Original subtitles

Salinas, five minutes.

Ellen!

Ellen, come back here. I did what I had to and you've got to go along with me.

No N -O. That's my answer and it's not going to change.

Ellen, come back here.

Bert, you scream at Ellen. She never hears you. It's not Bert, it's Mr.

It's not Ellen, it's Mrs. Payne. And butt out of my business.

Bert, I know better than you, Ellen.

You know, I promised myself that sometime, somehow, I'd eat breakfast to

scrimmage.

Or hit the road. Or get plastered without you hanging over me or

my wife.

Oh, Unc, have you got a dime?

Yes.

Thank you.

Operator, this is urgent.

I want to make a collect call to a Mr. Perry Mason at his residence in Los

Angeles.

Ellen, there is not much time.

Five after 11.

Train leaves in a few minutes.

This is the supervisor.

I'm sorry we're not permitted to give out unlisted numbers.

But, operator, this is an emergency.

If you'll give me your name and number, I'll try to contact Mr. Mason and have

him call you back.

I'm Mrs. Burt Payne, Ellen Payne.

Operator, I'm in a train station in Salinas. There's no time for him to call

back. I'll try to reach Mr. Mason and see if he'll speak with you.

No more time.

All aboard for Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Surf, Santa Barbara, Ventura,

Oxford, Glendale, and Los Angeles.

All aboard!

Mr. Mason will speak with you.

Hello, Ellen.

Ellen?

Ellen?

Mel?

Well, how about that?

Real Wildcats.

Judd, take a look at the team that's leading the league.

Wildcats?

You're a bunch of pussycats.

Tame, purring, milk -drinking pussycats.

That'll give you an idea of what the rest of the league is like, if these

can head the league.

Bert, old buddy, why don't you make everybody all goose -pimply happy and

drop dead?

Ha, ha, ha.

Two platoon powder puffs.

Back when I used to play ball, we used to go out there and we busted our head

and our guts for 60 minutes.

We had a coach that'd get us so fired up.

We're gone, coach.

Haven't hit a soft spot, have I?

You know, the only reason I don't toss you through that window is because it...

Heaven help me, I feel sorry for you.

You and your whole team of pussycats couldn't make one man big enough to take

on. You make me sick.

You've been sick of her since 1940 when they took away your football uniform.

Nothing's going to get you well either unless somebody can make you 25 years

younger. Give you some muscle to take the place of that lard. Maybe get a

to send up a cheer for good old pile driver Payne.

You shut up.

Don't make the mistake of swinging at me, Bert.

I'm younger than Unc and I'm bigger than Andy and I got a lot less patience than

your wife.

You really are a sorry slob.

For Ellen's sake, I hope somebody puts you out of your misery.

My wife mailed me for a PTA meeting tonight.

You lucked out.

You know it. Hi, Ellen.

Oh, come on in. Doctor, may I see you for a minute, please?

Sure.

Doctor, I've never willingly taken a pill in my life.

I'm just exhausted.

I'll give you something that'll help you sleep.

Now, you take two of these tonight.

If you need them next week before the game, try one at bedtime.

Don't worry about them. I'll use them.

Thank you very much.

I'm looking for Bert. Is he around?

He's in the lounge car, lapping it up. Where else?

Right now, Casey, he's over his head in trouble.

Makes his own trouble.

Ellen, look, I'm the coach of the Wildcats. I can make myself taken when

sits on the bench and tells me what plays to run next.

I can make myself taken when he books train instead of plane reservations and

only tells us the last minute, but I... I can't make myself taken when he treats

you... Please, Casey.

You have to know how I feel about you. Not now.

Ellen, honey.

I've been wanting to talk to you.

If Casey don't mind, I'd be obliged if you'd give me maybe five minutes.

Andy, you could talk Notre Dame into kicking on first down.

I'll meet you in the lounge.

Oh, and Casey, it's going to be all right.

It's taken me a long time, but I know what I have to do now.

And I made up my mind to do it.

Listen, honey.

You and me, we've been catfishing partners for a long time, ain't we?

Our deal.

I'll drink to that.

And practically anything else.

Hey, Ski.

Ski, do you know my old fight song?

No, I don't, Mr. Payne. Ski, I'm going to teach you.

Around the field our team is marching, forward to the prey.

Victory to our alma mater, cheer the blue and gray.

I'm no cop no more, Ellen. You know, I was 50 when I got married, and that was

nine years and five kids ago.

And I ain't saved 40 cents.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

Andy Bird's not going to fire you.

That's the liquor talking.

No, he says he's made up his mind. When we get to Los Angeles, he's going to

drop me like a hot potato.

He can't.

Down the field our team is marching.

Forward to the fray.

Victory to our alma mater.

Cheer the blue...

Everybody sings.

Down the field our team is marching.

Forward to the... What's the matter?

Can't you sing?

Oh, you're pros.

Spirit doesn't count, huh?

All you're interested in is a buck.

Casey, would you and Aunt get him to bed, please?

You and me have to talk, partner.

Casey, get him to take these.

Your husband tell you why I'm here?

He didn't have to.

When I received this telegram from league headquarters saying that somebody

wanted to buy 10 % of my team, I knew who it was.

That you were still after Bert's interests.

No, not me.

The man I work for.

Harvey Scheme.

I have always made it plain that I'd never sell.

And I'd never approve of Bert selling his 10%. So why are you here?

You haven't changed your mind?

Well, why should I?

That lousy, no -good, four -flushing... Wait a minute.

You mean Bert told you I had changed my mind?

That I approved of him selling out to you?

He got me to stick my neck out ten miles with Harvey Skeen.

I even brought the money in cash like he wanted.

You just don't do that with Harvey.

One goof like this and... What are you going to do?

I'm going to get to that drunken slob you call a husband.

Before they can get those pills down him.

I'll get some straight answers if I have to shake his head off.

Oh, and you can be sure of one thing, Mrs. Payne.

Bert is going to pay for this.

Not me.

Says he's a friend of yours.

Good morning, Steve.

Have you covering fires now?

Well, I could ask you the same question, Perry.

You know the deceased?

The deceased?

Who? Where's Mrs. Payne?

No, it's not Mrs. Payne. It's her husband.

She's standing over there, taking it pretty well, considering this is a

mess.

They told me at the L .A. station there'd been a fire. That's all.

Well, it seems the train was five minutes out of Glendale. All at once,

was a big flash, and the whole drawing room went up in flames.

Stopped the train, put out the fire, they went in, found him.

Accident? Could be. A little too early to know for sure.

Some kind of a chemical fire.

Was that the extent of it?

No. Found that in addition to Mrs. Payne's dead husband, there was a

passenger. It may mean something, it may not. He's Judson Warner, age 40, 45,

black hair. I've got an APP out for him.

Finished with the pictures. Ready to wrap it up here, Lieutenant.

Listen, I think I'll take one more look.

Mind, Steve?

Sure, come on.

The fire inspector said it went up like that.

Where was the corpse? In the lower bunk.

From what we can piece together, Perry, the victim must have been drunk last

night. He could have dropped a cigarette on the chemical.

His jewelry, cufflinks, tie clasp.

The belt buckle was protected to some extent by his body.

All found was the remains.

What little there was has gone to the moor.

The chemical fire caused the primary damage.

I don't know for sure how much loss or displacement was made by the high

-pressure hoses.

But for all practical purposes, all we have to work with is the personalized

jewelry.

Well, why would anyone keep flammable chemicals in the drawing room?

I don't know.

I'm going to find out.

Perry, two weeks ago, I never heard of Judson Warner.

What happened two weeks ago?

Well, that's when the phone calls started coming.

At first, my secretary took them.

Then he began making threats.

So I agreed to talk to him.

What kind of threats?

He said that Burt was in some kind of difficulties, that damaging publicity

could attract the attention of the league and... Well, that's when I should

called you.

There's no point in worrying about what you should have done, Ellen.

Just give me the essence of what he told you. He said he represented

international enterprises.

That Bert wanted to sell his 10 % interest of the Wildcats to them.

That they had made a down payment.

But Bert couldn't dispose of his interest without your approval.

And I told Warner that I wouldn't agree to it under any circumstances.

Then why did Warner show up in the train last night?

He said that Bert had assured him I had changed my mind. That I would agree to

him selling his interest to Harvey Skeen.

He even brought the cash to pay Bert.

Your husband must have realized Judd Warner would want it confirmed by you.

So, how could he have hoped to complete the deal?

I don't know.

Bert was... Well, I guess he just hadn't figured it out that far ahead.

Maybe that's why Bert got so drunk, because I wouldn't go along with him.

In a way, that killed him.

In a way, I was responsible.

Perry, she's on the ragged edge. She should rest.

Ellen. You didn't know Bert when we were in college.

Before the gambling, before the drinking.

Before he got to be a rich woman's husband.

I understand what you're going through, Ellen.

I'll talk with you tomorrow.

Thank you, Perry.

Oh, like you said last week, I clean up your father's workshop.

Mr. Mason, I know a long time. He's friend of your father.

Yes. Oh, one thing more.

Did Lieutenant Drum ask you if you knew Judson Warner prior to last night?

No. Well, just remember that he will.

I'll show you out.

Remember, Ellen, it's the rent.

Yes.

Yes, they just left.

All right, can we be alone?

Looks like I'm keeping just one step ahead of you today.

That's the way it looks. A coincidence, of course.

Of course.

I'm here on business for one of my clients.

I'm sure you are.

And I'm sure you'll find it all very interesting.

I have.

I'd like to see Mr. Judson Warner, please. My name is Mason, Perry Mason.

Mr. Skeen is taking all of Mr. Warner's calls.

But did you check Vegas?

How do you know, you idiot?

When he gets there, I want to know it.

Before the police do.

Moron.

Yes? Mr. Perry Mason for Mr. Warner.

Send him in.

Mr. Mason?

Yes? Mr. Skeen will see you now.

Thank you.

My name is Mason. I'm an attorney.

I know that.

State your business.

I'm a very busy man.

I'll give you five minutes.

No more.

Good morning, Mr. Skeen.

Uh, what is your beef?

I have no intention of being timed like a three -minute egg.

All right, Mason. What do you want?

I'm interested in what you want.

The Wildcats.

Sit down, Mr. Mason.

Tell me, do you represent the Wildcat organization?

That's not Shadowbox, Mr. Skeen.

I think we can acknowledge that the sparring is a draw and go on from there.

represent Ms. Burt Payne.

Ah, and you already know there's a matter of two, maybe $300 ,000 I expect

recover. Mr. Skeen.

How well did you know Burt Payne? Well enough to dislike him.

When did you first approach him about the possible sale of his interest in the

team? Well, he approached me.

A mutual friend brought him around about five or six weeks ago.

Payne had dropped over $200 ,000 and the boys were getting tough on him. He

needed money.

Big money.

You're not going to tell me you handed him $200 ,000 when you knew he had to

have his wife's approval.

And that every owner in the league would have to agree to the sale.

You're not going to tell me you trusted a perfect stranger.

I wouldn't have trusted Bird Payne with a $2 bet.

But I was willing to take my chances for league approval.

What about his wife's approval?

Bird agreed to deliver that if Judd Warner could deliver an additional $100

to him in cash last night.

Did you hear from him in person or only through Warner?

Yeah, I saw that.

I got it from Judd.

You don't expect to recover $200 ,000 in cash from my client on the basis of

what you've told me.

I have a contract, Mr. Mason, signed and notarized.

Bergpain agreed that if he failed to get his wife's okay, or if I failed to get

league approval, he would pay a 20 % penalty and return the down payment.

I'll admit that's not a bad bargain.

I don't make bad bargains, Mr. Mason.

Unless the police find Judson Warner, you have made one.

Or are you as anxious as I am to have the police find him?

Give yourself five minutes, Mr. Skeen.

Think about that.

Get me Andy Grant.

Harvey Skeen started as a hod carrier.

He built an international business doing $45 million a year gross.

He's a tough customer, Perry, but his record's clean.

Anything on Judson Warner?

Yeah, he's Skeen's manager for sports acquisitions.

He makes $40 ,000 a year and spends $50 ,000. He's a hawk up to his ears. He

spends a lot of time in Vegas, and the ladies love him.

Henry, I... Mr. Mason, they take her away.

Ellen! The police, they come to the practice field and they won't talk to

They won't talk to coach. They won't talk to nobody.

All right, Hunk.

Now settle down.

Now what was she doing at the practice field?

She won't say nothing.

She's frightened like a little girl.

And so I say to her what they are going to do to her.

She just shake her head.

And I stand in front of car so she can't go away.

And the police tell me that...

Ellen Kilburg.

No.

Then why are you behaving as if you did?

Why is the district attorney giving me information I'm unable to get from you?

Perry, I've told you everything.

Don't lie to me. I'm not lying.

Why was it you could hardly wait for me to leave your home before you drove to

the practice field?

Well, Casey wanted to talk to...

To figure out a plan.

An alibi?

A lie the two of you could agree on?

He only wanted to help.

I didn't go along with him.

You must have a better explanation than that for your relationship with Judson

Warner. There was no relationship.

The district attorney thinks there was.

He can prove you were together with Warner in a motel a few days before the

murder. I checked.

And the police already have their answer.

You went there to meet with your husband's killer.

That's not true.

I went there because Judd Warner insisted.

Unless I agreed to meet him there, he threatened to go to the league, make a

scandal in the newspaper.

Do you think in my position I wanted to go there?

I knew how it would look.

I took Unk with me. He waited in the car.

Perry, what more can I tell you?

Everything you know.

Every relationship, every detail, every nuance.

This isn't a football game, Alan. You lose this one, you lose for keeps.

The chemical used in the drawing room was a peroxide catalyst that burns

and ignites with intense heat. It's odorless, tasteless, and inexpensive.

It's available in small quantities in drugstores, hobby shops, and about a

million other places.

Hi, Della.

These guys bothering you?

If they do, Sergeant, I'll call a policeman.

I'm your man, gentlemen.

With a connection like that, you can take care of my parking tickets.

Not connections, Paul.

Just beauty and charm.

Now, where were we?

I was about to give you the dope on the motel.

Judson Warner made the reservation for his meeting with Ellen Payne. The

interesting thing is, though, that the same motel was used for other meetings

with Harvey Skeen, Bert Payne, and Andy Grant, the team announcer.

Who made the reservations there?

A fellow named Stuart James.

I'm checking him out now.

Anything on Casey Banks.

Everybody loves the coach. He has a case on Ellen Payne, and he hated Burt

Payne's guts.

You know the Stuart James?

No.

Had you ever seen Judson Warner before Sunday night?

No. Ever hear his name before?

Andy Grant may have mentioned him when he told me that Burt Payne had dropped a

bundle in Vegas.

You see, Mr. Mason, Burt was betting against the Wildcats.

We've hit every place from Harvey Skeen's hotel to the Vegas dive and just

seem to connect.

Finding a bookie in Las Vegas should be as easy as finding gold in Fort Knox.

Sure.

I'll just check the Chamber of Commerce directory under bookmakers, find one who

took bets for Judson Warner, and see if he'd mind testifying he makes books for

a living.

I detect a wee bit of sarcasm there, Paul.

Anyway, Perry flew up to Oxnard just as soon as you left for Vegas, and he's

riding the train back through Glendale to Los Angeles.

Good. Tell him I'll keep in touch.

Wait a minute, Paul. He just came in. You can tell him yourself.

Yes, Paul.

No leads here yet.

But my man in Oxnard is digging in the direction you gave him. Good.

If the killer left Glendale, he must have had transportation.

I may have something from another direction.

Remember Stuart James, the character who reserved those motel rooms?

Well, one of my men checked in San Pedro.

A Stuart James is booked passage on a South America -bound freighter Sunday

night.

Oh, Stuart James again.

I've got a man on the prowl for him, but without a description, it's kind of

rough. I'll call you as soon as I have anything.

So long, Perry.

I'm going to tell you, gentlemen, just once more, I will not stand for personal

exchanges in this courtroom.

Proceed, Mr. Berger.

Mr. Skeen, will you please tell this court...

When you last heard from Judson Warner?

Well, he called me from Salinas just to show he was going to get on the train to

make the deal with Mrs. Payne's husband.

I guess he laughed. He said she was standing outside the phone booth then.

Well, he had reason to laugh. He was about to take off with $100 ,000 in

My cash.

And to the best of your knowledge, had Judson Warner ever met Mrs. Payne

A couple of weeks ago.

It was at a motel.

Now, Mrs. Fry, you testified that as soon as the defendant arrived at your

motel, she went straight to the room occupied by Judson Warner.

That's right. She went in and closed the door after her.

And did you see her again?

Oh, yes.

She was there about half an hour or so.

And then I went to check an adjoining room, and the door opened, and she came

out. And I could see Mr.

Warner propped up on the bed with his coat off. And he called out after her,

Come back soon, partner.

Partner. That's what he called her. And then right after that, the lady, the

defendant, told Casey Banks to get her husband to take them pills.

And she gave him the whole bottle. The bottle was nearly full.

Doctor, in all the years you've known the defendant, has she, to your

ever taken sleeping pills before?

Well, no.

And yet last Sunday night, only a few hours before her husband was murdered,

asked you for sleeping pills?

Objection. No proper foundation laid.

No evidence that the decedent took any sleeping pills.

Oh, I'll withdraw the question.

Cross -examine, Mr. Mason.

Doctor, did Mrs. Payne ask you for a full bottle of sleeping pills?

No, she didn't.

But seeing how tired she looked and knowing the strain that she'd be under

during the week prior to a playoff, I gave her enough to carry her through.

Well, the train was just out of Salinas, and Ellen and Casey, they

was on the platform of talking.

Now, will you tell this court, please, what you heard the defendant say at that

time?

No.

No, sir, I won't.

Your Honor?

The witness is directed to answer.

Well, Judge, Your Honor, when a district attorney of me was chewing a fat the

other day, I had the notion I could help Ellen.

But now he's trying to turn everything inside out, and it ain't coming out at

all the way I want it. Or did defense counsel possibly suggest to you it would

be more helpful if you didn't tell us what the defendant said?

Your Honor, the district attorney's predilection for baiting counsel has

a point... Mr. Berger.

Because of the close personal relationship between the defendant and

witness, I have given you a great deal of leeway by declaring this witness

unfriendly.

However, the allegations that you have been making have no place whatsoever in

these proceedings.

Now, I'm warning you, and I hope for the last time, I will not tolerate any more

of it. I apologize, Your Honor.

You'll answer the question truthfully and in your own words.

Ellen said to Casey, she said, I know what I gotta do and I'm gonna do it.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Grant, what was the relationship between yourself and the decedent?

Bert had a mean streak a mile wide.

Always fighting with somebody.

But I worked at getting along with him.

Were you working at it when you introduced him to the right people in

When you helped bail him out by taking him to Harvey Skeen?

When you pretended to the defendant that you didn't know Judson Warner?

Objection, Your Honor.

Counsel is badgering the witness.

I withdraw the question. Tell me this, Mr. Grant.

Is it not a fact that on the night he was murdered, the decedent told you he

going to fire you when you got back to Los Angeles?

Well, you don't kill a man just because he's going to fire you.

Answer the question, please.

Well, he threatened to, but he'd been doing that off and on for a year.

Mr. Grant, did he on that night tell you he was going to fire you?

Yes. Yes, sir, he did.

Yes, I was in the drawing room with Burt Payne earlier, right after we pulled

out of San Francisco.

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Mr. Banks, I call your attention to People's Exhibit 7.

I asked if you saw a bag similar to this in that drawing room.

Yes, I did.

It was on the seat.

And you didn't think it was out of the ordinary?

No, sir.

Why not?

Well, when Ellen's father was alive, he used a lot of it for preserving

butterflies. He bought it in a hobby craft store in San Francisco. I guess

Ellen... Just happened to buy it there.

And just happened to put it on the train.

And just happened to have it in that drawing room.

where it just happened to be available for an accidental fire.

Objection? Sustained.

Mr. Berger, there's no jury here, and I'm certainly not impressed with these

tactics. I apologize, Your Honor.

Cost examined.

Mr. Banks, did you see the defendant purchase the chemical?

No, sir.

Did you see her carry that 25 -pound bag aboard the train?

No, sir.

You said it wasn't out of the ordinary for that chemical to be there. In other

words, there were other occasions when you've known that chemical to be

purchased in San Francisco and brought back to Los Angeles?

Yes, sir, that's right.

Once I, well, last year when Ellen missed the San Francisco trip, I picked

up for her.

The owner of the hobby craft shop there was a friend of her father's, and since

Ellen took up her father's hobby, I... That's all, Mr. Banks.

Thank you. No further questions.

Lieutenant Drum, would you please describe for us the sequence of events

night on the murder train after it left Glendale?

Well, at 7 .05, the train pulled out. At 7 .10, according to the conductor's

testimony, he had a conversation with Mr. Hazikian in front of the closed

drawing room. No evidence of fire at the time.

At 7 .15, the fire was discovered.

7 .25...

The two cars were on a siding and under surveillance by the Los Angeles Police

Department. And at 7 .30, they were boarded by the Los Angeles Fire

and sealed.

Now, Lieutenant Drum, was it possible, in your expert opinion, for the missing

Judson Warner to have left that train after the fire was set and before those

two cars were sealed off by the police?

No, sir.

The man had to get off before the train left the Glendale station.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Cross -examine.

One moment, please, Your Honor.

Your hunch on the car rental was right.

The man who reserved the motel and reserved space on the freighter out of

Pedro reserved a car just last week to be picked up early Monday morning at

Glendale.

Stuart James.

Lieutenant.

Lieutenant.

questions at this time.

Now, let me be sure I understand you, Mr. Hezekian.

Is that something bad with my English?

No, not at all, sir. I simply want to review your testimony.

You say that you accepted delivery of the bag of chemicals before the train

San Francisco, that the package was given to you by the parcel service, and

it was addressed to Mrs. Burt Payne.

That's right.

Perry, I did not order that.

All right, Mr.

Hazekian, now let's go on to the other events of that Sunday night.

Where were you after you and Coach Banks assisted the decedent, Mr. Payne, to

retire? To go to bed.

I know what means retired.

I was with Ellen.

I talked, she talked, I talked, she... Just like when she was a little girl.

I see. But was it customary for Mrs. Payne to spend the night away from her

husband? No.

Well, all right then. She broke with her usual custom that Sunday night, didn't

she? Now, you say you were with her and didn't leave her.

Yes, I stayed.

Except, of course, for that brief period of time you already told us about.

You testified that you left the car in Glendale to look for the conductor

because the lights were out.

Now, who told you to do that?

Ellen, how long would you say you were gone and all?

Maybe only ten minutes.

Ten minutes, but...

That's more than enough time in a deserted car for a man to arrange that

accident and then leave the car unnoticed.

And even after the train had started, there's more than enough time for the

accomplice of that man to drop a lighted match in that drawing room and then

return to her own, where you then joined her. Isn't that correct?

Objection, Your Honor.

It's obvious that the district attorney is not only leading the witness, but

calling for a conclusion.

Jackson sustained.

Pass exam.

Now, I'm interested in the problem with the lights.

Tell me as well as you can remember exactly what happened.

We are in Glendale tram station.

The lights go out. I wait.

They don't go on. I go look for conductor.

Did he return to the car immediately?

He came.

After train start.

And then we go to box where a circuit breaker, a push breaker, and the

lights go on like poof.

Your Honor, I'd like to recall Lieutenant Drum.

I'm sorry, Lieutenant Drum. I don't believe your answer was quite clear.

Well, I'd be happy to repeat it, Mr. Mason.

We made a complete check of the chemical origin and the phone order received by

the supplier to the residue found on the carpet of the train aisle.

Did you determine the properties of the chemical?

For instance, what would ignite it? Why, a match would set it off. What about a

spark? Would a spark set it off?

I don't know, Mr. Mason.

It may.

It may not.

All right, let's try a little experiment, Lieutenant.

Now, with your Honor's permission, will the bailiff pull the circuit breaker

controlling this part of the courtroom?

Bailiff?

Your Honor, I object to this. Mr. Mason is simply taking off at another of his

grandstand exhibitions.

Overruled. I want to see this.

Proceed, Mr. Mason.

Bailiff?

to this lamp is off, I'm going to insert these keys.

I'm going to put the peroxide catalyst on the keys and

across the asbestos.

Now, will the court reporter read back that portion of Mr.

Hezekian's testimony relating to what happened after the lights went out, the

conductor returned to the car?

and the train was underway.

We go to box where is circuit breaker.

Keep push breaker.

The lights go on like poof.

Now, would the bailiff please connect the circuit breaker?

Lieutenant, is it possible that after the decedent was immobilized, Judson

Warner spread the chemical, removed a bulb from a lamp socket, and then when

train was still in Glendale, could the killer, without help, have pulled the

breaker, stepped back into the drawing room, dropped the decedent's keys into

the dead socket, and left the train?

Well, I don't... One moment, Lieutenant.

And then when the train was underway again, and the conductor closed the

breaker,

Couldn't something similar to what just happened here have happened in that

drawing room where the decedent's body lay? Could it have happened that way?

Well, it's possible.

No further questions.

Your Honor,

since the... The prosecution's case rests on the demonstrably false

that the defendant helped Judson Warner off the train and started the fire.

Your Honor, the prosecution's case does not rest on any single assumption, Your

Honor. And the prosecution is not impressed by Mr. Mason's parlor tricks.

Mr. Berger, it isn't necessary to shout.

I'm sorry, Your Honor.

But I will resist any motion by the defense for a dismissal based on an

exhibition of legitimine and fireworks.

If the district attorney would allow me to address the bench.

My intention is to request a continuance of this case. A continuance? On what

possible grounds?

Your Honor, earlier today I received information which reinforces what is

admittedly my theory of how the murder was committed.

By Monday, I feel I can bring this evidence to the attention of the court.

Well, ordinarily, I don't like to grant a continuance in a preliminary hearing.

However, I can't say where my refusal would further the cause of justice.

Now, Mr. Mason, you have the weekend to get your evidence together.

Yes, Your Honor. This case is continued until Monday morning at 10 .30.

What evidence could he possibly get?

Maybe he's found Judson Warner.

Put a tail on this.

I hope he does.

My friend the bookie is supposed to deliver under the scoreboard at the

Island.

If he's holding a $100 ,000 bet for the man who calls himself Stuart James, I

think our Mr. James will be there for the payoff.

There's going to be a payoff if the Wildcats can hold.

and our boy Homer Adams pouncing that ball like a catfish going after a

worm.

All right, get going.

If he shows, we'll grab him and get him out of here. We'll try to recover the

money and we'll call you as soon as we're set.

Don't tell me I don't want to know.

I want the money and the story before the police step in.

Radio them to close.

Well, you've finally gone too far, Counselor.

Well, Hamilton, imagine finding you here.

Why the posse?

Your Honor, this crime was committed by only one person.

A man alone.

Desperate. A man who planned every move in infinite detail.

Who saw a chance to escape with a windfall in cash.

Who, like every gambler, had to take one more plunge to get even.

He had no accomplice, only greed and fear.

Your Honor, I move for the dismissal of the charges against Ellen Payne.

She could not have been involved in murder.

The murder of a man who is not dead.

Oh, no.

I'm toasting myself because my missus just told me number sixes do come

camp time.

And I make a toast to all the wildcats.

I'd ask Paul to make a toast, but he learned his in the Marines.

Bella, your beauty is surpassed only by your good judgment.

I pass to Perry.

All right.

A toast to the things for which there are no substitutes. Good friends, happy

days, and victory.

For myself, and for Casey, and for all of us.

To Mr.

Perry Mason.

The twelfth wildcat.