Original subtitles

I have been betrayed by my own countrymen.

It's not for the money alone I am weeping. But when a white Russian has

the terrors of the Reds, only to fall from honor.

When I become a victim at the hands of my own countrymen, I should be preserved

from such a day.

Madam Galinova, how have you been betrayed?

How, you ask? How? We don't.

And to think I trusted him.

A white Russian.

This jewelry is somehow involved?

Well, of course.

Else why would I be here?

Why would it be here?

Two months ago, Vyacheslav the Cossack. Who?

Vyacheslav the Cossack.

Vyacheslav the Cossack. Oh, that's his stage name. You know, darling, he's a

magician. But he is really Vyacheslav Gershnov.

A boy from Kharkov on the River Don. He comes to me.

He's without bonds.

He appeals to me, fellow Russian.

So I help him.

He lives in my guesthouse.

He drinks my wine. He eats my food.

And this was all as your guest?

Oh, no.

He kept promising me that he would pay.

And did he pay? He did.

With that junk.

And would you believe it?

He has the nerve to tell me that that is worth far more than he owes me.

Sentimental value, perhaps.

Never mind sentimental.

I want Vyacheslav sued.

Better yet, I want him in prison.

Well, first we have to establish that there has been a fraud and this junk, as

you call it, is really worthless.

How do we do that?

By going upstairs to Platoro's.

Custom jewelry firm.

I'm attorney for the company. I think they'll give us an expert appraisal.

Oh, wonderful.

Already, darling, I am drawn to you.

afraid you placed your trust in the wrong man, madame.

How worthless.

Thank you very much, Mr. DeVry.

Is that lucky partner of yours back from his trip yet? No, not yet. Another

three or four weeks at least. Gerard still has to cover Africa.

Wait a moment.

Do you mind if I...

They're real.

Real diamonds?

Undoubtedly.

Vyacheslav said that his grandmother carried them in a bundle on her back out

Russia.

Russia?

Excuse me a moment.

Here it is.

Look.

One of the lost pieces among the crown jewels of Russia was this.

Tsarina's tiara.

If it is what it seems, and if it can be authenticated, it could be

the cultural discovery of this decade.

How much would it be worth if authenticated?

Conservatively...

Three quarters of a million dollars.

Mr. DeVry, would you arrange for the expert examination?

And meanwhile, keep the tiara in your vault?

Of course.

I'll prepare a receipt.

That's mine, isn't it?

Piyashislav can't take it back, can he?

He signed the jewelry over to me.

And I signed the receipt accepting it.

So that's legal, no?

If he had the right to assign it to you in payment of his debt, that's what we

have to determine as soon as possible.

Ice cold lemonade.

Come over and get your ice cold drink.

One, please.

I settled my debt with Sonia. The trinkets I gave her were not just a few

bubbles I no longer use on the stage.

They were my legacy.

But Gatchislav Gershnov is an honorable man. He gave, she accepted, and he will

not take them back.

Although they were a great deal more than the lousy 300 bills I owed Sonya.

please go. Mr.

Gershnov, I just wanted to be certain that you actually owned the jewels, that

you had full title to them.

That's, that's baby.

I can't stand familiarity. Go away. Can't you see two men are talking?

But that, she gotta see this.

Now, please come into my dressing room or there is crying. Come in.

Now, where did you get the jewels?

My grandmother and I, we sailed down the dun from Kharkov, running away from the

Bolsheviks. And in the little bag upon which I rested my head at night, we

carried my inheritance.

Your grandmother gave you the jewels, then?

Yes. And I betrayed her by giving them to Sonya to pay for bread and wine and

lodging. Oh, if you only knew how my heart bled. But we made an agreement.

will not take back one single bead.

That you've got to... Jesus!

Madame Galina doesn't want you to take anything back.

Bats! Don't bat me!

Go away!

A Roman up in this peasant calls me a bat.

Well, good night, Mr. Gernoff. Thank you.

Good night. Look!

It

is

not enough that you have stolen my birthright.

It is not enough that you demean me by making me wait like a peasant.

I, who descended directly from the czars of old Russia.

It is not enough that I come here like a peddler at court.

Tell me, lawyer, why am I here?

Why do I come to her?

I should come to you to attend with sawdust on the floor.

Sawdust? Madam, I warn you.

I may be poor, but I am proud.

Proud!

You come from shoemakers and egg sellers.

In a minute. In a minute, I'm going to leave. So leave already!

Mr. Gershnov, you agreed to the settlement. You told me in my office.

That I should take one -third and she will get two -thirds?

Listen, if I was begging in the streets, if I was begging in the streets, I will

not take one ruble less than half.

Then, there's nothing else left to discuss.

Mr. McCauley, I'll advise the court of the circumstances and we'll go to trial.

But let me make it clear.

There will be no offer to compromise at that point.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

First I'll talk to my lawyer.

But I will not be convinced.

He is a faker. I should not give him bond to go back.

Why should I give him my inheritance?

He eats like a horse. But he has the brains of a donkey. Don't quote me the

What are you going to do with your life? But with another lawyer. There's a

great deal of money involved.

Attention, please.

My lawyer has convinced me.

I beg my grandmother.

May she rest in eternal splendor. Forgive me.

But...

I accept.

I'll take one third.

All right.

It is done.

I kiss your hand, madame.

Gentlemen.

Galena, honey, I read the papers and I just had to see you.

That's one heck of an idea.

Pauline, you're going to make me late for tennis.

And I think maybe, maybe I'll take tennis lessons.

I assume you've read the contract carefully.

Now, if you'll just sign it.

Now, don't forget, honey, we're going to talk about it. But don't sound off to

anybody. Not until I make up my mind definitely.

Of course, darling.

Pauline.

Hold your horses, Ralph.

The idea is harebrained, Pauline. I just won't have it.

Keep talking. You won't have anything.

Mr. Mason, from now on, you are the lawyer for the Mason Galinova.

Thank you, madame.

It's been an experience handling this matter for you, but I must decline.

Oh, I am desolated.

Oh, but for all you have done for me, I thank you, darling.

Such a day this is.

As far as I'm concerned, there'll never be another one like it.

Allegra Airlines passenger Van Ness.

Arriving on flight 32 from Rio de Janeiro.

Please check in at Allegra ticket counter.

Passenger Van Ness.

Report to Allegra ticket counter, please.

I'm Gerard Van Ness. You have a message for me, I believe?

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

I left Rio unexpectedly.

My luggage should be arriving on tomorrow's flight.

Will you call me?

I can be reached at Potoro's during the day.

Yes, sir. I'll notify you.

Thank you.

Time

check.

10 .45.

Stand by for stolen... and recovered cars.

Stolen in the 1 column, ONT111. In the 2 column,

BTA212. In the 5 column, CLT511.

We have a report with no complaint yet on ALE606.

Car 13, Atom 1, requests a rolling want on ALE -606.

ALE -606 is an outstanding stolen, reported but unconfirmed.

Let's look him over. I'll give him the lights.

Would you step out of your car, please? Is something wrong, officer? Please step

out.

Would you take out your driver's license, please?

Well, what have I done?

Will you tell me what you're looking for?

We have an unconfirmed stolen car report on this vehicle.

Well, it's a mistake. This is my car.

Registration checks out.

Gerard Van Ness. Where do you live, sir?

19 -501 Canyon Road, here in the valley.

I've been on a trip. I just got in at International, and I'm on my way home.

If you've been on a trip, where's the rest of your luggage?

I left in a hurry. It's coming on a later plane.

Do you mind if we check your attaché case?

The key is in my pocket. May I reach for it?

You're a little off course if you're going home from International.

Well, I had some things to do first.

Diamonds? No, they're zircons, not diamonds, and they belong to my firm.

you want to check on me, you can call my partner, my girlfriend.

Do you mind if we take a look in your truck, sir?

I mind being stopped in the first place. I mind being questioned like I'm a

thief. This is my car, those are my stones.

I'm sorry, sir, but we have to check this out.

I told you, Lieutenant, I got in an hour or so ago. I was on my way here, and I

was stopped by your men.

All right, Mr. Van Ness.

Let's see if the gun is where you say it is.

The gun's in the desk, the middle drawer.

Didn't you say you hadn't been here in over a month?

Why, I don't remember leaving those out.

But perhaps I did.

Remarkable ice.

Over a month without melting.

Lieutenant, there's no gun in here.

But I left it there. I'm certain.

And that was over a month ago, too, eh?

Well, someone's been here. Broke in, I guess.

Helped themselves to the whiskey. Found the gun.

Sergeant, check for forcible entry. Yes, sir.

Mr. Van Ness?

How well did you know the decedent?

By reputation, he was a thief.

I never had anything to do with him.

Are you sure?

Of course.

Maybe you can explain this for me.

Returning Friday night, we'll contact you at your motel.

This was found in the dead man's pocket.

Signed, Gerard Van Ness.

Lieutenant.

There are more stains across the back terrace on the lawn into the garage.

and the grass is matted as if her body had been dragged.

Mr. Van Ness, can you explain this?

I'm not answering any more questions.

I want to talk to a lawyer.

I think that would be a very good idea.

You're going to need one.

When Mr. DeVray asked me to see you, I obtained this copy of the police

investigation report.

It's rather conclusive, Mr. Van Ness. But I didn't kill him.

Whatever you care to tell me will, of course, be confidential.

But I must have the truth.

Now, did you do business with Nils Doro?

Mr. Mason, my function in our partnership is to acquire the gemstones

Joachim uses in creating our custom pieces.

I have to do a lot of traveling. From time to time, I've run into Doro.

He has offered me stones for a cheap price, but I never bought from him.

Why? Nearly every stone Nils Doro ever showed me, I recognized.

You exactly where they'd been stolen.

How could you know that?

My specialty is the precise identification of precious gems.

I've studied and cataloged most of the famous stones of the world.

Mr. Van Ness, your plane arrived at 9 .25.

The police stopped you at 11 .20.

At slow speeds, the drive shouldn't have taken more than 45 minutes from the

airport to your home in the valley.

Now, what were you doing during that missing hour in 10 minutes?

I went first to Doro's motel. He was not there.

Do you think the room clerk will remember you?

I didn't go to the office purposely.

When you found Doro wasn't in, what did you do?

I went to the main post office to pick up a shipment.

Good, that can establish... It had not arrived.

So I started for home.

That's when the police stopped me.

Did you talk to anyone in the post office?

It was late. The windows were closed.

Well, so much for your alibi.

Now, tell me about the note you sent to Doro and how you happened to come home

so unexpectedly.

It was at the hotel in Rio.

I was supposed to leave for Africa, but had a most important appointment to keep

in Brasilia the following day.

Senora Arena and I were having a farewell drink.

Senora Arena?

Ricardo Arena, the manufacturer's representative.

We met from time to time in our business travels. We'd become casual friends.

Then the boy brought me a cable.

It was from Nils Doro.

Urgent, we meet at once. L .A., room 12, Breeze Motel.

Otherwise, deal off.

You lose business, sign Nils Doro.

How did... Obtain a copy of the cable.

Our police are very efficient.

Oh, I know. That sounds as if I... As if you were doing business with Doro.

He threatened you and you returned to kill him.

You did change your travel plans and rush back here.

Well, I didn't know what Doro might do. His threat to our business.

What did you do?

I called my partner to warn him.

But I didn't want him to compromise himself by contacting Doro, so I wrote a

note to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth? Elizabeth Wells, a young lady, a teacher. She taught me

She's a friend.

I enclosed my car keys, asked her to pick me up at the airport.

I also enclosed a sealed note for her to drop at Nils Doro's motel.

And you mailed this to Miss Wells?

No, my friend Ricardo Arena was flying to Los Angeles that night, so I gave the

envelope to him to deliver to Elizabeth.

But she didn't meet you at the airport.

Do you know if she delivered the note to Nils Doral?

I've had no chance to see or talk to Elizabeth.

But the note was on the body. She must have delivered it.

Yes, she must have.

It's an airtight case, Paul.

Absolutely airtight.

Motive, opportunity, physical evidence.

Van Ness can't satisfactorily account for his time or explain a dozen other

incriminating things, yet somehow we have to establish reasonable doubt.

Well, in order to do that, don't you have to have reasonable doubt yourself?

Paul, his partner, Joaquin DeVry, mentioned the Interpol file on Nils

Suppose there might be something in that?

I'll find out.

I'm going to have a talk with a young woman who taught Van Ness Portuguese.

I can give you her address and everything we have so far.

Despite what she wrote in the note to Van Ness, she did not teach any class in

the school the night of the murder.

Look what just came for us from Madame Galinova. An invitation to a social

of international and historic importance at her salon.

Oh, uh, Paul, you want it on line two, your man at police headquarters.

Thanks.

Yeah, Paul Drake.

This tears it.

No, stay with it. Thanks.

They lifted your client's prints from one of those glasses in his house. And

they found his gun buried in his garden.

It's a murder weapon.

Yes, I did.

I did deliver Gerard's message to the motel for Nils Doro.

Did you see or talk to Doro, Miss Welk?

No, I left the note for him.

Now, tell me about Gerard's car.

Well, I drove it to the airport and left the keys.

That was the best I could do.

I had to substitute for another teacher who was ill.

I hope you'll forgive me, Miss Wells.

But I would like to ask you a somewhat personal question.

How well do you know Gerard Van Ness?

We're friends.

Good friends.

And that's absolutely all.

And you do want to help him?

Oh, certainly.

Buenas noches, bella senorita.

Oh, I am sorry.

I am too early for our dinner engagement. Oh, no, it's just that this

Perry Mason.

Mucho gusto, senor.

Senor Ricardo Arena.

You're the gentleman to whom Mr. Van Ness gave his keys and note to deliver

Miss Wells?

Si, senor. As a matter of... Mr.

Mason is Gerard's attorney.

I see.

Well, you can count on me, senor Mason.

Gerard is my friend.

Marvelous.

Absolutely marvelous.

And you know for sure it's the real McCoy.

Madam, I am only human. I could make a mistake.

However, the chance that...

But those mother experts who examine the tiara and vouch for its authenticity

could all be wrong.

It's very slight.

Glenda was asking a monstrous price.

True. It is a monstrous price.

Oh, put it away, Joaquin, before I go out of my mind.

Come on, Ralph, I'll buy you a beer.

Bye. Bye.

I intended to call you. Tell me, frankly, how is it going?

Not good at all.

As if the murder weapon and the other circumstances weren't enough.

I've had Paul Drake check Interpol. In their dossier on Niels Doro, Paul found

report of a recent meeting between Doro and another man.

That man's description fits Gerard Van Ness exactly.

That must have been Montevideo.

The police feel the motive for murder was blackmail.

I simply cannot conceive it.

I have nothing else in my mind. I've explored all possibilities.

What could Niels Dora have been intracting to do? Who might have been

open the door to Gerard's home?

Open the trunk of his car?

Who might want to destroy our business?

I've asked myself the same questions.

Frankly, I can't answer them.

Gerard Van Ness is going before the judge tomorrow with nothing more than

appears to be a contrived explanation for the district attorney's indictment.

Yes, Mr. Berger, we checked the defendant's alibi.

Not corroborated at the motel.

Neither he nor his car was seen there, and although he said that he went to the

post office to pick up a package, to try to pick up a package, we found that

there was no mail picked up that evening, and none of the post office

remembered seeing him there.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

Lieutenant, considering the location of the motel office, Is it possible that

the defendant did, in fact, go to room 12 without anyone seeing him?

Well, it's possible if he'd sneak in.

When you talked to the post office employees that night, were any of them

stationed in the main hallway where the boxes are located?

No. We went around to the rear of the building.

Then it is not uncommon for someone to have opened a post office box late in

evening, find that the package he had expected had not arrived, leave the

remainder of the mail intact, and go.

All without being seen by anyone.

We term the sequence of events, Mr. Mason, as the defendant claimed they

happened. And having done so, would you state that the defendant could have told

you the truth about his whereabouts?

Mr. Mason, if I were to believe that, I would have to believe that a third party

brought the decedent, Niels DeRode, to the defendant's house, somehow managed

open the door, entertain them there, place the defendant's fingerprints on a

glass, killed the decedent with the defendant's gun.

Lieutenant, I didn't ask you. Let me finish, Mr. Mason.

Buried the gun, dragged the dead man to the defendant's car, put him in the

trunk, all on a perfect time schedule so that he would be clear of the place

when Elizabeth Wells arrived to take the defendant's car to the airport.

Lieutenant Drum, I did not ask you if you believed it. I asked you if the

defendant's statement to the police could be true in the light of your own

investigation. It's possible, Mr. Mason, but not... Probable.

See?

When the cable arrived, Senor Van Ness was... Well, he told me this Thoreau was

a very dangerous man.

He asked me if I would deliver a note for him and some keys, which I gladly

All right.

I now show you this note.

Marked for identification, which was taken from the body of the decedent.

Senor Arena, can you tell us if this was the note?

written by the defendant in your presence for you to deliver to Nils

That I cannot say, senor.

I did not read the note.

It was sealed in the envelope and given to me before I flew to Los Angeles a few

hours later.

Very well, sir.

You are as examined.

Senor Aranum, when you arrived in Los Angeles, did you take the sealed

directly to the addressee, Miss Elizabeth Wells?

I had business.

I called her and told her I would deliver a message to her later.

That it was from Senor Van Ness, that he wished her to do an errand for him and

meet him at the airport.

Since the envelope was sealed, how did you know what the defendant wanted her

do? I think Senor Van Ness, in conversation, he told... Yes, I am

told me these things.

Now, Senor Arena, you testified, and I quote, Senor Van Ness was...

Well, he told me this Doro was a very dangerous man, unquote.

Now, just to be sure we don't confuse the record, that sounds as if your

knowledge of the decedent, Nils Doro, was based on what you were told by the

defendant. Is that true?

Not entirely.

Then you knew Nils Doro before the defendant mentioned him.

Si, that is correct.

He once tried to sell me some stolen jewelry in Santiago.

Although I did not know it had been stolen.

And I had told him I was not interested.

You knew him only slightly, but he attempted to sell you stolen jewelry and

refused. And later you were suspicious and volunteered the information to the

police. Well, that is practically as it was, yes.

Practically. But not exactly, senor.

The Chilean police threatened to take your visa if you did not cooperate.

that exactly the way it was?

A man like that?

You cannot know what he will do.

I was afraid.

Your Honor, I'm through with the witness for now, but I reserve the right to

recall him.

Miss Wells, the note you wrote to the defendant, which has been placed in

evidence, said that you could not meet him because you were teaching class that

night. But, Miss Wells, the records of the school show that you were not

teaching class.

Now, where were you?

Why, I, uh... I intended to teach, but... at the last minute, I couldn't.

were you that night?

I went out to dinner and took a drive.

Were you alone, Miss Wells?

Please answer yes or no for the record.

No.

Would you tell us with whom you spent the evening?

I felt funny about... I didn't want Gerard to... Well, I didn't meet him

Miss Wells, who was your escort?

Senor Ricardo Arena.

Thank you.

That's all for now.

Witness may stand down.

Court is adjourned until 10 o 'clock tomorrow morning.

All right.

My men have checked every house within a radius of two blocks of Vanessa's

place, and no one will admit having phoned in that stolen car report to the

police. But the call came in at headquarters and was listed as

hour after Vanessa's plane landed.

Convenient, wasn't it?

The anonymous caller knew when Vanessa was due to arrive, was certain the body

was in the car, and made sure the police would find it.

Right there.

So.

Come. Come, darling. We are ready.

And be prepared for a big surprise.

My special friend.

You have read, of course, of the great good fortune that has come to us. To my

friend Vyacheslav Kertsnov and the world.

In the discovery of the long lost masterpiece of the jeweler's art.

The Tsarina's tiara.

And my good friend and patron, Pauline Thorson, was married to Alexei

Odossa. He was an officer in the Tsarina's Guard.

Pauline has purchased the tiara for three quarters of a million dollars.

There you are, Sonia, honey. A check for 750 ,000 simoleons.

Certified.

And now, Pauline, for three quarters of a million dollars, this you deserve.

Oh, no, no, no, honey.

It's not for me.

You'll never see this on my head.

No, I make this a gift to the art museum in memory of my late husband.

Oh, bravo!

Bravo!

Mr. DeVry, can you tell us the substance of your conversation with the defendant

on the occasion of his call to you from Rio de Janeiro?

He said he had received a cable from Doro.

That Doro had made threats against our business.

And what was your reaction to that?

I was appalled. I couldn't understand it any more than Gerard did.

Well, why didn't you see Doro yourself and say to the defendant to trip?

Gerard warned me against that.

I knew Dora by reputation, but Gerard, Mr. Van Ness, had run into

him. In Montevideo, I believe it was, and perhaps in other places.

And my partner felt that I would be exposing our company, as well as myself,

I was seen with a man we both knew to be a criminal.

In other words, the defendant, Gerard Van Ness.

first insisted on dealing with Doro himself, then insisted on your not

with him, and then broke off his own trip unexpectedly and hurried home to

defend himself and his business against blackmail.

Those are your words.

I did not say that. At your leisure, Mr. DeVry, I invite you to study the

transcript of your own testimony.

You'll find out that that's exactly what you said.

Thank you, sir. Your witness.

I have no questions at this time.

I have nothing further, Your Honor.

The prosecution rests.

If, uh, Your Honor, please.

Is that the defense exhibit you were expecting, Mr. Mason? Yes, Your Honor.

The Tsarina's tiara.

Your Honor, I was under the impression that we were trying a murder case here.

I fail to see how this particular grandstand maneuver by defense can

one iota. Are you entering an objection, Mr. Berger? Yes, I am, Your Honor, very

strenuously. Anything concerning this tiara is per se irrelevant and

immaterial. Your Honor, defense maintains that the damning series of

circumstances implicating the defendant in the murder were deliberately

contrived. In other words, Gerard Van Ness was framed.

But until very recently, I must confess, the motive for such an action eluded

me. Now I believe that using the Tsar in his tiara and an expert witness, I can

prove to the courts and hopefully to Mr. Berger's entire satisfaction a clear

-cut motive for this action against Mr. Van Ness. Well, in that case, Mr. Mason,

subject to our right to object further at any stage, I agree.

Thank you, Mr. Berger.

Subject, of course, further to my right to approve the expert you select.

Who is your witness, Mr. Mason?

The defendant, Your Honor, Mr. Gerard Van Ness.

Now then, Mr. Van Ness, this is the widely publicized find of the decade,

Tsarina's tiara. You have, of course, heard about it. Yes.

So far, a dozen other experts have carefully examined it and pronounced it

genuine. Do you agree?

They are all respected men.

And the diamonds are genuine?

Obviously. And the metals are gold and silver? I would say so, yes.

This, then, is the genuine lost tsariness tiara? I have no reason to

Take a good look at it, Mr. Van Ness, as you would if rendering an appraisal

through your jeweler's glass, as an expert witness.

It's a fake, a fraud.

Your Honor,

this witness is contradicting himself.

He first testified that the diamonds were genuine.

Well, they are real, perfectly real. But this, the tiara, it is a hoax. This is

not the Tsarina's tiara.

Would you explain, Mr. Van Ness? Because I recognize these stones. They are from

the Quetzal Shrine in Central America.

You are certain of that?

Absolutely. I can show you the points of identification in my book.

It's clear to me.

There, Your Honor.

You have the motive for murder.

Someone at all costs had to prevent Gerard Van Ness, the one man in the

who could have exposed the tiara as a fraud, from examining it.

And what better way than to have him arrested for murder?

Now, there's a fairly questionable theory, Your Honor.

So far, we only have this self -interested opinion of one man, the

that this tiara is a fake.

And that's against the opinion of an entire board of experts.

There is only one way, Your Honor, and only one place to determine the truth or

falsity of my client's testimony.

Well, I don't get it.

How could anybody steal these jewels without the security chief knowing about

it? My big guards are constantly on duty, day and night.

If anyone even come near, he would be shot on the spot.

You see?

Buried under the stones of the floor, alarm devices.

Only someone with a chart would know where to step.

I see.

The entire cage, the stand, all electrically wired.

I repeat, senor.

No one could approach where we are without setting off the alarm. I

But as long as we're here, do you mind if he examines the stones?

Certainly.

Senhores, these stones are worthless, based imitations of diamonds.

Your Honor, before examining the witness, I want to thank the district

for delaying his cross -examination of the defendant to enable the defense to

show how Mr. Van Ness became the scapegoat in a magnificent hoax.

Now, Mr. Gerstner.

I am not going to point out the obvious.

Well, I was victimized.

Victimized. Please, sit down.

Excuse me, your Excellency. I was victimized like a serf in a salt mine.

were involved from the beginning.

An integral part of the plan.

You claim to have taken the tiara out of Russia. So you lie.

It's obvious that you knew what you were doing every minute.

No, no, no, no, no. I was talked into it, yes.

I protested. I said, there's a dishonest, I said. But she, she enticed

wine and cagiar and sturgeon and promises.

Look, she swore it was foolproof. She never told me about this Bolshevik Doro.

never heard from Doro. I, I, I, I haven't heard from nothing.

That's a touching speech, Mr. Gadsnoff.

Now, I'm going to excuse you from the stand temporarily to give you time to

consider what you've just said under oath.

And I repeat, he is a liar.

But what can you expect from a son of a peddler?

A Cossack, he calls himself.

He sings like a peasant, he drinks like a peasant, and he lies like a peasant.

Madame Glinova, isn't it a fact that you made the hoax possible?

I curse the day.

In the tongue of my blessed father, I curse the day I come to you.

I look for a lawyer to save me from a liar and a cheat.

And I come to you, my protector.

You mean you did not know that the tiara had been planted by Vyacheslav

Gertsnov? No!

All I wanted was to get back a few hundred dollars that he owed me. But no.

It was you who would not sue him.

It was you who have to take me to the appraiser.

None of this would have happened without you.

And because of you, we were told that the tiara was real.

I know. I told you that Tiara was genuine, Mr. Mason.

But after ten experts agreed, it is regrettable, but certainly it is

understandable. I was in error.

After all, I'm only a designer. If Gerard had been there at the time, it

have been different.

Exactly. But he wasn't there.

The great find had to be installed in a permanent museum exhibit before he

returned.

And you and I, Mr. DeVry, were the instruments they used to perpetrate the

We were a part of their plan.

A plan that nearly succeeded.

But when Doral read the newspaper announcement, his greed caused three

happen.

First, it made him demand more money after he had already been paid for

the jewels.

Second, it obviously threatened to expose the fraud. Third, it...

Threatened to bring the defendant, Gerard Van Ness, back too soon.

Of course.

When they came first to you and then to me, they did not know that Dorot would

call Gerard.

Now... Who was the mastermind in all this?

Someone who expected me to take the tiara to Joachim de Vries, partner in a

respected company.

Someone who knew Dorot.

and had planned the theft of the diamonds.

Someone who knew Van Ness intended to return unexpectedly.

Someone who had access to the house and to the car.

There were several people who knew all these things, and so had reason to kill

Mr. Dorough.

But there was only one person who had a reason for framing Gerard Van Ness.

This one was the only person who knew that Van Ness, among all men, would

recognize and identify the jewels.

And that person...

Was you, Mr. DeVry?

I did not know Nils Doro. I'd never even met him. You must believe that, Mr.

Mason. I cheated, but I did not murder.

Didn't you, Mr. DeVry?

Then just explain this.

Interpol could not identify the man who met Doro at Montevideo.

Only two persons, the defendant and Nils Doro, knew of that meeting.

But you knew about it.

And in an attempt to incriminate your partner, you told me about it. You could

have learned of that meeting in only one way.

From the man you killed.

It would have worked.

And harmed no one.

I climbed every step.

I overlooked nothing.

But you did, Mr. DeVrim.

You overlooked human greed.

It's beautiful.

But I couldn't. I just simply couldn't. Oh, please, you must.

I owe you people so much. My life, everything.

You know, there's one remarkable thing about this case.

You mean the way Galinova and Vyacheslav the Cossack set you up as their patsy?

Even more remarkable than that.

The way your...

Ex -partner had everything so perfectly worked out.

He had to have exactly the right stones to duplicate the tiara.

And he had to have a buyer picked out of ability and inclination.

Madame Odessa, uh, Thorson.

And the funny thing is, nobody would have been hurt.

Kalinova, Vyacheslav, Debris would have split three quarters of a million.

Madame Odessa would have been happy with her gift to the museum. The museum

would have been happy.

And Mr. Van Ness would never have been the wiser.

But the way it turned out...

Everyone was hurt.

Everyone, Medela.

And she may be, when she pays income tax on that ring.