Original subtitles

Hello, Frank. Hi.

Funny time to be coming to work, Mr. Osgood. Nearly five o 'clock.

Well, I'm not going to work, Frank. I'm going to pick up Miss Thurston in the

hospital.

I should have guessed.

Mr. Osgood!

What's the matter, Boris?

Trouble about the male lion.

His tooth is hurting again. Maybe it should be taken out.

Well, you better tell Dr. Brown.

Would you do that for me?

Dr. Brown and I are not exactly friends.

Well, you don't have to be friends to get a dentist for us.

All right.

I'll speak to him the first thing in the morning. Thank you.

Hello, Mr. Beacon.

Hello, Professor.

I'm not quite a professor yet, Mr. Beacon. Is this person in?

Yes, sir. She's in the nursery.

Thank you.

Don't work too hard.

No, sir.

You don't have to be frightened.

You've had a long trip, and you're here now.

Nobody is going to hurt you.

Including that man who just walked in.

Well, look who's here.

When did he arrive?

By jet this morning from York.

But isn't he handsome?

Well, say hello to Mr. Asgood, Toto. Hello, Toto. Good to meet you.

If I remember my Swahili right, he's a little one, doesn't he? Yeah.

Toto is just 14 months old.

It's hard to believe that someday he'll grow up to be a 400 -pound girl.

He's going to make a good linebacker for a football team.

Yeah. How long do you have to stay here with him? Oh, just until Dr. Brown

arrives. He should be here any minute.

Well, everybody needs a dentist.

What's up?

Oh!

Oh, I saw a gum that I actually thought should be looked at. They had a cable

about it from his keeper in Europe, but I think it's also simply cheating.

Well, I have a few things to do in the office. Why don't I pick you up later?

Okay? That's okay, Tony.

That's okay?

Okay.

Time for little girlers to go to bed.

Tomorrow, if you are good, I'll take you on a tour of the zoo and introduce you

to your relatives.

Yeah, Miss Chimpanzee, Mr.

Angoteng, and the other grown -up girlers.

But I'm sure they'll like you.

Come here.

Hospital nursery, Miss Thurston speaking.

Hello?

Hello, is anybody there?

Operator, this is Miss Thurston. Were you trying to reach me?

No, well, it must have been somebody on the grounds.

No, no, no, don't bother. They probably got the wrong extension.

Yeah.

Never mind. Just call the security, please. Go on, quickly.

What's going on here, Crawford? Looks like somebody walked off with a baby

gorilla, Doctor. Cage and all.

Walked off? You mean stolen? That's right. Stolen.

Kidnapped. Gosh knows what.

That baby's about the most valuable animal in the whole zoo, isn't it,

Where's Miss Thurston? She's inside there. What I hope is that whoever took

didn't get outside the gates.

They're closed now, but with night coming on, over 200 acres...

Oh, Walter, I'm so glad you're here finally. How could you let this happen?

You were told to stay here with the gorilla until I arrived. He had a

gum. Now, Walter, you are right, but it was so strange.

The phone rang in the other room. I left to answer, but nobody was there. When I

came back, the window was open. Toto was gone.

And where was Mr. Beacon?

What kind of an attendant is he?

But he was in his office, Walter.

I called, and he came running.

And that was all there was?

That was every bit?

Yes. I think you are lying, Hilda.

Now, what really happened? I want the truth. Tell me the truth. I told you the

truth. What the devil do you think you're doing?

You keep out of this. No.

Until you cool off.

Now, what's going on?

Dr. Bond thinks I am responsible for Toto.

But I know how valuable he is, of course. But, Doctor, you do not work for

All right, all right. Come on.

Let's get out of here.

Yes, by all means, go.

Go along with your young men.

Go on.

But I'm sorry, Tony, but I think I should stay here for a while.

What?

Why? I don't understand.

We don't try to understand. Just go.

Please.

Please, Tony, I'm busy helping search for Toto now.

Nothing's the matter.

I must go home now. I'll take you home. I'd rather go alone.

Hilda, will you please tell me what's the matter?

I want to marry you, don't you understand?

No, stop, Tony, please, don't listen to me. I must go back to Germany.

What? Yeah, as soon as they can find someone to replace me in my job. No, no,

no, wait a minute, is it because of Braun? No, it's not...

I realize this is inconvenient, Mr. Mason, since you have made a special

down from Los Angeles.

But our overcrowded calendar leaves me no alternative but to postpone this

hearing.

The state has already indicated that a date two weeks from today would be

acceptable.

How do you feel about that?

My client will remain out on bail?

Yes, of course.

Then I have no objection at all to the postponement, Your Honor.

Very well.

Schedule the matter for 10 o 'clock two weeks from today.

Harry?

I'll be with you in a moment.

Fall back at the hotel yet? No, but there was a message from a young man

San Diego that heard you were here, and he seems very anxious to see you.

Well, if we're going back to Los Angeles... Of course, I don't know any

details, but this apparently has something to do with it.

Zoo baby kidnapped?

These the same species as Toto?

Lowland gorillas from the Congo.

We're the only zoo in the world that has an adult family living together.

You mean that poor little thing in the paper will grow that large?

Well, provided he survives, whatever happened to him, they still don't have

leads on.

But you're not absolutely certain the missing gorilla has anything to do with

what's upsetting your Hilda first.

Well, it sure seemed to trigger Dr.

Braun.

Mr. Mason.

I need advice on this.

Supposing he's holding something over Hilda's head, could he force her to

the country?

She's still a German citizen.

Is Dr. Braun her employer?

No, she works for the zoo.

But he is on the staff here, isn't he?

No, we don't have any regular dentists here. The work's done by doctors like

him. Braun just donates his time and services.

Well, if that's his only connection with the zoo, I... Never mind.

Della, you wait here at the zoo for Paul. Ask him to talk to Hilda. I'm

see if I can make a dental appointment.

You're going straight to Dr. Brown?

Oh, we might as well find out as quickly as we can why he's so upset.

Let's go.

Don't I have trouble enough without your barging in here of all the days to come

yapping? I only agreed to stay in Seattle if you kept up your end of the

bargain, Walter, but you haven't. Not for nearly two months.

I wrote you explaining.

Explanations don't buy groceries.

Groceries? I've given you enough in the last eight years to buy a supermarket.

It's just that I'm temporarily out of money. That's all, Trudy.

Been spending it on that nurse of yours, perhaps?

Or on that girl you brought from Germany?

Don't bother to lie. I've been checking.

Still up to your old tricks, aren't you?

Well, suppose I tell certain people about some of your old habits, Walter.

Certain federal people.

I don't know what you're talking about.

$2 ,000 for two months and $1 ,000 for next month.

Today, please.

I'll have to borrow the money, Trudy.

Something went wrong with it.

What is it, Frida?

Mr. Mason's here.

That lawyer who telephoned?

Oh, yes.

Have him come in.

Call me tonight, Trudy.

Now, goodbye.

Walter, don't forget the money.

You may go in, Mr. Mason.

Thank you.

Dr. Braun?

May I ask you something, Mr. Mason?

Why is a prominent lawyer meddling in my personal affairs?

I'm meddling, Doctor, only so far as Miss Thurston is concerned.

All right, all right, of course.

But it's just as I told you over the phone.

I secured Miss Thurston her job at the zoo hospital.

Personally vouched for her competence there.

So, when she allowed a creature valued between $5 ,000 and $10 ,000 to be

from right under her nose, I lost my temper.

That's all there was to it.

But you apparently threatened to send her back to Europe.

That was temper speaking, Mr. Mason.

I am a very busy man.

I have a great many problems.

Do you actually think you could have her sent back?

Oh, yes, since I am her sponsor, so to speak.

But really, whether she goes back or not is quite up to her.

Do you mean by that, Doctor, she wouldn't have to go back if she

certain requirements laid down by you?

And suppose I have laid down certain requirements?

Is that illegal?

I can't say without knowing what those requirements are.

But I can say this, Doctor.

Miss Thurston can be deported only if there is something illegal about her

status in this country.

If you point this illegality out to the authorities, Miss Thurston will

undoubtedly have to go back to Europe.

But you as an accessory will just as undoubtedly have to go to jail.

Good day, Doctor.

Oh, this is really your day.

Having trouble with your little Brunhilde, dear?

All right, then, tell me about your lady wrestler friend. Who is she? An old

flame, darling?

Just a woman I used to be in business with, that's all.

Must have been a pretty shady business for her to still be blackmailing you

it.

Frida, I've put up with a great deal from you.

Your insolence, your slovenly ways, even your affair with that lion tamer at the

zoo.

Boris is the head keeper, and there's been no affair.

I happen to know better.

And I must warn you, if you don't keep out of my private business, even Boris

isn't going to care for what's left of your looks.

Do you understand, my dear?

Do you?

Sorry, Walter.

Silbelski speaking.

Oh, Frieda.

Yes, I'm alone.

He what?

He said what to you?

I just told you, he threatened me.

No, don't come here.

I'm all right.

But he'll be at the zoo this evening.

He has to examine one of your lines, doesn't he?

And you'll have him alone then.

Frida, I am worried about this.

Boris, this is our chance.

You've got to do it tonight.

But I am not sure it is right for us.

If you want me, Boris, you'll do just as we planned.

All right, Frieda. Yes.

Yes, I will do as you say.

But I will need your help.

Boris?

What's wrong with the lion?

I just moved him into an empty compound so we could work on his tooth tonight.

Well, something seems to be wrong.

Let's take a look.

Easy, easy.

Beacom. Oh, no, no, please let me go. I didn't hurt him.

You stole the gorilla, Beacom?

I couldn't get him off the ground. It was my first chance.

Why would you steal such a poor little creature? Money for money.

I didn't want to make so much trouble and upset, but there was a man across

border. He offered me $7 ,000.

Exactly seven.

Mr. Osgood.

Well, maybe everything will be all right.

Yeah.

Maybe.

Hello, Toto.

His feeding instructions are on the clipboard.

Dr. Braun left a medication for his gums, and the directions are on the

Go get along fine, Hilda.

You run along.

Good. See you tomorrow morning.

Bye -bye, Toto.

Hello, Miss First. Well, hello.

Would you like me to drive you to the gates? Oh, thank you, but I'm only going

to the Lyon compound.

Where? Well, actually, the building next door. I'm meeting Mr. Asgood there.

Oh.

Seems to me you look a little happier tonight, Miss First.

Well, I am.

I certainly am.

Good night, Mr. Carpenter. Good night.

Thurston! Mr. Beacom?

What are you doing here?

Oh, just picking up some clothes, Miss Thurston.

They didn't arrest you?

Well, the director thought that firing me was punishment enough, I guess.

He was very kind.

Good. But I heard you're leaving, too.

It's not because of what I did, is it? Oh, no, Mr. Beacom, it's a matter of...

Oh, I'm awfully glad, because we always got along fine. Yeah, but... Well, good

luck. Back in your lovely Germany.

Well, thank you, Mr. Beacon, but I don't have to go now. I may not have to leave

at all.

What's the matter with that lion? Surely his tooth can't still be aching.

Dr. Bond?

I was working late in my office over there when Hilda came in and told me

had happened.

I found Boris and he helped me haul Dr.

Braun out.

When we discovered he was dead, I called our security police and they called

you.

You're the head keeper, is that right?

Yes, sir. Boris Selbowski.

You're also helping Dr.

Braun treat the lion, I understand.

Yes, I fired the anesthetic and helped with the tooth.

Fired the anesthetic?

Yes, Lieutenant.

With the more dangerous animals, we use a low -powered rifle to plant the

anesthetic. It doesn't hurt him, and it's a good deal safer for us.

I see.

Why didn't you stay with the doctor until he'd finished?

But I did.

The tooth had been pulled. The doctor was outside the compound when I left.

Why'd he go back inside?

That I do not know.

Maybe he left a piece of his dental equipment inside and figured the line

still out cold.

Well, if he figured that, he figured wrong.

from the claw marks on his body.

You're all free to go now, but I'll expect the full report from each of you

tomorrow.

Mr. Osgood, what will they do with my lion?

I'm afraid they're going to have to put him to sleep, Boris.

But that's not right. He did not kill Dr. Braun.

How do you know that?

Remember, I kept the animal away while you were dragging the body out?

Yes, I remember.

Well, I held on to his mane and he licked my hand. Now, is that an action

lion who has just killed a man, Mr. Osgood?

Do you think you could be all right, Tony?

I'll get my coat and take you home.

Well, I'm not an authority on lion psychology, as your friend Zalbowski

apparently is, but according to the morning newspaper, that lion certainly

killed Dr.

Braun. Mr.

Mason, what about Tony's sport coat?

Why would anyone want to steal it?

Well, maybe we're worrying a little bit too much about that.

You haven't been able to find that coat anyplace?

No, I looked in the building next to the lion compound. That's why I left it

earlier, but it was gone.

What'd you find out, Paul?

Enough. The police just received a preliminary autopsy report which

fact that Braun's body was badly clawed.

Well, then the lion really did kill him.

Well, he'd be an odds -on favorite for the job, except for one thing.

What's that?

About ten minutes after the head keeper of Zell -something... Zelbowski. That's

right, Zelbowski. About ten minutes after Zelbowski claims he left Braun

outside the lion compound, a man was seen inside the compound, a man wearing

dark blue sport coat.

Frida, you must believe me. I did not kill Dr. Braun.

Oh, I believe you, Boris.

At least for the record. And off the record, well, frankly, I'm glad you got

of him. It makes our lives much less complicated.

Now we can just take over his little racket.

But I did not get rid of him. I didn't even speak with him.

You expect me to believe that?

But it's the truth. I lost my courage to even talk with him last night.

Boris! Boris, this is Mr. Mason, an attorney.

This is Zalbowski.

It's free to cross.

How do you do? How do you do?

I'm making some inquiries into Dr. Braun's death.

I understand, Mr. Zalbowski, that you maintain the lion did not kill him.

That is correct.

Don't be foolish, Boris.

Of course the lion killed him.

How do you know that, Miss Crossley? Are you an expert on lions?

No, but I'm an expert on Boris.

You see, we're engaged, and I know how he feels about lions. They can do no

wrong.

Now, if you'll excuse us, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Zalbowski, did you see anyone beside Mr. Osgood wearing a dark blue sports

coat on the zoo grounds last night?

Don't answer him, Boris.

I don't know what you're up to, Mr. Mason, but I suggest you ask your

someplace else.

How do you feel about that, Mr. Zalbowski?

Answering the right questions could mean saving your lion's life, you know.

I will do as Frida says.

Very well.

Now, it's quite possible the next time we meet, you and Miss Crossan will be on

the witness stand in court, where failure to answer could result in a jail

I must sacrifice the lion?

Well, who would you rather have put to sleep, a lion or you?

Tony, whatever happens, I meant what I said the other night.

Every word.

What do you mean, whatever happens?

Now stop talking like the voice of doom.

We haven't done anything wrong.

Come on, give me a kiss.

No, please.

Tony, I must tell you something. Something that may change how you feel.

Maybe I already know what it is.

Walter and me?

Yes.

We were not lovers.

If that's what you're thinking, it was something quite different.

How different?

He never touched me.

But once, even though we were... Tony!

Any luck?

Not with the coat. I told your security people about it. They're looking for it.

Della ran across a couple of interesting items, though.

Some woman was on the grounds last night after hours looking for you, Hilda.

Yes, but she disappeared just before the body was discovered.

Mrs. Appelman from Seattle?

But I don't know any Mrs. Appelman.

Do you have any idea who she might be, Tony?

Not the slightest.

I'll have Paul Drake check it out, then.

Now, about Dr. Braun's nurse, Rita Crockett.

As I understand it, at one time she might have been his mistress.

but now she says she's going to marry this fellow Zalbowski.

Excuse me, folks.

I guess you're Mr. Mason.

I'm Lieutenant White, sir.

You wanted me, Lieutenant?

No, it's Mrs. Braun we're looking for.

Mrs. Walter Braun.

That is you, isn't it?

Mrs. Braun?

Tony, I must tell you how... Now, never mind.

We'd just like you to come down to headquarters with us, Mrs. Braun.

Headquarters? Why does she have to go down there, Lieutenant?

We'd like a statement from her regarding her husband's homicide.

You've proven it was homicide, Lieutenant?

Yes, sir. And we've gone even further.

Mr. Osgood, I have here a warrant for your arrest, charging you with first

-degree murder.

Dr.

Prince, a senior pathologist for the coroner's office.

You've quite properly described the cause of death in medical language.

Could you now put it so we laymen can understand?

Yes. Dr. Braun died of a broken neck caused by a blow delivered here.

In your opinion, could a lion have delivered such a blow?

No, not unless the lion was capable of wielding a crowbar or some similar

instrument. What makes you say that?

The shattered fragments of vertebrae at the point of impact.

Only a rod -like bar of metal or hard wood could cause this.

Perhaps a metal bar such as this already entered in evidence as having been

found near the lion compound?

Yes, a metal bar such as this.

But, Doctor, if the deceased had been killed by a human wielding such a

how do you account for the claw marks found on the body?

Well, judging by the light amount of bleeding along these marks, I'm quite

certain that Dr. Braun was clawed after he was dead.

In other words, the already dead body could have been placed in the compound,

perhaps so the lion could claw it and be blamed for the death.

Yes. I have no doubt that's exactly what happened.

Your witness.

I'd like your opinion about something else, Doctor.

Could the marks on the body have been caused by a nail or a small garden

cultivator or some similar agency?

No. Absolutely not.

Why absolutely not?

The marks run in series of four, just as a claw would leave.

Now, the separations between the marks in each series correspond exactly with

the normal separations found between the claws of a full -grown lion.

Where did you learn so much about the claw separations of a full -grown lion,

Dr. Prince?

From Mr. Osgood's former employer, the San Diego Zoo.

And when you processed this bar in the crime laboratory, you say you found

on it. Did you type the blood?

Yes, sir. It was type AB, the same as that of the deceased.

And now I'll show you this sport coat, already identified as belonging to the

defendant.

Do you recognize it?

Yes, sir. We processed that in the lab, too, and found bloodstains. It was the

same grouping, type AB.

I see.

Any questions, Mr. Mason?

May I have a look at that coat, Mr. Telford? Of course.

Now, concerning this coat, am I right in identifying these stains on the sleeve,

on the front of the coat, and here on the inside lining as bloodstains?

Yes, sir. They're the ones I've been talking about.

How do you account for their presence?

Well, if the defendant carried Dr. Braun's body into the lion's compound,

coat would naturally get stained.

Well, aren't you forgetting the body was not clawed until after it was placed in

the compound?

Oh, well, I suppose there are several ways the blood... Thank you.

That's all.

You were in the zoo at the time of the murder, Miss Crossan?

I think so.

Tell the court about it, please.

Yes, sir.

Well, I had this dinner date with Boris Zabowski, and I drove out to pick him

up. And what time was this?

A little after 7 .30. It was already pretty dark.

Boris wasn't waiting, but I knew he and Dr. Braun were working on the line, so I

went in to see what gave.

Did you see? What gave?

Well, I didn't see Boris or Dr. Braun.

But I did see a man coming out of the lion's compound.

A man wearing a dark blue sport jacket.

And this man, is he anywhere in this courtroom, Miss Crossan?

Why, yes, sir.

He's at that table right over there.

Mr. Osgood.

Hi, Perry.

Hello, Paul.

I finally got the rundown on Dr. Walter Braun.

He came here eight years ago from Trenton, New Jersey, after he had some

there. Charge of selling and diverting dental gold. The charge was somehow

dropped. And somewhere between Trenton and here, he also managed to somehow

a wife.

Where before Trenton?

Hanover, Germany, where he worked for a big drug firm, which ties in with what I

found here.

What's that?

In addition to becoming a consultant at the zoo and doing fine at dentistry on

both humans and animals, Braun started a small drug company specializing in

antibiotics. It's called the Apex Pharmaceutical Company.

You been there, Paul?

No, but I got the address.

It's 7th and Ash.

Anything else?

Yes, but not about Braun.

I spoke to the curator of mammals at the zoo, and he agrees with Tony.

Unless the lion was starving, he would never claw anything already dead.

We'd better check on that, Paul.

While I run over to the Apex Pharmaceutical Company, you and Del go

It could be important.

What do we do at the zoo?

I want you to give a lion a manicure.

He does not like this. Must this really be done?

You said it didn't hurt.

No more than the needle does when the doctor gives you a shot.

But this lion is such a baby.

And besides, I could go in there and do whatever you want without this.

Not a chance. The director said he had to be anesthetized.

Morris, you want me to shoot?

No.

No, I will do it.

Then we will go in and scrape his claws.

You a policeman? Some of your people have already been here.

No, I'm an attorney. My name is Mason.

And you?

Keller. Abner Keller. Bookkeeper.

Or was, up until the time he died.

Dr. Braun was the sole owner?

Well, could be his partner in Germany had an interest. I was never told.

Who is this partner?

Dr. Elick Plum.

Had his address somewhere.

Or you can reach him at the Hanover Zoo.

Hanover Zoo?

Yeah. Veterinarian plum is.

For the zoo.

I see.

Dr. Brown's business here, was it lucrative?

Boom or bust.

Shipman comes in, we boom.

Ten, twelve girl filing orders.

Then nothing, sometimes for months.

Look, here's last year's ledger.

Boom starting Jan. 5, ending Feb. 2.

Another. June 6.

Another. Sep. 9.

Feast or famine.

Now, maybe you wouldn't mind going out the back way, Mr. Mason.

What's the matter?

Answering questions all day for policemen and people like you, that's

But out there's a dame from Seattle who's 50 times as nosy. And there's sure

law that says I gotta be polite.

You say that woman's from Seattle?

Yeah.

Come in, won't you?

I don't think the police will be very interested in talking to you.

Mrs. Braun, you must answer the district attorney's question.

Unless, of course, you feel your answer may incriminate you in some way.

No, it is not that.

Yes, Tony.

Mr. Osgood and Dr. Braun did have a quarrel, just as Mr. Beacom said.

And this quarrel was over you, Mrs. Braun, because Dr. Braun was threatening

send you back to Germany.

Yes. Will you tell us how Dr. Braun could threaten such a thing?

It was because of the way we were married.

Explain that, please.

Well, I wanted to come to the United States.

My parents were dead, and I had only a part -time job in the hospital at the

Hanover Zoo.

And I met Dr. Braun through a friend of mine, Dr.

Elric Plum.

Well, when Dr. Braun heard of my desire to come here, he said he would be glad

to fix it so I could get on the quota, that it was my only way to marry him for

a while.

It seemed all right to do.

And after you were married?

A year later, my name appeared on a quota as Mrs. Walter Braun, and I came

To live with Dr. Braun as man and wife?

No, no, it was only to help me.

We had agreed that the marriage would be secret and in name only.

In name only, Mrs. Braun?

Are you sure that's how it was?

Yes, I am sure that's how it was.

And we were to be quietly divorced as soon as I became an American citizen.

Now, when things worked out so neatly, how could Dr. Braun have had you

deported? But he threatened to tell the authorities that I had tricked him into

the marriage to get into the country.

But why should he threaten this when you had an agreement?

He wanted to break the agreement, too.

He said he's right as a husband.

And you told this to the man you've admitted in court you love?

You told this to the defendant, Anthony Osgood? No, I didn't tell him anything.

Osgood didn't kill to save you from having to submit to Dr. Braun some

be sent back to Germany?

No, of course not. Tony didn't even know that I was married to Dr. Braun.

As clerk in the immigration office, you were asked by the defendant to look up

the records on Hilda Thurston? Yes, sir.

I found her name in our cross files under the name Hilda Thurston Braun,

Dr. Walter Braun.

And did Mr. Osgood express surprise on finding her so registered?

Not in words. He just walked away.

Any questions, Mr. Mason?

No questions.

I'm sure you'll have some questions to ask our next witness.

I now call Mrs.

Walter Braun.

Please state your name, place of residence, and occupation.

Mrs. Walter Braun, 6134 Front Street, Seattle, Washington.

I guess my occupation would be housewife, even though I haven't lived

Walter for over eight years.

But you are, or rather were, his wife at the time of his death.

Oh, my, yes. We were married in 1947 in Trenton, New Jersey.

You can look up the record.

You were never divorced?

No. After we left Trenton, we agreed to live separately, but... There was never

a divorce.

And this woman who just left the stand, this so -called Hilda Furston Braun, was

never Dr. Braun's wife?

No.

Either she's lying or Walter tricked her.

Your Honor, I must object to the state's line of questioning.

Mrs. Furston is not the defendant here, and whether or not she was Dr. Braun's

wife is completely irrelevant.

I move both question and answer be stricken.

Mr. Telford?

I could argue the matter, but since the time is late, I'll simply withdraw the

question and go on to something undeniably relevant.

Mrs. Braun, where were you between 7 and 8 on the night of your husband's death?

I was at the zoo.

What were you doing there?

I'd been following Dr. Braun.

I knew he went out there.

You see, I'd come down from Seattle to collect rather a considerable sum of

money that he owed me, and I wanted to make sure that he paid it.

Besides, I wanted to get a look at that German girl of his.

She's the one I told the guards I'd been to see.

And did you follow Dr. Braun to the lion compound?

Oh, no, I couldn't find where he went.

The place is so big, and anyone I asked a question of simply said I should go.

It was after closing, so finally I had to leave.

What did you do when you heard about the murder?

I stayed in my hotel room, Coronado, to wait and see what would happen.

And it was your sense of public duty that made you come to us?

No, sir.

Mr. Mason made me come to you.

Mr. Mason sent you?

I, too, have a sense of public duty, Mr. Telford.

Why didn't you tell me you'd seen Mr. Mason?

You didn't ask me.

No, I didn't. But I'm asking you now what you saw when you passed the lion

compound while wandering around the zoo on the night of the murder.

I saw someone in back of the compound.

Somebody wearing a dark sport coat.

Thus confirming other testimony.

Now tell us, Mrs. Braun, do you see that somebody who wore the sport coat here

in this courtroom?

Well, after getting a good look at Mr. Osgood, I can tell you this.

It wasn't him.

It was somebody smaller.

Much smaller.

It was somebody about... about exactly her size.

Whose size, Mrs. Braun?

Hers. Freda Crawson.

My dear husband's mistress.

And what about the lab report on the manicure you gave the lion, Paul? I

it up on the way here.

None of the tests to run on the nail scraping show the slightest trace of

blood or flesh.

Well, this gets odder and odder if that means what I think it does.

It almost certainly means the lion never touched the body, which in turn

means... Here are last year's records, Mr. Mason.

Each card shows when a new shipment of animals came into the hospital.

January 3rd, June 5th, September 7th.

Exactly what I wanted, Hilda.

Now, what about the cage?

The director of the zoo said you could have anything here to help Tony, but how

can Toto's cage help?

That's what I'd like to know.

Have you ever heard this story about the customs inspector and the Mexican boy

in a bicycle pole?

No. Well, the boy kept cycling across the border carrying a sack over his

shoulder.

Convinced that he was smuggling something, the inspector examined the

time, and each time all he found was sand.

He finally met the boy in Tijuana and pleaded with the boy to tell him just

he had been smuggling.

The boy finally broke down and told him.

Told him what?

The same thing that Toto's cage should tell us in court tomorrow, but in the

meantime, Paul, I have a chore for you to do.

Not to give another lion a manicure, I hope.

Oh, no.

This time I want you to kidnap a lion.

Then Mrs. Braun was telling the truth. She did see you wearing Tony Osgood's

coat in the lion compound.

Well, what of it? Why are you going after me?

She gets his estate. She must have been the one who killed him. Why don't you go

after her?

Perhaps I will after you explain why you attempted to incriminate Mr. Osgood.

When you went to the lion compound to search for Boris, you found the body of

Dr. Braun outside the compound, did you not?

Miss Crossan, you've already admitted... All right, yes, that's what happened.

I went to the keeper's office.

Boris wasn't there, but I saw Mr. Osgood's coat and the lion pelt, and

me an idea.

And wearing the coat, you then dragged the body into the compound.

Is that not correct?

It was only a few feet, and the lion was still out cold.

And then, with this, you clawed the body to make it look as though it had been

clawed by the lion.

And then later, you lied to the police by telling them you'd seen Mr. Osgood

inside the lion compound.

Is that not correct, Miss Crossan?

Yes. Apparently, you were trying to protect someone by doing all this.

Who was that person?

Boris.

Boris Zalbowski.

Very well, then.

Let us say you did not kill Dr. Brown, but made Miss Crossan think you'd killed

him. It was because of what she had wanted me to say to him while we were

treating the lion.

What was that?

We were going to make ourselves partners in his racket.

Did she explain to you what that meant?

She said Dr.

Braun would know.

But I didn't even talk to him about it, about anything.

I lost my courage.

But even if I had killed him, Mr. Mason, I would never be so stupid as to try to

put the blame on the lion.

Why, all the keepers know what a big coward he is. Why, he is afraid of his

shadow. He would never dare to attack anyone.

Mr. Zobowski, do you recognize that cage?

That is the cage in which the baby gorilla came.

What happens to these cages after the animals are delivered?

They take all the new animals up to the hospital first. I don't know.

Harry Beacom, he was a cleanup man. Maybe he could tell you.

For the court's permission, I would like to recall, Mr. Beacom.

Recall Mr. Harry Beacom.

You may step down.

I must remind you, you're still under oath, Mr. Beacom.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Beacom, would you please examine this cage?

Why, it's Toto's cage.

Isn't it true that when you took Toto, what you really wanted was a cage?

Cage?

What would I want with the cage?

Because of what was concealed in it.

Beneath this false bottom.

Packages of pharmaceuticals.

Purchased wholesale in Europe to be sold three to five times their cost through

Dr. Braun's drug firm.

Isn't this what you really wanted, Mr. Beacom?

No, I didn't want that stuff.

I was trying to force Braun to cut me in on his smuggling racket. Just like

Freda Corson wanted him to.

And then when you found Dr. Brown alone, after he had treated the lion,

he refused to cut you in.

You used this on him.

No.

I didn't mean to kill him, Mr. Mason. I swear I didn't.

He got angry.

And he swung at me with that iron bar.

I took it away from him and hit him.

I wouldn't kill.

I just meant to stun him.

Just as stunning.

Oh, my God.

I suppose Braun figured he'd eventually let Hilda take over as receiver of the

shipments. That's why he got her the job here.

Well, you sure scored a bullseye.

on the tie -in between the new supplies for Braun and the new animals for us.

You know, the records show that Braun and his friend from the Hanover Zoo have

been averaging three shipments a year for the past five years.

And a $30 ,000 profit per shipment tax -free, that's pretty fair business. And

pretty safe one.

A wild animal cage would be the last place in the world you'd expect a

inspector to check for smuggled antibiotics.

Speaking of customs inspectors, you never did finish the story about the

boy on the bicycle.

No, I didn't.

Terry. Look.

Look over there.

Look how happy Toto is, Mr. Mason, with his new relatives, Mr.

Arangutan and Mr.

Quincy.

Speaking of customs, inspectors. Oh, yes, for heaven's sakes, tell him the

of the story.

Well, as I told you.

The inspector got mighty tired of examining the sacks the boy kept

the border week after week.

And then the boy finally promised to tell him what he was smuggling.

And what had he been smuggling?

Bicycles.