Original subtitles

That was very good, Button. Now it's time for your milk.

Oh, Mrs. Miller, please.

Can I do it again?

Oh, I suppose so. But sit up and down the driveway.

Not beyond the walk.

Remember. I won't. I'll bring your milk out here.

Button?

Look what's come to see you, honey.

me? Mm -hmm.

Isn't she beautiful?

Yes, she is.

The beautifulest doll I've ever seen.

What's her name?

Amanda McGillicuddy.

Amanda McGillicuddy? Uh -huh.

And she'd like to know if you'd like to come riding with her.

She would?

Mm -hmm.

She wants to know if you're the kind of little girl she'd like to belong to.

Oh, I am. I know I am.

Then let's go.

I'd like to go to town, Mommy. Oh, we can't let that little girl.

Oh, okay.

Operator, I want the police.

Quickly.

There she is, that sloop moored out there in the harbor.

Blue nymph by name.

Bet your bottom dollar I wouldn't be standing here if she were mine.

Where would you be?

Tahiti.

Paul, are you a good oarsman?

We're going out there?

Why not?

In mass?

Of course.

Oh, no.

Oh, yeah.

Drake's on you.

He's an expert at finding people.

Especially little girls and dolls.

You mean like Dick Tracy?

Sort of.

Golly. But how'd you find me if you'd never seen me?

Your picture was on the morning paper, Button.

I thought... Your mother's very worried about you.

But I told her I was fine.

You talked to her?

Twice. There's telephones on these boats.

Mind if I ask you a further question?

You got permission to talk to Miss Blake?

I didn't know permission was needed.

My boss don't like for strange people to talk with her. So I gotta ask you to

come below.

Sorry, but we're kind of partial to fresh air.

Maybe you don't understand.

Real polite.

I ask you to come below.

Real polite?

No thanks.

Somehow, I begin not to like you.

Too bad.

Ali, what's going on up there?

You better come, Mr. Rome.

So what do I owe this on a gentleman?

We've come to take Button home.

Oh, really?

May I ask who we are?

My name's Mason, co -trustee and attorney for Button's estate.

And this stalwart fellow?

Paul Drake, private detective associated with Mr. Mason.

You want to go with them, Button?

Well, Mr. Rowe, must I?

I said I was up to you, Button.

Oh, Mr. Mason, please.

Can't they stay longer? I'm having so much fun.

See? The young lady likes it here.

So what now? A real live policeman?

We'll see, Mr. Rowe.

We'll see.

Goodbye, Button.

Bye, Mr. Mason.

Harry, we're not leaving her.

Yes, Paul, we are.

You sure that ain't a little package of dynamite you're fooling around with, Mr.

Rome?

I don't quite see why it makes any difference to you.

Big difference.

On account of the blows, I don't ever get my back wages.

$1 ,200, Mr. Rome.

Real polite I've been asking for it.

But I begin not to feel so polite.

Your eyesight's bad, Cully.

That isn't dynamite.

That's a little package of... $1 ,000 bills.

Hold on to that phone. Keep your eyes open.

All right.

Yes. I have an appointment with Mr. Blake. My name is Mason.

Mr. and Mrs. Gray aren't there with him, and he'd like you to join them.

Thank you.

Mason,

you're just in time.

Dirk was about to throw us out of his office, so you take over. Take over

Mr. Gray?

The delightful little game we've been playing with Dirk, Mr. Mason. It's

Button, Button, Who's Got Button? Well, that's very funny.

Lois, Mr. Mason, has a great sense of humor, especially when it comes to

something that's none of her business.

I happen to be Button's cousin, darling. Well, I happen to be her father,

darling.

I gathered over the phone, Mr. Mason, that you, like they do, believe I have

hidden away somewhere.

Hidden isn't the word for it now, Mr. Blake. I just spoke to her.

Where?

Aboard the Blue Nymph.

The police father?

No, a private detective.

The police have been called off.

And that detective's fee, of course, was footed by Janice, huh?

Your wife knows nothing about this.

Well, then why are you butting in?

I'm butting in, as you term it, for your daughter's sake.

In one way or another, I'm calling a rapid halt to the way she's been dragged

back and forth between you and her mother as if she were a doll instead of

flesh -and -blood little girl.

Bravo, Mr. Mason.

Bravo nothing. Look, I'm flesh -and -blood, too. That's why Judge Norris

could have butting two days a week until the final divorce hearing. But two days

weren't enough for you, is that it?

Well, no. Look, Janice brought all this on.

I mean, for the last three weeks in a row, she refused to let Button come to

So this week, with Miss Sutherland's help, I took her, that's all.

Did you consult your lawyer first?

Lawyer? What do I need a lawyer for? I know my rights.

Your rights, Mr. Blake, don't include taking the law into your own hands.

Are you trying to scare me?

I don't care whether you're scared or not.

As long as Button has returned to her mother this afternoon.

All right, what if she isn't?

I'll be forced to call Judge Norris, tell him what I've found.

And suggest the bench warrant be issued for your arrest.

Mrs. Gray, Mr. Gray.

You run Button back home to Janice if you want, Dirk.

I'll have her decide what I want.

Oh, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Mason, is Dirk... I mean, is Mr.

Blake in trouble?

Well, he could be.

I know we shouldn't have taken Button, but her mother's not fit to have her.

She's not fit at all. She drinks, she goes out with men and... Oh, Mr. Mason.

Something I just thought of.

Roger's yacht brokerage business is flourishing, and we just bought a big

in Rolling Hills.

Wow, that's splendid.

No, what I'm getting at is that, well, we'd be more than happy to take care of

Button until, well, the smoke of battle clears.

That would be Judge Norris' decision.

Oh, I see.

Are you sure it's Button you would be so happy to take care of Mrs. Gray?

Or is it the $4 million she inherited from her grandfather?

I'd forgotten what a witch you are, Naomi.

Remind me.

And next Christmas, I'll send you a brand new broom.

Stop it, Vince.

Stop it, or I'm going to call Miss Smithers. Save your breath, darling. I

up. What was the idea of that?

Just testing.

Weren't you listening last week?

Yes, I heard you when you said no more dates, but I couldn't believe you.

Remembering all our good times together.

Starlit nights on the blue nymph.

And on the suppers ashore.

Dancing till dawn?

The mountain cabin in the pines?

The war front bungalow at La Playa? Don't tell me you've forgotten, Janice.

What are you up to?

Up to, darling?

Mrs. Blake.

Mrs. Blake, I'm sorry. They just pulled into the driveway.

Oh, thank you, Miss Smithers.

I was never in any mountain cabin or waterfront bungalow with you, and you

it. What if I could prove you were?

So that's it.

A touch of blackmail.

By how much, Vince?

I was thinking more in terms of matrimony.

Matrimony? I'm not much of a catch, I realize. A mortgage yacht, a few

odds and ends of a dissipated inheritance, but we could make a go of

I. And Button, whom you'd have custody of, provided nothing were said in court

about cabins and bungalows.

But you can't be serious.

Oh, I am.

And to prove I have your interests at heart, I'll take you to Button if you

like.

I'm in here, darling.

Mommy. Oh, hello, sweetheart.

Are you all right, sweetheart?

Of course.

Mr. Rome.

Hello, Button.

I wanted to wait and say goodbye, but Daddy said we had to hurry.

Is Daddy still out there? He's already left, Mrs. Blake.

And I suggest you do the same, Vince.

Right now.

Even money. You don't clear the board, Poncho.

You got a bet, Chiquita.

All right, everybody, stand aside.

This is a big money deal.

Ready, aim, fire.

He got him. Got him all. No, he didn't. There's still one story.

That's my money there.

Lucky. Lucky.

Can't get it.

Give me a bed.

Hello, La Plaine Motel and Y.

Just a minute.

Hey, boss.

Beans Rome.

Yeah, Rome, Rome.

Yeah, what can I do for you?

Well, sure I know about the bungalow on the wall. I ought to. I own it.

What, are you out of your mind? Of course, you and Mrs. Blake have been

three or four times, but never in a bungalow.

I'm afraid you're not listening, Poncho.

She and I rented your bungalow on the 15th and the 23rd of last month, and I

want you to arrange for suitable witnesses, and also to make sure that

entries already in your guest register for those nights are kept available.

Now I know you are local.

Why would I do a thing like that to a nice lady like Mrs. Blake?

Watches.

Watches. Yes, Poncho, Swiss watches and German cameras and gold coins from

Chile. Or was it Peru?

Peru.

Cully says it was Peru.

That's easier.

I thought you'd see the light.

Suppose we get together tomorrow and talk over the details.

Good.

Tomorrow, Cully, I want you to drive up to my mountain cabin.

And leave some things there.

You sure you want me to do this, Mr. Rome?

Yes, I'm sure I want you to do this. Now, clear out.

Further or over the rock?

Over the rock.

I should have remembered.

How much did you hear out there, Lois?

Enough. With what Janice told me, you get a pretty good idea of what you're

doing. And what am I doing?

Trying to fix it so that Janice either has to marry you or lose Button.

Partly right.

No marriage, though. That angle is out, unfortunately.

Well, then why the rest?

What good will it do you, Vince, to blacken Janice's reputation so that she

loses the custody fight?

Money's good, isn't it? Money from Janice?

From whoever makes the best offer. And it should be a good one with four

dollars involved.

Nothing's involved as far as you're concerned.

Why not?

Because I'm not going to let you go through with it.

For button's sake and for no other reason.

How do you plan to stop me?

If I have to, I'm going to go to the police.

And tell them what, Lois? That you were the woman who spent the 15th and the

23rd with me at the La Playa?

And the 27th in my mountain cabin?

I wonder how Roger would like that.

now, Your Honor, I was wrong taking Button the way I did.

Taking? The word is kidnapping.

Well, you did what you could to make it kidnapping. I did.

Well, why didn't you notify the police that I let Button call you to show you

she was all right? Why should I do you any favors?

Mrs. Blake, and Mr. Blake, too, I must caution you to confine yourselves to

addressing this court.

Mr. Blake, exactly why did you take your daughter?

Why? Because you told me I could have her two days a week, and she wouldn't

her go.

Why wouldn't you let her go, Mrs. Blake?

To save her life, that's why.

To save her life?

Well, that's not quite exactly what Mrs. Blake means, Your Honor. She... I

prefer to hear what she means from her, if you don't mind. All right, go ahead,

Mrs. Blake.

Well, maybe not literally save her life, but close enough.

Every time he took her, she came back sick.

She had bruises and scabs on her knees and elbows and itches and rashes and

colds from being allowed to run wild around that awful bay.

I simply had to put a stop to it.

Mr. Blake.

Well, Your Honor, if my wife means by run wild that I allowed her to play with

other children wading through the salt water and building sandcastles and

swimming and fishing and playing with the other children out in the open air,

sir, then I plead guilty.

There's open air around my house, too, Your Honor. But it's on the inside

what's wrong, Your Honor.

I mean, ballet lessons and dancing lessons, ballroom dancing, etiquette

language lessons, yogi lessons, for all I know. But no play, no, just

regimentation, that's all.

by some remote -controlled mother that likes to spend all her time living it up

at night, too busy to realize that if anyone's killing her daughter, it's she

herself. I had those same lessons when I was a child. And you revolted by

marrying me.

A mistake you can be sure I won't make again. That will do.

It is apparent that you both have ideas about raising children that are not

easily reconciled.

The point is, Your Honor, that Button is not an ordinary little girl.

Someday she will have $4 million.

And I say, hang the $4 million. What I want is an ordinary little girl.

Just a moment. Mr.

Mason.

Are you appearing now representing Mr. Blake?

Oh, no, Your Honor. I'm here on behalf of Miss Button, Blake. Well, it's about

time, in my opinion, that somebody appeared on her behalf.

Mr. Mason.

Would you mind going into my chambers for a minute?

And you too, Miss Blake.

Thank you.

Ten minute recess.

And as co -trustee with the Pacific National Bank of Button's estate, I feel

definite responsibility.

Mm -hmm.

Have you a solution, Perry, for her present problem?

Well, it's a mistake to allow Button to be shuttled back and forth while her

parents are presently in their somewhat heated frame of mind.

Yeah, I suppose I could douse them in a couple of days in jail or contempt the

court. After all, that's what this hearing is about.

Yes, I know.

Still, I don't think that'd cool them off.

Button, how would you like to live with Mr. Mason for a while?

Your Honor, I plead no experience with children. I'm a bachelor.

Oh, gosh, I'd forgotten.

Well, who would you like to live with?

Well, I'd like Mommy and Daddy to live together again so I can live with them.

I'm afraid that's a little beyond the power of this court to arrange.

Button, which one would you rather live with?

You mean Mommy or Daddy?

Well, I have more fun with Daddy, but... I love Mommy very much.

Do I have to choose?

No. I have an alternative.

Not a foster home.

Yes.

One of which I think you'd approve.

Well, Button, should we go back into court?

All right.

All rise.

Now

you

realize, of course, that you could be fined or even jailed for violating the

court's order regarding your daughter's custody.

However...

What I have decided to do, I hope, will have a more salutary effect.

It is ordered that pending the final disposition of the divorce proceedings,

custody of the child, button break, will be given to Mr.

and Mrs.

Roger Gray.

All right, Mr. Gray. Mail a copy of your expenditure to the bank each week and

you'll be promptly paid.

We're not worried about the money, Mr. Mason.

Mommy. Darling, you've already said goodbye.

Do I have to go?

I'm afraid so, darling.

Dirk, I thought you were supposed to speak to Mr. Mason.

Oh, that's right.

Mr. Mason.

I, uh, I told you yesterday I wouldn't need a lawyer. Looks now like I was

wrong. You're not asking me to represent you.

I thought possibly you could recommend someone.

Yes, of course I can.

Distressing, wasn't it, the turn events took? But, gentlemen, there's a silver

lining in every cloud, no matter how dark.

What do you mean, Mr. Rowan?

Dirk is getting a bigger dividend from that check he gave me than he expected.

The goods, I believe the word is on Janice. Dates, names, places, and

You'll win in a breeze, Counselor.

I'm not Mr. Blake's attorney.

Not too bad.

I'll meet you this evening on the Blue Nymph. A couple of things we'd better

discuss. Goodbye, Mr. Mason.

You gave Roe money to get the goods on Janice, Mr. Blake?

In regard to lawyers, I can't think of one I'd recommend to you.

And certainly not one to whom I'd recommend you.

really must know who the person involved with Janice is, allow me to present

him.

Yours truly.

You? Yes.

Equipped with witnesses, entries in the La Playa motel register, all sorts of

proof.

You must be kidding.

Don't tell me you're still carrying the torch for her, old boy.

No, I'm not.

But I know Janice would never involve herself in anything like this with you

with anybody for that matter.

Is it that you're afraid I won't be believed in court?

You're not going to court.

Well, then why don't you give me that check?

You know why, Vince.

I wanted a list of the nightclubs and the parties that Janice had been to in

last couple of months.

I'll give you something better than that.

Something that assures your custody of Button and her estate. Isn't that what

you want?

What I want is you out of this.

Now, you can keep the money if you want to. But you stay away from me and you

stay away from Janice. You understand?

Old chap, you don't quite seem to grasp the various

implications of this check of yours, which I have had the foresight not to

What if I appeared in court with it, testified it was part payment from you

framing Janice?

What would your chances of getting Button be then?

Certainly Janice being framed or me, isn't it?

How much did she offer you for that?

Oh, I'm giving you first shot.

Thanks.

Well, you have some figure in mind?

Well, I think $10 ,000 a year out of buttons more than ample living expenses

would be sufficient.

You can put me down as a tutor or a companion.

Maybe $10 ,000 could be managed.

There is one question I'd like to ask you, though. What's that? Well, what are

you going to do without it?

My guess is you should have cashed it.

Blake.

The check, if you don't mind.

Not a chance.

I'll shoot.

You're not that stupid.

There's a longer article in this edition, but nothing new.

Oh, uh, yes, one thing. He was shot with a .25 caliber pistol, according to the

police.

Any suspect's name?

No.

Paul, do you suppose this has anything to do with Button Blake and her parents'

divorce?

Well, Perry must suppose so. He wouldn't have asked for continuance of the

Edwards case. And Button's father must suppose so. He wouldn't be parked out

there in the outer office.

Morning. Hi, Perry. Morning.

Della. Would you have Mr. Blake come in, please?

Well, Lieutenant Anderson sent me in this poll.

He said he'd brief you on the Blue Nymph if you could be there in half an hour

or so.

I'm practically there now.

Jerry, will you send Mr. Blake in, please?

I'm a little surprised

you'd see me, Mr. Mason, after yesterday.

On the phone, Mr. Blake, you said that you had an altercation with Vince Rome

last night. An altercation on a blue nymph in which a .25 caliber pistol was

fired. That's right.

But you neglected to say whether or not you killed him.

I didn't. Do you know who did?

No. What was the altercation about?

Well, let me just say... Mostly over this.

Unpassed check.

For $500 made out to Vince Rome and signed by Dirk Blake.

The check you thought I'd given Vince to smear Janice.

It wasn't for that purpose?

Well, no, not to smear her.

You see, she's been going out a lot, living it up since we were separated.

been going to a lot of parties and nightclubs and everything with Vince

the crowd that he runs around with. So I thought if he could just check up on

her for me, get a list of the places and the dates, then I could prove in court

that she wasn't doing a good job raising money.

And by doing so, gain custody of your daughter.

No, no, I didn't want custody.

I think that the little girl belongs with her mother.

But I wanted to see to it that Janice was made to be a proper mother.

It appears I misjudged you, Mr. Blake.

Now tell me, exactly what happened last night?

and we'll be with you in a minute. Thanks, sir.

You're thinking of lying to me?

He'd want a yacht with a scratched deck.

Care to join me in the master's cabin?

The body was lying right here, and by his right hand, the .25 caliber pistol.

Any possibility of suicide?

Not unless he was a contortionist. The slug caught him squarely in the back of

the head.

What time, Andy?

Tentative estimate is somewhere between 10 and 11, but we'll know better after

the autopsy.

Nobody heard anything?

As far as we know, he was alone on the boat, except for the guy who shot him.

There's a deckhand, Cully Barstow, but he says he was on shore until around 2 o

'clock. This Barstow, did he find the body?

Claims he went into his sack and slept until the person who did find the body

woke him. Who was that?

A yacht broker by the name of Roger Gray.

It seems a simple enough question.

Were you or were you not on the Blue Nymph last night?

Oh, darling, he's not like a prosecuting attorney.

What would I be doing on Vince Rome's yacht?

It isn't just the yacht.

In the past six months, there's also been the... La Playa.

Also the mountain camping.

Are you accusing me? Save the dramatic, Slois.

I've known about you two for a long time now.

What I haven't known is what to do.

I see.

What makes you suspect that I was with Vince last night?

When I found his body this morning, I found this, too.

One of your new pearl earrings.

So it is.

Did you kill him, Lois?

Yes.

But what about you, Roger?

Did you finally decide what to do?

Did you kill him?

And Button told you this on the telephone?

Yes, less than 20 minutes ago.

Of course, she doesn't exactly understand what she heard, but, Dirk,

frightened. That's incredible.

Lois is obviously unfair to have her. And what if one of them actually killed

Vince? We've got to get her out of there.

All right.

But how come the we?

Since when have you been counting me in on anything?

You're Button's father.

So you finally remembered that, huh?

Finally.

I fought with my father and lost an inheritance.

I fought with you.

I lost a husband.

And then yesterday in court, when they took Button away, I realized I was

her, her father.

I surrendered.

No more fighting, Dirk.

No more fighting ever.

With all my heart.

All right, let's go get buttoned.

Sir Clay? Yes?

Lieutenant Anderson, Homicide.

I have a warrant here charging you with the first -degree murder of Vince Rome.

As to motive, Your Honor, the state will show that the deceased had in his

possession documentary evidence.

of a plot conceived by the defendant to discredit his own wife and thus to

obtain custody of their daughter and her $4 million estate.

And it was to prevent this documentary proof from ever reaching the light of

that murder was done.

You say you found this scrap of paper in the main cabin of the Blue Nymph? Yes,

sir, on the deck about eight feet from the deceased's body.

Would you describe it to the court, please? Yes, sir.

A piece torn from the end of a check with a portion of the account number on

What did you do with this fragment of a check, Lieutenant?

Well, I went to the Federal Reserve and found that four of the numbers showed

the bank to be the Pacific National, so I went there.

And what did you find at the Pacific National Bank?

Well, that the remaining numbers proved the account to be that of the defendant,

Burt Blake.

Now, do you recognize this, Lieutenant?

Yes, it's a bank check with the end torn from it, which I took from the

defendant when I searched him.

A check made out to Vince Rome in the amount of $500 and signed by Dirk Blake?

Yes, sir. Did you attempt to match that torn check and the fragment?

Yes, sir. They fit exactly.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Now I show you this document. I ask if you recognize it.

Yes. I found this in a drawer in the main cabin of the Blue Nymph.

A carbon copy of an agreement, it appears to be, although it's unsigned.

Would you read it to the court, please? In addition to $500 already paid...

I agree at a later date to pay the furthest sum of $10 ,000 to Vince Rome

acting as my agent in arranging for Janice Blake to permanently lose custody

her daughter, Button Blake.

Now, in your capacity as typewriter expert for the police crime laboratory,

you examine this carbon copy?

Yes, and determine it had been made by Model 503 electric Cummins typewriter.

Did you then examine a typewriter of that make and model?

Yes, I accompanied Lieutenant Anderson to an office where there was such a

machine and compared samples of its typing with the carbon. And what did you

find? I found from a microscopic comparison of the spacing, slant, and

of the letters on the carbon and the samples that the carbon had been typed

that machine.

And where was this machine located?

In the office of the defendant.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Murado, you testified, I believe...

that the night before Vince Rome died, he asked you on the telephone to arrange

it so witnesses and your motel register would prove that on the 15th and on the

23rd of the previous month, he was with Janice Blake in your War Front bungalow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Why the War Front bungalow on those particular

Only he knew that.

Was it because he was actually there on those dates with someone else?

Is that correct, Mr. Murado?

He wasn't there with nobody.

Speak up, please.

He wasn't there with nobody.

How is it, then, that you were willing to say that he was?

Well, look, he's a friend of mine.

Speak up, Mr. Murata. He was a friend of mine. I was doing him a favor.

That's all.

I went out to the Blue Nymph about 7 that morning. I had a Mexican charter

Vince. He often took fishing parties in Lower California, and I wanted to be

sure to catch him.

And what did you find on board the Blue Nymph? Vince.

Mr. Rome lying dead on the cabin deck.

I went forward, woke up the deckhand, Cully Barstow, and we called police.

Now, you say you talked to the deceased that night at 10 .30.

Yeah, 10 .30.

On account that wasn't, I told Mr. Rome I was going ashore.

I called in the cabin and said, Mr. Rome, I'm going ashore.

And Mr. Rome said, okay, Cully, and I went ashore.

Was there anyone with him in the cabin at that time?

I could hardly say.

He just stuck his head out, Mr. Rome did.

When he said, OK, Cully, I went ashore.

And now, from your years of experience as a coroner's physician, Dr. Weiler,

would you please estimate for us the time of death?

Yes, almost certainly between 10 and 11 the previous evening.

Doctor, in view of the testimony of the previous witness, Cully Barstow, the

deckhand of the Blue Nymph.

Would you be willing to amend that almost certainly to between 10 .30 and

Mr. Berger, I've given my medical opinion, and on that I stand.

The Blue Nymph was anchored at approximately this point in the harbor?

Yes, sir.

Opposite and approximately 50 feet from the revolving light on the jetty? Yes,

sir.

Very well, Mr. Summers, would you resume the stand, please?

And will you please tell the court what you saw on the night of the murder?

Well, like always around low tide, I went out to check my lobster traps.

And you went out by way of the jetty?

Right. Otherwise, I would have had to cross private property.

Now, what time was it when you reached the jetty?

Well, let's see, low tides around 10 o 'clock.

It was flooding in pretty strong when I got there to the traps.

So, it must have been 10 .30 or quarter to 11.

And what did you see from that jetty?

When I got to the light, I thought I heard this noise on the Blue Nymph.

A firecracker like.

I looked out there and I saw these two guys in the cabin wrestling.

How could you see inside the cabin?

Well, the jetty light lit it up every time it came around.

And the next time it came around, there was just one guy standing there holding

a pistol and looking down.

About the fifth time around...

He came out, he got into a boat, and he rode away.

And of course you reported this to the police?

Well, not until I heard about Mr. Rohn the next day.

See, I wasn't really sure what had happened then or later on.

And I know it meant trouble for me because... Well, it's out of season for

trapping lobsters.

All right, Mr. Summers, I understand.

Now, sir, I want you to look around this courtroom.

And identify for us, if you can, the man armed with a pistol you saw rowing away

from the Blue Nymphs.

Oh, yeah, that's easy, because I know him from around the bay. It's Mr. Blake

there. Thank you, sir.

That'll be all.

Mr. Summers, you said that you didn't make an immediate report to the police

because you weren't sure what happened then or later on.

What did happen later on?

Well, when I came back in about an hour, I guess it was about an hour, I thought

I heard this sound on the blue nymph, a splash.

Did you see what caused this splash?

Well, fish, I guess, but I looked out there and I saw these two guys standing

the deck and neither one of them looked like they heard anything, so I just went

on home.

Sorry I'm late, Terry, but I've got a few things that might be useful in court

tomorrow. One of the photos out of a kind of interesting check.

Very interesting.

And the rumors about Mrs. Gray and Vince Rome?

Well, I haven't been able to nail them down yet.

But I did get the registration slips from the War Front bungalow.

15th and 23rd of last month.

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.

It's Rome's handwriting, but you'll need an expert to prove it.

Mr. Mason.

I heard you were here. Mr. Mason, you've got to get him off.

He didn't kill Vince Rome.

I know that.

I know it.

How do you know, Miss Sutherland?

I just do.

Dirk, Mr. Blake is a fine, decent man.

Please, please do everything you can.

Of course.

Do you know something that might help us?

I? Why, what could I know?

I just want him cleared.

That's all cleared.

What brought that on?

I have no idea.

Well, back to business.

Do you want me to get a hold of a handwriting expert? I'd rather have a

table, Paul.

Tide table?

Yes, and a scuba diver.

Have them both in the Blue Hemp at sunrise tomorrow.

Great.

Paul told me about the scratches on deck. But he didn't suggest anything

Summers mentioned the splash he thought he'd heard.

And if it wasn't a fish, you think whatever it was was shoved off here?

Yes. And since low water was at 947 that night and our lobster poacher heard

whatever it was he heard at least an hour later, the tide was coming in.

So? That would float the blue nymph to almost its present position, bow forward

and as far back from the harbor entrance as its anchor chain will reach.

Here's our diver.

Maggie's case sits about where you told me to look, Mr. Mason.

Too big to bring up, so I pried off the lid, brought these up instead.

Switch watches.

Then, Mr. Summers, the Blue Nymph was in this position when you came back along

the jetty and heard the splash.

It had to be, because the water was flooding in strong for about an hour.

That is, if low tides at 947, like the book says.

What was its position when you heard the men struggling inside the cabin?

It's kind of like this.

Otherwise, the jetty light wouldn't have shown through the hatch into the cabin.

Mr. Barstow, what would have been the Blue Nymph's position when the tide

ebbing at 947 that night?

Like so.

Show the court what obviously happened when the tide reversed.

Well, slack water lasts about 10 minutes, making it 957.

Yeah.

Then the tide would start come in, swinging the boat around

here like so.

The 180 -degree swing takes how long?

20 minutes at the most.

10 .70.

Which means the Blue Nymph could have been in position for the jetty light to

shine into the cabin, allowing Mr. Summers to see the defendant struggle

Vince Rome and then leave only between 9 .57 and 10 .17.

Yet you testified, Mr. Barstow, that you spoke to Vince Rome, saw him alive at

10 .30 that night, approximately 20 minutes later.

Yeah.

That's right, Mr. Mason.

That's the truth.

Therefore, Dirk Blake could not have killed Vince Rome.

Your Honor, before asking dismissal of the charge against the defendant, I

like Mr. Barstow to return to the stand.

Granted. Will you take the stand again, Mr. Barstow? Thank you, Mr. Summitt.

Mr. Barco, you told the police, I believe, that Pancho Morado rode you

the Blue Nymph that night and you talked together on deck for a time but heard

no splash.

Yeah, that's the truth.

Is it? Or is this nearer the truth?

Instead of rowing back with Morado and going to bed, as you said, you both

looked in the main cabin and saw Vince Rome's body.

Yeah, we looked in.

And fearing the police would come and search the boat, the two of you then

shoved a large packing case over the side.

Now, what was in this case?

Yeah, that's right.

Swiss watchers smuggling from Mexico.

You, Murado, and Vince Rome were in this smuggling together?

No.

Just Pancho and me.

But... Mr. Rome fought out about it. And that's how he was able to force

Murado's help in involving Mrs. Blake with him.

Yeah, that's how.

Your Honor, I would now like to call Pancho Murado to the stand.

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith, so read your motel registration cards for the night

the 15th and the 23rd, Mr. Murado.

They were actually signed by Vince Rome, were they not?

Yeah, yeah.

Who was the woman with him on those nights?

Who was she, Mr. Murado?

Mrs. Gray.

Your Honor, this is a photostat of a $500 check cashed by Vince Rome.

The $500 paid him as stated in the carbon agreement.

The check is signed by the person who instigated the plot to discredit Janice

Blake. And who killed to recover the incriminating original agreement for $10

,000 more.

Therefore, with your permission, I call...

Well, Mr. Mason?

I was going to call the person who also had access to the typewriter which typed

that agreement.

Miss Naomi Sutherland.

She left, Mr. Mason, three or four minutes ago.

Isn't she here? No, Miss Sutherland called for about half an hour ago.

Miss Sutherland?

Yes, she said you were meeting for lunch at the Westland Park.

Oh, no.

In the car, hurry.

All right, button, that's enough.

Let's go look at the cars like I promised you. You're in the park?

No, not in the park.

It's a place where I've told you.

Across from the park.

It's a lovely place, darling. It's high, high up.

All right.

I'm scared, Mrs. Cumberland. Please, can't we go now?

Not yet.

Hold on, not yet.

Good evening, folks. Welcome to the La Playa Motel and Bar.

Hi, Perry. How come you had us meet you here?

Somebody's treating us to dinner.

Oh, good.

Did you see Naomi Sutherland?

I talked to the psychiatrist.

And her problem is, as we thought, an obsession that she should be Blake's

and Button's mother.

Which she did her level best to make come true.

Including the murder of Vince Rome when he threatened to expose her unless she

paid him the money she promised.

The psychiatrist said she completely lost control after that. Poor thing.

Why didn't Anderson arrest her in court?

My fault. He was out taking a phone call, and I should have noticed.

Well, all's well that ends well.

Say, how do you suppose the Blakes will end up? If you turn around, Paul, you'll

see. Good evening, folks.

Welcome to the La Playa Motel and Bar.

Thank you.

Mr. Mason!

Mr. Mason!

Hi, Martin.

Oh, thank you. Thank you for everything.

Oh, Mr. Green. Hello.

There are buttons taking us to them.