Original subtitles

Mars alone.

Dad, listen, my date fainted out on me.

Do you want to go out and grab some ribs and just chew the fat, father and son?

Feeling kind of lonely, huh?

Lonely? Me? No.

I just thought maybe you'd want to get out of the house for a while.

Well, Steve, I tell you the truth, I'm a little snowed under with work here.

Look, if you're all right, I have this serious sickness to diagnose, you know.

Okay, well, maybe next time, huh?

Okay, son. Bye.

Why did you grow that silly mustache?

You look like a vacuum cleaner attachment.

And don't slouch, for heaven's sake.

You get the suitcase. I have a bad back.

Dora, it is good to see you.

You too, baby brother.

Do you

remember... Snuffles. Ruffles. Ruffles. Say hello, Ruffles.

He picked that up all by himself.

Don't know where.

I thought you weren't due in town till tomorrow.

There was one place left on the Concord. I made them give it to me. It's good

owning a travel agency.

Didn't Marcel call?

Who? Our man in Geneva. About my being early?

No. He's fired.

Well, no, don't fire anybody. Those misunderstandings happen, Dora.

You're still reading mysteries?

They're rotting your brain.

Do you mind?

I had my fill of Mozart when I was in Austria.

Ah, that's better.

Now I feel at home. I'm going to have to stay with you until my new house is

ready. Well, that's nice. How long will that be?

Tomorrow. Oh, great, great.

Silly house had termites. They gassed it today. Apparently the fumes need a day

to disperse.

Well, look at this. We have a whole evening together, just the two of us.

Hello?

It's Helsinki.

Only be a sec. After we can have a nice visit and do some catching up. Just the

two of us.

Hi,

Steve. Listen, I feel badly. You called in your time of need. I was busy.

Listen, son, work can wait. Come on over. I'm here for you.

Dad, what's going on?

Are you alone?

Well, actually, you know what?

Your aunt Dora's here to visit.

Dad, I'm sorry. You're on your own.

Steve?

Steve?

Will you mind not using the phone? I'm expecting Rio to call.

Well, you're using that phone.

Well, I'd have to hear a number for callbacks.

If you're not busy, you can take my bag into the guest room.

Dora, I don't have a guest room. I turned it into an office.

Mark, with my back, I must have a bed. I can't sleep on the sofa. No human

being could sleep on that sofa.

Sloan.

Got the phone. Got the phone.

We both got back to home.

Uh -oh. Too late.

Floyd, you're up. I thought it was for me, but it's the hospital.

Something about the blood transfusion.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I had no idea it was so far.

You know, Dora, maybe you should learn to drive.

It's hard getting around L .A. without a car.

I've never had any trouble getting people to give me rides.

This is still loose. He swore to me he'd have it cemented down. He? Oh, my

realtor, Mr. Wardell.

He's a charming man, but honestly, the memory of a sieve. He never returns a

call.

You know, maybe we'd better wait until the exterminators remove that seal. They

use some pretty strong gases on termites, cyanide being the least of it.

don't be silly. They said it'd be perfectly safe after 24 hours.

This says it's been 20 hours.

They made a tomato.

Huh?

Look at that view.

Oh, that idiot.

Who?

Mr. Wardell, I told him to get antique bronze curtain rods.

What do you think of this?

What's that supposed to be?

I have no idea.

I'm thinking of using it as a koi pond.

Oh, fish in the entry hall. That's interesting.

Hey, look here.

The whole house has a central vacuum system. Oh, that's handy.

Oh, look at that. What?

The fireplace.

Cozy. But it's streaked with soot. Oh, it's absolutely disfigured.

Well, soot streaks and fireplaces kind of go together.

Not in my house.

Wood -paneled den.

Vaulted ceilings.

Walking closet.

dead. Oh, my God. This is Harvey Wardell.

Well, no wonder you didn't call.

What are you doing here? Any realtor knows not to walk into a house that's

been fumigated.

Dora, the man's had a fatal accident.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm upset.

Or could be foul play.

Oh, no. Don't try to comfort me.

Obviously, he came to check on the house and had a heart attack.

Or a stroke.

And I called him names. I don't deserve comfort.

I'm not trying to comfort you.

Look at this tear in his pants pocket.

And when is the last time you walked into a closet, left the light off, and

closed the door behind yourself?

He forgot the phone jack in the bathroom and that paint job.

That's his idea of muted eggshell? He did nothing.

Dora, the man's dead.

Oh, sure. The perfect excuse.

Can I borrow the phone?

Athens may try to call me.

Well, they'll keep trying. Greeks aren't quitters.

Just a moment.

Yes, Mr. Dr. Sloan? Dad, Steve.

Where are you?

I'm out front.

This is her house, isn't it?

Is she in there?

Yes,

doctor, I concur.

Tell the surgeon I think the recommended procedure would be to go straight in.

Don't put it off. You understand what I'm saying? Go straight in.

Aunt Dora.

Steve.

I haven't heard from you since last Christmas.

Thank you for the five dollars.

Must you slouch like your father?

Are you still a captain?

A lieutenant.

You've been demoted?

I never was a captain, Aunt Dora.

Are you married yet?

Not yet.

Are you?

Not yet.

Lieutenant, the bug guy's here.

Oh, good. I want to talk to him. So do I.

Aunt Dora, why don't you stay here? I'm sure you have some more nits to pick.

Well, it's not like I'm a chronic complainer, but I should give that

another try.

Good.

Lieutenant Sloan, Shep Crookton.

You did the extermination here?

Put up the tent, gassed it, took it down. Why?

Did you make sure there was no one in the house before you gassed it?

Since here I did, I must have.

There's the dead man in there. It looks like he died from the fumigation.

Hey, I don't inch by inch a house that's been vacant for a year.

Besides, we were two hours putting the tent up. He's the careless one.

Well, he's been punished.

That's all. You can go.

Steve, there's a very big question going unanswered here.

When can Dora move in that house?

Well, it depends.

If this turns out to be an accident, she can move in right away.

But if it is a murder, we're going to have to seal the house off while we

investigate. What's to investigate?

I mean, it's an accident. It's obvious.

Wait a minute. You're the one who noticed the torn pants pocket and the

closet door.

You're the one who said foul play.

I was wrong. I admit it. I'm not proud.

Look, Dad, get a grip.

This could be over in a couple of days.

Certainly no more than a month.

A month? The door's going to be in my house for a month?

Klaus, ich weigere nicht, dass du dir in Florida ein Auto mietest.

Es ist besser, wenn ich eine Lumesine mit.

Mark, don't, Klaus.

Jawohl. Ja.

And unless it turns out not to be a murder, I'm stuck with her for a month.

hadn't been a ruffle.

Mark, he's your sister.

She's your own flesh and blood. I love her.

Barely. I just... She's hard to be with, you know?

I can't use my bed or my bag.

Hi, all. Hey, Steve. Steve, the autopsy report. Uh -huh. Well, he died of

poisoning. Cyanide and other gas was commonly used on termites.

So it was an accident.

He also had a hefty dose of phenobarbital in his bloodstream.

You mean he was drugged?

And left in the house to be gassed.

It's a murder.

We have sealed off the scene.

I can't have her for another month.

I can't. I can't do it.

There's a space by the entrance.

See? Where is it? Right there.

This one?

H. Wardell, that's the dead man's parking place.

I don't think he's expected.

Oh, this is a real fun time.

Yeah, coming.

Can I help you?

Everyone, I'm Doris Sloan.

Mr. Wardell's client.

I bought the Ferncrest house and I should be needing help with it. Yes, we

a little help on the property that my sister bought. I can call somebody if

you'd like to have a seat. Thank you very much, Doris.

You, Genevieve Ducasse, are my new realtor.

Me?

Listen, that was Harvey's listing.

I've never even seen the house.

Well, you're going to see a lot more of it than you bargained for.

There is a bathroom that needs a phone jack.

There is a leak in the service porch.

Excuse me.

Are you Mr. Wardell? Were you Mr. Wardell's secretary?

Yes, I'm Lena Prosser.

You know, my sister and I were the ones who found Mr. Wardell.

Were you with him for a very long time?

Too long.

Oh, I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but I thought I was going to learn

real estate here. All I learned was coffee.

Coffee? Yeah, he mainlined it.

He'd come in mornings with his thermos full of perfectly good coffee, and he'd

dump it out.

Then I had to have a fresh pot ready. Then I had to have another pot ready to

put in his thermos when he went out. I should have been a waitress. They get

tipped.

You don't sound as if you thought too much of him.

Oh, well, he could be sweet, but, you know, I was his clean -up crew.

If a customer was unhappy, like that guy, that Mr. Macklin who tried to hit

it was me who had to calm him down. It was also me who had to cover with his

wife when he, you know... Fool around?

Yeah, with customers.

You know, the husband's too busy to look at home, so the wife does the scouting.

Well, he would meet the women in empty houses.

And, um, naturally, when the husband started to wonder where their wives

well, they'd call here.

What did you tell him?

I could honestly say I didn't know who Harvey was with.

He didn't tell me. He kept the details in his appointment book.

My God, what am I doing?

What? You're talking about Mr. Wardell. No, making coffee.

I don't have to do this anymore.

I'm free.

Excuse me, that lady who was talking to Mrs. Dacasse?

Yeah, she dragged her off to look at some house she bought. Who was she?

First person I ever thought, Browbie Genevieve.

You must need this fireplace.

Dora, Mr. Koss, ladies, please, out now.

Mark, it's my house. I have to show Mr. Koss what needs fixing.

Keep it good in that fireplace.

Fireplaces do get dirty.

That one was clean.

Dora, do you remember? We talked about this. This is a murder scene. Nothing

be touched.

Who's touching? We're looking.

The paint in this room is a disaster.

Let me get the light switch.

No, don't touch anything.

The fingerprints.

I gathered fingerprints were the word, so I used it.

That's good. Good.

But that's not ladies.

They were supposed to use muted eggshell.

They used off -muted eggshell.

Here, please.

May I have yours, please?

I don't have one. It wasn't my listing.

Oh, uh, realtors have these lock boxes so there'll be a key at the side. Could

you open that, please?

I don't have the combination.

But all agents have the combination so anyone can show the house.

Usually, but Harvey wasn't a team player.

He wouldn't let us show his listing, so he had his own lock box.

Well, this is a beginning anyway.

Adora, let's get it clear.

Under no circumstances...

Can you wait? This is important.

Hello?

Alvaro.

You're Mr.

Worsdale. I understand he wasn't exactly a credit to the firm.

Sure he was. He brought in some great listings.

But, I mean, he did leave some unhappy customers, didn't he? The guy came in

last week and calls the scene Mr.

Macklin. That was over pretty quickly.

Who told you about that?

Miss Prosser.

Lena?

Don't let her victim act fool you. Little Lena is planning to get rich off

Harvey. She is?

She brought a sexual harassment suit against him and the company.

Now that he's dead, there's nobody to testify against her, so she's kindly

offered to settle for two million.

That's odd. You know, she complained about the job, not Mr. Wardell.

Oh, Lena loved her job.

For two years, she was Harvey's mother hen.

God help anybody but her who tried to touch his...

Thermos. You mean that nobody else touched that?

Not ever.

Excuse me.

I've used the phone.

I'm speaking Barcelona.

Steve, I know who the killer is.

Wardell's secretary.

I know how she gave him the phenobarbital.

You want to check on that thermos. She's the only one who ever even touched it.

Do you know what this means, my friend?

It means I'm free.

Free at last.

Dolores, you look radiant.

Well, thank you, and so do you.

You must be getting on better with your sister.

No, I am getting rid of her.

How can you talk that way about your sister?

Well, that's right. You never met her, have you? No.

Listen, she's cooking dinner tonight. You want to come over and make it a

goodbye party?

Hmm. Shouldn't she know I'm coming?

I'll invite Jack and Amanda, too.

I need people around me.

That'll be three friends.

Dr. Sloan?

Dr. Sloan, where have you been all morning?

Make that four friends.

And someday we're going to build a little home for two or three or four

or more in the land.

When we were kids, I always wanted to sing, and I was always trying to get him

to sing. You know, we never wanted to sing. And when I finally get him to

he was so glad. Now, aren't you glad you did that? I was real glad.

Praise him. He's so needy.

He's driving you crazy. I love her.

She's a good cook. I hope the puff pastries aren't too hot. Puff pastries

favorite. You are.

Norman Brink.

The administrator.

It's odd that a man in your position would have such a poor posture.

Someone ironed that shirt.

Why didn't you bring your wife along?

Oh, I'm not married. My mother likes to iron. She lives with me.

Well, you could bring your girlfriend.

I really don't have one.

Boyfriend?

No. No boyfriend.

Next time, don't be shy. Bring him.

And you're Dolores. We've spoken on the phone. That's me.

Mmm, these are delicious.

Easy. You don't need it.

And your name? I'm Jack Stewart.

Mark is supervising my residence.

Does everyone at your hospital stand like an ape?

Can everyone see her? Now, that's great posture.

Look and learn.

Dinner will be ready in three minutes. Okay.

Look and learn?

What are you kidding me? It's the ballet.

What did I do?

Ah! Princess!

Princess!

Hi, everybody.

Yes, it's it. I'm sorry for interrupting.

Oh, Steve, I'll get your plate.

Oh, thank you, Aunt Dora. I just had a cheeseburger in the car.

I just had some news for Dad.

The laptops are back?

Right. Excuse me, welcome.

So, what did they find in the coffee thermos?

Coffee? What else did they say?

It was still hot after two days.

That's a good thermos.

I'm not asking you for a thermos commercial. I'm asking you to prove that

Wardell's secretary gave him the Fina Barber, though. I can't. All they found

the thermos was coffee.

She's not the killer.

Could be anybody.

Look,

check Wardell's window.

Talk to that Macklin, the angry customer.

And look in Wardell's appointment book. She only had a date with Les.

I have four orders for coffee.

Decaf for you two, I think.

Well, there's no mention of an appointment book at any evidence

So, Wardell didn't have it on him when he died.

Maybe he left it at home.

Well, that's my next stop. I'm going to go interview the widow.

First night on the sofa, my back went.

Now my neck's gone.

Well, Dora always was a pain in the neck. Oh, yeah.

You know, the funny thing was, she wasn't always that way. When we were

she was great.

She was such fun in those days. We used to joke a lot. We sang together a lot.

Aunt Dora? Yeah.

We sang together some last night.

Just like old times.

Of course, in the music, Aunt, didn't she?

Dora, yeah.

Well, the quicker we find her killer, the sooner we'll have her out of your

hair. What about Wardell's car?

I checked. No appointment book.

Did he have one of those non -spill coffee mugs in there?

Yeah, I think so. Why?

At his office yesterday, I noticed coffee color stains on the ground by his

parking space.

Meaning?

Wardell liked his coffee fresh.

And when he pulled in the parking place, he used to dump the old stuff, and then

he'd refill the mug later from a fresh -brewed thermos.

That's why we didn't find any traces in the thermos.

The killer put the phenobarbital in the mug.

So then Wardell just poured coffee on top of it and drugged himself.

So that gives us the how. Maybe that'll give us the who.

Yeah, but Wardell drove a convertible.

Everybody had access to that mug.

So we've got some suspects to check out. Wardell's secretary, certainly the

customer who assaulted him.

Right after I interviewed the widow. Isn't she near Beverly Hills?

Yeah, why?

Come on, don't do it so fast.

All right, all right, Brent.

All right, cut, cut, straighten it out, straighten it out. I am. Straighten it

out.

Thank you for driving me to the design center. Everybody says it's the place to

go for furniture.

Wait a minute. This isn't a design center. This is somebody's home.

Uh, Ann Dora, I've got an appointment here. Would you mind waiting?

Well, I'm certainly not going to let the time go to waste.

Alex Hypertrovich?

Mrs. Wardell?

Lieutenant Sloan?

Ah, yes.

You said you don't think Harvey's death was accidental.

No, ma 'am. This is a murder investigation.

I'm not surprised.

Harvey was one man Will Rogers never met. Come on in.

Thank you.

I'm sorry. I didn't realize.

This is Mr. Michael Shand, my personal trainer.

Michael was just going to make us a cup of tea.

Want some?

Uh, actually, do you have any coffee?

No, not in my house. Not anymore.

Tea will be great.

Mrs. Wardell, you don't, uh, seem terribly affected by your husband's

We all grieve in our own ways.

You said you had some questions?

Yes, your, uh, husband had an appointment book.

Might have left it at home.

Oh. Not a chance. It went with him everywhere.

Excuse me.

I must use your phone right away. Mine says low bat.

Who is she?

She's my aunt.

You brought your aunt with you?

Where is she calling?

Moscow. Send me the bill.

Oh, no.

Well, they're not going to get away with it.

What?

Oh, this tour company.

They charge top dollar for flophouse hotels and Chapter 11 airlines.

You'd do better punching holes in a box and mailing yourself.

Aunt Dora.

I can get you to Brazil or Fiji first class for less. Look, Aunt Dora, this is

police investigation. You are not with the police.

You get what I'm driving at?

Oh, Mike, we need another teacup.

Who is that?

The cook?

It's her trainer. He helps her work out.

Do you think you can do the same for me?

No.

Fiji and Brazil.

You carrying your grief around the world, are you?

All right.

I don't miss him any more than he would miss me.

For ten years, he had me cook and keep house without a vacation.

He didn't need one. He got his R &R every day with his women.

Oh, you knew, huh?

At night, he'd leave that appointment book on the dresser.

Well, now he's dead.

And I will take my vacation.

And I will take my pleasure. And I will not be serving coffee again as long as I

live. I have it all figured out. And Dora... Switzerland.

Snow, chalets, cold nights, hot fondue.

Interested? And Dora... You can even bring your trainer person. By one

class fare, you get the second ticket free.

Look, we better go. I'll come back at a more convenient time.

Oh, now is convenient.

Not for me, it's not.

Look, I'll call you, and don't leave town.

You going on your break?

Yes. Mark had a few questions for Waddell's secretary.

I said I'd speak to her.

Is that in Beverly Hills?

Uh -huh.

No, no, no. Not here. Get closer. No, come on. Up here. Really? Oh, yes.

It's always like that.

No, that would have been better.

Oh, here.

I still wish you'd rethink about that. Excellent.

Just leave him.

Quick workout, five minutes a day, just to let others know how to get your

posture. They'd never forget you.

I don't doubt that.

We want to see Miss Ducasse.

She's on the phone.

Have a seat.

I would like to see Lena Prosser.

I'm Lena.

Oh, how do you do?

I'm Dr. Amanda Bentley. I work with Dr. Sloan, and he spoke with you yesterday.

Is there someplace that we could talk?

You, uh, you didn't mention your sexual harassment suit to Dr. Sloan.

Well, I've offered to settle, and as part of that, I said I'd keep the whole

thing quiet.

Well, Wardell's death certainly doesn't leave anyone to testify against you, now

does it?

What are you driving at? Did you kill him? Me?

Rumor has it that somebody put phenobarbital in his coffee. Dora, we

here to make accusations, and...

As a matter of fact, you are not here to do this at all. And look, Ms. Ducasse

is free.

Ms. Ducasse, what's being done about my list of complaints?

You never actually gave me a list. You just complained.

All the same, I've got an idea.

Harvey made a slide presentation of the property. It'll remind you where the

problems are.

Make the list.

And I'll look at it when I get back.

And you think I put the phenobarbital in his thermos?

Well, not in the thermos. It was in the mug in his car.

Well, don't look at me then, because when Harvey was here, I was here. He

even let me go to the ladies' room. How could I get out into the parking lot to

fool with that mug?

Why don't you check out a real suspect, like that customer who attacked him,

that Larry Macklin?

Harry Macklin, why is that name so familiar?

He's in a TV commercial.

He owns that chain of drugstores, a pharmacy barn.

A pharmacist?

Do you have his address?

I'm not allowed to give out information about clients.

Well, certainly under the circumstances... Sorry, I compromised my

Oh, immediately.

I'm finding too many things wrong with the house to remember.

Bring your pad, I'll dictate and you make a list.

I'm busy.

Not like you're about to be.

See, in the picture, the fireplace is clean.

Well, now it's all clean.

And this company is going to clean it up.

And while they're at it, there is no phone jack in the bathroom.

That's the idea.

Here you go. Wardell's home address, his office address, and the house Wardell

sold him.

Now, can you do me a favor?

How big?

Just a lift to the design center.

You got a car.

Not for me.

You sure?

Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Mark.

That's okay. You know, I asked around the office, and Lena never left her desk

the whole time Wardell was there, which means there's no way she could have

gotten near that mug.

Damn. We're not getting any closer.

But listen to this.

Larry Macklin, the one who assaulted Wardell? Yeah.

He's a pharmacist.

Defeated Barberto. Mm -hmm. And Jack's on his way right now to see Macklin.

And believe it or not, I'm glad your sister was there with me.

Really? Mm -hmm.

Lena was not going to give me Macklin's address.

But then Dora insisted that Lena look at a slide presentation of the house.

And Dora said in this slide, the fireplace is clean.

Now it's full of soot. While they were doing that, they gave me plenty of time

alone with a Rolodex.

Fireplace was clean?

In the slide it was.

Dora's house has been vacant for a year.

But something was burned in that fireplace since the sales slide was

Okay, come on straight back.

Come on, come on.

All right, now straighten it out.

Come on.

Okay,

I got to do it.

I am so glad we're doing this first.

Then later on, you can come with me to the design center and help me pick out a

sofa. Yeah, we owe it all to my friend Amanda.

Excuse me, Ms. Macklin? That's me.

How you doing? I'm Dr.

Jack Stewart.

I'd like to talk to you about Harvey Wardell.

Why ask me about him?

You attacked him, everyone says.

Look, doctor, if he's making some kind of insurance claim... No, no, I would

just like to know about your association with him, that's all.

It wasn't my idea to associate with him.

I wanted to sign with Genevieve Ducasse.

I brought my wife in to meet her.

Wardell introduced himself, and the next thing I know, my wife insists that I

give the listing to that nice, nice man.

Hey, where's my iced tea?

This is my wife, Sarah Beth. Honey, this is Dr. Stewart. How do you do? Whoa,

honey, where did you get that shiner?

I fell on the air. She walked in with Dore.

She has an eye like an eggplant. I can't pretend not to see it. I take it that

you weren't very satisfied with Mr. Wardell's work.

Have you seen our new house?

No. Well, come on, take a look. Come on. You're going to love this.

It's a beautiful day for a viewing, huh?

Come here.

Ocean views.

The living room was over there. The kitchen was there, the rumpus room, and

at the back, the master bedroom.

Gorgeous.

This house was right here? The day I bought it, it was.

The next morning, it was down there, blocking traffic.

The whole damn hillside slid. Any geologist could have told us it was just

matter of time.

But Wardell forgot to hire one.

Won't the insurance cover it? It's another thing Wardell forgot.

I'm still making payments. Even the land is gone.

The only thing left was a sold sign, which I took to his office and shoved

his throat.

He's the killer.

Killer? We'll set up a defense fund. After what he did, no jury will convict.

Convict? Mr.

Wardell is dead.

He was murdered.

Somebody left him in a house that was being fumigated after immobilizing him

with phenobarbital.

Phenob...

You said you were a doctor.

I am, but I'm sort of here in a non -medical, quasi -detective

kind of capacity.

Get off my land!

Your land?

It's my land.

My eminent domain, which I have a legal right to defend to the death. You got

me? To the death! You have no right to defend to the death!

Leave him alone.

And not only did the wife take it hard that Wardell was dead, but when I told

him that we knew about the phenobarbital, the guy Macklin went

That's great, Jack. I'll check him out. All right. I'll talk to you later.

My vote's Constance Wardell.

With her husband dead, she's been living it up pretty good.

And every night, that mug was right there in the garage.

Except that phenobarbital needs about 15 minutes to take effect.

See, if she'd drugged it there at home... He would have passed out at

Exactly. It took place in the office parking lot by somebody who knew where

was going, which would have been in the appointment book.

Telephone for you, Steve.

Thank you.

Lieutenant Blonde. Amigo, everyone's complaining you're unavailable for your

duties. And here I find you huddling with your son, trying yet again to solve

the murder while we pay your salary.

Norman, this is the murder that took place in my sister's house. Until this

solved, she's going to be living with me.

Take all the time you need.

Good day.

Okay. Thank you.

That was forensics.

They checked the filter bag in the central vacuum in Aunt Dora's house.

came up with ashes.

Which analysis says came from burnt paper? Let me guess.

Leatherette. Uh -huh.

Seems we've found Harvey Wardell's appointment book.

Yeah, found it. Gone up in smoke.

For God's sake, be careful.

What's the sofa doing here?

I moved it. You had it over there, which makes no sense.

Sense? The sofa should be by a lamp.

Obviously, I moved the lamp.

Oh.

Oh.

You're a kind of a sister, are you?

I mean, you grab my bed, you tie up my phone.

You boss all my friends around. You tell them how to stand and what to wear,

what to eat, where to go.

Well, I'd like to tell you something.

I'd like you to leave here in the morning.

I never thought I'd hear those words from my own brother.

I'm sorry I had to say them.

You think I don't know I'm difficult?

Paternal, controlling.

I'm a pain.

No, not a pain. More of a pain.

I drive people away.

You remember Gareth?

My boyfriend in college.

One day I told him to change his tie and he left.

I haven't dared get close to a man since then.

You know what that means, baby brother?

The closest thing I've had to a child is you.

Dora, I'm in my 60s. I don't need a parent anymore.

It keeps my life from going empty.

Your life?

Jetting around the world? Eating at fancy restaurants? Five -star hotels?

It looks so glamorous.

But it's lonely and disorienting.

I wake up every night and I don't even know where the light switch is.

I thought I'd feel at home with you.

But I will not stay anywhere where I'm not welcome.

And I won't make you wait until tomorrow.

Dora, wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Dora, I love you. You just followed the case.

May I come in?

Do you know what time it is?

I've had a fight with my brother.

Things were said that can't ever be taken back. I will not spend another

under his roof.

You're saying you want a place to stay.

Oh, don't be ridiculous.

I own a travel agency. I can put up at any hotel for free.

Good, good.

But I'm too upset to sleep, and...

I have a meeting in the morning. Perhaps you could give me one of those samples

that pharmacists get.

Wait here.

What a week.

First, my realtor was murdered.

In my house.

But what am I telling you for? He was your realtor, too.

Wardell? At least you still got a house.

Just barely.

He didn't do one thing he promised.

Wrong paint job.

Broken disposal.

And whoever did use the fireplace, whatever they burned is blocking the

I shined a flashlight up there, but all I could see were these charred pages

from some kind of notebook.

And then in the bathroom... These will help you sleep.

Oh, how can I ever thank you? Should I interest you in a cruise up the Nile?

Not tonight.

Hello? Yeah, this is...

Save yourself the trouble.

There are only notebook papers in the flue.

You were expecting me.

Something my sister said.

That it was hard to find a light switch in a strange place.

But I remember the day we were all in here together, even though you said

never been in this house, you walked straight to the light switch.

So, lucky guess.

Maybe. But it also turns out you know the combination of the lockbox.

Because this was your meeting place with Harvey Wardell.

That's why you burned that appointment book. You were in it.

Okay, I was secretly seeing Harvey.

I don't know why.

I knew who he was.

The line of women went around the block.

But he said that was all over. I was the only one.

Oh, you were.

Until the day you found him, here was Sarah Beth Macklin.

She was the one he was going to meet just a couple of hours before the

exterminators were due here.

But you broke up that tryst. I did nothing.

I went and told Larry Macklin what his wife had planned. He's the one who kept

her from going.

Very physically.

This is all circumstantial.

None of it really has me implicated in the murder.

Well, you wouldn't be if that was the only thing you had told Macklin.

And what else am I conjectured to have told him?

Oh, it's more than conjecture.

You lied.

You said you couldn't relax.

I never would have given you the phenobarbital if I'd known.

Shut up, you idiot. You want to lose your license. I've already lost my

But I'm not going to be executed on your account.

Maybe you own this house.

Now. But it was ours.

The happiest times of my life were spent with him.

But then he turned it all into a wallet.

I was just another lit thing in that appointment book.

So I drugged him.

I put him in the closet where I knew that fool exterminator wouldn't check.

And I let our house kill him.

You're right.

You were so sweet tonight, I have half a mind to live with you.

What does that mean?

Over my body dead.

Terrible grammar.

You'd think an educated man like you would speak better Spanish.