All language subtitles for Perry Mason S06E14 The Case of the Bluffing Blast.DVDRip.NonHI.en.CBS

♪♪

Excuse me. I'm looking for the office
of a newspaper... the Ladera Ledger?

Could you take me there, please?

You don't need me, ma'am. It's
just up the street. Can't miss it.

Ladera Farms is your biggest
advertiser. Does that bother you?

No! You print a story
in this rag of yours

that cuts milk sales twenty
percent in one day... twenty percent!

You trying to cut our
throat or yours, Elliot?

Read the story, Floyd.

It says the stench of ammonia gas for
blocks around the Ladera Farms plant

is so strong it's to be
regarded as a public hazard.

I warn you, Elliot.

I'll have my attorney
take you to court on this.

Make much more sense

if you had a good mechanic
go over that machinery of yours

and stop polluting the air
with leaking ammonia fumes.

I'm not gonna
take this from you!

Excuse me.

I'm Clay Elliot. May I help you?

I'm looking for the man who owns
this newspaper... Mr. Addison Blake.

Addison Blake?

I'm Linda Blake. Addison
Blake is my father.

That's impossible. Addison
Blake never had a daughter.

I beg your pardon?

He never had any children.
In fact, he was never married.

I don't understand.

Where is my father?

Addison Blake is dead.

If you were his daughter, you wouldn't
have to ask that question, would you?

You'd know that Addison
Blake was killed seven years ago.

Mr. Morescu.

Mr. Morescu.

Hi, Clay.

I gave Miss Blake room
number 22. I'll ring her for you.

Just a minute.

You were in Ladera seven years ago
when Miss Blake's father died, weren't you?

Addison Blake didn't just
die, son. He was murdered.

So I've heard more times
than I can remember.

But nobody was ever arrested and
tried. What do you know about it?

What everybody knows, I guess.
At any rate, what everybody believes.

That Charles Lambert, the
owner of the dairy, killed him?

Yup.

Charlie was the town's sort of unofficial
killer of the year, you might say.

You weren't here then.
Didn't know what he was like.

Boozing, bedeviling everybody.

Gotta give him credit, though.

He's laid off the bottle. Done a
real good job with Ladera Farms.

Why wasn't he
arrested and tried?

Seems somebody up
and gave the kid an alibi...

Man that ran the dairy.

Floyd Grant?

Nobody else but.
I'll ring her for you.

Funny.

I know Miss Blake's in her room.

She should answer.

There's nothing wrong, is there?

I don't know.

C'mon, let's see.

Gas! Let get her out of there!

Turn it off.

I started to boil
some water for tea,

then, well, I suddenly
felt very tired.

It's been a long trip,
quite exhausting.

I thought I'd lie
down first and rest.

And you're sure you
shut off the gas jet?

Yes, I turned it off.

And that window was
open. I'm sure of that.

Not much doubt about it,
is there, Sheriff Ramsey?

Someone tried
to kill Miss Blake.

Chances are she just plain forgot to
open the window and shut off that gas.

The water had boiled
over and put out the flame,

and the gas was
escaping while she slept.

Just like that?

It happens every day.

Murders and
suicides sell papers,

but accidents, mostly,
are what kill people.

Are you sure it was an accident?

Couldn't it just be that
the window was open

and someone reached in,
turned on the gas without lighting it,

closed the window
again, all from the outside.

Clay, I'm too old to
be sure of anything.

I'm just adding two
and two to get four.

Now ask yourself: who in town knew
Miss Blake arrived a few hours ago...

Who, that is, with
a reason to kill her?

There was somebody.

The only person I spoke
to - besides you, Mr. Elliot,

was that man in your office.

The man that seven years ago

supposedly gave Addison
Blake's murderer an alibi!

What?

Mr. Floyd Grant.

Two weeks ago, I sent you
orders to fix the equipment,

to get rid of that ammonia leak!

- Mr. Grant, I...
- You what?

You ordered a new driveshaft
for the standby compressor?

Oh, sure, I have
the bill right here.

Paid for and receipted
by you, Joe Italiano,

engineer for Ladera Farms.

But it was never delivered, Joe.

You signed that phoney voucher?

But I can explain. I...

Explain how you stole the money for
the driveshaft, Joe, or why you stole it?

The standby machine
is on only during the day.

I worked every night for a week
repacking this old driveshaft.

It should have stopped the leak.

But it didn't.

Elliot's newspaper's
calling for somebody's head.

Your head is on the block, Joe.

I'll pay back the money for
the driveshaft, every penny of it.

How?

Your salary's been attached
for back payment of alimony.

How do you intend to
pay the money back, Joe?

From jail?

The back pressure relief valve
on the standby compressor...

Joe, what would happen if the
valve was screwed down tight?

When the pressure hit 212,
the whole head would blow.

Releasing liquid
ammonia under pressure

in the same room with an
operating air compressor.

What then, Joe?

It would blow the
engine room sky high.

An accidental explosion.

Of course, with the insurance
money, it wouldn't cost us a cent.

We could rebuild
the engine room -

and nobody would ever
know about that driveshaft, Joe.

Nobody.

No... no.

The clock, the
automatic timer...

If it were set, say, not for tomorrow
morning as it usual is, but for 7 tonight!

7 p.m. sharp, Joe.

The place would be empty.
Nobody would be hurt.

Even those records
would be destroyed.

Oh, Mr. Grant, I...

Engine Room. Floyd Grant.

Oh, yes, Mrs. Lambert.

In your son's office, huh?

Uh-huh.

Yes, I'm talking
to him right now.

Yes, Mrs. Lambert.
I'll be right there.

Joe, a thousand dollars.

Out of the state and
away from your troubles.

7 p.m. sharp.

Mr. President, Mr. President's
young wife, and Mr. President's mother.

What is this, Sylvia, a meeting
of the Board of Directors?

This article by Clay
Elliot. You've read it?

You know I've read it, just as
you know I've taken care of it.

Don't waste my time.
Why'd you call me up here?

Last night at the
motel... that Blake girl.

What happened to her? It was
an accident, wasn't it, Floyd?

Why don't you ask your son?

Or are you afraid to bother him,

bother him to the point where
he'll go back on the bottle again?

Don't push, Floyd, don't push!

There's a limit.

You're so right,
Sylvia, there is a limit...

A statute of limitations on
perjury but not on murder!

You're a disgusting monster.

Not quite to the
manor born, Donella.

Not like your husband,
Charlie boy, isn't that so?

You know, it's a shame
he isn't drinking anymore.

That's a bottle
of real good stuff

he has stashed in the
bottom drawer of his desk.

Charles!

- You promised. You swore.
- Cha...

Addison Blake died intestate...

Without a will, without
any apparent heirs.

The State Attorney General,
after two years, acted to escheat.

Escheat?

Escheat, Miss Blake,

is the legal reversion of property
to the state in the absence of heirs.

California owns my
father's property?

No, not quite.

Sheriff Ramsey was authorized by
the court to sell the estate's assets

and deposit the monies
realized in the state treasury.

And there was the dairy,
which the Lamberts bought.

About 7,500 acres of
undeveloped grazing land

some outfit called the
Ganado Land Company

bought and leased
back to the dairy.

And the newspaper.

Clay Elliot's bucolic folly.

I bought the Ladera Ledger.

It's less than five years since the sale,
so the estate isn't permanently escheated.

You could petition to inherit.

How? Where? I haven't
even got a lawyer.

You petition where the Attorney
General maintains offices in Sacramento

or, better still,
in Los Angeles.

Just a moment.

Mrs. Holmes, would you
ring the Ladera Hotel?

A Mr. Perry Mason, he's up
on business from Los Angeles.

He'll be in court all day, but
try to can contact his secretary.

Tell her I called, and set up
an appointment for Miss Blake

for this evening... 8:00?

Yes, 8 this evening.

Maybe Perry Mason can
find the truth about this killing.

Seven years ago,
Blake and some friends,

including Floyd Grant
and Charlie Lambert,

went on a hunting trip together.

Blake was found
separated from his friends

and killed by his own gun.

The Coroner finally
ruled it accidental death.

The morning of the day
he was accidentally killed,

Blake and Lambert had a
very violent argument and fight.

Lambert swore in front of witnesses
that he'd get even with Blake.

That's all in the record, son,

including the fact that Lambert
was so drunk he passed out,

couldn't remember anything
that happened the rest of the day.

So he said... just as Floyd Grant
said that he had found Lambert out cold

and was trying to sober
him up 2 miles away

at the exact time
that Blake was killed.

A little convenient,
wouldn't you say?

The death of Addison Blake
was thoroughly investigated.

There was not and is not
one scintilla of evidence

to warrant an action against
Charles Lambert or Floyd Grant.

Evidence.

He's guilty in the eyes of the whole
community, yet to the law he's innocent.

If Mr. Grant had anything
to do with my father's death,

then wouldn't that explain his
possible fear of my unexpected arrival?

And his attempt to prevent
the reopening of the case

by a phony accidental
death of Miss Blake.

But she didn't die, and there's
no evidence it wasn't an accident.

I'm well aware of Grant's
hostility toward Miss Blake.

That's one reason why I
suggested she retain Perry Mason.

Hostility, Mr. Taylor?

Floyd Grant has informed this office
that he has proof, documented proof,

that you are not
Addison Blake's daughter,

that you are nothing more
than a fortune-hunting fraud.

Miss Blake! Oh, Miss Blake!

This came for you
by special messenger.

Thank you, Mr. Morescu.

Something wrong?

Is there anywhere I
can rent a car here?

I don't know. You
have a driver's license?

- Yes, an English one.
- Well, it's good enough, I suppose.

- Use my car. It's parked right here.
- Thank you.

Mr. Grant, I'm...
I'm just not sure...

You'd better be sure.

The engine room at the dairy,
and be on time... 7 p.m. sharp.

Hello.

Yeah, just a minute.

Uh, it's for you, Perry.

A guy by the name
of Floyd Grant.

Hello.

Mr. Mason? I just
spoke to Linda Blake.

That's right. You have an appointment
to see her sometime tonight.

It's vitally important I speak
to you before you see her.

- Can it wait?
- No, it can't wait.

I've got to see you
right now at my house.

1432 Vista Haven Road.

I'll be waiting.

Hello?

"or willful injury to the
person or property of another,

or violation of law whether
willful or negligent..."

- Perry...
- Just a moment, Paul.

"such contract is against
the policy of the law."

Now what is it, Paul?

It's almost 7.

And this guy Floyd Grant
on the phone you told us

he wanted to see you
almost immediately,

and almost immediately
was half an hour ago.

We'll finish the
brief later, Della.

I may need a witness, Paul, and
see what this Mr. Grant has to say.

- Wow!
- What was that?

The last time I heard
a sound like that,

I was on the deck of a
destroyer, in the Pacific.

The engine room blew up.

I heard somebody running.

I went to the door,
and I opened it.

A man... I never saw his face clearly...
Pulled me out of the engine room,

dragged me halfway across the
parking lot, and pushed me to the ground.

Then came...

After the explosion, this man,
whom you hardly saw, was gone -

and you drove right back here?

I wasn't thinking very
clearly, I suppose.

But I had to come back
here, don't you see?

You figured Grant was trying
to kill you, and you were furious.

Yes.

You wanted to beat
the truth out of Grant.

Oh, no.

I didn't want to...

Why did you go see
Grant the first time?

He sent for me.

He warned me that I could go to
jail if I tried to claim my father's estate

because of some man.

A man who allegedly
had documented proof

that you were not really
Addison Blake's daughter?

Yes. Mr. Grant said that he'd
arranged for me to meet this man.

Mr. Grant said that the
engine room would be empty,

that this other man insisted on
meeting me there secretly and alone.

And after the explosion,
after you'd returned here?

I rang, knocked.

There was no answer,
but the door was open.

I came in, and I
called his name.

He didn't answer.

I started to look
through the house. He...

One moment, Miss Blake.

The walking stick
you were holding...

It was just lying on the
floor, and I picked it up.

I don't know why
I did. I just did.

And you never struck
him with that walking stick?

No, no! I didn't touch him!

When I saw him, he was lying
on the floor all bloody. Ohh!

Come, Miss. Come along.

You'd better book her, Orville.

What charge?

First degree murder.

You don't believe
her story, Nelson?

Perry, that walking stick she was holding,
the one she never touched him with...

The knob on it was
covered with blood and hair.

Even if she lied
about hitting him,

it could have been a sudden
quarrel, heated anger...

considering that he'd just
made a second try at killing her.

Joe Italiano, the engineer at the dairy,
swears the explosion couldn't be rigged.

It was a one-in-a-million
accidental short circuit.

Yes, but Linda Blake
didn't know that, Sheriff.

All she knew was this
Grant sent her out there

and then the joint blew up.

If he sent her, Mr. Drake.

No matter how you
reason it, she's in trouble.

She'll need help...
legal help, Perry.

She has it.

You?

Yes.

You referred her
to me, remember?

Here, Paul.

Take my car keys. You
can drop me off at the hotel.

I'll have Della leave word
where you can find me.

After I do what?

After you find out what you can
about refrigeration equipment,

specifically how the machinery at
the Ladera Farms engine room worked

and if there's any other
equipment in the area like it.

And, of course, after you do a little
digging on Mr. Joe Italiano personally.

And how soon do you want all
the answers? Will an hour do?

Oh, no rush. Take two hours.

Did you see her?

Mm-hmm.

Linda Blake was very grateful
that you'd agreed to represent her.

I assured her you'd be in
sometime in the morning.

Get the answers I wanted?

Practically a full deposition.

Question... "Why did you
wait over six and a half years

after the death of Addison Blake to
come forward and file a claim as his heir?"

Answer... "Addison Blake was just
a name to me until two months ago."

What Linda told me, she thought
her father died during World War II.

She didn't find out the truth until she
was going over her mother's private papers

after her mother died a few
months ago in an accident.

A wartime romance. Both parties
agreed it was a bad mistake.

A quick wedding, an
equally quick divorce.

She was too proud to tell
her husband she was pregnant

and later too ashamed to tell
her daughter about the divorce.

That explains why Addison
Blake died without making out a will.

These back issues help,
but they don't tell enough.

Della.

Go to the County Hall of
Records when they opens and, uh...

Get the entire escheat
proceedings, a copy of all the records.

And what you can't find
out from the records...

Have Paul Drake's
office find out.

If you will note, please, counselor,
exactly five minutes short of two hours.

- Hi, Clay.
- Hi, Paul.

Well?

There's another ammonia
compressor in town,

exactly like the
one that blew up.

We have a date in the morning
with the engineer who runs it.

What about Joe Italiano,
the Ladera Farms engineer?

Well, he was in a bar, drinking
like there was no tomorrow,

then all of a sudden he gets up
and runs out just before the explosion.

- I think I can guess why.
- Go ahead, guess.

A woman came into the
bar looking for someone.

She was very upset.

The woman was Donella
Lambert... Mrs. Charles Lambert.

It was after she left that brother Joe
Italiano took off like a scared rabbit.

Donella... Donella.
That name rings a bell.

Yes, here it is.

"Miss Donella Wynne, private
secretary to the late Addison Blake."

The same person.

She married Lambert a
few months after Blake died.

From what I understand, she's the
one who finally straightened him out,

put him on the wagon.

Well, he must have come
"unput" and fallen off that wagon

because the man she was looking for in
the bar was her husband Charles Lambert.

My husband's not well,
Mr. Mason. He's in bed.

And under specific
instructions from our physician

that he is not to be disturbed.

I trust it's nothing serious.

The explosion at the plant...
Naturally it upset him badly.

I believe the doctor
referred to it as shock.

I thought possibly it might
have been a hangover.

My husband doesn't
drink... Hasn't in five years.

That why you went
looking for him in a bar?

Donella, call our
attorney right now.

Your son will very likely be
subpoenaed for the hearing, Mrs. Lambert,

so I'd still find out
what he has to say.

Perhaps you'd better wait
for the hearing, Mr. Mason.

What I have to say I'll tell the

authorities, with the
advice of my attorney.

Good night, Mr. Mason.

No, no. I told the sheriff.

I told the sheriff it
had to be an accident.

Unless we can prove that someone
deliberately planned to kill Miss Blake

using the Ladera Farms
compressor to accomplish it,

she could go to the gas chamber.

Joe, if you don't mind,

I thought you might be able to
help us with a couple of experiments.

Why, sure. Go
ahead. Glad to help.

Joe, let's suppose this is the
engine room at Ladera Farms.

Now, someone's tampered
with the timing clock.

Instead of the standby compressor
being set to go on in the morning,

it's been set to go on
now at 7:00 in the evening.

You...

You're wasting your time.

There's nothing you can do that
will make the compressor blow.

As an expert, I'm
sure you're right.

However... Okay, Paul, close it.

Let's just say that the machine
can be made to explode.

Now where would you start?

With the valve that
Mr. Drake has just closed?

I told you no. It's impossible.

With this valve?

Look, this thing's
no toy, you know.

There's liquid ammonia inside.

Now suppose this liquid
ammonia were to escape

at, say, 212 pounds of pressure.

Would the electric motor on the
compressor set off an explosion?

I...

Well, the...

No, no, it couldn't happen.

But if it could, how
long would it take?

You guys, you don't know
what you're doin' in here!

Maybe not, but we do have
an idea about your back alimony

and the salary attachment.

And the fact that you were over 300
bucks in the hole to the local bookie

and that you paid him off
late yesterday with new bills.

Did Grant pay you
to fix that compressor

so the explosion would
happen a little after 7?

A man she can't identify

pulled Linda Blake away from
that engine room just after 7:00.

Was that you, Joe?

Joe, if that man was you

and you knew that place was going
to blow up in a matter of seconds,

saving that girl's life
was an act of heroism,

not the act of an
accomplice to a murder.

Get away from that switch!

Joe, the ammonia was drained
from the compressor an hour ago.

There never has been any danger.

Ohh.

Five years ago, in the hospital, I was
going to be operated on in the morning.

I was... scared,
crying like a baby.

The guy in the next
bed, he talked to me.

He... He made me hold on to
a Bible, and he talked to me.

"You're not going
up there alone, Joe."

Charlie kept telling
me that all night.

This Charlie who
befriended you in the hospital,

- was that Charles Lambert?
- Yeah.

When Mr. Lambert's wife came into
the bar last night looking for him, I...

You thought you had unknowingly
helped Grant set a deathtrap for Lambert?

- Yeah.
- But it wasn't Charles Lambert.

It was Linda Blake you
rescued from that explosion.

You've got to believe me.

I thought Grant just
wanted to collect insurance.

I didn't know he
wanted to kill somebody!

That's the truth!

The truth!

Miss Blake, I've asked
Mr. Mason, your attorney,

to be here when I make
this formal statement.

The District Attorney's office is
prepared to reduce the charge against you

from First Degree Murder
to Voluntary Manslaughter

if you will enter a plea
of guilty to the charge.

Before you answer, Miss Blake, if
you wish to consult with me privately,

I'm sure Mr. Taylor
will arrange it.

Of course.

Mr. Mason, what happens if I
do plead Voluntary Manslaughter?

You could get at the most
ten years in State Prison.

The least?

The Adult Authority
might be very lenient.

You could be released
in a little over a year.

If I don't plead guilty?

Mr. Taylor?

Depending on the findings
of the preliminary hearing,

you would be tried
in Superior Court.

You could be found guilty
of First Degree Murder.

Or the jury could
find you innocent

or possibly guilty of second
degree murder or manslaughter.

You're waiting for me to decide?

I can advise you,

but the decision would
still be yours to make.

Mr. Taylor, I know your offer is a
generous gesture to help me, but...

But?

I did not kill Floyd Grant.

I did not hit Floyd Grant.

I will not plead guilty to
something I did not do.

The decedent obviously
had been struck repeatedly

about the head and shoulders
by some blunt instrument.

Was this walking stick, People's Exhibit
1, subjected to laboratory analysis?

Yes, sir, it was
examined, all right.

The rough texture of the wood
didn't retain any fingerprints,

but we found blood and hair
on the knob end of the stick...

Blood and hair of the exact
same type as that of the decedent.

Your witness, Mr. Mason.

This is an photograph of
the head of the decedent.

Would you indicate on my head, Sheriff,
exactly where the fatal blow was struck?

Sure.

Right there.

Right here?

Yeah. That's right.

Would you mind stepping out of the
witness stand for a moment, Sheriff?

Take this walking
stick, Sheriff, please.

Hold it as you believe
the defendant held it

when she struck the decedent.

Now strike me, Sheriff.

One moment.

Linda Blake is
left-handed, Sheriff.

Paul Drake and I are
prepared to testify under oath

that she was holding that
walking stick in her left hand

when we saw her in the
room with the decedent.

Change hands, Sheriff.

Now strike.

Thank you, Sheriff.

I think that's all.

A moment, Sheriff.

With the Court's permission, I
have some redirect examination.

Proceed, Mr. Taylor.

You testified the decedent
was struck repeatedly.

Now keep that stick in your left
hand and strike me repeatedly.

Strike me now, Sheriff.

And now.

Thank you, Sheriff.

I think that's all.

Oh, this hole in the head...

I believe it's yours, Mr. Mason.

In my professional opinion,

death resulted from the single
blow of a blunt instrument,

thus creating a fracture
between the left occipital

and parietal regions
of the decedent's head.

Yes. It was a
depressed fracture.

Have you examined People's Exhibit 1
with relationship to that depressed wound,

and if so with what
results, Doctor?

In my opinion, it is highly probable
that the instrument which was used

had the same relative diameter as the
knob on the head of this walking stick

and that it inflicted
the fatal blow.

Thank you, Doctor Lieberson.

Cross-examine.

Doctor Lieberson, that
wound you described

as deeply depressed enough

to hold a clear impression
of the murder instrument...

Tell me, do you think a woman
with rather limited strength

could inflict so severe a blow
as to cause such a wound?

Well, that may be a little outside
the area of my competency to judge.

However, I'd say it
was possible, yes.

Would you explain to me and to this
Court what contrecoup lacerations are?

When the head is
struck on one side,

contrecoup lacerations are those which
appear on the opposite side of the brain,

directly across from the
area of impact and fracture.

What causes them?

Oscillation... that is, the vibrating
movement of the brain inside the skull.

The brain, you see, is
suspended, as it were, in fluid,

and contrecoup is, well, something
in the nature of a backlash.

Now, this backlash, this oscillation
occurs only... only, Doctor...

When the head is in motion, or is
free to move at the moment of impact.

- Isn't that so?
- Naturally.

If the head were not in motion,
if it were immobile, then...

Doctor Lieberson,

were there contrecoup lacerations
on the right side of decedent's brain?

Yes, there were.

Is it your considered
professional opinion, Doctor,

that the decedent's head
was in contact with the floor

and immobile when the
fatal blow was struck?

With contrecoup lacerations?

No.

No, the head could not
have been on the floor

at the time the blow was struck.

It was about four,
five minutes after 7

when I pulled her away
from the engine room.

After the explosion, did you observe
the defendant, Linda Blake's, movements?

Yeah.

She got into a car,

drove off toward Vista Haven
Road where Floyd Grant lived.

Mr. Drake, you
heard the explosion

and saw the resulting fire
at a distance, of course.

At what time would
you estimate that to be?

7:05.

Would you tell us, then,

when you and Mr. Mason
arrived at the decedent's home

and exactly what you saw there?

We arrived at the house
7:25. The front door was open.

As we reached it, we heard a
woman screaming inside the house.

The woman was the
defendant, Linda Blake.

As we came into the room, she was
holding the walking stick in her left hand.

You've got to understand what it was like,
what I've had to take all these years.

I'd had it, more
than I could stomach!

So...

that night, after
I got his call, I...

I decided to kill Floyd Grant.

How?

With a gun, the gun my
mother kept in her strongbox.

Go on.

I drove to his place, parked
on the street behind the house,

tried to get in the back
door, but it was locked.

I started around the front

just as the defendant, Miss
Linda Blake, came to the house.

- I hid.
- Where?

Across the street,
behind some trees.

After a while, the door
opened and she came out.

Floyd was at the door. I
could hear him telling her

to be at the engine
room at 7:00, 7:00 sharp,

the same time he'd told
me to be at the engine room.

When Floyd Grant
called you, Mr. Lambert,

he said to be at the
engine room at 7:00?

Yes, but not to meet Miss Blake.

He said Joe... Joe Italiano...
Would meet me there

to explain about an ammonia
leak trouble we'd been having.

But after that, after I saw Joe, he
wanted to see me back at his house...

to discuss a partnership
in Ladera Farms.

After Miss Blake left,
what did you do then?

Did you cross the street? Did
you attempt to get into the house?

No, I was afraid.

I wasn't man enough to do it.

I... I just sat on the ground, under
those trees, shivering with fear,

hoping he'd come outside,
hoping I'd have the strength,

the will to aim my
gun and shoot him.

But Floyd Grant did not
come out of the house.

No.

After a while,
she... Linda Blake...

She came back and
went into the house.

A few minutes after
that, the two of them...

Mr. Mason and
Mr. Drake... they came.

I heard her scream, and the
two of them ran into the house.

From the time Linda Blake left
the house until Linda Blake returned,

who else besides Linda
Blake went into that house?

No one, absolutely no one.

Yes, I was Addison Blake's
secretary for quite a few years.

That 7,500 acres he owned...

It was considerably more than he
needed for grazing a small dairy herd.

Did he use the land
for any other purpose?

He used it for
hunting and fishing.

- Did he go alone?
- Most of the time.

On a few occasions, he
took Floyd Grant with him.

Grant worked for
him in the dairy.

So did many other men.

So why just Floyd
Grant on those trips?

Well, Grant had some training
in chemistry and geology,

and Mr. Blake was a bug on prospecting
and thought Floyd might be useful.

Wasn't there a newspaper
story some years ago

to the effect that Addison
Blake was in the belief

that he discovered
gold on that land?

Yes, he was very excited

until he found out it would
cost him ten times as much

to get the gold out of the
ground than he could get for it.

Mrs. Lambert, did you
believe it was necessary

that Floyd Grant give
your husband an alibi

for the killing of
Addison Blake?

I know my husband.

Drunk or sober,
he could never kill.

Drunk or sober, does he
believe himself innocent?

I don't know.

Does his mother?

Mr. Lambert, referring to your earlier
testimony concerning Floyd Grant,

exactly what was it you
had to take all those years?

What was it you could
no longer stomach

so that you were driven to the
point of contemplating murder?

Floyd Grant's arrogance, his humiliating
treatment of me, my wife, my mother,

the way he accepted and never
denied what everybody thought.

You're referring to the
widespread belief in Ladera

that without Floyd
Grant's so-called alibi,

you might have been accused of the
murder of Addison Blake seven years ago?

Yes.

Exactly what was it you
resented, Mr. Lambert...

The behavior of the man
who gave you that alibi

or the fact that you
needed the alibi?

I... I don't know what you mean.

I mean did you
kill Addison Blake?

Your Honor, I request
that the witness be advised

of his privilege against
self-incrimination.

Mr. Lambert, you need
not answer that question

if you feel the answer
might tend to incriminate you.

I'll answer, Your Honor.

I was drunk, drunk to the point of
oblivion, the day Addison Blake was killed.

I honestly don't know
whether I killed him.

- Are you still drinking?
- Yes.

Had you been drinking the
day Floyd Grant was killed?

Yes.

You testified under oath that
nobody entered that house

from the time the defendant
left until the defendant returned.

Mr. Lambert, during that
time, there was someone there

who could have
entered the house.

What? Who?

The one person who admittedly
went there to kill Floyd Grant.

You did go there to
kill him, did you not?

Yes, but I...

Did you intend, then,
to surrender yourself?

I don't know... No, I
wanted to get away.

It occurred to you, did it not,

that you could cover up for yourself by
blaming your crime on the defendant?

I had a revolver, not a club.
I couldn't have killed him!

No?

I have no further
questions at this time.

Mr. Lambert, you're excused.

Mr. Taylor, call
your next witness.

Your Honor, the State feels it
has presented a prima facie case

and moves that the defendant be
bound over for trial in Superior Court.

Mr. Mason, before
I rule on this motion,

is it your intention to present a
defense at this preliminary hearing?

Yes, Your Honor.

We call as our first defense
witness Mrs. Sylvia Lambert.

Mrs. Lambert, the gun your son was going
to use to kill Floyd Grant... was it his?

No. It was registered
in my name.

According to the police report, the
gun was kept in your personal strongbox?

Yes, inside the safe.

Did you have the only
key to that strongbox?

No, my son had one, too.

You were served with a
subpoena duces tecum,

ordering you not only
to appear in this court

but specifically
instructing you to bring

with you to this court
that metal strongbox.

- Do you have it?
- Yes.

Mrs. Lambert, beside the gun, what
else is kept inside this strongbox?

Items of value, my
own private papers.

Would you open it, please?

May I have those keys, please?

Do I need another court
order, Mrs. Lambert?

This is a key to
what, Mrs. Lambert?

The front door of my house.

And this?

My garage door.

And this key?

My automobile.

Mrs. Lambert, what
lock does this key open?

The back door of
Floyd Grant's house.

You were paying
blackmail to Floyd Grant?

Yes.

Your usual procedure
was to visit him at his house,

just as you used your
key to go in that back door

- the night Floyd Grant was murdered?
- Yes.

A few moments ago, you
heard the judge advise your son

of his constitutional privilege
against self-incrimination.

I remind you that you
may invoke the same

privilege after I ask
you this next question.

Did you kill Floyd Grant?

I refuse to answer.

Mrs. Lambert, Ladera Farms
holds a lease on 7,500 acres of land

purchased at the
escheat sale five years ago

by the Ganado Land Company
from the estate of Addison Blake.

When does that lease expire?

In a few more months, I believe.

This is a certified copy of a credit
report on the Ganado Land Company.

Would you read the name
of the sole owner, please,

aside from two
dummy stockholders.

The one and only real stockholder
of the Ganado Land Company.

Mister...

Floyd Grant.

Next is a copy of an out-of-state company's
mineral appraisal of those 7,500 acres,

mailed to Addison Blake
one week before he was killed.

That land contained
a potential fortune.

But a fortune in what?
Would you read it to the Court?

Oil.

Are you aware that the
original of this mineral report

was never found among
Addison Blake's effects?

No. I didn't know that.

Then you couldn't
be aware of the fact

that Floyd Grant somehow got
hold of this report before Blake saw it,

that he also got the information that
Addison Blake had no will and no heirs,

that on his death his property
would escheat to the State.

Mrs. Lambert, would you
have this Court believe

that you didn't know Floyd Grant
wasn't giving your son an alibi,

that he was giving
himself an alibi?

That loathsome lock and key!

All the years he made me
let myself in the back way,

crawling to him, humiliating
and degrading myself.

So you drove to the street
behind Floyd Grant's house,

parked beside your son's car,

and used this key to let
yourself in the back door?

Yes.

Now, your son used his
car to drive to the dairy.

Your daughter-in-law used your car to
search in the downtown bars for your son.

Tell me, Mrs. Lambert, with only two
cars at your house, which car did you use?

For five years Sylvia
Lambert paid blackmail

to protect her son from the
consequences of a crime he did not commit.

To protect you.

Must she now suffer suspicion
for a crime she did not commit?

As Addison Blake's secretary,

wasn't it you who gave Floyd Grant
the original of the mineral report?

You who told him that Addison
Blake was without a will or heirs?

Yes.

Why?

I was engaged to
marry Charles Lambert.

Floyd threatened
to... to tell him that...

That you, too, once had a
key exactly like this one...

A key to the back door
of Floyd Grant's house?

Yes.

When you went searching for your husband
and located Joe Italiano in that bar,

when Joe told you that he
never had an appointment

to meet your husband
that night, what did you do?

I drove to Floyd's and parked
on the street behind his house,

next to Charlie's car, and...

While your husband
watched in front,

it was you, not Sylvia, who
unlocked and went in the back door.

Please, Mr. Mason, I would never
have let them convict Miss Blake, never.

When you recognized this key,

you must have realized that your
mother-in-law was paying blackmail.

Is that why you went
into Grant's house?

To confront him
with that knowledge?

I opened the door and
walked through the hallway,

and he was just standing there.

He must have thought I was
coming back to start over again.

When I pushed him away, he
became abusive and struck me.

I fell against the rack with
the walking sticks and...

Mrs. Lambert, just
one more question.

When was it that you
heard the explosion?

Just as I grabbed
hold of the stick.

Floyd was laughing.

Charlie... Charlie, it was the
explosion, don't you understand?

He said you were dead,

that he sent you into that
explosion so that he and I could...

He reached for me, and I
hit him... I hit him... I hit him!

I'm sure the sale
of that 7,500 acres

will be vacated and the
property returned to you, Linda.

The Civil Code refers to the
presumption of a purchaser in good faith.

Grant made sure that the real
appraisal of the property never showed up.

He rigged up a phony appraisal

and used that dummy Ganado
company to buy the land cheap.

Planning to sit on it for five years
until the escheat became permanent

and then presto... Oil
happens to be discovered.

Mr. Mason, what about the dairy?

That sale was in good faith and
was legal in every sense of the word.

So was the purchase of my newspaper.
I've already checked that with Mr. Mason.

Mr. Clay Elliot, you sound as though
you thought I had designs on your paper.

I sort of hoped you did...

Not right now, of
course, but eventually,

along with designs on me.

Mr. Mason, would you explain the
Community Property Law to Miss Blake?