Original subtitles

How soon can I roll, Dobby?

It's a long haul to Salt Lake City, and I'm taking it alone.

Already. I'm just buttoning her up, Mr. Fielding.

Why don't you let me fly you up? You can get some rest and then take the last

leg. Judd, I'll grant you you flew 100 missions in Korea, and I'll grant you

you're talking to fly.

And I'll grant you you're a better pilot than I am. But you might grant me the

right to go solo when I want to.

Okay, boss. Be stubborn.

You want me to check the weather for you?

I'll get in operations.

I'm going IFR, and I want to follow my flight plan.

You trust me to do that?

Oh, you better... Well, never mind. I'll be right in.

Judd! Bring my flask, will you?

How's she sound, Al?

Fine. You sure? Did you check everything?

Listen, I probably have more airtime in her than you have.

And when I say she's right, she's right.

Yes, sir, Mr. Dalton. Yes, sir.

Where's Stacy, Judd?

He's filing his flight plan, Mr. Cavanaugh. Oh, I came out on the hope I

catch him. You're flying with him to the convention in Salt Lake?

Thanks, but no thanks.

I'm going to check in at International in half an hour.

Relax with a martini and a hovering hostess. I like to think of myself as an

-pilot. Which way to operations?

I'm going there. I'll tell them you're waiting.

Thanks.

FAA is my flight plan. I'll leave it with you. I just posted the weather.

Right.

It looks clear from here to Vegas, but you might run into a little rain on your

final leg.

Thanks, Dobby.

Here you are.

Oh, thanks.

Ever put hair in your chest?

That's what your wife said you'd say.

My wife.

My considerate, loving, tender... She'd like to see me dead.

When she gave me that in your suitcase, she asked me to remind you to call her.

Tell her I was in a hurry. Tell her I forgot.

There's one thing I can do without right now is another argument.

That's sauce. You can do without that too, you know.

So I can.

Oh, Mr. Cavanaugh is out by the plane. He wants to talk to you. He's here?

Okay. He comes on a little strong for me.

Judd, I like you, but sometimes you meddle. You talk too much.

Come on.

I want to take that plane and climb to around 5 ,000 feet where the air is

and clear and I can be alone.

FAA here?

That's right.

I'm Lieutenant Drum, Los Angeles Police Department.

Homicide? That's right.

The plane crashed outside of Los Angeles, but we have jurisdiction since

overt act causing it would have had to have taken place here before the

Well, I'm not questioning your jurisdiction. I'm just wondering why

We've hardly begun the investigation.

We haven't reported any overt act.

I called the police.

Why? Because I knew Mr. Fielding, and the couple of drinks he took out of that

flask wouldn't affect his flying.

And then that last radio transmission.

The report said he felt sick and sleepy.

What about mechanical failure?

Mr. Fielding kept his plane in A1 shape.

He was a nut about it. So it was always ready to go.

That still doesn't rule out pilot error.

Have you found the flask he drank from?

Uh, I was told they were bringing in my husband's things.

You're Mrs.

Fielding? Yes.

Well, there they are.

That's all?

All we've sorted out of the wreck so far.

Everything was pretty badly burned, including the body.

Oh, uh, where have they taken him?

The morgue.

What were you looking for, Mrs. Fielding? Anything in particular?

I'm Lieutenant Drom, Los Angeles Police Department.

No, nothing special.

Why should you even ask?

Everything we find will be turned over to you eventually, Mrs. Fielding, after

we conclude the investigation.

Thank you.

Lieutenant.

Could this be it?

Well, what do you think? That's it.

That's the one he drank from.

Was Mrs. Fielding certain her husband ran a department 9C?

The detective she hired verified it.

Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Farr, 9C.

Carlton Towers, Wilshire Boulevard, 9C.

I don't have to remind you about the laws governing this kind of thing. What

it's the wrong apartment?

Shelby Farr, Stacy Fielding. Same initials.

Let's try the key.

What have I got to lose? Except my license.

Well, if this is his apartment, Stacy Fielding sure knew how to live.

It's his apartment.

Well, your client today may be a bereaved widow.

Apparently, before Stacy Fielding rolled that plane down, she was a wronged

wife. Mrs. Fielding admitted she and her husband didn't have an idyllic

marriage. What are we supposed to be looking for?

Well, hidden assets.

Long before the plane crash, I was retained by Mrs. Fielding.

She suspected for some time that there should be more money in their joint

accounts than there actually is.

We're going to find it here.

She said we'll find a safe with over $100 ,000 in it. Then why didn't she

with us?

She had to go to the airport.

They're bringing in the wreck.

Wow.

If this is Mrs.

Shelby Farr, Stacy Fielding sure must have loved being Mr. Farr in his free

time.

Nice, very nice.

That is a masterpiece of understatement.

Well, what Stacy Fielding used to fill lists could hardly qualify as hidden

assets.

But this could.

Well, it's empty.

We're too late.

Well, Paul, I think we're just in time.

For what?

To serve as patsies.

Paul, I have the feeling that we have been set up.

I suppose there was a large cash sum in that safe.

As Mrs. Fielding suspected.

Her husband's dead. He couldn't have taken it.

Well, Mrs.

Farm must have had a key.

You can't count her out.

The photographer's name on the back? No.

I think you'd better find Mrs. Farm.

Or whatever her name is.

Mrs. Fielding told you she'd never been here, but she could have come before we

arrived and taken what was in that safe.

She could have.

And if the Internal Revenue Service accused her, she could swear she knew

nothing about any money.

That we came here as her agents.

Of course, we're only speculating.

I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

There's still Mrs. Farr to consider.

Are you sure he left already, Clay?

How long ago?

Well, do you have any idea where he could have gone from your place?

Never mind, he just came in.

Thank you.

Well, that sounded urgent.

It is. Your client, Mrs. Fielding, has just been picked up by the police.

On what charge? Murder.

They claim she killed her husband.

Get a hold of Paul.

You'd better have an understanding right at the start, Mrs. Fielding.

The only way I can defend you is by your being perfectly candid.

Well, I would assume that would go both ways.

Of course.

Then tell me how much money was in my husband's hideaway.

I told you the state of the company's books. There should be at least $100

I went to the apartment, Mrs. Fielding. I found an empty wall safe.

There was no money.

Nothing. Mr. Mason, there were quantities of ethical drugs missing from

inventory.

Now, Stacy's story was someone inside the plant was stealing from him and

peddling the rare drugs outside of the country, but I know better.

He was disposing of and hiding money.

I'll grant the possibility, but it's not in the apartment.

That's what bothers me. Then where is it?

That's what bothers me.

What ought to be bothering you is that you're charged with your husband's

murder. Mr. Mason, losing that money, now that is a reality.

And losing your life isn't?

I can't quite figure you out.

You sound just like Stacy.

Don't you like me either, Mr. Mason?

Whether I like you or not isn't relevant.

I don't choose my clients on that basis.

Why do the police think you're guilty?

They found his flask in the plane and I had filled it for him to take on the

trip.

The police say it was loaded with veranol.

They say you added it to the whiskey knowing he'd drink it during the flight,

fall asleep and crash.

Now, did you?

No.

I did not.

Read,

read Kavanaugh, no wartime buddy.

This Kavanaugh was flying with him?

No. No, Judd said that he had reservations on a scheduled flight to

think. Is Kavanaugh from Denver?

I don't know. Seems to me he has a wife or an ex -wife living there.

Now, you say you filled the flask, but I understand your husband left from his

office. How did he get the flask?

Judd Bennett took it from me at the house along with Stacy's bag.

Your husband was an important man in his field.

When it came to developing complex drugs, there was no one better.

There was only one area that he came up short.

As a human being.

Does Berger have a case?

I'm afraid so.

This mysterious friend, Reed Kavanaugh.

Who is he?

How does he fit in and where is he now?

I don't know. But his airline reservation wasn't picked up. Were you

trace that picture in the fire department?

Her name is Lorraine Keeley.

And she worked for Stacy Feeling as a, it says here, lab technician.

Where is Miss Keeley now?

No one seems to know. She hasn't been to work since the crash.

I have a man watching her place in case she comes home.

It's a bungalow court on Marika Drive.

The final radio message prior to the crash and the information we received

the operations clerk indicates pilot failure is the cause of the crash.

Would you read that final radio message to the court, please?

The transmission was interrupted, the voice was hesitant and slurred, but the

actual words were, Sick, awfully sick, read me, try and put down, sleepy, down,

go down, sleepy.

That's it.

Lots of times, Mr.

Fielding's wife would drop his gear off with a flask in it, and he'd have a

snort, said it helped him keep awake.

Once she forgot to put it in, and he called and really gave her what for.

But you have no way of knowing whether his wife sent the flask on the day in

question. Yes, sir. He and Mr. Bennett there, they mentioned that she'd sent it

out to him. I remember because Mr.

Feeling said, well, he said, she'd like to see me dead.

After I had the fingerprints developed, Mr. Berger, I had the contents of the

flask analyzed by our laboratory.

And what were the findings?

The whiskey in the flask contained a lethal concentration of veranol.

Now, Lieutenant, were you present when the medical examiner conducted tests on

the remains found in the plane?

I was, and as his deposition showed, there were traces of veranol in some of

organs. Thank you.

False examiner.

Lieutenant Drum, I'm particularly interested in those prints you say you

developed. Besides the prints of the defendant and those of the decedent.

What other prints were on that flask? Well, there were quite a few, but some

the prints were smudged, Mr. Mason.

Were these smudged prints superimposed on the others?

Yes. Then those prints, which may have been made by a person or persons

were placed on the polished flask after that flask was handled by the defendant,

by Mr. Bennett, and by Mr. Fielding. Is that correct?

Mr. Mason, I can't testify to that.

Lieutenant, I'm not trying to trap you.

I'm merely suggesting that the decedent...

may have offered a drink to someone else. That's for all we know.

The flask was passed around before he boarded the aircraft.

Now, isn't that possible?

Objection, Your Honor.

Mr. Mason is leading the witness, calling for a conclusion.

What's your other question?

Lieutenant Drum, is it possible that one of the strangers whose fingerprints are

superimposed on that flask may have been the last person to handle it?

Mr. Mason, it's obvious that the decedent handled it last. There's no

anybody else being poisoned by Varanol.

And also, the flask was found in the airplane.

Lieutenant, will you please answer my question?

Would you say that someone else, whose fingerprints are unidentified, could

handled that flask after Mr. Fielding did?

Well, I would say that a number of people may have handled it. But the

was clearly the last one to do so.

Well, sir, Mr.

Fielding's friend, Mr. Cavanaugh, dropped by to talk.

So I left him at the plane, parked the car, and came back to town. Let's get

back to the flask, Mr. Bennett.

You said the defendant gave it to you.

Yes, along with some other things, and told me to be sure he got it. Was that

the extent of your conversation with Mrs. Fielding?

No. She asked me about Mr. Fielding's business. I told her that I worked for

him, and I couldn't talk about things he told me.

What else did the defendant talk to you about?

She asked me if I knew somebody, a Mrs.

Far, I think it was. No, I said I didn't. One moment, please.

Your Honor, I have an objection to interpose with this entire line of

But if it's agreeable to the court and counsel, I will withhold it until after

the answers have been made.

If it then seems the objection is proper, I will make it.

Is that all right with you, Mr. Berger?

Well, all right, Your Honor.

I'm sure when counsel hears the testimony, he won't put forth any

Mr. Bennett, to repeat, what else did the defendant talk to you about?

Well, she asked me if I liked her.

I think she was trying to get me to help her find out what was going on.

She said that some drugs were missing from the plant and did I know who'd

them. Go on, Mr. Bennett.

Mr. Fielding had told me and Miss Keeley, one of his lab technicians, that

had a feeling that his wife was taking drugs from the inventory and maybe

selling them out of the country. Of course, I didn't tell Mrs. Fielding, the

defendant, that.

Thank you, Mr. Bennett.

Posse's down.

Your Honor, I now wish to present the objection which I discussed before this

line of testimony began.

Witness may stand down.

Go ahead, Mr. Wicks.

If the court please, I object to any proof being introduced tending to

the defendant with any crime until it has been shown that a crime has been

committed.

It is necessary for the prosecution to prove a corpus delicti before there can

be any evidence tending to connect the defendant with such a crime.

Mr. Berger?

Your Honor, I certainly don't need a refresher law course from defense

I'm perfectly familiar with the rules of corpus delicti.

But let me point out that we have here a dead man who was killed by means of

poisoned whiskey.

And that whiskey...

according to the prima facie presumption of circumstantial evidence, was

deliberately prepared for the decedent by the defendant.

Your Honor, I'm afraid counsel misunderstands my objection.

I'm pointing out that there is no corpus delicti because there is no proof that

the body found in the plane was that of Stacy Fielding. Who are you suggesting

it was, Mr. Mason?

I think it was Mr. Reed Cavanaugh, Mr. Fielding's friend.

But there's no possible proof of that.

Well, there is, Mr. Berger.

But I do know that Mr. Cavanaugh Didn't use his airline reservation.

And there's no indication of that. Either in the evidence or in the police

investigation. You didn't give the police enough time to make a proper

investigation. Because you pushed me into... Your Honor, Mr. Mason has made a

completely unsupportable statement.

He has absolutely no proof of his contention. Your Honor, I believe that

Fielding is alive.

But for his own reasons, he chose to disappear when he learned that the

body in the plane was identified as his.

Mr. Mason, I think you have an obligation to explain this thing

Honor, I respectfully submit that I will gladly do so if the district attorney

will explain where Stacy Fielding's car is, since we have testimony that it was

parked at the airport.

If the district attorney will produce Reed Kavanaugh for questioning.

And if the district attorney will show any positive identification of the body.

Mr. Berger? Your Honor, may I have a moment, please?

Your Honor, we've been unable to find the car.

And we're conducting a search for Mr. Reed Kavanaugh.

But we believe that he will be found soon and alive.

Did you make any effort to check the teeth of the decedent?

Yes, Your Honor.

But apparently, Mr.

Fielding didn't go to the dentist.

Will you please give me a straight answer, Mr. Berger? The dental chart

match in every detail.

Mr. Berger?

I feel that institution of this entire proceeding was premature.

I'm going to sustain Mr. Mason's objection.

This case is dismissed, and the defendant is released from custody.

This court stands adjourned.

The bill is all ready. You were sure right about this thing.

The drum nearly bowled me over in the corridor. They're all set to re -arrest

Mrs. Feeling on a trumped -up charge as soon as she leaves the courtroom.

One thing about Berger, he's predictable.

Let's go, Mary.

Your Honor, may we see you a moment?

Yes, of course.

Call Mr. Mason?

Your Honor, if you wish, I'll...

Explain the reasoning on which I base my assumption that Stacey Fielding isn't

dead. I'd rather not hear it. I don't want to become biased, and you know

Very well, Your Honor.

Will you excuse us?

What are you doing? Why are we... Be quiet and listen.

I want you to go to the woman's lounge on the third floor.

Della's waiting for you there.

Then go down the rear stairs, take a taxi to the train station.

Transfer to another cab, then go directly to the Carlton Towers.

Here's your key to apartment 9C. I want you to stay there.

Don't leave that apartment.

Order any groceries in the name of Mrs. Shelby Farr.

I don't understand. Truly, I don't understand.

Do you think Stacy is alive?

Miriam, I want you to hurry.

Still in there.

You better go in there and make some excuse. Make sure that Mason and that

don't go out the rear door.

Yes, sir.

Uh, just a moment, Mr. Mason.

I, uh, have to detain you. Detain us for what, Steve?

I can't believe you, Perry.

You're aiding and abetting a felon.

Why, not at all.

We're just taking my secretary to lunch.

Afraid your secretary will have to go to lunch without us. I'm going to Denver

to try and locate Reed Cavanaugh, and you just might want to talk to Lorraine

Keeley. I just got word she's back at her place on Marika Drive.

Come on in. I'm in the shower, Mrs. Waterman.

I'll have you read if you want to come in and wait.

I'll be right out.

Would you mind tuning off the record player, Mrs. Waterman?

I'm sorry to intrude, Miss Keeley. The door was unlocked.

Who are you? What do you want?

My name is Mason.

I'm Mrs. Fielding's attorney.

I'd like to ask you some questions.

Get out. And I mean now.

Miss Keeley, I think you can help my client.

I wouldn't raise a finger for her.

Now take off, Mr. Mason.

You haven't answered my questions as yet.

How would you like to be picked up by the police for breaking in here? For

a peeping Tom trying to assault me?

That would give us both an opportunity to talk to the police now, wouldn't it?

Okay.

Let me get a robe on and I'll give you ten minutes.

Thank you, Miss Keating.

Miss Keely?

Miss Keely?

Lorraine Keely just ran out on me.

Call Paul's office. Have them alert their Sacramento contact.

I want a car traced to the DMV.

Did you get the license number?

Only the first two letters. EQ.

But the car is a red convertible. Late model. White vinyl interior.

My guess is she'll try to get rid of it.

And you want them to watch the motor vehicle's registrations to see if the

transfer comes through.

Why did she run away, Perry? What's she afraid of?

When we find out where she is, maybe we'll find the answers.

Won't you sit down?

I haven't seen Reed not once since he went back on active duty with the Air

Force three years ago.

He's a pilot? World War II, Korea, Vietnam this time.

Well, I guess I came to the wrong place if you haven't had any contact with him

in the past three years.

He might even be dead.

I didn't say I hadn't heard from him.

I said I hadn't seen him.

My attorney was in touch with him just a few weeks ago.

He agreed to come to Denver tonight to be served papers in our divorce case.

Do you know where?

I guess that's the process service business.

Attorney's service company?

I work for a Los Angeles attorney, and we may need some papers served here in

Denver. I understand you do most of the work for the leading attorneys here in

town.

Uh -huh. Uh, what about night service?

Oh, you do most of that, too.

Your wife is suing you for divorce.

This be your formal notice.

Mr. Reed Cavanaugh?

Yeah, that's right. Can you prove you're Mr. Cavanaugh? Do I have to?

And since when does it take two men to serve papers in a simple divorce case?

I don't have any idea who he is, but you have been officially notified. Good

night.

Well, all right, mister, start talking. Who are you?

Paul Drake, a private detective.

I'm on assignment for the attorney representing Mrs. Stacy Fielding on a

of murder.

What do you want from me?

Answers to a few questions about what happened at the airport that night when

you didn't pick up your reservations.

Frankly, we thought it might have been you on that plane instead of Dr.

Fielding. Thank you.

Thank you very, very much, Mr. Craig.

Thank him for what? For leading us to you.

You were tailing me. Any law against it?

Hamilton Burger would thank you, too. Mr. Cavanaugh?

I have a court order here to take you into custody. You mean I'm under arrest?

As a material witness, the extradition order will be signed tonight. We'll

for Los Angeles tomorrow morning.

I knew it.

Something told me I shouldn't come back to Denver.

Steve, have a heart, will you? After all, I did find him. Let me talk to him

just five minutes.

Paul, I'm under orders. You know what Hamilton Berger would say if he were

Mr. Mason will get his chance to cross -examine in court.

If Mr. Berger decides to put him on the stand.

Judd.

Judd, I have to talk to you.

Mrs. Fielding?

You're under arrest for the murder of Stacy.

Why did that kooky client of yours have to come out of hiding? You should have

known the police would stake out any place she might go.

Mrs. Fielding said Judge Bennett lied about her when he was on the stand.

She was going to talk him into changing his story, admitting he perjured

himself. Do you people have any luck with the log from the Fielding plane?

The only thing interesting was eight trips to Mexico City. I wonder what Dr.

Fielding was doing there.

That Denver plane should be in by now.

Yeah, it is, Sergeant.

Sorry, DA, strict orders. Nobody gets through except authorized

of the press.

Specifically mentioned you and, uh, Mr. Mason.

It's up to your man now, Paul.

I hope he's a good one.

Best I have.

I wonder, could Mr. Cavanaugh turn this way, please?

That's it.

Are you Mr. Cavanaugh? Mr. Reed Cavanaugh? Who else would I be?

Then this is for you.

A subpoena.

You appear as a defense witness for Mrs. Miriam Fielding.

He has treated us, in this case, to a time -wasting exhibition of legal hocus

-pocus which reaches a new low.

Even for him.

We have seen this court deliberately misled into granting a dismissal. We

seen the defendant spirited away and concealed.

And we are now in court for a second time to achieve an end which we surely

should have achieved the first time we were here.

Your Honor, there are various ways of wasting the court's time, including

vituperative personal recrimination.

Gentlemen, I don't intend to hear any more of this from either of you.

What I'm about to request, Your Honor, seems the simplest thing that defense

counsel under the circumstances could grant me. I would like him to stipulate

least to the testimony of those witnesses who appear to the first

Provided those witnesses are recalled and made available for cross

we would agree to so stipulate.

Well, Mr. Berger?

Agreed.

Yes, sir, we located Mr. Reed Cavanaugh in Denver.

Did you really?

Could that possibly be the same Reed Cavanaugh that was mentioned here in

courtroom as being possibly the dead man in Dr.

Stacey Fielding's wrecked airplane?

Apparently. And was it your observation that Mr. Cavanaugh was completely alive?

I mean, breathing and apparently in good health?

Your Honor, why should we listen to second -hand testimony when the witness

himself is able to testify as to his breathing propensities and state of

personal well -being?

Do you intend to call Mr. Cavanaugh, Mr. Berger?

I don't know, Your Honor. Your Honor, may I remind the court that Mr.

is under subpoena by the defense.

Unless he is put on the stand by the prosecution, the defense will request

he be produced in court as our witness.

Are you holding Mr.

Cavanaugh, Mr. Berger?

Well, as a matter of fact, Your Honor, at this moment, we don't know where Mr.

Cavanaugh is. He left, escaped from the hotel room where we were holding him

during the night.

However, we have out a statewide bulletin, and I'm sure that it will be

soon. Very well, Mr. Berger.

I think Mr. Mason's point is well taken.

I'm going to continue this hearing for 48 hours to allow the state time to

apprehend and produce Mr. Reed Cavanaugh. Thank you, Your Honor.

This court will take a short recess.

A contact in Sacramento picked up a pink slip from a used car dealer in Fresno.

The name on it was Lorraine Farr.

Did you give the Marika Drive address for the Carlton Towers?

No. The address on the pink slip was 1422 Alacran Street, Modesto.

Better take the back, Paul.

Lorraine gave me the slip once before.

What do you think we'll find inside?

I don't know.

I don't even dare tell you what I'm hoping we'll find.

I

thought you'd...

You. I see you've had time to change since we talked last,

Miss Keely, or should I say Mrs. Farr?

What are you doing here?

I'm sure you read the newspapers and listen to the radio. So what would I be

doing here?

How did you find me?

I traced the laundry mark on your towel.

That isn't whoever you were expecting.

It's Paul Drake, a private detective working with me.

Paul, this is Miss Keeley.

Hi, I recognize you from her picture.

You've got no right to bust into my house.

Miss Keeley, my client is on trial for her life.

And you and your friend are playing some kind of game with her.

I don't know what you mean.

You know very well what I mean.

She's no more guilty of murder than you or Mr. Drake or I.

She's guilty of ruining a man's life, of nearly driving him out of his mind,

destroying him.

Rationalize all you please.

But she did not kill him, and she is charged with murder.

I haven't done anything to her.

Not yet, but you will.

It's my impression, Miss Keeley, that everything you've done in the past few

weeks, every move you've made, has been part of a carefully engineered plan.

A plan for what?

A plan for a happy future.

But if you considered, Miss Keeley, what kind of a future it would really be,

every waking hour you'd be conscious that your happy future had cost another

woman her life.

You'd never be free of that realization, not for a moment.

Not if your happiness meant sending Miriam Fielding to the gas chamber for a

murder she didn't commit.

Ferrier, plane leaves in half an hour. If you want to wait it out here, I'll

have to make a later reservation.

We're not going to wait it out, Paul.

We'll make the plane. We're leaving now.

We are?

I've said all the things I came to say.

Perry, I don't get it.

All the trouble we went through to locate this girl and we just walk away.

Paul. Whoever she was expecting won't come near as long as we're around.

Unless he does.

They won't be able to talk it over.

Talk it over and decide which way to run now.

No, I don't think so, Paul.

When all else fails, there's only one thing left to do. That's appeal to

someone's better instincts.

I hope he has some.

I waited as long as I could, but I alerted Dirty to let me know. We should

heard by now.

Be seated, please, and no talking.

Well, Mr. Berger, what do you have to tell us? Have you located our missing

witness? Yes, Your Honor, we have.

Mr. Cavanaugh was picked up at a roadblock at the state line, and he was

a rented car.

As a matter of fact, that's how we got a line on him, Your Honor.

He had to use his true name and his driver's license in order to rent the

automobile. And where is the witness now?

He's in custody.

The state police flew him down here.

And Lieutenant Drum is meeting him at the airport in one of our police

helicopters. Very well. Now, as soon as he, uh... Oh, by the way, Your Honor,

there were two people in that automobile.

Mr. Cavanaugh had a young woman with him, a Miss Lorraine Keeley.

Better instinct.

Lieutenant, I presume you have our missing witness.

No, Your Honor, we have our missing victim, Mr. Stacy Fielding.

Sir, how are you?

Your Honor, I move for dismissal of the charges and ask that while you consider

my motion, we retire to your chambers to discuss the fact that there was a body

in the plane and that Mr. Berger may yet drag my client back to court for a

third time.

Suggestion's well taken. This court stands recessed.

Mr. Berger, bring Mr. Fielding with you.

You're on a man. Can I address a few questions to Mr. Fielding to clear his

of any hint of complicity in this murder, whoever the victim may be?

Mr. Fielding, it's been testified you drank from the flask your wife filled

whiskey. And did you suffer any ill effects whatsoever?

You mean any symptoms of veranol poisoning?

None at all. Then the veranol had to have been added to that flask after Mr.

Fielding drank, which means Miriam Fielding had no opportunity whatsoever

so. and therefore could have no connection with the murder.

Yes, I agree. Your point seems conclusive to me, Mr. Mason.

As soon as we reconvene, I'll dismiss the charges against Mrs. Fielding.

Now, Mr. Fielding, what did happen that day at the airport?

Nothing remarkable.

After I filed my flight plan, Reed Cavanaugh and I decided that we had so

things to discuss, plans to make, that we would drive to Salt Lake City

together, rather than fly separately.

I gave my flying things and the key to the plane to Judd Bennett, and Reed and

left. And where did you first learn of the crash and that you were dead?

When we reached Las Vegas, it was in all the papers.

But what did you think when you read the stories?

Whether Judd Bennett had crashed or been killed.

When you read that the body was burned beyond recognition and was identified as

you, you decided to stay dead?

It was fortuitous, but it fit into a long -range plan to disappear with Miss

Keeley under the names of Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Farr.

That's true.

I decided to take advantage of a fortunate, for me, circumstance.

I didn't think Judd would mind until I learned he was alive and had testified

against my wife.

What did you think then?

I didn't know what to think. I knew I wasn't in the plane and Judd Bennett

wasn't. So who was?

Will you come to the judges' chambers, please, and send it?

Miriam? What are you doing here?

Where is everybody?

In the judges' chambers.

What are you doing here?

I came down from Modesto to help you get out of this.

You may not believe it, but... Your husband and I and Lorraine worked it all

last night after your attorney left.

Oh, I believe you.

He's here.

You're the only one who knows who died in that plane because you're the one who

killed him.

No one else could possibly have added varanol to that flask.

Not before the pilot took off.

Who was it, Bennett? Who was the dead man?

Was it your partner in the drug thefts from Mr. Fielding's company?

The one who borrowed that plane for trips to Mexico to sell what you'd

It was Al Dolby, the mechanic who worked on the plane that day. Tell us, Mr.

Bennett.

Why did you kill him?

Her racket was all washed up. I knew that. I knew that Mrs. Fielding was onto

it. I wanted to quit, but Al, he liked the money too well.

And I knew that he'd blow the whistle on me if I didn't agree to just one more

trip. Mr. Bennett, I think you're going to make just one more trip.

And this time, no one can take it for you.