Original subtitles

Beautiful.

I'm going to call it Concerto for Cynthia.

Don, darling.

I thought it was for Mrs. Baylor.

Oh, she's my patron.

You're my girl.

You know what?

What?

Maybe, just maybe, I'm in love with you.

Get your things and get out.

I don't take orders from you.

I'll leave when Don tells me to and not before.

Look, Elaine, you've got no right to come far. No right!

This is my cottage.

My wine, my candles, and you're on my time.

This place you own, not me.

Oh, you do have some pride.

That's a surprise.

Good. Your girlfriend can pack your things. You're getting out of here

But first, you're coming with me.

We have an appointment at Scarlet Point.

Oh, wait a minute. What's got you screaming at high sea? What have I done?

What's changed all of a sudden?

Come on, now!

Don't go, Don. You don't need her. With your talent, you don't need anyone else.

Something's wrong.

I better find out what it is.

Start packing my things.

Don, you don't know who you're to meet or why or what set her off.

Don't go.

Darling, do as I tell you.

Please.

Tell me what this is all about. Why don't you tell me about the lies you

to regale your beatnik friends at Natasha's?

Elaine, I swear I never said a word.

You liar.

Put this money in this envelope.

And read this.

Your husband will learn of monkey business with Hobart.

Unless you leave 10 ,000 Wednesday night in barricade pipe stanchion Scarlet

Point. Think about this and you are dead.

Are you going to the sheriff?

Moose?

And give him something to show to my husband?

Nobody's going to know about this but us.

I know who's pulled this extortion.

Nobody holds me up and gets away with it.

Elaine, that guy could be here.

Waiting.

Let's leave the money and beat it.

People were awake at dawn up here in the backcountry.

Baylor's estate's the biggest one on the lake.

Why don't you admit it, Paul?

California's most brilliant private detective is lost.

California's most brilliant attorney isn't much help.

No wonder we can't find anyone. They're all here.

No parking here.

We're from out of town, officer. We're looking for the Baylor estate.

You up here to see Mr. Baylor?

Yes, I'm his attorney. Well, he's up with the sheriff.

Come on, I'll take you in.

Oh, come on now, honey.

I don't want to give you a hard time, but I picked up Hobart right after I

the shots.

My son awake? You saw him leave the cottage together. She made him go with

All right, if she made him go with her, then he didn't want to go, right? And

they argued, right?

Well, she busted him. She was jealous.

No. In fact, she told me to pack Don. She was throwing him out. I've made him

mad.

I know what foolies like you were made of, Hobart. No talent bums who trade on

pretty face and a good line to take the gullible. Who figure the world owes them

something because they can daub a brush or sing a song or play a piano.

Why did you kill her?

I didn't kill her.

I don't have to answer your questions, Mr. Bader.

You'll answer. When I get through with you, you'll answer.

Don couldn't have fired that pistol.

I tried to teach him to shoot, and he can't hit a six -foot target from ten

away. How'd you know it was a pistol?

Well, it sounded like a pistol.

So from a quarter mile away, you heard the shots?

Somebody tried to blackmail her, saying there was somebody between her and me.

Well, there wasn't.

But she was going to leave the money there at the point and try to find out

did it.

So I put the money in the pipe stanchion, and that's when I heard the

You liar. The sheriff didn't find any money there.

Now, listen.

I'm warning you, honey. This guy is not worth protecting.

You're just getting yourself in deeper and deeper.

Now, suppose we make a deal.

You give me the straight dope, you can go right back to Natasha's and be there

in time for work.

I've told you what I know.

It's just not what you want to hear.

He killed her.

Unless there's something we can do, the business can wait.

No, I want you to stay, Perry.

Life goes on. I'll sign the contracts you brought up.

You're a hometown kid, Cynthia.

You're not going to let us down.

You're not going to let a crumb bum like this get away with killing a fine lady

like Mrs. Baylor.

He didn't do it.

Okay.

You can go.

Mr.

Baylor, I...

I'm terribly sorry about your wife.

But Don didn't kill her.

You speak when you're spoken to.

Don't talk to her like that, Bader.

It burns you up, doesn't it? It's because there's at least one human being

town who won't start singing when you get the downbeat.

You watch what you say.

All right, get him out of here.

Here they come now. Hey, did you confess, Hobart? How about it, Jack?

what's Mason doing in there?

Don't you see what's happening?

He's an outsider.

They're going to make a scapegoat out of him. He has rights.

He does have rights, doesn't he?

The girl is right, Dick. Her friend was being physically abused. He didn't have

benefit of counsel.

Her friend?

That's put with Victorian quaintness.

Their relationship has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with

Elaine kept cash. I don't know how much in her room. There's not a dollar there

now. I figured she went down there to pay them off.

Variation of the badger game?

Exactly.

She probably used the money to bait them. And when she threatened to put him

jail, that phony musician killed her.

My son.

I told you I wanted to see Howard as soon as he got up. Yes, sir, but he was

in his room. Get him!

Your father wishes to see you, Mr. Baylor.

Mr. Baylor. Mark, when you mister me, you're mad.

Now, what did I do?

Your father doesn't know it, but you weren't home at all last night, and it's

not the first time.

Well, as long as he doesn't know it.

That idiotic target shooting.

I owe that to Cynthia Perkins, too.

She probably can't write her own name legibly, but she won a national pistol

match and became Scarlet Center's celebrity for a week. Elaine told her to

away from him.

I didn't know we had company.

Son, this is Perry Mason and Paul Drake, my son Howard.

How do you do?

Let's go inside, son. I have to tell you something.

I think we better go.

Oh, wait.

We'll get down to business as soon as Ed Casco gets in from Sacramento.

We'd like to check in at the hotel anyway, Dick. My secretary is due with

papers we'll need.

I'm sure you and your son could use the privacy right now.

What is it?

It's about your mother, son.

What'd she do?

Leave you?

What happened?

Is she dead?

I'm sorry, Howard.

I guess you didn't know my stepmother very well, Mr. Mason.

I'm not used to the idea that one way or another, she wasn't going to be around

here much longer.

Howard!

Mason? Drake?

How the devil are you?

Glad you're here. The boss is coming apart at the seams.

Maybe you can calm him down. I tried, but without success.

Well, I can feel for him.

He tries to play the tough operator.

But the truth is, he loved Elaine and needed her.

Even though she did give him a hard time.

Harry, come on back in here. I want to talk to you.

And you too.

Well, come on.

Well, I guess at a time like this, you've just got to make allowances.

I'll be right back.

I just talked to that Cynthia Perkins.

She had the gall to call you here.

I'll give it to you straight, Perry.

You're not to see her. I told the girl in the sheriff's office in your presence

that I wouldn't consider defending Hobart.

I'm here for a brief vacation and a few hours of business.

As soon as you've signed those contracts, Paul and I will be moving up

to fish.

But, Dick, I don't like being ordered around any more than you do.

Now, come on, fellas.

There's no sense in this kind of arguing.

Shut up.

That girl's been turned down by one lawyer after another, and now she's

to reach you.

There's no reason why I shouldn't do that. I pay you a $10 ,000 retainer each

and every year, and that's reason enough.

Not reason enough for me.

You have an obligation to me as my attorney.

Yes, I do.

But it's not going to conflict with my obligation as an officer of the court,

a citizen, and as a human being.

You listen to me.

No, you listen to me for a change.

There's a mob psychology building up here.

I saw it in the streets this morning.

I saw it in the sheriff's office.

I see it here.

In the newspaper you own.

Headlines read by every potential juror in this town.

Couldn't be more obvious. He's convicted before he's tried.

He killed Elaine.

If you help him in any way, you'll pay for it. Do you understand?

Yes, Dick.

I understand.

That's more like it.

You know what I've always liked about you, Perry?

You're tough, but you're practical.

To, uh... To justice.

Your retainer will be returned in full in the mail tomorrow morning.

Oh, wait a minute. What's wrong?

We just drank to justice.

The truth of the matter is, she's not as blind as she looks.

He tries to defend that coffeehouse bum in my town.

This may be hard to believe, Dick, but there's a few people around that you

can't buy.

How would you know?

I pay you to open doors in Sacramento, not to open your mouth around me.

Howard, your radio.

Before you say anything, Mr. Hobart, I want you to know I'm not going to be

lawyer.

So don't tell me anything you want kept confidential.

Just tell me what you told the police and what you are going to tell them.

I gotta get a lawyer.

I'll try to get you one.

Now, you were saying that you and Cynthia were alone.

Right. That's when Elaine came in there and started screaming like Lucia.

Had she been angry with you before?

Not that mad.

I mean, uh...

Well, to tell the truth, Mr. Mason, she'd been bugging me lately because I

hadn't been turning out the symphony.

See, she set me up at the cottage, gave me food money.

You know, patron of the arts.

I was darn decent of her, but... But she expected you to be her lover.

Oh, no, no.

Elaine Baylor was quite a woman, Mr. Mason, but she didn't cheat.

At least not with me.

No, it was just that she expected me to sit down and write music as if... All I

had to do was turn on a faucet and let it pour.

I had to live.

It's not easy to play jazz piano all night at Natasha's and to write your

symphony all day.

What happened when you left the cottage?

Elaine showed me the note.

Describe the note as you remember it.

Well, it was made up of letters cut out of newspapers.

Said she'd be killed if she told about it.

And to leave $10 ,000 in a barricade pipe at Scarlet Point.

or they'd tell her husband she'd been carrying on with me, something like

She had the money with her? Yes.

She gave me an envelope to put it in and told me to stick it in the pipe.

And you did?

Did you hear or see anything unusual during that time?

A car went by, I think, on the main road.

Yeah, I heard it.

And then after I put the money in the pipe, I heard the two shots.

But if she were right there, why didn't you see who fired the shots or hear them

run away?

Well, she wasn't right there. She backed the car around to hide it in the bushes

so it wouldn't be seen.

She wanted to wait there and see who took the money.

That's why she picked me up, to be a witness.

What did you do when you heard the shots?

Well, I ran down the road toward the car.

And that's when the sheriff grabbed me.

Was he in his car?

No, he was standing over your lane.

And he put his fist in my mouth before I could say a word.

Mr. Mason, I've told them everything I've told you, but they've got their

made up. They're going to kill me.

Did they find the gun?

I don't know.

Don, do you have a gun? No.

Well, there are a few guns in the case at the cottage.

Belong to Mr. Baylor, I guess.

Mr. Mason, I wouldn't know a .22 target pistol from a shotgun. I hate guns.

I'll be back to you tomorrow.

Try to get some sleep.

Sheriff, sleep.

They're saying you owe me.

Oh, Mr. Mason, I forgot to tell you. Ed Kesko came by to see me.

Why? I don't know.

I've talked to him a few times at Natasha's, but... Did he ask you any

questions? No, just talked.

Oh, he did ask about the money, how much money there was.

All right, good night.

Now,

Sheriff, I suggest you feed Mr.

Hobart.

That's a joke.

I told you he was going to miss jail.

If he does, I'll hit you with a court order, petition for a change of venue,

advise the press that you're abusing your prisoner.

And if you think that's a joke, try me.

I wouldn't do that if I were you.

This is snake country, friend.

You ought to be wearing boots. You're going to tromp around this brush.

You're right, thanks.

My name's Aaron.

Baldrake. You working on the Baylor murder?

Yeah. Aaron, uh, you know this area.

Pretty well.

Well... If you could spare about an hour of your time to maybe show me around

and answer a few questions, it's worth $20.

Doesn't hardly seem right.

All right, $25.

Put your money away.

You fellas used to live in a city, got a set against a man doing a favor for a

stranger.

And what do you figure that means?

Well, these tracks are deep. They were made by a heavy car. I'd guess the

car.

Now, these tires are smaller.

Lighter impression, and they go up to the dead end.

Now, it's my guess that after the heavy car went up toward the point, the

lighter car that had gone to the dead end backed out here.

And... This fresh gash in the

tree in the blue paint would indicate that whoever backed out was in a hurry

drove a blue car.

That's pretty good, Mr. Drake. Pretty darn good.

30 feet.

That tell you anything, Mr. Drake?

No, not yet.

That broken branch would indicate that a car with a high antenna for

transmitting was here.

That's smart.

Good figure. Not really. I knew the sheriff was here last night.

Now, from those tracks in the road, the position of Mrs. Baylor's car and those

bullet holes, the shots must have been fired from someplace over there.

Sheriff.

Sheriff, this is Paul Drake.

What do you want, Drake?

Just some information.

You want information, read the papers.

Sheriff, I'd like to cooperate with you. Anything I don't need any more of, it's

cooperation.

Now, clear out.

Aaron C. gets back to the road, will you?

That sheriff is going to die young.

He stays mad.

I'll bet those shots were fired from over there.

I'd like to know if they turned up the money or the blackmail note yet.

Now, I've learned a few things from you today, Mr. Drake, so I'm going to tell

you some back.

They haven't found the money yet, and I'm not sure they ever will find it.

They did find the note, though, in the car.

Don Hobart told the truth about that anyway.

And right over there is where the shots were fired.

How do you know that?

Well, for one thing, I picked up these two .22 cartridges over there. Well,

be. Do you know if the gun's turned up?

Not yet.

Aaron, Lady Luck smiled at me when I found you. It's nice to meet one person

this town who's on our side.

Now, those are the first two mistakes you've made today, Mr. Drake. You didn't

find me. I found you.

And I'm not on your side.

Now, I'm Moose Dalton's lab technician, fingerprint expert, and ballistics man.

But the truth never hurt anybody.

And I'm willing to wait until after the trial to put Don Hobart in a gas

chamber.

Now here's the pipe where Hobart put the money. Here's where the shots were

fired. Here's where Mrs. Baylor's car was parked, and here's where the

car was parked.

Now I walked back through the woods on this side to the dead -end road where

little blue car turned in after the Baylor car had gone up to the point.

Someone had been there before me.

And as the matter track was erratic, it must have been at night.

Good job, Paul.

Darn good job.

I'm impressed.

Even though I must say I'm still laughing about your encounter with Mr.

Chambers. Yeah, well, I'm not.

Even though I'll admit I was only the second best detective out there today.

You're positive they haven't found the weapon?

No, they hadn't when I got back, and it was almost dark by then.

That could be bad.

Very bad.

Why? Well, it can't hurt Hobart.

After all, he was picked up at the scene and he didn't have the gun. So whoever

killed Elaine Baylor must have carried it off.

Well, let's go. Where to?

Why, to find the gun.

There's supposed to be a gun case in here.

I just hope there's no gun missing from it.

Because if there is...

Your client could have taken it.

That won't be necessary, Mr. Drake.

Aaron. I heard a car coming, thought I'd wait and see who'd be visiting here

this time of night.

Well, my name is... Oh, I know you, Mr. Mason.

Been reading about you for years.

Now, that pretty lady there, I don't know her.

On this street, this is Mr.

Chambers.

I think you were interested in the gun case, Mr. Mason.

Well, they're all here. At least we know if Hobart did fire the shots, he didn't

use a gun he had access to.

Would seem that way, wouldn't it?

Of course, this isn't the only place he could have gotten a gun.

You play beautifully.

I'm amazed at your touch.

Do you have any other talents, Aaron? Like maybe skydiving?

No, tried it once and didn't like it.

Well, thanks for everything, Mr. Chambers. I enjoyed meeting you.

My pleasure.

See you folks around.

Come on, Aaron.

Good night.

All right, you can come out now. They're gone.

You were telling me why you came out here, Mr. Kesko.

Harry, what is the matter with you? You haven't said one word since we left Mr.

Chambers.

I'm baffled, that's all.

Yeah, Chambers has the same effect on me.

Oh, it's not Chambers that's bothering me.

That .22 target pistol has been fired recently.

But Don Hobart couldn't have put it back in the case.

If, indeed, it is the murder weapon.

But that's great.

You subpoena the gun.

And if it is the murder weapon, you can prove that Don couldn't possibly have

returned it.

No, Donna, that's too simple and too convenient.

Paul? Be with you in a minute.

Very.

Oh, come right in.

Here's a good favor.

Is Cynthia working tonight? Oh, she'll be out. She's got a little problem.

cooling him off back in her room.

Well, you can see this is no place for a guy with a headache tonight.

See, it's tourist weekend.

And if they've got to have something to talk about all winter, then we've got to

put on a show for them. You know, like make them feel bohemian.

This is a show.

You don't think Abe over there is an artist, do you?

He drives the laundry truck during the week, and these kids, they hardly ever

dance like this. And most of the time, we put on, like, folk singing with a

small combo of chords.

And until the flea flies up and lets Don Hobart go, we're out a piano player.

I can recommend one.

Do you know Aaron Chambers?

Oh, sure.

He came in here a few times with Elaine Baylor. Used to sit in with the combo,

plays trumpet.

Elaine Baylor come in often?

No, not lately.

She used to.

Until her old man Dick Baylor put the nicks on it. Said if I didn't keep her

of here, he'd close me up. What would bother him?

Oh, Don Hobart, I suppose.

But Baylor was all wrong.

Hobart's not a bad kid.

I never had any trouble with him.

Believe me, if he killed Elaine Baylor, then I'm a ballerina.

And besides, Cynthia had a thing for him, if you know what I mean.

Hey, Aunt Baby.

Good evening.

I'm sorry we haven't been able to get together, Perry. Well, anything that's

between you and Dick Baylor is... Well, it doesn't mean that we've got a few.

Of course not, Ed.

Sit down.

No, thanks. I'm just going to have a snort and get right back.

Nice to see you. Oh, Ed.

I understand you were asking my client about the money you're missing.

Well, yes, I...

I did talk to him.

Dick wanted me to check.

There's no problem about that now.

The money's been found.

Where? At Scarlet Point.

The sheriff was out there wandering around alone and he found it.

How much money was that?

I think Moose said it was $2 ,000.

You think this is a madhouse, huh?

I wouldn't trade places with Ed Jesko for all the money.

He works for a madman in a madhouse.

Every day of his life.

And now it must be even worse.

You know why?

Because he introduced Elaine Baylor to Don Hobart.

I don't get it. What does

Baylor want?

This Tinhorn police decided they can't kill me and get away with it, so they

pick up Cynthia.

I'll talk to Cynthia, Don, but you better realize one thing.

There's nothing Tinhorn about this police department.

Give him credit for that.

Why does Baylor have it in for us?

I can't believe they're acting on Baylor's orders.

He may have influence enough to ban the law, but he can't break it. And why

can't I talk to her?

She's just a kid. She's scared to death.

How could she help it be?

I sat in that cell and all I could think of was a movie I once saw.

And cyanide pellets dropping.

All right, Mr. Mason.

Can't see you now.

Paul, I'll meet you and Don back at the hotel.

They're letting you out.

You belong in here.

You dragged Cynthia out to your place. You had her snowed as bad as you fooled

Elaine.

You... Owen.

Come in here.

I swear I'm telling you the truth.

Why didn't you tell me the truth about following Don and Elaine Bailey to

Scarlet Point?

And the truth about finding the gun and putting it back in the cottage? And the

truth about helping yourself to part of the money?

I didn't touch the money. They can't say I did.

They can't say I killed that woman.

No?

Can they say you lied to them about your whereabouts?

Can they say you...

Left tire tracks down there that your car scraped a tree?

That Elaine Baylor warned you to stay away from her stepson? That the

purchased .22 caliber bullets the day prior to the murder?

That the blackmail note was written on her stationery?

That she threatened the decedent and driven by motives of jealousy, greed,

revenge?

Cynthia Perkins killed Elaine Baylor.

This is not the Scarlet Center Community Theater. There will be no applause from

the spectators or there will be no spectators.

Do you wish to make an opening statement, Mr. Mason?

No, Your Honor.

All right, Mr. Woodmire.

Call your first witness.

It was about two weeks before Elaine... Well,

Elaine went... down to the target range my son has on our place.

Miss Perkins, the defendant, was there with him.

I heard some shouting, so I went down there.

I hate to put you through this, Mr. Baylor, but what did you see and hear?

Elaine ordered her to get off the place.

When she refused to leave, Elaine called her some name and told her to stay away

from my son. The girl...

picked up one of the target pistols.

She waved it at Elaine, and she said, one day you'll talk that way to the

person, and you'll get yours.

Cross -examine.

Now, Mr. Baylor, you said the decedent called the defendant some name.

What name?

Well, it's not the kind of thing you say in court, but it is the kind of thing

you say in front of your son and his invited guest.

Objection! I don't know what you're objecting to, Mr. Woodmire. The

is logical.

Objection overruled. Did your wife, in your presence, ever have an argument

anyone else?

You're wrong.

Before the district attorney objects, I'll remind him that he opened the door

a previous examination.

Well, Mr. Baylor? I don't recall.

Well, Cynthia said she wanted to leave Scarlet Center.

She said... She said she couldn't stand it any longer.

Did she say why she wouldn't leave?

She said because it'd look funny if she did.

And what day was this?

The afternoon after the murder.

Take the witness, Mr. Mason.

Howard.

Where were you on the night of your stepmother's death?

Most of the time at home.

All night?

No, sir.

Did you sleep there?

No, sir.

Where were you?

At Natasha's.

All night?

I rode around a while.

Did you go near Scarlet Point?

No, sir.

Well, I went by the cottage because I knew Cynthia was there with Don Hobart.

But I didn't go in.

Did you see anyone else on the road?

Anyone who could identify you and set the time?

Well, I parked. I sat there a while. I don't know how long.

I saw the sheriff come by a couple of times. He wasn't in his patrol car.

He was alone?

Yes, sir.

Did you see anyone else?

Yes. Ed Kesko.

He was coming away from the point.

Well, I tried to talk to the defendant about Mr. Baylor's son, but she wouldn't

discuss it.

She said it's a free country, and I'll see her dead before I'll... Let her tell

me what to do.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Casco, do you concur with Howard Baylor's testimony that he saw you in

vicinity of the cottage near Scarlet Point on the night of the decedent's

Well, yes, I did drive by. I was going to Natasha's place.

Do you want to tell the court about your arrival at the Baylor home on the

morning after Mrs. Baylor was shot?

Well, I didn't say that I had been in town.

Mr. Baylor had been trying to reach me in Sacramento, and he was upset already.

And I, uh... So I just didn't correct the impression that I'd been in

Sacramento. But I didn't say that I had been there.

What do you do for Mr. Baylor in Sacramento?

I'm a registered lobbyist for his interest.

You fixed things for him.

In Sacramento and elsewhere?

Objection. Mr. Mason, it is hardly a virtue for a lawyer to drive thumbtacks

with a sledgehammer.

Objection sustained.

Yes, Your Honor.

I have no further questions for the witness at this time, but I reserve the

right to recall him if it should be necessary.

Well, when I talked to Elaine, the decedent, I could see she was real upset

in a hurry to get to the cottage.

Objection sustained.

Well, let me put it this way.

What did you do after she drove off toward the cottage?

Well, I cruised the road a few times past the cottage. I was concerned about

her. First time by her car was there.

Second time was gone.

So I went on to Scarlet Point.

That's when I heard the shots.

I ran toward the sounds, and I saw what had happened.

I knew I couldn't help Elaine, so I went back to my car to radio in.

And I ran into Don Hobart.

I'm going to anticipate the defense here, Sheriff.

Did you see the defendant in the area?

No, sir.

It wasn't until the next day that we started smelling something fishy.

Aaron Chambers walked the area with a private detective.

And they came across some tire tracks and a bruised tree.

And that tied in with the heel prints that we found near the expanded

cartridges.

So we started looking for the car.

And meanwhile, we investigated the purchasers of 22 bullets.

That led us to the defendant.

Her car check.

The shoes found in her closet check, and a note which we found crumpled on the

floor of the car, matched with her stationery.

Sheriff, I show you this envelope, States Exhibit 2.

Can you identify it?

Yes.

That's the envelope containing $2 ,000, which I found at the scene. It was on a

rock outcropping, covered by a slab of granite, about...

Ten feet from the place we found the expanded cartridges and the heel prints

the defendant.

You may cross -examine, Mr. Mason.

You made a mistake when you arrested Mr. Donald Hobart, didn't you, Sheriff?

I never said I was perfect.

Sometimes you make a mistake and you correct it.

But when you find a suspect on the scene of a murder... The point is, Sheriff

Dalton... If you made a mistake one time, obviously caused only by your zeal

without regard to any other influence, you could have made a mistake again,

right? Objection.

I get the point, Mr. Mason.

Objection is sustained. Let me ask you about finding the $10 ,000 in the

$2 ,000.

But I thought that when the blackmail note was read, it said $10 ,000.

Well, we figure that Mrs. Baylor only put $2 ,000 in, since her purpose was to

bait the blackmailer, not to pay her off.

Then you do not believe that originally there was $10 ,000 in the envelope and

that someone removed part of it?

It's speculation, but that's our judgment.

Now, as I understand it, you just happened to be going by Scarlet Point,

just happened to look under a slab on a rock, and there it was, the $2 ,000.

$2 ,000 that all your deputies were unable to find after two days of

Is that correct?

I don't know what you're getting at, but that's right. If the court please, I

wish to request a two -hour recess for the purpose of preparing a demonstration

vital to my case.

I've been on the bench for 12 years, and this is the longest preliminary hearing

I can recall.

But since we're setting records, I'll go along with you.

This court stands adjourned until 2 o 'clock this afternoon.

All right, Paul, saw it off.

Next thing you know, Moose Dalton will have me booked for destroying county

property. You'll have to take that chance.

We'll have to take that chance.

I ask you once more, Sheriff, has this envelope been tampered with since it

into your possession?

I put it right in the car and took it back to my office, where I counted the

money and the presence of witnesses who signed on the face of it there.

I put the money back inside the envelope, sealed it, and put it into the

Sheriff Dalton, I take your word, of course.

But since the envelope was found outside, it might have been damp.

And since it must have been put there hurriedly, it might have had mud on it.

Now, did you take the envelope you found and once you got to your office,

transfer it to another envelope?

No. I told you no.

Did you count the money when you found it?

Well, I looked inside. I saw it was money.

But I didn't count it till I got back to my office.

Your Honor, I'd like to recall Donald Hobart for a cross -examination. You may

stand down, Moose. Mr. Donald Hobart, come forward.

Mr. Hobart, you are still under oath.

You may proceed, Mr. Mason.

Now, Don, is this the same envelope the decedent gave you?

The same one she told you to place in this pipe stanchion?

Yes, sir. I'd say this is the envelope.

Will you show the court what you did with the envelope in following Elaine

Baylor's instructions?

I put it in there.

Would you do it again, please?

Your Honor, I'd like to recall Sheriff Dalton to the stand.

I will have order here.

You're still under oath, Lewis.

What is your belief as to how the envelope got from this stanchion to

tell us you found it?

Well, Aaron Chambers and I walked the ground.

And we figure that what happened was the defendant, was waiting there for the

payoff. And she saw the money put in the stanchion.

So in the time that it took the big car to back up, the defendant went back down

the road and shot the decedent as she had threatened.

Now, when she heard me coming, she put the gun in her purse and waited for

Donald Hobart to be picked up. Then she went back to the stanchion, took out the

package. By that time, I had the spotlights on.

And so, not taking any chances, she hid the envelope to be picked up later and

beat it.

She didn't want to get caught with the money, but she didn't mind getting

with the murder weapon. Now, let's see if that theory holds up.

Will you take the envelope out of the stanchion, please?

So much for your theory, Sheriff.

What do you think of this theory?

That Elaine Baylor was killed by someone who knew she would go to Scarlet Point.

That she was killed because she knew who her blackmailer was before the shots

were fired.

And the blackmailer knew he'd been discovered.

That the killer had access to the stationery used for the extortion note.

That the killer knew the defendant had purchased 22 cartridges. That the killer

had access to the murder weapon.

But Sheriff Dalton, the killer, as killers always do, made a mistake.

He described the murder weapon before it was found.

He killed her not only because she was throwing him out, not only because he

could no longer trade on non -existent talent.

He killed her because Elaine Baylor was aware of his duplicity. When I get

through with you, they're going to put you under the jail.

That's what she said.

You're going to wish you were dead.

She told me.

Was she right, Mr. Hobart?

My favorite.

Royal Coachman. Real rainbow killer.

You can fool around with those itty -bitty trout all you want to. I go for

big ones. Now, I can just feel it.

There's a great, big, beautiful six or eight pound largemouth bass that's lying

out there in those weeds waiting to pounce on my favorite spoon. They can't

resist it.

Well, I'm all packed.

As soon as your train leaves, Paul and I will be out on the lake.

Did you have any trouble with your ticket?

No. No, I just didn't buy it.

I'm going to be riding back with you.

Now, wait a minute. You don't like fishing. You said so. Now, it's not that

don't want you with us. I know you'd like to stay, but someone has to be in

office, and I thought we decided that. Now, just a minute, if you'll let me

explain. I was just about to buy the ticket when I heard something, and I had

come right back here.

Something important?

The fishing season ended yesterday.