All language subtitles for Perry.Mason.516.The Case Of The Shapely Shadow

Therefore, I will expect your full
support in the forthcoming shareholders

meeting.

And in return, you may anticipate the
same kind of support under similar

circumstances in any corporation under
your control.

Oh, by the way, thank him very much for
that bottle of whiskey he sent me last

Christmas. Yours truly, et cetera, et
cetera. Oh, and Janice, no file copy on

this as before and destroy your notes.

All right, who's next?

Northern California Realty. Now skip
them. They don't have any votes.

Oh, Mr. Thielman, do you want just the
ones who have... I want just the ones I

tell you.

Yes, sir.

Standard Investments.

Oh, yes, Standard Investments.

Gentlemen.

No, no, change that.

Address this one personally to the
president of the company, what's his

name, and mail it directly to his home.
All right, what's next?

Mr. Tillman, couldn't I get you a
sandwich, please? No, thank you. Let me

see that list.

See who's next on it. Well, if you'd
just have a cup of coffee.

Janice, I already told you, I'm really
not hungry.

Don't answer that.

Why? Why not?

All right, go ahead.

Mr. Tillman's office.

Oh, yes, Mrs. Tillman.

I'm sorry, but your husband just stepped
out for a moment.

Could I have him call you back?

All right. All right.

She'll call you. It's something about
meeting her downtown for dinner.

That's all. I'm still not in.

Why don't you type those up? I have
something else I want to do.

But what?

I mean, well, there's nothing on your
calendar.

Urgent, that is.

And, Mr. Tillman, you've been working so
hard.

How about if I bring you in that cup of
coffee and some cake I have in my lunch?

Janice, you're going to make somebody a
wonderful mother someday.

Now, go on. Get out of here.

Go on.

Oh, Mr. Mason, thank you. Thank you for
seeing me.

Here, won't you sit down?

I'm in a terrible rush. I have a taxi
waiting downstairs.

Miss Street tells me that you work for a
man named Morley Tilden. Yes, I've been

with him six years.

And that you're worried about him and
that you need a lawyer's advice.

Well, I'd like to know if I can legally
open that suitcase.

Well, that might depend on to whom the
suitcase belongs.

Oh, it belongs to Mr. Teelman, and it's
locked.

You see, I went out this noon to buy it
for him.

It has two keys, and I kept one of them.
I usually keep extra keys and things.

Mr. Teelman's so absent-minded.

Tell me, is Mr. Teelman married?

Yes, he's been married nearly four years
now.

Happily?

Why, I think so, but what does that have
to do with... Well, if Mrs. Teelman is

young, perhaps she's also jealous.

Are you afraid that if you wore the
right lipstick, she might notice you?

I'm afraid she might get me fired, yes.

But I'm not in love with Mr. Tillman, if
that's what you're trying to suggest.

Now, will you be equally as frank as to
why you wish this suitcase open? I think

there's money in it.

Money? I think Mr. Tillman's being
blackmailed.

Here, look at that.

I found that in his waste paper basket.
He'd torn it up, but I put it back

together again.

Get money?

instructions on telephone, failure will
be fatal.

And this is the envelope it came in.
It's properly addressed to Mr. Tillman.

Return address, general delivery, A.B.

Who's A.B. Vidal?

I haven't the slightest idea.

Do you want me to call the police?

Why, no, that's why I'm here, don't you
understand?

Mr. Tillman obviously got those
telephone instructions, and that's when

he told me to go out and get the
suitcase.

Then he took it into his private office,
and when he came out, it was locked and

heavy like that.

Then he told me I was to take it down to
the Union Depot, to the place where they

have lockers, baggage lockers.

And leave the suitcase there?

Yes, in a certain numbered locker or one
right next to it, whichever is open.

Then I'm to take the key, put it in an
envelope, and mail it to that same

person.

A.B. Vidal, General Delivery.

That's right.

Well, if that doesn't sound like
blackmail, Mr. Mason.

Miss Wainwright, do you happen to have
any of your own money with you?

If I'm to represent you, there'll be a
retainer. I guess I have a few dollars.

One will be enough.

Della will make you out of receipt.

Now, may I have the key to the suitcase?

Yes.

And will you swear to me that you
haven't yet opened this suitcase?

I swear.

Oh, my good heaven.

Oh,

$20 bills.

There must be over $100,000 there.

Now, I'd like both of you to...

Read off the numbers on as many of these
bills during the next five minutes as

you can. Della, get the tape recorder.

I shouldn't stay much longer than that.
Someone may be watching that locker or

watching me, don't you think?

I'm sure of it.

There is going to be someone.

Della's going with you.

I want her to make sure that this
suitcase stays closed after I've closed

it. Also, that you leave the suitcase in
the right place.

But Mr. Tillman expects me to... To
follow his instructions to the letter.

And that's exactly what you're both
going to do.

Mr. Mason, Mr. Tillman's disappeared.

Who's disappeared?

My boss, Mr. Tillman. He's just vanished
in thin air.

Oh, but Mr. Mason, I'm not at the
office. I'm still at home.

You see, the police have been here. They
just left.

Delegate Paul, back in here.

What did the police want from you,
Janice? Well, I guess they came here

looking for him. I told you what his
wife thinks of me.

Yes. Yes, she's the one who reported it.

She called him because he didn't return
home last night.

Suppose I get in touch with you later,
Janice.

Yes, don't worry, I will.

Perhaps David ought to go over and pick
up Janice right now. We'd better have a

little longer talk.

Why is it every time a beautiful girl
walks into this office, my normally

intelligent friend... Oh, she wasn't so
beautiful, Paul.

That's what intrigued me.

You're worse off than I thought.

Yeah, but what's your story now?

I'll tell you on the way to Union
Station.

I understand, Mr. Mason.

It wouldn't be right for me to let you
touch anything inside a locker. Not when

somebody's still got the key out. Don't
worry, Smitty. We just want a look. The

station master said it was okay.

Here's section O.

Yes, here it is.

Well, these are 24-hour locks, you know.
But the whole business can be lifted.

Lock and all. The repairs.

You sure that envelope that contains the
key is still unclaimed?

Still in the post office. Hasn't been
touched.

Hey, lips right up.

Just like this.

Excuse me, Smitty.

Empty. Surprise.

Mr. Mason?

Were you successful, David?

No, I can't find Janice Wainwright. I
went to her apartment, as Della said you

asked, but she must have skipped out
just before I got there.

And her office said that she told them
not to expect her in.

So now they've all disappeared. Man,
money, girl.

Oh, brother.

Mrs.

Tillman, I'm sorry I can't ethically
tell you just who my client is, but I

assure you I'm just as anxious as you
are to find your husband.

Well, just what is it you want to know
from me, Mr. Mason?

A little more about how and perhaps why
he disappeared?

I told the police.

I think Morley was being blackmailed.

Gave you that impression.

Was he in trouble of some sort?

No, no, nothing I know about.

But I saw a note in his jacket pocket.

Well, you see, he was in a hurry and
wanted me to empty his pockets and to

put his things in a clean suit while he
showered.

He drove up to Bakersfield yesterday
afternoon, you know, unexpectedly.

What about the note?

Well, it was made up of words cut out of
a newspaper.

I'll never forget them.

It said, get money, instructions on
telephone.

Failure will be fatal.

The note was just loose in his pocket?

Well, there was an envelope.

Return address?

Yes, it was typed.

Someone named A.B. Vidal.

General Delivery, Los Angeles.

Did your husband have any explanation
about this Vidal person?

Well, I didn't talk to my husband about
it.

You didn't talk to him about it?

Well, don't look so surprised.

I was shocked, of course. I was
frightened.

But I'm not the sort of wife to go
demanding explanations.

Not even when... Mr. Mason, I know my
husband.

He divorced his first wife, Carlotta,
because she wouldn't let him out of her

sight. She wouldn't leave him alone.

And she let herself go till she looked
like an absolute barrel.

Well... I've tried not to make any of
the same mistakes.

All right.

So you kissed your husband goodbye and
sent him on his way to Bakersfield?

Yes, about three o'clock.

Then he phoned about eight and said he
was having dinner and wouldn't start

home till about nine or ten.

So I shouldn't wait up.

But of course I did.

Do you know why he went to Bakersfield,
Mrs. Tillman?

To see just one person, so far as I
know.

An old partner of his.

Mr. Colby Troy.

We did some speculating together, Morley
and I.

We started a subdivision between here
and Palmdale.

But it didn't do so well, so we closed
things down last year.

Is that what he came up to see you about
yesterday, Mr. Troy?

Yes, that and some little investment
things.

I'd been in Los Angeles in the morning,
but Morley was all tied up then.

Later he found time, I guess, because he
phoned and said let's get things cleaned

up and out of the way.

So he drove up here to Bakersfield.

Yes, we met here in the office.

Then we went to dinner.

That's when he called his wife.

Came back here for half an hour or so.

And then he left about nine o'clock.

Now, maybe this isn't anything, but
maybe it is. I told the police. They

sort of shrugged, but I guess they were
curious.

Told them what?

Well, there just might have been someone
either following Morley or waiting to

meet him.

You see out there, that street at night
is deserted. It's pretty dark.

I don't know why, but I happened to
glance out there just after Morley left.

I noticed him walking across from the
building.

His car was parked at that side street
out of sight.

Go on.

The only other person on the sidewalk
was someone over past the corner.

Nothing more than a shadow, really.

Then I noticed she must have been
waiting, because she walked after him

and then she disappeared, too.

She? Could you recognize her, describe
her?

Well... I couldn't see her face.

But you know how it is. A pretty young
thing walking across the streets. You

know, a man's never too old.

It's Janice, all right.

In Las Vegas? I just talked to my
operative on the phone again.

Janice is at the railroad station
checking on when the city of Los Angeles

comes through headed east.

He figures she's expecting to meet
somebody who's on it. That would be in

about two hours. Guess who she's
meeting?

A certain man with a suitcase, a Morley
LT.

Who else?

And all this
mail-the-key-to-general-delivery stuff

was just so much red herring.

All right.

Anyone using newspaper clippings to put
together a blackmail note would hardly

have used his own name on the envelope
as a return address.

This thing has just been phony since the
word go.

Della, call the airport.

We're going to beat that train to Las
Vegas.

Keeps taxuating.

I promised him a 20. Is she still here?

Down the platform.

Oh, Mrs. Thielman, here I am.

Janice, dear.

Why, you look so lovely. You look
beautiful.

Well, I guess I had a little improvement
since we last saw each other. About 40

pounds of it, in fact.

Oh, darling, you remember my brother.

She's sure better. I certainly do.
Hello, Henry.

Hello, Janice.

Oh, this is Mrs.

Thielman and her son. Brother, Mr.
Battle.

Miss Street, Mr. Mason.

Hello. How do you do?

The first, Mrs. Tillman, I take it?

Yes.

I'd like to talk to Mr. Mason alone.
Would it be all right?

Oh, of course, dear.

We have to see about our rooms anyway,
so why don't we just run along to the

little casino and you catch up?

Thank you, Mrs. Tillman. I have a taxi
waiting if you'd like. Oh, good. I'll

show you out.

Here. I probably owe you much more than
that.

I, uh... I guess I've caused you a great
deal of trouble.

Yes, you have.

I'm sorry.

As a matter of fact, there wasn't any
blackmail, there wasn't any blackmailer.

Am I correct?

I guess so.

Mr. Tielman hasn't quite told me
everything yet, but he did tell me I

could take some money from his desk to
pay you.

Never mind him.

What's your story?

Oh, it's not a story. It's the truth.
When I first came to your office, I

actually thought he was being
threatened.

But evidently it has to do with this
stock thing.

What stock thing?

Well, that's why I'm here to meet his
first wife.

He'll join us later. He's driving down
from the Palmdale subdivision. That's

where he stayed last night.

And he asked you to give me this song
and dance about his disappearing and

then to disappear yourself.

Oh, no, I didn't know anything about
this until after I talked to you on the

telephone.

He called just after you hung up, and he
asked me not to tell anybody, but to get

some cash and spend the day in the
beauty parlor if I wanted, because I was

to drive here in the evening to Las
Vegas to meet Carlotta.

And then I... Well?

Do you know those men?

Well, Trax, what are you doing in
Nevada?

It's probably the same thing you are,
Perry.

I want to ask this young lady some
questions concerning the murder of her

employer, Mr.

Morley L. Tillman.

Mr. Tillman is dead?

I used the word murdered, I believe.

Oh, no.

But it can't be. He was alive. He was
all right when I... Janice, I know how

you feel.

But please don't say one more word.
You're not on your own bill with care,

Mr. Mason. This is the state of Nevada.

Excuse me, Perry.

This is Lieutenant Sophia, Las Vegas
Police.

Better come along with us, Miss Winger.

Very sorry, Perry.

Mrs. Tillman.

Oh, Mr. Mason, I just heard about my
husband.

I mean Morley.

Yes, I know.

We've been trying to find you for nearly
an hour.

Mrs. Tillman, would you mind telling me
what brought you to Las Vegas?

You really want to know?

I came here to get my husband back.

Why do you think I lost so much weight
and bought all these new clothes?

For weeks, people have been writing to
me wanting to buy my stock.

They used all kinds of strange names.
There was obviously some sort of thing

going on.

And then someone telephoned me.

I knew he must be representing Morley,
and I told him so.

I also told him I wouldn't sell or give
proxies or anything else unless Morley

would agree to meet me and talk it over
with me.

I understood there were reasons for
being secret about it, and so I

suggested we meet here in Las Vegas.

It's where we spent our honeymoon.

I suppose you just saved that for us,
Madeline.

Look here, Trax. Mr. Mason, you're not
even admitted to practice law before a

traffic order about it. Now, goodbye.

Oh, my car will take you to the airport.

Terrible, sorry.

Tillman was shot.

38 caliber gun, which hasn't been found
yet.

The body was in a bedroom.

This building was a display house.

The company used it as an office, but
it's been closed for some time now.

And that blackmail note signed A.B.
Vidal, the one Mrs. Thielman saw, was it

still in his pocket?

Mm-hmm. And, oh, did you know that his
present wife once called herself Day

Dawns?

Her legal name was Agnes.

Agnes Baker Vidal.

A.B.? Well,

she certainly wouldn't use her own name
on the envelope. Oh, she wouldn't have

sent them.

But why would someone else have used the
name?

I have a hunch the police will figure it
out.

Look. See those tire tracks?

There was a thundershower there during
the night. Now, two cars must have

arrived before the rain started. One of
them was Thielman's car, and it's still

there. It's parked around back.

The other car?

It's the one that left the tracks, but
just going away.

Leaving after the rain and after the
time Thielman apparently was killed.

And there's just no argument about whose
car it was.

Janice Wainwright's.

Harry talked to her downtown.

Janice says she's never been to that
subdivision place. Never.

You want to bet?

You want to bet she isn't a shapely
shadow that guy saw up in Bakersfield?

Look, Paul, I want to believe Janice,
but obviously you don't know. The police

just subpoenaed our records.

They what?

Including the recorded tape with the
numbers from the $20 bills in the

suitcase, remember?

But how did Tragg find out about that?

Oh, no.

You mean Janice spilled?

Told him everything?

Suitcase? Money?

Baggage locker? The works?

Oh, Perry, you're not going to stick
with a client like that.

Yes, Paul, I am.

The prosecution intends to prove that
the deceased, Morley Tillman, for

reasons of his own, had amassed nearly
$200,000 in cash.

We propose to show that the defendant
knew about this.

That she actually had in her possession
a suitcase containing all that money.

and that she used it to dupe her
attorney, Mr. Perry Mason, into

believing that he was helping her
protect the interests of her employer,

when in actual fact she meant to kill
Mr.

Thielman and to steal the money.

We intend to demonstrate further that
this young woman met her employer in

Bakersfield, that they then drove
together to the scene of the crime where

they spent most of the night, and by
circumstantial evidence which cannot be

refuted. we will prove that Janice
Wainwright left that rendezvous only

after murdering her employer.

And that she drove later the following
evening to Las Vegas in hopes of

maintaining the pretense that Morley L.
Tillman was still alive.

It's impossible, of course, to estimate
the exact amount of precipitation that

occurred. It was only a brief shower.

But it was certainly sufficient to
moisten the ground for several hours.

And what time did this rainfall occur?

Oh, about 5 o'clock, according to my
estimate.

5 a.m. in the morning.

Exhibit 10 is the impression of the
track in that mud.

Exhibit 11 is an impression which I made
at the police laboratory using the right

front tire of the defendant's car.

And as everyone can see, I'm sure these
are identical.

Absolutely identical.

Now, did you make a similar check?

Of the tracks of the left front tire.
Also identical.

Doctor, you've testified that you
arrived to examine a body at about 7.30

on the evening following the murder.

That's correct.

And that, in your opinion, Mr. Teelman's
death occurred between the hours of

midnight and 5 a.m. the preceding
morning.

I've said that several times, Mr. Mason.

Yet you also conceded that rigor mortis
is not a constant factor.

And from the evidence of rigor mortis,
death could have occurred as late as 10

or 11 o'clock that morning.

There were other factors, I told you.

Post-mortem lividity, I believe.

That's one I imagined.

And it was fully developed in the body
you saw?

Yes.

But isn't there some question as to the
longevity of such lividity? It varies in

many cases. However, in this case, there
were... There were still other factors,

yes.

Tell me, Doctor.

Was, uh...

One of those factors, the evidence of
the tire tracks?

I beg your pardon?

Well, you were there when the police
discovered them.

Now, can you honestly say that your
opinion wasn't influenced by that

evidence? By knowledge of the time of
rainfall?

Most certainly not. I stated my expert
opinion that death occurred between the

hours of midnight and... Doctor, did you
write an article for the October issue

of the Journal of Forensic Medicine?

I have written several articles.

Oh, Doctor.

You've written many articles, but in
this particular article,

did you say that when the medical
examiner is unable to view a body until

six or eight hours after death, then
determination of exact times is well

nigh impossible?

Did you say many a so-called expert has
been trapped into errors of as much as

24 hours by unusual conditions of one
thing? I was talking about exact times,

Mr. Mason. Did you write that article?

Yes. Well, Mr. Berger, I'm only the
assistant company bookkeeper, really.

Yes, but you heard the testimony of the
banker that during recent weeks, Mr.

Thielman had been making substantial
withdrawals from his private accounts.

He asked for this money in cash.

Specifically, he asked for it in $20
bills.

I found he took out everything he could
in $20 bills.

Why didn't anyone from the company
realize what he was doing at the time?

That was a separate fund set up for his
private use.

We didn't handle the books on it. Who
did handle the books?

Who would have known about those
withdrawals except Mr. Thielman himself?

His secretary, Janice Wainwright.

His secretary?

His personal secretary?

She sure was.

What do you mean by that?

Well, I mean she did everything for him.

She followed him around like a slave or
something. She went out with him at

night.

Everyone in the office has seen him kiss
her.

Objection, Your Honor.

Sustained. That's hearsay.

Strike that last answer from the record.

Mr. Carlisle, did you ever see Mr.
Tillman kissing his secretary?

Yes, sir.

Several times.

Yes,

Mr. Berger, I knew perfectly well that
Janice Wainwright was in love with my

husband. Objection.

Sustained.

I believe that's enough on that subject.

Now, Mrs. Tillman, you testified
previously that you once danced

professionally under the name of Day
Dawns.

but that your true maiden name is Agnes
Vidal?

Returning to the subject of this
blackmail letter, I ask you to tell us,

please, how you felt when you saw the
name A.B. Vidal used as a return address

on this envelope.

Well, it's obvious.

I felt some blackmailer was using my
name to impress my husband that he knew

all about me.

I think that'll be all, Mrs. Tillman.
Thank you. Your witness.

What was there in your past that would
have made the use of your maiden name

have connotations of black men?

Now, just a minute.

You opened the door, Mr. Berger.

Answer the question, please.

What was it, Mrs. Tillman?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I testified that I saw Mr. Tillman cross
the street and enter the side street,

and then I lost sight of him.

Exactly. You also told the prosecutor
that you were watching the shadowy young

woman as she followed Mr. Tillman.

That's right. She was about 20 feet
behind him.

Then which one were you really watching?

Both of them.

Your eyes were focused on two moving
objects 20 feet apart?

No, of course not.

Then where were they focused?

Well, I guess sort of between Tillman
and the girl. In other words...

While a good-looking young woman with a
figure you've described as distinctive

and shapely was crossing the street, you
kept your eyes ten feet ahead of her.

Now, I didn't mean that.

I looked back and forth at both of them.

Naturally, I must have.

Can you describe the way this young
woman walked?

I've already done so.

It was graceful.

Yet you took your eyes off this
graceful, swaying young woman not once

but many times to look at Morley L.
Tillman.

No, of course not.

I looked mostly at the woman.

I said that before without thinking.

You answered a question without thinking
while under oath?

Well, I... Tell me.

Were you thinking when you suggested
that the...

Woman joined Mr. Tillman when you've
just now admitted she only followed him?

That's what I meant to say.

Were you thinking when you told the
prosecutor that, in your opinion, Janice

Wainwright's figure is identical with
that of the young woman you saw?

I merely said... Couldn't the figure you
saw just as likely have been out of Miss

Street, or that young lady there, or
that one?

Mr. Roberts, I show you now this $20
bill.

Serial number L84961136B.

I ask if you've ever seen it before.

Yeah, it's got my initials right there
in the corner.

Very well. I now ask you to compare this
serial number with the number on one of

these lists. Just received an evidence
and confirmed for us that this $20 bill

given you by Miss Della Street was one
of those from Mr. Teelman's suitcase.

I said she gave it to me, Miss Street.

But you admit you had many other fares
that night. She gave it to me. You admit

you had a pocket full of bills.

It was her. You admit the police told
you of the significance of the bill

before asking you where it came from.

Now, how can you possibly swear?

Because I can swear and I just did and
that's it.

Yes, that's the blackmail message first
seen by Mrs. Tillman in her husband's

pocket and then later found on his body.

Would you tell us what you had done to
this message at police headquarters,

Lieutenant? I had experiments made in
duplicating the message.

I bought the Los Angeles Chronicle and
the Los Angeles Bulletin under the date

preceding the murder.

I found it was possible to duplicate
that identical message

with words from the headlines of the two
papers.

Yeah, I have it with me right here.

Well, you see, my...

My newsstand is downstairs in the same
building, and I know Miss Wainwright.

She came down that day to buy a copy of
the Chronicle in the bulletin.

How do you happen to remember this so
clearly?

Well, because about a half hour later,
she came back down again and bought

another copy of the Chronicle in the
bulletin.

Really?

But you've done so well.

You got them to laugh at Mr. Troy and
his shapely shadow.

You even got the doctor to admit he
might be wrong as to the time Mr.

Tillman died.

Janice, I've just been throwing sand in
their eyes.

But now their case is finished.

And look at all the facts they're going
to be able to assemble.

You knew about the money?

You prepared those blackmail notes
yourself?

Oh, no.

I went down to get those newspapers
because Mr. Tillman asked me to.

We were always cutting out...

Real estate ads.

I know.

You were always acting under his
instructions, even after the time they

figured he'd been killed.

Mr. Mason, listen.

He called me just after I talked to you
that morning, and he asked me to stay

out of sight, to spend the day in the
beauty parlor if I liked.

That certainly sounds like an employer.

Well, I asked him if I could, and he
said it would be all right if I wanted

to.

Where was your car at that time?

I told you. Down in the parking lot. The
beauty parlor's right next door to my

apartment building.

In the daytime, your car could have been
taken without your knowledge.

But that night, at the time it rained,
the parking lot was locked up.

Your car could only have been taken by
you.

These tracks here in this photograph
were made by your car.

On top of which, they've now linked the
money from my office back to you and

then to Las Vegas.

But that isn't the way it happened.

Mr. Mason, everything they have against
me is just circumstantial.

Of course.

Everything that's happened can be
explained by a dead man.

And by you.

Janice, you're simply going to have to
tell them what you know.

You mean on the stand?

Well, you've got to testify on your own
behalf.

There's just no other choice.

I'd be terrified. All those questions
coming at me. I'd get all mixed up.

I can't, Mr. Mason. I just can't do it.
They'd never believe me.

If the court please, a matter of some
importance has occurred to me since last

night's adjournment. I would like to
recall one of the prosecution's

witnesses for further cross-examination.

Oh, which witness?

Mrs. Carlotta Tillman. What question do
you... Whether she paid a taxi driver in

Las Vegas with a $20 bill.

Oh, if I could just remember.

I mean, yes, I did use that same taxi
driver, that Mr.

Roberts over there, but so many things
happened that night that...

Well, I mean, I just hate to swear to
anything. Perhaps it would help if you

could tell me this.

Have you ever had dealings with someone
calling himself A.B. Vidal?

Oh, yes, yes. That's the name the man
used to phone me the day before I went

to Las Vegas.

Did you recognize his voice?

No, but I heard someone in the
background giving him instructions, and

I was pretty sure that was my husband.

I mean Morley.

This man who called, what did he say to
you?

It was another invitation for me to sell
my stock.

Well, I told him in no uncertain terms
that if the man behind him wanted to

meet me in Las Vegas, that's the only
way I'd consider it.

So then Morley agreed.

What about money?

Were you expected to pay your own way to
meet him?

Oh, no. I received an envelope by
messenger, and it had a couple of

hundred dollars in it.

Were there any $20 bills included in
that money?

It was all $20 bills.

Thank you, Mrs. Thielman.

Thank you.

You may step down, Mrs. Tillman.

Mrs. Tillman, you never told me that you
spoke to anybody in this case named

Vidal. You never asked me.

Mr. Berger, does the return of that
witness in any way change your plan? Do

you still wish to rest your case?

Yes, Your Honor.

Yes, if we have any additional evidence
to introduce, we can always do so by way

of rebuttal.

Very well.

How is the defense ready to start its
case?

We have no evidence on the part of the
defense, Your Honor.

Defense rests.

Let's proceed with the argument.

What? All right, Mr. District Attorney.

You may open the argument.

Well, Your Honor, I hardly expected...
Yes, so I gather.

But since the defense is not introducing
any evidence, now there can't be any

additional evidence from you in
rebuttal.

Yes, I'm aware of that, Your Honor. It's
just that to present a full day's

argument without... Excuse me, Your
Honor.

What happened? What did Mr. Mason do?

He's gambling, Janice.

I don't have to go on the stand, then?

No, you won't have to go on the stand.

Your Honor, the prosecution will waive
its opening argument.

Very well.

Mr. Mason, you may proceed to the
defense.

Now, the court will instruct you that in
a case depending upon circumstantial

evidence, if there is any reasonable
hypotheses other than that of guilt upon

which the evidence can be explained, it
is your duty to acquit the defendant.

Therefore, in review, Morley Tillman was
engaged in a fight to retain control of

one of his companies.

His only hope was to obtain stock held
by his former wife.

For reasons of secrecy, he wished to
make it a cash deal and he tried to

approach her through proxies.

He had a representative username A.B.
Vidal.

Why?

Because stock transferred to that name
would be in the name of his present

legal wife and therefore under his joint
ownership and control.

Now, we know Mr. Tillman assembled the
necessary cash.

He was afraid his moves had been
discovered, so he put together a couple

of blackmail notes and made sure they
were seen.

This would explain and cover what he was
really up to.

Mr. Tillman then went through the
pretense of having the money delivered

to a luggage locker from which he, of
course, removed it himself.

When Carlotta Tillman insisted that he
come to Las Vegas personally, he was

still prepared for the meeting.

He sent her money for the trip, and one
of those $20 bills ended up in the hands

of a taxi driver.

All that is quite obvious.

Now, let's consider the murder itself.

The murder took place in a deserted
subdivision office, an office in which

the prosecution has tried to suggest the
defendant and the decedent had an

amorous interlude, after which she
killed him and left following a

thundershower.

Now, the only evidence to support the
fact that she supposedly was there

is that her automobile left tracks in
the soft ground while driving away.

However, let's re-examine this
photograph of the house.

I suppose Mr. Tillman did spend the
night there, but alone.

Evidence shows that after talking to him
on the telephone the following morning,

Janice Wainwright went to a beauty
parlor where off and on she spent nearly

the whole day.

It was only necessary for someone to
have taken her car during that time,

drive out to the real estate office,
whereby then Tillman no doubt lay dead,

and return the car.

In order to frame the case against the
defendant by confusing the time of

death, the murderer had only to see that
the ground at the real estate office was

in some way softened.

Now, the prosecution has assumed that
the...

Ground could only have been softened by
rain.

But look more closely.

This is an enlargement of a section of
that photograph of the house.

Notice the hose.

The hose attached to a water faucet in
front of the house.

A brand new hose, ladies and gentlemen.

Left at a house which hadn't been used
for over a year.

All the murderer needed to do...

was to drive the defendant's car up
there, drive it into the dirt, which by

now must have had time to dry up after
the rain, wet down that soil with water

from the hose, and then drive away,
leaving the tire tracks we have

discussed here.

Thus, every bit of circumstantial
evidence in this case can be accounted

for. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is
a reasonable hypothesis.

We ask and expect a verdict of acquittal
at your hands.

All right, Mr. Berger, you may proceed
for the prosecution.

Very well, Your Honor.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Mr.
Mason has indeed surpassed himself.

He has created for you a story which is
pure poppycock, absolute and complete

nonsense. The defendant of this case is
a shrewd, scheming woman.

She seduced her employer, she stole from
him, and finally she murdered him.

And as for Mr. Mason's ridiculous theory
about a hose, this is an abandoned real

estate office we're talking about. The
water's been shut out there for over a

year. How can anyone possibly... Your
Honor, the district attorney is stating

facts not in evidence.

Since he lost the opportunity to get
these matters in legitimately, in

rebuttal, he is now trying to do it
through prejudicial misconduct.

I ask the court to declare a mistrial.

A mistrial?

How can you... Mr. Berger.

Mr. Mason's point is well taken.

Now, I doubt that the effects of your
remarks can be removed by mere

admonition of the jury.

Yes, but... But, Your Honor, please,
Your Honor, within one

hour, I can have water company records
here in this court.

Now, I'm sorry, Mr. Berger, but your
behavior... I can have a witness from

the water company here in court.

Your Honor, defense is willing to...

withdraw its motion for a mistrial.

I beg your pardon?

Your what, Mr. Mason?

Now, it would seem to me in the best
interest of your client... Your Honor,

defense is very interested in hearing
such a witness.

Yes, that's right, sir.

The water was shut off one year ago.

But wasn't it turned on again?

Yes.

Yes, it was the morning of the 17th.

The day of the murder.

I guess that's right.

Do your records show who requested that
it be turned on?

Oh, yeah.

Here.

It was billed to Mr.

Colby Troy of Bakersfield.

I did it.

I killed him.

I can't thank you enough, Mr. Mason.

Mr. Troy must have been cheating your
boss for a long time, Dan.

That's right.

Troy just about managed to steal the
whole company without Tillman realizing

who was doing it.

Then Tillman made the awful mistake of
confiding in Troy.

Early next morning... Troy followed
Thielman out to the subdivision to

settle things.

As there was a lot of money involved,
they got into a fight and Troy killed

him. And Mr. Troy just made up the story
about the woman who followed Mr.

Thielman. That's right, Janice. There
never was a shapely shadow.

Well, I wouldn't say there isn't one.
Janice, one thing I couldn't figure is

why you spent all that time in the
beauty parlor. It seemed kind of

suspicious. Paul, you just don't
understand women.

Oh, well, I think it's about time I
figured it out. Janice.

Suppose you and I go to dinner.

I know a lovely little restaurant down
at the beach. And after that... Excuse

me, folks. I was... Hi,

Janice. Are you ready to go?

Yes, Henry. I'm ready to go.

Would you excuse us?

Goodbye, Mr. Mason. And thanks again.

Bye, folks.

And that explains that.