don't think I believe you.

Della, can you hold the call?

On the train, did you at any time see
Steve Radom talking to old Mr. Talbert?

I don't think so.

Well, I talked to the conductor.

He said that Mr. Talbert had gotten sick
earlier, just after he boarded the

train. Oh, yes.

I was sitting next to Mr. Talbert at the
time when he got sick.

The conductor found an empty
compartment, and we took Mr. Talbot

could stretch out and rest.

I sat with him so he wouldn't be alone,
and when he fell asleep, I went to the

bar, where I figured things might be a
little, you know, a little lively.

While you were with Mr. Talbot, was it
possible that Steve Radom was in the

car, that Mr. Talbot might have seen him
or talked to him? I wish I could help

you, but I just don't know. I don't
think so.

What about the heart attack that killed
Mr. Talbert in the phone booth? Was he

talking to Radom then?

No, not talking to him.

But this Radom was standing just outside
the phone booth as if he were waiting

to make a phone call.

Mr. Talbert might have seen him.

How about a drink, Costler?

Thank you, but I will settle for a
smoke.

Nothing but cigars, I'm afraid.

Steve Radom was murdered last night. You
say that as if it had some special

significance.

On a fishing expedition, Counselor? You
dig for worms before you fish.

Now look here, Mason.

You're right in that what I said might
have had some special significance for

you. What?

You're a friend of his sister, aren't
you?

Where'd you get that idea?

Well, I talked with her just after you
left her suite in the hotel last night.

Oh, come off it. She didn't tell you I
was there.

I don't smoke cigars. I just collect the
bands.

Stella Radom will have to reveal it
sooner or later, Judd. You're the only

she has.

Or is she your alibi?

Why, you.

Got it.

Mr. Mason, you didn't come here to
convince me the real good lawyers at

about taking their clients, huh? Mr.
Parker, you were a business associate of

the late Mr. Radom.

I figure maybe his partners had him
knocked off.

A couple of bullets can be faster than
an action to rescind a contract in a

court of equity.

No. No?

No what?

They aren't faster or you didn't do it?

Didn't have to.

Minds me not that any of the boys had a
beef against Steve.

No, sir.

Just didn't make sense to kill him.

Why not?

Because he was dying anyway.

Louie.

Relax, Charlie. They'll find out soon
enough.

No, Mr. Mason.

Why kill a dying man?

Steve came from that clinic back east.

One month.

That's all they gave him.

Why would he have come here to Los
Angeles if he was that ill?

Because his sister was here.

Why not?

You wouldn't expect a guy to kick off
without saying goodbye to his sister,

would you?

How about that drink now, Mason?

You look like you need it.

You almost told me you were on your way
here. I figured you'd want to know right

away that Steve Radom took the train to
Los Angeles, but he stopped off in

Barstow to see old man Talbert.

So there was an actual connection
between Danny's father and Radom.

I'm afraid Danny's father wasn't the
only one with a connection.

Danny's kid brother, Carl. It looks like
Carl Talbert's a narcotics pusher,

maybe even a delivery man using Louis
Parker's car.

Anyway, the cops figure it just isn't
coincidence that during the past two

weeks, Carl's been on the spot during
the time the suspect passed down the

Me?

Narcotics?

You're out of your mind.

You remember now, don't you?

Remember telling me that you were afraid
they might be trying to bring some sort

of pressure against your brother?

And you remember telling me some things
that happened you couldn't understand?

Things such as your apartment key being
missing from your key case?

What would that have to do with
narcotics?

What other reason would he have had for
stealing your key?

Waiting until the apartment was empty,
then coming in and searching it.

Carl! What is this, Mr. Mason?

What are you trying to do to us? I'm not
trying to do anything to you.

But somebody is doing something to your
brother.

Danny's been arrested and charged with
criminal homicide.

Now, when the defendant's father, Mr.
Edward Talbert, suffered his fatal heart

attack in a phone booth in Union
Station, was there anyone to your

close to that phone booth?

Yes. Steve Radom.

The decedent.

Now, before Mr. Talbert went into the
phone booth, did he by any chance tell

who he intended to phone?

Yes. He said he was going to call his
son.

Dad just gasped and stopped talking.
Then the phone was hung up.

And what did you do?

I tried to call the union station back,
but I couldn't find anybody that knew

what happened, so I called my brother
Denny.

You're referring to the defendant in
this case.

Yeah, they told me he was in a police
car somewhere in the downtown Los

area, so I asked them to call him and
have him check on what happened.

I left shortly after that to the
hospital where they'd taken my father.

Now, somewhat later the same day while
you were working, did you receive a

call at your place of employment from
the decedent Steve Radom?

Yeah. Would you please tell this court
about that phone call and about what

happened after you received it? Well,
Mr. Radom owns this place where I work.

And he said it was very important that I
come over and see him right away. When

I saw him, he showed me a promissory
note from my father to him for $10 ,000.

$10 ,000?

Steve used to lose more than that in one
day at the races.

But, Miss Radom, I understand that your
brother was in the terminal stages of a

serious illness. And you were, after
all, his only living relative. Perhaps

came out here to see you.

The only dough I had came from Steve.

He knew I liked to travel and I used to
make trips for him.

Now, if he just wanted to see me, he
would have sent for me.

He wouldn't have made the trip here.

And besides, he kept talking about the
special business he had.

Yes, but I don't understand, Miss Radom.

Your brother was in a business where he
was used to dealing in millions of

dollars. And yet he was apparently
sufficiently concerned with a $10 ,000

To come here to an area he didn't like
at a time he was desperately ill.

It wasn't how much that was owed. It was
who owed it.

Is that an assumption you're making or
do you happen to know that as a fact?

He made it clear enough.

Oh, he wouldn't tell me why he was
interested. But he made it clear he was

interested. But not in the fact that
Edward Talbert owed him $10 ,000?

In the fact that Sergeant Danny Talbert
of the Los Angeles police was the son of

the man who owed him the money.

And he didn't tell you why, Miss Radom?

He didn't have to.

I found out why from Charlie Judd. Oh.

Well, then will you please tell us
exactly what Mr. Judd told you?

That Danny Talbot was one of the cops
trying to send Steve and his business

friends to prison.

Miss Raven is mistaken.

Absolutely mistaken.

I made no such statement to her.

Really? Are you sure of that, Mr. Judd?
Of course I'm sure.

Neither Steve Radom nor Louie Parker or
any of their business associates have

done or caused to be done anything they
could be sent to prison for. Is that a

disclaimer as to their activities,
Counselor?

Or is it by any chance a disclaimer as
to your knowledge of and therefore

complicity in their activities?

The question is an invasion of the
privilege between an attorney and his

and is outside the scope of these
hearings.

Well, that certainly remains to be seen,
Mr. Judd.

However, let me ask you this question.

If you didn't tell Stella Radom, as she
just testified here, that the defendant

was one of the policemen working on a
project that would send her brother

to prison, what then, in fact, did you
tell her?

Merely that Sergeant Talbert was part of
a special police group checking into so

-called national crime activities.

In addition to my duties with the
Homicide Division of the Los Angeles

I was also assigned as one of the
supervising officers of the special

which Sergeant Talbert was assigned.

I see.

Now, Lieutenant Anderson, would you tell
the court, please?

On the same day Steve Radom was
murdered, that would be the day after

Radom arrived in Los Angeles, did
Sergeant Talbert, the defendant, come to

in your capacity as supervising officer
of this special detail?

Yes, he did.

He came to tell me that he was not only
removing himself from the spectral

detail, but that he had just submitted
his resignation from the police force

itself. Did he give any particular
reason?

He mentioned something about the death
of his father.

Did he also mention by any chance a
promissory note in the amount of $10

owed by his father to one of the men he
was investigating?

There was no mention of any such debt.

Lieutenant Anderson, would you tell us
this, please?

Was the narcotics problem in any way
related to or part of this

Yes, an important part. But it wasn't
being done by Sergeant Talbert's group.

was a concurrent probe by a joint police
and federal squad.

And had this concurrent probe, operating
outside the area of Sergeant Talbert's

own investigation, uncovered any
information to your knowledge?

Yes. There was identification of one of
the narcotics pushers.

The defendant's younger brother, Carl
Talbert.

I told you in my office I didn't believe
your story of what happened between you

and Radom in that bungalow.

I told you the truth.

Yes, but not the whole truth.

I'm going to lay off, will you?

If there's something else, that's my
business.

Grabbing Radom, falling, hitting your
head.

Yes, it could have happened.

And you could have been unaware that you
dropped your gun.

But only if what made you grab Radom was
an unexpected emotional shock that

stunned you as much as the blow to your
head.

Now, will you tell me what that
emotional shock was?

I've got nothing else to tell you.

Come here.

Danny, are you all right, son?

Fine, ma 'am, fine, ma 'am.

What are you doing here?

All right, Paul.

We've had a small army digging into
Radom's past. We were lucky.

An Eastern operative came up with
something important.

First... A photo set of a marriage
license proving that Steve Radom was

over 30 years ago.

Second, a photo set of a divorce decree.

Radom was arrested and sent to jail a
few months after he was married.

Mrs. Talbot, the woman who married and
divorced Steve Radom was you.

When your husband left Boston to come
here, he not only took all his money

the bank, he emptied the contents of a
safety deposit box.

Now you and Danny haven't had a chance
to get together and talk.

I know you don't want to hurt Danny.

I know he doesn't want to hurt you.
That's probably why you've both been

But at this point, only the truth can
help Danny.

What was Ed Talbert carrying with him
from that safety deposit box?

Radom told me he'd get it and show it to
me if I insisted.

Birth certificate naming Steve Radom as
my father.

An invalid like me, unable to get around
by myself.

You're sort of a bird in a cage, if you
know what I mean.

More or less stuck wherever it is they
set you down.

So it's nice if the cage has a good
view.

I like bungalow six.

I can look out front and watch people
coming and going.

On the night Steve Radom was killed,
Mrs. Johnson, were you by any chance

enjoying the view from bungalow number
six?

Yes. From where you were sitting, you
could see the entrance to bungalow

seven, the one occupied that night by
Steve Radom, is that right?

That's right.

Would you tell this court, please, what
you saw that night as you were looking

out of your window onto the walk and the
entrance to bungalow number seven?

I saw a man come up the walk and knock
on the door of bungalow seven. If that

man is in this court today, and if you
can identify him, Mrs. Johnson, would

do so for us, please?

That man, the defendant.

Now, what else did you observe that
night from the window of bungalow number

six? I saw a man I subsequently
discovered to be Mr. Radom.

Opened the door and let the defendant
in.

Then I heard loud voices.

Just loud?

Possibly angry as well as loud.

At least that was my immediate
impression at the time.

I caught a momentary glimpse of the two
men, the defendant and Mr. Radom, as

they were struggling together.

It was a short time after that I heard
the two gunshots.

Did you see the defense counsel, Mr.
Perry Mason, when he arrived at bungalow

number seven and went in and found the
slain body of Steve Radom?

Yes, I saw Mr. Mason.

Now, Mrs. Johnson, during all that time,
you had Bungalow 7 and its entrance in

full and unobstructed view, is that
right?

Yes. From the moment the defendant,
Daniel Talbert, entered, through the

period when you heard loud and possibly
angry voices.

Followed as it was by the brief glimpse
you had of the defendant and the

decedent fighting, actually struggling
with each other. A glimpse which was in

turn followed by the sound you heard of
two shots fired inside that bungalow

through all that time. From the entrance
of the defendant to the entrance of Mr.

Perry Mason. Did anyone else go in or
out of bungalow number seven?

No. Your Honor, the prosecution moves
that the defendant, Daniel Talbert, be

bound over for trial in Superior Court
on a charge of criminal homicide.

Mr. Mason.

Your Honor.

Before I take action on the motion, is
it your intention to present a defense

this preliminary hearing?

It is, Your Honor.

And defense calls as its first witness,
Louie Parker.

Mr. Parker, you own the nightclub you
operate?

That's my business.

Well, since it's germane to this
hearing.

It's also the court's business.

Look, I'm here because I was subpoenaed.

That doesn't mean I have to answer your
questions.

Your Honor?

The witness will answer the question.
Let me anticipate your request, Mr.

The court will rule the witness hostile,
and you may cross -examine him. Thank

you, Your Honor.

Do you own the nightclub?

With some partners, yeah.

And the other businesses you have?

Like I said, I got partners.

Was Steve Radom one of them?

Yeah.

What's the corporate name of this
partnership?

Amusements Diversified.

Does Amusements Diversified own property
on which your company's more than 25

nightclubs across the country operate?

Most of it, yeah.

Including the Los Angeles nightclub?

I... I'm not sure.

I have here a crude copy of the recorded
deed on that property.

Now... Please read from the deed the
name of the owner of the property.

Steve Radom.

Did Steve Radom leave a will?

Look at our business, we don't... Who
inherits this property?

Including that Los Angeles property.

It's Sister Stella.

Would it prove embarrassing for
Amusements Diversified to have somebody

than one of its members holding title?

We had a contract with Stella.

Charlie Judd blew it up.

She turned the property over to us for
plenty of dough.

Suppose Steve Radom turned that property
over to someone else.

Someone less sympathetic to your
operation than his sister.

Well, there's no recorded date except
this one, is there?

No, there isn't.

It wouldn't have been recorded as a fail
if it were to be conveyed as part of

his estate to his heir -at -law.

Like I said, we had a contract with his
sister.

Is she his heir? I told you, she's the
only living relative.

What about his son?

His... What?

His son. You knew he had a son, didn't
you?

You're crazy.

I doubt that.

I also doubt that you're telling the
truth.

Look, I knew Steve Radom since he was a
kid.

He was never married, never had no kid.

This is a true copy of Steve Radom's
marriage certificate.

Now, Mr. Parker, would you read the name
of the first of the two subscribing

witnesses? I... Read it, please.

Willie Parker.

You were present at his wedding.

You knew he went to prison a few months
later. You knew he was divorced by his

pregnant wife.

Yeah.

All right, Mr. Parker, tell us.

When Radom discovered his illness was
terminal, what happened?

Nothing. Nothing?

Nothing happened.

Not even after you found out that Radom
was making inquiries about conveying

certain properties that were used by
amusements diversified that were

owned by Radom? We offered him a
fortune, but he was stubborn like a

None of the other partners could figure
out why, could they? But it made sense

to you. You knew he had a son.

You knew he might want to arrange for
his son to benefit from that property.

For 30 years, nothing.

He never gives it a thought.

But now, now he's going to die.

Now, now it's important.

Now all he talks about is his kid, his
son.

Radom knew he had a son.

A son he thought was somewhere in
Barstow. Yeah, he knew.

But you knew the son was in Los Angeles.

I never said that.

A good but inexperienced musician.

Why did you hire Carl Talbert?

Why? Was it because you'd recognized
Mrs. Talbert in Los Angeles?

Recognized her as the girl you once knew
as Mrs. Radom? Did you learn that she

was staying with a young man?

A musician.

And did you assume that that young
musician was Steve Radom's son?

Look, you've got to understand.

If somebody got his hands on Steve
Radom's property...

and started asking questions.

It would open up the biggest canopies
you ever saw.

Now, the hiring of Carl.

You were going to use the boy in an
effort to prevent Radom from touching

properties by framing his son on a
narcotics charge.

I thought I had a foolproof scheme.

Setting the boy on errands in the car,
setting up deliveries of the stuff in

same places at the same time.

You made sure Radom knew by sending
Charles Judd over to tell him. Then

while Judd was upstairs in the hotel
with Radom's sister, Stella.

You went into Radom's bungalow to
deliver the ultimatum. I warned him.

Either he'd turn the property over to
his sister or to us, or we'd ride his

right into the pen on a grease rail.

But it wasn't Carl, the musician.

It was Danny, the policeman.

Who was his son?

He laughed at me.

He just stood there laughing at me.

Just then, Danny came along.

Now, did you hide in the back room?

When Danny hurt his head, accidentally
dropped his gun and went into the

bathroom, did you pick up that gun and
use it to kill Steve Radom? No.

No! And did you take from Radom's pocket
Danny's birth certificate?

Look, you got it all wrong, so help me.
I wasn't even in there when Danny came.

Danny chased somebody out of the
bungalow to the parking lot and was in

follow a car that was pulling out. The
car we later identified as yours.

All right, so it was my car, but it's
because Charlie and me, we had a drink

before we left.

And you didn't take that birth
certificate from Radom? How could I take

wasn't even there yet.

Somebody was going to bring it to him,
sell it to him. Who, Mr. Parker? Who

would have sold him that document?

Who might have had it?

Well, Ed Talbert had it, of course.

After his fatal heart attack, the
document had disappeared from his

Who else besides Radom had been on that
train, had been alone with Talbert?

In fact, with him when he was ill and
asleep.

Who else but Kitty Delaney?

Did you steal it, Kitty?

Did you recognize Radom and realize how
much that birth certificate might be

worth? So I stole the piece of paper.

So what?

I asked Mr. Radom for five grand.

He offered me a thousand bucks and a
good job in one of his night spots.

I accepted.

That's all.

Did you? Or did you realize that Louis
Parker and his partners might pay you

millions for that certificate?

You're out of your mind.

Millions.

But only if they could destroy it.

And only if Radom never had a chance to
dispose of his property to his son.

In other words, only if Steve Radom were
dead.

You were in the back room hiding when
Danny came to the bungalow.

You came out when Danny went to wash off
his bleeding forehead.

You saw Radom helpless, groggy, and
hurt.

And you saw the gun.

You picked up the gun and converted a
thousand dollar piece of paper into what

you thought was a million dollars.

By killing him.

I went away where he wouldn't find me.

And a few years later, I married Ed
Talbot.

He knew whose son Danny was, but he
raised him as his own.

He was a good man.

Would you tell us about the loan now,
Mrs. Talbot?

Five years ago, I was very sick.

Ed lost his orange grove.

Can you understand how desperate he was?

To swallow his pride.

To get in touch with a man he had every
reason to hate.

And beg for money.

He insisted it be a loan.

And he would have repaid every cent of
it.

Except... Except that he had to bail me
out of trouble.

It was for his family.

He would have done the same for you,
Danny.

I pushed Radom around a little. He gave
it to me right between the eyes.

You know what he said to me?

He said...

Who do you think you're talking to?

I'm your father, Copper.

He had it all worked out.

I was young, tough, and I had plenty of
experience.

He was dying.

I was his son and heir.

He honestly couldn't understand why I
wouldn't touch his dirty money.

Me, his gangster's kid.

That's not true, Danny.

That's not true.

Paul brought you up.

He loved you just as much as he did me.

I just want to change the fact you and I
got to start looking for jobs for

ourselves, Carl.

Danny, I received a call from Lieutenant
Anderson.

He asked me if I'd represent you before
the police board.

Police board?

I said I'd be delighted to represent you
in a petition Andy Fields would meet

with very prompt and very favorable
action.

Like I always say, once a cop, always a
cop.